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echos-lighthouse · 3 years ago

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Ninjago fairy tale AU’s because I can’t sleep

Lloyd: little red riding hood

Zane: Snow White

Echo: Rapunzel

Jay: the little mermaid

Kai: beauty and the beast

Cole: Goldilocks and the three bears

Little green riding hood

This was going to be Kai but Lloyd fit better

Oh my gosh like the fandoms expectations for the green ninja

Lloyd was told by his Uncle Wu to go pick up some tea from Mystake

On his way back, he keeps running into Akita, who’s trying to warn him of danger, but Lloyd can’t understand her

The danger is Harumi is following him. Lloyd doesn’t see her

When Lloyd reaches the monastery, Harumi is there, pretending to tend the place

She says that she’ll take the tea to Wu, and Lloyd is give her the tea, when Akita comes and scares Harumi off

Akita sniffs out Wu and after she finds him, reveals herself as a human

Then they all live happily ever after (except Harumi) the end

Snow White

Zane is the son of the oh so famous Dr. Julien, the royal inventor, but the King (ice elemental from the elemental alliance) takes a liking to Zane, and adopts him when Dr. Julien dies

Now Zane is the prince woo

The King also takes a liking to the ice emperor, but that was a mistake, because he sneakily kills the king and takes the throne for himself

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the coldest of them all?”

It’s Zane

So IE tells Vex to go kill Zane, but Vex doesn’t actually know how to kill a nindroid so he just tells him to run into the forest

That’s where Zane meets the 7 dwarves

Hungry (Cole) Chatty (Jay) Confused (teen Wu) Flirty (Kai) Grumpy (Morro) Happy (Echo) and Sleepy (Lloyd)

Later he meets P.I.X.A.L. who immediately catches his heart

The IE finds out that Zane is still alive, and decides that since Vex didn’t help him, he was going to have to kill Zane himself

He disguises himself and goes into the forest

He gives Zane an apple that gives him a fatal virus, but Zane doesn’t realize it’s bad so he dies (wow shocker)

Then the IE falls off a cliff

The 7 dwarves hold a small funeral and invite P.I.X.A.L.

P.I.X.A.L. realizes that Zane isn’t dead dead, so she kisses him and he comes back to life

They go back to the kingdom and Zane is crowned king, and P.I.X.A.L is queen. The dwarves are advisors

Then they all live happily ever after the end

Echo

Dr. Julien didn’t want Zane to know he was building a little brother for him, because he was getting sick, and thought he was going to die soon, and he didn’t want Zane to be sad at his brother and his father not being around

So he struck up a deal with Samukai the Skeleton

Samukai would give him a private place to build Echo, and a potion to help him get better if Samukai got to keep Echo

Not having much of an option, Dr. Julien agreed, hoping that Echo and Zane would find each other on their own

Echo was built and Samukai kept him in a lighthouse

Dr. Julien tells Zane of his missing brother

Events of Snow White (seen above) ensue and now Zane is king yay

Morro is a wanted thief and while getting away, he runs into what he thinks is an abandoned lighthouse

Only to find a rusty nindroid

Echo explains he’s always wanted to see the real world but he never got to

Morro sneaks him out and they head to the kingdom to celebrate the king’s birthday

Echo realizes that he’s the king’s brother, and he a Morro go back to ask Samukai questions

Samukai does an exposition dump, and stabs Morro, before Morro simply blows him away

Morro dies but he’s a ghost so it’s okay

They return to the kingdom and Echo FINALLY meets Zane

Morro and Echo start dating

Then they all live happily ever after the end

The Little Mermaid

Jay was always fascinated with little toys he found from human shipwrecks

He would often go on and on about what he thought they were all used for

His father may have been King Cliff, but Jay was practically raised by Ed and Edna, who taught him about the human world

His mom is dead rip

He goes to the surface and finds Nya, who he immediately falls in love with

He stays hidden, but sings Nya a little song

The ship almost wrecks, but Jay saves Nya. She’s barely waking up to his song again before he swims off. She wants to know who that voice was

Jay finds a locket with Nya and her brother in it, and he wants to take it to Nya, so he tells his dad

His dad isn’t happy that Jay fell in love with a human

After another fight with his father, Jay goes off and gets lost, but is found by Nadakhan

Nadakhan says he can make Jay human, all he has to do is wish, and Jay gets 3 wishes total. After the third wish, Nadakhan gets something of Jay’s

Jay’s first wish is to be human, his second is that he won’t be able to speak because he wants to save his 3rd wish

Nadakhan grants Jay’s wishes and Jay goes to learn to become human. He gives the locket to Nya

Nya tells him about her brother’s romantic escapades (see below) but she also tells him that she has to get married soon or she might not be able to support her career in technological advancement

She has her sights (or rather ears) set on the lovely voice she heard that night, but Jay can’t tell her that that was him

They meet Nadakhan who has come to get Jay’s third wish, but Jay won’t use it

Nadakhan says that if Jay doesn’t use his third wish by sundown the next day, he was going to kill Nya

Nadakhan uses magic to sound like Jay, and Nya has to marry him (she’s under a spell)

The next day, Jay still hasn’t made his third wish by sundown and Nya starts dying

Jay wishes her to stay alive, and says even if Nadakhan takes his legs and he never gets to see Nya again, he’ll be fine, just as long as she lives

Nadakhan grants the wish, but the spell on Nya fades away and she falls in love with Jay

I don’t know what to do with Nadakhan, I think I’ll have him just take the boat and leave

Then they all live happily ever after the end

Flirty and the Beast

Kai is the biggest flirt in their village

Everyone knows he’s just a blacksmith who likes fighting, but men and women alike can’t get enough of his flirtatious exploits

Though he’s never actually known what real love is. He also wants to go out on an adventure, but the closest he’s ever gotten was books

One day, Nya wants to take her samurai x project to ninjago city, and Kai tells her to have fun

While Cryptor (literally couldn’t find a better villain please work with me) is trying to get Kai to date him, Kai receives a message from Nya that she’s in trouble

Kai runs off to try and save her and that’s when he finds out that Nya’s been taken prisoner by an anacondrai looking person

She introduces herself as Skylor, and she says she’ll let Nya go if Kai stays with her

Kai agrees and Nya goes back to their village to get help

Nya tells Cryptor about Kai, and he just laughs it off, because Nya’s a women, and all women are crazy, but he decides that if Nya is going crazy, he could hold it against Kai

But he can’t find Kai

Back at Skylor’s mansion castle, Kai gets curious and finds the staff making Skylor a snake

After she scares him, he runs into the woods and is attacked by wolves, but Skylor saves him

They star falling in love after that

Kai asks Skylor if he could visit Nya, and Skylor reluctantly lets him go for good, thinking he might like that most

Kai also tells them of Skylor, finally realizing he loves her, and Cryptor decides to get rid of her, because “if I can’t have Kai, no one can”

They fight

After stopping Cryptor (Nya was able to shut him off) Kai shucking finally kisses Skylor and she turns into a Normal human

Wanting to help Kai go on and adventure, Skylor takes him, and Nya on a trip to visit a beach (queue previous story)

then they live happily ever after the end

Noir locks

Cole never wanted to sing and dance, but he loved watching the lumberjacks

One day he followed them out to a part of the woods he was unfamiliar with

He explores a bit more and finds a house. There seems to be fresh food, he didn’t eat breakfast and was starving, so he sneaks in

There’s cake

After eating the vanilla cake instead of the chocolate or strawberry, Cole decides to take a nap. He woke up super early to catch the lumberjacks, and walking for so long made him exhausted

He finds the most luxurious bed he’s ever slept in

He’s woken up to a high pitched scream

He sees an ivory and gold colored bear and starts screaming too

Two more bears come up the stairs

After they all calm down, the bears introduced themselves as Vania, Seliel, and Kataru

Kataru says his sister is usually here as well but she was out doing something else

Cole asks what the heck is going on and why there were talking bears sleeping in beds and eating cake

Vania explains that her father cursed her and Seliel, and Kataru was just a bear formling

Cole decides to see if he can do anything about it, so Vania leads him to her fathers mine

Cole try’s to reason with Vangelis, but the king won’t have it

Vania explains that Cole needs to shave Vangelis’s beard because that’s where he stores his magic

Cole does, but Vania and Seliel are still bears

Vangelis later explains that his magic is actually from a magic skull and he just tells people that it’s in his beard because he wants to throw them off

Cole tries to steal the skull, and Vangelis catches him and turns Cole into a bear

After fighting Vangelis and ultimately getting the skull, Cole runs off

He takes the skull back to Kataru who destroys it

Vania, Cole and Seliel turn back

Not having any real magic anymore, and just being a horrible person, Vangelis is knocked off the throne and Vania takes over

Then they all live happily ever after the end

#ninjago #ninjago au #fairy tales #fairy tale au

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startanewdream · 4 years ago

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Summer Heat

Summary: James is late and summer heat always brings out Lily’s emotions.

Part of my Jily Lives AU, set during Order of the Phoenix and based on @secretsongdeer‘s amazing prompt of “James or Lily is late from an Order mission, and the other is worried sick".

It turned out into this crazy emotional roller-coaster of Angst and Smut.

Rated M, so all below the cut or on AO3. Read at your own risk (but if anyone wants a PG version, just tell me that I can post it too :D)

_______________________

James is late.

It is not like it never happened before, it is not like every Order mission has a defined duration of time and it is not like he is on a particularly dangerous mission tonight, but still fear bubbles like acid in her stomach. He is supposed to be on watch-duty with Sirius, and while she trusts Sirius to guard him with his life, she also knows Sirius can be a little hothead too and Sirius hates to stay still for too long.

Also, when they are together, Prongs and Padfoot, things tend to escape control, even for a mission that is supposed to be only guarding a door.

Or maybe she is overreacting. Many simple things could have happened. Tonks got caught in her work and could not relieve them; someone decided to stop by the Department of Mysteries and they had to wait to get out. Still, Lily knows she will never get used to that feeling of waiting for him to come home safe.

Maybe it was the years of relative peace they enjoyed that have made her feel more unacquainted with that waiting. For the last fifteen years, James had not once taken a mission for the Order. Ever since Harry was born, they both had promised to concentrate their energy in protecting their son - and all they had done that first year was hiding, moving from a place to another, until Voldemort had finally found them and -

She blinks, deciding to not let her thoughts wander in that direction - in that horrible night -, and her eyes fall on Harry. He is sitting on the kitchen table, reading a muggle newspaper, his face closed and troubled.

That is not new. All summer Harry has been distraught, demanding they talk to him and yet refusing to say anything himself. Lily can read her son easier than she can read the book she is supposed to be currently studying, and she can see a storm brewing inside Harry, but he insists on staying silent. He hasn’t said a word about that night in the graveyard with Voldemort, nor about Cedric Diggory and not even a mention of whatever dreams have been tormenting him at night.

Her husband is late and her son is suffering and she cannot help any of them right now.

Her head hurts.

Somehow this feels worse than the first time, which doesn’t make any sense. In the First War, she was too young and inexperienced and no matter what they said to each other, they were losing - Dorcas was killed by Voldemort himself, Marlene and her family had perished in a fire, they didn’t trust Remus and they trusted Peter too much, and Harry was the target of a prophecy.

Now they are better prepared. Voldemort is still hiding and they know what he is after and that gives them an advantage. As long as they can keep Voldemort away from the prophecy, they will have more time to… She doesn’t know what they will do with more time. Convince those stupid politicians that Voldemort is really back? Gather more help for the Order? Prepare better her son for -

No. This is not Harry’s obligation, no matter what a stupid prophecy says. Voldemort is still human and then he can die like any other man. Anyone can kill him; she will kill him if she gets the chance. Not her fifteen-year-old son, who is currently crumpling the newspaper as if it offends him, tearing each page with particular vengefulness and throwing it in the fireplace to watch them burn.

‘Harry…’, she begins, her voice as tired as she feels, trying to ignore the buzz in her head.

‘There is nothing here’, he complains, still tearing the pages. ‘Of course, we could actually know what’s going on if we hadn’t cancelled our subscription of the Daily Prophet’.

Lily presses the bridge of her nose to see if her headache gets better. It doesn’t help.

‘We told you the Prophet is not reporting anything because nothing is going on’.

Except for the current attack on them - the silly remarks of Harry's instability, the cruel distortion of her story with James -, but she doesn’t say that. They will have to tell Harry eventually; she just never found an opening for it, because he is always brooding and upset and Lily knows that Harry will feel guilty for causing trouble when he hears it.

As if it’s his fault for witnessing Voldemort’s return.

‘How can there be nothing to report? With you guys all mysterious?’

‘We are not - ’, when Harry rolls his eyes disdainfully, she stops to control her own rising anger. It is not Harry’s fault that she is more stressed than normal today. Where the hell is James?

'Don't pretend everything is fine, Mum. I see you looking at your watch every five seconds. I know you are worried about Dad'.

She forces herself to breathe normally, even though she knows she won't deceive him. Harry and Lily always understood each other too well.

‘It’s just normal Order business’.

‘If there is Order business happening -’

‘There is always Order stuff going on, Harry. We didn’t stay doing nothing for all these years’.

‘You could have fooled me’, he whispers loudly enough for her to hear but to also pretend she hasn't understood him.

She shouldn’t take his bait, but James is not there and how can he be so damn late? She is fearing for him and also a little mad - why couldn't he choose another mission? One that he could do safely at home? And why did she have to stay behind? Someone has to look after Harry, sure, but she is as much capable as him of doing things. Next time he can be the one staying and worrying about where is she and why the hell she is late -

‘And what do you mean by that?’, she asks before she can stop herself.

Harry turns to really face her now. He may look like a copy of James sometimes, but the raging expression in his face is just like the one on Lily’s.

Like her, Harry’s temper rises too fast and too quickly.

‘I didn’t see your amazing Order when I was facing Quirrell. Or when there was a basilisk in the castle. Or -’.

‘Harry -’

‘And a great job you all did last year’, he adds, ignoring her, his voice raising. ‘That bloody Death Eater was just under your nose -’

‘HARRY!’

Lily stands furiously and Harry blinks at her, seeming both surprised and satisfied that she screamed at him.

‘You know, this, right now, is why you are too young to be involved with the Order’.

‘Am I young?’, he asks, baffled, crossing his arms. ‘How can I be too young with all the things that happened to me?’

‘You are fifteen and you don’t get it. Do you think facing Voldemort is enough? I’ve done it four times too -’

‘And I am the one with a scar! I am the one that gets stuck with sphinxes and dragons and that has to escape him over and over again, so no, you don’t get it!’.

She closes her eyes briefly and then she can see, as if she is locked on that moment, the memory of that night, that horrible night, of Voldemort raising his wand to her little baby, of her and James alone and helpless -

No.

‘What I get’, she says, forcing herself to calm her voice, ‘is that you are fifteen and you should be worried about other stuff. School, dates, your pimples. And I am sorry that things keep happening to you and I know it’s not fair -’

‘And still, you treat me like a baby! You don’t tell me anything!’

‘You want to talk about who is withholding information? How about we talk about your nightmares?’

Harry stands suddenly, making his chair fall with a heavy sound, but he doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes are blazing with fury and for a moment Lily thinks he will scream at her.

‘I am out’, he says instead, his voice trembling with cold fury. When she opens her mouth to argue, he adds: ‘In the backyard. I know I can’t leave this bloody house’.

He makes the house sound like a prison.

‘You know perfectly well why you have to stay near’, she reminds him, ignoring his bad language. Harry shrugs, indifferent.

‘Yeah, that amazing blood protection’, he scoffs. ‘Helped a lot last month’.

‘You are alive, aren’t you?’

‘But Cedric isn’t’, he says and more than the anger she can hear his sorrow.

Her annoyance suddenly vanishes, and she takes a step in his direction, but Harry turns his back to her and leaves her alone in the kitchen.

Great. Just all she needed. A grieving teenager son and a missing husband.

She points her wand around the kitchen, thinking of making tea for herself - and Harry when he returns from his walk around the garden. She knows her son. He will still be angry, but much less inclined to fighting again. He will accept her tea.

She glances outside the window, fanning herself with her hand. It’s early night already, but the heat did not wave. It's the hottest summer she can remember, which isn't probably helping any of them. Summer heat always brings out your emotions, her mother used to say.

And once more she feels that bitterness of worry for where James is and why he didn't warn her that he would be two hours late - he could have been drinking with Sirius right now as much as he could have fallen into a trap for all she knows and -

The thought makes her feel strangely cold and Lily shivers before she notices it's not only her mind playing tricks with her. Something is off. She can see her own breath condensing in the air. It’s eerily quiet around her and she can’t hear any sound coming from the street, nor the sound of the teakettle whistling - in fact, even though she is three feet away from the stove, she can’t feel the warmth of the fire at all. It is like there is an ice storm coming, inside the house, and she thinks she will never feel happiness again -

The realization comes to her suddenly and it helps shake her senses. Lily raises, gripping her wand in her trembling hand and she concentrates on one thought. Find Harry.

She leaves the kitchen, following Harry’s steps, going almost blindly to the edges of their propriety, close to the small woods that James uses to transform with Remus on full moon nights. It is dark outside as if the lights from the lamp streets cannot reach their house and the sky has lost all the stars. The despair threatens to overwhelm her and she takes deep heavy breaths, looking around - she can’t see them, she can’t see Harry, but she knows they are close… They shouldn’t be here, not here, not with their blood protection…

Except she knows Voldemort was able to touch Harry, so maybe it isn’t as strong as before… maybe Harry is helpless, and she will have to watch her son die before her eyes once more - no, she can’t think about it…

‘Mum!’

Harry’s voice breaks through her reverie and she turns towards the sound. Harry is running, coming from behind the old broom shed, his face pale and sweating. Two dementors are gliding behind him, and for a moment Lily thinks of silly horror movies, of how no matter how much the victim runs, the killer always catches it -

Harry screams for her again and Lily raises her wand, the spell ready in her lips, her mind focusing on protecting him. But Harry is still looking fearfully at her, his eyes opened in panic and it takes her a full second to understand he is not really staring at her.

But at something behind her.

The cold gets stronger than before and it is like a block of ice has dropped directly over her, almost making her heart stop beating altogether. It is not fear - it is the certainty she will never feel happiness again, that this is all useless. All she ever did was delay this moment because nothing could ever stop it - did she really think she could save herself? Or Harry?

The dementor is almost gentle as it grabs her, opening her arms and approaching her face. It does not seem to be in a hurry, and she doesn’t see the dementor’s face, because she thinks of Voldemort during that night. He wasn’t in a hurry either.

She can hear her own voice, how she pleaded and pleaded that not Harry, not ever Harry, they would do anything, her and James, because they loved Harry too much. And Voldemort had laughed, cruelly and happily, and told them to stand aside. But James and Lily had stood, their hands together, protecting their son as if their body shield would be enough - Voldemort had then blasted them out of the way like they were nothing and then he had marched to her son, his wand raised just like the dementor’s hand in her direction - and she had watched helpless, unable to stop, as he cast the Killing Curse on her son - and the world had exploded in a bright green fire and she had thought - she had believed - they all were dead… and Harry who was barely one-year-old, who had died alone because she couldn’t protect him…

But he didn’t die, a small part of her thinks, Harry is alive, your love saved him. And she tries to concentrate on this small hope, even though this time James is not there with her -

‘ Expecto - expecto patronum!’

There is a small wisp of vapour, a light that seems to flicker for less than a second, but her doe does not come out of her wand. This last effort used all her strength, however, so Lily drops her wand and the dementor is upon her now, his horrible mouth close enough to kiss her, taking away her hope and her soul -

‘EXPECTO PATRONUM!’

There is a flash of light and Lily is suddenly falling in the ground, the dementor dropping her. She raises her eyes to see, through her blurred vision, antlers hitting the dementor that was holding her - it’s a stag, she realizes, so James has finally come home…

But it’s not James. It’s Harry and for all they look alike, she never once mistook one from another.

Harry is at her side, his arms around her while he points his own wand to direct his patronus to the other dementors. His face is contorted with fury and fear and his arms are trembling, but Harry makes his patronus draw away all dementors, until his stag patronus comes back to them, circling them as if on guard.

‘They - they are gone’, Harry whispers and Lily knows he is right. The stars are shining in the sky again, there is a sound of life around them and the heat is back. She is sweating, but she doesn’t think it’s because of the summer heat anymore.

‘Thank you’, she says weakly, and when her eyes can focus on something, she finds herself staring at the bright eyes of the stag patronus he had never seen him cast before. Her hand raises, but the patronus dissipates in thin air before she can touch it. ‘He was beautiful’.

‘It is Prongs’, Harry says, his voice still very low. ‘Can - can you walk?’

She nods and accepts his help to stand up; he is almost at her height now. She had not noticed it before.

‘Let’s go back’.

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

Lily hates Grimmauld Place.

It is the darkest house she ever entered and she feels that the house hates her too as if every long-dead Black is watching over her when she is there, judging her, calling her a mudblood and how dare she enter their sacred house. All the pureblood air threatens to overwhelm her, crush her like a bug and she curses the place.

But for all she is unwelcomed there, she hates it more because of Sirius.

She knows Sirius hates that house that was never a home for him and she admires him for offering Grimmauld Place as a safe hour to host the Order of the Phoenix; she knows the place holds no good memories for him and she hears his bitterness whenever he mentions his parents. And Sirius is miserable all the time he is there; he loathes everything, from the house-elf he never wanted to inherit to his mother’s portrait that they didn’t manage to take down.

And an unhappy Sirius is never a good thing. She notices how he always drinks more when they are there in one of their meetings - something Snape always mentions - and how reckless he gets after staying there for more than five minutes as if he is still that teenager who once needed to prove himself so different from his family.

When she mentions it to James, he looks worriedly at Sirius, but tells her that everything is fine - but Lily knows it is not fine, because Voldemort is back and Harry is suffering in silence and everything they fought for in the last fourteen years is crumbling. And she fears that James wants to be a little reckless too. They went hiding for a year before the First War ended and she knows him - he hated standing still, feeling like he wasn’t doing enough, and he is afraid to have to lie low again.

And James always enjoyed taking risks too much - he would never do anything that could harm Lily and Harry, of course, but then things are different now. Harry is older and not a helpless baby and Lily agreed to watch over him, concentrating on more internal missions, all because he assured her he would not be in danger -

All these thoughts come back to her but Lily doesn’t say anything. She feels strangely detached, doing things automatically, without really thinking about it. Some part of her registers when she and Harry arrive in the house, when he offers her a piece of chocolate that she can’t make herself eat despite knowing it will help, and when she hears their laughter.

Sirius’s bark laughter and James’ the-world-is-a-good-place-come-laugh-with-me laughter.

The sound causes a wave of anger through her body and that almost wakes her, but the numbness is still too high.

She watches them entering the kitchen and their smiles dying when they see her and Harry, in the exact moment they register something is wrong. Harry is explaining what happened and James is at her side, his face pale - and she wants to cry, where were you?, but she still keeps silent.

She almost jumps when an owl flies through the open window - owls aren’t allowed, they’ve cut communication -, but it is only an official owl from the Ministry. It shouldn’t be bad - except the Ministry of Magic has declared war against the Potters lately, so it is not surprising when the letter talks about Harry being expelled from Hogwarts.

Harry looks heartbroken and somehow more afraid than when he was running from dementors, so that sparks some life in Lily. She raises, ignoring James’ hand extended towards her - she can’t deal with him, not now - and she puts her hand on Harry’s shoulder.

‘We need to go to a safer place’, she says, her voice rough. It’s the first thing she has said in the last fifteen minutes, even though she knew they had to move ever since she saw the dementors.

‘Grimmauld Place’, Sirius suggests and for once Lily doesn’t grimace at the mention of that house. She will go anywhere if it means Harry will be safe and that was the only place she thought of.

‘But - Hogwarts - I can’t be -’

‘Dumbledore will solve this, Harry’, James promises, and Lily sees his patronus already galloping and vanishing in the darkness outside. It’s a stag, as always, but this vision fills her with more violence than comfort and she ignores him once more when he tries to take her hand.

‘Go pack your things, quickly’, Lily tells Harry, placing a soft kiss on his forehead before letting him go.

‘Lily -’, she hears James calling her but Lily doesn’t turn around. Sirius looks from James to her and then back again.

‘I will go help Harry’, he says, hurrying after his godson and leaving them alone.

There is a moment of silence. Lily flinches when James touches her arm, and he doesn’t insist.

‘Lily?’, he asks again, his voice very soft.

‘Where were you?’, Lily whispers, still avoiding looking in his direction. ‘You were supposed to be back more than two hours ago’.

‘I -’, he hesitates and Lily knows he is considering lying to her in that one second it takes for him to keep talking. ‘It was a very good lead, Lily, I swear -’

‘Lead’, she repeats, without any emotion in her voice.

‘It was the best one we had in months - the sewers -’

‘The sewers? You left me alone to go on a chase for Wormtail?’

She doesn’t need to see his face to know she got it right. She can hear the heaviness in his sighing, the one that only thinking of his former friend causes him.

And she doesn’t need to ask him how the search was. James has been looking for Peter for more than one year now and he never got close to finding him.

He is a rat, she wants to say. You will never find him .

‘I will go take our things’, she says instead.

‘Lily - I am really -’

‘Not now, James’, she cuts him and she leaves the kitchen because she can’t stand to look at him.

It may not be fair, but so it wasn’t leaving her alone.

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

Dumbledore promises he will fix things, but the fact is that Harry has a disciplinary hearing and she can see real fear in her son’s eyes.

And not just that. The anger too. She hears him screaming at Ron and Hermione, obviously unhappy with the fact that he was alone all summer while they were together, no matter in a dismayed place like Grimmauld Place. Harry is feeling betrayed.

Right now, he isn’t the only one feeling like that.

Lily survives through the Order meeting barely registering what everyone is saying. She doesn’t participate in James and Sirius’ heated discussion of how the hell three dementors managed to pass their barriers to attack her and Harry, she doesn’t even acknowledge that Snape is for once glancing in her direction. They end the meeting rescheduling their patrol rounds and for the first time she submits her name, her voice daring anyone - James - to disagree with her participation; but even though she can feel James’ eyes looking intensely at her, he doesn’t say anything.

That’s for the best. She doesn’t want to hex him in front of everyone.

When the meeting is over, Sirius, obviously thinking he is being very nice, takes them upstairs to offer her and James the master bedroom. It’s a nice old room, even if a little dusty and dark, and she realizes that Sirius was late for the Order meeting because he had been fixing the room for them in whatever way he could.

A part of her thinks it was kind of him, especially because he must hate that room that belonged to his parents. Lily glances around, her eyes falling on the elegant canopy bed, but all she feels is loathe, if only by the fact that Walburga and Orion Black once slept there; she never met them and she barely heard the stories, but she saw how much they messed with Sirius to know she would hate them. The feeling would be mutual - they would despise her for her blood.

When she turns around, James is alone with her in the room, in front of the closed door. His expression is concerned.

‘Here. Eat this’, he says, offering her a chocolate bar. She ignores it. ‘You need chocolate for dementors, Lily, you know Remus -’

‘This is your fault’.

She hears her words but somehow it takes a second for her to realize she said them.

It’s irrational, she knows, because James wasn’t the one that sent those dementors she should be able to handle, nor he is the one that threatened to expel Harry from Hogwarts, and for one mad moment, she thinks he will argue with her. But James just blinks, his shoulders slumped and he nods.

‘I know’.

‘No’, Lily whispers, taking a step closer to him, her eyes ablaze. ‘You don’t get to self-hatred’.

James blinks.

'You don't want me to agree with you?' he asks, and Lily can hear the faint amusement in his voice, the one that always looks like an invitation for grinning with him.

Any other day she would accept it, but now there is only one emotion strong enough to break into her numbness: fury, senseless and overwhelming fury.

'You don't get to find this funny, James. You don't get anything, because you left us'.

He frowns and she sees a flash of hurt in his eyes. Good, Lily thinks darkly.

'I would never leave you -'

'You weren't there. There were three dementors and an underage kid but no James Potter'.

'So I was supposed to foresee it?'

'We all knew something was bound to happen. That's why we keep our eyes on Harry, isn't it?'

'It is not like he was alone - you were there with him!'

'Yeah, I was', she admits, defeated. 'And I was useless because there were dementors and you know what I hear when they are around? That fucking Halloween night, every time'.

'That is what I hear too'.

'And all I could think was that at least that night you were with me. We were losing and dying but at least you were there'.

'Lily… I was on a mission -'

'Oh, spare me, James. The Order comes first, we always agreed on this. But your mission had ended and instead of doing the right thing that was coming back to your family you decided to play the hero'.

He gasps.

'What? I wasn't -'

'No, you're right. It was not playing the hero - that’s Harry. You were on your crazy suicide revenge mission’.

'It is not - it was a good lead, Lily, I wouldn't go if -'

'Did you find him? Did you see Peter? Even a hint of him?'

He doesn't say anything, but she knows the answer in his resentful face.

'Your problem is that you forget everything when it involves him'.

'He betrayed us', James spats, venom in his voice. 'Then he bleed Harry one month ago and he held him and he would watch him die without saying anything. He. Betrayed. Us'.

'Yeah, but that's not what bothers you. It’s your bloody ego. It’s the fact that he betrayed you'.

James' eyes are burning now.

'Yes, it was me firstly', he concedes, agony and hatred in his voice. 'But he would give us all up because he never cared'.

'Taking him down won't change that'.

'And what do you want me to do?', James finally screams and she feels a dark satisfaction in making him lose control. 'Let him go?'

'I want you to care more about us than for your selfish need for revenge!'

'I already care!'

'Then prove it!'

She is screaming too and maybe even crying because her vision is blurred once more, but still, she registers that at some point they got closer than ever, their noses almost touching. She can smell his musky scent and she can feel his heavy breath over her face. James is angry, but so is she and Lily won't stand down, won't forget that while he couldn't stop what happened, he should be there, he should be with her.

He promised they would always be together - and his absence hurts and she is afraid and she hates him for leaving her. She only wants them to be safe. How can they be at war again? Why can’t they have some peace?

She hates him right now, but she hates more all the danger they are in and even then all that hate pales in comparison to how much she loves him.

'Fuck, James', she sighs.

'Fuck, Lily', he agrees, and then their lips are crashing and it's desperate and painful how she clings to him.

Her numbness is all gone, replaced by a familiar urge of James - of his lips, of his touch, of knowing he is with her. It’s been a long time since she felt this fear, this adrenaline rush after a battle or a near-death experience, but she knows how it goes.

His hands cup her face, his thumbs drying the tears that are falling there without Lily even realizing, and she feels locked in his arms - it’s a good feeling. James is home, James is safety and love. She wants more of him, all of James. She needs him.

And he seems to be thinking the same about her. His hands fall to her arse, to hold her up and press her against the door of the room, her legs going automatically around his waist for better support, their lips never leaving each other. She grips the hair at the back of his head, as if holding a lifesaver she can’t let go or else she drowns.

They are not teenagers and they are not in that mad sex phase of a new relationship, so Lily knows they should stop and recover their senses. But this was Orion and Walburga Black's room, she thinks incoherently, and they would never accept someone like her there - that was the prejudice that started a war that messed with their lives. And suddenly Lily knows what she needs to do.

Her hands are shaking as much as before, though for completely different reasons, as she fumbles with his clothes, opening his shirt so she can feel his heartbeat and the muscles in his torso. James is always so warm , much hotter than any summer heat.

His lips move away from hers and before she can complain, James is kissing her neck - or sucking it, she doesn’t know. Where his lips touch her skin she can feel goosebumps erupting and it is so fresh that she moans, even as he, always aware of her, keeps bending down his head until he is kissing the top of her breasts, any piece of skin her cleavage exposes.

She attends his silent request. Her hands leave his chest to take off her own shirt and bra, and as soon as she holds his neck, his mouth is covering her nipple and Lily arches her back as much as she can against the door. It’s cool , she thinks irrationally, feeling his tongue teasing her and feeling the wood of the door behind her naked torso. Good. It was too hot .

But she still needs more.

‘James’, she moans, and he stops to look at her. His hazel eyes are dark and for as much as she loves their natural colour, she loves so much when they are almost brown, filled with lust for her. She knows it’s a match for her own desire. ‘Kiss me’, she asks, and his lips find hers once more.

They are closer now, so it’s easy to slide her hands through his chest, following the path of his hair there, until she is opening his belt and his jeans and she is feeling him, sliding her hand through his length. He moans into their kiss and his hands let her down for just the seconds it takes for him to touch under her skirt and take away her panties.

‘I need you, Lily’, he whispers and it is so much a pleading as a demand; she is willing to accept both.

She nods and he raises her again, both hands now under her skirt, one holding her tight and another grabbing her arse, his fingers pressing her skin and she hopes it leaves a mark for tomorrow. She has been hurt and bruised in battles before, and because of that she loves seeing the soft purple of the places James grabbed her rough, lost in their moment together; these are the marks she is proud of.

His lips are once again on her neck, sucking the skin there (good, another mark), his body pressing her against the door and she can feel his hardness against her pelvis and her pulse beating down there.

‘James - please’.

He was never able to refuse her anything, not really, so James complies at once, his hand leaving her thigh just so he can help himself slide inside her - and it’s a familiar feeling that she can never get really used to, that of him filling her. She moans loudly and uncaringly, her hips trying to move for more friction and God bless James, he attends her wishes once more, moving in sync with her.

They are not young anymore and she knows they will probably regret this tomorrow, but right now she just tightens the grip of her legs around him, inviting him to go deeper and he groans, his head buried in her neck. It is a sound that reverberates into her, and Lily opens her eyes suddenly, her eyes falling on the master bed. It’s still a beautiful canopy bed, one that speaks of luxury and expensive fabrics, and she thinks briefly of how she hates that house, hates the people who lived there.

Toujours pur.

‘James’, she calls him, and he stops moving at once to look at her, breathing heavily. ‘The bed’.

If James finds her request weird, he doesn’t say. He takes her to the bed, laying her down gently, before standing to take off his pants. She moves to take off her skirt too, but he stops her, laying over her, his hand caressing her face to keep her hair out.

‘Keep it’, he asks, and then his lips are finding hers and she loses herself happily in the taste of his mouth. His hand bounds hers above her head, and all Lily can do is arch her back as he enters her again, his movement much more desperate than before and all she can do is meet each one of his thrusts.

She wants to giggle of pure joy, but James is still kissing her and as much amused as she is, she needs that kiss more. But still, a part of her sends a big silent fuck-off for Sirius’ parents in whatever hell they are, because there is a blood traitor and a mudblood fucking in their bed and somehow this makes everything better.

‘Lily’, he groans and Lily hears the warning and request in his voice. She frees her hands, but before she can do anything, James lowers his hand to touch her, on the soft wet spot right above where their bodies meet, and she lets out a moan that is lost in their kiss.

She knows he is losing control now, his thrusts erratic and needy, and that’s fine because she feels the same. More, she thinks, feeling the pressure building inside her, and like if he is reading her mind, James obliges instantly, his finger circling her faster, in sync with the movement of his body. More, James, she thinks one more time, and then she is over the edge, her world exploding in a blinding light that sometimes looks a lot like what happened in that Halloween night, but so different - it is colourful (not just green) and powerful and its ache is welcomed and her heart is beating so fast and so alive.

God, she loves James so much.

Almost like in a dream, she feels James pushing inside her one final time and then his body is shaking, his mouth leaving hers so he can cry her name like a prayer. After what seems years and seconds at the same time, his grip over her looses and she raises her shaking hands to cup his face until he opens his eyes.

His hazel eyes are still burning, but his voice is tender when he whispers: ‘I love you’.

She kisses him softly in response.

James rolls to lay by her side and, in a movement she has made thousands of times before, Lily lays her head over his chest, hearing his heart still beating too fast, while her hand plays with his chest hair.

‘I am sorry for not coming home sooner’, he whispers after a while, his hand caressing her hair absently. ‘You are right, it was selfish - everything. I just… I feel so guilty, Lily, it is my fault only -’

She knows he is not talking about the dementor attack.

‘I trusted him too, James. We all did’.

‘But I - I was the one that was his friend first, I was the one that thought I knew him for all those years - I would have died for him -’

‘You are not wrong for trusting people’, she assures him, finding his hand to grip it tightly. ‘Your faith - that is one of the most amazing things about you. He is the one at fault for not living up to your trust’.

‘I just think, somehow, that if I catch him… I can make everything all right, like if that night never happened, like -’

‘James’, she calls him softly, turning so she can look him in the face. ‘We can’t change the past. Let us live today’.

This makes a sparkling shine in his eyes.

‘I say we are definitely living’, he notes, looking around for all the mess of clothes on the floor, and she lets out an amused laughter that only James can cause. He touches her face, looking at her with undeniable tenderness and love. ‘I will be there next time’.

It is a promise and she believes him.

‘Already waiting for the next dementor attack?’, she asks playfully, and he kisses her on the forehead before they get up.

‘Harry is a magnet for trouble’, he sighs, just half-teasingly, as he picks up his wand to clean them up.

Still, she laughs softly, because sometimes laughing at their own misfortune is all they can do.

‘A little bit dusty here, no?’, James says, looking around.

‘Guess we will have chores to keep Harry busy for a while’.

‘I think he will prefer the dementors’, he jokes, smirking.

Their hands are clasped together when they descend the stairs, following the sound of people talking in the kitchen. Sirius is waiting for them, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised, and he closes the kitchen door to muffle the sound.

‘How old are you?’, he asks grumpily.

‘Same age as you, Padfoot’, James answers easily.

‘And do you have a wand?’

That makes James blink, clearly missing the point.

‘Yeah, you know -’

‘Then why did you forget a basic Silencing Charm?’, asks Sirius, in a hissed whisper. ‘Do you know what I had to endure to go upstairs and cast it just so you wouldn’t further traumatize your son?’

Fifteen years ago Lily would blush at this, but now she just stares at Sirius with pure amusement.

‘That’s what godfathers are for, Padfoot’, she says nicely, raising on her tiptoes to press a kiss in his cheek, while James laughs at her side.

‘Do I even want to know what you were doing with that mouth, Evans?’, Sirius asks, looking at her with an expression torn between disapproval and respect.

‘Probably not’, she chuckles. ‘And it’s been “Potter” for a while now’.

‘Come on’, James says, coming between them because he knows they can lose themselves in their silly banters. ‘I am starving’.

‘Wonder why’, scoffs Sirius, but Lily can see a grin on his lips. Sirius always feels bad when she and James are fighting. ‘Hope you broke the bed at least’.

‘It is a work in progress’, Lily promises, winking at him, and they enter the kitchen.

#Jily Lives #Eyes glistening #Jily Fanfiction #Smut and Angst #Order of the phoenix #James Potter #Lily Evans #t: fanfiction

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finnoky · 4 years ago

Note

AU where pascal didnt save varian in time and andrew dropped him in Rapunzel's return? :3

•| Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts |•

Oh god anon, right out the gate with the angst... I like your style. BUT ALSO THESE WONT BE FUN FACTS CBDJDBX.

TW: Character Injury

1) I'm gonna say that Pascals little thing is delayed — that by the time to thwacks Andrew, Varian has already been dropped + Andrew sorta... Falls overboard just after him. Rapunzel heard Varian yelling for help, and fought the other Saporians off, but by the time she makes it to the boat edge he's just... Gone. Without a trace. She's so panicked she doesn't notice the balloon lines getting slashed until it's too late... Seeing Andrew gives her some hope — girl works out how to lift the ship out of explosion range from the town + Yadda Yadda canon stuff hair goes glow, Rapunzel saves the town all sunshine and rainbows.

2) Boyo landed on a roof in Corona — alive but VERY injured, no one is sure he's actually gonna make it. Rapunzel is horrified the bubble thing didn't work for him which I'm putting down to Varian just not having the reaction time to DO that, at least to himself. But he's not dead. Civilians got him down and were debating what to do with him until Rapunzel came along and made them try help. At least then if he doesn't make it they tried their best; Boy is still awake, though not responding to anything [Cue Eugene arriving to Raps cradling Varian close + singing the healing incantation]

3) Rapunzel gets the fun time of dealing with what she could have done better and starts overworking herself trying to balance everything — it's hard work, she has to deal with her parents, recovering Corona, Cass' betrayal and Varians injuries. She can't bring herself to visit him though she clears his criminal record and assures he won't be going back to prison.

She can't bring herself to visit Varian — she frees Quirin but Eugene has to explain what happened BC she keeps breaking down into tears, she's horrified she sacrificed a friend for her kingdom and it's just. A lot.

She focuses on the kingdom first — it feels good to see herself making progress and the civilians are nice. Eugene catches her standing at the infirmary door most nights... And she suffers a lot as she tries to stay happy and positive. Drives people away by her determination to keep going.

4) Varian suffers a lot™ and is unconscious for days. His main visitors are Eugene and Quirin, with Lance who usually sits with him. It's a miracle he's alive, though he's far from unscathed [A broken arm, brain injury that leaves his memory spotty] and worst of all... A broken back + a spinal injury that leaves him without any feeling in his legs.

Though the injuries are bad he's doing ok! They're devastating, and he shuts off for a while. When Quirin returns is the first time he really reacts to anything, but from there there's progress. He gets help he needs. Assurance he's been cleared of crimes — Eugene forms a good friendship with him, but... Rapunzel still hasn't visited, and no one really explains Cass to him.

Honestly? Quirin is impressed by how Var draws up blue prints for wheelchairs and supports as soon as he can sit up for long enough. There's tough times... But he resolves to see it as a challenge, he needs a wheelchair or something so he can go back to work and start making it up to the people of Corona. After a couple of months he moves back to Old Corona with Eugene issuing him the Demanitus scroll to try translate

5) Whilst Varian starts improving, Rapunzel has managed to get most the castle repaired & shines as a Queen — though that's just on the outside. Cass' betrayal is still fresh, as is the guilt of Varian. Eugene tries to convince her to visit but it's too much. She's sure he's broken beyond repair and is terrified of that.

Eventually... She has to, she goes to Old Corona convinced that her friend will still be bitter and bedridden, only to be greeted by an explosion coming from the lab. Runs in panic. Sees Varian grinning to himself over some new formula. Asks what he's doing, Varian awkwardly explains... There's some tension and mostly exchanging pleasantries. Until Rapunzel finally apologizes — and once she starts she can't stop.

Rapunzel rants and raves about everything — how the kingdom is a mess, how Cass betrayed her, how she felt so bad because she thought HE died and she couldn't protect him. She's so sick of everyone else doing well while she feels like she's shattering to pieces.

That's when Varian speaks up. He gets the chance to explain all his frustrations in full — how now his life is changed forever, how he felt betrayed and bad and that Rapunzel still couldn't face him for what he'd done! He hasn't told dad or Eugene but of course he's struggling to... And it's just a sorta level they can connect on. They both struggle admitting they need help... And that things are far from perfect.

After that conversation is easier. Their friendship starts getting better + become good advisors to each other, Varian taking Cass' place as Raps' advisor / confidant and Varian getting the chance to feel like he is working on getting better.

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

These... Are long points but I didn't want bad end. I think rest of canon works — BVA happens in a similar way + Cassandra's Revenge is Cass stealing his wheelchair tho she's more aware of being the bad guy. Worries Varians replacing her which makes her a bit bitter and regret it less. I'm not sure about the finale? He could get healed, but honestly Varian doesn't feel the need to be healed — he's adjusted, and can still use his hands.

IF he did get healed he'd still need months of reablitation afterwards and still rely on a wheelchair a lot! It's not just a snap and fixed. Either way he gets a lot of love and support, and it deepens his bond with Punzie

#anon #Tangled AU #AU #AU ASK game #varian #tts au #tts #Rapunzel #tts varian #alternative universe #freckle sibling rights #sorry killing him would be too easy #and Rapunzel deserves to get good writing #struggling with guilt and empathy and being over worked #and disabled boy rights

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bluejaytaco · 3 years ago

Text

What up? it DND wit Jay!

(We return to the realm where we are standing in front of a giant gold gate. There's a dwarf standing in front of it with a clip board in their hand, just flipping through.)

Alabaster: (walks up) H-Hail and well met, my friend.

Dwarf: Names?

Alabaster: Oh! Um, I'm fine.

Dwarf, flipping through his clipboard: Fine.... Fine.... Nope, not seeing any "fine" here.

Art: (Walks up)....What about Ebony?

Dwarf, flipping through: Uh, yeah. We got an "ebony".... He's an orc. And considering none of you are Orcs, I doubt any of you are Ebony.

Art: Uh, that's racist.

Theodora:... Quite a detailed guest list...

Koejin: (Walks up and points at a random name) That's me.

Dwarf, looks down at the name: Your Grenadine Ceriph? High priestess in Calor? (Context: Calor is a Tiefling city. Koejin is human... well... was)

Koejin: Yeah, that's me.

Dwarf, getting sick of us: Look, I don't have tie for you people messing... (looks up at Koejin and goes silent).... You're not supposed to be here. This isn't your realm.

Koejin: Uhhh... Well, I have business with the man in charge.

Dwarf: I'm gonna have to call Pelor.

The entire group: (various ways of saying, "You do that" From "yes, please do" to "yeah, get that fucking bitch here! I wanna speak to the manager!")

Dwarf, mumbling into a sending stone before looking back at us: Is one of you named Theodora?

Theodora: Uhh.... Yeah.

Dwarf: You guys can go in. That's all I needed because now I know your names. But thanks for lying to me!

(The gates open and we all walk through. It's less blinding, but only slightly less on the other side of the gate. We see people walking around and just enjoying their afterlife. In the far off distance, there is a silhouette of a giant castle. We can also see the opening to a large garden where Pelor is standing with his arms crossed. Some of us see Alabaster's daughter, Eris, stomping on the flowers.)

Pelor, voice booming towards us: Everyone, front and center!

(All of us go with different levels of reluctance. Hennessy leads the way while Art and Jaquine kinda trail back.)

Pelor: So, what is it you need from me? (He's still standing over us while Eris continues to stamp through the flowers.)

(For a moment, we're all silent.)

Theodora: We want to speak to Thia.

Pelor: Thia is not in a place to speak. She is in my castle now, practicing her abilities for the Cleanse.

Hennessy: Is she okay? You don't have her locked up somewhere, hurt, right?

Pelor: Hennessy, my dear boy. Would you lock up a tiger in a small cage? No, you would respect the animal. Thia is in a place of comfort and has free reign.

Hennessy: She's got free reign? So she can go smoke in every room of the castle?! Even your room?!

Pelor: uhh....yes...

Hennessy: Ohh that just won't do. That smell of recreational drugs gets into the fibers and it can be a bitch to get out.

Pelor, suddenly giving off the impression he would like to hurry this along so he could go clean: It doesn't matter. She is my key to cleansing the world and making it all light. And I can save you all, if you kneel before me and accept me as your true god.

(No one kneels but Hennessy does raise an eyebrow at the "kneel" comment.)

Koejin: So how do you promise our safety.

Pelor: Well, you are excluded from this. Your friends, however, are protected because my followers will all survive.

Art: Don't you need the dark to have the light?

Pelor:... You would think that. Ticket Master would have you think that. And you, specifically, reek of him.

Art: Uh, rude?

Pelor: You know what he wants, don't you? He wants me dead so he can be the god of light. His best friend being the god of darkness would mean the two of them would take over everything. The two of them would rule all.

(Art was trying really hard to not say how he didn't see this as a bad thing, considering his bias. But somehow, as everyone was arguing against the cleanse, it was returned to the subject of Art and Ticket Master.)

Pelor: I think we've had quite enough of this talk.

Art: Yeah, let's stop talking about Ticket Master and the guy who may or may not have had sex with him.

(Pelor reacted in disgust which just turned into Art shouting "Sex with Ticket Master!" at the god of light. The tiefling was really aiming to make the god throw up.)

Koejin, joining in: There were definitely tentacles involved!

Art: Lots of tentacles! Sooooo many tentacles!!!

Pelor: Enough! All of you! (grabs Eris by the hair) If none of you will take this seriously, there is no longer a reason to speak with you.

Eris, punching at the hand: Let go! (turns to Alabaster) Daddy! I don't wanna go!

(They walk through a wall made of marble that Hennessy tries to reach through to grab for Eris. He just barely pulls his hand back before the wall solidifies again and he loses his hand.)

Vincent, rushing up to Hennessy: What did you think you were doing?!

Hennessy: The girl didn't want to go with the man! And when the girl doesn't wanna go, you don't let her go!

Vincent: You're gonna make such a great dad!

(behind the garden and before the castle there was a massive labyrinth. We walked up to see two different entrances. Koejin ends up smelling something familiar but can't really pick where it's coming from.)

Art: Hmmm (turns to Red) think you can turn into a dragon and fly up? maybe we can see where to go.

Red, not all that enthused by the idea: Uhh, yeah, I guess. Step back.

(Everyone stands back to give her enough room to transform. She flies up to the edge of the maze, but once her talons hit the edge, they shoot up another hundred feet and knock her back down.)

Red, turns back into her base form and glares at everyone: Well, that didn't help!

Art: (shrugging) well, my plans aren't ever without fault.

(Hennessy casts detect magic and, aside from nearly having his brain explode from all the god magic around, he discovers on direction is dark magic while the other is light.

We end up going towards the dark side because we figure that's where Thia might be hiding.)

(First stop is a room with a sword in a stone. Hennessy can sense that the magic is dark, but it isn't the source.)

Koejin: (climbs up and pulls the sword from the stone and holds it up in the air. She then hears the sounds of us screaming in agony.)

What we see: Koejin pulling the sword out and standing with it like she's posing.

Art: Uhhh.... what is happening?

Theodora: Koejin? You okay?

Koejin vision! Art: (melting away and falling apart) You killed us!!!!

Koejin vision! Theodora: (Also melting) You let us dieeeee!!!!

Koejin, turning to see all this: No! No, I saved Art's life so many times! (Turns to Theodora) I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Art: Koejin.... we're fine!

Koejin: (runs up to start trying to put Art's face back together. To everyone else, she'd just smooshing his face while still holding the sword.)

Theodora: (dispels the magic from the sword and a little imp pops free)

Koejin: (can now see that everyone's okay and it still just kinda groping Art's face.)

Art:....uh, Koejin?

Koejin: Yeah.... sorry. You were melting just now.

(We talk to the little imp briefly to find that he is a prisoner in the maze. He asks if he's free to go but as soon as he does, he's struck by lightning.)

(We continue down the path for a little bit before Koejin figures out that we're going the wrong way because she can no longer smell the "smelly smell that smells." In that time, Hennessy incinerated some talking furniture which the DM disappointedly let us know that we wouldn't be seeing the IKEA Lich. I have a feeling the IKEA Lich might pop up in a future one shot.

But also, we got this exchange.)

Theodora: (casts a spell in attempt to sober Koejin.)

Koejin: (starts screaming as her skin starts to burn) Stop!

Theodora: (stops immediately) I... I was just trying to help..

Koejin: I'm the God of intemperance, Theodora! You can't just sober me up!

Theodora: What?!

(This starts into a fight about how this isn't the weirdest thing we've been through while she continues to talk about how she wasn't expecting to hear her daughter was a god.)

Red: If I may, I can see where Theodora is coming from here. Be it the weirdest thing or not, finding out your child is involved in some affair with the gods can be surprising. (Shoots a look at Art) Like your son being intimately involved with a tentacle monster god.

Art:.... you weren't supposed to know about that....

Red: You were shouting about it just before while I was standing there.

Art:... right..... forgot you were there....

Red: Either way; something for us to talk about later, Sweetie.

Art rolling his eyes, sarcastically: But Mother, I love him.

((Koejin's Player: And I have to remember to write proper notes about what everyone knows and doesn't know.

DM: Eh, it's all out now))

(We head from the dark part to the light part and find ourselves walking down a hall for hours. It gets to the point where Mrs. Red starts to complain.)

Red: Ugh... when is this fucking thing going to end? Doesn't anyone have a way to move this along faster?

Art: It's going to feel like longer if you keep bitching.

Red: I don't even wanna be here!

Theodora: None of us want to be here!

Art, agreeing: Yeah, and yet, here we are! So, how about you shut your mouth for a bit while we figure out how to get home and make sure there's even a "home" to go back to!

Red:.... Actually, Art. Considering that, I think this might be a good time for you and I to talk....

(Art is pulled off to the side by Mrs. Red, Reita following. Theodora tries to usher everyone a respectful distance away to try and ensure privacy. She does her best, but pretty much everyone is still eavesdropping.)

Red: I know I haven't been the best mother... In fact, I might be the worst... But know that I will try to make this all better and I'm just looking for your forgiveness.

Art:.... you might remember us as a nice, happy little family, but let me tell you what I remember.

Koejin: You tell her, Art!

Art, ignoring her and pretending he doesn't know people are listening: ....you slicing off Reita's face, blowing up Thia's bar, threatening the lives of my friends, destroying the lives of countless different people; I could go on! You barely get to claim the title "mother!"

Red: I did what I thought was best!

Art: You entrusted your children to the God of Death and Deceit!

Red: I didn't do that! (long pause)....I did do that.

Art: Yeah, you did. So, this is how things are gonna go. We're going to go through here and make sure there's a world to get back to, we're going to go to Calor and you are going to fix this. Then we can talk about forgiveness.

Red: ....That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I would love... to return to our people. I know I'm a tiefling, but I still feel the rage... of a red dragon. Someone would need to take care of our people.

Art:.... the people that treated me like a pariah....

Vincent, butting in: Like Hell I'm gonna let that happen! (storms over to them and looks at Art) Look Art, I'm willing to admit you are not evil. But do you really think you can run Calor? As soon as everything gets hard you run away! Hell, you abandoned your own sister-

Reita, with a surprising amount of clarity: He didn't... abandon me. He thought I was dead.

(The remaining three tieflings turn and look at her.)

Reita: And you're not exactly one to talk; you created weapons for a tyrant and turned a blind eye to the problems in Calor. We've all done things we regret, but we learn and grow from them. How can you stand there and judge him from running from a bad situation when he was a kid? Hypocrite (shoves a slug into her mouth)

Art, smiling and a little misty-eyed: I'm so proud of you! (hugs Reita)

Reita: Uhhh, yeah. Sure.... (doesn't push him away, though)

Red:.... You're not supposed to be talking like that... how are you doing that?

Art, pulling away: Yeah, that was going to be the next part. You feeling okay?

Reita, shrugging: I feel good.... Like, really good.

Red: (grabs Reita and rips open the back of her cloak to see the stone in her spine is not glowing) This.... this isn't working. It should be working.

Art:....We should keep moving. Put a pin in this for now.

(We keep moving ahead with different twists and turns leading into random encounters. One of which is a growing garden gnome that we put Wreybar on top of so she could see over the walls. She tries to say what she sees, but speaks in a way only Wreybar understands.)

Theodora: Okay, but now how are we gonna get her down?

Red: I could probably fly up an-

Wreybar, jumping: Catch me!

Hennessy: (rushes to cast feather fall on her.)

(She floats down and lands nicely on the ground as we hear Thia's booming voice "Giant garden gnome? Goodbye giant garden gnome!" And the gnome just vanishes.)

(Wreybar starts talking in her gibberish and Koejin asks for a translator. Reita steps in and kneels down to her, nodding along by what she's saying.)

Reita: Wreybar says there's a latter coming out of a hole on the other side. It's right next to the castle. How do you guys not get that, she was speaking clearly.

Theodora: Maybe to you. Not all of us can speak Wreybar.

(We ended up getting into a few more shannanigans. At one point, Art attempted to use mislead in attempt to move through faster only to have Reita get impatient and run ahead. Art and Reita had a quick little spat about that along the lines of "by the time we find her, she'll have destroyed everything already!" "We can't find her at all if we're dead! No running ahead!" There was also a bit with Hennessy and Koejin teleporting out of the maze where they met a murder horse and a weird inky blob creature.

At that point the latter was the literally the next turn. But possibly the worst moment.)

DM: You guys come to a dead end. The smell is still coming from over it.

Koejin: Shit....

(We all check the wall to find no traps. But then... Alabaster touches it and a had grabs hold of him. It pulls itself out with his resistance and Alabaster is looking at a marble version of... himself.)

Alabaster: O-oh! Hail and well met... uh, me!

M! Alabaster: Oh! Hail and Well Met! How are you, my fine friend?

Alabaster: I'm quite well, thank you! How... who are you?

M! Alabaster: Oh, I am what remains of you. The you left behind when you left the Pelor faith!

Alabaster: Oh, I see.

M!Alabaster: Have you killed your daughter?

Alabaster: oh, no. That is.... no longer apart of the plan.

M! Alabaster: (grabs hold of Alabaster) I will do it then. I will kill your daughter. She is born of darkness, thus she must die!

(Everyone around him tenses up, but he somehow knows if he looks away, the creature will fade from his sight and go to kill Eris. He can only stare at it to hold it in place.)

Alabaster: (puts his hand to the copy's mouth and uses Create or Destroy Water)

M!Alabaster: (starts to crack and burst under the pressure. The amount of water forced inside kills the creature.)

((Create or destroy water has been a running gag in the campaign. It's been used a few times, but nothing really dark. Not like this.))

Alabaster:....(Still holding his marble copy with a stunned look.)

Art:....(walks up and pats him on the arm) You did what you had to do... Eris is safe now.

Theodora, nodding: Think of it as... you made the right choice.

Alabaster: (nods to both of them and closes the creatures eyes)

Koejin:.... we should destroy it. Just in case.

(They then proceed to break the thing into dust and we continued on our way.)

( We found the latter that brought us up to the castle. As we walk around to the entrance, Pelor stands by the door with his arms crossed.)

Pelor:.... what are you trying to accomplish here? Do you really think you can stop any of this?

Theodora: We're here to talk to Thia. Where's Thia?

Pelor, sighing: Look, last chance before I wipe you out of existence; kneel before me or leave my land and accept your fates.

Red, arms crossed(as is usual for her): Yeah, I'm not one for bowing to people. People bow to me.

Pelor: This goes for all for all of you?

(All of us agree. There will be no bowing.)

Pelor:....then so be it.

(Before he can move in to fight us, he is turned inside out and sucked into a little stone. Thia then drifts down, takes the stone, and crushes it.)

Art: ....hi, Thia....

Thia, glaring: Shut up, Art.

Art, nodding: Hmmm, mhm.

Thia: (turns to Theodora) Go home, Theodora.

(for a moment, her powers work on Theodora, but all of us stop her. This turns into a conversation about why the wipe is unnecessary. Koejin leads the conversation, then turned and asked for someone more "charisma based" to lead.

Art couldn't speak. Probably for the best. He and Thia have never really gotten along.)

Theodora: If you wipe out all existence, we won't be learning from our mistakes. Everything will end up being repeated! The war will be repeated!

Thia: Not if I don't allow free will.

Theodora: And then what is life? that's not a world; that's a simulation.

Thia:... better that than allowing a kid to grow up in the woods all alone.

Theodora:.... Thia, we can make this world better. Create a place where something like that doesn't happen. But this.... this isn't the way.

Thia:....Do all of you agree? Should I.... give up my power?

(This was a major turning point in the story. Because this is where the end boss was decided. And we told Thia to give up her power.)

Thia, nodding: Alright... let's go back home. No reason to strand ourselves here. (she opens a portal)

(We walk through to find ourselves in the tavern Thia owns. She wills away her power, but it's no big ta-do.)

Koejin: Did it work?

Thia:.... I don't know.... Art, give me some money.

Art:..... no....

Koejin: It worked!

(We all celebrate before we all notice the portal hasn't closed. When we turn and look, we see Pelor's face.... on Ticket Master's body. He throws it away like a mask and grins at us.)

Ticket Master: Guess who's the new God of Light? (smiles and waves as the portal closes)

(Outside, we hear loud banging. When we run out, we can see darkness and light bouncing off of each other before they begin to swirl and spread. They head for us.)

Theodora: (hears the voice of Bahamut and an open blue portal) Everyone! We have to go!

(Everyone dives into the portal. Art takes a moment before diving in with the group.)

(There will be one last session and we can all really feel it now. I'm kinda sad that Ticket Master is now the BBEG, but we all saw that coming. There's just a lot to figure out here.)

#adventures of art the bard #tiefling #dnd #dnd bard #dnd barbarian #dnd druid #dnd paladin #dnd cleric #dnd ranger #dnd wizard #homebrew gods #dnd gods #Art and Reita had a Blitzo and Loona moment and I don't think it was on purpose #That contract on Art and Wreybar's gonna screw them #Well... also Art's gonna be kinda heartbroken by all this #I'm feeling bad for my boy if you can't tell #shut up jay

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crystalgirl259 · 3 years ago

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The Flame and the Dragon Chapter 35

Chapter 35: The Blizzard

Scorched needles, scarps of wood blackened by rage, and bits of ash and charcoal scattered across the burnt snow where the proud pine tree once stood. Specks of blood and splinters dropped from the Sorcerer's scraped and roughened fingertips like someone had scattered rubies. His nails were shredded and his cuticles were split from clawing at the bark in a fit of rage. His fury had reduced the aged pine to a pile of ashes. All while, the raven remained still on its perch in the snow, completely unfazed by his master's wrath.

The Sorcerer's growl was dangerous and low before he suddenly screamed and spun around delivering a powerful blow to the young sapling unfortunate enough to be in the path of his wrath.

It made no effort to protests the Sorcerer's rage. Blinded by his rage, all he could see were the images his spy had shown. Images of that disgustingly repulsive beast, not even a beast but a half-beast, dancing with the Occulti, his Occulti. He clenching his fists causing his fingers to scream in pain but he was numb to all but his rage. He could forgive Kai for that. Surely the Dragon was becoming desperate and would use any kindness to trick the youth into saying the words needed to break his curse and deny him his greatest triumph.

He could forgive the youth for his naivety and his defenselessness.

He was merciful, but not after treachery. His wrath erupted, sending the curling shadows at his feet exploding in all directions. They shattered and pierced whatever they came in contact with until the clearing was a hollow circle of scorched earth.

"He's dirty! That damned whore! Damn him for giving away his purity, and damn me for thinking any one of their kind was redeemable!" He screamed and stomped his foot and tore at his hair and clothes until he panted like a beast after a hunt. But no matter how loud he screamed or how much he destroyed, it could never destroy that last scene from his mind. That beautiful boy, who should have been his consort and ruling at his side, wantonly giving his virginity to that monster and enjoying it.

He wanted to scream again, but someone else beat him to it.

"Lloyd! Where are you?!" A woman cried and the weak call was followed by a loud stumble against the carpet of snow. Bewildered, the Sorcerer quickly shielded himself among the trees careful not to let a spot of his red clothing betray his location. He watched a young woman rise stumbling from the muddy earth, and choke loudly on air. Like a shadow, the Sorcerer swooped closer and gasped. It was easy to miss from a distance but beneath the thick winter clock and the leaves and mud matting the sister of his Occulti.

The girl bulldozed through the woods and threw herself forward through the snow.

The action caused her heavy cloak to fall open revealing a shower of black hair, shiny even in the shadows of the winter forest. The girl immediately stumbled and almost fell over, but she was able to remain standing by leaning against a nearby tree. She was clearly sick as a dog and should be going home, but she had to keep going. She tried to scream, but instead choked on her own words and coughed in a way that made even the Sorcerer's skin crawl.

"I have... to find... Lloyd," She wheezed, shoving herself off the tree with surprising strength and half stumbled in her haste. She didn't get far before exhaustion and the brutal cold forced her to her knees. "I have to find them! I have to find Lloyd then we can save Kai! I have to get them back!" She spoke passionately to no one, but it was laced with the madness of grief. Again she shoved herself forward but instead her hands clenched her head and formed fists against her hair.

"I have to protect them! I promised I would! I promised them! Mom and Dad, I promised, and look what I've done! Lloyd's probably dead and I can't even think of what Kai's going through!" She screamed and tore at her hands and clothes with the rage and madness that only grief could drive a sane man to. She slammed her fists against the ground and punched at anything she could. All of a sudden, she was suddenly filled with new determination and charged into the blizzard, not aware she was being watched.

A triumphant smile split the Sorcerer's face.

Perhaps, there was some hope left after all. He smirked cunningly and called his pet. The bird abandoned its statue state and flew to its master's wrist.

"Tell me, my pet is he the one? The one our little Occulti spoke off?" He asked, but even though the bird said nothing a flash of its eyes and the Sorcerer had his answer. "And this 'Lloyd' she searches for, is he the other?" He questioned and again the bird was like a prop, only its glowing eyes gave an indication that it was alive. The Sorcerer snickered to conceal his glee, not wishing to betray his location to the still wandering mage. He spun in delight, thinking this was fantastic. It seemed that the Fates favored him after all.

"Follow her, when you've reached them both, alert me; now go!" He ordered as a grin curled wickedly on his face. The bird was off without another word, vanishing in the darkness while its Master laughed at his fortune. "Oh don't worry, girl, you shall see your little brother again soon!" He cackled like a flock of crows taking to wing and threw his bloody cloak over his shoulder...

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

It had been two weeks since he ran away from home to find the castle where his beloved brother was being held prisoner by that beast. Two weeks he had been living in the woods surviving only because of the warming weather of the upcoming spring and because years of living a nomadic life had taught him to pack and prepare for the worst of situations. Two weeks since he had begun his search for Kai and he had found nothing. He thought it would be easy, with Spring fast approaching, that is until a blizzard appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

It had caught Lloyd completely off-guard and forced him to stop his search and find shelter.

Lloyd whimpered as he bunched his knees to his chest, shivering but not from the cold. The multiple fires he had started to keep the cave air warm, and the thick clothing he had packed had taken care of that. He covered his mouth to silence the heavy, haggard coughs fighting to escape. Quickly, he unpacked the bag containing a herbal blend and dumped it into the pot of water that had been boiling over the fire. He inhaled a sharp, large breathe and exhaled contently.

Immediately, he felt his throat soothe and his chest became less constricted.

He hadn't needed to use the herbal vapors so much before, but the cold weather wasn't doing his weak chest any good. He knew he would have been fine if he stayed in that warm house at night like a good boy. But how could he when Kai had been missing for almost five months, and the castle where the dragon kept him prisoner seemed to completely vanish? The thought made Lloyd's eyes prick with tears, but he managed not to cry. His fingers trembled, he clenched his arms and knees tighter in an attempt to feel some form of comfort.

But there was none. Nothing he did could replace the warmth and security he felt when he, Nya, and Kai were all together at home.

He knew he couldn't go home. Nya would never let him leave the house again until he was eighty. Lloyd didn't blame her, he ran away after all, but he couldn't keep waiting. He couldn't keep sitting around and doing nothing while his older sister worked and searched diligently for their missing sibling. He had traveled deeper and deeper into the woods. No matter how many times he found himself back at the path where they got lost in the storm, however, he couldn't find any trace of the huge castle.

Had it been sheer dumb luck that Kai found it the first time?

Or that they found it at all? Lloyd shook his head, forcing himself to dry his sleepy eyes. He then sat up with new determination, mentally forcing the tears and shivering down deep. If Kai could find the castle to save him and Nya then he could do the same thing to save Kai. He removed himself from the warmth of his fires and carefully approached the edge of the cave entrance, where he could hear the blizzard howling and blowing. The cold air bit angrily against his lukewarm skin, as if punishing him for daring to defy it.

Over the woods, he could see the setting sun was nothing more than a yellow sliver above the trees and the night had gone a deep grayish purple of twilight that bled into the dark blue and black of night.

Seeing that there was no point in traveling in the dark, Lloyd slid back into the crevice in the rocks and carefully covered it with a thick net of branches to keep out the cold. He had found this cave by sheer accident when he had slipped and fallen into the entrance. Through that, he discovered a fairly large-sized cave, hollowed out of the dirt and lined with rocks like a fox den. Lloyd had decided it would be the perfect place to camp while he explored the woods by day.

That proved to be true when the underground and rocks blocked out much of the night's cold.

The small opening allowed just enough air so that he wouldn't suffocate from the smoke of the fires. Sometimes, when he felt really weak and his medicine wasn't helping. He would have to spend all day curled up in his makeshift tent under the thick blankets he had brought until his shivering stopped and he could move again. Tonight had been one of his rare nights where he had just enough energy to go exploring again, but he regretted it when he had received an unwanted follower.

Lloyd shivered and blew air into his gloved hands, and rubbed them together before returning to the fire.

Outside a loud crunch of the snow made him scream, the sound echoing off the cave walls forcing Lloyd to cover his ears until it faded out.

"LLOYD!" Nya's voice suddenly screeched, coming closer to the cave. Before he could say anything, she pulled away from the cover and started sobbing tears of joy when she saw her little brother huddled in the dark. Lloyd didn't get a chance to react before she suddenly hugged the air out of his lungs. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before a look of rage fell over her face and she started shaking the little boy. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING LLOYD?! I'VE ALREADY LOST KAI, DO YOU THINK I WANT TO LOSE YOU?! WELL, DO YOU?!" She screamed, still sobbing through clenched teeth.

However, her rage suddenly vanished when Lloyd finally released all the tears he had been holding in and started sobbing loudly.

Nya sighed and hugged her little brother again, letting him sob into her shoulder until he eventually tired himself out and fell asleep. As soon as she was sure he was out cold, Nya packed up his things and lifted him up in her arms. Once he was secure and safe, she left the cave and began to head home. However, it only took a few seconds to discover that she couldn't find the trail leading back to the village in this monstrous blizzard. She tried turning around and heading back to the cave.

But her face paled when she realized that the blizzard had covered her footprints in fresh snow.

She was now stranded in the middle of a blizzard in the forest with one brother sick in her arms and the other being held prisoner by a monster...

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

Kai screamed for his siblings in his sleep as he thrashed around in the bed, only to find himself restrained. His eyes suddenly flew open and he found himself being held in place by Cole, the man's green eyes fixed on him with a mixture of fear and concern. A cold stab of fear pierced him, completely unaware of where he was. He recognized Cole's room, but the bedsheets were twisted and half flung off. One of Kai's arms raised over his head the other clenched the pillow in a fierce death grip, with Cole holding both his wrists.

Cole's tail was wrapped firmly around Kai's waist to keep from thrashing about.

Slowly, so as not to scare him further, Cole unwound himself and looked him over for any sign of injury.

"Kai? Are you alright?" He asked, carefully and tenderly. The details of his nightmare came back to him like a cold knife twisting into his heart. A sudden stab of guilt and terror knifed through him, making Kai flip over and smother his face in a pillow and burst into tears. "Kai? Talk to me!" Cole pleaded as he kept shaking him, his voice sterner, but not losing an ounce of concern.

"I'm fine," Kai lied wiping his eyes. "I just had a nightmare."

"I can see that, you don't wake up crying and screaming if you've had a good dream," Cole said bluntly, lying down next to him and pulling Kai into his arms. Despite Cole's attempt at light humor, Kai said nothing. He just looked at the pillow beneath his face. A tear he hadn't noticed ran down his face and he found himself shaking again. He tried to speak but the only coherent thoughts in his head were the pleading, effusing eyes of his two brothers.

Determined to relieve his precious flame of his distress, Cole wrapped tentative arms around Kai.

He then pulled the brunette into his lap and brought him down with him against the pillows. Kai resisted the embrace and tried to protest but regretted it when Cole looked him straight in the eye. His face was a mask that betrayed no emotion, but his serious eyes held unspoken trust.

"You saw your siblings, didn't you? You're worried about them." He said and Kai's flinch of shock was the only answer Cole needed. "Don't look so surprised, you screamed both their names; I've had nightmares about my sister and parents for years after they vanished, so you don't have to hide your worry, and I don't want you thinking you can't come to me when you're upset like this." He promised as he tucked one of Kai's loose bangs behind his ear.

"It's not that," Kai admitted, feeling his chest stir at the words. He paused, guilt shaking him to the core. "I don't know if that was a nightmare or another premonition, but... it made me realize just how selfish I've been; here I am, happier than I've ever been in my entire life, surrounded by people who adore me, wearing the most expensive things I've ever owned! I'm practically living a fairy tale and they think I'm starving to death in some cold, dark tower, being tortured."

"Oh," Cole muttered as Kai covered his head with his arms and buried it in Cole's chest.

"They probably think I'm dead, Cole!" Kai cried as tears streamed down his face. He had never stopped thinking of his siblings, not since the day he had arrived at the castle. It seemed wrong to do anything else. Even when he started to like his confinement, and enjoy the company of the Dragon Lord, he still remembered his brother and sister and was comforted in the thought that they were both safe and hopefully happy. He never stopped to consider that his sacrifice might have the opposite effect of what he intended.

Or that his disappearance had destroyed their lives in a way he never considered.

But he had been so happy. The last few days were like a dream come true and he wanted nothing more than to pretend that it could last forever, and he dared, for once, to be selfish and think of nothing but his own happiness. Of course, that decision would come back to haunt him. Guilt pooled in Cole's gut and he cursed his own helplessness as he watched Kai weep. He hated seeing Kai like this. The brunette deserved to be happy and content, not feel like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and be consumed by guilt and shame for wanting to forget that and enjoy life for once.

Especially since it was his fault Kai's family was separated from him.

Looking back at the darkest and earliest days of when he and Kai met when he had unleashed his bitterness and rage against Nya and Lloyd. Kai's siblings had every right to be afraid of him. He had only agreed to Kai's proposal because the boy fascinated him and not because he cared at all about their fates, even if Lloyd's health had concerned him. It had filled him with shame and he knew he had to make up for it. None of them deserved to be separated from one another.

Especially not because of him.

They deserved better than that ridiculous town trapped in time, and he knew just how to do it. Cole stroked Kai's back and gently shook him. When Kai raised his head, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks damp with tears, Cole comforted him with caring words pressed with butterfly kisses along his neck and temples.

"If you're that concerned about them, then you can always invite them to stay here." He said with a soft smile and Kai shot up.

"What?" He croaked in a weak voice forced through a constricted throat.

"There's more than enough room here, the staff will adore them; you already said you three planned on leaving your town anyway, and I don't think they'll argue if you ask them, and I can bear the bulk of their hatred for your sake."

"Why would they hate you?" Kai blurted, too stunned to think clearly, and Cole raised an eyebrow of annoyed obviousness.

"Given the fact that I locked them in a tower and technically kidnapped you, I doubt they'd be happy to see me or be comfortable with the fact that you're now my lover, but as I said, I can bear the bulk of their hatred until they see I'm not as cold as I act."

"You'd do that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you," Cole replied, pressing their foreheads together. Overcome by emotion, Kai launched himself into Cole's chest and held him tight with such force he nearly knocked Cole over. Tears rained down his cheeks but this time they were happy tears.

"Thank you, Cole! Thank you so much! I don't deserve you!" Kai cried as he buried himself in Cole's torso grateful for the man's comfort and support and his understanding more than anything else.

"Don't ever say that again, don't even think it." Cole scolded but there was little force behind it. Cole pulled the comforter up to Kai's shoulders as they fell back asleep. "We'll talk more about it in the morning."

"Thank you, Cole, thank you for everything." Kai yawned as he dried his eyes.

"You have nothing to thank me for, it's the least I can do since you saved my soul." Cole smiled as he sensed Kai's lingering uncertainty, he continued to hold his lover close and comfort him until they finally fell back into a peaceful sleep. Cole continued to hold Kai, keeping a careful watch for the rest of the night, treasuring the feeling of holding Kai close. When the nightmares bothered him again, Cole was quick to chase them away and coaxed Kai back to sleep with soothing touches and caring words until Kai quieted...

#The Flame and the Dragon #beauty and the beast #ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago kai #ninjago lloyd #ninjago nya #lavashipping

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izaswritings · 5 years ago

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Title: hello to my old heart

Fandom: Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure | Tangled the Series | Varian and the Seven Kingdoms AU

Synopsis: “Why do you trust me so much?”

Or: the beginning of the end for the betrayer. In which Hugo asks a long-overdue question, and gets the answer he never wanted to hear.

AO3 Link is Here!

It is midnight after the trial, after retrieving yet another totem, after everything, and Hugo thinks he might be sick.

Too close, he thinks. Too close. Everything that’s happened, everything he’s been doing… and Donella was there. She saw him, she met his eyes—pretended she hadn’t known him, kept his cover, and yet the unease is still there, itching beneath his skin, restless in his hands. Donella. There. The group had clashed with her. She’d warned them about the Library. Varian had said—

I won’t let you stop me!

—and she’d smiled. Smiled. Like she knew something Varian didn’t.

Nothing happened, Hugo reminds himself. It’s dark now—gone straight through evening right on to night—and their small group has settled down by the city limits, half-way in the trees. Yong has the campfire already lit and burning under Nuru’s supervision; Nuru has the maps spread out on her knees, plotting the best route towards the next kingdom. It’s domestic and normal and natural—and it makes Hugo want to scream, almost. When did he get used to this? It makes him feel jittery and thin and small, because for the first time in a long time—in months! Goddamn!—he’s been reminded, forcibly and irrevocably, of just how little he belongs here.

Nuru had noticed, earlier. Of course Nuru had noticed—she’s the most focused of the four of them, the most eagle-eyed, as one should be when making maps out of stars. Did you know her? she’d asked him then, after Donella had vanished, her voice low as they’d run and left the kingdom behind them. That woman? And when Hugo’s throat had sealed up, sudden and sharp and awful, Nuru had looked him full in the face and said, Oh. Never mind.

So stupid, Hugo thinks, leaning against a tree to hide the weakness in his knees, watching Nuru fuss over the maps. So, so stupid of her. Where has all her suspicion gone? She was always the most critical of him—he knows that, he remembers that, how can he not—even though she was never there for the beginning. And now— now.

Oh. Never mind.

His fingers curl in his sleeve. He chances a glance back, through the trees. Varian is off to the side, away from the fire, deeper in the shadows, his own private set up for a new experiment of his. He’s been there for a while, now, ever since they settled down to camp. Had said, laughingly, that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to mess with this compound around the fire, start dinner without me—and Hugo can only just barely see the shape of him through the shadows of the trees. That dark head of hair is bowed low over the makeshift workbench; he can’t see Varian’s face, but Hugo can imagine the focus of it, the intent. Trust. If Hugo is really going to start berating this group about faith, shouldn’t he start with the worst offender?

He’s only here at all, Hugo knows, with a sudden twist to his gut, because months ago Varian decided to have faith in him. For some reason. For…

Hugo doesn’t even know why. He’s never asked. It’s… never mattered before.

But Donella’s smile plays out in his head, and Nuru’s voice says, soft and careful—Never mind— and Hugo is walking over to Varian before he even knows, truly, what he’s doing.

It’s quiet here, away from the main camp. There is something strangely secret about it all, about the distance and the darkness and the way Nuru and Yong’s voices have faded to whispers behind him. The lamplight of Varian’s staff casts a quiet green glow across everything; it should be sinister, in a way, and yet it just feels warm. In the light Varian himself is focused entirely on the project before him—he likely hasn’t even noticed Hugo is there, Hugo thinks faintly, and for some reason, despite everything, this almost makes him laugh.

He leans against a nearby tree, arms crossed, and says, “Pretty sure that element explodes under heat, you know. I do hope you know that. Why are you trying to set it on fire?” He grins. “Oh! Oh, don’t tell me, did you mistake it for lithium? That’s adorable. Beginner’s mistake. So cute.”

Varian’s shoulders tick up, and his hand spasms, the vial almost dropped. “Gah!” His eyes flash sideways, narrow beneath his goggles. “Stop doing that! Why do you always sneak up on—never mind, doesn’t matter, shut up, I know what I’m doing.”

Hugo hums, as skeptical as he can, if only to make Varian scowl. “You’re doing it wrong.”

“Ha, ha,” Varian says, sarcastic, but the old bite is worn now, almost fond, though he sounds a little annoyed regardless. “You don’t even know what I’m making, shove off.”

“…True.” Hugo leans against the tree, sliding down until he’s sitting, one leg drawn up. He rests his elbow on his knee and watches Varian work. Whatever he’s making, it’s lovely—all silver and bronze and glowing solution like a liquid gold. For all his doubts on its application, Hugo can at least appreciate the aesthetics of it. It’s probably important. Probably for the machine, the gateway to the Library. Probably…

Probably something Donella would want him to steal, eventually.

The tightness returns, winding vicious in his gut. Hugo looks away, and lets the conversation drop, unsure of how to continue it, if he even wants to. Varian goes back to work without comment, obvious dismissal, and Hugo stays sitting there, awkward, feeling out-of-place and unsure of why.

But Varian hasn’t asked him to leave, yet—not that Hugo would even if he had, but whatever—so he stays, lingering on the fringes, watching Varian work. For all of Hugo’s teasing, Varian really is clever. The focus in those blue eyes, the intent line of his mouth—this is Varian thinking, Varian with the world spinning out in blueprints behind his eyes, and Hugo has always admired that feeling, always loved it, always appreciated the fact Varian knew and understood it the same way he did.

He leans his head back against the tree, and sighs.

“So,” Hugo says, finally, absent and casual and not-that-I-care-but, eyes deliberately turned away, “what’s your deal with me, anyway?”

Varian hums, not listening. Then the words actually compute, because he snorts suddenly, and pushes his goggles away from his face. “What?”

He’s smiling. Something about that sits wrong with Hugo; it flutters in his chest like a wound. Hugo tries not to scowl. Casual, damn it. “What do you mean, what?” He rolls his eyes. “This weird… I don’t even know. Faith, or whatever. I mean, seriously.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, even from the beginning…” All of Yong’s protests, Nuru’s suspicions—and Varian, who listened and nodded and then waved them away. We’ll see, he’d said, to their fears. And to Hugo: I’m trying to trust you. Don’t prove me wrong, okay?

Hugo hadn’t cared, then, about the why. He hadn’t… it had been an in, an easy entrance, and so he’d never thought to question it. So what if Varian was naive, too trusting for his own good—all the better for Hugo, wasn’t it? And so Hugo had never asked. He’d barely even wondered.

“Why,” Hugo says, months too late but wondering all the same, “do you trust me so much?”

“Hmm.” Varian has raised a vial to his face, peering into the contents. He waves a dismissive hand, absent-minded. He’s not even listening, Hugo realizes, and it’s like a hot knife to his gut. “Why not?”

“I—” And oh, fucking hell, that had almost come out strangled. Hugo snaps his mouth shut, feeling slapped and not entirely sure why. For the love of… this is what he gets for being open, Hugo supposes. This is what he gets for asking too late. Gods. Screw this, anyway.

He climbs to his feet, face flushed, hands curled. “Whatever.”

He’s making back for the campfire when Varian’s voice stops him cold. “Wait.” Despite himself, Hugo looks back. Varian has lowered the vial. He’s looking at Hugo now—actually, truly looking, with a sudden intent that makes Hugo straighten on instinct. In the pale green glow of the staff, Varian’s eyes are sharp as glass.

Varian searches his face, and whatever he finds there makes his expression twist. “Oh.”

Hugo bristles. “What?”

Varian is quiet. His lips press. The sudden focus of his gaze is gone—now he seems drained, almost tired. He pushes his hand back through his hair, and his gaze wanders to the ground, and then, absently, he says, “When I was fourteen, I almost killed my dad.”

Hugo opens his mouth. Hugo closes his mouth.

“I mean, I—didn’t. Obviously. But I… I mean, he should be dead, actually, laws of reason dictate, and I’m pretty now it was only magic that… but I didn’t know that at the time, so really my belief was more denial than sense, in hindsight? And I’m still not sure how to feel about that... anyway.” Varian presses his lips together, the ramble cutting short. His hand is tight on his sleeve—so tight his hands must be white-knuckled under the gloves, and all the color seems to have drained from his face. He looks—older, in this light, with this expression. He looks exhausted.

“I was angry,” Varian says, simply, when Hugo doesn’t respond. “Um. Very… very angry. And I hurt… a lot of people. Some of them I knew. Most I didn’t. And some…” His hands curl. “Never mind. It’s not important. I— told you I’ve been in prison before. Right? I mean, I’m pretty sure I mentioned it, like, once— anyway. Um. Three counts of attempted murder, high treason, kidnapping, attempted regicide, drugging a whole castle with truth serum without their consent, I could go on, but. You probably get the idea.”

Yeah, Hugo does get the idea. The idea is straight-up freaking unbelievable. What? He… he can’t even fathom that. He’s seen Varian angry, he knows Varian can be dangerous, but…

“I don’t understand,” he says, before he can stop himself, and Varian curls in on himself with a laugh that sounds very hollow.

“Yeah, I—I get that. I don’t know myself, really. Why I reacted that way. I’ve thought about it over and over, and I don’t… maybe it was one thing? Or maybe it was everything. My dad was gone. I was alone, I guess. And—and in the end, it just felt… like a betrayal. Like my friends, like my town, like everyone had turned their backs on me, on my dad. And I just… I couldn’t stand that.” He shakes his head, voice going small, murmuring. “Betrayal. Dark word, isn’t it? Never done well with being… well.” Varian laughs. It sounds forced. “Um. This is all speculation, anyway.”

Hugo says nothing. The ground feels very shaky, suddenly; he feels fever-hot and sick. “Oh,” he says. He realizes suddenly his hands are shaking, and tucks them in his pockets. The ground has fallen out beneath his feet; the pieces have clicked into place. He understands. He does. It’s the answer to a question he’d never been able to ask, and even though it's exactly what he expected, it still guts him whole. “…Oh.”

And he thinks: When this is over, you’ll never forgive me.

Varian laughs again. “Yeah,” he says, muted agreement. He draws his legs up close, criss-cross, and rests gloved hands on his ankles. “But… I guess, to answer your question... Even after all that, despite everything— someone still believed in me. Someone was willing to give me a chance. She—even though she had the most reason out of anyone to hate me… she still offered me her hand.”

Varian tilts his head. He meets Hugo’s eyes. He smiles. “That’s why,” he says. “I trusted you because someone once trusted me. And I was right, wasn’t I?” He shrugs. “I trust you now because you’ve earned it.”

Hugo’s mouth is dry. His throat aches. He wants, bizarrely, to scream. “…Right.” How stupid. So, so fucking stupid of him. He’d gotten his second chance months ago, without ever realizing, and he’d thrown it back in Varian’s face before he’d even really known him. So fucking stupid. His head spins. “Right.”

Varian nods. His eyes drift away again. “Sorry,” he says, absent-minded. “For dismissing the question before. I thought you were joking, at first.”

Hugo shakes his head, thrown. “I… it doesn’t matter, it—” He exhales, sharp. “Why… why did you tell me this?”

“It seemed important to you.” Varian looks at the ground, gaze distant, like those words aren’t yet another gut-punch. Important to you. Like easing Hugo’s fears are worth spilling secrets for, worth—whatever this is. Goddamn. Goddamn. And Varian smiles then, a halfway-smile, a wry crook of his mouth that creases at his eyes, and something in Hugo’s chest misses a beat. “And faith always matters.”

“And what if Nuru was right?” Hugo doesn’t know why he says it, and wants suddenly to slap himself. The fuck? But still: once again, he can’t stop himself from asking, from digging in the knife. “When she said I couldn’t be trusted. What if you’re wrong?”

“Nuru doesn’t say that anymore. What’s with you today?” Varian rolls his eyes, briefly, then turns and fixes Hugo with a smile, bright and blinding. “Besides. Am I wrong?”

And the worst part is—the absolute worst part—is that he says it dryly, says it sure, says it—like Varian knows, implicitly, that the answer is no.

Yes, Hugo thinks. “No,” he forces out, and smiles, and hates it.

“There you go.” Varian shrugs and turns back to his experiment, conversation over. Hugo stares at the back of his head. He feels sick. He feels dizzy. He feels like all the world has dropped at his feet, everything he’d never even known he wanted placed right in his hands—and the loss is sudden and sickening, because Hugo has already given this all away, handed it off long before he’d ever known what this treasure was worth.

Still. “Thanks,” Hugo says, through his teeth, and just barely manages to keep it from shaking.

And it’s terrible, all of it—the way Varian ducks his head, the way his shoulders curl, the way the other hides his smile against his arm like Hugo can’t see the gleam of his teeth in the dark, the gentle joy.

“Of course.”

Awful.

Hugo walks back to the fire. Yong is laughing at a joke. Nuru, once so suspicious, smiles up at him—then sees his face, and the smile falters. She frowns, suddenly, her brow furrowing. She says, “Hey, Hugo, are you okay?”

Never mind, she’d said earlier, all of Hugo’s secrets there before her to unravel. I want to trust you, Varian had said, months and months ago, offering his hand to a boy who’d already made the choice to betray them. Faith always matters.

Donella, smiling.

“Fine,” Hugo says, with a smile he doesn’t feel, but the truth beats behind his skull like a heartbeat, and behind his back his hands are shaking. He’s played himself into a corner—caring about these people, about Varian especially. Hugo, the greatest fucking fool of them all, wanting to live up to their expectations only now, when its already too damn late.

“Just fine,” Hugo says, and settles by the fire, Yong’s chatter and Nuru’s worried eyes and Varian’s distant humming—and closes his eyes to it all, holding his breath, as though if he stays still and quiet and careful he can stretch this moment out, keep this moment here, and make it so he doesn’t have to lose them at all.

#tangled the series #varian and the seven kingdoms #varian #hugo the human #varigo #varian/hugo #vat7k #varian and the seven kingdoms au #tts #rapunzel's tangled adventure #rta #tts fic #iza fanfic

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feverinfeveroutfic · 3 years ago

Text

chapter seventeen: the city by the lake

“So here we are in Lone Pine—what's next again?” Alex asked her as he drank down his fresh coffee.

“Independence. Fort Independence and also Manzanar.”

“Oh, damn.”

“Yeah. I remember the first time I polished up on my history and my dad told me about it. I was horrified, especially by how it's so close to home, too. But yeah, it's Independence, Manzanar, and then Big Pine, and then finally Bishop. We'll stop there and I'll show you one of mine and my parents' favorite places to go at during this whole road trip: right on the main street. Maybe the next time around—like when it's closer to summer, we can go up to Tom's Place—up the hill north of Bishop. My dad stopped at Tom's Place once years ago, and he said they have literally the best blueberry cobbler.”

“Yum,” Alex declared as he rolled his eyes up into the back of his head, and it made her giggle.

He sipped on his coffee some more and he peered out the window which looked out to the west. Mount Whitney was still buried underneath those clouds, but every so often, those feathery wispy sheets dissipated and they both looked on at those high jagged points as they stood strong and foreboding and blanketed with a fresh layer of pure white snow, like the highest most haunted castle in all of the land. Sam shivered at the sight of those points and then she returned to her French toast.

“Just looks cold up there,” he said.

“Where? Up there?” Sam pointed out the window to the top of the mountain, and he nodded. “You know, we're not too far from Death Valley.”

“Oh, yeah, there's that race they have every year. You know, the run from the very bottom of Death Valley to the peak of Mount Whitney.”

“Oh, that! Yeah! That takes place every summer, though. I mean, it makes sense—given how cold it is up there and everything but—still.”

“Right?” Alex showed her a little grin as he reached for another piece of toast. “We should go to Yosemite at some point.”

“I dunno if we can go up there, though,” she confessed. “I didn't see the sign that says that the roads are closed, but that one in particular on this side of the mountains—Tioga, because it's so high up—is closed for most of the year.”

“'Cause of black ice and whatnot,” he added.

“Right! But that's another adventure for us, if you ask me, though. When I went on the road trip with Louie, he mentioned the Eastern Sierra being so peaceful. I kinda wish I agreed with him the first time around because—it really is. There's so much to this side of California. So much to offer, so much to see, so many unique adventures away from L.A., San Diego, and the Bay Area. So much more than meets the eye.”

“It's almost as if you're showing me the one place that you go to when no one's looking,” he said with a thoughtful look on his face. Sam hesitated and then it dawned on her. She really was showing it to him. She was showing him her quiet place. “And at some point, I probably should show you mine, too.”

“You have a quiet place, too?”

He nodded at that and the black hair dye on the crown of his head seemed to fade away with the movements of his head.

“It's not where you think, though,” he explained. “If and when you and I have time and there's a right place for it, I'll show it to you. And I want it to be just you and me, too—there's only one other person I think of who's been to it and that was my mom.”

“Mama took her baby to a place to keep him quiet,” she teased him as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips.

“Yes! Exactly!” he laughed at that, and he raised his coffee cup to her and they made a toast to one another. A toast to one another and then they ate up the rest of their toast. He took one last sip of his coffee and then he leaned back in his chair.

“Feel better?” she asked him.

“Oh, yes,” he replied with a nod of his head and a hand on his stomach, “a lot better actually. I was getting ready to roll out of the car, chase something down and kill it with my bare hands.” She burst out laughing at that.

“I was, though!” he insisted. “And it was that—like—real sudden hunger, too. You know, it's like you're fine one second and then all of a sudden, it's like 'hooooly fuck, I'm starving!'” He said that last part under his breath. “It's sudden and leaves you feeling kinda sick, too. It's almost like you're carsick.”

“Ooh, yeah, that sucks,” she said with her nose wrinkled, and then she took another sip of her coffee. “It also didn't help you were actually in a car, too.”

“Right!”

One more sip of her coffee and then she wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“Shall we?” she offered him.

“We shall,” he said back to her and he put his sunglasses back on over his nose and gave his flattened stomach a loving pat. Sam led him back outside, and she held the door for him all the while.

“Thank you,” he told her and he adjusted the lapels of his windbreaker. The cold winds flooded down from the Whitney Portal and the rugged tall mountains off to the north; she huddled closer to him as she got the keys ready for the next stint of the trip and yet even more cold desolate desert.

Soon, they returned to the road and the short series of stoplights all the way to the edge of town and even more barren, wide open road. Alex peered out the window and the morning sun, which had now risen up over the windswept landscape: a fine layer of clouds blanketed those cold rays as if it behaved as a veil. The shine on those mirrored lenses appeared as more of a glow rather than a straight glare.

“So new album's gonna be called Practice What You Preach, right?” she asked him as the signs for Manzanar entered her view.

“That's the running title, actually,” he explained, “I do hope it's gonna be called that. It just feels appropriate, you know? Especially for this time and era, but at the same time, I don't wanna be like—really on the nose about the things I'm thinking of with writing lyrics.”

“The power of art!” she said. “I still owe you a demo.”

“It's okay,” he assured her, “we needed breakfast after all. And there's so much you wanna show me, too.”

“There really is, Alex. Like I said, this whole road is like a gateway to a whole bunch of adventures. A lot of things that so many don't know about, and a part of me wants to keep it all to ourselves.”

“You didn't call it a quiet place for no reason,” he pointed out.

“True.”

On the left side of the highway, the sage brush and scraggly low trees gave way to partially collapsed chain link fences and the low buildings that made up that old Japanese internment camp. The house in Elsinore felt like a prison for sure, but the sight of that old abandoned compound left Sam speechless. She took a glimpse over at Alex and the thoughtful expression still plastered on his face, even with the sunglasses upon his nose.

To think that she and him wanted nothing to do with each other at one point, much like how she didn't care for Marla at first, and to the point she was willing to take Charlie from her. She still had a long way to go with him, especially when the beautifully desolate desert gave way to even more low rolling foothills and steep slopes along those ferocious towering mountains with their thick sheets of snow, those massive, thick glaciers indicative of the Palisades, the rather treacherous part of the Sierra Nevadas. Even in broad daylight, they looked ready to take these two young kids under their darkness as if they were dragons that guarded the castle down by Mount Whitney.

All along the fine white sands under the seemingly endless droves of scraggly sage brush. All within even more black volcanic rock.

Within time, they reached Big Pine and the titular big sequoia tree at the northern end in all of its lush light greenery even in the dead of winter, like the tallest turret of the castle.

“Here's a fun li'l fact for you, Alexander,” Sam started again. “That tree right there was planted by Teddy Roosevelt.”

“Really?” He was genuinely stunned by that.

“Planted it almost a whole century ago, and it just got bigger and fuller and healthier with time.”

“Sounds like my belly,” he joked, and she laughed at that.

“Past that tree is yet another road to Death Valley. But keep going on it and you end up in Nevada and eventually the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest—right on the other side of those mountains over there.”

“Ancient bristlecone pines,” he echoed that.

“Literally some of the oldest trees in the world out there.”

“Yet another adventure for us.”

“Right?”

The Palisades soon gave way to a far more elaborate complex of rugged rough mountains, all covered with even more snow and glaciers. Meanwhile, the sun dipped behind a thicker part of clouds, such that Alex took off his sunglasses and revealed his deep set eyes to the world. The black hair dye upon the crown of his head glimmered and shone under the faint gray winter light and for a second, she swore that she saw that little tuft of gray there right over his brow once again.

“Do you plan on dyeing your hair again?” she asked him.

“Um—” He stopped and those eyes caressed over the immense corridor of land before them. “Actually—no. Unless there's a reason for it.”

“I don't want you to,” she told him. “That little tuft of gray hair is what makes you—” She hesitated for a second in search of the right word. “—unique.”

He nibbled on his bottom lip and sighed through his nose. She was sincere with that: that little tuft of premature gray set him apart from everyone else whom she had known before then.

Another fifteen miles of flat sands across the landscape and soon the first trees, the ones that weren't bristlecone pines or anything akin to them, appeared in their view. The mountains dipped away into the low hanging gray clouds and gave way to a bowl shaped valley before them. The town of Bishop emerged in their view.

“So the place that my parents and I liked to go to on the way through here,” she began as they slowed up for the main street and the deserted, rolling golf course off to the left, “it's—on my side.”

He looked out the windshield along with her. They rolled at a slow pace, past all the little shops and boutiques. The big city of the middle of nowhere right at the base of all the giant mountains. All the rocks to climb and master. All to uncover and carry the weight upon: for a fleeting moment, Sam thought of Belinda and how much she loved to work with her hands. She wondered how Belinda would fare in such a stark terrain because it all but required one to work with their hands, especially if they were artists.

She recognized that rusted sign as it poked out from the side of the road, right beyond the stoplight at the center of town.

“Ah! Here we are.”

Lucky for them, there was no one else in the parking lot given it was New Year's, and thus she eagerly took the first spot closest to the heavy wooden front doors, right in the narrow parking lot. The clouds overhead thinned out a bit for the sun's rays as it began to reach the apex of the sky: but the fact that the mountains had disappeared behind a block of white clouds told Sam that the snows were upon them.

She led him inside the bakery, into that initial narrow corridor followed by the room off to the left with all of the bread and pastries they could possibly imagine. On the far side of the room stood the case with all the fresh cookies and cakes either of them could ask for. She thought of Joey on the previous New Year's Eve, in how they could have all the ice cream they could possibly imagine some day.

A part of her felt as though she and Alex could have all the fresh pastries they could ever ask for some day themselves. Alex himself set a hand on his stomach even though they had only eaten an hour before; Sam raised two fingers to the older baker, who then took out one of the fresh dark reddish brown cookies with a kiss of pearly white frosting on the front side from the row right before her with a sheet of white tissue paper.

Alex chuckled at what she was buying for him.

“Yet another ginger snap,” he remarked.

“Except these have frosting on them—these are nothing like the one I bought for you when we were in Germany. And you're getting two this time around, too.”

“I really am going to gain weight hanging out with you,” he joked with a straight face and a shake of his head.

“It's all good for ya, son,” the baker behind the counter said. “Handmade ginger cookies.”

“Think of it as healthy weight,” she pointed out. “Healthy weight for your little body. And ginger's real good for your stomach, too.” She returned to the baker. “And I'll have one of these big round sugar cookies here, too, please.”

He kindly got the big cookie in question for her and then wrapped all three in that tissue paper, followed by a little brown paper bag. She thanked him and then the two of them doubled back towards the cashier: all the while, Sam swiped a bag of freshly baked cheesy bread from one of the racks.

“My parents love this stuff,” she told him. “It's like the ultimate road trip snack for us.”

“Just break off a piece and eat it every so often,” he followed along. “It's so humble. I kinda like it.”

“We don't have much but we have each other,” she stated.

“We don't have much but we have each other, right.”

She reached the cash register at the wooden desk first and she took out her wallet from her purse.

“I'm gonna be right over here,” he told her, and she nodded at him. She stepped forward with his ginger snap and her sugar cookie in that little paper bag as well as the cheesy bread, and the cashier rang her up in one fell swoop. She looked over at Alex as he walked on over there.

“Beautiful boy,” the cashier told her in a low voice. Sam glanced over at Alex, who gazed on at the rows of freshly baked breads on the racks on the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I guess he is,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. The cashier squinted her eyes at her.

“Hon—he's gorgeous,” she told her. “Don't lose him. It's not often you see a boy as gorgeous as him.”

Sam pursed her lips together and the cashier handed her her change. She just treated him as she would a good friend and treated him well, even with all of the complex thoughts she had in mind: she dared not look at Alex that way, especially with him still not even old enough to drink alcohol yet. She still had those thoughts within her, but thoughts would have to remain as thoughts regardless of everything else. She thanked her and beckoned Alex to follow her back outside to the gray late morning: the sun disappeared behind the thin veil of clouds once again as they returned to the car yet again.

“You smell like freshly baked bread,” she told him as he buckled in.

“And you smell—like—baked bread, too,” he retorted to her, to which she giggled at him. She fired up the car again and they doubled back to the mouth of the driveway, and back onto the main road once the light turned red. They were alone on the street: despite it being the big city of the middle of nowhere, the sidewalks had already rolled up for New Year's Eve.

She caught the next and final light green and she rounded a lefthand turn, away from the next turn off to Highway 6: she had a vague memory of that turn off, and how her father told her it extended all the way out east, all the way back to New England, but she dared not tell Alex that just yet. They had a mountain to climb in front of them.

The highway separated out into four lanes once again, two in their direction and two which headed back to Bishop: in between was a sandy barren center divider.

The clouds collected all around the summit of the gargantuan Mount Tom right before them.

“Right up this road here,” she explained as they stared the mountain straight on, “when we get to the top, is Tom's Place.”

“The place with the amazing cobbler,” he recalled.

“That's the one!”

They soon cleared the city limit and they meandered over even more barren landscape. So bare and stark, and yet there was something so endless and stunning about it all, much like the coastline. Where the coastline with Louie's presence proved to be serene and intense at the same time, the mountains paired with Alex's presence brought her in touch with herself more than ever. She dared not tell him about it as they reached a series of pastures and ranches on the edge of town.

The highway took a sharp curve around the bend and they were met with a daunting hillside.

“This part of the trip here bothers me the most,” she admitted.

“Why's that?” he asked her.

“It just goes up.”

“It just goes up?”

“All the way up.”

She realized that they were in an older car, too. She had no clue if they would reach the top still in a cool spot.

She gripped onto the rim of the steering wheel and sighed through her nose. The snows were upon them after all: she could feel it through the glass of the windshield.

She took a glimpse over at Alex and his relaxed pose, although those deep eyes were locked onto the cold pavement before them. Another glimpse and she realized how wide they had gotten with the sight before them, as if he had seen a ghost of some sort. She recognized that look in his eyes from the fire ball incident in Germany.

Sam sighed through her nose and, once she switched off the heater, she let the road guide their way.

They climbed all the way up the hillside, a continual gradual incline to the very top, high above the desert and the Owens Valley, and almost level with the mountain tops. The halfway point already had a fresh dusting of snow upon the ground.

“Jesus,” Alex muttered as the road continued on and on up the side of the hill.

“Yeah. People overheat on this mountain pass all the time.” Once the words left her lips, they passed a trailer with a water tank aboard specifically for that problem in question. She took a glance down at the narrow red needles within the gages: the one with the temperature rose a little bit but she knew their saving grace was the cold and the snow.

More snow emerged along the sides of the road. More snow, more slope. Alex shifted his weight in the seat: he clung onto the safety bar over his head. His breathing was steady but she could still see it in his eyes.

They both sat still until they spotted that sign on the side of the road that told them they reached the top of Sherwin Summit. A gentle curve downwards and then the road finally leveled out. At least a foot of snow covered either side of the road and all of the dark forests that lined the way. Miles and miles of thick dark forest covered in white snow so they resembled to those fake trees on a display at Christmas.

“Reminds me of the Black Forest,” Alex said aloud.

“Reminds me of upstate New York,” Sam followed up.

It really did, too: the highway snaked through the trees, complete with big views of Mount Tom and all the snow capped mountains before them, and Lake Crowley and the Long Valley Caldera along the way it all made her think of Finger Lakes and the thick lush forest that she and Joey drove through over to his parents' house. Alex switched the heater back on, but it was rather futile given the cold and icy feeling of everything outside the car.

She pictured Joey in the back seat right behind them as they passed the turn off up to Convict Lake as well as even more forest. She knew that, had she shown him this trip sooner, he probably would never have met Krista in the first place. He probably would love this place as well, especially with the added fact that it was all volcanic.

“This place is so stunning,” Alex remarked as he peered out the window to the vast volcanic plain, now blanketed with fresh pure white snow. “Can't believe this has been right under my nose the whole time, too.”

“Some day I'll show you Convict Lake, Rock Creek Lake, and June Lake,” she vowed as they scoured the rim of Lake Crowley: its black waters glassy under the gray sky and in between the white snow. “There's one place I haven't been to up here with my parents yet and that's Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, and Devil's Postpile, right up this way—”

Straight ahead, Mammoth Mountain towered back against the cold gray, but soon they reached another gentle curve in the road and headed for more dark forest. More dark forest lined with small snowy clearings and tiny ponds of black icy water.

“Somewhere along the way here is Obsidian Hill,” she told him as they slithered through those tall trees, “a literal five hundred foot high pile of obsidian.”

“Volcanic glass,” he said.

“Don't take any of it, though,” she advised him. “We are in a volcano, after all.”

“Something about the goddess Pele or something?” he recalled. “I remember reading about her in that book when we were in England. The one where I read about the Wandering Jew. Like if you take something from a volcano, it'll erupt or something—I don't completely recall it.”

“Please the goddess somehow,” she declared. “But how is another question.”

They reached the top of the next ridge, albeit a low one in comparison to the hulking Obsidian Hill, which hid away back in the trees like a troll. Another sign appeared on the side of the road which told them they reached the top of Dead Man Summit. At that point, Alex set a hand on his stomach yet again.

“Ginger snap time,” she said.

“Time for a snap,” he said with a snap of his fingers. He took one out of the paper bag in between them: right underneath it was the cheesy bread. While he took a cookie for himself, she reached into that bag with one hand. With two fingers, she sloughed off a piece of that bread and stuck it in her mouth.

“Yeah, I'm gonna be so plump by the time I'm thirty,” he confessed as he broke off a piece of ginger snap and set it on his tongue.

“Let me ask you something,” she began.

“Ask me anything.”

“Why are you so concerned about your weight? Like that's something that I worry about. I've never met a guy who was so finicky about that.”

“'Cause I'm Jewish—we have health problems galore. Obesity and trouble with the heart runs in my family, too.”

“Aw, I had no idea.”

“It's okay—you didn't know. But—you know—I can't help myself sometimes. I don't care. I like to eat!”

“You grew up in the Bay Area, too. You guys aren't really known for your food so much.”

“No, we aren't! When we eat, we eat.” He took another bite of ginger snap and closed his eyes.

“Man, I wish we had Mexican hot chocolate with us,” she declared. “You ever had that?”

“YES,” he replied with his eyes so big that he resembled to a cartoon character.

“I made a couple of cups of that for Cliff when we were together,” she said in a soft voice, “he loved it. And I feel like that cookie there would go excellent with a little cup of that.”

“Oh, my god, talk about spicy,” he said as he covered his mouth with his free hand. He then swallowed. “By the way, what's the food like over in New York? I only caught a small sliver of it the times Testament went out that way to record but is it really as extensive as everyone says it is?”

“That's an understatement,” she told him. “Alex, I only lived there for three years but I feel like I only scratched the surface. Marla and Bel know far more about it than I do and I think they get overwhelmed from time to time.”

“Jew boy paradise,” he said as he took another bite.

They passed the June Lake Junction followed by a small series of frozen creeks in the woods, and then they were met with a watershed in the shape of a small valley. A thin layer of snow covered the grass out there. Once Alex finished his ginger snap, he licked his lips and gave his black hair a little toss back. In that stint of the trip alone, the black hair dye faded even more to the point Sam could actually see those grays once again.

“Kinda thirsty,” he said.

“We'll stop in Lee Vining and get some water,” she assured him, “we need to get gas anyway.”

Indeed, they turned the next bend, which brought them down lower into the watershed: off before them stood the noxious glassy salt water Mono Lake. They turned another bend and she caught a glimpse of the salty turrets down by the shoreline.

“I remember Mark Twain talking about this lake,” he said aloud, “how it's so salty that it's like swimming in brine.”

“Yeah, it smells, too,” she added, and she couldn't help but think of the East River back in New York all the while; “and not how the beach and the ocean smell, either. Salty and even more volcanic than Lake Crowley. Not the best combination for humans.”

Even though it was midday, the shadows of the mountains next to them cast down upon them like a veil. Sam thought about Zelda and the name she wanted to give the Cherry Suicides' album, that of Black Veils. She was yet another person she wished could see this trip with her and Alex.

They passed the turn off for Tioga Road, which led into Yosemite, and all the while, he muttered, “some day... some day...” to himself.

“Some day, indeed,” she vowed; the road dipped down and they slowed up a bit for the town of Lee Vining. She brought them to the gas station right in the center of town, where he offered to fill them up and she offered to get him some water. She was the only person in that gas station, too, such that she considered merely taking the water bottles for herself when the clerk in the back stopped her in her tracks. They had a good laugh but she was in fact serious about it.

“Man, there is no one here,” Alex said as he stood before the tank door and held the pump steady.

“Middle of the day on New Year's Eve,” she told him, “all the hicks and the tourists went home or they're in the city.”

Within time, and after he washed his hands, they were back on the road and they scoured the edge of Mono Lake. He peered out the window at those dark waters as they loomed just under the road's edge. Lucky for them, the snow hadn't yet come again and they cleared the lake's edge in no time. They stared straight ahead to the next kink in the road, or rather series of kinks in the road as they ascended up another side of a mountain.

“Yet another hill,” he said as he took a piece of cheesy bread for himself.

“Well, at least this time around they got it right,” she assured him as they turned the first right hand corner.

The next one turned left and they rose up a bit. The next one to the right. To the left. To the right. And on the third left one, Alex clasped a hand to his forehead.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Kinda dizzy. This road is making me dizzy.”

“It's alright, we're almost at the top. Just one more little grind up this hill and—”

A sign appeared on the side of the road that told them they reached the top of Conway Summit, at eight thousand feet above sea level. They made a sharp right turn and began on down the other side of the hill. There at the top, the snow was the thickest it had ever been: tall steep drifts lined the sides of the separated highway as if they were genuine walls.

“Poor guy,” she said aloud.

“This is such a new thing for me,” he confessed, “being a city boy and all.”

“The rough country life is not for the faint of heart,” she told him. “Although a part of me sees you thriving out here.”

“Nah, I'd rather be in the city. Although that doesn't mean I can't not appreciate the wilderness, mind you.”

The road snaked along the other side of the hill: Sam peered out her window at the wispy light gray clouds over the mountains on the far side of the valley.

“Over that way is Twin Lakes,” she pointed out. “My mom's family visited this place so much when she was growing up.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, my great aunt is buried down here in Bridgeport.”

They scoured the edge of a huge snowy pasture and right before they reached the outskirts of that small town, they passed yet another junction to a road less travelled, the highway up to Yerington.

“We're getting close, Alex,” she told him as they strolled through Bridgeport, which too had buttoned up for New Year's Eve. “Another eighty miles—I think.” At the edge of town was another sign, but a thick layer of snow and ice obscured the words from her view.

Another straight shot across the pasture ended by a sharp right hand corner past an old dilapidated house surrounded by barren cottonwood trees, and they headed back to another series of hills.

“How's the car doing, by the way?” he asked her as he reached for his second ginger snap.

“Doing excellent! The only time I was kind of worried about it was when we went up the Sherwin grade. It got a little warm but it never went any higher because it's so cold outside. I dread to think how it'd be if we went in the summer time.”

“Oh, right? And how're you doing?”

“I'm doing excellent! My hands are a little stiff, but I've got it, though.” He flashed her a wink and took a little nibble off of the cookie.

The hills only rose up around them as if they too withheld dragons inside. All the dips and curves in the road and they were soon at the top of a hill. Another sign told them they reached the top of Devil's Gate Summit, and the fourth and final one to boot, and the one that ran adjacent to a creek.

But then Sam remembered.

Within a matter of minutes, those low snowy hills to the left gave way to high stony columns that looked as though they were about to close in all around them. And that creek gave way to a full on rumbling river that ran parallel to the road.

“Let me guess,” Alex started as he licked the crumbs off of his fingers and put his sunglasses back on, “this is the—Walker River?”

“Yes! It's the west fork, too. Even in the summer time, that water is so cold and crisp.”

“Just looks cold,” he remarked as he took a drink of water.

The black river waters washed over beds upon beds upon beds of smooth stones: every so often, a small waterfall emerged out in the open. Meanwhile, the two lane road wound through the meandering canyon like the full body of a serpent. A big beautiful serpent, lined with dense evergreen trees and tall high stony cliffs, to which the head brought them to more snow covered grass land and the rim of Lake Topaz.

“The stateline, Alex!” she declared as they zipped through the snowy scraggly trees.

“Just saw a sign back there that literally called this place 'the quiet side of California,'” he told her.

“And that's exactly what this is,” she assured him with a wink.

They rode all along the edge of the lake, which too appeared so cold and crisp that a mere glimpse sent a shiver down her spine. A final straight shot uphill and—

“Welcome to the Silver State!” Alex proclaimed as he took another drink of water.

“You know, I had a feeling we'd get here by the middle of the afternoon,” she told him as they passed a small casino on the side of the road. “Anyways—welcome home, Alex.”

“Ah, you're taking me to Carson City!” he declared.

“One of the three places I call home,” she continued, “the others being New York City and L.A.”

“Wow,” he breathed out.

The road led throughout more low hillsides and low forests, this time of stubby little bristlecone pines and pinion pines, and then they reached Gardnerville and Minden. Another ten miles across a flat valley and they reached a low ridge. On the other side was Carson City, that old familiar crown jewel that always felt so close and so far away at the same time.

A little ways down the main street and she turned right on Clearview Drive, followed by another left onto Silver Sage Drive.

That old familiar neighborhood, all of those old familiar houses now covered in a blanket of that infamous powdery snow. If only Charlie was there to see it for himself. If only Cliff could see it all, especially when held in comparison to the house in Reno.

“So this is where you grew up,” he said aloud.

“One of the neighborhoods, anyway,” she corrected him. “This one, one up in Reno, and the one down in Elsinore.”

“This is all so precious,” he declared, “it'd be like me taking you to the place I grew up.” He froze and then he looked over at her. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Funny, uh—there's another place I wanna take you, too,” she declared, “but we gotta hustle, though. It might snow again.”

“Oh, yeah?”

She pulled up to the stop sign and nibbled on her bottom lip.

She remembered the way up. It would prove to be a bit of a challenge, especially since they had already gone over four hundred miles in that car. But she was willing to do it for him.

She made another left so as to head back to Carson Street.

Up the ever so slight hill, past the car dealerships and the little restaurants featured on the way out of town, and she recognized that old turn off to that big mountain road. She had only gone up that way once before and she was rather small when it happened. But that winding mountain road felt like visiting an old friend again.

She was amazed that it was even open despite all of the snow on the ground.

Alex shook his head a little bit at one point but she kept her focus on the pavement before her. A sharp turn followed by another and another so as to resemble yet another snake. He parted those sensual lips and let out a low whistle in response to the feeling within him.

But they reached the top, and all of those thick lush trees clustered together against the dense snow, and Sam recognized even more glassy black waters on his side, cradled by the stark mountain top.

“Spooner Lake, Alex,” she announced.

“Holy wow,” he breathed out as he ran his fingers through his black hair.

But it was an appetizer for what awaited them at the very top and beyond the forests and the next bend in the road as it overlooked the enormous valley down below, and as far as they both knew, the entire world at their whim. They had climbed the mountain to see the world, but before them was what she held dear, and for him in particular.

The snowy scapes cradled those freezing, perfectly still black waters before them. Where they had seen the ugly salt waters of Mono Lake, they were met with the massive beauty of Lake Tahoe. Alex lifted his mirrored sunglasses off of his nose for a better look before him.

“One of the places my mom loved going to when she was growing up,” Sam started again as the road gently dipped downward, “was Incline Village.”

“Is that what this is down here?”

“Nah, this is Glenbrook over here. Incline's over that way—” She pointed out his side of the windshield and the lush banks of snow that covered the forest along the lake side. “I have no doubt that had she not picked Catalina, she would've moved there. To the city by the lake.”

“What stopped her?”

“Her publisher's based out of L.A.”

“I see.”

“We'd have to turn around and head back to Spooner Lake to get there, too. But—” She bowed her head for a better look out the windshield. Even though it was only five o'clock in the afternoon, the night was upon them, as were the storm clouds overhead. All the way up they had gathered around the mountain summits, but now they were officially upon a mountain summit, and thus it warranted snow.

“I don't know if we can get back over there before the snow comes in, Alex,” she said aloud. “Or back down for that matter. That road sucks when it snows.”

“What do you think we should do?” he asked her, concerned.

“Well... we have that blanket in the back and we have our jackets with us.”

“That means we gotta fold the seats back, though,” he pointed out.

“And? Here—”

She slowed to a stop at the next side street, which brought them closer to the water's edge as well as a few long low buildings, including a bar. Once they had come onto smoother pavement, the winds picked up. She pulled behind the bar, away from the water and ultimately the incoming wind and the blizzard.

“We'll park behind this bar here so we're out of the wind.”

“Eat some more of that cheesy bread, too,” he said.

“I'll go into the bar here if you want something more to eat,” she promised him. “I don't have much left on me except enough to get us back down the hill and then over to some place like the Bay Area, but that's for later on, though.”

“And I'll keep you warm,” he promised her.

Five o'clock in the afternoon and yet Sam was exhausted, with no desire to go any further. Indeed, she could see it on his face as well. Both of them had traveled hundreds of miles together and without the sense of a tour lingering over him in particular. She killed the engine and they both climbed out. Both of them wore windbreakers and yet Sam knew it wouldn't be enough. He opened the passenger door and took the blanket off of the seat before he adjusted it back: she did the same when flurries fluttered down from the darkening sky overhead.

“I got another couple of jackets back here, too,” he told her as he took a pair of dark puffy jackets out from under the seat closest to him. “Use these for pillows—”

He rolled up the first one and lay it down in front of him, and did the same for the next one.

Sam brushed the extraneous snow off of her head before she climbed in and onto the flattened back seat. Alex followed suit, although he had to skirt around the edge of the seat so he could lay right next to her. He shut that door above their heads and she shut the other door down by their feet. He then took the blanket and spread it over their bodies.

“Just like that—yeah—yeah—yeah, you got it?” He lay there on his side with the jacket rolled up right under his head; she nestled down right next to him with her head upon the other jacket. She lay right there with only an inch of clearance between herself and the tip of his aquiline nose. Four hundred miles of driving and they both had had enough despite it being early still.

“I do,” she told him in a hushed voice.

“Okay.”

His slender body was so very warm; even though he had slimmed down a great deal, his stomach was still very soft. She kept her arms around his slim waist: even as a thin, almost delicate young man, he had rather prominent hipbones and such thick sinewy thighs. Even when thin and having shed most of his childhood weight, he was still as warm and soft as a teddy bear. She pictured him as even more delicate in a few years time at the rate he was going at with his weight: even having eaten to his heart's desire at the house down in Catalina, he still maintained that slim figure. She tucked her head under his chin so she could better feel the warmth from his neck.

To think that she was laying like this in a bed in West Germany not long ago. To think that she had no one next to her, and for months, in that bed in the house down in Lake Elsinore. That room all to herself for months, such that it felt like a prison of sorts.

“This feels so weird,” she confessed.

“Why's that?”

“Well—because the last time I got this close with a guy was Joey. And I dunno if we're even a thing anymore.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at that. She kept her hand on the small of his back: it wasn't long ago she lay the same way with Joey before and with her hands down lower on him. Maybe she overthought the whole thing and he really was fooling around. No way she could ask him at that point, however.

Alex shivered a bit.

“Are you cold?” she gently asked him.

“A little bit—I'm feeling kind of a draft on the side of my neck. I also think I've lost too much weight.”

“What makes you think that?” she asked him.

“Even under the blankets, I'm cold.”

With a bit of a struggle, Sam lifted her hand and she tugged on the blanket a bit so it covered the side of his neck. She brought her hand towards the small of his back and she burrowed even closer to him so he was warm. Outside, the snow pummeled on the street and the sidewalk beyond the car: given they were behind a brick wall, every so often some of the snow hit the roof or the hood, but not enough to deafen them.

“I will say this,” he started again with a sniffle.

“What's that?”

“I'm glad we parked behind this bar here—” His voice was low and crisp sounding, as though he had a sore throat. “Listen to those winds.”

Sam nestled even closer next to him as the winds picked up out there to where they formed a ghostly howl. He may have felt cold, but his chest was warm and his body was soft and tender. He bowed his head a bit so he could better keep in the warmth between them.

“God, you're so soft,” she told him, “you're like a little teddy bear.”

“I'm gonna say this, though,” he said, “I'm sure you can feel my arms.”

“I do.” Indeed, even though his body was soft, his lanky arms felt so firm and toned, even when covered in that thick windbreaker. “I see you just being so elegant, though,” she confessed as she recalled his life's wish. “All wrapped in lace and standing tall.”

“I dunno 'bout lace,” he said. “Velvet, maybe. Velvet with—silk.”

“All silky soft,” she joked and he chuckled at that.

She had no memory of what happened after that: they both fell asleep, and she woke up to total darkness and the howl of the cold winter winds. And yet even in the wake of the noise outside, Sam caught the sound of voices on the street. Against the wind, she swore she heard church bells ringing.

“Happy New Year!” a man shouted. “Happy 1989!”

“Happy New Year, Samantha,” Alex whispered to her in a broken voice.

“Happy New Year, Alex,” she whispered back. She was practically squeezing his thin little body at that point, but she knew that he would be toasty warm in the morning.

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stemfandomtrash · 4 years ago

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ALRIGHT EVERYONE. Let me tell you about my newest favourite historical figure: Catalina (Katherine) of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, because oh boy, her history is a rollercoaster.

Basically, she...

- Was betrothed to the upcoming King of England, Arthur, at 3yo

- She and Arthur corresponded via Latin in letters, but apparently England and Spain spoke it differently, so they couldn’t understand each other at all.

- Less than 5 months after marriage, they caught the English Sweating sickness. She survived while Arthur died. (BTW this was likely a strain of the hantavirus, which is currently incurable with a 36% mortality rate.)

- Became a glorified prisoner for 5 years thereafter as English royalty tried to figure out what to do with her (i.e. how to not have to refund her dad’s dowager)

- Henry VII tried to marry her, HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, but (thankfully) failed

- During this time, she was mistreated but stood her ground and mostly wrote to her father asking him to take care of her servants (usually monetarily, as she was basically without income)

- Became the first female ambassador England saw in 1507. Royalty was floored when she couldn’t be manipulated and actually did a good job

- Wed Henry VIII (Arthur’s brother) in 1509 and was a pretty good queen

- Patroned and dedicated a very controversial book that promoted women’s rights to education

- Pardoned protestors and was known as a humanist

- Was regent for 6 months while Henry was in France

- During her regency, while heavily pregnant, rode in full battle armor to give a speech to rally troops to a battle against the Scots

- Suffered at least 6-9 miscarriages/stillbirths/deaths within hours of birth, including one son who was christened and named but died just 52 days after birth. She only had one child, Mary (yes, Bloody Mary herself). That has got to take a mental toll.

- Refused to “quietly retire to a nunnery” when Henry wanted to “upgrade” to a younger queen who could bear children (Anne Boleyn) and made him revamp the English Church to divorce her

- Upon divorce, outright called henry a wicked king and claimed he would take years off of anyone’s life, especially hers (she was also the longest-lasting queen, reigning for ~20yrs)

- Was moved from castle to castle to castle once divorced and somehow put up with the constant move

- Was barred from seeing or communicating with her daughter, Mary, unless they both recognised Anne Boleyn as rightful queen. They refused and secretly sent letters to each other anyway.

- Before dying (likely of a cancer that affected her heart) a few years post-divorce, she wrote Henry one final letter that boiled down to “I forgive you for the hell you put me through, but let’s hope God does too. :) Also, thanks for “caring for” Mary. And for taking away all my money. What I do have left is all going towards my servants. Regards, the REAL Queen of England <3″

(Anne had a miscarriage on the day of Catalina’s funeral, and the black markings on Catalina’s heart--now believed to be cancer--were rumoured to be remnants of her dark magic that sent a final “fuck you” present to Henry and Anne.)

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jq37 · 5 years ago

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 1

There Is Strength in Sweetness

Much like the years, the seasons of D20 start coming and they don’t stop coming. Fantasy High: Sophomore Year is barely in the record books and we’re already jumping into our new season--the Game of Thrones/Candyland mashup: A Crown of Candy!

If y’all have been with me since Sophomore Year then you know that I did very in depth recaps of every episode with a very specific format but I’m gonna try something new for this season.

The format might change a little between episodes as I figure out what works best so bear with me but the plan is to do more highlights and opinions than a blow by blow. But, like, we’ll see what happens.

So, anyway, saddle up your Meep and let’s visit Candia--one of the six kingdoms of the land of Calorum (aka: a fridge. We see you Brennan, it’s a fridge). Twenty years ago, the Ravening Wars wreaked havoc but they’re currently in a time of peace which (mostly) everybody is psyched about.

Meet the Family

This is not a new observation but, while most seasons of Fantasy High focus on found family, this season is all about family-family, specifically, the royal family of Candia and their associates.

We’re first introduced to Murph’s character--Sir Theobald Gumbar (Level 3 Eldritch Knight)--who is the a huge, golden-armored, gummy bear, leader of the Tartguard, protector of the royal family, and the logical endpoint of Murph’s lawful good predilections. Sir Theo is, of course, on time with bells on for the big Saint’s Day/Coming of Age birthday party for the twin princesses of House Rocks. Unfortunately, he’s clearly never seen The Little Mermaid because when the heralds announce the princesses, they don’t show up. Frustrated, he goes to try and find them.

The first place he checks is with Zac’s character, Chancellor Lapin Cadbury (Level 3 Celestial Warlock). He is (in no particular order) the royal tutor, a chocolate bunny, an official of the main state sanctioned church of Calorum (the Bulbian Church), and a pompous ass. Oh, one more thing? He and Theobald can’t stand each other. There is nothing funnier than two very proper grown men who hate each other's guts. Sir Theo shows up to his classroom where the princesses are having a lesson--or at least they’re supposed to be. Further inspection shows that they’ve just left two straw dummies in their place. Classic.

So, we pan out to the city to meet my favorite characters so far (I absolutely play favorites but I also disclose when I’m doing it so I think I’m in the clear) the twin princesses/chaos gremlins--Jet and Ruby Rocks (both level 1 Rogues) played by Emily and Siobhan. Theo may not have seen The Little Mermaid but the twins have def seen Aladdin, because their number one pastime seems to be escaping the palace to roam the city--hilariously illustrated when they chuck a gem into a peasant's bag and his reaction is a super nonplussed, “Guess the princesses escaped again.” They’re got the Disney Princess-itis really bad because both of them feel stifled by palace life and want more--specifically, Jet wants to be a warrior and resents having been born in peacetime (especially since she’s slightly older and in line for the throne) and Ruby wants to run off and join the circus as an acrobat. They are total twin BFFs to the point that their Thieves Cant has been reskinned to Twinspeak which is a detail I love so much (and that will become unspeakably tragic if something happens to one of them Brennan).

Jet gets a letter from her secret crush Thad, an Avocado from Fructera (these are the sentences I am being forced to write this season folks) and schemes with Ruby about how they can get to Comida (the capital city) to meet him--possibly by sweet talking Theobald which is easy because he’s so thirsty for respect. Sure enough, Theobald and Lapin soon find them, following their path of destruction and the princesses are brought back to the castle.

Back at the castle, we’re introduced to Lou’s character--King Amethar Rocks (Level 3 Storm Herald Barbarian)--who is having a somber moment, surrounded by the statues of his four older sisters who died in the Ravening Wars, leading his reluctant taking of the throne. He’s interrupted by Lord Calroy (his right hand guy and a full ass talking slice of cake because Brennan is trying to break me this season but I refuse to give him the satisfaction) who lets him know that his daughters have escaped and his delighted reaction immediately lets us know which side of the family they take after.

Finally (at least wrt PCs), we meet Ally’s character--Liam Wilhelmina of House Jawbreaker (Level 2 Ranger) who is a political prisoner/ward of House Rocks and a soft, outdoorsy, mountain kid who is perpetually followed around by his pet pig--Peppermint Preston whose death will absolutely force to me to Google “Best Denny’s Parking Lots for Fistfights.” He misses his dad but not his dick brothers because Ally isn’t allowed to have a fully happy family in any season. Liam is from the disgraced House Jawbreaker and his brothers seem to expect him to try and off the King while he’s in their orbit. While he’s in the woods, looking for seeds (as one does) he finds and accidentally breaks an important looking teacup, which we’ll get back to.

The other important character we meet this episode is an NPC--Queen Caramelinda, mother of the princesses, wife of Amethar, and keeper of 100% of the impulse control of House Rocks. She’s the main disciplinarian to Jet and Ruby, the clear decision-maker in the kingdom, and the only literate one out of her and her husband. She also seems to be the only character that respects Lapin’s authority.

An Inciting Incident

So, with all our characters assembled, all that’s left is the plot hook which Caramelinda provides in the form of a personal letter from Emperor Gustavo--the head honcho of the entire realm and his old friend--to Amethar. He’s not doing well health-wise and he needs to name an heir that’s not related to him at a big tourney that he’s personally inviting Amethar to. Amethar is a little slow on the uptake but Caramelinda eventually connects to dots for him that it seems very likely that Gustavo is going to name him emperor.

Amethar is not vibing with that information at all but Caramelinda basically holds him by the ear until he reluctantly agrees to go--though he insists that Ruby and Jet also come along to keep him company. Caramelinda only agrees on the condition that Lapin goes with. She also invites Liam (who is caught off guard but game) and Sir Theo is basically going by default. Caramelinda is staying home to hold down the fort but the talking slice of cake is going because Brennan hates me and doesn’t want me to be happy.

The traveling party is chosen, the twins have been gifted with sick, inherited weapons from their aunts: Flickorice--the Twizzing Blade (Jet) and Sourscratch--the Puckering Bow (Ruby). It’s almost time to be off, but there’s still one last thing to get to before we leave the twins’ party.

Lapin, feeling the pull of something broken (told you we’d get back to it) subtly makes his way outside, but is followed by Jet and Liam. Now, if you remember, I said earlier that Lapin is an official of the Bulbian church. Which is why it’s so surprising for Jet and Liam to see him talking to the Sugarplum Fairy, a deity of the Sweetening Path--a non-sanctioned more animistic religion that really only has sway in Candia. He fixes the teacup and then she appears, telling him that he’ll need to be wary once he leaves her sphere of influence and that boldness will be required in the days to come. Lapin, who seems to be having this conversation very begrudgingly, asks if she’s asking him to do anything in an official capacity and she smiles and says that she’s not asking for her third wish(!). Then what does she want? She wants him to know that there is great risk in what he is doing, but not acting is the greater risk. The coming challenges will be great, but he must protect the royal family or all is lost. She wouldn't have used her second wish to bring him to them if that weren’t the case. They hustle back and spill this to Ruby, obvs.

Anyway, onward! The next day, the caravan is set up and--with a warning about a sugar free chocolate warlock (ominous, as sugar free chocolate always is) they’re on their way to meet their escort out of Candia. Ruby decides to do her acrobat thing and is hanging out on top of the carriage instead of inside it as she and Jet “subtly” (read:not at all) bring up the Sugarplum Fairy to Lapin to see if he cracks.

Suddenly, the caravan stops. There’s a tree felled in the path, which really only means one thing in this kind of story.

Ambush.

Ruby, outside of the carriage and unprotected, takes 16 points of damage and is fully down with a failed death save due to some unknown effect. The carriage is riddled with arrows.

Everyone rolls for initiative and that takes us into a new (sure to be recurring) segment I’m calling:

Things I’m Concerned About

I’m concerned about Jet and Ruby (and not just because I’ve been worried about Ruby for a while due to things the cast has said and because she fully *died* this episode). They have their genres so wrong. They think they’re Disney movie protagonists but they’re in Game of Thrones and they don’t know it. Being Wrong Genre Savvy is a BAD position to find yourself in. Carriage surfing shenanigans don’t fly in a world that wants you dead.

OK, Carameinda. I’m inclined to be pro-Caramelinda. Like, she’s the hardass but she needs to be because Amethar isn’t helping run the kingdom. If this was a different story, she wouldn’t give me any pause but I read Macbeth and feel some light Lady Macbeth vibes. Gonna be keeping an eye on her.

Calroy and Sir Toby (didn’t mention him, he’s a slightly lower ranked Gummi Bear guard and friends with Theo). In a story like this, I’m looking for the possible betrayals before I get blindsided and the only people who can really betray you are people who are supposedly loyal to you. Calroy had a little aside with Amethar about how he shouldn’t be the Emperor if he doesn’t want to be--which isn’t wrong but is also something someone angling to keep him off the throne for other reasons would say--and Sir Toby decided to stay behind to help hold down the fort--again, either an innocuous decision, or angling to be left alone and to his own devices.

Whatever is going on with the Sugarplum Fairy and Lapin? Do not care for that one bit. I understand that a Warlock pact is mechanically very similar to a Paladin oath and a Celestial Warlock pact is even moreso but guess what? Still don’t trust it. I know Ruby’s Arcana check said that she’s generally a chill spirit but I still don’t trust it. And getting Wishes from your follower? Weird and suspicious. What’s your game, lady?

Emperor Gustavo apparently has a daughter who is barred by law from taking the throne when he dies. That sounds like a very strong motive for *something* at some point down the line.

I’m a little concerned Jet is being catfished by this Avocado. First of all, not a sentence I thought I’d ever write. Second of all, I’m probably just being paranoid. But that feels like a great way to get a princess alone for kidnapping or shanking or something.

Update: Brennan did an AMA and, regarding the previous bullet point he said, and I quote, “You are right to be concerned!” so now I’m concerned about that too! Fun!

I’m concerned about the mechanics of how a slice of cake person works. Slice implies a full cake. Where is the rest of the cake Brennan? Where is it? And, like, Brennan said on the post-show stream that we’re making the “what do they eat?” question weirder than it actually is because we’re made of some of the stuff we eat but hey Brennan? If I could pick a flesh toned and textured apple off a tree? That would be weird, OK? And I’m sorry for everyone else who had to picture that but it had to be said since Brennan is insisting on walking us down this garden path.

I’m concerned about whatever the hell is happening with Liam. Disgraced dad, mom is a shaman of the local fringe religion (Sweetening Path, like Lapin), and his brothers want him to shank the king or something? No way this ends in smiles for everyone.

Brennan said Pyramid of Food so I’m concerned about fruit rollup mummies.

OK but more than anything, I’m concerned about the death rules of this game. Death in D&D is cheap but, in a campaign like this, it can’t be. I’m not super well versed in GoT but it’s my understanding that resurrection in that series is possible but rare. Brennan said he specifically didn’t let Ally stock certain healing spells and that’s very telling about how things are gonna be handled. I guess we’ll see in the upcoming battle episode how that works but my general thought is, I hope everyone made interesting backup characters.

Five More Things

So, my thoughts on the new characters. I love Ruby and Jet with my entire heart. Watching Emily and Siobhan roleplay sisters and enable each other and hype each other up is so fun--or it would be if I wasn’t low key bracing to lose one of them sooner rather than later. Zac playing against type and Murph playing to type are both fantastic. I want nothing more than for Theobald and Lapin to continue sniping at each other. I hope that’s the first PvP fight of D20. Amethar is a lot of fun but clearly in over his head and I’m interested to see where he’s pushed. Liam is literally just vibing. Hope he doesn’t have to commit regicide!

God, the House Rocks PCs are such a disaster family. I love it. The moment when Calroy comes in and is like, “The princesses have escaped,” and Amethar breaks into a grin and is like, “Dude, that’s so dope!” I was like OH, so it’s *all* of them, huh. But, honestly, this should have been on the “Things I’m Concerned About” list because come on. They’ve not all gonna make it. And then we’re gonna have to watch the remaining family members react to that? Oh no.

Love Ruby’s bow. I have a player in my game who also has a magic bow that produces energy arrows because, truly, who has the time to deal with the logistics of how many arrows you had left after last fight? Magic arrows. Boom, done. Next.

Getting bagged on by your Patron for not having a spell when she’s the one who gives you your spells is so funny. Also, Mending isn’t a Warlock spell which makes it even funnier.

**I’ve given myself a 3k word limit on all of these to try to put some boundaries on myself but, Lol, prize to the first who guesses closest to the first episode I break that rule.**

#a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #the royal report #listen I don't hate calroy #I hate the *implications* of calroy

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sweeethinny · 4 years ago

Note

death bed (coffee for your head) by Powfu for Drastoria?

I know that music has all this super sad background and that you would probably expect me to make Astoria die, BUT, as I always say here, nothing in this world will make me leave another child in the universe of HP orphaned, so, everything ends well at the end of this one shoot. I took a long time to write, mainly because I wanted it to come out the way I wanted, and I think I came up with something similar to my head Sad stories and fights are still a hindrance for me to write, but I am improving Thank you for sending! I loved this suggestion <3

''Astoria, I love you so much, which is why I'm writing this.

Last night after what your father said, after everything they pointed out ... I cannot arrest you, I cannot condemn you that way. You deserve so much, much more than I can give you. I wanted to be the man who will give you a family, a son, who will see you come in white and be waiting for you to be able to say 'yes', but it's not me. Unfortunately. It sucks that we met in this life, when I'm just a monster, just like your dad pointed out. That's what I am, after all. You always made me very happy, never doubt it Astoria, being on your side made every minute worthwhile, and for a few days I even thought I could leave it all behind. But I can not. It just doesn't work. As much as you say my past doesn't define me ... it does, Tori, he made me like this, he made me have the fucking Dark Mark on my arm and I can't get you sick with this shit. Don't blame yourself or lose sleep over this, you have a bright future ahead and you deserve to live the best life ever. Thank you for seeing me a little bit of the life I could have had, but unfortunately that needs to end.

I wanted to be the man of your life, like you were the woman of mine.

I will love you forever and ever.

Forever Yours,

Draco Malfoy''

She wanted to throw up, cry and scream all at the same time, lying on the floor while sobbing, watching the paper tremble in her hands, and the ink getting more and more smudged with every drop that fell.

Draco left her

Before she could think, before could reason perfectly, she was leaving the room, running through Greengrass Mansion, jumping the steps and barely seeing the path had taken to her father's office, opening a door with all her might, exploding in all its fury before the man could defend himself;

''He ran-away! Are you happy now? After you said all the things ... all that bullshit! He was just a boy! Coerced and afraid of having their parents dead! He was never a murderer, he never did me any harm, and now, because of that shit of yours yesterday, he found it safer to leave.''

"Well, it looks like he hurt you now" The man shrugged, still stiff and looking indifferent, which irritated her even more

''What ... Draco thinks he's doing me a favor, that you were right, that ... DO I LOOK HAPPY?''

''Don't you see the ruin it would take you? What would it do to your reputation? No one else would look you in the face!’’ Astoria snorted irritably

''And do I care about that?! Fuck them!, I DO NOT CARE. You can't meddle like that in my life, I'm not a child and I know very well who I choose to marry''

''You look crazy, do you see that? Screaming and doing all this drama''

''All this drama? My fiance left me because of you!'' The father finally seemed to feel something

''My fault? If he were a real man he would have hit the front, not run away like a coward! In fact, running away is the only thing the Malfoys know how to do. ''

''He knew it would hurt me, he knew that causing a fight with you would hurt me ... '' The man fought a battle with a daughter, one staring as angry as the woman

''You said it yourself ... do you look happy?’’ He raised a dark, defiant brow.

''I'm going after him'' She turned away, being stopped on the next step, feeling her father's hand on her arm

''Astoria ... ''

''No, he is my fiancé and I am going to marry him, whether you like it or not ... I always knew that people would talk about it and that they possibly came back against me, but my own family?'' She swallowed the ball that formed in her throat, with her eyes prickling ''I think you look a lot like the rest of the pureblood, after all''

It wasn’t very easy to find Draco, there was a world of possibilities where he could have hidden, and as far as Astoria knew him, he would have preferred a place she wasn’t aware of how to get there.

What made her travel to Scotland.

Being Pure Blood had its privileges there.

She had already talked to some people who might know about her whereabouts - even her in-laws (they wouldn't be ex, until she decided they would), but nobody knew anything. Nothing, until she presses one of his co-workers and finds out that he has taken a portkey for Scotland.

It was so obvious, and so stupid that she hadn't thought of it.

Of course, this was not a small neighborhood with few houses and few people to question about a handsome, tall blonde, it was a country, and it took a lot of effort to imagine where Draco would be hiding.

And so, she was going up to an abandoned and broken castle that was on top of a hill, in one of the cities in the interior of the country, feeling frozen by the wind that whistled in her ears, time closing over her head, and the houses looking smaller and smaller. But at least, she found him

"You idiot!" It was the first thing that came out of her mouth as soon as she opened the door to that old, dark castle with a smell of dust that would probably make her sneeze, managing to find him sitting in one of the most distant chairs, drinking something that looked like wine

''Astoria .. What the fuck are you doing here?'' She realized that there were pictures torn across the walls, in addition to broken silver, looking very familiar for some reason.

''What do you think? Marry you, idiot! Or did you think I would swallow all that shit and be quiet?'' The two were close, and as much as she missed him a lot, after all, it was almost two months hunting him around, her fury was first ''Do you think I care about any shit you did years ago? During a war!? I do not. And it annoys me that you make that decision without consulting me or asking me what I think about everything my father said, and if you want to know, I think it was great nonsense.''

''You do not understand? Astoria, you deserve someone better than me, someone who can- ''

‘’-I want you, is it hard to understand? Did the Dark Mark melt your brain by any chance?'' Her heart was pounding, so nervous and happy to have found it, and alive. For a few days, she really thought she would have lost him forever, far beyond mere rejection.

"No, and that's why I'm giving you a chance to run a long way"

''I did, and even then, I ran to a fucking hill behind you. I think that says a lot'' the man denied, pacing and messing with his long, light hair.

''I cannot arrest you''

''It was never a prison, I'm here of my own free will, I'm old enough to make my own choices, I'm not a slob like you and my father seem to believe'' Draco looked at her as if he had heard the greatest offense in the world, grabbing her shoulders and vehemently denying

"I would never think of that"

''Is what it seems. You think I have no right to say who I should or shouldn't marry, whether or not I should stay by your side, which is my decision, only mine! How many times do I need to say that what you did or did not change what I feel? I like you Draco, I love you, we all have a past, and you've changed’'

''How are you so sure of that? How can you not even imagine that I can succumb to the darkness again?'' She already wanted to cry, exhausted from all that, needy with the whole situation and possibly getting sick from the drastic temperature change

''You could have done anything that day, you could have acted in many other ways, but you just preferred to do nothing and go away, afraid of hurting me ... Would you do that if you remained on the side of darkness? Would you care that much?'' Astoria stared at him, letting the walls fall completely, tired '' You said you couldn't be the man of my life, that you couldn't be the one waiting for me at the altar, that you wouldn't be the father of our son, but. You can be all of that, you are already the man of my life Draco. Every time .. '' She let herself cry, biting her lip before continuing ''All the times I thought you could have died, that you would have really abandoned me, that I would be without you .. I wouldn't even update imagine without being able to wake up by your side, of not having your love notes hidden by the house, of being alone.''

''I just don't want to hurt you, Tori, I could never do that to you'' When she think back to that night, she would remember there were tears in his eyes ''I love you so much, so much, that if necessary, for protect you, I stay away''

''You're already hurting me, and you're already getting away and proving to me that this is not what I want ... When I asked you out the first time, you asked me if I wouldn't mind the looks, and I said not. And Draco, I didn't change my answer'' The man wiped away her tears, smiling sadly in her direction

''I was thinking it was for your good'' Astoria denied, finally hugging him

''It wasn't ... I need you here with me, I want you here'' Then, without even realizing it, she continued; ''How will I raise a child on my own? He needs a father to teach him how to fly''

''What?!'' Draco pushed her away, eyes bulging and squeezing the woman's shoulders, looking like a white paper.

''Oh .. right, I forgot to mention that I'm pregnant'' Astoria smiled awkwardly, a little waryly, before being pulled back into the hug, feeling his chest tremble in a silent cry, which obviously caused your.

In the end, Draco was the man who had seen her come in a white dress, who had become her husband and who was the father of her son.

He was her man, always had been, regardless of anything.

And there was never anyone who made her change her mind.

#drastoria #draco x astoria #drastoriaprompt #draco malfoy #astoria greengrass #hp angst #hp fanfic #hp couples #drastoria angst

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whitecatindisguise · 4 years ago

Note

Ok, I felt compelled to prompt this, b/c the art made me cry. I might regret this, but Varian trapped in amber and Hugo being a desperate boi.🥺

Oooooh! This one is a good prompt alright. And I know exactly which art you’re talking about ;)

Anyway, let’s do this.

------

“Hairstripe, please.” Hugo was growing desperate.

Ever since he came back from the Expo, saying the Princess tasked him with figuring out those black rocks, the younger alchemist was focused solely on that. He was neglecting sleep, forgetting to eat and drink. If it wasn’t for both Hugo and Ruddiger’s efforts, he would cease to do it completely, working himself to death.

“No, Hugo. I am so close to figuring it out, I know it!” Varian argued, mixing yet another chemical in the beaker.

“I want to get rid of those rocks as much as you do, but this is getting ridiculous!” Hugo tried to reason, throwing his hands out. “You’re going to get sick at this point. And wasn’t it you who told me to get some rest if I can’t figure something out?”

“Hugh, the Princess asked me specifically to find a way to destroy those black rocks.” Varian replied, placing the beaker over the fire and watching it boil. “And I just know this one will get some kind of reaction.”

Hugo sighed in resignation. He knew Varian ever since they were kids. He was so stubborn there was no way to persuade him if he got an idea. He leaned over one of the rocks and looked at his childhood friend.

“Just promise you’ll get some rest afterwards.” He asked and Varian hummed in response.

The younger alchemist turned around, beaker in his hand, and approached the cluster of rocks that, conveniently, sprouted in his lab. All the easier to experiment on them without going outside.

“Okay, are you ready?” The raven-haired teen asked and Hugo chuckled at how excited he sounded. He motioned for his friend to continue and they both stared as Varian carefully tipped the beaker, pouring a single drop onto the cluster.

Suddenly the whole building shook and, startled, Varian poured almost half of the compound on the rocks.

“What was that?!” Hugo cried, trying to stabilise himself. The younger alchemist ran to the window and looked outside.

“Uh, another rocks just sprouted. It looks like they destroyed Mrs. Galway’s barn.” He explained before turning around, his face suddenly paling. “Hugo, watch out!”

Before the blond could react, Varian barrelled into him and he was sent flying, away from the black rocks. He groaned, as his back hit the workbench and massaged the hurt spot.

“Hairstripe, what in the-!” Words died in his throat at the sight before him.

From the black rock cluster he was leaning on just moments ago, gold substance, seemingly reminding of amber was growing. What was even more terrifying, Varian’s arm was stuck in it, the boy struggling restlessly to free himself.

“Varian!” He cried and rushed to his friend, only to be stopped by his warning shouts.

“Don’t come closer! We’ll both get stuck!” Varian cried, tugging on his arm but to no avail. Hugo’s eyes were darting between the growing amber and the workbench.

“Wha- How- I... I’m gonna get Quirin!” The teen suddenly decided and bolted out of the lab, not paying attention to Varian’s shouts to leave his dad out of it.

He shot out of the main door and looked around frantically. Quirin was nowhere to be seen so he ran towards the main square, hoping to find the man there. He spotted him almost instantly, talking to one of the villagers.

“QUIRIN!!” He shouted, running up to the man, who turned to him in puzzlement.

“Hugo? What’s going on?” He asked, noticing the hurry the teen was in. “Did something happen?”

“Varian! He’s- You have to go with me!” Hugo tried explaining, desperation in his voice.

Quirin didn’t question, noticing the way the blond was acting. He just hoped his son wasn’t too much hurt. The boy was a trouble magnet.

They ran back to the house and down the stairs to the lab.

“Quickly, maybe we still can-!” Hugo pushed the door open and froze, staring at the sight in the middle of the room.

“Hugo, what’s going- VARIAN!” Quirin pushed the teen away and ran inside, arms reaching forward.

The black rocks cluster was no more. In its place rose a gold amber structure, rising to the roof. And inside, smiling calmly, was Varian.

Hugo stood frozen, staring at the golden prison. Why? Why? Why? Why didn’t Varian listen to him? Why did he have to use the whole beaker, when he could use a pipette? Why couldn’t Hugo get to him faster? Why was Varian smiling???

He was half-aware of Quirin punching at the amber, screaming Varian’s name, desperately trying to free his son. He numbly watched as the man grabbed one tool after another, all of them breaking on the structure, not leaving even a single scratch on the surface. If only the Princess didn’t ask him-

The Princess! The Princess was connected to the rocks. The Princess always had a way to fix things! The Princess has to free Varian!

Without a second though, Hugo turned on his heel and bolted out of the door, only stopping to grab his winter coat before running outside. He had to get to the castle! He had to get Rapunzel come back with him! She had to help them!

The road was hard, with snowstorm coming and becoming more fierce as the time passed. But Hugo didn’t stop, didn’t waver. Varian’s life depended on him getting to the castle and getting Rapunzel. He couldn’t back down. Not now!

Breathing heavily, he finally managed to get to the capital and ran up to the castle door. He threw them open, running and crying for Rapunzel. The guards ran after him but he didn’t mind them. He had to find Rapunzel.

He saw her exit one of the rooms, dressed in pink snow coat. He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders fiercely.

“Rapunzel! You have to go with me! Varian- He’s- I need your help!” He cried, the woman looking up at him with a mixture of confusion and fear.

“Hugo, I...” She looked back into the room she walked out of for a moment before looking back at him. “I can’t go with you now. I’m sorry.”

“No, no! You don’t understand!” He cried desperately. “I can’t lose him! Why don’t you get that I CAN’T LOSE HIM!! I know you can fix this!!”

“Hugo, I’m sorry, but-” She tried again and then he felt the guards grabbing him by the arms and drag him away.

“No, Rapunzel! You have to go with me! You have to fix this! I can’t lose him!” He shouted as the guards pulled him away and through the door, closing them shut as soon as he found himself outside. He ran back up and pounded on the door, shouting and crying for Rapunzel.

He didn’t know how long he stayed there, shouting and crying. He didn’t remember the way back home. He remembered, however, finding Quirin crying under his son’s amber prison. He remembered Ruddiger’s pained whining as he clawed at the cluster.

And most vividly, he remembered whose fault it was in the first place. He clenched his fist in anger, tears falling from his eyes. She will pay for turning her backs on them. She will pay for ever asking Varian to study those rocks. And most of all, she will pay for hurting his brother!

-----

Ooookay, this one is definitely shorter than my usual oneshots but it seemed a good place to stop. I really like Amber!Varian idea and I truly enjoyed writing this story. Thank you for this opportunity :)

#amber varian #hugo #quirin #rapunzel #request oneshot #kitty mom writes

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jbbarnesnnoble · 4 years ago

Text

Through the Flames (Part Six)

Summary: You’re a firefighter with the FDNY. After a fire that ends in tragedy, you find yourself running into some of the Avengers and maybe finding some new friends and romance along the way.

Features: Gun violence; Stabbing

Pairing: Sam Wilson/Reader

Notes: There’s one chance to take out Rumlow, once and for all.

Final part! We just have the epilogue left!

Word Count: 2475

You flinched as Dr. Cho tended to your wound. Sam sat in a chair beside you the entire time, neither of you talking. Your thoughts were racing. Why did they need to talk to you about your father? You knew his work was secretive, but you never thought it could involve the Avengers in any capacity. How much was there that you didn’t know about your own father?

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Sam said. You glanced toward him.

“You’re alright. No one’s in trouble, okay? I should’ve waited to bring it up,” he said, his tone soft. You nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Well, I got shot at one of my best friend’s funeral’s so, you know, just peachy,” you snarked. He smiled a little at that. You grimaced as you felt the last of the stitches go in.

“I’m done. I want to see you back in a week to check on them, they should be ready to come out then,” Dr. Cho said. You nodded.

“Thanks,” you said. Sam helped you up off the hospital bed. Taking your hand in his, he led you out of the medical wing and off to the Avengers wing. He had you sit on a couch while he grabbed waters for the two of you. You took in your surroundings, admiring the simplicity of the room and how homey it felt despite it being in what amounted to a military institution. Sam returned, handing you one of the bottles.

“We have a good idea of who it was. What do you know about HYDRA?” he asked, getting right to the point. You frowned.

“Weren’t they that group that was exposed a few years ago? The one Captain Rogers thought had been wiped out?” you asked. He nodded.

“We have reason to believe some of the survivors are connected to the fires. And to the fire that killed the rest of your family,” he said, trying to break the news as delicately as he could. There was no way around ripping off that bandaid. It was going to hurt no matter how he told you.

“What are you saying Sam?” you asked, you voice raising in pitch. You were sure you were connecting the dots. There was no way he was about to suggest what you thought he was.

“Your father worked for HYDRA back in the day. But that’s not the full story. He was a plant. Fury suspected that SHIELD had been compromised but could never get solid evidence. The governor at the time had been involved in HYDRA. Your father got close enough to him to be trusted. He was working with HYDRA until the collapse in 2014, to get information for Fury. He hadn’t been able to tip him off about Pierce because it would have blown his cover,” Sam explained.

“Where is he? Is he safe? Sam, please. Is my dad safe?” you asked. You felt your anxiety rising. Sam placed a hand on your cheek, as he looked you in the eyes. It was a strangely intimate moment.

“I promise you. We’re doing everything we can to keep him safe. To keep you safe. And keep your friends safe. We’re going to stop them,” he said.

“Were the fires a threat or an attempt to kill me?” you asked. He sighed.

“We think the first ones were a message for you and your father. The last one was no doubt an attempt to kill you,” he confirmed. You sucked in a breath.

“Instead one of my best friend’s got killed,” you said. Your voice cracked and tears threatened to fall. Sam pulled you close and you wrapped your arms around him as you let yourself break.

“HYDRA is gone, but some of their more zealous members lived. Brock Rumlow is the one who shot you. We had a clear image of him on camera. We’re working on tracking him down, but it’s going to take time,” he said. You frowned.

“But I can go home right?” you asked. He shook his head.

“It’s too much of a risk right now,” he replied. You glared at him. You didn’t like where the conversation was going. It sounded more like you were going to be held as a prisoner by the Avengers, or some damsel in distress in a castle. Either way, it wasn’t you. You refused to sit back and do nothing.

“I’m going home,” you said, standing up, careful not to jostle any of your injuries too much. Sam stood with you.

“You can’t. FRIDAY won’t let you out of this building. Not until we catch Rumlow,” he explained. You glared at him. You didn’t care how much you liked Sam. In this moment, he may as well have been your worst enemy with how you were looking at him. He shrunk back under your gaze. He admired the fire in your eyes.

“You listen here Sam, and you listen good. I am not staying here. You’re driving me back to the city to my apartment and if it makes you feel better you can stay the night. But I’m not staying here,” you snapped. Sam held his hands up in mock surrender.

“No can do. As much as I’d love to, you’re safest here. You going back to your place would put your neighbors in danger,” he said. You paused for a moment. You hadn’t thought about that. You thought about Gloria nextdoor with her two kids, an adorable 3 year old and his six month old sister. Angela downstairs who’s grandkids visited constantly to check on her and spend time with her. Martin down the hall with his husband Nate, and their three kids. You knew Sam was right. You couldn’t put them at risk. Your shoulders slumped forward as you nodded in agreement.

“You’re right,” you said softly.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s not your fault some HYDRA maniac is after me. Hell, I don’t even blame my father. Sometimes that’s just how it is,” you said. You were already calculating a plan in your head. If Rumlow had gotten this far without the Avengers realizing, you had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy for them to find him. Not without you.

This wasn’t your area of expertise. The best way to get into a car to get to an accident victim without causing further injury, how to vent a roof, signs of structural collapse, those were the things you knew. Taking on a man who was hellbent on getting to you was way outside of your depths. But if it was you he was looking to get to, there was no way you’d sit at the sidelines.

The other Avengers trickled into the room. Sam shot Captain Rogers a look. It seemed like an unspoken conversation was happening between them. A girl you recognized as the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, sat beside you.

“We won’t let them get their hands on you,” she said quietly.

“I know,” you replied. Introductions were made all around before Steve jumped into the details of the situation and the plan they had.

“Our best shot is using you to draw him out. I’m not keen on it, but we’ve hit dead ends in trying to find him and his base of operations,” Steve said.

“Absolutely not. We’re not putting her in more danger. He was trying to kill her,” Sam argued. You placed a hand on his arm, gently drawing his attention to you.

“This is my fight, Sam. I might not understand why. But he’s the reason one of my best friend’s is dead. If he wants me, he can come get me. But he’ll have to go through you guys first, won’t he?” you asked. Natasha gave you a slight smile. You counted that as a win in your book when she seemed to not like you very much.

“And if he gets through us?” Sam challenged.

“I have faith in you, Sam. You won’t let him,” you said.

“Fahrenheit’s in. So, what’s the plan, Cap?” Tony Stark asked.

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Central Park was oddly quiet in the hours before dawn. But the team had ensured it was empty of civilians. You had set a routine of jogging in the park before the sun rose in the sky once you were medically cleared from your injuries from both the explosion and the gunshot. Surveillance of the park indicated Rumlow knew. And as far as he knew, you had had a falling out with Sam and had left his side, staying in a place graciously rented by Tony Stark for a staycation that had no neighbors inside the building. As far as Rumlow knew, the Avengers weren’t keeping tabs on your moves, not after the public blowup you and Sam had.

You and Sam had taken a walk through the park before going to grab lunch. He made a show of ordering for you, something he knew you hated. You kept reminding yourself. This was Sam. You liked Sam. Sam was your friend. Your very attractive friend who you wished would make a move on you because you were not about to make the first move. It didn’t take the sting away from what you knew was coming, what had to be done.

“I can order for myself,” you snapped. He held his hands up in surrender.

“Fine,” he said. Pretending to fight with him was difficult. But you knew you were being watched. It was a feeling that stuck with you every time you went out these days, ever since you left the safety of living among the Avengers. It had to be believable that you two had a falling out, that you were tired of being followed around by the Avengers.

“I’d like to go out alone for once,” you said bitterly.

“You know why you can’t,” he replied.

“Sam, I am sick and tired of being followed around like I’m a child. I’m a grown woman. I have a job, even if I’m on desk duty filling out reports,” you snapped. This was the start of it, what would hopefully draw Rumlow out.

After lunch, you and Sam stormed off in opposite directions. You had moved into the residence Tony had secured a few days prior. You made a show of tossing Sam’s stuff out as he arrived back, demanding to be left alone.

“Fine. See what happens when we’re not here to protect you,” Sam snapped as he grabbed his duffle bag. It hurt. You knew it wasn’t real, but it still hurt. You never wanted to fight with him, even if it was acting.

You snapped out of your thoughts as you heard movement. You knew Rumlow would still be suspicious. But the hope was he’d at least take the chance to get at you, even with the risk of it being a trap. You were certain you were about to find out if he took the bait.

You heard a bullet fly by your ear as a gunshot rang out. You stumbled over your feet, turning and seeing Rumlow not far behind you.

“Gotta say, I was expecting you to be better protected. I heard you and bird boy had a fight. Shame that the Avengers would just leave you like that,” Rumlow taunted. There was something about his tone that made you believe he knew it was a ruse. You all knew it had been a hail mary play.

“What of it?” you asked.

“You know it’s not your father I’m after. No. No I want him to suffer for the rest of his days, fearful about when we’ll come for him after seeing what we do to you,” Rumlow said.

“So you’re going the villainous monologue route. You do know how that turns out in the end, don’t you?” you fired back. You moved as you saw him pull the trigger again, making the choice to run toward him. You had no time to think. The team should have been there by now, but they were nowhere to be seen. You wrestled him for the gun and it clattered to the ground.

Hand to hand combat was not something they taught you in the fire academy. You tried to meet Rumlow blow for blow but you knew you were outmatched. You fell to the ground but the gun was within reach. You wasted no time in grabbing it. You fired off a shot, hitting Rumlow in the shoulder, but it wasn’t enough to incapacitate him. He was on you in seconds, the gun tossed to the side as you felt a searing pain. He had a knife on him. You heard footsteps as he was yanked away from you.

You looked up and saw Sam, worry etched on his face. You heard him yell for medical assistance.

“Keep your eyes on me,” Sam said as he kept pressure on the wound. You placed your hand over his, for your comfort or his you weren’t sure. But you weren’t planning on letting him go anytime soon.

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The white walls of the medical wing of the Avengers compound were a sight you were becoming too accustomed to. This time, Helen had you put in the cradle because of how deep the wound was. It was one of the more bizarre experiences of your life.

“I’m really starting to hope I never see this place again,” you said to Sam. Helen was insistent that you still stay overnight, to ensure everything healed properly.

“I’m getting tired of seeing you in here. You scared me today, you know that?” he asked. You ducked your head a little.

“Sometimes, you have to be the hero in your own story,” you replied.

“Sometimes you don’t have to be,” he shot back.

“In my defense, I was doing okay before he pulled the knife on me,” you defended. Sam laughed a little.

“If you consider a broken nose, four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a stab wound ‘doing okay’. I thought we were going to lose you,” Sam admitted. He looked away from you. You two were skirting around the obvious and you knew it.

“But you didn’t. I’m still here. Thanks to you. To the team. I never doubted for a minute you’d save me,” you told him.

“I was scared. Rumlow managed to take out all the surveillance we had in that area. All I can think about is how I almost didn’t have this chance,” he said. You looked at him, confused.

“What chance?” you asked. He moved closer to you, and your eyes fluttered shut as his lips met yours. Your heart rate sped up and the two of you pulled apart, resting your foreheads together.

“This one,” he said. You didn’t say a word, instead, pulling him in for another kiss.

#Sam Wilson #Sam Wilson x Reader #Sam Wilson/Reader #falcon #the falcon #the falcon/reader #the falcon x reader #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel reader insert #Through The Flames

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s-creations · 4 years ago

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What He Feared - Tangled Adventure Fanfiction

Quirin might have been a ex-warrior, an accomplished farmer, the head of a prospering village, and the father of a brilliant child. That doesn't mean he's infallible. Or that he doesn't have his own fears and worries.

Quirin always knew Varian was going to achieve great things in his life. He was smart and more than a little eager to try and help people. The problem, when Varian was younger anyway, was he didn’t always think things through. Sure, his inventions were great in concept. But in practice is where things tend to fall apart. Because Varian never could get the idea of small scale experimentation down. Why do that when you can just go big?

Go as fast and as hard as you can to find a solution. Especially when said solution was to find a way to destroy the encroaching black rocks. Which resulted in a dark day for Varian and Quirin. With the latter being trapped in an amber prison unintentionally created by his son. One that he remained in for almost a full year.

When he was released, a new world greeted him. One where his personal past invaded his present. Where his son was marked as a traitor, jailed, and pardoned when he helped save the kingdom he once tried to overthrow. Where Quirin wanted to tear Fredric apart for allowing Varian to be used as a scapegoat for the king's own transgressions. Only to be told to save his breath when both the king and queen had lost their memories. And then to finally learn that Cassandra now held the Moonstone.

It honestly took awhile for Quirin to fully digest all of this.

When he passed through each day, Quirin took notice of how the citizens greeted Varian with dark looks and harsh whispers. How his son had become more reserved. Not as open to greeting or sharing his ideas. How being touched on his shoulder would cause Varain to flinch. Then profusely apologize for overreacting. How the younger seemed to check on Quirin, multiple times a day. It hurt to know his carefree son was replaced by a nervous and easy to anger teenager. One that seemed fearful of what he could create.

Quirin will admit it. He was not the most approachable person. Being the leader of a village that mainly governs itself meant that Quirin had to carry himself and others on his shoulders. Meaning he needed to be stoic and put the needs of others before him. Couple that with a brilliant child that he couldn’t keep up with while being a single parent and it took everything to keep Quirin from drowning. But this also stunted his emotional growth.

All of this cultivated in being unsure of how to really help Varian. It hurt to realize this. What kind of father can’t comfort his own son?

Quirin felt sick with worry when Varian would spend weeks at Corona’s castle. Working on some secret project for the princess. When Vairan was home, Quirin would do what he could to keep him comfortable.

Varian could probably tell his father was trying to make some attempt to connect. Because, while Varian would still toil away at his projects when home, he willingly joined Quirin in the fields. Listening to his father on how to tend to what was growing with the simple tools they had. How to tell when something was ready to be harvested. Each lesson learned ended with a gentle hug. One that Varian would melt into, beaming up at his father.

It was the first time in a long time that Quirin felt as there was a loving relationship being built between them. Even if there was a lot hiding behind the clear blue eyes. But this was a start and Quirin would take it over being shut out again.

As the weeks of Varian’s pardon and Quirin’s freedom passed, things seemed peaceful. At least in the sense that Cassandra hadn’t been seen and the black rocks hadn’t advanced further. Not even the Brotherhood could track her down.

“We’ve never hunted the Moonstone in such a way before,” Adira commented, “When you’re unsure of what to look for, the black rocks are plentiful, and Short Hair seems unable to settle anywhere, this becomes difficult.”

It was unsettling. But Quirin was trying to make the most out of the peace. Because there was the looming worry of it all ending abruptly.

That day arrived much faster than Quirin wanted. When Varian rushed out of their hut with a frantic look in his eye, Quirin should have paid better attention. But the morning was peaceful. Quirin was focused on bringing in the newest harvest. In all honesty, Quirin thought that Varian had just made a breakthrough and had to race off to tell the princess. So he didn’t give much thought to it.

It was as Quirin was leaving the harvest shed that he found a large crop of red rocks.

He should have known better. Perhaps his years out of the Dark Kingdom and away from the Brotherhood had dulled his senses in some way. The quiet farm life had made him soft, as Hector would say. Whatever the reason would be, Quirin ignored the warning flags as he approached the rocks. He leaned forward to examine the structure. Fingers barely brushed against the smooth surface.

He flinched back when a sharp sting was felt behind his eyes. Rubbing his forehead to quell the slowly growing headache, Quirin stepped away.

“What in the world…”

“Dad!”

Quirin felt his stomach churn in fear hearing Varian call out. His son was in trouble. What had happened, where was he?

“Varian? Son, where are you?” As he rushed back into the hut, a horrifying sight greeted him.

Right at the front entrance was where Quirin found Varian. His son’s right arm and leg already encased in amber. The parts that were still free were shaking with absolute fear. Varian was breathing harshly, tears streaming down as he tried to pull himself free.

“Varian!” Quirin rushed over, hands hovering over as he tried to figure out some way to free his son. “Vairna, h-how did this happen?”

“D-Dad please,” the teen choked out, “Please, I don’t… I don’t want to be trapped.”

“You won’t. You won’t be, I promise. I’ll get you out.” Quirin felt sick as the amber grew. That sound haunts him in his dreams. That snapping and cracking sounded like broken bones as it grew. It was the last thing he heard before he was trapped. Now it was happening to Varian.

“Dad?”

“I’m here Varian. I’m right here. I’ll get you out, just-”

“Quirin?”

He turned back to the opened door. Paul, one of Old Corona’s villagers, was standing in the doorway. He looked over the scene, worried and confused.

“Paul!” Quirin felt the briefest hints of relief. “Paul, listen to me. I need you to get to the castle and get Rapunzel. Tell her Varian’s been trapped in the amber and-”

“Sir, you… What are you talking about?”

“Vairan- How do you not see this! Varian’s trapped in-” When Quirin turned back to his son, he found the space empty. No Varian. No amber. Just a darkened room.

“What… But I saw him, he was just here…”

“Uh, Quirin. Maybe you should take the day off?”

Quirin shook his head. “I can’t… I need to find Varian. I need to know he’s okay.”

Not waiting for a reply, he was rushing out and headed for the castle. If he couldn’t find the alchemist along the way, then he would find Rapunzel. The amber might be somehow growing again and the princess was the only person who could help. As he entered the kingdom proper, Quirin was greeted with fearful screams. Citizens rushing around or cowering in whatever corner they could fit into. Red rocks were everywhere.

“What is happening? Concentrate Quirin, you need to find-”

“Dad!”

There was a beat of fear hearing Varian call out. But Quirin calmed when he spotted his son rushing towards him. Not trapped in amber. He almost felt sick with relief. “Varian, you’re alright…”

He pulled the other close, letting out a relaxed sigh. Varian was alive. Not about to be encased in amber. “Son, what is happening? What are these red rocks?”

“D-Dad… I’m sorry…”

“I… Varian, it’s fine. Whatever you’re worried about. It’s-”

As Quirin pulled away to comfort further, he felt the cold sickness of fear crawl through him. Varian had been impaled. Red rocks protruding through his stomach. Shirt was slowly turning a deeper shade as blood seeped through. The alchemist gave a weak cough, blood splattering his lips and chin.

“No… No, no, Varian!”

“D-Dad…” Varian’s breathing was labored, skin becoming ashen.

“Shhh, no, don’t talk. Just...just try and stay awake. Y-You’re going to be okay. You’re…” As Quirin placed his hands on Varian’s cheeks, he realized how hopeless this was.

If it was just the amber imprisonment, this could be an easy fix. Rapunzel got Quirin out. Why couldn’t she do the same for Varian? But this was irreversible. Rapunzel couldn’t heal. Couldn’t bring the dead back to life. That power had long since vanished when her hair had returned.

Varian was dying and there was no way to stop it.

“Dad?” Varian sounded so small. Quirin wished it was just his son coming to find him because of a bad dream. Not because he was losing his life.

“Varian...y-you’re okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m right here. I’m not going to leave you. Just… Just focus on me. Don’t close your eyes. Please… P-Please don’t leave me…”

When had he started crying?

Quirin’s panic grew when Varian let out a shaky breath, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped.

“No! No, Varian, open your eyes, please! Please!”

The last he remembered was reaching out to pull Varian’s unmoving form closer. He was inches away when Quirin felt his body seize up and everything fell dark.

He took a deep breath.

Eyes snapped open.

He stumbled as he attempted to keep himself upright.

Confused, Quirin quickly took a scan of the area. No red rocks. No screams of fear. No Varian impaled. In fact, no Varain anywhere in sight.

How long had he been out?

What happened?

Where was Varian?

Still slightly dazed, Quirin made his way to the castle. Hoping he would find answers there. But he was interrupted once again when he found Varian. His son alive and well. Walking with Rapunzel and practically beaming.

“Varian!” Quirin didn’t miss the flinch. Or the way Varian looked to Rapunzel and only relaxed when the princess gave a nod. That’s all it took for the smile to return with a look of relief and Varian rushed over.

“Dad!”

Quirin wasted no time in pulling Varian close. The older burying into the ebony hair. This was right. This felt right. Varian warm and solid as he was held in Quirin’s arms. The faint smell of smoke and chemicals. His heartbeat.

“I thought...I thought I had lost you. I saw you…”

“It wasn’t real. Whatever it was, it wasn’t real.”

Quirin pulled away to look Varian over once more. No sharp rocks. No blood. No desperate gasps for air. Varian was alive and well. “What...What did happen? What were those red rocks?”

“Uh, as far as I can theorize, they were a physical manifestation of Cassandra’s fears. And they caused everyone else to have their fears become fully realized. So...yeah...are you okay?”

Quirin laughed weakly. “I should be asking you that. I’m assuming the rocks have disappeared because of you and the princess?”

“Yeah… We were able to conquer our fears.” Varian launched into his tale. Where he’d found Ruiddger, frozen in fear. How he reached his conclusion of the cause and the solution. Rapunzel and him worked together to pour the amber solution to nullify the red rocks.

The more Varian spoke, the more Quirin felt pride swell in his chest. The alchemist had seen so many hardships and rose above each of them. It was clear, as they traveled through the crowds, as the citizens greeted him with smiles and gratitude, Varian had finally been forgiven. Finally welcomed into the community. In turn, Varian seemed to glow. Now content with himself and the world around him.

Being mindful of the raccoon resting on Varian’s shoulders, Quirin pulled his son close again. Arm gently wrapped around the younger.Varian looked up, confusion turning into a returned smile.

“I’m so proud of you Varian.” Quirin didn’t miss the way Varian’s eye lit up, the smile becoming wider.

He would always play the role of the worried, overprotective father. He will see Varian and think back to the five-year-old who would run to him for comfort. Quirin also knew that Varian was accomplished in his own way. Having overcome hardships and grown in the year that Quirin couldn’t be there. To try and help carry that weight. Varian had others he could rely on, able to handle and care for himself with the help of his friends. From raccoon, to princess, to ex-thief.

Quirin will always be Varian’s father.

But Varain was carving his own path.

Quirin couldn’t be happier.

#rapunzel's tangled adventure #Quirin #varian #Be Very Afraid episode retelling #tw: blood #tw: death #no one actually dies #but the fear is still there #other characters are mentioned or have a very brief appearance.#this is all told from Quirin's POV #talk of impalement and death #I wanted more growth for Quirin #guess I'll have to do it on my own #fanfiction #s-creations

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