#my oldest siblings were already reaching adulthood and starting to move out or go away to school and such

[hoshi-kawaii]

Mini therapy session

[hughiecampbelle]

Succession Preference: Baby Roy Being Estranged

Requested: So in most of your fics and headcanons, Baby Roy seems pretty close to all her siblings and I was just wondering if I could request some AU headcanons where Baby Roy has become estranged to her family? Perhaps when she reached adulthood, she was tired of all the drama and abuse in the family and decided to separate herself from all of it and go do her own thing and now no one sees her much. How would Logan and her siblings react to this? - anon

A/N: Tbh them not being close is more realistic, but it hurts my heart lol so I live in my fantasy world. Loved exploring their relationships!!!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

Connor, oh Connor. There's such a huge age gap between you and him, he was basically your father growing up. You didn't love that relationship though. You already had Logan critiquing your every move, now you had to live up to Connors expectations, too. It was too much. You know he was just looking out for you, but some of the things he said could be hurtful. He was already out of the house by the time you were born. His ranch is so far away and it kinda ended whatever relationship you still had. He calls you every once in a while to check in, but thats about it. He wishes he hadn't been so hard on you, that he could have just been your brother, but you can't go back. Leaving Connor behind was easy. He had his life, his big plans, and you hard yours. He'll always be your oldest brother, but you were never really close to begin with. The distance between you just solidifies these ideas.

Kendall has always been so wrapped up in his own world to give you a second thought. He was a young adult by the time you came around. He'd been promised the company since he was seven, eight years old. He had competition with Shiv and Rome because they were closer in age, but you were a baby. You were nothing. You never wanted to deal with him anyways. He was either in a manic tornado or coming down from it, sulking. Whatever emotion he was feeling it affected everyone around him. Everyone had to deal with it. You learned early in life it was too much of a hassle. Especially when he started doing coke and drinking too much, when his marriage fell apart, you gave up on ever being close. You thought Rava would help ground him. It's not that he didn't love you, it's just that he didn't think about you. You weren't someone he was competing with for love and affection. You were just you. When you decide to leave you don't leave a text or message. You don't think he'll notice you're even gone.

Shiv didn't step up as a big sister like you thought she would. She loves you, of course she does, she loves your brothers, too. But she has her own life to think about. She gas a career and goals and it takes everything out of her. She doesn't have time to wonder how the baby of the family is doing. Even when she was home she was studying or with friends or competing for your fathers approval. She texts you every once in a while, but that's about as close as you get. She's closest to Kendall and Rome because of their ages. You came too late. They'd already established an alliance. Like Logan couldn't fit a whole woman in his head, Shiv couldn't fit a whole you in her head. No matter how old you get, she still sees you as the baby. It hurts to leave your one and only sister, but it would hurt more if you were closer. You're not. You never will be.

Roman was already in military school by the time you came around. Despite being the closest in age, your brother has a lot of issues. Logan was downright cruel to him, abusing him, abusing all of you. He sent him away. When he came back he was different, not that you'd know any different. It's not that he avoids you, he just doesn't know how to talk to you. He cane make fun of the rest of them, but it's like he doesn't know you enough to say anything. You're strangers. He never lets you close enough to get to know him, to feel like actual siblings. Sometimes you're jealous of their relationship, Rome, Ken, and Shiv. Mostly though you know you'll never get past the walls they've built up. When you leave you wonder what he'll do now that the company and Logan are gone, but it's never enough to keep you to stay.

Bonus! Logan was a lot older when you were born. He was never close to any of his children. You wouldn't be the exception. You could never do anything right in his eyes. When he dies, it hurts, but not as much as it does your siblings. You never wanted to hide love. You never fought for his affection. You learned a long time ago that whatever you did or tried or pretended to be could never win his love. Since then, he was just another angry man in your home. Deciding to leave was easy. He was gone. You weren't fighting g for successor, either. That was your siblings' job. You're not sad to be leaving. You're not very close with your family, you never were. After everything that's happened between them, you're not sure you ever will be. Being on your own will feel freeing from the anger and sadness and hate and hostility. They're your family but they're also the Roys and that complicates everything.

[tinybibmpreg]

Day 34 // ft. Weylin, Rhisiart, Yovak, Indigo, Violet, and another one of the kids

#76 / Rot

“It feels like everyone just forgot that I existed.”

Indigo raised an eyebrow and looked at his younger brother. Yovak was staring out at the rolling landscape below them, hundreds of feet below the clifftop they were seated on. The deep red rock gave way to a swirling field of reds and purples, gradually changing to blues as it stretched out to the horizon. A pink lake was seated off to the side in the field, and Indigo could see some large animals near its edges.

He reached over and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. Yovak looked at him, and Indigo assured him, “I haven’t forgotten about you.”

“Thank you, Indy. I’m glad.”

“And I know our parents haven’t forgotten you, either. They’re just busy.”

“I know. I just miss having them worry about me. Is that strange?”

Indigo thought for a moment. One of the animals swam across the lake, and he wondered if it was a crocodilian of some kind. “I don’t think it is.” Then, catching his brother’s hidden meaning, he asked, “Did something happen that you think they should be worried about you?”

Yovak hummed, and then picked at his fingernails. Indigo leaned in closer, and he could see that Yovak was actually missing a few of them. He picked at the nail on his left ring finger, and it snapped in half. “I think I’m falling to pieces, Indy. I’m rotting. I lost part of a tooth, as well, and I’ve been coughing up blood.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve been taking blood from Father’s oldest cousin, but… I’m not strong like all the rest of our siblings. I’ve always been so weak, compared to them.” He huffed a laugh, and Indigo noticed that Yovak looked tired, his scales pallid.

“Yovak, what are we doing out here?”

“I’m not strong enough to make it back home. I think it would take them a long while to find me, if you didn’t say anything.”

Frowning, he got up and clenched his fists. “I won’t let you die out here!”

“You’re really nice, Indy, but I think this is what the Gods desire. I was always fated to suffer. The second son, the first hybrid. I’m a medical marvel, a magical mystery. Yovak-Indigo, the first Corbane to die before reaching of age. I hope our parents can learn from me so our siblings can survive past adulthood.”

“I’m taking you home. Come on, get up.” Yovak didn’t move. “Get up! Come on, you’re fifteen years old, you can walk on your own!”

“I… Indy, I don’t think I can. I’m hungry. I’m so hungry that it hurts.”

“Then take a few bites from me! I’m a mirage, I’m food!”

“Indigo, I couldn’t eat you.”

“These marks on my face are proof that I’m only to be eaten by you!”

“Indy…”

Biting his lip, Indigo tried to think of a way he could help his brother. He doubted that Yovak would bite down on him if he stuck his arm in his mouth. Looking around, he stopped when he heard rustling. They both turned to see a person stumbling out of the forest underbrush.

The person stared at them, fear in their eyes. Seeing Indigo, they relaxed. “A human! Oh, god, where are we?”

“This is… This-”

“Is that a fae?” they asked, looking down at Yovak.

“Yes. This is my friend, Yovak. Please, he needs help. Can you help me carry him? His house is just a mile away from here.”

“Oh, uh… Is there a phone there? I’d like to get home too.”

“Yes,” Indigo lied. “Please, he’s ill.”

Nodding, the person came over. “I didn’t know fae could get sick.”

“I’m only half fae,” Yovak told them. “My human blood makes me prone to sickness and rot.”

“Ah.” Indigo knelt down and took one of Yovak’s arms around his shoulder. He gave his brother a slight nod, and when the other mirage knelt down, Yovak lunged at them.

-

“Thanks, Indy. I think I can walk now.”

Mirages could bleed, Indigo thought, as he looked at all the blood and gore splattered on his brother and the ground. It slowly faded away, though, and Yovak was soon clean, as if he hadn’t just eaten someone. Indigo helped him limp home.

Their only sister jogged up to them when she saw them. Seeing how ill Yovak looked, she helped support him as well. “Brother, are you alright?”

“Just fine, sister dear. Just fine and rotting…”

“He’s really sick, Violet. Go get Father, I’ve got him.” She nodded, and darted off. Indigo brought Yovak onto the back porch, and had him sit down on the rocking chair. One of their youngest brothers came out from underneath it when it moved. Indigo picked him up. “Hey there, little guy. Want to keep your big brothers company?”

“Ah!”

Right as Indigo set their brother down next to Yovak, the half-fae doubled over and coughed up a mouthful of blood all over his lap. Their brother whined, reaching back up for Indigo. Yovak kept coughing, and the blood kept coming, gradually turning from pure liquid to being full of chunks and strands of goo. Indigo sat next to him and patted his back, unsure of what to do. Their brother started wailing, and Indigo could see tears falling from Yovak’s eyes.

Their father arrived, not looking too worried. When he spotted the two of them, however, a look of horror overcame his features. The expression was quickly schooled into neutrality. Approaching them, their father asked, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know! I followed him out to the cliff, and he started talking about how weak he was, how he was going to die, or something… He ate a mirage, but then he started coughing up blood. Which he said he’s been doing, and he kept saying he’s rotting-”

“Oh, my dear child, you should have said your usual blood supply wasn’t working.” He cupped Yovak’s face in his hands. “I could have nipped this little problem right in the bud. Hush, Yo-go, your-” “Weylin Corbane / Fae father of you.” “-will take care of this.”

“Request.” “Help to me.” Yovak choked out.

“Vi, dear, hand me your knife.” He reached out one hand, and Violet dropped her carving knife into it. “Indigo, hold up your brother’s head, and Yovak, chew and swallow what I give you.”

He brought the knife to the meat of his palm. Indigo averted his eyes. Though he’d gotten used to seeing blood and some manners of gore in the Corbane household, he didn’t like to watch his parents or any of his relatives hurting themselves.

-

Rhisiart felt something grab his leg, and looked down to see his youngest child staring up at him with wide, teary, purple eyes. “What’s wrong, kiddo?” He lifted the toddler up, and set him next to him. His belly was getting too big for the boy to sit on his lap. The boy pointed towards the front door, and after a moment, Indigo was holding it open as Weylin walked through, Yovak in his arms. Violet was close behind.

Seeing the blood all over his son’s face and shirt, his heart dropped. “Corbane?”

“Ah, Delmar- would you mind giving me a hand with cleaning up Yo-go?”

He passed off his youngest to Violet, and then followed his husband upstairs to the kids’ bedroom. Weylin laid Yovak down on his bed, and tugged off his shirt and shoes. He tossed them to Indigo. “Throw that away, would you? It’s tainted.”

“It’s sizzling…”

“Like I said, tainted.” Rhisiart sat down next to Yovak and wrapped an arm around him. The blood on his face was sizzling, and the skin around it was turning an irritated shade of dull purple. Where the blood had started to seep through his clothes, there was already a rash.

“Question.” “Rhisiart Delmar / Human father of I.”

“Hey, Yo-go… You’re going to be alright, your father will take good care of you.” He shot a desperate look at Weylin, a silent plea. Will he be okay? What’s happening?

Weylin nodded, giving Yovak a soft smile. “That’s right. I’ll go get a cloth and some water. Delmar, keep him comfortable, alright? And don’t touch any of that blood or where it was with your bare skin. It’s toxic.”

“Okay.” As his husband walked off, Rhisiart tried to make Yovak more comfortable, while also taking in what was visibly wrong with him besides the blood and rashes. He wanted to hold the boy in his lap, but he couldn’t, not at this stage in his pregnancy. Instead, he pulled over a few pillows with his magic and leaned Yovak against them. He kissed his temple, frowning at how cold he felt.

Taking the boy’s thin hand in his own, Rhisiart noticed that his knuckles and joints were bruised, and his fingernails were either missing or broken in some way. Now that he was so close, he realized that Yovak’s skin had taken a translucent sheen, his pure white skin unable to go any paler.

Swallowing, he leaned against his son, giving him a light squeeze. How could he have gotten so sick so quickly? Rhisiart couldn’t remember seeing him with any of these symptoms recently. But now that he thought about it… He hadn’t really been paying too much attention to Yovak. He’d been spending most of his time with the younger kids. Yovak was fifteen, so he had brushed off the boy, thinking that because he was older he didn’t need as much attention. Yet, he did. He’d always been sickly compared to his sibling, he needed extra attention.

Gods, how could he have let Yovak get so sick? He should have spent more time with him, noticed that something was off. Children didn’t get so sick in just one day, he must have been getting weaker and weaker for a long stretch of time. He always did this to him, always failed him…

“Question.” “Rhisiart Delmar / Human father of I.”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“I’m cold.” Rhisiart brought his legs up onto the bed, and shifted close to his son, to try and warm him up. Weylin came back with a cloth and some water. After saying a spell over the water, he wiped it over the rash on Yovak’s chest. Yovak’s face scrunched up in pain, and he whimpered. Rhisiart hugged him, murmuring against his hair. The boy grabbed his arm, squeezing it.

Weylin hummed quietly. He said a different spell before moving on to wipe the blood from his son’s face. Yovak cried out as the wet cloth made contact with him. “Delmar, hold him steady. Yovak, my dear, this is for your own good. Don’t worry, it’ll only hurt for a minute.” He forced his mouth open and made him rinse out his mouth.

Yovak sobbed bitterly through the pain, and Rhisiart’s heart broke. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay… It’ll be over soon. Shh, you’re going to be okay…”

Finally putting the cloth away, Weylin told him, “It’s safe to touch him, now.”

Rhisiart wrapped both arms tightly around his son. He ignored how uncomfortable it was. Yovak needed to be held. The boy buried his face in the crook of his neck. After a few moments, he loosened his hold so he could rub Yovak’s back.

“It’ll take a few days before he's back to his old self.” Weylin sat next to them and threaded his fingers through their son's soft hair.

“I’ll stay with you, sweetheart, okay?” When Yovak finally fell asleep, Rhisiart grabbed Weylin’s elbow and asked, “What's wrong with him?”

Eyeing their son, Weylin sighed and then responded, “Delmar, do you remember how I told you that if Yovak didn’t come with me to Otherland when he was a baby, that he would die?”

“Yeah. It’s the only reason I came here.”

“This what would have happened to him. The rotting. I know I told you that he might last with essence from other fairies, but… Even my closest blood relative’s essence wasn't good enough for him. He would have rotted in a week.” Weylin gave him a wide smile. “But now that I know better, I’ll make sure to feed both you and him from me, exclusively!”

[crimeamarches]

here it is.....3000 words of zelgius headcanons

“There was someone on my father’s side who was...who was with a laguz.”  This was many generations ago, and the brand skipped Zelgius’s father.  It isn’t until Zelgius is born that his father learns the truth about their family, so his resentment towards his son becomes twofold: both because of his nature and because of what his birth forced into the light.

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

We don’t really know Zelgius’s socioeconomic status.  I don’t think he’s necessarily gentry, but remember that this isn’t Ashnard’s Daein but his father’s. There wasn’t the same kind of “meritocratic” system in place, so Zelgius must have been someone to end up trained by one of the Four Riders.  He was probably some sort of minor nobility, probably new money, rich enough to have a big country manse but unimportant enough that nobody cares what the family does (unless it’s embarrassing enough for gossip).

------------------------------ Baby Zelgius had a wet nurse who was sworn to secrecy.  He then spent his childhood being bounced around Daein’s most conservative monasteries and, eventually, military academies.  Every time he got settled in somewhere, his father would yank him out and start over, terrified that the child would be careless and someone would find out his shameful secret.  Too disgusted to keep his own child in his house, too afraid of shame to disown him and cast him out into the world, too sentimental—or perhaps just not quite evil enough—to just drown the boy and have done with it, no one seemed to know what to do with the child.

Quietly—very quietly, for he was a precocious and shy child even without the extenuating circumstances—Zelgius learned what the strange mark on his back he had to twist and contort in the mirror to see actually meant.  How dirty and tainted it made him.  What his father was saying when, on the rare and desperately treasured occasions he’d walk with his son, he’d bring Zelgius to the gallery full of paintings of slaughtered laguz and speak too loudly of glorious deeds.

Ultimately, Zelgius’s family, and his mother in particular, just wanted to forget he existed altogether.  They had another heir, a boy born five years almost to the day after Zelgius.  The boys look nothing alike.  The brand never manifests in him and, emboldened by this, his parents go on to have several other children.  Clearly, something was just wrong with the first one, if the tainted blood only runs true in him.  Zelgius is kept separate from his siblings.  If they ever think it odd that their oldest brother never writes or comes home for holidays then, well, it’s hard to miss even a sibling if you’ve never even been allowed to meet him.

His grandmother had the brand as well, but she had incredibly difficult pregnancies and all her branded children were stillborn.  Perhaps, unbeknownst to either of them, her husband had a touch of some kind of incompatible laguz blood in him as well?  It’s just such a taboo, particularly in Daein, that neither of them would ever have spoken of it. There, it’s a worse taboo than incest.And even in the wider world it’s so buried and shameful that no one has done any research into it.  Branded blood is supposed to bring bizarre strength and unnaturally long life, so what about this case caused so many stillbirths and miscarriages?  Who knows.

Sharing the same unlucky star did not necessarily endear Zelgius and his grandmother to each other.  In what turned out to be her final years, she was a cold and distant woman, having lived too long in a world that she was all too aware did not want her.  Her brand caused two husbands to leave her, and Zelgius’s birth necessitating the revelation of their family history turned her only child against her as well.  She didn’t hate Zelgius, no, she just…had nothing left to give.  The family never left Zelgius in her care, either, and she died before he was old enough to even want that kind of connection with her or put together what they had in common. He does realize as he grows toward adulthood, though, and always makes sure to put flowers on her grave on her birthday and the anniversary of her death.

Despite his brand manifesting in infancy, Zelgius grows more or less normally as a child. Small for his age, some delayed milestones, but not remarkably so.  His aging doesn’t really slow until late puberty. For the final time, he’s yanked unceremoniously from his current school, only this time he’s not enrolled in another one.  He’s an adult now, technically, no matter how young he looks, and so he’s no longer welcome in his family home.  With nowhere else to go, no graduation, no commission, no money, only a name that barely belongs to him, Zelgius enlists in the military as a grunt.  It’s Daein—they might smirk, but no one will question the age of a lad so eager to sign up, not when there are laguz to hunt and Crimean borders to harass.  He dons the armor they give him.  He won’t take it off in public for a long, long time.

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

Does Greil know about the Branded, and if he does, did he at the time he knew Zelgius?

We really never get any indication one way or another.  The best indication is that Greil has given Soren—who several characters mistake for a child as young as Mist or Rolf—a full-time job even as he holds back from giving his seventeen-year-old son any active role in the group, implying that he knows there’s something different about him.

Even then, though, I bet he didn’t know anything about the Branded when he was a Daein general.I don’t think we have any reason to think that Greil was remarkably more liberal or whatever than any other Daein citizen—not any more than, say, Pelleas, who doesn’t have Shinon or Soren’s vitriol but still says Branded like a dirty word and doesn’t shy away from saying “sub-human.” ��Pelleas knows what Branded are, indicating that it is sort of general knowledge, but Pelleas is also a spirit charmer, so he’d have had suspicion thrown at him before.I just don’t think laguz issues were anywhere near Greil’s mind until he goes to Gallia, apart for maybe some general disagreement with Daein’s gung-ho prejudice, since Greil’s generally a Respect Life kind of guy even if I don’t think he’s introspective enough to overcome that kind of ingrained prejudice.  Sure you might call it a casualty of narrative, but I’ve always found it fairly damning that at the start of Path of Radiance Ike is out here getting information about laguz and the world from _Shinon _of all people.  One doesn’t retroactively become a saint just because one fathers Our Hero.

In all likelihood, Zelgius just wasn’t that special to Greil.  Or at least not nearly as close as Zelgius’s fixation makes it seem at first glance.  Maybe Greil did see promise in him and teach him one-on-one, but Zelgius almost never showed his face and, I’m sure, balked on the occasion Greil extended an actual hand of mentorship or whatever.  And it takes Greil a while to remember who he is by voice alone.  Some part of Zelgius knows this.  It changes nothing.  A few kind words and rough-and-tumble lessons were enough to make Greil the closest thing to a father Zelgius would ever know, and Zelgius fixated on him because of this. But Greil had A Lot going on with Elena—that’s a whole fucking lot of trust she put into him to tell him about the medallion and flee the country with him, a fucking Rider—and the complete shift in values and perspective that fleeing the country would require, so it’s no surprise that even a favored student would become an afterthought. -----------------------------------------

When it comes to Zelgius’s age, there are few markers to draw it from, even fewer than we have for Micaiah.

For starters, we know that Path of Radiance takes place from 645-46, and the Serenes Massacre happened in 625.  The foundation of my speculation relies on the headcanon that the whole reason Sephiran was even in Daein at the time was because he was the sage that created the blood pact that made Ashnard king.

The flashback has to take place in late 625/early 626—before Daein’s plague starts, before Gawain leaves Daein, but after the Serenes Massacre.  Zelgius says he “would miss studying the sword with [his] master, General Gawain” if he left with Sephiran then.  But Sephiran’s already got ~plans~, which he only began after the Serenes Massacre snapped him.  Zelgius might’ve pushed his luck, might’ve stayed for years more, even, if Gawain hadn’t left.  Hadn’t abandoned him.  And he would see it as an abandonment, even if he knows logically that they weren’t that close, that Zelgius hadn’t allowed any closeness, that Greil hadn’t _wanted him—_anyway.  There’s nothing left in Daein for him.

The “plague” probably killed his parents, honestly.  Maybe even a sibling or two. Zelgius has a hard time feeling sorrow about this when word finally reaches him. The hollowness he feels at the news only furthers his certainty that he is cursed. Evil, intrinsically.  Unable even to grieve for his own mother and father. Despicable.  Detestable.

(Sephiran regrets a lot of things, in the end.  But there are a few lives lost through his actions about which he just can’t summon any feeling but savage satisfaction.)

Pretty much arbitrarily, I headcanon that Zelgius is in his late teens/early twenties in the flashback, just because of his demeanor.  Old enough to have noticeably slowed aging, young enough to still be learning in earnest. Which would have him born no later than about 605.  So yeah, Zelgius is probably in his early 40s by Radiant Dawn. -------------------------------

627. Ashnard becomes king.  Zelgius, bedraggled from the road, at loose ends, lost inside himself, shows up on Sephiran’s doorstep.  It’s a big year for the plan.

Sephiran doesn’t become Prime Minister for 13 more years.  I’m sure he spends the interim staying out of the public eye, moving pieces here and there, sowing discord, helping laguz as an “anonymous benefactor” as Misaha’s acts force change despite the Senate’s best efforts. He maneuvers Zelgius into position to inherit the tiny fief of Cador, which is far enough out of the way that no one will ever question it and close enough to the Daein border to mask the accent Zelgius can never quite kick.  Lineage safely falsified, Zelgius works his way up the ranks of Begnion’s army. Work and ambition take up most of their time, but they both spend a lot of time in Sienne.  Zelgius has stopped aging almost entirely, but he’s at the age where it’s not quite so noticeable, except for the occasional offhand comment about his skin care routine.  Sephiran, of course, also does not age, though he has no mark of his curse that Zelgius can see.  He asks about it once, which gets him only a wry smile.  Sephiran asks how much stock he puts in legends.  He pauses.  He asks how much Zelgius hates his great-great-grandfather, the raven who gave him this “cursed” life.  He pauses again, then laughs the most terrible laugh.  Zelgius doesn’t ask again.

Little by little, Sephiran tells Zelgius the details of The Plan, and Zelgius learns of his true identity.  Sephiran stops always hiding his wings around Zelgius.  It’s not for the reasons Lehran is used to that Zelgius wants to fall to his knees in worship.

Sometime in this interim is also when Sephiran and Zelgius are traveling Crimea and Gallia looking for the medallion and discover what Greil did to the village and Elena.  Ike and Mist are probably, what, six and four in the flashback?  So it probably takes place in like 634.  Just shy of a decade since Zelgius’s master “abandoned” him. Seeing him again, even unconscious and covered in the blood of innocents, at the side of a new master he’s sworn himself to in a thousand different ways, still brings unnamable emotion swirling up inside him.  He’d give anything to stamp it out, to quiet the voices demanding to know what would have been if he had swallowed his fear and accepted the hand extended to him then.

(It would have ended the same, the exact same, except Zelgius would have bellowed in grief and rage when Alondite parted Gawain’s ribs instead of letting the body fall to the forest floor with nothing but a murmur of hollow disappointment.)

It’s then that Zelgius fixates on matching himself against his old master.  Oh, he’s had the thought over the years, idly, in practice, that he wonders how he’s matching up to the best swordsman on the continent.  But it’s not until he sees the destruction Gawain is capable of and the grief he causes that it becomes an obsession.

If he had been there, could he have held his own against Gawain’s rampage? Could he have stopped him, stopped that day of tragedy in its tracks?  Not that he’s under any illusions that he’s some kind of hero, fit to protect a village of innocents from a rampaging madman.  But just to _know.  _Just to know if he’s capable, at all, at any point, in any way, of changing the path of fate.

Lekain says that Sephiran was considered a young upstart at the time he became Prime Minister. He, like Sanaki, was meant to be a figurehead, after all. So Sephiran couldn’t have gotten fully involved in politics until like 638 or so, probably. --------------------------------

640. Sanaki is crowned.  Sephiran is instated.  Zelgius is promoted to Major General, one step away from high office. Zelgius’s further appointment sometime in the next 4 years is the subject of much gossip.  He’s so young, after all, there must’ve been more qualified candidates?  I hear he doesn’t even go to temple all that often.  Well I hear he defeated thirty-two challengers in a single day.  He’s so handsome, does it even matter if he’s any good?  It’s not like anyone’s going to defeat Begnion regardless.  Well, if you heard what I heard about what he and the Prime Minister get up to behind closed doors, well…

Sigrun goes a long way towards helping Zelgius acclimate.  She probably doubts the story that he’s a country lord, but she’s too polite to challenge it, and Zelgius seems like a good enough man.  He’s an ally of the Prime Minister’s, and the Prime Minister is a good and holy man, a pillar of faith and protector to the little Empress second only to Sigrun herself (third, if Sigrun’s wife is in earshot).  She takes the initiative and goes to Zelgius when it becomes clear that he’s the runaway candidate for Grand General and takes the first step towards what will be a long partnership for the two sides of Begnion’s might. --------------------------------

643-44. Ashnard is gathering the strongest warriors from across the continent for his inner circle.  Sephiran hasn’t laid eyes on the medallion in almost ten years, but with giddy certainty he can feel Yune’s first stirrings, even a continent away.  

Zelgius would never refuse an order.  But that doesn’t mean he isn’t tearing apart inside as Sephiran instructs him to return to Daein under the alias of the Black Knight, and gain Ashnard’s favor.  What did he do wrong?  Why is his master discarding him?  His world has tilted on its axis, and he can barely hear Sephiran explaining how vital this is to the plan through the rushing of blood in his ears as his heartbeat tries to burst from his chest.  

Return to Daein.  

Abandoned, again, it might as well be a death sentence, Zelgius wishes it was a death sentence—

Sephiran’s firm, gentle touch forces Zelgius’s clenched fist to open up for Alondite’s hilt and breaks Zelgius out of that drowning spiral.  The abnormal lightness of such a large blade, its perfect balance, the tingle in his fingers and up his arm from the energy pouring from the sword—this strange combination of sensations breaks through the fog.  

Altina’s blades aren’t anything like Excalibur, and nor are they Falchion or Forseti or Tyrfing or Mystletainn.  Wielding them requires no bloodline nor special quality, and it’s only tradition that’s left them gathering dust in Begnion’s treasury.

Zelgius insists that he has never fought with double swords before, that this is too generous a gift, that one is enough, too much even.  

“Please, take both.  I would hardly wish you to be in a place as dangerous as Nevassa and unable to defend yourself.  You may do with them what you wish. Take them for my peace of mind.”

As tightly as Zelgius is gripping Alondite, Sephiran knows that there’s no chance they’ll be mistreated.  He is amused when the mercenary child shows up wielding Ragnell. Zelgius always did have a flair for the dramatic.  Altina would have appreciated that.  She would have appreciated a lot of things about Zelgius—his poise, his moments of shyness, his dogged loyalty.  And she’d never begrudge Lehran taking another lover and had, in fact, encouraged him to do so once or twice in the letters they exchanged in the long years between their separation and her death.  It’s the manipulation she wouldn’t appreciate.  Give him something or set him free, she would command.  She’s right.  

But Sephiran just can’t do it.

[artbysarah98]

Part 1 An ‘unexpected’ turn

When we're young...series

Masterlist

Ella

It was late in the afternoon on a hot Wednesday in July. A young woman reached the front gate that closed off the mansion's, or actually, the school's grounds from the surrounding forest. In the distance, she could see cars passing by. Daily life continued on for people outside of her world. Going to and coming home from work or school. The woman signed as she wished that she could go outside as well, but she hasn't been allowed so in 5 years now. That young woman is Ella, Ella Young, daughter of the former headmasters of the school she attends.

Ella turned around and slid down to the ground looking at the building, remembers why she was not allowed off the ground. The school behind these gates protects people like her, especially after what happened 5 years before this day. If humanity ever found out about them, they would probably say beings like us. You see, the school Ella attends is not usual. Not everybody can get in, and there is no application from either. The board of directors invites you to the school. Or is notified by a person of high status within the community about a problem worth their attention. The choice, however, always remains with the future student.

This school is not just any school you pass by when traveling through a city like Zwolle, the Netherlands. The school is a home for vampires, werewolves, witches, and everything else in between. This is the Young Boarding School founded by Ella Young's parents. The school for supernaturals by supernaturals.

Usually, the Young Boarding School welcomes new students that they have invited or persuaded to attend. These students seek a place to learn, need a place to stay, or want to make new friends. However, today one of their students decided to leave. That student was none other than the young woman who sat at the front gate with a grim look on her face. She only left behind a single letter to announce her dropping out after she packed up her belongings later in the evening.

The Young Boarding School was founded a little over 10 years ago when Ella Young reached the age of 11. Ella was a real handful when she was little. Her parents knew that she would become harder to handle in the future, especially because she had to hide who or better said what she was after activating them. Ella's parents had a hard time keeping her in check because of this. There was no way for Ella to let out her energy outside of the comfort of her home.

The problem that occurred was that there weren't any schools for kids like Ella. Not in the area or anywhere else in the world. Before Ella's birth, there wasn't even thought of a school like that before. For generations, the kids of supernaturals followed in the footsteps of the generations before them. They always blended in with the other students attending the same school. Although there were incidents throughout history that made them more cautious. Somehow they, 9 out of 10 times, ended up being bullied for being different.

So her parents came up with an idea. This resulted in the Young Boarding School being made. A safe place for their daughter and other supernatural kids who are a handful to their parents or became a danger to their neighborhood. This made history in their community, and in the 10 years to come, the Boarding School grew in name and capacity, becoming the most renowned school by supernaturals for supernaturals.

Ella looked up at the building to take it in. The Boarding School was a neo-renaissance building located far into the forest so that humans don't accidentally end up on the campus ground. There had been incidents in the past that cost some humans their life. The building is four stories high and can shelter up to 300 students and staff. The first 6 years that Ella attended her parents Boarding School she had the time of her life. She made many friends and was one of the popular kids because she was the daughter of the Young family. Not that she minded, Ella was glad that she finally had a place to learn to control her powers and be herself.

However, 5 years ago, everything in her life changed. The death of her parents hit everybody in the face like a bomb and especially Ella and her family. Her life collapsed, and she lost everything she had. Her friends. Her family. Her dignity. Everything. Since that day, Ella has had the feeling that she didn't belong anywhere in the world, especially not the Boarding School made by her parents to protect her and fellow supernaturals from the world and the world from them. Staying at the Boarding School was a constant reminder of her parents' death and how she was the cause of it.

Ella was fed up with the whispers, stares, and the avoiding from the other students. Ella was the one and only daughter of her parents, and every supernatural you would ask, knew that Ella was the reason her parents died. Then again, her parents weren't just any members of the community they stood, or more like used to stand, at the top, even after their death.

'This is certainly a crappy way of celebrating your birthday,' thought Ella trying very hard not to let the tears flow after she made a promise to be brave, 'Why did that man have to attack during my birthday? Why am I the one being blamed for everything?' She saw some students walking by enjoying an evening around the grounds. When they locked eyes, she could see them whispering. Probably about her or the incident from 5 years ago. Afraid that she could hear them, which she did, the group hurried on out of earshot.

'There they go again. Even now, I'm still the talk of the school on their deathday,' thought Ella as she stood up and dusted the sand off her school uniform. She slowly walked back to her room, undergoing all the looks and whispers she heard along the way. Ella slammed her door shut after reaching her dorm. Throwing herself on the bed, she grabbed her old mouse plushie and hugged it close to her chest. Her eyes were becoming glassy from the tears that were welling up. 'No, I can't cry. I'll not cry,' thought Ella as she frustratingly rubbed her tears away as she sat up. She looked over to her desk on the right side of the bed and saw her laptop lying, 'I'm sorry, mom, dad, but I can't do this any longer.'

She walked over to her desk and took place on the black wooden chair. Ella opened up her laptop and started it up. She looked up to her pinboard. It had some photos of her with her so-called friends, they left her alone when she lost her parents. Some of her with her family members. The oldest one was one of her parents holding her as a baby. They looked so happy, and that was all stripped away in a few minutes.

She looked at her mom in the photo. Ella's mother, Rose Waters, barely 23 in the photograph, was the only daughter of the alpha's of the Cresent Moon werewolf pack, therefor also the next alpha in line to take over when deemed ready. However, when her mom was very young, she became an orphan during an attack on the pack by local vampires from Zwolle. This attack massacred the entire Cresent Moon pack, or at least they thought. Roses' grandmother took her away during the attack and brought her to an orphanage. Rose never was adopted and ended up in the foster system, causing her to move from foster home to foster home until she finally passed the legal adulthood age, which was 18. She left her adoptive family behind to never look back. At the age of 22, Rose met Ella's dad. They met in Rotterdam, where she ended up after leaving everything behind.

The dangerous, yet caring vibe he emitted attracted her when she entered the bar he was hanging out in. He made the first conversation as he offered her a drink. Reluctantly, Rose accepted and gradually let him into her life. His facial features were very handsome, dark blue-green eyes that held so much pain and sadness and dirty blond short hair. Rose had already noticed that something was different about him, but she couldn't quite place what it was. When she learned that he was Nik Young, the Original hybrid, she was in shock. What did he saw in her? What made him chose her when he could get any woman he wanted? This was something she could never understand, but she was glad that she, eventually, managed to conquer his heart. Rose was pushed away by him when she told him that she was pregnant with his child, Ella, but deep in her heart, she knew that he had his reasons to do so. Over time, she noticed that Nik accepted the idea of becoming a father, and they grew closer than ever. For the founding of their Boarding School, they moved back to Zwolle as the city was quieter than Rotterdam.

Ella's gaze shifted from her mom to her dad in the photo. Ella's father, Nik Young, had his arms lovingly around his wife's shoulders, looking at Ella. Although he was over 1000 years old, he looked no older than 29. That was the age he was when he became a vampire. The only difference was the stubble on his chin and cheeks. It made him look more mature. At least her mother and Ella thought so.

Nik came from a somewhat similar background only 1000 years earlier. His mother was a witch while his father was a human. Together they had him and six other children, or at least that is what they thought. One day during the full moon, Nik went with his youngest sister to see the men who could turn into wolves. These days they are called werewolves.

This event took a grim turn, his youngest sister lost her life that day. This made his mother take some very drastic measures under the demand of his father. The next night his mother was forced to turn him and his siblings into the first vampires ever through an ancient magic spell. The spell had never been performed before, so nobody knew if it was going to work, but his father still wanted to let his children become vampires. His father had become afraid that he would lose all of his children in this way. Nik knew that his mother was also scared of this, but never voiced her opinion about it.

The spell required an endless source of power, an ancient source of life, and magically spelled blood to be reborn. His mother used the power of the sun for life, an old birch tree for immortality and strength, and her own magically infused blood to allow them to be reborn.

Today they are known as the Originals, the vampires, who made the vampire community that currently exits. The difference between the Originals and normal vampires are as followed. The Originals are faster, almost immune to werewolf venom, and can only be killed by a birch stake directly in the heart. They can compel humans and other vampires to let them do whatever they want, know as mind compulsion, while nobody can control them. The downside to their turning is everything that made them vampires became their weakness. They burned in the sun, a birch wood hurt them, and above all, they craved blood, human blood.

The first murder Nik committed made his father realize what he truly is and that Nik wasn't his son. Nik was a man who could turn into a wolf during a full moon. An abomination in his fathers' eyes. This made Ella's dad the first-ever hybrid, the Original hybrid. Born a werewolf and made a vampire by magic. Nik becoming the first-ever cross-breed had consequences for the mythical community. The fact that the Originals were created already was already a taboo. Nik being both a vampire and a werewolf was in the eyes of everybody else a thing to be feared. This caused Nik to be targeted by werewolves and witches alike afraid that he would be their undoing. The Originals decided that the attacks on Nik were becoming too much. Together they decided that they would run and hide in the shadows to minimalize the attacks on Nik. This continued for 1000 years, and in those years, the Originals made many enemies, especially Nik.

A little over 1000 years later, Nik met Rose in a local bar in Rotterdam. The moment Nik saw her, he was captivated by her beauty, big light grey eyes, dark brown wavy hair that fell over her shoulders, and a lively but sad vibe that pulled him in like a magnet. He needed to know her. He sensed that she was a werewolf, and even though werewolves and vampires are natural enemies, through the long history that his siblings and he had created between the species, they were attracted to each other. The attraction between them became so strong that they had a one-night stand. This resulted in Rose getting pregnant.

In the beginning, Nik believed that Rose had slept with someone else and that it wasn't his child. Over the years, Nik had become very cautious in trusting people after being hunted for so long. The fact that Nik also had no shortage of enemies made accepting that the child growing in Rose's womb was his even harder. In the end, the other members of the Young family asked a witch to confirm whether or not the child was Nik's. After confirmation that the child in Rose's womb was his. Nik started opening up to becoming a father and the consequences of their baby being born into his family. Vampires lost their fertility once they had turned, but his werewolf side made Nik fertile. They maybe didn't love each other in the beginning, but the pregnancy brought them closer than ever. Nine months later, Ella was born into the world. A beautiful combination of them, bright blue-greyish eyes, and wavy blond hair. However, in Nik's eyes, her smile was the most beautiful as it was Rose's.

Ella's birth was deemed a miracle because nature created a loophole with her father being a hybrid. She did not inherit their werewolf genes, but also her father's vampire genes. Making her the first-ever natural-born hybrid. Being born into the Young family also got her an entire long list of enemies that her father made over the years. One of these enemies finally found out their whereabouts and wanted revenge on Nik for killing his entire family but turning him into a vampire. So he set out a revenge plan. He had two of the only birch stakes left in the world, this being the only thing that can kill an Original. Which was thought to be destroyed by the Originals to ensure they wouldn't be killed. He nearly killed everybody in the school that day, including her, were it not for her parents. They sacrificed themselves that day by shielding her from the birch stakes that were flying in her direction, either dying or turning into dust. In return, Nik had also killed the enemy by throwing a wooden stake straight in his heart. That made them heroes of the school while Ella became the lost cause of the school because she lost one of the things that made her unique as she was the reason the Boarding School's headmasters died on her birthday, making it never the same again. On top of that, she also ended up losing the rest of her family, who couldn't cope with losing their brother.

Ella tore her gaze away from that picture, not wanting to get any sadder for missing her parents. She opened her browser and saw a news page that mentioned something called 'BTS' but was too distracted to pay attention to it.

'Today is the day,' she thought, going directly to the KLM website, 'I'm finally going to leave this place.' Today marked the day of her parents' death 5 years ago and also her the day of her birthday, July 10th.

Ella thought as she clicked on the page for last-minute flights, 'This year I'm going to choose for myself. I don't see my family anymore since the events that happened 5 years ago and leaving me to rot in this place. There is nobody that will miss me. I finally saved enough money to buy a plane ticket to a place far away from here. Let's see what last-minute flights there are left to wherever in the world. As long as I don't have to see this place ever again.'

Ella searched on KLM, the Dutch Royal Airlines, for any last-minute flights available. Preferably leaving tomorrow, so that the school would have more difficulty locating her. She soon found a few trips that she found interesting. One to New York, USA. The other to Seoul, South-Korea. Both flights were around 500 euros for a one-way ticket. Ella didn't plan on returning any time soon. A little less then she had saved up for her already planned leave, so she still would have some saving money left for the first weeks at her new destination.

'Not that I will go back any time soon,' she thought. She had contemplated compelling her way on a plane before but decided against it at the risk of exposure to the entire world in case anything would go wrong.

She grabbed a euro that was lying nearby, ready to decide her fate.

'Heads New York, tails South-Korea.'

Ella threw up the coin and watched it fall landing on....tails.

'South-Korea, it is then.'

She secured her flight and paid for the ticket. The plane would depart at 10 a.m., so Ella decided that she would sleep at a place near the airport. Sneaking out at night had a smaller risk of getting caught. Ella grabbed her prepacked suitcase and left her letter on the desk. She called a cab requested to be picked up at the Young Boarding School and taking her to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam so that she could catch her flight.

A/N - Welcome to my first ever story. I hope you liked this part. I know there isn't any K-Pop yet, but don't worry, it will come. Comments and likes are appreciated but not necessary. Only do it if you liked the first part and would like to see more.

Part 2 What the f*ck is going on?