#to the point where i was about to correct selene for even asking for it when we havent done it in so long without refresher training first

[healingheartdogs]

The nice thing about having two really intelligent dogs is that they watch us interact with each other and learn things that way all the time. Rest/stay is not something I've really worked on with Eevee other than at doorways and baby gates because my dogs aren't allowed to rush entries and exits for safety reasons, but we use it with Hermes in lots of different contexts multiple times a day every day and his rest is very solid and generalized. Just a few minutes ago I told Hermes to rest so I could clean something up without him getting in the way or stepping in it but without specifying that I was talking only to him and Eevee also froze in place with him, stopped moving completely, and then eventually laid down (position switching is allowed during rest for my dogs just not directional movement, plus she's baby and I didn't actually mean to tell her to rest anyway so IDC regardless) still in her spot watching me clean and didn't break until I gave her a treat and released her along with him. I was cheering mentally for her the entire time but trying to contain my reaction until I gave them their release cue so she didn't get excited and break the rest before I was done cleaning because I've never used that command in that kind of situation with her before. She's so smart and good though, I love herrrrr

[without-school-or-style]

18 - Hackneyed

Word Count: 912

Today’s Card: The Guide (inheritance, correction)

Joey couldn’t believe what he was hearing when the party’s dark knight proposed to send the scholar back the way she came. Sure one well-timed swipe from a manchild scientist’s giant robot rendered the scholar unconscious, but nothing a Verraise couldn’t handle. The scholar had even apologised for her actions, showing remorse and a significant improvement over her earlier performance. But no. The dark knight insisted that the scholar be sent packing. While the party’s dragoon left, citing that he didn’t want to be part of this drama, Joey refused to leave the scholar. Kneeling by her, who had once again fallen to her knees when her legs gave out, Joey glowered at the dark knight.

“I don’t understand,” said Joey as he held the scholar by the shoulders. “She did nothing wrong. We had no casualties. Then why—”

The dark knight shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that she’s weak.”

Joey’s eyes widened. Something inside of him snapped. His voice became oddly calm. “What did you just call her?”

“I said she was weak. What about it?” the dark knight said with a shrug.

“And what’s wrong with being weak?” Joey rose to his full height.

“Well, we don’t want trash to drag us down, do we?” the dark knight asked. “After all, only the strong survive, and if that alleged scholar couldn’t even keep herself up during battle, how can we be sure that she’s not on borrowed time now? Let that weakling rot in her own filth and let’s carry on with a real healer, shall we?”

The dark knight turned to leave, only to have a flash of fire surge by his face. Stopping for a brief few moments, the dark knight slowly turned around and patted the side of his head where his hair had caught on fire. His cheek flushed red from something other than first-degree burns. Pursing his lips together, he narrowed his eyes into the deepest glare he could muster. That miss was not a fluke or a lack of accuracy, but a warning.

Joey lowered his staff-sword. “Don’t you dare associate me with you. All of you…”

The red mage’s mind told him to stop. He did enough. He said enough. He should just be nice. Be courteous. He had even promised Cecille that he would never speak this way again. That Joey would learn to accept people like this dark knight.

And yet…

“… all of you…”

… he couldn’t stop himself. His burning hatred deep within him reached its boiling point.

“… all of you strong people are the same!” Joey snapped.

The dark knight raised an eyebrow. “Say what…?”

The scholar looked up at Joey. Selene looked up as well.

“Not only the strong survive. Us weak people have a right to live as well! You people are all the same, looking down on us!”

The brief moment Joey closed his eyes, he saw the mental image of those who had called him and his comrades weak. Those who deemed them unworthy to live if they couldn’t be corrected.

“And let’s say it’s true and all the weak people die out. Then who will you go after? The weakest of the strong, obviously,” said Joey. “Weak people will always exist whether you like it or not.”

The dark knight scoffed. “So what’re you gonna do about it? Yell at me some more? You’re not getting through this dungeon without me. You need me whether you… like it or not. Or what? You gonna kill me? Because I’m sure me and my dark mind could take you.”

Joey raised his staff-sword in front of his face. The two faced off in a stand-still. Either one of their blades could cut through the visible tension.

The Viera felt a gentle tug from the back of his coat. “If you don’t mind, sir, I’d just like to do my duty and continue investigating this place. I hate to ask, but can you help me?” asked the gentle voice of the scholar.

Joey lowered his weapon. The rapier slotted itself into its holster while the gem hovered by his head. Not once did he lower his eyes from the real threat in front of him. At once, his ire fizzled into more manageable reason. Had he fought the dark knight here and there, Joey would be no different than the people he hated.

“You heard her,” he said to the dark knight. “I’ll take the scholar through here by myself. We don’t need you.”

Just as the dark knight was about to ask how Joey, a red mage, intended to do so, Joey held a hand to his chest and whispered, “Paradigm shift change: Sentinel Mode.”

A rush of magical energy swirled around Joey. His sword and gemstone vanished into thin air. In its place were twin gunblades strapped to his back. His attire changed as well—instead of the bright red coat, he now wore a black attire fitting for a tank.

The dark knight shook his head and snorted. “Do what you want. I’m not going to be the one to clean up your corpses.”

Joey paused to say something, but ended up saying nothing. He said what he needed to say. He didn’t feel like listening to the dark knight regurgitate the same hackneyed phrases. Taking the scholar by the hand, Selene hovering cautiously in between them, Joey stood protectively in between the healer and the dark knight, and marched past him.

[error404vnotfound]

reading the whole seliriaverse: conclusions

first of all thank you all for coming with me on this journey. i hope you enjoyed my crying and my ranting (oh my god so much ranting)

overall i think i did have fun (good fun and mad fun). it was nice finally getting to read everything, and revisiting books i read when i was a very lost teen

now, onto the long awaited conclusions and a biased review of seliria's legacy (even tho my opinion is of course the correct one)

(im so sorry this is. so long)

first of all. null wtf is seliria. well, it's the nickname two very popular spanish authors, iria g parente and selene m pascual, have

i discovered them back in the good old days, when the only thing they had published was mainly fantasy and their books had at least some substance (i did say this was gonna be a rant)

unsurprisingly for those that have followed this, the first book i read of theirs was sueños de piedra. i instantly loved it. little 13 or so me was SHOCKED at lynne's story and it being something that could be done on books. and of course arthmael was an instant hit for me the clown i love him. i must have reread it four or so times that first year, and it never failed to leave me, at the end, warm and cozy

and then i found out there were more

i remember how excited i was when jaulas de seda was announced and how i read ladrones de libertad twice in the span of two months because i had enjoyed it so much

marabilia truly helped shape me as a person and i do believe it was what teen me needed. now, the message feels VERY heavy handed and the ramblings get old real fast, but it was there for me when i needed it and im glad for that

around this time i also read rojo y oro (mid) and antiheroes (fun but also mid) and, of course, alianzas. which, fun fact, i never actually finished that first time because i was enjoying it so much and i loved the characters so much and they were suffering and i was very scared and a coward

i did get around to read alianzas and the other two eventually. in like, four days (there's a +700 pages book in there btw, i basically breathed this trilogy for four days straight) it might have not touched me as much as sueños did, but it's still up there with my favorite books of all time

by this point, when someone asked who my favorite authors were, i'd answer them, because these stories were (and are) so dear to me

and so we come to the post reinos de cristal era

reinos was... a book. i read it after marathoning the whole of marabilia in preparation for it and my emotions were all over the place. now, with distance, i can say that it's truly a mess of a book (my rants are out there on my blog)

its messiness was a red herring for what was to come

as of 2019 they had: two completed fantasy sagas (good), a greek mythology inspired tragedy (mid), a contemporary superhero standalone (also mid), and the beginning of a steampunk duology (add mental air quotes to steampunk for me in your head, please) (because here is where we can start seeing The Issues)

The Issue being: shitting out two books per year, and fame

they managed well previously, but again, marabilia were mostly a The Vibes books. no one's really there for the plot (and whatever plot there is is, well, the mess of reinos) it's basically a bunch of essays in disguise (nothing wrong with that), and then alianza's and co plots are pretty fantasy hit all the beats of the expected plot (very well executed and fun, mind you) and also more essays in disguise (not as much as marabilia tho)

which brings me to the """"""steampunk"""""""" book.

el orgullo del dragón is a very well crafted book structure and plot wise. we still have the heavy handed essays in there, and the worldbuilding leaves a lot to be desired, but again: vibes. the vibes were there and good

when i first read it i wasn't expecting actual heavy serious plot elements (and there really aren't, it's just basically a glorified set up for la venganza which. we'll talk about later)

but then i tried to reread it to get to the second one when it came out and i just couldn't because it was. so boring. so i let it be

and they kept publishing books. and i kept buying them but not reading them, until august 2023 when i decided i was gonna read them all

in those three years, they had published: a """"sci-fi"""" trilogy/greek myths retelling, finished the steampunk duology, a book about mental health for kids (which i did read when it came out and it was good), a anne of green gables and a wizard of oz modern retellings (well, """""retellings""""""), a romcom, and they republished the first novel they wrote together (pétalos de papel, a romancy? romantacy? as they are called now)

they very clearly shifted from fantasy settings (that were mild to begin with), to even milder sci-fi realted worlds (the steampunk and scifi) (add the quotes in your brain i've gotten tired of writing them), to pure modern settings (with anne, huracan, and soulcial)

after august 2023 and till now they have also published a futuristic romance drama (imperio) and the first book of a fantasy series (that i will call timekeeper)

and now, i've read them. and judged them

first, the steampunk: was pretty solid until the last like 4 chapters of la venganza. the romance(s) were stomachable and the plot was there. and then a time skip happens and the worst scene i've ever read happens too and it toppled over what could have been an slightly above average story (with very little steampunk when it comes to it tbh). it was the reinos effect all over again. the tone shift was too jarring and it just. it didn't make sense. it was a bad resolution and a terrible ending for the painfully slow plot and pages upon pages i had had to swallow to get there. but at least the first book was okay

then, the sci-fi (""""sci-fi"""""): they bit more than they could chew with this one. the first book was a mess. no character work was put in at all (we'll see more of this going forward), there were too many time skips that went over the important parts (read: the characters becoming a team and friends). it focused too much on the romance (of course ._.), and it was painfully boring and way too long. and again, the plot wasn't handled very well. similar issues happened with the third one. again, a too big plot for what i feel they could manage because of The Issue, characters that get along just because with no work put behind beyond interacting with the romantic interest, etc.

the second book, on the other hand. man that was a good read. it gave me hope where so many fails before had robbed me of it. why was it good when its siblings failed? well, because it didn't have an actual plot. i mean, there was a plot, but it was all about two people destroying each other, being silly and horny. it read like a fanfic in a good way, is what im trying to communicate here.

and imperio! it was actually not a bad book. i can't say i was very disappointed because i didn't care that much, but it could have been so much better, man. if they had put some work into it and not just put out a by the book plot. i wanted commitment to the bit but alas, love won and we lost

timekeeper is a weird case. they have had this wip since 2007, and yet the worldbuilding could have used so much more work. there's... so much of it in this but it's terribly executed and as i said on the tier list there's no connective tissue bringing it all together. the characters are the same 2 archetypes they keep writing time and time again. it brings nothing new to the table and what it does execute it does so blandly

then the romantacy. i didn't hate it!!! it was just meh and mid and bland. there was no tension and it was a bit dumb (plot things happened just because, the antagonist was very early disney evil queen coded in a bad way, the relationship was also bland) also they messed up fake dating. my guy how do you mess up fake dating. the point is to have pinning and angst not for them to get together almost immediately. also i was promised the sad and it didn't deliver (because, again, the work for it to be sad hadn't been put in)

and finally, the dreaded contemporaries

from downright unreadable to blandness in its purest form. they read like bad fanfiction and not in a good way. the execution of the romcom plot beats left much to be desired, and im not saying this as a hater of romance (which i am), but as a chronic reader of fanfiction that has read every romcom variation plot (you can make the basic romcom beats compelling if the characters are compelling themselves and if they have chemistry but alas it was not to be found). it was bad. they were bad. and then of course it was all about the romance with 0 character work behind it

and again, i believe the books had potential. at least the ideas were interesting enough. it's not that i disliked these books because it wasn't my cup of tea (which, also) but i can appreciate when a book is well written and interesting and engaging and has been worked on even if it's not my thing, and these weren't it

they were poorly written books

and it's all because of The Issue.

they've gotten too comfortable with shitting out two books per year without really working on them as much as they should. because they can. because they are popular and people will buy whatever they write even if it's bad. (and then of course there's people who liked these books and i truly, truly question it)

and hey, good for them. go get that sweet money.

but it does make me a bit sad, because at one point they were my favorite authors, and their books were what i awaited the most to come out. they were well crafted and the characters had work behind them beyond one character trait and how horny they are for their love interest. the plots had also been chewed through enough and not something that can barely be called a first draft i swear

for this same reason, and seeing as timekeeper #1 wasn't good i don't think i'll keep reading their works, which saddens me, because they were great once and most of their earlier works held up through the reread.

and that's okay. people change as a reader and as writers, and sueños de piedra and alianzas will always have a special place in my heart in spite of everything else they have put out lmao

now, what did we learn?

null my guy stop reading romcoms you wont like them. you tried and you failed (unsurprisingly) just stick to fanfiction

character work is really important to me so i can enjoy a book (why are we shocked)

sometimes a book is so bad it's fun and sometimes it's so bad you consider not reading ever again

publishing houses hit me up i will fix your barely thought about romance plots

my ending for la furía y el laberinto was better than the actual thing

which are mostly things i already knew. so. uh... i did do all of this for nothing i guess. i mean at least i can now say that i've read all their books

anyways. catch me rereading sueños de piedra next year this September for its ten year anniversary (oh damn)

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Para-Selene Vol.8 Mukami Azusa [TRACK 3]

Original title: 追憶のオルゴール

Source: Diabolik Lovers Para-Selene Vol. 8 Mukami Azusa [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kishio Daisuke

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5

TRACK 3: THE ORGAN OF REMINISCENCE

“Uu…Ah…Where am I…? …The forest? How did I suddenly get outside…?”

He looks around.

“...!! Eve…!? …Eve…!? Where are you…!?”

*Rustle*

“Eve…!!”

There is no response until he suddenly hears a soft chime in the background.

“...!! I heard something just now!”

The music of an organ plays from afar.

“I’m pretty sure…It’s coming from this direction…”

Azusa follows the sound. 

*TIMESKIP*

“Ugh…Hah, haah…Eve?”

You turn around.

“Thank god, I found you…! …Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?”

You shake your head. 

“I see. Thank god. Phew… Huh? Is that…an organ?”

You explain.

“Eh? You found it inside your pocket? …I see.”

You ask if it belongs to him. 

“No, it doesn't. It’s yours. I gave it to you in the past. I’m glad knowing that you’re still treasuring it…I guess this was the faint tune I heard after waking up earlier. I was able to find you as a result.”

You frown.

“You didn’t play it? Then…I wonder if I was simply hearing things? Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter since I was able to safely find you in the end. Actually, something similar happened in the past, you see.”

You seem curious.

“I came all the way to this forest looking for you…after we had gotten separated. I was about to lose all hope, unable to find you even after frantically running around the pitch-dark forest looking for you. That’s when I heard itーー From deep inside the forest, the sound of that organ echoed. When I finally found you, I was filled with happiness. You seemed extremely happy too. You smiled brightly and called my name. I still remember that moment vividly.”

You ask if he has been to this forest before. 

“Mmh. Both of us have been to this forest before. I spotted a familiar abandoned building on my way here. The exact same building I saw when I searched for you back then. …Yeah, a carbon copy. …Hey, Eve? Can I share my hypothesis? You might think I’m spouting nonsense again though…”

You give him permission.

“Okay. I’ll tell you then…For some reason, I feel as if something is off about this forest.”

You ask him why.

“How should I put it into words…? It looks the exact same as before but…I feel like it’s almost too unchanged. The grass and the trees should be alive, but they’re still exactly the same, almost as if they have been frozen in time. …Earlier, I thought my brothers were headed out somewhere, which is what I told you as well…but I think that might not actually be the case.

You frown.

“Perhaps they aren’t the ones who have disappeared…but it’s actually us two who have wandered into a different world of some sort…? Ever since…you lost your memories. I believe that we were suddenly transferred to another location…and nobody else seems to be around…because this is an entirely different universe.”

You seem skeptical.

“I mean, when I think about it, there is just no way Ruki would never leave the kitchen with a pot still on the stove. That’s just the kind of guy he is…I feel as if the moment we laid eyes upon that moon was the starting point of all of this…But I wonder how we can make it back to our world? I have no clue…”

You look scared.

“Eve…I’m sorry for making you anxious. If only I was a little more reliable…you might have never had to feel this way. I’m so very pathetic…”

You try to comfort him.

“Oh…Fufu…I guess you’re still the same���even without your memories. You truly are so kind…even willing to cheer up someone like me. You’re more precious than anyone else in this world to me…I guess I won’t get anywhere moping around forever. If my theory is correct…We should be the only ones in this world. In that case…I’m the only one who can keep you safe.”

*Rustle*

“Hey, Eve…I promise that I’ll try my best. So let’s return to our own world together, okay? I promise that I’ll find a way to retrieve your memories as well…You’ve made me realize something very important. Thank you very much.”

You insist that you have not done much.

“No, if you hadn’t been here…I’m pretty sure I would have just been at a complete loss all by myself. You’re always there…to help me when I need it the most. While you might not recall at the moment, believe me when I say that I remember it very well.”

*Rustle*

“Hey…Let’s head home together? While I can’t guarantee that we’ll find a clue at the manor…I do think it’s better than simply sitting around here. We can look things up at the library or even make a meal. 

Besides…Even if the others are not there right now, many memories still remain. Of course, that includes precious memories with you as well. I wonder if I’ll be able to bring back my memories…if I were to tell you about them one by one? …It’d be nice if that were the case.”

You agree.

“Really? You’ll come with me…?”

You nod.

“Thank you, Eve…For having faith in me. …Well then, let’s get going right away.”

*Rustle*

“There’s a lot of trees growing in this area, so we should be able to avoid having to look at the moon.”

You ask him if looking at the moon will make things worse. 

“I wonder…I was trying my best to avoid it earlier but in the end, the dizzy spells still occurred. …It’s making me unsure of just how large the effect of the moon is. But I guess it’d be best to avoid exposure until we find a clear answer to that question…? 

Also…It’s a bumpy path up ahead. There’s a bunch of tree roots sticking out the ground, so let’s proceed with caution.”

The two of you start walking.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[dauntless-gothamite]

Prove Them Wrong [2/?]

Fandom: Divergent Pairing: Eric Coulter x Fem! Reader Summary: Y/N is a Dauntless transfer from Erudite, and she has a drive, an ambition that sets her apart--it always has, even back in Erudite. She brings her perseverance (and need to prove others wrong) to Dauntless when she transfers, and she uses her mind to make her way through the initiation process. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies, and she finds herself comfortable around the man most people in Dauntless avoid at all costs: Eric Coulter. A/N: it seems this may be a little bit of a slow burn, based on the pacing and where I am in chapter three right now... Enjoy!

You woke up to the sound of metal clanging together, an unpleasant alarm if you’d ever heard one. “Get up, get dressed, and be in the training room in two minutes,” Four said, banging the metal together one last time before leaving the room. 

Everyone scrambled to get dressed in their new black Dauntless clothes, and as people entered the training area, they began to form a semicircle around Four and Eric. “Ok, let’s get started,” Four said, clapping his hands together. “There are two stages of training. The first is physical, you will push your bodies to the breaking point and you will master the methods of combat. The second is mental, again breaking point. You’ll face your worst fears and conquer them--unless they get you first. You’ll be trained separately from the Dauntless-born, but you’ll be ranked together. After initiations, rankings will determine what jobs you move into: leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the factionless from killing each other.”

“The rankings will also determine who gets cut,” Eric cut in, rising from where he sat on a concrete slab. An uneasy whisper spread throughout the initiates. No one knew about this, and you had to admit, you were getting a bit nervous yourself. “At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking initiates will be leaving us,” Eric continued. 

“To do what?” asked Al.

“Well, you can’t go home to your families, so you’ll be factionless.”

Another wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd of initiates, but it was quickly silenced by Eric’s glare. “Someone should have told us,” Christina said.

“Why? Would you have chosen differently? Out of fear?” Eric replied challengingly. “I mean, if that’s the case, you might as well get out now. If you’re really one of us, it won’t matter to you that you might fail, alright? You chose us. Now, we get to choose you.” Eric looked at each initiate, his blue eyes challenging each person to look away. Some people did, others didn’t. You didn’t. 

Instead, you held his intense gaze as the itch to prove others wrong that had been inside you since the day you were born rose up, ready to be set free. What Eric said was scary, but it didn’t matter--all your years of studying the faction system told you that they would try to scare the initiates, and while you hadn’t expected this, you had known it wouldn’t be easy. But you had worked your ass off for years to be top of the class in Erudite, and you’d be damned if you weren’t going to do the same here, in your new faction. 

--

“Everyone, get some water before we move into the next segment of training,” Four called out. It took everything in you not to bend over as some others were doing; you knew standing up straight, getting fresh air in your lungs, would make the cramp in your abdomen go away faster, even if it hurt more now. 

“Tris, stand up straight,” you whispered to your friend, who was red-faced after running twenty laps around the room, which was everyone’s warm-up for the day. 

“Just so you know, tomorrow we won’t just be running laps,” Four said, surveying all the tired initiates. “So get used to this.” 

You sighed, mentally thanking yourself for joining a small workout group in Erudite. It was fairly new, and it was only created because studies showed that after some physical activity, the brain was better equipped to come back to problems it struggled with earlier and continue working whereas remaining stagnant was more likely to result in burnout and fatigue. The workouts were nothing like this, but you were still appreciative of them.

“Alright, everyone find a punching bag and start hitting. Eric and I will be walking around correcting your form, but it’s on you to put our advice into practice. Go,” Four announced after barely even a minute of the “break” had gone by. 

Turning on your heel, you walked over to the nearest punching bag and lined yourself up. Feet spread evenly about as wide as your shoulders, then step the left foot forward just a bit. Knees bent slightly, fists raised high. Then, you get to punching. 

After what felt like an hour of hearing Four quietly critiquing other students between Eric’s shouts of disappointment at other initiates, the two trainers finally got to your area of the training room. Out of the corner of your eye you caught Four walking up to Tris, slightly adjusting her position and giving helpful tips. Another set of footsteps came to a stop behind you, which meant Eric would be the one helping you. Your shoulders tensed for a moment, but you quickly forced yourself into a more relaxed position and continued punching. Just pretend he isn’t there, you told yourself. After hitting the punching bag six times, called out “Stop” from behind you. He walked over to your side and took a fighting stance. “Make sure your hips are square, like this, so when you throw a punch with the hand that is further back, you can twist your hips and use core strength to put more power into it,” he said stoically, and you did your best to mimic his stance. “No, like this,” he said, grabbing your hips and twisting them, holding you firmly in place for a second before letting go. “Try it now,” he said. You started throwing punches again, and he nodded before silently walking away. When you paused to readjust your stance, you heard Eric yell “Did I say you could stop, Y/N? No, I did not; keep going!” You took a deep breath and began the next onslaught of punches as the room fell quiet save for the sound of fists hitting punching bags, a rhythmic thumping sound. 

“First jumper!” Eric called out, disrupting the steady beat and sense of calmness in the room. “In the ring.” Beside him, Four sighed and looked down at his feet, and you had a bad feeling about whatever was about to happen. “Last jumper,” he continued, looking at a girl with dark hair--you think you may have heard her friends call her Molly, but you aren’t entirely sure. “Time to fight.”

Tris and the girl stepped up to the ring. “How long do we fight for?” the girl asked.

“Until one of you can’t continue,” Eric said in response. 

“Or one of you concedes,” Four interjected, stepping forward. 

“According to the old rules,” Eric corrected. “With the new rules, no one concedes.”

“You really want to lose someone in their first fight?”

“Well, a brave man never surrenders.” 

“Lucky for you, those weren’t the rules when we fought.”

Eric clenched his jaw, irritated, before saying “You’ll be scored on this, so fight hard.” Tris and the other girl squared up and began to circle each other, but Eric was getting impatient. “Go!” he barked. 

After nearly falling off the mat, Tris lunged, but the other girl dodged, twisted, and retaliated with a swing of her own, landing a punch to Tris’ face. As Tris retreated, the other girl pressed her advantage, catching Tris’ waist, bending her over, and punching her stomach a few times before Tris managed to break free of her hold. Just as she reached the end of the mat and turned, Tris was met with another punch to the face, sending her to the floor. The other girl--Molly--glanced at Eric since Tris was down, and he nodded, signaling Molly to send one last blow Tris’ way, knocking her out. As you watched the fight, you felt bad for your friend; she was much smaller than Molly, and part of you wanted to speak up about the cruelty that the trainers were showing, but you shoved it down. There was no need to compromise your position right now. 

“Next,” Eric yelled, pointing to a girl named Selene and a former Candor named Peter who had made fun of Tris, calling her a Stiff several times. You secretly hoped Selene would kick his ass, but it was unlikely, he was tall and strong, plus he was willing to fight dirty--he’d admitted as much in the dorm area. Guess he still couldn’t keep his mouth shut, even though he’d left Candor.

Selene was tough; what she lacked in strength she made up for in endurance, but after a few rounds of dodging Peter’s punches, he finally landed one to her solar plexus, stunning her, allowing him to sweep her legs out from underneath her and kick her as she lay on the ground. You clenched your jaw as he did so, feeling anger rise up inside of you. Selene was unable to fight, that was the stopping point of the fights, but Peter was still kicking her. And Eric, the emotionless person that he was, didn’t do anything. 

“Peter,” you said, “stop it.” Peter turned towards you and smirked.

“What are you going to do if I don’t?” he taunted. You considered for a second before turning to Eric. 

Looking up at him, you steeled yourself. “I know we don’t get to determine the fighting order, or who we fight, but I would like to fight Peter. Now,” you said, sure to keep your voice level and maintain eye contact with the leader. 

He raised an eyebrow at you curiously, and thankfully, Peter had stopped kicking Selene when you started speaking to Eric. Selene scooted to the edge of the mat, but that was as far as she could move without assistance. “You two,” Eric yelled at two initiates, “help Four get this one,” he pointed at Selene, “to the infirmary.” Then he turned back to you. “What are you waiting for, initiate? Get up there.” For a moment you were stunned, you didn’t actually think you would end up fighting Peter, and you knew that both Eric and Peter were expecting you to lose quickly. You caught Four’s eye as he carried Selene out with the help of two initiates, and you looked around to see Christina, Tris, Will, Al, Edward, Molly, and a few other initiates staring at you like you were mad. Maybe you were, but it was too late to back out now. You stood in a low, sturdy fighting stance, just like Eric had shown you. Peter did the same. For a moment, the room was dead silent as your eyes locked with his, and then both of you whipped into action. 

Peter went right for the face punch, but you quickly blocked upward and threw a low roundhouse kick at his knee, making him wobble. He recovered quickly, and he quickly used his height to his advantage, moving to grab your shoulder and slam you into the ground. You were smart though, and you let him move you slightly before turning the downwards motion into momentum that allowed you to do a somersault, twisting his arm and landing on your feet. As he was turning around to face you, you sent a snap kick right to the back of his knee, making it buckle. You moved quickly to his other side, ready to send a few punches to his face and knock him out, but he sprung forward, wrapping strong hands around your neck and squeezing. For a moment you panicked, hitting his arms, but they didn’t move. Everyone was sure that was it for you, but you had another trick up your sleeve--Peter was overly confident this would weaken you and in the process of squeezing, he had left his own body defenseless. So you kicked him in the groin. Hard. He called out and released you, and as he leaned over in an instinctual reaction to pain, you kicked his forehead with your knee, shoved him to the side, knocking him over, and kicked him again, this time in the solar plexus. You stood there, stone-faced, and when Peter didn’t make a move to fight back, you turned to Eric, who nodded, and you jumped down from the mat. 

You landed next to Will, Tris, and Christina, all of whom were staring at you in a mixture of horror and admiration. You blushed in embarrassment and looked at the ground, thinking to yourself, What the hell did I just do? You were so lost in thought that you didn’t realize the next two initiates were on the mat and fighting, and you only came back to yourself when Eric yyelled, “Hey! Are you deaf, initiate? I said go grab some ice for your neck, I don’t want to hear complaints about it tomorrow!” 

You nodded to your friends and said “I’ll be back in a minute,” shocked at how hoarse your voice was. “Just going to… yeah,” you trailed off before walking quickly towards the infirmary. 

A/N: can you tell I love writing fight scenes? also I do martial arts and have played sports my whole life, so I love when I get to use my knowledge of anatomy and physiology two write action scenes :)

Tag List: @shykoolaid

[the-al-chemist]

The Beginning of a Symphony - Chapter 16

Summary: Ethel and Selene become Suffragettes.

OCs featured: Professor Lavinia MacMillan @kc-and-co, Selene Fraser and Carolyn Nyberg @lifeofkaze, Adelia Selwyn @thatravenpuffwitch.

OCs mentioned: Victoria Summer @whatwouldvalerydo, Lottie Gallagher and Lysander Mercury @slytherindisaster, Winona Rosewood @usernoneexistent, Marigold Sterling @that-scouse-wizard, Siobhan Llewelyn @kc-and-co.

Warnings: discussion of misogyny.

April 1896

“Miss Hexley, what are you doing there?” Professor Macmillan, the Herbology teacher, asked Ethel, one eyebrow raised at the ropes that were currently binding her wrists to the banister of the grand staircase.

“I’m campaigning, professor,” Ethel informed her. “Professor, did you know that Muggle women are not legally permitted to partake in political discourse or even to vote?”

“I was already aware of that fact, yes.”

“Well, do you not think that this is a dastardly miscarriage of justice? I certainly do. That is why Selene and I have tied ourselves to the banisters. We are showing our solidarity with the poor souls, and raising awareness about their plight.”

“I see,” Professor Macmillan frowned. “And where is Miss Fraser?”

“Over there,” unable to point, Ethel jerked her head in the direction of the flight of stairs where Selene was tied to another banister, deep in conversation with a group of Ravenclaw girls from their own year. “We thought that we might cover more ground if we worked the stairs separately. We are hoping to recruit more members for our society.”

“Society?”

“Yes, the Society for Witches in Support of Women’s Suffrage. Or, S.W.S.W.S. for short. So far, it is Selene, Victoria, Lottie, Winona, and me. Would you like to join, too? We are hoping to have our first meeting this evening, and yours really would be a very welcome presence.”

“I appreciate the offer, Miss Hexley, but I’m afraid that I am off schoolgrounds this evening,” said Professor Macmillan. “But I am glad that you are spending your time focussing on such a worthwhile cause, rather than making trouble.” She smiled and nodded her head at the Slytherin girls walking down the flight of stairs towards them, “Perhaps you shall have more luck with these young ladies.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Ethel muttered as Professor Macmillan walked away, but she raised her voice and greeted the girls with a wide and winning smile anyway. “Carolyn, Adelia, Marigold! You are all strong, independent witches.”

“What do you want, Hexley?” Carolyn Nyberg asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Well, seeing as you asked, I dare say that I should rather like your help. You see, my dear sister Selene and I are attempting to bring about a great societal shift that will benefit the Muggle members of our sex to no end.”

“Are you now?” Adelia Selwyn raised one eyebrow.

“Yes. You may not be aware, Pureblooded as you are, that Muggle women are not privy to the same rights that are afforded to their male counterparts in regard to matters of a political nature,” said Ethel. “Naturally, this is most unjust, and it is this injustice that the Society for Witches in Support of Women’s Suffrage wishes to correct. We are currently looking to recruit new members to the society and-”

“Are you in charge of this society?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then we are not interested,” Carolyn gave Ethel tight-lipped and insincere smile.

“But Carolyn, do you not care that Muggle women are not allowed to vote?”

“Not enough to want to spend time with you, Ethel.”

“Well, there is no need to be rude,” Ethel pouted, and the Slytherin girls began to walk away. She attempted to appeal to the better nature of the one bringing up the rear. “Ophelia, what say you? Do you wish to join the society?”

“No,” Ophelia Burke shook her head, frowning as if confused. “I don’t see the point. Why would a woman want to vote when she could have her husband do it for her?”

Ethel’s jaw dropped, and she was about to launch into a lengthy explanation as to exactly what the point was, when the staircase moved, carrying her away from the Slytherins, settling so that her flight of stairs was directly adjacent to Selene’s.

“Hello!” Ethel called out.

“Hello,” replied Selene. “How’s the recruitment going for you?”

“I’m afraid that it could be better,” Ethel admitted. “No new members yet, but Professor Macmillan did say that we could use her greenhouse to hold the meeting tonight.”

“Did she? How wonderful. I shall have to tell that Shiv that is where we will be meeting.”

“Shiv’s decided to join?”

“Yes, I was speaking to all of the girls from their dormitory. They said that they’d all be delighted to join us.”

“Even Héloïse Perrault ?”

“Well, she did not say so in quite so many words, of course,” said Selene. “But she nodded her head. So I assume she will be joining. Though I’m not certain that she understood what it was that she was joining, precisely.”

“That is no matter, we can tell her later if necessary,” Ethel told Selene, whose staircase began to move. “Farewell, Selly!”

“Goodbye, Effy!” Selene called out, as she was carried away by the moving staircase. “And good luck!”

Selene’s well-wishing must have worked, because no sooner had she departed than Ethel was approached by her brother.

“Ah, Jimmy. Just the person.”

“Oh, um… Er, Effy, what are you… That is to say, why are you… Did you tie yourself to the staircase or was this one of Lysander’s pranks?”

“You know as well as I do that I would never fall prey to such a jape as this,” Ethel said, offended by the very insinuation. “No, this is no jape at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am partaking in a vital humanitarian campaign. One in which I am most in need of the assistance of my dear little brother.”

“I am less than one hour younger than you!”

“Even so, I am the elder, and so you must assist me when I ask you.”

“Must I?”

“Yes. That is how families work, Jimmy.”

Jim sighed, deeply and almost crossly. “What assistance… Why me? What is that you want from me?”

“Well, as you are so interested, I shall tell you,” Ethel beamed, “Selene and I are setting up a political movement, and require campaign posters. You are always doodling away, I thought that you might like to lend your artistic talent to our noble cause.”

“No,” Jim said quickly. “No, I do not wish… You know my drawings - drawings, not doodles - are private. I don’t like to…”

“What is the point in you doing all your sketching if you ever intend on letting anyone see the finished results?”

“That is not… They are not for others, just for me.”

“Jimmy, please! We are in desperate need of an artist!”

“There are others who fit that description. Lysander might-”

“We are not that desperate,” Ethel scowled at the very idea of Lysander Mercury being a part of her society. “Oh, don’t be such a downer, Jim! Be a good, supportive brother and come to my incredibly important meeting.” She sighed, before smirking and changing tack, “You know, Héloïse will be there.”

“And why… That is not… Um, really?” Ethel nodded, and Jim took a breath before nodding his head. “Very well, Effy. But, er, this is only because you are my sister, you understand?”

Ethel’s smile widened, and she tilted her head at her brother, who averted his eyes.

“Oh, I understand perfectly, Jimmy.”

[hs-devote]

láthi: the unwritten truth

Moodboard * Content * Masterlist

Disclaimer:

All characters and situation in this story are fictitious. Resemblance to any person living or dead is only God knows.

the completed series here

*

the unwritten truth

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You don't have to ask twice.”

“Fine then.” it sighs, “ Who are you going to sacrifice?”

“She was the Goddess of the Moon. Selene.”

. . . .

One year later..

“It's so sad the Goddess died after a year of torture. Plus, her husband sentenced her to prison.”

“Do you know what caused the Goddess to die at such a young age?”

“I heard rumours that she was cursed?"

“How could she die from being cursed? No one in the realm could hurt the royal family.”

“Ladies, it would be respectful if you didn't talk nonsense about your God and Goddess.”

The maids wince, terrified when Harry's advisor caught them gossiping in the kitchen. Feeling embarrassed, they quickly return to their work and praying he doesn't report them to the God.

“You're lucky that I won't report you to His Majesty,” he announces, “Go get to work.”

The all women nod as the advisor leaving them alone. While they get back to their work, Arion, the advisor, immediately goes to Harry who's in his study. When he arrives, he sees the door slightly ajar and knocks on it, walking in when the God allows him.

“Is there any good news, Your Majesty?" Arion asks after he bends down, looking at the distressed God behind his oak table.

“Is that creature still exist?” Harry hums, his eyes never leaving the old book in his hand.

“What creature, Your Majesty?”

Harry sighs, closes the book tiredly and put it on the table. "I saw an odd mark on Selene's neck, and it disappeared just before the cremation ceremony began. It was an ancient mark that belongs to mythical creatures, according to this book." he points at the book, "As far as I know, the mythical creatures vanished when Centauri attacked Sicily far centuries ago."

“So, you think Her Majesty's death has something to do with them?”

“I don't want to think like that, but that mark makes me uneasy." Harry scratches his temple, "They should be extinct, right?"

“I heard one rumour, Your Majesty." Arion starts, "When the chaos broke out, some of the survivors chose to negate their physical and returned to where they were born. And some of them had extraordinary power."

“If what you think is true, you have to find them. If there are humans who know its existence, they will know the truth about our realm.”  he adds, looking at Harry respectfully who's now listening to him carefully, “Whose mark is it?”

“Cerberus.”

“Belonged to the God of Dead,” Arion whispers, “Do you think it inherited its owner power?”

“I don't know, Arion.” Harry sighs, “But for sure, I have to find the truth.” . . . .

It never occurred to Ilitia that she would do such a thing like this the first time in her life, and she vowed to be last time too.

Right now, she was standing in the middle of a Parthenon, under the starry night of Corinth, eyes deadly looking at a figure that only she could see. A few meters in front of them, lay a woman on a stone table, looking beautiful and peaceful in her forever sleep. Looking at her dead granddaughter, she realised that she had travelled this far and didn't want her efforts to fail.

“It's my honour to able to see you again, Carmenta."

“It's been a long decade, is it?”

“I heard you were in Sicily,” its stepped closer, “What brought you here?”

“My granddaughter was killed by order of a Goddess–”

“How come?”

Ilitia bit her lips, not sure if she should tell the chronology. But if she refused, it wouldn't help her. Right then, she had to choose the right word.

“She was carrying the Goddess' husband child. Long story short, the Goddess found out and order her guards to killed my granddaughter.”

“She was impregnated by a God?” it raised its head, “You're not making it up, are you?”

“The Goddess couldn't conceive because of a curse, and her husband went down to Earth to find me. Instead, he met my darling Y/N and they fell in love. The God cheated behind his wife, yes, and.. they constantly having sexual intercourse until Y/N got pregnant." she starts, "We all do know that no God can impregnate a human. But, that was the fate."

“And when the Goddess find out about that, she was terrified that her husband would have an heir to the throne from someone else?” it continued Ilitia's story and was agreed by the woman.

“Is that the Centauri crown?”

“Yes.”

“How tragic.”

“Because of that, I came here to ask your help to bring my Y/N back because she doesn't deserve to die this way." Ilitia whispers, "I'll do anything for her, and help Centauri to have an heir to the throne. After all, the Goddess couldn't give an heir and my granddaughter has the right to find her happiness, even with a God."

“You know that the price isn't easy, do you? What do you prepare for this?”

“A life for a life.” Ilitia deadpanned, “It's a fair price to trade my granddaughter's life.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You don't have to ask twice.”

“Fine then.” it sighs, “ Who are you going to sacrifice?”

“The Goddess of the Moon. Selene."

. . . .

This is the second time Harry has visited this mountain peak, a place where used to be the hideout of previous Gods and Goddesses, the place believed to be the hideout of the mythical creaturesor even a born place. The mountain is very beautiful when the sun shines on Earth, but quite scary when the eerie silent echoed after the night sky appears.

The God doesn't know where to start, and this mission reminds him of his arrival to Syracuse nearly two years ago, making him remember his darling Y/N. He misses her so much, and it hurts his soul. If he knew where Y/N's grave was, at least he could visit her and loving on her even if he only could touch her tombstone.

“Mount Olympus feels quite different." Arion says next to him, his eyes stare at the endless mountain slope.

For this chance, Harry decided to bring Arion with him because he knows this mission isn't easy. And surely as his advisor, Arion can help him and give him advise since the man has studied mythical creatures.

“Cerberus is a dog. There's no way it stays on the top of a mountain, right? Too risky if humans see it." Harry mumbles, "If it only visible."

“Let's get down to the ground then, Your Majesty.”

Harry nods, and in a split second, he's setting foot in the valley. Then, they begin to explore, hoping to find any sign of Cerberus. The two of them always checked every cave or spot that could potentially be a possible residence for that giant creature.

It had taken them nearly four hours and the night had almost turned to dawn, but they had found nothing. Harry is quite desperate, and thinking they have come to the wrong place.

“Any luck?” Harry asks after Arion appeared in front of him, only for Harry get another disappointment when Arion shakes his head no.

“Did we come to the wrong place?”

“I'm– ”

In all of sudden, the air around them feels stifled and the wind feels hot even though the sun hasn't yet risen. Harry also realises that the grass they were trampling on was shrivelled at once. Something feels strange.

“It's strange..” Arion looking around, “Something happened.”

“Something comes,” Harry corrects him, “Something comes closer, still hiding from us.”

“Show yourself!” Harry shouts, “We came in peace! Just looking for something!”

The hot wind getting stronger and stronger, until a bolt of red lightning swooped down in front of him. Now, Harry can see clearly what appears before him. A giant three headed-dogs, its body glows slightly reddish. It has a serpent tail, along with snakes protruding from it back. Its glowing red eyes look annoyed at being disturbed. The Cerberus looks intimidating than he thought.

“Why are you looking for me, Your Majesty?” it smirks, showing it canines coating with saliva, “Why are you bothering me at my stay?”

“I apologies if I disturb your sleep,” Harry answers, “I didn't know that you were survived and hiding here.”

“We don't want humans to see me, do we?” it argues, “Even though I'm invisible.”

“Why didn't you go back to Centauri?”

“My master was dead, I couldn't go back without an owner. Besides, it's more peaceful here if I go back to your realm." it scoffs, "What do you want? The sun is almost rising, and I can't let anyone see me."

“My wife has died, and I saw your mark on her neck.” Harry points out his serpent tail, “Do you have anything to do with her death?”

“Your wife died? How unfortunate.” Cerberus mocks, “If someone is destined to die, then she must die.”

“I just want to know why you killed her, Cerberus.” Harry seethes, “You have no right to the life of a God or Goddess.”

“Despite her death lightened your burden, Your Majesty?” Cerberus arches its eyebrow, “And set you free? You should thank me, anyway.”

“I know you inherited your master's power but you can't kill her like that. She has nothing wrong against you.”

“Yet she has done sins and be cunning." Cerberus nods, "And now if I may ask you, how do you feel after your manipulative wife gone forever? As far as I know, a God and Goddess cannot be divorced if it's not death."

“Your Majesty, he knows too much.” Arion mutters under his breath, “Do you– ”

“Advisor, I didn't ask you to speak.” Cerberus growls then averts its gaze to Harry, “You once planned to do annulment but it couldn't be done because the court said a ruler must still have a wife.”

“How did you know?” Harry challenges, “Why did you know everything?”

“A bird told me," it stares boldly at him, "And I started to think, her death is something I can be proud of because she's the rightest person.”

Harry frowns. Something feels out of place with what it said and bothering him. And those question being thrown at him, he could easily answer them. Yet, he couldn't. After all, he still loves Selene even though he also hates her. Selene is his wife who was always there for him. Of course he was sad to know that the woman died in prison after she had been sick for a year.

“What did you mean with the rightest?”

“A year ago, someone came and beg me to help bring someone's life back. They're family, tho. This old woman said that her granddaughter died innocently and wanted her granddaughter to come back to her life. It was not an easy task and there must be a price to pay. When she mentioned the sacrifice, I was quite baffled that she prepared another life. Well, I didn't kill the sacrifice right away, I tortured them first by sucked their life slowly before the death calling their name."

“Selene was being sacrificed? Who dared to do that? Did you not aware that you overstepping our rules?!" Harry's voice boomed, angry at what he had just heard. How could someone risk Selene's life just to bring back a dead person?

“You let a human order you to kill a Goddess? Really?" he hisses, "How sick of that!"

“She was right, you're quite stupid too apparently." Cerberus rolls its eyes.

“Cerberus, I order– "

“You're just an advisor, and you're just a guest in my stay. I do not belong to the Centauri so I don't take orders from anyone." Cerberus cuts Arion off, "You think I'm stupid enough to do that for humans? Have you forgotten that only your people can see me?”

While Arion stares at Cerberus confused, Harry begins to think and digest every single word that came out from the creature from the beginning.

No way...

“Carmenta came to me to help her with Y/N, and she traded her granddaughter's life over your wife's.” . . . .

His heart is pounding like crazy, almost like about to burst through his ribcage. He cannot believe it, his darling Y/N is back to life. His Y/N is safe and sound. His Y/N is free from Selene's torture. It feels so long from the last time he saw her, he really missed her and couldn't wait to see her. There are millions of questions running through his head for him to ask Y/N and Ilitia.

How could?

How is she?

Did she miss him?

Will Ilitia allow him to meet her?

When Cerberus revealed the truth, he couldn't think straight. All he had in mind was Y/N, Y/N, and Y/N only. He had to find her as soon as possible. Despite he had to beg on his knees to Cerebus which made Arion widened his eyes; asking where the last time it met Ilitia was, it was worth it.

And now, here he is, in Corinth. His long wait ends in one of the cities on the seafront of Greece. Of course, Ilitia couldn't possibly stay in Syracuse anymore, she started fresh in Corinth with Y/N. With Arion went back to Centauri, Harry feels freer to get Y/N.

Well, his search for his true love isn't an easy thing. It's been two days and he hasn't found her yet and plans to rent a house longer if it takes a long time because it's impossible to go back and forth to Centauri. Whatever it takes, Harry has to find her.

“Why is it so hard to find you, Y/N?" he mutters while looking endless of Corinth's sea, "I miss you so much, do you miss me too?"

She's here, Your Majesty

Your happy ending

Your long wait

Harry was enjoying the sea breeze so much that he didn't realise he'd been daydreaming on the shore for too long. He already spent hours tiredly finding Y/N and it seems that his efforts should be even harder tomorrow.

When he decided to leave the beach and return to his rented house, he swears that his eyes are playing a trick on him. About twenty meters away from him, he sees the woman he was looking for is staring at the open sea in front of her, both hands on her dress pockets with her bare feet in the water.

She looks even more beautiful.

She looks healthy.

She looks perfect.

And finally, he finds her.

Without a second thought, Harry runs to her – afraid that she will vanish like when he saw her in his castle. He doesn't want to be late, and he doesn't want to lose her again.

When his body crashes on her and his strong arms wrapped around her body, Harry feels home.

He's too happy because it feels real, he shed tears of happiness when he feels her warm and alive body. Then, he breaks the hug and cupping her face with both his palms, adoring the beautiful face in front of him. Admiring the woman who's staring at his teary green eyes.

“It' you. You're here.” he sobs, “You're here with me. You're back. You're alive. You're safe.”

“I miss you so much and it hurts my soul.” he gently strokes her cheek, “How are you, my darling?”

Yet, what Y/N said to him make his smile fade away, “Who are you?” . . . .

“You know, when someone's life is being exchanged, the life does return. But, as pure life. So, your granddaughter's will start a fresh life. She won't remember anything, but the basic abilities like speaking, writing, reading, and so on won't be erased. So, you will have extra effort to help her adjust."

“I understand,” Ilitia nods “She was pregnant before. Will the baby come back too?”

Cerberus shakes its head, "No. If you want her baby to come back, you have to prepare one more God or Goddess life to trade because he has a God's blood running on him."

“How do you know her child is going to be a boy?”

“Mythical creatures always know, Carmenta.”

. . . . “Why did you do that, Ilitia?” Harry asks.

After the shock he got when Y/N admitted she didn't know him, Harry couldn't believe it at all. Yet, he let out a relief huff when Ilitia approached them and didn't look surprised at all, and invited Harry to talk at their house. And along the way, he stole a glance at Y/N who walked next to Ilitia, looking so confused yet curious about his presence.

“Honestly? I refused my innocent granddaughter to be killed your wife, Harry. She had done nothing wrong, but you and your wife.”

“Me?” Harry frowns, his eyes looking around for caution if Y/N hear them since Ilitia asked her to wait in her bedroom, “I have nothing to– ”

“Your ignorance, your selfishness. If you're smart enough, you could prevent this all.” Ilitia scowls, “You couldn't choose between her and Selene, and you didn't want to lose one of them. Sadly, your behaviour made you lose both of them. Also, your future child.”

“I know you resent me so much, Ilitia. But, I truly sorry for all this mess. What I feel towards her is real." he gives her apologetic look, "I just want to fix everything."

“Of course, that's why you came here all the way from Centauri.” Ilitia shrugs, “Besides, this is my way to make her happy and help my old home to have a better future.”

“Centauri is always be your home, Ilitia." he reassures her, "After all, Y/N will needs if she comes home with me.”

“How confident of you.” Ilitia chuckles, “If so, you have to start over as if you just know each other since she doesn't remember you. And win her heart if you have chosen your destiny.”

Harry nods as Ilitia gets up from her couch, calling Y/N to meet them both in the living room. While waiting for her, Harry starts to get nervous and his hand begin to sweat, too overwhelmed by the happiness. When Y/N appears in front of him, Ilitia who's standing behind her granddaughter smiling to the old yet new couple, "Mia cara, this Harry. Maybe you didn't remember him but you were so close with him, he just come home from his overseas trip.” and strokes Y/N arms lovingly, “Just introduce yourself as the beginning, he would understand.”

“I haven't introduced myself yet.” Harry offers his hand for Y/N to take, smiling fondly. “My name's Harry”

The girl smiles and shakes his hand softly, “Hi, Harry. I'm Y/N.”

Just like the first time.

*

[gingerale2017]

Third Wheel

Pairing: kaider and I guess some kiko

Fandom: The Lunar Chronicles

Words: 1.3k

Fluff/ Angst

Summary: There’s a new shopping center in New Beijing and Iko is dying to go, so she hauls our favorite couple to with her. And, unfortunately, Kinney. Cinder and Kai do not want to go, but they have no choice and they end up having a good time, but Kinney feels a bit out of place.

(Not revised*)

Cinder stared out the window into the city of New Beijing. She's been here for less than a week and already she felt like she could relax. Sort of. The press was breathing on her and Kai's neck about why the Lunar Ambassador is staying at New Beijing Palace and want an answer. But they wouldn't get one yet.

She fiddled with the red engagement ring that only her friends knew about. It was nice to have some people know about the engagement so she wasn't all alone. Especially Iko, she's the best at covering the engagement when it comes to slip-ups in the public, even though she is the one who most wants to announce it.

Speaking of which, the same girl came bursting through the door, dragging in Kai, "GUYS!" she exclaimed.

"What," Cinder said, eyeing Kai. He shrugged.

"THERE'S A NEW SHOPPING CENTER!" she was practically jumping up and down, "WE HAVE TO GO!"

"Can't you just go alone? We have stuff to do-"

"It's no fun to go alone. I know what you're going to say 'ask Tress', well guess what? She's visiting her mother on Luna, so she can't come. So you guys are going to go in their place."

"I thought Kinney was visiting us for a week?"

"Yeah, but he's terrible when it comes to shopping."

"He's going to come anyway because Kai and I are."

Iko paused, "Spades, you're right. Dangit. Well, we're going anyways. You need the experience and I'm sure Kai hasn't shopped before."

"Is that an insult?" asked Kai.

"To me it is. And we're going to fix that."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The four of them stepped out of the hover one by one. Iko first, Kinney last. Iko gave Kai and Cinder black hoodies to blend in. Kai and Cinder had to walk in the scorching sun from where the hover dropped them off to the shopping center. Iko was delighted and left Kinney, Kai, and Cinder in the dust.

"So what do we do?" Kai asked before entering the building. Cinder leaned on him and intertwined their hands.

"I have no idea," she rested her head on his shoulder. He placed his head on hers.

"Maybe we should follow her?" Kinney suggested.

"But where'd she go?" said she.

"Probably the shoe department," he looked uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe because she and Kai were all coupled up and he was just standing there awkwardly.... oh. But she didn't want to let go of Kai yet.

"Let's try the shoe department," Cinder began to lead Kai into the building, Kinney behind them. She didn't try to talk because that would make the situation more awkward. Kai began to hum a soft tune. She recognized it and began to hum with him. He squeezed her hand when he noticed her singing, putting a flutter in her heart.

They did not find her in the foot department, unfortunately, so they went into the next store. Cinder made small talk with Kai which resulted in a kiss from each other on the cheek. Then she would feel bad about Kinney and try to act normal, but she couldn't be parted with Kai. Poor Kinney.

They found Iko drooling at a dress in the window display. Iko spotted them and waved for them to come.

"Look at what I found!" Iko said as soon as they arrived.

"A dress, nothing special," Kinney said.

"Shut up, you."

"Make me."

"I will- whatever. I'ma go buy this dress. Wait here, especially you, impatient heathen," she pointed at Kinney, then left. Kinney snorted while shifting his feet.

Out of nowhere, Cinder's stomach growled.

"Woah, are you hungry?" Kai teased. She playfully hit him and nodded, "Then we should get something to eat. Would you like to come Kinney?"

"No, I'm good."

"Ok."

"He probably wants a fruit cup, according to Iko," Cinder implied as they were walking away. She explained Iko once mentioning that Kinney loves fruit cups.

"Fruit cups?" he asked.

"I don't know why either."

"I mean they're healthy?"

"But there are so many other things that Earth has to offer, like pretzels."

"Do you want pretzels? Because I want pretzels."

"I want pretzels."

"Let's get pretzels," as they made their way to the pretzel stand, hand in hand, she suddenly felt like she was forgetting something.

"Wait. We can't be seen," Cinder blurted.

"Shit," they turned quickly and headed back to the dress store, where Iko still hasn't come out yet.

"Kinney," Cinder asked, "Can you buy some pretzels for us, please. We can't be spotted by the public because they would probably wring our throats for ignoring them."

"Of course, Your Ma-, Selene."

"Cinder," she corrected.

"Selene," Kinney smirked and walked away.

"AT first he would say it on accident and now he's saying it on purpose, like Thorne! I knew letting them hang out was a bad idea," ranted Cinder to Kai. He chuckled. Realizing they were still holding hands, she squeezed, "you know Kinney has been so uncomfortable with us. I feel so bad."

"It's not our fault if Kinney and Iko would rather banter than date."

She giggled, "good point."

The guard came back holding their pretzels (and a fruit cup) at the same time Iko finally exited the store. Iko eyed Kinney suspiciously as he handed the food to Cinder and Kai. He then started to eat the fruit cup.

"Nothing for me? So inconsiderate," she huffed.

"You can't even eat!" shot Kinney.

"That was the joke, Liam,"  he crossed his arms.

"Okay, maybe we should go now," Kai butted in, "It's getting late."

"It's 17:46 Kai, not that late."

"Well, maybe we should go before you two kill each other in front of everyone. We wouldn't want to cause a scene, right?"

"I agree with the Emperor. Plus, I'm bored," said Kinney, picking at his fruit cup again.

"What- not yet!" Iko sputtered, "We barely did anything! Cinder needs a pair of new shoes too."

"Oh, no, I'm good with the shoes. Don't worry about me."

"Fine! Let's go home! You're all party-killers," the android muttered the last part as she frustratingly made her way out of the building.

"Now I feel bad," said Kai.

"I don't. Let's go," Kinney replied. Cinder grabbed Kai's hand and headed down to the exit. Once they were outside, they found Iko standing by a hover glaring at them.

"Hey Kai, do you prefer blue or yellow?" the android asked.

"Blue?"

"Tie or bowtie?"

"Depends on what event is happening."

"Fancy event?"

"Tie."

"Okay, " Cinder realized what she was doing; she was online shopping. Cinder promptly began to laugh.

"What?" Kai asked, confused.

"She's shopping."

"Oh, " he began to laugh along with Cinder. He opened the hover door for her and she stepped in gradually. Kinney and Iko followed.

The ride back to New Beijing palace consisted of the two bickering like the lovers they were and Kai giving Cinder little kisses any chance he got, which Cinder appreciated.

"I SWEAR IF YOU EAT ONE MORE THING IN FRONT OF ME-"

"IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL!"

"I WILL SHOOT YOUR ASS OFF!"

"You smell good," Cinder whispered. She was heavily leaning on him, mostly to get away from the fighting ragers.

"Iko gave me some new cologne," Kai admitted.

"IT IS TO ME!"

"Oh. Remind me to thank her."

"OH, WHO CARES!"

"Why?"

"Because no one wants a smelly fiancee."

"True."

"UGH, WHY ARE YOU SO DIFFICULT!"

"I'M THE ONE WHO'S BEING DIFFICULT?! REALLY?!"

"They're annoying," said Kai, not so secretly.

"Imagine living with them for two years."

"IMBECILE!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING!"

"I'm sorry," Kai began to snicker, making her join along. The screeching pair turned their volume down as they neared the palace. Cinder and Kai hid their laughter as they glared each other down.

"We're here guys," pointed out Kai.

"Yeah, you go ahead. Kinney and I are going to have a word," Cinder and Kai left the hover and on their way back to the palace, she began to rethink the decision to leave the hover.

"You think leaving them alone is a good idea?" she asked.

"Nope. But they will work it out," he paused, "hopefully."

"Hopefully."

They walked through the grand palace doors, hand in hand, ignoring the possibility that all hell would break loose after leaving those two alone.

Tagging: @just2bubbly @ladyvesuvia @rue-velleia @strawberry-seraph @cindersassasin @salt-warrior @not-the-founder-of-rome @jacihayle @winterrhayle (please ask if you want to be removed or added <3)

[popculturebuffet]

The Owl House: Enchanting Grom Fright: Happy Valentine’s Gays

Happy Valentine’s Day owl ladies, gentleman and non-binary folks! It’s time to finish off this holiday in proper style with a LONG overdue review of enchanting Grom Fright and even longer overdue coverage of the Owl House.  The Owl House was one of the best debuts of last year if not THE best, only in contention because Close Enough also started last year and looks to surpass regular show in terms of quality. But with stunning animation, tons of representation, and colossal worldbuilding. And given how i’m on record for thinking Star Vs went so far down the tubes they bumped into where Cthulu is sleeping, it’s nice to have another magic based show that seems to be on the right track: carefully building i’ts world, supporting cast and for today’s topic main romance. It also rather than just obliquely hint one character was bi and the other pan, actually goes out of it’s way to have a bisexual protaginst with a gay love intrest. As my good friend @jess-the-vampire has brought up quite a bit, star had plnety of options. .but no willingness to actually campaign for any queer rep, the way Gravity Falls head Alex Hirsch tried to, he still gets credit for trying, and Owl House creator Dana Terrace gets full credit for. 

Terrace got her start working on Gravity Falls in line production before working her way up to directing for ducktales, being instrumental in how Webby was animated and how she moves and acts, and being the director for several classic season one episodes including “Woo-Hoo!”, “The Spear of Selene” , “Day of the Only Child!” which was one of my faviorites from season 1 and “The Beagle Birthday Massacre!”. And while I can’t 100% confirm she’s the only part responsible for starting Weblena, given she was director on an episode where a lot of the romantic subtext was in the visuals, she certainly helped so thank you Dana. Thank you a lot. Their adorable. Point is she’s a talented lady and wasn’t satisfied with directing, so she pitched her own show, combining tons of ides and stuff including of all things, Pokemon Red. I checked the article wikipedia had sourced, it was one of her happy childhood memories as it was one of the last things her dad gave her. Awwwwwww. That’s as sweet as it is painful. She’s also currently dating Alex Hirsch, something I was entirely unaware of but find also adorable. Point is i’m glad I looked into her as she’s a very nice person, and very much my kind of weirdo and i’m happy for her sucess and her singuarly weird show that sprung from that sucess. 

Now that part of it’s out of the way the episode itself was an uphill battle as you’d expect. As anyone familiar with this blog is aware, but just in case your new, you tend to hear me bitching about Disney’s handling of queer represntation a LOT

For the most part Disney’s pretty bad at it: There was the string of “FIRST GAY CHARACTER IN AN X” they had going for a while.. that consisted of a character I dind’t realize was gay, a kiss I didn’t see, and a talk with a character who I honestly wouldn’t of been looking for had disney not patted themselves on the back with some giant sized hands because htey saved some pym particles for that occasion. Ducktales was unable to have Penumbra come out as gay more clearly because I don’t know Ducks can’t be day.. but they can be IMPLIED to be gay or pansexual as hard as the crew possibly can so they win anyway. Pixar was able to have a gay lead character for one of it’s sparks shorts out and even focused on him coming out of the closet and it’s very good and something I WILL give Pixar credit for... but not Disney Plus who go out of their way to not mention the lead being gay.. despite the fact the short opens with a gay space cat riding a gay space dog out of a rainbow and then it being revaled our lead is in a relationship not long into the short. My point is the idiots who won’t watch this for having gay characters are just going to turn it off, who cares what they think, why are you like this Disney. They need to do better, and be better and i’m getting tired of this shit.

That being said... this episode is a step in the right directoin as despite having to get past one obstructive asshole, not her words but damn if it isn’t the truth, as the rest of hte execs were fine with having a gay character, Terrace fought hard for it and WON, having a clearly gay character, and a clear road to a gay romace as the lead one, all because she wanted some representation in her works. So to honor this, I present this review in honor of love, effort and saying screw you to not having represntation because money. Join me under the cut and allt hat. 

We open in the owl house, in the owl house, duck dodge push and shove, it’s how we show our love in the.. you get the point. Luz is learning yet another Rune, this time plant runes.. and already something I love about the series pops up: the fact Luz’s rise in skill is gradual but noticable. Each spell noticably improves in potency with time,  going from simple lights to shaping them into simple constructs, and learning to control or time her spells and glpyhs so they launch she she says so, with each one getting more powerful the more she learns. And on top of that osmething I just noticed on rewatch of this episode is her tecnique in finding them evolved, something I dind’t notice the first time because I hadn’t fully caught up and checked this one out to see if Disney would actually let them go through with it.. and they did. Point is her first spell is found by accident, her second by realizing how her magic works fundemntally, both require skilled deduction and on the fly thinking and casting, so she’s already pretty skilled.. but now sh’es ACTIVELY seeking out a new spell here for the first time. She knows how she gets them, she knows each school is tied to a form, and she likely got the plant from williow since that’s her thing and she’s a saint. A demon but also a saint. They can have those too. It’s what I assume relicor is. 

I miss that goblin demon bat man. Point is it shows an evolution in Luz’s thinking: while it’s a subtle thing she took a more proactive approach this time even if it took a lot of practice.. and it pay soff as by the time of her next rune, while it’s once again sorta handed to her she has less time to learn it, almost none, and finds it singed onto a ball.. and learns it effortlessly to the point where by the next episode it’s a crucial plot point. IT’s subtle but clever character progression, and stuff I really enjoy, showing our hero going from a bit inept but not helpless or incomptient.. to a force to be reckconed with and far more clever and strategic than yo’ud expect given her sometimes reckless and almost always happy go lucky attitude. 

Luz worries teaching King about the internet was a bad idea because he gets excited about a literal cat fight which .. yeah... it was a bad idea but not because of that.. but because next he finds someone saying the earth is flat and she wisely yanks it away. It’s.. very sad that the absolutley maddening and easily debunked flat earth theory is still RELATIVLEY more sane than the stuff we’ve had pop up during the trump era and the cornoavirus pandemic. 

But one of the main conlficts of the episode pops up as Luz’s mom messages her and Luz can’t bring herself to tell her anything and just sends a thumbs up.  I do think this episode helps even things from the pilot a bit as it was a bit lopsided: While I got that Camillia was genuinely struggling with how to deal with Luz, and was offered an out and had to take it... the fact she sees NO problem with the normalcy camp, which comes off intentioanlly or not a sa parallel to conversion camps or camps to make autistic kids “Normal”. And as someone whose both bisexual and autistic, I naturally relate to luz way more as someone whose intrests sometimes just don’t quite fit with everyone else, and who dosen’t get how bad some of their actions were.  THat’s why this episode feels like a necessary course correction: Luz is shown to genuinely love her mama and feel guilty.. but we see camilia genuinlely loves and supports her daughter a bit more. While it was clear from the pilot this shows it more, with her genuinely just wanting to know her daughter’s okay and checking up on her, and giving me the feeling that possible consequences or no if something bad WAS happening or she didn’t hear from her for a long time, she would’ve drove up there to get her. It feels like the writers realized the implications they accidently created and wanted to fix it, though I can’t say for certain. But if so good on you for course correcting, not every show does that. 

But King encourages her, telling her she’s doing the right thing by lying and to “trust the demon on your shoulder”. Keep this in mind for later, but that joke is great on it’s own. But soon i’ts time for school and Hooty.. barfs out Luz’s books for her. 

I haven’t been this disturbed since.. (Looks at the clock) About 2 maybe three hours ago when I watched a man have, if apparently shorter than the oriiginal cut as I wanted to see everyone else’s reactions dammit, sex with hiis car which was possesed by the mad ghost of his dead wife. Because that’s the kind of stuff i’m into when i’m not reviewing stuff. And before that Tinky.. just everything about tinky. 

I do not have enough time to get into TInky here or why he exestially horrifies me. Or why Jeff blim is a living god. I will save that for a proper review if I have the time tomorrow. Point is I saw a lot today and that still tops it. Willow and Gus are likewise grossed out and want to leave. 

Cut to school where Luz wonders what’s with all the decorations.. that remind me of this honestly

And frankly given the whole state of the boiling isles it REALLY wouldn’t surprise me if the decorations were indeed well cooked faces. But i’ts Grom time, which means elaborate gromposals (Some Dude asks Skara out with a beating heart and an elaborate medical proposal.. which.. points for effort. And for using an actual heart. Couldn’t get one for mine. ), dancing and someone being chosen for Grom Queen. WHich Willow hints isn’t as nice as that sounds. Before we can get into that though Amity bumps into them and gets into a tizzy before meekly greeting “Luz.. and Co”. which.. not going to lie.. is my faviorite gag of the season. Just htw way she adds them and just the way Willow and Guz both smile widely at it as if to say “That’s us!”. Amity drops a note and snatches it back. This will be important later, you all know why, point is Amity becomes Grom Queen.. and is heavily depressed with Luz following her to find out why.  At the gym.. she does indeed ifnd out why: Turns out Grom is not some mutation of an earthname but is based around a horrifying entity lurking beneath the isles, Gromethious the Fear Bringer, who emerges from his slumber once a year and must be fought back and brings out his target’s greatest fears. Just like groundhog day only with less time loops and rodent abuse. Amity is scared of hers, and i’ll obviously get into this more later, and Luz simply suggests asking bump to opt out and Amity appricates the support. Awwww. 

Luz heads home and we find out Eda is chaperoning and King is mcing. Eda is also rocking a suit. Just damn girl, damn. But Luz considers taking her place.. and gets laughed at, with Eda assuming she’ll have to save her and King just being kind of a dick. I mean he’s a loveable thoroughly cuddly dick but he’s still a dick... just more like a stuffed plushie of one.  So basically exactly like Tinky. Look I mention him more than once in this review he dosen’t put me in the bastard box. It’s a great system.  Naturally this makes Luz more determined than ever to prove herself and she finds Amity in the night, with Amity having been unable to get out of it.. and Bumps a resonable guy, he just wants a substitute and no one wants the job.. except Luz who galdly volunteers and insists ntohing scares her before the giant spider on the back of her head proves otherwise. Because of course it does, spiders are fucking terrifying. Kill then all.. except the pokemon ones. Galvaltula are sweethearts. As are Ariadoses. Sweethearts who can elctorcute or poison you but still. 

So the next way Luz begins preparing.. and by that I mean it’s time for training. Sadly we don’t get an episode of Luz and Amity getting trapped in an 80′s fashion montage... I mean yes Rise of the TMNT also did that plot the same year, but we had two diffrent plots about someone getting trapped in an eldtrich sitcom and a THIRD this year, all entertaingly unique. Though we do get Luz pulling out an otter suit that’s adorable and she sadly still hasn’t worn yet. “This one says i’m an otter, with a dark side”. She also got thrown out of a school dance for.. wearing an otter suit. Okay the other things we saw in the pilot were understandable but htis is just.. baffling. Who cares what you wear to a dance as long as it isn’t horribly racist of nothing at all. 

Damn you flanders and your glorious ass. Point is Amity shows up and threatens hooty’s life because.. he’s hooty. The fact he isn’t dead already is a testiment to how badass he is and how much money he’d cost Eda to replace. Owl Tubes don’t come out of a stygian hole in the unvierse every day you know. That’s only every three years. It’s basic styigan owl tube science. 

But Amity wants her to be ready and that she’ll have to face her greatest fear.. and cue hooty popping up, poking amity in the face and asking if she wants to know her greatest fear. Really he can clearly hear everything in the house given he heard that, so he heard the death threat he just chose to ignore it. That.. was a mistake. And by mistake I mean we get a hilarious cut to the outside of the house as Luz tries to stop her love intrest from murdering her second mom’s tube monster. The result is some bandages and an eyepatch. To be fair that last one was just flaring up from a  previous beating. 

For this solem task of training, Amity has brought in her local disaster bisexuals.. aka her twin siblgins Eldric and Elmyra, whose greatest fears are dying alone and being stuck with Eldric. Both understandable. They conjur luz’s greatest fears which are.. some of the funniest shit I heard all year.. and also very relatable. Human souls in cat bodies, which is genuinely terrifying good job Luz, Jerks on the internet who mansplain things, relatable, and soy milk. 

But Amity knows this is just the openign act. it needs to be something deeper.. so while Luz dosen’t realize it’s probably her mom issues she brings up her issues with her other mom: that Eda dosen’t think she can do this. Hence we get a giant eda putting Luz in a babychair. Before we can unpack how wrong that sentence sounded, Eda comes out, and marvels at how hot giant her is. But she’s quickly distracted from sex with a giant version of herself, which is not an easy feat, by the relization “Wait Luz is going to fight grom isn’t she.. fuck i’m going to have to save her”, though Luz holds firm on doing it to prove she’s fine and dosen’t need to be saved constantly. it’s a good conflict. Eda IS right that Luz is not ready for this alone, that she’s overcompensating and that Eda would, in normal circumstances be the one to rescue her. As we’ll see it’s not her who does it but still, were this any other foe she probably would be. But Luz’s motivations are equally understandable: She wants to help her friend not have to do this and she wants to prove she can do it. She just wants her mentor, the only person in her life up to meeting her that GNEUINELY supported her in magic to respect her. To have faith in her and actually see how far she’s come. And given how her own mother writes off her dreams, if not unrealistically, and before this she had no friends or support system to speak of outside her mom, it’s easy to see why this is so improtant to Luz: she just wants to make the one person in her life whose ever support her actually think it was worth it when in truth Eda already thinks it does and just dosen’t want her to die. 

She’s just not good with talking to her or not condescending to her as her own ego is stacked sky high, probably because the whole curse thing meant Eda was an outcast by default and the system wants to either chain her to one form of magic and one only or shackle her to them as a hired goon. Her ego, while justified, is also a defense mechanism: a way to shield herself from the fact almost no one cares about her and one of the few people who DOES, dosen’t care what she wants or needs. Once the curse happened she lost just about everything and had to rebuild and thus build up walls around herself and kept everyone else at arms length till Luz changed her for the better. It’s just a tragic clash of two wills both with similar problems but both unwilling to talk about them. 

But with time up, our heroes need to get to the diggity dance. So they indeed do and we get some fun sight gags, Willow makes corsages,  that one girl with the cresent head somehow ended up with Mathomule and is not happy, as anyone who ends up with him should. And it’s time for Luz to face her destiny.. in a tux with a tutu because of course, and Amity likes it because also of course. 

IT’s time to rumble, with King getting nervous due to eda’s prodding about mcing since his co-mc gus is really good at it, and introducing our champion.

No wait sorry he’s still trapped in Mojoworld. no it’s still Luz who shows off a seasons worth of skill by easily dispatching the first few fears and saying to grom let’s finish it.. before grom puts a tentacle on her head. 

It’s to downlaod her fear.. which is Camillia. Granted we could all see it coming but still Luz obviously can’t fight her own mother or her own overwhelming guilt.. her mom did hurt her.. but she gets why and just loves her and wants her to be proud but dosen’t know what to do: tell her the trutha nd possibly loose a happy and fufilling life or wait until it all blows up. It’s a painful choice. So luz and king end up running. King runs first because he can’t handle it and Gus talks him back into the groove while Luz runs away because she can’t fight her own mom, understandable, and Gus encourages king to lead the crowd which he does. Amity and Eda follow Luz. 

So Luz is backed down, facing down a monster tha’ts going to go on to everyone else next if she fails... and Eda prepares to interfere.. but it’s AMITY who faces her fear and dives in. And we find out just what her fear was as grom turns into a humanoid shape and rips the letter in half.. it was a grom invitation. Though conviently the who it’s adressed to was ripped out. 

And yeah not going to save this one: It’s Luz. You know it I know it I didn’t even hide it in the intro. Even before the reveal in a bit it was obvious. But it also makes perfect sense. I’ve avoided talking about her character arc up to this point because I was waiting for now. Amity’s growth is the third major arc of the season behind Luz’s slow learning of magic and eventually induction into hexside and eda’s curse, which I lump in with Lilith chasing her since both were mildly entertwined and then entirely are once the reveal hits in the finale. When we meet her she’s an outright bully.. but we slowly see there’s more there. That she’s not really HAPPY or content, is contstantly under pressure by her family name, is outright bullied by her own siblings who don’t understand her. So Luz coming in, seemingly only being intrested in magic because i’ts neat.. understandably bothers her. She’s not a great person, bullying her old best friend because tha’ts what’s expected and being close with outright bullies because of that.. but it’s through Luz she starts to grow, realizing Luz is genuinely nice and genuinely sorry for any trouble she caused Amity, and evne then both cases were causaed by Amity’s own dickishness and outside forces, so it’s easy to see why she defrosts faster. Her siblings realize they’ve genuinely hurt her, and actually try to be good siblings from then on and help her, and slowly Amity learns to truth luz, trust in her, and accept her... and thus accept her feelings for her. There are gradual hints she’s growing attracted to her.. but her walls had to come down first, and it wouldn’t of worked from the outset. The show cleverly has the two build a genuine friendship, two opposities who work well together, so when feelings do happen it feels natural. It’s not “I’m in love with this person because I have to because you can’t be friends with someone your attracted to” bullshit or anything like that, cough star vs cough, it’s just well built catching feelings. I’ts how this kind of thing SHOULD go: niether went in intending for this to happen.. it’s just happening. 

And Amity’s reluctance is painfully understandable, as Luz is the ONLY friend and support she has. Sure she and willow are patching things up, but WIllow would understandably choose luz over her and she’s terrified of loosing the one good thing in her life. Of course Luz would either say yes, and probably will some day, or let her down gently, she’s nice.. but it’s also understandable to be afraid that someone won’t take the reveal well. I’ve been there trust me, it’s easier when you let it out even if you get rejected, but I get it being hard to let out because you don’t want to loose a friend. I did not, and niether would she, but I can see why she wouldn’t want ot take the plunge. At least not yet. We’ll see this summer hopefully. 

But we do get a shiptastic, gorgeously aniamted scene of the two dancing an fightin gin perfect synch, combinging luz’s new use of plant magic with amity’s mastery of abominations resulting in the two utterly decimating grom, likely in part because with two fast moving targets he can’t get a lock on and likely nees more fear and mass to attack multiple targets at once. Or just more tendrils. it’s a quick, beautful sequence that’s utterly glorious, being framed as romantic as any hetero scene of the type and rightfully so. A triumph and well deserving of this praise. 

Our heros have won, get crowns, and King gets praise. All is well.. except Luz drops the crown once she gets home because she feels like she failed and feels lost about her mom.. though at least king gets it “I’m king and queen, best of both things!”. You tell em sister. 

So we end with Luz genuinely responding to her mom, with some montage stuff as we see Gus and Willow poke a fear blob, willow fears bugs, understandable and Gus fears clowns... 

Also understandable. Though I didn’t put up a bug picture because

And Amity looks out folornly into the night. Camilla responds to Luz.. and mentions letters.. which while Luz brushes those off.. we see someone sent them. And by someone I probably mean king since we now know only eda and him had acess to the portal, and given he was actively encouraging her to lie.. yeah i’m supscious. But we’ll see next season. For now this episode is fan fucking tastic, showing off tons of character development, being representative and sweet as all hell.. and being really funny. Tons of great gags in this one including the turtle guy from an earlier episode being forced to be adisco ball.  This is easily the series best so far and if you haven’t checked it out, please do it’s fantastic as is this show. Check both out. Until the next rainbow i’ts been a pleasure. Tommorow more disney shenanigans this time with pete. And also more of this possibly we’ll see what I get done. 

Goodnight everybody!

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 50- To the East

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

A dragon spirit, guardians and attendants to the gods, is in peril. When a few hermits and the wanderers go to face the trouble, they’re not the only ones fighting against dark magic.

_______________________________________________

Not all of the hermits could afford to leave Doc behind, nor could they all make the trip in time. Avon’s insistent they leave now. She was about ready to transform into her dragon form and carry the wanderers to the eastern fjords. It was Ren that was able to calm her down just enough to think. In the end, they decided less is more. Avon doesn’t know what has her on edge, but she knows it’s not good. 

“My mentor, Flaryn, I… I have a really bad feeling.” Avon paces the floor. 

“Your mentor, like the dragon?” Mumbo squeaks, already feeling faint as he remembers facing Avon in the duel. What could possibly be causing a massive dragon trouble? 

As soon as Cub opens a portal, the wanderers are the first through. Following them is Iskall, already brandishing a spear of iskallium. Ren volunteers as well, offering up his dynamic, versatile magic. Three hermits, plus the three wanderers, set off through the portal, from the dark wooden bookstore to the verdant evergreen forests around the eastern fjords. Arriving beneath the pine canopy, someone was already waiting for them. 

“I got your message,” The long, ebony black haired sorceress reaches out, taking hold of Red’s hands and holding him close. Prolonged, pointy ears rise from the black curls like rocks from the sea, and deep purple eyes gaze upon the small group. “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know, Selene.” Avon growls, brushing past everyone present. Her eyes wander across the tall mountains, covered in snow as they slope to the waters below. “Things just feel...disturbed. Out of balance, like a rockfall about to collapse.” 

“You called your master Flaryn, correct?” Cub questions, boots crunching heavy in the snow. Ren realizes he’s wearing sandals, and uses his imagination magic to conjure up a pair of boots. “You don’t mean to tell us that the dragon you learned your magic from is a dragon spirit? Flaryn, dragon of the east, guardian of balance, master of flame?” 

“Why does a dragon need that many surnames?” Iskall huffs. Cub’s eyes only widen when Avon gives a curt nod. Cub has gotten used to his fellow hermits being from incredible or strange backgrounds, but to master a magic from the very spirits that aid the gods? 

“Well, go big or go home, I guess.” Cub chuckles. “So...if something really is wrong, why don’t we go to Flaryn’s roost and check for ourselves?” 

“Because Flaryn lives at the top of that mountain,” Selene, now carrying Red through the snow as tall as the kipling, interjects. “And that isn’t just a mountain. That’s a fucking active volcano.” 

As if to prove her point, a low growl escapes the peak of the mountain, and smoke roils free like the maws of a dragon. And within the smoke, a massive shadow, wings outstretched, appears. Bigger than Avon’s dragon form, so big that even this far away the hermits can tell it’s great size. This was a dragon above dragons, a beast that could bend nature to it’s whim. 

And it was under attack. The dragon banks hard within the smoke, dancing with embers and tendrils of flames as lava erupts from the mountain peak. From the bottom of the mountain, the hermits can’t tell who is attacking, though they can make an educated guess on who would possibly have that much hubris to take on a messenger of the gods. 

If it wasn’t Dolios, then surely it was one of his council members. A roar shakes the ground at their feet, sending snow tumbling from trees. Selene uses her magic to create a shield, brushing aside the snow like it was little more than a gnat. Shield magic must be her power. Avon takes point, guiding the team up the mountain to the peak. Where she learned to control her magic.  A battle continues at the caldera, fire blazing from the mouth of Flaryn and strikes of magic shooting from the ground. 

A wayward breath of fire misses the combatant, orange flame burning down the mountain. Barreling for the team. Avon opens her wings to block the flame, but is little more than raising a hand to stop an avalanche. Iskall squeezes his eyes closed and waits to be burnt to a crisp by the superhot flame. 

It never comes. He waits a second longer, still braced and prepared for death. Still nothing. Iskall dares to open his eye, about to ask where his untimely death has gone. He finds it, instead, under the control of Selene. She’s ensnared the fire, dancing with the stream like it was little more than a ribbon of silk. When she’s gained full control of the flame, she turns it back up the mountain, aimed directly at the distance figure they’re approaching. 

Iskall blinks, stunned and confused. “I thought you were a shield wizard. Are you a multi-mage as well?” 

Avon doesn’t stop, leaving the others to follow. “I’m not a multi-mage, but I can do multiple forms of magic.” 

“How so?” That’s impossible. Most wizards only have one form of magic, as unique as their personalities. Multi-mages were an exception, as if the gods themselves couldn’t decide what magic the wizard would excel with. 

“Ever heard of a learned mage?” Red questions, falling into the snow and clambering through. It’s as high as his chest. When all three hermits shake their heads, he continues. “Learned wizards are born without magic, but with enough time and dedicated study are able to gain the understanding of powers and use it themselves.” 

“I had no innate magic. But I didn’t let that stop me. I’ve since learned more than twenty varieties of magic, and can perform them as well as wizards born with it.” Selene looks over her shoulder, a coy grin appearing on her face when she sees the stunned expression on the hermits’.  

Ren opens his mouth to ask a question, but the words that rise from his throat are lost to the wind, the thunder of the dragon above. It wasn’t an angered roar, not like those before, when Flaryn fought the intruder. Rather, it was more of a cry, higher pitched, sharper. Grating against their ears. Alarmed, Avon takes off, leaving the rest behind to join her mentor in the sky. Her trident is already in hand, flame erupting in a blossom of purple.

The distant figure turns, curly brown hair falling across his blue capelet, a scowl creasing the charismatic expression. “And i thought you’d be too busy handling your criminal friend to get in my way.” Dolios sneers. He attempts to blast Avon out of the sky, but the draconic mage dodges in the nick of time. “You flying lizards have always been such a pain, but imagine the honor of being the person to slay a dragon spirit.” 

“You’ll have to go through us first.” Avon hisses, then attacks. Dolios casts his wisping magic circle, corrupted by his dark magic. Just as unstable as the man that controls it. A heavy wind picks up, snapping the tops off trees and tossing Avon aside like she was little more than a leaf. With her out of the way, Dolios turns back to Flaryn. Another circle, this time summoning a swarm of wasps. The mottled monstrosities swarm the dragon, stinging and paralyzing the spirit. Forcing Flayrn to land as wings become overwhelmingly heavy. 

Iskall lets out a war cry, and plows through the deep snow, to the peak of the mountain. He shoves his shoulder, all his weight into Dolios. The two both go sprawling against the ground. Iskall can feel the heat of the erupting volcano, burning at his cheeks in waves of intense heat. 

“I think it’s time for you to meet your doom, you mega bastard.” Iskall growls, wrestling the magistrate. Dolios isn’t very strong, it turns out, all his attention focused on keeping Iskall from throwing him into the lake of lava. 

“Do you know any other adjectives except ‘mega’ and ‘doom’, or are you just too dense to learn a thesaurus?” Dolios hums. His words spark an angry fire in Iskall, frenzying him. 

Exactly how Dolios wanted it. With a swift repertoire of hand movements, Dolios casts his dark magic, and grabs hold of Iskall’s arm. Fingernails puncture under Iskall’s pale, exposed skin. Like venom from a wyrmbite, poison seeps under his skin, sending Iskall writhing backwards in pain. 

Red catches Iskall before he falls all the way down the volcano, while Selene casts not one, or two, but three different spells at once. Despite the uncertain predicament Dolios finds himself in, he’s more interested in the magic that’s trapped him rather than the fight. Through all of this, his nonchalant, charismatic smile never leaves, and never fails to infuriate the hermits. “It seems we have something in common here. Though one of us definitely chose the harder route.” 

“We are nothing alike, you asshole.” Selene hisses, reeling back and casting her magic. In the split second between the spell being summoned and taking effect, Dolios uses his own spell.. A concussive blast, just like he used in the chess match so long ago, sending the hermits and wanderers tumbling down through the snow. The mountain rumbles, snow shifting and threatening to collapse into an avalanche. To sweet away the rescue team.

“Well, at least now I have an audience to witness the beginning of a new sport.” Dolios rights himself, brushing the snow from his robes and turning back to the wasp covered, incapacitated dragon. “Dragons are so dangerous, only the strongest, bravest mages would dare slay a dragon. Think of the honor to be in such an exclusive group.” 

“Fucker!” Avon shouts, launching herself free from the snow, unleashing every once of her magic, as well as her trident, against Dolios. But he bats it away, and grabs the draconic mage from midair, hands wrapped around a wing and tipping her towards the explosive volcano below. 

“Well, if none of you are going to be a gracious audience, why not become willing participants as well? I may not have gotten the joy of seeing that criminal burn before my eyes. But I will relish in wiping you all from existence, right alongside this monster.” Dolios’s gaze turns wild, frenzied as he raises an arm. The sleeve of his robes falls back, wine red fabric and trimmed gold seams fleeing from the swirling black mist. The power of his dark magic grows stronger, more violent. Even from this far away, the hermits can feel the deadly, life draining energy that he harnesses. 

Dolios lines up the shot, so that every last hermit, every single wanderer, and eastern fire dragon is in the line of fire. A maniacal smile grows on his face, thirst for death and the feeling of pure control and power overwhelming him. The angled fingers turn, ready to snap together and release enough dark magic to destroy every living being in the line of fire. His thumb rests on his middle finger, pressing down. 

Then his eyes roll backwards, hand and body falling limp into the melting snow. None of the hermits, the wanderers, even Flaryn breathe for a second, realizing that Dolios is passed out. Not dead, unfortunately. But how? Did he overexert his dark magic? 

Another person is on the crest of the volcano. Long blue hair, straight and flat as if it had been slept on. Mostly because it was. Tired, bored eyes sparked with a hint of determination, and finned ears flick aside the pyroclastic ash from the eruption. His chest rises and falls, body exhausted from overusing his magic. 

“You don’t have much time.” Apatia breathes, body slumped. About to pass out as well. “I did as much as I could to keep him knocked out as long as possible, but his mgic took the brunt of my own. You leave, I’ll make sure the dragon spirit is okay.” 

The councilmember steps forward, offering a hand to the hermits. Ecto recoils, preferring to sink deeper into the snow she hates than be anywhere near Apatia. “Why should we trust you? You’re a part of his crony gang. You’ve been letting him, helping him do horrible things!” 

Apatia’s shoulders slump, and he looks as exhausted mentally as he is physically. “I don’t have time to explain everything. He’s going to wake up soon, and he won't fall for that trick again. Let’s just say I… I’m tired of just letting bad things happen to good people.” 

Red’s the first up, the two kiplings looking at one another. Apatia offers a soft nod, some unspoken conversation between the two. Avon does her best to ease the pain and help her mentor from the wasp attack, while Cub opens a portal. 

“Can’t we just drop him into the volcano?” Ren questions. “This could finally all be over.” 

“It won’t stop his work, not with Eurynomos in the forest. Waiting.” The hermits glance at one another. Eurynomos. Is that the name of the beast they found? “Just...send him back to Milliara. We can’t have people wondering what’s happened to their beloved magistrate as well.”

“Just one stab?” Avon questions, still furious he called her a monster. “He deserves more than what we’re letting him off with.”

To Cub’s chagrin, he knows that Apatia is right. As much as he’d love to finish Dolios off now, to get this over with, nothing is ever that easy. Once Dolios is gone, there team of rescuers step through their own portal. The wanderers first, and the hermits following after. 

Iskall steps through last, but turns while he’s in between places. Looking at the councilmember. Apatia looks back, exhausted. “Know that you hermits aren’t alone. This is your fight, but you have others on your side now too.”

[iamanartichoke]

This is a little Valentine’s Day fluff, kinda - for context, Loki and Brunnhilde are on a Valentine’s Day date, and they’ve left Thor to baby-sit Dagny. Thor and Dagny, of course, manage to get into trouble almost immediately. 

Dedicated to @gia-selene-baczewska, whose never-ending support and friendship have been an anchor to me for as long as I’ve been writing in this fandom. I hope you enjoy! 

- Takes place in my Beyond the Fence ‘verse; Dagny is an original character, to whom Loki is teaching magic. - 

**** 

"We should call Loki," Thor says, for about the tenth time.

"We should definitely not call Loki," Dagny counters, also for about the tenth time.

They've been locked in this back-and-forth for at least half an hour, and Thor has to wonder why he's allowing this child (she has such an innocent face, and Thor thinks to himself that that face will deceive many for years to come) to even have a say, let alone a deciding one. The obvious solution is to call Loki, but here he and Dagny sit, both cell phones untouched, a tiny black kitten with golden eyes on the floor between them.

Thor sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "The longer he stays like this, the less likely it is that you'll be able to change him back," he points out, although he has no idea if that's actually true or not. Thor's raw, elemental magic is an entirely different force than Loki's seidr, and he'd never bothered to learn much about his brother’s tricks and sleights of hand. Witchery was all it was; or so Thor once believed.

He knows better now, but recognizing his brother's immense magical skill - and how valuable it is - does not mean he understands it any more than he did in his youth. Certainly not anything as advanced as transfiguration. He’s surprised that Dagny managed to accomplish what she had. 

Dagny is flipping through the grimoire on her lap, flecks of green and blue magic dancing off the pages like dust. "That's not true," she says, without looking up. "There's no long-term damage to being turned into a cat."

"And you're certain of that?" Thor, despite himself, reaches out and runs a finger along the cat's soft skull, between its two pointed ears. Heimdall does make an adorable kitten - or, he would if he weren't currently glaring at Thor. Thor is unsure how a kitten can glare, but Heimdall is definitely doing it. He withdraws his hand.

"Almost certain," Dagny says, after too long of a pause.

"We should call Loki," Thor says.

"I can fix it," Dagny insists, and excitedly taps the page she's landed on in the grimoire. "Look, all we have to do -"

"We?"

" - is gather some sage, witch's root, and -" She frowns, peering closer at the page. "Um, cauliflower?"

"Calla lily flowers," Thor corrects, after leaning over to check for himself. "We need the nectar from a calla lily flower. You don't happen to have any on hand, do you?"

"No," Dagny admits. "But I'm sure Loki does." She shuts the grimoire and sets it aside, then gets to her feet. "Come on."

Thor rolls his eyes, but does as she asks. He scoops Heimdall - he's so tiny - into one hand, ignoring Heimdall's mewls of displeasure. "And do you have a plan for getting past Loki's wards?"

"His wards?"

"Spells. Charms," Thor clarifies. "Loki never leaves anything belonging to him unguarded. I'm willing to bet - hey, careful!"

Dagny lets out a yelp, not unlike the sound a puppy makes when its tail is stepped on.  They'd made it to the end of the hallway, where Loki's bedroom is, and Dagny had reached for the doorknob without heeding Thor's warning. A blast of green magic had thrown her backwards and into the opposite wall; Thor sets Heimdall on his shoulder before kneeling down next to the girl, shaking his head ruefully.

"Are you all right?" he asks, gaze sweeping over her, checking for any injuries.

Dagny rubs the back of her head. “Fine, but – how are we going to get the calla lily nectar if Loki’s door is, you know …” She gestures vaguely. “Temperamental?”

“We call Loki,” Thor says, yet again. He pulls Dagny to her feet, ignoring that Heimdall is now digging his claws into Thor’s bare shoulder. “If we’re lucky, Loki will agree to change Heimdall back himself and then we won’t need the nectar at all.”

Dagny wrinkles her nose and stamps one foot against the floor. “But I can do it,” she protests. “I can fix my own mistakes, I really can. How else am I supposed to learn?”

Dagny so often acts older than her age that Thor forgets that she’s on the younger end of the child spectrum. He remembers now and can’t help the hint of impatience as he replies, “You’re supposed to learn under Loki’s supervision, didn’t he tell you that?”

She scowls, sticking our her lower lip. “Maybe.”

“Definitely.” Thor pries Heimdall’s claws loose from his skin. “You also need to learn when to ask for help. You’re not an expert, Dagny. And you don’t get to be one by being stubborn about how much you can do on your own. Loki studied for a good hundred and fifty years under our mother’s guidance. You’ve been learning for one year.”  

With each of his words, Dagny seems to deflate a little more, until she’s sagging against the wall, arms folded, looking anywhere but at Thor. “I just wanted to show you – and Loki – I could do it.” Her voice is small. “That I can be good at it.”

“You are good at it, sweetheart.” Thor’s hand is bigger than Heimdall’s entire body, and he slides his fingers beneath Heimdall’s tiny kitty paws to hold him up in the air. Heimdall kicks his rear legs, which are dangling beneath him, furiously. “You got the first part of the spell right. Look. He’s a perfect kitten. No disfigurements or extra limbs or anything.”

Dagny looks at Heimdall, and then at Thor, and then back at Heimdall again. “No, I didn’t,” she admits, pushing away from the wall. “He was supposed to be a horse.”

Thor desperately tries not to smile and doesn’t succeed. Poor Heimdall. “Well, regardless, you still did good. But now it’s time to fix it, and try again – properly, that is. With Loki’s help.”

“Okay, okay.” Dagny finally relents, and they go back into her bedroom, where they’d left their phones along with the grimoire. Dagny scoops hers up, grimaces, and holds it out to Thor. “Do you think he’ll be mad?”

“Yep,” Thor says cheerfully. “But he’ll get over it, I’m sure. Besides.” He winks at her. “Since they left you in my care, it’ll be me he’s mad at, anyway.”

“True,” Dagny agrees. She trades her phone for Heimdall and begins stroking his soft fur. “You two never should have let me offer to show you a magic trick.”

“I think I can speak for both myself and Heimdall when I say, lesson learned.” Thor shrugs, shakes his head, and dials Loki’s number.

[deathbyvalentine]

Regency Werewolves Chapter 2

The grounds were suitable. The social season could commence.

Of course, there were preparations to be made that had little to do with tooth or claw. There were dresses to be made, ribbon to be pinned and plaited, pocket watches to be wound and shoes to be polished. Not to mention the small stack of calling cards that was beginning to lean a little in the stack. Everyone was curious and the family had been particularly elusive. But now, glimpses could be caught. The women were glimpsed moving from a haberdashery, servant laden with fabrics. The men had waved a greeting to some passing gentleman from some local land known for its good hunting. They had managed to escape the title of 'snobs', instead becoming 'mysterious'.

The first ball of the season, was of course, themed. Lady Robin in all her finery and extensive powder had announced it with a hint of smugness, the type that was unfortunately entirely backed up with ability. Her parties were lavish while still being respectable, decadent without being wasted. Wine would be drank but not quaffed, food served but not scoffed. This was a line many struggled to toe (poor Earl Sussex) but she did to with aplomb.

Obviously, the Williamson house was in uproar, even as Lady Williamson sought to contain it. Elise was of no help whatsoever, stirring the girls up with tales from her youth and recollections of flirting. Even Alice, usually resentful at being squashed into dresses and her hair being brushed within an inch of her life, showed little complaint at her dress and chattered excitedly about the dark woods on the ground, despite her lady mother reminding her there would be no chance for her to explore. Sybil had managed to contain her own excitement but there was a certain tremble in her hands when she spoke of ribbons. Kingsley suffered in stoic silence, his dread of social occasions easy enough to read on his face. His father's face mirrored his own.

Kingsley was often a rather put upon creature. He had not the wild bravery of Alice nor the social graces of Sybil. He found social situations not merely a chore, but much more of a minefield. He was at ease in precisely two situations - looking over his father's accounts and when he shrugged off his human skin and ran under the full moon. He found himself wishing for the moon to come more often - the rules of being a wolf were so much clearer than the rules of being a human.

Meanwhile, Sybil would happily give up her teeth and claws for the gift of a normal life. She fretted over how she would handle her little 'condition' when the time came for a husband, seemingly unaware of the fact her mother had managed it.

Alice was much more a wolf than her a girl - her shape had little to do with it all in her view. She was a wolf when she was in dresses and she was a wolf when she was in fur. Civilisation was a cruel joke.

And what was more civilised than a soiree? From the drinks in clear glass flutes to the steps of a dance, all of it was manufactured. Therefore the children must be manufactured too. They had to blend in, had to look like this was their first or second nature. Tears in dresses had to be prepared, quick tempers soothed before they turned violent, the correct amount of food to eat imparted. Lady Williamson made it look natural and her three progeny strived to imitate that ease.

*

The day came and the evening followed. The evening was summer tones of pink, fading to purple, becoming blue. The drive to Lady Robin's house was packed full of carriages, warm young ladies hanging out of windows and fanning themselves furiously. The only reason why Alice was not among them was because Sybil had hooked her by the back of the dress and pulled her back into her seat with one fluid moment. Alice responded by panting behind her fan.

Even the sisters petty bickering fell silent once the turn on the drive slipped past. The entrance was flung open wide, revealing the light of what must have been hundreds of candles, some lining the meticulously swept stone steps. Garlands of white flowers hung in long strips, attracting the attention of a few lazy bees. Kingsley couldn't help sniffing the air, the smell of perfume, lillies and food almost too much to resist. The entire family took a moment to look and to see and to scent. Alice fidgeted, eager to explore. Her mother shot her a warning look - each of the older women were taking one of the girls to be chaperoned and Alice had drawn the short straw. Selene might have let her have a little fun (Sybil, ironically, was equally as unhappy at her chaperone's identity).

They entered as a procession, with Lord and Lady at the front, the children and their aunt tidily following behind them like ducklings. Curtseys were liberally distributed, as were bows and handshakes. The girls were complimented, the boys were given approving nods. A few of the prouder invitees attempted to be above the buzz of the throng eager to meet the new family, but even they couldn't resist side-long glances their way, measuring up the cut of their dresses and smoothness of their manner.

The dancefloor was currently clear, the band only just beginning to settled down in their chairs, taking up positions and instruments. Alice couldn't help but wince as the tuning up began, the sharp notes of a violin particularly harsh to her sensitive ears. Sybil, though she didn't show it, was having similar trouble with an overpowering perfume an old duchess was wearing. These events were often overwhelming to humans, with werewolves it was a hundred times more stimulating, for better or worse. There was another scent on the air, that made the Lady turn her head. It was there and gone in a quick breath, but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. It was surely nothing.

Kingsley made a beeline for the refreshments, as teenage boys usually do. It also carried the dual purpose of delaying the need to ask young ladies for their hands to dance. Kingsley rather despised dancing. Though naturally graceful, he never seemed to know the correct steps for the popular dances of the day and tread on toes with impunity. Later Lord Gordon would gently prod him to do his social duty, but for the moment he took pity on the lad and let him dodge the dance cards thrust towards him.

Lord Gordon took a moment to take in the room. It had been a hot summer night much like this one where he had met his darling wife. Fairytale like he had seen her, diamonds looking like starshine in her hair, both dimmed by the force of her smile and strength of her scent. He recognised in her what he had in himself, the howling beast that resided in their chest, making them just a little bit wild. It was love at first sight and the love blossomed between them over the years, making infatuation into the kind of deep fondness on which empires could be built. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she leant into it, thinking of the same memory. Alice pulled a face at the romance, since when were parents allowed such luxuries as romance?

Her grimace didn't last long. As her mother was brushing off her dress and making noises about finding some wine, a young man approached. He was tall and slender, with a bright spray of freckles across an elegant nose. His hair had the unmistakable bearing of curls squashed and soothed into submission, but nothing could dim the brightness of the orange it was. This distracted Alice so thoroughly it was only after a moment she remembered to curtsey. He was introduced and she too was, albeit via her mother.

His name was Leopold, though his friends called him Leo. He was a cousin of the family who owned this place, although slightly distantly. He was studying at Oxford and had came up especially for the season as his younger sister was coming out and he wanted to support her. He liked history and art. All of this Alice found out very rapidly. He spoke like a train rattling down a track and in trying to take it all in, she offered little about herself. He was nervous, she realised, trying to cover up his unease with words. Eventually, he got to the point.

"Miss Williamson. Would you do me the honour of a dance?" His eyes flickered towards the empty dance card at her wrist. At first, she thought it was out of pity. But then, she became aware of all the young men in the room and how many were hovering close by, waiting. It was not pity, rather, eagerness. This shocked her so very much she gave her consent.

A moment later after Leopold had departed, Sybil appeared at her elbow like a horrid specter. "You must attend to me at once Alice. You must not tread on his toes or turn too soon. Don't laugh without covering your mouth and smile like you have a secret. Don't fiddle with your gloves - " "It is only a dance Sybil." "To begin with, yes. But Leopold is one of the most eligible men in this room and it won't be a bad thing to impress him." "He asked me to dance, shouldn't he be impressing me?" Sybil gave her a long look which informed her exactly how foolish an opinion that was to have. Alice flushed, finished her glass of champagne and braced herself.

Across the room, Kingsley had watched the exchange with an academic interest. He was about to go and join his sisters, to gossip and discuss the already rather interesting turn of events, when he realised someone was beside him, also gazing out into the room.

It was a man a little older than himself. He had dark eyes and dark hair that was teased into dreadlocks. He had sharp cheekbones but a soft mouth. Kingsley looked away quickly, but not quite quickly enough.

"I prefer to stay on the sidelines too, don't worry." A small chuckle passed between them and Kingsley relaxed his shoulders a little, recognising a kindred spirit. "Are you here alone?" "No, my entire family are here." He nodded towards Alice and Sybil. "They're my sisters." "I'm here with a niece, though where exactly she has gotten to is a mystery." He held out a hand. "Michael." "Kingsley." His hand was warm and gentle. He turned back to the room and in companionable silence they observed.

Alice had made her way onto the dance floor, trying desperately to remember every tip that Sybil had forced into her mind two minutes prior. It was hopeless, as was she. Ladyship didn't come easily to her. Selene squeezed her arm in passing, hoping to pass on a little of her courage.

Leopold stood opposite her and gave a most ungentlemanly grin, like he was not in a room full of rules and looks, but somewhere else, perhaps a park or school. Inevitably, she found herself grinning back before she remembered the rule and covered her mouth with her hand. The music started, a light tune with much work on the fiddle and violin. It reminded her somehow of spring, of waking up to flowers and birdsong. Much better than the droll solemnity often trotted out in these occasions.

The dance begun. Kingsley, watching from slightly above, thought not for the first time of how much it looked like certain creatures from the animal kingdom, bees in the summer tracing their endless ritual paths. The formality was stifling. All of them would be feeling it, the moment of feeling trapped within stays and lacing, rules and regulations. But he chose to cling to them, using them to retain his humanity. What was more human than this party?

Alice kept her eyes on Leopold, and he kept her gaze evenly. The grins slipped away, giving way to an expression that she could not name. She was acutely aware of every touch between them, despite the layers of gloves and the swapping of partners. She began to be able to differentiate his scent from those around him - there was something earthy there, like standing in a woodland after rain or digging. It felt familiar and welcoming in this place full of artificial perfume.

Lady Williamson and Selene watched from the sidelines, their dancing days mostly done. A respite from the work of courting. Selene lamented it but Elise felt a sense of relief. She had found and kept her husband, and even loved him. No more performing, pretending or showing off. She could be as she was. Well, almost. Some things were not for public consumption. Selene, scandalous as always, made no secret of the fact she was looking for a second husband, much to Elise's dismay and amusement. The two women stood side by side and watched their girls dancing.

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 9

With one of the Flying Pigs standing watch up above (and since they were camping out here anyway there would ALWAYS be someone watching the entrance) Arlo and the rest of the Civil Corps were free to head down into the facility to help herd the scholars along.  With the power still off they had to drag around the power stone brackets still if they wanted overhead lighting rather than relying on flashlights and lanterns; Arlo was getting pretty practiced at opening up the wall paneling and wiring those up now and was looking forward to having the facility's lights powered properly so he wouldn't have to do that every time the scholars moved on to a new room.

Today wasn't especially exciting; the scholars had picked one of the floors full of the dorm rooms (but free of skeletons) and were carefully examining each room and taking copious amounts of notes on each and every item inside, where it was sitting, and, in the case of the technological gadgets left behind, what its function was (or what they THOUGHT it was - Eli was downstairs with Petra and Mali so she wasn't available to confirm or correct their guesses).   He wasn't paying close attention to the scholars or their note-taking - it was very easy to be distracted by the thought that he was standing inside some ancient person's home; all the other ruins he'd been in previously had all been industrial and manufacturing, not domestic.  It was a strange feeling to catch a glimpse of one way that Old World people had lived, and aside from the technology it...didn't seem all that different from his own room. ((Continued below cut))

For one fleeting moment he wondered if in another three hundred years they'd be studying what existed now but considering a Calamity was what put them in this current situation in the first place...he certainly hoped people in the future wouldn't need to study his time period in this manner.  It was a good thing to know history but he felt there'd be a big difference between studying what was LEFT of a civilization compared to studying the PAST of a civilization.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps in the hall behind him; as Arlo stepped out of the doorway he could just spy Selene approaching in the dim light.

"Trouble?"

Selene shook her head at him and waited until she was closer to respond.  "Nope!  I've got the tool - well, tools - done.  All shined up and ready to go.  Had a small problem with air bubbles in the first casting but these are attempt number two and seem to be perfect."

Arlo nodded to her then gestured for her to lower her voice.  "Eli, Mali, and Petra are downstairs somewhere.  I'm babysitting up here."

"Oh."  Selene's face scrunched up.  "Well, that throws a wrench into things."

"How's that?"

"Well, Paulie wasn't free today and we might need muscle.  I figured you'd be willing to come along to get that panel loose.  Guess I should've asked someone up top to come down as back up."

Arlo blew out a sigh and looked over his shoulder toward the room the scholars were poking around in; he'd been told not to leave them alone, no matter how safe it seemed.  And he didn't want them underfoot while they were trying to repair whatever this relay box thing was.  "I can't really leave this group alone otherwise I'd be happy to come lend a hand."

Selene ran a hand through her hair, huffing.  "All right...uh...   I'll just pop back up top and get Asher to come do it, or take your place, or something."

"You know, between you, Mali, and Eli, you might not NEED extra muscle," he called after her as she turned to head back the way she'd come.

She waved over a shoulder to him but didn't turn around.  "Not taking that chance!" was her reply, and then she was little more than a distant silhouette in the gloomy lighting.

"Something the matter?"

Arlo turned to find Edgar poking his head out of the room.  "-nah.   Nothing at all," he replied.  "How much longer did you all plan to be down here?"

Edgar squinted at him a moment, then licked his lips and pulled a small, battered pocket watch out of his jacket.  "Let's see... Was about half past ten when we got to this floor and -- hrm.  We HAVE been at it a bit."

Being as he didn't carry any time pieces himself Arlo actually had no concept of how much time had passed.  "Maybe a break is in order?"

"Let me..."  Edgar trailed off as he ducked back into the room, and Arlo could hear a murmur of voices inside.

After a moment it occurred to him he could possibly catch Selene before she got too far - if this group was going to go take a lunch break then he wouldn't have to babysit.  "Selene?  Selene!"  He jogged down the hall, trying not to inhale the little puffs of dust wafting up from the old carpet as he went.

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"I question how we can even get all the ones we've found out of here."

Mali's voice echoed strangely in this room; it looked like a conference room, or maybe a classroom.  Eli knew they'd already been in here but it had been a quick scan and then back out - no one had died and been left behind in this particular room so the first time through they hadn't looked too closely but now they'd returned to check for any doors they'd missed on the first sweep, and to also check on all the doors they'd assumed went to closets or other such storage areas.  

"I'm...not really sure," came Petra's voice from the other side of the room.  "We need to do it soon, and respectfully of course - we can't just toss them into baskets, but the skeletal remains are dry and loose and they won't keep together if we try to move them."

Eli was only half-listening from her spot at the door, fiddling with the inner bits of the panel next to the doorway; they had a cluster of the power stone brackets they were hauling along with them to patch into the lighting system and this one was proving especially tricky to hook up.  It looked like the original wiring to this room had been shorted out at some point, and whoever had replaced the wiring had picked the cheapest wiring in existence; each time Eli tried to clear a bit of the wire coating to wire the bracket in the bared section seemed to disintegrate and begin unraveling.

In the far distance she heard a ding of the elevator opening, and not long after a concentrated beam from a flashlight began to flick up and down the floor back where the hall didn't have any brackets wired in.   Eli clicked the torch off and returned it and the snips she held to the toolbox she'd borrowed from Selene, then rubbed the palms of her hands against her thighs to scrub away the grime as she stood to meet whoever it was coming down the hall.  Eventually Arlo and Selene came into view and Arlo turned the flashlight off once they reached the lit section of the hallway.

"Hey, you two.  What's the word?"

Selene grinned widely at her and waved her hands at her; in each hand she held two tools apiece - they were long-handled and glinted in the light.  "Are you ready to pop a panel free?"

Eli chuckled; the last she'd asked the builder about those tools Selene had explained some issue with air bubbles in the cast that meant she had to redo it but now, here she was with the tools in hand.  "As ready as I can be since we don't know what's gone on behind it."  She moved away and into the room, picking out where Petra and Mali were now both working at prying open a door on the left wall that had been tucked between two built-in shelving units that had effectively hidden the door from view if you were standing in front half of the room.  "-hey, Selene's got the tools done."

"That's good news," Mali grunted.  She and Petra together shoved and the door grated open and slid into the wall to reveal a storage area that was litle more than a short hall lined on either side with floor to ceiling shelves.  "-would you look at this - this one isn't empty."

Not empty?  Eli jogged over, leaving Arlo and Selene in the hall; inside this storage area were boxes of more manuals and textbooks.  "I wonder why there's so much emptied, and then random little spots like this that've still got things in it."

Petra carefully pulled a manual free and thumbed through it.  "I haven't seen or heard of anything like this one before."  

Eli looked over her shoulder - it appeared to be a technical readout of the inner wiring of some sort of machine but she didn't immediately recognize it.  She gestured for and then was handed the book and turned it over to read the title: Surgical Veterinary Assistant Guidance System.  "...starting to get a real weird feeling about this place if now we're finding animal texts in here."  She turned it over in her hands a couple of times - why would there be a veterinary-based surgical machine manual down in a research center, but no hint of anything animal related?

With a shake of her head she returned the book to the box and led Petra and Mali out into the hall to meet back up with Arlo and Selene - they'd already grabbed the toolbox and some of the brackets out of the hall.  "Seems we've got tools to work with - time to go see if we can get into that relay box."

It was a bit of a walk from this floor to the correct one; on the way down in the somewhat crowded elevator she found herself wondering how she ought to be feeling about this.

The relay box was basically the last remaining obstacle between her and the All Source AI -- between her and finding out what happened here so long ago.  It felt a bit like a massive monolith just beginning to peek over the horizon, with it growing ever bigger the closer she got to it: she was walking toward something that was certainly going to crush her, one way or another, and yet she needed it to, no matter how much it was going to hurt.  But the problem with gargantuan things toppling over is oftentimes other people got caught in the crush radius too...

When the doors dinged open Eli cleared her throat.  "Can I ask a favor?"

They all stepped out onto the landing and paused there, waiting for her; Eli moved out behind them, and for a moment paused to wonder if what she was about to ask would be for the best.  Or even if they'd agree to it.

"When we get the All Source on, I'd like to privately talk to it first," she continued.  "I'd rather not have what personally happened to me broadcast to a group of people before I get a chance to reconcile with it.  All I'd need is an hour, give or take, to get my questions out of the way."

"Seems reasonable to me," came Arlo's immediate answer.  As he looked between the other two Eli waited and fixed her gaze on some indeterminate point further down the darkened hall.

"I have no problem with that," Mali replied.

Selene nodded.  "Me neither."

Eli blew out a breath she'd not been fully aware she'd been holding. "Ok.  Great.  Thanks."  That had been easier than she'd thought...whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

They trudged down the hall in silence then until they came to the reinforced paneling that hid the relay box (or, as Eli suspected, hid the maintenance tunnel that accessed the box).  Selene plunked the toolbox down and carefully sat the special-made tools on top of it, then began to feel along the edge of the paneling to check the bolt heads there.

"None of these seem broken or the heads stripped out," the builder murmured as she inspected.  "Assuming we've got the elbow grease needed to pop them loose I think we'll be fine."

Eli glanced over the tools again; they all looked mostly the same except for varying thickness in the necks, shafts, and sockets.  "Do we want to try just one at a time or one on each side of this panel at the same time?"

Arlo bent to pick up one of the tools, hefting it.  "Let's try one at a time first to see how hard it is."  He stepped up beside Selene and fit the socket of the tool over one of the bolts.

"Righty tighty lefty loosey," Eli said, standing off to the side to avoid being in the way but also so she'd have a clear view as he tried to get the bolt loose.

He checked to make sure the socket was on all the way and tight, then began to push; Eli could see him straining almost immediately -- despite his own muscle and utilizing a bit of his own body weight as well it didn't look like it was enough (he seemed like a fairly strong man so she assumed it was more the fact that bolt hadn't moved in over three hundred years moreso than any suggestion of his actual strength).

"That doesn't seem like it wants to budge," Arlo finally puffed, stepping back and panting a bit.  "Maybe we can pick a lower one for better leverage."

Leverage...ah.  Eli bent down and sat the spare tools off to the side, then opened the toolbox and rummaged around until she found a ratchet wrench with a large enough hole in one end that it could slide over the end of the bolt tool.  "Here, try this."  She slipped it into place and stood back; it added a little over a foot of additional length to the handle.

Arlo stepped up to try again and Mali moved up with him as, with the added length, there was enough room for both of them; on Arlo's count of three the two of them began to push and finally, just barely, the bolt began to turn.  It took several more minutes of huffing and puffing but finally there was a tinkling of metal hitting the floor as the bolt was freed and bounced down the hallway several feet.

At the look on their faces Eli chuckled.  "There we go - one down, nineteen more to go."

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The bolts thankfully had been the hard part; actually muscling the panel out of the way had been a simple task, and then they were greeted with the sight of a claustrophobic access tunnel stretching off into the dark.  Eli ducked into the opening and shone a flashlight up the tunnel to reveal an absurd number of pipes, cables, and electrical panels lining otherwise plain concrete walls to either side with an equally plain concrete floor beneath their feet.

She knew what a relay box looked like but had zero idea where it'd be back here.  "All right...I'm going to head in and look around. There's not a lot of room back here or anything to see so stay put until I find it, then bring the tools on in and we'll see what we're dealing with."

"Do you think you can fix it?" Mali called after her as she began to head down the tunnel.

"I know HOW to fix it.  Whether I CAN is going to depend on what's needed and what tools we have," Eli called back over a shoulder.

The light of their headlamps grew more faint as she got further along; there was something oddly comforting to be surrounded on all side by things she found familiar.  She could almost pretend she was...home.  That all of Dubei was still above her head.

 Don't think about it.

The tunnel stretched on for quite a distance - enough so that she had to turn off her own flashlight to catch a glimpse of the lights from where she'd come from - and then abruptly she smelled...dirt.  Rock.   Dust.

'Oh come on - please don't let this section be caved in...'

She didn't have a great mental map of this place yet but if where she was currently was in roughly the same quadrant as the cave in that had collapsed part of the room with the tubes...

"Oh thank the Three," she muttered as finally, up on her left, a gigantic blocky box marked with all sorts of hazard stickers and warnings appeared in her flashlight's beam.  There it was - the relay box.  Wherever the dirt she was smelling happened to be it wasn't an immediate problem.

Pauline hadn't been able to tell them what was wrong with the relay's connections, only that some connection error had occurred and that as a result everything had been taken offline as a precaution - there was roughly a 50/50 chance it could be a major problem.  Wedging the flashlight between her shoulder and the side of her head Eli ran both hands along the relay box's outer edges - if this thing was locked that was going to be a hassle but typically things kept behind secured panels didn't also have keys to worry about.  She found a latch that was molded to fit over a handle but it was thankfully not locked down and also wasn't fused in place from age; she flicked it open and then had to struggle a bit to get the handle to turn but soon she was swinging the door open and finally looking over the inside of the relay box.

A familiar array of switches, buttons, screens, fuses, and several neat bundles of wires were inside and at first glance nothing seemed amiss.  Taped to the inside of the door was a handwritten maintenance schedule and she could just barely make out the names and dates in faded ink --  it looked like the routine was checking roughly every three months which was at least proof that people had been doing what they were supposed to be doing so, theoretically, there shouldn't be any other missed issues that might have occurred prior to everything going to hell-

 Don't think about it.

Experimentally she reached out to rattle a few switches; they moved without too much protest so she took it as a good sign that the hardware wasn't too ravaged by time.  Now to just...figure out what went wrong and where, fix it, and then get power to the signaler inside (it was usually hooked to a battery back up but that would definitely be dead by now) so it would in turn signal back to the reactor that everything was back in working order.

Then, assuming nothing else had broken in the system, everything ought to start coming back online.  And they'd probably have enough time, if they hurried, to get from this floor down to the AI's room and be there when it "woke" up.

She reached up to grab the flashlight off her shoulder and then rotated her neck a bit to work out the cramp that'd been forming due to the awkward position that was basically trying to press her ear to her shoulder with a flashlight between the two; it was a quick jog back to fetch the others and lead them to here, and then while she, Petra, and Selene stayed behind to examine the relay box Mali and Arlo decided to move ahead to look for the source of the earthy smell.

"Ok..." Eli muttered.  Where to even start... Nothing looked wrong so they'd have to check everything, piece by piece.  "Let's start with the wire bundles.  See the connectors on the end?  There's a trio of screws holding each end in place - do you have a screwdriver that'll fit those?"

She moved aside to let Selene get closer; the builder woman eyed the nearest connector for a few breaths then bent down to her toolbox and dug around.  "I think I do.  I know I've got a couple pocket knives with blades thin enough to slip in there if need be."  She popped back up with three screwdrivers in hand and carefully tried each before returning one of them to the box.  "-all right, I've got two."

"You and Petra get to work disconnecting the bottom connectors on these bundles here, and I'm going to try and get that screen worked loose so I can get check the inner bits."

It was a bit cramped working in such close quarters together but Petra had a steady hand, Selene never seemed to tire, and both of them were paying enough attention that they weren't tripping over each other or Eli down in the floor working on a lower screen.   By the time she'd worked the screen free they had all the wires loose and ready for her to inspect.

"Did you notice any damage?" she asked as she stood.

"I did, actually," Selene answered.  "One of these connector rings was cracked, and the little...um, what's the term..."

Eli stretched a bit before focusing on the wire end Selene had in hand -- at first she didn't see anything odd but then Selene turned the end toward her and there, glinting dully, was the issue.  "Aha.  How the heck did that happen..."

The connector end had a pattern of pins inside it - several were visibly bent and a few of those were reduced to fragile, corroded needle-like remnants.  It was anyone's guess how the pins had been bent, or when -- it could have been an unnoticed factory defect, or a careless worker.  Whatever had caused the pins to bend they hadn't been bent enough to completely lose contact with the receiving socket, meaning this wire wouldn't have been plugged in securely and those pins would have had just enough contact to be steadily damaged by uncontrolled arcing until it reached an error threshold letting the system know something was awry.

She was only vaguely aware of Selene at her elbow snapping fingers and going "pins! That's the word" as she looked the end over.  There was no chance in hell anyone could make a connector like this - not anymore.  And it would be a simple thing to switch out if this place hadn't been mostly emptied.  There was the one hastily converted storage room down on the same level as the All Source where they'd found replacement components for various things but there wasn't a guarantee they'd find the correct connector piece down there...there was a slim chance they'd find another storage closet that still had things in it, like Mali had earlier, but still there wasn't a guarantee they'd find what they needed.

Eli blew out a sigh and looked around.  "All right...here's our choices: we backtrack down to that one room that had the cords and lightbulbs in it, and hope we get lucky.  Option number two is we hope we come across another closet that happens to have what we're looking for in it.  And then there's option number three, where we play everyone's favorite game."

She trailed off, thinking back to what she'd already walked by; those had all been smaller boxes, it wasn't likely they'd have the same connectors as the relay...

"...a game?" Petra repeated, looking puzzled.

Eli looked over at her and smiled.  "The name of the game is 'What system can we take apart to make a more important one work?'" She dusted her hands off and stepped around Selene to head back down the hallway to take a closer look at the individual power boxes.

"That sounds like an awful game," came Petra's response behind her, along with her footsteps following along.

"It is.  But it's a good game to know," Eli laughed.  "I'll sweep this hall first and see if I can save us a trip."

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Selene loved the fact that each time she came down here she learned something new about Old World tech.  Today's lessons were how to beat the 'game' Eli had introduced them to, and how to dismantle most of the room-sized generator that was the auxiliary power unit of this place; Arlo and Mali had found where the walls and ceiling had buckled further along the maintenance tunnel but in an intact room before that point they had found the aux power generator, and they'd all spent several hours painstakingly taking it apart and looking for the correct wire end. Then, she'd watched Eli splice the new end on, plug everything back together, then Selene learned how to patch in "battery" power (which was just a power stone bracket, of course) to get a signal sent to the main reactor.

And then, a few minutes later, a deep hum rumbled through the entire facility a few moments before lights began to flicker back on.

It was incredibly exciting to see the halls completely lit, as they'd been three hundred years ago.  And when they'd gotten down to the All Source's floor that middle glass-enclosed section was lit up with a soft white, all the way around -- like the glass itself was glowing.

This place seemed a lot more inviting now that everything was lit up like it was supposed to.  Eli had gone in to speak with the All Source AI Stewart, and the rest of them had detoured into that one storage room to take inventory and more closely study the crates of texts left behind. It was definitely easier to carry out both tasks with an overhead light as opposed to a lantern or flashlight and Selene was amazed to see that the printed words and illustrations in the books hadn't faded at all despite their age.  The manuals probably wouldn't be too useful right now since they were for machines that didn't exist anymore (MOSTLY didn't exist...there WAS a manual for what looked like the same type of machine as the Uplifter but it wasn't the same company - the one they'd found was by the Xander Company, and this manual was for a Surgitech) but there were anatomy books galore and quite a few that detailed diseases and injuries and their treatments.  

'This room is a doctor's treasure trove,' she found herself thinking, and then giggled a bit at the thought of how much studying Dr. Xu would be doing -- would he want to learn everything himself and then teach others?  The university in Atara would definitely be interested in these books too...the thought of transporting them anywhere felt unreasonably risky to her though, the more she thought about it.  She could very well be holding information no one on the planet knew anymore, and to risk losing that information to accidents, or theft, or... It was information that needed to be taught to the doctors of the Alliance as well as their allies but it was faintly nauseating to think how easy it'd be to lose this knowledge again.

And some of these manuals, geez... They were definitely worth hanging on to just in case they ever found any of these parts or the machines themselves but it was such a depressing reminder of how much the Old World'd had, and how little progress they'd made to claw their way out of the Age of Darkness.  She'd thought they'd been doing well with the small factories (her own included) and the recovered relics...ha.  It seemed like a big joke now with it spelled out in front of her face in printed text, nevermind the fact they were walking around in a massive reminder of what the world had been like once.  At the very least if, in the future, they had the means to reproduce these parts, they already had the technical read outs to assemble everything.  It wasn't much but it was a small silver lining.

Selene stood and stretched, and plopped down three more texts into a crate they were going to carry up tonight.  "Do you think the clinic is secure enough to hold these?"

Mali didn't look up from the text she was thumbing through.  "You think someone would try to steal them?"

"It's a possibility, isn't it?  We've had break ins at the Research Center and the like.  If someone decides Old World knowledge isn't worth keeping no matter what the subject matter is..."

Arlo lifted down a crate from a chair to the floor, carefully closing the crate's lid.  "It's a possibility but I don't think it's a very high possibility.  There's a lot more than just books that a thief could take from the clinic - things that would probably be more valuable to your typical thief and easier to use or sell, and they would have to know the books are even there before they could be tempted to break in to take them."

"It's likely the university will request to take custody of these," Mali said.  "We can make sure they stay safe while in Portia and if or when the university requests them I'll make sure they're well-guarded on the trip there.  I might not be a medical expert but these could be the most valuable things we've ever found."

They kept sorting in silence for a bit then; they were making good headway on getting everything sorted by subject matter and re-packed into crates.  If Selene brought her wheeled dolly down (the one that converted into a sort of wheeled platform, not the one you piled things on and leaned back) they could get ALL the book crates out in two trips.  That would leave just the component crates down here and those probably should stay down here where they'd be close to the things they belonged to...would be rather silly to carry something out only to need it later and have to tote it back down.

Speaking of later, how long had they been in here?  Eli had wanted an hour or so but none of them had a watch to know how much time was passing.

"I'm going to go peek in at Eli," Selene announced into the silent room.  "Check up on her, you know?"

No one seemed to have a problem with that so she headed out of the storage room and around the curved glass wall with its soft white light illuminating every step until she came to the door that led into the All Source's room.  It was still wide open but when Selene poked her head around it she was surprised to see the room was empty save for a--

Eli had said the All Source was a mobile model, so that...that weird looking thing in the middle of the room near the pillar with the screens and door had to be it.  It looked like a jointed doll about six feet tall and was a mix of smooth white metal with silver accents that glinted under the ceiling lights, and across its back and on the backs of its arms and legs Selene could see various sizes of sockets -- which made sense as she knew AIs, living or otherwise, had to be able to connect with some sort of power source or computer system. When the AI turned to face toward the door Selene saw its head was a near perfect oval with a projection of a face hovering out in front of a smooth "face" dotted with tiny glass spots that she assumed was the source of the projection.

She watched that facial expression change from an idle look to one that looked generically friendly - like someone trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Greetings, human.  May I know your name?"

"Uh..." Selene blinked at the AI - whatever she'd expected to find in here, this wasn't it.  "Selene."

The AI's expression flicked briefly to a "!" symbol and then back to a more casual smiling face.  "Aha - I know you from Pauline's logs.  A pleasure to meet you face to face."

"Likewise...uh, Stewart, right?"

"Correct.  I am this facility's All Source AI."

"Where's Eli?"

Stewart's expression flickered again, rapidly switching between what she could only describe as surprise, alarm, and uncertainty before returning to its smiling one.  "Ah. Well.  After our discussion she wanted some time to mull things over.  -- oh, yes.  She asked me to make certain you or one of your companions took this to the surface."

The AI smoothly moved over to a nearby computer console and picked up what Selene thought was just a piece of paper; she noticed as Stewart moved that his head remained at a stationary height - sort of like what chickens did if you picked one up and moved them around.  She extended a slightly shaking hand to take the paper from him and found herself holding an itemized print out with...

"Are these names?" she asked, looking between the AI and the paper.   It looked like names with a string of alpha-numeric information after it.

Stewart nodded.  "They are - names, as well as location designations.  Pauline's logs were limited to what personnel had access to her services - MY logs encompass the entire facility.  This is the list of missing persons that, according to various factors including logging or clocking in and out and biometric readings, did not make it out of this facility when Dubei was attacked."

Selene looked the list over again and then looked back to Stewart, eyes wide.  "There's over three hundred names on this!"

"Indeed.  We - and largely Dubei - were not prepared for what we suffered that day.  Many did not make it out to safety."

"But...but...we've not even found all the people Pauline said were missing.  How can there be almost two hundred more people down here?"

Stewart clasped his hands behind his back in a strangely human way.   "You will note I've provided the last known locations of every person I am aware...expired, so to speak, down here.  I am also aware that I have no sensor activity in well over half this facility so I imagine if you haven't found them yet they are within the half that I have no access or contact with.  Likely due to catastrophic damage."

Over half the...  Oh.  There was one entire side of the elevator shaft leading down here that they couldn't open -- they had tried to pry one of those doors open and found a hallway with its ceiling just barely hanging in there and holding back the tons of earth and rock over it.  Dana had said it was way too dangerous to try and fix the hallways on that side so they'd built over it and reinforced everything to keep it from collapsing further.  "Yeah, there's...there's an elevator down here and the western side was in danger of caving in further.  We shored it up and closed it off."

Stewart nodded, then his face disappeared and the projection grew in size; Selene jumped back a bit as suddenly a giant 3D map was hanging in the air between her and the AI and then stared in amazement at a towering building reaching into the sky and deep into the ground -- this was a full map of what she was standing in, including a detailed visual of what the above-ground building had looked like over three hundred years ago.

"Based on what I can 'see,' so to speak, and what I can't, I believe your missing personnel would be located in these places-"

The above ground portion flashed red several times and then became grayed out; below it were what looked like a half dozen elevators but all but one of these also flashed red then grayed out along with the floors they connected to.  Along the one remaining elevator the western side of it turned a bright red and traced along all the connecting lines of the map to outline what Selene knew was the half of the facility they could no longer access -- this place, in its prime, had been nearly four times as large as what they'd already explored!  

In the reddened western part of the map circles began to appear around rooms across various floors, and then in the side that she and AI stood in more circles began to appear as well.  She didn't think there were three hundred total circles but considering the level of detail that would be needed to show that it was probably for the best - the projected map would need to fill this entire room to avoid clusters of visual clutter that would happen with individual circles for every person missing.

"Geez..." Selene whispered, backing up a bit more to try and take it all in at once.  She tore her attention away from the floating map to stare down at the list of names in her hand; Gale wanted a list of the persons so they could be carved into a memorial but...

Oh.

Oh wait.

A name caught her attention - Darren Summers.

"Stewart - who was this?" she asked, jabbing a finger at the 27th name on the list.

The map disappeared, leaving afterimages in her eyes, but soon Stewart's face returned and the AI carefully bent over to look at the list as Selene hastily turned it over so it wouldn't be upside down to it.  "-ah.  Yes.  Well.  I imagine you can guess already, if you're asking me about it."

Stewart's floating face switched to something resembling discomfort and embarrassment, and Selene had to fight to keep herself from balling up the list of names and chucking them across the room.  

"Where did she go?"

"Back to surgical lab 3948A9-Z1."

Selene almost tripped over the edge of the door as she turned around and ran for the elevator; when she got back to the room with the tubes, where they'd found Eli in the first place, she was out of breath and the ever-present cold air down here hurt to inhale.

But, there she was.

Eli sat in the floor near the base of the tube she'd inhabited for over three hundred years; she had one leg tucked under her, and the other leg was bent at the knee and pulled in to her chest so she could wrap arms around it and rest her chin on them.  When Selene came in Eli looked up at her, expression blank and eyes dull.

"...Eli, are you ok?" Selene asked quietly - so quietly in fact she wasn't sure if Eli could ever hear her at this distance.

For a long moment there wasn't a response, and it wasn't until Selene was almost across the room to her that Eli stirred a bit where she sat.  

"You know," the woman started, voice low and catching a bit.  "It was a lot easier to pretend that maybe he lived out the rest of his life, to the best of his ability, while the world fell apart around him."

On the run down here Selene had, despite her best efforts, somewhat crunched up the list of names; she smoothed it out between her palms and looked again at the 27th name.

 Darren Summers, surg. lab. 3948A9-Z1.

[the-al-chemist]

We’re Going on a Bean Hunt

A/N: I might not have finished @usernoneexistent’s summer challenge, but I’ve done better than I originally thought I would! For day 5’s prompt “Water”, we move back to the Legacy era, where the Hexleys are playing host to both Selene and Lysander, and the twins and their cousins are introducing their guests to a traditional family game. What could possibly go wrong? Lysander belongs to @slytherindisaster, Selene to @lifeofkaze, Ivy to @kc-and-co, and Zella to @thatravenpuffwitch. Warnings: rivalry, bickering, and poor sportsmanship.

Ethel Hexley had begged and begged her parents to write to her best friend Selene Fraser’s parents and ask them to permit their daughter to visit over the summer holidays, and after a lot of persuasion, Mr and Mrs Hexley had acquiesced, as Ethel had predicted that they would. Both she and Selene had been doubtful, however, that Mr and Mrs Fraser would be so amenable - after all, Selene’s parents were nothing but a pair of stuffy and controlling old bores - but thankfully, the Frasers had deigned that the daughter of Herbologist and a Healer would surely be an appropriate companion for their only child, and had permitted Selene to stay for two whole weeks.

The news had been met with great jubilation from Ethel, but her excitement had been unfortunately cut short; her mother and father had decided that it was only fair that if Ethel had a friend to stay, her younger twin brother Jim should be afforded the same privilege. That in itself was not a problem, but unfortunately, Jim had rather poor taste in friends, and even less fortunately, the friend he had chosen as his companion was the worst of the lot: Lysander Mercury.

Lysander and Ethel had despised one another from the moment they met, back in their first year at Hogwarts School, and their rivalry had only grown over the course of their three years of formal education, particularly since they had started to play Quidditch for opposite teams. Even off the Quidditch pitch, Lysander was irritating, boorish, and a source of great vexation for Ethel, and the idea of him living in her home for an entire fortnight was simply unthinkable.

But as unthinkable a notion as it was, it quickly became a reality. Ethel usually prided herself on her ability to make people realise that she was correct in her opinions - and she was correct about most things - but neither her parents nor her brother, not even her aunts and cousins, could be persuaded that Lysander should not be permitted to visit. And so, as July drew to its close, both Selene Fraser and Lysander Mercury came to stay with the Hexleys. 

“Worst of all,” Ethel had told Selene as she unpacked her belongings, “Mamma says that because Lysander is our guest, I must be courteous to him.”

“What a ridiculous suggestion,” Selene agreed. She smiled as she looked out of Ethel’s bedroom window, which overlooked the ramshackle cottage gardens, the orchard behind, and past that, the green expanse of Devonshire countryside sprawling out into the distance. “At least we shall be able to avoid him. There is plenty of space to be outside, after all.”

Selene made a good point, but the following morning, her plan was scuppered before the girls could even begin to put it into motion: overnight, great dark clouds had gathered in the skies above, and over breakfast, the heavens opened. The rain fell thick and fast, with water clogging up the grass in the garden and cascading down the windows of the Hexley cottage, and did not stop for five whole days.

By the time the deluge eased and the sun came out on Friday morning, Ethel was beyond sick of Lysander Mercury. Her mother’s insistence that she be courteous to her guest had come to nothing, and the pair of them had rowed several times, and bickered for the majority of his stay. It seemed that Ethel and Lysander were not the only ones tired of being cooped up in the house together.

“You know,” Mrs Hexley said loudly, interrupting Ethel and Lysander mid-argument, “I do believe that it’s going to be a lovely day. Why don’t you all venture outside for the morning?”

“Why not all day?” muttered her husband, not even looking up from his newspaper. Mrs Hexley shot him a disapproving look that quickly turned into one of realisation.

“Your father is right. You can take a picnic. And perhaps your cousins would like to join you?”

Mrs Hexley’s two sisters lived in the cottages either side of the Hexleys’ house, along with their own families. Jim and Ethel had one cousin their own age, and another two years younger, who were named Ivy and Zella, respectively. Having gathered together a picnic, they knocked on the doors of the neighbouring cottages, and their party went from one of four to six.

“I have a splendid idea,” said Ivy, who often had splendid ideas. “We should all play Bean Hunt!”

Ethel grinned and little Zella cheered. Bean Hunt was a game of her and Ivy’s invention, and a favourite of the cousins. Normally, they would play in teams of two, but Ethel saw no reason why they shouldn’t play with three to a team.

“How does one play Bean Hunt?” asked Lysander Mercury, as they made their way up to the moor laden with buckets, broomsticks, and colourful bags of beans.

“One does not,” Ethel said loftily. “It’s a team game, Lysander. Each team has a bucket, and the bucket is filled with seven bean bags. One team has the orange bean bags, and the other the pink bean bags. One player from each team is on the ground - usually that’s Ivy and Jim, because they don’t like flying - and they are allowed to carry one bean bag at a time. They have to take all their bean bags out of the bucket and find places to hide them all from the other team, then go and hunt down the other team’s bags to fill their bucket back up again. The other players take the broomsticks, and they can spy on and distract the other team. The first team to hide all their own bags and fill up the bucket with the other team’s bags wins.”

“It all sounds terribly complicated.”

“That is because you are a halfwit, Lysander. Even Jim and Zella understand this game, and Jimmy has always been rather simple and Zella is only a baby.”

“I’m twelve!” 

“Precisely. A baby,” Ethel nodded sagely. Beside her, Jim was looking grumpy for some reason. She patted him on the arm. “Don’t worry, Jimmy. Selene and I will make sure not to make it too difficult for you.”

She and Selene skipped off to find a good place to start the game, and when the others had caught them up, they placed the two buckets full of bean bags side by side.

“I want to be in a team with Selene and Ethel,” declared little Zella, taking hold of Selene’s hand and smiling sweetly. Ivy and Jim shared a dark look.

“I think that Jimmy and I should be on different teams,” Ivy said. “After all, we are the ones who don’t like to fly. We can pick two teammates each. Does that sound like a good idea to you, Jimmy?”

Jim nodded and cleared his throat before answering, “Yes, indeed. Absolutely. Er, ladies first.”

Ivy beamed at Selene. “I think I shall pick one of our guests. Selene, would you like to be on my team?”

As Selene stepped over to stand next to Ivy, Jim picked Lysander to be on his team. It was Ivy’s turn to pick again, and Ethel stood up straight, ready to join her and Selene on the same team. But a small but mischievous smile began to play on Ivy’s lips, and when she opened her mouth to speak, she said:

“Zella, why don’t you be on a team with Selene and me?”

“No,” Ethel shook her head, and held out her arm to stop little Zella from taking the place that should have been hers. “No, that’s not right. Selene is my guest, we have to be in a team together. She has never been on the moor before, she might get lost or eaten by the Beast-”

“The Beast?” Lysander’s eyes widened, but for once, Ethel ignored him.

“- and really, the two of us should be together. It is only right.”

“Ivy and I know the moor just as well as you do,” Zella protested, “and it’s not fair that you have spent all this week with Selene and I’ve been inside my house all by myself.”

“Zella’s right, Effy. Neither of us have spent a moment with Selene since she has been here,” said Ivy. She tilted her head. “Unless you don’t think that you will be able to win without Selene?”

“I could win on my own,” Ethel told her cousin, who smiled brightly.

“That settles it, then. Selene, Zella, and I will be on one team, and Jimmy, Lysander, and Ethel on the other.”

Ethel’s competitive nature had gotten the better of her. Now, she was stuck with Jim and Lysander. At least with two broomsticks between the three of them, she could fly at a distance from her nemesis.

“Why do we need two players in the air, though?” asked Lysander, and Ethel rolled her eyes at the stupidity of his question. “If the players on the ground can only move one bean bag at a time and the players in the air none at all, would it not make more sense to have two players on foot? That way we can be faster.”

For once, Lysander’s idea was not entirely idiotic. Even Ethel had to admit that much.

“Very well,” she said, reaching for a broomstick. “You two can hide the bags, and I will find out where the others are hiding theirs.”

“How come you get the broom?” Lysander frowned.

“Because Jimmy can’t fly very well.”

“But I can.”

“I don’t think I would agree with that statement, Lysander,” said Ethel. “Besides, you were the one who wanted two players to stay on the ground. And I picked up the broomstick first, so there.”

“Um, Effy,” said Jim, and he cleared his throat. “I think - well, Mamma said, actually - that we should… Er, it would be polite to let Lysander choose. He’s the guest.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Lysander smirked. “I’d like to fly.”

Ethel’s jaw dropped. “But-”

“Now then, Effy, I am the guest.”

“You only want the broomstick because I want it!”

“Yes,” Lysander nodded. “But it would not be very courteous of you to not let me have it, would it?”

Infuriatingly, Lysander got his own way, and Ethel - again - did not get hers. As soon as the game began, she snatched up a bean bag and stomped away, cursing Lysander Mercury at length under her breath. She carried the beanbags as far away as she could, more to keep away from Lysander than to hide them from Ivy’s team. In fact, she did not really care about hiding the bean bags anymore, nor who won the Bean Hunt, she only wanted the game to be over so that she could go back to having fun with Selene, which is all she had wanted to do ever since she had first thought of inviting her best friend to stay, long before Lysander Mercury had come along to ruin absolutely everything.

By the time she had returned from hiding her second bean bag, Jim had just left with the last of the other five. He could not have ventured half as far as she had in order to hide them. Now, it was her turn to go searching. And she knew just the place to start.

The last time she and her cousins had gone to this part of the moor, she and little Zella had gone swimming in the stream and raced across the stepping stone crossings. Near the river bank there was a tree with a hollow inside the trunk, and Zella had remarked how good a hiding place that would be for a bean bag. She would go there first. 

“Where are you going?” said a voice from above, and she looked up to see Lysander hovering above her. She scowled at him.

“There’s a good hiding place by the river,” she told him. “I’m going to see if the others have put a bean bag there.”

“Probably not. Jim went that way and came back because it was so boggy with all the rainwater.”

Ethel rolled her eyes. “Unlike my brother, I am not scared off by a bit of mud.”

“I’m just telling you so that you know. If you want to ruin your petticoats, that’s up to you.”

“I don’t care about my petticoats, Lysander.”

“Well, that much has always been obvious,” he said, before flying away and leaving her to glare at the back of his head.

She was not going to be dissuaded by Lysander Mercury of all people, so she continued her journey to the river, not minding the mud that was squelching beneath her boots and splashing up her skirt. That being said, after five days of almost biblical rainfall, the mud was thicker and deeper than usual, and the nearer she got to the river, the more waterlogged the ground was underfoot.

By the time she reached the tree, she was walking through a bog so deep that it reached half the way up her shin. It appeared that the river had broken its banks, and so between what was usually the edge of the stream and the hollowed tree, there was now a deep pool of brown water. It was not enough to put Ethel off, but clearly the same could not be said for Ivy and Zella, for when Ethel reached into the hollow of the tree, there was nothing inside. That was a shame, for she had been certain that Zella would have used the tree as a hiding place, but there were still other places to look. Sighing deeply, she removed her hand from the tree, and made to start walking back through the mud. 

But, when she tried to pull her foot back out of the bog, she could not, no matter how hard she tried. She was well and truly stuck in the mud.

“Hello!” she shouted. “Is anyone there? I need help!”

Above the trees, she saw a figure on a broomstick, and she waved her arms and shouted to them, hoping that it was her dear Selene. Unfortunately, it was not Selene. It was Lysander Mercury.

“What’s this?” he asked as he lowered his broomstick down to hover in front of her. “It’s strange, but I could have sworn that I heard you say earlier that you weren’t scared by a bit of mud.”

“Don’t be an imp, Lysander. You can see that I’m stuck.”

“I can see that, yes.”

“Help me, then!”

Lysander raised an eyebrow. “That is not a very courteous way to ask me to help.”

“I can tell you now that I am not going to beg you, if that is what you want,” said Ethel, scowling at him.

“I don’t see that you have much choice. No one else is here to help you,” Lysander told her. When Ethel did nought but cross her arms across her chest, he shrugged. “So be it, then. Have fun getting yourself out of this mess.”

Agonisingly slowly, he rose upwards again. Ethel attempted once more to free herself from her boggy prison, but she could not do it. Hating everything about the situation, she called again.

“Lysander, wait. Please can you help me?”

Lysander grinned as he flew back to her.

“It would be my pleasure, Effy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I’ll call you whatever I wish, I’m not the one who is stuck.”

He held his hands out to Ethel, and reluctantly, she took them. He pulled her away from the river bank, but it was to no avail.

“You’re a lot heavier than you look, Hexley.”

“You just aren’t pulling hard enough.”

“You’re not gripping hard enough!”

“I cannot help it that your palms are so sweaty,” said Ethel, wiping her hands on her skirt. Lysander wiped his own on his breeches. 

“Perhaps we should try pulling upwards, not sideways,” he said. “We do have the broomstick, after all.”

It was worth a try, Ethel supposed, so once Lysander had levitated above her head, she reached straight upwards and took his hands once more. He pulled once, and nothing happened. Twice, and she felt her ankles lift upwards. Three times, and she came right out of the bog, into the air, and-

SPLASH!

The force with which Lysander had tugged at Ethel’s hands to force her out of the mud had sent him right off his broomstick and falling into the muddy river behind him, bringing Ethel right with him. Above them, with no one on it, the broomstick began to fly away of its own accord.

“Drat! What did you do that for?” he spluttered, up to his shoulders in the water. “Now we are both all wet and without a broomstick!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Ethel argued. “You were the one who fell off the broomstick.”

“Only because I was having to pull so lift you up. You know, you really are a lump.”

“Hey!”

Ethel used her hand to splash muddy water at Lysander, and most of it hit him square in the face. He spluttered again, before letting out a high pitched squeal. Ethel burst out in laughter.

“What now, Lysander?”

“An eel! It was an eel! It’s not funny, Ethel!”

“Oh, but it is,” Ethel giggled, and Lysander splashed her the way she had splashed him. She retaliated, and soon the pair of them were engaged in a fight that was - for once - only in jest, the pair of them laughing like they were old friends rather than enemies.

“So,” said Lysander, eventually holding his hands up as if to admit defeat, “exactly how do we get out of this mess? We can’t go out along the river bank, it’s too boggy.”

“There are some stepping stones downstream, we should be fine if we go that way,” Ethel told him, raising her eyebrows playfully. “As long as you’re not too afraid of the eels, of course.”

“I’m not afraid. Are you afraid?”

“Of what?”

Lysander narrowed his eyes at Ethel. “Of losing the race to get there, of course.”

The two of them set off through the water at a run, wading and splashing their way downstream to the stepping stone bridge, only to find themselves ending their race with a draw; both placed their hands on the stone at the exact same time.

“A tie then. Good race, Hexley,” said Lysander, climbing out of the water onto the stone. He held out his hand to her. “Not bad for a damsel in distress.”

“Says the boy who screamed because an eel swam past his leg,” Ethel retorted, but she took Lysander’s proffered hand without complaint and allowed him to pull her out of the water.

As she joined him on the stepping stone, their eyes met. Lysander’s hair flushed pink and Ethel felt her cheeks do the same. Each let go of the other’s hand immediately, suddenly very uncomfortable with how close they were in that moment.

There were voices echoing from the path, and Ethel wheeled around so quickly that she almost fell in the water again. Walking along the riverside path were Selene, Jim, Ivy, and little Zella, buckets and brooms in hand. She made her way across the stones to meet them, Lysander following behind.

“There they are!” Zella shouted, pointing her finger at Ethel and Lysander. “The game is finished. We won!”

Ivy smiled wryly. “Would anyone like a rematch?”

Ethel hesitated, and exchanged glances with Lysander before the two declined the offer in perfect unison, both glad to return the comfortable familiarity of their mutual dislike. 

[willow-salix]

Anyone want to see Selene try (and fail) to play video games with Alan?

Day 54 of Isolation on Tracy Island and I almost killed Alan today. Mostly because he was laughing so hard he kept choking, wheezing and forgetting to breathe. 

What, you might ask, was so funny? Well, he tried to teach me to play a computer game with him. And let's just say… I'm not a natural. 

"I'm bored," I whined, stretching out a foot and poking Alan with my toe. "Entertain me." 

He looked at me. "How am I supposed to do that?" 

"I don't know, suggest something." 

"You won't like anything that I want to do." 

"I promise I will, I'll give anything a go at the moment, I'm that bored." 

"Fine," he handed me a VR headset and a set of hand controllers. "Let's play." 

"Oh, oh no! No, this is not for me. Boy, you know I'm a technophobe, I don't play games, I just can't get my head around them." 

"You promised you'd try," he reminded me, an evil glint in his eyes and an even eviller smirk on his face. 

"Crap." I sighed and slid the heavy goggles onto my face. "You had better pick something easy." 

There are, as it turns out, two versions of easy, Alan easy, and me easy. He picked Alan easy, which should be considered very hard for me. 

"What are we playing?" I asked. 

"Cavern Quest," he replied. "You'll love it, I even set you up with a witch character to go with my Knight. You'll do great." 

At least someone had faith in me. Though unfortunately that faith was about to be short lived. 

"How do I walk?" I called after him as he sped off like a streak of lightning. Boy was rapid. "Come back!" 

"Just use the thumb controls of the left controller to move, push forward or backwards to go forward or backwards and side to side to move left or right."

I pushed forward and was instantly face to face with the floor. 

"What happened?" 

"You fell over. You ran into a stump." 

"Poop. How do I get up?" 

"Push up! Just push the direction you want to go."

I pushed up and ended up looking at the stars. . 

"Erm…help?"

"Hang on, I'm coming." 

A hand grabbed mine and hauled me to my feet. 

"Thank you." 

"Want me to guide you to the first level?" 

"Yes, yes I do." 

He towed me along by the hand until we zoomed through a curved doorway into what looked like a castle hall. 

A king sat upon a pretty nifty throne, so I guessed that my assumption had been correct. 

"Welcome, brave warriors," he boomed. "I am grateful for your assistance. I shall give you five quests, each one more challenging than the last. Complete them all and you will win your place within the ranks of nobility and become a Knight of the Realm." 

"Fancy," I commented. 

"Prove your valour and recite the Cavern Quest oath." 

Alan nudged my character, and I think me in real life as I felt it in my ribs. 

"Just keep up if you can," he whispered then launched into what I assumed was the oath. 

"With mystic blades and fire ore, we pledge our honoured best. Many shall fall for only a noble few will pass the test! So come more worthy heroes and bring forth the cavern quest!" Alan finished triumphantly. 

"Mystic ore…nobel us…test…Cavern Quest…" I mumbled, the only words I could catch. Alan didn't look impressed. 

"You have pledged your fealty, you may now enter."

A set of doors opened before us and Alan dragged me through. 

"You have to be on your guard now. You're a witch, so you fight with spells. Use the buttons on your right controller to cast. You simply swoosh and point and hit the right buttons."

I lifted my right hand and swooshed, hitting a random button with my thumb. A shot of red light flew out of my hand and blew up a rock. "Dang." 

Alan cracked up laughing but soon sobered as out of the trees lumbered a gigantic troll. He dived at the troll, hammering it with his sword. 

"Cast a spell!" he yelled as I shrieked and dived out of the way, trying to karate kick it. 

"Oh, yeah, I'm magic," I remembered, fumbling with the controller. I bashed buttons madly, swinging my arm like I was batting away a fly. Coloured sparks shot this way and that, but the only thing I succeeded in hitting was Alan. 

"Hey!" 

"Sorry!" I yelled back. I risked moving a little closer and fell over again. 

Alan defeated the troll and picked me back up again, moving us through the rest of the level. It didn't come naturally or easily for me. 

"How do I jump?" I demanded. 

"Left trigger!" 

"Why am I stuck?" 

"Because you're in a bush!" 

"Why did I just die?" 

"Because you fell in lava!" 

"HIIIIYAAAAAHHHH take that you beast!" 

"That's a dog not a werewolf! Stop hitting him with that stick!" 

"Oops." 

"No! Don't go through…there."

"I can't see! I'm blind!" 

"You walked into a wall and you're still walking."

"Why can't I move?" 

"You just got yourself stuck in a corner, turn around!" 

"Why did I die this time?" 

"That tree just fell on you." 

I screamed like a banshee when something swooped down out of nowhere and attacked me. I flailed and somehow my thumb hit a button and my hand moved the right way and suddenly the gargoyle was in flames on the floor. 

"You did it!" 

"I did?" 

"Yeah!" 

"Cool. See? I got this." 

Turned out I didn't got it at all. 

We fought our way through the dark forest, taking out elves, fae and the odd goblin. Alan did the majority of the work while I set to work on a few puzzles, all of which provided me with new spells to add to my arsenal. 

"For this bit you need to change your form, you cast a spell and become something smaller, like a rat or a toad."

"I can do that?" 

"Duh, you're a witch. Use that new spell, it's easy, left, right, right, left, up."

"I wanna be a cat!" 

"Then select the cat!" 

I toggled along the options until I found a cat and hit the button. A flash of light, a puff of smoke and boom, I was a cat. 

"This is so cool! I'm a cat! I have ears! Look at my tail! I can swish." I wiggled my butt back and forth. "Swish, swish, swish," 

"We don't have time for you to play with your tail. You need to go through that pipe and push the button."

I did as I was told and actually managed to complete the mission, opening up a gate for us to go through. 

"Now return to yourself."

"I'm stuck! I'm stuck! Alan, help me!" 

"You were supposed to get out of the pipe first!" 

"You could have told me that!"

"It's common sense!" he yanked at my arms. My avatar didn't budge.

"You're too stuck and you're crushing your own lungs. I'm gonna have to kill you. Sorry about that."

"Just make it quick," I begged. I closed my eyes as he raised his sword.

We moved on once I blinked back into existence after my slaughter at the hand of my team mate. Alan handled all the quest points like the pro that he was, instructing me to go around each area, smash up as much stuff as I could and collect all the objects that fell out.

"Just get all the coins, potion ingredients and magical objects, I'll protect you and do the rest," he promised.

I nodded and proceeded with my one woman rampage of the scenery. I was a button basher, that's all I seemed to be able to do. I found it impossible to coordinate more than one button or movement at a time. I was just about managing to walk, maybe jump and land at a push, everything else was pure dumb luck.

"Yes! Take that you ugly box! Boof! Ha! Give it up, give it all up, I know you've got some gold in there. Quit holding out on me." I smacked the box with an axe that Alan had taken from a suit of armour one level back. The box refused to allow itself to be looted. "Gimme it!!! Gimme the gold! Make me rich, baby!"

I bashed a series of buttons as quickly as I could.

"Why am I a goat? Alan, I'm a goat! Why am I a goat?"

"You cast a spell, change back!"

I tried. "I'm a cow! This is worse!"

He had to stop beating up a wild boar to run over and fix me, laughing the entire time.

"Don't laugh at me! You're body shaming me!"

He actually had to hold his breath for a few seconds to calm down before he could talk me through getting back to my former self.

"Thanks."

I returned to the chest and tossed a spell at it and to my deep joy it splintered apart." Yes!" I scooped up the gold and tucked it away into my bag. I was kinda getting the hang of this.

"Come on, we gotta move!"

Alan leapt up onto the battlements and raced along the wall. I jumped up after him… and promptly fell off the other side and hit the ground.

"Crap!" I yelled as I blinked out of existence and appeared on the other side of the wall again.

It took me six goes to manage the jump, move, run routine, by which time Alan had given up waiting and was half way down the stairs that led to the great hall where the sounds of an epic battle could be heard raging.

"Alan! Don't leave me!" I raced after him and immediately ran into a door that I forgot to open first. I finally made it to the hall after getting wrapped in a spiders web, stuck in a cupboard, setting myself on fire and accidentally drinking a potion that turned me into a ghost for twenty minutes. But at least that gave me a breather to wander around and wail at nothing, kinda like I felt like doing in real life at that moment.

"What took you so long?" Alan called as he slashed at a dark elf that had just thrown a spear at his head.

"I got caught up, but I'm here now. What can I do to help?"

"Anything!" he yelled desperately.

I took him at his word, throwing spells randomly, hitting maybe one intended target out of twenty.

I swung my axe, whacking at anything that came close enough for me to hit.

"Ha! Take that you twat! Come closer so I can kill you easier!"

"I don't think life works that way," I heard John comment.

"How the…?" I looked all around and almost got hit by a flying shield. "Gahhhh," I screamed, ducking out of the way.

"Try hitting it again?" Scott suggested.

"Shut up! I'm trying to stay alive here!" I yelled back.

"Try harder," Gordon encouraged.

"Duck!" Alan yelled and it took me a second to realise he was actually being helpful. I dropped to my knees and just about avoided death by turkey leg.

I'd like to say that I held my own, but I'd be lying. I failed miserably and had to be rescued by Alan another five times just to make it to the end of the level. Though I did manage to trip over my own foot, but then a vengeful knight tripped over me where I was sprawled out on the floor, so I suppose that was a good thing.

"Nope, I'm done, I'll never get the hang of this," I tugged off the headset to find everyone sitting around, watching me.

"How long were you there?" I asked.

"Long enough," Virgil grinned.

"Swish, swish, swish," Scott wiggled his eyebrows at me. I glared in return.

"Lady Witch," John bowed, offering me an apple from the fruit bowl. "I wish to engage your services."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm a mercenary now, I only accept precious jewels or things of high value. You got any potions about your person?"

"How about a dirty old bar of gold? Will that suffice?"

I pretended to think about it. "Deal." I held out my hand. "You good sir, just hired yourself a witch."

I've got no idea what I just agreed to but I'd just survived an epic quest and now I know I can handle anything. He won't be too mean to me, will he?

[hs-devote]

ii. láthi: the touch

Moodboard * Content * Masterlist

Disclaimer:

All characters and situation in this story are fictitious. Resemblance to any person living or dead is only God knows.

chapter i. láthi: the myth

ii. the touch

Selene came home not long after their sexual intercourse. The sex mind-blowing, for sure. Their sex always blowing Harry's mind, they know how to please each other at the most.  And it always boosts his ego when he makes his partner come many times. 

Later that night, around ten when the sky is very dark with stars and the full moon shining brightly, the God decides to visit the ocean. Well, he wants to meet something there. To ask for a little insight into his mission. Because until now, he hasn't been able to find someone he's looking for. He can't even feel the missing Goddess' presence, and he's a little pissed off about it. Well, it seems as if something has been distracting his mind, and Harry is well aware. Who, and why.

The beach is obviously clear from the visitor. There’s nothing as far as his eyes can see except the rocks and endless expanse of ocean. He slowly walks closer, letting the calm water wet his feet. His legs continue to take him deeper into the water until reaches his waist. Then, he closes his eyes, focused on who he is and calls out the one he wants to meet. 

His adrenaline is getting higher when he feels the waves getting wilder and the ocean breeze slapping his face and body. He inhales and exhales. Repeatedly. He feels surrounded by stars bow to him, and the moon exactly right in front of him. He feels his power, he regains his power more and more. 

She's here... 

She’s close 

Don’t worry, Your Majesty. You will have children 

Your lover will bear the children 

Sooner or later 

Your children to the throne 

But, only if you didn’t do anything wrong 

Or, the mistake will carry your children away 

  He doesn’t even flinch when the wild waves hitting his whole body, swallow his relaxed body without dragging him from the shore. It happens several times when he’s communicating with the ocean, which became one of the gates to Centauri. The ocean that blessed by Centauri’s Gods and Goddesses in the previous centuries, and he’s here to find the vision. 

But, which he doesn’t know, Y/N has been looking at him from the distance. She saw him when she had just come home from work and intends to go home along the beach. However, her steps stopped when she saw someone seemed just standing in the water with eyes closing. At first, she thought the stranger wanted to kill himself. Yet, after he got closer, she recognised that man.  

Harry. 

She feels odd when seeing the ocean looks like bowing to him. The way he doesn't seem to care when the waves hit his body making her wonder. What does he do? He can't possibly want to kill himself, can he? 

She’s more and more worried when he doesn’t move from there while the wind is getting stronger like a storm is about to break. Then it hits her. Waves as high as three meters crashing into his body and making the man disappear immediately caused her to scream. Her body trembling violently when the ocean returns to calm without Harry’s presence in his standing place earlier. 

Where is he? 

Did the waves wash him away? 

She just saw he commit suicide. 

But why?

She can't think straightly. She feels guilty because she knows she could stop him. 

Turning her body around, she screams again to see him standing right before her. His body and clothes aren't soaked at all, dry as if he hadn't been exposed to water. He looks at her with a confused look. She blinks repeatedly, making sure she's not seeing wrong. 

“Y/N?” Harry arches his eyebrow, “What are you doing here?” 

“Harry?” 

How come he’s here? A fraction of a second earlier she had seen the man being swallow by the waves. There was no way he needed only a few seconds to run over here. 

“I saw.. saw you there!” she stammers while pointing the ocean, “You were swallowed up by the waves! And.. and you disappeared. How.. how come?” 

"What do you mean? I don't understand." he lies, scrunching his face. In the bottom of his heart, he doesn't deny it. For an obvious reason, he can't say yes. If he says it, he swears the girl in front of him will pass out. 

“You were suicide commit earlier!” she cried out, “And now you’re here.” 

Harry just let out a humorous laugh, shaking his head to her confession. Y/N staring at him like a confused toddler, her brain digests what she just said. There's nothing wrong with what she said, right? 

"It's almost midnight, Y/N. I think you were just sleepy so you were hallucinating." he argues, "Have you eaten yet?" 

“Just lunch today.” she squeaks, telling him the truth. Today customers were awfully much, making her come home late and didn’t have time to eat properly. Maybe it’s true what Harry just said, she’s already sleepy and hungry, she planned to cook something for her dinner after she got home. 

“Then, I’ll treat you dinner.” he offers, “I think there are still restaurant open at this hour.” 

"Uh, I'm fine, H.” she refused politely, “It's okay. Besides, I believe my granny is waiting for me at home." 

"I don't want you to go home with a grumbling stomach, Y/N. You can call your grandmother and tell her you to go to eat first, I think she will understand." 

“C’mon. The sooner we go, the sooner you go home.” Harry insists when Y/N says nothing. He has to make her think what she saw was only her hallucinations, and on the other hand he knows she hasn’t eaten because he can feel it. 

“If only we split the bill,” she bids, “I can’t let you keep paying my food.” 

“Fine then.” he relents, then offering his hand for her to take, “Let’s go.” 

And of course, Y/N shyly grabs his hand.  

Harry takes her to the trattoria down the street, which the only one dining that’s still open. The place isn’t too crowded making it easier for them to talk. While he has made his meal choice, Y/N looks confused while looking at the menu book. She isn’t confused, no. It’s just that the food is quite pricey even though it’s only a trattoria, and she doesn’t want to spend her money just for a dinner. 

“I'll have spaghetti aglio e olio, I guess.” she shrugs, choosing the least priced meal. 

“That’s all?” 

“Yup. And mineral water for the drink,” she confirms, “What would you have?” 

"Err, I will go with the salads." then, he adds "I'm a pescatarian so I'm pretty picky about what I eat." 

“How does it feel?” she enquires after the Harry called the waiter for taking their order, “Being pescatarian and all. I once thought about going vegan but I haven’t gotten started yet.” 

“I feel like it makes my body better, plus I can’t bear to eat.. animals because I love them.” he begins, “I still eat seafood but I think I’ll reduce it.” 

“How wise of you.” 

“I know,” he smirks, “Have you told your grandmother that you’ll be home late?” 

“I have. I just texted her that I’ll be home late.” 

“So, Y/N. Is that correct that you only live with your grandmother?” 

Harry remembers the day when Y/N told him she just lives with her grandmother in Syracuse and somehow it makes him curious. There was a spark of wonder that tickled him to know more about her. They're friends now, there's nothing wrong if he wants to know, right? 

“Yes,” she exhales, “Granny asked me to move to Italy from England after the death of my parents. She didn’t want me to be sad if I stay in London and remember the incident that.. killed them.” 

"How did they.. gone?" he says quietly, "It's okay if you don't answer that. I just curious because the last time you told me, you were eight back then. You were still quite young when they died." 

"It's okay," she mumbles, "They were killed in a car accident after dinner, their car was badly damaged and they couldn't be saved. What makes me sad sometimes is that the crash site is only ten minutes from our home. Yet, they didn't go home. Instead, they went home to heaven. I didn't believe their goodbye that night was their last goodbye for me." 

Seeing the woman in front of him looking sad, Harry cannot do anything except taking her hands to his and caress them as a sign of comfort. He knows Y/N forced herself to tell him about that and he felt grateful that she trusted him enough for being open with her life. 

“Even I’m not her granddaughter by blood, I’m very lucky to have her in my life. And I love her dearly.”   

Harry raises his eyebrow, doesn't think she would speak far enough. He just found out that her grandmother isn't her real grandmother. But, he chooses to remain silent to respect her. He won’t ask any further unless if she’s the one who starts it. 

“My granny adopted my father when he was ten since she didn’t have any children. She loved him so much and never treated him as if he wasn’t her own flesh and blood. Then, she got happier when my father met my mother, then they got married and had me. She said we’re a blessing from the universe.” 

“She sounded like a very kind and wise woman.” 

“Very much.” 

He just nods, with his hands still stroking her hands. They don't utter a word until a few minutes later, busy with their own thought. Harry immediately let go of their joining hands when the waiter come with their food, and it makes Y/N a little sad. Somehow Harry was able to make her feel better and put a smile on her face, and it seems she has started to depend on it. 

Who isn't attracted to him? 

He’s more than handsome to describe. 

He’s more than charming to tell.  

“I think I would like to meet your grandmother one day,” he says out of nowhere, “I’m curious about someone as extraordinary as her.” 

"Oh, you're going to love her!" she gushes, "And I think she will love you. I mean, she loves a handsome man." 

“Well, you’re thinking I’m handsome, huh?” 

Y/N's face flushed with embarrassment, cursing her stupidity for saying that. She quickly shakes it off, playing it cool but still embarrassed by the man in front of her. 

She speaks confidently, “Of course. Why should I deny it?” 

“It makes the second compliment you said to me, you know?” he laughs, “But, thank you.” 

"Take it as a compliment," she shrugs, then starts eating her food, "What about you?" 

“Me?” 

“Mhm. I’ve been honest with you as a friend. We’re friends, aren’t we?” 

 Harry clears his throat, sipping his drink before answering her. "As I've told you, I'm here for work and I love.. history. My parents also died several years ago from old age. I have no siblings, though." 

He isn’t lying. 

His parents indeed passed away from old age, just before he took the throne. He did have no siblings, it always himself alone in the family line, except his parents, until one day Selene became a part of the royal family. 

“Where were you before coming here?” 

Well, he doesn’t expect that kind of question. 

“Err, England.” he lies uncomfortably. He feels bad because her eyes sparkling, looking excited when she heard the man in front of him also came from England. 

“You didn’t tell me before.” she beams, “Which part of England?” 

And Harry doesn’t know, his lie tonight will lead into another lie. 

. . . .

Harry is increasingly coming to visit Y/N at her work, whether to buy the flowers or just to meet her, and it seems to be his undoubted routine activities. He knows this sounds cliché and pathetic, yet he can't just go one day without seeing her. The woman has a charm of her own that makes him think about her all the time. It feels like she has a magnet that keeps him from getting away from her. He always has a reason when Y/N or her co-worker questions his visit, especially when he doesn't want to shop. Even he blatantly flirts at Y/N, which he had never done before as a God. Not even with Selene.  

How did Y/N react? 

As someone who has never dated and got such attention from a male, she doesn't deny the feelings of flattery and shy. No man ever openly shows interest in her – or someone perhaps but she was insensitive. She's overwhelmed with the attention, fluttering hearts and many more. Too much indescribable feelings.  

“Thank you for waiting for me until my shift is finished. You didn't have to do that.” Y/N shares a smile when Harry picking her up from work after he spent three hours waiting for her to finish her shift. She doesn't know Harry will wait until she's done because he usually stopped by for a moment. 

"It's okay, Y/N. I don't have any work right now so I have free time for a while." Harry shrugs, looking at the girl who walks next to him. It's obvious that he offers a ride home to her, which often he does when the opportunity arose. 

“And that's mean I owe you a lot, you know? You gave me a few treats and drove me home but I haven't repaid your kindness, yet.” she chuckles, shaking her head. “How about, you're coming home with me so I can cook something for you? I know it will be different than those fancy restaurant but if you don't mind– ” 

“I would love to.” 

"Yeah?" she grins, the way her eyes flickering an excitement makes Harry's heart throbbing. In fact, this small gesture makes this girl look so happy. He just smiles in return, patting her head affectionately before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, guides her to walk a little bit faster. 

“C'mon then. I'm quite hungry right now.” 

She just giggles, letting he drags him to where he parked his car. Yet, she furrows her eyebrow when she doesn't see his car there. She could quickly recognise Harry's car because it was vintage, and this time her eyes don't see any vintage cars there. 

“I know what you're thinking but I don't drive the vintage one today.” he says, walking to a black Maserati and opens the door for her, “That beauty needs her routine check-ups.” 

“Thank you.” mumbles her while examining the expensive car, “This is fancy.” 

“Mhm.” he agrees, “Get in, love. Watch your head.” 

Love... 

The first pet name he says to her. Well, he's being kind and friendly, isn't he?  

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry."  she shakes her head and climbs into the car, "I don't know your job can afford this kind of car." 

"Been saving for years." he answers after he sits on the driver seat, "Saving allows me to get two cars for now." 

"I bet your vintage car costs a fortune too?" 

“Much likely.” 

He lies. Absolutely lies. Being a God, let alone a ruler of a realm means to be surrounded with a lot of wealth and definitely rich. He only needed to bring golds to sell and make money here since gold is like currency for Centauri. Centauri's gold is undoubtful and very valuable. Of course, he has to be careful when selling gold.

 Both of them arrive at Y/N's house after fifteen minutes drive. Her house isn't big, more modern than Harry's cottage. The combination of white paint on the walls and wooden materials create a homey and modest atmosphere. In front of the terrace, there are many pots filled with beautiful blooming flowers. 

"Welcome to my home," Y/N speaks softly and opening the door for both of them to enter, "My granny probably still outside. Make yourself comfortable, H." 

He slightly nods, carefully to steps forward while looking at his surrounding. Unlike his cottage, her house interior is mostly covered by wallpaper with a small area of the painted wall. According to Y/N, this house has two bedrooms with two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and dining room, and a function room to do the laundry and small garden for her granny to plant a few flowers since their pots in the terrace no longer fits anymore. But then, his eyes catching a few pictures on the hallway. 

“I like it here.” he mumbles, eyes raking through the frame hanging on the wall. Most of them are pictures of little Y/N, her parents, or the family portrait. It always the three of them; the father, the mother, and her. Where's her grandmother? 

"My granny always took the pictures, so there's no picture of four of us. Plus, my granny doesn't like being photographed." she laughs, joining him who still staring the family pictures. The small family looks so happy and radiant, smiling widely to the camera. 

“What's your grandmother name?” 

“Her name is Ilitia.” 

“You look so cute in here,” he points at the picture where little Y/N was standing on her feet and being held with her mother, “I bet this was your first step?” 

“Supposed to be.” she nods, “Anyway, what kind of food do you want? Do you want Italian? Or maybe English cuisine?” 

“Anything is fine for me.” 

“Unless it's meat..” 

“Unless it's meat, yes.” 

“Okay. I'll be in the kitchen for another few minutes. Just call me if you need something, and if you want a drink just open the fridge, okay?” 

Harry nods as she disappears to the kitchen, starting to make whatever she wanted. He doesn't care if its Italian or even English dish she makes, the only thing he cares about the time they spend together. 

Twenty minutes passed, Y/N still in the kitchen and Harry begin to curious. He waited patiently while watching the television that had been turned on by her previously. Yet, he grows impatient as he smells the food aroma that tickles his nose, making him almost drool over its delicious smell, and he decides to walk to the kitchen. 

"Smells delicious." he praises, looking at the still cooking food from Y/N's shoulder. Good thing she acknowledges his presence and doesn't flinch when he speaks from behind. She just shrugs while her hand still on the pan. 

“Thank you.” she hums, “Go sit down, this will be ready in ten minutes.” 

Harry just obeys, moving to a chair in the dining room. His hand supported his chin while his eyes watching Y/N turn off the stove and ready to serve him. During his godly life, it was always servant who made food for him, except his mother if she wasn't busy while she was still alive, but when he lives with Selene, his wife never made him a meal or let her hands do such paltry work – like this. 

“Here you go.” 

He closes his eyes, letting the delicious scent of food in front of him fill his sense of smell. The delicious of freshly cooked food reminds him of the smell of bread that his mother had just taken out of the woodfire when he was kid, instantly making him miss his late mother. Meanwhile, Y/N take a seat next to him to make her little easier to study his face expression. He looks cute while closing his eyes, smiling so fondly until his dimples are full force. 

"Go give them a try." 

She bites her lips as Harry opens his eyes, and taking a full bite of the food. She squints her eyes while he chews, letting his tongue digest the rich flavour of the Italian simple dishes. Y/N just hope Harry to like it, and if he likes it, she probably makes some more for him someday. 

"The aroma doesn't lie," he speaks with a mouth full, "... è delizioso. Mi piace molto.” 

“Felice di sentirlo. puoi portarne un po 'a casa se vuoi.” 

“Mia cara?” 

She gasps when hearing her granny's voice as the door opened softly, happy that the old lady comes in perfect time. Excusing herself from Harry, she walks out to find the woman who raised her until now. The only family she has. Not long after, she returns with someone whose Harry assumes is Ilitia, her beloved grandmother. Yet, he's quite surprised that Ilitia doesn't look like a sixty or seventy years old, she looks so much younger. With her golden hair, sharp yet friendly eyes, she gives him small smile. 

“Hello, I'm Harry. Nice to meet you, ma'am.” he politely shakes her hand after getting up from the chair, making the best impression for Y/N's family. 

“Hi, Harry. I'm Ilitia.” she nods, “I don't know my granddaughter has a company today?” then she averts her gaze to Y/N. 

“I promised to cook something for Harry and he happened to stop by,” she answers, “I made Mushroom Bruschetta!” 

Harry grins, “Trust me your granddaughter is a great cook. I just ate one when you came, and it's phenomenal.” 

“Of course she is! She's just like her mother who loves and great at cook.” Ilitia beams, “Do you spare one for this old lady, Mia Cara?” 

“I made a lot, don't worry.” Y/N laughs, “I'm sure Harry can also take it home if he wants.” 

Being the gentleman he is, Harry pulls the chair for Ilitia to sit before he returns to his chair. Sometimes he glances at Ilitia and Y/N who are now sitting next to each other and staring at the two women. If he didn't know Ilitia is her grandmother, he would think Ilitia is her mother or even her sister. Even Ilitia isn't Y/N grandmother by blood, the two of them is still look alike. 

“How did you two know each other?” Ilitia asks them both, a bit glaring towards Harry. Her sharp yet warm glare makes him a little uncomfortable but he tries to shake the feeling away. He doesn't know, but there's something about the grandmother that he can't put a finger on it. 

"I met her in her work and I'm her regular customer if you can say." he shortly answers, "And we became friends." 

"He always comes every day to buy flowers." Y/N giggles, "Literally every day!" 

Ilitia raises her eyebrow, "Oh, I've never known a man who likes flower very much." 

“I am,” Harry laughs. 

"You're truly a different kind then, young man."  

The rest of the night they spend talking while Harry is more of a listener to Y/N and Ilitia. He also gets to know Y/N even more when her grandmother told him about her childhood. He finally decides to go home since it's getting late, feeling uncomfortable if he stays any longer and he's sure they both need rest, especially Ilitia. 

"Thank you for stopping by, H." Y/N thanks him while escorting him to his car, "I can tell my granny likes you." 

“Is that so?” 

She nods, “If she doesn't like you, she won't probably want to talk to you.” 

"Good then. She's a nice woman." he grins, "And again, thank you for the Bruschetta and thank you for packing some for me to take home." 

Y/N peeking at the small box on his hand, “No problem, H.” 

Giving her his signature smile, Harry takes a step closer and landing a soft peck on her cheek. Letting the reddish shy blossoming and heated her skin, only for him finding her too cute for blushing. 

“Good night, love.” 

"... good night, H." she whispers after a moment while her eyes trailing where his car disappears from her sight. She can't believe it. Harry just kissed her, on the cheek. That was not his first time to make a move on her. He once put his arms around her, held her hand, but this time.. it makes her heart bursting with happiness. A different kind of happiness that she's not sure what it is. Slowly, her palm creeps into the skin where the man had just kissed. Like an idiot, she smiles as she rubs her cheek. Not wanting her neighbour sees her being an idiot, she rushed inside. 

“You're blushing.” Ilitia teases her when Y/N closes the door, “You really like him, aren't you?” 

“Is that obvious, granny?” she mumbles, sitting next to Ilitia who's watching television. 

Ilitia rolls her eyes playfully, "Even my old eyes can see that crystal clear, mia cara..” 

“He's very nice, granny. He's very sweet, funny..” she trails off, “And.. beautiful.” 

“Beautiful?” 

“Handsome isn't enough for him. His ethereal beauty is unmatched.” 

Ilitia just laughs, shaking her head while looking at her granddaughter who's still stunned with whatever happened between them earlier. 

“This old lady doesn't know anything about love, mia cara. But, just be careful. I don't want you to get upset and heartbroken.” 

. . . .

A kiss on the other night leads Harry to venture into more physical contact with Y/N. He dared to embrace her, holding her hand, and steal the opportunity to give her a little kiss or quick peck on the cheek – and it's been going on for a quite a while. Y/N doesn't know where they stand, Harry has never spoken about their relationship, yet he admits he likes her a lot but doesn't officially say they're a boyfriend-girlfriend thing. 

Does she care? 

Not really. 

What she cares about is, her feeling isn't one-sided.  

“Harry, Harry, please!” 

Both of them are in his cottage, spending the weekend together with baking and cooking as they planned before. They're now covered with flour, thanks to Harry who first threw the powder at her playfully and ended up spending a sack wasted. 

"Our Croissants will never be finished!" she shouts, shielding her face away with both hands. Harry who's standing feet away from her, just laughing at her who had given up. 

“Okay, okay. I'm sorry, love.” he giggles, “Here, let me help you.” 

Y/N pouts as Harry put the sack on the counter, then helps her to brush her hair from the sprinkling flour. Luckily it's not overcovered her hair fully. 

“I have to take a shower to get rid this off of me,” she mumbles, sweeping the flour from her shirt. 

“No, you don't.” he denies, “You still look beautiful if you wanna know.” 

She snorts, pinching his arm jokingly to cover her now hot and pinkish cheeks. While the man in front of him still brushing the white particles off of her, Y/N has her eyes stuck on him – studying every inch of his perfect face. She brings her hand dancing on his porcelain skin, feeling her fingertips pulsating in every layer of her skin. 

“Now, why are you staring at me?” Harry hums, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears. 

“You're so pretty.” 

He squinted, “Am I?” 

“Yes.” she breathes as he's now staring deeply at her. The pair don't exchange a word, just enjoying looking at each other with thousand meaning behind their gaze. Slowly, and very carefully, Harry leans in and cradles her jaw with his large palm. 

And for the next millisecond, their lips joined together, dancing in the same rhythm. Y/N was shocked at first, then she closes her eyes feeling the softness of his plump lips on her. She never kissed someone nor being kissed. She just hopes she doesn't disappoint him for being the first time. This is her first time being intimate with someone after all. 

She moans as the pleasure hits her, feeling the goosebumps tingles her skin. The way his hot lips ghosting down her throat, leaving wet kisses all around her skin and some bite marks blossoming into reddish. 

They both pull back as their gaping for breath, but Harry quickly feels her lips on him in a second. He likes the way her lips tastes like honey and soft like the winter snowflake, yet his fingers travelling around her side, squeezing her hips only to makes her moans louder. 

He smirks as he feels her hands fumbling with his shirt's button, he shushes her as he held her wandering hands, breaking their linked mouth for a moment. 

“So eager,” he pants, touching their foreheads together. 

“You're the one who initiated it first.” she huffs, placing her hands on his chest. 

Their swollen lips meet each other again for the umpteenth time. Both of them smiling into the kiss then turns into a steamy make-out session when Harry begins undoing her jeans button. Effortless, he makes her jump and latching her legs around his hips, then brings her into his bedroom. 

They didn't break the kiss until they got to Harry's room. He softly drops her body into his mattress, hovering her with his strong body as they stare at each other. He notices how flushed she is, with red-swollen lips, and few bites mark spreading around her jaw and neck. He wastes no time to kiss her as his hand unzipped her blouse and tossing it away. Then, he finished unbuttoning her jeans. Leaving the girl only on her bra and knicker. 

"Beautiful." he whispers while his eyes wandering up and down her delicate body, "How pretty," he adds while kissing her now bare stomach. 

Y/N sighed as he licks her hips, blowing a deep breath into her belly button. Suddenly, she becomes nervous. She has never done this before, and if she's going to do this for the first time, with Harry, she doesn't want to upset him. She has to be honest with him and she knows he really appreciates whatever she's going to say. 

“Harry..” 

“What is it, love?” he lifts his head after nicking her skin, “Tell me if this is too much.” 

He frowns when the girl beneath him doesn't say anything, “Or, you don't want to do this? We can stop it now if you're not sure.” 

“No, no. It's not like that. I.. I do want this. It's just...” 

Does she really need to do this? 

“I want this, H. I really do. But, I've never done this before.” she timidly says, “I'm afraid–” 

"Hey, hey. None of that." he cuts her off, "I don't care if you haven't done this if you have done this. I don't care if you're virgin or not. What all I care about is your feelings, concern, certainty." 

"I'm one hundred percent sure, H." she confirms, "I'm sure to want to do this with you." 

“No second thoughts? We still have much time if you want to– ” 

“Harry...” she whines, “Please, I need you.”  

That's it. 

It was his sign to continue whatever they have on mind. He breathes in relief before kissing her again and letting her hands help him take off his clothes. Once they discarded clothes joining each other's, Harry waste no time to fuck her no mercy until the only words leaving her lips are his name in moaning pleasure.

*

that was.. fast. what do ya think?