#upon closer examination it appears we did not read the previous tags

[bearotonin-international]

That’s actually Holly (aka the Buttscratcher)

This is Otis

are you freaking KIDDING ME (not otis)

[succulentsunrise]

Where the Fire Lilies Grow

Content: SFW!

Sorry it took so long but I really wanted to amp the suspense!! I hope you like it 😁

Tag list: @thoughtfullyrainynightmare, @lyranova ❤️

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Chapter 9: The Dungeon

“I’ve fallen in love with adventures, so I begin to wonder, if that’s why I’ve fallen for you.”

E. Grin

The forest spanned a large area. To a certain point, it was like any other forest. Subtly, however, the vegetation changed: it was more vibrant, more invasive and much bigger in size. Large roots of tilted trees curled towards the surface, creating a difficult terrain to walk on. The grass and plants that had gathered on the ground cut off all natural paths from sight. The branches of the trees were intertwined together with large, beautiful leaves. The beauty of the forest was not lost on Tani. It was intriguing, too - she had never seen anything grow so large outside of the neutral zone. Some of the plants she couldn’t even recognize. She would occasionally, to the amusement of her teammates, stop and wonder at some of them. Either this side of Clover had plants that her books and adventures had failed to notice, or the dungeon had brought new plants with it. Whichever option it was, Tani was certain they’d know after they’d find the dungeon. That, however, was a little harder to accomplish. The entrances to dungeons were usually rather plainly visible. This one was not. No matter how much they circled around the forest, they couldn’t find a path, cavern or even a large enough hole to move through. It was as if there wasn’t a dungeon there.

“What the--what is going on here?” Icree asked, frustrated enough to almost curse.

“Dungeons aren’t meant to be sentient enough to hide, are they?” Tani questioned humorously.

“No!”

“If I had to make a guess, it has to be in the middle of this forest.”

“Luka--,” Icree started to turn towards the young man, but before she finished, he had already nodded to her.

Luka had always been good at reading Icree’s moods and acting upon them. He had worked long enough with her to know what she wanted. He muttered a few words underneath his breath and several sculpted birds sprung from his hands. In answer, Icree conjured a group of butterflies, guiding them to move towards the edges of the overgrowth. She closed her eyes, likely trying to sense the right positioning through the overflow of mana. She then moved her arms up, slowly. Tani knew that wherever they were, the butterflies were flying up to signal to Luka’s sculptures where the edges of the overgrowth were. Luka would then be able to see how far they were from the middle through the eyes of his sculpture and the mana that Icree was spending. It was a rather complicated combination of spells, but hardly the first time they did it. Tani kept one hand on her sword, making sure no one would surprise them.

“We are north of the center,” Luka said after a long pause. “Here, follow me.”

He began to lead the others carefully through the woods, ever so often closing his eyes and ascertaining they were coming closer and closer to the middle. Tani kept an eye out for trouble still. The forest was quiet and calm. She tried to listen for bird songs or the subtle steps of animals, but it was as if they were avoiding the area. Tani felt a small chill creeping up her back and she instinctively moved her shoulders to shake it off. It was a move she immediately regretted - her left shoulder painfully reminded her of still being in the process of healing. Tani let out a defeated sigh. It would take a while to recover. At least she could hear insects around her, if not other animals. A bee was buzzing somewhere close by. Her gaze scanned the area around her, concentrating on a plant that she didn’t quite know. Its white petals were papery and still in a bud - unless they were not meant to open. She peered at it a little closer. What had seemed like petals to her were not quite so. It was more likely that the sepals of the flower had grown to form a protective bubble around the flower’s fruit, whatever it was. Tani smiled a little bit. Perhaps whatever was causing this overgrowth was at least not harmful to the plants themselves. Not wanting to be left behind, Tani let her gaze travel up, deeper into the forest. Immediately, she recoiled with a jolt. In the blink of an eye, what she had seen had disappeared, and yet -

Tani was rather sure she had seen a form there. A form of a person with curly hair and intense, blue gaze. It had stared at her from between the trees, filled with an emotion that she wasn’t sure how to read. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain that it had almost been a hostile gaze - a cold, calculating one. Had it been a trick of sunlight that the hair had seemed so warmly orange? Tani searched the treeline with her gaze, uncertain. Whatever had been there, wasn’t there anymore. Perhaps the bush had made her see things. She glanced around herself. Yes, the way the bush swayed in the wind could be mistaken for hair. It was a bit of a reach, but perhaps. The sunlight and the slight twinkle of blue sky - she had simply seen things. Tani took hastily steps forward to follow Icree and Luka. The sight had made her jump, and it was hard to calm back down. She kept glancing backwards, as if to make sure the bush had not come back alive. It however stayed swaying in the wind, as if waving her goodbye.

“It’s here,” Luka stated, stopping suddenly.

Tani looked forward nervously. The central point didn’t look any different from the rest of the forest: it was filled with a haphazard collection of trees, roots and rocks.

“There has to be a way to find it,” Icree muttered, jumping over the roots with an ease to reach the moss-covered cliff. She examined it with a thoughtful eye.

“Let’s scrape the moss off these rocks. Maybe it’s underneath them,” she commented, already rolling back her sleeves to start.

“Don’t!” Tani said quickly.

She rushed to Icree’s side, gently placing herself between the moss and Icree.

“Why hurt them, when I can just ask them to move?” she lectured her friend with a hurt voice, ignoring Icree rolling her eyes.

“It’s moss, Tani.”

“Hey!” Tani reprimanded, turning to the covered cliff. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her hurt you.”

There was the gentle dark green glow of her magic, and the moss and the plants seemed to almost crawl away from her hands. At the same time, there was a rumble, as if from deep underground. Tani quickly pulled her hands off the stone, looking around. Icree and Luka were doing the same, taking out their grimoires. Everything around them was still calm and quiet. Unnaturally quiet, almost. Tani glanced back to the stone.

“Look - the entrance,” she gasped, pointing at it.

The peeled back moss had revealed chipped frames of a doorway, blocked by an enormous stone slab. The slab wasn’t even the right size for the entrance. It looked like it had intentionally been put in front of it to hide it.

“What was that rumbling?” Icree asked, still alarmed.

“Something reacted to your magic,” Luka said with a glance to Tani.

“Perhaps,” she considered slowly. “Nothing happened, though.”

“The entrance appeared.”

“Yee-ees, but--it’s not exactly a defense.”

“Maybe the wizard that made this place was a plant mage and it’s gone a little faulty during the years?” Icree suggested, scratching her head. “Either way, we have an entrance.”

“I’m not sure if that makes any more sense, but we don’t have enough to build on,” Luka sighed.

“Let’s keep it in mind and open the way for now,” Tani said, knocking lightly on the stone slab in their way.

The others nodded their assent, and the three of them gathered around the stone. Most of the pushing came from Tani. Out of the three, she was by far the strongest, thanks to her upbringing and her constant exercising. As soon as they had pushed the stone to the side, a burst of hot air emerged from inside. For Tani, it was as if someone had trapped a volcano inside the dungeon and this was the first chance the air had to escape. All three of them immediately backed away from the entrance. Fortunately for them, there was no fire or flame that would have followed. There was simply an unbearable heat as the burst of flame began to quell. The three of them peeked carefully in, uncertain what they might see. The corridor that opened before them was filled with ashes and charred remains of what had once been plants. They swayed and crumbled in the disappearing burst of heat. It seemed like the walls of the corridor had once been covered completely in plants and moss.

“What happened here?” Tani asked, looking at it all. “Was this--was this a trap?”

“I didn’t see any glyphs,” Icree replied quickly. “No, I think - either this place hides an incredible heat source inside of it or someone came here before us.”

“The entrance was hidden,” Luka chimed in, shaking his head. “If someone had found it, they would have left it visible.”

“A heat source like this - I don’t know. This stone was put here by someone, I don’t think it is this dungeon’s natural door. It’s--”

Icree sighed in frustration, staring at the charred entrance.

“It’s too big. It doesn’t fit. It would be logical to assume that someone didn’t want us to find the dungeon and hid it with the slab, but--but to make plants and moss grow over it, they’d have to have plant affinity like Tani--or--or illusion magic--?”

“They were real plants,” Tani interrupted her. “I--we would have noticed.”

“Would we have? There was that rumble.”

“I know that my magic affected something here, Icree.”

“This could have simply been a trap,” Luka insisted quietly. “Perhaps whoever came here triggered something. A trap near the entrance.”

“A trap near the entrance...yes, perhaps. Perhaps we are dealing with a mage, who didn’t notice it,” Icree agreed thoughtfully. “And this dungeon just has fire traps.”

Tani looked uneasily at the charred marks.

“I’ll be at a disadvantage, then,” she noted. “We should be careful. If the traps in this dungeon are of this caliber, we don’t want to trigger them.”

Icree nodded and began stepping into the corridor. She was the best at detecting magic and so had the highest chance of noticing if anything was wrong. She took out of her bag a magically infused lamp and created a little butterfly inside of it. Unlike a fire lamp, these types of lamps were unaffected by wind and brought better illumination all around them. Tani and Luka followed carefully, scanning the walls for hidden doors or glyphs. After the entrance, the burnt places became more like patches, revealing the extent of the overgrowth in the dungeon corridor. There was a galore of alluring greenery that had grown all over the wall and ceiling. Once more, Tani found her attention turning to the condition of the flowers. Most of their leaves were white. Some displayed other colours - a variation of red, yellow and even purple - but none of them were green. There was, in fact, a remarkable lack of green colour among them.

“Fire and plants,” Icree muttered, shaking her head. “If the creator of this dungeon was a plant mage, why would they put fire traps in?”

“It’s rather illogical,” Tani agreed. “Not only that, they didn’t leave any light source for these poor plants. Yet they are somehow alive.”

“Maybe the infiltrator - or rather, infiltrators since it would be weird for just one mage to come here - has fire magic?”

“Why would they have used so much magic just to the entrance, and then blocked it with a stone?”

“I don’t know,” Icree sighed. “But it’s the only thing that makes sense to me right now.”

“Maybe the plants are the infiltrators,” Luka suggested, half-jokingly.

Icree gave him a half-hearted glare and continued to move forward. Tani followed, wondering about the theory. What if there were no other infiltrators? Could she make the presence of fire and plants work? Perhaps it was meant as a counter - plant magic had understandable disadvantages with fire magic. If there had been traps with fire magic, it could have been to catch any fire mages unawares. Did the creators of this dungeon expect mages with fire affinity? If only they knew more about the dungeons and their creators. Tani sighed, directing her attention back to the corridor they were traversing. It was wide enough for two people to walk comfortably next to each other as it slowly began to slope downwards. She could see further away, illuminated by Icree’s light, the opening to a chamber of some sort. Perhaps there would be some answers there.

Tani’s hopes for answers were squashed immediately as they entered the chamber. Its walls were lined with variegated flowers and plants, and the ceiling had been conquered by hanging ivies. The chamber floor was strangely uneven, consisting of both small bumps and larger shapes, all hidden under the blanket of vegetation. If there was something in the room, it had been overtaken by the plants a long time ago. As Tani’s gaze travelled across the chamber, she noticed that only the western wall had been charred. Someone had very clearly burnt a door-sized hole into the wall of plants, revealing an actual door behind it. The wooden door bore signs of having been slightly burnt along with the plants. Slowly, as if realizing her gaze on it, the door began to move. A tortured, creaking sound emerged from its ancient hinges as it slowly began to open. Tani took a step back, alerting the others even though they had heard the sound as well. Icree swung the lamp in the direction to better illuminate the area. Nothing was there. Beyond the doorway lay a dark corridor, where the group could see giant thorny thickets on each side. The bushes climbed all the way up to the ceiling, seeming almost ghostly in their whiteness. The thickets were dense enough to block any sight beyond them.

“Hello?” Tani called out, but Icree shushed her.

Icree began to quietly approach the door, a finger on her lips. Tani frowned, but followed her lead. They moved silently, trying to peer through the door’s cracks to see anyone. The door kept opening, but no one seemed to be behind it.

“The magic is stronger here, but I can’t sense anyone,” Icree said finally, illuminating the pathway in front of them with her lamp.

“Someone has definitely passed through here,” Tani commented, glancing at the burnt doorway. “Maybe there’s enough wind for the door--well--for it to open?”

The three of them exchanged disbelieving glances. It was a little too convenient. None of them felt any kind of wind in the stale, hot air. As they stepped through the doorway, Tani put her hand on her sword. All her muscles were tensed, as she was prepared for an attack or an ambush of some kind. Nothing of that sort happened, however. The corridor seemed to simply continue forward. The plants were different here - they were thorned and difficult to see through. The three of them advanced through the corridor carefully. Icree walked in the front, the lamp showing the way, and magic occasionally flickering near her fingertips. Luka was more composed, not showing his tenseness as easily. Still, his eyes scanned the area constantly, and he kept rubbing his right hand’s fingers together - a sign of his nervousness. Tani kept her hand on the hilt of her sword, but her thoughts were almost fully on the plants. They had no sunlight here, yet there were so many of them. They thrived, despite the limitations. It was surprising and worrying. There were no insects or animals to harm or help the plants. In fact, the quiet of the forest continued in the dungeon. The only sounds that Tani could hear were their own footsteps.

The corridor in front of them divided into three different paths. It seemed like they had reached a crossroads of sorts. Despite Icree trying to bring the lamp closer to any of the corridors, it was difficult to say which way would lead them to answers.

“Any guesses?” Icree asked.

“I can’t sense anyone else here,” Luka admitted, shaking his head.

A small noise from their right caught their attention - a small crackle, like a branch or a twig snapping. They all froze still, gazes fixed to the rightmost corridor. Then they heard it: a gentle, muffled step, another. Someone was walking. Icree put a finger on her lips again and motioned towards the corridor. The butterfly in the lamp grew dimmer and darker, as Icree lessened the amount of mana she was channeling into it. The corridor turned in front of them. Instead of peeking, Icree motioned to Luka, who created a tiny sculpture of a ladybug. It crawled into the thicket, out of Tani’s sight. It was hard for her to stay still. The footsteps were quieter, but they had to be careful. Reconnaissance was more Luka’s thing than hers, but she craved to do something and not just stand there. Eventually Luka shook his head, signalling that no one was in the corridor, and they moved again. The path turned almost immediately again, but this time they didn’t stop. Luka had checked both corners. Instinctively, all three of them began moving quicker. They were all holding their breaths, trying to listen to the footsteps. With their own mixed in, it was more difficult to make them out. Another turn that they moved through quicker - just to be faced with a dead end. Tani looked down to the ground. There were subtle imprints there, big enough to belong to a human with boots. She raised her gaze from the ground to the white thicket. Icree and Luka were looking around as well, wearing as perplexed expressions as herself. The thickets still rose all the way to the ceiling. There was no way to go around, under or above. An idea struck Tani, and she moved closer to where the footsteps ended. She gently touched one of the flowers of the thicket, pressing her finger against it and pushing. It moved under the pressure, and then slid off, one of its thorns grazing her finger. It seemed like it wasn’t an illusion, after all.

“They can’t have passed through here,” Tani muttered, withdrawing from the thicket.

“Maybe they parted the plants,” Icree suggested, dissatisfied with their solutions. “Or they have magic that allows them to pass through certain death traps.”

“I could try parting it, but they are built rather densely. There’s not much space for them to move to, and the ground looks undisturbed here.”

“There’s not really anywhere else they could have gone.”

The three of them looked at the thickets again. They looked sharp and dangerous.

“I’ll try opening a path,” Tani sighed.

She hovered her hands over the thicket carefully, barely not touching them. She concentrated. These plants weren’t easy to manipulate out of the way. They resisted. Tani increased her magic a little, still trying to gently move them to the side. The thickets rustled their complaints, but slowly began to bend out of the way. Behind them, another path was revealed. It was identical to the one they had been traversing so far. Icree stepped into the new corridor, her lamp illuminating a turn ahead of them. Tani glanced at the ground. She couldn’t see any footsteps in it, but perhaps whoever had been there, had decided on a softer approach. They all stood silently still for a moment, trying to listen for footsteps. They shared glances, each of them shaking their heads. No one could anymore hear the steps. No one either wanted to break the silence that had fallen, as if to hear better everything that happened around them. They continued following the path, ever so often stopping to listen. The plants stayed as variegated as before. Tani could see some similar ones as those outside - the white, lantern-like flowers seemed to bloom at the lower levels of the thickets as well. She would have otherwise stopped to look at them, but she didn’t want to waste time right now. Perhaps later, when they would be coming out of the dungeon.

Suddenly, Tani felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around instinctively, looking behind her. There was no one. A small shiver passed through her, but her gaze found a nearby branch with plump, white leaves. It had probably brushed against her shoulder. The thought calmed down her racing heart a bit, and she let out a small sigh of relief. There was something else as well: pieces of dark red fabric, tangled deep inside the thicket. Tani frowned. The light suddenly almost disappeared, so she turned to look back at her friends. The corridor in front of them had turned to the right, as well as she could see in the dark, and the light was being obstructed. They hadn’t noticed that she had stopped.

“Wait just a moment, Icree, Luka,” Tani shouted.

The light stopped moving, though it was surprisingly dim. Tani listened for a moment, but was satisfied as she couldn’t hear the other two moving. Gently, she began to coax open the thicket in front of her with her magic. The branches opened up easily, allowing her to extract the crimson fabric. It had definitely been ripped out of a cloth.

“What a naughty thicket you’ve been,” Tani muttered under her breath and turned to walk back to Icree and Luka.

As Tani’s steps echoed in the silence, the light seemed to start to move again. In fact, it left her almost in pitch darkness. She hurried along, trying to catch up with the other two. However, when she turned the corner, she found herself still in darkness.

“Icree?” she called out.

Tani couldn’t see any light anywhere. She had been suddenly thrust into pitch black, and her eyes had difficulty adjusting to it.

“Luka?”

There was still no answer.

Confused, Tani reached into her own bag and retrieved a similar lamp as Icree had. Instead of a butterfly, she filled hers with a tiny shining plant. It illuminated less area than Icree’s, but it was enough to see around.

“Guys?” she shouted a little louder.

The corridor in front of Tani seemed to only stretch forward. No matter how much she waved her lamp around or investigated, she couldn’t find a corner or bend where Icree and Luka would’ve gone to disappear from her so completely.

Tani was alone, separated from her friends, and without a clue where to go.

[alyssawritesssfics]

Hounded [1] 1. Pilot

Pairings: Bellamy x OC // Kane x daughter!OC

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: violence, series spoilers

Summary: After being locked away for eight months, Athena Kane alongside 99 other criminals is sent to the ground to find out if it's survivable. The ground was the dream, but who knew it would turn out to be a nightmare?

Author’s Note: Hii, this is the repost of my series Hounded! I’ve decided to have each chapter represent an episode. I just personally like the look of it way more and find it easier for me to follow along with while writing (and hopefully you find it easier to follow along while reading it). Please remember to note and reblog! It really helps me see interest and therefore update the story more often. Thank you! PS. If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please send me an ask with your @ and I will add you to my list!

previous chapter // series masterlist

The cement floor of my cell was cold against my legs, the sensation searing through the fabric of my jeans. I had sat here many times over the last few months, visualizing myself being blasted into space. It was a morbid thought, but one I could never seem to shake.

My cellmate Octavia let out a heavy sigh, pulling me from my thoughts. I examined her, lying across her cot on her stomach, her feet swaying back and forth in the air as she reread one of the few books she had for the hundredth time.

As I watched Octavia, an alarm began to sound within Skybox, causing Octavia to close her book and sit on the edge of her cot.

“What’s going on out there?”

I stood from my place on the ground, making my way over to our cell door. Peeking through the bars, I noticed guards piling in the main doors, opening cells and dragging people out of them.

“The guards, they’re removing people,” I spoke, my voice shaking.

Octavia stood up. “Moving people? Moving them where?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

We both watched the guards remove more and more people before finally, two reached our cell. Octavia and I stepped back, allowing the guards to enter. The first guard to enter carried a case with him.

“Prisoners 395 and 530, stand facing the wall.” One of the guards said.

Octavia and I complied, as the other guard asked us to extend our dominant hands. Octavia extended her right arm, while I extended my left. The guards reached into the case, pulling out large metal wristbands and placing them around our wrists.

“What’s going on? Neither of us is eighteen yet.”

Eighteen. That was when we’d be up for reevaluation, the council deciding whether or not we’d be floated.

“No questions.” One of the guards responded, pulling me away from the wall. “Let’s go, both of you.”

Octavia and I exited our cell, the place we’d called home for nearly a year now, entering the chaos that was Skybox. There were long lines of teenagers, most younger than myself, on each side, on all levels. We followed the line all the way out of Skybox, into a long corridor.

“I want to speak with my father,” I said, turning to face the guard behind me. “Marcus Kane, he’s on the council.”

The guard stared at me, his face expressionless. “Keep moving.”

“No,” I spoke, a glare appearing across my face. “Where is my father?”

The guard pulled out his shock baton, extending it. “I said, keep moving.”

Not wanting to go through being shocked again, I took a deep breath, turning back around and continuing to follow the line. Eventually, the guards who had taken Octavia and I disappeared, more guards lining the path to wherever we were going.

The further I get down the line, I finally see it. One of the Ark’s guards were scanning identification cards before ushering them onto… a dropship?

A dropship.

“Holy shit,” I mumbled to myself. “They’re sending us to the ground.”

…

“Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now.” I listened on as Chancellor Jaha appeared on several screens within the dropship.

Octavia and I had been separated, sent to different levels of the dropship. Looking around, I didn’t recognize many faces, only a few from Earth Skills.

“You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself.” He continued. “We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable.”

The sound of booing filled the dropship.

“The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years. If you survive this mission, your crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean.”

Chancellor Jaha continued on, though I began to tune it out. All I could think about was my father. Did he know about this? He had to have known, him being one of the Chancellor’s closet allies on the Ark.

As the thought of my father’s involvement drifted from my mind, the dropship jolted, sending my head forward, then back against the seat with brutal force. The dropship continued to shake, as screams filled the air.

“What’s happening?” A girl called out.

I had the same question.

The shaking lasted several minutes before finally, the dropship crashed. Everyone remained silent, unsure if we’d actually landed. After a few moments, people began unbuckling themselves, rushing towards the dropship doors.

I was one of the last to unbuckle myself, wanting to avoid the rush. By the time I had arrived, nearly everyone within the dropship was surrounding the door. As I peeked through the crowd, I spotted Octavia standing by the door, next to a taller boy I’d never seen before.

“Where’s your wristband?” I knew that voice.

Octavia spun around to face someone out of my view. “Do you mind? I haven’t seen my brother in over a year.”

While sharing a cell with Octavia, she’d told me many stories about her brother Bellamy. I almost wouldn’t have believed she even had one, if she didn’t bring him up so often. It was sweet though. I’d always wished I could’ve had a sibling.

That was against the law on the Ark.

“No one has a brother,” someone spoke.

“That’s Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden under the floor!”

I watched as Octavia lunged forward, Bellamy grabbing her arm. “Octavia, no. Let’s give them something else to remember you by.”

By now, I’d pushed my way further through the crowd.

“Yeah?” Octavia asked, looking back at her brother. “Like what?”

Bellamy smirked. “Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years.”

With those words, Bellamy reached over and grabbed the dropship door’s handle, pulling it down. There was a faint bang before the door slowly began lowering, creating a platform that led to the ground.

It was beautiful, more so than I ever could’ve imagined. The ground was covered in grass, just like I’d seen in books on the Ark. Trees surrounded us, nearly covering the clear blue sky above us entirely. 

I watched as Octavia slowly made her way down the platform, looking back at her brother. He gave her a reassuring nod, and Octavia in turn took a deep breath before jumping off of the platform, her feet colliding with the ground.

We all watched her as she looked around, silent for a few moments. Finally, Octavia threw her hands in the air. 

“We’re back, bitches!”

Cheers erupted through the dropship, delinquents spilling out around Octavia and running through the forest surrounding us. I slowly made my way down the platform, bracing myself as if I expected to burst into flames the second I touched the ground.

Octavia looked back at me, smiling. “What are you waiting for?”

I jumped from the platform, my boots meeting the hard ground. “Oh my god… We’re really here.”

Octavia squealed, pulling me in for a hug. “No more tiny cells and uncomfortable beds for us.”

“Well, I imagine uncomfortable beds aren’t quite out of the picture yet.” I laughed.

“You’re probably right.” Octavia shrugged with a giggle.

Octavia rushed off to catch up with Bellamy, while I stood in place, taking everything in. As I looked around, my eyes fell upon the girl whose voice I recognized earlier; Clarke Griffin, my childhood best friend.

Clarke stood by the edge of a cliff, staring down at the map in her hands. A tall boy with medium-length brown hair stood next to her. Based on the look upon her face, I figured I should head over there.

“Clarke?”

Clarke turned around, her eyes widening. “Athena?”

I couldn’t help but smile. It had been a year since I’d spoken to Clarke, and she looked exactly the same today as she did then. I remembered hearing stories of Clarke being arrested, the reasons often varying, but I never actually thought those rumours were true.

“What’s with the map?” I finally asked.

Clarke took a deep breath. “Do you two see that peak over there?”

Both I and the boy nodded.

“Mount Weather,” Clarke said. “There’s a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal. They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain.”

“Please tell me you’re joking?”

Clarke shook her head. “I wish I was.”

“We’ve got problems-” Wells Jaha, the son the Chancellor, spoke as he reached our little group. He stopped as his eyes landed on me. “Athena?”

I blinked, confusion setting over me. “Wells? What the hell did you do to get sent down here?”

“Don’t ask.” Wells shook his head, before continuing. “We’ve got problems. The communication system is dead. I went to the roof. A dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires.”

“Well, all that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather,” Clarke responded, marching closer to the dropship. She spread her map out on one of the wings. “See? This is us.” Clarke pointed to a spot on the map. “This is where we need to get to if we want to survive.” She moved her finger across the map.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” Wells asked.

Clarke’s face turned pale as she looked away. 

Wells sighed. “Your father.”

The two remained silent, as another boy with a pair of goggles strapped to his head approached. He leaned over Clarke’s shoulder, surveying the map.

“Cool, a map.” He spoke, looking Clarke up and down. “They got a bar in this town? I’ll buy you a beer.”

Wells lightly pushed the boy back. “Do you mind?”

“Woah.” The boy spoke, holding his hands up.

“Hey, hands off of him.” I turned to see a group of boys approaching. “He’s with us.” The rest of the delinquents were also gathered around us.

“Relax,” Wells spoke, stepping back. “We’re just trying to find out where we are.”

“We’re on the ground,” Bellamy spoke. “Is that not good enough for you?”

“We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father’s message. That has to be our first priority.”

“Screw your father,” Octavia called out. “What, you think you’re in charge here? You and your little princess?” She was staring at Clarke.

Clarke shook her head. “Do you think we care who's in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder it’ll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty-mile trek. So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Bellamy responded. “You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change.”

Everyone around us cheered.

“You’re not listening, we all need to go!” Wells urged. “Athena?”

Before I could respond, another boy spoke. “Athena Kane? You’re Marcus Kane’s daughter!”

“Your father floated my mother!”

“And my father!”

“Mine too!”

I looked at Wells, narrowing my eyes.

Wells shook it off. “We have to go, now.”

“Look at this everybody,” A boy stepped forward. “The Chancellor of Earth.”

“You think that’s funny?” Wells asked.

“No,” The boy responded, kicking Wells in the leg and watching him fall to the ground. “But that sure was.”

Cheers erupted through the forest, people begging them to fight.

“Come on, Wells.” The boy egged him on.

Wells stood up, getting into a fighting stance. Before any swings could be thrown, the medium-length haired boy jumped from the top of the dropship, landing between them.

“The kids got one leg.” He spoke to the boy. “Why don’t you wait until it’s a fair fight?”

“Hey, spacewalker!” Octavia called out. “Rescue me next.”

People began to laugh, the crowd dispersing. Bellamy grabbed Octavia’s arm, pulling her away.

“Uh,” The boy spoke to Clarke. “So, Mount Weather? When do we leave?”

“Right now,” Clarke replied, looking at Wells. “Finn and I will be back tomorrow with food.”

“How are the two of you going to carry enough food for a hundred people?”

Finn looked around, grabbing goggles boy and another. “Four of us.”

“Sounds like a party!” Octavia had rejoined the group. “Count me in.”

“What are you doing?” Bellamy asked.

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Going for a walk.”

Clarke suddenly reached for Finn’s hand. “Were you trying to take this off?”

The wristband.

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying.”

Finn nodded. “Okay.”

“Now, let’s go.”

“Wait,” I spoke up. “I’m coming with you.”

Clarke grabbed my hand, leading me away slightly. “I need you to stay here.”

“Why?”

“Wells can hardly walk and I need someone to help him keep an eye on things here. I know it’s been forever since we’ve talked, but I trust you a hell of a lot more than anyone else here.” Clarke spoke, her eyes shifting to Wells for a moment.

I smiled. “I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment.”

She smiled back. “You got this?”

I nodded. “Be safe.”

Clarke and I made our way back to the group. She grabbed a bag before looking at Wells, who sat on the ground leaning against the dropship. “You really shouldn’t have come here, Wells.”

With that, Clarke headed off into the forest alongside Finn, Octavia, and the two other boys I’d yet to meet.

I looked at Wells, frowning. “Let’s get you into the dropship so you can rest your foot in peace.”

…

A few hours later, I found myself returning to camp after going on a water run, my efforts having been futile. Just as I was about to reach the camp, I spotted Wells gathering sticks. He had also been searching for water the last I’d seen him.

“No luck?”

Wells looked up, startled. “No, you?”

I shook my head. “There’s gotta be water somewhere.”

“Just not anywhere near us,” Wells sighed. “Want to give me a hand with these?”

I picked up a pile of sticks, following Wells towards the dropship. We began dropping them in an already started pile when footsteps came up behind us.

“Find any water yet?” It was the same boy who had tried to fight Wells earlier. I recently learned his name was John Murphy. He stood beside another boy, also named John.

“No, not yet-” Wells paused, his face going pale before he quickly pulled himself back together. “I’m going back out if you want to come.”

I followed Wells’ gaze, spotting something carved into the dropship: first son, first to dye.

“You know, my father begged for mercy in the airlock chamber before your father floated him,” Murphy spoke, his eyes narrowed in on Wells.

Wells shook his head, pushing past the pair. “You spelt die wrong, geniuses.”

I attempted to follow Wells, though both boys blocked my way. “Where do you think you’re going? Don’t think we haven’t forgotten about what your father did.”

Shaking my head, I took a step back. “That was my father’s doing, not mine. The same goes for Wells. Feel free to take it up with them when they come down here though. I’ll be the last to stop you.”

Murphy looked me up and down for a moment before a smirk crept across his face. He didn’t say anything, simply stepping out of my way. I took it as an opportunity to join Wells, who still stood just a few paces behind them.

“We’re not safe here, Athena,” Wells whispered.

“No, we’re not,” I agreed. “There’s nothing you or I can do about it, not until Clarke and the others get back. We just have to lay low, watch each other’s backs, like the good old days.”

Wells smiled. “I’d give anything to go back there right now.”

I let out a small, shaking breath. “You and me both.”

…

Wells and I spent the rest of the afternoon searching for water, with no luck. As we came closer to the camp, I stopped. Noticing my absence from beside him, Wells also stopped, turning around to face me.

“Can I ask you something?” Wells nodded. “What happened with Clarke? I heard stories in lockup but never from anyone who had actually been there.”

Wells was quiet for a moment, kicking his feet around in the dirt. “Her father discovered a flaw in the Ark. That they’re running out of air. He wanted to go public with it.”

“But he didn’t?”

“Clarke found out and told me, and a few days later her father was arrested.”

My heart sank into my stomach. “You told your father, didn’t you?”

Wells shook his head. “It wasn’t me, but Clarke thinks it was.”

“So he was floated?” I was having a hard time processing all of this.

“Yeah,” Wells responded. “Clarke saw it happen, and then she was arrested too.”

I shook my head. “I had no idea…”

“That was kinda the point,” Wells mumbled.

I frowned. “You haven’t told Clarke it wasn’t you, have you?”

“I can’t tell her, Athena,” Wells said, not able to look me in the eye.

“Why not?”

Wells once again fell silent. “It was her mother.”

My eyes grew wide. “You’re sure?”

“It wasn’t me and I’m the only one Clarke told. Do you really think she’d expect her mother to turn her father in?” Wells asked. “I can’t tell her. It would break her, especially now.”

“So you let her hate you…”

Wells frowned. “Better than her hating her mother.”

I smiled softly. “You’re a really good friend, you know that?”

Before Wells could respond, the sound of screams filled the air. They were coming from the camp. Both of us looked at each other before hurrying our way back. By the time we arrived, there was a large crowd surrounding the campfire.

We both pushed our way through the crowd, spotting Murphy prying off a girl named Fox’s wristband. She winced as the wristband popped off, and Murphy tossed it into the fire.

“Who’s next?” Bellamy asked.

“What the hell are you doing?” Wells asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Bellamy smirked. “We’re liberating ourselves. What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re trying to kill us all.” I hissed.

“The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got. Take them off, and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow.” Wells added.

“That’s the point, Chancellor,” Bellamy replied. “We can take care of ourselves, can’t we?”

Everyone around them cheered.

“Do you think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers.” Wells shouted, looking around the crowd. “I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?”

“My people are already down here,” Bellamy replied. “Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that.”

Wells shook his head. “My father didn’t write the laws.”

“No, he enforced them, but not anymore, not here. Here there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want, whenever the hell we want. Now, you two don't have to like it. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me even. You know why?” Bellamy’s smirk only grew wider. “Whatever the hell we want.”

“Whatever the hell we want!” Murphy cheered.

Everyone began chanting around us, repeating those five words over and over again. I couldn’t believe it. How could they all be so stupid? So selfish? They were going to get all of us killed.

Suddenly, I felt a speck of water hit my bare arm. Then another, and another. Then, water began falling from the sky rapidly.

“It’s rain,” A girl called out. “Real rain!”

The cheering began once again, as I lifted my head to stare at the sky, letting the rain wash over my face. It was as if all of my previous worries washed away for a few moments.

“We need to collect this,” Wells spoke up, yanking me from my bliss.

Bellamy smiled. “Whatever the hell you want.”

~

next chapter

[daddystevee]

Crashing Down

(eventual steve harrington x hopper!reader)

Hah I’ve changed it to just being a Steve x reader fic 😅 Cuz Billy’s not really part of the picture anymore. Anyways hi I’m alive I just haven’t had the motivation to write. Idky. But uh this took me three days to write because I didn’t know how I wanted to write it. I also thought I was gonna be able to get more than one episode in here. I’ve also learned what a ‘slow burn’ fic is and this is indeed a slow burn fic. Anywho enjoy this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy ittt. And as always lmk if you wanna be tagged ;p also I’m sorry that there’s no keep reading mark im uploading from my phone at work and don’t know how to put it there. So I’ll just do it when I get home. Xx

catch up here

Warnings: none really?? Cursing?

Part 7/9?

Word count: 2.3k

Summary: Sometimes things just don’t go as planned and your world just come crashing down, but it’s a good thing that you have people in your life to be there to catch you when you fall.

><

You wake up to the sound of your alarm clock going off, signaling that it was time for you to go to work. Rolling over from your stomach you slam your hand down on the noise maker, turning it off.

Not really wanting to get up and go do anything, you lie there in bed for a few extra minutes with your eyes closed. Hoping and praying that today will be a good day.

The thought of working with Steve during your shift makes it a little easier to get out of bed. Finally after procrastinating for what felt like forever you climb out of bed and make your way out of your room.

Upon walking in the kitchen you notice that your dad isn’t asleep on the couch like normal. You walk over to his bedroom door and knock a few times calling out to him. When you receive no answer, you push upon the door to reveal an empty bedroom.

You hum to yourself in annoyance and go to ask the girls if they want breakfast or if they wanna ride to the mall when you head off to work. You’re once again met with silence, so you carry on with your morning.

><

When opening, Steve usually gets there a little bit early, so he can prep everything so before you get there so you aren’t so stressed out. But when you finally get there you notice that all of the lights are still out and the gate is still down, meaning Steve wasn’t there yet.

You lift the gate and go straight to the back to turn the lights on and get ready for the day. After an hour of working alone you start to wonder if Steve was ever going to show up.

‘Maybe he’s just running late..’ you say to yourself quietly and carry on with prepping.

Once it got closer to opening time, and Steve still wasn’t there you decided that it was probably time to give him a call and check on him.

The phone rings and rings and rings a few more times before you hang up and try again. After he doesn’t pick up the second time you call you decide to try Robin.

You call and the phone rings a few times and there’s no answer.

“What the hell?” you say aloud to yourself and you slam the phone back onto the receiver and go back out to the front.

><

After working almost your whole shift on your own you slowly begin to feel overwhelmed.

“I can’t do this all by myself!” you say rather loudly and a few customers turn to look at you but aren’t too bothered by your words.

It was almost closing time anyways, so you did what you needed to do.

You walk over to the window and turn off the ‘OPEN’ sign and go back into the back and start cleaning up while the few people in the store finish eating and leave. As the last customer leaves you run over to the front and pull the gate down before anyone else can wiggle their way into Scoops.

As you walk back into the back room, you start to feel tears form into your eyes due to all of the stress. You brushed them away with the back of your hand and continued cleaning up so you could hurry up and go home.

><

As you were headed to go locked the gate for the evening you thought about what El was up to since she or Max weren't home earlier that morning. You turn around walk back into the back to use the phone to call around and see where they might have ended up.

After a few phone calls you find out that all of the kids along with Nancy and Jonathan are at the Wheeler’s house. But are headed to the Holloway’s house. Instead of going straight home you decide to make an appearance at the Wheeler’s.

><

Just as you pull up to their house they were all walking out of the house and getting into Nancy’s car.

“Hey guys wait up!” you yell as you jog over to the car and climb into the back with Will and Mike.

“So why exactly are we going to the Holloway’s?” you ask as Nancy begins to drive trying to catch up.

“To figure out if Heather and her family are flayed like Billy.” Max says turning around to face you.

“Holy shit..” you say in response.

><

There you are standing in the exact same spot that you were standing in when you broke it off with Billy. You kind of feel bad knowing that the Billy you broke up with wasn’t ‘your’ Billy, but that doesn’t make up for how he had been treating you over the past few weeks.

You wait as Nancy rings the doorbell a few times, then when no one answers El uses her powers to unlock and open the door.

Upon walking in you notice how freezing cold it in and the insane smell of chemicals fills your nose.

“My god, what kind of shits been going on around here?” you ask but mostly to yourself.

You follow as everyone walks into the kitchen, but instead of staying you move on to the dining room.

“Guys!” you say as you notice how the dining room table still has food on it from the other night.

Everyone comes walking through the door and starts examining everything, but notice you crouched down looking at the carpet.

Nancy appears next to you and touches a spot on the carpet,

“Blood” she says softly and turns to look at you before turning to Jonathan.

“Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead.” Nancy says as you both look at the wine bottle with blood on it. “He was attacked.”

You all walk over to where it looks as if someone had been dragged away and follow the tracks out to the garage where you see the clear signs of someone being kidnapped. After some talking and brainstorming, you all head back out of the house and go to the hospital to somehow get Ms. Driscoll and ‘take her home’.

><

After trying to get everyone upstairs and failing you decide to let Nancy and Jonathan go up to the room and you stay downstairs with the kids.You start to get this feeling that something about being here isn’t right. So you try to figure out a way for you to get upstairs to check on them

It took you a little while, but you finally notice that there is a bathroom down the hall where the elevators are. So you get an idea, and decide to ask where the receptionist where the bathrooms are, you're then on your way upstairs.

As you stepped out of the elevator, you noticed that the hallway was rather empty and awfully quiet. You then saw that some of the lights on patients doors were still flashing red, meaning that there were people who needed to be tended to.

As you carried on down the hallway you heard the sound of running and a loud slam that sounded like someone had slammed a door shut. You sped up and rounded the corner , you saw a man in a white shirt and black pants walking towards the stairwell.

“Hey! Excuse me sir! Is everything okay-” you said but as soon as you started yelling Heather’s father stepped out of one of the rooms and stopped you dead in your tracks as the other man carried on down the stairs.

He had black veins on his forehead, very similar to the veins that covered Billy the previous night in the sauna.

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right gorgeous” Tom says as he starts walking towards you in a quick manner.

You turn on your heels and run the other way, heading back to the elevators. You push the button to close the doors as much and as fast as you can as if that will make the doors close faster. Just as Tom comes into sight the doors finally close and you're headed down to the next floor.

The doors open and you step out to see a dead patient and doctor on the ground, soon after you see Jonathan and Nancy run by followed by the man in the white shirt.

You decide to stay put until you hear the elevator doors close and it starts to move. You followed after the three and heard Nancy calling for help coming from one way and loud bangs followed by groaning coming from the other way. You know that Nancy can handle herself well but decided that Jonathan might need some extra help in that moment.

As you slowly and quietly make your way down the hallway you finally come to the room where Jonathan and Tom were. You almost walked directly into the room but quickly slipped back out of the room and peered your head around the corner to watch.

Tom was standing looking over Jonathan before he picked him up and slammed him up against the wall, making him fall down in pain.

You moved back out of sight and covered your mouth with your hand to prevent yourself from gasping too loudly. Tears formed in your eyes and spilt over before you could even register what was happening. You cried quietly into your hand as you looked around the hall to see if there was anything useful.

‘What would Steve do?’ you thought to yourself.

Eyes darting around the hallway until you see one of the IV carriers and run over to it and pick up holding it upside down so the wheels are the point of contact.

“Yeah, this’ll do.”

You backed up against the wall and tightened your grip around the pole, closing your eyes as you took a deep breath in.

Just as you poked your head into the room Jonathan had his head slammed into the ground, knocking him out. Toms back was to you, so you took this as the opportunity to shoot your shot. You held up the IV pole and swung with all your might.

“Eat shit asshat” you spat at Tom.

He turned to look at you but was flung the other way by some force.

Just as you were getting ready to swing again, Jonathan had gotten up and grabbed the scissors that were on the floor and ran at Tom, stabbing him in the chest. His whole face turned black and because of the veins, and he fell to his knees and onto his chest.

Both you and Jonathan did nothing but look back and forth between each other and the now dead Tom on the floor. Just when you thought it was over, the lights started flashing and went out for a brief second. That never meant anything good.

Jonathan put his arm in front of you out of protection when Tom started moving around and his skin started.. Melting?

“Jonathan..” you felt tears form in your eyes as all of the melted skin started to move towards the door.

He turned and looked at you before slowly following it out the door and into the hallway. At the other end of the hallway you see that Nancy was dealing with the same situation. The two giant globs of human flesh met together in the middle of the hallway joining together to make one giant glob of flesh.

It grew bigger and bigger and started growing legs and making noises when suddenly the lights went out, and from the darkness came a loud screech. Tears were now flowing from your eyes from fear.

“Nancy!” you hear Jonathan scream, “Run!”

As Nancy tries running through a door, the boy next to you is trying to distract the ugly creature from devouring his girlfriend. Yelling and making as much noise as possible, but when that doesn’t work he takes off behind it.

You decide to stay put to make sure no other crazy shit sneaks up behind him. You look around and notice a phone on the wall. While keeping an eye on the direction Jonathan went, you run to the phone and call 911 and the phone rings endlessly.

When you had finally had enough of the phone you figure that it would be better to go downstairs and ask for help. You make a dash for the stairwell and run as fast as your feet can carry you. About a flight or two down you run into the kids who were coming up the stairs.

“Oh thank Jesus” you say as you turn back around and head up to where you just came from.

Running in front of the kids you made quick turns down multiple hallways to show the kids where Jonathan was busy trying to break down the window on a door. El walked up to the door and used her powers to send the door flying into the room.

“Jesus”

“What the fu-” you hear both Mike and Max say simultaneously.

El and the monster have a little battle which ends up with the Monster being sent flying out the window and onto the ground outside.

You and the kids run back and down the stairs to go outside to see what was going to happen to the monster, while Jonathan went in the room to check on Nancy. Once you all got outside the glob was making its way to the sewer drain, before disappearing. You turned to look at the others,

“What in the actual fuck?”

What you did know was that this could only the beginning.

Taglist:

@ughhhitsfan @eleventhdoctorsangel @chloe-skywalker

[afni-fics]

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn - Chapter 13: Bleak Falls Barrow - Interior (part 4)

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn - Chapter 13: Bleak Falls Barrow - Interior (part 4) by C_R_Scott Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Tim Drake, Lucien Flavius Additional Tags: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Skyrim/DCU crossover, Reluctant Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, Not Beta Read, Alternate Universe - Skyrim Fusion, Modded Skyrim, Skyrim Spoilers, Tim Drake is Dragonborn | Dovahkiin, Batfamily-centric (DCU), Tim Drake-centric

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Summary:

Finally, Tim and Lucien make it to the inner sanctum of Bleak Falls Barrow

-------------------------

Fortunately for Tim and Lucien, their initial disastrous encounter with the draugr ambush was something they learned from and adapted to immediately. They observed from a distance how the undead creatures would only "wake up" if either someone was extremely close to them, or if there was a loud noise that drew their attention. Tim, much to his relief, learned that he could fire off arrows to make noises that would lure any draugr in the area to that spot. Once lured to a spot, usually clear on the farthest side of the room they were in, Tim would pick off the draugr with relatively little trouble.

Turns out, though ferocious in combat once engaged, while they were searching for intruders the draugr were pretty slow and not very intelligent, often giving up the search and returning to their slabs if they weren't able to find anyone within a minute or two. 

Tim also made it a point to fire off arrows at any "sleeping" draugr laying on the slabs.... Just to be on the safe side. 

Using those techniques, Tim and Lucien didn't have to worry too much about the undead threat as they moved deeper into the Barrow.

***

"Well, looks like our Bosmer bandit made it quite a ways before the draugr finally got a hold of him," Lucien remarked as he saw the body of the now dead dark elf lying on the cold stone floor at the bottom of a flight of stairs. 

Tim knelt down beside the body and searched the bandit's pockets. His eyes widened when he pulled out what looked like a solid gold claw.

    "Wow... It's beautiful," Tim exclaimed as he turned the artifact over in his hand. Lucien was quite excited by the find.

"Look at that! What exquisite craftsmanship!" he cooed. "And look.. There are carvings of Nordic animals, just like that death trap puzzle."

Tim took a closer look at the carvings. Just like the deathtrap puzzle, there were three animals icons in a row on the claw. However, this time the animals were a bear, a moth, and an owl.

As Tim looked at the claw, Lucien had found a journal on the bandit and had thumbed over to the last page with any writing. "Hmmm... It appears this bandit stole this claw from someone named Lucan Valerius."

"I know that guy," Tim remarked, turning his attention back to the scholar. "He owns the general store in Riverwood. I think I overheard him the other day complaining about someone who'd broken into this shop. I guess this is what they stole."

"Well listen to this," Lucien said. "This is what the bandit wrote, 'Now I just need to get to the Hall of Stories and unlock the door. The legend says there is a test that the Nords put in place to keep the unworthy away, but that when you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of of your hands.'"

Tim smirked as he looked at the claw. "I guess whatever door we're needing to get through is locked, and this claw is the key."

"Undoubtedly! Goodness this is so exciting!"

***

Unfortunately, it took another several hours of exploring before they got to anything that looked remotely like a puzzle door. They killed more draugr and also circumvented a few more deathtraps, though these were more straightforward attempts to kill them, consisting of things like spiked walls that were triggered by a floor plate or multiple swinging axes lining a narrow corridor.

Also, while they did finally get past the crypts and into more hallways, Tim had a thought as they crossed into what appeared to be a large main hall and stairs that led up to a second level. "It's kind of weird," he remarked as he shot another draugr.

"What is?"

"Well, all things considered, aside from those few bandits and ourselves, it doesn't appear that any other living people have actually come this way in years, right?"

"Not as far as I can see," Lucien agreed. "If bandits had made it further through the Barrows, I think they would've made off with more of the artifacts we keep coming across."

Tim nodded. "Well... if that's the case, then why are there so many candles and cauldrons actively burning in this place?"

Lucien paused and looked at the nearest trio of burning candles. "You're right. That is rather odd." He pulled out his journal and jotted down a few notes. "Perhaps that's part of the draugrs' function in this Barrow? Some kind of maintenance?" He tapped his pencil against his chin.

"Or maybe it's something they just do, like a restless ghost repeating tasks they used to do in life?"

Lucien looked to Tim and smiled. "If it wasn't for the fact they are full of murderous intent toward the living, it would make an interesting research project if we were able to observe these draugr in an undisturbed environment."

Immediately Tim's thoughts went to tracking bugs, remote controlled drones, and hidden wireless cameras. He sighed as he pushed open a set of large wooden double doors. He was really missing technology.

Then he froze.

"Lucien! This room..."

"Goodness! Could this be the Hall of Stories?!"

The doors had opened into a space that was completely different from all the other halls and rooms they'd passed thus far. It was a long hallway that was lined with carvings of ornate scenes on both sides.  Tim went up to the first one on his left and lightly traced the carving of a woman surrounded by moths with his fingertips.

"What is all this about?" he wondered aloud.

Lucien had pulled out a scroll of paper and a stick of charcoal. "If I recall correctly, in addition to dragons, ancient Nords of the Merethic Era also worshiped a variety of animal spirits." He took a rubbing of the carving and mused over the desigh. "This appears to be a moth priestess presiding over some sort of funeral procession of some high ranking figures."

He moved down to the next set of carvings. "Hm... Similar funeral procession figures, but the priest is different. Animal appears to be a bear in this one."

Tim examined the following carvings. "This priest looks to be for owls."

Both men came up and examined the final set of carvings. Tim felt a slight uneasy chill course through his body as he noted what animal this priest seemed to represent. 

"Clearly, this a relief of a dragon priest," Lucien remarked.

Tim left Lucien to get the rest of his rubbings and moved towards the odd door that now barred their path. there were three large circular rings with animal emblem on them, and there was a clear spot for the golden claw to be placed. He pulled out the claw and examined the pattern once more. Then, he matched the animals on the rings.

Bear... Moth... Owl...

Then, Tim lined up the gold claw with the center keyhole.

"Here goes nothing," Tim said as he pushed the claw into the keyhole. Once locked in place, he turned the center circle. 

Suddenly, all the rings reset themselves, spinning around until there was a solid line of owls facing him. Then the door began to sink into the floor. Tim pulled the claw away before it could clatter to the floor and both he and Lucien watched as a new set of stairs was revealed.

***

Past the stairs was a long hallway cut into the mountain.

Past the hallway was something that took Tim's breath away.

"Look at that," Lucien whispered in awe. "The inner sanctum of the Barrow is inside a natural cavern!"

Tim stood there and just took the entire site in. A colony of bats, startled by their intrusion, flew past them just overhead with achingingly familiar chirps and leathery wingflaps. The cavern itself was huge and spacious. He could hear all the same usual cave noises that he practically grew up with for nearly half his life. The sound of water dripping from unseen corners of the cave. The sounds of wind  rushing through tunnels just off the main cavern. A natural stream wove around the main altar area, fed by several small waterfalls, adding to the nostalgia, and moonlight from a hole in the ceiling somewhere in the mountainside illuminated the majestic stone carvings resting behind the altar.

It was all so different than The Cave back home in Gotham, but just similar enough that it made his heart ache from a sudden wave of homesickness.

"Timothy?" Lucien said gently as he noticed his travelling companion had gone quiet again. "Are you alright?"

Tim cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine, Lucien. It's just..." He glanced around himself before sighing wistfully. "It just reminds me of home." 

Though he didn't see any draugr anywhere near or on the altar, Tim still kept his bow at the ready with an arrow nocked and ready to fly as he went up the stairs. However, as he came upon the landing of the altar area, Tim paused. 

"Do you hear that?"

Lucien followed closely behind Tim. "Hear what? The waterfall?"

Tim shook his head as he looked around warily. "No... It sounds like... chanting?" He tried to follow the source of the sound, and found himself being turned toward a giant stone wall full of what looked like a foreign language carved into it, similar to cuneiform. 

It was... odd... Those letters looked almost, familiar?

Slowly, almost as if in a trance, Tim walked toward the wall, and the chanting seemed to get louder in his head. 

"Timothy? Is something there?" Lucien asked, though his voice sounded very far away to Tim as he lowered his bow and put his arrow back in its quiver to free up one hand. 

"This... This word," Tim murmured as his gaze focused completely on three strange jagged letters. "I think... I know this word..." The letters seemed to glow invitingly on the stone wall as he traced the jagged marks with his fingertips. "Fff... Uuu...Sss... Fus?" Tim drew his back as the chanting suddenly stopped, and there was nothing but the sound of the cave around him. He glanced around himself and at the rest of the writing on the wall, but none of the other letters made any sense to him.

"I didn't know you could read dragon language script." Lucien said curiously.

Tim looked back at him, clearly confused. "I... I can't. I mean... I've never see this language before in my life."

Lucien took a closer look at the three-letter word Tim had been drawn to on the wall. "But you read this one?"

"The word is 'Fus,'" Tim admitted. "I think... it means 'Force'?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he had a sudden headache. "But I don't know how I know that." 

Lucien looked between the word wall and Tim and then back again. "Don't worry about it right now. I'll take some notes and try to write down all these glyphs in my journal before we leave. I think the library in the museum may have a book or two on how to translate dragon language text. We can study this at our leisure once we're done exploring the Barrow. Why don't you look around for that Dragonstone you came here for? This may take me awhile."

As Lucien pulled out his journal and pencil again, Tim turned to the altar itself. There were a couple of tables, pottery, and a large chest. He began to fish around for his lockpicks. If the Dragonstone was anywhere, it was probably in that chest.

Suddenly, the top of what he thought was a table exploded upward and off the altar. It wasn't a table at all, but a coffin! The lockpicks were instantly forgotten and Tim grabbed an arrow instead. "Lucien! Draugr!" he yelled as he fired an arrow at the undead creature as he tried to backpedal away from it.

Tim fired a couple more arrows at the draugr, but this one seemed stronger than the others they'd fought earlier. Lucien tried cast a fire spell on the draugr, but suddenly the creature opened its mouth and...

"FUS.. RO... DA!" it shouted at Lucien and Tim. An invisible but strong pulse slammed into them both. Lucien was knocked off his feet and Tim just barely held his ground. 

In the end, the lack of intelligence the draugr seemed to possess was how they won the day. Rather than focus on Tim, who was still armed and partially upright, the draugr turns its full attention on Lucien, who was still recovering from being knocked back to the ground. Before the creature could get to Lucien, Tim lined up one more arrow on the monster and sent it flying. The projectile struck the draugr straight in the middle of its chest and down it finally went, the light fading from its eyes.

"Lucien! Are you alright?" Tim rushed over to check on the scholar.

"Go on an expedition to Skyrim, they said." Lucien grumbled sarcastically as he held his head while getting to his feet. "It'll be fun, they said." He pulled out a healing potion and drained it like a shot. "There won't be any horrible Ancient Nordic zombies, they said." Lucien leaned heavily against the wall with a sigh.

Tim looked at him for a moment in silence, then started laughing. 

Lucien looked at him like he'd gone completely off his rocker. "Are you... laughing at me?"

Tim shook his head as he calmed down and wiped some tears that had escaped his eyes with his hand. "No. No. It's just..." He snickered as he tried to get a hold of himself. "Things have been so bad lately, and I honestly wasn't sure we were going to make it, but we're still alive." Tim sat down on the ground next to Lucien and leaned against the wall. "I'm just so relieved."

Lucien sighed went over the examine the draugr more closely. "True. that was quite the battle. Slightly terrifying. Glad we didn't die. Oh! And look," The scholar found something attached to the draugr's armor. He pried it off and offered it to Tim. "Now you have a fancy rock!"

Tim took the stone and examined it curiously. On one side was what looked like a map of Skyrim with specific locations marked off with stars. On the other side was text in that same dragon script as on the wall, though this time Tim couldn't read any of it. "I guess this is the Dragonstone..."

***

The pair rested for a bit before finally moving onward. Lucien finished taking several pages of notes about the draugr, altar, and word wall. He also made a couple of rubbings of the Dragonstone for his own research. Tim in the meantime picked the lock of the chest and found it quite full of treasure. Septims, jewels, armor, and even an enchanted weapon. Once their bags were loaded up with all that they could carry without injuring themselves, they followed a stairwell and a path that eventually, finally led them out of the Bleak Falls Barrow and back into the wilds of Skyrim without any trouble at all.

-------------------------

Warning: This is being pantsed more than plotted, and this is not beta read. We'll see where this journey takes us. Mostly I'm just doing this for my own amusement.

Note1: If you have any questions about the playthrough and Tim's feelings/experiences that aren't described in the chapters, please ask me in the comments. I'll do my best to answer your questions as best I can.

Note2: And so ends Lucien and Tim's first excursion into a draugr-infested dungeon. Rest assured, it will not be their last.

Writing out this dungeon crawl took a lot longer than I had anticipated, but I think I'm quite happy I was able to record my adventure with Tim and Lucien in this fashion in Skyrim!

I can't wait to write more things between Tim and Luci as they become even better friends!

#elder scrolls dc#fanfiction#tim drake#skyrim fanfiction#batfam fanfic#red robin#batfam#crossover#lucien flavius#wip#afewnovelideas

[bigbadredpanda]

Mo Dao Zu Shi Chapter 126 - Yunmeng (part 3)

As promised, the “Put a ring on it” part is here and we still have one more to go!

Make sure to read parts 1 and 2 before so you don’t miss any cuteness :)

(i) Shuttlecock (ii) Restaurant (iii) Ring toss (iv) Boat

A big thank you to everyone who posted a kind comment or tag in the previous parts! (˵ ´♡ `˵ )

After leaving the restaurant, the two of them strolled for a while until they heard a clamour ahead. Many people were crowding around a stall where a multitude of small objects were displayed. Each one in turn tossed a ring towards the stall.

Wei Wuxian spoke, “This is good.” Pulling Lan Wangji to where the stallholder was standing aside, he took the three proffered rings, “Lan Zhan, have you ever played ring toss?”

Lan Wangji shook his head, Wei Wuxian said, “You have never played anything. Let me explain to you, it’s very simple. You take one of these rings, take some steps back and throw it around an object. Whatever is encircled is yours.”

Lan Wangji repeated, “Whatever is encircled is mine.”

Wei Wuxian, “Exactly. What do you want? No matter which one you want, I’ll win it for you.”

Lan Wangji, “As you please.”

Wei Wuxian wrapped his arm around Lan Wangji’s shoulders and gave a tug to the tail of his forehead ribbon, “Hanguang-Jun, make an effort, you’re making me lose face here.”

Lan Wangji said seriously, “Whichever you win will please me.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him blankly, “You… How can you be like this in public?”

Lan Wangji did not understand, “Like how?”

Wei Wuxian, “You are teasing me.”

Lan Wangji’s expression remained unperturbed, “I am not.”

Wei Wuxian, “You are! All right then, I’ll win for you… that one, yes that one will do!”

He pointed at a large white porcelain tortoise displayed in the far back. Having said that, he took several steps back. When he was distant of one zhang [1], the stallholder gestured at him while calling out, “Enough, that’s far enough!”

But Wei Wuxian answered back, “No, not yet.”

The stallholder hollered, “Young master, you’re standing too far away. If you miss your toss, don’t blame me and demand your money back afterwards!”

Wei Wuxian, “I’m not standing that far, you’re the one who should be worried about losing your shirt!”

The crowd roared with laughter, “This young master sure is confident!”

This kind of minor game of skill seemed straightforward but the various objects on the ground were spread some distance apart and one needed to carefully exercise control over one’s strength. It was no small feat for ordinary people. However, for a cultivator this was child’s play. If he stood too close, where would be the fun? Wei Wuxian retreated further away and deliberately turned his back to the stall, drawing hoots of laughter from the crowd. Wei Wuxian weighed for a bit the hoop in his hand and the next moment, threw it behind him. The hoop fell effortlessly on the porcelain tortoise, neatly encircling its head.

The stallholder and the crowd were all rendered speechless. Wei Wuxian turned his head to look and a smile spread across his face. Raising the two remaining rings in his hand, he asked Lan Wangji, “Want to try?”

Lan Wangji, “All right.”

He walked to Wei Wuxian’s side, “Which do you want?”

There were no items of value in this small street stall, they were all roughly crafted and only looked decent at a distance. The large porcelain tortoise Wei Wuxian had just encircled could be considered the best looking item of the lot. Wei Wuxian looked at the stall, the closer he examined, the more he thought the objects were all actually rather ugly. None took his fancy and he was hard-pressed to choose any of them. Suddenly, he glimpsed a particularly ugly stuffed donkey. It was so ugly that once seen you could not ignore it. Delighted, he said, “That one isn’t bad, it looks just like Little Apple. Come on, I want that one.”

Lan Wangji nodded, stepped back one zhang further than Wei Wuxian and also turned his back. With unfailing precision, the ring encircled its target.

The crowd burst into thunderous applause. Lan Wangji turned his head to look at Wei Wuxian who was laughing heartily. Wei Wuxian went to the stall and clutched the little donkey under his arm. Clapping loudly, he exclaimed, “Come on, once more!”

Lan Wangji was still holding a ring, he carefully weighed it for a while before throwing it behind him. This time, he immediately turned round to look.

After his toss, there were cries of disappointment all around. The trajectory of the ring was crooked, missing the stall completely, but instead the ring fell neatly on Wei Wuxian, encircling him.

Wei Wuxian was initially stunned and then he couldn’t help laughing. Although everyone in the crowd thought it was a pity, one after another they offered words of consolation, “Not bad!”, “That’s right, you managed to encircle several.”, “How amazing!”.

The stallholder looked upwards in profound relief, letting out a sigh. He came over and gave a thumb up, “True, that was really impressive. The young master spoke true, if I gave you more rings to toss, I would really lose my shirt!”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “That’s all right, I know you dare not let us play some more. We had our fun, didn’t we? Lan Zhan, come on, let’s go.”

The stallholder amiably said, “Take care.”

After the two of them disappeared in the bustling crowd, walking side by side, the stallholder suddenly recalled, “The third ring! They didn’t give it back to me!!”

Wei Wuxian carried the tortoise in his left hand and held the donkey under his right arm. After walking for a bit, he spoke, “Lan Zhan, how come I didn’t find out earlier that you held such thoughts?”

Lan Wangji took the heavy porcelain tortoise from him. Wei Wuxian removed the ring around his neck and put it on his head, “Don’t pretend you didn’t understand my meaning. I know you’re doing that on purpose.”

Lan Wangji single-handedly held up the large porcelain tortoise, “When we return, where will it be put?”

Wei Wuxian was genuinely stumped by the question.

This tortoise was both large and heavy. The craftsmanship was nothing to boast about and the head looked extremely foolish. It could only be called cute reluctantly. Upon closer inspection, Wei Wuxian saw that the craftsman did a thoroughly sloppy job, the tortoise’s bean-like eyes appeared to be crossed. In short, no matter how you looked at it, it was completely incompatible with the Cloud Recesses. Where should it be put, that was a good question.

Wei Wuxian gave it some thought, “In the Jingshi?”

He shook his head repeatedly as soon as he spoke, retracting his suggestion, “The Jingshi is only fit for playing the guqin and burning incense. A place to find peace of mind while wisps of sandalwood smoke curl in the air. To put that big tortoise there is an eyesore.”

Hearing him referring to the Jingshi as ‘a place only fit for playing the guqin and burning incense to find peace of mind’, Lan Wangji gave him a look as if he wanted to say something.

Wei Wuxian continued, “But if it’s put somewhere else in Cloud Recesses beside the Jingshi, someone will immediately throw it away.”

Lan Wangji nodded in silence.

Wei Wuxian ruminated for a while, it would have been unreasonable to blurt out, ‘Let’s secretly put it in your uncle’s room without saying we did it’. He slapped his thigh, “I know. We’ll simply put it in the Orchid Room [2].”

Lan Wangji pondered a bit before asking, “Why the Orchid Room?”

Wei Wuxian, “You don’t get it. When you lecture Sizhui and Jingyi in the Orchid Room, if you are asked a question about it, you can tell them that this big porcelain tortoise was specially commissioned to commemorate that time you beheaded the Tortoise of Slaughter. A mysterious craftsman with an eccentric side personally made it. Its true meaning contains profound wisdom. It’s intended as an incentive for the young disciples of your Gusu Lan Sect to revere the heroic bearing of their seniors and to exhort them to improve themselves. Although the Tortoise of Slaughter is already dead, there is still the Bird of Carnage, the Tiger of Cruelty, the Dragon of Bloodthirstiness [3] and so on awaiting them. In order to surpass their predecessors, they must prepare for such a tremendously world-shaking undertaking.”

“…”

“How’s that?”

After a long silence, Lan Wangji finally spoke, “Very well.”

Consequently, a few days later, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi and the other juniors were receiving Hanguang-Jun’s guidance. They raised their heads and they could see a crudely crafted large porcelain tortoise with a lifeless look in its eyes lying behind Lan Wangji on his writing desk.

Out of some kind of unspeakable awe, not a single one actually ventured to ask what it was doing there. Therefore the story remained untold…

Having added several trophies from their expedition to their Qiankun sleeves, the two of them retired after their accomplishments.

Translator’s notes

[1] The zhang is a traditional unit of length. 1 zhang is 3.33 meters or 3.65 yards.

[2] The Orchid Room is the classroom in Cloud Recesses.

[3] The Tortoise of Slaughter that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji encountered is a monstrous version of the mythical Black Turtle, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese Constellations together with the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird. Wei Wuxian is basically coming up with ferocious monsters named after these other mythical creatures.

[randomfandomimagine]

Sunshine in the Moonlight. Chapter 21, Epilogue: The Big Day

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Pairing: Prompto x Alexandria (OC)

Previous Chapter - Chapter Index

Wattpad - AO3

Tagging list: @toranyx, @prince-of-wind, @ghadah1421

A/N: This is the last chapter, and I just wanna thank everyone who read, liked, reblogged and commented on the story. I really had so much fun writing it and developing the characters and just somehow interacting with that universe was amazing, so thank you for sharing this experience with me making it even more special :P Please enjoy reading the last of the story and let me know what you think about it! :3

“Alex? Xanders!” The familiarity of that voice was comforting. “Alex, p-please say something. Anything”

It was disturbing to sense so much pain and sadness in that otherwise upbeat voice. Why was he so heartbroken?

“What happened?” I uttered weakly, feeling like even separating my eyelids was tiring.

I opened my eyes, however, and was received with a comforting pair of blue eyes very close to me. But there were tears in them, they were drowned in fright and concern. Until my eyes locked with him and relief washed through them in the blink of an eye.

“Alex!! Oh, Gods!” A strangled noise came from Prom’s throat as he urgently held me against his chest, so tight that I could barely breathe. “I thought I lost you!”

Ignis’ familiar sigh sounded next to him. His trembling hand fell upon my shoulder.

“I would venture to say that you’re to give up your vitality in order to maintain the light” He said, even if his voice was low and slightly broken.

“Kid, you almost gave me a freaking heart attack” Gladio heavily sighed as well, taking a hand to his chest. “The scares you give me!”

I weakly smiled as Prompto helped me sit up against his torso. His arms wrapped around me stronger than ever, in the neediest embrace we exchanged so far. When he buried his face in my neck, I could have sworn he was sobbing. He was definitely shaking.

I looked up to the other figure worriedly looking down to me. Noctis. Alive.

“Is that the pri… king?” I extended a hand that he gently took. “That’s it, I did it”

“Yeah, you did it alright” He replied, almost reprimanding me. “Something stupid, that’s what you did!”

“I hate you so much for scaring me like this, Xanders…” Prompto whispered against my skin, forcing me to chuckle awkwardly as he hadn’t heard a word anyone else said.

“But I’m alive…” Honestly, I expected to reunite with Regis and Lady Lunafreya.

“It is still a sacrifice, Alexandria” Ignis stated, taking me by my free hand.

Specs tried to pull me up, but Prompto held tighter on to me, claiming me. He sniffled through his nose and pressed his face closer against me.

“Okay…” He gave in after a brief moment. “You can hug her, but then I get to hug her again”

Still resting my back against his chest while he uncovered his face from the crook of my neck, I lovingly caressed his cheek with the back of my hand.

I didn’t know for how long I was unconscious for, but I definitely scared them very badly.

Between Noctis and Ignis, I was pulled to my feet only when Prompto’s arms allowed them to. Once my legs had to hold up all my weight, I wobbled due to a sudden and strong dizzy spell.

Their hands on mine, as well as Gladio’s on my back, steadied me before Prompto could recover quickly enough to realize what was happening.

“I thought Prompto here was the only one that did stupid things” The big guy said with a grin.

“That is debatable” Ignis humored him, squeezing my hand before letting go of it.

“She got it from me” Prompto said in an emotional high-pitched voice, just recovered from his sobbing.

The three of them hugged me at once, making me feel welcome. Making me feel lucky that my sacrifice had paid off. That thanks to Regis I was spared with my life, even though paying a great price in spite of it all. I was exhausted beyond belief, a state that I assumed would accompany me for the rest of my life.

Too impatient to wait until I was relieved from their embrace, Prompto joined as the five of us met for a group hug.

Ardyn was gone. We were all alive and well. The light was restored to the world.

For once, we were allowed to be happy.

  The coronation ceremony made me jittery. It was a big occasion yet there was absolutely no reason for me to be restless or nervous. I wasn’t the one who would have everyone’s attention on them. Although it was my first day as an official Crownsguard, perhaps that explained it. Or should I say Crownsguard slash Kingsglaive? Because I was wearing the uniform of the latter.

I took a deep breath as I looked at my reflection in the mirror and adjusted my outfit. I wondered where Iggy had gone with the crown. Where was Prompto? And Gladio as well? I felt so vulnerable there alone!

A hand heavily patted my back, answering one of those questions. I saw Gladio’s reflection in the mirror as he positioned himself behind me and placed a hand over my shoulder.

“Nervous, princess?”

“Terrified, actually” I sighed, nibbling on my lip as I examined myself in search for anything in my appearance that I should fix. “Bet you’re restless too!”

“Not even one bit” He seemed cool as a cucumber. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

His playful and jokingly smug attitude got me to smile, breathing out and calming my nerves slightly.

“Here’s the prettiest girl in Eos!” Another person rushed into the room, winking an eye at me and hugging me from behind. “How ya doing, sweetie pie?”

I was endeared by one of the most recent nicknames Prom started calling me. He always came up with them, and each one was cuter.

Knowing cheesiness ensued with the pair of us, Gladio held his hands up in refusal and quickly got away from us. We sometimes took advantage of his reaction to our cutesy couple things to get a good laugh out of it.

“Trying not to panic”

“Don’t even worry” Prompto lively stood next to me, there where Gladio was a moment ago, and smiled at me from the reflection. “You’ll do great, baby”

His arms sneaked around my waist and pulled me against his side, a habit that he developed since I used to get too weak and tired to stand on my own sometimes. One of the disadvantages of putting the ring of the Lucii on that one time. Now that I was to use all my vitality to serve the kingdom just like Noct, I understood him more. I too wished to nap non stop as I felt extremely weak and tired. Yet even when it got to the point that I would unexpectedly faint, it was worth it in the end as it made the big day possible.

The moment I put the ring on felt like a lifetime ago, even if it happened around one month in the past.

Prompto caught me with my guard down when he kindly tickled my sides, causing me to sink to his side. Tickling me was his go-to technique to get me to smile when I was distraught, and it was quite an endearing gesture.

He chuckled as I turned around to be face to face with him.

“I can suddenly get one of my faltering moments and fall over, or even swoon!” I openly voiced my worries, trusting him entirely to do so.

“People know about them, so it’s fine” Prompto kissed me in the cheek to encourage me. “And besides, we’ll get you if that happens”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just walk calm and slow. You’ll be okay, cutiepie!”

 “I guess…” I tilted my head to the side, still not too convinced. “It’s just that they gave me such an important task… carry the crown, no less!”

“Yes, you’ve been given that honor because you made the coronation possible in the first place!” I blushed slightly at the praising. Surely, one of them would have done so for Noctis if I hadn’t.

“But what if do I fall, Prom?” I locked eyes with him, hoping their softness would provide me with serenity and comfort. Which they did, as usual.

“I won’t let you fall” His arms held me tightly as his lips gently met with mine.

“I believe you already have Prompto to help you…” Ignis’ voice interrupted our kiss. We urgently pulled away out of respect as soon as he announced his presence.

“H-Hey, Igster!” Prom cleared his throat, as he sometimes behaved around him awkwardly, as though Ignis was actually my older brother. He definitely could be overprotective as one. “Just… y’know… chatting with Xanders over here”

“Not quite what I heard from here” The man walked towards us, confident yet playful.

“I was just leaving anyway” Prompto was flustered by his presence and the fact that he caught us kissing. Wasn’t he adorable?

Indeed, my boyfriend hurriedly left the room to give us some time alone. Ignis surely had words of his own to dedicate me.

“He will never replace you, Iggy” I quickly told my best friend. “No one can”

“I certainly hope so, darling” He flashed me a sober and tiny smile.

Without saying anything else, he offered me something in his hands. A small red cushion with black ornaments, containing the official coronation crown. It wasn’t the usual Lucis crown, as this one resembled the more traditional circular and golden one. Noct would wear his actual kingly crown on a daily basis, the one like his father’s that only occupied one side of his head. The one displayed in the red cushion was solely for the coronation.

“It is time” Ignis encouraged me upon noticing I wasn’t taking it.

“Of course” Gingerly, I picked it up and carried it carefully.

I was to deliver the crown to the king in order to initiate the coronation ceremony. I had rehearsed my movements countless times. Upon delivering the crown, I would walk over to the side of the throne where my other three friends would be waiting for me. To represent the king’s personal bodyguards.

“I am so proud of you, Alexandria” Unexpectedly, Ignis left a fraternal kiss on my head that nearly made me drop the cushion and crown. “I always knew you would achieve great things, being the extraordinary young woman you are”

“I-Iggy…” I whined, in a way that reminded myself of Prompto. “Noct is the one to be complimented today, not me”

He let out a soft yet genuine chuckle that passed on to me as well.

“I suppose so, Alex”

“Psst!” A disheveled mop of blond hair stuck out at the door. “Guys, we’re up!”

Ignis solemnly nodded and walked over to the door, which Prompto held open for him. Then he fidgety came in and gave me the brightest smile to cheer me up.

“Nervous, sunshine?” I asked him, feeling like the crown weighted a lot in my hands even though it actually was quite light.

“A little” He coolly shrugged one shoulder. “But I’m more excited than anything”

“Me too” Too see Noct finally wearing his crown, owning what was rightfully his after such an arduous and long struggle… it was… exhilarating.

“For luck!” Prom lovingly smacked his lips in mine before running off the room, making me grin out of fondness and adoration.

Taking a deep breath, I pictured in my head the scene we had rehearsed. Gladio, the Shield, was to lead the way. After that followed Ignis, the royal advisor. Prompto was right behind, and I would followed after him. I nodded to myself, knowing I wouldn’t ruin such a special moment if my friends were there standing by me. Having my back.

The door was open, so I went through the threshold and immersed myself in the throne room where thousands of people stood expectantly. I could see Iris, and Talcott. Even Cid and Cindy!

I remembered Prom’s advice and walked slowly behind him, noticing how he subtly looked over his right shoulder to check on me. I had to conceal a smile because of that.

The throne at the other end of the room seemed to be so far away, especially to my weakened body, but we eventually got to the staircase that led to it. Like we had rehearsed, while my friends walked up the steps to stand next to the throne, I walked closer to Cor. The Marshall took the crown from me with a head nod and turned around to Noctis, who gracefully stood before everyone at the end of the stairs.

On cue, I walked the steps to meet with my friends and faced the crowd, holding my head up with dignity. And trying not to make too obvious how emotional I got when I saw Noct.

I occupied my established spot between Ignis and Prompto. The latter wrapped an arm around me again, taking advantage that we stood so close to each other that no one would notice. That day it wasn’t too bad, but I did feel quite faint and so I appreciated his thoughtful gesture. Ignis’ hand also found its way to the middle of my back and reassuringly rested there as well. And I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of a wink coming from Gladio. I felt safe as long as my friends stood by me. Protective as always.

Footsteps resonated against the entire throne room as Cor approached the king. He had been given the task to put the crown on the new king by Noct himself. After all, Cor ‘The Immortal’ had been a loyal servant to Regis before Noctis as well. And I could see the pride and joy in his eyes as he prepared to crown Noctis.

“I hereby pronounce you Noctis Lucis Caelum, king of Lucis” Cor proclaimed out loud, with a clear and grave voice that gave me chills.

I observed Noctis, beaming with pride.

Anyone can be a prince, it is nothing but an heir. A king on the other hand must earn his title, show his strength and morals. And Noct had done many great things to be called king.

“Long live the King!” Ignis initiated the chant, which people soon joined.

I could hear Gladio’s potent voice louder than anyone’s as he chanted those four words as well. His eyes were shining with fulfillment when I looked at him.

Prompto’s voice broke next to me as he fought with himself to get over the emotional cracks coming from his throat.

I just was overwhelmed with emotion as I chanted along with everyone, but stopped when his eyes fell on us. Noctis dedicated me that sweet but mischievous smirk I knew so well.

“Long live the king…” I whispered with happy tears in my eyes. “You will be a great one, King Noctis”

THE END

[dennou-translations]

Violet Evergaden: Chapter 11

Please feel free to message me about possible corrections. If you can, support the creators by buying the official releases here.

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The Auto-Memories Dolls’ holiday was ending peacefully.

How to spend the end of summer was mostly commonplace – watching the trees outside by the windowsill during the morning, taking strolls with an umbrella around the neighborhood at noon, reading books under the shade of trees at evening, and preparing for the next journey at night. When no one was looking, she would dismantle and reconstruct guns, as well as throw knives at leaves falling from trees in order not to let her arms become lax. But essentially, she was enveloped in serenity. That was the result of her adoptive mother’s influence in treating her like a child.

There were not many who would purposefully attempt to break her silence in the first place. After all, she was someone who instilled the feeling of nervousness in others. She had a reticent and cold beauty. She could cause time and the people in her surroundings to naturally stop.

“Violet. You... are coming with me.”

She was not someone suitable to invite to play.

The Flying Letters and the Auto-Memories Doll (Part 1)

Located in a narrow street away from the main avenue of Leidenschaftlich’s capitol city, Leiden, a lone building protruded, reigning amongst several small shops lined up together. The CH Postal Service was a fairly new company that had just entered the mail industry. A spire with a light green dome-shaped roof and a weather-bird on top could be considered the mark of said postal company. Surrounding the spire was a dark green roof, and the outer walls were made of red bricks that had been sunburned into a tasteful hue. On the arch-shaped entryway, where the agency’s name was printed onto a steel plate in golden letters, there was a bell that produced a merry sound whenever the doors were opened, so as to announce the arrival of customers. Inside the building, a counter could be seen right upon entry, which was specifically the reception desk of delivery items.

There were three floors; the first one was the postal reception, the second was the office and the spire of the third floor was the president’s residence. Currently, on the second floor, the employees of the office were challenging themselves while working desperately.

There was a date called the “closing day” in the company. During it, all transactions, reports related to them, invoices, proofs of payment and everything else involving the operation of the company were neatly cleared up for the month. For the clerks, it was a day of painful battling, as the closing work was added to their regular work.

“You said we’d go together, and that you’d take me there...” Amidst the scene of arduous fighting stood a young woman, directing a reproachful and depressed gaze at Hodgins. She tightly held onto the hem of her clothes and bit her lip as if to assert, “I am pissed”.

She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and full of mature appeal. She wore an open bustier, which displayed her rich chest without any reserve whatsoever and was connected to her shoulder-to-elbow charcoal gray inner garment. She also had on a beads choker, a pendant, bangles, hand chain bracelets and rings made of precious metals. Her leather hot-pants were dyed blue and had golden embelishments. Her embroidery thread garter belt consisted of geometrical patterns and decorated only the bare skin from the middle of her tights to her knee-high boots. She was a person whose everything, from her outfit to her glossy beauty, was poison to the eyes. However...

“No way, no way! If you’re not taking me, I don’t want to go.”

...her actions were that of a child. She was stomping her feet.

“No, I mean, even if you say that, Cattleya...” Claudia Hodgins, the president of the CH Postal Service, smiled stiffly at her posture. “Look at this mountain of paperwork. It feels like it’s gonna hit me.”

On Hodgins’s desk lay a pile of forms bearing a menace that really did seem as if they were about to deal him a blow. He was applying stamps to them while speaking. His examination and approval were definite requirements for the various documents made by clerks. Perhaps because he blindly trusted the clerks, or because he lacked the will to read, he was simply pushing the papers over without confirming their contents.

“President Hodgins, give the documentation to me once you are done with it. Please take a look at these too.”

The conversation was interrupted. A stack of paperwork was added to the pile.

“Ah, sorry, Little Lux. Did you confirm them all?”

The one who had come in-between Cattleya and Hodgins was a girl with an innocent face. She had lavender-gray hair trimmed slickly above her shoulders. Although she wore glasses, upon a closer look, one would be able to see that the color of her eyes was different on each side. It was a conservative stereotype, but the scarf around her neck and gold berretta attached to the side of her head were subtle traits of a professional lady.

“I did. The ones that were revised are tagged. Please check them.”

Lux Sibyl, the girl who used to be worshipped as a demigod by a religious group in an isolated island, was now working uprightly at the CH Postal Service.

“Thank you. My secretary is the best. Even as an understatement, I love you.”

Lux replied with a hopeless expression to the lady-killer wink shot at her, “Enough of flattery, just please get your... get your arm moving. If only I had stopped you that time... Going on a trip with a stage actress, of all things... It was so obvious that you’d soon break up anyways... That time... if only I...”

“How cruel. You just hurt my heartbroken self even more, Little Lux...”

“If only I had made you do your work even if I had to tie you down, this wouldn’t have...”

Since his secretary was acting as though she had become involved in some incident and was inconsolable, Hodgins regained his seriousness. “I’m sorry. I’ll buy a stamping machine.”

Lux then spoke to Cattleya as if imploring, “And Cattleya. Please... don’t try to do anything to stop President Hodgins. Everyone’s clocking-out depends on President Hodgins’s progress. I want to leave as soon as possible today...”

The clerks that were silently doing their jobs nodded in unison at Lux’s words. For them, the time they would be set free from the office on that day was an extreme matter of life and death. Cattleya had been pretending not to notice it, but a concentrated pressure from withering occasional stares and voice tones pierced her back with an unsaid “those who intend to meddle should leave”.

“What’s with that...? Getting so stuck-up just because you’re the secretary. President’s secretary... how unfair. I wanna be a secretary too.”

“Cattleya, you’re an Auto-Memories Doll, right? Isn’t that better? ‘Getting stuck-up’, you say... I was just stating that though you may be on your day off, we are in the middle of work.”

Despite having a young appearance, on the inside, Lux had grown into a completely capable secretary. After having fled from the religious organization, she did her best to repay Hodgins and the company that had taken her in.

“President, leave the snacks for when you’re done with the documents.”

Hodgins’s hand, which had been attempting to take something from his desk’s drawer, retracted.

“What’s with that? What’s with that? What’s with that?! Days off aren’t defined for Auto-Memories Dolls, so there’s no helping it, right?”

Cattleya was willing to continue the quarrel, but before she realized it, Lux was answering the phone. The look in the latter’s eyes said “sorry about that”.

“I get it.”

It was obvious at first glance that everyone in the company was busy. She was also aware that she was disturbing them.

Nevertheless, not aiming to give up, the Auto-Memories Doll Cattleya showed a printed pamphlet to Hodgins, who had turned into the aforementioned stamping machine. “But it’s only once a year... that we can take part in the ‘Flying Letters’. I... I already wrote a letter, and I didn’t invite anyone else because President had said he would be taking me. I don’t want to go by myself. Attending a festival alone... isn’t that like a punishment?”

The words “Seventh Aeronautical Exhibition” were written in the pamphlet. Said exhibition would be held in the maneuvering area of the Leidenschaftlich army’s Air Force. It seemed to consist of aerial maneuver demonstrations and public displays of the army and the navy’s planes, as well as private ones gathered by volunteers. The “Flying Letters” that Cattleya had talked about was one of the programs. So-called “letters of encouragement to whomever picks them”, collected from civilians, would be scattered from the sky by elite pilots chosen from the army and navy. It was a romantic event, in which the participants were stimulated to send inspirational messages to the strangers that would pick their letters, as well as to themselves. It was the only festival on the continent in which letters fell from the sky. As the description stated that the sixth exhibition had happened several years before, it seemed the festival had been canceled for some time due to intensified wars.

She brought the pamphlet closer as if to make Hodgins kiss it, causing him to sneeze.

“See, I want to go too, Cattleya. But I had forgotten that today was the closing day...”

Cattleya’s eyebrows withdrew. Her amethyst orbs swerved with sadness. Her attitude was similar to a dog cub crying dejectedly.

A feeling of guilt grew within Hodgins. “Don’t make such a face, my cute lady. The festival involved in the exhibition will go on until nighttime, so I can join on the way. I mean, I also want to let my employees clock out early and go to the festival. But we won’t make it in time for the Flying Letters... I think. Well, I don’t know, but yeah, most likely.”

“I will... be alone until then?”

“Benedict... is... in the middle of deliveries, after all.”

“Never mind him. Why are you mentioning his name?” Her face going red, Cattleya attempted to overturn Hodgins’s desk. It was a strength that could never be imagined to come from those slender arms.

Hodgins hastily held back the desk. “Calm down, Cattleya. I get it. The only other available person close to your age is... Little Lux. Show me the business schedule of the employees.”

Although she was in the middle of a phone call, Lux handed Hodgins a notebook while talking cheerfully. The operational plans of the employees were registered in it.

Hodgins grinned. It was because he had found someone who seemed to be in a convenient condition. “Aah, Little Violet is off-duty.”

“Eh?” A slight rejection could be noted in Cattleya’s voice.

The mansion was located beyond a path of trees. Ruling among flowerbeds of extravagant colors with plants of several varieties in a luxurious and carefully tended lawn, as well as a farm growing seasonal vegetables, was the Evergarden residence, of which Patrick Evergarden was the current head. It was closer to being a castle than a manor. It had chalky white walls and an ultramarine roof. Its architecture was elegant and well-balanced, wholly symmetrical on both sides, from the spires to the windows.

As a gardener sighted Cattleya’s figure while she passed by, he shouted, “Miss Cattleya Baudelaire, right?”

Due to Hodgins having talked to them in advance, the gardener had accompanied her from the gates to the mansion, and once she arrived at the porch, a butler welcomed her.

“She will be here soon.”

As she waited with nothing to do in an anteroom, before long, Violet Evergarden appeared, just as the butler had said. “Cattleya...?”

It was not only because the massively thick red carpet tended to erase footsteps. Violet had showed herself without making a sound, dressed differently from her usual Auto-Memories Doll outfit. Her hair was loosely tied to one side and a flower ornament dangled next to her face. The word “lovely” was perfect to describe her neat, white one-piece with blue flower patterns. The small flowers were not simply dispersed, but had been designed to fall the way down from the top of her shoulders and middle of her chest. As Leidenschaftlich’s climate was still warm even though summer was ending, it seemed that one would be fine with just a dress, yet she wore a dark blue cardigan as well. It was probably meant to hide her artificial arms. The same old brooch stood on her chest.

“Heh, so you normally dress like this. It’s kinda like a... young mistress? Pretty cute. How nice.”

Violet replied, “It is my foster mother’s taste. More importantly, did something happen?” Her blue eyes seemed to say, “What is the matter that caused you to come all the way to my house? Answer quickly.”

“Yeah, kinda...”

Cattleya recalled her conversation with Hodgins. The hand that had been applying stamps had stopped for once, and he had told her how to coax Violet, who was someone shrouded in mystery, “Listen, if you’re going to persuade Little Violet... you gotta say that... it’s a mission given to her by me.”

He had seemed confident. Indeed, Violet gave off an impression of obedience and chastity whenever she spoke to Hodgins. However, it was in a different manner than how she probably treated other people.

——Honestly, this girl is so strange.

Cattleya knew she was a former soldier. She had belonged to Leidenschaftlich’s army along with Hodgins, the man Cattleya loved dearly. Amongst the members that Hodgins, who was already an odd one himself, had gathered to work at CH Postal Service, it was not so unlikely to have someone with a past of being an ex-militant in her personal history.

However, even without taking her history into consideration, Violet was a shady one.

She never showed a smile. Her speech was polite, yet she never once flattered anybody. With that, she put a distance between herself and others, but did not show any signs of despising loneliness, and was almost as a beautiful, heartless entity made of ice. Such was how Cattleya saw her.

“You... know... this... is something that had already been decided.”

That was why she was anxious as to whether those magical words would have effect. Would Violet listen to the order of anyone other than Hodgins? Even if she did listen, would they have a fun time?

——Still, that’d be better than going to the festival alone.

Reassuring her purpose, Cattleya opened her mouth, “Violet. You... are coming with me. It’s a mission that President Hodgins gave you. Until the President joins me, accompany me to the Aeronautical Exhibition.”

After she spoke authoritatively, a few seconds of silence ensued.

The straight-laced, taciturn, unsociable-looking and beautiful ice girl blinked many times, her long lashes going up and down, before inquiring with a face that seemed to express a question mark, “A... mission?”

“Yes, a mission.”

“Is it... really a mission?”

Cattleya averted her gaze from the reflection of her own flustered figure in Violet’s limpid blue orbs. “I-If... you think it’s a lie, you can ask President about it.”

“No. Today is the closing day and he must be busy, so I will refrain from making phone calls. I understand. If it is a mission requested by the President, I will accept it.” Along with being concerned about the closing day, unlike Cattleya, she had the consideration of an adult for her workplace.

As she received consent, Cattleya soon became nervous. She had a feeling that she was talking to a machine, a fairy, or perhaps a ghost – some sort of indefinite existence that she could not reach a mutual understanding with.

“Hey, will you really go with me?”

“Yes.”

“Really, really?”

“Really, really.”

“You... sort of don’t feel like you’re alive, but you are, right?”

“I am.”

“I’m just asking this as a matter of course, but the President is very attached to you, so, are you lovers?”

“That is not it.”

“What do you think of Benedict?”

“Benedict? He has high-rank combat abilities, and also surprisingly has leadership skills.”

They were quite rude questions, yet Violet answered them seriously without showing signs of minding it.

Cattleya immediately became lively with the various replies. She let the joy take over her and started jumping on the spot. “I’m satisfied that our interests are consistent. Since it’s settled, go get ready! Tell the people of the house that you’re going out. Also, Violet, get writing paper, envelopes and a fountain pen too. We’ll participate in the Flying Letters, after all.”

“‘Flying Letters’... If I am correct, that was one of the aerial display custom programs presented to the public by the army and navy, right?”

As expected of a former soldier, she was knowledgeable.

Cattleya asked if she had ever participated, and Violet mutely shook her head. “I have never watched it, but I have been told about it as a piece of information...”

Just who had been the one to tell her? Violet did not reveal it.

“Cattleya, is there nothing else necessary other than the writing paper and etcetera? Do I have permission from President Hodgins to carry arms?”

“There’s no need for weapons. What’s with you? That’s scary.”

“You said it was a mission, so...”

Violet did not understand the limits of things, and Cattleya was sometimes perplexed by her, but thankfully, the two of them were able to go outside together.

  The maneuvering area of Leidenschaftlich’s army’s Air Force was located far away from the capitol city, Leiden. The directions to it were not too difficult. The easiest way to get from the capitol to it was either through riding shared carriages or trucks. When getting off at the stop, a forested area surrounded by trees would be on sight. It was a place so full of greenery that it would cause people who were accustomed to cities to become worried for a second as to where they had ended up at, but there was nothing to fear. Crossing a paved forest road while relying on signboards, they would shortly arrive at the maneuvering area, their destination.

The entry of ordinary citizens was normally prohibited, but there were no restrictions during the Aeronautical Exhibition. Authorized eating and drinking businesses established their shops around the exercise grounds and formed lined stalls. The military facility changed completely and turned into a place of festivities.

Men and women of all ages assembled at the venue. They were families of people involved in the army and navy personnel, general participants, avid airplane lovers who had come from distant places yearning to see the aerial displays, and many others. There were mostly males in the male-female ratio. Young girls like Violet and Cattleya could be considered minorities.

“Amazing, it’s so big. They normally practice here too... Look! Fighters? Are those fighters?” Cattleya did not hide her surprise at the warplanes being exhibited.

“That’s a reconnaissance plane, the Ptarmigan.” Meanwhile, Violet gave the exact name of the units. “Both the army and the navy each have Air Forces, but from the names of the planes, one can tell right away which of the two they belong to. The army names theirs after birds. It seems the navy names theirs after sea animals.”

The mysterious, beautiful women eagerly discussing about warplanes appeared peculiar to some extent.

Since the maneuver area usually functioned as a full-fledged military facility, there were many barred zones. Taking the space of the venue as a rectangular box, the exhibition of the military aircrafts was happening in the outskirts of its center. Surrounding it was a hangar, a stand-by lot for the army’s vehicles, a general resting spot for civilians, the actual headquarters of the Aeronautical Exhibition and a control tower built on its rooftop, hidden by a tent. Its inside could not be seen at all. A fence was laid around the headquarters and the control tower at a wide distance from both, and whoever was not part of the personnel was completely forbidden of entry.

One of the Aeronautical Exhibition’s highlights, which was a live coverage by the army’s publicity, was taking place at the headquarters.

“Please look at the front of the venue. Six fighters, the Sea Snakes, are raiding in. They are changing from a one-row line to a diamond-shaped battle formation. Do pay attention to this well-coordinated flight.”

The navy fighters flew over the maneuver area and passed by while showing off splendid flight techniques. As they soared, white smoke was left behind in the blue sky as a proof of their passage.

“The first pilot is Jude Bradburn from Leidenschaftlich’s Leiden. The second pilot is Henry Gardner from Bregand!”

All attendees looked up at the sky and cheered. An orchestra played music along with the heated commentaries, further enhancing the atmosphere in the place.

Cattleya opened the pamphlet that she had acquired in advance and confirmed the show time of the aircrafts currently on demonstration. Things seemed to be progressing according to the prescribed schedule. The Flying Letters were due afterwards.

She grabbed Violet, whose eyes had been stolen by the aerial maneuvers of the fighter planes, by the arm. “Hey, looks like the collecting of the Flying Letters will take a while, so let’s buy something at the stalls and watch it while eating. It seems the flight exercises will go on non-stop. Violet, is there anything you wanna eat?”

“So we are ensuring our meals? If that is the case, is it not better to go for something fitting to be conserved rather than prioritize its taste?”

Without looking at Cattleya, Violet was moving her neck to follow the units in flight. Cattleya stirred a finger close to her. As Violet turned her head, her cheek was spontaneously stabbed by said finger. It felt flaccid.

“Violet, look at me.”

Although the arm Cattleya had grasped was rigid, the cheek was soft.

——She’s enigmatic, and a bit creepy.

However, Cattleya was somewhat relieved. It was because she had come to know that girl also had soft parts.

“Please stop.”

She became happy to earn a reaction from Violet, even though it was resistance. “Don’t wanna. That’s punishment for not looking my way. Hey, I feel you’re misunderstanding it; even though this is a mission, it’s also for fun. We don’t need conserved food.”

“‘Fun’...?”

“Don’t you... sometimes seem to have fun with Lux? Like, drinking tea and all.”

“Aah, yes. We have tea together.”

“That’s it. You’re gonna do that with me. We’re gonna eat, chat, and take part in the festival. It seems everyone from the company will be done with work in a bit, so we’ll join them afterwards.”

“This is... a mission, is it not?”

“It’s a mission. A great mission. A super great mission.” Cattleya forcefully had Violet, who was making emphases and seeking confirmation, walk in the direction of the stalls.

“I would like tangible content details on exactly what sort of mission ‘having fun’ is.”

“You’re talking kinda difficult; you aren’t used to having fun, right? That’s fine, this big sis will teach it to you.”

Violet stared at their joined hands as if it were something odd. Even so, she did not shake and disentangle hers, simply following behind Cattleya like an infant bird.

The duo visited the food stalls from one end to another of the fair, buying enough to be almost unable to carry everything in their arms and sharing it with each other. They softly narrowed their eyes upon observing children run after the flying fighters, harshly waved off men who carefreely called out to them due to being two unaccompanied women, and appreciated the commentaries from the army’s press while applauding the several warplanes passing by. They also had personal experiences with playground equipment, such as merry-go-rounds and darts, at a so-called emigrational amusement park, blending with the children. Although Cattleya had primarily been on guard regarding Violet, whose personality she could not to understand, she was able to think of ways to enjoy herself with the latter due to her characteristic amicability and liveliness.

“Cattleya, please wait. Cattleya.”

“Hey, this is delicious. Really delicious. Okay, open your mouth.”

“I do not wish to eat.”

“It’s a mission, so open your mouth.”

“Are you not just thinking I will go along with anything if you say it is a mission?”

“Aaahn. Hey, it’s gonna fall. If it does, it will be your fault.”

She was surprisingly weak to pressure, and therefore, Cattleya probably thought she was cute as a girl younger than herself whom she was taking along on her stroll. Acting as an older sister, too, was something comfortable for Cattleya.

After playing around for a while, the two of them decided to take a break. Even though it was the ending of summer, exposure to sunlight for a long time outside would cause increased fatigue. They sat on a bench at the general resting place, which was covered by a large tent that blocked the Sun, so that the civilians could cool down. They were able to watch the flight drills from there.

“Still not done?”

“We do not know the precise destination of these letters. Moreover, they must be of encouragement. This calls the abilities of an Auto-Memories Doll into question.”

Violet was writing for the Flying Letters. The gathered messages would be handed over to the pilots and scattered by airplanes from above the venue. Propeller-type light planes that would serve as the letters’ deliverers had already begun collecting them. The people in charge became the center of attention, women and children swarming over them all at once. That was possibly because their fuselage of a strong yellow color shone strikingly against the blue sky.

With nothing to do as she had finished writing her letter, Cattleya decided to prod her nose into Violet’s. The other was gradually becoming better at writing mails.

Seeking responsiveness, Cattleya pouted. “Hey, nobody will know who wrote it, so you can just say whatever you like.”

“This is no good. I will redo it.” Violet tucked the letter that she had just written into an envelope. She took out a new writing paper, but looked unable to write a single character. “What did you write, Cattleya?”

As she was apparently being asked for instructions, Cattleya answered while puffing out her ample bosom even more, “‘You are lucky for picking up my letter! Something good will definitely happen to you. Even if it doesn’t, it’s not like you will die’.”

“Is this what you wrote?”

“Yeah.”

That seemed very much like Cattleya. However, it appeared not to work as advice for Violet.

“What~? Do you not write letters outside of work or something? Is it really that troubling?”

“I have long stopped writing personal letters. I only write at work.”

Although it only happened for an instant, Cattleya was taken by the slight change in Violet’s expression. She was already someone with a disposition for getting close to others, but diminished the distance between herself and Violet even more. “This topic looks interesting. Why is that? Tell me.”

Violet moved away. Cattleya came closer. Violet moved away again. In the end, the two of them wound up perfectly glued to each other at a corner of the bench.

“Why should I?”

“Because it seems appealing. Why did you stop writing? Should I try guessing? The addressee was a man, right? And also someone special. The kind of man you’d be interested in the most, save for a parent or sibling.”

“How did you know the gender?” Violet gazed directly at Cattleya for the first time.

“Your clients and mine are different. My customers are... mostly young women writing love letters. This is also the so-called ‘maidens in love’. It’s people who want to know what they should do to have a boy on the palm of their hand. Or guys who don’t understand women and want to know what they should do to make a girl look their way. I’m often asked for tips.”

“Is it not enough to simply poke her shoulder and call her name?”

“It’s not in that sense.” Cattleya flicked Violet’s forehead with her finger. “Hey, what kind of person is he? The one you like, I mean.”

“That... is not the... case.”

“So you hate him?”

“There... there is no way...”

Cattleya was unable to suppress a smile.

——What do I do? She’s so fun to tease.

Violet Evergarden – a secretive, straight-laced and expressionless taciturn. A woman made of iron, who never hesitated. She was crumbling at a single sentence from Cattleya.

“Then, isn’t there no option other than like? It’s not... the normal kind, right? That’s not what your face is saying. Don’t underestimate me. I make money out of including love consultations in my amanuensis job.”

Violet opened and closed her mouth, eyes darting to many directions, which showed she was at a loss.

——She’s like a doll that has just been given a heart. How weird.

Cattleya knew nothing of Violet’s past, and therefore merely treated her as what she was – a teenage girl.

“Hey. I said ‘hey’.”

She only wished to get along with her.

“Hey, what kind of person was he?”

She was alienated to the effects of her actions on Violet. She believed what lay inside the box that she was attempting to open was a gemstone.

“What do you call him?”

But what resided in Violet Evergarden’s heart...

“‘Major’.”

...could not be compared...

“‘Major’. Isn’t that cool? So he’s a soldier. You’re an ex-soldier, after all. How old is Major? What about his looks?”

...to a gemstone.

“I never asked. He was most likely about to become thirty years old.”

“No way. He’s much older than you. So the age difference between you two is... about the same as you and the President?”

Violet had not talked about that person for a long time.

“His hair was dark, but of a different shade than yours, Cattleya...”

She had described how he was as an individual before, but had never dug too deeply. Although he was someone that both she and Claudia Hodgins had in common, the two of them avoided touching the subject around one another.

Violet averted her eyes from the paper that she had not yet written anything on to the crowd. Soldiers wearing the purplish black uniform that she also used to were part of it. Even though the war was over, the skies had cleared and she no longer lived in the days when she did not know how to write a single word, that multitude and the clicking of military shoes brought her back to the time that she had spent in a city of lanterns.

Forever and ever, the person she pursued was only one.

“He had emerald green eyes...”

He was an extremely beautiful being.

“He took me in, raised and used me.”

The two of them were a tool and her master.

“But, he is not here anymore.”

Although she was his tool, she had failed to protect him.

“Gilbert is dead.” Hodgins’s words replayed in Violet’s head over and over, accompanied by a heaviness and agony similar to that of a curse.

“Did Major go somewhere far away?”

“Yes. He has gone far away. He has... not returned.”

“Are you still waiting?”

“Yes.”

At Cattleya’s questions, willingly or not, Violet wound up thinking…

“I am waiting.”

...about the answer to the words of that day, which she did not give, resisting it while claiming she did not understand them.

“I have been... repeatedly told to stop doing so. However, no matter what, I... I...”

“I love you.”

“I love you, Violet.”

“Are you... listening?”

“I... like you.”

“Violet, ‘love’... is...”

“‘To love’ is... to think that you want to protect someone the most in the world.”

“...find myself... waiting for Major to come.” Her face was of someone enduring pain.

That was the moment Violet showed her most humane expression out of the ones Cattleya had witnessed. A small transformation had occurred within that awkward girl. It was a quiet move, which people with abundant emotions would not consider a manifestation of feelings.

——Aah. A realization dawned within Cattleya.

They were not yet intimate. Not friends, either. It was not as if she knew anything about Violet, but she felt as though she had come to.

——He took most of the happy parts of her heart with him. Is that why she doesn’t have much emotion? Cattleya speculated.

“You... have a crush on someone who isn’t here anymore.”

Unlike what Cattleya had imagined, the bush that she had been pricking was actually the entryway to a deep forest.

“‘Crush’?”

The young woman wandering inside said forest was not even aware of how she had become lost in it – she had a blindfold on and did not know how to take it off, left alone to live through fumbling about. Cattleya thought of it as a pity. In reality, that was not a conversation they should be having at such a place.

“What is... a ‘crush’?”

The doll whose heart had been taken away – her colleague who was younger than herself – did not know what infatuation was.

“No, it’s love already.”

“‘Lo-ve’...?”

The maneuver area was more crammed than when they had arrived. The crowd was increasingly more frantic.

Cattleya pointed at the people walking by. Everyone was of differing genders and ages. Each led lives packed with hardships that could not be seen through naked eye.

“There are many types of it: fraternity, friendship, siblinghood, companionship. Yours is romantic love.”

Harmonious couples that served as examples of it were everywhere. The world overflowed with romance in a natural manner.

Yet Violet denied it. She shook her head, furrowing her brows and biting her lip. “I... cannot... fall in love.” she obstinately negated.

“You did, though.”

“No, I cannot. I do not understand it.”

As seen from the sides, they probably appeared to be having an argument. It was not a fight, yet neither of them backed a single step. One claimed it was love. The other claimed it was not. Both were running counter.

Though steeped in irritation, Cattleya still refused to give in. “Even I... can’t say for sure what something like that is. Love is uncertain, and I don’t get the romantic one very well. But I can tell when it happens. People in love would also be able to tell if they saw you. Your love is that type. Even if it’s towards a person you’re unable to see...”

Once the words “a person you’re unable to see” spilled from Cattleya’s mouth, Violet’s blue eyes quivered in sorrow. Hearing them from someone else weighed much more than saying them to herself. The expression she sometimes had on was one that would cause anybody to admonish her with a, “See, you’re making a face like that, so how come?”

“No, I cannot. I really... cannot... Major has...” still, Violet rebuffed it. Her long blond lashes were down. As Violet hung her head, her gaze went towards her own chest.

As always, her emerald green brooch lay there. It sparkled brilliantly, never fading.

“Major has...”

Even through springs of dazzling moonbows, summers of early rains, autumns of raging gold-leaf winds or winters of congealing frosty nights, just like the existence of the man named Gilbert Bougainvillea that resided within Violet, it would never fade.

“Major has passed away.” the words she whispered in that very instant were exceedingly cruel.

The clock needle between Cattleya and Violet stopped for once. That did not happen in actuality, but the two of them did not make a single movement, as if time had truly come to a halt. Their blinking and breathing was mowed by the world’s time axis for a second.

Once time finally started flowing again, Cattleya could only give a staggered reply, “E-Eh?” Her voice squeaked.

“He is dead. I was unable... to protect him... so Major... died. Even though I was his tool, shield and sword.”

Cold sweat slowly traveled down Cattleya’s back.

——Her heart was stolen... not by someone that’s just not around, but that is dead?

“That’s a joke, right?” Cattleya asked, but received no response from Violet. She failed an attempt to force a smile, which came out as a half-laugh. Her face twitched. At the indelicacy of the things that she had been saying until that point, her breath caught in her throat and she could not properly swallow her saliva. “Violet, did this person... die in the Great War?”

“Yes.”

“For real?”

“So I was told. This brooch... stayed with me as a relic.”

Ever since Cattleya had first met her, the object had been twinkling on her chest. She had witnessed Violet touching it every now and then with her artificial fingertips countless times. She had always wondered if it was some sort of protection charm.

There was a lot more that she had wanted to say in a rapid succession, yet her attitude was unwittingly precautious. Something buzzed within her.

“But, you... don’t... believe that... right?”

A thrill similar to an unpleasant presentiment crawled its way through Cattleya’s entire body. For Violet, the response to that question could be a taboo.

“Hey, answer seriously.”

As she remained silent, her profile, which Cattleya used to only see as dispassionate, was now reflected in the latter’s eyes as something solitary.

“I...”

The unpleasant disruption creeped through Cattleya’s entire being, and she wished so badly to spit it out that she could not stand it. “You... don’t believe it, right? You did say... that you were waiting for him.”

She wanted to know the answer.

“But, President Hodgins has—”

“It’s fine; tell me what you yourself think.”

“Yes...” like a criminal accepting a conviction, Violet confessed her sin, “I believe... that Major... is alive.”

Just for how long had she continuously thought about that? Perhaps she had been in such a state ever since being informed of his death. Even as she lamented in anguish, even as she attempted to destroy the hope that kept her attached to reality, she might still have denied it all, telling herself that he was alive.

“You... You...”

“What the hell are you doing?” was what Cattleya wanted to scream.

Romantically yearning for someone who was far away and blindly loving someone who was deceased were two different things. Just as with Violet and Cattleya, physical distance could be overcome with effort. However, the dead could never return.

“What you’re saying... is the same as getting your arms back!”

Simply spending her time unreasonably through doing something so fruitless, never allowing anyone else to love her beautiful self and believing in the existence of a dead person was a waste, and Cattleya wanted to lecture her into stopping immediately. There was substitution both for her arms and for the man of her affections.

“Do you plan to live like this forever from now on? You, Violet...”

“I am aware.” Violet said right away. “It is useless. There is no meaning to it. There is no gain from it. But without Major, I am the same. I have no meaning.”

“Would it be no good if it were someone else? Even if it’s hard now, he will definitely become just a memory one day, so while there’s still time...”

“No... no.” It was almost as though she were proclaiming war against everything that lived. “Major Gilbert Bougainvillea is the only one for me.”

Cattleya stiffened with her mouth agape. Perhaps because a popular unit had passed by in the sky above, cheers rose in their surroundings.

It was as if Violet was there, yet not. That was the bizarre feeling that those strong blue orbs brought about.

——What’s... with this girl? How can she manage to make people this sad, as if cutting them open?

Her values differed too much from Cattleya’s. Feelings that had nowhere to go swirled within the latter’s chest painfully.

“I understand that this conduct of mine makes people uncomfortable.”

What had she had to live through to develop so much stubbornness?

“Do ignore me. Please... leave me be.”

“You’re... an idiot, aren’t you?”

Even if it were criticized as futile and she were stigmatized as irrational for many years, she would most likely continue to believe it. Even with someone telling her “it’s no use; quit it”, she would merely cover her ears.

“Yes. I am an idiot... and a fool.”

She only desired one person.

Cattleya slapped her own forehead with one hand and growled like a dog. Thinking too much had her tremendously heated-up, and her head started to hurt. She was currently even more feverish than when coming up with phrases during amanuensis activities.

——This is no good.

Violet had always, always carried a wish.

——Even someone not so smart like me can tell.

“I want to see you, I want to see you”.

——This is like threatening to push down a child crying by a cliff.

She had been praying while firmly grasping her brooch.

——I can’t blame her.

Such idiocy was Violet Evergarden herself.

As if vomiting a silver poison, Cattleya said bitterly, “Got it. I got it. You’re... stupid, and... I think... it would be great if you cut it out... I seriously do, but I also think... there are things... that can’t... be helped.”

The shine of those blue eyes changed. “Really? President Hodgins tells me to stop it.”

She patted Violet’s shoulder with a plop. Cattleya actually wanted to side with Hodgins, but she also wanted at least herself to be Violet’s ally.

“That’s because love is necessary for living. Isn’t love like a symbol of happy things? Couples get married, and one of them dies at some point... but the other relies on the memories they have of that person; something like that. It doesn’t have to be romance... the love that you receive is never gone. Parents also count. I... ran away from home and was taken in by President Hodgins. There... were many moments of loneliness for me since I had no acquaintances here. I had terrible parents, but the times when they caressed my head... those kinds of things... whenever I was desolate, I would always end up remembering them...”

Violet, who had not known about Cattleya’s circumstances, replied with a, “Is that so?”

The two of them were now finally speaking face-to-face. Their conversation was one-sided no more.

“So love... is a... necessity?”

“It is. What do you rely on to live? You’ve had times in your life until now in which you were treated kindly, and things and words that you were happy to receive, right? It’s because they are... accumulated inside of you... that you are alive.”

“Bu... t...” Violet said in pauses, “even if I had nothing, I... would have been living.”

Cattleya tilted her head to the side. She did not understand the meaning of those words.

“Even now, I am alive. I cannot forget about Major. That is why... this is not love.”

Cattleya did not know that Violet used to live alone in an isolated island. She concluded on her own that Violet living even while having nothing referred to the period before she had met the major.

“Violet, hey.”

“That... is not my case. I am a tool, so to begin with, things of this sort that are...”

“Listen to me. A ‘tool’... what are you saying? Is it... because you’re an ex-soldier? You mean warriors are tools? Aren’t you... being rude to the people who protected this country?”

“That is not it. Ever since way before, I... was a tool, so if I do not... remain as one...”

Perhaps due to Violet not being able to express herself very well, Cattleya strongly gripped her automated fingers.

“I will be of no requirement for Major.”

Once she did so, they could not easily be untangled.

“I am not a person. I am no good... if I am not a tool. If I do not stay as a tool... I will be unable to fight properly. I would also lose the right of wishing to be by Major’s side. For the sake of wishing to be beside Major, and for being someone’s tool, things of that nature... must be inhibited.”

Cattleya’s head, still tilted, continued leaning sideways more and more, until it seemed like she would fall from the bench. “Wait, I wanna get this straight.” She raised her palm a little, restraining her position.

“All right.” Violet obediently consented. She waited for Cattleya to sort everything out.

“Your Major is dead.”

“Yes.”

“But you like him and have always been waiting for him. You believe he’s alive.”

“I do believe that he is living.”

“I think that’s love. You’re in love too. But you say that’s not it... because you might stop being useful for the deceased Major otherwise.”

“Yes.”

“You’re forcing yourself into not knowing love... and wanting to be a tool... because it’s a way for you to be with him. I don’t get what you’re... saying. You, Violet... I mean, there’s no reason for you to fight anymore, right? Major passed away, and you’re no longer a soldier.”

“Yes.” Maybe due to such reality being unfavorable for Violet, her answer came out low.

“You left the army, and now you’re working at our place, right? Do you understand that your motive to deny it by saying that you don’t need love and that it’s not love doesn’t exist anymore?”

“I... am... aware.”

Violet fell silent after that. She was pondering on what to say. Averting her orbs from hers and Cattleya’s laced fingers, she raised her face after looking down for a while. As she was at last about to open her mouth, Violet suddenly widened her eyes significantly.

She had found something.

What was reflected in her big, jewel-like blue irises was a tall man. The man continuously appeared and disappeared within the crowd. Her hand naturally stretched towards him.

“...jor.” Violet said something in an awfully reduced tone, lips trembling.

The man had lustrous black hair.

“Hey, I won’t be able to understand it if you stay quiet. Then why is it that you refer to yourself as a tool?” Tired of waiting for the other’s response, Cattleya cut the stillness and called out to her.

As she did so, Violet abruptly stood up. Cattleya was surprised at her serious profile.

“S-Sorry. Did you get angry?” she asked fearfully, and Violet replied with a “no”.

“In case...” Violet took one, two steps away from the bench, acting as though her heart was not there, drawn into the direction of the crowd.

“Violet?”

As her name was called, Violet turned back towards Cattleya for once. “In case that person is alive, this is for the sake of being able to function properly... if a time in which he would need me comes. Cattleya, I will excuse myself for a little.” Her expression was no longer the one of just a short while before, empty as a ghost.

“Eh, wait...! Where are you going?!”

“I must go after him. I will definitely make it back to the mission.”

“After who!?”

Who was it that she had to chase, even it meant leaving Cattleya behind?

Cattleya got up in a haste as well. However, their belongings and letters ended up dropping and rolling down at her feet.

“My... former user.” After saying only that, Violet vanished into the mass of people.

Still standing, Cattleya was dumbfounded. “Eh, Major?” It finally came to her who the person was. “Violet, hey, wait.”

Nevertheless, it was too late. She was already gone. Since she was calm and delicate, her feet almost did not seem so fast, yet her agility was indeed that of a soldier.

“I’m alone, you know.” Cattleya grumbled, although her shock surpassed her solitude. As she had no other choice, she picked up the belongings that had fallen and scattered – fountain pens, writing papers, envelopes, the letter she herself had written.

And...

“Ah.” She found one more letter lying on the ground. It was not her own.

That was Violet’s unfinished message. She had put it in an envelope and left it on her lap as it was. It was the one that she had claimed to be unable to compose appropriately and had stopped writing.

Cattleya had not noticed it when Violet was writing, but once she took it in her hands, she thought it was a rather charming item. Since Auto-Memories Dolls frequently used paper and envelopes for writing on people’s behalf, those were often mass-produced by the companies they belonged to. Even so, of course, they would prepare ones fitting for their clients to have at hand, but what Violet had brought from home was obviously different in quality. A bordering of silver roses as drawn on a white paper that felt good to the touch. She had most likely bought it with her own savings.

——Even though she had said that she didn’t write personal letters anymore...

People who had the habit of writing letters would be able to tell that those were treasured articles. They were selected in a way that the marvelousness of the paper and envelope would already be enough to convey the respect of the sender towards the addressee. They could not be guaranteed as decent just from being expensive. But the ones that had been chosen emanated prominence just by looking.

Cattleya stared at the direction Violet had disappeared into. The figure of a girl running with her golden hair swaying was not there anymore.

“This is punishment for leaving me by myself.” With mean spirit and curiosity, Cattleya decided to try reading what was inside.

Afterwards, once Violet came back as she had stated, Cattleya would tease her about it. Since the latter had said she was unable to write it properly, the contents were unmistakably boring. It was with that in mind that Cattleya had skimmed through the paper.

“Foolish girl.”

The inside was not what Cattleya had expected. She soon finished reading, for it was only one sheet. She slowly traced Violet’s handwriting with her fingertips.

——I wonder why. Why... did she have... to write like this...

What was written in there were private affairs completely unrelated to Cattleya. She had only just become able to talk to the other on that day. There was a limit to how much empathy she could feel.

——...with words that... seem to gouge people’s hearts?

Nevertheless, a film of tears gradually formed in her amethyst eyes. She could not bear to imagine how Violet had felt during the conversation they had had on that very day, or what sort of memories she had been living with.

The contents of the letter were:

Are you well? Has anything changed? Where are you right now? Do you not have any troubles?

Spring, summer, autumn and winter have gone by, and repeat on forever, but only the season in which you are here does not come. Whenever I am waking up, falling asleep or feeling hazy, I find myself looking for your figure. I do not dream often, so I feel as if I might forget your appearance. Repeatedly, repeatedly, I replay memories of you in my head.

Are you really nowhere anymore? I have walked so much around the whole world. I have been to many countries. You were not in any of them. I have not found you. Still I search. Even after having been told that you had passed away, still I search.

I am following my order. I am alive. I live, live and live. What is there after life is over? Although I do not know, I merely keep on living. Even so—

Violet grasped the arm of the black-haired man. “Please wait.”

The man, who had turned around, possessed the emerald green orbs so typical of the Bougainvillea.

[hey-mando]

A Bit Of Both (Gaston x Reader)

Part 5 (epilogue) of “Another Look Around”

Word Count: 2,825

Warnings: If Gaston being flirty counts as one, then there’s that...

Tags: @mmegaston @lovelylpevensie @with-a-hint-of-pesto-aioli @lj-laufeypevensieweasley @juggernaut-jones @timeskipeleven @cherrrylimes @ciaprincess @thesizeofabarge @thewhisperingfox

A/N: yeh, it took a while longer than the previous parts, but yo, I finally finished it. Thanks so much for all the reads, likes, reblogs, and the AMAZING comments, lil chickadees!!!

For several moments, you tried to ignore the prodding on your arm. It was early after all, and yesterday had been a particularly exhausting day. But after half a minute of the timid motion, you finally shifted, stretching out your legs and arms and with a groan.

You felt soft breath fanning across your face as a small voice asked, “Are you awake?”

You cracked your eyes open, a smile spreading over your lips. “Well, I am now,” you answered quietly, your voice raspy from sleep. As you spoke, you moved your hand and poked the side of the little girl laying opposite you. She squealed and swatted away your hand, smiling widely.

“James was snoring again,” the dark-haired girl said accusingly. “You can hear it from all the way down the hall. He woke me up.”

“Did he?” You responded, gently stroking a few stray strands of hair from her eyes. “Well, we’ll have to speak with him about that when he wakes up, won’t we?”

The child, Rosemarie, nodded, a mischievous expression on her delicate features which coaxed a snicker from you. You brushed your thumb across her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her forehead before asking, “Ready to get up?”

Rosemarie nodded again, swiftly shimmying her little body from under the covers and slipping off the bed. Her curly, deep brown hair bounced around her waist as she scurried from the room, her bare feet filling the silent morning with a pattering sound.

You grinned widely after her, sighing as you hauled yourself into a sitting position and raked your hands through your hair. The morning was pale and just beginning, and through the window across from the bed, you could see a thick mist hanging above the ground as the sky turned pallid blue. The house was warm, but outside the cool whispers of fall were beginning to fill the land.

You briefly glanced at the empty space beside you, noting the absence of your husband from his usual position before tossing the covers off your legs and rising from the mattress. You quickly pulled a blue skirt and vest on over your white underdress, then joined Rosemarie in the large kitchen, the floorboards cold under your feet. When you arrived, you found her sitting with boy who was slightly older than her, but who had the exact same chestnut waves atop his head.

“Ah, well if it isn’t the culprit himself,” you teased, ruffling James’ hair as you passed him. He gave you a satisfied smirk, leaning back in his chair. “I can’t help it,” he said simply. “It’s Rosemarie’s fault for being a light sleeper.”

Rosemarie gasped, “Is not. I can’t help that either.”

“Well if we’re being specific, I made both of you, so I suppose it’s my fault,” you said, grinning at the way that James scrunched his nose in disgust – reminding you so much of his father – while Rosemarie sat there blankly. “I don’t understand,” she confessed. You laughed lightly, moving to fill a large kettle with water to boil for tea. “Trust me, Rosie,” James answered. “you don’t want to understand.”

The pot was on the stove and Rosemarie was halfway done braiding James’ hair when the youngest of your children finally emerged from the bedroom that the boys shared, looking hardly awake.

Gabriel was the only one who’d inherited your hair color instead of his father’s, and incidentally he was also what James liked to call a “mama’s boy”. It was true. Gabriel was almost always stuck to one of your legs, no matter what time of day. It was of course something he would eventually grow out of, but until then, you relished every instant that the stunning little boy spent at your heels, asking to be held or reaching his small fingers up to wrap around your thumb.

At two years old, Gabriel’s speech was still rocky, but he remained silent as he crossed the room straight to you, holding his arms out. You smiled and acquiesced, hoisting him into your arms and resting him on your hip. Rosemarie was next in the age line at four, followed by James and his twin sister at six.

It suddenly dawned on you, just as Rosemarie and James began bickering over Rosie’s decision to put flowers in his hair, that your other daughter was nowhere to be seen.

“Wait a minute,” you muttered, looking from Gabriel, to the other two. “There are supposed to be four of you. Rosie, where’s Adeline?”

“Outside with Papa,” she answered before engaging James once again in debate. The corner of your mouth turned up. “When is she not?” You commented, kissing Gabriel’s cheek quickly before moving him to sit in one of the chairs at the table. “Mama will be right back, alright?” You told him, tapping his nose with your finger. He yawned in response. “Good. James.”

The boy froze as he was about to smack Rosemarie’s arm with a nearby spoon. He blinked and you raised an eyebrow. “Can you keep an eye on Gabriel for a few minutes?”

He smiled appealingly, dropping the spoon onto the table and making a knightly vow to protect his younger brother with his life. You winked at him and moved towards the door as Rosie asked, “Oooh, if you’re a knight, then does that make me a princess?”

“Of course not, Rose. Mama’s the princess. You can be the dragon.”

You ignored the sounds of Rosemarie’s indignant protests, knowing that James could handle the younger children until you returned. You exited the house, leaving the door open and stepping out into the chilled morning air.

Your rustic home sat upon several acres of lush forest green, and practically perched on top of a mountain. From the front yard, it was possible to look down and see Villeneuve spread out below. The area was secluded, but not difficult to find. A small stream ran behind the house, and the surrounding forests wrapped around all sides except the front, which looked out over the lands beneath. It was picturesque to say the least.

The dewy grass felt divine between your toes as you walked slowly to where two figures stood out in the fog. You stepped carefully, not wanting to alert either one to your presence just yet.

The young girl stood, her brown eyes blazing with concentration as she held a small bow in her hands, the string drawn to her cheek and the knocked arrow aimed at the trunk of a gnarled old oak tree. Her stance was solid and professional for someone so small, better than that of most fully grown hunters.

The man on his knee beside her had his back slightly turned to you, one of his large hands resting gingerly on the girl’s side. He was talking quietly, and after every sentence, the girl adjusted something in her position, lowering her elbow or altering her aim.

After a minute or so of this, the girl finally pulled back. You saw her shoulders rise as she took a deep breath, then fall as she exhaled. Next thing, she released the bowstring, and the arrow went whizzing from the weapon, spiraling straight into the center of the dead oak.

She shrieked joyously, and deep, rough laughter that sent shivers trembling down your spine joined in with the child’s giggles. She threw her arms around her instructor’s neck, nearly knocking him backwards, causing him to shift towards you in order to keep his balance.

There was a smile on your face as Gaston’s dancing eyes caught yours.

When Adeline pulled back from her father, she too caught sight of you, instantly running forward exclaiming, “Mama, did you see? I hit it!” You dropped to your knees just in time to catch her in a tight embrace. “I saw!” You answered. Then you pulled her back and said, “Keep shooting like that, and you’ll be rivaling your father in no time.”

“Now that I would like to see,” Gaston shot back, striding towards the two of you. You raised an eyebrow and gave him a sly smirk, to which Adeline sniggered again.

“Papa says that he taught you how to shoot too,” she said, lacing her fingers through yours as you stood. “That he did,” you replied, keeping your eyes on Gaston. “I don’t think he ever thought that one day I’d turn out to be better than him.”

Gaston narrowed his eyes as the corner of his mouth tilted up. “In your dreams, perhaps,” he taunted.

“Ooooh,” Adeline gasped, gazing up at the two of you. You squeezed her hand, then her face lit up as she declared excitedly, “I’ve got to show James and Rosemarie!”

Gaston chuckled as his daughter spun on her heel and bolted towards the house, snaking an arm around your back as the two of you watched her go. You in turn moved closer and turned to face him, sliding your hands around his torso and resting them on his sides.

“How long have the two of you been at it?” You asked him, glancing down at the bow in his other hand. “Not long,” he murmured, shifting his full attention to you. “That was her first shot.”

You nodded, unable to keep the smile off your lips as you gazed up, examining his features in the pale blue light. After six years of being together, it still astonished you how ridiculously handsome he was.

On this particular morning, Gaston’s hair wasn’t pulled back as usual, but rather left unattended in all of its thick, wavy glory. Despite a few additional wrinkles around the corners of his eyes, mouth and forehead and the occasional grey streak to his hair, he hadn’t changed at all in terms of appearance. He was still every bit as muscled, and he still stood nearly a full head taller than you.

“You’re staring…” He pointed out cockily, pressing his forehead against yours. You grinned, using your grip on his midsection to pull him against you. “So are you,” you countered, causing a husky chuckle to emanate from his chest. His hands rose to your face, the contrast of his calloused fingers on your smooth skin making you shudder. “Is it not common for a man to stare at the most beautiful thing in sight?”

You laughed, making him smile wider. If there was one thing the years definitely hadn’t taken from him it was his inhumanly perfect charm. To this day he could still send your heart pounding effortlessly.

Without hesitation he pulled your lips to his, eyes closing blissfully as he kissed you for the first time that day. There was a chorus of squeals from the house, and realizing that the children – none of which necessarily appreciated the frequent displays of affection between you and Gaston – were on their way out, you started to pull away, but then stopped with a shrill gasp as he caught your lower lip between his teeth. You brought a hand up to smack his chest. He laughed smugly, pulling back just as Adeline returned with her siblings behind her.

You opened your eyes as Gaston pressed a quick kiss to the corner of your mouth, winking roguishly before moving back and heading towards the kids. You lingered behind a moment, feeling dizzy and light, taking a few seconds to regain your composure. It was only when James ran up to complain about being hungry that you truly snapped out of it.

After Adeline had showed her brothers and sister her archery skills, you gathered them inside and set to work immediately.

Gaston stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, a smile on his face as he looked on. It didn’t matter how much time had passed. You still baffled him with your elegance and poise. He watched as you somehow managed to keep your head cool amidst a wave of chaos – “No, Rose, we can’t have pastries for breakfast. James put that down before you poke someone’s eye out. Adeline, keep the shooting outside, please. Gabriel, what on earth is on your face?” – and the way you moved around the room with fluent grace. Every gesture was effortless, and merely watching you interacting with your sons and daughters, even in the mundane, every-day manner was enough to make his heart swell.

To him, you were the embodiment of perfection, a gorgeous sort of mystery that never ceased to amaze him. You were his and only his, and though he may have been reluctant to admit it out loud, he couldn’t deny the way he was wrapped around your finger as well.

After breakfast had been eaten and each of the children had gotten themselves dressed, you assisted the girls while Gaston helped the boys to get ready for the day they were meant to spend in town with your parents.

Gaston corralled the boys into the hallway, telling James for the fifth time that he couldn’t bring the dead bird that he’d found in the yard that morning with him. No doubt it was the work of the family cat, Rufus, but the concept that it might be disturbing to some of the villagers to see a young boy skipping around town with a deceased bluejay in his hands couldn’t seem to get through his son’s head. James gave him a sulky look before stomping into the kitchen.

“Dramatic,” Gaston muttered, shaking his head. Without missing a beat, you leaned out of the girls’ room, saying, “Mmm, I wonder where on earth he gets that from.”

Gaston didn’t get a chance to respond as Adeline shot past you into the kitchen, then proclaimed excitedly, “They’re here!”

You simpered at Gaston teasingly, while he stepped towards you, leaning down to your ear and practically growling, “You will be the death of me, woman.” You only smiled as his hand traced up your spine, but then let out a bark of laughter as he squeezed your side, making you double over.

Rosemarie appeared from the bedroom and gave Gaston a reprimanding look, silently commanding him to stop tickling you, to which he obeyed. You straightened your back and subtly kicked his leg, trying to look cross and failing utterly as he gave you a dashing grin. You shook your head, wrapping an arm around his waist and walking onto the porch with Rose.

Gabriel and Adeline were already climbing onto your parents wagon when Rosemarie bolted forward, barely giving your father any time to catch her before she flung herself into his arms.

Your mother made her way towards you with a wide smile, placing her arm on your shoulder and looking between you and Gaston.

“I’m not sure how the two of you do it,” she admitted, making you laugh as you glanced at the children. “To be honest, Mama, we aren’t either.” You kissed her cheek before adding, “I hope you can handle them for the day.”

At this your mother made a face. “Now, now, (Y/N), one day is perfectly manageable.”

“Are you sure?” You asked. Your mother raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I am, I raised you. I’m prepared for anything.”

“Mama!” You exclaimed, Gaston and your mother sharing a laugh. You rolled your eyes and linked your arm with hers, the three of you strolling to the wagon where your father had just finished situating James, Gabriel, Adeline and Rosemarie.

"Well," your father said, embracing you fondly. "I suppose we'd better be off. Ready, darling?"

Your mother nodded, giving you one last hug while Gaston and your father shook hands.

"And remember," you said as your parents mounted the wagon. "If at any time you lose track of Rosemarie, you'll almost definitely find her at Père Robert's."

"Don't worry!" Your mother scolded. "We'll be perfectly fine."

You didn't argue, but secretly you knew that by the end of the day, your parents would undoubtedly be pleasantly exhausted.

Each of the children waved wildly as they set off, trying to be the one who yelled their goodbye the loudest. You smiled and waved back as they disappeared from sight, their voices growing smaller and smaller.

"My parents have no idea what they've gotten themselves into," you joked, placing your hands over Gaston's as his arms encircled your waist. "Mmm," he hummed, his chest vibrating against your back. "They've done it before, they can do it again."

"I guess so," you sighed as Gaston grazed his lips across your neck, making goosebumps bloom on your skin. "You know what this means," he asked, his voice an octave lower than usual. "What?" You whispered, your eyelids fluttering as the scruff around his mouth scratched your skin. "For the first time in weeks, I have you all to myself."

You managed a flustered laugh. "Should I be scared or excited, Monsieur Gaston?"

His arms tightened around you and he placed a kiss beneath your ear. "Maybe a bit of both..."

[artemisegeria]

New Friends

Title: New Friends

Rating: G

Word count: 2131

Summary: Vision makes some new friends after the break up of the Avengers leaves him all alone.

A/N: I started this story last summer. It was originally supposed to be a crossover with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, but I ran out of ideas and it languished in my drafts. But then I saw Captain Marvel and thought what I had so far fit with Goose. So it became a Vision and Stephen Strange and Goose friendship story.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18379643

Vision was completing a circuit of the compound. He landed on the grass and started to repeat the route on foot, more to use up time than anything else.

A swift movement in the bushes caught his eye. It appeared to be a small furry creature. He tried to adjust the focus on his ocular sensors to no avail. It disappeared before he could move closer or examine it further.

The next day he repeated the same circuit and saw the same creature again. He was able to get closer this time. It paused when he approached. He searched his databases and found that such animals typically responded better if a person made himself appear smaller. He crouched down and tried to look non-threatening. The animal – a common house cat, he could now recognize – considered him, but ultimately ran away before he could move nearer.

This pattern continued for the next few weeks. He had little experience with non-human animals and none with domestic pets. However, he unaccountably wanted to attract the cat and spend more time with it. He made soft cooing noises. He crooked his finger, mimicking a come-hither gesture that he had seen others use. At one point, the cat approached and Vision’s hand was only a few inches away, but she changed its mind at the last moment, flying off into the distance.

He adjusted his approach upon further research. He left food on a plate near the bushes where the cat frequented; he only hoped that it would not attract other creatures. When he returned later the same day, the plate was empty. The next morning he brought another plate and decided to simply sit in the grass and soak in the sunshine. Despite the rarity of his need for sleep, he enjoyed relaxation. He let his mind drift, turning off all unnecessary neural processes. When he came to awareness again, the cat was sniffing his hand tentatively.

He closed his eyes while facing the cat and looked away as several articles recommended. When he opened his eyes again, the cat was still in the same spot. He tentatively reached out to scratch the animal’s ears. She rubbed her head against his hand. He chuckled at the tickling sensation of her fur against his skin.

He was in awe of the creature’s bright green eyes and variegated orange coat. Her fur was admirably soft. He continued running his hand over the cat and could feel vibrations that he recognized as purring, which apparently could indicate anything from contentment to anxiety. She curled up next to him and closed her eyes. Vision found himself smiling. He believed that the word he was looking for was “cute.” The cat was cute.

Now that he had an opportunity to observe the cat up close, he could see that she wore a collar. He was relieved that she had a home to go to. Vision was looking at the name tag, which read “Goose,” when a glowing circle appeared in front of him. A thin man with distinct graying hair at the temples stepped through and said, “Back away from the creature.”

Living among the Avengers had rather inoculated Vision to the oddities of the world, but this was new even for him. He studied the man’s robes with interest, deciding to comply for now. “This is merely a cat.”

“No, it’s not. I track threats from other worlds and realms that may cause trouble on Earth, and this is among the highest on the list. I followed the creature’s path from New Mexico to New York. We have to contain it.”

“Without harming the creature, I presume?” Vision was prepared to defend his new friend against this stranger. Alien or not, the creature had done nothing wrong.

The man looked sharply at Vision. “Ideally. But if it is a choice between the inhabitants of this planet and this, I will choose humanity every time.” The man’s frown traveled from Vision’s face to the smaller being at his feet. “And I have some questions for you as well.”

Goose had continued to weave in and out between Vision’s legs. He reached down to scratch her ears, still feeling the faint vibration of her purr. “I will endeavor to answer your questions, but I do not believe that Goose means anyone any harm. She has been friendly enough.”

“Maybe not, but sometimes power that great is too dangerous to be free in the world.” Vision frowned at that. It was not true. The man bent closer to Goose, who hissed menacingly, not being helpful to Vision’s argument. He conjured another set of flat, glowing circles in front of his hands and extended them toward Goose. She snapped her jaws idly, causing them to dissipate.

Goose merely raised a paw to her muzzle and began grooming herself. The stranger considered Goose thoughtfully before holding out his hand to Vision. “I’m Doctor Stephen Strange, by the way.”

“Vision.”

“You’re still with the Avengers?” For some reason, Vision did not feel compelled to ask what Doctor Strange knew of the Avengers and why they did not know him. Despite recognizing a need for caution, he felt that the stranger was on their side.

“Yes, what remains of the Avengers.”

“Are they here?”

“Not currently. Colonel Rhodes is away on an assignment, and Mr. Stark is on vacation.”

“Alright. This creature can stay here for now.” Vision did not appreciate Doctor Strange’s arrogance in unilaterally making such a decision, but he would prefer to take care of Goose himself, so he did not protest. “I will work on something better to contain it.”

“I will guard her carefully.” Goose did appear to have latched onto him. She now had her front paws draped over his foot.

“Good. Notify me at once if anything changes.” He handed Vision a card with several phone numbers on it. “Call me any time day or night.”

“Of course.” With a final nod, Doctor Strange disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived. Vision picked up his new charge, who only mewed softly at him, and carried her into the compound.

Several weeks later Vision was sitting in the common area with Goose curled up beside him when another circle appeared in front of him without setting off a single alarm. He desperately needed to fix this hole in their security systems.

Doctor Strange stepped into the room, an armful of books under his arm. “Is all well?” He placed the books on the coffee table in front of Vision.

“Yes.” Vision looked down fondly at his frequent companion. Goose had remained by his side while he read, examined the security footage of the compound, and wrote out his half-hearted, misleading reports about the possible whereabouts of their former teammates. “She has not done anything out of the ordinary.” Goose raised her head to stare at their visitor.

“Do you think she will allow me to pick her up? I want to try something.”

Doctor Strange moved closer and Goose stood, all her hair standing on end. “It seems that she is not amenable to your proposition. What do you wish to do?” Vision angled his body in front of Goose.

Doctor Strange noted Vision’s reaction. “Nothing to harm her, I promise. It is merely a small scanning spell. I wish to know more about her origins.” He gestured to the books that he had brought. “I thought perhaps we could trade information for information. I’ve been doing some research into you and that stone in your forehead if you would like to see what I’ve found.”

Goose had begun to settle down and crawled into Vision’s lap. He stroked her head and ears gently. “Are you attempting to bribe me, Doctor Strange?” The man had given Vision no reason to distrust to him, and he was fascinated to learn more about the doctor’s skills and his own nature, but a hint of wariness remained.

Strange shrugged unrepentantly. “If you’d like to think of it that way, I suppose so, but I prefer to see it as helping each other toward a mutual goal. I promise that the spell will not cause the creature the slightest discomfort. Just hold her still.”

Vision thought for a moment, but nodded his head agreeably. He kept his hands anchored around Goose’s body. Strange concentrated and a golden glow appeared all around Goose. The sorcerer was apparently true to his word because only yawned and shook her head. After only a few moments, the glow dissipated. Goose climbed down from Vision’s lap and ran in the direction of the residential area. “Thank you. That was all I needed.”

“What now?”

“Now, I will leave you these books to study. Keep an eye on Goose. I’ll be back in a few weeks. I trust you still have my card in case anything comes up?” Upon Vision’s confirmatory nod, Stephen left with a flourish of his cape. Vision settled in to examine the new books.

Over the next few months, Stephen visited several more times. Their conversations provided Vision a welcome respite from the frequent solitude of the compound. They always began by discussing Goose and the Stone. Stephen brought him more books every time and accepted the return of the previous batch; he answered Vision’s questions thoroughly, seeming to relish the attention he always paid to the reading. But the topics swiftly changed to other books they had read, the state of the world at large, and new surgical techniques that Stephen ached to try. Vision was happy to act as an understanding ear. They played chess together, and Stephen even came close to defeating Vision.

During one such visit, Stephen was sipping a cup of tea. Goose had even warmed up enough to Stephen that she curled up beside him. Stephen gave Vision an odd, piercing look before saying, “I saw on the news the other night that you and Stark came close to catching your old friends again in London.”

Vision maintained his pose, keeping his face carefully blank as he examined the board in front of him. “Ah, yes, it was most unfortunate that we failed to apprehend them. We found their safehouse only minutes after they evacuated.” Vision made his move. He was grateful that he was able to control his synthetic body better than the average person.

“Yes, truly a shame.” Stephen’s gaze fell to his pieces while he absent-mindedly brushed a finger over Goose’s head, but Vision could sense that his attention was not on the game. “Were you aware that I have been tracking a particular energy signature, quite similar to yours in fact, across the world these last few months?”

It was a struggle to keep his composure now. Stephen could only be referring to one person. Vision’s brain worked quickly through all the possible scenarios that flowed from Stephen revealing this. He suddenly realized that some time had passed and Stephen was no longer making any pretense of looking at the board. Vision had to say something. “I was not.”

“It is curious. Those traces of energy were in London the night of the news report and Edinburgh, Scotland the day after.”

“That is curious.” Stephen narrowed his eyes at Vision, who suspected that he had no hope of deceiving the sorcerer, but he had to try until he had more proof that Stephen knew everything.

“What is even more curious is that the energy was much stronger in Edinburgh.” He paused for effect, reminding Vision forcefully of Mr. Stark. “Almost twice as strong.”

“Odd,” Vision responded drily, at least he hoped.

Amusement and exasperation struggled in Stephen’s eyes. “And you were still in the area, were you not?”

“Yes, I stayed several days longer than Mr. Stark to assist in the investigation.”

“I can only imagine.” Stephen broke into open sarcasm. Vision was certain now that Stephen knew the truth. “I trust that I am not being misunderstood.”

“No, Stephen, I believe I understand you perfectly. And I trust you have not shared this information with the United Nations?”

“No one has asked me, and I think if anyone does, I will conveniently forget. But just be careful. If I can find this signature, other less friendly individuals can as well.”

“Thank you, Stephen, I will pass the information on.”

A swift nod was Stephen’s only acknowledgement of the statement. “It’s getting late. I need to get back to the Sanctum. If you ever need to go on a manhunt again and need a place for Goose to stay, I can watch her.”

“Thank you. I will keep that in mind.” Stephen never said good bye. He simply conjured a portal and left. Vision smiled to himself as he considered where he might be called next.