#she is shown to gain white hair as an adult

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: the first image shows several profile drawings of drow, titled "drow skin color based on snail consumption". the drow shown are a matriarch, chamberlain, baby, minstrel, and a more average drow representing everyone else. The matriarch, chamberlain, and minstrel all have colorful red and blue patches on their noses, eyelids, and upper lips. The chamberlain and average drow have almost the same skin color, being a warm-toned purple. the matriarch has more vivid blue toned purple skin, and the baby and minstrel have paler, more pink skin, with the minstrel's skin being even more warm-toned and covered in freckles. all of them have white hair, facial whiskers, very long ears, and golden eyes.

the second image is a colored sketch of a snail with pale blue-grey flesh and a grey spiral shell with some pointed spikes along it, as well as blue and white speckles. end description.)

I've been working on worldbuilding details for my drow! I'm renaming the wandering amab drow minstrels instead of just wanderers, and more importantly I've decided that domesticated cave snails are a major source of protein in the drow diet. A special breed of this snail is even utilized as medicine to trigger the natural estrogen boost of a normal afab drow transitioning into a matriarch. Like naked mole rats, this change can happen on its own if certain environmental factors are met, but the snails contain some chemicals that can cause the change to happen in a more controlled and efficient manner. The matriarch snails also have more blue pigments in their mucus gland compared to the regular meat snails.

like the real life pigment of tyrian purple, these snails are used to create vivid blue-purple dyes, with the most vivid dyes being reserved for the matriarch's clothes. and like flamingos, drow gain their purple skin color by eating a lot of these snails.

this is why babies and minstrels have the least purple skin. babies are only purple from a pigment transfer in the womb and from any excess pigment they might gain from breastfeeding, but will become much more purple when they're old enough to eat snail meat. minstrels are wandering outcasts, so their purple skin usually fades and they only manage to have any purple color when they occasionally pay a visit to other drow caverns, trading stories and goods from outside for a short rest amongst their own kind.

and sometimes a night with a matriarch, if she's willing. matriarchs give birth to all the other drow, being a eusocial species. amab drow are less common, so they're more restricted in their roles and expected to become chamberlains to the matriarchs, with their presence also helping to maintain allegiances between populations. minstrels are the amab drow who decided to abandon this way of life and do their own thing. but since their wandering also allows them to visit caverns much further off, they're still very important, providing genetic diversity, stories, trade, and news to every population they visit.

drow society changes a lot over time, becoming less reclusive as equality and intermingling between people species becomes more and more common. eventually, it is normal for drow to travel outside the caverns in their adult years just to seek education and familiarize themselves with other cultures. as a result, minstrels go from being outcasts who are begrudgingly tolerated to more accepted members of drow society, though their instinct to wander never really goes away.

I'm in the process of writing a new story that takes place a couple centuries before my main story, which will show the life of a drow protagonist back when the various people species were still wary of interacting with each other, so I will very directly be exploring the ways drow society changed over that time period.

[sukibenders]

Marina Thompson (or Crane however yall want to refer to her) you will be avenged! Baby girl did not deserve all that, nor the slander that some fans give towards her. That being said, I feel like the show fumbled the ball with her and her future, if that, storyline all the way in the left field. Bare with me- here you have a biracial black woman entering this white family/household who already is against her, or more so Lady Featherington and that maid or whomever she gossips with. Like, LF wasn't kind from the beginning at all (we see how she treats her own daughters) but as soon as she noticed Marina taking attention away from her daughters (literally just by existing), she becomes even more spiteful and mean as she sees her as a threat. Even willing to sell her off to an older man, who could have harmed her, even after discovering that she was pregnant, just to get her out of her hair. Can you see the obvious undertones that carries?

To add on to that, the only friend that Marina can gain, can find solace in, Penelope ends up betraying her because she notices that Colin has been courting her and wants to marry her. Like, to me no matter how you spin it, what Penelope did was wrong because she not only spread all of Marina's intimate privacy to a judgmental society and put her in a very dangerous situation, but also her daughter. Do you honestly think that even with Marina being "fortunate" enough to become a Lady and cared for, her daughter Amanda will be welcomed into the Ton with open arms or at least with little difficulty?

Moving on from that, the fans aren't any better because the rhetoric they use is very disgusting and borderline racist. Painting her as this conniving woman who was only trying to trap this poor white man for her own gain (completely disregarding that Colin is, not only, an adult and can make his own decisions, would have likely raised the twins as his own, but also the whole point of the show is to obtain a match who could also provide for you aka all of which Marina was doing), ignoring how her choices were very limited and she was in an abusive household but are quick to paint her as an antagonist towards Pen (ignoring how she was the only one, outside of Eloise and Colin, who befriended her and helped give her confidence). I could go on!

And, lastly, while I haven't read the books I do know/am remotely aware that Marina does die in the books (possibly in a very traumatic way, correct me if I'm wrong) and Philip moves on with Eloise. Now, maybe the show didn't intend for it to be read this way, but it does give the vibe of the disposable black woman trope (it already did with the treatment of her and Polin, but this even more so because she literally dies). While Philip and Marina are very obviously shown to not have any romantic attraction, the show hardly does a good job at even making them seem as if they are remotely comfortable or at least friendly with one another. It's even painted as the last option available, which wouldn't be bad if we actually got to see the pair connect. Instead, Marina just seems lonely and an afterthought. We don't get anything else about her life nor see if she has any connections with the rest of the world (I don't think she does), so her dying would be even more saddening especially since she would be leaving behind her kids. And while I'm glad Philip and Eloise fans could potentially get their ship, it isn't lost on me that that would have to be at the cost of a black woman, who didn't even have a happy life to begin with. Like, again, maybe the writers didn't intend for this narrative to be there, but it is, and even worse is that Netflix or whoever has done very little to assist Ruby from the online hate and bullying she has received from fans, especially shippers (though, I don't think they do that for any of their cast, especially those who are poc e.g. what happened with Simone, Charithra, Regé, etc), and how she had to be hospitalized twice because her mental health was bad.

Marina deserves/deserved so much better (she will always be loved by me as the fandom could never make me hate her, even though there is little reason too).

[shimmerbeasts]

✩  Grooming, brushing, or tending to their hair. - Caitlyn / Ahri

Acts of Affection||Accepting.

The concept of physically tending to your own body like grooming and brushing your hair was not something unfamiliar for Ahri. As much as most human concepts seemed to have become serene and more a strange dream for the Vastaya, she was still aware that if she wanted to get a good kill on a child or teenager, let alone an adult, she had to be presentable and attractive in some sense. After all, as she had observed, attractive people were deemed more approachable and safe. It was why Ahri had gone through such efforts to conceal her missing arm and her empty eye socket.

Even so, Ahri had to admit, she had never used a proper brush on her hair or tails. In the past, she had always relied on her long, sharp nails to comb through her thick, black mane. However, now that she sat there with a brush in her hair, feeling the many small prongs working their way through the strands, the fox Vastaya could not help but relax a touch and close her eyes with a quiet flutter. Her pointy ears went droopy and the tips of her tails twitched occasionally.

Ahri opened her eyes, which flashed a subtle hint of rose as she briefly cast a look at Caitlyn. By now, she was fairly certain that in a way, the young detective had become another source of essence for her, much like Yasuo was. Oh, grumpy Yasuo. Yet whenever they met, she coaxed a smile out of him sooner or later. The fox Vastaya snickered at the thought. Cheek supported by a loosely curled fist, her azure eyes inspected Caitlyn, who continued brushing her hair with diligence and care.

I wonder what I have to do to get a smile out of you.

"You know, I do not think I ever had someone brush my hair", Ahri flattered Caitlyn, "You have quite a gentle and careful touch. Almost revering. Please do not stop."

Mischief sparked in her eyes. Ahri's tails, which had huddled around her, giving her a comfortable cushion to sit on, shuddered before one of them ever so gracefully rose and began to tickle Caitlyn right underneath the nose. Soon enough, that playful tickle elicited a sneeze from Caitlyn, followed by her rubbing her dandy nose. Ahri held a hand before her mouth as she laughed, movements perfectly controlled to appear positively gayly and charming.

"You have the cutest, little sneeze", Ahri called, "Do you know that? A-tschoo!" The Vastaya mimed the sneeze, making her ears bounce backwards for maximum sweetness. "Oh, you are so very droll, Caitlyn."

Ahri's eyes darkened in their rose colour, becoming almost something magenta. She breathed a kiss on Caitlyn's face and pink glitter dust rained down upon the young detective's nose. Her eyes glazed over in rose and the hand, brushing her mane, slowed down. There was a forlorn expression on Caitlyn Kiramman's face as if she did not know where she was or what she was doing. Yet at the same time, there was not a shard of fear in her gaze as she idled on the spot.

A pleased smile crossed Ahri's face and a hint of wickedness flashed before her eyes. She crept closer on her hands and knees until she was merely inches away from Caitlyn. Taking hold of the detective's face, her tails formerly white as snow suddenly gained a purple glow and even her bangs seemed to gain a muddied yellow colour. Ahri's eyes shifted into purple, spiralling with a maddening glint and her mouth opened wider as if she was drawing in the air.

A trail of sparkling, glowing, blue mist flooded out of Caitlyn's eyes and mouth. It gathered inside Ahri's mouth, filled it up like a spring. The Fox Vastaya closed her lips, tasting something a bit spicy like a strong herbal tea with notes of vanilla. Underneath that flavour, an image flickered before Ahri's eyes: A little girl with black hair being shown the proper way to handle a rifle, she had yet to grow into.

Ahri swallowed the essence, together with the memory, she had acquired. Her arms wrapped around Caitlyn in a possessive, yet passionate and loving embrace. Her tails pooled around Caitlyn, creating a fluffy and comforting blanket. Ahri drew strange symbols on Caitlyn's back as she whispered: "Easy, Caitlyn. You just were out of it a little bit. Do you want to continue brushing my tails? I liked what you did with my hair so far."

This ask may be continued if so desired.

[the-demon-king-of-salvation]

Information and Rules!

⭐HELLO THERE! Mun use She/Her pronouns most of the time, and I've been in the RPC for a few years! I have ADHD, and a bit of a hard time remembering things. Please do also excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes in our RP threads! My interests are cartoons, anime, video games and a lot more! Right my interests are placed in: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint!! ⭐

🌞INTERACTIONS🌞

• If I seem to 'ignore' you, I might just be busy or out of the house! On the occasions I don't respond after a few days, please remind me because I might have forgotten!😅

•This is a Multi-fandom blog, so crossovers are welcome and even encouraged! And I will be interacting with different fandoms that interest me for that reason!

•I will be mostly roleplaying as close to canon as I can, but au's are welcome too! I will include AU's and other timelines we could use down below.

•English is not my first language, so I apologise if my wording or way of speaking is a bit too bland.

•There will be no smut on this blog. There might however be other mature content like violence and stuff like that! Though maybe it'll mostly just be mentions of it.

•Feel free to point out any spelling/grammatical mistakes! Sometimes I don't spot them before responding-

•If something I do or say makes you uncomfy, please do tell me!:)

🌗SHIPPING?🌓

•Since Kim Dokja is an Adult, any shippings or pairings with him and another character of age and isnt illegal are welcome!

🌠ABOUT KIM DOKJA🌠

//OOC: I just copy and pasted most stuff from the wiki- ;w;

Kim Dokja is the main protagonist of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. He is the sole reader of the webnovel Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, an apocalyptic fantasy story written by tls123 who read it through the end.

💫KDJ'S APPEARANCE 💫

•Kim Dokja has a thin face and pale skin. His hair is thin and black; he has long eyelashes and dark circles.His countenance is calm and fresh, although somewhat edgy. There is a marked difference in his appearance when he smiles and when he's expressionless. As an adult, he has a slender physique, being rather skinny prior to the beginning of the scenarios, although he has become rather muscular due to raising his Strength stat.He has burn scarring/tanning due to the probability storm he weathered after Gigantomachia.He also has scars on his handsand presumably the rest of his body as well from the numerous fights he has been through. The number 6424 is "stitched" into his left forearm.

•He is often described as looking plain or unappealing by other characters, so much so that he gains the Incarnation modifier "Ugliest King". It is later revealed that his appearance is "censored" for those looking at him. In Dark Castle, Lee Jihye says she cannot remember what he looks like; in the 73rd Demon Realm, when footage of the 73rd Demon King scenario is being shown in the Syswitz Complex, Kim Dokja himself notices that his face is distorted onscreen.

•Kim Dokja is fairly expressive and has distinct mannerisms, though he may not realize it himself. He tilts his head slightly when worrying about the kids. When he thinks about his mother, his eyes close and his eyelids twitch slightly. He smiles mischievously and arches his eyebrows when he's teasing (generally towards Han Sooyoung). He gets a glint in his eyes when he thinks about his most loved stories. According to Shin Yoosung, his nostrils flare when he lies. He has a distinctive smile, sometimes described as "unlucky" by his party members and unique enough in nature that people recognize him by it.

• Kim Dokja's usual clothing contain a black collared button up shirt, black pnts, black dress shoes, and a special white trench coat.

🌃KIM DOKJA'S PERSONALITY🌃

•Kim Dokja is, at his core, a dedicated and loving man. He devotes himself to those he cares for, going so far as to sacrifice his own life for them; as a result of this devotion, he is careful with whom he grants his deep trust to. He frequently tries to shield his loved ones from danger by taking their struggles onto himself and often becomes extremely self-deprecating when he is unable to push through said struggles alone.

•This self-deprecation is a recurring pattern of behavior. For all that he loves others, he is extremely harsh on himself, being insecure and having very low self-esteem and self-worth. He used to perceive himself as perpetually alone and struggled with recognizing when people genuinely cared for and looked up to him, although he has become better at this since the beginning of ORV. Where he used to repress his emotions (as observed by Jung Heewon in early scenarios), he has also become more emotionally expressive (for instance, crying and yelling without restraint, particularly so during the epilogues). He is usually quite casual when he speaks to others, but when he's shocked or nervous, he has a tendency to speak formally.

•He is somewhat self-conscious about his image and how he's perceived, though less so when he's going by a pseudonym. In early scenarios, he pretended to be ruthless and cold-blooded. As time passes, he tends towards an image of someone who is polite and put-together, and who always has a plan. In fact, he does tend to plan ahead for most situations based on his knowledge of Ways of Survival. However, he often develops tunnel vision, failing to consider outside factors playing into and altering his situation. He is notably bad at improvisation (a fact that becomes more apparent as his timeline diverges more and more from the original Ways of Survival) and takes some time to get back on his feet when faced with setbacks, having minor emotional breakdowns at particularly shocking situations.

Nonetheless, he is immensely dedicated to his goals, seen when he surpasses even death in order to reach the end of the scenarios. This translates into occasional bouts of stubbornness and singlemindedness.

HISTORY

As a child, Kim Dokja loved to read, a habit that was encouraged by his mother.

Later on, Kim Dokja would go on to become the sole reader of all 3,149 chapters of the webnovel "Ways of Survival." The characters in the novel would become sources of comfort for Kim Dokja as he struggled through his unfortunate life, and he would grow alongside Yoo Joonghyuk as the protagonist regressed and struggled towards the end. Kim Dokja undergoes various unfortunate events, including failing his CSAT and ending up at a third-rate university, drawing an unlucky straw and ending up at the front lines during his military service, and landing a low-paying job at Minosoft. Through it all he constantly reads the daily updates of the webnovel, consistently commenting under each chapter and supporting the author while adding his own suggestions.

At one point he discovers "SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor," a novel written by the original younger Han Sooyoung. He comments angrily that it is clearly plagiarized and is shot down for trying to promote the ridiculously unpopular original "Ways of Survival." When he approaches tls123 about this, the author only writes that they are glad they are getting more views, which Kim Dokja finds pitiful.

Eventually, as he finishes the final chapter of "Ways of Survival" on the transit one day after work, the novel becomes reality, beginning the events of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

THE FOURTH WALL

•The Fourth Wall is a skill possessed by Kim Dokja. Its previous identity is the Dokkaebi King of the altered 1863rd round; after overseeing the writing and publishing of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World by Han Sooyoung, he triggered the start of the scenarios and transformed into the [Fourth Wall] skill to accompany his world's sole reader on his adventures.

•The Fourth Wall is a skill that protects Kim Dokja from any mental, or even physical pain. Allowing him to complete scenarios more easily, and cut off most skills. This wall also allows him to view the world as a novel, which weakens when he meets somebody connected to his "reality."

AS THE FOURTH WALL

In its duty as Kim Dokja's skill, the Fourth Wall has a number of abilities that center around Kim Dokja himself.

Can protect Kim Dokja against mental attacks and skills.

Can offset pain caused by injuries.

Prevents Kim Dokja's Attributes Window from being viewed, even by himself. This is presumably to hide his status as the lone reader of Ways of Survival, signified by the attribute [■■ Apostle].

"Walls off" Kim Dokja's emotions, allowing him to distance himself from events taking place and treat the world as a novel. It can forcibly strengthen itself and numb his emotions, should he get agitated over events such as his mother's life being in danger.

Weakens when Kim Dokja doesn't treat current events as a novel. For instance, it shakes when he meets individuals who he had a long history/deep connection with prior to the start of the scenarios, such as Lee Sookyung.

Can narrate Kim Dokja's thoughts and actions in narrative form. This can assist in upholding his "story", such as when he is banished outside the scenarios and his body begins to decay due to being outside a relevant narrative.

Can "eat" or absorb individuals, breaking them down to their Stories and then eating these Stories. When eaten, these individuals find themselves within the Fourth Wall's Library, and should the Fourth Wall find them worthy, they become Librarians, looking after the books and on occasion speaking to Kim Dokja. So far, the Wall has eaten Nirvana Moebius,��Simulation (master of the Theatre Dungeon), and the Eater of Dreams. It also previously ate Lee Sookyung (but released her almost immediately at Kim Dokja's request) and Yoo Sangah (in order to preserve her rapidly scattering Story core). She worked as a Librarian for a short while before being released to a new form.

ASK THE FOURTH WALL ANYTHING! IT WILL DECIDE IF IT WILL LET YOUR ASK REACH KIM DOKJA.

✨AU'S AND TIMELINES WE CAN USE✨

• Post-Epilogue AU- A slightly-more-intact fragment of Kim Dokja's soul ends up in the rp-er's dimension/timeline. Tag: #PE-AU

•In the middle of scenarios AU- Due to a scenario, Kim Dokja is transported somewhere where they meet the rp-er's muse

Tag: #ITMOS-AU

•(SPOILERS FOR ORV!) Train AU- The Oldest Dream's train passes through universes and stops at rp-er's muse's dimesion. The rp-er'ss muse finds said train and enters its, finding a sleeping child.

Tag: OD- AU

• Past Timeline- The rp-er's muse meets younger Kim Dokja, depends on rp-er on if they want child KDJ, middle schooler KDJ, etc.

Tag: PT-AU

[theanimalsarecalling]

How happy do you think Aurora was with her life? She is described by Ronan:

Golden haired Aurora was the obvious Queen of a place like the Barnes. A gentle and joyful ruler of a secret and peaceful country. She was a patron of her son's fanciful arts . . . and a tireless playmate in her sons' games of make believe. (TRK chpt 3 - Ronan's POV)

Blue describes her thus:

She had the attention span and intellectual prowess of a puppy. But . . . she was endlessly kind and upbeat, as compulsively lovable as her youngest son (BLLB chpt 1)

Gansey describes her as

Aurora had been created to love, and love she did, in the fashion specific to the object of her affection.

This last statement is odd, because there is evidence that this wasn't always the case. The Christmas story shows that while she clearly loved Declan, she struggled to connect with him. Declan was an anxious, fearful little boy (with many legitimate reasons for his fears), but instead of talking to him about his fears, and reassuring him, and possibly problem solving them, as a good parent should, she reminded him again and again to smile. She doesn't have good emotional rapport with him, which must have been frustrating for one created to love. Declan later blames this on her "being a faulty model."

Even though the context is different, this line says the most about what her relationship with Declan must have been like:

Her problem solving only went as far as finding someone else to solve the problem. (TRK chpt 8)

Safe to say that when Niall was away, Aurora turned to Declan to solve whatever difficulties arose, since neither Ronan nor Matthew were built for problem solving. Both Ronan and Blue describe her in terms normally used for a child. Which means Declan defaulted to the adult in the family.

But she was dreamt to be a wife and a mother, a role for an adult. She was never given a choice in this. She was essentially dreamt into a life of servitude - married to a man who clearly still had feelings for another woman (such feelings that Aurora was created to look like her) - expected to raise another's child(ren) - it's unclear whether Ronan was her natural son. She was isolated on a farm, with small children, no hired help, and a husband who was gone for months at a time. Her dissatisfaction in being expected to take care of things alone is shown in how she enlists five year Declan to help clean up after Niall's dreams. I'm sure she did this with the farmwork as well.

And yet she craves Niall's love. Ronan remembers how Aurora's "smile got unwrapped along with the rest of the parcels in Niall's trunk" whenever Niall returned home. But it's hard to say how Niall felt about Aurora. I've thought before that one reason Niall was gone so much is that he was bothered by his own creation - who was nothing like Mór - though in his way, he loved Aurora too.

Was Aurora aware she was a dream? She loved an old black and white movie of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell in love with his creation. Is this subconscious acknowledgement that Niall created Aurora, along with longing that he love her too?

I think Aurora's and Matthew's similarity says more about their creators than that they are dreams. After all, the other dreams we meet are nothing like them. But both Niall and young Ronan wanted someone who would love them unconditionally. And so both are upbeat, lovable and loving. But Matthew's been able to grow up and grow out, and gain agency over his own life.

Aurora was never given the tools to do this.

[onwesterlywinds]

FEBHYURARY 5TH - BEHIND @FEBHYURARY

"How auspicious," came a low voice from the darkness behind her, "that the Undercity's new protector should gain the favor of a Heart-Seer. And so soon after her return."

If nothing else, Ashe recognized where and how she had failed. Half a malm beneath the capital, in some ancient Skallic ruins where she walked for the first time, she had thought she had felt the faintest breeze rustle her cloak in the otherwise empty tunnel. Yet she had shaken off her suspicion and continued onward on her explorations, with only a quick glance over her shoulder to guarantee her own defense, and this newcomer had used their covert arrival to reach her back.

She could summon no fear - only disappointment in herself for her own failure.

Ashe turned and lifted her lantern to find a man - tall, pale, and garbed in an ankle-length coat of dark brown leather. For a moment, the contours of his high cheekbones, stark against her flickering candle, offered enough of a similarity to Ludo to make her heart skip a beat. Then he smiled, and his teeth sat uneven within his mouth; and as he cocked his head to one side, the sharp outline of an Elezen ear came into view.

He had not yet moved to kill her; thus, he was waiting for her to speak. She refused to acknowledge her own ignorance - the very foundation for the circumstances of their meeting.

"Auspicious, indeed," she replied at length. As to who or what a Heart-Seer was, she could only feign interest.

"Of course, it's said the Heart-Seers regularly seek out those of great import. And who can blame them? Particularly in your case." The man took two languid strides forward, his every movement silent as a shadow in the darkened tunnel, and held out a gloved hand. She did not shift her lantern to take it. "Caprice."

Despite the self-assuredness of his familiarity, she assumed it would be overly churlish not to return the nicety. "Ashel-"

"We've met before, Ashelia Riot." Again his teasing smirk returned, and he withdrew his hand. "Albeit when we were both quite young. I spent two bells and five lockpicks breaking open a gate at your behest, because you were convinced there was treasure on the other side. No?" He paused for the scantest of moments to allow for her recollection before continuing on. "Regardless. I hope your most recent forays to the Undercity have proven enlightening."

More than anything else, it was his certainty of her comings and goings that made her scowl - more even than the smirk he gave her in return, like an adult at a petulant child. Then Caprice turned and began walking back up the tunnel in the direction from which he had presumably come.

"Do tell your Silverbrand friends that I'll be keeping a close eye." Before he vanished back into the darkness, Caprice spun around again, his beam of amusement still writ clearly upon his face. "It really is refreshing to have you back. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to this place now that you've appointed yourself its warden - and how you'll make good on your many promises to clean this place up, with no one's approval save your own."

She gritted her teeth, only to recall in that moment the only other person who had shown her any great kindness under the earth: the girl with the matted white hair and wide eyes whose head was full of ghosts.

Before he vanished completely from the radius of her lanternlight, she called back, "No one's approval except the Heart-Seer's, you mean."

Caprice's parting sentiment - a single genial laugh - echoed back again and again upon the old Skallic stones.

[arcanaapprenticecatherine]

Something Lost, Something Gained (Part 3, NSFW, 18+ in the red)

•

•

•

"What happened?"

I turned to Past Me. She moved her arm in a wheel again, disrupting my vision. We were in Vasuvia, if it was called that then. The memories flashed quickly but there was a pattern. Always living in the shop, finding lovers, pretending to age, living life, taking long trips, returning to my shop claiming to be the descendant and claiming the property. Over and over. Keeping up appearances, visions of travels. Passionate love, painful heartbreak, death, moving on, but always returning to my shop in Vesuvia. There were children, too. I didn't see visions or memories of pregnancy. Perhaps adopted? It went on and on, and the city itself changed, too. Chaotic downfalls and dramatic rises. I was drawn to the magic of this place. Apparently, this was my home away from home. Memories showed occasional visits to the land I originated from. Memories in the cave that Asra had taken me to. I thought it was my first time there, but that isn't the case. Passionate romance ensued, rituals carried out, a lot of meditation sessions. The cave resembled the one in my own land. Also a secret room in the shop appeared several times, underground. A staircase hidden behind a rock wall of the shop. Decades flashed before our eyes in mere seconds, centuries in minutes. I couldn't help but contemplate the number of lives I'd touched, loved, and missed.

We briefly stopped on one memory in a little town. I was there to visit the salt flats. A terrible storm rolled in and delayed my departure. My memories had shown several terrible storms, this one contended in the top ten. People around my memory self thought it was the end. The gale force winds were certain to destroy buildings. Once the storm had blown over, as quickly as it had come, everybody came out to inspect buildings and check on each other. Thankfully nobody was killed. They were joyful till they saw pieces of a wrecked ship. One older woman in particular was worried, apparently her girlfriend was due to come in. A few hours past when a ship came into view. Lilinka, was that her name? Was relieved at the sight of the ship. As soon as the ship was docked and the gang plank down the two women ran to each other, hugging and kissing, obviously shaken by the storm that could have killed the other. Two red headed children came down the gang plank. One taller and gangly, the other so much younger. They looked pretty wretched. My past Memory self couldn't help be pushed in by the swarm of adults and children alike, surrounding the two kids and the two women. "I found them on some wreckage. They lost their family in that damned storm," announced the woman who had come from the ship.

"Oh we'll keep them till their family comes to claim them," Lilinka said without doubt, the entire town murmuring in agreement.

"What if we don't have any family left?" Asked the young boy in concern, holding on to, presumably, his little sister for dear life.

"Well then welcome to the family. This is Nevinon, we look out for each other here," announced Lilinka. "Now let's get you two out of those sopping wet clothes and something warm to eat, yes?"

She and the other woman hearded the two children into a building. Glad that something good came of the tragedy, my memory past self made my way home.

Once again the years flew past and slowed down to about over a decade before the present.

My memory past self had claimed ownership of my shop after my "aunt" died. I had been living this new life for a bit when a familiar fluffy white haired stranger with the most beautiful purple eyes began to appear in my life. My memories played out and stilled to this memory.

My memory past self was at the very familiar bakery. I was on my own, asking for a loaf of pumpkin bread.

The fluffy white haired, purple eyed stanger sat next to me and also requested a loaf.

"Are you going to introduce yourself? I've noticed you following me around for nearly half a year now." She said to them.

"That's why I'm here. My name is Asra."

Salsi brought the loaves over, still warm. I paid him with a coin and I asked for some tea.

"Sure thing!" He winked, and Asra paid by healing the cuts, scratches and bruises on Salsi's hands.

My past self glanced at Asra, surprised.

"You practice magic as well?" My past memory self asked.

"Well..." Asra blushed. "Not nearly as well as you."

"Oh?"

"Do you remember the night of the last masquerade?" Asra asked my memory self.

How could I forget? A stranger swept me off my feet and disappeared.

"I do, it was quite eventful. Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember meeting a stranger, dancing and laughing, feeding each other?"

"You wouldn't happen to know who it was?" My past memory self asked suspiciously, with a coy look in her eyes.

Asra began to blush. "Well, that was me."

A socially awkward silance as Selsi poured us each a cup of tea. My past self seemed to be enjoying this.

"Now why did you sweep me off my feet at the masquerade and disappear like that?" My memory past self asked before taking a sip of the tea.

Asra looked down to avoid my eyes. A very familiar snake popped out of his bag.

"Oh well hello!" My past self leaned in to take a closer look at the snake.

"Her name is Faust," said Asra, brightening up a bit. "You can pet her, she's friendly. She particularly likes chin scratches." He took her full body out of his bag and onto the counter.

"Very nice to meet you Faust!" My memory self said, gently scratching her chin. She looked very friendly.

"That reminds me, I need to head home and feed Bast. We can continue our conversation there, oh mysterious handsome stranger," my past self said rising from her chair.

"Gladly lovely lady. You didn't tell me your name?" Asra collected Faust and put her back into his bag.

I could sense my past self stiffen. Which name shall I use?

"You'll learn that in due time," she said coolly, taking Asra by the hands, apparently reaally in a hurry to get home. They waved Selsi goodbye.

The walk home to the shop was awkwardly quiet. Asra must have been thinking wildly.

"Is Bast your pet?" Asra finally broke the silence.

"Do NOT let her hear you refer to her as a pet," my past self laughed. "No, she is my familiar. As I imagine Faust is to you?"

Upon hearing her voice, she popped her head out from amongst his garnments.

Asra was visibly relieved but still a bit tense.

"Yes, I've had her since she was an egg. A very special present."

"I found Bast in a dump," my memory self snorted with a chuckle, putting Asra further at ease.

"Really?" This was the first time Asra had smiled, at least since the masquerade.

"Yeah," my memory self scratched at the back of my neck.

We were finally at the shop. I made tea and invited Asra to the back room, making sure to keep the sign on the store door "closed." And the light out.

"Now, you never answered why you disappeared on me after the masquerade, I was quite heartbroken," my past memory self flirted with him.

Asra looked down again, fingers fidgeting. Perhaps thinking of an answer. Perhaps that's when my past self noticed the dirt and worn out clothes.

"I don't have that great of a living situation at the moment," Asra finally confessed. "I live with a friend who doesn't do well with people. At all."

My memory self nodded, wondering who this friend was.

"Also," Asra interrupted my, her thoughts, "your magic is far superior to mine. Though I do have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Well, how about this," my memory past self, so confident and sure of herself. "You can live here in exchange for helping at the shop, and we can exchange 'tricks' what do you say?"

Asra looked stunned, possibly speechless.

"That way you can't get away from me," my past self winked with a coy note in her, my voice.

"Yes, sure, i-if that's okay with you?" Asra answered hesitantly.

My memory self laughed. Bast finally came down the stairs and made her appearance. She wasn't in her largest shape-shifting size, but not her smallest, either. She sniffed through Asra's stuff, apparently stealthily enough not to draw attention.

"By the way, that is Bast," I, my memory self, pointed. Asra nearly jumped out of their skin. Bast raised her head with Faust all coiled up on her head. Asra had to take a few calming breathes before answering, eyes glued to the very large house cat whose head was large enough for a snake to comfortably sit on.

"H-hello," Asra finally got out, visibly calming down but still very on edge.

Bast looked at my memory self.

"Food?" Bast pawed at my leg.

"Yes yes here you go," my memory self tore a piece of the pumpkin bread and fed it to the giant cat.

"You... you feed her bread?" Asra asked.

"Not usually, as a treat. She seems to like pumpkin. I can't keep any pumpkins inside the shop. Autumn is a real challenge when everyone has their pumpkins out." She, I, answered causually.

Asra started to laugh.

Thus was the beginning.

Memories began to speed up again, like leaves falling from a tree in autumn. I felt as though I could reach out and grab one. My arm unconsciously reached out, but my double at my side grabbed my arm, brought it down, and once again put her finger to her lips.

"These are critical memories, so that you know what really happened," said myself in the black cloak. Our gaze returned to the scenes playing before us.

It must be 5 to 10 years. Asra and my memory past self were living comfortably. I had met the mystery friend who lived on his own now in the forest. I didn't blame him. I had seen the tournaments myself.

It was an average day, Bast had gone out hunting for herself to eat like she had done a thousand times before. My past memory self was heading back from foraging in the forst to stock the store. I, she, was minding the cobblestone streets when she, I, bent over in pain. Even though it was a memory, I could feel the pain. Visions of my people in a firey battle, cousins, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles fighting and dying in an apocalyptic battle. I, my memory self, my past self at my side, and I my present self felt the flaring pain of all my people being wiped out. Flashes of a familiar humanoid goat grinning amongst the visions of my people falling. Images of my brothers in particular rang in my memory. I, my present self, was finally able to breathe after my memory self collapsed in the street. People gathered around as I blacked out. I clung to my double at my side.

"What the hell!?" I whispered in a pained breath.

"Our people, family and kin, were all killed in a tragic battle. All of them. We are the only one left." My past self huffed with her hands on her knees, trying to stand whilst supporting my weight.

"And we felt that?" I question. She nodded. As we recovered, the next memory played out.

My memory past self woke up in a bed not ours. Not even familiar. All senses on alert, she quietly got out of the bed and realized she wasn't even in her own clothing! Just some odd blank white sheet gown. What the fuck was this!? Her eyes looked around, collecting information like she had done so many times on a battlefield. As if in a theatrical performance and on cue, the door opened and a very tall man with gorgeous, unruly red hair walked in, attention entirely devoted to whatever he was reading in his hand. He closed the door with his hip, and strode across the room. It was a bizarre moment, he must not have noticed that she was up and standing out of bed. He was entirely fixated on his reading as he managed to put food into a bowl and place it on the ground for a dog to chow down. She watched in bizarre amazement as this very tall, lanky and *very* attractive man finished his chore without having to move his eyes from whatever it was he was reading. He didn't even notice she was out of bed until he was right in front of her and reaching for an arm to check for a pulse. When he didn't find an arm immediately, he looked at the bed with worry and shock written into the lines on his face and bolted up when he finally realized he wasn't standing even a foot from her. In which he tripped over his own two feet and fell backwards.

He definitely hit his head and was swearing in a language not unfamiliar to me. Her. My memory past self.

She spoke the equivalent of "excuse me?" In the tongue he was swearing in. Another comical facial expression of shock as he looked up, mouth open but nothing came out.

Finally remembering himself, he scrambled up.

"You're awake!" He exclaimed. The amount of shock in that statement worried her.

"Where am I? Who are you? Why am I in this... this garment?" My memory past self readied herself for a fight.

"This is my clinic, you were brought here by some people after you passed out in the streets. Please, please calm down my name is Julian. Julian Devorak. Please sit back down and let me check you over," he said with his hands up in a surrender or "i mean no harm" kind of way.

It was a very tense few moments while she contemplated what her next move would be.

She eyed him carefully. He was in a doctor's uniform, though aren't those uniforms usually white?

She relaxed herself and sat down, eyes almost glaring.

"Dr. Devorak?" She said questioning his credentials.

"Yes, as for your other question. You had to be changed, your clothes had been soiled by the ground and you were out for three days. I couldn't figure out why you wouldn't wake up-"

"Three days?" She relaxed a bit more, realizing the last thing she remembered was being on the ground in agonizing pain. It made sense.

"I apologize that there was no one here with you when you woke up," he spoke as he checked for pulse, heart beat, etc. "You're in the back room with Brundle since the front is often busy," he visually looked over for bruises or cuts, checking her head for any sensitive spots. "I-I was reading up on comas and people not waking up, even though your pulse seemed regular and normal and you were breathing. You had no fever," he pulled off one of his gloves and held the back of his hand to her forehead. "and... well here you are. Awake and aware. Everything seems fine, but it bothers me that I can't figure out why you collapsed in the first place, or why only now you're waking up." He sat down on the bed next to her, his eyes gazing at nothing. She could see the gears in his head running overtime.

"I'm so sorry where are my manners. You must be starved after not eating for three days and, and I'll go fetch your clothes and things. I had your clothing laundered, I'll fetch them," he raced out of the room. When the door was closed she flopped on the bed. She heard the dog slowly come over to her. She rolled over and gave the dog some good pets, her own mind racing. She couldn't think for long, she was feeling weak, in more ways than one. Food sounded good so she didn't resist.

When he returned with her clothes and bag a thought occured to her.

"There wasn't any funny business while I was out, right?"

"I had to check to make sure you didn't pass out from menstruating-" he started explaining.

"You WHAT?"

"Just a check, and I'm a legitimate doctor! It was nothing to worry about and my assistant can verify I didn't do anything... inappropriate. If she hadn't quit on me," he suddenly looked exhausted. "I'll look her up if you want to verify-"

I didn't need to. Er, she, I, didn't need to. I sensed he was telling the truth.

"Well, you promised me a meal. Let me get dressed." She shooed him out. She rested for a second with her back to the door, listening for the sound of him walking away.

When she was satisfied that he had walked a good enough distance, she busied herself with getting dressed, making a mental note to ask who his launder was. Everything was so clean. Was that lavender?

Even though we were watching a memory, I could smell the fresh linen mixed with lavender fragrance.

As I, she, stepped out, she noticed he was at his desk in the corner writing something down. She could see his handwriting from the door and shuddered at how he could possibly read it, let alone some poor assistant. She gave the door a soft kick to get his attention. He bolted up.

"Ah, yes. I was thinking of this quaint little spot, it's got this lovely tea that has a smokey flavor that I've been craving for a bit. Not to mention I don't want to expose you to too much, seeing as you've just woken up."

In rather graceful moves he got his coat on and opened the front door of his clinic, bowing, "After you."

It was late morning, judging by the sun's position in the sky. They made their way to the promised tea room. It was a bit underground. Even from a distant memory I, my present self, could taste the first bite of some sweet bread and chowed down through slices of warm bread, sandwiches and soup.

"If you like soup that much I ought to get you some recipes from Maz," Julian spoke before taking a sip of the tea he had been craving. "Oh hell just come over to my place I'll make it myself. She's on ah... a trip."

"Careful, I may take you up on that offer," she remarked.

"Please do," he said sincerely, but with a hint of playfulness to his voice. He chuckled into his tea.

He moved onto straight black coffee and I tried some of that tea. It was nice and probably rare, but it wasn't to my liking.

"I was thinking-"

"There's trouble," he smirked. That smile. Omg that smile.

"Seriously," I, she tried to make herself sound serious. "You took good care of me while I was out. If you're short an assitant I'd be happy to help you out at the clinic. And try some of those soups you mentioned."

"I'll do you one better," he leaned in, putting his mug down. "I'll take you on as an apprentice if I can get a discount for some of the ingredients in your shop."

She deadpan stopped.

"You are the shop owner on the corner, right? That's what the people said when the brought you in," Julian started.

"OH MY GOD MY SHOP!" She quickly gathered her things.

"Yes, I am, I have to hurry and check on it, we'll discuss just how much this "discount" you want in exchange. Swing by after you're done for the day. Thank you for the meal I really enjoyed it." She paused, and turned to look at him again.

"And the company," she said with her own smirk.

Julian smiled.

"I'll see you later then," he raised his mug and finished off his coffee, but she was gone before he could get up.

She sprinted down streets and alleyways, and finally crashed into the door of the shop. She was rustling in her bag for her keys when the door swung open.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Asra yanked me in and locked the door shut.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? I was so worried," Asra pulled me in for a bear hug, nearly crying.

"In a nutshell, I collapsed a few days ago and have been in a doctor's clinic. I'm fine."

I could feel the pressure of that hug in the present. Instinctively my arms raised to hug back, but I looked over at my past double in the black robe. I brought my arms back to my sides. In sync, we both looked back to watch the memory.

"Where's Bast? Why didn't she find me?"

"I thought she was with you? She hasn't returned either."

Faust popped her little head out, showing concern.

"Maybe she's with Muriel," Asra suggested. In my heart if hearts, I knew she wouldn't have stayed with Muriel and his wolf familiar. Especially if I had been in trouble. My mouth felt dry, in the memory and now.

"Asra, Asra listen. When I collapsed, I had visions. Unpleasant ones, I still feel weak. I think my connection to my magic might be severed," she looked in Asra's eyes.

"You do feel weaker. But I don't think it's completely severed. Here, try something simple like summoning light," Asra suggested, even more concerned than myself.

I did the spell and it worked, I tried others and it was evident that my power had become weaker.

"Let's see what the cards say," Asra headed to the back room, still holding onto my hand for dear life.

Asraa shuffled the cards, and I picked out one and flipped it over.

"The Devil?" I asked allowed.

Even though past memory me was confused, things were starting to make sense. My other self in the black robe nodded.

"You are starting to realize," she waved her arm in the motion of a wheel in front of me, obstructing my vision. Memories hastened. Asra and I checked with Muriel, he hadn't seen her but would look for her. Inanna didn't look optimistic, and began sniffing the grounds immediately. The doctor swung by the store, luckily while Asra was away, and we set a 30% discount on the herbs and oils in my inventory in exchange for apprenticeship. The work at the clinic helped keep my mind off my troubles. Temporarily. Otherwise if I wasn't at the clinic, I was at the shop. If I weren't at either one, I'd be in the woods searching for my familiar. My heart ached for her and my ability to practice magic was crippled. Asra was patient and helped me practice and relearn. Asra knew I needed to keep busy, and didn't question my apprenticeship with the doctor. Of course both romances ensued. I was lost, my people had been wiped out and my familiar was gone. Muriel reported that the didn't find anything in the forest. Even if she had died they would have found something.

Again memories fluttered past. One, which I think is a particular favorite, I made slow in front of us. It was during one of Asra's trips to find answers where I was left on my own. It was a long day at the clinic, people were starting to get ill. Julian and I had gone out for drinks and as he was escorting me back to my shop, a thunderstorm rolled in and began to rain. Julian clinic was closer so we rain in the rain laughing and full of life. We took refuge in a favored city garden with flowers that glowed. Starstrand. Deadly starstrand. Julian pulled me in close to himself. We were both soaked, and breathing heavy from our run. His mouth was so close and his lips looked soft. He kissed me, I kissed him back. We both had the same desire in our eyes and decided to head for his place. More than once we stopped along the way and made out in the pouring rain, grabbing at each other. We finally reached his clinic, which similarly to my shop his living space was above his work space. He pushed me up against the door, his mouth seeking mine and vice versa. The smell of him and fresh rain made for a heady sensation. When I was finally shivering from the cold and wet clothes Julian carried me inside and up into his place. We hurriedly stripped each other of our soaked clothing, heated open mouth kisses. Oh that first time with him, he was damn ready to please repeatedly that night. It had been so long. We were still at each other like rabbits when rays of the early dawn filtered through the windows.

"Oh, Julian, our businesses. We should- OOoh," I moaned into his shoulder as he slipped into me again.

"We're closed today," he practically growled.

Finally, exhausted, we fell asleep intertwined.

We were rudely and suddenly woken up by someone banging on Julian's clinic door.

"Doctor, I really need to see you!"

Julian, disgruntled and possibly regretting choosing his career, threw open the window.

"I'll be down in a half hour," he shouted to the person pounding on the door. He shut the window but looked troubled.

"What is it?" I asked him. My past memory self didn't know, but dread creeped into my chest.

"I-it's nothing. I guess I should have opened regular hours today. Let me get washed up and you can wash up while I take care of my patient," he kissed me on the forehead and then the nose.

I looked down at the floor at our still wet clothes we had viciously ripped off each other the night before.

"Uh, what about our clothes?"

"I've got spares I can change into. I think there might be a nurse's clothes packed away. I'll find it once I'm done washing up," he gave me one more squeeze and headed to the back of the living space.

Julian got cleaned up and had set up clean warm water for me. He left the nurse garments for me.

I came down after I had properly cleaned and changed. Julian spotted me and rushed towards me.

"I want you to go home, quickly. And stay there. This doesn't look good," he looked over his shoulder at his patient. He had drawn the curtains around him. "Please, go home and stay home. I'll send a message when I can," he pushed me towards the door. I turned on my heal, face landing into his chest.

"I'm your apprentice, remember? It can't be that bad..." I began to protest but Julian cut me off.

"Yes, it can. Please, go. Get some rest and eat well, and we'll see about you continuing later," he pushed me outside and right into some more people who looked terribly ill.

He pushed me right through the gathering crowd. "Go!" He sounded absolutely urgent and allowed the ill people in.

I felt hurt. I made my way back to my shop. I was exhausted and I still felt weak from when I collapsed weeks ago. I couldn't help but notice the streets we not as loud as they usually were.

I closed the door to my shop and slumped to the floor. I guessed something might be going around and I should probably take stock, people will be asking for herbs and tinctures and other home rememdies.

I made my way up the stairs into the living quarters to find Asra sitting on the edge of our bed. By the look on their face, the answers he found weren't good. He noticed the clothes I was wearing.

"We should leave Vesuvia," Asra said bluntly.

"What?"

"There are warning signs, something very, very bad is going to happen," Asra had risen from their spot on the bed and held my hands. "We need to leave."

My double at my side waved the memories on to speed up.

The next memories were difficult and painful. The Red Plague had broken out. Julian and I were issued plague masks to wear while treating people in our clinic. Asra still pestered me to leave Vesuvia while we had the chance.

The Palace summoned doctors from all over when the Count came down with the plague himself, including Julian. He tried to keep his clinic open whilst working in the palace. We saw countless gut wrenching deaths in his clinic. It didn't help Julian when Brundle passed. We had to make a decision: should we close down the clinic, advise people to go and die in their homes, and work full time at the palace? Or stretch ourselves thin to the point of breaking. Julian and I couldn't bring ourselves to abandon the people of Vesuvia, so we chose the latter.

But the casualties escalated. Businesses closed down, everyone quarantined. Healthy people fled. That's what Asra wanted to do.

"We've got to go!" Asra had never raised their voice with me but I could tell he was getting desperate.

"I've got to stay and help. These people need our help! We can't abandon them!"

"We can't save them! It's time to save ourselves. They're going to close the boarders tonight!"

"That's ridiculous! Julian - Dr. Devorak says the source are the beetles..."

"It doesn't matter!" Asra slammed their fist into the table. "There's a place far from here that I have, we can go there and ride this out..."

"I won't abandon the city-"

"THE CITY IS DYING! THE COUNT HIMSELF IS DYING!" Asra was screaming.

"What about Muriel? What if he gets sick?"

"He's far from the city. He and Inanna will be fine!"

"Is there no one in this city you care about?" My eyes looked into Asra's, searching.

"You," Asra started to tear up.

Emotions boiled up. Even in the present I could feel the lump in my throat.

"I've got to stay," I managed to get out in a whisper, tears rolling down my face.

Asra stood up and kissed me, he kissed at my eyes.

"I've got to go," Asra's voice matched my own hoarseness and emotion. He grabbed his bag, tossed his scarf around his neck and his hat with that odd feather.

"I'll come back once you've changed your mind," Asra kissed me good bye. And then they were gone. I slumped down on the floor, crying. I'd felt heart break in my long lifespan but it never hurts any less. I managed to lock the doors, climb up the stairs and into bed.

The very next day I woke up feeling pretty terrible. I assumed it was just from crying most of the night. I washed up and dressed to work down at the clinic. The door was locked, thankfully Julian had given me a spare key for when he overslept. People were already gathered outside.

"Give me five minutes," I bolted the door behind me. It was oddly quiet. I went up to Julian's living space. I found a note on the bed.

"'My Love,

I've been summoned to work full time at the palace. We'll keep in touch. Don't open the clinic anymore, just make house calls. There is no cure yet, that is what we are working on here. Just make them as comfortable as possible, and write down whatever information you think relevant.

I do think it goes without saying I love you. Be strong, we'll see each other through this. I know we will.

Yours,

Julian ♡"

I slumped to the ground beside the bed. When would I see him again? Rubbing my eyes, I wasn't ready to face today. I had no choice.

I made my way downstairs, wrote a sign that the clinic was closed and to wait for house calls.

I put my plague mask on and came outside to face the people whose eyes had started to turn red.

"Please stand here, I'll be collecting names and addresses. The clinic is closed and I will be making house visits."

I nailed the sign to the door and locked and bolted it. I took names and addresses and the crowd dispersed.

The memories started to flutter again, I already knew what became of me. My past self and I decided those memories did not need to be addressed. They fluttered past, even though we passed through them quickly I could feel the loneliness, the pain from the disease. And then the flames of the furnace.

We were once again surrounded by the white fluff. I felt so many emotions at once.

"We were weakened intentionally so we would be susceptible to the plague," my past self finally spoke. "We were severed from our people, and our familiar. It was intentional."

I looked at her. I knew it was true. And I knew who the culprit was.

"So he has Bast?" I said aloud, more of a statement than a question. She nodded solemnly.

"I had to walk this path of memories with you before we merged. Our old age has lots of memories and it could have killed you, us if I hadn't taken this time to show you."

I nodded, understanding.

"What will happen when we merge?"

"We will be whole again," she said simply.

"We can tap into the energy that surrounds us. We are still a great and power magician. We can take it further and tap into our memories, the years spent practicing all sorts of magic. We have one more advantage," she said, with hope in her voice.

"And what is that?"

"We can tap into the spirits of our deceased people. They have always been with us, I think you must have forgotten that when we lost our familiar. Our ancestors will give us enough strength," she held my hands.

"Enough strength to do what?" I asked.

"To become what we once were. Powerful Witch and Warrior. We will get our familiar back and win this battle," she said with certainty.

"As we speak our body is changing, the muscle memory will return. The strength we once had will return. And our people's spirits will be with us."

"Will I remember?"

"Yes. It is time to merge. You know what we knew and what we must do,"

She looked me in the eyes. My face, my hair, my eyes.

"The past and choices have led us here. To this moment. It is time to take the present into our own hands and make the best of it. Our destiny awaits," she released my hands and opened her arms to embrace.

I hugged her back. Myself. She is me and I am her.

The white cleared, I gasped for breath. It must not have been more than thirty seconds outside of my walk through memory lane. Asra was by my side, their parents making their way towards me. The woman with the spear was on the table hunting Lucio down. The courtiers were throwing a tantrum and the Devil was yelling at them because something had obviously gone wrong. Everything was in slow motion at first but the next thing I knew Asra's parents were hovering over the both of us, Muriel and Julian on my other side.

"Are you okay?"

"How do you feel?"

"Are you hurt?"

I felt my body changing, just as my past self in the black robe had said. Energy, so much energy.

It was almost too much to take in. Everyone peering at me.

All I could say was...

"I remember"

[sakkac]

re: fumetsu no anata e as of chapter 139.2

this started as a response to @bestbonnist​‘s post on chapter 139.2 but now i’m just dissecting differences and similarities between tonari, mizuha, and kahak like im writing an essay for a uni class. i interchangeably use he/they pronouns for fushi and my writing may be clumsy (bc im not actually writing for uni ❤️).

mizuha is a broken mirror to tonari (and kahak a foil to the two aforementioned) in this modern-day arc, especially in their expressions of love for fushi. tonari’s love for fushi is aged over hundreds of years and mizuha’s, at first glance, is an infatuation just based on how long they’ve known each other. im the biggest kahak stan ever, but even i understand kahak’s love started as an infatuation for parona’s form. though, i’d consider the word infatuation compromised when it comes to defining mizuha’s love, bc u cant be sure if her love for fushi is entirely her own, seeing as it had been passed from generation to generation of guardians.

(chapter 134, read right to left)

tonari and mizuha aren’t that different once you look deeply into the both of them. mizuha’s personality and actions are factors in tonari’s dislike of her, but what ultimately repels tonari from mizuha is that she knows they’re similar, and that manifests most clearly in how she reacts to fushi being with mizuha. i.e. resenting fushi for using her friends’ vessels to help their “love life” in chapter 135.5. she can’t stand mizuha bc mizuha is able to express her love for fushi and fushi does not reject (or accept) it; tonari still hasn’t fully admitted to herself that she likes fushi romantically (perhaps because she can’t separate it from the devotion that led her to harden her body to poisons and to promise her corpse to rest at fushi’s feet), so seeing mizuha appear to progress further than she has irritates her. as for kahak, tonari only has the biases of the other pseudo-immortals and her own of past hayase reincarnations to rely on. (this is not as plot-related, but these two also both like books. kahak read tonari’s fushi book, so i wish they actually met, but in a world where tonari didnt hate hayase beyond death.)

tonari as a child seemed like she thought herself superior to others, perhaps a natural result of her upbringing. she was raised on a prison island, but she herself never committed any crime; banding together w other kids like her, writing about her life in her book (which keeps her separate from or above others in a way). but this thinking ceases at her relationship w fushi. however, i believe this started before they even met. tonari’s childhood dream at seven years old was to write a book her father would be impressed by. she also used to believe in god, while her family was still whole. she even prayed to god when he decided to participate in the tournament in chapter 35. however, she stops referring to god by the time her father had shown tarnish. coincidentally, she meets fushi, who would “upend everything... jeannanda and [her] fate.” she ends up, instead of writing for her father, writing a book to allow a peaceful existence for fushi for whenever they decided to come back. this act shows that the adult tonari has written fushi to a level above her, out of her reach. 

(chapter 35)

here i’ll quote ray’s words about kahak and tonari: “she also has a surprising amount in common with Kahaku, too, with the ‘I want to protect you even if you disagree.’” the way tonari had waited and honed her body for fushi resembles kahak’s attachment; she had finished living for herself, so now she was only allowing herself to live to further create an ideal vessel for fushi (which also brings up one of hayase’s goals). the difference is that kahak lived for fushi because, as raikkousaki said, fushi was the only thing he was “ALLOWED to live for.” however, while tonari is unquestionably devoted to fushi now, what pulled her to him was black hood’s coercion. as a result of black hood’s words to her, she manipulated fushi into helping her solve her problems, to save her from the island. this first “meeting” also revealed that she was attracted to their white hair; she later admits that she admires their fair skin, contributing to the idea that she could view fushi as the equivalent of a god or at the least, a vision of purity (which is :/ imo, bc of her dark skin). we should also keep in mind that, this, technically her first impression of fushi, and his later display of violent immortality in the arena would further his image as a “legend.” 

mizuha was exposed to fushi’s immortality and reveres him like tonari and kahak respectively do and did. instead of the specific word “legend,” it’s “immortal monster.” her first formal exposure to fushi’s fabled power was not unlike tonari’s, since mizuha had went into her grandfather’s library and read on fushi in chapter 124.1. after this, she manipulates fushi to save her, again paralleling the beginning of tonari’s relationship with fushi, but it’s from her overbearing mother and herself. both tonari and mizuha forced their problems onto fushi, but mizuha doesn’t have black hood stepping in front of her saying “you must lead him.” instead, she may have been influenced by the left hand, but i believe mizuha’s thoughts are majorly her own (left hand lies in wait within mizuha’s consciousness like a predator), and what they appear to say is that she’s leading fushi until he decides to follow her willingly. as for kahak, we only have a few pages on his childhood and what we can make of it and of his actions as an adult is that he was willing to follow fushi wherever they went, until left hand betrayed them both.

mizuha’s superiority complex comes from a different place than young tonari’s; she was a prestigious child from young, in addition to her fear of her uniqueness fading as she aged. this caused her to feel separate from other children. when she meets fushi, she sees how different he is from everyone else and uses subtle ways to keep him with her, while never directly admitting she wants him to stay with her, except for ch 125′s “i’m scared. stay with me tonight,” after her mother’s sudden murder. she usually uses excuses instead, like cutely demanding fushi to walk with her after school and go on dates with her.

(chapter 36 vs. chapter 128.2)

as fushi was introduced to the people around tonari and mizuha, they received similar reactions, i.e. “your hair is so pretty!” and “woah, his hair is white!” in the pages following these, the similarities continue into tonari and mizuha gaining ownership over fushi: in ch 36 oopa declares “tonari found him. so he belongs to tonari,” while the islanders try to get on fushi’s good side, and in ch 128 fushi goes out of their way to ask which club mizuha belongs to when asked to join a club (vocalizing her claim on them so she doesn’t have to directly do so).

(chapters 38, 106, and 139)

when the opening comes for mizuha to actually admit her feelings in chapter 139, she tries, but demands instead, “so... love me.” this recalls kahak’s confession to kai in 105.3, that he wants to “protect fushi’s humanity.” kahak and mizuha were both covered in blood when they spoke, but the atmospheres and characters are different; mizuha is clever w her words, but still too immature to let go of her pride, whereas kahak was the exact opposite. he rid of himself of his pride for fushi when he was a child, but said a lot of the wrong things to fushi when it came down to it. additionally, mizuha, when she wants something, she’ll phrase her words so that it seems like there’s only one choice: to follow her. this has been the case for others including fushi (chapters 120.2′s testing of hanna with “if i died, would you cry for me?” and 132.1′s “i’ll teach you about love” and the following guilt-trip). tonari is more direct with her words and meaning than either mizuha or kahak, bc of her personality. she directly confronts fushi when she realizes he had felt betrayed by her in chapter 38, because she still needed him for his plans. but mizuha is more direct with her actions; in chapter 129.1, she latches herself onto fushi, while trying to get information out of him. after the failed marriage proposal, rather than physically attaching himself to fushi like mizuha, kahak used acts of domesticity and protection to subtly appeal to and maintain his space next to them.

(chapter 38 vs chapter 139)

tonari’s “there are people in this world who are better off dead” above isn’t far from the knockers’ reasoning behind “wishing for death is paramount to being dead” and the reason for mizuha’s mother’s death: left hand decided to “eliminate the cause of [mizuha’s breaking point’s] stress.” what this shows is that tonari can also justify murder, though granted, this is from a hundred chapters ago. however, this black and white thinking comes back in the modern era where tonari holds prejudice against mizuha because of her relation to hayase. tonari knows her dislike of mizuha is unfair, she can’t get around it. tonari is still as prideful as she was when she lived on jeannanda; it’s just that she is able to use fushi to justify her opinions now. i also want to bring up mizuha’s reaction to her mother’s death and funa’s knocker’s “purging and guidance.” mizuha seems comfortable with the sight of death, despite having a more normal childhood than tonari, because her actual main concern overwhelms it; she is always thinking on how she can appeal to fushi (almost like kahak), or in other words, how to salvage her pride. so instead of being concerned over being the actual murderer, she is concerned with appearing as a murderer to fushi.

so to actually answer ray’s question, objectively, tonari’s love is as excessive as kahak and mizuha’s. but personally, i think tonari’s love for fushi right now is also unhealthy, though it comes out of good will. kahak’s love also ended in fushi’s benefit, but it was undoubtedly unhealthy. and ofc, mizuha’s love is also unhealthy; she reaches for fushi for perfection, tonari reaches for fushi for humility.

[thermodynamiclawyer]

yeah, this is gonna be a trainwreck. here’s @bandagegirl ‘s and my GHS headcanon masterpost. our goal was to have at least 3 per character, if not more. we kinda had to group the last few characters together in the end, though. it’ll be split up in categories between the characters in the Game, then Anime-Only, and then overall Worldbuilding at the end as for easier reading.

Game Characters

Gregory

the Lost World/Gregory House is Gregory’s own manifestation through loneliness and envy. (see Worldbuilding)

he’s WAY older than a grandfather of James. he’s more of a great-great-great-great grandfather, but it’s easier to just call him grandpa.

he’s been long dead in reality for years. always constantly dreaming and manifesting his Lost World and eventually never woke up.

there is almost 0 records of him from reality. because of this, there is no clear time period he originated in, unlike the guests.

he’s a collector. he loves historically significant antique items to put on a shelf and learn all about.

as taken from the manga, his favorite historical subject is War.

he suffered from frequent night terrors as a teenager, making it difficult to sleep before the manifestation of the Lost World.

while he usually tries to set up a weekly chore schedule for the residents in the hotel, he usually ends up doing everything himself (both because the guests throw in the towel very quickly and that Gregory wants to do everything right).

his magic abilities include teleportation and immortality, but he’s still very prone to injury.

Gregory Mama

she’s actually a manifestation within the Lost World that Gregory used to cope/punish himself with.

has the tendency to adopt new guests as family members only to eat them/their souls later. this also applies to Gregory attempting to manifest new family members in the past, to which he stopped after Gregory Mama has shown to steal their souls each time.

obviously, she’s not Gregory’s real mother, rather a personification of the abuse Gregory suffered in reality.

as young children usually don’t use their parents real name often, she doesn’t have a real name.

James

he’s a child who escaped reality after discovering a forgotten family member (Gregory) in very old family photos; having little to no relation to the rest of the family.

plus, hearing rumors of a hotel that only appeared during moonless nights only encourage him to take on a challenge.

since he’s related to Gregory (even if it’s very distant), his monster transformation was a lot faster, becoming a full rat in little under a month.

he LOVES horror movies, especially slasher films. he might be a little too influenced by them.

he owns a large range of weapons, from toy water guns to actual chainsaws. that doesn’t mean he’ll use them responsibly, though.

he’s a very smart kid, even to the point where he can be manipulative to both the kids and the adults. he’ll even convince other kids to take the blame for him whenever he starts problems.

his parents from reality miss him very much.

Catherine

in reality, Catherine was a German nurse in the 1940’s during WW2.

as a human, she was actually afraid of the sight of blood and would get lightheaded whenever she had to treat a soldier’s wounds. however, as a determined nurse, she tried her hardest to become tolerant of blood. tolerance became fondness and fondness became obsession to the point where she was hurting her patients just to see blood again.

she is attracted to both men and women, however she experiences internalized biphobia. due to this, she’s desperate to find true love with a man while specifically trying to avoid romantic relationships with women.

she knows how to take care of children.

she molts her skin during periods of time, you know, since she’s a lizard.

she didn’t gain magic powers along with her transformation, but instead gained physical strength.

Cactus Gunman and Cactus Girl

both originated in the Mexican revolution, especially around 1910.

Gunman had been shot in the chest a few times in his life and surprisingly survived each of them.

Gunman’s personality completely changed once he arrived in Gregory House with his sister, becoming a paranoid coward from the brave “hero” he made himself out to be.

they both grow seasonal flowers in the springtime. Gunman grows one large red flower on his head, which he hides with his hat in the spring time. he prefers to only show to his potential lover. Cactus Girl grows smaller white flowers in her hair.

Gunman is in dire need of glasses.

Gunman is quite fond of gardening, and loves to talk about flora. sometimes, Lost Doll will accompany him in the courtyard while he weeds.

they would die for each other, so don’t cross them.

Cactus Girl can shoot better than Gunman, but prefers her lasso and other melee weapons. she’s sworn off using guns after the revolution.

Cactus Girl has the ability to spawn in zones in smaller closed areas, such as turning her hotel room into Cactus Land; sort of like a pocket dimension. it’ll disappear as soon as she leaves the room.

sometimes, they both don’t need to eat due to the occasional Photosynthesis, and can go a long time without water.

Hell’s Chef

he worked as a highly regarded chef in Russia at a fancy restaurant, with mixed European family origins.

him and Mirror Man were coworkers of some sort.

he came from a long line of wrestlers, but broke family tradition to cook as a passion and career.

he died after the restaurant went up in flames.

his throat is still scratchy and rough from the incident, so he isn’t much of a talker. not to mention the language barrier and that he’s still attempting to learn the language everyone else speaks in Gregory House.

while the appearance of his meals look absolutely irredeemable, Chef’s cooking is actually very tasty; so much that you almost can’t taste the poison. he prefers making meals that are hearty and savory, rather than “looking good”.

he prefers to do all the food shopping and butchering. nobody knows the best ingredient selections like he does.

like Catherine, all of this “magic ability” went to his incredible strength.

most, if not all of his body is made out of wax, with vein like wick all throughout the body, giving him general bodily structure.

Neko Zombie

(see Worldbuilding)

Clock Master and My Son

My Son was a stillborn in reality; the death of him and his mother gave Clock Master an alcohol addiction and depression.

1960 is the year My Son and CM's wife died, making it when time stopped for CM. he’s sort of “stuck” in 1960 in a way, which is why the year is plastered on both of their foreheads.

My Son was technically "born" in Gregory House.

when Clock Master came to Gregory House, an infant My Son was already waiting in his room. Because the child died before getting a name, CM referred to him as My Son.

while CM's time abilities are getting worse with age, they never were great to begin with due to the Lost World's unusual flow of time.

My Son's time abilities on the other hand have the potential to be the most powerful ability out of everyone's when he gets older, being able to play multiple timelines at the same time and even rewriting reality. this is due to being born in the Lost World, so his ability has adapted to Gregory House’s “time” system.

Judgement Boy + Gold

instead of a singular character, Judgement Boys are classified as a “species” considering there are multiple of them, with more being produced in the Judgement Factory daily. there is not a singular JB.

the Judgement Factory in Gregory House is a sub-factory of a much bigger Core Factory, where it branches off into different zones and other manifestations. There are countless Judgement Factories in existence, all with numerous JBs being produced and trained.

Judgement Boy Gold is an individual one-of-a-kind model, however, there are more in the “Metal” series similar to him in different factories with a variety of training jobs.

JBs came into existence after a lawyer in the early 2000’s won a court case that suppressed the rights and safety of these assembly line workers in a Toy Factory, which caused hundreds of workers to be injured or even killed. realizing the consequences of his actions, he spiraled downwards into insanity and ended up in Gregory House, rarely leaving his hotel room and eventually manifesting the Factory.

most models or designs of a Judgement Boy are based off of toys; one of the very few things reflected from the lawyer’s fatal court case.

the standard JB’s appearance is a bastardized caricature of the original lawyer, only with added cages and robotic features. the lawyer began transforming into a red monster with sharp teeth and claws, but never saw the results as he disappeared into the Core Factory one day, never to be seen again.

see @ask-factory and the #extended factory tag for a more extensive story.

Mummy Family

Mummy Papa, Mummy Dog, and Mummy Mama originated somewhere in the 1980’s.

the reason they’re in Gregory House is an overlap of death and the fact that Mummy Papa was unintentionally poisoning the 3, leading to ending up in the hotel as a “punishment”.

they’re Bloodhounds.

Mummy Papa loves to collect weapons and owns a saber collection, especially older historically significant ones.

Mummy Dog enjoys morbid facts and likes to tell the other children about death.

Mummy Papa has Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy, which is triggered when the sword shifts in his head. because of this, he keeps himself and the rest of his family sicker with unclear motives, perhaps to have the ability brag about their ailments. (more details here)

Mummy Mama suffers from more immune-system based illnesses and anemia while the other two deal with physical and phantom pain, which they all pass off as colds.

the plant in Mummy Mama’s head is a parasite, and needs to be fed directly to continue living if Mummy Mama gets too weak. (the plant prefers blood)

TV-Fish

one of the few characters classified as a species.

TV Fish have a wide variety of fish or other sea creatures they can be. the TV Fish in Gregory House are much smaller.

some TV Fish don’t even have to be TVs. some can be other electronic appliances just as long as they’re combined with a fish skeleton.

they can be found across other Zones and places besides the Lost World, some with localized and native species differing from what we already seen.

TV Fish are an invasive species in the Lost World.

they’re attracted to people with better memory. a person more intact and in touch with their memories could attract an entire school of TV Fish!

Roulette Boy

practically a God, Roulette Boy has reality bending powers.

however, since he follows his own rules strictly, he sets limits on himself as to only use them for his games, and won’t apply them to himself since he’s the Game Master.

nobody knows what the “rules” he follow are, but he restrains himself on what he can do while hosting a game. though, once you’re in his game, it’s almost a free-for-all and he can change you to be whatever pawn he sees fit until the game is over.

while RB prefers traditional board games, nothing’s stopping him from hosting RPGs or other turn-based video games (as seen in Lost Qualia.) he also loves gacha games and gambling.

when not hosting a game, he likes to roleplay.

Angel/Devil Dog

she is not a guest in Gregory House, neither a manifestation of the Lost World. she is a messenger from an entire separate outside world/reality, and she’s always been Angel Dog.

her, Death, and Gregory have been around equally the longest.

her and Gregory have a long history of rivalry. she’s always meddling in the Lost World and trying to let souls out a backdoor. whether she’s doing it to free them, or just to piss off Gregory, depends on her mood.

Angel Dog has a solid grasp on reality, however, her reality is different from the guests. it’s why her and Neko Zombie get along.

she doesn’t have a split personality disorder, as she chooses to become Devil Dog whenever she feels like it. her decision making is very emotion-based.

she’s a Dachshund!

Devil Dog likes soccer, and Angel Dog likes american football.

Lost Doll

ever since coming to the Lost World, she has either stopped aging altogether or she ages very slowly, as most object-based guests do.

she’s a wooden marionette with the ability to change her size.

in reality, she belonged to a very poor family who could only afford a few outdated wooden toys, which is why Katie was so special to her.

she’s good friends with James, even if she’s usually the one falling victim to his pranks. sometimes, when Katie takes over, it can be the other way around.

she has poor volume control and tends to shout when she’s excited or provoked.

she’s the youngest guest.

Death

Death, like Gregory Mama, is a manifestation of a part of Gregory's life.

he was created from Gregory’s favorite comfort movie, The Seventh Seal.

Death used to work in Gregory House as a doorman, welcoming the guests and wishing them goodbye, but fleed when Gregory Mama appeared and got rid of all other "manifestations".

his goal is to free Gregory's soul and end the Lost World, which is only possible if Gregory is the only person left.

Anime Characters

Dr.Fritz

Dr.Fritz is also German like Catherine, but came a little later in time.

back in reality, his body slowly stop responding, so he illegally tried to build himself a new body. that new body wasn’t fully ready yet when he decided to transplant his own brain when he was wheelchair bound and starting to lose arm control, so it was a very long process.

because of his condition, doctors either didn’t treat him correctly or flat out ignored his problems, so he has a strong mistrust to other doctors, which is why he wanted to operate on himself. the other doctors said there was nothing they could do, but he had other plans in mind.

he was there for the Berlin wall falling, and still has a piece of it as a keepsake.

he falls apart easily and has to re-sew body parts or snap his neck back into place. Catherine helps put him back together (in return, Fritz helps her shed.)

Catherine calls him Fritzchen on occasion.

he documents the species of the patients he treats out of curiosity and hopes to help them better. his treatments may be considered “unethical” but he knows for certain that if it’s to cure or treat the patient, he’ll go great lengths to break any rule in the medical field.

Mono Eye Wizard + Frog Fortune Teller

both are canonically married to each other, i just wanted to make sure everyone knew :]

Mono Eye Wizard wears a helmet, and he’s also an amphibian with one eye underneath his robe.

both are very interested and knowledgeable in the Magical and Paranormal side of the Lost World.

both held onto their souls for longer than most people, but lost them in the end.

Wizard is normally very powerful, he just SUCKS at summonings. (plus, he’s a little bit of an idiot)

on the other hand, Frog Fortune Teller isn’t very powerful, but she is very smart (and stubborn). she’s almost always right, especially if it’s a bad thing she predicted.

Wizard, and other characters such as Musha Dokuro and Egypetit all worship the same Dark Lord.

the little horned skeletons in Wizard’s cult are also classified as a species. sometimes, he allows in other interested members.

Wizard is fluent in latin.

Second Guest

the Second Guest, as shown at the end of the season two, has the silhouette of a rat. that’s her actual form; a shadow.

her “job” is to eavesdrop on other guests to go and report to Gregory Mama.

she’s very fast, quiet, hard to catch, and a big snitch.

the others call her “Hello Sister” as a title, while Gregory Mama calls her “My Lovely Daughter.”

her cigarette embers still glow on the wall, which is one of the only signals she’s in the room, especially in a poorly lit one.

usually only Gregory, James, and Mama can “hear” what she’s saying.

Chef strongly dislikes her and Lost Doll avoids her like the plague.

Prompters

a pair of indistinguishable twins, escaping reality after being rejected of their dream to become famous theater actors. both young adults.

they work multiple part time jobs, including helping out in the Judgement Factory in the hotel and Kabuki's theater, along with Poor Conductor’s performances.

they share drinks at the bar. their favorite drink is a raspberry/strawberry milkshake with two cherries. don’t forget to give them two straws!

they’re both learning how to cook with Hell’s Chef. so far, they can dice onions very well. :]

Public Phone

he’s in the Lost World as a punishment for being a greedy thief in reality.

he can create fake alibis, passports, various cards in addition to faking voices.

he’s drinking pals with Clock Master.

he takes any currency, just nothing fake. only HE can be the swindle here.

he’s a perverted little bitch.

Various Species

Haniwa Salarymen are classified as species, created from overworked businessmen in reality. The occurrence of them are very common, and season 1 happens to focus on one of them.

Black Ducks are a species, specializing in working kiosks, amusement parks, and other booths. Speed Mouse is never seen without a team of Black Ducks. Street Vendors sometimes accompany them.

Musha Dokuro are an invasive species to the Lost World.

Trap Mice are a (rare) artificial species built in the Lost World.

Dead Bodies are also classified as a species. they are the result of Death freeing an individual’s soul, leaving a husk/empty body behind.

species like these show up in reality to those who are close to their visit in the Lost World, appearing in the background or the corner of their eye, replacing real people.

individuals in all of those species are not visible/noticable until you interact and get close with them. they’re like NPCs.

Others

Wooden Lizard was Captain Wood’s favorite keychain that came to life.

Fat Chicken is an omnivore. He can and will eat anything.

(see here for Pig Gentleman and Mirror Man.)

Mirror Man can summon his own pocket dimension.

Kinko and Inko know more than they lead on, and Kinko is definitely much more powerful, but he can’t be bothered to do anything about it. he’s lazy.

Inko smokes cigars, but hates cigarettes.

Earth Man (from Lost Qualia) is non-verbal. he’s also very eco friendly!

Hell’s Taxi is a manifestation of a false sense of hope to escape the Lost World. it can also manifest in Reality to pick up new guests.

Egypetit’s head is made up of Gold, a strong conductor of magic in the Lost World.

Poor Conductor was powerful enough to manifest his own room into the Lost World, rather than checking into the Hotel himself.

Unbaba is semi non-verbal and cannot remove his mask. he’s definitely powerful enough to make guests lose their souls.

Bonsai Kabuki needs to water his head frequently or else he’ll be drained of energy, and be unable to open his third eye.

The Rainbow Dragon fossils, which Bonehead is after, are cursed, and uses his wife’s voice to compel him into seeking after them to claim yet another victim.

Toilet Baby may not be as powerful, but he can still summon dangerous attacks related to pocket dimensions.

Sleepy Sheep is used as a vessel in his sleep for those who are powerful enough to enter dreams.

Worldbuilding

Gregory House was a real place back in Reality, and it originally belonged to Neko Zombie and his loving family.

However, years and years of built up envy and hatred from Gregory, a person who didn’t receive the same love and luxuries as Neko Zombie, manifested the Lost World as a way for him to cope with the things he didn’t have in Reality, bringing the house down with him.

The remains of the house in Reality is now a mere rumor in the town, but its influence spreads across many zones to this day.

Neko Zombie is the final remaining member of the original owners of the house.

Him and Gregory are LONG forgotten for generations in Reality.

Zones are a loose term in the Lost World, which could mean alternate realities, different dimensions, etc. The Lost World is a zone with its own manifestations.

Another Zone could have its own origins and realities. Reality is not a zone, if that makes sense.

A Zone itself can manifest as a single individual or object being the Core that keeps the zone existing. (See The Core Judgement Factory that branches off Sub-Factories into different Zones.)

The Lost World is a very large Zone that reaches and branches off into other Zones, pulling in individuals.

Because of Zonal shenanigans, time moves a lot differently in the Lost World.

awful hospital does a better job handling zones better than this, actually. we took a little bit of inspiration from it. see here and here for a better grasp on what i’m trying to say.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(Image description: three illustrations of drow in pairs to show their eusocial hierarchy. First is the leadership, consisting of Matriarchs and Chamberlains. The Matriarch here is shown to be pregnant, wearing a long dress and a spiderweb veil. The Chamberlain is wearing a spiderweb-themed top made of leather straps, as well as tight pants and a decorative loincloth. Second are the advisors, Avaune and Governesses. The Avaune here is an older drow using a cane and wearing a simple shirt and pants outfit, with a golden spiderweb hairpiece. The Governess is a young adult female drow wearing a silver spiderweb hairpiece, a long skirt, and a sort of poncho with clasps at the front and a spiderweb cape at the back. Third and final, the commoners, which consists of workers and wanderers. the worker drow is wearing a basic sweater and pants, the wanderer has a more colorful outfit with flamboyant sleeves and a long draped cloth at the waist. All the drow have purple skin, white hair, and a monkey-like tail. End description.)

My drow have a eusocial hierarchy, much like another mammal that lives underground: naked mole rats. The average drow is infertile, with the fertile males and females being the Matriarchs and Chamberlains, and most of the colony being their children, aside from the Avaune. The previous post was about drow evolution, and I also have a drow masterpost.

Under the cut I've written lengthy descriptions of each role listed above. If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon!

The leadership of a drow colony are the parents of the colony. The Matriarchs are the literal mothers of the colony, giving birth to all the babies. A Matriarch holds the highest rank in the social hierarchy, and is regarded as a spiritual guiding figure. She connects the colony to the mother goddess, usually depicted as a spider. Matriarchs must earn their place by going through a series of trials before they are allowed to go through the medical process of hormone alteration that will allow them to bear children. These trials are based on old drow legends, such as the stores about how their people migrated underground, lead by their mothers to safety, where a giant ethereal spider taught them to spin light into thread. Most Matriarchs are cisgender women, though there have been some exceptions. In order to become a Matriarch, a drow must meet a series of requirements, undergo the trials, and then receive medical treatment to alter their hormones. Like naked mole rats, afab drow all have suppressed hormones, which can change naturally to make them fertile. The medical treatment is just more reliable than waiting for the natural shift. As the Matriarch is expected to birth many children, and many of them are born as twins, they just tend to be cisgender women. There are medical operations for trans folks of any species to completely swap their reproductive systems, but the complicated nature of drow hormones make it difficult for a trans drow woman to actually become pregnant without other health issues. A Matriarch might give birth once a year, at most. It takes a very long time for a new Matriarch to establish a full colony.

The Chamberlains are the fathers of the colony. They are fertile males from outside colonies, trained from puberty in the ways of social politics and management. While all drow females are capable of going through a hormone shift to become fertile, male drow are almost all infertile and cannot change this. Only a few random males will become fertile during puberty. They are carefully identified and go through special education so they can become effective leaders. A fertile male drow is recognizable first by his behavior, as his instincts drive him to want to leave his home colony. Physically, the genitals of a male drow are also distinctly more developed than the average infertile drow. It is much more common for Chamberlains to be trans or nonbinary, as compared to Matriarchs, since they seem to be fertile completely at random and no one has yet discovered a way to intentionally cause fertility in amab drow. After they finish their training, these drow are sent to the Matriarchs of other colonies as a way to establish allegiances. A Chamberlain must prove his worth to his new matriarch and her colony by earning their trust. If he does a bad enough job, he will be kicked out by the colony. Colonies typically have 3-5 Chamberlains per Matriarch, and it is considered poor manners to try and figure out which Chamberlain is one's father, since they don't want to cause disruption through favoritism.

Some fertile male drow refuse this role entirely and become wanderers instead.

The Avaune, which is a gender neutral title for "aunt" and "uncle", are older drow who assist a new Matriarch in building her colony. They come over with her from her home colony, as they are her siblings. Usually they are older than a new Matriarch and volunteer to help her. With their advice and assistance, Matriarchs and Chamberlains are more effective leaders and new colonies are more easily established. Young drow often go to them for advice as well.

The Governesses are training to be Matriarchs. They are partway through their hormonal shift, having already met the requirements and gone through the trials. Their breasts develop first, allowing them to assist the Matriarch with newborns who need nursing. Although they are the Matriarch's daughters and study under her to gain the experience they will need to start their own colonies, they are also expected to help the Matriarch solve problems and advise her on certain issues. This helps them gain the necessary critical thinking skills they will need to be leaders of their future colonies.

The average infertile drow is called a worker. They fill a number of positions according to their own skills and desires, though of course there are many required jobs as well. Scouts, tunnelers, and cartographers explore the caves and make sure they are safe to travel, locating and recording natural resources and dangers. Weavers make cloth and textiles from the special moonlight threads the spinners craft. Food, shelter, and heat are all provided by various workers within the colony. They are all siblings, and they must work together to maintain the general health and safety of their entire colony. The population of a single colony with just one Matriarch is usually quite small, perhaps 50-80 workers old enough to be helpful. It is common for two or three colonies of varying ages to share a cavern, keeping themselves organized by wearing a specific woven pattern or crest to denote their personal colony.

Wanderers, the nomadic fertile male drow who choose not to become Chamberlains, are at the bottom of the hierarchy. They will often rename themselves when they leave their home colony, perhaps naming themselves after things they find after leaving the caves, like a bird or flower. Wanderers travel all over the place, interacting with the world. Anyone who has partial drow ancestry can most likely trace their origins to the wanderers. Occasionally, a wanderer will find another drow colony and pop in for a visit to the Matriarch there. If she is not currently pregnant, a Matriarch may decide to mate with the wanderer, which will provide her colony with a little more genetic variation. When she is done with him, the Chamberlains chase him out. It has become a bit of a ritual, over time. There are much theatrics around the arrival and ousting of a wanderer. They take the role of outcasts and scoundrels, though everyone knows they're actually quite important in preventing the general population from hitting genetic bottlenecks.

[melanielocke]

Lost in the Shadows - Chapter 25

AO3

Taglist: @nott-the-best @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised@alastair-appreciation-month

Previous Chapter: Chapter 24

Next Chapter: Chapter 26

Uncle Jem had brought several of the Carstairs family’s old notebooks, and the past week they’d spend studying them to see if there was anything interesting. They’d rescued Grace, but no one had been able to find Tatiana since, nor did they know what they were up against exactly and if they could defeat it. Cordelia believed cortana could kill it, but walking in with no plan would just get them all killed.

Thomas felt like they were running out of time. He hadn’t told anyone yet, but he felt tired lately, much more than usual. For Alastair that was normal, he guessed, Alastair was always tired and therefore Thomas had no reason to complain. Still, it was odd and sudden. Then he’d gotten a bit of a headache, and right now he struggled to finish his lunch, which was already much smaller than what he usually ate. He’d eaten much less than he usually did the past days, truth to be told. He just didn’t have the same appetite. He was feeling a little chilly too, but guessed he should just put on a cardigan.

‘Are you alright, Tommy?’ his mother asked. ‘You’ve been eating so little lately.’

‘Just nervous, that’s all,’ Thomas said.

The thing was, Thomas didn’t usually eat less when he was nervous. If anything he ate more, he’d always been a stress eater. Instead he figured he was coming down with something. Someone else might just have said, ‘I think I’m getting sick, I’m going to rest a bit’, but after a childhood of frequent illness and worrying parents Thomas couldn’t get the words over his lips. He’d make sure to rest a bit more, he told himself. But he didn’t want to worry anymore, and he especially didn’t want his parents to start taking care of him like they used to when he was young.

Instead, he returned his attention to Alastair, who had long finished eating and gone outside to read. A ray of sunlight fell on his cheek, illuminating his warm golden brown skin. His eyes were fixated in a journal so old it looked like it might fall apart any moment. Not in Alastair’s careful hands though. He was holding the journal with meticulous care, so no damage would come to it. With his free hand, he pushed a lock of hair behind his ear, but it was not yet long enough to stay there so it fell back in front of his face. Back in school, Alastair would slick his hair back with hair gel, always perfectly in order, not a hair out of place. Thomas, who usually took a comb through his hair and left it at that, had wondered where he found the time. Now it was falling in soft wavy locks over his face. At school Thomas would never have guessed Alastair’s hair was wavy, but it was loose now and Thomas had grown to love gently running his fingers through it. He’d always loved Alastair’s dark hair, he thought. Alastair had shown him a picture from when he’d dyed it blonde, and although that looked alright, Thomas thought his dark hair was much more beautiful.

‘Anything interesting?’ Thomas asked, sitting down on the bench next to Alastair.

A gnome came up to his feet. Thomas and his mother had been feeding them to gain their trust, and not long since the gnomes had learnt that Thomas meant a chance for food. He guessed there were still plenty of cookies he didn’t feel like eating at the moment anyway, but he also wasn’t motivated to go into the kitchen and get anything. Thomas guessed resisting that adorable smile was good practice for when he got pets.

‘Nothing yet,’ Alastair said. ‘But I think I’m getting to the part that described that witch. It might give us some clues about what else Lucie can do.’

‘Have you discussed with Cordelia where you’ll live after the summer?’ Thomas asked.

Alastair had confided in him that even if his mother managed to get back the house and could go and live there, he was considering moving in with uncle Jem for the time being. His father’s house held too many bad memories, and Thomas could understand it would not be good for his recovery to live there again. Alastair had not yet made a decision, but Thomas thought it might be good for him.

‘She has not yet decided what she’ll do,’ Alastair said. ‘She is a bit young to live without her mother after all. Besides, with our mother pregnant it would be better to have someone with her. If she doesn’t get the house back, I presume she would stay with Risa and with me gone there might be enough space for Cordelia as well. But I’m almost nineteen, I figured it might be time to move out. Even if I’m moving in with another relative instead of getting my own place.’

‘That’s just practical, living on your own would be expensive. Besides, Jem won’t be another parent, will he? So you’ll still get to practice your adulting skills in a relatively safe environment. Does Jem live far away from your mother?’

‘Completely different part of London, but still in the city,’ Alastair said. ‘Easy to travel to university from there. It’s a big house, so I’ll really have my own space and get to take care of myself, with Jem still there in case I can’t. I’ve lived there until I was about six. When I was still happy, there are no bad memories tied up to that place. I thought maybe I could be happy again there.’

‘Where does Jem live exactly?’ Thomas asked.

Alastair gently put the notebook away, closing it carefully and putting it down in his lap. He took his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, showing him a screen of google maps with a marker where Jem lived.

‘Oh, that’s not far from where my parents live,’ Thomas said. ‘Only a few stops with the metro. We live close to the station.’

‘I didn’t realize. Well, that’s convenient. Makes it easy to have sleep overs or go out together if we don’t live too far away.’

‘Precisely,’ Thomas said. ‘Would you like to go for a walk when you’re finished here? A short one, I am a little tired. But I’d like some fresh air.’

Alastair carefully bound up his notebook and put it on the table inside with the others, before coming with him.

‘It’s safer to bring Lucie,’ Alastair said. ‘In case we get trapped in between again.’

Alastair had a point, although Thomas would like some time alone with him. He was so busy at work all the time, ever since Jem had arrived he was preoccupied with the journals. Thomas missed their walks.

‘Alright, we’ll walk to uncle Will and aunt Tessa and ask her and Cordelia to come. I’m curious if uncle Gabriel and aunt Cecily are coming this way too. Jem said they were struggling to find a babysitter.’

‘Right, for little Alexander,’ Alastair said.

‘And Christopher,’ Thomas added. ‘My other cousin. He’s almost seven now.’

‘What’s he like?’ Alastair asked.

‘Different from Alexander, that’s for sure,’ Thomas said. ‘Alexander is a menace. Sweet, but fierce and hyperactive and if you don’t watch him for two seconds he’s swinging from the curtains somewhere. Christopher… he’s not as wild. He’s curious and is obsessed with science. He likes to do simple experiments, and we sometimes have to keep him from setting things on fire. I’m not sure he realizes “Don’t try this at home” applies to him as well. Fortunately, putting on a science show on tv usually keeps him from blowing anything up. Usually, my sisters and I babysit them when necessary, but he also adores uncle Henry, who is an inventor.’

It occurred to Thomas that Henry was Charles’ father. Sometimes children did not resemble their parents, he guessed. It had been a bit of a shock for everyone to learn that Charles had been Alastair’s former lover. Even if not everyone knew how awful he’d been to Alastair, they all had pieced together how much older Charles was. His father most of all had been horrified, since he’d known Charles since he was a baby. Thomas suspected he’d go confront Charles himself if Alastair hadn’t asked him not to. He knew Alastair was still ashamed of his past relationship and was still trying to make sense of it all. Thomas was glad he’d found trust in him and his parents, even if Thomas suspected Alastair still kept the worst of it to himself. Who could blame him? He wasn’t sure if Alastair finally believed his parents cared about him now, but at least he seemed to trust them which was a big step for Alastair. His mother had told him about her past and how she’d gotten her scar in an attempt to let him know he could talk about it and she understood.

‘As a child I had a phase where I liked science too,’ Alastair said. ‘I think I often had phases like that with different interests. When Cordelia and I were very young, we both loved architecture and played with all sorts of building toys and legos together. I also really liked math for a while. Then the animals from the forests in Devon. I lived there for a while in a small village. I think that’s when I grew a bit obsessed with hedgehogs.’

‘Christopher has been obsessed with science for some time now,’ Thomas said. ‘But we’ll see how it goes and what he’ll like in the future. He’s being assessed for autism and ADHD. He’s a sweet kid, but he struggles socially. Not a lot of friends unfortunately. I honestly think he prefers my company over his peers.’

‘I know what that’s like,’ Alastair said. ‘To be the child with the weird interests and never fit in with other children.’

‘You lived in Devon for a while. What was it like there?’

‘The scenery was amazing. The forests there are beautiful. The people… not so much, I prefer London.’

‘I lived in the countryside for a couple of years too when I was little, for my health. I think where I lived the people were nicer, more involved than in the city.’

Alastair made a face. ‘Not when you’re foreign and your mother wears a roosari. The people in Devon are mostly white. I don’t think Father really considered that when he moved us there, it was mostly about him. They might be kind if you’re part of their group, but they’re hostile to outsiders. Fortunately, we moved back after a couple of years.’

‘Ah, of course,’ Thomas said. ‘I’m sorry.’ He felt stupid for not considering that earlier.

‘Well, people are racist everywhere. But at least in London there are more people of color and people are at least used to the idea that not everyone’s white.’ My mother still gets dirty stares and comments for her roosari, but she’s not the only one who covers her hair. So while in Devon, I much preferred to spend my time in the woods looking for hedgehogs than with other people. I guess I still do.’

Thomas felt a bit numb in his head, shivering even if it wasn’t cold at all. Perhaps going for a walk wasn’t the best idea, but he wanted to spend some time outside just the same. He should have brought something warm to wear, was all. He wasn’t really sick, it was just not as warm as he’d expected. But Alastair wasn’t shivering at all, he seemed to enjoy the sun on his skin. Thomas did too but it didn’t bring him any warmth.

‘You need to go back for a cardigan?’ Alastair asked. ‘There are goosebumps all over your arms.’

‘Oh. No, I’ll be fine.’

Thomas felt faint in the head and by the time they made it to the Herondale’s house, his vision became a little blurry and he collapsed against the door. He was awfully nauseous yet didn’t feel like he was going to throw up. Alastair noticed his sudden movement and his reflexes were quick. He tried to catch him.

‘Why are you so goddamn heavy, Tom,’ he groaned, trying and failing to stop both of them from crashing into the door.

Leaning against Alastair and the door, Thomas pushed himself upright again, blinking a couple of times until he felt he could stand on his own feet again. Alastair’s soft fingers went from his cheek to his forehead, and Thomas immediately recognized what he was doing. It was the same thing his parents and sisters had done his entire childhood. If they didn’t have a thermometer at hand, they’d feel his forehead, his neck, and determine if he was allowed to go anywhere. Alastair was going to determine he was sick and then all that was left was for everyone to tuck him into bed and start taking care of him. Thomas had hoped to avoid that.

‘You’re burning up,’ Alastair said. ‘You should not be going outside, much less for a walk. Come, we’re here anyway, I’m sure you could use the couch.’

Alastair led him inside, one arm around his waist and the other in his hand, and packed him in blankets on the couch, fetching a thermometer and some paracetamol.

‘Alastair,’ Thomas said, trying to piece together words through the headache and light headedness.

‘Just let me get this,’ Alastair said, pushing the thermometer into Thomas’ ear.

‘Alastair,’ Thomas repeated.

’38,6,’ Alastair said. ‘Tom, you have a serious fever. Why didn’t you say anything? I’ll make you some tea, just relax.’

‘Alastair!’ Thomas yelled, startling the boy.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Please don’t. I can make my own tea, I can take my own temperature,’ Thomas said, trying to calm his breath. ‘I hate it when people take care of me. I told you about my sickness as a child. I don’t want things to be like that again, I don’t want to be taken care of. So please, don’t. Just let me do it.’

Alastair sat down next to him. ‘You were about to walk into the woods with a fever. I’ve seen how stubborn you are.’

‘Yes. I am stubborn. I didn’t realize it would be so bad. But please, let me make these mistakes by myself. I don’t want to be treated like a sick child again.’ Thomas paused, blinking away the tears in his eyes. He didn’t realize this would make him so emotional. ‘I always loved that about you, how you believed I could take anything. How you didn’t treat me as if I was fragile because I was small and used to get sick.’

Alastair sighed. ‘I was an ass to you, Tom. It had nothing to do with respect, or thinking you’re strong.’

‘I know, and it did hurt sometimes. But I loved that you believed I could take it. I knew you didn’t mean any of the things you said, and with me, it was always a bit more light hearted, teasing perhaps.

But you never forced me to go to bed and rest when I did not want it. Matthew grew up around me being sick all the time, and I think he learnt from a young age that I was fragile and to be taken care of. James too. But I never wanted that. I’ll rest, I promise. But I’ll make my own tea, alright?’

‘I’m sorry, Tom. You can make your own tea. Make some for me as well?’

Alastair settled onto the couch while Thomas went into the kitchen to put on the kettle, still wrapped in a blanket. He was too cold to go without it. While waiting for the kettle to boil, Thomas realized Alastair did have a point, he could barely stand upright. Still, he was determined to at least do this. If he wanted anything later, he could always ask Alastair. He picked out a selection of tea bags for Alastair and put in a herbal teabag for his own. Thomas didn’t believe herbal tea cured sickness, but it was worth a shot.

He settled back on the couch, wrapped the blankets back around himself and took two paracetamol, hoping that would at least lower the fever.

‘I really can’t believe you think of my being rude to you as something positive,’ Alastair said. ‘I made fun of your height all the time.’

Thomas shrugged from underneath the blanket. ‘I never minded when you called me pipsqueak or wee little Thomas, or, I don’t know, you had plenty to say.’

Alastair raised an eyebrow. ‘You certainly took your revenge.’

Thomas tried to find a comfortable position on the couch, blankets around him. Alastair did have a point with the paracetamol, and Thomas took two. Hopefully they’d lower his fever.

‘Perhaps I’ll start calling you pipsqueak,’ Thomas said. ‘The name suits you much better now.’

Alastair made an undignified sound. ‘I’m not that short.’

‘You’re plenty shorter than me,’ Thomas said. ‘I always kind of liked it, pipsqueak. It sounded sweet even if you meant it to be hurtful. Sometimes I feel like you never really did a good job at being mean anyway.’

‘I never wanted to hurt anyone,’ Alastair said, ‘and I did have a bit of a weak spot for you then. I can be even worse than what you’ve seen, but I save that for bigots.’

Thomas put his hand on Alastair’s cheek. ‘I always thought you were holding back on being mean, even if you could still be quite vicious. But pipsqueak is mine now.’

Alastair looked mortified. ‘I guess I can’t stop you, can I?’

Thomas lay down on the couch, head on a pillow. Why were all these blankets so small? His feet were still cold and he’d have to find a solution for that. Really, blankets should be made for tall people. Nobody short would complain about having a bit of leftover blanket.

‘It’s concerning, that you’re getting sick after all these years,’ Alastair said softly.

‘It’s nothing,’ Thomas said. ‘Everyone gets a fever every once in a while.’

‘I haven’t had a fever in years. Colds, at times, but rarely a fever,’ Alastair said.

‘You don’t get the flu?’ Thomas asked.

‘Not that I remember,’ Alastair said. ‘But I figured that’s just the age, as a child I would get the occasional fever like all children do, and I imagine I’ll get them again when I’m older.’

Thomas had gotten the flu a couple of time over the past years. Never anything serious or with abnormal frequency, but it had sent the entire family into a panic whenever it happened.

‘Please don’t tell my parents,’ Thomas said. ‘That I’m sick, I mean.’

‘How did you plan to keep it from them?’ Alastair asked.

‘Well, I was hoping I’d be better by the next morning,’ Thomas said. ‘I could sleep over here and then when I’m better pretend nothing happened.’

Alastair was skeptical. ‘I really don’t think you’ll feel better that soon, even if it is a normal flu.’

Lucie and Cordelia entered the room through the garden door, Cordelia turning her sword back into the familiar necklace. ‘Those are a lot of blankets,’ Lucie pointed out. She was right, and Thomas moved them around a bit so at least the biggest blanket would cover his feet, reaching up to his waist.

‘We wanted to revisit the ruins,’ Cordelia said. ‘See if there’s anything else that can give us information on Tatiana or the thief of souls. I was wondering if you would be coming.’

‘Thomas is sick,’ Alastair said.

‘Don’t stay behind on my behalf,’ Thomas said.

Alastair frowned. ‘You sure? I would gladly stay here with you.’

‘I think I’m going to get some sleep anyway,’ Thomas said. ‘Please don’t trouble yourself on my behalf. Go, I’ll still be here when you get back.’

‘Get well soon,’ Lucie said, putting her arms around him briefly. ‘You know how the tv works in case you want to watch a movie.’

‘I’ll be alright, Lu. Good luck with your mission.’

Thomas wanted to believe he had just caught the flu. Bad luck, nothing more. But perhaps that wasn’t the case. Perhaps he wouldn’t get better. Perhaps this meant they were running out of time.

[alexiessan]

Senses - Chapter Three - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

Damian was sitting in front of the computer in the Batcave, his hand on the mouse, the pointer hovering on a file with his soulmate’s name. He was hesitating and it annoyed him. He never hesitated, so why now?

After his family met Marinette when she had briefly taken over his body at dinner three days ago, Tim has made his research on the girl, and it was very easy to find everything he needed. His father and his brothers all knew everything there was to know about Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but Damian had yet to open the file.

It wasn’t the first time that they did research on someone like that. It was even a common occurrence, they couldn’t afford to trust people easily, and a background check was the bare minimum they did when a Wayne met someone they would have to interact with more than once. So, of course, they would do the same for Marinette, since she would be a permanent addition to Damian’s life, and that she would one day come to know their secret.

And yet, as Damian looked at the screen, he was hesitating. For three days now, he had sit at the computer, looked at the unopened file for long minutes before leaving the room, unable to open it. There was something in him that screamed at him to not open the file. That he should get to know the girl without checking every aspect of her life.

It also screamed at him that Marinette was respectful of his boundaries, letting him decide if he wanted to share things about him with her and never asking for his last name when he didn’t give her one.

His gut feeling told him that he shouldn’t open this file. Plus, if something were wrong with the girl, if she was dangerous for them or anything, his family would have found it and would have told him right away, not caring about his opinion on the matter.

Damian left the room and the file stayed unopened on the computer screen.

When he left the room, however, he didn’t find himself in the corridor as he should have, but in a very pink room. Marinette was sitting at her desk, scribbling something in a notebook.

Even if he couldn’t see what she was doing, deep inside, he knew exactly what she was doing.

“So, you’re into fashion,” he asked, his voice breaking the silence in her room.

He watched as she stiffened, not jumping at his voice this time. She turned around to face him, frowning.

“How do you know that?”

He shrugged, not really sure how he knew himself. “The bond, probably. I know it because you do?”

Her blue eyes met his green ones and she seemed to analyze him for long minutes before she tilted her head and said, “You like drawing, don’t you?”

He stiffened before forcing himself to relax. So it was really the bond that made them know stuff like that. He nodded and she kept watching him. She turned around abruptly, picking her pen up, and started drawing again, not asking him questions.

On one hand, it was a good thing. He didn’t want her asking questions. On another hand, he didn’t like how good she was at reading him.

“A friend’s birthday is coming up so I’m going to make her a dress. She likes pink and cute things so I’m trying to make it super cute.”

He nodded, not really listening. He didn’t care about her friends. He looked around, wincing at all the pink before his eyes stopped on her bed. There were a lot of animal plushies on it. A big cat, a dog, a hamster…

“You like animals,” he asked, his eyes not leaving the plushies. That’s something they could have in common.

He glanced her way when he felt her eyes on him and she had a fond look and a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah, I do. I always wished we could have a pet, but with the bakery, it’s not possible. I wanted a hamster for the longest time because it wouldn’t leave hair everywhere as a cat or a dog would, but even that was a big nope,” she sighed. “You like animals too, right? You seemed to love Titus very much.”

He nodded. “I also have a cat and a cow,” he shared with her. That was the only thing he was willing to share at the moment, he didn’t trust her with anything else.

“That’s nice,” she said softly.

But then, he wasn’t in her room anymore but in his, aware that he had made his way back to his room when the other part of him was with Marinette.

Alfred the cat was napping on his bed next to him and Damian sighed as he petted him softly, careful not to wake him up.

“I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t open that file…” he whispered to himself.

Just this once, Damian decided it would be better to learn to know Marinette the normal way.

Who knows how long it would take for her to gain his trust, or for him to gain hers — even if she shared things about herself with him, it was obvious that her trust was not easily gained. Something told him that it wasn’t always like that though — but he would do it the normal way.

Ladybug cursed at the sight in front of her. Paris was completely destroyed. Buildings had collapsed on themselves, people were screaming in the street, and Chat Noir was panting beside her, just as exhausted as she was.

An Akuma had appeared a little bit less than an hour ago and had done so much damage already. She didn’t care about their name and she didn’t think that this particular Akuma even gave them one in the first place, she only cared about how they were going to defeat him.

The Akuma could create shock waves, small ones, and big ones, which explained the collapsed buildings. Whenever they approached the Akuma, they would create a small one that would throw them away from her, and damn did it hurt.

She had hurt her head pretty badly earlier, and she was sure that she had a concussion if the way her vision blurred and how she struggled to speak full sentences were any indicators.

And then, to make things worse, Damian had to appear beside her right in the middle of an Akuma attack.

“What the hell…” was his reaction when he saw the amount of destruction in the French capital.

He then looked at her, his eyes widening. Yeah, she knew that she looked like hell, and like she was about to collapse any second now, thank you very much.

“You’re a hero,” he said in a serious voice.

Not really what she was expecting him to say, but then again, he was seeing her as Ladybug and not Marinette, so fair enough.

So much for secret identities.

“Now is not the time for that,” she said or tried to at least as her words came out in yogurt.

“What did you say,” asked Chat beside her but she paid him no mind.

Damian was in front of her in an instant, his hand cupping her face, inspecting the left side of her head where the blood was coming from. It was the first time they touched, she thought, and she could actually feel him, feel his warmth and it was weird but right at the same time and… And she couldn’t think straight with her head pounding like that.

The green-eyed boy cursed. “You got a concussion. A pretty bad one. Your partner needs to end this as soon as possible.”

Ladybug shook her head, making Damian release her face. “I can’t. I have to help him. I need to call my luck charm,” she said, but the look on her soulmate’s face told her that her words were yogurt once again.

She turned away from him and towards her partner who was looking at her, waiting for her to form a plan, to go back into the action, to just do something, but Ladybug didn’t know what to do anymore, she just wanted to lie down and sleep, and her head was killing her and-

And before her thoughts could spiral more, she called her lucky charm.

She honestly couldn’t remember what her lucky charm was, what her plan was nor what they did, but the Akuma was dealt with, the white butterfly released, and the Miraculous cure cast.

And Damian was still there, staring at her, his left eyebrow raised as if he was judging her.

“Are you going to talk?”

Ladybug sighed. It’s not like she had much of a choice now, did she?

Damian found himself on the Bat computer once again, researching Hawkmoth and the Akumas. Marinette had told him about the day the terrorist appeared, taking control of one of her classmates to wreak havoc in the city. How she had found her Miraculous and was basically told to go save the city. Her, a thirteen-year-old at the time, without any training or adult supervising her.

Who could be so stupid to throw a teenager in such a mess like that?

Yeah, Damian was younger than she was when he became Robin, but he’s been raised in the League of Assassins since his birth, he knew what he was doing, unlike Marinette who was acting on instinct.

Tim appeared behind him, his footsteps were silent.

“So you found out about her being Ladybug?”

Damian glared at him. “You knew?”

Tim raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. “You didn’t?”

Damian scowled and turned his attention back to the screen. “I didn’t open your file. I found out because I visited in the middle of an attack and she was in her hero persona.”

Drake was silent for a moment before he asked, a bit hesitant. “Why didn’t you open the file?”

“I just didn’t!” he snapped.

The oldest of the two raised both his hands as if surrendering. “Fine, fine! Is the situation there as bad as it’s shown in the French media?”

Damian nodded. “The city was completely destroyed when I was there. The Akumas are very violent and it’s only to Ladybug’s cure that it doesn’t stay like it or that they’re all still alive.”

“Nothing we can do, though,” said Tim, “the guy took control of a fucking baby more than once. Just a little bit of negative emotion is enough to be at his mercy. Better not get there.”

Damian had to agree with his statement.

It was supposed to be a good day, Marinette thought with a frown. She had woke up on time and got in class with five minutes to spare. Ms. Bustier wasn’t even here yet! She had told Damian everything about her situation two weeks ago already, and she was relieved that such a big secret was revealed already. That meant that she could be a little bit more open with him.

And she had been, in the last two weeks, they had seen a little bit more of each other. He opened up a little, but he really didn’t trust her enough to give her more than a little bit of information about what he liked or didn’t like here and there.

It was okay, she didn’t trust him 100% yet either. They would get there when they would.

Damian was cold and rude but she could tell that he was a good person. He was brutally honest, but she kinda liked that.

Getting to know her soulmate helped her move on from Adrien. She didn’t blush anymore around him, and her heart didn’t miss a beat or sped up anymore when he was around.

That was such a relief, to her, and to her friends, who were happy to see her moving on.

It didn’t mean that she was falling in love with Damian, though. She couldn’t even call him a friend yet.

But even if things were looking good and that it was supposed to be a good day, the sight in front of her told her that it would be anything but a good day.

Marinette frowned as she looked around. Everyone had changed their seats, the only one open was next to Adrien. She frowned even more at that. She was moving on from the model, she hoped that it wasn’t Alya deciding all of the sudden to pair them or something.

Speaking of, Alya waved at her in an attempt to get her attention.

“Hey, girl! Sorry, we moved the seats! Lila is coming back today, you see, and with her ear problem we thought she should get a seat in the front row, so we all moved to accommodate her,” she smiled at Marinette before pointing to the desk on the last row. “You’re over there by the way.”

Marinette looked at the back of the classroom to see the empty desk. They had put her alone in the back without even asking her.

“Alya,” she started, her hesitation obvious in her voice. “It’s not that I mind accommodating for Lila,” she did, because Lila was a liar, she probably didn’t have a hearing problem, but she was willing to give the girl a chance. “But why did we have to move everyone? Only one person needed to move,” she said in a small voice.

She noticed that Damian has appeared beside her, scowling at her friend.

“Well, Adrien volunteered to help Lila so Nino had to move but I didn’t want him to be alone. And then, Mylène wanted to sit with Ivan, and you know how it is, when more than two persons move seats, everyone wants to move too.”

Marinette bit at her lips. “But…”

But what about me? She wanted to ask, but wasn’t it selfish, to ask that? They all moved seats for selfless reasons, to accommodate a disabled classmate and they didn’t know that Lila was probably lying about that.

She didn’t have the time to say anything else as Ms. Bustier entered the room with Lila.

“Everyone, please, give Lila a warm welcome!”

Everyone talked at the same time, making it hard to understand anything, but Lila beamed at her classmates, clasping her hands together. Her voice alone made everyone shut theirs to listen to her.

“Thank you, everyone! I’m so happy to be back! My trip to Achu was amazing but so tiring! Helping Prince Ali to come up with ideas to fight world pollution was exhausting!”

Rose squealed somewhere in the class but she could only focus on Damian who scoffed. “The guy only works with children.”

“Tell me about it,” she whispered to him. Thankfully, no one heard her. Everyone knew about her soulmate and wouldn’t question her when she talked to herself, but she didn’t want Lila to know about this particular information.

“Oh!” Lila’s cheerful voice caught their attention again. “Did you leave the front seat open for me?” Everyone nodded and Lila smiled again, delighted. “Oh, guys! I’m so glad you remembered that I got tinnitus from saving Jagged’s cat from getting run over by a plane! Thank you so much!” She exclaimed as she took her seat next to Adrien and got closer to him until only a few inches separated them.

Damian let out a humorless laugh next to her, “As if. If that happened, she wouldn’t get tinnitus from it, she would be deaf. Engineers wear ear protection for a reason, imbecile.”

Marinette almost smiled at Damian’s comment but she was feeling a bit too bitter to let herself smile.

“Marinette,” Ms. Bustier’s voice resonated in the room. “Get in your seat so I can start the lesson!”

Reluctantly, Marinette did as she was told, and Damian followed, not wanting to just stand in the middle of the classroom, even though no one could see him.

“What, are you just going to let them order you around like that?”

Marinette just shrugged. She didn’t want to make a fuss about it. She would talk to Alya later about them forcing her to the back without asking her first. She knew that Alya only had the best intentions when she did it, so she wasn’t really mad about it, but she was a bit bitter with how easily she’s been disregarded, and she didn’t want to leave that unsaid. Alya would understand where she’s coming from.

Damian raised an eyebrow at her, watching her as she took her things out of her bad. Bustier was still getting ready to start the class and her classmates were whispering to each other waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson.

“So, what, you’ll let that slide?” he taunted. In the last few weeks, he had learned to know that she hated liars — he had laughed at the irony, what with her being Ladybug — and injustice.

The blue-eyed girl looked at him. “I’ll talk to Alya later. It’s not like I can just yell that she’s a liar.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed at her and suddenly it felt like she was forced out of her body. She was where Damian was supposed to be and Damian was in her place.

“Did you-” she sputtered indignantly, “did you just take over my body?!”

Damian looked at his hand — her hand — in wonder. “Huh. So I can do that on purpose,” he whispered. “Good to know.”

He then looked at the front of the class, where Lila was discussing happily with Alya, Nino, and Adrien — and why was Bustier taking so long to begin teaching, damn it?! — and he smirked.

Marinette shuddered at the sight.

He was going to get her in so much trouble, wasn’t he?

His voice — her voice — resonated in the class, getting everyone’s attention.

“You know that if you really were that close to a moving plane, you would have gone deaf, right?” he said in perfect French, his gaze locked with Lila’s.

Marinette gripped his arm — her arm, damn it, even if he was in her body, she saw him and not herself, and how weird was that? — and shook it a little, panicking.

“Stop. Please, stop!” She begged him.

She could see some of her friends scowling faces and, Gods, she hated that it was meant for her.

“What- What are you talking about, Marinette? I mean, I get where you’re coming from. I was lucky that I only got tinnitus from that incident.”

Damian scoffed in her body. Some of her classmates were confused, and she couldn’t blame them, it was so out of character of her.

“Bullshit,” he said and some gasps could be heard.

“Marinette!” the teacher exclaimed as Lila’s eyes were gathering tears. Clearly fake, Marinette and Damian could tell. “Apologize to Lila immediately.”

Damian was about to say something else, Marinette didn’t know what, but it wouldn’t be good for her, so she tried to control the bond, however it could be done, she just wanted her body back.

And she got it back, she realized.

Thanks, God.

“I’m sorry,” she said as soon as she got her body back, averting her eyes from the rest of her classmates.

She glanced at Damian, who was pursing his lips and frowning and he looked back at her, ready to say something.

But then he was gone.

She didn’t want to be mean or anything, but she was relieved that he was gone for the moment. He got her in enough trouble as it is.

Lila made a big scene of forgiving her and Ms. Bustier finally began her lesson.

She saw Alya giving her a look that told her they would talk later.

Marinette sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Next

Tag List:

@justafanwarrior @animegirlweeb @demonicbusiness @miracleofadisaster @iloontjeboontje @mochinek0 @lozzybowe @eliza-bich @faunrasthewinterelf @iamablinkmarvelarmy @thatonecroc​ @dood-space​ @clumsy-owl-4178​

[ririchanva]

Summary: Marinette gains a new ally in a student from Japan, although he’s not what he seems. Lila makes her move, proving to Marinette that her threat is real. But what she didn’t count on, was that Marinette would have a few friends that has her back. Although they are the most unexpected people. When Lila pushes too far by getting Marinette and her friends expelled, there is a certain hero that lends a hand. But wait? BECOME STUDENTS OF U.A.?

Chapter Seven: Felix, Surprise Reunions

░❇┊Previous┊❇ ░ ❇┊Next┊❇ ░ ❇┊Masterlist┊❇ ┊AO3 ┊❇░

Warning for this chapter: Mentions of a murder / death.

A/n:  So...Felix Chapter has arrived. And...boy it's a lot. But I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Because woof...this changes a LOT of things...

   “It seems we have a lot to talk about.”

    Both Marinette and Aizawa sat side by side on Marinette’s chaise longue, the two silent after Marinette’s declaration of having a conversation. The thing was…where to start?

   “I think you should tell me exactly what is going. Start from the very beginning. What was your purpose coming here and why did you drag Hitoshi in this? Isn’t he a student?”

    Aizawa sighed, nodding his head, “He is. But he’s sort of on a special sort of training. Kinda like a secret initiation. He’s told you he’s aiming to be in a hero course, right?”

   “He called it a special course since he started out being in general studies,”

   “That’s right,” The Erasure Hero said slowly, explaining, “The Hero Course in U.A. is one of the top highest courses in all of Japan. Not a lot of people get in. You’d have not only to have the quirk right for it, but it applies to both physical and mental strengths. There are exams that let students either get demoted from the Hero Course, or give chances for other courses to be promoted to the Hero Course. That is what Shinso is aiming for and why he’s with me. He’s going to be one of the special cases that’s going to take the exam to be one of the Hero Course students.”

    Marinette felt like Aizawa wasn’t telling the whole story, but she’ll accept that for now.

    “So���you know about the Guardian of the Miraculous then?” Marinette asked.

     Aizawa hummed, "Your Master was aligned with the Hero's Association before. When he was the Jade Turtle Hero, he had shown himself when running with that Miracle Box, apparently on the run. Thus, a few chosen of us knew the secret and kept it, even against our country's government."

     “Who else knows?”

      “There’s myself. A hero named Present Mic, Midnight, Fatgum and of course, there is All Might—“

     “Are we talking about Symbol of Peace, All Might?!” Marinette had heard Nino and sometimes Alya rave about the superhero all the time, right up there next to Majestia.

   “Yes. Apparently All Might had his own run ins with Miraculous Holders.”

     Marinette raised her hand up, “But wait! There weren’t any other heroes known until me and Chat Noir…”

    “That’s in Paris. There were other heroes that went under different identities that never revealed they even had the Miraculous in other countries. Your master knows that well since he too used a Miraculous from time to time.”

    “That can’t be…”

     Aizawa was pulling out his phone as he then showed on his gallery a picture of a dark haired Black Cat Hero and a younger looking All Might.

    “These two were pretty close friends. Same here,”

     He scrolled his phone to show a beautiful dark haired woman with a white cape giving a big smile standing next to a very adult Ladybug. She didn’t look like anything like how Marinette dresses as Ladybug.

     “These pictures I managed to get from All Might. Who would’ve been here but sadly, with being a famous hero and with a lot of things happening in Japan, Paris never gave him clearance to enter your city. So I’m kinda the one here in his stead.”

    “So that’s your reason…” Marinette frowned before Aizawa sighed, he was already knowing what’s going on in her head.

    “It was a bonus that I get to see your family too. Your…aunt, was always someone that I considered family. Someone that was always having my back. And thus I let Sabine and Tom be in my life as well when your Aunt...”

   “...What is it?” Marinette looked worried when Aizawa's voice quietened down for a moment, his eyes looked haunted.

    “Your Aunt...had an accident during our time in school. She had a nervous breakdown because of it so...you might notice if you ever try to ask your Aunt about me or anything about heroes and our time in school...she won't remember any of it...I-I'm still wondering if she would even remember me...”

    With Aizawa trailing off, Marinette felt her stomach drop.

    “Aunt Shu--er Ebony…she was in the hero course in U.A. High, wasn’t she?”

     Aizawa nodded.

     “Your parents think I am just from some genius future Ivy League school along with your aunt and have a career as a teacher. But they don’t know I’m teaching future heroes. They think I’m teaching liberal arts. I’m pretty sure your grandparents from your mother side ain’t that ignorant and thus why they didn’t want Ebony to go to U.A. but...she did.”

    “So my Aunt...? She was supposed to be a hero then?”

     Aizawa smiled sadly, "She would've been the best along with…”

     Marinette saw him trail off again and then sighed, "So then, when was the last time you saw her?"

     “The last time I’ve heard from her was fourteen years ago when she had stated that she needed help. And that she was going away. Something about someone following her tracks and...she ended up settling in London and Sabine told me she was fine and...was recuperating. That she was seeing professional help because she seemed to suffer a few mental illnesses.”

    Aizawa frowned as Marinette could sense the man was looking…well, guilty and sad.

    “Shinso told me that he wanted the Miraculous Heroes to join U.A. and train under you guys. For what purpose since, well, we’re kinda already well known heroes in Paris and the fact that months ago we (and I mean me and Chat Noir) needed guidance from heroes?”

    “The UN are starting to get antsy that Paris is holding children as their line of defense. Saying that it demoralises the real heroes such as the police or the army,” Aizawa hummed with an eye roll, but then sighed, “So Japan is arranging a program that caters to any metas quirk users from European countries. We’ve already started with America and had one or two exchange students. Japan is hoping to show a peaceful treaty between countries like this.”

     Marinette wasn’t totally on board with the world of politics (considering that Chloe’s father is part of it, no offence to her ex-bully turned friend), but she can get how the adults are trying to take control and lessen any trouble.

      “Well, I can’t decide right now. Because honestly? I’m not even supposed to leave Paris. Not just because I’m a minor. But because Ladybug is Paris’ protector. If I leave, who’s gonna keep the city safe?”

    “That’s what the Hero’s Association is working on,” Aizawa hummed, “We are also planning a way to help you find Hawkmoth and defeat him once and for all.”     Marinette’s eyes widened to this as she then leaned forward, “Does that mean you might have a lead on who Hawkmoth is?!”

    Aizawa started at her, “Not yet. But we might have a few leads, and we’re gathering up information.”

    “We? You and Hitoshi?”

     “There are other heroes outside the boarder that are keeping an eye on things,” Aizawa revealed as the girl gaped at him, “There are bigger things than Hawkmoth happening as we speak.”

    “Then we should do something!”

    Aizawa pulled Marinette back down as she was standing up.

     “These aren’t your average villains that you’ve been facing everyday. They are waiting for the chance to cause some major damage. Major damage that even your little spell can’t place back together again.”

     Marinette felt her stomach drop at the serious tone Aizawa was sporting, and with that look of his, she knew that this became overwhelmingly dangerous.

    “Okay…” Marinette didn’t know what else to say.

    “It’s getting late. We should talk about this tomorrow. And we’re gonna have to talk this all out with your team and your Master.” Aizawa suggested as he started getting up, glancing back down at Marinette, “You…have grown up well.”

     Marinette stared at him, noticing how Aizawa looked like he was almost in a daze, as if lost in his own world.

    Why did he look like he was holding back tears?

    “Um, thanks?” Marinette tilted her head as Aizawa excused himself and bid her goodnight, climbing down the trap door leading him back downstairs.

     Tikki came out of her hiding place as she stared where the man disappeared off to, then turned to Marinette.

    “We can trust him, Marinette.”

     The girl turned to her Kwami, “Huh?”

     “I can tell you are questioning his motives and stuff. But I can guarantee you that he is on our side.”

     “How can you tell, Tikki?” Marinette asked as she looked confused at the Kwami of Creation.

     The bug like being smiled cutely, “Because he feels like an old friend~“

     “Your father is waiting for you downstairs, Adrien.”

      Adrien came back to reality when he heard Nathalie’s voice, turning his head to look at the woman at his door. Smiling weakly, he nodded his head, trying to rub any tears that might’ve escaped his eyes.

    “Ah, um…I-I’ll be right there.”

      If Nathalie noticed his sad silent tears, she didn’t mention them. Instead, she just nodded and left the room.

    Adrien’s smile fell as she left, closing his eyes and leaning against his computer chair. Looking back at the picture of his mother and him on his computer screen, he had to think.

    ‘Mom…I wish you were here…’

     Today was the anniversary of his mother’s disappearance.

     His heart clenched for a moment in thought of his mother being absent from him and his father’s lives. He wondered what it would’ve been like if she was here. Would father have been a happy and normal father for once? Would Mom be approving of his life in school and the friends he has?

    Would she be proud of him being a hero?

     Without anymore thoughts, he was out of the room and walking downstairs, head bowed down. He then saw that his father was waiting at the bottom of the steps. Making his place at his father’s side, the both of them waited by the front door. It was quiet for a moment, almost awkward.

     Maybe it was because Adrien stupidly suggested a while ago that Father should pursue Nathalie romantically.

     ‘I was stupid for even mentioning that. Especially when he’s still hurting over Mom…’

      Nathalie turned to open the entrance door, the sun’s beams from the outside pouring in as a figure stood before them. Adrien looked up, blinking as he saw that the figure was a woman. A woman that looked awfully familiar. Especially with the soft apple green eyes like his and the gentle smile.

     A small gasp escaped Adrien.

     It couldn’t be…

     “M-mom…?”

       The figure that looked so much like his mother stepped forward, the motherly look melted away into an excited peppy face and tone, the woman spreading her arms out in a grand gesture.

    “My, my~ Look how much you’ve grown~” The woman reached out to cup Adrien’s cheeks and kiss each side, before looking at Adrien’s father with a grin, “Gabriel~ Isn’t he just the absolute cutest~?”

    Gabriel just stared at her emotionlessly, sighing almost in exasperation, “I’m sure Adrien is delighted to have such a timely visit from his aunt today of all days.”

    Adrien stared in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened, “A-Aunt Amelie?”

     Amelie smiled softly, hands over her heart while cooing, “I’m sooooo happy to see you again~! I thought it would be better if we’re all together on a day like this~ Don’t you agree, dear~?“

     Adrien smiled brightly and nodded his head.

     If his Aunt was here, then that meant…?

     As if on cue, as Gorilla was moving some luggages away, another figure stood by the doorway. Adrien looked to his blank faced father for a moment before looking back at the figure. The figure turned out to be a boy the same age as Adrien, dressed in a dark tight suit with sharp eyes and slick back hair and sporting a frown.

    “Felix!” Adrien was breathing out with happiness and fondness, stepping forward.

     His favourite cousin was here!

     Instead of taking the handshake the silent Felix was offering, Adrien reached out to hug him tightly.

     “It’s good to see you again!”

       Felix held a grimace, his arms just limply staying at his sides as Adrien kept his boa constrictor hold.

       “Awww~ They look just like twins~” Amelie was blissfully enunciating with a smile, but her eyes looked back at Gabriel sharply, “Don’t they, Gabriel~?”

      Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the woman’s sugary tone.

      Amelie wasn’t backing down from his aura of annoyance as she just kept smiling.

      “Do you remember when they used to have so much fun pretending to be each other? Once they had you and Emilie fooled for a whole weekend~ Ohohoho~ We laughed so hard~”

      Gabriel could sense there was some sort of mocking undertone in her cheery voice.

      He never did like her.

     So much different from his Emilie.

    “I won’t be fooled a second time.“

     Felix coolly looked at the man for a moment, offering his hand as he gave a cold, polite nod, “Hello, Uncle.”

     Gabriel just stared at his hand in disgust, and Amelie had to step in with a chiding, fond tone.

     “Felix~ You know your Uncle has never been the physical sort,” She murmured sweetly, although her eyes said something different.

      Gabriel saw the way she was looking at his hand. Specifically at his ring finger.

     “Ohhhh~ How sweet~ You’re still wearing your wedding band~”

       There it was.

       Gabriel just stared at her as her eyes crinkle for a moment in amusement, before she then clapped her hands together with a giggle.

      “You must have Emilie’s too, I imagine. You never replied to my messages about that,” Her tone shifted into a quiet, serious tone (almost icy, one that only Gabriel caught on) as she poked at his chest, “I’d still like to have the rings back, you know.”

    “These rings are obviously special to me.” Gabriel replied with his tone of his own, as if challenging the woman before him.

    But of course, Amelie was a woman that never cowered under a man. Especially a man like Gabriel.

    “And they’re dear to me too, Gabriel,” She responded in kind, raising a perfect brow at him, “Those jewels have been in the Graham de Vanily family. Not the Agrestes.”

     The look of determination and warning faded from her face as she smiled innocently, but Gabriel was no fool. Still, it would not do him good to raise his voice and argue, especially when it will be noticed by even his oblivious and innocent son.

    Felix observed the two adults with careful eyes, knowing that his plan was going into motion.

     “We can discuss it later,” And those words were final as Gabriel’s tone shifted into a calm polite one, “It’s been a long journey from London, you may want to rest a bit.”

      Amelie pursed her lips as she held back her laugh. He was basically telling her to shut up, wasn’t he?

      She’s been in the life of the rich and famous so long to know how one talks passively.

      Amelie smiled as Gabriel was calling his assistant to show her to her room, her voice carried strongly.

      “Thank you again for letting us stay here, Gabriel~ Especially when we’ll be seeing each other quite often from now on~”

     This made Gabriel pause for a moment as he looked to her, “What do you mean?”

     “If you have read my messages, then you would know that Felix and I have left London for good~ Thought maybe a change of scenery would be best~ Plus, being close to family is better, is it not~?” She grinned a little as she saw how Gabriel’s eye twitch for a moment, “Meaning that we’ll be living in Paris and Felix will go to school together with Adrien~ Isn’t it wonderful~?”

    “A-are you serious?!” Adrien asked in awe, as his eyes shined with happiness.

     Amelie nodded, “Indeed~ We actually have a house already close by ready to be moved into but with the movers shifting our things around we cannot sleep there just yet. So I was happy to hear that Gabriel had offered to let us stay here~”

     She looked to Gabriel and gave a sweet smile.

     “So yes. We can talk all we want about those rings at any time~”

     Gabriel knew those words meant ‘I’m not going anywhere. You cannot get rid of me.’

      This simply won’t do, Gabriel would think as he tried to calm his anger down.

     “This is awesome Felix~! I can’t wait to introduce you to all my friends and show you around!” Adrien cheered as he was hooking his arm onto Felix’s and was dragging him upstairs to his room.

      Felix looked back to his mother, who just smiled up and him and waved.

     Right. He has to play nice for now.

     He looked back to Adrien chattering away as he knew his mother was being taken to her room for the time being, while Gabriel was going back to his office, obviously steaming from Felix’s mother’s words.

     Felix held back a smirk.

     ‘This should be an interesting start…’

    Marinette thought she would be talking to her “godfather” again today.

    But it seems he has other plans.

     “Sorry, kiddo. I’m having a meeting with someone today. But hey, we can talk again tonight, alright?”

     And that seemed to be the end of it. Where was that man going, anyways?

     Marinette shook her head.

     That’s not important right now.

    Right now she was sitting in Chloe’s bedroom, resting herself cross-legged on her bed with Shinso laying on his stomach next to her, head propped up by his arms that were resting on a pillow. Nino was behind them, looking over the two’s shoulders while Sabrina was right next to him. And said rich girl? She was pacing around the room with a serious look.

    “We can’t leave Adrikens alone on a day like this!” The blonde huffed as she was waving her hands around, her face contorted in frustration and worry.

     “True that!” A voice spoke up from Marinette’s tablet.

      Marinette was holding a voice conference with all of their classmates, considering the one that arranged it was Chloe. There was Alix, Nathaniel and Marc on one screen, then Luka, Juleka and Rose on another. Mylene and Ivan were on another screen below them, and next to them were Kim and Max together. Then, below them was Kagami on her own on the left, Lila and Alya in their own screen next to her and finally Aurore and Mireille on the right bottom screen.

    “But there’s no way his old man is gonna let us see him,” Alix continued on as she sighed, secretly looking at Nathaniel before looking back on screen.

    Marinette hummed with a thoughtful look, “Okay…h-how about we make a video and tell him how much we care about him?”

    “Great idea, Marinette!” Alya spoke with a big smile, almost mischievous as she winked, “We record our messages individually and send it over to him!”

     Voices of agreement sounded all around, but Shinso remained quiet as he looked at everyone.

     “You can totally join in too, dude, even if you are new.” Nino whispered to Shinso quietly with a weak smile, but Hitoshi shook his head.

     “I don’t think it would be a good idea…”

     “Everyone should give a word about Adrien,” Lila spoke up with a pout as her eyes looked at them on the screen, “Do you maybe have something against Adrien?”

     Everyone was looking at Hitoshi on screen, but the ones that are with him looked appalled at Lila’s words.

     Seriously, right now?

      ‘Maybe she’s still feeling bitter from last time.’

      Hitoshi was calm though, as he replied coolly, “I just don’t want him to be uncomfortable about me that’s all. Because I don’t know him that well.”

    “And that’s fine,” Marinette came to his rescue as she smiled, “It’s the thought that counts. No one is gonna force him if he doesn’t want to.”

     Alya soon perked up with a big smile, “Alright go first Marinette~”

     There are some people that have knowing amused looks on their faces while there are some that looked indifferent. Marinette looked nervous as she was almost going to combust with emotions but Nino came to the rescue.

    “I’ll go first. He’s my bro after all!”

     Marinette glanced at Nino and smiled in thanks, as Nino winked over at her.

     Something that didn’t slip by Alya, who glared on screen for a second.

      “We’ll send you the videos soon! Alright, Nino out~”

     Nino pressed at the end call before he then looked at Marinette, seeing that her face was looking upset.

    “You okay?”

    Marinette was quiet for a moment, before turning to Nino and assuring him that she’s fine. Shinso knew what Marinette was thinking and sighed, sitting up now and fixing his hair.

    “Well hurry up Lahiffe, I wanna give my own message to Adrikins as well!” Chloe made a chop, chop! motion with her hands as Nino was moving to take the tablet from Marinette and start recording.

    “Hey my dude—“

    Felix looked down at Adrien’s phone in hand, honestly thinking it was too easy that the fool didn’t suspect him pickpocketing off of him.

     Leaning magic tricks really did wonders.

     He raised a brow as he was seeing that his dear cousins had a few video messages and one recent text. Shaking his head, he soon moved on to see anything that his cousin might have on Uncle Gabriel.

     ‘Doubtful that Uncle would trust my foolish cousin with anything important, but at least it’s worth a shot.’ Felix thought as he was then seeing some photo gallery that had Ladybug on it.

      Well, okay a lot of pictures of her.

      Obsessed much?

     “And of course he has superheroes on the brain. Has always been crazy with fantasy.”

      He shook his head before he then saw that another message buzzed in. Frowning, he opened it, curiosity filling him as he saw that it was from someone named…Alix?

     [[Alix: Hey, which room are you in? Me, Marc and Nath are outside your garden.]]

     Felix raised a brow as he switched the shower off and was soon looking to the door.

     So…his cousin has rebellious friends, does he?

     He soon was walking to the door and peeked out for a moment, “Adrien, do you might grabbing my suitcase downstairs? I er, forgot to get some unmentionables, if you know what I mean?”

      Adrien peeked up from above, since he was looking for some entertainment for him and his cousin, but his eyes widened at his words and raced down.

    “Oh! Oh er, sure, okay um, I’ll go grab them now!“

     Felix smirked as he watched Adrien was dropping the chessboard and deck of cards Felix told him to look for on the bed, and was rushing out the room.

     Perfect.

     Taking the clothes that Adrien told him to borrow for a while, he changed into them. He looked to the mirror and styled his hair, smirking as he looked exactly like his cousin.

    “Now, let’s see…” Felix soon coughed a bit, before he mimicked Adrien’s cheerful voice, “Hi, I’m Adrien. I’m in love with Ladybug and I let my father boss me around like some stupid puppet blah blah blah~“

     He was quiet for a moment before he laughed, nodding to himself.

     “Should be able to fool whoever these kids are~”

     Stepping out of the room, he quickly went to Adrien’s door and locked it, just so the other blond couldn’t get it just yet and ruin his plans. It would take Adrien a while anyways to carry Felix’s very heavy baggage all the way upstairs without help. Once he did that, he soon walked over to the window, tapping on the glass as he looked down to see a dark haired boy in a red hoodie, a red haired male and then a short pink haired girl. The three looked up in surprise and brightened, waving at “Adrien” happily.

    Felix was waving back with a fake smile, giving a signal to wait a moment as deep down, he smirked. ‘Let’s see how far I can go with this~’

    Turning back, he walked over to the door and unlocked it,  just in time for Adrien to come in. Adrien was huffing and panting as he was struggling to drag Felix’s luggage into the room, his cheeks a warm red and looking worn out.

    “G-Geez, what do you have in there, Fe? Rocks?” Adrien asked but then blinked as he looked at Felix’s attire and grinned, “Oh wow! You look exactly like me! Are we playing the switch-a-roo game like when we were kids?”

    “Ah, sorry, but I just remembered I need to see my mother about something first. But I’ll be right back, okay?” Felix reached out to hug Adrien, secretly slipping Adrien’s phone back into his back pocket as if it never left his person.

    “Oh that’s fine! I’ll just set up the chess board while you’re gone yeah? I can even maybe set up some videos games I can introduce to you!” Adrien assured Felix, papping his back and then leaned back with a smile, “Just don’t take too long okay?”

    Felix smiled back, “Of course! This won’t take long~ ”

    He side stepped around Adrien and started walking downstairs, quickly heading for the back garden.

    Once he was outside, the trio looked over and smiled brightly.

    “Hey Ad. We thought we’d spring you out of this join to hang out!” Alix announced happily but Nathaniel stepped in with a soft concerned look.

    “Only if you want to. I know today isn’t a nice day for you but…we just want you to know that we’re here for you, man.”      Felix kept his composure but inside, he was honestly rolling his eyes.

     ‘If you knew today wasn’t a good day, then why come? Honestly, it’s sort of foolish…’

     But even deep down, he felt a familiar tinge in his heart. Felix almost had to erase thinking of a certain trio he knew that he left in London.

     ‘Let’s not think of the past…’

     Still acting as Adrien, he smiled, “W-well if it’s only for a little while. But I have to be back or my Father would get pretty angry.”

   “Understood, dude! C’mon! We can climb back up the wall!” Alix pointed out but Marc was already protesting, especially when he had such a scare a few minutes ago.

    “Actually, we could pass the back door,” Felix pointed out as he then walked over to the vines that were apparently covering the door that lead them out to the streets, then turned back to the three’s shocked faces.

    “…There was always a door there?” Alix asked as Nathaniel facepalmed.

    As Felix was leading them out, he smirked, glancing back at the manor before following after the three.

    “Hey, sorry we brought Marc with us. But we didn’t tell him the secret, so we’re cool!” Alix said after a while of walking in the streets of Paris, skating next to Felix, who raised a brow.

     “Secret?”

      Nathaniel, who was on Felix’s other side, paused for a moment, his eyes narrowed.

     Alix was waving her hand, not noticing the shift in the air, “Oh yeah, about—“

     “About Lila,” Nathaniel told quickly with smoothness as Alix paused in her skating backwards with a weird look, before Nathaniel smiled, “You know, the thing about Lila~?”

    Felix raised a brow at the red head smiling at him like that but nodded, giving a cheery smile, “Of course! Lila is pretty nice, huh?”

     That got Alix’s attention for a moment as Marc heard this and frowned.

     “Honestly? I don’t think she’s all that nice.”

      Both Nathaniel and Alix stared at Felix carefully at this.

      Felix keeping a straight face as Marc continued.

     “Adrien, she’s a liar. She lies with every breath and people somehow believe her, no matter how ridiculous it is. It’s pretty dangerous if she tells the wrong lie. I know you might not see it because she acts nice and sweet to everyone, but honestly…?”

     The blond had to think for a moment, before he then sighed, “Alright, you got me~! I didn’t want to say anything but…I already knew Lila was a liar the entire time.”

     All three were shocked at his words, Alix and Nathaniel looking at each other in confusion while Marc looked relieved.

     “I-If you know, then we should tell everyone!” He looked to Nathaniel and Alix, smiling, “I would’ve thought Adrien would be oblivious to Lila just as he is to Marinette, ya know?”

     Nathaniel winced at Marc’s slip up, and Marc noticed as he covered his mouth, blushing brightly.

      Felix perked up for a moment. Marinette….wasn’t that a name in his cousin’s phone?

      But it was with the nickname ‘Princess’ right next to her photo.

      Maybe his cousin has a crush on her?

      ‘No, no…let’s not assume. Although it is interesting that they mentioned her name and reacted…’

    Nathaniel watched Felix’s expression for a moment before he had an idea.

     The red head smiled coyly as he hummed, “Marc~ It can’t be help~ After all….Marinette is someone special to Adrien~”

    Alix wondered what Nathaniel was upto when “Adrien” was nodding his head.

    “Of course she is. She’s someone that has peaked my interest.”

     This caused Nathaniel to narrow his eyes as he was stopping in front of the blond.

     “Who are you?”

       Even if Felix placed a dumb founded face, Nathaniel wasn’t fooled.

     “You’re not Adrien.”

      Felix schooled his face from looking surprised, as Alix narrowed her eyes and Marc looking confused.

     “W-what are you taking about, Nathaniel?” Felix tried again, laughing nervously and keeping up the smile.

     “The real Adrien would’ve said Marinette was “just a friend” because he’s kinda a blind oblivious idiot, and we love him for that. So…I’ll ask again. Who. Are. You?” Nathaniel calmly demanded, his demeanour simmering into a threatening look.

     There was no way Felix could spin this around.

     Dropping the act and pushing his hair back, Felix rolled his eyes upwards, “Seems you’re smarter than I originally thought.”

    “Are you like, Adrien’s clone or something?” Alix exclaimed as she got up to his face, despite being shorter than him, “Or maybe a Sentimonster?”

    “Alix!” Nathaniel hissed at her as Felix raised a brow at the term she used.

     “What? It’s possible!” Alix hissed back before glancing Felix with suspicion then back at Nathaniel, who sighed, “He looks and sounds too much like Adrien,”

    “I’m Adrien’s cousin. My name is Felix Graham de Vanily.” Felix finally introduced himself in a cool manner, making Nathaniel’s eyes spark in recognition.

    “The same Graham de Vanily that has their own filming studio?”

     Alix looked at him puzzled for a moment but the red head explained.

     “They are pretty famous in the industry. They like to bring stories from indie writers and such to life…although I never knew Adrien’s related to them.”

    “Our mothers were twins,” Felix pointed out curtly, straightening his collar for a moment.

     Marc observed Felix with awe, “He really does look so much like Adrien, it’s scary. If he didn’t talk the way he is now, I would have never guessed!”

     “Why did you dress up and act like him?” Alix demanded with her hands on her hips, “Where is Adrien now?”

     Felix shrugged, “Adrien’s is back home waiting for me. Probably didn’t notice I’m gone. I wanted to see what kind of company my cousin kept. Wanted to gauge a bit of what his social life was like considering…”

     “There seems to be more than that,” Nathaniel interrupted as he observed Felix, “I don’t know what you could possibly gain from trying to act like—”

    “Adrien!”

     The four teens looked up when Alya and Lila were coming their way. And it seems they were joined by Max, Kim, Ivan and Mylene.

    “I’m so happy to see that you’re here~” Lila cooed softly as she was stepping closer, and was soon nudging her arm onto Felix’s while batting her eyes, “I thought you weren’t allowed out today since, you know~?”

   “Did you sneak out?” Alya asked with a cheeky tone before looking back at Alix, Nathaniel and Marc, “Good job guys! I bet you helped him get out huh? Talk about rebellious. Too bad Marinette isn’t here, huh?”

    Felix had to snort as he moved away from Lila, and next to Alix.

    “Since Adrien is here, we should all hang out!” Kim suggested jovially as he grinned, “Let’s go watch a movie together!”

     “I suppose it would be a good idea. Markov did suggest that laughter is a good cure for sadness,” Max pushed his glasses up.

     Ivan just nodded silently in agreement while Mylene was smiling happily.

     “Good idea~ Maybe a romantic movie~?” Lila was latching onto “Adrien” again as the blond now was openly glaring at her.

    Nathaniel came in between then and smiled tightly.

    “Sorry guys, Adrien can’t stay for long. Considering today isn’t--”

    “We just want to cheer Adrien up is all~” Lila said in a sugary tone, although Felix noticed her eyes were pretty sharp, “I mean we’re all friends, aren’t we~?”

    ‘So this is the liar that the three mentioned.’ Felix thought, the gears turning as Lila was babbling on about something, noting that even her lies weren’t even that good.

     “Yeah, well, we are. But seriously, Adrien’s old man might notice Adrien’s disappearance so we should take him back,” Alix tried to excuse as she witnessed Lila continuing to shift to him and try to stick to him like glue.

     And the glare that Lila was secretly giving to Alix? Felix knew that look all too well.

    “I can understand your pain, Adrien. I mean I lost my dad when I was young too~ He was one of the greatest magic performers out there you know~”

      Felix’s eye twitched. He doubts she’d be related to any magic performers.

     “But since me and mother lost him during one of his magic tricks, it has been hard~ So honestly I can relate to you~” Lila sighed as if she was acting sad with those fake tears, but glanced up at Felix as if she was trying to look pitifully cute, “Which is why, just like I said in my video message to you,  if you ever need to talk or something, I’m here for you~”

      The ‘in more ways than one’ look didn’t slip from Felix’s sharp eyes.

    “Could you not be so clingy?” Felix said with a bored tone, shooing Lila off his arm as the girl stared at him, “Also, you can please shut up and not talk anymore? Your voice is irritating me.”

     It was silent after that.

     Alya, Kim, Max, Ivan and Mylene looking shocked.

     Marc looking fearful while Nathaniel and Alix were trying to hold in their snorts.

    And Lila?

     She had looked angry and shocked for one second before her face shifted into a teary sad look.

    And then, she started crying.

    “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Adrien~” She placed her hands over her face, turning her body away as her shoulders shook, “I was j-just trying to be friendly and understanding, you know~? Why do you have to be so m-mean?”

     ‘Her acting is terrible.’ Felix thought as Alya and Mylene were comforting her, while Kim, Max and Ivan were now standing in front of him as if protecting Lila from him. Laughable.

    “What’s your problem, Adrien? She was just trying to cheer you up since your Mom’s gone,” Kim said bluntly as Max nodded his head, while Ivan stood by his girlfriend.

     That got Felix pissed.

     “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t think I owed you people anything considering I don’t even want to do anything on the day that my a—mother is gone. It’s supposed to be a sad day for me, and here you guys are, suggesting a hang out and go to the movies? Read the room.” Felix managed to recover as his slow angry was pulsing inside of him, “Did you ever think that maybe what your precious friend Lila here was doing is basically harassment? She invades my personal space like some harpy salivating on her prey.”

    Alix and Nathaniel were now seriously troubled. Any other time they would be laughing but…

    Alya looked pissed.

    “Lila isn’t like that! She was just concerned for you, Adrien! Like a good friend should!”

     Felix snorted, “Friend. Right. Like I’d believe that. She could just tell me she’s concerned, not trying to lose circulation in my arm by grabbing onto me and practically pressing herself like some insect. Talk about obsessed.”

       Alya huffed as she narrowed her eyes, “She’s not like your crazy fangirls or Marinette!”

      There was the name again. Although now Felix looked to Nathaniel and Alix were steaming at Alya’s words. Interesting.

     “Why are you like this Adrien?” Mylene asked softly as Felix turned to look at her.

     “How about being sensitive to someone’s loved one not being around anymore? Instead, you just use your “friend’s’” sadness as an excuse of a chance to goof off with him instead of letting him grieve. So excuse me that I can’t be some happy go lucky idiot like you lot. You don’t know anything about me!”

    Ivan was narrowing his eyes as Mylene’s eyes started to water. Kim and Max looked at each other, but even they were looking slightly miffed.

    Alya was growling, losing her temper even more than before, as she stepped in front of them and Lila, “You’re out of line, Agreste!”

    “And you’re enabling a faker. All of you are, and you don’t even know it.” Felix retorted back as he raised a brow, “I’m starting to wonder why I’m friends with you all. Maybe u—Father is right. What was I thinking of going to a public school full of morons?”

     Everyone gasped, although Nathaniel and Alix had to groan at Felix’s acting out of character for “Adrien” while Marc wished he could stop all this.

    Lila continued her fake crying as Felix stared at her while her sheep were circling around her and trying to comfort her.

    “Pathetic.”

     Suddenly, a glowing black butterfly appeared above everyone as they were caught together thanks to Lila’s phone in hand (when did she have it out?) and soon all of them had shining outlines of a butterfly over their faces.

    “Shit…” Nathaniel breathed out and was soon grabbing at Felix’s wrist and started running, Alix grabbing for Marc as the four of them were taking off.

    “Volpina. Lady Wi-fi. Dark Cupid. Horrificator. Stoneheart. Gamer. I am Hawkmoth~ From now on, you shall be the The Punishers Hexad~!”

    Hawkmoth stood in front of his window with a smirk.

   Thanks to the video that Lila has been secretly filming for him, showing him and Nathalie that Felix was posing as Adrien and upsetting his classmates, Hawkmoth decided to use this opportunity to kill two birds in one stone. One to get Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous…and the other getting rid of his annoying and meddling in-laws.

    ‘Felix. I promised you that I wouldn’t be fooled a second time.’

   Nathaniel and Alix dragged Marc and Felix right back into the garden of the Agreste Manor, panting with wide eyes at what they almost witnessed.

    “What was that just now?” Felix asked with a deep frown once he pulled away from Nathaniel’s hold.

    “T-They were just akumatized. Hawkmoth, a bad guy in this cityy, has sensed their negative emotions and now probably turned them into rampaging monsters thanks to you,” Alix explained angrily but calmed herself down. She didn’t want to be akumatized as well.

    “Why did you do that? Antagonise them?” Marc asked softly, looking at Felix.

    “Wasn’t it obvious? Those friends of yours aren’t exactly bright?” Felix said with a shrug as he raised a brow, “How on earth could they believe a girl that doesn’t have class or any cleverness. Her acting was appalling and being a magic performer’s daughter? Hah, I know a lot of magicians and street performers in the world. None of them have any kids named Lila.”

     “That doesn’t matter now. What matters is that Ladybug and Chat Noir stop them and turn them back to normal,” Nathaniel pointed out as he was grabbing for his phone and started texting.

   Adrien was just finished re-ordering Plagg’s cheese when he got the ext from Nathaniel. After reading the contents, his eyes widened then rushed out of his room and to the garden where everyone is.

   “F-felix?” Adrien breathed out then looked to Marc, Nathaniel and Alix, “What’s this about our classmates being akumatized?”

    “It’s a long story, but whatever you do, don’t answer your—“

     Adrien’s phone buzzing interrupted into whatever Nathaniel was saying. The blond was pulling it out, and before anyone could stop him, a bright light flashed with Adrien dropping his phone and the Punishers Hexad appearing before them.

    Volpina grinned as she was holding her flute up, “It’s time for your punishment, you naughty—“

     Her and the rest of the akumatized beings paused as they saw two Adriens standing with their hands up in fright along with a shocked Marc, Nathaniel and Alix.

    “…Boys?” Lady-Wifi, Dark Cupid, Gamer and Volpina let out in confusion, while beings like Horrificator and Stoneheart just let out grunts of puzzlement.

    “It all make sense now!” Lady-Wifi narrowed her eyes as she held her phone up to one of the look-alikes, “There were TWO Adriens!”

    “That explains why the Adrien we saw was being mean to Lila and the rest of us!” Dark Cupid huffed, holding his arrow at who he thought was the fake Adrien.

     “Confirmed. Looks like we have an evil boss level jerk to take out,” Gamer smirked, having his controller in hand.

    Adrien glanced at Felix questionably, raising a brow as Volpina spoke.

    “Which one of you is the cruel and inferior copy of the original?” She asked as she was narrowing her eyes, looking at the two blonds.

    “What did you say to them?” Adrien asked, worried.

    “Only the truth. That, and you need better friends,” Felix said warily as he then glanced at Nathaniel, Alix and Marc, “At least these three have brain cells, despite looking tacky.”

    “…I should punch you, but I guess A for effort.” Alix murmured under her breath, saying something about another socially stunted rich blond.

    “One of you guys tried to make Adrien look like a monster!” Lady-Wifi said angrily, “There was no way that our sunshine cinnamon roll would say all those rude stuff to us! So fess up! Now.”

     Adrien bit his lower lip, but soon shifted his expression into a cruel one as he laughed evilly, “AHAHAHHA~! It’s me~ I’m the fake Adrien~! You’ll never take me alive~ Muwahahahah~” He cackled as he then started running off.

    Before any of the akumatized Punishers could go after him, Alix was sticking her foot out, tripping Lady-Wifi. Nathaniel was soon on the move as well, grabbing for some random object and throwing it at Dark Cupid. Marc whimpered, but he was reaching for Felix and rushing him to run out of the room, trying to get to safety. Alix kicked Gamer’s shin and soon was grabbing for Adrien’s computer chair, using it as a shield against Horrificator as Nathaniel was grabbing for some…cheese that he found on Adrien’s desk and was throwing it at Stoneheart.

     Lady-Wifi growled, growing impatient and threw a floating pause button on both Alix and Nathaniel, freezing them into place.

    The six soon were out the door, splitting off into two groups of three to find the fake Adrien.

       After finding a hiding spot to transform, Chat Noir was on the move as he jumped up on top of the roof of the Agreste Manor. He spotted Marc already running down the street with Felix in tow, then spotted Volpina riding on Stoneheart’s shoulder as Lady-Wifi was also resting on the other shoulder. Using his bo-staff, he then pole-vaulted his way after them, hoping that Ladybug would arrive with some backup.

     Jumping down to the road and deciding to go after them on foot, Chat was pulling his bo-staff into resting mode and called Ladybug in his communicator.

    “Ladybug, I’m heading near the Pont de l'Alma. Hawkmoth upped his game today and akumatized six people. They are after Adrien Agreste’s cousin, Felix, and Marc Anciel. Please hurry and bring backup.”

    Clicking his communication off, he was soon jumping up high and landing in front of the Punishers, grinning.

     “Hey gang~ You playing tag? Can I join~?”

     “Get him and take his Miraculous! I’ll get the fake Adrien!” Volpina shouted as she was rushing in first, Lady-Wifi and Stoneheart took to fighting Chat Noir, the hero avoiding hitting Stoneheart and dodging Lady-Wifi’s hits.

    Marc yelped when Volpina appeared before them, smirking as she was about to approach them but blinked when Felix pushed Marc behind him and smirked back.

    “You want a fight? I’ll give you a fight, Sneaky Fox.”

     Volpina laughed haughtily, “It’s time for your punishment, naughty boy~”

      Felix went into a fighting stance as he grinned wildly, “Be careful what you wish for. Hope you can keep up with a third degree black belt~”

     And with that, Volpina was charging with a cry, and Felix quickly blocked her hit easily. Looking bored, he continued to dodge her, knowing she was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Jumping back and soon flipped over her, he kicked at her back hard and was aiming a high kick, but missed as Volpina rolled out of the way.

    Marc’s eyes widened as he watched the fight, but then turned to look at Chat Noir having trouble taking on both Wi-fi and Stoneheart.

    What should he do?

     He then saw that Dark Cupid, Gamer and Horrificator were coming their way to join the fray, and Marc wondered if Alix and Nathaniel are okay…were they hurt or worse? Where was Ladybug and the other heroes?

    Suddenly, Marc’s eyes widened as Stoneheart was about to smash his heavy fist on Chat Noir, who was still dodging Wi-fi and not noticing anything…

    It felt like his body was moving without thinking.

    “WATCH OUT!”

     Chat Noir’s eyes widened as he was pushed out of the way, then heard a scream of fright and pain. Rolled out of harm’s way, the cat hero looked up and gasped as he saw Marc down on the ground once Stoneheart lifted his fist up, the boy’s body crumpled in an odd angle and barely breathing at all.

    Heart beating louder in his ears, Chat Noir’s mood shifted from frozen shocked into deadly fury as he was about to use Cataclysm when he felt a hand over his shoulder. Turning around to let out a feral growl, he saw it was Kazesagi.

     “Keep your head straight. Don’t lose it.”

      Carapace was jumping in as well, speeding forward, grabbing the unconscious Marc off the ground, dodging Stoneheart’s hit just as Ladybug was jumping in and tying Lady-Wifi up.

    “You called for backup. Well, this is your backup.” Kazesagi said in a drawl as he then was pulling out his umbrella, calling out his burrow as a portal opened above them, dropping the heaping knocked out bodies of Dark Cupid, Gamer and Horrificator.

   Chat Noir breathed out as Carapace jumped in between them with Marc in his arms, “Is he…?”

    “He’s badly hurt. But once Ladybug uses her lucky charm and get the spell working, he should be fine. He’s alive at least,” Carapace said softly as Ladybug was already calling out her Lucky Charm.

      Chat Noir’s eyes looked down at the bruised form that was Marc Anciel. If only he watched his back.

     Ladybug raised her hand as she caught the Lucky Charm, surprised it was a flashlight.

     Volpina growled, kicking Felix out of the way as she rushed to attack Ladybug, but the heroine sensed her and blocked the hit from the flute with her yo-yo, narrowing her eyes. The two girls were locked into battle, and Felix raised a brow for a second.

     A tinge of color flashed in his eyes for a second as his vision greyed out, the blond looking around as he spotted something shining emerald green in Volpina’s belt.

     Volpina smirked and was going to use her flute to make carbon copies of herself and fool Ladybug while she’ll sneakily go behind her and make her attack, but blinked as nothing happened.

    “What?” She looked at her flute in confusion, giving Ladybug a chance to figure out how to use her Lucky Charm. Suddenly, she spotted Felix making his eyes rapidly move as if signalling to Volpina.

      Her Lucky Charm’s instinct was pointing to him.

     …She knew what to do.

     Grinning, Ladybug turned on the flashlight and shined it to Volpina’s eyes, blinding her. As the fox raged and tried to shield her eyes, Felix was quickly grabbing the object from Volpina’s belt and saw it was a cellphone.    

     “Cat Boy! Catch!”

     Felix called as he was soon throwing it to Chat Noir, who looked up, activated his Cataclysm and caught the phone, turning it into dust. The butterfly was flying out of the broken object, and Ladybug caught it in time. Purifying it and sending her magical bugs to change everything back to normal.

    Including healing Marc, who was opening his eyes with a tired groan.

    “W-what happened?”

     Chat Noir smiled in relief, so did Carapace and Kazesagi.

     “You saved my life. But you shouldn’t risk yourself in danger like that again, okay?” As much as Chat was grateful, he never wanted to experience someone almost dying for him again.

     …Was this how Ladybug reacts like whenever he sacrifices himself for her every time?

     Ladybug breathed out in relief as she walked over to the boys, Felix following at her side.

    “I’m…going to assume you’re not Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug questioned as she looked at the blond next to her, the male placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head in a polite gentleman manner.

     “Felix Graham de Vanily.”

     “You fight pretty good. Brave and a strategist to boot too,” Ladybug smiled but then looked stern, “But please don’t be fighting akumas like that even if you are some martial arts expert. Leave it to the heroes, okay?”

    She turned to Marc, who was looking like he wanted to hide, averted his eyes away.

    “Are you okay?”

    At her soft voice, Marc looked up to Ladybug’s concerned face and nodded quietly, making the girl smile.

     “I saw you saving Chat Noir and I thank you Marc Anciel. But please don’t be risking yourself like that either, alright? We don’t want civilians like you getting hurt or worse.”

     Chat Noir felt something stuck in his throat at her voice, even if she wasn’t talking to him directly. It felt like the many times she nags and tells him off whenever he jumped in front of her. And he just brushes her off like it was nothing. Because her Lucky Charm and Miraculous Ladybug would always fix everything in the end.

     That was so messed up.

    “I-I promise, Ladybug. I won’t do it again.” Marc promised sincerely, just as Nathaniel and Alix were rushing towards them with worried looks.

    Ladybug nodded to her team, then looked to Chat Noir, who was staring at her with soft eyes.

    “Pound it?” Ladybug lifted her fist to their signature move, but was surprised when Chat Noir was taking her hand, lower lip wobbling as he tried to smile, but it looked like a grimace.

    “I can understand now why you always get so mad whenever I don’t take things seriously and keep flirting with you. A-and the way I keep on jumping in the way to save you and end up getting hurt for you…”

     Chat Noir was shaking as he gripped her hand, almost looking teary eyed.

     “I-I’ll try to be a better p-partner from now on, Ladybug. No more flirting, no more goofing off. After the scare I had today, I can finally see that. I always take things for granted, a-and I should respect your feelings, too. So…”

      Ladybug stared at him for a moment then softened.

      He was being sincere this time around.

      She was squeezing her partner’s hand and nodded her head, “Thank you, Chat. You don’t have to change completely. There’s a time and a place for these things, okay? You’re one of my best friends, I don’t want to lose you and hurt your feelings…”

    Chat Noir nodded in understanding, and soon heard coughing. The two turned to see Carapace and Kazesagi staring at them knowingly, Felix rolling his eyes, Alix grinning from ear to ear, while Nathaniel and Marc had to look away awkwardly.

     Noticing that he and Ladybug were holding hands, he moved back a bit and looked sheepish…but….he was surprised he didn’t feel the giddy butterflies he usually would when he was still crazily fawning over her.

     …Strange.

      Once the heroes made sure that the akumatized victims were okay and brought them home (including bringing Felix back to the Agreste Manor then dropping off Marc, Nathaniel and Alix somewhere), the heroes soon stopped by the Eiffel Tower.

    “Looks like our timers are almost up. Good job today everyone and get home safely!” Ladybug heard her Miraculous beeping, along with Chat and Carapace’s.

     Although all three looked confused as Kazesagi’s didn’t look like he was running out of minutes like they were.

    “I gotta ask, how come you’re not running out of time?” Chat Noir pointed out in suspicion as Kazesagi had a shit-eating grin.

    “That’s a secret~”

     Chat kept his cool, even if he did hate secrets.

     Ladybug had that question on the brain too. Now that she thought about it, even as Kirin, the other was able to keep using his voyage without timing out and transforming back. Unlike with Mustang, who had the same timer of five minutes once using his power like she, Chat Noir and the other temporary heroes.

     The same thing for Kurogane.

     She should ask Master Fu about that later.

     “Anyways, you guys should get going.” Kazesagi saluted to them and used his burrow to escape, and Chat Noir was groaning loudly.

     “Man, he should be the fox. He sneakier than Volpina and Rena Rouge!“

      Carapace looked troubled at the mention of his fox girlfriend, biting his lower lip as he remembered Alya looking at him betrayed when she was changed back to normal along with the others.

      He knew she was going to ask questions when she meets with him tomorrow at school.

    Turning back into Adrien, the blond breathed out a sigh before stepping back into his house, going up to his room. Once he arrived, Felix was already waiting for him. Adrien stepped inside and locked the door behind him. He approached the other, already looking for an explanation about today.

     Felix took a deep breath as he was soon looking up at his cousin, “It was my fault. I was…trying to play a harmless prank and it went too far…”

     Adrien shook his head in disappointment, “I know you’re going through some things, Felix. But that doesn’t excuse you to take it out on my classmates like that.”

    “You are correct. If I am going to be staying in Paris, I should learn a little self-control and not cause trouble. For you or anyone else.” Felix nodded, bowing his head down, “I don’t expect you to forgive me on my behaviour today.”

     Softening, Adrien was reaching out to place a hand onto his shoulder.

     “Felix, we’re family. I’m going to forgive you anyways because I care about you, no matter what.” Adrien said with a solemnly, “I understand why you’re acted the way you did. I myself wanted to act out at times but…I know Father is hurting too since Mom disappeared. I can’t be selfish. But I’m sorry that I couldn’t be at your Dad’s funeral. You completely have every right to hate me for it.“

     Felix stared at his cousin and closed his eyes, “I don’t hate you. I never did. I was just…so hurt when Uncle told me you didn’t want to see me or Mother ever again. I suppose I wanted to be a little vindictive and muck up your perfect life.”

     Adrien reached out to hug Felix, surprising Felix as he opened his eyes.

     “My life isn’t perfect. I don’t want perfect,” He moved back for a moment and smiled a little, “How about we continue to talk like this. Everyday or whenever you need to. I think we need to work on our communication and clear up any misunderstandings. If you ever feel like you’re out of control, or feel like doing something stupid…you know you can turn to me. Okay? Especially since we’ll be going to school together and be closer than ever before.”

    Felix smiled, nodding his head as he hugged him in return, “That sounds like a good idea.”

     As Adrien was squeezing his cousin, finally thankful to have this chance at re-connecting with his cousin again, Felix was feeling differently.

     ‘Sorry cousin. But there are things that you cannot know yet. Not until I’ve settled the score with Uncle.’

    The start of the week came. And there was going to be a total shock coming at Françoise Dupont.

  “Oh!”

   Marc blinked as he looked at the front of the classroom to see Felix there standing by Ms. Mendeleiev.

   “Class, I’d like to introduce you to your new classmate, Felix Graham  de Vanily. He is our class’ exchange student from London, so I hope you shall treat him with respect and politeness.” The science teacher drawled sternly then glanced around before landing her eyes to Marc, “M. Graham de Vanily, please seat yourself next M. Anciel and we can begin our class.”

    The blond nodded as he soon was walking towards the back of the class and soon was slipping int the seat next to Marc, who was gaping like a fish staring at him.

    “You’re…schooling here?”

    Felix looked over to Marc and smirked, “I suppose I didn’t tell you or the other two chuckleheads huh?”

    Marc pouted a little but then smiled brightly as he was soon offering his hand out to the blond, “Well then. Welcome to Françoise Dupont, Felix! I hope we can be great friends from now on!”

    Felix looked at the hand for a moment, but slowly was reaching to shake it, nodding his head.

    “I hope to be in your care then.”

  Shota Aizawa was standing nearby Seine, looking out the river with a melancholy look before he felt a presence walking right next to him.

   “You’re late.”    The figure looked up to the shaggy haired man, smiling sweetly, “That any way to greet an old friend?”

   “Old friend? Is that what we are now?” Aizawa turned fully to face the person before him with a raised brow, “Amelie…”

    The blonde let out an airy free laugh as she was waving a hand, smacking at his arm before shaking her head.

    “Oh you! Haven’t changed a bit since we were teens!” Calming herself, she then reached a hand to touch his face, letting her fingers glide from his cheek down to his chin with a pout, “Besides being taller and look like a zombie, you grew some facial hair. And you’re still not taking care of your hair, Minou.”

    Despite the blank face he was sporting, there was something in Aizawa’s eyes that held fondness for the woman in front of him. He leaned into the touch once she glided her hand back to his stubbled cheek, closing his eyes.

   “Hime…”

   “You haven’t called me that in a long time. Not since I was engaged to Felix Sr.” Amelie hummed as she softened, “I’m sorry we have lost touched for so long…”

    “Don’t. You had no choice. It was either arranged  to marry him or lose everything,” The man opened his eyes and stared at her, “I’m the one who should be sorry. I ran away because I was scared kid back then. I was losing everything around me. I lost Oboro, then Ebony—”

   “Shh, none of that now.” Amelie breathed out as she brought her other hand to his face and cupped his cheeks, leaning closer, “We’re together now and that’s all that matters.”

    Leaning their foreheads together, Aizawa chuckled weakly, “Is it too dark of me to say I’m glad the bastard is dead?”

    Amelie smiled, just reaching to hug him close as she closed her eyes.

    ‘To the public, he died in his sleep. I’m sorry, Minou. This princess of yours is a killer now…’

So a quick key notes for those reading this:

- Canonically, Aizawa is 31 (currently, as the manga is still going). But in this story, I'm making him 33 / 34 instead. So the same goes for Present Mic and Midnight. - Whatever Miraculous Shinso uses, he doesn't time out, just like Hawkmoth and Master Fu. - Felix's father is just named Felix II, while our Felix is Felix III. - Felix's father's surname is Culpa thanks to the fandom giving PV Felix's last name for fanfic purposes. Amelie and Felix never intended to have that surname anyways and never will.

[aidanchaser]

Chapter 19: The Fox and the Hare

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero @magic713m @ccboomer @aubsenroute @somebodyswatson

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Everyone Lives AU Chapter 19 The Fox and the Hare

Remus pulled his cloak closed around his throat as he fought the stiff winds that pushed their way through London. His bones ached enough after the full moon without stepping out into a bracing winter, but he ignored the protest in his joints. Not only did he want the details about what had happened to James, he was eager to see Tonks.

He had only seen his wife once since his abrupt departure back in August. The guilt for leaving her in the first place still ached if he reflected on it for too long. He knew that James and Lily were right. Tonks needed him, and he needed to be with her. If he, James, and Lily had not been caught leaving the Longbottoms’ estate, he probably would have gone straight back to Tonks. But James’ capture had changed everything.

They had lost James and Harry in a day, and though they trusted that Harry was safe, it was not the same as knowing that Harry was safe. Lily and Remus had spent most of their days scouring every scrap of newspaper they could get their hands on for any clues or sightings. The phrase, “no news is good news,” was repeated often, and though they believed it when it came to Harry, each day without news of James seemed to wear away a little more of each of them.

It wasn’t until they were finally able to connect with Sirius that Remus had felt comfortable leaving Lily for a few days and risking a return to Tonks’ house to apologise.

He had known he would be lucky if Tonks accepted his apology. Though he was still afraid of all the things he had been afraid of when he had left, he understood now that his fears were something they had to share.

Remus was not used to sharing the weight of his burdens with others. It was something none of his friends were particularly good at, but he and Lily had been forced to practice it these last few months. If they had not shared their anxiety over James and Harry with each other, they might have torn each other apart.

Though Remus did not think he deserved to be forgiven, Tonks had welcomed him back with an astonishing grace. Remus wished he had shown the same grace to Sirius, when he had betrayed him to Snape during their years at Hogwarts, or that they had shown each other the same grace with each other after the truth of Peter’s betrayal had been revealed. There was no knowing what they might have gained in the last fifteen years if only they had learned to forgive themselves and each other with half the ease that Tonks did.

Unfortunately, Remus and Tonks had not had much time together during his visit. Not only were Death Eaters watching her parents’ house vigilantly, the Muggle-born Registration Commission visited frequently to make sure that Ted Tonks was not hiding nearby. Remus may not have been Muggle-born, but blood-purists weren’t any more fond of what he was, and the Ministry was almost as desperate for his head as they were Harry’s.

So he and Tonks had filled their few days with as much as they could. His admission of guilt and his apology were all he really had the emotional fortitude for, but there was so much more for them to take care of beyond their reconciliation.

Once Tonks had assured him that he was forgiven, she had immediately begun planning ways to stay in touch. She was the one who had suggested they use the Times and had given Remus and Sirius their code names.

“We can’t use Moony,” she had said, “since too many people you went to school with are Death Eaters. Sirius can be the Black Sheep. He’ll think it’s funny. I’ll be the White Rabbit, and you can be… the Silver Fox!���

Remus had blushed and become suddenly self-conscious of his greying hair, but he hadn’t argued with her. A fox was better than a wolf. “What about Lily?” he had asked.

She had taken a bit longer to come up with a code name for Lily, but she had eventually suggested Red Hind. So when he had seen a classified ad in the Times from a White Rabbit claiming to have news about a Red Hart, he had known instantly that it meant James. He only hoped no one else had recognised the message and decoded the meeting time and place.

The other crucial thing he and Tonks had discussed the last time they had seen each other was her pregnancy. There was still every possibility that their child could be a werewolf — though Remus prayed to God, Merlin, and whatever else might hear him that it would not be — so they had to make sure Tonks had the right sort of care.

“I talked to my friend Penny,” Tonks had said.

Remus had looked up at her from his seat on the floor beside her bed. “What did you tell her?”

“I didn’t name you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Tonks had slid off the bed and sat down beside him. “She recommended a Healer to me. I know Mum said I ought to find a midwife, but I thought — you know, just in case — it would be best to have a Healer.”

Though they had not done much but talk for two days, Remus’ well of emotions had been thoroughly drained, and he had not had it in him to do much more than hum in agreement.

Remus was still trying to wrap his head around being a father. On good days, he was a little excited. He had helped raise Harry, after all, and he had the benefit of James and Lily’s experience. But there were still days that his guilt and fear overwhelmed him, and he wondered why he had ever dared to fall in love with someone in the first place.

Today was not one of his dark days. Today, he was excited to see Tonks, to hear how she was doing, and to know what she had learned about James.

A short walk from the rundown brick building, whose worn name labeled it “Purge and Dowse, Ltd.,” rested a copse of trees that guarded a steep drop in the ground before leveling out into someone’s residence. Remus slipped down the frost-hardened embankment until he was no longer in view of the street. He looked around for Tonks but a crack startled him, and he pulled his wand from his cloak.

She was behind him suddenly, and it took all of Remus’ mental fortitude not to curse her immediately as she threw her arms around him and kissed him.

Though Remus did not want to pull away, he remained practical. “Dora — stop — One of these days it won’t be you and I’ll end up dead for hesitating.”

She pouted, as she always did when he pulled away from a kiss too early, and wrinkled her nose until it was almost entirely absorbed by her face, then grew it back out. “Good enough?” she asked.

“And if I’m not me?”

She shrugged.

“You shouldn’t be Apparating, you know.”

“See? That’s something only the real Remus would say.”

“Andromeda would say it too.” Remus held her at arm’s length for a moment and looked her over. It was hard to make out any details about her figure beneath the cloak, but he thought she looked well. She was a bit flushed, but seemed happy, all things considered.

“You are alright?” he asked.

“Of course.” She started up the embankment. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

Remus hurried after her. “Late for what? I thought you had news about James.”

“Not here in the open.” Tonks grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the condemned shopping centre across the street.

It took everything Remus had not to dig his heels in and throw a tantrum like a toddler. Not only was he impatient for her news, he had no interest in entering that building unless it was a life or death situation.

“Wait —” he said.

But Tonks wasn’t paying attention to him. She led him around the corner to a window decorated with a set of shabby mannequins, half-dressed and faded by sun. She whispered something into the glass, then finally turned and looked at Remus.

“Oh,” she said. “We’d better do something about your face. May I?”

Remus was worried about being recognised, certainly, but that wasn’t his main source of fear. He didn’t know how to explain the anxiety that crawled up his throat to Tonks, though, so he nodded dumbly.

“I’ll be careful,” she promised. “It’s harder on others, but McGonagall always said I had a knack for it.”

As Tonks pressed her wand against his cheek, Remus felt the sharp, gaunt lines of his face fill in and soften. He could see the edges of his hair darken. He imagined she was getting rid of his most noticeable feature as well: his scars.

Once she was satisfied, she pulled him through the glass window.

Unlike the last time Remus had visited, in the dead of the night after the battle in the Department of Mysteries, the lobby of St Mungo’s was full. People crowded around on all sides and made a cacophony of unfortunate noises — retching, shrieking, singing off-key — but Tonks ignored the chaos and pulled Remus into the line behind the reception desk.

He squeezed her hand and focused his attention on exactly two sensations: steady breathing and her fingers laced through his.

Remus had been to St Mungo’s exactly three times as an adult. Once, when Harry had fallen into a Bearded Bramble and had developed a rash that was beyond his skill to treat, then years later when Arthur Weasley had nearly been killed on duty for the Order, and finally two summers ago, when Voldemort had attacked the Ministry, and James, Lily, and Dora had all nearly died.

Each time, Remus had been here at St Mungo’s because someone he cared about was in danger. It was easier to manage his anxiety about St Mungo’s if there was a larger, more pressing anxiety consuming him first, and if he wasn’t the one submitting himself to a Healer’s care.

He reminded himself that, in all likelihood, they were not here for him. Tonks had even obscured his face. There was no way for anyone they spoke with to know who he was, or worse, what he was.

When they reached the desk of the Welcome Witch, Tonks told her that they had an appointment.

“Name?” the Welcome Witch asked.

“Black.” Tonks said without hesitation.

The witch directed them to wait, and Tonks pulled him into one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs along the wall. Remus wondered if perhaps the conversation with the Welcome Witch had not been about an appointment at all. Perhaps it was another coded message. Had the Welcome Witch been the one to tell Tonks about James?

He took a moment to wet his lips before asking, “Is James here?”

Tonks shook her head. “We’ll talk where no one’s around,” she whispered. “Where could be more protected than a Healer’s office?”

He wanted to ask if they really needed to be here, if he could not just take her to Lily, but before he could find the words, a young man in green robes stepped out of the lift, glanced at the clipboard in his hand, and announced, “Nymphadora Black.”

Though none of those names were ones that Tonks liked for herself, she jumped to her feet and tugged Remus with her. As the young man pushed the button for the first floor, a high-pitched whine began to rise in Remus’ ears. When the lift doors opened only a moment later, Tonks pulled him forward again. But this time, he didn’t follow. Remus’ feet were stuck to the floor as surely as if he’d been hit with one of Sirius’ Permanent Sticking Charms.

“Remus?” she asked.

His mouth was dry. He wanted to remind her that she shouldn’t use his real name, but the words didn’t come. He wanted to tell her he would wait outside, and he would be there for her after this was over, no matter what, but those words didn’t come, either.

With an incredible force of will, he stumbled out of the lift.

The first floor itself had not changed since he had been here with the Weasleys during Arthur’s stay, and it had not changed since he was a boy. The smell of alcohol and antiseptic made him dizzy, and the dark paneling seemed to disappear at the edges of his vision, giving him the strange impression that the walls were disappearing as they passed — along with their exit. It was all he could do to stumble after Tonks and the Healer.

The walk was longer than any Remus had taken down this hall, he was sure of it. They passed ward after ward until, finally, the young man opened a door and led them into a private office. Remus could not focus enough to read the name on the door, but through the high-pitched whine in his ears, he did make out the young man’s words.

“The Healer will be with you in a moment, Ms Black,” he said.

The office was small and sparsely decorated. Most of the space was taken up by the desk at the center and a pair of chairs opposite. The only real personalisation to the room was a photograph of a sunrise hanging next to the window. The sunlight glittered on the surface of a lake as the photograph moved, but the sun remained on the horizon in permanent dawn.

Bookshelves lined the other walls, and Remus was able to recognise a few of the texts from Sirius’ collection, though Sirius would never have kept his books organised so neatly. Even though Remus was not familiar with much of Healing magic, he could tell that the shelves were organised into sections on anatomy, Charms, and, he noted glumly, an entire three shelves devoted to dangerous Creatures. There was more than one text on werewolves.

“Remus, sit,” Tonks said. “You look like you’re about to faint. I’m not giving birth yet.”

Remus fell into one of the chairs and forced himself to look at her.

He had been so excited to see her, and now he wanted nothing more than to run. He struggled to bring his thoughts into line, into any reasonable order so that he might explain himself. He tried to remember why they were here.

She crouched beside his chair and put a hand on his wrist. “Did I accidentally make you look that peaky or is something wrong? Remus?”

His tongue felt like lead, but he remembered, distantly, why they had needed a private office. “What did you learn about James?”

Worry creased her brow, which was an unusual look for Dora. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb and though she could not know how much it helped, he allowed the gentle touch to ground him.

“He’s definitely alive,” she said. “Cedric Diggory stopped by after one of the M.R.C.’s absurd little raids. Mum’s about ready to put traps in the cupboards, she’s so tired of them tearing up her pantry.”

Usually, Remus was fond of Tonks’ wandering stories. She included details about people that made him laugh or that simply showed that she cared. At this moment, however, he could only process so much information.

“What did Diggory say?” he asked.

“Some Snatchers brought James in two nights ago.”

“Snatchers? Why — how?”

Tonks shrugged. “Still working it out, but we — oh!” She abandoned his hand and pressed her palm against her stomach. Her face turned from worried to silly in an instant.

“The baby started kicking a couple weeks ago. Here,” she grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly.

Remus had been looking for changes in Tonks’ body, but they were far too subtle to observe beneath her robes. Now that he was touching her, he could feel the new curve of her stomach. She wasn’t much bigger, just fuller, but Sirius and Lily had both told him that the obvious growth would probably come soon. Remus just hoped he would be around to see it.

Then, beneath her stomach, something moved, pressing against his hand. Remus pulled away.

Tonks laughed. “It’s alright.” She reached for his hand again.

But it wasn’t alright. Panic thrummed in Remus’ every muscle and bone, and the only thing that kept him from leaping out of his chair and pacing the room was Tonks’ hand around his wrist.

The day had started out so pleasant. He had been so happy to see her, and so excited to finally have a lead on James. Now he was sitting in an office in St Mungo’s on the floor for Creature-Induced Injuries, facing down memories of some of the worst moments of his childhood and every possibility that the same future awaited his own child.

“Remus.” Her joy was gone. Instead, her voice was firm but gentle. It was the same voice she had had at the kitchen table when she had asked him to go on this journey with her. “Hey, look at me, please?”

He did. She bit down on her lower lip, pulling her worried frown into something closer to a pout. Her cheekbones were sharp today, and her eyes grey. She looked more like her mother than her father. She looked more like Sirius. He might have wondered if she did it on purpose, but the last time he had seen her, she had chosen the same round face she’d worn when she met him, the face she’d had when she’d married him. Both of those faces were Tonks, just as both his joy and fear were truly him.

They both flinched as something — the baby — their baby — kicked against his hand.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked.

He appreciated the way she had phrased the question. It did not give him room to lie, at least not in the ways he was used to.

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” he said.

The door behind them creaked, and every piece of tranquility that Remus had managed to cling to evaporated as the Healer walked in. At least Tonks did not let go of his hand, even as she stood.

The Healer had short, grey hair, and she wore a lime-green smock. Remus struggled to guess her age. She did not look old, exactly, but she looked worn in a way that suggested her experience outstripped her years. It was a feeling Remus was familiar with. She had a pale but pleasant smile as she looked first at Remus, then at Tonks.

“It is you,” she said. “I wondered how many Nymphadoras there were out there.”

Tonks wrinkled her nose. “Only the one, which I expect is best for everyone.”

“I take it this isn’t a social visit, or you wouldn’t have made an appointment? I don’t get many appointments. Most people don’t plan on any of the injuries they get working with Creatures.”

The Healer removed her smock and used her wand to drape it on a hook by the door. She took a seat at her desk and eyed Remus curiously. “Are you the source of Tonks’ name change?” she asked.

“Oh — er —”

Tonks saved him. “Yes and no.” She sat in the empty chair with a bit more care than usual, and Remus wished he’d had the foresight to help her. “We are married,” she said, “but I thought it’d be best to use my mother’s maiden name.”

Remus thought that was an unusually prescient decision for Tonks to make and wondered if Andromeda had suggested it. He noticed, too, how she had not bothered to introduce him to the Healer. “Tonks” and “Lupin” were equally undesirable names at the moment.

The Healer’s smile was sad, like she sympathised with Tonks’ decision. “It’s certainly… unfortunate times.” She fidgeted with an opalescent pendant at her neck. “You still haven’t said why you’re here.”

“Oh!” Tonks sat up straighter. “Penny said you could help us. We’re having a baby.”

The Healer blinked at them. “I’m not a midwife. I can help you find one, if you like, but I work with injuries from Creatures. I deal with venoms, broken bones, and bites.”

Remus was proud of himself for not flinching when she said “bites,” but he did squeeze Tonks’ hand a bit more tightly.

“I know,” Tonks said, “but we have sort of… a unique situation.” She looked to Remus for help, but he did not know how to help her. He knew what she wanted him to say, but he could not give it. He could not out himself to a Healer.

Tonks bit down on her lower lip. “It’s just something we want to be sure about, and if the baby is, er — cursed — we want to make sure that we have everything we need. Penny said we could trust you.”

Though Tonks was looking at Remus as she said it, the Healer’s hands stopped fidgeting with her necklace. Her pleasant voice turned guarded. “What else did Penny say about me?”

“Only that you’d help us,” Tonks assured her.

Remus could see Tonks struggling to build an argument that convinced this Healer they would need her without telling her what Remus was, and as much as Remus wanted to keep his identity from this woman, he did not see any other way to get what Tonks needed.

But knowing that he needed to tell this woman the truth, for the sake of Tonks and their child, was so far removed from being able to do it. He had spent three decades doing everything he could to hide the truth about himself from others, especially from someone like this woman in front of him, who had every legal authority to confine him. He did not have the courage to tell her the truth.

But, really, what secret was left to keep? His face was printed in every issue of the Daily Prophet with a very clear warning about what he was printed beneath his picture.

Remus sank down into his chair and did his best to make himself appear small and nonthreatening, and though drawing attention to himself was the very last thing he wanted to do, he said, “I —” The words caught in his throat as the Healer looked at him. He swallowed and started over. “I don’t think Tonks introduced us.”

The Healer looked at him warily. “No, she didn’t.”

Instinctively, Remus reviewed in his mind the distance from his chair to the door in her office, and weighed his speed against how fast she could draw her wand. It had not been long since his last transformation and parts of him still ached. He did not like his chances.

Tonks squeezed his hand again.

“I’m her husband — Remus Lupin.”

A new anxiety filled Remus, purely because he had no idea how to interpret the Healer’s response. Her stiff posture visibly relaxed and she even smiled a little. It did not fit with anything he had encountered before. Fear, anger, suspicion — even pity — were responses he was familiar with. This was entirely unprecedented.

“You look different from your picture in the Prophet,” she said.

“That’s my handiwork,” said Tonks.

The Healer tugged on her necklace pendant as she eyed Remus, and Remus searched for a more comfortable sitting position, even though he knew it wasn’t his physical position that was uncomfortable.

Finally, she pursed her lips and said, “I think I understand why Penny suggested that you ask for my help,” the Healer said. “And I understand why you were so afraid to ask. But Penny was right: you can trust me.”

They spent the rest of the meeting discussing Tonks’ health and pregnancy. The Healer, as she had said, was not a midwife, and had to consult a few of her books throughout the meeting. She never reached for her books on werewolves, though they touched on the possibility. The Healer was confident there was no recorded case of birth complications because of lycanthropy, but she admitted she didn’t know if that was because it had never happened or it had just never been written about. More impressive to Remus than her knowledge of lycanthropy was the care she spoke with. Remus had never had a pleasant interaction with a Healer who had known what he was. Until today.

They set dates for Tonks to check in with the Healer, and though Remus might not be able to be present for all of them, simply knowing the plan helped. He knew, too, that if they had simply found a midwife and left lycanthropy out of it, his anxiety would have remained wild and untameable. Having a Healer who understood them allowed Remus to manage his fears in a way he was entirely unprepared for. He had never met Tonks’ friend Penny, but he thought about sending her a very grateful letter, and wondered if he shouldn’t meet more of Tonks’ friends from school. Tonks had integrated into his pack easily enough, and maybe he shouldn’t be so terrified of getting to know hers.

As the meeting came to a close, the Healer stood to escort them out.

“Oh —” Tonks did not stand, even as Remus started to get up. “Could Remus and I have a moment, just us?”

“Of course.” The Healer held out her hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lupin.”

Remus shook her hand, and it wasn’t until she was gone that he realised he had not gotten her name.

“Are you alright?” Tonks asked.

He nodded, and was a bit surprised to find that it was actually true.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I really thought we could get through that without telling her everything, at least not right away. Maybe I should have come alone, but I just wanted you to be with me for as much of this as you can.”

“I understand.” He ran his hand over his mouth and tried, desperately to put the truth in his words. His instinct was to tell her that it was alright, and everything had worked out, so what point was there in talking about what had gone wrong? But Sirius’ admonishments about lying echoed in his memory. He had to be truthful with Tonks, who did not know him the way Sirius did, and never would if he did not let her.

“I just wish you had explained before,” he said. “I don’t… care much for hospitals. It would have helped to be prepared, to know who we were meeting and why.”

An apology rose in her face, but she bit it back. She let his words hang in the space between them, and he could tell she was wrestling with patience as much as he was wrestling with honesty.

“Okay,” she finally said. “I am sorry — I’ll pay more attention. I’ll communicate better and try to at least talk through my impulses before I drag you into them.”

“Thank you.” Remus looked down at his hands and twisted the plain gold wedding band on his finger. He still had not figured out what Charm James had put into it.

“You never finished telling me your news about James,” he said.

“That’s why I asked for some privacy, so I could tell you, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first.”

He nodded. “I am, truly. Tell me what Cedric said. You said Snatchers were involved?”

“Yeah, that’s weird, right? I don’t know how James ended up with Snatchers, but they took him to the Ministry and he’s in Azkaban now.”

“You’re sure?”

“Thelborne got confirmation of James’ arrest and safe transfer to Azkaban. The Ministry hasn’t made James’ arrest public yet, but Cedric thinks they will soon. He said that it’ll be the best way for them to get Harry.”

Remus’ stomach dropped and the temporary peace he had found withered away. “I guess we should pray that Sirius finds Harry first.”

Tonks raised an eyebrow. “You think Sirius won’t also show up and make a scene?”

He tightened his jaw. “I’m going to make sure that he doesn’t. We’ll find a way to get James back, but we won’t do it by walking into a trap.”

She reached out and took his hand. He could tell from the careful way she traced the lines in his palm that she was preparing to say something difficult. He wondered if it was difficult to say, or just difficult to hear. Perhaps it was both.

“I’m going to say some things about Sirius,” she finally said, “and I do have questions I want you to answer, but you don’t have to answer all of them, or any of them, I guess, if you aren’t ready, okay? Is that… enough preparing you before I jump into something?”

Remus felt his throat tighten, but he appreciated her attempt at delicacy. He nodded.

“Did Sirius talk to you before you left back in August?”

Guilt flared. It was tempered by the fact that he was here now, that he had sat through a very difficult meeting for her sake. Knowing that helped him find his words again. “A little. He mostly admonished me for being a coward.”

“That’s not what I told him to say.” She frowned down at Remus’ hand. “You know he still loves you, right?”

“I chose you,” but even as Remus said it, he heard the denial. Sirius had called him a liar, not just because he lied to his friends but because he lied to himself.

“Why?” she asked.

It had been one year ago, almost exactly, that Sirius had pulled a very similar conversation out of Remus. Sirius had forced Remus to talk through his feelings, for both Tonks and Sirius, and had then denied Remus his choice. Sirius had all but insisted that Remus choose Tonks. Remus did not think he had made the wrong choice — though he had certainly doubted himself in those first few weeks after learning about her pregnancy — but he wondered why Tonks was bringing it up now. He did not think saying, “Sirius told me to choose you,” was the assurance that she wanted.

“Because I love you,” he said.

“But you also love Sirius,” she said. And it wasn’t a question.

He swallowed. “I do.”

The wedding band that James had given him grew warm, suddenly. It was not uncomfortable, but he pulled it from his finger anyway, and his heart broke.

Glowing script on the outside of the band read, “Moony & Dora,” and on the inside were the words, “Mischief Managed.”

How unfair, for him to solve James’ silly riddle and discover Sirius’ gift in an admission of love not to his wife, not to the person and bond that this ring symbolised, but to someone else entirely.

Dora’s hands closed around his, hiding the words from view and forcing him to look at her ring finger, decorated in two bands — his mother’s ring and the band that matched his.

“I’m not mad, Remus. I’m not jealous or upset, okay? I love you, and I know, with absolute certainty, that you love me. You’ve shown it in a hundred different ways, some precious and some obnoxious, but I know that you truly love me. And I know it’s been a lot of hard work for you to understand that I love you. I can imagine that it took a lot of hard work to understand Sirius’ love, too. That’s what I really wanted to say, that you’re allowed to have everything, Remus. You really are.”

Remus struggled to put meaning to her words. He understood them, of course, but to truly know what she meant was a hurdle he wasn’t sure he was ready to climb just yet.

“Christmas is just a week away,” she said, “and I think if Mum doesn’t get to see Sirius and Regulus, she’ll lose her mind, so take a week to think it over, to figure out what you want — you know — to prepare yourself, and then we’ll talk it over again.”

Remus was not sure a week would be enough time, but he was glad to have a different conversation topic. “How are we supposed to see you on Christmas? I’m sure the watch on your home will be doubled.”

“We’ll come to you. Mum and I can Apparate to wherever you are. If we’re lucky, we’ll get snowed in and won’t be able to leave you.”

She smiled, but he could not bring himself to match her joy. There might be joy in him somewhere, but it was buried under so much fear, guilt, and anxiety.

“You shouldn’t be Apparating at all,” he finally said, and she kissed his cheek.

Their goodbye was always going to be a bit melancholy — there was never any guarantee they would see each other again — but it was much more subdued than Remus would have liked. He did insist on Apparating Tonks home, to make sure she didn’t Splinch herself or the baby still growing inside of her, before Apparating back to the place he, Sirius, Lily, and Regulus had been hiding out in since the last full moon.

The winds were stronger out in the countryside, and the cold sharper. Remus shivered and hurried through the protective barriers around their hidden camp and into the safety of the Potters’ tent.

Warmth and the smell of freshly brewed tea hit him immediately. He heard Sirius’ voice, and his heart rate doubled with both the joy of knowing Sirius was home safe, and the anxiety left by Tonks’ parting advice.

Then, he heard an unexpected voice, and his anxiety vanished instantly, replaced with all-consuming wonder and joy. Though he was nearly dizzy with happiness, Remus ran from the small entrance to the curtained-off kitchen. He barely had time to take in the dark messy hair and thick glasses before Harry was in his arms.

Remus held him tightly, unsure that this moment was real. He wondered, briefly, if this entire day had been a dream. Had he really met Tonks? Met a Healer who had been kind, knowing what he was? Had his wife really suggested it was alright for him to still love Sirius? Was Harry really, truly here? Was he safe?

He opened his eyes and looked at Sirius and Lily, still seated at the table with patient smiles. Surely they had been just as overwhelmed to see Harry.

“Where?” he mouthed to Sirius.

When he finally could let Harry go without being afraid that Harry would disappear before his eyes, Sirius told him how he and Regulus had finally found Harry at Privet Drive.

Lily handed Remus a cup of tea. “They came back as soon as Sirius found Tonks’ message in the Times today. Which, speaking of, what did you find out?” Her eagerness for news of James was so thinly restrained that Remus hurriedly shared what Tonks had told him about James, how he had been taken to the Ministry by Snatchers.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Harry said. “Why would Vol —”

“No!” Remus and Sirius shouted at once as Lily also said, “Harry, don’t —”

Harry tensed, startled by their sudden outburst. “What?”

Lily’s voice shook as she explained. “The Ministry has put a Taboo on the name. Anyone who uses it will immediately draw the attention of Snatchers.”

“It’s probably the most intelligent thing they’ve done to track down the Order and other supporters of Dumbledore,” Sirius added. “Those most likely to use You-Know-Who’s name are those most likely to be fighting against the Ministry.”

“It’s how we nearly got caught in Godric’s Hollow,” said Remus. “They nearly got Mad-Eye last month, too.”

Harry frowned, but did not argue. “Okay, fine, but I still don’t understand why Vol — er — You-Know-Who would change his plans for Dad now. Why keep him prisoner and suddenly hand him off to Snatchers after almost four months?”

Remus had been mulling this over, too, in-between thoughts about Tonks and Sirius, and he didn’t like any of the answers he had come up with.

“Maybe,” Sirius suggested, “James escaped, and was recaptured by Snatchers before he could find us.”

“I doubt it,” Remus said quietly.

“You’re the one who said no prison could hold Prongs,” Harry said.

Lily’s green eyes were unusually cold as they evaluated Remus. “You think it’s a trap.”

Tonks and Cedric certainly seemed to think so, and Remus was inclined to agree with them. “If the Ministry announces that they’ve arrested James,” Remus said, “and if they publish a date for a trial, we have to let it happen.”

He was met with shouts of protest from everyone at the table.

“I know that’s not the news we want,” he said over them, “but the most likely explanation for why James has been moved from the Death Eaters to the Ministry is to use him against us.”

“What if we raided Azkaban instead?” Lily suggested.

Sirius shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. You can’t break someone out of Azkaban.”

“Why not?” asked Harry. “Regulus broke out of Azkaban.”

“Regulus is a cat! I know James and I can change our form too, but you think they haven’t added protections against Animagi since that’s how both Barty and Reg escaped? You think you can just waltz right in and find James amongst thousands of cells? Even the Death Eaters that broke out two years ago had the help of the Dementors. We’ll just have to be ready to take James at the trial, even if it is a trap.”

“Where is Regulus?” asked Remus. He wanted assistance from someone else willing to look at the situation practically.

“Said he had to run an errand.” Sirius looked at Harry, like Harry might know more about it, but Harry only shrugged.

“He hasn’t told me any more than he’s told you,” said Harry, but Harry lied the way James did, which was to say he lied incredibly poorly.

Lily drummed her fingers against her mug. “I still think I could do it.”

Remus sighed and shook his head. “As strong as you’ve gotten without the use of your wand, Sirius is right. We can’t take on Azkaban. And I’m right — we can’t get James at the Ministry. You know he’ll be furious if we lose even one person trying to save him.”

“We can’t do nothing,” Harry said.

“You’re not coming no matter what we do,” Lily said. Before Harry could argue, she said, “I’ve only just got you back from Merlin knows where, and I’m not about to let you run off again.”

“I’m not going to run off! I want to help Dad!”

Remus finished his tea while Lily, Sirius, and Harry argued. He was exhausted from the extreme highs and lows of his day, and did not have the patience to carefully talk his impulsive friends down from their half-baked plans. There was no sense in raiding Azkaban or the Ministry. They would lose, and if the Ministry got a hold of Harry, Voldemort would kill him, and that would be the end of everything.

While Sirius tried to outline a plan that involved impersonating Hit Wizards, Remus left the table and washed his cup. He listened half-heartedly as Lily pointed out, rightly, that it would be impossible to know which Hit Wizards to impersonate. Harry suggested that if he could get his hands on a broom, he could fly in and out of Azkaban, and Sirius had to explain why the wards around the prison made that impossible.

Remus abandoned the kitchen in favour of peace and quiet. He retreated to the bunk that he had been using these last few months. There were three bedrooms in the tent, and Remus supposed he would have to share this bunk with Harry from now on. He didn’t mind. He thought that might even make it easier to keep Harry from running off again.

Remus trusted Dumbledore — Dumbledore had saved his life in a multitude of ways — but whatever Dumbledore had left for Harry terrified Remus. Dumbledore so rarely left instructions without explanations. Even the prophecy had been kept secret for a reason. There was no reason, as far as he could fathom, why Dumbledore would ask Harry to keep a task secret from James and Lily.

Remus was usually the first person to suggest that Harry should make his own choices, but the weight of the world was a burden no one person should bear. Harry said that he had his friends, but it was obvious that Ron and Hermione weren’t here. If they were in danger, the conversation at the table would surely have gone differently. But wherever they were, they weren’t with Harry, and that worried Remus. He was not going to let Harry do this alone, anymore than he was going to let Lily storm Azkaban alone or let Sirius walk right into a trap set by the Ministry.

Maybe he was almost ready to be a proper parent after all.

He was just about to drift off when he heard someone walk in. He was familiar with the weight of Sirius’ footsteps and wondered vaguely if, for some reason, Harry had decided to bunk with Regulus, and Sirius had been shunted off to Remus’ bunk.

“Promise me you aren’t about to tell me Lily or Harry have run off to Azkaban,” he murmured without opening his eyes.

The weight of the bedding shifted as Sirius sat down. “No, we’ve at least agreed to wait for more news, whether from the Prophet or Tonks.” Sirius paused, then asked, “How is Tonks? You didn’t say much about her.”

“I thought the information on James was more pressing.”

“Is she okay?”

“If she wasn’t, I would tell you.”

“Are you okay?”

Remus didn’t answer. Not because he wasn’t okay, exactly, but because he was not sure how to tell Sirius about his day with Tonks and assure Sirius he really was alright.

“Remus —”

“We visited a Healer,” Remus said. He did not open his eyes. He did not want to see the worry on Sirius’ face. “It was fine. She was actually… kind. She knew Tonks already and she listened to our concerns. Then we used the privacy of her office to talk about James without being overheard.”

Sirius was quiet long enough that when he finally said, “You really need a Healer other than me?”

Remus opened his eyes and was relieved to see that Sirius was grinning.

“Have you ever helped birth a child?” Remus asked with a matching smile.

“I was present when Harry was born. And I didn’t pass out like James did.”

“I didn’t get the Healer’s name, but I’m sure you’ll meet her soon.”

“I guess if you like her, I’ll trust your judgement.” Sirius stood and stretched.

“Sirius — wait —”

He did, but Remus wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted from Sirius. He thought of all the effort he put into being honest with Tonks today, and wondered if he had enough strength left for this conversation.

“James said you designed the wedding rings,” he finally said, which was as close to what he wanted to talk about as he could manage.

“Everything alright with them?”

“I was just wondering how often someone really says, ‘I do,’ outside of wedding vows.”

“As often as you want to, I suppose.”

What Remus had wanted to say, the other half of that conversation with Tonks, slipped away. He appreciated Tonks’ grace and kindness, but he did not know how he could ask that same grace of Sirius. It seemed unfair.

“Why?” Sirius asked. “Do you want me to change it?”

If Remus really wanted to change it, he could do it himself. He was only stalling, working up the courage to say what he needed to.

“It’s just that… Tonks said something interesting. She said that I’m allowed to have everything I want. It just sounded a lot like something you said to me last year.”

Remus could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Sirius blush. He bit down on his lip to restrain a smile as Sirius’ cheeks turned red.

“I didn’t put the idea in her head, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I just want to know if you and Tonks are… on the same page about it.”

Sirius looked away. His jaw worked as he gnawed on the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Sirius was a better liar than James and Harry, only because he had far more experience. But none of them were as practised as Remus.

If Sirius needed more time to think about it, that was alright with Remus. He had only had the last few hours to even consider the idea, and he wouldn’t mind considering it for a while longer.

The idea that Remus could have everything he wanted was a bit overwhelming. He knew that Tonks had not meant literally everything, but it was nice to imagine the possibilities of everything, of a perfectly healthy child, of James home safe, of Harry trusting them again, of the war ending —

He supposed that was the point, wasn’t it? That everyone else allowed themselves to imagine those things, so why couldn’t Remus? Why couldn’t he let himself want all of that and more?

The answer was easy enough: he was afraid. He was so afraid of disappointment that he avoided wanting altogether. He told himself that he did not want anything, that he did not deserve anything, simply because he was afraid of the moment he would find out he could not have what he wanted.

But he couldn’t lie to himself anymore. Remus wanted everything.

[lonestarfangirl2014]

LONESTARS GUIDE TO THE WAYNES AND KANES OF GOTHAM CITY PART ONE REDUX

BRUCE WAYNES UNCLES AND AUNTS(Including by marriage) EDITION

WAYNES

“Waynes never stay down. We RISE”

The Wayne's are one of the so called first families of Gotham

also known as the Founding Families of Gotham or more simply, the Five Families are the five families affiliated with the creation of Gotham as a city.

AGATHA WAYNE

First appearance: Batman issue 89 February 1955

Agatha has been discribed as Thomas Wayne frail elder sister. She occasionally visits Bruce when he’s a adult. On Earth Two where she originally debuted it’s been said that she helped out the next person on this list with young Bruce whenever she could.

It could be possible that either Agatha or the next person on our list was the one to inherit the families gotham based ancestral home based on earth two/Golden age Bruce buying a mansion to live in shortly before becoming Batman

Agatha has a counterpart on new earth/post COIE who is said to be the only sibling of Thomas Wayne(still as a older sister.).

It is unknown if she has ever had kids. On Earth Two there is evidence that Bruce has at least one possibly 1st cousin on his fathers side who I will talk about in another post I’m planning on making about Bruce’s cousins.

PHILIP WAYNE (Not to be confused with Martha’s brother of the same first name whose farther down this list)

First Earth-One appearance: Batman issue 208 February 1969

Originally introduced in the earth-one era of comics it is later revealed that a Philip Wayne did exist on the earlier earth-two in Secret Origins Vol 2 #6 (September, 1986)

On both Earth-One and Earth-Two Philip Wayne was the one who took young Bruce in after he was orphaned.

It is unknown who is older between him and Thomas but based on the appearance of Earth-One Philip(white hair and mustache) I would say that Philip was the older one at least on that earth where both he and Thomas took charge of the family business AKA Wayne Enterprise.

On Earth-Two Thomas was the one to inherit the family fortune suggesting that he was the eldest of the two Wayne sons on that Earth. Earth-Two Philip is only seen once and it’s only a silhouette of him.

It is unknown if he has ever had kids. On Both Earth-Two as well as as Earth-One there is evidence that Bruce has at least one possible paternal 1st cousin on each. Both of them I will talk about in another post I’m planning on making about Bruce’s cousins.

Vanderveer Wayne SR.

first appearance: Powerless episode 3

For the sake of this post I will say a Fourth Wayne sibling to my knowledge has never appeared in the comics HOWEVER a paternal Uncle Of Bruce was introduced in the short lived TV show Powerless as Vanderveer Wayne SR.

Vanderveer Wayne, Sr. was the original boss of Wayne Security, before passing the job to his son Vanderveer Wayne Jr and taking a position on the board of directors of Wayne Enterprise.

Patricia Wayne

First Appearance: Pennyworth episode One

The elder sister of Thomas Wayne. She has been described and shown to be a typical rich party girl who according to Thomas apparently likes to cause scandals that drag the Wayne name through the mud. The foolish sibling to Thomas responsible sibling. They bicker and she calls him names but like any typical siblings they still love eachother.

ON PRIME EARTH/NEW 52 it is said that Thomas Wayne was a only child. As of may 4 2021 none of the other Wayne siblings has so far made a appearance in Any Comics set on Prime earth. But hey screw Canon right?

KANES

“We Stand TOGETHER”

The Kane family was cited as being so rich that the only parts of Gotham that were not owned by them were those owned by the Wayne Family.

NATHAN KANE

First mentioned in Batman Incorporated(don’t quote me on that) taking place on New Earth And is confirmed to exist on Prime Earth as well.

Not much is known about Nathan. We don’t even have a proper picture of him. What we do know is that he is the eldest son(Batman Incorporated vol 1 #4)and he was the one who inherited both the family fortune as well as the family Crest Hill Estate after family Patriarch and Matriarch Roderick and Elizabeth/Elisabeth(seen it spelt both ways) both died. He is called the golden scion of the family.

On New Earth He married the original Batwoman aka Katherine Webb-Kane the year Batman became active in Gotham. He was apparently 40 when he started dating 25 year old Kathy Webb-Kane, 43 when he finally married(the year Batman age 25 debuted in Gotham) and 47 when he died.

Kathy Webb-Kane/ Katrina “Luka” Netz.

First Earth-One appearance: Detective Comics #233 (July, 1956)

First Earth-Two Appearance: The Brave and the Bold #182 (January, 1982)

First New Earth Appearance:Batman #678 (August, 2008)

First Prime Earth Appearance:Batman Incorporated Vol 2 #10 (June, 2013

The Original Batwoman!

Strap in because this is a long one.

On Earth-One her history is as follows: Kathy Kane was a wealthy heiress who gained great acrobatic skills during her career as a circus trapeze artist and stunt cyclist. Becoming infatuated with the Batman, she fashioned herself a costume and secret hide-out and started operating as Batwoman. At first she upstaged Batman and his sidekick Robin in capturing crooks. However, Batman eventually learned her true identity and tracked her to her secret cave hide-out. Showing her how easily it was for him to learn her identity, Batman pointed out that criminals could probably do it just as easily and tried to convince her to drop out of crime fighting. Disobeying Batman's advice, she tried to capture mobster Curt Briggs. During this caper, Batman went missing and Briggs, struck with amnesia, left thinking he was Batman. Ultimately the real Batman reappeared, and Biggs was turned over to the police. Afterwards, Batwoman went back to retirement. However, Kathy Kane became tired of the dull life of a rich heiress and came out of retirement once more in order to recapture a criminal named Elton Cragg. It was during this case that Batwoman gained super-powers and after her heroic deeds, she convinced Batman to let her continue her crime-fighting career. Ironically, around this time, Kathy started dating Bruce Wayne and she started to fall in love with Batman, unaware that they were the same person.

When Bruce Wayne was framed for a crime he didn't commit, Batwoman teamed-up with Robin in order to clear Batman's name. During an undercover mission, Batwoman was captured by a criminal leader and was rescued by the Dynamic Duo. When both Batwoman and reporter Vicki Vale were nominated Gotham City's "Woman of the Year", both tried to upstage each other to get the lead in the contest. With the help of Batman and Robin, both Vicki and Batwoman captured Moose Molloy's gang and both were crowned woman of the year. When Batman and Robin were trapped in a cave in, Ace the Bat-Hound guided Batwoman to help free them and capture the criminal Dr. Midas. Batwoman next helped the Dynamic Duo capture Firefly, aided them in preventing Lex Luthor from atomizing Superman, and helped them capture the Spinner. Batwoman later met with Bat-Mite and working together, they captured some crooks to save the Dynamic Duo.After this adventure, Bat-Mite became infatuated with Batwoman and tried to become her sidekick, creating chaos for everyone until he realized his mistake and left. When trying to solve the mystery of who murdered Professor Lacy after his discovery of a living caveman, Batwoman was saved by the caveman who sacrificed himself to save her from Lacy's killer: Harbin, Lacy's assistant. When Kathy Kane purchased a mystical belt, she becames a target of the criminal Star-Man. The belt sucked Batwoman's life energy from her body and she was saved by Batman and Robin, who arrived in time to stop Star-Man.

When Kathy's niece Betty Kane came to visit her, the young girl learned of her aunt's double identity. Kathy agreed to train Betty to be her sidekick, thinking that the young girl would eventually lose interest. However, to her surprise, Betty proved capable and became Batwoman's sidekick Bat-Girl. On their first mission, the two women helped Batman and Robin defeat King Cobra and his gang.Batwoman then became a victim of Luthor's experiments, who manipulated Kathy and gave her super-powers to fight her allies. After a long struggle, Superman managed to break Lex's control over Kathy and she returned to normal.When Batman and Robin were briefly transformed into alien creatures, Batwoman was one of the few who actually believed they were the real Dynamic Duo, until they were restored to normal.She later helped Batman and Robin capture the "Rockets" Rogan Gang. Later, after Batman and Batwoman were captured by the Moth, they were rescued by Bat-Girl and Robin. Later, Kathy went on a date with Bruce Wayne to an amusement park that was previously the location where the Justice League of America recently had a battle.As Batwoman, Kathy joined Batman on a trip to Washington D.C. to testify to the Senate Committee, leaving their young sidekicks to defend Gotham City in their absence.She next aided Batman and Robin in capturing the criminal known as the Vulcan.

Kathy's romances with Bruce Wayne and Batman became rocky, first during a period where Bruce Wayne was briefly transformed into a child, he made it appear that he's seeing another woman in order to keep Kathy away,and later when Batman, while under the effect of a love potion, fell in love with a woman named Elsie.Kathys romance woes became more complicate when Alpha, the Experimental Man fell in love with her, until the artificial man sacrificed himself to save her from falling off a cliff.

When helping Batman and Robin solve a murder during Mardis Gras, she got into a feud with Vicki Vale over who is the right person for Batman, forming the first of many competitions for Batman's affections.She later helped Batman capture Catman.

When she and Batman were briefly transported to another dimension by invaders from that world, their mortality was in question unless they were freed. During this period, Batwoman managed to get Batman to warm up and admit some of his feelings toward her before they were rescued by Robin and Bat-Girl.

Batwoman's feud with Vicki Vale heat up again when both women tried to determine if Mirror Man's assertions that Bruce Wayne was really Batman were true. When Batman scolded Batwoman for getting in the way of his attempts to capture Catman, she faked her intentions to join the criminal as Cat-Woman, until Catman seemingly died in the battle.Batwoman and Bat-Girl later helped the Dynamic Duo end a feud between the Joker and Clayface,and helped Batman and Robin capture the Terrible Trio

Once more suspecting that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same man, Kathy Kane was convinced otherwise when Superman posed as Batman. However the plan went awry when a bomb goes off seemingly killing "Batman" and necessitating Superman to pose as the ghost of Batman for a time.

When Batman was briefly transformed into a gigantic creature, Batwoman teamed-up with Robin and Ace the Bat-Hound to track down the crooks that have the cure. After this, Catman reappeared and discovered his costume had mystical properties that gave him nine-lives, allowing him to continue on his crime spree. With her Cat-Woman costume, Batwoman helped Batman and Robin capture him.

Following this adventure, Batwoman went into retirement and disappear from Batman's life almost entirely. She become the owner of a circus, but often longed to return to her former crime fighting career.

Batwoman came out of retirement to aid Batgirl(Barbara Gordon)against Killer Moth and the Cavalier, but her return was never intended to be permanent.Kathy Kane was then present at a surprise party for Bruce Wayne at Wayne Manor.When Batwoman was later disintegrated into nothingness on Barbara Gordon's doorstep, Batgirl and Robin teamed-up to find the cure and restore Batwoman to her normal form. Shortly after this, Batwoman met the Huntress from Earth-Two and aided her in capturing Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Madame Zodiac. When the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X searched for a group of criminals known as the Warmakers, their search led them to the carnival owned by Kathy Kane. Kathy, as Batwoman, aided the Freedom Fighters and Batgirl in defeating the Warmakers. In her last recorded adventure, Kathy Kane was murdered by the League of Assassins who were being manipulated by Ra's al Ghul. Her death was eventually avenged by Batman.

Katherine Kane was also known as Batwoman in the Earth-Two timeline. Her history and career are said to reflect that of her Earth-One counterpart, except for that version's untimely death. When Kathy adopted the role of Batwoman, Batman wanted her to retire from the role for fear that she would be hurt in her costumed exploits. Kane would continue to operate in her costumed identity until she learned that Batman had become deeply romantically interested in someone in his unmasked identity. While Wayne never revealed his identity to her, or explicitly told her of his private life, she said she knew of his change in his attitude to her and assumed as such. She largely retired from her costumed role soon after this. Years later, she learned that Wayne was the original Batman when his costume identity was revealed to the general public after his own demise. Not long after this, Kane resumed her costumed identity when she learned of the presence of a "new" Batman. When she found him, Kathy learned that this Batman belonged in the alternate timeline of Earth-One, but the emotional shock of seeing Batman alive was still great. However, Kathy realized that he was not the love of her life reborn, but was a completely new person.

On New Earth her history is as follows

By age 25, Kathy Webb was an underground film director, a poet, and something of a wild child. But when she met Nathan Kane(who we already established as being a brother to Martha Wayne) , he bought her a circus, and she fell head-over-heels in love with him. They were together for seven years and married for four of those same years(thus making her a aunt by marriage to Bruce,Kate, Beth, And Bette) before he died of a stroke. After this, she was approached by a secret organization called Spyral to find out Batman's secret identity. Assessing the information on the Caped Crusader, she decided the best approach was to make him chase her. To that end, she brushed up on detective skills, martial arts and motor-biking, got a costume and started calling herself Batwoman. Her plan worked, and within a few months they were an item. However, Batman was careful not to give her his secret identity, and in fact worked out hers first. This, coupled with her feelings for Batman, lead her to try and break off ties with Spyral. However, her employer, the mysterious Agent-Zero, turned the tables on her, forcing her to break off on both sides, which she did. She was believed to be killed by the Bronze Tiger on behalf of the League of Assassins. The second Batwoman Kate Kane(who like Her cousins Bruce and Bette is Kathy’s relative by way of marriage) investigated the murder, but could not find anything. That was because she was never killed; after a staged death, she worked behind the scenes with Spyral to stop Leviathan. She eventually succeeded in shooting Talia al Ghul during her final standoff with Batman, before claiming that she would not be meeting Batman again, leaving to continue leading Spyral.

On Prime Earth she is Katrina "Luka" Netz one of Spyral's oldest members and the daughter of the former Director of Spyral Herr Netz. Kathy presumably being a alias that she used. Based on what I read in the comics I believe her role as Batwoman is still be canon due to nightwing recognizing her voice at one point and if not then at least her marriage to Nathan Kane is still canon.

PHILIP KANE

First appearance: Batman vol 2 issue 21 August 2013

Introduced during Zero Year(the volume he’s introduced in isn’t in the hardback version however) on Prime Earth Philip Kane ran Wayne Enterprise in Bruce’s absence. While Bruce was traveling the world training, Philip held down the business with his adviser Edward Nygma(we all know how well that turned out)

He had studied to be a geologist as a younger man, he was on a Expedition in northern Mexico when his father Roderick learned that he was dying and had came to get Philip to take him back home. Philip and his father fought because he didn’t want to go. Their fighting resulted in Philip splitting his head open which resulted in him getting a metal plate in his head.

He had given up that dream to take up the responsibility of helping to run the family business. During the Time that Bruce was abroad Philip managed to in his own words “Finally Merged the families” with both families companies(Kane Materials/Kane indrustries, Wayne Industry)seemingly merging into Wayne Enterprise.

Philip was the one who had Bruce Wayne declared legally dead which Bruce originally didn’t want to reverse. Philip Kane was also the one who was able to mostly track where Bruce was during his training. Not even Alfred knew where he was.

Philip was unfortunately blackmailed like many other citizens of Gotham by Red Hood One into joining the Red Hood gang. Being branded “Red Hood 347”, Philip did the bidding of the gang leader until Kane turned. During Batman’s assault on Red Hood One at the Ace chemical processing plant(which ironically on new earth used to belong to the Kane family as Kane Chemicals before being sold and the company Renamed Ace Chemicals )Philip gave his life to distract the Red Hood while the villain was going to kill Batman.

Trivia:Philip Kane was the one who originally own the Giant Penny whose forging he had overseen himself.

THE UNSEEN UNNAMED PARENTS OF MARY ELIZABETH(Bette) KANE

No names or appearances have ever been given for these two.

Bette’s mom was mentioned in one issue of Batwoman and that was it. Seriously it was one where it's implied she already gave up on her daughter surviving her injuries and so she was off panel implied to be talking to the doctors about donating bettes organs or something when Jacob kane was rambling besides a comatose bette. Yeah it was implied that they moved out to the west coast and lived in California because I believe that's where bette grew up in most continuities.

Next up is one every one who kept up with Bat related related comics since 2011 should be very familiar with

JACOB KANE

First New Earth Appearance: 52 #7 (August, 2006)(in a photograph alongside his second wife)/Detective Comics issue 854 August 2009

First Prime Earth Appearance: Batwoman Vol 2 #0 (November, 2012)

A lifelong soldier, Jacob had been a field officer with USSOCOM for most of his career, leading numerous tactical operations across the globe

He and his first wife Gabi are parents to twins Beth and Kate Kane

Jacob has earned the following military awards: the Army Achievement Medal, the Kosovo Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the NATO Medal for Kosovo, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and an Army Aviator Badge. Jacob has worked extensively with military intelligence services.

The Kanes often moved due to the nature of Jacob and Gabi’s work. Jacob was frequently away from home, since his duties included intervention in various international military crises.

They eventually moved to Brussels in Belgium, since the parents were now serving at NATO. However, the family was soon torn apart due to a terrorist attack. Gabi took her daughters out to celebrate their twelfth birthday, and they were kidnapped by heavily armed men. Military intelligence eventually located the hostages, and Jacob was put in charge of the tactical unit sent to rescue them. However, they were too late, as his wife had been executed and his daughter Elizabeth was believed to be dead. He rescued Kate himself, but she was traumatized by the sight of her dead mother and sister.

Colonel Kane plays an important role in his daughter’s Batwoman operations. He provides her a one-man command, control, and communications center. They stay in constant radio link, with the elder Kane being able to run searches, provide advice, and generally work in the background using his considerable knowledge, contacts and experience. Colonel Kane primarily uses his connections and his intelligence-gathering and management skills. He has access to numerous databases that are normally only accessible to military and law enforcement personnel to provide intel to his daughter.

Jacob is the next kane sibling most people would know about in part thanks to both his comic appearances In multiple bat comics as well as his appearance on the arrowverse batwoman tv show.

Gabrielle Kane(knee Goldstein in the arrowverse)

First New Earth Appearance: Detective Comics 855 September 2009

First Prime Earth Appearance: Batwoman volume 2 issue 27 March 2014

Captain Gabi Kane is the mother of Kate Kane (who later became Batwoman) and her identical twin Beth Kane. A member of the US Army’s 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, she married another soldier, Jacob Kane. Both Kanes worked extensively with military intelligence services, and often moved as a result, even after their children were born. On Prime Earth When her sister-in-law Martha died she went to the funeral with both her husband and Kids. She reminded her husband that not all of Martha was dead(referring to Bruce) Eventually, the Kanes moved to Brussels, Belgium, since the parents were now serving at NATO. The family, however, was torn apart due to a terrorist attack. As Gabi was taking her daughters for their 12th birthday, they were kidnapped by heavily armed men. Military intelligence eventually located the hostages, and Jacob was put in charge of the tactical unit sent to rescue them. However, they were too late, as Gabi had been executed. Jacob rescued Kate himself, but she was traumatized by the sight of her dead mother and her supposedly dead sister.

TRIVIA: Gabi had a tattoo of the Special Forces arrowhead insignia on her right bicep; her daughter Kate later copied this.

Catherine Hamilton-Kane

First New Earth appearance: 52 #7 (August, 2006)(in a photograph alongside her husband)/Detective Comics Vol 1 #856 October, 2009

First Prime Earth Appearance: Batwoman Vol 2 #0 (November, 2012)

Heiress to the Hamilton arms fortune(called Hamilton dynamics in the batwoman tv show), and second wife of Jacob Kane.

Cathy is a jet-setter and socialite involved in politics.The Hamilton fortune was built upon guns. Catherine family owned the enormously successful Hamilton company, which apparently became a household name during the days of the Old West Firearms. Appears to care greatly for her niece by marriage(one can assume she might feel the same for Bruce if and when she finds out he’s Batman) if the way she reacted to finding out about Bette being a vilgilante in the comics is any indication.

[eveenstar]

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒

𝙰 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝟸 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝙸

Summary:  In 2031, a journal is found. It tells the story of a woman named Y/N L/N, who claims to be a time traveler from 2021. This is the story of her life.

Tags/Warnings: Nothing to add yet.

Note: Also, this is a Javier Escuella x reader. The reader is also female, sorry! 

“What the hell?”  

“Is she alright?”

“Don't just stand there, help the poor girl!”

I remember waking up on a bed, not soft at all, reminded me of a rock.

The rays of the sun made the girl groan and sit on the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around and noticed the strange ambient she was in. A few people walking around, yet none of them noticed she was awake. The woman got up slowly, swaying on her feet, and took slow steps towards her bag left on the ground, until a small voice startled her.

“Mama, the weird lady is up!”

“Already?”

(Y/N) sighed, her head up, and watching as all the eyes were on her. Her mind was still processing the information from the past hours, time-traveling. Right, right, she knew what to do. At least, what she was supposed to do. Her body felt different, probably still adjusting to going through a portal, her mouth was dry and she could still taste a bit of dirt on her lips from the fall.

“Hey, lady, you good?” A silvery voice ringed, waking (Y/N) from her thoughts. Looking at the group of people surrounding her. The man wearing a sombrero got closer to her with a cautious look on his face. The girl didn’t answer, the shock beginning to take over her body. Only know did the poor girl realized what she had done.

“Javier, be careful. She could be…dangerous.” Another voice coming from behind him said.

Dangerous? Well, she kinda is, right? Being a skilled hacker and knowing her way on a gun, but that probably wouldn’t serve much in this era. The hacker part, at least. (Y/N) focused on the loud voices coming near them, they were arguing, and probably about her too.

“Why are we keeping her alive, Dutch? The woman came through that shiny golden circle on the sky and you decide to keep her here?” A blond man waved his arm towards her angrily. (Y/N) recognized him from the old picture the other woman had shown to her; Micah Bell.

“We can’t just kill her, Micah. We need to hear her first.” The other man, Dutch van der Linde, or the dude with fancy clothes, replied. Seemingly annoyed by Micah.

“We have far too many mouths to feed already. We can’t have another one.” A feminine harsh voice announced. “Who comes through something like that in the middle of nowhere? In our camp? She’s dangerous.”

The woman let out a heavy and annoyed sigh. Crossing her arms and looking to the gang, with her brows furrowed. She wouldn’t let them talk like that about her like she wasn’t there. Everyone quickly looked at her.

“If you let me explain myself first before any of you open your mouths.” (Y/N) could see the surprised look on a few faces, but an angry one on the others. Maybe having an attitude wouldn’t do her any good here, probably should get rid of that before causing any problems amongst the gang. After all, she needed to gain their trust.

“I’m sorry, Miss…?”

“(L/N).”

“I’m sorry, Miss (L/N), they can be quite suspicious about strange folks. Of course, we’ll let you explain yourself after…that.” Dutch spoke softly with an educated tune, being the calmest and reasonable of them all. The girl took a few steps back, stumbling on her words a few times, even mumbling in Italian. Everyone’s eyes were on her like hawks, most of them curious but suspicious. It wasn’t hard to understand them, a random woman popping out of a hole on the sky dressed weirdly would any person be suspicious and probably very shocked.

(Y/N) was taking too long. Hearing a click of the tongue made her straighten up and fixing her eyes on the wanted gang.

“Well, err, I am…from the future-“

“The future?! I can’t listen to that bullshit!” Micah replied almost immediately.

“Shut the fuck up I’m talking!” The sudden shout made their eyes widen a bit, but she could still hear a few mumbled laughs on the background. “As I was saying, I came from the future. I’m from 2021. Someone sent me here to…help you all before a big tragedy takes place.”

After seconds of shocked nonbelieving silence, a few loud voices were heard around. Mostly because they didn’t believe one single word she’d just said, others were questioning why Dutch decided to let her live and how they should just throw her on the river. But, one of the girls slowly approached her, more calmly.

“Why you?” The young brown-hair freckled woman asked, one of her brows up in a questioning way. She sounded so gentle when she spoke.

I adored Mary-Beth. I think she was the kindest and most gentle member of the Van der Linde gang.

“Oh. Well, you see….” (Y/N) gazed hesitantly to Dutch for the first time. He was watching her with his arms crossed, with a heavy brooding expression and eyes narrowed. The leader was wearing a black and red vest with a blue and white pinstripe shirt, with gold chains on his vest, with a smart black jacket and a black hat. He was taller than her and stronger; with a thick, black mustache and soul patch under his lips, he also has dark black, slick backed hair that curls at the end. Taking a mental note on his appearance, he seemed far more intimidating in real life.

I recall thinking “Damn, is that my great-grandpa? He’s hot.”. But in a serious note, he seemed to be so cold-hearted but at the same time, kind and trustworthy. He did look like a gentleman. He was an outlaw, and well, I guess it does run on the family.

What was she doing? Why did she take the stupid decision on going back to the past just because someone didn’t like how this gang’s fate ended? Many, many lives didn’t have a happy ending too. So why change only theirs? (Y/N) was already regretting the foolish decision she took, but hey, she still had that block thing to go back. Nothing was lost yet, she just had to justify herself and get the hell out of there before they decide to kill her or worse.

Hearing a forced cough woke the girl from her thoughts. Feeling embarrassed when she noticed she had been staring at him this whole time. Good, just wonderful.

“I’m Dutch’s…great-granddaughter.” The words merely escape her lips and heavens, how she felt like throwing herself out of a cliff after it. A burst of loud laughter was heard, coming from some of the men. A great joke, yes, that’s what this was. They didn’t believe her, not without proof, and she couldn’t honestly blame them.

“You can’t possibly believe this crazy woman’s words, Dutch. C’mon.”

“Miss, please elaborate on that.”

“Dutch? C’mon boss, she hit her head when she fell!” Micah shouted, not very happy with the leader deciding to hear her story before making any judgment. (Y/N) was glad for it, who knows what would happen if he decided to listen to that idiot.

She grabbed her bag and started to look for her phone, it probably wouldn’t work much there but if time traveling is a thing, maybe ghost WiFi was too. Who knows. Probably asking for too much there. (Y/N) took a few steps closer and turned it on, showing them the colorful wallpaper and the date, “2021”, proceeding to shows some pictures of streets and buildings she had on her gallery. It seemed to have worked, has everyone had a terrified look on their faces. Most of them were still a bit hesitant, and probably scared of the unknown.

The girl turned to the leader, she didn’t have any proof about being his great-granddaughter. Wait, she didn’t ask for it too. Damn it, did she just get fooled by that woman?

“I don’t have any proof, sir, but that woman told me I was…your granddaughter and needed me to save you all.” Before he replied, she added. “She did mention a one night woman you were with.”

“If what you’re telling us is the truth,” He began, slowly. Still watching her closely. “I guess you’ll have to stay with us.”

Giving the man a slight smile, the girl nodded. She heard a few angrily mumbles coming from behind them, some of the gang’s members weren’t very happy with that sudden decision. With a gentle pat on her shoulder, Dutch made his way to the middle of the camp and looked at everyone, rubbing his hands together with a serious, yet sympathetic expression.

“Family, Miss (L/N) will stay with us for the time being. I don’t want any complaints about this, she showed us proof of her story and if she’s here to help us, we should give her a home.” Nobody spoke, just silence. Maybe they didn’t want to oppose their leader. “Miss Grimshaw, please help Miss (Y/N) prepare a tent and show her around.”

The older woman nodded, looking at Dutch and then glaring suspiciously at (Y/N).

“Miss (Y/N), I would like to speak with you…privately.” Feeling a sudden jump of beat on her chest, the girl nodded. The serious tune on his voice addressing to her caught her by surprise, she didn’t like that tune coming from adults. Perhaps because every time that happened, they would blame her for something afterward and treat her like a child.

“Don’t worry, he just wants to talk to you about that great-granddaughter thing, ya know,” Mary-Beth said, giving (Y/N) a warm smile. “I’ll catch you later, ‘kay? Someone has to show you around and meet the other folks.”  

“Thanks…?” The girl tilted her head a bit. That’s right, they didn’t present themselves yet.

“Mary-Beth. You?” The young woman replied. Her name fit her perfectly, she looked like the main character of a romance novel.

“(Y/N).”

“Oh, well, nice to meet you, (Y/N). It’s better if you go now, don’t wanna keep Dutch waitin’.” Mary said, already making her way to another tent. (Y/N) nodded in agreement, putting her brave face and walking confidently to Dutch’s tent. Alright, probably not that confident, but she couldn’t let the others think she’s weak or scared now. She had a role to keep! The thought about going back to 2021 was already in the back of her mind and probably would stay there for a very long time.