#while im BOUND to my family (father side) and they always target me so that's a pretty neat deal than seeing my sister suffer the same

[sunlit-mess]

noticing in your vents—

is your sister okay too?

We laugh, sure, but we both know we're not ok.

[vanserraseris]

END OF PART VII - I’m not going to lie, this chapter and the next one are probably a little more on the boring side. It’s just sort of Eris spending some time with Lucien. Shit’s gonna hit the fan soon, but Eris is just going to spend some time at the beach, for no reason really. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!!!

no im SO excited for eris and lucien brotherly boring. BEACH EP BEACH EP BEACH EP BEACH EP

Prince of Ashes. Part VII.

masterlist.

“Give me your shirt.” 

“I don’t obey the orders of anyone below my station,” Eris tilted his head back, his fingers digging into the sand of the beach. He was leaning on his forearms, his eyes shut, the afternoon sun warming his face. Eris liked making snobbish remarks like that around his friends just as much as they liked reminding him that his status as heir amounted to absolutely nothing in their presence.

Micah repeated himself, “Give me your shirt.” 

With an exaggerated sigh, Eris undid the laces of his thin, light brown shirt, throwing it at his friend. “Shit, Micah, you should have asked sooner.” Micah’s nose and cheeks were a frightening red colour, the gold of his tattoos bright against the burned skin of his neck, all because he was too proud to admit that he burned when he stayed out in the sun for too long.

“I hate you all,” Micah declared, lifting Eris’s shirt and putting it over his head like a cloak, shielding himself from the rays of the sun. 

Eris knew Lagos was pouting, mocking, “Poor little Micah, can’t stay out in the sun.” 

“Poor little Micah is going to throw sand at you,” Micah muttered.

Widge smiled, lifting the brim of the sun hat he’d borrowed from his mother. While he looked ridiculous, Widge didn't seem to care. “Not all of us have exceptional magical abilities,” he huffed a laugh as Enya jumped up, licking at his face. Eris swore that hound loved Widge more than him. Lagos was sprawled on his back, pants thrown off to the side, using his own shirt as a pillow as he laid by Eris in his undershorts. He was faintly glowing.

Eris kept expecting Lucien to do the same thing, eyes following Lucien as he played near the water’s edge. Lucien hadn’t shown signs of any other Day Court magic since Lady Morai had suppressed it, but Eris still found himself worrying over it. Rufus was also by the water’s edge, boots off, pants rolled up, and shirt left unbuttoned as he watched over Lucien. Every so often, he would kick water at their youngest brother, laughing every time Lucien told him to stop.

“Your brother is perhaps an even greater menace than you were upon your arrival at my camp,” Micah declared. He awkwardly moved towards Eris, dragging his ass along the sand while still trying to keep the shirt over his head.

“He belongs in a circus,” Lagos added. 

“I like having him there,” Widge managed to get out as Enya continued to lick his cheeks.

“He’s doing alright?” Their father had recently sent Rufus to one of Autumn’s largest war camps. It was located in the South, near the Spring Court border; Eris had been sent there at two decades old with nothing but a sword, brown leathers, and a title he was pretty sure he’d never be able to live up to. Eris was proud to admit that over two centuries later, he could claim being a half-decent commander of his father’s armies - not fantastic at combat, but damn-good at military strategy.

Eris had heard that Rufus, despite his more care-free attitude, was doing quite well, but it was always Eris’s first instinct to assume that Rufus was going to get himself killed or cause some sort of international catastrophe. Especially with political tensions in Prythian so high lately, Eris found that he’d become quite the mother hen, constantly asking his friends how Rufus was holding up. “He’s absolutely mad,” Micah laughed, “I could throttle him sometimes.”

“Cauldron, does he write his reports backwards?” Eris smiled just thinking about it, “Rufus used to do shit like that to his tutors, you can read them in front of a mirror.” 

“He walks around the camp with a near-empty cognac bottle filled with apple juice, and makes bets on whether or not he can hit moving targets with his bow and arrows,” Lagos said. “He won 50 gold marks from me before I found out what he’d been doing.” 

“Serves you right,” Eris grinned.

“He also tells us the most interesting things,” Micah hummed. He nudged at Eris with his knee. “Things that you neglect to mention.” 

Lagos didn't sound too amused as he said, “Told us he was afraid for your life.”

Eris knew exactly what Rufus had told them. “If this is about Lizaveta—” 

“Of course it’s about Lady Lizaveta,” Lagos leaned up on an elbow. “Your choice in lovers is abysmal, truly.” 

“Don’t offend me,” Micah mumbled.

Lagos ignored him, “It’s like you dive headfirst into relationships that are bound to get you killed.” Eris sneered, mostly because Lagos was right. If his father ever learned of the countless male lovers Eris had been with over the centuries, Eris was almost certain that Beron would kill him. Or if he found out about the lesser faeries, or the females of common birth. Eris had been very good at ignoring his father’s rants about degeneracy when he’d been much younger.

But Lizaveta was a full-blooded noble, and Eris didn’t really see the problem. “How might this relationship kill me?” 

“You’re sneaking around with a female who’s rumoured to have killed her own husband in his sleep less than a decade ago. Does that seem like a good idea?” 

“I’m sure he deserved it,” Widge muttered absently, “Lots of lords in Autumn deserve it.” Everyone turned to face him, but he was looking off into the distance, no longer paying any attention to them.

Micah placed a gentle hand on Eris’s knee, “We’re just messing with you.” Eris knew they meant well, but his friends had a horrible habit of sticking their noses into Eris’s business, all hidden behind the guise that they “cared for his well-being,” as they so often reminded him. 

“Just make sure you’re not her next victim,” Lagos added, “And do try and keep your father from finding out.”

Eris scowled, “Your faith in me is astounding.” He’d had centuries worth of practice in keeping his lovers a secret from the rest of his family and ensuring that rumours didn’t make their way to the always-listening ears of Autumn Court aristocrats. It was exhausting. He looked away from his friends to make sure Lucien and Rufus hadn’t drowned while he’d been distracted.

Lucien seemed to have convinced Rufus to play some sort of aggressive game with him, spinning Lucien around in his arms before throwing him deeper into the ocean. Lucien landed in the water with a big splash, Rufus roaring with laughter. Eris would have scolded them both had Lucien not jumped up from the water with a huge grin on his face, looking very foolish as he struggled to run at Rufus.

“Just be careful, we quite enjoy your company.” Micah squeezed his knee once before moving his hand, his fingers now dragging through the sand. 

Eris finally looked away from his brothers after deciding that they would be fine, turning to face Micah again. “Let’s talk about what happened in Spring.” 

“Yes, let’s talk about how we’re on the verge of another war, Eris would rather talk about our impending doom than his lover.” Eris glared at Lagos.

Micah scoffed, “There’s not going to be a fucking war, both of them are too young - untried. They aren’t going to do something so stupid.” 

Eris considered this. Rhysand and Tamlin had just become new High Lords, perhaps they would start a war just to prove that they could. “If somebody killed my mother, I might start a war.” 

“You might start a war just for fun.” Eris kicked sand at Lagos, a crooked smile on his face that was becoming more and more rare. Eris knew Lagos simply meant well.

Lagos returned the smile, dimples showing. Lagos was perhaps the only one of his friends that constantly bothered Eris for being a cruel prince of the Autumn Court.  

“Cauldron, you wouldn’t do that either,” Micah seemed so sure. Eris sometimes wished he had that amount of confidence in his ability to make good choices. 

Widge furrowed his brows, looking up from what he was in the process of writing in messy, scrawled script in the sand. “Wait, what happened in Spring?”

Somebody would explain it to him later, Eris thought. “I wonder if Rhysand will be a better High Lord than his father.” It was no secret that the Hewn City was more horrible than any part of Beron’s territory. Eris had despised the place since the first moment he’d stepped foot in it. He’d take his own two-faced city of Calchas over that wretched city any day. 

“Probably not,” Micah adjusted the shirt over his head, “But at least he’s better looking.”

Eris would have to agree. With the dark hair and those star-lit, violet eyes, Rhysand was one of the better looking faeries Eris had ever seen. Not that he’d ever admit it out loud, “I like his general better.” 

Micah grinned, “What about the shadowsinger?” Eris grinned back, “Fancy the shadowsinger, do you?” 

“Who doesn’t?” 

“Those people are from the Night Court.” Widge looked confused, much like he usually did. 

“Very observant,” Lagos muttered.

“We’re talking about Tamlin and Rhysand,” Eris explained. “The new High Lords.” 

“Heard about that,” Widge said with a nod. “Sounds like a mess.” With a shake of his head, almost like he was clearing his thoughts, Widge went back to whatever he was writing in the sand without so much as a second glance in their direction. Eris shifted slightly so that he could more clearly see what Widge was doing. He’d drawn three interconnected circles in the sand, numbers and formulas surrounding them.

Eris had always enjoyed watching Widge work, liked trying to figure out what he was doing, and he wasn’t paying attention to anything as he tried to understand where Widge was going with this. Definitely not smart on his part, he hadn’t been expecting so much water to crash onto his head, leaving him completely soaked. Widge yelped as some of the water fell on him as well. 

“What the fuck,” Eris growled.

“My circles,” Widge whined, the water having ruined whatever he was writing. Eris hoped he remembered what it was, it had seemed interesting. He heard everyone’s laugh. From the deep rumble of Micah, to the obnoxious cackle of Lagos, to the loud howl of Rufus. It should have come as no shock that Rufus would try and pull a prank on Eris, no doubt with Lucien’s help. He was rather disappointed in himself for not keeping an eye on the two biggest troublemakers in all of Prythian.

Eris looked up at Rufus with a glare, he could see the steam in the air around him as he used some of his magic to dry off. “Honestly, Rufus,” Eris sneered, teeth bared. 

“My mistake, didn’t see you sitting there.” He’d filled his fucking boot with water and thrown it at him. 

Eris ran a hand through his still damp hair, “You’ve disappointed me.” Rufus just smiled, tugging once on Lucien’s braid.

“Lucien told me to do it,” Rufus was very good at playing the part of innocent victim. His auburn brows were raised, his russett eyes wide. “No I didn’t,” Lucien instantly stopped cackling, defending his honour. “Eris, he’s the disappointment, I’d never.” 

“Little assholes,” Eris mumbled, shoving Lucien playfully. Lucien laughed again, dropping into the sand right beside him. Rufus sat by Lagos, winking at Eris before he sprawled on his back, Enya trotting over to lie down by his head.

Eris was glad for moments like this - when his father wasn’t in Autumn and he had the time to spend with the people he cared about. He knew it was a weakness, the fact that he cared about them, but he'd missed them all. Rufus was stuck at the war camp with his friends, Lucien was stuck in the Forest House, and Eris was stuck in his territory far away from them both.

Eris had been staying away from Lucien anyway, visiting less and less. It’d been months since he’d last seen the little runt, but Eris knew it was for the best. 

“This was really nice, Eris,” Lucien said with a small smile, his face turned towards the sun. He looked happy. 

Eris nodded once, closing his eyes and turning his own face towards the sun, “I thought it was really nice, too.”

Perhaps it was very foolish of Eris to be spending his valuable time frolicking on beaches, but all he wanted to do right now was pretend everything would be alright. Pushing all his worries aside, the sound of waves crashing along the shore, his toes curling into the white sand of the beach, Eris could almost forget he was the heir of the Autumn Court.

[imagining-eddsworld]

It Takes Two- Chapter Twenty One

“Papa? Could you tell me a story?” The thick browned man looked at his daughter, who was about eight at the time. “Sure.” He walked over to the small bed, sitting on the side. He pulled up the covers for her, so she could be warm. “Once upon a time, there was a girl named Carla.” “That’s my name!” “Carla it’s time.” Said the voice on the phone. “Target the accountant. Find out their weakness, get the information they have about the army’s money use.” “Carla was a very kind and nice girl, everyone loved her.” “Was she a princess?” “Yes.” Carla got off her bed, and made her way to the accounting room. People tried to not walk into the 13 year old. “Carla also hid a secret. She couldn’t tell anyone about her status as a princess, because people wanted to hurt her, so everyday she had to hide as a peasant. She had a lot of friends who were kind to her so she wouldn’t be lonely.“  Carla continued walking as she passed (Name) and some of their shared friends. She gave them a little wave and continued on. “Carla had hid this secret since she was very small.” Carla continued walking, until someone stopped her. “Oh hey Carla, what age were you adopted by my uncles?” (Name) asked. “I was five.” She responded, with a small smile. “It grew harder and harder for her to continue hiding like this. Some days she thought she would could come clean to her secret or run away.” Carla continued walking, and looked out the window as she slowed down to take in the sights. It was snowing again. “It was a snowy day when she was caught. She made a mistake and people reported her.” Carla walked into the accounting room, and nobody was in there. She closed the door behind her. The computer was still logged in. She pulled out a small USB drive and plugged it into the computer and started to download files. It was going pretty fast. She didn’t hear the door open behind her. “I knew we had a spy. But I didn’t think it was going to be you Carla.” A voice behind her spoke. “She tried to run and hide. But in the end she was caught.” Carla grabbed the drive and tried to run out the other door. It was locked. “Really Carla? Trying to run? Pathetic.” The voice said, coming closer. When Carla turned around she could see who it was. It was the accountant. “You’re coming with me.” They continued, grabbing Carla by the shirt and dragging her to Tord’s office. “Once inside, Carla looked around. People she once trusted, and those who once trusted her, wouldn’t look at her. In the corner of her eye she saw the people who took her in when she was small. They were like parents to her. And yet, even they would not look at her.” Carla was thrown into Tord’s office. “I caught this one trying to steal information from us. What are we going to do Red Leader?” “The person who caught her asked the person in charge what they should do. He only came up with one punishment suitable for her.” “Call Pauel and Patrick in, tell them we have another execution to begin.” “No! NO! IM SORRY! PLEASE! NO!” Carla cried as she was dragged into the holding cells. “Oh we are telling a story are we?” Patrick smiled, walking in and sitting on the bed as well. He held Carla in his arms as they listened to Pauel continue. “The young princess was brought to the jail cells, and in there, she saw her birth parents, all dirty and old, them having being treated like old toys who have been under the bed for too long and forgotten. They looked up at her, and started to cry.” Pauel and Patrick were in the simulation, when they were called to go down to execute a traitor. They sighed and walked. “Hey Pauel, do you know what we are going to have for dinner tonight?” Patrick said as they walked. “Yea, its gonna be lasagna, Carla’s favorite.” He smiled. “I already have it making in the oven right now.” They held hands as they walked into the interrogation/execution room. A person was there, wearing a hood. A loaded gun was on the table. “They look young…. about Carla’s age.” Patrick mumbled, he was getting worried. “Yea…” Pauel agreed. Tord was in there too, and came up behind the person who was bound to the chair. “Do you want the hood to be off or on?” He asked them. “….” they didn’t respond, when they noticed the necklace around the traitors neck. “Off it is then.” He tugged the hood off. Pauel and Patrick gasped in shock. “Carla?! Baby what happened?!” Pauel tried to run over to her. She had a gag in her mouth and was crying. Tord blocked him. “She betrayed us. That’s all you need to know. You have a job. Now do it.” “Tord no please.” Patrick begged starting to cry. “Please Tord! Give her another chance! DON’T MAKE ME KILL MY CHILD!” He screamed as him and Pauel started sobbing. Tord walked over to Carla, tugging the gag out of her mouth. “Tell them what you did. Maybe I’ll let you free if you confess.” “…I… I tried to steal information off of Fawn’s computer…” “Why.” Tord glared at them. “So I could give it to the Maroon Revolt….” “The parents cried and cried and did their best to reach out to her, to hold her and dry her tears. The leader of the government was a bad man. When the day of her execution came, her parents were given a task. They h-” Patrick cut him off. “Pauel, dear, are you sure this is a good bedtime story?” He nervously laughed. “Dad it’s ok, I like the story Papa’s telling.” Carla said, hugging Patrick’s arm. “Alright… continue Pauel.” “They had to either execute their daughter, or die with her as well. But it wouldn’t be quick, it would be a painful and slow death.” “She confessed she confessed! Let her go please!” Pauel screamed. “…Pick up the gun Pauel.” “TORD NO! YOU SAID SHE WOULD GO FREE!” Patrick yelled, anger and sadness mixing together, Pauel had to hold him back from chocking Tord. “I never promised anything. Now pick up the gun, or I’ll let everyone in this base know that this family was a family of traitors. Now pick up the gun before I shoot you with this. And besides, taking a life for two to live is a great deal.” He exited the room. “Papa…” Carla cried. Pauel ran over to his crying daughter and cupped her face in his hands, trying to comfort her while they tried to think of what they could do to save her from this fate.

“On the day of the princess’s execution, her parents told her how much they loved her. But they knew they had a job to do.”

Either way, part of their family would be gone forever.

Patrick picked up the gun. “Carla… Daddy’s sorry…” He sobbed. Pauel looked at him.

“Dad? What are you doing? Dad?! DAD!” Carla yelled as he pointed the gun at her head.

“I-It’ll be quick, I p-promise…” He sobbed more and more and his vision blurred.

Pauel got up and stood next to him.

“Carla daddy loves you…” His voice shook.

“They tried to do it as quick as possible, and the mother couldn’t do it alone. The father had to help her lift the axe and bring it on their little one’s head. And that was the end of princess Carla.”

“That was kind of gruesome, dear.” Patrick nervously laughed again.

“Papa, why didn’t you make it a happy ending?" 

His aim was off, way off.

Pauel readjusted it for him. "Papa loves you too baby.” He said, trying to not scare her. Both of their fingers held the trigger.

“PAPA! PAPA PLEASE! DAD DON’T! PLEASE! IM SORRY! IM SOR-”

Bang.

“Because there isn’t always a happy ending.”