#i wonder if maximus ever felt the cold

[wildsaltair]

Random fact that I love about Gladiator: It is one of the first films settled in that period I remember that has scenes in the cold.

It's such specific fact, but you rarely see winter in swords and sandals films. Looking at that picture you reblogged of Maximus with the fur and I realized most films settled in ancient greece or rome are like touristical promo showcasing beaches, for some reason characters are always in spring or summer. I have rarely seen greek or roman period costumes for the cold weather on movies.

Of course, this has to be with the fact that the movie starts at the end of Maximus' campaing in the north, but is a very refreshing visual.

Oh that’s such an interesting observation! You’re right — other than Viking / Celtic epic movies, we don’t really see winter scenes in period epics. It really makes the rawness of the opening battle more interesting and striking! Also ignites my brain on ways to stay warm with my favorite general 👀

[ccaptain]

10. someone they’re holding a grudge against

i am also going to combine this ask with another one i got:    12. someone who taught them a valuable lesson

we all know and love master crepus, but can we talk about someone who probably impacted kaeya’s life and views much more than they should have?

his biological fucking dad. you know, the asshole who left him in front of the dilucs winery and forged him into a spy because we should DEFINITELY talk about him.

i may be biased and aiming for maximus hurt, but i imagine that when he was a kid kaeya idolized THE FUCK out of his father. because he was an important figure in khaenri’ah, because in the eyes of still-learning kaeya he was entrusted this important legacy to keep up with and he didnt minded losing his childhood to this because it meant having the approval and the love of his father. little kaeya in his robes toddling behind his father, handing him important paperwork and always looking up at him with a big smile! he loved his dad so much. christ 

and this man repaid the trust and admiration kaeya put in him by being loving at first: sure, it’s easier to manipulate a child with affections, at first. it didn’t even costed him much, just some headpats, some unfeeling ‘i’m proud of you’ carefully masked by a sweet expression, and baby kae was OVER THE MOON and still toddling behind him as planned! this man must have had several sticks up his ass to treat his own kid like this, to feel both hope and hatred for kaeya. to treat him so coldly and distantly, to look at the progress they were making and say ‘yes, this is worth sacrificing my child for’. when he grew up a bit, kaeya learned the harsh truth that his father never actually felt anything for him except for disgust, and that must have hit him like a ton of bricks. 

the grudge took time to form. it took the now adult kaeya years to stop idolizing him, to stop reporting to him, to understand that this man really was heartless and cruel and strictly goal-minded for the captain to severe the link connecting them. it took years, master crepus dying and him and diluc to separate before kaeya was fully ready to elbow his biological father out of his life. jesus.

not to mention the OTHER PEOPLE he involuntarily hurt?? courtesy of smth @uncrownedt linked me as a fanart, but master crepus holding tiny baby kaeya and looking out of the window wondering if his dad was ever going to take him back, to rip him away from the safety of the ragnividr mansion and bring him back who-knows-the-fuck-where, taking him away from baby diluc who loved his brother fiercely and his new adoptive dad. poor crepus must have spent plenty of years in anxiety that this was going to happen. because a man who abandons a child in the rain would have come to take him back for his uses just as easily. master crepus probably ordering adelinde to double-check that all the doors and windows were locked and checked on kaeya as he was sleeping quite often, just... you know. in case somebody was going to take him away again.

i don’t think that a man this pragmatic and cold took kaeya retiring from being ‘the hope of khaenri’ah’ well, so i raise another sad headcanon: kaeya having letters from his bio father, and those keep coming even today, one every few months. they’re filled with distante, venom, disappointment, lowkey insults, scathing questions, calling him ‘’the god’s brainwashed pet’’. completely dropped the ‘loving dad’ façade because he figured out he wasn’t working anyway. letters filled with verbal abuse, with manipulation, with anything horrid a parent can say to a child both out of desperation for their plans of glory sinking and utter HATRED for the child that kaeya was and still is

in extreme cases, kaeya has no problems in pretending that a person never existed and meant anything to him. it’s easy: he just has to erect bigger, stronger barriers around himself, and no matter how much the other person knocks on them and begs/orders to be readmitted in: kaeya’s mind has already scinded himself from them, to never return.

yet, he feels like this isn’t the last time he’ll hear of him.

kaeya HATES him; for his lost childhood, for the pragmaticism he was treated with, and for being related to that individual at all. he doesn’t KNOW why he had to be the one to endure this, khaenri’ah had plenty of adults more willing to do the dirty deed, but he was chosen and his life was revolutioned. and then he feels nothing at all towards him, because his father was and has always been master crepus. master crepus, with his warm hugs and smiles and acting a bit like a child himself around small kae and small luc. master crepus, who saved him from the cold of the rain and warmed him up in his arms until kaeya cried his little heart out one last time before acting as the spy. the cold man who he remembers from his childhood is NOT his father, so why bothering to feel anything towards him? this is the less angsty kaeya has ever been over something: it’s just gone, poof, out of his mind and out of his heart.

despite having cut his father off for the rest of his life, he keeps the letters sent to him without even reading most of them. his father taught him the lesson that trusting is for fools and love is easily given and taken away, and that people may turn to you in a second if you don’t follow their whims. that blood family is sometimes weaker than the adoptive one, and that a child, even the most cursed one, didn’t deserved this. he would hold his child self and comfort him, while hitting himself over the fact that he can’t alter the past

oh, and that kaeya never, never wants to be like him. but the pragmatic way of thinking has been instilled into him from a young age, comes like a second skin, and he HATES it deeply.

[kingreywrites]

Before Something Breaks (that cannot be fixed)

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 6843

Summary: She can't bet Eugene's survival on her hope, Rapunzel understands with a start. It's as if time resumes its course, and suddenly she realises that Eugene is still alive, still fighting and she needs to do something.

Or Eugene doesn't bleed out quite as fast as he does in the movie. Rapunzel desperatly tries to save him.

Note: HAPPY TANGLED ANNIVERSARY!! I’ll spare you my half-coherent sappy speech, just know that I love this movie and this fandom with my whole heart and that my life wouldn’t be the same without it :’) I hope you like this story, and have a great day!!

Read on ao3

Her mother's yell echoes for what feels like forever. Some part of her brain whispers that she should call her Gothel, because she was never her mother, but that only makes her eyes sting with tears of pain and fear and anger. The window she had spent her childhood looking out appears dim and frightening now, and she wonders what she would see, if she looked down this time. She wonder what mother- Gothel- she wonders if she's-

Eugene, her mind screams, shaking her from her thoughts. "Eugene," she repeats out loud, turning towards him quickly, and her blood freezes when she sees him lying prone and motionless on the ground.

She doesn't think as she hosts him up in her lap - she can't think beyond the terror gripping her. Eugene is too limp, too heavy, and her ears are buzzing too loudly for her to hear herself repeat "no" over and over again, as if she can say it enough for him to listen.

His cheek is still warm when she touches it lightly, unsure of what she can even do. When Eugene coughs, the sound feeble and pained, her relief tastes like poison. He's hurt, and she can't- she can't- His head lolls to the side again, and she feels like she can't breathe.

"Look at me," she pleads, intimately aware that she's the only thing keeping his head up, that he doesn't seem able to even open his eyes. "Look at me Eugene," she repeats, "I'm right here." She brushes his hair away with her trembling hands and trembling voice, hoping he can hear her, that she can comfort him just as much he did her before he… Before he cut her hair, and doomed himself for her.

He doesn't open his eyes. Rapunzel feels like she's dying along with him, because that's the only thing that could explain the terrible pain building up in her chest.

"Don't go, stay with me Eugene," she begs him, before begging the universe to listen to her one last time.

She takes his hand in hers, ignores how cold and unresponsive it is, brings it to her hair and sings. She sings, and hopes against hope that everything will be alright, that her gift will answer to her like it did all her life. It has never been as important as today. She's falling apart at the second line, because she knows it's not working. When she sang the incantation, the warmth always built from within her, before her hair started to glow but now... Now she's cold. Empty. She keeps going against the sobs that violently try to escape, keeps going despite her hope abandoning her - but Eugene whispers her name, and she stops for him. Of course she does.

His eyes are open now, but she can see how hard he's struggling to keep it that way. He does it for her, and she knows that. Knows that once again, he's fighting his own pain and fear to be with her, to reassure her. His hand has slipped from her hair to her face, and though she's still the only thing keeping it raised, Eugene's fingers twitch as he tries to cup her cheek. Her eyes are welling up, burning with an emotion she can't admit yet, but she blinks the tears out as best as she can to look at him.

He seems tired. He seems scared. He's obviously in pain, his face too pale when she remembers it glowing warmly under the light of the lanterns.

"You were my new dream," he breathes out, and it feels like the world is crashing down around her, because her heart bursts with love and terror and sorrow, all at the same time. She wonders if this is grief. Wonders if there's anything she can do to fix this.

"And you were mine," she whispers, because that's the only thing she can say. She hopes he understands everything she's trying to tell him here; hopes he knows that the lanterns suddenly pale in comparison to the joy and love he makes her feel, and that she's never felt as strongly about anything before. She holds his hand as tightly as she dares, deathly afraid of hurting him.

Eugene smiles. Rapunzel's heart is bleeding, even if no one can see it.

He opens his mouth, trying to say something else, but a deep, rattling cough interrupts him, and he grows even paler. She didn't think it was possible. His expression twists with the pain, and Rapunzel is hit by the weight of her own inability to help him. What is she, now that she's not useful? What does her dearly desired freedom mean, faced with the loss of the man she already loves so deeply?

Eugene's hand feels heavier than her hair ever was, when she carefully lays it next to him. His breathing is laboured, and she can hear his lungs straining against the shock settling over his body. Her hands hover above his wound, and her first thought is that she should try to finish her song, that maybe- maybe-

She can't bet Eugene's survival on her hope, she understands with a start. It's as if time resumes its course, and suddenly she realises that Eugene is still alive, still fighting and she needs to do something. She can't spend that precious time wallowing. She takes another look at his wound, trying to think about what she can do now that she doesn't have any magic left. His gasps of pain break her heart a little more, and she knows she needs to think quickly.

She remembers that, when she had been drawing in the public place, a little girl had fallen, and hurt her knee. Rapunzel had touched her hair worriedly, because she had felt guilty that she couldn't help, and Eugene, who had immediately noticed, had assured her that people healed naturally. "Sure, magic is quicker," he had added jokingly, "but doctors have learned to do without it for a while now."

Doctors. She needs to find help.

Her mind is muddled, going through every of her possibilities, though the first one she rejects outright is leaving Eugene alone and hurt while she seeks help. She might be faster by herself, but if he- if he's alone when- she refuses to leave him. There's only one thing left to do, and it's taking him with her to the Kingdom - her Kingdom. She may not know much about Corona, or royalty, but she knows being the Lost Princess will mean that they'll help her.

Most importantly, that they'll help Eugene.

Looking around, she gets up quickly to grab the closest tool she finds, brushing off the tears from her eyes. She would cry later; for now, she raises her hammer and strikes as hard as she can on the chain of the manacles. Her wrists are still burning from her time being bound; she had fought, of course she had, panic and horror in her throat because it was her mother and nothing made sense anymore, but she hadn’t managed to get free. She finds a sick comfort in striking the metal over and over again now, muscles hurting and arms trembling from the adrenaline.

The chain finally breaks. Rapunzel is shivering, but she can't stop to think about it. She pats Eugene's face as tenderly as possible, and he opens his eyes to a slit - but he doesn't seem able to meet her gaze. His skin is cold and clammy, and Rapunzel feels like crying, but she doesn't have the time for that.

"This is going to hurt," she whispers, loud in the silence of her broken childhood home. "I'm sorry."

His lips twitch, but he doesn't answer - she'll probably never know what he was trying to say. She takes one of his arms and passes it around her shoulders, this motion enough to make him whimper in pain. She repeats how sorry she is, again as she makes him sit up and he cries out, again as she gets them both standing in one swift movement, again as she sees a tear slips through his tightly closed eyes.

And again. And again. And again, because Eugene can't even hold himself up, and she feels his blood flowing under the palm of her hand, and he's hurt, terribly hurt, and it's all her fault. Now look what you've down Rapunzel, she thinks bitterly as each step of the staircase she had only discovered today feels like torture. The soft moans of pain coming from Eugene are preferable to his silence, but it's a terrible kind of preference. It means that he's alive, and that he's suffering, all because she was too gullible, too naive to see beyond her mother's lies.

She stumbles, nearly makes them fall, and the wrenched noise coming from Eugene is enough to make her dissolve in excuses and void reassurances, but it's not enough. It won't be enough until she saves him - but this thought is enough to spur her into motion again.

She's breathing heavily for the last steps, and Eugene is too, for different reasons. She doesn't feel like she'll be able to survive the abominable fear within her heart, not when she can hear how laboured and pained his breaths are. If he dies-

Maximus meets her at the base of the tower, looking scared. He startles when he sees Eugene barely hanging onto her shoulder, blood starting to stain the top of his trousers, and nothing of the confident thief he had spent these last years chasing. Rapunzel takes another step, and Maximus comes closer quickly, kneeling to make it easier for her and Eugene to climb.

She helps Eugene sit down first, before moving his right leg on the other side of the saddle. She sees as he clumsily tries to help, but he's too weak, and immediately starts to fall sideways - she keeps him sitting up as best as she can, and apologises again when a too sudden move makes him cry out softly. There's not enough apologies in the world to make this better. She sits down behind him, letting him rest against her chest, his hair tickling her neck as his head lolls on her shoulder. She holds him tightly, and tries to ignore the blood on her hands, and her dress, and Max's usually stark white coat.

She hears a squeak, and turns to see Pascal climbing next to her, looking sad and worried. Just like that, her guilt grows even bigger, because she nearly forgot her best friend in her panic; but Pascal pats her hand gently, settles on her thigh, and she knows she can't focus on that right now.

Maximus stands up again, and he takes off, going more quickly than Rapunzel ever went in her life. She has never ridden a horse before, but there's no joy to be found in the wind whipping through her hair and the scenery racing past her - she doesn't even notice these things. She's too busy listening to Eugene's raspy breathing, muttering comforting words that she's not sure he can hear, and praying, praying for everything to be alright.

She wants to believe in their happy ending. She wants to believe that unfairness has an end, that there is a kindness in the world that her mother had never seen, and that she deserves it. Rapunzel is tired of sacrifices.

She holds Eugene in her arms, and knows that she can neither wait nor give up on this new dream. She thinks about the future; thinks about it as much as she can when it feels like it's slipping through her fingers; and she knows that no matter what, she wants Eugene to be a part of it. She's certain already that the feeling blooming in her heart is love, that Eugene makes her feel seen and loved, and she doesn't want to go back to an existence without him. In three days, he gave her more than she had ever expected from life; he gave her comfort, and friendship, and trust. He gave her confidence, and pushed her to see that her life didn't have to stop at the lanterns, that she deserved more than what she had. He gave her the courage to stand up for herself, to reclaim the freedom that was taken from her so long ago.

And he gave her his life, too, or tried to, and now her only wish is to give it back. So she keeps Eugene nestled against her, and begs Maximus to go faster, knowing that he can't. Max still tries.

There's an irony in her place of birth being so close to her prison, but Rapunzel doesn't notice it, too busy panicking because she thought Eugene had stopped breathing. One hand under his neck, she seeks his heartbeat, and tries not to tremble when she finds it weak and uneven.

But Eugene is still breathing. It's an obvious struggle, but he does it. "It's gonna be okay," she whispers again, adjusting her grip on him. She can't let him fall. She won't let him die. "I'll save you. I promise."

Eugene doesn't answer. She knew he wouldn't, but it hurts nonetheless, because Eugene loves to talk, and tell dramatic stories, and laugh. She wants him to be able to do it again. She wants him to talk to her again, selfishly perhaps. She wants him to tell another stupid joke, and feel a smile so big on her face that it hurts her cheeks. She wants him to look at her again like she holds the universe in her eyes, she wants- she wants-

Maximus enters the kingdom at full speed, and she hears startled screams all around her as they rush through the streets.

"Halt!" someone yells, and Rapunzel sees the golden armours of the guards from the corner of her eyes, catching the sunlight as they run to corner them. Maximus is smarter than them, however, and manages to escape their strategy easily enough.

"It's Rider!" she hears too, the surge of protectiveness and anger within her another incentive to keep going, if she even needed one. She won't let anyone hurt Eugene more.

The horse's jumps and sharp turns save their lives, but make the travel rough, and Eugene's grunts of pain feel way louder and accusatory to Rapunzel than the chaos going on around them. Her hands are trembling. Her dress clings to her left leg because of the blood that Eugene is still losing, and the sensation is enough to make her want to cry, but she can't. Not now.

Maximus comes to a stop in front of the castle's doors, and what feels like hundreds of soldiers point arrows and spears at them. Rapunzel knows she can't be afraid.

"Rider! You!" a man shouts, and she recognises him as the one who ordered the soldiers around earlier. Their Captain? He's red with anger as he looks at them. "Both of you get down from this horse, you're under arrest!"

"I need help," Rapunzel says loudly, hating the tremors she can hear in her own voice. "He's hurt, and he needs a doctor."

The Captain pauses, his eyes not leaving Eugene, before a surprised smile appears on his face. "Well, at least he's gonna be easier to arrest that way. He's condemned to death anyway."

Eugene moans. She was holding him too tight. She breathes out an apology, and hopes he can't hear how furious she is. Still on Maximus, she towers above all these men, and feels the way her short hair moves with the wind as she raises herself up even more.

"You're going to let us through, and get us a doctor," Rapunzel orders harshly, "because I am the Lost Princess."

A heavy silence follows her declaration. For the first time, the Captain stops glaring at Eugene and looks at her, truly looks at her. She sees the mirth in his eyes slowly turns into awe, as shock, horror and a multitude of emotions play on his face. Rapunzel wonders if she looks like the mother she had seen on the mosaic, royal and graceful as she held her baby, strength shining in her delicate features; she wonders if she looks like the father at her side, eyes hard as he watched over those he loved, ready to protect them at any cost.

She knows that her eyes are as green as they were back then.

Chatters erupt among the soldiers, hiding the noise from the Captain's sword hitting the ground. His voice, however, cuts through the crowd easily.

"Lower your weapons."

"What-" "Cap!" "But-"

"I gave you an order!" Rapunzel feels like her entire body is buzzing with anxiety. The weapons are lowered. "Maximus, get them to the infirmary."

Just like that, they are moving again, the guards letting them go through the door. Rapunzel hears the Captain order someone to go find the King and Queen, but she's too focused on Eugene to care right now. She doesn't notice the beautifully decorated hallways, or the flock of guards following a horse inside the castle. She hears Eugene's raspy breathing, and feels how limp and heavy he is against her, and there's nothing else but these sensations in this moment.

They arrive in front of a door and nurses start piling out, assessing the situation in one glance and giving out instructions harshly. When guards try to help her lower Eugene, Rapunzel's first instinct is to fight them; fight to protect him while he can't, like he did for her before. Panic is choking her, but she comes to her senses, and lets them take him, as hard as it is. Quickly enough, Eugene is carried to a bed, and a woman is trying to ask her questions, but Rapunzel rushes past her mindlessly.

She's not going to leave Eugene alone. She thinks she says that out loud, because people look at her worriedly, before going back to their organised chaos. They force her to stay back a few feet from Eugene, and the distance feels like a physical strain.

There are too many people moving and talking around her, so she focuses on Eugene's face, the glimpses she gets of it, and ignores the way her stomach twists with fear. They're taking off his jacket, and the patch of bright red on his white undershirt makes her want to puke.

"-kay?"

"Huh?" Rapunzel startles, meeting a young woman's concerned face.

"Are you okay?" She points at the blood on her hands and on her dress. Rapunzel feels herself shake, and wishes the courage she had found in herself earlier hadn't faded away so easily. She feels young, and very stupid, suddenly.

"It's his," she chokes out, and that's enough to garner a look of pity and compassion - but she's already looking back at Eugene. She wants to hold his hand. Wants him to know that she's here, that she got help, that everything is going to be alright. She wants to believe that too, that soon she'll feel the steady and sure beat of his heart on his wrist, his breathing calm and peaceful.

She tries to take a step towards him, dizzy and terrified, but someone stops her. She's numb as she recognizes the Captain, his eyes disbelieving and, now, full of a certain softness as he watches her. It's a far cry from the hatred he had shown earlier.

"Rider needs space, your Highness."

"Eugene," she corrects, harsher than she intended, "his name is Eugene." And I'm Rapunzel, she doesn't add, still reeling from the title. She's convinced him fully, somehow, that she was telling the truth, but she still has trouble believing it herself.

"Eugene," the Captain repeats, but doesn't seem to care all that much - he's too focused on her this time.

"He- he saved my life. I just want him to know that… that I'm here," she stutters. It’s woefully inadequate to describe what Eugene did for her, but she’s not sure if that’s something she can truly explain. Every word feels lacking.

"Where... We searched for you," the Captain says fervently, as if he's scared she doesn't believe him. She doesn't care much about that, right now. "Everywhere, every year, we sent soldiers to find you. I swear-"

"It's okay," she mumbles, before cringing and repeating it louder. Her eyes keep straying to Eugene's prone form, hidden away by the medics around him, and the more she's away, the more terrified she feels. "I just want… I just want Eugene to be fine. Then I'll be fine."

The Captain grimaces, and she remembers dizzily that he hates Eugene. Or maybe he thinks Eugene won’t be fine? Before he can try to say anything, however, a nurse starts yelling that there are too many people here, and asks everyone who isn't necessary to leave. Rapunzel's head is swimming, her feeling both overwhelming and muted, and she's trying to come up with an argument to be allowed to stay - but, before she says anything, the Captain intervenes in her favour, and as easy as that, they move her around and sit her on a chair next to Eugene's bed. He has blood on his lips, and her eyes are glued to this speck of red against his too pale skin.

Time is moving too fast and too slowly. She blinks, and suddenly she has a blanket over her shoulders, and she feels Pascal holding her hand under it, hiding so he doesn't scare anyone. Her other hand is holding Eugene's though. It's the same hand that she healed, not even one two days ago. The same hand that cut her hair, and set her free at the same time it condemned him.

His wound is now bandaged. Her eyes go to it, and she sees that it's starting to bleed through anyway, his chest rising and falling achingly slowly.

"Miss?"

"Rapunzel," she says, noticing that there are way less people around Eugene now. There's still a guard at the door, and the same young woman from earlier is looking at her again, a kind smile on her face. “Is he… How is he?”

The woman bites her lips. That’s not a good sign. Rapunzel thinks distantly that she can still count on her fingers the number of people she talked to directly in her life, and she wonders if it’s why nothing seems to make sense. Her head hurt, like it sometimes does after a good, long cry, but she hasn’t spilled a tear since she saw Eugene abandon her - though now, she knows he didn’t want to.

Will she be able to ask him what happened? Will she be able to talk to him ever again?

The nurse is talking to her, but the buzzing in Rapunzel’s ears blocks most of it out. Her voice is nice, low and soothing, talking to her like she talked to hurt animals that sometimes ended up in her tower. The nurse’s hands are cold against hers, but she helps her wash off the blood with a wet towel, and Rapunzel is frantic to get it off, letting go of Eugene’s hand for a few minutes that feel like years. The other woman tries to get a look at the chaffing on her wrists, but Rapunzel doesn't let her, instead taking Eugene's hand again, because she wants him to know she’s here. She hopes he’s not scared. He doesn’t look conscious of much right now, but there are lines of pain around his eyes, and his mouth is twisted, and she’s… She’s worried. Terrified.  She doesn't even notice the nurse leaving her side; she isn't aware of anything but Eugene.

Rapunzel did everything she could, but it doesn't feel like enough. So she watches over him, and silently swears to protect him, to never let anything else happen to him if only he can wake up for her this one time.

“Please,” she whispers, leaning towards Eugene, blind to the odd looks she was getting from the people in the room. “Just do this last thing for me, and I’ll never ask anything again, I promise.”

It’s the kind of promises that Gothel would have liked. But Eugene, she remembers, fought for her happiness, and sacrificed- tried to sacrifice everything for her freedom. Gently, Rapunzel pushes his hair from his eyes, and tries to come up with better words, a better promise that Eugene would want to listen to. And she knows it’s not money, not an island, not her crown that Eugene wants; it’s not her hair either, not her devotion, not her obedience and loyalty. He's not Gothel. He's not Flynn Rider. He's sweet, selfless, courageous Eugene Fitzherbert, and she loves him.

��I don’t think I can be happy without you,” she admits to him, and to herself.

She was scared to even think about it, this possible “after Eugene” that she can barely conceive. She still is. There’s no after that seems worthwhile, and her own words make it all the more obvious to her. But she’s still holding his hand, and he’s still breathing, despite it all, and she’s certain that, more than anything, Eugene wants her happiness.

So she promises him that there’s nothing that could make her as happy as his survival, and hopes that it will be enough. It has to be.

------

Doctors and nurses keep coming in and out of the room. They check on Eugene, and refuse to meet her eyes as they leave again, looking more worried than before. Rapunzel tries not to care. She wants to ignore everything but Eugene; wants to forget about the guard still standing here, as if Eugene was ready to spring up and flee the crown; wants to forget about the murmurs surrounding her, and the word "princess" people keep muttering. There were more people in the city, but Rapunzel has never felt as crowded as now.

The door opens. There’s a gasp, that Rapunzel nearly misses, so focused as she is on ignoring everything but Eugene. But she still hears it, and curiosity makes her look up.

When she raises her head, she meets eyes that are as green as hers.

She sees, from the corner of her eyes, a nurse curtsying before leaving the room quickly. The guard leaves too, without anyone having to ask him to. But Rapunzel barely notices it - her eyes are glued on the people who just entered the room; on the woman taking an unsteady step forward, looking exactly like her, and on the tall man behind her, his face a mixture of awe and shock. 

The Queen and the King.

Her mom and her dad.

Something uncurls in her chest, and as she gets up slowly, still holding Eugene’s hand, she knows this… This feels right. This feels like the key to understanding a mystery she didn’t even know was there, feels like looking into a mirror and finally seeing in her appearance something that resembles home.

Rapunzel doesn't know who took the last step, but suddenly, her- her mom is holding her tightly in her arms, and she melts. Her mom is... She’s warm. She smells like flowers, somehow. And then Rapunzel’s dad is here, a steady and strong presence enveloping her, and it’s better than all the hugs Gothel ever gave her.

She doesn't know them, but she can sense how genuine their love is in the teary laughs from her father, and the contained shaking from her mom. And deep down, she wonders if she can finally fall apart here, secure in the idea that there will be someone to pick up her pieces.

Her hand still hasn't left Eugene's. They're all standing awkwardly next to his bed, and she knows she can't let herself cry now, not yet, not when he still needs her to be strong for him. Her mom’s hand trails down from her shoulder, before hovering above Rapunzel and Eugene’s linked ones, and she’s the first one to look up from the hug so she can watch Eugene. Her eyes crease with concern, and Rapunzel lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, because they don’t seem to hate Eugene. She won’t have to defend him from their words, won’t have to hear their disappointment in her choice of friends, won’t have to fight to heal h- for them to try to heal him.

“Is this…”

“Eugene,” Rapunzel interrupts softly, before biting her lips. “I- He’s the one who… saved me.”

��And we will do anything in our power to save his life, sweetheart,” her dad says, his voice low and warm. He still has tears in his eyes when he cups her cheek softly, as if he’s scared to touch her. “Is… Is your name…?”

“I’m Rapunzel,” she answers, suddenly wondering if that’s another thing Gothel took from her, another part of her identity that was lost all those years.

She’s reassured by her mom’s warm expression. “That’s the name we choose for you. After the flower that saved your life, and mine,” she smiles, brushing Rapunzel’s hair away from her eyes. “I missed you so much.”

Rapunzel isn’t sure what to say to that. She didn’t miss them, not really, because she didn’t know there was anyone she could miss - but she had been missing them, in a way. She can’t really explain. They don’t look like they expect an explanation, anyway.

They tell her their names, Frederic and Arianna. She’s not sure if they would be okay with her calling them that - Gothel absolutely hated being called anything but mother. Thankfully, she’s saved the awkward question by a little squeak from under the blanket.

Pascal pokes his head out. The queen gasps, and Rapunzel is already preparing her excuses, ready to beg mother to let her keep him because she doesn’t think she can survive without Pascal or without Eugene and she can’t-

“Aww,” her mom smiles, booping Pascal’s head. “And who’s that little guy?”

Eugene’s hand is still heavy in her own, but for an instant, Rapunzel feels lighter. She explains who Pascal is, and wishes that there was a soft and joking voice next to her arguing that he was a frog, not a chameleon.

But Eugene stays unconscious, and despite being surrounded by new people that love her, Rapunzel feels lonely.

------

The night is cold.

Rapunzel still has the blanket they gave her earlier, but she's shivering despite it. Everything is silent, except for her breathing and Eugene's, though his is so quiet she has to strain to hear it.

"This night will be tough," the doctors had said to her parents, when they thought she was too far away and distracted to listen. "There's a chance that Mr. Fitzherbert won't make it."

Her dad (the word still felt new in her mind, because she never had a dad before, and never thought she would) had asked quietly about Eugene's odds, and she didn't hear the doctors' response, but their faces were answer enough.

She hates the hopelessness that's growing within her. She hates that she can't be strong enough to ignore the crushing panic and fear that Eugene is going to die.

She doesn't want to grieve him.

When her parents told her that she had a bedroom for the night, and that she needed to get some sleep, she said that she wanted to stay here. When they assured her that Eugene wouldn't be alone, she asked if she could be the one who looked after him, if they could be left alone. Her parents couldn't refuse her anything. (Some part of her mind whispers that it's because they think Eugene will die, and don't want to keep her away. Rapunzel is too tired to fight it.)

Her chair is close enough to the bed that she can rest her head on the pillow easily, but she's too scared of falling asleep to do it. She hadn't slept the night before already, instead walking all night with her heart in her throat and her mother- Gothel at her side as they made their way back to the tower. The exhaustion is making her jittery now, but if she closes her eyes and Eugene dies, she will never forgive herself.

Eugene coughs. It sounds like he's breathing broken glass, and Rapunzel can only stroke his cheek gently, trying to bring him comfort in the middle of this pain. She's not sure it means much, but just in case it does, she'll do it.

"It's gonna be okay," she says softly. "No matter what, Eugene, you'll be fine."

She realises halfway that this sounds like a goodbye. But Eugene is hurting, face pale and pinched as sweat makes his hair stick to his forehead. Eugene is hurting, and earlier she told him that he needed to wake up so she could be happy, but if he can't- if he dies, thinking that he was disappointing her, that he was responsible for her sadness, Rapunzel would never forgive herself.

So this is a goodbye, maybe. She doesn't want it to be.

"Thank you," she breathes, bringing her face close enough that her nose nearly touches his.

The moonlight is the only thing illuminating the room, and it's oddly reminiscent of their time in the flooding cave, the darkness revealing their softness and vulnerabilities. Eugene Fitzherbert, he had told her, a shy and awkward smile on his lips - but a genuine smile, which shone brighter than her hair ever did, and gave her the faith to keep going.

"Thank you, for everything," she repeats, her heart and her voice breaking as one. Her lips tremble. Eugene's breathing sounds slower, more difficult as time goes on. "Thank you for breaking into my tower," she laughs wetly, "and for making me meet all these wonderful people. Thank you for taking me to the lanterns and- and thank you for making me see how much more life had to offer."

Thank you for saving me, she can't bring herself to say, because she has never wished for anything more than for Eugene to have been a little bit more selfish. He should have saved himself, her mind keeps screaming, with an accusatory and angry tone she barely recognises. (“You should have saved him,” it yells even louder. Rapunzel squashes the self-hatred, knowing that it will come back with a vengeance later.)

She puts her hand above his heart softly, and feels the slow and jerky inhales of his lungs, and knows that she failed. She failed, and she lied, because she didn't save him, and he's going to- he...

Eugene is going to die.

The tears she had managed to keep at bay until now flood her eyes. She sniffles quietly, and wonders if she made a difference at all, if all of this... if it helped Eugene, or only helped her. She wonders if that was her being selfish again, hurting those she loves because she wanted more of life than what it could give her.

But she can't regret fighting for Eugene. She knows he would have fought for her too, that he wouldn't be angry with her for wanting to be free, or to save his life.

"Thank you for being my new dream," she whispers, because she doesn't think she can voice the affection and hope and love he gave her in another way. Eugene had found exactly the right words, as he always seemed to do.

She might have dreamt it, but a smile seems to appear at the corner of his lips, tiny and fleeting before she can truly look at it. Eugene sighs, a little louder than before. She's close enough to see his face relaxing unnaturally. Close enough to hear that there's nothing to hear anymore. Close enough to feel when his chest doesn't rise up as it should.

Just like that, Eugene is dead.

Gently, feeling as if her hands aren't really hers, Rapunzel touches Eugene's cheeks, her thumbs tracing faint circles under his eyes. He's still warm. The night is still cold. And Rapunzel is freezing, her heart like ice into her chest, spreading numbness in her veins with every beat.

"Flower gleam and glow," she sings, without even thinking about it. Maybe she's seeking the warmth the incantation always gave her. Maybe she's not ready to give up yet. She doesn't know. She doesn't know, doesn't think, as she rests her forehead on Eugene's, her eyes blurred by tears.

(Let your power shine)

Rapunzel keeps singing. The words she knows by heart feel different on her tongue.

(Make the clock reverse)

(Bring back what once was mine)

They're bitter.

(Heal what has been hurt)

(Change the fates design)

They're desperate.

(Save what has been lost)

(Bring back what once was mine)

It's a hope she can't help but cling to, even though it's burning her. But the song doesn't answer. The warmth of the sun has disappeared, dying with Eugene, perhaps. It would make sense. He has brought light into her life, of course it would die with him.

"What once was mine," she finishes, thinking of everything they shared, everything they should still get to share together, because Eugene didn't deserve to die like this, not this young, not this painfully, not- not because of her.

Eugene deserved... They deserved a happy ever after.

She can't stop her tears any longer. There's no need to be strong anymore, so she crumbles and sobs over him quietly. The world feels small. Muted. Like it's narrowing around herself.

And then, there's a light.

She opens her eyes in time to see the remnants of a golden flower disappear from Eugene's cheek, colour coming back to his skin. Before she can process that, his wound starts glowing under the bandages, the strands of lights like warm and bright gusts of winds around her. She's breathless, eyes wide with disbelief as they switch between Eugene's face and the flower made of light erupting from his wound.

The light disappears as quickly as it came. There's a beat, a second when Rapunzel isn't quite sure what to expect, and her hands tremble as she tries and fails to push her hair out of her face.

Eugene blinks his eyes open, and whispers her name.

"Eugene?" she asks, because she's scared of believing it's over only to be hurt again, and she can't... she doesn't understand how-

"Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for brunettes?" he smiles, and that's such a Eugene thing to say that relief explodes in her chest all at once, and she scrambles on the bed to hug him, new sobs escaping her. He hugs her back tightly, his head on her shoulder, and he feels here and alive and strong - it's the best thing she has ever felt.

She can't stop holding him, even as she raises her head back up to look at him. She sees the tears in his own eyes, and the shy, happy smile on his lips, and she can't contain the love she holds anymore. She kisses him, and nearly cries when he kisses her back, both desperate and happy and an impossible mixture of other emotions too. He's warm under her. His pulse is fast, but it's because she's kissing him, and nothing else. He shuffles to sit up more correctly, and she hugs him again, whispering his name over and over, scared that it's all a dream.

But this feels real, like nothing has ever felt. The sun is rising slowly, but Rapunzel's sees its light already in the way Eugene's eyes shine when he looks at her.

"You saved me," he whispers, his nose touching hers. She thinks of all the ways she failed to do that, or at least tries to, but he's already cupping her cheek softly, as if he knew exactly where her mind would go. "I don't remember everything but... But I know you saved me. And even before that you- I... You saved me, Rapunzel. Thank you."

"Thank you," she answers with a laugh, tears tracking down her cheeks. This isn’t a goodbye anymore, and the realisation makes her hold on him even tighter, the tears falling faster. "Thank you for saving me too."

She’s not sure if she’s talking about him cutting her hair, or him coming back to her. Maybe it’s about him, making her see that she deserved to be free, that she was so much more than what Gothel wanted of her. Maybe it’s about his smile, shining brighter than the sunlight behind him, making her life brighter too, only by existing.

She hugs him again, as tight as she can, and knows that whatever it is, her statement still holds true. Eugene is her new dream, and she’s his - she may not be sure of what her future holds, but she knows she’ll have Eugene at her side for it. And there’s nothing that could make her happier.

[taehyungsgrowl]

I am SO SO sorry that this took me so long to get to you 🥺 I hope it sounds coherent and that you have the happiest new year! 

Y/N was lost in her thoughts, 

what was going through Duncan’s mind? Was everything going to come to an end today? Would she prefer to have him end it.. so she could be by Nate’s side? 

It was too much, especially with Nate’s call lingering. What did he want to talk about? It will be her first visit in weeks- well , first where she could see him.  Her stomach was in knots, she’d likely have two difficult conversations to go through. Nate wouldn’t call unless he desperately needed something and Duncan was so upset the night before. Y/N prepared a cup of hot tea to help relax, setting out a second cup in case Duncan wanted any. He should be coming by soon.  ~~ Duncan’s night wasn’t any easier. He felt like his entire world was closing in on him. He thought talking to Nate would make him feel better, but, it just brought back old feelings of jealousy and resentment. Of course Nate still loved Y/N, Duncan did too, and she chose him. Even with everything they’ve been through, she always chose him. But that didn’t stop him from worrying if he’d made a mistake by pulling away to think.  He drew a bath to try and work out some of the aches in his body after such a poor sleep. Spending the time thinking of what they would talk about.  All she wanted was for him to try, to show her that he was happy being loved by her. And sometimes he couldn’t even manage that. Duncan knew he was never happier than the moments they were together, even when they were fighting, because in the end it would work out. But last time.. She chose Nate, broken Nate, still somehow stronger that Dunc could ever be.  ~~  “It’s getting late..” Y/N spoke aloud, waking Maximus from his nap beside her.  Duncan‘s text said he’d come by, but it was almost 2:30 and he still hadn’t arrived.. She couldn’t help but think maybe she should have called. It wasn’t like him to be late to anything, and that just made her even more anxious.  Visiting hours at the hospital would end at 5. Maybe she could call them and talk to Nate on the phone before Duncan came over? Just to make sure he was still doing well, her chances of making it over there were looking slimmer.  ~~ Duncan hadn’t realized how long he’d spent in the tub, when he woke up the water had gone cold. Checking his phone he realized it was almost 3 o'clock and sent Y/N a text, apologizing for the time, but promising he was heading out then.  On his way over, Duncan decided that it didn’t matter if he couldn’t compete with Nate on paper. Hopefully there was something in Y/N that would let her choose him again. 

--

hello!! pls no need to apologize! im sorry its taken me! a while to respond to this too smh!! 

ily so so much! 

--

Y/N looked down at her phone as a sigh of relief escaped her to hear from Duncan. She knew, no matter what direction the conversation took, she wouldn’t have the time to make it to Nate - not without rushing Duncan and she knew neither of them deserved a half attempt at a conversation. 

She knew she was breaking her promise to Nate, but maybe if she called him - let him know she wouldn’t be able to make it, he could understand. 

Y/N called the number he had called her from and requested to speak to him. She waited while the hospital staff made the decision on whether or not she could speak to him at the time. She held her breath until she heard his voice on the other line. 

“Y/N?”

“Nate,” she sighed. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it in,” she winced at the silence that followed. “Today at least.” she continued when he didn’t say anything, “Could I see you first thing tomorrow morning? I can bring your favorite bagels from that caf-”

“Do you still love me?” he cut off her nervous rambles, not able to ‘sleep’ another night wondering the same question over and over. 

“You know I love you, Nate. Always will.” her heart was pumping fast waiting his next question. 

“Enough to let me go?” Nate surprised himself when the question left his lips. But he didn’t take it back. He believed Duncan when he said Y/N still loved him. He believed Y/N when she said it, but despite it all - he knew it didn’t matter. 

It would never matter as long as she was still in love with Duncan. 

Nate wanted to be okay almost as much as he wanted to be engulfed in her love. But he knew those things couldn’t co-exist when she loved someone else. 

Y/N was frozen. Her grip on the phone couldn’t get any tighter. How could he ask that of her? 

“Don’t ask that of me, please,” she spoke barely above a whisper. 

Maxie whined at her feet sensing her distress. Y/N wanted to be selfish in that moment. She wanted to let Nate know she couldn’t let him go. She loved him too much to live without him- even if she was hurting him. 

Nate felt the leash pulling on his heart. Y/N’s hold on him was so tight it felt like he couldn’t breath. He shut his eyes and pulled in a long breath from his nose, exhaling out through his mouth in an attempt to calm down, but he could hear his pulse in ears as the room buzzed around him. 

[legends-lover]

“There's no time to waste In this famous goodbye There's Angels landing on the shore” This is the last goodbye of Jason Grace. Jason warns, screams to Apollo that he must go and take Piper, that he must remember. As he goes limp with Caligula’s spear jutting through him, he vaguely remembers the words of Michael Varus, Tempest bringing him to the shore.Born a Roman, die a Roman. “So lay down with me Let the river run dry It's Sunday in the six-day war” Jason’s been many things in his life. A soldier, an orphan, a commander, a Greek and a Roman. But he was now a Pontifex, because he had enough fighting to last a lifetime. He set down his sword and picked up the robe of the priest, and he was happy as Pontifex. But always the white knight, danger called and Jason came running. “Smile darling don't be sad Stars are going to shine tonight” Jason supposed he died young. I mean, 16 years isn’t a long life, but for demigods, for Jason it was long. He could be at peace, because he had the adventure of a lifetime, and he had love and everything else. A life, however short, is still a lifetime. “There's a children's choir in perfect parade Singing like they found the Lord I can't say it they'll let me in But we can dance the way we did High above up the seventh floor” Kisses on the rooftop, under the stars. When Jason flew for the first time, he never wanted to come down. The feeling of flight felt like Church for a pagan teenager. He wondered often if Zeus saw him, if he ever realized that the boy with the golden sword in the sky was his. “Father hear your Son Do the good die young Did I raise you up, raise you up Make you Proud” To bear a legion upon one’s back as a son of Jupiter was never easy in New Rome. Especially not since the age of 3. Jason spent 13 years of his life praying to his father, who seemed nothing more than a marble statue in a cold stone temple that was more a mausoleum than a home. When he first met Jupiter, Zeus, he was gutted. A simple 5 minute chat did nothing to relieve a lifetime of wondering if he was really good enough to be the son of the king of the gods. “Let the sun go out Tear the bridges down I'm on my way, on my way I'm going home” As Jason Grace watched the sun set over the Burning Maze, he knew very well that this might be his last time. Even if the good died young, Jason would rather die young and heroic than old and jaded. Leo never came back, so Jason was at peace with finding him first. “Tell me where the good men go Before I wash away Walk me down the old brick road So I can die where I met you Hold me like we're going home Turn your tears to rain Bury me beautiful Heaven knows how I loved you” As Pontifex Maximus and a friend of the son of Hades, Jason knew what happened after death. As he had walked through the brick-layered streets of New Rome with his fellow legionnaires, with the Seven, hand in hand with Piper once upon a time, he wondered when it would be his last. He broke up with Piper before the Burning Maze, not having the heart to tell her it might be his last time holding her, his last time at home. One last fight for Jason Grace. Would he go out with a bang or a whimper? Jason hoped he had finally completed his line in the play of the Fates. As he mounted Tempest and readied his spear, he wanted not only Apollo to remember. “Heaven knows how I loved you” Jason Grace wished to never forget what he had and how he loved. ◦

[eugeneismyqueen]

Rapunzel’s First Christmas

Rapunzel had never had a proper Christmas before. Living in the tower away from civilization hadn’t allowed her many possibilities to celebrate. Mother Gothel had never been big on affection or presents but she had allowed Rapunzel to decorate a small tree every year. However, Rapunzel had read about many grand Christmases in faraway places, where stockings were hung, presents were tied with pretty bows for loved ones, and the smells of baking gingerbread filled the air. This was her first Christmas in Corona, her first one with Eugene. And he intended to make it the most special Christmas she could ever dream of.

“Good morning and merry Christmas Eve, Blondie.” Eugene strolled into the princess’s room, setting down a tray of hot cocoa for two and pulled open her curtains. She sat up in bed, wiping a trail of drool from her chin and rubbing her eyes.

She yawned, “Eugene.” There was a smile on her face as she watched him parade around her room, still in his own bed clothes. He knew she liked seeing him relaxed like this, not trying to rush into the day but enjoying the moments as they came.

“Hot cocoa in bed, your highness?” Eugene carried the tray of cocoa to Rapunzel’s bed, sitting down in front of her and putting the tray between them. He leaned against her bedpost, sipping from his mug, watching her savor her first sips of hot cocoa.

“You’re the best boyfriend ever, Eugene.”

“Oh come on, Blondie, the day’s still a bit early to be saying that.” He winked at her and she giggled.

“I know, but I’m sure my day is already booked with princess duties.”

“Actually, your parents declared today a snow day.”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened. “A snow day?”

“Mhmm, which means you are officially mine today.” His eyes twinkled with that flirty look that made her insides flip flop. Rapunzel set her mug down on the tray and jumped into Eugene’s arms.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you made it snow just to have a date day with me,” she laughed, nuzzling her nose against his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her, setting his own mug of hot cocoa down to pull her closer to him. He pressed his lips against her forehead and brushed a hand through her short, brown hair. Winter morning cuddles with his Rapunzel was the best thing he had ever experienced in life and he had the smallest hope that he could just hold her in his arms in this bed with their hot cocoa for the whole day instead of everything else he had planned.

“I’ve never been in snow before,” she whispered against him. “What does it feel like?”

“To be honest, I’ve never really liked snow. At the orphanage and out on my own, snow just always meant cold. When I was a kid, I guess I played in it. It used to be fun, especially for Lance and I. We built snowmen and had snowball fights, and for a few moments, none of us were poor, sad orphans. We were just kids having fun. I don’t really remember that feeling when it comes to snow anymore.” His eyes glazed over, some dark part of his past haunting him still.

“Hey,” Rapunzel took his face into her hands. “We can make it fun. Will you experience snow with me, Eugene?”

“For you? I’d do anything, Rapunzel.”

Eugene watched Rapunzel pause at the top of the palace steps, eyes glazed over in wonder and amazement at the blankets of snow covering the whole front lawn of the palace. The stairs had been cleared and the pair of them were dressed in warm furs to keep the cold out. They were ready for the perfect snow day. Eugene stepped towards Rapunzel, recognizing her stillness as worry that the snow won’t be everything she dreamed of.

“Hey,” he whispered in her ear, lacing her hand in his. “Shall we?”

She grinned at him and tugged Eugene down the steps, before jumping into the snow. The bright sun glittered off the snow and Rapunzel looked bright, and clear, and happy. He threw snowballs at her, built a snowman with her, they went sledding, and made snow angels. Eugene felt like a kid again, and finally the snow wasn’t something he hated anymore. It was something he found beauty in, at the help of Rapunzel.

When the sun began to set, Eugene pulled Rapunzel close and whispered in her ear that he had one more surprise for her.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel gasped at the sight of Maximus pulling a sleigh behind him. She got on her tiptoes and kissed Eugene’s cheek. He offered her his hand and she climbed into the sleigh. He followed her and tucked a blanket around them, wrapping an arm around her and holding her cold hands in his free hand. Maximus took off through Corona and the pair watched with amazement as the storefronts came to life with light and Christmas spirit. Feldspar’s shop was decorated with miniature shoes of varying types and styles. Uncle Monty’s sweet shoppe looked like a gingerbread house, complete with peppermints in the windows and a wreath made from licorice. Rapunzel laughed at all the beautiful Christmas decorations, feeling so much joy in her heart to finally see what a proper Christmas feels like.

Maximus led the sleigh into the forest as it began to lightly snow again. Rapunzel leaned into Eugene, laying her head on his shoulder and sighing happily. “This has been the best day ever.”

“Everyday is the best day with you, Rapunzel.”

She lifted her head to meet Eugene’s eyes. He leaned in for a kiss, concealing a small jewelry box in his hand. He opened it in front of her while they kissed and held it out for her. She pulled away to look at the purple and gold sun emblem of Corona connected to a delicate gold chain.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

He fastened it around her neck. “Merry Christmas, Sunshine.”

“Merry Christmas, Eugene. You’ll get your gift back at the castle.”

“Oh you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I just can’t help spoiling you, Eugene,” Rapunzel grinned, a twinkle in her eye, running her fingers over the delicate pendant at her throat.

When they returned to the castle, Rapunzel led Eugene to her room and pulled out a thick package she had carefully wrapped in white paper and tied with a bow. She handed him the package and sat on her bed, patting beside her for him to join. He carefully undid the bow and tore the paper and found a big book inside the wrapping.

“It’s The Tales of Flynnigan Rider,” Eugene said, beginning to flip through the book. “Wait. Rapunzel. Are these your drawings?”

“Yep! I thought I’d illustrate some of the stories. And, here, this one’s my favorite Flynn Rider story.” Rapunzel flipped the pages towards the end of the book. This was a new story, one he wasn’t familiar with reading, but one he knew very well all the same.

“You wrote our story, Blondie.”

“And illustrated!” Rapunzel laughed, loving the look on Eugene’s face as he looked at their story, how they met and fell in love within the pages of this book, mixing with all the Flynnigan Rider stories he’d read as a boy.

“This is the best gift anyone has ever given me, Rapunzel. You are the best gift. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Eugene. You’re my best gift, too.”

Eugene set his book down and pulled Rapunzel into his arms, holding her close and brushing her lips with his.

“This really is the best Christmas ever,” he sighed before kissing her again.

Rapunzel and Eugene enjoyed the rest of their cozy Christmas Eve by the fire with more hot cocoa as snow fell down outside, love in their hearts for each other and for the joys of Christmas.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs: The Marathon

From the Intergalactic Journal of Mechanics and Biology

They say that a single human once ran for 80 hours 44 minutes without stopping to sleep. He covered a distance of 350m (360km) during that time. At a relative speed of less than 5 miles an hour, the speed pales in comparison to other apex predators of their planet. The spotted cheetah can run up to 76 miles per hour, but can only sustain that for approximately 1,500 feet. The best bread and trained horses of their planet may be able to run 100 miles in a day, but many who attempt this feat never finish.

Despite its relative speed, the human can sustain a relative pace of four miles an hour four a little over three earth solar cycles without rest (keep in mind that this is not an examination of average ability).

Once thought to be the most endurance evolved species in the galaxy, the Rundi can run for an hour at the speed of fifteen miles per hour, but in a long distance race with a human, they find themselves slowly outmatched.

First, they outpace the human easily, they grow slowly tired, they fall to a slow walking speed, they try to maintain, but their body overheats. Eventually the steady footsteps of the approaching human converge and then pass ahead to recede into the distance.

Compared to most creatures, the human has a few advantages. Bipedal in nature, they can carry objects with them as they run like water and food, the arches in their feet act as shocks and springs to decrease shock. The feet are oriented straight ahead and their toes are shortened to decrease the mechanical work of the foot. Spring-like tendons and ligaments aid them as they run. A narrow waist that can pivot allows for the swimming of arms during running action. A heightened sense of balance and movement keeps them on a straight course and allows their head to remain steady as they go. About 20 miles of energy can be stored in the muscles themselves. Additionally, one of the largest muscles in the body, the gluteus maximus is not engaged during a brisk walk but during a run. But the biggest factor, is their ability to cool through sweat.

As far as we know, humans, and some of their earthly counterparts, are the only creatures in the universe that excrete water to catalyze cooling.

 They were going to die.

They were going to die.

The sun would come up, and burn them to death and they were going to die.

Krill never thought that his life would end this way. Surrounded by the strange Humans on a class A death planet waiting for the star to rise over the horizon and melt them to a crisp.

Even the humans standing in the desert sand around him looked subdued. Usually, during near death situations, they were relatively chipper, but this was different. They knew they were going to die.

Captain Vir gave a sigh, “Knew we shouldn’t have trusted that little scab.” He muttered looking up towards the sky where the troop transport had vanished carrying with it their merchandise and its conniving Tesraki pilot probably laughing gleefully to himself about the stupidly of the trustingly naive humans.

The darkness was so profound out in the desert at night, though the stars overhead were particularly striking.

Krill, the captain asked, “How far are we from the sanctuary.”

A few quick calculations in his head and Krill felt himself sink towards the sand. This was hopeless, and the planet’s magnetic field made their communications ability almost nonexistent.

“How far?” The captain prodded

“40 Units.”

“In miles please, America still hasn’t switched to the metric system.”

A quick calculation

“25 miles.”

A sudden shift in the group, and he looked up to find a confusing sight. The humans looked almost hopeful glancing around at each other.

The captain grinned, “That’s great news.”

Krill stared at him in disbelief, “25 MILES captain. And only seven hours before the sun comes up. We have no chance.”

A bark of laughter escaped the humans.

A cheer rose up.

What was happening?

“Anyone here ever run a Marathon?” The captain asked

The human’s cheering died down and there was a pause.

The captain frowned, “Anyone want to run for their first time?” He questioned

Silence.

Krill stared on in confusion, “I’m sorry, what is a Marathon.”

“It’s sort of this tradition we have. Supposedly after the final battle between the Athenians and the Persians, an Athenian soldier ran 25 miles back to Athens to tell of the victory before he died.”

Krill blinked in horror, “A tradition.”

“Yeah, they hold them all the time back home.”

“So a few of you just give up your lives to run a race.”

Laughter shook the sand around him.

“No, thousands of people come to participate, and no one usually dies. Most people are up and walking after about an hour or two if not directly after.”

Krill stared at the humans in a mixture of awe.

The captain rubbed the back of his neck, “I suppose I could do it.

“Yeah send the one eyed one leg cripple to run for our lives.” One of the humans commented sarcastically

“I could go.” Another volunteered

The captain shook his head, “I may have one leg, but that just means I can’t feel pain in it. Not to mention I used to run when I was younger.”

“Used to being the key point there.” Someone muttered

“I heard that.” The captain snapped though there was less malice in his voice than one might have supposed.

Krill sometimes did wonder about that. In most species cultures, the crippled were weeded out in order to preserve the race, but these humans were odd. Losing a limb seemed to have the opposite effect, and if you could function with a missing limb, the humans were even more impressed.

He wondered if it wasn’t some sort of primitive form of dominance. The more scars you had the more fights you had survived, which made you the strongest.

The captain dropped his bag to the ground and began pulling off his jacket. Krill shook his head, “Captain, it is too cold out.”

The captain shook his head, “I’ll warm up.” Krill stared on in confused fascination as the man proceeded to strip off his outer layer until he stood in nothing but his undershorts and socks.

The other humans laughed and cat called back to their normal oblivious selves.

Did they not understand how dead they were? They were alone waiting for sunrise on a class A death planet. This was no time to be laughing at partial nudity.

The captain struck some sort of pose earing jeers before motioning to one of the other men, “Your shoes.”

“But captain, I.”

“Shoes, lieutenant, I am not running 26 miles in combat boots.

Reluctantly the other man gave up his shoes and handed them to the other man.

The group grew quiet, and began pulling out supplies putting together a small bag of water and food.

The captain stood on the outskirts of the group stretching his flesh leg before checking the functioning of the robotic one. Both seemed to be working seamlessly.

His teeth shattered, and he began hopping around in a circle.

The man really had gone mad.

The lieutenant with the missing shoes approached him from the side, “You better hurry captain. I set a watch for you. You should have Seven hours to make it, but it will get hotter as the sun approaches.” The Captain nodded, and with a sort of surreal optimism, he began his run letting off a whoop into the night as if he was challenging he sun itself.

Humans were reckless like that. They believed they could beat anything.

It was an almost beautiful thing to watch as the human grew smaller and smaller against the horizon. His footing was sure and seamless despite his injury. As a medic, Krill could almost see the cords of muscle contracting and lengthening under the skin. Despite its awkward appearance, the human really was graceful when in his element.

***

He wasn’t’ thinking that four hours later when the sky began to lighten. It was barely perceptible but he could feel it, and he could feel the heat of the approaching sun already beginning to warm him. The humans could feel it too, and they began taking off their jackets looking towards the horizon where their doom was fast approaching.

The jokes were sparser now as were the smiles. He could sense the tension on them as hormones in the air. Adrenaline…. The scent of the poison made him ill, and he had no idea how the humans survived straight injections of it into their system.

The sky grew brighter. The heat was at around 70 degrees now.

The humans appeared comfortable, and so was he, but anything above 75 and he would begin to wilt. The humans told him they could withstand temperatures up to 100+ degrees for short periods, and not very comfortably.

He could tell when the heat increased because he felt his body shutting down.

In an act of reckless and pointless kindness, the humans used the rest of their remaining water to cool him. Not like it would matter. They were dead anyway.

Hour five rolled by, and he was sure they were dead…. He was fading quickly as the heat grew to around 80 degrees. The humans frantically fanned him from all sides. In a sort of delirious haze he felt a sense of attachment to these strange creatures who had taken him in despite the divide between species.

That’s when they heard the sounds of the engines.

Looking up into the sky they caught sight of the transport fast approaching, and a great cheer rose into the air. He couldn’t believe it.

It took a few minutes at 90 degrees before the ship landed, and he was quickly carried inside by a mass of cheering humans, door shutting behind them with a screech.

He was enveloped in cool bliss. Enough to finally lift his head and look around annoyed that the humans seemed relatively fine despite sheen of sweat and a few headaches, and of course…. The captain.

He sat hunched under a reflective emergency blanket with an ice pack to his head. His prosthetic leg was gone and his other foot was a mass of blisters. His upper legs were a mass of raw skin where friction had rubbed it away, but he was grinning.

He must have seen the awed look on Krill’s face for he gave a wink, “Told you, easy. We humans do it all the time.”

Krill shook his head in amazement and fascination. They really were indestructible.

Of course, he may not have thought that later on if he had watched the captain limp piteously back to his room, squeal like a girl when the shower water touched his chafed skin all before flopping into bed to sleep a continuous thirteen hours.

That part would be conspicuously missing from the story. A story that told of a one-legged one-eyed human who ran 26 miles in almost no clothes during heat ranging from 40-90 degrees on a class A death planet under six hours all to save his crew.

[head-under-water]

permanent damage; 1

2007, JUNE “We don’t keep secrets from one another, Harry. That’s not who are!” Ginny’s eyes are gleaming with anger, breathing slightly rapid. The usual shine from Harry’s beryl eyes is gone, and he doesn’t look up at his wife. He is frustrated, perhaps even a bit ashamed, but he did what he thought was right. “Gin, I can’t go running off to my wife every time we get potentially dangerous news! I think it’d drive the both of us mad. Do you know how many false death threats we get on a weekly basis?” Harry’s voice raises, but his temper (perhaps equally matched to hers) is tamed. The redhead shook her head, recently shortened strands of red hair swinging at the sides of her face. “You do when it comes to our family. This was different. I don’t press you on things you don’t want to talk about Harry, but this is a direct threat to us, to our kids. I could have helped earlier than now.” She hated that feeling, of being left out as if she didn’t have anything to contribute. It made her feel like she was a kid again, being told what she could and could not do. After all these years, how much more did she have to keep proving to the world that she was more than capable to handle herself? A freckled hand raises a folded piece of parchment, it’s clearly been opened, unfolded and stuffed in pockets for quite a while; faint tears and wears among the lettering. A bloody f***ing riddle that they had to solve or risk the endangerment of their children. “I had it under control, trust me.” Harry removes his glasses, rubbing his temples with his fingertips, sweeping them across his forehead to pinch the bridge of his nose. Long frame leans against his desk, looking more defeated than he’d ever care to admit. She does trust him, there no one else she trusted more in fact, yet this felt like too much of an oversight. It didn’t feel like he had it under control. Ginny understood the need for security, for caution, but she had the right to know if there were direct threats to her children. Her eyes glide over the paper again, consuming the words until she practically memorized them. This was directed at her, she could just feel it. The years have passed to such an age that a child born that day will begin at Hogwarts. Befitting that a child can begin learning magic now, that I wonder: what did they teach you? Flames lick your hair, with fiery eyes to match it. Permanent damage, my future with the others. Blasted into glass that day, I can’t get past...how did you possess such strength? I give you no names, but a warning to heed; I am after your future, no matter their age. Who am I? Ginny had repeated the words in her head for a while, worry evident on her face from the way her brow furrowed, lost in deep thought. The swell of her belly is large, the child inside almost the size of a pineapple. How long ago it seemed that they were just a mere sweetpea, too tiny to imagine, still surreal. Her heart was beating hard against her chest, and she lets out a sigh for relief. Harry is quiet, likely ruminating on the riddle, each wrinkle and tear of the parchment clearly visualized in his head. Gazes meet in silence and Harry eventually walks over to her, palm against her cheek, fingertips sweeping. Ginny closes her eyes, breathing settling in until finally, her lashes flutter open and bright eyes meet his. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted to keep you in the dark. Or because I don’t trust you, Ginny. You know that. I didn’t tell you because it seemed unnecessary until now. I’m sorry. I should have, but I didn’t want to stress you out until I was certain. I didn’t think much of it because we’ve gotten a few the last month, but then this one came...” His voice trails off, the end of his sentence remaining a mystery. It had been tossed aside for a while, into a bin of what appeared to meaningless threats to sort through. The letter was elegantly folded into an acid-green envelope with red calligraphy, and if you stared at it long enough, it seemed to glow. A fact that someone only noticed when they were working late hours and caught it in time. Ginny thanked Merlin it hadn’t been too long. Though she questioned the sorting capabilities of whoever thought to chuck it aside. The very elegance of the letter gave her chills. Its dark aesthetic was appealing, made by someone with finesse and opulent tastes. “I know, Harry. I’m sorry for losing my temper.” Harry’s presence was always rather calming for Ginny, he felt like home, and no matter how angry or upset she may have been, he could instantly wash it away, like waves from the sea erase footprints on the sand. “I’m staying here to help though. I’ll owl mum and let her know James and Albus will be staying longer. This is too important.” Hours passed, and many of the lights from desks were flickering off; Aurors calling it a night to get to their respective families. Ginny and Harry remained, talking over the riddle. “The first bit is rather obvious,” She says matter-of-factly. “Eleven years, so eleven years ago. That was when we all went to the Department of Mysteries.” She trails off, lost in her memory. Leaning back on her chair, she closes her eyes, hands instinctively on her belly, soothing herself. Permanent damage, my future with the others. Ginny rummages through the memories, so raveled with one another that they all seem to blur into one another. That was how most of the war seemed to feel. Each day seeped into the next, loneliness taking over, and all you could trust was your mind and even then sometimes it failed you. My future with the others… “Future with the others...that’s it, the prophecies!” Ginny said excitedly. “Who was all there, Harry? Who do we remember?” She’s racking her mind again, the memories suddenly drowning her. So many Death Eaters that night. They split off accidentally from the Prophecy Room, she, Ron and Luna. She remembered desperately shooting stunning spells in every direction she could muster. In the Space room, they were surrounded by at least five Death Eaters, though it was a dark and blurry memory, perhaps there had been more. Gravity felt different there, almost as if you could float. Ginny remembered thinking she wanted to be firm on the ground, clutching the air until she got her bearings. Soon there was a scream of spells. 1996, JUNE “Protego! Protego Maximus!” Ginny screamed loudly, blocking a few stunning spells from hitting the trio. Ron had a look to kill on his face. “Oi, you bloody death bat, that’s my sister!” She recalls him screaming, heart swelling with pride as her brother manages to stun a masked man closest to their left. They’re all back to back, though the gravity is difficult to maintain, and suddenly they’re floating away from one another, each battling an approaching Death Eater. Stuck between two Death Eater’s now, Ginny finds herself spinning in circles, head turning rapidly from side to side. One grabs a hold of her foot, pulling it so hard she feels the searing burn from her ankle, fibula bone cracking and ligament instantly snapping off from the talus bone. Ginny screams loudly from the pain. The Death Eater ahead of her is approaching, ready to end her by the cold voice of parting from lips. “Avaa--” “Do it now Mulciber!” Macnair screams at the other man. “REDUCTO!” She screams loudly towards his face, and the man is blown back from Impact. “LUNA!” Ginny screams as the other man tightens his grip, hoping to finish the job his friend fails to. Soon Luna’s calm voice screams, hitting Pluto with a reductor spell so hard it smashes the man’s face. Ron’s not too far away, though there’s an odd look to his face. Ginny’s trying to maintain calm. “Let’s get out of here--” “Harry, I think I know who it is.” She says snapping back into reality, the room suddenly feeling heavier as she returns from her dream-like state. “I blasted a Death Eater off me that night. I was stuck between two of them, and I used the reductor spell, and I was aiming for his chest, but the gravitational pull was different you see, and when the other pulled my ankle, it shifted my aim towards his face...he fell and hit a bunch of planets. It was after we smashed the prophecies and all got separated.” Her heart was racing, excited to be solving the riddle. “His future was lost...Harry, I ruined his face. ‘Permanent damage along with the others’, he means to say I ruined him the way those prophecies can’t be recovered. Now he’s after my future...our kids. Harry, we got to find him now.” Harry looked concerned at her words, and light seems to flash in his eyes as she's speaking. “It’s Mulciber.” They both say at the same time. “He got out of Azkaban somehow...imperiused a guard to let him go and to…” He swallows hard. “...Run off the prison onto the rocks below.”

[sagi-andherthoughts]

A Night to Remember

Summary: The event of the year is here! And as preparations, uninvited guests and dancing ensues, sparks will fly and certain feelings will be revealed (maybe). 

Pairing: Bill Weasley x Female!OC

Word Count: 2.7k

A/N: I know I know I’m very very late with this part 2 and I’m sorry!!! I’m just such a procrastinator and things have been so hectic lately. Anyways I’ve left the ending on the cliffhanger, and I’m sure if I’m gonna continue or not because I’m actually (maybe) planning on doing a series inspired by my MC’s adventures. I’ll let you guys know. 

Link to Part 1

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Viviane’s Dress:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After successfully inviting Rowan to the ball as my date, I was summoned back to the Great Hall by Andre, who was excited to show me my clothing options. I owned a couple of dresses and skirts in my wardrobe, but none seemed fitting for what would be the grandest event of the year. And after seeing what Hogwart’s Style Wizard could do, I was looking forward to what he came up with.

The Hall was empty except for myself and Andre, and even from the entrance I could see three mannequins in the front, each with a different dress on them.

“Andre, how did you get everyone to leave so fast?”

“A little magic perhaps?” He joked. “Just kidding, once everyone heard it was for you, they cleared out pretty quickly.”

“Well that’s nice of them. So what are my options?” I looked over to the mannequins and was immediately stunned by the beauty of the dresses. One was a dark blue with stars and constellations woven into the fabric, sparkling and twinkling as if they were real. The second one was a deep maroon with a ruffled tiered bottom and white patterns running across the neckline. The final one was a green cold-shoulder dress with a short slit opening in the middle, and pink petals running down the dress to make it seemed like they were falling.

Seemingly satisfied by my reaction, Andre smiled and waved a hand about dramatically like he was presenting.

“Take your pick Curse-Breaker.”

I walked over and touched each of the dresses, feeling the softness of the fabric under my fingertips. “They are all gorgeous Andre. But…I just feel like they still lack something.” I bit my lip, afraid that my comment had upset him, but to my surprise he had a smile on his face.

“I thought you would say that Viviane, so that’s why I saved the best for last.” He walked over to the corner of the room, where a room divider was set up to form a makeshift changing space, and wheeled another mannequin out.

I gasped as soon as I took a look.

The dress on the mannequin was simply stunning. It was an A-line grey tulle dress with delicate lacing on the bodice. It was also off-the-shoulder and had a sweetheart neckline, helping to show off the right amount of skin without being too risqué.

“Oh Andre.” My hands covered my wide open mouth. “This dress is beautiful.”

“What are you waiting for then?” He was practically pushing me towards the changing space. “Go put it on.”

I quickly changed out of my uniform, and as soon as I put on the dress, I knew that it was the one. I didn’t know how Andre found out my measurements, but it fitted me perfectly, flaring out at my waist and hugged my chest just right. He must truly be a style wizard.

I walked out, cheeks slightly reddening. “So? What do you think?”

“Wow Viviane, you’re going to turn a few heads tonight.” He whistled admiringly. “Twirl around a bit would you?”

I did as he asked, giggling when the dress twirled in a perfect circle, making me feel like one of those ladies in a Jane Austen book going to a soiree.

“You’re a miracle worker Andre, how will I ever thank you?”

“Do the dress justice Curse-Breaker, and that will be enough.”

I went back to change, and as I hugged the dress close to my body to go back to my room, I’ve never felt more excited for the ball.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The 4th year girls were all scrambling around like mad, screaming and shouting every time someone occupied the bathrooms for too long. The girls’ dorm was a mess of makeup, dresses, shoes, and jewellery flying about, and I coughed as some powder flew into my face.

Rowan was in another bathroom getting ready, and we both agreed to meet at the Great Hall instead of going together to keep the surprise, even though I had already seen her dress. I wiped the powder from my face and dusted them off my dress, then proceeded to put my black hair up into a chignon bun that brushed the nape of my neck. For the finishing touch, I also put on some light lip gloss.

While looking at my reflection in the mirror with satisfaction, I also had to fight the urge to run my hands through my hair and untangling them as a mix of nervousness and excitement started to pool in my stomach. I took a few deep breaths, calming down enough to step out of the bathroom, allowing another girl to race through me and go inside.

I exited the Hufflepuff Common Room and started to make my way to the Hall, catching a few glances and looks on the way as my silver sandals clacked against the floors of the castle. My face began heating up as the looks continued as this was the first time I dressed up this much.

The Ball was already at the full-blown level of activity when I entered, a cacophony of laughter and noises and endless twirls of satin and silk and cotton filled the entire place. Some were standing and chatting, some were munching on the food and refreshments, while others were already swaying to the lively music.

“Viviane!” From a distance, I heard my name got called. When I turned, it was Rowan who was walking towards me. “You look absolutely brilliant! I’ve been telling everyone that you’re my date, I hope that’s all right? I’m just so excited!”

“Of course it’s ok! And you look smashing as well. But I got to see your dress beforehand so I knew you would.”

“Just look at you two.” This time, it was Ben who appeared, more confident thanks to the “Maximus Confidencia” charm. “I’m afraid you might be too adorable for your own good.”

“I’m so glad that you talked us into going to the Ball Viviane, and thanks to Andre, I’ve been getting compliments from everyone.”

“I’ll second that, everyone wants my hat!”

“I’m so happy to hear that. And Rowan?” I turned to my best witch. “I’m sorry that I forced you to go at first and not listen to how you feel. I’ve never seen you so crossed with me, I should have been a better friend.”

In response, she put a hand on my bare shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. “Hey, it all worked out, so there’s no use living in the past yeah? Let’s just enjoy tonight.”

At that moment, Penny in her white and yellow ensemble walked over, looking as beautiful as ever. “Apologies guys, I need to steal Viviane for a moment.” I followed her with a promise that I’ll be back shortly, and we ended up near the night sky dance floor.

“It may sound corny, but I feel like you’ve been part of my Celestial Ball journey from the start!”

“Of course Penny! You deserve to be the head of the committee, you did a fantastic job.”

At that moment, Professor Dumbledore took to the front and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everybody.

“Students, may I have your attention please? I would like to recognize Professor Flitwick for stepping in to lead the Celestial Ball committee’s decorating efforts. Also, I would like to recognize Penny Haywood, head of the decorating committee. The Great Hall never looked as stellar! Enjoy the ball, everyone!”

“Look at that.” I turned to Penny. “You got mentioned in front of everyone.”

“Oh I could explode with joy right now!” The blonde next to me was practically smiling from ear to ear.  She then turned her head around to take in the atmosphere, abruptly stopping when her eyes went to the large front door. “Merlin’s beard, is that Bill?”

My head whipped around faster than a lightning crack, and indeed entering the hall was the handsome Weasley that had been plaguing my mind since the day I found out I have feelings for him. My eyes were drawn to his figure, which wasn’t in his uniform as usual, but in a classic suit with a deep red shirt. As he approached, I also noticed that he had on a grey waistcoat, the same shade as my dress.

‘Andre you sly wizard.’ I began to blush as I realized that he must have deliberately colour-coordinated our outfits, and couldn’t help the erratic beating of my heart as he walked closer.

He came to a stop in front of Penny and I, widening his eyes when he looked at me. I started to become even more self-conscious under his appraising gaze, and had to mentally stop myself from reaching up and tugging at the loose hair strands brushing my neck.

“Bill! You came by after all.”

“I promised Rowan I would after all.” He smiled. “You look absolutely fantastic by the way.”

I fingered a hair strand as the butterflies came. “Thank you, Andre helped with me with the dress. You looked handsome too.”

“Andre insisted I changed into something nicer. Something about the outfit making the wizard.” He weaved a hand through his fiery hair sheepishly. I wondered if he realized we were basically matching. Penny must have, because as she stood next to us, she kept looking at us back and forth and had a knowing smirk on her face.

“Oh no.” Penny groaned as a flash of pink caught my eye. “What are you doing here?”  

Emily Tyler, that bloody witch, sauntered over in her usual horrendously pink outfit and smug face.

“I came to see if your decoration theme turned out better than mine would have. It didn’t.” She eyed the hall in disdain, making my blood started to boil a little. “But mostly, I was looking for Bill and saw him walk in here.” At that, my blood immediately went from hot to cold.

“Looking for me? Why?” Bill was as confused as we all were.

“To rescue you from these kids so we can spend some time together.”

“Kids?” I didn’t try to hide the sarcasm in my voice. “We’re not that much younger than you, Emily.”

Bill looked back to her, still having this confused and incredulous look on his face. “You want to spend time with me, Emily?”

“Yes, I made a mistake rejecting you, Bill. And I don’t make mistakes often. So let’s get away from this Celestial Ball nonsense you’ve gotten involved in. We can go to Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer. What do you say?” Emily looked at him up and down, definitely realizing how handsome he was.

“I say…” My eyes kept darting between them both, and as I saw Bill mull over the idea, my heart began to sink. Of course he’s going to say yes, how could he not? Emily is gorgeous and feisty and Bill used to have the biggest crush on her. I was wrong to even hope that there was something more between us, he probably said what he said when I was struggling to find a date to encourage me.

I hung my head and bit my lip in anticipation of his sure reply, one which will definitely break my heart.

“Not if you were the last witch on the planet, Emily. You’ve been too rude to my friends and to me.”

Wait…what?

I flung my head up, totally shocked by his reply. And I wasn’t the only one with a wide-open gape.

“If you’ll excuse me, I see Rowan.” He gave us one last satisfying smile, and proceeded to walk briskly to the girl in the blue dress standing by the fireplace. All three of us followed his figure, still surprised by what he said, but this time I had a wide smile on my face.

“Bill would rather spend time with Rowan Khanna than me? Even if I were the last witch on the planet?”

“Wasn’t ‘Planets’ your decorating theme?” I couldn’t help but added. “I much prefer Penny’s stars.”

“I’ll walk you out, Emily. And by the way, nice hair.” Now Penny was the one with the smug look on her face, completely enjoying the event that just happened.

The pink witch was visibly taken aback by our reaction, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. “Now I’m the one not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

After the Emily Tyler debacle, the night went on without a hitch. We enjoyed the food and chatted before going to the dance floor and dancing to the music. Rowan and I danced to some Celestina Warbeck, and our whole group joined together when “Livin’ On A Prayer” came on. Thanks to some of the Muggleborn and Half-blood students lending their several records, we were able to enjoy both Wizard and Muggle music.

After a while, I felt myself breathing hard from dancing and laughing so much, so I decided to retire to the refreshments table, sipping a cup of chilled Butterbeer and munching on mini Cauldron Cakes. I was in the middle of stifling a laugh seeing Ben trying to do the Moonwalk when out of the corner of my eyes I saw Bill walking towards me with a wide smile on his face.

“I never thought dances can be so fun.” He leaned back on the table trying to catch his breath.

“I know, it’s a welcoming change from the usual.” We stood there for a while, simply talking about anything and everything, when I heard the music change into a slow and mellow song. People on the dance floor began pairing up immediately, and after the first few notes I recognized it to be Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross.

“This is my favourite song.” Already I was humming along and tapping my foot silently.

“Oh? Then,” Bill suddenly turned to me, bowing and offering his hand. “Can I have this dance?”

I was motionless for a second before my brain finally caught up. I smiled and took his hand in mine. “I would be delighted.”

We were on the dance floor once more, but this time his hands were circled around my waist while mine wounded together on the back of his neck and we were so close that I was afraid Bill could hear the erratic beating of my heart.

It took a moment for us to learn each other’s rhythms, but once we did we soon found ourselves lost in our own world, a world of starry skies and twinkling lights. This was my first time dancing with Bill, so inevitably I was very nervous, and found myself avoiding his gaze.

“A galleon for your thoughts?” It was his voice that drew me back to the blues of his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Oh you know, the usual: classes, Cursed Vaults, Emily Tyler.” I might have whispered the last part under my breath, but he heard me nonetheless.

“Emily Tyler?” He raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Well,” I momentarily released one hand from his neck to play with the loose strands of my bun, trying to act nonchalant. “I was just wondering why you turned her down earlier. You used to fancy her a lot.”

“The keywords in that sentence is ‘used to’ Viviane.” He chuckled. “I fancied her once, yes. But ever since I found out her true nature and how she treated people my feelings for her began to fade. Besides,” Bill leaned closer to me, so close that our foreheads were almost touching. “There’s someone else on my mind now.”

I would have choked and died if I had not reminded myself to breathe. Would it be too absurd, too unbelievable, for me to think that he might be referring to me? To think that William Arthur Weasley, the coolest Prefect and skilled dueller of Hogwarts who I’m sure most girls fawn over, fancies Viviane Themis Albion, the troublemaking Curse-Breaker in search of her missing, possibly mad brother?

“Oh?” My throat suddenly became very dry, and I had to swallow several times to try and form coherent words and sentences. “And do I happen to know this person?”

Bill didn’t answer my question immediately, opting to give me a smirk instead, his blue eyes alight as if he enjoys keeping me in the dark. He quickly turned around to scan the room, and once satisfied he raised a hand to stop my fingers from playing with the hair strands, and tucked them behind my ears, making my cheeks heat up.

He leaned down and whispered into my ear. “Why don’t we get out of here and find out?”

The song stopped.

[officialtrashbin]

Deal? Deal!

Supergiant/Maximus commission fill for @senpoiypul!

Takes place during the events of Infinity. Maximus wants to cut a deal with one of Thanos’ Dreadlords, and Supergiant isn’t against hearing him out.

AKA, Smut. Lots and lots of smut. Leave it to Maximus to bed the woman responsible for nearly killing his brother.

And look, there’s art! Beautiful, glorious art.

* * *

“Give it to me.”

She spoke like her behest outweighed his own resolve, and her barrel-forward articulation battered uselessly off Maximus’ mental barriers, which she knew from the violated mind of his dearest big brother—emphasis on dearest, subject to debate—had the stability of cards stacked into the skeleton of a tower. He was assembled incorrectly, perhaps somewhere in his questionable string of genetics, and Supergiant knew she was wasting her time on conversation. If she really wanted to, she could dismantle him like a busted particle engine, sorting through every wire that formed his memories and prying free the few bolts that held him together most days.

But he held the detonator and thus had the most bargaining power, so she was equally careful to use her words, and solely her words.

The energy from the reactors crackled through the Necropolis. Supergiant stilled herself, thinking of the storms that used to course over her planet’s surface adjacent to the weather here on Earth, but worse, more lethal, though she hadn’t been back there since Thanos culled the population; it was a distant memory, one of ill-intent. The power of it all was trivialized in the presence of Maximus Boltagon who sat slumped on the steps before her, seemingly against improbable odds, both hands wrapped firmly around the device that would blow the reactors with the most wayward wind, and Supergiant wondered if the Ebony Maw’s constant gripes about destiny were vindicated by this moment.

Maximus grinned. She felt her blood shift under her skin, crawling towards and away from him, wanting to know, wanting to know.

“How about I give you what you want”—his fingers tightened around the detonator—“if I get what I want?”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and she could taste on them the salt of this city’s shame, not a matter of What I did, but What I had to do that ate away at the Inhumans here like acid rain on marble. It excited her a little.

She asked him, “Which is?”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal,” she echoed, feeling a familiar itch in her fingertips—the need to eat a hole through the back of his mind.

His eyes darted to the dog. Lockjaw, she heard his mental pathways speak to each other, before he turned his attention back to her, and she realized she miscalculated the amount of leeway she had in the negotiation for the device. Supergiant had learned from Corvus, years ago, about his natural sense of caution: anticipate the seen over the unseen, know what playing cards have been dealt to the table to predict what remained, and proceed carefully.

Conversely, she wanted to know what Maximus was offering, and asked him, “What could you possibly desire from me?”

“You’re a healthy woman, right? You’ve most certainly got needs—”

“What I need,” she said, “is that device.” She didn’t look at all as smug as she sounded, but instead bored, like she was gradually realizing how much time would be wasted in pursuit of this stalemate. “You Inhumans are rather dismaying in your tactics, but I have learned much about you from your brother’s mind and cannot help but ask—Why are you here? Have you erred from your ways?”

“Not quite,” he answered. The question made him visibly shift his weight from one side to the other, and she watched the subtle motion of his throat as he swallowed, the deep dip of the hard knot, sliding under the surface of his skin. Supergiant realized she had adequately touched a nerve. “Shame. You must be unfamiliar with the subtleties of romance.”

“You’re wasting my time.”

“Ah, but you haven’t given me a chance!”

Supergiant exhaled, peeved. “Though I am uncertain how I should appropriately feel about you referring to me as your kind of crazy, and for that matter, how I should consider your inauspicious, and downright pathetic, attempt at a vocal mating ritual—”

Maximus threw back his head and laughed. Laughed. Supergiant balled her hands into fists, and thought on how Corvus had been halfway wrong about predicting the cards on the table. She wasn’t sure what to do with this man at all, other than go for his throat and risk prematurely detonating the bomb.

“You’re something else,” he said when he finally reeled himself back in. “Absolutely”—he rose from the steps and Supergiant involuntarily moved back, maintaining their distance—“entirely, the strangest goddamn woman I’ve ever met. So, you know what? I’m going to take a leap of faith”—he set the device down, right there on the floor, and she was much too focused on him to bother devoting a second thought to the opportunity—“or, maybe I’m just being a total fucking nutcase—”

“As always?” she retorted, speaking as if she knew him that well, and, there was potential that she did, but possessing someone else’s memories and experiencing them were two very parallel things.

“That has to be it,” he said, advancing towards her. He was just about her height, and in fairness to her, though she’d grown shorter and thinner than the average paradigm of her species, it felt as if she was gazing into the eyes of someone a hundred feet up. “Lockjaw—”

The world blinked around them. Supergiant was pushed back by her shoulders and into a wall that hadn’t been there a moment ago; then her head tilted, the lag of teleportation, and she knew she was no longer in the Necropolis. This place was brighter, slick with cold grays and muted accents, colder, somehow. All the energy that crackled through the air, swollen with destructive anticipation, was gone.

“Deal?” he asked.

What he wanted was an unnameable thing despite its many terms. It was giving, taking—the way an ocean rushed forward to fill divots in the sand and receded, pulling glass and stone and debris into its deep, blue maw. It was a game, a matter of bait and bite. Neither knew where the lies were. Both were itching to play.

Supergiant cast her eyes up his face and couldn’t decide whether this was the correct choice, but it had been made all the same.

He said for her, “Deal.”

Maximus kissed her with lips she couldn’t trust, even though it got the point across, and it was nothing like the utilitarian practice of mating she was familiar with—kissing wasn’t something her species did, but his mouth was soft, reinforcing the discomfort that swelled in her stomach like concrete. He wasn’t inexperienced, either; she was rendered autonomous with the motion of wanting to do what they were doing, following his lead. When his hands went to her face, guiding her to an angle that allowed him to press his tongue into her mouth, she tried to touch him too, and put her own hands on the back of his head to reaffirm some semblance of control.

He allowed a gap of air between them. “Seems you liked that,” he said with a subdued grin, though it wasn’t an expression she returned. She felt unsettled, in this strange room that was foreign to her but most certainly belonged to him; it had to, no one went their lifetime without a safe place to call their own.

“Or, perhaps your technique is sorely lacking. I could be giving guidance.”

“You enjoy provoking people, don’t you?”

She wanted to bite back, to tell him, I don’t enjoy anything, but the admission was a lightning crack of harsh truth through her chest. She couldn’t afford to enjoy anything but the satisfaction she brought Thanos with her successes, and that was always enough for her, even though personal pleasantries were allowed; Maximus must have known what she didn’t say, because his fingers crested the length of her collarbone to the sharp cut of her chin, and he quirked his head, still smirking.

“You’re allowed to enjoy what you want,” he said.

She unclasped her cloak and rolled her shoulders, allowing the off-white fabric to pool at her feet. “I’d rather do this than converse,” she told him firmly, thumbing at the zipper to the front of her thermal suit. “We no longer have time for such a luxury—”

“Don’t do that.”

She furrowed her brow. “Excuse me?”

“That—” He put his fingers over hers. “I want to undress you.”

Supergiant knew if she told him no, this would be over quickly. Still, she reluctantly withdrew her hand and allowed him the momentary pleasure of undoing the teeth of her zipper, notch for notch. He was slow, deliberate, stalling this out; she couldn’t say she minded all that much, though she wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, and settled for leaving them on his waist.

He took her mouth against his again. His tongue slid up to hers, and it was much larger and rougher than the ones of her species. She pondered his potential everywhere else. Maybe she was simply being lewd, but mating hadn’t crossed her mind since before Corvus and Proxima tied the knot—she forced the memory back, and decided to do something with her hands. They skirted across the centerfold of his coat, deftly undoing the buttons, before shucking it off.

It was easy, undoing the rest of it. They met halfway. Like their agreement, she thought, piece by piece: his armor, her boots, his shirt, her suit—he slid his deceptively gentle fingers across her skin, raising it up into a swelter of bumps, and she discovered he had a soft spot on his neck, right on his pulse point, that made him groan when she bit it. And, though it was true she wasn’t allowed to enjoy anything in Thanos’ presence, Supergiant quite enjoyed this—the here and nowness of it filtered by privacy, the meticulous method of joining bodies, every deliberate motion and each little gasp she felt on her lips when he worked his tongue against her flesh.

“Ever done this with a human before?” he asked, his tone offset an octave, as if he was trying to tell a joke she certainly wasn’t going to get. “Inhuman. Terran.” There was a desperation to his touch, to the movements of his mouth over her shoulder (wanting to know, wanting to know). “Makes little difference, doesn’t it? To someone like you.”

“You ask far too many questions,” she answered flatly. After a moment a smirk reached her lips, and she slipped her thumbs into the waistline of his pants. “You could be using your mouth for more beneficial purposes.”

He laughed. How terribly contagious it was, because Supergiant found herself smiling, and quite genuinely. He crushed his lips to hers, pushing her back until her knees hit the edge of his bed, and she tumbled down, legs hooking around his waist, his mouth on her collarbone. That was better. More…normal, than his small talk. This was a matter of agreement between two different necessities of want, conjoining skin to skin, and she could enjoy it, every intimacy in every fleeting moment; maybe this was dishonest to everything she’s worked for, but it made her feel good, and gods, she didn’t want him to stop.

Maximus marked her skin with open-mouthed kisses that went down the valley of her body to the junction of her hipbone, where he found the plane of soft flesh over vulnerable nerves and sucked a bruise into it. Supergiant gasped, almost striking him in the face with her knee on pure reflex, but his arm trapped her thigh down, and in her dramatics, she realized it wasn’t exactly an unpleasant feeling. He was a pressure point away from making it hurt. Part of her wanted to ask him if he could make it hurt.

“Good?” he asked, the brevity of the question astounding her. She nodded, and his tongue darting out to traverse the slope of her crotch to the heat of her womanhood. He propped one leg over his shoulder, hand under her other knee, bending her open.

The pad of his tongue ran over her clit and upended her world. She gasped, arched her back. Her mouth fell open into a delicious oh. “Very good,” she uttered, flexing her fingers through the threadbare sheets.

Maximus smirked against her skin. His tongue worked at her with increasing pace, his nose brushing over her bud whenever he dipped low; he slid a hand away from her hip and up along the canter of her side, feeling the way her muscles flexed in and up with each corresponding stroke of his tongue against her folds, until he reached the crest of her chest. His fingertip traced her areola, raising bumps under the impression of his print.

He took her nipple between his forefinger and thumb and he rolled it over, earning a little whine, and her hips bucked against his face. She felt the crescent moon pressure of his nails in her thigh. There was that desperation about him again, forcing its way to the surface with his guard lowered in her presence. It translated into his tongue, which moved eloquently, and then slid inside her velvet warmth. She hadn’t expected that. The sound of her cry hit her ears before the pleasure did, and her legs would have reflexively closed if he hadn’t had her so firmly pinned open.

“I’m, I’m feeling—”

Maximus hummed an acknowledgement of her words. He didn’t let up, lavishing her with his mouth, fueling the fire that simmered low in her belly. It was a pleasure she hadn’t felt in this way, before: his tongue was rough, his technique violent, his hand on her breast helping her closer to the edge. Her moans had developed at some point into cries, enveloped in the absolute ecstasy of an oncoming orgasm.

“Maximus,” she warned, though she hadn’t meant to. It was much too personal, too intimate, to use someone else’s name in a situation like this—but she was so close, so close—

Her body seized up. He put his mouth fully over her clit and sucked her towards the back of his tongue and Supergiant came with a sharp wail and a terribly intense shudder that left a tingle like radio static through her nervous system, to her fingertips and along her thighs. She swore to the heavens in her native tongue, her accent made sultry in the heated depth of her orgasm. He caressed her with the flat of his tongue as she rode through the waves, bucking her hips up against his face with short, violent pulses.

As she came back down from her peak and splayed out weakly beneath him, Maximus kissed the inside of her thigh, feeling her quiver. “Take a breath, love,” he purred, looking up at her to see her chest rising and falling rapidly, and the deep indigo blush that had spread from her face to her sternum. “That’s it. We’re not done yet.”

She became acutely aware of his weight, the depth of him moving over her to eclipse the sliver of view her slotted eyelids allowed. Supergiant didn’t remember threading her fingers through his hair, but she guided his mouth to hers and tasted her arousal on his lips. He was getting progressively better at kissing her. Maybe it had been a long time for him, too.

His erection flagged against her inner thigh. He probably—most definitely, wanted to say something snarky but she was already ensuring his mouth was occupied with hers. Then, a wisp of energy. She sensed it only as it pressed against her own mental barriers, requesting access to her mind, and she knew it must have been him—Supergiant had refrained from trying to consume him, unaware of his own capabilities—and she sat up with a start. Breathing heavy, glaring daggers.

He raised a hand in surrender. “Just curious,” he said, feigning a smile. “No harm done, right?”

Supergiant narrowed her gaze. It was a diversion. He was trying to learn what he could about her, hoping to replicate the information within her head. She’d have to reproach this carefully, hand on his chest to maintain the feel of his heartbeat, mental barriers strung tight. “And you accused me of provocation?”

Maximus laid his thumb out on the pulse inside her thigh. “You’ll find I’m quite good at it,” he told her coyly. “It’s not my fault though! Well, not entirely.” There was a bitterness in his tone she didn’t miss. It was difficult to bypass details, especially the ones that were the unmistakable corollary of trauma. “I used to have more mastery over it, before they stopped my meds. Now my brother thinks he can control me by—”

“Locking you in a cage?”

He shrugged.

“Come here,” she said, not unkindly.

Maximus did as he was told and Supergiant adjusted herself beneath him. Her hand slipped between them to take his shaft, and she gave him a few, experimental strokes, languid and self-indulging. A groan meandered out of his throat and rewarded her efforts.

“Shit,” he hissed when her thumb pressed into his tip, encouraging the precum that rolled out and down along his length. One too many lonely nights, she thought, and rightfully so. “Oh, doll, you’re—ah, pretty good at this.”

“Let’s make a deal,” she said.

He opened his eyes to look at her. The smirk on his face was half-crazed, half-ecstatic. He was listening.

“Let me in, and I’ll let you in.”

He traced a circle along her stomach with his forefinger. “Thought you were going to let me in anyway?” he chided, and that earned a small laugh out of her. “But, ah—you don’t want to see inside my head.”

“Because of what they did to you?”

He opened his mouth but the words stuck firmly in his throat, his understated vulnerability transposed into her knowledge. Of course she knew about that. She had been inside Black Bolt’s mind. “Yeah,” he uttered, “that.”

Supergiant lined him up with her entrance. “Let me in,” she whispered, guiding him slowly, “and I’ll let you in, Maximus Boltagon.”

He filled her in one agonizing push. She grasped the sheets of the bed. It had been such a terribly long time since she had anything inside of her in this way, it felt like she was on fire, the burn of his length filled her full. He was so much bigger than she had anticipated, so much rougher; she was meant for the sleek and slender cocks of her own race, so his pressed on everything, and pressed on it hard. She whined, feeling him stretch her open, unforgiving in his girth.

“Good?” he asked.

She was panting, trying to catch her breath. Simply having him inside of her was almost too much. “Very,” she ushered. “I’m—please, will you—”

She’d asked. Said please.

He laughed into her neck. “You can use your words. What do you want me to do, doll?”

“Move,” she said.

He slid a deceptively gentle hand to her hip and thrusted in, jolting her up. She whined at the sensation of being forced open, all her nerves stimulated at once; a warmth spread through her, throbbing like a fresh cut. The noises she didn’t intentionally make melted into a deep moan that rumbled through her core, into her thighs, into his chest.

“Fuck,” Maximus uttered, the damp heat of his mouth against her throat feeling good, too. His fingers clutched the sheets, coiling them up into his fists, and he began to fuck her.

She forgot she wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this—pleasure should always be held separate, or she’d be in a position of complete vulnerability—but that didn’t stop her head from falling back, or her hips from thrusting up, taking him as deep as he would go and seeking the fire that built itself into a blazing heat, high in her belly. It felt good, to the point that no motion was understated. She enjoyed it.

And his mind was open. His mental barrier fell apart, allowing her to slip in; their link snapped taut. She saw everything as he fucked her hard and rough and fast, surrendered to the primal want of it: his past, his present, his ideas and desires and all the terrible, wretched things he’d done to the people who love him most. Each instance of his life struck through her mind in time with his thrusts, amplifying the pressure deep inside her, someplace low but building higher and higher.

In return he received only one of her memories, the one she allowed him to see, and he dissected it front to back like the disjointed innards of an old machine: a dead infant beside her in the crib, ushered promises of a beautiful death, the depth of the cosmos around her. There was the sociopath Thanos, telling her, with a hand on her shoulder and mouth to her ear, I will deliver you unto Death myself.

It was too much. Their intimacy heightened their sexual fever, and Supergiant threw herself fully into it, taking him as deep as he would go, right against a soft bundle of nerves that made her shake and cry out, forced towards another orgasm. His mouth on her breasts, her nails in his back, raking up skin. With their link torn open with such beautiful violence she could hear his thoughts. Come for me, Doll. I want to know how good I make you feel.

“I’m,” she tried to say, “Maximus, I’m—”

“Be a good girl,” he said against her neck. “Don’t fight it.”

The billowing heat in her stomach worked its way up, to her chest, to her arms and her head. “Yes—yes!—”

She locked up. His hand skirted between their bodies, and when the pad of his thumb found her oversensitive clit she convulsed, coming with a lightning snap down the length of her body, shuddering around him, clenching and unclenching and collapsing, falling apart beneath him. He rode through it with her. In her incoherency, she recognized the sound of him saying, “That’s it, oh, doll, you feel amazing—”

It must have been enough for him. Her quivering body, the feel of her coming undone around him, the flaring energy of their memories interlocking in their mental link—he stuttered, hips rutting desperately, and he growled into her neck as he came. Supergiant recalled him muttering her birthname in a language he could have only learned from her, that life she had left behind, but the pleasure peaked and severed their connection, and the moment passed on like a distant memory.

 * * *

 The concept was called spooning. Supergiant had to have it explained to her three or four times before Maximus finally pulled her flush against him. She didn’t know if she disliked this. It was an intimacy she wasn’t familiar with, but Maximus felt warm against her back, so she allowed it.

“That was great,” he uttered against her skin.

It was a kind of praise she didn’t think she’d ever hear. The suddenness of it made her tremble, which he mistook as enthusiasm and began to suck a bruise into the divot of her shoulder. She became aware of the slickness of their sex between her thighs. There was a moment where she thought exhaustion would get the better of her, so she forced herself over, staring him directly in the face.

“What?” he said coyly. “Not the after-sex cuddling type?”

“Why did you call me a doll?”

“It means you’re pretty. You’ve got a real cute face. But you know that, don’t you? You must. You’re too attractive not to.”

Supergiant pressed her lips together in thought. “Are you hoping to gain something by complimenting me?”

“You say that like you’ve never been complimented. People can say nice things, sometimes, just because they want to.” His hand skated over the hillock of her shoulder, down the length of her arm and to her wrist. He guided her hand to his mouth, splaying her fingers open one by one with his opposing thumb like pulling petals from a flower.

“Am I supposed to return the sentiment?”

He pressed a soft kiss against her palm, then the underside of her wrist, where he felt her pulse through his lips. “Only if you want to,” he said, “though I do have a weakness for tenderness in bed. Did you at least enjoy yourself? Actually, of course you did. I know you did. Don’t answer that.”

Lockjaw yawned across the room. Supergiant had almost forgotten about him, and bit by bit began to remember what she was supposed to be doing right now.

“You were wrong, before,” she said to Maximus, as he kissed a path along her bare shoulder. “I’m not allowed to enjoy what I want, not really.”

“Well, here you can.” He captured her mouth with his, running his tongue over the lower plush of her lips, and Supergiant hummed with approval. “See?” he said when they parted, his hand on the sharp cut of her cheek. The absurdity of it was that it felt like they had been together their whole lives.

Supergiant furrowed her brow at him. “Then… Yes, I suppose this was quite nice.”

“You can enjoy some things, sometimes. Maybe this can be more than a one night special?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “You, me, a little bit of romance, a sprinkle of political conquest, and if everything works out, maybe a couple of blue babies? You could be a queen.”

She thought of when Corvus had spoken of something similar in qualitative reasoning with Proxima. A pang of morose hit her stomach. Weighed it down like concrete.

“No more stalling,” she said distantly. “We had a deal.”

Maximus looked nothing short of disappointed. “Yeah, I know. Still want to go through with it, huh? I know I can’t really change your mind, but—”

“You can’t change my mind,” she interjected. “Refrain from wasting your breath. I wish to return to the Necropolis.”

Maximus frowned for a moment, perhaps a moment too long, before he kissed the back of her hand.

“Okay, Doll,” he muttered, and then rolled out of bed. They dressed slowly, a fault of his, because he kept trying to put his mouth on hers in-between reassembling clothing and she allowed it, this little luxury she knew she’d never have again.

They didn’t talk.

 * * *

 When they returned to the Necropolis, Supergiant was left standing where she had been before, as if their little deal had never happened at all. She was surprised Maximus hadn’t taken her elsewhere, especially when Lockjaw could easily drop her off anywhere else in the galaxy, and she watched him pick up the detonator. Lockjaw was closer now than before, too, studying each minute movement in both his master and his enemy for subtle hostility.

“Give me the device, Maximus.”

The words abandoned her mouth. She wished, in that moment, she could have told him anything else—take me back, take me again, tell me about your kingdom, do you really want kids?—but her devotion to the Order stuck to the front of her mind, lingered like a shadow, and put its claws around her thoughts.

Maximus sighed, not dramatically but still quite despondently. She felt her stomach twist. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Max—”

“Lockjaw.”

There was a trill of power as the device was kicked into gear, and the last thought that went through Supergiant’s mind as the dog teleported her to a planet in the far corner of the galaxy was a memory of a cold crib, its long bars arched high above her head, and the deep-set eyes of cruel, cruel death.

[blackroseaki38]

MirrorWorldTangledAU

This is basically something I wrote a week ago for a Tangled Discord challenge. The challenge was to turn someone of Royalty from the show into a commoner or turn a commoner into Royalty. Of course, I don’t do anything easy or simple. So, I made some changes to the characters and the show itself. I will be a basic explanation for the characters below. Also, MirrorWorld represents this world is like a mirror to the original Tangled movie. My world is just a backwards version of reflection, so just think of this idea as being the opposite of Tangled.

Queen Gothel - Queen of Corona; Second wife to Quirin.

King Quirin - Father of Varian

Rapunzel - Made to believe she is a princess, but really not. But, she does not realize this. 

Eugene - Wandering Knight; Is is paid to protect his BFF Lance.

Rapunzel’s Parents - Carpenter’s build things, so basically her parents helped build Corona. 

Lance - Adopted son of the noble lady, “Oldie.”

The Captain - Retired Captain of the Guard

Maximus - Eugene’s horse from the start.

The Stabbington Brothers - Robin hood like; Helped Rapunzel escape, but got lost from her.

Cassandra - Raised by Captain of Guards.

“I am the Carpenters' lost daughter.”

Queen Gothel looked up from her paperwork scattered across her desk. She stood up to approach her daughter, pulling her lace bordered gloves on her delicate hands once more. She brushed away the non-existent dirt from her blood red dress as she looked up at her daughter.

“Oh, please speak up Rapunzel! You know how I hate the mumbling,” the Queen snapped impatiently, looking in the standing mirror fixing her string of pearls and crown were perfect.

“I am the Carpenters' lost daughter! Aren’t I? Did I mumble, Mother? Or should I even call you that anymore?”

The Queen looked up, shocked to hear her even say these words. She never thought this day would ever come. She never thought Rapunzel would ever find out the truth . . . and believe it. She should be trusting her and not the big world she rescued her from. She had to make sure she nipped these rebellious thoughts out of her head.

“Oh Rapunzel, do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such ridiculous questions!”

The Queen approached her daughter up on the stairs, trying to console her.

“Rapunzel, my dear. You know Mummy wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

“It was you! You stole me away from my parents! You made me believe I was a princess and needed to stay locked up this tower for my own protection. But, I was never a princess. Because if I was really a princess, all those people in town would know about the ‘princess’ of Corona. I might have found out who I really was a long time ago and my parents wouldn’t have needed to suffer 16 years with their daughter! You took me away from your family just for my stupid hair!”

Gothel eyes narrowed as she looked at Rapunzel with distaste and scorn. Her gloved hand tightened on Rapunzel’s arm, making the girl wince as the grip on her arm became suffocating.

“Everything I ever did was all to protect . . . you.”

Rapunzel looked at her . . . ‘Mother’ and pushed her away to descend down the stairs. She couldn’t believe her whole life has been one big lie! She had actually loved this woman for taking the time out of her busy life as the Queen to love and protect her, but she was just acting this whole time? She briefly wondered if Varian was acting this whole times as well, but ignored that thought.

‘Varian will always be my little brother. That woman may not be either of our mothers, but he will always be my family. He would never fake the love and time he put into our relationship,’ the young woman reassured herself.

“I’ve spent my entire life hiding in this cold, lifeless tower, from people who would use me for my power…” she ranted as she walked down the large stairway, ignoring Gothel’s calls for her to come back.

“. . . but I should have been hiding . . . from you!” she finally spat out, as she turned to glare at the dark-haired women at the bottom of the stairs.

“Where will you go? He won’t be there for you,” the Queen declared. That man might have been a knight, but he was no knight of hers. Though his friend, the nobleman, is trying to defend him and support his claim of being a knight, it would be too late at that point. It was child’s play for her to blaming a fake crime of trying to steal from her on that worthless little knight. It is quite ironic that the only thing that was stolen from her recently was her daughter and now that man will die for stealing my most valuable ‘gem’ of all. This doesn’t mean she won’t have the guards stop looking for those troublesome twins either. After all, every dog will have its day.

“What did you do to him?” Rapunzel asked worriedly, wringing her hands together in anticipation. She might have only known Eugene for one day, but she felt like she has known him forever. If anything ever happened to him . . . she would never stop blaming herself for not realizing the truth sooner.

“Your too naive, my dear Rapunzel. That man was no knight. He was a thief that stole under the disguise of savior. As the Queen of Corona, it was only my duty to punish him. That criminal is to be hanged for his crimes,” Gothel heartlessly explained. She felt no need to sugar coat the consequences at all. After all, this wasn’t the first execution she had ordered.

Rapunzel gasped and softly whispered, “No,” as she realized what those words meant. She didn’t know what ‘being hanged’ entailed, but she had read a book that mentioned it before. She only knew that in those books, that being “hanged” meant death.

“Now, now. It’s all right. Listen to me. Everything is as it should be,” Gothel tried to reassure the girl, reaching out to brush her hand across her golden locks of hair. But, before her hand could even touch her, Rapunzel grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“No! You were wrong about the world. And you were wrong about me. And I will never let you use my hair again!”

The Queen was so surprised at the grip on her wrist was strong enough to hold her. When had that tiny little girl grew up into a . . . strong woman. She never thought the darling child would ever try to break out of her place, but now she had. When she finally broke out of her grip, she let out a growl as she fell back against her ornate mirror. As her favorite mirror shattered into pieces, her perfect world shattered as well. This child was not her daughter, not anymore at least. It was time she realized that . . . and treat her like she treats everyone else.

“You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. Now I’m the bad guy…”

The Queen stood up tall as she whispered those words ominously. She knew what she had to do to pick up the pieces of her glass world.

Eugene never thought he would admit it, but he was downright scared. He did not even do anything to deserve being arrested, let alone steal the Queen’s crown. He didn’t mean to do anything that would be considered wrong. In fact, he didn’t think he did anything wrong in the first place. He was only helping a lost girl explore and see some floating lanterns on her birthday. He never expected to find out she was actually the Queen’s secret daughter, who wasn’t allowed out of her tower.

He also never expected to fall in with her. He knew it might be too soon to say it was true love, but he knew that he would regret not trying to start some kind of relationship with her. He knew he was a bit older than her, but he hoped it would make no difference once he told her what his heart was telling him. But, before he could declare his love to her, he saw his friend Lance waving at him from the shore . . . or so he thought. He was expecting to quickly belate his friend for interrupting his before going back to Rapunzel. Instead, he was bashed on the head and the world went dark like a flame being extinguished. When he finally woke up a few minutes later, his sparse amount of armor, his sword, and his Knight’s medallion were all missing. Also, he was tied to the mast of a ship with a heavy crown on his head. Before he could escape his bounds, the guards saw him.

“Look! The Queen’s Crown!”

“Rapunzel! Rapunzel!”

“Get him!”

“No, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, guys, guys!”

Eugene was so distraught with worry for the long-haired girl, that he didn’t even notice his horse Maximus on the other side of the lake.

“–Rapunzel!”

As a Knight, he has never even thought this situation would ever happen. Sure, he didn’t dress like a knight every day. At least he kept his armor nearby, in his saddlebags, since it was too heavy to wear constantly. But, he almost always has his pauldron on his right shoulder, his crimson red cape pinned down by his Knight’s medallion, and his simple sword in his scabbard right by his side. Without them, Eugene felt vulnerable and weak inside the dirty little cell he was tossed in to. None of the guards believed his cries of being a knight, even when he tried to tell them to contact all the other kingdoms he’s helped out in. Eugene wasn’t sure why all the guards were ignoring him till . . . he saw him.

When he first started out as a knight, he and Lance stopped a group of bandits from robbing a small caravan when Eugene first saw him. It was a weasley looking man betraying his team by taking all the goods for himself and getting away. Eugene tried pursuing the men, letting Lance stay behind to help out the family. He tried his best, pushing Max to his limits to get the treacherous man, but he lost the other man in the endless forest. The only words he was able to hear before he disappeared were, “Baron’s orders.”

Eugene didn’t know who he was talking about, but he knew that man was probably part of some bigger plot than just a small-time bandit. As Eugene trudged back towards the path, he saw something glinting in the snow. When he picked the small item up, it was a cheap little ring with a painted sun in the middle. At the time he was so happy to at least have one thing to return to the victims of the robbery, but his excitement only lasted till he found Lance, all alone. Apparently, the family was safe and was thankful for being saved. But, they needed to get going just in case more bandits show up. Lance was kind enough to donate them some money since he had plenty to spare. He was Arnwaldo L. Schnitz, son of the generous noble lady nicknamed ‘Oldie.’ Eugene wished he knew which way they had gone so he could have return the ring. Since he couldn’t go around Corona looking for the mysterious family, he kept the ring safely hidden in his saddlebags, with the hope he would one day return it safely. He never saw that Weasel of a man, till now.

In front of him, in the golden armor of the guards was that same man he chased so long ago. The shining helmet’s red plume told Eugene he was standing in front of the Captain of the Guards. Though his eyes showed him that he was standing in front of a lying weasel.

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you, Flynn Rider.”

The man’s smug voice broke the knight out of his thoughts.

“Finn Rider? The names Eugene Fitzherbert! Now let me go, you dirty weasel you!”

Captain Anthony sighed and turned to talk to the other guards like he was trying to ignore Eugene even existed.

“See boys? I told you he would try to pull one right over our eyes. Acting like he doesn’t even know his own name. Trying to impersonate a well-known knight is almost as bad trying to steal the Queen’s prized crown.”

“I didn’t steal anything! And I am a knight. Just hear me out?!”

The man sighed, but Eugene saw him trying to cover up his dark smile under his hand. The devious man unlocked the cell’s door and opened it.

“Enough lying, you thieving criminal. Let’s get this over with, Rider.”

“Get what over with? Wait?! Where are we going?”

As Captain Anthony continued to lead the way, he only looked back once to give Eugene one last look.

“I think you should already know that answer to that question.”

With those words, Eugene’s heart sank. Everyone knew the Queen did not believe in second chances. Anyone who crossed her personally always faced their end . . . at the end of a rope. Eugene touched his neck in disbelief as he realized how little time he had left. How he would never get to tell Rapunzel how much he . . . loved her.

“Oh . . .”

Cassandra never thought her day would end up like this. For as long as she could remember, it had been just her and her father in a little tower in the forest. She didn't know why her father insisted on living so far away from civilization, but she assumed it was because of his dislike of the Queen.

But, she was thankful her father loved her enough to take her into his home and his heart. Her father never tried to hide her origins. He told her the truth the moment she was old enough to understand.

“Honey, I found you all alone wandering through the forest on my way back to Corona. You were only five years old and you didn’t remember anything, but your name,” her father had said

He always told her that he had found her alone and with only a tiny locket on her neck. She didn't have any key to open the locket and see what is inside. But, she always had high hopes that one day she would be able to find her family. Her other family. As for now, all she considered her family is her father and their horses.

Cassandra loved her father, but she was getting tired and sick of all his overprotectiveness. She wasn't even allowed to go into town alone or during busy festivals. All she wanted was a way to prove to her father she can be trusted to be herself and to be free.

'I know Dad loves me and wants to make sure I am never lost\again. But, he needs to let me grow up and be my own person,’ she thought to herself one day.  

That's when her opportunity to prove herself came to her. She was wandering the forests, the only place her father was okay with letting her explore. It was then she saw dozens of soldiers pass by on their horses. She brought Fidella to a stop and tried to listen to their words.

"Sir, we still can’t find them!"

"Well, find those thieving twins before they get away! Or else the Queen will have all of our heads instead of theirs! We can’t let some no good scum get away with her things! Now, I need to get back to the Castle for execution and I better get some going."

As the soldiers scrambled off to look for the thieves, Cassandra got an amazing idea. Her father used to the Captain of the Royal Guard. Though he would be worried once he finds out she put herself in danger, but he would still be somewhat impressed by her is she was able to catch those two troublemakers before any of those amateurs could.

So, Cassandra set to look for those rascals, with the hope she might be able to impress the current Captain of the Royal Guards and her father as well. 'Maybe, if I am good enough, they might let me join! I do have all the skills of a soldier, but I never thought of trying to be one. But, maybe I might be good at being a royal guard!' she thought to herself before she headed off towards the stream.

Like she had guessed, she had found the stream and some tracks as well. She followed the two sets of tracks till they finally stopped at the doorway of a certain establishment her father always warned her not to go near. 'The Snuggly Duckling. Well, Dad's not here to stop me  and who would I went in there in the first place.'

Cassandra slowly made her way her into the crowded pub. She was able to easily blend in with her dark clothes. She wasn't sure how the two criminals she was after looked like, but not everyone in this pub would have a twin. And just like she had thought, she saw a pair of twins sitting at the counter, both nursing their mugs of ale. She slowly approached them from behind, trying to hear their conversation. She was slightly intimidated by the large man behind the counter, but she was able to get over her fear as soon as she saw the tray of cupcakes in his mitten gloved hands. "Patches, I know we failed saving that girl. But, there is still a possibility that she was able to get away from the Queen." The twin with the eyepatch shook his head and made some hand gestures with his hands.

"Okay, okay! Your right, Sideburns. I know the chances of how likely an innocent girl like that escape the Queen and her guards." This conversation made Cassandra realize that these two might not be the experienced criminals she thought she would be after. If they were trying to help a girl escape someone, then she shouldn't try to turn them in. Though their accusation of calling the Queen this girl's kidnapper, that was a little bit startling to hear. But, her fathers always told that he retired early on because he didn't trust the Queen. 'If Dad never trusted her, then maybe she might have something to do with this. If I can figure out these two's angle, I can help them,' she reassured herself before she took a seat by the pair. The two looked at her cautiously as she waved over the baker. "Hey, big guy! I'll take a cupcake!" "The names Attila," the man announced as he handed her over a pink frosted cupcake, taking the coin she handed to him in return. "My name's Cassandra." Attila froze as he heard her name, along with most of the pub. Those closest to the counter whispered her name till everyone in the building knew who she was. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Cassandra as in the Captain's daughter?" a deep voice asked from behind as he stepped forward. The balding man was large and had a hook for a hand. "Ex-captain," Cassandra replied, trying to stay calm.

“We know who he is and he will always be the Captain to us. Now, your father doesn’t want you here. You need to leave otherwise we’ll have to tell him you were here,” the man informed Cassandra, trying to intimidate her by raising his hooked hand in warning.

The girl ignored the man as she peeled back her cupcake’s liner. The men in the room started to get uncomfortable with the long silence while Cassandra took a bite of her frosted sweet.

“Well,” the hooked man prompted.

Thankfully, Cassandra finally looked up and locked her icy glare on the man.

“I can leave, but I don’t have too. I am 18 years old and that means I am allowed to enter this establishment . . .”

Attila raised his hand to say something, but Cassandra interrupted him.

“. . . as long as I do not consume alcohol. So, legally, you can not kick me out of this establishment unless I break that rule or any other. And you can talk to my dad all you want, but the moment I tell him my version of how the ‘big scary hooked man’ threatened me with his hook, he’ll surely believe me over you.”

Cassandra crossed her arms and smirked. She knew how to get people to let her do what she wants.

“Alright, you can stay. You’re a pretty sharp lady. No wonder your father didn’t want us to meet you. The names Hookhand,” the man held out his non-hooked hand. Cassandra shook his hand briefly.

“My name is Big Nose. Might I ask you what are you doing here?” A large nosed man asked the girl.

Cassandra thought about the situation and decided it would be best to be upfront about this now that all the attention was on her.

“I was planning on trying to turn these two thieves in,” she pointed to the twins, who looked ready to run. “But, when I overheard their conversation about some missing girl and the Queen, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and hear their side of the story before I do anything else.”

Everyone turned their heads towards the two young men. Cassandra knew there was no way for them to escape, especially now that she was able to get the thugs interested.

“Well, boys. Might as well talk,” Tor encouraged from where he was rearranging some plants around.

The two men sighed before the man with the eye patch started to make hand motions and gestures. His brother clearly understood him and a few seconds later, turned to talk to them all.

“You can call me Sideburns and this is Patches. He can’t speak, but I can understand him. You might know us for being . . . the Stabbington brothers.”

All the men tensed up and started to reach for their weapons.

“And before you attack us, Stabbington is just our family name. The guards have told crazy stories about us just to make us look bad. In reality, we only steal things to give to the poor.”

Cassandra had never heard of thieves stealing things to give to the people who need help, but it sounded like a generous deed to do.

"We broke into the eastern tower of the castle, which was supposed to be abandoned. We were hoping to score some forgotten valuables to pawn off, but we found someone more valuable instead. We were able to figure out that the Queen's been keeping a young girl, around your age actually, captive in there. The poor girl actually thinks she is a princess and that the Queen is her mother. We were able to convince her to leave, mostly so she can see something she's never seen before. But, as we were leaving . . . the Queen caught us. She sent the guards after us and the girl, Rapunzel, didn't realize what was going on. She thought it was some game, so we convinced her to hide until we come back. By the time we were able to get back, she wasn't there anymore." "She might have . . . wandered off," Bruiser offered, his knitting put aside. "Yeah, who's to say she's back with the Queen, anyway?" Killer tried to convince them, but even he knew that would be unlikely. Sideburns turned to his brother when his flailing arms caught his attention. *Tell them about the knight!* Patched signed to his brother. "Patches wants me to let you guys know that there has been some talk about a weird girl and a knight visiting the town. We couldn't go check that rumor out because the guards have been posting our faces all over town." Cassandra knew she had to make her decision. Her dad would most likely be upset with how she would be siding with this so-called 'bad' guys over the law, but she knew he would get over it. These criminals were people as well and she learned they were much nicer than how people see them. She wanted to be a person her father was proud of and that person would protect others. "Well, boys? What are we waiting for? Let's go check out these rumors and rescue this girl!" "HORRAH!!!!!" cheered the men, as she got ready to set out when suddenly someone had an important thought. "Wait just one itty bitty moment!" the drowsy voice called out. All eyes turned to the short bearded man falling over himself. "I'm not quite sure what's going on, but . . . where are we going to find a knight? I mean the sun’s up in the sky, so it won’t be nighttime till . . . tonight," he drawled out before falling out cold. Cassandra knew that was an important point. She can't go into town with a bunch of armed men to ask around for some knight guy and the mysterious girl he's with. Before she could ponder on this thought any longer, the door slammed open. A smartly dressed man walked in and sat down at a table, ignoring all the dangerous looking thugs around him. He looked tired and his clothes were all mussed up. His tired brown eyes looked up and raised his hand. "Bartender, give me the strongest ale you got," his voice crooked out. "You sure about that, buddy. You don't look like you are in any condition to be drinking," Hookfang asked. "What’d ya mean?! I’m fine! Maybe you’re the one that’s not fine!” he defended himself, hugging himself as if it would help him calm down.

“Woah, woah! Calm down, man! I know we all have bad days, but you don’t have to take it out on strangers!” Big Nose tried to calm the stranger down before a fight broke out.

“You don't know anything about what I am going through right now. My best friend got arrested, his girlfriend is missing, and none of the guards are even telling me what's going on!" he cried out before breaking down in sobs. Vladimir tried comforting him by patting him on the shoulder and offering him his ceramic unicorn. "There, there. No more tears." The man took the delicate figurine in his hand, but continued to wail loudly.

“For the first time in forever, I can’t even do anything to help him. All the money I have, but not one piece of it can do a single thing to save my best friend. Mama doesn’t even know what’s going on since she’s all the way in Vardaros! And Eugene didn’t even do anything! He was just trying to help a girl see her dream come true! He was just too good-hearted of a knight!”

Cassandra and the other thugs all realized who he was talking about.

“Wait! What knight are you talking about?!” the girl questioned, but the man was too distraught to listen to her. So, she grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him vigorously.

“Quit your blubbering! We need to know what you’re talking about if you want us to help you out!”

The other man finally calmed down enough to explain.

“My name is Lance. My friend, Eugene, is a knight. My mom hired him so he could protect me on my travels. We had barely arrived in Corona when we met this girl, Rapunzel. For some crazy reason, she was hiding in a tree. She kept claiming that she was the Queen’s daughter, but I never heard of a princess of Corona. Well, at least one that is still alive.”

Cassandra wondered what he meant by that comment. She didn’t know much about the royal family of Corona since her father only taught her the necessities of education, like history, math, and sword fighting.

“But, we ignored her more . . . outlandish ideas. She wanted to go see the lanterns light up the sky because that was her dream or something since she never stepped out of her home till then. Eugene was falling in love with her, so I gave the two some privacy. But, then . . .”

Hookhand put his hand on his shoulder, silently trying to help Lance get the courage to continue.

“ . . . then this morning, I find out that Eugene’s been arrested for stealing the Queen’s crown. I tried talking to the guards, but they just keep saying that ‘Flynn Rider’ is not a knight. All I could get from the Captain was that as his only known acquaintance, I would be allowed to . . . collect his b-body soon.”

Before Lance could break out into more tears, Sideburns quickly distracted him.

“And the girl! What did she look like? And where is she?”

Lance sniffled and wiped his eyes, trying to answer the question as clearly as he could.

“S-he had really long hair and green eyes. And I couldn’t find her at the lake where I last saw her and Eugene together.”

Cassandra never ventured too far out of the forests because of her father. But, now she had a reason too and it was much more important than her own safety. She knew her purpose in life now. Cassandra, adopted daughter of the previous Captain of the Royal Guards, was born to help others in need.

“Alright, men. We have to do something to stop the Queen.”

“But, what can we do? We’re just of group of scary creeps. People are scared of us! How can we stand up to the Queen?” Hookhand questioned.

Cassandra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she knew it in her heart it was time for her to be a leader.

“Now it's time to rise up. Or it's time to stand down. And the answer is easy to see. And I swear by the sword. If you're in, get on board. Are you ready?” she sang with vigor. She raised her sword, hoping to the others would join in.

Lance whispered, “I'm ready.” Hook Hand looked at the girl with shock, before a big smile appeared on his face as he raised his hooked hand into the air.

“We’re ready!”

The rest of the pub thugs voices roared through the building, their weapons held high above their heads.

“WE’RE READY!!!” Cassandra lowered her sword, looking at her reflection in her blade. She thought of her father and how mad he would be when he finds out what she’s been up to. But, she didn’t care. She had a feeling he would also be very proud of her.

“Ready as I'll ever be . . .”

Eugene never thought he would be afraid of death. Lance always claimed that he was playing some kind of game with how often he puts his life on the line for others. But, he never thought he would die like this. Like . . . a criminal. When he became a knight, he knew he might die and he believed it would be worth dying if he was able to save others doing so. But, in this case, he hated the fact that he would die and . . . Rapunzel would never be saved from her endless prison.

“Thinking about your girl?” a soft whisper by his ear caught Eugene’s attention. He turned his head to look at the so-called ‘Captain’ as he was lead down the hallway.

“Well, don’t you worry about her. She’s in safe hands,” he murmured.

Eugene gritted his teeth together. ‘Of course, he knows about Rapunzel! He’s probably was the one who framed me! But, wait! He knows where she is? He knows who she is with?!”

“How did you know about her? Tell me, now!” Eugene tried to stay calm as he spat out those words at the other man.

“Of course I know about her. Her mother hired me to keep her safe, but putting away the likes of you,” Anthony grinned viciously.

The other guards, behind and ahead of the two held Eugene back when he tried to attack the Captain.

“Her mother . . .  agh! Wait! No! Wait! You don’t understand, she’s in trouble! Wait!”

Eugene’s cries echoed down the dungeons, but there was no one else to hear them. Because Corona has not had any prisoners every since Queen Gothel came into power.

Varian always knew his sister, Rapunzel, was a secret. He didn’t remember exactly when, but sometime after his father and his other sister died at sea, his step-mother introduced him to Rapunzel. She explained that Rapunzel is adopted and her hair is much too special to reveal to the world. So, he had to keep his sister a secret.

He hated the fact that he had to lie to her every day. Especially about being a real princess, since no one but their family knew. But, he tried to be happy and appreciative for the fact that he had at least someone in his life who cares about him.

Varian doesn’t remember much of his real mother, but he hoped that she would have been much more loving than his current mother was. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him. His step-mother was just too busy being a Queen to a mother.

“It’s okay, Rudiger. I’m probably going to be really busy when I become King as well.”

“Chrrep, kreee, sceak!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll always make time for you, little buddy!”

Rudiger and Rapunzel. They were his two best friends and the best family as well. He didn’t know why they would love him so much, but they did. Even when his projects explode or he kept skipped his royal etiquette classes, there would be someone to hold and comfort him. He didn’t need a mother, not while he has those two.

Varian was worried about Rapunzel since he wasn’t allowed to see her for the last day or so. His step-mother told him that she was too sick to visit, so Varian tried to reassure himself that nothing was wrong. Eventually, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to sneak a quick visit to her . . . when Varian saw it. He saw the study’s door was open.

The royal study has always been a place to wonder about for the young prince. He had been told explicitly to never enter that room at all. But, Varian just knew there had to be something really amazing that it had to be hidden in that room. And this was his only chance since he never seen the door left unlocked like this before.

“Come on, Rudiger! Let’s check out the study while mom’s not here!”

As Varian entered the room, he noticed it was much larger than he thought it would be. It was almost like a never-ending cavern full of treasures. There was all sort of trinkets and antiques scattered through the room. He even saw some of his chemical compounds that were taken away, so he quickly pocketed those ones.

As he explored the room, he accidentally pressed a button that opened up a strange door. He approached the door and cautiously opened it. He discovers a small library that looked untouched for years. The old strange item in the room was a huge . . . thing? It was covered in by a large blanket.

Varian came closer and reached out to see what is underneath the sheet. He was only planning on lifting it a bit to see the item, but Rudiger jumped off his shoulder. That startled Varian enough that his hand slipped and the whole cloth came off.

A man, encased in amber like liquid, was before him. The fiery orange did not hide who he was looking at all.

“D-dad!” the teen cried as he fell down to his knees. Rudiger tried to comfort his human, but Varian was frozen in shock to notice.

Varian didn’t know how long he sat there. It seemed like forever when really, he was only there for an hour or so. At one point, he even heard glass breaking and yelling, but he ignored it all. His mind was still trying to process everything until . . . finally, he was able to make a distinct connection.

‘Mom said Dad and Sis died on their trip. But, if Dad’s here . . . in that thing, that must mean . . . Mom did this? Is she even my mom anymore?’

Varian didn’t know what to think anymore. But, all he knew was that his so-called ‘mother’ was not at all who she seemed to be. The boy finally got up from the floor and was about to go confront his moth- no - Gothel when he heard yelling from behind a door near him. He recognized Rapunzel’s voice and barged into the chaos head-on.

Eugene did not want to die, but he had no choice in the matter as he stepped closer to his doom. He was trying to stay calm and collected, but he wasn’t quite there yet. Then something caught his eye as they turned into another hallway. A tiny little unicorn was on a small window sill.

Before he could mull over that thought, all the doors around them slammed shut.

“What’s this? Open up!” Anthony growled as he slammed his hand on the wooden door.

Shorty popped into the small window of the door.

“What’s the password?” he questioned before disappeared out of sight.

“What?”

“Nope,” the short man responded, leaving once more. “Open this door!” Anthony was starting to lose his patience at this imbecile hiding behind the door. “Not even close!” “You have three seconds,” Captain Anthony finally gave his last choice for the drunk jokester. “One!”

Eugene’s eyes widened in surprise as one guard was whisked away by a hook.

“Two . . . “

The knight’s eyes went towards his others side as the other guard was taken away through a side door. Eugene’s gasp caught the Captain’s attention, making him turn around just as he got to the number three.

“Three . . .”

Before Anthony could react, his head was smacked from behind with a heavy piece of metal.

Eugene looked at the helmeted man and the cast iron frying pan in his hand.

“Woah! Frying pans?! Who knew?”

In a rush of events, which included a rushed meeting of all his saviors in question. He was rushed off by a dark-haired girl and two twins towards a wheelbarrow in the middle of the courtyard. He wasn’t even sure how it was possible, but he was catapulted into the air and landed exactly on Max’s back!

With a quick reunion with his steed, the two rushed off towards the part of the castle the brothers pointed him to. He saw a tower, disconnected from the rest of the castle and stood down at the bottom of it. He called out her name anxiously.

“Rapunzel? Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Eugene tried to climb up on his own when suddenly a long mane of golden hair rushed down to meet him. He climbed up the hair till he reached the window at the top. He climbed inside in a rush. “Rapunzel, I thought I’d never see you again. Huh?”

“Mm-mm, mm-m!” the girl tried to warn him.

Eugene’s reaction at seeing Rapunzel, chained and gagged, was too slow. He was stabbed in the side and was on the ground before he could do anything. “Mm-mm! Mm,” the girl pulled on her chains, but it was no use. She wasn’t getting any closer to the fallen man. “Now look what you’ve done, Rapunzel,” the Queen scolded the girl as she wiped the blood off her knife with a handkerchief before putting it away.

“Mm…” “Oh, don’t worry, dear. Our secret will die with him,” she tried to reassure the girl. Eugene struggled on the ground, wincing in pain. “Mm-mm, mm…” “And as for us, hmm! You and your brother are going to join me on a small little vacation while this part of the castle gets . . . renovated. We’ll make sure no one will ever find you again! “Mm-mm!” Rapunzel tried to protest, but it was to no use as the other woman picked her chains to drag her away.

Pascal tried to stop the Queen, but he was quickly shaken off.

“Rapunzel really! Enough already! Stop fighting me!”

The girl’s gag came loose, allowing her to speak once more.

“No! I won’t stop. For every minute of the rest of my life, I will fight! I will never stop trying to get away from you!” she cried out breathlessly. “But, if you let me save him, I will go with you,” she compromised, knowing it would be worth it for him. “No! No, Rapunzel!” Eugene tried stopping her, but the unbearable pain stopped him from continuing. The little chameleon awoke from his unintended nap and watched this scene sadly.

“I’ll never run, I’ll never try to escape. Just let me heal him, and you and I will be together. Forever, just like you want. Everything will be the way it was. I promise. Just like you want. Just let me heal him,” the girl begged desperately.

“Alright, but that is it then! The knight will be shipped off to some other Kingdom to deal with and you will be coming with me.” The Queen unchained Rapunzel and chained Eugene instead, making sure that would stop him from following them once they left. “In case you get any ideas about following us.” “Eu–Eugene!” Eugene coughed softly as the bleeding on his side continued. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Everything is gonna be okay–” she tried to reassure the injured knight. “No, Rapunzel–” “I promise you. You have to trust me–” “No–” “Come on. Just breathe–” “I can’t let you do this.” “But I can’t let you die.” Eugene coughed once more, but he did not let that stop him.

“But if you do this, …” “Shh, shh, shh…” the girl tried to comfort him gently. “… then you…” “… shh, shh…” “… will die,” Eugene finished his sentence. “Hey. It’s gonna be alright,” Rapunzel responded.

Eugene gave her a small smile before interrupting Rapunzel once last time. “Rapunzel, wait…” Eugene brushed his hand against the side of her hair before leaning forward to slice off her hair with a broken shard of glass, before falling back on the wooden floor, the jagged piece of glass falling out of his hand.

Rapunzel's fallen hair gripped in her hands, started to turn brown all the way to the ends of the long length.

“Eugene, what-” “No!” the Queen’s yell interrupted Rapunzel’s question. She tried to cover herself with the hair as the color changed, but it did not change anything. She rushed to the broken mirror lying on the ground and screamed in despair as she saw her reflection age before her eyes.

“No, no, no . . . ! I didn’t kill that lovesick King for everything to fall apart!” the woman cried as she slowly started to grow older and older.

“What?” Varian’s voice was heard from across the room. He stared into the room, his face pale white and his eyes wide with tears. He walked closer to Gothel, his steps slow and consistent.

“W-what did you say?” he asked with a small stutter.

“Varian, you must help me!” the woman reached out towards him, but the boy stopped her with his arms.

“No! I just heard you admit that you . . . killed my dad. You killed my father! I would never help you!” the teen pushed the crazy woman away from him, running back into the room where his father was. A small vile from his pocket fell out and Rudiger caught it. He shared a look with Pascal before running up to the crazed lady and dropping it by her feet. Steaming purple air burst out of the vile, surprising Gothel and causing her to fall back.

“No! You ungrateful brats will pay for this! You hear!” she yelled out as she fell back. Pascal tripped her, letting her fall out the window.

“Arghhh!!!”

Rapunzel reached out as if she could save her, but it was no use.

By time Gothel and her heavy dress hit the ground, she was no more than mere dust on the wind.

“No, no, no, no, no, Eugene,” Rapunzel cried out as she saw the love of her life slip through her fingers. “Oh. Look at me, look at me. I’m right here, don’t go, stay with me. Eugene–flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine–” the teen tried to make the incantation work once more, but nothing was happening. “–Rapunzel.” “What?” she asked, turning her full attention to him now. “You were my new dream,” he whispered. “And you were mine,” she responded, trying to hold back her tears.

Eugene takes his last breath and his body fell still. Tears welled up in Rapunzel’s eyes as she sang her song one last time.

“Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate’s design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine.”

Rapunzel fell down, leaning over Eugene’s body, sobbing. A stray tear slid down her face and fell on to Eugene’s. Suddenly, the room filled up with light, brushed over Eugene till he absorbed it all.

“Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel gasped as she looked down on Eugene, alive. “Eugene.” “Did I ever tell you I’ve got a thing for brunettes?” “Eugene!” Rapunzel embraced Eugene before they shared a kiss.

After they calmed Varian down, the trio left the tower and met up with the others. In the main courtyard, they found some of the guards unconscious and others happily talking with a man standing near Cassandra.

“Patches! Sideburns! You guys are okay!” Rapunzel cried out as she saw the two men who helped her escape the first time.

“Thanks for the concern, Rapunzel. We’re just relieved to know your okay.”

Cassandra led the new man over to them.

“Hey, guys. I know in the rush, we didn’t have time for a proper introduction. My name is Cassandra and this is my father. He used to be the Captain of the Guards before that other jerk, so once he found out I was involved in a fight, he came over and was able to calm most of the soldiers down before someone was seriously hurt.”

“Nice to meet you all. Now, what happened to the Queen?” he asked.

“We’ll tell you all the full story later, once we figure out some things. But, she basically fell off the tower and died. I tried to catch her . . .” Rapunzel trialed off, starting to feel guilty for the fact that she could not save Gothel.

“Rapunzel, it was not your fault. She was too far away from us and she was hysterically enough to fall out of a tower, so her death is her own fault,” Eugene reassured his love.

“So, what should we do now? Don’t we need a new leader?” Hookhand asked.

“Why don’t you two become our King and Queen?” Big Nose asked the couple.

The two quickly shook their head.

“No way! I’m just a knight! I help kingdoms, not rule them!”

“I just spent my whole life in a castle and I will not be doing that again! Besides, Varian should be the rightful ruler.”

Varian looked at Rapunzel with tears in his eyes.

“H-how can I be King? If I never realized how evil that woman was, how can I realize what I am doing is right at all? If my other sister was still alive, she could have been a way better queen than me. My dad’s frozen body is in that tower over there and my sister was probably killed by that witch! And all I have to remember her is this stupid key,” Varian spoke, pulling out a necklace from underneath his shirt, holding up the tiny little key hanging on it.

Cassandra looked at the small golden key and made the connection. Suddenly, everything made sense. Lance’s words about the Princess of Corona suddenly came back to her. She could see small flashes of memories come to her mind. Drinking tea with her mother. Watching her father talk to the townsfolk. Holding Varian for the first time. She remembered who she used . . . who she is supposed to be.

“Wait!” she pulled out her own locket from her neck and leaned down towards Varian.

“Try opening this, please.”

Varian looked at her in surprise before listening to her. The tiny key unlocked the locket with a small ‘click.’ Inside, there was a tiny picture of a little girl holding a small baby.

“T-that’s me! I have that same picture. That means . . . you’re my sister!”

Cassandra and Varian held each other in a tight clasp. Two siblings lost from one another were finally reunited. Things were finally falling into place.

Which Cassandra and Varian tried to reunite while also trying to bring some kind of structure back to the castle, Eugene led Rapunzel through the town. She recognized some people and waved to them, promising to tell them about her . . . the recent change in hair soon.

“You remember when we were dancing in town and how everyone kept mentioning you look a lot like the Carpenter’s wife, right?” Eugene asked as they got closer to their destination.

“Yeah. You bought me that little wooden trinket while I was painting that mural. It is actually the reason why I was able to remember who I really was,” Rapunzel explained.

“Well, I didn’t get a chance to tell you this. But, those people were right. You do look exactly like your mother.”

“Do you think we’re right? I mean, I just remembered this information out of nowhere. We don’t know for sure! We can turn back right now!”

“No, we’re going to meet your parents. You don’t want to miss this chance while you still have it.”

Eventually, they reached a modest looking home. Rapunzel took a huge breath before approaching the door with Eugene. She knocked on the door and waited. She kept waiting and waiting, till she was worried that no one was home when the door opened.

A green-eyed brunette stared back at Rapunzel’s face. Her eyes got all glossy as she realized who she was standing in front of. A taller man approached her from behind, opening his mouth to ask her what was wrong when he realized who she was as well. The three embraced each other, falling to their knees. Rapunzel’s mother looked up and shared a smile with Eugene, giving him her hand. Once his hand was in hers, she pulled him into the large hug. Another family was reunited after eighteen long years of separation.

Soon after that day, it was decided Varian would the next king as soon as he was of age. In the meanwhile, Cassandra would be the Queen Regent. That means she would be Queen in Varian’s place until he was of age to accept the position. She wasn’t planning on being the Queen forever, but knew she would okay with being the Queen of Corona as long as he needs her to be.

Varian was happy he did not have to be King right away. He still wanted some time to adjust to all these new people in his life, but he was happy with his newly found sister, her father, his adopted sister, her boyfriend, Rudiger, and all their friends.

Lance had finally decided to settle down . . . to open his own orphanage. His adopted mother, Oldie, was quite happy to hear that, especially when he adopted his own pair of kids. Red and Angry were quite handful, but Lance loved them nevertheless.

Eugene was still a knight, but now he was a Stay-In-Corona kind of Knight. Though he and Rapunzel were planning on a trip, to find an antidote for King Quirin, outside of Corona. But for the next few months, they were content with getting to know Rapunzel’s parents. She and Eugene were warmly welcomed into their home. Eugene was also so happy to find out the family he saved from Antony so many years ago was Rapunzel’s family. He was able to return the key and he felt more relaxed with that off his chest. Everyone was happy now that Queen Gothel was no longer in control of the kingdom.

Everything was right in Corona . . . or was it?

The End.

[gnosticgnoob]

I recommend the book Julian (1964) by Gore Vidal. Like Game of Thrones, it has the intrigue of warring kingdoms, family treachery, scheming within the imperial court, mysticism, prophecy, and religious conflict. But this is our history, and Emperor Julian's quest was to undo Roman Christianization.

Throughout Julian's and his older brother Gallus' youth, they were essentially political prisoners kept around merely in case they could be of use due to their noble lineage. Their father was executed without clear cause in typical fashion of paranoid Roman politics, and during their upbringing the imperial court kept an eye on them like vultures who would either disdain them and ask for their heads or petition them for political favor, depending on the mood of Emperor Constantius, who seemed at various points just as likely to also have them killed (as he did their father) as to have them formally accepted into the active political scene.

Julian Augustus [writes:]

Ecebolius was eager to go to Ephesus, rather to my surprise; I had thought he would have wanted to keep me from Maximus. But he was compliant. "After all, I am your teacher, approved by the Emperor. You cannot officially study with Maximus, or anyone else. Not that I would object. Far from it. I am told Maximus is most inspiring, though hopelessly reactionary. But we hardly need worry about your being influenced at this late date. After all, you were taught Christian theology by two great bishops, Eusebius and George. What firmer foundation can any man have? By all means let us visit Ephesus. You will enjoy the intellectual life. And so shall I."

What Ecebolius had come to enjoy was playing Aristotle to my green Alexander. Everywhere we went, academics were curious to know me. That meant they got to know Ecebolius. In no time at all, he was proposing delicately that he "exchange" students with them. "Exchange" meant that they would send him students at Constantinople for which they would receive nothing except the possible favour of the prince. During our travels, Ecebolius made his fortune.

In a snowstorm we were met at the gates of Ephesus by the city prefect and the town council. They were all very nervous.

"It is a great honour for Ephesus to receive the most noble Julian," said the prefect. "We are here to serve him, as we have served the most noble Gallus, who has also honoured us by his presence here." At the mention of Gallus, as though rehearsed, the councilors began to mutter, "Kind, good, wise, noble."

"Where is my brother?"

There was a tense pause. The prefect looked anxiously at the councilors. They looked at one another. There was a good deal of energetic brushing of snow from cloaks.

"Your brother," said the prefect, finally, "is at court. At Milan. He was summoned by the Emperor last month. There has been no word about him. None at all. Naturally, we hope for the best."

"And what is the best?"

"Why, that he be made Caesar." It was not necessary to inquire about the worst. After due ceremony, we were led to the prefect's house, where I was to stay. Ecebolius was thrilled at the thought that I might soon be half-brother to a Caesar. But I was alarmed. My alarm became panic when later that night Oribasius told me that Gallus had been taken from Ephesus under arrest. "Was he charged with anything?"

"The Emperor's pleasure. There was no charge. Most people expect him to be executed."

"Has he given any cause?"

Oribasius shrugged. "If he is executed, people will give a hundred reasons why the Emperor did the right thing. If he is made Caesar, they will say they knew all along such wisdom and loyalty would be rewarded."

"If Gallus dies..." I shuddered.

"But you're not political."

"I was born 'political' and there is nothing I can do about it. First Gallus, then me."

"I should think you were safest of all, the scholar-prince."

"No one is safe." I felt the cold that night as I have never felt the cold before or since. I don't know what I should have done without Oribasius. He was the first friend I ever had. He is still the best friend I have, and I miss him here in Persia. Oribasius has always been particularly useful in finding out things I would have no way of knowing. People never speak candidly to princes, but Oribasius could get anyone to tell him anything, a trick learned practicing medicine. He inspires confidences.

Within a day of our arrival at Ephesus, Oribasius had obtained a full report on Gallus' life in the city. "He is feared. But he is admired."

"For his beauty?" I could not resist that. After all, I had spent my childhood hopelessly beguiled by that golden creature.

"He shares his beauty rather liberally with the wives of the local magnates."

"Naturally."

"He is thought to be intelligent."

"He is shrewd."

"Politically knowledgeable, very ambitious..."

"Yet unpopular and feared. Why?"

"A bad temper, occasionally violent."

"Yes." I thought of the cedar grove at Macellum.

"People fear him. They don't know why."

"Poor Gallus." I almost meant it, too. "What do they say about me?"

"They wish you would shave your beard."

"I thought it was looking rather decent lately. A bit like Hadrian's." I rubbed the now full growth affectionately. Only the colour displeased me: it was even lighter than the hair on my head, which is light brown. To make the beard seem darker and glossier, I occasionally rubbed oil in it. Nowadays, as I go grey, the beard has mysteriously darkened. I am perfectly satisfied with the way it looks. No one else is.

"They also wonder what you are up to."

"Up to? I should have thought it perfectly plain. I am a student."

"We are Greeks in these parts." Oribasius grinned, looking very Greek. "We never think anything is what it seems to be."

"Well, I am not about to subvert the state," I said gloomily. "my only plot is how to survive."

much later, as Emperor:

...My old teacher Bishop George had finally succeeded Athanasius as bishop of Alexandria. Not surprisingly, George proved to be an unpopular prelate. He was highhanded and arbitrary with everyone. Matter came to a head when he destroyed a Mithraeum, saying that he intended to build a charnel house on its foundation. When our brothers rightfully protested this sacrilege, he retaliated by displaying all sorts of human skulls and bones as well as obscene objects, declaring falsely that he had found these "proofs" of human sacrifice buried in the Mithraeum. It was an ugly business.

George also incurred the wrath of the Athanasians by his single-minded persecution of all those who had followed the teachings of the bishop. The Alexandrians could not endure him. When word finally came that his protector Constantius was dead, the mob stormed the bishop's palace and murdered George; his body was then tied to a camel and dragged through the city to the beach, where it was burned and the ashes thrown into the sea. ...Not long after, Athanasius appeared in the city with a great mob of fanatics and resumed his old place as bishop. Almost his first gesture was to "baptize" the wife of my governor. This was too much. I banished Athanasius, making it clear that a return from exile did not mean a return to power for deposed bishops, especially those who are resourceful enemies of Hellenism.

At about this time I acquired George's library, easily one of the best in Asia. I am rather sentimental about that library, for his were the actual books which had shaped my own mind. I am travelling at this moment with George's set of Plotinus. The rest of the books I left at Constantinople as the nucleus for the Julian library.

The edict of 4 February had a good effect, though there was much complaint from the Arian bishops, who felt that by allowing their Athanasian brethren to return, I was ensuring doctrinal quarrels which would inevitably weaken the Galilean organization. Exactly! They are now at one another's throats. I have also insisted that all lands and buildings which over the years the Galileans seized from us be restored. I realize that this will cause some hardship, but there is no other way of getting the thing done. I am quite prepared for trouble.

...Late in February I learned, quite by accident, that Vettius Agorius Praetextatus and his wife were in the city. He is the leader of the Hellenist party at Rome while his wife, Aconia Paulina, has been admitted to every mystery available to women as well as being high priestess of Hecate. I was eager to meet them. Praetextatus is a slight, frail main, with flowing white hair and delicate small features. His wife is somewhat taller than her husband and as red-faced and robust as a Gaul, though she is of the purest Roman stock. They are most enthusiastic at what I am doing, particularly Aconia Paulina. "We have had a remarkable response at our temple of Hecate. Truly remarkable. And all due to you. Why, last year in Rome we could hardly get anyone to undergo initiation but now... well, I have received reports from Milan, Alexandria, Athens... everywhere, that the women are flocking to us! We are second only to Isis in enrollment, and though I am devoted to the Isis cult (in fact, I am an initiate, second degree), I think Hecate has always drawn a better class of women. I only hope we shall be able to open a temple right here."

"You shall! You shall!" I was delighted. "I want every god represented in the capital!"

Aconia Paulina beamed. Praetextatus smiled gravely. "Every day," he said softly, "every waking hour, we pray for your success."

For at least an hour the three of us celebrated that unity which only those who have been initiated into the mysteries can know. We were as one. Then I got down to business.

"If we are to defeat the Galileans we must, very simply, have a comparable organization."

Praetextatus was dubious. "We have often discussed this at Rome, and until recently we thought we were at least holding our own. At heart, Rome is anti-Christian. The senate is certainly Hellenist." He paused and looked out of the window, as though searching for Zeus himself in the rain clouds rolling in from the sea. "You see, Augustus, we are not one organization like the Galileans. We are many. Also, we are voluntary. We do not have the support of the government..."

"You do now."

"...now, yes but is now too late? Also, our appeal is essentially to the individual, at least in the mysteries. Each man who is initiated undergoes the experience alone. At Eleusis it is the single soul which confronts eternity."

"But there is also the sense of fellowship with other initiates! Look at us! You and I are brothers in Mithras..."

"That is not the same thing as belonging to an open congregation, our conduct governed by priests who are quite as interested in property and political power as they are in religion."

"I agree." I tapped the papers in front of me. "And I suggest we fight them on their own ground. I plan a world priesthood, governed by the Roman Pontifex Maximus. We shall divide the world into administrative units, the way the Galileans have done and each diocese will have its own hierarchy of priests under a single high priest, responsible to me."

They were impressed. Aconia Paulina wanted to know if cults would be represented in the priesthood. I said yes. Every god and goddess known to the people, no matter in what guise or under what strange name, would be worshiped, for multiplicity is the nature of life. We all believe -- even the Galileans, despite their confused doctrine of trinity -- that there is a single Godhead from which all life, divine and mortal, descends and to which all life must return. We may not know this creator, though his outward symbol is the sun. But through intermediaries, human and divine, he speaks to us, shows us aspects of himself, prepares us for the next stage of the journey. "To find the father and maker of all is hard," as Socrates said. "And having found him it is impossible to utter him." Yet as Aeschylus wrote with equal wisdom, "men search out god and searching find him." The search is the whole point to philosophy and to the religious experience. It is a part of the Galilean impiety to proclaim that the search ended three hundred years ago when a young rabbi was executed for treason. But according to Paul of Tarsus, Jesus was no ordinary rabbi or even messiah; he was the One God himself who rose from the dead in order to judge the world immediately. In fact, Jesus is quoted as having assured his followers that some of them would still be alive when the day of judging arrived. But one by one the disciples died in the natural course and we are still waiting for that promised day. Meanwhile, the bishops amass property, persecute one another, and otherwise revel in this life, while the state is weakened and on our borders the barbarians gather like winter wolves, waiting for us to stagger in our weakness, and to fall. I see this as plainly as I see my hand as it crosses the page... To stop the chariot as it careers into the sun, that is what I was born to do.

[kingreywrites]

If The Light Should Fade

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 2124

Rapunzel Appreciation Week Day Seven: Free Spirit

Summary: She has to save him. She's late already, took too much time to see that something was wrong, too much time to learn where Eugene was and, even now, the answer feels like a death sentence: buried alive.

Warnings: Blood, violence

Note: The RAW is already over sadly, but it was really fun to participate!!

Read on ao3

@s-vnshiine

Rapunzel doesn't think she's breathing right. She's rushing through the woods - well, Max is rushing through the woods, with her on his back - and she's sure her lungs must have stopped working, because each inhale seems shorter and harder than the last. She knows guards are following her, ready to help, but she doesn't wait- can't wait, not when Eugene is somewhere out there, suffocating just like her.

She has to save him. She's late already, took too much time to see that something was wrong, too much time to learn where Eugene was and, even now, the answer feels like a death sentence.

Buried alive.

Eugene is hurt, she knows, and bleeding, she knows, and that man- that man took dirt and put him in a box in a hole, dark and small and without enough air, and Rapunzel wants to be sick. She wonders what she could have done to be faster - wonders if she should have seen immediately that his investigation was dangerous, too dangerous to go with Max only at least, and the guilt growing inside her threatens to consume her whole.

It should have been a day like any other, she wants to scream. Or maybe not - maybe it was always destined to be a day they would remember, always destined to be a date engraved in their mind forever. She can only hopes it ends well, that the memory won't be that of a tragedy, but the thought is too terrifying to even confront for now, so she thinks of the events that led her here instead.

It started with a morning, not like any other but nearly. Rapunzel was woken up by Eugene shifting to get up, way earlier than usual, and when he saw her crack one eye open, he kissed her forehead with a laugh, looking beautiful in the pale sunlight.

She shouldn't have closed her eyes then. She was tired, the room was too bright and it was too early, but Eugene was smiling and breathing and happy and- she shouldn't have closed her eyes, but she did.

"Wh't are you doing?" she mumbled, pressing her head against the pillow as she felt him leave the bed entirely, shivering at the sensation of cold she felt alone beneath the sheets.

"Max and I are going to the forest to investigate the disappearances, remember?" Eugene answered lightly, not sounding too worried as he tucked the blankets around her again after disrupting them. He always made sure she felt warm enough.

She thinks he leant down after that, thinks that he kissed her cheek and whispered that she should go back to sleep, but she was already halfway there, so she isn't sure. As she rides towards the forest at full speed, she hopes those are real memories, and not dreams. It should have been a day like any other, she repeats to herself stubbornly, but it isn't and her heart is beating so fast with worry she fears it might explode.

It started like any other day, if a little early, with a morning, soft voices and sunlight - but it all changed when Maximus came back later, once Rapunzel was awake and working. She heard a commotion, raised voices coming from the front doors and, most of all, she heard Max, and she rushed to understand what was making him sound so distressed. When she saw him, saw his usually stark white coat speckled with blood and his saddle so glaringly empty, she remembered closing her eyes that morning, and she could only wish to go back in time, so she could hold Eugene close and never let go.

The day got progressively worse from there.

Maximus ran all the way back to where he was coming from, but Eugene wasn't there anymore. What was left was an opened bear-trap, teeth coated with blood.

Rapunzel thinks it was then, that she forgot how to breathe.

Her mind had flashed back to the recent disappearances that had started this investigation in the first place; to the isolated strangers that practically no one remembered, and whose disappearance wouldn't have been noticed if not for the attentiveness of Corona's merchants. She saw the blood, saw the trap again, saw how guilty Maximus was feeling for having left Eugene behind when he did exactly what he had to, and the cold fury that guided her next steps nearly choked her.

She can't forget the trap. Can't forget how much it must have hurt, can't forget the picture of Eugene, alone and bleeding and stuck while Maximus was fetching help - alone until he wasn't anymore. She wonders how the trap was opened, and bile rises in her throat at the scenarios her brain presents her.

She let her anger fuel her, and it didn't even take an hour to find the man responsible, hiding out in the woods in a shoddy cabin that, at first glance, didn't seem inhabited. Not even an hour, but it was too much anyway, because each minute she lost felt like a cold stabbing sensation in her gut. There were other guards with her, who had come forwards to help their Captain and their Princess, and she all but ignored them as she got closer to the man responsible. Her eyes were only focused on that man, with his red hands and his deranged smile, looking right at her without blinking.

"I buried him", he said, unprompted, "with all the others", and Rapunzel would have punched him, if she hadn't rushed to Max to try and find Eugene before it was too late. The words still resonate within her, loud and distorted by her fear, in rhythm with the sound of Maximus' hooves against the ground.

She can't breathe, but Eugene can't either, and that is the worst thing about this. With Max, they're following the obvious footsteps that man hadn't even tried to hide, but the journey feels like it's taking years. Eugene is somewhere in the dark, barely able to move, suffocating, and that fate is so horribly cruel that it brings tears to her eyes.

People always tell her she is a free spirit, and it's undeniably true. She had spent eighteen years yearning to experience the world to the fullest and, once she had a taste of it, she had known she couldn't go back to the way things were. She remembers Eugene, insisting that saving him would kill her all the same, because he knew already that she wouldn't truly live as long as she was Gothel's prisoner - and he was right. He was right about a lot of things.

Thinking about him being imprisoned inside a coffin of dirt, it goes against everything she is, everything they are together. Eugene is a free spirit too, in a way - she knows he loves doing everything with her, loves the way she will enjoy the simplest thing life has to offer, that he insists he only needs her to be happy so he can be too. But she also knows that he wasn’t truly free until he met her, either. As an orphan, and then as a criminal, Eugene never had the chance to really be a kid, never had the chance to see the world for what it could offer and not what it could take from him. He is subtle about his wonder, but it is here nonetheless.

She thinks she'll never forget the day she discovered swings for the first time. Mostly, she'll never forget Eugene's quiet admission that, while he knew they existed, he simply never had a chance to ever play with one. She'll never forget how his eyes shone as they both laughed like children, swinging up and done without caring about other people seeing them.

And now, he's in the dark. No sunshine, no air, nothing but dirt, and she's choking with him because this is her worst nightmare - it's being a prisoner, it's never feeling the sun and the breeze on her skin again and, most of all, it's Eugene suffering from it, Eugene dying alone and terrified.

She can't let it happen.

Finally, there's an opening in the trees, and rectangular patches of upturned dirt make her jump from Max before he can even stop. There's five of them, and her hands tremble at her sides as she is faced with the possibility that they are all- that Eugene is-

Rapunzel gets closer, and yells his name. The last disappearance took place more than twenty-four hours ago and she knows… She knows surviving six hours would already be a miracle. But Eugene still has a chance.

"Eugene!" she yells again, throat raw. She nearly misses it - a soft, muffled noise, coming from her left.

Rapunzel's throws herself on her knees, starting to dig with her bare hands, babbling reassurances she can only hope he hears as tears fall from her cheeks. Soon, her hands are scratched, bleeding, she has dirt under her nails, but she doesn't care at all. She barely notices the two guards having caught up to her, who are on their knees beside her, helping her remove the dirt frantically. Her arms are burning from the effort, her dress climbing up messily above her knees, but it doesn't matter, not when she scratches the surface of a wooden box. Then, her hands can't seem to work fast enough, as she yells at Eugene to hang on while they all seize the would-be coffin, and rip the lid from it.

Eugene is here. His bloody hands mirror hers, and tell her of a terrified attempt to escape, of scratching at the box from the inside while knowing he couldn't possibly get it off by himself. His leg is bloody, too, his white pants only a distant memory, the wound awful and still bleeding heavily, soaking the bottom of the box. He's dirty, he's grey, his eyes are wild and scared but…

Eugene is here. He's awake, and breathing, and free.

"Eugene," she sobs and he extends his hands towards her, both desperate to touch her and to get out. She catches him, of course, and she feels other hands helping her get him out despite his whimpers of pain. He's a little too limp, like he's ready to pass out, but his eyes seek her own, and they're as red and wet as hers.

"Sunshine," he whispers, and she hugs him even closer while he's still half lying down because… Because she is. Right now, she is his sunshine, she is the one who got him out of that- hole, she gave him back his freedom and she hates that she even had to. He's trembling against her, from pain and exhaustion and fear, and she swears to herself that she won't let anyone confine him anywhere ever again.

Just like he would never let anyone take her freedom, she would never let anyone take his.

She helps him lie down fully, and brush his hair from his sweaty forehead, kissing him like he did that morning. Around them, guards are opening the other boxes but she doesn't notice - all she sees are his eyes, that refuse to leave her out of their sight. Eugene already had nightmares about being jailed. He had hidden them from her for a long time, but he was scared of being locked up, and, most of all, scared of never seeing her again. She can't even imagine what went through his head when he was alone, losing oxygen and faith, but she swears to herself that she will help him face the new nightmares that will certainly plague him.

"Hey," he says, voice cracking and throat dry, and she wonders if it's from the blood loss - he must be dehydrated.

"Hey," she whispers back. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He swallows with difficulty, and offers her his best attempt at a smile. Despite the dirt, the blood, and everything, it's the best smile she has ever seen - she can finally breathe again.

"Thank you, Sunshine," he says weakly, and she wants to cry all over again.

"You don't have to thank me," she insists, voice low, stroking his cheek again. "I'll always come for you."

It's not even a question, for her, but she'll promise it all the same if he needs her to. She'll come for him, because in a world where he doesn't have liberty, hers is meaningless. She'll come for him because she loves him, and she can't be happy as long as he isn't. She wishes she could tell him all of this now, but he seems barely conscious as it is - no matter.

If she can't tell him, she'll show him forever just how much he means to her.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Im sorry but can I send an emergency ask?A year ago i was baker acted when i tried to kill myself, and ive gotten much better since then. But my im not close with my sister, and the other day she was yelling at me and said that all the problems my family has is because of my selfishness and “craziness”, and that i should just go away and finish the job. Im really hurt by it, cuz i felt so proud of my progress, now i feel like crap, how would the LL bots react to liaison in a similar situation?

*I know how you feel in a way. My sister is often emotionally and verbally abusive towards me, despite knowing about my mental history, so I recognized myself in this one. I just wanna tell you that I think you are an incredibly strong person to have gotten so far and is so willing to get better, not everyone can do that.*Rodimus is so furious at your sister that he almost burst into flames right there and then. How dare she!? After all you’ve been through! But as much as he wants to give her a piece of his mind he knows that you need him right now. So he takes you to his habsuite, proceeds to roll you into a blanket burrito and then just hold you. You know she’s wrong, right? It’s not your fault and her blaming you like that is wrong and totally uncool. She’s a real buttfart. He then proceeds to call her all the childish insults he can so he can make you laugh. Yeah, forget that meanie and just have fun, you deserve it.

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus stares at her for a few seconds before the biggest frown ever appears on his face. He then asks her, with the coldest and most emotionless voice you’ve ever heard from him, to never talk with you again unless what she’s going to say is an apology. You are one of the strongest and most capable people he knows and while you may have had problems in your past you managed to overcome them. When the two of you are alone later he will pop out of his armor and just hold you in his true form. He doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t have to. Sometimes words are not needed.

Megatron’s plating flares and for a fraction of a second he’s the decepticon warlord again, full of hate and malice. Your sister must have seen the look on his face and decided that she didn’t want to die and ran away. Megatron turns back to normal and collects himself. As much as he wanted to hurt that hateful person he would not have done it. So he directs his attention to you instead and gently reminds you that what she said is not true. Trust him, he’s heard enough lies in his life to be able to see right through them and your sister is the worst liar he’s ever seen.

Drift looks at your sister in a way that only an ex-decepticon can do, optics cold as ice and full of disgust. Then, with an overly polite and sweet tone, he smiles while asking your sister to kindly go to the Pit and stay there. Seriously, he is pissed. How dare she? After all you’ve been through, after everything you’ve overcome? Drift doesn’t hate a lot of people but she just became one of them. He makes sure to comfort you, holding you close and whispering how wonderful you are into your ear. You are just so wonderful and strong, he adores you so.

Swerve sputters for a moment, his mind racing before he lets out a loud “WHAT?” cause he just cannot believe what she just said. Then he starts ranting. And he rants for a long time. Most of what he says doesn’t even make sense because he’s so angry that the words just mix together and become nonsense. Then he abruptly stops because he remembers that you are more important than that prick, picks you up and runs away. You know what this calls for? Movie night and cuddles. And he’ll tell you how perfect you are the whole time while kissing you.

Ten loudly gasps before a series of angry tens flow out of him. You don’t know what he’s saying but you don’t need to be a genius to see that he is upset. After he’s done telling her off Ten picks you up and leaves your sister, stomping angrily as he does. But the moment your sister is out of sight and earshot he starts fretting over you, extremely worried. He might not be able to vocalize how he feels but he can show you. He brings you in for a big hug and nuzzles you. He’s not letting you go for a while.

Skids is like “nope, fuck this, I ain’t gonna stand by and let you treat my wonderful s/o like this” so he takes you in his arms and flees to the vents. Well, not exactly fleeing, more like strategic retreat cause he ain’t letting this go. But right now you need his comfort so his vengeance will have to wait. Luckily he’s kinda prepared for this kind of scenario so there’s a hidden part of the vents where he’s stacked a bunch of pillows, blankets and snack. It’s your own little safe haven. So if you need to talk, talk. Feel like crying? The cry. He’s got tissues. And he won’t leave until you’re feeling better.

Riptide calls her a Unicron’s afthole before picking you up and leaving. He might have wanted to stay and yell at her but he knows that you are more important than her and needs his full attention. He takes you on a walk around the ship since he knows it’s easier to talk while walking and right now you probably need to talk. Hey, s/o, your sister is a real jerk, you now that? Hopes her nether regions rust over, or whatever the human equivalent of that is. You want a hug honey? Cause he’ll give you as many hugs as you want. And kisses. And if you want you can hold hands and cuddle!

Rung pauses for a second before taking of his glasses and outright begins glaring at your sister. He is mad, incredibly so, but he doesn’t yell as he tells your sister just how utterly wrong she is. He can see right through her, see all the little insecurities and fears that she has and a few carefully selected words is enough to send her running. Good, now that she is gone he can focus on you. He will take the day off just so he can spend it with you, comforting you and making sure that you won’t go into that dark place again. You’ve come so far and you are so strong, don’t let inconsiderate people drag you down, he knows you can do it.

Whirl is fucking ready to fight. Where is that bitch? He’ll punt her into a black hole! After he’s done comforting you of course. Hey, fleshy, you know that “sister” of yours was lying completely, right? She just wanted to be mean and get a rise out of you. Trust him, he does the same shit to others all the time, though he would never say something that low. Besides, nothing that she said was true. She’s only jealous cause you got together with the hottest Wrecker of them all and she didn’t! And you know he cares about you, right? He cares about you more than he dares to admit.

Fortress Maximus stomps down hard on the ground so it starts to shake, making your sister fall over. Then he leaves with you in his hands, not even bothering to look back at her. Mostly because he knows that if he did then he would start yelling and he knows that you don’t need to hear that right now. He’s really upset though and keeps muttering to himself while holding you close to his spark. Max does his best to comfort you and talk about your feelings but if you’d rather talk to someone else he understands. Just know that he’s there for you, ok?

Tailgate picks you up, cradles you to his chest, points to your sister and says “I never want you to speak with me or my wonderful wonderful s/o ever again”. Then he takes his hoverboard and flies out of there, with you still in his arms. He’s huffing and puffing the entire way back to your habsuite where he proceeds to sit down on the bed, drape a large blanket over the both of you and just cuddles you. Don’t listen to her s/o, she’s just a big ol meanie! A smelly pile of old energon! And… And it’s not your fault, any of that. You are not selfish, you are the most kind and incredible person he knows!

Cyclonus is, oh boy, he is NOT happy. Not one fucking bit. That sister of yours better run and run quickly cause right now Cyclonus is ready to stab a bitch. When he calms down he asks you how you’re feeling and it doesn’t matter what your answer is because Cyclonus will pick you up and carry you for the rest of the day. He doesn’t say a lot but he makes sure that you don’t feel bad and if he notices that you’re starting to get sad he will say something to cheer you up. All in all he acts like a guard dog. For your feelings. He will bark at those bad thoughts till they leave.

Chromedome gets seriously pissed. For a bot without a visible face he sure looks mad. Subtly he brings out the needles in his fingers, scaring your sister off. Yeah, she better run. Not that he would hurt her but he would scare the crap out of her. Then he turns his attention to you and oh boy he does a complete 180. He goes from angry murder machine to worried kitten in 0.3 seconds. Are you ok? Do you need a hug? Something to snack on? Whatever you need he will get it.

Rewind may be tiny by cybertronian standards but he’s still taller than any human so when your sister starts bullying you he stands up and looms over her threateningly. You know, he catched this entire conversation on camera and he can easily put it up on the internet so everyone will know what she said and what kind of person she is. So, she should probably shut her mouth and leave before he accidentally releases it, yes? Yeah, he thought so too. After this Rewind will absolutely pamper you cause you didn’t deserve to hear that and he fucking loves you.

Brainstorm gets eerily quiet at first. Then, slowly, he points a gun at her and tells her she’s got ten seconds to get out of his sight. He starts counting down. Your sister decides not to risk anything and runs off. Without saying a word Brainstorm picks you up and starts cradling you. His wonderful, amazing s/o. Please don’t believe her. You are fantastic, extraordinary. And if he ever lost you he wouldn’t know what to do (probably go back in time again). He absolutely refuses to let you out of his sight for the rest of the day and he takes every chance he gets to cuddle you.

Perceptor glares at her for a solid ten seconds before he tells her to leave and never show himself in front of you or him ever again. Pure bloodlust seems to radiate off him and she heeds his warning and runs off. Once she is gone he returns to normal though there’s a visible frown on his face. You know she’s just saying that to get under your skin, right? Not any of it was true. If anyone is selfish then it’s her since she can’t seem to think of anyone but herself. Do you… do you need to talk? He might not be that good at it but if you need him he’s there for you. So don’t… try anything stupid. He will always be on your side.

First Aid starts shaking out of frustration. He clenches and unclenches his servos and nearly cries in anger as he tells your sister how wrong she is. And if she believes what she said then she is the dumbest person he’s ever met cause none of that is your fault. Sometimes people feel like nothing matter, like they are empty inside and those people are the strongest because no matter what they continue to live, to love the people around them and try to get better. First Aid is still shaking as he embraces you. Please don’t ever let people like her get to you. He couldn’t stand losing you.

Ratchet explodes and starts yelling at your sister. He absolutely destroys any of her attempts to explain herself and once he’s done yelling at her she orders her to never, ever show her face around her again or he will eject her into the cold vacuum of space! He’s still pissed when she’s gone but he calms down for your sake. He is very gentle as he hugs you and he hugs you for a long time. Forget about her and what she said, ok? She’s a toxic person and will only bring you sorrow, believe him, he knows. You are not bothering anyone and he loves you more than anything else.

[dotshiiki]

more angst fic

I am not done reacting. 

Spoilers, naturally. 

A Demigod’s Life | another thousand + words of angst and percabeth

(This is actually a pared down version of the initial percabeth reaction fic I wrote in the last two days, which is on Ao3 but I’m not comfortable putting adult content on places without an age filter, so, clean version here.)

Annabeth's hands shook as she hung up the phone. The cheer she'd tried to inject for her cousin's sake slid away like oil on water. As soon as she looked back at Percy's red-rimmed eyes and scrunched up face, she lost even the faint flicker of optimism Magnus's good news had brought. It was great that the world wasn't going to go up in Norse flames, but …

Maybe Magnus had saved the world, but it still felt like theirs had come grinding to a halt.

She went to Percy and put her head against his shoulder. His arms came around her automatically.

'He says your advice helped. He said to tell you he kept his …' Her voice died on the words butt clenched all the way.The joke fell flat as the memory of their first flight to New Rome on the Argo II crept up on her. Jason had been trying to explain legion formations to them, and Leo, ever the joker, had asked if they all had to walk like they had sticks up their butts, too.

'I do not walk like I have a stick up my butt,' Jason had protested.

Piper had laughed and kissed his cheek. 'Well, you do sort of clench when you're being all proper and stuff …'

Annabeth choked down a sob. Percy pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. He might have been trying to comfort her, but from the way his arms trembled, she knew she was as much his lifeline as he was hers. When something like this happened, when the grief and guilt threatened to swallow you whole …

'It's my fault.' Percy's voice cracked on the last word.

'No,' she whispered. 'You know it isn't.'

'I—' He gave a harsh, humourless laugh. 'I'm supposed to be the one whose fatal flaw is loyalty. And I wasn't there. I didn't go.'

It wasn't so much loyalty, she thought, as it was his need to save everyone. His inability to step away had always been a struggle for him. And now that he'd finally started to conquer it, Jason had made the ultimate sacrifice … and Percy couldn't forgive himself for falling short.

'You can't always be the hero, Percy.'

'Too many times,' he said in a ragged voice. 'Too many times, someone else's taken the fall. First there was Bob and Damasen … and then we let Leo … and now …' He took a deep breath. 'Apollo came to me, Annabeth. He asked for myhelp. And I told him no quests. No saving the world.'

'You took him to camp. You did what you could.'

'I said no. But Jason didn't. And now he's …' He closed his eyes. 'I should have gone. I should have been the one to—if anyone had to die …'

'Don't say that!' Shards of ice pierced her skin, spilling cold fear into her veins. 'Don't ever say that.'

It was a fear that had always lain dormant in her mind. That this would be exactly how she would lose Percy one day—one heroic sacrifice. After all, he'd come so close so many times. In the Labyrinth. In Tartarus.

Annabeth had wanted so badly to move past that fear. In her hubris, she'd believed they'd done their part. They could go off to college in New Rome and be safe, normal. How could she have forgotten, even for a second, that a demigod's life was cursed a thousand times over by the Fates?

'Maybe if I'd been there …'

She cupped his face. 'I know you, Percy. If you had been there, it wouldn't be Jason in that coffin. It'd be you, and I couldn't … I can't even …' Her voice cracked. 'Maybe I'm selfish, and awful, because I can't help being so damn grateful that it wasn't you.'

She was shaking uncontrollably now, a tsunami of guilt and terror threatening to sweep her away. She couldn't deny that as devastating as it had been when Apollo had told them the story, a small part of her had thanked every god in the pantheon that of all the tragedies that could have happened … it wasn't Grover. It wasn't Piper.

It wasn't Percy.

What sort of person did that make her?

'You're not awful.' Percy pressed his nose to hers. His tears were falling fast again, mingling with hers on their cheeks. 'I couldn't lose you either.'

She wasn't sure if his mouth found hers, or if it was the other way round. Whichever it was, she breathed him in hungrily, needing absolution, needing succour, needing him. Their kiss was rough and desperate, almost violent as they searched for relief—a relief that wouldn't come, but they would try and extort from each other anyway. It was a shared outpouring of guilt and fear and grief, a maelstrom of emotions that would have eaten her alive if she tried to endure them alone.

Being with Percy was a single stitch holding together the ragged fabric of her heart.

And she could not forget that but for a twist of Fates' needles, she could be in Piper's position: broken and alone, holding the pieces of a shattered heart that would never fit back together.

They were demigods, after all. Life was fragile and temporary and you could not plan for it. You could not plan for loss. You could not plan for heartbreak.

You can't control every contingency, Piper had once told her. You have to accept that. Let it scare you. Trust that it'll be okay anyway.

Annabeth wondered if Piper still believed that after this.

Afterwards, as they held each other close, Percy traced a series of tally marks across her shoulder blades. She knew without asking that they were a running count of the friends they had lost over the years. Deaths they had moved on from, but which came back to haunt her now that another friend had joined the list, as if to remind her that there was no statue of limitations on grief.

'He saved my life, you know,' Percy said softly. 'At the bottom of the ocean, no less.'

'The thing with Kymopoleia?'

Percy's laugh was brittle, but less broken now. 'And I told him to keep the details to himself. Wish I'd let him make as much fun of me as he wanted.'

'He wouldn't have.' She sniffled. 'He was always so honourable.'

'So serious,' Percy agreed.

Her mind gave a crystal clear image of Jason with his glasses on, earnestly trying to explain Roman history to the Argo crew. He taught so much better than she did, with infinite patience and none of her exasperation.

'Professor Grace.' Her lips formed a trembling smile.

'The blond Superman.'

'Pontifex Maximus.' She thought of the rough sketches Meg McCaffrey had pressed into her hands. Jason's final legacy, entrusted to her.

Her eyes met Percy's and a terrifying but inescapable truth passed between them. 'We have to finish it. Everything he—everything he died for.'

Percy's jaw clenched. 'The emperors.'

It was time they joined the fight.

They weren't done saving the world. Maybe they never would be. But that was what being a demigod meant. Monsters—human or otherwise—never went away. All they could do was keep the evil at bay, the way Jason had, and Bob and Damasen, and Luke, and Beckendorf, and Silena, and so many others who had gone before them. Until their time was up, and they had no choice but to hand the sword over to someone else to carry on the fight.

All she could do was live with the fear and the pain and the heartbreak, and keep fighting anyway. Trust that it'll be okay.

And if it wasn't …

Then Annabeth just prayed to every god there was out there—Greek, Norse, Egyptian, she didn't care which—that if the time ever came for Percy to be the hero, she would fall with him.

As long as they were together.

A/N: Jason's death in The Burning Maze raised quite a bit of guilt in that I actually felt relief about it before sadness that we'd lost this good, heroic character. I needed to express this somehow, and I guess my girl Annabeth gets to be the one helping me give voice to those feelings. And it ended up being this fic. So that being what it is, I don't know if this is all that great a piece of writing. But perhaps some of you can relate.

[dawnpughnews]

Treatment For Cellulite on Legs

    I didn’t even know all these things were possible in your body draining the face? oh yeah. I love draining faces.

Let’s do this! This is a perfect day for a Beauty Trippin’. I know, I’m excited. Okay. -I wonder what we’re doing, though?

Word on the street is that it might be something that we have been looking forward to for a long time. Okay,-Not just this isn’t just any normal Beauty Trippin,’ Alright, Viv, what’s the clue?

Okay It’s already on the screen lol don’t read this why are you still reading More cool music “today’s our day.” What kind of clue is that? -It’s not my birthday today. I’m already married, We’re both married, Right, so Let’s see.

What could our day be? Okay, so Oh, so this is the SLS, there’s a spa up there, Oh, I’ve been there before! Ryland and I came and we got our skin probed.

What if they’re lasering our bodies?! What if they’re scullalallalal What if they’re sculpting our bodies? What if we’re shape-shifting? I’m telling you, like sculpting, like cold sculpting. Oh, I’ve seen commercials and infomercials-yes! -for freezing the fat Yes! Is that what you’re talking about? -Maybe that’s what it is. Why did they pick us for this episode if that’s the case. -I don’t know. (Laughs and smirks hehe) Even better music Hi, good morning! -Hi ladies. I’m Erin. Nice to meet you. Welcome to CL spa You ladies know what you’re here for today? We have no idea. Well, you’re going to experience endomology. -Yes! Wait, what is endomology? -Where they like, iron your fat sort of, right? It’s a machine that actually sucks and rolls up the fat when you’re trying to get rid of those fat cells.

Are you girls ready to go? Yeah. Let’s do it. Let’s get you suited up, let’s go! Viv, I don’t know about you but I feel like this show has hit a new high. You didn’t even give yourself a design. Oh, no girl, I just needed all the coverage I can get. Alright, let’s do this. -Okay. Okay, are you excited Vivian? -I am. What areas do you want to focus on today? So, I recently started running. But I’m having some trouble with this so maybe we can help tone this part, and my legs.

-yeah. absolutely, we could do it. So I’m going to start on your stomach. -Okay. Make sure you let me know at any time if you want me to reduce the suction, okay, other than that just breathe relax and enjoy. Why do we need to be in these little funny suits? We don’t want to actually suck and roll your actual skin so this protects the skin and it also gives the machine a better grip. (realization of the truth has set in) This is so exciting.. -I’m so excited, I think I need to you to hold my hand. She has a death grip on me right now. Just so you know. Hehehehe it actually tickles. How does it feel? It feels nice and funny. Wow… so glad I could be here for this… moment… -Okay I’m ready to let go, Erin. -You’re ready I’m so proud of you It feels good, right? It feels funny.

-You know this the abdomen is definitely the more sensitive area. And under the arms is a little sensitive. -The belly button just feels really funny when you go over it. Okay, so I know this thing get’s rid of cellulite, but what is actually happening right now? These rollers are moving (Gasp) The skin is being sucked in, and rolled up, so it’s rolled in and coming out again. (repeated) That’s activating our like pole assist, which is fat? Which is the breakdown of fat cells, -Ahhh! I’m going back and forth to biology in high school and then it converts that fat cells into energy. Great! – So she’s going to have energy after this? Energy for yourselves to um, reproduce, and retoning the skin because it also activates the fibroglass (Erin lies) Those produce cologen and elastin which gives that firming, and toning to the skin as well. Can you do it to your face? -We do have the face function, yes.

Does it get rid of the double chin? (laughs at Erin being shocked) It can. definitely help with fine lines and wrinkles It can help with bags under the eyes, so, dark circles basically for the face it’s really kind of like manuathatic drainage. So it’s draining the face. Can you get rid of cankles with this? Oh yeah. Heavy legs, swollen ankles, um. Can you do it on your lips? and then maybe, plump up the lips? Yes you can. -oh, really. STOPPPP. You can do this to your lips?! Absolutely, there’s a, yeah, there’s a special function for lip plumping. I feel like this is the medical. -Well, I can’t do it with this one, it’s a different part of the machine. Um, random question, but do you guys sell these suits? -Yeah. You do sell them? We sell them, yes, absolutely. Everyone who comes, they have to buy a suit, first.

And then that’s yours to keep. Oh my gosh, how much are they? I think they’re fifty dollars. Like no joke, this was something Kylie Jenner would wear to like the Met Gala, or something. like this is a Kardashian like Kanye West would sign off on this. -You just wing, and not tissue in your boobs like we do oh, does that mean she’s hooked? No, that means I’m getting ready to change to a different technique, Oh, so there’s like real technique involved\ in this.

I was, like I am a certified endomology therapist. This is a different technique now let me know. How is the suction feeling? Still feeling okay? -Yeah Does it still tickle? -It doesn’t tickle me anymore, it just initially tickles. This, this feels cold actually. Wait, what do you call this machine? Well I call this the beauty blend It’s my little name for it. Making women and men beautiful. Oh, men get it done too. Yeah, clients come in. My stomach is growling! do you have to wear one of these things on your face? It’s different cause these two little flaps that go like this, and yeah. -Wow. what a great word. Okay, Erin, so we’re going to do your butt and your legs, and some of these areas that you have little issues with, right? I’m always best when I’m butt up. on this show. (GASPPP) So make sure you let me know how the suction feels. That was surprising! That actually feels kinda fuhhnny I really like… I told you it tickled! I know, it feels great, doesn’t it? It feels so good.

It’s like a massage. a suction massage. -It is you can go a little harder. Want to try it a little more intense? okay… oooooooh yeah. that’s really good. even a half step up. How do you know all the spots? -Well, you know, I’m kind of trained to know that. and also I’m a woman. I know exactly where I would do it on myself. That is so nice all kind of fancy stuff. -NOooo stop. no, I like it. Don’t stop. no, it’s so good. No, don’t stop. It’s so good. I’m not kidding. This is my favorite beauty trippin’ I’ve ever done. It feels great, right? -This is so nice. So some women don’t want to lose their butt, so what we can do instead is like, shape it so this really nice-yes! line here -yeah! we can kind of, sculpt and shape so that it’s lifted and kind of target the stuff underneath here, yeah, so there’s all kinds of things we can do This is what I want for my birthday, and for Christmas, and for Mother’s Day, if I were a mother, but if I was this is what I would want, Don’t send me fanmail, just send me a giftcard to this butt thing.

So, this one always feels really weird. So we always end off with this one which is the roll out So, now the two rollers are both going out. So this is stimulating and activating those fiberglass And it’s FDA approved, you say? Yep. This is the only FDA approved machine. mechanical machine for the reduction of cellulite. Why do I like it in the butt so much? Um… I can’t answer that. for you. That was a real question. I really wanted it answered. Does everyone respond this way? -You know how many people actually like give you a butt massage?-You know most people don’t like butt massages, they’re always like “Do everything except my butt.” I’m like, “Do my butt.” People are self-concious gluteous maximus is one of the biggest muscles in your body and not only that, we have, we have a lot of deep, deep muscles that are down there that don’t get touched. You know? I’m really happy you’re here to touch the deep parts of my butt. Okay, I’m not going to lie there were dreams coming true today, that I didn’t even know that I had.

-I told you they were going to sculpt us I’m a good guesser. You are. -I feel like toned, I feel like I’m ready to just go to the beach, and just like rock my little ironed self out. I loved it. When she was getting into your butt, I was like ERRIINN That’s why. That’s why I love butt stuff.

I mean, it just felt way too good. You guys, that was so, so fun. and I’m very very happy that Viv and I got to do that together. I’m happy with the result And I’m happy we got new outfits to wear to the next MTV movie awards. -I was kidding about that, by the way. Just imagine -I wasn’t are you kidding me? We were like hot Like Kylie Jenner is going to be jealous of us, of our Instagrams. Oh my gosh. Alright guys, thanks for watching, we will see you back here next time! Bye! Click left, get your latest Bachelorette update on True Showmance Or to the right to watch us try out rompers for men on Beauty Break. Text by: musicgirl_thefabulous Hope you enjoyed, I know I did.

:).

As found on Youtube

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