#is because of the 'witnessing the death & vanishing & coming back' thing

[lowkeyerror]

Guidance

Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal x Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Notes: Near death experience, pre-cannon, I think it’s mostly spoiler free be wary,

Summary: You are thought to be the weakest member of your coven. After hearing it so often you begin to believe it. It’s not until you encounter a mysterious woman in the woods, that you get a glimpse of you true power.

An: 2 parter & part 2 should be up in a matter of minutes ����‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️. Hope you like this one. I'm really just free writing these as they come up in my head

Part 2 | Masterlist

You were the weakest in your coven. The others were miles ahead of you when it came to actually using magic. However no one knew as much about it as you did.

You spent your time reading hoping to come across something that would wake your full potential but you found nothing.

Your coven bullied you relentlessly for your shortcomings. You heard their harsh words every time you failed a task. You heard it when you were left to clean up after them. You heard it when they would ditch you in the woods claiming it would build merit.

“This isn’t funny you guys, it’s dark please,” you call through the trees.

No one answers, not that you expect them to. You try to cast a light spell just enough to hold it in your hand, but you fail.

You start to hear noises in the woods surrounding you. Quickly you turn your back and take a defensive stance. You feel the hairs stand up against the back of your neck, and a light sweat begin to coat your forehead.

“I- I am armed,” you lie trying to reason with the darkness

When a figure steps out, you feel yourself start to shake. It was hard to see, but the hooded figure was illuminated by the soft light of the moon.

She was beautiful, something unnatural like you’ve never seen before. The warmth in her face, the faint rosy tones of her cheeks, the deep luxury of expensive leather in her eyes. She has stunned you into silence.

“You’re freezing,” is the only thing she says to you.

In your fear you hadn’t noticed the cold bite of the night. However as the stranger points it out you can feel a numbness start to take a place in your body.

“My coven… they like to play tricks on me like this,” you cast your gaze down, afraid to look into her eyes.

“That’s not very funny,” she speaks gently.

You raise your gaze to look at her, “It’s because I’m the weakest member. I can’t even cast a simple spell to light a path.”

The mystery woman shakes her head , “I don't think that’s true.”

She removes her cloak and drapes it over your shoulder.

“You’ll freeze miss,” you try to reason with her, but she just chuckles.

“Give me your hand,” she commands.

You hesitate but place your hand in hers. She lays your palm up flat.

“What are you do-”

“Think of something warm, like a blanket or a coat,” she guides you.

“Ok,” you mumble following her directions.

She praises you, “Very good, now move from warm to hot. Think of the blistering sun or an oven or… fire.”

When she says fire she can already see the ball growing in your hand. She looks over to see if you’re witnessing your power, but your eyes are closed.

“Now what? Hello?”

You open your eyes and the woman had vanished. Your eyes lock on the ball of fire illuminating from your hand. You had never been able to do something like this before.

With the stranger’s cloak around you and the ball of fire in your hand you were able to find your way back to the coven. You snuffed out the fireball before getting too close to the cabins.

“That’s a new record Y/n, we almost didn’t think you’d make it back,” one of the bullies snickers.

Instead of entertaining them with a stutter filled response like you usually do, you just walk past them. The woman from the woods still in your mind. You look at your hand that held the fire ball. Was she responsible for it, or could you do it on your own.

You do just like she instructed. Thinking of something warm and then hot. This time watching as your fingertips began to glow and fire danced in your palm.

Maybe you had been letting the words of the others get to you. Perhaps you had power just like theirs hidden somewhere underneath all of that doubt.

You decided that you would press the limits of your powers until your knowledge matched your ability. As soon as you began believing in yourself, the power seemed to surge through you.

You kept the woman’s cloak as you trained your powers. Often sneaking off in the night to teach yourself as your coven still believed you to be a weakling.

It’s a few months later, when your powers are much more refined that you grow tired of the teasing. You’re certain that you are more powerful than the other members of the coven.

“Hey Y/ln,” you turn at the sound of your last name.

A ball of mud thuds against your face and the sound of laughter rings in your ears. You try to calm yourself down as your anger begins to rise.

“Look she’s going to cry.”

“Chin up Y/n, you’re too old for tears.”

“I’m sure there’s a spell you can’t use that would be helpful right now.”

You felt hot all over. Like the rage was boiling your blood. Your fists were clenched together at your side. You felt the mud harden over your face before cracking off like it was a rock.

“Who threw it?” Your voice is low.

The laughter has stopped. They all look at you paralyzed with fear. You were on fire from your head to your toes. Pupils engulfed in flames.

“WHO THREW IT?” You repeat louder.

“We were just teasing Y/n, restrain yourself.”

You take a deep breath, and for a moment the flames die down.

“Freak,” someone mumbles.

That’s all it takes for you to shoot the fire out of your hand towards your coven members. Most of them moved out of the way.

The one’s who were too slow, did not have the time to scream. They were piles of ashes almost instantly. The others yell in their place, tears streaming down.

Their cries do something to pull you from your rage. You begin blinking rapidly. Your body feels empty on the inside, warmth was no longer there replaced by a bone chilling cold.

You pass out. When your coven sisters were aware that weren’t getting up again, they ran. They ran all the way to the mother of your coven to tell her what you did. They decided you would die for your actions.

When you gained consciousness you found yourself in a large glass. On the opposite side of the glass were your peers. You tried talking to them but none of them responded.

You weren’t truly panicking until the water started to flood into the sides of the glass. You began to bang on the glass, it did not relent. The water was ice cold as it started to climb up your legs.

“Please, please,” you beg them, tears streaming down your face.

“You never belonged in this coven, even with power, you are still a weakling,” the mother of the coven spat at you.

You felt your insides begin to burn again, but the cold water feels like it's putting out the fire. The water begins to rise. The higher it rises the more you fight against the execution.

Water begins to fill your lungs and you cough. It only makes more water enter your body. You begin to loose consciousness this time noting you won’t be waking again.

Your eyes flutter and before they close, you see a large flash of purple. You hear the glass tank you’re in begin to crack. You’re back is against the ground and your eyes are wide open.

“Is she breathing?”

“Do CPR.”

“Rio, I don't even know this gi-"

“DO THE CPR, AGATHA.”

Soon Agatha begins doing chest compressions on you. She hears a very feint heart beat. She moves to mouth to mouth. She tries to blow air into your lungs 2 or 3 times.

Eventually you start coughing, and she gains some distance.

“Are you alright bunny?”

You shake your head trying to clear the ringing.

“How did you?”

Your eyes begin to focus. You see the lifeless bodies of your coven members behind her. It makes you scramble back away from the woman.

“Hey, hey take it easy. They were trying to kill you, I did the right thing,” the woman tries to rationalize with you.

“What's your name?” You attempt to scramble to your feet.

“ Agatha Harkness. I’m not going to hurt you,” she stays in place eyes boring into yours.

Your eyes shift to the bodies once more, “How can I be sure?”

“She’s not going to hurt you, Y/n,” that voice was familiar to you.

You look behind you to see the woman you had come across in the forest. Seeing her in the daylight brings a brighter hue to your already flush cheeks. You begin to cough again.

“You- you put the fire in my hand,” you sputter.

She shakes her head, “That fire was inside of you, long before we crossed paths my sweet.”

“How did you find me?”

Agatha laughs, “Tell her how you found her Rio. Who you really are?”

Rio glares at Agatha, “Shut up, Agatha.”

“Who are you?” You whisper.

“I am Death,” she states.

You look at her waiting for her to say sike. To admit that this was some cruel joke, but she doesn't. Instead she just looks at you with her doe eyes.

“Let’s get you dry, bunny” Agatha says and with a flick of her hand, your clothes are dry.

“You wear my cloak.”

You pull it closer to your body, “ Keeps me warm.”

“I have been… drawn to you for some reason Y/n. You could've easily froze to death that night we met. You were so close, but then I interfered. It wasn’t your time yet. So I decided to offer you warmth.”

You stare up at her, “You must be mistaken. I am not… there’s nothing special about me. Especially nothing good enough to have Death save my life.”

“What did you do too have your whole coven turn against you?”

You stutter, “I- I got upset.”

Rio pushes you to further explain, “And what happened when you got upset?”

Your jaw twitches, “I started to feel hot on the inside.”

“And then what, bunny?”

You feel the fire roaring numbly inside of you, “I was covered it in fire. I shot it at them for teasing me. Some… some of them didn't move quick enough. ”

You begin to hyperventilate as the reality of your actions set in. You had killed people, their blood on your hands. Technically your entire coven was dead because of you.

“Deep breaths,” Agatha sits in front of you guiding you through the breaths. “Don’t feel ashamed for doing what you had to do for survival. It's not always about who is the strongest or even who is the smartest, it’s about who survives.”

“But for the record you were more powerful and smarter than all of them, “ Rio shares.

“I don't understand,” you look between the two women.

“Y/n, you are an elemental witch. It’s like a green witch on steroids,” Agatha explains.

You scoff, “Just because I made a fireball, anybody can do that.”

“You just said you were engulfed in flames,” Rio counters.

“Well that's just fire there are other elements,” you say, sure of your words.

Agatha nods, “Indeed there are, but you’ve only tried to play with fire. Give me your hand.”

Just like you had done months ago with Rio, you give Agatha your hand. She holds it face up with her own under yours.

“Now what?”

“Think of a flower. Any kind of flower. Be sure in the details. How long is the stem, does it have leaves on it? How big is the flower, is it multicolored?”

You follow Agatha’s instructions and easily enough a flower is sprouting out of your hand.

“How curious?” Rio glances at the flower you’ve made.

“What?” You ask gently pulling the flower from your palm.

“You made a Rio Dipladenia,” Agatha speaks breathless for a moment.

You furrow your brows, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s not. That flower, I created it for Agatha, so it’s quite the coincidence that you would think to make it,” Rio informs you.

A blush spreads across your face, “Oh, would you… do you want the flower, Agatha?”

Agatha’s eyes snap to Rio before settling on you, “You’re adorable, doll.”

“I agree, too adorable to be wandering the forest alone and untrained. Come with us Y/n, we will help you reach your full potential,” Rio insists.

You look between the two for a moment, contemplating. You had nothing. Your coven was dead, your powers were unpredictable at best, and you couldn’t stand the thought of being alone.

You slowly nod, “Ok.”

“Good choice, bunny.”

[thewulf]

My Queen || Aragorn

Summary: Request - Can I pleeeease send you an idea where he finds a girl in the woods, hurt and not conscious but he feels the need to help her and be close to her. So he takes care of her wounds till she wakes up and it's like true love at first sight for both of them... Read Rest Here

A/N: OH WOW, this got out of hand QUICK but I had SO MUCH FUNNNN writing this way! It was a challenge but it felt invigorating to write. I am obsessed with Aragorn and I just love him. Margot Robbie is so right for her cinematic crush! Thank you for the request anon, hope you love it :)

Pairing: Aragorn x Reader

Word Count: 10,000 +

TW: Violence, orc violence, poison, death, blood, crying, angst, lotr warnings, Aragorn being hot af

Just a few more stumbling steps. You could do it. Glancing down you grimaced at the crimson coated and tattered dress that you’d been wearing for the last five or so days. It used to be so gorgeous, a gift from the man you were meant to wed. Truly it was the only exquisite gift you’d ever received in your entirety. However now it looked as if it’d seen a thousand lives, just like the elves had. It bore this resemblance due to the attack on your home. You ran. Running far away from everything you knew. It was tough to grasp just how much you’d been through in the five days since you had to flee your small village just outside of Eriador.

You’d had a good life. Good but rather simple. Almost too simple for your taste. You were engaged to be wed to the local jewelers son at your father’s doing. He had assured you over and over again that going through with the wedding would lead you to a life that he could not provide you. A life you were destined for. Your mother, Valar rest her soul, had been killed a few years prior in an attack on your village leaving you with your father and a small place to live. But it was home.

The local jeweler boy, Newall, had asked you to take a walk around the village right before the tragic events occurred. One moment you were giving him your kindest smile. The next he pushed you into the woods after hearing the screaming coming from the village center. Not making your most brilliant decision you decided to follow behind him only to come to the horrifying realization that your seemingly insignificant village was being brutalized by Orc’s. You stood there frozen in fear as you witnessed men, women and children being slain as if they meant nothing. 

It was only when you came face to face with one that you realized how much trouble you were in. Valar save you. He must’ve listened because the Orc simply look at you, growled and pushed you into the side of the house you were standing next to. But then it dawned on you that he wasn’t done. The creature walked to you terrifyingly slow, standing over you before driving it’s sword into your side. Before you could even yelp out in pain the orc vanished leaving you to die presumably. But it was a shallow wound. It didn’t seem like it was trying to do too much damage. Orcs knew one thing, killing. It was odd that one would have spared you.

When you finally came back to the reality of the situation you knew you had to go. Run to Bree. Your dad always instructed that’s where you needed to go. You had an uncle up there that could look after you. Deciding not to waste another second you rushed inside the house grabbing whatever clothing you could find. Tying a pair of Newall’s pants around your waste to hopefully stop the bleeding you only grabbed a little bit of food before you made for the forest. You’d have to find something along the way. The trek to Bree would take nearly a month on foot.

Using the stars as guidance you moved through the forest you knew very well. It started out fine. You were trained to do just this. Your father had made sure of it. What you hadn’t considered was the poison from the orc blade that was slowly taking its toll on your body. It was the fourth night that you realized you were in serious trouble. On the fifth day you decided you weren’t going to be able to go any further. No wonder the Orc didn’t just kill you there. He left you to suffer. What a vile creation. 

It didn’t take you long to decide on where you wanted to die. You found a nice tree under the shade of the leaved with a comfortable base. You were just going to go to sleep and hopefully never wake up. Hopefully the poison would just do what it wanted to and let you finally go. 

That did not happen though. You felt a light kick on your boot forcing your eyes to open. What you weren’t expecting was a rather handsome looking ranger with ice blue eyes to be staring right at you. Considering what to do.

“Miss,” He knelt down after whispering something to his horse, “Are you injured?” His surprisingly concerned eyes spotted the blood that coated your worn-down dress.

Taking a long breath, you mustered enough strength to answer the stranger, “Yea, Master Ranger.” You let your head lean back on the trunk of the tree relieving the strain it seemed to put on year mere consciousness.

“Forgive me, but you do not look it miss.” His head was level with yours as he moved closer to you. He didn’t dare touch you without your permission, but he wanted too, you were not all right like you so miserably tried to convince him.

A shallow breath escaped you, “I fear I have been stabbed by an Orc blade Ranger. I do not have much longer.” Your eyes flicked away from his in a pathetic attempt to rid him of the conversation. He would have no such thing though. Leave a fair maiden to perish on her own? Not on his accord.

“Strider.” He corrected you. It wasn’t often he’d give out his Ranger known name to strangers, but you seemed harmless enough. What could a human woman such as yourself have done to deserve such a fate he wondered before continuing on, “We are but a half days journey to a small town called Sarn Ford. Have you heard of it miss?” He asked in hopes of seeing your eyes open once more.

You did as he wished and looked at him again, “Sarn Ford? Oh dear. I’ve gone the wrong direction.” You grimaced in pain as you tried to sit up higher on the tree trunk.

“Where are traveling to miss? On your own?” He held out an open hand for you to take. He left the decision on if you’d accept the help up to you.

Eyeing his hand, you knew he was prying. But he seemed trustworthy. The Rangers of the North were meant to be. Strider as he called himself. Your eyes met his again and you caved right then and there. He looked genuine, like he thought he could actually help you. Like you were not too far gone. With all the strength you could muster in your quickly fading body you put your hand in his, “Aye. My village was attacked by orcs. Third time in the last five years. They got me this time.” You sighed trying your hardest to stay conscious, “I was meant to travel to Bree. But I must have taken to the wrong direction. I will be blaming the Orc poison for the misdirection.” You let out a pained laugh trying to lighten the tone of the conversation going on between the two of you.

“All right. Off we go. What is your name?” He asked you needing to know to continue.

He watched you intently sputter out the words you were trying to get out. His fear of orc poison was right, you truly did not have that much time left. With your permission he scooped you up in his arms, called his horse over and positioned you in front of him while he rode. He knew you did not have enough strength to hold on from behind. He knew It would be a challenge to keep you upright on the journey back to Sarn Ford. He was meeting Gandalf there, anyway, might as well help the woman who he had taken a fast liking towards. Even Strider could see the beauty in things, and you were mighty beautiful in his eyes. Even coated in layers of dirt and grime he knew you shined like a star above him.

“Y/N.” You admitted to the man not feeling up to lying to him. You would likely be dead before dawn anyway. You would have hoped he would find a way to let anybody surviving know of your unfortunate fate. But in reality you were just another causality of war. A human life cut far too short.

“Lovely name.” He smiled lowly as he held you into him. He could feel you were fading in and out of consciousness as he held onto your waist tightly.

You hummed in thanks not having the strength to reply to him.

“Hold on miss Y/N. We will be there soon.” He spoke into your ear startling you back onto the middle earth side of consciousness.

But as much as he tried you had succumbed to your own fate. Blackness took over before you reached the village of Sarn Ford.

Much to your own surprise your eyes opened once more. You peaked around seeing all sorts of supplies. You must have been in some sort of healers room you concluded quickly. Looking down you were not in your attire you had been found in but a simple dress that you were more accustomed too. Being so caught up in your own accord you had yet to see the two men. Well one man and one wizard standing off to the side conversing as you came back to reality.

“Welcome young one.” The wizard spoke. You had never seen one before. Thought they were the thing of legends. But sure, as it would be one stood before you. They were easy to spot. Had an aura about them.

Your eyes snapped back to Striders looking at him in surprise. He was more handsome than you remembered as the sun beat down on his features through the window in the hut you were in, “It is all right.” He nodded at you, “This is Gandalf the Grey, he is an old friend of mine.”

“Hello Gandalf.” You broke your eyes away from the stranger your somewhat knew and turned your head towards the wizard.

“How are you fairing?” He asked whilst leaning onto his cane.

“Fine now. Thank you.” You turned toward Strider who made his way closer, “Thank you Strider. For without you I fear I may have been dead by now.” A shiver of realization ripped down your spine as you admitted it out loud.

He bowed his head, “I am honored to have been of service miss Y/N.” You looked over to him giving him a bashful smile. He was really so handsome. More handsome than any of the boys or men in your small village.

“Are you well enough to travel?” Gandalf asked breaking the trance the two of you had been locked in for a moment too long to be just friendly glances. Gandalf was considered wise for a reason. He had an inkling feeling there was something budding between his usually broody friend and the pretty human girl he had found in the woods. Maybe you were his gift from Valar. Every great leader needed one. Who was Gandalf to question the gods.

“I believe so.” You sat you wincing only slightly as the wound in your side. Strider wanted nothing more than to push you back down and curse the wizard who suggested you move so soon.

“Miss Y/N. You need to rest a little longer.” He insisted placing a gentle hand on your shoulder preventing you from standing.

Gandalf grumbled, “You must get to the Prancing Pony Inn. I’m going to meet Frodo now. Time is of the essence Aragorn.”

Your eyes crumbled in confusion. Who was Aragorn?

He did not leave you time to question as he grabbed at your hand, “Come miss Y/N. We have a ride to take.”

You sat at the bar table with Strider who had hood of his robe covering his face. You grew more uneasy as the night wore on at the Prancing Pony. The horse ride was quick thankfully. And much to your delight the Hobbits Gandalf was speaking of finally appeared. Right on time.

Strider shot up from his seat, “Wait here miss Y/N. I must save the Hobbit.” He sighed before bounding off into the depths of the bar. You felt even more uneasy as the eyes around you made their way to your shaking frame. You were nervous.

After far too many moments alone he grabbed you by your arms, “Come Y/N. We must hide.” He directed you to another room than the ones you had planned on staying in.

“Strider?” You asked following him up a set of stairs you were unfamiliar with.

“Nazgul. I’ll explain later. For now, you must sleep. We have a long journey to Rivendell. Especially with the Hobbits.” He let a long breath while opening the door for you. Quickly, you were attacked by questions from the four little Hobbits. Happily, though you answered every single one before lying next to Strider who promised to keep watch.

“You should get some rest too.” You whispered hoping not to wake the sleeping Hobbits.

He nodded, “I shall. In due time. I fear we have something coming.”

Your frown was evident as he continued to try and comfort you, “Do not fret. I am keeping watch for a reason. We are safe.”

“I believe you Strider.” You yawned not being able to keep the tiredness away for much longer.

“Rest.” He commanded.

You were far too tired to argue that as the darkness crept in.

You were woken when the screeching next door commenced. The Hobbits must’ve had more sensitive ears as they were already up and staring at Strider who looked glum.

“What are they?” Frodo asked.

He sat at the window looking at the five of you, “They were once men. Great kings of men. The Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine rings of power.” You felt a shiver ripple across your body. You’d heard the legends and did not believe those either. Yet again, another thing coming true right before your eyes.

“We must move.” He commented seeing the Nazgul retreating away from the inn.

You must have walked for miles until Strider had the five of you rest at the old watchtower of Amon Sul. You stood there behind the Hobbits staring up the decaying rock structure before you. It must have been grand in its time.

Once you were seated next to the Hobbits he stood and tossed each of you a weapon, “These are for you. Keep them close. I’m going to have a look around. Miss Y/N, will this blade be too large for you?” He handed you a smaller sword for you to try.

“I fear you have too much faith in me Strider.” You unsheathed the sword holding onto it carefully, “But this will work.” You nodded towards him.

“You shall not have to use it. In case only.” He pointed at each of you, “I will be back. Rest. Make no noise or sound.” His command was easy to follow. A natural born leader it seemed.

You woke when you heard Frodo yelling from beside you, “What are you doing?” He yelled a little too loud. You rose from the ground you had managed to sleep on and watched the interaction unfold. You cursed when you saw the fire going. He had not explicitly said no fires, but the intention was there.

“Put it out you fools!” Frodo cried. You rose from your slumber and haphazardly helped him put it out.

The horrifying cry you heard from the Nazgul the night before rang out from outside the watch tower.

“Oh no.” You spotted them coming towards you, “No Strider?” You turned to Frodo with a horrifying realization.

He shook his head, “Go! Up!” You followed the Hobbits to the top of the tower and waited. You shivered when you saw them come from the shadows. You heard nothing but your hammering heart in your chest. This was it. This could be the end. You sword was shaking in your hand.

“Back you devils!” Sam screamed trying to shield them off. You blocked a shot but was stopped when Frodo pulled the ring out. You gasped when they all ran from him. To your horror when he put the ring on he disappeared.

Strider came out of nowhere blocking back the Nazgul from all of you. You ran to Frodo in horror seeing the man defend the five of you with ease. A few of them went up in flames as kept fighting them off. They had enough when he got another went up and flames and ran off. Strider quickly came over to the five of you surrounding Frodo. You had your hand on his horrifyingly black wound. You’d never seen poison like that before.

“Help him Strider!” You cried in a shaky voice once he kneeled down next to you.

He picked the sword up shaking his head slowly, “He’s been stabbed by a Morgul blade.” The blade vanished in his hand as Frodo writhed beneath you, “This is beyond my skill to heal. He needs Elvish medicine.”

You looked down at the Hobbit in pain and let a single tear fall, “We will get you the help you need mister Frodo. Rest assured.” He picked the Hobbit up and began running, “Let us go.”

The four of you trailed Strider in a daze. The Nazgul screams seemed to ring out from every direction as you ran, “Hurry!” he shouted at the four of you with Frodo crying in his arms.

“We are six days from Rivendell! He will never make it!” Sam cried sending a shuddering realization through you.

You simply heard a faint whisper come from Strider ahead of you, “Hold on, Frodo.” From Strider who kept running and did not acknowledge Sam. As tired as you were you had to keep moving for Frodo’s sake. You ran and ran until you could no more and then you ran some more.

He only stopped when he ran into three petrified trolls. He set Frodo down looking around frantically. You and Sam went over to look after him. Same placed a gentle hand to the despondent Hobbit.

Sam shuddered at the touch, “Mr. Frodo! He’s going cold.”

“Is he going to die?” Pippen chimed in. You stood back looking over the shivering Hobbit who long since stopped crying out in pain.

Strider turned to the five of you with a concerned look crossing over his features, “He’s passing into the Shadow World. He’ll soon become a Wraith like them.” He stated so calmly. Your face grimaced at the horrifying realization. Frodo becoming a Nazgul?

Strider continued, “Sam, do you know the Athlelas plant?” You listened in but bent down to hold Frodo’s hand hoping some comfort would help the gasping Hobbit. His eyes were glazing over with something of a blue sheen that sent shivers down your body.

“Athelas?” Sam asked confused by the question.

“Kingsfoil.” Strider tried a different name.

Sam nodded, “Kingsfoil, aye, it’s a weed!”

“It may help the poisoning. Hurry!” He pushed the Hobbit off, “Miss Y/N. Stay with Frodo. We will be back with help.” You nodded holding onto his hand dearly.

Not a few moments later you saw the help arriving. A beautiful elf strode over and down to the quickly fading Hobbit. You took a step back as she took a step towards him. You gaped at the beauty that she was leaning down to your newfound friend. An elf in real life. She was beyond your wildest imagination. You had been told of their beauty, but this was bordering on ethereal.

“I am Arwen. I have come to help you.” She whispered into his ear, “Hear my voice. Come back to the light.” She grabbed at his hand while Strider handed her the plant.

“Who is she?” Merry asked quietly as Frodo was tended to.

“Arwen, an elf.” You whispered repeating what you heard her speak to Frodo not seconds ago, “She’s going to save him.” You said out loud to convince yourself more so than the group of Hobbits.

“Frodo,” She whispered, “He’s fading.” She sounded concerned as she looked over to Strider, “He’s not going to last. We must get him to my father.” The two of them stood as Strider grabbed at Frodo, “I’ve been looking for you for two days.” She said to Strider. You watched as the scene unfolded before you not wanting to get in the way of whatever was occurring.

“Where are you taking him?” Sam asked confused and terribly concerned for his friend.

He was ignored as Arwen continued, “There are five Wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know.” You watched as Strider put Frodo onto the horse with ease.

Suddenly Strider started talking in what you assumed to be Sindarin as you could not understand what they were saying. They must have agreed upon something as Arwen hopped onto the horse and took off with Frodo. Your mind was sent into a spiral as you guessed where he was going and off so quickly.

“She is taking him to Rivendell. To Lord Elrond for him to be healed. She is the faster rider and will get him there sooner. Come, we must go.” He motioned for the group to keep moving, “Miss Y/N, will you walk with me?”

You nodded speeding up your pace to match his, “Master Strider.”

“Strider is fine.” He hummed as he led the group out of the forest somehow knowing exactly where to go.

“Is he going to make it?” You had to ask him. The thought of his passing was eating at you.

He nodded, “His best chance is with Arwen. The sooner we get to Rivendell the sooner we will find out.”

“Well then let us speed up our pace then.” You smiled up at him.

He chucked and nodded. The two of you walked in a comfortable silence as you occasionally made sure the chatty Hobbits behind you were faring all right.

“She is pretty.” You spoke after a while of not being able to get Arwen’s face out of your mind.

“Arwen?” He questioned you giving you a curious once over seeing that the statement seemingly came out of nowhere.

“Aye. She is beautiful.”

“She is. Most elves are.” He agreed with you, “She is wed to another healer. Her father set the marriage up ages ago before you great great grandmother was even a thought.”

“Oh, to have the lifespan of an elf!” You laughed feeling the weight of whatever tension you were holding onto about Arwen be lifted.

“I bet it is not all that it seems to be.” You nodded as the two of you continued on the trek to Rivendell occasionally chatting about random things back and forth. You were so caught up in him you failed to notice the Hobbits watching the two you of converse the entire journey back as if you were already a married couple just strolling the lands.

“Welcome to Rivendell miss Y/N.” Aragorn smiled when he saw your gaping face taking in all the scenery stretching beyond your wildest imagination. He too was struck in awe by its beauty the first time he had come across it all those years ago.

“This cannot be real.” You gasped as he took your hand, pulling you along to look along the city.

“Aye. It is. Come, I want to show you your living quarters for the time being.” He pulled you along knowing exactly where to go in Lord Elrond’s castle. He stopped in what you assumed to be the center seeing two people walking towards the two of you. The wizard and a dark-haired elf stopped just short of you.

“Ah, welcome young one.” Gandalf walked up with who you assumed to be Lord Elrond, “It is wonderful to see you in one piece. Unlike our young Frodo.” He chuckled not realizing what he had said sounded bad without knowing how he was.

Your face dropped, “Oh no, did he not make it?”

Gandalf shook his head hastily in realization of his error, “He is fine young one. A few more hours and he would not have made it.” Gandalf stepped forward, placing a hand on your shoulder in reassurance, “Aragorn here will show you to your chambers.”

You cocked your head to the side, “Aragorn? You said that back in Sarn Ford as well. Who is Aragorn?” This really was not your place to speak in front of so many important people. But you were always a curious one, so you had to ask. The worst they could do is refuse to elaborate any further and you would not press. You did understand boundaries even if you pushed them.

Strider looked at Gandalf with a question in his gaze. Gandalf always had a plan. He could see the feelings bubbling to the surface for Aragorn for his newfound human companion that had to be a gift from Valar himself. Gandalf knew the longer he kept his identity from you the harder the breach of trust would befall the two of you.

Gandalf nodded giving his friend a push towards you. He knew Aragorn had to admit this to you himself. You saw Lord Elrond cock his head in confusion watching the interaction go down. He must not have been privy to what had been going down in Gandalf’s mind.

“Ah, miss Y/N. Strider is my Ranger name. It is my identity. As is Aragorn. Son of Arathorn.” He spoke slowly watching as your face twisted from confusion to realization. You may have been from Eriabor, but you surely knew who Arathorn was.

He continued, “I am also called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dúnadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor."

“A rightful King?” You asked him with widened eyes. You had no clue that you had been traveling with such a company. You had been so crass it made you want to run away right then and there, especially with Gandalf and Lord Elrond’s amused gazes watching the interaction between two humans.

He nodded, “You are correct.”

“Aragorn.” You spoke for the first time giving him a wide smile, “I do like it. It suits a King such as yourself. Would you mind if I continued to call you Strider though?” Bowing your head slightly you felt a rush of embarrassment pulsate through you. Why were you so unladylike? It was all so thoughtless when he was just a Ranger. Not a bloody King of Gondor.

He waited until your eyes met his again, “No need to bow miss Y/N. And thank you. You may call me either.”

A quick head nod was interrupted by Gandalf, “We must be off. Aragorn drop the young one off at her residence. You are free to explore the castle and Rivendell. But we will need you to meet us in the gardens. We have much to discuss before the Council of Elrond shows up in a few days.” Gandalf spoke directly to Strider who just nodded in agreement.

“Come miss Y/N.” He took your hand and pulled you along quickly, “You will enjoy your stay here. It is a wonderful place. There is quite a bit to do, and the elves are very kind.” He tried his best to reassure you knowing that Gandalf was right. You could not go on. You were not prepared for this kind of journey to any extent. Gandalf also revealed of Aragorn’s known feelings for you. You would be a distraction he could not have along the journey.

“It seems like it.” You grinned thankful you were able to do your own thing for the afternoon. You felt bad for Strider or Aragorn. He seemed to have quite a bit of business to attend to.

He stopped at a door letting you inside. It was small but quant and rather extravagant. Fine details laced every surface. You’d come to expect nothing less from the elves, “I will find you later. Enjoy your day miss Y/N.”

The days went by slowly as you got acquainted with Rivendell. You had the sneaking suspicion your journey was also stopping as Strider was not so keen on giving you any information even though he was gone for days on end.

It was on the day of the gathering of the Council of Elrond that you had all but given up. That was until there was a rapid knocking at your door. Thankfully your elf maiden Nimloth had made sure you were dressed as Strider stood before you with a smile on his face, “Come miss Y/N. The Council of Elrond is starting soon.”

“I am invited?” You were sure there was a dumb look on your face.

He nodded slowly, “Gandalf insisted. Lord Elrond relented.”

You followed him in silence to the gathering of the council. You sat behind Frodo closer to Lord Elrond and away from all of the action that was sure to go down.

It was not long after you took a seat that Lord Elrond stood gathering the council to begin, “Strangers from distant lands, friends of old and new,” His eyes met yours giving you a small wink before continuing on, “You’ve been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fail. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo.” A shiver ran down your spine at his straight to the point opening. This was not good.

You watched as Frodo stood and dropped the ring on the stump in the middle of the council.

You heard the man called Boromir speak up, “So it is true.” He looked at the ring with something of desire lacing it. You looked at Strider who was watching the man skeptically. He continued, “The doom of man. It is a gift.” Your heart raced at such a senseless statement. You watched as Strider grew angry at his arrogance.

Nevertheless, Boromir continued, “A gift of the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father the Steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against them.” He passionately spoke hoping to gain the agreement of the Council.

But Strider would have none of that false speak, “You cannot wield it. None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master.” Your heart rate sped down at the sensible statement to the man you had grown quite fond of in your week or so of traveling. You had grown a strong liking to the handsome Ranger who saved your life without a second thought.

Boromir looked skeptically at Strider, “And what would a Ranger know of this matter?” He asked with a smug look to his face. You wanted to slap that look right off of his face for he had no clue who he was talking to! A king!

But the elf called Legolas stood quickly in his defense, “This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, Son of Arathon.” You watched as his face scrunched up in a minor irritation. He had tried so hard to keep that a secret and now it was out, “You owe him your allegiance.” He finished looking just as irritated as Strider did. It still felt weird to call him Aragorn. So, you kept up with Strider.

Boromir turned back to him, “Aragorn.” He spoke with a hint of shock in his tone, “This is Isildur’s heir?”

“An heir to the throne of Gondor.” Legolas spoke earning a glare from Strider who spoke to him in Elvish quickly. You wondered what he said because Boromir looked suddenly very angry.

Boromir nearly spat with vengeance while looking at the blond elf, “Gondor has no king.” He turned to look back at Strider and shook his head, “Gondor needs no king.”

Gandalf spoke up breaking the tension among men, “Aragorn is right. We cannot use it.”

Lord Elrond stood, “You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed.”

The dwarf called Gimli stood then, “What are we waiting for?” He grabbed his axe and sliced at it in attempt to shatter it. Of course, that did nothing but startle the entire council into submission.

“The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin... by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade.” Lord Elrond spoke matter of factly. You watched as Frodo nearly collapsed from the pain and realization. You laid a gentle hand on his shoulder hoping he would find some solace in the touch.

Lord Elrond continued, “It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.” Your heart was hammering in your chest at the realization. This would be no easy task for anybody let alone a Hobbit and human group, “One of you, must do this.” Lord Elrond commanded sending your head into so many different directions. Would Strider go? Would the Hobbits? Surely you would never be able to go. No, Strider would never allow it. He had made that very clear.

Boromir sighed, “One does not simply walk into Mordor. It’s Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, and ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with 10,000 men could you do this. It is folly.”

Legolas was angry now. He shot up from his seat spitting his words at the man, “Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed.”

Gimli spoke up next, “And I suppose you think you are the one to do it!” The tension grew in the air as everyone began to feel uneasy of the task at hand.

Boromir stood next, “And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?”

Gimli continued, “I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!” He shouted. Your eyes went wide as everything seemed to be going away from the goal at hand, “Never trust an Elf!”

The group erupted in bickering as you and Frodo sat back in fear of what was going to happen. All but suddenly you watched as Frodo stood. He shouted, “I will take it.” It took him a few attempts before the group heard him.

“I will take the Ring to Mordor.” He said again once everyone had quieted down. You gulped as you watched the scene unfold.

He spoke again, “Though, I do not know the way.”

Gandalf nodded, “I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins as long as it is yours to bear.”

You sat further back into your chair as you watched Strider stand, “If by my life or death I can protect you I will.” Your heart sunk at his words. He caught your forlorn gaze and gave you a simple smile. He walked to Frodo and knelt before the small Hobbit, “You have my sword.”

Legolas stepped forward, “And you have my bow.” Your heart raced seeing the elf walk forward. Thank goodness he volunteered. You had heard stories of the mighty elf warrior of Mirkwood.

“And my ax.” Gimli agreed as he walked towards the growing group. You stood from your spot away from the group, closer towards Lord Elrond. Almost as if you had already known your assigned fate.

Boromir joined slowly, “You carry the fates of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council then Gondor will see it done.” He stood by the group.

Suddenly the other hobbits joined in earning a hard-earned smile from Lord Elrond.

“Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring.” You watched as Elrond anointed the group complete. Your downcast eyes found Striders who looked at you with all the care in the world. You were more than nervous for the man you had grown so fond of so quickly. Dare you say you might actually have real genuine feelings for the man standing in the group of nine.

“The journey is no place for a lady.” Strider insisted as he pulled you away from the fellowship. He had conjured up a hundred scenarios in his mind and decided you could not come after seeking the guidance of Gandalf. It was far too dangerous for someone as delicate as you were. He shuddered at the thought of seeing you with a sword far too big for you trying your best to defend not only yourself but the Hobbits from the Nazgul. He never wanted to see or put you in such a situation as that ever again.

Your look broke his heart ten times over. It is not like he wanted to leave you in Rivendell with the elves. He would do anything to take you, but it was just far too dangerous. The encounter with the Nazgul did it in enough for him to hold firm on the decision, “I’m not a lady Aragorn, and you know it! But I understand.” You countered but admitted your faults. You were nothing but a lowly peasant from a tiny village near Eriador. You didn’t mean much to middle earth, a place holder for whatever Valar had planned.

He twisted his head to the side giving you a once over and a sly smile, “Not yet anyway.” He walked towards you, stopping right in front of you. Wanting to say the next word so all the elves and Hobbits behind him couldn’t hear. Having to turn your head up to make eye contact he leaned forward and whispered in your ear, “I have every intention of making you one, my lady.”

Your eyes growing wide and the rosiness that formed on your neck and cheeks made the elves behind him laugh in unison amongst themselves. You noticed the confusion lining the Hobbits faces, no doubt wonder what he had said to you to illicit such a reaction.

You looked back to him with the hint of smile dancing on your lips, “They can hear you Strider.”

He brushed the pads of his fingers along your jawline, “Let them.” He had yet to be so forthcoming with his feelings so far. Sure, you had only known him a little over a week but you had not left his side since you met him. It had already felt so long ago. And when the heart knew it knew. It knew it had feelings for the handsome man with the most beautiful blue eyes that looked at you so kindly standing before you.

“Please be safe.” Your eyes welled with unshed tears as you accepted his command. You could not go along with them. You’d be nothing but the burden you so desperately wanted to avoid. But you also did not want to stay in Rivendell. The elves seemed welcoming enough but who knew how long he would have to be gone. You would surely overstay your welcome.

A curt nod came from the man you’d grown to love in such a short amount of time, “As you wish.” He moved his fingers to your eyes brushing away the tears that had managed to spill over, “Do not cry. I will be back as soon as I can.” The moment felt far too intimate to have the whole company trying not to watching but paying close attention anyway, they were not being sly about like they thought they were. They had all grown to adore you in some capacity, more some than others. Pippen was especially sad your journey had ended there. He had quite enjoyed getting to know you along the short trek from The Shire to Rivendell. You were unlike any other mortal he had met.

“I know. But you will find me in Bree.” You answered him letting the tears fall even as you tried your best to stop them.

He shook his head quickly, “No, you will stay here. In Rivendell. You will be protected here. Lord Elrond has assured me of that.” That sounded more like Aragorn than the Strider you knew. It hit you that the rightful King of Gondor was standing right in front of you. No wonder he had seemed so effortless in leading the group to Rivendell. It was in his blood.

“I do not belong here Aragorn.” You spoke in a plea muttering his actual name for just the second time. It still felt foreign, but you welcomed it on your tongue. Aragon, King of Gondor.

His eyes piqued up in utter curiosity at the sudden name change. You had seemed so adamant on continuing to call him by his Ranger name despite finding his true identity through Gandalf, “You can find an identity here my lady. Lord Elrond will not let that falter. Do you not believe me?” He frowned not enjoying seeing you in such a distressed state. He too had grown to have deep feelings for you. You were kind and compassionate. Smarter than you knew. Made him smile more than he ever had in his life in the short time he had known you. You kept him on his toes, and he adored that about you. He grew to like maybe even love you in mere days.

“I am a burden here. Useless. They will get sick of me.” You were pleading to him now. If you knew better you would not be pushing somebody of such high stature.

He gulped not knowing what to say. He could pick up on your stress through your expression and the way you picked at your fingernails. A habit he’d seen both at the Inn and when the group was attacked by the Nazgul. Just as he was about to open his mouth he heard Elrond from behind him. And bless him he thought for he had no idea how to calm your racing mind.

“Have you not enjoyed your stay here at Rivendell? Do you not wish to stay?” Lord Elrond spoke up after hearing the concerns you had spoken in private to Aragorn. He knew he likely should have just stayed quiet and let Aragorn handle the situation. But his overly sensitive ears could pick up the frantic panic in your voice towards the man.

You shook your head quickly, “No my lord. I wish to not be a burden to your home. You see I… I do not have much to offer your city.” You hung your head in shame hoping you did not fully insult Elrond. He had already been so kind to you.

“A burden?” He shook his head walking over to the two of you. All eyes still watching the interaction with the utmost curiosity, “You would hardly be a burden. I will be honest with you. With many of the elves planning to take to the sea I will need some help preparing. You will have a place here. Rest assured.”

A small sigh let out from your chest. Aragorn watched you intently with a bright smile on his face seeing the Elf relax your mind in mere moments. Leave it to Elrond to calm you down so easily. He needed to take a page or two from his book.

“Are you sure Lord Elrond?” You asked timidly to the much, much taller elf. Why’d they have to be so beautiful and intimidating at the same time?

He gave you a quick nod before turning, “I have already made up my mind child. Now let us go. The Fellowship has much planning to do before they are off in a few days.” He motioned for you to follow him.

You turned back to Aragorn before you left, “I wish you luck. I will see you soon. Be safe.” Taking a risk, you grabbed for his hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Anything for you my lady.” You caught the brief wink he had given you before bowing his head.

You walked over to the rest of the group, “I wish you all nothing but the best. Please take care of each other. I want to see you all when this is over. Yea?” Your voice broke at the end.

The Hobbits crowded around you giving you one last hug, “We will take your word to heart Lady Y/N.” Pippen smiled as he hugged your side.

“I am no lady.” You laughed once more. Where had they all gotten this ridiculous notion from?

“That’s not what Legolas told us.” Frodo smirked while looking over at Aragorn was deep in conversation with Boromir not paying a lick of attention to the goodbyes you were giving. It hurt him just as much as it was hurting you so he distracted himself with the other man in the Fellowship.

Your eyes found the blonde elf who attempted to feign innocence for the second time that afternoon, “You are a rightful menace Legolas.�� You muttered to him almost finding enjoyment out of his butting in.

He shrugged innocently, “I am not sure what you are talking about Lady Y/N.”

You smiled shaking your head while giving each Hobbit a quick squeeze, “Good luck Legolas. Please watch out for him?” Your request may have been too much for the elf and you knew it. A big ask that you would have never of done had you not fallen for him so quickly.

But he agreed, “You have my word, my lady.” He smirked sensing your aversion to the formality you so desperately tried to avoid.

A quick shake of the head and you went off to follow Elrond you was waiting for you patiently in the distance, “I will see you all soon.” You waved, not waiting for their response as it felt to be too much in the moment. It amazed you

“Thank you for your hospitality Lord Elrond.” You said quickly once you caught up to the dark-haired elf.

He gave you what you was sure was a genuine smile, “It brings me a great pleasure to host you Lady Y/N.”

Your mouth gaped, “Is he forcing you to say that?” Surely you were going to have to get used to the title if Elrond had agreed to it. It would be shameful to try and correct the ruler of the land. Even you had some semblance of sanity and preservation.

Elrond shook his head quickly. He gave you a serious expression, one that you were not used to seeing from elf, “Aragorn is the rightful heir to the Throne of Gondor. We recognize the title here in Rivendell. I respect what he wishes. If he has given you that title you should wear that as a badge of honor.”

“You think so?” You thought you might have been pressing your luck with the lord. But he had the patience of somebody you had never met before. He was like no human you knew even if he was half of it.

If he was offended at your questioning he hid it well. A small smile adorned his features as he led you down the path to an empty room in the castle he had placed you in earlier, “I know so. When you have been around as long as I. You tend to notice these small things.”

He stopped in front of a door you had not been privy too in your prior explorations, “Your quarters for the time being. I had Nimloth move your belongings from your previous room to here. I suspect you will find it adequate.”

Your eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets when he opened the massive wood doors. The most intricate carvings of wood was placated on every surface of the room. The detail and craftsmanship was beyond anything you had seen in your tiny little village. You ran your fingers along the different sets of furniture admiring the fine detail that was crafted into every surface, “More than adequate Lord Elrond. Thank Nimloth for me?” You asked after finding all your belongings neatly put away.

He bowed to you. An elf bowed to you! What had this life become? Once so lost now you were somebody a lord found pleasure in conversing with.

“I will see to it. She will fetch you for dinner as well. Welcome to Rivendell.” Without waiting for a response, he shut the doors behind him letting you be with your thoughts. And oh, were they racing beyond your wildest measure.

It had been 414 days since Aragorn and the Fellowship had set out to destroy the ring. You refused to give up any sort of hope as you heard bits and pieces of information from Lord Elrond. You had grown close to elf in your stay at Rivendell. He had given you sage life advice time and time again. You were there for him when Arwen and his sons went off to sea not to be seen again until he were to take his trip. You knew he was utterly lonely and wanting nothing more than to go be with his wife and children. But he had a duty to middle earth that he would see too. He would see that the age of man had a true leader in Aragorn to guide peace and prosperity forward. He knew the age of elf was done and good. Frodo just had to finish it by destroying the ring.

You were sitting in the study reading a text in Sindarin, Lord Elrond had taught you enough of the language to get by, when you heard the doors to the study open with a loud thud. You set the text down on the desk as you peaked your head towards the door.

“Lady Y/N?” Lord Elrond’s voice called out.

You stood from your chair, “Yes my lord?” You caught him smiling ear to ear at the front of the study. A giddy feeling of shock shot throughout your body in anticipation for what might come next.

“They are back.”

You felt like your heart might have actually stopped beating there for a second, “Aragorn?” You asked breathlessly.

“Alive and well. Come.” He motioned you to follow him just like he had all those days ago when you first got to Rivendell.

When you spotted him out in the courtyard you did not give a second thought about being a lady anymore. You all out sprinted to the man who had consumed you whole in his time away. He wrapped you in his arms once you ran right into his chest. Letting out a small grunt from the impact he started laughing. A full-on belly laugh rang out from the man as he held you in his arms once more.

“You came back.” You felt the tears forming in your eyes as you buried yourself in his chest.

He held you in his arms as tightly as he could relishing in the moment of just being there with you, “I gave you my word, my lady. Did I not?” He pulled you back so he could look at you. Ethereal. Rivendell had been nothing but good to you he concluded. He would have to thank Lord Elrond for being so hospitable towards the one he had loved.

“You did. Thank you.” You grasped him a little tighter as he clinged onto you just the same.

You gasped opening the letter from the Shire, “Sam and Rose!” You ran over to Aragorn with a gleeful smile on your face, “Look, they are to be wed in six months! Long after you are crowned King. I would like to go.”

“Ahh, finally.” Aragorn grabbed the letter from your hand with a smile on his face. You admired him as he read the joyous news of the union. He was so handsome. And he was soon to be crowned King of Gondor, Gandalf had shared with the group the night they came back. He was due to be crowned in two months’ time in Minas Tirith. It gave time for all parties to travel to the desired destination to see the rightful heir be crowned king.

“I was worried he would never go for it. We shall go if you will have me?” Aragorn noted as he smoothed out the robes for tomorrow’s crowning. He had felt more nervous of the thought of proposing to you than he was about being crowned King. Valar calm his nerves.

“Aye. I would love to go with you Aragorn. But is that so? Had he been shy about her?” You asked your love that you were almost afraid to admit to.

He nodded recalling all the time Samwise made comments about the Hobbit he had loved from afar, “He was never the most risk adverse. I think the journey changed him.”

“Yea.” You nodded, “It was good for him.”

He nodded his head. His soft expression hardening just a tinge as he took you in, “You are so beautiful. When I did not think that I was going to make it… the thought of you kept me going. I am so honored to have you by my side.”

You leaned your head back into his chest letting the sun beat down on the two of you as he had helped you prepare for the journey to his rightful home. He had been to Minas Tirith many times before, but never as the King. He was overjoyed at the thought of bringing you to his home. He was not lying before when he promise to make you his lady. He was planning to wed to you not too long after he was crowned King.

“It is my honor Aragorn.” You felt him squeeze his hand along your waist.

He had taken you to his new home by horse. Just the two of you heading to his Kingdom. He wanted to spend the time with you and get to know you. And he was more than glad he did. He did not think it to be possible, but he had fallen more deeply in love with you on the month-long trek to Gondor. It had solidified what he had planned to do, propose to you as soon as he was crowned King. He had gotten Lord Elrond in on the plan as well. Surely, you would be more than irritated at the public display, but he knew you would soon get over it.

Your eyes lit up in amazement at the city that had spring up before you once you had finally made it after a little over a month on the road. It was more massive than even Rivendell had been. You had no idea such structures existed within the human world and was slightly ashamed you knew so little about your very own brethren.

“Welcome to Minas Tirith my lady.” A breathy whisper in your ear he watched below as you took in the city.

“This is… incredible Aragon.” Your eyes traveled everywhere in awe as he rode up the main street on his horse. You were pleasantly surprised at all the greetings even you were getting from all the citizens that resided within the city.

He led you straight to the castle at the center of the city knowing you were probably more than overwhelmed. Sure, he had warned you but actually seeing it and doing it was entirely different thing. He bowed to his guards as he made his way to his, and soon to be your, chambers.

“You will sleep here tonight.” He said matter of factly as you explored his chambers.

You shook your head, “I cannot. This is your room. You need to rest before tomorrow! You are being crowned King. That does not happen every day Aragorn.” You protested but he simply shook his head.

“It is all right.” He led you to his bed, “I insist my lady. I have made up my mind and you will not be able to change it.” He grinned beautifully as you sat down on the bed, accepting defeat so easily.

“So stubborn you are.”  You mused at him with a delighted look on your face. It felt like a step was being taken as he insisted you stay in his quarters. Protected by the best of the best. He saw you as nothing but precious to him.

He chucked softly, “I must leave you to it. Feel free to explore. One of the guards can show you around if you would like. I must see to a few things before tomorrow. I will see you after the ceremony?” He asked watching you carefully. He wanted you to be comfortable before he left you. He knew it would be tough to go a night without each other after spending so much alone for the better part of a month.

“All right.” You nodded quickly, “I will see you tomorrow, my King.” You grinned right back at him knowing you would never tire of calling him that. It was a far cry from the Strider you had met so long ago now.

He brushed his hand along your jaw. Giving you a brief bow, he spoke once more, “My lady.” Before walking out his chambers and leaving you too it. A wave of exhaustion coupled by the softness of the mattress below you sent you into a slumber much sooner than you were expecting. Maybe you would get the grand tour another time. For now, sleep overtook you..

You watched in awe as Gandalf crowned Aragorn with amazement in his own eyes. You had truly never seen anything so grandeur in your life. All this for your Aragorn. Yet, you felt he had deserved this and so much more.

“Now come the days of the King.” Gandalf’s voice boomed throughout Minas Tirith as thousands stood to watch Aragorn be crowned. You felt your eyes well up with proud tears as the crown laid atop his head. He was so striking. So Kingly. Your breath was taken away as he turned to the crowd. He was your King.

“This day does not belong to one man… but to all.” His voice now boomed filling your chest with the utmost pride for the man you loved, “Let us together rebuild this world… that we may share in the days of peace.” He smiled as the crowd erupted in cheers for their newly crowned King. You joined in happily clapping and cheering along with the city folk.

He sang as the flower petals began to fall. You watched as his company and all those around him bowed to him as he walked amongst the crowd. Your heart sped up rapidly as he was moving along closer, and closer to you.

Elrond pulled you back behind a shield at your protest as Legolas stepped forward. Being none the wiser you shot your elder a precarious look as he told you to be quiet and wait a second and you would see what was going on. He did not lie to you. Lord Elrond never did.

The elf beside you pulled the shield away leaving you staring right into the icy blue eyes of the man you had loved so dearly. You gulped but stepped towards him. He looked just as entranced as you felt.

Feeling overwhelmed at the entirely of the situation you bowed your head to your King once you were mere inches in front of him. Never before had so many eyes been on you. Yet he had made it feel like it really was just the two of you at that moment.

He would have none of that though. He took his hand under your chin and pulled it up, so you were looking at him. He too forgot that thousands of people were watching. It felt like it was just you and him. You had that effect on him. Your doe eyes staring up at him so desperately is what did him in. He could simply wait no longer to have what he wanted… you.

When you smiled at him he did not care any longer. He went straight in for the kiss. You wrapped your arms around him as he spun you around, happier than ever before. He had let his intentions be known. You were his for forever, his forever.

You would be embarrassed later but now it was just you and him. A giggle erupted from you as you hugged him once more. He grabbed your hand and pulled you along as he went to search for the Hobbits.

You took a knee after Aragorn spoke, “My friends… you bow to no one.” A smile erupted on your face as you watched the kingdom take a knee for them. Frodo’s face told the story. Aragorn gently wiped off the tears that were streaming down your face.

“I love you, my Queen.” He whispered in your ear.

“Your Queen?” You gasped looking up to him. Surely you did not think you would take

“Are we to be wed no?” He asked curiously.

“Aye.” You nodded, “I just did not believe to have such a title.” You looked away from him as he directed everyone to stand once more.

“I am King. You are to be my Queen.” He said so matter of factly you could not believe you were questioning yourself.

“As you wish.” You smiled so gleefully not truly believing this was actually your life now.

He leaned in for one more gentle kiss to please the crowd, “My Queen.” He whispered letting you know he had every good intention in the world with you. For the first time in his already long life, he could not wait to get his life started with you.

Permanent Taglist (Message me or comment below if you want to be added!) : @loving-and-dreaming @kmc1989 @memeorydotcom @matisse556 @buckylov3r @taygrls @ah-blossom @hardballoonlove @rosiahills22 @djs8891

[niobiumao3]

So, here's what X-Men 97 did that TBB did not, for its main character death. Obviously, huge X-Men 97 and TBB spoilers.

The death happens at a pivotal moment story wise, but is NOT immediately abandoned for other plot.

Remy (Gambit) dies towards the end of an episode which is in and of itself a real jaw-dropper, much like Plan 99. Out of nowhere a safe haven for mutants is being glassed, and Remy sacrifices himself to put a stop to it, because he's a little crazy but also well aware of what he's capable of and knows it might be their only chance to save SOME of these people who are his fellow mutants. The episode ends with his lover, Rogue--who's finally decided she agrees with Remy on things and is going to choose him and the X-Men over an alternative--holding his lifeless body in her arms.

Tech, on the other hand, dies 1/3 into an episode and vanishes from sight. Our POV character here, Omega, is injured and doesn't witness most of the ensuing escape, so when she wakes up, she demands they go back for him, crying, and we see Wrecker cry and Hunter explain he didn't make it.

...and then the episode keeps going. They're betrayed. A villain tosses Tech's broken goggles at Hunter and threatens them. Omega is captured, the remaining members of the Batch barely escape. For almost twenty minutes of runtime AFTER Tech dies, the story keeps going and has NOTHING to do with him dying (save the dig about the goggles). His death gets maybe, at most, 2 entire minutes of focus between Omega and Wrecker's reactions, Hunter's when Hemlock gives him the goggles, and Echo looking at the empty pilot's chair. That's it; for the bulk of the episode Tech's death has next to ZERO involvement in the story. It's not the climax. it's just A Thing Which Happened, and that massively devalues it from a narrative viewpoint. No one stops for more than a single breath to react to it, thus we as the audience don't.

(If anyone is winding up with 'that's because they can't due to the everything', this is why it's NOT GOOD WRITING. If you want the death to matter to your viewers/audience then you need to MAKE the time for it in your story, somehow. This isn't real life, you DO in fact control the horizontal and the vertical when making your plot.)

In X-Men 97, the death is the immediate focus of the next episode and a character's entire arc of the ensuing episodes. In TBB, it's a footnote.

In the following X-Men 97 episode, Remy has a funeral which Rogue doesn't attend, not because she doesn't care but because she's off raging against the machines, trying to find those responsible and kill them. There's a gorgeous eulogy for Remy, some thinking back on who he was and what he meant to them, a friend angry at Rogue for not being with them. It's so good. We cut to Rogue, absolutely furious with grief and looking to take it out on, well, everyone. She winds up putting herself into a coma as a result.

Literally nothing like this happens for Tech. Nothing close. There's a several month timeskip in S3 eps 1-3 which negates any immediate mourning or revelations to people who wouldn't know (Crosshair, Phee, Shep and Lyana), and we see NONE of Wrecker, Hunter, OR Echo's processing. Just what we saw in Plan 99, which again, is almost nothing. For a main character who as of S2 had the third most screen time of any character.

In X-Men 97, Remy keeps coming up as someone to remind them of what they're fighting for, what he would want for them. Tech is a skillset and a pair of goggles.

Remy is the first thing on Rogue's mind when she wakes up from her coma. She's instantly grieving him all over again, and mentions him numerous times throughout the remaining episodes as someone who wouldn't want this for them, or would have hoped for that. He's a guide for her even though he's gone. The rest of the characters reflect on him off and on--not his skills or abilities, but who he was, his nature. Remy's death completely changes Rogue's behaviors, almost 180 degrees, as well.

Tech is mentioned for what he could do, not what he liked or didn't like, how he felt about things, save for once: when Phee reveals he told her all about Crosshair. This is the only time someone talks about him like people talk about Remy in X-Men 97, and it happens twelve episodes after he died.

No one's actual narrative course changes trajectory in the case of Tech's death either. No one is shown making different decisions based on his loss (just the lack of his skills), no one is bringing him up as a rallying call for themselves, nothing. He is excised from the show in terms of his emotional, character impact. The loss is of someone who can decrypt things or knows stuff, not of a beloved sibling.

Remy's presence remains throughout the rest of X-Men 97, despite him dying in episode 5 of 10. Tech vanishes and becomes an occasional reason they have to do something the hard way and a background prop.

If you want to know how to actually write a main character death and have it MATTER and make it good story telling, watch X-Men 97.

[asha-mage]

One thing I can't stop thinking about ever since I finished Awakening is Robin's mother.

Because can you imagine the courage, the strength of will it must have taken to steal away her son from Plegia? To flee?

She was raised her whole life to believe in Grima, in the teachings of the Grimleal, she watched her country burn from the Crusades fought by Ylisse- watched Plegians slaughtered for their faith, watched their country impoverished and occupied. It's easy to imagine her as someone who hated Ylisse, who was a fervent believer in Grima, who leapt at the chance to help continue the Fell Dragon's bloodline with Validar.

And then imagine her laying there after the birth, holding her infant son marked with symbol of Grima and realizing that none of that mattered, not in the least bit beside this tiny life, beside her son. Her son who is their prophesied chosen one, who is the hope of generations of Plegians- who is destined to be the vessel of the Fell Dragon, the herald of the end of days, the bringer of vengeance on their enemies, the remaker of earth. Their messiah. Her messiah.

And it doesn't matter. Because it will mean his death. She dosen't want the rapture if it means he has to be sacrificed to bring it about, she don't want him to be the messiah because she knows that means one day he will be crucified.

And so she runs. She takes her infant son from the cradle and leaves behind everything she has ever known, and everything that might have been- a life as the mother of the messiah, a life of status and riches and comfort- and she goes to the one place the Grimleal will never think to look for them. She goes to Ylisse, where the armies still recall the screams of her people, where the faithful of Naga would cut her son down if they knew the least part of what he was. And she raises him there in secret, for twenty years living in hiding in the country of her enemies, because it's the only place her son will be safe. Because she loves him to much to let him be doomed by fate.

What must it have felt like one day, when he walked out the door and never came home? Did she search for him? Did she fear that the Grimleal had found them at last? Did she hear what happened at Southtown and wonder if he was among the dead: if all that, if twenty years of hiding and running and living in secret- had all ended in nothing more then a random bandit attack and bad luck? Or did she refuse to believe any such thing? Did she keep searching, keep wandering, unable to believe that the prophesied messiah would meet such a ignominious end?

What must if felt like when she heard that Plegia was going to war with Ylisse? Did she consider going back to the country she had abandoned, the people she had betrayed? Did she regret for a moment, that they would not have the vessel of Grima to lend them his strength?

And after the war what must it have been like, for every bell in Ylisstol to be ringing with victory, the new Exalt King riding back fresh from the field of battle, leading the triumphant procession of his soldiers....and beside him is her boy. Shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee as they ride side by side through the streets. Her boy with his silver hair and bright eyes gazing up at the Exalt King, the son of the man who crusaded against his mother country, with such love and devotion in his eyes as few people have ever witnessed. Was she happy? Disgusted? Horrified? Scared for him? Did it click then, the wild tales of the amnesiac strategist that the Shepherds had found in a field- rumors that had begun around the same time her boy had vanished?

Did she ever think about coming forward? When the wedding was announced? When Lucina's birth (her granddaughter, blood of Grima and Naga both, but her granddaughter first) was declared? When war broke out with Valm and her boy took command of the armies marching to defend Ylisse?

And why didn't she come forward? Did she fear sparking him to remember if they met again? Did she fear bringing out the truth with her mere presence? Shattering the strange fairy tale her son had stumbled into? Did she fear what the Exalt King would do if he learned his beloved groom was Plegian, let alone the blood of the Fell Dragon? What would happen to her granddaughter if the faithful of Naga learned she had both the Exalt's brand the blood of Grima? Did she stay in hiding to protect them both, even as the dead ravaged the land and the end of days drew closer, praying for her boy to find whatever happiness he could while he could?

Did she watch the Grimleal march to the Table and know the end she had struggled against had come? Did she see that massive dragon rise from across the horizon and know despair? Did she watch it die, it's skeleton fall to the earth, and grieve, even as the rest of the world cheered and sang of their salvation? Did she walk to that great corpse and weep from the need to lay hands on her son one more time- only to see others crying around the dragon's skull- the Shepherds not triumphant but mourning, calling out for Robin hoping against hope that he still lived? Did Chrom spot her, like a ghost, a phantom, on the horizon, just for a moment before she was gone again?

Did she go back to their hidden home, the place they had lived in secret among their enemies....and find a boy laying on her doorstep with his silver hair and bright eyes but no cursed mark upon his hand? Did Robin find his way back in that moment, to the connection he had forgotten, the mother who saved him from being raised to be a lamb for slaughter?

Did he open his eyes, and with Grima gone, finally remember her?

[otherwordlyanathema]

GOJO SATORU X F!READER

DESCENT INTO INSANITY

Wherein Gojo Satoru is the anchor that keeps you sane.

A/N: Currently crying because of Leaks 😭

'Satoru is dead?'

Y/N couldn't wrap her head around it. One minute he was standing triumphant after annihilating the majority of Shinjuku with his Hallow Purple, the next thing they knew; Sukuna had disembodied him in half.

Everyone was silent.

The situation changed drastically that they couldn't wrap their head around it.

Gojo's students were in anguish.

Y/N watched as Kashimo jumped down as the next contender against Sukuna.

"No! No!" she mumbled, frantically. "Satoru's body is still there..."

It was Hakari who first sprung into action, dashing towards where Kashimo and Sukuna are clashing and narrowly dodging being cut as he took Gojo's body from the battlefield. Returning back to the others, he laid the Special Grade down in front of his lover.

Y/N was a Special Grade in her own right. She was often overlooked because she allowed Gojo's brightness to shine and allowed herself to stay in the background.

Nobody knew how destructive she could be. She was kept in check because Satoru made her happy. Happy and contented enough that she could keep her unstable powers at bay.

Choked sobs escaped from her throat at the sight of Satoru's body.

It hurt like nothing she experienced before. Seeing him bloodied.

From beside her, Shoko knelt down placing a hand where Gojo was cleaved. With her Reverse Cursed Technique, she healed the skin to reattach despite not knowing what it would do. She figured Y/N deserved to see Satoru as she met him.

'I don't know if Satoru could come back from this but at least this gives him a fighting chance.' Shoko thought, sadly looking at her annoying friend.

Y/N let out a heartbroken scream which broke the heart of the spectators of the Battle of the Strongest.

Kneeling down beside Satoru, her hand caressed his blood stained hair and she wiped the blood on his lips with her sleeve. Her hands covered his once bright Six-Eyes that she loved so much as she moved them closed.

'Satoru did not deserve this. He had done so much only to end up like this.' Y/N thought, bitterly. 'You don't know how much I wanted to shelter you from this world you did so much to uphold order.'

Something else had taken root inside of Y/N.

They said death of a beloved makes you numb.

Not in her case.

Her entire being screamed revenge.

Shoko's eyes widened as her gaze drifted to Y/N. Her friend's Cursed Energy was pulsing dangerously. "Y/N what..."

Y/N's leaking Cursed Energy caused everyone to wince at how intense it was.

"Y/N stop! You'll manifest a curse like this!" Shoko scolded, attempting to get the female to calm down.

To their surprise, the female vanished before one of Mei Mei's crows had spotted Y/N levitating above where the clash of Sukuna and Kashimo were currently happening.

'And here comes the numbness they were talking about during grief.' Y/N thought, mustering up her Cursed Energy at maximum output as her eyes took on a crazed look.

'What good has being good done me? None. I'm done being good. The world is about to witness how bad I can be.'

---FLASHBACK---

"Aren't you tired, love?" Y/N asked an exhausted Gojo, who just returned from a solo mission.

His eyes brightened even more at the sight of the female cooking. He bounded towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head in the crook of her neck. "I am. But I do it for you and the kids. I think that's enough of an incentive to keep going."

Her eyes widened at his statement and how serious he actually seemed. "I want to be able to protect you too. Or at the very least be a sanctuary where you can actually relax and let your guard down."

His only response was a smile, inhaling her scent that never fails to make him content. 'You already do. Coming home to you is sanctuary enough.'

---END FLASHBACK---

"What is life without you, Satoru?" She murmured before a maniacal look came on her once angelic features. "What use is this world without you?"

Her Cursed Energy continued emerging from her, fueled by her desire to destroy it all. It manifested into a huge black sphere of condensed Cursed Energy, ready to raze anything in its path.

She's slowly realizing she wasn't meant to save the world, rather to watch it burn.

"Watch me burn this world for what it has done to you, Satoru."

[twst-drabbles]

Mozus 1

Summary: Being in Noble Bell College brings out the nostalgia in Mozus. You want him to continue. You like hearing him talk about his wife.

(I was going to write about Rollo since it seemed appropriate, but Mozus took place in my brain instead.)

“And while she never witnessed the bell, she was always enchanted by its sound,” Mozus’s voice was soft in the way one cups a flower blooming in the soft frost of winter: delicately, yet still filled with the strength of love.

“Oh? Tell me more,” you couldn’t help but lean into his view with an exaggerated stretch of your spine, arms gripped behind your back. “Remember, you promised me more stories about her, Mozus.”

Mozus didn’t twitch nor lose any gram of composure. His back was still straight, but it seemed as though gravity added weight to his shoulders. “I remember well. Though I must ask, why are you so interested about such a subject?”

“Because you practically grow twenty years younger whenever you talk about your wife,” it wasn’t a radiant glow so much as it was a gentle light that bloomed from within Mozus’s heart, blanketing his shoulders in a shroud of dancing spring air, “it’s very sweet, seeing how much you love her so. Of course I want to hear you talk about your fond memories all day.”

It was a rare thing to witness from Mozus, so of course you want him to continue speaking of those years, so as long as it doesn’t hurt him. He may be an older gentlemen, and while you don’t have a clue as to what age he became a widower, to lose his wife before the age of sixty seemed far too young to lose a loved one. When you hear of stories of old couples dying, you imagine their backs curved, hands knobby and skin slack with laugh lines so deep in their faces their eyes practically vanish, and yet the twinkle in them is still there.

You don’t know the amount of years that have past after Mozus’s wife’s death, but it seems to have been enough for him to have come to terms with his grief, to speak of her memory, both good and bad.

Perhaps it was too casual an action, lightly tapping your elbow on his arm to goad him into talking more stories, but there’s something about Mozus that you just can’t help but want to be a bother him a bit. And you’re happy when you heard that tired gruff of a sigh come out of him, like you’re an insistent kid from the playground that wanted to listen to stories instead of being on the monkey bars.

“Be patient,” Mozus shook his head but it wasn’t a verbal ‘no,’ “I’ll make do on my promise, but right now we’re on Noble Bell College’s campus, and we’d do well to listen to the years of history embedded within the walls and minds of the students here.”

“Gotcha gotcha,” you straightened yourself out, disappointed but not surprised, “I’ll be sure to remind you if you do forget. You lost that game of cards after all.”

He won’t, you’re sure of it, but you may as well give him a warning in advance that you’re going to be a bother until you get those stories.

Perhaps it was dirty of you to do that, coaxing Mozus into an old card game that just so happened to be relevant to the era he was teaching to Ace, Deuce and Grim, but you had gotten the cards as a gift from one of your faerie buddies and you couldn't pass up the opportunity that was presented to you.

Oh well, what can Mozus do besides complete his promise? Besides, he didn't say no to your request. You bet he does want to talk about her as much as you want to hear about it. Otherwise, why would he indulge you?

See, this is why Mozus is probably your favorite out of all your co-workers, barring his strict conduct.

[mindovermuses]

Something has been tickling the back of my brain ever since we were given a glimpse of the gods in Downfall that I think is starting to come together into some sort of coherent thought process. But I'll we'll see how coherent it is once I've brain dumped it here onto the page I guess...

Most of the gods we've met are children.

Barely filtered ramblings ahead. You've been warned.

Go back and re-watch the opening of Downfall with them on Tengar. See how they run around and play like young children, naive to the world around them. How an elder of their race thought it such a fun thing to take Aru and any of their friends out to the orchard to witness a new tree coming into being. Is that an activity one would do with an adult or a curious child?

How, when Edun disappeared and the world started to disappear as well, other NPCs appeared at their sides, taking charge and telling them not to worry, they'll bring Edun back... before vanishing themselves. The gods/children had no understanding of anything that was happening but other, more mature-sounding characters seemed less lost in the moment.

The former god of death, Nahal, had probably just reached adulthood and that's why they could feel the dread the other adults seemed to sense and why they weren't running and playing. It's probably also part of why the Matron of Ravens was able to ascend to their godly position. Reaching full adulthood and understanding, maybe he chose to seek out oblivion and leave her as his chosen heir.

Given their timeless natures and how they were made into real, immortal beings... who knows how long it would take for them to emotionally mature, especially with no healthy adults of their kind there to guide them.

Can't you just look at some of their decisions and actions in the past and see the subtle nods to a toddler or young child playing make believe or not getting what they want and throwing a tantrum? It wouldn't be a one-for-one match to a child as we know them, but similar none-the-less.

Forsaking their godly abilities and living as humans for a while probably helped them to "grow up" more than anything else as well as finally accepting the Matron of Ravens as more of an equal. They learned first-hand how their actions and in-actions have consequences and that they had been speaking for and making decisions for life on Exandria without considering that they should have a say in things as well. Their puppet playthings are just as real as they are and are driven by the same emotions that they, as the gods, are.

I don't think the gods have fully reached adulthood for their kind just yet- some may be closer than others though. They're still, for the most part, those same scared little children in the orchard of possibilities watching everything they've ever known and loved be taken from them. Watching the only place they've ever known as home be swallowed up by something they didn't understand.

What happened may have been a completely normal thing for Tengar but not something they would have told young children about because they didn't believe they would understand yet. In a panic, the oldest of the children did their best to collect their siblings and escape what they saw as certain doom... but what if it wasn't? What if it was? No one can know for certain (except Matthew Mercer, that is...).

Maybe Predathos was the result of the adults of their world's hubris coming back to destroy them and THEY were the airship of children from Avalir or young Hallis from Aeor who were able to escape and survive the calamity their peoples brought down upon themselves. (Wonder if young Hallis grew up and studied necromancy while building himself a happy little spherical domain? Nah...)

Then again, maybe Predathos doesn't kill the gods it absorbs. Maybe it was a security system to protect Tengar and it sends them to be with the rest of their people and their lost home. Of course, if this is the case, there's always the possibility that perhaps, by choosing to become real to escape along with other later actions, they can no longer travel in those dimensions.

I mean... it's kind of like if fifth dimensional beings took form and became fourth dimensional beings. Gods amongst the peoples they presided over. For a short time, they constrained their potential further and became three-dimensional mortals, but their mortal forms couldn't hold their greater power indefinitely and they re-emerged as their fourth-dimensional selves. But, once you've shaved off enough of yourself to become mortal... how can you possibly ascend back to your former fifth dimensional forms to go home again?

TL;DR: The gods are literally children and potentially unreliable narrators of their own histories because of it.

[cauldron-of-oddities]

"okay ummmm ideas

I have some angst

what if you have Jinx stalking Ekko and he thinks it's like because Silco told her to but it's because she killed one of his friends and feels guilty about it and, even if she can't admit it to herself, wants to make sure he's okay"

How dare you make me cry while writing 😭 @letters-to-rosie

So, angst practice it was.

The Way of Things 

It was the way of things - death. You got in the way of a bullet, a bomb, a spear, a bat, a knife, you'd be gone just like that. And it struck one of Ekko's.

The bomb went off right by the ally, the shockwave larger than expected or exactly as made. It was meant to do damage. It knocks some poor sod into a wall.

The blast rings in her ears, success! And then the crack of bone and a dull thud. A ragdoll falling to the floor and the shadow of deep red.

“It's the way of things. It's the way of things.” Silco's voice is cool and calming in her head. 

At least it seemed quick.

Shouts fill the air, some sound torn, others growling. The firelights scatter in the wake. Green lights vanish into the dark streets between the ramshackle houses. To regroup likely, to buzz around again. It's the way of things.

The delivery and the crates of shimmer trades from calloused scarred hands to sickly sticky hands. (She can't say Silco's associates are pleasant.) It's the way of things.

The office is dimly lit, a swirl of smoke from a recently snuffed cigar curling in the air. “Well done.”  It sounds deep, pleased, and praising. Silco affirms her, and it should sooth her. She did good, right? So why does it feel wrong? 

Out again in the hallway, the image of fading glow on the tip of the cigar changes to the retreating lights of the Firelights, and then she's there again. One shout echoed in her mind. A cracking “No!” The image of an owl masks and a bilowing green coat swooping down a hair's breadth too late and the smell of gunpowder in her nose. 

That's not the way of things. He and his have always somehow gotten away. 

She bites her lip, a pit forming in her stomach. The hallway seems too empty, the wrong place to be. Boy Saviour hadn't been in the right place either. She tastes metal on her tongue and sees the red stain again. She rocks from her heels to her toes and back agitation and guilt eating her and finally lets the thought through: Is Ekko alright? 

It won't help to stay here, so she makes her way back. To the roof above the croner of the alley and the eerie quiet street. Weren't there old legends about crossroads being the place of ghosts? She shudders and hears a sob. 

From above, hidden in the shadows, she sees him. His shoulders are slumped, a broken hoverboard on his lap, his own at his back. She moves a bit closer. There's just enough light to reflect off a tear, to see gloved hands clench around crushed metal and the scorch on the ground. 

Stupid Boy Saviour, doesn't he realise he's a sitting duck out here? Silently, she keeps vigil over him. Until his tears dry up, and he stills entirely. 

This is not the way of things. Ekko is bright, not hunched, withdrawn, and resigned. She wants to go to him, she can't go to him. Who would want the comfort of the monster that did this?

Her own eyes sting, and she fails to swallow the sob that escapes her. She slips down to the alley and hunches down between abandoned crates, closer but hidden.

It's the way of things: That she stays in the shadows. She wants to say something, but her voice is stuck in her throat. What would she say anyway. Another small sob escapes her. She's cursed, damned to hurt. A small move and a board by the crates clatters to the  ground, and Ekko's looking right at her.  

He is standing, tense, and snarling.

“Did Silco send you?” He spits. “To be done with the pesky firelights? Because we won't stop. You can't keep hurting people like this!” 

Jinx is frozen, and no words come. Yet something warm blooms in her. There's his fire. It's comforting to witness after his stillness. He's the one light she can't snuff, wants to keep alive, now and in her memory. 

“Well?” He snaps at her. What can she say? His gaze has her trapped, she licks and bites her lip, and the cut cracks open again. 

“Just go, be safe.” A hoarse whisper leaves her. She means: Stay away from Silco, stay away from me, please don't put yourself on my path again. 

“You know I can't do that.” Ekko says��shaking his head, she doesn't reply. He looks at her again, tilts his head, and takes a step closer. His hand stretches out to her, and she steps back further into the shadows and looks away. 

Eventually, she hears a huff and whizz of a hoverboard. Jinx wants to follow the fading light, moving further and further away from her so very desperately.  

He's gone. It's for the best, it's the way of things. 

She moves dazed to his spot, hoping something of him lingers. Her arms wrap around herself, nails digging into the bare flesh of her upper arms, desperate for anything to ground herself, needing to hold something. All she has is the ghost of him. 

It's lonely here, too dark, too quiet. It wasn't a good place to die. It wasn't a good place to grieve. 

The empty metal and brick wall of the alley  beacons. She'll remember this death and she'll give the one apology she could. For Ekko. Digging in her pockets for her crayons. Before long, she covers the wall in bright green firelights. They're pretty, she thinks, guiding lights for the departed.

“Be free.” She scrawls amongst the glowing wings, isn't that, after all, what they all wanted?   

It’s the way of things. 

[tangent101]

Imagine if Max's Rewind vanished...

One of the huge assumptions for Sacrifice Chloe is that by seeing Chloe die, Max gained the Rewind. Thus by going back in time to the Butterfly photo and not saving Chloe, that fixes everything. If you just pick at one or two threads the whole things falls apart and becomes what it truly is: a selfish divinity wanting a human sacrifice. But what if this was in fact the truth... that by not seeing Chloe die, Max doesn't gain the Rewind.

So then... there is one point in which Max would not have the Rewind and that would be when Max tries to save William. She would not have the Rewind. She would have no way of stopping William. He walks out the door and she knows he's going to die... and she doesn't go forward in time. She's stuck there. She is 18 years old and trapped as her 13 year old self.

However, Max has a far greater understanding of the world as a result and can fix the mistakes she made the first time around. And that would be that she refuses to stop talking to Chloe this time. She does everything to stay in touch. She goes to the library and e-mails Chloe. She works on her own mental health, knowing what she herself went through that first time, she goes to the school counselor perhaps, she mourns with Chloe (if from afar)... and something new happens this time around.

Max is there to witness the start of the problems with David.

Naturally Max is going to tell her to go to the authorities. Report David for abuse. But much as likely happened the first time, Joyce handwaves it away, the police ignore it, Blackwell ignores it. Max would be horrified by the fact Chloe is being abused by this asshole and no one will do anything.

But there's a huge difference this time. Because Max is in her life. Perhaps she talks to her own school counselor about this abuse and how no one is doing anything. Maybe she talks to her parents. In fact, I think she would do the latter... and I think that Ryan and Vanessa would listen to their daughter. More, they might even listen to how the police won't do anything and they know how worried Max is... so they contact Joyce. They offer an alternative.

Let Chloe come up to Seattle for the summer. It will give Joyce and David a break from the conflicts with Chloe, Chloe can settle down and be with her best friend... and I think Joyce would jump at that possibility. She may claim she wants a "family" in LiS but what she really wants is for the fighting to stop. She wants security. And I think that with time away from Chloe... Joyce might realize that she's happier with her daughter living away from her.

Perhaps Joyce is the one who suggests that Chloe start attending classes in Seattle. If the Caulfields don't mind. Nor do I think Ryan and Vanessa would mind. They see how much their daughter has just... brightened and become more alive with Chloe in her life. Chloe would likely have to start a year back because her grades did suffer after William's death, and having someone she knows attending the same year would help Chloe settle in.

Chloe meanwhile is flourishing. She is exploring the city with Max. She misses her dad something fierce but Max is by her side. Max is there to hold her when she cries, Max cries with her, Max doesn't tell her she has to toughen up, she says it's okay to cry. And I think Chloe would heal. She wouldn't be quite the punk she is in the timeline where she remained in Arcadia Bay to be abused and ignored, though I think she's embrace some elements of it. (Max would likely encourage her to dye her hair blue.)

Max would be surprised, but only a tiny bit, when Chloe dares her to kiss her. She'd jump at the opportunity.

There'd be no return to Blackwell. Max would be more interested in staying with Chloe, and let's be honest, Mark Jefferson was only ever an excuse to return to Arcadia Bay. And Max would be surprised to learn that Rachel Amber went missing one day. Perhaps she might even send an anonymous letter recommending the authorities investigate Nathan Prescott.

The death of Kate Marsh shocks Max. She wasn't there to save her. She doesn't remember her face. It's been five years for her. She forgot that she was on the roof, that she was the one to talk her down. But there is one thing that happens... and that's the arrest of Nathan Prescott for questioning a couple days later... and then Mark Jefferson going on the run as he sees the noose closing around his own throat.

Fortunately, Max now has Chloe there. I don't know if Max would ever tell Chloe the truth about the time travel. I mean... she might. She wouldn't be able to prove a thing, but I think Chloe would believe her because... Max changed that day. She stopped being the meek girl she was... and she remained in touch. Max was the one who reached out and helped Chloe find a new home when she was being abused. And Max would have to admit how the first time around, she just didn't stay in touch and she refused to make that mistake this time around. Maybe she couldn't save Chloe's dad but... she saved Chloe.

Would there still be a Storm? Would Arcadia Bay be destroyed three days after the death of Kate Marsh? Or would things go differently this time around? Without Chloe to be there for Rachel, would the spirit of Rachel seek to destroy Arcadia Bay? Or would she and Kate watch as Jefferson fled, a fugitive, as justice was served?

Ultimately it doesn't matter. Max and Chloe have a different destiny now. They are together in Seattle, falling in love all over again, slower perhaps, but more deeply. And they'd move on and live the life that was denied to them in another time.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Black Heart Part 11

Regulus Black AU

Request: Will you write a Regulus x Reader fic where Regulus is older than the reader? She comes to help the Order and Regulus falls in love with her. The relationship isn’t easy because of the war and Regulus’ denial that he would be a good boyfriend.

Summary: Admitting that he was in love had never been something that Regulus wanted to do. Now that you were in his life, Regulus didn’t know how to react. Should he love you or push you away just like he had everyone else?

Rating: M

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader

Link to Part 10

_____

The moment Regulus stepped into the room with Ellie, your eyes fluttered open. Regulus had never been happier to see you looking at him. After watching you be taken away from him so fast with little preparation…Regulus was ready to come apart. All of the books that he had read never prepared him for THAT.

Sirius gave you a small nod before moving to sit down in a chair near the window. He wasn’t about to ruin this moment for his little brother. Witnessing it, was more than enough for Sirius.

You smiled seeing Regulus and the small bundle in his arms. Regulus held the baby like the most treasured jewel in the world. All of your hidden worries about Regulus somehow being like his father vanished.

Regulus looked ready to kill whoever may lay a hand on the baby in his arms.

“Are you okay?”

You asked softly. Regulus blinked a few times before quickly coming to join you. He gently placed the baby in your arms before returning to his confused state.

“You just had twins and you’re asking me if I am alright?”

You nodded as you looked down at your baby. Everything about Ellie was perfect.

“Yes, I am. Again, are you alright?”

You asked before stroking a finger over Ellie’s cheek to her little nose. She opened one little eye and looked at you before yawning and snuggling against your chest.

Regulus was sitting in silence for a moment. He was partially taking in your concern about him and partially loving watching you hold his baby. Regulus wanted to sit and just watch you for as long as he could.

How did his father not enjoy this?

It was the only thought that Regulus could make. He would never understand how Orion wasn’t with Walburga when he and Sirius were born. How could he not look at his children and feel some form of paternal love? Regulus couldn't even think about Ellie or Emmy growing up the way that he did. There would be no way that he would let that happen! Emmy and Ellie would always know that they were loved and wanted.

The same question could be said for Walburga too. How could she not care more about her children? The best Regulus could come up with was that he would never understand them or their thinking.

“Reggie?”

Your soft voice pulled Regulus from his thoughts. He leaned forward taking your free hand in his.

“I’m fine now. You scared me nearly to death. How are you feeling?”

You squeezed his hand as Regulus moved to sit closer to you on the bed.

“I’m feeling much better now. She’s perfect, you know.”

You said turning your attention back to Ellie. The baby had opened her tiny eyes and you were delighted to see that they were the same shade as her father’s.

“Of course, she’s perfect.”

Regulus replied before letting his mind go back to Emmy. He automatically frowned as the panic began to surge back. Remembering that his other daughter wasn’t 100% was now Regulus’ thing to fixate on. What if she wasn’t okay? What if she was born too early and something happened?

I can’t think like that.

Regulus muttered quietly to himself before taking a breath.

“Did the doctor talk to you about Emmy?”

You nodded, automatically picking up on your lover’s worry.

“She will be fine, Regulus. This is normal with twins…”

“Yeah, but those twins aren’t our twins.”

Regulus interrupted. You again squeezed his hand, hoping to calm his raging anxiety.

“Yes, the statistics aren’t our twins but I can assure you that our Emmy will be fine. I have taken care of many sets of twins. The healers are going to have her working just fine. There are some potions and spells that they are doing.”

“See Reg, I told you that everything would be okay.”

Sirius commented. Regulus only nodded as a healer came in. You were instantly relieved to see that she was holding what had to be Emmy in her arms.

And not a moment too soon…

You thought with a pleased smile. Of course, you were worried about Emmy but you knew medically that everything would be okay. Regulus didn’t have that knowledge. He only had what information that you gave him. Squeezing Regulus’ hand, you motioned to the doorway. Regulus immediately stood up to take Emmy from the healer. Coming back to join you, the both of you sighed in relief to see that Emmy was just as perfect as her sister.

Sirius had gotten up from his place and came over to join the two of you. He smiled looking at the baby in Regulus’ arms and the baby in your arms.

“Yep, they are identical. I think the both of you literally hit copy and paste.”

(2 weeks later)

Sirius stood outside Grimmauld Place with a frown on his face. Glancing over his shoulder, he made sure that he wasn’t being followed. Sirius had been taking a lot of extra care when he came for a visit now. Call it nervous jitters or whatever you like but Sirius was worried about some death eater following him to where his nieces slept. As far as Sirius was concerned, he was ready to take out any fucktard that looked in Ellie or Emmy’s direction.

That is partially why I am here.

Sirius thought. He was there with news that Regulus may or may not like. Only time would tell on that one.

Regulus opening the door pulled Sirius from his thoughts. He automatically smirked at his younger brother’s rather disheveled appearance. Regulus was normally always put together and tidy. Today, he looked exhausted with his shirt sleeve rolled up and nearly untucked.

“You look…well.”

Sirius commented as he stepped in. Regulus gave Sirius a glare as he shut the door.

“I look like stomped over crap.”

Sirius grinned as he looked around the neatly maintained house. He was thankful that you had brought some life into the place. It didn’t necessarily look like a haunted house anymore.

“Did the little angels keep you awake?”

Regulus yawned before nodding.

“They have been up since four. I swear for them being identical they do nothing identically. When one is asleep the other is awake. When one’s hungry the other needs a change. I’m exhausted.”

Sirius laughed to himself as he went over to where the twins lay.

“Awe, I think Daddy will be just fine. Daddy just needs to get over himself don’t he?”

Sirius commented in a high-pitched voice. Ellie gave him a little frown while Emmy just blinked.

“Daddy is going to kick you.”

Regulus grumbled. Sirius again chuckled.

“That one is always scowling at me. Which one is that?”

“Ellie.”

Regulus commented before motioning to the little blanket the baby was wrapped in.

“If you could read then you would notice that the blanket says their names on them. Molly dropped them off.”

Sirius frowned before looking down at the blankets closely. Sure enough, both blankets had each baby’s name neatly embroidered on them.

“Well, would you look at that? Apparently, Uncle Sirius is a big dummy. I have come to the conclusion that Ellie is your mini. She scowls at me just like you do. Emmy is Y/n’s mini. She’s just peaceful and calm.”

Regulus moved to sit down.

“Yeah, she’s calm alright. Just wait until it's 2 am and she has a loaded diaper.”

Sirius winced.

“Ew, not my thing. You, on the other hand, look like you were born to change dirty diapers.”

A small smile formed on Regulus’ face.

“I suppose so. I’m almost positive that Kreacher is now in hiding. He heard the two of them screaming at the same time and ran for it. I haven’t seen him in days.”

“He may have died.”

Sirius interrupted. Regulus gave him a displeased look.

“Mate, don’t.”

Sirius held a hand up ready to defend his thinking.

“Reg, he’s like a million years old. He was old when we were kids.”

Regulus rolled his eyes.

“Don’t let Y/n hear you say that. You know that she adores Kreacher besides…she’s a little sensitive right now. She’s bursting into tears at the smallest thing…thankfully Tonks and Andromeda showed up like god damned fairy godmothers to help out. They’re in the kitchen having tea. Anyway, what are you up to today? It's early for you to make an appearance.”

Sirius’ smile fell as he, once again, looked over his shoulder.

“I have something for you. I was going to take care of it myself but I figured that you would want to join in. I didn’t want you getting jealous because…”

“What is it, Sirius? I am going on three hours of sleep and don’t want to play charades.”

Regulus interjected. There were just times, like today, when Sirius could be exhausting.

“First, off interrupting is rude. Second, I have Pettigrew tied to a chair in my flat. I wanted to see if you wanted to get a few hits in before I finished him off.”

Regulus nearly broke the chair that he was sitting in to get up. Had he heard Sirius correctly? Did he really say that he had the one man that Regulus wanted to choke? He was almost 99% positive that he had heard his older brother correctly.

“How did you get him?”

Regulus questioned as he moved to make sure that you were still eagerly talking to Tonks and Andromeda. When he was sure that you hadn’t heard anything, Regulus turned back to Sirius.

“It's fine, she’s busy.”

Regulus replied, giving the go-ahead for Sirius to speak.

“I ran into him in a dark ally way. He tried to run, I hit him over the head. As much as I wanted to finish him off for James and Lily… I knew that you would want to get a hit in for how he threatened Y/n and the twins.”

Regulus immediately looked furious. His attention went to the twins who were now cuddled together sleeping. Sirius was right. Regulus did want to kill Peter. He wanted to make sure the other man downright suffered!

Regulus focused his attention back on Sirius. He wondered just how dirty Sirius wanted to get his hands. Regulus knew that Sirius was definitely capable of killing Peter himself. There was no questioning that but the question was, would he?

“I nearly killed him last night but I thought that was too good for him. The worm doesn’t deserve an easy way out.”

Sirius replied, feeling the rage over losing James and Lily return. Peter’s deception and betrayal were still “a cut” that never healed itself. Sirius did well at hiding his true feelings most days but when Peter came back to endanger Regulus’ family’s lives…everything was torn right back open again.

“Did you leave him alone?”

Regulus questioned. Sirius shook his head.

“Remus is with him now. He wanted to get a few punches in too.”

Regulus had already pulled his coat on. He was going to do more than punch Peter. Regulus was going to make damn sure that Peter regretted ever mentioning a word about any member of the Black family.

“I’ll be doing more than that. Excuse me for a moment.”

Regulus turned and went into the kitchen where you sat with Tonks and Andromeda. He felt guilty leaving you immediately even if it was only for a few hours. Regulus knew that you were as exhausted as he was. He justified it, however, by telling himself that he was getting rid of the waste of space…a cowardly, useless waste of space that no longer deserved to breathe.

“Love, can I talk to you for a moment?”

You immediately got up and followed Regulus into the study. Something on Regulus’ face made you nervous.

“Is something wrong?”

You asked. Regulus shook his head, trying with everything he had to appear normal.

“Love, I’m going out with Sirius for a bit. He needs my help with something.”

You raised an eyebrow before glancing to where Sirius stood. Even his expression seemed “off”

“What does he need help with? Both of you seem off. Regulus, what are you doing?”

Regulus took a breath before moving forward to pull you into a kiss. His hand didn’t leave the side of your face.

“I can’t tell you right now. I need you to trust me and know what I am going to do is for the best. It's for the best of all of us. Can you do that?”

Regulus was relieved when you reluctantly nodded. He knew that he would have to tell you the truth soon enough. Until Peter was dead, however, he wanted you to stay in the dark. There was safety in the dark, especially now.

“Just be safe and come home to me. The girls and I need you.”

You said, hoping that Regulus wouldn’t be doing anything too dangerous. The main thing that you wanted to do was plant the seed that not only did the twins need Regulus but you needed him too.

Regulus kissed you again softly.

“I promise, I will be just fine. The three of you are my everything. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Regulus kissed you one final time before following Sirius out the door….

_____

@amelie-black @justfinishthis @jessyballet @knreidy1 @criminalyetminimal @jsjcue @livshifts @ell0ra-br3kk3r @mimisparkle12 @teletubiswszpilkach @golddustwomann @siriuslyceleste @bxcndd @stelleduarte @millies0bsimp @coffeeaddictednymph @readtomeregulus @rogue-nyx88 @i-love-scott-mccall @f4iryluvy @s-we-e-t-t-ea @buttercup-beeee @taylor-will-be-the-death-of-me @panpride @saramaple @missgorldafirst @gugggu6gvai @jag9000 @mentally-unstable-hoe @quinis @yousmellllikecaca @haroldpotterson @goldensunshineshit @aurorasnape12 @ad-astra-again @padf00ts-l0ver @rubyroscoe1 @lucasfilms77 @spideyxalmighty @dumybitch @ravenhood2792 @marichromatic @play-morezeppelin @lostarc24 @un-lovesherself @melaninnbarbie @valvlry @brokencasbutt67-writer @authoressskr @moldy-old-boot @hankypranky @summer-novak @emiwrites3reads @shaylybaby2032 @knight-of-gleefulness @untoldshortsofthefandoms @deanwherescas @shitfaceddaniel-blog @sprnaturallover @wontlookaway @li0nh34rt @tas898 @mycuddlycorner

[halfandhalfshoto]

enchanted | bokuaka

- pairing: band member!bokuto x manager!akaashi

- genre: angst

- warnings: none

- word count: 1,098 words

- inspired by taylor swift’s enchanted!

————————

There I was again tonight

Forcing laughter, faking smiles

Same old tired, lonely place

“Bokuto, you idiot! You aren’t gonna come to practice again?” Oikawa shouted across the classroom where a blank-faced, spaced out, tall male sat.

The said male looked at him with no emotions at all, but gave a hollowed out smile.

“Maybe tomorrow, I’ll go,” He replied, earning a sigh from the brown-haired boy who left saying “Daichi’s gonna be pissed with you again,”

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy

Vanished when I saw your face

All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you

Bokuto entered the room with his stratocaster in the case he was carrying, only for it to be dropped when he saw an unfamiliar familiar person.

“Well, if it isn’t the VIP!” Daichi exclaimed sarcastically, pertaining to the guitarist who hasn’t come to practice for 2 whole weeks.

Bokuto didn’t mind it. He just stood there, staring at the black-haired male, talking to Kuroo, their bassist, about some gigs they’ve done. Not once did he utter a word during Daichi’s 5-minute lecture about band practices.

“—and I don’t think you’re even listening,” The drummer sighed as he raked his fingers through his hair. Oh boy, if only he knew how smitten Bokuto was. He gave out a “Whatever,” and called the person Kuroo was talking to.

“Akaashi Keiji, meet Bokuto Koutarou, our guitarist,”

Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?"

'Cross the room your silhouette

Starts to make its way to me

Cliché.

That was all Bokuto could think of when he realized how he felt towards the boy approaching him.

What kind of cliché romance story was this?

“You’re late, Mr. Bokuto. I’m your new manager,” Akaashi said with a straight face. Bokuto was dumbfounded at his words, before realizing it was a joke when Akaashi smiled a bit and held back a laugh.

“I’m kidding. It’s nice to meet you, but I hope you won’t be late again,” He told the still-quiet spiky-haired boy as he extended a hand.

Bokuto looked at it, held out his own hand, hesitated, drew it back, then held it out again.

“What kind of stupidity is this?” Oikawa muttered at the scene he was witnessing. Their guitarist was actually flustered. The guy who makes everyone swoon during their gigs!

“I won’t ever be late if you’re here, you can count on me!” Bokuto finally exclaimed confidently, winking. He picked up his guitar and urged everyone to start practicing, pronto!

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you

It had been 3 months.

“What a stellar performance! Their guitarist really made the crowd go crazy, huh?” The host said to his co-host after Bokuto’s band got off the stage. He really stole the show with that gesture.

“You think he’s gonna be mad?” He asked, looking at the 4 of his bandmates.

“Well, you’re gonna know,” Kita answered, staring in front of them as Akaashi marched forward.

“What was that?!” Their manager let the whole band go through except for Bokuto.

Seeing Akaashi’s flustered, all-red expression, he grinned.

While performing, he had shouted “Akaashi Keiji, will you be my boyfriend?” in the middle of Oikawa singing Enchanted by Taylor Swift

“You have an answer?” He shamelessly asked.

The lingering question kept me up

2 AM, who do you love?

I wonder 'til I'm wide awake

“Ugh, disgusting!” Kuroo exclaimed as he saw Bokuto and Akaashi entering the room, hands intertwined.

“Oh please! You’re just sulking because Kenma hasn’t replied to any of your texts,” Oikawa teased.

“Really? How are things going with Iwaizumi?”

“Alright, shut up!”

“Okay, time to practice! You have a gig tomorrow,” Akaashi broke the ensuing fight the two were about to have as he let go of Bokuto’s hand.

The spiky-haired boy crunched his eyebrows and gave death glares to Oikawa and Kuroo, blaming them for Akaashi letting go.

—

“Hey, Keiji, do you believe in love at first sight?” Bokuto asked as Akaashi snuggled closer, allowing his boyfriend’s sweet scent to fill his nostrils.

“Hm, I don’t know. Do you?” He answered, on the verge of falling asleep.

“Only when I first saw you,”

This is me praying that

This was the very first page

Not where the story line ends

My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again

“For you,” Bokuto extended his hand out, revealing a bouquet of baby’s breath.

It was graduation day, 4 years of college finally over.

Akaashi smiled and took it, pulling the love of his life in as he slipped a ring on his finger.

“What’s this?” Bokuto asked after Akaashi let go, mesmerized at the ring suddenly on his hand.

“A promise ring, binding me to the future act of marrying you,” The black-haired boy answered as he cheekily grinned. Bokuto wasn’t the only one good at romantic gestures.

These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon

I was enchanted to meet you

“Kou… I got accepted to that job I applied for…”

“That’s great, baby!”

“But it’s in the US,”

Bokuto’s world had stopped.

“Take it,” He told Akaashi after a few minutes of silence.

“You know I ca-“

“Take it, it’s your dream, remember?” He took Akaashi’s hand into his, and gave those puppy eyes he knew his boyfriend couldn’t say no to.

Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on you

“We have to break up, don’t we?” Akaashi tearfully asked, while looking at Bokuto who was helping him pack his things.

The other boy stopped what he was doing, and silence ensued them once again.

“I’ll wait for you,” He started.

“After all, I still have your ring,” He showed Akaashi his left hand, sporting the ring given during graduation.

Akaashi smiled, and kissed his lover as they started to pack his things.

Little did he know, Bokuto had rejected a job abroad before for him.

Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on you

“Hey, Akaashi’s home,” Daichi told Bokuto over the phone.

His eyes were filled with ecstasy. It had been years since he last talked to Akaashi.

Looking at the ring still on his finger, Bokuto started to think of the first thing he would like to say.

“— Are you okay?” Daichi asked, still on the other line.

“Huh?”

“Akaashi’s home…”

“And he asked us to play at his wedding.”

———————

hello everyone! i’m back after 3 years ^^ here’s a bokuaka fic bc i love themmmm

[amphiptere-art]

What kind of want to explain how my dandy is world headcanon / AU kind of works?

There is a set number of toons. Which means there's only one twisted of a certain toon at a time. And usually the twisted one is not present in the group. Which basically means the regular group of 20 is always split by 10. (Ignoring dandy.) People can be untwisted but it's usually at the resulting loss of somebody else. Even if there is no obvious reason for it.

Rtight now the basic idea is that who they gain and who they lose is based on the same progression system as the shop. The shop requires that some toons are required first before getting another one. There is also the obvious progression with the prices. And this kind of follows that. Although I am ignoring twisted research to a degree.

The starting group is Shrimpo, Boxen, Tisha, Scraps, Toodles, Brightney, Cosmo, Astro, Finn, and Razzle and Dazzle. A bit chosen out of random and also what a basic person starts with when they play the game.

They're also is a little rule that "quitting a run" Is an actual thing you can do. They can ask dandy to go back down if there is enough tapes to give. At least a med kit's price in everyone's pockets. They're also is sort of this weird meta reason why they are even collecting icker. Since buying toons isn't really available in this non-game reality. Instead it's sort of a sustenance / healing thing? Basically they need it to "save" people, and to also just have something to eat. As in my headcanon it's some sort of matter creating goo.

Anyways the building is still practically abandoned with the toons sitting inside. Which is why they have to go out to grab this acre that seems to be in endless supply. Supplies are very hard to come by. Dandy is the only one who seems to get these supplies easily. As the others have to find them out on these supply elevator runs. At first they don't know why half of their friends are missing. At least until they meet their twisted companions on their supply runs.

Although this is where the line of continuity gets fuzzy. I haven't thought about all the ins and outs. Just that whenever they save somebody they also lose somebody. And sometimes they lose two people. It's kind of random at this point how the story plays out.

There is one story where goob finds his sister scraps. But by the time he calms her down and is able to save her, the elevator countdown has begun. He chooses to stay with his sister and be not saved together instead of rejoining with the group.

There is a basic tag of death with Toodles and Pebbles in my mind.

Razzle and Dazzle get left behind because they weren't useful enough.

Shrimpo vanishes one night because of a disagreement.

Astro panics when he witnesses twisted dandy.

Cosmo gets killed/twisted by sprout.

Boxen is the last one standing at some point.

Ect. I'll probably come up with more and I might find string them together into a sensible line of events. But for right now they're random ideas.

At least you guys can understand how my continuity of how a living part of this game would work. Anyways. This is probably a monster to read. Oh well.

[androgynousblackbox]

How I Met Your Father. 12 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

A03 link

How You Won The Game

"Is the coffee to your liking?" asked Sera, coming back to the table Alastor was sat on with a cup of tea.

She thankfully haven't noticed that he spilled the coffee on a nearby plant, or at least pretended not to notice. Either way it worked just fine for him. No way he was drinking anything she offered him. Who knew if once he tasted something from them, he would be trapped even more than before.

The fact that she had brought him back to the building where he spawned in, to another meeting office looking rom where they were the only ones present, did not inspired him a lot of trust. Here Sera could say or do anything she wanted and there would be no witnesses for it, except him.

"Why I am here, Sera?" Alastor decided to get to the point, keeping up the amicable tone. "Both up here and in front of you."

"Very well" Sera sighed, making appear some sugar cubes that magically landed on her drink. It was just two cubes, not five like Lucifer would have put. She sat down in front of him, taking her time to drink. "For the second part of your question, I would like to hear from you first. What were you doing before you… perished down there?"

"I was defending the hotel for the extermination because my daughter needed me to. Adam cut my neck. I tried to heal myself, but I was too late. Woke up here" explained Alastor easily. "Before that, I had enslaved more than a hundreds souls, killed way too many people I cared to count and consumed the flesh of my fellow sinners happily. Sometimes while they were still alive. As you can imagine, with such a colorful existence, this turned out quite a shock for me."

"Hmm" Sera took a sip of her tea. If she was horrified, disgusted o impacted in any way to hear about his other activities, she didn't show it. She had a true poker face that made it hard to read. "Giving up your life for the sake of a loved one is a very good redeeming quality."

"Oh, I wasn't intending to do that" clarified Alastor. "If anything, I wanted to heal quickly to get back and finish the job with Adam. Now I will have to comfort myself knowing that my husband at least did it for me."

Sera frowned slightly at the mention of Lucifer, but the gesture vanished quickly as it was never there.

"Nevertheless, you did. You gave up your life for the sake of your child. Not all parents would have done the same. You should be proud of that."

"What is this?" asked Alastor with an amused smirk. "If you are trying to convince me that I somehow actually belong here, I am afraid you are wasting your time, dear. I have lived enough in hell to know that is my true place. I knew it even when I was alive too and didn't even believe on it" He sighed, resisting the impulse to see on his watch how much longer had happened since his death. Every moment that he was there, it was another moment that his family thought him lost forever. "If you don't know either how I ended up here, I don't really care at this point. But I think it will be on the best interest of everyone if I just go back where I came from."

"Would you really give up Heaven so easily?" Sera's voice was incredulous, but not actually argumentative, giving him a chance to explain himself. "A lot of humans would love to be in the same position as you are."

"Gladly" Alastor allowed himself a chuckle, supporting his chin over his hands. "They can have it if so they wish, I am willing to trade. One soul enters, another one goes. Everyone wins."

"It doesn't work like that" Sera sighed. Her graceful hands left the cup on the table and locked in front of her, looking serious. "We don't really have a saying on which souls get in or not. That is not our place to determine."

"My little fawn did mentioned that too. That you all don't have the slightest clue what it actually takes to get to Heaven. I was hoping she was exaggerating or embellishing things a bit."

Sera considered his words for a second and moved her head in a yes.

"The only thing that we know for sure now is that you are here. Regardless of whatever choices you made in your previous life, you were deemed worthy to enter this place. I can't do anything else but respect that for what it is, even if I don't understand it either."

Alastor felt a stab on his chest.

"What is that supposed to mean, Sera?" asked, his smile shaking on his face. Sera was the most highest ranking being he had seen on this entire place. If he couldn't get her to understand, then that was another bridge exploding on his face. "I don't want to be here. I want to go back. Would you really retain me here against my will? Is that what Heaven is all about?"

Sera frowned. Her fingers pressed together before she moved her hands to her lap, regaining again her cold beauty. The touch of sadness on her big eyes did not move him at all. In fact, they disgusted him. He didn't need her pity.

"Why?" spat, barely controlling himself. "Why go through the trouble? Just throw me down like a sack of rotten potatoes you don't want infecting your kitchen with maggots and we both can be satisfied today. I am of no use to Heaven and I don't care for it either" Sera didn't even reacted. "My family…"

"They will be fine eventually" cut Sera, her eyes downward. Little it did to make her next words any less cruel. "It will hurt, but they will overcome it someday. They are both immortal so they will have all the time that it exist. You don't have to concern yourself with them anymore."

Alastor stared at her, unable to speak. He had never in his life or death wanted to slap a woman as much as that moment.

"Don't you dare to tell me to forget about my family" warned Alastor, standing up so abruptly that the chair he was on fell to the floor. Neither of them cared for the loud impact. "You have no right. I am Alastor Morningstar. Even your stupid little book recognize me as such."

"Yes, that is true" Sera sighed, her voice just as calm as ever, if not heavier. This wasn't enjoyable for her either, but she would do it anyway. "However, how many people do you think landed here who left their parents, children or partners behind? It's unfortunate, but some families are not meant to stay together."

"Spare me that bullshit" growled Alastor, his hands shaking with pent up energy. "I don't know what kind of order you think you have here, but I want no part on it! Send me back now or I swear for everything you hold holy that I will show you a piece of hell that you will never forget!"

Sera sighed and stand up.

"I will come back once you calm down" were her last words as she floated to the door.

Alastor heard a second later the inconfundible click of a lock.

Two hours passed, after finally the sounds of destruction stopped, Sera came back to knock.

"Alastor. Do you feel any better now?" She waited patiently a few seconds, until the voice of Alastor came through close, right at the other side of the barrier between them.

"Can I at least contact him?" The defeat on his tone disgusted him, but what else could he do? All the windows have remained intact even as he smashed the chairs against them. None of the walls presented a single dent no matter how much he punched them, leaving traces of his own golden blood. Even the marks on his knuckles were gone. "To let him know that I am here. Back on earth they let prisoners to have one final call before they are thrown to their cells."

"I am afraid not. Lucifer has no jurisdiction over mortal souls in Heaven."

Alastor rubbed his face with his hands, pressing his temples.

"Do you realize how silly that is? I have been at his side for decades, almost a century. How much more of a bad influence do you think he is going to be for me for just talking? I understand that you aren't a fan of him, but why do this to Charlie? Why let her believe that her father doesn't exist anymore? What good does that do for anyone?"

"All human souls here have already died, Alastor. Including you. Your old lives are over. Maybe… it could be it's own form of kidness to let them process your absence that way. Then they won't have to worry about how you are doing here or that you aren't part of the same realm anymore."

"That is the single most stupid thing I have ever heard from an angel, and I lived with Lucifer so that is saying something. Do you tell yourself that too when you send your little army to commit genocide each year? That it's kind? That you are doing us a favor?" He couldn't help but to laugh, a humourless sound that tasted bitter on his mouth. "At least when I kill people, I don't pretend it's for their own good. It's always just mine. You should embrace that, dear. This self righteous act you do is so tiresome."

"You are still upset" declared Sera. "I will come back later."

That later was after four hours had already passed and Alastor stopped counting on his watch. At the very least, a day since his second dead had happened already. A day without hearing his family's voice or have any news from them.

If they had won all together, even with the hotel destroyed, they could have gone back to the palace to celebrate. He would have prepared the bull demon meat that he was saving. Charlie would have asked another story and Lucifer would supply, pictures included if needed, while he admired him with a glass of his favorite whiskey.

Charlie could have spend a few days on the palace until they had decided on how the new hotel was going to be, now all of them together. He and Lucifer spending hours arguing over the style of the building as Charlie tried to make concessions the best she could. They could have had their little fawn back with them for a little while and it would have been fun. Not the violent, chaotic, excited and thrilled fun he had during a hunt, but the safe and comforting one that let him breathing in deeply as if for the first time in years.

Was there even going to be a new hotel now? He hoped so. If nothing else, because now that he knew Charlie's dreams of redeeming people could come true, he wanted her to succeed more than ever. That way Heaven could finally get some actual personality and they rub it on the face of those beings that denied Charlie. That would show them.

When he came back home, they were going to make it bigger, better, brighter than ever before. Lucifer was going to need some time to get used to interact with all the residents they were going to bring on the daily, but he would manage to do it and then charm his way into convincing people to stay, probably without even trying to. That is how he convinced him to stay at this side too. Charlie was going to be so happy. Nobody would ever destroy her walls or threaten her dream with the two of them around.

"Alastor?" called Sera.

Alastor stand up from the floor. By now all the furniture had come to their rightful places, completely repaired as if nothing had happened.

"Sera!" responded, pulling up the old charm, as Lucifer would say. "That is exactly the beatiful voice I wanted to hear! How are you doing, dear?"

If Sera was taken aback for his change in demeanor, she didn't show it on her voice.

"I see you are more animated."

"I always are! I do apologize for my previous behavior, though. That was absolutely not the best way to go about any of this. How about we erase that little impulsive moment of mine and start again, see if we can find some kind of solution? We are both reasonable adults here. I am sure we can think of something."

"A solution to you being send to Heaven?"

"Indeed, that one" Alastor walked to the door, keeping an eye on the knub just in case it moved at all. "What do you want, Sera? Whatever that it is, I will find the way to do it. I have quite a reputation for always delivering my part of the bargain. You can ask anyone down in the pride ring! Just name your price and is yours. In exchange, I get something I want. Easy, right?"

"What you want is not something for me to give, Alastor. I don't have the kind of power that can just break the rules for one soul."

"I understand" Alastor clenched his teeth together. "But what about a little and harmless bending of the rules then? Persephone was allowed 6 months outside of the underworld to return to her mother, but we don't have to be as extreme as that" Alastor was aware of the irony of using pagan myths as his arguments in Heaven. He waited a beat to see if Sera appreciated it too, if not at least a chuckle, but when all he got was silence he continued on. "Perhaps just a couple of days a year? With a few hours I could work with too, if that is easier for you. Nobody would even have to know, my dear. I can be just a normal Heaven resident and also remain in contact with my family. Keeping secrets is nothing new for me, some would say that I am even good at it! I can work in anything you need me to in order to repay such kindness, of course, that goes without saying."

"I am sorry, Alastor. I can't."

Alastor took a deep breath that almost made him dizzy.

"Right" It took him a monumental effort to get that word out. Yelling wasn't going to work. His threats, that usually were so effective, were worthless in this situation without the power of back them up. He had to try another route if he ever wanted to get back home. "I know this isn't personal, Sera. You treated my daughter with basic decency when she was here, even knowing who is her other father or her controversial creation. I did always appreciated that, I hope you know it."

"Of course."

"Which is why I know you are not taking any personal enjoyment out of this. I know a sadist when I see one, my dear, and you don't fit the profile. I am absolutely certain that you are operating right now with nothing but the best possible intentions in mind, isn't that right?"

"Your point, Alastor?"

"My point being… I want your help, Sera. From where you stand, what do you think I should be doing that would lead to the best outcome? Surely you don't plan to keep me lock up in this room for the rest of eternity."

Sera sighed briefly.

"You don't have to do anything. Heaven can provide you with everything you need."

"Except my family" Alastor couldn't help himself to add.

"Unfortunately so. The souls that come here do so to rest and to have a peaceful existance. That is all anyone expects from any of you. If I were on your place, I would try to make the best out of the situation, as distressing as it is."

That was so easy to say when she wasn't in his situation. How could she even imagine? A being that had existed only for Heaven and did everything she could to continue existing? What could she care about the problems of mere mortals? Alastor pressed his head against the door.

"I see" said, clearing his throat. "If I promise to do just that, would you let me go from here? It's becoming quite uncomfortable. I don't like the coffe either" After the three hours, he had succumbed to his own curiosity and tried it. "It never gets as hot as I wanted it to."

God forbid anyone could burn their mouths while drinking, even if that is exactly what they were looking for.

"Sorry to hear that" Her voice could be heard closer and Alastor looked at the knub again. "Are you actually ready to be part of Heaven?"

As if she haven't made abundantly clear by now he had no choice.

"I am ready to try" conceded.

The knub started moving. Alastor took a step back and prepared himself to receive Sera with his best cooperative smile. Same smile that went rigid when instead of Sera two buff winners, a man and a woman, looked at him with equally expecting expressions.

"If what you say is true, then you won't have any issue accompanying us, Alastor" said Sera from the hallway. "Come with us to your new residency without causing any disturbance, please."

The place he was taken to was a large white building that somehow looked even more boring than all other, with less decorative elements, as if they were actually trying to make it the plainest they could. The buff angels at his side relaxed and started stretching casually, as if their job was done. Sera thanked them for making them "company" before wishing them a good night.

Before they had refused any attempt of Alastor to make small conversation, giving short uninterested answers, but now they wish them too a good time before they flied away.

"I don't understand" said Alastor, following Sera as he came inside the building. There was an entrance lobby with a secretary behind a desk. "What is this place?"

His first idea was a hotel. Mostly because it would be ironic to die protecting a hotel only to end up in another on his next life.

"This place was designed to receive new souls who have a harder time than others to adapt to the after life" Sera explained.

"Ah, an asylum! I did always figure I would end up in one eventually if I wasn't killed!" admitted Alastor with a light chuckle. Whatever issues he did had, Heaven was the last place equipped to help him with them. Not that he needed or wanted the help in the first place. "This is wholly unnecesary, Sera, dear. Any common house is going to be just as good for me as any other."

"Normally that would be the case, but for everything I hold holy I believe this could help you out in the long run" She even had the audacity of giving him a knowing smile.

Alastor's smile remained the same. He wanted to tear her face apart with his own teeth. Her blood would taste sour, like the skin of oranges, he was sure of it.

"Oh, please, you are not going to hold that silly little moment of weakness over my head like that, are you? I just got a bit carried away and wasn't thinking my words properly. I didn't mean any of it, obviously!"

"Glad to know" Sera made a gesture towards the crystal doors. "After you."

Alastor looked around on the streets, the calm, peaceful streets where no one was threatening anyone with a weapon or was about to pass out after puking their guts out. He pondered briefly about how far he could run if he started sprinting at that moment, but even as he considered it knew it was useless. Even if Sera didn't immediately catched him, she would have no issue finding him later. Pure angelic powers were such a pain in the ass when they weren't coming from his husband.

With no other choice in sight, Alastor walked to what he knew with no doubt was just going to be another prison like it didn't cost him nothing at all. No matter what, he was soon going to get out and find the way to return to his family.

--

Now he understood what his mother meant with time being handled different in Heaven. They still had clocks, and at least nobody tried to take away his pocket watch, but nobody used dates or had calendaries to know how much time had passed. What was the point where there wasn't any change of seasons, if every day was equally perfect as the day before? If someone wanted to keep track of the passage of time, they had to do it entirely by their own means. Speaking to the staff on the "asylum" (that everyone insisted he shouldn't call like that), he heard that was a option they had to tick on their phones. Since he wasn't about to have one himself, he got instead a notebook to go marking the days that he was stuck there.

One day it took for Emily to come visit him. She apologized for taking so long, but she got so concentrated on her task she actually didn't realize how long it had been since she saw him. By the time she finished reading the entire registries and went searching for him, Sera was looking for her instead and explained the whole situation.

"You threatened her?!" said Emily, lifting her hands, incredulous. "Of course she would be upset at you and put you here!" Alastor rolled his eyes with a shrug. Emily let out some air. "I am sorry. You must have felt cornered to get to that point. I should have been there to help you so you didn't had to face her alone. I know she can be a little… unsympathetic sometimes. I understand how frustrating that is."

That was one massive understatement. He considered telling her about how actually that conversation went, how utterly callous Sera was about how he should feel about his family, but decided against it because it would feel too much like whining. They had better things to discuss.

"Just tell me what you could find out."

"Uh? Oh, right, the thing!" Alastor looked at the ceiling, conjuring patience for himself. Why did all the angels he could actually talk to were the ones who had the worst attention span? First Lucifer, now this. "It was fascinating, actually! I read the ones from before I was created because, you know, if there had been a soul that was send to hell on my time then I would know about it already, right? At the very least people would still talk about it! I mean, Lucifer is still a hot topic even though it has been so long already. Did you know that the inventor of the wheel was here? I had no idea! And the man to first create chocolate still has a chocolate store here! Isn't that amazing?"

"Focus, dear."

"Mmm? Oh, yes. Well… there was a case in which someone got a genie back on Earth and wished to come to Heaven to see what it was like. But he haven't died yet, so he got send back as soon he was found out and when he did died he ended up in hell anyway. Um, there was also this man who was a dignatary for Heaven who was send to hell and never came back. Those were the closest to this situation I could find."

"That is it then? Either find a genie or be send directly by Heaven to hell? Do you even have access to a genie?"

"No. If I did I would have brought it already. I am really sorry, Alastor. I thought it could work."

Alastor gave her a slight nod. He believed her too, that was what surprised him. She sounded honestly sad over not being able to provide him with anything more useful.

"And I guess you can't help me to communicate with hell like you did before either."

Emily shook her head keeping her eyes down.

"The last time Sera found out there was one less crystal and doubled the security. Now they only open the vault for meetings."

And the possibility of such a meeting happening any time soon was just as low as Heaving sending him personally as a dignatary. Emily promised that she would come to visit again and keep thinking of some other solution. Alastor considered the logistic of killing everyone in the building in their sleep. Sera would just find another room to lock him until he calmed down. Then repeat for infinity. Would there ever be a point in which Heaven kicked him out just to not deal with him anymore? Would they decide instead to just kill him permanently?

Positives: he could kill everyone in the building. They were all souls confused and depressed because of their own lives left behind. Most of them young. They wouldn't be able to fight a lot against someone with more experience, especially if taken by surprise.

Negative: they would definitely take away his watch when realizing that was his weapon. He would have to get a new instrument if he was to do it again. Something that represented it's own set of trouble. There also no garantee that would make him any closer to hell.

He ended up deciding that going on a rampage, for once, was not on his best interest.

On the second day, he tried to make a drawing of his family. Only to find out that despite being married to an artist, he had absorbed zero artistic ability. He still saved those pieces of paper inside his pocket. On the afternoon some Cherubs came visiting to spend times with the resident souls. Alastor did not participate of their activities, but stared at one of them that looked like a fluffy yellow lamb until the creature noticed him and came floating to him.

He presented himself, made his speech about how he understood it was quite shocking to be in Heaven, but if he gave the place a chance he could find something to enjoy too. Alastor indulged him with some light conversation, ommiting the part of him being very familiarized with the concept of the his own death. When the Cherubs had to go, he waved at the little lamb on his way out.

On the third day, he pushed one of the souls down the stairs when no one was watching. He heard the satisfactory crisp crack of bones and saw them laying on the floor with their legs on an unnatural position. The soul spend half an hour on their almost decorative infarmary until was good as new.

On the fourth day, Alastor sneaked on the kitchen and dumped a bunch of cleaning products into the cacerola that it was being cook. That day he decided to stay on his room while everyone ate and subsequently got immediately sick. Nobody saw him do it.

On the fifthy day, he commented to one of the souls about a rumour he heard, one in which you could come back to Earth if you stabbed yourself 7 times in the chest. The soul in question was a young man that hated leaving his pregnant wife behind, so he was stupid enough to believe it. Unfortunately, he did it during the night when the lights were off and Alastor was robbed from an entertaining view as the night staff found him. As to be expected, he didn't die or came to Earth from it. Now that soul was constantly accompanied by one of the staff members at all times.

On the sixth day, Emily came by again and she insisted on making him participate on a circle of stories in the garden. It seemed easier to give her that than to argue. Alastor end up telling the story of when Lucifer slaughtered a bunch of sinners in front of their castle to save him, feeling extra generous on the gory details. When two of the souls started looking nauseous and one actually puked, they told him he could just listen instead the next time.

On the seventh day, someone had hidden all the curtery in the kitchen and broken every single plate so everyone had to eat sandwiches until they could get new ones.

On the eight day, he got called from the library because he had a new visitor. Alastor was half expecting to see Sera, but was even more surprised when he saw the last exorcist with a fixed frown waiting for him. They both sat a table on the lounging room.

"What can I do for you, dear?" asked Alastor before she could open her mouth. "Did you came to tell me even more details about how my beloved king killed all of your companions? Did Adam screamed a lot in the end or it was a quick grunt? Did my husband took his time? I did wondered about that since the last time we spoke."

Lute glared at him.

"If everyone in hell is like you, then you truly deserved the extermination."

"Oh, no, my dear. I am a especial case. One of a kind" Alastor chuckled. He didn't even disagreed that some part of hell deserved to get killed every year. Charlie was the one who believed even those souls deserved a chance, not him. "But enough about me. Tell me about the slaughtering that no doubt must have been so traumatic for you to witness. Do tell me if you wake up screaming calling his name every night."

Lute sneared at him and looked at the doors, as if contemplating to just leave, whatever brought her there be damned. She stayed instead.

"I didn't came to hear your demonic bullshit. I want to make a deal."

The ears of Alastor perked up, twitching slightly in excitement. For an experienced overlord, to hear about a potential deal was like candy offered to children.

"Oh? What kind of deal are we talking about?"

Lute straighten up her back, more relaxed that they were in familiar territory.

"I can get you back to hell. You can come back with your abomination against nature and unholy partner permanently. Your name will be erased from the books."

"Mmm" Alastor squinted his eyes, his smile growing wider. He knew none of that was going to come for free, but maybe he could still turn it on his favor so he didn't had to give up too much. "In exchange, what I would be doing to compensate such a favor?"

"You will get back to destroy that stupid hotel of that mistake you made" Lute didn't bothered to hide the disgust in her voice. "I don't care what methods you have to use, but burn it to ground and make sure that little brat never tries that again."

"Ah, I see how it is" Alastor made a flick of a wrist, admiring his nails. "Sorry, no can do."

"Did you not hear what I said? You can get back to your stupid family today. All you have to do is…"

"I understand what you ask me to do" interrupted Alastor. "You ask me to betray my daughter's trust so irrevocably that her dreams are destroyed. Not to mention the justifiable anger that would elicit from my husband, who, in case you didn't know, could literally kill me in the spot if he wanted to. And even if somehow he doesn't kill me, he will never see me the same way again and my daughter will want nothing to do with me. You ask me to destroy my family in the long run in order to have my family in the short one. I admire this manipulation strategy, I do, it's a classic for a reason. But I will need something better than that, dear."

"We could take you out as soon the deed is done. Send you another place that wasn't here or hell. Like Earth or somewhere else. You can live the rest of your existence however way you like."

"Even so, no" Alastor sighed, resting his cheek on his hand. "You see, I never cared for her project in the first place. You and I probably thought the exact same thing about it this entire time, that it was silly and a waste of time. But now that I know that Charlie was right all along? I hope she pushes forward, even if I am not there to help her. I will love to see your face when this place starts crawling with reformed sinners. Souls who, I am sure, will feel some type of way about seeing one of the responsibles of their genocide walking around. Now that could be fun."

"You said you would do anything."

"Preying on a father's desperation to get what you want is the right move, but I am afraid I have more experience than you tricking people, dear. This deal would favor you a lot more than it would me and that is something I don't feel inclined to allow right now. So no."

"Enjoy your stay in Heaven then" Lute threw like an insult as she stand up, showing him teeh without smiling. "I am sure your little abomination will learn her lesson sooner or later, with or without your help."

"Tell Sera that I said hi, dear" Alastor pet her hair with one hand and she flinched, taking a step back. "Oh, I am sorry. Since you were her willing dog, always ready to get her paws dirty for her, I thought I could treat you like one too. My bad."

"Fuck you, you demon shit."

With that, the visit was done.

On the ninth day, Emily came by again to see how he was doing and also ask another story. Despite what was the intention of him telling the first one was, she hasn't missed that at least Alastor seemed to have fun telling it and it was the first time she saw him getting any fun since his arrival. If the other souls weren't willing to listen to him, she would. She had a stronger stomach and had lived long enough to let some unsavory descriptions get her like that. He was surprised by the request, but secretly pleased and so obliged.

"How about the first soccer game of Charlie?" offered Alastor, since that was something that was going through his mind anyway. Back when Charlie was still smaller than Lucifer, but big enough that didn't want to be attached to her parents as much.

"Oh, I know that game! I am not very good at it, though" commented Emily, getting herself comfortable on the couch, hugging her legs under her dress.

She even sat like Charlie, expectantly, her full attention on him. Alastor sat down on the couch nearby, looking to the other side.

"Charlie was around 8 back then. This was the first important game for her team because it was going to be against a rival sports club and the winner team would get a plastic trophy to get home. So as you can imagine, the stakes were incredibly high."

"Oh, so very important!" agreed Emily with a giggle.

"Me and my husband were on the crowd of parents watching. We wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. In hell we keep our relationship a secret for various reasons, so we both were disguised as mere imp servants of the palace. Lucifer had gone all the way out to support Charlie with his own thematic shirt that said CHARLIE N°1 FAN and showing a glittery sign he had made himself declaring Charlie as the best player ever. After a while of his yelling and enthusiastic movement every time Charlie as much touched the ball, soon nobody but me was willing to stay close to him.

Unlike my husband, I showed my support with a thumb up when she looked into our direction. Neither of us truly cared about sports, but when the team of Charlie started losing Lucifer was the classic fan that yelled at the referee for every perceived mistake, since he couldn't at the other young players. I personally thought it was hilarious how colorful his insult became. My poor little fawn had no way to hide her embarassment.

She and her team were losing, unfortunately. When the game was about to end, Lucifer asked me to cause a distraction while he went and enchanted the ball. We didn't want the first ever official game of Charlie with another team to end in failure. Not our little girl.

So I slipped some choice words into the ears of some parents nearby. These ones were even worse than Lucifer, directing their agression towards the rival players or even the team player of their kids. It took just a comment about how the other parents were talking badly about their kids and suddenly a fight broke up. The rest of the adults either protested or were encouraging it even further, finding it more entertaining than the whole game.

In the middle of the confusion, Lucifer slipped to get the ball of the game and put a spell on it. When he came back to his seat, after the two fighters moved to the parking lot to continue their dispute, he told me that the spell would make it so the ball would go directly where Charlie wanted to as long she was the one kicking. I may or may not help too by making some of the kids to trip over themselves when they came close to the ball with a sneaky tentacle that instantly dissapeared in a shadow. Oh, don't look at me like that, dear. Nobody got hurt. Maybe except that one kid that broke his ankle, but to be fair, he had been pushing people the entire time so he had it coming.

This strategy seemed to work. The numbers of both teams even out quickly. Charlie didn't deliver each point, but she was fast and had good reflexes to help her team mates when they were cornered.

Until an imp selling hot dogs in a cart appeared ringing a bell to call attention. She must have been hungry. That is the only thing I could imagine to explain why the ball flew from the field straight to the seller's face, knocking him out in the floor.

The ball continue rolling by itself to the road, where it was flattened almost instantly. They had to bring a new ball. Lucifer grabbed to my arm so strong that it was squeezing my bone, which would leave a lovely bruise for me to discover later, as we saw the timmer ran out. He murmured a curse to make the goalkeeper become blind temporarely, but before he could finish it… Charlie scored the final point.

All her team mates celebrated hugging each other. Their victory declared, Lucifer screamed conjuring confetti out of his hands. When the whistle of the referee declared them officially the winners, Lucifer ran to go celebrate with Charlie. I went to pick up the bag of Charlie when I heard other parents nearby. They were looking at Charlie and commenting about how sad it was that her own parents weren't there, like it was for all the other kids. Instead, mere servants had to come to see her at all. Did the king ever came out of his palace at all anymore? Was he even alive? How could he be so cruel and heartless to not make any time for his daughter? And poor Charlie. She was going to grow up feeling so unloved!

I loved to hear that kind of talk from people. Showed how much they had no idea of anything. It was especially amusing hear them talk like that about my fawn when I could hear her laughter not that far away from me. But when I turned around, I was surprised when Charlie ignored Lucifer's open arms and came to look for my own. Sending a shrug to Lucifer, I picked her up and hugged her as she clinged to my neck. She spoke to me in a tiny grumpy voice.

Papa cheated.

When the game resumed, Charlie immediately knew there was something different about the ball on the game. She couldn't know why, though. Since she was made from both our magic, she was very sensitive to the presence of either around her. The ball was undeniable drenched on Lucifer's magic. She still had no idea what that meant, but quickly made the connection when the ball went exactly where she was wishing it for. The smashing the face of the hot dog seller had been a genuine accident, though. Charlie was actually aiming for the street and the imp just happened to be on the way. Apparently she haven't noticed my own tentacles, either because they weren't as easy to spot in front of Lucifer's magic or they were too small and fast for her to pick up. Either way, what is a father to do but to console my little angry fawn?

When Lucifer came for us, Charlie dedicated him a tongue sticking and buried her face on my shoulder. She wanted to reprimand him, but knew she couldn't in public. I couldn't help but to feel proud of her for that, just as much as she dealing with the situation. We still waited to see that the trophy was delivered to their couch. Charlie spoke with her friends on the team and then took my hand, refusing to aknowledge Lucifer as he took us apart to make a portal direct to home. As soon we were on the other side, back at our home, her little antlers grew up in her head as she gave Lucifer a piece of her mind.

Papa was dumb. Papa didn't need to rig her game, she got it already. She had been training so much and he almost ruined it! How could he do that to her?

She stomped her way with her hooves back to her room, yelling she didn't want to celebrate anything anymore. We already had gotten the cake that either was going to console her or make her happier. Lucifer tried to bring a piece to her and Charlie refused to talk to him the entire time, hiding inside her bed to not see him. Lucifer tried to apologize, but she didn't want to hear about it. I tried to tell him to give her some time and it would pass, but it wasn't enough.

At the next day, Charlie was still upset. She stubbornly avoided recognizing Lucifer and stuck to my side as a barrier between herself and her father. I tried to tell Charlie that her papa didn't mean anything bad with what he did, but then she got upset at me and locked herself on her room. By lunch Lucifer had think of a perfect solution to calm down our daughter. Guess what it was?

He decided to make a little tournament in our backyard. Summoning my own shadow minions as the rest of the player and himself as the rival goalkeeper, Lucifer declared that he would recognize Charlie as the best soccer player in all of hell if she could win against him. But she better watch out because he wasn't planning to go soft on her just because she was his little girl! If she had such trust on her own abilities, surely she would have no use proving it to him! No cheating, no magic, nothing. My minion were commanded to play their respective roles, nothing else. To garantee some sense of impartiality, Lucifer somehow had convinced Satan to be the referee. I still don't know how he did it.

Oh, I know that saying that name already brought a bunch of association for you, dear. Despite the opinion that Heaven might have of the embodiment of the Sin of Wrath, Satan was actually an stickler of the rules like no other. He might as well been the only one of the sins who cared about the rules set up in Hell. Yes, really. Indeed, I appreciate the irony too. He was also the only Sin that greeted us with a reverence and using our titles, something that Lucifer had try to tell him he didn't had to do without any success.

Charlie knew her uncle well enough to be familiarized with that aspect of him, so she knew he was the best candidate for the job. He wasn't going to be indulgent with any part of this game. The winner would get to chose dinner and dessert for the next week, and Lucifer loudly announced that he might pick salads or something greener since lately they were lacking on that. And why have desserts at all? A good healthy dinner should be enough to fill any stomach!

Charlie gasped in pure horror before she turned into pure determination. Now this, this was more personal than ever before. Forget about the plastic trophy, these were the real high stakes now.

With everyone put on their place, the game started. To give credit to Lucifer where it was due, he made himself even smaller to be a proper goalkeeper and stopped a few of the points from Charlie's team, even when they came from Charlie. Satan kept the score easily, making sound the whistle that I imagine he must have brought himself that hanged from his neck each time it was necessary. Every fault was called out for. Every penalty was delivered with the same rigurosity.

Lucifer kept taunting Charlie when she was the closest on his side of the field, talking about how delicious all those green salads were going to be. No more cookies pre dinner either! Maybe he was going to lock them up in a safe or give them to Satan as payment for being there! All of them! Not a single cookie crumble left behind! Satan didn't reply to that, but I could imagine he wasn't going to want the cookies. But when my minion scored on the other side, Lucifer still couldn't help himself to tell Charlie that it was okay, she was going to do better for the next one!

By default I guess I end up being the coach of Charlie, giving her something to drink and support during the half time. For the moment at least, it seemed she had forgotten she was supposed to be angry at me too. Her little eyebrows were coming together, but I saw the smile that she was actively trying to hide on her face. I told her that if she wanted to confuse her enemy, she should really smile all the more even if she is close to losing. A confused enemy was a disoriented one, little fawn, and that meant they were all the more easy to trick into doing what you wanted them to. At the same time, they will never know what you are up to with a good smile.

I don't know if she could fully understand what I was saying to her. She was smart, but even smart kids had their limits. In any case, when Satan said everyone had to go to their positions again, she wasn't hiding her enjoyment, laughing. I guess she interpretate that as permission to just have fun…? Whatever worked for her, I suppose. I wasn't about to complain for seeing my fawn happy.

The scoring points for a while stayed even. Charlie gave her absolute best, nobody could say she didn't try. She fought valiantly until the end. But when Satan blowed his whistle, the numbers didn't lie. She had lost by one point.

Lucifer tried to ask Satan for more time, but before he could finish his sentence Charlie already was yelling at him for it. She had lost fair and square, she didn't want any more help! She said that… and then started crying standing there. When Lucifer hold her, she didn't fight it and clinged back, whimpering she didn't like salads, please, she could eat one, but not for a entire week straight, no, please. Every resentment she had went away as easy as that by the fears of green vegetables."

"Aww, poor thing" said Emily, pouting for the distress of a little girl she never saw. "Did she really had to?"

"No, of course not. Lucifer let her have her celebration cake for dessert, after I prepared some my most delicious meat with only a few green. That is the story of how Lucifer learned not to cheat… in such an obvious way that a 8 year old could find him out immediately."

Emily giggled behind her hand.

"That is a terrible lesson to take from that" protested nonetheless.

Alastor shrugged. They could agree to disagree.

"I am waiting for my review" said non chalantly, lifting his hand as if asking it for written.

"Oh, it was very good! The moral could improve, but you have a real talent for storytelling."

"I do, thank you for noticing."

"Did you do that a lot back at your home?" asked Emily, her voice softening as she supported her head over her knee. Alastor appreciated that she didn't say "downstair" or any stupid other name. "Telling stories about your life?"

Alastor nodded his head.

"Charlie was the one who asked me the most" explained with a low sigh. "It started with her wanting to know how her parents met and from there she just kept wanting to know more. Back when I was alive on Earth I was a radio host and I had my own broadcast in hell as well. Speaking in front of an audience and improvising wasn't nothing new to me. I might have tell so many of them at least a dozen times, but she never got tired of them."

"Well, I never heard them so I can be surprised by them" pointed out Emily and then moved her leg to kick them on the corner of the couch. "To tell you the truth, it's really fascinating to hear you talk about hell as you do. I know you describe people fighting and screaming and probably there were people doing worse than that, but still they also… go to their kid's game to support them and they care for kids that aren't their own. It doesn't sound so scary when you put it that way. Maybe it's just a matter of finding the right people and even Hell is not that bad."

Alastor arched an eyebrow, truly amazed that was her interpretation.

"Oh, no, dear, don't get confused. Hell is awful, horribly so. Just because I enjoy it like that, doesn't mean others would."

"I know" Emily smiled to him. "But it's still nice to think about it. That some good things can be found anywhere, even in hell."

"Inside of every demon there is a rainbow, huh" murmured Alastor quietly for himself, looking at his hand holding his staff.

No wonder Charlie had connected with Emily so quickly during a brief meeting.

"What?"

"Nothing, dear, just thinking out loud" He lifted his shoulders and let them fall, regaining his normal volume. "Well, until I can get out of here, you can ask me whatever you want about my home. I don't promise that you will like all of it, though."

"Can I ask more stories?"

Alastor could feel his tail moving slightly under his jacket suit. It was the first time since arriving to Heaven.

"For sure."

[silentmoths]

As Fragile as a brick wall

Masterlist||First||Previous||Next

hey hey it's me kinda sorta back from my social media pause. kinda because I'm still likely to be very quiet for a while.

Ch 5: Zhongli attempts to locate his renegade princess to ask a question.

Ganyu wins a bet.

Zhongli x Afab (fem pronoun) Reader

little death/gore in this one? just a wee bit.

NSFW elements in later chapters

Multi-chapter, Royal AU, angst, mentions of death, eventual fluff, eventual smut, idk more tags when they happen ig? (Wonderful header image made by the wonderful @ainescribe)

Zhongli was a king, he had won the throne by strategy and wit. His new people adored him, his allied kingdoms were warm and welcoming to the changes he had brought about.

So why?

Why was an unassuming wooden door simply too much for him?

All he had to do was knock, and yet every time he turned down the hallway towards her room he just… froze.

Princes he could capture.

Kings? He could kill those, take their place, and overhaul their battered kingdoms.

The princess however, was a hurdle he could not jump, no matter how many attempts he made.

Obviously he needed to speak with her.

He needed to clear the air, talk plainly.

(perhaps apologise for attempting such an underhanded tactic as forcing her to marry him? Yeah, definitely.)

It takes him three more days, of deliberating and debating with just his own mind, of Xiao’s confused stare, and Ganyu’s tired, but knowing smile before he finally relents and marches to her room. 

The lack of guards at the door should have been the first hint, but Zhongli is so focused on doing this one thing that he does not notice. 

“Princess?” He calls as he knocks “I need to speak with you.”

There is no answer, as expected, she was still ignoring him.

He knocks again.

“Do you intend to hole up in here forever?” He asks, still no response.

Now, surely she was making a fool of him.

“I’ve given you plenty of warning.” He sighs, gripping the door handle “I’m coming in-”

Oh, well no wonder she wasn’t answering.

She wasn't even here.

Zhongli blinks, staring around the room, in a way it was good to see some things never changed. While the decoration of her chambers had grown and matured with her, he could still see small touches of…her, about the room. Worn down and damaged from time under tyranny, but still distinctly what he remembered.

The glaze lilies, in a vase he remembers her mother once owning, sit beside the open window, swaying softly in the breeze, and his heart squeezes just a little…they had always been his favorite.

“M’lord.” Ganyu’s quiet call very nearly makes him jump, turning to find her standing in the doorway. “Her highness has a tendency to leave quite early in the mornings, and not return until nearly dusk.” she informs him.

“And why, pray tell, has it taken you this long to inform me of this?” He asks, shooting her a less-than-impressed look, only to have her smile knowingly.

“To be honest with you, it was a bet between us attendants, to see how long it would take until you finally worked up the nerve to enter her room….so thank you for making me slightly richer.” She giggles, turning and vanishing down the hall to let her king stew in his flustered state.

But now a new question floats to the forefront of his mind.

Where exactly was she going?

—

“Oh princess, you really don’t have to-”

“It’s quite alright, Siqin. Your horse has taken Ill, Azhdaha is more than capable of towing the plough, even at his age.” You’re quick to wave off the farmer's concern “Isn't that right, old boy?”

Beside you, your dutiful horse snorts, ears pricking forward as if offended that the farmer was insinuating he was unable to perform a task. Siqin gnaws his lip for a moment before sighing. 

“Very well, your highness.”

“Oh, please there’s no need to call me that. Technically I’m no longer a princess-” you attempt to reason with him, but are quickly shot down by Granny Chu, shooting you a venomous look.

“Nonsense!” She shouts “Just because your father no longer rules does not mean this kingdom no longer recognizes you as royalty, dear.” she huffs as she turns her gaze to Siqin, the man scrambling to attach the plough to your horse. “Besides, you have more than earned the title in the village’s eyes.” She continues “you come out here every day to help with the smallest of things.”

“Your horse falling Ill isn’t small, Granny.” You retort, taking a seat beside her to help husk the most recent harvest of corn, your hands far slower, softer and less skilled than the elder, but something to do, anything to help is what put your mind at ease. “Azhdaha, be good for him, or no sugar cube tonight.” You warn the stallion; watching his ears pin back in frustration before he finally hauls off, a very frightened Siqin saddled on his back. “If you can’t plough the fields, you can’t sow the crop, without the crop there will be no harvest.”

“Oh I’m sure we would have figured something out.” Granny Chu mutters, a fond shine in her eyes as she leans over, gently grasping your hands and physically helping you through the motions “Like that..”

“Thank you.” you mumble, getting the right technique down after a few more tries, keeping a watchful eye on your temperamental steed as he effortlessly trots along the field, tilling the soil. “Do you know of anyone else who may need assistance?”

“Hmm, I do believe Miss Bai would appreciate you paying a visit to the schoolhouse.” She muses “A visit from the princess would definitely spark the children’s interest.” “Not a princess anymore-”

“Hush.”

You both fall silent for a moment before an unmistakable giggle slips from your lips, only to be followed by granny chu’s own snicker. Soon enough you’re both laughing, and you find yourself at peace.

In all your years, it had been doing things like this that had brought you the most joy, helping your people and seeing them grow, watching their happiness bloom. This is what you wanted.

—

After a rather interesting story time with the local school children (in which they all demanded stories from other kingdom’s you’d visited), a commotion outside pulls everyone’s attention. 

Unfortunately what you find outside only makes your smile drop.

Zhongli, slowly walking down the path, soft, warm smile on his face.

What’s worse? The moment he sees you, it only seems to widen, and now you had nowhere to hide, delightful.

At least until a devious idea floats to the surface.

Zhongli had always had a soft spot for children…and you just happened to have a small army of them gathered around you.

“Well, would you look at that.” You lilt in a sing-song tone, one you knew would get the children excited. “The king himself has some to see you all as well! What a lucky day it is~” 

A dozen pairs of eyes look up at you and then to the approaching king, hope and excitement abound. Jackpot. 

“I know you all must have so many questions for the new king, don’t you?” 

All at once, the children scramble, bolting away from you and crowding around his feet instead. At first, Zhongli blinks in shock, his gaze quickly flitting to you, but then back down to the children and- goddamn it.

You had somewhat hoped that this new diversion would at least annoy the man a little, but the warm smile and soft look is back. How dare he have the gall to look so…content. Oh well, at least it gave you a few moments to scamper away; surely Siqin would be done with Azhdaha by now.

Siqin is more than happy to hand the reins of your ornery stallion back to you, fields freshly tilled and ready to be planted, and you waste no time making yourself scarce. The less you had to see of him and his stupid smile and handsome face and pretty eyes, the better. Azhdaha, usually a steed of routine, doesn’t even question when you don’t head back towards the castle immediately, instead making for somewhere quiet to be with your thoughts.

A small grove of sunsettia trees upon a hill seemed like a nice enough place. You can’t help but giggle as you note the carvings upon the wood; seems this is where the youths of the village used to come here with their sweethearts to carve their names into the tree trunks, how novel.

A nicker and a nudge by an impatient horse snout pulls you from your thoughts, Azhdaha looking up into the branches and stomping a hoof, ah, of course. A hard day’s work deserved a few treats. A swift climb up and soon you find yourself situated comfortably upon a branch, reaching up to pluck fresh, ripened fruit from above to feed them to your demanding horse below, occasionally biting into one yourself as you look out over the small hamlet.

Since your little…intervention, the village had really come together…listening to your suggestions and helping one another. You would never admit to anyone but…god you’d been so afraid that the idea would fail…you’d never had the chance to do anything when it came to guiding the kingdom and even then, it was only because Zhongli was flailing that you even had the nerve to intercept…but looking at all the once broken down, dilapidated houses and buildings slowly, but surely being restored, people helping instead of fighting, things could not have possibly gone any better.

Minutes slowly meld together as you simply enjoy being… doing nothing in particular. Azhdaha, now having had his fill takes a rare opportunity to roll in the grass. Old and noble he may be, but even your old, grizzled warhorse still had his moments.

The view from atop the hill truly was lovely. If you’d had a knack for painting, you’d almost consider coming up here to paint the village as it is now, and then perhaps returning the next winter to paint it again, just to see how things had changed. 

And you also wonder what the view was like from the top of the tree...Glancing up, the branches looked sturdy enough…

By the time Azhdaha notices your ascent, you’re already halfway up, a soft laugh bubbling in your  chest. This reminded you of childhood, when your mother used to take you out to the orchards proper and you got to run and play amongst the trees, chase, hide and seek, simply picking and snacking on whatever fruit you could reach… fond memories indeed.

Finally, your head emerges from the foliage and oh- you were right about the view being even more gorgeous from up here. At this vantage, you could just see over the tops of the cobbled rooves of the bakery and the smithy and out into the rolling farmland behind, the slowly waning sun bathing the fields rich golds and oranges, a kind of warmth you’d not seen in your own kingdom in years.

You’re so mesmerised by the sight that you don't hear the call of your name, or even the crow cawing nearby, until the winged creature swoops just that little bit too close, startling and causing you to jolt, fingers unable to grasp the trunk in time as the sudden movement snaps the thin branch you’d been standing upon; and then you’re falling and you silently curse yourself.

Dead via sunsettia tree, what a headline that would make.

But a shout, a strong pair of arms and a warm, firm chest meet you before the ground does, and another body goes tumbling down the hill a ways with you, cushioning your fall and likely saving you from much worse damage as you both come to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Azhdaha trotting after you.

“Are you alright?” A familiar voice asks, you look up to meet the gaze of your rescuer and find none other than those damningly beautiful eyes.

Zhongli.

His hand gently comes up to caress your cheek with his thumb, fingers softly brushing hair from your face as the panic in his gaze slowly fades, not seeing any immediate injuries. 

“Are you alright?” he asks again, calmer this time, and you nod, still trying to find your voice.

“I- um…y-yes, I’m fine.” you finally manage to choke out, internally chiding yourself for such a weak response, even more so when you realise your leaning into his hand, which has simply come to rest cupping your cheek in a way that was much too tender for your liking. 

Only then do you truly realise your…compromising position, both laid out on the ground with you sprawled across the kings chest like some…harlot. 

He has the gall to chuckle when you gasp and quickly sit up, shifting off and away from him and back to your horse, who’s massive nose is quick to sniff at your hair and clothes to ensure you were actually alright. Some of your muscles protest, your leg and torso especially, having hit a branch on the way down, you can feel the bruise already blooming across the back of your thigh and the dull ache just above your hip, but that was nothing you couldn’t handle.

“What…what are you doing here?” you finally manage to ask as Zhongli sits up, smiling…always smiling at you, you hated it. “Well…” he hums “I had initially come to speak to you in your chambers…only to discover you absent…so I thought I might take a walk in the village to see how the plan you’d made to prepare for the winter had been faring-”

“I mean-” you interject with a frustrated sigh “why are you here?” you reiterate. If there was one thing you remember about Zhongli being somewhat prolific for back in his days as a knight, it was constantly over-explaining.

“Oh! Well, I was hoping you would join me for dinner tonight…” he states as plainly as a commoner would state their name, the casual nature of it all leaving you blinking and caught entirely off guard, something the king at least seems to take into account.

“I…went to the garden.” he slowly admits, rising to stand “I…saw the statue…I feel like there is much I need to explain to you…about why I left and why I have done the things I have… allow me that…and then if you still wish to have nothing to do with me…well…we’ll sort something out.” 

“What do you mean by that, exactly?” you retort, narrowing your eyes at him “‘sort something out?’”

“Simple really…it’s unfair on you to have to continue skulking and slinking about the castle…so if my explanation is not to your tastes…whatever you need to live happily…I will provide…but we can speak more on it later…perhaps at dinner, no?” and that smile is back as he turns, looking over his shoulder at you for a moment longer before he departs “I’ve already asked the kitchens to prepare a few old favourites… but know I won’t hold it against you if you do not attend.”

And then like that, he simply continues on his way, like he hadn’t likely just saved your life. You stare after his retreating frame for a long while, long enough that eventually, Azhdaha begins lipping at your ear and pulling your attention back from whatever dimension it had faded off to. 

You shouldn’t.

But you had to know. 

Why he’d left, what he’d been doing, why he’d come back, why he had attempted to leverage your hand…questions that burned too brightly to simply be extinguished, no matter how hard you tried.

With a sigh,you finally mount your horse once more, wincing in pain as you settle into the saddle. Usually, before returning to the palace, you would take Azhdaha on a good, hearty gallop, get him good and lathered up before returning to the stables for the eve, but even your crotchety old steed can sense your body is simply not up for it today. He had always been gentle with you, but today even more than usual as he walks you back to the castle. 

Seems you had a dinner to attend.

Taglist: @stygianoir @meimeimeirin @ainescribe @dustofthedailylife @theheartshaker @rjssierjrie Want to be added to the list? shoot me an ask~

[liminalmemories21]

9 Books To Read in 2024

tagged by @jesuisici33. Thank you!

In release date order:

1- Holly Black - The Prisoner's Throne

After the shocking events of The Stolen Heir, Prince Oak is in deeper trouble than ever before. As his situation grows more precarious, Oak is desperate to find a way out, before all of Elfhame is caught in the coming storm.

I love pretty much anything Holly Black writes, but I particularly love the Folk of the Air series. I'm a sucker for a good dark faerie court drama.

2 - K Ancrum - Icarus

Icarus Gallagher is a thief. He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man—the wealthy Mr. Black—has been their target in revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.

Hi yes, I am predictable.

3 - EK Johnston - Pretty Furious

In the small town of Eganston, Ontario, five good girls have had enough. They’ve experienced the best of what their community has to offer, but they’ve seen the darker side too. Together, they’ve decided that it’s time for a reckoning and that justice is their privilege to give.

If you have not read her earlier novel Exit Pursued by a Bear, go read it. It is so angry, but also so beautifully about healing and friendship.

4 - Leigh Bardugo - The Familiar

Set in the Spanish Golden Age, during a time of high‑stakes political intrigue and glittering wealth, The Familiar follows Luzia, a servant in the household of an impoverished Spanish nobleman who reveals a talent for little miracles. Her social‑climbing mistress demands Luzia use her gifts to win over Madrid’s most powerful players but what begins as simple amusement takes a dangerous turn. Luzia will need to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even the help of Guillén Santángel, an immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

I like most things Leigh Bardugo writes, so curious about this.

5 - Tess Sharpe - The Girl in Question

Four teens. Three henchmen. Two thousand acres of remote forest. One very bad man. And a whole lot of new secrets to unearth. The unmissable, thrilling follow-up to The Girls I've Been.

First go read The Girls I've Been. Then Five Times We Almost Kissed. Then Barb Wire Heart. Tess Sharpe is such a fantastic writer - and the heart of her books is always people making the best choices they can when none of the choices are good or easy. Also, Barb Wire Heart is kind of like if S2 of Justified had been about the women.

6 - Anna-Marie McLemore - Flawless Girls

The Soler sisters are infamous in polite society—brazen, rebellious, and raised by their fashionable grandmother who couldn’t care less about which fork goes where. But their grandmother also knows the standards that two Latina young ladies will be held to, so she secures them two coveted places at the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites.

Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls in their prim white dresses. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she’s unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes.

I will read anything they write. No questions asked. They're books are always so gorgeous and lush.

7 - Kristin Cashore - There is a Door in This Darkness

Wilhelmina Hart is part of the infamous class of 2020. Her high school years began with the election of Donald Trump and they ended with COVID. Now Wilhelmina, like so many of her peers, is in limbo, having deferred college because of the pandemic. Compounding the national trauma of 2016 to 2020, Wilhelmina has wrestled with the devastating loss of one of her three beloved aunts shortly after the 2016 election. This is a loss she felt so keenly that she’s spent the last years deep in her personal depression, only obscured by the seemingly endless waves of national trauma. Now on the cusp on the most consequential election in living memory, Wilhelmina may have found a door in her darkness and perhaps the courage to pass through it, if she can decipher the bizarre messages that keep appearing in her life.

I love Kristin Cashore's Graceling novels, so I'm curious about this.

8 - Jennifer Lynn Barnes - The Grandest Game

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year's game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Is this series a little silly? Sure. Is it a lot of fun. Yes. Kind of like a grown up Westing Game.

9 - Margaret Owen - Holy Terrors

third book in the Little Thieves series - which on the surface is a heist story about what if the protagonist of the Goose Girl was the servant not the princess. And at it's heart is about recovering from trauma and loss, and learning how to let yourself be someone different. 

tagging @lemonlyman-dotcom, @ladytessa74, and @strandnreyes

[sirowsky]

Part 20 - Divided Hearts

Pero Tovar and Female Reader (nicknamed Bee) Modern AU

Pero is suffering badly by what's happening, and doesn't seem to know what to do, which ultimately causes both of you to make the decision to lie to each other. (Multiple perspectives)

Creator chooses not to use Warnings! This is 18+ONLY! I’m happy to elaborate on what to expect from this part via DM.

Word Count: 7847 Masterlist(this story) Author’s Masterlist

Link to Part 21

<><><><><><><><><>

   Pero could see him with his own eyes, but still, he couldn’t believe it.    This man that he’d known since childhood, loved before he even knew what that meant, grieved for years after learning of his death, unable to reconcile his own failure at being a brother and a friend to the man, suddenly stood before him.    Alive.

   But not living.

   William had been warm, even in the darkest and hardest of times. He’d always had a smile to offer, a dumb joke always loaded and ready to fire if he felt like the mood got too grim.    He’d been kind, despite the cruelty of their work and the terrible things that they’d had to witness or bring to an end.    But the man before him now was none of that.

   This man was dead inside. He didn’t react at all to seeing Pero again, the boy he’d taken under his wing and cared for, sometimes to his own detriment. The boy he’d refused to allow to become a stone-cold killer, all but demanding that he retained his humanity.    And yet, here he stood, prepared and determined to end your life, just because Lang had ordered him to.

   There was no other reason why he would be there.    He’d tracked you through the woods, waiting for you to lead him to your family, so that he could end them all, because that was exactly what a man like Lang would do to make sure that he would still win, even if he died.    The last Falcon, on a last mission, unable to be called off because his commander was dead.

   He would fight to his last breath, use whatever tactics might be required, no matter how menacing or cruel, to complete his mission.    But for now, he was outnumbered and had lost the element of surprise.    He retreated into the woods, but only to lick his wounds. He would be back, and he would keep coming back until he either succeeded… or died.

   The moment that he vanished, Pero turned and grabbed you by the waist, almost lifting you as he ran back towards the house, with Groot on his heels to cover your backs.    You knew where your father hid a spare key, and soon had the door open, and he all but shoved you inside and closed and locked the door.    Then he sprinted through the house, checking every window and door before returning to you, and only then did he allow himself to see you.

   “Are you hurt?” he asked bluntly, and you shook your head, but you were trembling with fear, and it took him a good ten seconds to realize that you were doing that because he was shaking like a leaf himself.

   He took you in his arms and held you, too tightly maybe, he couldn’t tell, while he tried to calm his racing heart.

   “T-that was William…” you croaked after a few minutes of just standing there.

   “Once, yes. But not anymore,” he answered, and you pulled back, staring at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.

   “What the fuck is happening, Pero?”

   You were about ready to fall apart, but he needed to get changed since he was still covered in blood.    So, he brought you upstairs to your bedroom and sat you down on the bed while he quickly stripped and then pulled on clean clothes.

   Meanwhile, you worked off your thermal outer layer, and then he sat down beside you and put your legs across his own.    He then tugged your torso into his chest, and for a long while, you just sat like that, breathing together.

   “It seems that Kevin Lang was a truly evil person,” he started, and then quickly ran through everything he’d learned while on his rampage, and you seemed largely unaffected by hearing about what he’d done.

   “It was on the news, I saw it at the precinct,” you explained when he asked you about it, and he supposed that he should’ve expected that.

   But then you asked him the question that couldn’t be put off any longer, and his heart pinched harshly in his chest.

   “How is he alive?”

   Pero could think of only one possibility, and as much as he didn’t want to talk about it, you deserved to know, and to understand what was happening.

   “I think that Lang saw his chance to recruit a real Falcon, when William’s family died and left him in such a state.    He would never have been able to persuade him to work for POP instead, but Will was dying of grief by the end, so all they had to do was wait until it was believable that he’d given up, fake his death and then revive him somewhere where they had control over him.    What probably happened next…” he trailed off, struggling to even imagine this part.

   You didn’t push or try to rush him, though. You patiently waited until he’d found a way to say it, even though it took several minutes.

   “They must’ve… conditioned him. Used his pain and grief to shut his emotions down and turn him into a machine. Tortured his mind until he couldn’t feel anything anymore.    Because the man that you saw out there, that was not William.”

   “I know,” you whispered, and there was so much sorrow in your voice. “I didn’t know him, but I was around him enough to know that even if he was a mercenary, he was never like that.    It was like he didn’t even see you, didn’t know you at all.”

   “He knows only the mission now. And he will not stop.    He’s been injured and that forces him to step back, but he won’t lose our trail or let us slip away from him, even when he’s weakened.    He’s still right outside, we just can’t see him,” he explained, and felt you shiver against him.

   “But then, how do we stop him?” you quietly asked, as if even the question itself was dangerous.

   And this time, Pero didn’t answer.    Because there was only one answer, and it was the one thing that he couldn’t do. He hadn’t even been able to let Groot do it, for fuck’s sake.    He was sure that you could hear the truth in his silence, but you didn’t say it, and he was grateful for that.

   But he was also beginning to understand that this entire situation was becoming impossible to solve.    Had he been the target, it would’ve been so much easier, but protecting you without killing your attacker was an equation without a solution.    William had been his only real loss throughout his life, since he’d been the first person that Pero had truly cared about.

   And now he was facing the possibility of losing everything that he cared about, because he was suddenly being pitted against someone that his heart had never been able to let go of in the first place.    Someone that it had gotten back, against all rhyme or reason.    How the hell was he supposed to just cut that part of his own heart off?

   “I’m sorry, pintora…” he whispered against your hair, trying to hide the pain in his voice and the tears that wouldn’t be halted, against the comforting softness of your hair. “I’m sorry… but I don’t know what to do…”

----------

   Kate stood leaned against her cruiser, exhausted and covered in dirt, while Cody put the shovels away in the trunk and then came to join her.    The upper layer of the ground had been frozen and hard but once they’d gotten past that, the digging had been relatively easy, aside from the fact that it was monotonous and seriously draining on the back and arms.

   But the physical fatigue wasn’t really the reason why she felt drained right then.    The empty fucking coffin was.

   “So, who was supposed to be there?” the kid asked once he’d gotten settled next to her. “Who’s William Garin?”

   “He was one of the mercs that I was telling you about. One of the kids that was trained into becoming the perfect assassin.    But at some point, he fell in love with Lin Mae and left all that behind to start a family, only to then lose them to a freak accident.    He survived the accident, but he couldn’t live without them, and a few months later, he was found dead right here, sitting against their tombstone.    I was the one that was called out to the scene that day, and I can tell you that if he was alive, then someone did a hell of a job masking it, because the man was skin and bones.”

   “Is stuff like that really possible?” the kid asked then, truly struggling with all this, which was entirely understandable. “Like, tetrodotoxin and all that?”

   “No. Not that any branch of science is aware of anyway. But somehow, they still managed it, because I’m telling you, this guy was dead.”

   “And we’re sure that he’s now undead, and not just… I don’t know… misplaced?”

   “He’s alive. I’m not even sure how the pieces fit together yet, but I know that they do. There’s too much going on right now for this to not be relevant,” she pondered, trying to follow the threads in her head, connecting the dots.

   “But I still don’t get where Bee fits into all this?” Cody wondered after silently contemplating for a bit, and she almost laughed.

   “Haven’t you seen the guy that she’s together with these days?”

   “No,” he shrugged.

   “Okay well, his name’s Tovar and he and William were best buds in merc-school,” she told him, and he looked like his brain completely stopped working for a second.

   “What? Wait a minute… Bee’s dating a fucking assassin?!” he finally exclaimed.

   “Yep. And from what I understand, Tovar was their very best, which means that he’s now all that stands between our dear artist and the undead.”

   “Jesus…” the kid breathed, and then paused to think for a bit, and Kate could swear that she saw the cogs moving inside his brain. “Is he-… everything that’s going on in the next town… is that them?”

   “Actually, I’m pretty sure that that’s just Tovar,” she offered, although she understood why he would think that. “Either looking for answers or just cleaning house. Probably both.”

   “One person couldn’t do all that,” the officer objected, sounding quite confident that he was right.

   “He could,” Jones countered, and watched the kid sink with the realization that she wasn’t kidding. “Believe me... he very much could.    The question now is: does he know about William?”

   “Are we gonna tell him?” he asked, mildly panicked even at the thought.

   “I think we should assume that he already knows, but I also think that he needs help. They all do.    But this is all off book, kid. We can’t report any of this, we can never even mention it without potentially incriminating ourselves and a whole lot of other people too.    So, if you want out, now’s the time,” she said, but Cody didn’t even flinch.

   “No. I wanna help.”

   “Alright, then our first stop is Dean’s ranch, because I don’t know where else Bee would’ve gone on foot from her house.”

   “She left her phone and even her car, presumably because they could both be tracked, right?” he asked, and when she nodded, he continued. “So, what about us? If we show up with traceable hardware, aren’t we putting them at risk?”

   “Just ditch your phone and we should be alright. I’ve fitted a switch in my cruiser so that I can turn of the lo-jack if I need to.”

   “You’re pretty adept at all this off the book stuff, Jones. Something I should know?” the kid asked while they pushed off the car and moved to get in.

   “Yeah,” Kate sighed, but in annoyance rather than resignation. “You should know that that’s what wanting to help this particular family costs.    I’d never done anything questionable before Tovar showed up in town.”

   They got in the cruiser then, and once they were buckled up and the Detective had turned the car on, Cody turned his head to look at her.

   “Do you regret it?” he asked, and she paused before setting off.

   She had never really stopped to think about that. She’d considered before making the decisions which had landed her in this position, but she hadn’t really looked back on any of it yet.    Although, now that she did, she found that she couldn’t think of any positive difference that any other choice would’ve made.

   “No,” she eventually declared. “No, I don’t.”

----------

   You were scared in a way that you never had been before. Partly because you’d never been pregnant before, and that invariably influenced every thought and reaction and feeling that you had.    But also, because Pero was scared. And more than that, he was afraid in a way and with a magnitude that you’d never even thought him capable of.

   It had been two hours since you’d gotten back to Dean’s house, and he was still shaking.    He didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t offering up any plan of escape or even trying to comfort you, and that filled you with dread.    Because fear of losing you would’ve spurred him into action, like seeing you get arrested had, but instead, he was closed off. Locked inside his own fears even though there was no cage around him.

   And that made you wonder.    If it wasn’t fear of losing you that was doing this to him, then what was?

   He’d had his chance. He could’ve let Groot finish it, or used the opening to do it himself, but he’d done the opposite.    Pero had saved his enemy, because to him, William could never be that.    Even with everything he’d just told you, about how this man wasn’t Will, your partner was still incapable of seeing him as anything but family.

   He couldn’t kill him, and that was what scared him. For the first time since meeting you, he was incapable of protecting you.    And there was nothing that you could do to help him.    So, you sat there, by the kitchen table with a large mug of tea between your hands, staring at the liquid and wondering why even boiled water wasn’t enough to chase the cold out of your body, while he restlessly wandered through the house, obsessively checking every lock.

   You tried not to think about your father and Abby, stashed away in a bunker somewhere, you just hoped that they stayed there and kept themselves safe and alive.    For one half of a second, you’d considered that maybe having them there could shift things in your favour, but you’d quickly killed that thought.    Because with the way that Pero was acting, they would likely only make things worse.

   Either being two more people that he couldn’t protect, or…

   You knew that Dean would kill William if he got the chance. He had no relationship with the man, and even if he could partially understand his meaning to his adopted son, there would be no contest for him.    He was a father, and he would protect his child and grandchild without hesitation or restraint, which would put Pero in the terrible position of having to decide whether to stand by and do nothing while his adopted father tried to kill his chosen brother… or stop him.

   Giving up on the tea, you left the table to go and throw it away, thinking you’d take a shower instead. But a few steps from the counter, you suddenly doubled over when there was a sharp pain in your abdomen.    The mug hit the floor with a bang, spraying amber liquid everywhere before rolling away, while you slowly lowered yourself to your knees.

   You could hear Pero react from somewhere else in the house, but you were too busy reminding yourself to breathe and not panic, to pay any attention to him right then.    The pain had already faded by the time he got to you, but you were too scared to move yet.

   “Pintora? What happened?” he demanded, and his voice was small, filled with confusion and a sense of helplessness.

   “I don’t know…” you breathed, noting that your own voice sounded exactly the same. “It felt like someone stabbed me.”

   That made him go pale and you could feel how his body tightened next to you.

   “I-I’m sure it’s just stress,” you said, trying to convince both him and yourself that you were fine, but without much success.

   “You need a doctor, we must go to the hospital,” he insisted.

   “Is that safe?” you prodded, and something desperate flooded his features then.

   “Nowhere is safe…” he said, closing his eyes and lowering his head. “I don’t know h-… how to protect you.”

   But before you could offer any response, a sharp few knocks on the front door made you both flinch and turn to look towards the hall, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze.

   “Bee? Tovar? Are you here?” you heard Kate shout, and Pero immediately got up and stepped out to open the door for her.

   But you could hear what sounded like a minor argument ensue a couple of seconds later, so you carefully got up and went to see what was going on.

   “Cody?” you asked once you recognized the poor kid, looking terrified where he stood a couple of steps behind the Detective.

   He nodded politely at you, at which point, Kate raised her eyebrows at Pero, who was blocking the door, presumably because he didn’t know the young officer.

   “It’s okay, honey,” you soothed. “Cody’s a friend, and if Jones risked bringing him here then you can trust him.”

   Your partner eyed him up and down as if he was appraising a weapon, and then sighed and stepped back to let them in.

   “So, I take it you already know about the not-so-late Mr. Garin,” Kate said once the door closed behind them, and you exchanged a worried glance with Pero.

   “How do you know about that?” you questioned, but she just shrugged.

   “Because I’m good at what I do. Look, long story short, we found enough clues embedded within the finances of Useful Reuse for me to put a few disturbing pieces together.    So, what’s the plan?”

   Again, you briefly looked at Pero, but then just sighed and turned back towards the kitchen.

   “Wait… you don’t have a plan?” she correctly inferred from the silent communication between you and your partner, but you weren’t in the mood to get into that.

   “It’s complicated. Right now, I need to see a doctor.”

   That immediately shifted her gears.

   “Why? What’s wrong?”

   “Uh… I don’t know. Which I’m learning is very scary when you’re pregnant,” you explained, and once again, Kate’s focus changed.

   “Wow, congratulations! Although I can definitely see the complication there.”

   “Oh, it gets better,” you smiled, but it was a cold one that died quickly. “William’s mission isn’t Pero… it’s me. And probably dad and Abby too.”

   “Shit. I figured that Lang would retaliate for the mercs he lost at the factory, but I was really hoping that he wouldn’t come after you,” she said, and you just met her eyes, because you didn’t know what to say.

   “Is there any way that we can help you get to the hospital safely?” Cody chipped in then, before looking at your partner as if he worried that just talking to you was gonna earn him a death sentence.

   “Getting there is not the problem,” Pero answered. “The building is. There are too many unknown variables, to many opportunities for someone to interfere.”

   “Okay, then maybe we can bring a doctor here? You’ll need what… an OBGYN?” the kid suggested.

   “Or a midwife,” you agreed. “Do you think we could do that?” you continued, turning to your partner once more.

   He took a minute to think it over, but he didn’t look hopeful.

   “This house isn’t good either. Too many soft points,” he muttered, clearly disappointed with himself for not having a solution for you.

   And for some reason, that was the moment that your maternal instinct decided not to tolerate his inability to act any longer.

   “Alright, then we go to the hospital,” you declared, and before he could even begin to object, you closed the distance between you and got right up in his face. “You’re my partner, you’re allowed to be by my side throughout the procedure, so we’re gonna go and you’re gonna stay with me every second.    Understood?”

   He just stared at you for a few beats, and for an infinitesimal moment, a terrible feeling went through you as you met his eyes.    Something in the depths of his being faltered, for just that tiny fraction in time, but within that moment, you knew that he considered a different path. A painful, horrible path.    You couldn’t imagine what it could be, and your heart stopped you from lingering on it, but it still left you feeling even colder than before.

   “Okay,” he finally agreed, and he sounded genuine enough that you were able to shake the unpleasant sensation. Maybe even tell yourself that you’d imagined it.

   You both needed to clean up better if you were going to set foot inside a hospital without raising alarms, so you went upstairs to take the shower that you’d been heading for earlier.    The hot water helped you feel more human again, and managed to ease your worries about the sharp pain that you’d felt earlier, because there was no trace of it even as you bent to scrub your legs or twisted to reach your back.    But you still wanted to get checked out, just in case.

   When you re-emerged into the bedroom afterwards, Pero was sitting on the edge of the bed, for some reason having opted not to join you in the shower. He still had a lot of blood to scrub off so it could just be that he wanted to shield you from having to see that.    But the look in his eyes when you stepped out in just your underwear, and his gaze was automatically drawn to your little bump, ground you to an immediate halt.

   He looked haunted. Tortured. To the point where your body actually hurt at the mere sight of him.

   “Pero…” you breathed, half choking on the one word as powerful emotions that you couldn’t even identify slammed through your chest. “What is it?”

   He met your eyes then, and somehow his expression got even worse.    A darkness seemed to fall over him, but not one of rage, frustration or sadness. This darkness was pure anguish. It was desperation and hopelessness of a kind you’d never known that a person could even have within them.

   Empathy made you reach for him, taking the last few steps to get to where he sat and then pull his shoulders and head into your embrace, and he quickly wrapped his arms around your hips, pressing his face into the softness of your belly.    He was breathing hard, and you could feel hot tears spill against your skin, but he said nothing.

   “We’re gonna be okay, love,” you told him, needing to say something to try and break the overbearing pressure of the atmosphere in the room. “We’ll find a way.”

   It was wishful thinking, but also your determination to not give up hope and to not let him do that either. You had to believe that everything would somehow work out, otherwise, what was the point of even trying.    His grip tightened, and he quietly sobbed a few times, before he suddenly just let go of you, and in one swift movement got up and slipped away into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

   Not since that evening that he’d finally come back to you after the whole Pete incident, had he shut you out like this, and it worried you.    The implication that he was struggling with himself to that extent, was proof positive that there wouldn’t be any simple solution to this. But more frighteningly, it was making you wonder if there was any solution at all.

   However, your mind wasn’t allowing that to be a possibility for you.    With a child to protect, the only question was how you were going to survive, not if. And if Pero wasn’t going to take charge and create a solution, then you would.    You got dressed and headed back downstairs, where Kate and Cody were waiting in the kitchen, having made coffee and poured themselves a cup.    A quick glance at your watch revealed it to be 05:20, just before dawn.

   “Kate, I’m gonna need your help,” you said quietly as you reached them.

   “What do you need, hon?” she asked without pause, but you took a second before you answered, because you needed to say this right, to make sure that she understood.

   “Pero can’t kill William. And by that I mean that he literally can’t.    He had a chance earlier tonight and he didn’t take it, and he won’t even if he gets another one. I’m not sure that he can even fight him, if and when it comes to that,” you explained, seeing her face turn increasingly grim with each word you said.

   “He will if that’s the only way to protect you,” she insisted, and you shook your head.

   “But he won’t recover from that. If he’s forced to kill William then I lose him forever, I can’t let that happen.”

   “So… what are you thinking?”

   “I’m thinking that we need to make sure it doesn’t come to that. We need to find and eliminate the threat so that he doesn’t have to, and the only one that’s got a shot at doing that, is my dad and his pack,” you whispered.

   She mulled that over for a while, and then nodded once.

   “There isn’t much we can do for you at the hospital, but Tovar still expects us to be there as backup, so we’ll need to slip away.    I can tell him that we’ve been called back to the station to answer some questions about a search of your house that we never reported in.    But how are we gonna find Dean?”

   “That’s the tricky bit. I know of two places where he might be, but if he’s not there, then I’ve got nothing,” you said, before hurriedly explaining how they’d find the two bunkers that you did know of.

   “Okay, got it,” she nodded, and so did Cody, having memorized it too.

   “I know that I’m asking you to lie, again, but I don’t know what else to do,” you admitted, but she just placed a soothing hand on your shoulder.

   “I’m here because I care, Bee. I got into this of my own free will and I’m still here, even though there’s no gun to my head.    You worry about your family and yourself and let me worry about me.”

   Before you could answer, you heard Pero come down the stairs, so you got up to head for the front hall, feeling better now that you had a plan, but also terrible about deceiving him.    The shower seemed to have helped him too, though, because the haunting darkness was gone when he came to your side to escort you out to the cars.

<><><><><><><> 

   If he’d been in a better frame of mind, he might’ve seen it coming.    He should’ve remembered that you weren’t one to sit idly by and wait for someone else to solve your problems, but he wasn’t operating on full capacity right then.    His mind was a terrified mess that he couldn’t sort out no matter how hard he tried and he should’ve known that you’d see that and take matters into your own hands.

   He knew that Jones was lying when she said that they’d been called back. Not because of anything in her tone, but just because he knew the moment that she deviated from their agreed upon plan, that it was because you had asked her to.    That was the moment that he remembered who you were and what he should expect from you.

   And since the only other ally you had was your father, he guessed that you’d sent the good Detective to rally him and his dogs into the fight.    It was logical and understandable, but ultimately foolish.    Not because Dean didn’t stand a chance, he actually had a good shot at taking William down, especially now that he was injured. The problem was that Pero couldn’t let him do it.

   And while he sat there with you in the waiting room, he realized that by involving your father, you’d unknowingly given your partner an opportunity.

   He stayed right by your side for the exam, which didn’t reveal anything alarming, allowing you both to breathe a little easier.    But the doctor also informed you both that the pain could be a reaction to stress, a warning from your body that things could quickly turn bad if you didn’t start slowing down and try to relax more.    Which was, of course, not really an option for you right then.

   So, once the doctor left and you started getting dressed, Pero began to set his newly formed plan into action, because there was no time to waste.    He had to get you to a place where it would be possible for you to live free of stress and give your baby the best possible conditions.

   “Pintora… I know what you’re doing, but it will not work,” he said as you’d just finished pulling your jeans on.

   You stopped then and looked at him with an expression somewhere between fear, annoyance and desperation, clearly willing to believe that he’d figured out your plan.

   “Well, you’re apparently not doing anything, so I had to,” you said, throwing your arms out in exasperation, and he stepped closer to you so that he could lower his voice.

   “You’re right to think that Dean could probably kill him when he’s in this state, and I know that you only did this in secret because you know that I must stop him if he tries, which I’m sure you think is wrong of me.    But what if you’re wrong?    What if William only failed the first time because he is out of practice in the field, and has now become enraged. Anger will only increase his focus and make him lean harder on his knowledge, his decades of learned skills and muscle memory.    Failure has only made him more dangerous, and if he kills your father-…”

   “Then give me an alternative, Pero!” you cut him off, unwilling to hear the end of that sentence. “Tell me that you have a plan, tell me that we’re not just gonna sit and wait for your brother to come and finish us all off, because as long as you refuse to fight him, that is what will happen.    He’s not gonna stop, you said so yourself.”

   “Of course I will fight him, Bee,” he said, slightly hurt that you would think that he wouldn’t even try to protect you. “Of course, I will.    But not on his terms. I must fight him on my terms, in accordance with my beliefs and in a way that allows me to lean on my strengths too.”

   You were almost in tears when he fell silent, trying to distract yourself by returning to pulling clothes on. But your trembling hands revealed just how strong the emotions behind your only barely held back tears really were.

   “He’s coming for all of you, and I need you all to be safe if I’m going to be able to engage him, so please, tell me how we contact your father?” he pressed, but kept to a soft tone, hoping that his argument would be enough to break through your fear.

   You finished putting your clothes on, using that as an excuse to buy time to think, and he let you have that.

   “Kate,” you finally said, once you were done. “She took a pair of dad’s burner phones from the house. If she’s found him, then he has one and she has the other.”

   He pulled you into a hug then, gently kissing the side of your head and holding you tightly against him, because from the moment that you left that room, he’d have to go back to being the perfect operative, not allowing any distractions until this was done.

<><><><><><><> 

   A part of you was relieved to know that apparently, he did have something planned. But you were also worried about the fact that he still hadn’t told you exactly what that was.    He was going to fight Will, but to what end?    He still couldn’t kill him, so your assumption was that he planned on capturing him, and he clearly wanted you to be elsewhere when that happened, which you understood.

   Your job was to keep your baby safe, so you would keep away if need be, and leave the fighting to him and Dean, but you couldn’t do that unless you knew that you’d actually be safe.    There was an uneasy feeling that gnawed at you from somewhere deep down in your subconscious, but as much as you tried to figure out what it was, you couldn’t.

   So, you followed quietly as he led the way to the car, never letting go of you until you were safely buckled up, with Groot happily welcoming you back from the backseat.    Pero insisted on driving this time, and you didn’t argue, because it gave you time to think.    But when you got to the place where you’d agreed to meet with Kate, your father and Abby was there, and suddenly all you wanted was to hug them close and know that they were okay.

   “Dad!” you called as soon as you were out of the car, and then ran to meet him on the otherwise abandoned rest-stop.

   “Hey, Bumblebee,” he warmly greeted once his arms were wrapped all the way around you, and in that moment, you felt like maybe everything would be alright after all.

   When you let go of him to hug Abby next, he stepped over to Pero, but you didn’t see how they exchanged a look and then turned their backs to the rest of you.    You saw them slowly walk further away while discussing something, though, so you felt certain that they were coming up with a plan, and that thought was only comforting to you in that moment.

   And so was the sight of all five dogs lining up in a circle around the rest of you, the moment that the men stepped away.

   “Are you okay?” Abby asked when she pulled back, glancing down at your abdomen before returning to your eyes. “I heard you were at the hospital.”

   “Yeah, I just had a scare, nothing to worry about,” you said, which wasn’t entirely true, but there was no real point in mentioning that you needed to reduce your stress, because that wasn’t gonna be possible anyway.

   At least, not until this was over.

   You looked towards the men who seemed to be deeply embedded in a serious conversation by then, but you couldn’t make out anything that they were saying.    But they looked like they were in agreement, so you tried not to worry. Together, the two of them were a force to be reckoned with, so whatever their plan would be, you felt certain that your odds of getting out of this without losing anyone, were increasing.

   You hoped that Pero was being honest with him, telling him about not wanting to kill William, because otherwise any plan that they came up with, was doomed to fail.    Although, you did feel certain that your partner wouldn’t be stupid enough to lie about that, but you also wondered why they weren’t including the rest of you in their reasoning.    After another few minutes, the men nodded to each other and then came back to the group, stepping into the guarding circle of canines that shifted to accommodate them.

   “Okay, here’s what we’re thinking,” Dean declared. “Since we can’t track William, we have to wait for him to make a move before we can do anything. But with all of us out in the open, we’re simply too vulnerable, because it forces Pero and I to focus primarily on protection, rather than attack.    So, what we need to do is split up.”

   “But wouldn’t that make those of us that can’t fight even more vulnerable?” you questioned, to which your partner offered the answer.

   “Not if we can put you in a place where even if he can find you, he can’t get to you.”

   “Like where?” Abby asked, and again, it was Pero that responded.

   “Like a SCIF.”

   Jones raised her brows at that, clearly the only one of the rest of you who knew what that was.

   “You’re telling me that you’ve got access to one in this city? Because I find it hard to believe that there even is one here,” she challenged.

   “I have a small one of my own, Kate,” Dean informed her. “How else do you think I’ve been able to safely record any data about my work without the risk of it being intercepted?”

   She didn’t question that, so apparently it made sense to her.    None of this made sense to you, though.

   “Can someone please tell me what the hell a SCIF is?” you requested, and your father turned to you.

   “It’s an acronym that stands for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. In short, it’s a secure way of storing digital as well as physical information, basically as close to an impenetrable room as you can get.”

   “Is that one of the other three hideouts of yours?” you asked, because that would explain why he hadn’t told you about all of them.

   “Yes, and it’s not that far from here. So, I’m gonna take you and Abby there, while Pero and our brave policemen here are gonna distract William.”

   That did actually sound like a solid plan to you. And exactly the sort of plan that you’d expect these two men to come up with.    So, why was that feeling still gnawing at you?

   “I don’t like the thought of leaving you,” you told Pero, and he stepped closer to you to take your hands.

   “I know. But this is the only way I can think of, to keep everyone alive,” he said, which reminded you of something.

   “You still think that there’s a way to end this without killing him?” you asked, and he sighed heavily.

   “I don’t know. But I have to try,” he almost whispered now. “I owe him that.    Do you understand?”

   “Not really,” you admitted. “But I know you. I know what this family means to you, so if William is somehow still equally important to you, despite everything, then I guess I do understand why you can’t just end him.”

   “Thank you, querida,” he breathed, sounding relieved.

   He took you in his arms then and held you as tightly as he dared without breaking you.    And when he let you go, he kissed you briefly before immediately stepping away, kneeling beside Groot to tell him to look after you.    Meanwhile, your father followed you back to your car and made sure that you got in before he called Groot over.

   And once Abby had joined you and everyone was buckled up, Dean started the car and drove off.    You watched Pero for as long as the road allowed, and he did the same, and when he disappeared from view, the sinking feeling that you weren’t going to see him again for what was probably several days, made you sad and worried.

<><><><><><><> 

   Pero watched you for as long as he could, but once you were gone, his work began and he sprung into action, ordering the remaining four dogs to load up into Dean’s customized truck.

   “Alright, so what’s the plan for this distraction?” Jones asked, while he locked them in and double checked the latches.

   “There isn’t one,” he declared as he approached her and the kid. “Thank you for your help. Now, go back to your lives and forget that this ever happened.”

   Ghosting past them, he snatched both of their radios and the burner phone, dropping them on the ground and stomping on them until they were all broken.    At first, they were just shocked and much too unnerved by his uncanny movements, to say anything. But he could see that Jones was thinking hard, and he could see it when she connected the dots.

   “There’s no SCIF… is there?” she correctly pondered, and he shook his head.

   “But… what does that mean? Where are they going?” Cody asked, sounding angry about the obvious deception.

   “Somewhere safe. That’s all you need to know,” Pero answered sharply. “Sorry about your stuff, but I can’t let you warn her.    Do I need to disable the cruiser’s comms too?”

   He pointed the question at Jones, and she met his eyes for a long moment.

   “No,” she finally said, and he knew that she meant it, even though the kid immediately started protesting.

   She ignored him completely, nodding at Pero with tears building in her eyes.    Because she understood what he was doing. And why.

   He hopped into the truck and drove off, following your father’s route because he knew that William would be on your trail already.

<><><><><><><> 

   The drive wasn’t as long as you’d expected, considering that the rest-stop had been on the other side of town from your father’s ranch.    But then, you supposed that it was possible that this secure facility could be somewhere completely unrelated to his property.    That would actually make a lot of sense.

   It took you a while to recognize the place where he finally stopped, though, because you hadn’t been there since you’d been a very small girl.    It was a really old and overgrown single runway, with a little tower that was all but collapsed, and a hangar that had been empty for at least thirty years.    And still, you didn’t question it.

   Dean was masterful when it came to hiding things, even very big things, so you just assumed that this facility was underground, or cleverly concealed in some other way.    And you believed that specifically because no one would ever expect to find anything special here, which made it the perfect hiding place.

   He parked right outside the hangar and told everyone to get out.    Then he brought you inside the large but rundown structure with no roof left, bringing you to the very end of the open space, where he opened a hidden panel in the back wall, and flipped a master switch.    Nothing happened, but then he pressed a button underneath the switch, and a hatch in the floor suddenly opened.

   “Alright, follow me and watch your step,” he said as he began to climb down a ladder into what appeared to be complete darkness.

   Nevertheless, you and Abby followed, helping Groot to get down together, and once you reached the floor, Dean was there in what little light streamed down from above.

   “Straight ahead now, just stay on my tail,” he continued, leading you forwards into what quickly became pitch black.

   Using touch and vocal guidance, he led you to a metal structure where you heard a sliding door being unlocked and opened, before you had to climb up a couple of steps.

   “There are seats just to your left there. Sit down and wait while I get the lights,” he told you both, and then you heard the door that you’d just come through, being shut and locked.

   There was scuffle of clothing ahead of you as Dean moved, then other sounds that you couldn’t identify, before a slight whirring sounded.    Little red lights suddenly popped up everywhere, too small to actually light up the room, but enough to let you make out certain details.    Most noticeably, that you didn’t seem to be in a room.

   But it wasn’t until a loud rumble sounded from above, and daylight suddenly started streaming down, that you could see what it actually was.    You’d climbed down through the floor of the hangar, into a hidden subterranean hangar of equal size, where your father apparently had a large military helicopter stashed away.    From the cockpit, he’d activated an automated opener for the floor of the hangar above you, which was the source of the rumbling and the reason why the light was reaching you.

   He was already starting the twin engines when you got up and approached the small opening between the cargo bay and the cockpit.    But once there, you couldn’t find anything to say.    Because how could you berate or scold him for lying to you, when he’d done it precisely because he knew that you would never have agreed to this, even though it was probably your best shot at getting away safely.

   He didn’t say anything either, he just kept working on warming up the engines. And even when the craft started to climb out of the giant hole in ground, he didn’t tell you to go get strapped in.    Which was why you saw it when the helicopter climbed past the rundown walls of the hangar, revealing a car that came to a screeching stop right beside yours.

   You saw William step out of it, and instantly aim a gun at the craft, but before he could get a shot off, another car approached, and this one you recognized.    Pero must’ve been tailing you at a distance, waiting for Will to reveal himself so that he could ambush him.

   And abruptly, you knew that this had been his plan all along. Perhaps from the moment that you’d stepped out of the shower and found him on the edge of the bed. Or even earlier, when he’d been pacing about the house.    He must’ve known, even then, that the only way for him to be able to both protect and fight, was if he separated the two.

   Sending you away was the hardest decision that he’d ever had to make, you were certain of that, as you could now understand the absolute anguish and torment that you’d seen in him that day.    But he was also wilfully ignoring what losing him would do to you.    And you weren’t sure that you could ever forgive that.

   Finally high enough, Dean turned the aircraft and the scene on the ground disappeared from your view as he sped away.    From that moment on, all you could do was cling to the hope that there was still some humanity left in William, and that Pero would be able to reach it.    Because if not, then this would be the last time that you ever saw the father of your child.

===============

Link to Part 21

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