#my other thought is a modern au where their swords are knives

[pbaintthetb]

oh forgot my genius thought of a modern mdzs au where they invent hoverboards by sticking their swords into skateboards (because having a sword around in the modern days is likely to get extra looks as is a hoverboard tbf but one of those is funnier)

[imthefemalemonster]

⸻The Viper and the Sage

Lucemond - Aemond Targaryen x Lucerys Velaryon (FPS!AU, Mature)

CHAPTER I. Sword and Shield

⸻ Summary: It’s during one of his worst FPS matches, harassed by toxic and sexist players, that Luke meets his newly found mentor, Aemond, when the man comes to his defense.

Tags: Modern Setting, FPS/Video game AU, Aged Up Characters, Fluff & Angst, SEXISM/SEXIST INSULTS, Read NOTES, Mention of other characters

⸻ Read on Ao3

Notes: Modern Lucemond FPS/Video game!AU - Inspired by this post.

There WILL be smut later! In chapter 3, 4 and 5 if I live long enough to write them.

TW : Sexism and Sexist insults - Please be careful, it’ll only occur in this chapter but I wanted to warn since it can be triggering (taken from my own experiences - be bad at video games, but don’t be a dick kids)

Game I used for reference is Valorant, even if I don’t use the name. (Sage = Lucerys, Viper = Aemond)

Tumblr for requests/ideas: @imthefemalemonster

Hope you enjoy it. ♡

⸻ Words: 3477

You can skip this part if you don't care about vocabulary or don't need it.

A bit of FPS/Video game related vocabulary for people not familiar with it:

Basic rules: 2 teams of 5 players who plays “agents” (characters with different types of spells and ways to be played), one team attacks (have to put a “spike” on a point, a kind of bomb), the other defend (defuse the spike and/or kill all opponents), there’s 2 or 3 points (A/B/C) depending on the map. They exchange positions after some rounds. First to a certain number of round wins. Mostly gunfights with various types of weapons (sometimes “cut” = knives. Very rare)

Agent : Characters you play in the game that all have special abilities

Point A/B/C: Area on the map you attack or defend

Duelist / Controller / Sentinel: Types of characters (specialized in duel, control of the map or protection/healing)

Ranked (or competitive) / Normal / Custom games: Ranked are competitive matches where winning or losing influence points you’ll gain at the end of the game to “climb the ladder” (reaching higher ranks) / Normal are the same without the competitive aspect, same rules apply between Ranked and Normal / Custom are between certain players, to play between them or train with rules they can decide of.

Training ground: Place to train your aim in a special map in the game

Voice chat: In game voice chat to talk to your mates

Carrying: Same as “carrying on your back”, being so good you win the game alone despite what your mates are doing

Attack/Defense round: Teams are split in two, one attacks, one defends, round are ended once a whole team is dead or the bomb exploded or was defused.

Smurf: A side (or sometimes main) account where you play against players under your usual rank, smurf can also be used as a compliment for good players “he is smurfing” “you smurfed” when they did very well in the game.

K/D/A: Kill (number of kills you made), death (number of times you died) and assists (assistance on a kill, participating to a kill but without being the one who killed), often accessible during the game in the scoreboard

OP or operator: Sniper type weapon

MVP: Title given to the best player of the game at the end of it

Patch: An update adding new content into the game

___

The day had been long, mostly boring. Waking up, going to college, hearing Jace rumble about incomprehensible things that annoyed him in his lessons. Going to class, some interesting, some not really, some extremely tiring. Lucerys was but impatient to go home. It was the week-end, he hadn’t much work to do, thankfully he had worked this week to avoid being too overwhelmed by homeworks. Headphones on his ears, bus crowded, lost in his own thoughts thinking about what he would do once home. His mother and stepfather probably wouldn’t be home yet, maybe Rhaena and Baela would. All day he and his friends had talked about the game they were playing. A new patch had come out, and a new agent with it. They were all super excited to test it. Entering the silent house, Luke thought that he should probably play a little bit, some warm-up games before their usual nightly ranked session.

He closed his door in haste, throwing his bag on his bed, sitting on his chair. His computer was asleep, having the bad habit of never turning it down. He checked his friend's chat, ready to invite his friends for some games.

Just got home… let’s play tomorrow, I think I’m too tired tonight.

ur weak

Stfuuu

my parents want us to go out BRO. i’ll see you tomorrow too. plz no spoilers about the agent man i want to test it first. don’t tell me it’s shit i won’t believe you

??? tf you are saying

LMFAO. it’s always either shit or cracked up man

ikr

Luke pulled a face, annoyed. Guess he had to play alone for now. Resigned he opened the game. Nobody he knew was online, it was still only very early in the evening, most people hadn’t come out of work or school yet. He sat properly, one hand on the keyboard, the other on the mouse, he was ready. He clicked “PLAY” and chose “COMPETITIVE”, he pressed “START”.

The queue wasn’t long, only a few seconds and he was in the game. He had to choose his agent first, he didn’t hesitate, he went for his favorite girl. It was a type of support, she could heal, protect, revive her allies, and also slow or block enemies. She wasn’t simple to play but he loved her very much and wanted to train her more, he always loved being the protector, the support for his team. Maybe his aim wasn’t very good, but he could control the map very well to help out his allies.

The game started rather slowly, it was quite messy. His allies, and himself, were running in random directions, sometimes picking up an enemy, mostly by chance, sometimes being destroyed by someone behind them. The voice chat was active, he could hear two very loud boys with him and a third, deep voice that only spoke one or two words from time to time. Luke clearly wasn’t having his best game, he struggled to shoot, or even to find good opportunities to help his mates. It was starting to stress him out a lot, he hated to suck but couldn’t help it, pressure only made it worse, and the toxic boys were not helping.

“Jesus fucking christ! What the fuck is she doing?!”

Lucerys knew it was about him. He truly hoped it wasn’t but it was for sure, he just died to a random bullet because he didn’t take cover fast enough, confused about what he had to do.

“You’re fucking lost?! You’re trolling right?”, yelled one of the boys, in a very low quality microphone.

“S-sorry”, mumbled Luke, he probably should have said nothing. He often did because he was just too shy to talk.

“Ah fuck I knew it fucking egirl.”, shouted another voice, a bit deeper, but still sounding very young, “Of course a fucking girl ruining our fucking game!”

Luke frowned his eyebrow. A girl?! He was confused.

“I’m not a girl bro what the fuck.”

“The kitchen is too fucking busy bitch?”, yelled the first boy, laughing.

“You sound like one”, continued the older boy, “Fucking high pitched voice go suck some dicks you’ll be better at it than at aiming.”

They both wheezed loudly, still throwing a torrent of sexist insults toward Luke who was way too anxious and panicked to defend himself.

“F-fucking weirdos. Failed my position, it…”, Luke hesitated, “It was my bad I’m fucking sorry. Don’t need to be cunts about it.”

“F-f-ff”, repeated one of the boys, “Mouth so full she can’t talk!”

Luke’s fingers were so tense, clenched on his mouse that it hurted.

“Fuck off! Stupid ass sexists.”. Lucerys wanted to be way meaner but he couldn’t find the words, the strength.

“Cry me a river fucking dumb bitch go play animal crossing.”

“Aha you’re a fucking sexist bro”, yelled the younger boy, “She gonna cry on twitter about it soo-”

“Fuck off I said! Fucking focus on the game you’re ruining it more than m-”

“Shut the fuck up.”

It was deep but perfectly audible. Each word decomposed, their very sound piercing through Luke's frail body like a thousand knives.

“I’ve been carrying your stupid asses for rounds now.”, the guttural voice continued, “You’re fucking useless. Absolutely unable to keep a fucking point or understand the basis of the game, so instead of crying in the voc use your energy for something useful like aiming correctly.”

Lucerys was done for. After this game he would probably close the game, uninstall it, jump under his sheets and cry to sleep for being the worst ever video game player. The silence that followed was long as the next round hadn’t started yet. Hands shaking, Luke moved to take position, hoping nobody would notice him anymore, that the game would end soon and he would never play it again.

“Lmfao you’re right man, fucking cry baby girl”, one of the boy laughed, “Try playing from the kitchen maybe it’ll work better.”

Fists clenched on his keyboard and mouse, Lucerys was about to mute the voice chat, even if it meant losing precious information and maybe losing the game too, he had heard enough. Baela had often told him about toxic guys and how it felt to be a girl playing video games, Luke wondered how strong she was to take that everytime. Maybe she wasn’t, it probably made her as angry and saddened, even scared as he was now. He wanted to seek her confort now, Rhaena and her knew better than everyone how to handle that.

“I’m talking to you dipshit.”

There was another silence. Luke heard one of the boys mumble, visibly confused.

“Me?”, asked the boy with the higher-pitched voice.

“Yeah you.”, husked the voice, “You talk a lot for a fucking useless player.”

The two boys bursted out laughing,

“Holy shit bro! Did I insult your girlfriend?”

“This your girl? That’s why you're so mad? It’s ok bro she probably ugly as fuck.”

The round started before anyone could add anything, voice chat going back to inaudible noises, messy information and laughs. Luke followed the agent with the deep voice, sticking close to him. They successfully took control of the point and won the round, the two other boys dead from going too deep into the map, caught by the enemies.

“Makes sense now”, teased the older boy, “Wants the girl number.”, a wheeze was heard in a low quality mic, probably from the second toxic boy.

“I don’t know him”, continued the man, “I don’t fucking care. But you are being fucking annoying. I can't focus. Your information are messy at best, false at worst.”

Luke didn't know where to stand. Glad someone took his defense, but he also felt the voice could turn against him at any moment if he made these big positioning mistakes again. He decided to stick with him still, it worked for a few rounds, it should work again, the man didn’t seem to care or protest.

“Lmfaoo I would love not to hear some dick sucking in vocal bro”, rasped the younger voice, “I’m trying to fOcUS.”, the boys started laughing again.

“Ignore them, follow me.”

The two boys repeated the man’s words, adding obscene noises of mouths mimicking a blowjob, and very cringy moans. Luke didn’t hesitate and did as he was told. There were only two rounds left if they won both of them. Luke saw it like deliverance, focusing the best he could so this awful game could end. He couldn’t wait to drop out of it and report the two boys, even if nothing happened to them like it often did, at least it would relieve him to do so.

The two last rounds went surprisingly well, mostly thanks to the agent with the deep voice. He was clearly way too good for this match, Luke thought it was probably a smurf, he was thankful to get carried by one. Most of the time, smurfs were guys previously banned that reassured everyone they would carry but ended up never doing so, instead they would just be toxic in vocal and insult the entire team for being “useless”. Lucerys smiled, happy that he won the game despite the terrible treatment he received.

“Good job guys”, said the fifth voice, silent until now.

“You too, good job man. Good job support.”, the voice whispered, always both calm and cold. Luke smiled at the compliment.

The two other toxic boys had already disconnected, their ego probably hurt from being carried so hard by a guy who humiliated them both in voice chat and in the game, showing that he was definitely better than them. Obviously the man won the match MVP, even getting congratulated, and a bit insulted, ‘fucking smurf carrying’, by the enemy team. Luke checked his score, in the end he didn’t do so bad. He wasn’t very good at making decisions but excellent at following them.

“T-thanks”, mumbled Luke, unsure if the man was still here to hear him.

“No problem.”

Lucerys heart jumped a little bit. How hard he wished he had that voice, skill, and confidence. He sounded a little bit… threatening too. Which only made it better. Luke wished he didn’t sound so childish, he could easily stand up for himself, but his skills were still lacking to shut some mouths up. Staring at his screen, Luke felt weirdly relaxed, but it was mixed with sadness as he would probably never play with that man again. He also doubted anyone would defend him like that ever again. Most of the time, it was girls who stood up for each other, even for others. Lucerys admired them, despite everything they had to endure everyday, he had but only lived a percent of what they live daily. Fingers tingling on his mouse, Luke was staring at the man’s name on his screen… Should I? It was bold of him to ask his mate as a friend. The man would probably not accept, he probably already forgot who he was, and there was no point for him, a way better player, to rank with Luke.

Lucerys sighed, ready to close his game, he wanted to step out of his room and seek for Baela and Rhaena, they were probably playing too but he absolutely had to tell them what happened. It would help him relax a bit, Rhaena would be reassuring when Baela would ask for the boy’s names and probably use her FBI-like skills to track them down and make sure their voices could never ever see a mic again. Luke smiled at the idea.

[You received a friend request.]

The boy jumped on his chair. Taken aback by the sudden noise. Eyes staring at the screen, they widened when he saw the friend request and by whom it was sent.

“Shit!”, he yelled, grabbing his mouse the best he could, hand moist with stress.

Lucerys blinked, once, twice, three times, he stopped counting at ten times probably. It couldn’t be! It couldn’t be … him. Lucerys shook his head, closed his eyes, opened them one last time, before reaching for the notification, and finally accepting it, after what felt like hours. The name appeared on his friend list next to his friends and family members. He fixed it like it wasn’t real. Luke was so confused. Confusion soon replaced with absolute anxiety when his chat turned purple, the color of a private message.

Hey

Luke wanted to take the message out of the screen, hold onto the words, grab each letter, imprint them on his skin. What’s wrong with me… He loved the attention, but most importantly, he craved to know why the man would give him any of it at first.

Sorry for what happened. Hope you are ok.

He smiled, heart warming up at the kind attention. The sentence felt weird, both cold and kind, like the man was in voice chat. A sudden thought sent shivers down Luke’s spine. What if he really thinks I’m a girl? The boy’s face twisted, he hoped it was not some creepy behavior, as it sadly often was. He typed shakily.

thanks i’m good. first time this happens it’s

He sent it and paused.

feels weird. i’m not who they think i was it didn’t impact me

There was a long pause, he didn’t know if his words made any sense.

You clearly sounded like it did.

Luke frowned his eyebrow, split between confusion and disappointment.

i’m not a girl. but they were annoying

You don’t need to be one to be annoyed.

Luke shook his head. I’m so stupid!

yeah sorry that’s not what i meant. hope these sexist fucks get banned tho

I hope too.

thanks for the game btw, i clearly sucked

It’s fine. It’s my smurf account. It was quite an unfair game for them.

yeah i figured that out pretty quick lol. you were way too good for this match. thanks again

No problem, you did good.

Lucerys smiled widely, kicking his feet. Something inside him felt weird, he could not quite put his finger on it. There was nothing strange about meeting people, maybe making a new friend. He had plenty of them on social media. Maybe it was the man's true intentions, still vague to Luke, that confused him.

***

‘Good’ maybe wasn’t the best word. Aemond didn’t want to type again to correct himself. Well you did… your best, he thought. The boy looked absolutely lost on the map, his aim wasn’t too bad, he used his spells with care and was very good at following orders, particularly his. Most of the time he was rather silent in game, especially on his smurf, he would share basic information. He rarely stood up for others, because most of the time it was a bunch of kids indistinctly yelling at one another, sometimes in languages he had never heard. He mostly played with his brother and sister, communicating only to them. He was more than well aware of some toxic behavior because Helaena would suffer from it even when he was here. When Aegon was too busy insulting back and mocking their toxic mates, Aemond would be calmer, but only deadlier in his words. He knew his voice and tone impressed more than one, he would love to use it against badly educated boys or men that crossed the line, their ego too big for their own good. Nothing annoyed him more than to have his ears polluted by these whines and screams, especially if it was to insult people he loved and cared about. Too many immature crybabies roamed free in this game, so between two bullets, it was good to relieve himself with some good old threats. He was excellent anyway, they rarely could criticize the way he played.

So when he heard these boys, which probably were not even adults considering how their voice sounded, mocking their poor support who was clearly trying his best, he intervened. It simply reminded him all the time his own sister suffered from childish men who couldn’t bear the idea that yes, girls did indeed play video games, and that no, they are not always the one who suck in your games or ruin your matches. From the first time he heard the support, he wondered too, not wanting to misgender or assume anything, he rapidly got the confirmation he seeked for when the boy yelled that he was in fact, not a girl. Not that he considered himself a hero, he truly did not care, but he was raised good, and taught that this is not the kind of thing he should let happen without saying anything. So he was quick to react, unsurprised at the boys’ reactions. They mostly always react like this, sometimes they just shut up, most of the time their ego is too big and it slips out of their nasty mouth accompanied by the dumbest words a human could hear. But in the end, Aemond would always win, especially on his smurf account, he was better, he was carrying, and his voice reached far deeper into these stupid boys hearts, like perfect little knives cutting them open.

‘This your girl?’, the words had confused and disturbed Aemond more than they should have. He was used to be insulted back, called all sort of homophobic or bigoted things, even by enemies when he was destroying them. It did little to no damage to him. He was confident in his skills, he was untouchable. But something changed, shattered almost when he heard the pain in the boy’s voice. The immediate assumption that he was protecting his… girlfriend? Aemond wasn’t particularly fond of romantic relationships, and not really of girls either, or boys, he didn’t much think about it actually. Not that he never had interest in other people, sometimes he had, but it was superficial, he would brush it off. But he was always closer to boys, romantically. He didn’t have many friends apart from his siblings and mentor Cole, who got them into gaming and taught him a lot about this game. He couldn’t quite understand, or comprehend, what attracted him in the boy. Despite the pain, he sounded cute at the end, scared or impressed by him, Aemond couldn’t say. He wanted to see if he could get more of it.

Online later?

Confidence ran through him like bullets into his enemies. He waited a few seconds before getting a quick response.

yeah, why?

Don’t want to sound weird, but we could play again some time. We’re missing a player with my group. If you don’t mind joining us.

Aemond cracked his fingers, the response took seconds to arrive but it felt like hours. Had he been too straightforward? He wasn’t even sure if he wasn’t talking to a 14 years old boy, he might sound very creepy. He estimated that the boy was around 18 or 20 but he wasn’t sure.

woah

Pause.

if they are all like you… yeah i prob will be a burden man. idk

Aemond started typing again, unsure how he could convince the boy with the cute voice to play with him again.

It’s fine, we can do some custom or normal games, I could teach you some things. If you don’t mind.

that’s very cool man. sure it doesn’t bother you? i clearly was better at following you like a pup than playing the actual fucking game

Aemond smirked, at least the boy was conscious of it. He liked the mention of “pup”, that's really how he pictured the boy.

It’s all fine, if you intend on climbing the ladder, better learn some few useful tricks and tips.

He paused, hesitating. It was better if he knew.

Btw, we are in our twenties, forties for our oldest one but don’t worry, you can bully the grandpa. If that’s ok for you, don’t want to sound creepy.

There was yet another pause that almost sent Aemond into a coma, not realizing how tense he was, waiting for the boy to answer like a man in a desert seeking any drops of water he could find.

uh, i’m a fucking baby. i just turned 18 so i hope taht’s fine man

He smiled, once again he was right.

If it is for you then we are good.

nice, well see you tonight ig

See you tonight mate.

Aemond spent a few minutes staring at the game. Torn between a weird feeling of accomplishment, of pride, and confusion, head dizzy. He shook his head, he liked to be organized, precise, concise, in charge. So he decided to review the boy’s game, he opened a document and started to write down everything he saw, everything wrong and good, and what he could teach him, in a very private lesson, a smirk on his prying lips.

[yostresswritinggirl]

But what if Dottore killed Niwa’s lover before murdering him? And the lie he tells Scara is that the heart belonged to reader and Niwa cut it out?

That confrontation scene where Niwa says he’s not as cautious as Nagamasa and literally turns his back as if Dottore wasn’t gonna take that chance to stab him. Man spouting out classic shounen lines before dying, too. Truly main character energy. They had to kill him or else he’d be too powerful.

Reader has to die eventually. Just how is the question. Been watching the quest over and over while reading the notes. Suffering for the greater good.

Niwa and reader would rather have a simple wedding. They don’t strike me as bougie as Scara and puppet reader. No worries. Modern au will fix the angst. Just stapling more to kintsugi’s ending. I am a sucker for childhood lovers. There’s just so much history.

Oh, Niwa forging kitchen knives is so disgustingly domestic. Take him away. The romance has infected him. Wait, did Niwa give him the Talk? Niwa wasn’t gonna assume functionality of said parts but it doesn’t hurt to make sure his new son has some knowledge.

Torn between Kazuha or Scara getting the swords. Might go with the Inazuman eternity thing. Scara and puppet reader = Eternal Dream. Niwa and reader = Eternal Lovers.

Just Niwa thoughts.

Bloom anon

Yoooo, hey, hey *places hands on your shoulders* Fuck you /lh omayghad how fucking dare you but also that's the most appropriate scenario yet, just ties in more to the monster Dottore's envy for scarameow but omayghad, fuckin Dottore omayghaaad

If Niwa survived, he would have found a way to prevent the Vision Hunt Decree somehow sksksks oh my heart still hurts from the first one, godspeed Bloom but also you're a menace

I can't believe you just called them boujie wahahhaha but yes, just off the coast of Tatarasuna, a seaside wedding is what I envision it- I'm not gonna think about the Talk, you are not infecting me too

I'm torn too wait hm actually - wait hhhhh I'm so torn, I'm thinking what if the other half is with reader and the other half was with Kazuha, so that we can imagine Scara giving it to them to protect themselves when they joined the Fatui. And it would instead be heartwarming instead when he sees them still using the sword post-interlude

I wanna go back to the modern au now please huhu

[saphira-approves]

It’s 12am and I’m really out here discovering this fandom for the first time in my 22 years of life and nigh decade of being an avid reader of Eragon I had a dragon name and a sword name made up when I was 15. She was gold and yellow with orange undertones and I forget her name but the sword was a hand and a half yellow narrow bladed sword named K’Vekva (lighting in the AL). Please please share your thoughts and knowledge with me.

<3<3<3 Welcome!!! I’m glad you’ve found our little corner of the internet, we do have a lot of fun here.

If you haven’t found them already, some other blogs around here that do IC stuff are @i-wanna-be-eragons-gf, @someeragonmemes, @modern-inheritance, @ladyofancienttales, and @alagaesia-enthusiast!

For fics, @modern-inheritance has a modern AU going, I have a profile on AO3 where I put my IC stuff, and @ao3feed-inheritancecycle posts links to new IC fics!

Your dragons sounds utterly gorgeous; if you find or remember her name, or choose a new one, let me know! I absolutely adore peoples’ dragon OCs. I also love the name Lightning for a sword, it brings to mind a very fierce, speed-based fighting style!

As a 12yo I couldn’t choose a favorite color, and I had also read Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series, so my dragon Ophelia changes color lmao. Originally I had an idea for a golden sabre named Solus (idr if it’s AL, it honestly sounds more like Latin), but then I was like “nah, I want TWO MAGIC KNIVES” so I came up with two knives whose names meant Truth and Honesty… but also IRL i recently got a longsword and. i’m having thoughts. it’s a pretty longsword.

And as a random knowledge fact, have you heard about how horses can sleep standing up? Because it’s true! They can achieve their first and second stages of sleep upright, with their joints locked. However, horses also have a third stage called REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep, which is deep enough that, just like for humans, they become essentially paralyzed and no longer have control over their bodily movements. Thus, for REM sleep, horses must be laying down.

The reason they can stand during the first and second stages of sleep is connected to the fact that they’re herd animals! Out in the wild, it would be dangerous for the entire herd to be laying down dead asleep. So, at least a few horses—sometimes half the herd or more—are standing while the rest lay down. Being not so deeply asleep, the horses standing up can detect danger sooner and alert the rest of the herd, perhaps fending off whatever the danger is while those who had been laying down stand up to fight or flee.

[lechugana]

ρωμαϊκός

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Words: 6681

Categories: F/M, Gen

Tags: roman!percy, percabeth, no beta read, capture flag game, nico has a new pet, it’s a mouse skeleton

Summry: 

AU where Percy is roman and Annabeth is searching from him. "But you still listened to me, Jackson" Annabeth replied with a small smile on her lips. "But I still listened to you, Chase" he repeated copying her smile, the boy's smile was predatory, the smile of a boy who knows he's going to get in trouble ... and he doesn't care.

Read it also on AO3

Romans exist Annabeth repeated over and over again as she walked beside Nico.

They were both leading the Greek camp, walking the streets of New Rome. As much as Annabeth wanted to pout, she couldn't stop admiring the columns, the buildings, the marble stairs… all the classic architectural elements that Annabeth thought would be in Rome, they were here, in San Francisco. The whole city exorbitated wealth and classicism, the people wearing a mix of robes and modern clothes, the streets lined with shops that had the smallest campers trotting from window to window. Among the people walked what were lares, spirits - ghosts - of the home, Nico had already warned them of them when he had visited the camp for the first time together with Jason and with the blessing of his father, becoming an ambassador of Hades ... Pluto .

Now that they were in Rome, Hades is Pluto.

And Athena, Minerva. And Minerva has no children and is not a strategist goddess. Here is a simple virgin goddess of the arts.

On the Field of Mars were two people shoulder to shoulder, dressed in purple, white and gold robes, like the ancient Roman emperors. One was blond-haired, and Annabeth knew instantly that it was Jason, his hair shining in the sunlight, while next to him was a Latin girl, with long dark hair in a braid.

"Annabeth. Welcome to New Rome” Jason welcomed, as he spread his arms before them, his blue eyes narrowing at his smile. “She is Reyna, the second praetor of Rome. Nico, you already know her. "

"Daughter of Minerva " Reyna reached out to Annabeth. Annabeth could notice how her siblings were tense, Malcolm was behind her trying to calm the little ones.

"Athena" Annabeth corrected in the calmest way possible, her body seemed calm, but she was watching every movement of the praetor. Annabeth had realized that the girl was just like her, a strategist ready for an attack at any moment.

"Welcome to New Rome" Reyna slightly moved one of her eyebrows. “Jason's friends are our friends. We hope that your instance here is as placid as possible. I'm leaving my colleague Jason to take you on a tour of our city, I have to attend to some business ”Reyna gave Jason a look, one of those looks that is only understood among familiar people, gave him a squeeze on the arm and left followed by her two metal greyhounds.

"Really, Jason? Minerva?"

"I know I'm sorry. I've told her- Hello to you too Travis, yes Connor, I haven't forgotten about you, I'm talking to Annabeth for a moment, can you-? Thanks, Malcolm” Jason tried to get rid of the Stoll brothers, Malcolm who was seeing everything from behind, grabbed the two brothers by their ears and led them to the other end of the Field of Mars. "As I said. I told Reyna, I told her everything I needed to know about the Greeks and Camp Half-Blood, but she is…” Jason waved his hand in the air trying to find a word. "Difficult?"

Annabeth studied Jason for a few more seconds, making him more nervous than he was, his hand kept moving his glasses and his feet moved slightly from side to side. Annabeth rejoiced knowing she made Jupiter's son nervous.

"I don't blame you Jason, you're just trying to do what you can." Jason's shoulders immediately relaxed at those words. Annabeth may have been proud but not a masochist. "Now show us where to stay, oh preator."

"Now do you know Latin?"

" I've done a bit of research."

---

Their rooms were simply a camp built by a group of Roman demigods on the outskirts of the city of New Rome, as far away as possible.

Big tents with all their amenities arranged for the campers, the smaller greek campers were hopping around, excited about a night of camping out in the open, the hut bosses were running after them to calm them down, though many of them gave up even before chasing them.

"I never would have thought the Romans would exist," Malcolm whispered next to Annabeth. They were both a bit away from the chaotic camp watching them. "I wish Chiron was here." Annabeth nodded slightly; Chiron had been her father since he ran away from his family in San Francisco. The two had been inseparable since she arrived at the camp shortly after Thalia's death, Chiron always came to her when she had a problem, always counting on her opinion in any matter that arose. “Do you think he will be here? Come on, Annabeth, don't look at me like that, we have the same mother,” he laughed. “You haven't stopped looking for him since the battle, and I know you're waiting for the right moment to tell Jason. Have you ever considered that maybe he is a fugitive demigod? "

Annabeth had indeed considered that this boy had become a fugitive demigod. A demigod without a camp, who wandered from one place to another away from monsters and without having a stable place.

“Yes, I have thought about it, but…” Annabeth could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment, “it's a hunch, okay? I know it's stupid, but I feel like it must be around here."

Annabeth wanted to drown in humiliation, Athena's children didn't follow hunches, they followed clues and logic.

Malcolm stared at her for a long time, until his shoulders sagged in defeat, “Of course it's not stupid. I just want you to remember that there is a possibility that he is not here…” Malcolm shifted between his own feet, unsure. "Or that you will never find it."

---

The Romans dining room was not disappointing either. Long wooden tables adorned with fruit bowls, silver jugs filled with drink and glasses of the same metal. The Romans were talking and throwing jokes as well as food, some were speaking louder, while others were observing their companions.

The image itself was a shock to Annabeth, she didn't know why, but she had imagined the Romans as stoic people, eating meals without laughter or talking, but the image in front of her showed her that she had been wrong.

The sound of a glass silenced everyone in the dining room, Reyna was up with a small golden dagger and a glass of the same colour, "We want to officially welcome, both my partner Jason, like me" Jason like Reyna , raised and with a golden glass in his hand, but instead of being next to him he was at the table of the Greeks with his friends Leo and Piper. “We hope that your stay in Nueva Roma will be as comfortable as possible and that our relationships for the future will be strengthened and grown for prosperity. Iubentium."

“We are very grateful that you have allowed us to stay in your camp, we hope that, like you, our relationship grows and strengthens over time and for future generations, in order to have a powerful ally among us. Cheers.” While making the speech, she tried to look around to find the boy without attracting much attention, but not locating him, Annabeth focused only on Reyna. When she finished Annabeth raised her glass at the same time as Reyna, both looking at each other as they drank from her glass, calculating each other's every move.

"Nice speech" Nico murmured next to her.

"It's sarcasm?"

“Pf, yes and no. The speech was fine, but you could tell in the air how you were throwing knives at each other” he said simply as he swallowed four chips at the same time. Clarisse who was listening nearby snorted proudly at Annabeth.

"I do not like her. She’s hard to read,” Annabeth admitted as she tossed her food back and forth without much appetite.

“Normal” Nico drank from his Coca-Cola, “her mother is Bellona, ​​the Roman goddess of strategy. She is also watching you Annabeth and can't figure you out. You both collide by nature- Will, I'm not going to eat a pear, I hate pears."

Annabeth let the two boys argue about nutritional values ​​and her gaze began to search among the many heads of the Romans, but as before, no clue of that boy.

"Oh Hazel. What good find "Annabeth looked up listening to the voice of Jason. Hazel, she supposed, was the girl with dark skin and curly hair, the girl was very short in stature, maybe she was not over thirteen. She was dressed in a purple T-shirt and gold breastplate, her matching helmet carried under one arm, and a sword slightly too large for her hung from her hip. "Ah, I didn't know you were talking to your brother, I'm sorry Nico, but do you know where Jackson is?"

Hazel was thoughtful for a moment, but then shook her head, “He wasn't on watch today, and from what Frank has told me, I don't think he's in the stables. Maybe in the bathrooms? I do not know."

“Ah… don't worry, it doesn't matter. I just wanted him to meet the Greeks.” He turned to Annabeth when he saw her confused face. "Jackson is a ... how to say, a free spirit?" Jason laughed at the comparison. "He does not like to follow the rules very much and he always gets into trouble, surely you would get along well."

"He's my kind of man," Connor blurted out from behind his brother, his hair full of roots, growing little by little around his neck.

"Susan, please don't strangle Connor at lunch." Piper scolded Demeter's daughter from the other end.

"Susan, don't stop," shouted a son of Aphrodite from the other end.

The cries of the Greek demigods filled the air of the dining room. Some encouraging Susan to strangle Connor, Hermes cabin maliciously clawing at Connor's face to break the roots. Other campers rose from their seats to watch the show between Demeter's cabin and Hermes. Hazel who was still present next to Nico giggled at the ruckus that had formed in a very short time.

"I can't imagine what your camp will be like day by day."

Annabeth smiled at the teenager with pride warming her chest as she saw the scene that had been lovingly formed.

---

Ares's cabin exploded into cheers upon hearing the news that they were going to fight the Romans, at the same time, Hermes's cabin joined in the cheers, leaving the other campers staring at each other with terror in their eyes.

Annabeth studied Jason's proposal, she knew that it was tradition to have friendly fights (in the case of the Greeks to capture the flag), but after meeting Reyna, Annabeth expected any trap to catch the Greeks and give an excuse to the Greeks. Romans to attack them.

Nico and Piper were next to her, studying her reaction.

"Annabeth, I think Jason wouldn't have proposed this to us if there really was a trap." Piper tried to reason with her, inadvertently using her charmspeak.

"It doesn’t matter if he is a praetor, that doesn’t mean that they tell him everything" she murmured stubbornly, the two have been friends for a long time and her charmspeak no longer had that much effect.

"Nico, tell him that nothing is going to happen."

Nico, instead of answering, was silent with his two hands in his pockets, hunched over, looking at the ground, a small mouse skeleton curled up at his feet.

"What do you want me to say? What Chase said is true. ” Nico reached down and scooped up the mouse skeleton in the palm of his hand. “Jason is… a visionary. And visionaries tend to have a lot of ideas, and those ideas cause change. The Romans don't like change. They like tradition. And right now, the tradition is that both Greeks and Romans are separated, as they always have been. "

"You're no help, death boy," Piper growled, earning an angry scowl from the smaller boy.

"Can you feel if something bad is going to happen?"

"If someone is going to die?" Nico frowned again, but this time in concentration. "No. Everything is still fine; nothing feels out of place. "

"You see? No carnage is going to form,” Leo exclaimed jovially from behind Piper. "Don't look at me like that mija, it's a good thing!"

"But that doesn't mean there is going to be a catch."

Piper threw both hands in the air, finally giving up on this conversation. Annabeth was too stubborn to change her mind.

The girl from before, Hazel, came back together with a boy much taller than her and leafier, they both greeted Nico happily and he responded dryly, as always, too focused on his new skeleton pet. The two Romans were there to guide them to the weapons room, where they can equip themselves for the afternoon games.

Hazel was talking animatedly to Nico, her curly hair trotting as she walked, the boy a little further behind the two demigods, always keeping a safe distance from the son of Hades. Annabeth raised an eyebrow when she noticed that the boy was afraid of poor Nico.

The leaders of the huts tried to line up their brothers to give them the necessary weapons, but as always, no one was listening to anyone, so everyone ran to get the best weapon they could find. Both Annabeth and Nico stood at the gate watching, both carrying their weapons on their hips, Annabeth watched her brothers giving advice to the other campers on which weapons would suit them best in battle, while Nico watched Will trying to calm her down. his brothers when it came to catching arrows and bows, a small group from Apollo's hut stayed behind Will, hinting that they would be the paramedics on the battlefield.

When everyone was already armed and protected with armour, they followed the two Roman boys to the Field of Mars.

“Wow, why do they have a battlefield? I also want one!" Ares's hut began to protest as they admired the battlefield.

"And have you seen his armoury?"

"I do not like. It's all outdoors, I prefer to be in the forest. "

“So you can tangle me with roots again? No thanks."

"I told you it was accidental!"

"Unintentionally does not mean catching someone with roots and hanging them from a tree."

"Mathew is trying to cast a spell on me!"

"The Romans are going to crush us," Nico muttered.

Annabeth didn't have the mind to worry about the campers, she already had different routes and strategies in mind to fight the Romans. Yes, the Romans may be very meticulous and were known worldwide for their formations on the battlefields. But the Greeks had a factor that they did not have, they had no order. The Greeks were neither orderly nor organized, in the battles each one went on his own, without following any training, and that freedom when fighting could give them an advantage right now.

The Romans were already in the middle of the field, all standing in ranks and cohorts, dressed in golden armour and red shields. The image gave Annabeth chills.

In front of the five cohorts were the two praetors, both dressed in purple capes and like the other Roman campers, in gold armour. Whereas Jason had an excited glint in his eyes as he spotted Leo and Piper amid the tide of demigods; Reyna, on the other hand, her gaze was not as friendly as that of her partner, with her arms crossed and her back straight she watched as the mestizo camp arrived at the place.

Annabeth wanted to get rid of the bad feeling she had in her body, she could imagine what the Romans were seeing when they arrived at the place, a group of unstructured demigods walking scattered around the place, some were running around, others were on top of others, some they were lagging in the back. Annabeth shook her thoughts, the Greeks defeated the army of Cronos, a titan, they were not weak.

When Annabeth arrived at the scene, standing in the front row, with the entire camp behind her, she watched Camp Jupiter, some of the campers who were there laughing at each other as they shot them glances.

“As you are smaller in number, a cohort will help you during the games. Fifth cohort."

The first cohorts began to laugh among themselves as they looked at the last cohort, in it, the two centurions in front were visibly discouraged. One of them took out a flask and began to drink from it, while the other centurion tried to shake him off.

"Each group go to your place."

And with that said, each group went to one side of the field. Annabeth waited for the Fifth Cohort to approach them.

"Good luck with the graecus."

"In the end, the outcasts gather among themselves."

"How many victories are we going to have already?"

"I think twenty-seven."

"No, thirty."

Despite the comments from the campers, one of the centurions tried to liven up the atmosphere, cheering up his subordinates, giving smiles and patting on the back, while the other centurion continued to drink from his flask while visibly leaning on his companion. 

“We are the fifth cohort. Jason has told us a lot about you” the centurion introduced himself. "I'm Gwendolyn, and this is my partner Dakota ... don't worry he's drinking Kool-Aid", slapping her hand on the flask caught his attention.

"I hope you like losing." Dakota lifted his flask and took a sip. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Annabeth. I guess you know who Nico is. She's Clarisse… There is Will… Oh, this is Piper…” Annabeth rummaged through the other campers with the cabin leaders, but seeing that the Stoll brothers were doing their thing, she stopped naming with a sigh.

"Are you all the praetors?" Dakota exclaimed upon hearing the number of names Annabeth had named.

"Mn? Oh no. We are the cabin leaders. A cabin by God. "

The Fifth Cohort gaped at them. Apparently, they did have more differences than they imagined.

“We are always defending ourselves. It's easier to accept defeat.” Gwen shrugged.

"Pathetic" Clarisse snorted. Both Ares's and Nike's cabins supported her.

"You don't know who is in the first cohort!"

"Of course, we don't know, we are new, remember?" said Fred, a Hermes boy, who bore a horrible resemblance to the Stoll brothers. 

"And we do not care, we are going to crush them" a girl from Nike jumped up from behind, hitting her fist with her hand for more emphasis, both Nike's cabin and Ares's hut jumped in cheers at those words. 

"Let’s not get so excited, they are not monsters ..." A child from Iris tried to quietly calm the other campers. 

"Shut up Eugene."

Annabeth sighed and looked sideways at the Romans, "We never stare." Annabeth turned to be seen by both Greeks and Romans. "We are going to attack. Romans and Greeks. Will, choose one of your brothers to go into battle for medical help. Nico, I think you already know what to do. Nina, she will give you some inventions from Hephaestus's cabin, listen to her well what they are for. You Romans, stand in the front row, shields raised and prepare to defend. "

Annabeth watched as everyone fell into place. Will named some of his faster brothers to go to the field, while Nico caught some of the Hermes and Demeter campers explaining the plan. Piper, in the background, was practicing her spell-talk with Leo. Nina was handing out small gadgets to some of the campers followed by Hecate's children who were giving some explanations of how they worked. Clarisse, along with Nike's hut and Ares were sharpening their weapons, looking with sharp smiles at the Romans scaring them. 

"How do you know we are going to win? She is nothing but a daughter of Min… Athena. And they are Romans, and they always play dirty, no matter what you do, we are going to lose” Annabeth made out Dakota's voice behind her as she fixed her golden bib. 

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth smiled at Malcolm's voice. 

---

Ugh. Annabeth hated fighting in the open field, she preferred to fight in the woods of the half-blood camp, it was easier to hide there, and the trees helped her to form even more convoluted plans than usual. 

From his place he could see how Reyna flew over the fields of Mars on the back of her pegasus, even from there he could see her frown and how she judged them from the sky. On the floor and sitting in a box, Jason was looking at them with bright and expectant eyes, Annabeth couldn't help but think that Jason looked like a labrador retriever, wagging his tail from side to side excitedly. 

On the other side of the field were the other cohorts, preparing for battle, from her place, Annabeth could see as they were placed in an attack position, prepared to fight. 

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Malcolm appeared behind her. 

"I hope so." Malcolm glanced at her, looked like he wanted to say something, but at the last moment he closed his mouth and hunched his shoulders in defeat.  

"They look prepared," he simply said. "I'm scared."

"For us?" Annabeth this time looked at him raising an eyebrow. 

"Mn? No way. For them. I don't think I've ever seen Clarisse so excited in a battle, I think I've heard her say she's going to try to split the Romans in two. The Romans have never had to endure the fury of the sons of Ares. "

"And the Nike ones," Annabeth recalled. 

"Don't remind me, ugh."

Both Annabeth and Malcolm laughed as they watched the Romans on the other side moving from side to side. 

A trumpet sounded from overhead, Annabeth raised her head and saw Reyna look her directly in the eye. All of this was challenging. A challenge to see if the Greeks were worth it. And Annabeth already knew. 

Taking one last look at the Romans already in position, she went to hers, raising her eyebrow in recognition of Reyna. 

---

“Gwendolyn, I need you to help us form defences. Get into position swinging line, on the left flank, not right. Put the archers in the first row, not in the last, and then in the second row put an arrow line. "

Gwendolyn looked at her with wide eyes, shocked to hear the Greek know the Roman techniques and embarrassed that she did not know any Greek techniques. With a nod of his head he ran after his fellow Romans giving them Annabeth's orders. 

Seeing that her zone was in motion, she braced herself. Praying that he hadn't been wrong. 

From her spot she could see how the fifth cohort got into the position she had said, thanking herself for her curiosity in having studied Roman defence tactics. The fifth cohort advanced from their position, alerting the Romans to their orthodox attacking position, the archers should be behind not in front, and it was the right flank that was more protected than the left, just as soldiers with arrows should be in the front row. Annabeth heard the confused sounds of the other cohorts when she saw that position, cracking their positions and hesitating when attacking, she could hear the confusing sounds of the enemy cohorts from her place. That made her smile. 

After appreciating their tactics in action, Annabeth jumped into action. Picking up her dagger, she jumped to the right flank, seeing that the defence of that area was weakened, running between the Roman and Greek campers. 

From her place she could see Nico's signal, probably aided by his sister Hazel, a lump, almost imperceptible on the ground, with a silver coin gleaming in the sunlight. Taking a deep breath, she lunged for the signal, dodging and kicking the Romans, and the Greeks pulling away with experience. She could see the silver coin shining brighter every time she got closer, but halfway there she saw a group of Romans rush over the sign, taking it to the other side of the field. 

"Shit," Annabeth blurted out after someone tackled her. 

"Minerva's daughter," a Roman hissed. The boy had a shield almost the same height as him and was covered by golden armour. His face was covered by a helmet of the same material. Annabeth snorted at those words. Right now, he didn't feel like fighting an angry idiot. "You are going to learn to respect our goddess-"

Without letting him finish the sentence, Annabeth lunged towards the boy and he raised the shield reflexively, just before she hit the shield, Annabeth turned to the side, surprising the Roman with a kick to his back, throwing him to the side. From above, Annabeth raised her dagger to threaten the boy at her feet, but when she raised her hand, she realized that his dagger was gone. Looking everywhere for it, she acknowledges that the poor dagger had disappeared at the time of the tackle. 

Annabeth wanted to hit a wall. 

"Annie!" Piper yelled from her right throwing something at her. Annabeth reflexively raised her arm and saw that what Piper had thrown at her was nothing more than a stick in the shape of a 'y'. “Don't look at me like that, it was you who asked me to look for him if there was an emergency. Hey you! You are very sleepy ... be careful! oh, he fell head-on, do you think he'll be okay? That had to hurt. " 

Annabeth shook her head and took the stick in the shape of an 'y' and with a calculated blow she hit the boy at her feet on the head knocking him unconscious. Taking the stick by its shorter sides, she put the longer stick in front of him, pointing her way. Pointing it to the ground.

The stick had not yet moved, leading Annabeth to despair, the Greek kept pacing back and forth, sometimes in circles, looking for the stick to vibrate. Was she wrong? She was seldom wrong, and she was too proud to accept that she was wrong. In addition, she was the daughter of Athena, she could find another solution, every problem has a solution. A small vibration went up his arms, jumping from his place he saw the long stick vibrate to the ground. Releasing the air that she did not know she was holding, she followed the vibrations of the stick, following the path that led to the stick vibrating even more. She stayed above a point where the vibrations had made her arms not stop shaking. 

It's here. Annabeth thought. 

A clash of metal made her raise her head.

"Do you want to become a skewer or what?" The boy in front of her yelled from his helmet. That boy had stopped an attack from the other side, an attack that was going for her. Snorting, Annabeth ignored him, but marked with her foot where the stick had pointed. "I've saved your life and that's how you thank me-"

Annabeth pushed the boy away when she saw from the corner of her eye that another Roman was going after them, throwing the boy to one side, she dodged the spear by turning on herself, grabbed that spear at the same time, pulling the Roman towards her and knocking them out with one of his elbows. 

Turning around, she saw how both the boy and she were cornered by a group of Romans with their spears pointed at them. They both unconsciously approached each other, touching each other back to back, noticing their breaths. The boy's helmet fell right next to the two boys, Annabeth imagined that the boy had thrown the helmet out of frustration.  

"You are surrounded" shouted one of the Romans. 

"Really? I didn’t see it” the boy behind him said slightly, the boy resting his head on the crown of Annabeth's head, thanks to the fact that he was at least half a head taller than her. 

"Surrender."

The group of Romans stepped forward, further closing the circle that the two boys had around them. 

Annabeth surveyed her surroundings, still noting the weight on her head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that the boy was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, revealing his tattoo on his arm. Annabeth's heart leapt at the sight of him.  

"I have a plan." 

"Huh. It's going to be suicide."

"Maybe. But I'm not going to lose to the Romans."

"Do I have to remind you that I am a Roman?" 

Annabeth wanted to kick him. "There is water below us. Use it." 

Annabeth noticed how the boy tensed behind her. "I cannot."

"Yes, you can. I've seen your tattoo."

The boy gulped, his breathing shallower and faster. "I've never done."

You're must be kidding me, Annabeth thought. "That's not what I saw in New York, seaweed brains."

"Gods, you're wise girl" Seaweed brains let out a slow breath, Annabeth could tell how the boy shook his head slightly. "I still remember you, you know? That back kick hurt too much."

"I took a stab for you."

Seaweed brains laughed shaking his shoulders, "I still owe you one, now that you mention it."

"Well, if you owe me one, use the water." Annabeth nudged him in the ribs as he hissed between her teeth. 

"It’s not that easy. The Romans hate everything that surrounds my father, remember? Give thanks that they let me be in this camp" little by little, both Annabeth and the boy were placed in attack position. 

"And what difference does it make if they hate you, all the more reason for you to use your power, they won't change their opinion of you."

"They can kick me out of the camp." 

"You have another camp on the other side of the country." 

Seaweed brains turned, making her pull with him. The breath of Annabeth stayed in her throat. The boy was just as she remembered, if not, even better. He had grown in recent years, his hair, which was short before, was now longer and even blacker if that was possible, making his long hair tousled as if he had walked by the sea. His sea green eyes shone with that expression of melancholy and sarcasm that captivated Annabeth the first time she saw him. Even his skin glowed a golden hue in the San Francisco sun, and he had grown in recent years, becoming taller than her.  

"You're still as eloquent as the last time I saw you, wise girl."

"I didn't know you knew that word."

"I've done a bit of research. I still remember not understanding half of the words you were saying."

"But you still listened to me, Jackson" Annabeth replied with a small smile on her lips. 

"But I still listened to you, Chase" he repeated copying her smile, the boy's smile was predatory, the smile of a boy who knows he's going to get in trouble ... and he doesn't care. 

Seaweed Brain put his hand into a fist and instant water came around the couple, drowning the group of Romans who were around him. Annabeth heard the screams behind the wall of water, she also saw how the Romans tried to swim among the torrent of water, dust and sand, spears and shields sailed without an owner. Lowering his hands, the water calmed down as the tidal wave of Romans, weapons and shields fell to the ground. 

"Here" Seaweed brains threw a dagger in his direction. Annabeth took it instinctively, realizing shortly after that it was her dagger. "You had lost it."

A scream sounded behind Percy, causing Annabeth to act quickly, making the Roman a hold on his arm and throwing him with all his might to the ground. 

"Ugh, that had to hurt" Percy giggled, scratching his neck slowly. Walking towards the Roman he leaned out so he could see his face. "Now someone has suffered what I had to suffer. I still don't know how you can lift all that weight like nothing. You told me you were going to teach me, wise girl." 

A horn sounded from the sky, ending the battle. Annabeth rose from the ground, stepping over the fallen Roman and standing by Percy's side, staring at the mess he had made. The water had formed a diameter of at least two kilometres, washing away all the opposing combatants, leaving the allies dry. Awesome. 

"The Greeks have won" Reyna's voice rang out over the entire battlefield. 

"Wow. As always your plans work" Percy glanced at her. "I thought you were going to be more excited to see me. It's been a few years now that I think about it, how's Grover doing, I tried to talk to him, but-"

Teary-eyed Annabeth silenced him with a fist on his jaw.

---

The first time Annabeth saw Percy was in New York, a few months before the battle against Kronos. The boy had run into her while on the run against a monster. Annabeth, out of sheer instinct, grabbed his arm and helped him escape from the monster, both working in perfect coordination, which caused Annabeth to have chills all over her body. 

Annabeth and Percy had been partners ever since, both working shoulder to shoulder to defeat Cronos. The only problem was that Percy was never at Camp Half-Blood, always making excuses when Annabeth told him to visit. 

It was when Grover showed up that Annabeth got her confirmations on Percy. He was a Roman demigod, not a Greek, he was the son of Neptune, not Poseidon. A strange sensation had risen up the girl's back, she could even notice her mother looking at her with accusing eyes. 

You have joined the enemy. With the enemy. 

She even noticed how a bubble of hatred grew when he thought of the Roman demigod, but when he saw those green eyes, the bubble exploded. The boy was looking at her fearfully, his eyes staring at the ground, preparing to leave her sight, but he also had a defeated look, as if he already knew what was going to happen. Annabeth shook off the feeling of that bubble of hatred and smiled at Percy, making that look the boy had disappear in a moment. 

From that day on, Percy, Grover and Annabeth were inseparable, always staying at the boy's house to make plans, although it was more like Annabeth making plans and Grover and Percy eating Miss Jackson’s cookies. Part of her time she was asking about the world of the Romans, her curiosity floating around as she listened to the information the boy gave her. She learned that Neptune was not as respected as in the world of the Greeks, she also heard how Percy told him the threats he suffered when he tried to use his control over the water. The only person he got along with was Jason, a son of Jupiter, they were both in the same cohort, and now they were more than friends, both always together, despite the voices of the lares and the other demigods, all of them wanted to keep the great Jason away from the son of Neptune, a boy who only brought bad luck and trouble.

Annabeth and Percy grew closer each day, somehow Percy complemented her. On the outside it seemed that he was nothing more than a handsome boy without a head, but being almost living together in the boy's house, Annabeth realized that it was only the boy's personality, he was much smarter than he seemed, filling in the blank holes of Annabeth's plans. He also had blind faith in her, something that caused her mixed feelings. His fatal flaw was loyalty, Minerva had told him on one of her missions.

And the day of the Battle of New York arrived, they decided it was better than Percy did not speak about his Roman lineage, both say that Percy is a fugitive demigod, and had seen the danger had formed in his city and he had come to help.

They both fought shoulder to shoulder, as if they had grown up a lifetime together. Both protected their backs and threw themselves for the attacks that went to the other.

In the battle of the bridge, when Rachel came to speak about the prophecy, Annabeth stood in front of Percy, blocking a lunge that went for the boy, falling seriously injured. Annabeth did not remember much of what happened next, she only noticed painful palpitations in her body, how little by little her body became cold, but at the same time the wound was burning. There was a moment when he opened his eyes and looked Percy in the eye.

“You are cute when you worry, with your sulky eyebrows. "

Thanks to the great work of the Apollo children, Annabeth was at 75 percent of her abilities, and ready to fight Kronos. The three friends, Percy, Annabeth and Grover went to Olympus to finally fight Cronos.

The memory of Eric still hurt Annabeth, she remembered how she had given her life to betray Cronos, despite the fact that his betrayal was useless, since Luke's body was bathed in the Styx river. Eric's words echoed in their ears, asking for their help so that the next generations of demigods were recognized by their parents. After Eric's death, Percy had given the knife to Luke, having full faith in Annabeth and that her persuasion would bring Luke to light. The knife entering the demigod's body caused Kronos's body to turn to nothing but dust, leaving Luke's dead body.

Annabeth had fallen to her feet, clutching Luke in her arms, Percy and Grover on either side of her. Annabeth knew that Percy couldn't stay in this place for long. Rising up with a force she didn't know where she had gotten it from, she had escorted Percy to the elevator, leaving Grover by Luke's side and helping Thalia somewhere on Olympus.

"I have to go back to Camp Jupiter," Percy whispered, they were both about the same height, their eyes being on the same level. Percy's eyes were red, and pockets of water accumulated in them. Annabeth's eyes were surely worse.

"Before the gods return," Annabeth whispered as well.

"We will see each other again" the phrase sounded more like a question, green eyes searching for something between grey eyes.

Annabeth didn't answer him but kissed him at the elevator doors. It was a soft and loving kiss. Annabeth didn't know when she was going to see him again ... or if she was going to see him again. Before the boy could say anything, she pushed him into the elevator.

"Chase, we'll meet again." This time it didn't sound like a question, but rather a statement. The sea green eyes held great determination.

And the doors were closed.

And it took two years for me to see him again.

---

The Romans around her gasped as Annabeth knocked Neptune's son down with a punch to the jaw. Annabeth didn't let him get up, getting on top of him putting an arm around his throat, hinting that she would strangle him without a doubt.

Percy, instead of revealing himself, laughed under her. His green eyes sparkled with new light, tearing at the wide, white-toothed smile he now wore. Some of his freckles that came out from the sun were hidden among his wrinkles. From above Annabeth could see the resemblance he had to Poseidon, both with black hair and brown skin, and both with the same wrinkles next to their eyes that appeared when they smiled.

"You're cute when you worry." Percy held up a finger, putting it in the same place Annabeth had put it two years ago, between her eyebrows. "With your brows furrowed."

Annabeth whimpered and lunged toward the boy, hugging his shoulders and neck. Annabeth could hear the boy giggling as he hugged her back. Raising her head, through the tears she only recognized those green eyes that had haunted her for years and without thinking twice she kissed him.

[fullmetalscullyy]

a conspiracy theory - chapter 5

co-written by @snowdog49 and @jeanhaavoc

summary:  Detective Roy takes on a challenging task… To find Olivier Armstrong’s sword. However, he has a beautiful woman to distract him along the way. Will he, Jean, and Ed be able to find the sword in time, or will they succumb to the conspiracy?

warning: graphic depictions of violence

tags: conspiracy, pining, unresolved sexual tension, private detective au, royai, havolina, mystery, violence, modern au, coffee shops

rated: m | words: 4697

read on ao3

Ling had insisted on Roy and Ed meeting at his apartment, which was fine if Roy knew what he was going up against. When he parked the car and got out, the apartment proved to be the whole house. It was on the river’s bank, two stories, and a large garage. The lawn was well kept, with a large tree shadowing the grass and a cherry tree on the other side by the garage. There was a silver motorcycle parked out front in the driveway as well as a black sports car. Roy had to roll his eyes. If there was ever a definition of a politician’s kid, Ling was proving himself one even before meeting Roy. Ed stared at the bike, then back at Roy, who just kept walking up to the door. He half expected a butler or some kind of servant to answer the door, but instead, the young man himself did. Ling was barefoot with dark jeans and a white t-shirt on, covered by a sports coat. He grinned ear to ear and waved them in.

“Mustang right? Come on in!” He was cheery and almost carefree. His shoulders were relaxed and his legs walked easily as if he was inviting friends into his home.  

Roy already found Ling almost too happy. He was just a little taller than Ed, black hair pulled back with wild hairs in front of his face. He had on this goofy smile and a bounce in his step. He had nothing to hide, and it showed in the way he welcomed them both into his house without another thought. Roy noted that behaviour, but didn’t think there would be a reason to agonize over it later. After all, he was just a kid.

As they walked through the hallway, Roy noted the house was decorated rather normally, and Roy felt as if Ling’s parents were going to come out at any time. The living room had a couch and a coffee table, a big TV on the wall above the fireplace. It wasn’t ‘fancy’ by any means, but neither modest. Taking in more of his surroundings, Roy noted the large picture of the Xing capital on the wall.

“Is that your bike out there?” Roy heard, pulling him from his observations. He turned to look over at Ed.

“Yeah!” Ling nodded excitedly. “It’s the X-3005!”

“That’s freaking sweet!” Roy couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Ed so happy. His face lit up like a child’s on Christmas Morning. “I was trying to get my girlfriend to let me buy the BDR-889 but she says I’m only going to hurt myself.”

The young Xingese man laughed, holding his stomach as he did so. “All girls would say that. No! Don’t sell yourself short. The X class is where it’s at,” he gushed. “The BDRs are bikes for commuters. I will give credit where it’s due, they have great gas mileage, and they’re incredibly reliable, but they just aren’t as powerful.”

Roy’s eyes widened as he saw the connection right away.

“Come check out my garage!”

And just like that, his protege and Ling walked through the house and into the garage. Slightly bewildered, Roy watched the two of them walk off without him. Roy didn’t even think they remembered why he was there, or even if he existed at all. That was fine, though. It gave him time to walk slowly through to the garage after them, and take in as much as he could about the house.

It was quiet, the boards creaked under his feet. There was Xingese music playing in the garage and he heard Ed laughing. The kitchen was full of dishes, and there was a pizza box on the counter. It was finally starting to look like a young man lived there. On the dining table, in the same room, there was a computer and several books. As Roy rose onto his tiptoes to see as he passed by, he noticed Ling was studying law, Amestrian Law. He nodded and walked down the hallway. There were more pictures of Xing, and one of Ling, and what he guessed was his entire family. There were nearly 20 people in the photo. Maybe they were his friends? There were older people in there too. Roy tilted his head as he began to wonder who was in the picture.

“My girl Lan Fan hates it!”

Roy raised his eyebrow. Ed was doing exactly what he needed to be doing. It’d loosen Ling Yao up just enough so that he’d talk more casually.

Roy peered carefully into one room as he walked by, noticing that it had a few sets of weights in it. On the wall sat a few Xingese-type swords. They weren’t Amestrian at all. Leaning slightly further in the doorway, he also noticed some kunai knives. They sat more as a decoration on the wall, though Roy was curious if Ling knew how to use them. There were two mats on the floor, a mirror on the wall, and resistance bands on the floor. He nodded, his hair swaying as he returned to the hall. There were stairs on his left before he reached the garage, but Roy decided not to push his luck. He’d seen enough in his slow sweep. The house was just too clean. It was too big for just an Ambassador’s son to be living in by himself.

“No way!”

Roy gave in and walked the last few feet towards the garage, coming to a stop so he could lean on the doorframe. Ed was sitting on a jetski with a huge grin on his face.

“I’m serious,” Ling nodded excitedly. “We can go out! I’ll take you anytime!”

“This weekend?”

Ling nodded to Ed.

“This is freaking awesome!” Ed thrust his hands into the air.

Roy couldn’t help but laugh.

“Even for a twenty-year-old, you have so many toys.”

Ling laughed loudly again. “I’m eighteen. I just look older.”

Ed’s hands fell to his side. “You’re younger than me?”

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“But,” Ed blinked with a sad face. “You’re taller than me…”

The two stared at one another for what seemed like too long. Roy finally spoke. “I don’t mean to interrupt. I just have a few questions to ask, then I can let you two go back to the jet ski.”

“Sure,” Ling crossed his arms and turned to face Roy.

“You remember Selim Bradley’s birthday party two weeks ago?”

“Oh yeah,” Ling nodded as he put out an arm to lean on a car in the garage. It was another sports car that now had Roy distracted. “Crappy party. There wasn't a birthday cake. There was this rich fudge stuff and they gave me a little spoon.” He pinched his finger and his thumb together to indicate ‘small.’ “There wasn’t an actual meal, just o’dourves. They were good though. And they didn’t have beer either! Usually, I don’t mind wine, but a beer would have been great since they didn’t have a regular birthday cake.”

Roy nodded his head slowly.

“I actually brought the kid a birthday present and didn’t even see the kid!”

“I just wish I went to a party that had o‘dourves,” Ed commented quietly behind Ling.

“Well,” Ling turned now to face Ed. “I was there by proxy. Ambassador Fu likes to take me so that I can learn the tricks of the trade.” He faced Roy. “To be political,” he made quotation marks with his fingers.

Roy nodded slowly. Didn’t Raven say…

“I really didn’t want to be there. My girlfriend, Lan Fan was having a bonfire. I left as soon as I could. Bonfires have better food anyway. I think I ate fifty marshmallows.”

Ed laughed. “That’s easy.”

“Next bonfire,” Ling pointed his finger at Ed, challenging him. “You are on!”

“Okay,” Roy interrupted calmly as he raised his hand. “So you left…”

“Yeah. That was that.”

“Did you see a sword?”

Ling scoffed. “No.”

“You didn’t see a military sword?” Ed clarified.

Ling shook his head. “I would’ve been all over that.”

Roy nodded and sighed loudly. “I’m guessing you’re not one to show off swords of all kinds?”

“The only real sword is from Xing,” Ling laughed loudly. “Sabers are of Amestris. I think you also have a few rapiers, but Aerugo traditionally fights with rapiers.” Ling took a fencing stance and acted as if he was fencing. The young man was very amusing, and free talking.

“You don’t want an Amestrian sword?”

“A saber? Naw,” Ling snorted a laugh. “I’m from Xing. What would I do with a saber?”

“Just to show off. I saw your work out room. You have some nice swords on the wall.”

Ling nodded. “But you don’t see any saber -” he stopped and his face became serious. “Are you insinuating that I stole something of King Bradley’s?”

Roy chuckled. “Maybe…”

“No, Man.” Ling shook his hands in front of his face. “Stealing is low. I’m the Xingese President’s son! I do not stoop that low. In fact, I’m offended that you even insinuated it!”

“No offense meant,” Ed quickly called from behind. “We just have to ask. We were asked to find it and were hoping you knew where it was.”

Ling shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t have it. I ate a few of those fancy finger foods and left.”

“No sword?” Roy asked seriously.

Ling shook his head.

“I’m sure you hear quite a bit, being in and out of official offices.” Roy reached into his pocket. “Will you call me if you hear anything, anything at all?”

Ling shook his head and put his hands in his pockets. “Not my thing, Mr. Mustang. It’s not my property, not really worried about it.”

“Can you give me a call,” Ed asked, walking up next to Ling.

“Yeah, le me get you my info and we can go out tomorrow or Sunday and ride some waves!”

Ling and Edward pushed past Roy and into the kitchen. He nodded with a grin.

Ling was as innocent as they could get. But a frown soon followed on Roy’s face. Now the investigation was getting deeper than a stolen sword. He walked to the front door and leaned against it, hearing the two young men exchange contact information. It was obvious that Senator Raven lied about it being invitation only, and it was Bradley’s house. He scratched his cheek in thought.

“Are you going to see King Bradley?”

Roy turned to see the two walk from the living room to the entryway.

“It was his house. Oh! I have tickets to this dinner they are having. The Bradleys like to entertain, but they are so annoying.” Ling dropped his head to the side with a groan. “They talk too much. Anyway, it’s some fundraiser for exchange students… or something like that. I have no idea. It’s invitation only. You should go! Maybe you can talk to someone there!”

“Will there be the same crowd there?” Ed walked next to Roy.

“Mostly. Maybe more.” Ling ran over to the mantle and grabbed two letters from it, handing them to Roy. “That will get you in. Free fancy food and wine!”

“Thanks!” Ed raised his hand and the two high-fived.

“See you Saturday!”

Roy opened the door. “Thank you for your help, Ling,” Roy called as he walked out the door.

They walked calmly to the car, Ed trying not to jump in excitement too much and remain professional. Roy could see right through it.

“You did really well in there,” he complimented.

“Huh?” Ed opened his door.

“Just… Good job.”

“What did I do?”

Roy just grinned and got into his side of the car. “You did everything you should’ve done.”

*          *          *

A headache was beginning to form fairly quickly in Roy’s head. He’d spent too long looking at the same photographs, with his mind going into overdrive, trying to write up motivations for possible suspects. His eyes drooped as he looked at his computer screen, typing up the last thought he had so that he didn’t lose it. Even that felt like an extreme effort. Hitting period, he sat back in his chair, defeated at the moment. This was taking too long. Everything felt unorganized and he had no solid lead yet. He hated it. He needed results, he needed something to go on, he needed…

“I need a coffee,” he muttered to himself.

A good boost of caffeine would fuel him for the rest of the afternoon. Rebecca and Jean were already out on their lunch. Edward had left to do the same shortly after the couple, mumbling about going to meet his girlfriend, Winry. Roy had been adamant he’d work through lunch and try and get a solid lead by the end of Friday afternoon, but that goal was slowly becoming impossible. Admitting defeat and locking the office door, Roy made his way tiredly to his car.

Although there were two coffee shops closer to the office than Metric Coffee, Roy felt he needed some good coffee for his lunch break in order to get him through the rest of the day. Plus, they did delicious doughnuts. He could use a doughnut.

He pulled up across the street in his car and parked. As he crossed the road, his heart leapt in his throat as he spotted a familiar-looking dog outside. He faltered in his step before picking up his pace to almost jog to the cafe. Feeling flushed, Roy pushed open the door, as his eyes instantly searched for a familiar blonde head. Despite the excitement, he reminded himself that there was more than one Shiba Inu in Central.

Looking down the line, he didn’t see her. Riza wasn’t at any of the tables either. His face fell, and he sulked as he moved to the line. She wasn’t here. Roy exhaled loudly, feeling disappointment wash over him.

It was short-lived. To his left, he caught movement out the corner of his eye, slightly behind him. The door to the customer toilets opened, and Riza walked out of it. She turned, making sure the toilet door closed softly, before shouldering her purse more securely, and moved to join the back of the line. She didn’t see him, he was too far up the line, and she didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her surroundings. She was dressed in what had to be her work clothes, wearing a simple white blouse and black dress pants. A black cardigan covered her shoulders, which looked light enough that it wouldn’t be too warm to wear in the summer heat, but would also protect against the gentle breeze outside.

Roy took a step forward in the queue, momentarily distracted. His emotions whiplashed as excitement coursed through him. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but promptly closed it. If he didn’t say anything, he would be able to buy her a coffee like he’d offered to.

“What will it be, Sir?” the server asked politely.

“A black coffee, please.” Indecision ruled him for a moment before he grinned with confidence. “And a caramel latte as well, please.”

“Of course.”

With both drinks in hand, he walked towards her, unable to keep the grin off his face. Noticing movement out the corner of her eye, Riza looked up from her phone. Her eyebrows had been drawn together again, a deep frown on her face as she studied the contents of her phone. However, her expression relaxed as their eyes met, and a smile spread across her face in a way that made Roy’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey,” he greeted. It was like he was welcoming a long lost friend back into his life, that’s how happy he was to see her.

“Hello, Roy.” She glanced down at the drink he’d extended to her. “What’s this for?” She looked slightly confused at the offer, but still looked happy to see him.

“I did say I would buy you a coffee,” he reminded her.

“You did,” she agreed dryly. “That was very kind of you.” She took the drink from him carefully but their fingers still brushed, her fingers slipping alongside his. Roy felt a jolt go through his hand and he tried to hide his breath stuttering and the way his hand flinched at the electric sizzle of their connection. He kept his eyes on her drink and ignored the strong urge to look up to see if Riza had a similar reaction. Instead, he heard a sincere, “Thank you, Roy.” He glanced up at her face this time, noticing the softening smile gracing her features.

“Don’t mention it,” he beamed. His fingers were still tingling after brushing against hers, a feeling he relished. Roy slipped his free hand into his pocket, making a fist as the warmth there continued to spread through his hand.

“You got my order right as well,” Riza commented with a raised eyebrow. “I’m beginning to think you really do stalk me,” she smirked.

Roy held up both hands in surrender. “I’m not. I promise,” he urged. “I overheard you order it the last few times and I took a wild guess of what you might like today,” he joked.

“I’m kidding, Roy,” she laughed, patting his shoulder playfully. Her smile reached her eyes as she grinned at him. “Listen...” Riza turned to look outside to where her dog was waiting patiently for her. “I’m going to take a walk to the park with Hayate on my lunch break. Do you want to come?”

“Yeah, of course!” He was ecstatic. She’d offered him the chance to accompany her and he wasn’t going to turn it down. Riza eyed him for a second, clearly amused by his enthusiasm, but Roy didn't care. His headache was very quickly dissipating and his mood was rising exponentially. He hadn’t even realized he’d forgotten about his doughnut.

So, the two of them walked to the park with Hayate, each sipping at their hot drinks. They crossed over the street into the shade. Every so often there would be a break in the buildings and the sun would pour through, turning her hair golden. Roy felt as though he was caught in a trance every time he noticed the change in colour. That was his downfall because she must have felt his eyes on her. Riza looked over and found him staring. A light dusting of pink covered the bridge of her nose and her cheeks as she looked away. He felt embarrassed for gazing at her so openly so he coughed nervously, tearing his eyes away.

“Do you always walk Hayate on your lunch break?” Roy asked.

Riza nodded. “I do. My apartment isn’t too far from my work, so I go home and pick up Hayate to let him out for a while.” She glanced down at the pup. “I don’t like leaving him home alone all day.”

“He seems to be a very well behaved dog,” Roy commented, watching Hayate sniff at the ground as they walked.

“He is. I hit the jackpot with his temperament. He’s the calmest dog I’ve ever met.”

Hayate would stray off towards something that caught his interest as they walked, but wouldn’t pull or walk too far from Riza’s side. His tongue lolled happily as he explored the world, curiously looking up at people who passed by them. Every time someone showed some interest in the dog, his tail would begin to wag.

“That’s good then,” Roy considered. “Especially if he’s home alone quite a lot.”

Riza agreed. “It certainly makes things easier. I haven’t come across him destroying anything yet while I’m at work,” she chuckled. “But I like to think that he knows better than to try a stunt like that.” She tilted her head forward, narrowing her eyes playfully at Hayate.

Hayate barked in response, walking closer to Riza’s side and remaining there.

They arrived at a crossing, so stopped as they waited for traffic to stop. Roy noticed Hayate heeled perfectly without any need for a command from Riza. Across the road, the greenery of the park stretched out before them.

“I normally take Hayate to the dog park instead of walking around the park itself,” Riza explained. “It means I can let him off the lead and not worry too much about where he will wander off to.”

“Is he a wanderer?” Roy smiled.

“Hm… He likes to explore.” Riza glanced down at her dog affectionately. “And can get a little hyperactive if he finds something really interesting. But he always comes back.”

The park was busy. Like them, there were business people sitting on benches and chatting as they enjoyed their lunches. A couple of cyclists passed by them, giving poor Hayate a fright. He jumped and scurried close to Riza’s side as they walked towards the dog park. Riza stopped in place, crouching to soothe him. She smiled kindly at her dog, explaining that it was just a bike that had given him a fright, letting out a short laugh. From her tone, it was like a mother talking to a child. It endeared Roy to her even more.

Again, he was caught staring, but this time Roy grinned at her as Riza straightened and they continued to walk.

“Poor dog,” Roy commented. Hayate still stuck close to Riza’s side as they walked, head looking around for any more potentially frightening things coming his way.

Riza shook her head fondly. “He doesn’t like cyclists.”

The dog park wasn’t too busy, but there would be plenty of dogs for Hayate to play with if he decided to venture their way. People were walking around the path inside the fenced-off area. Owners sat at the various benches spread around the park while their dogs either sat obediently by their side or running around and playing with other dogs. Riza crouched and let the Shiba off his leash, giving him a free run of the park. Anywhere he went they’d be able to see him. Riza was happy to let him go off and do his own thing.

“I normally sit for a while as Hayate runs around for a bit.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Roy agreed. It would give them time to finish their drinks. Roy didn’t have anything to eat, but he could always pick something up on the way back and eat it at his desk. It was only then that he remembered about his doughnut quest. He felt he didn’t need it now though. Talking to Riza was a better remedy than any sweet treat.

From her purse, Riza pulled out a prepacked sandwich and began to unwrap it. She glanced up at him expectantly. “Do you have anything to eat with you?”

He shook his head, lifting up his coffee cup. “This will fuel me for a little while.”

“You should still eat,” she frowned. Looking over her shoulder, Riza turned to look for something. “There’s normally a food van around the park.” She turned back to face him but looked past his shoulder, still searching. “I don’t know where it is though. That sells hot food.”

He appreciated the effort, but reassured Riza he’d be fine. “I’ll pick something up on my way back to the office.”

“Are you sure? We can walk around and look -”

“I’ll be fine, Riza. I swear,” he chuckled. His expression softened as she met his gaze. “I promise, I will eat. I may be a bachelor but I can still look after myself,” he smirked.

“Good.” Riza relaxed.

He hoped offering up some more personal information about himself would steer the conversation towards getting to know each other better. Riza had been a mystery to him for so long that he was eager to learn more. From what he already knew and had witnessed, she endeared him. Even as she ate her lunch, she took dainty bites of her sandwich and met his gaze while they spoke, but every so often she would glance away to check on Hayate.

“So, will it be a busy afternoon for you once you go back to work?”

Riza shook her head. “It’s a Friday and work can slow right down in the afternoon. However, I do have some reports due for an audit soon.” She shrugged. “It’s easy enough, just a lot of paperwork to trawl through.”

“I hear you,” Roy replied.

“Will it be a late one for you?”

Roy grimaced. “Probably. I think I’ll need more coffee later,” he laughed. “But I don’t mind too much. I get intrigued easily by cases and often fall in deep if they’re good.”

“And your co-workers don’t mind working late?”

Roy shook his head. “They’re not required to do overtime. I wouldn’t ask them too either unless they were really interested in a case, so they’re free to go whenever they want to. I’ll probably just order some take out later and eat it at the office.”

“I’m lucky then that I don’t have to work late at the office.”

“Would anyone mind if you did?”

She offered him a wry smile. “Someone is fishing,” Riza snickered.

Roy was confused by her comment, then his eyes widened. “Oh no! No, that’s not what I meant,” he stammered. “I meant, if your friends would mind if you worked late. It’s a Friday night, after all. Surely you have some big plans?”

She chuckled, shaking her head. “No. I’ve got no plans this evening. I foresee a large glass of wine in my future while I sit on my couch with my dog.” She glanced back over to check on Hayate. He was busy chasing a large labrador.

“I’m surprised,” Roy replied. “I mean, that kind of night in does sound great…” He wished he had a plan like that for this weekend, but duty called. “But I would’ve thought a pretty lady like yourself would have grand plans for the weekend.”

Her cheeks turned a light pink and she dropped her gaze with a smile, observing her sandwich and picking at the wrapper. Roy grinned to himself, enjoying how beautiful the light blush looked on her cheeks.

“No grand plans,” she replied.

“Okay then… Well, what would you say to dinner sometime then?” he ventured.

She lifted an eyebrow. “So you were fishing then?”

“That’s for me to know,” Roy smirked.

“And for me to find out?”

“Come to dinner with me, and you might find out,” he quipped. He wasn’t desperate, it was an innocent offer, but he couldn’t rid himself of the jolt he’d experienced when their fingers brushed together earlier.

“Hm, that’s a lot of effort just to try and find that out,” she hummed, lifting her cup to take a sip of her latte. Riza looked at him expectantly after her light challenge.

Roy’s stomach dropped. “Lunch then?” he asked.

Riza regarded him quietly, then her expression softened. “I can’t do lunch any time soon.”

Roy’s face fell, but he nodded in understanding regardless.

“So, I guess, dinner will just have to do.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she spoke.

The widest smile spread from ear to ear across Roy’s face. “Great! I mean, great. Good. I know it’s short notice, but how about tomorrow?”

Riza cocked her head to the side in thought. “Tomorrow should be fine.”

“Where do you want to go?” Roy asked eagerly.

“Nowhere uptown,” Riza shook her head. “Anywhere else… Will be fine.”

Uptown… Roy nodded. He could do that. He didn’t particularly enjoy that side of town either. It was too fancy for his tastes, and his wallet. Simple meals were far too expensive, and after his week of dealing with rich people and their associates, Roy was more than ready to just unwind and go somewhere simple with good food.

“It’s a date.” Excitement and happiness coursed through his body.

Riza laughed quietly at his statement and glanced down at her paper cup. After a brief second, she looked back up at him with a small but entirely genuine smile on her face.

[velkynkarma]

We only have 3/10 books of the series so far ... but what do you think about a Stormlight Archive AU for the 5+ headcanons?

Oh my goodness yes if there’s one thing I am absolutely certain about it’s Brandon Sanderson novels always make great Voltron Crossover AU’s. This is  longer than 5 for sure, so I’m putting in a cut because it’s Long and I Can’t Stop Myself.

I hope all 2 people who understand this enjoy it

Highprince Alfor is one of the ten Alethi highprinces leading an assault on the Shattered Plains, alongside several others, including Highprinces Zarkon, Blaytz, and Gyrgan. Trigel is also a leading force behind her own army and the Dalterion princedom, but due to the gendred nature of Alethkar and war and combat being considered a man’s profession, she is basically the power behind the highprince’s throne but uses a male figurehead to do the actual warring.

Highprince Alfor is considered rather...unfashionable and perhaps a little scandalous for an Alethi highprince. 

Although like many of his countrymen he is brash enough to rush into battle sometimes without thinking, or considering overall strategy, he also does not fit the Alethi mold completely. He fights alongside his men despite having a shardblade and shardplate, rather than letting them be cannon fodder before he takes on the weakened enemies for the final kills. 

He’s been witnessed treating darkeyes with respect and camaraderie, even as a brightlord and a highprince. 

And perhaps most scandalous of all, there are rumors that he can read, despite it being a distinctly female skill, and that he finds interests in other female areas of study like sciences. 

As a result he’s something of a joke amongst many of the other highprinces, although he remains good friends with Blaytz, Gyrgan and Trigel. 

He and Zarkon used to be good friends and once worked together to unify a great deal of the land into modern Alethkar, but have grown apart after Alfor found Zarkon growing too bloodthirsty even for an Alethi highprince.

Alfor’s daughter, Brightlady Allura, is much like her father. 

Refusing to conform completely to Alethi practice, she does not hesitate to speak her mind about the foolishness of continuing the battle on the Shattered Plains for more than ten years. The games for the gemhearts are ridiculous in her opinion; they should strike quickly and efficiently as a full military force to actually win the battle. Her thoughts on military strategy are often disregarded, as it is not considered a female practice, although Alfor respects her intelligence when it comes to military combat considerably. 

Allura has of course mastered most feminine arts required of her as a Brightlady, including fashion, arts (though she is somewhat lacking here), sciences (her favorite), scholarship, history, music, language, writing, and logic, and she scribes for her father personally. But there are rumors that, like her father, she scandalously disregards Vorin tradition and actually trains in weapons in her spare time, behind closed doors. And not even lighteyed weapons like swords! She trains with common darkeyed things like spears! Allura maintains perfect poise and composure in public, but even so, by now the rumors surrounding House Altea make more than one person regard them like they have no head. 

When intrigue in the warcamps grows stronger and strange things begin happening, Allura begins to attract the attention of certain...otherworldly, conceptual beings. 

Realistically speaking, Allura’s Voltron powers would suggest she would be either an Edgedancer or a Truthwatcher, since either one has access to the surge of Progression, which grants healing and growth powers. Of those, Truthwatcher would probably match more, as it also grants illusion and sometimes future sight, and its spren appears like a shaft or glimmer of light. 

That said, I also adore the idea of Allura being a Bondsmith because can you just fucking imagine her bonding the Stormfather, forming spiritual connections with others, literally doing what she does in canon by bonding large groups into a cohesive whole for one united purpose, and also fucking refueling everyone with Stormlight/Quintessence when they’re on empty like the badass woman she is.

Like seriously just look at the bondsmith ideals. “I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together.” “I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” Allura as bondsmith, yes plz.

I like to reforge a little of a story when I do these AU crossovers but honestly, Kaladin’s story is a near perfect match for what I’d do with Shiro, anyway. 

Shiro originally joins the army so he has opportunity to leave his little farming village. Although most assume his Calling is that of a soldier, which is a perfectly respectable male Calling, what he actually wants to do is explore and see the world beyond his village. Joining the army will let him see other places and earn enough spheres to travel on his own once his enlistment is up. 

Unfortunately he is captured in a border skirmish and through increasing bouts of bad luck, ends up as a slave in House Daibazaal’s army. Bridge FourFivebecauseofthelionsgetit is not a great place to be and most people end up as canon fodder during the battles for the gemhearts.

Despite things looking really, really bad, Shiro is still determined to get out of this situation. Alive. With as many people as possible. Running is no good; the soldiers keep a good eye on the slaves. Nobody gives a damn about them; they’re just bridge slaves destined to be used as bait during the gemheart strikes. But Shiro has a way about him of encouraging people to do their best. He looks out for his fellow bridge crew even if they don’t care much about him in return, at first. People just feel like they can live through something if he’s leading them. They trust him. More and more slaves rally to his call and listen to his orders. They start calling him their Champion. Not everyone makes it every time, but more survive than anticipated. A sense of camaraderie starts to form. And even though it would be really easy to give up and abandon them all, or just stop caring every time somebody dies, Shiro doesn’t let himself.

Because of his actions, Shiro starts attracting honorspren, and eventually bonds to one. Because Shiro needs to fly, damn it, and I can’t see him being a Skybreaker; they’re a little too Law and Order levels of paladin. Shiro is definitely a Windrunner. Just look at those oaths! “I will protect those who cannot protect themselves” is literally what he does in canon against Myzax. “I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right.” Shiro’s done this too in canon; he’s worked with people who had previously been enemies or protected characters that have clearly irritated him.

Keith is originally an orphan who ended up joining the army mostly so he wouldn’t starve to death. He originally is recruited as a page/runner, but in a particularly bad border skirmish he ends up getting put on the front lines, despite having very little training with spears. 

(He does actually have some weapons training, with swords and knives, but he’s a darkeyes, so nobody is supposed to know that. ‘Don’t tell anyone you know how to do this,’ his mother and father repeatedly told him, while he was still alive. ‘They will wonder what rules you broke and you will get in trouble. Don’t ever trust a lighteyes). 

Keith is positive he’s going to die that day, but Shiro actually saves his life on the battlefield. Afterwards, Shiro looks out for him for the six months or so they’re both in the same army together. It’s the first time anybody has ever cared about Keith at all since his parents died and he grows incredibly loyal to Shiro because of it.

When Shiro is captured Keith is devastated and basically tries to go AWOL. He’s caught and reprimanded repeatedly but keeps trying to run, until he’s eventually stripped of rank and cast into slavery. He’s a rebellious slave even then, constantly trying to run, and not worth the time of most slavers, so he eventually gets shipped out to the Shattered Plains where he won’t be able to escape and will probably die as fodder anyway

This ends up working out well for Keith, as he ends up stuck in Bridge Five where the lowest of the low slaves go, and finds Shiro again. He’s immediately OK with it. Bridge Five is awful but he trusts Shiro and he’ll do whatever is needed to support him. Keith is one of Shiro’s first real supporters on Bridge Five and the one that not-so-subtly encourages/forces others to listen to Shiro as well, or at least tries. Shiro usually tells him to back off a little because a team can’t be forced. But others do see that loyalty and that protection and learn to trust Shiro in part because they observe Keith.

Keith also has a secret he hasn’t even told Shiro, at least not right away: Keith owns a Shardblade. It used to be his mother’s (again, very strange for a woman), but when she disappeared the blade was left behind, bond broken. His father took it up, but made Keith promise to bond it and showed him how, in the event that his father died. Keith did as ordered when his father died, hiding the blade away inside his soul before any lighteyes could take it, but he’s very careful to never, ever reveal that he has one. 

Keith doesn’t trust lighteyes at all and is extremely suspicious of them

He actually is the first to recognize the strange things happening around Shiro may, just maybe, be because of Surgebinding. His mother used to tell stories, whenever she showed him her knife, of the Knights Radiant and the old powers they had. He thought they were just stories, but when Shiro starts unconsciously doing these things, he tells Shiro about the knife and starts trying to help him figure out what’s going on.

Once Shiro’s ideals and his strength with his honorspren gets strong enough that the rest of Bridge Five starts developing Windrunner squires in his presence, Keith struggles to come to terms with the fact that he appears untouched by Shiro’s abilities. An Honorspren is a lot to live up to and Keith is afraid he can’t do it. Especially when, as time passes, every time he summons his shardblade he swears he hears screaming...

I would love it if Keith actually gets a similar storyline to Adolin instead, wherein he actually starts to awaken the spren in his inherited shardblade and bonds with whatever type that is instead. Because the knife feels like an extension of him and a partner. It’s the reason other honorspren wouldn’t try to bond with him, though, and the reason he can’t inherit Shiro’s powers when around him. (This would also be a nod to Keith struggling to live up to Shiro as a leader and forming his own way of doing things in canon)

Lance also inadvertently ends up on Bridge Five

Like many lowborn darkeyes, Lance had romantic dreams of going to battle, defeating a shardbearer, and getting to rise to nobility as he became a lighteyes through the shard bond. He planned to take good care of his family after that and never have to work a farm again. So he joins House Daibazaal’s army, for his region.

This didn’t work out out in practice as it turns out shardbearers are terrifying on the field and nobody in their right mind could ever take one down. Lance is suddenly brought to terms with his own morality and tries to desert. Unfortunately he gets caught and ends up as a slave on the Shattered Plains, shunted into Bridge Five. Where people go to die, basically, so he’s terrified.

That’s when he meets Shiro, who he looks up to almost right away. Because Shiro is just good at taking care of everyone on Bridge Five, and makes him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could live through this and see his family again.

That’s also when he meets Keith who he hates because what is this guy’s deal he’s a jerk. (But they do eventually learn to get along)

Lance is forced to come to grips with his own initial cowardice and he initially hates himself for it. He resolves to be stronger and do better, especially with a role model like Shiro to look up to. Even if they’re in the absolute pit of humanity they don’t have to act like it. They can still do their best. He’s also a little jealous of Keith at first, who never seems to be scared of anything even down here as a bridge slave, which sparks his rivalry with him to start. 

When Shiro starts developing powers and the rest of Bridge Five starts inheriting dregs of them as squires, Lance is also seemingly incapable of getting those powers. It’s actually one of the ways he manages to bond better with Keith, when they both commiserate over being unable to do what Shiro can even though they’re both trying so hard in their own ways.

In actuality Lance is just destined to bond with a different kind of spren, but he has to realize who he really is first and what his Ideals actually are before he can recognize that or be recognized by a spren in turn. 

I kind of like the idea of him being an Edgedancer, but Willshapers are described as having a “love of adventure, novelty, or oddity" and that they are "capricious, frustrating, and unreliable,” which could also match Lance. Although it’s hard to say since we haven’t seen their powers in action yet soooo...maybe it wouldn’t be a good match.

Pidge is another one that has a lot of parallels to Shallan to the point when half the story is going to be the same despite my best efforts, really

Pidge used to be a dutiful daughter and acted as the scribe for her father and brother, who did a lot of exploration and traveling work. However they mysteriously disappear in one of the cities, at the same time a lot of other people start to go missing

Pidge, alarmed but suspicious, starts doing more research and starts finding some frightening details that are curiously relevant between the disappearances and some terrifying lore from old stories.

No one believes her but she is convinced that a lot of weird things happening indicate some seriously dangerous turn of events with some very dark and evil beings. She even begins to suspect the battle at the Shattered Plains might not be what it seems; in fact, it might be a distraction from the real purpose. 

She determines to head for the Shattered Plains. That seems to be the heart of everything, based on her research. One way or another, going there will help her find her brother and father again, and she can warn people there that dangerous things are coming. 

People aren’t willing to believe her (or her newfound friend, Hunk) when she goes there at first, especially because she’s lowborn. However, Brightlady Allura takes a keen interest in what she has to say and gives her a place to stay, and Highprince Alfor takes her seriously. 

While digging into the darker things and researching into some very unsettling information, Pidge attracts the wrong sort of crowd with the Ghostbloods. 

She also attracts a spren of her own, and honestly I can’t see her being anything other than a Lightweaver like Shallan, because c’mon. Illusions? The ability to restructure things into other things? Pidge spends half her time in canon pretending to be somebody else, sneaking around, and messing around with science. This is absolutely up her alley. Lightweaving also commonly gifts an extraordinary memory or aptitude for precise details, which Pidge has displayed in spades.

Hunk has always had an interest in distinctly ‘female’ skills and pursuits, like cooking, sciences, and general academia, while he never shown particular interest in more masculine pursuits, like politics or combat. As such, Hunk eventually choses to join the Ardentia, which traditionally grants its members a genderless position in society and the right to pursue skills traditional to both genders.

Hunk isn’t actually all that religious--he just really wanted to learn cooking (and to be able to try sweet female foods as much as spicy male foods), and to study sciences. He also enjoys reading and writing and just learning in general.

Hunk is originally content just working at the temples and getting to learn cooking and to study to his heart’s content in his spare time. It’s a nice, safe, easy life and he gets to enjoy it. 

Unfortunately once a young woman named Pidge starts entering the temples asking some very dangerous, on-the-edge-of-blasphemy questions about the Unmade and general theological debate, and insinuating some dangerous things about the war in the Shattered Plains, things start to get less comfortable.

Despite everything Hunk can see Pidge has some good points. She’s sharp, good at logic and makes for decent conversation about all sorts of topics. Her arguments aren’t unfounded even if they are uncomfortable. When she points out that this could be dangerous for all of Roshar, including his family and anyone he might ever care about, he grudgingly agrees to help her try to make her case. So he travels to the Shattered Plains with her.

Once on the Shattered Plains he ends up becoming an ardent specifically tied to House Altea, so he’s under their protection, since some of the edge-of-blasphemy questions he asks (or supports Pidge on) get him in a bit of trouble with the order. It’s okay though, everyone else here is so scandalous or unconventional he feels like he fits right in.

The full team does eventually meet up in the middle of a battle and Bridge Five does eventually join House Altea, though I have no idea under what circumstances. It’s honestly hard to top Kaladin’s rescue in The Way of Kings. 

Ask me for AU Headcanons!

[steelunderneath]

HEADCANON --SCARS/BRUISES

sansa has scars from her captivity in kings landing. not many people have actually sighted these scars, other than her handmaidens, as she mostly aims to keep them covered. and joffrey is often quoted as saying that he “likes her pretty.” so, his knights generally did not hit her face.  she also sports various bruises during her time in king landing --though these obviously fade over time. both times she was hit in the face it was meryn trant who hit her; “the knight was on her before she could think........back-handing her across the ear with a gloved fist......blood on the knuckles of his white silk glove.”  & “and held her as he struck her. he hit her twice, left to right, and harder, right to left. her lip split.” it is my head canon that sansa has a small scar upon the upper right peak of her lip from where it split but did not heal properly. this scar is often easily covered with powders or rouge.  sansa has bruises on her arms from ser boros “the gown had long sleeves to hide the bruises on her arms. those were joffrey’s gifts as well.” ser boros, ser meryn, ser mandon, ser preston and ser arys all beat sansa at the command of joffrey, though, sansa reflects that ser arys “objected when joffrey commanded he hit her. he  did  hit her in the end, but not as hard as ser meryn or ser boros might have, and at least he argued. the others obeyed without question...”  i head canon that she has had various bruises across her back, arms and stomach, from being beaten mostly with fists. “...nervously she rubbed her stomach. the angry purple bruise ser meryn had given her had faded to an ugly yellow, but it still hurt. his fist had been mailed when he hit her. it was her own fault. she must learn to hide her feelings better, so as not to anger joffrey.” not only does sansa receive continuous abuse from the kingsguard, but she also blames herself and looks to herself to try solve the reasons why she was beaten, noting she has to learn to hold her tongue and to stop showing her emotions --she often notes that she has to control her facial expressions so as to not give her emotions away. so, we know that sansa has been beaten by five different men at the command of joffrey, what we don’t know is where they hit her, what they hit her with or why the hit her.  i hc that she has four scars upon her upper back where she was beaten with leather straps by trant --these lashing healed well with a salve, but there are the faint reminder of scars there.  the abuse gets to such a point that upon leaving for her fist meeting with dontos she chooses to pick up a knife and take it with her. which proves that she is not only cautiously aware that it could be a trap and that she could well be going to her death, but that she doesn’t intent to go down without a fight. but, she chooses to go, even though she believe it could be a trap, because the physical and emotional pain she is being put through is taking its tole so heavily that she believes death may be the only way out of the abuse. “...and picked up a knife that she used to cut her meat. if it is some trap, better that i die than let them hurt me more. she told herself. she hid the blade under her cloak.” we’re all familiar with the chapter where joffrey responds to robbs stealth attack on kevan’s camp. he decided that sansa should be punished for her traitor brother actions; “boros slammed a fist into sansa’s belly, driving the air out of her. when she doubled over, the knight grabbed her hair and drew his sword, and for one hideous instant she was certain he meant to open her throat. as he laid the flat of the blade across her thighs, she thought her legs might break from the force of the blow. sansa screamed. tears welled in her eyes. it will be over soon. she soon lost count of the blows.”  sansa is not only beaten in the middle of court and has a crossbow aimed at her, but no one in the court does anything to help her (save for an attempt from dontos). this leaves her with great emotional scars, and also shatters her belief of everything a knight should stand for. but these blows across the backs of her legs are numerous, and the blows are one on top of another. they are later notes to result in red welts... “..he spread a salve across the angry red welts that covered the backs of her legs.” i firmly believe that these blows would have scared, given the pain that they cause her in the time following, “..every step sent knives through her thighs..” this suggests that the damaged flesh is quite substantial. i head canon that it causes quite large and numerous scaring to the backs of the top of her thighs.  sO tl;dr --sansa has a scar upon her top lip from being slapped across the face by meryn trant. she has four scars across her back from being lashed by trant (a personal headcanon) and numerous large scars upon the backs of her legs from being beaten with the flat of a blade by boros blunt.  note: all scars present in this verse transfer across to my other au’s including modern as i believe she would still have sustained the above injuries.

[wandering-bitch]

Annotations on Falling in Love with Love (Again)

FiLwL(A) is my 3zun cinderella which is actually just about the importance of qin su and also reuniting with your exes. Here’s my behind the scenes/notes/lore for chapters 9-11. 

ch 9: nie mingjue being hot

i wrote this before i’d even written the Murder in ch 6;;;;; i just love nie mingjue

i so deeply believe in nie mingjue being smart and able to see through meng yao because he’s straightforward and strategic. 

“hmm” i said to myself. “how do i write the bois getting together??” after much thought i decided on “by stabbing one of them a bunch”

bits of this are still funny to me. rip meng yao sometimes you gotta be up close and personal with a hot dude’s bare sweaty chest 

also my version of “romantic and sensual” is just “doing math and deciding yeah, against your better judgement, you’re gonna smooch” because i love an overthinking murder twink

“on the bright side, the late-night guest was not jin guangshan’s type. unfortunately he was exactly meng yao’s type: nie mingjue” i can’t believe i let myself write this, bc it feels way too modern, but also the tone of this fic is just sarcastic enough that modern grouchy shit works 

ever since i discovered that camel was a delicacy in tang china i became OBSESSED with it. i nearly included it in ‘i have always loved the door’ and it makes an appearance in ‘blood in the cut’

the guan reappears!! or at least is mentioned.in case u forgot it from chapter 1 it is Definitely Not A Glass Slipper Or Anything

“i love ruining a twink’s life” i said in the author’s notes. i was not lying. my hobbies are making nie mingjue look cool and making jin guangyao suffer.

“xichen was disappointed when he didn’t see you there” “and you of course, weren’t” “on the contrary i was happy to see you” is one of the exchanges that was like. core to this fic. similar to “i met someone” “i don’t know what you want me to say to that” “neither do i”

when outlining fics i tend to include some key dialogue/exchanges that strike me as the Mood TM and half the time these exchanges go through incredible rewrites or just get deleted, but it’s always nice to see them survive

the xiangqi was so much fun to write, not bc i have played the game a bunch (i haven’t) but bc it gave me a fun way to talk about the conversation without talking about the conversation.

“a controlled leak qould have been very useful” makes me so happy it’s such a MOOD and nie mingjue immediately going heart-eyes over it is complete wish fulfillment. when will a hot sword lesbian be enamored over my ruthless scheming???? im taking sword lesbian gf applications over in my ask box

“But it hadn’t been easy” this paragraph originally included “Nie Mingjue had broadened his moral compass, and Meng Yao had learned to trust” or something but i couldn’t  really figure out how meng yao would describe his own personal growth since he left qinghe. like he DID grow he DID learn that he can trust the people he loves to trust him and that it’s worth bringing people in on your schemes and plans.... but he’s too dumb to describe this. 

the xiyao troll’s comment on this was “LMFAO that oocness from both meng yao and nmj where nmj is suddenly JGY levels of cunning and JGY is dumb enough to make mistakes XD”

this has stuck with me so hard

how do you read Falling in Love with Love and only discover after 16k words that i think meng yao makes mistakes?????

how do u consume any adaptation of mdzs and think that nmj isn’t smart enough to go “huh that cunning twink who is absolutely mooning over me and xichen and also plays weiqi like my old buddy seems REAL FUCKING FAMILIAR” nmj canonically sees thru jgy machinations all the time

anyway i love nmj and the xiyao troll

did you know there’s an exchange to celebrate the troll’s works??? i discovered it after signups closed but im going to enjoy reading all of them

ch 10: and with very little trouble

this took me like a month to write oops but that’s just because a lot has to happen

the opening where meng yao is being mean to qin su was so hard to write. meng yao getting overworked?? fine. meng yao getting abused??? cool. meng yao being slightly short with his sister, who is in no way hurt by this bc she can tell it’s not about her??? HORRIBLE!!!

the detective scene happened. there’s not a lot to say about it, i don’t think, except to note that han meilin did try to stand up for qin su

ch 11: impossible things are happening every day

cinderella time mother fuckers!!! this is another one that took time!!

ch 10 took time bc i wasn’t 100% sure how it would play out

this took time bc even though i knew exactly what would happen and how, it has to be Real Good, y’know? it’s tying up the entire fic. if these 2k words don’t work, then the rest of the fic will feel less good and ppl won’t come back to it

(please everyone come back to this over and over if only to laugh at my obvious qin su agenda)

qin su and meng yao fighting over who gets to take the fall for their joint murder. i love them.

i wasn’t planning for this fic to start the sunshot campaign but here we are. in the war. 

How did this version of the sunshot campaign go? Well. not good. because someone has no reason to invent necromancy. But not as poorly as you’d think. Jiang Sect isn’t destroyed, and the Cloud Recesses are functional (although not at full capacity), so they have more strength on hand. Plus, Meng Yao encouraged Koi Tower to funnel money and resources into the Qin Sect, specifically so if the war started before he expected it to (whoops!!! it did!!!!), those resources would be somewhere he could encourage to fight. 

on the one hand, the sunshot campaign’s territory is divided in half by the wens. on the other hand, that means the wens are fighting on both the northern and southern border (since, again, jiang sect is still alive)

anyway i’d say it’s a more steady war, as opposed to my recollection of canon where like. everyone’s fucking miserable until our sexy goth boi comes out with his corpses and wrecks shop. 

then han meilin and qin su look at their families and say “if you do not let us marry right now in a way that combines our sects equally...... we will just do it anyway.” 

(meng yao in the background, holding a thin knife: fucking try me. try me. i want you to be mean to my sister just so i can stab you with my knives.)

anyway it’s time for the epilogue where meng yao is vice general and there is no more wen sect

(have i thought about the dafan wens in this ‘verse? no. i probably should not, either, as wwx would be less ride-or-die for them and that means maybe wen qing and wen ning would die in a war camp)

never mind!!! happy thoughts only!!!! like how qin su and meng yao are getting ready to kill again bc they are the bi crime sibling club!!!! 

jin zixuan is invited to family brunch but he’s never invited to bi crime sibling club because qin su and meng yao refuse to let him lose his innocence. 

“ge, jie, i’m married with children, i don’t have any innocence to lose--” “oh didi, precious baby, our infant brother, shining beacon of our heart...”

mo xuanyu is also forbidden from joining bi crime club. he’s too baby. 

they do discover other jin bastards and invite them to lunch and sure, there might eventually be another bi criminal.

3zun visits each other in 2 month chunks, with one to two month breaks as needed. so the epilogue is the beginning of 2 months hanging out in meng yao’s house, and then later in the year they’ll hang out in the cloud recesses or whatever

qin su and meng yao both have secret lists of places to acquire babies for each other. han meilin knows about both of these lists and laughs every time she sees the same orphanages on both lists.

the final comment from the xiyao troll on this was: “Interesting choice to write a bland ooc AU, but I guess this is all you can manage with your writing skill. ;) This way you don't have to worry about JGY lying to Xichen for years, murdering NMJ, attempting to murder Xichen's family in the second siege, stealing secrets from the Lan sect, corrupting a healing song Xichen trusted him with, and fully betraying LXC's and NMJ's trust.”

like. yeah. of course i sidestepped the bad things. that’s what a fix-it au is for. it’s where i say “here’s an alternate universe, where certain bad things do not happen.” it’s where i say “if meng yao had always had qin su around to counteract the messaging his mother gave him, he might not have gone so far in his quest for power”. duh. 

also like kiddo, troll, friend. the pitch for this fic is “cinderella except with murder and qin su rights”. i’ve been clear from the top that this is an Indulgent Fic with No Pretenses of Quality. im proud of some sentences and passages, but this ain’t Blood In The Cut where im tryna Say something or either of my jiang cheng-centric fics where im focusing on good characterization. 

it’s a cozy murder where qin su gets to live and have a cool wife