#when my uncle was threatening to kill me and my brother the second or third time i don't remember my parents were really considering moving

[cowardlycowboys]

they made me in a lab to be obsessed with Massachusetts tourism

[lcisabc23]

Isn't it annoying?

Fred sighed as he lay back on the bed in his and George's shared room, waiting for George to return up the stairs with their food. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Fred sat up and went out of the room to listen down the stairs, he could hear his mother lecturing George. feeling a bit protective of his brother he went downstairs to get into the middle of this. "my brothers would have never been hiding in their room! not spending time with their family!" Their mother screamed at George making George groan "Mum for the last time we are not hiding away, Fred has a headache so we are staying upstairs till it goes away!" he said trying to stay calm knowing if he raised his voice their mother would find more reasons to yell at him. "Gideon would have never talked back to me like that!" she shouted making George groan he was holding the plates of food while trying to hold the cups while he did. Fred watched for a few seconds knowing George was getting overwhelmed "George what is taking so long mate, you trynna kill me?" Fred said rubbing his head and walking over to George grabbing the plates of food while George held the cups. "your brother tells me you have a headache Freddie would you like some potions to help with it, darling?" Molly said changing up her attitude seeing as Fred actually seemed to have a hurting head. "it's fine mum I just wanna relax for a bit" Fred said moving towards the stairs and making sure George was behind him.

The whole way to their room George remained quiet staring at the ground as he sat down on Fred's bed, "why does she always do that" he muttered as he put the cups on the side table beside him. "what compare us to our uncles?" Fred said jokingly as he sat beside George handing him his plate and making George sigh and nod. "isn't it annoying? She keeps comparing us to them we only met them once before they died, they are amazing but it's totally uncool to be compared to them all the time" George said with a groan as he played with his food. Fred nodded along with his younger twin "I know but that's just how mum has always been, remember when she yelled at us for turning Ron's bear into a spider. She went on and on about how they would have never done that to her." Fred said with a chuckle before eyes the way George was playing with his food "Eat George or I'll shove it down your bloody throat" Fred threatened as he ate some of his own food eyeing George who looked at him offendedly. "I will! it's just that mum always makes the stuff I dislike" he said with a groan as he forced himself to eat the food.

"I wish they were still here truth be told," Fred said with a gentle smile making George chuckle and nod, "they were amazing greatest pranksters to ever exist," George said making Fred agree. HOWEVER ON THE OTHER SIDE "Our babies agree with us we are the best of the best" Fabian said hugging Gideon tightly "True that, they come a close second. The marauders a third" Gideon said making Fabian nod and sit next to the two who were talking about random pranks they should do once they go to Hogwarts again as they eat their food. "Molly needs to relax on them," Gideon said with a frown, the two were talking and following George when she began to yell at him. "She changed so much," Fabian said with a sigh Gideon agreed as he crouched beside George "I hated this food as well it was simply horrendous when Molly made it," Gideon said with a shiver.

"Y'know Freddie why does it feel like we are being watched" George said with a shiver making Fred look at him with a raised eyebrow. "because you have stalkers that are simply mad for you Georgie," he said with a sarcastic tone making George look at him offendedly once more.

[cyphersuna]

1. HUMAN DOGS

pairing: isaac lahey x fem!reader!mikaelson (Slow burn), derek hale x ex-lover!reader, mcCall pack x platonic!reader, original family x sister!reader, stiles stilinski x platonic!reader (at the moment)

sypnosis; Y/N Mikaelson arrives in a small town with the hope of becoming independent and having a new life but a near accident will turn her plans around and risk them knowing who he is.

Has the war of Original Vampires and Wolves started?

The smallest of the Mikealsons, will she be with a wolf?

Will Isaac accept Y/N?

warnings; none

author’s note: hello baeess, welcome to a new #saturdayofyouaremikaelson!!! I only hope you enjoy this chapter because your emotion excites me and if your emotion excites me, I will be excited to do more chapters to excite you. see you next week 😺

Word count; 1.7k

ﾟ･ 🌌ރ ੈ♡‧₊˚🎲 *ૢ✧ ۪ ♟️ ° ｡

YOU WERE ENTERING Beacon Hills while looking at the forest around you which looked spooky, possibly because it was night or they were infested with those human dogs. Possibly both. You still remember the faces of Niklaus, Kol and Elijah knowing that you would live here. You think it was the best thing in the world, but you get it. That your sister, the youngest of the Mikaelson clan, decides to move alone, with no one from her family nearby and in a "city" full of dogs. You would also worry.

It began to be heard on the radio lurk from the neighborhood to which you began to hum it. This century was very different: 16-year-olds look like 18 or 19, their type of clothing... You did not complain, it is better than the clothes of before.

Six teens and two adults appeared out of nowhere to which you stopped. You got out of the car and they watched you from head to toe. One in particular made your blood run cold. Derek Hale...

You sighed and spoke.

"Forgiveness! Are you okay?" You asked, and the bearded one came up to you.

"What are you doing here?" He asks and you start to breathe. Human dogs have to hear it and feel it so they know that you are not something supernatural. Speaking of that title, it's the best series and more daddy Dean. You pulled myself out of your thoughts and looked from left to right to fix your gaze on the dark haired man.

"Me?" He nodded. "Sorry. Do I know you?"

"Don't act, Mikaelson," he snap at and Peter comes closer to both of you. The Good Peter, he was more your brother than the ones you have, well not so much like that but he was like a brother.

"I think you're wrong" you say to see him in the eyes. "My name is not like that" you say playing stupid, well! When you don't? Coming here you thought that Derek and Peter would leave and more because of what happened to his sister who did not doubt that Peter would kill her. But just in case you knew you would have to change your first and last name.

"It's not a name," says the older of the two raising an eyebrow. "What's your name?" He ask.

"Diane Jones" you say pretending to be a little scared. You saw how Derek would glare at you deadly and the teens stared at the scene in confusion. Wow! The redhead's shoes were fantastic.

"What brings you to Beacon Hills?" Asked Peter.

"I came to live here" you respond.

"Alone?" Said the one with black hair, super furious. He looked sexier like that. "Without your parents?"

"Excuse me, but I don't have to tell you anything" You walked back and Derek took your arm tightly and the children approached looking worried.

"You won't leave until you answer." Peter put his hand on Derek's shoulder with a "calm down" look

"And your parents?" He asks calmly.

"I do not have. I'm an orphan" you say looking at your feet. Seriously, you deserve an Oscar for best actress.

"How did you get here?" Peter still asked.

"My uncles sent me here to study and not cause problems" you say looking at Peter.

"Don't li-" Derek says to be interrupted.

"It's not her" said Peter. "Listen" as you said, breathing helps and more if it is accelerated when you feel threatened.

"Can I go?" You asked.

"Yes" Peter says. You walked to your car and your turned it on to continue on your way, when you saw that you were far away you start to laugh. Derek's faces and the wolf children, the banshee, and the humans were gold.

You arrived at your new home. You smiled when you saw that it was normal, not big and not too small. A normal house. It was supposed to be furnished since yesterday. You got out of your car and opened to see the living room, you closed the door and walked into the kitchen and up the stairs. You went into all the rooms and they were perfect and yours was much more.

It was big, being a Mikaelson it couldn't be small. You were already beginning to miss them. Well not all. Elijah and Rebekah's overproduction were suffocating. Also you will no longer be listening "little Klaus" or "little Kol" You're not like them, you just like to have fun. And you like being with them more. Kol and you, hunted and had fun at parties and flirting with people. Klaus gave you life lessons. You were amused by his stories and how could he be so... him. Of your seven siblings, you only loved Kol and Klaus, of course you had your differences: you were friends with Katherine and Klaus hates her, you love the Salvatore brothers with your life and they detest them, even more. You lay down on the bed and you smiled a smile that only bring problems.

Isaac Lahey Pov

"It was her," Derek says, somehow I felt concern and more to see how he reacted when he saw the girl as our age.

"Who is she?" Scott ask.

"Y/N Mikaelson" Peter said calmly.

"And she is...?" Stiles question them.

"She is one of the Originals and Derek's great love," Peter replies.

"Original of what?" Lydia ask.

"From the Original Vampires," Derek says angrily.

"They exist?" Almost all of us say at the same time.

"Yes. And between them the two hybrid of Vampire and werewolf" explains Peter.

"What is a hybrid?" Allison ask to which Stiles responds.

"Hybrids are a supernatural cross between two or more different species. The term is commonly used to describe a werewolf turned vampire, as they were the first type of hybrid introduced to the world. However, since the creation of the werewolf-vampire hybrids, there have been other hybrids of other races in the universe, such as siphons turned into witch-vampire hybrids, werewolf-witch hybrids, among others" he says to finish.

"How do you know that?" Asks Scott.

"I read it when I was trying to find out what you were, but I thought the vampire thing was a lie," Stiles responds.

"A hybrid is more lethal than any werewolf or vampire" Says Derek. "Nature does not tolerate such an imbalance of power. Thus, the warlocks, the servants of nature, saw to it that the wolfish side of Klaus and Y/N Mikaelson are asleep. But they are still a danger.

"Who are the Mikaelsons?" I ask.

"The Mikaelson family is a powerful family whose line goes back at least to the Kingdom of Norway in the late 10th century with Mikael and Esther, a wealthy landowner and a Viking warrior, and a housewife and a witch, respectively. In the early 11th century, the family was deadly until the loss of Esther and Mikael's seventh child, Henrik to a werewolf attack that spurred them to use Esther's magic to turn Mikael and the rest of their living children into the The world's first vampires, from whom all Vampires are descended from the original vampires, are known as the most powerful supernatural beings in the world, but the Mikaelson family is also known to have members who are also witches and hybrids. Among them are two hybrids: Klaus and Y/N. In total the Mikaelsons are eight; Mikael, the father, Esther, the mother, Freya, The first daughter which is only a witch and does not belong to the original lineage, Finn, The second son, Elijah, the third son, Klaus, the fourth son which is the hybrid and is not the son of Mikael but bears his last name, Kol, the fifth son, Rebekah, the sixth daughter, Y/N, the seventh daughter which is not the daughter of Mikael and the last, Henrik, the eighth son. Of these eight only are alive: Freya, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah and Y/N" Derek answers.

''They wasted no time," Stiles says.

"Neither is Esther. Children of different parents" I say smiling. "But how did "first hybrids" happen?

"When Klaus and Y/N first killed after being turned into vampires, they triggered their werewolf gene, which finally reveals the truth of their true paternity to their family: Klaus and Y/N were not Mikael's children but the boss's children of her village werewolf clan, with whom Esther had an affair. Once Mikael learned of Esther's infidelity and realized that her lover's pack were the werewolves who killed Henrik, Mikael hunted down and killed Klaus and Y/N's father and his entire family, igniting a war. Between vampires and werewolves that still exists. Shortly after the Mikaelsons became vampires and learned of Klaus and Y/N werewolves' legacy, Esther was forced to curse Klaus and Y/N to make their werewolf natures lie dormant, so that they didn't bother yet. More to nature by possessing so much power. However, Klaus and Y/N felt betrayed by this punishment, and in retaliation, Klaus murdered his mother and framed Mikael for the act. Understood?" Peter asks and I nod.

"I'm more than sure it's her!" Derek exclaims.

"It has to be her, if you questioned her or just stopped...-Lydia says to be interrupted by Peter.

"It's her Doppelgänger..."

Y/N Mikaelson Pov

You got out of the tub while you were dripping to grab the towel and start drying off. Tomorrow would be your first day in high school, you had never attended one and according to Caroline and Stefan they are very good, also Rebekah go into one and she looks older than you. You wrapped the towel around your body and left the bathroom to go to your room. You dropped the towel while you felt the air all over your body, you took off your underwear from the wardrobe and then put on a loose shirt and some pajama shorts. You go down to the kitchen for some whiskey and you go back upstairs. You arranged your things for tomorrow and left them arranged so that you only had to go...

masterlist

˚༉🎠·₊✧ 🧺 ϟ₊˚🎻ミ༉‧🍫₊˚

previously in you are a mikaelson > next

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@blessednereid @itmejado @rottenstyx @chloe-skywalker

[just-antithings]

i'm here to talk about warrior cat antis and i'm going to list a lot of cannon, problematic cannon pairings in here to prove my point (although take the last one with a grain of salt) <3

age-gap ones:

Thistleclaw x Spottedleaf (this is also abusive): Thistleclaw's son, Whitepaw is an apprentice while Spottedleaf is born (Apprentice is like 12-18) Thistleclaw grooms Spottedleaf while she is still a child.

Pinestar x Leopardfoot: Pinestar is older than both Leopardfoot's parents and is at least 100+ moons older than her.

Dustpelt x Ferncloud: Dustpelt is the mentor of Ashfur who is Ferncloud's brother (mentor is teacher) and he is flirting with Ferncloud while she's an apprentice.

Thornclaw x Blossomfall: (they were both adults when they met. but still one is much much older than the other) Thornclaw is like 60 or more moons older then her.

Scorchfur x Snowbird: now this is most likely the worst one besides Thistlespotted lmfao. Snowbird is way older than Scorchfur and Scorchfur got her pregnant while he was an apprentice.

Tallstar x Jake: okay, this one is going to get A LOT of hate. but let me explain. in pinestar's choice when Pinestar is an apprentice Jake is born. so when Pinestar is 6 moons jake is like a few moons old at most (no confirmed age then. he's just described as a kitten) then in Tallstar's revenge Pinestar is a full leader when Tallstar is born. so when Tallstar leaves and meets Jake, Jake is only six moons younger than Pinestar.

abusive

Bramblestar x Squrrielflight: this is a very abusive ship and there also distantly related cousins and Squrrielflight was an apprentice when they fell in love.

Crowfeather x Nightcloud: now there are countless fights about this one but Nightcloud clawed Crowfeather and yelled at him when he tried to break up a fight between their sons. but Crowfeather isn't exactly innocent himself. they later made up but still adding this here.

Twigbranch x Finleap: Finleap demanded Twigbranch have his babies and threatened to leave her if she didn't. they got better but still.

Raggedstar x Yellowfang: Raggedstar verbally abused Yellowfang a lot and tried to gaslight her into doing what he wants.

Ashfur x Squrrielflight: Ashfur tried to kill her three kits and then took over Bramblestar's body. he is also her uncle.

Turtle tail x Tom: Tom was abusive and then stole Turtle tail's kits once she left to be with Greywing and when she tried to get them back she ended up dying in the process.

incest:

these are mainly incest that at one point was cannon but was changed. (I think) the warriors family tree is a mess. so these might change at any time.

Patchpelt x Willowpelt: the two are siblings and they were the parents of Greystripe for the longest time until recently it got changed.

Ivypool x Fernsong: (this isn't bad at all) third cousins.

Breezepelt x Heathertail: Heathertail is Breezepelt's aunt.

Tigerheartstar x Dovewing: Tigerheartstar is Dovewing's uncle.

Hawkwing x Pebbleshine: there cousins.

Lionblaze x Cinderheart: Cinderheart is Lionblaze's aunt

Starflower x Thunderstar x Skystar: okay this one is a little weird but I'm adding it in here anyway. Starflower dated Thunderstar but broke up with him to date his dad, Skystar. so either Starflower is older then Thunderstar or Skystar is older then her. anyway, thunderstar dated his step mom lmfao.

semi cannon:

these are semi cannon meaning they are kind of hinted at (example is a cat having a crush on another cat but there not mates) incest, abuse and age-gaps are all here.

Spottedleaf x Firestar: (age-gap, now this could also be deemed as abusive or just fucking weird) Spottedleaf is older than Firestar and she dies and then talks to him in his dreams and seduces him despite knowing he has a mate. she then drops this and when she dies a second time the two have a romance ending.

Stormtail x Dappletail: (age-gap, maybe abusive) now I don't know if this one is exactly cannon or not. but it's hinted in Bluestar's super edition that the two of them have something going on. Stormtail is older than her and I feel like this would be abusive since Stormtail didn't care about his past mate, Moonflower

Thrushpelt x Bluestar (age-gap) now this one isn't that bad. Thrushpelt was a new warrior when Bluestar was born.

Firestar x Cinderpelt (age-gap) Cinderpelt had a crush on Firestar who was her mentor.

Lionblaze x Heathertail (incest): Heathertail is Lionblaze's aunt.

Bristlefrost x Stemleaf (incest also very small age-gap) Bristlefrost was an apprentice when she fell in love with Stemleaf although it isn't that bad. like a 16 year old having a crush on a 18 year old. but there cousins.

Stormfur x Squrrielflight (incest, also age-gap) Squrrielflight was an apprentice when he loved her and there cousins.

Berrynose x Rosepetal (incest) In Bramblestar's storm Bramblestar is like. "why is Berrynose being so protective of Rosepetal? doesn't he have a mate?" there siblings.

there a lot more but I don't feel like making this "rant" even longer. it pisses me off so much when people ship shit like this then are like. "ew incest!!!!1111!!!!" or "Ew age-gap11!!!1!!1!!" its just straight up hypocritical. some fans say they edit it out or just ignore the fact there related. (despite that being what some pro-shippers do but I digress)

anyway sorry for sending such a long ask. I just didn't know who to send this to but in the end i decided to send it to you <3 hope that's okay.

this just made me realize how long it’s been since I read warriors, I literally don’t know who half these characters are. also boggles the mind that antis want anything to do with this series

[urimaginespimp]

Epiphany (pt. 4 of This Love)

Bucky x Reader (elemental witch)  

Read the previous chapters here: Prologue, Gorgeous, Tolerate It.

Set in Wakanda during Infinity War.  

Thank you for your support. I couldn’t hold back updating this early. :)

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In your years of living, you’ve only felt grief once. It was when your mother left you with the Norns to face her impending death. But you were a mere child, and memories of her started to fade away as you grew older. You thought was that simple.  

Until Bruce told you Thor might be dead.

“What do you mean he might be dead?!” you were shaking in front of your old friend.  

“Thanos was just too strong, Y/N. He got rid of me like I was a throw pillow. I’m sorry.” he told you quietly.

Your heart never felt this heavy, and you didn’t think breathing was going to be this hard. Bucky picked up that you were most likely going to have a panic attack and immediately went to your side.  

“Doll listen to me; you have to breathe. Listen to my voice.” He started comforting you the way you’d do when he’d have night terrors. But despite his efforts, you couldn't concentrate. Your vision was starting to blur from the tears threatening to fall. The only father you’ve known might be dead somewhere out in space. Would’ve it have been easier to fight Thanos if you were there to help him? You couldn’t avoid blaming yourself.  

“None of this is your fault, Y/N.” Bruce assured you. Digging into his pocket, he took out a small teared cloth out to you. You gently broke from Bucky’s arms to take it. “That’s from the cape he was last wearing. I accidently tore it off before I fell out of the ship.”  

It was such a tiny piece on your shaking palm, yet you could tell the fabric truly belonged to someone as mighty as him. And it was blazing red. Just like what you were starting to see.  

“He wants the mind stone?” you asked Bruce, and the shift in your tone matched with the anger in your eyes made him step back and nod. He’s never seen you angry before.  

“Then he’ll die trying.” you spat venomously before walking off, leaving Bucky and Bruce to look at you with worry.  

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You were standing next to Bucky while King T’Challa, Steve, and Nat went over to talk with The Black Order behind the gates. You haven’t uttered a word since your conversation with Bruce, and it everybody was starting to worry. Even Wanda was taken back at how strong your emotions were at the moment.  

“She’s heartbroken. But most of all, she’s vengeful.” She’s told Steve in private. “Don’t let her get carried away. Her mind’s crashing out.” She warned.

As the three were making their way back to you, you could see that a fight was about to ensue.

“You gonna be okay?” you heard Bucky asked you.

“I’m the last one you should be worried about, Buck. I might have lost the man I’ve had the privilege to call my father. But before him, I was born and then raised by different breeds of witches. The creatures with Proxima are outriders. They are mindless but they have brains in those little heads of theirs and have  blood that’s blue. But you know how much I like that color”

“Have the Norns told you we’re going to win?” he asked in curiosity.  

“I haven’t really been in touch with them. But there is something they’ve told me a long time ago that I’ve been trying to burry in the back of my mind all these years.” you smiled to yourself.  

“And that is?” he was almost afraid to ask.  

“The brain and the blood have water.” you answered flatly.  

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To say that the black order was terrified of you was an understatement. There was no better place to unleash your powers than Wakanda. And so, you did. You’ve blocked and thrown stones and soil, drowned some with water, caused fire left and right, played with the wind, and was starting to get the hang of controlling blood and whatever fluids were in their pathetic bodies.  

The leaders were doing their best to send their army your way to avoid personally facing your wrath. And as much as you didn’t like to admit it, it was starting to tire you out. Manipulating creatures was draining you.

Everybody else was also getting too preoccupied, that even Wanda had to go down and help. Hearing a familiar groan a few feet away from you, your attention snapped to its direction and saw the Bucky was thrown off by one of the Outriders. One in particular was trying to bite his head off so you took it in your hands to snap the creature’s neck the other way, without having to touch it. 

“Just a flesh wound.” He assured your worried figure with a small smile. “I still have my rifle.”  

You had a momentary distraction after that, when Proxima lunged your way, trying to hit you with her spear. The two of you were starting to combat each other, and she knew you were getting tired. With an unexpected attack from behind by one of the outriders, you were down to your knees Infront of her and you knew you wouldn’t be fast enough to block the spear coming straight down to you when she was suddenly thrown away with a force.  

Gaining your composure from missing death by mere inches, you looked around and saw that everybody else was suddenly freed from the overwhelming attacks of the outriders. Suddenly a blinding blue light appeared, and a man with his back on you stood in place. An armed racoon? jumped off his shoulder, and there was a tree? on his other side.  

If it were a different setting you would’ve laughed. But you were too frozen in place when you saw that bolts of lightning were coursing through him. You had a glimpse of relief but you couldn’t will yourself to assume it’s him. But the second he started charging and his voice demanded Thanos, it was all you needed make some sense of what you've seen. Your father’s alive.  

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“How are you, kid?” He asked you in between killing off outriders.  

“I was on my third stage of grieving. Thanks for interrupting that by the way.” you chuckled, also hitting most of the creatures with large sharpened rocks.  

“Oh, by the way, these are my friends, rabbit and tree.” he introduced you to his companions.

“So, I have a snake, a racoon, and a tree as uncles now.” you shook your head at how ridiculous it sounded.  

“Loki would’ve loved you, kid.” the tone in his voice made you know something bad happened to his brother.  

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When Thanos arrived, you refrained from using all the energy you have left into playing with his own blood. Your father insisted to leave the finishing to them and you respected that. You were still fighting his army who at this point, seemed to be endless in numbers, but you were holding your own well enough.  

In the midst of fighting, a sudden realization that you haven’t seen Bucky in a while dawned on you, and you found yourself running looking for him, destroying everything on your way. You needed to know he was okay. Call it a sixth sense, but something didn’t feel right.  

And then you saw it. Thor was standing alone, Stormbreaker on the ground in front of him. The air around you suddenly felt eerie, and you paused on your tracks. No.  

“Steve?” you heard his voice first. You turned to where he was and saw that he was turning into dust.  

“Buck?” you called out to him, but as soon as your eyes met, he was gone.

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@eternalharry  @iheartsebandchris  @lizzarooni​  @the-ayo-lit 

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Have a  great day!

[marvel-ousnesss]

The one with the boiling rock (Zuko x reader)

Pairing: Prince Zuko x firebender!reader

Summary: Y/N follows Azula after she overhears the Firelord's plan to get rid of his banished son. She fails to warn Zuko and ends up in the Boiling Rock thinking he's dead. Spoiler alert, he's not.

Word count: 4k-ish

masterlist

A/N: For the sake of avoiding any signs of a love triangle, let's throw cannon away and pretend Mai and Zuko are just good friends. Love you all so so much. 💜💜💜

Servants vowed to you as you waltzed through the galleries of the palace, looking for your father, General Yuan. That morning, he had told you to join him in the training arena at sundown, once the war meeting was over. You were planning on taking no detours, but that changed once you heard loud, thundering footsteps coming from across the hall. The Firelord walked with his head held high and his hands behind his back, the princess trailed right behind him, closely listening to his every command. 

"Your brother is a failure and your uncle is a coward and a traitor," he declared. "I cannot risk having them on the loose with the avatar's capture on stake." 

"I completely agree, father, they must be dealt with." She quickened her pace. 

He turned toward his daughter and she lowered her head in an indication of respect. "I've decided to send you, Azula, to effectuate their imprisonment or, be the case, take them out.” The princess’s head rose, proud. “I only trust you to do what must be done."

You hid behind a column to remain unseen while they walked past you, using your hands to silence the gasp that threatened to spill out of your mouth. The Firelord's cruelty had surprised you the day of the Agni Kai, images of Zuko’s crying silhouette curled in a fetal position were still plastered in your mind. And, even knowing he was capable of that, you didn’t find a way to comprehend how he’d not only kill his only son but he'd use his daughter to do so. 

That evening, your head was elsewhere while training. Your flames, usually potent and vibrant, were shining a faint tone of red. Your aim too was sloppy, as evidenced when your fire whip was easily blocked by your father every time you tried to strike.

"Something's in your mind." He lost his stance and approached you, inviting you to do the same. 

"I'm just a bit distracted," you lied, looking down at your feet. 

"We can head home if you want." He offered you some water. 

You nodded.

Your family's house was not far from the palace citadel, as your father was one of the most prominent figures in the Fire Nation army. You walked in silence, not even looking at him but, once you closed the main door, you couldn't hide your concern. You sat down at his study, and, after taking a sip of your tea with a trembling hand, explained what you had heard.  

"Firelord Ozai is sending Azula after the prince and General Iroh.”

Your father's eyes widened for a moment, as he had once fought alongside the kind general, but he regained his serenity immediately. "It is a reasonable move. Getting the avatar was just a way to keep the prince at sea, but now is not the time to let a traitor and a teenager have the power to control the odds of the war."

Your jaw clenched, then you swallowed hard and, unable to speak, nodded. You understood that it was probably what needed to be done, strategically speaking, and that, even if your father personally disapproved such cruelty, he was in no position to defy the Firelord; but it was Zuko whom you were talking about, it felt more than wrong to accept his cursed fate with such ease. 

"Y/N, you have always been kind-hearted, and it hurts me to see you worry, but you need to understand that some sacrifices demand to be made for the sake of victory."

That night, you were about to send a letter to the exiled members of the royal family, but there was a  feeling of uneasiness that made your stomach ache. There had to be something else you could do… That's when it hit you.

Azula and her unit weren't leaving until the following week. So you used that time to gather supplies, dig into whatever scroll you could get your hands in and steal --no, borrow-- some of your father's maps. The day of your departure came, you got up before sunrise and headed to the base from which the princess was sailing, leaving behind a small note for your father to see.  

You waited for her to show and, once her ship lifted anchors, so did yours. You knew how to sail except you had never done it without a crew. The ship you had stolen wasn't big, it was a fishing boat domestic fleets used every once in a while, so it was relatively easy to stay in control and out of the princess' sight. 

The journey lasted but a few days before Azula's ship was pulled to the shore, but the tides were too strong and you weren't as experienced. Hoping for the best, you waited until nightfall to reach the land. You spent the night searching but had no luck, so you made camp near the docks. After you finished setting your tent, you headed toward the ship you'd been following, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever was happening on deck. Luckily, there were two soldiers conversing while standing watch. 

You climbed onto the ship and hid behind reserve boxes, listening to their exchange from within the shadows.

"I can’t believe I’m in the mission to capture the Dragon of the West," one of them practically squealed. 

"Don't get too excited, I heard he’s not the same anymore." The other one laughed gratingly.  "Besides, it's not like there's gonna be a fight or anything; the princess told them Lord Ozai wants them back at the palace. Poor fools’ gonna board voluntarily."

You stepped back, teeth gritted and fists tightened. Making them walk into a trap was a devious move, but it didn't really shock you. Azula had always been ruthless and calculating. You were about to jump off-board when you tripped and made the box tower collapse, leaving you exposed. 

“Hey!” 

The guards immediately turned your way. Instead of reacting, you found yourself frozen on the spot. It was certainly not a time to be panicking. You took a breath and, with a kick, threw a stream of fire at the man in front of you and ran toward the dock while he recovered. However,  the other guard had alerted the rest so, at the very entrance of the ship, awaited Azula, dressed in a wine-colored night-robe.  

She didn’t even look phased; if much, she was mildly annoyed that you had disrupted her sleep. 

"Long way from home, Y/N. I'm guessing you didn't just come to say hello."

You opened your mouth but no words rolled off your tongue. You raised your hands and lowered your head in surrender, to avoid further trouble.  

You were a more than capable warrior, you knew that. Nevertheless, the sole thought of facing her made your body shake; let alone while outnumbered. 

"That's what I thought," she smirked. "You're a coward, just like my idiot brother. And, just like him, you'll get a coward's treatment. Seize her."

Two soldiers grabbed your arms and roughly pressed them behind your back, restraining you with metal cuffs. 

"You know what to do."

They both bowed their heads and yanked you below deck. As you walked to the cellars, one whispered, "what do we do?" 

The other one huffed. "The cooler, dumbass."

————————

Third-person POV. 

Zuko knocked on the door three times, trying not to seem too anxious. It had already been two days since he arrived home as a hero but, as such, he had been busy with appearances and meetings. He took a step back and fixed his robes, his right foot tapping as he awaited a response. 

The door cracked open, revealing a young woman, a few years older than him. He gave her a small smile but she didn’t see it, her gaze fixated on the wooden floor as she bowed deeply. 

“My prince,” she greeted. “How can I be of service.” 

“Hello.” 

She straightened up. 

“Is Y/N home?” 

Her expression shifted, then she cleared her throat. “Not at the moment.” 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

At that moment, General Yuan strolled through one of the doors that connected the main area of the house with the other hallways. His eyes were framed by dark circles and his shoulders fell limp, not the way he carried himself outside. 

He faced Zuko’s and immediately stood taller. “Your highness,” he said. “There is something you need to know.” 

———————

For a moment, you eyed the two guards overlooking the yard from an upper balcony. You gave it no mind when one of them rushed downstairs but gulped when the other one fixed his attention on you, nothing good could come from that. Before he caught your eye, you lowered your head and let your shoulders fall, hoping he'd lose interest. Thinking it had worked, you retired to your cell. However, as you walked, your arm was roughly pulled. 

You tried to break free and struggled for a few seconds, trying to root your feet to the ground. The guard easily overpowered you, for you had too little strength to resist, and threw you into an empty cell.

He still had hold of your arm, but you didn’t fight him. It was better to avoid acting up, you had learned that. However, you knew they appreciated respect, so you lifted your head and asked, "What do you want?"

Even the helmet didn’t conceal his shocked façade. “Y/N?” 

He took his helmet off and tears flooded your eyes. You wrapped your arms around his middle and let out an involuntary whimper followed by an excruciating stream of sobs. At first, Zuko was a bit taken aback by your reaction, as his muscles tensed. But then he too faded into the hug and allowed himself to breathe your familiar scent. 

“I thought you were dead,” you whispered. 

“What?” 

“I- I wanted to warn you about Azula.” You take a deep breath, not ready to let go of him. “When your father sent her after you, I followed, but she caught me when I sneaked into her ship and I-.”

He grabbed your shoulders and stretched his arms so he could look at you. His face like porcelain and his mouth agape. 

“You sneaked into my sister’s ship? Alone?” Zuko let go of you and ran his hands through his hair. “Are you, Y/N, are you out of your mind? You could've ended up dead, no-" Now, he was screaming, his golden eyes blazed with worry."-you could've ended up worse than dead!"

 Your lip trembled as you shouted back, "well, surprise, so could you!" 

"You went on a suicide mission, alone!" He started pacing around the small room. "I can't believe you did something so stupid."

"At least I had to try, Zuko." This time, your voice was tight. 

"Y/N, she's. Ahh!" He stopped pacing and threw his head back with a groan. Without a thought, he stepped toward you and, once again, engulfed you in his embrace. "I’m glad you’re okay."

Zuko's head fell limp on your shoulder while he calmed down, your hand rubbed his back soothingly for a moment before he brought back the distance between you.   

"Listen, we're getting out of here."

"How?"

"Just trust me, I'll come to your cell and get you."

He flashed you a quick, closed-lip smile and walked out. You followed after a few seconds and went back to your cell. A few hours passed and you had no news from Zuko, so you headed down the stairs with the rest of the inmates. 

You were mopping the floor, keeping your work focused on a relatively small area of the room when you spotted the familiar mess of raven hair, only now he was dressed in a uniform that matched yours. He dragged his water bucket toward where you were and began mopping next to you. 

"Are you gonna tell me the whole story now?"

You didn’t know what had driven the banished crown prince to break into a high-security prison, but the response you got was far from what you expected. 

“I kind of joined the avatar.” 

“Weren't you trying to capture him so you could go back home?” 

“I’ll explain later,” he said, looking past you and directly at a guard. Zuko grabbed your hand and guided you to where he and another girl in prison uniform were standing.

They gave you a questioning look. 

“Um, guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, Sokka and Suki.” 

After an awkward wave, you took the time to look at them in detail. 

It was a girl you had seen a few times, from a group of Earth Kingdom warriors; and a brunet, blue eyed boy you had never seen but could guess came from a water tribe. They were slightly shocked but didn’t really question your presence, making you relax. 

After a brief explanation of everything that had been going on since you were captured the four of you came up with an escape plan that would’ve been perfect if it wasn’t for the undesired addition to your team, Chit Sang.

You, Suki, Chit, and another two people he introduced as his girl and best mate would wait for Sokka and Zuko to show up at the blind spot. Then, the all of you would ride the cooler to the other side of the lake. That's where you were now, sitting on a rock with Suki while Chit and his friend discussed over where to go after the escape. 

To be honest, their petty argument was beginning to annoy you, so you turned to Suki, who was using a stick to doodle on the sand. 

“So, how do you know Sokka?” 

Her cheeks reddened slightly so she turned her head sideways. 

“Sokka,” she chuckled, “We first met a few months ago, when he, Katara, and Aang went to my island. The rest of the Kyoshi warriors and I thought they were spies.” 

“Kyoshi, where have I heard…  oh, Avatar Kyoshi,” you recalled. “My father once gave me a scroll about her.” 

You were about to continue, glad you’d found something to talk about, when Chit’s complaint cut you off before either of you could say something else. 

"Took you guys long enough," he scolded Sokka and Zuko, as they slid down the cliff with the cooler. You, Chit and Suki quickly placed yourselves against the cooler to help the others and then the five of you pushed it into the water. 

You were about to go ahead with the plan, when they brought up the following day’s new arrivals. That changed everything. 

“Sokka?” You approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

"Rescuing your dad is your chance to redeem your honor,” Zuko noted.

Sokka fell to his knees, deep in thought. 

He looked at the group apologetically. “We wouldn’t be here if I had cut my losses at the invasion,” he sighed. “I think it’s best if we call it quits.” 

You crossed your arms, and stood tall. “No, ” you deadpanned. “I know how it feels to fail, Sokka, specially when it’s someone you really care about.” Your eyes met a pair of golden ones. “It hurts so much not to try. I’ll help you, whatever you need.” 

Without a word, Sokka stood up, and walked closer to the lake with his head low.

Zuko rested a hand on his shoulder. “Y/N’s right, you can’t quit because you’re afraid of failure. How do you know you won't make it if you don't even try.” 

“Well, if you cookies are done, can we get a move on?” Chit glared at you while tapping his foot. 

Sokka shook his head.

“You guys go," you said. 

"Suki, you've been here long enough," Sokka pleaded, stepping closer to her. 

"I'm not leaving without you, Sokka." 

Zuko mimicked Sokka's actions, turning your way. "And I’m not leaving without you."

It was settled. 

"I hope this isn't a huge mistake," Sokka sighed. 

And it wasn’t, the plan failed and Chit and his people were brought back in. He had tried to row the boat and earned a burn, which was followed by a blaring scream. You watched from one of the outer beams of the building while waiting for the new prisoners to disembark the gondola. Your hope threatened to abandon you but, right before you voiced your thoughts to give up, Sokka's dad emerged. 

That's how you ended up in the very place you had started, your cell. You laid on the metal bench provided and closed your eyes, having decided to use the spare time to practice a little. You placed your right hand on the metal wall and outstretched your right, pointing two fingers at the opposite wall. The surface under your palm turned red-hot and that's where you started truly working. 

You exhaled deeply and began absorbing the heat you had generated. Bit by bit so it would efficiently pass through you and leave in the form of a thin trail of smoke. What you were doing required deep concentration so when the door creaked open you didn't even notice the intruder. Your eyes broke open as you retrieved your hands, the wall returning to its initial gray color. 

Sokka was standing in front of the now-closed door, he blinked a few times before finally asking, "were you fire bending metal?"

"Oh, no." You sat up and chuckled, "it's called heat controlling. I project heat into a surface, then let it pass through me and then out, via my other hand." 

"Cool." Sokka's mouth fell. "So it’s like... reversed fire bending.” 

“I guess you can put it like that.”

“Anyway," he spoke with determination, looking through the small window. "I've talked to my dad. We have a plan, be in the yard in an hour and a half. I'll go tell the others." 

“Sure,” you smile. “Thanks, Sokka.” 

The plan was simple: start a riot and use the gondola to escape. Easier said than done, even with the riot, you were still trying to figure out how to grab the warden and, on top of it, had no idea where the fire prince was. Although your uncertainty didn’t last long. Before you knew it, Zuko got his ass to the courtyard, Suki took hold of the warden, and the seven of you ran upstairs to the gondolas.

On the bridge to your awaiting vehicle, you encountered a few guards. You blocked their first attacks but when Zuko announced the warden was coming with you they gave you no more problems. 

"Everyone in," Suki ushered you. 

You let them get in before you as she held the door, then tried to run back and help Zuko, but Suki pulled you in and closed the door. 

From the gondola, you watched him pull the lever and kick it so they wouldn't stop you, your grip on the rail making your sweaty hands pale. He leaped toward you and barely managed to grab Sokka's hand. You let go of the rails and relaxed, knowing you had all made it, but the moment ended when you saw Azula. 

"Shit," you groaned.  

"Who's that?"

"My sister and her friend." 

Suki smirked. "This is a rematch I've been waiting for."

You just huffed and jumped on top of the gondola. As Azula and Ty Lee advanced toward it, you tried to take them down with fire-jabs but Ty Lee was too fast and Azula swung and easily dodged them. They landed on opposite sides, surrounding the four of you. You immediately charged toward the princess, determined not to fall without a good fight. Not this time.

Next to you, Zuko shot multiple fireballs out of his fists but neither of you had luck. Azula redirected every blow and you let out a frustrated growl.

"Even together,” she scoffed, “you’re pathetic."

Again, you tried; opting for a blazing ring to try and knock her out of balance. While you advanced on her Zuko covered you and blocked her blows, this gave Sokka a chance to get near. A blow of his sword took away her balance but she recovered quickly and threw a missile that you managed to dodge by merely a few inches, falling back against the pulley of the gondola. 

You got up once more but Azula's strikes were fast and repetitive, so you and Zuko would wear yourselves down by trying to block each one. You panted, concentrating to maintain your shield well built, but lost your stance when the gondola shook violently. Azula and Ty Lee fled the scene, as the guards were about to cut the line; the four of you jumped back inside and warned the others. But someone stopped the guards, you narrowed your eyes in order to see who and emitted a gasp when you recognized Mai's figure. 

But the situation you were in left no time to ask questions, the six of you sprinted away as soon as the gondola touched land. Zuko stopped after a few yards. 

"Zuko, come on," you urged. 

"Yeah, what are you doing?"

"My sister, she must've arrived here somehow." He ran toward a cliff and smirked when he looked down. He was right, there was a Fire Nation dirigible parked by the seashore. 

To say that you were exhausted after the journey would be an understatement. Not only had the last two days been more draining than the previous few months but you had used your bending to fuel the dirigible the whole way to the Air Temple. You didn’t complain, you were glad to be safe. Not to mention that you finally got a chance to catch up on Zuko’s unlikely adventures.

“We’re here,” Sokka peeped. 

You looked through one of the windows and almost didn’t believe what you saw. You had read multiple scrolls about the magnificent Air Temples and the people that lived in them but had never even imagined visiting one. 

You landed and the door opened. You were hesitant to step outside and Zuko took notice, so he offered you an encouraging smile and squeezed your hand. For a second you had forgotten that he was also a newcomer to the Avatar’s group so he shared part of the nerves you felt; besides, you knew that, whatever reactions you got from them, he’d stand by you. 

A small girl inquired, “did you at least get some good meat?”

“Yup, the best meat of all,” Sokka answered with a beam. “The meat of friendship and fatherhood.” 

That's when the four of you stepped forward, but you remained concealed behind Chit.

The three kids smiled when they saw Suki and Hakoda, and Chit was quick to introduce himself with a matching smile on his face. 

Your hiding place disappeared when Hakoda ran to hug who you guessed was  Sokka's sister, Katara, and the others advanced right after.

When they finished greeting their friends, the group turned its whole attention to you, still standing on the dirigible bridge.

The bald kid, Aang, as Sokka had briefed you, gave you a kind smile; Toph, the little girl, tilted her head in curiosity, and Katara just quirked a brow. 

Zuko cleared his throat, walking to your side. "Everybody, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is everybody."

"Hi, guys," you waved with a shy smile. 

Requests open!

[purplebass]

“Where am I?” can you do this with jordelia or herongraystairs? I love your writing!

Hi, and thank you! 💖🥺

Since I couldn’t decide, I wrote two version of the same fic. The first one is Herongraystairs but it also has Jordelia and Blackdale, so it’s set in the TLH timeline. The second one is the same, but only Herongraystairs, and set in the TID timeline. Of course, they do have a slightly different ending. Hope it’s okay! 🌼

Couples: Herongraystairs, Jordelia, Blackdale Rating: T

TLH TIMELINE

Tessa had been there when the mantid demon had pushed Will and he had fallen on the cobblestones. She had been busy herself fighting another one, and hadn’t noticed that her husband hadn’t gotten back on his feet until after she killed the creature. They had been ambushed during night patrol, after they had separated from Cecily and Gabriel, who were nowhere in sight. She had run to him, cradled his head in her hands, and had been gutted by the awareness that she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t draw any rune to heal him, because she wasn’t a shadowhunter. She could just call for help, and luckily for her, her brother and sister in law had caught up with them.

Cecily had drawn rune upon healing rune on her brother’s arm as they waited for Bridget to arrive with their carriage. Time seemed to stand still as Tessa caressed Will’s hair as they ran to the Institute. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, and she was worried.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Cecily had tried to comfort her with a smile. “It wouldn’t be the first time he falls on the ground and hits his head. Perhaps he’ll wake up even madder than he already is.”

Tessa had managed a smile. “Yes, you’re right,” she had agreed. But when they brought him up in the infirmary, Tessa couldn’t help but call for Jem. It always surprised Tessa how Jem could literally appear at the Institute’s doorstep as if he had been there all the time, as if he had never left. And to her and Will, he hadn’t.

Where is he? Jem wondered, but Tessa didn’t have the time to reply because he was already flying up the stairs, as if he sensed where his ex parabatai was.

Tessa sworn that she heard him sigh, but she could never be sure. She witnessed as Jem, their Jem, checked on Will. Don’t worry, he has a tough skin, Jem told her, his hand touched her arm to reassure her. And a thick skull.

Tessa had managed a smile. She trusted Jem, and Will trusted him too. If he said that, he just meant that he was sure. “Thanks,” she replied. “Will you stay?”

Jem seemed to hesitate. I should not, I cannot, he told her, and she swore she heard him sigh. Just a few minutes, until he wakes up.

“He would want to see you,” Tessa said, just as she heard Will grumble from the bed and turned in alert. But he kept on sleeping.

In the meantime, James and Cordelia also got there.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Tessa told them. “Especially you, Cordelia,” she said gently, smiling at her daughter in law. “You should be resting. Are the kids with your mother?”

“Yes, they’ll be staying there tonight. We couldn’t have not come, after hearing what happened.”

Don’t you worry. He is not in a threatening condition, Cordelia. Jem said. And I agree that you should have rested. You are due in less than a month.

Cordelia blushed. “We are going to go back to Curzon Street once he wakes up.”

“Yes, we just wanted to check he’s alright. Shouldn’t he stop going on patrol? He is getting old,” James said, and his mother shrugged.

“Do not tell your father that,” Tessa warned, as Cordelia sat on a chair nearby.

A few minutes later, Lucie and Jesse appeared. They were wearing gear, because they had also been on night patrol. They seemed to be discussing something, but they stopped talking once they entered the infirmary.

“Is he okay, mam?” Lucie wondered with concern, grabbing Tessa’s hand for comfort.

“He’s just knocked out, dear,” Tessa replied. “Shouldn’t you be home?” she asked, smiling. She was happy that her two children had gotten married, but it was always nice to see them at the Institute. Not that they didn’t visit, but they also had their life now.

“We wanted to check on papa first,” Lucie answered. “We were on patrol, anyway.”

You shouldn’t have gone on patrol, in your condition, Jem told Lucie, and Jesse crossed his arms on his chest and nodded.

“Couldn’t agree more with your uncle,” Jesse said, and he exchanged a glance with his wife and sat down on one of the beds.

“Is there something you’re not telling us, Lucie?” James wondered, his arm on Cordelia’s shoulder.

“Yes,” she said. “And you will know in due time. But I would love for papa to be present too.”

They heard Will grunting. Tessa strolled to him, and grabbed his hand in hers, as her children and their significant others who were also sort of her kids, watched from their seats.

He was frowning, and gritting his teeth. Perhaps he was in pain, or having a nightmare, Tessa thought, but then he opened his blue eyes, which relieved her instantly. “Where am I?” he asked, gazing up at her and then at Jem.

They exchanged a glance. “You are at the Institute, Will. What do you remember?”

“The stench,” he wrinkled his nose. “Skull cracked open…” He wanted to sit up, but his head was probably throbbing. Tessa helped him, and then he glanced at Jem. “James, you’re here! This means I hit my head pretty hard on the pavement.”

You did, Jem said, his voice soundless and flat. Do you remember it? Do you recognize us?

Tessa wasn’t sure if he meant Jem or his own son.

“Of course, I recognize you,” Will answered excitedly, glancing at Jem. “But she,” he turned his head to Tessa, who stood expectantly still by the bed. “I see two Tessa’s.”

“It’s your daughter Lucie, Will,” Tessa said.

“Papa,” she said with a wistful tone, holding his stare. “Papa, it’s me. Lucie.”

Tessa turned to Jem, unable to hide her apprehension. He may have temporary memory loss, he revealed. It could disappear in a few hours, or longer.

Tessa sighed, but didn’t let go of her husband’s hand. He was looking at her with the same loving eyes, radiating tranquility and happiness. Something didn’t sit right with her.

“What a pity that you don’t remember about me,” Lucie shrugged. “Your daughter who is very much pregnant right now!”

“What? With child?” Will sat up right, and hit the back of his head on the bedpost. “Ouch!”

“Careful!” Tessa admonished him, checking his head. “So, you were faking it, I see.”

“Lucie, is that for real?” Will asked, glancing at Lucie and then at Jesse, who was right behind her. “She really mentioned a child, didn’t she, Jem?”

I am afraid, I do not possess this information, Jem answered. He would have probably rolled his eyes if he could have. Because he did know the truth.

“You’re so cruel, the both of you,” Will protested, and touched the side of his head. “Especially you, Jem! Jesse! I know you know about this. Why are you withholding information from me?”

“No one is withholding information from you, papa,” Lucie protested, nearing the bed. “We were going to tell you tomorrow, at lunch. But then you got hurt tonight, so we thought we may tell you when you woke up.”

“Lucie is right,” Jesse said, putting a protective hand behind his wife’s back. The two looked at each other again, grinning.

“What amazing news,” he cried out. “Not only Cordelia and James are having their third child, you’re also having a child. I am the luckiest grandfather alive, and I haven’t turned fifty yet! I would have gladly hit my head several times, if it meant that I’d be learning this again and again for the first time.”

“Please no,” Tessa said, and everyone laughed with them.

TID TIMELINE

Tessa had been there when the mantid demon had pushed Will and he had fallen on the cobblestones. She had been busy herself fighting another one, and hadn’t noticed that her husband hadn’t gotten back on his feet until after she killed the creature. They had been ambushed during night patrol, after they had separated from Cecily and Gabriel, who were nowhere in sight. She had run to him, cradled his head in her hands, and had been gutted by the awareness that she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t draw any rune to heal him, because she wasn’t a shadowhunter. She could just call for help, and luckily for her, her brother and sister in law had caught up with them.

Cecily had drawn rune upon healing rune on her brother’s arm as they waited for Bridget to arrive with their carriage. Time seemed to stand still as Tessa caressed Will’s hair as they ran to the Institute. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, and she was worried.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Cecily had tried to comfort her with a smile. “It wouldn’t be the first time he falls on the ground and hits his head. Perhaps he’ll wake up even madder than he already is.”

Tessa had managed a smile. “Yes, you’re right,” she had agreed. But when they brought him up in the infirmary, Tessa couldn’t help but call for Jem. It always surprised Tessa how Jem could literally appear at the Institute’s doorstep as if he had been there all the time, as if he had never left. And to her and Will, he hadn’t.

Where is he? Jem wondered, but Tessa didn’t have the time to reply because he was already flying up the stairs, as if he sensed where his ex parabatai was.

Tessa sworn that she heard him sigh, but she could never be sure. She witnessed as Jem, their Jem, checked on Will. Don’t worry, he has a tough skin, Jem told her, his hand touched her arm to reassure her. And a thick skull.

Tessa had managed a smile. She trusted Jem, and Will trusted him too. If he said that, he just meant that he was sure. “Thanks,” she replied. “Will you stay?”

Jem seemed to hesitate. I should not, I cannot, he told her, and she swore she heard him sigh. Just a few minutes, until he wakes up.

“He would want to see you,” Tessa said, just as she heard Will grumble from the bed and turned in alert. She strolled to him, and grabbed his hand in hers.

He was frowning, and gritting his teeth. Perhaps he was in pain, or having a nightmare, Tessa thought, but then he opened his blue eyes, which relieved her instantly. “Where am I?” he asked, gazing up at her and then at Jem.

They exchanged a glance. “You are at the Institute, Will. What do you remember?”

“The stench,” he wrinkled his nose. “Skull cracked open…” He wanted to sit up, but his head was probably throbbing. Tessa helped him, and then he glanced at Jem. “James, you’re here! This means I hit my head pretty hard on the pavement.”

You did, Jem said, his voice soundless and flat. Do you remember it? Do you recognize us?

“Of course, I recognize you,” Will answered excitedly, glancing at Jem. “But her,” he turned his head to Tessa, who stood expectantly still by the bed. “Who is she? By the way, you’re beautiful.”

“Will,” she said with a wistful tone, holding his stare. “Will, it’s me. Tessa.”

“Oh, nice to meet you. Perhaps you’re single?”

Tessa turned to Jem, unable to hide her apprehension. He may have temporary memory loss, he revealed. It could disappear in a few hours, or longer.

She sighed, but didn’t let go of her husband’s hand. He was looking at her with the same loving eyes, radiating tranquility and happiness. Something didn’t sit right with her.

“What a pity that you don’t remember about me,” she shrugged. “I wonder who will take responsibility for my child, then.”

“Child?” Will sat up right, and hit the back of his head on the bedpost. “Ouch!”

“Careful!” Tessa admonished him, checking his head. “So, you were faking it, I see.”

“You mentioned a child, Tess,” he said with excitement, taking her hands in his. “She really mentioned a child, didn’t she, Jem?”

I am afraid, I do not possess this information, Jem answered. He would have probably rolled his eyes if he could have. Because he did know the truth.

“You’re so cruel, the both of you,” Will protested, and touched the side of his head. “Especially you, Jem! I know you know about this. Why are you withholding information from me? I’m the father!”

“I thought you didn’t know me,” Tessa goaded, grinning. “I thought I would have to raise this child alone, with Jem’s help.”

“And I would have been eternally grateful to Jem,” Will glanced at his old parabatai with affection. “How did you know I was faking it?”

“Because you winked at Jem, that’s why,” Tessa admitted.

“I thought you didn’t see me.”

“Oh, Will. You’re not very subtle.”

“Jem!”

You know that she is right, Jem agreed.

“Tessa!” Will exclaimed, then. “Are we really having a child?”

“I thought that was a given.”

He hugged her, trying not to move too much, because his back still hurt from the fall. He also grabbed one of Jem’s hands. “What amazing news,” he cried out. “I would have gladly hit my head several times, if it meant that I’d be learning this again and again for the first time.”

“Please no,” Tessa said, and both of them sworn they heard Jem laugh along with them.

Taglist (if you want to be added or removed, send me a PM): @princesslucinda @kit-12 @immortal-enemies @lucian-evander @esa-emery @danieldyers @blackthorn-trash @rinadragomir @fortunesandfables @itsdaughterofthemoon @silvenys@thomastair3 @livvyheronstairs @ holding-infinity-and-a-book @lovelaces @axoloteca @autumnangel20 @cordelia-cardale

[dxxdlexxdle]

Mr. and Mrs. Prongs Love Story Headcanon!

my fav heteros deserve some love tonight. it’s raining currently where i live, and it’s a good night to write some heart-wrenching headcanons, i think!

words: 1,694

warnings: fluff, hints at smut, maybe? pain. eternal fucking suffering cause this fandom kills me. some of the storyline may be fucked my memory is HORRIBLE and i tried to base some scenes off of MsKingBean89’s all the young dudes

—

In their first year at Hogwarts, the very first day they had even been inside the castle, actually, James Potter realized something.

The copper haired girl across from him was awfully pretty.

She was disgusted at the way he declared someday they would be married. “WHY would I ever marry you?” She had shouted, moving down the table to the blonde and curly haired witches she had met earlier on the train. James stared at her, doe-eyed. She was perfect.

This did however mean he was the first of the boys to take an interest in girls. By girls I mean, well, just Lily. Sirius Black thought it was awfully funny. “Mate, girls have cooties.” Remus Lupin was too shy to have an opinion. Peter could hardly even tell his own feet apart from left and right, and his lip trembled when he got yelled at, so there was no hope for him.

James took to teasing Lily to try and get his point across. Lily thought it was horrible. Why was he being so horrid if he supposedly fancied her? Why did he even fancy her in the first place? Somebody like her, a witch from non-magic parents, and somebody like him, a pureblood wizard?

It wasn’t until one day in potions she told him just what she thought of him. His tormenting had gone on too long. He had bewitched one of her pigtails to tug on its own from across the room.

“You are foul, James Potter!” She had shouted, resulting in thirty points from Gryffindor. James had just beamed.

James was a smiling mess, really. For starters, she had said his name, out loud, to him. Secondly, her nose scrunched when she was angry.

Anybody would notice a girl’s nose scrunch when she was angry, surely?

In second year, he announced that this would be the year she would want to marry him too. Alas, no luck. If anything, this year, she came prepared with snarky remarks to his teasing. It made him swoon.

In third year, Lily Evans overheard the boys whispering in the common room.

“What are you four planning?” She had asked, plopping down beside her lanky, slightly edgy looking best mate Remus. She avoided James’ eyes.

“Look at this, Mrs. Prongs come to join the party.” Sirius chuckled, and James punched him in the arm.

“Mrs. Prongs..?”

“SIRIUS.” James hissed at his friend who was doubled over.

In fourth year, she had begun to tolerate him. The teasing from Sirius was what did it. James was bad enough, his almost-brother was as relentless as him, but for different reasons.

“Prongs and Lily, sitting in the Whomping Willow, S-N-O-G-“

“Sirius!” Lily and James shouted in unison, equally red.

Fifth year changed them both. This was when Lily realized Remus was a werewolf. She swore secrecy, and promised to tell nobody else, as long as she lived.

James had already known. Once a month he was running in the woods as a stag, pushing his half-wolf friend around playfully with his antlers- or should I say prongs? ;)

In sixth year, Remus Lupin noticed Lily sitting in the stands, watching Gryffindor’s quidditch practice.

“What’s got you here? Marlene isn’t at practice today?”

Lily had turned a shade almost as red as her hair. “Oh Remus, don’t make me say it,” she hissed. Remus was in a fit of giggles.

“You fancy James!”

“Hush!” And she whacked his arm with her textbook.

To be honest with herself, this was not the beginning of how she felt for James. It had been a fluttering feeling in her tummy when she noticed him in the common room a few weeks earlier, sweater sleeves rolled up, reading over the quidditch signups. His messy hair, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose..

But, anybody would notice the way a boy’s sleeves were rolled up, exposing brown skin and pretty veins, surely?

Lily never knew this, but James had noticed her watching him. He kept the smirk to himself. He felt the flutter too. Ah yes, twitterpated.

Sixth year was also the year they learned how to cast a patronus. A silver doe shot from Lily’s wand on her first try, which elicited squeals from the girls and cheers from the boys. The deer pranced around the room, as if looking for something. As if missing something.

James purposely disrupted the class that day, so he could be sent out. It cost 50 points, but he didn’t care. He knew as soon as he cast the stag that would shoot from his wand everybody would know, and he just couldn’t do that to Evans.

In 1977, when the Marauders and co. went on their camping trip, James and Lily really had only stayed up talking that night, despite the somewhat knowing looks Sirius tried to pass to James in the morning.

It had been late, after Remus had come out, and the other girls crashed in their tent. Sirius had gone down to the beach after him.

“Sirius ought to leave him be, reckon that was difficult to admit..” and James scratched the back of his neck. Lily had turned to him then. Their eyes met.

“Are you joking? They’re both gay, you idiot. They’re very clearly in love. Look at the way Sirius looks at Remus, he looks at him the way I look at you.”

Their kisses had been hot and heavy in the darkness of their tent, but that was it. Kisses the two had waited far too long for.

That night, James admired the girl lying beside him. He pulled out his wand and cast his patronus, and due to the size of the tent the stag was tiny, dancing over their heads. Lily blushed and cast hers. For the first time, the doe wasn’t searching anymore. She had found the stag.

Their relationship was as expected. Letters all summer, Lily even taught her boyfriend how to use a muggle phone. Then, in the autumn, they were all over each other. Holding hands in public, snogging in broom closets,

“You are foul!” Lily had giggled, smacking her boyfriend on the hand as it slipped up her skirt in potions.

“What was that, Princess?” He murmured, and she couldn’t argue with him anymore

James admired her every minute he had the chance. How she looked reading, sleeping, spilling tea down her sweater, and especially how she looked at him with her heavy, fluttering eyelashes.

Because, how could he not admire the prettiest girl in the world when he was on top of her?

After they graduated, they immediately moved in together. Due to the war, Lily promised her muggle parents she would be safer. Although they didn’t understand (or like) the idea of their daughter fighting a war, they let her go with warm goodbyes.

They fought. They attended order meetings. They had lunch with Peter and Sirius and Marlene and Mary and Dorcas when they could. They fretted over Remus’ whereabouts. They paced.

Lily proposed. Well, I suppose James proposed first every damn year at Hogwarts, but she meant it for real that time. They were married by the fall. They invited everybody still alive, and they danced, and they seemed to glow under twinkling fairy lights. They had cast their patronuses again that night, just so the doe and the stag could dance over their heads.

“Reckon they like each other?” James smirked, and Lily just laughed.

When she found out she was pregnant, James slung her over his shoulder and spun around with her, and they laughed. They laughed until they cried because holy shit, we’re having a baby!

He talked to her belly every time he had the chance. “Hello little boy-“

“Could be a girl,” Lily objected, leaning against the headboard, guiding James’ hand with hers over to where the baby was kicking.

“Right. Whatever they are, they’ll kick ass on the quidditch pitch, huh bub?”

In July, with a scream and a cry and a push, a slimy baby was placed on Lily’s chest. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe she was here, with this boy who chose her, looking at their beautiful boy. James was right, and he was ecstatic.

“A son! I’ve a son-“ and then he was too choked up.

They taught Harry how to hold his head up, they both tried to get him to say “Mumma” and “Dada.” They took polaroids of his drooly smiles and his giggles. They took pictures of Uncle Moony and Padfoot holding him. They had a picture of Uncle Peter with Harry on his hip, and the pen on the bottom read ‘future chess master ;)’

When they went into hiding, their only real fight was about whether Remus was the spy.

“He’s our friend,” Lily had argued, angrily picking up baby toys from the floor and putting them into the toy bin.

“But he’s a were-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Lily said, tears threatening her waterline. “Remus is a good man. He’s as good as you or Peter, or Sirius. He is our friend. He’s my friend. He would never.”

And although that night they fought, James still told Lily to take the baby and run, because even though they were angry, he’d die before he ever let Voldemort touch her.

“James, wait, I’m sor-“

“You and me, right Lily?” His voice was strained. He almost couldn’t look at her. At the fear in his eyes that reflected in hers- the eyes he had to see every time he looked at his beautiful son. He wanted to run with her, but he knew he couldn’t. “Take Harry and go. It’s him. I’ll hold him off.”

Lily Evans made it upstairs by the time the front door was blown open. Harry had been asleep. She cradled him in her arms, preparing for the blast of the door being opened.

“Harry, Mumma loves you. Dada loves you. Be brave, Harry.”

James Potter died thinking Lily Evans had made it out alive. It wasn’t until the stag saw a familiar silver doe at the edge of the woods, waiting for him, that he knew.

—

#imsosorryyall

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

Sacrifice Chapter 1

So I'm trying to edit chapter 1 of Sacrifice because I really don't like it and even I can tell how much my writing style has changed in three ish months but I can't figure out exactly whats wrong with it and since I've never shared anything on here ever thats this long and also I need want someone's opinion on this (Please & thank you very much), here's the first chapter of Sacrifice. I already know a bunch of stuff I'm cutting out the awkward romance part specifically i really should not even attempt to write stuff like that its just awkward but I can't figure out exactly what else is wrong with it so this is my solution instead. You sincerely truly don't have to read it if you don't want to I just thought this might be a good idea. And also its something to do if you're bored.

It's below the cut.

Taglist: @golden-eyed-writer

I grinned. Anne and Enna were arguing over the rules of Gin, while Anne, she was Enna’s twin, anyway, while Anne’s kids played tag with my nephew, Zane. Jen and Zebra collided in the middle of the room, and Zane didn’t stop in time, so they ended up in a pile of tangled limbs. My sister emerged from the other room and sighed, then burst into laughter, her wavy, silver tipped, black hair bouncing up and down. We were nearly identical, same silver blue eyes, silver tipped black hair, and dark skin. Our scales were different though. Ana’s smooth, tear drop shaped, silver scales covered her collarbone and wound down one arm; mine encircled my torso. Mine were easier to hide, but more people knew about them. I cast a lot of wind spells.

Ana only showed her scales to people she trusted, so walking in the room in a black tank top was a statement. Anne and Enna were identical, and their names mirrored each other. Blue black hair, Anne’s in twin buns and Enna’s in a half ponytail. Alabaster skin tinged with blue, and blue eyes. They had wings, but Enna was grounded. There was a knock on the door of Lei’s apartment. Lei, a blond Demonsblood, was standing closest to the door and pulled it open, sticking her head out. Two seconds later a boy dressed in the Barony’s colors entered.

“Uh, is there any person named,” He checked the sheet of paper clutched in his hands, “Anne Jones & Enna Helder-Kromlin here?” The twins stood up from the corner and scowled briefly, then Enna darted across the room, grabbed the paper, read it, and swore in Dragon.

“You can go now.” Said Faith, Lei’s redheaded younger cousin.

“Yes, ma’am.” He mumbled, then scampered away. “What is it? Dennis explode something again?” Asked Anne, striding over.

“There’s a gnome, blond, asking to see us. The note says she’s carrying the seal of the last baron.” Her twin answered in a shocked voice.

“Mae?”

“Maybe.” While they conversed, and Ana shrugged her jacket off after yanking it on when the door was opened, there was a second knock. Emily, a gnome alchemist and a friend of ours, answered this time, and her lavender eyes stared unseeing into the face of a second messenger. This one had a message for Ana. After reading it, my twin turned to me and grinned. Ana’s smile sometimes scared people. We both had pointed, sharp canine teeth, courtesy of our draconic ancestry. And that had the side effect of looking like you were about to murder someone when you smiled.

“Cerea’s alive. She’s here, with the gnome En mentioned. Joshua recognized the name.” A rush of emotions went through me. Two hundred and seventy four years ago mine and Ana’s home had been burned to the ground by Dizerdrat, an ancient red dragon. Cerea had been the name of a half elf with impressive innate primal magic, who had left when she was twenty, three months befor A'sshyse burned, leaving us the only survivors. The name was a bit ironic actually, A'sshyse sounded like Ashes if pronounced correctly, and that’s all it was now. Ashes and memories.

We didn’t bother to say anything, no one did. Two sets of twins walked out the door, leaving confusion, five friends, and three ten year olds behind. Enna twisted around before leaving, threatening, “If anyone touches those cards I will kill you.” Then she ran, and the second she and Anne were outside they broke out into a full out sprint, matching each other pace for pace. When we got to the main hall area, which had a bunch of alcoves off it that served as slightly more private spaces for meetings and the like, Anne and Enna had already tackle hugged a gnome with curly blond hair, and a black haired half elf stood nearby, awkwardly. Enna was whispering,

"Thirty five years Mae. Thirty five goddamn years. Where were you?"

“I was- Thirty five years?!”

“Yes.” Answered Anne. Mae rounded on the half elf, who put her hands up in a sign of surrender. Before the gnome could get a word out Cerea spoke.

“I didn’t know alright? I’m bad with time.”

“Still. You should have told me!”

“I know. I should have done a lot of things.” It was at that moment she looked in our direction, and saw us. Ana didn’t hesitate, rushing in to embrace a woman she hadn’t seen in nearly three hundred years. I hung back a bit. Not because of my sister, but because me and Cerea hadn’t exactly parted on… civil terms. Half a minute later Ana grabbed my arm, muttering Draconic into my ear.

“I don’t care what happened last time. You never got over it, I doubt she did.”

“Erm, okay-”

Cerea interrupted. “You survived?! What in the nine hells happened to A’sshyse?!”

“Dragonfire.” Ana answered. Then I blurted out, in Dragon, before I had to wait another three centuries to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was stupid, and, and an idiot-” Cerea intterupted in the same language.

“Yes, you were sometimes. But I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said what I said. We were both wrong about the other.” She hugged me tightly, but quickly. As Cerea stepped away I noticed how much toll the last three hundred years had taken on her. She still had raven hair and coffee colored skin, but the freckles that once covered her face were gone. Her eyes still had the same twinkle, but the green was darker, closer to emerald than I’d ever seen them and older than they should be.

“So where were you?” Asked Enna, directing the question at Mae.

“I was petrified. I left right after you guys killed Shallodet, and then it’s a blur until waking up to find my very surprised teacher.”

Enna shuddered at the mention of the name. Shallodet was not a pleasant memory for her.

“Teacher?”

“Yeah. Anne & Enna, this is Cerea Roven. Cerea, these are my sisters. Anne and Enna Helder.”

“Helder-Kromlin. Claimed Mom’s name properly. But I’m not forgetting Helder. It’s hyphenated now. Drove the official crazy.” Corrected Enna. Anne followed with,

“Erm, it’s actually Anne Jones. I might have gotten married.”

“Sorry, what?!”

“I’ll explain later.”

“Hi?” Cerea grinned awkwardly, raising one hand in a half wave for a brief second. “Who’s the Gnome?” Asked Ana.

“I’m Mae Helder. Who are you?”

“Anastasia. Call me Ana. He’s Dash.”

“Hey. So you’re their sister?” I asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

“Uh huh. How’d you meet these two?”

“The War.” Answered Ana.

“War? What War?”

“Little sister, you’ve missed a lot. About a decade ago there was a War. Norfolk is gone.”

“Wow. Anything else I need to know?”

“Well, here’s the slight matter of there being a different Baron.”

“What?!”

“His name is Fredrick Falk.”

“Wait. Does that mean?”

“Yeah. He’s gone. Died about two years after you left.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I know how much he meant to you.”

“It’s okay.” The previous Baron had been the first person who had believed in Enna for a long time. When he died she had taken it hard. He had been the latest in a long line of parental figures; and each one had died.

Pike, her adopted mother, had died when she was 10. Her older brother, Zibra, had died when she was nineteen, and everyone thought it was her fault. Everyone except Anne. Her mentor, a half-dragon named Sasha, had died when she was twenty eight. When she was 40 she came back to the capital, only to find Anne missing. She thought it was her fault. Anne had nearly died. Then her Uncle, her mother’s twin, had turned out be her mother’s murder, confessed to killing Zibra and framing her, then he tried to kill both the twins, leaving Enna with thin scars that covered her arms, shoulders, back & torso.

“Anyway, why are you here?”

“Well,” Said Cerea nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. “Gray has heard some things, concerning things. They’re actually what led to me finding Mae.”

“What things?” I asked.

“The forges, the ones under the mountain, are waking up again.”

“I still don’t understand why he would put forges there, of all locations.” Muttered Anne.

“You need to tell someone.”

“That’s why we came here. Under the Code, you need two high ranking Druids to request a meeting with a ruler.”

“That’s surprisingly smart for a twenty five year old.” Said Enna, perhaps the third time in her life she had judged someone because of their apparent age. Cerea, unsurprisingly, burst out laughing.

“I’m two hundred and ninety ish. Can’t remember the exact number. Not 25.”

“Two hundred and ninety four.” I muttered quietly.

“Two hundred and ninety four, then. Either way, I’m not twenty five.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Twenty five is the oldest anyone’s ever thought I looked. I had a couple friends, a few years ago, they thought I was nineteen. Never got around to correcting them.”

“Uh-huh.” I muttered. Cerea had always looked young for her age, and it, plus her innate and extremely powerful primordial magic and wildshaping powers, had allowed her to get away with more things than the average kid would. Most of these exploits were related to stealing jelly tarts, which Ana stole from her and I then stole some of them from Ana. Yeah, fourteen year old me probably had better things to do than steal pastries from a 7 year old prankster, but it was either that or get possessed again, which is not an experience I’d recommend to anyone.

Yes, you read that correctly. Possessed. It’s a very long story that will probably come to light in time. Probably. Either way, we were interrupted by Joshua, the Baron’s 19 year old half-dragon grandson materializing from out of nowhere. His brown curls were more rumpled than usual, and his blue eyes shown with exhaustion. Joshua’s robes, the outfit commonly worn by wizards-in-training, were rumpled, like he had slept in them. He wasn’t strictly half dragon, closer to a quarter dragon. His dad’s dad had been a black dragon. His Mum, the Baron’s youngest daughter, had eloped with his dad and Joshua had only been raised in the court after his parents died in an Orc raid when he was seven. Before you ask, yes most of us had/have sob stories for backgrounds. Happy people who are mentaly stable don’t go out and hunt literal dragons.

Either way, the top half of his face, on a diagonal from right to left, was covered in smooth, black scales. They continued down his neck, and onto one arm. Joshua asked, “So you guys do know each other. I mean, I didn’t think there were a lot of black haired and crazy powerful half elven druids, but hey. There could’ve been more than one. Anyway, Grandpa’s ready to talk to you two. You know how to get there?”

“Yep.” Confirmed Mae, leading Cerea down the hallway. Joshua stayed, leaning against the stone wall.

“Hey.” Anne raised one hand half heartedly, in a sort of wave.

“Hi.”

“So I know how Ana & Dash know the mildly terrifying druid lady, but how do you two know the Gnome?”

“She’s our sister.”

“But neither of you are two Gnomes in a trench coat. So how?”

“I don’t even own a trenchcoat.” Muttered Enna.

“Exactly.”

“She’s our adopted sister, our foster mother fostered her too, though we didn’t know that then.”

“You had a foster mother?”

Anne sighed. “Yes. Pike Helder. Why do you think we speak Gnome?”

“I don’t know. Figured you just knew a lot of Gnomes.”

“I mean, we do, but that’s not the point.”

“Also, I think we would know if you guys were just Gnomes in trenchcoats.” I remarked.

“Yeah, I think you would.” Said Anne.

“You okay?” Ana asked Joshua, probably in response to his disheveled appearance.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m fine. Just stressed.” Ana scoffed, but didn’t say anything more. Enna turned to me. Her arms were crossed.

“Spill.”

“What?” I asked cluelessly. Anne added, “You and Cerea have history. What is it?,” she asked, her body language the same as her twin.

“Nothing, we just knew each other as kids.” “Uh huh.” “So that’s all?” “Yes,” I lied. Anne laughed.

“It’s almost like he thinks we don’t know that he’s lying.” “Yeah.” I looked anywhere except at the twins.

“It wasn’t anything!” I said, coming way closer to yelling than I should.

“You apologized to each other in Dragon when you saw each other.” I swore under my breath. I had forgotten Enna knew Dragon. I tended to forget she knew a lot of languages, Elven not among them in spite of her heritage.

“That was nothing.” I mumbled.

“It was not nothing. I saw Ana’s expression when she saw Cerea. She looked like her best friend had just come back to life.”

“She has.”

“Please. We all know you’re Ana’s best friend. If it’s not you, it’s Zane. Anyway, Ana looked like her best friend had just come back to life. But you, you looked like, I don’t even know how to describe it. You looked a lot like Anne when she got married to Jones. You looked like you were in love.”

“No-o. Not in love with her. Dated her once, sure, maybe we kissed a couple times, but I’m not in love with her,” I protested, turning redder than Faith’s hair, which was very, very red. “Dash, either I tell them or you do.” Threatened Ana, switching into rapid Demonic. Demonic was the one language we both knew that the twins didn’t speak.

“Can we not do this now?!” I replied, in the same language.

“What, you don’t want all our friends to know that you and Cerea were etinye aka?” She asked, using an Elven word.

“No, I would prefer not. And I really think that Cerea wouldn’t either.” “You’d be surprised. She’s changed a lot in 300 years.”

“And how would you know? You’ve seen her about as much as I have.”

She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip and thinking. “I knew she was alive.”

--------End Chapter 1---------

If you've read this far THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tanoraqui]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

[now all on AO3!]

Nie Huaisang wakes up from his overexertion-induced sleep after about 14 hours, and about 24 hours before his brother wakes up. He has this time to think

He doesn’t use it to think, because his brother is still unconscious, comatose from a severe qi deviation. Chief Physician Nie Fengji, Wen Qing, Wen Qing’s Uncle Six, and assorted Nie physicians do obscure medical things to him involving spiritual energy, needles, a dash of surgery, and actually more of the poison that nearly killed him, in what Nie Huaisang can only assume is some sort of physician-approved hair of the dog scheme, and Nie Huaisang participates by sitting quietly in the corner until even that is deemed too in-the-way and he’s banished first to the hallway and then, with physician authority, to his own bed

they do search, and find some of the yin-storing grass hidden in Wen Ning’s pillow. Nie Huaisang doesn’t go to bed; he goes down to the third guest room and takes A-Yuan and Granny out for a walk just long enough for a couple disciples to beat Wen Ning enough to look good later - split lip and bruises, etc. In case anyone comes checking the story he gave Jin Qixian

Wen Ning, he hears, bears it with aplomb. Just in case it’s the Wens who are lying, Nie Huaisang doesn’t really give a shit

But on the third day since he collapsed off Baxia into the main courtyard, Nie Mingjue wakes up. He’s groggy and weak, physically and spiritually, but he shoves himself into a sitting position with a glare, catches and holds Nie Huaisang reflexively when he flings himself at his brother with a relieved laugh. Someone pulls him back - “stop putting weight on him!” - but it’s enough. It’s enough.

Wen Qing has three-day bags under her eyes. She says quietly, “That he’s awake - it shouldn’t leave this room. Not until Nie-zhongzhi is more recovered, and has decided what he wishes to do.” She nods toward Nie Mingjue

“What the fuck happened?” he demands, and it’s the weakest snarl Nie Huaisang has ever heard. His brother is already sagging back against his pillows. “Jin Guangshan was actually polite before I left Lanling, but I don’t remember...”

“He poisoned you,” Nie Huaisang says bluntly, because he’s thinking again and that was the last straw he needed to be convinced of how this happened (he never really stopped thinking, deep beneath the anxious terror and anticipation.) “No, this stays here...or can he be moved to his own bedroom?” he asks the Chief Physician. “It’d be more comfortable, and easier to hide his state from any spies Jin Guangyao might have - I mean, I assume he has spies. I’d want to...”

[the mastermind]

A few days later, Nie Huaisang arrives at Lotus Pier and begs his friends to take him out on the town. Distract him with food and wine and cheer from the stresses of home, where his brother is still comatose and everyone is starting to expect him to be responsible instead

Jiang Cheng is busy with Sect Leader duties but Wei Wuxian takes him up on it immediately. There’s nowhere quite like Yunmeng’s piers for goofing around - somewhere around the fourth street theater show and second jug of wine between them, Nie Huaisang leans over and asks, “The next time there’s a cultivational conference at Carp Tower - would you be interested in making a ruckus?”

they’re walking down the street in a crowd. It’s very hard to be overheard on the street in a crowd

“Like tonight?” Wei Wuxian grins and he, too, looks like this night has been a welcome break

“Without me,” Nie Huaisang admits. “Just to have some fun - make a scene! Cause a fun distraction!”

A single jar of wine in Wei Wuxian means he’s still mostly sharp. “A distraction for what?”

“Oh, you know,” Nie Huaisang says airily, hides half his face behind a coy fan and says more quietly. “Helping some of those Wens dying in Jin Guangshan’s work camps.”

Wei Wuxian has never had much head for intrigue, but at least he whispers. “The same Wens who assa- who tried to assassinate your brother?”

“No, silly!” Nie Huaisang baps him with the fan, laughing, and hopes WWX sees in his eyes that he’s serious. “That’s a different thing. This is just to have some fun!”

Wei Wuxian meets his eyes, and his face splits back into a grin. It’s regained the sharp-toothed edge its been carrying since the end of the Sunshot Campaign. “Why not? I could use a little fun myself!”

The next cultivation conference at Carp Tower is in just three weeks, and Nie Huaisang spends them frantic. There’s so much to do, and he can’t let anyone know about any of it. There are plenty of empty houses, empty entire villages - the war was fought in Qinghe only second to Qishan, for Wen Ruohan’s determination to capture the impenetrable fortress clan 

he wants to err on the side of making sure people will have shelter, especially with winter coming on, but he needs to err on the side of stealth or they’ll never pull this off - 

but how are they (how is he) going to pull it off anyway, honestly; there’s only so many times he can storm in and demand things with a wild combination of pitiful tears and borrowed authority...he can’t exactly get another note for the actual Jin clan - 

...though...

they don’t need that many extra roofs, at least, if there won’t be that many people (priority of the Dafan Wens, of course, to repay Wen Qing and because, honestly, they’re the largest group that survived the initial purges, being mostly non-combatants)

he tried and failed to put the distraction out of mind, because there’s really no way to know in advance what Wei Wuxian would do, much less how to handle it. whether it would create a day or a week or several more years of chaos...

and then there was the really difficult part: getting Nie Mingjue to stay the fuck in bed, or at least in his own suite of rooms. Nie Huaisang’s brother was the worst patient possible, which was unfair, because Nie Huaisang himself would’ve loved to have an excuse to lounge in his bedroom doing leisurely, sedentary activities for few weeks. Instead he was out running around organizing things - while letting as few people as possible know what he was organizing or even that he was doing it - and Nie Mingjue was being threatened every other day by Wen Qing and her needles

To make matters more exciting, 10 days out from the cultivation conference, a delegation arrived without from YunmengJiang - Jiang Wanyin himself, and riding with him, Jiang Yanli. Nie Huaisang met them in the courtyard; she stepped gracefully off her brother’s sword and gave him a hug that was, honestly, meltingly comforting and kind

“Nie Huaisang! I’ve been so sorry to hear about Mingjue-gongzi. I would have come sooner, but, you know, we’re only stealing this time from a trip to Lanling for more wedding planning.” She gestured to a pair of disciples who between them hauled a tureen the size of a small child. “I brought some of my best medicinal soup - I don’t know if it will possibly be right, but A-Xian told me how hard it’s been for you, and I just had to try to help.”

offer

“You’re too kind, Jiang-guniang.” He fluttered his fan anxiously. “I’m sure Da-ge would thank you if he could, but...” he blinked away tears. “I can’t even let you in to see him; the physicians even turned away his sworn brothers.”

skeptical outlining of situation

(Jin Guangyao was obviously right out, and the idea of involving earnest, idealistic Zewu-jun in any sort of conspiracy made Nie Huaisang think fondly of breaking out in hives)

“Of course,” Jiang Yanli said sympathetically. She took her brother’s arm back to lean on, and Nie Huaisang took his cue to bow and offer her refreshments and a set - maybe with a view? He knew all the best places. Jiang Yanli, genuinely frail enough to not be expected to do much more than look lovely, accepted

they had a very pleasant conversation about other things - poetry, who was and wasn’t being invited to the wedding, the latest fashions in Lanling (Nie Huaisang sighed wistfully) 

eventually Jiang Yanli asked, between one sip of tea and the next, “This event you’re planning with A-Xian - could it be postponed? Say, six months?”

the wedding. Nie Huaisang’s breath caught briefly - now that would be a distraction in its own right, even without anything Wei Wuxian could pull

but he thought about the emaciated, flinching Wens in the Qiongqi Pass camp, and those back in Qishan who weren’t much better off, and shook his head. “Not for those to whom it would matter most.” 

and, frankly, he couldn’t ask his brother to stay quiet so long, and he really would prefer than Lanling not know Nie Mingjue had truly survived until they were ready to strike back

Jiang Yanli hummed thoughtfully. “What about...two, two-and-a-half months?”

...there was nothing happening in two months, except the middle of winter. which would make roads more impassible, maybe to their advantage, but only if a couple different things went wrong...

but Jiang Yanli was smiling sweetly, like someone with a plan

“I think that would be wonderful,” he said, and sipped his tea back at her

Jiang Cheng punches him on the shoulder before they go and says he doesn’t seem like he’s doing completely terribly at everything, which is the Jiang Cheng equivalent of a supportive hug and 10-minute earnest pep talk. Nie Huaisang is genuinely warmed

Jiang Yanli, mentally cracking her knuckles as her brother flies her to Carp Tower: time to seduce my fiancee, the third hottest man in the kingdom, into putting a baby in me so we can speedrun our wedding prep - for a good cause! god I love my life

[the grifter]

unfortunately, two-and-a-half months is too long a delay to use the usual “ask for forgiveness, not permission” method, not least because Nie Huaisang has to explain to his brother why he wants him to keep pretending to be comatose, when even his physicians are starting to agree that he needs exercise more than rest

“No,” Nie Mingjue says flatly

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang pleads. “It’ll just be so much easier if everyone thinks I’m running around like a terrified rabbit!”

“Why do you insist on being useless at all times?” Nie Mingjue growled, a familiar old song. “If you just applied yourself - ”

“Because it’s easier!” Nie Huaisang cried (a newer tune). “Because I don’t want to be a great warrior, I just want to make pretty things and have friends and have fun - and when I do want something, it’s much easier to get it if no one thinks I’m worth anything - ”

“Of course you’re worth something,” Nie Mingjue snapped. “You’re the heir to QingheNie and you’re my brother!”

Nie Huaisang really did cry easily. He blinked away the tears.

“The Jins tried to kill you, da-ge,” he said quietly. “And they tried to make it look like a qi deviation.” (Like Father, went unsaid. Like my mother and your uncle and three of our cousins, one of whom was only thirteen.) “I want to make clear to them what we think of that.”

Nie Mingjue unclenched his hand from Baxia’s hilt, with whom Nie Fengji and Sixth Uncle had finally agreed to let him reunite. “Then we kill one of them back,” he said. “Not this underhanded, indirect...and with Wen-dogs...”

“If I could kill Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao in one stroke, right now, I’d do it. But that would start another war, and we could survive another war, but a lot of our people wouldn’t. Only about seven out of ten survived the last one.” He bit his lip. “And the Wens...not all of them were monsters, we’ve seen that, and the Jins tried to blame the ones we know are alright. This will show them that we can make up our own minds.”

Nie Mingjue was silent for a long moment, and Nie Huaisong resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot. His brother was never impressed with fidgeting.

“Fine,” Nie Mingjue said at last. “Do your scheme. But you’d better prove that you’re right, Huaisang.”

“I will, Nie-zhongzhi.” He stood at parade attention.

“And you won’t use it as excuse that you’re too busy to practice your saber.”

“Da-ge!” he whined instantly. “But I will be busy! We need to tar all the house roofs in Ning Village, and find about fifty spare horses, and weed out any spies in our household - oh, and do you have any letters from Jin Guangyao I can look at? And...”

News came that the wedding of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan had been moved up to two months rom now and Nie Huaisang whistles under his breath then flinches reflexively, before he realizes there’s no "Twin Prides” around to smack him for disrespecting their sister

But two months somehow passed even faster than that first week had. Homes to quietly repair and no few medical supplies to stock up on, winter snow-ready horses to find and discard with another trip to Yunmeng, social visits to carefully negotiate...

Gossip flowed, as always. Gossip said: Nie Mingjue has survived the dastardly attack on his life; he’s still half-dead or he’s twice the warrior he ever was or he personally executed every Wen in his dungeons. Gossip said: the witch Wen Qing had seduced him and stabbed him with a poisoned blade; the witch Wen Qing had fallen in love with him and saved him from a random qi deviation; the witch Wen Qing was actually the Yiling Patriarch in disguise and both of the above were true. Gossip generally agreed that Nie Huaisang was still wavering between disconsolate over his brother’s brush his death (and his own brush with Sect Leadership) and dragging anyone who would heed him out for drinks and entertainment 

Jin Guangyao did have spies in the Unclean Realm, of course; he knew their value. His girl in the kitchen got fired over some mistake with a roast, but the guest cultivator and the chambermaid and assorted people in the nearest towns generally agreed: Nie Mingjue was back on his feet but still rebuilding his strength under the careful eye of his Chief Physician, and didn’t remember anything from the day of his qi deviation. Wen Qing was dead, as were all the other Wens - she and Wen Zhichen had preformed well in healing the damage she’d done in her attempt to poison the sect leader, under threat of their own deaths, but when Nie Mingjue woke up he'd ordered their deaths without even the dignity of public execution. Nie Huaisang was so wracked with guilt over bringing them into the house that he’d actually started practicing saber sometimes, and just a little heartbroken over the death of the child in particular

this last, Jin Guangyao found out himself, as well as confirmed most of the rest when he was allowed to visit his sworn brother and ended up letting Nie Huaisang sob on his shoulder for two straight hours. He had to have the robe steam-cleaned, but it was very informative

“Would you like us to kill the rest of the Wen-dogs?” he asked his sworn brother. “Or you can do it yourself, of course.”

Nie Mingjue snorted dismissively. “I killed the ones who were the biggest problem. Keep working your dogs to death as you like.”

The night before they were supposed to leave for the Jiang-Jin wedding, Nie Huaisang sat in his brother’s chambers (as he had taken to doing many evenings) and absolutely failed to focus on his paints.

“ - I’m sure I can handle the lieutenants left in charge, though really I haven’t talked to them as much so they’re more likely to be suspicious, especially if I didn’t get the calligraphy right - ”

“Huaisang - ”

“ - and the Wens themselves, I mean, this has to go quickly if it’s going to work at all - what if Wen Ning hasn’t gotten word around - we haven’t heard from him since yesterday, what if they found him, he could be- Wen Qing is going to kill me - ”

(the Nie sect wasn’t given to duplicity, but that didn’t mean their fortress of a sect building didn’t have a few spare secret rooms and passageways, in which to hide a handful of Wens for a couple months)

“A-sang - ”

“ - hell, what if the arrays don’t work and we all just die - but it’s the only way; horses wouldn’t be fast enough, especially with the heavy snows this year - ”

“Nie Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue barks in a parade-ground voice.

Nie Huaisang spins around mid-pace to stand at attention, one hand behind his back and the other on his saber hilt. A very few reflexes have been successfully trained into him

His brother scowls at him from the bed, where he sits in lotus position as the world’s grumpiest, most broad-shouldered guru. Nie Huaisang braces himself

“I’m proud of you,” says Nie Mingjue

“I- what?” 

Nie Huaisang has spent the last two and a half months careful of every expression he made, but now he isn’t sure what to do at all.

“You’ve actually put effort into this. It’s needlessly elaborate and only just barely honorable, and it’s certainly not saberwork. But it’s...something.” He nods.

“...oh.” 

his posture does relax in surprise. but then, the parade-attention was never going to last

“You will pull off this absurd scheme, and you will not be in any way injured in the process, because if you are, we will go to war with LanlingJin.”

“Yes, da-ge”

“Now shut the fuck up, or I’ll call Wen Qing in to put you to sleep, while I do this bullshit boring nightly meditation.”

Nie Huaisang ducks his head. “Yes, da-ge.”

oh, a smile. a smile is the expression he wants to make

The day of the wedding of Jin Zixuan of Langling and Jiang Yanli of Yunmeng dawns auspiciously bright and the ceremony lives up to every portent. Carp Tower is decorated with even more red than gold. The bride is radiant enough to make the sun weep for jealousy; the groom looks pretty good, too; and they only have eyes for one another. Both her brothers cry, Jiang Cheng stoically and Wei Wuxian loudly; Madame Jin looks even happier than the newlyweds; and Nie Huaisang makes sure he’s among the first to offer the happy couple congratulations, so he can equally quickly slip out and set off a teleportation talisman

He appears in the woods near the first town in the Qishan that the spare Wen cultivators and other prisoners of war are being stored in. A dozen Nie cultivators are waiting expectantly, led by Zhao Huandi

Nie Huaisang quickly strips himself of the outer layer of wedding-appropriate finery, leaving his ordinary day’s slightly-nicer-than-most-would-bother-with finery. He tucks the extra beautiful stuff carefully in a qiankun pouch and asks, “Everyone ready?”

nods and salutes and murmurs of agreement

He briefly channels a completely different work of fiction: “Let’s go steal a small populace.” 

It’s actually...very easy. “Isn’t the young lord’s wedding today?” asks the man left in charge while Jin Qixian, being a cousin of the family, is at that wedding. “Why aren’t you at that?”

“I didn’t practice my saber for a week and my brother got sooo angry.” Nie Huaisang pouts. “He forbade me from the party of the year, and gave me a job to do instead! It’s not fair - I’d be happy to do a favor for san-ge any other day!”

The lieutenant eyes the orders he’s been handed, in Jin Guangyao’s handwriting with Jin Guangyao’s signature. “Well, it does all seem to be in order.” He waves to the nearest guard. “Hey, start rounding up the prisoners - all of them!”

Nie Huaisang had two months, a lot of correspondence, and a great deal of practice imitating art styles. He’d been able to forge his own brother’s handwriting since was twelve - Jin Guangyao’s was much easier. Much neater

Nie Huaisang spotted the guard who’d been kind enough to let Granny come with A-Yuan, that first time, and pointed at him. “Make sure you get all the old people and babies and stuff, too! Anyone who can’t come on their own!

As Wens start to gather (be gathered) in the main square, most of the Nie cultivators clear a space and sketch out a large array in blood, a little from each cultivator’s hand. It’s wide enough for about forty people to stand in. When it’s done, Nie Huaisang nods to a disciple standing to the side with a bow. She leans back and shoots an arrow with a red ribbon into the sky. It vanishes in a spark of golden light

one of Nie Sect’s messenger arrows. It will land at Wen Qing’s feet in Qinghe to let her know that they’re on their way, and she can be ready with whatever medical care and reassurances she wants

He claps to get the muttering, anxious crowd’s attention, and can’t quite help but grin as he gets it. He gestures to the bloody array, reminiscent of a teleportation talisman on a grand scale. “All right, who wants to leave this terrible place where everyone hates you in exchange for a new terrible place where everyone hates you, travel by serving as the first test subjects of the Yiling Patriarch’s new mass-teleportation array?!”

[the hacker]

(a jest. Wei Wuxian definitely tested it first, on himself and a bunch of rabbits and himself+Jiang Cheng (in that order.) He promised.)

it’s a little out-of-character, but most of the guards who react just laugh meanly. And the Wens, hell yes, have been prepped. A handful protest, beg mercy or insist that this is their home, but for the most part, Nie Huaisang can recognize amateur acting when he sees it

thank goodness - they need a ratio of at least 1 participating cultivator to every 6 civilians to power the array, or the Nie cultivators supporting it from outside will exhaust themselves immediately

as the first group is going, a burst of light bright enough to blind, an arrow falls from the sky to Nie Huaisang’s feet. The note attached is from Liu Lifang: won’t take Lianfang-zun’s orders

aw, hell. He hesitates - another arrow lands, a green ribbon on the end. The first batch of Wens arrived safely in Qinghe

he passes both arrows to Zhao Huandi and murmurs, “I’m going to go sort this out. Make sure everyone gets through, stop it if something goes wrong with the teleportation. If something goes wrong with the Wens or the Jins...try not to kill anyone”

Zhao Huandi bows, turns and immediately starts shouting for the array to be checked for the next batch. Nie Huaisang makes some hasty, whining excuses to the Jin lieutenant, pulls out another teleportation, and-

arrives in the filthy refugee/prisoner city with a bit of the ache of an over-taxed golden core. He rests his hands on his knees for a moment, catching his breath

Still better than sword travel. He’s going to bother Wei Wuxian for these all the time, now

the woman left in charge in Jin Guangchao’s place is engaged in a staring glaring contest with Liu Lifang at their supervisory office. But have their arms crossed and the tension is so thick they’re both clearly itching to slice it with a sword

Nie Huaisang tumbles through the door with a whining, “What? Why did you call me?”

“I actually sent my message to Sect Leader Nie...” says Liu Lifang, with masterful confusion

“Well, he sent me,” Nie Huaisang complains. He turns to the other woman. “What’s the big deal? Da-ge said we should have a note for san-ge - that is, Jin Guangyao, Lianfang-zun - ”

She scowled even more darkly. “My orders come from Jin Guangchao and his from Sect Leader Jin Guangshan, not from Jin-zhongzhi’s bastard son”

[split-second thinking]

“Oh, but Guangyao-ge really knows what he’s doing,” said Nie Huaisang, wide-eyed. “He was so good at organizing everything, before da-ge had to banish him that one time” Bait...

“’So good’?” she challenges. “Then why’d he get banished at all?”

“Oh, you must have heard of my brother’s temper,” Nie Huaisang whines. “He gets so angry when one little thing goes wrong, and then Meng Yao - back then - did a pretty big thing...you’re so lucky Sect Leader Jin is more forgiving.” Hook...

“It would be terrible if Jin Guangyao did something to so anger Sect Leader Jin,” she said thoughtfully.

“I’m glad I doubt he ever would!” He gestured to the forged papers in Liu Lifang’s hand. “And as you can see, we have direct orders from him for you to release these prisoners into Nie Sect’s care - so won’t you do your duty and obey, so I can get back to my party?”

Do your duty, the orders themselves aren’t your responsibility, they’re his. The Jin cultivator nods slowly, then bows sharply, formal and faux-friendly. “Of course, Young Master Nie. How good of you to help your brother like this.”

Sinker.

(also not the worst idea, actually. a little dissension thrown into the Jin clan would be great)

Once again, most of the Wens are almost more willing the queue up than the guards are to make them, though many do blanch at the twenty-foot teleportation array drawn in blood (maximum power for minimal cost, Wei Wuxian had explained). A few are genuinely terrified of leaving; a few are almost certainly just enjoying the drama

a young man, as grubby as the rest and face hidden behind a shy curtain of hair, steps into the array without a flinch, and gives Nie Huaisang a subtle thumbs up. He waves back, just as underhanded, and lets slip a relieved sigh as he mentally crosses out “accidentally got her brother killed and/or captured/tortured/etc” on the list of reasons Wen Qing might kill him one day

[the thief spy]

(it hadn’t been easy to convince her to let him go in the first place. but really, Wen Ning was quick-thinking, trustworthy to all who met him, and good at staying hidden when he needed to. and they needed the Wens helping power the arrays, not to mention just not putting up a fight - everything going much quicker with word spread as to what was really happening. And, Nie Huaisang prided himself, it was just a little bit kinder)

this city’s worth were half gone to Qinghe when another messenger arrow landed at his feet in a burst of golden light. A purple ribbon - First Disciple Han Xiaoshi was done at Qiongqi Pass

she’d taken a much higher percentage of skilled warriors (not that all Nie Sect cultivators weren’t skilled warriors) than the other groups, as well as a “signed” note from Jin Guangyao. The work camp at Qiongqi Pass was the place Nie Huaisang least minded if the rescue of the Wens turned into a fight with the Jins. Sixth Uncle had taken nearly as long to get back into good health as Nie Mingjue, and he hadn’t liked hte way the inspectors smiled

[the hitter]

a few minutes later, a blue-ribboned arrow meant the first Qishan group was all through, too. Nie Huaisang and Liu Lifang’s group was the last to finish

they went with the last batch. One disciple stayed behind to clean it up and fly home - no point in sharing the Yiling Patriarch’s proprietary inventions with Jin Sect if they didn’t have to

the mass teleportation array is much worst than the single-use talisman. Nie Huaisang feels like he’s been turned upside-down and inside-out, and wrung out like a wet cloth besides. Golden core, more like yellowish pith. He does his best to stay standing

he’s knocked flat by the impact of a small mass slamming into his shins at high speed. “Sang-ge! Sang-ge! You didn’t say everyone was going to be at the wedding! Was it fun? Where are your pretty clothes?”

“My extra pretty clothes are in my qiankun bag, A-Yuan.” He pushed himself to sit up, and attempts to distangle the toddler from his legs. “Which is good, because you’re getting my normal pretty clothes all dirty on the ground!”

A-Yuan squeezed him even tighter, to show that nobody was the boss of him, then sprang away with his hands behind his back, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. That, too, lasted for about half a second before the boy was bouncing in place again. “Did you know that Uncle Four is here now, and Auntie Three, and Zhui Li and Mengmeng and Han Yao got a puppy - ”

“A-Yuan, stop harassing the poor man!” Granny hurried up behind him at a much slower pace than a toddler could manage. She bows, over A-Yuan-head, eyes shining. “Young Master Nie has done a great service for us this day. You should be saying thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he says, dreaming briefly of sliding a sword through Jin Guangshan’s throat. He forces himself to stand - the world has mostly stopped swimming - and pulls her upright, and pokes A-Yuan with his foot so he follows suit. “A-Yuan was just giving me a report - yes, we’re the last batch!” he calls to a cultivator approaching with a querulous expression. “You’d better send an arrow to da-ge to tell him that it’s all okay!”

Second Disciple Ling Jiaoshi nods and scribbles out a note, and hands it to a junior trailing behind him with a bow and arrow

behind them, around them, about five hundred Wens and Wen-associated people are milling around a deep valley tucked into Qinghe’s mountains. Most are avoiding the three great arrays painted in blood in the center of a some fields, mirrors to the ones in Qishan and Qiongqi Pass, though the landing sites will be inactive with their pairs destroyed. Many are exclaiming to see family and friends again, or looking around in wary uncertainty, or both. The main source of order is being imposed by the multiple triage tents, sorting out who needs medical attention and who just needs a blanket and hearty meal. Nie Huaisang can hear the Chief Physician yelling at someone in the distance

A-Yuan tugs on his hand and repeats accusatorially, “You didn’t say everyone was going to be at the wedding! That must have been so big! Are we all staying with Sang-ge and Miss Yi now? And Aunt Qing and Uncle Ning and Uncle Nie-Who-Needs-Quiet?” His eyes widen and he tugs even harder. “Did you bring new candy?!”

Nie Huaisang laughs and pulls from one pocket a silk flag in brilliant red, filched from the wedding decorations. “No, but I did get material for a new fan. Do you want to help me paint it?”

To be concluded with a brief epilogue!

[tomspancakes]

This Way: Part 7

*not my gif*

Pairing: Tom Holland x Actress! reader

Word Count: 4895

Warnings: noneeeee

Summary: Lock down has officially begun.

A/N: I’m a bit behind in writing this series bc of writers block so the other parts may come a later than expected :/, but here’s a lil filler chapter that I had fun writing hehe :) Please don’t hesitate to ask to be in the taglist or lmk if your enjoying this series/ have critiques!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

+++

“Just know that I’ll wait for you, darling. Take all the time you need. I’m a little upset, but just take your time. Really, I’ll wait for you.” Tom dragged his feet as he walked out. You sat there stunned at what he said. ‘Zendaya wasn’t wrong when she said he’d wait.’ You thought.

You wiped the tears that threatened to fall and you stood up. When you walked out Tom was 5 feet ahead of you with the shades in his hands, you didn’t bother to catch up because you knew he was upset with you right now.

When you reached the living room Tom chucked the glasses at Harry’s stomach. 

“What the hell?” Harry sat up looking at his brother annoyed. Tom huffed and sat between Harrison and Tuwaine looking straight at the screen, they gave him odd looks. You looked at him apologetically before sitting next to Harry.

“I’m surprised he didn’t want to sit next to you. What the hell is his problem?” He whispered to you.

“I don’t know if I should tell you here, Tom will literally know I’m telling you about it.” You looked over at Tom who was scrolling through his phone not looking at the screen anymore. “Oh nevermind I’ll tell you, but do not freak out.” Harry nodded.

“Tom and I kinda sorta confessed that we still have feelings for one another?…” You said coming out as more of a question. Harry stared at you with wide eyes. “But… oh my god you’re gonna hate me. I told him I wasn’t ready to jump back into a relationship right now. You know because we both got out of relationships not too long ago and-” you were going to start rambling, but Harry put his hands on your shoulders.

“No no I understand, y/n. I mean I’m surprised he even tried asking you out now. It took him so long to ask you before.” He snickered remembering when you and Tom first dated.

“Yeah it did take him a while to ask.” You smiled, “Anyway, Tom told me he was upset, but he did say he’d wait for me too.”

“Ya he has that look on his face like he’s arguing with himself right now.” You both looked at Tom and sure enough his brows were furrowed and he had a little pout. He looked really cute actually so you giggled a bit, but also felt bad because you were the cause of his overthinking.

“I think he’s determined to win you over.”

“I know, but I told him that I think we should both self evaluate and grow before jumping into anything.” Harry nodded understanding.

“Yeah that’s a good idea, but I think my brother is a little impatient.” He sighed and shook his head. “Just try not to break his heart, it was bad the first time you guys broke up. I’m not too worried about him hurting you, cause he’s so damn head over heels for you. I knew he has been since the moment he invited you to stay here.”

“Rude of you to think I’d hurt him, Harold. And you’re talking nonsense we barely talked then and just started talking more now.” You said and flicked his nose then he swatted your hand away. Your heart skipped a beat at what Harry said, but you didn’t want to think too much about it. You had to focus on yourself first.

- A few days later -

Tom walked closer with tears running down his face, “Allana stop!” You screamed before seeing the knife. You felt the skin on your neck burn and Allana dropped you to the floor. Her dark laugh rang through your ears. Tom ran up to you and cradled you in his lap. “You really thought you could beat me.” Allana laughed. “Y/n. Stay with me. You’ll be alright. Please don’t close your eyes.”  “Tom, I-I can’t-”

You sat up panting hard and you touched your neck, which had scabbed up by now. This was the third time you had the same nightmare since the Allana incident. You looked at your phone and it was 2:34 AM and wiped the little beads of sweat that formed on your forehead. You were sleepy, but too afraid to go back to sleep. Your mind immediately went to Tom so you put a sweatshirt on before walking to his room. Tom hasn’t talked to you as much in the past few days because he was afraid he’d ruin things with you again, he felt it was best to leave you some space. But you on the other hand thought he was mad at you. You began to have second thoughts when you reached Tom’s closed door. You shook your head thinking it was a bad idea and you decided to just grab a glass of water then go back to bed.

You walked down the stairs with your head low. “Oh hey, y/n.” You jumped and put a hand over your heart not expecting anyone else to be up.

“H-hi, Tom.” He gave you a crooked smile. Tom had just been watching some funny videos at the counter with an empty glass next to him.

“Sorry, darling. Didn’t mean to frighten you. Can’t sleep?” He asked as you grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.

“Yeah I uh had a nightmare.” You sighed and sat next to him at the counter, “What about you?”

“Too many thoughts before bed.” He chuckled, “What was the nightmare?” He asked, turning to look at you not letting you ask about his thoughts.

“W-well this is the third night I’ve had this dream. It’s been ruining my sleep.” You sighed and he gave you a concerned look, “In the dream uh Allana she actually succeeds in k-killing me. I know she only left a small cut on my neck, but I keep thinking ‘what if she went just a little deeper?’” Your eyebrows furrowed as your mouth began to dry up. Tom placed a hand over yours and rubbed your knuckles with his thumb.

“You’re ok now, darling. She’s been put away.”

“B-but what if she’s released because of her uncle?” You looked at Tom afraid and his heart hurt to see you so scared. He placed his other hand on your cheek and your face relaxed.

“I swear to you I won’t let harm near you again. If she does get out I’ll make sure she never comes near you. I will protect you with my whole life. I-I was so scared she was going to hurt you more, Y/n.” Your heart melted at what he said. He sighed and looked down at his feet removing his hand from your cheek, “I-I’m so sorry that I haven’t been talking to you much again. I just realized now that I was so afraid I would lose you again and in the worst way possible. I-I can’t let you leave and I almost let go of you again by not talking to you these past few days.” He shook his head at his actions. You put a hand on his thigh and rubbed it.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I understand why you were upset. I would’ve felt the same if you told me what I told you.” You sighed and he nodded.

“I’ll make things right. I promise.” He said sternly.

“We…” You corrected him, “We will make things right. I-if we’re gonna try to be something again, not right this second obviously, but if we do try I need to help make things right as well because we’re in this together. This won’t be all on you.” You said and smiled at him. Tom felt like he just won the lottery with this information. You gave him all the hope he needed to completely fall for you again. He wanted you to be his again, ‘This would be the start.’ He thought and gave you a wide smile.

“Ah see, we’re already making progress in growth together. Does this mean you’ll date me in 2 days?” He joked and you nudged his leg with your foot.

“It really is a start though.” You said and yawned before resting your head on the counter.

“You wanna go to sleep now, darling?” Tom asked, rubbing your knuckles again.

“I’ll head back to my room in a bit, I’m still trying to calm down from the nightmare.” 

“Y-you can sleep with me if you want, you know so you’re not afraid. It’s not like you haven’t slept in my room yet anyways. No strings attached I swear. I’ll sleep opposite sides of you also.” You sat up and gave him a raised brow and he chuckled, “I promise, love. Just a friendly gesture, don’t want it to get in the way of our growth.” He said and you contemplated a bit before nodding. Tom smiled and stood up with his back turned to you. “Hop on, love.” You giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck and your legs around his torso. He gently lifted you up while wrapping his strong arms under your thighs and you leaned your head on the back of his shoulder smelling his cologne.

“Oh wait Tom I have to put the glass in the sink.” You said. Tom galloped back to the counter and you giggled as you placed the glass in the sink, “You’re so stupid yet charming at the same time, Tom.”

“Only for you, darling.” He said softly. How was it that Tom could make your heart go crazy so easily?

When you got to his room he opened the door with one hand and gently sat you on the right side of his bed. You pulled your sweatshirt off leaving you in a tank top and Tom pulled his shirt off, he could feel you staring at his back muscles, “You’re making me blush, y/n. Stop staring.” 

“You’re so hard headed I hate you.” You laughed and you flopped on his comfy pillows. Tom slipped under the covers of the left side of the bed leaving a good amount of space between you two. He shut the lamp light off and said,

“Good night, y/n. Wake me up if you need anything or have another nightmare.”

“Thanks again for everything, Tom. Good night.” You said and he hummed in response. You turned to your side and closed your eyes trying to sleep, but the fact that Tom was right next to you kept you up. You opened your eyes again and turned on your back,

“H-hey Tom?” He hummed again, “Y-you can come closer if you want…” You hinted at him. Tom sat up and looked at you with a cheeky grin. He scooted closer to you and you turned to face him. When he laid back down his left arm wrapped around your waist. Then you rested your head and the back of your hands on his right arm. You were both so close that you could feel his breath on the tip of your nose and you gulped. 

“This close enough, darling?” He whispered making your heart race. 

“Yes, thank you.” You said softly. 

“Alright, I’ve got you. I’m not leaving.” With that your whole body relaxed against his and you felt pure bliss as you drifted off into a deep sleep.

-

You woke up the next morning to the sound of someone knocking. You looked around and remembered what happened last night. 

“Morning, love, come down now. The boys and I made breakfast.” Tom was in the doorway still shirtless. You blushed looking at his toned abs. “Take a picture, it'll last longer, darling.” You stuck your tongue out at him and he laughed. You got up and he waited for you as you pulled your sweatshirt back on. 

“What the hell? Why’d you let me sleep in?” You looked at your phone and it was 10:27 AM. You both headed downstairs.

“Well everyone woke up a bit late today, and you looked so comfy I didn’t want to wake you. Plus you had a rough night last night, you needed your rest.” He smiled at you, and you blushed at his kindness.

“You seem happier… I  mean we had a good talk last night, but I’m surprised you’re this happy.” You said suspiciously and he snickered.

“Well, last night was refreshing, gave me some hope. Plus I can’t stay mad at the girl I’m trying to go after.” He winked at you and you laughed because he was going back to his usual flirty self.

“Tom…”

“Yeah I know, darling. Growth first. Just a little reminder I’m still willing to wait.” He kissed your forehead before reaching the bottom of the stairs and he walked off in front of you leaving you in awe. He knew exactly what he was doing, but you couldn’t give in yet.

“Ah morning, Y/n!” Tuwaine cheered.

“Morning boys! Thanks for cooking again. I promise I’ll cook soon.”

“Tom was the one that cooked the most actually, but don’t worry about it, we love attempting to cook. Also I’d like to take your offer of being my sous chef sometime.” Haz pointed at you and reminded you of when you said you’d help him make chicken like Nando’s. 

“Plus, it seems like you’ll have plenty of time to cook now. We’re officially on lockdown.” Harry said.

“What?” You asked while taking a seat at the table.

“Yeah we can only leave for groceries and walking around the block.” Tom said while sitting next to you and handing you a plate. You thanked him,

“Well that’s just great. I guess I won’t be filming for even longer now.” You sighed and Tom looked at you apologetically. 

“Yeah I’m sorry about that. Uncharted may be pushed back a whole year. We can grieve together.” He joked and you smiled at him.

“Wait, Harry we never got to see your short film!” You said realizing.

“Oh shit yeah. That reminds me I’m actually posting it tonight, you guys wanna watch it now?” You all nodded and Tom picked your plate up for you so you only had to carry your water. 

“Tom,” You giggled, “I can carry it myself.” He shook his head. 

“Nope. I shall treat you like a princess.” He said in a posh voice and your heart skipped a beat as you smiled at him.

“Oi stop fucking around. You guys disgust me. Just come and watch now!” Harrison yelled from the living room. You blushed and all the boys laughed. 

You and Tom sat next to each other as Harry stood next to the TV.

“Thank you all for your support. I worked really hard on this and I hope you enjoy ‘Roses for Lily’ as much as I do.” He pressed play and plopped down next to you.

-

“Oh my god, Harry. That was beautiful.” You said as you wiped a stray tear.

“Wow. I’m so proud of you little bro. Truly amazing work that you did. Your future in the industry is bright.” Tom said smiling and gave Harry a hug. 

“Haz, Tuwaine. What’d you guys think?” You asked and you all turned to see that they too cried.

“Got us right in the feels. Fuck you Harry.” Tuwaine said and you giggled.

“You guys are so cute.” You said.

“Oh shut up, y/n.” Haz said. You all laughed. Tom looked at you admiringly loving how good you were with his friends and his family. You were so easygoing and your energy just rubbed off on everyone around you and Tom loved that about you. You noticed that Tom was staring and you booped his nose.

“Stop looking at me weirdo.” He just smiled at you and pulled you in for a tight hug.

“Oh my god we’re all still here. You guys need to chill!” Harry joked. You pushed Tom off of you and blushed laying down to hide behind your best friends back. This lockdown really was gonna get interesting.

- 

You sat outside reading over a new script that your manager, Stacy, sent you. The boys were playing video games inside and Tom was cooking up some burgers for lunch in the kitchen. You heard the sliding door open and Harrison walked out.

“Hey, y/n. You alright?” He sat next to you on the bench.

“Yeah I’m great actually, how’re the games?” You put your script down and he shrugged.

“Eh I was getting bored of it. I don’t know how I’ll survive in lockdown if I’m already bored.” You both laughed.

“I’m sure we’ll make it fun somehow. You guys are all creative.” You said and sipped your water.

“Yeah, I guess so… So did you finally give into Tom?” You choked on your water.

“I-if you’re implying that I’m his girlfriend or something then no,” You laughed a bit, “Are you trying to be his wingman right now or something?”

Harrison scoffed sarcastically, “Pfft no… Well at least he didn’t ask me to…” You laughed at this.

“I get it, Haz. I do. Best friend duties.” You stated and he nodded.

“Anyway he did tell me about everything though. Ya know the lil cheeky cuddle you two shared last night.” He winked at you.

“Wow that boy really can’t keep a secret.” You joked. 

“Well actually this is the first time in a while he’s told me anything of the sort. Last time he really told me anything was when you guys first started fighting before the breakup.” You raised your brow at this fact, “Yeah for real. It seems like a lot of ‘old Thomas’ traits are showing up again. The good ones at least, but I can’t help to get nervous that he’s just setting himself up for hurt again.” You gave Haz a worried look.

“W-wait you think I’d hurt Tom too? Harry said the same thing… Plus Tom broke up with me, remember?”

“Ya I remember, but no definitely not, you wouldn’t hurt him. Any idiot can see you two have something going on.” He scoffed.

“Are we really that obvious?” You asked in disbelief and he looked at you like you were crazy. 

“Aw you’re so adorable, y/n.” He pinched your cheek and you slapped his hand away laughing, “Anyway, it’s just that I think Tom is gonna totally forget about the whole growing part and just focus on making sure everything is perfect between you two.” You nodded understanding now.

“So you’re saying if he continues to be this way and we get into a relationship again he’ll drive us into a wall of heartbreak by trying to achieve perfection?” 

“Yep, couldn’t have said it better.” He nodded.

“W-well, I think that this would have to be on me as well. I need to learn to accept that my life can’t be even 70% private.” You sighed, “But I think Tom and I will help each other learn… as friends at first of course.” Harrison nodded.

“I guess we just gotta keep him in check then. I like you for Tom, y/n. I think you bring out a lot of the good in him… and a little bit of his madness.” You blushed and smiled at what Haz said. You both looked inside to see Tom’s brows furrowed while reading a recipe off his phone. Then he looked up and waved at you happily, you waved back and Harrison nodded as Tom went back to making the burgers. 

“You know the last time he cooked was when you told Harry you’d stay here. Never really cooked much before that.” You looked at him shocked. 

“But he cooked so much when we were dating…”

“My point exactly, y/n. He cooks when he feels like things are going well. I’m going to finish a round of fortnite with the boys before the food is done.” He stood up and brushed off his bottom. “I’m telling you, y/n, you bring out something in him and I can’t tell if it’s good... or disgusting.” He joked before stepping inside. Your heart was so warm and your mind was overwhelmed with everything that has been going on these past few days with you and Tom. You decided to finish reading the script later and to help Tom cook lunch.

“Need help?” You asked walking through the sliding door and into the kitchen.

“Oh uh yeah if you want to.” Tom said while frantically moving around the kitchen, “Can you just cut up some onions, lettuce, and tomatoes? I need to flip the patties.” You nodded and set your script and glass down at the kitchen table before going back to the counter to cut everything and you decided to shuffle some happy vibe music. “Skin,” by Dijon began to ring out through the kitchen and you swayed your hips while cutting up the tomatoes.

Tom placed the last patty on the pan and he turned around to see you dancing. He couldn’t stop staring at your beautiful figure and how it moved perfectly with the song playing loudly. Tom pulled his phone out and recorded an instagram video of you captioning it, “@yourusername is the only one to make cutting veggies look cute and enjoyable.” before posting it and walking over to you.

“Thanks for helping out, y/n.” Tom said leaning back on the counter.

“Oh it’s nothing, I honestly should be cooking and helping more actually. You looked like you were having trouble.” You snickered.

“What? No, I had it under control for sure.” He said in a cocky way, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on you. You smelt burning meat.

“Well Mr. ‘I can do everything’, I think the patties are burning right now.” Tom snapped his head in the direction of the stove and he ran over turning down the heat. You began to laugh at him as he walked back to you in defeat.

“I guess you were right.” He said and you nodded giggling. You cut the last of the tomatoes and turned to Tom who was already looking at you.

“What, stalker?” You said covering your face and he laughed as he pulled your hands away from your face.

“Just admiring your beauty.” He smiled and rubbed his thumbs over your knuckles. You blushed and rolled your eyes.

“You’re so cheesy, stop.” You hit his chest lightly and he shrugged while smirking. 

“Wanna watch movies in my room tonight? The boys are having a Call of Duty tournament.” 

“Hmmm watch my friends yell at a TV for a few hours or watch movies with an idiot? I don’t really like either choice…” Tom put a hand over his heart pretending to be hurt, “But I think it would be funny if the boys were drunkenly yelling at the TV so I’ll go with that option.” You said enthusiastically and this time he actually looked upset.

“O-oh alright then.” He said and turned around to get buns, but you grabbed his hand laughing,

“Tom, you’re so gullible. Of course I’ll watch some movies with you.” You continued laughing as his expression changed.

“I hate you.” He said pouting and trying to hide his excitement. He turned back around to grab buns from the pantry. 

“You definitely do not.” You pointed at him.

“Yeah I could never.” He said softly hoping you wouldn’t hear, but you did and it made your face heat up.

-

“Tom, I really appreciate you cooking, but mine is a little burnt.” Harry said, critiquing his brother.

“Sorry, bro, I left it on a little longer than Sam suggested.” Tom said.

“No, more like you were distracted by someone in the kitchen.” Haz said nodding at you while taking a bite of his food. Harry and Tuwaine snickered as you blushed.

“Definitely not.” Tom said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh that’s bull!” Tuwaine said laughing and handing you and Tom his phone, “Watch Haz’s story.” You clicked it and first it was a repost from Tom’s story of you dancing and cutting the vegetables. 

“Tom what the hell?” You laughed and blushed a bit at what he said in the caption. Next was the same video, but from Harrison’s perspective. Tom was behind you and filming you. He was grinning from ear to ear and he looked at you like you were the most fascinating thing ever. and It was captioned, ‘Caught this creep in action… I swear if @tomholland2013 burns the food I’m blaming @yourusername.” 

“Oh my god, Harrison.” You laughed and handed his phone back, “You really do look like a creep here, Tom.” You joked.

“I hate it here. But I hate you most, Haz.” Tom grumbled with a red face and ears. You and the boys snickered.

-

Your head was laying on Harry’s lap while you guys watched The Blacklist on his phone. You all decided to just have fried chicken take out tonight, and do your own thing.

“I kinda wanna drink tonight. It’s been a long week.” You said out of nowhere while popping a fry in your mouth and then feeding Harry one.

“That would be fun as hell. Haz, Tuwaine, and I are gonna do a COD tournament you can drink with us if you want.” He never took his eyes off the small screen.

“Weren’t you guys playing a crap ton of games already today?” You asked him with a raised brow.

“That was just a warm up, love. We don’t want to look like fools tonight.” You snickered at his boyishness.

“Well I can’t anyways, I’m busy tonight. Tom and I are going to have a lil movie marathon. Maybe I can convince him to get wine drunk with me.” You giggled.

“As friends I assume?” He asked and you nodded, he pouted a bit looking down at you.

“Oh don’t worry. Like I said, you're my best friend. Getting drunk and having movie marathons will forever be our best friend thing. You’re just busy tonight.” 

“Fine, but I swear if he takes my place, I’m gonna fart in your face.” He said seriously and you laughed.

“What the fu-” You were cut off.

“Alright let’s start this tourney, boys!” Haz yelled getting hype and jumping over the couch and landing on you causing you to groan. Harrison laid on your stomach and you guys were face to face.

“Ow, Haz, get your fat butt off me!” 

“Oh hell ya dog pile!” Harry said getting up and jumping on top of Haz. You grunted again and started breathily laughing.

“Oo I’ll join in!” Tuwaine said and jumped over the couch onto the pile also, this time Haz groaned with you as Harry and Tuwaine laughed. Tom walked into the living room.

“Have you boys seen-” Tom saw you under all the boys feeling a little tinge of jealousy seeing Haz on top of you like that, “Oh what the fuck?”

“Tom don’t just stand there I can’t breathe.” You struggled to say that and pretended to die sticking your tongue out.

“Alright guys get the hell off.” He said in a serious tone.

“Oh you're such a buzzkill, Tom” Haz joked as the boys got off you letting you finally breathe better.

“Yeah whatever. I’ll just be in my room then, let you two carry on whatever the hell was happening.” Tom said referring to you and Haz. You gave him a look like, ‘are you serious right now?’ Tom just rolled his eyes and walked back upstairs.

“See, y/n? Going back to his old ways I’m telling you! Doesn’t even trust his best mate, what the hell. I wasn’t the only one on you either. My god.” Haz said, rolling his eyes obviously irked by the situation.

“Ugh, leave it to me to fix it then. So much for growth.” Harry chuckled and rubbed your shoulders.

“He’s just overreacting because he likes you, y/n. Doesn’t like to see you with any guy that’s not him… Or me obviously.” He said reassuring you and you blew the hair out of your face and sighed. Your heart skipped a beat when he mentioned Tom liking you.

“Alright then…” You said trusting his words. “Where's the chardonnay?”

“We only have red wine, it’s in the fridge with the beers. Tom won’t want wine by the way.” Tuwaine said.

“Oh come on, we’re getting white wine from the store next time, boys. And too bad for Tom, we’re getting wine drunk.” You said as the boys chuckled. You walked into the kitchen grabbing an opened bottle of wine, glasses, chocolate, spoons, and icecream. When you walked back through the living room all the boys gave you a strange look with everything you were holding.

“What? Rough week ok? Plus these things always make anyone feel better.” You said sassily.

“Touche…” Tuwaine said and the boys nodded along.

“Alright good luck with the games. I’ll be in Tom’s room if you need anything, see you all later!” 

“Thanks, love. Make sure he knows I’m not trying to go after his girl.” Haz said.

“Oh my god. Not his girl!” You said back walking up the stairs.

“... Yet!” Haz said, finishing your sentence. You chuckled and rolled your eyes. I mean Haz wasn’t completely wrong...

+++

Tag list:  @averyfosterthoughts​ @thollandx​ @mrsjeffwittek​ @panicattheeverywherekid​ @racewife2004​ @greatpizzascissorstaco​ @witchything​ @wheelertozier​ @runway-to-my-aid​ @rafficorn​ @jessirosebud​ @peterspideyy​  @superstarchick​ @jackiehollanderr​ @astridcommings​ @mineymak712​ @hollands-osterfield​ @inhumanwithpowers​ @aduky​ @thevelvetseries​ @twelfthnightorwhatyouwill1998​ @stahpppppp​ @calcliffornia​ @cahosinparadise​

[psych0midget]

Secret Stan Account AU Part 2

Part 1

It doesn’t take long for people to figure out that A. Minyard’s book is dedicated to Neil Josten. NEIL FREAKING JOSTEN. Like Neil Josten, the one and only exy player who can play every position? He’s a formidable backliner, a precise dealer (though he hates the position, fiercely) and one of the most promising strikers of the exy panorama? That Neil Josten? Oh. My. God.

Neil has thousands, millions of fans out there. But he had seriously underestimated it. It doesn’t take long for his fans to put two and two together, realise that he has a secret stan account and start looking for it.

It also doesn’t take them long to find it, not when Neil didn’t have the foresight of using a fake name on twitter. There are only so many book twt accounts run by someone called Neil.

Most of his fans are excited about it. Some are not. Especially when they realise that his account is also a Kevin Day stan account.

It’s a pr nightmare, that’s what Allison tells him as soon as he picks up the phone. She tries to keep everything under control, but by the time Neil’s done with the meetings, the interviews and all the unnecessary drama, he opens up Twitter only to find out that his stan account has been deleted.

And so has Drew’s.

Neil curses. He hadn’t had time to text Drew and tell him that he’d seen the dedication. And Drew, or rather A. Minyard has no official social medias. He’s fucked, he’s well and truly fucked.

The only source of info is the website of Drew’s publisher. But there’s a just a short bio saying that A. Minyard is a 27 year old author from Columbia. Has three cats and knows how to use knives, he swears the fight scenes in his books are all real. There’s also a photo and it’s the portrait of a blond man with eyes the color of honey staring impassively at the camera. And It’s the only thing Neil has left of Drew.

Jean Moreau gets back home only to find his roommate looking at his laptop, tabs and tabs and tabs open on his desktop. There’s a cup of coffee on the ground, a half-eaten sandwich on the rug (!!!) and a phone book (he had no idea those things still existed in 2019) on the sofa.

Jean ushers Jeremy inside the apartment, closes the door behind them and sighs. “Have you tried calling your uncle yet?” he asks. “I tried, but it’s 3am in the UK, he’s not picking up.”

Jean had meant it as a joke. A joke. Jean will kill Neil if the FBI doesn’t kill him first. “You tried calling the British mafia just to find your internet boyfriend? Are you nuts?”

Neil, the bastard, doesn’t even look sorry.

Jean almost starts shaking as he tries NOT to throw a chair at Neil’s, but Jeremy wraps his arm around his waist and rubs slow circles on his hip till he calms down. God bless Jeremy, god bless Jeremy especially when he says “You know Minyard’s doing a book tour right? He should be in Chicago next week, you could always show up there?”.

And Neil, Neil who’s lost his fucking mind for a guy he became friends with on twitter, finally relaxes his shoulders and looks at Jeremy like he’s hung the moon. (Jean is going to murder Neil if he keeps staring at his boyfriend like that.)

Neil goes to the M&G with Minyard in Chicago. He pretends he’s not nervous, but he is. If the endless queue in front of the book shop is any indication, this won’t go down well.

And in fact it doesn’t.

It doesn’t because the fans recognize him, they start asking for selfies and autographs and all hell breaks loose. When Minyard finally appears he just glares at him, at the caos around him and tells him to fuck off. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jean welcomes him home with a bottle of vodka and Neil doesn’t drink, but he’s with Jean and Jean knows everything about him. He downs more than half a bottle before he finally passes out on the sofa.

Neil wakes up to the sound of his phone pinging and pinging and pinging. There’s phone calls, texts, more phone calls and hundreds, probably thousands of twitter notifications. Apparently, drunk Neil had tweeted “a mynyard s a douche” from his official account. Neil groans. Allison is gonna kill him.

Turns out that it’s Kevin Day who tries to kill him.

It goes like this.

When Neil had said that Kevin Day could punch him in the face and he’d thank him, he hadn’t meant it l i t e r a l l y.

And yet he’s at the Christmas gala with his team in South Carolina. He’d thought the 12-hour drive drom Chicago to Columbia would be the worst part of it. But apparently Kevin Day is set on changing his mind.

Neil doesn’t even get to say “Hi” to him before Kevin grabs the collar of his shirt and hoists him up against the wall. He almost chokes him. But it’s the words he utters that really do the thing. “Don’t you ever insult my brother again.”

It’s Nicky Hemmick, the Seakings’ physio, who picks him up off the floor as soon as Kevin leaves. “What the fuck’s wrong with him?” Neil asks while Nicky’s busy checking Kevin hasn’t seriously hurt him. “He’s just a protective asshole.” “But I don’t even know who’s his brother.” “Ever heard of A Minyard?”

And that fucker winks at him, he winks at him.

Neil tells himself that Nicky deserves it when he pushes him away and makes a run for Kevin. If he runs fast enough, he should be able to get to him before Kevin leaves the building. The problem is that, when he catches up to Kevin, he doesn’t even think twice before shouting “I didn’t know he was your brother, but in my defence he really is a douche.”

This time there’s nobody who can help him when Kevin punches him in the face and knocks him out. Sometimes Neil wishes he was born mute.

Things only escalate from that moment on.

Neil wakes up on a hospital bed, Minyard staring down at him. Maybe it’s the painkillers. It must be the painkillers. But he’s pretty sure he hears Minyard saying “if it wasn’t for Andrew, I would’ve left you to die and blamed Kevin,” before he blacks out again.

The second time he wakes up, he just thinks he’s still hallucinating (or maybe he’s dead?) because he sees double. There’s two Minyards staring down at him. He doesn’t even try to make sense of what he’s seeing, he just closes his eyes.

The third time he wakes up, he sees Kevin on his bedside and Neil tries to fake his own death. The ECG beating next to his bed betrays him, though. “I’ve been told I have to apologise if I don’t want a knife between my ribs.”

Kevin begins telling him that he is the adoptive brother of Drew, also known as Andrew Minyard. Who also happens to have a twin brother, Aaron Minyard, neurologist by day and fake-Andrew by night. Who didn’t really like the idea of anyone lying to his twin. That’s why he’d been rude to him in Chicago.

And would he please, please, talk with Andrew because he’s become insufferable since Neil had stopped texting him? He’s been threatening to kill Aaron at least twice as much as he used to.

“He even said that he’s miscalculated everything, you had a crush on me and didn’t like him at all -“ “Fuck’s sake NO, I wouldn’t touch your pompous ass with ten feet pole.”

And it’s at that point that Andrew barges into the hospital room telling Kevin to shut up. Looks Neil in the eyes, says “you just because of what you said to Kevin” and then he kisses him. He kisses him.

Years and years later, after some more pining, thousands of kisses and a key to an apartment in Chicago, Andrew would say that he had not done such a thing. But he had, oh he had.

Years and years later Andrew would also admit that the main character of the Tragic Waste of Skin saga was actually inspired by Neil. Apparently, he’d seen Neil’s face on one of Kevin’s sports mags, he’d read the transcript of the interview that had made a goalkeeper cry on tv and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him.

Years and years later Andrew would write the final book of his saga. The dedication would say: “To Neil, Marry me? Yes or no? Drew”

Years and years later Neil would tweet from his official account “a minyard’s still a douche”. Attached to the tweet a photo of Andrew glaring at the camera with his hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate, a wedding ring on his finger.

[carewyncromwell]

Back with another installment of the POTC AU...and we have entered mermaid (and men) waters, folks. These two lovely creatures are Merman!Kai Williams and Mermaid!Keira Jones, owned by @hphm-brooke, based on their designs here, but with more of the “fishy” look the mermaids have while underwater in Pirates 4! (They look much more like Brooke’s concepts, when they’re above water.) I hope I did your kids justice, cherie! Yes, I know this visual logically doesn’t work at all as neat as it looks, since Carewyn should be drowning if there’s a hole in the ship she can see through: I was stupid and half asleep when I originally drew this, but I went ahead and conjured up an explanation for it for the actual writing section, so indulge me. XD;;

Some LGBT+ headcanons of mine for the HPHM cast are also featured here -- namely, McNully as gay, Skye as lesbian, and Charlie as aroace. (I also personally see Carewyn and Orion as ace/pan and gray-A, respectively. ^.^) Feel free to ignore them if you see these characters differently than I do...goodness knows I understand why plenty of people would want to hook up with Charlie!! He can always be interpreted as demi, gray-A, or just a late bloomer here too, if thou dost prefer. <3

For the previous part of this AU, click here -- for the full POTC AU tag, click here -- otherwise, enjoy! And beware any siren song you may hear...

x~x~x~x

The Revenge was an even more oppressive prison than it was when Carewyn was a child. Charles Cromwell had always been a very controlling, cruel man who only saw someone’s value based on what they could do for him. Even when you were family of his -- or, one could argue, especially if you were -- you were expected to never say “no” to him and to always put his desires over your own. So it was when she and Jacob were under his control way back when, and so it was now that Carewyn was alone.

Interestingly, despite Charles’s clear disdain for Carewyn having become a Commodore of the Navy, he actually seemed very coldly pleased by how she’d grown.

“The Navy may be a pathetic institution,” Charles said very coolly as he strode leisurely in a circle around Carewyn, “but at least fighting in the War toughened you up. You’re strong -- ruthless -- talented in swordplay and willing to do whatever it takes to defeat your enemies. You’ve been taught and trained to kill.”

He stopped right in front of her, his cold almond-shaped blue eyes boring into her as his lips spread into a smile.

“You are far from the weak, bleeding-heart little girl you were before, Carewyn. Before, you could only be useful in persuading other men to join my crew -- now, once we’ve finished at Isle de Muerta...you’ll be able to join your aunts by doing that and helping us with our plunder.”

Carewyn’s eyes, which were the same color and shape as Charles’s, met his gaze head-on with just as much coldness, but with no hint of a smile.

“I have no intention of being anything like Pearl or Claire,” she spat, “least of all by being one of your pawns.”

Pearl made a violent move forward, but Blaise grabbed her arm and gave her a dull warning look.

“Pawns?” repeated Charles. “I’m wounded, child. We are family -- we are blood. I raised you and your brother. I provided for you.”

“After killing both Mum and Dad right in front of us,” Carewyn said very coldly.

Charles feigned an empathetic expression, but it only came across as incredibly condescending.

“Yes -- it was a horrible thing. But your parents thought to abandon the crew, our family...to take you two children away from me, your grandfather, who loves you so dearly. And deserters and traitors must be held accountable -- any good leader knows that. It’s awful that it had to happen...but they left me no choice.”

Carewyn’s eyes flashed with hatred.

“First of all...our parents thought to protect their family -- Jacob and me -- from you. Second, any good leader knows that true loyalty is accrued through respect, not fear. Third, you always have a choice to do what’s right, and you didn’t. Fourth, I will NOT hear you try to tell me that my parents brought their deaths upon themselves when you pulled the trigger. And fifth...”

She took a step forward, aiming to get right up in Charles’s face -- Claire Cromwell grabbed her harshly by the arm and held her back, but Carewyn was strong enough to push herself forward right up into her grandfather’s personal space anyway.

“...you don’t know what love is,” hissed Carewyn venomously.

Charles’s face lost all hint of a smile or warmth, instead becoming oddly mask-like and detached as he considered her. The stillness was far, far more intimidating than his attempts at pleasantry -- it was like he truly felt nothing...like all possibility of persuasion or appealing to his better instincts was hopeless.

“It seems freedom has spoiled you, my child,” he said softly. “I suppose I’d have to blame your brother for being such a bad influence on you...at least while he was still alive.”

Carewyn’s face blanched and her eyes widened. ‘What?’

“Oh?” said Charles, raising his eyebrows in mock concern. “Were you unaware? I thought for sure something would’ve trickled back to you through the Navy. But I suppose if they had told you, you’d have had far less reason to be loyal to them. After all...the pirate who killed him ended up getting a full pardon from the crown, and now works alongside the new Lord Cutler Beckett at the East India Trading Company...a thoroughly prosperous woman, by all accounts.”

Charles’s face again grew much mask-like as he stared down at Carewyn.

“One would never know such a woman could be capable of shooting a man square in the back and then pushing him overboard into the ocean...and just when he’d returned from Port Royal, to find that his sister was gone...”

Carewyn could feel her shoulders quaking. Her eyes had fallen away from Charles and down to the deck a while ago, as she struggled to contain her emotions, but what he said --

It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. Jacob, dead -- Jacob, having gone to look for her, and not finding her because she’d gone off to War -- Jacob, being murdered right after he tried to come home --

“You’re lying!” snarled Carewyn, but her voice quaked with pain and grief despite her best efforts.

Charles didn’t answer. Clearly he didn’t think he had to. The silence was infinitely worse than if he’d chosen to mock her further -- it forced her to solely focus on the terrible doubt and pain flooding her chest and making it hard for her to breathe.

Charles’s gaze flickered up to Claire still holding Carewyn’s arm.

“Get Carewyn out of that Navy filth and into some proper clothes,” he said almost boredly. “Make sure to pick something that shows off her assets -- she comes from fine breeding, and we want the men of Tortuga to see that first.”

His gaze then rested on Carewyn again, twinkling with a cruel kind of satisfaction, as Claire yanked Carewyn away. Carewyn fought against her grip, but before she could pull out of it, Pearl grabbed her other arm and, with considerably more strength, helped Claire drag her away.

Carewyn was soon forced into a pair of men’s knee breeches so tight that they felt more like form-fitting stockings than trousers; tall black boots; an off-white sailor’s shirt identical to Pearl’s with such an oversized neckline that her chest was largely exposed; and an R-standard dark red coat just small enough that she couldn’t button it around herself to hide her chest better. Pearl had also pointed a pistol at Carewyn’s neck while Claire applied eye-make-up and bright red lipstick. Carewyn normally wouldn’t have minded wearing make-up -- she may have had to dress like a man out of necessity, but she liked women’s fashion a lot. Under the circumstances, though, it was impossible to enjoy it.

Needless to say, Carewyn was in no mood to take orders from Charles or exchange so much as a word with any member of his crew, whether it was her uncle, aunts, cousins, or in-laws. At one point, one night, one of those such cousins -- clearly very amused by how unhappy Carewyn was with her new “look” -- decided to try to force himself into her personal space, and Carewyn was so disgusted that she grabbed his own pistol out of his belt and pointed it right at his head to threaten him to back off. Rather than scare him, though, the cousin merely laughed.

“Go ahead!” he jeered. He clearly thought Carewyn was too much of a “good girl” to do it. “Go ahead and shoot me. Right in the head, come on -- ”

Carewyn pointed the pistol down at his thigh instead and fired.

BANG.

The younger man collapsed in on himself with a cry as his leg collapsed out from under him, the bone clearly blasted open from how close the pistol had been. Carewyn then gave the pistol a light shake to clear the smoke.

“Seems to me that place is closer to where you do most of your thinking than your head,” she said very coldly. She looked around at the rest of the crew, who’d stopped to watch, and added, “Now, all of you, stay away from me -- AHH!”

She suddenly felt a hand seize her around the neck and hoist her up off the ground.

The younger man somehow was back on his feet again, as if he hadn’t been injured at all. Carewyn’s shock only seemed to make him smugger still, even though his smile was oddly humorless.

“You’re so cute, little Winnie,” he said. “Thinking you can hurt somebody who feels nothing but pain already.”

At that very moment, the clouds parted, to reveal an eerie silver-white moon. And it was in that terrible, paralyzing moment that Carewyn saw why everyone said that the crew of the Revenge was cursed.

It seems that the medallion Jacob had stolen from Charles’s office wasn’t just a pirate trinket. It was one of 100 identical pieces from a cursed chest that once belonged to Cortez himself. Anyone who stole but one piece from the chest was cursed trapped between life and death, unable to enjoy any earthly pleasure -- food, drink, or otherwise -- with their true decaying form only revealed under moonlight. Jacob had taken the medallion with the thought that Carewyn could always sell it if they ever got really desperate for money -- Carewyn had kept it because it was one of the only things Jacob had ever been able to give her before he disappeared, and she cursed herself eternally for the sentiment now. Still, she told herself, it also hadn’t seemed safe to try to sell something that so clearly looked like a pirate medallion anyway -- just about anyone would ask where she got it, and that would’ve opened her up to a million more questions. In either case, that medallion Carewyn had was the last piece that Charles Cromwell needed to break the curse -- and thanks to her fame as the newest Commodore in the Navy, one of her portrait miniatures had found its way into Charles’s hands, revealing to him where his granddaughter had vanished to. And now he had both her and the medallion -- in short, everything he’d wanted.

Charles Cromwell decided to punish Carewyn for her little act of defiance by locking her in the brig. It was a very wet and mildew-stained place -- clearly it had been host to more than a few leaks. One hole in Carewyn’s cell in particular even showed clear blue ocean water -- she suspected that the Revenge had been patched up with quite a few spells to keep it from sinking, over the years. She remembered there was a witch on Tortuga that her grandfather sometimes made deals with -- maybe she’d given him something to keep the sea water from rushing in.

Carewyn could’ve easily broken out of the brig, but under the circumstances, she decided it wasn’t worth it. Not only did she not want to show off all her tricks yet, but the cell door would at least serve as a barrier between her and everyone else, for now. And that was what she’d wanted -- to get as far away from them as she could. Jacob would’ve understood. Jacob had always been there as a protective wall between her and the rest of their family, in the past...

The night in that cell was one of the coldest, darkest, and loneliest of Carewyn’s life. Her heart ached at the thought of Jacob -- of Percy, his face white with upset and terror when she told him to retreat -- of Bill and Charlie -- of Jules. She missed them so much, and yet she knew...she would likely never see them again. Charles Cromwell wouldn’t tolerate her insubordination for long, and if she failed to escape -- rather likely, considering that neither he nor the rest of her family could be killed, at this point -- she’d be murdered just like her parents.

...At least then...she’d see Jacob again...

She didn’t know when or how she’d fallen to sleep, but it was in her sleep, when she was most lonely, that Carewyn found herself again in her and Jacob’s tiny, old house in Port Royal, sitting at the side of her own bed, which currently held a young man with a worn brown bandana around his head, a black eye, and bandages around his arms. He looked up at her, his dark eyes rippling like the darkest sea -- and then, he rose from the bed. As he did, he changed, becoming older, with tanner skin and dreadlocks under an emerald green bandana. Orion didn’t say anything in the dream -- instead he held her gaze, drowning her in it as he gently held her hands in his...

When Carewyn awoke, she found her face wet with tears. Wiping her face clean, she sat awake for a while, revisiting Orion in her mind. As bizarre as it sounded -- just like he had many times in the past -- the thought of Orion seemed to bring her a sense of peace and focus she couldn’t quite explain. And it was for that reason that she found herself singing one of the songs she used to sing Orion to sleep, all those years ago...for the thought of him, if not for the man himself.

Abroad, as I was walking one evening in the spring,

I heard a maid in Bedlam who mournfully did sing.

Her chains she rattled on her hands, and thus replied she:

"I love my love because I know my love loves me.

Oh, cruel were his parents who sent my love to sea,

And cruel was the ship that bore my love from me --

Yet I love his parents since they’re his, although they've ruined me...

I love my love because I know my love loves me.” 

As luck would have it, however, her song attracted some attention. For the waters surrounding the dreaded Isle de Muerta contained merfolk -- specifically a mermaid called Keira and a merman called Kai, who hunted as a pair and had heard Carewyn singing through the hole in the ship’s hull.

“Was that you singing?” asked Kai. He seemed the more sociable of the two -- the red-haired mermaid behind him called Keira was staying at a distance.

Carewyn rested a hand beside the hole, trying to peek out at who was speaking. She couldn’t see them very well, but from what little she could see, they didn’t look like how she’d always heard mermaids described. They appeared human enough on top, of course, but she could see scales on their faces and there was no white in their eyes. Kai had one completely brown eye and one completely blue eye, while Keira had completely blue.

“Yes,” said Carewyn.

“I could hear the longing in your voice,” said Kai. “Like a woman in love.”

Carewyn’s face flushed, but she kept as proud of an expression as she could manage.

“...Are you merfolk?”

“Why, yes,” said Kai with a smile. “And you? Are you a pirate? Or perhaps you’re a maid from Bedlam, awaiting her love’s return?”

“Neither. My name is Carewyn...but most people call me Carey Weasley.”

Keira looked at Carewyn through the hole, clearly interested despite her distance.

“You’re different than the other humans on this ship,” she said thoughtfully.

Carewyn scoffed. “I’d certainly hope so. I suppose my grandfather and his crew fear you?”

“Fear, yes,” said Keira in an oddly stiff voice, “but we don’t approach them.”

The memory of her disgusting pirate cousin as a molting skeleton rippled over Carewyn’s mind and she grimaced.

“...I don’t blame you for that. I wouldn’t be here either, if I had a choice.”

Kai raised a curious eyebrow. “You’re a prisoner, then.”

Carewyn sighed and nodded. Kai’s eyes flickered over to Keira before returning to Carewyn.

“...Perhaps we can get you out.”

Carewyn was startled. “What?”

Kai’s lips turned up in a smile. “Come with us...we’ll help you escape.”

It was strange -- Carewyn hadn’t known these two at all, but something in their voices sounded so kind. Despite everything she’d ever heard about sirens, they seemed oddly persuasive...it was like even they were singing beautifully, even while talking...

But...

“No,” she said. “My grandfather and his crew can’t be killed. I’d never be able to defeat them, while they’re like that...and anyone who tried to help me would be killed right along with me.”

Her eyes softened. “Thank you...but I have to stay here.”

Both Kai and Keira looked genuinely startled. Kai seemed to rest on his stomach in mid-air, his tail flopping up over his head as he rested his chin on his fist, his lips spreading in a much fuller, fanged smirk.

“...Well, now,” he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone saying ‘no’ to one of our kind in order to protect them before. He shared a glance with Keira. “You truly are different, Carey Weasley.”

Keira exhaled tiredly. “Come on, Kai...let’s go.”

“Coming, coming,” said Kai in amusement, as Keira began to swim off. He added to Carewyn, “Guess we’ll never know if we would’ve been able to tempt you, if we’d met you above water...oh well. Best of luck, little Bedlam maid -- thanks for the new song!”

Kai swam in a circle to follow along after Keira and disappeared into the dark blue depths.

Back on the Artemis, the days of their voyage dragged. Jules had heard all sorts of exciting stories about pirates since she was a child, but now that she was onboard a ship with them, she found that it was far less glamorous than one would think. There was so little to do to pass the time, aside from trimming sails or swabbing decks. Charlie and Bill admitted that was a lot of what sailing on board ships was like in general -- there was plenty of excitement, sure, but only inter-spliced briefly between long stretches of nothing. On top of that, the water on board went sour before long, making it so everyone had to drink rum instead, since it was the only drink that didn’t go bad at sea. The best thing by far for Jules, though, was that there was no dress code -- and so she ditched her fancy dress as quick as she could, traded them in for a pair of men’s breeches, and then belted her chemise around her waist so that it fit more tightly like a shirt. She’d be a little embarrassed walking around in her underwear for a while, but after a while, she concluded it really wasn’t any more revealing than the loose-fitting shirt and men’s breeches Skye was wearing. Bill’s ears turned a very dark red when he first saw Jules out of her dress, though.

Their first real burst of action came when they had to battle a torrential storm that had blown in. The Artemis had been tossed about as if it were a toy in a bathtub, sea water splashing onto the deck with full-bodied waves that could knock a man off their feet. It was likely only thanks to Orion’s bizarre idea to tie everyone securely to the mast with a long piece of rope that served as a life line that no one was thrown overboard. The following day, the storm had fortunately cleared to leave an almost surreal calm. Soon everyone returned to the boring routine of before, mending torn sails and swabbing the deck, as if nothing had even happened.

The helmsman solely followed Orion’s direction of where to go, rather than using a map, so Bill, Jules, and Charlie had assumed he already knew where the Isle de Muerta was. One could therefore imagine how horrified Bill was overhearing McNully talking offhandedly to Orion one afternoon about his compass “not working right for him” -- Jules recalled that it didn’t work at Port Royal either. When the three confronted Orion about it, the Captain responded rather cryptically.

“Lieutenant Weasley said that my compass didn’t point north, Miss Farrier. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.”

Orion turned on his heel and headed back up to the helm. “A bit more to starboard.”

Bill opened his mouth to protest, but McNully climbed down one of the loose ropes enough to pat his shoulder.

“Easy, Mr. Weasley.”

He lowered himself back down into his chair and rolled it around to properly face them.

“The Captain’s compass isn’t like most compasses -- just like Orion himself isn’t like most captains.”

“But you said it wasn’t working right,” Charlie said angrily. “And all he ever seems to look at is that compass. How do we know we’re even heading the right way? Does he even know how to get to Isle de Muerta at all?”

Jules had to admit, she had doubts too. Orion had sounded pretty confident that he’d be able to find Carewyn -- but how could anyone do that, when they didn’t even have a compass that could point north?

The dispute was interrupted, however, when Orion abruptly called out from the helm.

“Put out the lamps!”

The crew immediately tensed up, and bolted around, putting out every lamp. Jules looked around in confusion.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “It’s almost dusk -- we won’t be able to see!”

“The water is darker and colder here,” said Orion solemnly, “and there’s a song on the air. The lamps would only antagonize them further.”

“‘Them?’“ recurred Jules.

“Mermaids, of course,” said Skye impatiently.

“Mermaids?”

“I heard those tales when we were all in the Navy,” said Bill, glancing at Jules a bit uneasily. “Mermaids are attracted to singing and lamplight.”

"Right,” said McNully. “There’s still a 32% chance they might show up even without those, though, so you’d best keep your wits about you.”

Skye nodded. “Mermaids are no joke. They might look beautiful above water, but they don’t look half so pretty under the water when they pull you down to the depths and eat you alive.”

Jules cringed.

“If they’re that dangerous,” she said slowly, “why don’t you do what Odysseus did, to escape the sirens? Just have someone else tie you up really tightly on the mast, and you can’t jump overboard.”

“Yeah!” Charlie piped up. “I reckon Jules, Skye, and I can handle running the ship for a bit on our own -- pretty faces don’t really do much for me.”

McNully laughed. “If being attracted to gorgeous women was the problem, then I’d be a better choice to help than Skye.”

Skye rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Mermaids don’t just tempt you with sex,” the quartermaster explained. “They’re temptation itself. Everything about them draws you in, makes you open up to them and talk to them...lets them look right through you. They’ll try to tempt you with whatever they think you want most in the world -- and when you give in and get too close...”

She made a knife-like gesture across her throat with her finger.

“There’s only one person on this ship that’s known to have ever said ‘no’ to a mermaid before,” said McNully, and he nodded up at the helm. “And that’s the Captain.”

Bill, Charlie, and Jules all looked up in surprise. Orion had his back to them and was looking out to sea with narrowed, unreadable eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, the crew could just barely make out a eerie, beautiful song, which seemed to float on the wind itself.

“...her chains she rattled in her hands and thus replied she...”

“Stopper your ears!” McNully said urgently. “Quickly!”

The crew hurriedly did as they were told. Orion, however, did not do so. Instead he darted down to the main deck, grabbed one of the lanterns, and set about relighting it.

“Orion, what are you DOING?!” bellowed Skye.

Orion didn’t answer her. McNully rolled hurriedly around the deck as he tried to make sure everyone blocked their ears, but Orion completely ignored him, instead rushing over to the side of the ship with the lit lantern.

The singing was getting louder now.

“Yet I love his parents since they’re his, although they've ruined me... I love my love because I know my love loves me...”

Just as Bill had finished helping Charlie and Jules completely stopper their ears, he caught the sound of a low male voice singing the next line.

“With straw I'll weave a garland, I'll weave it wondrous fine...”

Bill looked up in alarm at Orion. He had a hand cupped over his mouth to magnify his volume as he sang over the ship’s railing.

“With roses, lilies, daisies I'll mix the eglantine...”

“Stop!”

Bill barreled over, grabbing Orion’s shoulder and trying to pull him back away from the edge.

“What are you doing?! Singing and lanterns attract mermaids!”

“That’s the plan,” said Orion, his voice almost frustratingly calm.

Bill saw the water burbling up beside the edge of the ship. His heart clenched with fear.

Orion, however, paid him no mind -- he turned right to the form burbling under the water, his hand beside his mouth again as he continued,

“And I'll present it to my love when he returns from sea... I love my love because I know my love loves me."

Jules quickly grabbed Bill’s arm, pulling him back away from Orion. Bill looked at her anxiously, but she merely reached up to stopper his left ear with some fabric she’d ripped out of her chemise. Orion wasn’t going to explain, so all they could do is get ready.

Within moments, a woman with red hair had appeared out of the water. Her chin and neck were still largely submerged as she blinked up at Orion.

“You know the words,” she said almost shyly.

“Yes,” said Orion. “Where did you hear that song?”

The mermaid blinked slowly. “A maid imprisoned in the brig of a pirate ship.”

Jules had been just about to stopper Bill’s right ear when he straightened up sharply. He turned his head sharply to better listen to the conversation.

"What did the maid look like?” Orion asked.

The mermaid’s eyes flickered over the pirate captain’s face carefully as she eased her head and shoulders out of the water.

“I could not tell for sure. The brig was dark. The hole looking into it was small.”

“Yet you spoke to her?”

“Yes. She was a selfless woman. Very selfless.”

“When did you see her?”

“Very early this morning...before dawn.”

Orion’s dark eyes narrowed. The mermaid reached out to grab onto the edge of the Artemis so as to slide herself out of the water and closer to Orion.

“You know her,” she said.

“Yes,” Orion answered quietly.

The mermaid’s eyes seemed to soften. “...You love her.”

Bill, who had been listening carefully, looked quickly at Orion’s face for some sort of reaction -- but once again his face was remarkably calm, and he didn’t respond.

“I could take you to her,” the mermaid said sweetly. “I know where she is...”

Bill felt his mind drifting slightly, as if he’d suddenly become very sleepy -- her voice sounded almost soothing -- and she knew Carewyn? She could take them to Carewyn?

“No, thank you,” said Orion with the kind of polite finality one would more likely hear at a Christmas function than to a creature that wanted to eat human flesh. “If you saw her this morning, we’ll be caught up with them soon enough. The wind will take us where we need to go, if only we have our sails pointed in the right direction.”

He inclined his head respectfully.

“Best of luck finding your next meal elsewhere.”

The mermaid frowned in immense confusion at him, looking almost put-out.

“You and Carey Weasley are both very strange humans,” she said. Her lips then curled into a faintly wry smile as she added, “She was not tempted by our call either. That should please you.”

And with that, she splashed back into the dark water and disappeared.

Orion blew out the flame on the lamp and turned back around.

“It’s all right now!” he bellowed loud enough that everyone could just barely make out his voice through the stuffing in their ears. “It’s safe!”

Everyone little by little unblocked their ears. Bill turned around to face Orion properly, his brown eyes rippling with amazement and a bit of guilt despite himself, as the pirate captain walked past him.

“You did know what you were doing.”

Orion turned to Bill. The eldest Weasley rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I misjudged you.”

Orion inclined his head slightly to Bill, his lips touched with traces of a smile.

“A common enough thing, for people to do,” he said patiently. “Think nothing of it.”

He strolled back up to the helm, leaving Bill and Jules alone.

Jules turned to Bill. He still had his eyes on Orion’s back.

“Bill...is everything okay?”

Bill glanced at Jules and then back up at Orion, and he swallowed.

The mermaid had said Orion loved Carewyn. He didn’t make any kind of reaction that would prove it was true -- but he didn’t deny it either. And more importantly, back at the church, he’d said he wouldn’t have hurt “either Bill’s or his lady,” when talking about Jules and Carewyn. And immediately after, he spoke of Carewyn’s past, of her history with him...of details even he didn’t know, like her apparently having worn a red ribbon in her hair since she was little...with such a soft voice that it wouldn’t be a stretch to think there was something fond in it, under that detached affect..

Bill hadn’t had a real friend in his life until he’d met Carewyn. They’d connected almost immediately out of their mutual desire to protect and nurture others, and they always seemed to be in sync whenever they had to battle together. Bill had always been a shoulder for others to cry on, but it was Carewyn who had first offered her shoulder to him, while they were fighting the Spanish together. The friendship and caring she’d shown him made her family to him more than her using his name alone ever could have. She was a sister to him -- his best mate -- someone he loved and cherished like few others in the world. And he wanted every happiness for her, just as he knew she did for him...

But what happiness could there be for her, with Orion? He was a pirate. There’d be no way the Navy would pardon him with the East India Trading Company breathing down their necks -- and would Carewyn truly be happy living the life of a pirate, after having been raised on a pirate ship like the Revenge? She’d built up a stable life for herself in the Navy, and Bill knew how much Carewyn loved being able to come back to Port Royal after a long expedition -- to come home, after being at sea. But pirates had no home. There was nothing anchoring a pirate. And no matter what Orion’s feelings were, and how much Bill suspected they might actually be something genuine...it didn’t mean a thing if Carewyn didn’t feel the same way.

“Jules...” he said at last, very quietly, “...is Carey...in love with Amari?”

Jules was startled by the use of her nickname. She glanced from Bill to up at Orion at the helm and back, frowning deeply. 

“...Love, I’m not sure, but...back at the fort, before Captain Amari rescued me...Carey told me that she’d bandaged him up and hidden him from the Navy, when they were young. So when Captain Amari figured out who she was...he let her go. I reckon they probably just made it look like Carey broke free.”

This information startled Bill. His brown eyes brightened in understanding.

“He owed her a life debt,” he said softly.

Jules smiled. “No. I thought the same thing -- that it was gratitude, on Captain Amari’s part. But...”

Her dark eyes softened.

“...Carey said...that he was simply a good man. And I don’t know...but the look in her eyes, as she looked out to sea...I’ve never seen her eyes look like that before.”

She reached out and took Bill’s hand. Bill gave it a squeeze.

“The water temperature has returned to normal,” announced Orion from the helm, emptying the bucket of sea water he’d filled earlier over the side. “Go ahead and relight the lamps -- we should approach Isle de Muerta within the next day or so.”

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): The Assignment of the Duty of the Prophethood and First Muslims

New Intrigues of Polytheists

None of the applied acts of torture and persecution could restrain our Holy Prophet (PBUH) from delivering his message. Furthermore, his uncle, Abu Talib, did not object to anything he said or did and would protect him instead.

This time, the polytheists tried something else. Ten individuals from among the leading figures came to Abu Talib and said, “O Abu Talib, your nephew has cursed our idols, has decried our religious practices, said we were stupid, and continued saying that our fathers and forefathers were on the wrong path. Now, you need to detain him from saying and doing such things or you will have to move out of the way.” 

What could Abu Talib do in the face of such an ultimatum? On one side, there were his tribe’s customs and traditions and on the other side, the genuine love that he had for his nephew! Which one would he prefer?

At last, he was able to dismiss the committee through his soft and kind words. 

Second Complaint to Abu Talib

The polytheists made another offer to Abu Talib when they received no results following their first complaint. “O Abu Talib, you are among one of our elders and are one of our leading figures. We petitioned you to dissuade your nephew from his actions. However, you did not comply with what we wanted. By God, we will no longer put up with his disapproval of our fathers and forefathers, his allegations that we are stupid, and his insults against our idols. Either you will dissuade him from doing this or we will continue fighting both of you until one of the parties is eliminated.” 

Abu Talib realized that he was facing a very dangerous situation. He did not want to be abandoned by his tribe but he could not abandon his nephew, the Master of the Universe (PBUH), either. What could be done in this situation? After thinking very deeply for some time, he called forth our Holy Prophet (PBUH) and begged: “O, my brother’s son, the leading figures have petitioned me and repeated what you had said to them.  Please feel sympathy for yourself and for me! Do not put upon us a load that we cannot carry. Give up saying words that displease the tribe.” 

This was a very delicate situation. Until that day and in some way, Abu Talib had been his sole protector from among his tribe. Was he going to forgo his protection?

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was downcast upon hearing this proposal and thought deeply for some time. Afterwards, in the comfort of knowing that Allah was the true Guardian, he replied with an answer that was as sharp as a sword: “O Uncle, know that if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left in return for my giving up this cause, I would not give it up. Either Allah will make this religion dominant, or I will die in His service." 

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH was concerned that his own uncle would abandon him, thus he burst into tears while saying these words. It was as if his holy tears were trickling upon his uncle’s heart. How could his uncle leave him alone after seeing him in this state? How could he abandon his nephew whom he loved personally and very dearly?

Abu Talib understood that his nephew, who possessed indestructible willpower, would never give up exclaiming his cause, therefore he hugged him and said: “My Nephew, continue your work, do whatever you want. By God, I am not going to surrender you to anyone for any reason whatsoever.” 

After making this promise, the polytheists absolutely understood that Abu Talib would not leave his nephew alone and would continue to protect him despite everything.

Another Offer Made to Abu Talib

The polytheists could not tolerate seeing so many people running to attain Divine Guidance right before their eyes. They thought of some other maneuver. They appealed to Abu Talib once more and made the following offer:

O Abu Talib, let us give you Umara bin Walid, the strongest, toughest, most handsome, and the most intelligent youth from among the Quraysh for you to adopt as your own son. You will benefit from his intelligence and help. In return for this, you will give us your brother’s son; we will kill him! A man in exchange for another man, what more could you want?

Abu Talib responded to this senseless offer, “First, give me your own sons so that I can kill them. Only then will I give him to you.”

The polytheists reacted to this offer: But our children are not doing what he is doing!”

Abu Talib did not leave these words without an answer as he replied in a stern manner: “By God, Muhammad is much more auspicious than your own children. And you are making me this ugly offer? How can this be? You will give me your own son for me to raise and then take mine so that you can kill him? I will never permit this to happen! 

The polytheists’ spite and hatred came to a head. These bad feelings were no longer directed towards our Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Muslims alone; they had now shifted towards Abu Talib as well.

Fate had a strange twist; the negative attitude the polytheists struck towards Abu Talib helped the Sons of Hashim take our Holy Prophet (PBUH) under their wing. There was only one individual who avoided protecting him: Abu Lahab.

During this time, Abu Talib gathered the Sons of Hashim and warned them to be careful in protecting our Holy Prophet (PBUH).

Abu Talib’s action led the polytheists to finalize their decision to kill Allah’s Apostle (PBUH)!

They convened at the Masjid al-Haram to execute their inauspicious plan. Abu Talib heard this and gathered the youth from among the Sons of Hashim. He immediately went to the Kaaba with them and threatened the polytheists once he arrived there: “By God, if you kill my nephew, Muhammad, know that none of you will remain alive. We will not stop following you until we and you perish in this path.”

The polytheists did not utter a single word against Abu Talib’s threat and they quickly dispersed.

At the end of his speech, Abu Talib spoke about the Master of the Universe (PBUH) as follows:

“How could this person, for whose sake the clouds were invoked for rain, be abandoned? He possesses such kindness; the orphans depend on him just as the widows and the poor trust in him. The destitute from among the Sons of Hashim take refuge in him.

“O Community of Quraysh! I swear to the Baytullah that you are mistaken for disclaiming him and that you are overcome with empty dreams. Do you think that your assassination of Muhammad will take place without a fight as we all circle around him? We will not release you until we all die around him, until our children cause us to forget about, and until we stop defending him.” 

New Intrigues of Polytheists

After all this, the polytheists of the Quraysh understood that our Holy Prophet (PBUH) would not succumb to their inflicted torture, force, and tyranny.

For that reason, they continued to contrive new plans and tried to invent imputations and slanders against him. Their goal was to belittle his exalted character (God forbid), to have the people think poorly of him, and to hinder the people from hearing about his sublime purpose and goal.

They gathered around Walid bin Mughira, one of their elders whom they highly respected and regarded in this matter. They began to talk about our Holy Prophet (PBUH), the representative of the thriving Islamic cause that was bestowing immense happiness within the hearts of its followers.

Walid bin Mughira, one of their founding fathers, spoke to his friends, who circled around him and whose faces reflected the ugliness of disbelief, “O Qurayshis, the Hajj season has arrived. The Arab tribes are going to flood our territory. Surely, they have heard of Muhammad’s situation. They are going to ask you a series of questions. For that reason, we must share and agree upon some idea regarding him so that we will not fall into some conflict.”

This was a sly idea. Separate and differing ideas would surely put them in a situation in which their words would be unbelievable and unreliable. Thereby, they would not be very influential upon the influx of people.

The Qurayshis wanted to hear Walid bin Mughira’s opinion on how to take precaution in this matter. They said, “Tell us about your ideas, thoughts and precautions regarding this matter too so that we can make the same claims and behave in the same way.

However, Walid wanted to hear their ideas first.

The polytheists proposed their ideas, “We will call him a soothsayer.”

Walid did not agree with this idea and said, “No, by God, he is not a soothsayer. We have seen soothsayers and what he recites is not what the soothsayers mutter and invent. A soothsayer will tell both the truth and will lie. However, we have not heard a single lie from Muhammad!”

The polytheists then said, “In that case, we will say that he is mad.”

Walid objected to this as well, “No, he is not mad, either. We have seen mad people and know what insanity is. His state does not resemble that of an insane person at all.”

The polytheists made a third offer, “Then we will say he is a poet.”

Walid did not deem this option as appropriate, “No, he is not a poet. We know of every kind of poems and his recitations do not resemble any kind.”

The polytheists made one last offer, “We will call him a magician.”

Walid did not deem this option as acceptable, either.

“No, no! He is not a magician. Besides, we have seen their spells and the magicians themselves. His recitations are not what the magicians recite and blow, nor is it what they knot and tie.”

The polytheists, whose every offer had been rejected transferred the burden to Walid, “Then tell us what to say, Father of Abdushshams.”

Walid’s response was surprising: “By God, there is a completely different kind of sweetness in his words. No words can be sweeter than his. He is a light. He possesses such sweetness; he is like a date tree with lush fruits whose roots have grown in very fertile land and in water-filled gardens and whose branches extend to its surroundings.”

The polytheists were alarmed upon hearing this expression. Had Walid, one of their “masterminds” from whom they sought advice, become a Muslim? Walid left them and went to his home, which further increased their worries; they even began to say, “Walid has left his religion.”

However, Walid had not left his religion. He had withdrawn to his home to think about what kinds of slander and accusations would be most suitable. After he made his decision, he came back to the polytheists and said:

“Out of all of the options that you have mentioned, which are all bound to be proven to be lies and as being completely groundless in a short time, saying that he is a magician is the most plausible one. He has arrived with such a captivating message that it is driving a wedge between children and their fathers, brothers, husbands and their wives, as well as clans and their tribes.” 

They all agreed upon this view. From now on, they were going to call our Holy Prophet (PBUH) a “soothsayer” (God forbid) and attempt to keep him away from the community by spreading this allegation and slander.

In the verses that God Almighty sent, the cunning plan of Walid b. Mughira was referred to as, “Woe to him! how he plotted!”; God informed us about the end of him as follows:

“Soon will cast him into Hell-Fire!” 

The Master of the Universe (PBUH) was not a soothsayer as the polytheists had said he was since a soothsayer’s words are based on estimation and are ambiguous. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) spoke the truth and of reality which every sound mind would affirm. His words were far from being ambiguous and based on estimation since they had very clear and definite meanings.

He was not crazy as they had claimed since his friends were not the only ones who witnessed the excellence of his intelligence; his most unruly enemies also testified to this truth when the occasion arose.

He was not a poet as the polytheists had claimed since the bright, luminous truths that he mentioned were far from needing the ornamentation of poetry.

God Almighty sent a verse that addressed our Holy Prophet (PBUH) following the allegations, slander, and planning the polytheists had devised:

“Therefore, remind (mankind of Islamic Monotheism, O Muhammad). By the Grace of Allah, you are neither a soothsayer, nor a madman…” 

[lennox-levin-little-lilith-did]

Hello people who follow me

For people who haven’t been following my blog all that much, I have Dissociative Identity Disoder, more commonly known as Spilt Personality, or Multiple Personality Disoder (which it’s no longer called this, the shortened version is DID)

DID is a disordercharacterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states. A reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories.

Symptoms are;

Behavioral: impulsivity, self-destructive behavior, or self-harm (check, check, and check)

Mood: anxiety, feeling detached from self, or mood swings (check, check, and check)

Psychological: altered consciousness, depression, or flashback (check, check, and check)

Also common: amnesia or blackout (huge check)

Let’s start this my early childhood-

I never had a dad, he was in and out of my life constantly. So I was always looking for a father figure.

It didn’t help my mom was hopping from man to man at the time.

However I had one man in my life that never left and loved me like his own. That man was my uncle. I loved him so much, I still do, but by no means was he a good role model. He was in to drugs, never took his medication, and I think was in a gang (that if he hung out with some really bad people). One memory I have of him is him letting me help him make a roll (weed roll) when I was three or four.

I had a been diagnosed with ADHD by the time I was five. It was severe when I was younger, I couldn’t sit still or focus on anything, including school.

Anyways, one day, I come home from school, like any other day. I was happy because my grandmother had picked me up and said she would be staying with me for a while. (Mind you, this is what I’ve been told, I have zero recollection of this month). I come home to strange people and cars around my home, but I go about my greetings as usual. My mom had a boyfriend at this point, his name was Angel, he was nice (we’ll get back to him later). I was told to stay in my room with my kitten, Ella (yes the same cat I talk about to this day) and my dog, Sassy. My grandmother would come in to make I was okay, which I was. The next day was even weirder, a lady in a police uniform watched me get dressed for the day. My teachers treated me differently and I had to leave school early. I was confused, I also hadn’t seen my uncle in two days without communication. I was asked multiple questions about my uncle and I answered them honestly. I later learned that he had buried a woman’s body, had he killed her or not is a mystery as there was someone else with him that day he buried her.

My uncle had schizophrenia, and he had just revealed to me that he had an episode when everything was happening and he was off his meds.

We had moved in December of that year due to people screaming slurs at me whenever I went outside. I don’t remember this, again I have no recollection of that month.

I developed severe emotional issues, including bottling things up and exploding in violent outburst. My ADHD made it hard to focus on schoolwork, specifically reading. I alway spaced out while reading, and heard a small distracting voice, telling me to play with my stuffed animals or watch TV (I didn’t tell my mom this and I still haven’t). My mom didn’t understand why I was like this. She thought I was acting out for attention. So first through third grade I suffered and started to hate school. I started to hate my classmates. So I started to let that little voice speak for me. Eventually I started blacking out during school.

I didn’t know this wasn’t normal.

I didn’t know that when my mom asked what did I do at school, she thought I just didn’t want to talk about school.

Time skip to sixth grade (the worst year of my entire life)-

I was eleven at the time. I had friends, I was a social butterfly. Yeah, sure I had people I didn’t like, but I didn’t let them effect me.

Until November 29, 2016 (yes I remember the exact date)

The weekend before I had slept over at my bestie’s house, then I went home because I had 4-H on Sunday. I got my phone taken away Sunday night because my ‘friend’ wouldn’t stop texting me. I saw on my google docs I had a new document, shared with my teachers. It was nice, complimenting them on their teaching skills. But I didn’t write it. It wasn’t my typing style.

I went to school on Monday like any other day, happy and cheerful. Around second period, I got called to the office. I was asked if I wrote the doc that was under my email. I said yes because it was nice, I didn’t think anything was wrong with it.

Boy, was I wrong... (holy shit I’m about to cry writing this)

I got called down a second time, this time my principal was saying I hacked into others school accounts and wrote a threatening letter on google docs under another student’s account. I started to deny that I wrote anything, that I thought the doc was written on a spur of the moment.

The third time I was called down, it was with my best friend, Angie. We both didn’t know what was going on and denied any and all accusations.

The fourth and final time I was called down was at the end of the day... my teachers were there. They wouldn’t listen... they didn’t care what I said... I was a sweet girl with dreams and passions. I loved my teachers with all my heart... it didn’t matter to them. Nothing mattered to them (here come the waterworks).

I said I did it to protect my friends from getting in trouble...

In the end, I got three days of in school suspension and a beating from my mom that I don’t remember.

The first day, they forgot I was there. I was in a little white room, with a chair and a desk. The social worker came in and asked me if I had really done it. I had a good relationship with her, I really liked her... I shouldn’t have trusted her.

The second day... the second day, the principal, vice principal, and social worker of the school came into the room and I was confused. Then the screaming started... the banging on the desk. They thought on Monday I had written another doc to my teachers, saying they didn’t scare me and they could go fuck themselves and I changed a student’s pfp to a bloody knife.

Then the principal came around behind me, still screaming her head off, and slammed her hands down on my shoulders and squeezed, hard, resulting in bruises later that day. After that, the little voice took over and started crying. Sobbing for them to leave us alone. They walked out leaving a broken child in their wake.

I had curled up under the desk and continued to cried, repeatedly saying, “I want to die, I don’t deserve to live...” the social worker came back in and tried to calm me down, but I looked at her and said I wanted to die. This was the first time of so many, that I had a suicidal thought.

211 services were called and I told them I felt bad about everything I’ve ever done, continuing the lie I’ve been dragged into. I can’t tell the truth... They wouldn’t believe me anyways... I had thought. I went home and stayed home for the rest of the week. That night I walked into my kitchen and opened my knife drawer and pulled out the biggest knife, mind completely blank. I gently slid it against my wrist, thinking about cutting. I didn’t. I put the knife away and went back to my room, empty. I felt lost, and like I was drowning.

A third voice slowly developed. It was a boy this time, he was sad and hated talking to others (I’ll get to my second voice development in a bit). He took over during school, all though I could think on my own and speak, he had main control. I had a mental breakdown later that week after my class had been too loud, I told my music teacher it was because I had sensitive hearing (which was part of the reason). I stayed hidden during recess, and I sat in the back of the lunchroom with people I didn’t like or know. My outbursts only got more violent and more frequent, to the point where I would push my mom and stepdad (remember Angel, yeah him), resulting in more beatings from my mom.

My aunt got a lawyer to extinguish the suspension from my permanent record. The lawyer didn’t want to help all that much because he thought I was hiding something, which I was, but I refused to tell. The suspension was extinguished and I was allowed to use the school computers again.

I went to a new school the next year and transferred to where I’m located now...

First-seventh grade (the second voice’s development)-

My stepdad (Angel) was nice the first year my mom dated him. Then everything started to change. He started coming home drunk. After my little brother was born, things only got worse (and no, I don’t blame my brother for the change, it was envitable). He started getting angry at my mom, and at me. He started calling me a bitch, a little shit, a mistake.

I started to have out of body experiences, whenever I violent towards him. Pushing him, slapping him, punching him, scratching him. One time he slapped my mom and my mom’s therapist called DCF on her. I’ve been told I had walked into the kitchen right when he slapped her. However I don’t remember, I just remember the feeling of uncontrollable rage spreading through my body.

I don’t remember there being a voice in the beginning, I remember being one place or doing one thing, get angry, and suddenly being somewhere else. Especially when Angel started calling me names.

Another time, right after my mom had carpal tunnel surgery, he left suddenly. I was in the basement reading and playing with my bunny at the time. I came back up when my mom started screaming for me. The front door was left wide open and my brother left in the living room. We had Max and Ella, it was the summer of 2016. My mom was hysterical, screaming at me, saying it was my fault he left, that everything was my fault. I left the house and stayed with my neighbors for an hour, waiting for my mom to calm down. I went back and was sent straight to my room. I remember being angry, so mad at myself for no reason. I hated myself. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression the next year.

There’s a shit ton of stories I could tell about Angel getting drunk or leaving the house and coming back drunk. I won’t. I’m not here to tell a sob story, I never will ask for pity. I’m telling you how small things to certain people can be huge to another. My mom didn’t think it affected my all that much, my therapists thought I didn’t need intense therapy despite everything. All because I didn’t know that hearing voices other than your own wasn’t normal.

I started looking up depression and anxiety to help manage it better, and stumbled upon an article about schizophrenia. I looked more into it and found out about DID when I was thirteen, two years ago. However I still didn’t tell anyone... I was scared.

I was a freak

I was unnatural

I had three voices, three other people, inside of me. They wanted control, they wanted a voice too. They became unbearable, and when I started high school, I broke.

I tried to kill myself. I started starving myself the previous school year and started cutting over that summer... I finally told someone about the voices but no one believed me, and still no does. They think I’m lying...

So I’m not diagnosed, but I know I have DID.

Who’s who-

Little was voice one- she’s a little, under the age of ten. Little isn’t her real name but I don’t want her name out there on the internet where people can manipulate her. She has ADHD and is incredibly hyper. This body doesn’t get much rest, so after someone else fronts, we usually have to sleep. She’s also a trauma holder, knowing what happened that month blackout. She has no interest in people romantically (obviously, she’s a child)

Lilith is angry blackout/voice two- she’s ageless, a prosecutor, and a secret keeper. She’s a trauma holder to the verbal and physical abuse I suffered when I was younger, really up until last year I was verbally abused by my mom. She has anger issues and severe mood swings. She rarely fronts, but when she does, Levi or I have to co-con with her so she doesn’t murder someone. She’s angry and is always aggressive towards me and Little. She leaves Levs out of her aggression though. Lilith is bisexual (no, not pan like I identify).

Levin/Levi/Lev(he goes by all of them however I prefer calling him Levi)- he has insomnia and major social anxiety. (Also is co-conscious with me rn) He’s apathetic and very neutral when it comes to opinions, but he’s humorous and super sarcastic when he’s comfortable. He’s a gatekeeper and he’s 18. He as food related anxiety, but no major eating disorders. He’s has no sexual desires, but is romantically attracted to girls.

Lennox(the writer of this)- they age with the body, so 15, and host/often front. They have social anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and is the first alter, or first recognized alter. They are nonbinary and pansexual.

I’m going to start labeling who your talking to, or who’s out at the time, like this

-Lennox (Kay?)

Thank you for reading!

I’mma tag some people I think should see this-

@one-pissed-off-child @madame-ree @queenzie-xo @anon-nom-nom95 @liveto-100 @aleiakit @gogetyoselfsomesoup @nadia-saaaaan @mai-ki-000 @martinidrinkingmartin @scalybunnypapi69 @pumpkineiji @cristinaweeb @pikaweebo @siyarduous-lazyaf @reijishiki

And to lighten my mood and for giggles-

POWER WALK BEFORE YOUR LATE ZUZU!!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[pengychan]

[Coco - Gravity Falls] Three Part Harmony

I wrote this for @perlogannwyl in exchange for her donation to BLM. Her prompt was Miguel interacting with Dipper and Mabel from Gravity Falls, discussing the weirdness around them. It took me... much longer than planned to write this, so I made it into a longer fic to make up for the delay. Sorry for the wait, hope you like it!

If you’d like to request a flash fic in exchange of a charity donation, here’s how.

It took Miguel roughly half a day to realize that primo Jésus - “Soos, dude, call me Soos. Unless I have the fez on, then I’m Mr. Mystery. Want some pizza? I’ve got this slice that never ends!” - was not the oddest person he could possibly meet in that town. Not by a long shot. 

“The locals are not odd, Miguel,” his father had told him, bouncing Socorro in his arms while his mamá caught up with her tía. Or at least tried to, because she had her attention split in three different directions: a third on her grand-niece, a third on the telenovela playing on the TV screen in the corner, and another third on cleaning every surface within reach as visitors walked through that… Mystery Shack his cousin apparently ran. 

Miguel didn’t answer as much as he gestured wildly at their surroundings. Somewhere on his left, a man wearing a tinfoil hat was taking a selfie next to a fur-covered trout mounted to the wall. His papá opened his mouth, hesitated, closed it again, and cleared his throat. 

“They’re Americans,” was all he could finally say in their defense as Socorro tried to get back his undivided attention by attempting to rip off his mustache.

Miguel had expected Americans to be kind of weird, just not that kind of weird. Still, as he wandered around the Mystery Shack - previously named Murder Hut, a plaque read, which made him… slightly uncomfortable - he had to admit that stuff was actually kind of cool. Also, Soos’ girlfriend was nice and had shown him how to get snacks for free from the distributor. 

“Are you sure it’s not a problem?” Miguel had asked, causing Melody - nice name, that - to shrug while she gave a customer change with one hand and made notes for the table disposition at the upcoming wedding. It was the reason why they were there, but as Miguel’s mamá hadn’t seen her tía since she married herself, she had wanted them to arrive a few days before the ceremony to meet properly.

“Of course not, don’t worry about it. Soos shows how to do it to everyone who walks in.”

“Ah.” Miguel had taken a snack, and wandered out to eat it without being chased with a vacuum cleaner, walking past a group of people holding up cameras and trying to figure out whether what was before their eyes was a rock that looked like a face or a face that looked like a rock. 

And then he’d seen it, just as it disappeared behind the trees. Something tiny, with a white beard and a pointed hat and… and…

Miguel blinked, and looked again; nothing but trees, now. But he was… fairly sure he had seen something. As per what that something was-- ay, he must be hallucinating. Was the snack he was eating past the expiry date?

He’d just turned it around to check when a truck screeched to a half right beside him, tires leaving marks in the grass and giving Miguel a mini heart attack. The driver’s door was thrown open, revealing primo Jes-- Soos at the wheel, grinning widely. 

“Back from the bus stop! Dudes, this is my second-something cousin Miguel!”

The very first impression wasn’t stellar, mostly because most people he met didn’t greet him by smacking a hand on his forehead to put a sticker on it. Or trying to ask him if he was single. Trying to, because her brother very quickly and very loudly began introducing himself before things got awkward, moving the chat to more normal grounds.

Well. Relatively normal. 

“... And I’m going to be a bridesmaid and - they still don’t know it, but I’ll throw glitter everywhere,” Mabel announced, spreading her arms. “It will be a huge surprise! I mean, if you tell no one, it will be a huge surprise. But you won’t tell anyone,” she added, her smile huge. 

Miguel wasn’t entirely sure if she meant to come across as slightly threatening or if he was letting past bad experiences give him the wrong impression,  but either way he responded with a smile that he hoped was convincing. 

“I’ll be silent as--” a grave? “... As, uh, someone really silent.”

“Soos’ abuelita will probably vacuum it all up immediately,” Dipper pointed out, causing his sister to frown.

“Right,” she muttered, rubbing her chin like a general devising an attack plan. “We need to find a way to keep the vacuum away from her.”

“... You don’t really think she’d bring it to the church during the wedding, do you?” Miguel asked, only for both Dipper and Mabel to nod. 

“You have met her, right?” Dipper asked, and Miguel had to concede that they had a point. 

“Fair.”

“We should sabotage it,” Mabel declared, and suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh! I know! When our Grunkles get here tomorrow--”

“Our great uncles,” Dipper supplied helpfully before Miguel could voice his confusion. 

“-- We’re going to ask them to help us turn the vacuum into a leaf blower! So that if she tries to clean up, she’ll only spread glitter even more! A double surprise!”

To Miguel’s worry, Dipper - who’d struck him as the most sensible of the two - began pacing, giving the matter some serious thought. “We would need to do it right before we head to church, if she tries to use it before we head off she’ll know. Someone will need to distract her.”

“Miguel volunteers!” Mabel exclaimed, grabbing Miguel’s arm and lifting it with a surprising amount of strength, almost lifting him off his feet. “He’ll distract her!”

“... Are you sure this is a good idea?” Miguel asked cautiously. It seemed pretty nonsensical, but then again, his own solution to a problem a couple of years prior had been grave robbing, so maybe he wasn’t precisely on a much higher ground. 

“It’s a great idea! Leaf blowers always worked well for us. We used it to blow away some gnomes once.”

Miguel blinked. With the mind’s eye he saw it again, something really small with a pointy hat running over some bushes. But he’d just hallucinated that… right? “... Qué?”

“Nothing!” Dipper exclaimed suddenly, trying to elbow his sister in a way that couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d tried. Mabel waved a hand. 

“Come on, Dip Dop, it took us… days to realize this place was weird. I’m going to be surprised if he didn’t notice--”

“... Was that a… gnome?”

Mabel gave her brother a classic Told You So grin.  “Did you see a very small guy with a beard and a red pointy hat, or a brooding mysterious stranger?”

“Uh… the first one you said. About over there, running back into the forest.”

“Then it was a gnome! If you'd seen the brooding mysterious stranger, then it would still be gnomes but, like, five of them stacked on top of each other. If you see a giant creature of unimaginable horror, that is still gnomes. Just a lot more than five.”

Miguel’s gaze shifted to Dipper, half-hoping he’d laugh and admit it was a joke. Instead, he shrugged. 

“Don’t worry, they don’t do that anymore,” he informed him.

“Ah,” Miguel said, faintly wondering if they were making fun of him or were just insane. But then again, he had seen a tiny man running off into the woods. Plus something even more incredible, too, a couple of years ago. 

Unaware of his thoughts, Mabel was frowning. “Come to think of it, the giant Gnominator would have been useful during Weirdmageddon.”

Miguel, whose English classes had never included terms like Gnominator and Weirdmageddon, settled to just nod as though what she was saying made sense. “... Right.”

“Or when Dipper raised the dead.”

“Of cou-- wait, what?”

“It was an accident, Mabel,” Dipper protested, crossing his arms. “You know it won’t happen again.”

“I know, I know. Oh, don’t worry, Miguel! We know how to beat them! A perfect three part harmony, and they’re dead again. Soos told us you like music, so you can sing, no?”

“I said I won’t raise them again, we don’t need Soos to turn into a zombie again right before his wed--”

“You met the dead, too?” Miguel blurted out, causing both siblings to trail off and turn to look at him. Suddenly it was Dipper step right in his face, taking a notebook and a pen out of… seemingly nowhere. 

“You met the Undead, too?”

Miguel blinked. Undead? “They were all… pretty definitely dead.”

“Yes, yes, but like-- zombies?”

“Uh, no. Just… skeletons.”

Mabel nodded, extremely serious. “Thin zombies,” she declared.

“What-- no, they were not zombies at all.”

“No eating brains?”

“... They seemed to prefer Pan de Muerto.”

Dipper wrote that down. “No biting?”

“N… no?”

“Trying to drag you in your grave?”

“No, they just all kind of… really wanted me to go back home.”

"So they didn’t try to kill you?"

"N--" Miguel paused. "... Well, one did. But most of them wanted me to go home. They were my family.”

Mabel sighed. “Aww, you raised your family from the dead!”

“No, I was just robbing a grave and--” he paused, and rubbed his temples. “I really think we’re talking about two entirely different things here.”

“Yeah, sounds like-- wait. Grave robbing?”

Miguel shifted. “Not my best decision,” he muttered. Only that it had been, in the end, if anything for how things had worked out. Had he not been in the Land of the Dead that night, then…

Dipper lifted the notebook again, clicking his pen with a slightly manic look in his eyes. “We have a lot to talk about,” he said, and they did. 

That place was weird, the people were weird, but Miguel found that talking about what had happened in the Land of the Dead, with someone who believed him, wasn’t too bad at all.