#pillars as magic knight captains au

[adel-memes]

Hello I decided to go ahead and think of future AUs and what I think each of the colors would like / fit to be when they're older based on elements :^)

Blue & Green - traveling heroes

Red - Scholar

Vio - Captain

And THERE IS A REASON FOR IT.

I feel like Green and Blue would fit more as traveling heroes because of their elements.

Green, being air, I feel like him being captain is too constricted. I feel like he'd enjoy more being free and outside. I think he'd want to be around others. I feel like he'd want to visit the gerudo and be able to go see Erune too. Etc. Etc. Green seems more social than the others too like with how he talked with Erune, how he sympathized and felt strongly against facing the knights, another thing is how he talked to Shadow too. He seemed more connected and wants to be around the people more so I feel like being a traveling hero is more fun idea to go with.

Blue, also a traveling hero but for a different reason than Green. Rather than being a free spirit, I think Blue would like to go out and be helpful. Being a knight / captain is too nitty gritty, there's protocol and rules to follow and while that's to help achieve the main goal, it can make him feel like he can't be as helpful as he wants. Being water, I like to HC he's water like in flexibility on how he acts around others and further more how he helps others. I headcanon that he likes being useful & helpful to others and like water being fluid and fit any cup regardless of shape & size, I feel like Blue would fit any role or task given to him so being a traveling hero and handling different issues & being what the people need? Fits him <3

Red, I like to think he'd be a scholar in magic studies. I feel like he'd get discouraged at first because he'd feel overwhelmed but Red is a fire element and fire is passionate and I do hc he is fond of magic so while overwhelmed at the start, just give him the fuel and tools to work with and he will rise for it. I feel like he'd start studying elements first and mostly light magic cause of Zelda but slowly shift to other forms of magic. I feel like he'd be a bit hesitant with fire because of what happened in that town and being accused but later becomes fond of it and realizes fire isn't that scary AND THEN... HEAR ME OUT. He realizes magic isn't that scary and gets curious about the more "looked down upon" forms of magic Aka dark magic Aka Shadow & Red hours <3

Vio, listen. I know it isn't expected but Vio as a captain is such a unique thought. He does what's necessary, he's loyal, he's good at planning on the spot and handling things as best as he could. But I also see Earth as a pillar of support and I do think Vio would want to be a pillar of support and him being captain and handling that "pressure" is him actually shielding and protecting Green, Red, and Blue from that grief. I think he'd take that title on not for himself but to shield the others and still be there for them.

[loosesodamarble]

Demon Slayer and Black Clover World Swap AU Masterlist

Turning the Magic Knight Captains into Pillars: determining the Breath Style of each Captain turned Pillar

Turning the Demon Slayer Pillars into Captains: determining the magic attribute of each Pillar turned Captain

The other characters in play: discussing the roles of the other characters

Julius and Secre’s Roles Revisited: just quick notes about how the two of them play into the AU

Renaming the Demon Slayer Pillars

Renaming other Demon Slayer characters

Renaming the Magic Knight Captains

Renaming other Black Clover characters

Renaming the rest of the Black Bulls

Compiling the renamed characters: a list of just the names

Reputations/Standings of the new Magic Knight Squads: discussing the reputations of the Magic Knight Squads under the Pillars turned Captains

Trivia about the World Swap Pillars

Trivia about the World Swap Captains

[seokiloquy]

Wilted Wounds - Akaashi Keiji

Au: Soulmate + Magic + Fantasy (When your soulmate gets bruised or injured, a flower will appear on the matching part of your body, BUT, for this au there is no active soulmate system…. You’ll see, just read it.)

Requested

Tags/Warnings: GN! Reader, swearing, slight graphic content.

Word Count: 10k+

You glared up at the King as he sat comfortably on his plush throne, giving you a daring look, challenging you to speak up. From your position before the monarch, you could hear the sound of rustling metal from subordinates of your trainee team of knights that were kneeled a few metres behind you, quaking in their metal armour as they stared at the red carpet beneath their feet. 

The throne room was large, overly so, with towering stained glass windows along either side and intricately crafted pillars that drew one’s eye to the ceiling where more beautiful architecture was to be found. Sunlight poured through the coloured glass. It was a mosaic of colour and although beautiful, didn’t fit the current mood.

You could feel the shocked stares of the castle guards as they watched you from their positions along the throne room walls.

The sides and bridge of your nose started to hurt from being scrunched up so much. You swung your sword forcefully with each slashing movement of your arms as you yelled. The heartbeats of your team that were still kneeling were practically audible behind you.

“You wish to send us on a mission to kill a dragon?! Are you serious? That’s preposterous!” Your voice echoed through the room, but the King remained slack in his chair.

“Dragons harbour jewels, valuable ones, and it is your mission as Commander and Captain the Expedition Knights to take my orders and follow through with them.” The King’s voice held an authoritative timber without any unneeded force. Rumbling loudly to make his point instead of yelling.

You didn’t have the king’s grace though. Screeching to the point of causing the guards to flinch and cover their ears. “It’s also under my jurisdiction to inform you when you want to use military power on something utterly imbecilic! When did you become so thick-headed, old man?!”

The king laughed, bellowing, as he smacked his knee. Each huff of air made his grey mustache puff out, hairs flicking at the end. With a small expletive, he caught his crown before it fell to the floor, petting it and cooing like it were a small bird.

Shutting your eyes you breathed, waiting for the King’s worried blubbering to end. It did, eventually.

“Oh, (L/N).” he sighed blissfully, immediately spitting as a piece of his beard flew into his mouth with an intake of air. “You never change.”

As he spoke, a butler came out of one of the side doors, a tray resting flat on his palm with a single, large, glass of wine on top. He takes quick steps, spine straight until he makes it to the King’s side, where he bows and offers the tray forward. Licking his tongue, the King wiggles his fingers before grabbing the glass, taking a big swig and ushering the butler off.

“Of course I never change, I have to deal with you every day,” you groaned, rubbing your hands against your face and dragging the skin. Looking over your shoulder, you waved your hand to signal the other knights to get to their feet. You sighed, clicking your tongue at their nervous state. “Alright, so what is the mission, exactly?”

The King chuckled, sipping on his wine. “Mount Kairia—”

“Absolutely not!” 

Jaw forward he stirs the dark liquid in his mouth, giving you a somewhat muffled reply. “I wasn’t even done talking.”

Biting your tongue you looked behind you to the young knights, waving them off. They scampered quickly, running in the direction of the training grounds.

“Your Majesty, with all due respect. Mount Kaira is the most dangerous land in the country. It houses plenty of jewels and valuables, yes. But it is also home to the most dangerous dragons in the country. It’s a suicide mission this time of decade, and you fired all our medical staff last week for absolutely no reason—”

“They gave me the wrong coloured band-aid.”

You tossed your hands back in the air, sword-swinging wildly at the sight of his pout. “Oh grow up! You’re the richest man in the country, you don’t need those jewels. A group of my knights wouldn’t even survive that trip. Dragons prefer large groupings of meat to satiate their hunger. I—”

“Then go on your own.” 

You choked on air. The beating of your heart stopped momentarily, making you shiver, eyes locked frozen on his now empty wine glass. You could see the curved happy grin change the shape of his mustache and beard, it was stained red.

“Pardon?”

Your heart started again, thumping loudly in your ears.

“Do it by yourself. You said a large group would get you eaten. So do it by yourself.” Raising his brows and dropping his cheeky smile to a more relaxed one, he set the empty glass of wine down on the thick wooden armrest of his throne. “Close your mouth, you look like a fish. Anyways, I don’t want you to gather everything there, at least not anymore.”

He saw your pinched eyes glaring his way. Silently he raises his hands, showing you his palms before continuing. “You are the mother tree amongst the first of knights, the strong and dependable. Just find me a blue diamond. I want to complete my collection, and you can pick whatever things you want for yourself when you get there as extra payment. You could even make an engagement right in the future!”

You huffed out cold air, straightening your back and tucking your sword into its sheath. Silently swallowing as you looked up at the king. “Do you truly believe I would make an engagement ring? I have more important things to worry about. Saving lives, for instance.”

He stared back for a few moments, shrinking under your pointed glare before jumping in his seat, hands waving. “Oh right, of course not. Take what you need, I’ll give you the funds to buy gear at the market in town, and I’ll even hire new—and old—medical staff so that you’ll be in the safest hand’s when you return.”

“If I return, your Majesty.”

He grinned. “So pessimistic, you’re the only one fit for the job. Isn’t that right, Commander.”

You looked at your scared hand that still rested on the hilt of your sword. “I’m not so sure about that, your majesty.”

“Hmm? Is that doubt I hear? Commander, what is the first rule you tell the rookies, I’m sure you know it well.”

“Wounds on the back are a knight’s shame.”

The King sat back in his throne, shuffling side to side as he got comfortable. “I thought so. Dismissed.”

Akaashi sat in a rickety chair, patting down his friend’s scratch with an antiseptic cotton pad as a cool breeze blew in through the window. It was hot outside, way more than it should’ve been naturally. Akaashi wiped the back of his hand against his forehead, wiping away the thin layer of sweat that had settled underneath the line of his dark hair.

Dragons were hard creatures to domesticate, not impossible, but the ones on Mount Kairia were untouched in that manner. Wild, ferocious, and currently in some sort of shedding that produced way more heat than expected. Records of the dragons’ shedding process had been recorded before, but it only occurred once every decade and within that tenth year, it could happen at any point in time, and Akaashi knew nothing about it until moving to a country that had dragons in relatively close proximity. 

It had been going on for only two days, but the heat felt like murder.

Akaashi sighed, stretching a bandage over his farming friend’s scratch. “Bokuto, how did you get this?”

Bokuto straightened his back, hair swaying slightly in the breeze. “Oh, I was heading to the witch’s house, but I didn’t notice a log, so I tripped and scratched my shin. It doesn’t really hurt though.”

“That’s because I numbed it. Why were you heading to the witch’s place?” Akaashi asked, putting his bandages and cotton pads away on one of his shelves.

Bokuto hopped off the padded patient’s counter and bounced on his toes before settling, one hand in his pocket. “Oh, I don’t know, just to ask a few questions, ya know? I heard she was giving out fortunes and spells recently. Oh! Let’s go see her together.”

“What is she gonna do? Tell you how the animals will be this year? Curse us?”

“Ooh maybe! We should ask.”

As Akaashi was trying to strip off the clinging fabric of his overcoat, Bokuto grabbed it by the collar, yanking him towards the exit. His back cracked at the sudden force caused by the farm boy’s strength. 

“Let's go! Let's go! Hurry!” Bokuto cheered, rushing towards the front exit with all his might.

Slipping his arms through the sleeves of his coat, Akaashi rushed back to his backroom, grabbing a towel and soaking it with water along the way. The loud thunk of Bokuto hitting the wood door when left unheard by the local doctor.

Adding a bit of bleach to the mixture, Akaashi began wiping down the surfaces of the room, especially where the sweat and dirt-covered barn boy had been sitting. Once done, hands red from the heat and the cleaning, Akaashi walked out of the backroom to find Bokuto slumping against the door. He was picking at the dirt under his nails.

Sighing, Akaahi picked his coat up from the floor by Bokuto’s feet. Bokuto took the movement as permission to move, getting to his feet with a happy grin as Akaashi draped the white coat over a chair behind the wooden counter.

“So, we’re going now?”

“We’re going now.” A bit reluctant to leave his workstation, Akaashi slowly pulled the door’s key out of his pocket, following his excited friend out the door.

Just as he was about to slide the key into the lock, heaving clopping came up behind him, followed by Bokuto’s excited gasp. “A horse!” he cheered, causing Akaashi to pull the key away from the lock and turn around.

The Commander sat with a straight back on top of the black creature. Leather straps surrounded their torso, carrying small pouches as well as the glittering sword that was sheathed at their hip. Knee-high boots, common for expedition knights, matched the rest of the outfit. Leaning slightly, Akaashi could see a large water pouch on their other hip.

Bokuto, in his animal-loving craze, took a moment to acknowledge the towering finger on the horse. Continuing to pet the creature’s white muzzle, he looked up. “Commander (Y/N) (L/N)! What are you doing out in the slums with us town folk?”

Their eyes shifted, glancing at Bokuto for a moment. “I am gathering supplies for a solo mission.” Voice firm and unwavering, they looked at Akaashi next, who gulped quietly and played with the key between his fingers. “My apologies, perhaps you were leaving. I can take my business elsewhere if you are unable to, Doctor.”

He breathed out through his nose. “Akaashi is fine, Keiji even. Tell me what you need and I can run in and grab it for you.”

Nodding, the commander pulled out a neatly folded list from their pants pocket, running their fingers along the seems to flatten it out slightly. “Pain-killers, numbing stuff, things to fight infection.” They pause, looking up to meet Akaashi’s eyes. “If there is any of that, that is.”

Akaashi bit his tongue, staring at the visible gems in the hilt of the Commander’s sword. As good of a knight (L/N) might be, they definitely knew very little about medicine. 

They continued, reading over the list with a barely noticeable twitch of the brow as they stumbled over a line. “Antiseptics, antidotes for poison and venom, gauze, and materials for sutures.”  

As Bokuto discreetly fed the horse an apple, Akaashi ran over the list while staring at the visible scars on (L/N)’s hand. “I can do that. Are you aware of how to use them all?” The old injuries were harsh, with thick lines of discoloured skin. They obviously healed well enough for mobility, but the skin looked messy and uncared for, as if it could be discarded like old clothing.

“I am knowledgeable enough to have been able to survive this long, and that is sufficient for me,” they shrugged, tucking the list away.

Akaashi grimaced but followed the request as asked, returning with a lightweight bundle of all that was asked for. “You seem to be going on a dangerous mission. Not something you should do on your own.” He looked sincerely up at the knight whose eyes squinted kindly in return but didn’t let any more slip through their steely expression. Even with the muted reaction, Akaashi couldn’t help but feel a bit warm under their gaze.

“Thank you for your concern, but I will manage. This kingdom is under my protection, after all. I wouldn’t be able to save kind-hearted souls like yours if I couldn’t do one measly solo expedition.” A teasing smirk and curious eyes seemed to surround Akaashi in a blanket of ice, making him shiver.

(L/N) dropped a handful of gold coins in return (definitely more than needed) dragging the tips of their fingers against Akaashi’s palm and gave the man other curt thanks before they were off, bouncing on their horses back and effectively silencing Akaashi from being able to return some of the coins. He could only watch as their hands gripped the reins of their horse a bit tighter.

“The horse’s name is Milk,” Bokuto laughed. “Because it looks like he dunked his nose in a bucket of it.”

Still feeling the trace of the fingers against his hand, Akaashi watched their back as they left with a furrowed brow. A nagging feeling quickly found home in his stomach. All that medicine wouldn’t be necessary for some measly trip.

Tucking his key back into his pocket along with his now full coin pouch, he nudged his friend’s arm. “Come on, let’s go now.”

Sure to watch out for the log, the two men walked to the witch’s home at the edge of town. 

As Bokuto knocked on the old door, Akaashi pulled at the collar of his white cotton shirt, desperately trying to get the excess heat to stop sticking to his skin like slime. 

“Ah hello boys, come in, come in.” The old witch was hunched, draped in black, loose hanging fabric. Old wrinkly hands peaked out from the end of her sleeves gripping the door open for Bokuto and Akaashi to step inside. “What can I help you, boys, with today? Would you like something to help with the heat? Many have asked about that lately. I can grab you some nice lemon cake afterwards too.”

Akaashi sighed to himself, stepping in behind Bokuto. “That sounds love—”

“We want spells for our future or all the cool stuff!”

The elder laughed, waving a hand slowly in front of her nose. “Oh, aren’t you both eager? I’ll grab you some cold tea. Please take a seat at that table over there.”

The witch turned into what Akaashi could only understand as the kitchen wood boards creaked beneath her feet and left the two men to get comfortable in her home.

The table was covered by an old velvet cloth. Visible imprints made by decorations and witchy tools left permanent dents in the fabric as well as the occasional scuff or burn. It was worse for wear but definitely got the job done or else it would’ve been replaced. 

The old woman emerged from the kitchen carrying three cups, each chipped in some way and placed them within reach of Akaashi and Bokuto, taking one for herself and dropping into her chair with a content sigh. It groaned under her weight.

Akaashi retracted his previous thought, instead choosing to listen to the witch as she began to talk. 

“So was there anything you boys wanted to ask for specifically?” She turned her gaze to Bokuto first, squinting. “You’re that dim-witted farm boy from earlier. I saw your trip on that log. I see you decided to bring your friend along with you.”

Ignoring the insult, Bokuto danced in his chair at the open question to make a request. “Oh, how about animals, can you give me something to do with animals?”

Sighing, the witch rose from her chair and hobbled over to a row of cabinets where jarred and bottled ingredients of various pickled and dried things were waiting on display. Akaashi twitched as he watched her pull one out labelled, “Horse tongue.”

“Ah, you work with animals, don’t you? Now, what would suit our needs in the future the most? Why don’t we check?” Stepping back from the sidewall, the witch placed the bottled ingredients on the table, turning the labels towards her before Bokuto could catch sight of them. She gave Akaashi a knowing wink, making his stomach stir uncomfortably. “Alright boy, why don’t you finish up that tea so I can give it a look? Don’t drink the tea leaves though. They’re imperative to the spell.”

Taking the teacup between his large hands, Bokuto eagerly sipped at the cold liquid before placing it on the table with a content sigh. He was practically melting into the chair.

“Feel better?” she asked, a wrinkly smile painted on her face as she pulled the cup close to her.

He hummed, “Much.”

Akaashi watched as the witch’s face turned into one of confusion, brows pinching together in concern. “Is something wrong?”

“Not particularly.” From beneath the table, she pulled out a small water-filled cauldron and began to dump various amounts of the chosen ingredients in. “Akaashi dear, fetch me that ladle and wooden spoon.”

He tilted his head while moving to grab the utensils. “I never—” 

She steals the spoon, stirring quickly. “Hush dear. Bokuto, how well would you say you understand your animals?”

The farmer began to sit straighter, sluggishly moving from his relaxed position. “I’d say pretty good. They don’t kick or bite me.”

“How would you like to understand animals at a deeper level?” The liquid in the cauldron came to a boil quickly, changing from a mucus green colour to pale gold. Without waiting for an answer, she took the ladle out of Akaashi’s grip and scooped the odd liquid into Bokuto’s teacup.

“Ooh? Yes, that sounds interesting.”

She pushed the now full cup his way. “Drink up. Akaashi drink your tea as well.” 

He stared at his tea warily.

“It will stop the heat and sweat as it did for Bokuto.”

With no reservations, Akaashi snatched the cup from the table, leaving only the leaves at the bottom. Cooled off and more comfortable in his chair, he slid the cup back in the witch’s direction. She smiled in return and held the dainty cup between the bones of her fingers.

“Oh, how rare.” Not looking away from the cup, she grabbed the cauldron and puttered over to the nearest window, dumbing out the remaining gold liquid and tucking the big bowl away again. Placing the cup down, she walked back to her selves and grabbed a small dried flower. She held it out to Akaashi. “Place one of the petals under your tongue.”

The flower, despite its dehydrated form, was rich with red colour. Its shrivelled petals made an illusion of waves brushing the surface of a red body of water. 

Akaashi’s nose crinkled. “Why is it so red?”

“It grew from the soil stained by the blood of two lovers.” Plucking a petal off, she forces it into Akaashi’s palm, moving around Bokuto’s chair to grab a pitcher.

“Are you serious?” His shoulders tightened. The petal suddenly felt heavier in his palm.

“No, I’m a witch. Now put that thing under your tongue and sip of this.” She filled his cup again with plain water.

Lifting the petal to his mouth he paused, looking over at Bokuto’s content state and back. “Before I do, can you explain why?”

Huffing, the old witch snatched the petal back and pinched Akaashi’s cheeks together, forcing his mouth open and placing the petal at the soft floor of his mouth. Without letting go, she then grabbed the cup, making his guzzle down the cold liquid as she talked. 

“You, boy, have a soulmate and it would be advantageous for you to develop that connection!” She let go, falling back into her chair with an exhausted huff.

Akaashi coughed, “What?!” Only when he spoke did he notice that the petal had dissolved beneath his tongue. He gagged, suddenly getting a bitter aftertaste crawling up this throat.

Ignoring his distaste for the spell, the witch gathered the two boys up and began pushing them towards the door. Shoving into their backs with needle-like fingers.

Bokuto’s brows furrowed. “Hey! What about those cakes?”

Between coughs, Akaashi sputtered out a question. “Won’t you tell me more about this soulmate? I don’t even need to have one, I’m just here to be a doctor!”

“Oh, Pshh! You’ll figure it out on your own, I’m certain. Now out!”

The door shut behind them, making the whole home creak in distress.

Bokuto rubbed his back with a groan. His stomach growled in accompaniment. “I was waiting for those cakes.”

They started walking into town. The heat from the active dragons felt like nothing against Akaashi’s skin now. Even Bokuto, who was used to the heat from working in the sun all day, seemed to be standing a bit straighter, more relaxed.

“A soulmate? Why do I have a soulmate? I’m just interested in being a doctor.”

“I don’t know. Fate and coincidence sometimes work together. Either way, it seems interesting.”

“Interesting? Maybe, but I don’t need nor want romance. I have people to take care of.”

Bokuto tilted his head. “Who said that soulmates had to be romantic? I think it just means that this person is meant to be in your life, and you in theirs, right?”

“I guess that’s right. Maybe they’ll just need me and vice versa.” Akaashi paused his rapid breathing, trying to force the sudden worry out of his chest with slow breaths. He turned to look over his shoulder at the ageing wood home as he continued to walk. There were no shadows of movement visible through the window, all life seems to disappear the further they get away from it. It was — dark, suddenly. 

Akaashi spat dirt out of his mouth as he looked up from his new placement on the ground. A few steps ahead, Bokuto has swivelled around, stopping his quick stride to instead laugh at his friend.

“You did the same thing I did!” Between his fits of hysteria, Bokuto managed to hold out a hand for Akaashi to grab a hold of.

Once on his feet, Akaashi hissed at the sight of a small gash on the surface of his shin, nearly identical to Bokuto’s. The taller of the two laughed again at the sight of the wound.

“We’ll be bandage buddies!”

Akaashi sighed, wiping his dirt-smeared hands on his pants before patting Bokuto’s shoulder. “Come on. We’ve been gone for long enough.”

The forest was humid, so much so that the plants appeared to be sweating. Even at night, when the sun had long since set, the heat persisted. It took a full day of travel just to get to the base of the mountain and with each passing hour, the temperature kept increasing. Not to mention that there has been a stinging pain in your shin from the moment you left town.

You hopped off Milk, unstrapping the bucket of water and bucket of food that were attached to either of his sides. Groaning, you dropped them by his front hooves and pulled at his reins to tie him to the nearest tree. With enough length to trot around a bit, Milk huffed and happily dug into his rations. If you were lucky, it would last until you returned from your trek. But for now, you would wait until morning.

Shuffling over to another large tree, you laid back against the trunk and slid down to sit on the moss surrounding its roots. Pulling the bottom of your pant leg up, you squinted in the dark as you tried to make out the cause of the sting. You're blessed and disturbed by a burst of billowing light coming from the mountain’s peak as a dragon lets out a giant breath of fire.

Calming your beating heart with slow breaths, you use the light to look at your shin.

No spur, or splinter. There’s no cut or bruise to worry over. Instead, you’re brought to full alertness at the sight of a beautiful red rose painted into your skin. The flower was small, but the colour was vivid and the petals appeared to be full of light. You brushed a finger over the skin, and nothing transfers. You did it again, and again, and another time until you're vigorously rubbing at the skin.

Nothing. 

With a growl, you tugged the pant leg back down, accidentally punching your foot as you do. Huffing, you threw your weight back against the tree.

Slowly the blazing light of the dragon’s fire died out and it crawled back to its previous spot, leaving everything in pitch darkness. 

You can’t see him, but Milk continues to stop his hooves in the grass instead of resting immediately. The sound was dull, damp and warm against the soft ground erupting for a moment only to get absorbed by moss. It lulled you to sleep for the night, surrounded by the towering walls of the forest.

The morning came quickly, almost too quickly. After a thorough examination of your new shin tattoo, which you had hoped to be a dreary hallucination in the dead of night—it was not. Adjusting all your gear and checking that you had everything, you stood facing the mountain. Your hand carded through Milk’s mane and the other rested on the grip of your sword.

“Alright, buddy.” You held your breath, patting the horse’s side with an open palm. You looked at the slip knot that tied him to the tree before moving to hug his muzzle. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t eat and drink everything at once.” A rule you both had to follow with the rations you had on your person.

Milk whinnied as you started marching to the edge of the quickly inclining mountain. Taking one step onto the dark shy stone, you gave Milk one last tight smile before trekking off.

Your lungs burned with every intake of air, never giving you a moment of relief from the boiling air. 

Gripping the lip of a small wall of red hot rock, you pushed one foot against the jagged side and launched yourself up. Landing with the edge digging into your stomach, you grunted and kicked yourself the rest of the way up and immediately yanked your skin off the hot rocks. 

Stumbling onto your feet, you wobbled until your shoulder smashed against another stone wall. You hissed, pulling against it as it scratched through the fabric of your shirt and scorched your skin. Tilting your head, you got a look at the welt. The skin seemed to sizzle, scaring immediately without letting blood escape. 

The pain settled into a dull throb as if your heart had moved into your shoulder. 

Roars of dragons burst into the air above your head. You couldn’t tell how close they were, or when you'd run into one (hopefully never). 

You ripped the water pouch from your hip strap, resisting the temptation to pour the cold liquid over your head, and instead let it fall down your dried throat. Standing there for a moment’s rest you took in the uncomfortable shift of feeling colder on the inside instead of the outside. Your fingers gripped your leather pouch tighter as you pulled it from your dry lips.

It felt like you were going to shrivel up right there, with nothing but a sore arm and blood rushing through your ears like a storm.

Looking back down from where you came, you couldn’t even see Milk through the treetops any longer. You closed your eyes, slowly taking in a breath.

A sudden wave of heat ran down the back of your neck, making your breath catch in your throat. The sound of your heartbeat became louder, isolating your head within the sounds of your own body. Slowly, ever so quietly, you turned your head one centimetre at a time. 

Your chin had barely reached your shoulder when in your peripherals, you saw the drooling maw of a seething dragon. Its iridescent scales reflected dark maroon and royal purple. Your eyes skittered over its large head, taking in as much of the sight as possible. The flaring nostrils, the sharp horns that grew in rows on either side of its head, the bright, glowing green eyes with thin cat-like pupils that you could feel burning holes into your neck.

Or maybe that was the hot breath in combination with the already scorching temperatures.

Breaking through the paralyzing fear, you lifted your hand to the hilt of your sword. Your fingers managed to shakily wrap around the handle, inching it out of the sheath.

The beast lunged, jaw snapping at your shoulder before you could get a swipe at it with your blade. You leaped forward, trying to get out of its range.

A scream tore through your throat as one of its fangs ripped into the meaty flesh of your arm. 

Blinded by adrenaline and numb to the tearing muscle of your arm, you switched the grip on your blade, aiming for the beast's tooth. It shattered under the pinned strength of your swing.

The dragon cried. Its roar echoed loudly, making your ears ring.

As he aimed fire into the sky, you ran up a slightly beaten path made by adventures before the dragons settled for their shedding. Huffing loudly, you ducked into a small cave, out of view from the dragon.

Your spine slammed against the rock wall as your legs gave way beneath you. Once seated, you tried to calm your heavy breathing while pulling out bandages from your strapped bags. 

The broken tooth in your arm looked horrid, angry and covered with blood that gushed from the open wound. Preparing some alcohol to disinfect, and cotton padding to cover you grasp the broken end of the tooth. One, you breathe in, trying to slow the rapid pace of your heart and quell the ache in your chest. Two, you hold your breath. Three.

Another broken scream bounced off the walls of the cave before you covered your mouth with the back of your hand, forcing the breath through your nose. Quickly, you tossed the broken fang by your feet and ripped off the sleeve of your shirt. It’s difficult to clean through bleary vision, but once the blood slowed and your skin was clean, you grabbed the padding and bandages.

“I would have dodged that. Fucking dragon,” you swore under your breath between small hisses. It was a bad job, but tight enough that it kept most of the blood in. You scoffed quietly to yourself, grimacing at your own failure to avoid injury. “Doctor Akaashi will not be happy. What a waste of materials.” You leaned your head against the cave’s side.

Through half-lidded eyes, you looked down, past the tip of your nose, to the shattered tooth by your splayed feet. “I fucking hope that that shit wasn’t poisonous.” With a final breath, all the aches and pains that drilled into your bones subsided as your eyes shut.

Three distilled knocks echoed from the front door of Akaashi’s work. Akaashi’s head spun on a swivel as he set down one of many scalpels into a neat pile in a drawer. 

He had no patients scheduled, and Bokuto had been spending all his free time cuddling up to the farm animals (he mentioned sheep singing and having a conversation with the hens). So it couldn’t be either of those. Not that either would knock, the door was always unlocked for patients seeking medicine and Bokuto would always haphazardly throw the door open.

Akaashi gulped, wiping his hands clean as he approached the door. They felt sweaty, cold at the tips. His fingers slipped as he tried to pull on the handle, and when he did, the hinges creaked achingly. He’d have to get them fixed.

Backlit by the burning sun, and making Akaashi wince from the reflective sting in his eyes, stood a poised knight in a perfectly polished suit of armour in the doorway. With a velvet red sash decorated with various medals, Akaashi knew nothing about, and his arms bent at 90-degree angles (one at his stomach and the other on his back) the knight dawned an expressionless mask. He stared down at the doctor who stood in his shadow, nodding before removing the arm behind his back to present a pristine envelope with a red seal and watching ribbon.

“A letter issued by the king,” the knight said beneath his mustache as Akaashi tore open the letter. He could practically hear the knight scoff at the sight of the torn wax seal. “A new medical team is being assembled, he requests our presence.”

Akaashi’s brow furrowed as he read over the letter. “What happened to the old one?”

“I am not able to disclose such information.”

“Of course not,” he sighed. “Is there a particular reason why so much staff is needed? The letter doesn’t say anything.”

“Again, I can not disclose such information.”

Blinking slowly, Akaashi folded up the letter after giving the requested time one last look and tucked the sheet into his pocket. From down the road, he could hear excited footsteps and nearly unintelligible calls of his friend. Looking past the shoulder through the open space in his doorway, he caught sight of the excited farm boy and sighed. “I’ll be there as asked.” He paused for a moment, feeling a sting in his shoulder. “Now if you don’t mind I have to get back to work.”

The knight nodded and stepped away from the door just in time for Boktuo to come barreling in, ramming into Akaashi’s stinging shoulder.

With a final thanks, Akaashi shut the door behind the metal geared man. He turned to Bokuto. He rubbed his shoulder as he waited for the silver-tipped man to speak.

“Akaashi! Listen, listen, listen to this joke.” From the inside of his shirt, he pulled out a scraggly squirrel who, once given a small nut from Bokuto’s palm, began chattering.

After a few seconds, Bokuto burst into laughter, patting the squirrel’s back with a soft hand. “Isn’t that hilarious?”

“That was just a squirrel.”

Bokuto’s brows pinched in the middle as he frowned. “Did you not hear him?”

Akaashi sighed, wiping sweat off his neck as he went back to shelves to organize things. “Bokuto, I have no idea what you’re going on about.”

“The squirrel talked!”

Akaashi paused midstep, spinning to give his friend a confused look. “The squirrel talked.”

“Yes,” Bokuto insisted before whispering to the squirrel to go home, dropping him on the floor and watching the creature scurry out the door.

“And you understood him?”

“Her.”

“My apologies.” Akaashi leaned back against a counter, pondering before a swell of pain blossomed in his arm. As if something foreign had drilled itself into his flesh, Akaashi cursed, clawing at the spot, trying to rip something out that wasn’t there.

Bokuto panicked, running around as he looked for ice.

“Settle down Bokuto!” The pain began to subside quickly, leaving only a dull throb in its wake. Akaashi checked his shoulder and the muscle of his arm where the pain had suddenly blossomed.

Roses, bright red in colour, stuck to his skin. With a sweaty hand, he wiped over the spot just to be met with the same vibrant image staring at him. 

Bokuto stared at the flowers. “You’re soulmate!” he cheered, straightening his back with his arms suspended in the air. “The witch! That’s why I can understand and talk to animals!”

“I’m not sure how good of a sign this is, Bokuto. If it hurts when the flowers appear, that might mean that they’re in pain too.”

Bokuto hummed, tapping his shoe against the floor. “We could go ask the witch?”

“That might help but what would it do in the end? If these roses are a reflection of their injuries, all I can gather is that they’re in pain, possibly danger.” Akaashi’s eyes narrowed, pads of his fingers digging into the palms of his hands. His throat suddenly felt dry.  “There are no wounds for me to heal, just roses. What good of a doctor am I if I can’t help somebody in pain? What could I do?”

“Wait.” Bokuto stared off into the corner of the room.

“What?”

“You wait,” Bokuto shrugged with pursed lips. “Worst case scenario, they’re injured, and you’re too far away to help. Not to mention you don’t know who they are.”

Akaashi squinted, obviously discontent with the situation.

“But, you are a doctor, a surgeon. You know what the symptoms feel like and can be ready for whatever injury you face when your soulmate finally appears.” Bokuto swayed on his feet, head tilting in thought.

Akaashi breathed through his nose. “You’re right.”

“I am?” Bokuto shot up, no longer letting his eyes wander.

The doctor laughed bitterly. “Ya, you are. I need to be ready for whatever state my soulmate appears in, and I’ll be the only one to know exactly what's wrong.” He paused, staring at his little pharmacy.

Small packs of medicine, bandaids, gauses, first aid kits self-curated for portable use by the many adventurers in the kingdom, a small office with a padded bed for basic check-ups and the smallest of what could be considered surgeries. Meek, quaint, but held strong for the basics of what the community needed.

Akaashi loved his little pharmacy, but it was nothing in comparison to what he had access to back home. He pondered before pulling out a folded paper from his pocket.

He rubbed the flowers on his arm gently, soothing the phantom pain. “And I know exactly where I can do it all.”

A small sound, hardly audible over the constant roars and flapping wings of nearby dragons. Like a single drop of water hitting the surface of a lake.

Your eyes snapped open and with bated breath, you looked to your side where a small, perfectly polished ruby sat next to you. Between pinched fingers you picked it up, groaning when your arm protested.

Another tick against the stone floor. Aquamarine. You looked deeper in the cave, waiting.

It was completely dark, silent. Another stone tumbled your way. Your tired muscles cried as you pushed off the wall, grabbing the smallest jewels and dropping them into one of your pouches.

Rapid clicks ran across the floor before you felt small spikes climbing up the leg of your pants. Something brushed against your fingers before settling into the pouch you had just been fiddling with, making it heavier against your side. You gasped, jerking your hands away from the pocket.

“Get out of there.”

A small slightly feathered head poked out from the covering flap of the pouch. The thing’s beady blue eyes stared at you, unblinking as it dropped its jaw and let a handful of gems fall to the leather floor it sat on.

“You bugger!” You clawed at the creature, only for it to scuttle up your arm. It continued dodging your grasps, digging into your clothes and pockets, jumping onto your shoulders, never letting your hands on it but never jumping off.

You groaned, tossing your arms in defeat as the thing, maybe slightly larger than the length of your hand, settled happily on your shoulder with a croon and nuzzled its feathers against your cheek. 

“Are you poisonous?”

Reading up on dragons might have been wise before going on this expedition for a single blue diamond—the greedy prick—but you couldn’t undo that foresight now. 

It only blinked in response. You sighed through your nose.

Like that last one, its covering had an iridescent sheen, this time a green and blue. Instead of scales and skin wings, this one was covered, maw to claw in feathers.

It blinked again before clawing down your chest to hide in your pocket with all its jewels. Groaning, you shook your hands rapidly, trying to wake yourself up.

From your position in the cave, you could see the moon through the ashy sky. Despite it being sometime in the darkest parts of the night, everything outside the mouth of the cave was lit in a burning orange glow, bright enough to see clearly in the dead of night. 

A dragon roared overhead in the distance, making the dusty ground of Mount Kairia even brother. 

You yawned, brandishing your sword with a groan, and picking the broken fang off the ground. It slipped into one of your pouches, a memento of living another day.

As you stopped your way out of the cave, the little creature chittered in your pouch. It watched beneath the leather flat cover as you gripped onto the charred bark of old burnt trees and hulled yourself up the steep mountain. You stepped onto steep rock ledges, dug your fingers into blistering hot dirt, scraped and bruised your skin against every surface and swore each step of the way, cursing the king for sending you to this burning hell.

Your arm ached as you pushed yourself up to another slope. Eyes shut you panted heavily for a moment and reached for your water. The liquid was warm as it touched your tongue, sliding down your throat uncomfortably.

A loud snort trumpeted. Pulling the bottle away from your lips, you squinted through the bright light to see a large steaming snout.

Had this been any other mission, any easier and less dangerous, less painful, your swears would’ve been kept down to a minimum. Commanders can’t show any sign of weakness to their subordinates.

Luckily, your subordinates weren’t around.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

You scrambled to your feet. Dragons, hundreds of them, laid sleeping on every surface at the top of the mountain. Each one had its own pile of jewels and ornate objects. The largest pile belonged to the biggest dragon you had ever laid eyes on at the very end of the audience of smaller large reptiles. If you were to find that blue diamond anywhere, it would have it.

The creature’s back expanded, dark dirty brown scales shifted to show their true blood-red colour. You started trembling as the beast intake of air stopped, and was unleashed with a resounding huff and shook the ground you stood on and sent billowing smoke into the ashy blue sky.

Blue sky? Spinning around you took in your surroundings before staring off into the horizon where you could see the vague silhouette of your kingdom in the distance. The sun was up and had been for a while. Raising your hand, you placed a finger horizontally on the skyline, stacking them until another finger hit the base of the rising sun. A couple of hours at least.

“When the hell did I reach the top?” From your position at the peak, you could see where you had taken your first step onto Mount Kairia. Milk was perfectly hidden by the treetops. You let out a sigh of relief. No Dragons would want to go after a meal they didn’t know existed.

As you gathered your sanity into a little ball in your chest, you unsheathed your sword. The bottoms of your shoes seemed to melt beneath your feet, leaving you unguarded from the burning rocks as the heat blasted through the material.

You hadn’t realized just how drained you were until you tried to walk forward, only to stumble like a drunk in the early morning. Falling to your knees, you tried to ignore the heat of the stones beneath you. Something brushed against your leg. Blinking, you stared through the heatwaves to watch as the little feathered creature scurried out of your pocket to the neighbouring dragon’s pile, shoving as many small jewels in its mouth as it could, before gathering them in his four claws and flapping his way back onto your pockets. You tried to sit straight and not collapse onto the creature as it clawed around your torso. 

“Hey,” you whispered, side-eyeing the dragon with as little energy as you could (You had to get out of there at some point, and weren’t willing to waste any more power). “You see that big guy over there?”

The dragon blinked at you, crawling to your shoulder and nuzzling its snout against your cheek as it followed your eye line.

“You think you could get me a blue diamond from his pile? I need to give it to the king.” 

The creature bristled, feathers standing on end with wide, excited eyes. Its claws were off your shoulder and scuttling through the heat before you could say anymore.

Through the waving vision caused by the incredible heat, the only way you could distinguish the animal amongst the gems was by its rapid movements among the still (but wavy) jewels. They paused for a moment, flapping their wings rapidly in what you could only hope was excitement before clawing their way up the pile of jewels, freely knocking them to the hot stone ground as it went.

Your throat squeezed and the grip on your sword tightened as you tried not to shout. “Shit, no stop!”

It took a moment. A flash of a giant, toxic yellow coloured eye, massive roar and ball of fire that singed the hairs on your skin and made your ears ring and block out any other sound, the earth-shattering quakes as the beast began charging your way, the ball of blue that collided into you before climbing into your hip pouch.

The soul ripping pain that blossomed deep into your chest, and the following tears and cracks that shot through your body as the peak of Mount Kairia became smaller, farther away from you, indistinguishable from the ground beneath you as you demolished a straight path to the base of the treacherous mountain.

If you screamed, you couldn’t hear it, and although seeing as was a bit disorienting, you could make out Milk’s black fur and white snout as he bucked his legs around as if trying to let himself free and get closer. You could also make out your beautiful blade sticking straight up, hilt to the blue sky as it lodged deep into your stomach.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Because a mother tree’s scream is heard for miles even if they can hear it themselves.

“FUCK!”

The castle doctors crowded around Akaashi as he fell to the floor. Panicked calls for equipment, harsh footsteps, it was overwhelming. As his eyes were screwed shut, he could just barely feel the whisper of someone’s hands as they snaked under his arms and carried him onto one of the patient beds.

Slowly the pain ebbed away, leaving a lingering sting that cut into nearly every part of his body. He could hear the panicked voice of one of his new co-workers at his side.

“Dr. Akaashi. Akaash, can you hear me? How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?”

Squinting his eyes open he could see the red, and dirty blonde hairs of Doctor Shirofuku and Nurse Suzumeda. The latter of the two held a clipboard, pen in hand. Furrowing her brow for a moment the red-haired doctor called for some soup to be brought over before turning back to let Akaashi speak.

“I’ll explain the details, guh, later. The injuries aren’t mine, a soulmate, but take note, we might have to do something about it.”

“All ears,” Shirofuku nodded encouragingly. “Kaori?” 

The nurse nodded, readying her pen between three fingers.

“There's a pain in the head, likely a concussion,” Akaashi said while unbuttoning his shirt. Still laying down and wincing in pain. “Cracked, maybe broken ribs,” he hissed while trying to undo the next button. Shirofuku swatted his hands away, undoing them herself. 

Akaashi let out a stuttering gasp, instead of moving his hands along the centre line of his torso starting from his collar bone and following the line as falling away buttons until the shirt was fully undone. The tips of his fingers continued trailing to his side, following the line of his ribcage. “Laceration from the clavicle to left,” he hissed, “waist.” 

The two women gasped, Suzumeda’s writing pausing. “Roses?” They stared at the trail of roses that ran down the exact line Akaashi had pointed out a moment earlier.

“A spell! Gah!” Akaashi’s hand shot to his stomach, nails cutting into the skin, only to swing away a moment later to reveal another blooming, and quickly growing, red rose. Suzumeda dropped her pen and paper at the end of the bed, scurrying around to grab Akaashi’s wrist as it pulled away from the corner of the side table.

“He broke the skin,” she said, quickly covering the bruising wound with a bandaid. 

Shirofuku sighed, pushing her palm into Akaashi’s shoulders to get him to lie flat. “He’s not even reacting to that pain. Whatever this soulmate is going through must be bad.” The soup she requested was set down on the side table as Akaashi’s writhing slowed to an eerily stillness. His pants become the only audible thing in the room. “Is it subsiding?”

“Ya.” Akaashi’s eyes were still closed, but the skin around them had finally smoothed over. He groaned a bit, trying to sit up with his back against the bed frame. “I still feel it a bit, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Is there anything else we need to be aware of?” Shirofuku asked, nodding to the nurse to hand the small bowl of soup over to Akaashi.

He hummed at the smell, hovering his face over the light steam as it curled over his cheeks. “The wound on my stomach feels deep, four or five inches? Maybe more. Legs feel worse for wear but manageable. I think there’s a dislocated shoulder, but it’s hard to tell with everything that’s going on here.” He gestured to his chest and stomach with a circular motion.

“We should warn the town to be aware of any incoming people with injuries to send them to the castle. Bring them if they can’t manage on their own,” Shirofuku rubbed her forehead, sighing. “We’ve got a good staff, maybe a bit unused to each other, but good.”

Akaashi gulped down the last bit of soup before swinging his legs to the side of the bed. Shirofuku pushed them back with a smirk. “Take a break for now. Until there’s absolutely no pain left.”

“I’m fi—”

“Experiencing phantom pain caused by a soulmate? No, you’re resting for now. At least an hour.”

Akaashi sank back down on the bed. His eyes followed the two pitifully as they walked away. Sighing through his nose, he set his head back onto the flattened pillow. He felt weak, useless. 

“This is more of a hindrance than a blessing.” He brushed his fingers over the tattoo-like petals on his skin. Akaashi didn’t want to believe it was true, as much as the physical proof showed otherwise, he could only hope he had been dreaming it all, and that he’d wake up the next morning with bare skin. “I just want to be a doctor and I can’t even do that right.”

A stranger, his apparent soulmate for whatever reason, had found themselves in trouble, and all he could do was lay on a small bed and wait for their pain to go away. He didn’t know them, felt nothing but pain towards (and from) them. He groaned, adjusting his position. He shouldn’t care, but he did. Whether it was because of the deterrent this soulmate was causing to his ability to work, or because there was a patient in need of help, he just hoped that it wasn’t misplaced feelings.

He mulled over it for a moment, brows furrowed as he thought up possibilities before drifting off with pinched shut eyes.

Milk, the proud stallion, barreled through the main street, causing screaming townsfolk to dive away to safety. He didn’t care. He had been running faster than before, making a day-long trip in only half the time. His knees hurt, but he couldn’t stop. There wasn’t time to stop.

“Milk?!”

Changing to a rapid halt, Milk huffed at the sight of the farm boy who had graciously given him an apple. He whinnied, trying to keep himself from bucking about and throwing the tired weight off his back.

Bokuto stared up at the tall stallion as his mane fluttered around ruthlessly, he tried to understand the words that came out in jumbled messes. “Milk. Milk!” The horse’s reins were loose, Bokuto tried to grab a hold of them with grasping hands, only for his fingers to fall around something different, something soft and feathery.

“Mini dragon!” The farm boy cheered happily which only made the horse stomp his hooves in anger and the small dragon hiss. “Okay, okay. What up?”

Trying to listen to the two animals overlapping words, his brow furrowed. The smile he had obtained from gaining hold of the small dragon was quickly replaced with fright. With a stumbled side step, Bokuto finally got to looking at the rider on Milk’s back.

Paired with a shirt that was falling apart at every rip and seems, leather straps dug viciously into the marred skin that sat distastefully across the entirety of the commander’s torso. Their skin had changed around the wounds, looking unnatural with a vibrant neon yellow glow, their face didn’t seem much better. Eyes only partially open, Bokuto could only see their white colour through the small cracks. He turned his attention to their hands that gripped the horn of the saddle, catching a vibrant red rose on the back of one.

He couldn’t mull over the familiar sight though.

A sword, soaked in the blood of its owner stuck straight out of (L/N)’s stomach with only a poorly wrapped gauze and the remnants of what he understood to be their shirt keeping it in place. With the weapon remaining inside their body, the external bleeding had surely been slowed. But even then the white fabric around the wound only seemed to get more red with each passing second.

“Commander,” he whispered to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, Bokuto could see the frightened townspeople come out of hiding to observe the honourable knight.

With a decided huff and the insistent permission of the white-nosed horse, Bokuto clamoured onto the animal’s back behind the commander. In comparison to their front, the commander’s back was vastly less painted with their own blood. He could feel (L/N) sway a bit before leaning back against his chest, head still balanced straight. Practiced and precise.

He grabbed Milk’s reins. “Let’s Go!”

“We need antidotes!”

The hospital was a mess. The royal doctors ran frantically around at the sight of their most valued knight at death’s door.

“Where’s the blood, we’re doing a transfusion!”

It was difficult to even count the number of doctors, surgeons, and specialists that scurried around the operating room. 

Akaashi stood among them, but for once his hand wasn’t on the scalpel or working with the tubes or stitching a wound. He stood to the side, writhing in pain as he watched the others pulled out the beautifully dangerous weapon from his soulmate’s body. Bokuto stood next to him, hands wrapped around the small dragon as he let the tired doctor rest his weight against his side.

“I should be helping.” His hand tightened around the torn leather of the fallen commander’s straps and pouches. “It’s my job, I should be saving them.”

Bokuto side-eyed Akaashi, stopping his small strokes against the feathered animal’s back. “I’m no doctor, but you should be resting. Save yourself too.”

Heavy clicks against polished floors rushed toward them. The King’s beard bounced with every step. He paced on the spot before catching Akaashi and Bokuto, frozen in place, away from the frantic bustle of doctors. “Are they alright? I came as soon as possible. (Y/N) is fine, correct? Ah, are those their bags? If you don’t mind.” He held his open palms toward Akaashi, waiting for the leather to be handed off.

Akaashi winced in pain as he raised them, tripping over his own feet, and letting the pouches fall. The light clinking of jewels hitting the floor made the little dragon wake up, quickly skittering down Bokuto’s leg and collecting the small collection into a neat little pile. Their small claws shoved a few into their mouth before bringing the rest to their stomach with a pleased huff.

Bokuto blinked at the dragon, reaching down to grab the largest jewel of the bunch, placing it in his palm as he helped Akaashi to stand straight. The doctor groaned. Bokuto flipped the rough blue gem in his hand, dragging his thumb over the surface before holding it out to the fidgeting king. “This is for you?”

The king jumped slightly, looking away from (L/N) and toward the diamond. “Ah, they did it. And without direct injury to their back too.” His voice, although fond, carried an air of regret and he picked the blue diamond out of Bokuto’s palm.

Worried and tired of the stifling anxiety in the air, Akaashi pushed off of Boktuo’s side and walked around the doctors to the head of the operating bed where a small space was left. The doctors gave him side glances but said nothing as he pulled up a chair and traced his thumb along the commander’s brow bone.

Their skin looked more normal, almost like the day they had stopped by for supplies. What use they were, he thought bitterly as he took a glance at the still gaping wounds that the surgeon prodded at. He moved his fingers to brush along the skin under their eyes. The venomous yellow colour still seemed to stick there, not yet fully flushed out of their system and glowing under the shadow of his hand. 

They need me. Akaashi hissed, his free hand shot to his stomach as he watched a curved needle dig under their skin to begin suturing up the massive wounds. And I can’t do a thing.

Curling in closer to the bed, Akaashi bent his arm and rested his head next to the knight. The other hand wrapped around their head, resting flat as the back of his fingers sat just below their jaw.

Still bedridden, you inspected the rose on the back of your hand as the familiar Doctor Akaashi sat by your bed. “So that’s where it came from?” The colour looked faded, sinking into your skin like a healing bruise.

The King had visited earlier in the day when the sun was bright. He rattled on for long enough to make you feel more dreary than you were already. He left his sword to rest against the bedside and ran off before you could mention the polished blue diamond that had been freshly pressed into the centre of the hilt.

The sun-washed a warm light through the windows, telling the time in a picturesque colour against the surface of Akaashi’s hair. Luckily, his presence was much more serene than the King’s.

“Were you not worried about them?” Akaashi asked, hand rubbing against his chest.

You breathed slowly, trying not to aggravate your still-healing wounds. “If I am being honest, it gave me a bit of a startle. There was a mission I had to accomplish, though, so I couldn’t pay it much mind.” You tried to move into a more comfortable position, only to bite the inside of your cheek when pain shot through your chest.

“You don’t need to keep your composure around me,” he said calmly. He reached out to support your spine as you moved, fluffing your pillow a bit as well. “I know the pain you’re going through.”

You huffed a laugh, which only made your body ache more. “Ah, fucking shit! Those bastard dragons!” Between the bouts of colourful language, you could hear Akaashi try to stifle a laugh.

“Well, the dragons are gone now at least. No more heat for a while.”

“Thankfully.” You sighed, falling into the mattress beneath you and cozying into the pillow.

Even with your eyes closed, you could tell Akaashi was fidgeting. The clicking of his nails against the bedside table, or rustling into the bedsheets kept you from fully drifting off. “Something on your mind?” you asked, a tired lilt in your voice.

“It’s just. You don’t seem concerned or bothered over this soulmate thing. And I—” He cut himself off, staring at his hands for a moment. “It’s new, surprising. I don’t know what to make of it. And if I’m being honest it seems like it’ll be a hindrance to us both.”

“I’ve never needed a soulmate, nor have I wanted one. My purpose is to serve and protect; to save the lives of those around me,” you said thoughtfully. “Though maybe my missions don’t always lead me to doing that, it’s my job. Your’s as well.”

Akaashi hummed in thought, thinking over your words. Ones that seemed to be pulled right from his own head. He smiled to himself but said nothing as you continued to speak.

“Every knight needs a good doctor behind them, and let’s be honest, I can’t take proper care of my own wounds even if they’re on my front.” It was hard not to laugh along with Akaashi at that moment. The light huffs that escaped him along with the gentle smile that adorned his face were contagious. “Soulmates or not, when it comes down to it, I’ve got a good ally behind me. I think I’m rather lucky.”

Akaashi’s head tilted slightly as he moved his slightly bandaged hand to hold yours, brushing his thumb over the small rose. “I think I’m lucky, too.”

There was a sharp huff out of your nose. Before Akaashi could tell you not to, you let go of his hand and rotated over the other side of the bed. Your hands grabbed at your sword and pouched for a moment before pulling them until your lap.

Once settled you dug one of your nails into the hilt of your weapon and popped the blue jewel out. It landed in your palm. “For you,” you said, holding it out the startled doctor. At the sight of his hesitance, you scoffed. “I’m not going to weld it into a ring, just take it.”

He looked at your sword as you dropped the gem into his hands. “I can’t wear rings as a surgeon anyway.” He didn’t see your smirk, instead focusing on your hands that pulled out a bright red ruby from one of the pouches and shoved it into the blue diamond’s previous spot with a push of our thumb. “But you nearly died getting this for the king, wouldn’t you rather keep it for yourself?”

“I nearly died getting this one too.” You smiled, and appreciated the ruby’s red colour. “I think the colour is more symbolic. Don’t you agree?”

Akaashi cast a glance at your hand where the rose was, before meeting your eyes with a kind smile of his own. “I suppose you're right.”

This one feels meh, but it’s done -Bacon

Posted: 20/06/2021

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

A̷n̷s̷w̷e̷r̷e̷d̷ ̷R̷e̷q̷u̷e̷s̷t̷e̷d̷ ̷A̷s̷k̷s̷ ̷|̷ ̷M̷a̷s̷t̷e̷r̷ ̷L̷i̷s̷t̷

JadShonUpdated: 2/13/2021

Hello! Welcome to our Answered Requested Asks Master List! As the title insinuates, this is an entire masterlist of works we’ve completed that you, as the reader, have requested us to write! 

Similar to that of the main master list, this list will consistently be updated along side the web version of this master list. Not only that, but it also gives you all an idea of what we’ve already written!

Below is the format and how you can differentiate each request.

Title | Characters Involved | HC (Head Canon) ; Scenario (A situation) ; Drabble (A mini one-shot) ; One-Shot ; Imagine (A specified situation) ; Prompt (Reblogged prompts / Send to Inbox item)

Other then that, as always we thank you all immensely for all the love and support we’ve gotten for this blog, and we hope to continue with providing you all an escape~! ^^

ℌ𝔞𝔦𝔨𝔶𝔲𝔲

Be My Stress Relief | Asahi x F!Reader [HITMEN AU]

Pretty Setter | Iwaizumi x F!Reader | Drabble

First Dance | Kenma x F!Reader | Imagine

Trash Talking s/o | Tendou x F!Reader | HC

Fluffy HC | Yamaguchi, Tsukishima x F!Reader

Safety First | Iwaizumi x F!Reader [HITMEN AU] | HC

College Life NSFW | Sub!Yamaguchi x F!Reader | Imagine

Taking Back Control | Dom!Yamaguchi x F!Reader | Imagine

The Transfer Student | Tanaka, Lev x F!Reader | Imagines

Different | Tanaka ; Oikawa x F!Reader | Imagines

The Transfer Student | Bokuto x F!Reader | Imagine

NSFW Alphabet | Iwaizumi x F!Reader | Prompt

Perfect Match HC | Kuroo ; Bokuto ; Akaashi

Bragging | Bokuto x F!Reader | Scenario

Assumptions | Tsukishima x F!Reader | Drabble

For the Future | Terushima x F!Reader | Imagine

Trust Issues | Yaku ; Bokuto x F!Reader | HC

You’re Such A F**king Wh*re, I Love It | Tsukishima x F!Reader | One-Shot

Take Care Of Yourself | Sugawara x F!Reader | One-Shot

Trust Issues | Iwaizumi ; Oikawa ; Kuroo | HC

Abusive Past | Nishinoya ; Kuroo | HC [Please read with caution]

Jealousy | Bokuto ; Kageyama ; Ushijima | HC

Accidental Confessions | Daichi x Captain!Reader | Scenario

Childhood Sweethearts | Ushijima x F!Reader | HC

False Rumors | Bokuto x F!Reader | HC

She’s My Princess | Nishinoya x F!Reader | Imagine

An Ace’s Crush | Asahi x F!Reader | Scenario

Childhood Sweethearts | Kageyama ; Osamu x F!Reader | HC

The First Date | Goshiki Tsutomu ; Hinata Shouyo | HC

Childhood Friends | Atsumu Miya ; Osamu Miya | HC

Distracted | Yaku x F!Reader | Imagine

Ideal Match | Kentaro Kyotani | HC

Their First Kiss | Semi Eita, Goshiki Tsutomu x F!Reader | Scenario

Total Opposites | Ushijima | HC

Dating HC | Ushijima | HC

Ideal Match | Atsumu Miya | HC

Our Analytical Specialist | Inarizaki x F Manager!Reader | HC

Wake Up! Or I’ll Pinch Your cheeks! | Nishinoya ; Lev ; Sugawara | Scenario

Meeting the Parents | Nishinoya ; Tanaka x F!Reader | Drabbles

Dating as a Miya Sibling | Kageyama ; Hinata ; Sakusa | HC

My Teddy Bear | Ushijima ; Tsukishima ; Oikawa | HC

Sensitive Skin | Ushijima ; Sugawara ; Sakusa | HC

First Kiss | Bokuto | HC

The Little Things | Ushijima ; Tendou ; Akaashi | HC

No Matter What, I Love You | Oikawa ; Tsukishima ; Akaashi | HC

Sleeping Everywhere but the Bed | Tsukishima ; Ushijima ; Asahi | HC

Ideal Match Up | Osamu ; Kita ; Iwaizumi | HC

The Lovely You | Karasuno x FTM!Reader | HC 

Something More Than This | Terushima x F!Reader | One-Shot

I Always Know | Kenma x F!Reader | Scenario

Stumblin’ | Tsukishima ; Tendou ; Asahi | HC

Candy ; Forbidden | Hinata | Halloween Request

Misunderstandings and the Truth | Matsukawa x F!Reader | Scenario

Delicates, But Badass | Oikawa ; Nishinoya ; Akaashi | HC

Jump Into My Arms | Akaashi x F!Reader FT. Kuroo & Bokuto | Halloween Request

Ideal Match Up | Aone ; Ushijima | HC

The Princess and Her Knight | Aone Takanobu x F!Reader | Drabble

Ice Skating | Sugawara x F!Reader | Holiday HC

Give Me Your Jacket! | Tendou | Drabble | Holiday Menu

Circles | Kei Tsukishima | Drabble | Songfic

Love is Dead | Oikawa | Drabble | Songfic

A Little Present | Kei Tsukishima ; Tendou ; Aone  | HC 

𝔉𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔢

Dating HC for Hinawa

With a Smol s/o | Benimaru x Smol!Reader | HC

𝔍𝔬𝔍𝔬'𝔰 𝔅𝔦𝔷𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔢 𝔄𝔡𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢

Kidnapped s/o | Don!Giorno x F!Reader

Relationship HC | Jotaro, Josuke x Hitmen!Reader [YAKUZA AU]

Stay with Me | Giorno x Civilian!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

Relationship HC | Bruno, Giorno x Hitmen!Reader [YAKUZA AU]

My Sweet Addiction | Johnny x Baker!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

My Light in the Dark | Jonathon x Civilian!Reader | Drabble [YAKUZA AU]

Melting a Faction Leader | Johnny, Gyro, Diego, Giorno x Underling!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

A Taste of Info | Bruno ; Koichi x InfoBreaker!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

Relationship HC W/ A Civilian!Reader | Avdol ; Jotaro [YAKUZA AU]

Remember Who You Belong To | Weather Report x GN!Underling!Reader | Imagine NSFW [YAKUZA AU]

Unexpected Deliveries and Responsibilities | Diego ; Jonathon ; Jotaro x Civilian!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

Protected | Weather Report ; Narciso Anasui x Civilian!Reader | Scenario [YAKUZA AU]

Pining & Confessions | Narancia ; Josuke ; Jotaro | HC

Abnormal Affections | Dio ; Joseph x Princely!Reader | HC [YAKUZA AU]

A Father’s Love | Diego Brando | HC [YAKUZA AU]

Always Here | Bruno ; Abbacchio x F!Reader | Drabbles

Day At The Beach | Jolyne Cujoh ; Trish Una x GN!Reader | Drabbles

Two Heartbeats are Better than One | Bruno Bucciarati ; Leone Abbacchio | Drabble

Lady Luck Is Nowhere to be Found | Trish Una x F! Assassin!Reader | One-Shot

His Two-Faced Angel | Diavolo x GN!Reader | Scenario

Costume ; Magic ; Witch | Okuyasu | Halloween Request

Magic ; Incubus ; Candy | Jotaro | Halloween Request

Witch ; Reaper ; Summoning Circle | Gyro | Halloween Request

Play Date | Bruno x Reader x Leone | Scenario

A Welcome Home | JJBA4 ; Josuke Higashikata | Holiday HC

Dependable Pillar | Jotaro Kujo | HC | Holiday Menu

𝔉𝔯𝔢𝔢!

With a Smol s/o | Sousuke x Smol!Reader | HC

Aquarium Dates | Rin, Sousuke, Makoto x F!Reader | HC

Reaction to S/O Dancing | Haruka ; Nagisa ; Makoto | Reaction

There You Go! | Nagisa ; Rin ; Makoto | HC

𝔎𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔨𝔬 𝔫𝔬 𝔅𝔞𝔰𝔲𝔨𝔢

With a Smol s/o | Aomine x Smol!Reader | HC

Mine | Murasakibara x F!Reader | One-Shot

Happy Birthday! | GoM ; Kagami x F!Reader | Scenario

Amusing Date | Mayuzumi Chihiro x F!Reader | Drabble

A Moment Alone With You | Imayoshi Shouichi x F!Reader | Scenario

Expected, but Unexpected | Mayuzumi Chihiro x F!Reader | Drabble

Best Friends w/ GoM | HC

Jealousy | Akashi Seijuro | HC

Regrets from the Past | Akashi Seijuro x F!Reader | Scenario

Misunderstandings | Mayuzumi Chihiro x F!Reader | Scenario

A devil’s persuasion | Devil!Imayoshi x F!Reader | NSFW one-shot

#1 Fan | Midorima x GN!Reader | Scenario

Love Triangle | Akashi ; Kuroko | HC

Honeymoon with Akashi Seijuro | HC

Even Emperors Get Nervous | Akashi Seijuro x F!Reader | Drabble [NSFW]

𝔑𝔞𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔬

Jealousy is a Disease | Neji x F!Reader | Drabble

The Taste of Pleasure | Kakashi x F!Reader | One-Shot

I Care | Kakashi x Trans!Reader | Imagine

Gone | Shikamaru x F!Reader | Imagine

I Still Want You | Tobirama x F!Reader | Scenario

Believe | Naruto x F!Reader | Scenario 

Will You Let Me Stay? | Naruto ; Neji ; Gaara | HC

Sneaking Glances | Tobirama x F!Reader | Scenario 

Critically Injured | Sasuke ; Gaara | HC

Clairvoyant | Naruto ; Gaara ; Kakashi | HC

Breaking Ties | Sasori ; Lee ; Gaara | HC

Love Lost | Sai ; Shikamaru, Gaara | HC

Comfort | Gaara | Soft | HC

Shopping and Cookies | Naruto | Drabble 

Cuddles | Naruto | HC

Together, With You | Naruto | HC

ℑ𝔫𝔲𝔶𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔞

Breathless | Naraku x GN!Reader | Drabble

SFW & NSFW HC | Naraku x F!Reader

NSFW Alphabet | Naraku x F!Reader | Prompt

Unknown to Her | Sesshomaru x Dog Demon!Reader | Imagine

SFW & NSFW HC | Kikyo x F!Reader

Modern AU | Inuyasha ; Miroku ; Sango | HC

SFW & NSFW HC | Miroku x F!Reader

Possession | Naraku x Demon!Reader | Imagine

Intimate Relations | Inuyasha ; Miroku ; Koga x Succubus!Reader | HC

Love Triangle | Kagura ; Sesshomaru | HC

SFW / NSFW | Bankotsu ; Suikotsu | HC

Make-up | Jakotsu | Scenario

In the modern world | Bankotsu ; Suikotsu | HC

Crossover | Inuyasha FMA | Scenario

𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔦

Mine | Hakuryuu x F!Reader | Imagine

Parental HCs | Kouha, Judal, Hakuryuu x F!Reader

Smexy Times | Hakuryuu x F!Reader | Scenario

Relationship HC SFW & NSFW | Judal x F!Reader

Nightmare Comfort | Masrur x F!Reader | Scenario

Parents | Sinbad x F!Reader | HC

You Are Lovely | Lo'Lo x F!Reader | Scenario

NSFW Alphabet | Hakuryuu x F!Reader | Prompt

Yandere | Kouen ; Sinbad ; Hakuryuu | HC

My Favorite Fruit is Watermelons SFW & NSFW | Kouen | HC

SFW Alphabet | Hakuryuu | Prompt

Hakuryuu x Princess!Reader | HC

Calm | Sphintus Carmen | Drabble

Snow | Hakuryuu | Drabble | Holiday Menu 

𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔖𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯

NSFW Relationship HC | Rengoku x F!Reader

Birth of a New Treasure | Rengoku x F!Reader | HC

Ideal Match Up | Sanemi ; Giyuu ; Rengoku | HC

𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 ℭ𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯

ACDK Alphabet | Vanica | Prompt

NSFW Alphabet | Mimosa x M!Reader | Prompt

Alphabet Prompt | Secre ; Nero [Aged Up] | Prompt

Crush on You | Leo | HC

S/O From Magic Zone | Dark Triad | HC

Stuck | Leo Vermillion | Drabble | Holiday Menu 

Interactions | Dark Triad | HC

𝔗𝔬𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔅𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 ℌ𝔞𝔫𝔞𝔨𝔬-𝔎𝔲𝔫

NSFW Alphabet | Akane Aoi [M] x Reader | Prompt

𝔉𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔶 𝔗𝔞𝔦𝔩

SFW & NSFW Boyfriend HC | Gray Fullbuster

Saving a Child | Tatsumaki ; Merlin ; Erza | HC

Relationship | Natsu Dragneel | HC

NSFW | Natsu Dragneel | HC

The Mightiest | Lucy | HC

𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 ℑ 𝔊𝔬𝔱 ℜ𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔄𝔰 𝔄 𝔖𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔢

Coincidental Meeting | Rimuru x Elf!Reader | HC

Dating NSFW | Benimaru | HC

𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔓𝔦𝔢𝔠𝔢

SFW & NSFW Head Canons | Sabo x F!Reader

Dating HC | Sabo ; Zoro ; Ace

Hot and Cold | Sabo ; Ace ; Law | HC

Costume ; Party ; Incubus | Ace | Halloween Request

Getting Freaky with the Fruit | Ace ; Sabo ; Robin | HC

Tropical Holiday | Marco | Drabble | Holiday Menu

Holiday Headcanons | Ace ; Sabo | HC

𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔓𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔫

Saving a Child | Tatsumaki ; Merlin ; Erza | HC

A Visit to the Past | Tatsumaki | Scenario

Dating Speed O’ Sound Sonic | M Shapeshifter!Reader | HC

S/O w/ Tourettes | Genos | HC

A Hero’s Will | Saitama x GN!Reader | One-Shot

𝔖𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔩𝔶 𝔖𝔦𝔫𝔰

Saving a Child | Tatsumaki ; Merlin ; Erza | HC

𝔉𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔐𝔢𝔱𝔞𝔩 𝔄𝔩𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔱

SFW & NSFW Head Canons | Roy Mustang

Dating Winry | HC

In the modern world | Roy Mustang | HC

I’ll  Be There | Edward Elric | Drabble | Holiday Menu 

𝔜𝔲-𝔊𝔦-𝔒𝔥

S/O w/ Epilepsy | Yugi Mutou ; Joey Wheeler ; Duke Devlin | HC

Reactions to a Shoot Out | Seto Kaiba ; Maximillion Pegasus | HC

Loving a Badass | Seto Kaiba ; Maximillion Pegasus | HC [SFW&NSFW]

A First for Everything | Duke Devlin | HC [SFW & NSFW]

SFW & NSFW | Joey Wheeler x Nurse!Reader | HC

NSFW Alphabet | Duke Devlin | Prompt 19+

A Breath of Fresh Air | Seto Kaiba x GN!Reader | Scenario

Only You | Seto Kaiba x F!Reader | One-Shot

Infatuated with You | Yugi Mutou ; Yami Yugi ; Joey Wheeler ; Tristan Taylor ; Tea Gardner ; Ryou Bakura | HC

Dating Yugi Mutou | Dexter Inspired!Reader | HC

A Sweet Surprise | Seto Kaiba x F!Reader [NSFW] | HC

Dating an S/O with PTSD | Jaden ; Zane ; Chazz | HC

Unexpected Cancels | YGO-GX ; Jaden Yuki | Holiday HC

Santa, Tell Me If I’ll Be Alone Again This Year | YGO-X; Jesse Anderson | Holiday HC

Just Pretend? | Jaden Yuuki | HC | Holiday Menu

𝔖𝔥𝔢-𝔯𝔞

Ski Trips | Frosta x Brother!Reader | HC

𝔊𝔬𝔡 𝔬𝔣 ℌ𝔦𝔤𝔥 𝔖𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔩

SFW & NSFW | Yoo Mira ; Mah Miseon x M!Reader | HC

𝔉𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔈𝔪𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔪

I Love You, But Never Again | 3H | Felix x F!Reader | One-Shot

Saving Time | Dimitri ; Felix | Scenarios [NSFW]

ℭ𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 𝔛 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔢

My Support | Enomoto x F!Reader | Scenario [NSFW]

𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔘𝔫𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡

Emotions: Unlimited | Hoshino Ryo x F!Reader | One-Shot

The Simple Things in Life | Kanbe Daisuke x F!Reader | Drabble

No More Pretending | Hoshino Ryo | Holiday HC

𝔇𝔯. 𝔖𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢

Kabuki is Alive | Senku ; Tsukasa ; Gen | HC

SFW & NSFW | Kohaku ; Ruri x M!Reader | HC

Touch-Starved | Kohaku | HC

𝔄𝔱𝔱𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔬𝔫 𝔗𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔫

Unexpected, But A Welcomed Outcome | Jean Kirstien x F!Reader | Drabble

Trick-or-Treat ; Moon ; Cemetery | Jean ; Armin | Halloween Request

Ideal Match-Up | Jean ; Levi ; Sasha | HC

Two Wrongs Make A Right | Jean | Drabble

A Simple Present | Levi Ackerman | HC | Holiday Menu

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔦𝔰𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔏𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔞𝔦𝔨𝔦 𝔎

Ghosts ; Curses ; Superstition | Saiki Kusuo ; Kaido Shun | Halloween Request

Cold, Yet Sweet | Saiki Kusuo | HC

A Disastrous Get Together | Disastrous Life Of Saiki K | Holiday HC

𝔄𝔶𝔞𝔨𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔦: ℜ𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 ℜ𝔢𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔫

Magic ; Enchanted ; Festival | Yura | Halloween Request

𝔅𝔑ℌ𝔄

A Little Taste of Jealousy | Todoroki | HC

Surprises | Todoroki ; Bakugo | HC

Baby’s First Christmas | Shinsou | HC | Holiday Menu

[glottia-arts]

For the honor of the Captain

Man, this took a lot longer to finish than I expected, having to deal with internet issues (I'm gonna write on my comp from now on instead of google docs), focus, and lack of ideas of how to get from point A to point Z.  I apologize for the million year wait, @emizel, but this fic is finally finished! It probably wasn't worth the wait, but I still hope you enjoy regardless!

For anyone else reading, this is an AU for emizel's and my plot for MediEvil. Everything's mostly the same for this universe, the only difference is, is that emizel's character, Hilda, wound up turning into the Boiler Guard, Hecate. She is also very AU-ish on her own since this was my initial idea I had for her, but even though it's not the canon for the exact AU, emizel still encouraged my idea of this.

Warning: Character death, but they're already dead so does it entirely count?

Word Count: 4,344 _____

It was hard focusing on the task presented, worrying for the other residents of the castle. It was announced hours ago that Sir Daniel Fortesque approached the lair, having overtaken the fleet captain’s ship. The would-be hero was on a winning streak that far exceeded their own, and it was downright pitiful how he lucked out against Zarok’s army. Today, that would end. At least, that’s what Hecate hoped.

Her gaze had shifted to the gate several times during hers and Zarok’s preparations to shift into the last stage and conquer Gallowmere once and for all. The mechanical mage couldn’t help her actions, anxiety plaguing her mind on who would come from that entrance. No one was allowed in other than the Captain of the Boiler Guards, requiring to report his success. Sir Daniel, the blighter, would not adhere to such rules.

Kesten was strong, she’s always known this despite denying the concept in the beginning, but he’s lost several times over to that skeleton. This previous time he returned from the repair bay, there was a notable mark Fortesque left on the guard’s chest. The thought infuriated her once more, mixing with fear for the captain. What sort of powers had Fortesque obtained to harm her captain?

Hecate stumbled in her work, somewhat embarrassed from that silly mishap. Why was she thinking about it in a notion other than following under him? Her arms grew a little hazy in her flustered state, berating herself for such thoughts. Though she tried to ignore them, she couldn’t help but focus on it now.

Brief memories of their time serving under Master Zarok together filled her memory, her boiler growing full with happiness. The happiest she’s ever been since her creation has always been with him. Even before they began interacting outside of business, those times were special to her as well, no matter how dull.

Her furnace burned hotter, imagining how many more memories they could create when Zarok finally seized control of Gallowmere. It was a grand task and though it would be sometime before they could have peace to themselves, she relished the idea of relaxing with him. No hero’s to worry about and a brief respite from orders sounded heavenly to her. Perhaps they should venture out on their own accord for some alone time, with Zarok’s permission of course.

The sound of chugging metal caught both hers and her lord’s attention; Someone was coming by train. Hecate couldn’t run fast enough to the balcony to look at who arrived, her professionalism long forgotten. Zarok followed her at a much calmer pace, a barely audible chuckle escaping him prior to reaching her side.

“I believe that is the quickest I’ve seen you move yet, Hecate. You must be excited to witness the results of our defenses.”

If he wished to call it that, sure.

It felt like centuries waiting for her master’s creation to halt, her eyes glued to the opening as footsteps sounded off. Something dropped in her core, noticing the silhouette emerging from the shadows was not that of who she hoped for. Entering from the darkness and stepping to the center of the chamber was Sir Daniel Fortesque, scuffed up, but still roaming the earth.

Zarok disappointedly muttered to himself, “So Kesten failed again I see. I suppose it cannot be helped.”

Hecate struggled to hear her Master through the fog that now clouded her mind, her focus solely on the knight below them. Even the movements he made while addressing the hero and thereafter hardly caught her attention. Her boiler grew scorching hot the minute she caught sight of something that did not belong to Fortesque as he moved around; one of Kesten’s knives hung on the skeleton’s waist.

Her fists clenched as she placed them on the balcony to lean over the ledge.

Why does he have that!?

She was brought out of her anger at the touch of a hand, reminding her of her position and company. Standing tall, Hecate did her best to remain calm in front of her Master and the enemy. The idea was good on paper, but nothing could quell the rage boiling inside.

How dare he keep a trophy of their battle! He continues to mock Kesten, even after defeating him.

It disgusted her to witness the false hero carry that on him, only to have it as a prize. She watched as the blade went unused against the Fazghouls, only using that chalice to keep his summoned spirits afloat.

Coward, won’t even fight his own battles.

A flaming chain shot out at the cur, forcing him to dodge and her eyes to keep up with his movements. With the Fazghouls defeat, Master Zarok’s very last line of defense appeared; Lord Kardok.

Hecate knew the champion had seen the item when he sent a glance her way. She stiffened at the unwanted and unneeded attention and pity, feeling as if she’d break down from his gaze. Kardok must have picked up on this, returning his attention to his opponent and begun unleashing an unhuman assault of fiery madness upon him. She could tell he was just as furious over the news of Kesten’s loss as her, albeit for a different reason. He didn’t shy away from letting the hero know his own hatred in the form of several lashes.

The skeleton struggled as the attacks struck him but nevertheless managed to survive. Just when she thought Lord Kardok might be winning, the enemy pulled out a glove and channeled a lightning attack to push him back.

Clenching her fist, Hecate went rigid.

That must be the weapon that gave Kesten that mark.

It made sense. Lightning was one of the few substances that left scorch marks, especially on a Boiler Guard. The woman doubted he had any explosion inducing weapons on him, but she shouldn’t underestimate him; it was a mystery how he damaged Kesten until now after all.

In the brief respite, Dan downed a potion of some sorts even with Kardok’s soldiers coming to aid him. They were swiftly defeated with that accursed blue sword of his. Lord Kardok, not having gone against him before, was left unaware of the weapon’s strength. A briefing on it differed from facing the blade himself, and he more than likely believed he could handle it. His horse on the other hand…

Circling around towards the hero to ram him, Sir Daniel evaded the undead with a somersault. The sly cur put enough force into his arm as he went, the large blade colliding with the horse’s limbs to send the once majestic beast crashing to the ground. A loud cry fell from the pair’s mouths on their impact, a small pillar of fire following the collision. Cunning as the knight was, he knew to stay away as Kardok’s horse stood on fractured bones, ready to continue. The larger skeleton hit the ground with the mace ball, an enormous wall of fire shot at the hero, knocking him to his knees. Galloping to the now kneeling skeleton, Kardok’s horse was ready for revenge, leaving fire in their wake. Now on top of Fortesque, the creature released an angered neigh as they raised their hooves to bring them down on their enemy. Fortune continued to grace the skeleton, once again dodging the attack. Lucky for them, it positioned Sir Daniel point-blank to the horses flaming legs. He avoided the initial attack unscathed, but the burst of hellfire erupting from the stomp got him, sending the skeleton up into the air.

Yes! Lord Kardok has him!

With the skeleton defenseless, Lord Kardok began twirling the flail in his hand, murder looming in his eyes.

Perhaps he could never defeat Kesten, but destroying his ender would be the next best thing. She thought a little somberly.

Making his final descent, Sir Daniel still refused to give up now fiddling with his pouch. Kardok noticed this and flung the chain with as much force as possible, sparks of light radiating from the tool. The airborne skeleton glanced to the oncoming weapon, panic setting in with its speed, forcing him to feverishly dig through the bag, finally producing three daggers. With a flick of his wrist, a blade sped to collide with the spiked ball, another following to deter its path, and the final one to knock it in an alternate direction.

Hecate watched this all take place and was baffled that someone with one eye had the precision to achieve the accomplished task. Yes, she and every worker that mattered around here lacked physical eyes, but they didn’t require them.

She knew Zarok was stunned as well, his own body now bending over as he clutched his head with his free hand.

Unseen to the horsemen was Daniel’s hand reaching into his quiver, pulling out three glowing arrows.

Hecate knew what that meant.

Warrior pride be damned, she had to interfere. Her magic traveled faster than Zarok’s and though she required time to generate real damaging spells, a quick one should still at least halt Fortesque’s assault.

Her right hand gripped her staff and- wait… why is there nothing? Panicking, she looked to her hand to see it void. Head shooting in every direction seeking the metal rod, Hecate froze.

It’s in the other room near her station. She can’t run fast enough to get it either!

Head snapping towards the arena, time seemed to slow as Sir Daniel fired an arrow. Hecate felt sluggish as she bolted to the edge, trying to yell out for Kardok to move. Only, she was too late. The projectile had struck and created a blue explosion, merging with the red flames of the skeleton and his steed. Another arrow struck, further increasing the mass. The mage nearly dropped to her knees as the last arrow struck, a thundering cry echoing from the arena as Kardok went up into magical flames. In an instant, Zarok’s champion was no more.

She stared at the spot where her ally once stood, unbelieving what she watched. Zarok’s best warrior was incinerated. His greatest soldiers were gone. The elite guard he had so painstakingly created had fallen. Who’s to say what happened to everyone else in the castle.

Her mind went to Scrap, recalling the other Boiler Guards gave them an important task to carry out. What the mission was, she had no inkling, but her emotions plagued her still. Something wanted to escape from the openings of her eye plate. The shadow of the feeling brought a sense of questionable nostalgia. She has never experienced this before, yet it seems so familiar.

Dead eyes shifting to Fortesque, she nearly saw red. He made a safe return to the ground and was storing his bow away, eye looking to Zarok.

The wizard slammed his staff down in frustration. “Bugger! Right then, that’s it! I’ve just about had enough of your meddling!”

As he spun to leave, she called out, “Master Zarok, wait…”

He paused, a hint of annoyance in his tone. “What is it, Hecate? Can’t you see that I’m in the midst of something?”

Slowly facing him, she squeezed her hands, hardly feeling them anymore. “Let me fight your enemy, milord.” Brow raised, Zarok’s mouth down-turned further, unconvinced. Continuing, she did her best to not rattle. “Please… I can take him. You shouldn’t waste your valuable time on him, sir. My magic will destroy him before you know it.”

His dark eyes cast on the floor, gripping his chin with his free hand in thought. “You do have the best means to dispose of him… but you severely lack the speed which Kardok and Kesten possessed.”

Hecate flinched at the mention of Kesten’s name but continued. “I need just one hit and he’s easy prey. He’s tired from battling as well, Master, more vulnerable to mistakes.”

Zarok continued to stare at the floor, and she was thankful the skeleton below didn’t scale the wall to come after them. Her Master was good for split decision making, but right now he was struggling.

A few seconds later he sighed, reluctantly nodding. “Alright. But the second I find you unfit to battle, I am stepping in. With Kesten out of the painting, you have no means of protection.”

Her voice was lost to her, bowing in response before treading to the rear chamber to retrieve her staff. Picking up the forgotten rod, she clenched it so hard she was hoping to leave a dent. Her strength was not like his though. A small sob made it past her throat. She couldn’t focus on him right now, she had a skeleton to exterminate.

Reigning in her emotions, Hecate descended the stairway to the corridor that led to the arena. Blanketed by the dark, Sir Daniel did not see her, but she could clearly see him. Her ire reignited anew, and this time, she did not have to save face. Lingering no longer, she strode into the light with her staff in hand, preparing a spell. Might as well get a head start with a powerful one.

Sir Daniel’s unwavering sight now set on her fed the fire further. Surprising her, he stowed his regular blade on his belt, making no move to draw any of his other fancy weapons.

Was he already giving up?

Almost laughing to herself, Hecate shook her head. Sir Daniel knew how to tick her off. “Is this some game to you, Fortesque? You dare mock not only me but the other warriors you’ve fought within the castle walls! Draw your weapon!”

Shaking his head, he replied with near incomprehensible speech. “Nuh-uh.”

Furious as is, she was inflamed now. Literally. Sparks of fire radiating from her boiler. “I don’t mind an easy win, but it is disgraceful to those who fell if you don’t show me the same respect!”

The skeleton shrugged as he kicked the ground, seeming uninterested in what she had to say.

Magical attack nowhere near its full potential, Hecate aimed the staff head at him. She would have liked some form of a challenge and sweet revenge, but if he preferred to play that card, she’d send him back to where he belonged.

“Fine! Burn in hell, Fortesque!” Without as much of a warning, the blast of vile magic soared to him.

Sir Daniel’s attention finally drew to the speedy attack, sweating bullets by the looks of it. It was too late for him. He dug his grave with the lack of regard.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, he drew Kesten’s knife at the last second, a sense of fear following.

What was he doing!? She wanted to recover that after he perished, she couldn’t recover ashes!

Her thoughts were put on a screeching halt in the next minute; Sir Daniel had used the knife and sliced her spell in half, both parts disintegrating in on themselves.

Dumbfounded was an under exaggeration: What the hell happened!?

Apparently, he had not expected the results either, glancing in both directions where the fragments of her attack passed. Once it was confirmed he had in fact deflected the magic, his posture was more jovial as he shot her a smug look.

“Where did you get that knife!?” Both combatants focused on Zarok, his pale complexion somehow even paler. “Forget that, where did you learn you could do that!?”

Attention drawn to the skeleton, he twirled the weapon, shrugging.

“Hecate, you need to be more cautious with your attacks! That knife was enchanted in the event your magic ever grew out of control. It can destroy or deflect your attacks!”

Her head could not have angled toward Zarok any faster. “It what!? Why did you not tell me this before I came down here!? Actually, why was I not informed of this prior!?” Catching herself, she hurriedly added, “M-Master Zarok, forgive me, but it would have been nice to know everything about my partner’s artillery!”

“Now’s not the time for this conversation, Hecate, it was a ‘what if’ scenario. I didn’t expect the fool would use Kesten’s knife, let alone the enchanted one. It was hardly worth mentioning.”

This was knowledge she should have received at an earlier point. Like a few decades earlier! Why didn’t Zarok trust her with this information? What else was he hiding from her? Was Kesten aware he had an enchanted blade?

“I recognize that look Hecate, but you need to focus on the battle. Unless you call for my intervention?”

“No, sir. That is unnecessary.” A small amount of venom underlined her words, still not thrilled at the secret.

Footsteps began approaching, dragging her focus back to her foe. Taking aim, she flung another mass of energy at him, much weaker in contrast to the last. As before, Daniel deflected the blast with the knife. Panic overtook her as doubt set in for her abilities. She was better than this! Hecate began firing multiple spells at the skeleton as she backed away, desiring to maintain the distance in between them. Every attack cast was diverted or dodged as he advanced, her precision further faltering.

He was so close now.

She was unable to send an attack out as he was practically on top of her, slashing the knife straight down. Thankfully, she still had enough common sense to use her staff and block the attack. Much to her surprise, there wasn’t much force behind it. Hecate knew Sir Daniel was putting his all into it, his body tense from applying as much pressure as possible.

A wicked smile formed on her ‘lips’. The earlier fights exhausted him, leaving her the stronger of the two. How pitiful.

Humoring him, she gradually kneeled to one knee, pretending to struggle in their altercation. Almost leaning down to both, Hecate flipped the tables; pushing off her hind leg with as much force as she could, she effortlessly threw Dan off his footing, making him backtrack to catch his balance. Staff now free, it was used to strike at Sir Daniel’s legs, knocking him to the ground. She slammed the end of the object onto his torso to keep him in place, adjusting her hold as she approached.

Laughter burst from the balcony, almost camouflaging the sound of the train making its return. Hecate could only assume it was reinforcements, but she chose to ignore it in favor of her prey.

“My, my, how the mighty have fallen. I expected more of a fight from you, Fortesque, but I see my colleagues had all the fun.” She channeled her magic into her staff, the action not unnoticed by the hero. “I would have preferred a fair fight,” The skeleton eyed her incredulously, but she continued, “but I understand with the weapon you carry, it wouldn’t have been much of one. It’s a shame it all has to end like this. I was dying to disintegrate you piece by piece, make you wish you were never reanimated. I suppose we can’t all get what we desire in the end, no?”

The train outside stopped, unknown metallic sounds following, echoing into the night and room.

Staff nearly charged, Hecate felt more enraged as Sir Daniel looked to the entrance, a smile forming on his boney face.

“What are you staring at!?” His smug eye glanced back to her as soon as the creaking stopped. “You’re about to rejoin the dead and you have the nerve to smile at me like that!?”

“Hecate.”

Shocked at the interruption, she lost all concentration on her spell.

That voice…

Slowly, Hecate’s head twisted to the entrance, eyes unbelieving. “Kesten..?”

Low and behold, standing proud as ever with his firearm was the Captain of the Boiler Guards, Kesten. Several pieces of armor were missing, particularly the entirety of his left arm and parts of his legs, and was banged up to hell, but here he was. Standing. Still alive.

Her body shook, relieving pressure off the skeleton beneath, the conflict essentially forgotten.

“Well, well, you survived I see, Kesten.” The commander’s attention diverted from her to their Master. “But my oh my, you were in quite the brawl, weren’t you? I’m impressed you’re still standing with all that grime and incisions to your plating. Hecate was about to finish up taking care of Fortesque-”

Zarok was cut off as Kesten swiftly held his gun up, firing at the Wizard. A yelp sounded from him, dodging in the nick of time but not quite escaping the bullet. A string of blood escaped the wound that was now present along Zarok’s left cheek.

Hecate stared at the Captain, shocked at what he did. Zarok, likewise, slammed his staff down.

“Kesten! What has gotten into you!? Fortesque is your enemy, not me!”

Smoke now evaporated from the blunderbuss, Kesten lowered it. “I will fight your battles no longer, Zarok. You’ve used Hecate and I for far too long in this selfish game of yours to control Gallowmere.”

Appalled, the Wizard sneered at him. “What are you getting at, Kesten? I created you two and I can dismantle you both if I so choose!”

“I believe you’re aware of what you stole from both of us, Zarok.” Angling his head in her direction, he spoke words she didn’t expect to hear. “Captain, your orders!”

Still stunned, it was easy for Sir Daniel to knock her staff off himself and roll out of the way into a standing position. Dusting himself off, the skeleton shrugged.

“I think we know what the end goal here is, Kesten.”

Kesten nodded before truly focusing on her. Hecate struggled to pay attention to either of them as she backed up, confused more than ever. What was happening? Why was Kesten acting so strange? Why was he being friendly with their enemy? She didn’t understand.

“Hecate, don’t just stand there, kill them!”

She froze at the command, clutching her staff tight.

Kill… Kesten? She just… got him back. Surely he was jesting… right?

Hecate stared at the Boiler Guard, conflicted. She received direct orders from the Master, but this was Kesten. Could she bring herself to go through with it? To kill the one she grew so fond of?

“Hecate, don’t listen to him, he’s been manipulating us this whole time.” Zarok sent a green bolt of magic his way, sidestepping it he was forced to glimpse between both magic users.

“Be quiet, you malfunctioning miscreant!”

Smoke wafted from Kesten, the telltale signs of anger rearing its head. “I’m working better than ever without your mind control spell plaguing my mind you wretch!”

Another blast of magic fired and missed, this time on Zarok’s account. “What would make you assume such a thing, Kesten?” A brief pause before the wizard began cackling and gestured to Dan. “Was it that good-for-nothing knight over there? I knew he had a way with words, but to fool you? I’m appalled you believed such drivel.”

Smoke exploded out of Kesten’s boiler and even his unarmored arm started to dissipate into steam. Verbal anger was one thing with the Captain; frightening and something to avoid at all costs. This new silent rage spoke of danger, putting Hecate on edge.

The Captain appeared normal, but he had changed in so little time. It was like he was someone else. Did Kesten speak the truth with mind control? Or was Zarok correct in Kesten’s impairment?

Hecate weighed the facts and all sources pointed to…

With an iron grip on her staff, she channeled magic into it. Fear and anger coursed through her body, adrenaline high as her head snapped to Sir Daniel. His expression grew nervous once more, holding his hands up in a placating matter.

He murmured out to Kesten, seeking to gain the Captain’s attention while also not trying to set Hecate off.

“You… this is your fault.” Now it was her turn to slam the end of her staff down, the action causing the tip to glow brightly. Unable to stop a palm from moving, she gestured about while yelling at the skeleton. “Everything was fine until you returned from the grave! We would have conquered Gallowmere and not lost anyone without your interference! You destroyed everyone I knew! Damaged the Captain!” She took aim, unhearing the fast footfall and explosions going on behind her. “I won’t forgive you for that, Fortesque! For my Captain and Zarok’s honor, I will destroy yo-urk!”

Sharp pain in the backside of her boiler forced her to preemptively fire her attack, missing the undead by just a fraction. She hasn’t experienced this kind of pain since her early years, back when she believed she could handle everything without Kesten. The woman couldn’t even move her body, it hurt so bad. Still, she forced herself to twist her head and see if she could make out the offender. Her body began to shake more beyond the physical injury.

“W-why..?”

Towering behind her was Kesten, leaning over some but still shadowing over her. With his close proximity and the green and black smoke that billowed from her body, she already knew what had caused the suffering. He had stabbed her in the back with his knife.

Zarok’s ranting and cursing was audible, but no outside sounds registered. All senses were hyper-focused on the Captain.

Pain erupted once more as she felt the knife leave her, but it stung nothing like the silence of the other Boiler Guard. The discomfort grew as she stumbled to her knees, unable to look at him further. Her staff dropped in favor of curling in on herself, clutching at her midsection. The effort caused the injury in her back to ache worse, but she did not care. The sting of betrayal brought a distorted choke from her.

Another chill shook her frame as she heard a soft click, followed by the barrel of a gun pressing to the back of her head.

Every sense all but faded away, her concentration on the weapon. One thing she thought she might have imagined was the soft words of “I’m sorry” before everything went dark. _____

Part 2 Part 3

[politicalmamaduck]

Reylo Fic Recs: Historical AU

through the burning night by @thewayofthetrashcompactor

Rey takes a wrong turn on the way back from Yule celebrations and ends up somewhere she doesn't expect with a stranger. Snow falls hard around them, and she's not sure of the way home.

A soft epilogue by @pillar--of--salt

The return of the Duke of Alderaan incited all manner of gossip and speculation.

lay then the axe to the root by @sciosophia

Rey drifts her hand up to his face. Her thumb brushes the scar bisecting it.“Beautiful,” she whispers, almost to herself, and Ben realises he is lost; tumbling away to infinity with only this girl and their sins. In which Ben, the reluctant Duke of Alderaan, cannot get the clever, beautiful, opinionated governess out of his head.

sun and moon by @kylorenaissance

“You look pale.” “I always look pale,” he says without thinking, and then flushes. Rey of Jakku laughs. “Pale as the moon, my lord.” “And you are as bright as the sun.”

Violent Delights by @shmisolo

The maze isn’t for me my ass, he thinks.  He looks up, smiling beneath his bandana and his eyes are met with a horrified looking couple.  The man is standing in front of the woman, as though worried that Ben’ll attack them next. He rolls his eyes as he stands up again, cleaning the simulation blood from his knife by rubbing it against his pant leg. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he snarls at them.  “This is my fucking vacation.”

Heavy in Your Heart by @shmisolo

From @otpprompts: Person A, a princess/prince who decided to have one last good night before their arranged betrothal, fell in love (and possibly had sex) with a stranger at the bar. They don’t remember much except a voice. The next day, the first thing Person B (their betrothed) says is “I do” and FUCK that’s the exact same voice as last night’s stranger.

A Worthy King by @luminoustico

Recently made King after a lengthy war, and seeking an alliance with enemies still licking old wounds, Kylo Ren seeks a bride. For his choice, he decides upon Lady Rey Kenobi.

desperado (where you gonna run to) by @greyjedireylo

'It is my personal opinion that we cannot take Snoke down without you. Sorry excuse of a man that you are at the moment.' Rey's eyes skimmed him up and down as though searching for something, and coming up wanting.Kylo could not fault her for that. He’d failed at being a good man a long time ago, and a bad man more recently. He was adrift between two worlds, belonging in neither.

Edelwiess by @aionimica

Captain Kylo Ren hires Rey, a postulant from the local abbey to be a governess for his adoptive children. As time goes on, music grows in the Ren household and the Captain and Rey must choose: love or duty?

Follow Me by @transpogrrl

Welcomed into Leia Organa Solo’s Philadelphia household in the spring of 1777, Rey has just learned what it is to live among people who love her when Mrs. Solo makes an unexpected request. Her journey into the Pennsylvania wilderness reveals the truth about her past and brings her face-to-face with characters from her dreams and nightmares.

A Seasonal Peace by @transpogrrl

After the British occupy Philadelphia in September, 1777, Kylo Ren and his Knights find themselves without portfolio. In spite of attempts to avoid and then escape the city of his birth, Kylo finds himself a prisoner to the seasonal peace. What will he find to occupy himself?

Malleus Maleficarum by @monsterleadmehome

Ben Solo lives a quiet life in Hanna City, Massachusetts. Except for when he's asked to help with witch hunts. He does what he's asked, if only to keep the secret that he himself practices witchcraft aided by his familiar, a crow named Kylo.When the mysterious Rey Niima arrives on a boat from England, along with Witchfinder General Armitage Hux, they are about to shake up Ben's quiet life for good.

Per Aspera Ad Astra by @hellomelusine

Rey Niima was the newest Computer hire at 'Starkiller Base' on the Harvard Campus, she had heard the rumors, but she hadn't made it this far in her career by letting what other people had to say deter her. Of course, that in no way prepared her for coming face to face with Professor Kylo Ren. A terror of a boss, by all accounts, a monster, but Rey will not deterred.

My own historical AU fics:

you transfix me quite

It was as if a great shadow had descended upon Aldera Hall. Queer tales were told in the nearby village of strange happenings at night and bloodsoaked sheets that even the most skilled and robust laundresses could not wash out. Ghosts were said to wander the broad Yorkshire moors. These tales were once scoffed at by the hearty villagers, but they had gained currency of late. The ancient house was said to be haunted; not just by the spectres of the past, souls that had not yet gone on to rest, but by the sins of the present and wounds that could not be properly healed.

you pierce my soul

It was not common knowledge, and in fact was held only in the closest confidence by his most intimate associates, that Ben Organa-Solo’s heart had been captured by a Royal Navy captain as thoroughly as she captured and conveyed enemy vessels. However, despite his age and desire to be wed, he allowed himself to be persuaded against the match, for his dearly beloved mother was uncertain as to the young lady’s youth and her son’s proclivities for shouting matches and dueling.

Prevailed Upon to Marry

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” How Ben Solo and Rey Kenobi learned to look past their own pride and prejudice, and fall in love.

through the darkness hails the light

The Roman Empire, led by Emperor Snoke, is trying to colonize Ireland. The night before the winter solstice, there is an awakening in the old ways of magic. Rey and Kylo Ren journey to the ancient tomb at Newgrange for an unexpected discovery.

Tall Tales of the Western Wilds

They say there's three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth. No matter which you choose to believe, Ragin' Rey Kenobi was the greatest bounty hunter there ever was.

My other fic rec lists:

Fic Recs Under 100 Kudos | Smuggler Ben Solo | Fantasy, Fae, Magic, Fairy Tale, and Mythology | Modern AU | Dark Side Rey | Canonverse | Smut |

[ajfanfic]

Guardian Impact - A Self Indulgent Guardian Genshin Impact AU

Shen Wei - Electro Polearm user

Shen Wei is the Electro Archon! Presumed dead since the Great War, he remerged recently but has chosen to keep his return a secret. Instead, he works in the shadows to drive out the corruption that has taken root in his absence and return his people to their ancient glory. He has posed as an archeologist, using this cover to share his knowledge of their lost past. Despite his attempts to keep his work under wraps, rumors are growing of a masked hero, Hei Pao Shi, on a quest to return order.

Ye Zun - Cryo Sword user

Ye Zun is the Cryo Archon. At the end of a long conflict between the archons which came to be known as the Great War, he was sealed in the Heaven Pillar. While it seems his prison still holds, icy tendrils have been spreading and new voices have begun to share the views he espoused thousands of years ago.

Chu Shizhui - Electro Catalyst user

Chu Shizhui fled from Dixing when the government began demanding vision users turn in their visions after his brother was arrested for refusing. He was nearly captured himself, but a masked man with an electric guandao saved him. Chu Shizhui joined the Knights of Ma Gui when asked by Hei Pao Shi. He hopes to eventually return to Dixing and free his brother.

Zhu Hong - Pyro Catalyst user

Zhu Hong is the High Chieftain of the Yashou, under the purview of the absent Pyro Archon, Fu You. She hopes to return them to the position of relevance they held when Fu You was High Chieftain. Zhu Hong often butts heads with Zhao Yunlan, but they two have a strong bond of respect for the other's no-nonsense attitude. Zhu Hong has an unusual combination abilities, having both a skill for healing and explosive pyro magic.

Da Qing - Dendro Sword user

Da Qing is the captain of the Knights of Ma Gui. Technically, he is a clan leader among the Yashou but maintains only loose ties to them politically, preferring to act as an independent agent. There are benefits, he says, to being a clan of one. Despite being the only Yashou among the knights he rose to prominence quickly for his regenerative abilities and skill at putting up with Grand Master Zhao's more pricky moods.

Zhao Yunlan - Geo Claymore user

Zhao Yunlan is the Grand Master of the Knights of Ma Gui. The Knights were established by the Geo Archon Ma Gui before he and Fu You removed themselves from mortal dealings. Zhao Yunlan is quite popular among his knights for his willingness to get his hands dirty, and quite unpopular among the politicians in Dragon City for the same.

Lin Jing - Alchemist

Lin Jing is an alchemist who works alongside Knights of Ma Gui. When he needs to be called from his laboratory, the other Knights make a point to only send Pyro users after a cloak, hat, and the ends of Shen Wei's hair got caught up in his explosive failed experiments. His creations often don't work but on occasion, he manages something completely brilliant.

Guo Changcheng - Archer

Guo Changcheng is of a minor noble family in Dragon City and was accepted into the knights to smooth ruffled feathers. Despite his lack of a vision and apprehension about combat, his stubborn desire to do good has made him popular among his peers. Chu Shizhui has become quite protective of Guo Changcheng, and the two are becoming known as a formidable pair.

Wang Zhen & Sang Zan - Ghosts

Wang Zhen and Sang Zan were vision users, Anemo and Hydro respectively, who were killed during the Great War. They died separately and their determination to find each other allowed them to linger on Haixing. Wang Zhen found her way to Zhao Yunlan and the Knights of Ma Gui, where she found a second purpose acting as their dispatcher. Eventually, the two were reunited and chose to remain in the service of the Knights, where Sang Zan became a librarian. They are dedicated to preventing their new family from having to experience a second Great War.

[loosesodamarble]

World Swap Captains Trivia

Look who finally got around to writing up some trivia about the World Swap Wizard King and Magic Knight Captains.

Neriah Protempus -Cursed by a devil so that he slowly but surely loses his strength and senses. Currently blind and deaf on his left side. -Keeps the fatherly personality Kagaya has. Neriah sees all the magic knights as his children. -Unknown to the captains, he occasionally uses his magic to peek into their futures to see if he’s ensuring a good one for them. He feels so selfish when he does it. -The best with animals in this AU. They can sense his kindness and so willingly approach him. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 2 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 5 ---Intuition: 5

Adalmeer Gildmont -The only reason he’s captain of the Cobalt River is because he lost a coin toss. Didn’t think he was qualified but now he’s stuck. -Has a reputation for being an ineffectual leader since he leaves the squad members to their own devices more often than not. -Thinks best when he’s standing out in the rain, staring at the sky and just letting himself get soaked. Has a record number of colds because of this. -The worst with animals. They just hate him on instinct for whatever reason. Patience had a good laugh about it when she first witnessed it. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Social Awkwardness: 5

Patience Danain -Her family worked as royal doctors before eventually becoming nobility themselves. -The Wisteria Butterfly is essentially Clover Kingdom’s healthcare system. And she proudly oversees it. -Was the vice captain of the squad before her sister retired and appointed her the new captain. -The smartest of the captains because she has to rely on strategic use of her magic in order to overpower opponents. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 1 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 5 ---Passive-Aggressiveness: 5

Eric Enfernus -Duels anyone who talks smack about his younger brother being too weak for the magic knights. Became known as the Hell Raiser because of this. -The magic knight captains have fanclubs. Eric has the largest fanclub due to his looks, strength, kindness, sense of humor, smile, friendliness... -Is actively seeking out the fire spirit Salamander. He wants to see if he’s worthy of its power and hopefully work with it for the benefit of Clover Kingdom. -Rumor has it that the Enfernus family’s Fire Magic is strong enough to burn away the hex effects of a spell. It has yet to be confirmed. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Burning Passion: 5

Angelo Brioghane -Came from a commoner family of assassins. Most people in his family have Poison or Mist Magic so his Sound Magic came out of left field. -Was once sent on a mission to assassinate King Augustus (yes, he’s still king). Neriah caught Angelo and set him on the right path. Augustus never found out about the assassination plan. -With his wealth as a captain, he throws the most fabulous galas/balls in Clover Kingdom. -Has the best fashion sense and has the highest musical talent. Not just among the captains, among all the World Swap AU characters. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 5 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Flamboyance: 5

Melina Ledoux -The captains have had an eating contest in the past. Melina won in a landslide. Eric came in second but was behind by 15 servings. -Visits the fanclubs of the other captains in order to gush about them with the fans. She even visits her own to thank her fans. -BFFs with Patience. They spar with each other frequently and often have their squad members do team missions. -Originally in the Scarlet Tiger with Eric before moving into the Fuchsia Cat squad (which was the Burgundy Cat at the time). -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 3 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Love for Love: 5

Nilson Nebelholtz -After the Gold Hope’s disbandment, he joined the Alabaster Wolf squad and climbed the ranks rapidly to become the captain at age nineteen. -Ever since he became the captain, the more bitter members of the squad have tried to fight him out of the position. Hasn’t worked so far. -Randomly spouts shower-thought-type things. Just out of the blue. Even when in the middle of a captain meeting. -Nilson wanted to be wizard king along with his twin when he was much younger. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 3 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 3 ---Cleverness: 3 ---Spaciness: 5

Travis Sidney -Always pays a visit to a village/town/city’s local church to offer prayers. Is called the Faithful Captain for this reason. -Has Magic Knights in his squad train their magic and physical bodies so they are at peak performance. -Similar to Mereoleona, Travis visits areas with high amounts of mana to train. Occasionally brings squad members with him. -Definitely the top contender to be the next Wizard King. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 5 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Praying: 5

Adivar Ambrose -Remember Sanemi’s Pillar training? Adivar something similar with the mages in his own squad as part of their regular training to toughen them up. -Jade Raptors are known for their combat prowess and are usually the Magic Knights that fight off invasions and the like. -Threatened all the other captains to keep his younger brother out of the Magic Knights. Didn’t exactly work on Travis. -Adivar has the worst reputation out of all the captains. He’s actually proud of this fact because he likes knowing that he’s intimidating. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 3 ---Aggression: 5

Viper Dubhan -Viper’s family planned to make him a devil host but he ran away. In a rage, the devil killed the rest Viper’s family. The captain of the Scarlet Tiger at the time defeated the devil (only due to its power being weakened without a proper body). -Met Melina during his first job as a magic knight which was to escort her. She was chatty and got him to open up so they became friends. Over the years, he’s developed romantic feelings for her. -Visits Melina’s fanclub in disguise. Don’t accuse him of even knowing about it. Someone was booted from his squad for it. -Has written and re-written a speech asking Melina to marry him but he’s too paranoid about his past to go through with it. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 2 ---Magic Amount: 3 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Irritability: 5

[loosesodamarble]

Let’s rename some captains!

It’s time to give the Magic Knight Captains + Wizard King Julius new names as the Demon Slayer Corps in Taishō Era Japan.

I’m no expert in linguistics or etymology. If I make any mistakes regarding the meaning of some of the names, I apologize. Also, since I didn’t grow up in Japan, some of these names may not sound completely natural. I did try to my best to make them at least sound passable.

Note: when I write the new names in English, it’s still going in Western order (given name, surname). When the names are written in kanji, it follows the Japanese order (surname, given name).

More renaming posts to come.

Julius Novachrono: His given name comes from Julius Caesar. His surname is composed of nova (Latin for "new") and chrono (Greek for "time"). For his name as the head of the Demon Slayer Corps would be... Nobunaga Shinjidaira (新時平 信長): Nobunaga comes from Nobunaga Oda, one of the most powerful daimyō in Japanese history. Shinjidaira consists of the kanji for “new,” “time,” and “flat/peace.” The last kanji is mostly there to lengthen the surname and give it some flair.

William Vangeance: As far as I can tell, his given name comes from a Germanic name meaning “will/desire” and “helmet/protection.” His surname is a play on the word “vengeance,” in reference to Patry's his revenge plot. As the Tree Pillar, his name would be... Shimori Fukushuu (福秀 志守): The kanji making up his given name mean “will” and “protection respectively. The surname’s kanji mean “good fortune” and “excellence.” It’s also a homophone for the Japanese word meaning “revenge.”

Nozel Silva: His given name comes from the Hebrew word for “liquid/fluid.” His surname is derived from the word “silver,” plain and simple. As the Water Pillar, I’m giving him the name... Ekirou Shirogane (白銀 江己郎): The given name consists of kanji meaning “inlet,” “self,” and “son.” “Eki” is homophonous with the word for “liquid.” The surname is made from the kanji for “white” and “silver.”

Fuegoleon Vermillion: His given name is literally just the Spanish words for “fire” and “lion” shoved together. Vermillion is a shade of red. The name he would have as the Flame Pillar would be... Enshi Sekishu (赤朱 炎獅): His given name is literally the kanji for “flame” and “lion” put together. His surname is written with the kanji for “red” and “vermillion.”

Mereoleona Vermillion: As far as I could find, “mereo” is a Latin word meaning “merit” or “earning.” Leona is just a femenine derivative of “leo.” As the Wildfire Pillar, she would have the name... Koushi Sekishu (赤朱 功獅): The first kanji in her given name means “success/achievment” while the second is “lion.” And I already explained her surname in Fuegoleon’s section.

Charlotte Roselei: Her given name is a female diminutive of the name Charles which means “free man.” Meanwhile, her surname seems to be derived from Roselie, a French name meaning “beautiful rose.” With that said, I would give her the following name as the Flower Pillar... Yuuki Reishou (麗薔 由姫): Her given name consists of the kanji for “reason” and “princess.” The “reason” kanji is part of the word for “freedom” (自由). The kanji for “person” (人) is used mostly in masculine names so I went with the “princess” kanji because it still indicates a person and is very elegant, befitting someone like Charlotte. As for her surname, it’s written with kanji that mean “beautiful” and “rose.”

Dorothy Unsworth: What I found was that the name Dorothy comes from the Greek name Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), meaning “God’s gift.” As for Unsworth, it’s supposedly an Old English name meaning "dog enclosure.” As for the name she’d have as the Sleeping Pillar... Megumi Kennoi (犬ノ囲 恵): The kanji for her given name means “blessing/favor.” Her surname includes the kanji for “dog” and “to surround/corral.” The extra ノ is a placeholder for a possessive particle. It also lengthens the name because I felt the name “Ken’i” would’ve been too short.

Rill Boismortier: A “rill” is apparently a small stream which explains his given name as his creativity flows like a river. I couldn’t find a meaning for his surname but I found someone by the name of Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, a composer who lived during the 18th century. An artist of a different kind, I guess. So for Rill’s name as the Art Pillar, I give him... Senyoshi Gyokudou (玉堂 川能): The kanji in his given name respectively mean “river” and “ability/talent.” Notably, the second kanji is also the kanji used for Noh, a form of Japanese musical drama. His surname is taken from Uragami Gyokudou, a Japanese musician, painter, poet, and calligrapher.

Jack the Ripper: Obviously, he’s named after the real life Jack the Ripper. But I wanted something more for his name. Supposedly, the name Jack is derived from Jackin, an old diminutive of John which means “God is gracious.” It’s now a very common boy’s name. The name I ended up giving him as the Blade Pillar is... Kentarou Setsubashi (切橋 健太郎): His given name includes “tarou” which is a common element in many Japanese names for boys. The first kanji means “strong/robust.” His surname is written with the kanji for “cut” and “bridge.”

Kaiser Granvorka: So his given name comes from the German word for “emperor.” The best I could find in regards to his surname is that “gran” is Spanish for “great” and “vorka” is Serbian for “work.” So, as a former Wind Pillar and current demon slayer cultivator, he would be named... Mikado Daigyou (大業 帝人): The first, and more important, kanji in his given name means “emperor.” As stated earlier, the second kanji means “person.” His family name is written with the kanji that mean “big/great” and “business/profession.”

Yami Sukehiro: His given name is homophonous with the Japanese word for “darkness.” Since the author of Black Clover didn’t assign kanji to his surname, I’m going to go with the kanji 助 meaning “assistance” and 寛 meaning “generous/tolerant.” With that said, his name as the Shadow Pillar would be... Blake Alexander: Psych! He’s still a foreigner in this au! The given name is derived from the word “black.” The surname supposedly comes from a Greek word meaning “defender of man.”

[loosesodamarble]

Nozel: So your Yami is from a culture more like mine?

Ekirou: Well his name is Blake but yes.

Nozel: Let's trade.

Ekirou: We really shouldn't-

Nozel: No, no. I'm sure Yami and Blake will be happier in worlds with cultures more like their own.

Ekirou: Not sure about Yami but Blake could feasibly return home on his own and besides-

Blake: Oi! Look here you bloody git! Are you taking the piss or something? Like hell I'd stick around a blighter like you!

Nozel: You know what, never mind. You can keep him.

Ekirou: I thought so.

[loosesodamarble]

Not too long ago, I had the idea to imagine the Magic Knight Captains from Black Clover as Demon Slayer Pillars. I also have ideas for some name changes but that can come later.

I explain the Breath Style assignments below.

William’s Breath of Trees: Breath of Trees would derive from Breath of Stone. Trees grow from the ground and also are known for being sturdy. This also gives it a way to be differentiated from Breath of Flower, another plant-based Breath Style.

Yami’s Breath of Shadow: Derived from Breath of Water, it’d be a slow but flowing style of swordsmanship. He’d use intentionally slow moves to make way for feint attacks that strike much quicker than expected.

Nozel’s Breath of Water: I originally intended to have him use Breath of Metal, but I decided to change it. It’d kind of be like the Rengoku family inheriting the position of Flame Pillar. It’d also be interesting for Fuegoleon and Nozel to have a fire vs water dynamic.

Charlotte’s Breath of Flower: I felt Breath of Thorns would’ve been too specific. She has a big roses/flowers theme to her so it was kind of a natural progression. She’s feminine and graceful, but also powerful. Like Kanae and Kanao were.

Fuegoleon’s Breath of Flame: I really hope I don’t have to explain this one.

Jack’s Breath of the Blade: Either derived from either Breath of Flame or Wind because those two seem to be the most aggressive Breath Styles. This Breath Style would be all attack, all the time. There’s no fancy bladework to make someone see elemental effects like other Breath Styles. Enemies would just see the sword and how it’s coming for their face.

Dorothy’s Breath of Sleep: Another Breath of Water derivative. The style would likely have Dorothy going into a trance and using a strange rhythm to her movement which makes her attacks hard to predict. It looks like she’s sleepwalking but she’s very much in control.

Kaiser’s Breath of Wind: Originally was going to be Breath of Tornado because of his Vortex Magic, but Breath of Wind seems to be good enough as it is seen cutting air and kicking up lots of dust on its own. Honestly, given his age, he’d probably be a cultivator rather than an active Pillar. But he teaches Breath of Wind.

Rill’s Breath of Art: This one will derive from Breath of Thunder. Breath of Art wouldn’t be about painting but instead dance/theater. He’d use grand, theatrical movements to throw off opponents with the speed associated with Breath of Thunder. As a demon slayer, I think Rill would have more of an actor aesthetic rather than a painter aesthetic to go with this change.

Mereoleona’s Breath of Wildfire: Derived from Breath of Flame, obviously. It’s wilder in nature to fit Mereoleona. I imagine her to be the Gyoumei (or maybe even the Yoriichi) of this au because of how crazy strong she is.

[loosesodamarble]

World Swap Pillars Trivia

Just some trivia I thought up for the world swapped pillars.

Blake Alexander -Similar to how Yami uses a katana in Clover Kingdom, Blake would use a Europeon longsword with his Breath of Shadows. -Joined the Corps by accident. He wandered up Fujikasane Mountain during Final Selection and when the demons came after him, he hacked and slashed at them until they left him alone. When he ran into the other test takers and learned what was going on, he was like “okay, I’m in.” -The color of his nichirin blade is a foggy grey. -Yazuki/Nacht picked up the basics of Breath of Shadows just by watching. When Blake realized this, he knew he had to make the guy his successor. -He’s very picky about the kakushi that staff his manor. The Demon Slayer versions of the Black Bulls are not there by accident. ---Takuzu/Henry outfitted the Shadow Manor (yes, Blake calls his home the Shadow Manor) with all sort of traps in case of demons or even human trespassers. ---Shion/Vanessa is the Corps’ head seamstress and knows how to reinforce the uniforms without making them too bulky. ---Hirotori/Gordon isn’t a master doctor, but he is the head researcher in reverse engineering demon toxins. ---Chitozu/Finral is a navigator. The only kakushi aside from one of Nobunaga’s personnel to know the entire route to the Corps’ secret locations. ---Miko/Charmy acts as a sort of nurse and dietician. She puts healing demon slayers on personalized diets to make their recovery better. ---Kaina/Grey is a jack-of-all-trades. She knows some medicine, helps uniform production, is familiar with a few secret routes, and also is one of many record keepers for the Corps.

Ekirou Shirogane -Not directly about Ekirou, but related: in this AU, Acier is named Kyoukou (京鋼). -Ekirou styles his hair into a topknot. It’s is stereotypical look for samurai(-esque) characters, but it keeps his hair out of his face. -He doesn’t take anyone that isn’t a Shirogane in as a possible successor. He takes pride in the family’s legacy and doesn’t want to see it taken away. -Has nightmares about being unable to help his mother (even though he wouldn’t have been able to do much). -Fears losing all his siblings, that’s why he trains (or tries to train) all of them as successors, to keep them close.

Enshi Sekishu -Probably has multiple demon slayers training to be his successor, not just his brother. -Has scared away a few possible successors when he mentions that he’ll train people until they cough blood. -Isn’t awkward about being a Pillar at the same time as Koushi. Is proud to work alongside her. -The Big Brother of the Corps. Everyone who has met him has felt his brotherly love and is inspired to work harder.

Koushi Sekishu -If you couldn’t already guess, she’s the Gyoumei of this AU. -She’s a bit selfish with the fact that she doesn’t want to teach the Breath of Wildfire to anyone else. -The only other person who knows how her breath style works is Nobunaga but that’s because she can’t bring herself to disrespect him by not telling him. -She’s not interested in having a successor. Not that anyone wants to be her successor. Demon slayers fear her as much as demons do. -Doesn’t really get assigned missions. She just goes out and kills demons until the next Pillar meeting. -Her nichirin blade’s color is a dark, blood red.

Shimori Fukushuu -He’s not cursed here but his face still isn’t spared. -On the mission that led to him (and Blake) becoming a Pillar, the Lower Moon he fought terribly scarred the upper part of his face, leaving him blind in his right eye. -Has tried to find a way to spare demons and restore their humanity but still hasn’t found it. -Fears that the demon slayers have forgotten that demons were once humans. -His nichirin blade turned a dark, pine green.

Nobunaga Shinjidaira -Every Pillar meeting, he has the Pillars display their breath styles in front of him so he can evaluate their growth, or lack thereof. -Highly encourages each Pillar to have a successor in line, even Koushi, for the sake of the future. -Likes reading the reports of battles, learning how his children of the Corps adapt to fight the supernatural power of demons.

Senyoshi Gyokudou -Was once a stage performer but when his theater was attacked by a demon and he was saved, he felt inspired to join the Corps. -The fastest Pillar. Maybe not on the same level as Tengen, but Breath of Art is derived from Thunder. -Regularly sees plays and collects art to inspire his fighting style. -His blade is a bright gold color.

Megumi Kennoi -She may not be the strongest or fastest, but she has the best technique of the Pillars. She has to in order to look like she’s sleeping when she fights. -Can go about the whole day in her usual sleep-like state. -Can also sleep with her eyes wide open. -The color of her blade is a pinkish-purple color. Maybe magenta.

Yuuki Reishou -Initially joined the Corps to escape an arranged marriage. Can’t be a wife when you’re fighting evil, am I right? -While she doesn’t show it, Yuuki wants to marry on a level field and for love. -Wisteria is grown and cultivated at her manor to make incense and antidotes for demon toxins. Not because she has a green thumb, she just happens to live on fertile ground.

Kentarou Setsubashi -Has the highest number of kills, second only to Koushi. -Trained under Mikado, developing Breath of the Blade from Wind. -Like Jack and Yami, Kentarou has a rivalry with Blake. They don’t look down on each other’s cultures either. They just want to compare their strengths. -His nichirin blade is olive green.

Mikado Daigyou -Mikado didn’t retire due to old age or injury, but for love. When he met the woman that would become his wife, he left the battlefield to cultivate new generations so his beloved wouldn’t worry about him. -He uncovered the fact that DS!Gueldre was making people pay for being saved. He reported it to Nobunaga and got DS!Gueldre booted from the Corps. -He worries about Kentarou’s sadistic streak but is also confident that it’ll keep the boy man alive.

[loosesodamarble]

The New Magic Knight Squads

Time to go over the reputations of these new Magic Knight Squads as well as reveal the families that replace the Silvas and Vermillions in this AU.

..........

The Enfernus family is one of the new royal families. The Rengoku family apparently have some kind of pedigree. Maybe they were only well known within the Demon Slayer Corps or they may have been a samurai family back in the day. Since most of the other Pillars don’t come from families of high standing (I’m not counting Obanai’s family because they stole their wealth), that leaves Kyoujurou as one of the few Pillars with with a semblance of status to be transformed into Clover royalty.

The Ledoux family is the other new royal families due to the fact that we see Mitsuri doing marriage interviews in her memories. Arranging a marriage for a family heir (male or female) would’ve been more important to a family with status or wealth. Thus, Mitsuri’s Black Clover counterpart, Melina Ledoux, would be part of the royal family.

..........

Pewter Mountain: It’s canon that Gyoumei was the strongest Pillar of his generation. To match that, Travis’ Pewter Mountain squad is regarded as the best squad with Travis as their unflinching leader. The squad has high standards though. Knights in the squad must train everyday, both their magic and body.

Scarlet Tiger: The second best squad to Clover Kingdom. Eric is charismatic, the mages are consistently strong and skilled. They are orderly and professional, but also full of passion since Eric emphasizes such a virtue and there’s so much more to love about them.

Wisteria Butterfly: This squad is essentially Clover Kingdom’s healthcare system due to having the highest numbers of healers among them. This squad earns most of its stars through community service-like jobs instead of combat.

Fuchsia Cat: The closest thing to the OG Blue Rose squad but without the restrictions on men. That is to say, women head most of the missions since the squad likes their girl power. Men go on missions as well but the squad likes to empower their females knights given the male-dominated society they live in.

Amber Songbird: Chaotic would describe the Amber Songbirds pretty well. With Angelo leading them, what else could happen? Surprisingly, the squad also trains knights for undercover missions. Not many people know that until they actually join the squad though.

Indigo Serpent: Because of Viper being so anti-social, he scares his squad members and the general population of Clover Kingdom. Many new Magic Knights fear being in this squad. Despite how frightening Captain Viper is, he’s very good at training knights. Complex control and technique are their specialty.

Alabaster Wolf: This squad’s reputation isn’t great because of knights regularly fight their own captain. It’s not pretty. People doubt the ability of the other members if a child is the strongest among them. The rapport is made worse by the fact that Nilson gets a kick out of playing with his squad members. Lots of pranks and childish taunting.

Cobalt Ocean: This squad has a bad rep because Adalmeer is kind of an ineffective leader. Payton picks up the slack but with Adalmeer at the helm, sailing isn’t smooth for this squad. Adalmeer and Payton have good eyes for talent/skill but because the squad members are often left to their own devices, they’re poorly organized and thus aren’t well respected. They don’t have the destructive streak the Black Bulls have. Instead, they have a reputation of being collectively scatterbrained.

Jade Raptor: The Jade Raptors have the worst reputation, all thanks to Adivar. They are known as the best fighters of Clover Kingdom, even among the Magic Knight Squads, but they are very intense. Few to no healers in this squad because Adivar would want his knights to tough things out.

[loosesodamarble]

Other characters in the World Swap?

So at first, the Pillar-Captain roleswap was just a thought experiment for switching Breath Style and Magic. But thinking on it some more, I personally believe swapping universes for more characters yields some interesting ideas.

Now I’m not going to swap every character, from Black Clover at least. For one, Demon Slayer’s cast is significantly smaller than Black Clover’s. I can feasibly swap over most of the characters. As for Black Clover characters, mostly the miscellaneous mages, I’ll probably reassign them to the Pillar-turned-Captains’ squads.

The thing with swapping the characters and their worlds, I don’t think a one-to-one roleswap works. Instead, this is just me trying to find a place for the characters in the world/narrative they’re entering while still retaining elements of their original stories. Sometimes this means making some weird leaps in logic to fill certain roles/plot points.

Moving on!

Black Clover to Demon Slayer Asta: Asta is the protagonist so he will fill Tanjirou’s role. He has loved ones killed by a demon and the last remaining one becomes a demon. Here’s the twist. Since he has no magic in Black Clover, in a Demon Slayer AU, he’d be unable to use breaths. Instead, he is like Genya, able to consume demon flesh for supernatural abilities. I imagine he’d try to train under a cultivator, multiple even, but with no talent in breaths, he’d just have to train up his body. Until Yami finds him, takes a liking to his spirit, and trains him until they discover the demon eating ability. Yuno: I’d personally put Yuno in the role of Nezuko, but with major differences. He’s a descendant of the Breath of the Sun user so he’s the one getting the inherited memories and, as a demon, he’d figure out not just his Blood Demon Art (probably a cutting wind) but he’d also learn Breath of the Sun. He’d become the demon who can walk in the sun. Noelle: So in this AU, the Silva family consistently fills the role of the Water Pillar. Acier was the Water Pillar but died at the hands of an Upper Moon in order to protect baby Noelle. Here, she’s not directly blamed for Acier’s death but her siblings still kind of wish that the mighty Acier lived instead of the seemingly useless Noelle. She wants to be a demon slayer to make up for Acier’s death but try as she might, she just can’t get a grasp on Breath of Water. She eventually develops Breath of the Sea, stronger and a little wilder but it still flows and let her dance across the battlefield the way her mother did. Leopold: He’s the successor for the position of Flame Pillar. It’s kind of weird that Fuegoleon and Mereoleona are both Pillars at the same time but it’s that fact that makes Leopold worry about his ability to live up to the legacy of his siblings. Mimosa and Kirsch: Mimosa is similar to Aoi; trained in swordsmanship but, instead of being too scared to fight, she prefers being a healer. She runs this AU’s equivalent of the Butterfly Mansion a.k.a. the Demon Slayer Corps’ main hospital. As for Kirsch, he’d be a Breath of Flower user, probably not Charlotte’s successor but a surprisingly competent demon slayer still. Nebra and Solid: Two prospective successors of Nozel for the position of Water Pillar. Maybe Nebra will switch to Breath of Mist but I think the idea of the younger Silva siblings competing to be Nozel’s successor is an interesting concept. Licht and Patry: Yoriichi and Michikatsu. Part of the first generation of Breath Users. Licht used Breath of the Sun. Patry Breath of the Moon. And this means Patry becomes an Upper Moon. With the devils and devil-possessed, he might end up being Upper Moon 3 while still maintaining the same story significance as Kokushibou. Although, given his troubled past, he might also have Akaza elements mixed in which suits the third rank. Nacht and Morgen: Oh yeah, I’m bringing these two in. Both are alive and well. Of course... It’s not that simple. One of them is a demon slayer and Blake’s successor. The other has been turned into a demon. But who is the slayer and who is the demon? Nacht is the Black Bulls vice captain so that could mean he’s the slayer but he’s also a devil possessed so that might mean he’s the demon. Other members of the Black Bulls: Lightning round. Nacht would be Yami’s successor. Finral, Vanessa, Grey, Gordon, Henry, Charmy and Secre would be kakushi; not actively fighters but directly serving under Yami. Magna, Luck, Gauche, and Zora would be active demon slayers. Devils and Devil-possessed: The devils and their hosts would stand in for Muzan and the upper ranks of the Twelve Demon Moons. Lucifero seems best fit for Muzan. I definitely want the Dark Triad to be among the Upper Ranks because they have such gloriously evil personalities that it’d be a shame to put them in the lower ranks.

..........

Demon Slayer to Black Clover Tanjirou: This may sound weird, but I’m not giving Tanjirou the Anti-Magic swords. Instead, he’s going to be like a mix of Yuno and Charmy. Yuno, in the sense that he’s secretly got major significance in the world. Charmy, in the fact that he’s going to have dual affinity. Normally, he uses Water Magic. But he’s got elf/dwarf/something blood in him too which allows him to use Light/Sun Magic. He’d be in Giyuu’s Cobalt Ocean squad. Nezuko: Like her brother, a character with a secret significance and dual affinity for magic. She’ll also be a friendly rival to her brother. They’ll both be Magic Knights, in different squads, and encourage each other’s growth. Her magic affinities would be Fire and Light/Sun Magic. Since she becomes a demon in canon, she’d be one of the elf-possessed mages. Zenitsu: A Lightning Magic user and in Tengen’s Amber Songbird squad. He’s still going to fight when he’s asleep because that’s too iconic to not use. He trained under Jigorou, a former captain, alongside Kaigaku (who would become elf-possessed later on). I guess Zenitsu and Kaigaku would be the Finral and Langris of this AU. Inosuke: He’s getting Beast Magic, no questions asked. He’d still be raised by in the wilderness by wild animals but he could be found and taken into a family in the Forsaken Realm. He’d try to get into Gyoumei’s squad because it’s the strongest squad. Whether or not he actually gets in is still up in the air. As for what happened to Kotoha in this AU... Genya: He’s getting the Anti-Magic swords. Kind of. Instead, the swords absorb magic for later use. It will look like the swords dispel magic when, in reality, they’re absorbing the spells which can then be unleashed later. Genya would be under Gyoumei’s wing, though not as an official squad member. Kind of like how Gyoumei took Genya as a student but refused to make him a successor because he couldn’t use breaths. Kanao and Kanae: Kanae and Kanao both use Flower Magic. Kanae is alive but retired from the Magic Knights at a shockingly young age due to being cursed by a devil. Shinobu and Kanao are working on that. I don’t think Kanao would be the vice captain of the Wisteria Butterflies, but she’d be a top contender for that position. Sabito: He lives in the this AU and would be the vice captain of the Cobalt Ocean! I’ve seen a couple AUs where Sabito uses Ice Breathing and decided that I would have him use Ice Magic since that’d help differentiate him from Giyuu’s Clover Kingdom counterpart! Tamayo and Yushirou: They’re commoners who research forbidden magic, curses, and the like. Tamayo may or may not know the history of Genya’s magic-absorbing swords. Would become elf-possessed later on. Yoriichi and Michikatsu: The Licht and Patry in this AU. I mean, Yoriichi's quiet and calm persona reminds me of the empty shell that Licht was before his soul was full reawakened. Butterfly Mansion girls: Aoi, Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho would be in the Wisteria Butterfly Squad but strictly as healers with their magic. Senjurou and Shinjurou: Senjurou would have Fire Magic like Kyou and their father. But he’d be too weak to pass the Magic Knight Exam. Shinjurou is still a washed up drunk, but probably for a different reason. He probably learned the fact that humans will never match up to the naturally gifted elves in terms of magic and goes “why do humans bother to use magic when we’ll never be as strong as the elves?” Muzan and Demon Moons: They become the Spade Kingdom’s Dark Triad and Dark Disciples. Douma is a member of the Dark Triad and the one who cursed Kanae and killed Kotoha.