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terapsina · 2 years

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6 Times Bellamy Tried to Forget That He Was in Love With Clarke (+1 Time He Couldn’t Anymore)

(canon compliant UNTIL IT’S NOT)

word count: 13.6k

status: complete

content: some of the bellarke greatest hits, all the seasons except the-one-that-shall-not-be-mentioned, and a happy ending because f*** you jroth.

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ao3

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The first time Bellamy tried to forget that he was in love with Clarke he wasn’t really even fully there yet.

She was still the Princess, though what he meant when he used that term had changed, it was no longer filled with scorn but layered with just a bit of fondness. She was no longer the privileged daughter of the Ark's councilwoman. No longer the threat to him and Octavia he saw her as in the beginning. She was his partner, the co-leader carrying half the weight of their people. She might even be his friend now, though he was uncomfortably uncertain if she thought of him as hers.

And since Unity Day he’d been just a little bit in love with her. It was hard not to be when someone said they needed you and gave you the forgiveness you'd never deserve. So yeah, he was a bit stupid about her.

It was fine though. It wasn’t that big of a deal, he was quite capable of putting that feeling in the back of his mind to be dealt with later. Once they were finally safe from the Grounders and didn't have to deal with an emergency requiring to choose between three terrible options twice a day. He'd see what to do with it then.

That was the plan and in his opinion, it was a pretty great plan, which worked right up until he found Raven waiting in his tent. “What are you doing in here?”

“They don’t waste time, I’ll give them that,” she said, her voice angry and heartbroken and something in his stomach sank sharply, the thing-he-didn’t-think-about twinged painfully at the back of his head. He held back the flinch but only barely and was not actually certain that Raven didn't notice it anyway because he was pretty sure he stopped breathing for three full heartbeats. His only hope was that she was too distracted by her own bleeding heart to see the slight cut in his. “What’s it been, a day and a half?”

“You’re mistaking me for someone who cares,” he said and inwardly grimaced at the way it came out more bitter than he’d have expected, “time to move on.”

She dropped down on his bed to shuck off her jacket.

“What are you doing?” he asked once Raven’s boots joined it. The question was rather pointless of course, it was pretty clear exactly what she was doing and why.

“Moving on.”

He slept with Raven more for her than himself - at least as far as emotions were concerned, physically he made sure it’d be a pretty even deal. He could see full well that she was hurting far more at the idea of where Clarke and Finn were and what they were doing right now than Bellamy. For him it was not so much jealousy as the persistent itch of disappointment, which was a surprise because he didn't even seriously entertain the idea that Clarke might like him back, there shouldn't have been any hope for her to crush.

But still, it was nowhere near as painful as the other things he'd lived through. It didn't come even close to what he’d felt when his mother was floated. When he’d spent a year unable to see Octavia. When Charlotte jumped. Or when he’d seen the sky burning with three hundred people that died because he was stupid and selfish and unwilling to look past his own fear until it was far too late.

And okay, this was a completely different kind of pain that wasn't really comparable to those other things but it was still clearly lesser and he could have just as well dealt with it by stealing some of Monty's moonshine. He would have been fine.

But Raven's offer was tempting and he did want to help her, - and well, it's not as if he was blind, Raven was gorgeous; it wasn’t exactly a hardship to let her fuck him even if it did end up being some of the most depressing sex he'd ever had.

When they were done and Raven was dressing with a single-mindedness that was almost a bit insulting, - head turned away, and putting on her discarded clothing like being naked was making her skin crawl now.

"Did that help?" he asked, it was more out of having nothing better to say than because he didn't know the answer.

"No," she said one foot already outside the door.

Yeah, he hadn't thought so. It hadn't really helped him forget either, so he wasn’t surprised to hear Raven's heart was as sore as it had been when she’d first thrown down that gauntlet by taking off her shirt. Especially because now that he was alone again his own mind went right back to fruitlessly trying to stuff all those very dangerous feelings - the ones he’d up to now done such a good job suppressing - back into that box to be forgotten again. He was so consumed with it he didn't even feel the half-expected bruise to his ego he might have otherwise been struck with.

When they finally figured out that something was wrong and went off with a search party to look for them - when they realized that Clarke and Finn had decidedly not been spending a romantic getaway away from the Dropship - he and Raven suddenly couldn’t quite manage to look at each other.

Which was beyond stupid, neither Bellamy nor Raven had anything to feel guilty about. And it's not like Clarke would even care.

They found Myles hiding between the roots of some kind of shrub. He was bleeding and barely conscious and as Raven dropped to her knees beside Octavia, trying to free Myles from the foliage covering him, Raven desperately asked after the two still missing. “Where are they? Clarke and Finn? Where are they?”

“Grounders took them,” Myles choked out hoarsely.

Bellamy’s heart stopped. Or at least that’s how it felt like for the next few moments as those words landed square across his chest.

He forced himself to swallow his first reaction back and focused on Myles. He couldn’t think about Clarke and Finn and what might be happening to them - what might already have happened - there was a kid here he could help, so that had to take priority.

“Easy there, we have to take him back to camp,” he said.

“Bell, what about Clarke and Finn?”

He didn’t know what to say to his sister but he looked at Raven and finally accidentally caught her eye. They both slowly got to their feet, still looking at each other, Bellamy felt bile at the back of his throat and by the look on Raven’s face, he wasn’t alone.

“Raven, I’m sorry,” he said and meant more than just Finn being missing.

Raven didn’t answer but there was a look on her face that he was certain was mirrored on his own. And he knew there existed a shared thought at the very front of their minds.

What had happened between them was never going to happen again.

Because God, the idea that Clarke might have been dying while he was in that tent was almost unbearable. The fact she might be dead right now was even more so. And he didn’t need to be able to read Raven’s mind to know she was feeling that same thing about Finn.

And this pain actually did register on that scale he’d been thinking about before.

He wished he could send out a search party like Raven wanted him to. But he knew what Clarke would have wanted, they didn’t have time to look for two people that were already more than likely dead when they were all about to be attacked by Grounders retaliating for their losses on the bridge.

He needed to be a leader right now, he couldn’t afford to be distracted by worry that wasn’t gonna do any good to anyone anyway.

There sounded a commotion by the gates and Bellamy was already running to confront whoever or whatever was waiting for him now - because of course even getting strung up by his neck by Murphy didn’t give him five-minute breathing room - when Miller’s voice echoed through the camp.

“Wait! Hold your fire, it’s Clarke and Finn, open the gates!” Miller screamed from his watch position and relief crashed over Bellamy in a wave.

The first thing he saw as the delinquents pulled aside the sheets of scrap metal to let their two missing people in was Clarke running in front, scraped up but seemingly uninjured. He wished that the relief that overtook him was entirely selfish, that it had to do with the fact that he had his partner back and he wouldn’t have to carry the burden of their people’s lives all by himself. But that was crap.

It was vastly overpowered by the simple joy of seeing that Clarke was alright.

“Hey, we heard an explosion. What happened?” she fired out rapidly as soon as she was in front of him. Face serious and eyes focused entirely on Bellamy, - and it was something that had gotten to be so familiar to him that it almost felt like having her there was akin to getting back a missing limb.

He almost, almost fell to the instinct to pull her into his arms because he was just so damned glad that she was alive that the only thing that saved him was the fact Jasper got there first.

---

The sun was so bright it was somehow almost physically painful. It shouldn't have been so bright and beautiful after they'd killed so many people. People who had helped them, children, who'd had nothing to do with anything.

He wondered if it would be easier walking back to Camp Jaha if the sky was as gray as the emptiness inside Bellamy. If that would somehow help with the sick feeling in the bottom of the stomach that should taste like regret but didn't. He couldn't feel regret for saving his friends. Pulling that lever... he knew it hadn't been the 'right' thing to do but it had been the only thing that was left.

And he couldn't have let Clarke pull it alone.

His eyes slid to his left, Clarke walked like she was in a dream - or a living nightmare - eyes straight ahead and with a faraway glaze to them. He knew he should be angry that she almost let his sister die, and he was, and under any other circumstances he would never have let it go but... these were not any other circumstances.

He looked up from the gate he was holding open for their people when they'd almost all finished walking inside. There were only Clarke and Monty left, exchanging a hug before Monty pulled away and joined the rest of the survivors of this latest adversity. He was pulling his knitted sweater tighter around himself and as he walked past Bellamy, he sent him a look that rattled something inside him. Bellamy's eyes followed Monty inside even as he finally joined Clarke.

"I think we deserve a drink." There was an edge of tension in his voice, an uncertainty he tried to bury but couldn’t quite hide. They’d won, it was over. And yet it felt like the walls they were yet to stand behind, were about to enclose on him.

"Have one for me,” she said and the metal jaws of the trap slammed closed around Bellamy.

"Hey, we can get through this,” he still tried, hoping beyond hope he could find something, anything to say that would stop Clarke from telling him the thing he was afraid to hear.

"I'm not going in.” The words were quiet, gentle, and no less a dagger that pierced his chest.

"Clarke. If you need forgiveness, I'll give that to you. You're forgiven." Desperation was beginning to slip into Bellamy’s voice as he turned to look at Clarke, trying to put as much truth into his eyes as possible. Begging for her to listen. Those words had stopped him once from running, maybe they could stop her too. "Please come inside."

"Take care of them for me." But Clarke seemed to already be beyond his reach, the tears in her eyes blinding her to the way Bellamy was a hair’s breadth away from shattering.

"Clarke-"

"Seeing their faces every day is just going to remind me what I did to get them here.” And what was it going to do to him? To know that she was somewhere out there, alone and vulnerable and dealing with it alone?

"What we did." He’d pulled that lever with her, the blood wasn’t just on her hands, it wasn’t just her burden. "You don't have to do this alone."

She almost looked like she was considering it, letting his words sway her into staying. There was a heartbeat where Bellamy dared to hope, but then her face turned toward their people and he could see her swallow, her eyes filling with a painful kind of strength.

"I bear it so they don't have to,” she said like she was quoting something and he knew he’d failed, no words would sway Clarke now. He’d already lost her.

"Where are you gonna go?"

"I don't know," she said and then moved, pressing her lips against his cheek and making lightning stretch from that spot going inward, wrecking everything in its path. Her arms went around him and he pulled her as close as he could, already afraid of the moment she'd pull back.

"May we meet again," she whispered, her voice and his heart breaking in sync.

When Clarke pulled back it was as if his heart was being ripped from his chest with every inch of space she created between them.

"May we meet again."

The anger didn't come all at once. For the first two weeks, he was too consumed by shock and too busy with taking care of their people to have the time to be alone long enough to know what he actually felt. He was running around the camp making sure everyone had somewhere to sleep, arguing with the new council over the distribution of rations, and basically doing what Clarke had wanted him to do when she left.

The anger was gradual, it built with every person that asked him where Clarke was, with every person that asked when she'd be back.

Eventually what pushed him into letting it loose was Monty. This probably made sense, Monty had been in that room with them, and he was the only person other than Bellamy who had known that Clarke wasn’t going to cross those gates into camp. It’s both what had drawn them into something resembling a real friendship and what made it hard for Bellamy to look at him sometimes because every time they were in a room all Bellamy could think about was Clarke.

“We need to open trade with the Grounders. You have to convince them to listen,” Monty repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “Clarke would have wanted us to-”

“Well, Clarke’s not here!” Bellamy snapped.

Monty fell quiet, a look in his eyes like he knew exactly what had made Bellamy lose his composure. It was probably sympathy but what it felt like was, pity.

He had no interest in dealing with it or talking about it either way. What would be the point? He already knew what was wrong, and discussing it wouldn’t fix anything. So he stood up and left toward the place in the camp that had been created as the communal dining hall but very quickly turned into an impromptu pub.

He met Gina there that same night. He’d been brooding in a corner for what felt like hours, avoiding the other delinquents and snapping at anyone that tried to start up a conversation, when someone dropped a glass of something in front of his downed head.

“Fuck off,” was all he was willing to say.

There was the pointed sound of a throat clearing and he finally pushed up his face to see which of their kids he’d have to get rid of this time.

It wasn’t one of his friends in their attempts to get Bellamy to stop moping, it was the pretty bartender who somehow kept managing to keep her clients in line despite how rowdy and loud the evenings in the pub got.

She was staring at him, utterly unimpressed.

“Sorry,” some surviving corner of his manners demanded him to say “I’m Bellamy Blake.”

“Don’t be a dick, Bellamy Blake,” she threw back just as quickly, using her finger to slide the glass he was now pretty sure contained water, closer to his face. “I’m Gina Martin.”

He didn’t start dating Gina to get over Clarke. He actually spent quite a lot of effort into making sure that Gina and Clarke would take up completely separate corners of his mind.

He started dating Gina because he liked her. She was sweet and funny and took absolutely no shit from him and he needed that. He dated her because they had fun together and it was right about the only thing that made him feel like he was doing more than just... waiting. She was good for him. Or as Raven liked to point out - often and repeatedly - too good for him.

And he couldn’t exactly say that Raven was wrong.

Because it turned out that when your partner broke your heart and left you behind after you’d both committed genocide, you didn’t come out of it without a few scratches in whatever passed for their souls now.

And Gina helped. So loving Gina was easy.

He just wished it was just as easy to fall in love with her too. Or to fall out of love with the girl whose kiss stung his cheek every time he closed his eyes.

---

Seeing Clarke as he followed Octavia into the room made the ground underneath him quake like it did every time he saw her anew. As if Clarke was the axis on which his world turned.

It hurt so much to know - on some deep, untouched level - that this would always be the case, like it didn’t matter that Clarke had chosen the Grounders over her own people, over him; that it didn’t matter how deep his grief for Gina and how wide his hatred for the people who killed her. His eyes met Clarke’s and his heart shook.

It was simply a law written into the atoms of his universe.

“Go easy on Octavia. I had to beg her to get me into camp.” Clarke looked like a stranger, garbed in dark leather that made her look like one of them. Black coal might no longer be smudged under her eyes as it had been when she’d asked him to leave her behind, but the hair twisted into matted braids still reminded him so much of Lexa’s own regal form, that something ugly coiled through his belly all the same.

“What are you doing here, Clarke?” Bitterness simmered within him and he felt every breath like sharp daggers which scraped against his chest cavity.

“We need to talk.”

Did they? Now that she wanted it but not any of the times he’d tried to? Not when it might have made a difference?

“Oh, you've decided that. The mighty Wanheda. Who chose the Grounders over her own people, who turned her back on us when we came to rescue you? Now you want to talk.” It was so hard, looking at her and seeing two versions of the young woman he loved. The one who begged the Ice Nation prince not to kill him in exchange for compliance. And the one who stood at Lexa’s side like none of the things they’d survived mattered.

“I came here to tell you that the Ice Nation has paid a price.” Clarke’s voice was so even. Like this was a negotiation and Bellamy was just the latest pawn that needed to be moved. “Justice has been served for the attack on Mount Weather. I came here to tell you it's over.”

His lips twisted in some harsh version of amusement. “There it is again. Why do you get to decide it's over?”

“We did our part,” she said, and he felt the last of his calm fraying.

“We?” there hadn’t been a ‘we’ since she’d vanished for months without so much as a word that she was still alive.

“Lexa and I,” she said and he felt the sentiment hit him like barbed wire, ripping into his skin and leaving him bleeding somewhere beneath her notice. “The Ice Queen is dead. The problem was solved and then you let Pike ruin everything.”

He couldn’t listen to her, it was too hard, all he could hear was the roar of the explosion which had killed Gina and so many others. And any ability he’d had to hear Clarke out vanished at yet more proof that Bellamy meant nothing.

“Why are you here, Clarke?” He let go of his crossed arms and narrowed the gulf between them in a few steps. He was so tired. He wanted her to say her piece and leave him be.

“Arkadia needs to make things right or Lexa and the twelve clans will wipe us out.” And yet she still thought that Lexa could be trusted? Even after everything? Or was it just that Clarke cared about the Heda and wanted to protect her from losing face?

He hated how much the idea burned. He hated that he couldn’t even remain loyal to Gina’s memory for a few weeks. That so much of his heart still belonged to Clarke that knowing hers might be Lexa’s ripped into his own with a blow he didn’t know how to patch back together. Or if he even could.

“Let her try.” His voice had gone cold.

“Please tell me that going to war is not what you want.” Now she looked at him like she couldn’t even recognize his face. He turned his head away and then back, letting the silence stretch as for a moment he found himself unable to say anything.

“We've been at war since we landed. At least Pike understands that.” It was an excuse, he knew it was just a meaningless platitude that did nothing to convince even himself when he let himself think on it. And yet he didn’t want Clarke to see his doubt. If she saw his weakness she’d exploit it in a heartbeat.

"Pike is the problem.” She seemed finally to lose her temper. Good. It was easier to remain angry when she was too. “This isn't who you are.”

“You're wrong. This is who I've always been,” he said, memory full of the people who had already been on his conscience long before this latest event had washed him in blood once more. “And I let you and Octavia and Kane convince me that we could trust these people when they have shown over and over who they are and I won't let anyone else die for that mistake.”

“Bellamy, I need you,” he felt the words like a gut punch “and we don't have much time.”

“You need me?” The sheer lie of it felt like an insult all on its own.

“Yes, I do. I need the guy who wouldn't let me pull that lever in Mount Weather by myself.”

“You left me,” he reminded her. “You left everyone.”

“Bellamy-” there were tears in her eyes now but he couldn’t let himself believe them. Not anymore.

“Enough, Clarke!” he snapped, nearly yelling. “You are not in charge here and that's a good thing because people die when you're in charge.”

A part of him couldn’t quite believe what he was saying and yet he couldn’t make himself stop, tears beginning to build in his eyes and his heart stuck in his throat. “And you were willing to let a bomb drop on my sister. Then you made a deal with Lexa who left us in Mount Weather to die and forced us to kill everyone who helped us. People who trusted me.”

“I-”

He turned away from her, unable to look at Clarke just now. Giving himself a moment, just a moment to feel just how betrayed by her he felt.

“I'm sorry.” When he turned around Clarke was sitting, like his words had cut her at the knees. “I'm sorry for leaving. But I knew I could because they had you.”

Her sincerity cut into him just as deeply and he felt himself waver. Her face twisted into agony and he saw her shoulders beginning to shake into quiet sobs.

Going to her, dropping to his knees in front of her wasn’t a choice, her tears sliced into him ruthlessly and Bellamy just couldn’t stand there and watch Clarke cry. He took her arm, running his thumb over her wrist, trying to soothe away her tears.

When she looked at him her eyes shone with faith and for a fraction of a moment Bellamy almost gave in. She smiled and it was like the sun rising across the horizon.

“I know we can fix this.” But her ‘we’ no longer included Bellamy and the reminder shook him loose.

“I'm sorry, too,” he choked out and moved before she had time to do more than blink, handcuffing her to the table.

She made a sound like he’d pierced her with a blade.

“Hey! No, don't, no. Bellamy, don't.“ her voice begged at him through new sobs as he stood, shook off her hold, and left. Buried his heart back under the avalanche of grief and darkness. He couldn’t let Gina’s death mean nothing, and he couldn’t betray her by letting his foolish heart follow someone to whom Bellamy meant so little. It was bad enough he’d never stopped loving Clarke when Gina had still been alive. If he couldn’t do so even now...

He had to.

The realization of exactly how far into the pit of darkness he’d let himself fall because of his rage and guilt made Bellamy certain he’d never see light again. Not that he deserved to, not after what had happened to Lincoln.

He saw Clarke approach from the corner of his eyes, the rest of him still facing the nothingness of the dark water washing against the shore at night, and he struck a preemptive blow out of ugly habit.

“Let me guess, you came here to fix things. Wanheda, the peacemaker.” He said the words but didn’t know if he even meant them anymore. If he’d proven anything it was that she'd been right to stand against him.

“I came to see if you were okay.”

“Well, I don't need your help.” He didn’t deserve her help, he’d all but lost his rights to that when he’d taken her hand and instead of making peace had let his thirst for vengeance - and his jealousy if he was honest at least with himself - make him into an even bigger monster than he’d been already. He looked toward his sister, stalking around the fire like fury incarnate, and felt another piece of himself breaking. “Clarke. I've lost her.”

Clarke’s eyes when she turned to look at him were far kinder than Bellamy had any right to yearn for.

“Give her time, Bellamy,” she said and he wished he could believe that, but he knew his sister too well to truly expect that time alone would do anything but deepen the chasm between them. Octavia had loved Lincoln far too much. He only need imagine how he’d have reacted if Clarke had been the one to die and his sister to blame, to know this would not be something that was easily buried. “There may be blood on your hands but it's not Lincoln's.”

“Some of it is,” there was no escaping that. Bellamy had tried to save him, he had, but without Bellamy’s mistakes, Lincoln would still be alive today.

“Maybe,” she sounded more like she was humoring him than as if she truly agreed. “But you didn't want that to happen. You tried to stop it. Octavia will forgive you eventually. The question is, will you forgive yourself?”

He looked toward his sister again and watched as she fed more wood to the signal fire; could feel her rage even with the distance between them.

“Forgiveness is hard for us,” he admitted and looked at Clarke again, feeling his heart clench in his chest. “I was so angry at you for leaving. I don't want to feel that way anymore.”

It wasn’t Clarke’s fault that he loved her and she didn’t. Or that she’d been unable to share the burden of her pain over what they’d done inside that mountain with him, just because he’d have found it easier with her at his side. It was time to accept things that couldn’t be changed.

His sister might hate him until the day she died. He wasn’t able to turn his feelings for Clarke off despite how hard he tried or how much guilt he felt. And Clarke would never love him as he loved her.

“You know, you're not the only one trying to forgive yourself. Maybe we'll get that someday.” He wiped his eyes free of the tears which were beginning to fall, unable to do anything other than listen to her. “But we need each other, Bellamy. What we're doing now, the only way we're gonna pull this off is together.”

She stared at him for a minute, hesitating in place - like she wasn’t sure she was welcome - and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders like she’d done when she’d left, pressing her chin into his shoulder. He felt his insides twist into a knot and then loosen as he pressed his face into her hair, breathing in her scent and letting it soothe the pain of everything else.

Even his resignation to his injured heart.

---

It was strange how much could change in so little a time. And how little was truly different at all. They were trying to be ready to survive a second global apocalypse and making deals with the Azgeda. But they were also hoping that Raven's brilliant mind could make their desperate plans into reality for the hundredth time. All while Octavia still would not respond with anything other than rage and disgust at his presence.

Bellamy had known that it was unlikely that his sister would forgive him, not ever probably and certainly not so soon, and yet hearing her tell him that she was no longer Octavia at all - that Bellamy had killed her alongside Lincoln - cracked him open; made him hear his mother's disappointed voice somewhere near the back of his head telling him he'd failed in the most important task she'd ever given him.

His sister. His responsibility.

"I'm gonna take the Rover back to camp," he said once he felt Clarke joining him by the bank of the river.

"Octavia?" she guessed as she stood beside him.

"It's pathetic, right? She hates me but I keep coming back for more." When Bellamy wasn't careful he'd still feel her hard blows against his face, feel Octavia's hot tears hitting his split flesh as she sobbed above him, her heart visibly cracked down the middle and bleeding her dry to a point where it became just a calcified shell that had once been a vital organ.

There were moments - the darkest of them - when he thought he'd seen her hovering over the thought of going further, of hitting harder and never stopping.

If Bellamy had the power for it, he'd exchange his life for Lincoln's in a second just so that Octavia would never have had to feel what she'd felt that day. But he could no more do that than he could stop Praimfaya.

“She's your sister. She's blood,” Clarke said clearly trying to reassure him “She'll come around and see how special you are.”

She wasn’t quite looking at him as she said it and that managed to make just a tiny bit of long abandoned hope spark alive inside him. This might be a terrible time for it, but he might never get another chance. And suddenly he just wanted to say it, just once, so that it would finally be out there.

He loved Clarke. Was in love with her, really.

And at this point, he didn’t even really care if she felt the same or if he was simply her best friend, after all his mistakes it was far too much of a miracle that she still cared about him at all for there to be any resentment in him at not being something more to her.

But she deserved to hear the words, to know that there would be someone out there who would love her, with all they had, for as long as they lived.

“Clarke… If I don't see you again…” the confession was on the very tip of his tongue.

“No. You will,” she interrupted him so quickly it was instantly clear she must know what he was about to tell her and didn’t want him to finish.

It felt like she’d seen the doors to his heart slipping open and had responded by slamming them shut in a panic, jamming them closed with a loose pipe so that nothing spilled out.

It was all he could do to stay still and not let any of the pain that had suddenly seared into his veins show up in his eyes.

This time his attempt to forget how he felt was halfhearted at best. And pointless.

Raven had already once - an eternity ago now - taught him that it wouldn’t help. But the world was ending and Clarke still loved Lexa, and it was far too easy to join Jasper in his nihilism, join their party to dance with Bree, and then fuck her in her quarters - her blonde hair lacking the waves he dreamed about but in a shade that was nearly right - to close his eyes and pretend it was what he actually wanted.

When he later learned that Clarke had spent her night putting her life at risk and nearly boiled her own blood in the attempt to become a Nightblood to take the place of Murphy’s girlfriend, - saved only by Abby's love for her daughter - he nearly felt like laughing in self-deprecation.

The more things changed the more they stayed the same.

It wasn’t funny - it was the very opposite of that - but he was sure Raven would have laughed at him too. Laughed and then called him a fucking idiot.

---

Bellamy’s world was bright with hope for the future.

Five years on the Ring waiting for the radiation to become survivable with Clarke and their friends while his sister stayed down in the bunker was nothing. After reaching something nearly like peace with Octavia, a thing he’d been certain would never happen, being parted by something as simple as distance, was a gift.

“So let's go over this again. I figure two months until the algae farm produces enough food to feed us. If we ration the MREs, we should get there.” Clarke was working on the math again, he wanted to remind her that they’d have plenty of time for that later but he knew that she wouldn’t be able to turn off her brain until they were all strapped in and ready for liftoff - probably not even then, still calculating all angles even as they left Earth behind them - so he didn’t even try.

Instead, he stared down at Echo and Emori as they worked to fill their shuttle with all the things they’d be able to carry with them into space.

It was hard to trust them, especially Echo, in whose hands his trust had once killed Gina.

"Grounders in space,” he said, fingers tapping against the metal handrail and a feeling of disquiet heavy within him. He felt Clarke join his side but didn’t yet look at her “it's an oxymoron.”

“Survival's a team sport, especially up there. It was the only choice.” Logically he understood that and even beyond that he didn’t want to slip into the same mindset that Pike had used once to further incite Bellamy into committing an atrocity. But still, it was hard after all the things they’d lived through. “Only choice, also an oxymoron, by the way.”

She smiled at him and as was always the case he felt his own lips pulling up at the corners helplessly.

She looked a mess, exhausted and overworked, her face damp and shiny with sweat that glued her hair to the sides of her face. In a word, beautiful.

“So is cold sweat.” He moved his hand and pushed some of the more stubborn strands a little further away from her eyes. He didn’t even think about it, following the reflex to touch her without facing the familiar flinch of doubt. It was probably that he knew they’d have time to breathe up on the Ark where there would be no enemies for them to fight against anymore. They might even have time to talk if she wanted; if she was ready to listen. But he put those thoughts away for now and grew a little more serious. “Still holding out hope for that nightblood solution.”

If nothing else then maybe they’d be able to come down sooner than five years.

“There was never any solution. ALIE was right about that.” It sounded like she’d surrendered to the failure.

“Our fight is not over,” he said at once, pushing for her to see what he wasn’t saying. He had faith in her.

“My mom had a vision of me dying,” she said and he forced his face into remaining unconcerned even as something inside him turned over in rebellion. That wouldn’t happen so he refused to let even a hint of terror float upward. “Just like the one Raven had that told her there was a rocket here.”

“It is not the same thing,” he said. It wasn’t. There was a difference between leftover code that let Raven access some kind of information storage of ALIE’s and seeing the future.

“Yeah. They were both EMP'd.”

“And Abby will be fine, too. Raven told her how to stop it,” he tried to reassure her.

“That's not what I'm talking about.” Clarke seemed frustrated with him. “If anything happens to me-”

No, he wasn’t listening to this.

“Nothing is happening to you,” he told her before she asked him to promise her something that would utterly destroy him. He stepped away from her, walking back toward the line of computers, hoping she’d get distracted by the preparations again. “Come on. Let's run these water numbers again.”

“Please, Bellamy, I need you to hear this.” Her voice had grown higher and he turned his face away from her, feeling hunted, cornered like an animal that knew any flinch of movement might be its last. But it seemed he was unable to deny Clarke anything anymore, so he breathed in painfully before coming back to face her. Her eyes were filled with something he couldn’t put a name on, or maybe something he didn’t trust himself to name. “We've been through a lot together, you and I. I didn't like you at first - that's no secret - but even then, every stupid thing you did, it was to protect your sister. She didn't always see that, but I did. You've got such a big heart, Bellamy.”

He felt something inside him stagger at that look in her eyes. The heart she was describing suddenly tripping over itself.

“Clarke-”

But she wouldn’t let him interrupt her.

“People follow you. You inspire them because of this,” and she placed her hand on his chest over his heart. He wondered if she could feel it beating against his ribcage so hard he was nearly afraid it would break through, “but the only way to make sure we survive is if you use this, too.”

And her hand moved to his temple, resting there so gently, it hurt.

He shook his head, unable to take in her words, unwilling to entertain even the idea behind what she was suggesting.

“I got you for that,” he said.

But she swallowed, the last traces of her smile vanishing into smoke.

“Raven's premonition came true,” Clarke continued, - nodding even as Bellamy shook his head into denial again, - and looked like there might be more she wanted to say when they were disturbed by the sound of electricity sparking and a startled, pained yell.

“Come on, Clarke,” he whispered, eyes on the doors, trying with every single cell in his body to somehow will Clarke into appearing. He needed her to make it on time, he needed it more than he’d ever needed anything.

He’d written her name onto that terrible paper they’d never ended up needing to use just to avoid a moment like this one. If he was on that list, she was supposed to be right there beside him.

He didn’t want to survive without her.

“Bellamy,” Raven said, her voice heavy with awful meaning. The sand clock was quickly running out of sand and there was no more time. Bellamy felt every metaphorical grain of that sand smashing into his chest like hailstones.

“I know, Raven.”

Just a few more seconds, just a little bit more time.

“The radiation's already affecting the avionics. It's now or never.”

He felt like he was forcing his hand into his own chest, taking his beating heart into a fist, and as he turned around, dropping it on the ground behind him. Like he knew that he couldn’t afford to wait any longer, but that his heart could stay there behind him, marking the way for Clarke. It could wait there, it could wait there as long as it took for Clarke to come back, it could wait there for eternity if it needed to.

But Bellamy had to leave.

The first two years were hell.

Every breath drove spikes into him. He dreamed about Clarke every time he went to sleep, and knew that as soon as his head hit the pillow it was only a matter of time until he could see her.

In his dreams, she came up into space with him. Or he stayed down with her as Praimfaya consumed them both. Sometimes they had time to get back to the bunker. To join his sister and her mother underground.

He didn’t care which dream would come, only that he’d be with her again.

For a little while. Until he had to wake up.

For two years he refused to forget Clarke, to forget a single thing about her. He held on to the sound of her voice, - coarse like she had a cold and she’d just drunk tea with honey in it. He held on to the way she’d sometimes - so rarely it was all the more precious for it - smile like there was sunlight under her skin. To the way it had felt when she pressed her face into his shoulder the first time she’d hugged him, slammed into him from out of his blindspot, and embraced him like holding him was the only thing that had mattered. To how brave she was, always. To the way she never stopped believing in Bellamy, even when he stopped believing in himself.

Memories were all he had left of her, so he refused to forget them.

But she’d given him his orders. He was the head without his heart now and so he did what he had to, to survive.

Instead of waiting all day until he could sleep, he began finding ways to stave it off. Walking the corridors of the Ring like he was still a rookie cadet on a patrol. Training with Echo in hand-to-hand combat until he was too tired for dreams to come. And then later, once another year had passed, he staved off sleep in other ways.

With Echo. It didn’t start out because of any particular feelings, it was just the process of elimination. Not Monty or Harper because they had each other. Not Murphy or Emori because despite the way their relationship had eventually broken in the isolation, Bellamy would rather float himself than get in the middle of that. And not Raven, because that old, shared thought had never wavered between them, they would never go there again.

So it was Echo.

And he did grow to care about her. She, like all the rest of them, became Bellamy’s family. His old hatred just didn’t have enough air to survive up in space now.

But the truth was that the only way he was able to do as Clarke had asked, was by burying his heart in the same grave she rested in. So despite how he came to love Echo, or as close to loving her as he was still capable of - his heart was never hers, it couldn’t be.

So it was two years of hell and then four years that slowly transformed into a paler, lesser version of contentment as they at first waited for the radiation to reach survivable levels and then began working tirelessly to find a way to fix their way down.

In the end, they'd somehow miraculously found a new way. But they did reach Earth again, which was all that mattered.

And then his long-buried heart crashed like a comet back into his chest as the young Grounder girl who’d come out of the darkness killing the men who’d been about to shoot them all, looked up at him with awe and spoke the impossible.

“Bellamy?” she said with a sudden smile that seemed filled with relief “Clarke knew you would come.”

The universe twisted around him as reality overwrote six years of unprocessed grief and then righted. His heart really had been left here behind him, waiting.

“Clarke’s alive?”

---

He’d done a lot of terrible things in his life but as Madi fell back into Gaia’s hold and failed to open her eyes moments later, he wondered if this might end up being the worst of them.

“Clarke woke up right away.“ He stared at the young girl in Gaia’s arms and teetered in place, feeling everything inside him plummeting to the ground. He rushed closer to Madi’s side, falling to one of his knees. “Wh-why-why isn't she waking up?”

"Patience,” Gaia told him in that calming way she had which never failed to remind him of Luna, though this time the tone didn’t do much to assure him or to loosen the stone from its weight on his conscience. If Madi died. If he’d killed her- he shuddered, horrified by the thought. The chip wasn’t meant to hurt her. “The Flame affects every commander differently. Help me.”

He grabbed Madi’s legs and helped Gaia put her atop the altar. Trying to fight off his fear, to ward off the echoes of the pleading and the screams Clarke had thrown at his back when he’d left her behind in the cells.

He wondered if Madi would be right in her words on how Clarke would never forgive him.

”You said you've never done this before.” So how could she be certain that Madi would be fine? Had this really been his only choice? Or had Bellamy fallen once again in thinking himself right when the consequences that followed ended up proving him a fool?

"I haven't, but I've been preparing for it my whole life.” Gaia sounded so certain he tried to grab onto her faith.

She reached for something from beside Madi and lifted her head to enclose it around her neck.

“This collar will protect the Flame.”

Bellamy was staring at the firelight reflecting on Madi’s small face, wishing she’d open her eyes when they were found. Octavia’s men, Miller among them, rushed into the Ascension room, audibly readying their weapons for fire.

“Back away from the child right now,” Miller ordered as Bellamy and Gaia turned to face them, raising their arms in ingrained reflex.

And there Clarke was, moving around the men and freezing in place once her eyes landed on Madi. Then her gaze switched between her daughter and Bellamy while he was forced to see her hope of getting here in time to prevent the Flame from being implanted - and so marking Madi as the new Commander - die in her eyes.

Clarke walked toward Bellamy unsteadily, still staring at him, face twisted into pain, and as soon as she reached him - before Bellamy could say anything; before he could even part his lips for sound - he felt her hand slapping the side of his face so hard his head turned.

And still, she said nothing, just shook her head minutely. As if there were no words in her for him anymore, and never might again.

His heart cracked.

Clarke’s gaze went back to Madi and she rushed forward. “I need to get it out.”

“Clarke, no,” Gaia interrupted at once. “The Flame is bonding with her mind. If you take it out now before it's complete she may never wake up.”

It was then that Octavia entered Bellamy’s sight and despite everything he felt himself breathe out in relief. Monty’s algae hadn’t killed her, he wouldn't have to live with his sister’s blood on his hands.

”Quiet, traitor.” Octavia- Blodreina said, voice harsh. “Do it, Clarke.”

"If you kill this child, you make her a martyr.” Gaia threw back, her voice filling with the first traces of true hatred. “You weaken yourself even more.”

"I can't,” he heard Clarke whisper - voice breaking on the last word - and had to close his eyes to stop himself from looking at her. Inherently knowing that she didn’t want his eyes on her right now.

Octavia’s already stony face hardened.

"Take them to the Rover,” she ordered her guards. “Go.”

"No.” Gaia tried protesting.

"O,” Bellamy said, the old nickname slipping out reflexively and moved toward her hoping to reach the sister within the Red Queen, the guards cocked their guns and his steps faltered.

It was Miller whose gun was pointed straight at Bellamy’s face, expression uncompromising, and he felt a sting of hurt at yet another sign of this change in his old friend.

Another one of the guards carried Madi past Bellamy, Clarke right on their heels. She slowed only for a moment, eyes meeting Bellamy’s for a fraction of a second before she turned her face from him. Leaving him behind to face Blodreina’s justice.

”Arrest the traitors.”

Bellamy couldn’t make himself look at Clarke, it hurt far, far too much. If he’d known that she was alive those entire six years he may have prepared himself to face a Clarke to whom he meant so little that she could leave him to die. Maybe.

He’d at least have been prepared for the vast space which seemed to have grown between them - a space he hadn’t felt at all during that initial moment when their eyes had met for the first time in years when he’d had Madi drive him to negotiate with Diyoza and hostage the lives of two-hundred-and-eighty-three of Diyoza’s people for Clarke. At that moment it hadn’t felt like any time had passed at all for Bellamy.

Or no, he supposed he’d felt every second of those six years where he'd have done anything, absolutely anything, to bring Clarke back. And finding himself only feet apart had meant he’d be willing to fight demons or to become one himself so that he’d be able to bring Clarke home.

He’d felt as if he’d become Orpheus of Thrace, there to make a deal with Hades.

He should have known then to prepare himself for the worst. Making deals with gods had never ended in anything but tragedy, and receiving their gifts always came with the highest of prices.

There came the sound of light footsteps going down the ramp behind him and then Madi walked into the edge of his sight line as she joined him in staring toward the horizon, awaiting his friends.

“You have to forgive her,” Madi told him with the stubbornness inherent in children.

“Now's not the time, Madi,” he said, not wanting to talk about it. He’d rather hide his bruised and battered heart deep within and out of view.

But when had Bellamy ever gotten what he wanted?

“Do you have any idea how much she cares about you?” Madi’s voice filled with a certainty that made Bellamy hurt even more. Which was impressive as he hadn’t thought that even possible.

“So much she left me to die in a fighting pit,” Bellamy turned toward the girl and did his best to keep his voice even. Despite his effort though, there was bitterness dripping acid at the back of his throat and coloring his words.

“That was a mistake,” Madi threw back and there was a sudden glint in her eye which promised him she’d just come up with something clever that was about to disembowel him. “How many mistakes did you make to protect the child you loved?”

The hit landed like a well-aimed Trikru arrow.

“That was different,” Bellamy tried but felt the rigid righteousness of his argument turn into sand which began slipping through his fingers.

He’d committed many, many mistakes to protect Octavia, some that haunted him even to this day. But Octavia was his sister.

And Madi was Clarke’s daughter. If there was a difference did it even lean in Bellamy’s favor?

“Was it?” Madi asked pointedly as if she could read the waver in his conviction “I shouldn't tell you this, but when you were on the ring, she called you on the radio every day for six years.”

He’d been right, his organs seemed to clench like flesh receiving an electric shock and then vanishing. There was a distant thought telling Bellamy that if he were to look down and see them spilled out, rolling across the grass by their feet, he wouldn’t even blink in surprise.

“You didn't know that, did you?”

All Bellamy could do was stare at Madi, lips parting but no sound coming.

And like a compass yearning for the Earth’s magnetic pole, Bellamy’s eyes found Clarke. She’d been looking at him before he turned, he knew because he managed to catch her eye for the second it took before Clarke moved her gaze off.

That second lasted long enough to read her regret though. And her pain.

He’d hurt Clarke. And then she’d hurt him.

And none of that changed anything because his heart, now burning inside his chest with his own guilt, reminded Bellamy that it was still waiting and that the name seared into it was still hers.

---

Being in the same room as Josephine Lightbourne made Bellamy’s insides twist into knots. He breathed deeply, feeling his sanity fraying like a worn rope that was destined to snap in half.

He wanted to let it snap in half.

He wanted to dig his fingers into the back of Clarke’s skull and rip Josephine out, smash her chip under his boot, twist his heel until plastic turned into dust.

“What about the mother and child, will they agree?”

“I’ll handle our people,” he said, feeling like he was running lines in a play. Pantomiming the character he was supposed to be playing while in reality he just wanted to smash all their faces into a bloody paste. “How long will it take to build?”

Bellamy wanted to burn Sanctum to the ground and cut the throats of every Prime.

And the only reason he wasn’t, was because Clarke would want him to protect their people - to protect Madi most of all.

But that was the rational part of him, and that part did not at all want to stay in control when he was in the same room as Clarke’s corpse. A corpse that was walking and talking and breathing the air that was meant to be Clarke’s.

Josephine cleared her throat and he clenched his jaw, fighting off the urge to cross the room, lock his fingers around her throat and squeeze.

“Just a moment, sweetheart,” said Russell Lightbourne, his eyes busy running over the plans they were going through.

Bellamy’s eyes kept falling on and then flinching away from Josephine. Again and again. As his heart longed for one last look at Clarke’s face so that he could memorize her, and then recoiled because it wasn’t Clarke he was looking at.

But then movement caught his gaze and his attention narrowed. He heard Russel say something but the words lost meaning before reaching Bellamy’s ears.

Josephine was tapping her finger against the side of her crossed arms. Short, long. A pause. Short, long, short, short. Pause. Short, short.

He pulled up his notebook. Dots and dashes were scrawled without blinking or looking down, eyes glued to Josephine’s hand. Short, short, short, long. That pause. Short.

“Bellamy!” Russell called out, seeming to notice Bellamy’s distraction. “Bellamy? Are we agreed?”

Adrenaline spiked.

“Yeah,” he said, forcing himself to join the moment again. “We’re good. For now.”

“I’ll order construction to begin,” Russell said, sounding pleased, something that just seconds ago would have made Bellamy clench his hands into fists that would have demanded to be smashed into the man’s face.

“Let’s go,” Bellamy said instead, gesturing at Miller to follow.

They left the Lightbournes behind them and as soon as he and Miller were away from their eyes, he stopped trying to fight off the encroaching euphoria.

“Hey, remember when Pike taught us Morse code?” he asked in a whisper as soon as the doors closed behind them.

Miller blinked rapidly as if Bellamy had just transferred him back in time to some memory of his father asking him if he’d been paying attention in school. “I slept through most of Earth skills so...”

“Okay,” Bellamy nodded not really paying attention. “Josephine was tapping out Morse code on her arm.”

He added letters at the beginning of each string of lines he’d written. Feeling something within him being hit with warm light as the word was spelled out. Alive. He turned the notebook around passing it to Miller.

“What does it mean?”

“It means Clarke’s alive.” It meant he no longer had any intention to follow Murphy’s advice. He would do it bloodlessly if he was able to because it’s what Monty would want of him. But if it took starting a war, or killing every single person who had stolen another person’s life and body like they were trying to steal Clarke’s, he would still do it. “And we’re gonna get her back.”

“Echo,” he said before she could leave the room with the others, “can we talk?”

Echo’s eyes grew brittle and her face went from the thawed expression that occasionally even warmed now, - something that had taken years on the Ring, - to the look that was all frozen tundra of an Azgeda spy.

He waited until they were alone before trying to speak.

“Echo, I-”

“You’re trying to figure out how to break up with me,” she said, she’d never had any patience for Bellamy to find his words when she could read them herself. During their years-long isolation of just seven people in a world of their own, this had felt something like a blessing. There had been very little he’d wanted to say, it had been easier to let Echo just draw her own understanding from the lines of grief that crisscrossed Bellamy’s entire soul.

“I don’t-” But of course he did. He’d already put it off for far longer than he should have. He’d known that it was unfair to keep being with Echo in a universe where Clarke was still alive, but it had been easier to pretend otherwise, to use Echo as something like a shield that might protect Bellamy from feeling his heart breaking yet again. And there had been that promise he’d made Echo, about how nothing would change on the ground. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

That much was true. He cared about her, and would never have started dating her at all if he’d had even a hint of hope that Clarke had survived Praimfaya. If he’d known that the nightblood had worked, or that she’d reached cover before the fire itself could consume her.

But he’d been without hope.

And he’d loved Echo as well as a dead heart could love someone.

“I know. But you’ve always been in love with Clarke,” Echo told him, staring over his shoulder. There was no wetness to her eyes but Bellamy knew that it didn’t actually mean anything. She’d never forgotten her training. “I’ve always known that. We’ve been on borrowed time since the minute you found out she was alive, I’m just surprised it took this long, really.”

“I did love you. I do love you.”

Her eyes flicked to his with a glare and Bellamy closed his mouth. Grimaced at his mistake, despite the sentiment, the words were cruel.

“Nowhere near the way I deserve.” She seemed to agree with his last thought.

“I know,” he repeated “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, just save Clarke,” Echo told him and turned around to leave, their conversation done. She didn’t stay for a hug that might bring them from two people who’d been in a relationship for three years, to two people whose relationship had ended but who were still family in many other ways. No goodbyes, it just wasn’t Echo’s way. “Or what would be the point of any of this?”

Bellamy tested the chains locking him to the cave wall for the tenth time when he felt Josephine’s eyes on him.

“What?” he asked, irritated by that smirk on her face. Hating it because even an expression that small wasn’t quite right. He’d seen Clarke smirk, it had never looked quite that self-important and arrogant when she did it. Her smirks tended to slip into grins or to fade so quickly he thought he’d imagined them.

“My father was a fool for letting you people stay,” she started out with a lilt to her voice that he was beginning to recognize as her preparing to turn long-winded and to say things that would end with Bellamy needing to remind himself that any harm he did to her he’d be doing to Clarke too. “All that time spent building a sanctuary for the human race, and he destroys it because of the most human thing of all - love.”

The implied double meaning landed like a punch to the gut, as was Josephine’s intention he was sure. He turned his head toward her, opening his mouth though uncertain what it was exactly he was planning to say to her.

It’s not like he had any intention to say those words for the first time to the person doing their very best to murder Clarke. Even more so to someone who was wearing Clarke’s body like body-armor.

It turned out though that he didn’t end up needing to say anything, as Bellamy had already learned, Josephine loved hearing herself talk far too much.

"I mean, who can blame him? I am awesome. It's just...well, one look at you, he should have known how this would end,” she clicked her tongue to underline her point and he moved in place, adjusting his sitting. More discomfited than he’d like to be. “Guess I'm just saying all this because I know so much about you now.”

Ah, so there was her game.

“Hmm, you do, huh?” he smiled, knowing it wasn’t reaching his eyes but almost amused in a colder kind of way.

“Mm-hmm,” she smiled too, her eyes carrying a little malicious glint. “Take you and Clarke, for instance. Now that's a weird relationship, isn't it?”

He felt himself freeze in place, rock beginning to dig into his spine. But he didn’t move, somehow aware that it was more important for him to ready his walls for a catapult.

"First you want to kill her to save your own ass, even though it means the genocide of your own people on the Ark, and then you become besties, bonding over the actual genocide at Mount Weather.” It was frightening to know how much Josephine had gleaned from Clarke’s mind now when initially she’d known nothing. He wondered what that meant for Clarke, was she losing her fight with Josephine? How long did Bellamy have to bring her to Gabriel?

“Together,” she mimicked mockingly.

He said nothing, unwilling to give Josephine the pleasure.

"You lock her up, she locks you up, you leave her on Earth, she leaves you to die in the Fighting Pits.” The oxygen around Bellamy seemed to grow thinner with her every word. “I mean, it's exhausting, frankly.”

He stared toward the ceiling and gave in.

“Tell me about it,” Bellamy muttered, feeling every event she’d described as having sunk iron into his bones; like he’d just grown heavier by tons. Then he shook it off and made his own point. “You're wrong about how this ends, by the way.”

He saw her twist Clarke’s head toward him with an expression like she was already rather doubting him.

He hummed.

“First, we get you back into your Mind Drive,” he told her as a foregone conclusion because he wouldn’t be accepting any other way this ended. He’d get Clarke back, “and then I'll use it for a peace deal with your Father.”

“Your belief in yourself is cute,” Josephine said, not sounding like she thought that at all. “But unfortunately, putting aside about a thousand variables, chief among them Clarke's newfound evangelical, do better-ism, making it impossible for her to accept a peace deal with those awful body snatchers, all three of us are gonna die in this cave.”

“Yeah, okay. We'll see,” he scoffed.

"Okay, now your confidence is just pissing me off,” Josephine snapped back.

Bellamy took a quick look at her, staring at the way Clarke’s shoulders rose and fell slightly. He matched it. They were still breathing, so Bellamy still had hope.

Watching Clarke flat-line was unlike anything he’d had to live through before. Well, no, he supposed it wasn’t much different than how it had felt any of the too many other times he’d feared Clarke dead - though maybe not quite as bad as those times when he’d truly thought her so. And if he never had to go through that ever again after this, it would still be too soon.

But what made this different was that Bellamy needed to let it happen. That he had to stand there in Gabriel’s hut and trust the man to sacrifice the person he loved to save the woman who meant very little to him, and everything to Bellamy.

“All right,” Gabriel said, pulling out the mind drive and hurriedly dropping it in a metal dish. “Cover the wound.”

Bellamy followed the instructions, forcing his hands to stay steady as he bandaged the back of Clarke’s neck and then with Octavia’s help turned her onto her back to give Gabriel access.

“We need to restart her heart.”

Bellamy watched the man injecting adrenaline straight into Clarke’s heart and swept his eyes over the screens as soon as the needle was out, trying to catch the moment when the line monitoring her heartbeat would jump back into movement.

But the line stayed still.

Bellamy felt his forced calm begin to abandon him the longer the extended warning sound, which announced that Clarke’s heart was still yet to start beating again, stretched.

“Why isn't she waking up?” Horror was building up inside him again.

Bellamy couldn’t do this again. He couldn’t. The idea that he would have to go back to Sanctum and tell Madi that her mother was dead? Again? To tell Abby? Their friends? And then to return to living some shadowed reflection of life where Clarke was gone again as he’d done for six grueling years?

He refused to accept that.

“I'm sorry, but her brain can no longer support two minds,” was all Gabriel told them and Bellamy went cold, a high-pitched whine beginning to ring in his ears as his chest contracted and froze, stilling despite the pressure he could feel building in his lungs.

“What are you talking about? Do something,” Octavia demanded. “They're both still in there.”

Bellamy’s eyes flicked over his surroundings, hand hovering inches over Clarke’s head and the reality around him going fuzzy. Like if he didn’t have to listen to Gabriel’s words they’d stop mattering.

“Latent neural activity continues for a short time after death, but once the head stops telling the heart to beat, it's over, okay?”

Those words. Bellamy’s entire life narrowed down to those words.

“The heart and the head,” he said to himself.

He just needed to give Clarke time. To keep her heart beating long enough for her mind to catch up. If there was one thing Bellamy knew with everything in him it was that you could always trust Clarke’s mind to start working.

“The heart and the head.” He moved his hands over her chest, pushing Octavia slightly aside, and started compressions.

Clarke stayed still and unmoving under his hands. The seconds stretched as he put more and more weight on his work.

His mind filled out with pictures. Scenes from memory. The time he'd caught her hand and pulled her free of the pit of spikes that awaited her on the bottom. The time she’d sat beside him on the ground with their backs against the tree, for the first time truly his partner. The way she hummed a lullaby as she killed Atom in mercy. The first night after she’d returned from escaping Mount Weather and they’d camped by the fire when they’d gone searching for Finn; when Bellamy had felt something in his heart clench at seeing her asleep for the very first time. Hearing her voice on the hand radio, when he'd gone down to infiltrate the Mountain. Every single time Clarke had ever hugged him and he'd felt warmth suffuse his very being.

“Bell,” his sister said quietly, her hand pressing against his back, attempting comfort.

He ignored her. He didn’t need comfort, he needed Clarke.

"No,” he shook her off. “I'm not losing her again.”

He’d lost her to Mount Weather. And then to her grief over having needed to irradiate that same mountain, killing hundreds. He’d lost her to Wanheda. And then to Praimfaya. To his own stupidity. And then to the Primes. And he wasn’t losing her to Josephine a second time.

“Come on, Clarke.” Oxygen. The brain needed to receive air to continue working. He leaned over her, stopping the compressions long enough to push air into her lungs twice, and with some buried corner of his mind noticed that his tears now wetted her face too.

“Come on! Clarke, Clarke, I need you,” he was begging now, pleading for her to hear him. Mind scrambling for something that might be important enough to make her listen. “Madi needs you. Now wake up!”

“Bellamy she's gone,” Octavia’s voice was tearful and compassionate. But not something he was willing to accept.

“No, she's not!” He yelled in his sister’s face and then turned back to face Clarke a fraction of a second later, momentarily losing focus as he realized he’d stopped the compressions. “Wake up, Clarke! Come on!”

He pulled his hand into a fist and hit her over the heart now. Old, buried lessons reminding him that breaking the ribs just meant that the compressions were actually reaching the heart and so could be dealt with later.

"I'm not letting you go,” he told her, speaking only to Clarke.

"You're a fighter," he reminded her. She'd always been one, he hadn’t recognized it in the very beginning but she'd taught him hadn't she? "Now get up and fight!"

He smashed his hand over her heart once more.

Then moved his lips over Clarke’s, pushing air out of his own lungs and into hers again.

Clarke coughed, choking. It was the most beautiful sound Bellamy had ever heard. He sobbed pulling her up and turning her just slightly to ease pressure on her airways.

"You're okay," he said, crying to himself. He ran hands over the sides of her face, pushing hair away from her eyes and supporting her head as she tried to raise it.

"Just breathe." He couldn't stop looking at her, the way she was finally moving, breathing on her own. "Just breathe."

But finally, a worry that had been irrelevant while Clarke had been failing to wake swam to the surface and Bellamy felt his breath stutter as he began to stare deeper into her eyes. Trying to read her. To see her.

"Clarke?" he asked, needing to make sure it was actually her in his arms now. He didn't know what he'd do if he saw Josephine, only that he would break utterly. But he didn't have to find out because his answer came in the way her eyes wouldn't stray from Bellamy's face, a look filled with years of unspoken words - or maybe words she'd spoken into the radio calls which Bellamy had never had the chance to receive; the contents of which had been haunting him since Madi had told him of them.

It was her. Clarke. His tears ran harder as his heart lurched with familiar relief.

And this time Bellamy just couldn't stop himself. The relief was too great, his heart too full, he pulled her closer and leaned down to catch her lips for the third time that night.

Except this was the only time that really counted because Clarke's lips moved under his own, kissing him back after only a moment during which Bellamy felt like his world might be about to end after all. Her hand went up to squeeze the material of his jacket, seeming to pull him closer.

Bellamy's heart sang as he kissed her, deeper now, beginning to lose himself in the moment and trying to pour every bit of his love into it, suffusing it with all his relief and joy and sheer adoration.

He didn't know if he'd ever have this chance again so he made sure to memorize it. To remember her taste, the way she smelled. Everything. All of it.

Eventually, though, they both needed oxygen and their kiss slowed. Lips parted, as they blew heavy breaths against each other's faces.

"The head and the heart," Clarke whispered, while Bellamy nodded and pulled her closer to him, hugging her tightly to assure both of them that she was alive.

Clarke woke with a start and Bellamy was at her side in moments.

"Hey. You're okay. I'm still here," Bellamy assured her, noticing the way her eyes had jumped around before settling on him and calming.

"Thanks to you," she said, "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours," he told her and then felt his face twisting into a pained grimace. The hours he'd spent waiting had brought with them the reminder that it had been Bellamy's fault that this had happened to her in the first place. "I'm so sorry, Clarke. I knew you were a target. I didn't protect you."

"Bellamy, you saved me."

He opened his mouth and then hesitated, suddenly remembering that they weren't exactly alone, turning toward Gabriel who was visibly trying to be unobtrusive and giving them as much privacy as was possible, Bellamy asked “Can you please?-”

"Of course," Gabriel nodded and stood to leave. "Call me if you notice complications."

They waited a few moments until Gabriel had left, Bellamy's stomach falling into a painful swoop filled with disappointment when he noticed the way Clarke’s eyes were beginning to avoid his own.

"Bellamy?" she spoke eventually. "Maybe we shouldn’t-"

But Bellamy was tired of avoiding this conversation. He'd let her silence him more than a few times those years back. And all it had left him with was a sea's worth of what-ifs which had haunted Bellamy for every one of the six years they'd been apart.

"No, I’m not doing that anymore Clarke," he said gently but without backing down, moving her head up with a touch of fingers to her chin to catch her eyes. "This time just- just please let me say this."

She nodded, pulling her hands around herself. Like she needed to protect herself from what Bellamy was about to tell her.

"I love you, Clarke." His voice shook nearly imperceptibly but he knew that Clarke would still catch it, he certainly caught the way her shoulders halted in place for a moment before resuming their natural motion. Her eyes flicked up to his, a startled look in them he couldn’t quite make any sense of. This hadn't exactly been a secret he'd kept very well after all: Kane had known, and so did Abby, Raven, and Monty. Murphy had certainly made himself pretty clear. Diyoza, Roan. Lexa and Niylah. Josephine and- point being, it wasn't like he'd been very subtle. "I’ve loved you for- fuck I don’t even know how many years it’s been now."

They'd been down on the ground for nearly a year before the second wave of radiation had burned everything, he thought. Or was it slightly longer? Then six years on the Ring of course and more than a hundred asleep.

And which of those years counted? He knew that the time he'd thought her gone absolutely did because he'd never stopped. And he felt like his time in cryosleep did too because it certainly felt like he'd loved Clarke for a century.

"And I know you didn’t, that you don’t-" here he stumbled, heart growing heavy again, he'd accepted it, yes, but that didn't mean it hurt any less "and that’s fine Clarke. I get it."

"But-" Clarke finally moved to interrupt him. "Echo."

"I broke up with Echo before we left Sanctum," he told her and then moved quickly ahead, suddenly worried that she'd read some kind of pressure in that. "Which was long overdue and it's probably gonna take a long while before she forgives me for not having done it sooner."

"I-"

"Just- just let me finish, okay?" he swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut, knowing that to get his next words out he'd need all the strength he had. "Clarke. I’m sorry for kissing you right after- I shouldn’t have done that."

She'd just been dead not even a full minute before. He didn't think there even was a more vulnerable moment Bellamy could have found for when to do it.

Which he'd realized after but certainly hadn't even taken a moment to consider at the time.

"It was stupid and wrong of me but you woke up and you were you, Clarke, and I couldn’t- couldn’t-" His jaw locked and he breathed for a moment before continuing. "I'm in love with you, Clarke. And I don’t care if you still hate me for putting the Flame in Madi, or if-"

He was silenced by Clarke's fingers falling over his mouth, fingertips resting gently against his lips and making heat flash through his bones.

"Bellamy. I think now’s my turn,” Clarke said, her eyes filling with tears again.

He felt the alien world around them halting into silence as Bellamy’s fate and heart rested in Clarke’s arms. Which wasn’t really any different than usual but somehow felt a thousand times stronger just now.

“I missed you. After Praimfya it was so hard, and I would have lost myself if I hadn’t found Madi. Talking with you though is what kept me sane, even though you never answered. And then you came back and you were so different, still you, but... not mine anymore. Which was stupid, of course, it’s not like I really expected-”

“I-” she pressed her fingers tighter against his lips, stilling his denial and his apology.

“But I think I hoped. And it hurt when I realized that somewhere up there you’d found a family that I was no longer a part of.”

“You are,” he said before she could interrupt him again, kissing her fingers to take the sting off failing to follow her request for his silence.

“And you’re mine, Bellamy. And I need you to believe me when I say this next bit, okay?” She said and then breathed in heavily, starting to run her hand over the lines of Bellamy’s face, stopping occasionally like she was marking some of the more significant spots. “I love you, Bellamy, I was afraid to, because everyone I love always dies, everyone who loves me always dies. And I couldn’t let you join them.”

He felt years of old pain begin to evaporate and smiled at Clarke, feeling tears on his cheeks again.

Then he felt her hand slipping into his probably gross and sweaty hair to hold the back of his neck, and he only had time to take in a single deep breath before Clarke’s lips slid over Bellamy’s, as she pulled him into herself. She tasted of sunlight, of hope and love, and the kind of happiness Bellamy had thought out of his reach. Suddenly it didn’t matter exactly how long Bellamy had been in love with Clarke, or how long Clarke returned those feelings. All that mattered was that they loved each other right now, at this moment.

And he never wanted to forget it again.

#bellarke #bellarke fic #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #the 100 #the 100 fic #fanfic #otp: the head and the heart #bellarke fanfiction

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midnightactual · 2 years

Text

to expand on what I just said:

Yoruichi is the first female Shihōin Clan Head and that instantly means lots of pressure and expectations. we can assume on the low end (because the “million year history of Soul Society” is explicitly stated to not be the history of the Seireitei) that tens of thousands of years of tradition are thrown out with her. she'd be under the microscope simply for being the first. and as to why she was the first the reasoning is pretty obvious: it’s a patriarchal society where women are seen as baby machines. so you can also imagine the elders would be all up in her womb and menstrual cycles and never leave her alone about a husband and kids which is a big goddamn problem if the person she really wants is another lady and it becomes a much bigger problem still if the person she wants is also the second-in-line for the Shiba Clan

we know that nobody among the Great Noble Clans or Noble Clans likes the Shiba because we’re straight-up told as much. while it seems the Shihōin maybe lowkey do that still leaves them in a politically unacceptable position. why? a couple reasons.

maybe theoretically the Shihōin would welcome an alliance with the Shiba but in practice a wlw relationship does not make that alliance a lasting thing. there’s no heirs and no closer unity and it's just something imposed as long as the individuals wanting it are alive. while we the audience can infer Yoruichi and Kūkaku will live a long-ass time given how strong they are this isn’t guaranteed and you can expect clan leadership to be very conservative in its forecasts considering Great Noble Clan members die all the time like Sojun Kuchiki. (also heirs between the two clans would be their own problem as it could dramatically upset the status quo by potentially resulting in a merger)

even if both sides approved it would still be 2 Great Noble Clans against 3. even if we sort of handwave the 5th as being out of the picture and consider it as 2 vs. 2 then we know the Nobles don’t like the Shiba and would sign up with the exemplars of following the rules: the Kuchiki. so everyone else in the Seireitei would be politically unified and intently focused against them and that would be a bad time in short it likely wasn’t culturally acceptable to come out and have an official wlw relationship but it also definitely wasn’t politically acceptable then Yoruichi goes and becomes the most successful criminal in history since probably Retsu/Yachiru before the Gotei 13 was even founded thus making her instantly politically radioactive. then Kaien dies and the Shiba are in a really fragile situation. then Isshin deserts and gets them kicked out entirely which strips them of most if not all of their legal protection. like, yeah, Yoruichi is absolutely not going anywhere near Kūkaku until some part of her own situation is resolved both for personal reasons but also especially because of legal ones... until she’s forced to by Aizen dropping the wall and leaving her no other options

now one can if they really want to say that it’s purely the political and legal reasons. but Yoruichi doesn’t seem to care about making trouble for other people if not outright delight in it... except when it comes to Kūkaku who claims to love trouble. isn’t that something you’d think a best friend of presumably a few hundred years would know? so then why does Yoruichi stay away? there has got to be a personal reason. and it’s not the same as with Kisuke.

I think neither Japan nor the world at large was ready for this back in 2003 or so when these chapters first came out. the culture was different. wlw content is often super formulaic. but you see Kubo moving increasingly toward plots involving political intrigue and suddenly here’s Yoruichi in an almost entirely red outfit when the orange one really meant something and to me that’s just not coincidence. it was a star-crossed lovers plot hiding in the background that nobody wanted to dig to see because the anime handed them two ready-made ships already. why question a “fact” which is already “proven”?

#Out Of Character #Meta #Yoruichi Shihouin #Link: NIGHT SKY

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just-another-npc · 3 years

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Okay so you're the only one online right now but,,, I was thinking about something. It seems the whole fandom believes that Hunter is a Grimwalker now. So wouldn't it be funny if he wasn't one? And we just deciphered the book wrong? Yeah I'm being serious right now. Dana is known for loopholes so I wouldn't be surprised if a fan favorite theory ended up being wrong. I've seen it happen in other media. I feel like the theory is too obvious now.

First off, I'm so sorry I didn't see this! I got a notification from Tumblr but it was a repeat of someone's reblog and when I searched on the mobile app I couldn't find anything so I shrugged it off until I found this on desktop.

It's definitely something I've thought about before! I haven't put a whole lot of thought into it (though I'm going to now), but I personally like the take that Hunter is really just a direct descendant of the Whittebane's rather than a Grimmwalker. We took Hunter's eye color matching the graph to be indicative of his Grimmwalker status, but what if it's instead a prerequisite? I grabbed a screenshot of the book:

Notice how everything on the right side of the page is a list of ingredients? Well, don't those normally come first in a "recipe," so to speak? I see two possible options (one being more interesting and the one I'm more likely to subscribe to). One, the eyes were a misnomer, and the chart on the left side is actually in relation to a different section of the book that Belos was using(Bo-ring, but also? Wouldn't put it past the team). Two, Hunter matches one of the "materials" needed to create a Grimwalker. Looking on the right side of the page, we see a list of rare ingredients. Palistrom wood is the most recognizable; it's well-established as a rare substance that the public doesn't have access to due to its decrease in availability in "Hunting For Palismen." Then there's Galdorstones and Selkidomus Scales. Galdorstones were the stones in the illusionist's graveyard in "Through The Looking Glass Ruins"--they are highly protected and hard to steal. The Selkidomus scales were what Luz was hunting for in "Separate Tides," and it had quite a high value--the highest on the board. I don't recognize stonesleeper lungs, and while bone of Ortet sounds familiar, all I could find on it were fan theories. That being said, we can assume they're just as rare of substances as the others.

So what if the red eyes are a rare genetic indicator of being a vessel for a Grimwalker, rather than a side effect of being one? We see most all of the other ingredients on the left side of the page near the top; they may be descriptions of each of the ingredients. However, there's a distinct lack of something bone-like. What if Hunter is an Ortet? It may be the name for a nonmagical witch--a side effect of which is dark pink eyes. While there could be multiple reasons for needing the power Galdorstone, one may be to add power where the vessel lacks a bile sack--which, if Hunter was part human and a descendant of the Wittebane's, he wouldn't have one. If this is the case, Hunter wouldn't have been created as a Grimwalker. He instead is needed to create one of the dead Wittebane. Belos describes Hunter as being "a hassle to replace"--like needing emergency work on a car. But if Hunter was a Grimwalker, the endgoal, I'd say Belos has him on a relatively long chain, all things considered. Why clone your brother only to have him wander around and do his own thing, send him on smaller missions because, why yes something bad may happen to him, but he can be replaced. Replace??? Your brother's clone?? It doesn't quite make sense. The topic and execution feel a bit too sensitive and personal, even for the series antagonist. However, if Hunter was an ingredient--a witch with a rare genetic disorder making him unable to do magic--well that makes more sense now, doesn't it? Hunter is valuable--his condition is rare and he's related to the person Belos wants to bring back. However, that doesn't mean there are no more "Ortets" on the Boiling Isles. Hunter has a family, one in which his condition is common. And maybe witches can be born without a bile sack without having human ancestry, it's just incredibly rare. Replaceable, but "a hassle."

This also would make sense talking about the day of Unity. Hunter is needed to bring back Belos's brother--that's why he plays such a large role. It also explains some of the guards on the other ingredients. Belos hates wild magic and eats Palismen, so why protect the tree? Because he still needs it to make a Grimwalker. High bounty on the Selkidomus scales? He needs them for the day of Untity to make the Grimwalker. So on and so forth, you get the point.

Anyways this was a great ask! It makes a lot of sense now that I think about it, connects a lot of dots. Sorry I took so long to respond! Also I once again took like an hour to write a theory so only light proofreading </3

Note: I'm not using Phillip or his brother specifically because I believe that the fan theory is backward--Belos is Phillip's brother. For ease of understanding (and because this theory is unrelated to the topic at hand), I just left each Wittebane "anonymous" so to speak.

#well fuck. i believe this theory now #asks #vobomon #toh #the owl house #toh theory #the owl house theory #belos toh #emporer belos #hunter toh #golden guard #the golden guard #wittebane brothers #ortet theory

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believinghurts · 4 years

Text

Their Daughter Pt 3

Warning: Arguing, insecurities, crying

A/N: I am planning on this being about six parts, but I’m not sure yet. Leave me some feed back! This also hasn’t been proofread so I apologize for that! Please don’t post my work anywhere else.

The rest of the night before Ali left for Malfoy Manor passed slowly. She wrote her reply telling her aunt that she would be at Andromedas before she came to the Manor. Ali could hear the others moving around the house below her, but chose to stay in her room. After hearing her own father call her a snake she didn’t want to be at risk of getting called it again by him or anyone else. It was something she was used to at school, and often ignored, but hearing it from her own father hurt more than the others. She wasn’t a snake and just because she spent time with Slytherins it didn’t make her a bad person. She found it ironic that people in other houses say things about house unity and having friends from other houses, but none of them ever showed Slytherins much kindness apart from a few Hufflepuff's. Slytherins were misunderstood a lot and being sarcastic and rude was a defense mechanism for most of them was what Ali had learned from her time spent with them. Draco, for example, just wanted his father to be proud of him, while Daphne wanted to be seen as more than just her face and body. Everyone of the Slytherins has some sort of problem, they all realize this and that’s what makes them such good friends with one another.

Ali shut her trunk lid before sitting on top of it blowing a piece of her dark hair from her face. She had packed a few things to take with her, though she already had quite a lot at the manor in her room. Draco told her to bring a swimsuit and leave the books in his letter, so she packed both. It had taken about an hour to pack everything she needed, so seeing as it was getting dark outside she looked at the clock. It was 6:00 meaning that it was almost time for dinner. She changed into a pair of black leggings before throwing a jumper on that somehow ended up being Blaise’s Quidditch jumper; it was always cold in the house even in the middle of summer. Shrugging she looked at her appearance in the mirror, she fixed her hair into a braid going down the side of her head before letting the growling of her stomach lead her downstairs.

She noticed that all the noise seemed to be coming from the dining room so her plan of grabbing cookies and leaving was busted. From the sounds it seemed as though everyone was in there, but Regulus was so quiet she wasn’t sure if he was or not. Pausing she sent up a quick prayer hoping that Regulus, Remus or both would be in there. Conversations seemed to pause when she walked through the threshold. Sirius was talking with Harry and Ron, Molly was sitting with her husband and oldest two, Hermione and Ginny were looking at a book, Remus sat near Sirius looking thoughtful, while Regulus had his back to her talking with someone. He noticed some of the chatter had died down, he turned to see Ali and gave her a view of the person in front of him.

Everyone’s mouths dropped when Ali took off faster than a snitch towards her Uncle Severus. She jumped on him, hugging him while he smiled at Regulus hugging his only niece back. “When did you get here? Why didn’t you come see me?” Ali pouted at her Uncle which caused him to shake his head, chuckling at her antics.

“Regulus said you were probably packing for tomorrow and I did not want to interrupt. And as for when I got here it was about fifteen minutes or so,” He kissed her head before letting her step back. Severus bit back another smile when he noticed all his students and former students staring at him and his niece. “Isn’t there something else you could be looking at?” Directing his icy glare to Granger, Potter, and the youngest two Weasleys. Their heads whip down except Harry’s whose eyes went back and forth between Severus and Ali. Severus knew of the words Potter often said about Ali and the others in his house. Assuming that he was just going to keep staring at the two Severus turned his attention back to Regulus and Ali. “When do you leave for the manor?”

Ali found it funny that her uncle had set the others in place, but she a;so got why they were looking. Severus was a private person; he wasn’t one for talking a lot or physical touch. Ali had only ever seen him hug one person and that was her. To everyone else he was a cold, rude Potions teacher, but to Ali he was her Uncle that brought her books, taught her Potions, and made the best tea in the world. She felt her fathers eyes on the back of her head, but pointedly chose to ignore him. “I leave tomorrow when Uncle Rem does.”

“I still do not understand why you insist on going over there. They are not good company Alianova. Are you going to become like them? Become a Death Eater like Lucius and his son are? You were raised by one so it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Sirius sneered at his daughter. The look of disgust in his eyes hurt her more than the words. Ali knew that before Lucius was a Death Eater much like Regulus and Severus. But she also knew that they weren’t those people maymoer. Each of those men had decided that family was more important. It had taken a lot for Lucius to see that his ways were wrong, but the thought of harm coming to Draco, Narcissa or even Ali made him see differently.

Ali’s blood boiled when sirius talked about her family like that. He didn’t have to like them, but she loved them and they loved her. He wasn’t there for her; they were. “They aren’t Death Eaters.” She stated firmly.

“Aren’t Death Eaters? Are you draft? Draco may not be right now, but I know Lucius would never give up his ways. It’s only a matter of time before Draco is one as well. How old were you Regulus when you got the mark? Seventeen? Draco is almost there. Harry told me what he’s like in school, and what you're like. Stuck up, and prejudice just like the others. It’s honestly no wonder Harry doesn’t like you. Typical Black fashion to only hang out with Purebloods. You're going to end up just like Bellatrix I guarantee it if you stay hanging out with the Malfoys.”

“That is enough,” Regulus stepped in front of Ali. Everyone's eye bouncing between Ali, Regulus and Sirius. Ali felt tears brim in her eyes, and her breathing become heavier. Anger and hurt ran through her veins, battling one another. Sweat started to gather on her palms as she noticed the looks of pity coming from Molly, and Arthur after the shock of what Sirius had said wore off. Molly ushered everyone out of the room, Harry went reluctantly, beside Sirius, Remus, Severus, and Ali sensing that this was a private family matter. Remus stood, crossing the room to take Ali into his arms. She let out a shuddering breath before turning her attention back to Sirius and Regulus. “She has done absolutely nothing wrong to you or anyone for that matter. And you call her draft? Look in the mirror Sirius. She is your child for Godric's sake! Not Harry Potter. Ali is a good girl; she gets good grades, has manners, and above all she doesn’t care what peoples blood status is. You’re calling her prejudice? She is the least prejudiced person in this whole house. You have no say in anything that she does. None. You left her not just once, but twice. You can say that you didn’t know she was there all you want, but you know that anyone that had her wouldn’t have sent her anywhere else. You chose Harry Potter over her TWICE. And you never picked up the pieces; we did. Myself, Remus, Severus, Narcissa, Lucius, Ted, and Andromeda were all there for her when she was growing up. Remus taught her to read, Severus taught her how to make small potions on a potions kit, Cissa and Andy taught her took her shopping for girly clothes, Lucius taught her to ride a broom with Draco, and Ted took her to the candy shop everytime she got a good grade in school. What did you do? Nothing. If she wants to go and spend time with the people that helped raise her she can. You can’t blame her for how you're acting towards her. It’s like she doesn't even exist when Potter is around.” Regulus took a breath, turning to look at Ali who had tears running down her cheeks. His heart broke for his sweet little girl who deserved the world not this mess of a family. He pulled her to his chest, one hand stroking her hair the other tight around her back, rocking slightly to ease the sobs she was letting out.

“That is not true. That is my daughter I love her,” Sirius started but was quickly interrupted by Remus.

“You may love her sirius, but you don’t show it very well. Do you see what you've done? I love you Sirius, but this is wrong. Harry is your godchild, but she is your child. I think it’s best if you leave her alone for a bit,” Remus crouched down to be eye level with Ali, “Are you packed? I think it’ll be best if you go ahead and stay at Andy’s tonight.”

Ali nodded her head before pressing a kiss to Regulus cheek whispering a love you and see you soon then doing the same to Severus who had Accio’d her trunk down the stairs. She wrapped her arm through Remus's, not even sparing a glance at the man who had caused her more pain the last couple of hours then in her whole life. Ali wanted her dad to love her like he loved Harry. She understood that she wasn’t a Gryffindor like him, but did that really make her so terrible? When she was little she had heard the stories of her father through her uncles, aunts, and a few teachers. She always thought that he was the coolest person to ever walk the corridors of Hogwarts. Often she would fanize what her life could have been like if James and Lily hadn’t died, her dad wasn’t in Azkaban, and her dad and Regulus got along. Would she be equal to Harry then? Would her dad still have favored Harry over her because she was a girl and a Ravenclaw? Those thoughts came to mind more times than she could count in the last couple weeks.

She felt the tug of apparition in her belly for a few seconds before she landed on the Tonks’s doorstep. She felt the protection wards give easily around her as Remus gave her a one sided hug, kissing her head as she wiped her cheeks. Ali knew that once Remus knocked her Aunt Andy saw the state she was in with her puffy, red eyes, lounge clothes, and the fact that she was a day early Merlin wouldn’t be able to stop her from ripping Sirius into pieces. Remus waited till Ali nodded at him before knocking, he knew that someone would be home whether it was Andromeda, Ted, or Nymphadora. He silently hoped for the later two, but hope wasn’t on his side when Andromeda Tonks opened the door with her look of surprise turning into rage as she looked at Ali. Andy grabbed her nieces hand pulling her inside with Remus following before wrapping Ali in a hug that a mother would give her distraught child. Andromeda looked at Remus over Ali’s shoulder silently asking what had happened to which Remus mouthed out Sirius’s name. Andromeda was afraid of this when Sirius came back into their lives. She loved her cousin with all that was in her, but he was not good with priorities often not being able to sort them out even as children. Ali gripped tight at her aunt's waist knowing that she was finally going to be able to breath without having someone say something about it.

Noise coming from the stairs caused Ali to look up. Nymphadora came bounding down only to stop when she saw her baby cousin's teary face and Remus gloomy look. She walked over to Remus standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek which made him blush and Ali giggle a little bit before wrapping her arm around Ali’s shoulders. “What’s up, pipsqueak?”

Ali leaned her head onto Nymphadora’s shoulder taking in the smell of her lavender shampoo. “Not much. Mind some company for the night?” Ali was comfortable around Dora, they were like the sister neither of them got to have. Although Dora was seven years older than her, they were closer than just cousins. “Mind your company? Never. More like Dad and Mum should mind cause we are going to party it up!” Dora stated changing her hair to rainbow before poking Ali’s side to make her laugh. She knew her cousin well so she knew that they didn’t need to talk about whatever happened to make her cry. She would talk about it with who she felt fit and when she felt fit to do it. Dora knew that Remus and her mum as well as the others would take care of the issue, so all she had to worry about was making her baby cousin happy again.

“Well I should get back home. Mainly to make sure that Regulus doesn’t murder Sirius, but if he did I wouldn’t mind too much right now,” Remus said walking to the two girls, kissing Ali’s head and Dora’s lips quickly. “Don’t cause too much trouble you two.” Remus loved the relationship that Ali had with Dora. It was often like watching his girlfriend and daughter together. Some said it was weird to be dating someone who was closer to your child's age then yours but he had learned to care a little less about people's opinions as time went on. He loved Dora and that wasn’t going to change and seeing her with Ali only made that love stronger. Alianova was his daughter in every way, but blood. Remus gave Andromeda a nod before apparating back home in hopes that he wouldn’t have to hide a dead body.

Once Remus left Dora guided Ali into the kitchen where Ted was cooking dinner still. “Hello darling, we weren’t expecting you till tomorrow.” He stepped away from the stove to give her a hug before the two girls hopped up onto the kitchen island while Andromeda leaned against the counter by her husband.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about just showing up a day early. It was...just getting too much at home with everyone there and stuff..” Ali missed the way all the Tonks’s looked at each other since she was staring at the wringing fingers in her lap.

“What happened, Nova?” Dora placed a hand on hers calming her fingers down.

“Just Sirius got mad because I’m staying with Cissa for a week. He started saying some really mean things about them as well as said that I was going to become just like Bellatrix since I hung out with Death Eaters,” Ali sighed looking at Andromeda with tears in her eyes. “I just want him to love me. I don’t know why he can’t. I- I try so hard to make everyone proud of me, but he just hates me. What does Harry have that I don’t?”

Dora wrapped her cousin up in a hug while Andromeda took her other side, “We are all so proud of you, sweetheart. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Sirius has always had his judgement clouded, especially when it comes to the Potters. You are so loved by so many people, don’t you ever forget that,” Her aunt whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek. Ali’s shoulders felt a little lighter that the thought of nothing being wrong with her, but with Sirius.

“If he doesn’t quit being a tosser, I’ll hex him with the Boogie Bat Hex. We’ll see how he likes that.” Dora naturally had to make everyone laugh to ease the tension.

Ted handed out a plates of spaghetti and everyone settled around the kitchen not even bothering to move to the dining room. Laughter filled the room as Nymphadora recalled a story about Mad Eye from a mission the other day. As darkness filled the sky everyone sat about the living room watching a Disney movie that Dora picked out. Ted and Andromeda sat on the couch cuddled up together while Ali and Dora shared the floor in front of them. Looking at her Aunt, Uncle and cousin, Ali couldn’t help but smile feeling content for a little while even if she missed her Uncle Regulus dearly the next couple of weeks.

The following day…..

It was late when Ali woke up. They had stayed up late the night before watching movies till Ted and Andromeda went to bed while her and Dora stayed up later talking. She felt the excitement coursing through her veins at the thought of seeing her other family that day. Knowing that Andromeda would be up soon to tell her about breakfast, Ali decided to write to Regulus before getting dressed. Grabbing parchment and a quill off the desk she settled in the window still and began.

Dear Uncle Reg,

I hope everything is going better at home today then it was when I was there. I’m kinda sad we didn’t get to have a decent goodbye before I left. I’ll miss you the next week or so that I’m gone and I hope when I get back we can finish the movie series we were watching. Honestly you are a total Jedi, even if you say you aren’t. I leave for the Manor today so when you write back make sure to send it there. Oh, and can you feed Athena for me? I think I left my window open, but I’m not sure so sorry! Try not to murder anyone while I’m gone, and maybe come visit for a day or so just to get away from your brother. Hug Kreacher for me!

Love your favorite niece,

By the time she was done her Aunt was knocking on the door. “Good morning, darling. Breakfast is ready when you are.” Andy gave her niece a kiss on the head before straightening her bed, a habit she hoped to instil in the girls but it never took. “Dora already left with Remus, but they both said to tell you that they loved you and Dora said to not take any of her clothes when you leave, but if you do I won’t tell a soul.” Andromeda winked at her.

“Okay, I’ll be down in a few minutes just let me get dressed.” Ali opened her trunk while Andromeda gave her some privacy. She dug through it to find a decent outfit knowing full and well that when she got to the Manor she would be going out with Cissa. She settled on a black and white plaid skirt with tights, white combat boots, and a black and blue Ravenclaw Quidditch tee that she had rolled the sleeves on. Throwing her hair in a messy half updo similar to Narcissa’s, she went down stairs.

Her uncle had made pancakes and bacon for breakfast and she quickly settled in eating her weight in food before bidding goodbye to Andromeda and Ted using the Floo network to take her to the Manor. She didn’t use the Floo often since Grimmauld Place wasn’t set up for it per Moody’s request. Sputtering out a cough, Ali dusted off her clothes before she was wrapped up in the familiar rose scent perfume that Cissa wore. “Oh you're here! I have missed you so much darling.”

Ali wrapped her arms around her aunt burying her face in her shoulder. Ali was closer to Narcissa then she was Andromeda. She loved her aunts equally, but since her and Draco were so close in age they spent a lot of time at each other's house. Narcissa had looked at Ali as a surrogate daughter whereas Andromeda had a daughter. Narcissa provided the motherly nurture that she needed in her life. “Okay, mother. Let her breath and give us a turn.”

Ali could literally hear the eye roll in Draco's voice. Narcissa let her go, but not before cupping her face looking at her intensely. Narcissa was incredibly good at reading people and this was something she had done to Draco, Ali, and Dora since they were little to make sure they were okay. From the small frown on her face Ali knew that Cissa knew she was hurt. Cissa also knew they would talk about it later. Draco hugged Ali before spinning her around making her laugh. It was their ritual after a Slytherin won a Qudditch game and it extended to when they hadn’t seen each other in a while. Lastly Ali walked over to her Uncle who was looking at her outfit choice. She knew the words were bound to come out of his mouth in a couple of seconds much like they would Regulus’s if he saw what she had on. “Your skirt is too short Ali,” Lucius hugged his niece before raising an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, Lucius, stop. It isn’t too short. She’s fine.” Narcissa grabbed her hand before calling their house elf to take Ali’s stuff to her room. “We were wanting to go to Diagon Alley, are you up for it? Lucius needs to get a few things, and we could get you and Draco some school things. But you would rather stay home. I'm sure Draco would keep you company.”

“Please say you want to stay home,” Draco practically begged looking at his cousin.

Ali’s smile held nothing by mischief as she looked between Draco and Cissa. She shot a wink at Draco, “I think I want to go. I haven’t been in ages.” Draco let out a huff which led him to receive a Narcissa scowl.

“Wonderful!,” Narcissa ushered Draco and Ali to the fireplace, Draco grabbed some Floo powder before grabbing Ali’s hand, “Diagon Alley.”

The pair were quickly followed by the elder Malfoys. Ali knew she needed to get a few books for the new school year so she dragged Draco with her to Flourish and Blotts, while Draco's family spoke with a wizard outside. The potions books were located in the back of the store, Draco started at one end while Ali at the other looking for their sixth year books. Giggles filled the aisle as Draco kept making jokes about the authors names, the two were so engrossed in their book hunting that they didn’t notice the three people standing next to them with amused looks. Ali had bent down to grab a book she would need for Arithmancy as she stood back up she felt a breath on the back of her neck, she quickly turned and nearly screamed when a face was only a few inches away from hers. “Boo!”

Pansy, Blaise, and Draco were doubled over in laughter at the look on Ali’s face while Theo gave her an apologetic smile, “I cannot believe you just did that!”

“I would say I’m sorry, but I’m really not,” Theo hugged Ali before stepping aside to speak with Draco. Ali was nearly knocked to the ground with the force of Pansy's hug.

“Oh Merlin, I have missed you so much, Al. Honestly we cannot go this long without seeing each other anymore.” Pansy wrapped her arms around Ali’s shoulders while Ali went around her waist. Pansy and Ali became friends quickly on the Hogwarts express first year. They had sworn to each other that they would stay friends no matter the houses they got, luckily they both got houses that didn’t rival one another too much so they shared a dorm together more often than not with three other girls, but was only close with Daphne. Snape being the Head of Slytherin house Ali didn’t have to worry about getting into too much trouble if she was caught in the Slytherin girls dorms. Most people saw Pansy and thought she was a stuck up, rude princess, but Ali knew that she was really insecure and used sarcasm to hide it. Pansy was her best friend besides Draco and normally the two would have been at each other's houses over the summer, but with Sirius being out that couldn’t happen. The two were a perfect pair; where Ali was quiet, Pansy was loud, where Ali was the brains of the operations, Pansy was the executor. “I missed you, too. I am so sorry that I couldn’t hang out this summer. We had some family stuff going on.”

Although the Weasley, Hermione, Harry and her family coud know of Sirius’s whereabouts no one else could until he was proven innocent. With Pettigrew being gone the likelihood of that happening right now was slim. Ali was just grateful that Draco knew so she could at least have someone to talk about it with. “Alright, alright, some of us would like to say hello too, Parkinson.”

Pansy’s eyes portrayed a look that Ali would have to question her on later. Blaise was Ali’s other really close friend. He was quiet except when he was around his group, but even then he preferred to observe then join. Ali had always found him attractive, but she also knew he would never find her attractive when there were many more prettier girls than her. Blaise kissed her cheek before giving her a hug, “How has your summer been, Supernova?”

Supernova had been the nickname he had given Ali upon first meeting her. He loved Astronomy, and said it just fit her. “It’s been good. Read a few books, spent some time with my Uncles. How was yours?”

“Mother got married, again. So we are now onto husband number nine. What books did you read? I had been meaning to write to you, but mother had me busy with all the wedding stuff.” Blaise grabbed the book from her hand after turning it over and checking it out he tucked it in his arm. He was always the gentleman, carrying her bag, opening doors, pulling out chairs for her. She assumed it was instilled into him by his mother since Draco often did the same for Pansy.

“Snape got me a Muggle set of books I had been wanting so I’m halfway done with those, and I read a few books on dragons. Ya know boring stuff. How’d the wedding go? Do you like him?” Ali twisted the gold ring on her finger causing it to catch Blaise's attention.

“Not boring at all. If you still have the dragon books can I borrow them? You usually pick really good ones and I'll need all the knowledge I can to compete with you on scores.” He grabbed Ali’s ringed hand, inspecting it before letting it fall back down to her side. “That’s a nice ring, where’d you get it?”

The ring in question was dainty with a gold band and light green gem surrounded by littler stones. “Oh, my Uncle Reg got it for me when school ended. Said it was for getting such good scores on my OWLs. I think he just thought it was pretty, but needed a reason to get it for me.”

“Oi! Lovebirds, let's go check out these books so we can get on with our lives. I’m dying from watching that lovely scene you put on for us,” Theo said laughing while Draco smirked at his cousin. He knew that Ali had a crush on Blaise and that Blaise had a crush on Ali, but both would not admit to one another.

“Oh shut it, Nott. You’re just jealous she likes me more.” Blaise sent her a wink before walking towards the front of the store with Draco. Ali knew he would be paying for her books and that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Theo was distracted talking to Pansy so Ali decided to have a little payback for the teasing he just did. She pulled her skirt down a little to make it a little longer, before jumping up onto Theos back. Theo, having noticed that Ali was going to do just that, caught her around her knees helping her get settled before walking out of the shop. Pansy talked about her summer so far, stating that she would rather be back at Hogwarts then sitting at home doing nothing. Blaise raised an eyebrow at Ali's position before shaking his head at his friend's antics.

“Ya know being up this high is super weird,” Ali’s comment caused all her friends to laugh.

“That’s because you are super small,” Draco replied with an eye roll. Ali was the shortest out of the friend group by an inch or so and they never let her live it down. Outside the shop Narcissa and Lucius were talking with Theodore's father and Pansy's mother.

“Find what you were looking for?” Lucius asked when they reached the parents. “Yes, father, we did as well as a few strays to bring with us.”

The comment earned giggles and chuckles from the parents and Ali while Blaise whacked the top of Draco's head and Theo pretended to let Ali slip making her squeal in response and hop down off his back. “Draco don’t you need new Quidditch gloves?”

Pansy and Ali shared a look while rolling their eyes. All three boys were members of the Quidditch team and while Pansy and Ali enjoyed watching them play, it was tiring hearing them talk about it constantly. The boys looked at each other nodding before Blaise and Draco grabbed Ali and Pansy's hands pulling them to the shop. Before they got out of range Ali stopped and looked back at Narcissa, “We are going to get ice cream after this if that’s okay?”

“That’s fine darling. Lucius and I will go and get your robes, then head back to the Manor. Bring your friends along with you home. We are all having dinner together tonight. And make sure the boys pay for the ice cream.” Cissa sent her a wink before walking away with Pansy mother.

#harry potter #regulus black #regulus black x Niece!reader #remus lupin x niece!reader #severus snape x niece!reader #draco malfoy x platonic!reader #blaise zabini x reader #fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction

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bucketsquid · 2 years

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i’m late to the party but. thoughts on story mode (i finished it two days after release i’m just. forgetful)

you know what? i liked it. it wasn’t perfect: it lost the plot thread of “looking for craig” after a bit and just felt like more of “progression for the sake of progression” but maybe that’s because it didn’t stay actively super focused ON looking for craig. i wish we got more reasoning as to why we’re using an OE-style testing system besides “because the humans thought it was fun or something” and “the devs like this style of level design i guess”.

but those are really my only main gripes. if it had been a bit tighter written and fixed up the plot focus + explanation for level design, it would’ve been perfect.

big fan of the logs, the tone and art style were very good while giving us some awesome backstory. the liquid crystal concept is really good, as it being “responsive to electrical impulses” means it can respond to both the brain and muscular activity, so it perfectly explains why inklings + octolings can change ink color in such sophisticated ways. this plot point finally explaining how sapient life re-emerged after only 12000 years is also very nice, i always had a runaway theory that it was radiation or another human influence on evolution. i just REALLY like this plot point it’s super good okay THE CHEMICALS TURNED THE CEPHALOPODS GAY

deep cut’s involvement was.... pretty alright? i don’t see the complaints; they really are just Team Rocket, and while their turnaround near the end feels kinda weak it fits thematically and that’s more important overall. i like how much they care for their community. big man’s boss fight was underwhelming + probably should’ve been first; compared to frye and shiver it was just. eh. even if it is a mario reference

mr. grizz being the Big Bad was really delightful; i actually didn’t expect splatdevs to commit to “he’s just a sapient bear” as a bit and his design is nothing short of the funniest thing possible. he doesn’t really come out of nowhere given the After Alterna logs: being drawn to a hold of human technology in a mammal-less world feels coherent and his backstory as a whole feels fine. the finale in space was great, decently challenging, and all I could think of was “this is just the Sonic Adventure 2 finale. this is JUST finalhazard”. the bear even shoots lasers, amazing

little buddy ascending to divine status? excellent. flawless. i lost my mind when that happened and the Inkantation really does just Do Stuff huh. having a degree of mysticism and magic, very very faintly in the mundane things like the Inkantation or the fax machine, feels very nice. little buddy said “no, i don’t want us all to die, i’ll fight and risk my life” and i have infinite feelings about it

finally YES I GOT MY OCTAVIO REDEMPTION ARC. kind of. him being the first boss was a fun sucker punch and the notion of “i’m looking for my people who got KIDNAPPED. where ARE THEY” --> “oH IT’S YOU. FUCK YOU IN PARTICULAR” is good. i wish we knew more about what he had been up to during the story mode, but we might get info later or something. also others have said this but the fact that he’s the one that calls the Inkantation “that heavenly melody” is really really good because it feels like he’s finally, truly come around, giving a sense of unity to the group in the face of annihilation. i really love that.

tl;dr it wasn’t perfect but as a splatoon worldbuilding and loremonger i am genuinely very delighted. it was a crazy ride and i screamed way too many times over all the crazy twists and turns

#long post #splatoon 3 spoilers

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polishksiezniczka · 3 years

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Monsignor | Camerlengo Patrick McKenna x Reader

You meet il camerlengo for the first time at Mass, and he soon becomes captivated by you.

My first full-length oneshot! Sort of a slow burn but with some delicious fluff at the end. Please let me know if you have any requests or ideas for future works! 1.8k words

You had recently moved to Rome, your next diplomatic assignment being the US Embassy to the Holy See. The new challenges of your position were taxing, but you were proud of the work you did for your fellow citizens.

Being the good Catholic you were, you went to Mass as often as you could. And when in Rome—which boasted more than 900 churches—it was your goal to visit as many as you could. Although you had been living in the city for only a week or two, you had visited several parishes closer to your apartment to see if one appealed to you.

Today you decided to go to St. Peter’s Basilica for early morning service, hoping the crowds wouldn’t be as large. Aware of the Vatican’s strict dress code, you decided on a lovely vintage chiffon dress you had recently scored at a chic consignment shop. Its light coral color brought out the Y/E/C hues in your eyes, and it elegantly graced your figure while still leaving much up to the imagination. You paired it with sensible pumps and a loose white cardigan. You were feeling springlike today, it being a warm Sunday in April.

While you had visited the Vatican several times already on official diplomatic visits, you hadn’t yet as one of the faithful. As you silently made your way to the chapel, you marveled at the beautiful art surrounding you—the work of masters.

You chose to sit near the center aisle a few rows from the altar. The chapel quickly began to fill up; in a matter of minutes, you were surrounded by a trio of devout Italian nonne, clad in all-black, and a gaggle of starry-eyed Korean tourists.

As the processional music began, you felt your body ease into a state of peace. The ancient rituals of the Church always soothed you; they had not changed since you were a child and so provided a sense of comfort amidst an unpredictable world. You sang along, losing yourself in the beautiful melody.

When the hymnal ended, you lifted your gaze from your songbook to the altar. Your heart stopped as your eyes fell upon him—quite possibly the most beautiful man you had ever laid eyes on.

He was young, no more than 40 years of age. His hair was a rich auburn color, swept neatly into a well-groomed combover; you couldn’t help but admire how perfectly it framed his handsome face. His eyes, a lovely shade of blue, were mesmerizing. They reminded you of cerulean pools, clear and bright. His brows were furrowed in concentration, making him appear serious. His jawline was set in a strong, dignified way, sloping attractively down to his chin; there you could just make out a slight cleft. For all you knew, he was one of the marble statues carved by the same masters who had designed the basilica you were standing in.

Who was this man? That’s Father to you! you scolded yourself. You were in Church. And not just any Church—the Church! You tried to suppress your nascent infatuation, but you quickly succumbed to it, your eyes selfishly dragging down the rest of the priest’s body. He wore a white surplice over his black robes, highlighting the alluring musculature of his shoulders. His collar was a burst of white at the base of the column of his throat. His hands were clasped together in prayer in front of his chest, and you watched his eyes squeeze in concentration as he prayed along silently with the cardinal who stood beside him. His whole demeanor radiated safety, comfort, and protection.

You couldn’t help but stare, the chants of the prayer fading into the background. You couldn’t even look away. Even when he turned to look at you. You observed his eyes widening ever so slightly, his brow arching in curiosity. Regrettably, he seemed to catch himself after a few seconds, quickly averting his eyes away from you and back to his superior. The moment was so brief, you seriously doubted its authenticity. But there he was.

Mass passed by in a haze, your attempts at concentration all but shot. You tried to restrain yourself, but somehow your gaze always settled on him. It wasn’t until the pews ahead of you began to slowly shuffle toward for Communion that you momentarily became sensible again. As you stood and made your way toward the altar, your hands began to perspire. You ran through the expected response over and over again, worried you might choke on your own heart, which had invariably lodged itself in your throat.

Just as you had expected, he was even more beautiful up close. Like an angel. You were so taken by his handsomeness, his kind smile, his spellbinding eyes that you felt your chest tighten. Your eyes suddenly found the marble floor inexplicably fascinating.

He held up the thin wafer. “Il corpo di Cristo.”

You peered up at him from beneath your lashes and met his kind cerulean eyes again. They beamed down at you, joy and curiosity radiating from them. You quickly lost your ability to speak, momentarily dumbstruck. He must have sensed this, as a smile quirked the corner of his lips; you thought you were imagining things when the faintest chuckle reached your ears. If only you knew what he was thinking!

“Amen,” you whispered hurriedly, accepting the wafer in your trembling hands. You bowed to him and quickly stepped aside to genuflect before the altar. As you made your way to back to your pew, you couldn’t help but sneak a glance over your shoulder at him. As you expected, he was dutifully administering communion to the remaining parishioners. You sighed softly as you retook your place and knelt down.

Of course that’s what he’s doing! you scolded yourself. For the love of God, he’s a priest—why would he have feelings for you? Silly, foolish girl.

Your thoughts consumed you for the rest of Mass, even during the last processional hymnal. If only you had noticed the young priest’s longing glance at you as he walked past.

After the processional ended, you prepared to leave, but your shame got the best of you. As a penance you knelt and said five Hail Mary’s to atone for your distraction.

As you left your pew, you noticed how quiet the church had become. A few people remained, some finishing their prayers, others snapping pictures of the ornate altar. As you walked to the back of the chapel, you observed a small group of parishioners clustered near the back, no doubt socializing among themselves. You had planned to walk around them, but the group suddenly parted, putting you directly on course for him. The priest who had awoken in you a reaction so powerful, so complete, you couldn’t even think clearly.

The two parishioners he was speaking with said their farewells; then, he turned and noticed you. As your eyes met for the third time that morning, his face broke into a radiant smile. You approached him slowly, a blush creeping up your cheeks. You did your best to hold his gaze and maintain an air of confidence after your embarrassing conduct during the liturgy of the Eucharist. You stopped just short of a foot away from him, subconsciously holding your breath.

“Buongiorno, signorina,” he said. His voice was so velvety, so delightful, it practically overwhelmed your senses. Being so close allowed you to better study his chin’s adorable cleft, making you swoon. “Non ti ho mai visto prima a San Pietro. Stai visitando la nostra bellissima basilica mentre sei in vacanza?” His presence was oh so alluring—you couldn’t help but relax as air suddenly filled your lungs.

“Buongiorno, monsignor,” you replied carefully. “ No, ma sono nuovo a Roma. Vedi, mi sono trasferito qui due settimane fa. Lavoro per l'ambasciata degli Stati Uniti.”

He smiled knowingly, his eyes alight with intrigue. “So, you are an American?” The soft, gentle lilt of his accent sent a shiver up your spine. How was it possible that this man’s normal pleasantries were enough to provoke such a response in you?

“Yes, I am.”

“In that case, may I be the first to welcome you to Vatican City.” He bowed his head slightly in deference to you. “I am Father Patrick McKenna, il camerlengo to his Holiness. May I ask your name?”

“Y/F/N, Y/F/N Y/L/N.”

The camerlengo’s smile widened, and you momentarily glimpsed his dazzling white teeth. “Y/N…” he repeated thoughtfully. You cherished the way your name rolled off his tongue. “How lovely. Named after Saint Y/N if I am not mistaken?”

“Yes, Father,” you shyly responded. “I was raised in a very devout home.” You quickly averted your gaze to the floor, worrying that you had revealed too much about yourself. You certainly weren’t prepared for the camerlengo’s next remark:

“I…I hope to see you next weekend.” He spoke softly, tenderly.

Your eyes shot up to his face, eagerly finding his own. The camerlengo’s eyebrows were raised expectantly; a gentle smile graced his handsome features.

“Of course, Father. It was such a lovely Mass.” You tried to convey as much sincerity as you could with your voice.

He took your hand in his and cradled it, making your heart flutter even more rapidly in your chest. “I’m glad you thought so. In the meantime, do not make yourself a stranger.” For a moment, his eyes were expectant, and he nodded solemnly—as if holding you to a serious pledge—but his fervent expression quickly melted back into one of compassion again. “You are welcome anytime.”

Your cheeks took on a lovely pink color at his words as you beamed at him.“Grazie, Padre.” Reluctantly you added, “I believe I should be going now...” Your eyes flashed over your shoulder, subtly indicating a group of nonne eager to speak with him. “I would not want to keep you all to myself.” You shyly lifted your gaze to the camerlengo again.

He chuckled softly, his eyes glinting with mirth at your remark. “May God bless you, Miss Y/L/N. Arrivederci.” As he said this, he traced the sign of the cross on your forehead, the scent of him filling your nostrils briefly. He smelled clean and masculine with a delightful hint of spiciness, which you immediately recognized to be frankincense. You savored the warmth of his skin on yours.

“Addio, monsignor,” you whispered breathlessly.

You found the courage to look into the camerlengo's spellbinding eyes once more before you turned to leave. As you exited the sacred space, you smiled to yourself, his words reverberating within you: do not be a stranger.

"Never, Father," you whispered. ¤

Translations

nonne = "grandmothers"

Il corpo di Cristo = "the body of Christ"

Non ti ho mai visto prima a San Pietro. Stai visitando la nostra bella chiesa durante le vacanze? = "I haven’t seen you before at St. Peter’s. Are you visiting our beautiful basilica while on holiday?"

No, ma sono nuovo a Roma. Vedi, mi sono appena trasferito qui due settimane fa. Lavoro con l'ambasciata degli Stati Uniti. = "No, but I am new to Rome. You see, I recently moved here a few weeks ago. I work for the US Embassy."

@seraferna @lemairepstuff

#camerlengo patrick mckenna #patrick mckenna x reader #ewan mcgregor #angels and demons #dan brown #forgive me father for i have sinned #hot priest #ewanfuckinmcgregor #fluff oneshot

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bleachanimefan1 · 3 years

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The Song of the Titan

Chapter Eleven,

Hunter sat on his bed, looking at the key as he held it in front of him. He had managed to seal up the crack in the eye, smelting the glass together, fixing it. However, some of the Titan's blood had leaked out, and now there was only half left inside of it. As he continued gazing at the key, Hunter couldn't help but think about Azara. How her words helped him, giving him confidence and a chance of a better life than he was at now. Hunter sighed and looked down at Lil rascal, petting the cardinal on his head.

"What should I do?" Hunter whispered to himself, completely lost. "I can't just leave Uncle, the only person who had ever cared about me. He had given me so much, more than anyone else had. I am lucky to be where I am now. But, Azara also helped me as well, by listening to me to what I have to say even if I was a powerless witch. She didn't care and still helped me. What should I do, Orion? Should I stay or should I leave?"

Lil rascal opened it's eyes, waking up, then looked at Hunter, chirping.

Leave this place. Go to her.

Hunter's eyes widen in surprise. He was about to say something when he heard a knock on his door.

"Hunter, may I come in for a moment?" Hunter heard Belo's voice on the other side of the door. His eyes widen and he quickly turned to the cardinal palisman and picked Lil rascal up, hiding him underneath the bed.

"Stay here and be quiet!" Hunter warned the bird. Lil rascal made a small worried chirp. Then Hunter went over to his desk, opening one of the drawers and placed the key inside, closing it.

"Hunter?" Belos asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah!" Hunter quickly got up and walked over to the door, opening it, letting Belos into his room, closing the door behind him. Hunter saw that his uncle was holding his new uniform and yellow mask, that looked like an owl, in his hands.

"I've finally gotten your uniform and mask replaced and fixed." He told Hunter holding the uniform out to him. "Now, you can be the golden guard again." Hunter stared at the the uniform in Belo's hands for a few minutes, silently. He would have to hide his face, again. Nobody would know who he was. No identity...

"Is there something on your mind, Hunter that I should know?" Hunter's eyes widen as he heard Belo's voice and snapped out of his thoughts. He shook his head and then took the gear out of his hands.

"No! I'm happy, thrilled that you got this back for me. Thank you, Uncle!" He quickly told him. Hunter an intense stare as Belos stared at him through his mask. He felt his body and muscles beginning to tense up, nervous.

"Well, I am happy to hear that. You should be grateful, especially since everything that I've done for you, Hunter," Belos told him. "It wasn't easy to come by.

Belos took off his mask and began walking over to Hunter's bed. Hunter had a worried look on his face as he watched his uncle sat down, placing his mask beside him. Lil rascal peeked out a little from under the bed, listening. Hunter could feel his heart pounding as he saw him, inches away from his uncle.

"Now, you can return to your duties and continue to serve me again," He smiled. "In fact, I could use you in a little mission to get something for me." Hunter's eyes widen in interest, curious to know what his uncle wanted. Finally, he can prove that he can be useful again!

"What is it?" Hunter asked. Belos smiled.

"I need you to go get some Galderstones for me," he told Hunter.

"Galderstones? You mean the galderstones that make the magic of a witch powerful!" Belos nodded. "Those will not be easy to get. There are tales that they are heavily guarded and sought after by many witches. What do you need the stones for?"

"They are an essential item needed for the Day of Unity." Belos explained to Hunter. "Are you up for this task?"

Hunter nodded. "Yes, I will not let you down, Emperor Belos."

Just outside of Hunter's room, someone else had heard the entire conversation between the two as well, leaning her ear against the door.

Kikimora.

She quickly scurried away as Belos opened the door, walking out. He turned back to Hunter, looking at him.

"I know that you won't let me down." He smiled and left. Hunter stood in the middle of his room, unsure of what to do. He heard a chirp and saw Lil rascal flew out from under the bed, landing on his shoulder.

Whatever you decide, I will help you. Hunter smiled.

"Let's go." He replied, grabbing his mask, putting it on.

As Hunter silently approached the Looking glass ruins, he quickly took cover as he saw giant ghost sea monster like creature near the entrance, guarding it, as well as Gus who was talking to it. There were several traps placed all around as well. Hunter looked around until he saw an small opening in the stone walls near by and quickly squeezed through it, unnoticed. As he came from the other side, Lil rascal made a small chirp which made Hunter froze in his spot. Guz and the giant creature both turned their heads in his direction, but Hunter quickly hid behind a pillar before they could see him.

Hunter sighed in relief before he saw the Galderstones not too far from him, resting in the hands of the statues, of the illusionists of the past. Just as Hunter was about to step out, a loud blast erupted from the air, hitting Guz and the creature, knocking them back. The two landed on the ground, and the creature transformed into an appearance of an old man. Hunter watched realizing that there was no ghost, it was all an illusion.

"I will not let the golden guard get those stones before me!" Hunter heard Kikimora shouted from afar. Her and two abomatons were approaching the entrance. His eyes widen and, quickly, Hunter rush over to the stones, just as Gus and old man got up and spotted him. Hunter grabbed a stone from one of the statues.

"NO!" Hunter heard the old illusionist yell out.

Hunter quickly hopped onto Lil rascal, as it transformed, holding the galderstone in one arm, just as Gus and the illusionist were getting up.

"Orion, get us out of here!" He cried out. Lil rascal quickly took off just as Kikimora walked into the ruins, glaring as she saw the two left. Then she turned to Guz and the old illusionist, who were still on the ground. The two abomatons aimed their cannons at them, watching them.

Kikimora hopped off of one and walked over to the old illusionist. "Why if it isn't the old illusionist master, Aberforth," she sneered. "You've become the keeper for some dead witches now? How pathetic."

"I know what you're here for," Aberforth narrowed his eyes as he glared at her. "You can not have the stones."

"Oh, but I'm afraid I will," Kikimora said, snobbishly. "You see, Emperor Belos needs them for the Day of Unity. I won't let that brat golden guard get the better of me!"

"Man, you have a lot of problems," Gus muttered to himself and chuckled. "What makes you think that we will just hand them over to you?"

Kikimora stared at the two for a moment, before she let out a dark empty cackle. "Oh, you don't have a choice."

Gus and the old illusionist eyes widen as they saw the hand on Kikimora's head, lift up a finger, revealing her right eye, of a different color. Gus and the old illusionist both yelped and felt a sharp pain on their wrist that had their illusionist coven sigil. Red vine like thorns began to sprout from it, going up their arm, enabling them to move or cast a spell. Their vision went cloudy as they saw Kikimora and the two abomatons, walking over to the stones, laughing evilly.

Then they collapsed on the ground, unconscious, as their world went dark.

It was getting darker outside, as the stars were beginning to form. A crescent moon shined from the clouds, illuminating in the darkness. Azara walked along the path, still lost in thought, still in shock over what she had seen through potion. As she continued down the path, while the moonlight lit her way, she stopped in her tracks. Up ahead, Azara spotted someone as they leaned against the tree. As she got closer, her eyes widen, seeing that it was Hunter. She ran up and called out to him.

"Hunter!" Hunter jumped, started by her voice, then calmed down as saw Azara as she approached him. Lil rascal chirped happily as soon as he saw her. Hunter smiled a little in relief. She wasn't mad at him, that's good!

"What are you doing out here so late?" she asked. Hunter sneered.

"I should ask you the same thing." Azara froze as soon as she saw the galderstone, sitting in Hunter's lap.

"Uh, is there something wrong?" Hunter stammered, nervous by the way that she was looking at the stone.

"Hunter where did you get that?" she asked, worried.

"I got it from the Looking Glass ruins," he told. "It wasn't easy, of course. There were a few obstacles in the way but I got it!"

Azara grew more and more unease, looking at it. "I can't wait to see the proud look on Belo's face when he sees it!" Hunter smiled.

"You can't give it to him!" Azara exclaimed. He stared up at her with a surprised look.

"Why not?" Hunter frowned. "This is another chance to show him that I'm not a screw up!"

"You're not a screw up! Why would you even think-!" Azara shouted. Hunter's eyes widen. Azara paused, drifting off, before she continued. "Hunter, there's something that you have to know. I know that this is going to sound strange, but you are in danger." she warned him. Hunter stared at Azara from a minute in silence, before he began to bust out laughing. Azara eyes watched in disbelief.

"Hunter, I'm serious!" she insisted. "You really ARE in danger! This is not something to laugh about!"

"Right, and you just so happen to know?" Hunter smiled as he continued to tease her, but also curious as to what she had to say. "What am I in danger from?"

"You uncle." Azara simple told him. "He is using you and he is going to kill you!"

"Come on! Do you realize how ridiculous you sound right now?" Hunter scoffed. "My uncle would never do that. Why would you even say such a thing?" Azara bit her lip, trying to think of some way, hoping to persuade him so that he would believe her.

"Hunter, I know that this strange and sounds silly. But, how old are you?" she asked.

"Sixteen," he replied.

"And what's the age that a witch reaches maturity?" Azara questioned.

"Duh, on their seventeenth birthday," Hunter replied, treating that what she had just asked was dumb.

"Right," Azara pressed. "And if you go back to him now, you are not going to make past your eighteenth birthday-"

"Alright, enough. Just stop, I don't want to hear anymore!" Hunter snapped. Azara stared at him with wide eyes and closed her mouth. Hunter stood up, holding the galderstone in his hand as he brushed off the dirt from his cloak. "This is stupid I shouldn't be even talking to you. You know what, uncle was right about you. You are a bad influence."

Azara felt her heart beginning to squeeze tightly, like it was clamped up in a vice. She had to persuade Hunter, somehow!

"Just look in the dark room, a basement? You will find your answer there, a book, sitting lying open on a table. I also know that Luz's portal is fix and I know that you didn't give the key to Belos," Azara told him. Hunter's eyes widen, more startled by how much Azara knew.

"How did you-"

"Duh, magic spying potion," she retorted back. Her eyes widen a little, realizing what she had just said.

"You were spying on us?!" Hunter sputtered out, alarmed.

"T-that came out wrong," Azara stammered, nervously. She tried to approach Hunter, slowly, but he backed away from her. Great, now he probably thinks that she's a creeper.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I was worried," Azara replied, looking down, playing with her hands. "About you." She quickly stopped when she saw Hunter looking at her with a dark glare. It almost tore her apart seeing it.

"I want you to stay away from me..." Hunter said, threatened. "And stay away from my uncle."

"Hunter..." Azara pleaded to him. "Don't go. Please, you have to believe me!"

Hunter said nothing to her and put mask back on his face. Lil rascal transformed into a staff and took off from the ground as he left. Azara watched as he did, now unable to hold back her tears, as they came rolling down her cheeks.

"Fine! Go then!" Azara cried, as she shouted. "Don't say that I didn't warn you!"

#the owl house #eda clawthorne #the owl house oc #fanfiction #read more #golden guard #hunter toh #kikimora #Galderstone #emperor belos #hunter belos #Guz the owl house #magic #witches

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zayashmaya · 4 years

Note

Oh my God please share your poly thoughts on Luna Tagora and Galekh.

With pleasureeeee!!

I’ll do sfw stuff and maybe nsfw hcs another time.

- Luna loves Galekh’s secret artistic side and encourages him to do more than simple notebook doodles. He is still very guarded about his sketches, but Luna understands that we all need a mental safe space for ourselves so she doesn’t pester him about her curiosity. She took him to meet Charun because she is chaotic and wanted to see if these art snobs would play nice (spoiler alert they got along). Tagora will never let those secret sketches go, though. Partly because he wants to see what the hell Galekh drew and partly because the very act of being an annoying snoop pisses Galekh off to no end. Luna lets them strife for the funny drama. All three of them enjoy peaceful walks so they’ve made a habit of showing Luna new places, the safer parts of highblood gardens, etc. Luna inspired him to bring a sketchbook on their walks so whenever they want to relax, Galekh can shut his mind off and work while Luna and Tagora quietly talk among themselves.

- Galekh discovers the addicting joy of having something small, cuddly, and warm in his lap while he reads by the fire. He’s had little experience with red/pale intimacy, and Tagora is quite literally an angry cat with claws who always wants his space. Even Luna knows that physical intimacy with Tagora needs to be expertly skated around. As such, Galekh never really knew what he was missing until Luna entered the quad. And he quickly realized how much he enjoys having her anywhere near him. He wants it pretty badly once he’s hooked on it, but he either hits uncharacteristically shy mental blocks and doesn’t ask, or he goes off on a thesis-sized tangent that all says one thing - please come cuddle with me. Luna picks up on his neediness early on in the relationship. Galekh is lucky that she’s like a puppy who inserts herself into people’s spaces (if they let her). Snuggle times are wonderful for both of them. Galekh’s chest is very comfortable - he’s not a chiseled muscular athlete, his muscles peak through a bit of chub. And his pecks are like pillows. Luna is thriving. And Galekh is very enamored by her complete trust in his safety. And she’s so soft. Galekh craves dat tactile sensation of caressing Luna’s warm squishy body, her tummy rolls and thick thighs, and her fluffy hair reminds him of his lusus. Tagora sometimes side-eyes this scene because he thinks it’s a little to palerom for his liking, and he is very protective over his quad with Luna, but once Luna starts her horny endeavors to make out with Galekh, Tagora knows he’s in the clear.

- They all take pictures of each other, especially during candid moments, and it’s so incredibly obnoxious how in love/hate they all are with each other like it’s truly mind boggling to some outsiders who witness their domesticity. Galekh and Luna work out with Stelsa and you bet there’s picture-taking of Galekh’s perfect fat ass and his muscular back and his sweaty concentrating face all flushed indigo and hair tousled like he’s a greek statue. Luna makes sure to get his tattoo into some shots before she sends them to Tagora for that extra kismesis flavor. And she of course has to take creep shots of powerhouse Stelsa for Tyzias. She knows that’s Tyzias’s kink. Luna takes candids of Tagora after he’s showered and particularly relaxed. Settled onto the couch in nothing but a bathrobe that’s sliding down one shoulder, his hair loose and a little disheveled, cradling a mug of Galekh’s hated coffee, and watching the television with a relaxed expression. Galekh texts up a fury over how patheticly complacent Tagora looks with his shitty coffee brand but Luna knows Galekh is nutting over how enticing Tagora looks in the photo. And there is an unspoken unity among Galekh and Tagora to always send pictures of Luna to each other, no matter if she looks silly or cute or beautiful or messy af. All three of their phone storage content is just ... embarrassing.

- Luna is an expert in palerom intimacy. Truly a woman sent from the gods with golden hands. All of Alternia would bow at her feet if they experience what Tagora experiences during an intense palerom grooming/snuggle session. It’s why he guards his relationship so fiercely - Luna is actually a total catch and nothing short of betrayal or death will shake Tagora off of her. She looooves calming Tagora down to the point of sending him into a stupor-like state where he is endlessly purring and borderline paralyzed from all the positive emotions he’s experiencing. I’d call this something like a palerom subspace. It’s a very intimate moment because Tagora is at his most vulnerable. Usually his head is in her lap with his arms around her waist while she slowly brushes his hair, runs her nails along his scalp, softly traces his horns, grooms the base of his horns (a huge weakness for trolls), and talks low and sweet to him, sometimes telling him how much he means to her, sometimes telling him that he deserves to rest and he works so hard and she’s so proud of him, like idk ya’ll I think this would be considered the filthiest degenerate porn to Alternians. Galekh accidentally witnessed this once and he’s been curious ever since, and also incredibly scandalized. It’s the most embarrassed he’s ever been. Thank god Tagora didn’t spot him or there would be actual physical violence. Galekh wants to understand this palerom ritual just for the sake of knowing, but a part of him also deeply yearns to experience Luna’s attentiveness like that. Eventually Galekh and Tagora reach a mutual agreement (with a 600 page contract on Galekh’s limitations and what lines not to cross). They are honestly just so goddamn extra because they do ALL this shit just so Galekh can have his hair petted without Tagora having a conniption. Luna is happy to oblige!

God i rambled with these and I still feel like there’s more for me to explore askjfda i’ll leave it here, hopefully you see the dynamics i’m trying to portray here!

#hiveswap #tagora gorjek #galekh xigisi #galora #tagora/reader #galekh/reader #galora/reader #galora x reader #tagora x reader #galekh x reader

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roseworth · 4 years

Text

Aftermath

(yeah lol i decided to write raya fic 😳)

word count: 2109

fandom: Raya and the Last Dragon

characters: Raya and Namaari

summary: Raya is still getting used to life after 6 years on her own. Everything is back to normal, she just needs to get used to what "normal" feels like.

AO3

Raya was running as fast as she could, but the Druun was still getting closer. Her breaths were getting shorter, but she couldn’t stop now. They were gaining on her. She had come too far to lose now, but what else could she do?

Why couldn’t she do anything about it? Where was her Dragon Gem piece? Was there any water nearby?

Is this how she was going to go?

Her foot caught in a divot in the sand, and she lost her balance and fell hard into the sand in front of her. The skin on her face stung as she collided with the ground, but she had to keep going. She tried to lift herself back up to keep running, but her legs refused to move. Her whole body seemed to be frozen, and all she could do was wait for the Druun to get her. She tried to move, to keep running away, to do anything, but it was useless. She desperately searched for the Gem piece she always carried with her, but came up empty.

The Druun was just inches away, and getting closer by the second. She shut her eyes and curled her body into herself, even though she knew it wouldn’t do anything. The Druun seemed to roar as it got closer and-

Raya’s eyes flew open, and she shot up and quickly started patting around her, searching for her Gem piece. She only had a few seconds to save herself before...

As she woke up more, she became more aware of her surroundings. She was in her home, not outside anymore. The Druun were gone, the dragons would protect her now. She had nothing to worry about. She just wished her mind would remember that.

She placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating rapidly. She tried to take steady breaths to calm herself down, trying to remind herself that she was okay, there was no more danger. “I’m fine, I’m safe,” she repeated under her breath like a mantra.

She sighed and laid back down, but she knew she wasn’t going to be falling back asleep any time soon. It had only been a week since they had fixed the Dragon Gem and banished the Druun, and she was still trying to get back to normal. It felt like her instincts would never really recover from the 6 years she had spent on her own. She had spent all that time expecting danger at every turn, not trusting anyone but herself (and Tuk Tuk, of course).

She hadn’t even gone back to sleeping in a bed yet. She had tried to at first, but after all that time of spending the night on the ground wherever she could she just wasn’t accustomed to having something so soft to sleep on.

Her heart was still beating out of her chest, and her body was expecting her to need to run away, so she gave in and stood up to go for a walk. She grabbed her sword and threw her cape on as she pushed the door open and took a deep breath of fresh air.

She looked at stars overhead as she walked. She could feel her body already starting to calm down, though her dream was still clouding all of her thoughts, forcing her to remember how it would always feel when the Druun were near her. The panic she would experience on almost a daily basis, always afraid she wouldn’t get to the water in time, or she wouldn’t find her Dragon Gem fast enough. She had been trying to forget those feelings now that the Druun were gone, but that panic still haunted her every moment even now.

After a few minutes of walking, she stopped to lean on the edge of the bridge, closing her eyes and just listening to the sounds of the night.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it (even to herself), she felt safer near the water. The fight against the Druun was over, she knew that. They were gone. But knowing that she was near the water just in case they came back made her feel at least a bit better.

“Raya?” a voice called out, and she immediately tensed up, ready to fight whoever was coming near. She internally chastised herself when she realized what she had done. The war was over, she didn’t need to fight anymore. The people that were once her enemies were her friends now, so there was no one to be afraid of. But the paranoid voice that refused to leave her thoughts apparently still wasn’t convinced.

She squinted in the direction the voice came from to see a familiar figure walking towards her. “Namaari? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question, dep la.”

Don’t tell her, her instincts screamed. If she knows your weakness, she’ll use it against you.

That was another thing she was still getting used to. Trusting people, that is. She had spent years refusing to trust anyone but herself, so it was hard to remember that she could have faith in others again. The world wasn’t against her anymore, she knew that, but she still wasn’t entirely sure she believed it.

“I, uh, couldn’t sleep,” Raya said. “Decided to go for a walk.” Technically, that was true, it just wasn’t the whole story. She knew she could trust Namaari, but she just wasn’t used to opening up. She couldn’t entirely put her trust in anyone yet, not even Namaari.

Namaari raised an eyebrow. “With your sword?”

Raya looked down, realizing she did take her sword without thinking about it. Yet another thing she was still getting used to. There was no war anymore, but she still automatically brought her sword with her wherever she went. She sighed and leaned against the edge of the bridge, looking out at the water. “I guess I grabbed it out of habit,” she admitted. “You know what they say, old survival tactics die hard.”

Namaari chuckled lightly, jumping up to sit on the wall of the bridge, her back to the water. “Yeah, life is pretty different without the threat of Druun attacks every second.”

Raya sighed. “The dragons are back, I know that. But it’s like my instincts are just ready for an attack at any given moment.”

She was grateful for the dragons, of course. Life was safer with them around, and they wouldn’t have to worry anymore. The problem was that she wasn’t accustomed to safety. She had even tried to show off the fighting skills she had picked up in the past few years to her Ba, and he had to gently remind her that there was no reason to fight anymore, as impressive as her skills were.

Namaari nodded, and they fell into a calm silence. After a moment, Raya lifted her head and smirked. “You forgot to tell me why you’re up, dep la,” she said.

“Oh, yeah,” Namaari sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I was having trouble sleeping, too. Then I looked out my window and saw you wandering the streets on your own in the middle of the night, so I figured I should check up on you.”

Raya felt her lips curving up into a smile. “Thank you.” Namaari smiled back at her.

Namaari had been staying in Heart the past couple days to help ease the transition from 5 separate tribes into the singular Kumandra. A few of the chiefs and chiefs' children had been doing the same thing; visiting different tribes in an attempt to signify the new unity between them.

Raya loved having her around now that she could trust her again. She knew that Namaari wanted to reunite Kumandra as much as she did, and working on the same side as her truly felt like a breath of fresh air. They were both so similar minded, they didn’t work well as enemies.

“I know my mother was only turned to stone for a few hours but… it’s hard to forget that,” Namaari blurted after a beat of silence. “I was afraid I had lost her for good after what I did to Sisu.”

Raya lowered her head and wrapped her cape closer to herself. She had been doing her best to not think about her Ba being turned to stone, and the hopelessness she had felt after Sisu died. For years, she’d been desperately clinging onto the hope that once she found Sisu, she would be able to help bring him back. Then after Sisu had died, it felt like that hope died, too.

“I get it,” she whispered. “My Ba…” she trailed off, not really wanting to dwell on how she felt about it all. But she looked up to see Namaari listening with a soft expression, ready for her to continue if she wanted to. That alone gave her the strength to really open up about it for the first time. “I was scared he wouldn’t come back. After I lost my mom, my dad was always there to support me. But I wouldn’t have anyone to support me if I lost him.”

Namarri stood up from where she was sitting and moved to Raya’s side, grabbing her hand. “Well, now you have plenty of people right by your side whenever you need it. Like me,” she added with a smile.

Raya smiled back, but her gaze drifted to a spot right next to her on the bridge. It was empty now, but she had subconsciously brought herself right to where her Ba had been turned to stone. And he had stood there for years, unmoving and emotionless. At first, she had sat by his stone figure for hours every day, but eventually her quest to find Sisu took her out of Heart, so she had to leave him behind. And after she had left, it hurt to go back and find him, seeing his statue as a stoic reminder of her failure.

If she had it her way, she would have spent every second with her father after he was freed from the stone. Sure, they had lots of work to do in reuniting Kumandra, but she also had 6 years without him to catch up on. She wanted to tell him every single thing she had done and what she had learned, and she wanted to hear all his bad jokes and stories again. She had been dreaming of what it would be like to see him again for all that time. Their reunion was exactly how she hoped it would be, because what she hoped for most was just that she would get to see him again.

Namaari squeezed her hand, helping ground her for a moment. She could tell when Raya’s thoughts were starting to spiral out of control, and she wanted to keep her feeling calm. Raya rested her head on Namaari’s shoulder, yet again trying to remind herself that everything is different now. Ba is fine, and so is everyone else. And there’s no war, and everyone is friends now.

It still felt weird, but good. Here she was, being comforted by the same person that she had hated for years. Everything was the way it should be for the first time in 500 years, and it was a lot to get used to. But maybe it was all worth it for the way Namaari’s hand fit perfectly into her own.

The sun started to peek over the horizon, and Raya sighed. “Guess we’re not getting any sleep tonight after all.”

Namaari shrugged. “There’ll be other nights.”

And there would be. Another night was a given now, and no longer a distant prayer. There used to be the possibility of not making it through the day every time they woke up, whether it be because of Druun or other attackers, but there was peace now, even if it didn’t always feel like it.

Raya looked over at Namaari, watching the way the sunrise reflected off her eyes making them seem golden, and she couldn’t help but smile.

For a brief moment, it felt as if nothing had happened in the past 6 years, or even the past 500 years. It was like they had always been Kumandra, and nothing could ever change that.

She would take it one day at a time, and that’s okay. One day she might sleep in her bed again. Then she might not feel the need to take her sword everywhere anymore. Nightmares and hardships would still come, sure, but the sun would always rise again on Kumandra.

#fanfic #raya and the last dragon #ratld spoilers #idk what else to tag this with ;(#raya #namaari #my writing

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curtashiism · 3 years

Text

I just finished Encanto! It was good, probably a 7.5/10 for me. My thoughts, in no particular order:

The good:

The animation was stunning- among the best I've seen in any movie. There were so many incredible details, and the textures on the clothes in particular were so realistic I could practically feel them through the screen.

I loved little Antonio getting to talk to animals.

I liked the story arc overall, but I personally wish we could have seen Mirabel get some kind of magical power after all she went through, but I also understand the reasons why they chose not to do this. Sometimes a lesson of "sometimes bad things just happen and you have to make the best of it" is good, but they can also be very narratively unsatisfying sometimes. I at least would have liked for her to have the closure of her learning why she never got a gift. But again, sometimes IRL situations don't give closure either. So I can see why. It just would have been nice to see Mirabel get some kind of narrative reward for herself. After she spends the entire movie in service of everyone else, feeling less than everyone else, her reward at the end once again benefits everyone, and it would have been nice to see her get to have one thing just for her.

I love Luisa and Mirabel an ungodly amount. I will protect them with my life.

The bad:

IMHO it should not have been a musical. The songs added very little to the narrative and kinda disrupted the story more than anything. And I was just eh on almost all the songs. It would have been way better as just a straight up animated movie.

I felt a bit uncomfy with the reconciliation between Mirabel and Abuela. It just felt a bit too much like a child doing the emotional heavy lifting for someone older, which hits close to home. I get that Mirabel's compassion is her defining trait, but I just... I don't know. I don't think Abuela needed to be punished, exactly, but I would have liked to see her put in some work for Mirabel's forgiveness for the years of emotional abuse. Acknowledging the wrongdoing was a great first start, but it was just that- it felt like what should have been only the start of Abuela making it up to Mirabel. I also would have liked to see the family apologize for ostracizing Bruno.

Another thing that troubled me a bit about Mirabel's characterization is that to me, at times, it seemed like her compassion sometimes read more like her being parentified. Or at least being expected to perform far more emotional labor than was appropriate, especially given her scapegoat status. It just troubled me, because even in the end, we just don't see much reciprocation from the family, with the exception of Bruno who tried to protect her.

I don't know. It just made me uncomfortable that no one besides Abuela seemed to learn any lessons from this, and even Abuela's learned lesson was "I expected too much from the family"- even the fallout from Mirabel's abuse at Abeula's hands has to be about the entire family, not just her. There is never a direct admission of wrongdoing by anyone to Mirabel, only to the entire family.

To give a comparison that pulled the "one selfless character in an ensemble" role well, in the musical Six, Catherine Parr is the only one whose song includes all the queens instead of just telling her story. But the other queens aren't ostracizing, scapegoating, and emotionally abusing her throughout, and the lesson of friendship and unity they learn is credited to her. No one seemed to give Mirabel the "you brought us together, you saved us/the casita" recognition that she deserved.

It just felt like no one felt too guilty for their treatment of Mirabel, besides Abuela near the end, but even that was smoothed over quickly- by Mirabel showing her compassion, nonetheless. That didn't sit right with me, personally.

But again, overall this was a great movie!

#encanto

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bunnymcbunnister · 4 years

Text

SPN Season 15 Spoiler Sheet, update 8/31

Waited until that second trailer came out to post. I am LIVING with all this new content! Mind the disclaimer and check it out under the cut.

DISCLAIMER: This is gathered info from various sources. This is not confirmed information. Stuff in this WILL be wrong. Don’t take this too seriously. This is for fun. Also, if you use this info for another publication, please let me know as a courtesy. Don’t be a dick. It's all out there, but it hurts to see my same phrasing on other publications after all the work I’ve done to consolidate it…

General Info (oldest to newest). This is a blend of pre-COVID and post COVID, so some might change.

They are adding a whole extra day to filming to do the final scene. They will film the final scene last. (Implies logistics- lots of returning people?) PRE COVID SPOILER

In an interview, Kripe indicated that the series ending would have “peace” for Sam and Dean

Not much new at the TCA’s, but it was said it is “unlikely” Jeffery Dean Morgan will be back since his last appearance was such a good end note. There were some jokes about a Castiel spin off.

There will be a special tribute ep (Post COVID talk seems to indicate this will stil happen)

Misha will be in 15 out of 20 episodes this season (he’s missed 3 so far and I suspect will miss 14 and 16, unclear about 19).

Cas’ deal with the Empty may come up later in the season.

Jack will be a critical part of the ending of the show

Dean and Amara’s connection will be explored

There will be a bunker themed episode (MarySue article)

In one of his cookbook interviews, Misha used the word “we” several times when talking about the final scene of Supernatural. He said that would be the last scene they shoot. It seemed to imply that he was in the scene, but that could be open to interpretation.

JaxCon/Vegas Con spoilers:

Misha said the ending was “happier than he expected” but also had some sadness. He later used “sad and redemptive”

Misha mentioned that Claire will be mentioned on the show, but as of yet not appear.

Dean says the line “stop killing my people” (to god?)

Jensen said he doesn’t see how the story could continue past this season, but Jared said its more of “a see you later”

Misha confirmed he’s in the final scene, but he also indicated he had one week of filming left (total?) PRE COVID SPOILER

Al Cal posted a pic of a “thrown away” call sheet that seem to indicate Micheal, Lucifer, and a character named “Betty” interacting in the bunker. Unclear as to the validity.

There will be a flashback episode

Charlie (original flavor) will return

Filming will resume on Aug 18th. Per Canadian policy, they must quarantine for two weeks. Those quarantining seems to include:

Fairly Clear: Jared, Jensen, Jake Abel (Micheal), Rob Benedict (Chuck/God) Mark Pelligrino (Lucifer), Al Cal (didn't need to quarantine, but he is definitely on set)

Unclear/Rumored: Misha (he is being deliberately cagey), Osric Chau (Kevin- but likely for another project, he was a week ahead of everyone else) Jim Beaver (Bobby) flew to Vancouver on 8/26, so he could make it for the last couple days of filming with a quarantine

No idea: Shoshannah Stern and Ruth

Reasons Unlikely: Sam Smith (chemo treatment), Kim Rhodes (working at a camp during quarantine)

Jensen said sp 19 is more of a season finale, while 20 is a series finale. Repeated in interviews/livestreams.

Megan Fitz. complimented both Dabb’s and Glynn’s writing on twitter. Not sure if it is in reference to rewrites or the special retrospective that is planned.

Jensen indicated that the ending did change per COVID protocols. Unclear how much.

Misha is being very, very cagey about where he is. Some live streams seem to indicate he is not at home, but he has yet to confirm- his presence in 19/20 is hard to track. In an interview with Metaverse, he was in bed in a hotel looking space and you could see mountains in the background. He was not on set for the first week of filming, so he could be a week behind.

Misha has thrown around the words “final” and “what he <Misha> would have wanted” per Cas’ ending. “Sad/Proud” and “poignant” were also used.

The final episodes will premier October 8th. The finale will air Nov 19th in conjunction with an hour long special.

A trailer was released on 8/27. Scenes included:

A moving speech from Sam to Dean

(Possibly from 18) A teary conversation between Dean and Cas

Injured Dean being helped by Cas in the bunker

Jack breaking some cuffs/bring thrown into a wall/saying he has to kill god

Dean and his grenade launcher and a purple nightgown

Sam in a sweater vest getting a gun from under a pillow

A glimpse of a body with “Lust” written above it/a matronly woman (I think the villain from 14) saying “Boys”

Ghost Dean? Little Sam cutting off a hand

Some intermixed scenes from past episodes

A second trailer was released on 8/31. Scenes included:

A monologue from Billie about god coming to destroy the planet plus her banging on a bunker door (with her hand all gooey) and striking someone with her sythe

Jack continuing his speech about killing god but expanding that he has a ritual to do

Lots of red danger lights in the bunker/ 3 people getting tossed around in the bunker/Chuck in the bunker

Chuck saying he doesn't believe Sam and Dean can kill him

Young Sam and not ghost Young dean

Dean angrily driving the Impala then saying “its time”

Cas drawing his blade in front of an old truck to protect someone in a suit (Jack? I cant tell)

More Dean tears

A surprise appearance from Bobby

Some of the same scenes as before

Episode 15x14

Title: Last Holiday

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) discover a wood nymph (guest star Meagan Fey) living in the bunker who is determined to protect her family, at any cost. Eduardo Sanchez directed the episode written by Jeremy Adams (#1514). Original airdate 3/30/2020.

Written by: Jeremy Adams

Director: Eduardo Sanchez

Filming Dates:1/15- 1/24

Airdate: unknown- October 8th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? eh… I don't think so Jack ? yes

Guest stars:

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha mentioned being at an airport the first day of filming, maybe he’ll miss this one

The director shared a BTS shot with AlCal’s chair in the background. He also posted on that looked like the statues in hell. Lots of filming at the bunker. A few impala shots were shared as well.

In an EW article, a mysterious woman gives Sam and Dean every holiday they ever missed. Based on the title, I’m guessing this!

Episode 15x15

Title: Gimme Shelter

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: ?? Davy Perez???? They seem to be keeping it under wraps for some reason

Director: Matt Cohen

Filming Dates: 1/27-2/5

Airdate: unknown. October 15th?

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ?yes Jack ? Yes

Guest stars:

Other Spoilers/info:

There was some filming done at the crossroads with only Misha.

Alex and Misha filmed together

It seems as if J2 didn’t film at all the first week, Misha filmed six or seven days, this is a Cas centric ep

Episode 15x16

Title: Drag Me Away (From You)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: Megan Fitzmartin

Director: Amyn Kaderali

Filming Dates: 2/6-2/17

Airdate: October 22nd?

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? I think so… briefly? Jack ? not sure either.

Guest stars: IMDB credits Lisa Berry (Billie/Death)

Other Spoilers/info:

Alex got a cast of his face around the filming of this- so this ep or the one after

Looks like we get Dean in a robe!

They filmed at Rooster’s Sunrise Hotel for 3 days/nights

This might be the flashback ep

Episode 15x17

Title: Unity

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: Meredith Gylnn

Director: Catrion McKenzie

Filming Dates: 2/19-2/28

Airdate: Oct 29th?

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars: Rob benedict and Emily Sparrow

Other Spoilers/info:

Chuck and Amara trailers were seen on set when filming in a garden

Jensen was in NOLA Friday, possible Monday

“Uriel” was around for filming (Post COVID update: Misha seemed to indicate that this was because the actor was nearby filming? Not sure if this is to cover up the spoiler or the truth)

Alex and Jensen filmed in the imala

Episode 15x18

Title: The Truth

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: BOBO

Director: Speight

Filming Dates: 3/2--3/11

Airdate: Nov 5th?

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars:

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha and Alex filmed near the impala. J2 showed up later that night. This was the source of the “last time they all filmed on set” photo)

An really emotional scene was filmed with Misha and Jensen. Jared was definitely not there, but Alex was on the flight they took with Rich, so its possible he was too. This was revealed at a con in which the four of them were on a plane that had an in-flight problem.

Filming watchers saw a bro hug

Tape Ball posted a shot of field that looks like were dean came back from hell

Misha indicated this was his “favorite episode” in a recent interview

Episode 15x19

Title: Inherit the Earth

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: bucklelimg

Director: John Showalter

Filming Dates:: 3/12-3/23/cancelled for COVID and then 8/18-8/27

Airdate: Nov 12th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? unknown Jack ? yes

Guest stars: Jake Abel (Micheal), Mark Pelligrino (Lucifer)

Other Spoilers/info:

Production shut down as a precaution for coronavirus on 3/13, two days into filming. It is scheduled to start again on Aug 18th.

Jensen indicated there might be some re-writes for this ep to account for COVID protocols.

When they started filming, they indicated they were on day two. So maybe they could only use some of the scenes they shot? Then they added an extra day all called it day 9. COVID protocols makes things take longer

AlCal was definitely on set.

Jake Abel is definitely on set, and he posted an instagram story with his trailer and Lucifer’s (Mark Pelligrino)

Some filming was done at a gas station called Showalter’s (name of the director) with Jared, Jensen, and Alex

Jake “Spoiler King” Abel filmed a video showing chairs for Jared, Jensen, and Alex as well as Rob Benedict (Chuck/God). They were filming near a lake with a mountain view (that looked similar to where Cas died in season 13)

Rob Benedict posted it was his last day in Vancouver, indicating we won't see Chuck past this episode? Or very very briefly in 20? Jake Abel posted a similar message, also baiting fans about Misha’s whereabouts

Episode 15x20

Title: Carry On

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: Dabb

Director: Bob Singer

Filming Dates: 8/28- 911? (9/7 is Labor Day, not sure if that affect filming in Canada, or if the finale still requires an extra day. COVID makes things take longer as well)

Airdate: November 19th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? maaaaybe? Jack ? maaaaybe?

Guest stars:

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha is in the final scene, per pre COVID interviews.

Jake Abel used a “we” when he tweeted about getting back to work as soon as the virus scare ended, indicating Adam/Micheal would be part of the finale. He is quarantining, so this seems likely. Now looking like he was referencing 19.

Jensen indicated filming would take two weeks, longer than usual

#supernatural #spn spoilers #spn season 15 #spoiler sheet

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stupouid · 4 years

Text

Unity (ATLA boys x reader) Chapter 1

Prologue|Chapter 1

A/N haha lets go im bored and i have lots of ideas so here’s chapter 1. Y/N meets Sokka in this one ee-ee I hope you guys like it!

Warning: unedited, like ONE curse word.

word count: 2432 words ee-ee

Y/M/N is your mom’s name

if you have any more questions you can say so in the replies or my askbox!

Omashu, Earth Kingdom

5 years later

You know how Azula said that things would run smoothly for Y/N because she was of royal blood? Well that was a fucking lie. Y/N and her father moved back to Omashu because Y/N’s mother had passed away. Y/N thought that because of her blood, she would at least get to meet her grandfather, King Bumi, but she was only met with dirty looks. After pushing countless questions onto her father as to why they were treated so badly, Y/N’s father caved in and told her the truth. The whole truth.

Y/N’s mother was an Earth Kingdom princess. Y/N was aware of that already, but what Y/N didn’t know was that her mother was disowned after her parents found out that she had a child with a fire nation nobleman. They were in the middle of a war, for spirits sake. How could the king's own daughter fraternize with the enemy? Flooded with embarrassment, Y/N’s mother suggested they leave Omashu, and Y/N’s father took Y/N and her mother to the Capital City in the fire nation so the young couple could get married and raise Y/N in peace.

Y/N thought the story was sweet. Her mother gave up a lavish life in the Earth Kingdom to live in the fire nation (basically enemy territory.) But the rest of Omashu didn’t see it that way. They thought of Y/N’s mother as a traitor, and since Y/N was her daughter, they saw the young girl as a traitor too. It didn’t help that Y/Ns father wasn’t ashamed of his fire nation bloodline. Their neighbors were convinced that the L/Ns were spies.

For the next four years of her life, Y/N lived in hell. She was severely bullied at school. She came home from school with tears in her eyes at least twice a week. Y/N was afraid to set foot anywhere near the royal palace. But she found solace in meditation. There was a large hill several blocks away from the bustling city where she sat and meditated. But all this (or at least some) came to an end when on Y/N’s 13th birthday, Mai’s father Ukano, successfully infiltrated the city. All fingers were pointed at Y/N and her father, as the recent events ultimately supported the claim that they were spies. However, they couldn’t exactly prove it and the L/Ns remained in Omashu.

Despite having even more reasons for the people of Omashu to hate Y/N, at least she wouldn’t be alone anymore. After four long years of sending letters back and forth, Y/N finally got to see one of her best friends again. (Not that Y/N didn’t ever see Ty Lee in those four years, Y/N did watch Ty Lee’s performances in the circus every once in a while) In the next year, Mai trained Y/N in throwing knives like she promised, and also taught her how to take care of Tom-Tom, along with gossiping with her about what had happened with who and what.

Y/N cried when she learned that Zuko had been banished from the Fire Nation for the past two years, and came to the conclusion that he was so focused on capturing the Avatar and regaining his honor that he never replied to her letters anymore. However, Y/N was surprised to learn that Zuko and Mai got together before said banishment. She wasn’t upset by this, as the two talked about how they were more like siblings to each other years before.

A month after Y/Ns 14th birthday, Mai and Y/N received a letter from Azula stating that she and Ty Lee would be in Omashu. Azula was forming a small, elite team to bring back Zuko and General Iroh to the fire nation. Y/N was confused as to why Azula would need a team to bring them back, but then realized that Zuko wouldn’t stop until he caught the avatar, and probably needed lots of people to convince him. Nonetheless, Y/N tagged along with Mai to reunite with Ty Lee and Azula.

Hugs were shared, gifts were given, and soon it was time for the four girls to head back to Mai’s home. Once they arrived, the female warriors learned that not only did the majority of the city’s citizens had to evacuate because of a sickness called ‘pentapox’, (which Y/N had never heard of in her life) but that Tom Tom was missing and most likely being held hostage by the Resistance. Azula was furious with Mai’s father for being so careless, and Y/N and Mai were outraged that the citizens had taken Tom Tom. Azula proposed they trade Tom Tom for King Bumi and rename the city to ‘New Ozai’ because Ukano had made a fool of himself. Despite being raised in the fire nation for more than half of her life, and the people of Omashu treating her and her father like dirt, Y/N was conflicted by Azula’s proposition. Technically, Y/N could take the throne (if it ever came to that), and this was her mother’s home. But Y/N knew better than to defy Azula in anything and stayed quiet. The four girls went to bed, mostly thinking about kicking the resistance’s asses.

Soon morning came, and the girls got ready to make the trade. The girls met with the Avatar just next to where the statue of Fire Lord Ozai would be built. Upon arriving, the fire nation girls were met with a small boy with a hat on, a beautiful looking girl water tribe girl who looked around her age, and an extremely handsome watertribe boy who had a necklace that matched hers.

“Hey! Where’d you get your necklac-” “Hi everybody!” The watertribe started to question Y/N, but was cut off by King Bumi being lowered down by a crane in a cage.

“Azula? Is that…” Y/N was amazed. This was her grandfather?

“Sadly, it is. You can go to him while I confer with the Avatar.” Azula chuckled. Y/N ran straight to her grandfather. Aang was about to protest, but Mai said, “You brought my brother?”

Aang responded with, “He’s here. We’re ready to trade.” Mai, Aang, and Azula talked to each other for a while, and in the meantime Y/N was trying to get to know her grandfather.

“K-king Bumi?” Y/N asked the old man.

“Are you asking if I’m King Bumi? Because I am. What do you want?” The old man replied. Despite being trapped in a metal case, Y/N was still intimidated by him.

“I knew your daughter. Y/M/N?” King Bumi’s face contorted, and Y/N couldn’t tell if it was out of confusion or disgust. “Y/M/N?” he stated. “Oh! Y/M/N! My daughter! Yes! It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. She moved to the fire nation, you know. Speaking of which, you look just like her! I wonder wh-” Y/N cut him off.

“She died. Four years ago. And I’m… I’m her daughter. So you’re my grandfather.” Tears were threatening to slip out of Y/N’s eyes, but Y/N wouldn’t dare let them out. She didn’t want to cry in front of Azula and the cute watertribe boy.

“Oh. What’s your name? How come I’ve never seen you before? Why have you never visited? You know, I wasn’t the one who chose to disown Y/M/N. It was your grandmother, actually.” Y/N was shocked to hear that he didn’t hate her. She started sobbing as she said,

“Y-Y/N. My n-name is Y/N. My mother s-said that after she was disowned she urged my father to move us to the fire nation. We lived there until she died, when I was 7.”

“Oh, you poor girl. How come you never visited? I would have been more than happy to let you stay!” Despite his crazy exterior, King Bumi was a kind and soft person at heart.

“I-I thought you would hate me! I-it doesn’t help that my father isn’t ashamed of being fire nation. And I’m so sorry that my friend’s father has taken over this place. I’m so sorry, King Bumi.”

“Nonsense! It isn’t your fault you lived in the fire nation, or that this place is conquered by the fire nation. I could never hate you because of your mother. I never even hated your mother. I just wish you came by the palace sometimes.”

“I wish I did too-” The cage that trapped King Bumi was being lifted up, and Y/N was cut off by King Bumi screaming “Whoaa! See you all later!” Panicking, Y/N screamed, “GRANDFATHER!” She then turned around, screaming “AZULA!”

Aang thought to himself, ‘Grandfather?’ Before screaming, “Bumi!” Aang sprinted forward, but Azula blocked his way, shooting her blue flames at him. This confused Y/N. Why was Azula shooting at him? The small kid jumped and then he suddenly had a glider. While taking out the glider, his hat fell off, exposing the light blue tattoos on his body. Astonished, Azula and Y/N shouted, “The Avatar!” Y/N was aware that the current Avatar would have to be an airbender, but to actually see him in person, especially when Zuko was supposed to see him, it was amazing! The thought of the Avatar returning was what got Y/N through the hard times in Omashu. She knew that with him around, the world would be at peace again. But Y/N realized, if that kid was the Avatar, that meant Azula was shooting at him.

Y/N just stood there, watching as Ty Lee and Mai charged at the two watertribe teens while they were escaping with Tom Tom. It was a lot for Y/N to take in, and she couldn’t decide who’s team she would be on. After hearing a crash, she turned around to see the Avatar removing the chains from King Bumi’s cage.

“It’s just like old times, isn’t it, Bumi?” she heard the Avatar say to her grandfather. ‘Old times?’ she thought, but then remembered that the Avatar had been missing for over 100 years. Y/N decided she should be on the Avatar’s side since he knew his grandfather, so she started running over to the two, before noticing that Azula was shooting several fire missiles at them. This gave Y/N another reason to be on the Avatars side, her best friend was about to kill her grandfather for spirits sake!

Y/N booked it for Aang and King Bumi. But Azula’s missiles were faster than Y/N. Luckily, Aang fought them off with his airbending. Helpless, Y/N just stood there, watching the two throw their bending at each other. She hears Mai nonchalantly say “How are you gonna fight without your bending?”, which meant that Ty Lee chi blocked the watertribe girl. Y/N heard the watertribe boy reply with “I seem to manage!” and she couldn't suppress her chuckle. Y/N turns around again to see the Avatar and Azula still fighting. She heard the Avatar shout, “Hang on, Bumi! Our ride’s here!” signalling that the two were about to leave. Y/N was not going to let the Avatar leave with her only relative on her mother’s side, not without her at least. So Y/N screamed, “AVATAR! BUMI IS MY GRANDFATHER! TAKE ME WITH YOU!”

This outraged Azula, and she started directing some of her firebending toward Y/N. But after training with Azula for many years, Y/N knew her blind spots, and dodged the fire with ease. Aang heard what Y/N had said, and decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take her with them. He figured that it wouldn’t hurt to take them, especially since she seemed to defy her friend for him. Y/N joined Aang and Bumi at the end of the chute the two were on.

“Im Y/N. Bumi’s granddaughter. And you’re the Avatar!” Y/N said, amazed. He looked much younger up close. “Were you friends with my grandfather?”

“Very close, actually. Before I disappeared. I’m Aang, and this is Momo!! It’s nice to meet you! I didn’t know Bumi had a granddaughter!” Aang replied, laughing. Y/N scratched the lemur between his ears. He was very adorable.

“I didn’t know either!” Bumi stated. The three laughed loudly. The laughter died down and there was an awkward silence, before Bumi said, “You should go. Goodbye, Aang and Y/N. Don't forget what I told you about jing! I’ll see you when the time is right.”

“What? Why! I only just met you! I can’t leave you!” Y/N interjected. She didn’t want to leave her grandfather behind.

“Just go. Y/N. I know you’ll help Aang with his mission greatly. And besides, Princess Azula doesn't seem too happy with you. Wouldn’t want to see how that turns out.” Y/N laughed. Hopefully she would see him again soon. She nodded at her grandfather and King Bumi let himself tumble backwards into the chute.

“So… I guess we’re allies now, huh?” Aang stated out of the blue.

“I guess so.” Y/N replied. “I didn’t realize that you were so young. I think I could help you guys out.” Aang nodded at this and they went to go find the two watertribe teens, Sokka and Katara.

Meanwhile, Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula were on a palanquin in the city. “So,” Mai started. “We’re tracking down your brother and Uncle now, huh?”

“It’ll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won’t it Mai? Too bad Y/N won’t be with us to see him.” Ty Lee asked Mai. The broody girl blushed at the thought of seeing Zuko again, but Azula grimaced when Ty Lee mentioned Y/N. She had saved that girl, chosen her, and she had the audacity to defy her? For some Avatar? As far as Azula knew, the Avatar was nothing more than a roadblock for Fire Lord Ozai’s plan to conquer the rest of the three nations.

“It’s not just Zuko and Iroh anymore. Since little Y/N decided to betray us for the Avatar, we have a third and fourth target now. Don’t feel bad for Y/N, by the way. If I hear you even talking positively about her, I’ll make sure your fate is the same as my brothers.”

taglist: @emberislandplayers, @eridanuswave

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orderoftheavengers · 3 years

Photo

Wanda’s Vision

A Mysterious Package

As if losing her true love wasn’t cruel enough, Wanda Maximoff can’t even burry him. Instead, the chunks of Vision’s broken stone body are being studied in the Alchemy Department in the Ministry of Magic, as if he’s nothing more than a crumbled statue. Fighting back tears, she picks up her scarlet broom, and heads back to Hogwarts. Since helping to save the universe again, she’s been granted the chance to return and finish her schooling, But the Ravenclaw Commonroom feels empty without is Chimera Prefect.

Wanda should be in class, but instead she drifts up to her empty dorm. There, she finds a tall, tombstone-shaped package standing in front of her blue canopy bed, covered in brown paper. Tied to it is a simple, unsigned note: Enjoy!

Curiously, she takes off the wrapping, to find a tall mirror with an elegant golden frame. The curved top of the frame is engraved with the words: erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

Wanda’s eyes drift down to the glass. Instead of her reflection, she sees static, like on an old Muggle TV set. Then, the static clears, to a black-and-white sitcom. The Mirror of Erised broadcasts “WandaVision,” where she sees herself and Vision living an ideal life, in a setting reminiscent of the vintage Muggle sitcoms Wanda and Pietro used to watch with their parents.

The tears finally come. In her grief, Wanda slams her fist into the glass.

A normal witch or wizard could probably not damage the Mirror of Erised, but Wanda Maximoff is no ordinary witch.

Her grief turns to shock when her fist breaks through the glass, and a hurricane-like wind begins sucking her and everything around her into the mirror…

Breakfast

Next thing they know, Wanda and Vision are in their black-and-white Commonroom, getting ready for class. They don their robes, and get their chrome-covered wands and school bags. They head for the Great Hall for breakfast, accompanied by a laugh track. Once there, they have trouble finding the Ravenclaw table, due to the fact that all of the scarves, ties and tablecloths are in grayscale.

“Well, I don’t think it’s either of those,” Vision muses, gazing at two tables locked in a violent magical food fight. The Gryffindors and Slytherins are all Greasers; their black, leather, studded robes bearing large patches of lions or snakes depending on their “gang.”

The next table they look at is filled with beatniks, sharing poetry about peace and unity. “I think that’s Hufflepuff,” Wanda says, noting the badger in the middle of the table playing bongos.

The last table is full of nerds in bowties and horn-rimmed glasses. Figuring this is their stop, Wanda and vision have a seat and begin their breakfast. They’re almost immediately interrupted by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Agatha Harkness. Wanda is clearly her teacher’s pet, and Agatha says she can’t wait to see what Wanda is capable of on the test later today. "Is my best student gonna Ace this exam, or is that a stupid question?" Professor Harkness gives an irritating "gossipy neighbor" sort of laugh. "Remember, we're doing Patronuses!" Agatha takes out her wand and says with a smile, "Expecto Señor Scratchy! ...Oh, bowtruckles and doxies...Scratchy sit!" Agatha excuses herself, to chase her silvery rabbit Patronus, which is now wreaking havoc across the table. Wanda smiles and nods, secretly trying to remember this exam she hasn’t studied for.

To make matters worse, the school’s Head Girl and Boy, Victoire Weasley and Teddy Lupin, have decided to join Ravenclaw for breakfast. They ask Wanda and Vision where they’re from, when they began dating, and so forth, with the pair unable to answer.

“What year are you?” Teddy presses on, adjusting his cute wolf-themed sweater. “Are you Purebloods or Muggleborn? Did you transfer from another school?”

“Any mixed heritage?” Victoire adds.

Wanda and Vision are saved from having to answer when Teddy starts to choke on a werewolf hairball; Vision saves him, using his phasing powers. The frightening moment passes, and suddenly breakfast is over.

“Oh, look at that, it’s time for the game already!” Teddy declares. “Come on!”

Very confused, Wanda and Vision follow the crowd out of the Great Hall and outside, across the gray grass, to…

The Quidditch Pitch

As they near the Quidditch field, the roar of screaming girls makes it nearly impossible to hear each other speak. Wanda gets out her wand to attempt an ear-plug charm, and notices it looks different than before; instead of that slick chrome covering, her wand now is covered in psychedelic flowers.

When they find their seats, they notice that many of the girls have beehive hairdos, and many people’s cloaks have claps shaped like peace symbols and Yin-Yangs. Vision and Wanda move through the Hufflepuff box, where Teddy Lupin and his comrades have apparently traded their barrettes and scarves for beads and hippie hair. Next, they find a box full of nerds, that they hope is Ravenclaw; with everything still in grayscale, the only way to be sure is to look for an eagle crest somewhere. Vision and Wanda have a seat next to a friendly new girl with a beehive hair, introducing herself as “Geraldine.”

“To be honest I don’t know if I’m in the right box either,” Geraldine reassures Wanda.

“What House are you?” Wanda asks conversationally.

Geraldine’s face falls. “I…don’t know.”

The conversation is cut short when Madam Hootch, dressed like Ed Sullivan, announces the start of the game. The Gryffindor players all have moptops, and quip each other while during the game in thick Liverpool accents. The Slytherins are a bit rougher looking. Slytherin Seeker Albus Severus Potter comments about blowing up Moaning Myrtle’s toilet, and Scorpius Malfoy boasts about snorting his father’s ashes.

The Golden Snitch, for some reason, keeps flying past Wanda and Vision’s part of the stands. And something about the Snitch looks out of place. Wanda finally stops it in midair with her telekenesis, and summons it towards her for a better look. The Golden Snitch really is gold—it’s in color!—and there’s a red symbol on it: a sword, circled by two lions and a huge elegant "G."

“I think they need that!” Geraldine quickly snatches the Snitch from Wanda and expertly chucks it back into the field, as if pitching a baseball.

The Quidditch field is starting to look different. The Quidditch balls and hoops are morphing into colorful, psychedelic cartoons. As if trying to compete with the trippy animation, Al Potter takes out his wand and starts levitating furniture, toilets and animals from the castle to come flying into the crowd. This prompts the Gryffindors to make more awful puns at each other, while trying to retrieve the Golden Snitch from Ringo's nose.

“How is anyone getting through this sober?” Professor Harkness laments over the chaos.

Wanda excuses herself and makes for one of the restrooms in the Quidditch stadium. The toilets have all been blown up by Al Potter, but she doesn’t need to “go,” she just needs to think. In the restroom, she is confronted by queen bee Dominique Weasley, who seems to be implying that Wanda is guilty of something.

“I mean you no harm,” Wanda insists.

“I don’t believe you,” the young part-Veela replies, matching Wanda’s intense stare.

That’s when both girls are interrupted by a muffled voice, apparently coming from the mirror.

Superimposed over their reflections, Wanda can just barely make out the ghostly image of a young man, and hear his distant voice calling, “Wanda, who is doing this to you?”

The eerie message repeats, and Wanda’s anxiety rises, until the glass mirror suddenly shatters, startling her and Dominique. Dominique suffers a cut to her hand, getting some crimson blood on her Gryffindor scarf.

“Gosh,” Dominique says chipperly, as if their intense conversation never happened, “At least blood stains don’t show up as much against Gryffindor colors!”

The girls return to the bleachers, to find that the game has finished. It’s unclear who won, as both teams seem to be celebrating the game in their own way. The Gryffindors give a cute, uniformed bow, while the Slytherins enthusiastically smash their broom sticks on the ground.

By the time the crowd is leaving the stadium, everything is now in color. Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley have their long hippie hair flowing in bright mind green and shimmering Veela gold respectively. The flowers on Wanda’s wand are now bright shades of red and orange. But the biggest shock of all comes when she and Vision return to the Ravenclaw common room, and realize that Wanda is four months pregnant!

The moment is interrupted by a noise from outside the Commonroom. Peering into the hall, Wanda and Vision see a cloaked figure emerge from a secret passageway behind a gargoyle (shaped like a Blue Meanie). The figure turns around, and Wanda sees that sword symbol once again, on the back of his cloak.

“No,” she mutters, and with a flick of her hands, literally rewinds time.

“Congratulations!”

…says Madame Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. “You’re having a healthy baby.”

Vision stammers, “But isn’t this happening a little…fast?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, only Muggles stigmatize teen parents. Us wizards still live like it’s the Middle Ages, remember.”

Wanda tries delicately, “The baby having some Phoenix or Chimera heritage wouldn’t be affecting anything, would it?”

“I don’t think so. But you can check the school library for more information if you like.”

The soon-to-be teen parents decide to do just that.

Wanda and Vision enter the library to find themselves now dressed like Scooby Doo characters under their school robes, which have the cut of droop-sleeved Disco gowns.

Geraldine strides in, sporting a fro, with her Gryffindor necktie tied around her head like a scarf. Teddy Lupin and Victoire sit nearby, sporting a mint-green afro and a silverly shag respectively. Lysander and Lorcan Scammander are putting up a sign on the library wall, protesting the pollution of the Forbidden Forest. From the open window, one can see that a new Quidditch game is already afoot; the Gyffindors and Slytherins, in House-colored disco suits, violently toss flying disco balls at each other, while talking like Nick Fury.

No one besides Wanda and Vision seems to notice anything amiss. That is, until Wanda suddenly goes into labor, in the middle of the “P” isle.

Vision runs to get Madame Pomfrey, while Geraldine delivers the baby. Vision returns with the nurse just too late to see his son’s birth. This is remedied a moment later when Wanda goes into labor again! They end up with two healthy baby boys. Wanda and Vision decide to go the Weasley route, and give them simple names: Tommy and Billy.

Geraldine helps Wanda turn the trunk at the end of her dorm bed into a cradle for the twins.

“I’m a twin,” Wanda remembers. “I had a brother, named Pietro.”

Geraldine then adds slowly, “He was killed by Ultron.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Wanda looks at her friend again, suddenly suspicious and angry. She notices suddenly that the patch on Geraldine’s robes does not depict the usual Gryffindor icon, but instead, that suspicious sword symbol. Ignoring Geraldine’s stammering pleas, Wanda sends the Gryffindor flying through the stone wall, out of the Ravenclaw commonroom.

Geraldine flies backwards down the hall, until she smashes through another stone wall.

She crashes through the wooden wall of the Quidditch pitch.

And finally, she crashes through a massive wall of glass, with a shattering sound that echoes eerily.

“Geraldine” lands on the wet grass. She pushes herself up, as Ministry wizards and witches gather around her. It is dusk, and they’re in the middle of an empty clearing in the woods. Not too far off, the Mirror of Erised magically repairs its own shattered glass.

Monica Rambeau sees the Mirror of Erised standing alone in the empty field, and it all starts coming back to her...

Here’s What Really Happened

...Monica Rambeau’s mother, Maria Rambeau, founded the Sword of Gryffindor: a division within the Ministry of Magic, tasked with threats by non-human magical beings. Monica, a recent graduate of Hogwarts, had just begun an apprenticeship under her mother, when she (Monica) was turned to ash by Thanos’s Dusting Curse. After she “Blipped” back, and learned her mother had died in the summer she’d been gone, Monica needed work to keep her mind off of her shock and grief.

Her new mission concerned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which had seemingly vanished overnight—along with the lake, the Quidditch pitch, and even Hagrid’s hut. All that was left was the Mirror of Erised, standing alone in the empty field. And the Mirror seemed to be malfunctioning. Its gold frame was replaced with a chrome and neon 1950s juke-box aesthetic. It’s iconic message now glowed above the glass in the form of a cursive neon sign. All the Ministry workers strongly desired to see where Hogwarts had gone; but all anyone could see in the Mirror was static.

Jimmy Woo (a former Hufflepuff Prefect now with the Ministry) gave Monica a rundown of the situation. “The Ministry’s so desperate, they’re even bringing in a Muggle, to see if one of their ‘TV microwaves’ or something might be interfering with the Mirror’s magic.”

Dr. Darcy Lewis, one of the few Muggles allowed to not only know about the wizarding world, but work with it, finally arrived. Most of the Ministry folk scoffed at the Muggle. But after a quick examination, Darcy had an answer.

“Looks like someone or something has turned your Magic Mirror into an old TV set.”

The project’s supervisor, Director Blandonius Genericus Phucknugget, snorted. “Codswallop and hippogriff dung. Your Muggle technology doesn’t work in areas like this, where there’s high concentrations of magic!”

“Wrong,” Darcy said, drumming her fingers on the Mirror’s neon frame. “Electricity doen’t work around magic. But you guys make cars and motorcycles fly with magic all the time. You even use cameras, for Treebeard's sake! So this TV-mirror isn’t plugged into anything, but it’s still running, probably on magic. If someone can enchant me a pair of old rabbit-ear antennae, I can probably get this show broadcasting for ya. And if one of you magic dudes can conjure me up some coffee, that’d be cool too.”

Director Phucknugget begrudgingly adhered Darcy’s request. A retired Arthur Weasley was happy to donate some parts from his Muggle collections to the cause. Within the hour, everyone was watching what seemed to be an old Muggle sitcom play out in the glass… set at Hogwarts! Jimmy and Monica soon determined that, somehow, the castle and all of its inhabitants had become trapped inside the Mirror of Erised. Since Wanda Maximoff and Vision Banner-Stark were the stars, and Vision was supposed to be dead, it stood to reason that they had something to do with it.

Monica then made a bold, and arguably stupid, move. She blasted the glass with different powerful spells, until she managed to put a crack in it…and ended up getting sucked into the show.

While Jimmy, Darcy, and the others watched Monica join the main cast, the frame around the Mirror began to change. The jukebox aesthetic was soon replaced by a psychedelic pop art motif, resembling something you’d see on an old CD cover, or a “Yellow Submarine” poster. Monica, Jimmy and Darcy tried different ways to get in touch with Wanda. They tried sending an enchanted Golden Snitch into the Mirror, containing Mad-Eye Moody’s old eye, to survey the situation. Jimmy tried a mirror-enchanting spell, to send Wanda a message. But nothing seemed to work.

By midafternoon, the frame had changed again to a banded ‘70s border with rounded edges, it’s top lettering now spelled out like the opening credits of an “exploitation movie.” And the show was now in color. Soon after that, Monica Rambeau came crashing back through the glass, knocking Darcy, Jimmy and Phucknugget into the grass.

It has all come back to her now.

Lying on the grass in her Disco robes, Monica breaths, “It’s Wanda! It’s all Wanda!”

Care of Magical Creatures

The sky above the Quidditch Pitch is the color of Floo Powder, tuned to a dead fireplace. The frame around the Mirror of Erised is clunky robotic junk, smattered with flickering neon. The castle halls have become a glittery labyrinth, and echo with David Bowie music. Goblins from Gringotts are discussing business with Headmistress McGonnagall, demanding a baby as payment if they don't get their gold.

Billy and Tommy are old enough to start their first year at Hogwarts, even as their parents are still finishing up year Five. The boys adopt a cute three-headed Cerberus puppet (yes, puppet--The "Dark Crystal" kind) that they name Sparky. Everyone now has frizzy ‘80s hair, and wizard robes now have built-in shoulder pads. Professor Harkness continues to give Wanda top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where students practice wizard duels in 80s workout gear.

Wanda finally “breaks the fourth wall” again, albeit less literally this time. Excusing herself from her family, she goes to the restroom, and looks directly into the mirror, at the Ministry wizards outside. For a few moments, they talk as if there is only glass between them.

“Is this yours” Wanda says, tossing the Golden Snitch back through the glass.

Catching the Snitch, Monica begs Wanda to listen to reason. But it’s no use.

Meanwhile Vision, is getting suspicious. He manages to free Lysander Scammander from Wanda’s control. The hysterical first-year frets that he hasn’t received an owl from his parents in what seems like ages, and that having Wanda in his head all the time is painful.

But just as Vision confronts Wanda, they get a surprising visitor: Pietro Maximoff! …or is it? Something seems off, but Wanda wants to believe it’s true.

Defense Against the Dark Arts

For their Midterm Exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone suits up. Vision dresses like a Mexican wrestler, while Wanda dons a red leotard under a red cloak and tiara. Billy and Tommy are advancing in their magic classes with alarming speed. Pietro suspiciously looks, sounds and acts very little like the brother Wanda remembers. But how many other male part-Veelas can be out there?

Back in the real world, Monica, Jimmy and Darcy clash with Director Genericus Phucknugget. The three are eventually taken off of the project for not being big enough assholes, so they set out to break some rules. Darcy “hacks” into Phucknugget’s “files,” by which we mean, she swapped his Pensieve out with a chamber pot when he wasn’t looking. Around a camp fire in the Forbidden Forest, the trio examine the memories that their shady boss didn’t want them to see. Turns out, he doesn’t have anyone’s best interests in mind, bar his own quest power.

Monica wants to try re-entering the Mirror, but there’s another problem.

“You’ve gone through that class twice,” Darcy warns. “Your body is cursing with the magic of a Flaga.”

“How do you know about the Flagae?” Jimmy asks.

“Muggles can read books too you know.” Darcy produces a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scammander.

Flagae are spirits that live inside magic mirrors, often acting as familiars for witches like Snow white’s evil stepmother. Darcy theorizes Wanda and Vision’s “Mirror children,” Billy and Tommy, may in fact by Flagae. And Monica is turning into one too. If she makes a full transformation, she might never be able to leave the glass again.

But Monica stands her ground. “I won’t stop until I help Wanda.”

Back in the Mirror, Vision investigates the edges of Hogwarts' grounds. He finds both the Forbidden Forest and the train platform inaccessible, blocked by a wall of shimmering magic glass.

Outside, the Ministry wizards see Vision begin to emerge from the Mirror. He pushes painfully, with his hands pressed against the frame, but some force is holding him back. Vision himself begins to shatter, as if he’s made of glass. Darcy, who has tried sneaking back onto the project, yells at someone to help him, as a Ministry Auror holds her back.

Billy, a Legilimens like his mother, senses his father’s distress and alerts her. To save her husband, Wanda creates a powerful wind to pulling Vision back into the Mirror…and takes most of the Ministry witches and wizards with him.

Modern wizards

When the winds die down, nearly all of the Ministry wizards are now inside the Mirror, and have been recast as House Elves, Leprechauns, and decorative Cupids. Darcy is recast as a bespeckled House Elf in a blue bellhop’s uniform.

Wanda and Vision give interviews about their ongoing life problems, to no one in particular. Vision finds Darcy, and restores her memories and human body, though she keeps the silly suit. Darcy fills Vision in on his life before the Mirror. Yet still, he can’t remember any of it. They ponder the possibility of a Memory Charm, or the simple resurrection amnesia that often plagues newborn vampires.

Monica and Jimmy remain safe outside the Mirror of Erised, but Monica is now adamant that there’s no other way to reach Wanda and stop their evil boss.

This third push through the magic glass makes Monica feel like she's shattering. All around her are the voices of her dead mother, and her absent “Aunt Carol”—Monica’s “Erised.” The temptation to just let herself melt into the glass and give up on reality is strong. But Monica is stronger. Monica finally emerges into Erised-Hogwarts, a new being. Her eyes glowing a spectrum of colors, Monica is now like a person jacked into the Matrix; the laws of physics in the world of the Mirror no longer apply to her.

It was Agatha All Along!

It’s supper time, but Billy and Tommy still aren’t back from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Wanda heads to the classroom, to find Agatha, stroking the silvery fur of her apparently corporal Patronus.

“Where are my children?” Wanda demands.

But when she attempts magic, she fails.

“Highest marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but an F in Ancient Runes!” Agatha taunts. “Only the witch who casts the runes can use her magic in the area. Every first year should know that!”

Agatha then forces Wanda to join her in entering a Pensieve, filled with all of Wanda’s worst memories. Yes, Wanda is now inside a Pensieve, while inside the Mirror of Erised. Agatha wants to know what makes Wanda’s magic tick, so she can harness it for herself.

Wanda sees her entire life play out. She and Pietro are children, living in their magically-hidden hole-in-the-wall apartment in Sokovia. Their father tries to make a living by magically burning vintage Muggle sitcoms into wizarding photos and paintings, that will play out the episodes, which he sells to wizard and witches that are Muggle enthusiasts. Then their home is destroyed, and their parents are killed.

Wanda sees herself in the dungeons of Durmstrang, approaching the glowing cauldron, and listening to her instructors tell her how to enter the experiment. She dips into the glowing cauldron like a bathtub, with the Mind Stone shining from the bottom like a light in a jacuzzi, clutching her phoenix-feather wand. There's an explosion of light, as she and her wand are fused together. And the premonition she sees of herself, as one of the most powerful witches alive... “There’s an entire Prophecy about you, in the Department of Ministries. Well, not anymore,” Agatha smirks, showing Wanda the ancient book she (Agatha) has stolen from the Ministry of Magic. "You're the Scarlet Witch!" She sees everything, from the death of her brother to the death of her lover. Finally, she sees and remembers how she ended up inside the Mirror of Erised, accidently sucking the entire castle in and casting a memory charm on everyone, including herself. And how from her emotions and memories, she accidently created a Flaga, in the form of her dead lover, Vision.

Wanda now realizes what she must do. It will be agony for her; but she cannot continue to imprison and torment her peers, just to keep her fantasy in the Mirror of Erised alive. And Agatha must be stopped.

The Darkest of Magic

The two witches start to duke it out in the sky above Hogwarts Castle, in a wandless witch's duel. Both conjure their Patronuses, straight from their hands. Señor Scratchy goes "Watership Down" on Wanda's firefinch, which retaliates in Hitchcock fashion. The corrupt Ministry wizard and his cronies make a bad situation worse, when they send their own twisted creation into the Mirror—the real body of Vision, now an unpainted white gargoyle, bent only on destroying its counterpart inside. But Erised-Vision knows that the best way to distract himself has always been philosophy, so he wins over his alter-ego with a lecture on the Ship of Theseus, some musings about the workings of Time Turners, and the parallels between Nargles and imaginary numbers.

Monica frees “Pietro” from the Imperius curse that Agatha has paced on him, and watches the Polyjuice Potion she forced him to drink wear off. Turns out, he’s just a Muggle named Ralph Boner.

Everything is going to chaos inside the Mirror of Erised (except for the two Visions, who are having a quiet discussion about the reliability of Divination, in midair in the Library). Wanda uses her recent lesson in Ancient Runes to incapacitate Agatha, and then dives into the older witch’s mind...

...Agatha is centuries old. Haling from the Salem Witch’s Institute, she was shunned by her Coven, and even her own mother, for “studying the Darkest of Magic.” Agatha then unleashed a Killing Curse on all of them. Once the heinous crime was done, Agatha’s Horcrux was made. She plucked the pendant off of her mother’s body, and pined it to her own cloak.

Agatha is brought back to the present, just in time to see Wanda’s firefinch devour Señor Scratchy. The scarlet magic shooting from Wanda’s hand briefly flashes bright green.

Goodbyes

Hogwarts has been restored. Everyone is free from the Mirror, save three people: Vision, Billy, and Tommy. Agatha lies dead on the grass outside the Mirror of Erised—or at least, her human body does. Using her powerful Scarlet Magic, Wanda fuses the pendant Horcrux into the golden frame of the Mirror of Erised, trapping what’s left of Agatha. From now on, Agatha can only exist in the role of other people’s fantasies, when they look into the Mirror. “No one will ever bother you here,” Wanda assures her enemy, through the glass.

Oblivious, the fraction left of Agatha’s soul smiles from behind the glass, in her 1950s getup. “Fabulous! See you in class, Sugar!”

Wanda apologizes to Monica, and all of her peers from Hogwarts, while Director Phucknugget is hauled off to Azkaban by the Dementors.

Headmistress McGonnagall assures Wanda that she is still welcome at Hogwarts, provided more precautions are taken with her powers. But Wanda chooses to leave the school. Before leaving the castle, Wanda pays her family one last visit. The Mirror of Erised stands in a large empty room. Separated by glass, Wanda tearfully bids goodbye to Vision, Billy and Tommy.

“Thank you for choosing me to be your mom,” she tells the boys, before they go to bed.

“Wanda,” Vision presses against the glass. “Darcy called me a ‘Flaga.’ Am I a ghost? Or just a fantasy?”

“You’re a spirit I created,” Wanda finally admits out loud. “You are my memories, and my pain. But most of all, you’re my love.”

For a moment they are able to kiss, as if the glass isn’t there. Then Wanda leaves the room, and doesn’t look back.

Epilogue

Monica is still mostly Human, but like Wanda, she is now a hybrid—in her case, part Flaga. And it turns out, there is a battle being fought in the Mirror Realm, and Monica can help.

Wanda, meanwhile, creates herself a cabin in the woods, where she studies that Prophecy book—out of body. She is interrupted by the voice of one of her sons, calling from every mirror in the house, “Mom…!”

AN: An AU of an AU! Bloody hell.

This was a nightmare, both to "draw" and write, even with most of the work "cut out" for me. But worth it.

Because life is short, the images in this picture were largely traced, or straight up pasted clipart.

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