#we shall not speak of the hands shhhh

[clensters]

Iolanta- 'bout some blind princess, didn't know she was a princess. Stomach got grumbling, left half way through.

AUDEMONT: How come? Once more you gave me a white rose. Again? I asked you to pick a red one IOLANTA: What does the word “red” mean?

[mondaymelon]

₊˚ෆ 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 | lyney, neuvillette, wriothelsey x gn!reader

( i am fully aware snowfelt is not a word. shhhh just please. ignore it. let's have another silly year together, yeah? )

⤷ they confess to you! reader has liked them for a while beforehand, fluff to start off the year ~ (psps i kn o w its the 23rd but writer's block whammied me against a wall and held me hostage for that time so. its really not my fault /lh)

[ in the dying light of fireglow, hands intertwined below a blanket, they turn to gaze into your eyes, speaking three words... ]

"Cold, are we? Shall I warm you up?"

Ah, but the playful grin tugging at LYNEY's lips already provides you with a sufficient, kindled warmth nestled deep into your chest. The snow cascading beyond the windows, curtains half-drawn over the glass, revealed the picturesque scenery, the land that had grown familiar to you dusted with white… your thoughts were dispersed with a light shake of your head just as the winter breeze swept over the snow. 

The male smiles as you nudge yourself closer to his side, and with a swift snap of his fingers, sparks heat in the fireplace, a blaze whose flames licked the bricks of its ensnarement. Unfair, really, simply unfair, how with such an effortless movement he swept you into your arms, reddened your already flushed, cold-bitten cheeks. “Warm yet?”

“...Too warm,” you manage a complaint, voice barely audible with how tightly you were pressed against him. “You’re suffocating me, Lyney.” At your words, his seemingly unconscious vice-like grip loosened, allowing you a breath. 

“Better?”

“Better.”

The world was quiet. Silent, for not even the wind dared utter a noise. No, that couldn’t be true, for if that were the case, then what were you to make of the persistent flutter of your heart? It was the way his gaze drunk you in that allowed you to dream of such a misunderstanding that he might share the sentiment, with the sight of you cuddled tightly in his arms, your slightly messy hair after he had ruffled it and the rosy cheeks that could possibly bring the most minuscule warmth to his face. 

“Thank you.” Your voice was quiet, it felt small, too small for your liking. Why were you even thanking him? What had he done for you? A lot. Simply too many to count. With his playful demeanor, certainly someone like you wouldn’t be well suited to him. Perhaps it was just a haphazard coincidence that allowed the two of you to meet, or perhaps just a cruel twist of fate that had decided to toy with your heart before discarding it. Either way, these feelings are safeguarded, nestled along with the warmth in your chest… they were quiet.

“For what?” Lyney’s jest of a smile tugged at his lips. “Why, have you finally realized that I’m quite the respectable person after all this time?”

“No,” you playfully hit his chest. Ever since the first encounter, the male had chased after you with reckless abandon, somehow managing to find you in just about any situation you were in. Watering the flowers that lined the streets, discussing work matters with the civilians, he’d appear out of thin air beside you, almost like magic. With a boyish grin on his face and a word or two whispered into your ear, “So this is where you were~” ...You shook your head, ears only growing redder at fortunate past thoughts. “You still remain a stalker, it’d be foolish to hope for anything more.” 

To hope for something more… what a hypocrite, you were. Your own words burned your tongue, the consequence of such a sin.

“Is it wrong to hope?” Lyney’s smile remained, but his tone grew serious. The faint twinkles that shone in his lavender eyes evidently bore his “wrongful” hope. “To wish that perhaps one day, I’ll mean more than just a ‘stalker’ to you?”

Your breath hitched. Say, didn’t these words… sound familiar? Didn’t they resemble lines read from those light novels from Inazuma, covers decorated with roses and sparkles? “Lyney, you-”

“I love you.”

Your words have escaped you. Countless, countless words. Each of them grow wings and flit away. 

“Ah, would it be too cliché to call it a love at first sight?” Lyney let loose a sigh, grinning sheepishly with a shake of his head. “But that was exactly what it was. The second I saw you… my, how generic I sound. Would it be too much to stomach if it was from that moment that I knew?” He paused, pursing his lips. They pressed into a tight line. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter. “I won’t be hopeful. I know better than that, and you’ve said it yourself. Let’s just… would I go too far if I wished to remain by your side? Not as a lover, surely, but a companion, or a mere acquaintance-”

“Lyney.”

His name is familiar in your mouth. It rests easy on the tongue.

“As a lover. That. That’s what… I want.”

The curve of his lips says well enough before he even opens them.

“Then, as your lover… may I kiss you?” ₊˚ෆ

“Are you feeling alright?”

His words were soft against the cold air, and NEUVILLETTE’s pale-eyed gaze even softer. Fontaine had had its first taste of snow, and with it came its cold finger tips that thoroughly dusted whatever it touched, the streets and tops of buildings painted a brilliant white.

“Yes, it’s just… Aren’t you cold like this?” The male, upon seeing you give the slightest shiver at the sudden drop in temperature, had immediately rushed over and taken off his coat for you to wear instead, where it was now draped comfortably over your shoulders. Warm, and it carried his scent. “I’d feel bad if you were to feel unwell because of me, so please, take it back?”

“Now, that’s something I simply can’t do,” His lips drew the slightest smile, a rare sight you were delighted to witness - the way his eyes crinkled at their corners and twinkled all the more was a pleasant one to experience indeed. “I’ll be fine, I can assure you. It’d take more than just a winter breeze to incapacitate me.”

You furrowed your brows, puffing out your cold-flushed cheeks before making a cross with your arms. “Nope, no can do! We’re heading back to my place, and I’ll brew some hot tea. No complaints, we’re going!” Before the man could utter another word, presumably a word of protest, you took him by his gloved hand and started running forwards. Full well, you knew Neuvillette was certainly at a better physique than you were, but you really just needed an excuse to hold his hand.

Why, exactly? The answer was rather simple.

While you weren’t enamored with him to begin with… after all, how could one be like that towards the respectable iudex of Fontaine, your curiosity got the better of you the moment you realized the stoic man suspiciously resembled one of Fontaine’s many creatures, the otter. The colors, the mannerisms, truly, it all paired up in an uncanny fashion. Somehow, along the line of approaching and getting to know him, you had caught feelings. It was almost funny, how they could sneak up on you like that while your guard was down. Except, now that you had them, what were you supposed to confess? “I started to like you when I realized you were practically an otter, love!”...Ugh, how embarrassing would that be? Imagining his handsome features scrunched with displeasure at your offense is one thing about Neuvillette you wished not to behold.

"...Ahem." Curses, you had been holding his hand for far too long to just laugh it off. You blinked yourself out of your past reminiscence, finding yourself faced with a rather concerned Neuvillette. "Apologies, you weren't responding, so..."

"No matter, are we here already?" You coughed into your first awkwardly, quickly letting go of Neuvillette's hand, however warm his touch may be. Unlocking the door, you swiftly swung it open, letting Neuvillette enter and then shutting it behind you. If you’d known that he’d be coming over - you had unconsciously invited him to your residence - you would’ve cleaned the space up a bit more. Nothing you could do about it now, you supposed. “There’s nothing special, you can make yourself at home while I go fetch some refreshments for us.”

“There’s no need for that.” Neuvillette held up a hand to stop you. “I’m quite alright, and if anything, I’d be delighted if you allowed me to brew your tea for you.”

“What? No, you’re my guest, you shouldn’t possibly-!”

“Ah ah, no complaints. I held mine back, so you should do the same, no?” Great, since when had he started getting clever with his words? “What I need you to do is to go get a blanket and sit at the fireplace. Where do you keep the tea?”

You let out a begrudging sigh. “Fifth cabinet.”

“Thank you.” You did as he asked with less than an enthusiastic self, and managed to light the fireplace before Neuvillette returned from the kitchen, carrying a tray that held two cups and a steaming teapot.

You raised an eyebrow at him as you took your cup, warm to the touch. “My, I didn’t expect you to have any complaints, dear Sir Iudex of Fontaine.”

“...Complaint? Ah,” Neuvillette’s eyes rounded when he realized what conversation you were referring to. “Hm, it’s rather embarrassing to say, however… well, since it was a precious day off, I figured I’d take you somewhere special, to the Opera House or wherever, but instead I’m here interfering in your home… it’s certainly not ideal, is it? My apologies.”

There was a moment of silence, accompanied by the crackle of flames. “Archons, is that what you were thinking with such a downcast expression?” You laughed, seeing his expression brighten. He was perhaps a little too predictable. “I don’t mind, Neuvillette. I was the one who invited you here, so there’s no need for you to feel ashamed that you accepted it. Besides…” you inched closer to him, grinning. “Every moment with you is special enough, it doesn’t take somewhere ‘special’ to make it so, hm?”

The man remained silent. Had you gone too far with your reassurance? His pale cheeks were flushed, had he become so enraged that his face had gone red? Certainly not, for he whispered your words like an echo. “A special moment, you say?” A tilt of your head was enough of a response. “Then…”

“I love you.”

“...Pardon?” The smile on your face slipped, and your ears rung with the gravity of his words. Perhaps you had grown so desperate that the only way to appease that mind of yours was to form auditory hallucinations? You had surely dropped to new, unprecedented lows.

“I love you.”

There’s just something about that gaze of his that makes you want to cry in his arms. Something about it that makes you want to be held by him, to feel the warmth that he holds in the way he simply looks at you, to bask in it like sunlight, to feel loved.

“I love..”

“There’s no need to say it again, Neuvillette.” His face falls, and his beautifully damned eyes grow wide. “I heard it the first time.” You can sense that he’s bracing himself for a response, with the way the smile on his lips draws tight and his stance grows rigid. “To think that you’d be the one confessing to me, why, this was certainly not the vision I had imagined a thousand times over in my head.”

You can see the hope in his eyes. You would never dare crush it, your heart beats for him. “I love you, Neuvillette, so repeat it just one more time, would you?”

And just like that, he melts in your arms.

“Yes, darling. I love you too.” ₊˚ෆ

“My, I didn’t expect to see you here!”

Standing up from his desk, WRIOTHESLEY’s eyes are bright with excitement. 

“So surprised, aren’t you?” You lean on his doorway with a fond smile as he embraces you in a quick hug. You smile as he draws back, “Why, am I not allowed to visit the poor duke, cooped up here with nothing but paperwork to satisfy his boredom?”

Your words were true, and they’d struck a note inside him. The Fortress of Meropide was quiet, almost too quiet these days. Sure, there was the persistent, eternal sound of turning gears and bursts of steam, and the never-ending crinkle of paper under his hands, but with most of the prisoners turning in a little earlier due to the cold, the hallways that were usually filled with chatter that he’d proclaim as “distracting” were no more. Monotonous was the crackle of the flames in the fireplace, but the sound of your eager footsteps rounding the hallways was a welcome sound indeed.

“Certainly not, I wouldn’t lie through my teeth and say that your presence is unwelcome.” His lips were curled upwards in a grin, his husky voice bearing the melody of delight. 

“I’d imagine.” That sneaky smile on your face is almost alluring in the pale light. “Stuck in this office of yours doing tedious tasks for the foreseeable future is not the ideal form of entertainment for most Fontainions.” 

A scoff, a playful one. “Then, have you come to help me with said paperwork?”

The shake of your head was instant, so much so that the man could’ve sworn it came out of instinct. “Most definitely not, Wrio. It’s rather unfortunate to say, however…” You let out a great sigh, one foreboding terrible news. Even your eyes began to tear up at their corners, and your expression became dramatically crestfallen. “I’m afraid this empty head of mine has suddenly become illiterate!” 

Wriothesley swallowed a laugh that almost dared surface and instead feigned a dramatic gasp, a hand over his mouth that had widened with shock. “Oh, dearest me! What a predicament… Then, what have you come to visit me for, pray tell? To sit and stare at me?”

You shrugged your shoulders, expression blank. “To be fair, I don’t exactly know either. I wanted to see you, and my feet just brought me here.” It wasn’t a complete truth, but not exactly a lie either. You had wanted to see him - partially to admire his strikingly handsome features, but also just to, well, exist in his presence. As much as he’d deny it, Wriothesley hated the idea of being apart from you, and his unchanging situation as the duke of the Fortress of Meropide didn’t aid that information. That, and the fact that ever since you had seen him simply strolling through the city, the slightest wind ruffling his dark locks and that sharp gaze of his staring ahead of him, you’d been utterly captured. While clichés weren’t exactly your forte, you had to admit that he was a case of “love at first sight”. And while you had fallen for his looks, his disposition wasn’t something to simply brush aside. Funniest thing? He’d been the one to approach you, striking up a conversation while you were merely having a drink at a nearby cafe, asking if you’d seen a certain wig-wearing dog.

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to bother you, but have you seen a dog around here? He has a top hat, brightly colored hair, is wearing a suit covered in stickers…”

After joining him on the chase around just about the entirety of Fontaine, the two of you managed to find the missing dog, who was actually a stray being taken care of by a melusine Wriothesley was familiar with, and return it. One thing led to another, and the two of you grew from strangers, acquaintances, and now to friends. Surely, it’d be terrible to wish for something more, wouldn’t it?

“Just tell me you missed me.” Wriothesley’s grin had returned, and he chuckled. “You’re not doing the greatest job of hiding it.”

“So what if I missed you?” You pouted, finally moving past the man and into the office, eyeing the papers on his desk before making yourself comfortable next to the fire. “And who said I was hiding it, dear duke?”

Wriothesley paused for a beat before continuing in his regular fashion. “You’re being rather bold today, aren’t you? Your words… they’re making it easy to misunderstand.”

“Misunderstand all you want, does it matter?”

“Yes, it does.”

“N-”

“Let’s stop speaking in riddles. Make yourself clear, hm? What’re you trying to pull with all these questions?” Wriothesley crossed his arms over his chest, leaning closer. “What, are you trying to be a flirt?”

“Aaaand if I am?” You smiled at his actions, not exactly sure what was spurring you onwards. 

“...Damnit, you… archons, you just won’t listen, will you? No matter, it just makes things easier for me. Hey, flirt, you won’t get all flustered if I say this then, yeah?”

“Say what-”

“I love you.”

That was certainly a way to catch someone off guard. “... the fuck-”

“No need to react that badly, all right?” Wriothesley let out a sigh of defeat, leaning his head against the wall as he sat down next to you. “I didn’t say it for the sake of saying it. It’s true. I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now, but..” He chuckled, a laugh that was void of what a laugh should have. “I’m rather a coward.”

“I-I didn’t mean to answer like that, you just caught me by surprise-” You shook your head, cursing at yourself for sounding so pathetic, with your trembling voice and words that stuttered every syllable. “...And by your definition…” You drew your knees closer to yourself, hugging them to your body. “I’m a coward as well.”

It takes him the count of three to respond, eyes blown wide. “...Wait, you-” The flush on his face was undeniable.

“I like you too, Wrio.”

“Archons, I… give me a moment. I’ve been wanting to hear that for so long, I think my heart has stopped beating.” ₊˚ෆ

(a/n) greetings my beloved melons. hello. ive risen from my grave to presumably and hopefully be alive for the next couple months. my reqs are all still full so i will be tryna get through em but at the same time i will be doing self indulgent fics. so udhaofjsdlf yeahd ahhahahahaa thats pretty much it on daily melon talk im going to answer my plethora of asks tomorrow because i know your dashboard wont be able to handle it if i post this and then answer 15 miillion asks. you are ever so welcome. also i always hate the way i write wriothelsey and this time was no exception this was so painful blegh ajlfksdmc

໒꒱ || ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ (open! send an ask or a comment ♡) : @manager-of-the-pudding-bank, @iamdedinside, @ilyuu, @achlysis, @swivy123, @scara-is-my-wife, @lupicalbestwolf, @justyoureader, @fiannee, @aether-darling 

reblogs are appreciated! line up for a smooch. mwah!!

[bloomries]

Hi I was wondering if you could make a part 2 worth the dateables for the “in another universe” fic. I just read it and it was amazing and now im crying 😭.

in another universe...

includes : diavolo, barbatos, simeon, solomon.

summary : what could have been, in a better universe.

warnings : gn! reader. angsty angst. death & mortality (solomon). prob a little ooc but shhhh. italics indicate the 'other universe.'

part one here.

DIAVOLO

...you weren't the prince of the devildom.

It was another day filled with princely duties, and another day you find yourself all alone. It was painfully empty in the large bed, and you knew you couldn't do a thing to fix it. Instead you close yours eyes and wish you could have woken up in his arms.

In a perfect world, you'd wake up in the arms of your beloved. Not Prince Diavolo, just Diavolo. You'd wake up to the feeling of kisses peppered against your face, and giggles would fill the room as you try to push him away but he won't relent. "G'morning my love," he whispers between kisses, "We gotta get up~"

"Noo," you whine, and he chuckles, pulling away to look at your cute scrunched up face. "Let's just call in sick and stay in bed allllll day." You peak an eye open to see Dia, who grins.

"Sounds like a perfect idea." And thus the day was spent burning making food, watching shitty tv drama, and cuddling- and of course kissing too.

But when you open your eyes, the coolness creeps in, and the emptiness of the room is unsettling. A knock on the door alerts you of Barbatos' presences, and he speaks from the other side of the door.

"Are you awake?... Lord Diavolo asks me to send his regards, he has another day ruling over the Devildom, and wants to let you know to not expect him until late." Pulling the sheets over your face, you decide to indulge in your fantasy world a little longer before facing the harsh reality.

BARBATOS

...i came first.

It's not that you didn't understand, no you knew perfectly well that Barbatos' job was very important and required him to be away from you for long periods of time. What you didn't understand was that he refused, almost too eagerly, a day off. Diavolo noticed he'd been working him too hard and offered a little vacation. You thought he'd take it, so he could spend what little time granted he could with you, but instead...

"I was thinking we could head to the human realm, and have a nice date there."

"Oh yeah?" You coo, leaning closer to him and grinning. "And what should we do there?" He hums, deep in thought. A nice restaurant, perhaps dancing involved, walking around a fairy-light lit park, being in each others arms. Yes, that sounded nice, and thus he informed of you such thoughts. "That does sound nice, it's a date then." You press a kiss to the corner of his lip- tease. He's quick to correct your mistake, placing a proper kiss to your lips.

"You... You rejected the offer?" Barbatos undoes the buttons of his shirt, glancing over his shoulder at you with a slight frown.

"Obviously. As much as I'd like to trust him..." He tsks and shake his head, pushing away the thought. "Nevermind. Shall we turn in for the night?" He slips into more comfortable clothing, giving you that cool, unwavering smile. Ah, you don't know how much more you can put up with this...

SIMEON

...you stayed the night.

"Goodnight." Simeon spoke in a soft, quiet voice, his smile kind. It makes your heart do somersaults. You bid him a goodnight as well, and as he goes to turn, you hesitantly catch his wrist.

"You know... You could stay the night... If you wanted." His eyes widen. Stay the night? Something inside him shifts, his eyes filling with what seems to be pity.

"I'm sorry... I can't..." He speaks, gently removing your hand off his wrist and giving you a weak smile. "Goodnight." And then he leaves, not a single glance back. Did you just ruin your friendship with five words? You just wanted him to stay a little longer, just be near you for a while more...

"Stay the night?" You nod, fiddling with your shirt. "Well... I suppose that would be okay." Your eyes widen in delight. Really? He'd stay? He chuckles at your obvious enthusiasm and allows you to drag him back into your room where you set up a spot for you to sleep on the ground.

Simeon shakes his head at this. "I'll take the floor." After a little arguing, you both end up on the bed, both too jittery with excitement of staying near your crush to properly sleep. As you try to close your eyes, try to calm your mind, however, you feel a pinkie brush against yours- and feeling a little bolder, you move your hand even closer. Eventually, your hand in Simeons, and his in yours, you both with small, dorky smiles as sleep comes for you both.

Tomorrow will likely involve a long talk.

SOLOMON

...we could grow old together.

"You're going to be the cutest grumpy old man." It was an offhand comment, something you didn't really think about, you were just teasing him... But then the mood in the air shift, and it got real quiet, and you were suddenly reminded that you wouldn't be growing old with him.

"Shit... Sorry." You, but Solomon waves his hand dismissively, forcing a smile as he claims it's no big deal. It is, though, it's an incredibly big deal. Not only feeling the despair of it, but Solomon too- if he could, he'd most definitely choose mortality with you than whatever he's got going on now.

Sitting in your own separate rocking chairs, holding hands. You reading a book while Solomon nags about 'children theses days' or something or another. Getting up and then having to help him because his knees are what they used to be. Listening to a song considered old, dancing close to each other and remembering all your beautiful memories together. Eventually dying together.

Ah... But none of that will happen. He'll eventually watch you pass away, and he'll try desperately to hold on to your memory but when your face fades away from his mind who will he become? Solomon gingerly holds back tears that sting his eyes. Damn his immortality, damn it all. He truly wishes he could give it all up for a lifetime with you- it'd truly be worth it.

[halfhissandwich]

@analoginceweek Day Five: “Here is where we shall stay.”

Story below! (Part two to Day Four)

“Hey, Virge, I need to go, Thomas is getting tired and I’m on dream duty tonight.” Roman informs Virgil of his situation. “Can… can you stay here and make sure our Perfect Professor is okay?”

“Nice alliteration… and yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll stay.” Virgil mumbles that last sentence more to himself than to Roman, but the prince gets the message regardless, and appears grateful as he pecks Virgil’s lips, causing the latter’s eyeshadow to quickly turn a sparkly purple color before he pulls away, lightheartedly slapping Roman’s arm. “You dork!”

“Haha! You know you love me, Virgil!” Roman playfully winks at him and Virgil’s face flushes when he finds that he can’t refute that claim. So he responds with a simple roll of his eyes. “I- oh, crap, I gotta go. You’ll be okay here?” Roman asks quickly, and when he gets a nod in response, he kisses Virgil’s cheek. “Bye V, tell Logan I said bye, I love both of you!” Roman takes a bow and sinks out.

Drama prince.

Virgil sits outside of Logan’s room for about 2 minutes before Logan finally opens the door, just a crack. Virgil jumps in surprise, looking at the door to find that Logan had in fact opened it… but Logan isn’t in the position that he had hoped. He still looked sad but on top of that, his eyes were a bright orange color, a sign that Virgil knew the significance of. “Logan…?” Virgil slowly speaks, trying not to provoke him.

Upon hearing Virgil say his name, Logan bursts into tears and falls down to his knees, babbling incoherent apologies to Virgil’s surprise. “I’m so- sorry- sor-” Logan practically chokes on his own sobs, prompting Virgil to kneel beside him and place his hands on Logan’s shoulders, observing the dark eyeshadow under Logan’s eyes. “L-Logan, hey, hey. Shhhh… look at me.” Virgil is unable to keep his own voice from shaking as he tries to get Logan’s attention, but Logan miraculously looks up at Virgil, breaking his heart with his terrified expression. “Do something for me. I want you to name five things you can see.” Virgil instructs, surprising Logan with the exercise that Logan had guided Virgil through before.

Shaking somewhat violently, Logan’s eyes shoot around the room, trying to decide what to say. “I-I can see… my- my bookshelf, I see… I s-see your s-sweatshirt… and your shirt… and I also see the lights in my room… and my blanket… was that five…?” Logan asks, gently fidgeting with the strings of Virgil’s hoodie, causing a warm smile to appear on Virgil’s face.

“Well done, Logan, that was five, very good.” Virgil praises Logan, keeping his hands steady on Logan’s shoulders, his own anxiety dying down with Logan’s success, which seems to also help Logan feel better. “Four things you can touch?”

As Logan continues through the exercise with Virgil’s guidance, Logan slowly finds himself being more and more grounded, and at the exercise’s conclusion, his newly orange eyes gaze into Virgil’s purple ones with hesitance, yet still with admiration. “You… you remembered.” Logan observes.

“Of course I did.” Virgil assures. “I still use that exercise a lot when I start feeling overwhelmed by my anxiety. It’s nice to have different options, know what I mean?” Logan nods wordlessly. Virgil looks at Logan’s eyes, then down at his hands as he takes them in his own, finally observing the elephant in the room. “So… he’s been bothering you.”

Logan averts his gaze, tears threatening to fall again as he nods. “He has… but not just him.” Logan starts, trying to find the courage to tell Virgil what had happened. Virgil, seeming to understand Logan’s feelings, squeezes his hands in order to give Logan the reassurance he needs. It proves successful as Logan continues talking. “When… when Thomas was cleaning, Remus showed up and started doing… doing his thing. I gave Thomas different methods to make himself feel better about how Remus was bothering him, but then he… he…” Logan clears his throat in an attempt to continue speaking. Nothing happens when he tries again. He clears his throat and tries to speak again. Nothing happens.

“What did Remus do, Logan?” Virgil asks, being as gentle with his question as possible, and struggling to hide his surprise when Logan yells. “HE MADE ME MAD! I- … I felt… so angry. He was ignoring me when I was trying to talk some sense and it felt like my blood was burning. And then he was right! The second that Nico called Thomas, Thomas started completely ignoring my efforts to tell him that implementing this damn schedule!” Logan rises, pulls out the schedule he had worked so hard to create with Thomas, a relic of how valuable he is, and rips it apart.

Upon seeing Virgil tense up at Logan’s outburst, Logan sighs and sits back down. “I’m sorry, Virgil… I just… I feel…” Logan begins, but trails off. Virgil holds his hand, wanting him to finish speaking. “I f-feel… sad. And mad.” Logan admits, lacking the appropriate emotional vocabulary to put a precise name to his feelings. “And I… something about Roman… he kept making me think about Remus. Like, I would see Roman but also see Remus. And I know that’s terrible! He’s nothing like Remus, I know that! Roman is bright, and intelligent, and funny, and… clean.” Logan looks down, avoiding meeting Virgil’s tense gaze.

“… I get it. When I first came to the light side, Roman did usually, well… remind me of Remus.” Virgil admits. “Granted, I barely knew Roman and I grew up with Remus, but still… We both know how amazing Roman is now, and we know that while he is similar to his brother, he’s different in all the ways that matter. He’s kind, he respects the space of others, he is able to reflect on his actions and take accountability and feel guilt when he makes mistakes, and well… when he makes us angry, there are good intentions behind it, right?” Virgil asks, prompting Logan to nod.

“I had a feeling that my brother was behind this somehow.”

Virgil and Logan both jump in terror realizing that Roman had returned, apparently done with his duties in creating a dream for Thomas. Virgil waves hello, but Logan is frozen as he desperately tries to explain himself to the prince, who was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face. “Oh my god…” Logan tears up. “Oh god, Roman, I’m so sorry… I swear, I didn’t mean to compare you to Remus, I promise, I… you… you aren’t mad, are you?”

“Mad? Oh I am absolutely furious, but not at you, mi amor.” Roman takes one of Logan’s hands in both of his own. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I… I haven’t? But… I thought I hated when-” Logan starts.

“I hate when people imply that the only thing keeping me from being the evil twin is a mustache.” Roman clarifies with a small jab at Janus. “My brother and I are very similar, Logan, I know that. And I understand that if there are two Creativities, then they will naturally be connected. But you weren’t even comparing us, Logan, you looked at me and you were reminded of an event that really hurt you less than an hour prior.”

Listening to Roman’s voice was enough to completely soothe Logan’s tense body, his shoulders relaxing and his breathing slowing to a relaxed pattern. “May I hold you, Logan?” Virgil smiles, to which Logan snuggles up to him, letting himself be vulnerable in his partner’s arms as Roman maintains his hold on Logan’s hand. “Is there anything I can do to help you?” Roman asks. Logan looks at him, then down at the ripped piece of paper he had left at his feet. He pauses.

“Can you give me some tape?”

[themultifandomgal]

From 2010- Before

2012

Part 21

3 Weeks Earlier

“I miss you” I say into the phone as I walk into the studio

“I miss you too. I’ll see you soon though” Alex replies

“I know” I sigh “how’s collage going?” I ask sitting down on the sofa

“It’s alright. I honestly have no clue what I want to do though once I leave”

“You could always come be a roadie” I joke making Alex laugh

“Don’t tempt me. How’s the song writing going?”

“It’s not. We have to write boyband love songs”

“But your not a boyband?” Alex sounds confused over the phone

“Oh I know, but we have an image for teenage girls and a few teen boys. Some times I regret my decision. If I knew it would be like this then…”

“Hey don’t think like that. Have you spoken to the others?”

“Not yet. I will, but they just seem to be having the time of their lives”

“What’s your contract say?”

“We have to release songs to SYCO for at least another 3 years”

“You can do this. I believe in you”

“Mornin’” Harry shouts walking into the studio

“I’ll let you go. I’ll see you soon ok?”

“Yeah”

“I love you”

“I love you too” I put the phone down and give Harry a small smile “hey. Where’s the others?”

“Gone to get snacks. You know I’m here for you, we all are”

“How much of that did you hear?”

“A fair bit. I wasn’t ease dropping on your conversation, but I just didn’t want to interrupt, sorry”

“No it’s ok”

“From now on you talk about issues that your dealing with ok? Your not going through this alone ok?”

“Thanks H. Why don’t we start writing while we wait for the others” I suggest getting a pen and note pad out of my bag.

1 Week Earlier

“What’s up Uncasvill!” Niall yells into his microphone and the fans all scream back “now we have a little secret. YN care to tell everyone”

“Do they deserve to know the secret? What do you think guys shall we tell you?” I ask then point my microphone to the crowed who all yell once again “ok ok” I hold my free hand in the air “shhhh ok. We may be working on album number 2” this causes everyone to scream again with excitement

“m’not sure tha’ they’re tha’excited YN”

“No me either Harry” I say shaking my head “let’s try this again shall we? Who’s excited!” I ask yelling causing everyone to scream “ok now with that announcement out of the way the next song were going to sing is Up All Night”

During the song Harry jumps on Louis back making them fall on to the floor which causes me to miss my cue. Thankfully the crowd sing along which makes it easier for me to jump back in.

48 Hours Earlier

“Shit” I grumble seeing all the flashing lights outside our hotel

“Hey your ok, we’ve got you” Niall says placing his arm over my shoulders

“I’ll go first ok?” Louis says looking at me. I give him a nod and the doors open. I walk behind Louis with Niall while Zayn, Liam and Harry are behind us

“Get back!” Paul shouts at the paparazzi

“YN have you and Alex broke up?”

“Harry are you dating Taylor?”

“Louis does Eleanor trust you and YN?”

“Zayn has Perrie come to any shows yet?”

It’s question after question, making my head feel fuzzy. Thankfully Niall doesn’t let go of me

“YN how good are the boys in bed?”

“YN look over here!”

“Turn this way!”

“Move!” I once again hear Paul say when I feel someone grab my arm. I turn to see who it is, but I’m meet with a camera in my face. Zayn is quick to pull the guy away while I’m ushered into our car. My breathing rises while there’s ringing in my ears. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing

“You good YN?” I hear Liam ask. I give him a little nod grateful I’m now in the safety of the car.

24 Hours Earlier

24 hours to go till Alex arrives, 24 hours and I’m in the arms of the man I love. I finish getting myself ready for the show when my dad comes over to me

“I think you need to speak to a doctor” he says

“I’m fine”

“No your not. You’ve been having these panic attacks for a few months now. Maybe you should stop performing”

“What!?” I yell facing my dad

“I don’t mean forever, but maybe just for now while you get all of this under control”

“Dad it’s just part of fame. I’ll have to get used to it”

“I’m just worried that something could tip you over the edge”

“Dad I promise I have it under control. How about this. We have just over a month left of tour, once it’s over I’ll speak to someone”

“Fine but you have one more panic attack and I’m taking you home”

“Deal”

“And don’t think I won’t ask the boys to tell me if you do” my phone then pings letting me know I have a text. I look down and see it’s off Alex

‘Can’t wait to see you tomorrow’

[sauron-kraut]

Sauwitchking …because they’re running out of time

Heheehehehheheeee, I'm rubbing my greedy little hands as we speak; thank you so much for this one.

Here you go!

Prompt list here

38. ...because they're running out of time

Mairon wakes up to a trembling body beside him. The Witch-King is shivering violently under the thick wolf pelt they are sharing, the parts of him that are exposed to the moonlight pale and sheening with cold sweat. 

Mairon cups his cheek, making eye contact, his face wearing a look of concern. “Are you cold, dearest?”

The king can only muster frantic nodding. 

“Come here; I will warm you,” Mairon says, and draws him close with ease. He has become frail. Mairon tucks the wolf pelt in around them and cradles the king in a tight embrace. He presses their bodies together, still naked from earlier that night. The king’s dwindling strength had been apparent.

The once proud Witch-King buries his head in the crook of Mairon’s neck. When he speaks, it is no more than a whisper against the Maia’s skin, but it is calm.

“What is happening to me?” 

The ring, dearest, the ring. Where comes power comes sacrifice. A smile forms on Mairon’s lips against the Witch-Kings dark hair. You shall be mine, more than ever.

“Shhhh, it’s alright, it’s going to be alright. I am here.” Mairon is gently rocking him in his arms now.

“Am I dying, lord?”

“Fear not, for eternity awaits,” Mairon says and lifts the king’s head to press a kiss on his parted lips, tips of their tongues touching weakly.

Soon, the body in his arms will be no more, the lips and the warm mouth and the clammy skin. A thing to discard. 

Mairon will take his hand and raise him from the ashes of mortality. Necessary, and a favour.

No, he will be better for Mairon, he will be stronger, and he will be forever. At last, he will be entirely his.

[legacyshenanigans]

Could we maybe possibly get a lil Drabble/HC type post of Volo’s death magic in action 👀

YESSSSS! I was thinking about doing one anyway girl! I adore that you always slide into the DMs asking for it though 😩💚

Marvolo using Necromancy magic🐍

Rowan: I erm..Found the guy you wanted me to track down..

Marvolo: Excellent..Where is he?

Rowan: In the basement...

Marvolo makes his way down there, with Rowan following closely. He walks in, seeing a decomposing corpse on the table..

Marvolo: *sigh* Oh for goodness sake...

Rowan: ...Yeah.

Marvolo: *inspecting the body* Urgh...Rotten..

Rowan: I mean, I didn't know if ya woulda wanted me to bring it here or not, but I did anyway.

Marvolo: I'm glad you did. Vile as it is. It's at least a week, maybe 2 weeks dead.. Worry not *rubs his hands together* Anything can be made to talk.

Rowan: (??)

Marvolo reaches his hand out, hovering it over the putrid corpse. He takes in a large inhale through his nose and closes his eyes. He mutters to himself, and the room suddenly feels cold and falls silent. Rowan looks around, feeling the dark effect taking over the room. Marvolos eyes snap open, glowing green, the corpse sits bolt right up on the table, taking in a harsh pained breath. Marvolo smirks to himself, his hand still aimed in concentration towards the body. The corpses' voice is the thing of nightmares, the agony in its words, you can almost hear the gargle of the congealed blood in its throat.

Corpse: P-Pleeeease. HUu-urts-

Marvolo: Shhhh, answer my questions, and you shall rest..

The Corpse tries to nod, thick slime dribbling from its mouth as its head falls forward then back up once more.

Marvolo: How did you die?

Corpse: Old gang. K-Killed meeee.

Marvolo: Why?

Corpse: Left. G-Gang. Boss couldn't. Aaargh- C-Couldn't risk me talkin' Nnngh! S-Sent g-goons..After meeeee-

Rowan: Heh..Clearly didn't expect THIS, did he?

Marvolo: I know of your boss *frowns* I've been struggling to find his fucking hideout..Tell me! Where is it!?

Corpse: N-Nooo P-Pleeeease..STooop this..Pain!

Marvolo: SPEAK.

Corpse: F-Forbidden Forest... Underground...Passage..Near..O-Old willow tree...Other side of...ARRRHH...Lake!...*coughs up dark blood* Hidden...With magic...

Marvolo: *narrows his eyes* illusion magic?

Corpse: YES!...P-Pleeeeease!!!!

Marvolo: ....Rest.

Marvolo closes his eyes once more, dropping his hand away from the corpse. The body falls flat back on the table, lifeless once more. Marvolo stumbles over to a chair in the room, slumping down onto it. He shivers slightly, letting out an exasperated breath.

Rowan: (?!) *rushes over to him* Are you ok? *goes to touch his arm*

Marvolo: DONT TOUCH ME!

Rowan: (?!?!?)

Marvolo: *sighs* I'm sorry.. That takes a lot of energy out of me..Sends my head a little messy *heavy breath as he composes himself* Especially when they fucking fight it.

Rowan: That was crazy..I've never seen ya do that..

Marvolo: Its not something I use often..Anyway..The hideout, hidden by illusion magic. That's no bother..An easy thing to seek out and remove once you know its there. We'll go later..

Rowan: *nods* Yeah.. 'Course.. I'm with ya..

~

[cruxymox]

Prompt: throwing rocks at the moon

Three angels were sitting on a lonely hill outside the city. It was a Tuesday night, the same night I started writing again - though that part is fairly insignificant as I have stopped and started and stopped and started many times before and since then. I do not know what month it was, nor year exactly, but maybe that does not matter. I have gone off the rails here with this tangential information, I am rambling. Let me start over.

Three angels. A lonely hill. This city, that mostly slept. It seems now that it was extra quiet, that night.

// read the rest below. it isn't terribly long, and has music if you'd like to hear one of the angels speak.

I do not remember their names, those angels. I apologize for that. I am sure they all ended with '-iel' or '-uel' or '-ael', as that was the standard for angel naming at that time. But I would only be guessing.

The first of the three was larger than the others, their robes fitting more tightly about them, so I will call them AUDRIEL.

The second angel spoke infrequently, and when they did it was only in whispers, and because of this, I will call them SUSUEL.

The third angel will be called TREIEL. It may turn out that TREIEL was the most important of the three angels, regardless of their name now. It may have been otherwise, I cannot be certain.

TREIEL spoke first, though they were the third, and when they did it sounded like a song. Flammenmeer, L’Ame Immortelle. Something like that. ~There are stones here on this hill that should not be. The small smooth ones, just there. I fear something important has changed, or will do so soon. It is a sign.~

~Shhhh,~ SUSUEL warned quietly, a finger to TREIEL's lips. ~Someone will hear.~ If TREIEL's words were of song, the few of SUSUEL's were of a quiet river in the evening, slow-flowing, ever meandering.

TREIEL wrapped their hand around SUSUEL's wrist, and gently pulled it away. Dim Atmosphere, Die Verbannten Kinder Evas, ~Perhaps, SUSUEL, perhaps. If so, it will be only one small soul, a poet of minor significance. AUDRIEL, what do you think of these strange stones?~

AUDRIEL bent down, and placed a hand over one of the stones, not quite touching it. They were silent for a moment. ~They are of the moon.~

~The moon!~ Fairy Dance, Ophelia's Dream. TREIEL feigned surprise.

~The moon.~ AUDRIEL affirmed. ~Let us leave them here, such that–~

SUSUEL pressed many fingers to several lips. ~Someone comes.~

—

I climbed the hill and sat myself down to look up at the night's myriad stars. They made me feel less alone and more so all at once, if that makes any sense at all.

The moon was partially obscured by a wispy cloud line that felt unnatural, that felt as if it came from the city's thousand chimneys. It was beautiful, but the thought upset me. "I hate this."

I saw some rocks on the ground by my feet, and moved to pick them up, to throw them at the clouds, at the moon, to throw them at everything. I just about reached them when I heard a song come from … everywhere.

— Seven Days Till Sunrise, Black Tape For A Blue Girl —

AUDRIEL shook their head. ~You should not have done that, TREIEL. What are we to do now?~

The three angels looked down at me.

TREIEL offered a solution, Le Secret, Leitmotiv. ~The poet sleeps now. We shall make it a dream.~

~And when he awakens? What then?~ SUSUEL whispered to the others, palms gentle upon my ears.

AUDRIEL touched my hand, then touched the moon stones. ~We need not do anything. The stones will play their part in his hands, they will - but for a moment - depict the helpless defiance against the epitome of romanticism, and then no more.~

SUSUEL nodded silently, and faded into the folds and threads of night.

AUDRIEL stood, and gazed towards TREIEL fondly. ~Continue the dream. It will end as they always do, in a half memory, in a haze, as the clouds were.~ AUDRIEL then walked down the hill, away to the city.

TREIEL pondered, and gave a path for the dreamer to wander down.

— Premier Pylone, Ozymandias —

As I bent over to pick up the rocks, I felt dizzy for a moment, suddenly very tired. I knew I should go back soon.

I looked up and saw the clouds were gone. I looked up at the moon and stars, in awe, as always. I threw the rocks anyway, as hard as I could, then brushed my hands off and walked away. I thought that at the very least I might try to write something about this, once I rest.

Once I rest.

—

TREIEL drifted to where the stones landed, near the bottom of the hill. Knowing they were the last of the angels here, and no one was to see - for now - they picked up one of the stones. In TREIEL’s hands, it turned into a brilliant white bird which flew into the night, to the moon, like a different sort of dream.

—

The Beginning

[zia-zee-bee]

Costume Change

CW: hypnosis, non-sexual nudity

Colette was delirious, she could tell. Her brain was foggy, and she kept seeing things that weren’t real. Or maybe they were, she couldn’t tell. She was still kneeling by the couch, slumping over it and dazed.

“My dearest, looking at what Miss Claudia got you,” Claudia enters the room while speaking in a sing-song voice, holding two bags of clothing. The vampire grinned at the sleepy girl as she sets the bags down on the floor, dusting her hands off. “Poor thing, you don’t have the energy to move,” She coos, pinching Colette’s cheek and moving it a bit. Colette just blinks up at her, sleepy and quiet.

Claudia plays with Colette’s hair for a moment before pulling off the short jacket Colette had been wearing. She tosses it to the side as she speaks.

“Your bag is in my room, if you remember that,” The vampire says, pulling Colette’s shirt over her head. “I haven’t had the time to go through it yet, but I will soon, don’t worry.” Off goes the bra. “Oh, you’ll absolutely love these dresses! They’re perfect for your skin tone and eye color.” The pants come off next. Colette starts to shiver, it was a cold room. “And with the jewels.. oh you’ll look divine!”

“Divine?” Colette mumbles as Claudia tugs off her shoes and socks, then finally her undergarments. Claudia nods enthusiastically as she digs through one of the bags.

“Good job,” Claudia coos as she pulls out a white dress, large and fluffy. “I heard once echoing what I say is a great way to condition a thrall, shall we use that as a trick?” She drapes the dress over the couch, then turns to Colette. “Say yes.”

Colette blinks slowly, nodding. “Yes,” She mumbles. Claudia grins and grabs Colette’s arms, pulling her to an unsteady stand before picking her up.

“What a cute girl you are,” Claudia coos. “Now all we need to do is wash you up, then you’ll be good to go!” Claudia walks into a new room with Colette in her arms, entering a large bathroom. “And in this house, pretty girls get special privileges.”

The vampire sets her in the large bathtub before spinning the faucet on. “Priv.. privileges?” Colette mumbles as warm water touches her toes.

Claudia nods again, moving around to grab soap, shampoo, conditioner, and a collection of loofahs. “Since you’re my personal thrall, everyone will treat you like a princess,” She grins down at the dazed girl, fangs glinting from the overhead light. “All my personal thralls are practically royalty around here, you won’t have to do a thing!”

Colette blinks, summoning all her brain power to say no, to get out of the bathtub, to run out of the house, but she was so tired. The bath water was already up to her chest, and Claudia started humming, and Colette let her mind sink.

“Good girl,” Claudia coos, kneeling next to the bathtub and stroking Colette’s hair. Her eyes glowed a shiny red. “That’s it, let all your resistance flow out of you like the water around you.”

“But.. but I...” Colette mumbles in that quick sand daze, eyes flicking nervously. She frowns as Claudia continues stroking her hair, red eyes glowing.

“Shhhh..” Claudia whispers, smiling warmly. “Just let it leave, you don’t need it anymore.” She starts wetting down the loofah and covering it in soap, rubbing it in her hands to create bubbles on bubbles. “Listen to Miss Claudia,” The vampire whispers, starting to wash Colette’s arms. “Listen to me, your favorite Miss Claudia.”

Colette dumbly nods, forgetting why she thought leaving was a good thing. Miss Claudia continued gushing about how she was going to be treated like a princess, so why would she need to leave?

Miss Claudia washes Colette completely clean, then soaks her hair in the water to start on that as well. She puts all kinds of products into it, still whispering about how Colette should stay.

“These will have to go,” Miss Claudia announces once she was done with Colette’s hair, gently tapping the two gold cheek piercings. Colette only nods in agreement, mumbling how she should listen to Miss Claudia. The vampire grins as she starts to drain the tub, then wraps Colette’s hair in a towel. “Come, stand up for me,” Claudia says.

Colette hums, timidly standing to her feet, only half aware she was completely nude in front of a woman she barely knows. She sees herself in a mirror across the room, and she watches as Miss Claudia uses a razor to shave her as well.

“Open your mouth,” Miss Claudia orders the next minute, and a toothbrush was shoved between Colette’s tongue and the top of her mouth. “We’re almost done, my dear, you look so splendid.”

“Thank you, Miss Claudia,” Colette mumbles, and Miss Claudia grins even more as she starts to brush Colette’s teeth. A bit of toothpaste dribbles from the girl’s lips, since she’s too tired to keep her mouth shut around the toothbrush.

Miss Claudia helps Colette out of the tub and over to the sink, where she’s ordered to spit out the toothpaste. Then she’s dressed in her undergarments and told to sit on a cushion nearby as Miss Claudia grabs the lotions. Colette melts under Miss Claudia’s hands as lotion is rubbed into her skin. “What a polite little girl,” Miss Claudia coos, and Colette feels happy at the complement.

Finally, Miss Claudia guides Colette back into the living area they had been in before.

“Stand still,” Miss Claudia orders, and Colette nods. Miss Claudia collects the dress she bought and fits it over Colette’s head, tugging it down to cover her body. The straps are pulled over her shoulders, and Miss Claudia takes her hands. “Come, sit on the couch, my dear girl,” She coos.

Colette falls onto the couch, head spinning and confused, only half aware of Miss Claudia’s head moving closer to her neck. She feels a sharp sting, then pure bliss washes over her.

Yes, this is where I’m supposed to be.

Part 2 <<< Part 3 >>> Part 4

[autisticempathydaemon]

Redacted-tober 2023 Day Seven

Prompt: Brachium & Secret

Pairing: Brachium & Camelopardalis

cw: vague dread

Summary: A pre-Cataclysm pair of Serenity daemons share a quiet moment.

Read on AO3 here!

<- Previous Day | Next Day ->

“Sleeping off your meal, Brachium?” The dozing serenity daemon smiles, his eyes still closed and body still lax as the wind blows gently through the leaves. The soothing baritone of Buddhist chanting from the temple below is carried along the breeze, and Camelopardalis’s voice is a more than welcome harmony.

“Can you blame me?” Brachium asks, grinning and opening shining blue eyes to meet Cam’s matching ones. Standing above him, the other serenity daemon laughs, playfully kicking fallen leaves onto his friend before laying next to him on the grassy knoll overlooking the valley.

“It’s been too long, brother,” Cam says, getting comfortable, settling into the dirt until they are shoulder to shoulder, their hair mingling together amongst the dandelions. “Much too long. Has something been troubling you?”

“Shhhh,” Brachium admonishes in jest, pushing a hand into his kin’s face. “We don’t mention trouble here. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, and I finally managed to give Vega the slip.” His friend barks a laugh in surprise, a sound that rings of wind whistling across the ocean to the unempowered nearby.

“You’ve been laying low, I see. I’d hate to break your cover, so let us hide together.” Camelopardalis tilts his head back and closes his eyes, basking in the warm, spring sunshine and missing his companion’s face drops as the monks stop chanting to meditate. The silence and his secret weigh heavily on his core, and with nothing to mute the sound, Brachium is once again drowning in hissing, eldritch voices only he seems to hear.

[obey-me-headquarters]

A review of the first lesson of nightbringer

So, hey. I'm back for starters. Unfortunately, nightbringer came out during a very busy time for me. So don't expect much content for about.... a week and a half? I heard that there was going to be a new Obey Me game, but I wasn't too interested. I still decided to get the game just to check it out, and man, have I missed my demon boys lol.

I only played the first lesson so far because again, busy, but I hope to play more of it soon! I don't think I'm going to do a review for every lesson, just for the time being, until I get so fixated on it that I blow through lessons like crazy lol.

Anyway, spoilers are under the cut. Don't read unless you finished the first lesson! ( Unless you don't care about spoilers)

I came into this game pretty blind. I heard that Mc accidentally ended up in the past, and that apparently Solomon has gone missing? Haven't gotten to that part yet, if that's even true.

I thought I wouldn't like this game, or play it much because I don't like rhythm games that much. (I'm really bad at them). The tutorial levels really messed me up, I think the constant stopping was throwing me off my rhythm as once I started a regular level I nailed it. I actually really like the rhythm aspect of the game. One of my criticisms of the original Obey Me is that the dance battles can get tedious after a hundred of them. I got so bored of doing them that I stopped playing the main story and focused on leveling up my cards until I could skip dance battles entirely.

I like how there's a sense of skill in the rhythm portion of the game. During dance battles, I feel you could just hand your phone to a toddler and their tapping would allow you to win. Now there's a sense of panic, a desire to get S rank and get devil points. Which, by the way, I did not expect to be a reward. I know you get devil points when completing a chapter in the original game, but I never consider getting devil points after clearing a level well. I'm not sure if that reward is going to stay, but right now it's excellent game design.

Speaking of the rhythm game, can I just say how absolutely ADORABLE everyone's spirits are?? Like, look at these babies!!!

Luke I riding a DOG!!

I don't have a photo, but when Belphie attacks he swings his pillow! Barbatos runs carrying a tea tray! They're just, so adorable!

Alright. Now let's actually get into the story of the game, shall we?

Gosh, the opening was AMAZING! Obey Me really knocks it out of the park when there's a new opening, and this time was no different! I think the unknown number that texted us at the beginning of the game could be Barbatos. As well as being the time demon from the opening shot with the short-haired human? I'm not sure. An image of him popped up for a second, holding up a shhhh hand signal, but maybe Barbatos has a predecessor?

There are cards of Barbatos, so like in the original game he, most likely, is going to show up/be a recurring character, so it wouldn't make much sense if he's supposed to be the mastermind behind everything. Diavolo mentioned him as being his servant at the end of the chapter, so he's still under Diavolo's command and thus (probably) wouldn't do anything without Diavolo's knowledge. Plus, Diavolo even mentioned that he knows that Barbatos and Solomon are close, so if Barbatos is the one who pulled us back into time, firstly, why, and secondly, why does Solomon have no knowledge of anything that's going on? Anyways, it's pretty hard to theorize when I only read the first lesson lol, but I think I can confidently say that Barbatos is not the one who pulled us back in time.

I was pleasantly surprised when it was made canon that we actually know the demon brothers, along with the pacts. For one terrible moment, I thought Mc wouldn't be the same Mc from the original game, so I'm really glad that wasn't the case!

I don't understand why everyone thought Mc is a demon. I don't think we were cursed to look like one, and we still have the pacts (if only a minor version of them) so they should have clocked us as human right? How are we supposed to form new pacts, since that's a human thing if everyone thinks we're a demon? Eh, I'm sure we'll find out the answer eventually.

It was very interesting to see all the brothers right after the fall! It's nice that it's canon that the brothers weren't that different from how they are now, well, with there still some major changes the characters need to go through before they're exactly the same as they are in te present, like Mammon isn't SCARED OF GHOSTS?!?! WHERE'S MY SCAREDY CAT DEMON!!

Ok but it's very interesting noticing all the little differences between the characters, and wondering what exactly happened to each of them to cause those changes. For example, Mammon not being scared of ghosts. Is he pretending now to be scared? Did some traumatic event happen to scar Mammon forever? (Was Lucifer somehow the cause of that event?)

Levi doesn't know anything about anime or Ruri-Chan! He's also way, way more skittish than he is in the present. Like, he has social anxiety, but he seems a lot less wary than he is in Nightbringer. It could be that he just hates change, and thus reacts to anything new as dangerous. In the promo art, he's shown crying as he falls saying the words "I never wanted to come to this awful place, to begin with!" So it's obvious that he doesn't want to be in the Devildom. Maybe you two bond by introducing him to anime, thus giving him a distraction and making him realize the Devildom isn't so bad. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Moving onto my favorite angy Boi, Satan. Ah, Satan, how confused and angry you must be. I'm most excited to get to know Satan! He hasn't developed any sort of personal identity besides being angry all the time. I'm looking forward to showing him books, murder mysteries, cats! I feel really bad that he's constantly being tied up, like yeah if I was being tied up constantly I'll be pissed too. It's really funny to imagine that the last order the Demon King gave before peaceing out was telling Satan that he has 6 brothers. Like, apparently the Demon King can just force family relations onto people lol.

The demon brothers don't seem to be aware of their sins, which is very interesting! Asmo, for example, doesn't have his charm ability, as he didn't charm the giant snake (Henry 1.0) as he did in the original game.

Beel and Belphie seem to be affected by their sins. As Beel mentioned, while carrying a passed-out Satan, he normally wouldn't have a problem carrying a demon, but he's feeling very hungry. As well as Belphie constantly falling asleep.

If the brothers haven't come into their sins yet, it makes their treatment of Satan make a lot more sense. In their minds, Satan isn't the Avatar of Wrath, he's just an angry demon. So it makes sense why they're not allowing him to break everything in sight, but still, my poor little meow meow :(

It'll be very interesting if the game changes up the pact order. I still think Mammon is going to be our first, as that's such a big thing in the original game. Plus I find the idea of Mammon being our first no matter the timeline to be really sweet. But after that? Why not change it up! Maybe Asmo is our second, as he took an interest in us with Mammon. I wonder how the game is going to sidestep Belphie's hatred of humans while we're a human to form a pact, but I can't wait to find out!

It'll be cool if, in a future lesson, the timeline has a chance to diverge and we have to do our best to stop it from diverging. Maybe by causing Mammon's fear of ghosts? Or some other thing? I'm not sure, but I think that idea has a lot of comedy potential as you're doing really weird things which the characters don't understand, but you're like "Dude TRUST me, this HAS to happen!"

The fact that we're the demons' babysitter... 10/10 writing choice. I love it. Amazing. Unlike in the original game where we're at the mercy of the demons, the demons are at the mercy of US!! You have to listen to ME! I'm the scary one with the powerful magic that can bring you to your knees!

This line?

Amazing. Lucifer is now my Wittle Wucifer that needs my help.

Anyway, that's all for now! I know I only finished the first lesson, but I am very much enjoying Nightbringer, and look forward to writing something set in this universe! If yall have any ideas, please send me an ask! But please, no spoilers!

[veronica-lawson-phd]

[Lawson woke up and saw that Cal had already left. Hopefully they had gotten some sleep, but with Cal's situation figured out, she felt that she was now allowed to look deeper into the mystery of the author and what happened in the tech grave yard.

Lawson pulls out the dark journal and begins flipping through it reworking everything to make more sense now that she understood the presence of the gods. The 'Lords in Black' were most likely the gibberish that looked like names. The rituals seemed dark but could in theory be used in a non harmful way, many of them seemed to stem from one of the Gods powers but there were quite a few that seemingly had no connection. It was just ambient power. Power like what she felt in the tech graveyard. Lawson had never purposefully summoned a vision before but she desperately wanted to understand so she delved deep into her mind and pulled.

A memory fades into view. A young red headed girl with bright blue eyes, one she thought she had seen before in a vision but this girl was much younger, was frolicking out in a field. The girl was wearing and old timey dress and her hair seemed to be recently pulled out of braids, ribbons flying behind in the wind.]

"Come along! You are falling behind, if mother and father catch us you know how much trouble we shall find ourselves in."

[Lawson hears the girl shouting out to her. But who was she. Lawson looks down and sees a familiar pair of hands, younger but after spending so much time watching them Lawson could recognize the author's hands everywhere. Lawson hears a voice coming from herself]

"Calm yourself Joan, and come closer. I shant have you running off. We agreed that we were only coming out this far so no person would catch us while we were testing...the "magic"

[Lawson saw the young girl exasperatedly walking back towards where she was currently standing.]

"You said we were going to have fun! I thought we were going to play with magic not test it"

[Lawson felt her body tense at how loud the little girl was being]

"Shhhh! Speak not so loud. It is not the most acceptable ability. And we are going to have fun. Testing is fun! Let us see just how much we can do."

[Lawson watched amazed as the girls began to control the ribbons that had previously flown away. The ribbons danced through the air weaving around each other and one even tying and untying itself into a bow. The vision began to fade and Lawson found herself sitting at her home desk once more]

Hmm...

[Lawson looks over to a pencil on her desk and concentrates. Focusing solely on moving the pencil even just a little bit. The pencil moved far easier than she was expecting flying up into the air posed as if to take notes. ]

Fascinating

[kandadiff]

Van Der Wulff: I dream of death

~~ Warning : dark / torture / disassociation ~~

You don't remember how you got back, but when you opened your eyes you saw the gray of the ceiling above you. Your head felt fuzzy and your mouth was dry. Your eyes struggled to fully open, a wave of sleep threatened to overcome you.

You attempted to sit up but you couldn't move your arms. You attempted to move your legs, the wave of sleep quickly leaving your head when you realized you couldn't move them either. Your eyes shot open instantly panicking. Your eyes darted to whatever was holding you down. Ropes painfully dug into your wrists and ankles and you realized why your moth was so dry. You were gagged, a cloth shoved into your mouth. Your heart beat so fast in your chest you thought you might have a heart attack. You began to panic, pulling the ropes tighter around your wrists

"She's awake!" The voice of the the boss caused you to let out a scream and he laughed. His long fingers ran though your hair. "Relax, the more you struggle, the worse it hurts.... so I've heard."

You heard the crackling of electricity in the air and out of the corner fo your eye you spotted what looked like an electroshock machine in the corner. The wicked, red smirked that painted the bosses face made your stomach turn. You screamed out as he approached you, the two metal pads, crackling as he rubbed them once again. "I like you." he said as you were fully on panic mode. "Not as much as Abigail- not yet at least." He chuckled. You desperately pulled at your restraints screaming for help, but you knew no one was coming. "But you need to be broken and I will rebuild you to something better. Something great!" The closer the metal came to you, you felt and saw your hair start to rise with the electric energy nearing you. "Something wonderful." He placed the pads next to your head but didn't tough you yet. The heat coming off the metal starting to burn your skin. "Don't worry. I watched my father do it to my mother."

You let out a shriek, the hot painful wave of electrical current coursed through your body making it convolute violently. You heard laughter over the crackle of the electricity and your nostrils filled with the smell of burned flesh. Your temples ached painfully as you watched him pull back and rub the metal together. Tears clouded your vision and streamed down your face onto the table. “Aww, don’t cry.” He pouted before bursting out into laughter. A flash of the Joker popped into your mind and you wished nothing more then to see him. But would he save you from this?

“Shall we do it again?” The boss giggled, though before you could shake your head, he jerked the metal onto your head again. The scream you let out tore at your vocal chords barely muffled by the gag in your mouth and your body didn’t belong to you anymore. You couldn’t contain the covulsions that overcame you. You involuntarily bit into the gag, partially grateful it was there (otherwise you would have bit into your tongue). You were sobbing now as he pulled them off of you and rubbed them together for a round 3. You thrashed wildly on the the table, pulling fiercely at the binds. You needed to get free, you were going to die here. He was going to kill you. You couldn’t die like this, strapped to a table. A plaything for a psychopath.

“Stop!” You sobbed but it fell on deaf ears. He couldn’t hear you, even if he could - it wouldn’t matter. He wasn’t going to stop. “Please!” He looked down at you and moved the hair from your face, almost tenderly. You had to force yourself not to vomit.

“Shhhh.” He kelt down so his face was next to yours. His gloved hands wiping away your tears. “It’s okay.” His green eyes bore into yours and his voice was oddly tender. Like a parent speaking to a child. “You’re almost done.”

“Please.” The gag muffled your response but you opened your tear streaked face got the message across. You couldn’t do it anymore. You were sure you would die.

“Please what?” He stood up his face now directly over yours. His hands tenderly caressing your throat. “Do you want me to stop?” It disgusted you the way he spoke to you. Mischievousness in his tone, No longer sounding like a parent speaking to a child. But a lover talking to their partner. His touch left goosebumps on your neck and you swallowed hard trying to quell the nauseous ness that threatened to wash over you. He leaned down slightly so his mouth was over yours- you were once again grateful for the gag. “Tell me to stop.”

“St-“ you barely got out the sound when the burning metal hit your neck. Your eyes instantly shot shut as a wail of agony forced itself out of your mouth and your body flailed furiously about so harshly you felt a pop in each shoulder and an unbelievable pain in each. Your eyes shot open feeling something on your mouth and you were met with the green eyes of the sadist torturing you. His mouth was on your gag in a horrid kiss. You screamed and jolted your head away from him but he just smiled. The smile he wore burning itself into your mind. He yanked the gag off your mouth and the cloth from your mouth. You heard yourself screaming but could no longer feel the noise coming from your throat. Everything was starting to feel far away.

Your eyes struggled to stay open, the pain forcing your body to shut down in hopes of healing. A wave of fierce nausea cut through you and you heard yourself throwing up, the feeling of warm chunks spraying on your neck and cheeks. You heard the boss Tsk and force your face to the side so you wouldn’t throw up.

No. He wants to kill you. He won’t let your body do it. An unfamiliar voice chimed in. You forced yourself to open your eyes to plead with the stranger for help. But you weren’t met with anyone new. Just the boss with his wicked smile. Close your eyes. Force yourself to sleep you’ll need your rest!

“You have another one in you.” He said matter of factly. “I know you do.”

There is no point in trying to escape. Your his now. He burned himself into you. There it was. Another voice. You jerked your head to the left feeling the vomit on your face shift into the table as you desperately searched for the voices. If he wants to kill you, he will and you can’t stop him.

Seduce and destroy! Another voice. He likes you. Turn him against the girl! Let him kill her.

The voices swarmed around you. I wonder who will miss you? Maybe no one, maybe no one cares that you’re gone. They care and you need to find a way to contact them. Someone who can do something. Someone as dangerous as him. You need to think on how to get a message to them! How? You need to kill him yourself. Then you’ll get out of here. You closed your eyes to silence them but they just continued to yell. You need help! You need to think on how to get it! Your in this mess you have to get yourself out of it! I agree. But you have to do it yourself. This is not a puzzle it’s a fact. You’ll die here if you wait. Though it was the last one you heard that stuck with you as your world turned black. You should have stayed with Shawn.

“I know” you heard yourself mumble as you floated into the blissful darkness that was unconsciousness.

~~~

Like always, I was restless in my sleep, though the loud noise coming from the party made my dreams both terrifying and loud. But it was the pops of the fireworks that startled me awake. I jolted up, the TV still playing a mindless cartoon and the light in my room low.

The popping was still loud outside and I heard people cheering as I struggled to fully wake up. I had a mild headache and moved to the attached bathroom to splash water on my face when I realized I didn't see the multicolors splayed in the sky from fireworks. In fact, I didn't see anything but blackness and the cheers weren't cheers. They were screams and the popping was guns. Instantly, I felt awake, feeling just how I did back with Luther. Terrified and shaky.

No, I didn't have time for that. I had to think. I rushed to the window, trying to see what was going on but I just heard more screams and pops. I craned my neck and saw a man clutching his bloodied chest, the symbol of a red horned devil that was permanently edged into my mind, seen on his jacket. Was Luther here?! How did he find me?!

"Lloyd!" I ran to the door, stumbling over the boxes and kicking the various gifts out of my way. "Mom!" I yanked at the handle but it wouldn't budge. "Manny!" I yanked and yanked until I fell backwards into the boxes. "Fuck!" I cried out, freaking out. I felt my palms get sweaty and my breathing quicken. "Fuck! Fuck! I can't get out!" I felt myself start to panic and ran my hands through my hair attempting to calm down. "Okay, okay, think!"

I scrambled up and started going through the boxes of random gifts cursing at the useless stuff knowing Harley mentioned getting me a ceremonial knife from some sacred place. I went through box after box until I found the sharp, silver jeweled knife. It wasn't a gun but it was a weapon. I moved to the vanity and grabbing the bobby pins I had there and worked on the lock.

As soon as it unlocked, I was met with the surprised wicked smirk of a red deviled clad man. In an instant he was on me. His hands shot up, his fist colliding with my face twice before I fell on my back. The air leaving my body as I felt a burst of pain in my eyes and nose. I saw blood dripping on the tiled floor as I struggled to get up.

"Why do you assholes always go for the eye?" I groaned holding the knife under my hip.

"🌶You're her!" He chuckled, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture. "🌶You don't realize how excited the boss is to meet you. A knew whore for his collection - one that helped bring down De La Muerte-"

I kicked his hip and he grunted just enough to give me enough time to get the advantage. I quickly straddled him bringing the knife down on his chest. Blood spurted as he reached up scratched at my face trying to throw me off of him but I brought my hands down harder and harder. I kept stabbing until blood coating my hands and dress and he stopped twitching. His eyes glossing over as he froze in the permanent gaze of death. I watched the face morph like a artist molding clay. I didn't see the red devil man anymore, instead I saw Luther's face looking up at me, smirking. I stabbed at the mans face, cutting until the skin was in shreds and the bone of his skull was showing. I heard a sharp, loud note in my ear. I hadn't realized it was me screaming until I pushed myself off of him and it stopped.

I was shaking as I stood up. I had to go! Where was mom? Where was Lloyd?! I reached for the phone the man was holding and put it in the pockets on my dress, trying not to look at the picture of me with a bleeding nose on the floor. I moved towards Lloyd room in a haze.

I saw my body moving fast but I didn’t feel like I was in it. It was like I was in a fog or looking into a mirror, like I was watching myself doing things but I had no control over my body or what I did. I was just a passenger. Everything moved fast and everything was tinted in blood. I was swift and quiet, the nickname Cat never been more appropriate. Though the looking haze I was in. I saw flashes of the men my knife slashed, but they all turned into Luther. Each face worse then the next until I saw nothing but a huge Luther shaped monster in every person - no everything - that tried to approach me. I didn't hear their cries or my own screams of anger as the knife sliced through the men. I didn't feel the warm blood as it sprayed on me or the smell of copper and death that probably permeated the stone walls of the castle. The foolish invaders traveled alone up the stairs, cocky that they got away from the massacre of the party. I made my way to Lloyd's rooms attacking the men as they passed it. I clutched the knife close to me eyeing the door, ready and waiting.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

How do you know if your dreaming? Or dying? You dreamed plenty of times throughout your life. Some fantastical and full of whimsy, some dull and others nightmarish. But how can you distinguish dreams from entering heaven, or nightmares from hell or just slipping into purgatory? How different are those things from dreams? Do you see the Grim Reaper and does he take you wherever your supposed to go? Or do you just never know? And it’s up to you to realize it?

Does death act like a dream where you can see yourself in a third person perspective like watching a movie? Or does that mean your dreaming? And what is sleep walking? Was that what was happening to you? Or was this a dream? Or was this death?

Your confusion was in response to a scene that was playing in your head like a movie on a screen. It came in short burst at first, projected onto the back of your eyes while you watched curiously.

You saw Jake approaching a girl with pinned up purple hair. He was laughing maliciously, you knew he had a knife behind his back. You couldn't hear what he was saying just one of the voice that you heard before. It belonged to the purple haired girl.

"I want you to try something you pathetic waste of space." She said to him. He lunged at her with the knife. It made contact and sliced her arm, she hissed and grabbed at his hair yanking so hard she yanked out a tuff. He cursed at her and slashed the girl again but she used his height over her against him. Like a snake she quickly crawled between his legs gripping his junk and pulling as hard as she could. The pained look on his face made you giggle, her as well. He tried not to fall down, stabbing at her arms but she was quick enough to dodge it. Though his foot made contact with her back, throwing her into the rough stone wall.

He stumbled back trying to steady his breath but you saw what the girl was doing. She grabbed a fistful of dirt that littered the warehouse ground and when he was close enough she threw it in his face. You heard the grunt Jake spat out as he was forced to close his eyes and the girl took full advantage of it. She yanked the knife from his hand and quickly put it to use. She plunged the knife into his thigh. The howl he let out caused a tremor of anger to wash over you and you could tell it effected the stranger as well. She sliced quickly at his legs and kicked him as hard as she could in the crouch. You laughed when he fell down.

She quickly crawled over him. "Fuck you! You fucking bitch!" She yelled as she stabbed at his genitals over and over again. She wasn't even phased when he pushed her off. She didn't let it stop her at all, instead she climbed back on and stabbed at his face and chest. She did it until he just stopped moving. He wasn't twitching - he wasn't shoving her off. He died and the girl killed him. She looked up and seemed to look right at you. it scared you, her dark eyes boring into your own until she was interrupted.

You saw a blonde entering the ... room? movie? dream? She looked a little like the purple haired girl but her hair was blonde and braided and her eyes and skin were slightly lighter. She looked exhausted but determined. The lack of emotion that came on her face when she looked down at Jakes dead body scared you, then frightened you more when she grabbed at the purple girl "Katrina!" You recognized her voice as well she was in the torture room. "Stop fooling around we have to go! Now!"

"Whats the point?" You hadn't noticed the tired looking red head leaning by the door. You knew her voice as well - they were all in the room when she was being tortured. Before she passed out. "Even if we get out, we'll die of exposure. We have a better chance of survival here."

"Shut the fuck up Rosie!" Katrina (the purple haired girl) spat at the red head. She wiped the blood off her face with her dirty shirt and looked at the blonde. "I wasn't fooling around, Lily, its easier to escape if we have less people in our way."

"Its better if we slip out without notice." Lily, the blonde spoke poking her head out of the room. "Lets go quietly."

Katrina held up the knife and smiled. "Our goal is to get out. quietly or screaming I don't care. We'll get out." It was like you were following the three girls through the halls of the warehouse. Katrina held the knife so tight in her hand, you could see the white of her knuckles.

Lily acted as the leader, making them carefully walk through the hallways, hiding when appropriate and moving fast when needed. As you saw more of the space, you realized they were in the terrible warehouse you were in and they were escaping! but how?

As though reading your mind, Rosie voiced your concerns "What if he already woke up? He knows every inch of this place. and so does that Abigail woman. He'll kill us then, we should just go back to the bedroom."

"And wait to see what he does to us?" Katrina growled at her. "Hell no, we're lucky we got out when we did. Who knows how long he'll stay out for-"

"Or how long Abigail will leave him alone. Lets go!" Lily pushed forward, peeking out into the hall. You moved next to her, unsure if you were truly there or not, she didn't seem to react to you. "Hide!" She whispered quickly and though you went to move, you weren't fast enough.

"Adi?" Austin pulled you up. Your arms ached painfully at his touch. "What are you doing out here." His fingers ran softly over your face, you jerked back and he shook his head, his eyes not leaving yours and he frowned in disappointment. He was about to speak when he looked around and sighed. "Come on, I'll get you back to your room." You were shaking as he pulled you away, away from the progress you made. Deeper into the hell that was this torture chamber. You needed to get away from him, he might have been your friend once but now he was on the wrong side. You looked back hoping to see the girls who led you this far.

Your eyes darted at the spaces they could be hiding. The darkened threshold of a closet, behind a stack of boxes or under the cloth covered cart. You swore you saw the red hair of Rosie, behind the boxes. "Just go. Its easier that way. Maybe he won't kill you."

Lily poked her head out of the darkened room, a grimace on her face and she looked over at the cart. "Get him, Katrina."

"With pleasure." You heard Katrina smirked rising from the cloth on the cart like an ghost from an old movie. She clutched the knife in her hand and walked to the unsuspecting Austin.

She grabbed you, throwing you behind her. Austin didn't get a chance to react before Katrina plunged the knife in his back. The other hand covered his nose and mouth preventing him from screaming too loudly as she killed him. Blood splashed on you and Katrina and the smell of death filled the hallway, you wanted to throw up and look away but you couldn't turn away. Lily joined you on your right and Rosie on your left.

"You keep us safe," Lily said as the three of you watched Katrina turn Austin into nothing more than shreds of skin, blood and bone. "And we'll keep you safe. Understand?" You forced yourself to look away from Katrina, some of the blood hitting the three of you as she brought the knife up to plunge it back down each time. You nodded and Lily gave you a small smile. "Enough, Katrina. Grab the keys to the door and lets get out of here."

Katrina now splattered in blood, cleaned the knife with her hand, flicking it off and wiping her hand on the wall. She stood up kicking Austins corpse in the process and turned to face you. "Nice to finally meet you. Now lets get the fuck out of here."

~ ~ ~ ~

I didn’t know how long I was there but soon I felt the haze pulling me deeper. I no longer saw the stone walls of the castle, instead they were replaced with white plaster. The room shifted before my eyes and I was back in the basement in Luther’s hellhole. I couldn’t move, I was frozen in fear. Luther was here, I knew it. Lloyd never rescued me. The past few days was a mercy dream before I woke up in a forced marriage. This was it. I was waking up. I was waking up into a living nightmare.

My throat felt tight and my entire body broke out in a cold sweat, I heard a ringing in my ears, I felt tears running down my face but I didn't know I was crying. I didn’t feel much of anything. Just exhaustion. I was so tired.

Was someone calling my name? Was it him? I looked up at the door but just saw a faceless shadow lurking in the threshold like the boogeyman. It was death, it had to be. Death was finally coming for me. Maybe I was still in my room and that man who punched me actually killed me and here was death, lurking in the shadows waiting to introduce himself to me. Maybe I wasn’t ever in Harleys castle - I was still in that little yellow house, under the oppressive weight of Luther as he choked the life out of me. Maybe Harley's house was just a dream that God allowed me to have before I was snuffed out of the world forever.

My tears fell onto my hands but I ignored it. The shadow calling out to me, a dark hand coming from the shadow and reaching out to me. A chill ran through my body and I heard it in my voice. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I struggled to breath, gulping air like a dying fish. I felt Luther’s hands on my neck and I saw death getting closer. “I don’t want to die here.” My voice was shaking and hoarse from the screaming I had done. “I need to go home. I can’t die here. They don’t know where I am- I’m not ready. I won't go.”

“Give me the knife.” Deaths voice was familiar but far away. He extended his hand. I watched as his shadowy hands took the knife from my hand - then I saw him again. There was Luther behind death smirking. His brown eyes as dark as an endless abyss and his smile full of poison.

“You think death can separate us?” His voice boomed in my ears. Forcing me to acknowledge him. Forcing his presence on me. He was screaming at me, his face wolfish. “You’ll never be rid of me! I’m apart of you now!”

“No!” I screamed, shooting up and grabbing at the knife, except I grabbed the sharp blade. It sliced through my palm, the pain not registering in the foggy smoke that enveloped my mind. I held onto it tightly, fearing this was the only way to defend myself. “I won’t die with him!” The blade was snatched from my hands slicing my palm open.

"Let go!" I felt Luthers hand on my shoulders holding me tight, digging his fingers into mine. The shadow gone- Luther was my death and he was going to rip me from this dream and stuff me into his own. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed as loud as I could thrashing myself out of his tight grip. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" I pushed on his face, the my blood staining his face, making him look like a wild monster. He grabbed at my arms and hands but the bloode that coated me made his hands slip. All my thrashing made him loose his grip on me and the knife, the knife fell by my feet. I grabbed it and plunged it into the man as he grabbed for me again. It hit his hip and he grunted out. I pushed past him and ran and fast as I could.

I ran as fast through the hallways. The walls shifting from the protective stone of the castles to the cold sheetrock of Luthers prison. It just made me run faster. I felt light headed, and my lungs burned in my chest as I twisted and trend though the hallway. I felt Luther behind me the whole time, his hot breath on my neck, his big hands grabbing out for me.

I crashed into the garage door, throwing it open and quickly closing it behind me. Panic overcame me while I searched through the various drawers for keys, any keys for any car. I needed to leave. I needed to get out of here.

~~~

[smuggsy]

Remember this post about how Riddler dug up Elijah's body and we just... collectively chose to ignore it along with Oswald? 😂

Well. I un-ignored it. With a sad angsty fic.

(You can read it down here as well.) Word count: 2040. Tags: #emotional comfort #established relationship #hence: canon divergence #nightmares

Oswald's used to having nightmares. He's no stranger to sleepless nights, 5-am coffees have become a bit of a recurrent habit to make up for the drowsiness clouding his mind after a particularly difficult dream chimes in without permission and throws his sleeping schedule off — so much that he often finds himself power-napping through the day when Ed isn't around to tell him off for it.

Yes, he's almost grown too accustomed to Hugo Strange's voice narrating all sorts of gruesome scenarios that he ends up carrying out of his own volition, propelled forward by an unknown and invisible force deep inside. He never really sees the Doctor, but he hears him all the time, he's just there all the time. He tells Oswald what to do and Oswald does it without a pinch of remorse. Shoot him. Stab her. Blow them all to pieces, they deserve it.

It's the kind of hell he's used to. He's almost learnt to accept it's never going away. That it's a part of his psyche now, a part of him that will never really go away — because how do you fix a tattered mind? He wouldn't let anyone try, anyway. Not after Arkham.

This night is different. This night he's assaulted by a new kind of terror, almost perfectly calibrated and specially curated for him. Blossoming from the deepest part of his mind where he'd stocked it, never to be revisited.

And it's most cruel for one reason: when he wakes up with a startle he can't bear the thought of those arms wrapping around him and providing comfort like they've done so many times before. In fact, the first thing he does when he opens his eyes is untangle himself from Ed's sleeping embrace like it burns him.

Which means he's got no-one but himself to count on, again. No-one to hush him through the aftermath and speak softly in his ear and hum a long-dead melody until he calms down or, if he's lucky, falls back asleep.

"Oswald?"

He sits on the edge of the bed, hunched over to catch his breath, and feels Ed shifting position behind him. His partner's voice is clouded with sleep and Oswald can't bring himself to even turn around and reassure him — lie to him. He fears if he turns around he won't see Ed but Riddler. Not Ed's gentle eyes but Riddler's mocking glare. Not a warm comforting smile but a disdainful sneer.

His father, standing on the other side of the bed with a disappointed frown. My boy, how could you steep so low? Do you know where I am? Do you know where he left me?

When Ed's warm fingers brush over his right shoulder Oswald bolts upright with a whine.

"Osw—?"

And he runs to the bathroom and slams the door close behind him, feeling his one-piece nightgown sticking to his chest with sweat.

"Oswald, what's wrong?" Edward's voice is immediately on the other side, he tries turning the doorknob but Oswald is pinning it closed with his own weight, still unable to brush away the gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal that's so suddenly taken hold of him, "Oswald, get off the door."

It's a gentle request.

Oswald might have done it, perhaps, might have considered it, if he hadn't looked right into the mirror hanging on the opposite wall and seen Elijah's pale and sickness-stricken face. A dead man's face that makes him shiver.

He shall never have peace, so long as you're with him, Oswald thinks. Some other Oswald. Some other voice that sounds like his but isn't. Can't be.

"Oswald," Ed tries again, and this time he pushes against the door with more conviction, Oswald leans off and turns around to face him when he comes in, to keep him away, Riddler, he's still in there, he's— "oh dear," Ed coos, having one look at him and taking pity instantly. He takes a step forward and Oswald takes a step back.

"No!" he blurts out with a raspy voice. Edward stops dead in his tracks, lost expression for a moment before his shoulders relax again.

"It's okay, Oswald. It was just a nightmare," he adds, softly like so many times before.

"No, it isn't! It wasn't!" Oswald lashes out, hating that he looks at Ed's dishevelled face and concerned caramel eyes and wants him to just get away, his voice comes out just barely, "you did that to him! You— How could you?!"

Ed opens his mouth and doesn't move, clearly taken aback by the accusation even if he fails to comprehend, thrown off by the way Oswald looks at him, stands like that, like a wounded animal, like he might flee if Edward takes another step forward.

He still takes a step forward, though, because he never was really good with physical cues.

"Os, I don't understand wha—"

"Don't touch me!"

Oswald jerks away and hits the wall behind, still shivering despite his burning skin. Edward shows him his palms, a gesture of surrender.

"Okay. Okay, I'm not," he takes a steadying breath in, "I'm staying right here."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's not him, I swear! I didn't—"

"Oswald?"

"He's different now! He's not like that anymore!"

Oswald gestures towards Ed, clever, supportive, thoughtful, with his checked blue pyjamas and plaid shirt and lack of glasses and puffy eyes from sleep. Then he looks back at his father now standing by the door and projects the thought: Ed. Not Riddler!

But Elijah shakes his head and purses his lips, looking him up and down like he doesn't approve and Oswald just needs him to understand.

"It's not hiiiiim!"

"Oswald, this is starting to become very unsettling."

Edward looks around, to his right, there. To where Oswald's looking, to nothing. He knows that deranged gaze, he's seen it countless times before, he's stood in front of the mirror a lot of times and seen it on himself.

"Os, it's just those new painkillers making you groggy, okay? It's a much heavier dose than the one you're used to. Whatever you're seeing," Edward chances a slow step forward and Oswald finally turns his head back to him, with glassy eyes and tears on his eyelashes and still looking like he'll run away, "it's not there, Oswald. I am here."

Oswald stares at him for a few more silent moments with a lost expression, mouth open and still bracing himself with one hand on the cold tiles behind and the other on the sink.

"You're not... you're not him, I try to— I tell him you're not," he babbles, looking feverish and lost.

That's when the penny drops for Edward. It feels like a stab to the heart, that broken voice, the trembling hands, the quivering lips, the whole sight of an Oswald so distressed he won't even let him get close enough to soothe him.

"No," Ed says softly, his own voice failing him for a moment, shaking his head and taking yet another step closer, "no," he repeats breathless, "I'm not. Please. Come here."

He reaches an offering hand and Oswald slowly looks down as if weighing his options. As if making sure this isn't a trick — which, well. If he's thinking of Riddler, he can hardly be blamed for exercising caution, Ed admits. It hurts him to admit it. To know he's caused this, one way or another. Painkillers or not. This raw incoherent fear is coming from somewhere, however small the flame that ignited it might be, and he can't fix it because Oswald won't stop trembling like a leaf and recoiling.

"Oswald, please," he begs, voice finally breaking and eloquence escaping him, retrieving his outstretched hand and rubbing fingers over his burning eyelids because if he breaks down too... "please, it's me, Ed, just Ed."

He doesn't know what to do. He's on the verge of blurting out apologies when he opens his eyes to Oswald latching onto him with one of those desperate hugs. Ed wraps his arms around him instantly, a reflex, feeling like he's just come back to life.

"Go away," Oswald says, sobs with his face buried in the crook of his neck and starts crying. Edward tightens his hold and hides his own tears in the other man's raven locks, understands he's not the one being spoken to, "go, please. I won't leave him!"

Edward can barely understand the string of pleas when Oswald's clutching onto him so firmly his words come out muffled and nearly intelligible. Either way, he's not about to ask who's there — better not add salt to the wound. Not feed the horror, lest it become a recurrent thing. He needs him to understand this is a figment of his imagination if he's not aware already.

"Shhhh, it's all good," he keeps Oswald in place with an arm around his waist and brings the other one to gently pet his hair, "it's o-kay, Oswald. I'm here, it's just you and me."

Oswald nods against his chest but he can't seem to bring himself to stop crying. Edward rubs circles on his back.

"Just you and me," he repeats, striving for a soothing voice and feeling it waver ever so slightly.

They stay like that for a whole five minutes until Oswald finally leans back, sniffs and looks up with red eyes and a self-deprecating comment on his lips that Ed doesn't let him voice out.

"Come on, it's freezing out here."

Ed guides him back under the covers and tucks him in, Oswald watches his every move like an overcurious child. That cloudy expression is gone, though, and Ed can't help but let out a sigh of relief at having him back. He looks drained but sober.

Mostly sober.

His eyes still dart around with a nervous air but he doesn't seem to find his demon anywhere. When Ed climbs back up on the bed Oswald immediately shifts closer and hides his face in his shirt again.

"I'm sorry, that—"

"No-uh-uh," Ed cuts in, brushing a strand of hair off his green doe eyes and feeling an almost compulsive need to plant a kiss on the now-red tip of his nose, "say no more."

Oswald purses his lips and shuffles even closer, pressing his flush body so firmly against Ed's that they can't exactly see each other's faces anymore.

"Can you...?"

"Yes I can."

And that's that. He settles his chin on top of Oswald's head and starts humming; content to sidestep the issue just for now but unable to brush aside the sour taste of guilt filling almost every corner of his mind.

He starts rubbing circles on Oswald's back and doesn't stop the melody until he feels the other man's hold loosen up and his breath change into a normal and peaceful pace. Only then does Edward slowly extract himself from the embrace, far enough that he can look at Oswald's face.

Red and wet and troubled, still. He reaches over and soothes the lines on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Os," he breathes out.

He's used to Oswald having nightmares. He wakes up all heaving breaths and uncertain hands latching onto anything that's near for comfort, for safety or reassurance. Ed is always there to provide either one, wrap his arms around his shaking form and listen to him if he wants to talk. Make him a cup of tea or play soft tunes on the piano if sleep doesn't return.

Oswald's always been needy like that.

Having him wake up and frantically keep himself away, recoil from his touch and excuse himself to a third party only he can see... that's a first.

And it's terrifying.

Because He made that happen. Because Oswald's grown to be too dependant and Ed's grown to be his anchor in moments like these and if he can't even be that... then what can he be? What's left for him to be, besides the clear instigator?

Ed closes his eyes and lets out a sigh, focusing on the sound of Oswald's breathing and on the touch of his cold feet and the smell of cherry-scented hair conditioner. He relishes in the familiarity of the hold and shakes the darker thoughts away.

Perhaps he's become a bit dependant himself.

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

IN NEED FOR A PRIVATE LESSON

Prompt: Request from the beautiful @banks4life Thank you so much for your request babes ❤️😘

Word Count: Long-ish

Pairings: Roman Reigns x Reader

Warnings: +18, smut, exhibitionism (sex in a public place), dirty talk, marking kink (by ejaculation on the mouth).

Tags: @ziasaph , @marlananicole , @akiko-tanaka , @nicolewoo , @saccreigns , @mindofasagittaruis , @reigns-5sos , @auawdo , @lustyromantic , @babydee17 , @yungbludjazz360

Notes: This was such a delightful experience to write. I loved every second of it! Y’all know the drill loves,sorry for misspellings,english isn’t my first language (bla bla bla),check out my other stories if you’d like to(it would make your girl here very happy 😊) You can check them out on my Masterlist. Okay,now let’s get to the fun part, shall we? Hope you’ll enjoy 😉

“I’m so excited!” Ember Moon, my best friend, happily clapped her hands

“Yeah, I can see that” I chuckled

“But who wouldn’t, though? We are going to have Roman Reigns himself teach us new moves! Who wouldn’t scream at that?” Ember asked

I try to hide my blush when I remind of all the times I screamed his name while coming on my vibrator at a random hotel room.

“I would” I mumbled softly

“I heard he’s an incredible guy. Plus he’s really hot too, so” Ember shrugged

“I’ll have to agree with that”

“You have the major crush on him Y/N. How are YOU feeling about all of this?” She asked as we warm up

“Honestly? I tried to call in sick today but you know I’m a terrible liar, so I didn’t succeeded”

Ember laughed “Why would you do that?”

“Because I masturbate every damn night thinking about him! Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to actually have to stare at him for God knows how many hours while last night plays in my head?” I crook an eyebrow at her, but Ember’s shocked face was unexpected to me.

“What, Ember? C’mon you KNOW I do that, don’t give me that shocked face. Fuck, I’m surprised my vibrator hasn’t broke yet, counting the amount of times I use it and think of Rom-“

Ember quickly covered my mouth with her hand and turned me around so I could see the most devastating scene of my life.

Roman Reigns stood behind me, with a cocky look on his face and a sinful smirk placed on his lips.

“Hello ladies” He greeted

“Hi” Ember answered, but I couldn’t even speak from embarrassment

“Hi, Y/N” His voice dropped, becoming deeper

I just nodded

“You have 5 minutes before we get started ladies” He winks, making his way to the ring.

“Oh God, I wanna die” I whispered-screamed

“Y/N-“

“Why didn’t you told me he was right behind me, Ember?” I angrily asked

“I tried, but you didn’t got the hint” She begins to laugh

“Goddamn it...You should’ve punched me in the face! It would be less embarrassing”

“Oh please, Y/N. Don’t be so dramatic, you’re an adult woman and he’s an adult man, I’m pretty sure he knows all about the human body needs at this point. And by the looks of it, he quite enjoyed listening to you” She winked

“Oh shut up” I push her away when she tried to hug me.

......................................................................

“Ok guys, that’s it. Two more moves and we’ll wrap it up” Roman said

After 10 minutes, everybody got cleared to go back to the hotel.

“Aren’t you coming?” Ember asked

“Nah, I feel like my moves are not that good so I’m gonna stay and practice some more”

“Are you sure, Y/N? I mean, you’re gonna be here all by yourself”

I rolled my eyes “I’ll be fine, Ember. Trust me”

“Okay, but if you need anything give me a heads up”

“Yes ma’am” I smiled at her

......................................................................

Fifty minutes have now passed, I can’t seem to get these moves correctly and I’m becoming more and more frustrated by the minute.

“FUCK ME!” I screamed in rage as I slap one of the ropes

“I beg your pardon?” His voice asked from behind me

*Oh great, he’s still here! Jesus, can this day get any more embarrassing?*

“Roman, sorry I- I wasn’t talking to you” I tried to apologize

“Unfortunately” He said, stepping closer to the ring

“What? I don’t understand”

“I said unfortunately” He’s now inside the ring

“Why, unfortunately?”

“Because for a minute there, I thought you were asking me to fuck you” Roman smirked

“Oh” I gasped

“What’s wrong? Having some trouble?” He asked, placing his duffel bag on the corner of the ring

“Yeah, it’s just.. I feel like I’m doing something wrong but I don’t know what it is” I answered in defeat

“Show me how you’re doing it”

“No, it’s fine really. I don’t want to hold you back, I’m sure I can figure it out wh-“

“Y/N! Just do what I say” Roman command and I oblige, showing him exactly what I was doing for the past 1 hour.

“See? It doesn’t look like how you showed” I sighed

“It’s because you’re doing a few things wrong, come here”

I stand by his side and he shook his head, motioning for me to stand in front of him, with my back facing him.

“Ok, so here’s your problem” He places both hands on my hips, pulling me towards him.

“You need to let your hips loose, they’re to stiff” Roman’s hands squeeze my hips and glued them to his crotch.

“Like this” He whispered on my ear and made my hips circle around his crotch

“Can you feel it?” He asked, clearly talking about his hard on

I nodded, enjoying the feeling of his hard cock against my ass

“This is your fault” Roman nibbles my ear lightly “You did this to me” He pressed one hand on my lower belly, so I could get even more close to him. Roman stopped my hips, holding them still so he could grind against my ass.

“You, your dirty mouth and perfect ass, did this to my cock” He growled

My head was buzzing with excitement. Was this really happening? I’ve wanted this for so long that I felt like I was dreaming.

“Tell me, Y/N, do you really touch yourself thinking about me?”

“Yes” I panted

“Hmmm, tell daddy exactly what you think of, baby” He pinched my nipples through my t-shirt

“I-I think about daddy’s cock claiming me, fucking me hard and merciless until I can’t control my body anymore. Until I can’t stop coming around daddy’s dick” I moaned

Roman growls on my ear as his hand sink down the waist band of my leggings, reaching my mound. He devour the nape of my neck while two fingers slide through my folds, spreading my wetness.

“You’re soaking, baby” He murmured, sliding two fingers in “And so, so tight..You’re gonna feel amazing around me”

“Daddy, please” I beg when he reached my clit

Roman laid me down on the ring, quickly yanking my leggings and panties down, followed by my t-shirt, sports bra and his own clothes.

He slowly slides inside of me, once he’s buried deep, he locked his arms underneath my knees so my legs could be as spread as he wanted them to be.

And fuck, was he thick!

“Daddy” I whined, in a bittersweet tone of pleasure and pain

“Shhhh baby, it’s ok. You’re going to get used to it before you know it”

Roman’s lips were sweet as he kissed me to take my focus away from his thickness.

Slowly he begins to move, the friction is so heavenly it makes me even more wet.

“How could you possibly get wetter? Fuck, Y/N” Roman moaned, looking down to where our bodies met “Such a good pussy” He whispered to himself

“Daddy, fuck me harder”

“Harder?” He asked amused and I nodded “Who would have thought that this angel’s face is such a dirty girl” He smirked, turning up the pace. But for me, still wasn’t enough

“Harder” I pleaded

“Fuck, you’re amazing” He cackled, setting a furious pace

“Yes, daddy. Just like that” I moaned loudly

With each hard thrust I felt him hitting my g-spot. With every pump in, I moan louder.

“You’re gonna come for daddy, baby? I can feel you getting tighter”

I can only nod in agreement

“Come baby, come on daddy’s cock”

And so I do. Coating his length with my juices. When I’m down from my high, Roman knelt and quickly pulls off saying

“Tell daddy to feed you his cum, baby”

I place myself in all fours “Please daddy, feed me your cum” I repeat the same words he said, opening my mouth for him and savoring the taste of his seed upon my tongue before swallowing it.

Roman collapse into the ring, pulling me down with him.

“Thank you for the private lesson, professor” I teased

“My pleasure, baby” He chuckled “What you’re gonna do later?”

“Nothing, besides going back to the hotel, taking a shower and watch some movies. Why?” I asked and Roman hovered over me

“In that case, what do you say about learning some new moves back at the hotel?” He nibs my lower lip

“Hmmmm, I think I could some new techniques” I smiled

Already thinking about all of the dirty things that man would do to me

Please if you’re comfortable with it, let me know your thoughts on this. Feedbacks are always appreciated 🥰😘

[miraculous-trinity-leo]

Whacky Gotham, Goofy New York, and Chaotic Paris.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8)

Chapter 6: Evade The Bats, and Beat The Crows

•—–—–·†·–—–—•

The girls are in the old living room setting up clues (that are absolutely... useless) around Gotham. One being a picture Harley and Multimouse took earlier that day.

"They might think to look here after they realize the clues are fake." - Steph

"Then where else would they not think to look?" - Maria

"W.E, I can get you and Harley in without them knowing easily." - Barbara said with a confident smile.

"But they'll have to go incognito... especially you Harley, no offense, but your outfit stands out just a tad." - Steph

"Ehhh, none taken, I'm sure I can tink of somthin' else tuh wear." - Harley

"I can help with that, but I'll need some clothes and some sewing supplies." - Maria said already thinking of what she could make.

Cass gave a nod and headed out of the room, after a few minutes she came back with t-shirts, jackets, sweaters, shorts, jeans, etc. and droped the pile of clothes infront of the group. She then handed Maria a sewing set she got from Alfred.

"Thanks Cass. I'll get to work on making our costumes." - Maria

"Let me help yuh wit' dat hun." - Harley said as she picked up most of the clothes for Maria

"Thanks." Maria

•—–·Let's see the Chaos shall we·–—•

"You never told us she could use magic!" - Red Hood looking under the table

"I wonder if she can infuse magic with coffee..." - Red Robin said looking in the cabinets for the third time.

"Stop looking for coffee!" - Red Hood

"She could've hidden in here." - Red Robin said while crabbing a mug

"I haven't had enough sleep to deal with this." - Selina then walked over and flopped herself on the couch and proceeded to fall asleep on impact.

"Maria get your tiny self back here right now or else!" - Tony

"Or else what? She Knows MAGIC! What else does she know that you haven't told us?!" - Red Hood

"... I never told you becuase it's meant to be a secret!" - Tony

"Oh, so now you agree with keeping things a secret?" - Red Robin grabbing the coffee

"What else can she do Tony." - Batman

"Well... she's great with tech, can kick butt in a LOT of different ways, has magic, and if she wants to, she can find and know where everyone or anyone is, but I think she gets massive headaches from a wide search like that." - Tony

"Anything else?" - Batman

(Tony thinkng of all the tiny gods she has in jewelery, and that she keeps Paris/friends and family safe on a daily basis, and that she is the well known designer MDC...)"No..." - Tony

As ivy was listening to them talk, she continued to search her garden, until one of her plants had a message fo her.

"Hello Ms. Ivy, please don't help Batman and Iron Man find us, we promise we'll be careful." - Maria

"Where are you?" - Ivy asked whispering into the plant.

After a few minutes Ivy got a detailed plan that Maria, Harley and the girls came up with to evade The IronBat group (Maria thought that would be better than ManMan group 'But it's Bat MAN and Iron MAN, so it has tuh be The ManMan group.' was Harleys defence, but Maria won that one.) and Ivy agreed to help as best she could.

•—–· Over to the Miraculous gang ·–—•

Plagg is cackling like there's no tomorrow.

"Guys something must be wrong, Plagg won't stop cackling, he won't even touch the cheese I gave him!!!" - Adrien

"There's no time for that, we need to find out where the hell Maria is!!" - Chloé

"Hahahaha, Ti- heheh Tikk- pffhaaaaaaahaha!!!" - Plagg

"He's trying to form words!" Adrien cradling Plagg in his hands "What is it my friend? Don't do this, you're to young...*sniff * you're to beautiful!"

"Hehehehe Shhhh- hahaha, she- she- haha...heheh- I'm so p-hehe-Proud wahahaha " - Plagg

"Proud?! She?! Where?! Who, is it Maria?!" - Chloé

"Hhhhhhhhahhaaaaaaaaaa" - Plagg

"Oh God he's wheezing!" - Adrien

"Hey guys, Peter and I got the snacks, found out where Maria might- oh kwami." - Alix walking into the room to a zombie looking Chloé, a panicked Adrien and the Kwami of death/bad luck/chaos laughing himself to death.

"Has he finally lost it?" - Peter

"She has become a true cat! hahahahahaaaaa heheheheeeeeee." - Plagg

Everyone in the room but Plagg "Oh fu-"

•—–· Over to the Batfam ·–—•

So everyone is panicking because for the past hour none of them could find Multimouse. Robin is sitting on the couch next to a now fully awake Selina, Red Hood and Nightwing are once again feeding each other the worst possible situation she could be in, Tony may or may not be hyperventilating, Red Robin is drinking coffee, and Batman is as stoic as ever... well on the outside anyway, on the inside, it's a warzone. Ivy is drinking her tea, slightly worried, but also hiding a small smile.

"What if we ask Oracle to try and help us find her?" - Red Robin

"... Right... Yes, ok let's do that... Bats you do it, I need to sit down." - Tony

•—–· Back to the girls ·–—•

The girls moved everything to the Bat-cave so they could set the route they would take, then the Bat-Computer started ringing.

"Hide!" - Steph

"Where, dere's nuttin' tuh hide behind!" - Harley

"Quick under the Bat-Computer." - Barbara

As soon as Harley and Maria hid under the Bat-Computer, Batman and the rest of the Batfam was on video call.

"Hey guys, what do you need?" - Barbara acting like nothing happened

"We need you to search for Maria, she's in a dark gray suit with pink accents, and she's with Harley." - Batman

"Ok, no prob, I'll contact you when I've found something." - and with that Barbara exited the call.

"Should we start heading out?" - Maria

"Yup, and here are your ID badges, don't lose them. I'll give our Batfam fake sightings, and lead them far away, then once you reach W.E I'll slowly start leading them closer to you." - Barbara

"Thanks, keep in touch if they decide to split up." - Maria

"Roger that." - Steph said giving a solute

•—–·–—•

Soon Multimouse and Harley are running over roof tops again, doing tricks, and stopping petty crimes, Barbara is leading the Batfam all over Gotham, and then they got to W.E, after Maria transformed back, they entered the building. Thanks to Babs, they entered without any problems and had free roam for the entire building, with some exceptions like new weapons designs, or the roof. They were hiding in the building for about an hour on the 7th floor when Barbara called in.

"Hey girls, you might want to be careful, I spotted some of Scarecrows goons a few blocks away, they seem to be heading in your direction, I'd say about 6mins tops until they reach W.E. Best to find a good room to stay in, or get out of there." - Barbara

"Thanks fawh de heads up Babs." - Harley

"Ok, we'll try to get out, let us know if we should turn back or not." - Maria

"Got it, and be careful." - Barbara

Maria and Harley then made their way back down, they were taking the stairs, because they figured it would be quicker, once they were on the second floor, they started to calmly make their way through the doors of the stairwell. That's when Scarecrows goons busted in, shouting for everyone to get down, Harley made sure to stay as close to Maria as possible as the goons gathered everyone to a wall. They were told to not move, talk, or do anything to anger them, once everyone was up against the wall, that's when Scarecrow came in. As he entered the room some of the employees started to look very scared, when Maria looked over to Harley, she saw her mouth 'it's ok', afterwards the goons had them all tied up and on the floor sitting down. Scarecrow scanned them before speaking.

"One of you will be testing my newest and most potent fear toxin as of yet. We can do this one out of two ways." He said lifting up two of his needle syringed fingers. "1. You can be a hero, and let yourself be my newest test subject, aka the boring way or 2. I pick whoever I want, aka the slightly less boring way. Now, who wants to go first?"

•—–· Over to Batman ·–—•

The Batfam was running around the other side of Gotham, now without Tony, because someone ( ehem Thor, ehem) was making a giant mess at Avengers Tower, and was fighting Loki... again. It was when they decided to call Oracle that things took another turn.

"Oracle have you foun- " - Batman

"They're at W.E. and Scarecrows there, I can't get in contact with them, and I can't get into the cameras at the moment, I need you to get your butts over there now!" - Oracle

"Wait you were in contact with them?!" - Red Hood

"Not the time! Just get over there before someone gets hurt!" - Oracle

"We're on our way." - Batman

They all then kicked it into high gear and were running to W.E, and out of everyone, Damian seemed to be the most visibly panicked, if him running twice as fast as everyone was any indication. At the speed they were going, they would be there in 20mins or less... hopefully.

•—–· Back to Maria and Harley ·–—•

So while Scarecrow was giving his little speech, Maria whispered into a plant to let Ivy know their situation, she wasn't able to get an answer before she and Harley were pulled away from the crowd.

"And what do we have here? Harley Quinn and a child. How interesting, well then, which one of you would like to test my new fear toxin?" - Scarecrow

"Eh, do me, I bet I got a lot o' trauma and fears from my time wit' Mistuh J. dat yuh would just love tuh see." - Harley

"... As tempting as that sounds I think I'll test it on your little friend here, after all, I know better than to mess with one of the Sirens." - As Scarecrow said that, one of the goons dragged Maria over to him. She didn't panic, she was actually really calm, which worried Harley even more because, remember all that emotional trauma she saw Maria had? Yeah, not the best match for the fear toxin.

As Scarecrow grabbed Maria, she locked eyes with Harley, and gave a brief smile before she felt a sharp jabbing pain in the side of her neck. Her vision went hazy, and from Harleys' point of view, she went a little limp from it.

As Maria started to see again she could hear screams, car alarms going off, and explosion in the distance, when she looked up, she saw them, her friends, her team... her family, they were all there lying infront of her... none of them moving, all of them were lifeless, looking as though turned into a gray husk of what they once were, and beside them were all the Kwamis, and their respective Jewelery, broken and shattered. She felt the tears fall as she looked around. Paris, the once beautiful city of lights, was now a wasteland, everything had a gray tone to it, people, animals, everything that had life... was dead.

And then she heard laughing, a sick disturbing laugh that was all to familiar... Lila. When she turned and saw Vulpina, she felt sick just looking at her.

"You have failed Maria, everyone you knew and loved is gone, all because you weren't here." - Lila

All she felt in that moment... was pure anger, she began to struggle, but somthing was holding her. She kept hearing that stupid laugh, and kept struggling harder and harder.

"You were never good enough, you were meant to always be our everyday Ladybug, but you never were, you never cared for us, and that's why, they're all gone, because you weren't good enough." - Lila

The last four words kept playing over and over in her head, until something clicked, she wasn't in Paris, so how did she get there? The last place she was at... was with Harley, she was in the W.E. building, and had fear toxin injected into her. As she came to that realization, she could hear the laughing fade just a bit, she closed her eyes and focused on finding everyone's souls, when she did, she saw that Scarecrow was right infront of her, a goon next to Harley, and a goon behind her, the other goons had left and were on the first floor. She snapped back when she heard Lilas' voice again.

"You always were stubborn and never accepted the real truth, as class president aren't you supposed to just roll over and do as you're told." - Lila

Maria was done listening to her, and decided to kick Lila in the face (since someone didn't think to tie up her ankles.)

"Just go rott in hell already you lieing fox!" - Maria

Maria didn't get any answer, all she knew was that she hit whatever was really infront of her hard. Maria then heard Lilas' voice morph into a heavier, more distorted voice.

"That's a first, guess I'll have to increase the dosage." - Scarecrow

She then felt another jabbing pain in her neck, all she could do was scream from the pain, her head was spinning, and all she could hear was laughing, sickening laughter that came from both Lila, and now Hawkmoth. One thing Scarecrow didn't account for, was the deep hatred Maria held for both individuals he made her see. Because soon after he gave her more fear toxin she got her footing, pushing back into the goon behind her before using the goons' grib on her to do a half backflip into kicking the guys face in, quickly knocking the goon out, when she stood back up she only saw Hawkmoth, surrounded by her lifeless team and family, she only saw red, and charge right at him. She kept punching and roundhouse kicking him, giving one final charge, ramming into Hawkmoth before she felt weightless. She never heard the panicked scream Harley let out, she never heard the shouts that came from the Batfam just reaching the second floor, before she hit something... something rapped around her holding her from falling any further, causing her to start thrashing around thinking it was Hawkmoth, before seeing he was also grabbed by something. She struggled ignoring the slight pain that went through her harms and legs. She slowly calmed down as she felt her feet touch the ground again, she then saw another Hawkmoth that was now mixed with Lila hug her, she tried to break free, but realized that it wasn't Lila or Hawkmoth... It was calming, and her voice was gentle, it was Ivy. She only heard a few words, that's when she felt something blow on her face, and after a few seconds, she lost conscientiousness.

Harley came sprinting down and was by Ivys' side in less than a minute. Ivy could tell Harley was worried and joined her in hugging a now sleeping Maria.

"I'm sawhry Ives, It all just happened so fast, and she was so awesome at kickin' Cranes @ss, I din't get her out of dere quick enough." - Harley said as she looked Ivy in the eyes, with tears threatening to escape.

"It's alright Harley, none of this is your fault." - Ivy replied comfortingly to Harley

As the two hugged Maria Batman came over.

"We'll take it from here." - Batman

"Hell no. We ain't leavin' her side." - Harley

Batman just let out a sigh, after he dealt with Scarecrow and his goons, Batman, along with his sons, Ivy and Harley, all headed back to the Bat-cave where the other girls and Alfred were waiting.

If anyone noticed Robin looking over to Maria with a concerned look, they just ignored it, and continued their way back home.

•—–·†·–—•

Chapter 6 complete! Hope you'll liked it, and are havin' a fantabulous day, stay safe and rock all those positive vibes. !BUG-OUT! 🐞💮🐞

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