#i haven't even GOTTEN to the hardest chapter

[novelconcepts]

Me: well, if the wife isn't going to be around tonight, I can at least finish this chapter. maybe even the whole fic. I can write like the wind!

*four hours later*

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Pretty like the wind

Previous chapter /Next chapter

a/n fourteenth part! You guys we are nearing the end and this one... This one was tough. I will only be able to accept complaints via email. Enjoy! 😉🤍🫧

warning: kids, blood, torture, intoxication, drugs, dark magic, pain, deaths, Illyrian torture mmm... I'm trying to think if I haven't missed anything. Ah... wounds.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

There was one thing Azriel was certain about: he was never going to get used to the sensation of holding you. The way his body ignited. It felt as if only then all of his senses were in tune with the rest of his body. The sweetest taste of perfection filled him. This was what finally feeling whole felt like. So was he pissed off when Rhys's gentle knocking on his mental shields woke him up? Yes. Was untangling his limbs from you the hardest thing Azriel had ever done? Absolutely. Did he linger just a bit longer, slowly brushing your hair as he watched you take in breath after breath? yes. Azriel smiled to himself because this was it. This was his forever. His other half lay in his bed. Peacefully sleeping. So his. Only his.

"I'll let you punch me raw", Rhys had caught up with Azriel in no time, "But you also know I wouldn't have asked if this wasn't serious". Azriel knew his duties. He took them seriously, too. So even if his heart was bleeding for his mate, he knew his people also needed him. "Fill me in," Azriel said firmly, tightening the straps holding his knives. "Cass is finishing the last interrogations, and nothing fucking adds up." Rhys was frustrated, which was always a sign of something going extremely wrong. All he was told before Azriel had winnowed into the south side of Velaris was that the border had been breached. An attack had occurred, but the moment the soldiers were sent, it all vanished. In Azriel's 500 years of life, shit didn't just disappear. "Memories?", Azriel said as he scanned the place. Weavers were already patching up the wards, but none of them looked seriously torn apart or damaged in general. "Ink black," Rhys said and Aziel halted at the sound of it, an odd chill running through his back. "And a freezing one. I could push, but...", Rhys ran a hand through his hair. Azriel recognized that worry now. Worry for the family. A mate, children. He was in the same boat now. "You could push, but let me guess, you would fry their brains in the process," Azriel unleashed, his shadow scattering around the place. He was going to fix this. And fix this quickly. Maybe he will even be able to come back before you have woken up.

Cold. Cold. Cold. So cold. So dark. It was so painful and numb at the same time. There were hands. Cold fingers. Echoes of something familiar. How could one feel so heavy and light as a fever at the same time? It felt as if you were blinking for a moment, desperately trying to wake up, only to be plunged back into the same darkness. Someone was holding your head down as you trashed. before Your body had grown frail once more. Slumping.

"I'm telling you they came with torches; everything was on fire," the man said, and Azriel would have believed him, but he knew the farmer. Had gotten multiple reports from him about younglings messing up his sheep fence. He heard him speak before, and something deep within Azriel screamed that this man wasn't talking on his behalf. "Look, if you got the whole village in on this because of that damn fence..." Cassian huffed; he too was losing his patience. Nesta was pregnant. Nothing had been confirmed, but Azriel could smell it on Cass, and so could Rhys; the two had shared a look but chosen to not test Cassian's boundaries. The man was desperate for her. Out of the three of them, Cassian was the one whose patient was extremely thin today. Not to mention the heightened need to protect that coursed through his body.

Azrie shot his brother a look before motioning for the door. Cassian was halfway through the door when the man spoke again, "What fence?" There was a glimmer of relief in the man's eyes before it all glazed over again, and this time that same odd tone was back: "Torches all of them." Azriel turned to Rhys, whose face bore the same realization. They were all under something. Herbs. Magic. Mother only knew.

"Billy, your goat. How is he doing?", the man practically seized at Azriel's voice. "Bill...", the male breathed. "Yeah, one who chewed up your farm shoes," Azriel continued, the same glistening light running through the male's eyes. As if he was clawing at himself from within. It was as if someone was barging to be let out. But it was Rhys who delivered the last blow. "What about your wife? Huh, how's she been doing? She's still knitting you scarves." The male coughed, clawing at his neck. Panic set in as he moved towards the door, but Cassian was still standing there, his broad shoulders blocking any chance at escaping. "Billy and your wife, how are they?", Cass said it in a demanding tone. The man stilled, and then, thick like lava, liquid trickled down his nose.

"Rhys...", Cassian growled. The male staggered back slightly but gained his stance pretty quickly. And the terror that set in now was of a new kind. "My lord...", he breathed out, pulling his hat off his head, only then reaching to feel the dampness on his lip. Dread pooled in Azriel's stomach. "Fuck," the high lord breathed, "This is set up." Rhys's darkness swallowed the place as he winnowed. Azriel reached for the older male and said, "Go home; I'll be back, but you have nothing to worry about." With that, he snatched Cassian's hand as they both winnowed.

It was the cold that seeped into you that had pulled your eyes open. Your fingers grazed the surface beneath you. They felt numb as if they no longer belonged to you, but enough to still somewhat identify your surroundings. The surface you were lying on was damp. That would explain the sounds of droplets hitting the puddles somewhere. You tried to dig into your mind. Tried to think. Where were you? What was happening? You forced your eyes to fully open. A gray stone was what greeted you. You frowned instantly. Nothing seemed to add up. It was sniffling that you picked up on next. But the moment you turned your head to the side, you were met with something you thought you would never see again.

"No", your voice was barely a whimper. "No", you tried to pull yourself up, crawling towards the painfully familiar bars. You didn't feel a single ounce of magic within yourself. It was as if it had all fizzled out. But this couldn't be true. Absolutely couldn't. You have escaped. You... your hands touched the bars as you pulled yourself up. And for a heartbeat, you wished you hadn't.

In the cell opposite of yours lay two figures that clawed through every bit of sedative running through your system. "Zofie, Axel...", the words were barely a whisper as your knees threatened to buck any minute. "Zo, Ax," you breathed louder, trying to move the cell doors, but for nothing. It all came rushing back then. The strange vision. The dinner prep. Elain. Your thoughts halted - Azriel. Your hand rested on your chest. You couldn't feel him. You couldn't... "No," you breathed. He couldn't be dead. You wouldn't be standing here if he was. Your eyes darted back toward the kids. Zofie was pale. Too pale. Axel's wings were bent awkwardly. They couldn't be. They couldn't... It was enough for the thought to simply swirl there and within seconds you were turning to the side as bile rose in your throat.

No matter how much panic Azriel felt coming from both Rhys and Cassian, he refused to let it settle in. You were fine. You had to be. They were all just panicked. Nothing like that has happened since Amarantha. So it was more than understandable that everyone would be ticked off. Azriel unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt as he winnowed back to his apartment. Rhys was meeting him there the moment both Nesta and Feyre were in the safety of the house of wind.

Just the moment his foot hit the wood floor in his apartment, Azriel knew that something was off. The place seemed ice-cold. The burning smell filled his nose. No. No. No. Not happening. "Y/n," he called out as he stepped deeper into the place. Bile rose in Azriel's throat as his eyes scanned the kitchen. Flowers were scattered on the floor, with a smashed vase to accompany them. Fresh goods were still in the bags by the little kitchen counter. A burnt-out pot—whatever had been cooking there had turned into a chard mess. At least now he knew where the smell was coming from. Azriel's eyes fell onto the colorful drawing that now lay upon all the filth that filled the floor. A card. He hesitated. He knew whatever was in... Azriel folded the paper open. Messy's scribbled writing in two different colors greeted him.

We wanted to ask you a big question. Written with a k instead of a q, that's been crossed out and corrected. Azriel wanted that to warm his heart, but all it did was cause more ache. Yet nothing prepared him for the next line. Can you please be our dad? We'd love that, Zo and Ax. The world in front of Azriel shifted. His vision went out for a second. Their dad. A father figure. Azriel gripped the kitchen counter. His kids. They were already his kids. But to know that they both wanted that and that they had all of this set-out... All of this was supposed to be a surprise for him, and now...

Azriel heard rustling outside his apartment door that he only now realized was slightly ajar. "Elain?", a muffled voice that belonged to Rhys called out. Azriel crossed the distance in a couple of steps as he yanked the door open. His anger was boiling even hotter. He saw her, hiding in the corner of the hallway. That same black liquid trickled down her nose. "I couldn't. I tried", she managed to muffle between sobs, but Azriel turned away from her. "Tell Lucien that she's here. I don't need a territorial male running around causing trouble", Azriel said bluntly to Rhys.

"Azriel, please," Elain shifted, trying to reach for any part of the shadow singer she could get her hands on. "Elain, unless you have something useful to...", Azriel batted her hand away as he scowled at her. She probably didn't deserve it. It wasn't her fault that she had gotten herself under that spell, yet knowing that she was the one who had seen you last didn't sit well with Azriel. "They know you'll come; she wants that," Elain muttered, making Azriel frown. "Who?", the female shook her head, and Azriel moved to step away instantly. "A lady in white, she... I don't know, like a priestess."

And within a beat of a heart, it was all crystal clear. The threats and the unwillingness to cooperate—Rhys said it had all been done and taken care of. A new wave of anger rushed through Azriel as he reached for Rhys's neck, bending most of his body over the sixth-floor railing. "I should have burned that place down," Azriel hissed. "Azriel," Rhys said, pushing against his brother's hold. "If my mate and my kids get hurt because you stalled, I swear on everything holy to me. You will never see me again, Rhys", and with a final shove, Azriel let go. Rhys managed to keep himself upright, but before he could turn to the spymaster, he was already gone.

The next time your eyes snapped open, you scrambled to your feet almost immediately. Reaching for the bars, you cast your gaze upon the cell opposite yours. A breath hitched in your throat. They had shifted. Axel was leaning against the wall. All you could see was his face; his wings were messily draped over his chest, he no doubt had to be holding Zofie. "Axel," you called out softly, not wanting to startle him even more. Mother knew these kids were through hell just because of you. "Sweetheart, Ax," you called out again, knees buckling as those golden eyes gazed straight at you. "Y/n," he breathed in return, trying to move closer, but you quickly shook your head.

"It's okay; stay where you are. Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?", you looked him over the best you could. The boy only shook his head. "But Zofie is cold," he muttered, pealing one of his wings to reveal a sickly pale girl with no color in her skin. You sank to the floor. "Is she...", the ringing in your ears grew louder. Axel quickly shook his head once more. "I think it's the empathy thing," he said softly. "I've been thinking all the happy thoughts, and pa-Azriel," Axel stated. Your eyes softened. "You don't have to correct yourself, Ax; you can call him your papa." You wished they hadn't taken this evening away from them. Why this one out of them all? "Will he come to get us?", there was doubt in the boy's tone, but you met his eyes with your blazing gaze. "He will. He will always come for us. No matter where we end up, Azriel will always find a way to bring us back home. You want to know why?", you asked him, and Axel instantly nodded, "Because he loves us, and we love him."

Azriel's shadows were swirling all around the sanctuary as he watched from the mountain peaks. He knew that you were there. The last bits of mating bond practically screamed at him while he ran over ways he was going to slather everyone stupid enough to get in his way. He gritted his teeth together.

"You know... I was never afraid of your darkness," you had muted to him as you two had laid in bed together. Your hand was extended up in the air as his shadows swirled all around, tattering your skin with kisses. "You should be; most are," Azriel breathed. "Why would I? It's a part of you, and it's beautiful to me." Azriel had shifted slightly from the words—loving you is the easiest thing I have to do in my life, he had thought but he didn't say it. too afraid that it was all moving too fast. too afraid to scare you away. And now, more than ever, Azriel wished he would have spoken those words. Would have told you about the house on the very side of Velaris. He had bought it decades ago for his family. For his mate and for his kids. And he had just that—all of it—but it was slipping past his fingers.

A handful of papers slapped against Azriel's chest as Rhys winnowed right in front of him. "Padme wants you apart because you two were a profit in some ancient scroll," Azriel snatched the report, taking his eyes off the building just for a heartbeat so he could look it over. "You two are the opposite of the spectrum; your union can... You'd become more powerful than most high lords", Rhys said firmly, knowing that at any moment the words he spoke could be his last, " So this whole thing could be set up by one or multiple of the other high lords, or someone desperate to save the world".

Azriel had to give Rhys credit. The stuff he pulled out in such a short time was impressive, and it would explain the level of magic used to possess others. But if he could do it in such a short time, he could have given him the papers with this information weeks ago. As if reading his mind, Rhys spoke, "Let us help you get her and the kids back, and then you're free to step away from your position as my spymaster." The words drilled holes in Azriel's already bleeding heart, "I should have taken action sooner. I failed you and your family." Azriel lifted his hand, silencing his high lord. "Two entrances are unguarded. Your job is to get the kids and take them away from that place", the cold tone Azriel used felt wrong, but he couldn't do this now. Azriel's priorities no longer lay with Rhys. No longer lay with his court.

You were humming an old Illyrian lullaby when the doors to the dungeon creaked open and in strolled Padme, accompanied by at least four guards. "I hope you're enjoying your fantasy now," she said with that same cold smile on her lips. "You bitch," you spat her way, throwing all of your weight at the iron bars. "Pick your words wisely, child. I have power over you", she said, standing right in front of you now, looking you over as if you were nothing more than a speck of dirt beneath her shoes. "I trusted you," you said through gritted teeth, "You said...", "That I cared? That I will keep you safe," Padme cut you off, "The same thing your supposed lover is saying to you now. Look where my love brought you; want to see where he will take you?" She stepped over so quickly you didn't even notice when her claws had dug in the hack of your scalp, that same demonic face flashing right in front of you.

Then flames erupted all around you. All of the Velaris was up in flames. Houses falling. People were trying to crawl from beneath the debris. You ran forward, trying to help a woman free her leg, but the moment you approached, she screamed out in panic, trying to move away from you. You shook your head. "Do you want this?", Padme's voice rang all around you. "You are going to be so selfish and end so many lives just because you think someone can finally love you," her laugh echoed, chipping even more of your already frozen-over heart. "I kept you safe. It is I who truly knows how to love a creature like you". Your head fell back as the priestess pulled her blood-coated nails away from you, licking the very tips, "You always belonged with me." Your eyes locked on her dark orbs. You've never seen them in their true colors before.

"That's a lie! Azriel loves us; we're a family," Axel's voice rang out, making you blink, "Tell her, YN, we'll always be together." Padme turned to the boy, yanking the cell door open as she stepped in. "No," you breathed out, reaching for them. "Say that again, boy," her hand wrapped around his neck as she lifted him from the ground, Zofie's frail body slipping out of his hand, awkwardly filling the cold floor. "No, Padme, let him go," you pleaded. You were not letting them go through the same torture you had already endured. "He loves her," Axel said firmly, even if he was slowly losing oxygen. "I'll do whatever you want, but you have to promise you will not hurt them, Pad," you said so quickly that you could barely make out your own words.

The priestess's head turned toward you, a vicious smile spreading across her face. "Return them safely to Azriel, and I will do whatever you want," you pleaded. Padem simply let go of Axel. "Very well," she said happily. "I'll drop them off at that old lady's house," You nodded along with her words. Cordelia will look after them for now. She'll explain it all to them. Take good care of Zofie until she can once again lay in Azriel's arms. "But you, my dear," Padme mustered, "You owe me your heart, especially the part of it that belongs to the shadowsinger." Your vision blurred as her words settled in. A part. There wasn't just a part. All of it was Azriel's. You had given it to him that night outside his mother's house. He had it ever since.

Azriel had his finger pressed to his lips as he once again came into contact with a small group of terrified females, slowly gesturing for them to exit the place. Knowing well that Rhys would guide them out of the building. One of them had already told them how to get to the lower floors of the sanctuary. Azriel would find you. He'll take you home. He rounded the familiar corner. He was trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. It was strange to think that he had lived here for a bit. He had met his other missing part between these walls, which made him nothing but sick now.

Down the corridor. Into the main communal hall, and then right on the left corner, Azriel stopped. There was no way. No, there was no way this couldn't be it. His eyes instantly darted up, looking for anyone planning an attack from up above, but he saw no one, and his shadows sensed nothing.

"Y/n," he breathed out, and you instantly turned around. Your dress was dirty and damp, and there was blood running down the back of your neck, mixing in with your light hair. Blood. Azriel crossed the distance between the two of you in a couple of steps. "Why are you here? Did you kill her?", he carefully cupped your face as he looked you over. Your lip trembled. "Love," Azriel breathed. "The kids are at your mother's. I got them out, but you need to leave," the last word was choked out, and you quickly covered your mouth. Trying to fight your emotions. Azriel pulled at your hand, but you quickly pulled back. "You need to leave me behind," you whispered. "That will never happen," the spymaster said firmly.

"Azriel, I will lose control again. I will burn the city down. I saw it", you shook your head, trying to chase the images away. "I will burn it for you if you give up on us," Azriel said harshly, but his touch still stayed nothing but soft.

"I'm not giving up on us," you whispered so quietly. You promised to push him away. Make him leave you so the kids will be safe. Be safe with him. They didn't need you. But you couldn't lie to him. You'll make him leave you behind in some other way. But Azriel cupped your face with both hands and said, "I waited for you my whole life. You are everything I ever wanted and more. I can only breathe when I'm with you, Y/n. You are my everything. If you are not with me, I don't want to live." His honest words pulled a light sob from your lips. "Azriel, I...", you breathed right as an arrow pierced Azriel's shoulder. The spymaster hissed as he turned back, trying to find the source of the attack.

"No," you shouted, but Azriel was already shielding you while an arrow after an arrow pierced his skin and wings. A roar slipped past his lips, but he stood unmoving, using his body like a shield. "No, let me," you breathed out as you tried to pull him away but... The room died down quickly, and you watched as Azriel slowly sank to his knees.

"Azriel," you followed suit, cupping his face in your hands. His lips were tinted red. No, they couldn't be. No, this couldn't be happening. Azriel moved one of his hands up as he grasped your forearm firmly. "You belong to no one," he said, pausing to take a breath between each word, "Don't let them control you any longer." His grip loosened, and his hazy eyes only focused on you. "No, Az. Azriel! Look at me, Azriel", you bagged, tapping his face lightly, trying to keep him awake.

"And so the story ends," Padme said, moving from behind one of the columns with a pleased smile on her lips. "What did you do? What did you do?", you shouted at her. "I saved the world, child," she said, raising her hands in delight. Her laughter filled the space, but your eyes were already back on your mate. "Azriel, look at me," you pressed your hands against him, trying to flicker at least some of your magic on, but you couldn't seem to get a hold of it. The spymaster smiled slightly, grasping your hand in his. "I'll see you on the other side," he muttered. You choked out a cry. "No, no, you will not," you said angrily. "Azriel," his name was like a prayer on your lips. You felt the last bits of the bond slowly flicker out as an overwhelming pain crawled all over you. Time slowed as you watched Azriel's eyes slowly droop.

But then your deathly glare rose to meet Padme's satisfied gaze. "What did you do?", the scream ripped through. Ignited even more by the pain of feeling Azriel slipping away, the cry seemed never-ending. You heard glass breaking. The cracking of the chipping stone. You saw nothing but white rage. Pulling one of the arrows out of Azriel's body, you pointed it at Padem. "I will be your worst nightmare," you said through gritted teeth. Your body didn't feel like your own as you logged the arrow. And it hit Padme straight in her heart with the speed you'd never thought you could muster.

That same itching feeling in your throat started once more. The same one you felt when they ripped your wings off. The sanctuary was slowly falling apart. The females rushed to get out, but you couldn't bring yourself to care anymore as you pulled Azriel's head over your lap. There was so much blood everywhere. Too much blood. The tears fell freely down your face in a never-ending stream.

You moved your hands over Azriel's heart, watching as your hands disappeared within the light you possessed. But it didn't seem to work. "Y/n," you heard Rhys's shaky voice. "Get out," you barked out. The high lord still tried to step closer, but you hissed at him, "Get out, Rhys, and take the ones you can with you." You felt the last bits of your self-control failing. He only held your gaze for a moment before he winnowed away.

A sob slipped past your lips as you cupped Azriel's face, leaning over to kiss his cold lips. Time slowed once more. The static felt unbearable. One heartbeat. Two. Three. Four. And it all erupts with a sob like no other. You felt blood trickling down your ears as all of your being clawed at your fragile body. The light was blinding. So was the warmth that followed it. It felt like forever. The sizzling of your skin eased as the snow slowly fell upon you two. You blinked a couple of times. Pouring whatever was left into Azriel until your hands slipped off his chest and your body sagged on top of his.

The first thing he felt was coldness. Then the snowflakes fell on his face. His body also felt heavy. Like it had never felt before. The gray sky was all around him as he opened his eyes. His mind felt numb. For a moment, he had no idea why he was lying there in the first place. Until it all came tumbling down. One image after the other. The sanctuary. You. Arrows. Was this what the other side looked like because, shit, it was grim. Azriel shifted slightly, halting when his hand hit something. Something that was sprawled out across him.

He sat up so fast that your body rolled down to his lap. No. "Y/n," he said, wrapping his arms around your body and hissing at the coldness of it. "My love," he muttered, flexing his stiff wings. They had to be torn. Azriel turned. Not a single cut was on them. Not a single arrow was in his flesh. You've melted it away and healed him. "Love," he called out desperately, "Open your eyes." You couldn't die. He couldn't have just been here, lying unconscious, while you slowly faded from this world.

Azriel's eyes darted across the fallen sanctuary walls. Blood on the white stone. Padme's body was not far away from where you two were. Only the outskirts of the city looked burned to the ground, but there was no doubt that Rhys knew that something like this was coming. Azriel shook his head as he pressed his forehead to yours. "You promised me forever, love," he said softly, "I'm calling in my bargain now." Azriel carefully brushed his lips over yours, and the faintest of thuds echoed in your hallowed-out chest.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Taglist: @naturakaashi @hoemadegrace @just-m-2 @thereadinggremlin @i-am-a-lost-girl16 @stressed-reader

[aritsukemo]

Paradise | Chapter One - Cruelty | KNY

Summary: All is well in the Kamado Home until tragedy strikes..

Warnings: Descriptions of blood ahead. One of the main characters ( Y/n ) has a panic attack. First scene involves needles and scalpels and the character gets their skin ripped open! With all that said, read with caution!

A/N: Thanks to all the love and support I've been getting recently, I've gotten the courage to post this! This story is a very special piece to me as it's been stuck in my head for around..four, maybe five years now? ( I started the thought process of it sometime around the time the demon slayer anime came out ) This story is actually the reason I started writing, but I haven't posted it until now because of..perfectionism reason.. It's not much right now, but if you like it, please support it over on Wattpad! ..Or not and simply support it over here! ( Or don't! You simply taking the time to read this means a lot to me! )

Tagging: @overluvsick, @nursedflowers, @jspidey5 + anyone who wants to be tagged! <3

Next Chapter

First Person, ???'s Pov

 "Father, please! Stop! It hurts!" A needle invades my flesh as my protests contort into a sharp scream. It booms off the dank walls after leaving my mouth and bounces back to echo into my ears as if to mock me. The man that towers over me, my father, his breath is ragged and hot as his grip on my arm tightens.

 "Stop resisting!" He shouts. Although, I'm more focused on my arm that's slowly numbing over from the lack of circulation. I yell at him, pleading for him to let me go but he doesn't listen and instead grabs his scalpel. The steel gleams ominously in the light but I barely have the time to process the sight before it digs into the flesh of my arm and tears my skin open.

White, searing pain radiates through my arm as crimson drips onto the floor. Tears blur my vision and flows down my cheeks like a waterfall, snot drips from my nose and mixes with the blood on the floor. A brief, high-pitched scream leaves my lips followed by a choked sob. My father doesn't take much mind to my reaction.

 "Still not the right color.." I hear him mumble. There's some commotion from him as he uses his free hand to search for something on the shelf closest to him. After a few moments, I feel smooth glass touch my lip and before I even realize it, I violently flinch away.

 "Drink it!" He yanks me forward and in the process, accidentally spills a small chunk of the substance on my lips. I gag at the smell but in the process I subconsciously dart my tongue out and run the wet muscle over my lips. I nearly vomit at the taste. My father doesn't seem to care.

"Open your mouth!" He shouts, "Just drink it and get it over with!"

"No!" I yell back, "It tastes digusting!"

 "The taste doesn't matter! Just swallow this as fast as you can and--!"

 "No!" I swing my arms and twist my body, trying my hardest to escape his grasp, "No, I won't! You can't make me no matter what-!" My words get cut off by my own gags as my father wraps his calloused hands around my throat and gives it a threatening squeeze.

 "Drink it damnit!" He brings his thumb up to force my mouth open, "If you'd just get it over with you wouldn't be suffering so much right now!"

My hand comes up to grab his wrist as my head moves away as best it can while it's still in his almost suffocating grip, "Why are you doing this to us? We didn't do anything wrong!"

 "I never said you did!" He clenches his teeth, "Just drink it already!"

 "No! I told you already, I'm not drinking that!"

Suddenly a tired, almost sorrowful sigh leaves his lips as he pulls away from me completely. I look at him with wide eyes but he looks back with one that's indescribable to me.

 "You leave me with no choice then.." He reaches for something just out of my eyesight as my trembling figure backs away from him, "Remember that you brought this upon yourself."

 "Dad.. What are you.. No. No! Get away from me with that-! Stop! Please!"

"Stop!" My body jolts up and my hands shoot outwards, pushing the person in front of me with an unnecessary amount of force. There's a tumble that I just barely hear over my erractic breathing.

A few moments pass. The tightness in my chest becomes less constricting, allowing me to breathe a little better and amidst this, the warmth of someone's touch envelopes my shoulder.

 "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.." A gentle voices reaches my ears and as if a drug was injected in my veins, my muscles instantly relaxes. That suffocating feeling in my chest ceases to exist and I'm able to breathe comfortably again.

 "You were thrashing around so much it made me worry," The warmth moves along my clothed skin and up to my naked cheeks where soft fingrtips brush away stray tears that had escaped from me without my knowing.

Kie's asks, "Are you alright, Y/n?"

As my vision clears and I can finally see her clearly, sitting on her knees and brows knitted from worry, I mumble out, "Yeah.. Yeah. I'm fine, Kie. Don't worry."

 "Are you sure?" Her question comes out almost immediately and each word that left her lips were filled with nothing but worry, "If there's anything I can do.." As she trails off, I bring my hand up, softly peeling her hands off my face before wiping away the excess tears clumped along the waterline of my eyes.

 "I promise, I'm okay. You just startled me.. No need to fret over it."

Kie's lips thin into a line. It's clear that she doesn't believe me but to my luck she silently decides to drop the conversation and gets up.

 "If you say so," She says, her eyes keenly watching my every little move, "Tanjiro is waiting for you outside."

 "Alright," I run my hand through my hair, letting out a sharp wince when it gets caught in one of many tangles, "..I'll be out in a few minutes."

Third Person Pov

 "Morning," Y/n says as she walks out of the hut, successfully catching the attention of a certain black and burgundy-haired boy. He looks back at her, his ponytail swaying a little as his red eyes meet hers.

 "Good morning, Y/n!" Tanjiro greets with a smile, causing the girl in question to mirror his expression, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, Let's.." Y/n's smile drops as she nears him and notices the smaller girl that stands behind him, her expression blank, "What is she doing out here."

Tanjiro's smile falters for a moment as his brows knit together to form a nervous expression, "Well—"

 "Tanjiro," Both Y/n and Tanjiro look back at the call of his name. Kie walks out of the hut, a dirty cloth in hand as she walks past Y/n and up to her son, "Your face is covered in soot. Let me help you with that."

She gets down on her knees and puts the cloth to Tanjiro's cheek, "Are you sure you want to go down the mountain today? It'll be dangerous with all of this snow."

Tanjiro nods, his left eye closing as his mother rubs his cheek with the cloth, "I want us to have a good New Year's where everyone can eat as much as they want without worry."

Kie smiles, her eyes softening, "How thoughtful of you.."

 "I'm still waiting on your explanation on why she's not inside," Y/n says, interrupting the moment that was shared between Tanjiro and his mother. She crosses her arms and rest them against her chest, looking at him with expectant, irritated eyes.

 "Well.." Tanjiro begins, scratching the back of his head as he flashes her a closed-eyed smile, "Sumiko will be going down the mountain with us."

 "Like hell she will," Y/n retorts almost immediately. Tanjiro half expected the answer but even so, her instant rejection to the idea still makes him frown.

 "No need to be so angry with him, Y/n," His mother steps in, standing up and turning to face her with a carefree smile, "After all, it wasn't his idea. It was mine," She confesses.

Y/n's eyes snap over to Kie, her vexation faltering, "..Why?"

 "Sumiko needs some fresh air," She replies simply, "She hasn't struck a fever in a few weeks so now is the best time for her to go out and experience the world."

 "She doesn't need to 'experience the world', what she needs is to get back in bed and rest. I mean, look at her!" She points at her sister who's droopy, absent eyes stare at a nearby tree, "Does she look the least bit better?"

 "Yes," Kie replies. Not sparing the girl a glance nor seeing a reason to, "To me, she looks miles better than she did before. She's practically glowing."

 "You didn't even look at her," Y/n deadpans. Pinching the bridge of her nose as she shakes her head and groans. Kie doesn't seem fazed, still smiling sweetly at her.

 "I know you're worried about your little sister, but it's not fair to keep her cooped up in the house when she's clearly getting better."

 "She has a tendency of being inconsistent with her health," Y/n reminds, "Plus it's freezing. Her condition could worsen if she tags along."

 "That's a likely possibility, but I think it's for the best if she went with you," Kie's eyes trail over to stare at the blue-eyed child with a loving gaze, "It'll help her both physically..and mentally. I can feel it."

Y/n's eyes trail back and forth, staring at Sumiko, then at Kie, then back at Sumiko, her eyes flashing with confusion before she finally gives in and lets out an exasperated sigh.

 "I guess I can humor this for a bit," She grumbles something incoherent under her breath before muttering, "If her health gets worse because of this, just know I told you so.." Kie's smile widens.

 "Thank you," She says, and just as that breath of thanks leaves her lips, the sound of children's laughter grows louder as it nears the hut. The noise catches everyone's attention immediately and as they turn their heads to look back at the hut, they manage to catch Shigeru and Hanako running out of it.

 "Tanjiro!" Shigeru yells as he runs up to his elder brother with his sister in tow, "Are you and Y/n going down the mountain together today?"

Hanako runs up to Sumiko and scans her up and down with curious, perplexed eyes and after a moment, the realization hits and Hanako lets out a loud gasp.

 "Is Sumiko going too?" She asks in which Tanjiro nods his head. Hanako frowns at this.

 "Hey, no fair!" She whines, "I wanna come too!"

 "I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't." Kie butts in, "You know you won't be able to keep up."

 "Awh, come on mom!" Shigeru pleads. Backing up his sister as his bottom lip juts out in a small pout. Eyes drooping and creating a look akin to a sad, pleading puppy dog. Alas, it does little to sway his mother and she shakes her head.

 "Tanjiro won't be able to use the cart today so he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired. And, it would be too much on them to have to watch you two, Sumiko, sell charcoal, and do whatever else they may have to do," She explains. Shigeru groans. His face scrunching up in disdain as his sister appears crestfallen beside him.

 "Hey!" Tanjiro softly exclaims, catching both of their attention, "Don't be sad guys," He smiles, "We'll bring back some yummy snacks for you."

At the mere mention of delicious treats, both Hanako and Shigeru's expressions brighten. Their previous looks of disappointment erased from their faces as if they were never there to begin with.

 "Do you really mean it?" Hanako asks, grinning from ear to ear, "Don't eat them all on the way back, alright?" Shigeru adds, his face mimicking his sister's.

Still smiling, Tanjiro straightens his posture. His hand coming up to rest over his heart as he closes his eyes and says, "I promise to eat not one snack, no matter how hungry I get on the way back home."

Shigeru laughs, both amused by his brother's sudden serious stance and happy about the promise of treats in a few hours. Hanako lets out a giggle as well but her laughter quickly dies down as she looks over at Y/n and Sumiko.

 "You two gotta promise as well!" She says, "Those snacks are for us only!"

 "Eh, Sumiko's not one for sweets anyway," Y/n mumbles under her breath before saying in a slightly louder voice, "We both swear not to touch your snacks no matter how good they smell or how hungry we are."

Satisfied, Hanako lets out a gleeful 'Yay!', her hands clapping as she bounces up and down, "Don't break your promises, okay?"

 "Wouldn't dream of it," Y/n replies. Kie doesn't say it aloud but she notices the girl's eyes softening as she said that. It makes her smile. Yes, Y/n can be a stickler about certain things but when it came to her family, she was a big softie. Whether she was aware of that fact or not remains partially unknown.

 "Hey, Takeo!" Tanjiro exclaims after spotting his spiky-haired sibling walk out from the side of the hut, "Do me a favor and chop as much wood as you can for me, okay?"

His younger sibling huffs, pulling his hatchet back to rest on his shoulder, "Yeah, I was already plannin' on doing that. But.." He pauses, his eyes darting away from Tanjiro and looking off at nothing in particular, "I was kinda hoping we'd chop wood together this time.."

Sensing Takeo's disappointment, Tanjiro walks over to him with a gentle smile displayed on his face. He pats his head, "There, there," He says, ruffling his hair. Takeo's frown deepens and he groans loudly.

 "Hands off," He grumbles, swatting his hand away. Tanjiro retaliates by attempting to ruffle his hair again but Takeo quickly stops him by grabbing his wrist. Takeo asks, "Seriously, what's with you all of a sudden?"

 "You're blushing, Take'!" Shigeru blurts out, pointing his finger at him. Takeo snaps his head in his direction, looking at him with wide eyes filled with embarrassment.

 "Huh..?!" He drawls loudily, "Shut up, you brat! You're seeing things!" Tanjiro plants his hands in Takeo's hair once more, his smile even more lax as he messes with his hair again, "There, there," He repeats.

 "Cut it out!" Takeo shouts only to be followed up by everyone else's laughter which makes him groan again. Y/n watches the sight with an unreadable expression on her face. Sumiko stares, but the absent look in her eyes give her away; she wasn't there and was most likely trapped in her own tangle of thoughts.

 "We should get going now if we want to be back before nightfall," Y/n reminds. Tanjiro looks over, finally retracting his hands from his brother's head, "Yeah, you're right." He looks over at his family, "We should go."

As Hanako and Shigeru nods their heads and Takeo responds with a small 'Yeah,' Tanjiro walks past Y/n and up to her little sister. He looks down at her and grabs her hand but she doesn't react at all to it, allowing him to trudge her along as he walks up to Y/n, "Let's go,"

 "Wait," Kie says and, of course, both Tanjiro and Y/n halt. As she walks up to them, she shoots them a brief, apologetic glance before focusing her attention on little Sumiko. She crouches down, her covered knees sinking into the thick snow beneath her as she adjusts the large scarf around the girl's neck so that it covers the bottom half of her face better.

 "I'm sorry for doing this to you," She cups her face, her skin serving as a pale contrast to Sumiko's cold, pink cheeks, "And in such weather as well. To make you tred down this mountain even though you've only been better for a few weeks.. It's selfish of me." She pulls her forward, encasing her in a warm embrace as she leans in close to her ear, whispering as she continues, "But for some reason.. All of my thoughts are screaming at me to go against my better judgement. So please..stay safe."

To Kie's surprise, when she pulls away, Sumiko's staring at her. Her eyes are surprisingly attentive which catches her off guard, "What's wrong?" Y/n asks after seeing Kie's shock on her face, but Kie quickly stands to her feet and replies with, "Oh, it's nothing. Have a safe trip, you three."

Y/n raises an eyebrow at this but decides not to question the interaction between the two and turns on her heel. Tanjiro walks up to Sumiko and grabs her hand again, quickly following after Y/n as his family shouts their goodbyes and waves until they're no longer in sight.

 "Tanjiro!" Not too long after beginning their journey down the mountain, the trio runs into Nezuko. Tanjiro smiles upon noticing his sister and Y/n's face bears a small grin. Sumiko remains unfazed.

 "Hey, Nezuko," Tanjiro greets as he walks up to his sister, tugging Sumiko along with him which she quickly notices. Her smile drops and her face now holds one of perplexment.

 "Are you going down the mountain to sell charcoal with Sumiko today?" She questions. Tanjiro nods, "Yeah, and I even convinced Y/n to come with me today." He says as Y/n finally walks up to them.

Nezuko looks over at Y/n, her smile returning, "I see. Well, I'm definitely surprised. Usually you prefer to go down the mountain super early in the morning before anyone else wakes up. Did you agree to tag along when you found out Sumiko was going?"

 "No," Y/n shakes her head, "Actually, I agreed to go with Tanjiro because he wouldn't stop asking me yesterday. I only found out Sumiko was coming this morning and the only reason she's coming with us is because Tanjiro and Kie managed to talk me out of making her stay."

 "Really?" Nezuko tilts her head a little to the side, "Why is that, Tanjiro?"

Tanjiro uses his free hand to scratch the back of his head, his brows knitted together and a crinkled smile displayed on his face as he responds, "Well, mom thought she could use a break from home and since her health has been improving lately, I agreed to take her with us."

 "Hm.." A look of worry appears on Nezuko's face for a brief moment, "I guess that's fair.. Make sure to look after her well," Tanjiro nods his head, "Don't worry, we will."

 "Rokuta's fast asleep. Did he manage to wear himself out on your walk?" Y/n points out, cutting away from the previous topic as she stares at the little boy laying on Nezuko's back. His small body covered in the thick, white cloth ( Onbuhimo ) that's wrapped around the both of them.

 "Not exactly, but I had to put him down for a nap regardless," Nezuko says, "After dad passed, he's been glued to Tanjiro's side. If he realizes he left, he'd throw a fit," She explains, Tanjiro's eyes noticeably soften.

Y/n comes closer to Nezuko, her hand reaching behind her to pet Rokuta's head. He fidgets ever so slightly and nuzzles into Nezuko's back some more, still asleep. Y/n's small smile returns, disappearing soon after she retracts her hand.

 "We should get going. Make sure to be careful on your way back up the mountain," She says, "It was nice seeing you, Nezuko," Tanjiro adds. Nezuko's smile widens.

 "It was nice seeing you guys too," She says as the three of them began to walk away, "Be safe and make sure not to overdo it, especially you, Sumiko!"

 "Ah, Y/n! Good morning!" An elderly woman who was sweeping snow from her porch greets the girl after noticing her arrival to the village, "For a second, I started to think you were finally going to take a day off since the weather has gotten so bad."

 "Not a chance," Y/n replies, "A little snow would never stop me," The woman chuckles, "I see that now.. Oh!" Finally noticing Tanjiro, the woman's expression changes to one of surprise, "Tanjiro's here too? I can't believe you came down the mountain on a day like this. You and Y/n are such hard workers!"

The woman's brows furrow, "Why is Sumiko here? Shouldn't she be resting in bed?" Y/n shoots Tanjiro a dirty look, crossing her arms as she waits for him to explain the situation. Tanjiro doesn't seem to mind.

 "Sumiko's health has been taking a turn for the better recently so we thought it would be good for her if she got out for a little," He explains, but the woman doesn't seem pleased with his answer. If the frown on her face wasn't obvious of that fact.

 "Isn't it a bit too soon? And letting her out of the house today of all days, what was Kie thinking?" She says, mumbling the last part more to herself than to them.

 "I know you're worried, but it's going to be alright. Me and Y/n are going to keep a good eye on her," Tanjiro says. And, although the woman's expression doesn't change much at all, she says, "Well as long as you two are watching her, I suppose I don't have much to worry about.. Make sure she doesn't get hurt while she's here."

 "We won't, I promise," Tanjiro says.

 "Hey, Y/n!" A man calls, catching her attention, "Are you selling charcoal today? I'll have some!" Another man pokes his head out of his window, "Ah, Tanjiro! Good to see ya'! Thanks for fixing my sliding door the other day!"

 "Y/n! I'm glad you came down today!" A dark-haired women says, a smile on her face as she asks, "Can you look after my children while I run an errand?"

 "Can you sweep my porch?" A younger, short-haired lady asks, smiling sweetly.

 "I'll take some charcoal!" A young man shouts.

 "I'll pass, but could you two help me move this furniture into my house?" An old man asks and just then, a boy comes bursting out of a nearby home. He runs but doesn't make it far before he's roughly snatched up by the shopkeeper who comes chasing after him.

 "Tanjiro!" The boy yells upon spotting him, "Thank goodness you're here!" Despite the resistance from the shopkeeper, the boy manages to wiggle his way out of her grasp, fumbling up to Tanjiro with blood dripping from his nose.

 "What's wrong?" Tanjiro asks, turning his attention to the boy on his knees before him, "I've been accused of breaking this plate! Can you help me out and sniff it?" The boy replies desperately.

Complying to his wishes, Tanjiro bends over and gives the plate a good sniff. He then straightens his posture, both brows raised as he says in a simple tone, "I smell a cat."

The laugh the village boy lets out after Tanjiro says that is one filled with joy and relief and as he turns to look back at the shopkeeper, his grin is wide and toothy, "See? I told you!"

The shopkeeper in question brings her hand up to her chin, muttering, "So it really was a cat.."

 "I told you I didn't do it!"

 "Now that that's done.." Tanjiro mumbled, his eyes panning over to Sumiko. Y/n had long left them to help out some of the villagers, leaving him alone with the eleven year old.

 "Hm, what should I do.." He thinks, "I know I used the excuse that she could help me out with selling charcoal, but will she really be able to..?"

 "Tanjiro!" Someone calls, snapping the boy from his thoughts, he looks over to see an older male calling out to him, "Can I get some charcoal?"

 "Sure," Tanjiro says. But just as he begins walking over, he stops, glancing back at Sumiko before looking down at the charcoal and then walking back up to her. He puts the charcoal in her smaller hands which, although her reaction was delayed, catches her attention.

 "Come on," He urges softly, being as gentle as ever as he nudges her in the direction of the man's home, "Let's sell our charcoal together."

 "It's already so late.. How did the day fly by so fast?" Tanjiro asks as the three walked the snowy trail back up the mountain.

 "I told you we should've left sooner," Y/n says in which Tanjiro looks at her and smiles, nodding his head in agreement.

 "Well next time, we'll definitely listen to you."

 "You say 'we' as if this is going to be a common occurrence."

 "Is that bad? I was able to sell a lot more charcoal thanks to you and Sumiko's help," Tanjiro says. Y/n rolls her eyes.

 "Sumiko didn't sell anything. All she did was follow you around and stare at nothing."

 "That's not true. She sold a few pieces," Tanjiro defended, but Y/n didn't seem impressed. In fact, she didn't look like she believed him and although her reaction was understandable, it was still disheartening to Tanjiro how little Y/n seemed to believe in her little sister..

 "Hey Tanjiro, Y/n, Sumiko!" They all stop. Turning his head, Tanjiro is met with the sight of Saburo, one of the villagers that lived on the outskirts of the village.

 "Oh hey, Mister. Saburo," Tanjiro greets, "What're you—"

 "It's too late for you three to be traveling up the mountain. Come inside, you can sleep here for the night," He offers. Tanjiro opens his mouth to politely refuse the offer but Saburo quickly cuts him off, shouting, "Don't argue! Just get in here..before the demons show up.."

Despite everything, Tanjiro still wants to refuse him. Although he really appreciates the offer there was really no point in staying the night here when they were almost home..

 "Tanjiro," Tanjiro turns to look at Y/n as she rests a hand on his shoulder, eyes widening at both the serious expression on her face and the heavy scent of fear that surrounds her being.

 "I'm..pretty tired from everything I did in the village, let's rest here for the night," She begins walking down the small hill, along the pebbled stone pathway that led to his front door. Murmuring something about explaining the situation to his mom when they get home in the morning.

As he watches her disappear into the small home, Tanjiro looks over at snowy path that led up to his home. It was quite the venture, but if they were really determined, he's sure they could make it home within the same hour..

But at the same time, it's not often that Y/n admits to being at her limit so maybe he should—

 "Hey!" Tanjiro jumps a little, sharply and quickly turning his head to look back at the hut where Saburo is once again peeking his head out the window, scowling, "You two get in here already!"

Guess he has no choice..

 "Alright, we're coming," Gently tugging her along, Tanjiro and Sumiko walk down the pebbled path that leads to Saburo's home.

Hopefully his family won't be too concerned about them arriving home later than intended..

 "Thank you for the meal!" Tanjiro says as he sets his chopsticks down on top of his bowl. He then takes a sip of his tea, holding it in his hands afterwards and harboring a distant look in his eyes as he stares down at the green liquid inside.

After barely touching her food, Y/n had quickly made herself a makeshift bed out of pillows and blankets and had long went to sleep. Sumiko, who finished her food before everyone else, had ended up falling asleep against the wall near her sister, leaving Tanjiro alone to pester Old Man Saburo.

 "Hey, Mister Saburo, what are demons like?" In all honesty, Tanjiro didn't really believe this talk of demons. It was far-fetched, fantastical, and just hard to believe. Even so, the mere mention of it managed to completely capture his interest.

Without much to any hesitation, Saburo begins, "Demons are man-eating creatures that prowl around at night. That's why you shouldn't walk around when it gets late," He pulls out a futon, walking over to Y/n's sleeping form and laying it out besides her. After setting a pillow out he walks over to Sumiko, bringing the small girl into his arms and carrying her over to the futon where he tucks her in.

 "If you're done eating, go to bed. You can set off as soon as day breaks," Saburo says taking one last glance over at Sumiko before getting up. Tanjiro gets up and slides into the futon on the opposite side of Y/n, eyes wide open and showing no sign of sleepiness.

 "These demons.. They can't come inside, can they?" He asks, staring up at the ceiling as he awaits for an answer to his question. Saburo grabs his smoking pipe ( Kiseru ) and holds it in his hand, replying in a simple tone, "Yes, they could come in."

 "Then what's stopping them from coming in and eating everyone?" Tanjiro asks. Saburo doesn't respond immediately. Deciding to bring his pipe to his lips, inhaling the fumes before letting it slip from him in one, long exhale.

 "Demon hunters protect us at night by slaying as many demons as they can. Always have, even way back when," Saburo finally answers only to then tap his smoking pipe against the edge of a large, stony bowl, emptying it's contents into it.

 "Go to sleep," He suddenly repeats, but this time he follows it up by cutting the lights off. Tanjiro complies to his wishes and closes his eyes, thinking to himself, "Mister Saburo is all alone after losing his whole family. He must be so lonely.. I'll bring my brothers and sisters next time and say, 'You don't have to be scared. There are no demons. You're safe.'"

"..But come to think of it, my grandma used to say the same thing when she was still alive.."

The wind seems to have picked up a little since last night. As they walk, the chilly breeze sticks to their skin, stinging their faces like a slap in the face and leaving redness in their wake. Despite this, none of them seemed fazed by it. With Y/n leading the charge, the three hiked the treacherous mountain in tranquil silence. The icy wind blowing being the only sound heard between them.

 "Hey, Y/n," Tanjiro suddenly speaks up, "Can I ask you something?"

Y/n hums, a little surprised albeit she didn't show it, "Sure, what is it?"

The wind seems to blow just a tad bit stronger, as if trying to warn Tanjiro of the mistake he's about to make. Alas, the warning falls upon deaf ears and without much hesitation, Tanjiro asks, "What was your life like before my father found you and Sumiko?"

The silence that Tanjiro is met with intially is a bit disheartening, but it doesn't last long before Y/n answers, "Nothing interesting. We lived with our parents and when they passed suddenly, I fled home with Sumiko in my arms and.." She trails off as if the wheels were still turning in her head, as if she was struggling to remember the events that happened to her, "..Well you know how the rest goes.."

But is that really the truth, he wonders. He's not very certain of anything, but this smell that clings to her. The unusual amount of anger, sadness, and guilt that has mixed and meshed together into this heavy, uncomfortable scent that makes Tanjiro's heart sink.. A smell like this wouldn't- shouldn't exist if one lived a simple life like Y/n claims..

But for some reason, she feels the need to hide what really happened to her from him. Does she think he wouldn't be able to handle it? Is it something that she fears he would judge her for? If that's the case then he needs to change that view she has of him because it's just not true! No matter what it is, no matter what has happened in the past, nothing she says could ever make him think differently of her!

 "Y/n—!" Tanjiro halts. A grotesque scent hitting him like a truck, rust overwhelming him to the point it burns his nose and throat. The sickening scent that's like no other. The smell of..

 "Blood!" Y/n stops in her tracks, looking back at Tanjiro with knitted brows.

 "What are you talking about?" Y/n asks only for her eyes to widen at the fear-stricken face she's met with. Tanjiro lets go of Sumiko's hand, which catches her attention, and without another word begins running up the snowy mountain trail.

 "Tanjiro, wait!" Y/n calls after him, but it's too late. He was already too far away to hear her voice. Or maybe, he purposely ignored her. Maybe the scent was so strong that he panicked and tuned her out, primarily focused on finding out its source.

Either way, she knows she needs to catch up with him. Fast.

With sharp movements, she turns her head and runs up to her sister, "Why are you still standing there?" She yells, roughly grabbing her thin wrist before yanking her along, "Move your ass!"

There's this familiar feeling swelling in her chest. Was it fear of the unknown? Sadness for what she knows is to come? Maybe the dread of uncertainty? Whatever it is it's strong. So strong that as she sprints up the mountain, her stomach twists and curls, giving off this strong sense of nausea. Thank the heavens she barely ate last night, otherwise she would've puked by now..

She hopes- no, prays that everything's alright. That everything was the same as they left it and that Tanjiro was just overreacting. It has to be. There's no way one of her worst fears have manifested into reality. There's just no way..

They have to be fine. No way something happened to them.

How could this have happened?

As if a nightmare had forced itself into reality, the first sight Y/n got when she finally made it up the mountain was a pool of blood staining the snow in front of the hut the Kamado's called home with the familiar bodies of Rokuta and Nezuko lying in the middle..

Tanjiro was on his knees, shouting their names and throwing out questions while frantically nudging the corpses of his siblings. Y/n stood there, motionless and in shock even when her sister slowly moved forward, looking as if she was watching the scariest movie of her life.

Still shaking his sister's shoulder and yelling her name, Tanjiro turns his head and freezes. As the sight slowly burned itself into his memory, it felt as if the world, that had already began crumbling, came crashing down onto him. It felt as if someone squeezed his heart and made it stop beating for a moment or two..

There inside the hut, which was painted from the roof to the floor in crimson and smelled like battered flesh and rusted, decaying iron, was the rest of his family. His mother Kie, his younger brothers Takeo and Shigeru, and his younger sister Hanako all laid lifeless on the ground, their faces and body splattered in their own blood and their blank, pupil-less eyes burning holes into him.

At some point, Y/n and Sumiko had walked over. Tanjiro didn't care enough to look up and gaze at the expression on their faces. Most likely it was similar to his own distressed one.

And just then, he felt something. A slow, weak drum, thrumming against the skin of his sister's neck. A pulse. A faint one but a beating pulse nonetheless.

Wasting not another second, he hauled Nezuko's limp, bleeding body onto his back and got up, "What are you doing," It was meant to be a question, but Y/n's words came out more as an angry demand. Tanjiro didn't care, answering her in a hurried breath as he began running.

 "Nezuko has a pulse..! I- I can still save her!" Y/n's eyes grow wider. She was still alive? Soon after Tanjiro began his descent down the mountain, Y/n followed after him and then Sumiko followed her.

 "Tanjiro, wait!" Y/n called after the boy when she finally caught sight of him. She sped up as best she could with the slippery snow beneath her feet, "There's no point in doing this! She's lost too much blood!"

 "Don't say that! I can still help her!" He shouts back, but his mind was elsewhere. How could this have happened? Did a bear attack them? They should be hibernating at this time of the year, but anything is possible at this point!

As he stumbled over a fallen tree, it gives Y/n the perfect opportunity to catch up to him. She hops over the wood, planting her sandals deeply into the snow so that she doesn't slip, taking large steps so that she now runs beside him. As if she was simply going through the motions, Sumiko hopped onto the log and took a huge leap forward, only stumbling a little when she landed a little ways behind the both of them.

Tanjiro was heaving at this point. The air was icy and when he inhaled, it felt as if the air transformed into little needles. The pain in his lungs only added onto the tears that were already bubbling in his eyes.

 "Tanjiro! Listen to me!" As Tanjiro's pace begun to slow, so did Y/n's, "She's beyond saving! I know this is hard to accept, but you need to snap out of it and face reality!"

  "No!" I won't let her die, he thinks, "I'm not giving up on her!" I refuse to sit and do nothing and let Nezuko die! I'm going to save her no matter what! "How can you give up on her so easily?"

 "I'm not!" She snaps, neither of them noticing Nezuko's hand twitch and tense with life, "You're trying to run away from the inevitable! It's going to take you forever to get to the village in this weather! Hell, you'll probably pass out before you even make it halfway there!"

Slowly, Nezuko's head lifts which goes completely unnoticed, "There's still a chance! Even if it's a small one, it's better than nothing! Why are you trying so hard to—" And in that moment, Tanjiro's words are cut short as Nezuko throws her head back and starts letting out throaty growls. She grips Tanjiro by the shoulders and began rocking wildly which is all it takes for Tanjiro to slip on the snow and right off the edge of the side of the mountain.

Oh no, Tanjiro thinks before a series of screams come tumbling out of his mouth. Y/n's eyes grow wide and her hand flies out to grab at Tanjiro. She slips on the snow at the same time Sumiko jumps to Tanjiro's rescue which causes their bodies to collide roughly..

As Sumiko's body was forced in another direction, Y/n throws her arms up and over her face. Her eyes clamp shut as she fell at high speeds, and when she finally hit the snowy ground, a rush of pain shoots through her. The breath she sucks in is sharp, almost painfully so.

She lifts herself with one arm slowly, the snow that had latched itself on her clothes silently sliding off and back onto the ground which is barely noticed by Y/n as she's more focused on her other arm, specifically her throbbing wrist.

 "Nezuko!" She blinks and quickly looks up, her eyes darting around until she finally spots Tanjiro and Nezuko standing a handful of steps away from her. Both seemed to have recovered from the fall quicker than she did.

 "Nezuko! Are you alright?" Tanjiro calls to his sister once more. Y/n watches, but her eyes stayed trained on Nezuko. As her tattered haori slipped off her shoulders, revealing the dried blood sticking to her kimono, the girl remained motionless. Tanjiro didn't seem to care, but it bothered Y/n, especially after what just happened.

 "You don't have to walk!" Tanjiro take one small step forward as he continued, "Let me carry you.." He trails off as a firm grip on his shoulder catches his attention. He look back and Y/n's standing there, looking at him with scrunched brows.

 "Don't get any closer," As her eyes trail over to Nezuko, Tanjiro notices a new scent surfacing that leaves him puzzled; a scent of fear dressed in sadness, "Let's..go find Sumiko. I lost sight of her when I fell."

What? What is she saying? "But what about—"

 "Forget about her!" Her voice raises with urgency and force that has Tanjiro jumping as a result. Y/n notices and takes a breath to calm down, but in doing so, it makes her trembling more apparent, both in her limbs and tone..

 "Now's not the time to fight, we need to get out of here," Is all she tells him. But all it does is makes Tanjiro more and more confused. Nezuko was standing right there! She was still breathing and even standing! They have the chance to save her! Why is she acting so cold towards the situation? And..why does she seem so scared of Nezuko?

Furrowing his brows, Tanjiro's face bares a look of pained disbelief, "How can you act like Nezuko's nothing to you? To me? I.. How can you act like she isn't your sister too!" As those words echoed in her ears, Y/n loosens her grip and Tanjiro shoves it off his shoulders. He turns, running towards his sister before Y/n can grab him again.

As he naively approaches her, Y/n calls out for him once again. The last warning he got. Before he could even call her name again, Nezuko looked up, angry veins protruding from her skin, eyes gleaming with hunger, and sharp fangs baring for all to see. He could barely process the sight and before he knew it, Tanjiro was laid against the snowy ground and his hatchet was in between his sister's teeth as she forced all her strength onto him.

Y/n hadn't moved a muscle. She simply stared, wide eyed as her breathing labored. As Tanjiro and Nezuko struggled in the snow, Y/n remained unmoving. Memories flashed. Imaginary blood filled her vision until they were replaced by her very real tears. Her chest tightens and her nails dig into the skin of her other arm. The lifeless faces that were burned into her memory stared into her soul before they were replaced by the image of blood painting the snow and Tanjiro laying in the crimson art; lifeless, decaying, and staring into her with those dark, cold eyes. Her lungs begun to feel heavy in her chest and her mouth falls open. Small, quiet wheezes are sucked in along with the freezing air around her. It does little to fill the sudden emptiness in her lungs..

Meanwhile, Tanjiro stares up at his younger sister, sweating bullets despite the below-zero temperature and his eyes wide, fully showing off the fear in horrid surprised that covered his deep red pupils. 

"Hey, Mister Saburo, what are demons like?"

"Demons are man-eating creatures that prowl around at night," He pulls out a futon, walking over to Y/n's sleeping form and laying it out besides her. After setting a pillow out he walks over to Sumiko, bringing the small girl into his arms and carrying her over to the futon where he tucks her in, "That's why you shouldn't walk around when it gets late."

Tanjiro's heart stills in his chest, "Nezuko's a man-eating demon? Impossible! She's been a human ever since she was born! But..she no longer has Nezuko's scent."

 "But Nezuko couldn't have done this! When we found her, she was laying as if she was protecting Rokuta, and there was no blood on her mouth or hands," Nezuko's newly sharpened nails dig into Tanjiro's shoulders, feeling like knives against his skin. He grits his teeth, "There was another one.. There was one more scent!"

A small gasp slips unsuspected from Tanjiro as he watched in horror as Nezuko slowly tensed and grew in size. As she became double his size, Tanjiro's arms buckled under the newfound weight and strength. Nezuko's fangs grew an inch closer to him.

Y/n's body trembled and her tears began to build and crumble and fall in clumps down her tingling cheeks where they inevitably drop from her chin and splash on her clothes. The only thing she felt in the moment was her swallowing anxiety and the the slight stinging in the wrist she landed on earlier; one being much more intense than the other. The breath she hastily inhales grow thinner, quicker, and dries in her throat as soon as it enters..  

 "While I was sleeping peacefully.. You were being brutally murdered with the rest of our family. It must've hurt really badly.. You suffered greatly, didn't you?" Tanjiro's guilt knits his brows together as it strangled his chest with an iron chain. Little tears began to form along the waterline of his eyes, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.. I'm sorry I couldn't save any of you.."

 "At the very least, I wish I could save you, but you're too strong for me to push back..!" As his arms started to numb over, his now thick tears slid down his cheeks and Tanjiro screamed as loud as he could muster with his burning lungs..

 "Nezuko! Hang in there, Nezuko!" His voice cracked. He shakes his head as he keeps eye contact as best he can through his blurred vision, "Don't give in! You gotta hang in there!"

Soft, quick feet plant their steps into the snow, crunching it in a fast succession and nearing the dire situation completely unsuspected.

 "Don't turn into a demon! Please, stay strong! Hang in there!" An aching pain seeps into his poor bones. His arms'll give out soon, "Please! You gotta hang in there, Nezuko!"

A big tear drops onto Tanjiro's cheek. He gasps once again and more tears drop onto him and slide down his cheek. Nezuko, with humane confliction soften her once slitted gaze, stared down at her older brother with big, gleaming wet tears dropping from her pretty pink eyes like a leaking faucet.

A figure slowly appears in the distance. Despite his fast approach towards them, no one seems to notice him. In a blink of eye, a gust of wind blows through Y/n's hair as he passes by her and leaps into the air. 

Nezuko looks back, finally noticing the new presence from above, but she's not able to react before her older brother grabs her by the throat and pushes her over. He rolls over and seconds before he rolls again, gleaming blue metal slices away a portion of his hair in an instant.

The blade collides with the ground with an intense force despite the snow cushioning it. It blows a gust of wind and snow towards the siblings and the two go tumbling together until Tanjiro's back hits a tree with a harsh thud. Y/n's heart stills in her chest as her hair blows in the wind behind her, every part of her body tingling intensely from both the cold and the overwhelming feeling that clouded every inch of her being until a few moments ago.

Tanjiro can feel Nezuko's body shrinking back to it's normal size, but he's more focused on other things. As he opens his eyes, his attacker is revealed. There, standing tall with piercing blue eyes darkened like the deepest depths of the ocean, was a man with raven black hair.

 "..Who's that?"   

As the man locks eyes with Tanjiro, Tanjiro immediately breaks it. His eyes drifting down to the katana in the man's hands; the words 'DESTROY DEMONS' engraved on the side of the shining blade. Is he some kind of swordsman?

 "Why are you protecting it?" The blue eyed swordsman asked in a blank tone of voice. Tanjiro sits up as he asks this, holding his sister close to his chest.

 "She's my sister!" He yells, "My younger sister!" As those words leave his lips, Nezuko seems to awaken from her temporary unconsciousness. And as soon as she does, she immediately attempts to flee, growling up a storm as her brother held onto to her shoulders for dear life and called her name. The swordsman's eyes narrow at the sight.

 "You call that thing your sister?" He asks simply with not a hint of emotion on his face to give away how he's feeling. Tanjiro looks at him pitifully before looking away to focus on his sister once again. A mistake on his part. 

The swordsman suddenly lunges forward. Tanjiro gasps, closes his eyes, and immediately drops down to cover his sister with his body. Alas, as his eyes opens, she's gone from his grasp. He looks around in a panic. His eyes finally settle on the sight of the swordsman standing a couple feet away from him, holding his growling sister's wrist behind her back with one hand.

 "Nezuko!" Tanjiro calls as he stands to his feet, "Don't move!" The swordsman orders, his voice loud but even. Tanjiro has no choice but to comply.

 "My job is to slay demons. Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister," He speaks plainly. Tanjiro's heart feels as if it'll beat right out of his chest at this point.

 "Hold on!" Tanjiro hurriedly shouts, "Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!" As he speaks, Nezuko thrashes around, her hair swaying wildly, "Back at my house, there was another scent that I've never smelled before! Whoever that smell belonged to is probably the one who killed my family! It wasn't Nezuko!"

His voice dips, "..I don't know why she's turned into something like this, but.." He takes a step forward, his voice raising again, "..But still!"

 "It's quite simple. Her wounds were exposed to a demon's blood. That's why she turned into one. That's how man-eating demons multiply." The swordsman states.

 "Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro blurts out, "You've gotta be joking. Just now, she was about to devour you."

 "You're wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am!" 

 "I won't let her hurt anyone!"

 "I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human! I swear, I'll heal her!"

Word after word spews from Tanjiro's mouth in succession. Promise after promise slipping from his lips only to be shot down by the swordsman's finishing voice as he says, "She can't be healed. Once you become a demon, you can never go back to being human."

 "I'll find a way no matter what! So please, don't kill her!"

 "I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family!" As Tanjiro shouts and the wind picks up, the swordsman raises his sword, "I'll make everything right! Please!" The swordsman tilts it downwards, the tip of his blade nearing Nezuko's neck with a threatening glow to it's tip, "Don't do it!"

Y/n's eyes keep trailing from the swordsman to Nezuko to Tanjiro then back to the swordsman. At last, she can feel the air entering her lungs. She breathes in and out slowly. That insufferable suffocating feeling has just about disappeared. She bites down on her tongue and her face scrunches, her eyes narrowing with frustration. She wants to run, just like she did last time, she wants to flee from the situation.

No, at the very least, she should get Tanjiro out of here. Yeah, that's the least she could.. Huh?

As her eyes drift over to Tanjiro once again, she watches as he drops to his knees, hands planted in the snow as he bowed his head to the ground and speaks in a loud, choked up voice, "I'm begging you! Please..! Don't kill my little sister!" He practically sobs out, "Please, don't do it! I'm begging you.."

A moment of silence passes. Y/n's eyes look over at the swordsman. He hasn't moved, completely frozen in place with his blade pointed at Nezuko. Another moment passes. Y/n notices the swordsman drop his head, his unruly bangs falling over his eyes like a sliced up curtain. His jaw locks and forces his teeth together as they grind and create a low, uncomfortable cracking sound. His body begins to tremble and for just a moment, Y/n mistook it for sorrow until he suddenly looked back up, the dark coloring of his irises lighting up with fury as he starts shouting at the top of his lungs.

 "Never leave yourself so defenseless in front of an enemy!" Both Tanjiro and Y/n's bodies jump a little from the sheer power of his voice, the pure rage that coated it, "Stop that pathetic groveling! If it were even the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead!"

 "How can a weakling like you, who bows down when it's time to fight, who can't take initiative.. How can somebody like yourself cure his little sister or even find the enemy?"

 "The demons might know a way to cure your sister!" He swings Nezuko forward with force, still holding onto her with one hand tightly, "But don't you think for even a second that a demon will respect your whining or begging or your will or wishes! Naturally, I have no respect for you, either! That's reality! "

 "Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier? Was that supposed to protect her? Why didn't you swing that hatchet? Why did you show your back to me?" At this point, Tanjiro's sitting up on his knees, staring with surprise reflected in his teary eyes. The swordsman redirects his blade at last only to aggressively point it at Tanjiro.

 "All those blunders led to your sister's capture!" Nezuko's growls become all the more hostile and persistent as she begins kicking her feet around which causes the snow under her feet to fly every which way, "I could've skewered her and you along with that girl over there and been done with all three of you!" 

 "Don't cry. Don't despair. Those things will do you no good. Your family is dead and your sister has become a demon. Your heart is crushed. I know your pain, how you must want to cry out.. If I'd come half a day sooner, your family might have survived. ..But there's no way to turn back time.."

 "Fill your heart with anger. Strong, pure anger that cannot be quelled. Anger that becomes the unwavering force that will drive your limbs," The swordsman's sword raises into position again, "With such fragile resolve like yours, you can't protect your sister or heal her.." He slowly pulls his arm back, "..And weakness and empty promises certainly cannot avenge your family!"

 "No!" With one final yell from Tanjiro, the swordsman forces Nezuko back and stabs the chilling steel of his blade into the soft flesh of her shoulder. She lets out a painful cry and that seems to be the last straw for her older brother.

 "Stop!" He yells before throwing a pebble. The swordsman retracts his sword and deflects it with a simple flick of his wrist. Immediately, Tanjiro gets up and as the wind picks up and blocks his view of the swordsman with the thick, scattering snow, he makes a run for his hatchet. Y/n stays sat, rooted in place.

Running around, bypassing the countless trees around him, Tanjiro chucks another pebble before disappearing by a tree. The swordsman sidesteps and the pebble hits the tree behind him. With a loud battle cry, Tanjiro charges at the swordsman, his hands at his side, ready to swing. Y/n simply watches, dumbfounded, frozen in place in the snow.

 "A simple, head-on attack driven solely by emotion.. What a fool!" Clenching his teeth, the swordsman raises his sword and swings down. His hilt hits Tanjiro's back with excruciating force. Tanjiro bites his tongue to hold back a scream as his vision blurs. Y/n merely watches as he hits the ground, his body limp, unconscious. Nezuko stares at her brother laid out in the snow, mouth agape.

The swordsman straightens his posture, his arm falling to his side, "Where's his hatchet?" He thought to himself and as if to answer his question, a whirring sound makes him look up. His heart skips a beat and he moves his head just in time for the hatchet to hurl into the tree behind him with a thud. A moment of silence passes. Both Y/n and the swordsman share a similar expression of surprise as their eyes both lock onto the hatchet that's stuck into the tree, a literal inch away from the swordsman's head..

 "Just before he hid behind the tree, he hurled the rock towards me and, at the same time, tossed the hatchet into the air," The swordsman's eyes pan over to the boy laid out before him, "He hid his hands as he pretended to attack so I wouldn't realize he was unarmed."

 "He knew he couldn't beat him, so his plan was to bring him down after he struck him. But.." Y/n's uninjured hand balls into a fist, paying no mind to the freezing chunk of snow in her hand, "He failed.." 

At that moment, Nezuko lets out a particularly violent growl. Having completely thrown off his guard, the swordsman lets go and Nezuko immediately kicks him away. The swordsman quickly recovers. Nezuko lunges for her brother.

 "Damn it.." The swordsman thinks, "No, Tanjiro!" Y/n cries out, "She'll devour him!" They both think.

 "Nezuko.."

Sliding on the snow, Nezuko moves in front of her brother, crouching down. Flashing her fangs and growling threateningly. Arms up and protecting him from the swordsman.

 "It wasn't Nezuko! She'd never eat humans!"

Nezuko launches herself off the snow and sprints towards the blank-faced swordsman, He jumps back, "Long ago, someone once said the same thing, only to be devoured soon after.."

 "When a demon is starving, it will even eat its parents and siblings because they need the energy. I've seen it countless times," The swordsman's eyes train on Nezuko's kimono, which is stained by her own drying blood, while he dodges her sharp nails that claw at him, "She's wounded. It costs her energy to heal those wounds. Not to mention the strength it took to transform into a demon.." Nezuko swipes at the swordsman's face only to miss as he spins and elbows her in the stomach. He then forcibly palms her in the chest causing her to stumble back, "She must be severely starved at this moment and wants to eat human flesh as soon as possible.."

 "Yet, she protected him, turned her anger to me, and even intimidated me."

Jumping high into the air and flipping into the tree behind the swordsman, Nezuko pushes herself off the wood using her feet. She hurls downwards, nails ready to claw open whatever part of the swordsman she can get her hands on. The swordsman steps back and slides his sword into the sheath on his hips, "These siblings might be different from others.."

And with that, the swordsman lands a firm chop on the side of Nezuko's neck. Her body twitches before falling limp and right into the snow. Y/n's heart drops at the sight of both siblings laid out on the ground. A second or two passes and the swordsman's gaze falls on her. She sucks in an icy breath and blinks; the swordsman has disappeared from her sight.

In a panic, she whips her head in every direction. Before she can look back though, a pain shoots through her neck and her entire body goes numb. As her vision blurs, her eyes look up to gaze at her perpetrator. The last sight she sees before everything goes black is the strange mismatched design of the swordsman's haori..

A loud gasp slips from Y/n's lips as her body jolts up. The sound of her uneven, quickened breathing is the only noise that she can hear. Slowly, she opens her eyes. It's blurry at first, but it fades in no time and the familiar sight before her leaves her puzzled.

She looks around. There are futons of varying colors laid out on the floor, specifically six aside from the one she's in. They're striking patterns catch her attention. They remind her of Tanjiro and his siblings. Speaking of which..

There's no sign of anyone anywhere. Not the swordsman or Tanjiro or Nezuko. She seems to be in the hut of the Kamado Residence but..everything seems fine. There's no blood, nothing's destroyed, no bodies to be found..     

She finally notices. Her wrist feels..fine. She looks down. It doesn't seem to be swelling or irritated anymore. She's sure she sprained it or worse when she fell on it earlier. Earlier.. Did earlier even happen? Was it all a nightmare?

She breathes in slowly and closes her eyes once again. Images flash one by one. Everyone falling from the cliff, Tanjiro being attacked by the newly transformed Nezuko, the swordsman, the corpses— Y/n sucks in a particularly sharp breath. Best not think about that..

 "Even here, you still run away."

Y/n's eyes shoot open. She sees herself staring her down, scrutinizing her, judging her.

 "When will you realize that you can't escape fate? That simply running away does nothing for you?" The person speaks in her voice, but the strong tone they're using breaks away the illusion. This isn't her. That much was obvious, but it feels..odd. It was as if this wasn't just some weird hallucination of herself..

 "Tell me, are you content with how everything has turned out? The innocent having been tortured and slaughtered and the lone survivor being forced into a world he was never supposed to be apart of in the first place? Surely it eats away at you."

 "Who are you?"

 "Earlier, when that boy was attacked by his sister, why did you sit there and watch? Why didn't you jump to his rescue? Were you hoping that his sister would kill and eat him?"

 "No, I—"

 "When that swordsman attacked the siblings and threatened to kill them both, why didn't you intervene? Why didn't you immediately jump to the boy's aid? Why did you allow him, a mere civilian, to risk his life to protect a demon? Why did you let your guard down? Why did you let that swordsman knock you out?" 

 "That's not my fault! Tanjiro was the one—!"

 "When will you stop blaming your own shortcomings on everyone else? When will you realize that being a coward will only present you with the same, devastating result? How can you feel okay going on with your life when you have the potential to save thousands from this cruel fate?"

 "I can feel your anger. Thatpure, boiling resentment that stems from your own sorrow and hatred of being so helpless in your current situation. You've felt this way in the past but decided to do nothing with it. Now that the chance has risen again, embrace it. Never let this feeling fade. Let it grow into this insatiable fury and let it drive you from this point forward. Use it to fight."

 "Because in the end, when you're fighting for the sake of everything you have left to hold dear, this growing rage is going to be the only thing you will be able to rely on."

 "And that's what he told me," Tanjiro said, his hand intertwined with Nezuko, who now seemed much calmer and has a bamboo muzzle wrapped around her mouth. 

Y/n's skeptical gaze and scrunched brows gives away her thoughts before she's able to speak them, "So a random guy with a sword tells you to go to some random mountain and meet this stranger you know nothing about and you're just going to do as he says?" Her tone of voice speaks every insult she doesn't say. Nevertheless, Tanjiro's mind doesn't waver for a second.

 "I know how it sounds, but I want to trust him," He says, "Even if we got off on the wrong foot, he seems like a nice guy."

 "He almost killed you."

 "And I'm sure he had his reason behind why he did what he did," Tanjiro raises his free arm and puts his soft, cool hand on Y/n's equally freezing shoulder. He decides to ignore how she slightly tenses under his touch, "I understand that you're worried about us, but I need to do this.. For Nezuko's sake..I need to take this risk."

 "I promise I'll stay as safe as I can and as soon as I get there, I'll find a way to send you letters—"

 "I'm going with you."

 "Huh?" Tanjiro pauses. Y/n places her hand atop of Tanjiro's and removes it from her shoulder, giving it a squeeze of affirmation as her eyes drift away. Her sights landing on the graves of their late family lined up in a neat row.

 "I said, I'm going with you," She repeats, "After everything that happened, it would bother me to let you go on alone. Especially with that reckless intuition guiding you.." She mutters. Tanjiro seems shocked at first, but it's soon replaced by a wide smile.

 "If that's what you truly want, then I won't stop you," He says, his hand squeezing hers back. His eyes sliding to look behind her, where their eleven year old sister lays against the hut, unconscious.

 "What are we going to do with Sumiko? It'd be wrong to make her go with us.." As Tanjiro says this, Y/n walks over to her, "She'll travel with us for now until I can find a place to drop her off," She responds. Her hand grabbing Sumiko's arm and throws it over her shoulder before doing the same to her other arm, pulling the girl onto her back and getting up with ease. Tanjiro waits for Y/n to walk back up to him before turning towards the slope of the snowy mountain..

 "Hey, Y/n.." Tanjiro calls.

 "What is it now?"

 "I'm sorry for what I said before, about you not caring about Nezuko. You noticed before I did, right? You were trying to protect me and I.." As he trails off, his expression grow somber. Y/n takes the expression in before looking back towards the slope.

 "I already forgot about it. You should focus on the journey ahead," She says, but Tanjiro doesn't seem satisfied. Noticing this, Y/n takes the first steps down the mountain, cutting the conversation short and leaving him no choice but to follow after her with Nezuko in silence..

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

[mamaestapa]

New Romantics

“every day is like a battle, but every night with us is like a dream”

•pairing: Jamie Drysdale x Hughes!reader||Trevor Zegras x Hughes!reader

•series summary: Y/n Hughes, twin sister of Jack Hughes, accepts an invitation to move in with Trevor and Jamie after she’s forced to move to Anaheim for a job. Despite her older brother’s opinions, the young woman finds herself falling for both of her roommates…but which one does she fall for the hardest?

•chapter summary: The time comes for you to finally move out to Anaheim! Your roommates take you out after you get settled in and you spend the night with a special someone...

•word count: 3.4k

•warnings: fluff, alcohol consumption, lots of flirting, I think thats about it tbh

series masterlist

——————————————————————

August 19, 2023

"There she is!" Trevor exclaimed, beaming as he watched you get out of your car. He uncrossed his tanned arms and pushed himself off the side of the building he was leaning on and started to make his way over to you. You giggled softly at the boy, closing the driver door shut before you met him in the middle.

"Hi Z," you mumbled into the hockey players chest as he pulled you into a tight embrace. You couldn't help but notice how the butterflies swarmed in your belly at the feeling of Trevors arms wrapped securely around your body. He obnoxiously swayed you side to side as he hummed.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to make it."

It took you a total of two days to make it out to California from the lake house in Michigan. You told Trevor you'd try your best to make it in twenty four hours, but traveling by yourself across the country wasn't the easiest. Between the traffic, the "jet lag", and not getting more than six hours of sleep in the last forty some hours, your one day trip turned into a two, almost three day trip. Even though you were exhausted from the trip, you're just happy to finally be in Anaheim.

You pulled away from Trevor, rolling your eyes playfully as you spoke, "Yeah because I'd give up the once in a lifetime opportunity to live with you and your boyfriend."

It was Trevor's turn to give you a playful eye roll. He lightly shoved your shoulder as he did so, "And to think you were starting to become my favorite Hughes."

"Awe, that's too bad. Poor Trevy is going to have to settle with Jack." You traced a tear rolling down your cheek as you frowned at him. Trevor let out a laugh, his nose scrunching up in the cutest way that made the butterflies appear once more. You giggled softly at the boys reaction before you spoke again.

"But speaking of your boyfriend," you eyed Trevor, smiling as you saw watched him shake his head at your teasing, "where is he? I haven't seen Jamie in such a long time."

The sound of a door closing caused you and Trevor to snap your heads over to the front door of the condo. Jamie walked out, running his hands through his dark hair as he walked over to where you and Trevor stood.

"Took you long enough Jimmy." Trevor teased as he clapped his best friends upper back. Jamie smiled sheepishly as he apologized, "Sorry, I was cleaning up a bit and then my mom called."

A small smile pulled at your lips as you noticed the pink hue that was slowly appearing on the boys pale cheeks. Jamie's blue eyes flickered over to you, his blush deepening when he made eye contact with you.

"Hi Jamie," you said with a smile as you waved at him, "it's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Y/n." He replied softly.

Jamie Drysdale was one of the sweetest guys you've ever met. He was a little bit shy, and a tad closed off—he'd only talk to you if you talked to him first. At least, that's how it was when you first met him. He's seemed to have gotten better about the closed off part, however, he was still just as sweet as you remembered him to be.

The two of you moved in sync, reaching out to hug one another. Jamie's embrace was warmer and gentler than Trevor's was, despite the fact that he had bigger arms than the brunette did. You pulled away from him, both of you still wearing the soft smiles on your faces the way you did before hugging.

As the two of you pulled away, Trevor cleared his throat and gestured toward your vehicle. "Why don't we start taking your stuff inside? Jimmy and I can bring boxes in while you look around the place."

You smiled, nodding as you spoke, "That'd be great guys, thanks."

The two hockey players nodded, both of them wearing soft smiles on their faces as they gazed at you. You could feel yourself starting to grow flustered from the attention from both Trevor and Jamie.

No, you scolded yourself, quit. They're your roommates, get used to it.

You internally composed yourself, making sure Trevor and Jamie didn't notice your brief flustered response from their actions. Thankfully, the two didn't pick up on it because they were already unloading your belongings from the trunk of your car and the u-haul trailer. As the boys unpacked all of your boxes, you made your way into the condo to check out your new home for the next twelve months.

The condo was very nice, much nicer than you were expecting. You don't know what you were expecting though, these were luxury apartments after all. You walked further into the entryway. To your left was the living room. There were pictures hung up on the walls, each one having both Trevor and Jamie in it somehow. There were framed jerseys from their rookie seasons with the Ducks on either side of the TV, which you thought was a neat thing for the boys to do. You smiled softly at the cozy living room before you continued your self lead tour through your new home. There was vinyl flooring throughout the entire apartment, with light gray painted walls. The sofa was a cream color with a gray sherpa throw blanket draped over the side. The kitchen wasn't too dirty, but it could definitely use some cleaning. You turned a corner and walked down the hallway. You glanced into Trevor and Jamie's rooms, grimacing slightly as you saw the unmade beds a cereal box sitting on Trevor's beside table, and three half full water bottles on Jamie's floor. The condo was nice, but you could definitely tell boys were the only ones living there.

As you turned back around and left the hallway with the boys rooms, Trevor and Jamie stood in the kitchen with their arms crossed over their chest as they watched you look around your new home. They had finished bringing in all of your belongings, scattering them around the entry way and living room. Trevor uncrossed his arms and ushered you over to him and his best friend.

"Here, we'll show you your room." The hockey players walked out of the living room and jogged up the stairs. You followed behind them, the three of you turning right and walking down a hallway. There were two rooms, one was a decorated guest bedroom, while the other was completely empty, besides a queen sized bed with a simple gray bed set. Trevor and Jamie walked into the room, standing to the side so you could walk in too. The bed frame was pushed up against the middle of the wall, while the dresser and closet were directly across from the bed. You smiled as you looked at the empty room. You could definitely make this work.

"It's nothing like your room at the lake house," Trevor spoke, a smirk on his face, "pink sheets, flowers everywhere, and the occasional picture of me."

You rolled your eyes at him, shaking your head playfully as you turned to look at the brunette.

"You and Jack," you corrected, playing along with Trevor. You continued, "and Quinn and Luke. Oh! And maybe Cole and Turc too."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Trevor chuckled, waving you off before he continued, "anyways, it's nothing like your room at the lake house, but I think it'll do."

You nodded at his words, smiling softly. You looked between Trevor and Jamie as you spoke sincerely, "It's perfect, thank you. I really appreciate you guys letting me move in with you, means a lot."

"It's no problem," Jamie said with a smile, "Even though Z didn't really let me have a say in this." he elbowed his best friend in the side, making Trevor feign hurt. You chuckled softly at the boys in front of you. Jamie's smile widened at the sound of your laughter.

"I'm glad to have you here." The dark haired boy finished softly. Trevor joined in, "We're both glad to have you here, Y/n/n."

You smiled at their sincerity. You knew living with Trevor and Jamie as their third roommate would make your time in Anaheim much smoother. California was a lot different than Michigan, but being with Trevor and Jamie made things more manageable already.

You walked up to the hockey players standing near the doorway, wrapping your arms around both of them. As soon as your body was on theirs, they instantly wrapped an arm around you, squeezing you gently.

"Thanks boys," you said, sighing softly as you pulled away from them, "wanna help me bring some boxes up here?" Both Trevor and Jamie nodded as they moved out of the way, letting you leave the room first. They followed behind you down to the living room, helping you bring boxes full of your belongings back up to your room.

For the next two hours, you, Trevor and Jamie started unpacking your boxes and setting up your room. While you and Jamie unpacked boxes and sorted through what belongs where, Trevor made your bed and fixed the dresser--which you discovered was broken when you tried to put your clothes away.

You laid flat on the vinyl floor, huffing out a sigh as your body hit the floor with a light smack. You brought your hands up to your head, groaning softly as you rubbed your eyes. Jamie chuckled from beside you as he looked down at you laying on the floor.

"I forgot how exhausting it is to unpack." You mumbled out as you rubbed your hands down your face. You definitely ruined your makeup, but you didn't care. All you cared about at the moment was getting unpacked and settled in.

Trevor plopped down on the floor next to you and Jamie. He too huffed out a sigh as he laid down on the hard floor of your bedroom.

"It is a lot of work," Trevor said before he got up on one arm and looked between you and Jamie, "why don't we take a break, get some dinner or something."

That sounded like a great idea. You haven't had anything to eat since you stopped at Starbucks this morning before you even entered the state of California. You sat up from your laying position, nodding at Trevor's suggestion.

"Sounds good to me. I have to return my U-Haul by seven anyways, so that would work perfect." Trevor clapped, "Perfect. Let's go then." He stood up from the floor, stretching his limbs as he spoke, "I could go for a burger, what about you guy?"

"Burgers sound great, bud." Jamie nodded as he too stood up. Trevor held his hand out for you. You grabbed a hold of it as he helped you up from the floor.

"Y/n," he asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at you, "burgers?"

Your stomach growled, answering Trevors question for you. Trevor and Jamie both chuckled. "I'm taking that as a yes," Trevor said, still chuckling, "let's go."

The three of you left your room and headed downstairs to leave for dinner. Trevor volunteered to drive your car, which you happily let him because your right leg still had a cramp from all of the driving you've been doing the last couple days. Trevor got into the drivers seat, while you tried to sit in the back so Jamie could sit next to his best friend.

"No," Jamie said softly, taking your hand off the handle to the backseat passenger side, "you take the front."

"You sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah," he opened the door for you, "it's your car, you shouldn't have to sit in the back." You smiled warmly at the Canadien, "Thanks Jamie."

You swore your heart swelled from how sweet Jamie was.

The two of you got into the car and buckled your seatbelts. Once you were all settled in, Trevor turned the car on and put it in reverse. As he was getting ready to pull out of the parking spot, Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift began playing.

"Ohoho," Trevor chortled as he reached to crank the volume up to 12, "this is my favorite song. He said lets get out of this town..."

You and Jamie made eye contact in the mirror, smiling softly at each other as you laughed at Trevor's attempt to sing along with Taylor.

You were already loving Anaheim.

time skip

“Oh my god,” you laughed as you covered your mouth with your hand, “there’s no way she said that.”

Trevor giggled beside you, scrunching his nose up, “She did.” The two of you were laughing messes, trying to catch your breath as he finished speaking. You had gotten back from dinner at In-N-Out and dropping your U-Haul trailer off about an hour ago. As soon as you got home you finished setting up your room, and now you and the boys were sat on the couch drinking beers and sharing embarrassing bar stories.

“Oh my god you guys,” Jamie groaned, “it wasn’t that bad.”

Trevor quit laughing, giving Jamie a look of disbelief, “Her completely missing your terrible joke and saying she’d never fuck you because she doesn’t sleep with Canadians? I’d say that’s pretty bad.”

Jamie stayed silent as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. He knew Trevor was right. His bad attempt at flirting with the first girl he saw at the bar a couple weeks back was pretty bad.

“You just have no rizz Jimbo.” Trevor shrugged as he sipped his beer.

“It’s alright Jamie,” you smiled, reaching out to lightly tap the boys shoulder, “I’ll let you practice on me.”

Jamie chuckled softly, a light blush making its way onto his cheeks at your words. “Thanks Y/n.” he replied, nudging you gently with his shoulder. Your expression matched his as you joking replied, “Anytime.”

You leaned back against the couch, closing your eyes and letting out a yawn. You were exhausted. It had been a long couple days and you were ready to finally sleep in a decent bed. Your eyelids fluttered open and you checked your watch, seeing that it was well past nine. You usually stayed up later than this, but with the time difference and the traveling, you knew it would be best to go to bed. You got up from your spot on the couch, telling the both of the boys goodnight. They each gave you soft smiles as they told you to sleep well, and that if you needed anything don’t be afraid to wake them up.

You laughed at that, knowing you’d be just fine—but you appreciated their offer. You went upstairs and got ready for bed. Once you were under the covers and your head hit the pillow, you were instantly in a much needed deep sleep.

Until you weren’t…

Your eyes snapped open and suddenly you were wide awake. Every ounce of tiredness you felt just three hours earlier was completely gone. You turned to your left side, huffing out a sigh as you adjusted your pillow. You closed your eyes, hoping to fall back asleep.

However, twenty minutes had passed since you woke up and you were growing even more restless. You were tossing and turning every couple minutes and your eyes just didn’t want to stay closed. You’d get this way every once in a while, and you knew there was only one solution to make you sleep. You tapped on your phone screen, groaning when you saw the time. You didn’t want to wake the boys, but they did say to wake them up if you needed anything…

You pulled the covers off your body and slid out of bed. You left your room and quietly headed downstairs, careful not to wake Jamie as you walked past his room and into Trevor’s. Every once in a while at the lake house, you and Trevor would sleep together. Neither of you could explain why, but something about just being in the same bed as each other was comforting and helped you both sleep when you needed it the most.

You walked into Trevor’s room with soft footsteps, careful not to wake Trevor just yet. You walked further into his room, smiling as you looked at the peacefully sleeping boy on the bed. Trevor's light brown hair was messy, sprawling over his white pillow and one bare arm that was tucked underneath his head. You almost didn't want to wake him, but you knew he wouldn't mind. The two of you did this with each other all the time. It was harmless, but your brothers and best friend all thought otherwise. Yeah, you and Trevor were extremely flirty anytime you were around each other, but neither one of you dared to move because it would never happen.

You took a step forward, grimacing and closing your eyes tightly when you heard the floor creak beneath you. The sound caused Trevor to stir a bit before reluctantly opening his eyes. He sat up in bed, squinting his eyes as he looked at you.

"Y/n," he called out softly, "is that you?"

"Yeah," you responded quietly, "sorry Trev, I'll leave. I didn't mean to-" "No, no, stay." Trevor cut you off as he pulled the covers off his bare chest and waved you over to the bed. "Please?"

You smiled softly and walked over to him, climbing in and laying down on the empty side of his queen sized bed. Trevor laid back down, motioning for you to come closer to him. As if it was second nature for both you and Trevor, you pushed yourself against his bare chest and let his arms wrap around your body. The two of you fit together like puzzle pieces. He pulled you closer into his body as your legs intwined with his. Trevor pressed a soft kiss to your temple before he reached out to take one of your hands in his. The two of you hummed softly, the feeling of your bodies spooning was complete bliss.

"I'm sorry for waking you Trevor. I just couldn't sleep."

You felt Trevors chest rumble against your back from his chuckle. "Don't be sorry," he replied softly, nuzzling his face affectionally into your hair, "I don't mind at all."

It was silent for a moment before he spoke again, "I know you'd do the same for me." You nodded, smiling softly as you replied, "I would."

"Cuddling with you is my favorite thing in the whole world." He said as he gave you a gentle squeeze.

"The whole wide world?"

"The whole wide world."

"Even more than hockey?" You asked, a teasing tone to your voice.

“Nothing is better than hockey, baby. Sorry."

Baby. It made your heart drop as the butterflies swarmed in your belly. But you knew he didn't mean anything behind it...

"Damn," you sighed, teasing him, "and suddenly I go by hockey."

"Nah, you can't go by hockey." Trevor said, shaking his head in disapproval. "Why not?" You asked playfully.

"Because I'd never play you."

You scoffed out a laugh before letting out an "oh my" under your breath. Trevor chuckled along with you. He brought your hand up to his mouth, kissing your soft skin before setting your hand back down.

"That was smooth Zegras," you said, "very smooth."

"Thank you, thank you. Gotta tell Jimmy to use that one at the bar next time we go."

You laughed at the idea, "There ya go."

You and Trevor chuckled one last time before silence soon filled the room. You felt your eyes flutter closed as you spoke softly to Trevor. "Thanks for letting me sleep with you Z."

"Anytime. 'S what I'm here for," Trevor said before he kissed the top of your head. He pulled back mumbling "Goodnight, pretty girl." before the two of you drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each others arms.

hi loves!!

trevor and y/n at the end👀 we’ll see what happens there…we can’t forget about jamie baby ;)

BUT i finally posted the second chapter of this series after like what two months? crazy lol. i struggled with writers block for a bit and then college just got to me and i was SO busy! but now im on break for a few weeks, so im hoping to get caught up on everything ive gotten behind on

i’m hoping to update this a couple more times in the next few weeks, so stay tuned! i’m so excited for you guys to read what i have planned, whether your a trevor girlie or a jamie girlie or BOTH like me, i think you’ll really enjoy it😉 it’s a shorter series so things will move a bit fast, too.

I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH🤍 i need them back right now, i miss them

anyways, thank you so much for reading loves! your support means the world. you’re the best!🫂🤍

tags: @tkachuksmatth3ws @emaanemaa @sammiejane22 @tpwkstiles @kkrenae @grandprixbarzal @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @privatemythss

(if you’d like to be added to the taglist, let me know and i’ll add you!☺️)

[scarisd3ad]

Jump then fall | Steve Harrington x reader

Chapter two - ‘I wish that you would stay in my memories’

Masterlist

Taglist

Previous >> next

Summary - after 7 years of being split apart from your childhood friend Steve you return to hawkins after your younger sisters tragic death, and parents messy divorce. But the Steve you came back to isn’t the same Steve you left behind.

My dad and I spent the entire weekend practically dancing around the topic of our fight Friday night. We didn't talk much; I slept in both days; he went to work early; he got home late, and I locked myself in my room. So, Monday morning is awkward. I'm in my room getting ready for school. I try my hardest to stall. Taking forever picking out my outfit (a pair of straight-legged jeans, a white tank top, an old flannel, and my black Converse), brushing my hair and teeth, and ensuring everything's in my bag. Unfortunately, I didn't take long enough because my dad was still sitting at our dining room table (which isn't much of a dining room table) reading a newspaper.

I knew he was waiting for me because he was fully dressed in his uniform, and it was evident that he hadn't just gotten up. I place my bag on the kitchen counter as I say, "You're going to be late," he mutters a quiet "Nope" as he lets the newspaper fall to the table. "Told Flo I was coming in late today" I take out two bowls as I choose what cereal I would like to start my day with. cocoa puffs, obviously. Dad won't eat breakfast unless I force him to. It's not a 'woman should make all meals for men' mentality, it's a 'breakfast is useless, and I won't eat it unless I'm getting it shoved down my throat' mentality. So normally every morning before I leave for school, I shove a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice or water in front of him in hopes that he'll at least take a few bites.

"Cocoa puffs good with you?" I ask as I pour my bowl, "yeah, that's fine" he replies as I go on to pour his as well. I place his bowl in front of him and he immediately begins to dig in while I walk back over to my bowl that is still sat on the counter. "You need a ride to school?" Dad asks, words muffled as he continues to shove spoonful after spoonful of cereal into his mouth even as he talks. "mhm," I reply with a nod as I swallow down a spoonful of cereal. 

-

We both Scarff down our cereal, before attempting to try to make it to my school before the first late bell. Dad parked in front of the front door of Hawkins High as we bid our goodbyes. "Do you need a ride home? Can take my break then if you need me to." I shrug, "Dunno, I'll call you if I need you to" he nods and mutters a quiet "alright, bye love you" I nod as I push open the passenger door and hop out. Just as I was about to sling my bag over my shoulder, two arms wrapped around my waist. I internally groan. I don't like doing the whole PDA thing in front of my dad. It's embarrassing, but because I don't want to upset Shawn, I go ahead with it, anyway. I turn around so I face Shawn. "Where have you been? Haven't heard from you all weekend."

"grounded" I mutter with an eye-roll. he fully ignores the fact that my father is sitting in the vehicle behind us as he presses his lips against mine, trying to initiate a full-on make-out session. I kiss him back; I just don't let it become anything more than an elongated peck. I push Shawn away before turning back around towards my father. Dad could tell I was uncomfortable with the whole exchange that had just happened. Dad's eyebrows raised almost as if he was saying, "him really?" I shrug as I say, "Bye Dad love you" and slam the passenger door shut so he can drive off.

Shawn's arm wraps around my waist as we walk into school. "Don't you ever do that again," I say as we walk through the front doors of Hawkins High. "What?!" he exclaims, almost as if he has no common sense. Maybe all of those football head injuries have permanently damaged his critical thinking skills. "don't ever try to kiss me like that in front of my dad, he's- he's not cool like your dad is" Shawn's dad is in many ways just like Shawn and still hasn't outgrown the 'high school jock' mentality even after having two kids, so he's what most teenagers would consider a 'cool dad'. Shawn's dad has packed up him, his wife, and their 6-year-old daughter so Shawn could try in his words 'to get his dick wet'. they left for an entire weekend so Shawn and I could have 'alone time' My dad would beat Shawn's ass if he ever found out I wasn't at Steph's that weekend.

"Fine, okay," Shawn mutters as we stop at my locker. Before I can even try to open my locker, I'm being pressed against the locker, and his lips are pressed against mine. I didn't care about this kind of PDA at school, because every other couple was doing the same exact thing, but Shawn trying to engage in this level of PDA in front of my father just felt wrong. My arms are immediately around his neck as he deepens the kiss. We're interrupted by the sound of a loud bang against the locker beside mine. We pull apart quickly, both our heads darting to see who had made the sound. Steph stood there with a disgusted look on her face as she rolled her eyes. "God, you guys are disgusting," she muttered as she unlocked her locker. 

Steph didn't really like men. We'll she liked Jamie Lockhart in eighth grade, but I'm sure that was a phase. Ever since the last day of eighth grade, she's never even shown an interest in men. She only cared about cheer, her grades, and this senior girl, Taylor Scott. She was tall, on the girls' basketball team, and had long ginger hair.

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter with an eye-roll as Steph takes her English notebook out of her locker. "You want to skip first period? Hang out in my car?" Shawn asks, Steph fake gags already knowing what Shawn means by 'hang out' My eyes wander to my left to see Steve. he's stood by the boy's bathrooms, arms crossed over his chest as he glared in our direction. Was he glaring at Shawn? he had that same jealous look on his face. He couldn't possibly be jealous? Could he? No, he couldn't, especially when I found out last night when Dad plugged my phone back up that he had been fooling around with Nancy Wheeler all weekend long.

"y/n?" I'm pulled from my thoughts. My eyes dart back toward Shawn before muttering, "Yeah, yeah sure." 

-

"We should go," I mutter, pulling away from Shawn's lips. His left hand rubs circles into the skin underneath my shirt. He whines "But-" I shake my head. "I need to at least go to my second period," he hums and quietly nods. "Fine, but can we come back out here after lunch" I roll my eyes. "Maybe"

When I get back into the building, I immediately begin to walk towards my second period, which is English. I walk into classroom 105 and take a seat right smack dab in the middle, close enough to see the board, but not too close to be the center of attention. Steve was sitting in the back with a few other junior friends who failed sophomore English last year like he did. I swear he's trying to fail it a second time, which wouldn't be the first time he's done that. The late bell rings and the teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, begins her lesson. I pay enough attention to grasp the concepts, but not too much attention to be labeled as a nerd.

"Alright for this project I want you to group up in pairs." the whole class celebrates with quiet 'yes's and 'hell ya's.' but the celebration is quickly disrupted by Mrs. Sanchez continuing her sentence. "Pairs that I will be picking, so when I call your name, stand up and find somewhere to sit with your partner" I zone out, as I anxiously await to hear my name. Finally, at about the halfway point, Mrs. Sanchez calls out my name and then pairs it with Steve Harrington. Of course. Obviously, I no longer completely disliked him after our conversation at Friday's football game, but that didn't mean I wanted to do an entire project with him. 

I let out a quiet groan, hoping he'd hear it, and decide to let me do all the work. I get up because he is sitting there, leaning back in his chair with a smirk on his face. I pull the now empty desk next to him, so it presses against his, before I sit down. "So, what's this supposed to be about?" Steve asks just as Mrs. Sanchez begins passing out a sheet of paper. She places a sheet right where our desks are conjoined. Both Steve and I race to pick up the sheet of paper, and I win, taking the obviously freshly copied piece of paper into my hands. In big bold letters, the words 'paired essay assignment' is printed at the top with 'graded' in a smaller font just below it. I place the paper down on my desk and write our names and the date at the top.

'Y/N Hopper and Steve Harrington 10/7/83'

"You will compare the books we've read so far this year, 'Fahrenheit 451' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' noting the similarities and differences between the two," I read out loud. I know Steve is barely listening to what I'm saying, but I want Mrs. Sanchez to at least see that I'm trying to work with him. I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes before reading out the next sentence. "You can either write an essay or create a poster board" I turn my head to Steve, noticing him staring at a girl seated up at the front, a freshman named Lacie Tompson who was somehow so smart she skipped up to sophomore English. "So, which one do you want to do?"

Steve turns his head, shrugging. "Which is the easiest?" I hum as I pondered. The essay would be easier for me to do all the work, but the poster would be easier for him if he somehow decided he wanted to do some of the work. "Poster, probably," I reply, leaning back into my seat. He nods and replies, "Poster," before beginning to talk to one of his basketball friends.

-

Once 8th period ended, I raced out to the payphones that sat alone on the side of the school. Ever since I stayed out a little too late and didn't tell my father where I was, he implemented a rule that I had to inform him of my whereabouts after school, even if I'd be back home before him. It was an absolute pain, but I'd rather take the two seconds to call the station than face his wrath later tonight. I push a few quarters into the coin slot before punching in the station's number.

It rings 3 times, bringggg, bringgg, bringggg.

Before Flo answers the phone, as usual. "Hello this is Hawkins police station; my name is Florence. How may I help you?" I let her get out the scripted sentence she's mandated to say before rushing through my own words. "Hey, Flo. Is my dad there? " Flo's silent for a second as if she's looking at the schedule before she replies "No ma'am" I groan. Where could he possibly be at 3:30 on a Monday? "Where is he?" she hums before saying, "Should still be at the middle school if you catch him in time. " I groan once again, rushing out a "thanks" before turning around to see Steve in his BMW pulling up.

"So, we're going to mine or not?" he asks as he rolls down his passenger side window. I groan, hanging the phone back up on the pay phone. I walk over to his car and get into the passenger side, "gotta go to the middle school and ask my dad" I say with an eye roll as I buckled up. He nods, muttering a quiet "okay" before driving off towards the exit. We drive over to the middle school, and Steve parks next to the front door. Letting me hop out and run inside.

I pull the heavy metal front doors open before walking into all so familiar hallways of Hawkins Middle School. There were still a few students roaming the halls, and some still stalled at their lockers as they talked to their friends. I take a left before reaching the large glass door that leads into the office. I could already see the secretary sitting at her desk, pretending to type away at her computer. I pull the door open and walk inside. The woman, who looked to be in her 50s looked up. "Yes?" Her words drew out, almost as if she found my very existence annoying. "Is my dad here? Jim hopper?" I ask. She nods her head toward the principal's office. "he's in Principal Coleman's office. " I nod and begin to walk down the long hallway toward the principal's office.

The principal's office is at the very end of the hallway. Once I get there, the door is wide open. My dad sits in the chair across from Coleman's. He's leaned back laughing away almost like they were old friends. "Dad," I say, both men look up at me. He hums in response like I was just such a distraction from his awesome conversation with Principal Coleman. "Can I go to Steves?" his eyebrows raise before he replies, "Steve Harrington?" I roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest "Yes" he laughs, head turning towards Coleman, who then laughs as well. Probably reliving the mortifying moment when my father punched a 13-year-old. "you two friends again?" he asks in astonishment. I shake my head; I could hardly call us 'friends'. I just slightly tolerate him more than I did before. "We have an English project"

Dad shakes his head before saying "mm no, if you need to do this you can do it at home." My eyes widen and my mouth gapes open. I didn't want to do this at my house. It was embarrassing. Our house was embarrassing. I groan, arms crossing over my chest. I turn around, stomping out of the room, muttering curses under my breath. "If you aren't home when I get off, so help me god!" he shouts, which makes me roll my eyes.

When I get back outside, I see Steve still parked up front, with his head bobbing slightly to the music playing out of his radio. I get back into his car, slamming the door behind me. "He said we have to do it at my house," I mutter, arms still crossed over my chest. Steve smiles, nodding. "Yeah, that's okay. Same place?" he asks. I shake my head "No we moved just...y'know that street that goes in the woods?" he nods "Just go down that one. I'll tell you where to go from there. "

The normally paved roads turn to dirt within a few miles into the woods. "Turn down the next road. You'll see it," I say. I don't know why I always felt so embarrassed about the wooden cabin we lived in. It'd be a cool hang-out space if my dad wasn't such a buzzkill. There was barely anyone else around for miles except an elderly couple who lived a few more miles down the main road. Steve nods and turns down the dirt road. A few miles down, my house begins to come into view. "Cool," Steve mutters under his breath as he parks the car on the side of the gravel road. "How long have you guys lived out here?" Steve asks as he gets out of the car. I also get out, slamming the door behind me. "Few years..." I mutter, shoving my hands into my pockets as we walked up to the house. Once we get up to the front door, I take the key out of my pocket, shove it into the lock, and twist it before pushing the door open. 

I walk in, Steve following closely behind. I switch the living room lights on as Steve closes the front door. I cross my arms over my chest, watching as Steve's eyes flick around the room. There's not much to look at though. The only things that stood in the living room were a couch, lounge chair, TV set, and one singular picture of Sara that sat on the coffee table. "Um, I guess we can go to my room," I say. He nods and follows me into my room. I push the door open and turn the lights on.

He does the same thing he had done in the other room, exploring the room with his eyes. Suddenly everything about my room makes me feel immature. The baby pink sheets and the stuffed animals that decorated the end of my bed. The photos of Sara and I from when we were younger taped to my walls. I'm scared Steve will make fun of me for it all. But he doesn't pay any mind to the pink or stuffed animals or the childhood pictures I clung to because that's all I had left of my dead sister. He walks over to the collection of pictures and points to one, one that sits at the very edge of the collection. "Hey, I remember that," he says, his finger sitting on a younger, innocent version of him.

We're all sitting on Sara, and I's old porch eating popsicles. somehow, I can still remember every aspect of that day like it was yesterday. I can still remember how the sun blazed down against the pavement, the sugary cherry taste of the popsicle, and how Steve wrapped his chubby arm around my shoulder when my mom brought out the camera. I don't even know why that picture was up there. We had moved into this house months after our friendship had its downfall. Looking at it now makes my chest ache; it makes me feel stupid. I wanted him to look around my room and see I had nothing left of our friendship in it. But somehow, he was able to find the crumbs of our past that were still sprinkled around in my life. I just couldn't let us go, no matter how much of a jerk he was to me. 

I wrap my arms around my body muttering "Yeah, me too" under my breath before sitting on my bed. I clear my throat, and Steve turns around, brows furrowed together. "Um, we should get started...right?" he nods, muttering a quiet "yeah" that he paired with an eye-roll, before walking over to my bed and taking a seat next to me.

"I was thinking that um...we could get one of those big poster boards...and, like, put the differences on each side, and then put the similarities in the middle. Kind of like a neater bubble map, y'know?" he nods as he leans back against my headboard. "Yeah. Um, that's good. I can get that poster board tomorrow or something like that" I nod, humming a quiet "Mhm."

The silence got more awkward as the seconds ticked by. We just sit there. The room feels like it gets impossibly smaller. It's been so long since Steve and I had been in a room by ourselves together. We were totally different people, basically strangers. I hate it. "If you want to...you can go home," I whisper, arms crossed over my chest awkwardly. It's not that I wanted Steve to leave, I just wanted this version of Steve to leave. I wanted our old dynamic to come back. We used to never be able to sit in a room this quiet. How did all this happen? Why did all this happen? Why did God feel the need to rip another person I cherished so much away from me? 

"Yeah...um I can go. I'll see you tomorrow," he mutters before getting up, the bed squeaking underneath him. As he walks out of my room, the sound of his jingling keys resonates in the air. I strain to listen as his footsteps gradually fade until the front door slams shut and the faint hum of his car tells me he's finally left.

Dad gets home a few hours later. I'm sitting on the couch flipping through channels when I hear the front door creak open. "hey" Dad mutters as he toes off his shoes and puts his keys up. It's not long before Dad takes his usual spot next to me on the couch. "How was work?" I ask as I settle on a channel playing The Shining. He shrugs, grumbling under his breath before saying, "Byers kid went missing," he mutters.

I blink a few times, letting his words sink in. I wouldn't say I was close to the family, but I did babysit for them a handful of times. Will Byers was close with Mike Wheeler, a boy I babysat often, so I saw him almost every time I was at the Wheelers. Will was a shy, nerdy boy. he wasn't the type to run away, but not the type to be gullible enough to get kidnapped. "What?" I ask, brows furrowed as I turn my head towards my father.

"Will didn't come home last night after leaving the wheelers. We think he might have run away or his father took him."

Taglist

@sheisjoeschateau @nothankyou138 @gleefulleve @luluw-20 @skrzydlak @halflifejess @natalie-flo @castleallherown @palmtreesx3

[prefect30]

Little Dove

Instead of Lucy Gray, he gets her younger, little sister, Rosalie Jade.

Thank you guys SO much for the wait. I have been really busy recently with work and haven't had lot of time to write. I know this chapter is a little on the short side, but I really wanted to get something out for you guys. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Previous Chapter

Chapter Five

Chapter Warnings: Talk of death by giving birth by a menace (Dr. Gaul).

“Jessup!”

No! What are you doing? Run!

Coriolanus sat, watching in fear as Rosalie Jade frantically looked around to find Jessup. And when she did find him, he could only sit still as he watched her try to run to Jessup all while trying to escape all of the horrors of the Bloodbath.

“Jessup! Come on, we gotta go!” She yelled at the unaware boy.

Coriolanus glared at the screen in front of him, shaking with fury as he was forced to watch his poor little sister try to save someone who just wasn’t worth saving. Jessup wasn’t even standing when she had gotten to him! He didn’t seem aware of his surroundings, he could barely stand by himself, he could hardly even walk by himself without Rosalie Jade’s help. There was no point in trying to save him. He was just a lamb ready to be slaughtered.

Just let him go and hide.

But Rosalie Jade did no such thing. Rather, she pushed Jessup to his feet and dragged him along to go to the place that Coriolanus had told her about. She saw the divot in the ground a few feet before her and knew that was what he had to have been talking about. So she tried her hardest to get herself and Jessup there, but it just wasn't enough. Coral and her group were gaining on them and they looked bloodthirsty. She tried to pick up the pace, but it wasn't doing them any good. She frantically started to look around before she came to the simple conclusion. They were going to die.

Rosalie Jade had completely stopped moving, quickly whispered something in Jessup's ears, who seemed to have become aware of his surroundings, and he ran.

“What's wrong little songbird? You not gonna fight?” Coral taunted Rosalie Jade.

By now, there was no one else out in the open of the arena, and if they were, they were either in Coral's pact or were dead. The handful that got away all hid in safety, something Rosalie Jade should have done.

“I ain't gonna fight you, Coral. Not anyone of ya’.” Rosalie Jade told the group, cautiously moving closer to them.

“Yeah? Well we're gonna fight you!” Coral yelled, running towards Rosalie Jade.

No!

And within a second, Coral stopped, shooting the trident she had gotten from the Cornucopia right at Rosalie Jade's heart, causing the beautiful golden fork to fly right into her teammate’s chest.

Tanner let out a dreadful scream, his hand weakly gripping onto the trident, eyes looking up at Coral in fear.

What?

Everyone was confused. Coriolanus, the students, Lucky, Coral. Hell, even Gaul was confused. How did Rosalie Jade not get hit, but Tanner did?

Then out of nowhere, Rosalie Jade stood up from behind Tanner and pulled the trident out of him, causing him to scream yet again as she whisper yelled a small, ‘I'm sorry’ to him and then threw the trident straight at Coral's arm.

Rosalie Jade had shocked everyone. She had seen Tanner coming up behind her to trap her in between him and the rest of the pack. So when Coral started to run at her and stopped to throw the trident at her, she had simply ducked, in turn killing Tanner. Then, while Coral was still confused, she took the trident and shot it at her perfectly and quickly ran down to Jessup.

“Ahhh! You fucking bitch! Get her!” Coral hollered at Mizzen and Treech. But it was too late. The cameras had already shown Rosalie Jade pushing Jessup into a safe place, closely following him and hitting a brick over a lonesome tribute's head, stopping her from getting in.

Everyone stared in disbelief at what she had done, let alone gotten away. This little twelve year old girl had a hand in a tribute's death, took the murder weapon out of his body, apologized for it, shot the weapon at another tribute, got herself and her friend to safety, and to top it all off, had struck another tribute over the head to stop them from getting in. That, in itself, seemed to frighten the other student mentors watching while it baffled Coriolanus.

She said she had no other skills and that she didn't want to kill anyone. So how the hell did she perfectly throw that trident at Coral’s arm? She could have easily missed or thrown it at a more deadly area and how did she se-

His thoughts were quickly cut off by hearing one of his classmates, Domitia Whimsiwick, violently puke after watching tributes, along with her own, get brutally murdered.

“Now if you are watching this at home, that was a very graphic and disgusting thing that just happened. So kids, never do this to one another,” Lucky somberly told the camera, “And Miss. Whimsiwick, if you are going to get sick, please do it elsewhere. Now, you can still make bets and change them if you would like Now that e-len-ven tributes are out of the Games. We will be back when there is more action for us to see. And that was the Bloodbath of the 10th Hunger Games.” With that, the screen cut to the Panem symbol and the anthem played.

“Someone please clean that up and if your tribute died, please get up and go to the audience,” Lucky announced, “God, that smell is putrid.” Lucky cringed, gagging.

Coriolanus looked around to see who had all gotten out, and indeed, eleven mentors went into the audience, and when he looked into the audience, he saw Tigris. She looked so sad, having watched kids kill And fight each other. But something else caught his eyes, Gaul. She was talking to one of her gamemakers and nodding to her when she caught Coriolanus’ eye. She smirked at him and nodded towards the screen, proudly.

She’s proud of me. Rosalie Jade caught her attention and she's proud of me!

Gaul was indeed proud of Coriolanus. He had gotten this innocent young girl to chase another tribute to die and hurt another's. But that wasn't the main reason she was proud right now. No, not because of Coriolanus, but of herself.

For the Peacekeepers had found their lost tribute, and she had the perfect welcome back plan for him.

“You might want to get your friend out of here, Mr. Snow.”

What?

It had only been around three hours since the Games had officially started and not much had happened since the Bloodbath. Every now and then, a few tributes would come out of hiding to see if there was anything left in the Cornucopia that could help them, but quickly went back into hiding after seeing Reaper stalking up in the stands. The only tribute that didn’t back down was the girl from District 7, Lamina. She was perched on top of a beam, lying peacefully, for her and Reaper seemed to have made an unspoken agreement, ‘you don’t try to kill me, I don’t try to kill you’. So far, it was working, to the displeasure of the Capitol. They wanted to see death and destruction, and all they were getting was Lamina sunbathing and Reaper angrily staring into the cameras.

Coral and her group seemingly disappeared after the accidental killing of Tanner. Everyone was still in shock at Rosalie Jade’s quick reflexes and thinking. People had thought that she would be one of the first to go during Bloodbath, hence the pity donations. But after her stunt, more donations were raking in, but not from pity, but from the sheer desire to see the young girl bring more death to the arena. The lonesome district girl was the last death to happen in the arena and it was clear that the Capitol wanted more deaths to come from the small girl. But they were proven disappointed when all that she did was comfort and calm Jessup down in the vents.

“He might not like what he’s going to see next.”

Ah, right. Dealing with the anxiety of what might happen to Rosalie Jade and not being able to do most anything to help her if something were to go wrong, Coriolanus now had to deal with Highbottom’s cryptic warnings.

“I beg your pardon?” Coriolanus questioned, but was soon answered by the loud sound of a crash.

“YOU’RE MONSTERS! ALL OF YOU!” Sejanus roared out, face scrunched in anger.

Confused and shocked, Coriolanus looked over at the incompetent fool and saw what Highbottom and Sejanus were referring to. The lost tribute, Marcus, had been found and a helicopter was slowly lowering his bloody and tortured body down while he was literally hanging on by a thread. A pure white rope was wrapped around his hands, slightly tinted pink where his hands met the rope. The rope wasn’t tied very tight, but Marcus wasn’t putting up much of a fight to get out. He looked like he was on the brink of death.

Sejanus had just finished throwing his temper tantrum and had stormed out when the loose rope had broken, and Marcus had fallen right onto the beam next to Lamina. The soft sound of bones breaking could be heard as Marcus landed. Lamina looked at the boy’s broken body and gripped her axe. She looked over to Reaper who was staring right at her, not nodding his head or shaking it, just staring at her. When she looked back down at Marcus, he was already staring at her, nodding his head, giving her the, ‘it’s ok’ sign.

By now, the noise had caused Coral and her group to come out of hiding to see what all the ruckus was. They watched from a distance, trying to decide if they wanted to try to kill Lamina or not. Lamina noticed them almost immediately and wanted them gone. So, as a warning, she looked down at Marcus, who had closed his eyes, and swiftly brought down her axe, killing him in one motion.

“Yes!” Pliny, or “Pup”, Harington, cheered out for his tribute.

But Lamina didn’t stop there. No. Marcus was already dead when she brought her axe down again and again, chopping at his neck a total of five times, with the first being the only one that actually killed him. She held onto his hair, and when she was done, she stood up and took the head, throwing it in the general direction of Coral’s group.

“Oh!” the audience called out.

While Coral smirked at her, she regretted asking her to join her group because she thought she wouldn’t be strong enough or have the guts to kill anyone, but she was easily proven wrong by Lamina’s actions. The rest of her group looked away from the head, gagging and trying not to throw up. Coral quickly turned on her heels, knowing that if they were to try and attack Lamina right now, she would have the advantages of knowing they were there, the high ground, and an adrenaline rush. They would need to sneak up on her and surprise her if they wanted better odds of killing her.

As the group ran away Lamina looked back towards Reaper, but he was nowhere to be found. When she heard shuffling below her, she saw that Reper had collected Marcus’s head and was looking up at her, waiting. Confused for a moment, she gripped her axe again to show him that if he wanted to fight, she would fight back. Reaper shook his head in response, pointing towards Marcus’s body. She raised her eyebrow and moved closer to the body and nodded her head towards it. Reaper nodded back in response. She looked at him like he was crazy and then cautiously pushed the beheaded body down onto the ground, landing it right in front of Reaper’s feet.

He looked back up at her and tipped his hat to her as a ‘thank you’. Lamina just nodded back, still confused with Reaper and his actions. She watched as he dragged Marcus’s and the other dead bodies to the bottom of the Cornucopia, laying them in a line.

He’s making a grave.

Everyone watching was shocked. No tribute has ever made a grave for the other tributes before. It was unheard of, unthinkable. And yet, here was Reaper Ash, doing the unthinkable. When he finished putting them all in a line, he looked down at them again, deciding that Marcus should get his own little spot a bit farther away from the others, as an honor of escaping and of his brutal torture and death. When he completed putting Marcus in his own little area, he looked back up at Lamina, staring right into her soul. She looked back at him and scooted back a bit. And when Reaper finally looked away and started to head back to his spot, she put her head down in guilt, knowing that she didn’t kill Marcus out of pity like he wanted, but out of self gain so Coral and her group wouldn’t come at her.

“Now, was it a mercy kill or for self gain? We may never know,” Lucky softly remarked, “Now if you want to change your bets, do it while you can! Betting closes tonight, but you can always donate throughout the whole Game!” Lucky beamed.

“Woo! Go Lamina!” Pup cheered, sending water and an apple to his tribute.

Instantly, everyone’s attention was on the screen. This would be the first time to see if Coriolanus’ drone idea would work. It took a few minutes for the drones to get there. The first one was carrying the water and was headed straight towards Lamina. Stirred by the noise, she lifted her head and saw the drone at her. She heard another sound and looked behind her, seeing the second drone carrying the apple. She smiled and went to the edge of the beam towards the drone holding the water since it was closer, but her smile quickly dropped when she realized that the drones weren’t slowing down. Just in the nick of time, she lowered her head and covered it with her hands, causing the two drones to crash into each other. Both the water and the apple had been lost because of the crash.

“Hey! It almost hit her!” Pup shouted. Lucky just shrugged at him.

“Will she get another water and apple?” Pup demanded.

“Depends, do you want to spend more of your donations?” Highbottom asked.

“What? No! That’s not fair!” Pup yelled at him.

“Life’s not fair, Mr. Harrington.” Highbottom reminded the angry boy, causing him to yell out and sit down with his arms crossed, very pissed off.

Well good thing no one knows the drones were my idea, just the donations with the food and water.

Coriolanus looked back to Gaul, feeling her burning holes into the back of his head. But when he looked back, he saw the proudness and glee in her eyes. He wasn’t fooled by it this time, though. No. He watched her nod her head towards the screen again, just like she did after Rosalie Jade had killed that girl tribute, just like she did after talking to her gamemaker. He understands now. He knows he wasn’t the reason she was proud. He never was.

And he was going to change that.

Walking home in the summer was never something that Coriolanus enjoyed, but walking home in the summer at night, now that was something he did. It was calming for Coriolanus, having the wind lighting blowing on his face always cooled him down on the hot summer days and ever since the war, the nights were the only time in the Capitol that ever brought Comroilanus peace. There would always be small groups of people who would sneak around and party at night, but other than that, Coriolanus could think in peace. And Coriolanus needed all the time he could get to think.

How did she even know Tanner there? Hell, I didn’t even realize he was there! It was like she saw him or heard him like he was some sort of predator trying to catch her, his prey. Or was she the hunter, and Tanner was the unaware prey? She threw the trident right Coral’s arm, but didn’t throw it to where it would cause her to lose her arm. All she did was put three holes in Coral’s arm. She had perfect aim and could have easily killed her. So why-

“Coriolanus!” Coriolanus quickly looked behind him after being hollered for.

Mrs. Plinth?

“Coriolanus! Oh, Coriolanus. Please, where is he?” Mrs. Plinth worriedly questioned.

“What? Where is who Mrs. Plinth?” Coriolanus just wanted to go home after his monster of a day and Mrs. Plinth hounding him with stupid and vague questions was pissing him off.

“Sejanus! Where is my Sejanus?” She asked anxiously, trying to keep her voice down so as to not wake people up, but failing.

Coriolanus shook his head, “I haven't seen him since he ran off after Marcus got dropped into the arena.”

Her face paled.

“Oh,” She croaked out, “Oh dear. That's not good.”

Pale and softly swaying left and right, she looked as if she was going to pass out.

Coriolanus fights off an eye roll when she looks left and right to see if anyone was still out. Some homes were lit as a result of her distress.

“Maybe he's home already? Came back when you were looking for him. Have you checked your apartment yet?” Coriolanus questions her.

“I did, but not since I left looking for him a few hours ago. Maybe you are right, I should go look there.” She mumbled, almost talking to herself.

“Then how about I take you inside and you can go look for him there. Yeah? Great!” Corilanus cut her off before hse could even start talking, the time to be a friendly neighbor was over. It was time for him to figure out how to save his little sister now.

Coriolanus put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her towards their apartment building. He had not realized that he had walked home so quickly and that they were only a handful of homes and buildings away from their homes. As they got closer to their destination, he noticed someone waiting outside.

“Tigris?” Coriolanus called out.

“Oh! There you are Coriolanus! I was starting to wor-” Tigris announced, but quickly cut herself off, instantly running to Mrs. Plinth’s side, “Oh, Mrs. Plinth, are you ok? What happened?”

And, oh, how that set her off. Balling her eyes out, Tigris quickly hurried her inside so no one would be woken up by her wails for her lost son.

Coriolanus rolled his eyes, bitterly thinking about how now Mrs. Plinth knew of the Snow’s misfortune. She just had to let her come inside. She couldn’t stay home alone after not finding her son there. ‘No Coryo, it wouldn’t be right’. The second Tigris had said those words, he knew that he had yet another person to worry about keeping their family secret. How he hated Tigris and her empathic heart sometime.

“I j-just don’t know where h-he could be.” Mrs. Plinth sniffled. She had finally stopped crying by now and was just complaining about her lost son now.

“Nor do I know where my tea is, maid!” Grandma’am shouted.

Grandma’am. The only thing making this situation better, or rather funny. She had been hounding Mrs. Plinth down for stuff the second Tigris led her into the barely functioning penthouse. First it was about the laundry that hadn’t been done in two weeks, then she wanted her son’s bedding changed, stating that no man should sleep on those disgusting sheets. Now it was about her nighttime tea.

“Grandma’am, I told you, this is Mrs. Pli-”

“I don’t care who she is! I want my tea!” Grandma’am cut Tigris off swiftly, flailing her arms around like a toddler not getting the thing they wanted at the store.

“Maybe I should go.” Mrs. Plinth murmured, grabbing her robe. In Grandma’am’s defense, Mrs. Plinth was wearing a long, blue nightgown that had most definitely seen better days. It had ragged edges and holes on the bottom. It must have been one of things she brought from District Two. She truly was dressed like a servant made for a Capitolite.

“No!” Tigris called out, causing everyone to look at her, “Please, stay. I can’t imagine what you are going through right now. I don’t know what I would do if poor Coryo here was lost. Please, just stay.” Tigris softly told the odd woman out. Mrs. Plinth looked down at her robe and up at Tigris again. She saw how her eyes were shining with hope, to that, she slowly stepped back towards the living room, away from everyone else. She watched as Tigris’ faced slowly dropped, but she just wanted to go home now and see if her son was finally there now. Besides, she, just like everyone else, can and will never know what someone hopes for. Whether it be good or bad.

Tigris went to open her mouth to speak when she was cut off again, this time by the phone ringing.

RING!

RING!

Coriolanus looked towards Tigris and her face mirrored his. Confusion.

Who could possibly be calling at this time?

RING!

Pushing past Mrs. Plinth, consequently allowing her to get farther away from the kitchen, Coriolanus walked over to the ringing phone.

RI-

“Hello?”

“You’ve got a problem and I need you to fix it.” The voice demanded.

Gaul.

“What?” Coriolanus asked, “D-did something happen to Rosalie Jade?” Coriolanus quickly added, thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to her.

“Not yet. And if you want to keep it that way, I suggest that you get down here and fix. it.” Gaul harshly barked out.

Is she threatening my sister ?

“I’m sorry Dr. Gaul, but until you tell me what I ‘need to fix,’ I can’t help you.” Coriolanus snapped back just as harshly.

No one threatens a Snow.

Gaul let out a breathy laugh, and just when she went to answer, Coriolanus heard Grandma’am yelling for her tea again.

Now she’s just doing it for attention. She hates tea.

Coriolanus turns around quickly to tell her to try to be quiet since he was on the phone, but when he turns around, all he sees is Mrs. Plinth's pale face. She looked like she saw a ghost and was about to cry again. And when he follows her eyes, he knows why. On the small T.V. screen that the Snow’s were just barely holding on to, there is a shadow covering Marcus’ lone body. But it wasn’t just a shadow, no. It was Sejanus.

“Oh my God.” Coriolanus muttered in shock.

He seriously didn't think this one through.

“Have you figured out your problem yet, Mr. Snow?” Gaul taunted.

Coriolanus gulped, “Yes.”

“Good. We need someone to get him out of there,” Gaul was clearly annoyed by all of this, “He bribed some dull Peacekeeper and the second I find the one who did, well I’ve been wanting a new pet to play with.” Gaul growled out while bitterly laughing out the last part. It was very clear how furious she was, Coriolanus didn’t even know that one’s life could be threatened with something worse than death before he met Gaul. Now he was regretting being so short with her not just even a minute ago.

“Who do you want to g-get him? I have his mother next to me now if you want.” Coriolanus cursed himself for stuttering in front of her.

“Well we wouldn’t want him getting scared and him running on us like a terrified little bunny, now would we?” Gaul chuckled.

Fuck.

“You want me to get him?” Coriolanus timidly asked.

“What a great idea Coriolanus! What a wonderful best friend you must be!” Gaul sarcastically let out, or maybe she was being truthful, Coriolanus would never know.

“I am going to freeze the screens when you go in. You have exactly an hour to get him out otherwise people might start asking questions as to why the screens black.”

“How is this safe, though? How will I get ou-” Coriolanus anxiously started asking the crazy scientist before she cut her off.

“You will be fine. There will be Peacekeepers there to make sure no tributes get out. You will go out the way you came in. Easy peasy.” He could hear her smile through the phone, the smile that proved that she didn’t care if he got hurt, or rather died, or not.

“Listen to me, Coriolanus. Do not mess this up. I fear that my Games may be coming to an end and I need you to help me fix them.” Gaul seriously stated, and with that, she hung up the phone.

Coriolanus just put the phone back down in shock. Grandma’am had been whisked away to her room by Tigris the second she saw Sejanus on the screen. Tigris was now holding Mrs. Plinth in a comforting way, but it was no use, she was petrified for her son’s life.

Tigris looked up at Coriolanus, “Who was that?”

“Dr. Gaul.” This got Mrs. Plinth’s attention.

“She wants someone to get him, doesn’t she?” She asked, standing up, causing Tigris’ hand to fall out of hers. Tigris reached for hers again,  but Mrs. Plinth was already in front of Coriolanus. “I’ll do it. I’ll go in.” She confidently told him as if she wasn’t just about to have another mental breakdown just seconds ago.

“No, you can’t! You could get hurt or die!” Tigris nervously told the older woman.

“I have to, he’s my son.” Mrs. Plinth told the younger girl.

Coriolanus just shook his head, “No, you’re not going into the arena to get Sejanus. Gaul doesn’t want you to.”

Tigris looked at him confused, “What do you mean she doesn’t want her to?”

“She wants me. I’m going into the arena.”

She needs my help. She needs me.

“You’re getting that damned kid out?” The Peacekeeper looked Coriolanus up and down in disbelief.

“Yes, so could you open the doors the second you see us, I wouldn’t like to be killed by any of those animals.” Coriolanus snapped. Of course he didn’t mean his Rosalie Jade, no. She was an angel sent from Heaven for him. But this Peacekeeper was starting to piss him off. He had been giving him a hard time since the beginning. First he wasn’t allowed to bring in anything to protect himself and now they won’t even keep the doors open for him.

“Ahm.”  The Peacekeeper nodded his head, covering his mouth with his hand, stifling his laugh.

Coriolanus rolled his eyes and started to walk towards the entrance of the arena. He looked back at the Peacekeeper and nodded, signing for him to open the gates. The second they opened, Coriolanus knew he fucked up. A red alarm started blinking, temporarily blinding him, and when Coriolanus took his first few steps in, he was sure the entire arena knew someone new was in here.

“Enjoy The Show!”

Shit.

Coriolanus had completely forgotten about that stupid voice that went off every time someone entered the arena.

Well if they didn't know someone was in here, they do now.

Coriolanus knew that he needed to be fast, faster than he first intended when he entered the arena. The animals would sniff him out soon and without anything to protect himself with, he's just prey standing in their open jaws, waiting for them to close down on him and end his mundane and insignificant life.

Coriolanus’ eyes searched the arena, determined to find Sejanus. And that he did.

With his back to the door, Sejanus was still kneeling in front of Marcus’ headless body. As Coriolanus hurried over to Sejanus trying to be as quiet as possible, stepping over a broken bow and shattered glass from the bombing, he saw a bag of bread crumbs and heard sniffling.

“Sejanus!” Coriolanus whisper yelled.

The kneeling boy flinched and snapped his head to look at Coriolanus, “I thought they would've sent my Ma.”

CLICK!

Coriolanus looked to his left immediately, hearing a sound only one of the tributes could have made in this desert of an arena. “Yeah, well I wished they did.” Coriolanus muttered. He was starting to rethink his choice to come and get Sejanus and how he wishes he let her do it instead of him.

“What are you doing Sejanus? It's not safe here, we have to go.” Coriolanus tried to usher the boy up, but he was as still as a rock.

“I'm spreading breadcrumbs over his body. In Two we believe it helps with the journey to the afterlife.” Sejanus mumbled. He truly was hurt from the loss of his friend, even if he didn't consider him a friend anymore.

“What do you think this is going to accomplish Sejanus? Do you really think that you’re helping anyone right now?” Coriolanus kneeled down to his level, trying to get him to think rationally.

“Yes, I am Coryo. When people see-”

CLUNK!

“You really think Gual is going to let anyone see this? Huh? See how an 18 year old Capitolite rebel bribed a Peacekeeper to get into the arena just to spread breadcrumbs on a dead and headless body all because of some District tradition just to be killed by animals?” Coriolanus didn't intend to be so harsh, but he knew that the animals were starting to close in on them.

“They're not ani-”

Coriolanus put his hand up, shutting Sejanus up. “No. Gaul paused the feed the second she saw you in here. No one is ever going to know we were in here. You die here and she'll tell everyone it was from the flu.”

Sejanus looked down in guilt, “I'm so sorry Coryo. I never meant for you to get involved. I just wanted to make a change and help them!” Sejanus sobbed out.

SCREECH!

They were getting ready to pounce, Coriolanus was sure of it. “You want to help right? Well you're not going to be able to do anything if you're dead,” Coriolanus reasoned with him,“You're rich, you have money and influence. Use it. You can't change anything here except the day you die. You want to help do it out there.” Sejanus just looked at Coriolanus and nodded, finally standing up.

“Now let's get out of here Se-”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Get them!”

“Kill ‘em!”

Suddenly, voices screamed out and the boys quickly realized that it was Coral and her little posse and they were running straight at them, weapons raised.

“Run!” Coriolanus pushed Sejanus forward, pulling him out of his shock and they both ran as fast as they could to the exit.

Run.

Make it out alive.

To Grandma'am.

To Tigris.

For Rosalie Jade.

THUMP!

Coriolanus looked to his right only to see that Sejanus had tripped right over something.

Seriously dumbass?!

He quickly reached down to help him get up but instantly felt pain in the back of his left arm.

“Ahh!”

Coriolanus then noticed that the dumbass didn't fall over something, but rather someone .

The young male tribute quickly got up and started to attack Coriolanus while Sejanus ran for the exit to get help. “Help! Someone, we need help!”

“Fuck! Get off!” Coriolanus grunted and used all his might to push him off. They both stood up and the tribute started to swing his knife at him and managed to get him on his arm again. Coriolanus dodged the few more swings the tribute gave, but the second he saw Coral and her group gaining on him, he pounced onto the boy and started to deliver brutal punches to his face.

POW!

POW!

POW!

He looked to his left and saw that they were closer now. He looked down and saw that the boy's face was bloodied and disfigured, almost like one of Gual's mutts. He looked back to his left, but something cut his eye before he could even see where they were now.

A large piece of rubble that had a pipe coming out of the top. It was like Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, calling Coriolanus’ name.

He hastily got up and picked up the makeshift hammer. He could hear their running feet and panting getting closer. He could smell their sweat and blood radiating off of them, but he didn't care. Just like Lamina, he chose self gain.

WHACK!

SMASH!

WHAM!

The boy was dead. He had been since Coriolanus had obliterated his face with his fist, causing him to lose too much blood along with his dehydration. But the feeling of hitting the boy over and over again was fucking euphoric for Coriolanus. He couldn't stop, not when he felt this good, this powerful.

CLICK!

“Coryo!”

Shit.

Sejanus finally registered the fact that Coriolanus hadn't followed him and quickly ran back to him to pull him off the dead boy right before Treech started an axe at him.

Running for their lives yet again, the boys ran at full speed, determined not to die. They saw the gates open and quickly ran through them and they closed right before any tribute could get through.

Holy shit.

“You better keep an eye on that songbird of yours!” Coral yelled out, causing Coriolanus’ eye to twitch at the threat. He knew if he even looked at the hollering beast he would end up doing something stupid. But he wouldn't forget about her threat to his little sister.

Bending over himself, Coriolanus panted as he watched Sejanus run into his mother's loving arms.

When the hell did she get here?

Eventually looking up, feeling someone glaring holes into the back of his head, he looked up to see the two different colored harsh eyes of Dr. Gual. She was standing next to Mr. Plinth and neither one of them looked happy. Deciding to look elsewhere, he caught Mrs. Plinth's eye and she smiled at him and then quickly escorted herself and her son into the car waiting for them.

Coriolanus tried to stand tall when he looked towards Mr. Plinth but the ache in his arm didn't agree with him. He sucked in a breath of pain and looked towards Gaul who motioned for him to get into the waiting car to his left.

Looking back at the both of them, he saw the check being given to Gaul from Mr. Plinth. He sat down in the car, driving away with one thought in his head.

Are you proud of me now?

“Did you see it?”

Coriolanus was currently in the hands of Dr. Gaul. She was the one nursing the cuts that he had gotten from the arena. She, the most merciless human being to be alive that let one of her own students get bit by her own monstrous creations, was caring for him.

“What?” Corioanus was confused. He was barely keeping his tears in from the pain. The pain from his arm and the pain for that fact that he actually did kill that boy. The guilt was starting to catch up to him and being grilled questions by Gaul wasn't helping.

“Mankind.” Gaul pulled the stitch tightly, causing Coriolanus to suck in a breath.

“Now who would have thought that Crassus' Snow's baby boy would be fighting for his life in the arena he made.”

What?

“I thought that-”

“And I thought that you would have finally understood after seeing it in person, but I suppose I was wrong.” Gaul spoke over him.

“I don't understand? What do you mean, humanity?” Coriolanus obviously wasn't going to get a direct answer about his father from the mad scientist, but he could at least try the other question she asked him, seeing as she wouldn't let it go.

“That boy, the one you kil-” Gaul started, but Coriolanus didn't let her finish, pissed that she even mentioned the now dead tribute.

“How does that have anythi-” Coriolanus sucked another breath in, cutting himself off as she yet again pulled the stitch too tight, clearly annoyed that he cut her off.

“You going back to that already dead boy, repeatedly smashing his skull open when you didn't need to, was true mankind. Mankind in its raw and natural state. Where boys are willing to beat each other to the death just on the pure hope that in the end, they will live, or rather win.” She pulled the last stitch tight, signaling that she still had something to say, and tied it up.

“You didn't need to go back and beat him to the pulp. Imagine what your little dove would say? She would be mortified and so disappointed.” Just like Highbottom, Dr. Gaul had seen the way Coriolanus acted and looked at Rosalie Jade, and what he had called her. But unlike Highbottom, she intended to use this to her advantage and mold Coriolanus into her perfect successor. Coriolanus already fit most of her molds. She just needed his mind to be in the right spot, out of his heart and into his head.

Coriolanus’ tears had finally fallen at the mention of her. If she had witnessed that and seen what he had done to the boy, Coriolanus wouldn't know what he would do to himself. She wouldn't ever want to see him again, and after feeling the warmth that she brought him, there was no way in Hell that he was going back to living his cold and cruel life. Not without her.

“I suppose you should be getting home now, your poor cousin must be worried sick.” She patted his back as a sign to ‘get the fuck out’ and she stood up, walking over to her mutts.

Coriolanus hurriedly buttoned his shirt back up and was careful to not pull his stitches doing so. He stood up and looked over to Dr. Gaul with the intent to thank her for her fixing the wounds she had caused, but he stopped himself when he saw her looking at a mutt she was taunting.

That one's new.

It had to have been a person at one point, Coriolanus knew that much. He could see the remnants of melted skin, and he could smell it too. It smelt ghastly. The thing had finger nails coming out of what was left of its hand every which way. It had no eyes, rather an endless hole of darkness that would lead you to nowhere. It was twitching every so often and Coriolanus wondered how it was still even alive. How any of those disgusting mutts were still alive.

“Can you believe that I studied to be a midwife, helping mothers deliver their precious tiny humans into this unforgiving world while some take their own mothers life just for their own self gain?” She randomly announced, still looking at the new mutt.

Coriolanus just headed closer to the door, not liking how this new conversation made him think of his late mother.

“What a boring world we would be living in if I had continued too.” She slowly turned around looking towards Coriolanus questioningly.

Coriolanus just stared at the mad woman for a moment, before giving his thanks.

“Thank you, Dr. Gaul.” With that, he quickly turned on his heel and left the nightmare of a lab hurriedly.

Gaul just smiled. For she knew exactly what he was truly thanking her for.

“Coryo! Oh thank God!” Tigris quickly ran to Coriolanus’, checking to see if he was OK and that he didn't get hurt.

“What happened in there? What took so long?” She asked when she saw him wince after she touched his arm.

“I'm fine Tigris, a tribute got me on my arm, but Dr. Gaul fixed it up.” He calmed her down as best as he could, but she just would let up. Her baby cousin was hurt and she needed to help him.

After getting him some tea, making sure that the kettle didn't scream so as to not wake Grandma’am up, she finally asked him the question that had been in the back of her mind.

“What happened to the tribute? The one that hurt you.” She whispered to him.

Coriolanus’ eyes met hers and she knew instantly. But their eyes didn't match. While hers showed remorse and even guilt , the only thing in Coriolanus’ eyes were annoyance and power.

“Tigris, he almost killed me. I-I…There was nothing else I could do. I didn't mean to, it was like my mind was on autopilot and I wasn't going to die in there. It wasn't supposed to happen, and, yeah I felt bad, but it also just felt so…so powerful .” Coriolanus ranted, almost feeling as though he needed to explain himself. And when he finally finished, he looked back at Tigris. Oh how he wished he hadn't.

“Coriolanus, when I look in your eyes, all I see is Him right now,” she motioned towards the large glass painting of Crassus Snow overhanging the front door, “All that was in his eyes were hate and greed. You don't have to be like him. You're a good person. You are good. You don't need to be him, please.” She desperately told him, holding onto his good arm.

He just nodded his head at her, just wanting to skip this lecture. He knew he wanted to be his father, he hated his father. Why would he want to be something he hates?

So the two young Snow's walked into their respected bedrooms without the knowledge that their lives would forever be changed after tomorrow, never to be the same all because of a 12 year old.

“Tigris! Do you know where my other pair of pants are?” Coriolanus yelled out, frantically searching his room. He had already worn this pair of pants for almost a whole week and it was starting to become obvious. There was still a tiny dirt stain left on the left knee of the pants from when he fell into the monkey exhibit on the day he was reunited with his little sister. He had watched Tigris struggle to get the stain out that evening, but the small amount of dirt was persistent. While, thankfully the uniform ordered skirt just covered the spot, it was still annoying and shameful for Coriolanus to look at every time he sat down. The skirt riding up just slightly enough that only he could see how the Snow’s couldn’t even afford to clean their own clothes.

“No, I’m sorry Coryo. I haven’t been able to get to the cleaners in a while,” Tigris apologized as she came into his room, looking down in guilt. “Maybe I can visit the Plinths tonight after we get home. I’m sure they would allow us to use their washer machines. They’re both such lovely people.” She said happily, quickly exiting his room, telling him that they were going to be late.

As Coriolanus dressed quickly, he started to wonder about Tigris. Was she ok? Her moods have been changing like a switch, sad then happy, angry then calm. She would be fine one minute then freaking the fuck out the next. As he finished tying up his shoes and walked out to find Tigris humming to herself, he realized something. She would only act like this around the Plinths . Her mood would always change around Plinths . But she was fine around Sejanus, so why not his mother and father?

As the two of them walked out of their barely surviving apartment building and started their walk to The Hall to watch the Games, Coriolanus was just thinking of one simple thing.

What the fuck did the Plinths do for Tigris to like them so much.

“It seems that during the night, Bobbin was mercilessly slayed by one of the beasts in the arena. Unfortunately, the cameras weren’t working properly last night and we weren’t able to see which beast it was that killed him, or rather beasts. Was it Coral and her group or was it perhaps Lamina? Maybe she came down from her beam and decided to continue her little killing spree. We will never know.”

Coriolanus was finally able to calm down after Lucky’s little rant. No one was able to see the cameras to see what truly happened. No one knew Coriolanus and Sejanus were in the arena last night. No one knew Coriolanus killed someone.

“And it looks like someone is just waking up on this lovely morning,” Coriolanus looked up to see that Lucky was referring to Lamina who was looking quite scared at the moment, “Unfortunately for her, others have been up just a tad longer than her.” Lucky joked, as everyone watched Coral and her group taunt and tease Lamina with their weapons.

Lamina stood up, gripping her axe in her hand tightly. She looked down to see Coral tell Circ something and she watched as he started to climb up the beam she had found a safe place on. Coral obviously couldn’t climb up the beam with her arm and Coriolanusu smiled at that.

As he watched Circ get closer and closer to Lamina, he noticed Treech climbing up the other side, gaining on an oblivious Lamina. He watched in realization that Lamina had been set up to die. If she were to fight off Circ, she would be left vulnerable to Treech and vice versa. She was too high up to jump, and even if she did, Coral and Mizzen were waiting for her at the bottom if she didn’t die from the impact.

It seemed that as soon as Coriolanus figured this out, so did Pup.

“No! Lamina! Watch out!” Pup cried out to no one.

But it was too late. Lamina had chosen to fight Circ, unaware of the danger behind her. As she went to swing her axe at Circ, Treech grabbed her hand and swung his own axe. In one swift move, he cut off her hand, causing her to let out a scream of pain and betrayal. He quickly pushed her off the beam, feeding her to the beasts below.

“And to think that they were from the same District. They really do have no remorse, do they?” Lucky asked the audience.

“Whoo! One down, only-”

SPLAT!

And with that, Treech had pushed Circ right off the beam, letting him fall right onto Coral’s waiting trident.

“Woah! Plot twist! Did anyone see that coming? I didn’t, did you?” Lucky joked to Io Jasper in shock. “Well you know what that means everyone! It’s time to say bye Mr. Harrington and Mr. Jasper! Byeee!”

Both students stomped over to the audience section, annoyed by the events that had just happened.

Coriolanus counted up in his how many tributes were left.

Rosalie Jade, Coral, Treech, Mizzen, Reaper, Dill, Teslee, Sol, Hy, Panlo…Shit who else? Oh yeah, fucking Jessup and Wovey. Ok, she only has 11 more. Everyone else was either killed before the Games or during the “Blood Bath.”

“With only 12 tributes left, who do you think is going to win?” Lucky questioned as the cameras cut out.

Next Chapter

[holylustration]

Dopamine Week #4: Fic Recommendation

My theme for Dopamine Week is "WIPs." And on that front, I have two WIPs in mind: one that I am currently caught up on and another that I haven't gotten to fully sink my teeth into yet.

Recommendation #1: Edge of Daybreak Unbroken by @themagnificentmags

So, I think I began reading Edge of Daybreak Unbroken during the very first Dopamine Week, so I'm glad to be able to give it a recommendation and bring it full circle!

Here's why Edge of Daybreak Unbroken is worth your time:

The premise is Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, New Game Plus. And I love that. I find it has that meta quality narrative where I, as the reader, can empathize with the main character when she sees the outcome of a choice she never took.

Despite it being a game "retelling," it isn't a one-for-one copy and paste of the game's script. And even the events that we see happening through Eltura's eyes aren't always a match for what we see in the game, as she might just nuke the planet from orbit rather than deal with the obvious and problematic trap that lurks on its surface.

The prose is a beautiful balance of matter-of-fact, dry humor, and evocative description. Mags gets you the necessary information to understand what's going on in a very unfussy, reader-friendly way, and then hits you upside the head with a bat as she describes what its like to wiggle teeth loose from their sockets with a tongue and subsequently choke on them.

You really can't help but cheer for Eltura. She comes back to relive all her horrors because she wants Heinrix to stay with her this time (and who WOULDN'T want that?), only she slips and falls into Iconoclasm along the way. Also, I put her in the category of fashionable Rogue Traders because of her coat. She is criminally underrepresented in Rogue Trader art.

Mags is not just a delightful person, but also meticulous. She really wants to think through the lore and the canon implications of the story. So, you can be sure that Edge of Daybreak Unbroken is being written in a way that is thoughtful and deliberate.

Recommendation #2: Omnissiah Forgive Me by @jaal-ama-daravv

Having not gotten very far yet into Omnissiah Forgive Me, let me give you the reasons why I've chosen to catch up on the fic this week:

Pasqal is one of the hardest characters for me to write; his speech pattern and motivations generally elude me. And Jaal's got seven chapters of him? SEVEN chapters? Emperor above, grant me blessed cognition so that I may better write him!

Sometimes, I just need a little break from Marazhai or Heinrix, so why not sample something that isn't Nocturne or Calligos? :D

I've had the pleasure of hearing Jaal narrate excerpts during our live readings, and she puts so much raw emotion into each and every word. It is electrifying. I cannot WAIT to see how that plays out on the page.

Damn, if Kassard's description doesn't come off as an absolute and utter badass. Tall, strong, scarred woman? Not afraid of her emotion? Heck yes.

A shout goes out to Jaal herself for her dedication not just to the story, but also the Rogue Trader community. Whether she's a mod or organizing the gift exchanges, she's somewhere being a positive contributor! And she does all of that on top of one of the hardest real life jobs that I can imagine, so she deserves double the praise!

Whether you're reading one (or both) of the fics above, or you're starting on something else, thanks for joining us this week!

[shootingstarpilot]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Thanks for the tag, @merlyn-bane!

1.) How many works do you have on ao3?

Eight!

2.) What's your ao3 word count?

217,911

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

*sobbing* Star Wars, my beloved. The brainrot is real; I am consumed. When I was still on FF.net, though, I had stuff up in Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

back then, i was dauntless

how to bring him home

if i don't make it back (from where i've gone)

though some would harm you

like lightning changing hands

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I absolutely do! I feel bad because I know I've gotten some lovely comments on chapters that aren't the most recent one, and those tend to get lost in the inbox, but I promise I'm working on it- if you get a response from a comment you left a year and a half ago, don't hold it against me 😅

I do it because I want so badly to build community here! I love getting comments from people, responding to something with a wee hint of a tease because I'm AWFUL and then getting a keysmash of a response and then exchanging snippets in the comments, truly, it fills me with delight- and I've met some absolutely wonderful people who I got introduced to by responding to comments-

Anyway. Community. That.

6.) What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh. Hm. Hm.

I... guess it would have to be though some would harm you? Although I'm not sure if I feel confident in that designation, because it's very much part of a multi-work series. And I'm too much of a sucker for happy endings to write a stand-alone fic that doesn't have one, I think.

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh, neural plasticity, for sure! Short and sweet <3

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

A bit. I can brush off the "actually the Jedi were the real monsters" assholes easily enough, but honestly, the comments that hit the hardest are the ones that clearly come from people who think they're offering ✨constructive criticism.✨ Not only because I didn't ask for it, but also because saying my work is "fatiguing" or "I'm sure there's a decent story here, but it's being buried under what you're trying to do with it-" there's nothing constructive there.

Side note: the person who left that last comment deleted it about half an hour later, because when I went to reply, it had vanished from my inbox. I don't know if they did that because they didn't want me to be able to reply, or if they realized that what they said was unhelpful and mean, but if they ever happen to see this-

I still got the email, prick.

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Write? No, I haven't quite worked up the panache to try. Reading, on the other hand...

10.) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I do have snippets of one crossover that I actually posted in an anonymous collection, ha- an old BBC Merlin/ Good Omens/ Supernatural fic that I dug out of my old documents. Other than that, no- unless you count the Prequels and the Clone Wars as different enough to qualify as a crossover.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also not that I know of- very much open to it, though!

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Since I don't think taking drabbles in tumblr chats to ridiculous lengths counts, I'd have to say no- I'd like to, though!

14.) What's your all time favorite ship?

Codywan. Fiercely, unwaveringly Codywan.

Just to reinforce this- 292 of my bookmarks consist of Cody/Obi-Wan. The next most common romantic pairing (Aziraphale/Crowley) has less than half that, at 121.

I'm a goner, and I can't even bring myself to regret it.

15.) What's a WIP you'd like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

OKAY SO I've written snippets of a modern AU focusing on Helix, Needle and Stitch, and I'm totally gonna take this opportunity to rage about it. I'm probably never gonna finish it, but it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, so, hey- what else is fic for, really, if not for indulging yourself?

At first, it's just Needle and Stitch. It's just been the two of them, for as long as Stitch can remember. Needle's only a few years older than him, but he's raised him, kept him in school, kept a roof over their heads and food on the table-

Food on Stitch's plate, at least.

Then, one night, Needle does not come home.

A hit-and-run, the nurse tells him, although the words will not trickle through until much later. A coma.

He will not, they say patiently, come home for some time.

(There is so much that needs doing.)

Helix, meanwhile, is studying physical therapy at the local community college and working part-time at his brother Ace's bakery.

It's during one of these shifts that a skinny little twerp comes in and hands him a job application.

(Rent and bills and Needle Needle Needle-)

It doesn't take Helix long to realize something is... off.

Ace tells him not to push it, but-

The kid's a good worker. Great, as a matter of fact. He's never late. Stays past closing, too, if they've had a rush. He tells Helix about his brother and nothing else.

(His brother hasn't come to visit.)

Everything that's not sold at the end of the day gets packaged up and given out. They only toss in the dumpster what's really, truly inedible- stuff that got dropped in the kitchen, scraps left over from customers-

He thinks it's raccoons, at first, until he peers in and sees Stitch flatten himself against a heap of bags in the corner.

They package up leftovers for him, after that. A bit more than leftovers, maybe. Ace sets aside sandwiches. Helix buys him a thermos and tells him it's been in the lost and found for over a year. They make sure he eats.

(Needle's getting transferred out of the ICU.)

Stitch is trying. He's doing everything he can, and more besides. But Needle's life is too expensive and he's buckling under the weight.

(He hasn't even grieved. Not really. No room. No time.)

Eventually, something has to give.

He does.

(He hadn't expected someone to be there to catch him.)

Featuring:

Helix stumbling into adopting first one, then two idiot kids

Ace being a supportive brother

Needle finding his way home

Mace Windu as Needle's (unfairly attractive, Helix thinks) neurologist

Obi-Wan as a hospital social worker who gets assigned Needle's file

Cody as Obi-Wan's husband, Helix's cousin, and children's book author (Stitch's favorite)

(listen I am WEAK for author!Cody, truly)

(Helix was totally the one who got them together and he regrets it every day of his life.)

Sheev Palpatine as the epitome of the evil of the American healthcare system

The Melidaan crew running a long-term, non-profit care facility that offers both in-patient and out-patient rehab services

16.) What are your writing strengths?

(I'VE PUT TOO MUCH THOUGHT INTO THIS. SHIT.)

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

I am, apparently, really good at writing breakdowns. >:3

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Dialogue does not come easily to me. I have to work a bit to hit my stride. But I think it turns out well enough!

Hm. Coming from a purely technical perspective here, I think the reader should be able to understand everything that's spoken in a fic. If a character says something in another language, then I think the best way to convey that is, "X muttered something Y didn't catch," or, if the listener recognizes that it's at least in another language, "X muttered something in French."

If the reader should understand it, then something along the lines of: "'I knew we shouldn't have trusted him,' X muttered in French."

If the POV character doesn't understand the language, it doesn't make sense to provide the reader with a perfect transliteration of what the other character is saying. The character wouldn't have that knowledge. It can really take me out of the fic when two characters suddenly start conversing in written-out sentences in another language, and I have to scroll all the way down to the footnotes for translations.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

But then again, that's just my opinion- I'm sure others have their own thoughts on this!

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written?

Harry Potter.

Hell, I have to say like lightning changing hands, if only because whatever fic I'm writing at the moment is my favorite. It's the act of creation that does it for me!

(Also because it's such a good opportunity to explore so many relationship dynamics.)

No-pressure tags for @jedi-enthusiast, @themonopolyhat, @shadow-pixelle, and @foreverchangingfandomsao3!

[mightbeorphanedidk]

Orpahnnedd

Where is my next plastered smile chaprwe

Please imdting

This messaging is evidemce im dying

Qiehrw its is

LMFAO

Truth be told I haven't even STARTED... I've been drafting the other therapist fic and then after I started writing a fic exploring my own stuff. Been busy recently catching up on stuff I've missed in school, so I haven't gotten a lot of writing done. I find that starting chapters are always the hardest to do, because I don't know where to start; But I'm planning to start right now, I was just checking my inboxes lol

In apology I'll give you guys a lill looksie at the draft.

as you can see my drafts are meticulously planned and organised

[spacemooshroom]

I can see through you

Chapter 1 (you're here) Chapter 2

Satan/gn! MC (they/them pronouns)

Third person POV (both Satan and MC)

2280 words

Kind of angst?? I guess?? It's more of an exploration of Satan and MC's feelings at the beginning of Nightbringer

At first, MC was far more concerned about going back to their time rather than rebuilding their relationships, but Nightbringer, the cause of all their current troubles, had specifically "explained" that rebuilding their relationships was exactly what they had to do.

And it wasn't exactly easy.

The hardest person to get close to was, in fact, the person in a situation similar to theirs:

Satan.

Uhh not really spoilers tbh except for a brief mention about Simeon's situation in the late lessons of the og Obey me and uhh spoilers for one of the early lessons in NB? Early as in around lesson 8 I can't be bothered to check which one rn

This is my first time posting my writing anywhere so please be nice lmao

Also english isn't my first language so there's that

Yeah so I haven't gotten very far in Nightbringer but I got this idea about how Satan and MC were in similar situations in NB and thus this was born

This part is purely platonic but I do intend to make it romantic as it goes on so yeah enjoy :))

It was quite a bizarre situation.

Bizarre as in familiar and unfamiliar all the same.

MC couldn't help being reminded of when they first arrived at the Devildom- as a human exchange student and not as a lost and confused demon; Lucifer and his brothers were wary of them again, Luke was complaining about the demons, Simeon was trying to make the best of a bad deal, Diavolo and Barbatos seemed all too pleased with the situation MC had found themselves in, and Solomon was... still shady.

All of that felt familiar, but unfamiliar feelings started with their new room, at their new house, with their new roommate.

Who would have thought MC would come to miss the ruckus at the House of Lamentation?

And sure, it was funny to see Mammon and Luke bicker with each other; the young angel calling Mammon all sorts of pg-7 insults while the demon answered back with the same type of insults, but MC felt a pang of pain in their chest every time it was at them who Luke looked at with fear in his eyes, when it used to be them who Luke would go at seeking refugee from the demons "torturing" him.

And seeing Simeon so nostalgic felt strange as well, especially knowing the fate that the Simeon from their time fared.

It once was MC who asked millions of questions to Diavolo and Barbatos, while it was now the pair who tried to pry answers from them; answers they either didn't have or were strictly forbidden by Solomon to share.

Lying to all of them, to their family was the worst feeling in the world.

And even after revealing the truth about their nature, they still felt guilt.

And it felt even worse to see everyone around them with their already built relationships, something MC would have to make from scratch all over again.

At first, MC was far more concerned about going back to their time rather than rebuilding their relationships, but Nightbringer, the cause of all their current troubles, had specifically "explained" that rebuilding their relationships was exactly what they had to do.

And it wasn't exactly easy.

The hardest person to get close to was, in fact, the person in a situation similar to theirs:

Satan.

The young demon wanted nothing to do with his "brothers" or the angels or the demon prince and his butler or the shady sorcerer said butler hated for some unknown reason.

And especially, he wanted nothing to do with his "attendant" who was supposed to help him around the Devildom.

Satan didn't want help.

He wanted the exact opposite, in fact.

Rage consumed him day and night. His own rage confused him and exhausted him.

His mere existence was as exhausting for him as it was for his brothers.

None of them wanted to care for him, and the feeling was mutual.

What did Satan truly want? He didn't know, but he did know that whatever was going on in his life at the moment was not it.

Half his life wasn't even his own, it was part of an angel-turned-demon who due to his rage, created a being on his own and had the pride to call his, his brother.

Satan loathed Lucifer as much as he loathed himself. Hating Lucifer made his rage complete; his whole existence, his whole being was consumed by his own rage.

And he was punished by his rage.

Punished by his own nature.

Satan felt as if his brothers hated his mere existence, as if all they could make out of him was his rage.

Was it all that made him?

His rage? His resentment?

He wished he knew.

He felt like a stranger in his own body, in his own mind.

He hated feeling this way. He hated feeling like an extension of someone's worst feelings, and he absolutely despised anyone else viewing him as such.

He was a stranger in his own body, in his own mind, in his own family.

And MC could relate to that.

The way they presented themselves to the brothers and to everyone else made them feel strange, distant, different.

They were both strangers in the place they were placed at, neither of them feeling like they belonged, neither of them wanting to belong, yet both of them being forced to find themselves amongst everyone else.

MC knew how Satan felt. They knew very well about Satan's insecurities and fears, as he had laid them out to them.

He didn't feel like a stranger in his family in the present time anymore, yet MC recalled Satan telling them just how horrible it was for him when he was just created.

They could see it in him, how he would purposely distance himself from his family so as to not make them boil over, to not make himself boil over.

And they hated seeing him like this. Satan did distance himself from his brothers every once in a while in their time; whenever he felt close to bursting, but he was able to control it fairly well.

But in the past? Satan was still figuring out the mechanics of being alive and how to handle himself.

Which is why more often than not he ended up being chained up in a closet by his brothers.

MC empathized with him the most. And so they tried to get close to him.

But he didn't make it easy.

He hated the idea of being alive, yet he hated the idea of having someone help him how the whole being alive thing worked.

He snapped at MC every time they approached him, and he did everything he could to stay away from them.

But they didn't make it easy.

..................................................................

It was still early. The sky was still an orange-purple-ish tone, and the birds were starting to sing their song. Half of his brothers were still in bed, yet there it was, the knocking on the door Satan had come to know.

Tap-tippytaptap-tap-tap

The knocking on the door he had come to hate.

He let out a groan from his place in the dining room, where he sat alone, and walked down the hallway to receive the attendant.

When they first started coming, Satan didn't even respond to their knocking, but he had learned that if they were left waiting at the door for long enough, their tap-tippytaptap-tap-tap's only got louder and louder the longer they were left waiting.

If they were waiting long enough, they just started calling their D.D.D.s.

One by one.

Besides, if he purposely left the attendant waiting outside, Lucifer would just yell at him as soon as he found out they weren't let in as soon as they arrived.

Yeah, Satan didn't need to deal with the guy's yelling so early on.

So, despite his disgust and complete discontent to receive them, he went to open the door.

And there he found them.

His annoying attendant, a smile on their face as soon as the door was opened.

"Good morning, Satan! How did you sleep today?"

Their cheery tone annoyed him to no end.

"Good"

It wasn't true, but he had learned that if he told the truth, and told them that he was plagued by nightmares about memories that didn't even belong to him all night long, they would just start asking him questions about his wellbeing and listing remedies he could try against insomnia.

Their smile just got wider.

"Great!"

After that, they both went silent.

If they were expecting him to ask how their night was, they'd be waiting until the cows came home.

Despite his reluctance to have a conversation, their smile never faded, and they went on to say:

"So, may I come in?"

Satan shrugged, feeling the anger bubbling up in him already.

He stepped aside without saying a word, and they entered the house with a bounce to their step.

He shut the door behind him, and turned around to go back to the dining room when the attendant said:

"By the way, I have something for you"

He turned around, a dumbfounded "what?" leaving him and a puzzled expression on his face.

It was only then that he noticed the book they were carrying.

He approached them, eyeing the book warily.

It was fairly old and torn, the leather covers eaten away by time.

MC presented the book to him, a grin plastered on their face at his curious expression.

On the cover, there was the engraving of a cat, laying down on a meadow.

Satan traced the engraving with his fingers, mesmerized by the creature portrayed in it.

"What is...?"

"Solomon has a lot of books in Cocytus Hall," they started explaining. "I was looking around the library the other day, when I found this book. I asked Solomon about it, and he explained to me that it's the story of the day-to-day life of a man through his cat's eyes"

Satan's eyes started to glimmer with their words.

"I skimmed through it, and found it quite interesting. It depicts the life of this man, with a life most mundane, but from his cat's point of view, his life suddenly becomes much more exciting"

"Solomon is also a fan of cats, you see," they smiled. "He read this book a long time ago, and when he explained to me what it was about, the first thing I thought about was you"

Satan started at their words.

"Me?" He asked. "Why would you think of me?"

The attendant giggled. By Diavolo, he hated them.

"What do you mean 'why would I think of you?'? I recall how fascinated you were with that cat we found a few days ago"

Satan recalled their meeting. They talked for a while and he got to pet a creature he had come to love in a short amount of time, a cat.

"I assume you already made your research about cats," They were right, of course, but why would they assume that about him? And how were they right about him? "So, I figured, now that you know more about them, you'd be interested in this book"

They presented him the book once again, and he hesitated before taking it.

"Is it really okay for me to have it? I mean, I don't want Solomon up my ass for keeping one of his books"

They let out a laugh, and their eyes crinkled on the corners and glimmered with mirth.

Foul.

"I specifically asked him if you could have it, and he assured me he was happy you'd have it. He did, however, ask me to ask you to tell him what you thought about the book after you read it"

He scoffed.

"Sure, I'll let him know"

Their eyes softened.

"And do let me know if you enjoy the book as well. I haven't read it myself, so I might ask you to lend it to me once you finish it"

He shrugged again.

"Sure, I will"

They gave him a smile and then they both went silent once again.

"I'll go check on Lucifer, then"

Like clockwork, every morning they were there, they would first go to Lucifer's office to ask him about their plans that day, so they could schedule their day according to theirs.

Satan nodded, and they started walking down the hallway with that bounce on their step again when he croaked:

"MC?"

They turned around, shock in their face that went away as fast as it appeared.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for, uh- the book"

What?

They grinned at him.

"You're welcome!"

They turned back around and disappeared around a corner.

What was that?

Why did he stutter?

And why did he thank them?

He looked down at the book in his hands, and stared at the intricate design on the cover.

He opened the book and skimmed through the pages. Despite the cover appearing old and withered, its pages were in perfect condition.

Perhaps Solomon had placed a spell on it to keep its contents intact.

Whatever the case, Satan was glad to have something new to read.

It was written in a human language he identified as sumerian.

He was still perfecting his human language knowledge, but he felt confident enough to be able to read it.

And even then, he enjoyed a challenge.

He couldn't wait to get started in his new book.

He walked the path to his room, a light smile on his face.

..................................................................

"Sure, I'd love to give it to him, but don't you want to read it first?"

"Solomon," they started "I don't know sumerian"

"And are you sure Satan does?"

"The Satan from our time definitely does"

Solomon was taken aback. "How do you know he knows sumerian?"

"Because he once lent me a book that was written in sumerian, and when I tried to explain to him that I didn't know the language, he just said: 'what do you mean you don't know sumerian? You're a human, and besides, sumerian is very easy to learn'"

"He's right, though," Solomon teased "what are they teaching in school nowadays that you don't know sumerian?"

"It's a dead language!"

"Latin is also a dead language, but you do study it in school"

"Okay, yeah, I'm not doing this"

Solomon chuckled and ruffled their hair.

"You know I'm just teasing"

They rolled their eyes and smiled.

"So, can I take it to Satan then?"

"Of course" he smiled "I'm sure he'll like the gesture"

MC sighed. "I really hope so"

..................................................................

"So do you want me to teach you sumerian?"

"I do need you to help me read the book once Satan finishes it"

"So you do want me to teach you sumerian"

"Okay, fine! Whatever!"

..................................................................

This had me searching for the world's oldest languages and yeah sumerian is one of them, if you didn't know

This is me trying to make a sense of the canon timeline even though it is a complete mess but anyway yeah Solomon managed to own a book written in sumerian. Don't think too much about it

I'd really appreciate feedback and just comments so if you have anything to say just do so thank you :))

[moonlightguidesky]

Heyyy!!!! New chapter released (wrote like weeks ago, please just go with it.).

Anyways, as always let me know what I can improve on. Repost if you can, as always have a good day, afternoon or night.

WARNING: METION OF BLOOD, ALCOHOL, ABUSE, DRUGS, CURSING, and GUN Violence

You have been warned about the contents of this chapter.

Chapter 2: The kid Problem

Marc wakes up gasping for air, his chest rising up and down heavily as he panted.

He sat up quickly before he looked around his apartment, the apartment itself barely looked homely.

A couple books and maps he had traded with ration cards. The only real color in the damn place was the couch which was blue.

He sighs as his heart calms down now, another nightmare.

"Always the damn same one."

He grumbles under his breathe as he gets up and walks to his small kitchen before he feels a hard tug on his ankle and the next thing he knows he is flat on the ground as his cheek burned.

"Steven! Again, seriously!?"

Marc exclaimed as he pushed himself off the floor, a scowl making its way onto his face.

"Mate, you had it coming. You broke your promise, you know I hate it when you do that."

Steven surfaced as Marc looked at the dirty mirror they owned with his eyebrows furrowed.

Steven had his arms crossed against his chest with one lifted eyebrow clearly not sorry about what he did.

"Look, it wasn't that I didn't want you to front. Just, he needed me Steven."

Marc tried not to get angry, he knew he screwed up, he always does.

He looked at the cuffs that were on his ankle and already went to look for the keys. He lifted the floor board and there was the silver key to his freedom.

He uses the key and gets his ankle out of the cuffs before he got up again and rubbed his head.

The smell of liquor still hanging in the back of his throat. He overdid it again, he always does when it gets bad again.

"So, was the whiskey worth it?"

Steven said almost scolding knowing that this was hurting not only him but Marc's body.

"Can we not talk about it, I already have a headache."

Marc sighed as he felt like shit right now and didn't need a reminder of how shit it was to be like this.

"I wonder why."

Steven mumbled as his head lowered and he shook his head as he left the mirror into another space, Marc's jaw harden as he tried his hardest to not punch the mirror with his fist.

He tells himself that he doesn't want to have to replace the mirror again, also he didn't want to be alone.

Steven and his relationship was damaged after everything that happened in the last 15 years.

Fight after fight yet by the end of the day they had each other and that's all they really had.

Wendy and dad weren't in the picture anymore. The smacks and vemoned words that came out of the women they called their mother left her mouth he knew she would never be the same.

Steven,eventually, after lots of convincing had finally gave into to the fact that they had no mother anymore. Their dad was not any better honestly, he tried to keep the beating to a minimum but it could only hold on for so long.

So when they turned 18, they went to join FEDRA and stayed employed for a while before he got into a nasty fight and was terminated from the job.

It's been 14 years since they last saw the people they once called parents. Every once in a while though he would just follow them, more his dad to make sure no one tried to hurt them.

Eventually Layla came into their life for a while and things were to some type of normalcy, domestic even, of course they had to skrew that up too.

Both went their separate ways after a nasty argument and haven't seen each other in a year. Both men still worried about her, they know she is capable of taking care of herself, it's one of the reasons they fell for her.

Still, that didn't mean their wasn't any worry that she could have gotten killed of murdered after they separated. She had left England to go to Egypt.

Her strength was something they admired, how reliable she was, how she always had their backs. But more than anything it was her heart, how even after everything she has been through she was able to still love them for wow they were and how they were.

Sometimes they wished they could have worked it out better.

"Ey, hermano, door."

A voice called out and there was Jake, they had figured out Jake a couple years into their time in FEDRA, he took over when an invasion of infected managed to escape. He kept them alive and they were thankful for that.

"Shit, who?"

Marc whispered as his head pounded again at the noise of his door being knocked on.

"Marc Spector! "

A voice boomed, a familiar sense of dread filled the apartment. It was Khonshu, fuck.

"I'm coming! I'm coming."

He shouted as he walked over to the door, he really didn't want to but didn't exactly have much choice since he knew the damn man wouldn't stop the banging.

He took a deep breathe before opening the door and in came Khonshu, the man had platinum white hair and his eyes were empty with almost not shine to them like he had no eyes.

His clothes match his personality honestly, he was wearing some black jeans with a white button up that had grim and some pink splatters which he knows where it came from.

His jacket has a patch of a moon on it.

"Where were you yesterday night, we had somewhere to be!?"

The man shouted as Marc closed the door and locked it, he knew what was coming, all of them did.

"Look, I just got sidetracked, okay? Something came up and something was going on with Ste-"

He didn't even get to finish before the sound of Khonshu's cane hit the floor of the apartment was shaking slightly.

"You swore he wouldn't be a problem, that he would cooperate with this. Maybe you should have had Lockly front more often, that is a man who can get the jobs done quickly."

Khonshu retorted as he looked out the window and turned to Marc before motioning for him to come closer.

Marc looked at him before he walked over to thw window and seeing people, just people.

"You see these people, they rely on us to keep them safe. You are in debt to me Marc Spector, I saved your life and therefore you must now save theirs for me."

Khonshu said with no hesitation, sure Khonshu could be an asshole but he was okay every once in a while like this.

Sure he had imprisoned Marc and the alters in his escapades of "saving" people but he really did want to just help, he was just really shitty at doing it.

"Fine, fine. I promise it won't be a problem again."

Marc finally replied as he sighed and Khonshu only hummed as he made his way to exit the apartment building.

"Let us see Marc Spector, tick tok. Make sure not to skip this times patrol, I will see you then."

Khonshu finally said before he closed the door behind him. Marc sighed, he really hated the guy sometimes.

"He's an asshole."

Steven remarks, Marc holds back a smirk.

"One thing we can actually agree on."

Marc shakes his head as he goes and starts to get ready for the day of labor he's gonna have to do.

"El tiene razón."

Jake voice echoed in the back of their head. At least this is something they could all agree on.

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

Jake shoveled the ashes from the firey pit that raged on, buring their skin but not enough actually do damage.

"Ey, Marc. Got a minute."

A man called out, Jake's eyes went to the back of his head as Marc fronted. Marc blinked as their eyes focused again and turned around to face the man that called for him.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Marc answered as he pulled down the bandana that covered their nose and mouth from all the ashes that were made from the burned body of infected and Ammits followers.

"I have a job you might be interested in."

The man whispered as he slipped a paper into Marc's hand.

Marc sighed as he pocketed the note into his jeans.

"I told you I don't do that type of work anymore."

He whispered back as he bent down to "tie his shoes" and the man looked down and did the same action.

"It's good pay man, lots of ration cards and maybe even a bit more."

The man said as he tried to convince Marc to do the job, he and this man didn't really know each other very well but the guy did owe him something for saving his life.

"Look man, I told you I can't take the job. No matter how good the pay is."

Marc remarked as he got back up from "tieing his shoes" so that he could back to work.

"Just, just think about it. Alright."

The man muttered before he went to the other side where another hall of bodies came in trucks to be burned.

He sighs as he grabbed the shovel again and starts to dig the ashes and putting them into barrels.

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

Drip

Drip

Her brown eyes watched as the water leaked from the floor above and dropped in the wet puddle that formed.

"Nomas querría ir a dormir, es mucho para pedir."

Katalina groaned as she looked at the chains they put on her, her ankles and wrist were starting to bruise red from the amount of times she tried to slide them off.

She slouched on the wooden walls as the rumble and sound of FEDRA trucks were coming and going.

The places wasn't the best, but honestly better than the hole or cells they put the orphans if they couldn't follow the rules drilled into their brains.

Creak

The sound of the door opening got her attention as she scooted back into a corner and got up from where she was sitting.

Two people walked in, one male, one female. The female had a sort of limp on her left foot, her eyes seemed lively yet so dull.

The man had a scar across his face, a mustache and a beard to compliment it as well, his eyes seemed more glossy along with slight puffiness to them.

"We are here to test you again."

The women's started as she has a clipboard.

"How many more time do I have to do this?"

Katalina asked as her eyebrows furrowed with both frustration and impatience. She has been here for 3 weeks now in this room and it was starting to get to her.

"Just until we know."

The man came forward slightly which made the girl take a small step back, the two adults noticed and took a step forward.

"Why do you always have to get closer?"

The girl asked not really as a question but more as a confused threat of some way.

"testing something."

The women said and she clicked the pen and started to take notes on the piece of paper stuck to the clipboard.

"No soy tu maldito guinea cerdo."

She grumbles under her breath as she picks at her nails, she's been doing that alot. Honestly she has nothing better to do right now and it went on like that for the weeks she's been here.

"What was that?"

The man spoke up which startled the girl for a second before she looked at the guy and responded.

"Nothing."

The guy sighed as he rubbed circles at his temples.

"Alright, let start. One hand steady and coun-"

The lady started before she was intrupted.

"Count from 1 to 10, I know. We've done this hundreds of times already."

Katalina says as she puts her arm out and starts to count, she finishes quickly.

"Alright then, now speak sp-"

"Spanish, I get it. Don't need to keep repeating it."

Katalina remarked .

"Me nombre is Lisa, tengo trece años."

She replied as her boredom and tiredness was kicking in.

"Alright, that's it."

The man said as he put down something from behind his pocket, it was good for the evening. A can of peaches and water.

"Great, a feast for a queen."

Her sarcastic remark gets her a look before she put her hands up as of saying "I'll back off.".

They look at each other before a knock takes their attention away, with a small "Come in." was heard and suddenly a man with cane came in.

He was dress with red button up shirt and brown pants to help contrast the tan color jacket he had on.

His cane made small noise as it the ground softly he came into the room, his hair was pretty long and almost looked slight disheveled.

"How is she doing?"

The man said as the others hand him the clipboard and he starts to read it before he nods and they nod back before leaning in and whispering something she couldn't make out.

The other two left the room and it was only Katalina and this man who looked over the clipboard again before looking back at her.

"How are you doing then, Katalina?"

Her heart skipped for a second, how the hell did he know her name?!

Never once has she given out her actual name.

"Como sabías es-"

The man chuckled lightly before he sat down across from her.

"I know a lot of things child, many, many things that many wished they could possess."

The man said as he reached behind his back was pulling something out of his back.

Katalina senses went off and she closed her hand into a fist, her nails dug into the palm of her hand, her knuckles white.

Then man noticed this.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, just wanna return something that I believe is yours."

The man said as he pulled out a picture, a locket, and a small switchblade.

Katalina eyes widen at the sight of her most precious objects, the only picture of her family that was given to her, a locket that her first love bestfriend gave to her, and the only weapon her parents left her with.

The man gaze was on her reaction, he got what he wanted.

"Do you want them back?"

The man had said softly as he looked deep into her brown eyes that were slightly softer, more emotional.

Vulnerable.

"Y-yes, yes I want them back."

She stuttered for a second but quickly regained herself.

"You can have them."

He simply said, she was hesitant and skeptical on his words that lingered in her ears.

Have them?

She can just, take them?

No consequences, not "but" or "if"?

Nothing?

"Go on, take it."

The man encouraged as he gently laid them on the ground in front of her, easy for her grab.

Her breathe hitched, she reached out for a second before looking back at him, nothing, she couldn't read him.

"I don’t bite, I swear."

He adds as his gaze lingered on her.

She is quick to grab the things before he second guess to grab her things and held them close to her chest, to her heart as it thumped hard for the return of something that truly only belonged to her.

She puts the necklace back on and the locket is tucked into her shirt, the picture is in her clutch and the switchblade was in her back pocket of her navy jeans.

"Who are you?"

She asked as she looked at the man, really looked at him, he had slight eye bags, his posture was almost straight but also crouched, the cane had a wooden carving of a crocodile on its handle.

The man smiles.

"My name is Arthur Harrow, I am the right had man of the organization that's gonna save and clean the world."

Arthur answers as he puts his hand out to shake hers.

She can't really understand why she a little scared of him, he hasn't done anything really since talking to her so why does she have a sense of dread in her stomach.

She slowly leans in and shakes his hand, the sleeves that covered his arm was slightly lifted and the tattoo of scales is there or from what she can make out.

"Your timsaeh people?"

She stated as she takes back her hand.

"I am indeed."

He answered back as he lifted the sleeve up to show the scale in full. He seemed proud to be called that almost.

"I am sure you have multiple questions."

He says as he scoots a little closer and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I will try my best to give you answers to any question you give me."

They looked at each other in the eye for a long time before she is the first to look away down at the ground, she thinks.

And thinks before nodding and looking back at him.

"Okay."

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

Jake huffed as the sound of the alarm went off to tell everybody that working hours were over.

He pulled the bandana off and walked over where the rest of the workers were heading to get their pay for the day.

"Next!"

The holder said as Jake was next and waited for the guy to give his ration cards of the day.

The holder grabbed a 20, two 5, and four 1's.

"Here's your pay."

The Holder said as Jake took them and counted them, less than usual.

"Any better paying jobs tomorrow?"

Jake asked as he put the ration cards in his small wallet that they had managed to find in the garbage one day, and in good condition too.

"Probably the one with the shit, if your up for it?"

The man said looking up at him for a response.

"Really, shit. No way we are doing that job, that would take weeks go get rid of the smell! We barely even get rid of the smell of burned ashes off our clothes."

Steven said in the back of the mind, Steven was willing to work hard, they all know it, but even then there was a line he crosses and it was this.

"Any other trabajo?"

Jake sighed as he put one hand on his hip.

"Well, there is one with electricity, dangerous but pays better than this."

The Holder says as he looked up at Jake who is deciding, it's better pay but it would put them in danger.

"I'll go with the shit."

Jake says and the Holder nods before ripping a slip off and handing it to him.

"Take that tomorrow to sector 5 and they will give you a position to work at."

The Holder yelled for the next person and Jake left, he knew Steven would probably complain and maybe even Marc but it would pay better and less dangerous.

"Why did you take the job!"

Steven exclaimed as his image slid on and off the mirrors and window that he passed.

"Because the amount we are making isn't enough hermano, nosotros necesitamos otro trabajo que pagarán bien."

Jake says as he looks at pair of gloves that caught his attention.

They have enough to make trades and for smuggling still, so he buys it the gloves for 2 ration cards. He thanks the seller and put the new gloves on putting his old ones in his pocket.

"Did you just spend 2 ration cards on another pair of gloves, I swear you ware those our way too fast man."

Steven comments.

"You have your books, I have my glove, Déjame en paz Steven."

Jake says as he walks into the allyway and makes his way to the place where smugglers thrive on the ones willing to pay the right price.

Jake finally leaned against his usual spot where people can find him usually, he waits and not a second later as a FEDRA soilder comes over looking almost new at this whole thing.

"Your the guy with the goods, right?"

The man asked in a hushed tone, Jake could see this guy was new to this, he wanted to mess with him but was too tried right now.

"Yeah, I am. What are you looking for?"

He ask as the guy slips him a piece a paper.

What was it with people slipping paper to them?

Jake took the paper and opened it, the guy fidget with his vest before looking around.

"So you got it or no man?"

The guy was getting inpatient now.

"Sí, le tengo."

Jake answered putting the paper in his back pocket.

"Does it look like I know Spanish man!"

The guy was getting on his nerves but he tried to calm himself down. There doesn't need to be drama right now.

He pulls out a baggy from the pocket of his jacket and out came the blue pills.

The man sighed in relief about to grab the bag before Jake moved it away.

"Gotta pay Hombre, can't give you it until you pay."

The guy eventually scoffed before digging into his pants pocket and pulls put a wad of ration cards.

"How much?"

Jake saw the ration cards, enough to maybe get them through a couple months.

"Three 20's, six 5, and eight 1's."

He said as he put his hand out, the man just nodded before handing him the pills and Jake takes the ration cards.

"I'm gonna need the bag back though."

He added as he counted to make sure it was the right amount, it was. The man may have been new but he has what they need to keep them afloat and some what comfortable still.

The man dumps the pills into his vest pocket and gives the plastic bag back, Jake nods in a silent thank you before the man comes close.

Jake get ready the beat the absolute shit out this man before words were said.

"Don't come out for a couple nights, FEDRA soilders aren't right in the head right now. Might make a mistake, easy to make one in the dark."

The man whispered before walking away, Jake looked as the man walked away. He unclentch his jaw and fixed the shirt.

"Maldita sea."

He grumbled under his breathe as walks away, it's almost time to get to patrol they need to get moving before Khonshu yells at them again.

‐------------------------------------------------------

"This is Cameron, Cameron this is Lisa."

Harrow says as he introduced Katalina to another one of "helpers" of the place.

They have walked around for a whole now, she kepted rubbing her wrist as she nodded in acknowledgement, she needed an out.

She can't stay here, FEDRA will kill her if they find out she left. Maybe they would hung her, beat the ever living shit out of her even just to get the anger out.

"And here is the cafeteria where we keep the helpers fed, are you hungry?"

He asked as he got a plate and handed it to her, she slowly reached out for it and took it as she got into the line and he got behind her as his hands were on her shoulders.

"Give this young lady our best please Beth."

The man said to the younger looking lady who just smiled and nodded before grabbing a big metal spoon and scooped up a chunk of soup.

"Thank you."

Katalina whispered as she looked at the soup, looked like tomato soup, haven't seen that one in a while.

He gave a small nod in thanks before pushing her slightly to start moving which she did, slowly her tray filled up with 2 biscuits and an apple.

How the hell they had fresh fruit and biscuits was a damn mystery to her.

Soon they sat down at a small table near some statue, it was a statue of a crocodile that held a scale in one hand.

She looked at it before she looked down at her food, this was the most food they have given her in the 3 weeks she's been here.

"You can eat, no one is gonna take it away from you."

Arthur said as he pushed the tray closer to her, she was skeptical about it though, everyone is hungry. She could see that people were staring at her and him.

He notices and looks at the people who look away immediately and go back to their conversations.

"They just haven't seen you before, no need to worry."

He said as he nudged his head a little to signal to look at the bowl of soup and not the people looking at her, their eyes burned into the back of her head to her body.

She picks up the spoon and holds it close to her mouth before looking at everybody else, they were eating fine so she takes a bite.

The soup was rich and flavored to the right amount or as much as soup can be flavored. She hasn't had anything this nice in, well, never?

"Gracias."

She says as she eats more going for more of the soup, they sit in almost comfortable silence.

She feels a little bad for being skeptical about the guy, he hasn't done anything to her yet, maybe.

"Aren't you hungry?"

She ask him as she shallows the warm soup down and wipes her mouth with her hand.

He hands her a napkin before he responding.

"I am alright, thank you for worrying about me."

She grabs the napkin and wipes her mouth with it, she nods before thinking. She has one more biscuit to spare, she already full anyways.

Grabbing the biscuit gently and held it out for him to grab.

"Here, you can have this. Estoy llena."

She reassured as she pushed the biscuits towards him for him to grab.

He took it from her hands and smiled softly, it was nice.

"Thank you."

He said as started to eat the biscuit and she looked around for anything or anywhere there was a weak spot here.

She couldn't stay here, she has to go back.

30 min later...

They were walking up a hallway, they had made their way back to where she was kept, she kinda was glad as messed up as it was.

She was use to, this. Even if she hated the damn leaks it was something she was familiar with.

"I will come by later to come check on you, alright."

Harrow said as he opened the door and Katalina looked at him for a second before nodding and went inside the room.

"Buenos noches Katalina."

Was all he said before closed the door behind her not even noticing the way she turned around, a chill went down her spine.

That usually was a nice thing to say, even a more enduring thing to say. The way he said it though didn't feel good, didn't have the warm essence to it.

She didn't even know how the hell the man managed to make those words sound like soul less lies.

She sat down on the floor and looked out the window that showed the evening sky, the colors of orange and yellow coming together to make a warm essence over this dull gray world she was brought into.

She laid on the wall and pulled herself up against it a little so that her back hit the wall.

Taking off her sweater and using it as a pillow, she wasn't given much of a living space to really get rest but the corners were comfortable.

1 hour later...

BOOM

The room shook as Katalina was woken up by the sounds of gunshots and screams of people.

The sound of a thousand of footsteps were everywhere that she could almost feel them. They made her stomach turn.

Maybe 5 minutes later it was silent, completely and utterly silent.

She feels for her switchblade and gets ready to fight if she has to, she knows she probably will have to.

Slowly walk towards the floor as it slightly creaks with every contact the shoes and the floor has. She leans in and can hear footsteps, two to four people are still here.

She hears one is getting close, she'll just stab them and then get out of here.

Once whoever was on the other side was close enough she opened the door and gets ready to stab whoever was on the other side.

However she unsucessed at it and got thrown to the wall, her back stung now. She needed to get up before whoever she tried to stab now tried to return the favor back.

She looks up to see a man, his hair was curly and short and his eyes were like hers, or whatever she remembers since the last time she looked in a mirror.

The brown eyes started back at her confused before looking down and seeing the switchblade, she saw it too and tried to grab it but he got to it first and kicked it away.

"Asshole."

She grumbles as she pulls herself up and looks at the guy who eyebrows were furrowed and he had a gun.

He has a gun, she now noticed the blood on his fist, the beaded sweat that was falling from his forehead.

His attire wasn't something she had seen before but has heard, a man with white attire would come during the night and "protect" the different divisions of the QZ.

They called him Moonknight due to the fact most his weapons were the shape of moons.

Maybe calling the guy who looks like he went through hell an asshole wasn't her best idea.

The man still has the gun pointed at her and she just stares at it, the hole in the middle pointed to her chest.

If he did shoot her at least it wouldn't be too painful and end quickly. She puts her hand up in surrender.

They just stare at each other, brown on brown. Both had slight eyebags to compliment each other.

"Who are you?"

The man said as the sound of footsteps were heard, both heads turned to the direction.

"Marc Spector."

They both recongnised the voice, Harrow.

Another sign of footsteps appeared and a man in almost just white and back came in with a gun.

"The 4 and 5th floor have been cleared out, Spector we must leave. FEDRA might be here soon!"

The man said as he turned around to see the scene of Marc with a gun pointed to a teenage girl who seems confused and her hands up above her head.

Then there was Arthur with one of his men.

"Arthur Harrow."

"Khonshu, Marc."

The whole thing was awkward, everything about this was confusing, they had history but Katalina wasn't sure how.

"Me, now what in the fucking hell is going on?!"

She exclaimed as she put her hands down in exhaustion and honestly tired of people in a whole.

"I strongly urge you to point the gun away from the child, Marc."

Harrow said as he stepped closer which in turn got two guns pointed towards him instead.

He slowly put his hands.

" Keep that gun at me, not her."

He says as he looked at her and she looked at him with clear annoyance in her eyes.

Marc looks at her one more times before looking at Khonshu.

"So this is who that maggot went to trade our supplies for! The Che Guevara of Cairo."

Khonshu retorted as he stepped forward, now next to Katalina and Marc who watched the interaction.

"How I haven't misses that voice. Let just say that he didn't like the response he got from us when we saw what he brought to us."

Harrow says as he winced and put a hand to his side, Katalina finally could see that small drops of blood that had fallen from him.

"Oh, shit."

Her voice softer and eyes filled with concern as she took in the injured man, her eyebrow furrowed as she was about to get up.

Harrow looked at what she was about to do and shook his head which made her falter.

"On another note though."

She speaks up on which attention is all on her again.

"I agree with the old man over here, FEDRA would have heard all that gun fire so maybe get this going or we are all going to die like this."

She states as she stands up and rubs her shoulder, it wouldn't really bruise but it would be sore for a while.

"Old!" Khonshu exclaimed.

"The child is right. We we're gonna have her out of here tonight."

Harrow says which caught her attention.

"You never said anything about moving me?!"

"Sorry kid, thought you'd run."

She sighs and rubbed circles on her forehead.

"What does this have to do with us?"

Marc asked as he ans Khonshu looked at the girl and then back at Harrow.

"We don't have a group to go and protect her like we had planned, so now I am think you both are gonna do it."

Harrow says as he gets a paper out, it's bloody but still legible.

"Wait a minute!?"

"I'm not gonna go with him!?"

Marc and Katalina shouted at the same time, their reluctants overlapping with each other.

"Listen, if you do this we can not only give you weapons, but also much more. We can show you if want but you have to take her away from here."

Harrow says as he stares at the three who just stand there in shock.

"We aren't babysitters parasites."

Khonshu said as he took a step closer now infront of Marc who is still standing there with a gun held up towards Harrow.

"Not asking you to do charity for me Khonshu, I need you guys to move cargo cause that is what she is to you."

Harrow said as he looked at the girl who eyebrows were furrowed.

"You show me the reward we get for this then I will give you a response. Marc, take the girl back to your apartment and keep her there until I return."

Khonshu said as he lifted his cane and hit it on the ground causing the ground to shake slightly.

Katalina flinched at the noise for a second and so did Marc.

"We are seriously considering this."

Marc whispered to Khonshu as he looked back at the girl who hasn't really moved since getting up.

"Do this before I make you."

Khonshu hissed back at him which made Marc falter.

"Go grab your bag."

Harrow said as the girl just looks at the three men.

"Su pinche madre."

She grumbles under her breathe making sure they still heard her as she goes back into the room she came out of.

They waited until she came out the room again. She comes out with a green jacket and her backpack, she looks at Harrow who just sighs.

"This is for your good kid, trust me. It's better you go with them than with me, for better or worse I am aware of what they are capable of and know they won't let anything happen to you."

Katalina stared at Harrow for a while then at the man next to him, she really has no choice in that matter anyways, it was all planned for her.

"What are they capable of?"

She ask as her eyes stay at him.

"Alot, many things someone your age shouldn't see."

Is all Harrow says to her.

Her gaze goes to the floor before she shakes her head along with a dry chuckle.

"Little too late for that."

She turns around and grabs her switchblade and walking towards the stairs walking over the dead bodies that laid there.

The blood now on her shoes as she see the bloody footsteps that were being left behind now.

Harrow sighs.

"Show me the weapons now."

Khonshu said as he stared at Harrow who nods before walking to another hallway.

"Follow me."

Is all he says before he dissappear.

"Make sure to not let that child out your sights you three, understand."

Khonshu orders as he walks away and follows Harrow.

The men sigh, it was a long night already.

The followed where the girl had went as their shoes were now painted in red sticky blood.

This is the end of chapter 2!!!!

This one took a little longer but I am happy with how is came out!

Anyways, see ya in the next one!!

-Sky 💜

[weministertomonsters]

Werewolf (Camden) x human female reader ~ Part 3

  Heads up, this chapter contains incest. If that's not your cup of tea then it's time to click outta here.

Also, this is (I think) the first time I'm using Y/n. I kind of like it. This way I don't have to find ways to go around mentioning a name nor do I have to give the reader a name that the actual reader may not like!

~•~•~•~

"Calm down, Y/n!" Arch says, grunting as he lifts his unconscious brother off the floor. "He'll be fine."

    "He doesn't look fine to me!" You bawl back. "He looks like he got jumped- Oh my god, are those knife wounds?"

    Arch kicks open the bathroom door open and ease Camden into the bathtub.

    "He's going to shift soon, so I want to get him clean before I take a look at his wounds."

    "Shift? Isn't he already?" You shuffle into the bathroom after Arch, too anxious to do anything else but twist your fingers together.

    "No, he's going to shift into a human form," Arch says, turning on the water and pointing the showerhead at the wall to give it time to warm up.

    "It's a defense mechanism to protect werewolves while they heal."

    "But he's gotten hurt before and he never had to..."

    "He's more than just a little hurt," Arch says tensely.

    "But is he-"

    "Christ Jesus, can you just help me?" Arch snaps, his ears flicking back.

    You're stunned into silence, and simply nod mutely and begin to help remove Camden's ruined clothing. Arch sighs.

    "Sorry."

    "No, it's fine. I always get a little stupid when I'm shocked," you reply. "Seeing him come in and drop like that..."

    "Either way, I shouldn't have yelled," Arch says, adding sheepishly, "I still haven't taken my meds and between the two of you, it's very hard to concentrate."

    "Should I leave? Will that help?"

    "I'm not a caveman," Arch snorts, opening a bottle of bodywash. "Camden needs both of us."

    "Won't the soap get in his cuts?" You ask as he passes it to you.

    "Yes, but he needs to get clean. God knows where he was before this," Arch sighs. "Although I have a pretty good idea..."

    "Um, is this supposed to happen?" You grimace as fur begins to sluice off Camden"s legs.

    "Yes. He's shifting."

    "Okay. Okay, I can do this. All his fur is falling off, but it's fine. It's going to be okay."

    "You're freaking out," Arch says. "Take a deep breath."

    "Okay. Deep breaths," you obey his order, grimacing at the fur sliding down the drain.

    After a few minutes of gently washing your boyfriend down, he begins to look human. His fangs retract and so do his claws. Even his hands and feet look human. For some reason, his facial hair remains. You didn't even know he had any and you laugh slightly at how rugged it makes him look.

    "Is he going to be okay?" You murmur, leaning against Arch, who tenses slightly.

    "This is always the hardest part," he replies. "But our wounds heal best when we let our bodies do the work. In a few hours, he should be much better."

    "Can I get some fresh air?" You squeak because the mingling scent of blood and bodywash is wreaking havoc on your stomach.

    Plus, seeing your boyfriend's wounds slowly stitch themselves together like a sped-up timelapse isn't making you feel any better.

    "Take your time," Arch says. "When his wounds close up a little more, I'll put him in the bed."

    You head into the kitchen and notice the trail of drying blood droplets on the floor. After a few rounds of damp paper towels, the floor is clean. You wash your hands again and at this point, your nerves are through the roof, so you boil some water and brew a herbal tea, hoping to calm your nerves. You take the mug of tea with you and slip into Arch's bedroom. It's very clean, except for the desk in the corner which is a colorful tornado of sketches, tubes of paint, and various handle-less and chipped mugs repurposed as brush holders.

    You pull the duvet back and plump up the pillows. Arch comes in a moment later, with Camden swaddled in a fluffy towel.

    "Thanks," he says to you, carefully putting his brother down.

    "No problem," you respond. "Now what do we do?"

    "You're welcome to stay, Y/n. Camden would like that."

    "Oh, I wouldn't want to impose... Ugh, fine. How can I say no when you look at me like that?" You grumble playfully. "I'm exhausted, though. Is it okay if I sleep over?"

    "My bed is big enough," Arch says, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at his brother.

    You only hesitate for a moment.

    "Okay." You ease onto the bed and curl up next to Camden, staring at his human face.

    He's handsome like this, but you prefer his natural form. You don't mean to fall asleep, but in the end, you do.

    You wake up because you're far too hot. One werewolf is one thing, but two are like a furnace that you don't need. You slowly come back to yourself from your empty dreams, lying there and debating whether to get a glass of water. Suddenly the bed shifts and a cold, wet nose presses against your neck and you flinch, looking up into Camden's eyes. He's back to his werewolf form and he's very quiet, simply gazing at you.

    "Camden?" You whisper, and his ears flick.

    He pulls himself up on his elbows and shakes his fur out, digging his clawed hands into the mattress next to your head. You don't like this quiet version of him, the way he stares like he isn't quite seeing you. You try to sit up, but his lips curl back and he bares his teeth at you. You let out a quiet breath and sink back down slowly.

    "Okay," you whisper to him. "I'm not going to run away."

    Does he know that? Does he even hear you?

    You use your foot to kick the sleeping Arch in the side until he grunts and rolls over, blinking his eyes open sleepily. He takes in the sight of Camden crouched over you, leaning down to bite.

    "Oh shit," he says, and shoves Camden to the side.

    The air is suddenly filled with tension. Camden snarls and lunges at his brother and they fall off the bed, snapping at each other.

    "What are you doing?" You cry out, ripping the bedsheets off of you and leaning over the edge of the bed.

    "Keeping him from biting you," Arch grunts in exertion as he tries to keep Camden from biting him as well.

    "Is he in heat? I've never seen him look so out of it before," you reach over and snap on the night light, then gape at what you see.

    Camden's dick, simply put. It's peeking out of its sheath, dripping. Dripping onto Arch's stomach.

    "Um..." Your eyes are the size of saucers. "What's going on?"

    "This is a terrible time," Arch groans, huffing as he catches his brother's scent. "Werewolves coming out of a healing shift are very territorial and often stuck in a haze of primal instinct. Mix that with a rut and you've got a nightmare on your hands."

    You stare dumbly for a moment, and then you giggle.

    "And what's so funny about this?" Arch snaps, twisting out of reach of his brother's fangs, pushing him away.

    Camden isn't deterred and begins to circle him, looking for a weak spot.

    "Camden isn't the only one having trouble," you snicker, and then clear your throat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't even find this funny!"

    Arch looks down at himself and swears. "It's too late to take the pills. They'll just make it worse. You need to get me the handcuffs."

    "What now?" You blink.

    "Both of us are in heat. If I start to haze as well, I'll do something I will regret. And it isn't safe for you either."

    "I'm staying. I'm not leaving you two when you're this vulnerable," you cross your arms. "Besides, I really don't want to go back to my apartment alone."

    You give him a pleading look. He sighs.

    "Fine. Just get me the handcuffs. They're in the bottom drawer in the bathroom."

    "Okay." You hurry to retrieve them.

    You find them, two pairs of heavy cuffs. They look like they are real silver too. You hurry back to the bedroom, only to stop short in the doorway. The brothers haven't torn each other to bits, but they seem to have gotten a little caught up. With the gold dominating Arch's eyes, it isn't hard to see that he's slipping into a haze as well. You're sure that not going to make this any better.

    Camden is on the floor, his wrists pinned back by one of Arch's hands. He's alternating between baring his neck and snapping his teeth like he can't decide whether to submit or fight. His hips raise, pressing against Arch, seeking any kind of friction. Although Arch growls, he doesn't stop him either. Your lips are parted in surprise, and despite yourself, you draw in a breath, taking in the scene.

    Should you be watching this? Should you stop them? Maybe. But you don't. You put the handcuffs down on the floor in easy reach and step closer. The fur of the two almost glows in the beam of the night light as they tangle together, whisking tails, bared teeth, and shared breaths. It's so startlingly intimate, it turns you on.

    God, it shouldn't, but it does.

    You touch Arch's shoulder, letting him register your presence. Camden's eyes are sparkling with tears as he whines in frustration, nostrils flaring as he catches your scent. His gaze flicks to you and he groans your name. Delighted that he's present enough to recognize you, you lean down and kiss him, sliding closer and slipping a hand over his broad chest.

    "I'm here," you whisper.

    He strains towards you, nuzzling against your neck, teeth against your skin.

    "Camden," Arch warns throatily. "Don't bite her."

    "I know," he replies, licking you instead.

    Seeing that Camden is at least partially out of his haze, Arch reluctantly releases him and he leans into you, a rough purr rumbling in his chest.

    "Please," he whimpers, clutching at the large t-shirt you're wearing. "Touch me."

    You recall what happened the last time, and so you go slow and give him time to change his mind, running your hand up his thigh. He lifts his hips towards you, silently begging. Finally, your hand wraps around his cock and you suck in a breath at how big he is. Already, you're imagining how it would feel inside you. Camden whines, shuddering as you touch him, sweeping your thumb over the dripping head of his cock.

    You can't stop yourself from leaning forward to get a taste, swirling him into your mouth and wrapping your tongue around his length like a velvet blanket. His hands clutch carefully at your hair and even as he pushes you down and coaxes you to take more of him in, he remains gentle.

    Through the haze of your arousal, you hear Camden rasping out,

    "You want to fuck her, don't you? You want to fuck my girlfriend."

    Oh, shit. You lift your head and look at Arch, whose eyes are consumed with gold as he slowly strokes his cock, panting.         "Yes," he hisses, his eyes glued on you. "She's so fucking pretty and she smells amazing."

    Your lips curve into a coy grin as you tilt your hips in the air and wiggled your butt at him.

    "Well? What are you waiting for?"

    Arch just about attacks you, pushing the hem of the shirt up around your hips and ripping your panties off, pressing wild kisses to the backs of your thighs, growling as he finds particular spots that make you moan. When his tongue presses against your cunt, you see sparks.

    You're already so wet that he doesn't need to take long to prepare you, nor do you want him to. You ache to be filled. Arch's hands grip your hips and he rasps out a warning.

    "If I start, I don't think I can stop. Are you sure you want this?"

    You lift your mouth off of Camden's cock to gasp impatiently,

    "Just fuck me already!"

    Arch's cock presses against your sensitive skin, and he rocks his hips, bumping his cock against your clit. When he finally thrusts into you, the force pushes you further down on Camden's cock and you fight not to gag, pulling up a bit as your eyes water. Camden is shuddering from the effort of holding back from ramming into your mouth.

  You reward him for that, reaching down and cupping his balls and massaging them. The stimulation proves too much for him, and he begins to cum, whining breathily. You clasp his thighs and sputter at the copious amount of his climax. You manage to swallow some of it, but a lot of it runs from the corner of your mouth and drips from your chin.

    You feel filthy and you love it. Arch growls at the sight, his body arching over your back as he shudders with each thrust.

    "Cum inside me," you gasp. "Please!"

    You are so going to regret saying that later, but right now, you don't care about anything other than reaching the high he's building you up to. Camden reaches down and rubs your clit, cooing encouragements to you. You're almost crying from the stimulation, as you clamp down on Arch's cock. With a muffled howl, he begins to spill into you.

  The feeling of his hot cum inside you pushes you over the edge and you cum as well, spasming in pleasure. Arch pulls out before he can knot you, grabbing your jaw and kissing you roughly, licking his brother's taste from your lips. You feel Camden shuffle between your legs and your eyes fly open in alarm.

    "Wait, I'm too sensitive!" You whimper, but he ignores you, thrusting his cock into your dripping cunt.

    "Come on darling, you can take one more," Arch murmurs, kissing your forehead and rubbing your nipples until they harden again.

    He props you against his chest so that you can see where you and Camden are connected, the way your pussy lips drag against his length, the lewd sounds your bodies make as they meet.

    Dazedly, you wonder if you're dreaming.

    Arch reaches down, teasing your clit with fingers that quickly get soaked by your juices. The three of you drag in ragged breaths, watching in fascination. Camden climaxes quickly with a grunt, gritting his teeth. Unlike his brother, he doesn't pull out, and his knot swells and presses against your entrance. The pressure makes you go dizzy. His knot finally pops in, locking him into place. Arch continues to rub your clit until you come to another orgasm, arching back against him.

    You either pass out for a few seconds or you're so high that you're unaware of your surroundings, because when you finally come back to your senses, you're on the bed sandwiched between the two brothers. Camden is still locked inside you and will be for some time. You feel warm and relaxed. Camden's hands sweep over your body soothingly and Arch kisses your shoulder. Between their ministrations, you end up dozing off.

    You're going to have a lot to talk about in the morning.

~•~•~•~

  You can't begin to imagine how difficult this was to write! I spent three days trying to think of another idea but it felt like Part 2 had set me on this path. Of course, I could have had Arch walk out but I liked that idea less.

  Also, can you tell it has been a while since I wrote such spice? It was very awkward but I made it! I hope it was enjoyable at the least. &lt;3

[nativestarwrites]

Came here directly from ao3 with tears still filling my eyes. MY LORD! You completely annihilated my hopes for that chapter (and my heart, my heart is barely hanging on here) and my excitement level was already through the fucking roof.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, but the banter and THE SCENE (I won't give spoilers in case people haven't gotten a chance to read it yet) had me sobbing as did the follow up scenes at Nelson Road.

And present Roy NOT HANDLING it well but trying not to lash out is so well done and real and heartbreaking.

I am here for 2 reasons, to continue to praise your amazing work and but also to see if there was anything about this chapter you wanted to discuss? Your favorite parts? The hardest part to write? The easiest? Anything you want to share (or not share). Until next chapter I will be stalking your blog for snippets :)

Awww, thank youuuu! I'm so very glad you enjoyed it! I'm having so much fun writing this fic and I'm so proud of how it's coming out (its the longest fic I've ever posted!). It really makes my day to see other people enjoying it so much too!

I'm gonna put the rest under a read more because of spoilers...

Fun fact, this part contains the scene that kicked this all off in the first place.

It's not just my readers that have been looking forward to The Event! In some ways that made it easier because I've been mulling this over for a while, but in other ways it was harder because I really wanted to get it right.

I think the hardest part about this chapter (or at least the part I procrastinated the most) was how to start it off. Do I set the scene? Start it off as a 'normal day'? I decided to go for a cold open, right into the action beginning in the end and sent it off to my beta with a 'does this work?'

I haven't had that problem with the next chapter, thankfully, here's a little sneak peek how it starts:

Then Roy doesn’t sleep. Keeley’s forced him to lie down and curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder, as if afraid he’ll disappear. She’s not wrong. He knows how dangerous, foolish even, it would be to go out searching for Jamie right now. But damn, it feels like a fucking betrayal to stay here too. To sleep, to rest, when God knows what’s happening to Jamie right now. Keeley’s cried herself to sleep, the dried tear tracks visible on her face. Roy hates to see her cry and that’s the only reason he’s still here.

[writerscafehub]

MEET THE BARISTA: Stella

@a-lumos-in-the-nox

From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

4.0, I've gotten better over the years, especially with just sharing over two ish years ago. I'd like to go back and brush up some descriptions but other than that I say it's good! 

What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I say the characters I decide to make each one of my characters are their own person that I can see being real. They are definitely my favorite part of my stories.

Are there any writers that inspire you?

Right now, Brandon Sanderson. I'm reading through his first novels now. The way he uses descriptions to worldbuild is amazing! And I love his characters

And all my friends on the server, the people over there write some incredible stuff!

What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

Stella Archer, I wrote that story in college it's a decade old & I never thought I'd finish it let alone share it! Stella's been with me the longest so you can see how I used to write then vs. now all in one series. 

Which character(s) do you find easiest to write and which do you find most difficult to write?

Easiest to write: George Weasley cause anything goes with him. He's goofy, sweet, confident and a wildcard. That's really fun to play with. 

Hardest/Challenging: Neville Longbottom & Druig. These two are my heads & tails. They are complete opposites. Druig's is inquisitive and there's a depth to him that I can relate too, and hes smart mouth, my favorite kind of guy lol. 

Neville is soft, confident, brave & empathic. There are things i can have Druig do that i can’t do with Neville and vice versa. I could talk about their differences forever but they are still a fun challenge to write. 

Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

Usually whatever idea I haven't done yet or I want to try. I write a lot about superheroes or powered individuals. Often with my own spin 😏. Friends to lovers mostly. 

Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about!

im working on the ending of Bloom, it's the last character arch for Neville. His eldest will be looking at school brochures and some of his past students will make a groundbreaking medicine for people who have pain caused from curses & his parents being among the ones able to get the medicine. Meaningful things happen & I'm excited to write it!!!

First fandom you ever wrote for?

Harry Potter; 😂 nothing has changed I still love the universe.

Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

I dont feel guilty about them their all pleasures; so Soulmate AUs, soft dark, Coffee Shop AUs, threesomes, genderbending.

A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

A/B/Os the structure would be all over the place. 

Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

Never Too Late, I put as many of my favorite tropes in there as I could. Soulmate AU, Coffeeshop AU, gross loving couple, old married couple, Tall boi, short girl…etc. And they fucked for a hobby. It was so nuts I made a game out of it in that universe had it's own rules & everything 😂 So much unhinged stuff happens in that fic & I don't regret any of it 😂. 

Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

OCs x main character. Which is usually an extension of me somehow cause i said so. Even the very few readers stuff i have i always pictured myself. 

Do you listen to anything while you write?

I have a playlist for each story i have & i cycle through thoes whenever i need the vibes 

One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

Both, I like both 

15. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

My ficts are day dreams haha. Hmmm I have a bunch of daydreams about Daphne & Charlie spending time with their parents as a family in some of the places they have traveled to when they didn't have kids. That and the adventures of Daphne & Lottie growing up. But I'm really stubborn about aging my OCs kids so most of them stop at a certain age.

16. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

Not scared, I just don’t know how to write it. I want to make my own villain somehow but i gotta figure out so many things first. Or the villain's spouse or something, it’s still on the drawing board. I don't do many dark things so it would be a challenge for me. 

What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

All the comments on my first dark oneshot, Sweet Dreams. It was just me playing around with Druig’s powers to a higher level then flooring it. It was fun & the ones of my first series Stella Archer that story is a decade old. So to get comments on that was special 

Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

For Between the Shadows I did cause i was trying to portray my OC for that a certain way without making her sound boring. That was a hard fic for me in many, many ways. But it turned out great! I’ve never introduced an OC in a more profound way than I did with Juni and it was refreshing to experiment with that OC. 

Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

I'm a sucker for both. I’ve written both. 

Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

I have 13 fully developed ones and the rest are side ones. But here are some of my favorites!  

Stella Archer-Asgardian Demi-god think of Gaia with all the powers of the elements. She has 4 kids. And married her highschool sweetheart George Weasley. 

Flower- a nymph of mythology origins. Her power is growing flowers and plants from anywhere as long as she has a water source. She carries a pouch of soil around with her for such an occasion. She stayed with her love even though he was cursed by the flying dutchman. 

Ruby Morgan- Charms professor, classic style of dress, her magic specialty is levitation she can make anything levitate with a snap of her fingers. She grew up in France raised by her Dad and her Grandmother. She can read Latin, speak French and loves cats.  

Angus Kohler- Scottish, loves to drink. His magic specialty is tracking. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures. Head of Hufflepuff house. Werewolf, he’s Neville’s best friend and Ruby’s too. Plays the bagpipes at every graduation in full kilt attire that matches Hufflepuff.  

If you could enter the universe of any one of your fics, which would it be and why?

I’d enter Never Too Late cause that OC is the closest to me irl and I basically gave her everything I wanted and didn't skip any details lol. I would gladly love to be in that universe. 

Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them! My ficts are day dreams haha. Hmmm I have a bunch of daydreams about Daphne & Charlie spending time with their parents as a family in some of the places they have traveled to when they didn't have kids. That and the adventures of Daphne & Lottie growing up. But I'm really stubborn about aging my OCs kids so most of them stop at a certain age. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

From Kissed by the Land; Cursed by the Sea.

In a tavern miles away sat a bard playing a tune and weaving a tale.

Let me tell you a tale about a mortal man forced to sail the reaper of the blue…His eyes as blue as the cursed seas, and hair as black as the night, it's true…

He's fought sirens, an sailors, an swamp monsters too, all while sailing souls lost to the depths, to their final steps…it's true.

The reaper of the blue captured this man, for a century or two. Till it was over. An he returned home, to his dearest its true…

This is the tale of the reaper of the blue, and a man forced to sail it's sails wide and true for a century or two…

Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

I wanna go back and write Kissed by the Land; CUrsed by the Sea as a darker tale but i have NO idea how but I totally could!!! I just played around with Fairytales in that one. Um my current series Bloom is almost over & I’m thinking of making a spin off of it only for Angus cause I love that man he’s my wildcard in every sense of the word lol. 

I love writing main character x OCs so i have an excuse to run around in all my favorite worlds as different personas!

[mistresslrigtar]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by my good friend @zeldaelmo. TY! You know I love to play these silly games 🤣 and yet, one more thing to help me procrastinate from working on my current WIP 😅

__

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

a measley 10

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

219,706 - hey that's not too shabby for only 10 works!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Legend of Zelda - BotW/TotK mostly, some SS, one OOT, and an upcoming mishmash of SS/WW

I previously wrote some HP stuff (before all the awfulness with JKR aka She Who Shall Now Not Be Named) One I posted on AO3 because it was the best one of those

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Love in the Age of Calamity

I Belong to You

Enjoy the Silence

Can't Do This Again

Looking Through the Eyes of a Killer - the HP one!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most, yes. I want the readers to know how much I appreciate them and the time they took to leave me a message. There's actually one in my inbox I need to reply to!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I tend to wrap up my stories with a positive ending, but I suppose the angstiest ending goes to

Love in the Age of Calamity

There's no way it couldn't, although I personally love the ending (even thought it did make me cry when I wrote it) and hope to write a spin-off (maybe next year) about Aryll and the court poet, who I named Carik (but Link thought his name was Carrot)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

My Hylink story Adore I wrote for Zelink Week 2023. It's 5 chapters of angst and 2 of marital bliss (I do wish it had gotten a bit more traction on AO3. I was pretty proud of it when I wrote it) many thanks to my beta @fioreofthemarch!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I only have 14 dedicated readers and they're all so lovely, and leave positive comments. TYSM!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Um, not until recently 😂🤣 I wanted to try my hand at smut with I Belong to You (which was supposed to be a one-shot)

So it does have some smut in it, but honestly, it's story driven and the steamy scenes add to the story, characterizations, and motivation. I actually am very proud of this story and think it's the best thing I've written to date. And many thanks to my fantastic betas @hyylia and @zeldaelmo

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No. Although I do think you could easily write a cross-over with Legend of Zelda and Adventure Time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. My stuff isn't that good 😂

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would like to with someone who is good at transitions, etc. Sometimes it will take me days to wrap up chapters because my mind goes completely blank when it comes time to write sequels to a scene 😭

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Zelink. It's the ship that brought me back to writing.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Well...my current WIP Captain Link Araki and the Harbinger of Destiny is giving me a WORLD of trouble, but I do love the character of Link I've created for it, so I'm going to try my hardest to complete it by the new year!

I have a HP WIP I started, and will probably never complete. It was an expansion of a short story I wrote called Aphrodite's Destiny (which I still absolutely love, even though the writing is probably not polished)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and characterization (at least, that is what I think my strengths are! My readers may disagree!)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptive writing (like the setting, lighting, what the characters are wearing, etc) that isn't boring or like reading a list! I worked on it in I Belong to You and hope I can continue to incorporate what I learned in my future stories.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Hmmm, I haven't thought much about that. I did include some song lyrics in I Belong to You that were in French and were supposed to represent the Rito language, but I included Zelda's thoughts about what those words meant.

I suppose if I were to write dialogue in another language, I would write the dialogue in italicized English but reference that they're actually speaking in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

HP

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

My favorite story is my current one - I Belong to You I'm not going to lie, I love my Link and Zelda in this story so much!

My second is my short story for HP - Aphrodite's Destiny

I think I'm supposed to tag some ppl?!! I tag @fioreofthemarch @cooking-with-hailstones @aurathian and @hyylia I know you all are busy and probably don't have the time! 😅

[penreadstrash]

Cassmire: The Loyal Sword

Currently on chapter 67.

Overall Rank: 9/10

This Manhwa is one of my personal favorites, with a story about Cassmire, the lead, risking her life becoming a mercenary to get the medicine her younger sister, Aria, needs to live. Through an accident where she hit her head Cassmire she regains memories of her past life and a story where her sister is the lead character. Though she used to be the villainess in the og story she sticks with her sister and will do anything to help her. Past this point I will be talking about spoilers and specifics of the story so you are warned.

From here I will be breaking down the story in 3 main categorizes and just talking about things I really want to touch on overall.

Firstly the art: 10/10: I dont care that some of the costume choices are interesting, I've heard a lot of people complain about BDSM wear but it honestly isnt that bad. No, the reason this gets a 10/10 is Cassmires design, like she has muscles are scars and looks hot as fuck like look at her.

I am gay and love muscle women and it is very lacking in this genre so it is really good to see. And she is also very cute on top of it. But overall the art is good to look at and has amazing character design for all of the cast as well.

Story 8/10: This one is hard to quantify as we still haven't really gotten into the meat of the story. There some talk about things that happen later in the story like how in the og story Aria saves the world we haven't gotten into anything that bad yet. Though that might make it seem slow it really isn't, the story has more been focused on character moments and while things go off the rails it doesn't seem to be world ending yet. I have quite enjoyed the most recent aspects of the story, it is good to see both the main characters flaws and her strength all in the couple chapters.

Characters 8/10: This was the hardest one for me to choose a rating for as I love Cassmire she is one of my favorite protags, she has so many good moments and has and sticks to her morals to help people. My only issue is how they weaken her by making her overly reliant on her aura but even that makes sense. And her relationship with her family is just so good to see. I love how ruthless her sister is in defending her and how her brother cares about her and how they fight like real siblings. And how her dad cares about all his kids in his own way and just wants to support and help her and it just so sweet and they all care about each other so much and that's the shit I love to see I love a good family dynamic. The reason this is an 8/10 and not a 10/10 is because of all the ml's. They are all kinda mid it is just the same troupe over and over again and I get it shes kind she saves people but 4 dudes and they are all the ml's from the og story. And I dislike all the hair color changes it doesn't make sense also they are boring. Also none of the leads have good chemistry with Cassmire, they are all cowards who won't talk to her about what they are feeling. I hate them all have open secrets and not talk with each other, but this is a me thing I know I have seen people like these ml she doesn't really seem to have chemistry with any of them. This story would get a 10/10 if she ends up with no one and just lives happily with her family but it probably just me who thanks this.

With all these combined this overall story is a 9/10, a beautiful story with an amazing main character and her family but the weak ml's stop this story from being a true 10/10. Thank you for reading my unedited review have a great day.