#i drew him sprites once many years ago

[celestialtrolls]

A Day at the Fair

[precursor]

Infiltration was not your forte, especially through these means. Your usual route was out of reach and left you no choice; no matter what you searched, what keywords you used for the database records of Suits Carnival, the information was minimal. Despite the fact that bigger subjugglator organisations were supposed to be fleet-compliant, all that was written were things that even an idiotic outsider could have found out by looking at a map, and rough estimations with no basis in reality.

So your hand had been forced, and you had gone to visit the grounds themselves. Your fleet uniform had been set aside, donning your usual garb that you took to go sailing instead, topped by an inconspicuous dark hoodie. And the pièce de la résistance: face paint. You knew that walking into a carnival without some kind of face paint was a foolish endeavour, a way to be inevitably noticed faster than you could even search for ‘Creator Ceremiré’. So, a sloppy design was drawn on your face with disgusting oily make-up, forming something resembling a skull… or maybe more of a panda. You had aimed for a skull, but the dark circles painted around your eyes just made you feel stupid instead of potentially intimidating.

But, perhaps it was enough to get you in the gates, and at that point, what did it matter? From your personal research, conducted with your own hacked satellite, Suits Carnival was a sprawling mess of tents, caravans and buildings in construction, somewhere transitioning between an army of travelling clowns and a full-fledged city. There would be plenty of places to sit out of view to instead try and figure out what your ancestor looked like, and then to observe her powers in use.

-

Approaching the carnival itself is a nerve-wracking experience. You drove most of the way, hands clamped to the steering wheel, knuckles white. As you got closer however, your typical crystal growths started to seem from your skin, bonding your hands to your car, and you had to park it somewhere further afield before you started turning it into a useless statue, transformed by anxiety.

The extended journey time did not help your nerves, but one foot goes in front of the other, and the other, and the other, feeling each step inside your ribcage, and eventually, you see the walls of the city in the distance. There’s no feeling of relief that washes over you however, the sheer scale of the task you’ve set yourself dawning on you.

You hadn’t told anyone your plan. Obviously, telling Aelynn would have been foolish; she would have intervened somehow. But you didn’t mention it to your moirail either, and you are well past the point of beginning to regret that. You’re almost certain he could have given you some advice on how to approach a hostile - no, don’t think of it that way, it will only make you feel worse - unfamiliar carnival. You were alone. If you were spotted as an intruder, no one would even know what had happened.

It’s too late to turn back. It’s too late. The gates are in view of your real eyes now, a steady stream of people coming in and out, a van driving past you and flying right through without stopping. Was there no guard, no security? You keep your expression as blank and serious as usual, a task you had perfected from hours of dealing with your superiors in the fleet, and walk straight in, past the real subjugglators, their idle chatter not even making it past your ears as your heartbeat takes the stage.

The hardest part was done, was it not? You’d technically infiltrated the city safely. It makes you want to laugh from the ridiculousness of it. What the hell were you even worried about anway? This was a huge city, of course they weren’t taking IDs at the gate. Where did you think you were again, a fleet base? A weight lifts from your chest as you walk straight down the main road through the centre of the city, figuring that you’ll be able to see almost everything from there. How hard can it be to find someone who calls herself ‘Queen of Hearts, Ceremiré Nostam’? That’s not the name of someone who knows what subtlety is.

In your premature celebration, you don’t see the pair of men that take notice of you, eyebrows furrowing as they exchange a look. It isn’t until one of them, a tall, imposing man with horns that sweep behind his head and a white club symbol on his sleeve approaches you with a stride that way exceeds the speed of someone simply going about their business that you take notice, turning barely in time as he reaches towards your head.

A yelp of alarm escapes as instead he ends up grabbing your arm and yanks you towards him. You barely keep your balance and stumble, your left arm flailing about as a useless counterweight.

“Bold for a new face to wander around.” The sentence is short, but what goes unsaid is enough to send your neurotic brain into overdrive, and while once your mind would go blank at a moment like this, instead, you can feel something, a build up of energy, heat, power, and you almost know that at any second, your arm is about to burst with crystals, and you can barely even hold yourself back and he’s staring at you and waiting and you need to say something or he’s going to kill you and that’s going to be it and his grip is so strong you can feel your hand growing cold as the blood supply goes short an-

“Take it easy Haeren, this one’s my idiot.”

You were so laser-focused on your own impending doom that it completely knocks you out of your terrified state as a sturdy hand wraps around your shoulder, pulling you slightly away from ‘Haeren’ who regards the intrusion with a dark glare. The feeling in your arm, your chest, your heart, the power that was overwhelming you simply dissipates.

“More of a red flag if anything.” But your arm is released, and you pull it close to your chest as you’re guided to the side of someone somewhat familiar.

“Kerros?!” The voice that leaves your mouth barely sounds like yours, squeaky from the fear and cracking from your rushed attempt to collect yourself, and the dog-boy glances at you with an eyebrow raised, before continuing his conversation with the club-wearing man of few words. He’s relaxed, not even batting an eyelid and giving you a slightly reassuring shake as you reel to catch up with reality.

This… wasn’t a person you expected to run into. You didn’t expect to see anyone you knew, and while saying you ‘knew’ Kerros was a stretch, you were aware of him and had seen him in passing a few times, since he was, after all, your twin sister’s moirail. One of them, anyway. But surely, there was no way Aelynn was in a quadrant with someone that was actively a subjugglator? Your mind starts reeling again, but you see Kerros glance your way as some of the more physical symptoms of your distress begin to rear their head, and he wraps up his conversation.

“Anyway Hae, been great to hear your many words of wisdom as always, I’ll sort this one out, you go back to glaring at every poor passerby, yeah?” A raise of the hand in goodbye - a gesture that is not returned - and he turns away, pivoting you towards a sideroad. “Come on you.”

-

It’s not until you’ve turned a few corners that he speaks again, his calm face slowly turning a little tired, worn. “Funny seeing you at the Devil’s sacrament.” His tone is very clearly sardonic, but seeing him drop his act makes you feel a little bit better, no false pretences remaining. “We’re both dead if Aelynn hears about this, y'know?”

You stare at him a few moments longer, before you turn your head to look forward, taking a slight step away to lose his hand on your shoulder. He lets go without resistance, his hand dropping back into his pocket, but he watches you as you try and get your composure back, your expression slowly returning from wide-eyed panic to your usual facade. “Should you be here?” The only sentence you manage to form, and it’s accusatory at best. You would bite your tongue, if that wasn’t an exceptionally foolish idea.

“Should I be here? I live here. Don’t tell her that, or else I’ll drop you right in it with me.” He smiles, but you know well enough that it’s likely a real threat. “I’m taking you back to my place now, you can’t wander around like…”

He regards you with the expression of an artist examining a stain on a canvas, grimacing momentarily before averting his gaze back to the road ahead. “Like whatever the hell you’ve decided to do. You didn’t do your research before coming here, did you? And I mean real research, not begging the fleet to hand you the information on a silver platter.” He finishes his sentence before you can interject, and your face goes warm at the way he just so blatantly calls you out. Aelynn definitely complains to him about you, you can tell. “I thought you were the one with the brain cell, but you’re not so different.”

You don’t know how insulted you should be at that, but before you can come up with a reasonable protest, you’re crossing a driveway towards a small wooden house, something that looks like it might have once been on wheels, but been settled into the ground. Kerros pulls out a clump of keys from his pocket and opens the door, gesturing for you to enter first. Probably because he thinks you might make a run for it, and honestly, it’s not a terribly incorrect assumption to have. You’re not not considering it. But this is truly a hostile city, and you’re not sure you would make it out again.

No choice but to accept your fate, and you walk inside.

-

[getvalentined]

I love when folks ask me Fandom Old questions and I get to be like "Yeah, uh, that's from my old online RP group, no it's not canon at all, yes we just made it up, no we did not claim it was canon but the mid to late aughts were a strange time."

It's honestly a shock to realize how often this has happened. I mentioned earlier that Reno's fanon surname came from this same group, but that's not even the half of it. I once made a bunch of screenshot manips based on the most ridiculous ships anyone could think of—someone slapped a random line of text onto one of them and to this day it's used as a "cringe FF7 fandom" meme. I saw it on the twits a bit back and almost fell out of my goddamn chair.

If you've ever heard Scarlet referred to with the surname "West," read about Tseng fighting with metal fans, seen Elena's older sister being called Anna instead of Emma, come across Vincent portrayed as having a PhD in spite of being a Turk, or caught references somewhere to Grimoire experimenting on Vincent as a child, that started with this group. That was us.

One of the funniest examples of this, for me specifically, is that we don't actually know which arm Veld is missing? The fandom generally goes with his left because that's how I drew him in the first picture of the guy ever posted on devart way back in 2005, but it may very well be his right. I've seen people offer "proof" that it's his right based on a scene in the opening cutscene, but you can't tell there either, and with BC's graphics there's literally no way to tell on his sprite.

Hell, this year we found out everyone's assumed timeline of the Kalm fire is wrong, and that's our fault too because we made some assumptions about Felicia's age for an LJ RP that were entirely wrong. She's around Zack's age, not Sephiroth's! She's old enough to run with a terrorist group in BC, but she was a child when Kalm burned, and that happened in 1997—we know this because NPCs in Rebirth literally refer to the fire in Kalm having happened "just ten years ago." Veld has only had his prosthetic for three years when BC starts. (This also implies that, contrary to popular belief, Veld may actually be younger than Vincent. Vincent may have been the senior partner, and that's why he was sent to Nibelheim alone while Veld was left at headquarters.)

We were really wrong on this! But we were working with what we had. There's no canon evidence for the vast majority of these things (the most notable exclusion here is Vincent being educated) but we weren't claiming there was. We were filling gaps, and canon was so sparse that we had a lot of gaps to fill. So if it turns out that Veld lost his right arm, then I'll just have to start drawing him that way—because losing his left was never canon.

Tragically, there's nothing any of us can do to make people stop assuming these things are canon at this point; there aren't a lot of us still in the fandom, and it's not like any of us have those old chatlogs anymore. People from this RP group have DIED since those days. It's been over 20 years since most of us met, and around 15 since most of us were in a public fannish space together.

"Prove it," people say, and I literally can't. Do you know how many computers I've been through since then? 75% of the platforms we used no longer exist. This all started on a BBCode forum! There is no proof!

But...there's no evidence any of these things are canon, either, so maybe think about that? The Kalm fire, Tseng's weapon of choice, Veld's arm, character surnames—none of these are retcons because there was no lore there to retcon. We made it up for our specific purposes, and it escaped containment in an era when there was really no way to do online contact tracing.

It's just one of the weirdest feelings in the world to see younger folk arguing about A or B point in canon, about X or Y retcon—referencing something my friends and I thought up at like 10 o'clock at night on a now-defunct IM client in August of 2005, because we needed something to refer back to for a specific scene in an RP and the source material had nothing to offer.

Absolutely fucking bonkers.

[usuallyamazinglyaverage]

Side By Side [Ethan x MC]

Hey there, ya lovely people!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and got to celebrate the season of giving with your family and friends. To end this year properly, I’m back with a bit of writing :)

I’m not gonna lie, the two months before the holidays were really rough and I had to sort so much shit out. It just kept me from most things I love doing in my free time, including talking with my friends and writing. That’s why this one took me a while to finish.

(Nevermind the fact that I rewrote this fic like two times, but that’s a story for another day)

I’ll most likely take a break from OH oneshots for a while (unless inspiration strikes me), but I am still working on stuff, inluding one or two AUs and fics for some other fandoms. I hope a breather to get my muse back on track is alright with you all ;)

I wish you all a safe journey into the next year - let’s pray it’ll be a better one <3

As always, I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Please enjoy!

Summary: Big steps in a relationship are always difficult - this one is no exception.

Warnings: Just some light teasing and a bit of language - this is mostly cheesy fluff <3 (I know, I’m surprised as well)

Note: MC of the fic is Annabelle Dawson. I created the header myself, hope it’s pleasing to the eye :) This is set a few months after the end of Book 2.

Taglist:  @perriewinklenerdie @andromedasinclaire @radlovedreamer @amillionmoonsred @hopelessromantic1352 @cordoniaqueensworld @paisleylovergirl  @fangirlingmum @bucket-harrington @lu-ciq @fairyrink @princess-geek @cyb3r-kat​ @whenyourheartskipsabeat @lady-kato @queenof1000days @sunflowergirl05 @jlpplays1 @tacohead13 @the-soot-sprite  @chasingrobbie @padfoot0415 @desiree-0816 @togetherwearerapture @thisperfectmemory @furiouscloddonutpeanut @tabootheunicorn @rookie-ramsey @theroseduelist @drakewalkerfantasy @lapisreviewsstuff @jooous @aworldoffandoms @edgiestwinter @inlovewithrebels @topsyturvy-dream @cerisesayeed-ramsey @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @marywitchjane @adrianrainesworld @zodiacsign1 @silverlitskies @trappedinfandoms @sherlockedmcu @drethanramslay @awhmilkywey @htgawparksandrec @theeccentricbibliophile @mvalentine @desmaranj @schnitzelbutterfingers @colourmeshy @mal-volaris @kaavyaethanramsey @riverrune @honeyandsunfl0wers @humanpokemon @ethandaddyramsey @lilyvalentine @mrsdrakewalkerblog @openheart12 @bellcat2010 @datynasuha  @caseyvalentineramsey @ethxnrxmsey @squishywizardhq @custaroonie @beckaroo @colossalpainintheass @takemyopenheart @justanotherrookie @honeyandsunfl0wers @maurine07  @grandnachoconnoisseur @dr-ramseys-rookie @myusualnerdyself @mrs-raleighcarrera @akshara16 @wingedhairstylemusicweasel​ @alookseeblog​

Song: If You Love Her by Forest Blakk

Ethan tried very hard to not look like he was running – and was failing spectacularly.

Some of his colleagues had to dodge out of his way as he strode through the hallways, white coat fluttering behind him, hands stuffed into the pockets. Slipping into the stairwell, the attending took two steps at a time, reaching the bottom floor quickly.

The atrium was packed, lit by the bright gray sky beyond the ceiling windows - reminding him that he was supposed to be busy in his office right now. Christmas was just around the corner, and after Edenbrook’s reopening, the paperwork had simply piled up, barely giving him time to bring some distance between him and his desk.

He dreaded going back already - but there was something he had to take care of first. Something that felt pivotal for his motivation right now.

Turning his head, Ethan let his eyes wander through the spacious room, from the stairs to the entrance and back again. Finally, he spotted a mess of golden locks, tucked into the usual practical ponytail.

She was with her friends, Trinh and Varma, already dressed in her day-to-day clothes, the strap of her bag slung over one shoulder. The two other women gave her a hug, shooing her along.

Ethan couldn’t help but feel silly when her bell-like, resounding laugh made his heart lurch in his chest, lifting his mood immediately.

Anna turned on her heels with one last wave and headed towards the doors, tucking up her scarf and the lapels of her jacket to ward off the oncoming cold. He waited until her friends went back to their conversation before following her, maneuvering through the crowd and catching up with the younger doctor in the light snowdrift outside.

His hand on her shoulder coaxed a tiny yelp from her, hazel eyes looking up at him with a gratified sort of wonder.

"Ethan? What-"

The older doctor cut Anna off by directing her against the wall framing the entrance, cupping her chin and gently tilting it up for easier access. The kiss was rougher than he would have liked, muscle memory taking over as he nipped on the corner of her mouth.

His former intern, however, didn’t seem to mind, parting her lips with a soft sigh.

Sliding his hands to the back of her jaw, he drew Anna closer, the sugary taste of her dissipating the rest of his stress. He smiled when she grew boneless against him, delicate fingers twirling his tie.

Eventually, they had to come up for oxygen, both drawing away with barely audible hums. Anna’s thoroughly addled expression filled him with an odd pride, her lashes fluttering against her reddened cheeks.

"Is it my birthday?“ she breathed. "Did I accidentally invent the cure for cancer? There must be something I did to deserve this."

"Actually, I just... wanted to wish you a good day," Ethan murmured, tucking a lock behind her ear. "We barely saw each other the past few days. I feel like I can’t catch a break at the moment."

Tenderness seeped into her gaze, liquefying the color to a point where he wanted to drown in it and never come out again.

"Did this help?"

He chuckled. "More than you know."

"Well, feel free to do that anyti-"

"Anna?"

Ethan jumped away from her, whirling around.

This is what you get for leaving your office, a perfidious voice nagged at the very back of his tumbling thoughts.

The tip of his ears flushed hot and he had to force himself to not look away from the woman standing a few feet from them, a grin plastered on her face.

"Hi, gran," Anna offered weakly, pushing herself off the wall. "You, um, you remember Doctor Ramsey?"

Greta Dawson gave them both an impish wink. "Hard to forget this one, right?" She looked between the two for a moment. "You don’t call him 'doctor' usually though, do you? Not that I’m one to judge."

Jesus.

Ethan rubbed the flushed back of his neck, desperately trying to find his dignity among the thick snowflakes swirling from the sky.

He had met Anna’s pint-sized grandmother a little over a year ago, after assisting in an operation that had ultimately saved her life. She was a cheeky, terrifying force of nature, intimidating in a very specific way. Mostly because meeting her had felt substantial – even then. Greta was the only relative Anna had left and as such, the older doctor didn’t want to make a bad impression.

Which he probably just did. Wonderful.

Straightening his shoulders and clearing his throat, he offered his palm. "It’s nice to see you again, Greta." The old woman chortled, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Likewise, Doctor Dreamy.“

Next to him, Anna groaned, burying her face against his chest. "Please take me back to work." Despite his still burning ears, Ethan frowned down at her. "Absolutely not. You worked the longest shifts this week." The blonde answered his frown with one of her own. "Traitor."

Her pout was distracting and painfully cute, his Adam’s apple bobbing at the sight. "Go," he urged after a moment of indulgence. "Spend some time with your family.“ The jig was already up, so he leaned down to press another gentle kiss to her lips, this one far more modest than he would have liked. "I’ll see you on Monday."

"I have a better idea," Greta interrupted cheerfully, twiddling her fingers at the two doctors. "How about you join our dinner tomorrow?" Opening and closing her mouth, Anna glanced at Ethan while shuffling her feet. "I mean I... I like that thought. We're making lasagna?"

There was that coyness of hers again, making him wonder if she really didn’t know how utterly charming she was – and that there were very few things that he wouldn't do for her.

"I like that thought too,“ he said, his voice quiet but certain, giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.  “Call me when you get home?“

"I will." Anna brushed her thumb along his scruffy jaw, smiling hesitantly.

"Have fun, Rookie." His blues flicked over to her grandmother, who was watching their exchange with obvious curiosity. "And, ah, you too, Greta."

The old woman winked once again. "We’ll see you tomorrow, Ethan."

“Damn.”

Anna stared into the mirror, grimacing at the smudge of mascara, just below her left eye. Sighing, she slipped the tiny brush back into the silver tube, exchanging it for q-tip to correct the mistake.

Her fingers were still shaky.

Wiping the black from her skin, she tried not to think about the man waiting for her in the kitchen – a hard thing to do when there were reminders of him all around her.

Her toothbrush rested next to his in a tall cup on the spacious sink.

Her towel occupied a shelf next to the shower.

His cologne and her perfume both permeated the air.

Reminders of him – reminders of them. All things she never would have thought possible half a year ago. Usually, the sight of shared commitment was a beautiful, giddiness-inducing facet of their relationship for her. Tonight, she couldn't help but wonder if Ethan was feeling smothered by it all.

Dinner with her grandmother was a step Anna hadn't even considered until she had caught them red-handed yesterday. Greta knew about Ethan, knew about the chaotic circumstances that had brought them together at last, but she had never expressed the wish to meet him in an official capacity.

Just one of the many firsts that he had been a part of.

Taking a deep breath, the young doctor tossed the q-tip into the trash bin, smoothing her hands along the burgundy fabric of her casual dress and her black tights – a last effort to calm herself.

The hallway outside of the bathroom was much cooler, making Anna shiver as she made her way to the kitchen.

Ethan was leaning against the island, his crisp white oxford peeking through his unbuttoned coat. Tapping away on his phone, he uncrossed his legs, dark slacks rustling quietly. He looked a little bit unreal in the dim light. An apparition, summoned by the farthest reaches of her mind.

“You're staring,” he informed her, finally looking up and interrupting her ogling.

Anna tried her hardest not to appear embarrassed, but her traitorous face heated at the comment anyway.

“You look nice,” she muttered, casting her gaze to the ceiling for a moment before meeting his once again.

Ethan chuckled, pushing himself off the island and crossing the distance between them. “You just stole my line.” His eyes swept over the dress, the blue heavy and eager. “Though 'nice' seems very much insufficient.” Stopping a few inches away from her, he pressed a lingering kiss to Anna's cheekbone. “You're stunning.”

The warmth in his voice broke her heart just a little. Anna wrapped her arms around his waist, letting his scent wash over her. Ethan stilled, one of his hands finding the back of her neck and weaving through the loose golden curls there. He didn't say anything right away, granting this moment of respite.

“You're nervous, aren't you.”

Perceptive as ever.

She released a long breath and traced the pattern of his coat. “Not because of the dinner itself.” Lifting her head, she studied his face before pressing on. “I'm just wondering if you're alright. We've really picked up the pace.”

Surprised, Ethan raised his brows. “Are you asking me if I have cold feet?”

“I... suppose I am.”

“Anna.” There was a note of gentle admonishment in his voice, urging her to listen. “You're here every second weekend. Yesterday, I practically begged you to come over, because we're barely seeing each other at work. Does that sound like I'm questioning my decision to be with you?” His lips brushed her temple. “I'll admit that your grandmother terrifies me. But that doesn't mean I don't want to get to know her better.”

“Well, now I feel silly,” she murmured sheepishly.

Ethan huffed out a soft laugh, tickling the shell of her ear. “Maybe I like that about you.” He pulled away, eyes crinkling at the corners. “You and your busy brain.” Lacing their fingers for a brief moment, he nodded his head towards the door. “Ready to go?”

“As ready as I'll ever be,” Anna sighed, letting him help her put on her jacket and lead her out of the apartment.

The drive to her grandmother's place felt far too short.

Her leg wiggled every time they passed another green light, forcing Ethan to rest his palm on it to soothe her. He did so wordlessly, keeping it there until he shut off the motor and offering it to her when they walked up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment complex. She took it, ever grateful for his quiet support.

The blonde fumbled with her set of keys when they reached the door, almost dropping them when it opened on it's own, revealing a her apron-clad grandmother.

“Gran,” she chastised, letting the old woman pull her into a hug. “Were you waiting by the door?”

“Nonsense, dear,” Greta sniffed, rubbing her back with a little too much enthusiasm.

Anna could practically hear the lie in her affronted tone, masking her pained sigh with a small cough. “Right. A preposterous notion.”

“Just as preposterous as denying me this view for past few months.” Her grandmother gestured over to Ethan, who had watched their exchange with a subdued smile. “The women in our family did always have an eye for the finer things in life, I must say,” she mused. “Come in, you two.”

Anna couldn't help but swallow as she watched Ethan hang up his coat and enter her childhood home. The furniture, the décor and even the comforting smell of chamomile and laundry detergent was the same, reminding her of days past.

With him in the middle of it all, it felt like two separate dimensions colliding and forming something she couldn't quite name. He looked both out of place and like he belonged as they followed Greta into the kitchen.

Handing her grandmother the expensive bottle of Château Monbrison the young doctor had chosen from his wine stash a few hours ago, Ethan rubbed the side of neck. “Anna told me this is your favorite. Thank you again for the invitation.”

Greta regarded him with amusement. “That's a very sweet gesture, Ethan. Tell me, how good is your cooking?”

“I -” At a loss for words, he looked over at Anna.

“He's great,” she affirmed hastily, flushing at her choice of defense. “I mean his cooking. It's great. Very good.”

“Wonderful. How about you help me prepare the rest of the lasagna then, my boy?” Her grandmother patted Anna's shoulder. “Could you be a dear and set the table? I've already left the plates in the dining room.”

“But-”

“Snowbell.” Greta brushed a lock out of her granddaughters face. “Don't worry. You'll get him back without even one hair out of place.”

On her way out of the kitchen, Anna caught Ethan's gaze, the two doctors exchanging a small, equally nervous smile before they were separated.

In the quiet of the dining room, the blonde took a shaky breath, trying to sort her thoughts as she moved plates, glasses and silverware around.

She should have expected this.

Anna trusted and loved her grandmother, dearly, but she could be a bit much at times. Then again, she had never taken such an interest in any of her partners. In Canada, she had been too far away to truly introduce her first long-term boyfriend and once she had finally returned to Boston, the relationship was already over.

And Michael – well. Nothing good had come of being with him.

Ethan was the most complicated man she had ever met by far – but he was her future. The thought strengthened every day she spend with him, every time she looked into his eyes and every time he held her close.

It was far too soon to tell him, however.

And that was exactly why she was nervous about the prospect of her Greta and Ethan alone together.

“You've been holding that fork for quite a while now.”

Startled out of her musings, Anna turned around, almost stumbling into the older doctor. He caught her by the elbows, gently prying the silverware from her fingers and setting it down.

“You're done already?” she wondered, blinking at him.

Ethan chuckled. “It's been a little over ten minutes. Lost in thought again?”

“...Can you blame me?”

“No,” he admitted. “But it wasn't as bad as you probably imagined. You're supposed to show me your room, by the way. Something about it being the prelude to embarrassing baby pictures.”

The blonde groaned, hooking her arm around his and pulling him back into the hallway. “Fine. But you better be gentle. It hasn't been renovated since I was sixteen.”

“I thought you liked it when I'm not gentle,” Ethan teased, earning himself a smack to his chest when they entered the room on the far end.

Closing the battered wood behind them, Anna watched nervously as he moved to the middle of the room, his height dwarfing the old furniture to ridiculous proportions.

His gaze wandered over the walls, the faded teal plastered over by posters and photographs. Taking a few steps closer to the scratched up vanity next to her bed, the older doctor plucked a picture from the frame of the mirror.

She fought to urge to take it from him, mashing her lips together.

Her twenty-year-old self in this particular photo looked like a textbook nerd, much shorter locks braided into two pigtails and clutching her acceptance letter for Boston's med school, while she and Greta grinned at the camera.

Ethan reattached the picture with another chuckle. Then, his gaze fell on her nightstand - and on the book sitting on it.

More specifically, his book.

The unassuming cover was well worn, some of the pages dog-eared. Picking it up, he thumbed through it, raising a brow at Anna.

"What?" she asked a bit too forcefully, cheeks burning.

His mouth twitched, eventually losing the fight against the complacent expression overtaking his features.

"Someone’s a fan," he hummed. "Want to me to sign this one too?"

"That depends," the blonde huffed, crossing her arms. "Do I need to undertake another ridiculous task before you do it?“

Grinning, Ethan tossed the book back and crooked a finger at her. "How about you come over here and kiss me, Rookie? You can decide after if that’s asking too much."

"You’re ridiculous," she murmured, walking up to him hesitantly and slipping her hands around his neck with a pout. Something utterly triumphant twinkled in his deep blues as he craned his head down, meeting her in the middle.

The kiss was soft, slow and warm, tasting faintly of toothpaste. Ethan wrapped his arms around Anna’s waist, lifting her from her tiptoes and setting her down on the bed, his lips never leaving hers.

There was a comfort in his body covering her own, the pleasant buzz of it all coaxing a faint moan from her throat.

Eventually, they had to come up for air, Ethan’s nose nuzzling her cheek.

"You know, you're the first guy to make out with me on this bed," she said thoughtfully and brushed her knuckles over his jaw, enjoying the texture of his beard against her skin.

The attending pushed himself onto one elbow, his free fingers mapping the curve of her hip. "I'm not sure how much more information my ego can take. I'm this close to begging for mercy."

"Oh my god." Anna pulled him back to her by his hair, their laughter mingling until they were breathless once more.

Eventually, Ethan rolled off to the side, facing the younger doctor on the mattress. It was oddly soothing, having him share the tiny bed with her. A peaceful little bubble, after the start of what was bound to be an eventful afternoon.

It gave her courage to ask the question sitting at the forefront of her mind.

“What did you and my grandmother talk about?”

Ethan's jaw tensed for a brief second, his palm lifting to find her face.

“She told me about the state you were in the week after I had left for the Amazon.” His calloused thumb drew a half circle. “And to be more careful with your heart this time around.”

“Or she'll put you six-feet-under?” Anna questioned weakly.

“No.” He gave a slight shake of his head. “No, she asked me while offering me a glass of wine. She's just worried, princess. And she has every right to be.”

“Ethan...”

“I can't ever take back what I did, Anna,” he sighed. “We both know that. You forgive me so easily every time I mess up and I shouldn't take it for granted. Even your endless patience will run out eventually.”

“You're worth it. You always were.”

Hazel and blue connected, both achingly soft.

“So are you.”

Unspoken words, unspoken emotions, enriched by the dim light falling through pale curtains, drowning the space in silence and contentment.

“Should we get back?” Anna murmured, careful not to disturb the tender moment with her voice. “My grandmother is probably waiting for us.”

“In a minute.” Forehead tipping down to meet hers, Ethan dragged her close, breathing her in. “In a minute, sweetheart.”

A/N: So cheesy. Was a lot of fun to write though :3

[liaisun]

Hi hope you don’t mind me asking but what is the monster therapy Au? Is it different from the other monster Au? It sounds cool whatever it is!

omg thank u for asking!!!!!! i love talking abt my aus its always welcome<3 when i saw u sent me an ask i got so excited JSJDKF also because i feel like you'd like it 👁️

yes!!! they r 2 different aus. so the monster therapy au is based off of this prompt: "You're a psychologist. Your speciality is monsters, who lack the self-confidence to actually scare anyone." and as soon as i saw it i was like BEE @ KEVIN!!!! it just clicked. honestly it does kinda have monsters inc vibes LOL, but in the sense like monster society values how scary u are.

so kevin is recently turned and undead; he's Tall, he's Intimidating but……. he's not scary. once you get to know him, what's there to be afraid of? HE'S the one who's scared. always. he's terrified. he's a coward—

once i read this thing about vampires going through the 5 stages of grief after theyve been turned and i kinda applied that here!!! even just being turned into a monster, thrust into this world u don't understand, really messes u up. most monsters are just born of the void, some are abstract and incomprehensible to the eye (powerful), some can switch between those forms and more corporeal ones, others are seen in various folklore and/or are human-like, but with other characteristics. then, people can become one after they die, either by being turned by another or being unable to rest, usually due to trauma. humans and monsters Don't coexist, so u lose everything and everyone you've ever known… compound that with some very traumatic experiences leading up to kevin's death and the death itself courtesy of one Ư̵͙̪N̵̺̲̊T̴͎̒̽H̸͎̔̉Í̸͓N̶̝̂́Ǩ̸͇̅Ä̵͕́̍B̸͇͐L̷̻̱̈́É̷̗ ̵͙͈͑̃Ň̶͓A̴̡̼̎M̸͊̊͜Ě̶̹͠ (UNTHINKABLE NAME) and bam. monster therapy time for kevin day

fear is a really big part of the story. it's what kevin tells bee is the defining characteristic of a monster; those who create it (everyone else), and those who feel it (him). ANDREW <3 his friend??? protector? small threatening omnipresent companion no one dares to cross after he devoured 4 higher souls on his first day undead? is someone who kev aspires to be. to him andrew embodies what a monster should be.

when i say kevin is recently turned i lied JSHSJF he was turned a while ago, but he was stuck as a little ball of fright (imagine the soot sprites from spirited away) in the shadows. one day andrew came across him and took him in, kept him safe and eventually…. kevin started changing. (inspired by the invisible children from moomin, kids who turn invisible after abuse but can become visible again with love and care and safety). kevin is a full being now, an actual monster, but he doesn't feel like it at all, which is where our story begins, with him talking to bee about this.

also because i am incapable of not including all three boys - neil! he is a complete shadow, dark and quiet and always moving, never taking any specific form. he's very interesting in their — kinda a mix of kandrew both. neil isn't frozen with fear like kevin was; he has bite and he isn't afraid of other monsters, has great power like andrew, but he's controlled by the past. even in a new life, he's still running, still invisible for the sake of survival.

the story isn't a romance (QUEERPLATONIC ROTATIONS) but it is full of love and trust. for example, kandrew: the dynamic between them is so important!!!!! foundation of thr au. the parallel and contrast of the times where kevin was vulnerable when a powerful person came 2 him; it destroyed kevin the first time, but now, with andrew by his side, it allows kevin 2 heal. also i think andrew became stronger while taking care of kevin in the beginning because his power wasn't running on anger and spite anymore, but protection 🥺

kevneil relationship: for kevin, i think neil entering his life in the same position kevin was/is in (but now having drew by his side) gives him new perspective . understanding . compassion too.

for neil, having people, tethers, support even in the smallest ways, makes him more real. brings him out. not in a physical sense— having a body most of the time is weird for him after changing for so long. he'll never choose or stick to one form, either. but overall, he's more settled in his existence, starts to see himself as an actual being, find his identity. even if he is Nothing, he's Nothing in the sense of a void, a black hole, and neil's been collecting bits of the world for years.

and although this au is kevin pov, i think a 2nd part with bee's pov and her different monster patients, the foxes, would be super fun :] (and more fitting of the prompt) so who knows.. . and if u want 2 know anything abt Other monster au (or any other monster au i have. so many) as well, i am here ;>

finally, here is a tidbit that doesn't fit the tone of this at all but i couldnt keep 2 myself LOL - there is a human-monster hotline u can call to speak to a liaison if u suspect monstrous activity in ur area! the number is 1-666-3005 and the Monster Identification Listing Force (MILF) is the organizer and even has an infomercial on human TV. for a generous donation of YOUR SOUL (ahem. 50¢) u can buy monster repellent. is it holy water? no, that's a common misconception - it is actually just unfiltered tap water because that stuff has so many metals in it the monsters take psychic damage near it<3 works like a charm

[not-so-secret-wonderland]

hi i need someone to talk about some shit with me because like, call me crazy but

Luna Lovegood

as half french/ greek on her father’s side

and half Japanese on her mother’s

with the lineage Luna draws from both ancient Kitsune spirits and the Oracle Pythia

no wonder she knows so many things she shouldn’t and sees things no one else can, she has her eyes opened and waiting for the truth

like the truth about her cousin Draco, how Narcissa doesn’t even care about the war, and how much better their chances would be if the Malfoy’s stood on the side of the light.

her mother always called her Myōbu after the silver fox that used to dance above her head, whispering and chasing the light

she hasn’t seen the fox since Pandora died, but she knows he’s there

Draco Malfoy

A mix of the Black and Malfoy families, both powerful in their own rights

inheriting the power of the Shadow People from his mother, sneaking around the castle and not getting caught, having to lie so much it becomes his second nature, his number one defense against Voldy Modly, because he knows what lurks in the shadows is much scarier than a troubled man

the Veela Hydra that the Malfoys have drawn from for centeries effects his every walk with beauty, arrogance, and a surprising amount of power when he’s forced into dangerous situations, or angered beyond control

he fears someone will find out what he really looks like when he gets angry, but when Harry manages to almost die and he ends up yelling at the boy until his eyes are flashing and his hair is levitating, Harry just calls him beautiful

and because his stupid boyfriend didn’t realize that all the old wizard families are connected to ancient magic, they dive headfirst into research with Luna’s help.

Harry Potter

Snakes, he should’ve known snakes would be in his past, after all surely those who can Speak existed before Riddle

the ancestors on his father’s side are notorious for their snake dealings, some of them handlers, some of them working with the healing staff of Asclepius himself

drawing from Asclepius, Medusa, and Nagas, using magic like the distant realities he never got to know isn’t enough, but he doesn’t even realize his mother drew from the Sphinxes until Luna tells him

Harry learns the languages of his ancestors and wears them, and their snake affinity, with pride

his friends get roped into the new language thing too, don’t worry

Sirius and Remus

Harry demands they fire call the two and learn more, Draco doesn’t expect to but he does

Sirius also draws from the Shadow People, as most of the Blacks do. How else could he have snuck out of azkaban? Or hidden in plain sight for so long? but the Shadows don’t have to be bad, after all everyone always goes to the shade when it gets too hot

Remus can’t remember where he drew from before the Wolf. Once the infection is in ones body, werewolves mainly draw from the moon, it’s not all bad

Harry says that’s why he’s so calm all the time, Draco hits him for being rude, but Remus laughs and says the Shadows have always worked for him

The Weasley’s

Harry should probably be less surprised because of course they inherit most of their magic from Fire Spirits

though he does remember with fear the one time he actually made Ron mad and the air around them had gotten weirdly hot

he supposes it makes a lot of sense

but even more so is the Pranking Foxes of Huehuecoyotl Mr. Weasley calls on sometimes

Fred and George pefer that magic to the fire sprites, but not everyone can be so picky

no wonder their prank shop is doing so well, Mcgonagall is going to retire the second she finds out

Blaise Zabini

Blaise rolls his eyes when Harry asks, but Draco’s glaring at him so he divulges

His mother hails from the ancient Voodoo Priestesses and the Sirens that refuse to let sailors steal their gold

How else would she lure men in and get rid of them without a trace?

apparently the only reason his father made it as long as he did was because he drew from the Nymphs

Blaise refuses to tell him any Voodoo secrets and promptly kicks them out before Harry can start begging

Pansy Parkinson

It’s no secret that she’s the best seamstress in the school, rumor has it that she makes her ball dresses by hand because it takes less time than finding someone who actually does it right

Her family goes back nearly as far and the Potter’s, only instead of snakes she got spiders

Harry suddenly gets why Ron was always so afraid of her, but the more she tells him the more it makes sense

the eldest being the Djieien, and while Pans may not be a monster she’s defiantly hidden her heart ages ago so she didn’t get killed by Death Eaters

her father gives her the gift of being able a long defendant of Anansi, which really explains how she manages to know everything about everyone, even the first years

Harry decides that’s more knowledge than he feels comfortable with and makes a note not to cross her

Cho Chang

turns out her and Cedric are literally perfect for each other because they both draw from the dragons

Cho, her given name Nà-Huì after the stories passed down from her mother’s ancestors of the kind, gentle dragon Qilin that always wanted them of their choices and implored them to think of more than one solution to a problem

Her nickname comes from her father’s linage with Chollima. he tells her every day that she is too wonderful for anyone to ever control her

but when she meets cedric who hails from the water pixies and sunflower wyverns she doesn’t feel controlled she feels free

Millicent Bulstrode

They’re embarrassed to admit they have magic from trolls

Harry pats them on the back and says he sees it, which almost gets him punched in the face until he explains

Millie is a huge hoarder, but only if it matters. They keep the tickets from the concerts their mom used to take her too, the notebooks, poetry, dresses that they’ll never wear, makeup they hate, even the little squid their mom got them first year just because it reminds them of their mom

They also refuse to throw away the ugly blanket Pansy had made of the Slythetin crew as a joke, the ‘potter sticks’ button, or anything that reminds them of their friends.

Harry reminds them that there’s nothing wrong with being selfish when all you want is happy times with your friends.

Hermione Granger

after hearing about all her friends and how they all have some cool relation to magic, she feels rather down

Luna thinks it’s quite silly

so she gathers everyone around and tells them of the Owl of Athena, rumored to the greeks as a messager but really a creature so intelligent and woven into the daily lives of people that no one would think about their magic

something has to run all the owl networks and have a constant flow of information, but that information is so sacred it’s said the owl only chooses an inheriter every hundred years

but those who are chosen become the brighter spell casters of their times

and Hermione is near tears so she throws her arms around Luna, who can really only think of how similar her friend is to the owl griffin that’s so clearly in her bloodline

there’s just so much more that could happen?????

[leelee10898]

Double Trouble

Hey guys, @leelee10898 here. Since @cocomaxley & @ao719 posted their birth story... I figured I should get off my butt and do one, considering the twins were due months before them lol. This is just a little something I threw together, it also answers a few questions some had. So here we go...

Alicia leaned back against her husbands chest as she watched their twins enjoy the puppet show with the other kids. So many things had changed in a years time. The wild fun loving group were now all parents, they traded beers for bottles, and the guys weekly poker game turned into once a month, and weekly play dates. "Penny for your thoughts love?" Leo whispered in her ear. "Just thinking how fast time flies. It feels like yesterday they were born, and now they are 1." She sighed.

"Oh I remember it well." Leo chuckled as the two thought back to the day that changed their lives forever.

1 year ago…..

"God its so hot." Alicia whined as she fanned herself.  It was unseasonably hot and humid for April, and here they were sitting at a garden party to celebrate Regina's birthday. "I'm sorry love. I know you're miserable, how about a glass of Ice water?" Leo gave her a sympathetic smile, and a kiss on the cheek. "Ok fine. But a big one,  with lots of Ice." She pouted, as Leo motioned to a nearby waiter. "Oh, and a cookie. chocolate chip, no oatmeal raisin. Wait, No. yes. Ok bring both." Slightly confused the waiter wandered off to retrieve the duchess's requested items. Leo walked over to join the guys leaving Alicia with the other ladies.

"God its hot. Who the hell planned this?" Anitah huffed. "Um you did." Genevieve rolled her eyes. "Jesus I swear this pregnancy brain is going to be the death of me. I almost forgot to put underwear on this morning." She popped a grape in her mouth. "It is hot, but its a very nice day. Maybe you guys can go inside to cool off?" Pam suggested. Finally the waiter came back with Alicia's water and cookies. "How are you holding up honey?" Pam turned to Alicia who looked like she was stung by a bee. "Im hot, im huge, I can't see my feet. Speaking of feet, they're swollen and the amount of pressure and cramping today may just kill me." She blurted out, pam gave her a questioning look.

"God im sorry Pam. I didn't mean to snap, I just. Oh, ooooh, ugh." She cringed as she grabbed her stomach. Anitah shot her a look. "What's going on over there?"

"These damn Braxton hicks." Alicia grunted. "You sure its not gas?" Genevieve snickered. "Trust me, if I fart you'll know it Gen."

She composed herself and focused on picking at the cookie in front of her. Not having much of an appetite anymore, she took deep breaths trying to keep the pain at bay. The ladies chattered around her, Leo still talking to the guys.

Suddenly Alicia's eyes went wide. "My. My water broke." Genevieve looked over placing her hand on Alicia's "that's ok honey,  we'll get you another." Pam looked down at the liquid dripping from the chair. "Um Gen, no. Her water broke. The twins are coming."

Genevieve and Anitah froze, pure fear in their eyes. Alicia let out a long loud groan.  "Oh god. It's happening." Anitah panicked standing and knocking over her chair, Genevieve following suit. The two began to freak out, while Pam tried to soothe Alicia. The commotion drew the attention of the whole party, Leo grinning widely in conversation as he turned to face his wife. The smile soon faded as his eyes landed on Alicia's pain stricken face.

Leo took off running across the lawn, tripping over the leg of a table holding a large ice sculpture in the form of a swan. He landed in a rolling heap on the lawn, the table flipping over sending the ice sculpture into the air, landing in the fountain where Madeline, Kiara and Alexis stood, soaking them from head to toe. Bastian had Brad bring a car around, as Liam and Drake helped Alicia across the lawn. "My bag. Its in our car." Alicia breathed out, Rashad volunteered to grab it while Leo limped next to his wife.

They arrived at the hospital, Leo was treated for a sprain and Alicia was rushed to a delivery room.  Anitah, Liam, Drake, pam, Rashad and Genevieve sat in the private waiting area down the hall from the delivery room. Maxwell was in Texas visiting with Stephanie and Evie, Liam called him to let him know that Alicia was having the twins.

"You're 8 centimeters your grace. Not much longer until these babies are here." Another strong contraction hit her like a ton of bricks.  "Arrrrggg Fuuuuck! It hurts." She sobbed. "Leo, we are never having sex again." Leo chuckled as he rubbed his wife's damp head. "I think we both know thats not true."

"The fuck it isnt! Bambam better not come anywhere near pebblesssss, ahhhhh my god fuckkkk it hurts."

Leo's face turned a deep red as the nurse snickered.

Anitah paced the floor. "Anitah, sit down you're gonna wear the tile out." Genevieve teased as rashad rubbed her feet. "I can't just sit. Its been hours, we haven't heard anything yet. What if something's wrong?" Liam came up placing his hands on her shoulders.  "Everything is fine my love." Anitah glanced at the door opening it a crack and sticking her head out. She heard a blood curdling scream come from down the hall, a few doctors and nurses rushing into the room Alicia was in. Before Liam could grab her Anitah bolted out the door, down the hall and into Alicia's room where she could see a small head crowning.  

A doctor approached the queen, who was looking a bit green in the face "your majesty, are you ok? You don't look so well." He questioned

"Oh, im fi-" She leaned over vomiting on his shoes.  "Fine." She lifted her head just in time to see another doctor hold a tiny baby up, and hear a tiny cry. Anitah joined Leo next to Alicia. "One down, one more to go." The doctor said. "I had to make sure you were ok." Anitah sniffled as she looked down at the new baby in her bestfriends arms. "Will you stay here for the next one?" Alicia sniffled. "Of course." Shortly after Baby A was born, baby B made their way into the world. After the nurses cleaned them up and Leo and Alicia had time alone the group entered the room. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Leonard Joshua and Arabella Faith."

Leonard or LJ for short was born first  weighing 7lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. Arabella was born 2nd weighing 6lbs 10 oz and 19 ½ inches long. Both babies were healthy, and did not need to spend any time in the NICU.

******

"So when are you two gonna make the announcement?" A voice pulled them from their thoughts. They looked over to find Stephanie sitting there. They both gave her a questioning look. "Oh come on. I may not live in Cordonia anymore, but Im not stupid." Stephanie had made the decision to move back home to Texas to care for her sick mother. Maxwell and her both made the amicable decision to divorce, but still loved each other very much. He would travel to Texas to visit and occasionally Stephanie could come visit Cordonia, just like for the twins birthday.

"Well I guess now is as good a time as any." Alicia squeezed Leos hand. They walked over getting everyone's attention.  "We want to thank everyone for coming today. And Celebrating the twins birthday. But, we also have an announcement to make." Alicia looked to Leo who then grinned. "We're having a baby. Just one this time." He smirked.

The group congratulated the pair. Drake looked at Liam and shook his head, pulling a crisp $100 bill from his wallet "Damnit Liam, I should've known better then to take that bet. Liam smirked "what can I say. I know my brother,  and I'm pretty sure those two will end up having the most kids out of all of us."

Drake rolled his eyes. "Ok, fair. But how about a new bet." Liam looked at his best friend intrigued "I bet Rashad and Gen are next." Liam chucked "I'll take that bet."

Tag List: @annekebbphotography @carabeth @moneyfordiamonds @give-me-ernest-sinclaire @3pawandme @indiacater @ooo-barff-ooo @ownworldresident @tornbetween2loves @perfectprofessorherokid @stopforamoment @editboutique @wannabemc2 @zaffrenotes @enmchoices @lauradowning29 @lodberg @smalltalk88 @laniquelove-blog @gibbles82 @heatherfilliez @drakesensworld @nikkis1983 @sweetest-marbear @classylady1234 @daniv2278 @rainbowsinthestorm @jared2612 @liamxs-world @notoriouscs @blubutterflyy @captain-kingliamsqueen @whenyourheartskipsabeat @lynne1993 @coldcollectornight08 @be-still-my-aching-heart @kennaxval @the-soot-sprite @hopefulmoonobject @emichelle @cgd03 @kate-mckenzie @mfackenthal @crookedslimecreatorpasta @jemrmax2love @sashatrr @speedyoperarascalparty @riseandshinelittleblossom

[staytiny-angel]

Safe Haven 4/?

Rating: E

Pairings: Drew McIntyre/Becky Lynch, Eventually Drew McIntyre/Becky Lynch/Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley/Renee Young, Sasha Banks/Bayley/Charlotte Flair, Mandy Rose/Trent Seven, Jordan Devlin/Millie McKenzie, Ruby Riott/Liv Morgan

Warnings for this Chapter: mentions of violence

Chapter Summary: Drew and Becky get to know their new mate better while meeting members of his unorthodox family, Plans are made to rescue Roman from Heyman's evil clutches.

Taglist:

@hitory--chan @sethsevolution @finnsauroraborealis @the-beastslayers-queen @pikapuff316 @writinglionqueen @writtingrose

"SETHIE!" Seth hadn't even made it back to town before being tackled by a overly hyperactive blonde girl.

"I missed you too Liv" Seth groaned, slightly out of breath.

"You're lucky I'm here and not Rubes, she's very mad at ya"

Seth grimaced at the thought of seeing his older sister.

"Hey! Redhead!" Liv yelled at Becky. "Is this too basic" she gestured at her hair.

"Um-"

"You're right, too boring" Liv pulled out a compact mirror and smiled at it, Becky and Drew staring in shock as her hair turned bubblegum pink.

"How?" Drew asked Seth.

"Liv's a chaos fairy. Hyper 24/7, pranks everybody. C'mon brat" Liv squealed and hopped onto his back..

"Hey Livvie, Mom conjured my clothes..would you mind?" Seth asked his sister's girlfriend

Drew and Becky watched curiously as the unremarkable clothes Seth's mother had put on him morphed into dark-grey skinny jeans and a blood-red t-shirt.

"Hair too?" the fairy asked

"Yes please."

Seth shook his head and a quarter of it immediately went blond "There ya go Sethie! You look like you again, only bigger!" Liv giggles, patting the wolf on the head.

"Thanks Livvy" Seth grinned. "You're still small though"

"I'm still bigger than Millie!" Liv managed to kick Seth in the hip. "Good luck apologizing to everyone. Trent's mad because you made Tyler cry!"

"Tyler always cries!"

"Okay true, but you also made Mandy upset!"

"How long have you been away from home?" Becky asks

"I haven't lived in Haven in 8 years. I lost contact with everyone 18 months ago." Seth explained

"Dude the only reason we didn't completely lose it was because we still felt you through the pack bond" Liv tells him "We knew you weren't dead but...it was hard, anyway so why are you with the newbies?" Liv asked as they made their way to the main house.

"They're my mates." Seth said simply.

"Oooooh, Sethie's got two mates!" Liv said excitedly. Becky looking at her with caution. "I need to see Sarah, you are making me coffee later!" Liv hugged him and skipped off, Becky and Drew watching her.

"I've only heard of chaos fairies, she was...unique" Becky said.

"I need to remind Ceasero she's not allowed any caffeine" Seth said shaking his head

The three mates walked along the path back to the town in silence after Liv left. None of them really knowing what to say.

"So you guys have had this town for a long time?" Becky finally broke the increasingly uncomfortable tension

"My grandparents founded Haven. Grandfather...used to run a circus and all of the acts were different beings. When he retired, everyone just settled here. Haven was these old fairgrounds and some of the woods surrounding it."

"A Circus?" Drew exclaimed

"Grandfather was a warlock, especially skilled in persuasion and he figured it would be a way for him and his friends to not only use their abilities for profit, but to not have to hide as much. Normies will ignore most Supe shit if they think its a trick"

"Absolutely true, they're dense as hell" Becky replied.

"So, you knew Finn?" Seth asked.

"Sort of, his name was Prince back then, always wondered what happened, not surprised that vampires had something to do with it...when they helped save you. I can't believe I just said that" Becky facepalmed, remembering what Mox and Stephanie had said.

Seth smiled and shook his head "I know Haven is an odd case. Weird even amongst the weird. I mean, I'm the Wolf/Warlock hybrid that claims a Lion, a Witch, a Vampire Queen and a Vampire thats the vessel for a literal demon king for parents. Weird is kinda my thing"

"Do you remember that night?" Becky asked. Seth looked down, toying with his amulet before sitting down.

"A little. I remember being in a car with my mommy and daddy" Seth said in a faraway voice "The was a big flash of light and loud noise, and then I was flying through the woods. I had bite marks on the back of my neck. Knowing now what I know about my bio parents, I think my Mom shifted and was carrying me through the woods by the scruff of my neck."

Becky hesitantly reached over and touched the top of Seth's bowed head. Drew looking on silently. It seemed like his spitfire was already growing attached to the younger man, while Drew himself was more hesitant. Seth lived...by Drew's upbringing, an unnatural life. Haven was a lot to get used to and he'd had Becky to himself for so long.

"Do you think it's possible that your mom changed you?" Drew asked. "To protect you?"

"Could be I don't know" Seth pulled his hair. "I don't like thinking about it"

"Hey brat" A girl said, materializing next to the three. She was holding a coffee cup and had red lowlights and was so pale, Drew thought she could be a vampire.

"Hey, Ruby." Seth said quietly, "Guys this is one of my sisters."

"Yo." The girl greeted them easily and handed her brother the Chicago Bears to-go mug "One Double Chocolate Cappuccino, courtesy of Cesaro. Figured you could use it, heard you haven't had coffee in a year or so."

"No espresso?" Seth groaned.

"You know he puts too much in" Ruby said, "Besides I want to be able to sleep tonight. Your howling was obnoxious" she turned to Drew and Becky. "If either of you hurt my little brother, I will rip out your eyes and shove them down your throats"

"Ruby."

"What it's true. We lost you once, brat. Never again" She replied with a smile

"Did anyone mention that Seth is the baby?" Ruby asked

"Millie is younger then me thank you very much" Seth said rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his drink

"Millie hasn't been missing for 18 months, and gone for 7 and a half years before that. So excuse us if we're all a bit concerned about all this" she says waving a hand at Drew and Becky.

"Excuse me, who's Millie?" Becky asked.

"My baby cousin" Seth replied fondly. "She's my Uncle Shawn's kid"

"She's a fire siren, sneezes out fire like crazy" Ruby added, drinking her coffee.

"She doesn't have much in the way of control yet. So she sets shit on fire a lot...luckily her mate is a water sprite. Jordan is really great st putting out flare-ups" Seth explains "Please don't threaten my mates. Honestly, I'm a hot mess. I doubt they even want to be with me anyway"

"Nonsense" Ruby waved her hand. "Mates are mates always. Do you think I would have gotten with Liv by choice?" Seth chuckled and blushed when Becky smiled at him. " Does anyone know about Ro?" He asked.

Ruby's face fell. "Mom is working on a tracking spell, since you don't remember exactly where Heyman's compound is located. Dad is making her rest before she casts it though so that won't be done until tomorrow, the good this is that Heyman can only do his enslaving curse during the full moon...so we have 6 days to find Ro."

"Fuck" Seth pulled at his hair. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't ran away"

"Stop it" Drew said, gently pulling Seth's hands down.

Drew had sat there quietly listening to the exchange between Seth and his sister, trying to learn more about the odd man the fates had bound him and his firecracker to. From what he'd gathered so far Seth was well-loved by his mismatched pack and had been sorely missed while on his journey of self-discovery.

"Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known any of this would happen" Drew says softly, still holding Seth's hands in his larger ones. Seth's brother had been right. Seth did look amazingly...like a slightly smaller version of himself, less so now that part of his hair was platinum blonde.

"He's my big brother" Seth whimpered. "He doesn't even know I'm not mad at him anymore, if Paul's spell works on him, he'll be gone for good" Drew unknowingly wiped away a tear that had trailed down Seth's face.

Becky wrapped her arms around Seth's waist "That isn't going to happen, sweetheart. We are going to get your brother back and Heyman will pay for everything he's done to both of you." She says fiercely. To which Seth nodded but said nothing.

"Forgive me for asking but are you his sister from the witch side or vampire side?" Drew asked Ruby.

"Stephanie and Hunter, can't be around Finn and Violet, my blood is toxic and Bálor hates me" Ruby answered

"I only have one sibling from Finn and Violet and that's Jordan. He's the last of Finn's pre vampiric bloodline. His parents died when he was a baby, and an old woman from his clan brought him to Haven shortly after" Seth tells them.

"Is this the same Jordan that's your cousin's mate?" Becky asked. "Yeah, thought my uncle was gonna kill him, then Finn was gonna kill him" Seth shook his head.

"Haven is completely integrated? " Drew asked, he and Becky hadn't realized just how many different species of Supernatural inhabited the small town.

"Unless they can't be around each other for a physiological reason, yep" Ruby answered "One of our cousins is a sun sprite, and she glows with actual sunlight. So she can't be around Finn and Violet."

"No one gets turned away unless you give our father a reason to" Seth said, "The pack is a family"

[carrollstreetstation]

wolfenstein 3D: a level-by-level breakdown

(note: due to the extreme simplicity of wolfenstein’s design ethos, i will be forgoing screenshots, with a few exceptions. you’ve seen one wolf3d screenshot, you’ve seen them all. if you would like to see the game in action, i recommend this LP.)

EPISODE ONE: ESCAPE FROM WOLFENSTEIN

the iconic shareware episode, and the only one available for free -- thus often the only one many people played. like many others, i'd only ever played the shareware episode, but it's still just as captivating as it once was all those years ago. in terms of design aesthetic, wolfenstein 3D may be somewhat primitive and abstract by today's standards, though it's worth mentioning that there are occasional attempts at realistic touches such as the dog kennel in E1L1. the basic premise is identical to that of the original classic: you've been taken captive in the dungeons of the nazi-occupied castle wolfenstein, and it's up to you to get out.

E1L1 the classic first level. we begin in medias res, with you already having been captured and now attempting your escape. there's a dead guard in front of you, and you're armed with a knife, and the guard's luger, 8 rounds in the magazine, and a pumping soundtrack to get you primed for nazi murder. a somewhat linear affair save for a quick side trip into the kennels. savvy players who know their secrets can find the elevator to the secret level behind not one, but two secrets at the very end of the map.

E1 SECRET if you're brave enough to try this secret level, the difficulty takes a major leap upwards as MP40-toting SS guards join the regular grunts in defending this huge maze, which seems like an underground cave system, perhaps beneath the bottom levels of the castle proper. creepy music serenades you as you navigate the tunnels, and it seems like every corridor has at least one secret to be found. cool fakeout ambush if you choose the wrong exit door at the end.

E1L2 whether or not you did the secret level, SS goons are here as well. not the biggest maze in the world, but a huge chunk of it is entirely optional. aside from a big kitchen area, kennels and a prison there's a pair of big torture chambers too, full of the skeletons adrian carmack drew to get a rise out of the suits at formgen who were nervous about the violence.

E1L3 another maze of torture rooms, prison cells and officer's quarters. an optional series of boxy rooms is largely featureless but if you know where to look you can find a secret treasure vault.

E1L4 while mostly still a fairly featureless series of rooms, this does feature a few points of interest, for example the wood-carved swastika that dominates a room on the southern end of the map, as well as one of the rare secrets that actually gives itself away by the puddle of water before it, suggesting a leak of some kind.

E1L5 the heat turns up quite a bit for this one, with enemies around every corner, especially on higher difficulties. you'll have more than one chance to just unload with the chaingun until everyone's dead. it also features an enormous secret area -- probably the biggest in the episode -- that's full of treasure, ammo -- and guards.

E1L6 not the longest or most complex level, but there's plenty of nazis to murder in this nearly entirely red-brick complex of mostly straight hallways and round rooms. you'll have to go one way for the key, then another for the exit. a cute little barracks with plenty of treasure is the standout landmark here. watch out for the SS ambush right by the exit.

E1L7 one of the few levels in this episode we can conclusively attribute to one of the designers, tom hall in this case, thanks to a comment he'd made that was published in the hint manual. in it he describes the central landmark of the map, a long hallway lined with gaps in the walls, the gaps filled with impassable columns. behind them are large rooms filled with guards, and traversing the hallway is basically a gauntlet as a small army of troops fire upon you from behind the columns. reaching them is a matter of following the hallways around to the rooms they're in, but once they're alert they'll start spreading out, making tracking them down difficult. it's a cool idea and an early example of the kind of creative level design that we would later see in doom.

E1L8 another all-brick affair, save for a little bit of wood paneling and a grey stone barracks area in the northwest corner. a very short level all told, surprisingly light on resistance for so late in the episode. features the first appearance of what i've in recent years taken to calling the "trash eagle."

E1L9 the end of the episode is just as iconic as its beginning, a massive entrance hall devoid of enemies... save one. hans grosse, an enormous teutonic bastard in full body armor, greets you with a cursory "GUTEN TAG" before unloading on you with two chainguns. dealing with him requires ducking for cover when he's firing and dumping your ammo on him when he's not. after what seems like almost all of your ammo he'll go down like a sack of hammers, giving you the key to the exit, and the iconic escape cutscene. if you need ammo or health, there's a secret along the western wall full of both.

final thoughts:

an iconic episode, right up there with "knee deep in the dead" or "dimension of the doomed" in terms of its recognizability. sure, the texture usage is rather limited and the level design, cute attempts at imitating real-world spaces aside, is as abstract as any in those days, but for a lot of people, the first level alone could probably be done in their sleep. while there's only three kinds of enemies through the entire episode, they're often cleverly placed to keep you on your toes. this is just a taste of what's to come.

EPISODE TWO: OPERATION EISENFAUST

after the limited offering of the shareware episode, the full game promises a bigger experience, with more textures, more enemies, more music, more of everything that made wolf3D so great. the level design gets more complex as now you'll often have to find two keys instead of just one. now that you're free from wolfenstein, it's time to resume your mission, infiltrating castle hollehammer where the evil dr. schabbs' laboratory is supposed to be, and find out what he's been doing in there. episode two thus starts off by introducing you to the mutant, a reanimated soldier carrying cleavers in both hands and a gun in his chest. absolutely silent, he's an inhumanly fast shot and if you're not careful he'll get the drop on you, ending your mission prematurely.

E2L1 the origins of the horror theme that has been a part of the franchise all these years starts here with another level by tom hall, as you infiltrate the castle via some kind of sewer entrance. the first few rooms are empty, and you think maybe you've gotten in unnoticed... but open the wrong door and say hello to your first mutant. how well you do in this level depends on whether you find the MP40 and ammo cache across from the entrance -- or the hidden chaingun. nice touch with the starry background on the wall behind you at the start -- it gives a sense that this isn't just another bunch of random abstract hallways, but a real place with a real outside world. it's not fooling anyone, obviously, but it's a good touch of realism in a time when "realism" consisted of a square room with a table sprite in the middle.

E2 SECRET a very tiny level with a few mutants... or is it? push in the right place and the level opens up significantly, with a boatload of treasure to be found. the mutants didn't bother waiting for you and have killed some of their nazi handlers, as the corpses on the floor indicate.

E2L2 after a brief portion in the sewers, you find the exit -- marked by warning signs, presumably to keep people out of the sewers where the mutants'll get 'em. it's sealed off too, requiring you to push a wall to get out. the rest of the level is a fairly bog-standard level with three quarters of a swastika being the only distinguishing feature. i think tom hall did this one as he comments on being able to see out a window early on.

E2L3 it's not the sewers, but you wouldn't know it for all the slimy wall textures. the opening section is simple enough, but the level likes to play around with secrets. an entire secret area is visible beyond rows of columns, but to get there you have to take the long way around. there's more secret areas within the first one, each one getting better and better, until finally culminating in a mess of SS. and if that's not bad enough, the silver key is guarded by mutants, lying in wait. tom, you're an asshole.

E2L4 not a complex level from tom here, split mostly into two sections with a third, circular room in the middle. a lot of doors open immediately into dead ends; others have mutants behind them. a holding area for mutants quickly turns into a shitshow when killing the lone guard alerts the monsters hiding in their cells and they come out for blood.

E2L5 well, it's a nazi castle, i suppose it makes sense to have a level shaped like a swastika. each "arm" of the swastika is done up in a different theme, from the slimy rock walls we've seen a lot of this episode, to a red brick stronghold of sorts, to blue stone dungeon, to wood-paneling. you can basically skip most of this episode by going to three rooms max, but you miss out on a lot of nazi murder and items to find.

E2L6 opening up in a cave-like area very similar to the secret level from the first episode, only this one is full of mutants. the big maze in the southeast can be navigated by following the bloodstains -- a neat touch that seems like something tom hall would do. the elevator doors at the end present an interesting dillemma -- which one is the exit, and which one is the mutant ambush?

E2L7 an odd level. it's just a few rooms and the exit elevator... unless you find the secret that opens up the entire rest of the map. it's still not the biggest map you'll ever play, but it's a respectable 5 minutes or so of nazi slaughter... until you get to the mutant cave in the southwest corner, where the nazis have already been slaughtered.

E2L8 another odd level, this one is infamous for being half made up of a large maze of 2x2 rooms and pushwalls. push your way through and you can find 1-ups, hans grosse clones (or maybe they're his brothers), treasure, or a sign saying CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF. this sign was part of a contest, if you did what it instructed you would win a prize. however, thanks to cheat and mapping programs the sign was found almost immediately, and the contest was canceled. in some later versions, the sign is replaced by a 1-up and some garbage. the rest of the map isn't as memorable, though it does have a nice little barracks in the southeast.

E2L9 another boss arena, the laboratory of the evil dr. schabbs. metal walls and warning signs tell you this is a high-tech place (well, for the 1940s anyway) and every room is quite large. other than schabbs, mutants are the only other occupants, coming at you in a wave before the mad doctor himself attacks, throwing hypodermic needles full of his monster serum at you. if you die to schabb's flying needles, instead of the usual beat-up face, BJ's skin turns white, just like one of the mutants. killing schabbs triggers an instant replay of his death animation, which is funny.

final thoughts: the second episode turns up the heat significantly. the mutants prove themselves to be a serious threat, their silence and frightening firing speed making them incredibly dangerous. the horror theme is pretty strong at multiple points in the episode, which is impressive given how primitive the game is compared to even doom. clever use of enemy corpse sprites and blood-spattered textures offer some interesting environmental storytelling. schabbs himself embodies the worst aspects of the nazi regime, that of mad science and human experimentation -- so of course taking him down is satisfying, despite how easy he is. (letting his mutants do the work for him -- so typical!)

EPISODE THREE: DIE, FUHRER, DIE!

the third episode, and technically the final one of the early version of the game until the nocturnal missions were added. as the name suggests, your mission is to kill hitler. who doesn't wanna kill hitler? well, nazis probably. but fuck 'em. anyway rather than crumbling old castles, dank dungeons and evil labs, episode three is set in a massive bunker beneath the reichstag, akin to the plot of "beyond castle wolfenstein." don't expect adolf to calmly let you bomb his conference room this time, though...

E3L1 the entrance to hitler's bunker is a small set of rooms that offers light resistance -- a few guards and SS, plus the very first officer in the game, who moves fast and fires faster. he's not as much of a threat as the mutant, but he's still quick on the draw. poke around a bit and you'll find the secret dungeon complete with machine gun for the taking. the music is a bit of fun, a very simple tune that has a morse code message playing in the background:

TO BIG BAD WOLF DE LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD ELIMINATE HITLER IMPERATIVE COMPLETE MISSION WITHIN 24 HOURS OUT

E3L2 this is the first level that we can be pretty sure is john romero's if his commentary in the hint guide is anything to go by. it's a relatively tiny level, split off into two parts, with the exit very close to the start position but locked off. the key is in the southern area of the map, but the northern portion doesn't offer much and is completely optional -- a deliberate fakeout on romero's part.

E3L3 another short map by romero, this one opens with three doors to choose from. two eventually lead to the same place, while the third takes you to one of the keys you'll need. the other key is guarded in the northern part of the map. similar to romero's tendency to stick an enemy in the exit room in doom, an officer greets you on your way to the elevator.

E3L4 romero's short-form maps continue here (i wonder if these maps were made early in the game's development?) it also continues the trend of most of the episode 3 maps being largely white stone walls with the occasional brick, dungeon or wood to break up the monotony. finding the key isn't enough -- the door opens to a wall that turns out to be pushable.

E3L5 another short-and-sweet level, this one centering the action mostly around a red brick complex inside a large grey stone room. though this one does feature a long, twisty passage that ends in little more than a medkit and an SS goon.

E3L6 tom hall brings his personal brand of weirdness to episode three with this level that opens with a locked door immediately to your left. going forward is a repeat of his old favorite trick of putting enemies and items behind barriers where they can shoot you but you can't reach them, not without a little secret-searching anyway. there's also the enormous maze of reinforced steel to the north which offers little in the way of resistance but is incredibly confusing without a map. there's also another key that can be gotten on the sly by going around and entering the closet it's in via a pushwall in back.

E3L7 jesus christ, tom. "abstract" is the theme for this level, a mess of curving hallways, rooms in the shape of tom hall and john romero's initials, a secret that's easy to break before you even find it, a ludicrously large, featureless secret maze, and *another* secret at the end of said maze. the final secret is worth it though, as it takes you to the secret level...

E3 SECRET it's pacman. in first person. with some nazis thrown in. that is literally the entirety of the level. avoid the ghosts, get the treasure, find the exit. it's honestly an adorable tribute to such a classic game from a game that has since become nearly as much of a classic itself.

E3L8 the final level before hitler, and the nazis throw everything they've got to stop you. tom hall starts this level by putting you in an empty room; only pushing the right wall will take you into a large, swastika-shaped corridor. SS and officers are everywhere; side rooms will have enemies coming at you from all sides, and they've put up barricades that you'll have to work your way around. and just when you think you've cracked it, and you're at the end, you open the elevator door and there's an officer right there waiting for you -- which doesn't happen often.

E3L9 this is it: the final battle with hitler! aesthetically it's not terribly different from the rest of the episode, but it does introduce us to one of the best fakeouts in a video game. all that buildup and when we finally do meet hitler, he's dressed in robes and shooting fireballs at you -- could it be that the old monster is a magician? well, he's playing a trick on you alright: it's a mannequin with a flamethrower, and when shot down you can hear hitler's evil laugh in the distance. hitler himself is a fairly straightforward boss fight, first in a war mech, and then when that's destroyed he comes after you himself with a pair of chainguns. his death animation is even better than the one at the end of bionic commando.

final thoughts: for the third episode of the original trilogy, design-wise it's a bit disappointing. the texture use is quite monotonous, the levels are pretty short and simple. alone or in small groups, the officer isn't nearly as menacing an enemy as the mutant, which is absent from this episode. the pac-man secret level is an amusing diversion at least. the real value in this episode is the battle against hitler -- that death animation is a treat.

EPISODE FOUR: A DARK SECRET

after the initial success of wolfenstein 3D, apogee software founder scott miller convinced id software to make another trilogy of episodes after finding out that a new level could be cranked out at a rate of one per day. smirkingly titled "the nocturnal missions," this prequel trilogy involves a plot to wage chemical warfare on the allies, and so episode four opens with BJ infiltrating a chemical weapons research facility. we can expect the usual castley goodness as envisioned mostly by tom hall, which promises a slightly more visually interesting experience than hitler's bunker.

E4L1 tom's crafted a cute little castle entrance with a big foyer and dining hall, and a little cavern of sorts in the southwest corner leading to the exit. not the most heartpounding of levels, but at this early stage you'll be ill-equipped to deal with the amount of SS and officers thrown at you, especially on higher difficulties. thus it's an early hint as to the focus on increased difficulty for the nocturnal missions.

E4L2 another tom hall joint, this one has a strong castle design, being ringed on all sides by a single long hallway with a number of rooms in the center. popping off a firearm here will alert enemies on the other side of the map, making exploration dangerous as you're likely to be snuck up on.

E4L3 the level starts off with a huge offering of health and ammo. normally when seeing a smorgasboard like this, it raises one's hackles as it signifies the arrival of a boss enemy. however, none is to be found -- but there *are* a big gaggle of enemies further down the corridor, up to 23 at once. it's quite the impressive ambush.

E4 SECRET sure, you *could* try to fight your way through the whopping seventy-five officers (on all difficulties!) who staff this level. the secret ammo stash at the start is the only thing that would make it even possible. but it's clear stealth was in mind when this puzzle map was designed, the idea being going behind the officers' backs. the official hint guide says that if you follow the path it designated you won't be seen, but this is unfortunately untrue as three will spot you either way, forcing you to hurry.

E4L4 tom gives us a relatively small level that, aside from a cave maze on the eastern side, also features an "art gallery" full of admiring officers. it's like the secret level in miniature, much more manageable with up to 14 officers waiting to run in front of your chaingun. there's also the choice between a secret room full of health, or a secret room full of ammo, and which one you get is dependant on which way you push a wall.

E4L5 tom hall has crafted a large cavern system that seems to be filled with officers. there's also a moment where a horde of guard dogs come at you en masse, and if you're not careful they can catch you in a pincer movement. there's multiple elevators as well, but all but one are inaccessible.

E4L6 tom hall's predilection for mimicking real-world spaces in doom (as in episode two of that game as well as parts of doom 2) can be seen in wolfenstein 3D as well. this level's example of that is the multiple elevators from the previous stage can be seen here too. but perhaps the standout feature of this level is the strange series of thin hallways behind a long row of doors, most of them containing officers and items. it's a good example of the abstract weirdness that has long been a staple of early FPS level design.

E4L7 fairly standard level. a long central hallway divides the east and west sides; it's filled with enemies, and tom hall has exploited the enemy behavior of being able to open locked doors to create an opportunity for players to get through without needing the key -- though if it closes behind them, there's no turning back.

E4L8 another tom hall joint, this one has a lot of tricky encounters that make the standard guards actually dangerous for once. it's the same trick as the dogs in E4L6 -- a big winding maze that makes it easy for the enemy to get behind you. there's a similar area full of officers where it's possible to sneak past some of them -- or bypass them entirely, if you find the right secret.

E4L9 the boss level is a cruel twist on the usual method. all the health and ammo are behind locked doors in the boss room; the keys are guarded by a single grunt who will alert a small army of SS and officers in the next room. however, the final boss, otto giftmacher, is not a threat at all, firing a slow-moving missile that's easily dodged. if you came in already loaded for bear you don't even need to deal with his goons.

final thoughts: episode four is a good display of tom hall's somewhat mean-spirited level design, and i say that in a good way. it's clear he took the opportunity to up the difficulty for the expansion, and that includes throwing in officers by the boatload. in general, though, the level design has started to become increasingly abstract. otherwise, a good start for the nocturnal missions.

EPISODE FIVE: TRAIL OF THE MADMAN

the fifth episode introduces us to castle erlagen (though the hint guide seems to think that was the site of episode four -- maybe both are true) as we hunt for the plans to the nazis' chemical warfare campaign. most of these levels are from romero, who has a somewhat tighter, more abstract design ethos to tom hall's more freewheeling, quasi-realistic style -- something that would be evident later in doom as well.

E5L1 the dungeons of castle erlagen start you off light, mostly guards and a few SS. john romero has crafted a relatively short level, the majority of the action being in a series of rooms off a long hallway that separates the bottom half of the map from a few large rooms connected by narrow tunnels. the final room is a very romero-esque ambush.

E5L2 romero has a penchant for a very sectional level design and we can see an example of it here, where you're dropped in the middle of the map and it's split across four areas in four directions, forcing you to explore until you find the key and the exit. he's also put in a devious deathtrap to the west -- a gauntlet of SS guards for a handful of treasure that honestly is not worth it, which may be the point.

E5L3 another short and sweet romero level -- but heavily guarded. the exit is right behind the entrance, and a number of goons stand watch. if you're low on ammo, you may be running into problems -- but romero has thoughtfully made the secrets extremely obvious, and both will give you everything you could ever want.

E5L4 similar to E5L2, only incredibly symmetrical, this is a wheel-and-spoke design that plops you in the center and it's up to you to clear out a series of nine rooms connected by hallways. as is becoming a pattern, the path is filled with enemies, so it's up to you to be quick on the draw to mow them down the moment the door opens.

E5L5 romero's hub-style design again, only a bit more freewheeling. notable encounters include the "art gallery" in the southeast corner full of dogs, and a similar mini-maze in the northwest occupied by SS and officers. romero has a talent for making maps that seem larger than they really are. the secret exit, however, is well-hidden.

E5 SECRET more hub-style design, though with an evil twist. other than a few central rooms the entirety of the map is made up of long narrow corridors with nazis on patrol. this leads to a tense few minutes as you navigate these tunnels always knowing that if an enemy comes around the corner, you won't have any cover.

E5L6 a rare attempt from romero to make something that feels like a real-world space, the core of this map is a complex of rooms surrounded by a large cavern that encircles three-quarters of the map. the complex itself isn't particularly unusual or, well, complex, though interestingly one of the three doors leading to the room that itself leads to the exit is of a different lock from the others. you still need the silver key, though.

E5L7 back to the hub design. the enemy count is climbing ever higher, romero throws goons at you every step of the way. a major encounter is in the northwestern room where a row of doors all lead to the same room, with a swarm of officers and SS goons hiding just behind to come at you in a wave. the final room is an ornate hallway lined with SS guards, giving a sense that we're getting ever closer to our goal.

E5L8 the penultimate level of episode five is a quick-and-dirty map that splits off into three zones. the biggest heat of the level is probably in the southwest, a maze of corridors full of bad guys that can and will wind up wandering behind you unless you're careful. and when you get through that mess, there's an ambush in the key room. interestingly, you can see the exit door at the very beginning -- but it's behind a barricade, requiring you to find the key to get to the other side.

E5L9 the boss arena is pretty straightforward -- a huge room divided in three by rows of walls. gretel grosse, sister of hans, is your target for this mission, and she behaves exactly the same as hans. taking her out is a snap, but you'd better stock up before opening the door she guards, as the command room that's your final goal is filled with nazi goons. cute re-use of the "yeah!" animation.

final thoughts: episode five is romero at his best. it's a fast-paced little jaunt that offers plenty of nazis to mow down by the boatload, giving a hint of what doom would be like. though he overuses the hub-style level design, it at least gives a little bit of structure to an otherwise freewheeling, abstract mapping style.

EPISODE SIX: CONFRONTATION

the final episode of the game is a bit of a hodgepodge, featuring work from john romero, tom hall, and, surprisingly, robert prince, the man behind the music for most of apogee and id's output between 1991 and 1996, including, but not limited to: wolfenstein 3D (duh), rise of the triad, duke nukem II and 3D, and of course doom. the story goes, now that the allies know where the general behind the upcoming chemical warfare campaign is located, they send BJ into castle heidenheim. with three mappers contributing to this level we can expect a mixture of styles, and given that this is the very last episode of the game, resistance is likely to be fierce.

E6L1 jesus christ, tom. 95% of this map is extremely long hallways, lined with niches in which officers hide. it takes forever to advance and you're constantly getting caught on architecture. you start the episode with the exit right in front of you, and you have to make an insanely long detour just to get to it. awful map.

E6L2 robert prince makes his level design debut with this weird outing. it starts off similar to the previous level's endless hallways, but at least in this case gunfire will make most of the hiding enemies come after you. after that is a series of hallways that spiral in on themselves, at the center of which is the exit. it's like this episode was designed to annoy me.

E6L3 jesus christ, robert. it's a maze of swastikas. every room is a fucking swastika, and they interlink with each other. it's just... fucking madness. it blows my mind. this is what i'm talking about when it comes to how old FPS games seemed to just get by on pure abstraction. in that regard, duke nukem 3D should be considered a fucking revelation. this map is a pain to navigate too, though not as bad as the first two.

E6 SECRET romero and hall both did this level. it's a very romero-style level at its core -- a central hub with four separate areas, each with a different theme. tackling more than one is optional, because at the end of each one is another grosse brother holding a key to the exit in the central room. to the east is a nightmare zone of a vine-choked maze -- visibility is borderline zero and it's full of mutants(!) and officers. a better bet would be the more straightforward boss arena to the west, though the mazes to the north and south aren't too bad. though, work your way too deep into the pushwall maze and you'll run into a familiar ghost, because this map wasn't gimmicky enough.

E6L4 though the hint guide doesn't say one way or another save for tom hall making a completely random e. e. cummings reference, this has hall's style all over it. It's mostly a series of random rooms connected via one hallway or tunnel or another. Compared to the rest of the episode so far, this level's banality is honestly a blessing.

E6L5 i'm pretty sure tom hall did this one as well. the big setpiece is a long, wide hallway with enemies hidden in the niches in the wall -- something i was tired of before the end of the first level. there's also a couple of nearly-identical shootouts in big rooms for possession of the keys. pretty basic level all told.

E6L6 yeah, i can tell this is a romero map, even without the hint guide telling me. it's got two of his most defining features in his nocturnal missions level design: absolute fucking chaos, and a tight level design with a core conceit. on its surface it resembles the spiral maze from robert prince's first level, but this is much bigger, and *much* more packed with enemies, all of whom come after you from the first shot fired. actually quite fun.

E6L7 tom and his fucking mazes strike again. after a rough initiation (more of the hallway/hidden enemies business) and a big central chamber with officers shooting at you from side rooms, you're treated to a nightmare world of endless mazes. if you're brave enough, you can even venture into a secret vine maze, which, while not as dangerous as the one in the secret level, is still plenty annoying and not really worth the hassle.

E6L8 it's hard to say whose level this is, but i'm going to guess it's romero's. it's two underground complexes split by a single long cave tunnel that curls around and between them in a backwards S fashion, which would suggest tom hall, but the abundance of enemies and the relatively compact room arrangement says john romero. whoever did it, this is a pretty linear affair -- first you clear out the northern complex, room by room, then grab the key. then you take out the southern complex and reach the exit. simple.

E6L9 the final boss of the nocturnal missions, and the nazis throw everything they've got at you. i'm reasonably certain this is a romero level, because the evil general is guarded by a baying horde of fascists who come at you from all directions. it's as if they looked at how sparsely populated the previous boss levels were and decided this deserved a bit more of a finale. it makes for some cool carnage, but you'll likely run into trouble unless you're secret-savvy.

final thoughts: "mixed bag" is an understatement. this episode feels like where the dregs of the design team's ideas went. guest designer robert prince should have stuck to music. there are a few cool bits, but in general the sixth episode is a low note, and a bit of a disappointment after the ludicrously fun fifth episode.

[pandoras-proxy]

I'm also obsessed with the whole Strahd/Tatyana dynamic (I have an Insta account dedicated to it - @barovia_bites) Looking forward to seeing more from you!! You are an awesome artist and story teller :)

Thanks so much! It’s definitely something I’ve been enjoying a lot in our campaign. :) I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but the whole Strahd/Iona arc started with a letter she wrote to the Lord himself. I really loved this exchange, so I figured I’d share! 

Iona’s 1st letter

I write this letter not knowing where to begin. How did we meet? What were we to each other? How did I hurt you? I have more questions than there are stars in the sky.

I suppose I’ll begin with a confession.

I said I didn’t know you, but in truth, there was a whisper of a memory… but only a whisper. It may as well have been obscured by the mists that brought me here. I sense I have a history here, but there are so many things I do not understand. Help me understand.

Maybe then, I could understand the love you say we had or this curse you say I brought… Maybe then, we could free you of this cycle of suffering you are trapped in, together.

I don’t know where I’ll be by the time this reaches you but something tells me that if you want me to receive a reply, I will. Given how contentious our first meeting was (with words of anger from you and bravado from myself), I ask that you remember the protection I am under.

[There is a large space between these words and the next, and a small drop of ink, as if Iona’s quill hovered for a long time in search of words.]

Was I musically inclined when you knew me? In this lifetime, I find solace in music so I’ll leave you with the beginnings of a song:

I know not if fate would have us live as one

Or if by love’s blind chance we’ve been bound

You flee my dream come the morning

Your heart, its passion displaced

By anger ever growing, hardening into stone

The wish I whispered, when it all began

Did it forge a love you might never have found?

[Beside the words are music notations]

Iona

Strahd’s 1st letter

My Dearest Iona,

There is so much I long to share. So much, that I too find it difficult to determine an adequate place to begin. We have had so many beginnings you and I, and each one has been lost in the darkness of the past. But perhaps I shall start with the first.

A long time ago, my father had called upon me to serve in his wars. He called upon my sense of honor. He called upon my sense of duty. And, finally, he called upon my years. I gave him victory, and for that he took my youth. Time is such a precious thing. You cannot own it. You cannot keep it. You can only spend it. And, once you have, it is forever lost.

Following the triumph of our kingdom, I sent for my family, long unseated from their ancient throne, to settle with me in Castle Ravenloft. They came with a younger brother of mine, Sergei. He was young and handsome, and I hated him for both. But mostly, I hated him for what he brought with him. You.

From the moment I first looked into your eyes the rest of the world vanished. In you I saw everything that I had yearned for and lost. Youth. Kindness. I longed for you to be mine. But, alas, your heart went to Sergei. “Brother,” you called me. Yet while that word spilled from your crimson lips, I knew its true meaning. “Elder,” “Old-one.”

What my father had taken from me, he had left to my brother.

Darkness overtook me. I would find a way to preserve what youth I had left, no matter the cost. Perhaps then, I could rightfully take what should have been mine. I made a pact with death, which I signed with blood. But in the end, it did not matter. You hated me for what I had done. For the sacrifices I made in your name!

You threw yourself from the waterfall, and thus our first beginning came to an end. But I could not let it be the last. I darkened the skies and shrouded the land to keep you here with me. I would endlessly traverse time itself to find you again. I stand at its harbor, scanning the horizon, and through its waves I can see moments as slow and transparent as glass. And you, forever on the other side, your hair blazing like the rising sun. I tremble in your radiance. All other desires, hopes, and aspirations have been banished by its rays, until there is you. Only you.

You ask me if you have always been gifted with music? Yes. But to me your greatest work was simply your presence. It has been the symphony of my heart, and the dirge of my soul.

Strahd

Iona’s 2nd letter

I learned about Ireena today. She was one of our many lost beginnings, wasn’t she? I wonder how many times you’ve found me as you stood vigil over your oceans of time. It sounds… so lonely.

Has tragedy truly followed all of our meetings?

I don’t know how much of my life you’ve seen, if any, but I have not given my heart to another. The thought is terrifying. Love has only ever destroyed those around me and made them suffer. As it has made you suffer. All that you’ve gone through, the pain, the sacrifice, this cycle of torment, can you honestly say it’s been worth it?

And yet, even as I write this, I realize our paths aren’t so different. Rage and despair have lead me to a pact of my own, as you must know. I don’t care its price so long as the violence in my heart is reconciled.

Will you help me or will you hinder me in the end, I wonder?

I travel now, my destination unknown. This world of yours is a dark place and I sense its menace around me, like the eyes of a predator upon my skin. Tell me, what will I face? If I ever need aid, is it the Vistani I can trust? How can I show that you and I are connected?

As ever, I am full of questions but perhaps you understand my caution. Already this beginning of ours was nearly ended.

You’ve told me about yourself and about us and for that I thank you. Is it strange that I look forward to your next letter? That I’ll watch the night skies and think of you when I see the mists?

The first song isn’t ready for an end, so I will leave you with this one instead:

Sun sets, beloved one

Time to dream. Your mind journeys,

But I will hold you here.

Where will you go, beloved one,

Lost to me in time?

Seek truth in a forgotten land,

Deep within your heart.

Wherever you shall go, beloved one,

Follow my voice-

I will call you home.

I will call you home.

[Music notations are beside the words]

You’ve called me home again.

Iona

Strahd’s 2nd Letter

Dearest Iona,

Tatyana was the first, and Ireena the last. Until you. And through the years, there have been many more.When you threw yourself from the cataract, I knew I must keep you here with me. I drew upon the darkness and formed the ashen mists that envelope this land. They are a prison, which binds souls to this valley and keeps them here with me. Time and time again, you would be born. Time and time again you would choose death over my embrace.

When Ireena passed, I waited again - patiently like the tide. But you did not return. Despite all possibility, you had escaped. I scoured the world from my castle. Searching. Until there was a whisper… but only a whisper. And I followed, just as the moon follows the sun across the horizon.

No, Iona, I cannot say that love has been worth torment. It has never brought me happiness. The fires of hell could burn for all eternity and it would never equal what I feel for you in minute of the night. Yet appraising its value is futile. If only I could cast it into flame and sear it from my heart, I would. But, in my endless vigil, I have found the most horrifying truth: Love never dies.

Join me, here in Castle Ravenloft and bring an end to this curse you have placed upon me. Until then and always, I too shall watch the night sky and think of you.

Strahd

Iona’s 3rd letter

[Some context: This letter is sent after Iona leaves Ravenloft against Strahd’s wishes. She does it reluctantly but with the belief it must be done to pursue her goals.]

I know you will be angry. Maybe you will never forgive this perceived betrayal. But please know that I did not do it to spurn you or to hurt you. What I said before was the truth; when I have completed what I must do, when the connection between the Feywild and the Material Plane has been severed, I will stay with you. Whether you try to stop me or help me from now on, I will come back to you. I will walk to your castle gates and I will give you everything that I am.

Until then, I beg for your understanding and for your forgiveness.

I hope you will write back. Though I’ve only known you a short time, there’s already a hollow ache in my chest at the thought of your silence. If you write, will you tell me one of your happier memories? Before the curse. Before Tatyana. I want to you know you. Not the Lord. Not the Vampire. But the man. I want to open my heart to you.

I’ll share a memory of my own.

When I was a young girl, I was rather mischievous. I would escape my caretakers often and lose myself in the gardens of the Unseelie court. There I had such adventures. I would weave myself a crown of black hellebore and nightshade and carefully make dolls out of twigs and grass. In my halls of hedgerow, I presided over a kingdom of leaves and flowers.

In it, I would slay dragons and capture fell beasts, all of which were in truth the resident sprites of the garden. Whether it was the honey I used to entice them or simply the amusement at seeing a Fey Lord’s daughter prance about with flowers in her hair and dirt on her knees, they played along in a spectacular fashion.

I had death-defying duels with willow switches. I embarked on quests to find treasures of seed and stone hidden for me throughout the garden. I held court and danced beneath faerie light.

Despite its darkness and the pain it caused me, some of my happiest memories were in the Feywild. I hope I can be the light in your darkness.

I left you my lute in the gardens by the cliff. It’s the last thing I had of my mother. In its place, I will cherish the memory of your lips and the sliver of your heart I carry in my possession.

Now and always, I am yours.

Iona

[sweeter-thejuice]

Blinding

BlackWitch!OC x Erik 

Summary: A disheveled Erik is led to Noah, a witch, who will help him on his journey of discovering his true fate. 

Warnings: none 

Word Count: ~4k. 

A/N: I have two fics that I need to be writing a part three and part two to but here I am starting a whole new series because I can never complete one train of thought. I hate myself ugh. 

Cessabit 

The gentle flow of the wind hit Erik’s window, causing it to make silent whistles. Rain wasn’t a reoccurring friend to the sunny, upbeat town, probably because it was scared to interfere with the sun’s arrogant rays. With the weather, Erik’s attitude changed, reminding him of how lonely and depressed he was under his nonchalant facade. He sat by the window studying the dark grey clouds and their rapid movement. The rain didn't fall too hard but she definitely made a grand entrance, inconveniencing the people that were walking below her. They ran for cover, throwing bags or briefcases over their heads trying to avoid getting wet. The rain seemed to enjoy her fall, needing the human contact. 

Erik let his thoughts wander further before his stomach interrupted them. He hadn't eaten since this morning and his body was in dire need of energy. Forcing himself out of the window seat he stalked over to the refrigerator, glancing at the emptiness that awaited him inside. Lately, he hadn't been in the mood to shop. His stomach rumbled again, this time causing him to let out a loud groan. How can hunger consume someone in a matter of seconds? For as long as he’d been siting in that chair, his body was content and now, all of sudden, it felt like he hasn’t eaten in years. 

Walking to his room, he made his way toward the closet where he slipped on his shoes and pulled out a wind jacket. He decided to go out and get him some food and tomorrow, if his mood changes, he’ll fill his fridge and cabinets. By the door was an umbrella he bought a while ago that still had the tag on it. 

Just a few days ago, people were begging for rain and just as she made an appearance, they ran from her and shield themselves from her kindness. He put the umbrella back in it’s spot and walked out of the door, locking it. He walked down the hallway to the elevator and out his apartment entrance, deciding to walk instead of drive. He wanted the rain to feel welcomed; he wanted her to know that he was grateful for her. 

He walked swiftly, with his head down and hands in his pockets, passed the familiar shops dodging any form of human contact, almost knocking over a couple of people, letting his hunger guide him. He was determined to get out, get food and be home in a span of twenty minutes, if the local restaurants felt the same. He heard the light ding as he walked in one of his favorite spots. Instantly, the change of scenery put him in an eerie mood as a dark cloud crept over his head. He felt danger and he was about to walk back out but he had no control over his body.

“Welcome to Burger Town!” Erik winced at the sound of the shrill, shaky voice. His eyes met blue ones, the owner of the voice. She stood behind the counter with a big smile showcasing her bright, perfect teeth. Her thin, straight, blonde hair rested on her shoulders neatly. The restaurant was gloomy and empty. The vibe was off, he could feel it the moment he walked in but the smell is what drew him closer, leading him to god knows what.

He’d been there a couple of times before when the weather wasn't so bad. The place was never empty but I guess the rain scared away potential customers. He walked up to the front counter and observed the menu that hung above the cashier. 

“How are you today, sir?” He looked at her and then back at the menu. “Order when you're ready,” she said through her teeth, that never left their position ever since he walked in. Now that he realized, he’d never seen her before. It was always some nice asian chick who took the orders. 

“What happened to the asian girl?” Erik spoke breaking his eyes away from the menus to meet, Luci’s, at least that was the name on her name tag. While slowly moving her head to the side, her teeth hid in her mouth but her lips turned up into a sinister grin. Erik squinted his eyes at her facial expression, uncomfortable with her choice.

“She was...fired.” One of the most terrifying laughs left her mouth sending chills down Erik’s spine. The fuck is wrong with her? 

“Oh, uh, alright,” Erik shifted from one foot to another, his body temperature rising suddenly. Luci noticed and scanned him over quickly, glancing over his soaked body licking her thin lips. Erik noticed and spoke accordingly, “I don't do white girls.” If Luci’s looks could kill, Erik would be six feet under with a spatula up his ass. 

“What made you think that I wanted you to ‘do’ me?” The grin was long gone and she looked at him through hooded eyes, snarling almost. She leaned forward, slightly, with her hands placed on the counter stretching her arms and locking her elbows. At this angle, he could see the evil in her blue eyes, stabbing his face and daring him to say one word out of line. This angle is where he also noticed her lack of clothes. She had on a thin red dress, something he didn't notice before. He could’ve sworn she had on a uniform.

“Yeah, can I get a turkey bacon burger with wheat bread? I want it all the way with light onions and light mustard, please.” Luci stayed in her position, contemplating on her next move. Erik noticed her internal battle and cleared his throat at the awkwardness. “Uh-” 

“Do you want fries, a drink?” She spoke too fast, still in the same position, slouched over the counter looking up at Erik through those piercing eyes. 

“Sure, regular fries and a sprite is fine,” he hesitated. For some reason he was stuck in this position, wanting to move. Something was keeping him there forcing him to meet Luci’s gaze. She didn't budge and she looked at him with disgust and rage. Her face grew red and the silence between them made Erik’s blood boil. He tried to speak up but his lips wouldn't move and soon his breathing stopped also. Luci clearly was informed of his affliction because a smile crept over her pale, but red face. Her eyes, black, once blue, moved down to Erik’s hands where she placed hers on top before trailing her eyes back up to his. Her hand stayed there along with the smile. Oh and that smile. That creepy, threatening smile that laid on her face. That smile alone would send someone to the madhouse. 

Erik felt the heat rise in his body along with the increase of blood circulation due to the lack of oxygen entering his body. He tried to open his mouth to let in air but his lips were glued together. Luci tilted her head to the side freeing Erik of her eyes. Erik’s chest tightened and his mind started to panic. He couldn't breathe and the sensation was starting to become too much. His hand shook under Luci’s and a tear escaped his eye. She gripped his hand tighter and instead of feeling her grip on his hand, he felt it on his neck, tightening with the intent to kill. Erik’s eyes rolled to the back of his head before a ding sounded off in the back. 

“Order 666,” many deep voices yelled from the kitchen, laughing. Impossible because Luci never put in the order and Erik never paid. 

Luci released his hand and air traveled back to Erik’s lungs. He opened his mouth and sucked in some more air, coughing. The smile crept away from Luci’s face as she turned around to pick up his order. Erik’s chest heaved and he groaned at his uneasiness. He wanted to run out of there but his feet were still sunk in the floor. Instead, his eyes followed Luci and saw that, not only did she not have on much clothing, she was barefoot and covered in blood. Erik’s eyes grew alert and his survival instincts kicked in. 

“Relax, Erik,” a calm, soothing voice called from behind him. He snapped his neck around and saw nothing. “Cessabit.” The distant voice whispered the foreign word over and over again and Erik’s body immediately reacted. His limbs grew peaceful and his shoulders slouched. All of the tension and panic that was once sheltered in his bones, were evicted at the evocation of the word.

Luci came back with a white bag in her hands that she threw on the counter. 

“Your...turkey burger.” She tilted her head to the side and looked at the bag then at his hands. If he wasn't so relaxed, he would have cursed Luci out and then ran out of the store. Luci noticed his lack of movement and spoke up. “Your food.” The word bounced off her lips in utter disgust and annoyance. Erik glanced at the bag, ready to pick it up but his hands didn't move. They stayed at his side, weighed down by a force. “Pick up the bag, Erik.” How did she know my name? Erik started picking at the side of his shorts, panicking at his lack of control over his body. Luci was fustrated and Erik could hear her breathing increase with each breath. 

“Cessabit.” The voice spoke again making Erik slink back into a relaxed state. Luci must have heard it too because she perked her ears up and walked around the counter. 

“Noah? Is that you?” A haunting laugh left Luci’s body as she walked around Erik looking up and down his form. “He’s a little bit too stocky, arrogant and human to be meddling with someone as gentle and magical as you, Noah.” Luci stopped directly in front of Erik and looked at his eyes. “What did he do to get your services? What did it cost him? Hopefully, everything.” Her hands met with his face and she made him look directly into her, now, light brown eyes. 

Erik squirmed at her heated touch and his hands picked at his shorts rapidly. “Cessabit, Erik.” Luci’s laughed radiated through the diner along with laughter from the people in the back. 

“Relax, Erik.” the voice spoke.

“But how can he relax when two forces other than himself are trying to control his body?” Luci released his face and looked into his eyes deeper. 

“Release him!” The once calm voice boomed with strength, casting strong gusts of wind throughout the small restaurant. When did we become so enclosed? 

Cessabit, the voice spoke in his thoughts, relax. Luci laughed and Erik felt a heavy weight lift off of his shoulder, his legs feeling like jell-o. “Your powers have grown, witch. Show yourself. Come to me, so we can talk.” 

Get out of there, now! 

“You heard her, Erik. You better listen while she's holding me. She's not that strong.” Luci grunted and her head twisted quickly, demonic. “No! Erik, don't forget your food!” Luci laughed and yelled at Erik as he sprinted out of the door. Fuck that food, he didn't know what was happening. He ran and ran and ran for what felt like hours. The restaurant was only a good ten minutes, walking distance, away from his home but for some reason he was in the forest now, wandering. How did I get here? 

***

The trees rustled and swayed to the song of the wind. The rain brushed against Erik’s window, waking him up from his slumber. When did I fall asleep? “How did I get home?” He looked at the clock that read 4:00 AM. Four o'clock? What the fuck is going on? He got out of the bed feeling the sudden urge to pee. After he finished releasing his bodily fluids, he walked to the kitchen still unsatisfied from the lack of food.

Suddenly, all of the events that occurred the day before fluttered to his mind: the restaurant, Luci, the calm, strong, distant voice in the back of his head. Cessabit, that word still repeating itself in his subconscious. Cessabit. His stomach let out a monstrous sound before he could put anymore thought into yesterday.

Opting out of going out again because of the previous events, he opened up his cabinets trying to find something to snack on so he can go back to bed. Nothing. He laced up his shoes and walked out of the house again, following the same routine he did earlier. Except, this time he walked in the opposite direction, wanting to be as far as possible from that burger joint. 

Just about every shop, store and restaurant was closed except for trash ass McDonald’s and Taco Bell. He didn't want neither of them because of what they did to his stomach. His legs stopped when he heard a high-pitched, angelic sound brush the inside of his ears as a sweet smell grabbed the hairs in his nose. His eyes, instinctually, fluttered close while he followed the song and smell allowing their waves to guide him. All of his senses stood at attention and his legs stopped in front of a small shop.

The outside was covered with plants, trying to ward itself from the rest of the city. Erik glanced at the building and studied it’s location. It was at the corner of a crossroads and close to the thick woods that rested behind. It wasn't far from other buildings but it wasn't close. Whoever owned it didn't care for money, surely, due to its whacky location. Nobody would ever go there unless they were wandering or curious, like him.

Erik walked up to the door trying to find a ‘closed’ sign. When he didn't, he put his hand on the handle and swung it open. Instantly, a peaceful gush of wind pushed against his body and relaxed his tense bones. The shop was beautiful inside, decked with plants, crystals and books. His breathing was sharp, concise, his lungs thanking him for placing them in the pure air. He looked around and saw where the smell came from. A fresh batch of bagels rested on a small table in front of a door closed off by long vines hanging from the frame.

His legs moved towards the food then stopped when he heard a glass break in the back. He was about to leave but then a woman appeared through the door frame, throwing what appeared to be salt in the air. “What do you think this is?! A hotel?! Get out!” She had her back towards Erik, throwing salt over her brown shoulders, her loose curls bounced at her movement swaying with her hips. 

“Excuse me?” Erik spoke, unsure if he should have. She was just about to throw another sprinkle of salt into the air before she turned around to meet his voice. 

Erik let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when his eyes met her face. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen in his entire life. Her reddish-brown, wild, curly mane framed her chubby, brown face where her big doe eyes and button nose rested. Her plump lips were moisturized, begging Erik to suck and kiss on them. His eyes trailed down he curvy body that was covered by an extremely thin, pink, spaghetti strapped dress. Her toes wore the same pink color and Erik’s mouth watered as his eyes danced back up to her thick, beautiful, long legs. His eyes traveled up and down her body a couple of times taking in her image, burning it in his mind. 

“May I help you?” Her voice was rich, deep and sultry just like her skin. Erik didn't speak, still lost in her trance, confused because he’s positive that he’s heard her voice before. “I won't ask again.” Erik looked at her eyes, they were calm like her words although the phrase was meant to be intimidating. She threw the last particles of salt that rested in her hand in the air and placed the glass container that held the salt on the counter. “Speak. Explico.”

Without a second thought, Erik’s mouth blurted out words and his intentions, ”I’m hungry. I don't have anything to eat in the house and I took a walk to find something. Your shop was the only one open so I walked in to see what smelled so good.”

She smiled, genuinely and moved behind the table surrounded with plants and crystals, sitting down in front of the bagels. Erik found himself angry, wanting to look at her body a while longer.  

“Was that hard to say?” 

“No.” 

She pushed the plate and motioned for Erik to sit across from her. With no hesitation, he walked over to her in a euphoric state and sat down. Her brown orbs softly looked into his as she placed her hand on her cheek, a tired expression grazed her soft features. She broke the stare looking at the bagels and then back up at Erik. “You're hungry. Eat.” 

His hands found a warm bagel and placed it at the entrance of his mouth biting down. He closed his eyes at the beautiful sensation. All of his taste buds were stimulated by the sweet taste of the brown dough. He hummed and his body swayed to the music that came from the warm food. “I know you.” Her closed eyes fluttered open at his revelation. 

“No, you don't.” She shifted in her chair and placed her arms over her chest. He watched her as he finished the bagel and glanced at her, begging for her approval for another one. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. 

“Well, I don't know you but your voice is familiar.” He bit into another bagel, smiling with his eyes closed because it taste better than his first. 

“Do you always bring your friends with you everywhere you go?” Erik’s eyes opened at her question. Friends? 

“What do you mean? I came by myself.” He looked around at the empty shop and viewed his surroundings. He squinted his eyes in confusion and then took another bite of the bagel. 

“Huh. Well, who do you think I was talking to, earlier?” Erik finished the bagel and went for another one. She smiled at his comfortableness and giggled to herself. 

“I don't know who you were talking to. Maybe you were seeing things?” She perked up at his choice of words and her laugh filled the room once occupied by Erik’s loud smacking. 

“Yes, Erik, I do see things. The things I so happened to see a while ago, were attached to you.” Erik finished his bagel and leaned over the table, clasping his hands together. 

“How do you know my name?” She looked at his serious expression and picked up a bagel, offering it to him. 

“Cessabit.” Erik took a deep breath and took the bagel from her hand. 

“That word,” he placed the bagel in his mouth, “I heard you say it yesterday when I was in that burger joint.” She leaned back in her chair and looked at him devour his fourth bagel. 

“Yes, you did. What made you go there in the first place?” 

“I told you. I was hungry.” Her lips turned up into a smile, her eyes trailing to the table that stood in front of them. 

“No, that isn't enough. Something drew you to that place or, maybe, something drew Luci to you.” She leaned forward and studied his face. Erik shrugged his shoulders and went for the last bagel, still not feeling satisfied. “Enough,” she spoke, softly but firm making Erik cease his movement and sit up in his chair. Just like that, he felt full, on the edge of throwing up full. 

“Do you have a bathroom?” 

“No, cessabit.” Erik shuffled in his seat feeling slightly uncomfortable at that word. He hated how it altered his mood. It made him feel tranquil and defenseless. His muscles would instantly drop and he almost felt tired. 

“What does that mean? Stop telling me that.” She was caught up in her thoughts, ignoring his words. She was trying to figure out the meaning of his arrival and why she was drawn to him. It had never been her business to interfere with whatever plans Luci had, but all of a sudden she felt the urge to protect and watch over him, a complete stranger.

Thunder roared outside causing Erik to jump in his seat. “Cessabit.” 

“I said stop saying that!” 

“I apologize, Erik, but you need to relax.” She stood from her seat and pushed in her chair staring at the table. 

“I am relaxed and that is the problem!” He stood up with her and followed her to the back. She walked into a room that was filled with more plants. A bed was placed at the far right of the room, Erik guessed this was her home as well. 

“So this is your shop and home?” 

“Sure.” She pointed at a door to the left of the room and sat on her bed. Erik eyed her, waiting on instructions. “You needed the restroom?” He shook his head and went inside. She sat on the bed and watched the door close, quickly pulling out some old fabric from a basket that rested on the side of her bed. She scribbled a sigil on it with some one thousand year old ink and crumbled the cloth in her hand. She brought it up to her mouth and recited a spell that would help her subconsciously stay with Erik. She heard the toilet flush and she sat back on the bed, quickly. 

He left the bathroom and glanced at her, suspiciously. “What’s wrong with you?”  

She got up from the bed and walked over to him, seductively. It reminded him of a wild cat stalking its prey. Her eyes met his and their lips brushed against each other sending a chill through Erik’s spine. 

“Cessabit.” Her hands moved down his torso and to the side of his body where she placed them in his pockets, drawing him closer to her warm frame. 

“I told you no-” 

“Taceo.” Erik’s mouth closed and his brain went silent, scaring him a bit. Everything was silent, the only noise filling the room was their light breathing. She whispered something sweetly against his lips but low enough only for her to hear. His body reacted to the words before he could and before he knew it, his hands rubbed up her body and found there way to her soft bum. She giggled on his lips making him smile. He felt weird, happy and his thoughts were silent. He was moving without thinking. 

“Go home, Erik. Rest until tomorrow. Wake up and forget about this day. Forget about yesterday. Forget about Luci and forget my voice.” She smiled lightly and kissed his lips, sealing her words and casting the spell. Erik’s eyes fluttered close, sending him to an empty place his mind couldn't escape.

***

The next morning he woke up sweating, gasping for air. His stomach hummed loudly in the airy room. He looked around to see the sun shining brightly outside his opened window. Why is the window open? He got up to close it and then walked to the bathroom to pee. 

The toothpaste lightly grazed his teeth just before he heard rustling come from the kitchen. He ran out of his bathroom, prepared to fight when he walked in the kitchen to find nothing but a batch of freshly baked bagels sitting in the middle of the table with a beautiful plant and a light crystal. The fuck? Who breaks in a house and leaves bagels? I don't even eat bagels. He heard the rustling again coming from his bedroom and he ran to meet the sound. His window was reopened, allowing the sun and windy breeze to meet his body.

“Cessabit.” The wind spoke the foreign word, calming Erik instantly.

Materlist

Single Word Spells 

cessabit (keh-sah-bit) - calming spell [to rest, be free of]

explico (eke-pli-ko) - reveal information [explanation, to unfold] 

taceo (tak-eh-oh) - to silence [shut up] 

tags: @eriknutinthispoosy @theunsweetenedtruth @yoyolovesbucky @forbeautyandlife @misswakanda2018 @meeeeeeeeeps @maliadestiny @iamrheaspeaks

[vesperlionheart]

Pompeii 49

History has been, is, and will forever be, a fickle thing. How will history remember the days of upheaval that trail out from the cortex of a single mistake? How will the readers of history interpret these events?

Ash continued to fall through Pompeii, warm like bursts of sunlight, and where they touched blight was no more. It touched their bodies and suddenly their armor was old, like it had been old for ages. Scratches and dents that had never stayed now stood out. The metal weighed heavy on his body, fitting poorly.

Beside him, he could hear his brother stripping and decided to follow suit, saying nothing. A small pile of discard armor grew at their feet, rusting away as soon as it lost contact with their body.

“Sakura!”

He looked up in time to see his brother making the mad dash through the trees to the desecrated shrine. Determined to follow close behind, he spared only a single glance over his shoulder for the boy made out of shadows that they had managed to save from a fate far worse. He would wake in his own time, free of blight or sickness. The whole of Pompeii would soon wake up in much the same way thanks to the ash blessing.

‘More than they deserve,’ he thought darkly.

He had been watching along with his brother for far too many months as each one passed with a little more of her smile, until Sakura was left with a pitiful fragment of her usual cheerfulness. They didn’t know what they did to her when they accused her, they had no idea how their accusation had cut deep enough to wound her psyche.

That had been what Kaguya wanted. When the ceremony to keep her sealed for another year failed that had been the beginning of it all. But, wonder of wonders, what had been impossible centuries ago, before record, before ancestors, before warnings, was now finally realized. An unkillable monstrosity was laid to rest.

Indra turned to follow his brother down the path, racing to catch up. The way was familiar, but where once upon a time there had been a neat clearing with a shrine and lake, now there stood a shattered alter and a twisted, heavy peach tree that loomed over a slowly draining pond. The healing waters were receding with no guarantee they would ever be seen again.  

Ashura had already reached Sakura’s side and was calling out to her when Indra knelt down on her opposite side. He pulled her to him and stared down at her unfocused gaze, glassy from the ash and sweat clinging to her lashes.

She tried to say something but her voice didn’t make it past her lips.

“That’s enough, rest well. Thanks to you, Sakura, Pompeii is safe,” Indra said.

Her eyes slid completely out of focus and her eyelids fell all the way as the rest of her body sagged into his arms.

Ashura made a strangled noise deep in her throat and reached to tug at the scraps of shirt around her neck. She wore a collar of bruises, blooming into color with the promise of darkening later on. There was blood in places where her clothes ripped too, likely the result from being thrown around like a rag doll.

“How could she do this to her?” Ashura asked out loud, cataloging each injury and bruise. “It’s brutal.”

“The old gods typically are not less, and you should know better than to put such a thing past our grandmother,” Indra answered while folding Sakura closer to his body with care.

The sight of her made him shake in anger. Her back was bleeding in places from minor scratches in too many places. He could see bruises growing underneath the surface of her skin like far off galaxies drawing closer into view. Like his brother, he was more distraught than he remembered ever being when he saw the state their favorite person was in.

“She’ll recover, won’t she?” Ashura asked as he stood to follow his brother.

Indra looked to the water that were once a source of healing and frowned at how dead it now seemed. Ashura understood the look and leapt for what was left, scooping up some of the water into cupped hands to bring back to Sakura’s form. He washed her arms and back this way, but whatever magic had once existed in the water was null now.

“It’s not working,” Ashura panicked.

“That’s not the only thing we can do for her. Grab the other one, the companion, and take him with us.”

Ashura moved to grab Yamato and turn the man over to better haul up into a fireman’s carry. “Where are we going?”   

“Pompeii will provide a haven. Come, we should leave this place least grandmother’s blight linger in some ill way.”  

Ashura grunted in understandment, shuffling the man on his shoulders until he became comfortable. “I doubt there is anything left if we’re both here like this. Grandmother’s curse wouldn’t have lifted with anything less.”

Indra hummed in agreement, growing distracted by the cluster of ashflakes that lingered on her long lashes. He blew them away and wished he could do the same for the cuts and bruises making a collar on her neck. She had never seemed more frail or small.

The pair passed the scarred places of earth where they once made battle. They passed the sleeping body of the Nara boy who had dared raise a hand against their Sakura, and they passed several crumbling trees that seemed burned out from the inside. The edge of the forest soon came into view and the two brother made a beeline for it.

“Brother,” Ashura called. “Can you see it, can you tell now what Sakura is?”

Indra refused to blush. “Don’t be crude in such a situation. I wouldn’t dare pry after all she’s done to help us.”

Ashura huffed, less embarrassed by the request. “You have greater insight than I do, brother, and you were blessed with those eyes of yours. I through that you would be able to see what was hidden from you before after everything that’s happened.”

Indra hated how the temptation grew inside of him to peer through the veil of his blessed sight and see the unseen, if only that meant he could know Sakura greater. When they had first met he had distrusted her emphatically and tried repeatedly to devise her true nature. Was she a forest sprite or nymph, was she something older, a foreign god from forgotten or desecrated lands?

The boy she called Shikamaru was so easy to see through. He knew the Nara were Shades, masters of shadow and the great manipulators of darkness. Their offspring was no different. He could see the truth of many others who traveled too close to their perches.

The Senju were all fey, the Uchiha were all tengu, that silver haired one tied to the one named Obito was a golem. The redhead woodcutter was a Golem Warlock. The blond girl who called out to Sakura was a Swan Maiden. They were all so easy to see through. Even the Storm God Pein could be perceived with some effort. He had not encountered an individual he could not see through until…

Sakura.

“It doesn’t matter anymore that I can’t see what she is. She’s something far greater than you or I and what’s more, she’s the creature we owe our lives to. I’ll not ask or pry again. Should she wish to share that with us, it would be my greatest pleasure, but I dare not demand what I do not deserve.”   

“You’re so old fashioned. You make it sound like I asked you to do something nasty,” Ashura chuckled dryly. “I just wanted to know her a little better.”

When Indra looked back he could see that his brother was more depressed than he sounded. Ashura tried to summon a brave front but walked with a weight that came more from his heart and less from the new, physical body.

“Ashura,” he softly called. The younger brother lifted his head only a fraction in response. “We will have plenty of days to get to know her better in our own ways with our own voices. Don’t despair. Pompeii will provide.”

Ashura blinked and straightened, looking at something past his brother’s shoulder. “Provide something like that?”

Both males looked as one as a structure shimmered into focus, here and then there. The brick exterior and ivy growing up the side made it look like it had always been there, always been around, but it rested in the middle of the field between the tree line and the town, far from any road or conventional footpath.  

Indra saw the veins of magic running all throughout the structure and nodded, detecting nothing nefarious about it. The book that sat dead in her backpack was meant for the building, their magical signatures were the same.

“Come, it seems provisions have found us,” Indra said, holding her closer and mounting the first of the steps leading up to the library entrance.

The doors were already opening in their own for the brothers.  

-

Hashirama had his arms folded into the sleeves of his outer robe where they wouldn’t be a distraction to those who knew him well enough to see how white his knuckles were with tension.

“Is that who I think it is?” Minato Namikaze asked stiffly. Beside him Kushina reached for his arm to hold onto as she drew her body closer. Her eyes were wide in a terrifying way.

“If you mean is that the body of Kaguya Otsutsuki who we have been bothering to seal away each year, then the answer is yes, that is who you think it is,” Hashirama’s wife Mito answered cooly. “Count yourself as one of the fortunate few who are so blessed as to walk away from this with your life in place. I have heard a rare few have been so lucky in ages past.”

“No shit, it was the reason we were keeping her sealed I thought,” Shikaku Nara huffed.

The father looked back over his shoulder at his son who sat apart from the group with his head in his hands. Shikamaru had refused to turn around after seeing the shadow play of the whole ordeal the first time. He hadn’t said anything when they called to him, and Shikaku was only mildly worried about what this would mean for his son later on. He was a father, after all. But Shikaku had faith that, eventually, Shikamaru would recover from whatever trauma he was currently dealing with. Now wasn’t the time to rush that sort of healing. The others could wait if they wanted anything more from his son.

“Shikaku,” Hashirama called out. “Show us the shadow play once more.”

Behind them all Shikamaru flinched and held himself tighter. It made Shikaku’s lips draw thin to do something he knew was hurting his son, but there was no choice. It was Hashirama, after all.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Back it up and get out of the way.”

He drew up his magic and hooked it to the natural shadows surrounding the area. Like fabric figures they rose up, forming the outlines of the characters who had run through the forest clearing no more than four hours ago. As long as it was within a day Shikaku would be able to make the shadows show him what happened.

The shadow figures stiffened and then all at once each began to move to their places and play out a scene they had seen several times already. He kept his magic flowing as one figure threw another and then gripped it tight. There was no sound and there was no color, but it was interesting how the brain filled in those details once the shapes and sizes made sense.

Kaguya dove forward, knocking Sakura back against the trunk of the tree. Her hands clasped around Sakura’s neck, claws biting into the soft flesh there. Sakura flailed wildly as streams of blood pooled out from beneath Kaguya’s fingernails, soaking into Sakura’s shirt. Sakura turned the knife in her hand and drove it into Kaguya’s side.

Naruto’s father gasped as if he could actually hear the wound being made.

“And here is where we think she drops Sakura to go to the figure in the tree,” Hashirama intones. He watches the shadow play like some great detective, internet on unraveling every mystery.

“We think it’s Yamato,” Shikaku supplied.

It was what his son told him he heard Sakura say before this whole fight happened. It made sense. Most people knew how devoted the copy was to the new doctor, so it wasn’t too hard to believe that she would be equally devoted.

“We think so, yes,” Hashirama grunted, eyes going dark.

They watched the climax of the fight as Kaguya’s shadow drifted down with a branch sticking out of her head, falling until the shadow lay atop the corpse of the woman they had already discovered. Her body was soaked with ichor that had already been witnessed on multiple accounts from trees cut open. Shikamaru had been seeing the gold ichor for months along with everyone else.

‘And you did nothing!’

“She gets up though, she’s able to do that much,” Minato supplied helpfully. As the words were out of his mouth Sakura’s shadow crumbled against Yamato and slips down, only to be scooped up by two new shadows who leave the area.

“The knights,” Hashirama grumbled. “Who are they?”

“The armor is old, whoever they were. The metal is disintegrating in our hands when we try to touch it, so there’s not a lot we can do to identify it,” Minato said before looking back over his shoulder at his silent wife. Her eyes were still wide and her hand was a vice on his arm.

“Are they a threat?” asked the eldest Senju. “What do we know about them other than they appear only at the end and spirit her off to...nowhere.”

They had followed the shadows until they climbed what seemed to be stairs into a void of space where shadow could not follow. The trail was impossible to track after that.

“They don’t seem to be a friend to Kaguya, if that is what you are worried about. They saved my son, even after he tried to stop Sakura. I don’t think they are figures we need to worry about right now. We-”

“But they took her,” Tobirama interjected, voice hard like his eyes as he stepped through the trees into the clearing. The group turned as one to greet him without words. It is clear the younger Senju has more to say. “They have Sakura right now. That’s more than enough reason to seek them out and track what we can of them. She was hurt.”

“She’s not a danger like we thought she was, we don’t have to do anything,” Hashirama replied. His voice was softer only for his brother.

Hours earlier Tobirama had awoken as fit and healthy as ever, barely remembering the sensation of sickness only to discover the branch of cherry blossom he cherished in a jar had withered away into white ash on the windowsill. Like everyone else who had fallen sick, there wasn’t even a trace of illness left in his body.

Hashirama had never seen his younger brother so desperate for something, and he hated how this new emotion was so painful to watch bloom. More than just desperation, Tobirama felt an overabundance of guilt towards Sakura, also a new emotion. It didn’t help that no one could tell Tobirama what had happened to the wrongly accused savior of Pompeii. Even if she did adore that abomination, Hashirama was willing to look past that all for the sake of his brother who was helpless to the blooming of his long still heart.  

“We’ll find her. There aren’t a lot of places she could go in that sort of condition. With all the able bodies someone is bound to spot something,” Minato said.

Tobirama’s red eyes flashed as he growled. “We need to expedite the search. We have no idea what sort of wounds she may be suffering from after encountering such an ancient creature.”

“If she was able to stand up to Kaguya and hobble away I’m sure she’ll be fine-”

Tobirama slammed a fist into the side of a tree and Shikamaru shook, curling up into even a tighter ball.

“It’s not good enough that she’s fine. She need to be found!”

“And we will,” Hashirama interjected. “This is not something we will leave to others. You and I, brother, will seek her out together in our own ways. Who can deny our skills?”  

“Meanwhile,” Mito interrupted sharply. The group turned to stare at the older red haired woman as one. Mito’s hand was raise to point to where Kaguya laid. “What should the people be told of this. Pompeii clamors for answers, even now. Some believe Sakura was killed that they are all now better and others don’t know what to think.”

Shikamaru was still shaking, but his nails dug deep into his scalp like an effort to try and keep him still. It was enough to make his father worry.

“We’ll put a stop to those rumors, we won’t let them go on like that,” Shikaku said, turning to look at Hashirama next. “They will believe you if you go out and tell them what we saw here.”

Hashirama looked from the youngest Nara to his father. “Yes, that is one way to do things, but please understand how sensitive the situation is. We have to be careful about what we tell the people. I don’t want to stir up unnecessary worry.”

“You want to put a spin on this?” Minato guessed.

“That makes it sound like something underhanded. I want to manage the most sensitive information. I am not a liar, you know that is not a Senju trait.” Hashirama tried out another polite smile reserved for fundraisers and campaign speeches. “I’m not here to spread information or cause a panic. Let me manage this message to the public.”

“Oh, is that what we’re doing now?”

The group minus Shikamaru turned to watch Tsunade step into the clearing. She wore all black and the diamond on her forehead pulsed with purple energy.  Her hair was braided back like she was prepared for something a bit more strenuous than her usual routines.

“Tsunade,” Mito whispered, unable to raise her voice after all.

The blonde woman scanned the group lazily before her eyes set on Hashirama. “I should have known they would leave this in the hands of the best deceiver incapable of lying. What sort of spin were you planning, old man? What were you planning on leaving out?”

Hashirama swallowed. “The people don’t need to know it was Kaguya.”

“You mean they don’t need to know it was your fault all this happened in the first place. Instead of addressing the issue when you first noticed it, you played politician for the crowd and endangered us all. That brat has been bearing the burden of your mistakes all this time and you plan on denying her justice.”

Tsunade took a step into the clearing, disrupting the air with a crackle of her own magic. Shikaku noticed it a second too late, but her magic was already ingesting the shadows of the area and learning everything the shadow play had told them. Before he could stop it she was done.

“Tsunade, don’t be rash,” Hashirama warned.

“You’re smart to be wary, but I’m not the one you should be threatening with your big boy tone,” she mocked. She set a hand on her hip and tilted her chin up so she was staring down her nose at him.

Mito stepped up beside Hashirama and glared at the other witch. “Don’t do something you’ll regret. Your reputation in Pompeii is-”

“I don’t give two shits about something like that,” Tsunade hissed angrily, cutting the older woman off. “And maybe if you lot learned a bit from me we wouldn’t be in this mess, but we are and there's nothing we can do to go back in time to change it.”

“People don’t need to know,” Hashirama tried again.

“People are learning it as we speak. You owe this much to her and to everyone else. All the people you’ve deceived are entitled this truth.” She bared her teeth.

Hashirama breathed deeply. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret later, witch. You’ve been allowed to wander so freely thanks to good grace.”

“You want to try threatening me you should try using some threats that mean something. You’re not as powerful as you think you are, old man, and the winds of change are blowing.” She waved her hand at the dead body of Kaguya. “And we’re rooting out the rot where we find it, so make sure you’re not a cancer we need to cut out before you go threatening others of the same.”

“Do you know where she is?”

Tsunade leaned back to look over at Tobirama and frowned. The aggression that ran through Hashirama like a taut bowstring was unrecognizable in Tobirama. The younger brother was agitated, but in a very different way.

“What does that matter to you?” She narrowed her eyes at him and there was a spark of purple there to match the glow of her diamond. “It was your little branch and bud that made this whole fiasco possible, so don’t think I’ll tell you only for you to try and paint yourself into a victim. You don’t get to do that after blaming and doubting her.”

“She’s hurt. All that can come later, but she left this area heavily wounded and was carried off by two figures. Do you know who they were or where she might be now?”

“I doubt she’s in anymore danger.”

“She’s hurt. Someone should make sure she’s taken care of!” Tobirama exclaimed.

Tsunade huffed loudly and shifted to fold her arms across her chest. “Don’t think you’re the only one capable of such a thing. Without you, there are still plenty of individuals who are willing to care for and cater to her needs. She may be a bit of an idiot and an airhead about some things, but there are too many rejects hungry for affection to not break themselves at her feet for another taste of her mercies. I won’t expect an illustrious Senju to understand this, but you’ve degraded and cast too many into the darkness in your hubris. If you underestimate Sakura that’s your fault, but she is far more loved than you could understand with your limited emotions.”

“There is no need for insults here,” Hashirama interjected. He took a step forward to put himself in between Tsunade and his younger brother. He pulled himself up with all the authority he had left in him and narrowed his eyes at her. “You can go and tell whoever you like what you saw here. It doesn’t make a difference or not. This won’t matter in the long run the way you think it will.”

“Maybe that’s what you believe, but Pompeii is tired of putting up with a functioning cancer in its body, and the time for surgery is now. Maybe you’ll survive the cull, but don’t think things aren’t changing around here.”

Tsunade lowered her head and a moment later the rest of her body folded into a space between here and there, and winked out of existence.  

“I’m sorry, but she stole my shadow play and-” Shikaku tried to say but stopped when he saw Hashirama’s hand.

“That’s enough for now. We need to draft a narrative for the Uchiha before their damn birds reach this place. She can tell whoever she wants to, it’s all just shadows in the end. It’s not enough to do what she hopes.”

“Still….” Shikaku looked back at his son. “This matter is far from settled.”

“Agreed,” Hashirama said before turning to face the corpse and raising a single hand under his chin. Root work began to grow up around the body at his beck and call. “ For now, we must deal with this body. Someone can say it burned up at the touch later on. Stand back while I cage it for later.”

-

Sakura felt the hand at her throat and choked on a breath before her eyes shot open. The trees were gone and the forest wasn’t a forest anymore, but a long bedroom with old fashioned wallpaper and victorian molding.

She felt movement at her bedside and turned, facing it only to see the face from before-the one that had been there when she slipped away.

Mari!

She tried to say his name but all she could feel was the vibration of her throat. There was a sound somewhere but it wasn’t close. She tried again, tried to call out to him, to ask him what had happened, to as where was she, but her voice was so far away, trapped someplace she couldn’t hear but yet still felt.

She remembered her ears ringing like there were nails being hammered into them and reached up to feel her ears, not knowing what else to expect. She scraped at her ears and felt the touch, but there was no sound, even when she tried to claw her ears open there was no sound. She couldn't hear anything!

The knight with dark hair and darker eyes reached for her hands and pulled them away from her ears before she could scratch them raw. He held her hands together in one of his own and she felt his other knuckle brush the side of her face, where tears stained her skin.

She couldn’t hear it, but she could read his lips well enough to know what he said. “Shhh, don’t cry. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“I can’t hear anything,” Sakura said, not knowing if she spoke or screamed the words. She made them in her mouth like she knew how to do, but she had no idea if he understood her or not.

His eyes softened and the knuckles under her tears brushed across her ear before going back to her face, where more tears were starting to flow. Slowly, he inclined his head until their foreheads were touching and then he closed his eyes.

There was a presence in her mind and she pushed back at first before the warmth of it made her relent and allow it access. When she opened her eyes she could still feel the presence someone inside of her.

This time, when he moved her mouth, she heard him.

“I’m sharing my ability to hear with you. Now you hear what I hear. I’ve only done this for one sense. Are you still able to see and feel and taste without issue?”

Sakura swallowed and then weakly nodded. “I-I think so. Who-Mari, it’s you, isn’t it?”

A soft secret sort of smile melted on his face. “Yes, that’s me, but I am also called Indra. You called my brother after the daffodils but his name is Ashura. We were the knights you were so kind to.”

Sakura felt a new thrill of joy upon seeing one of the two knight brothers in the flesh before her, finally out of armor.  “It’s so good to see you, but I still have so many questions. What happened?”

“You saved all of us.”

Sakura laughed and sagged forward a bit. “No, really, what happened, because I don’t remember much of it.” But the images came back and she had to swallow when she remembered the things that made her retch the first time. She remembered killing Kaguya and then…

“Yamato! Sai, are they alright?” Sakura asked suddenly, a new feer blooming in her heart.

“Annoying so, both companions you’ve mentioned are alive and well enough to bother us constantly about your status,” Indra grumbled. “Both are up and walking around the library least the drag us into further trouble with the head librarian here.”

“Library?” Sakura looked around her, searching for a clue that would tell here exactly where she was. “I didn’t know there were bedrooms this nice here.”

When they dragged Sai into the library, leaking from his wounds, they had deposited him on the nearest couch and Sakura hadn’t thought to go exploring further than that. But the Library was odd and mysterious and she couldn’t believe that if it wanted to, it couldn’t just grow an additional room to provide what was needed.

Sakura braced with the heels of her hand and tried to sit up but gasped at the pain stretching across her abdomen and back. With a whimper she fell back into the blankets, cradled by Indra who was too fast to not be attentive to her pain. She looked down and saw her sleeping pajamas were clean, but thin enough to make out the bandages through. She pulled the hem of her shirt up and winced at the parts that weren't bandaged.

“It looks so ugly,” she whined, forcing herself to laugh as she dropped the hem and looked away from all the marks marring her body. Scrapes and scratches and bruises made her into something hard to look at.

“You are more than your scars, and I could never see you as anything less than radiant.” When he looked up at her the black color of his eyes was almost red, like desert bloodstone.

She felt like he was seeing into her when he stared at her so intently. She had to blush. “I-I’m nothing so special, but I’m glad you all are safe. How long have I been recovering for?”  

“A couple of days. Since we brought you to this place most of the people in town have recovered. No one is still suffering from Kaguya’s curse.”

Sakura sagged in relief. “Then Ino and Naruto and all the others are safe. That’s all that matters. I was afraid nothing had changed while I slept.”

“When Ashura was on watch yesterday you started to wake up but fell back asleep again. You’ve been restless all day and I’m afraid it might be because of the pain. I’m sorry we were not able to do more this time.”

Sakura touched her ear and grimaced. “Is this… permanent?”

He swallowed, looking lost. “I’m sorry, but it’s beyond me. I am no doctor.”

Sakura snorted at his words, unable to help herself. “Right, no, I’m sorry. That’s my job. I’ll have to ask Shizune to give me a check up. If it was a normal accident I would say there’s a chance my hearing comes back, but I still don’t understand completely what she did to me. She was in my head.”  

“But you did what no one else could. Despite everything you were triumphant. These scars will heal at least,” he said, brushing his knuckles across the bandages around her neck.

“My friends and family are safe, that’s all that matters. It’d be nice if my hearing came back, but I’d rather it be like this than how it was before.” Sakura closed her eyes and let her head fall back into the pillows.

“Ashura has been waiting for you to wake. I feel selfish, monopolizing your time like this. Are you well enough to speak with him or should I leave you to rest some more?” Indra asked.

She remembered the cheerful knight that reminded her so much of Naruto, waving wildly to her while darkness rolled behind his blade at the end of her journey. Daffodil.  

“Please, if he’s here, I want to see him,” Sakura said, chest going light at the thought.

Ashura smiled, squeezing her hand in reassurance or maybe thanks. She heard everything he heard as he stood from his seat and exited through the door. She heard him call out, she heard what he heard, ‘Is she-?’ ‘Yeah, and she’s asking for you.’ She even heard the hurried footsteps on hardwood floors.

When the door banged open she turned her head across the pillows to see the other of the two brothers standing there, eyes wide and watery, hair a ruffled mess behind a simple cloth headband. The smile that spread across her lips was so easy and that only made his tears come faster.

“Sa-ku-raaaaa!” he cried, dashing over to drop down loudly beside her bed and drape his arms across her form. She hadn’t meant to but she grunted at the touch and he flinched in reaction.

“Imbecile,” Indra hissed, smacking Ashura upside his head. “She’s still hurt. Don’t be such an oaf with her.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sakura laughed. “I’m not that hurt, you just surprised me a little. Ah, but it’s so good to finally see you in the flesh, Daffodil. How are you?”

Ashura’s face colored as his eyes watered even more. He tried to breath it out and steady himself but it came out sounding more like a choke. He melted at her bedside and weakly reached for her hand like it was made of glass. “I was so-oo-oh sc-scared Sakura. You were so small and still. I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to speak to you like this. I would have traded being a stupid empty suit of armor if I knew what would happen. I’m so sorry you’re hurt!”

Sakura laughed, squeezing his hand back in reassurance. “Don’t think about it like that. It’s not like you giving up what you are now would do me any good. And really, there are worse things than scars. I’ll heal, that’s no big deal, but what about you? You have a body now, that has to be weird.”

Ashura bent down and kissed her fingers and then pulled back to laugh when she flustered at the touch. “Yeah, it is nice having a body again. I had forgotten what it felt like and what I was missing out on.”

Sakura couldn’t help it, but she felt compelled to flick his forhead, so she pulled out of his hold and did just that. He reacted way too dramatically, falling backwards in a way that made her laugh.  

“Sakura?”

She heard the voice and it was like a knife in her heart because it was the most lovely sound, only for it to be something she might never hear again.

Yamato appeared in the doorway, looking out of breath with a pale Sai trailing in behind him. Further back in the hallway there was the top of Shizune’s head and maybe even Sarutobi’s.

Yamato didn’t wait for her to say anything, but dashed to the opposite side of her bed and fell atop her like a feather, slowing just enough to be soft enough to do no damage.

“Stupid girl,” she felt him mutter into her shoulder. That area was growing damp and she didn’t dare point that out, already knowing the reason for his tears. “What a stupid, stupid girl. What were you thinking?”

Sakura looked up and saw Sai lean against the foot of her bed, looking happy but tired. He was doing so much better than he had been when she last left him.

“I was thinking about making sure my family stayed safe. I wasn’t going to let her take any of you away from me, duh,” Sakura huffed with a roll of her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Really, Yamato, what do you take me for?”

“I’m sorry,” Yamato gasped, pulling away. She hadn’t noticed it until just then, but his hair was just past his jaw line now, long and healthy. Stands of it stuck to his cheeks where the tear trails stood out.

“Don’t be,” she tried to say.

“I’m sorry she did this to you. It’s not fair, and it’s because of me. That was the whole reason you were there in the first place. You would have been fine if I hadn’t been a distraction-a weakness for you.”

“If that’s how you want to go about labeling yourself, then fine. It’s a weakness I gladly accept.”

“Sakura-”

“No,” she cut him off with a single finger raised. “Not your turn to talk. Listen to me first. I’m not invincible and I might not be the baddest bitch you see in town, but we all have a weakness or two, so I’d be proud if my weakness was my precious people. And honestly, hon, how many people are so lucky to have their weakness also be their strength? I would have gone there on my own, anyway. Don’t think anything was your fault.” He looked away and when she saw his jaw shiver she reached to hold it and pull his face back towards her. “Promise.”

“You were almost killed.” He still shook in small ways as he forced himself to speak. “You don’t even know who she was or what you did.”

“I saved my family,” she answered without hesitation.

Yamato sagged into her side, burying his face in the covers around her hips. When his shoulders shook she reached out to scratch her fingers down his spine and up again, calming him back down.

Across from Yamato, Ashura glared lightly and huffed loudly. “I was also really scared for you Sakura.” Ashura scooted closer to the opposite side of Sakura and leaned in a little. “Never been more scared in my life.”

Sakura hummed, seeing through his words straight to his true intentions. “I’m sorry I scared you.” She reached out and ran a hand through his wild hair, scraping his skull with her nails just enough to cause a pleasant tingle.

“Are we going to have to put up with these new intruders?” Sai asked blandly, fake smile slipping into place as he nodded his head at Indra.

“Seeing as how we are the only fully healed, capable bodies in this building, It should be more like us putting up with you,” Indra shot back.

“That might be a little hard, since we’re already maxed out on spaces in our family and you would just be a nuisance. You already have a sibling, so be content, flower person. Find your own place to crash.”

“We did,” Ashura huffed from beside Sakura. “The library likes us just fine. If you don’t approve pack your own bags.”

“Now now,” Sarutobi cut in, sliding past Shizune and Indra to enter the room with his hands up. “There is plenty of room here for all of you as long as you need it. You were all welcomed for a reason and we don’t have to be picky.” He turned his smile off and instead looked to Sakura, frowning slightly at the bandages he could see. “Speaking of welcoming, there are two others just outside who are debating coming in. Should I go out to welcome them in or leave them alone?”

“What, who are they? I’m fine but I don’t know if I’m ready to defend myself to people just yet,” Sakura answered. She remembered too well what it looked like when people made an effigy of her to burn in the streets.

“That’s alright, these two are fine,” Shizune cut in. She waved to Sakura before disappearing to open the front door and do what Sarutobi suggested.  

“How are you feeling my dear?” Sarutobi asked, looking back at Sakura.

“I’ll feel better in a few days. What is it they say after a crash. It hurts worse later on, right? Ah, I think that’s where I’m at right now.”

Sarutobi chuckled at her good humor and easy smile. “Oh, I’m not sure what they say about things like that, my dear. You’re the doctor, after all.”

Outside there were footsteps and the room seemed to widen as two different blond, blue eyed people poked their heads into her room.

Sakura felt dizzy at once.

“Ino, Naruto! You’re alright!” she cried, nearly getting out of bed only to wince and fall back down, unable to do that much.

The cried her name as one and plowed through the other individuals in the room to get to her bed and collapse at her side. Sakura hugged them as well as she could and then paused them away to look them over for signs of sickness, but aside from some weight loss they were perfectly healthy and bright.

“Quit worrying about us,” Ino cried through her thick tears. “You’re the one stuck in a bed now, you dummy.”

“No one would tell me what happened to you when I woke up. I thought something terrible had happened and you left or something, and I still don’t get it cause the old man ain’t talking, but I didn’t think it would be like this,” Naruto babbled, freaking out at the sight of all her bruises.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Sakura sighed.

Between the group of them, minus Indra who was content to let Ashura speak for him, the group went over the events pertaining to the Pompeii Plague caused by Kaguya, starting with the botched binding ceremony/ritual and going to the final confrontation. Naruto was oddly quiet when Yamato, Sai, and Ino recounted the details of how so much of the town turned on her and blamed Sakura for the sickness...including the entirety of Naruto’s family.

“People are still looking for you,” Ino added at the end.

“We were too, but we didn’t know where to start because the clinic is a mess, like it’s gone-gone.” Naruto made a cutting motion with his hand across his neck.

“We didn’t have a lot of leads to go on when we found this place. I’ve never been here before but Shizune was at the door and it was our best shot so that’s how we got here and...yeah, that’s the story,” Ino added.

“Looking for her? Who exactly is looking for Sakura?” Yamato asked, tone dark. Sakura didn’t miss the way the other boys in the room tensed, ready to go if the need arose.

“Lots of people...most everyone actually. Tsunade stole a shadow play and has been broadcasting it non stop in all the shadow places, replaying the showdown with illusionary magic to add color and textile. Now everyone knows what happened and only a few wacko hold outs still believe it was all a trick on your part,” said Ino.

Sakura meant to ask something more but the room around them shivered and Sakura felt queasy all of a sudden.

“What’s that?” Naruto asked, panicking.

Sarutobi cursed. “Someone has managed to enter the library uninvited.”

“That’s possible?” Shizune hollered, bracing against the wall.

“No, not unless they managed to follow behind someone else who was invited….” Sarutobi’s eyes and word trailed to Ino and Naruto and the whole room tensed at the implications.

The library had revealed itself to Naruto and Ino, allowing them to enter, but the magic that hid it between the here and there didn’t matter if someone was already on the stairs outside with one foot in the door.

Sarutobi turned on his heel, ready to expel the intruder but stopped short when he saw who it was in the doorway.

“I don’t think you should be here,” the old man intoned, drawing himself up as best as he could.

“No, I’m pretty sure this is exactly where I need to be.”

[hornedwyvern]

Dew Drops in March ❈ Chapter 3

Im really happy that everyone is enjoying this. With all the good feedback of the previous chapter on here and Ao3 Ive decided I will write a wedding scene once I complete this fiction. I will probably knock out a few chapters of my other fan-fiction of FFXV (Which is here!) before doing that. I actually have full head canons and story plots for children I can see these lovelies having. I have no idea if I will write a fiction about them but their names are; Evangeline, Barnaby and Scarlet. Two look similar to Chise; having human like forms then one resembling more like Elias. Shoot me a ask if you’re interested in learning more. Anyway! Enjoy this chapter!

Word Count: 4,291

Chapter 1 ❈ 

Chapter 2 ❈

Cooking and baking became a calming past time in this screwball of a world. It was a easy science that Chise understood, balancing her ingredients like she would with making medicine but in most cases this ended up tasting a lot better. Only a pinch of cocoa powder here, a sprinkle of salt there. Maybe even some cherry extract to add flavor. When she’d lived on her own in America she’d once had a studio apartment for a brief time -- it was extremely cramp especially when Ruth manifested into any form. It was a incredibly depressing time for both parties. Though in those small, few months she learned quickly how to fend for her self; preparing most of her meals at work. The office kitchen wasn’t always stocked with the most fresh food or coffee.

Guess it was a trait that just stuck.

There sat a mixing bowl on the long counter’s of Silky’s kitchen. Everything was arranged nicely and stored perfectly. It really looked like a kitchen you’d see in those magazines at the doctor’s office or in department stores. The intelligent house sprite would never allow clutter or mess in her most favorite room of the house. If Elias was even caught misplacing something she’d surely tan his hide for it. Whom was master of whom? Chise smirked thinking about it as she blended a group of ingredients in the clear cylinder bowl, folding it with a spatula. All coming together as one, the scent of chocolate in the air.

Chise drew her finger over the edge of the bowl, scooping a dollop of the dark, confection batter that she licked clean off. It was rich, a twinge of mild fruitiness there too. The sweet, chocolaty taste riveting her tongue. These were probably going to be the best brownies she’d made in a long time. Simon told her to add cherry extract for a bold flavor and she surely did not regret that decisions. The thick batter found it’s way into a oiled pan that was ancient looking, how long has Silky had this? The House Sprite was a mysterious being indeed.

One of the kitchen windows was opened ajared, it was just enough to let in a chilling breeze. It hugged the back of Chise’s neck; making her reddish neck hair stand on end. Even with the glowing flame of the oven and her toil of blending the ingredients did it freeze her from top to bottom. She quickly fed the tray of uncooked brownie batter into the oven’s mouth, closing it quick. Her face was now warm but the rest frigid. Quickly the red-headed woman trotted to the open window, latching it close. The frost growing like mandalas of the flatness of the clear glass, Chise drew a heart in the fog.

Snow had fell that night before and now the hills were masked in a blanket of fluffy, powdery snow that crumbled through your hands like cold grains of rice. It was the perfect weather for building a snow man, Chise thought. Maybe Ruth might enjoy that later? Her reflection looking back at her as she gazed at the ever green pines and pillowing winter clouds above them. At least the sun was out, dismal but awake and exulting joyful rays of endearing warmth.

Looking at the viridian pine trees that stood tall, like a wall into the forest beyond their hillside home; Chise thought about the Yule time and how the house smelled of cinnamon and cedar. Her green eyes closed, breathing in the winter air that had escaped in side. This Yule was very refreshing, it brought back old memories as well building new. Chise’s face started to grow a roseate shade from ear to ear. Thinking about a certain moment during the twelve day period, her fingers reached to her parted lips. It was the first time she’d kissed Elias -- directly.

It seemed like a regular day aside the the wicked cold. They’d both gone to collect some items from in town. There wasn’t abundance growing in the garden aside a few seasonal vegetables and fruit but they were no where close to harvest. The couple had their reserves but there was plenty delights stored in town as well giving them a reason to get out of the house and do a smige of socializing. Elias held Chise’s hand the whole walk home. The gentle grasp was enough to keep her gloved hands more than warm enough.

In the crook of Elias’ free arm sat some supplies and Chise held a burlap bag full of books and wrapping supplies along with a few articles of clothing; gifts for friends back in America and Japan. She wanted to send them right away so they would arrive in time for Christmas. The idea of gift giving was very new to Elias,Chise and Angie was the only ones he’d given stuff too but listening to Chise speak about her friends and what she was planning to give was amusing to the old mage. His cloaked face fixated on her for a good chunk of the walk home.

Their home -- a wonder of faint, flickering lemon colored lights from the several windows. Years ago this had been Elias’ home, hers as well but now it felt like she had imprinted on it. Like as if it was a living thing; It’s soul and walls grasped her presence and welcomed it any time she proceeded through it’s doors. There was no better place ever than here and she realized that soon after returning. The overhead porch light like a beacon, Chise gave Elias a tug forwards.

The door opened with a crack, frost breaking off it’s frame.

“Silky!” Chise alerted the fae. “We’re home!”

She was likely upstairs, her foot steps creaked above them. Elias lifted his cloak.

“She must be busy.” Elias said, having dropped his supplies off on the side table, closing the door behind them. He examined the lot but then realized a piece had been missing. Maybe it dropped the way here or when they were pushing to escape the cold? Elias had already shed his winter cloak, opened the door to the outside. He pulled at his over jacket and spotted the missing item -- a collection of sage for a cleansing spell he had planned for the new family living to the south.

“Elias? What’s wrong?” Chise stood in the door way with a printed shawl around her shoulders.

“I dropped this.” He responded after rapidly nabbing the collection of herb, it’s scent of cedar breaking into the air around them. The mix of saffron light from the porch lantern and carpeted snow was a sight for Chise, Elias looked very handsome in this evening. The shadows of his face gave a certain intensity aside the puffs of white smoke he breathed. In the States she’d dated a boy or two -- even found the company of other woman nice too. None of them seemed the same to the depth she felt for him. His crimson eyes traced her blocking figure in the doorway.

A long time ago when he’d found the time to visit her, she was some what involved with another gentlemen and Elias found that out. She’d never seen him act so strangely, like a piece of what they were had broken off. Their letters to each other became non existent-- well from Elias at least, he never replied more than once every two months. Chise truly believed he he was mourning the lose of what their connection was as Student and Pupil as well the thought of her loving him.

But this was a different chapter for them though. They had no idea what they were to each now -- Chise really liked that for some reason.

“Chise? Are you going to let me in?” She’d zoned out. He was clearly trying his best to not shiver.

“S-Sorry!” Like a door she turned to let him in. His broad body coming in and closing the door behind them. The sage found it’s home next to the other purchased herbs. It smelled glorious in the hall now. Chise still stood beside Elias, turning to her with a questioning eye. Her ungloved hands twiddling together, unknowingly asking something of him.

“What’s wrong?” His voice intrigued. She was looking at him with love struck.

Chise’s emerald eyes took evasive action, spotting the Mistletoe above them.

“The mistletoe.” Mumbling it, Elias asked her again. “The Mistletoe!”

Both gazed up at the collection of lush green leaves and carmine berries twisted with lace above their front door way. A tradition that was required every year in the twelve days of Yule. It was a blessing to the Winter Goddess whom would favor any house decorated by it. Being that herself and her companions have encountered such a being, to be in her graces was a necessity. Along with her and Elias would kiss underneath it as well. They did it in the many years as student and master? Why not now.

“Ah, yes.” Elias turned back to Chise, leaning down to her. “Do you want to kiss me?”

He said it so nonchalantly, breaking away from him and living with people her generation; it really showed how much he didn’t know of human nature or expression. Chise couldn’t help to break into a blush when he said that, she wanted to give him a knock on the head but instead just nodded. The mage realizing she was reddening, his wide palm cupping the side of her face.

“Like we do every year.” Chise tried not to stutter, their bodies close.

“Do you want me to crouch down this time?-- Or.. “ His voice broke, her hands clutching his coat.

“Or?” One of her thin eyebrows raising. Elias’ view looked to be some where else than her. What was he getting at?

“Might we try something different?”

“Different?”

“Yes. I was thinking that I might try this year to kiss you like a normal man would?” Elias’ thumb grazing over her febrile cheek. For some reason she was feeling very nervous but expecting the rest of what he might say “But I have been hesitant to ask you.”

“What do you mean?” Chise pulled at his question, the mage’s eyes glued to her dreamy face.

“By using my glamour. It resembles the human body like yours. It may not be the real thing but I was hoping to know what it felt like to kiss you with it. If you consent to it.” It was something Chise already knew he was getting at but how could she deny him with a face like that longing at her so. His voice said the words crystal clear, it was a very perplex situation.

Chise nodded, a otherworldly blackness absorbing Elias, shifting his form into that of a man with silvery blond hair and turquoise eyes. She knew it was him, underneath this shell and still smelled like him, like patchouli and fresh-cut flowers. Would it really feel the same kissing him like this? Now at least she could read his expressions and tell some what better what he was thinking -- and right now it seemed more like a piqued experiment than a kiss to him. Chise inhaled a hitch of breath.

Their bodies got closer, she could wrap her hands around his biceps a bit easier than before. She’d kissed people before but a frightened nervousness boiled in her gut. Chise did her best to meet Elias in the middle; their lips touching at last. Of course his lips were soft, he never wore this form out other than to be around humans, yet he lingered a certain taste. That of black tea, faint hint of dark chocolate and his own essence. Her hands naturally looped around his neck, rolling their lips gently against each other.

Whatever they had left behind, they could never go back to the way they were. Their kiss only made sense. Like two flames that had slowly been inching towards each other; igniting into a bigger and more beautiful blaze. It was only that of a few seconds in that Chise felt her back held against the hardness of the door behind her, Elias’ body weighing against her. They were both inflamed in the moment with each other, their lips longing to be together deeper. Elias’ racing for more, both of his hands had her cheeks cup; she wouldn’t be able to escape even if she wanted to.

Though as time passed, their passion grew. It became more lip pulling, graze of the tongue and heated breaths. It was only when Chise made a lascivious sob that Elias pulled away quicker than a whip. His face nonplus, staring at Chise just as red as her. Truthfully it look like someone had slapped him, not the face she expected after inducting into such a ardent kiss as that. Chise breathed for the air she had missed.

There was a long awkward pause, Elias dumbstruck. His form shifted back into the original mold.

“I--..” He began, stopping. His sleight beggy bracing herself against the door.

‘Chise? You okay?’ Ruth questioned her in their mind. She couldn’t think at all, all she could focus was the towering mage just a few feet infront of her.

‘Yeah.. Im fine..’ She was, this was just entirely new perspective of Elias.

“My apologies if I became a bit brash!.” Elias suddenly sputtered out, remembering. He rushed to console Chise, petting her like a cat. “I suddenly started to feel.. something new--! And it wanted you. Closer. My heart was beating like a drum, Chise!”

She understood the emotion he was feeling and tried not to overthink about it, Chise lifted her hand over his arm. Giving the fretting mage a soothing smile.

“It’s okay. I felt it too.”

“What was that feeling? Never once have a felt it!”

Would it be smart to lie? He would eventually find out, he always find out. Maybe if she worded it right? They found their way into the heat of the living room, joining each other on the couch. A thick woven woolybug blanket like a cocoon, hugging their sides. Chise didn’t realize how cold she was until after Elias had let go of her.

“That was just a different form of love.” Her eyes flickering a reflection of the dance of the fire ahead of them, salamanders resting between the burning logs.

“There is different forms?” Elias always questioned with the innocence of a child, Chise felt his jaw move above her; she was practically sitting in his lap.

“Yeah. There is types like a mother to her child. A brother to a sister, a friend to another and a one shared between lovers. Love is complex yet beautiful.”

This made Elias think for awhile, a comfortable silence lingering while the fire crackled and the sound of his breathing. The salamanders would hum at each other but usually go back to resting in their warm hearth.

“And.. What did it feel to you? With me.” The mage’s words dripped out slowly like he was afraid to ask them. The hold he had of Chise becoming tighter.

“I-..” She didn’t want to force things out. She wasn’t ready to answer this question. “I felt something very good.. I can’t put my finger on it but..-”

A small hand clasped the larger’s under their blanket’s safety. They didn’t entwine but just laid together, just making sure that the acknowledged touch was there.

“It was good, like something woke up. I will admit. I see you a bit different now.” The words shook Elias, He leaned snout by Chise’s shoulder to get a good look at her face.

“Is that a bad thing? Do you think of me poorly?” He questioned so sincerely, yet the tone of his voice still echoed the nervousness from earlier. Chise reverberated a calm chuckle.

“No. Like I’m no longer looking at the Elias I knew as a child. Im seeing you through a different lenses. It’s like Im relearning all of you and what you mean to me.”

This made Elias go silent again, the cogs working through that large bonehead of his. It took Chise by surprise when he dropped his chin on her shoulder. Like as if he was sulking and she was his oversize human teddy-bear. Even ten years later this old man acted like a child in the oddest of ways, Chise pet the length of his cold muzzle, the now tepid air making her a bit hot for this chunky blanket with Elias inside of it.

“I feel..similar.” He mumbled into her collar bone.”You are very important to me, Chise. I have lived hundred of years but while you were gone it felt like time stopped, I became an abyss and it didn’t go away until you came home.”

A few more followed but she couldn’t understand him without a prompt ‘Huh?’ Elias gave her another squeeze, hesitant to ask the words especially after what happened less than 15 minutes ago.

“Will you sleep with me in my bed together? I’m feeling very strange and it’s making me feel .. unbalanced, conflicted. I would appreciate if I had you near me for the rest of the evening.” Chise tried not to laugh, only sealing her lips with enthusiastic smile. She gave his hand a pat and nodded.

With a unearthly muster of strength and swoop, Chise found herself in the Magus's arms. Holding her like a bride, the blanket laid around his shoulders. It was like a band-aid had been ripped off her whole body as well enduring the shock of being lifted so quickly. Chise shot Elias’ a painful leer.

“Just no funny business!” She exclaimed, kicking her legs, almost losing a slipper.

“Funny Business?” He parroted obliviously, no idea what she was even talking about.

“Never mind! We still have to put our stuff away so put me down!” Even as Chise complained, Elias found a chance to give her a nuzzle at the top point of her cardinal red hair, he breathed a content sigh as he relished in his most favorite person’s presence. Even if she demanded to be let go..

❈

The timer broke Chise from her book about medicinal herbs found in India. It was a key piece of literature to helping her complete a remedy she’d been wanting to make for on of the townsfolk. It range with the utmost annoyance but at least the kitchen and lower half of the house smelled like fresh baked brownies. It drew Silky in like a predator to prey, initially peeking her head in to see Chise’s figure.

With decorative floral oven mitts, a piping hot tray of chocolate delights emerged. Chise could already taste the flavor in her mouth. Silky inched closer to see what she had baked, it certainly look good to her for a odd reason. Perhaps it was made with cream? Even Ruth manifested from the shadows to watch the even unfold, his ghostly tail wagging behind him.

“Silky could you start some hot water as I get these ready for afternoon tea? Im sure Elias would appreciate something fruity to go along with these.” She said setting the hot tray on the stove. Powder sugar would go perfect on these once they had cooled down. "I'll promise to leave you a cup of cream on the mantle~"

The hermit mage was locked in his study most of the morning, working on who knows what. The church had asked him for a few favors earlier that week but he still couldn’t be working on them? He’d been acting very odd the last two weeks since he’d returned from London. Watching her, sometimes avoiding, asking random irrelevant questions at the oddest of times.

Which he was preparing, Elias was looking for the perfect time to ask Chise to marry him. Today he’d been gifted with inspiration to write something heart felt to her but understanding the few emotions that he didn’t quite know still wracked his brain. Notes of mindless scribbles laid out before him on piece of blanched paper, some like hymn and others like poems. Maybe he should ask her bluntly, getting answers out of her was always easiest when he did that. How could he describe the right words to express to her? He’d never said ‘I love you’ but clearly had shown it. Was that valid enough?

The door opened with a creak, It was Silky and whom followed was Chise with a large silver platter in hand.

“Is it that time already?” Elias said looking at the time on his watch. Before Chise got too close he cleaned the desk of papers, shoving them all into a filing cabinet by his ankles. Good thing too, she would been able to see everything where she had placed the platter at. What sat upon it’s silver throne was a grey tea pot decorated with pink flowers and matching cups as well a small pitcher of thick cream and a plate of lemons. Beside them was the platter of Chise’s brownies dusted with powder sugar and lavender petals. The aroma of the summer lemon and raspberry tea gave a festive ambiance to the study.

“What refreshing change of pace for this time of year. I wonder what you had been up to earlier.” Elias complimented their work, enjoying the scent as Silky poured both cups. Chise has found a seat from across his desk.

This had been the room Elias taught most of their lesson at, the amount of frustration and toil she spent between these four walls. But it was Elias’ teaching that helped he obtain such a good job when she lived in the states, thank goodness for his stubbornness, she admired him from across the way as he took his saucer and tea cup.

“I thought we could brighten it up.” Accepting her own cup as Silky offered it, “Ive been a bit bored with the robust teas lately.”

They idled over chatter for some time, fading in and out of conversations. It was when the tea started to run dry and half of the platter had been emptied .. primarily due to Ruth, had Elias stopped the conversation. His glowing rose colored eyes viewing Chise as she took a bite of her brownie. Powder sugar dusting the pinkness of her lips. She might have thought it ungraceful but Elias found it endearing.

“Chise, Ive been meaning to ask you something lately. It's been on my mind the last few weeks.” His words left without thinking, Chise chewed, watching him with a wondering eye. He’d been storing the ring in one of the compacts of the radiant desk he found himself working at every day. Chise never pried in the drawers, it was a secluded spot that was just his, when he’d been acting like he’d been pulling put a pen to note something down Chise said, he slipped the velvet box into his coat pocket.

“Efh-hmh?” She mumbled with her mouthful. There was still a shred of child someone where in her.

“Ive been over thinking about it and it would ..--” He stopped, relaying what he was saying. Chise had swallowed by now but Elias rising from his seat made it hard to go down, he was standing in front of her less than a moment later. The sleigh beggy’s body began to shake, she knew what was coming and had to hold her weak heart in from bursting out of her chest.

“It would be the most blessed honor if you could..” A doubt started to shake his heart and rib cage. How he got to crouching beside Chise in her chair was even a mystery as well he’d taken her hands too. It was having extremely fast, with each second he remained dumbstruck infront of her; Chise’s expression got more red and frantic. She was stuttering in her chair beside him.

“If you could--” He wasn’t able to say it nor did Chise seem like she was ready. It wasn’t the right time or place. It was too cramped. “If you could teach me how to bake like you? Your delights are always superb.”

“What?” Her voice fell flat, hands clasps around Elias’ like wrenches. “You.. want to learn how to.. bake?”

Was he serious? Her heart had fled away as she stared flummox at the gentlemen before her sitting figure.

“Umm! Yes--.. I do, so then I can bake you something nice one of these mornings.” He played off the potential proposal the best he could. “Like plum and apricot scones or the carrot cake during the Spring months that you like.”

“I mean if Silky allows you to work in her kitchen I do not see why not? Would you like to try tonight? Im sure Ruth would like some pecan pie or pumpkin pie.” The second Chise mentioned it the large black dog who had been lying on the floor behind her chair perked up his low hanging ears, his tail batting the floor like hummingbird wings.

“Pie? I like pie.” Ruth said with the most eagerness in his deep voice, the rose color of his eyes glimmering up at his beloved soul sibling. This both concluded a laugh from Elias and Chise, their hands still clutched together.

“See? We have your first taste tester.” Chise indulged in gentle smile to Elias, he looked a little flustered but so was she. In their silence they under stood it wasn’t time but in the mean time Chise could kiss the knuckles of Elias’ gloved finger tips. He felt a special warmth under the touch of her hued lips, parting from the silk fabric. Even if they had both tripped there a few moments ago, the right time would come soon. It would happen naturally like anything good.

“You’ll need to take these off and put a apron on, you know? Unless you want to be covered in flour and batter.” Her voice meekish, Elias nodded in agreement.

“That is fine with me, I have one of the best teachers!” Elias found him to his feet, helping Chise to hers. With cups assembled, making sharp porcelain noises and plates scattered with crumbs and sugar adjourned, they carried out the wide platter away. Chise sharing the last brownie with Ruth who gobbled it up. That pup sure did love his sweets, was chocolate even healthy for fae?

“Prehaps we can even make a pot pie for dinner?” Elias mentioned, that was one of his favorite dishes. Chise liked the idea of that, they had a abundance of vegetables that could go to good use.

“Maybe.~” Together, both mages exiting the dim lit study with Ruth in suite. They would start by baking something easy, something that might actually taste good if it was a little burnt.

[bloojayoolie]

Being Alone, Apparently, and Cats: Princess ID# 25317 4 us old. 38 lhs Waiting on Manha Pretty and playful little lady. Petite and Wiggly. Loves Stuffy Toys and Treats. Is Gently Playful with children slept with the families baby. Knows many commands. Walks nicely on leash Is well behaved when left home alone and is also housetrained **** TO BE KILLED 5/2/18 **** Meet Princess! The pretty pooch has a great smile and cute ears and she wants to be your BFF @ MACC. A Royally Adorable <3 PRINCESS is a pretty little girl with a cream white coat. Watching her play with her pink stuffy is simply adorable. Returned after only 6 months we hope, next time little Princess will find her happily ever after. Please share 'her royal highness' for a loving home. A volunteer notes (April 2018) I first met Princess in September and these photos are from then. She looks exactly the same and though slightly less cheery her temperament is similar too. She is SO petite and pretty and wiggly in her kennel. I hope second time's the charm for her. A volunteer writes (Sep 2017): Day 3: "Dear Diary, Today was the very best day. I ran and I jumped and I played! I made so many new friends and I ate so many delicious wonderful snacks. Today was the very best day." Who ever said you needed Anne Hathaway or Julie Andrews to enjoy the Princess Diaries? Our 4 year-old Princess is obviously royalty in her buttercream coat tailor made for a queen-to-be. And from her love of toys (pink stuffies to be specific) it's plain as day that this special beauty is long used to the finer things in life. Princess comes to us as a stray, so unfortunately much of her former life is unknown. We know she has a smile bright enough to turn darkness into light and a delightful, happy spirit more bubbly than a can of Sprite. She walks nicely on leash, takes her treats gently, and sets her windshield wiper of a tail to work at simply the sight of a toy (or of you!) Day unknown: "Dear Diary, Today was truly the very best day, my happiest day, the best day I have ever known. Today is the day that I found my new family. Today is the day I went home." Princess is waiting in adoptions at Manhattan ACC. VIDEOS: https://youtu.be/WDC7LXySwuM https://youtu.be/A6J_JDdIjZQ PRINCESS ID# 25317 (Alt ID A1125555 MANHATTAN ACC 4 yrs old, 38 lbs PIT BULL TERR MIX, FAWN BRINDLE / WHITE, SPAYED FEMALE Owner Surrender / RETURN / Moving Medical Behavior: Green INTAKE DATE: 04-15-2018 SHELTER ASSESSMENT: Experience / Single Pet Home OWNER NOTES Basic Information: Princess is a spayed fawn brindle and white medium mixed breed. She was adopted from ACC 8 months ago. She was surrendered because her previous owner is moving to a place pets are not allowed. Previously lived with: 2 adults, 3 children How is this dog around strangers? Around strangers, Princess is friendly and outgoing and exuberant at play with adults. How is this dog around children? Princess lived with 3 children age 1, 3 and 7. With them she was relaxed and playful. She slept with the baby. When she played she was gentle. How is this dog around other dogs? Princess has spent time with all types of dogs in the dog park she watches them and at times allows them to smell her. If they bark and her she growls barks and lunges. She has gotten into a dog fight. How is this dog around cats? Princess has not interacted with cats. She has spent time with birds and a turtle. With the turtle she would follow him around and lick him. She barked at the birds. Resource guarding: If her food bowl was touched she would lick the persons hand and was relaxed. The children in the home fed her there hands. Bite history: Princess has never bitten a person but has bitten a dog and drawn blood. She has also been bitten by another dog and that drew blood as well. Housetrained: Yes Energy level/descriptors: Medium Other Notes: Princess isn´t bothered by storms or fireworks. If her treat or toy was taken from her she became playful. She isn´t bothered if she is pushed off furniture, restrained, if her paws are touched or if she is disturbed while sleeping. Has this dog ever had any medical issues? No Medical Notes Princess was last seen by a vet 8 months ago. She has no known injuries or health concerns. For a New Family to Know Princess is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, confident and excitable. Her previous owner likes that she is playful and affectionate. When her previous owner was home she would tend to be in the same room. She likes to play with balls and stuffed toys. Her favorite games are fetch and tug. She was kept indoors and at night she slept on her dog bed or in the babies crib. She ate both wet and dry Wellness. She is house trained and in the past 8 months had 1 accident. She is well behaved when left alone indoors. She knows the cues sit, come, down, stop, give me, entra (go inside) and let go. She was walked 2-3 times a day and went to dog parks. She pulls hard on leash and off leash she wanders but comes when called. BEHAVIOR NOTES: Intake: Princess had a relaxed body and wagging tail. She allowed me to pet and collar her. She put her ears back as I took pictures and when I was done she gave kisses. She sat on cue. When putting her in her kennel she backed away. Once I placed water and food in, she walked right in. Date of intake: 15-Apr-2018 Spay/Neuter status: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home): Owner Surrender Behavior toward strangers: Usually friendly Behavior toward dogs: Stares at them and pulls towards them, if they bark she barks and growls Bite history: Yes, Princess bit another dog at the dog park 5 months ago. The other dog took a toy Princess had been playing with and she bit the other dog, grabbing her neck and holding on, resulting in three punctures. Other Notes: There was one incident where the 3 year old child in the home was by herself holding Princess' leash. A person approached the child and Princess lunged, barked, and growled at the person. SAFER SCORES: Date of assessment: 17-Apr-2018 Look: 1. Dog's eyes are averted, with tail wagging and ears back. Allows head to be held loosely in Assessor's cupped hands. Sensitivity: 1. Dog leans into the Assessor, eyes soft or squinty, soft and loose body, open mouth. Tag: 1. Dog follows at the end of the leash, body low and a bit fearful. Paw squeeze 1: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Paw squeeze 2: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Flank squeeze 1: Item not conducted Flank squeeze 2: Item not conducted Toy: 1. No interest. Summary: Princess quickly approached the assessor with a soft body. She was social throughout the assessment, allowed all handling, and displayed no concerning behaviors. Summary: When introduced to the female helper dog through the fence, Princess displays a slightly tense body, offers a brief wagging tail. Princess is muzzled for oft leash interact and appears more soft and social when greeting. However, due to history of bite incident with another dog (biting, shaking, holding when the other dog approached while she was in possession of a toy), Princess is not a candidate for further off leash playgroups due to concern for high levels of escalation. It is recommended that Princess be the only resident dog due to these observations. Date of intake: 15-Apr-2018 Summary: Princess had a relaxed body and allowed handling. Date of initial: 16-Apr-2018 Summary: Princess had a loose body and allowed handling. ENERGY LEVEL: Princess displays a medium level of activity. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: EXPERIENCE (suitable for an adopter with some previous dog experience, especially with the behaviors outlined below) Recommendations: Single-pet home Recommend no dog parks Recommendations comments: Single pet/no dog parks: Due to history of bite incident involving a dog (escalating to biting, shaking, holding on), Princess should be the only resident dog in a future home. Potential challenges: On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration Potential challenges comments: On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: Princess has been reported to react to other dogs on leash, lunging towards them, barking and growling. Princess may need positive reinforcement, reward based training to teach her to look at you rather than other dogs. We recommend a front clip harness or head halter to help manage this behavior. MEDICAL EXAM NOTES 16-Apr-2018 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 4-5 yrs based on hx and PE Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive by LVT on intake. MC# 981020017388389 History : surrendered by O due to hx of being dog aggressive. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, tail wagging and loose body throughout exam. Allowed all handling. Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 5/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not evaluate; muzzled. PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: enlarged nipples. no mammary gland masses. spay scar and tattoo present. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat. 1.5cm circular scar along the left lateral hip and irregularly shaped scar along right dorsolateral thorax. CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: normal on gross exam. Assessment apparently healthy reported dog aggression Prognosis: good. Plan: behavioral assessment. SURGERY: already spayed 16-Apr-2018 LVT Intake BARH scan pos# female spayed nervous, mouthy 4 yrs old reported mild tartar clean EEEN few spots of alopecia on body BCS 5/9 AMB x 4 NOSF ------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY - SEPTEMBER 2017 PRINCESS A1125555 MANHATTAN ACC Estimated to be 4 yrs old, 43 lbs PIT BULL TERR MIX, CREAM / WHITE, UNALTERED FEMALE I was found in NY 10467. I have been at the shelter since Sep 15, 2017. * TO FOSTER OR ADOPT * If you would like to adopt a dog on our “To Be Killed” list, and you CAN get to the shelter in person to complete the adoption process *within 48 hours of reserve*, you can reserve the dog online until noon on the day they are scheduled to die. We have provided the Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan information below. Adoption hours at these facilities is Noon – 8:00 p.m. (6:30 on weekends) HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) nycacc.org HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 3]

New? Read here! Then here!

Chapter 3: You Want a Sprite Cranberry?

“Deep breath in” hold for 10 seconds “and breathe out” I tell myself in the mirror as I put my school uniform. It’s the first day of school! And I’m super nervous and not that excited. Just so much fear, gas and anxiety in my body that I clenched my booty cheeks the whole car ride there.

“You okay son?” Mom asked me concerned.

“Yeah! I just don’t know what to expect” I admitted “Any advice?”

“Be open to the unknown and be down to throw down!” she said so confidently “I would say to make friends, but it seems like you won’t have that problem.” She sighed “I envy you Iwa, you get to go to the same school as your best friend. I didn’t have all the resources you have now...my sweet little boy is going to be an agent!”

I look out the window to see the massive building that’s UA “I’ll do my best, because I learned from the best!”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that!” Mom scoffed as she pulled up to the drop off zone “Here’s your stop, go get em Iwata.”

I unclenched my butt cheeks “Okay, bye mom!”

I zoomed out of the car and past the school gates. I’m really out here, double cheeked up on the first day of school. Hella ass, the sun is still out.

“IWA!” yelled a familiar voice.

I turned around to see Beizu running toward me “BEI!”

He jumped into my arms “Are you as gassy as I am?!”

“Unfortunately but in a less excited context” I groaned.

“Eww” he broke his hug “wanna go find a bathroom to have a panic attack in?”

“I’m down” I started to walk along side him, then he looped his arm around mine “Hmm?”

“I wanna walk in together” he said with a smile “another first I get to do with you together!”

“Alright” I said without questioning it. It’s true that we do things together and it’s normal for us. Every now and then we get comments on it but they don’t bother us, we’re like brothers. 

One mini panic attack in the bathroom later and we stroll in the agent 1-A class. Did I mention Beizu decided to be an agent too? It was funny, because we didn’t know we were in the same program until we showed our acceptance letters to each other. We share a brain-cell...which is dangerous because one of us has to come up with a plan and the other has to be rational. We got seats next to each other and waited for homeroom to start.

“Good morning class! Please take your seats” said a man in a gray jumpsuit with some patches on the arms “I am your intel 1-A teacher, Agent 40, but you can also call me Mr. Hansai.” The man opens his portfolio “I see a few familiar names on here.”

I whisper to Beizu “I wonder who he’s talking about?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s the girl in the back?” Beizu whispered back.

“...It looks like everyone is here” he closes his roll call “I’m going to pass out your schedules, syllabus and protocols. I expect all of you to memorize and act upon the protocols, I will regularly test you throughout the year on them. Especially you, young Palma-kun.”

My blood runs cold “How do you-”

“You look just like your mom! Also we were in the same intel class” sensei explained “If you’re anything like her, you’d be studying up this protocols along with the hero ones for any discrepancies.”

“My mom was your classmate?” My eyes widen “WAIT! You’re part of the Main 5 her year, I recall the picture she showed me!”

“What’s so special about his mom?” scoffed one of the students “So what she was in the top 5?!”

“His mother is agent 19 of the Emperor’s Coup” sensei explained, the class gasped “She’s also a big donor to our school and noted alumni.”

I felt very on the spot, everyone’s eyes were on me. A mix of envy and curiosity within their faces. I refocused when I got my packet, and let me tell you, my schedule was PACKED! No free period whatsoever! Literally after lunch is all of my hero courses. Good thing I don’t need to take any general studies aside from math, never have I been so thankful that my mom was strict on me and my siblings to learn English and Spanish! But it also looks like I’m not skipping levels on subjects like my mom and uncle Jin. Wish I had that level of genius. 

“Oof, that’s a lot of classes” cringed Beizu, glancing over at my desk “but at least we have until lunch together!”

“Yeah” I smirked, remembering all of our lunch shenanigans throughout the years “You have to tell me how the rest of your general ed classes go!”

After sensei goes over the syllabus and gives us time to look over things, a classmate comes up to my desk. Their stature towering me.

“You, prodigy child” they spoke “I have decided that you’ll be my rival!”

At first I was intimidated, but the moment they said ‘rival’, I tried not to throw up in my mouth. “Um, I haven’t done anything to-”

“I will prove to you that I, Garu Netsu, will be worthy of being Main 5!” he interrupted “Don’t think because your mother was the best, you’ll be the best!”

I stood up, clearly pissed off “HEY! First of all, I just learned how to use my quirks for the field like a year ago. Second of all, you watch too much anime because I don’t do rivals or that harem shit!” I squared up my shoulders “My mom is a wonderful lady and she didn’t raise me to be her prodigy! She raised me to be her son! So sit ya ass back down and pick somebody else because I will not be competing with any of you!”

“Fine, I’ll be sitting down” the classmate walks back to their desk “but you’re still going to be the one to beat.”

“And you’ll be horrendously disappointed” I retorted back, sitting back in my seat.

“Wow, it’s like looking into a time machine” sensei chuckled “Your mom always put challengers in their place verbally! Man, I wish I recorded some of her comebacks” he sighed “they were ICONIC!”

That fucked me up a little, am I like my mom? But it wasn’t the time to have an identity crisis! We had to suit up for weapons class. 

“Eww, I look like my mom with my hair up like this huh?” I gagged at myself in the locker mirror.

“Same” sighed Beizu as he closed his locker to show his pulled back hair “we really need a haircut.”

“We should go this weekend” I suggested as we walked out of the locker room “Mom’s hair dresser comes back from maternity leave on Thursday.”

“Oh! What did she have?”

“She had a boy!” I gushed “Mom showed me pictures and they got their father’s scaly skin.”

We walked to the middle of the gym to wait for the weapons instructor. The anticipation was killing me!

“Wonder what we’ll do?” Beizu asked me “your mom and aunt Mimi said that they got to hold a gun on the first day.”

“It’s true” said a thick Russian accent from behind us “Good morning new comers! I am agent 20, but you can call me Master Oleshin.”

“AUNTY MIMI?!” Beizu and I screamed.

“AH babushkas! I couldn’t recognize you from the back” Mimi was taken back “You look so much like your mothers with your hair up like that.”

Beizu and I looked at each other and our faces turned red.

“You know them too?!” cried out a classmate.

“Yes, I was in the Main 5 with the curly haired mother and the pink haired one is my nephew” she walked over and pinched our cheeks “I watched them grow from little babies to the spitting image of their mothers! I’m so proud of my nephews for pursuing intelligence” she cried out as she hugged us aggressively “It’s like having the old team back together!”

“Tia, you’re embarrassing me” I groaned breathlessly “I can’t breathe.”

“I’m sorry that I love my nephews so much” she said as she put us down “But lets get things started!” she pulled out her gun “Weaponry is not just wielding a tool, but an extension of yourself. You may know about the popular ones like the gun, knife, bow and arrow & taser. But theres so many possibilities and situations where different weapons will come into play.” She cocked her gun “I’ve mastered weapons as a supplement of my quirk. If I can aim it, I won’t miss.” She aimed for a target mounted high up on the gym wall and her shot hit the bullseye “The goal is to be more knowledgable and comfortable wielding a variety of weapons for combat. And I want you to find a personal goal for this class, whether it’s accuracy or double wielding, having one will help you in the long run of your agent career.”

Holding a gun with aunty Mimi giving me instruction felt unreal. I didn’t know she taught! It’s her first time teaching, apparently she wanted to come back to UA to teach since she was a 1st year here. To think that my mom, uncle Jin and aunty Mimi met and trained together in this very place?! I wish I could’ve seen them first meeting or seen my mom hold a gun for the first time. Last time I saw her hold one was the night of the incident...where she drew her gun at the home invader. The look on her face was something I couldn’t understand, and I still don’t understand it...but I want to someday. This line of work is drawing me in with wanting to understand why my parents are so passionate about it. BUT ENOUGH OF THAT! I glossed through the rest of the first half of my day, dreading the second half when lunch was almost over.

“Excited?” asked Beizu as he took a cheeto from my almost empty bag.

“More like loathing what’s next” I prop my head on my hand, watching Beizu crunch on cheetos “heard that hero students are really intense.”

“Lets see if you make a friend” snickered Beizu “it worked out for your mom and Lili.”

It clicked what he was trying to say “Shut up!” I playfully shoved him “I’m not finding my significant other in the hero program. Why think about dating if you have a schedule like mine?!”

“True” the bell rang “Better get a move on.”

“Yeah...OH SHIT!” I start to pack up my lunch stuff when it dawned on me “I forgot my bag in homeroom!” I hurried inside the building to get my things and try not to be too late. It’s times like these I wish I had the teleportation quirk and not bitch ass Tensei! But I slow my pace to catch my breath once I got to the correct hall. This is it, I’m in this bitch and open to whatever comes next! I get to the door that said 1-A on it, did my breathing exercise and forced myself to open the door. I saw everyone stare at me and the teacher was Mr Mineta. “Oops my bad, wrong classroom!” I slammed the door and walked the rest of the hall to my horror to see that I did open the right door! “It’s occurred to me that this is the correct classroom” I said as I opened the door “apologies for the intrusion!”

“Not a problem!” said Mr Mineta “would you like to introduce yourself?”

“Oh uhhhh sure” I hesitated a bit going up to the front and looking at everyones confused faces “Hewwo! My name is Iwata El Roca Iida, I’m doing dual program of Intelligence and Hero. Both of my parents went here! They were in the same class as Diaper Boy here.”

“For the last time! It’s Grape Juice or Mr Mineta” yelled the short man “It was bad enough your sister called me that during her time” he rubbed his temples “continue, please.”

“Okay, like Diaper Man here said, my older sister was in the hero program too. I’m not trying to follow in anyone’s footsteps, and I hope I can be useful to you in practice” I bowed “Please don’t mind my eccentric personality, I’m just very comfortable being myself.”

“Thank you Iwata, you can sit next to Kage-san” he pointed to the side desks where someone was waving their hand. “I’ll be right back class, I have to make a few copies for Iwata.”

The moment sensei closed the door everyone turned their heads to face me. Not gonna lie, they looked scary. Pretty sure mom handled the first day better than this.

“So like, is it true that you’re the son of Ingenium?!” asked the girl that sat in front of me.

“Yes! How did you-”

“Which one?” asked a different classmate.

“The leg engine one” I knew what they meant but that’s what came out of my mouth.

“Little brother Ingenium?!” gasped the girl in front of me “I didn’t know he had children?!”

“Well, he’s not the most popular hero on the list” I cut in “and he just keeps to himself when he’s working, so of course you don’t know about the family.”

“You don’t look like him, like at all!” said different classmate, getting all up in my face “bet your dad trained you from a young age to get into UA!”

“Ummm my mom trained me” I backed my face away “I have her quirk and my other quirk is unique to the Iida family engine quirk that he couldn’t train me. So I just taught myself?”

“Must be nice to be blessed with two quirks and parents that can help you train” grumbled a student facing away from everyone else.

“Gen-kun! Don’t be so mean” said Kage-san “ignore him, he’s just having a rough first day.”

“I feel you on that” I responded “all this attention has me a little flustered! I’m not used to everyone swarming me like this.”

I finish the rest of the day and meet up with Beizu at the drop off area. I tell him about my first encounter while waiting for my mom to pick us up.

“Oh! So you know the first project for our class right?” Beizu suddenly remembered.

“Yeah, the one due at the end of the first semester” I recall “what about it?”

“So I thought of what to do” Beizu got giddy “I know it’s like 2 weeks away from getting into groups or whatever BUT I wanna get started on it.”

“Is it going to top your other inventions?”

“TOTALLY! Now that I’m free to use whatever and not be limited to wood rigging, everything is going to look like child’s play!”

“I believe it” I said right before my mom arrived.

After dropping Beizu home, I came home to tell my parents about my day. Hiding the fact that I’m in both, I fibbed what I did the second half of the day. Tensei saw right through me, but didn’t say anything to my relief. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

-The next day, in the hero classroom-

I just sat my ass down for class and sensei had the AUDACITY to say that we had to go to the gym. Mega annoying! Especially since the intel locker rooms are separate from the hero locker rooms. Wonder if I can have a hero one? Is that allowed? Gotta ask later.

“Why are your training clothes different from ours?” asked Kage-san.

I deadpanned to them and put my arms up “Can’t use my quirk if I have sleeves.”

“Wow...you’re RIPPED BRO!” yelled a different classmate “we gotta train together sometime!”

I blush hard and put my arms down “Oh ummm thanks?” I didn’t know what to say, nobody has said anything about my physic like that. 

“Okay! Time for spars!” sensei announced as he clicked his pen “Throughout the year, we’ll have these spars to see how your quirk and combat skills develop. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win your round, there’s always opportunities to improve” he checks his clipboard “Mr Iida your up first with...Gon-san.”

I walk to the sparring circle, trying to hide the fact that I’m nervous. When I faced my opponent, my entire stomach dropped to my ass because it was the guy that said I was ripped.

“ALRIGHT! I get to see what those engines can do!”

“Ready?” sensei asked, waiting for us to get into position “you may BEGIN!”

Focus...breathe...don’t lose sight of your opponent... I said to myself as I cautiously circled him. He mirrored me and it didn’t help me...unless that was his quirk? To test this, I slapped myself to see if he’d do the same.

“OUCH” yelped Gon-san after slapping himself “How did you-”

“AHA!” I exclaimed before I stood still and levitated him “The scientific method never fails!”

I heard the class gasp in shock, not expecting me to have two quirks. No matter, I tossed him out of bounds and won in less than a minute.

“Winner is Iida-kun” Mineta scribbled on his clipboard “Not surprised, that telekinesis is a real whammy! Glad to see you got your mom’s strategy skills too.”

“Thank you sensei” I turn to my opponent “Are you okay?!”

“Yea, I’m fine” he said shocked “I- I wasn’t expecting you to catch on so quickly!”

I felt his voice quivering like he feared me, oof I fucked up huh? “I got a little overboard, I’m sorry I did a whole show of things. I’m new to this whole thing” I extended my hand out to help him up “swear I’m not usually like this!”

“Why are you apologizing?” He stood up and gave me the biggest starstruck look “THAT WAS AMAZING! What quirk is that?! We HAVE to train sometime!”

“Yeah! Is that your mom’s quirk?” said another classmate.

“What a unique spread of quirks! You can do anything without lifting a finger!” said another.

I stood there, blushing like a dumbass because of how praising everyone was. For once, I felt like my own person. “Aww shucks y’all” I managed to utter “you really know how to make somebody blush, it was nothing fancy.”

We continued the spars and I was really feeling accepted into the program until it was time to change. I headed toward the intel locker rooms when I felt my body freeze.

“Hey, prodigy child” spat a hateful voice behind me “You are nothing but a privileged, rich boy that doesn’t know the struggle.”

The person showed himself to me, it was that one classmate that grumbled on the first day “It’s you?! Why are you picking on me? I never bad mouthed you.”

“People like you make me sick! You were born into money and blessed with two quirks with parents that support you” he mocked “I had to fight and struggle to get here! Barely making it in. I didn’t see you at the entrance exam and from the way you carried yourself in that fight, you’re unskilled too.”

“I never said I was good, I’m still learning and that’s why I’m here, to learn just like you” I growled, losing my temper “Don’t think for a second I’m trying to de-mean you! Go ahead, throw me your best shot!” I dared him “You have me in your clutches and nobody is watching, isn’t that what you wanted to do?!”

That agitated him “What do you take me for?! I’m not the villain here” he held his fist up, winding up his punch “YOU ARE!”

I closed my eyes, waiting his punch. Instead he gets stopped by Midnight right before his fist reaches my face.

“That is enough!” Midnight said sternly “I don’t know what’s going on here but it’s not okay to hurt your classmate like this!”

“Aunty Midnight?” I gasped.

“How many teachers do you know here?!” snarled the classmate.

“Release him! There’s no point in struggling.” She demanded and seeing that the classmate was caught, he dropped his quirk and put his arm down “I’ll be talking to you later, change and go to class.”

I watch him walk away, still fuming, into the hero locker room. I turn to Midnight “Thanks for the save aunty.”

“No problem kiddo!” she smiled as she ruffled my hair “you got lucky, I was passing by to check on a different student. But are you alright?”

“I am, but that guy” I sighed “he’s right though, I am privileged and I don’t deserve to be here.”

“Don’t say that Iwata, we wouldn’t let you do two programs if we didn’t think you were capable” assured Midnight “you’re brilliant and have the potential to be very powerful in whatever field you choose. Like you said, you’re still learning.”

I was still having doubts but I wanted the conversation to be over “Thanks for that aunty, guess I should hurry and change.”

“Get a move on, I’ll get your sensei know what happened later” she said as she waved me off.

The rest of the day was tense. I felt his sharp gaze from across the room, making me feel uneasy. Pretty sure mom never had to deal with things like this! When I finally got home, I threw myself onto my bed to scream into my sheets.

“Rough day?” asked Tensei from his bed “because same.”

“What happened to you?”

“Lost my debate today because somebody played the ‘quirk inequality’ card and I didn’t have right to argue it because of my social standing as a double wielder” he said in a way that sounded very matter-o-factly “and you?”

“I made an enemy with one of my hero classmates” I groaned “all because I used my telekinesis in a spar and it triggered him to confront me when I went to go change. Apparently I’m just some privileged rich boy that was born lucky and I don’t know a single thing about the struggle.”

“Ouch, what a douchebag” cringed Tensei “like you’ve struggled with a lot! Who cares about if you came from money or not? You’re there to learn.”

“That’s what I said! But I got so mad that I egged him on to hit me” I flipped onto my back “but aunty Midnight came in for the save so I got spared.”

“Fuck, you almost got into your first fight” Tensei said as he sat up and crossed his arms “As someone who had their fair share of school fights out of self defense, you had the right to take the first hit!”

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to” I sighed and rubbed my face “I’m just trying to skate by and be chill with everyone. But of course they have to fucking bring out my Latina side and get me mad.”

“Curse the Latina rage!” 

“Why don’t you just say my name huh?!” Hanaka busted into our room.

“We weren’t talking about you!” Tensei and I yelled.

The days kept rolling in and I was trying my best to be neutral with everybody. Training on my own on the weekends and busting my ass on the mountain of homework I get assigned. Wonder how my parents did this shit? Everyone says they were smart kids...wonder why that trait didn’t pass onto me and got absorbed by bitch ass Tensei. Literally, that boy has a high IQ and has perfect grades, yet he looks like the textbook definition of a punk. If you googled punk and clicked on images, he looks like the first image but with natural blue hair. Do it, it’s stupidly accurate! 

-Fast forward...Thursday, intel homeroom-

It’s one month into this bitch and we just got paired into our semester project partners. To nobody’s surprise, I got Beizu.

“Can’t wait to show you what I made!” whispered Beizu.

“You already made it?” I whispered back.

Beizu nodded vigorously “Yea! I couldn’t wait and I got ahead of myself” he tapped his hands on the desk “Meet me at the tranquility garden after school, so I can show you it.”

I was surprised that he did that and wanted to show me. He rarely finishes his inventions this quickly! After school I rush over to the garden, knowing he was probably already there.

“I’m here!” I panted as I screeched to a halt.

“Great! Okay, here it is!” he said as he pulled out a cube from his backpack.

I take a closer look “It’s a...puzzle cube?”

“It’s not! Well... the outside is, I had to find a vessel that was just the right size so I gutted this puzzle cube I got at the 100 yen store” he explained “It’s a time-peekaboo machine! I figured out how to glance into the past without quirks, by accident of course! Who knew that making an energy blaster was five faulty connects away from making this?!”

“How do you know it works?”

“Well, I was at home alone when I was making and testing this” Beizu’s tone got a little sad “I fired the thing and I instead got a holographic but low quality environment of the room I was in but from years ago! I saw my dad working on something and I knew it was him! He had the same quirk as me” his voice got a little shakey “And my mom walked into the room but it was the past her, and I got startled because she said ‘Bei, come have some dinner’ and my dad looked up and said ‘coming!’. Iwa, I was named after him! My mom never talked about him to me, not even a picture!”

“Why would she hide pictures of your dad?” I raised suspicion “He’s your dad!”

“I thought that was weird too! But then the connection of that moment fizzled away, so I kept working on this until the images lasted longer and in better quality” Beizu looked into my eyes “I want to know the truth about my dad, I always felt a part of me was missing growing up. I’m not saying my mom is a liar but maybe this is something that needs to be confronted?”

I’ve never seen him so determined like this, it gave me courage to help him “I’ll help you in any way I can!” I put my hand on top of the cube “So how does it work?”

“I just press the button here and the hologram shows up” Beizu refocused back to the cube “I’m not sure how far back it goes, maybe to when we weren’t born yet?”

“Only one way to find out!” I said as I slammed my finger down on the button “YEET!” I saw the garden around us disappear except for this one tree and it stunned me.

“Wow this whole field area was so...boring and plain looking” said Beizu, looking around.

I scanned the area and caught sight of someone sitting at the roots of the tree “Who is that?” I took a closer look and saw it was two people “Oh, it looks like they’re having lunch?”

“What are they saying?” Beizu asked as he got silent to listen in and I did the same.

“...You didn’t have to make me anything!”

“I insist!...All just for you!”

“Why do they sound...familiar?” I said to myself as I clocked the voices but not the faces.

“Oh my god it’s like I’m back home!...”

“...I just wanted to do something nice for you, you bring me peace during these scary times.”

“Ooh! It’s one of those lunches!” Beizu commented “Gosh I wish I knew what year this was!”

“Shh! I want to hear what the guy is saying” I shushed, straining to hear.

“...And honestly, I haven’t felt like that since I got here but you helped me remind myself of the one thing that defines me. Thank you Iida-san.”

“Call me Tenya.”

“Ok then, Tenya, thank you for making me feel cherished and myself again.”

“No, thank you Ita!”

I went pale “Those...those are my parents?!” the moment I said that, the image fizzled and the garden reappeared.

“Ahhh! I can’t believe it!” squealed Beizu “We glanced at the beginning of your parent’s love story! This has to be like, what, 27 years ago?”

“Maybe? I don’t know” I was still in shock “she looked so small compared to him! But she looks different than I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, she looks...sad and shy” I said with concern “What happened to her? She doesn’t give off that sassy and cool energy like everyone tells me, I want to give her a hug and wrap her in a blanket!”

“Well, she was with your dad” Beizu commented “maybe she was dropping the act because she’s comfortable around him? He did make her lunch.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know what to think” I pondered “but that was quite the trial run! Maybe tweak it so we can see into different times? Like adding a clock we can set to a certain date to look at?”

“Ooh! I know what to do!” Beizu took out his phone to record himself “note to self: add a calendar setting to the cube.”

That scene of my parents fucked me up harder than I thought once I got home. Looking at my dad and how truly committed he is to my mom. 27-ish years and going strong! Wonder what’s that secret formula. But on the other hand, why was my mom so sad in the past? And what ‘healed’ her? And why is Beizu being held back information about his dad? Somethings not adding up, hopefully it’s not a mess of other interconnected shit...the fuck you think this is? A shonen manga?!

-Chapter 3, End-

<Previous - Next>

[ghost-town-story]

This World Had Never Held His Heart

Aiden absentmindedly ran his fingers through Smokey’s fur, watching as the ring sparkled in the light coming from the window, lamenting for what felt like the millionth time that night that James had chosen tonight of all nights to propose. He had spent months planning behind James’s and Basil’s backs, had his heart set on returning to Astral, and then James had gone and proposed and reminded Aiden of everything he’d be leaving behind and torn Aiden’s heart to shreds. 

With a sigh, Aiden took another sip of his wine. He was careful not to get too drunk, but the faint buzz of alcohol helped dull the ache in his chest. 

The door to the apartment opened quietly, and Aiden could picture his face as he stepped in; the confusion and worry that would quickly dominate his features. 

“Hey Basil,” Aiden greeted.

“Hey,” Basil said carefully, closing the door behind him. “So how’s your night going?” 

Aiden couldn’t help but laugh at how careful Basil was being. “It’s alright,” he said, turning to face Basil. “You can ask.” 

“How’d the proposal go?” Basil hung up his coat before joining Aiden in the window nook, sparing a few scratches for Smokey. 

“Well,” Aiden drew out the word, but as Basil’s face twisted in worry, Aiden held up his hand. “Take a guess. No need for concern.” 

“I thought you two would be, well…” 

“Fucking exhausted?” Aiden quipped. 

“Yeah,” Basil laughed. 

Aiden hummed, taking another drink. Everything hurt right now. “Couldn’t sleep,” he said, in answer to Basil’s unasked question. 

“Are you alright?”

Aiden knew he couldn’t hide the whole truth from Basil. “I… I wasn’t prepared Basil.” 

“You could have said no,” Basil said gently. “You could have told him you weren’t ready. He would understand, you and I both know that.” 

“No, not that. I want to marry him, I just—I wish he didn’t have to propose tonight.”

“Something special about tonight?” 

Aiden resisted the urge to clutch at his keys, at Starfire’s scale that hung there. “No, not really.” 

Just the night he had planned to run away from this life. 

“Bad night for the magicless?” 

“In a way.” 

“Anything I can do to help?” 

As Aiden looked into Basil’s earnest, dark green eyes, he came to a slow realization. 

He loved the both of them. Had loved James since they were teenagers, had loved Basil since he came into Aiden’s life. But no matter what, Basil and James couldn’t fill the void left in Aiden by the loss of his magic. They couldn’t fill the hole left by Astral keeping a piece of his soul. 

And despite how much he loved them, Aiden couldn’t stand the thought of living the rest of his life as a shell of himself. He had to go back. James’s proposal wouldn’t, couldn’t change his plans. 

He was leaving tonight, and he just had to hope that James and Basil would one day forgive him. 

“No.” Aiden took another drink as his heart was torn apart yet again, only to hiss as he realized his glass was empty.

“One thing.” Basil winked as he took Aiden’s glass from him and went to refill it. “Want some company till you’re sleepy?” 

“Not really,” Aiden admitted, accepting his refilled glass with a word of thanks. “I’ll be fine Basil. Just want some time alone with my thoughts.” 

“And a cat in your lap and a good bottle of wine?” 

“You know it.” Aiden clicked his tongue and winked. “Go to bed Basil. I’ll come up when I’m ready.” 

“Alright.” Basil kissed Aiden’s forehead. “Goodnight.” 

Aiden echoed him as Basil turned and made his way upstairs. 

Once he heard the door close, Aiden began the long, arduous process of getting up without upsetting the cozy cat in his lap or spilling his wine. Once he managed to wiggle Smokey enough so she was no longer on his lap, she opened blue and green soot-sprite eyes, meowed at him, then hopped down from the window nook. 

“Brat,” Aiden said fondly to the cat, setting aside his glass. 

Smokey meowed again, pawing at the cupboard under the window bench. 

“Trying to get me caught, huh little lady?” Aiden joined her down there and opened the cupboard to grab his backpack he had hidden there. 

“Now, you remember your part of the plan?” Aiden said conspiratorially to Smokey. “Help James and Basil find the tapes. Help them follow me, if they want. I’m counting on you Smokey.” 

Smokey hopped back up onto the bench, then meowed and patted his head with her paw. 

“Yeah, that’s my good girl,” Aiden chuckled, rubbing her head affectionately. “Be good. Take care of my boys for me.” 

With a kiss to the top of her head, Aiden stood. He hesitated by the stairs for a moment, staring upstairs, where James was definitely fast asleep and Basil was probably well on the way to joining him. The urge for one more glance was tempting, but Aiden knew if he didn’t leave now, he might never go, never feel okay again.

Smokey meowed, running into his legs. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Aiden sighed. “I’m going, I’m going.” With one more glance upstairs, he whispered, “I’m sorry James.” 

And with that, he pulled on his jacket, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and slipped out of the apartment for the last time. 

The lock clicked behind him. A few moments later, the mail slot rattled, and Aiden’s keys, sans dragon-scale keychain, dropped to the floor.

Basil woke the next morning to James rolling out of bed, surprisingly early. 

“Go back to sleep,” James said, noticing that Basil was awake and watching him. 

“Mmm, early riser,” Basil mumbled, hugging a pillow close. “Where’s Aid?” 

“I don’t know.” James was frowning. “He shouldn’t be awake this early.” 

“Was drinking with Smokey last night,” Basil said, reluctantly stretching as he woke up more. 

“So you’re saying he might be passed out somewhere downstairs with a cat on his lap?” James grinned, though Basil could still see the unease in his mismatched eyes. 

“Something along those lines.” Basil yawned. 

James chuckled. “Well, I’m going to go find Aiden and start breakfast. Come down when you’re ready.” 

“Will do.” 

As Basil woke up fully, he realized he didn’t hear any noise coming from downstairs. That was odd. Even if James had left Aiden to sleep, he usually played music while he was in the kitchen. 

It was this unease that soon spurred Basil out of bed and downstairs, where he found James kneeling on the floor, a piece of paper clutched in his hands. 

“James?” Basil asked, his worry growing. 

James looked up at him, tears sparkling on his cheeks. “He’s gone.” His voice cracked. “Aiden’s gone. He’s run away and it’s—it’s all my fault.”

Aiden briefly regretted his decision to leave tonight, rather than at any of the warmer times, but the middle of the night in the dead of winter meant the park was abandoned. The summer solstice would have people thinking he was trying to kill himself, and even the equinoxes had the chance of people stopping him. 

And Aiden had been pulled back from the brink of another world enough times already. 

So he pulled his coat closer and shivered in the winter chill, legs dangling over the side of the bridge as he watched the moon climb higher. Finally, it reached its peak, and Aiden felt Starfire’s scales grow warm as the ice creaked below him. The water underneath lit up with an unearthly glow, then the ice cracked and shattered, pulled into the portal as it opened just beneath the surface. Aiden glanced around, but there was nobody to notice the noises other than Aiden himself. 

Aiden reached around his neck and pulled off the crystal pendant James had given him all those years ago. He cradled it in his palm, right where he still bore the scar of where it had been embedded in his skin for three years.

 Aiden looked around one last time at the city he had called home for so long, where James and Basil were asleep, unaware of where Aiden was or what he was doing. 

“I love you,” Aiden whispered yet again. Then, to this world that had never held his heart, “Goodbye.” 

And with that, Aiden took a breath and plunged into the frozen waters. He didn’t sink, but instead tumbled until he fell to his knees in a misty forest.

It wasn’t Astral. Aiden knew that immediately as he replaced the crystal pendant around his neck.

But it was a start. 

And Aiden would travel as many worlds as he needed to find Astral again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

next

[ravenwytchbytch]

The Beggar Princess

CH III: Ensnared

Niklaus was pensive as he paced back and forth in the stables, his rage knowing no content. When he had first stormed into the stables he had taken the stable master and boy by surprise it had soon turned to fear with their master’s growing rage. Klaus had dismissed them at once, but luck would not permit him a moment alone, as his brother Elijah was not long behind him. His breathing heavy with a frantic look on his face and eyes.

“Don’t start Elijah. Just don’t.” Klaus hissed between his clenched teeth. Klaus could not explain to Elijah what had gone on in his mind that he would threaten Lady Caroline, he hardly knew himself. In truth, she was the epitome of a perfect lady. Well spoken, intelligent, demure, and unnervingly breathtaking. 

“You must go to her and apologize to her.” Elijah stern tone only encouraged his brother’s rage.

“I will not be forced to apologize to some-” Elijah steps were quick. Elijah’s fist had connected sending Klaus stumbling back his cheek reddening. The blow had left Klaus stunned for the briefest of moments. The burning sting on his cheek the only proof that he had been struck by his brother. 

“She is not just some low-born you rutted around with years ago or these ladies in court that seek fortune.” Elijah clasped Klaus’ shoulders, “She is the rightful heir of Serion. We may refute it, but enough nobles in this realm have decided that it is enough of a claim to rip this kingdom apart!”

Klaus could not hold his outburst, “It must be so easy brother to dictate others’ lives when yours is your own to control!”

Elijah remained silent but stern in the face as he pushed away from him.

“My life is not my own or do you forget your highness?” 

Klaus knew all to well of his father’s distaste for Elijah but he would not let it damper his rage. Klaus’s lips pressed into a thin line his brow creased “Get out of my sight.”

Elijah bowed with grace but his face remained dark, “As you wish, your grace”

His brother disappearing figure brought forth another wave of emotion, frustration. Sliding against the stable post he sunk to the damp dirt floor, only the soft neighs of the horses seem to penetrate through his stubborn thoughts.

He knew he had acted irresponsibly and now situation would be tense with Caroline. This type of rash and hasty behavior was not him; he would have expected Kol to behave like this, but not himself.

From the view of the stable, he could see the sun falling behind the West Tower not too far along the South Tower bell rang in threes signaling the end of the day and the creeping evening.

Preparations for the evening festivities were ending and the celebration was to begin soon, and his father would not take kindly to any tardiness or absence from his children

Caroline was meticulous on any plan of action. Katherine and her ladies were dressed to distraction but not to outshine. Caroline’s outfit was a fitting style, a long golden dress with an empire waist and a one shoulder long sleeve made from sheer chiffon embroidered with golden leaves. Her golden hair had been braided while wet to make her golden locks twist into long tumbling curls. Pinning the hair with yellow pearl encrusted pins until she appeared like she was a water sprite, innocent and youthful none would ever suspect her true intentions.

Katherine had fussed all evening with her own dress a dark red off the shoulder gown that’s bodice hugged tightly against her bosom. The asymmetrical skirt hung low from behind and showed more leg than what was appropriate. It was a style more fitting in Cirala and would surely draw the attention of the guest.

“My lady.” Katherine knelt beside her lady her demeanor reserved, “We must make haste or risk offending the King.”

Caroline glanced passed her friend, staring at her glowing reflection once more. Caroline was determined to have everyone’s attention tonight. She motioned for her ladies to follow her as she turned from her reflection.

As far as her chambers were from the great hall, Caroline and her party could hear the festivities at full swing. The music merrily and enticing even had a few of her ladies eagerly chattering for a delightful dance amongst the younger noblemen. Yes, the celebration of her engagement had begun: drinks, food, and merriment would show no end. Despite the pleasant facade, Caroline was none too eager to spend an evening amongst her betrothed or his family, or the whole of court, a sentiment well shared by Niklaus himself. 

A dour and dark look graced his face as he watched his younger brother debauch himself amongst the crowd of wonton ladies he kept in his company. Rebekah seemed to hover close by Elijah, who had yet to greet him since their afternoon quarrel. 

Niklaus ignored the seductive looks of one of his brother’s lovers as he bowed before his father. Dark haired with only a slight graying at his temple, the war had taken its toll on his father, aging him far more than someone his age. That was something his vain father could not stand and so styled himself and his family in lavish clothes. A dark red doublet with golden embroidery, his hands and neck were adorned with the crown jewels, his favorite of adornment, the symbol of his rule, the ring of Serion worn by all the Kings of Serion. His leather breeches and dark boots were also garishly embroidered with gold sprig design.

Niklaus could not deny his father’s influence as he wore a dark olive doublet with silver lining and crescent pattern moons. His dark collared cloak rested on his broad shoulders with silver embroidered trim and silver broach that clasped at his shoulder. Niklaus would admit that while his father was foolish in his choice of appearance he was right when done correctly the person could be admired and intimidating.

The music had silenced as the herald announced his betrothed, “Duchess of Grent, the Lady Caroline Forbes.”

The music resumed and many of the nobles had their attention on his bride even he could not hold back the shocking spectacle that his bride-to-be presented. Nothing had changed as far as he could tell but her beguiling appearance and tender bright blue eyes seemed to only make her look like a helpless lamb. Almost as if his eyes had called her attention to him she turned to murmur something to her ladies before she broke away from her large entourage and brought only the Lady Petrova trailing behind her.

Caroline had slowly weaved through the crowd of guest who greeted her with a passing introduction. It was the familiar voice that had Caroline standing in frozen shock. Tyler Lockwood, an old family friend, and her longtime childhood crush was mere footsteps away. The desire to run into his arms was oddly strong. Caroline could not help but admire the handsome man before her; chiseled cheeks and strong mouth that tempted her at the moment. Had it not been Katherine’s gentle nudge she might have lost herself completely. Once the shock of surprise abated bewilderment took hold. After what was he doing here of all events? His family had been the first to declare against the new royal family. They were loyalists as far as she knew.

“Care! I can’t-” he seemed to choke on his words an apprehensive look crossing his brow.

“Lord Lockwood, what a joy to see you here.” Caroline tightened her hand in Katherine’s as she heard the all too familiar and irritating voice.

True to her nature Rebekah arrived at the most inopportune time, her eyes giving a sick gleam of mischief as she stared at the trio.

“Princess Rebekah, you look ravishing.” Tyler Lockwood’s words had stung Caroline more than she would have cared.

“Yes, but not as fetching as you Lady Caroline.” A mocking twinkle of her voice only made Caroline smile wider, “everyone in your household is dressed quite colorful.”

“Cirala fashion is renowned.” Katherine did not hide the mocking tone in her voice, “Though very few could comprehend the artistry.”

“I see, I didn’t realize vulgarity was an acquired taste?” Rebekah sniped back.

“Please excuse Lady Petrova, despite what you might think; our tongue is still new to her. Pardon us for any offense.” Caroline bowed in mocked humility giving Katherine a pinch on her forearm, “If you will excuse us, my lady, I wish to greet His Grace and Prince Niklaus.”

“Speak of the devil,” Rebekah smirked as Niklaus stopped behind Caroline.

“Sister,” Caroline turned to face him, her smile wilted quickly as his eyes seemed to scan over her, “my lady.” He took her hand in his own, surprisingly his hands were softer than she expected of a renowned warrior such as himself.

“I hope you are in better spirits this evening your grace.” Her soft touch and gentle voice sounded musical to him.

Niklaus noticed his sister watching for his reaction; surely Elijah had brought her into the fold of the events that had transpired in the early afternoon.

“I am touched by your concern my lady.” he brought her hand to his lips. Cursing himself for enjoying the sweet scent on her skin. “Come, my father wishes to toast for our union.” He pulled her close placing his hand on the small of her back as he pulled them away from the two.

Caroline could only nod as she was overwhelmingly perplexed at his sudden mood change, she had half expected a sourer greeting than these lovers touch. Trying hard to focus on the many curious looks by the court Caroline tried hard to focus on being as charming as possible.

Resting on the top platform in his throne lounged King Mikael. Caroline could not help but focus on the ring that rested on his hand. A burning fire sat in her stomach as she kept it at bay.

“Your majesty.”

“Arise, Lady Caroline, come sit beside me as we feast in celebration. “ 

Caroline nodded following Klaus beside his father. He gave her a dashing smile before pouring her drink but it wasn’t his charm that drew her attention. It was the fiery stare of Lord Lockwood. It frightened her and yet she was thrilled. As far as she recalled his temperament was always written on his face a sweet flaw in his courtly appearance.

“-a toast to this joyous union!” The joyous cheer in unison broke her attention.

“Darling,” he whispered into her ear a frightening chill tumbled down her back, as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“To peace!” he shouted to the cheering crowd.

Caroline could hardly speak as she felt the warm soft feel of lips against her own. A gentle but controlled kiss that drew joyful laughter and louder appraisal. As swiftly as it had happened their lips parted, she felt dazed for a moment, yet sobered at the set of dark eyes that stared at her with a sense of betrayal. 

“Will you dance, my lady?” Niklaus asked softly his fingers wrapping around a loose lock of hair.

“Of course.” she responded flatly still distracted by the dark pair of eyes staring in their direction.

Katherine watched as her lady walked in arm with the prince. Katherine was no fool she could tell her lady was in distress but she could not afford to stray from her mistress plan.

“Lady Petrova.” Elijah’s voice startled the brunette as she gathered the appropriate demeanor for the noble lord.

“Lord Elijah, what an honor.” she attempted to curtsey but he gestured her to halt.

“There is no need.” his eyes seemed glued onto her face almost searching for something.

“I see you were able to speak with his highness. He is in a more amiable mood with my lady.” she laughed lightly her gaze not on the dancing pair but on the sitting oaf of a king. 

“I do believe so.” his voice was tight and hard. Obviously, it was not the case but she needed to put herself in front the King.

“Is there something the matter Lady Petrova? Am I keeping you?” He was far more focused on her than she thought.

Katherine smiled placing a gentle touch to the lord’s forearm, “No my lord. I am just always on alert for my mistress’ needs.”

Alas, the music had ended but unfortunately for Katherine, the couple had decided to greet those in the room.

“Would you care to dance my lady?” the question was innocent enough but for someone like the noble lord, it sounded almost indecent.

“I’m afraid my lord I am not much of a dancer.” she flushed in false embarrassment. 

“I can show you.” he mumbled slightly clearing his throat in an attempt to clear away his embarrassment of such a proposal.

Katherine for the first time the evening met his gaze staring into his dark eyes admiring his genuine embarrassment. Against her better thought, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Another time my lord, if you’ll excuse me.“ 

Katherine spotted Caroline with a sigh of relief the pair were once again rejoining the King.

“It won’t work.” Princess Rebekah biting tone stopped her in her place.

Katherine kept her composure. “What do you mean your highness?”

“Don’t play innocent. I’m not as naive as the rest and I see right through you.” her brows furrowed, “Stay away from Elijah, he is far more trusting to trash, like yourself, than he should be.”

Katherine stumbled back as the blonde pushed past her a snobby look on the princess’ face as she exited the hall.

“I do believe your lady has offended my sister in some way.” Klaus teased as they had watched the slightly tense moment. 

“Lady Katherine is new to the ways of our people. I do apologize for any offense she may have given.”

“No offense, it just seems she’s caught the eyes of a certain person.” he chuckled as he tore at the piece of loaf in hand.

Caroline smiled while glancing at the approaching brunette her eye downcast, a sign of her growing annoyance. Caroline took a large chug of the red wine before her the evening had proven to be a bit more unbelievable than she would have thought. Prince Niklaus was behaving himself like an infatuated man, to the delight of the court and his father. 

With small jokes, quick but intimate touches or gestures, truly a romantic sight but for all his effort Caroline remained wary of his motives. One did not act one way and then the other way without some motive behind it. She humored him of course but she was far too experienced in the game; after all, she had had far more practice at this than he had.

Klaus kept a close eye on Elijah and his siblings despite the distracting conversation he made with Lady Caroline he noticed his solemn brother’s constant glances to the Lady Petrova. 

‘He has a type I’ll give him that.’ He thought silently amused at his brother’s fondness for the less fortunate.

Klaus returned his attention to the blonde beauty sitting beside him her elegant demeanor made her a fitting match alone to be a crowned princess, but it was something else about her, something he couldn’t put a finger. There was something just beneath the surface of regal elegance that made her irresistible and that was something that vexed him far more than enthralled him.

“Your highness?” Caroline stared at him one brow raised.

“I’m sorry my lady.” he fought to gain some composure, “could you repeat yourself?”

“I only said that my journey here was quite long and the wine here so rich that I find myself a bit faint.” she bit her lower lip gently as her eyelashes fluttered softly, “Would you grant us leave?”

“Of course,” he rose from his seat offering her a supportive arm, “I will escort you my-”

“I don’t want to bother you with such my lord and I’m certain our guest will find it rude if we both disappear for the night.” she took a hold of his arm as she rose, “good night, my prince.”

The last phrase sounded seductive to him as moved from the table. His father to absent-minded in his drink, to notice his bride-to-be taking her leave. Typical of a ruler whose glory days were far behind him.

Katherine had signaled to her other companions their time for merriment was at an end. Caroline remained silent for most of their walk to their chambers only stopping to once again smile at any drunken noble stumbling out in the corridors.

“I am sorry my lady.” Katherine began with a heavy tone, “I’m afraid I was unable to do as you ordered.”

“Dear friend,” Caroline said with the lightest of tone, “you’re far less observant than I. You did exactly as I commanded.”

Standing at the doors of her chamber was valet of the King, he gave a quick bow before he turned to Katherine.

“May I speak to you lady in private, Lady Caroline?” his attention focused on Katherine still.

“Why yes, you may. Do not linger for too long Lady Katherine.” Caroline motioned to one of her ladies to open her chamber door.

As she moved to the entrance Caroline shot a quick glance. Katherine’s eyes had lit up for a moment a positive sign of a job well done.

Caroline fought hard to keep herself from laughing out loud because now the real game had begun.

(A/n: Sorry for the late update I wanted to write a longer chapter. Again sorry for the errors. I hope you enjoy and review!)