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clansayeed · 4 years ago

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Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ― Chapter 11: The Auction

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ⥽

While struggling with nightmares of lives she’s never lived, a shadow from the past looming over her city, and the proposed idea that her life may just be a little bit too weird to handle alone, Nadya makes sure to tell herself that everything is perfect just the way it is. If only. When the self-proclaimed King of Vampires (and Maker of her sometimes-girlfriend and always-boss, can’t forget that little tidbit) Gaius Augustine returns intent on claiming Manhattan as the throne that was promised, she and her friends find themselves forced into the task of saving the world. But with millennia-old vampires and an Order of hunters on their heels as well as allies hiding catastrophic secrets at their backs… it won’t be an easy task. Too bad destiny didn’t exactly ask for her input.

Bound by Destiny II and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Destiny II tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

The Amulet is one bid away, but they aren't the only vampires willing to pay whatever cost. Valdas and Isseya have their own ideas about ensuring Gaius' victory... or is it their own? It's hard to tell.

[READ IT ON AO3]

Taylor reaches the pair of vampires before the rest of them can make it down the stairs.

He approaches with an authority one wouldn’t expect to see from someone as human-looking as he is.

“Is there a problem here?” He doesn’t look at Valdas when he speaks — it’s immediately clear he couldn’t give less of a damn what the man has to say. He only cares about Cadence.

Taylor reaches out and places a tentative hand on the taller man’s arm. “Cade, are you okay?” But he doesn’t get an answer.

When Valdas recovers from the shock of being interrupted, he doesn’t come out on the other end nearly as caring as he’d sounded before. “This doesn’t concern you, halfling.”

But Taylor’s the type to take anything, whether it ‘concerns him’ or not, and stick his nose in it regardless.

“Back off, man. I think it’s pretty plain he doesn’t want you around.”

“He doesn’t know what he wants. Get out of my way.”

“Touch me and see what happens.”

With a scoff the vampire reaches for Taylor’s shoulder, and Nadya almost trips in her haste because she’s seen the way Valdas can get when he’s angry. But even the barest touch and she watches in startled awe as Taylor’s shoulder… sparks? Whatever it is it gets Valdas to back off.

“First one’s a freebie. Next time I’m gonna let my trigger-happy boyfriend up there go to town.”

So behind him Valdas watches, uncharacteristically silent as he takes in the sudden ease Cadence feels at the presence of his friend. As Nadya and the others push their way through to the bar she sees the barest shadow of doubt in his eyes before it vanishes without a trace. Replaced by cool nonchalance and an all-too-familiar smug smile.

Only it’s directed a little higher than Nadya’s glare.

“Adrian, you’re looking well.”

Anger flashes over Adrian’s face and he actually draws his fist back ready to swing. “Don’t,” and when Nadya grabs his elbow she knows if he really wanted to she would have just been hurled along for the ride but thankfully it’s enough to stop him, “he’s just baiting you.”

“If he thinks he can just stand there and get away with kidnapping you —”

The smallest furrow creases in Valdas’ brow. “Did I not ensure her safe return?”

“You think that justifies it?!” Adrian practically roars. Around them more and more guests and eager bidders turn away from their conversations and card games to watch the unfolding events.

But if she doesn’t get to yell right now neither does Adrian. It’s only fair.

Taylor gives her a panicked look. “You guys need to cool it or they’ll kick us out.” Calm him down or something, his eyes scream. And in this Nadya hates it — like really really hates it — but she has to agree.

“We can’t risk it Adrian, please.” Because there’s no question as to why Valdas is here; why Isseya is probably somewhere slithering in the shadows. Which means they need a game plan, like, yesterday. “Please, Adrian, come on…”

But Adrian is still tense under her touch. “He’s not worth it.” Though that she says loud enough so more than just the vampires can hear her. “He’s too pathetic for that.”

It would have been nice to see him look anything even on the spectrum of shamed but Valdas just quirks his brow slightly. “Tactful as ever, Miss Nadya.” Then, voice lowered slightly; “You look in good health.”

“Yeah, no thanks to you.” She darts a quick look behind him. “Where’s Isseya?”

“Why do you care?” Valdas asks, genuinely surprised.

“Because she has a funny habit to trying to kill me.”

“There needn’t be any bloodshed tonight — or ever again.”

“You two are the ones who keep resorting to violence.” She can still feel a phantom of the pain where she’d all but been dragged by the hair…

Valdas chances half a step forward; Nadya refuses to trust the false regret in his eyes ever again. “I told you, Nadya, that going forward my acts will not entirely be of my own will.”

“Like I’m supposed to believe you; like you haven’t lied to me over and over again?”

“Perhaps, but where words can lie I’ve found that memories have no choice but to reveal the truth.”

What — does he want her to look into his head again; to push Adrian aside and take his hand and see some hidden truth? No way.

Nadya’s brow furrows, resolute.

“If you were really worth trusting you wouldn’t need to lie at all.”

The vampire’s sigh weighs heavy on his shoulders. He doesn’t get the chance to lie to her again.

The clanging of a gong rings high over their heads and echoes through the center of the club manor-house. Now they really need to get going. Nadya jerks her head for Lily to help her pull Adrian back. Eventually — a little too late in her opinion but better late than never — he eases up. The sharper edges of his eyes seem to smooth out.

He shakes his head as if clearing a fog. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“We’ll talk about it later.” But despite her smile Nadya taps him with the back of her hand. “And we are talking about it later, Adrian.”

It’s a threat as much as it is a promise. He’d better believe it.

“C’mon, Cade,” Taylor tries to coax the man forward with a little push; and Nadya’s pretty sure she’s not supposed to hear the next bit but she’s too close not to catch when Taylor mutters under his breath; “what’s up with you lately, man? You’ve been like this for a month now…”

“It’s nothing.” Cadence replies just shy of a whisper.

“It doesn’t feel like ‘nothing.’”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t go poking around in my emotions.”

“I can’t help that. You’re like a bullhorn in a church.”

They almost make it to the stairs — and a waiting, arms-over-her-chest doesn’t-know-yet-if-she-wants-to-hug-him-or-strangle-him Katherine. Almost.

“It was not my intention to cause you such distress… Cadence.” Valdas calls at their backs; he says the name like it’s acid on his tongue but every other word is sincere enough to make Nadya’s heart hurt in an odd way.

She’s pretty sure if it weren’t for his friends practically forcing him forward Cadence might have actually turned back. Even if only for a moment.

But the only one who does is Lily — and that’s just to give him a finger Nadya doesn’t approve of. But this once she’ll just keep her mouth shut.

Before they get back to Isadora, Lily holds her behind from the others. Adrian is too lost in his own thoughts to notice. Taylor throws them a raised eyebrow, but it’s all good.

Thankfully, her best friend keeps her voice to a low level. The fae with his black box is still skirting around the edges of the booths. They must have something to do with the auction. “Firstly, you make some bonkers friends.”

“You know you’re my friend, right?”

“My point stands.” And yeah, fair, Nadya will give her that. “Second, if Gomez is here there’s no doubt Morticia is somewhere nearby. But what if that means…”

Thankfully there’s no Addams Family analogy equivalent for the hellspawn of all evil that is Gaius Augustine, but Nadya presses a finger up against Lily’s lips anyway. “Don’t… don’t say it.”

On some level all of them probably had that same thought during their miniature confrontation. It’s inevitable.

Lily kisses her finger aside. “You know what I mean, though?” And she sneaks glances about as subtle as the hulking Minotaur stomp-stomping his way across the bar floor down below.

“Yeah, I do. But I don’t think he’s here, Lil’.” I would have felt him.

All the way across that long long table where he couldn’t be denied. No matter what he looked like, Gaius didn’t seem the type to see an event as splendorous as this and find himself content to hide away from the spotlight. “It’s his scene, but I think if he were here we would have known it by now.”

“What, we’d be on our knees worshiping him or something?”

Nadya laughs dry and humorless. “No — we’d be dead.”

They arrive back to the booth in time for the lights cast off from the chandelier to glow a rich white-blue. Isadora unfurls the ever-changing parchment of lots and bids and states the obvious; “It’s beginning…” And suddenly there’s a whole new kind of tension hanging around the exclusive vampire club table.

The first lot is a statue that the auctioneer claims is made from solid ruby. It definitely looks that way, but while the prices jump higher and higher, the bids coming in faster and faster in the pursuit of the luxurious, Nadya can’t fathom who would want it — or why for that matter.

It sells for twelve and a half million dollars to a stone troll wearing, of all things, a cape. She looks like she’s made of pure rubies, herself.

From where he’s perched leaning against their booth, Nadya notices Taylor looking a little paler than before. “You okay?” she whispers.

He nods and tugs at his collar. “Yeah, just thinking of how quickly I could pay off my student loans with that kind of money.”

“Preach.”

Lot the second is a brightly-polished sword. When the goblin offering closer looks comes around their way Nadya can see her reflection clear as day in the flat of the blade… if her reflection were that of a much younger girl with close-cropped hair and the weight of ages pushed deep into the sunken parts of her face gaunt with starvation.

“That’s mine…” she mumbles, and almost finds herself reaching out for it before the goblin snatches it away in yellow-skinned clutches with a sneer.

“To look! Not to touch!”

Nadya yanks her hand back as if stung. Isadora isn’t interested in the blade and waves him off, but she’s too good not to have noticed her little exchange. Not like she’s hiding anything though — after all the woman’s been inside her head. She knows the parts of the story Nadya carefully left out.

Wow, the bids scrolling by on the parchment Adrian watches ever-vigilant sure look fascinating…

The sword sells for 3 million and an added black flame candle to a fae with green tones in their skin. Lily watches the unlit candle trade owners and hands with wide eyes. “You think if we light it we’ll summon Bette Midler?”

Nadya shrugs — at this point anything is possible. Taylor grins and leans in conspiratorially.

“Black flame isn’t so hard,” he whispers with a mischievous grin, “it’s actually a type of fae fire. Remind me to show you before you guys book it back to New York.” And judging by the way Lily’s looking at him she’ll hold him to it — like a ‘literally will not get on the plane until she sees it’ kind of deal.

Lots three-through-five she forgets; obviously they weren’t memorable things. That or whatever’s in the little cocktails an attendant keeps bringing around packs a harder punch than she thought.

Lot six is rusty iron nail and that’s when things start to get weird.

“Sixty!—Seventy-five!—Three hundred!” calls out the auctioneer with barely a breath between them.

And these are in the millions.

Nadya still can’t figure out what’s so awesome about something that looks like it rolled under the shelves at a hardware store when it just becomes a repetitive game with the same two players.

The auctioneer goblin raises his aging, sickly green hand and a hushed silence falls over the entire club. “It seems we have our first bidding war for the night…” And he looks way too gleeful for Nadya’s comfort.

“If the bidders would join us down on the floor, come come…”

She looks to Isadora and Adrian, already in intent discussion about which lot the Amulet could be based on how much people have already thrown out. Cadence might as well be asleep and Katherine…

Katherine shakes her head. “You don’t want to see that, Nadya. Trust me on this one.”

Thank god Lily’s just as confused. “What’s so valuable about a friggin’ nail?”

“It’s what the nail does,” murmurs Cadence; and surprises them all by doing so, “it’s a cursing nail. Old magics banned in New Orleans and likely not practiced outside of the birth places of their magical foci. Whoever takes home the nail takes with them the ability to curse anyone they wish unrepentant.

“The curse could be something as simple and clean-cut as death, or something as vengeful and specific as the cursed person losing everyone they hold even the barest affection for.”

Down below and graciously out of sight comes the screech of breaking glass; the crowd roars and laughs in bloodthirsty delight. Nadya’s really glad she didn’t go watch at the railing, now.

“But if it’s banned here, how can they sell the nail?”

“It’s the act of the magic that’s banned; but the curse can be put in place anywhere in the world. Unfortunately it’s like Lily said…” he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “there’s nothing illegal about a simple nail.”

Nadya watches as a silent and haunted look passes between the city locals. Katherine jerks her chin towards the other side of the balconies and Taylor barely offers Nadya a smile of farewell before he’s racing away like the Devil is chasing him.

“Lot six for a generous six hundred and thirty!”

She didn’t even catch who won.

Maybe that’s for the best.

“Next up we have here a modest luxury to be certain, very pretty very heavy but don’t let that leave you wanting — lot seven, the famed Amulet of Nero.”

Nadya grasps Adrian’s hand on instinct.

While the auctioneer starts talking up the history of the Amulet, the same goblin as before comes around with a heavy wooden case, the lid propped open and the Amulet resting inside. Large and gold with a pendant piece probably half the size of Nadya’s fist; she has no trouble recognizing it at first glance.

It’s hers. Well — Gaius’, but also hers in a way. It calls to her in the same way the sword did and then some. The dark red center stone catches the light and reflects it across all their faces but she feels it like a siren song. Like she wants the light all to herself.

What Nadya didn’t expect was the way it holds everyone else captive as well. Well — everyone but Katherine. She gives it a glance and that’s that but the vampires? They’re transfixed.

With a greedy grin glinting on pointed teeth the goblin strides away to show it off to the next booth of potential buyers. The moment the Amulet is out of sight the effect is immediate; a held breath released across the booth that leaves the humans meeting eyes with the same kind of confused understanding.

“Okay… you guys felt that, right?” Lily asks, and Nadya hasn’t seen her this flushed since she was alive, “Please tell me that wasn’t just me because there is nothing I own that would match that thing.”

Isadora clears her throat and visibly shifts where she sits. Clearly never a woman out of her own control, having it happen twice in the such a short amount of time has her ill at ease. “No — there is a powerful energy to the thing. At least we won’t have to worry about confirming its authenticity.”

“Which means the Trinity know it’s the real deal, too.” Nadya says. She doesn’t want to, but ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Trust her — she’s tried.

Adrian runs a hand over his mouth; his expression hard to read and Nadya doesn’t like not knowing what’s going on his head for this long. Frankly he’s been acting strange ever since they touched down in Louisiana but now isn’t the time for her to start up an argument about that. Once they have the Amulet safe and in hand, though…

“Are you ready?” When he doesn’t look up Nadya nudges his shoulder with hers. “Adrian, if this is gonna be too much —”

“Double the starting bid.” He says instead; and Isadora nods in agreement.

That answers that, I guess.

The auctioneer starts at fifty thousand. Isadora scribbles their bid down on the bespelled parchment. Not a breath after—

“Three million.”

The pen breaks in her grasp. Wordlessly Adrian pulls one from his breast pocket and all but shoves it at her.

Awesome. Really just… super great.

Three million. Then four. Then six — ten — one hundred. Every time the number goes up even the slightest bit—bam—a number almost unreasonably high. But there’s no question as to who’s to blame.

But as she watches the Trinity alone in their booth on the far side of the floor it becomes more and more obvious that their calm is nothing more than a ruse. Sure they rest against the richness of Persephone like they belong but their drinks are untouched, the tension enough to deter attendees and attendants alike. Nadya has a feeling you don’t need to be psychic to feel the energy coming off of them in waves of approach and die.

One thing’s for certain: the Trinity’s tactic of throwing larger numbers out of left field works quickly to deter anyone who might have a passive interest in winning. While all the other lots had taken up decent chunks of the passing hours, the Amulet of Nero is already halfway to one billion dollars in under ten minutes.

Isadora bumps up their bid by a meager million. Immediately Nadya looks across the way again.

Isseya and Valdas whisper together, heads lowered and in an intense debate. If she didn’t know any better she might even call it an argument — one that obviously can’t be that bad since it ends in a firm kiss pressed to the vampiress’ forehead.

She eases herself out of the booth shortly after. Turns back and lets one last longing look pass between them before disappearing around a roped-off doorway — and deeper into Persephone’s depths.

Really, Nadya tries not to let herself dwell on the whole thing. After all even vampires have to go powder their noses, right? But then Valdas rolls up his scroll and sets it aside. The auctioneer doesn’t call out a counter to Isadora’s most recent bid.

“In an unprecedented turn of events a bidding war has… been requested,” he says instead, and its obvious his scaling lips curl around the words with no small amount of confusion, “but does the opposing party accept?”

Valdas abandons the booth as well. Nadya is so trained on his every step that she doesn’t feel her body being moved until Adrian is gently pushing her aside; face set grim and determined.

“Adrian…”

But he barely spares her a look back. “Everything will be fine Nadya, I promise.” But there are no promises, not here. Not when there are two thousand years separating him and Valdas and not one of those in Adrian’s favor.

“The bidders will be joining us on the main floor, if they please.”

Nadya nudges Katherine’s leg under the table. “Kathy — quick — what’s back there?”

The Nighthunter follows her eyes to the doorway Isseya had vanished through. “Just the rest of the club,” she answers (unhelpfully), “party rooms, play rooms, bedrooms; that sort of stuff. But it looks closed off for the auction.”

“And what happens to a lot once the bidding is finished?”

“The house keeps it until the end of the night. Gives people time if they bid more than they have on them.” She looks Nadya over with a frown. “Why?”

The two vampires reach the opposing staircases at the same time.

“I suppose there’s nothing that could sway you?” asks Valdas.

Adrian scoffs. “And if I gave you the same offer?”

“I would say yes.”

There’s an unrepentant honesty that almost—almost—makes Adrian falter. It’s brief, and maybe you wouldn’t even notice it if you didn’t know him very well. But Nadya does.

He can do this.

The least she can do is be just as brave. “I think Isseya’s gone to steal the Amulet while everyone’s focused on the fight.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Isadora demands and all but kicks them up on their feet. “Go, I will keep an eye on Raines, make sure he doesn’t get himself killed. Try and do the same.”

Finding Isseya ends up being easier than they expected. All they have to do is follow the trail of blood and goblin bodies and it’s like breadcrumbs right to her. Through the winding maze of Persephone, down some back stairs and through a literal giant metal vault door just chilling at the end of a corridor like it has any reason being there at all.

The vampiress stands the picture of serene in the center of a bloodbath. The club had spared no expense on guards and she had cut through them all without so much as a snag in her dress.

It’s telling that Nadya isn’t the least bit surprised by any of this. She’s come to expect brazen violence from the likes of them.

Katherine’s the one with the stake but its Cadence who puts himself in front of them. “Give us the Amulet and no one has to get hurt.”

She looks up with a raised eyebrow and a deadpan frown.

“Okay — no one else.”

The Amulet’s golden chain is wrapped around her clenched fist. She could easily carve a path through them all; leave no human, vampire, or Nighthunter left standing. But instead she lets the Amulet hang at her side and stares at them all in disdain.

“I don’t know how he can stand the sight of you.”

There’s no question to whom she is referring, and judging by the way Cadence raises his chin defiantly he knows it just the same.

“Feeble, weak, a bleeding heart…” her words catch in her throat, “but it’s our hearts that are bleeding. And you stand there regardless; an abomination. You don’t care. Nobody does.”

Nadya feels both Katherine and Lily reach for her, try to stop her, but she bats them away. Approaches to stand beside Cadence and the weight and burning rage of the eyes that snap to her is a pain she’s become familiar with by now.

“Please…” Though it would help if Nadya knew what she was even asking for.

Isseya barks a humorless laugh. “Pathetic — the first chance you’re given and what do you do with it? You grovel. I should expect nothing less of a human but maybe… maybe some part of me hoped you would understand. You’re the only one who could.”

Which, okay, now she’s a little insulted. “I’ve been trying to understand, Isseya. I’ve been trying to understand from the beginning. But you guys sure don’t make it easy, do you?”

Baiting the unstable vampire probably isn’t her smartest move. Not that it stops her.

“I just don’t get it.”

“Color me surprised…”

Surprising even to herself, Nadya shakes off her hesitation and fixes Isseya with a stern glare. “Why are you doing this, why are you helping Gaius? You obviously hate him, you don’t need to be a vampire to see that. That whole night he treated you like dirt; you and Valdas both. Why—Why even set him free?”

“Because he is the Godmaker. And we’ve exhausted all other options.”

“Options for what,” asks Lily, bewildered, “world domination?”

“For getting back what we lost.” Isseya fixates on the Amulet, entranced by the way the gemstone catches the light as it comes to a lazy halt.

But Nadya isn’t having it. “Nope, not good enough. I tried to help you — I met with him that night because I wanted to help you. If you think the evil vampire jerkface is your ‘only option’ then that’s just because you keep betraying anyone who might actually want to help.”

“You speak to me of betrayal?”

She flings a hand outward and Nadya feels Katherine tense behind her, ready to spring into action. But no attack comes; just the Amulet of Nero dangling awkwardly from her grasp and an accusatory finger pointed at the vampire beside her. “You stand beside him and dare to speak to me of betrayal?”

Before Nadya can even process what to say to that, a strange look catches in Isseya’s eye. She rolls her wrist and undoes the hold she has on the Amulet’s chain to let it hang on one finger. The world’s most dangerous offering.

“Screw the Godmaker, screw our debt. I’ll give you the Amulet right here and now — with but a single demand.”

Nobody steps forward because nobody trusts that.

Still… Nadya can’t not know. “And that is?”

“Fix him.”

The Trinity vampire nearly chokes on her words; so thick they’re practically in a different tongue and they may very well have been at first. But the disgust written in every inch of her skin radiates of hurt; of loss. Nadya doesn’t want to but she can feel the sting of Isseya’s tears in her own eyes.

“Fix him,” she repeats, “because you are her. You’ve found his memories before and you can do so again.” The Amulet sways with her trembling hand. “Do that, little Bloodkeeper, and we have no more reason to help him, no matter his wrath. He cannot take more from us than we have already lost.”

Shame burns in Nadya’s cheeks when she feels the weight of Cadence’s focus on her. Fear and confusion and anger coming from all sides and she wants nothing more than to fall on the ground and try to bear the brunt of it all without breaking on the inside.

But how exactly does she tell the grieving woman she has no idea what to do, or how to do it? Probably with the same personal responsibility and defeat with which she’s going to have to tell everyone she had a chance… and couldn’t take it.

“There’s nothing to fix, crazy bitch.”

Katherine doesn’t give Nadya the chance to find the right words. She launches the stake over Nadya’s shoulder but it goes wide, too wide, and collides with the wall a few inches too far from Isseya’s head.

Isseya who glances down as the wood clatters to the floor and rolls near her heels; utterly and painfully useless. “What a pathetic weapon.”

“But a decent distraction.”

One second Cadence is there and the next he isn’t; he’s across the room and drops down to swipe Isseya’s legs out from under her. She falls and it would be comical if Nadya wasn’t familiar with what she could do when angered, which means Katherine gets little resistance when she flings an arm out as a gesture for Nadya and Lily to keep back.

And as expected Isseya recovers too quick; grabs Cadence’s exposed ankle and pulls him hard enough to lose his stance and land prone beneath her.

“Don’t make me do this, Cyn’!” she snarls and struggles to hold him down. With a grunt the man wrenches an arm free and grasps her lower jaw in a bone-breaking hold.

“How… dare you!”

Something snaps and Isseya cries out in pain, giving Cadence a chance he doesn’t waste to hurl her away and into the back wall with brute force. Her collision isn’t pretty; large cracks forming in the wall and brick dust kicking up around the fighting immortals.

There’s a clatter… and Nadya catches sight of a red shine out of the corner of her eye. The Amulet.

Before she can rush to grab it though, a strong hand pulls her back by the shoulder. Katherine’s expression is grim-set and trained on Cadence with an uncomfortable stillness. She doesn’t let up on Nadya.

“Kathy, what are you doing? We can get it — it’s right there!”

“Too close,” comes her reply; barely a whisper, “wait it out.”

What it is isn’t clear until she, too, focuses on the fighting vampires. Tension rippling off both of them, Isseya’s dress torn and covered in debris. Yet Nadya’s never seen such a wild look in anything even remotely human. Not even when Vega was hunting her down like a lion to a gazelle.

No, not quite right. She’s seen it before — just not through her eyes; not as herself.

A wide grin blooms slowly around the woman’s fangs, blood between the spaces of her teeth and dribbling wetly from her mouth. Different than all the other times she’s seen that particular look of maniacal delight… Nadya is quickly forced to come to terms with the fact that she’s seeing, for the first time in decades, pure joy lit in Isseya’s face.

Though she has every chance to tear Cadence away from where he pins her just slightly off of the ground, instead a tender hand caresses his cheek.

“There you are… beloved. I’ve missed you so much.”

He waits. Or… she’s waiting. The tension is enough to make Nadya want to choke but no one is doing anything.

“We thought we’d lost you,” the tips of her fingers leave powdery stains over his bottom lip, “but you can come home…”

“Cade.”

It’s like Katherine’s voice breaks him from a spell. He jerks away from the other vampire’s touch violently, forces himself back and watches in a twisted form of grief as she slumps to her knees.

“I —” she’s crazed, she’s distraught, she’s still the enemy but the way he looks at his hands and doesn’t understand why they are red from brick dust — he would never have hurt her in his right mind, “— I didn’t… I’m sorry.”

The Amulet’s chain crunches under his shoe; Cadence bends swiftly to pick it up and secure the pendant. With every step he takes back, away from her; a little more light leaves Isseya’s eyes.

Slowly Katherine pries the Amulet from him and hands it off to Nadya. Like their win doesn’t even matter — all her focus is on her friend. “It was the cage all over again, Kathy.” He whispers.

“I know,” but she doesn’t sound any less certain than he does, “but… we’ve got it. We gotta go.”

We gotta go.

Adrian.

It’s against her better judgment that Nadya glances back one last time before they close the vault door; the only thing they can attempt to keep Isseya from following them back to the auction.

She sees the woman stand and try to brush the stains from her dress. She sees her toe off her broken heel. She sees her glance up and meet Nadya eye for eye.

Lily helps Cadence shoulder the door closed. The echo of metal sliding into place chills her to the bone.

Twice now Nadya has inadvertently been the reason Adrian ended up injured so severely he couldn’t immediately heal. Which is, in her opinion, two times too many.

“What do you mean he forfeited?” Lily demands, and manages to look at least a little sheepish at the glare her tone gets. “Not that it totally, you know, makes every bit of ass kicked less worth it.”

Adrian glances at her through a purpling eye. “Thanks… I think.”

But even what hoarse whisper he manages seems to be too much, so Isadora answers in his stead. “He gave a rousing good show, Raines too,” she meets his glare with a bemused smirk of her own, “though the violence certainly went on much longer than necessary. But when the crowd came to understand the staggering difference in strengths they quickly lost interest.”

She rests a hand on Adrian’s shoulder. “It seems to me he battered you within an inch of your life so you couldn’t get up.”

Off to the side, Ryder cracks his neck. “Yeah, you’re a lot heavier than you look.”

Nadya fiddles with the Amulet of Nero deep in her jacket pocket. “Then Valdas just… forfeited?”

“Well it was either that or finish the job.”

And she’s glad that wasn’t the case. She pries one hand away from the pendant and reaches out to where Adrian lay, prone and aching, across the short back seat of Isadora’s limousine. “It wasn’t for nothing, but I’m still so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he rasps, and manages to lift his hand enough for her to grab it, “like you said… it wasn’t for nothing.”

“Just be glad Vera was able to get the house to call an intermission before they put two and two together.”

Taylor leans back in his seat and rests his head on Ryder’s shoulder. If only that alleviated some of the worry in his eyes. “If that Isseya chick killed as many goblins as you say the Council is gonna be called in to deal with it.”

Lily frowns. “But we locked her in the vault. Practically pulled a Batman and handed her to them on a silver platter.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

The occupants all look her way, and with no small amount of worry Nadya recounts the sight of Isseya able to stand on her own two feet right before the door closed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was gone by the time they even found out what she’d done, or what lot was missing.”

Adrian shifts and winces in pain. “That kind of strength… would definitely be enough to knock down a brick wall.”

And yet Cadence held her back like she was a rag doll. A thought Lily and Nadya both share in uncertain glances.

Ideally she wants to follow Katherine and Cadence into the night, off to where they secreted away while everyone (read: Nadya but loudly) was fussing over Adrian’s wounds. But he needed to heal so they could leave for New York as soon as possible, and that meant returning to Flechette with Isadora.

The woman glances out of the tinted window by her head to watch the French Quarter pass them by. “Relish your victory, however temporary,” she says with a sigh, “and ensure that it is made permanent when you return home.”

Nadya’s grip tightens on the Amulet so hard the metal bites at her skin.

“We will.”

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florafey · 5 years ago

Text

Malogranatum - Part 3

Flight of the Fledgling

“Persephone! Persephone!”

The goddess in question tried her best to glance over her shoulder without turning her head. She could just barely see Eris working hard to get around a crowd of older deities without drawing unwarranted attention to herself. Both her hands were occupied with drinks. There seemed to be no obvious reason for Eris’ urgency and Persephone found herself craning further around to check for her mother in the crowd.

Demanding hands jerked her head forward and from behind Persephone, Nike clicked her tongue impatiently.

“How am I supposed to learn how to braid when you’re moving all around?” She asked. The strands of hair clutched between Nike’s fingers were looking more like knots than plaits. Persephone had braided a small section of her hair for Nike to mimic and it had taken the blonde goddess nearly fifteen minutes to understand how to even begin.

“Sorry, Nike. Can you see if-”

“You’re mother is still with Hera,” Nike said automatically. A tug on Persephone’s hair told her Nike had begun her efforts again. “At least...I think so. I haven’t seen either of them for a while now.”

Desperate to avoid her mother after the public game she had won, Persephone and her friends- they were friends to her now, all of them- had snuck around to the front expanse of lawn where they had started their game. Hera had kept Demeter with her around the back, unknowingly giving Persephone some time to pull herself together and worry about when her mother was going to come looking for her.

The festivities of the party hadn’t stopped while they were playing. Groups of younger deities were still lounging around on the grass and in the water, laughing loudly and talking in tipsy voices. Scattered bonfires raged, food was passed around, and joyful singing accompanied the talented musicians that had now migrated out onto the grass.

Eris finally cleared the crowd and reached the two goddess where they were resting by the stone wall. They had chosen this spot strategically; it offered the most cover from the palace and the majority of the yard due to the shadows it created. Not to mention the view. Persephone couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away from the mountain peaks and stars that appeared just an arm’s reach away. Everything seemed so different up in Olympus. More amplified, somehow, than the mortal world. More...right.

Nike finished off Persephone’s braid with a huff and turned to take a drink from Eris. Persephone reluctantly hopped down from the wall. “What is it?”

“Your mother just returned inside. Hera isn’t with her.”

Persephone exhaled, her body sagging and eyes closing. Dread threatened to seep into her heart, her bones. She knew what was coming.

“Oh, Honey, don’t look like that,” Nike shook Persephone’s arm. “Not after all the fun we’ve had tonight. It’ll be alright, I’m sure.”

“That’s what I used to think,” Persephone whispered. She was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said, “But if she isn’t looking for me than I don’t see why we have to get into foul moods. The night is still young.”

Her last statement wasn’t completely correct but the three of them knew what she was implying. Deities were known to party for entire days on end, sleeping where they pleased only to wake and begin again. And when Midsummer rolled around, they were especially adroit at wringing every bit of pleasure from it.

“Well, if you insist on rejoining the party, I wouldn't mind taking another dip in the pool.” Eris smiled slyly. “Come on, Hermes and Dio are in the water and I’m sure the girls are around somewhere. Helios was there last I checked but I can’t be sure…” Eris grabbed ahold of Nike’s hand and led the goddesses away from the shelter of the wall and towards the long, gleaming rectangle of water off to one side of the lawn. True to Eris’ prediction, Persephone quickly spotted Helios’ large form amongst the many others by the edge of the pool. Her mood instantly lifted. Helios was beloved by Persephone and she by him. She had never known what it was like to have a father but she suspected it was similar to how Helios protected and cared for her.

She hurried her friends along, trying not to spill their drinks as they went. Helios was sitting with his feet in the pool, leaning back on his hands and facing away from Persephone. He was amusing a few flirtatious goddess swimming nearby him by kicking his feet and splashing them with water. Everytime he splashed them, they giggled uncontrollably and hid behind their damp hair. Persephone smiled. Helios could charm the dress of a statue.

Eris and Nike saw where she was headed and veered off to let her go. They kept close, however, as they met up with Dionysus and Hermes. Athena and Aphrodite winked in unison at Persephone when they caught her eye. Persephone laughed.

She approached Helios and knelt down behind him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He started in surprise, a hand coming up to grasp her forearm. When her curls spilled over his bare shoulders and down his chest, Helios let out a booming laugh.

“Persephone! I’m surprised you’re still here!” His deep voice rolled like thunder over the hills and Persephone felt the warm familiarity of it soothe the nerves she had been pushing down, down, down. She pecked his cheek.

“I am, too, I must admit. Eris just informed me that Hera and my mother have split apart so I fear I don’t have much longer. Hera was the only reason my mother couldn’t take me home sooner.” “Oh, I see. So you go climb on Helios to protect you, is that it?” His tone was light and his face grinning, but Persephone didn’t miss his meaning. She smiled back shyly and adjusted herself to sit next to him.

“I can protect myself just fine, especially from my mother,” she said lightly. “I’m more worried for the company I’ve been keeping. She might turn them inside out when she realizes they had me swimming in my silk dress and rolling around on the lawn.”

“Oh, Persephone, there are worse things to do at a party. Perhaps you should tell your mother that a few grass stains are the lightest consequences Midsummer has given in centuries. A few years ago- just three, if I remember correctly- Apollo nearly lost both his arms when Ares convinced him to wrestle a minotaur his sister had captured a few days before.”

“A minotaur?” Persephone was skeptical. “Helios, there isn’t such a thing. They only exist in paintings.”

Helios shot her a mischievous look and took a sip from the goblet dangling between his fingers. “Ask Artemis. She captured the damn thing and I watched her do it.” He set his goblet down and let his gaze linger on the goddesses in the water. “Reminded me of your mother, actually.”

A choked laugh was startled out of Persephone. Her laughter grew as the meaning of Helios’ statement sunk in and mingled with the wine already in her blood. It bubbled up and over the brink of her self control until she was bent over in stitches. It was so ridiculous the situation she found herself in, and there really wasn’t anything to do but laugh at herself. They drew stares as they turned a foolish poke of fun into an ordeal so hilarious they had tears running down their faces.

“My mother-” Persephone managed around her giggles, “is going to...commit filicide when she sees me.” She wrapped an arm around her now aching stomach and tried to control herself. “I have grass stains on my knees. Grass stains! And my dress is ruined and wet, my hair is a mess and she saw me running around inside like a barbarian-” She let out a semi-hysterical noise. “Oh, Helios. What am I going to do?”

He was silent. His own amusement had faded as he watched the young goddess at his side begin the downward spiral into emotional toil. A ghost of a smile remained on Persephone’s lips as she watched the deities in the pool, but her fingers were twisting in her lap. Her only sign of distress.

“But you were laughing.”

Persephone looked up. “What?”

“Inside. When you were ‘running around like a barbarian’. You were laughing so hard I was surprised you weren’t crying like just now.”

“Well, I- wait, you saw that?”

Helios frowned and tsked at her. “That’s not my point. Listen to my meaning and forget the rest. This night has given you what you have never received before. Tell me what that is.”

There were a million words Persephone could have used. Friends. Excitement. Freedom. Joy. A sense of belonging. When she slipped off into thought, Helios brought her back.

“Dignity.” The low-spoken word almost didn’t register with Persephone and she had to take a second to make sure she hadn’t misheard. Helios repeated it anyways.

“Dignity. Oh, you’ve always had it, don’t think otherwise. But never in the way you do now.”

“I...don’t think I understand. Dignity?”

The goddesses circling Helios had begun to feel ignored by his lack of attention so he splashed them one last time before pulling his feet out of the water and crossing them underneath him like Persephone at his side.

“Let me explain. A bird in a nest knows nothing outside of the safety of her tree. She can see the outside world, observe it around her, but never take part in it or make it her own. Day after day, the bird remains in the nest that she knows and never strays from it. Now, being a bird, is it usual for her to remain in her nest for her entire life?”

Persephone wordlessly shook her head.

“Is it healthy for her to remain stationary? Never exploring, never stretching her wings?”

Persephone shook her head again. Slower this time. Helios nodded, agreeing with her diagnosis. He settled his weight back on his hands and tilted his head at Persephone, considering her.

“I think that bird will do much better for herself if she makes the world her own place. Perhaps then she’ll be able to hold her head up and puff her chest out and be proud of what she’s done all by herself.”

Persephone fell silent, allowing the sounds of the party around them to dominate for a few seconds. Then, just to see what Helios would say, “So why doesn’t the bird just fly away? Leave her nest and the tree?”

Helios looked almost amused. Something bordering on relief shone in his eyes. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Persephone glanced down at where her fingers were twisted in her lap. When she looked back up, Helios was still staring at her.

“I don’t…” she trailed off. A deep breath, then, “The bird doesn’t know how to fly.”

“Who teaches birds to fly, Persephone?”

She shrugged. She had never thought about it before. It never seem consequential. Helios leaned forward in a smooth motion, pulling his hands into his lap and holding Persephone’s eye. The weight of the conversation fell upon her suddenly like a caved-in ceiling.

“They teach themselves,” Helios whispered, “by watching the other birds before them. They observe the birds that know how to fly, pay close attention to how they jump and tilt and steer, and then they have to jump out of the nest themselves.”

“That sounds awfully daunting.”

“It is,” Helios said frankly. He finally dropped her gaze, turning to stare out at the lawn and the glowing palace before them. The lights reflected in his black eyes and turned them golden. They matched perfectly with the gold twinned in his hair and hanging in his ears. When he turned back, the golden reflection remained despite losing the light that had caused it. “Although I suppose sometimes the bird needs a push.”

This was not anything Persephone had been expecting. She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know anyone in the business of pushing little birds out of trees, Helios.”

The god laughed, his eyes crinkling. “You’d be surprised at who would do what, little one.”

Persephone huffed, not quite sure where to take the conversation from there. Her mother had not appeared on the lawn and she figured it was only a matter of time. Time that was very quickly running out. She was preparing to rise from the grass when Helios said, “Especially among the gods.”

What? Persephone paused. She tilted her head and frowned, trying to make sense of his words. Stringing them together with his last sentence, they made practical sense, but she failed to see how it related to the metaphor they had been creating.

“I don’t-”

“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to think about it. May I give you some advice?”

“Haven’t you been for the last ten minutes?”

Helios chuckled. “Smart like your father.” They both knew he meant himself. “Now close that smart mouth and listen. Listen well.”

Persephone scooted closer until their legs were touching.

“The bird needs to be wary of who she lets into her nest. There are many reasons a bird would want to fly and many more why she would want to forever remain in her tree. She must sort out what’s what before she takes flight. A hasty jump is always a fall.”

“Alright,” Persephone conceded. “The bird shall be careful.”

Helios was satisfied. He took another sip from his goblet and motioned Persephone closer to him with his free hand. He extended his arm when she pressed against his side, and tucked her into an embrace.

“You are a unique creation, Persephone,” He told her. “I see all of creation, day after day, night after night. All of it. Nothing escapes my sight. But you-” he tapped her cheek, “are the most unique being on my earth. Take pride in that, if nothing else.”

Persephone’s face heated and her nose stung. She dropped her eyes from Helios’ face, not knowing if she could bear to see the raw sincerity in his eyes without crying. She leaned forward until her forehead pressed against his chest.

“Thank you, Helios.” The quietest whisper but he still heard. He hummed, a hand rubbing her arm. “You’re quite welcome. Now, Aphrodite is glaring at me, I assume she thinks I’m hogging you.”

Persephone looked up and saw that indeed, Aphrodite was subjecting Helios to her infamously cold stare. Persephone huffed out a laugh at her friend.

“Overprotective, that one. I should go to her before she flays you.”

Helios kissed the top of her hair before sending her off. By the time Persephone had reached Aphrodite and embraced her, Helios had put his feet back in the water and was amusing the goddesses once more.

As the party continued, Persephone found it harder and harder to push aside Helios’ words. Partly due to the exhaustion slowly creeping up on her, and partly due to the unusual seriousness Helios had exhibited when speaking to her, Persephone simply couldn’t shake the ideas planted in her mind.

She ate with Ares and Artemis, danced a little more with Dionysus whom had just woken up from a nap on the lawn, and even allowed the goddesses to pull her over to one of the smaller fires to tell stories. The gods soon joined them despite Athena’s whines about how this was the “females only” part of the night. That only caused Hermes to throw his head back and laugh, and further prompted Apollo to ask Athena if she truly believed the exclusion of gods brought pleasure to anyone involved. When Persephone tartly replied in the affirmative, Nike’s howls of laughter were so loud that Persephone could have sworn Poseidon looked over in their direction.

Poseidon had appeared on the back lawn not much later than Persephone’s group of friends but he hadn’t ventured into the lawn like he had earlier that night, choosing instead to remain on the stone patio connected to the back of the palace. The glowing lights from inside bathed his sharp features in ethereal light, making him seem right at home. At first, he came alone. He seemed content to hold his drink and lean against the palace and observe the festivities. Then, somewhat to Persephone’s surprise, his older brother had joined him. She had no idea what Hades had done between the time she saw him snarking off to Poseidon near her mother and Hera, and when he strode out of the palace doors and handed his brother another drink.

Persephone had been in the water when she first noticed him. It was the movement that caught her eye; the vastness of difference between the sharp, sturdy angles of the Underworld’s Master and the brightly swathed, easily flowing movements of everyone around him. To his credit, however, Hades did not seem uncomfortable. Perhaps a little out of place, but he moved with a natural ease and didn’t glance twice at the path of wide eyes he left in his wake.

She had been in the middle of wrestling playfully with Hermes in waist deep water, trying to save her hair from being completely submerged, when her gaze was pulled to the palace doors. Persephone wouldn’t ever forget the way Hades extended a hand towards Poseidon, a goblet dangling carelessly from his long fingers, and simultaneously turned his body just so and caught Persephone’s eye. It was like he had already known where she was.

The half second of connection froze Persephone in place. Hermes, oblivious to the change in Persephone’s demeanor as he was to everything else around him, had taken advantage of her temporary immobility to seize her around the waist and pull her into the water with him. By the time she emerged, hair soaked, her mouth open in shock, Hades had turned back to his brother.

But now, hearing Nike’s laughter and seeing Poseidon’s distraction, Hades glanced back over. Persephone imagined she was feeling much like a young schoolgirl; always aware of when he looked over, hoping he would pay more attention than last time. But why? She didn’t understand it for the life of her. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to understand her sudden emotions towards the God of the Underworld. She didn’t know him, hadn’t even spoken to him.

But...they had spoken, hadn’t they? Maybe not with words but with gestures and glances. And she wasn’t completely oblivious to the man he might be. Clearly he wasn’t a usual guest at such parties but he had come this year and stayed this long so that must mean something. He wasn’t immune to festivities and laughter, either- she had seen him smiling at Zeus while the god of the sky relayed a story to him earlier. Persephone had even managed to draw out his participation in a rather playful manner during the game of tag when he decided to help her. She smiled to herself. That was cheating, her sensible side reminded her. But she didn’t care. It had been fun. Worth it. But again, the question of why?

“Nike, it wasn’t that funny!” Apollo reached around Artemis to tug on Nike’s blonde hair. She cackled and smacked his hand away. “Don’t be sore because Persephone dismissed you. I’m sure it hasn’t been the first time.”

“Nike!” But with a glance at Apollo, Persephone burst into laughter. The look on his face was priceless. “Nike, hush. I haven’t before...I mean I didn’t mean it like that, I was just- oh stop it!” The rest of the goddesses had joined in the laughter and Persephone hid her face in her hands, still laughing. Apollo picked up on her mortification and threw himself down on the cushion next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. All hurt feelings, real or faux, had vanished.

“Oh, don’t worry about them, Honey. We all knew you were joking. In fact- agh!”

Artemis had reached around Eris to yank Apollo away from Persephone, pushing him to his feet. He complied, reluctantly, stumbling as he rose.

“Away!” Artemis snapped. She shooed him in the general direction of “away” in case he needed help in his inebriated state. Apollo stuck his tongue out but went, his golden curls swaying. Artemis took his place next to Persephone in a flash and somehow managed to not spill the plate of food she was holding. Persephone helped herself to the small chunks of lamb and Artemis gladly shared.

The eyes were still on her. They hadn’t remained the entire time, glancing away shortly and drifting around the rest of the lawn to briefly land on the gods wrestling, the musicians and dancers, the more refined deities walking arm in arm along the lit paths. The eyes took everything in with a single, sweeping glance. Poseidon was still talking at his side, the wine having loosened his tongue considerably. Persephone wondered if Hades had done that on purpose. Even she knew that a wine-tipped tongue shared considerably more entertaining thoughts. Or perhaps secrets.

Persephone was watching Hades from over Artemis’ shoulder and trying to act like she was simply glancing around at all the guests. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to pretend with the amount of deities now populating the lawn. From around the bonfire, Nike and Aphrodite had jointly begun telling a story that Persephone was only half paying attention to. Something about the elusive Tyche whom Persephone had unsurprisingly only heard tales about. Their voices were rising and falling with dramatic recounting and the other goddess nibbled off Artemis’ plate and listened closely.

But Persephone allowed herself to drift away a bit. She remained tuned in to what her friends were saying, lest she give herself away, but she gradually shifted more of her attention over Artemis’ shoulder. Hades profile was a sharp one and the more she looked, the harder it was for Persephone to glance away. It was sharp enough to cut stone. Strong jaw, strong nose, strong chin. If Persephone was an artist she would have spent days trying to paint his likeness. Standing the way he was in the contrast of light and shadow, she was able to see the shimmer of his eyes as he, too, distracted himself whilst listening to the person next to him.

Persephone watched as his eyes drifted over the guests on the lawn and fell on the rectangular pool. She followed his gaze. Helios was now waist deep in the water, his dreadlocks tied into a thick knot by the base of his neck to keep them dry. There was a dainty goddess in his strong arms and her laughter sounded like a choir of bells as Helios spun her around and around, spraying them both with mist. Hades’ chest shifted as though he had laughed but no smile crossed his face. Until...there. Yes, that was a smile. A small one. Somewhat sharp, maybe harboring other feelings besides amusement, but...still a smile. Persephone found herself following suit.

Until that half smirk dropped and his eyes flashed to hers, catching her red-handed. Persephone froze, her smile shrinking away. She had been in the process of raising a grape to her mouth but it was immediately forgotten, her hand stilling in front of her chest. Hades was unreadable as he studied her from across the lawn. Poseidon was now deep into his drink and talking freely, so Hades’ distraction went unnoticed. And Persephone soon found the fear in her stomach began to evaporate. The nervous energy, the butterflies, still remained, but as Hades raised a single, inquiring eyebrow at her as if to say ‘yes?’, she was not afraid. So, with as much bravado as a young, inexperienced, nervous goddess could muster in the sights of a much older, much larger, much more intimidating god, Persephone shrugged and popped her grape into her mouth. ‘Nothing.’

Hades flicked his eyes up to the sky. Was he...rolling his eyes at her? A sliver of Persephone’s bravado gave way to incredulity. Her smile turned stiff and her once-playful eyes now took on a backsplash of darker amusement. She tilted her head and sent an eyebrow up as Hades’ gaze returned to her from his brief moment of attitude. He absorbed Persephone’s sass from across the lawn and did something that didn’t surprise her in the least. He laughed.

Not loud and booming like Helios, but somehow just as forceful. His mouth split, revealing straight, white teeth to form a grin brimming with arrogance. Just like that, he had gotten a rise out of her without lifting a finger. Persephone realized what he had done, what he had caused her to do, and dropped her gaze to her lap with a smile of her own.

The bonfire on her right was still blazing happily and the goddesses weren’t more than part way through their story. Persephone tuned back in for a moment as she reached for more from Artemis’ plate. She passed a square of lamb to Athena and settled back into her cushion. When she found time to spare another glance at Hades and Poseidon, she found Hades’ demeanor had drastically changed. So much so that she found herself glancing around him to see what had suddenly gone wrong. His entire body was tensed, if only slightly, and his eyes were no longer sparking with whatever wicked amusement Persephone had ignited in them moments before. If she were closer, she figured she would find the grip around the stem of his goblet was now much tighter.

And then all of a sudden she understood. Or rather, she saw.

Demeter had appeared in the doorway of the palace, framed in the golden light spilling onto the grass. She looked...Persephone knew that look. Recognized it from the many times Demeter had found her too far away from home or gone too long after dark. Worry, fear, anger.

Disappointment shot through Persephone like a clap of thunder. Then on its tail, guilt. Who was she to be disappointed in seeing her mother? Demeter was only worried because she hadn’t seen her daughter all night and had no idea where she was or what she had gotten into. Persephone had no right to be disappointed. Demeter on the other hand…

Persephone glanced down at her dress. It was now dry but it was wrinkled and a little dirty from rolling around on the lawn. Grass stains marred her bare feet and she was positive her hair was still damp. The guilt sunk further, nestling down into her chest. Demeter had asked her to do one thing, one, and Persephone hadn’t managed to do so. All her mother asked was that her daughter behave and what had Persephone done? She drank and went swimming in her gown and running through the palace and rolling on the grass. Persephone closed her eyes. She felt heavy. Cold, despite the fire.

“Persephone?” Artemis. “Honey, what is it? Are you feeling well?” Persephone opened her eyes when Artemis gently shook her.

“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just-”

“Oh, dammit it to Tartarus, it’s your mother.” Eris scrambled to her feet. “Come with me, I can try to hide you. Maybe we can-”

“No, no, Eris,” Persephone interrupted. “No, it’s been long enough. I should go to her. She’s probably worried sick and I told her I would stick close by.”

There was silence around the fire. Aphrodite’s hands were clenched together. Nike hadn’t taken her eyes off Demeter, keeping track of her when Pesephone was turned. Then, tentatively, Athena asked, “Are you sure?”

Persephone nodded. “Yes. It’s been hours. Five, at least. I should explain where I’ve been and try to apologize-”

“You should do no such thing!” Artemis rose when Persephone did, putting a hand on her arm to prevent her from leaving. “Maybe for vanishing for so long, but don’t you dare apologize for having such harmless fun. It wouldn’t be fair. To you, I mean.”

Persephone glanced over to the palace doors where Demeter still stood, scanning the lawn for her lost daughter. Not truly meaning it, she turned to Artemis and said, “All right. I won’t.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.” Persephone smiled. “She’s my mother, not a dragon. I’ll be just fine, don’t worry.”

Artemis nodded but the concern didn’t budge. “We’ll be here. Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”

Persephone promised, and stepped out of the safe ring of light cast from the fire, leaving the safety of her sisters as she did so. She worked her way steadily across the lawn towards her mother and tried to make herself more presentable as she went. Thankfully, it was dark, and Demeter wouldn’t notice most of Persephone’s unkemptness until they were home or in the bright palace.

“Mother!” Persephone called out when she was close enough and picked up her pace, forcing a smile she didn’t feel onto her face. “There you are! I’m sorry I wasn’t with you, but I knew Hera-”

“Where have you been?” Demeter rushed forward and grabbed her daughter, pulling her into her bosom. Persephone embraced her, inhaling the familiar scent of Demeter’s clothing and feeling the smooth muscle underneath. “I’ve been worried for hours. And what were you doing running around like that inside? Were you with Dionysus? I’ve told you not to mingle with him, or Nike! Do you have any idea the kind of trouble they get into?”

“Oh, mother, they wouldn’t have made me do anything I didn’t want to. I’ve spoken with them. They’re kind.”

“Until they want something from you-” Demeter’s hand went to stroke Persephone’s hair but jerked away when she felt it. “Is that- are you...did you go swimming?”

Persephone’s heart thundered. “Just a little. Hermes splashed me too much but my dress is fine, I promise.” Lie. “There weren’t many people around, nobody saw us.” Lie. “Helios was there.” Not a lie, but it didn’t necessarily make things better. Demeter seemed unconvinced by all of it.

“Are you lying to me, Persephone? Why in Olympus would you allow those scoundrels to drag you into something like that?”

“It was only a bit of fun, nothing came of it-”

“And- and running through the palace like a child! Persephone, I expected better of you, I truly did. You’ve begged me to allow you to attend these events for years and this is what you have to show for it? What’s next? Soon you’ll be showing me the grass stains on your arms!”

Persephone hardly found that fair. “Mother, I get grass stains at home all the time,” she said firmly. “And please don’t call them scoundrels. They’re kind and everything I did tonight, I did because I wanted to. Nobody forced me to do anything, I wouldn’t have let them. You should know that, of all people!”

“Yes, I seem to be having trouble getting you to do anything of late, it seems. Well, it serves me right, allowing you to be around such…”

“Please don’t call my friends names.” Persephone’s tone was hard. Demeter stopped, her brow rising dangerously.

“Oh, is that what they are, now? Friends? They’re your friends, Persephone?” She chuckled, finding Persephone’s words amusing. “No, darling, they are not. No deity of such...standing should be, at least. Let alone that many of them.”

Persephone jerked away from her mother and batted off the grasping hand that followed. “Standing?” Her voice broke. “That’s what this is about? You think I’m too good for them.”

Demeter blinked, her mouth twitching upwards. “Persephone...they’re troublemakers, all of them. Of course you’re too good for them.”

“They...they don’t- they’re not troublemakers, mother. They’re kind and loving and accepting. No one is too good for a loving friend. And so what if they cause a little commotion? It’s harmless!”

Demeter’s condescension turned hard, her eyes losing any remaining light. Yelling was not her way, but the softness was almost worse. “Persephone, the impression you have made tonight on everyone around us is anything but harmless. Pure foolishness, petty games, it’s all the behavior of a young child who doesn’t know her place. I never should have allowed you to come.”

Tears stung the back of Persephone’s throat. The hollow feeling in her chest had spread and spread until it was now threatening to swallow her up completely. She wanted to shrink away, disappear. That wasn’t true, wasn’t true...was it? No, she didn’t think so. With effort, Persephone pulled up the memory of locking eyes with Zeus as she pressed against the marble pillar whilst hiding from Eris. He had smiled at her. She had felt like a young girl giggling with her father. And Hades, how he had assisted her on his own accord, without truly having a reason other than he simply felt like it. She remembered the soft laughter from the older deities as she and her friends had gone zipping around the grand floor. No judgment, no astonishment, no....none of this.

Persephone clenched her fingers in the dress and swallowed back the unsteadiness of her voice when she said, “I’m sorry for leaving you for so long when I told you I would stay nearby. But I am not sorry for enjoying my first night out.”

Demeter’s eyes widened and she let out a chuckle that sounded far from amused. “Oh, well, I’m very glad you enjoyed yourself, Persephone. Especially on such a momentous occasion such as your first night out, as it will also be your last. We’re going home. Now.”

Persephone’s heart plummeted. She told herself she shouldn’t be surprised but she still couldn’t help the grief washing over her and turning her skin cold. Swallowing back another wave of tears, she choked out, “Let me say goodbye first.”

Demeter sighed. “Persephone-” “No! If you’re taking me home, then I get to say goodbye.” Persephone was already turning away. “I won’t be gone a minute. I promise.” And before her mother could remind her how her last promise ended up, Persephone had skittered out of reach.

The haze of light around the fire blurred with stinging tears. Persephone wiped at her face, feeling more childish by the second as she kept her head down and made her way to her friends. They had been polite enough to not watch the confrontation but apparently Aphrodite had been peeking over her shoulder; she saw Persephone coming and ran to meet her. Persephone grasped the goddess’s hand and pulled her the rest of the way to the fire. She didn’t wish to be anywhere near her mother.

“What happened, Honey?” Aphrodite pulled her down onto a cushion and held her with strong arms. Tears leaked from Persephone’s eyes and dampened Aphrodite’s shoulder.

“She’s angry. She scolded me for running around inside and getting my hair wet. Called me childish-”

“Oh! That-” Nike sprung from her seat but Eris grabbed her arm. “Don’t,” Eris whispered. With effort, she persuaded Nike to sit.

Aphrodite pulled Persephone away from her so she could wipe her tears. It was the action of a mother towards a child, but the only reason Persephone felt childish was because of the words thrown at her from Demeter. There was relative silence around the fire but the jovial sounds of the celebration still dominated. It was different now, however. A reminder of what Persephone couldn’t have, what she wasn’t allowed to experience. But why not? Something unfamiliar burned deep within the young goddess’ chest, red and dark and hot.

“And your mother is...letting you stay?” Artemis sounded tentative to ask. Persephone let out a wobbly sigh and sat up straighter.

“No. I’m here to say goodbye, as I promised. I won’t-” she faltered, barely able to think the words let alone vocalize them. “About next year...I won’t…”

Her meaning registered in the minds of the women around her, and Persephone watched as a ripple of despair and disbelief washed over their faces. Athena’s mouth dropped, her hand coming up to clutch her heart. Nike had gone very, very still.

“You mean you aren’t allowed back?” Nike asked tonelessly. Persephone nodded.

“Yes. Mother knows best.” Sarcasm cruelly twisted her words. Nike clenched her jaw so hard she might have broken teeth if she didn’t stop to stay, “That’s bullshit, she can’t just tell you not to come.”

“Nike-” Eris’ hand was shoved away.

“I’m serious. Persephone, you don’t need to do what she tells you just because she’s your mother. You’re your own woman, aren’t you?”

Persephone knew Nike’s anger was not directed at her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her mother engaged in casual conversation with Hephaestus, whom she hadn’t seen all night until now. He must have just arrived. Demeter was still keeping half her attention on her daughter, and Persephone turned around before she could catch her eye.

“It’s more complicated than that,” She told Nike. “I can’t just....disobey her. I have nowhere to go on Earth if she turns me away. It’s not like Olympus down there, and it’s my home.”

“You’ll always have a place with us,” Athena murmured. Her soft smile did wonders for Persephone’s raging emotions. “I mean that, Honey. You’re one of us. Our sister.”

Persephone swallowed thickly and blinked back another onslaught of tears. “I need to say goodbye to our other halves,” she smiled. “Any idea where they might be?”

Eris tittered playfully and knelt besides Persephone to embrace her. “They’re always stealing you from us,” she whined. Persephone hugged her, hard. She said tearful goodbyes to her friends with exchanged embraces and kisses, and made a promise to try her best to see them sometime soon. Nobody knew what would come of that promise. When she was done, Persephone slunk around the back of the fire, slipping out of her mother’s sight when Demeter glanced at Hephaestus for a single second and lost track of her daughter. Aphrodite had kissed Persephone and pointed out Apollo and Hermes, to whom Persephone now ran.

Apollo yelled her name and opened his arms to her once he spotted her, but she hushed him with a fierce look in her eye. He frowned.

“My mother is expecting me and I’m not supposed to be with you. Either of you. I’ve come to say goodbye and to tell you I may not see you again for a long while.”

It was Hermes’ turn to frown. “What do you mean by that? Demeter really can’t expect to keep you on Earth away from us now that you’ve met us all.”

“Or perhaps she does. Fuck,” Apollo swore. “Are you sure there’s no way you can sneak away from her? Even if it’s just for Midsummer next year?” Persephone smiled softly at the golden-haired god. “You’re too kind, Apollo. Perhaps my mother will change her mind by next year, perhaps not. But...it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to sneak out.” She winked mischievously, feeling the effort it took to appear so careless, and both gods laughed. Apollo embraced her and Hermes patted her shoulder. He would be seeing her more often due to his frequent tasks on Earth and wasn’t feeling the same grief the rest of Persephone’s friends were.

“Hermes, you tell me everything that happens whenever you see her,” Apollo demanded. Persephone quieted him when she threw her arms around his neck and held him close. She patted his unruly curls and kissed his temple.

“Thank you for being so kind,” she said sincerely. “It’s been a wonderful night. One I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

Apollo squeezed her and let her go. Even through his drunken state, his eyes shone with sadness. Persephone moved on to find Ares and Dio. She found them by a second bonfire. Dionysus, having slept off his first round of drunkness some hours before and was now steadily working towards it a second time, reacted almost violently to her news. He swore just like Apollo had and told Persephone she could always come stay with him if she ever chose to leave Earth. Persephone was touched. She had known these deities for a single night and every one of them had deemed her worthy their hearts, minds, and now their homes.

With only Helios to find, Persephone was drawing closer to leaving the momentous Midsummer for a very, very long time. She was glad when Ares informed her Helios had gone into the palace. Demeter was still on the lawn with Hephaestus and a glance at her old bonfire told Persephone that the goddesses remained in their clumped formation, giving off the appearance that Persephone was still among them. She smirked. Clever women.

The palace light was warmth incarnate compared to the night’s chilly wind and cruel words it had allowed. The large floor was as sparse as it had been the last time Persephone was inside, but not so much so that she spotted Helios at once. She passed the fountains of wine and the base of the large statue she had started her night perched upon. Unfamiliar deities passed around her but no Helios, no Zeus, no Poseidon. Hades was nowhere to be seen as well. Persephone had passed directly by the stone patio and hadn’t seen Hades there either, despite him being there with his brother not half an hour before. Where was he?

A strange pang shot through Persephone’s chest. She wished for...what? Did she wish to say goodbye to Hades like she had with all the rest of her friends? But that was ridiculous; they hadn’t spoken, hadn’t introduced themselves. Hades might not even know who she was. A small part of Persephone- the part that had grown frighteningly larger since the beginning of the night- urged her to go seek out Hades anyways just for the hell of it. When had she had such interesting interactions with someone before? And when would she see him again?

She pushed the thought aside for the time being when she saw Helios. He was leaning against the thick, gilded banister attached to the grand staircase towards the back of the palace. The staircase was a masterpiece of carved marble and polished metal twisting up to the higher levels. The stairs were wide enough for a crowd of deities to stand shoulder to shoulder upon but they were currently empty.

The couple Helios was speaking to looked up when Persephone came into view. She recognized their faces but didn’t try very hard to recall their names. Helios smiled broadly, teeth gleaming, but noticed something was off right away. The unfamiliar couple said respectful farewells and left him with Persephone. As soon as they moved away, Helios placed his goblet on the stairs and extended a hand. Persephone took it, his hand dwarfing her smaller one. His grip was tight, sturdy.

“She’s taking me home,” She spoke after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes.” No surprise.

“And I’m not allowed to return.”

“No.” Softer. Sadder.

“I don’t understand. What have I done that was so terrible that I must be kept a prisoner in my own home? I won’t be allowed to even leave the property, let alone visit my friends!”

“Persephone, child…” Helios shook his head. He ran a free hand over his eyes and turned his gaze down to catch and hold her eyes. “You are a smart young woman. You know the situation you are in. I can’t advise you one way or the other-”

“You could!”

“No. What you do and how you react must be your choice. You are old enough to decide for yourself what you want out of your life. Where you want to go, how you want to live, it’s all up to you. But choose wisely. Some deities are slow to forgiveness. Others don’t forgive at all.”

Persephone was perplexed. His words weren’t making sense and her mother would have noticed her ruse by now. She was going to be furious. Perhaps Persephone had made all this worse by sneaking off again but she hadn’t been able to help herself. She hated this- this stupid situation she was in, her predicament. If only she could just shut her eyes and wake up on the lawn next to a passed out Dionysus and hear the laughter of Apollo and Ares teasing her for nodding off.

But the empty hole in her chest was a relentless reminder that her grief and sorrow were cruelly, brutally real.

“Please, Helios, just tell me what to do! I love my mother but I’ve never been so angry with her before. She treats me like a child and all I want is for her to-”

Helios’ face shifted. Whirling around, Persephone knew what she would see before she saw it. Demeter had left the lawn, having clearly figured out her daughter was no longer outside. To Persephone’s strange amusement, Hephaestus was still besides Demeter, happily chatting away. Demeter was ignoring him as best she could but it was nearly impossible to ignore a god that large. Especially as he mirrored your motions.

Demeter had yet to see Persephone due to her position towards the back of the room but she would soon unless Persephone put her big-girl dress on and made a move before then. Persephone cast her eyes around, searching. Not the staircase. It was too large and too empty for her to dash up without being spotted. Perhaps...no, the hallway in front of her was too close to her mother. She would be spotted. She turned and saw an identical hallway behind her, leading around a corner and deeper into the palace. Perfect.

Persephone squeezed Helios’ hand. “I’ll see you later.” With a troublesome smile, Persephone disappeared from Helios’ side. The room was not bursting to capacity as it had been at the start of the night, meaning Persephone could not simply vanish amongst all the other deities, but she took advantage of her slight stature and made it work. Within a few seconds even Helios had to concentrate to find her. And that was only because he knew where to look.

The sun god chuckled to himself and stooped to regain possession of his wine. A wild thing, that Persephone. How she flourished with such bravery under Demeter’s tight leash, he could only guess. He let her disappear from sight.

Persephone was in the hallway and around the corner before she allowed herself to notice how fast her heart was beating. If she hadn’t been in trouble before, she certainly would be now. The hole she had dug herself was getting rapidly deeper and she figured it would bottom out somewhere, but she would worry about it did so.

Feeling somewhat triumphant from her escapade and confident that she won herself a few more minutes of freedom, Persephone allowed her pace to slow. She was further into the palace and was coming upon the more casual rooms that constituted the everyday living. A library door was cracked open ever so slightly and Persephone resisted the urge to enter. Further down the hall was a large sitting room from which Persephone heard soft voices whispering and moving around. Maids. The sounds of the party were muffled now and seemed detached from the secret realm Persephone had entered. Her footfalls were quiet as she walked. Her bare feet did well to muffle her movements but they soon grew numb with cold from the marble floor. Why so much marble? Isn’t that frightfully expensive?

The hallway opened up to an indoor courtyard and split off in two opposite directions. Persephone halted. She was far enough in that the only sounds she could hear behind her was the occasional hoot of laughter and the loudest part of the musician’s songs. Instead she was surrounded by the eerie calm of the palace. Barren, silent, hidden away. A trickle of water from a nearby fountain was the only interruption of silence.

Well, you’ve gotten yourself this far. What are you going to do now? Persephone had to be honest with herself: she hadn’t a single clue. What was there to do? Perhaps she could stay here awhile before trying to sneak back outside and find her mother. Or maybe it would be wiser to rejoin the goddesses and act as though she had been there all along. Or-

She froze. Voices to the left, and not maids. These were deep, heavy voices that didn’t take as much care to keep themselves from being heard. The one currently speaking was unfamiliar to Persephone. The words were rough, the scraping of gravel, but the tone was light as the god attached to it murmured something to his companion. Persephone couldn’t make out the words. The voice was too deep. But she could tell that both deities were drawing closer so she dashed around the padded settees and a set of fountains to swing around the corner of the hallway closest to her, safely out of sight. She was now opposite to where she had come in and cut off from any desperate escape back to the party. Unless she could find a roundabout way through the palace or perhaps through the upper levels but Persephone doubted she could. Besides, her interest had been sparked.

Busybody, her sensible mind chastised. Persephone smiled crookedly at herself and held her breath as the voices came nearer. Daring a quick peek around the corner, she saw that the courtyard was still empty. Footsteps were now audible, however, so she swung out of sight and scooted further down the hallway.

The first and only voice Persephone had heard, the rough one, was still speaking.

“I’m not entirely sure why you’ve decided to ask for my council on the matter, brother. And, coincidentally, I’m not sure why you’ve dragged me away from the party to tell me this.” Persephone frowned. The once light tone had shifted into boredom. But who did she know with a brother? There weren’t many among them. The answer hit her the moment the second god spoke and confirmed her need for the shock now blooming through her chest.

“Oh, it isn’t as if you were enjoying yourself at the party. And you know why. That damned bitch our brother married has ears everywhere.” Posiedon. Talking about-

“Easy, now. Hera deserves your respect. And frankly, you could march right up to her and tell her exactly what you just told me and she wouldn’t bat an eye. You, brother, are far too dramatic for your own good. There’s still no reason for you to have dragged me here.”

“Oh, fine. Be like that. How very like you to abandon me in my time of need.” Posiedon was balancing on the very thin line of tipsy and drunk, Persephone could tell. Hades heaved a semi-tolerant sigh.

“An affair with a handmaiden is not a time of need, Posiedon.”

“Not to you-”

“No. And to anyone else, for that matter.”

“It will be once Hera tells my damned wife!”

Persephone could almost fell Hades shrugging. “You would prevent all this trouble for yourself if you didn’t fuck other goddesses, Posiedon.”

Posiedon was growing exasperated from his elder brother’s lack of assistance. It was still unclear to Persephone what, exactly, Posiedon had expected Hades to do, but she still had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. After a quiet few moments where Persephone imagined Posiedon glaring hazily at his brother, Hades finally said, “Is that all?”

Poseidon scoffed and muttered, “Is that all?” in a mocking tone. Hades’ laughter rumbled low across the courtyard and nearly sent Persephone to her knees. Heat blossomed across her cheeks.

Laughter was not the response Poseidon had been looking for. The watery god sent an exasperated sound into the air before turning and walking noisily away, deciding reluctantly that the conversation had reached its full potential. He briefly came into Persephone’s view as he turned down the hallway she had came from on his way to returning to the party. She waited for Hades to follow, but he remained.

Persephone was still stuck. Without Hades leaving, there was no way she herself could return to the party and thus, her mother. It wasn’t as though she was in a rush to come face to face with Demeter after the stunt she just pulled but Persephone was now aware of the predicament she was in. With Hades, of all deities. She was rolling around the idea of exploring the hallways behind her when Hades spoke again, his voice projecting across the courtyard to slam into her chest.

“Clever enough to hide from Poseidon but not from Demeter?”

Pure shock paralyzed Persephone and it took her mind a few slow seconds to grapple with the idea that Hades was speaking to her. Oh, no. Heat washed over her entire body. She had nothing to say. She was caught, embarrassed, and with no idea as to what would come of this. When moments lapsed into silence, Hades said, “Don’t pretend you aren’t there. It’s rather dull having a conversation with one’s self.”

He didn’t seem angry, but Persephone was still wary. Her heart was pounding painfully against her ribcage and her fingers were quivering with either nerves or anticipation, she didn’t know. Wrestling up the last of her courage and perhaps some that wasn’t even there, she stepped out from around the corner and into view of the God of the Underworld. As soon as she saw him, she was struck with how foolish she had been. What was she doing?

She hadn’t been this close to him before. Hades was leaning against a marble pillar only a few strides to Persephone’s right. His head was tipped back to rest against the structure and his eyes were half-lidded. He looked tired but not in a sickly way. Just...weary after seven hours of a ceaseless party, flowing wine, and perhaps too many deities he hadn’t wanted to converse with. Nonetheless, his striking appearance hadn’t yielded. The opposite, in fact. From this close, Persephone could see the individual hairs curling over Hades’ forehead and down to his ears. She could see the faint rim of his pupils against the darkness of his eyes as well as the sharp contrast of his cheekbones and jaw in the soft, warm light.

Persephone kept a hand on the wall and managed to meet his eye with an air of confidence. The corner of Hades’ mouth turned up in a sinful smirk.

“There you are. I was starting to think I would have to come get you.”

What did that mean? Persephone blinked, currently unable to form coherent words once faced with the sight that was Hades. His voice was somehow different now directed at her; softer yet rougher. Straddling the line between dismissal and playfulness.

She managed, “I’m Persephone,” simply because she had nothing else to say. The smirk grew into a grin.

“Yes, so I’ve been told. Pleasure to meet you, Persephone.”

What did he mean ‘been told’? Who had he been asking about her?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hades. I...I apologize for eavesdropping, it wasn’t really my intention.”

“Don’t sound so nervous, I won’t bite your head off. You’re only down here, I imagine, because you’re avoiding the charming Demeter.” Sarcasm twisted his last sentence. Persephone scoffed with amusement and yielded a slow nod.

“But I don’t think I’ve helped myself by running away again.” She didn’t know why she was telling him this other than the fact that he wasn’t leaving or telling her off. Hades flicked a groomed brow skywards.

“Probably not. She’s always been fierce about her own.”

Persephone did not want to continue this line of conversation. The last thing she wanted her first conversation with Hades to be about was her mother and her protective instincts.

“I won’t tell anyone about...Posiedon.” She was hesitant to use the exact words that Hades had to describe his brother’s affair a few moments before.

“Oh, it wouldn’t matter if you did, flower. Amphitrite is having her own affair with Kratos.”

Persephone’s mouth parted in surprise. Oh. Hot on the tail of the gossip Hades had shared was the realization that he had just called her ‘flower’. She willed herself not to blush. She also wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue this line of conversation, either. It seemed dangerous. So, only partly thinking about what came out, Persephone opened her mouth and said, “Is it true you have a hound?”

Hades looked both shocked and amused. His other brow rose to meet the first. Then a sly smile gradually appeared. “Yes,” he said slowly. “That’s true.”

“And it-he...has…”

“Three heads?” A chuckle. “Yes. That’s also true.”

“Oh.” She swallowed and added, “Does he have a name?” She felt silly asking that until Hades said, “As a matter of fact, he does. I call him Cerberus. He makes my work much easier and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”

Persephone smiled despite her pounding heart. “My mother tells me he guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent souls from leaving.”

“Oh, so she’s telling stories about me, is that it?”

Persephone tilted her chin up. “About your dog, not you.”

“Fair enough. And why was dear Demeter telling you stories about my hound?”

“Oh, just to tell me to never attempt to enter the Underworld.”

Hades gave Persephone a strange look. “Why would she have to tell you not to do a thing like that?”

Persephone paused, her false bravado melting away. The real answer was frightfully embarrassing but she had a feeling she would end up telling him anyways. Hades’ look had turned speculative. Like he was reading her mind.

“You heard stories about Cerberus, yes?” It was commonplace enough. Hades knew his hound was well known. Persephone nodded and hoped he would leave it at that. But when Hades rolled his eyes, smiled to himself, and settled back against the pillar, she knew he wasn’t going to leave it alone. “Hermes told you Cerberus was friendly, didn’t he?”

It was so spot on that Persephone blurted, “Did Hermes tell you that?” The messenger god had been chased away by Demeter but the notion had stuck in Persephone’s mind for a long while. Hades tilted his head back and laughed softly.

“No, he did not.”

“Then how-”

“There was a young boy some years ago that was in a similar circumstance.” Hades shrugged, a graceful motion. “He wandered too far where he shouldn’t have and found himself in my domain.”

“What happened?”

Hades smiled. “He got what he wanted, at least. It just wasn’t what he had expected.” His eyes shone with a wet, feral light. Surely the boy….

“You let him out, didn’t you? Of the Underworld?” Persephone asked haltingly.

“Of course I did. He didn’t belong down there. Not yet, at least. I figure I’ll see him again in a few decades.” Hades downed the rest of his wine with a neat flick of his wrist. “Now, something tells me Demeter is brewing chaos trying to find you.”

Persephone’s eye roll was a product of many years’ worth of practice. When Hades laughed again she realized with a jolt that she was beginning to enjoy the sound. But before she could start processing how much trouble that would get her into, both literally and figuratively, Hades said, “She’s her own creature, that one. It’ll be less trouble if you go sooner rather than later.”

“Well, yes, but I’m not sure I can get into any more trouble than I already am.”

“Oh? Mother didn’t like a wet dress?” His voice was stone against stone.

Persephone glared at him, hoping it would distract him from the fact that she was blushing. How had he known her dress was wet?

“Not really, if you must know. Nor was she thrilled about me running around the palace like a child.” Now she was just complaining, but it felt necessary. Persephone was tired and simply dreading to reunite with her mother. Her life had been starting to make her feel like she wasn’t able to breath, but the deities she had met tonight-now including Hades- had been like a punch to the chest that had caused her to gasp and come alive.

Hades hummed thoughtfully and pushed off the wall to take a few steps closer to Persephone. Now closer, Persephone felt very small indeed. He was tall, almost taller than Helios but with less...gaud. Helios was all bright jewellery and booming voice and intricately braided hair while Hades was sharp, refined edges and the mystery of the ink disappearing underneath his collar and sleeves. Maybe Persephone would ask Hermes about them and see if he knew what they meant. Or maybe not. Hermes had a big mouth.

“Cerberus is friendly,” Hades told Persephone, surprising her. He turned and strode across the courtyard, following the path Posiedon took to return to the party. Over his shoulder, he called, “Feel free to give him some company if you so desire.” Then Hades had disappeared down the hallway and Persephone was left with nothing but her roaring, confused, slightly giddy thoughts.

She looked around the empty courtyard as if asking invisible people ‘what the hell was that all about?’ The only answer was a distant, roaring laugh that Persephone easily placed as Dionysus.

“Oh, shut up, Dio,” she muttered as though he had been laughing at her strife. When the laugh came again a few seconds later, Persephone found her mouth twitching into a smile. She turned on her heel and marched towards the party and the thunderstorm she had caused her mother to become.

#malogranatum #persephone #hades #hades and persephone #Greek Mythology #greek gods #greek goddesses #hades x persephone

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keybladeswar · 6 years ago

Text

Sunshine (Demyx X fem!reader)

Words: 2216

Warnings: None. This is wholesome.

Summary: You and Demyx are sent to look for keyblade wielders in Olympus/Thebes, and Demyx convinces you to take a day off.

Author’s note: I haven’t written fanfiction in literal years, so I might be a little rusty. Thought this would be a good way to do some short writing exercises, though. If you like this, please share it! Since this is a new blog, I don’t expect it to reach many people. I’m also open to trying out requests, so if you’re interested, let me know!

“This is so boring!” Demyx complained beside you.

“Shut up, or they’ll hear you!” you hissed back. “Besides, would you rather be the one fighting?”

“Point taken,” he said. “I just don’t get why we get all the boring jobs.”

You didn’t necessarily find this job boring. It was better than some you’d had, at least. Xemnas has sent the two of you to Thebes to look for potential keyblade wielders, specifically a man named Hercules. You’d found him quite easily, but you were sure it was a mistake when you did. He was just a boy and a scrawny one at that. But your opinion changed when you saw him throw a frisbee and knock down a whole row of columns. So the boy was strong. Very strong.

You and Demyx watched him as he set off on a journey of self-discovery, learned he was a son of the god Zeus, and began training with a satyr named Phil to become a hero. Maybe this guy was keyblade material after all.

And so you waited. And waited. You watched as he progressed through his training, growing into a muscular young man. The keyblade never appeared.

Demyx wanted to give up. He was tired of being away from his bed and the comfort of the World that Never Was and being able to play his sitar whenever he wanted. If it were just him, he would’ve quit a long time ago, given Xemnas some excuse.

And that’s exactly why they sent you along with him.

Demyx has been your companion since your early days in the Organization. If you had a heart, you’d probably call him your best friend. But the two of you couldn’t be more different. Demyx was laid back, lazy even. You were a perfectionist and a workaholic. If you had something to do, you wouldn’t quit until it was done. And it didn’t help that you were scared of what might happen if you failed a mission. When the higher ups realized that you kept Demyx on track (or as on track as he can be), you two almost never went on a mission without the other.

So while he was bored out of his mind, you were intrigued. You’d never admit it to anyone, but you thought that a part of you was rooting for this Hercules fellow. Not just for the Organization’s sake but because there was just something about him that you had to root for.

Today was the day that Hercules set out for the big city to try to find real hero’s work. When he heard a scream and immediately ran toward it, you were intrigued. Would this finally be the day?

Now you and Demyx sat hidden in the branches of a tall tree as Hercules fought some monster who’d been trying to kidnap a young woman. You watched intently, waiting for the flash of light, for the keyblade to appear.

But Hercules defeated the monster and there was still nothing. You sighed.

“See? It’s not gonna happen. Now can we take a break? It’s hot out here and I’m starving. Let’s go get some gyros.”

“Fine, I’m getting hungry too,” you admitted. “But as soon as we’re done, we’re back on his trail. Just for a few more days. Surely something will happen.”

***

Hercules became Thebes favorite hero overnight. He had posters, action figures, mobs of screaming fans, but no keyblade. Your stomach twisted. Xemnas would expect a report soon, and what would happen if there was nothing to report? Would he blame you?

“Y/N... Y/N!”

You jumped at the sound of Demyx’s voice, startled to see him standing in front of you with his arms crossed.

“What?”

“We’re taking a vacation,” he stated, holding out a gloved hand.

You stared at it. “A vacation?” You’d been so lost in your thoughts that you were having trouble comprehending what he was talking about.

“Yep. A vacation. Look around you.” He spread his arms out. You looked around at the vibrant city around you. The tall marble pillars, the statues dedicated to gods, the rolling hills in the distance. “This place is amazing. We don’t get the chance to come to worlds as cool as this one that often, and I don’t plan on missing the chance to have an awesome vacation.”

“But we’re on a mission. And we don’t get vacations,” you added almost as an afterthought.

“Maybe technically. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take one. And I’m not taking no for an answer. You’ve been miserable the past few days. I miss your smile,” Demyx said.

You blinked. Had it really been that noticeable how worried you were? Demyx wasn’t the type to pick up on things that bothered people, so it must be bad.

You chewed your lip. “Sounds like a bad idea.”

“Well that’s the thing about me. I’m full of bad ideas, and they haven’t bit me in the ass yet.” He grabbed your hand and hauled you to your feet. “Come on. I have a whole day planned. Just one day, then we can go back to stalking the hero guy.”

You hesitated. This went against your whole mindset. Work first, play later. But work wasn’t getting anywhere. And... would one day really matter that much? You took a deep breath, looked up at him, and smiled. “Okay, lets do it.”

“Yes!” Demyx cheered. Then he reached down and picked up the sack lying behind him that you hadn’t noticed. He tossed it to you, and you caught it with ease, something he himself would never have been able to do.

“What’s this?” you asked.

“If we’re going to be walking around in public, we need to at least look the part,” he said. “Get changed. I’ll be back in ten.” With that, he opened a dark portal and stepped through it, leaving you alone.

Curiously, you opened the sack. You pulled out the heap of fabric it contained. It was a toga dress, one of the typical white ones you’d seen many of the women wearing. You peeled off one of your black leather gloves and touched the fabric. Soft. It had been a long time since you’d worn anything that soft, or anything other than black for that matter. You retreated to the cover of the trees and after making sure no one was around slipped out of your Organization gear and into the dress. You were surprised to feel vulnerable, almost as if you were naked. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been somewhere outside of your room without your gloves and cloak covering you from head to toe. Now here you stood, arms bare and the breeze causing the skirt to brush lightly against your legs. You took your hair out of the bun you kept it in for combat, instead braiding it loosely down your back in one of the styles you’d seen done in this world.

“So I thought first we’d—“ At the sound of Demyx’s voice, you turned surprised to see him stop dead in his tracks. “Uh...”

“Is something wrong? Did I not put this on correctly?” You looked down checking over your clothes.

“No, no! It’s just...” His face turned pink. “Well, I didn’t expect you to look so much like, you know, a girl.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Well, I didn’t expect you to look so much like...” You pauses as you looked over his new clothes, searching for a comeback. Demyx wore the masculine style of the same yoga as yours. For someone who was pretty thin and regularly described as wimpy by the others, you were surprised to see the definition in his bare arms. For the amount of time the two of you spent together, you realized neither of you had ever seen the other out of uniform. You found yourself wondering how Demyx’s arms were so muscular. Did he secretly exercise? Maybe it was from carrying that sitar around so much. Either way, you’d completely forgotten you were trying to come up with an insult. “Hercules,” you finished.

“Hercules?” Demyx snorted.

“You know,” you added quickly, “Before all the training.” You turned to pick up your coat and gloves, trying to hide the rush of heat that flooded your cheeks. Where did that come from?

“Yeah, yeah, make fun all you want,” he said. You were relieved to let the awkward moment go and pretend it never happened. “Anyway, today’s the one day Hercules isn’t actually competing at the Colosseum so I got us tickets. Thought we could watch a few matches, have a picnic up on the hill to actually get some sun, and then go see a play tonight. There’s this one called Oedipus Rex and it’s supposed to be crazy.”

“Okay but if Xemnas finds out—“

“Xemnas isn’t going to find out unless you tell him, which I don’t suggest. Just relax, Y/N. This is going to be a great day. You’ll have fun. I promise.”

And have fun you did. The two of you cheered loudly at the colosseum as heroes took on monsters great and small like the Minotaur and the Hydra. You gasped when the Hydra lost one head only to grow back seven more. When the matches were done, Demyx bought you a t-shirt that read “Get up on the Hydra’s back” and you bought him one that declared him Hercules’s number one fan. You wore them over your togas for the rest of the day as you wandered through Thebes, snacking on pomegranates from the market and admiring the marble statues placed all over town. You took a trip to one of the gardens, splashing each other in the fountain until you were drenched and the security guards kicked you out. Demyx got the last laugh by sending a ball of water at the guard’s head, and the two of you took off running before he could catch you. As you struggled to catch your breath, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d had this much fun. Actually, you hadn’t really had any kind of fun since becoming a nobody and joining the Organization. You’d started to wonder if you were even capable of having fun any more, but spending the day with Demyx proved otherwise.

Now, you lay in the grass on the hill overlooking the city. You were just far enough away that the urban sounds faded away and you could hear the birds singing overhead, along with Demyx quietly tuning his sitar. Your eyes were closed as you lay on your back, the sun warming you and drying your clothes from your earlier water fight. After a few moments, you opened your eyes and turned your head toward Demyx. He was looking out toward Thebes, the sun highlighting his face. He looked so peaceful, so at ease. He looked the way you felt. You hadn’t realized how stressed you’d been until now, but he had. He knew you needed a break, a day of pretending you were just a normal person.

“Demyx?”

“Hmm?” He looked down at you, a soft smile on his face, and you thought you felt a twinge of some sort in your chest.

You turned toward the sky again, watching the clouds float by. You sighed. “I’ve just been thinking... Do you think we’ll ever get our hearts back? What if this is all for nothing?”

“Well...” He set his sitar down and laid down next to you, looking up at the clouds, too. “I dunno. I guess I’ve never really questioned it. That’s what this is all about, right? Us being in this world, watching Hercules. We’re looking for someone to get our hearts back.”

“Yeah...” You hesitated. “I just... Nevermind.”

“What?”

“It’s stupid.”

“And everything I say isn’t?” he joked. He rolled onto his side and propped himself on one arm to look at you. “Come on. What is it?”

You chewed your lip. You’d never admitted this to anyone, not even yourself. “Sometimes I feel like I never lost my heart to begin with.” You said it all in one breath and then dared to look over at him. “I told you, it was stupid. I know we don’t have them but—“

“I get what you mean.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I mean... We all feel things. Just look at how angry Larxene gets when she sees me. And Saix. And... well, moving on. Then there’s Axel and Roxas and Xion. No one can say those three don’t care about each other in some way. And then there’s you...”

“Me?”

“Well, yeah.” He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but he looked flustered. “I’d be upset if something happened to you. Even if I don’t have a heart.”

“Really?” He nodded and you smiled. “I guess I’d be upset if something happened to you, too.”

You both laughed quietly and then fell into a silence as you watched the sun begin to sink lower in the sky. I’d be more than upset, you thought to yourself. Demyx was the one beam of light in your otherwise dark existence. He was your sunshine.

You felt Demyx’s hand brush softly against yours, and you swore you felt a heartbeat.

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kristinstoked · 6 years ago

Text

List of My Favorite Things in The Lightning Thief Musical (as heard on audio)

Disclaimer: someone got me an audio of the show from 2017, so no, I have not seen the show. This is all gained from simple audio. Also this list used to be way longer like I have more awesome moments but I had to tone it own a lil’

First of all, Chris McCarrell started singing and i started cryiiing. This man lays so much emotion in Percy AND IT’S WHAT HE DESERVES

“Their father Kronos” “KROOONOOOOOSSSSS” (this happens two times btw it’s awesome)

Okay so on the cast album when Grover goes like “you’re not exactly...” and then Percy finishes it off with “normal” and Percy sounds angry and fed up. But then here he says it in a really sad and disappointed way and SOMEONE GIVE THIS BOY A HUG PLEAS

“we saw all this x-rated art. Museums are crazy” “the headmaster called me” “about the art?” (convo between Percy and Sally)

I love that James plays Chris’ step-father, uncle and best friend-turned-enemy and definitely more in one musical.

“If he was my kid-” “He’s not.” I stan Sally Jackson with all my heart ugh (convo between Gabe and Sally)

okay so i’m pretty sure that the last note in Strong is sung by both Sally and Percy on the cast album but not here and honestly??? it just shows that Sally realizes she can’t take care of Percy anymore and that he now has to do it alone; be strong on his own and i just made myself cry

“Hey look a goat! Hey little guy - GROVER????” (also this means that at some point Percy can only see his legs which makes me wonder what position Grover is in)

“is a Fury after Percy right now?” “Oh no no no (as in don’t worry no)” “oh thank god” “IT’S A MINOTAUR” (convo between Sally and Grover)

THE CHAIRS CONSTANTLY BREAKING DURING ANOTHER TERRIBLE DAY

“Mr. D can be a bit- well, he hates children”

when grover comes to apologize to Percy for what happend he’s all talking himself down and being like “i’m the worst satyr in the world” and then Percy says “I’m so glad you are here” and i can only assume they hug at this point

“admit it, i’m the smartest person you know” “yeah, you’re also the toughest so i would admit it either way” “you think i’m tough?” (convo between Annabeth and Luke)

First of all, that above was Clarisse erasure but whatever

“are you ever going to wear pants ever again?” “nope” (convo between Percy and Grover)

okay so hearing this without seeing it makes it kinda confusing at most times but at some point percy makes light saber noises???? so like??? i assume he’s holding a sword and thinks that’s appropriate????

“YOU’RE MY DREAM GIRL” (as said by Percy Jackson)

“sexist much?” (said by Annabeth when Percy assumes only male gods can have children)

i’m very gay for kristin stokes and sarah beth pfeifer

“[clarisse] could have killed me” “the plan would have worked either way” (convo between Percy and Annabeth)

also PARALLEL; when realizing that Annabeth used Percy as a distraction he says “you set me up” which is like also literally what he says to luke so foreshadowing that Percy is going to get played

*everyone talking about how they hate their parents* “hi my name is percy and i love my mom” (i know it’s on the cast album but it’s too iconic not to mention)

“my dad is Poseidon? SUH-WEEEEET”

“Mr D wants to kill you - I MEAN TALK TO YOU”

“why is Zeus mad at me?” “Um you were born??” (convo between Percy and mr. D)

*Mr D talking about the lightning bolt* “and we’re not talking about some crowny tin foil zig zag from some off-broadway play”

“okay so what happens now?” *amidst a coughing fit “dolphin”* (convo between Percy and Mr. D)(also mr d constantly wanting to turn Percy into a dolphin is everything)

“the underworld is in los angeles” “really? actually, I’m not surprised” (convo between Luke and Percy)

"he claimed me because he needs me? where was he when i got kicked out of school or we couldn’t pay our rent???” aaahhhh yesss angsty percy i love him

“you’re expelling me. Again.” (aka MORE ANGST)

also i know he climbs the scaffolding during good kid so i need a video of that someone come through

Act II has barely started and they’re already being attacked which I think accurately describes Percy’s life

How is Percy the only one who thinks that maybe getting your picture taken by a strange woman in a garden full of human statues is a little sketchy?

also these 3 are idiots. how did they not die in the first book

“Your mother and I are old nemesisss... nemesisssss... WE DONT LIKE EACH OTHER”

*in the most dry tone ever* “ow. my head.” (said by Medusa)

“Just tell her it wasn’t your fault.” “You’re right, it’s yours”

“Medusa used to be beautiful until... *mumbling*” “until?” “until her mom turned her into a monster! *laughing* .... oh look, a bunch of empty boxes!!!” (Annabeth - Percy - Grover)

“you don’t even know how to hold a sword.” “yes i do - wait *presumably fumbles with sword* *very smug* yesss, I do.” (convo between Annabeth and Percy)

Tree on the Hill has NO BUSINESS being like that

“are we sure we’re ready to do this?” “not at all. let’s go.”

“we drowned. in a bathtub.” “all three of us.”

“guys... i think this pit... is Tartarus?” “LIKE THE FISH SAUCE????” (convo between Annabeth and Percy)

“why would Kronos want my shoes?” “they were really cool shoes” (convo between Grover and Percy)

“there is no way in HELL... sorry” (said by the sass master Percy)

“[Your father] doesn’t care about family. Or his brother, who he never visits. He’s too busy playing with mermaids and dolphins and thinking he’s soooo cool in his Hawaiian shirt.” Damn Hades, chill with the salt already

“Does [gabe] have some magic power or something?” “you could say that. his smell.” (convo between Percy and Poseidon)

“have you ever heard of Hercules and the Augean stables? That guy smells worse.” (said by Poseidon)

*very touching speech from Father Poseidon to his beloved son* “still, I am sorry you were born.”

“as our official protector you can escort is back to camp.” “and you’re conscious this time!!!!” (convo between Percy and Grover)

“you met my dad? ... Did he mention me?” (said by Clarisse)

good kid reprise is giving me all the feels and i am crying bye.

also can we appreciate the strength it must have taken Annabeth to turn her back on Luke???? Like here’s this guy who’s been protecting her since forever, who literally was a hero to her because without him she wouldn’t have been alive. She probably idolized him, and she definitely loved him (as a brother or silly crush). But still she turns her back on him. That is strength.

And those were a few of my favorite things so you can probably guess how much i love this musical.

#now someone get me a full video???#please???#the lightning thief musical #pjo #hoo

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undeadqveen · 6 years ago

Text

✕ — isn’t that shiklah wandering the streets of new york? civilians know them as queen of the undead and see them as an anti-hero (or villain depending the day,,, yike). as far as i know, the one thousand+ year old stands with the legion of monsters & howling commandos and are rumoured to be pretty authoritative & cavalier. ( priyanka chopra /demi-girl / she/they )

{ trigger warnings : coma mention, war, sort-of-not-really-cannibalism (since u kno, demon, but still human eating), torture, medical/experiments }

everyone say hello to my monster!baby, shiklah! she is the literal light of my life and i can only hope i do her justice. sooo here we go.

I. : INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION: //

shiklah hasn’t been around in the comics for too long. and all her appearances in marvel are entirely comic based

so this rendition of her is going to be based on that, with my own head canons filling in the gaps along the way to make her a fully fleshed out character

II. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: //

age: old. really fucking old. she was alive before the first humans.

gender: demigirl. her war demon form is gender neutral. she wears female human skin, however.

height: 10’3” in true form, 5’8” in humanoid form

species: succubus, sorceress

occupation: succubus queen, queen of the undead, queen of the underworld, queen of monstropolis

place of birth: the arabian peninsula

citizenship: arabian

marital status: married (two polyamorous marriages)

orientation: pansexual, panromantic, and polyamorous

pre-coma family: mother and father, names unknown (deceased); amjad, brother (deceased); baqir, brother (deceased); jenny, cousin (alive and a fucking badass)

children: cathan, adopted son (species: demon who prefers a werewolf form, sorcerer)

pets: bug, her pet dragon, who flies and breathes fire. he’s a good boy.

affiliation: leader of the legion of monsters

base of operations: monster metropolis (otherwise known as monstropolis), morlock tunnels, manhattan, NY

moral alignment: lawful evil

III. HISTORICAL INFORMATION: //

before humans were even around, shiklah and her family ruled the monster world. but the vampires wanted to overthrow their family. cue a war that lasted centuries and saw the coming of man. aka a long ass fucking war. my poor baby.

during the war against the vampires, shiklah’s kingdom had fallen, and her and her father witnessed the deaths of shiklah’s two brothers.

her father, in a,,,,, stroke of,,,, genius? well. a stroke of something. decided to lock shiklah up in a sarcophagus for. however long it’d take until the war ended or until she was going to be wed. surprise surprise.

well. dracula decides to hire deadpool to go wake up shiklah. so they could be married and end this long ass war and finally have peace. things were going fine until deadpool gets into a fight with a minotaur and shiklah’s sarcophagus shatters, awakening her and bug.

IV. MODERN INFORMATION: //

in her short period of time being awake in the modern world, shiklah was nearly assassinated by blade, was captured by hydra, and captured by aim, both of which wanted to exploit her powers and experiment on her.

she also fell in love with wade who taught her how to acclimate to the modern world, about technology, and about popular culture

when humans brutally murdered a centuries-old monster who resided in monstropolis, an elder monster who was completely senile and not a threat to anyone, shiklah sort of. snapped. she tried to handle things with civility at first, going in front of the courts and asking for retribution for the cold blooded murder of her loyal friend.

when the courts laughed in her face and told shiklah that monsters aren’t protected under the criminal code, she realized humans really are horribly discriminatory, and declared war against them.

to stop shiklah from killing. everyone. wade went to get dracula, who came to find shiklah and proposed. the two were also married and shiklah took a temporary leave of her duties to pursue their relationship and learn how to rule as a fair ruler, not a forceful one. she realized she didnt like using her powers to rule her own citizens by force. proud of you, baby girl.

V. ABILITIES INFORMATION: //

succubus physiology

enhanced strength, speed, dexterity

supernatural beauty

royal-level mystical abilities

pheromones (my personal head canon, it hasn’t been written in the comics yet but her cousin jenny has succubus pheromones and it’d make sense shiklah does, too, as part of her supernatural beauty)

shapeshifting

hellfire/soulfire manipulation

enslavement beams,,, yike

life-force absorption

necromancy

VI. ADDTIONAL INFORMATION: //

i wont bore you with all of my myriad historical head canons about shiklah’s life before her millennia long sleep, they’ll probably come up as flashbacks in her threads anyhow, plus theres so much time there to fill in that i’m sure shiklah will also tell me things as time goes on

what’s important to know about this though is that shiklah is, in many ways, very traditional. she loves donning a maid outfit and cleaning her entire palace. shes a forceful female ruler who’s still subjected at times to her thousands of years old preconceived notions of gender roles

she loves to party. she’s admitted to wade before that she throws parties with her monster friends all the time — one’s that are orgy ceremonies actually

she eats humans, particularly in her war form. it’s cool

she’s pretty naive to the ways of the modern world. wade fills her in on stuff, but it’s also wade, lmao. her perception of things in the modern era is very biased towards deadpools own views on things

she’s adorable sometimes? like. super scary evil murder demon baby who cracks jokes about the kardashians.

shes evil towards humans but she is a fair and just ruler to monsters. she doesn’t like asgardians because apparently her people were enslaved by them during a conflict thousands of years ago. this issue though was sort of resolved when her cousin jenny was tricked into starting a fight with jane foster, and the two ended up reconciling and becoming close

but she respects the inhumans and she respects mutants, especially ones whose powers altered their physical appearance

tbh she wants to mom every monster looking kid

she reads comics in the bath like a cutie

she also goes to conventions, especially comic conventions, where people think shes dressed in cosplay. their reaction to her answer, “no, this is just the human skin i’m wearing for the day,” is her favourite thing

she loves bug more than anything else

consequently she loves sex almost as much as bug

blood k!nk~~~

she will kiss you and drain some of your life force. she will. it’ll give you a rush of adrenaline like nothing else and it really gets her off.

personally i HC that she was actually taken by hydra for a while and she was actually taken by aim for a while. she was weaponized by the former and experimented upon by the latter.

actually i have a lot of angst head canons for shiklah that’ll probably come out more in her threads and flashbacks too

she knows the x-men and some of the avengers and the fantastic 4 because they were at her wedding with wade????????

similarly, i imagine she knows most of the people he was on teams with or worked with, tbh. she probably loves the kinneys actually

she has a son she adopted, a five year old little demon sorcerer who she named cathan (in honour of the elder god, c’thon). he’s a little monster baby who uses his shapeshifting demon powers to stay in a werewolf humanoid demon form — because he was raised by wolves before shiklah rescued him

as a ruler of one of the dimensions of the underworld i imagine she also knows the other hell leaders such as dormammu, the hellstroms, mephisto, etc. but also other hellfire users like ghost rider.

shes evil but she has a big heart for the people she cares about. she has a bad tendency of prioritizing her needs and wants over what the people she loves needs or wants but she’s actively working on that, too

shes full of juxtapositions? which is why i love her. shes cunning in some ways but naive in others. shes evil to some but a darling to others. shes a war demon but also a housemaid. shes so complicated and diverse and i can’t wait to write her with you all!!!

— i think that’s about it for now?! shiklah is my BABE honestly. so hmu for all the plots because im sO EXCITED for her ok thanks fam ily <3

#﹠⋅ 。♡ 𝖆𝖗𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖛𝖊𝖘. ⋮「 ── she’s born a leader ‚ no throne or crown needed. 」#「 archives. 」#73:intro #﹠⋅ 。♡ 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖉. ⋮「 ── shiklah. 」

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lil-loucifer · 7 years ago

Note

All greek myths you fool

Why are you like dis

GODS: Life

Zeus: What’s your name or nickname?

I go by “Lou,” but I have plenty of nicknames. You, for instance, call me “Lulu”

Hera: Where are you from?

NorCal.

Athena: How old are you?

Just turned eighteen B)

Hephaestus: When is your birthday?

July 19.

Aphrodite: What’s your relationship status?

Single af

Poseidon: What are your pronouns?

He/him/his.

Dionysus: Are you and extrovert or an introvert?

I am very much an introvert.

Demeter: Do you have any pets?

Two asshole dogs.

Apollo: What kind of music are you into?

All kinds of shit, honestly!

Artemis: What do you first notice about new people?

Whether or not they annoy me?

Hades: What’s a big fear of yours?

Being alone and unwanted and worthless!! :D

Ares: What’s a big pet peeve of yours?

They kinda come and go depending on the situation.

Hestia: Where do you consider home?

Uh... Probably my house, I guess?

CREATURES: Lasts

Pegasus: Last movie you watched?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (It just got released on Netflix so I finally got to watch it ewe)

Mermaid: Last tv show you finished?

Uhhhh fuckin Young Justice, probably

Centaur: Last book you read?

The Dark Prophecy.

Siren: Last song you listened to?

Almost Human, by Voltaire

Gorgon: Last thing you ate?

Some pop-tarts?

Cyclops: Last time you cried?

I dunno, honestly, but I can tell you it as within this month >:D

Minotaur: Last time you were truly happy?

I don’t really know tbh

Sphynx: Last text you sent?

A good night text to a friend :P

Chimera: Last call you made?

Probably to my aunt to tell her I finished an errand -_-

Griffin: Last thing you did before going to sleep last night?

Uhhh, things.

Nymph: Last dream you remember?

I always default to the Naked Chris Evans dream.

Satyr: Last time you couldn’t stop laughing?

My sister fuckin told me about the time my dad asked my mom out, it was hilarious

HEROES: Experiences

Heracles: Have you ever had a dream come true?

Not really, I don’t really have dreams.

Theseus: What is your worst regret?

Repressed ._.

Perseus: Have you ever been arrested?

Almost! :D

Cadmus: Have you ever had your heart broken?

Hell yeah I have! >:D

Achilles: Have you ever had to be hospitalized?

Nah, I’m a lucky boy

Actaeon: Tell about a memory you wish to forget.

A web of lies and deceits he weaved around his friends, his loved ones, all to preserve his own pride. That fucking piece of shit.

Bellerophon: Have you ever passed out?

Nah.

Agamemnon: What is an achievement you’re proud of?

I have literally just been wasting oxygen my entire life~

Oedipus: Have you ever been in love?

Maybe?

Jason: Have you ever travelled abroad? Where?

I’ve travelled to the Philippines with my mom when I was like, five or six. I spent have the trip in a fever haze :P

Atlanta: Have you ever stood up for someone else?

Yeah, I think? We never spoke again after that, so...

Hippolytus: Tell an experience you will never forget.

Alright, soo, in senior year of high school, I signed up for an elective science class right? It was fuckin’ forensic science, so yeah, I know a few CSI techniques, like, you ask me to dust somewhere for prints, I’ma fuck it up, but I know how it works. But that year, the higher-level science classes had to do a fuckin presentation to the sophomores and shit, to encourage them to sign up for science classes even after they’d fulfilled their graduation reqs for science.

Anyways, one of the courses the presentation would involve was Forensic Science. I signed up to be in the presentation group so I could ditch classes the whole day, and it was pretty hype.

So, there were a bunch of science kids backstage, preparing little experiments and showcases to show to the audience; like, the chemistry kids had a small smokescreen, the AP Physics kids had something involving wind socks? And the fuckin Marine Bio kids had a fucking skull from a shark. I shit you not.

And then there was us. Forensic fucking Science. So, our teacher, Ms. P., she was in charge of hosting the damn show. So, I guess she was so caught up in the planning for it that she forgot to suggest a showcasing for us. So when the presentation team for Forensic Science, by far the largest group of six, compared to the other’s average of two or four, talked to our teacher to ask what we should say and/or do, she replied “I don’t know, improvise?”

So we improvise. Our routine got better throughout the day, but it would normally start like this: I say in my best creepy tone of voice “Hello everybody, we’re here to talk to you about murder,” and briefly go over what the rest of the people in my team would do, then they talk about the technical aspects and the activities, a little bit of what we learn, one guy makes a reference to pop culture, and then we finish it off with a shitty pun. Then we’d go backstage again and wait until the last presentation, Marine Bio, finished up their part, and go back onstage to answer any questions the audience might have about the classes.

Now, we didn’t really have much visual aid, compared to the other sciences. The AP Chem kids wowed people with their home made smokescreen, the Physics kids did some kind of breathplay shit, and the Marine Bio guy let the audience pass the shark head around so they could get a better look at it.

The most riveting thing my group had was, apparently, me. Like, really. Standing next to the other forensic science kids, I was basically Abby from NCIS, meaning I stood the fuck out my dyed hair and actual Forensic Science class shirt I wore just for the occasion, and I behaved in the most weird/interesting manner I could manage. So naturally when we go back up on stage for the Q&A session, the one person who had questions about Forensic Science, directed his questions towards me. Now, that shouldn’t be a problem for someone who knew shit about the class.

The thing is, it was fuckin me. I didn’t know JACK SHIT. So I had to fuckin improvise.

“What kind of cases do you get in Forensic Science?”

Fuck. Shit. We haven’t done any mock crime scenes yet. Fuck.

“Well, we uh... We get a huge variety of cases, scenarios, situations and the like, Ms.P. changes it up all the time. ...Uh, you feel me?”

Then someone else stepped in to save my dumb ass, and I hung my head and moped back to the group. Everyone finished up asking their questions, and we had to remain on stage while the audience filed out to leave.

But then, the Marine Bio guy dashed up to the mic podium and worriedly said, “Yo wait, guys, where’s the shark head?”

He never got the shark head back.

So the Marine Bio guy’s freaking out, he jumps off the stage to look for the shark head, and the Ms. P. turns to me and says, in the most serious tone of voice, the funniest thing anyone hasever said to me:

“Find the head.”

And after a few objections, I left to lead the Forensic Science team to find the head.

Since I’m a shitty leader, they didn’t listen to me, so I tried to profile the crowd on my own.

So after several disastrous attempts at finding the shark head, a guy from the Forensic Science team, Don, says “Guys, I found the head.”

Turns out one of the guy’s friends was the last one to hold the head, so he just snuck backstage and left it on the Marine Bio guy’s bag.

MAGICAL ITEMS: Favorites

Trident: Who are your favorite people?

My close-ass friends, like you

Lightning Bolt: What are your top three favorite movies?

NOT “The Lightning Thief.”

1: Wreck-It Ralph

2: The Kingsman movies

3: Patch Adams

Sun Chariot: What is your favorite mythological creature?

I got nothing, sorry

Lyre: What are your top three favorite songs?

CAN’T CHOOSE

Caduceus: What is your favorite color?

Blue or black!!

Aegis: What is your favorite book or series?

Percy Jackson holds a special place in my heart.

Scythe: What is your favorite tv show?

Lucifer, on Fox

Bident: What is your favorite way to spend free time?

Video games, probably

Harpe: What are your top 3 favorite places?

1: Borders Barns & Noble Whatever fuckin bookstores we’ve got left

2: Somewhere quiet and dark and lonely.

3: Where the food is

Cornucopia: What is your favorite place to eat?

...In my room?

Winged Sandals: What is your favorite thing to do when you hangout with your friends?

I dunno, I don’t really have friends to hang out with :P

Golden Fleece: What is your favorite animal?

Cats and dogs!!

PLACES: Goals and Wishes

Olympus: Describe your dream job.

Just fuckin chilling? I dunno. Something quiet, but not too boring.

Tartarus: What’s a short term goal you hope to achieve?

Graduate college?

Underworld: Describe your dream vacation.

Staycation~

Styx: How would you like your life to look like in 10 years?

Stable job, reliable income, close friends and confidants. I hope to be able to properly comprehend and acknowledge my own emotions one day.

Athuna: If you could live anywhere in the world for the rest of your life, where would it be?

I think I’m good where I am.

Sparta: Do you have a bucket list? If so, what’s on it?

Not really.

Elysium: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Mimicry of skills, abilities and powers.

Ogygia: Describe your dream husband/wife/life partner?

Top trait: Low standards

Troja: What is the craziest thing you wanna do before you die?

KNIFE FIGHT A BITCH IN A WAL-MART PARKING LOT

The Labyrinth: Have you ever died and came back to life as a vampire?

Yeah, totally.

Delphi: Are you currently doing anything to pursue your dreams?

I don’t have dreams -w-

#Asks and shit #punk-rock-pixie

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atamascolily · 7 years ago

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Episode Review - Sinbad 2x19 - “The Minotaur”

In which there is a lot of archery, and references to classical mythology, most of which actually work. Oh, and Sinbad gets to channel his inner Alexander the Great.

(Photos from Far Far Away.)

We open on an island home to a lost Greek colony, founded in the glory days when Greece HAD colonies, as Bryn points out. Dermott is in a tree, squawking ominously, because that's mostly what Dermott gets to do this season.

Everyone was successful foraging for food except for Firouz, who is busy inventing a bow.

Firouz is going on about how this bow will fly farther than any other bow. Doubar is skeptical that he'll be able to draw it back.

Um, I'm not sure why Firouz can't just invent the crossbow. Wouldn't that work better? Oh, wait, the crossbow already exists in this universe, the antagonists used them in 2x13. Why can't Firouz have a crossbow? Sigh.

Rongar knows this is going to be interesting.

Despite Doubar's skepticism, Firouz is able to easily draw the bow back...

... only to hear a squeal of pain as it hits something in the distance. Oh, shit, Firouz thinks.

A woman got hit in the arm. Sinbad removes the arrow...

... but suddenly, they're attacked by soldiers. Now it's Sinbad's turn to use the bow.

The crew is joined by other peole with bows, also attacking the soldiers! Wow! Everything is messy and confusing. The original girl runs off and Sinbad chases after her in the melee.

The crew gets captured and Garik, the evil ruler of the colony, shows up to gloat.

Run, Sinbad, run!

I know I seem like a creepy stalker, but really, I'm a friend, Sinbad is saying here. Good thing, too, because more soldiers show up.

Sinbad's solution is to jump up out of hiding.... I love this image of him mid-jump, with the hair-flip. It looks like he's in a L'Oreal commercial.

... resulting in the two archers shooting themselves trying to get at him. Nice.

Sinbad and the girl keep running, only to get snagged by ropes and taken into the trees, just as the soldiers burst after them.

Meanwhile, the captured archer fills the crew in on the backstory - the colony used to have a ruling family, but they were legally deposed by Garik's grandfather, who faced the Minotaur and won. Firouz thinks the Minotaur is a myth, but of course he's wrong about this. There is a group of rebels called the Outsiders working to depose Garik, who has banned dialogues (!!) in an attempt to build the Just City in Speech from Plato's Republic, fed a lot of people to the Minotaur and tried to murder the few remaining members of the previous royal family.

The crew is brought to the temple and tried. Of course, they're found guilty, which means they're future Minotaur food.

In the dungeons, Firouz examines a door leading to some mysterious cave, which Bryn thinks is a very bad idea.

Meanwhile, at the Outsiders' camp, Sinbad's mysterious companion is outed as Ula, the last surviving princess of the royal line, by her old nurse, who just happens to wander by.

Note that even though Ula is supposed to have had an arrow go through her arm, there's no wound and nothing is ever bandaged. So we don't have to feel too bad about Firouz accidently hurting her.

Garik feeds a hapless NPC to the Minotaur to intimidate the crew into revealing where the rebels are. Nobody bothers to tell him that they haven't a clue, because the man is a jerkass and plans to feed them to the Minotaur regardless of what they do.

There's some subtle hinting that Garik's grandfather was actually Theseus, but it's never said outright. Instead of fighting the Minotaur, Garik's grandfather killed a man, and hid the body parts in the labyrinth so that the Minotaur would stop and eat them and the grandfather was able to escape alive. Everyone thinks this is cheating, but Garik thinks it's awesome and a reason why he should be in charge.

Dermott shows up, and Sinbad gives him an affectionate belly-scratch. Aww. Too bad there's not much for Dermott to do right now to help.

It turns out that anyone who gets the axe of Poseidon has the right to face the Minotaur - if they win, then they get to be king. Sinbad decides he's going to try it. None of the rebels will go with him, so Ula volunteers. She think's it's crazy, but Sinbad is confident things will work out. They usually do.

The axe is in the bottom of a pool.... because it's magic. Why does Posiedon have an axe, anyway? Wasn't it a trident that was so important in Season One? But, okay, whatever.

When he touches the water, Poseidon's wife Amphitrite appears! She knows who Sinbad is, of course. Everybody knows who Sinbad is. And even if they didn't, Sinbad met Poseidon in passing in the first season. So it's all good.

(Look, I have no idea how all the Greek gods PLUS the Christian devil are running around in this universe PLUS theoretically everyone is Muslim in Baghdad, but religious pluralism, I guess, in the broadest possible sense. Or the All Myths Are True trope, if you prefer.)

To get the axe, Sinbad has to unravel this knot. Really fast.

Fortunately, Sinbad is up on the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot, so he knows that his belt knife is the best possible solution. Amphitrite approves. I don't think Sinbad could get very far as a sailor if Poseidon and Amphitrite DIDN'T like him.

Sinbad disguises himself (and the axe) and heads for the temple, only to find that Ula's been captured and the rebel leader decided to help him after all. They have a surprise meet-up in the marketplace en route.

Sinbad reveals the axe, and everyone's really excited about him challenging Garik. Garik not so much.

But Sinbad gets into the cave...

For some reason, the Minotaur reminds me of a Cyberman from Doctor Who. Maybe it's the glowing eyes? Anyway, they fight and Sinbad wins.

Instead of going out the traditional exit, Sinbad busts through the door into the dungeon where the crew is being held. Since he has an axe now, he busts everybody out.

Meanwhile, Garik has surrounded the entrance to the labyrinth with his men so he can kill Sinbad when he emerges, rather be deposed. He is not happy to learn that Sinbad killed the Minotaur and stabs the messenger who brought the bad news to show all of his remaining men that this is Serious Business.

Sinbad meets up with the rebel leader outside the temple, and they shake hands. Dude. Dude. Hey you survived, wow, that's great! You're king now, you know?

Unfortunately Sinbad's axe disappears just as they get attacked by more of Garik's men. But it was nice while it lasted! What the gods giveth, the gods take away again, right?

Now I guess he's playing air guitar?

Anyway, Sinbad learns that Garik is waiting to ambush him outside the real exit to the labyrinth, so he concocts a plan! Which involves going back into the labyrinth and using Amphitrite's golden rope to find the way out. It slithers around on the floor like a shiny golden snake and leads him right there. This is weird, but okay.

More archers - Garik's men, waiting for Sinbad to open the door to the labyrinth and emerge.

Good thing the rebels also have bows!

Garik grabs Ula and drags her down into the labyrinth, while Sinbad chases after them. Things don't look good.

Suddenly, Ula turns into Amphitrite! Garik is freaked out, especially since he's been denying all the old gods and trying to destroy the religions to get more power. Amphitrite is pissed at this.

In the confusion, Ula falls to the ground unconscious, Amphitrite disappears, and Sinbad kills Garik. By the time Ula wakes up, it's all over.

They emerge... somewhere else, with a statue that Garik supposedly destroyed. Now they can restore the worship of the gods and keep Amphitrite happy.

Back at the temple, Ula reminds Sinbad that really he should be king now, since he was the one who did all the work, but Sinbad declines, saying it's her job to be in charge. The crew files by, pointing out all the reasons why Sinbad shouldn't be in charge. "Headstrong." "Independent." "On the Nomad." (The last one is Bryn's.) Everyone laughs, and the Nomad crew departs with a lot of waves and smiles. Aww.

Well, any episode that features this much archery (especially Firouz with a bow) and classical references is pretty is automatically interesting to me. The faux Greeks turned out much better than the faux Romans did in terms of cultural accuracy - there are still some blatant problems but I'm a sucker for mentions of banning dialogues and the Gordian knot, etc, etc.

I love how casual Sinbad is about the whole "yes, I will do the impossible task to become king" because it's happened so many times before. Six impossible things before breakfast, am I right? I mean they were just sitting down to eat at the beginning of the episode.

#adventures of sinbad live action tv #Episode commentary #sinbad 2x19 #archery for the win #LITERAL DEUS EX MACHINA

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lucky-3833 · 8 years ago

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Applications of Ingenuity, aka ‘Sensual Robot-Girl Grimm-Fucking.

With one final blow, Penny Polendina was sent tumbling across the ground. Her Aura was shattered, the wires that she used to control her swords had all snapped, and her bright pink bow had come undone. The Minotaur huffed with satisfaction as it picked up its prize, using its surprisingly deft fingers to remove her clothing. Penny squirmed to the best of her ability, but even her mechanical strength couldn't free her from the tight grip of the Grimm monster. In mere moments, she was completely bare, her feet kicking uselessly in the air as the Minotaur held her pinned to its chest. It lined its thick, flat-headed cock up to where it knew that human girls had their wonderful little hole, and thrust...glancing off of smooth, pale skin. ...Wuh? Despite its bestial appearance, the Grimm wasn't stupid enough to try the same thing over again without any good results, and promptly shifted its grip around, holding the redhead by the shoulders and flipping her around so it could begin examining her bare body. Penny did her best to bashfully cover herself up, without much success. The Minotaur's grip didn't allow much motion of her arms, after all. "C-could you stop looking, please?" The Minotaur grumbled unhappily. It wasn't like there was anything to look at, anyway! The girl's body was completely smooth, like a doll! Unbroken, soft 'skin' covered her crotch, where her cunt should have been. It twisted her around again, to confirm. Yeah, her ass was just a groove in between her cheeks. Back to the front, the Grimm looked higher and- uh huh, no nipples either. Her body was correct enough to blush, though. (She could blush, but didn't have any of the important bits!) "Mr. Grimm, sir, p-please stop looking at me like that! I d-don't have any of those parts, so you can't do anything...dirty. J-just let me go. Please?" The Minotaur snorted. Can't do anything dirty, indeed! The notion was an insult, a bitter insult! He was an ancient Grimm, and he'd been experienced in the pursuit of carnal delights for longer than humans had been able to use weapons more complex than clubs and rocks! If it had an Aura, he would find a way to fuck it! Damn it, he would make her enjoy it too! "Uh, M-Mr. Grimm?" He started off by holding her in one arm, using the other to feel all over her to test her reactions. She could definitely feel things, which was a start. Kneading her breasts didn't provoke much of a response, and neither did rubbing her crotch or ass. However, she twitched and gasped when he lightly pressed down on an area of her lower stomach. "C-careful! That area houses a great many delicate components, my main sensory conduits all route through it!" The Minotaur made a note to revisit that area later, but continued his exploration. It seemed like this girl was perfectly normal above the breasts and below the waist. The sides of her neck also provoked a reaction, as did the inside of her thighs, but nothing quite like that first find. On a whim, the next time Penny opened her mouth to protest, the Grimm pushed a finger into it. It fit easily enough, though the size of the digit left her completely unable to speak. Hmm...the inside of her mouth was warm, wet...it seemed as though he'd found a perfect solution. Or, it did until he tried pushing a little bit deeper. Penny had no gag reflex, but just into the entrance of her throat he ran into a solid barrier, one that vibrated whenever he touched it. When he pulled his finger out, Penny once again very helpfully informed him what he'd just done. "P-please, my vocal apparatus is extremely sensitive! It may be waterproof, but poking around there made me feel very strange, s-so stop it!" There, two places that could be loosely termed 'erogenous zones'. He'd turned hardened Huntresses out for blood into pudding with less. The Minotaur abruptly sat down with a thump, letting Penny sit on his lap with his cock jutting up between her thighs. Both hands now free, he took two fingers and returned to rubbing in light circles over the sensitive place on Penny's belly. If he listened very carefully, he could almost hear a faint crackling, staticky noise. Only for a few moments, though. After that, they were interrupted by the first moan of the evening. Penny seemed shocked, the inexperienced robotic girl unsure of what was happening to her. "I...I'm not supposed to have the capacity to- oohhh~" The Grimm pressed just a little bit harder, and Penny slumped back against him with a breathy sigh. The Minotaur lowered his chin down onto her shoulder, letting his black fur tease the side of her neck for that extra little bit of sensation. It raised its finger back to Penny's lips, and she hesitated for only a second before opening her mouth for him. He was slow, gentle, the opposite of how a Minotaur usually acted, but his experience showed. It took him a bit of work in Penny's throat to figure out what made that part of her feel good, but by paying careful attention to the vibrations it was creating he could quickly learn how to maximize the gynoid's pleasure. It wasn't long until she closed her eyes and shuddered, twitching and moaning as much as she could through his attentions. As soon as she came down from her temporary high, though, she seemed to panic. The Minotaur pulled away from her throat to let her speak. "M-Mr. Minotaur, I just experienced some sort of malfunction! My sensory components were overloaded, and my motion controls froze! I- I need to recalibrate, I need to have a round of diagnostics, I need to...to..." While she was talking, the Minotaur had begun his motions again, this time taking the opportunity to also start lightly bucking his hips, thrusting his cock up between Penny's thighs. The redhead moaned, her sense of urgency draining away. "I...suppose it can...wait. We need to...reproduce the error, anyway." Without him doing anything, Penny held her mouth open, ready and waiting for his finger. This time, though, he had a different plan. The Grimm's enormous cock already reached a good ways up Penny's torso, and it used its free hand to gently encourage her to bend down towards it. She was hesitant, but didn't close her mouth, letting the flat head pop between her lips and continue down until it was pressing against the same part of Penny that his finger had been. The vibrations teased his tip, adding something very unique to this particular experience. Well, this whole encounter had been 'unique', the Minotaur supposed. Penny climaxed a second time, though she was much calmer this time when she pulled back to speak. "I...don't think I want to stop, Mr. Minotaur." Good for her. He don't want to stop, either. The pair of them had literally inhuman endurance. With the light, gentle vibration and the gentle sucking on his cockhead the only stimulation the Minotaur got, he felt no pressing urge to cum. Minutes stretched into hours, another orgasm washing over Penny every so often, until she didn't even bother to keep the Minotaur updated on her status. Eventually, she began rubbing up and down the Minotaur's cock with her hands, seeking to bring him some more of the pleasure that she herself was feeling. Another few minutes of that, and the Minotaur finally reached his limit, flooding Penny's mouth with his seed. There wasn't nearly enough room for all of it, and most spilled out all over her bare body. She couldn't swallow it, no matter how much she wanted to, and regretfully let it all flow out onto her featureless breasts. "...Thank you, Mr. Minotaur. Thank you very much for that." No problem. Heh. He couldn't wait to meet her when she actually had a cunt for him to play with. She'd really be in for a mind-blowing experience, then. Penny and the Minotaur parted ways peacefully. This wouldn't be their last encounter.

#RWBY #Penny #Grimm #nonstandard fucking #Like #really nonstandard #Minotaur

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retro-gamers-stuff · 8 years ago

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House of like 20 corpses

First off let me jut state that the title is a little wrong since we weren't in a house, I just like my rob zombie reference. So since all of our usual characters were in araknor (trust me there is a reason the dm had us do that) we played as other characters so instead of tye winter I was trogreth lonecloud redblood (trollborn but almost fully human) ranger, instead of kylea we had ulfrick the minotaur fighter, instead of hando we had vork the half troll fighter, instead of kol we had I'll call him perryWinkle, cause I can't remember anymore of their names, the honey badger thief, we also had a monk courtesy of sir vac-u-um but he may have left our group now, we also had majora, I'm seriously just giving them random names right now til I can actually remember them cause I thought this was a one off dungeon and we'd be back in araknor, the alvani (think bald elf) mage of some sort, we also had whiskers the necromancer bunny, and John Cena the half orc thief. So our characters were all acquainted with each other and traveling over a mountain pass when suddenly the nastiest ice storm blew in, we saw a large wall that could lead to sanctuary. The iron gate was locked though so ulfrick used his kukri to slice the lock. Once inside we saw we were in the courtyard to a monastary, a very old monastary, there was also a pond with a man shaped figure inside but it was frozen solid. All of us except whiskers went inside and once inside John Cena got attacked by a thing, we didn't see it though because as he was attacked a darkness spell fell over the entire room. All we knew about the room was two doors one ahead and one on the left and a spiral staircase to our right. We tried our best to help him but I dropped my dagger, perrywinkle found and kept it but whiskers gave me his, and the only person who really hit this thing wrapped on John Cena head was John Cena who grabbed it and ripped it in half and then being covered in gore in the cold changed clothes into his silk bodysuit. He also went back outside and had a nice feud with the bunny. We continued on, seeming to split the party every five fucking minutes, discovering a door to the right that led out onto a balcony with monk statues, the door ahead just led to a hallway connecting to the room to the left which was a prayer room of sorts. On the other end was a kitchen with two sets of stairs, one going up and one going down. I went down with ulfrick and perrywinkle, while cena, whiskers, and vork went up (the other two weren't with us that session). Vork group killed a skeleton but found nothing of interest while my group found an armory where I and the honey badger got studded leather armor and some shuriken. We then made our way into a boiler room and lit the boiler waking a zombie which we killed and tossed into the boiler because we thought it was unnatural and wrong, whiskers wasn't happy. So we made camp in a supply room between the two other rooms, with whoever was on watch shoveling coal into the boiler. The zombie came back but from it's first location which was odd but we killed it again and hung it up on meat hooks so the necromancer could disect it. His disection was short lived though because a fiery eyed super saiyan looking guy bashed through the door and almost kicked our asses. He fled though and we tried to follow only he had disappeared. I suggested the spiral staircase, the only unexplored part of what we'd seen and so we went and found a new floor. We tried to get into a room and two statues attacked us, in the ensuing battle I rolled a nat 1 and my bowstring broke and then the fighters broke the statues. We fount a good condition bow and some arrows in the room though so it worked out. That next session I was gone for so I only know they found things that led them to the conclusion that some tragedy happened there 100 years ago almost to the day and once the third night hit midnight we might die, as well as the fact that any undead in this place respawned like a dark souls enemy when we left a room. My next session back after Easter was eventfull. We rigged a harness to hold the coal zombie so we could still camp, after me and vork and someone else fought the zombie with vork forcing its head to its chest and I shot it in the head and heart with an arrow prompting a "nobody will ever believe you" from vork. During ulfrick watch he killed the zombie again by himself. After all of us had rested we set back out with ulfrick, whiskers, and I going up into the kitchen to fight a couple zombies that ulfrick one shotted with a single charge. We explored the rest and found the saiyan monks room. Through our search we found clues that he might be the big boss of this place, and clues that he hated fire. So we enacted a plan where we got ready to cover him in a flammable tarp as soon as we opened the door, but he wasn't there. So we went and collected as much coal as we could in the five hours we had before midnight, we had it all on the floor that held his room, perrywinkle also poured oil from the kitchen on the coal and we waited downstairs while perry stood in wait for the big bad monk. It appeared and almost upon perry when he dropped a torch and ran catching that floor on fire and all of us waited at the bottom of those stairs for any sign of the monk. We found him after two failed perception checks and I got tossed aside like garbage as he snuck up some stairs behind me,picked me up and threw me causing paralysis with his cold touch. I tried to flee but failed a check and fell down stairs bringing me to 1 hp. Had to go to work shortly after but found out later that we killed him. The next session began after that with the place starting to fall apart, I grabbed perrywinkle and ran and the others floolowed and laughed as perrywinkle grabbed my ears for steering and swatted me on the ass with a short sword as though I was a horse. We all made it and the storm had broke. We made camp and were on lookout for primal trolls which could rip us apart. The next morning we set off down the mountain and found a road. We also found a broken wagon train with weapons and armor, none of it useful for me. Our next camp out had me and whiskers in a tree not getting good enough sleep to regain our hp. But the following one did allow us good sleep after we saw so many minotaur war wagons heading toward the closest town...araknor. we almost got to the town when we were attacked by selah. Vork went down but his troll blood is gonna have him up next session, and cena, whiskers, and myself went down with me almost dead and we only have two health potions.

#d&d #dungeons and dragons #chronicles of ember #pathfinder #stories #d&d stories

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clansayeed · 5 years ago

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Bound by Circumstance ― Chapter 6: There Are No Saints in New Orleans

PAIRING: Nik Ryder x trans*M!MC (Taylor Hunter) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Circumstance ⥽

Taylor Hunter (MC) has made it good for himself in New Orleans; turns out moving to a new city fresh out of college to reinvent yourself isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. Things only start to get confusing when he finds himself the target of a malevolent wraith. Good thing someone’s looking out for him though — because without Nighthunter Nik Ryder as his bodyguard he definitely won’t survive long in the twisting darkness of the supernatural underworld he’s tripped into.

Bound by Circumstance and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the book Nightbound and the rest of the Bloodbound series. Find out more [HERE].

Note: Circumstance only loosely follows the events and plotline of Nightbound, and features a separate antagonist, different character motivations, and further worldbuilding.

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Circumstance/series tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

Come one, come all to the exclusive (even among the elite) event of the evening; a show not to be missed and sure to be the talk of the town for years to come. That's right, you'll only find it here at Persephone. Werewolf vs. Minotaur — to the death!

[READ IT ON AO3]

An old-fashioned iron elevator lines Persephone’s back wall. Pull back the metal doors and step in to crystal-clear glass without a smudge or streak in sight. It would be a nice way to look down on the club’s main floor from above — to take in all the things limited by distance and closeness.

But when Taylor sees the equally-clear panel that slides aside to allow the elevator to descend into a plunging endless black he rethinks how cool it is. Like, immediately.

They approach keeping close behind Cadence and Katherine. Ryder catches him looking over his shoulder and throws a subtle arm around his shoulder, whispers “keep your eyes ahead, you look like you’re up to something” in his ear, and remains at ease.

Some people just aren’t used to this sort of life, but thanks for the tip?

An attendant presses the call button on the elevator’s rigging. Summons it from the topmost floor in the smoothest glide he’s ever seen. There’s no way that’s just human technology at work.

Another attendant — similar, not identical — pulls open the grate doors where a third steps aside for them to enter.

He guesses she’s fae by the way her skin shimmers like glitter beneath the surface and the point of her ears. Doesn’t say anything just in case he’s wrong and might somehow offend them, but the golden highlight under almost obsidian skin is breathtaking nonetheless.

Though she becomes breathtaking in a whole new way when Taylor watches her eyes drift subtly to the signet rings on the hands of their guides.

She holds up a long-fingered hand before Ryder, Taylor, and Cal can join them.

“Rings, sers.”

Ryder jumps at the opportunity — cocks a brow and starts what has to be a prepared monologue; “I knew you’d ask. Wouldn’t you know, what happened was —”

“Rings, sers.” She cuts him off, unfazed.

He looks behind her to Katherine; already inside the elevator and leaning against the back railing. But it’s Cadence who steps forward, places a feather-light touch on the attendant’s arm to draw her attention.

How the towering man manages to look so unassuming is a mystery. Even his smile seems genuine — but it can’t be. Especially not from the way Ryder spoke to him earlier. If Taylor hadn’t seen those red eyes for himself he’d have a hard time believing the man was anything potentially dangerous.

“I can vouch for them, miss.” He offers.

Just when it looks like he’s disarmed her with his smile, the fae shakes her head. Though when she replies she’s kinder in tone; recognizes his status as assumed by the ring.

“It is my job, ser.”

“I don’t remember security being this tight during the Lunar Eclipse.”

“Increased measures due to recent events, ser,” she nods imploringly, “all for the protection of the guests, Persephone-assured.”

Taylor blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “We just lost our rings in one of the rooms, that’s all!”

But it’s not enough. She starts to wave down the other two workers. “These things happen, ser, we understand. However until your rings are recovered we cannot allow use of Persephone’s services.”

When Katherine finally joins the conversation she’s got a furrowed brow and a hint of ire on her tongue.

“Jesus, Nik, leave it to you and your new boyfriends to make everyone’s fucking lives that much harder.”

Everyone’s startled for different reasons. Taylor and Cal exchange glances, mouth ‘boyfriends?’ in absolute bewilderment. Nik looks ready to smother her with his sleeve it it’ll stop her current train of thought. The attendant’s cheeks go slightly blue with what must be their version of embarrassment at her vulgar language.

Only she doesn’t stop there. “Let me guess — while you had me and Cade waiting at the poker game you were… what, getting off in the steam room?”

And because he’s always been a sucker for improv Taylor takes Nik and Cal’s hands in his and squeezes. “I don’t really think that’s your business.”

“What, my partner isn’t my business?” she snaps.

“When he’s with us he’s definitely not your partner, honey.”

Katherine’s got a twinkle in her eye — elbows Cadence into action subtly while the attendant looks between them to see if she can settle their tiff on her own or if she’ll need backup.

“Like I care what your newest little toy has to say,” Katherine rolls her eyes dramatically, “but you kept us waiting then and you’re holding us up now! If Izzy’s gone by the time —”

“Pardon her,” Cadence leans down and apologizes to the fae in a low voice, “she’s had a bit of a night.”

“I—I can tell.” Comes the squeaked-out reply.

“We really don’t want to cause a scene.”

“Of course.”

“Oh come on,” jeers Taylor — now fully in-character, “like poker compares to what we can give him? You’re out of your mind.”

Cadence hisses through clenched teeth and lets the fae fill in the rest for herself. This doesn’t have to turn into a big scene. You only have to let them through.

She finally cracks; lets out a helpless little noise and stands aside. “We’ll have the spa searched for your missing belongings. Forgive us for delaying your — er — Persephone experience.”

The attendants are probably meant to stay in the elevator for the duration of the ride but as the three of them shuffle in — Taylor and Katherine now coming to verbal blows about some throwaway comment from “Miami last year!” — she worms her way out, presses the button for the lowest floor behind her, and helps her fellow worker close the gates to send them on their way.

Only when the glass panels close and plunge them into darkness does the fighting end.

He can hear Katherine’s smirk. “Not too shabby… who are you, again?”

“Taylor. That was actually kinda fun.”

“You really dropped the ball there, Ryder.”

“Hey, Kathy?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

“Not a chance.”

The noise is first. Cheers of joy and frustration and a distinct thudding followed by the clap-clap of hooves.

Then come the lights; less fancy and bright than the ones back on the main level but they’re probably there for an ambiance or something — part of the fixation the rich have with things looking shabby and poor. And through the glass floor it doesn’t take long for their eyes to adjust.

The last piece of the puzzle is the smell — old things like rust on chain-link fences and concrete that bring him back to the city for a flash. And underneath it the sour, coppery smell Taylor’s only recently come to understand is blood, freshly spilled.

It’s not just a cage match — it’s a bona fide Fight Club being held a couple stories underneath the wealthiest properties in New Orleans.

The crowd hangs in a thick mass of sweat and expensive perfumes around the center cage. Sways like the tide to keep their eyes on the fighters within as they rumble around their confines.

Up high they get a rare chance to see the fighting full-blown. Rare, and terrible.

Taylor barely has time to clasp his hand over his mouth and hold back his exclamation. Watches as the hulking stone troll — it’s not Krom, it’s not Krom, it’s not Krom — with geologic muscles pounds its fists against its chest and rushes at a startling speed towards the opponent.

The owner of the hooves is a satyr; half the troll’s height with horns included and stocky rather than built. There’s a chip in the curved ram-like horns and blood running down its face from a broken nose.

It stomps against the concrete — and he has to ignore the splatters of dried blood in various colors to focus on the fight itself — and braces. Makes Taylor want to yell for it to move because there’s no way it can hold back the sheer weight alone of the troll. He almost can’t watch. But it’s like a train wreck — he can’t look away.

The crowd erupts with noise at the collision. The satyr is stronger than it looks; holds back the troll first with its horns and doesn’t give it time to grab for the softer, fleshier parts before charging, bull-like, to push the heavier opponent all the way to the other side of the cage.

Then it goes dark; the hand over his eyes just a little clammy. The troll roars in agony.

He pulls Ryder’s hand away just in time to see the troll fall face-first. Thin, watery blood pools beneath it. His confusion doesn’t last long when he notices a jagged, torn edge of the caging bent into the cage like a spike.

“No weapons inside,” Nik explains lowly; like he’s holding some sort of reverence for the troll now being dragged limp by its arms from the arena, “but that doesn’t stop the resourceful.”

A shirtless duo, what look like a brother and sister with a beauty so striking it can’t possibly be of this world, enter and take the satyr’s hands to raise it up as champion. Most of the crowd boos and jeers — Taylor can see why when the money begins changing hands near the shaded back of the space.

“People enjoy this?” He can’t help it when his voice cracks.

“Violence is just another luxury when you’ve got enough money.”

The elevator grinds to a halt and Cadence pulls the doors open for their exit.

“Keep close.” Ryder doesn’t give him much of a choice, what with the arm around his shoulders, but Taylor’s definitely not arguing right now. Not with what he just witnessed.

Several steps and something feels off — missing. Makes him look around to find Cal a few paces behind with a sickly pallor and his hands balled into fists.

“Cal, what’s wrong?”

It draws the attention of the others. Katherine follows the werewolf’s line of sight and mutters more than a few expletives under her breath.

The walls are lined with (no doubt expensive) graffiti and posters larger than life. Some are peeling at the corners and bear ink faded with time and what might have once been sunlight. Now they’re almost relics of a bygone era — no, eras — of fighting.

Nearest the elevator has to be the most recent title match. Glossy paper smoothed down and tacked in with polished nails, colors still vibrant and with a large piece of tape bearing SOLD OUT across the front partially obscuring the words.

But it doesn’t take a genius to piece it together.

MARDI GRAS EXCLUSIVE!! ONLY FOUND AT PERSEPHONE!! MINOTAUR VS. WEREWOLF!! $5K BUY IN!! ASK YOUR ATTENDANT FOR DETAILS!!

Before Taylor can reach his side Cal doubles over and empties his stomach at his feet. They’re far back enough that it doesn’t grab anyone’s attention. Already the next round of bets is beginning and the mob is losing itself with greed and a hunger for blood.

“Hey — Cal, hey,” he rubs the man’s broad back as he gags up the last of his spittle, “we’re here, we’ll get Donny before anything happens. He’s not gonna fight.”

Cal rights himself shakily; wipes his chin with the back of his hand.

“How do you know — guh — he hasn’t already?”

He doesn’t. And doesn’t want to try and give Cal false hope. But his face says everything before he can try to put on a smile — makes Cal nod grimly.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

A gaggle of goblin onlookers herd aside just in time for them to spot the bouncers haul away the unconscious stone troll through a metal warehouse door.

Ryder jerks his head that way. “Likely where they’ve got all the fighters.”

“So let’s go.” Cal growls; starts to push his way through the bodies before Ryder grabs him and holds him back. “What the hell?”

Katherine clicks her tongue. “You don’t know what match they’re on. Storm in there now and every fighter who wants to be here could be back there waiting to turn you into ground beef.”

“But Don —”

“We’ve come too far to risk it now, Cal. Please…” The wolf looks into Taylor’s eyes — then his shoulders sag with a nod.

“Fine. Just until we see what round they’re on.”

Ryder lets out a low whistle that draws Katherine’s attention. Sweeps her gaze over to what has to be some kind of VIP corner with a poor excuse for bleachers dotted with better-dressed guests smoking cigars and being served by attendants.

Most of those guests are crowded around an older woman in all black. Set lines from an unkind tussle with the years around her thin lips and deep in her forehead. She doesn’t sacrifice her wealth for her mourning; and the high-cut thigh slit on her gown isn’t something you’d expect at a funeral anyway.

“Let me guess, Izzy?” Taylor asks as quietly as he can — practically whispering it in Ryder’s ear.

But he doesn’t get the chance to answer as Isadora's ruby eyes fall on their group from across the crowd. The same color as Cadence’s back up on the floor.

Oh.

“So much for the element of surprise,” Katherine scoffs; throws a dirty look back Taylor’s way before resuming her position on Cadence the vampire’s arm. “Don’t have any fun without us.”

With a tittering wave they’re gone — being let passed the velvet rope to Isadora's section and too far away for any of them to hear.

“What do you suppose they’re talking to her about?” He doesn’t bother whispering this time — knows they can hear him even if they don’t look his way before the movement of the crowd obscures them from view.

Ryder shakes his head grimly. “Nothing good. So let’s not be caught making it our business.”

Though the betters and onlookers are of the same caliber as the party-goers back upstairs, the ambiance of the space is just different. Taylor isn’t the only one who feels it, either. Every time he grabs for Cal’s arm to keep them all together he feels the shiver of goosebumps — the wolf within knows something here is inherently wrong.

Up above it hadn’t seemed like all that shining wealth could be housed within the same realm as the thing that had gone after him in the cemetery. Now, though, he gets it. This is the real world; all the paint washed off and costumes put away.

He definitely doesn’t find it as beautiful anymore.

An unseen announcer takes to a pitchy speaker system to let everyone know the next match is in fifteen minutes and that all bets are final. It incites those around them to start placing their final calls — jostles them like a sudden storm at sea.

He stumbles as a figure forces himself between Taylor and Nik. Scrawny shoulders like cut stones and a rusty mop of hair that ends just above a set of pointed ears suddenly turning to look at him with way too much malice for a stranger to have.

“Watch where you’re going, mortal.” When he speaks the fae’s accented voice cracks in a way Taylor’s all-too familiar with. It makes him grin despite himself and when the stranger takes an almost comical level of offense to it he laughs, too.

With no shame, of course.

“What in the blazes is so funny?!” It’s obvious the kid — god, he can’t be more than a teenager or… whatever that is in elf years — puffs out his chest to look a little bit more intimidating. Obvious and wholly ineffective.

Lucky for Taylor the only kind of people that make him look less masculine are preteen boys.

“I’m —” pause to breathe again, “— I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you, I…” No, yeah, he is.

“How dare you,” is the sneered response, “do you know who I am? When I tell my father of your impertinence you will rue this!”

Well that just kind of kills the joke. Makes Taylor look back to Cal who doesn’t make a show of hiding his curled upper lip.

“Whoa there. Calm down Little Elfen Annie, you bumped into my friend, here. So how about instead of empty threats you try an apology?”

Somehow the youth finds more of himself to puff out but it’s no match for Cal’s werewolf physique. He dwarfs the redhead effortlessly. And only then does the kid notice.

“Of course you’re a shifter. One of the impure, no doubt.”

Taylor gawks. “Hey, watch it. Now you’re just being a dick.”

“You vulgar —”

“You wanna talk vulgarity twerp you ain’t heard —”

“Oh god — N-Nik! Nik! Ni —”

They all three fall silent when Ryder’s calloused hand falls on the elf’s decorated shoulder. Makes him look up (and up) into the Nighthunter’s stone-cold expression with the barest flicker of fear showing through his bravado.

“Get. lost.”

Ryder doesn’t have to tell him twice. Though he does make it look like he’s choosing to leave — rights his blazer and mutters something in a lilting language under his breath that Taylor thinks he catches a bit of but, obviously, doesn’t speak so he lets it go.

“What the hell happened to ‘laying low?’” Nik scolds the pair of them. Barely enough to get Cal to calm down. “Put it on ice, Kujo. Before you get us kicked out and then no one’s gonna save your brother’s sorry tail.”

Whatever curse Cal throws at Ryder’s turned back is lost when the crowd starts cheering and chanting around the cage. Draws their attentions to the far end where the back door opens and a large, hulking shadow casts over the dim lit hallway beyond.

“We know you’re all buzzing for the fight of the night, folks!” comes the Announcer’s voice overhead. Cal whispers a “no…” and Taylor feels his stomach drop out from under him.

“But we thought we’d give the poor wolf pup a fightin’ chance. So who wants to see our reigning champion take on the as-yet undefeated Corbyn the Satyr?!”

All around come shouts and chants of “bloody him!” and “break his face!” — along with the odd “get me my money’s worth, damn goat!”

Then a loud snorting noise rings through the arena and makes a hush fall over the crowd.

“Min-o-taur.”

“Min-o-taur! Min-o-taur! MIN-O-TAUR!”

Soon the chant fills the air like a gospel. Draws out the god in question from the doorway in a prayer.

The Minotaur is everything and more. Just like in the movies but real; a real bull’s head on top of a real hairy body covered in mottled scars and wounds that fade into two of the biggest blackest hooves Taylor’s ever seen.

Atop his head are polished horns that, even from a distance, he knows could impale him without resistance.

The Minotaur stomps into the middle of the cage and raises its large arms. Encourages the crowd to chant higher, louder, faster. It revels in the sound of its name; tips back it’s enormous head and lets out a deep howl that actually shakes the metal of the cage. The crowd bursts into cheers like animals possessed at the sound of it.

For the first time Ryder actually looks worried.

“We gotta find that kid wolf before that thing tears out his spine.”

Taylor cringes at the mental image. “Jesus, Ryder, have some —”

“No,” Cal interrupts hollowly; never looks away from the Minotaur as it riles up the crowd by hammering its fists on its chest and bellowing in their faces, “he’s right. Donny’s dead if he gets in that cage.”

Just as the creature huffs in a group of faces at the front there’s a hot breath on the back of Taylor’s neck. Makes him yelp and jump sky-high away from the shiver that curdles up his spine.

“Hnn what the hell?!”

The perpetrator, a lemon-yellow goblin with a head almost as tall as his torso, grins his equally yellow teeth at them with fingers folded at his chin.

“Did Meerl hear right?” the goblin eyes Taylor up and down like a snack and it’s an experience he never wants to have ever ever again, “When Meerl was hearing that little mortal man wants in cage?”

Meerl (apparently) wiggles his fingers like long spider legs. “Meerl can make this happen.”

“Wha —” — nope, nope, a big fat fucking nope — “— no way, I —”

“Yeah, we want in.” Nik interrupts, holds Taylor back and snaps several times to grab Meerl’s glittering glance.

“How much?”

Cal snarls. “Ryder, what the fuck?”

“Shut up, wolfpack,” then he repeats; “I asked how much, worm.”

“Meerl only asks for small percent — small percent of mortal’s winning.”

“That’s assumin’ he wins.”

“Meerl can make this happen.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes, yes. Come speak with Meerl — Meerl will make mortal rich.”

Before Taylor can protest any further Meerl starts off; pushing his spindly way through the throng just as the cage door shuts with the satyr Corbyn and the Minotaur locked inside.

He grabs onto Ryder in a panic. “What are you doing?!”

The answer he gets isn’t verbal — instead it’s just a look on his bodyguard’s face that (against his body’s wishes, very much so) makes Taylor’s heart do a backflip and stick the landing.

“Do you trust me to keep you safe?” Nik doesn’t take. Not this time. Instead just offers his hand cuts and all. He can hear Cal start to protest behind him and, farther up, sees Meerl turn and give them what he probably thinks is a sweet smile and a wave of his claws.

“Taylor.”

Nik’s voice brings him back to himself. What the fuck am I doing?

He hesitates… then puts his hand in Nik’s.

“I trust you.”

“Then come on.”

He throws back a pleading look at Cal — who definitely still opposes, but follows with a single nod.

Nik pulls him along in a secure grip to where Meerl waits. The closer to the cage the tighter the fit but they manage. All the way across the room to the metal door guarded by two suited stone trolls.

“Shit,” says one, and looks the three of them over, “you actually found one?”

“Meerl does good business, should not doubt Meerl,” the goblin croons. With a doubtful glance to his companion the troll shrugs and opens the door.

“Come, come friends,” Taylor tries not to let the goblin’s chuckling dissuade him from trusting Ryder as they’re led inside, “good business to be done.”

If he squeezes Nik’s hand a little tighter when the door slams shut, the hunter is a real bro and doesn’t mention it.

The thing about Meerl’s deal is that it isn’t a bad one in theory.

It’s Their way of keeping the fighting interesting and preventing people from accusing the club of rigging every match. Bring a Joe Schmoe in from the crowd itself and, should he win, most of the winnings are his. It’s a good return of investments for those who spend a little bit too much time and money betting on fighters.

And little Meerl gets a cut of the winnings. Not even half, not even a quarter! There would definitely be enough left over for the inevitable medical bills.

So it’s a sound theory — for someone like the Minotaur.

For the human going up against said Minotaur? Well yeah it’s a fucking death sentence; a warm-up routine for the hulking creature and an easy paycheck for the goblin whose job it is to bring in fresh meat.

Not that any of this is said out in the open but it’s obvious. Like, painfully obvious.

Which is why Ryder isn’t actually considering entertaining the idea.

Wait… right?

The fact that they’re led to a small room with only a desk and some paperwork should raise way more alarms on his so-called ‘bodyguard’ than his behavior would suggest.

Cal tries to keep out of the way; “I’ll wait out here, keep an eye on things,” but Meerl isn’t having it and ushers him in alongside. Closes the door to give them ‘privacy to discuss business matters,’ or whatever.

Doesn’t stop the wolf from nudging Taylor’s arm and jerking his head back out to the dark corridor. Not that they’ve gotten close enough in the—oh—three, four hours they’ve known each other by now but he doesn’t have to be psychic to get it.

Cal’s caught Donny’s scent. They’re in the right place at the wrong time.

The goblin scrambles to work; a fire lit under his yellow ass as he starts grabbing and shuffling piles of paper, packets, and waivers of various official pastels. Starts explaining everything in that hasty way one does when things aren’t completely legit. But Ryder eats it up like he’s just won the lottery.

Frankly it’s disturbing seeing him smile that much.

Before they suffer death by a thousand paper cuts, though, he puts his palm down on the already too-high stack of liability forms. His smile is so greasy it makes the goblin look positively angelic.

“I think this is a great starting point, Meerl,” he grabs Taylor by the shoulder and shakes him with camaraderie, “but this is my kid’s first fight — cold feet, you know.”

“Oh yes yes, yes Meerl knows.”

“So may~be you could gimme a few minutes with him? Help settle those nerves in a special way.”

It’s the wink that makes Taylor lean back. “Uh, excuse you?”

But Meerl is already stood and skittering towards the door. “Oh yes — yes Meerl sees this quite often, Meerl does. Give you, hm, say five minutes, yes?”

“Ten.”

“Six.”

“Fifteen!”

Turns out yellow skin goes sort of orange when it pales. But Meerl accepts with a huff and a nod. “Ten minutes, Meerl will give. Then new mortal will face champion — then champion will face wolf pup.”

The pop pop of Cal’s cracked knuckles as he clenches his fists echoes through the concrete walls.

“Or maybe the new mortal — er, me, you know what I mean! — maybe I’ll face the wolf pup.” Taylor jibes.

Any sensible person would take the way the goblin throws his head back in laughter as a clear sign to get the hell out.

“Yes,” Meerl’s tone is nothing short of placating as he closes the door behind him, “yes maybe—maybe…”

And though he may not be perfectly sensible, Taylor’s sensible enough to smack Ryder over the head the moment they’re all alone.

“Hi, yeah remember that ‘trust’ you asked for? It’s waning — fast.”

Maybe a little less so when Ryder scoops the paperwork onto the floor in a colorful confetti-like array. There’s no imagining his satisfaction.

“I got us back here, didn’t I?”

“With the sleaze-ball right outside the door.”

Ryder ignores him for Cal; “Can you track him from here?”

“He’s definitely close,” he’s almost breathless with anticipation, fear, worry; “he’s terrified.”

“I would be if I had to face that thing, too.”

Either the stone walls suck at muffling sounds or the crowd is losing its collective shit over the match. He knows which is more likely.

Ryder continues; reaches into one of the inside pockets on his coat and winds something long and dark around his fist. “So we’re all clear on the plan?”

Cal nods tersely. Taylor, not so much.

“Uhm, when was there a plan? Did I miss talking about a plan?”

“Jesus,” the hunter pinches the bridge of his nose, “I’m gonna start calling you Rookie if you can’t keep up.”

Before Taylor can protest, though, Cal comes to his rescue. “Same thing it’s always been. We got in — now we find Donny and get out as quick as we can. And probably try not to get our faces busted in on the way.”

“And once we’re out?” He looks back and forth so fast he gets a bit dizzy, “You said Kristof was sending some of the Pack after him. Won’t you be on the run?”

“You let me worry about that. I’ll get you your Sage and we can part ways.”

Ryder nods curtly; flexes what Taylor can now see clearly as a thickly braided leather cord between his hands. “Sounds good.”

“No, no it doesn’t!”

“Taylor,” and Cal shouldn’t sound as sure as he does given his situation — not just the one he’s in but the one he’s going to be in, “hey — we’ll be okay. Thanks for the concern but… we’ll be okay.”

It’s likely Ryder’s keen Nighthunter-honed senses that spring him into action because any more time to delay and Taylor might just talk them into a newer, tighter corner than the one they’re already in. But just abandoning Cal after, well, after everything? It just doesn’t sit right in his gut.

“On my signal.”

He barely paints the fake smile back on before rapping his wrapped knuckles on the door. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Is that the signal? No, because he doesn’t move when the wiggly door knob turns and Meerl’s scratchy voice sing-songs through the gap; “Good good! Meerl promises —”

No, the signal is the cutoff and choking gasps of Nik winding the bulk of the cord around the goblin’s skinny throat. Hands flailing, grasping for purchase where there is none while his tongue lolls out and eyes bulge even farther out of their sockets than they already do.

“Knock him out!” hisses Ryder through clenched teeth. Angles their dear friend Meerl over to Cal’s drawn-back fist.

The punch collides with a sickening cracking noise; something definitely broken in either the wolf’s hand or the goblin’s face. Taylor and likely the betting crowd outside would have all their earnings on the latter.

But just before he falls Meerl manages a single attack; sharp nails digging unforgiving into Ryder’s forearm before his eyes roll back into unconsciousness.

Ryder recoils and the body falls through the doorway just as Taylor catches the sound of footsteps halting. His heart stops — only barely starts back up again when he recognizes the distinct metal-tipped sound.

Cadence peeks a head around the doorway; pushes up his glasses before they fall off of his nose. Behind him Katherine appears with a long dagger in hand.

“Here they are.” Cadence announces with all the glee of a man stating the obvious. He catches sight of Meerl and quickly steps away from the long tongue just an inch from his boot. “Ew.”

He gives Taylor a slight wave. Entirely too optimistic for the current situation. Unsure of what else to do Taylor just… waves back?

Ryder, however, is furious. “Kath—what the hell —” he looks around them both to check the coast is clear, “— are you doing back here?!”

Katherine barely has time to return the dagger to a well-concealed holder on her thigh before Cadence pulls her in for a disgruntled side-hug.

“She was worried about you.”

“I said no such thing.”

“You didn’t need to,” he admonishes, “I could tell. Kept watching them during our meeting with Isadora — she noticed, by the way. So thanks for that.”

“You didn’t hire me to kiss her ass.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Without being asked Cadence joins Ryder in dragging Meerl’s body fully into the room.

Cal looks between them as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “If we’re done with the childish bullshit? My brother’s about to get beaten to death.”

He pushes past Katherine with nothing more than a grunt. If she wants to say anything she doesn’t; bites her tongue and probably everyone’s benefit.

Taylor calls out, “Cal, wait up!” and follows on his heels as quickly as he can. Doesn’t look back to see if the others will follow but he doesn’t have to.

Bodyguard, remember?

The corridor seems to stretch on forever. Open doors lead to empty rooms and closed doors — well — Cal may be in a hurry but he has the sense not to open them without being absolutely sure what’s on the other side.

They’re so far back he can barely hear the noises from the arena. All it takes is one look down to his feet and he collides hard into the werewolf’s solid muscle. Flails a hand out only to be caught by his strong grip.

“Here — he’s here! Donny! Donny can you hear me?! It’s Cal! Donny!” He tries the handle; growls in primal frustration at the lock. Starts trying to knock it down with the brunt of his weight in a frenzy.

“Donny! Donny hold on!”

Cadence and the Nighthunters arrive just as Cal lets out a bestial growl; teeth grit and definitely more canine than human as he gives a final shove and breaks a splintered hole in the door. Knocks it off its hinges and sends it flying inward.

Cal rushes in — zeroes on a dark-haired and twiggy kid pressed against the bars that hold him captive.

“Cal!” The kid cries, voice thick and choked with eyes red-rimmed from tears. His hands shake as they grasp for one another like sheer force of will can make the bars disappear between them. Cal buries his nose in the mop of dark hair and inhales deeply, lets something wild shift underneath his skin before it settles; satisfied with the scent of kin.

“Christ, Donny —” he pulls back and thumbs away a fresh wave of tears, “— you’re such an idiot! I was worried sick about you!”

“I’m so sorry Cal, I’m so so sorry.” Donny hiccoughs; tries to right himself like he has something to prove.

But how can anyone prove themselves trapped in a cell? One of a dozen on either side stretching further into the labyrinth underneath Persephone.

Taylor and the others follow in — no door to close behind them but they’re far beyond that now. Take in the state of not only the kid but a couple others who press themselves up to their bars in desperation.

“Please get me out of here!”

“I’ve got the money, I swear! Get me out and I’ll pay off Lady Smoke I promise!”

“Please, please!”

“I don’t want to fight anymore!”

It’s involuntary how Taylor turns away and into the newfound safety of Ryder’s shoulder. He can feel the shaking of the man’s hand as it falls on his back.

Katherine lets out a choked noise beside them. “Holy shit, this is…”

“This is too far.” Cadence answers; knows they were thinking the same thing by the way she’s left speechless.

His grunts of effort and frustration fill the room as Cal tries to yank off the door — instinct overriding common sense.

Ryder reaches out, tries to stop him, but ends up on the business end of those same pointed teeth when the wolf rounds on him with bright yellow eyes.

“Whoa now,” Ryder holds up his hands and shimmies down his left sleeve to show a long metal tool, “I’m just tryin’a help.”

“Cal — I already tried that.” Donny reaches out and his touch soothes the beast within. Makes Cal remember himself enough to give Ryder an apologetic nod of his head before stepping aside.

He huffs in silence like he’s the one caged, not his brother. But not all cages are metal, are they?

Ryder takes a knee in front of the door, starts to fiddle with the lock. Katherine takes his cue and procures a lockpick of her own to start working on the other cells.

Cadence keeps his distance from the occupants but looks them over with almost medical appraisal. “You’re here because you owe Lady Smoke on some level?”

A few cells down hooves echo and a woman leans forward; presses her face against the bars and peers at them through two swollen blackened eyes. The centaur leans down and rubs the tight muscle of one of her front legs — she favors it when she shifts in place.

“Some of us couldn’t pay up; others just not in time.”

“Were you given a choice to fight?”

She nods. “Again; some. I wouldn’t fit on her private floor, though, so I was just brought down here to fight.”

It makes Katherine let out a wordless, mindless shout of anger. She struggles with the lockpick. “That’s fucking ridiculous.”

“It’s gotta be illegal…” Taylor tries. Only to be met with pitying faces.

Cadence shakes his head. “Not here. Though when it comes to Lady Smoke they’re lucky to still be alive.”

The centaur scoffs. “At least if I die in the cage there’ll be a body to bring back to my wife.”

It makes his blood run cold. “Who is this Smoke woman?”

Not even the captives have anything to say and that says a whole lot. Whoever she is she’s a part of this world that he doesn’t want to get involved in — that much is clear.

A thunk and Donny’s door swings open. He and Cal embrace without restraint this time and there’s such a heavy importance to it that Taylor finds himself looking away. Like he’s intruding.

Ryder moves on to the next cell and together he and Katherine work as quickly as they can to free the others.

Katherine sweeps the trail of her dress aside in front of the centaur but stops when a hand of bloodied knuckles rests over hers. Looks up into the human face with reverence.

“Don’t. I asked for this.”

“You didn’t. Nobody asks for… for this.”

“It was fight or let them take my home; my livelihood. It’s hard enough for the glamourless to get by these days. I didn’t want my wife to lose the roof over her head, too.”

Kathy’s jaw sets. “Then we’ll find you a new livelihood. Get you and your wife out of the city —”

“And where would we go?” Her laugh is rueful with a whinnying touch. “My family cast me out for marrying a biped. This is the only place we’ve found to call our own.

“Sssh, Nighthunter,” her thumb caresses Katherine’s hand gently, “no more arguments. I do not intend to die in a cage. And when I return to my love we’ll be free of the Smoke’s reins.”

“She deserves to keep her choice, Kathy,” Ryder coaxes her up and though his touch might intend to comfort her it doesn’t; makes her pull away as if in pain.

In that intimate moment Taylor was sure he saw a different person in her eyes. But whoever that person was — maybe caring, maybe mournful — she’s gone now. Replaced with Katherine and her hard edges.

“Whatever.”

The four other freed prisoners don’t stick around long enough for similar sentimental moments. Hopefully they’ve been down there long enough that they know their way out.

Donny, his hand in his brother’s like a vice, tries to follow them. “Let’s get out of here.” But Cal doesn’t move — makes him try again. “Cal, come on. I hate this place let’s go.”

There’s an unspoken understanding between those left standing.

It’s not enough to just open the doors. The cage needs to be torn down.

Cal sighs in defeat. “Well, they were promised a wolf in the cage. I can go — hey, what the—?”

They all watch as Cadence rounds on a metal heel and abandons them. Katherine barely has time to look back before hiking her skirts up for her dagger and following; calling out for him to wait for her to catch up.

“What’re you thinking? Cade? Cade! Cadence Smith you stop right there! Or at least let me catch up!”

Everyone catches up in time for Cadence to shove the back passage door open.

The pair must have initially gone through without confrontation — judging by the surprised looks on the guard trolls faces. One reaches out with a large sandstone grip but the vampire is too fast for him — moves faster than Taylor can blink and turns the tables with a grasp of his own.

“Oi — let me — GAH!”

He’s too loud not to be noticed. Draws the attention of the nearest patrons and from there it’s a domino effect as the mob pushes and jostles one another to try and get a look at the action.

The stone troll holds up a stump where his hand used to be. Looks down in horror at the remains of two limp fingers and the rest of his hand as a pile of sand. Cadence steps through the pile rather than over it. Leaves him to his agony without so much as a word.

Even the Minotaur — now alone in the cage and egging those still watching on with demonstrations of rippling muscles and the shine of its nose ring — stops. And that — that gets the arena’s attention.

In one last attempt to stop him Katherine reaches out; misses him by a bare inch and can’t stop Cadence from grabbing the announcer by the throat to pin him to the cage.

The seemingly mortal man is already red in the face from his work shouting. Lack of oxygen makes him almost purple under the flickering lights. Anger, outrage quickly melts into confusion then fear when he realizes his large and seemingly impenetrable guards aren’t coming to rescue him.

“I—gek—Can I hh-elp you, frie-end?” He chokes into his mic.

Before Katherine can lunge forward Ryder grabs her; holds her back. For her own safety.

“Cade — don’t do this!”

Her protest falls on deaf ears. When the vampire answers he does so close enough for the speakers to catch him — his barely repressed rage translates even though the static.

“Tell your audience your main event is canceled!”

And doesn’t that get everyone riled up.

“Wha—what?!” He covers the mic with a shaky purpling hand. “What the fuck are you on, man? Le-et me do-own!”

He falls back on his feet. Just in time to catch Cadence’s suit jacket before it hits his face; blinds him.

Cadence liberates him of his microphone for his trouble. “Though first you should tell them that your promised contender is nothing more than a child!” A jabbed finger parts the wealthy sea; Donny clings tighter to his brother as all eyes fall on him. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is the werewolf that was promised! Not a wolf but a cub — who you would see torn limb from limb!

“And because I know there are far too many of you who aren’t sickened — nay, repulsed — by the idea of a child being mauled for your delight; to those I offer you this sobering thought! Not much of a fair fight, is it?!”

His words spread like a wildfire — dissent beginning to rile those who have shared money and hands through the night. Taylor catches sight of a man too late — doesn’t have time to stop him from shoving the announcer back against the cage with a shout.

“I should’a known this shit was rigged!”

“Hey, watch it pal!”

“No, you watch it!”

There’s electrical feedback as Katherine renews her attempts — tries to wrestle the mic from her employer to no avail. He brushes her off like a hurricane would a butterfly.

“Fear not, vermin, you will get the fight you were promised. And a fair one at that.”

He’s done with it now; shoves it into Katherine’s claws and busies himself rolling up his sleeves.

“Cadence — you’re not yourself.” And because he doesn’t know better she actually sounds afraid.

“How do you know?” There’s a dry laughter to his words. “You don’t. I don’t, either. But maybe this is it — maybe this is me. And even if it isn’t I’m not going to let a child pay a debt like a man.”

But Cal’s had enough. “If they want a wolf they’ll get a wolf! This isn’t your fight!”

“No,” and it’s with a foreign tenderness that Cal removes his spectacles and pries the single golden loop from his ear; drops them into Katherine’s waiting hand, “but neither is it yours.”

“Don’t let him do this.” Taylor tries to push his way through the crowd; but is stopped by Ryder’s hand on his jacket sleeve. He’s deceptively stronger than he looks. “Nik!”

“No, Rookie. We’re sitting this one out.”

Taylor struggles but to no avail. “But—”

“I said no.” Means it, too, by the end-of-discussion way he clips his teeth. “This guy is nuts, Kathy.”

And it seems the Nighthunters have finally found one thing on which they agree.

“Yeah,” she can’t — or won’t — look away from Cadence’s back, “desperation does that to you.”

When he’s ready, scarlet eyes fall on the announcer still shivering in place. Make him jump to Cadence’s attention.

“Open the cage.”

#nightbound #playchoices #choices fanfiction #nik ryder x mc #nik ryder #cal lowell #katherine nightbound #oc: cadence smith #nightbound mc #mc: taylor hunter #oblv: bound by circumstance #oblv: new chapter #; my fics

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3d10fire-damage · 5 years ago

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red sun summary 5/15/2020

the party returned to the Abban Serru Embassy and asked Tauthe, the ambassador, for a report/letter to give to their contact in Etaqu, so that word could finally leave Melu. Tauthe wrote this up and gave it to calypso (well really calypso took it), who then read it over despite phosphorra trying to stop her. afterward, the party headed back to the tavern and went to bed. the next morning, during breakfast, the party had some idle chitchat. zoroe asked if calypso was going to have anything to eat, and calypso proceeded to nab one of phosphorra’s waffles without anyone noticing. however, zoroe did notice that calypso’s mouth was suddenly full of waffle, and calypso did a poor job at lying about it.

next the party went back to the booth to ask for more work for the King so that they could get a fast pass out of the city. cluk agreed to take on a job involving worgs, which got calypso excited until she was reminded they wouldn’t actually be fighting the worgs. zoroe stretched up to pat a disappointed calypso on the head. heading back to Mahiru, it quickly became obvious that some structures had been taken down; not forcibly, but rather packed up and taken away. zoroe asked someone what had been happening in their absence, and a citizen explained that things had been really hard since the harvest had been very poor. phosphorra split from the party to go see Hex (or her girlfriend, as calypso says) while the others approached the crowd of people near the mayoral compound.

once the party spotted Hex on the edge of the crowd, calypso ran to catch up to phosphorra. she snuck up to phosphorra and did the thing where you tap someone’s shoulder and then stand on their other side. she explained that Hex was near the compound and calypso wanted to make sure phosphorra didn’t miss her. phosphorra thanked calypso and said she was a good friend, and they both went back to the crowd. phosphorra beelined for Hex to return the book she borrowed, and Hex told her that the harvest was so bad that they only had a little over half of what they harvested last year at this time, and that was still before the King’s troops took their cut. phosphorra offered the Waqrat estate as a safe place for Hex to go, which Hex did seem to consider. generally it seemed like phosphorra did lift Hex’s spirits a little.

meanwhile, it seemed that the mayor was struggling to keep the crowd under control and dispense her advice on dealing with the current problems. calypso whispered to zoroe that she could use a little magic to quiet things down. zoroe hadn’t even known that calypso had magic, to which calypso said “yeah i’ve got a little spice in me, watch.” zoroe started to say she wanted to know what calypso was going to do first, but then calypso used Thaumaturgy to make her voice very loud. “SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THE MAYOR.” the crowd did quiet down, stopping to look at this loud and rude tiefling, who just sneered back at them.

on the way to a tavern, zoroe admitted she had expected calypso to fight someone to get the crowd to quiet down. this turned into a conversation about the physical capabilities of naga, since calypso wondered if zoroe (or davke) could do a backflip or a handstand, considering that they don’t have legs and their snake tails must be pretty heavy. davke suggested that a naga backflip would be like forming a ring with the naga’s whole body and spinning.

the next morning phosphorra left to get a spell (or object, i don’t entirely remember) from Hex that would enable them to keep in touch (Sending, probably). also... apparently Hex doesn’t know phosphorra’s name, and hasn’t ever asked for it. while the party waited for her to get back, zoroe mentioned that calypso seemed grumpier than usual, and asked if calypso missed phosphorra already. calypso claimed that nothing was wrong, and that she was just tired. zoroe agreed that they should take a break at some point during all this travelling around. once phosphorra returned, the party set out for Etaqu, and met up with davke’s mother Beletsunu, who was staying in an inn rather close to Etaqu’s “princess.” it was a happy reunion of mother and daughter. Beletsunu referred to the party as “vagabonds” before realizing they were accompanying davke, and davke chastised her for that. zoroe gave a lioness statue she found in the Waqrat estate to Beletsunu, who was very grateful for the return of a connection to her own mother, in a way.

davke stayed behind to be with her mother for a bit while the others went to the mercenary office to speak with Zabu. his office was a mess, riddled with documents. the party gave their report to him, and even though they kinda shortchanged him on Bet Tabti, he did pay each member of the party. he then introduced the party to a rather peppy and rather buff naga named Kissare. she explained she was kind of like a double agent or a strategist or something, and said that she wanted to take down the King. the best way to do this, according to her, is to go for the weakest links within his ranks. seeing as Amata seemed hotheaded, the party decided she would be the best bet as a first target. they would set out looking for King’s caravans to try and find Amata. on the way out, Kissare leaned way over Zabu’s desk to blow a kiss to zoroe, who turned Beet Red. calypso teased her that zoroe was turning calypso red. zoroe denied it, but phosphorra agreed that she had gotten closer to it than she would’ve thought possible.

the party met back up with davke, and zoroe gave some of her gold to davke. davke was confused as to why zoroe felt she should get a cut for something she didn’t contribute to much, but calypso insisted that they could not have done it without her. phosphorra suggested stocking up on supplies before they set out again, and purchased a dagger. calypso bought a healing potion and gave it to phosphorra. phosphorra asked if she was sure, since calypso gets into much more trouble than anyone else in the party, but calypso insisted that she’d be fine and that she wanted phosphorra to have it.

back on the road headed north! on the way to the tiny village of Madbari, there was a conversation in which phosphorra apologized for like the millionth time and calypso bargained that she’d forgive her if she’d just stop apologizing so much. phosphorra asked if they could settle on a different compromise, but offered no alternative, so calypso declared that she would officially forgive phosphorra if she apologized like, ten less times every day. once in Madbari, zoroe asked around about King’s caravans, and found out that most of them were headed north, and the minotaurs suggested the party would find caravans along one particular road. meanwhile calypso was smothered in dogs. as the sun went down, zoroe used Create Food and Water to make a small feast for the citizens. calypso hung out with the minotaurs.

the party reached the aforementioned road and tried to spot any signs of caravans in the area, but didn’t find any. calypso suggested they do a stakeout, so the group settled into a rocky area and waited. later than day phosphorra spotted a cloud of smoke in the distance and the party went to investigate. the smoke was coming from huge bonfires in a small mining village, and it was apparently being used to keep shadow creatures from emerging from the mine.

next time, mine dungeon

#red sun #dnd

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bedlamgames · 5 years ago

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Q&A #99

Settle down with some relaxing tunes and your beverage of choice as we’re going to be here for awhile.

Today we have the inspiration for Nethemirs, a system of mounts, the mysterious double edged sword of the fel tainting of ogres, WR chests, and a bunch more.

Anonymous said: Wasn't sure where to put an issue with No Haven - Futa's can't perform lesbian training. They are selectable for the assignment, but you then get the message 'You have selected an invalid target for this assignment.' This has been a recurring problem for several releases that I am aware of. I hope that feedback helps.

- That’s currently working as intended as well the idea is that the futa’s are all about their cocks. Saying that I have been thinking about changing how futa’s work to add some more options so that what exactly they have (outside of patron requested descriptions like the Keldan’s) is more specified. Which would be a good time to change that.

crbdanger said: I know you can play as a lizardman by having one take over your camp, but is it possible to do this with Itzpa'ux? I've been trying to get him to overthrow me for 4 hours and it will always be someone else in the camp.

Anonymous said: Will Itzpa'ux Frozenclutch ever take over an encampment? His text suggests he'd be downright eager to do so, but I've never been able to get him to attempt it.

- Uniques won’t ever try to take over. Those with ambition like Itzpa’ux and Lacey prefer being the power behind the throne rather than working out in the open.

Anonymous said: What served as an inspiration for you to introduce the race of Nethemir? For some races like draenei and their sub-species it is clear as day, for others it is harder but still possible to discern a source (I see where night goblins are coming from! :D ) But the nethemir(s?) are still a mistery to me. P.S. Do you consider a possibility of adding minotaurs or other, more 'classical' beastmen?

- Nethemir were originally due to wanting to have a male and female demonic race due to people being unhappy due to having succubi and not having incubi who at that time I wasn’t too interested in adding. Changed my mind on that front and now have something a lot more special in mind for them.

Leaving the out of game reasons aside they’re a mix of the idea of having a lowest rung of the demonic realms and a few others to give them some more flavour.

Minotaurs are already a thing in WR and will be one of the one off advanced races in NH. As for ‘classical’ beastmen I’m happy having the horned ones filling that role.

Anonymous said: Changed a human slave trough biomancy to be suitable for The Gift, but when i select again slaver training it says: this slave is unsuitable for the gift. I am sure i respected every requirement. Is this a bug?

- There’s some hidden requirements so no it’s not a bug. It also checks their current height and their breast size which can’t be too small or too big for two.

Anonymous said: Dont know if this bug has been reported or not but when I try and disable the favored/unfavored race bonuses in options it does not and instead removes Dominant from my leader. Also speaking of Bonuses is Ogre supposed to have both a bonus and a penalty for fel tainted? Will it cancel each other out or is one weighted more than the other?

rafaelivri said: Noticed Ogres have Fel Tainted as both favoured and unfavoured trait. Need answers.

-Cheers for the spot. I think that might have been what I was thinking at the time, but now yeah it’s probably an oversight. Will change the unfavoured one to Sneaky.

Anonymous said: NH: Would it be possible to have a mount system for the full customization? As I see it the mount is generated when you open the game or from the export file. This causes me to restart the game quite a bit to get the mount I want, also it could be seen as a kind of advanced attribute that also counts as 'Fleet' and/or 'Flying' depending on the mount. Also, good work on building NH I quite enjoy the game.

- Thank you! It’s been asked about before and is something I’ve considered for full custom as a way to get some other minor bonuses. It’s on the drawing board on my ‘feasible suggestions, but no real rush to add’ list.

Anonymous said: NH: Once you can use hypnotism to remove/add traits, would it be possible to add the 'reserved' and 'honorable' traits? It would make quite a bit of sense to hypnotise your slavers to be better at guard duty so you don't need to go and find slavers that are made for it. Also, it might just be an idea of mine, but could you expand upon the mantras for slavers so that they would be more inclined to a certain behaviour like 'finding guarding a pleasant? job', 'sense of servitude to you' or other

- When I add hypnotising slavers I’m sure having different ways to make them more likely to do what you say would definitely a thing.

Anonymous said: How many different ways are there to get the 'owned' reputation on slavers, and can it happen to the main character? Also, any ideas on expanding the crit for advanced dominance training? It seems like that would be a good way to start some debautchery

Anonymous said: So I've been trying to trigger a puppet leader for a while, but had no luck - just wondering if it was possible or not. I know certain leaders can acquire a second in command who starts with control of them but I've been looking todo it with a non-recruited character.

- Off the top of my head there’s the lamia on the coast and the succubus in the mountains. There’s also some that come in a pair like the draki in the city, and findable drow unique who can find a specific owned slave of her own. If that slave gets made a slaver they will continue the owned relationship.

Sure will add it to my notes to see if I can flesh that one out more.

For now the puppet leader status is the equivalent of you being owned. It’s currently just available at start, but I’d like to add more ways to get it like for example as a different outcome to you losing the leadership challenge.

Anonymous said: Is there a way to check the status of a slaves hypnotic mantras without ending the day and going through the menu during night activity? Also, and I haven't rechecked to make absolutely sure so I could be wrong, but seems to me it happened twice to me: You lose the ability to control your camp due to having planned them during the night if you then change your nightly activity to planting triggers.

Good shout, those really should be listed on the examine. Will also check that out.

doof-ex-machina said: Thanks for the previous answer about lore! When I was re-reading some of the racial descriptions I found I have forgotten some notions about races currently not presented in the game, like ratfolk and changelings. So, just curious: do you have any plans on adding them in future?

- Yes absolutely. Though as I do want any race to be unique to NH they will need to wait for a commission. Last year I did a special double month where all the options were purely new races which included the ratfolk as one of them. The True-Angel won last time, and I’d like to do one of those again something this year. Saying that I do want to make sure that all the existing races have some kind of commission representation first which is why I haven’t done one of those yet.

Anonymous said: Hi, love the game. I think I've found two lategame bugs. 1: Winning the game by getting enough gold while your PC is away on an assignment removes "General orders" and "Change nightly activity" as options for the character. 2: Having too many clothes or armors and getting an additional item through crafting freezes the game.

- Glad you’re enjoying it! Cheers for the spots and will check them out.

nh-maikochan said: So this is probably well beyond the scope of RAGS, but just thought how cool it would be to export your slavers (or slaves) to file. They could then be imported into a new game through using something like Recruiter or Strong Right Hand, obviously with some limitations so you don't just have a camp full of clones. It would also allow people to share slavers with other people by uploading them.

- Crazily it’d actually be more easier to do in RAGS as I’d know how to go about it :D

I’m sure it’s also possible otherwise but it would be something I’d need to work out how to do exactly. It is something I’d like to do so you have a way to ‘save’ a slaver or more and then make a new encampment with them as like a new game plus.

Anonymous said: I find part of the fun of whorelocks s finding new items any chance for an increased chest spawn rate? f your worried about balance just make cursed items more likely as well

- Wow, nice to know some people are still checking WR out :) I really should at the very least finish it to the point of the RAGS version sometime. Combination due to some of the reception the conversion got, getting NH updates out, and starting the NH conversion.

Sure I’ll likely bump it up a bit when I come back to the game.

Anonymous said: On your game pages you list the version number followed by incomplete. I understand this is intended to mean the game is incomplete, but the number being below 1.0 already implies that, and I've found the added incomplete to instead imply the version is incomplete at first glance. there have been occurrences of me hopping on here and not downloading cause I figure the proper version isn't out yet. Consider removing the incomplete and letting the number tell us that, or using "game incomplete"

- On thinking about it you’re totally right. Updated both the NH and WR tumblr pages.

Anonymous said: How do you set up a circle for self-biomancy?

- Self biomancy is one of the planned rewards for the biomancy assignment chain. Currently there’s just the first assignment of it in the game with a related reward, but there’s going to be several more before the conclusion.

And to finish off some assorted bug reports:

Anonymous said: I've found a consistent issue when trying to import an exported character trait combination, where a character that has 2 unique slavers, via Recruiter and Strong Right Arm, instead gets neither. (In case the exact mix is important, futa Succubus Lamia with Hypnotic - Biomancer - Beautiful - Massive Breasts - Immense Cock - Harmony - Recruiter (Evangelina Harrington) - Strong Right Arm (Namaah the Meticulous) - Best of Both.) It does work if I continue on after export, but not if I import after.

Anonymous said: Bug: export on NH doesn't keep the data for the advanced positive traits 'Recruited' and 'Strong Right Arm'. When you load the export the settings of those 2 traits are lost somewhere. Don't know if they aren't included in the export itself or if they are loaded incorrectly.

nh-maikochan said: Playing on 0.863 and had an old bug crop up, relating again to Bimboborn slaves not being properly sold. This time it was a slave from a Male Perfidy assignment. Had a success on that assignment, and then critically bimbo trained the slave before handing them over, got a crit on the hand-over, got paid, and kept the slave.

Anonymous said: For M:Biomancy crits on feminization rather than doing two cock size reductions it instead does none, however it still adds feminine trait and description fluff as normal.

minimen456 said: I'd like to report a bug. A slaver completed Listening to Whispers mission with critical success, 3 Trading assignments were found. But only the first one appeared on Pick an assignment window

Anonymous said: New Perk Chosen: Dark Pact (Strength +0, Agility +0, Constitution +1, Intelligence +3) The corruption flows through your body easily dominating your every thought, warping your desires and even twisting your very memories to bring your degradation to exquisite levels. Error: : bad conditional expression in clause: Elf is not defined Error: : bad conditional expression in clause: Elf is not defined (part 1)

Your back arches in delight as your whole build shifts to better accommodate the weight of the newly perfected circular globes that stand proud and so obviously so upon your chest. They seem to defy gravity in their glory and your nipples are so erect that they ache with need to be pinched and played with. (You gain the Unnatural Assets perk) (part 2) Whorelocks on Twine

New Perk Chosen: Dark Pact (Strength +2, Agility +3, Constitution +2, Intelligence +0) Error: : bad conditional expression in clause: Elf is not defined Error: : bad conditional expression in clause: Elf is not defined The corruption flows through your body easily dominating your every thought, warping your desires and even twisting your very memories to bring your degradation to exquisite levels. (part 3) seems to happen whenever i take dark pact now

- Thank you all for the spots, and will check them out.

#Q&A

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