#wbuna Vybirlbh

[potential-fate]

realized it's father's day and that's the perfect day to post this obnoxiously large family photo Of Arkhelios' favorite patriarch, Abraham Helios.

Everyone in this photo is supposedly related to him!~ (Well except the immediate "spouses")

Closeups under the cut

[arkhelios-gameplay]

As they took their seats around the table, the room was silent, save for the clinking of cutlery. Dorhack, who had sat down next to Roman, slurped his soup loudly. Roman found his presence intriguing and unnerving all at once.

[saralynnx]

“Oh no! Alex is in labor! Be prepared for the new addition to the Helios family!”

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

Mark Mishra got ready for school extra early. His uncle’s birthday was on the weekend, and Wbuna had been testing out recipes for the party every day. So far, Mark had gotten to taste test banana bread, carrot muffins and blueberry scones. He couldn’t wait to see what was on the menu for that morning. This was Omar’s big chance to spend time with his son and grandkids, and Wbuna was determined to make food that rivaled what she’d sampled of Roman’s own cooking.

That’s why it was so odd to see the kitchen empty. None of his siblings or cousins were up yet, but at least some of the adults should have been. Mark often ate his breakfast while his father read the paper, and Adam was nowhere in sight. Maybe his dad had forgotten to set his alarm to get up in the morning. Ever since his mom was fired from her job, his dad barely left her side. If she didn’t have to set an alarm for work, maybe he’d just forgotten to set one for himself.

Ulyssa stared at her reflection in the mirror and searched for imperfections. Her wedding was just two weeks away and things were beginning to feel intensely terrifying. Her wedding was going to be televised with millions of people watching her join Maura’s family and judging whether she was up for the task of one day being queen consort. As the day grew closer, Ulyssa was starting to get cold feet. Not about marrying Maura, who she loved immensely, but about everything else in her life. Was it too late now to run away or elope? The thought of being watched by so many people made her question every decision she’d made for this ceremony.

“The tiara’s a bit much. The dress isn’t much to look at either.”

Ulyssa didn’t have to turn to confront her unwanted visitor. She could see his cocky grin well enough in the mirror.

“How did you get past security?” she groaned playfully, not giving him the satisfaction of turning around to see him directly.

“Oh, I’m just that amazing.”

They both knew that the castle was protected by ancient wards, and teams of security officers who had been notified that Roman and his fiance and kids were to be treated as personal guests of the queen. It wasn’t likely that Roman could successfully make it into the private bedchambers of the crown princess’ fiancee without a fight. His visit, while unexpected, was still officially allowed.

“What do you want?” she asked, rechecking her hair in the mirror. “Do you really hate this dress? It was my favourite of the ones on the pre-approved list.”

“It’s fine,” Roman assured her. “I’m just teasing. It probably cost as much as my house, which makes it amazing.” Ulyssa made a dismissive noise and Roman laughed. “Hey, I’ve been wedding planning too, I know how much a dress like that costs. Anyway, I’m officially here to pick up Theo’s wedding outfit, but unofficially, I just wanted to catch up. I wanted to run a few things by you that I’ve found out. Crazy things. Seriously crazy.”

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of errands I need to get done by noon, so you’d better talk fast, or make yourself useful,” Ulyssa warned, taking a final look in the mirror before removing her jewelry. Yes, this was the look she wanted. She’d confirm that with her assistant later. “Unzip me, I need to change out of this before we go anywhere.”

Roman carefully pulled the zipper of Ulyssa’s dress down for her, taking care not to catch any of the delicate fabric in the teeth.

“I only have until three. I have to pick up the kids from Elaine’s after Theo’s done school, or I’m pretty sure she’s going to murder me. I may need to find another babysitter.”

“Well, start talking then,” Ulyssa said, stepping out of her dress and into a casual, but expensive looking skirt. “What’d you do this time and how mad was Abe?”

Roman tried to look offended by the question, but Abe had been watching him a little more carefully than usual since Roman retracted his legal appeal.

“Abe and I are just fine, thank you,” he scoffed, earning him a playful grin from his friend. “This is about the Rivales. Kaeileen and I were-”

Roman was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. When he fished it out and saw the caller id, he groaned. Omar never called his son, especially on his cell. To be honest, Roman couldn’t remember even giving his father his cell number. That had probably been Abe’s doing.

“Hello? Dad, what do you want, I’m busy.”

Ulyssa couldn’t hear the response on the phone, but she saw how quickly Roman’s body language changed. Suddenly he wasn’t relaxed, teasing Roman anymore.

“Who is this? Mark? Why are you-”

Though she couldn’t hear the exact words being spoken, Ulyssa could make out loud, panicked tones coming from the phone.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, looking concerned. The look on Roman’s face was unreadable, which frustrated her immensely. She had grown up with Roman and been in a wide variety of situations with him since she first left Arkhelios. Even after all that they’d been through, she couldn’t guess at what Roman was hearing.

“Hold on, hold on. Is he breathing? Did you call the hospital? No, Abe won’t get there fast enough, I’m on my way. Don’t move, wait by the door for the ambulance. I’ll be right there.”

Roman hung up his phone, but continued to stare at it blankly, unable to move.

“Is everything okay?” Ulyssa asked cautiously, placing her hand on his arm out of concern. “What’s wrong?”

“My uncle isn’t breathing,” Roman stated, still unable to tear his gaze away from his phone.

He nearly jumped when Ulyssa moved her arm to his back, rubbing comforting circles on it, just like she would to comfort Theo when he had a nightmare.

“I-My...my dad. All the adults. Mark was getting ready for school, and they were all just-”

Roman couldn’t finish his sentence. It was all too much and completely out of nowhere. He was supposed to see his father on the weekend for his birthday party. He’d just seen him a day ago.

“I’m coming with you,” Ulyssa said firmly. “Two of us are better than one in an emergency. We need to get to those kids and see what we can do to help. I’ll text Maura when we get there. She’ll sort out my wedding duties for the day.” She shifted her head to hold Roman’s stunned gaze. “Hey. We’re going to sort this out. Trust me, things are going to be okay.”

Roman nodded and took a small step away from his friend.

“I’ll meet you there,” he said before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

The silence in the hallways of the Mishra house was eerie. Every time Roman had been over there, the place rivaled the Durant house for craziness. Kids usually ran through the halls screaming at the top of their lungs, with adults chasing after them. The kitchen always smelled like whatever new recipe Wbuna was trying out.

Now it was too quiet. Mark had taken the younger kids outside to wait for an ambulance to arrive. The group was huddled together, looking lost and scared when Roman and Ulyssa teleported in. Ulyssa asked questions of the kids in a soothing voice while Roman ran upstairs to assess the situation. He wasn’t prepared for what awaited him.

Adam and Rosemary lay twisted on the floor, contorted in an unnatural way that sent chills down Roman’s spine. Whatever had done this was cruel and angry, hoping to make its victims suffer. It was horrible, but something about the way they were laying made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was a shocking scene, but oddly enough, not an unfamiliar one.

Mark had been wrong about his father. Roman could see faint movements of Adam’s chest. He knelt down to look for a pulse just to be sure, and found one, even if it was weak.

Rosemary too was breathing, to Roman’s relief. She had a nasty gash on her head where she had probably fallen against the couch arm, but her injuries looked less severe than Adam’s. Wbuna lay on the floor nearby with a similar head wound, but nothing else obvious that Roman could make out. It looked like she’d been headed towards her bedroom door, where he assumed she’d been trying to reach his father.

It had been a mistake to come here. Roman should have stayed with the kids and sent Ulyssa to look upstairs, or waited for the ambulance to arrive. He didn’t think he would ever be able to get the memory of this sight out of his head. His father lay on his bed, contorted with obvious pain and slumped over his mattress.

Out of all the family, it looked like Omar had been the intended target. The women were barely injured, and Adam was breathing at the very least. Roman didn’t dare go closer to his father, but there was something in the way Omar was laying that sent warning signals to every part of Roman. This scene was unnatural. Ripples of death permeated the room, wrapping around Omar possessively.

After struggling for so much of his life to understand his father, Roman’s relationship with Omar was suddenly over. There would be no reconciling, no more talks about the past, no ranting to Abe about Omar’s insensitivity. His father was dead. Roman was essentially an orphan in a world he was still learning to navigate. His grandparents were gone. His father was gone. He hoped with everything within him that his mother was gone too. What would happen if Rosemary or Wbuna didn’t survive? Would he have to raise his half-siblings along with his kids?

Unable to continue to share a room with his father’s corpse, Roman practically ran to the stairs to safety. As he walked by, Adam made a small groan that Roman prayed meant that he was about to wake up and tell his nephew that this had all been some sort of terrible dream.

Roman rolled his uncle over slightly, seeing him wince in pain as he moved.

“Adam? Adam, it’s me Roman. What happened?”

Adam’s skin seemed to glisten slightly upon hearing Roman’s voice. Roman watched in horror as unfamiliar black marks wrote themselves across his uncle’s face. He’d never seen marks like that before in his life, and he would certainly never forget them. The symbols were unlike anything he’d seen in his small collection of occult books.

If Ulyssa doesn’t recognize these symbols, I’ll need pictures to use as reference in the archives. If they’re anything like the symbols that had showed up on Abe’s and my face after harnessing demonic energy, this writing could vanish any second now.

Roman reached for his phone,and gave his uncle’s arm an apologetic squeeze.

“Sorry,” he said, opening his camera app and snapping a quick couple of pictures of the symbols before they vanished. Adam groaned again, wincing a little at the camera flash.

“Roman? Is...is she still here? The kids-”

Sirens wailed in the distance. Since Roman’s shooting years ago, Wanda had increased the budget for the hospital, and bought three new ambulances. They’d thankfully never had to use all of them at once before, but just having them available had boosted morale at the hospital. Paramedics would no longer need to make hard decisions about who deserved to use the ambulance in the event of a tragedy with multiple patients.

Adam trailed off weakly and closed his eyes once more. Against nearly every piece of medical advice he’d ever received, Roman gently shook him, trying to find out what happened in case he lost his uncle too.

“Who was here? A woman? Adam, I need to know what happened. Who did this?”

“Her shadow.” The words were barely a whisper, but filled with urgency and fear. “The kids need to know, tell them about her shadow.”

“I’ll do that, you just hang on,” Roman promised, although he had absolutely no clue what he was promising to do. The paramedics were finally climbing the stairs, shocked to see their coworker lying on the floor next to his nephew. “I’m going to go check on the kids now, okay? I’ll tell them to look for shadows. We’ll catch up with you at the hospital. Things are going to be okay.”

That was a lie; things were never going to be okay again.

[potential-fate]

Wbuna’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t thought of dinners. Alex spent many dinners at her office with her coworker working on articles for their blog. The kids had after school activities much of the time. She hadn’t considered that dinner would matter. She’d also taught the older girls to cook already, so if she really wasn’t home, they knew how to make some basics. Still, suddenly she felt unsettled. Guilty.  

“Oh.. I… it shouldn’t affect much. I mean you might have to cook once in a while but…”

[potential-fate]

Wbuna’s smile dropped slightly, “Oh… I… The girls are old enough now. You don’t have to work from home more.” 

Alex only hummed. Hesitantly, Wbuna added, “it shouldn’t affect your schedule, dear.” 

Wbuna wouldn’t have taken on the project if it was going to affect Alex’s schedule, not without consulting her. Surely her girlfriend knew that… right? 

Alex bit her lip, rolling her eyes slightly. Wbuna wondered if she was supposed to catch that look. 

“I just don’t think you thought about our home life when making this decision. When will you have time to cook and stuff?”

[potential-fate]

But Alex’s facial expression did not improve. 

“Hon?” 

“Is this gonna make your hours longer?” were the first words out of Alex’s mouth once she broke her silence.  

“Oh, um… a little. I’m going to cut down to part time teaching,” Wbuna quickly added a few things in her head, “but yes, I’ll end up working longer hours in general, and possibly some saturdays.”  

“What about the kids?” Alex grimaced, “I can’t work from home more than I do already.”

[potential-fate]

She was fairly certain she’d mentioned it, but Alex looked confused. Eventually, she regathered nerve, “I wasn’t so sure at first, but it’s been nice. Having a voice in town, I mean.” 

Alex didn’t respond. 

“I mean, I love teaching, but with the council position, I can make a real difference! I have so many ideas that would make things better, especially for the kids” She smiled brightly, expecting that to help Alex’s uncertainty.

[potential-fate]

Ah. This was a perfect opportunity to bring it up, really.

“Oh! I am, I actually wanted to tell you about that.” Alex only looked at her, waiting for her to continue. “I chatted with Salem Bellemy a little while ago… and I didn’t want to bring it up until everything went through.”

Alex bit her lip, and Wbuna could swear she frowned a little, so she quickly continued, “I know I told you he offered me a position on the council?” 

Alex did frown at that. Wbuna hesitated. 

[potential-fate]

Wbuna slid a plate with a tomato sandwich in front of Alex, and then sat down with one of her own. She’d always been a fan of vegetables. Sixam didn’t have nearly as many tasty plants as Earth did. It was really rather unfortunate that her children didn’t share the same love for them as she did, but her research showed that human mouths had weird taste buds that worked better as children, and therefore they could apparently taste the bitterness of plant material better than adult humans. She hoped that when the girls were older they liked onions more. She bit into the sandwich and hummed happily. Yes. Onions were definitely an excellent Earth delicacy. 

Alex looked at her over the sandwich sitting on the plate in front of her. Her girlfriend preferred turkey, but they were out of that for the moment. She’d get some with her paycheck on friday. That made her smile more. Friday. Friday she was starting a new project outside of the school. 

Once she’d accepted Salem’s proposition, she’d quickly decided it would be a good thing. She’d talked to Wanda later that month, and about what a position on the council would entail, and she’d realized that she could do quite a bit of good with it. The position had been hers officially since the start of the new year, but she hadn’t really had much to do with it so far. But Friday started a project she’d wanted to do far longer than that. She’d finally convinced the rest of the town to fix up the old park, as long as she personally oversaw it. Salem had welcomed the idea of erasing the bad history of the park, and that had made quick work of the other council member’s opinions.  

“You’re in a good mood,” Wbuna was pulled out of her reverie, and when she looked over, Alex raised an eyebrow at her. 

Wbuna paused, “am… am I not normally?” 

Wbuna was fairly certain she portrayed the normal human indicators of “happy” usually. 

“No, no I just…” Alex glanced at her own plate thoughtfully for a moment, “you seem more happy than normal?” 

[potential-fate]

Wbuna followed Salem Bellamy into his home, glancing around curiously as she followed him. The Bellamy patriarch was technically her boss, though one wouldn’t know it with how removed he usually was when it came to the education in the small town. She’d only been to his home one time before, and she’d realized after the fact, that his son had been trying to hit on her, though he’d done so quite badly. 

His home was as nice as it had been that time, and Omar Bellamy didn’t seem to be around this time, so she was saved from that awkwardness for the time being. Mr. Bellamy had guided her to their dining area, and set a plate of some pastry down while he invited her to sit at the table. She sat down and took a bite of the pastry to be polite, though she kept her guard up. She wasn’t sure why he’d invited her in. 

“these are quite good, sir…” She said, surprised by the pastry. 

He smiled slightly, “Yes, my wife is quite a good cook.” 

“Please tell her she’s an excellent chef for me then.” She made polite conversation. 

“I’m sure she already knows” the older man chuckled, then frowned almost imperceptibly, ”She taught Roman everything she knows, and his friends apparently never stop talking about the fact that he’s the only 20 year old boy they know that knows how to cook properly”

Wbuna laughed lightly, “Your so— grandson certainly is a character.” 

She glanced back at the plate in front of her, embarrassed by the slip she’d made. She’d almost forgotten that Omar was Salem’s son, even though she’d looked for him to avoid the moment she’d walked in their house. Though when she glanced up, Salem Bellamy seemed to have an almost satisfied look on his face rather than irritation.

After a moment though, his expression darkened slightly, “That’s certainly one way of describing him. I would honestly prefer if he focused on cooking as an outlet, even if it’s women’s work. But it would still be preferable than some of his other recent choices.” 

Wbuna glanced at her hands, but quietly she said, “He’s a good kid, I think. They all make mistakes, don’t they? Mine certainly cause plenty of trouble.” 

Salem smiled once more, though it seemed less genuine to Wbuna, “Indeed they all do. In any case, my grandson wasn’t the reason I invited you in. I actually wanted to speak to you about work and—”

[potential-fate]

Wbuna’s expression turned wary, “A… proposition?”

“Indeed.” Salem said, “Why don’t you come in dear? My wife made pastries earlier. We can chat inside.” 

For a moment Wbuna looked like she might refuse, but her better instincts won out, “….. Okay. of course sir.”

[potential-fate]

Upon noticing Wbuna’s demeanor, Wanda’s face softened, and she offered her a genuine smile. 

“Oh…” Wanda said, “That’s good to hear. I’m so sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners.” 

“Ah.. I, oh… it’s fine.” Wbuna stuttered.

Salem Bellamy’s smile somehow seemed less genuine to Wbuna, but he smiled none the less. 

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Salem said, “And you’ll still have time to teach, not to worry dear.” 

“I just… don’t know if I’m the right…” 

Wanda smiled gently, even apologetically, “Really, Wbuna, he is correct.” 

Wanda glanced at Salem out of the side of her eye for a moment, “If he’s intent on stepping back, then you are the best choice to fill the position.” 

“I… ah.. Thank you.” She looked down again, “I uhm… I really should be getting back to my children…” 

“Oh, yes. Of course dear.” Salem stood, “I’ll email you the details and we can chat together at the school on monday. I’m sure I’ll be able to work around your schedule.” 

“Th-Thank you sir.” Wbuna stood as well, eying the door impatiently. The sooner she could leave whatever family feud they were having, the better. 

--

[potential-fate]

Wanda looked at her and then back at Salem, and begrudgingly she said, “Well… yes, but Why do you need to step down? You’re doing a fine job, and everyone knows their places… no one is stepping on anyone’s toes.” 

“I simply need more time to focus on other aspects of the council.” Salem waved her off, “You know as well as I some things have become… complicated. I need my focus elsewhere.”  

Wbuna sat silently, trying her best not to fidget with her clothing or hands. She wondered if she shrunk in her seat more, they’d forget she was there entirely. 

“I am sure I’ve told you, I don’t have a problem taking on more of the political and leadership work of the small council—” 

“You have indeed,” Salem frowned, “But I’m sure eventually you’ll need more personal time, even if you don’t now. I’m sure less stress would do wonders for you as well.”

If looks could kill, Wbuna was sure that Salem would no longer be the head of the Bellamy family. She wasn’t sure why, but Wanda’s demeanor had turned to ice almost immediately. She looked between the two, silently wishing she’d said she’d needed to go grocery shopping instead of accepting Salem Bellamy’s invitation inside his home. Unfortunately, she was stuck sitting in what appeared to be the middle of a warzone.  

“ would never uhm… turn down this sort of… opportunity sir…” Wbuna’s voice trailed off as she continued, and she looked at her lap instead of meeting either of their gazes. She’d hoped that speaking up would either break the tension or allow her an escape, but she immediately regretted her decision. Both Wanda and Salem Bellamy’s attention turned to her.

[potential-fate]

“I— I could never take your—” Wbuna tried to back out of the conversation to no avail. 

“I’m asking you because you are most fit here.” Salem turned back to her, putting a hand up to stop her, “You know the school and children better than anyone. Wanda, you wouldn’t disagree, would you?”  

Wanda glanced between Salem and Wbuna, gritting her teeth, “I—... you need the rest of the council to make decisions like that…”

“Well, that’s why I called you in.” Salem raised an eyebrow. Even Wbuna could see that there wasn’t much way for Wanda to disagree with the Bellamy Patriarch. She picked at her fingernails under the table. It was obvious that her position here was more to force Wanda into agreement in order to not be rude, rather than any real reason.  

“I—... you…” Wanda sputtered.  

“I know you could easily convince them, I’m sure sweetheart.” Salem flashed his daughter in law a sweet smile and even Wbuna could feel the tension coming off the other woman, “They love you, don’t they? And would you disagree that Wbuna is a good fit? The best fit, in fact?”

[potential-fate]

Salem, paused for a moment, looking rather thoughtful. After a few seconds, he said, “In any case, I was hoping to offer you a promotion, of sorts.” 

“A… promotion?!” Wbuna looked at him quickly in shock. 

Wanda whipped her head around to Salem almost as quickly as Wbuna had, and Wbuna didn’t notice her eyes narrow subtly, “What do you mean?” 

“Well, it would be more of a change in direction than anything,” Salem said, tapping his index finger on his chin, “though I’m sure you’d still have time to teach part time, or substitute at least.” 

Wbuna pouted slightly, “I… I love teaching though.” 

“Hear me out, dear.” Wbuna regarded him warily, unsure how to respond to him.

“I was hoping you’d be able to take over my position as head of the education board on the council.” He said simply.  

“What?!” it was Wanda who protested this time. Wbuna had the distinct feeling that she was somehow intruding, even though the conversation was about her. She glanced between the two Bellamys sitting at the table with her. 

“Wanda, don’t shout, it’s unladylike.” Wanda grimaced, and Salem continued, “I hold more positions than I care to at the moment, and I feel that I’ve barely had time to focus on the education portion of the council as it is.”