#luche: i do not fear many things

[andywinter16]

Okay okay okay hear me out, luche, Nyx, and drautos having to saying goodbye to their lover because things are getting too dangerous or an even more heartbreaking scenario…. Saying goodbye because their love is dying from a terrible injury!

OMG! You want to make me cry, don´t ya? .... I absolutely know what you mean, let me get to it! It will be mix of both kind of, I just need to decided who I want to break with what plot. ... I hope you have a tissues, anonie?

Okay, gn!reader as always :)

WARNING!!! Lots of angst, mentioned death, betrayel, injury, fatal illness, kinda toxic relationship

If anything of the things mentioned above triggers you, do not read it , please!

--

Luche Lazarus:

"Luche, you´re alive!" you run into his arms at full speed, both of you fell hard on the floor. He seemed genuinely suprised, until his eyebrows knitted together and his lips were pursued just in thin line. You knew what this gesture meant. Displeased.

"What are you doing here!? I send you investigate to Leide. Fuck, this can´t be really happening." he pushed you away from him, making space between you two. You didn´t understand it at all. "Luche, I came back, because I discovered that some of our comrades want to betray Insomnia. So listen to me!" the distress in your voice was palpable.

Luche abruptly stood up. His usually soft features are now graced with sorrowful look . " It´s true, Y/N. Most of us betrayed the king." your jaw dropped. You shook your head in disbelief at that revelation. Luche wouldn't do this, he wasn't like that. Yet you knew him perhaps too well. Luche as any other refugee was despised by Insomnians, and no matter how many people they saved or how many battles they won in the king´s name, Insomnians never accepted them among themselves. Many times you have defended them against rude Insomnians with their snark remarks. But you were just one kind spirit among many assholes. Luche´s intesive stare locked you in place.

" I didn´t wanted you to be caught in this crossfire Y/N. That´s why I send you away on that mission. " he smiled ruefully at you, " But you and your unsatisfied curiosity, always causing trouble." You struggled to get up, it felt like a bad dream that came from the worst nightmare. It's like your mind stopped working, only thing that spinned your mind was betrayl. Luche continued to speak in his soothing voice, giving you a false hope.

" Hide somewhere away from Insomnia, and I will find you Y/N. You´re after all too precious for me to lost." He pulls his gun out, pointing it straight at you. Stunned. Confused. You just stood here frozen in place. Until you finally found the strength to answer him.

" Please, Luche. Stop this madness, this isn´t you! Come with me, we can hide together before the Empire!" you pleaded. He was tempted, but abandoning his cause and be runaway with you, still at cost turning his back toward his people and home? Luche knew it woudn´t go smoothly with you. " It´s too late Y/N. I made up my mind long time ago."

" I am not doing that! Come with me." Luche shakes his head, the gun was still pointed at you. If It can't be the easy way, then you can do it the hard way. " Luche!" you lunged to grab him by the arm in which he holds the gun.

" Go away Y/N!" the trigger was pulled and the bullet bit into your shoulder. Pained scream leaved your lips. It's like time has stopped all of a sudden. You started slowly backing away from him. This is not the Luche you knew and loved. Before you was a cold-blooded man capable of doing anything to succeed in his plan. Tears streamed down your face like a river. Fear possessed you, you heard yourself spoke but it felt like it weren´t your words or even your body.

"You´re not the man that I once loved. You´re just a fucking cruel monster! I wish I would never met you " you throw at him the last thing of your searing bond, the unspoked goodbye. Turning your back at him, you ran as far as possible to safety . Adrenaline coursed through your veins. Even though the injury awfully throbbed, you wanted to be away from such heartless man.

You didn´t turn your back to see those shivering hands which picked your engagement ring. Or how his face was twisted in stabbing pain and cheeks were wet from tears. In that moment you took Luche´s heart with you, and he knew he would never be whole again. Luche became an empty shell, a broken shadow of his formel self.

Nyx Ulric:

Nyx rushes from HQ to the hospital as fast as he could, when he heard the bad news from your doctor. He was so worried for you, yet pissed at why you didn´t told him about your health problem. You dated for five years for Astral´s sake! The recepcionist welcomed him and asked what he needed. " I need to know the room of Y/N S/N. I am their partner, Nyx Ulric." said hastily. She typed something in her to small computer. "It´s room 237 on the six floor, sir." answered the kind woman behind the counter. Nyx went straight to the elevator. Oh, how he hated hospitals.

Finally after some searching, he´s got in to your room. Which was so sterile and white, ugh! Nyx internally cringed. Next to the window was your bed. You were hooked to some beeping machines, your lower half covered in blanket. When your gazes met across a room, a weak smile barely made it on your lips.

" Why didn´t you tell me!?" his outburst suprised you, but it was not unexpected. "Nyx, I don´t want you to see me like that." suddenly your hands looked more interesting that this conversation, "You had already so much on your plate with the Kingsglaive. I didn´t wanted you to be worried for me too." Nyx frowned. " Are you kidding me? Is that why you were distant these few months?! I could have been there for you, by your side. Together we could have endure it. But it seems to me, you chose for both of us." you didn´t miss the bitter tone in his voice. With all your might in your body left, you sharply answered. "If somebody wasn´t always holed in his work or on party with their friends and flirting with everybody there. And then avoiding me like a plague! That is the reason I didn´t tell you, I am not sure I can´t trust anymore." you looked him deeply into eyes at your last sentence. That was the last straw for Nyx. After everything you´ve been through. The anger took better of him.

" Fine! You want it that way, then so be it! I am leaving you, if you can´t trust me enough Y/N! It´´s over, I hope you´re happy!" Nyx stormed off your room, slamming the door shut. " Nyx, wait!" you yelled after him in vain, tears threatened to spill. The pain in your chest intensified, you couldn´t breathe.

The anger made him see bloody red. Nyx slumps to the ground, his palm was balled into a fist, it drawed a blood. He felt so miserable and helpless, just like when Selene died. Nyx lost her and then he´s supposed to lost you too?! He couldn´t stop crying even if he wanted. It was too much.

--

Libertus found him a hours later, on the same spot where Nyx dropped. He had an absent look on his face, usually his stormy blue eyes full of energy were now hollow and puffy. His chin rested on his knees, which he hugged losely to his chest. Nyx looked so defeated, just like when his sister died. Libertus heart broke with grief, at the condition of his almost brother when Nyx uttered his way a single line.

" They´re gone, Libertus."

Titus Drautos:

The blown thrown him harshly at the remnants of concrete wall. Nyx reflexes were too slow from exhaustion, so when his head hit the wall Nyx vision went instantly black. Glauca saw his body slide to the ground, unmoving. Cautiously he went closer to finish his enemy off, while Nyx was still unconscious. Glauca yanked him roughly by his hair, maneuvering him into a semi-sitting position, preparing him for an execution. He let the sword rest on his shoulder, in pose of final victory.

" I commend you for standing by your word, Ulric. But this fight comes to an end."He raised his sword in a final strike. Glauca´s voice sounded somehow strained through his helmet. " Goodbye, Nyx Ulric."

" ARGHH!" a kukri was tossed precisely at Glauca´s head. He at last second ducked and rolled from the way, leaving poor Nyx abandoned on the ground. Glauca quickly scrambled to his feet, eyes frantically searching surounded area for the attacker. His mind quickly analyzed the situation. The kukri came from the right side of that debris. The attacker´s probably light on their feet, so someone from glaives was probably still alive. A shadow flashed in the right corner of his eye. There! So the attack comes from ... A figure dressed in glaive´s battle armor emerged from shadows on his left. Guided by his honned reflexes, he stabbed without remorse. But it was too late when his brain registred who did he stabbed. Y/N fell down on their knees, blood gushed from the stab wound like a waterfall. Glauca horiffied by his own action, took down the helmet. And in his place was Titus Drautos, the trusted captain of the glaives and your lover. He was the traitor, you were looking for among your ranks.

"Titus ... Why?" you tiredly managed to say. The blood loss started to take a heavy tool on your body. Breathing became raspy and beads of sweat were forming on your forehead.

" NO, NO no! Don´t talk Y/N, fuck! I need you to preserve your strenght, okay!" he tried to steady himself to appear calm. Shit, he didn´t have a flask of healing potion on him. Titus managed to apply the first aid, in a vain attempt to keep you alive. He saw too much wounds to knew the outcome, but he will try to do his damn best.

"You´re idiot, you know that? I'd hit you for that kind of stupidity...." You briefly paused. The strength in your body was rapidly dwindling." I would have followed you through a hell, if you asked me." The cold began to spread across your whole body. Titus gave a disheartening smile. " I know you would, love. But this was too much even for you. I had to bear it alone." He squeezed your hand soothingly. You could feel the inevitable coming, yet you weren´t ready to say goodbye.

" I love you, my silly captain ..." was the last thing you said, when Lady Etros took you in her land.

"No, stay with me Y/N! Fuck! Precious, don´t do this to me!" Your eyes became glassy and lifeless, when you took your last breath. Meanwhile Nyx has shaken himself out of the injury, rage boiled in his veins at the sight of your corpse. Titus touched affectionately your cheek, while teary - eyed he whispered his last goodbye.

"I will meet with you on the other side, dearest."

[awlwren-writes]

Thank you for indulging me!

Heartbreak for Amani, Fear for Maria, Guilt for Helen, Hide for Eliana, and Midnight for Alexander

<3

Sorry this has been so delayed; I kept forgetting I had them here! -.- I'm adding backstory so people who don't memorize all my OCs (how did I get so many?) won't be hopelessly lost.

Amani is my OC who is married to Pelna. She was a glaive, retired from active duty to be home more so she could be a mom (possibly also got some sort of TBI that had her out of the game for a while, which was a happy coincidence).

heartbreak: Have they ever had a relationship that ended badly? Experienced some other kind of heartbreak? What happened?

Because this is the angst asks, you get the full angst. Some of my backstories have Amani, Pelna, and Nyx in a relationship when the boys just joined, and all three of them were glaives. This continued until Nyx's spiralling guilt about Selena, etc (exacerbated by the first kiddo being born, and then the twins being on the way) was causing him to take truly stupid risks with himself and push everyone away. The three of them loved each other, but Nyx really wasn't getting better and Amani didn't want to deal with the heartache when Nyx got himself killed in the near future and gave him an ultimatum - shape up or get out now, so the kids don't remember you enough to miss you.

Nyx chose sacrifice, to no one's real surprise, and left, crashed with Libertus for a while, maybe did something stupid enough he realized he really did need help and to straighten things out. He didn't completely heal the trauma, of course, (though he maybe added some new trauma, as a treat), but he managed to recognize it and gain some tools for dealing with it, at least. Eventually, he became friends with them again, and is still pretty close to the family, but never romantically again. And then he fell in love with Cor, of course. He still thinks of all three kids as somewhere in the nibling to stepkid range.

Amani maybe was a little heavy handed with this; Pelna had agreed to an intervention, but not the ultimatum. It allowed Pelna to not be the bad guy, though, and still be able to support Nyx in the aftermath, so he wasn't completely cut off. In hindsight, Amani realizes there were definitely better ways to have handled it, but stubbornly insists it was necessary and the wake-up call Nyx needed, and refuses to apologize for saving Nyx's life. Things are still a little frosty between them, but they build a new friendship, even if they never fully trust each other, they can still enjoy each other's company sincerely.

Even if Amani sees Nyx's face in their daughter's face, and all three kids' gestures, and sometimes imagines "what if".

Maria

Maria is a member of the Kingsglaive who joined in the same class as Nyx, Libertus, Luche, Pelna, and my OC Helen (her girlfriend). She ends up becoming a mage, but also does some training as a scout, and uses a spear.

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

Maria is most afraid of being powerless. Of watching people and places she loves slip away and not being able to do a thing about it. She tends to get angry when she has to face it -- the whole reason she became a glaive was to not have to sit by again, after all, and she hates that it still didn't fix the problem completely.

She doesn't talk about it to everyone, but is fairly obvious to those who know her and whom she loves. "Don't make me watch you die" is a phrase she pretends is a light tease, and sometimes lets be as grave as it deserves, but they all know what's behind it, anyway. She keeps her brother's memory alive, and that includes talking about his death, and so by the time they know each other enough for her to know how much them getting hurt guts her, they know why it hits her harder than most.

It was particularly cruel of Drautos, then, to send Helen to die on a mission Maria wasn't allowed to go on, but made her own death on the battlefield two months later less of a surprise to everyone she loved. Maria did go down defending the rest of her baby mages, who did survive that battle, so at least she had that.

Helen

Helen is a member of the same class as Maria and the boys, ends up specializing as a scout. She dies on a solo mission following Niff movements on Ravatogh, and her daggers are the ones you find there.

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

Helen tends to feel a lot of guilt, in general, being a rather responsible person, but the most persistent feeling of guilt she has is one that she knows doesn't really make sense -- she's guilty for being Insomnian. She didn't have the childhood stress of Niffs breathing down her neck (for the most part), she didn't have a tragic backstory to make her join the Glaive, her family is safe within the city, and she doesn't deal with the discrimination the majority of her friends feel.

She knows it's dumb, and it's not like she can change any of that, and logically she doesn't want to. But it does make her feel like an outsider sometimes. Generally she deals with her guilt by working harder to prevent a repeat of the action, or talking to people directly, but that feels wrong for this kind of guilt. So mostly she ignores it, suppresses it, and does her best to be the token Insomnian friend to help her friends get to places or cut through BS. Occasionally she ends up overstepping and white knighting for them, and then kicking herself for it later.

Eliana

Eliana was a member of the Royal Guard before it became the Kingsglaive, and has known Drautos since he joined (she's 5-10 years older than him). She delights in being a foul-mouthed hardass, and is one of the primary trainers of the rookie Glaives.

hide: What does your OC hide? Why do they hide it?

Eliana hides her trauma and how much it interferes in her life from everyone, but especially the baby glaives. Be cool, be funny, be tough, be an example of being the biggest, baddest bitch on the battlefield, and maybe she can whip them into shape well enough to survive longer. They just need to respect and fear her, after all, and then she can teach them efficiently.

Drautos knows, because it's the reason she's insisted on staying a trainer rather than being in the field. She still tries to hide it from him as much as she can because she doesn't trust him not to use it somehow. In her mind, he's spent too long in the political side of things without truly having to answer to anyone, and if she wants to be someone who can criticize him when he goes too far or not far enough, she has to be strong enough he can't fight back easily.

And she hides it from herself as much as she can. It doesn't fit her image of who she is.

Alexander

Alexander (it's his last name) is Cor's secretary. He's very good at his job, and very loyal to Cor. Many think he has a crush on Cor because he falls into gay stereotypes, but he just thinks Cor needs a minder.

midnight: What keeps your OC up at night? Do they have nightmares? Fears? Anxieties? What do they do in the small hours of the morning when they should be sleeping?

Alexander sees too much of Cor's workload to sleep well at night. He knows how badly things are going, and he does his best to do his part, but he knows everything that's happening is far far above his ability to change. He wonders sometimes if there is more that he could be doing, but he also knows his skills and limits and knows realistically this is the best he can do.

It's harder to accept that when he knows the doomsday clock is seconds from midnight, though, and all they are doing is delaying the end a little longer.

So when he gets too wound up about that, he goes and looks up ways to better take care of the plants that cover his apartment, or builds jigsaw puzzles. Things that he can do with his hands and see the fruit of. Sometimes even that's not enough, so he starts ordering food or distractions for the office and Cor, and blessing the ability to schedule emails for the morning.

Are you happy now? :P

[darkpuck]

AO3 First Lines Tag Game

Tagged by @caparruciaucia~

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

01. watching in slow motion as you turn around and say (ffxv)

"And so, with the forthcoming wedding between His Royal Highness, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and the Most Honourable Marquis Besithia, Lord Mercurius Eleuthia-Besithia, we announce the end of the war and peace between Lucis and Niflheim." The Prince Regent laid aside his quill with a finality that seemed, to Prompto, like a jail cell slamming shut.

02. A Change of Pace (ffxv)

Ignis woke every morning at five. He'd always been a morning person, and sheer habit had ensured he never slept past half the hour, no matter how exhausted he was. The others all slept later than he — granted, Gladio tended to rise at six, but that was still a single, glorious hour he had to himself before duty reared its head.

03. Oathbreakers (ffxv)

"So many dead over so simple a thing," Luche says, looking at the small, almost insignificant talisman in his palm. "But why? For what?" He's taunting her, like he did Ulric, making them hate him. "Power," the Oracle says, meeting his gaze without fear. "Untold power beyond the control of someone like you." Her words are a taunt in return, and a challenge — prove yourself worthy. Put it on and demand recompense from the Kings of Old. "Power…" he says, looking down at the ring again. He could do it. He could put it on, demand that power, destroy Insomnia and the Empire alike. He could do it —

04. foreboding (pokémon)

"James." The name is enough to make Jim stop, because... nobody in Galar knows him by that name. Nobody outside Galar even bothers to call him by it, except... "Sabrina," he says, turning to face the Saffron Gym Leader. "Surprised to see you here." "I could say the same for you," she answers. "You shouldn't be here." "Windy called you, I take it?" "We're the closest Psychic trainers she knows." "I'm not a Psychic trainer," he says, the same way he does every time she calls him one. Because he's not.

05. of the loved ones that we've lost (kingdom hearts)

Lourd had learned a good many skills from the months he’d spent in bars, learning to support himself on the turn of the card. The most important of those skills was acting. For days, maybe even weeks, he’d acted as though he’d given up. Lying still instead of struggling within his bonds, no longer tracking movements with his eyes. Yes, he still had his heart, but he clung to that out of sheer spite. It was easy to make it appear as though that spite made him too tired for anything else. And then at last–                                                 –at last– His efforts were rewarded.

06. Unseilie (kingdom hearts)

Only three months ago, Maliaur had been free. A refugee, certainly, with his homeworld destroyed at the hand of one of his own kind, but he had been alive and free — and slowly amassing power to challenge she who had destroyed their world and betrayed all, enemies, allies, and kin. Now he had nothing — not life nor freedom nor even his own name. The so-called Superior didn't know what he was, but he did know the power of names. He had stripped Maliaur's name from him, rearranged it to his liking and put his mark on it, then presented it to him as though he should be grateful to be worthy: Marluχia. None of the others had noticed, but then, they were only mortals. 

07. Echolocation (kingdom hearts)

I don't know what I expected after diving deep into my own heart, but landing all but weightlessly on stained glass flooring was not it. Suddenly everything seemed — muted. Tranquil, almost, despite the disorientation of going from white hallways to stained glass in blackness. It was still imperative that I find the darkness I'd kept back from myself, but the time it would take no longer mattered. Glancing down, I suddenly realised that the stained glass beneath my feet bore a distinct image. I backed up, my steps echoing hollowly, until my heel brushed empty air. Now I could see the whole of the image, dominated by a boy in the centre. Black-haired and black-eyed, he wielded a lance two feet too big for him; his face was a grimace of rage, pain, and fear. He was me, as I had been the night Radiant Garden fell.

08. Glaciate (kingdom hearts)

Demyx hadn't been a member of the Organization for very long. Still, he thought it was just as well that he had made the attempt to play the shadows to their doom rather than his sisters. He wasn't sure humans were a delicacy they would willingly give up. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken him long at all to get used to walking. Getting away from Vexen had been a strong motivator, admittedly, and learning to control water instead of swimming through it a good excuse. The clone-forms were a happy accident, one he never would have discovered by practising magic as Vexen had shown him. Even as a merman, instruments had been his forté, and water simply responded better when he played. Why else would his sympathetic weapon manifest as a sitar?

09. Genesis (kingdom hearts)

Someone was watching him. Dilan pushed Aeleus back and signalled quickly for a pause. The other Guard frowned as Dilan glanced around the training room. "What is it?" Aeleus asked. Dilan shook his head, returning his attention to the taller man. "It's nothing."

10. Winter Court (kingdom hearts)

Rufus hated dealing with Maleficent. While not necessarily a usurper, she still ruled the kingdom that was his by birthright. Unfortunately, the witch had made it plain that his continued existence depended upon her unopposed rule. He supposed he should consider himself lucky the terms of their bargain hadn't altered as he aged.

Tagging @twocatstailoring, @tigerkat24, @shadowsong26x, and everyone whose tags i've forgot!

[a-midnight-rest]

I believe you are quite on point, even if midly exagerating how fast some of those conflicts are resolved considering Aveline and Isabella conflict are also resolved in banter. Although at least, in Veilguard, you see it.

I had forgotten about Blackwall mainly because I don't see his lies as a flaw at all. It's actually one of the most heroic character of the setting.

Still, I don't understand your definition of character flaw. What you say is that none are controversial. None have done terrible things or have extreme opinions that would make you question your own. But those are not flaws, those are traits you personally find impactful or not.

Definitions aside, I understand you. I am a bit sad I can't really share my love for the Veilguard character, so that you would see them as I do. Because I do find in them some very impactful trait I did not find in any other Dragon Age game.

Emmerich is learned, tender, but also so free and groundbreaking in his relation with the spirits. His fear of death is so understandable, but the price for it is also so high. And yet, it also make sense, "How many exception before tyranny" indeed.

Harding is all around adorable, but also her journey through the monumental reveal, voth lore wise and personal one, are great. That she reconnect with an essential part of her she never knew she had, that righteous anger, that indignity. How to deal with it? It gives me goosebumps.

Neve is so inaccessible, and yet care so much. She has the pokerface of someone who has failed so many times and yet got up and fought the good fight against all odds, she is scared shiteless of hoping for a good ending.

Taash, I don't like. But that's only because an emotionally immature character teying to find their own identity with an emotionally stunt mother who is so aware she's a bad mom you can't even villainize her hits WAY too close to home for comfort

I love how Lucanis is dealing with the trauma by absolutely not dealing about it. How in his mind he is still in prison, so luch that Spite hasn't realized they escape. I love he is so rich he doesn't know the value of money, and yet is absolutely thrilled to cook for people he knows are safe.

Bellara is adorable in her absolute curiosity, and again the self loathing and blaming herself hits too close. But I also like how her entire world is to help others, it's the one constant in the chaos of her endlessly creative mind.

Davrin, I am meh about him. Well, I love how he takes his job seriously and really try to focus on the task at hand. But his unbending determination clashes well with Assan's chaotic demeanor, and I love how he explore himself throughout the game.

I also love how Bellara and Davrin explore their identity as Dalish without talking about humans, it's like they passed some sort of Beschdel test xD.

I love how Lucanis give to Harding the Arrow that will kill him because he absolutely trust her to do what needs to be done.

I love how Bellara desesperatly try to have Emmerich tell her vampires exists, to the point he almost admit it.

The Veilguard do not need to curse, or hate, or be borderline and anti-heroes to be interesting. Not to me at least.

I think one thing that bothers me about the Veilguard companions is that while they're fun, none of them are flawed in a way that matters. Like in Dragon Age 2 you've got Aveline calling Isabela a slut, and Anders approving if you sell Fenris back into slavery. In Veilguard, you've got to decide how many books Emmerich should bring camping, or say it's not a big deal that Bellara ate the last cheese stick.

And that's NOT me saying that I miss the misogyny of Aveline/Isabela's dialogue, or think Anders approving of selling Fenris is a "good" thing for his character, but rather it was that the characters had things that were genuinely dislike-able about them. I mean all you had to do was look at the fandom from the past decade to see some truly awful discourse about Cullen, Anders, Aveline, or even Dorian.

There just are no prominent character flaws in the Veilguard companions, which can make them fall a little flat, imo.

[sparklecryptid]

Ooo oooh oooh. 

Remember that long Ace/Nyx post I sent you once upon a time? About a Reveal AU? I just - had the mental image of that scenario more or less adapted to the Luche Regisdaughter AU - 

So. Mental image of fem!Luche leading a bunch of glaives in a battle. Except, during the course of said battle, the Empire deploys an experimental technology that shuts off the magic. Or, more precisely - numbs the link between the glaive and *King Regis’s* magic.

Luche is not impressed. 

She is also not impressed by Tredd’s sudden shit-eating grin as the enemy commander boasts as much.

Seriously. Seriously?

Luche - sighs. Glares. 

And launches a crackling wave of ice at the oncoming enemy while shouting at her people to ’get the fuck up and FIGHT!‘ Before turning to her smirking common-law husband. 

“You! Stand by me?”

Tredd knows exactly what she’s asking. “Always.”

(It’s the most abbreviated Shied-Royal oath ever given. But it works.)

YES I LOVE THIS.

The aftermath

Luche doesn’t want to be here. Here being sitting in the medical ward of the Citadel while her husband and a good few many of her Glaives (because they are hers. They have always been hers.) stand around looking ready to attack the medical staff if they do any thing untoward.

Tredd looks like he’s about to maim anyone who comes too close to her. He frightened the nurse that came to drag Luche’s blood so badly she nearly fled the room in terror.

But that’s not the point. The point is that Luche does not want to be here. The point is that she knows exactly what she did. The point is that that should be enough proof of her claims but no. She has to get it proven.

Luche sighs, shifting in her seat as she lets her eyes roll.

“Bored?” Nyx teases, “After all that?”

“Shut up, Ulric,” Luche says, a fond heat in her words, “I didn’t take out half a fucking army and give you all temporary magic just so you could be snarky.”

“No,” Axis says, “You did it so we would survive.”

The room falls into silence after that before the door opens and everyone leaps to their feet to stand at attention as King Regis appears.

“Sir,” Luche greets, her face unreadable and Tredd’s fire a comforting presence at her side, “What can I do for you today?”

“Please,” Regis says, “Sit down and send your men away.”

“I can’t do that, Your Majesty,” Luche says, “Whatever it is you want to say can be said in front of my men.”

Regis looks as though he wants to argue.

He doesn’t.

“You’re my daughter,” Regis says and is voice is pained, “But you knew that didn’t you?”

@hamelin-born

[blackkatmagic]

I??? am ready to cri?? real tears, I just watched kingsglaive and? nyx sitting down calmly and turning his face up to the sun???? I have so many feelings but for now I'm just gonna go re read hearth and home. BUT before I go. lunafreya? precious badass baby girl? no training, no fear, no hesitation. deadass lured a man into burning alive and she felt bad but didn't let even her own compassion keep her from acting for the future. crowe, who deserved so much better than she got? libertus? pelna?

The clone squads don’t come back.

Nyx lies awake in the dark room, arms folded behind his head, and listens to the thunder of the rain on the roof, the intermittent, barely-audible hum of bombers and other ships passing overhead. It’s getting light, closing in on morning, and nights here feel longer than he’s used to, but there's still no sign of Ahsoka or her squad. No sign of Skywalker, either, and he’d mentioned something about the storm knocking out communication, which just makes Nyx feel even more restless.

Rolling over, Nyx checks that Lunafreya's still sleeping peacefully on the other bedroll, then checks for any noise upstairs, but Syllif and Lux are still asleep. The cantina only officially closed a few hours ago, not that any patrons even tried to stick their noses across the threshold, and the whole town is eerily quiet beneath the barrier.

Lunafreya’s breathing is the only sound in the room, and Nyx lies still for a long moment, listening. She seems younger when she’s asleep, with her hair loose and the blankets sliding down off her shoulders. A mismatched pair of boots that Syllif had apologized for but Lunafreya had been delighted by sit near her head, and she has one hand resting on her trident, the other tucked beneath her cheek. Sweet, Nyx would think, except she survived a full year trekking across Lucis on her own, with Niflheim and even her own brother hunting her. Except that she tricked Luche into putting on the ring, knowing full well that it would kill him, and then pulled the ring off his corpse’s hand and ran.

She’ll survive, Nyx thinks. She’ll survive, and he’ll make sure of it. This universe is huge, and has its own future, and this time, they can see it. Lunafreya doesn’t have a destiny, and Nyx doesn’t have a duty, and neither of them had fought against the weight on them on Eos, but being without it…it’s not a bad thing.

Nyx still wants to help, though.

With a muffled groan at himself, Nyx pulls his pillow down over his head, breathes into the press of it for a minute, and then pushes it away, sitting up. His boots are next to his bed, and he grabs them, pulls them on and reaches for his coat, dragging it on and doing up the buckles before he can second-guess himself. This part, at least, doesn’t take much thought, and he gets gloves, belts, and holsters on, then pauses.

Lunafreya's still asleep, unmoving, and Nyx takes a breath, reaches down, and tugs her blankets up over her shoulders. Thinks, again, of trying to leave some sort of barrier of his own up, but—Lunafreya can defend herself. She’s the furthest thing from helpless, and she doesn’t need him right now.

If the clones are out there hunting down assassin droids, they probably do.

[nothing-but-dreamy]

COMRADES

Pairing: FFXV!NYX ULRIC x MALE!READER

Words: 1.567

Warnings: cursing

@furtato5ever Thanks for your request! I had fun to write it and I hope you will like it

Synopsis: Sometimes, things get messy and go wrong and in these times, it's good to have a friendly supporter by the side

Exhausted, Nyx sat down on a bench in front of his locker, raking his fingers through his hair to loosen the strands and to get the sand and dust out of them. With closed eyes, he enjoyed the silence around him. The first time in hours there was no noise. It was just quiet and peaceful. Nyx was just sitting there for a few more minutes as he heard something soft coming from some distance. The sound was low, even muffled but Nyx recognized it as crying.

Frowning, Nyx stood up and was about to follow the sound as Luche stormed into the locker room, furious with a raging expression and gritted teeth, "Damn it!", he called out and punched into the nearest locker that the metal was screeching nasty.

"What's the matter?", Nyx asked, looking warily at his friend who was usually calm and composed.

"What's the matter?", Luche hissed, mimicking the question while narrowing his eyes on Nyx who flinched back by surprise about the hate-filled eyes.

"Four Glaives are injured and in hospital! Four! Drautos yells and screams how messed up things were just because this idiot is too clumsy for his own good! I tell you what, just to have the ability to use the King’s magic shouldn’t be enough to join the Kingsglaive. He’s the best example!"

"Who do you mean?", Nyx asked and regretted it immediately as he saw Luche's gleaming eyes.

"Who I mean? The newbie, for fuck saken! I tell you, this guy will be our end! He can't do the easiest things. During the last training? He almost killed his partner as his blade slipped through his hand in the middle of a warp!”, Luche screamed and threw his hands frustrated in the air before he turned back to Nyx, “Oh! Or during the training with the fire magic? He almost burned down the whole Kingsglaive headquarters! On the battlefield earlier? He should secure the left wing but no! The idiot was hiding behind a wall like a coward just watching how the Behemoth ran through the line which is the reason why four of us are in the damn hospital now.", Luche called out and as he was done, he was panting for air. Without saying another word or waiting for Nyx to respond, he grabbed his things and left the locker room to get off some steam somewhere else.

As Luche was gone, the silence seemed to be even louder than before and through it, the muffled sound of new cries caught Nyx' attention again.

Slowly, Nyx followed the sound through the room to the last row of abandoned lockers, walking around them to find the source of the soft cries in a corner: Yn, the newbie.

Yn sat on the ground, leaning against the old, used metal of spare lockers. His head hung low between his shoulders. He was still dressed in his dusty battle uniform, just the hood laid loosely around his neck and the gloves in his lap. All in all, the sight of him screamed for misery.

Without a word, Nyx walked over to his comrade, kneeling down to sit next to him, leaning against the same locker as Yn.

Yn noticed the other Glaive but he didn't dare to look up at him. Yn felt ashamed. He blamed himself for everything Luche had said earlier. He was the reason why others were injured. The mission had almost failed because he was a coward. With a bit of force that the door of the locker clacked, Yn leant his head back, staring at the ceiling, "I don't think I can do that. No! I’m sure I shouldn’t do this.", he whispered.

"It wasn't just your fault.", Nyx said calmly, remembering how messy things had been on the battlefield.

Yn released his breath, "You heard Luche. It was my fault.", he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut but couldn't stop new tears from falling down. Now, he even felt ashamed of crying in front of the famous Nyx Ulric.

Nyx watched Yn. He had been in his position before as well. Doubting himself. Asking what he was doing with the Glaives. All Glaives felt like this from time to time. That was just naturally and came with the job they were doing. But to let these thoughts sink too deep into their minds could end deadly, "Well, you're new-"

"Yeah, I’m the new one and I messed up! Again.", Yn hissed, angry about himself.

"Yes, you did.", Nyx said honestly, shrugging with his shoulders, "But we all did before. No matter what plans the Captain or Luche have...on the battlefield, things are different. Things get out of control."

Slowly, Yn turned his head to look at the man next to him who got called ‘hero’. He had heard so many incredible stories about Nyx that Yn saw him more as an idol than just as a soldier, "Yeah… right. I'm sure you also did things wrong, huh?", he scoffed, unamused.

Nyx chuckled low, "Oh, trust me, I did. By the sight of my first Behemoth? I was rooted to the spot in the middle of the field. I couldn't move, at all. I mean, these demons are scary as hell. Niflheim uses them to intimidate us and guess what? It works pretty well the first few times.”, Nyx said and remembered his first fights behind the wall all these years ago.

“And then? What happened? Were you also ‘hiding behind a wall like a coward’?”, Yn asked, quoting Luche’s words.

“Oh, no. No. I wasn’t hiding. Like I said, I was rooted to the spot. Libertus had to push me out of the way or otherwise I wouldn’t sit here with you right now. I was so scared. I expected to die there. I mean, have you seen these things? They’re big, mean, vicious monsters. with their huge teeth and horns.”, Nyx explained with a grin.

“Hell, tell me about it…”, Yn breathed, agreeing with Nyx while remembering how the big paws of the Behemoth were drumming mercilessly on the ground and the claws were burying into the sand just inches from the spot where he was crouching.

“It’s okay to be scared. We’re not machines like Magiteks. We feel things when we’re fighting. We’re humans after all. Yes, some of us got injured but they’re still alive and they will make it. I know the guys, they’re tough. And if you ask me, I’m still convinced that it was the wrong decision to send you to secure a line without backup. No one expects you to know everything just yet. Wielding blades and using magic is one thing. Learning to live with fear is something else, something that needs some time and practice.”, Nyx said reassuringly and nudged Yn’s shoulder with his own.

The mission order had been a stupid decision in the first place but then, Nyx remembered how he got tested by the Captain in almost the same way. Maybe it was just one of these cruel ideas to see if the new one was cut from the same cloth as the Captain himself...

“I should quit. I will mess things up again and again. It’s just a matter of time until someone dies because of me. I couldn’t forgive myself.”, Yn said low, casting his eyes to the ground.

Nyx watched the young guy. He had seen a fire in Yn’s eyes that told Nyx that he wanted to fight against Niflheim. Yn had his own reasons to fight against Insomnia’s enemies and now, he just had to learn to use these reasons as his drive. Nyx nodded slowly, “You could quit but as I see it you don’t want to. You wanna fight. You wanna kick asses. You just have to get better with your skills.”

“Yeah, and how? The last time I tried to train, I almost blew up this place.”, Yn said crestfallen, fumbling with the gloves in his hands.

“Then, we train together. I will show you a few tricks. You know, Libertus sucked at using lightning magic. One time, he even knocked out himself. I’m not even sure what he tried in the first place and then, he laid shocked on the ground. I swear, I even saw small clouds of smoke evaporating from his ears.”, Nyx said grinning and was pleased to hear Yn chuckle, “And now, Libertus used these powers regularly without hurting himself. Just one tip, if he uses magic? Keep some distance. Just in case.”, Nyx said with a wink.

Yn laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He still felt miserable for failing the mission and his comrades. He was sure, the Captain and Luche were disappointed and Yn expected to get a speech about it...or even some impositions. But Nyx’ words had been reassuring. Now, he felt less alone with the fear he had felt before, “Thanks. This talk was … I guess I needed that.”, Yn said, feeling better than before.

Nyx stood up, offering his hand to his comrade who took it and stood up as well. With a grin, Nyx looked at Yn, “You’re welcome. We're Glaives. We fight together. We fall together. And, most importantly, we drink together. Come on, the first drink is on me.", Nyx said and just like that, Yn had found his first new, real friend and supporter.

[whumpwriterforlife]

Screaming - Whump of July, day 7

This is actually an excerpt from my ongoing WIP (AU) where Nyx is the one who found and rescued Prompto (and where Nyx and Cor raise him together). I'm going to divide this into two parts, and the rest will be in "Passing out - Whump of July, day 8" that I will post later today.

@whumperscorner is amazing, go say hi to her. She's an enabler.

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Nyx Ulric, Crowe Altius, Prompto Argentum (mentioned)

Whumpee: Nyx Uric

Word Count: 707

Warnings: Violence (not too descriptive, a fight with MTs) --

One of the MTs swung an axe down at him but Nyx grabbed the handle, blocking the strike. With his free hand he brought his kukri up, burying it into the MTs side. Ducking under the axe, Nyx stabbed the MT in the back.

A mechanical sound from behind had Nyx spinning on his heels. His kukris caught the approaching MT in the neck and shoulder, not giving it a chance to attack. The MT spasmed but didn’t die. Instead, it began glowing red. Nyx swore as he yanked his blades free. He hadn’t run into this specific MT model himself before but he had heard the stories. The stories of MTs that couldn’t be struck down but were designated to self-destruct around the enemy.

Shock troopers.

That’s what they were called. Too many good glaives had lost their lives to them in the recent months. Ice cold dread filled Nyx’s veins. This wasn’t a fight he could win anymore. He needed to run. Nyx turned on his heels, running as he pulled his hand back to throw one of the kukris.

Nyx made it four steps from the MT, the blade barely having left his hand, before the MT self-destructed.

The explosion threw Nyx off his feet, slamming him into a tree. A scream ripped from his throat as blinding, white-hot pain erupted somewhere in his body. The world around him grew dim as he hit the ground. His ears were ringing, drowning out all the other noises as black spots danced in his vision. Nyx could only blink, feeling sluggish ‒ detached. He was vaguely aware of a figure coming to a stop over him - an MT holding an axe. Nyx should have felt fear, for his life, for Prompto, but there was nothing. He curled his fingers around his kukri, a feeble attempt to prepare for a fight he had no hope to win. He had failed.

Somewhere behind him, Prompto was crying.

The MT swung the axe at him in a downward arc.

Nyx tensed, bringing the kukri up to block the attack. It was one last-ditch effort and he knew it but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Right before the axe could make contact with Nyx’s defences, a dark figure barreled into the MT in a flash of blue sparks, knocking it away from him. Nyx startled, the kukri slipping from his grasp as a fresh wave of excruciating pain washed over him. He could vaguely hear shouting, people running around but it was all drowning under the ringing in his ears. Curling onto his side, Nyx let out a strangled groan.

Not a moment later there were hands on his shoulders, guiding him to lay on his back. Nyx didn’t fight it, he had no energy to do so. It wasn’t a good thing, Nyx thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry about it. There were hands on his face, gentle and careful. Nyx peeled his eyes open with difficulty, blinking blearily at the hazy figure above him. Familiar brown eyes stared back at him. Crowe. Nyx’s shoulders sagged, breath coming to him a little easier.

“-x! Keep your eyes on me! Luche, I need help over here!” Crowe shouted over her shoulder. Her eyes were tight with worry as she looked him over. “You better have a damn good explanation for your disappearance, Ulric, or I swear to gods I will convince Drautos to put you on guard duty for a month!”

“‘S nice to see you too.” Nyx managed a small, amused huff in response which he instantly regretted. The adrenaline was steadily draining from his limbs and he was starting to feel even the smallest of aches around his body. Experience told Nyx he wouldn’t be staying conscious for much longer, not if his increasingly fuzzy mind was anything to go by. A strained groan left Nyx’s lips. There was one more thing he needed to take care of before it was too late. Prompto. Reaching out blindly, Nyx gripped Crowe’s arm. “Crowe, there’s a kid-- baby. Prompto. I hid him before the fight. Find ‘im.”

Crowe’s sharp intake of breath didn’t go unnoticed by Nyx. “Luche! There’s a baby somewhere around here!”

[a-world-in-grey]

Galahdian Gemstones

@secret-engima because headcanons (and I’d like your input on gemstone selections). Two sections - headcanons on Clan Stones, and some history stuff.

-Clan Stones.

-Like Clan Colors, each Clan has a gemstone or pair of gemstones that identify them. These stones are worn in their Clan Braid, usually the first bead in the braid (though some Clans wear theirs at the end, like the Ostium joiners or the Furia), followed by personal beads.

-Certain Clans do share one of their Stones, but each Clan has at least one of their stones unique to them and them alone that serves as their main Clan Stone. So, from the top to the bottom (not including pictures because this post is long enough):

-Altius: Chalcedony/Sunstone. There aren’t very many grey gemstones, but grey Chalcedony is very pretty, especially when banded (striped). For an orange stone, I headcanon sunstone because of my hcs of them being blood of Ifrit’s Blessed, and because it’s a very pretty gem. I headcanon sunstone being their main Stone, because they are one of two Clans that have Orange as a Clan Color. (Second choice for the Altius grey stone would be grey moonstone, without the blue sheen, to contrast the sunstone.)

-Arra: Alexandrite. The Arra are one of the Clans to have a single stone that represents both of their Clan Colors, as alexandrite (though in-verse it’s probably called something different) changes color from green to purple depending on the type of lighting. A suitably subtle gem for a subtle Clan.

-Bellum: Carnelian/Dumortierite. Dumortierite is a pretty blue stone that I chose because of the name - dumortier is a French surname meaning death, though the in-verse name is likely different. Carnelian is their main stone since they are the only Clan with Red as a Clan Color (primary or secondary), and every Bellum is willing to Throw Hands at the drop of a hat.

-Bestia: Chrysoberyl. Again, probably a different name in-verse, but this pretty stone comes in both yellow and green. The yellow is likely their main Stone.

-Canere: Sapphire. Specifically color changing sapphire, which like alexandrite, changes color in different light. Color changing sapphire changes between blue and purple.

-Carduus: Moonstone. Blue moonstone is a silvery-grey stone with a blue sheen, representing both the Blue and Grey colors of the Carduus, as well as harkening back to their original Secondary Color of Silver. (My second choice for them would be Labradorite, which is a dark-grey stone with flashes of blue and green, though blue is the most common and what the Carduus would reserve for their beads.)

-Furia: Pearl. Pearls come in a variety of natural colors, though as a rule they tend to be fairly pale. I headcanon that the Furia are the only Clan to wear pearls as hair beads, and few outside the Furia wear pearls as jewelry, most of them being Lazarus, Arra, Praesidium, and the occasional Canere. Furia wear orange and blue pearls as their Clan Stones, and make quite the profit selling the white and pink pearls to the Mainland. 

-Khara: Purple/Yellow Jade. Purple jade (known as Turkiyenite) is only 40-60% jadeite and so not technically classified as such. However, this is fiction so we can do whatever, and it’s very pretty. The purple jade is their main Stone.

-Lazarus: Citrine/Quartz. Quartz comes in a variety of colors, including grey. Citrine would be their main Stone. (Alternate grey stone would be chalcedony, which they could feasibly share with the Altius, since chalcedony is really common.)

-Ornata: Lapis Lazuli. While mostly blue, lapis lazuli is known for its gold flecks. (While I really like this stone, I know it’s not necessarily a perfect fit, so another option could be topaz - which comes in both yellow and blue varieties.)

-Ostium: Tanzanite/Onyx. The Ostium are one of the only clans that place their Clan Stone at the end of their braid - the black onyx joiners are the hallmark of the Ostium Clan. Onyx also comes in green, which is what Ostium Braincells wear to designate that they’ve got an Ulric to cluck after.

-Praesidium: Azurite/Malachite. These two stones often form near each other and mixed together, resulting in a pretty and vibrant blue and green stone. Praesidium are the only Clan to have two Clan Stones they are known by, with azurite and malachite being worn in equal amounts alongside the azurite/malachite mixes.

-Tibiae: Quartz/Emerald. Contrary to what one might think, emerald is actually this Clan’s main Stone. Because that Clan needs a warning label, and it’s the only one they are going to give you. (Other options for green stones could be chrysoprase or peridot. Could also use chalcedony or grey moonstone for grey stones.)

-Ulric: Onyx/Charoite. Ulrics share onyx with the Ostium, the latter wearing it after picking up the Black Clan Color from the Ulrics. However, the Ulric main Stone is charoite. (An alternate purple stone is amethyst, but I think charoite is prettier and generally prefer semi-precious stones to precious stones.)

-(Astrum: Obsidian/Heliodore. Differing from the other Clans in that their Stones come from the Lucian mainland. Their main Stone is their obsidian joiner, similar to the Ostium.)

-History headcanons!

-Galahd is rich in gemstones and metals. Much like real-life Myanmar, Galahd has just about every kind of gemstone imaginable, with the exception of diamonds (which Galahdians don’t really wear anyway).

-As such, before the Burning it is very common for every Galahdian to wear precious and semi-precious stones for their braids and jewelry.

-Now, I headcanon that before Lucis folded Galahd into the Empire, mining was not a huge business in Galahd. Oh, it was definitely a viable profession, but the Clans didn’t use a lot of gemstones, and generally weren’t picky about what they did mine up. The best quality went to making beads, and the rest went to jewelry.

-After being ‘conquered’ by Lucis, well. Wealthy Lucians were highly interested in the ‘untapped resources’. Now, depending on how dark you want to take things, this could go a couple different ways. We’ll start with the least nasty, because why not.

-First possibility is that Galahd is able to dictate the trade of Galahdian gemstones. They present a selection for sale, and the Lucian traders buy what they want. Trying to pressure the Galahdians into offering more/higher quality Does Not Happen, because the first attempts are shut down hard by the Galahdians and the Crown slaps down any armed hostilities from breaking out because We Do Not Fight The Jungle Children FOR THE LOVE OF THE SIX. This likely results in some resentment from the Lucians and wariness from the Galahdians, but nothing too drastic.

-Second possibility, still fairly light, but a bit darker, is that the Lucians’ offers for high quality gems drives local prices up, making it harder for Galahdians to sell/buy their own gems. As such, local gems become much more scarce, until they are almost exclusively reserved for Clan Beads. This scenario is going to breed a fair amount of resentment from the Galahdians towards the Lucian mainland, specifically the nobility/wealthy.

-Third possibility, which is very dark, is that Lucian corporate interests manage to get a foothold in Galahd, and begin large mining operations - either with their own Lucian workers or with locals. Lucian workers would be paid more, lured by a promise of making money, but clashes between the workers and locals would be higher. Galahdian workers would likely be paid far less, and oh boy would that breed it’s own resentment, but there would be less possible conflict between Galahdians and Lucians, other than overseers management. This is going to breed a lot of resentment, to the point of possible outright rebellion from the Galahdians.

-Then we have Niflheim occupying Galahd. And things get a whole lot worse. Because Niflheim is only going to see the potential profit from Galahd’s gemstone resources and won’t care how they get it.

-In the darkest scenario, take that third possibility, and crank it up to eleven. Large scale environmental destruction, forced work in the mines, and pittance pay. Exploitation at its worst. Galahdians likely had to hide their Stones or have them confiscated by Niflheim overseers and sold overseas, and you can bet the Nifs would dig up the Galahdian dead just to get at those beads too. The Galahdians wouldn’t be allowed to keep any of the stones they mined either. Not even the inferior quality stone unsuited for jewelry - Niflheim would have dumped it in the sea just to spite them.

-(Look, there’s a reason Galahd hates Mors for pulling the Wall and leaving them to Niflheim’s ‘mercy’. There’s a reason the Galahdian refugees can’t go home, even after almost twenty years post-Burning. There’s a reason so many refugees left, even before the Burning. Why so many chose to fight for a mainlander king. Why so many Betrayed Regis when he surrendered to Niflheim. Why Luche and the others took Niflheim’s deal.)

-During the Occupation, there was probably resistance and rebellion everywhere Niflheim turned, until they decided to cut their losses and Burn it all. (Perhaps they were losing too many workers. Or perhaps they’d exhausted the mines and didn’t care to look for new ones.)

-In Lucis, any refugees likely had to sell their Stones just to survive. Those that didn’t wouldn’t be allowed to wear them if they lived in Insomnia, because of the Sumptuary Laws or for fear of being arrested on charges of theft. (And even if the charges were dropped, many of the stones confiscated as ‘evidence’ were coincidentally ‘lost’.) For those that lost their Stones, replacing them is near impossible - either they are too expensive, impossible to find, or in most cases both.

-Which is when carved and painted wooden beads become the norm.

[secret-engima]

In Fangs and Feathers, what are everyone else's reactions to meeting Xanxus, and vice versa? Are any other reincarnations going to pop up?

In GENERAL reactions are shock (the king has another son?), horror (he’s so VIOLENT AND RUDE), and incredulity (why does Noctis LIKE this guy???). Some more specific ones would be-

-Cor. Cor and Xanxus DO NOT get along for the longest time. It’s like introducing two cats very, very improperly. They tolerate each other at best. Cor thinks Xanxus is violent, uncontrolled, reckless, and selfish. Xanxus thinks Cor is a very, very dangerous man playing at being more calm and in control than he is and that triggers bad memories of Nono’s guardians and their trickery.

-These two will eventually come to a more stable neutrality toward each other after Xanxus stops acting like he’s going to stab Regis at any moment (ie when Xanxus realizes that Regis genuinely does love his illegitimate son and has all the snake-like qualities of a sad fluffy dog) and after many very bloody sparring matches that leave them both exhausted and in need of an elixir.

-Ignis is straight up horrified. He knows Noctis attracts strange people (look at Crowe) and forgives the dangerous ones (look at the various assassins that Noctis has converted) but .... but THIS is Noctis’s brother? Regis’s other son and Titus’s nephew? He’s so .... ANGRY. He walks around like he’s about to commit murder at any given second and yet Noctis ADORES him. It’s only the fact that Ignis can see Xanxus adores Noctis in return that keeps Ignis from trying to poison Xanxus’s tea or something.

-Xanxus, for his part, actually likes Ignis? He’s a Bby Inverted Sun who is clearly very protective and loyal to his Sky. Very smart for his age, and smart enough to be both wary and willing to throw the rule book out the window in favor of protecting Noctis (or better yet, using the rulebook to tangle someone up and trip them legally down the nearest elevator shaft). Ignis knows Xanxus is dangerous and is prepared to fight him to the death the moment Xanxus proves a threat to Noctis. Xanxus approves. He knows Ignis won’t WIN, but he approves. Finally Small Trash gains an Element that isn’t useless or suicidal and hasn’t tried to murder him beforehand.

-Xanxus’s arrival is before Gladio’s Nicked Lung incident (we’ll all just assume Xanxus was out on a Hunt or something when that happened k?) but he’s always ... been neutral toward Gladio. Neutral leaning toward negative. The kid is a brat. Arrogant brat that takes pride in his duty while also being scornful of the bby Sky in his care and THAT makes Xanxus dislike him. BUT, he’s also a kid and kids can change. Plus this is Small Trash’s Storm, he is fully expecting some kind of violent Incident to happen to turn the kid’s attitude around. This does not mean Xanxus won’t join Crowe in kicking the pants off Gladio after he gets back and hears about the Nicked Lung Incident OR from holding it over Gladio’s head for years after but it does mean he won’t outright try to kill Gladio because he knows this is ... how Tsuna-Noct always courts his Elements.

-Gladio thinks Xanxus is SCARY, but also admires him. He ... almost wishes he could be Xanxus’s Shield instead of Noctis’s at first (until the Incident) and thinks Xanxus is a “real man” for always being on the move and ready to fight and get things done. But he also dislikes Xanxus to an extent because Xanxus tends to ignore him or call him Trash instead of his name so....

-After Xanxus hears of the Nicked Lung Incident, Gladio upgrades his opinion of Xanxus from “scary but kinda cool” to “UTTERLY TERRIFYING DO NOT ENGAGE ABORT ABORT ABORT” and also becomes glad he is NOT Xanxus’s Shield because Xanxus is a feral mass of instincts, magic, and wrath tied together in the rough shape of a prince.

-Clarus always knew Regis’s reckless youth would come back to bite. He just ... didn’t expect it to be QUITE this bad. Or violent. Or magically powerful. Or CUNNING because this boy has never touched the political scene before yet he maneuvers through it with the careless abandon that only comes from knowing EXACTLY what all the rules and dangers are and just not giving a flying tonberry.

-He is ready for YEARS for Xanxus to either turn on Regis or turn on Noctis. Or both. Especially after Xanxus’s Shield shows up (more on him later). It ... takes him a long time to accept that yes, Xanxus is loyal and loving, he’s just a feral Cor turned up to 11 all the time and age is not going to make him Chill like it did Cor.

-Xanxus equates Clarus to Nono’s favorite Guardian. Specifically the one that abused Xanxus as a kid and continued to belittle him and treat him as a mad dog for the rest of his life. For obvious reasons, even if this first impression is incorrect, it sours Xanxus’s view of Clarus for years. They come to a silent non-aggression agreement for Regis’s and Noctis’s sake eventually, but not without much glaring (on both parts), snarling (on Xanxus’s part), swearing (on Xanxus’s part), and veiled comments (on Clarus’s part). Once Xanxus is wayyyyyyy older and has been around long enough, their antagonism mellows into something of a snarky frenemies thing, but it takes a while.

-Prompto thought Xanxus was terrifying for all of the ten minutes it took Xanxus to walk in glaring and then let himself get bowled over by a happy Noctis. Seeing the man lying on the floor complaining about “Small Trash get a diet you’re heavy” while absently petting Noctis’s hair went a long way to turn Xanxus from “nigh-eldritch demon” to “really grumpy cat” in Prompto’s brain. It helps that Prompto is the sweetest thing on the planet and even Xanxus doesn’t have the heart to be mean around him (plus Prom is a kid, the most kid-like of all Noctis’s friends, and Xanxus has always had a soft spot from brats as long as they weren’t threats to his Elements or the Vongola).

-Xanxus takes one look at Prompto and goes “ah. Bby Inverted Cloud. Abused bby Cloud. I will protecc.” then hides it under fifty billion layers of Gruff that fools everyone but Noctis, Prompto, and Xanxus’s own Shield.

-Is secretly ECSTATIC when Prompto shows a talent/interest in firearms and proceeds to gleefully train Prompto up to Varia Quality in them. Needless to say, Prompto is now the deadliest thing on the planet (Xanxus is more deadly, but Prompto looks like a cinnamon roll and thus is always underestimated, making him more deadly in the long run).

-The glaives are terrified. Captain’s nephew is powerful, is the King’s oops baby, AND has the general temperament of a rabid Coeurl stabbed to a chainsaw.

-Check that, all the glaives are terrified except for Tredd and Nyx. Tredd loves to antagonize despite the bruises it leaves him and Nyx wants to be friends because HUMAN COEURL. Lib and Luche are a Despair.

-Everyone is a Fear (even Nyx) the day they realize that Xanxus is Titus’s choice for Captain replacement. Which explains why Xanxus signed up the day after he turned 18 despite hating the military but STILL.

-Xanxus ... secretly loves the Glaives. These absolute morons are like his Varia but slightly less psychotic and loud. They are also his Uncle’s People so they must be protected (even if protection comes in the form of chasing them around the training ground shooting at them until they learn to dodge properly NYX). Tredd is a pest, but what do you expect of Storms, and Nyx is a blast because he can actually keep up with Xanxus’s crazy and is usually up for 90% of it. Xanxus’s favorite is actually Lib because Long-suffering Braincell Cloud but shhhh Xanxus isn’t supposed to play favorites with his future troops.

...

-To answer your last question ... yes there will be more reincarnations, but I haven’t decided which ones yet? I know that most of Tsuna’s guardians are NOT present because that makes the cast too big and risks overthrowing the Chocobro dynamic. I also have no plans to bring in any of the Arcobaleno so far and most of the Varia are also not present because I wanna focus on Xanxus and the glaives but.... There IS one member I’ve decided to bring. XDD

-Xanxus spends the three month trial run being kept secret from the world just in case he decides he hates Regis. Obviously he doesn’t, because Regis is the Best Dad™ and that means AFTER that, Regis has to man up and hold a press conference on the existence of his eldest son (who there are rumors about because even the best can’t keep Xanxus completely off the radar).

-Literally one week after the press conference where Regis did his speech and then was surprised when Xanxus actually PLAYED NICE for the camera (ie: didn’t cuss everyone out and only used the word trash ten times, even if he did scowl the entire time and ignore any questions aimed his way), all of Insomnia is thrown into a panic because someone just kamikaze ran a gunship at the Wall and used the diversion to slip through the opening that had been made to let in the weekly trucker convoy of foodstuffs and whatever. Naturally all the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive are up in arms to find the infiltrator that punched the border patrol in the nose and then disappeared into the back alleys.

-Another week goes by with no sign of the infiltrator until he once again rigs a diversion in the form of a truly astronomical amount of firecrackers set off at 4 AM right next to Crownsguard HQ. In the chaos of responding to the “gunfire”, the Nif infiltrator proceeds to careen his way through Citadel security, avoiding capture or death through truly insane shenanigans that make Crowe’s invasion years earlier look like a kitten run.

-Xanxus disobeys orders to stay in his room to instead go hunting for the Trash daring to invade his new home and, being Varia quality, successfully finds the infiltrator before anyone else does in the gardens. Xanxus pulls out a pistol, intending to shoot the Trash through his kneecaps because no doubt the king will want to interrogate him, when the Nif teenager, who has to BARELY be enlistment age and probably only four months out of Imperial boot camp, whirls around and CUTS THE BULLETS with his sword. Which promptly shatters.

-“VOI!” The teen yowls loud enough to shake the leaves of the trees and maybe a few window panes and Xanxus freezes. The teen drops his useless sword hilt on the ground and bares his teeth at Xanxus, green eyes glittering with fury and white-blond, waist length hair left to fly every which way in the breeze (noble’s kid then, no way he’d escape regulation haircuts if he wasn’t from some high noble’s spawn), “You! Get over here and let me stab you!”

-Xanxus holsters his pistol and stalks forward without a word. The teen gets nervous the closer Xanxus gets, Xanxus’s magic flaring around them to box them in with a Shield spell. Once he’s nose to nose with the teen, he reaches out with his magic, poking and prodding angrily at the soul in front of him. The teen doesn’t flinch, just glares with something feral and desperate in his eyes, something manic and NEEDY that reaches out and catches at Xanxus’s burning magic without fear.

-Xanxus takes a breath and its shaky, “Squalo?”

-The Niflheim teenage officer bursts into tears even though he’s trying not to, cussing Xanxus out in between his sobs because Xanxus DIED and he LEFT THEM and HOW COULD YOU YOU IDIOT TRASH BOSS.

-Because they are alone, and because this is his Rain that he thought was forever lost, Xanxus pulls Squalo into a hug that was almost spine breaking and shakes as he pours his magic into the gaping hole in his Shark’s soul.

-The Kingsglaive find them in the garden an hour later, no tears in sight (but eyes suspiciously red) yelling at each other and wrestling like long lost playmates on the ground. Titus, who is used to assessing his nephew’s condition via magic sensing, picks out the vibrate bond of magic between them and groans. “Xanxus, HE’S A NIF. HE’S LITERALLY THE ENEMY.”

-Xanxus hauls the boy (who’s birth certificate would tell you is Tempestas Highwind) to his feet and then pulls him protectively behind him with a snarl of, “Back off, Shark Trash is mine.” When Regis and Clarus, just arriving on the scene and already getting flashbacks to Crowe, make faint noises of protest, he grins and declares-

-“Shark Trash is my Shield, and if any of you have a problem with that you can put it where the sun don’t shine.”

-And Regis wonders what kind of horrible person he was in a previous life to deserve this. Son. Son pls, son he is AN OFFICER OF THE ENEMY FORCES YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM A SHIELD.

-Tempestas/Squalo, loud enough to shake window panes, “VOI I DEFECT FROM THE EMPIRE.”

-Titus just ... groans. Because he knows that look in his nephew’s eyes, that’s both Xanxus’s innate stubbornness AND Lucis Caelum possessiveness. The only way they’re getting rid of this Nif kid is by prying him from Xanxus’s cold dead hands.

-Also fun fact, YES, Squalo is related to Aranea. He is her older brother by a year and YES this is going to lead to the sibling spat to end all spats when she learns her brother uP AND DEFECTED TO LUCIS for seemingly no reason. Tho honestly she’s not surprised, because Tempestas has always vocally hated the empire.

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

agajsksns not gonna lie being 10 feet tall sounds awesome. i have no idea how tall that is because the only thing i know about feet (that sounds so wrong) is that google is telling me that i'm 5'6 (sorry to disappoint). which is. average height right? well it doesn't feel like it coz my best friends are giants. they're both 180+ cm tall and they constantly make fun of me for being short. but honestly i win because i can always make them reach things for me.

thank you! that's very sweet, i actually only saw your reply like 20 minutes before the new year so it was right on time! i loved writing to you and waiting to hear back as well, you're a really fun person to talk to!

i know you probably won't see this for a couple of weeks before going on holiday, but have fun!

i laughed really hard at the picture my brain conjured up when reading about you dropping the vampire act and starting to pretend to be a mouse, just straight up scurrying up to the houses on all fours in a bathrobe is hilarious. i'd pay to see that. and yeah! me either. the number of times i've gone outside at night is probably like 3. that's counting that time when i went for ice cream at 11pm to the store on the other side of the street in my pajamas and then had to turn back because it apparently closes at 10 pm. that was a pretty big disappointment

a halloween themed birthday party sounds awesome! it's sort of disappointing though that you can barely remember it. the only themed birthday party i had (or at least the only one that i remember) was princess themed because i was on my princess faze back then (i was 5 or 6 i think). i still remember the sheer joy i felt at being able to wear a long fancy dress. it was brilliant

oh yeah! i'm still slightly scared of blenders because of that time. now anytime i even put my fingers close to the blade i unplug it first. also i saw you got a blender? i think we have one that's similar to the one you described. so i have a couple of suggestions! i like to make banana "ice cream". you just cut up a banana into pieces and freeze it, (i have no idea how long it takes to freeze i just generally always have frozen bananas in my freezer) then you take them out, let them sit for 10 minutes (to not break the blender when you use it) and blend them. i sometimes add frozen berries or peanut butter too! depending on what i want that day. it's great, especially because i'm slightly lactose intolerant too and i absolutely love ice cream. you can also make smoothies as you said. i usually put in mine whatever fruit we have, generally apples, bananas and oranges or grapefruits. or if i'm making one for breakfast (which i know you can't, but this is just a generally more filling option i think?) i also add spinach. you can't really feel the taste but it's supposed to be good for you and it fills you up more (it does make the smoothie super green though!). but yeah i pretty much just mix and match anything i have! also: milkshakes. ice cream, berries (optional) and milk! super easy and my little cousins love it when they visit!

ohhh your grater also seems to be out to get you. i bet it's really painful if it actually falls on your feet, because like metal. on foot. ouch. especially if it hits you with a corner! and i would definitely also get surprised every time it happened no matter how many times it did! bifocal glasses do not sound fun either tho. i would constantly forget how to use them and probably would just get headache really fast too! i get a headache from my normal glasses when i wear them (i usually wear contacts) so bifocal ones would be even worse i bet.

exactly. i had no idea what "hot" means. i thought you were supposed to use it when you thought a person was aesthetically pleasing? or like you thought they look cute? i dunno. i used it a couple of times before i realised that was not what that meant and then i was just like uhhhh yeah i'm gonna delete that word from my vocab. yeah! i think that ace and probably aro too are pretty hard to figure out because it's the lack of something.

ahahsksns i can imagine tiny Lindsey waking up on Christmas morning and running to the window expecting snow in the middle of summer and it's so funny! i can't say anything though because we have this saying in lithuanian which is used essentially when someone does something unexpected and unusual for them so you say "it's gonna snow tomorrow". as in "wow, [name] did [something super unexpected from them], it must be snowing tomorrow" (because like those are equally unexpected things i guess? but it's said in winter too so it's just something you say whenever, i'm sorry it's hard to explain!) but yeah a figure of speech. and anytime i heard that, even in the middle of summer, the next morning i'd run to my window and look for snow and when there was none, i'd just stare accusatorily at my parents. like wow, i can't believe you lied/let someone lie to me

horse races sound fun, i've never been to one though! and a picnic luch sounds awesome! i love picnics but we have them very rarely, i definitely think we should have them more often

and yeah, i get that acid reflux more of an annoyance than a problem but still! i completely agree with you about peanut butter though. it's amazing, i could eat it everyday

I know exactly how tall 10 feet is purely because I’m 5 foot so two of me is 10 foot. I barely know feet but I got used to people being confused when I was like oh, I’m 155cm! so I learnt what my height was in feet but I can really only visualise heights when I put them into centimetres. Someone can be like I’m 6 foot! and that’s great but I don’t have the faintest idea how tall that actually is. 182cm on the other hand is easy. that’s just like one ruler above my height. I can picture that. 5 foot 6 is probably average but as a short person, I consider you tall. That really isn’t saying much at my height but still sdflshdfks. Biggest benefit of tall best friends is indeed making them reach high things though. 

And now we’re almost three weeks into the new year. Time seems to be flying this year. This is a very late reply indeed sdfjhskdfs. I did see this before I left but didn’t have time to reply, thank you though! I did have lots of fun. I had some birds try to invade the unit up in Orewa and I had a dotterel (I think) follow me along the beach at Ngarimu Bay playing some sort of red light green light game with me (it only moved closer and started following me again when I looked away) and I think a blackbird started some sort of mating performance at me which was flattering but uhhhh I’m a bit of a big bird mate. Maybe choose someone else. there was also beaches and gorgeous views etc etc but birds, y’know. birds.

i would 100% do that for money with no regrets. on one hand I could get a job and contribute to society. on the other hand I could do that as my main income. not a hard choice. hire me by the hour to freak your family and friends out. i have no respect for myself i’ll do it to anyone for the right price. damn. only closed one hour earlier. that’s a massive disappointment. i was out at night willingly for my high school prom and for a creative writing night at my uni and inside a car if that counts when I think my family was travelling back from the south island when I was younger. So three times that come to mind. Oh. And if stupid camp burma trails count then add a few times to that but those were not night outings I did willingly.

I can barely remember most of my life, I just assume it happened and I wasn’t just planted here at 12 years old as an alien spy. Anything’s possible though. I remember my birthday cakes more than my birthday parties to be honest with you. My mum always made the cake and when I was young she’d make fun designs. A bee, a bat, a swimming pool and a cat come to me off the top of my head. They were mostly just sponge cats but she cut them and iced them expertly. A princess-themed party seems like a very fun type of party for kids who like that. Kids always seem very happy to dress up in pretty dresses and cool outfits to attend those kinds of parties. I can imagine the joy. I know my little cousin looooves that sort of thing, and her brother isn’t willing to be left out either

thank god you unplug it first now sdfjhsdf that’s incredibly reassuring. Ooo thank you for those suggestions!!! this is great!! I was wanting to try something with bananas and that sounds easy enough. I had an apple and feijoa smoothie while I was away on holiday and all I want is another one of those. So I’m very very very interested in trying out fruit smoothies now because they seem like they can be very very tasty. Spinach seems like such an odd thing to add but I’ve heard that several times now so clearly it’s a thing. I don’t think I’ve ever even had spinach. I’ll keep it in mind though. I suppose if I just try whatever fruit we have on hand eventually I’ll get something that tastes good. I have dairy free ice cream and dairy free milk so it seems like this could work out for me in a way where I’m not regretting my entire life. Normally when I go near a milkshake I regret the day I was born.

It isn’t a super heavy grater but I have intense survival instincts every now and then so it hasn’t actually hit my foot yet. I go diving in the other direction. But I think if it did I’d probably curse a few times before moving on with my life. I don’t think it’d be THAT bad. But I live in fear regardless. oh no. do your normal glasses have a slightly wrong prescription or is this just a thing that happens when you normally wear contacts,,, I’ve never worn contacts because I fear touching my squishy eyeball and also I think my shitty eyesight is too awkward for contacts so I have no idea if that’s a thing.

oh yes haha hot has been solidly deleted from my vocab for many years except in terms of temperature. It has a word that has never naturally come to mind and I’m sure it never will. It just seems weird when I use it. 

I was a fool of a child and absolutely nothing has changed there! I mean I know how hemispheres work now but I’m still a dumbass at heart. Hahahahahaha oh nooooo. That’s incredible but oh noooo. I get what you mean by the saying though, that’d make a lot of sense here honestly since it never snows ever. Locally, at least. 

i think horse races are just a form of betting and losing money that is frowned upon less than actual buildings based on gambling and such. I mean I only ever attended those ones, idk if all horse races are like that, but I know there was buying tickets for whatever horse you thought would win, and if they did you got money, if they didn’t you lost money. I don’t think it was a whole lot of money ? just like a few bucks ? but maybe you could choose to bet more ? I really don’t remember how it worked, I just remember accidentally finding a ticket on the ground and handing it in only to receive some money because the horse won. I think it was like 5 or 10 bucks which seemed like a LOT to my kid self. picnic lunches are fun though. my family keeps a tartan blanket in the back of the car that we use whenever we have picnics and also whenever we get takeaways (we put it in the middle of the lounge floor as the rest of my family eats fish and chips and I eat sushi, normally). But we don’t have as many as we used to. They are fun though.

can confirm i do eat peanut butter everyday and it goes brilliantly.

[ithinkthingsaboutstuff]

Little boy blue (12)

Little Boy Blue (12)

midvale AU part 12

[TW: I have used some raciest stereotypes (don’t worry the one using them gets there ass handed to them) but i am just wanted to make sure everyone knew and could skip this one is they wanted/needed to]  

Karadox- AU of the 3x06 e.p of supergirl, in which Brainy (teen Brainy) arrives in Midvale around the e.p timeline. this is part 12 a piece of the future has come back. 

In the weeks that followed Querl has learned about many aspects of school life in the 21st centenary. One of which as dentition with the concept was explained to him he found it ‘pointless, necessary and a waste of time and resources’ the sisters agreed but he still had to go.  

another thing he learnt was that people found the fact he did not have books, pens and paper or a computer unnerving since he was still able to answer any question that was given to him. Kara gave him one of he spares and told him to just have it open on the desk and hold a pen so that he would not get any more criticism, unwanted attention or dentition's anymore.

though academically he was having no issue with his new surroundings, socially he was finding it difficult, teenagers are very different in the 31st centenary but to be fair all the teens Querl has encountered were beyond exceptional. 

He misses them greatly. 

But he did seem to be making progress with Kenneth though. He was a kind and intelligent person he just needed time to get over his awkward tendencies, Querl could understand that. In fact Kenneth had invited him to watch the stars with him and Kara through his telescope. 

Querl liked being able to use ancient technology, to hold it in his hands, to feel the weight of it and to see the stars he has pasted a hundred times in a new light. The experiences was so unique he never thought it was something he would do or even thought of doing, but it is now a memory he will hold dear to is heart forever. Not just because of the stars but talking with Kenneth and Kara as the roasted marshmallows over the fire. The convocation was of every little learned discord but the silly nurture of the questions coupled with the earnestness of the answers made Querl feel warm in way he has not felt since he was with the legion.

But there was something else. 

Something Querl had been feeling in the last few weeks that he could not completely explain. A horrid sinking feeling that something was right around the corner just out of sight, living just outside of the edge of his eye. 

The school day was going slow as usual, when lunch came around Querl and Kara all sat at a table as they waited for Kenny. Jake Howell was an interesting person, at least to Querl, in the 31st centenary there are not many humans that are so outwardly aggressive, so it was fascinating to see first hand, like watching stampede heading right for you. Querl desired to watch from a safe distance but when witnessing a fire fight you might get caught in the cross hairs. Maybe that was why he was so on edge, this place was its own battle on Querl had no experience in or had anyway to navigate on his own, maybe that is what is living behind the coroner of his eye. But deep down he knew that was not the case but he will let himself think that way until he can’t any more.

Kara looked over to Querl.

‘You ok?’

‘Yes I just have been having a strange feeling lately.’

‘Anything I can help with?’

‘I am feared I can not say at the moment.’

‘That’s ok, just know I’m here.’

‘Thank you, Kara.’

The two of them then continued to have small talk when Kenny came in and the two of them waved him over. But it seemed the stampede closed in on Kenny, Jake knocked Kenny’s zha jiang mian his mother made him to the floor. This made Kenny and Kara very upset, Querl narrowed his eyes but only observed for the moment. Jake laughed and plugged his nose,

‘Oh, Wow Kenny, did you Mom cook the dog wrong.’

Kenny’s eyes looked down and he held in tear’s and anger as he picked put the now empty container and put the food back on the tray he was using to carry it. Querl stood slowly and walked over to Kenny and leaned down to him and cupped him shoulder before helping him. Jake then kicked Kenny’s back and Kenny stumbled and tripped into the floor. Kara then helped Kenny up to his feet. Querl slowly stood and stepped over to Jake until he was face to face, or in this case chest to face. Jake laughed in his face.

‘Awww look, Kenny’s got a boyfriend.’

‘My feeling’s for Kenneth are complete platonic, but even so your behaviour in unacceptable.’     

Jake looked back at the table and they all laughed.

‘Oh, ok, new kid what are you going to do.’      

‘I am not a violent person, so I am asking to stop this blatantly bigoted behaviour.’

Jake just smiled and shook his head, he then stepped forward.

‘And if I don’t.’

‘Then I shall take other measures. ’

‘Oh, are you going to tell on me.’

‘That is an option, however that is up to Kenneth, I will do is more, damaging.’

‘So you are going to beat me up.’

‘No, I believe you will do that for me.’

‘Right.’

a small crowed had gathered and they started chanting “fight, fight, fight.” Alex’s glared at Kara her face wore the expression of “do something Kara”. Kara went to garb Querl’s arm but he waved her off.   

Jake then took a swing at him and Querl moved his head back and spun around to where Kenny fell, Jake stepped towards Querl and took another swing, Querl then effortstly ducked and truned on his heel then using the front of his foot he kicked up Kenny’s abandoned tray and flung it up into Jake’s chest, it was not enough to hurt him but it was enough to get the food he so harshly criticised all over his clothes.   

The whole room went silent and Querl spoke.

‘I have fought much bigger bullies then you and have won, so I would suggest that you take my earlier advice and readjust your behaviour from here on out.’

Querl then simply turned his back and walked over to Kenny and Kara.

‘I am sorry I used your food to humiliate him, I simply thought it would be the most effective tool.’

Kenny had a bewildered look on his face.

‘How care’s that was awesome.’

Querl slowly nodded.

‘Well, if you are alright with it. Shall be sit back down Kenneth you can have the rest of my luch if you wish, I don’t need anymore.’

‘Thank’s man.’

The three of them then went back to the table and the whole room went back to its usual chatter but with a lot more looks making there way to the three of them.

‘Querl, you shouldn’t have done that.’

Kenny look over to her.

‘Why not Jake has had that coming for ages now.’

‘That might be true, but Querl you and me are trying to keep a low profile, there is still agents all over town and no one needs an excuse to look into us.’

Kara stated.

‘Good point, sorry Kara.’

Querl was silent for a moment before answering.

‘You are right of course, but the truth of the matter is that, the chance anyone here would make that connection in 8.78% so the odd’s were in my favour, and even if they were not the legion may not be here, but I am always a legionnaire and that mean’s to fight for justice and protect the innocent.’

Kara noted that the last statement sounded like he had said it a thousand times over and would say it a thousand times again.

‘I know but can you be more careful next time.’

‘Very well I make an effort to be less overt with these actions in the future.’

‘Thank you.’

Kara sighed softly, this must be how Alex’s feels all the time, Alex’s temper make a lot more sense to Kara now. But she is not mad at him not at all she was just worried but also a little jealous that he had the confidences to stand you and face him knowing with in good reason that there would be no real consequences. At least Jake will think twice before hurting Kenny again.

when the school day was over Kara, Kenny and Querl all headed to the library. Kara and Kenny studied and Querl looked around for books to read, he like library books as a lot of information had been lost throughout time so it was amazing to hold look through and read long lost texts. He would read over 20 very time he came in here, it was one of his favourite this in this time period. Other then the Danver’s sisters and Kenneth.   

Querl went into a dark corner of the library and examined the books covered in the most dust, he saw one at the top of the shelf and looked around for anyone in sight of him. When he confirmed there was no prying eyes, he lifted himself off the ground and took the book in his hands before gently and quietly back to the floor with his prize.

Then he heard an all to familiar sound coming from the dark aisle. 

‘No, it can’t be? not here, not now, not in this time.’

then a small black wiry object came out of the darkness.        

     to be continued...... 

[charlottedabookworm]

So, this is that regisson au where absolutely nothing changes until Nyx puts the ring on that y’all convinced me to write. Hope you like it and tell me what you think

“Show yourselves, Kings of Lucis.”

The darkness lit up as, one by one, spectral kings appeared around him. He forced himself as upright as he could manage with a bullet in his chest and gods knew how many broken bones – refusing to have this conversation while flat on the ground.

This wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted to meet his ancestors, but he’d make do.

(Though, to be fair, Nyx would have preferred to have never have had to meet them at all. From what Nyx knew, the majority of his ancestors on both sides of the family were complete dicks)

He looked around curiously as the Lucii spoke, telling himself that he wasn’t looking for Regis – for the man who had been his king, who he had been forced to watch die, who had been his—

No, Nyx wasn’t looking for Regis.

“How long,” he gasped out. “How long will you do nothing whilst Insomnia burns?” Nyx tried to force himself to his feet – the Lucii might be spectral giants but Nyx had always felt better about arguing with powerful beings who could easily kill him when he could stand – but ended up doubled over in pain instead. Fucking bullet. Fucking Luche. Fucking traitors. “Old or new, or whatever it is. Summon your wall!” Because what sort of kings were they, that they refused to even defend their city as it was being destroyed, that they would prefer to watch their people die rather than help.

Nyx hated his ancestors.

“You do not command us. Yours is not royal blood.”

And, at that, Nyx blinked. Really. Really? Did they seriously still not know?

So much for being all-fucking-knowing. This entire situation was almost enough to make Nyx laugh, if he wasn’t in so much pain. He hated broken ribs.

“It does not fall to us to guard your city.” Another of the Lucii said and Nyx turned with a look that he hoped portrayed the depths of his scepticism.

Seriously?

“Man is a fool creature, clinging to his past and cowering from his future. Wasting his strength on bygone days.” Yet another of them said, and really what was with all of the leapfrogging? Couldn’t they see that he was dying here? It hurt to have to keep turning to look at whoever decided to speak.

Wow, he thought, staring up at the king with raised eyebrows, bitter much?

“And what future are you wards of?” Nyx forced an elbow beneath him to prop himself up, his voice echoing around him as he questioned these so-called kings who preferred to stand back and do nothing.

Nyx decided that he really fucking hated his ancestors.

“So short-sighted. And cursed to never rise above it.” That was the Mystic, he was sure of it, and it made him want to snarl.

Nyx didn’t need to listen to that from him of all people.

“Wait.” A new figure called out and Nyx froze at a voice that he knew well, the voice of a man that he’d watched die mere hours ago (was it hours, it had seemed like it but now Nyx wasn’t sure). “I have seen what this brave soul is prepared to do.” King Regis, Nyx’s—The King said. “He, too, seeks to safeguard the future.”

“Your Majesty,” he whispered, holding back everything else that he wanted to say by sheer force of will.

Here and now, having watched the man in front of him be murdered by someone who Nyx had trusted, Nyx regretted. He’d never spoken to the King because he didn’t know how, because he’d feared being rejected, because he’d tried to convince himself that he didn’t need or want a… He’d never spoken up because he’d thought he had more time.

Nyx laughed silently at himself. He always thought that he had more time than he actually did, and he never managed to say what he needed to to those that he cared for before it was too late. He was just cursed that way, he guessed.

“Very well, young king. We will weigh your warrior’s worth. But our boon does not come cheap. The cost is a life. His or hers.”

The world itself was still faded away, but Libs and the Princess both sharpened into focus – frozen in the same moment that Nyx had last seen them – and he refused.

“No.” He wanted to scream, but he was so tired. Nyx took a moment just to breathe, drawing on his reserves and pushing the pain from his mind – he was dying anyway, it wouldn’t matter in the long run. “To hell with your power!” He yelled. “I’m not here for it.” Nyx didn’t want the Lucii’s accursed power, wanted nothing to do with the abilities that had been granted to them by Bahamut.

Nyx would reveal himself to be what he was before he did that.

“I only came to tell you,” he said, starting to laugh, his eyes bright with mirth. “You are no kings.” And he laughed, and he laughed, and he laughed.

Nyx couldn’t breathe, and his ribs were killing him – or maybe that was the bullet – but he still couldn’t stop.

He didn’t even know what it was that he found so funny, just that right now it was either laugh or cry and he refused to cry in front of these kings.

“Your worth has been weighed and found wanting.” The Mystic thundered, but still, Nyx couldn’t stop.

Just, the sheer irony.

The irony of this man, who usurped his throne and murdered his own brother at another’s behest, calling him unworthy. Nyx couldn’t even be offended, the mere idea of it was hilarious.

“Now, burn.” Somnus Lucis Caelum ordered, and pain flooded through him like a tidal wave, yet still, he continued to laugh.

Rolling onto his back, Nyx tipped his head back and laughed even as his hand burned. “Unworthy, am I?” He asked between gasps for breath. “Not of royal blood, am I?”

Nyx shook his head, tilting his body so that he could look directly up at the supposed Founder King of Lucis. “Are you really so unable to recognise one of your own line, Great-Grandfather?”

Silence.

His hand stopped burning, the flames gone, and Nyx continued laughing.

“What?”

“I asked you, o’ false king, if you were really so senile so as to not notice one of your own blood.” He gasped out between laughs.

“You mean to barter for your life.”

“No,” he shook his head again, his laughter finally silencing. “No, old man, my life is my own. If and how I die matters not, at this point. I merely wish to speak with the man who sired me.”

And, with that, Nyx let his magic – already boiling under his skin, begging to be used – rise to the surface and stain his eyes green, proclaiming his heritage to all who could sense it.

“Sir Ulric. Nyx…”

He turned his head to look at the figure who spoke, propping himself up once more with what little energy he had left. “King Regis.”

Father, Nyx didn’t say, because his use of that title depended fully on the other man’s decision. Nyx had known of Regis his entire life, had always known of his heritage – even if he’d sworn off of it entirely for a short period of time while young, after learning the truth of the Mystic, and even if he had done his best to keep it hidden from the Lucians – but Regis had just had a second child dumped on him, shortly after his own death, and one that he might not even want in any case.

This, any of it, all of it, was up to Regis.

“Why did you not say anything?” Regis seemed almost sad, or maybe Nyx was just imagining things that he wanted to see.

Nyx shrugged. “It wasn’t my place, your majesty.” He said with a small, sad smile, trying to meet his sires’ eyes behind the new helm. “Besides, I’m just a bastard-”

“You are my son.” The king interjected vehemently. “The circumstances of your birth change nothing.”

He paused, stunned, and blinked slowly. That- that was actually a far better reaction then he had ever dared hope, and even if it was only due to the fact that the man had died, Nyx still couldn’t help but wish…

Shaking his head to dislodge thoughts of could-have-beens, Nyx smiled again, brighter this time but still sad. “I think, your majesty, that I would have liked you as a father.” He dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry…” He trailed off, not quite certain what he was apologising for.

Not trusting the man enough to tell him years ago, maybe. Or not giving them the opportunity to have a relationship as father and son, instead of a King and his glaive.

Or even letting him die, doing nothing but watching as Glauca killed him.

Or maybe it was all of that and more. Maybe it was everything – every missed opportunity, every never-had conversation, every lost chance.

Yeah. Yeah, everything – that seemed about right.

Nyx was just. He was sorry.

Wasn’t all that different from his ancestors in the end, after all, was he?

Regis shook his head, attracting his attention and drawing him out of his thoughts. “No, Nyx, it is I who is sorry. I am sorry that you never felt as though you could tell me.” Nyx went to interrupt, only to fall silent at the look that the King gave him. “Know that I love you and that I am proud of you, Nyx. And tell Noctis that the same is true of him, when you see him once more.”

“Good luck and Godspeed, my son.”

And then, before Nyx could say anything in response, the world flared back into focus and Nyx reacted – tossing Drau-Glauca aside with lightning that came as much from his own magic as it did from that of the ring.

He glanced down at the ring that twinkled on his finger and pulled it off, rolling it in the palm of his hand. “Thank you, father.” He said quietly, clenching his fist around the ring momentarily.

“Nyx?” A familiar voice asked, and Nyx turned to look at his oldest friend and brother.

“Hey, hero, have I got a story for you…”

[urmomsstuntdouble]

whippity woo, it’s chapter 2

you can read it down there too if you’d prefer that

An anachronism is something that doesn't belong to its place or time. To Catra, that definition was redundant. A time was as much of a place as the alley she smoked in or the library she worked at. The only difference was that you couldn't choose your place in time. So really, an anachronism was something alien to its environment. Then again, there wasn't a point in getting worked up over stuff like that. She could always look away from the word-a-day calendar on the principal’s desk. But she was in trouble, and it would be a lot harder to look him in the eye when he scolded her. So she kept her head down, and remained critical of the calendar.

“Ms. Driluth,” He began drawled, “Do you know why you’re here right now?” She shrugged. It could have been anything, although three specific things stood out: The money she stole from Alicia Jordan, the fight with Iggy’s girlfriend, or her foster dad's drug ring. She wasn't sure how any of those had made their way to her principal, but it didn't matter. She was handling things.

The principal sighed. He leaned forward, and picked up a sheet of paper from his desk.

“Are you aware of your grades?” She shook her head. “Ah. Allow me to read them to you. In English, a C. In Algebra, a D. In Biology, an F. In History, a C. In Spanish-” He sighed, and set down the paper. “Do I need to continue?”

“Any A’s?”  

“No.”

“Damn, I was really hoping to keep my 4.0 going strong,” She mused sarcastically. The principal did not appear amused.

“This is no laughing matter, Ms. Driluth. If you can't bring your grades up, you’ll be suspended.”

“I never understood the point of suspension,” She said, finally raising her head. “I’m doing bad in school so I don't have to come? What kind of sense does that make? Not that I’m complaining,” She added, “I don't get it is all.” The principal was not amused. His eyes remained focused on Catra, his brows furrowed and his jowls pinched into a frown.

“Don't change the subject.”

“I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Getti.”

“Hmm. For now, all I can do is give you detention.” He pulled another slip of paper from his desk and began scribbling all over it. “You will stay for two hours after school every day until Thanksgiving break.”

“What?! That’s not fair!”

“I think its absolutely fair, Ms. Driluth.”

“I have work after school! How am I supposed to do that and detention and bring my grades up?” Mr. Getti shrugged.

“You should have thought of that before you decided to slack.”

“But, Mr. Getti!” Catra could feel the whine slipping into her voice. She hated whining, but she wasn't done talking yet. It was quite the predicament. “That’s so long! Break isn't for another three whole weeks! I can't-”

“Not my problem, Driluth. Take it to someone who cares.” He handed her the detention slip. “You will report to room 205 after school.”

“Come on, Mr. Getti. You have to at least let me do my time on the third floor.”

“That will be all, Ms. Driluth. Now get out of my office, you’re wasting my time.”

“Oh, I’m wasting your time?” Mr. Getti pulled off his glasses and fixed her with a serious look.

“Would you care to make it four weeks?” Catra prepared to retort, and almost started yelling, but managed to reign herself in.

“No, Mr. Getti,” She gritted out, “I’m absolutely overjoyed with my three weeks.”

“Excellent,” He replied. “Now get out of my office before I call security.” Catra stuck out her tongue, grabbed her backpack, and stalked out of his office. She kicked the door shut with as much force as she could muster. She her foot was in the air to kick it again when someone called her name.

“Hey, Catra!” She recognized that voice. As if like magic, her worries faded away. She spun around, a grin on her face.

“Adora!” Down the hall was Adora, her best friend in the entire world. She was tall with blond hair and blue eyes, and could have a career in modeling if she didn't love sports so much. Catra put up a hand and waved- As if Adora would have a hard time spotting her in the empty hallway. “What are you doing here? Isn't it fifth period?” Adora shook her head.

“Nope, lunch just started. I was talking to Mr. Ross. What are you doing here?” Catra shrugged.

“Nothing much, just Mr. Getti fucking hates me.” Adora’s face was immediately sympathetic.

“What happened this time?” Catra held up her detention slip.

“Fucking three weeks of detention is what!”

“Why?” Adora asked, her nose scrunched into a button.

“Apparently, my grades are too bad- Which they’re not, by the way. I swear he has it out for me.” Adora hummed in acknowledgement.

“How are they? Your grades?”

“They’re fine. I’m not, like, failing everything, if that’s what you mean.” Adora hummed again.

“Good.”

“Yeah,” Catra said. They stood in silence for a moment, before Adora shifted her backpack and sighed.

“You, uh, ready to go to lunch? I’m starving.” Catra nodded.

“Yeah, sure.” The pair turned and began walking towards the cafeteria. Catra kept her head down as they walked, trying to align her feet with the tiles of the floor. She didn't actually want to eat lunch, but Adora did, so she’d go too. Most days, she only ate enough that Adora wouldn't worry about her. Adora worried a lot, and sometimes, Catra didn't mind it. At others, Catra would rather Adora stayed in her own lane. Besides, she didn't get it. Catra couldn't eat lunch. She was too fat to eat three meals a day.

“So, I’m just curious, but, like, how are your grades?” Adora asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. “School hasn't been the same without you.” At the start of the school year, Adora got into all honors classes, leaving Catra behind in the world of regular-ness. She’d been badgering Catra about applying for next year ever since she found out she was going to be taking special classes.

“Fine.”

“How fine?” Catra bit her bottom lip, heat prickling at the back of her neck. She always hated this part. It was fact by now that whenever she talked about school, Adora's response made her feel stupid. Adora’s better test scores and neater notes had a remarkable tendency to rain on her parade. So Catra preferred to keep school out of their conversations.

“Not bad, okay? I’m only failing in Bio now, so-”

“You’re failing?!” Adora said, “That’s not fine! Do you need help studying?” Catra shrugged. It was an offer Adora had made before, but one she never accepted. She could handle her shit. She was handling it.  

“I think I’m good.”

“But you always say that, and you’re still failing!”

“Yeah, but I don't have- I can't.  Bio is just harder for me than you.”

“Sure, but-”

“It’s all good in Catra-town,” She said, and slung an arm around Adora’s shoulder. “Now come on. You have to tell me what happened in Razz’s class today.” Ms. Razz was a history teacher, and the least sane woman on the face of the Earth. She was absolutely insane, and many students hated her. Catra didn't have her, but she knew enough people who did to have a good grasp on how insane the woman was.  

“Oh!” Adora perked up, “Not much. Lonnie made a joke about cocaine, then Ms. Razz started ranting about the Opium Wars and Pablo Escobar.”

“Sounds delightful,” Catra said, and pulled her arm away from Adora as they reached the cafeteria.  

“I guess. But, like, none of her classes are ever on the same page. Its so annoying sometimes.” Catra shrugged.

“My Spanish teacher is like that too. I think he’s an escapee from a mental hospital or something.” The expression on Adora’s face was something of a cross between amused and curious. Part of it was natural inquisition, and the other part was that in New York, the rumors were more true than you’d expect.

“Cool,” Adora said, “I’m gonna go get our seats.” She left, running off to their usual table. Catra rolled her eyes. Adora had been doing that exact same thing since the first day of sixth grade. It must've been Pavlovian at this point. Catra qualified for a free lunch, so she got one while Adora found a table. No matter how many other people sat with her, she always made sure to save a seat for Catra. Never once in four years had Catra gone without a seat at lunch. That was nice. Sometimes nicer than others- Like when Catra actually got to sit at the table, rather than on Adora’s lap. But anyway, Catra had stability in her lunch table, which was more than some people could say.

After her mother died, her friends passed Catra around for a few years like in a game of hot potato. The last friend she stayed with had kids of her own. Her name was Ms. Weaver, even to her biological children. It was almost a full year before Catra gave up and sent a letter to Child Protective Services. Two months later, they showed up. They couldn't find anything wrong with the place, to Catra’s dismay, so they left. Later that night, she learned what it felt like to take the clasp of a belt to the eye and what the scar looked like.

But it was fine. It wasn't the first time something like that had happened. And Catra was well aware of the risks- CPS would have had to take them for everything to have been alright. Ms. Weaver also had three more children that she was taking care of. Their names were Esme, Mick, and Luch. None of those were nicknames.  For the longest time, Catra had assumed their actual names were Esmeralda, Mickey, and Lucia, but that wasn’t the case. All three were younger than her, and sometimes it seemed like they had a bond. Other times, Catra feared them. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. She couldn't be afraid of someone whose head barely reached her shoulders.

After a couple minutes of waiting, Catra was able to get her lunch. Her current foster dad had obscene wealth, although you wouldn't know it from looking at him. He was a tall man with hair dyed blue.  He wore eyeliner, but you usually couldn't see it from behind his red-tinted sunglasses. Parenting was not a priority to him. All he shared with Catra from his life was how to fake tax returns. She was pretty sure he had only taken her in for the benefit of his drug ring. Ever since she moved in with him, her arrest record was filling with drug charges.

After she got her lunch, she made her way over to the table. Adora had, as always, saved her a spot. Also at the table were Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle, three people Catra had known since before her mother died. At one point in time, they were her best friends, but such ceased to be true when the three of them switched into honors classes. But it was fine. Catra had new associates in her regular, shitty classes anyway. She didn't need them.

“Hey,” She said, setting her lunch on the table. Lonnie was the first to look up from her conversation with Rogelio.

“Hi,” She said, and immediately went back to talking to him. Rogelio was an interesting person, to say the least. He was tall and bulky, and had a green mohawk. When he was younger, he was a mute, but now, he could sort of talk. The only person who understood him was Lonnie. Their whole thing was super weird to Catra.

“Hi, Catra,” Adora said. She had become distracted with something- Homework, by the looks of it. She ate an apple with her right hand, and wrote with her left, not looking up.

“Whatcha doin, there, Adora?” She asked.

“Oh, this?” Adora glanced up, and took a bite of her apple. “It’s for Spanish.”

“Que interesante,” Catra replied. Spanish was an interesting subject for her. Her mom spoke some Spanish before she died, and Catra heard it at work, but never the kind they taught at school. That was always peninsular Spanish. And boy, were the Spaniards on something. Catra much prefered the sounds of New York immigrant Spanish to the bastardized version of Madrid Spanish she learned in the classroom.

“Verdaderamente!” Adora agreed, and went back to her worksheet. Great. Now that Adora was working, Catra had nobody to talk to. Well, she could talk to Kyle, but, like. It was Kyle. Come on, now. So instead, she ate her soggy, fattening french fries.

“I’m, uh, I’m going to the vending machine,” She announced to nobody in particular. Nobody looked up or acknowledged her. After a moment, she got up anyway. Instead of going to the vending machine, she wandered around the cafeteria. She was virtually unnoticed. She weaved around people and tables, seldom making eye contact with them. A few faces were familiar from class or drug deals, but most were completely foreign. But that didn't matter. She had Adora, even if the other girl was always busy with homework and sports.

As Catra wandered, she caught the eye of someone she recognized. A small girl, her hair braided, and her eyes almond shaped. The girl, along with a group of others, frequented her library. Though they had never spoken, Catra felt tempted to wave or go over and talk to her or something. What kind of conversation would that be? Hi, I’m aware of your existence. Please make me aware of more. That would be super weird. So Catra sent the girl a curt nod and kept walking. She wasn't sure, but she thought the girl nodded back.

When she grew bored, Catra returned to her table. She sat next to Adora, and tried to be quiet, but it wasn't long before she grew bored and time slowed to a crawl. With a groan, Catra grabbed her backpack from the floor. Doing her homework was always an option- And there was that Algebra worksheet she had to do. Doing math in any capacity usually made her hate being alive, but seeing as her grade was- What? A D? She could stand to do some more work. Her foster dad would kill her upon becoming aware of the D in math.

It wasn't long before they could leave the cafeteria. By the time the bell rang, Catra had gained frustration and understood less than she had when she started the worksheet.

“Ready to go?” Adora asked her, and she nodded. Catra was especially ready for gym in seventh period. That was her only class with Adora this year. But she had to slog- Or sleep- through Biology to get there. Maybe that was why she was failing that class.

“Yeah,” Catra responded, “Let’s go.” They walked together for as long as their schedules would allow before parting ways.

“Bye!” Catra called out, as she turned and started going up the stairs.

“See ya, Catra!” Adora yelled back. Catra grinned to herself. She loved the way Adora said her name, even though it was wrong. She fell into the common pitfall of replacing the first ‘a’ with an ‘e,’ but the way she finished the name off was unique. It was something only she had ever said before, and that made it special. The way Adora said her name…Catra couldn't put her finger on it, but it was sort of like a secret only the two of them knew. It was a shame Adora had a phonetic name and the secret couldn't go both ways.

Catra struggled to force herself through the rest of the day. Biology was on brand in levels of tediousness. When seventh period rolled around, Adora didn't even pay Catra any attention. She was too busy talking to some other girls from her fancy smart classes. Well, that was fine with Catra. She wasn't stupid. She understood that sometimes Adora had people besides Catra who wanted to talk to her, and she couldn't talk to Catra all the time. It was also annoying. Adora was her best friend, not Lonnie’s, or whoever else she was hanging out with.

Though she never joined the conversation, Catra eavesdropped all class. She caught little snippets, mostly from Adora. The other girls she was walking with had softer voices- Although Catra was pretty sure one of them was talking about her dad leaving. Which, by the way, she needed to grow up. Getting stuck up on shit like that only made it worse. And the girl seemed very stuck up on it. She had her hair dyed blue and everything. Heh. Probably part of her rebellious phase or whatever. As soon as her dad started paying child support, she’d be fine, back to being complicit in rich girl world.

When school was finally over, Catra did wind up staying for detention. Even though she talked a lot of shit, she needed to keep herself out of trouble right now. Her foster dad was losing his patience with her, and any more big screw ups would get her sent right back to the home. Or worse, Ms. Weaver’s apartment. She shuddered at the thought.

Despite not giving a shit about her, her foster dad was actually decent as foster parents went. He usually didn't hit her, and he wasn't very mean to her- if not blunt sometimes. He wanted her to do well in school, but didn't every parent? He was nowhere near being a parent, but he kept her safe and gave her money, and that was alright with her.

After her detention was up, Catra had to run to the library. She almost didn't make it in time for her shift, but that was sort of okay. Her job wasn't super important. Most of what she did was shelving books and putting labels on new ones. She made four dollars and hour doing it, and often saw people from school milling around. That day in particular, she spotted the girl she had seen at lunch. The girl was with a group now, who may or may not have also been at school. They hung out between shelves, made lots of noise, and didn't appear to care that they were in a library.

They stayed throughout her entire shift. When Catra was on her way out, she one of the actual librarians stopped her and brought into a side room.

“I’m sorry to hold you up, Catra, but we need to talk,” She said, as though she was talking to a child.

“Okay. What’s going on?” Catra asked slowly, only a little scared of the answer. The librarian sighed, and pinched her nose.

“This is hard to say, but…We’re broke. The library is out of money. We’re going to have to either close our doors or get rid of some employees.” Catra’s heart sank. She couldn't afford to lose this job! Where was she supposed to go after school? And what was she supposed to do about money?

“O-Okay,” She mumbled, glaring at her shoes.

“Its pretty unfortunate. I tried to convince my bosses not to fire anybody, but they didn't listen. So, Catra, I’m sorry to say this, but…You’re done here.”

“I understand,” Catra growled. Her life was over.

“I’m so sorry,” The librarian told her, “But we just can't afford to keep you on, and you’re in a low level position and everything. Its not an ideal situation.”

“It’s okay,” Catra said, composing herself. “I get it, man. No money, more problems, you know?” The librarian looked somewhat relieved.

“Yeah, totally. Its been super rough here the past few months. I’m sorry, though. That’s the first time I’ve ever had to fire anybody.” Catra had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Why did this librarian care so much? She didn't even know the woman’s name. “Oh, and, um. We’ll still send you your paycheck for November at the end of the month.”

“Thanks,” Catra nodded shortly, and then left the room. She took off her name tag and spiked it into a nearby trash can. “Fuck me,” She mumbled, and grabbed her backpack from behind the main desk. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” She kept mumbling as she went on her way. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”

“Yo, you okay?” Catra was tugged from her thoughts by a somewhat familiar voice. She glanced around, and eventually noticed the girl from school. Instead of responding, her first instinct was to wave. She almost did before putting her hand back to her side.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got fired,” She said, a little bitter.

“That’s rough,” Said the girl. She left her spot leaning against a bookshelf and approached Catra. “You wanna talk about it?”

“I’m, uh, I’m good,” Catra said as a reflex.

“Oh, good. I don't know shit about talking feelings,” The girl said, and ran a hand through her hair. “Me and my girls were about to hit up this party down in Soho. You wanna come?” Catra shrugged. She should be getting back home. Her foster dad might want her to make a run tonight. Then again, fuck him. Wasn't that supposed to be someone’s actual job? He could get another drug mule whenever he pleased.

“Yeah, sure,” She said on a whim, “Let’s go.” She left with the girl and her group of friends, not knowing a single one of their names. By the night’s end, she learned a couple names- Tamari, Johnny, Matea- but likely couldn't pin them to faces. The music at the party had been okay. Nothing she particularly loved. But more important was the exorbitant quantity of alcohol present. The party was in a storage unit owned by some kid who went to Catholic school, with almost enough beer and Franzia to make Catra wonder if they were okay. Then again, she drank enough to make herself wonder if she was okay.  

She remembered that night in flashes. When they arrived, she was one of the few people in the room who looked like her. Most people wore tight shirts and baggy jeans, or tiny shorts with fishnets, or their hair like Madonna. Catra was anachronistic in her shredded black jeans, dark flannel, and Yankees cap. She felt the urge to find Adora and cling to her side, but Adora wasn't there. Adora was at home studying or something, like the good girl she was.

Catra clung instead to the group she had come with. They didn't pay her much attention, except to ask if she wanted a drink or a joint. She never turned anything down. At some point along the way, her goal turned from having a good time to losing the ability to think. She couldn't remember why; she was overcome by a horrible wave of sadness around ten and replaced it with alcohol. Then came the realization that being drunk was really fucking fun. She was a better dancer and singer, and she was funny.

When she woke up in the morning, Catra learned that the amount of fun one had while drinking was proportional to the amount of suffering the next day. When she woke up, Catra thought she might actually be dying. It was the equivalent of a biblical apocalypse inside her body. Locusts, floods, the whole nine yards. And that was only the headache.

“Oh, fuck me,” She tried to say, but her voice was so hoarse it came out as more of a whisper. She blinked in the bright light of the early morning, and brought a hand up to rub at her eyes. Shortly after, her greasy skin and tangled hair came to her attention. “Shit.” She glanced around her surroundings, and found herself in an apartment. She had no idea whose, but it wasn't the one they had started off in. That was a little strange, but it wasn't the worst place she'd woken up.

The first thing she noticed about the place was the carpet. It was soft under her fingers, and for a minute, she laid there and ran her fingers across the floor. She wasn't sure why, but the softness of the carpet gave her hope. Maybe because the person who lived here had a nice carpet, which meant it was possible for someone like her to have a nice carpet. At that point, what was stopping her from  having a nice carpet? But then again, she drank so much last night she struggled to remember getting drunk. So she didn't know if the owner of the carpet was like her at all, and she was back at square one.

Sitting up turned out to be a mistake. Catra’s vision went dark and she would have collapsed, were it not for the couch behind her. Her headache was not helped at all by sitting up; in fact, it increased tenfold.

“Oh, shit,” She mumbled.

“Shuddup,” A voice groaned from behind her, and a hand fell down onto her shoulder. Catra yelped in shock, and jumped to her feet. Also a mistake, but she was too busy paying attention to the adrenaline to notice that she wasn't ready to jump yet.

Laying on the couch was a girl- Catra believed her to be one of the people she had gone to the party with. The girl was face down, although she hadn't changed her clothes. She wore a denim skirt and a leather tank top, and had tightly coiled hair. Probably tight enough to fit a finger, but that was an experiment for another time.

“Tamari?” Catra guessed. The girl shifted her hand, dangling off the couch. She held up one thumb, and Catra wasn't certain, but she thought there was a small grin on the girl’s face.

“That’s me,” She sang. Catra nodded.

“O-Okay, great. Um, where are we?” Tamari shrugged.

“I ain’t remember, man,” She said, and shifted on the couch to face Catra. “I’m fucking tired,” With a giggle, “I’m still drunk.”

Catra grunted in response. She cursed herself for going along with a group of people with a similar distaste for sobriety. Tamari groaned, and shifted into a different position. Facing Catra, she was able to squint around the rest of the apartment and see what she could see.

“This looks like, uh…Matea’s place. Well, it ain’t belong to her, it belongs to her parents, but, uh…” She trailed off. “Shit, man, this couch is fuckin comfortable.” A corner of Catra’s mouth twitched.

“Is it soft?” She asked.

“No shit,” Tamari responded. She pulled her knees into her chest, leaving the other side of the couch open. “You can sit if you want.” Catra did. She more curled into the armrest bit, as she was finally free of the tremendous effort of standing while hungover. The couch was a haven, and so soft. Not quite as nice as the carpet, but also not far off. If only she could have slept on the couch last night too…

In a couple hours, almost everyone else had woken up. This was, indeed, Matea’s place. Matea was a small, Eastern European girl who spoke with a heavy accent and had a mouth full of dying teeth. She claimed not to be rich, but her family had more money than Catra would know what to do with. As it turned out, daydreaming of infinite wealth got boring after you fixed all your problems. Even so, drowning in money never did sound all that bad.

“Anybody want eat something?” Matea asked, her voice low and gravelly. Catra shook her head, even though she was hungry. She sat with the group of strangers while they ate, and attempted to recall their names. It wouldn't be long before she remembered what day it was.

“It’s Thursday!” She shouted, jumping to her feet, “Shit, what time is it?” She glanced around wildly for a clock. There wasn't one in the room she was currently in, so she ventured off to look for one. Nobody followed her, and she eventually found one in a bedroom. It was ten thirty two, and she should've been to be in English right now. She didn't even know where she was, let alone how to get all the way back to school! Oh, this was all too much. Her foster dad was going to kill her when he found out she missed school.

“Yo, Catra!” A voice called out, snapping her back to the moment. “Where you at?” She stepped out of the bedroom, trying to compose herself.

“Over here,” She said, trying to keep her voice lower than it actually was.

“Yo,” A boy said, turning the corner. “What’s your deal?”

“What’s my deal?” She echoed, “It’s Thursday, dude. I need to be at school.”

“Chill, bro. We're skipping today.”

“I can't skip,” She said slowly, “My dad-”

“Man, fuck your dad,” The boy said, “What’s he gonna do to you? You got a job, right?” Catra shook her head.

“No, dude, I got fired last night. That’s the whole stupid reason I went with you to that party!”

“Alright, chill. My bad.” The boy scratched the back of his head. “But you still got some money, right?” She nodded. “A’ight, so what exactly are you so afraid of?” Catra opened her mouth to respond, but found that she didn't know. She blinked a couple times, trying to think of something. All her foster dad cared about were her grades and selling drugs, so if she could keep her grades up, who cared about her attendance? He only hit her when she deserved it- And she could take it anyway. So, yeah, the boy was right. There wasn't anything to be afraid of.

“Actually, yeah. You’re right,” Catra said, “Son of a bitch doesn't care about me anyway.”

“Yeah, see, you’re fine,” The boy said, “Now come on. You needa eat something, for real. You’re skinny as hell.” Catra held her tongue on arguing with him, even though he was wrong. It wouldn't lead them anywhere.

That was the first time Catra missed school. It was a sort of definitive marker in her life, although she wouldn't remember it. She would only remember that it started when she was a freshman. It wasn't long before she started showing up to school drunk, too. Those were the best days. Everybody loved her when she was drunk. Adora thought she was hilarious, and actually paid attention to her when they talked at lunch. By the time her detention was up, Catra had learned a whole new way of living.

There was only one downside to drinking and smoking and partying like she did. Her foster dad didn't like it. And yeah, he hit her a couple times, but there was nothing wrong with that. Nothing that she could see, at the very least.

Not once did it ever occur to Catra that she would develop an addiction. It was always just this once, or just for fun. But that was the thing about becoming an alcoholic or a drug addict. You say just this once, then twice, and the next thing you know, you’re addicted. And she didn't even realize it. On a subconscious level, she was able to better understand why her foster dad sold drugs. He got his highs from selling, and Catra got hers from using.

As the school year progressed, Catra grew further and further apart from Adora. From the outside, it was quite natural. Everybody thinks childhood friendships are parallel lines, but that couldn't be further from the truth. They each fell in with their new friends and people. Unfortunately, Adora found her people while Catra was left behind with people she couldn't force herself to love. All the while, she watched Adora get everything she ever wanted without even trying for it. They still spoke, but not as much. It was over Christmas break that Catra realized she wasn't Adora’s best friend anymore. That revelation was about all she remembered from that week, actually. She found herself blacking out more and more lately. Who could blame her? She was watching herself slip away from everybody she cared about, and there was nothing she could do about it.

By the time spring rolled around, the Catra most people claimed to know was dead and gone.

[sparklecryptid]

*slides first thousand words of star frost verse here*

Time comes for us in unceasing waves. It crashes upon our shores and drags us forward without any regard for regrets and loss.

This is a truth Isolde knows too well, for while he has ever been a creature of emotion he knows that the only way to continue to live in this dark world is to look forward. It doesn’t matter whether the daemons get him - they will one day, one day he will return to the dark too - what matters is that right now, in this instant and in front of the goddess that has only ever given his family pain Isolde has a choice.

He can leave this world to it’s fate. To the doom of the ceaseless dark or he can go back and try to fix things. Isolde doesn’t know how he would, he has no idea how he would change the fate of men he didn’t know but he also knows that he has no choice.

He has to go back. Isolde cannot leave the world as it is. He looks to Shiva the Goddess of Ice and Frost. The Lady who had cursed his family to See and Wander the paths of the future without rest.

“I accept your bargain.” Isolde’s smile is thin. “But you knew that didn’t you?”

-

Luche runs a critical gaze across the new recruits' training. They can do better he knows, they wouldn’t have been chosen for the Glaive and not the Guard if they weren’t suited to magic and combat in equal measures. Yet the magic has them wary still, afraid to use it lest they suffer some unforeseen consequences. 

Crowe will see that fear torn out of them however, and Nyx and Tredd are more than willing to put any recruits they get through their paces. Yet Luche remains worried, and cannot help but think that it isn’t them he’s worried about. He might be in charge of them, he might put his life and limb on the line for them again and again but this time the gnawing worry in his gut isn’t for them.

It’s for someone else.

Isolde.

His cousin might as well have been his brother. Isolde was raised by Luche’s own mother after an unfortunate accident where Isolde’s mother looked too far into the future and never made it back. Wandering they call it when they go looking for something in the many paths of the future. 

One would think that being able to See and Wander would be a blessing.

It is naught but a curse. Bestowed upon a group of priests and priestesses of Shiva when they dared to question their Goddess’s choice in forsaking The Sage. It is a curse that causes them to lose themselves in the future. It is a curse that causes their minds to fracture and break at the edges for what mortal is able to handle the weight and knowledge of so many paths to tread?

Needless to say, Luche tries not to look. He tries not to See. He knows his Sight is strong for his family, he knows how if he lets even an inch of his control slip he could lose himself in the cold of the future.

But sometimes it is tempting to look, and sometimes the future demands to be heard.

A dull ache near the base of his skull is the only warning Luche gets before he falls to his knees with a loud thud. It attracts attention and despite the fact that Luche knows that his men are going to worry he can’t bring himself to snap at them because the future is naught but darkness and death. It is the realm of dead kings and oracles.

There is no hope in this future. In this path they are walking and Luche is only dimly aware of a source of warmth yelling at people to leave Luche alone. The warmth falls to their knees next to Luche and holds Luche close while muttering old prayers to the Inferian.

Luche is so cold. But the future is colder, it has its grip on Luche and in it Luche can see Isolde. Alone and clanless and making an impossible choice. Isolde bargains with Shiva. He tells her he will save the world if the Clan Lazarus of this time is made free of the cold and Luche cannot let his cousin face that alone. He drags himself back to the present to see his men around him and feel a grip burning and tight as iron around him.

Luche blinks at his Captain who has the gall to look worried.

Frost and snow fall from his eyes, a glance down tells Luche that he is covered in a thin layer of cold and frost but he feels as though he’s burning. He feels warm for the first time ever and Tredd - the warmth that had come to him to try and drag Luche back - is too hot.

“Let go,” Luche demands and lightly struggles to get out of Tredd’s grip knowing full well that he could if he really wanted to, “You’re too hot.”

Tredd freezes, his grip on Luche getting impossibly tighter. The Galahdians in the crowd around them begin to mutter.

“Hey,” Pelna says, dark eyes catching light and not releasing it back into the world, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You said you’re too hot.”

Luche knows what Pelna is implying and cannot deny that it is true. That Luche and the rest of his clan are never hot. That they are frozen and still as winter no matter the season and yet yearn for the warmth of summer.

A warmth that Luche is now all too aware of.

Another flash of the future dances in front of Luche’s eyes and he scowls at it before looking at Pelna.

“It broke,” Luche said bluntly, “A cousin of mine struck a bargain. I need to go yell at him.”

The murmurs grow louder. Titus clears his throat and all eyes turn to him.

“May I ask what happened here?”

“No,” Luche says, “I already explained it.” He hates that he’s being vague like the rest of his family but the world is still a flimsy piece of fabric that if Luche tried hard enough he could pierce. 

“That wasn’t an explanation.”

“It was,” Axis says, “For us anyway.”

Titus’ eyes narrow.

“Then fill me in,” he orders, “Luche, go change.”

There is a note of worry in Titus’ voice that almost makes Luche smile.

“Yes,” Luche says, “I will.”

[commander-vas-normandy]

Luche Lazarus - Power

A/N: So here’s that Luche I promised a few night ago and kept procrastinating. Get ready to hurt because unfortunately this follows canon. But I love you and Luche loves you and I promise it’ll be okay. 

Also lowkey thinking of doing a series of these ‘expanding on kingsglaive deaths’ things so if you wanna be tagged feel free to message me.

           “So many dead and over so simple a thing. But why? For what?”

           “Power. Untold power, beyond the control of someone like you.”

           “Power?”

           Luche hadn’t know that would be the last thing anyone ever heard him say. All he had wanted was to take Galahd back. It hadn’t been about being greedy or in need of power itself. The ring that suddenly felt so heavy in his hand should have been his key to protecting his home without having to side with Nifleheim. He knew the Empire was just as guilty in taking his home as Lucis had been guilty in giving it up. He never wanted to side with the Empire, but Regis was never going to take back Galahd and all his work as a glaive was for nothing. He forced himself to believe the Empire would give them back their homes as much as the captain had. But now he held what he thought was his path to becoming the savior of his home without taking a side that wasn’t purely for Galahd.

           The second he slid the ring on his finger the smug look on the princess’s face seemed to freeze in place, as did everything else around him, and suddenly he was in darkness and surrounded by the past Lucian kings. Their presence was overwhelming though he would never show it. Showing that would be showing weakness to the kings and that was the last thing he needed.

           “Not of royal blood nor oracle blood. Who dares put on the ring?” The deep rumble of the eldest king held a tone of condescension that pissed Luche off.

           “I am Luche Lazarus and I demand your power to take back my home.” His voice held an heir of superiority that might have earned him some level of respect had he been speaking with any other audience.

           “You would demand the power of Lucian kings after destroying their home?”

           “After they let mine be shackled and destroyed. I did what I had to.”

           “A pitiful excuse from a pitiful existence. You are not worthy, nor will you ever be.”

           A rage boiled deep within Luche. How could they be so blind that one city would be worth more than the entirety of the lands that had given up years ago? How could they discount him as nothing but a speck when all he wanted to do was live a life without war where what family he had left could live safely? How could one bloodline be so much more important than the entirety of their people?

           That rage grew, burning in his chest until it hurt, and he could no longer argue. The pain grew until it engulfed him and the fire in his heart and his eyes manifested upon his physical body and the pain was unbearable. He couldn’t help the screams of both fear and agonizing pain that ripped from his throat as he tried to grasp what was happening. And just when he thought he would fall over the bannister that earlier had trapped the ring in his path everything went black.