#who is forced to trade all he holds dear to simply survive

[majorkphob]

One of these days I will have a normal reaction to one of Lou Wilson's PCs but today will not be that day.....

[teddy06writes]

sorry to request yet another one, but you are such an amazing writer. Could I possibly have a romeo and juliet type story where reader is sleepybois sibling and is in love with either poly dream team (dream,George,sapnap) or just george xx

dream x george x sapnap x reader + sleepy boys x sibling!reader

trigger warnings: swearing, yelling, character death, Wilbur being a dumbass

premise: you are one of Philza’s children, and have fought for L’manburg’s independence, we follow your secret romance with the enemy, of course, this tragedy knows no happy ending

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You carefully dropped down over the side of the L’manburg wall, ducking into a roll before standing up and dusting yourself off, starting to sneak away.

A hand clamps around your forearm, pulling you around the side of a tree.

You hold back a yelp, instead turning with a smile, whispering, “Mr. Sapnap we simply must stop meeting like this.”

“And what? You’d have us march through your gates announcing ourselves to your brothers, I think not.” Nick chuckled.

“Well, I suppose that would put a damper on things.” You grinned, pressing a kiss to his lips.

He fit your hand into his, pulling you along as you started for where the others would be waiting, “Especially when they are so against our dear Dream.”

“To be fair, he was against us.” You argued.

“But no more.” The man himself pointed out, stepping out of the shadows, rising his mask enough to press a kiss to your knuckles.

“Because we continued to fight? or Because you wanted an excuse to talk to me without it being over a declaration of war?”

“I believe it was because Tommy gave up his disks,” George offered, leaning in to place a kiss on your cheek, “Hello dearest.”

You sighed, “Phil gave him those disks. They were one of the only things to survive the blast.”

Behind the mask you could tell Dream’s face fell, and he started to turn away, “I- we did what we thought was right.”

“Blowing up my country was what you thought was right?” You challenged, crossing your arms, “You even had the audacity to cheer as my head was separated from my body by the sheer force.”

“Here we go again.” George muttered.

“We didn’t know you then! Things have changed! You and your people are free now!”

“That does not change our history.” You said indigently.

“What about when Sapnap burned the forests? That’s part of your history too yet we don’t see you yelling at him!” Dream exclaimed.

You sighed, “The forests were replanted with his help, and he has shown remorse, and regret over his actions.”

Surprisingly Dream wrapped his arms around you, pulling you flush against his chest, “If that is what I takes to gain your trust, then I am sorry. I hope my past mistakes do not haunt you any longer.”

Reluctantly you wrapped your arms around him, smiling as the other boys joined the embrace.

After a few moment Dream pulled away, “c’mon, we may even have time for a proper date.”

~~

“An election?” You questioned, “But your already the president.”

Wilbur grinned, “But I put myself in that position, if we do it this way everything is fair!”

You glanced down at the papers littering his desk, “Wil I don’t see how this makes things fair, I mean,” You picked up the note book where he’d been witting makeshift ballots, “Closing the ballots early? The people will only have one option! How is that fair?”

“Actually, I’m running as well.”

You turned to see Quackity entering the office, “You? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

The man frowned, “Well, I figure if Wilbur here gets a chance to do it fair why shouldn’t I?”

“We’ll be able to beat him easily.” Your brother quietly assured you.

~~

“You alright love? You seem stressed.” Nick said quietly.

You sighed looking up at the sky, “Wilbur plans to hold an election. He believes we can over take Quackity and Swag 2020, but now Fundy and Niki have made there own party as well.”

George turned, propping himself up on his elbow, “That doesn’t sound good. If he’s already in charge why does he need to be re elected?”  

“We put him on the throne, Tommy, Tubbo, Niki, Fundy and I. He wishes to be there fairly with the support of the people.”

Dream hummed, “Do you think he could win?”

“It’s possible,” You sighed, leaning back against Nick, “But campaigns have been tricky, Tommy managed to dig up Jshlatt. They though he could help, but now he’s trying to make a claim to having a spot on the ballot.”

“I thought he was dead.” George said.

You laced your fingers through his, “Well now he’s just a drunk who’s running for president. God I hope it was just a joke.” You muttered the last part.

The boy shared glances, Nick hazarding, “What happens if someone else wins?”

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t change much for me, technically I hold no office other than managing my brothers and the campaign, it’d shift me further out of public eye, but, I think Wilbur wouldn’t handle it well.”

Dream began to trace shapes into your open palm, “Well, with you in charge of the campaign I doubt your brother will fail.”

You smiled, “Let’s hope so.”

A few hours later, as the sun began to disappear beyond the hills of L’manburg you stood up from the picnic, bidding your lovers farewell, “Wilbur’s meeting starts soon, and I’ll be missed.”

After a few traded kisses you started back through the woods toward L’manburg, sneaking back in through a gap that had never been fixed in the wall, pausing at your house to change back into your L’manburg uniform before hurrying off to the white house.

“Your late!” Tommy called sharply as you entered Wilbur’s office.

“I lost track of time working on the last of the posters.” You pulled the rolled up tubes of paper from the bag you’d grabbed at the house as well.

Wilbur took the tubes as Tommy looked at you skeptically, “Yeah, doing that and what else?”

“Well I was talking to Phil today telling him about the election,” You sat down next to Tubbo, “But not much else.”

Wilbur sighed, dropping a flyer on the table, “We have more important notion to discuss, it would seem that Shlatt is serious about this.”

You grabbed the flyer, looking over the bolded, ‘Shlatt 2020′ and then back at Wilbur, “This can’t be real. I thought you closed the ballot.”

“The people favor him enough to allow him a spot on the ballot.” Tubbo sighed.

“We still stand a chance though,” Tommy said quickly turning to Wilbur, “Right Wil?”

Your older brother hesitated, wavering for a moment, before nodding, “Yes. Yes of course.”

~~

“(y/n) I must ask you some thing.” Wilbur said as the meeting ended and Tommy and Tubbo headed out.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you sneak out?” Your breathing hitched but he continued, “Who are you meeting? What are you hiding? Who do you talk too from- from the SMP lands?” His voice turned to acid at the last words.

“I don’t go anywhere, outside L’manburg. Other than for walks in the forest on occasion.” You lied.

Wilbur examined your face, as if searching for something, “Fine then. Don’t tell me, I will find out sooner or later.”

He strode out of the room, leaving you to pull out your com tablet, privately messaging Dream, ‘it might be a bit before I can see you guys again’

‘:(’

You rolled your eyes quickly typing, ‘Wils getting suspicious, I’m just trying to keep you safe’

‘george also says :(’ Was all you received in reply, so you quickly put the tablet away, heading out of the office and out to the street.

You took a deep breath, looking back at the podium, ballots would be collected tomorrow, and then everything could change.

~~

“Last night, before the last of the ballots were collected, Mr. Quackity of the SWAG 2020 party made an agreement with Mr. Jshlatt of the SHLATT 2020 campaign, that if neither party won the popular vote, they would combine there votes, creating a collation.” WIlbur announced.

From your place to the side of the stage you froze, fear coursing through your veins.

“And so, the combined percentages of SWAG 2020 and SHLATT 2020, bring the coalition to 46% of the popular vote.”

Your heart pounded in your ears, feeling Tommy freeze beside you.

“Which means, the coalition government of SWAG and SHLATT 2020, have won the L’manburg election, by 1%.”

The world seemed to slow as parts of the crowd erupted into cheers, Quackity jumped around on the stage yelling as Wilbur slowly moved away from the podium, out of the corner of your eye, near the back of the stands you see your boyfriends all looking down, but you paid them no mind, instead looking Shlatt dead in the eye as he grinned maliciously at you, before turning to address the crowd.

Wilbur tugged you and Tommy away from the stage, “We’re citizens tonight.”

Shlatt leaned over the podium as you took seats near the front of the crowd, “Well that, was pretty easy.”

You felt your brothers grip your hands, as you stared up at Shlatt.

“You know what I said when I announced this campaign? I said ‘things are gonna change’ I looked every citizen of L’manburg in the eye and I said ‘you listen to me... this place will be a lot different tomorrow.”

He smirked down at you, “So let’s start making that happen. My first decree as president of L’manburg- as EMPEROR! Of this great country!”

Your breathing hitched, “Is to revoke citizenship-! Of TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot, and (Y/n)! Get them out of here!”

Suddenly it seemed as though every weapon in the city was trained on you as Tommy dragged you up out of your seat.

Wilbur was yelling at you to run, but you remained frozen on the spot, turning to look at the podium one last time before following your brothers, only a few steps behind, most of the crowd beginning to disperse

Some one practically screamed your name, and you turned in time for an onslaught of arrows to bury themselves in your body.

The last thing you saw before crumpling to the ground was Dream, Nick and George rushing toward you.

Shlatt strode off the stage, trying to move closer to your body only to be blocked by Dream’s outstretched sword.

He peered around where George had flung himself over you, “I want them out of here as soon as they respawn.”

~~

You woke to someone pressing a damp cloth to your forehead, and excruciating pain spreading throughout your body.

Your eyes flicked open, looking around at the cave you found yourself in, in confusion. When you tried to sit up a gentle hand pushed you back down, “Don’t, you only respawned fully a day ago, you're too weak for that.”

“What’re you doing here?” You groaned.

Technoblade chuckled, “I heard someone say rebellion.”

You looked at him confused for a moment before he elaborated, “This is Pogtopia, cause apparently Wilbur can’t go more than a few months without establishing a new country. Tommy found the cavern after they were ran out of L’manburg. Tubbo is working with Shlatt to hunt you guys down, and Wilbur is trying to start a plan to get the country back.”

“How’d I get here? my bed is all the way in L’manburg.”

Techno grabbed one of the baked potatoes he’d brought up to your room, offering it to you, “That’s the thing I was meanin to ask ya, is there a reasonable explanation as to why it was the Dream Team who brought your body back here? All dramatic and not wantin to leave?”

You face flushed and you turned your head away from him, “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” You brother said, moving to lean back against the wall.

You giggled nervously, “I guess it technically started when L’manburg was still fighting for independence...”

You told him of the strange glances during war councils, the way Nick had stopped in his tracks when he saw the way you looked forlorn at the burning wood, the way George found ways to sneak you trinkets signed ‘from someones special’, and the way you were never in any real danger during many battles.

You recalled your first real meeting with Dream after you had gained independence, the way he’d seemed so different then than at the signing of the peace treaty, the way that You’d received help replanting the forests, and the quiet still moments shared by the channel George almost unaware of your being there.

It was the first time you had really spoken about your lovers to anyone, and though it took a weight off your shoulders it added another as Techno subconsciously pulled out his axe and began to sharpen it.

“They wouldn’t hurt me, and the conflict that we shared was between the SMP Lands and L’manburg, not us.” You finished quietly.

Techno looked at you quizzically, “Your telling me Dream, the Dream, Mister Manhunts and smp and god among men Dream, would willingly put away his conflicts, his gains, his leverage, just for you?”

“For all of us.” You said firmly.

“That why he kept Tommy’s disks?”

“Tommy willingly gave up those disks for the country.” You muttered.

Your older brother ignored you, “That why he openly endorsed Shlatt as soon as your back was turned?”

You froze, pushing yourself to sit up, even as it made your head spin, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Shlatt’s key endorsement, you know, the endorsement given to the guy who was suppose to endorse Wil?” He watched as your face fell, before quietly starting out of the room, “I won’t tell either of them, but if Dream loses a life cause you find out it was true, don’t look my way.”

You fished your com tablet out of the pack that was lying next to your cot, ‘we need to talk.’

~~

“(y/n)! Thank god your okay!” Nick exclaimed, throwing his arms around you.

You hugged him back before turning to face Dream, “Why did you endorse Shlatt?”

He opened his mouth to say something but you cut him off, “And I don’t want a denial or an excuse, or- or any of that. I just want to know why you did it. Why you didn’t tell me?”

Shakily Dream pulled off his mask, looking you in the eye, “I didn’t mean to do anything that would hurt you. Technically I never publicly endorsed him, he took a piece of advice and ran with it to the people. If I had known he was going to do that I would’ve never talked to him in the first place. If I had known he was going to exile you, if he was going to take one of your lives I would have killed him where he stood with no hesitation.”

The mask shook his hand, and George gently took it from him, lacing there fingers together encouragingly.

“I know I fucked up talking to him but if he goes near you, or tries to get you exiled further, or anything like that, he’ll be dead. I- I will do what it takes to help you get L’manburg back.”

You bit your lip, still partially holding on to Nick, “Why did you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to add to the stress.”

“Also, you said Wilbur was getting suspicious, and you stopped talking to us for two days.” George pointed out.

You nodded, quietly rubbing at your eyes, “Uh, yeah, uh, so Techno knows.”

Nick stiffened, “What?”

“Technoblade knows about this- uh- us.”

“T- Technoblade, your brother, as in, The Technoblade, Mister violence, and blood god and technoblade never dies,  knows about us?” George gulped.

“He only threatened Dream, so don’t worry?” You said sheepishly.

Nick chuckled, “Wonderful, that means we get out with our heads and Dream gets to fight to the death.”

“I don’t see how that’s fair.” Dream pouted.

“Maybe I just thought it better to threaten you cause I know if I tried to take the other ones you’d come for me anyway.” Techno said, striding into the clearing.

The boys sat there looking at him for a moment before he sighed, turning to you, “You better get back inside ‘fore Wil goes insane. An’ you guys better clear out before Tommy sees you and goes berserk.”

Reluctantly your boyfriends nodded, quickly muttering goodbyes and leaving, only slightly in fear of Techno, and you turned to your brother with a sigh, “He can’t keep me locked up forever.”

“He’s worried. Paranoid even, thinks Shlatts gonna send someone to kill you again,” Techno explained, guiding you back towards one of the entrances of the cavern, “The stress is getting to him.”

~~

The days spent in Pogtopia began to blend together, the only memorable ones being the ones that were spent sneaking out and seeing your lovers, though you never excepted to see one of them within the cavern itself.

You had come down one of the narrow walkways of your new home, and when Tommy had grabbed your wrist, hissing “Dream is here! And he’s going to help Wilbur blow up L’manburg!” you were not nearly prepared to see him handing Wilbur a rather large bag.

Wilbur grinned wickedly, “This is perfect.”

“Wilbur,” Your little brothers voice was shaking, “Give me that tnt.”

Dream drew his sword, holding it up almost lazily in Tommy’s direction, “I’m going to have to step in on this one Tommy.”

You could see him smirking under the mask as you pushed Tommy behind you, “Wilbur what are you doing?”

“What needs to be done.” He said coldly, “If I can’t have Manburg no one can have Manburg!”

“And you think blowing up our home is the right move?” You said cautiously.

There was something different in Wilbur’s eyes, “No survivors.”

Techno watched this from his spot on the wall, “Wilbur I think we need to have a discussion, things like this take time to plan. (Y/n) why don’t you escort our guest out.”

You nodded sharply, starting towards the back of the cavern, “This way green boy.”

As soon as you got outside the cave you grabbed his wrist, shoving him against the rock wall, “What the fuck are you thinking?”

The now lopsided mask reviled his cocky smirk, “Shouldn’t this be the other way around?”

“Shut the fuck up! What are you thinking?”  You hissed.

“I’m helping you get back your L’manburg!” He sounded all too happy about it.

“By siding with him? He’s gone manic Clay! He’s fucking insane!”

Dream winced at the words, “He’s your brother. You have to side with him.”

“My brother is gone. I side with that man because I am loyal to my family, so long as Techno and Tommy are with him I am. If there was ever a time for you two to ever get along it would not be this.” You backed away from him.

“(y/n), I’m just trying to help.”

“I know,” You said softly, turning back to the cave entrance, “I’ll see you soon.”

~~

“Wars tomorrow.” George said quietly.

You nodded, carding your hand through his hair, “That it is.”

The month had passed quickly, and after the incident at the festival, and then Quackity’s meeting with Shlatt you seemed to have blinked and the eve of war was upon you.

You had snuck out, now spending your last night before the world changes again with your boys, huddled up together in one of the castles parapets. (It had been quite a shock to you when Dream dethroned Eret)

“We will be on different sides, how will this even play out?” Nick asked.

“Only time will tell.”

Dream, mask long since forgotten to the side, bit his lip, “(y/n), George, I want you to stay out of the fighting.”

“We can handle ourselves.” You argued.

“It’s George’s job to stay neutral, and you’re on your last life. None of us want to lose you.” He said softly, looking over Nick’s head at you.

“I will fight for my country. No one will stop me.”

“Even if Phil came back and told you not too?” Nick asked with a chuckle.

“Well-” You laughed, “I suppose it would depend.”

A while later, you began to head back to Pogtopia, your boys insisting on walking you back.

Upon reaching the cave you kissed each of them, “Until we see what tomorrow brings.”

They gave similar goodbyes, and you darted back into the cavern.

Coming around the corner someone grabbed your wrist, tugging it hard, and you came face to face with Wilbur, “Where the fuck were you?”

“uh- o- out.” You stuttered.

“Out with your boyfriends?” He taughtened, dragging you down through the cavern, past the new rooms that had been carved out recently, “When were you planning on telling us of this little fling?”

“What are you talking about?” Tears sprung to your eyes.

“Oh I know all about you and Dream and Sapnap and George! You and your fucking betrayal! Why the fuck would you try to betray me? I’m your brother!” He exclaimed, practically throwing you into a newly constructed cage.

You dug your nails into your palms, “Wilbur, please.”

“I know it was them who disconnected the TNT, who you keep sneaking out to meet, who you were conspiring against me with!” He locked the cage and you caught a glimpse of Techno, leaning against a wall looking down.

“Wil I never conspired against you!”

“We’ll see about that.” He hissed, “You’ll stay here until this is over. I may fail at regaining my L’manburg but I will not fail to kill those men.”

As he strode away you looked to Techno, “Techno what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.” Was all he managed before hurrying away.

Tears began to stream down your cheeks as you looked around the abandoned alcove of the cavern, there was no getting out of this.

Quietly you pulled your com tablet from your sleeve, sending a messege to Phil, ‘dad I need help, Wil’s gone insane’

~~

You leaned against the bars of the cell, Pogtopia’s few members had long since left for the battle, and you were still here, trapped where Wilbur had left you, none of your boyfriends were responding to your pings, feeling utterly hopeless.

“(y/n)?” A yell echoed through the cavern.

“Phil!” You called desperately, “I’m in here!”

A few moments later your adoptive father appeared in the doorway, shocked upon seeing the locked cage and your tear stained cheeks, “(y/n).”

You nodded as he quickly began to work at the lock, pulling you into an embrace as soon as the cage opened.

“Dad,” You hiccupped, fighting back a new wave of tears, “He’s insane! He’s gonna try to blow up Manburg again! And he’s gonna try to kill them!”

“Who is?” He asked gently.

“Wilbur! He’s gone mad!”

Phil pulled away from you to look you in the eyes, “Are you sure?”

You nodded, sniffling.

Phil took a deep breath, looking around, “Okay, you get down to where they’re fighting, you try to keep Wilbur distracted once it’s over, I’ll try to think of something to stop the tnt.”

You nodded, quickly forcing yourself up, running out of the cavern.

You hurried through the woods, pushing yourself to go faster, making it to the crest of the hill as people flooded out of the van, cheering, people of Pogtopia, L’manburg and the SMP lands alike.

You charged down the hill, not seeing Wilbur standing to the side.

“Dream! Sapnap! George!” You yelled.

They turned to see you running at them, relived to see you okay, still not understanding the cryptic things Wilbur had been saying.

“(Y/n)-” Dream was cut off a yet another arrow planted its self in your back.

“Love?” You whispered, before crumpling to the ground.

They rushed forward, but it was too late, you were gone, and George early screamed, burring his face in an expressionless Nick’s shoulder.

Dream looked up at Wilbur, whos cross bow was still raised, utterly broken, “What the fuck have you done?”

[alison-anonymous]

I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

If you're reading this, HELLO. All of you long time ONS fans probably don't know me, but I'm Alison and I'm a hardcore Mikayuu, Mitsunoa, Gureshin, etc shipper. I've been in the ONS fandom for almost a year and dear god. The amount of people telling me that Mikayuu is queerbait is just making me really sad 😅 I'm a writer, and I'm the type of person who honestly feels like the author of a series should have the ability to choose how a story ends without influence of their readers. I mean, if it's their story, then it should be their ending, right? However, I also do have some qualms when it comes to how this "love triangle" between Yu, Mika, and Shinoa is being portrayed. This is entirely my personal opinion, but I feel like Shinoa seems to be forcing herself to love Yu. I honestly don't think she cares for him in a romantic way, but more of a very deep-rooted admiration or even envy that she's trying to convince herself to be romantic love. And Yu has said multiple times that he values Mika's life above his own, that he doesn't know what he would do without him if he were to die again (I mean the fact that he suffered seeing his best friend and potential lover die a first time was definitely scarring enough, PLEASE STOP TORTURING OUR POOR BABIES). And it's basically confirmed by now that when Mika said I love you in the manga, it was in the romantic sense. Even though I wish, I hope, I dream, and I pray that Mikayuu will become canon, I honestly can't say for certain what I think will happen. I think it could sway any way, with Mikayuu becoming canon, Yu and Shinoa becoming canon, or it being one of those ambiguous endings where it's heavily implied but nothing actually happens. And in order to make myself feel better when stuff like this happens, I tend to rewrite the entire story with the ending that I would have liked to see ;)

You're probably wondering where the hell this stranger is going with this. Well, I want to write a book. A series, actually.

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

Now, if you're interested in hearing me out, then feel free to keep reading. But if not, continue on with your scrolling, no hard feelings. But if you do, and I really hope that you do, give me a chance to explain.

I want to write a series inspired by Seraph of the End called Bloodsucker (working title, obviously). And this series is going to be a reimagination of ONS with an ending that I would have loved to see in the anime and manga. I plan to have three main characters (please keep in mind that I'm going to have name changes): Yuichiro, Mikaela, and a brand new character, Epic.

Now, I would begin this series a bit before the anime and I'm assuming the manga begins. I'd start with introducing our main three characters as they meet in the orphanage (yes, Epic would be a part of this orphanage as well) and how Epic and Yu try to make moves to run away only to be stopped by Mika and Akane.

I plan to include a scene between Epic and Akane where Epic tries to run out in the middle of the night only to be stopped by Akane, and this is what caused Epic to develop a crush on her (Epic is a girl btw). Then I would begin the whole shit with the vampires and how they set the world on fire and shit, but instead of the apocolypse, I'd make it so that most of the adults died in the fire while the kids were taken alive (because young blood is better and whatnot). This includes our little Hyakuya family. The directors would have tried to trade the kids lives for their own, and due to their selfishness, the vamps killed them and took the kids anyway.

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

Epic, Akane, Mika, and Yu would all be living under the vampires at this point along with the rest of the kids in their orphanage. I plan to include lots of moments of bonding that heavily imply Epic loves Akane even though she doesn't know it yet and Mika loves Yu, but Yu is fucking oblivious. The four begin to plot their escape, but while Mika and Akane (yes Akane too) are making deals with the vampires to help out with their family, Epic is constantly finding herself getting dragged along to visit Queen Krul. The pink haired vamp has a soft spot for her for some reason and often tells her that Epic and her family are "special" or sum shit. And she's super confused and semi grossed out. But none of the vamps ever dare to hurt her so she thinks it's fine. Then one day they all plot their escape and it's much more planned out and lengthy and less rushed than it is in the anime. Things almost seem to work out until the vampires stop them

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

Epic is standing here in shock as she watches the love of her life die before her and Mika BEGS for Yu to take Epic and run while they can. So while in the series only Yu survives, he obeys Mika and both him and Epic survive this. They're found by Guren (a new character I haven't come up with yet lol) and Yu is super protective over Epic, not wanting anyone to take the only piece of his family he has left (he's a fucking mess without Mika let's just be honest) and Guren ends up taking them under his wing.

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

Hold onto your hats everyone because this is where shit is about to get complicated. So I do plan to have a bit of a time skip into the current spot where Yu and Epic are attending school with Guren as their father figure and they've become very close. So close that Yu refuses to work with anyone else but her. They end up getting onto Shinoa Squad (obviously going to be completely different in my version) and they get put onto the battlefield. But here's the catch. Well, two catches.

Yu and Epic do have demon weapons. I do plan to try to incorporate that into this. BUT the backstory is different. I plan to make it so that the vampires obviously see the humans as fies. Insignificant things that are more playthings than threats. And they didn't want to have to deal with killing all of them, so they sent demons in their place to handle it. But the humans were able to form deals or "contracts" with the demons and therefore turned the vampires' own secret weapon against them.

Now, catch no. 2

So, Epic, Mika, and Yu aren't seraphs in this. But they are something else. I'm going to try to explain this as simply as I can, but each of them (besides Mika since he doesn't have a demon) have 3 souls inside their body:

Soul 1 is their current soul, the one that identifies as Mika or Epic or Yu.

Soul 2 is their demon soul, like what Asuramaru is to Yu.

And soul 3 is their archangel soul (I might change that name later on).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it. In this series, Epic is the villain.

Yes.

You read that right.

Epic is the villain. But she doesn't know that she is. These Soul 3s were reincarnated into the current bodies of Mika, Epic, and Ari (and I know that's not exactly how it works but screw logic this is just a fucking concept) from their lives centuries ago.

These souls existed way before vampires existed and Epic (or Essie) was very close friends with Yu (or Aytigin). Aytigin was in love with Haru (Mika) but for one reason or another, they couldn't be together. Essie wanted to do something, willing to do anything to make the two of them happy. So she made a deal that brought the vampires into creation so that Haru and Aytigin could be happy. She was willing to sacrifice everything that they stood for so that the two of them could be in love together.

She had good intentions, but of course Haru and Aytigin were furious because now the vampires were turning against the humans and they all basically died. Until they were reborn respectively, but unknowingly.

Now picking back up in the present, Yu and Epic are fighting in one of the main battles and the two are very confused when the vampires make a very deliberate attempt not to hurt Epic. They're unsure as to why, but Guren tells them not to worry about it.

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

Yes he is a vampire. And Yu falls in love all over again upon seeing him, and after a bunch of struggling, Epic gets kidnapped. At first she gets strangled by Lacus and then she gets kidnapped by Ferid who doesn't kill her surprisingly.

Oh and uh... Ferid is nice in this. He's still a fucking creep, but he's a lot nicer than he is in the series. I plan to make Queen Krul or whoever I turn her into be the villain.

Anyway, they take Epic back to the vampire palace or whatever and Queen Krul and Epic are reunited! And Krul is the one who reveals to Epic exactly who she, Mika, and Yu are and this is what sparks Epic's fall to insanity.

I mean, she's the killer. She's the one who brought them into this world. She's responsible for every death the vampires cause.

I would go crazy too.

So, she manages to escape (partially thanks to Mika) and the two join Yu and the others again and it's revealed a second time exactly what is going on. And while no one actually blames Epic on the Shinoa Squad, that doesn't stop people like Kureto and even herself from blaming.

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

She begins losing her marbles, almost killing her teammates and trying to kill herself, all while the three begin to experience dreams or visions of their Soul 3s.

While all this shit is going on, there's heavy romance between Mika and Yu because these two lovers just got reunited and FUCK did they have glow ups but yes -

Oh. And there is another spark for Epic, even though she doesn't think she's worthy of love.

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

Lacus falls in love with Epic. Yes. You read that correctly too.

I plan to make the two of them get trapped together at some point and they have to work together to escape. It's during this time that Epic realizes he's not all that bad and has some form of self control and he realizes that she's the most interesting thing he's ever met in this disgusting and boring life and damn do her eyes look pretty-

But yes. She forms a permanent alliance with him that he jokes about as marriage and they meet on other occassions too, but lol yes.

Anyway, blah blah blah, more fall to insanity, the Soul 3s take over their bodies on multiple occasions and there's a lot of bonding and fighting and Epic and Mika somehow manage to get some of the vampires on the human side.

And in the end, Epic and Yu basically sacifice themselves to save the human race and kill Queen Krul. It's a very rough ending I haven't quite perfected yet, but Yu has a moment like he did with the King of Salt. But though he inflicted a lot of damage, it's not enough. So while the team is worried about him, Epic takes this opportunity to fix her and Essie's mistakes.

She allows both Essie and her demon to take control of her body and dies on the battlefield. Queen Krul is eliminated. Most of the vampires are gone. The humans won.

Horray.

Epic is dead.

Kinda. Yu and Mika take her back home and this is the preview to the last arc where everyone's in the hospital and Epic's in a coma. Mika and Yu barely ever leave her side and it's only when Lacus of all people comes to visit that she fucking wakes up.

Okay. Are you still with me? Now come with me to the final arc.

The Post-War.

No my friend. It doesn't end there. Because Mika and Lacus are still vamps and life still sucks and I drank too much coffee this morning.

No it's not over yet.

So flash forward a couple years and Kureto and Crew are working as the heads of this city. Stuff is being rebuilt, people are settling down in homes, Lacus and some of the other "good" vampires find jobs, and Mika, Yu, and Epic get a house together (in case I didn't mention before, Epic is pansexual. She loved Akane dearly and I plan to include scenes where she sees her in her mind and dreams like Mikayuu so she's never truly gone, but she falls for Lacus too when he's not being a sadistic asshole). Things are going strangely when

BAM. Epic and Yu come up with a cure for vampirism.

How, you may ask? I don't fucking know, I haven't read about it in the manga yet but before we come up with an idea for it, imma say they came up with it through a spell. They share their findings with Guren and soon all vampires are being cured, most notably Mika, Lacus, and even Rene.

BUT and there's always a but, Kureto passes a new law claiming all vampires to be property. That any vampire or previous vampire or even vampire supporter/owner that tries to disobey these new laws is to be killed immediately. Now Epic and Yu are in jeopardy because their ex-vampires are in danger (Epic and Lacus have been hanging out a lot more and he's proven himself to be a decent guy. Contrary to popular belief, I headcanon him as not really knowing what to do when he actually cares about someone since he's been a heartless vamp for so long. So when he turns to Mika and begrudgingly asks him for LOVE ADVICE of all fucking things, Mika is ready to die). So basically, Mika and Lacus end up getting locked up along with the other ex-vamps (including Ferid which was a pain in the ass) and did I forget to mention that there's a proposal?

Oh yeah, Yu proposes to Mika and the blond still has yet to give him an actual answer because poor baby is still having a hard time accepting that Yu can love a "monster" like him.

But anyways, now Epic and Yu are furious and SHINOA SQUAD IS BACK IN BUSINESS. With the help of Guren and Shinya and everyone, they form a sort of rebellion and blah blah blah they manage to get Mika and Lacus and everyone out and blah blah blah they all get separated and Lacus begins to get INSANELY protective of Epic and ends up confessing his feelings to her before he nearly dies and blah blah blah did I forget to mention that I'm making Mitsunnoa and Kimizuki x Yoichi canon and blah blah blah.

Epic kisses Lacus as an instinct. Lacus kisses her again. Mika accepts Yu's proposal then almost dies AGAIN. I kill off some characters for emotional tugs and after a ton of more fighting and revenge and psychological breakings later, Kureto is killed. And Guren (or someone else haven't decided yet) is the new head of their city.

Epic, Mika, and Yu finally let Akane and the kids go. There's a lot of Shinoa Squad bonding but this is a summary so I haven't included much besides the main three. Epic and Lacus becomes canon. Mika and Yu get married. Guren and Shinya get married. Shinoa gets pregnant.

And everyone gets the FUCKING HAPPY ENDING THAT THEY ALL FUCKING DESERVE BECAUSE FUCK

I do plan to be slightly ruthless like the creator and include a lot of heartbreaking scenes, but it's going to be much different than ONS but I still want it to hold on to some core relationships.

I just want them to be happy. And I just want to make other people happy because fuck I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

So my question to you is... if I wrote this shit.

If I sat down and typed about 30 books roughly inspired by Seraph of the End and Mikayuu and Mitsunnoa and shit...

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

[the-evil-authoress]

GX Month Day 4: “Swing of Memories”

Ah, yes, those sweet, precious memories shared with siblings...and a few you’d rather forget. Explore the bond between Asuka Tenjoin/Alexis Rhodes and Fubuki Tenjoin/Atticus Rhodes today! A sweet sibling hug? A heated argument? Show us!

Yes, I summarized and skipped over parts of the actual duel. This thing would have been so much longer if I hadn’t. Cheese and crackers this monster. O_O

This is not how Alexis expected this night to go. She almost regrets her idea for all of them to crash together when they are now standing on a magic platform above lava that will destabilize with every turn that passes. Syrus already looks ready to pass out, clinging to the back of Jaden’s jacket for dear life.

“Isn’t this counterproductive for you?!” Alexis yells at the shadowy creep. The way the darkness clings to him makes it impossible to distinguish any features, beyond the fact he wears black and that creepy mask. Even his voice sounds distorted. “If we die, you can’t duel us for the keys!”

A dark laugh like shadows on the walls. “Do you know why the Keys cannot simply be taken?” the man asks instead of answering.

“Because the Keys form a bond with whomever holds them,” Bastion snaps. Of course they already asked the important questions when Chancellor Sheppard told them about this crazy shadow war. “Therefore that bond must be broken through ritual combat.”

“Mmm, well you’re half right.” The man tilts his head, sounding smug under the layers of shadows that mask his real voice. “There’s more than one way to break a bond. A Key holder could give their Key to another- a simple, painless transfer. But I don’t expect you lot to do that. You’re far too good.” For a moment his voice is viscous, deadly, and sends a shiver down Alexis’ spine. The next he returns to almost mockingly light-hearted teasing. “However, if a Key holder dies, there’s nothing for the Key to bond to, now is there? A Key without an owner is free for the taking.”

Great, just great! So much for ‘can only be won in a duel’. If this wackjob figured out a loophole, then how many of the other Shadow Riders know about it?

Bastion inhales sharply, eyes darting back to the dark platform under their feet as Christina snarls a curse and Syrus and Chumley wail.

“Of fucking course!”

“I don’t wanna die~!”

“Don’t you worry about that.” That shadows-on-the-wall laugh again. “I’ll win this match long before you can fall. I want the pleasure of taking you all out myself.”

“Certainly confident,” Bastion grumbles, but there’s genuine fear in his eyes.

“Not gonna happen!” Jaden yells with all of his usual bravado; Alexis shouldn’t be surprised.

The duel starts to everyone’s dismay but it’s not like they actually have a way off this volcano. Alexis still doesn’t know how they got here beyond falling through the magical darkness that overtook Jaden’s dorm room. The first round isn’t anything special, the most excitement comes from Chumley’s leg falling through the platform as he tries to convince himself it’s still stable. Syrus and Chumley both scream as they all yank him back up and stare in horror at the brand new hole in the only thing between them and certain death.

“-Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”

What?

Alexis’ attention snaps back to the duel as the familiar monster takes the field in a blaze of glory and proceeds to blast Jaden back several feet. Syrus goes tumbling with him, and Christina shrieks as they come dangerously close to the edge, but Jaden skids to stop with a foot to spare, one hand braced against the platform and the other fisted in Syrus’ jacket.

Barely able to breathe, Alexis turns back to Nightshroud and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. “Why do you have that card? What did you do to my brother?!”

“Your brother?” Bastion yelps but Alexis can’t focus on anything but the man in front of her.

Nightshroud pauses, head tilting. “Who? Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This card has always been mine.”

“Liar!” Alexis screams, voice raw, chest heavy. “That card is a tournament exclusive!” Atticus gushed over it for weeks, showed it off at school, more excited about the card than winning the tournament. This is the first sign she’s seen of her brother in two years! This man has to know something!

“You dare call me a liar?” A dark bolt darts out at Nightshroud’s command and sends Alexis careening back. Her foot slips off the edge.

“ALEXIS!”

Jaden yanks her back by the arm with a grip hard enough to bruise, and Alexis startles at the absolute terror in his eyes. “Hey, not cool!” He swings back around to face Nightshroud, the bravado back in full force, but this time Alexis knows what it hides. “You’re dueling me! Leave them out of this!”

Nightshroud only snorts, a derisive sound. “Then duel me, since you want to save them so badly.”

Alexis is still close enough to see the cards as Jaden draws Polymerization and fusion summons Rampart Blaster to deal Nightshroud damage even from defense position. The shadows shiver as Nightshroud suffers the pain of his own shadow game, momentarily revealing brown hair.

“Feel like talking now, buddy?” Jaden taunts with a grin.

Nightshroud’s legs shake before he stands tall once again. “I already told you! This card has always been mine! I don’t know anything about the girl’s brother!” For a moment, the shadows obscuring his voice part and it sounds almost familiar.

Rampart Blaster’s defense proves futile as Nightshroud hits Jaden directly with the spell Inferno Fire Blast. The flames that engulf Jaden are far too real for any hologram, and Jaden sinks to his knees and nearly through the platform as it gives way beneath him. Christina and Syrus scramble to drag him back up as Bastion checks him over for serious injury.

“‘M fine.” Jaden tries to brush them off and stand on his own but immediately winces and sways.

“Fine my ass!” Christina hisses.

“I’m inclined to agree!” Bastion pushes up Jaden’s sleeve to reveal an angry red splotch. “You’re covered in blisters if not more severe burns!”

“We can worry about that later!” Jaden pries his hand free with another wince as Nightshroud uses his next monster to force Rampart Blaster into attack mode.

“Wait. No.” A cold spot appears in Alexis’ chest as she takes a step back. She recognizes more than one card Nightshroud has played. “It’s not just Red-Eyes... I think he has Atticus’ whole deck.”

“What?” Christina spins from where she stands to act as Jaden’s support.

“But how is that possible?” Chumley stammers.

“I don’t know!” Alexis snaps, shaking. She has this horrible, horrible feeling. No matter what Nightshroud claims, he must have done something to her brother and taken his deck. She never once let herself consider the possibility, because it meant giving up, it meant letting her grief win, but what if... “I-”

Syrus shrieks as the platform gives way underneath him, stumbling forward as Chumley catches and hauls him back to safety. Their safe places to stand are dwindling quickly. Jaden finishes his combo by fusion summoning Thunder Giant. The two monsters’ clash ends in a draw as both are destroyed, setting up Burstinatrix for a direct attack.

“Let’s see how you like it!”

Nightshroud barely flinches against the assault of flame as the shadows around him flicker and swell as if fending off the attack. Pouting, Jaden moves onto his next play then passes the turn to Nightshroud. Mirage Dragon takes the field and Alexis startles as Nightshroud refers to the dragon with feminine pronouns. That’s how Atticus always referred to that card. Most duelists default to masculine pronouns unless the card art is obviously feminine, but Atticus was different.

-“She just gives me, ‘cranky old lady’ vibes, ya know?”- Atticus said when Alexis asked. She hadn’t known, not all, what Atticus meant.

Atticus’ deck was one thing, but this particular quirk... It couldn’t be.

Jaden goes down again as Mirage Dragon takes out Burstinatrix; Christina drags him back to his feet and away as a new hole opens up in the platform. His next turn sees Elemental Hero Tempest take the field and obliterate Mirage Dragon. This time, Nightshroud flinches as the shadows scatter off his form; and even with that mask on his face, Alexis knows what she sees.

“ATTICUS?!”

“Hold on whut?” Jaden jerks, gaping at her.

Alexis starts forward and stumbles as her foot falls through another hole.

“And who the hell is that supposed to be?” Nightshroud growls, and it’s Atticus’ voice now that the shadowy echo no longer obscures it.

“You!” Pulling herself upright, Alexis watches the floor for holes as she continues forward. Her friends call after her but she ignores them. “I know that’s you, Atticus! You really think a dumb mask would make me not recognize my own brother?!”

“My name is Nightshroud-”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you a Shadow Rider? What happened to you, Atticus?!”

“Lexi!!”

She manages to duck this time before the darkness strikes her, elbows banging hard against the platform. The breath shudders out of her and she realizes she’s crying.

“I don’t know you, little girl.”

It hurts. It hurts so much. She found him but like this and he doesn’t even know who she is. A hand on her shoulder alerts her to one of her friends, unsurprised to find Christina kneeling next to her. “It’s him...” Alexis whispers brokenly as Christina pulls her up.

“I know.”

“Why is he...” she hiccups, unable to finish the sentence. Christina squeezes her finger as she leads Alexis safely back to their friends.

Atticus summons Red-Eyes back to the field with Red-Eyes Chick’s ability then trades it in for a card Alexis has never seen before - Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon. Darkness. Nightshroud. That thing has her brother and she needs to figure out how to get him back from its clutches. Jaden ends the turn with Negate Attack, surviving to the next round. He hesitates as he draws his next card, then plays Wroughtweiler in defense and switches Tempest to defense.

“Jay?” Christina sends him a look.

“I honestly don’t have any other plays right now,” Jaden says, voice low as he glances back at her. “Besides, if that’s Lexi’s brother... Doesn’t the loser of this duel die?”

Alexis breathes in sharply. Christina hisses through her teeth.

“But what if winning gets rid of whatever is controlling him,” Bastions says. “Assuming he’s been possessed by some sort of dark power.”

“Yeah, maybe, but-”

“Jaden.” Alexis forces the words out as he turns to look at her, those eyes so full of compassion and concern. “If you lose, we all die. We can worry about the rest of it later.”

Jaden flinches. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m not!” Alexis loses the battle against her emotions as a fresh wave of tears overtakes her. “But what other choice do we have?”

Jaden stares at her a moment longer before turning back to face his opponent as Atticus attacks Wroughtweiler with Spear Dragon. He activates Wroughtweiler’s effect and goes down with a scream as his Life Points drop because Spear Dragon deals damage even if the monster it battles is in defense. Still, Jaden gets to add Sparkman and Polymerization back to his hand and gets back to his feet with a little help. Not that it does much good. The force of Tempest’s destruction sends him reeling back into Bastion, and Bastion yelps as the ground threatens to cave under their combined weight. Between the four of them, they manage to keep their friends on stable ground, but Jaden looks like he’s barely conscious at this point. With 600 Life Points left and their safety net looking like swiss cheese, Alexis glances at the lava below and turns back to her brother.

“Enough! Enough, Atticus! This duel is over!” she declares with all the fire she can muster. “You want a Spirit Key so badly, then you can have mine!” Ignoring the startled outburst from her friends, she pulls the object from its place around her neck and holds it out. “You said it works if it’s given freely, right? Let my friends go, and you can have it!”

“Alexis...” Jaden rasps, held upright by Christina’s arm. Alexis never looks away from her brother.

Atticus scoffs. “While I’m flattered that you’d give me your Key willingly, I’m afraid just one Key won’t do. I want them all.” His voice darkens, distorts into something unrecognizable again as the shadows rise up and cling to him. “Wait your turn, little girl. I’ll duel you next.”

“Atticus!” Alexis pleads, except this time she knows she’s not talking to her brother anymore - if she ever was - but this thing that’s taken over him.

“Make your move, Key keeper. If you can.”

Pulling his arm off Christina’s shoulders, Jaden glares his opponent down. “Oh, I can. And I’m winning this duel!”

“But you can barely sta-AAAAAA!” Syrus screams as he falls entirely through the platform. Alexis dives, catching his hand as Bastion grabs the other. Together they haul him back up while Jaden watches, pale as a sheet.

“Whatever you’re about to do, do it fast!” Chumley clasps his hand together, legs shaking so hard Alexis is surprised he still stands.

“Right!” With Christina’s hand on his shoulder, Jaden draws his card.

The combo he gets off next is a spectacular comeback. Atticus hits his knees with a scream as darkness rolls off his form in waves, and Alexis runs for him without a second thought. She doesn’t get far before the dark platform vanishes completely from beneath her feet. She has a single terrifying moment to think, This is how we die, before a bright golden light engulfs her.

When she opens her eyes again, she pushes herself off the cold, rocky ground of the mountainside while Syrus and Chumley cry over not being dead.

"What was that light? It looked like it came from your deck," Bastion murmurs, and something glows faintly as Christina shuffles through her cards with a frown, Jaden slumped against her.

Alexis spares them only a glance as she continues straight for her brother, collapsed face down on the ground feet in front of her. “Atticus!” She drops to her knees and rolls him to face her.

His eyes flutter briefly open. “Who...?” he mumbles weakly before his head lulls again, and Alexis fears the worst as she searches for his pulse. It flutters under her fingers, slow but strong, and she finally releases the breath she’d be holding. It comes out a sob.

“Is he...?” Bastion ventures closer, not daring to finish the inquiry.

“He’s alive...” Alexis breathes, cradling her brother close as another voice breaches the mountain air.

“Heeeey! What’s going on over here?!”

Alexis looks up as Zane and Chazz come running. “Zane. Zane!” she calls, heedless to how broken her voice is and doesn’t miss the way Zane immediately speeds up. “It’s him! It’s Atticus!” She holds her brother closer as Zane freezes in his tracks, face flooding with shock. “I found him...”

“What-” Zane croaks as he kneels next to them slowly, and reaches out like he expects Atticus to disappear under his fingers. The emotions that play out over his face when his hand lands on Atticus’ shoulder are too complicated to name. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.”

They sit in silence like that for another moment, just soaking in that Atticus is back. Then Zane shifts to slide his arms under Atticus’ limp form. “Here.” Nodding, Alexis moves aside to let Zane lift Atticus into his arms. Some distance away, her friends hoist an unconscious Jaden onto Chumley’s back.

“If he looks this bad after winning, I don’t wanna know what losing looks like,” Chazz gripes.

“That?” Syrus points hesitantly at Atticus.

“What?”

Zane sends Alexis a sharp look. “He was a Shadow Rider,” Alexis whispers, and glances away as Zane’s expression breaks again. “He didn’t recognize me. That’s all I know.”

“Okay,” Zane says at length and they begin the long trek down the mountain.

Alexis still has so many questions...and fears. She once thought finding her brother would make everything okay again, but now... Now she’s scared this is only the beginning rather than the end she sought. What if he wakes up and still doesn’t recognize her? Can she handle that? Can she handle learning what turned him into a Shadow Rider? Her hand fists itself into Zane’s coat tail. If he notices, he doesn’t comment.

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 6

My various thoughts and opinions on Chapter 6 of RWBY Volume 8, “Midnight”

SPOILERS BELOW:

Oh wow, getting straight into the backstory, I see, I can dig it.

The rythmetic cycle of Cinder’s scrubbing, Cinder getting beat up, and the Madame’s heels is quite the effective opening. Tells us right from the start the good time we will not be having.

Yes, yes, you made the Rooster on the wind vane the same as the Rooster Teeth logo. Don’t worry, we noticed.

So Cinder did indeed grow up in Atlas. I must say, that is one fancy hotel. Clearly the kind of place that only the richest and scummiest attend.

I wonder what the societal implications are that the decorations of this lobby are almost exclusively Grimm. I almost want to say that it’s a sign of just how removed from real-world problem the patrons are here, that these beasts of nightmares and despair are nothing but novelties to them, that they see them as interesting rather than fearing them, but later we see a huntsman here, so I’m not so sure.

God, how mistreated was Cinder before she even came here? That “Food?” line just broke my heart.

NEW SONG!!!

Damn, why do they have to give all of these one-off backstory characters such wonderful designs? This Rhodes guy looks awesome!

So the thing that triggered Cinder’s semblance was intense anger. That tracks.

Jesus Christ, the Madame has a literal shock collar on her? I’d ask how this kind of thing was legal, but then this is the same kingdom where Jacques was able to operate his slave-like business practices with impunity, so I guess I’m not too surprised.

Wait, the “without you” mantra was forced upon her BEFORE Salem? That just got even darker.

Metal skin, huh? Rhodes’s rocking that Ultimate Shield, me likey

Ok, I think I see what Rhodes was trying to do with Cinder here. I can’t say I agree with it, he definitely should have just said “Hey kid, I’m just gonna take that inhumane piece of garbage off your neck and get you the hell out of here, okay?” but think I understand his thought process. As we established earlier, this arrangement between the Madame and Cinder is legal. It isn’t right, and it’s the farthest thing from kind, but it is legal. Cinder is just a ten year old girl, and the Madame is her legal guardian. That means if she were to run, she’d be a runaway, and if Rhodes were to take her, he’d be a kidnapper. They’d have to spend the rest of their lives on the run, even moreso if Cinder had hurt them. Alternatively, she could grin and bear it until she was old enough to get out legally, allowing her to be truly free. The problem is that she would have to grin and bear it for SEVEN YEARS, during her frikkin’ FORMATIVE YEARS! What’s more, while he was there to give her companionship and hope for the future, he got to come and go at his leisure, and probably be gone for extended periods of time (I’m assuming he still performed his Huntsman duties during this time) while she was stuck in the same traumatic, abusive environment 24/7. I understand where his mindspace was, but he did not think this through.

I’m mildly disappointed that the weapon he gifted her wasn’t Midnight. It would have made her destroying it in Volume 3 take on a much greater meaning. Also slightly disappointed that Cinder is indeed her real name. I guess she simply chose the Fall part.

Yeah, I’m not going to spare much sympathy for those bitches. I mean, one could argue that this was straight up self defense (at least with the Madame), and while I know the stock lessons from these shows is “no one deserves death” and “revenge blackens the soul” and yada yada yada, defending abusers isn’t exactly a hill I’m gonna fight on.

That being said, carrying on from my word vomit above, I understand Rhodes’s reaction as well, even if I don’t agree with it. While we can make the argument for abuse and self defense, an yada yada, we also know that in the eyes of the law, this was a cold-blooded murder, and Rhodes clearly seems to be the kind of huntsman that sees it as his duty to uphold the law. Even if he didn’t, and he let her go now or helped her run, they’d be once again in the situation he was trying to avoid, on the run. Personally, I say worth it, and if he had managed to get her to Vale, Ozpin probably would have been understanding enough to help her out, but that’s my opinion.

Oh shit, it’s an Ok Goodnight song. ... OH SHIT IT’S AN OK GOODNIGHT SONG! THAT IS AWESOME!!! Nice choice of song, too, the lyrics work very well for this scenario and Cinder’s story.

I find it incredibly sad that Rhodes immediately stopped fighting the moment Cinder’s aura broke, and even after she stabs him, all he does is give her the same headpat gesture he did earlier. For all his aforementioned faults, he really did care.

I will echo a statement I made towards Adam when we learned about his scar. I sympathize for the girl who went through all of that abuse, she didn’t deserve it. I spare none for the woman she grew into.

And we’re back in the present where we see that modern Cinder is still a sore loser and Emerald is still an overly dependent yes-woman. I feel for her sometimes.

Anyone who watched Infinity Train, is Mercury’s behavior reminding anyone else of Simon? I’m getting some serious Simon vibes from that smugness.

Oscar’s more of a clever little boy than many might have given him credit for. He’s here getting the ass whoopin’ of his life, and he’s strategizing ways to turn them against each other. Far more than just a farmhand, now.

Oh boy, Hypocrite Hazel strikes again! “You let him suffer!” Quite the riot coming from the guy dishing out the suffering.

Ooh, is that...doubt...I saw in Hazel’s eyes? All this time I figured he was so tunnel visioned by his quest for vengeance that he simply didn’t care who he served, but it turns out he’s just following the same logic Roman and Lionheart did. We can’t stop her, so we may as well help her. I wonder if Hazel’s mind might be changed if he knew what the relics really did. Sadly, Salem knew what was up and said NOPE to that train of thought. For now.

I almost want to say it was a little too on the nose for them to flashback to Cinder getting shock collared as Salem hurt her through the Grimm arm, but for some reason it really worked here.

Dear god, can you get even more manipulative than what Salem’s doing right here? Talking about giving Cinder what she wants when it’s convenient for her RIGHT AFTER TORTURING HER!? Cinder really did trade out one abusive step-mother for another, didn’t she?

I’m sorry, Elm, did you just refer to Penny as broken junk? I’mma be honest, the list of Ace-Ops I’m hoping to see survive this is really starting to dwindle. At least Winter’s not having any of it.

Wow, Harriet. You just got informed that there is a massive river of Grimm heading straight for your kingdom, and your first move is to start the blame game. How were we ever fans of these assholes?

The river is now a geyser. What a fun day.

Wow, those defenses didn’t hold for shit, did they? Good thing there’s all those ships are there for extra defense. I’m sure they’ll be helping out any second now. Any...second...

I don’t know if the middle of farmland is the most courteous place to park your world destroying god whale, but at least it’s out of the way.

God, if this is the note they’re leaving us on for the penultimate episode before the hiatus, what the hell are they leaving us with next week? For once, I’m almost glad for the week-long wait in between episodes. We need time breathe at some point!

[doyelikehaggis]

The Vampire Diaries Verse (Screw-Canon Style): Klaus Mikaelson x Stefan Salvatore x Hayley Marshall | Put your arms around me and I'm home

Requested by anonymous

For a moment, Klaus can't feel a thing. It's like he's just there, floating in an abyss of nothing, without a corporeal form. Not quite existing, but just enough for him to be aware of it. Maybe this is true death, he thinks.

Or maybe it's his punishment for every sin he's committed in his life. Not quite peace, not quite hell. A limbo of sorts, where he'll be all alone, forever accompanied by nothing but his own mind. And he's content with that. It's not endless torture, and he'll take anything over that. There would be too many possibilities for ways that he could be broken.

No, this is right. This is what he deserves, and he is okay with that. In a way, he makes peace with it in that moment. 

Then it's as if he blinks, and things slowly start to form in the abyss. It turns from pure darkness to a light shade of grey, silhouettes and objects hazy and unfocused, as if just out of reach. Colours start to seep into the picture before his eyes, and his heart starts to sink. Of course he doesn't get off with simply being isolated for the rest of eternity. 

Murmurs echo around him, drifting closer, getting clearer. His eyes narrow, trying to pick out a word, something that'll help him figure out what exactly is going on. He's supposed to be dead. If he's not dead then the hollow could still take over. Everyone, especially Hope, will still be in danger. 

Laughing catches his attention. He whips around, on high alert, already trying to shift in anticipation of a fight. But his teeth stay blunt and human. He doesn't feel himself get stronger, or angrier, or feel a need for blood. Not even the presence of magic inside of him, the curse of the hollow trying to get free. It's all...gone.

"Aw, he thinks he's still the all-powerful hybrid. Isn't that adorable?"

Klaus goes completely still. His chest constricts, the air getting caught in his lungs as his head snaps up. Something won't let him turn around, though, let him see for himself. Fear. This is a hallucination of some sort. Probably caused by the hollow. Just a mind game.

"The cutest."

His heart twists, and he really can't breathe. It's not possible. Those voices. It can't be.

But he forces himself to turn around now, his heart stuttering in his chest. And there they are. His stomach drops and he can only stare wide-eyed in disbelief at Hayley and Stefan, standing so casually in front of him. So alive, their eyes bright and full of something he never thought he'd see in either of them ever again. Both wearing smiles with this look on their faces. 

"How..." he starts, but can't figure out the rest, simply shaking his head. "This isn't..."

The amusement softens across both of their features, turning to understanding. His mind can barely keep up, trying to process it and failing. It's the Hollow. It has to be. Even in death it won't leave him be, let him rest in peace. 

"It's real, Klaus," Hayley says, and her voice sounds so real. 

He just shakes his head again as Stefan nods, confirming it. He goes to step back, but stops when Hayley reaches out, her hand settling on his shoulder. The rage that had been building at this mind game he's being forced to play fizzles out like a flame underwater. It feels like everything inside of him stills, as if the whole world slows to let him catch up. 

His eyes follow her arm to her hand. He can feel it. The gentle pressure of her fingers curling around his arm, giving a squeeze of proof. Warmth emanating from her skin, and the closer he listens, he realizes with a start, he can hear her heartbeat. The same heart that he heard being crushed. The same skin he saw catch alight under the burning sun until there was nothing left of her. Yet here she is. 

Slowly, he draws in a sharp breath, light-headed all of a sudden. He lifts his eyes to meet her soft, assuring gaze. It's not a trick. He knows, because hallucinations even get things wrong, and only the real version of Hayley has ever looked at him like that. 

"It's real," he echoes back to her, and her mouth curves a little more as she gives another, single nod. 

He doesn't think, just moves, brushing her hand off to pull her into him. Her surprise is clear, but she hugs him back, arms winding around him. Klaus can barely bring himself to remember to breathe. He can feel her. Her small, powerful body in his arms, her hair against his face. Her heart beating against his chest and beneath the skin of her neck. She's real.

The second wave of realization makes him cling tighter, his breath coming out in a harsh gasp. His eyes move without him really controlling his actions. They lock onto that familiar pair of green eyes that are shining so brightly, still holding that same look that Klaus has never felt like he earned. That he thought he had missed his chance to ever see again when he heard of his death while he was too many miles away. 

Hayley pulls back, and despite the part of him that read every single letter she wrote to him wanting nothing more than to hold onto her forever, he lets her, his gaze still locked onto Stefan. 

"Well," he breathes out, "I heard you ignored me, as per usual, and did a lousy job of taking care of yourself."

Stefan's mouth curves into a grin and a soft chuckle. "You're one to talk."

Klaus can't help but laugh in return. He's crying, he realizes, feeling the wetness around his eyes. They both are. 

"I'll admit, I've missed you," Stefan says, and holds a hand out to him with dancing eyes. "Welcome to the afterlife, old friend."

Glancing at his hand, Klaus scoffs. He doesn't even hesitate in knocking it aside and pulling him in with a hand on his shoulder instead. Stefan instantly wraps his arms tightly around him, face pressed into his shoulder. Klaus grips the base of his neck and closes his eyes. For the first time, when he exhales, it doesn't feel like a weight is crushing him. 

It doesn't feel like he's going to drown in a sea of grief and despair, but is home at last. 

Yet again, he finds himself unwilling to break apart. But he forces himself to anyway, only he doesn't let go. He leans in without worry, without thought, feeling Stefan's desire as strongly as his own. Stefan, who moves to meet him as if it's the most familiar thing in the world, as if it hasn't been decades since they last kissed. 

In his heart, it doesn't feel like it has. Everything feels right now, like a rush of memories flowing through him, dropping every barrier he had in place. The same effect that Stefan has had since that day in 1922.  He just never thought he would get a chance to feel it all again, not like this.

A throat clearing draws them apart with grins. Klaus steps back and looks over at Hayley, her eyebrows raised but a smile glinting in her eyes.

"Don't worry, little wolf, there's plenty more of me for you," he says.

Hayley rolls those brilliant eyes that he's adored since their first meeting as well. "Still obnoxious in the afterlife. Got it. Are we sure this is peace and not hell?"

"Ouch." Klaus presses a mocking hand to his chest with a wolfish grin. "And here I thought you would be thrilled to see me again."

"This is certainly better than the last time we reunited," Stefan jokes, tilting his head. "Well, sort of. We're all kind of dead this time around, so I'm not too sure about that, but at least no one is trying to kill each other. That's good, right?"

Hayley doesn't agree. A dark look crosses her face. "I was hoping it would be a lot longer before this." She looks at Klaus, and he understands the glint in her eyes before she even says it. "For Hope's sake."

He presses his lips together, swallowing down the lump in his throat and the stinging still lingering in his eyes. The reality of it had slipped him for just a moment, but now he nods, smiling sadly.

"I know," he says, then draws in a shaking breath. "But she's strong. Like her mother. She can survive this." He glances at Stefan, laying a hand on his shoulder. "And she has Caroline looking out for her, along with Rebekah and Marcel, and Freya, and even Kol."

Stefan makes a noise at that, disguising the flash of pain in his eyes at the mention of Caroline. "Kol? I'm a little more worried about her now."

"Yeah, that wasn't your most uplifting speech," Hayley agrees with humour in her voice. 

"I knew there was a reason I never wanted to introduce the two of you," Klaus says dryly, and points a finger at them. "I will not be ganged up on! Elijah will be joining us soon, I assume, and the last thing I need is three against one."

"Oh yeah, no can do, buddy," Stefan says, patting his hand. He shares a grin with Hayley. "We've gotten pretty close waiting for you over here. I don't know if we can make any promises on that one."

Hayley shakes her head. "Absolutely not."

"Alright." Klaus drops his hand from Stefan's shoulder. "I'm going to wait over there for my dear brother, far away from the two of you."

"Yeah, good luck with that because we're not going anywhere," Hayley says cheerily, and Stefan agrees.

Despite the front he's putting on, he feels an insurmountable joy. He hopes they're right, because he couldn't bear to lose either of them again. Just seeing them together feels like a blessing, something far more precious than anything he has ever been deserving of in his life.

He would be happy to listen to the two of them tease and trade jibes about him for hours, because it means they're both here with him, and happy. At peace. He understands now why he's here, somewhere in the middle of the bayou. This is his peace. Stefan and Hayley. They're his happy ending, the one thing he never thought that he would get. He's happy to be wrong.

[sengoku-revolution]

Frozen Waters [Shingen/OC]

Author: Terra Series: Ikemen Sengoku Pairing: Shingen Takeda/Original Female Character Length: 6,308 words Rating: Explicit Tags: emotional sex, character study, Shingen’s POV Brief summary: A an unexpected event forces Shingen and Terra to trust each other. Warnings: explicit sex, tense situations, potential for loss of life Cross-posted to ao3 Here

Fic Preview:

Its winter in the province of Kai, and for the first time in a long while there was a significant amount of snow on the ground. Terra was so thrilled by the recent snowfall that she hadn’t stopped smiling once. Her boundless energy seemed to be vibrating out of her core as she walked with more of a bounce in her step everywhere she went. Shingen found her good mood contagious. He really couldn’t help it. He didn’t think he’d seen her so positively enamored with her surroundings until now, with rosy cheeks and eyes glittering like stars in the night sky.

He’d been working a lot lately, making sure that the right goods were coming into his territories and the people were doing ok. Terra had been of great help; organizing his papers and listening when he’d needed someone to talk to or get a new perspective from. She’d work close by on her own projects. As a biologist, Shingen noted that she had a very observant nature to her as she made notes on the nature and wildlife of Kai. On more than one occasion he’d asked a few questions just to get her to endlessly talk about the things she’d studied in her time, and what had most recently fascinated her here 500 years in the past.

Shingen knew that most of all Terra loved the sea, as she would most frequently talk about her experiences and how captivated she was on all her scientific work she’d done in the future. Terra called herself a marine biologist, someone who studies the oceans and its creatures. It felt like a dream every time she’d talk about diving, and all the places she’d travelled to. She never complained about being so far away from the ocean, but still, Shingen often made a note to himself to bring her back to the coast once summer came. Even though her heart belonged to the seas, she seemed happy enough to document her findings of Kai’s wildlife all the same. Shingen knew that if he ever couldn’t find her in the castle, she was likely out walking the forests nearby or down by the river. He found her sense of adventure to be just inspiring.

Shingen looked up from his scrolls to gaze at his love as she diligently worked on her own manuscripts. She had opened the door to their shared study to let in just the smallest amount of cool air. She sat close by, strangely enjoying the cold. Shingen wondered if in the future she came from people didn’t have to worry about warmth in these cold months. She seemed to gravitate to it in a way that was alien to this time. In fact, more often than naught she’d be out and about in the cold as though it was an afterthought. She’d spoken once of something called skiing, when people would actively go out into the cold to slide down mountains on planks attached to their feet. It perplexed Shingen, trying to picture it and how Terra liked to talk about just how fast she’d fly down the slopes. Clearly his love was a bit of a daredevil.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked her.

She perked up right away, turning her sparkling eyes on him. Terra was positively thrilled already from the suggestion.

“Can we? I’d like to go down to the river. I wonder if it’s frozen.”

Terra picked herself up from the floor and went to grab his haori before draping it over his shoulders.

“But dress warm, it’s the afternoon and it’ll be getting dark soon.” She warned him with a peck on his cheek.

Shingen caught her hand, and pulled her back for a more proper kiss.

Still holding her close he said, “All I need is my angel’s warmth.”

Terra’s blush was expected, but all the more adorable as she got flustered and couldn’t think of an immediate reply. Instead she just kissed him again, and then pulled his haori up over his head. Shingen started to laugh at her antics.

“I’ll go get ready, be back in five. I’m not kidding Shingen, dress warm.” Terra warned sternly.

Shingen only caught a glance of her long brown hair as she left their shared study. He chuckled to himself, but then got up to get ready. He found his heavier haori and tabi, dressing himself securely before leaving to join Terra. She was right after all; he did tend to get cold easily. His prior illnesses had left him more cautious in the winter months to prevent any potential for relapse.

Terra met him as he exited their study. He noted that she hadn’t dressed much different than she usually did in the winter. Terra wore a dark blue kimono with a simple pattern. In her hands she carried a scarf and gloves. When she stopped in front of him, he leveled a knowing look at her.

“Shut up.” she said with a smirk, before wrapping the scarf around his neck. “You get cold so easily. Just wear it.”

He chuckled, letting her do as she pleased. His love was very attentive, and he’d let her dote on him all she wanted.

“My dear,” He chuckled again as she handed him the gloves she’d been holding. “Your blood must run with fire as you never seem to get cold.”

“I find the cold refreshing.” Terra answered simply with her own little laugh. “I’ll be fine, once we start walking I’ll warm up quick. The clothing in this time is a lot thicker with more layers than what I used to wear.”

Shingen smirked.

“Get that smirk off your face. I know what you’re gonna say.”

“All I was going to say is that if my Goddess gets cold, she can simply come into my arms.”

“Chances are you’ll be the one asking to get warmed up by me at the end of this.”

“Is that an offer? I’ll take you up on that once we return. I have a few ideas in mind. However they all start right-” He leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. “here.”

Terra couldn’t stop her slight smile, even though she tried to. But then she crinkled her nose at him and reached for his hand before pulling him along. “One track mind. Let’s go you big dork.”

They walked hand-in-hand through the castle and out into the surrounding town. The market was still lively despite the cold temperature. The people bustled along, and it was lively enough that Shingen was proud his people were surviving well this winter. The trading between Tsutsujigasaki and Azuchi had been of great success, regardless of Shingen’s lingering aversion to Nobunaga and his supporting cast of vassals and warlords. He could at least appreciate that Terra’s friendship with the Azuchi warlords and Maru brought prosperity to his people. Sometimes he couldn’t help but think how his life had turned around from meeting her was beyond anything he’d ever thought possible. He wouldn’t be here without her.

“What are you smiling about?” Terra asked him. He hadn’t realized she was watching him.

“Just thinking about my Goddess.”

She shook her head as though exasperated, but snuggled up a little closer to his arm as they continued their walk. Having her warmth close by was certainly welcome. Shingen held her tighter too.

It wasn’t long before they reached the bridge crossing the river. Ice covered about halfway across from the forested side of the river, before thinning into dark flowing water. The water looked almost black to Shingen as the strong current carried it under the bridge. Snow was beginning to fall again, and he knew that with the setting sun, it would bring much colder temperatures.

Shingen was jolted out of his musings when Terra suddenly gasped.

“There’s a kid out on the ice!”

He followed her line of sight, and sure enough there was a young child walking out onto the ice down by the shore. The ice would be too thin even for a child; it would break under their weight.

Terra was out of his arms before he could do anything. She’d started to run across the bridge, calling out to the kid to stop where they were. Shingen took off after her, only catching up when they were both on the shore, and the child was at least 20m away, standing out on the ice near the center of the frozen river. Shingen felt his heart clench as he heard the ice groan under the child’s weight.

“My baby!” a woman screamed from further behind them. She too came running to the shore, tears in her eyes, worried and unsure what to do.

That’s when the ice cracked, and the child wobbled before falling through. The young boy desperately started to scream as he grasped out for the ice to hold on and pull himself up.

Shingen was ready to throw off his haori when Terra caught his hands.

“Uh-uh. Not you. I’m going out there.” She started to undress herself from the kimono. “I got this.”

He felt his breath catch in the back of his throat as he imagined Terra out there on the ice. His blood ran cold at the thought.

“Terra- No!” he tried to protest, reaching to tie her obi back on.

She smacked his hands away and continued to undress.

“No, you listen!” She pleaded, her eyes alight with determination and resolve. “I’m lighter than you, I’m a stronger swimmer, and you have a history with pneumonia. I will not let you go out there! I got this!”

Terra was down to her underclothes before he could stop her, standing on the shore of the freezing river. Shingen was about ready to protest again.

“No, Terra, listen, it’s too dangerous!” he argued, reaching out and grasping her by her shoulders. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. “I’m not letting you go out there! I don’t care, I can handle this.”

“We don’t have time to discuss this.” She met his gaze head-on unrelenting, and Shingen could see how sure she was. “I’m going out there. Shingen, I’ll be right back. And I’ll need you when I do come back, okay?”

The child was still screaming, and his mother was now in hysterics trying to call out to him to hold on. Shingen had to make a decision, and he hated the conclusion he came to in those few seconds he could spare.

He had to trust her.

“Okay, go.” his blood felt ice cold as he said this. His mind still screamed at him, warning him that this could be a fatal mistake. “But, come back to me.”

“Always.” She squeezed his hand once more before stepping out onto the ice.

Shingen watched Terra gingerly step her way further and further out onto the ice and away from him. His heart was still beating so hard he could hear it in his ears as it rammed against his ribs. He felt like he couldn’t breathe as he watched her go further and further away from him. He could hear the ice groaning under her added weight. Even though she tried her best to distribute her weight over a wider area, it really wasn’t a possibility as she tried to steadily walk towards the child. Terra was half-way to the child when the boy stopped thrashing and his head fell beneath the water.

Terra seemed to throw her caution away as she now walked faster towards the hole in the ice the child had fallen through. It was getting thinner and thinner, and soon the ice began to crack around Terra’s bare feet.

“Shingen!” She called back to him. “I’m going to go under the ice! I’ll get the kid and swim him to the other side of the river. Be ready when I get there!”

She didn’t give him a chance to protest as she rammed her heel into the ice beneath her. It let out a sickening crack that radiated out from her in splinters. When she did it a second time, she fell through. Shingen was sure his heart had stopped beating for the few seconds she was under before surfacing again. He watched as she took a deep breath and then went under again without looking back at him.

He didn’t think as he sprinted back away from the shoreline and the crying mother. His feet just carried him as he ran across the bridge and to the opposite side of the river to wait for Terra. The water flowed freely on this side along the shoreline. It still looked black and dark. He couldn’t see Terra or the child.

How long had she been under? Surely she would’ve surfaced by now?

It felt like it’d been too long. His heart still hammered at his chest. Shingen felt like he couldn’t breathe as he waited, counting the seconds that passed. He was ready to throw off his jacket and clothes to dive into the frigid waters after her.

He counted to ten.

One.

Two.

Three.

He took off his haori and scarf.

Four.

Five.

Six.

He loosened his belt, ready to throw off his robes to dive in.

Seven.

Eight.

Terra broke the surface of the black water with a heavy gasp for air. She began to swim towards him, with the young boy in tow behind her. Her head of brown hair was barely visibly in the dark waters. Using all her strength against the fast current, she swam with powerful strokes through the freezing water. When she reached the shallows she picked the boy up, and ran splashing through the water to the shore. Her chest still heaving as she fought to catch her breath.

She laid the unconscious boy down on the shore, and began compressions. Her hands piled one on top of the other as she pushed into the boys’ chest and started to count to 30, before leaning down to blow two breaths into the child, and then starting again. Her long hair drenched with water ran over her back and stuck to her arms as she worked.

Terra began to shiver, with hands shaking as she worked to revive the child. Shingen laid his hoari over her shoulders, and began to rub her back through the fabric to warm her up. She kept working, putting all her remaining strength into the compressions.

Then suddenly the boy sputtered and began to choke up water. Terra rolled him onto his side, arranging his arm to support his head, and bending his leg to keep him secure on his side. He began to breathe normally again. His mother had joined them on the shoreline, throwing her jacket over him and firmly rubbing him through the fabric.

“Get him home.” Terra ordered the woman. “Get all his wet clothes off, and get him warm.”

“Thank you, miss. Thank you!” the woman cried, before going back to caring for her child.

Terra still hadn’t fully caught her breath. She seemed to take in short little breathes, nothing deep enough to expel the CO2 in her lungs. Her hands shook and she still shivered. Shingen wrapped her in his haori properly, and pulled her drenched form to his chest and helped her to stand. She still shook in his arms.

“We have to get you home now.” He said, bundling her up. “C��mere, you can’t run back to the castle. I’ll carry you back.”

Shingen steadied Terra before lifting her into his arms bridal-style. It was a testament to just how tiring the event had been because Terra didn’t protest at all as he held her close to his chest. She kept her arms close to her core, but turned her head to press her face into his neck. Her breathing hadn’t fully leveled out yet, at best guess Shingen thought this was because the cold water had somewhat put her into shock and stolen her breath away. The cold was limiting how deeply she could breathe, and he didn’t want her to pass out. It would be best to get her home and warm her up before this possibility could happen.

He ran them back to the castle as fast as he could. Ignoring the questioning looks of those he passed by. The sun was setting, and it was imperative that he get Terra indoors before the temperature dropped any further. By the time he reached the castle, he passed several maids who were beginning to turn in for the night. As he briskly walked through the halls he called to a few of them, asking them to get a fire started in his and Terra’s shared room and bring him some hot tea.

Once inside their room, Shingen lowered Terra to the ground so she could stand. Her teeth were chattering as she tried to talk to him.

“I-I need to get a-all the wet clothing off.” She stammered through, her hands were still shaking. And her fingers numbly tried to work at her clothing but she couldn’t get too far.

The maid had then just finished with the fire, and pulling the futon closer to it. She left quickly as another left the tea just inside the door, closing it behind her as she left the room. Now with their privacy, Shingen began to undress Terra. He tied up her long brown hair into a bun to get the wet hair off her back. Then he removed all her underclothes, leaving her naked and shivering in front of him. She wobbled on her feet before moving to the futon and climbing in under its covers close to the fire.

“Tell me what I can do to help.” He asked her, desperate to warm her up. Shingen realized then that his heart still hadn’t stopped hammering against his chest.

She’d curled up into a ball beneath the covers, but then extended a hand to him. “Sharing body heat helps. Take all your clothes off, and just hold me.”

Shingen undressed without hesitation, and slid under the covers naked as well. He pulled her close, cradling her head against his chest. Her skin felt like ice against him, and he couldn’t stop the shiver that worked its way through his body at her touch. Terra slid her leg over his hip, and grasped around him at his back holding herself against him. She let out a content sigh as she snuggled in close, burying her nose into his chest.

It was only now, in the safety of their room, lying with Terra in his arms in their shared futon did he allow himself to properly breathe for the first time since she’d made her way out onto the ice. The fire was steadily warming their room, and being so close to it, Shingen felt its heat against his face. Still though, Terra shivered in his arms. He could hear her actively trying to take deeper breaths, trying to calm herself after the surprising event she’d just gone through. It was only then that he allowed his mind to slow down, and go over everything that had just happened.

He’d been so scared.

He watched her walk across thin ice as it cracked around her. He’d been powerless to stop her as she fell through. Shingen didn’t realize it then, but he too began to shake as he held Terra firmly against his chest. He could see in his mind over and over again, the picture of his Love falling through the ice into frozen waters and then disappearing under into its depths. He should feel proud of her for saving a child’s life, but all he could feel was the heart wrenching dread of what could have been.

Terra could have died today.

Even having her in his arms almost didn’t feel like enough to really confirm she’d survived. As she shivered and adjusted herself closer to his warmth, Terra began to stroke his back as though he was the one needing comfort. His breathing began to hitch as the image of her taking a deep breath before plunging under the ice played over and over again in his mind. If she hadn’t made it back to him, if she hadn’t been able to swim against the current, if she hadn’t found the boy under the ice, if the cold water had been too much for her…

“Shingen?”

His thoughts came to a halt. He realized then that he’d started to cry, the wetness on his cheeks couldn’t hide it. His arms had gone rigid around her, holding her tightly against his chest with steel like strength. Slowly, Shingen worked to relax himself into her embrace. He realized then that she’d started to warm up again, and didn’t feel nearly as cold as before.

“I-I’m sorry, Love.” He barely whispered, but then leaned down to kiss her forehead more so to chase away his own thoughts.

Terra leaned back from his embrace to stare up at him, before brushing away his tears with fingers that were still far too cold. It felt like her frozen touch burned his skin worse than any flame. He reached up to catch her hand in his, and pull it down to his chest where the core of his heat was to warm her. Terra’s concerned gaze travelled over his face. Even in her state, she was looking out for him. It made his chest hurt and his eyes burn. What would he ever do without her? He couldn’t fathom the thought.

Her sharp brown eyes must’ve caught something in him, because before he realized it she’d shifted their positions so that she lay on top of him. Her legs straddled his hips, and her bare chest was pressed against his. Instinctively his hands landed on her hips, as she pushed herself forward to kiss him.

He gasped as her lips captured his. She pushed forward still to deepen the kiss as her cold hands came up to cup the sides of his face. Terra took control of the kiss, as if trying to physically remind him that she was right there in his arms. Insistently she tangled her tongue with his, biting down on his lip when she’d pull away, only to dive back in to steal his breath away. Shingen’s grip on her hips tightened as he held her firmly against him. Terra let out a little sigh of pleasure at his heavy touch. She knew she wasn’t going anywhere, so instead just surged forward with her kiss and with one cool hand raked her fingernails down over his chest.

“Terra!” he gasped out, feeling a warm flush of arousal through his body.

Terra’s lips left his, but trailed down and under his jaw. He moved his head to the side, allowing her to do as she wished. Her teeth grazed his throat before she kissed over his pulse and then back up to his ear.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She whispered only for him.

Shingen found himself choking up again, his breath hitching in his throat. He’d still been terrified and just thinking about it again was making him feel like his heart was breaking. Terra caught this as well, and kissed her way back to his lips.

“I’m going to be just fine. Shingen I’m not leaving you ever.” Terra said against his lips.

She stopped her kiss, sitting back onto his hips to gaze down into his eyes. In the firelight her brown eyes looked like honey and living fire. There was a strength to her he’d seen many times before, powerful like a tigress, she had him captivated completely. Her eyes glowed and the strength of her naked body was fully on display. In this moment he couldn’t take his eyes off her. His Goddess.

Terra reached behind her head and untied her hair, allowing the long brown tresses to stream down her back. Her hair was still wet, but from being tied up in a bun it fell in rings around her shoulders. She still felt cool to the touch as Shingen allowed his calloused hands to travel over her hips and down her thighs. Her cool hands landed on his waist, causing a shiver to run through his body. The room was steadily heating up, and a fire began to grow in Shingen’s body as well.

He sat up from the futon, now with Terra firmly seated in his naked lap and kissed her. Where her kiss had been steady and reassuring, his was desperate and hungry. He wanted all of her right in that moment. With one arm like a vice around her waist, keeping her tightly against him, the other tangled into her hair behind her head. He kissed her relentlessly. It didn’t take long before she’d started to squirm in his lap as she kissed him back moaning out her pleasure. Her own interest becoming plainly clear as she panted between kisses and her nails dug into his shoulders.

Shingen loosened his grip around her waist just enough for her to shift up and reach down to take him into her hand before slowly taking him into her body until she was seated over him again. He’d always get a thrill of pleasure run down his spine as he was enveloped in her wet heat. Her deep sigh was like hearing angels sing. His need for all of her was almost too much. Her hips bucked against his, sending shivers of pleasure throughout his body.

He broke his kiss with her, but continued along her jaw and neck before biting and sucking a mark into her neck. She leaned back in his embrace, and so he continued down her chest leaving his mark above her collarbone and another over her left breast. She shivered in his arms again, but Shingen noted that this time it likely wasn’t from the cold. Terra cupped his face in her hands and guided him back up to her lips.

“I love you.” She said softly, belying the intensity of her eyes holding his gaze.

Shingen’s fears started to crumble away. Terra didn’t feel cold anymore in his arms; only the coolness of her fingertips reminded him of snowflakes that would melt against his cheeks. He thought again in that moment of his Love’s strength. She’s never faltered or let him down in the past, always his equal and his support. Today had deeply frightened Shingen, but all the same it had confirmed to him that his trust in Terra is absolute. His hands that had been holding her hips now grazed up her back to her shoulder blades.

Terra smiled warmly down at him, “Still looking for those angel wings?”

“I’ll find them one day.” Shingen said with his own small smile.

Terra started to grind herself down onto his length, pulling sighs of pleasure out of him as he went back to kissing her neck. Her hands had found their way to his back, one gripping into his hair at the back of his neck and the other running over his shoulder. She began to rotate her hips, back and forth, in circles and bucking against him. Her moans of pleasure were enough to steal his thoughts away as he was still buried deep inside of her. And as the heat between them grew, Shingen’s need to make love to her was only getting stronger.

He shifted them then, and supported Terra’s back as he lowered her down onto the futon. Her hair splayed out behind her in waves. Her legs were spread for him with knees bent for his viewing pleasure in the firelight looking incredibly erotic in her nakedness. For all her confidence before, now she turned away from his gaze with a heavy blush. He leaned down then kissing his way over her neck, whispering his love for her and sweet nothings. Before long she was grasping at his back again, with her legs locked around his waist urging him on to continue.

He nearly pulled out from her then, before thrusting his length back into her body, eliciting from her a quiet moan of pleasure. His Love was never very loud, but as he made love to her in earnest she gradually let go of her control. Terra had her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close as he thrust into her. Their movements weren’t rushed or frantic, rather a constant deeply penetrating strength of his body into her as he used his strength to take her completely. The emotional connection they maintained seemed more powerful still. She allowed herself to be completely enveloped by him, clinging on as her nails raked down his back and seeking his kiss between gasps of pleasure.

Time seemed irrelevant as their passion grew and her cries for him became more demanding, with her back arching up and her legs still around his waist pulling him in deeper. Shingen felt about ready to lose his steady control as she quietly begged for her release with choked out gasps of Please Shingen, please! He reached down between them then to rub at her tender core. Terra gave out a strangled cry as her legs tightened around him and she started to tremble and shake beneath him.

The simmering but powerfully growing need between them was hitting its apex. Terra’s slowly building climax reached its peak as she cried out with her back bowed, riding out its force that took her in waves. Her grip on him tightened, with her legs keeping him buried inside of her as she rode out her orgasm. It didn’t take Shingen much more than a few thrusts to follow her over the edge. Just watching her fall apart beneath him was enough to pull him over with her. Terra’s legs kept him tightly bound to her, not allowing him to pull away in the slightest.

His release hit him hard, his hips stuttering as he let out a deep groan as he came inside of her. Shudders wracked his body as he spent himself, and his arms suddenly felt weak as he still held himself above her. Terra pulled him down to her then, tenderly cradling his head against her chest where he heard her still rapidly beating heart. For several moments they just enjoyed the afterglow of their lovemaking, and Shingen found himself ready to drift off into sleep. But he roused himself, pulled away from her body and then lay back down beside her, sufficiently exhausted from their coupling.

Terra snuggled up against him, pillowing her head on his shoulder and throwing a leg over his and twining them together. Shingen noted she still trembled a little as he wrapped his arm over her back holding her close. It seemed tonight had deeply exposed her and she still sought his support. Shingen held her a little tighter, more than happy to have her in his arms as he kissed the crown of her head.

“I love you, Terra.” He said.

Terra shifted to wrap and arm over his chest, and made herself more comfortable in his embrace.

“I love you more.”

He chuckled warmly, knowing that his Love was going to be alright. The days’ events were behind them, and she was back to her normal body temperature. Her natural warmth burned like a fire against his side. Shingen reached for the blanket to pull over them both before contentedly falling asleep with his sleeping Goddess in his arms.

… … …

Several days later, Shingen and Terra were back in their shared office working on their individual tasks. However, Shingen had been reluctant to let her out of his grasp for more than what was deemed necessary. Terra didn’t seem to mind at all, allowing him to keep her close and even enjoying his touch.

They’d had a discussion about everything that had happened the morning after the event. Terra had told him that she valued his trust in her, but to also recognize how often she put her trust in him. Shingen had spent a long time after that thinking about all the times he’d left her behind to fight in skirmishes and lead battles. And he thought of how scared she must be every time he left. It was a shock for sure to finally understand the terrifying dread of losing the one you love most, but he also felt deeply sure of his earlier conclusion that he trusted Terra completely.

Now, sitting in their office working, he sat with his legs crossed with Terra in his lap. She leaned forward slightly to continue her writings of her manuscript, while he hooked his chin over her shoulder as he read over more documents that needed his attention.

A knock to their studies door roused Shingen from his readings.

“Lord Shingen, may I come in?” It was Yukimura.

Terra went to move out of his lap, but Shingen stopped her by embracing her from behind and firmly holding her against him. She snorted at his antics.

“C’mon in Yuki.” He called back.

His young vassal came in, only to blanch at seeing his lord and Terra so tightly involved.

Yukimura sputtered before saying, “Do you have to be so indecent? A warning would’ve been nice.”

“My dear Yuki, you know of my terrible affliction. I cannot bear to be without my Goddess.” He laughed back at his cranky young vassal.

Terra gave a small bark of laughter before moving to elbow him. Shingen stopped her by fulling enveloping her into his embrace in a hug that firmly kept her in place.

“Goddess?” Yuki snorted, “This boar woman-“

“Hey!” Terra interjected crossly.

“-Temptress, thing, has got you bent to her every will.”

Shingen hummed his agreement, pressing his cheek against Terra’s. “I am powerless to her.”

“You’re both gross.” Yuki just groaned at his Lord with his hands covering his face in defeat. “You have a visitor. A woman with her son. They say Terra jumped into the frozen river to save her kid. They wanted to thank you. I told them they were probably wrong.”

“I did jump into the river to save her kid.” Terra said crossing her arms over her chest.

Yuki wrinkled his nose at Terra but held his tongue. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Terra was a hero to have saved the young boy. And Shingen knew Yuki respected her in his own contemptuous way.

“We’ll go greet them.” Shingen said, allowing his embrace to loosen around Terra as she stood up.

He followed her to a more spacious meeting room, where Yuki then led the woman and the young boy to meet them. The woman graciously expressed her thanks to them, bowing deeply to Terra and saying how grateful she was to see her healthy. The woman pushed her son forward, who held a folded blue kimono in his hands. It was the one left behind at the river when Terra had undressed to follow the boy out onto the ice.

“Here you go miss- I mean, Lady Terra.” The boy corrected himself. “I learned my lesson. Mama says you saved me. I promise never to go out on the ice again.”

Terra bent down to the little boy and took the offered kimono. She smiled at the boy and ruffled his dark hair.

“Thank you, and good.” Terra beamed at the boy. “I’m glad to see you’re alright. I can tell you’ll grow big and strong when your older.”

“I told Mama I wanted to learn how to swim just like you!” the boy exclaimed proudly. “I wanna be a strong swimmer too, the best in the village!”

“That’s sweet; just make sure it’s in the summer ok?”

“Yes Lady Terra.” The boy conceded with more maturity and grace that a young boy his age should’ve possessed, bowing deeply to her.

They left not long after, with the young boy holding onto the sleeve of his mother’s kimono as he bounced along beside her.

… … …

It started to snow again as the sun began to set, staining the sky golden and red hues. Shingen found Terra standing out by the frozen gardens that were covered in snow. Again, Shingen noted she didn’t even seem fazed by the cold despite the events only a few days past, still dressed in a simple kimono with her long hair down. She stood gazing up at the sky as light flurries of snow fell around her. Every time she breathed out a puff of air followed, and her cheeks took on a rosy hue.

Terra reached out her hand to catch a falling snowflake in her palm. She seemed ever drawn to the cold. Even as a soft cold breeze hit Shingen’s face and a shiver worked its way through his body, Terra stood unbothered.

Shingen went out to join her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. She looked up, meeting his gaze with one that seemed genuinely happy. Strangely she seemed to thrive best in the winter.

Without intending to, Shingen shivered again as he held her close. She frowned immediately.

“I swear, I tell you all the time to dress warm.” She admonished.

He leaned down to chastely kiss her lips and hummed softly, enjoying her warmth against him.

“I guess it’s your turn to warm me up tonight.” He said against her ear suggestively.

Terra crinkled her nose at him, stifling her laughter before taking his hand and leading him back inside the castle. He followed after his Love willingly and he thought to himself once again that truly his life had changed for the better the day he met her.

[justjessame]

The Deal Chapter 30

Negan, after taking away my gun and knife, motions to his bed. And I go rigid. Surely that’s not what he’s brought me here to do. He has a fully stocked harem. Full of women who look like they give a far bigger shit about what they look like than me.

He takes stock of my stillness, and gives a small chuckle. Dear God, was he going to laugh at my inhibition to go to bed with him? “Jessica, I’m not planning on joining you.” He takes my hand and I try desperately not to flinch at the casualness of the touch, so foreign to me since I cannot remember the last time anyone had tried. The pads of his fingers are calloused, they remind me of Daryl’s, but his hand seems bigger, more slender. He’s tugging me toward the bed, and then, once standing in front of it, he tries to sooth me. “You look exhausted.”

Do I? It seems like I’m always sleeping when I’m not taking care of Judith. My room in Alexandria had become a refuge from the world, and I’d had to force myself to leave it.

Negan watches me. And once again, I wish I could see what he saw. If my mask really had gone away, I wanted to know how far it had slipped, and how to put it back in place. “Go ahead, Jessica. I’ll be working right over there,” he points back to where we’d been seated.

Since sleep is the fastest way to nowhere, I take off my boots and without a shred of hesitancy left, I pull off my jeans and climb in the bed. The urge is heavy now, to escape again. To get away inside my own head, where nothing waits. Because, even if Negan can see that I’m broken, he can’t see that the dark release of nothing and nowhere is all I can ever wish for.

When I wake up, it’s dark. Completely dark, without even the light of the stars and moon coming through the window we’d sat by when I’d arrived. I wondered, had it happened? Had the darkness that I’d slipped into so willingly finally taken me over completely? I felt no fear. No worry. I felt nothing. And in that, I found solace.

The next time I surface, the light’s blinding. Sunlight shining through the window that I’d seen when we’d sat down and Negan had tried to unlock my secrets. I wished it hadn’t come. Morning. Not, I told myself, because I wanted to die. Simply because I found safety in the nothing. In the dark of nowhere.

Negan is sitting in the chair he’d sat in the day before. At least I think it’s the day before. I can see him without sitting up or giving him a sign I’ve awakened. And with this advantage, I study the man who had studied me. He’s reading a sheaf of papers. The bat resting on the table before him, within reach, as seems to be his habit. There’s a walkie talkie beside it. His leather jacket is gone, tossed over the chair I’d occupied before. One hand is shading his eyes, while the other is holding the papers. And I wonder, why him? Why could he see so easily what no one else could? What knowledge does this dangerous man have that my own father doesn’t? What experience would give him the ability to read me easier than Daryl, a man I’d given everything to? And what would he do with the knowledge? The truth about Rick Grimes’ daughter? The reality of my stability or instability? The fact that I wasn’t strong, or brave, or built for this world? The veil that I’d worn so carefully and fully that not even those closest to me could see through it?

He fidgeted, as though he could feel my eyes on him. And I closed mine quickly. Feigning sleep, praying that the darkness would come again, that I’d be able to escape back to nowhere, to nothing.

It didn’t work. He’d seen or thought he’d seen my eyes open. And he called to me, loudly and clearly. “Jessica, come over here.” It was an order. Plain and simple. And since I’d traded my life for Glenn’s, I complied.

I got out of his bed, pulled my jeans back on and walked barefoot over to where he was sitting. He’d tossed the papers onto the table and sat back in his chair to study me standing beside him. And I waited to see what he’d expect of me now. Whatever he saw, it didn’t seem to please him.

“Put on your boots,” he gestured to where I’d set them before resting. “Time for a fucking tour.”

I pulled on my boots and sighed. It wasn’t loud, but he’d heard it, I’m sure. It seemed like he was attuned to every fucking minutia of my being, and I’d just met him. I could hear him pulling on his jacket, the sound of him taking his bat in hand. I turned around to see him far closer than I’d expected him to be. His hand reached out and cupped my chin so he could tilt my face up for his inspection. A rough thumbpad traced beneath my eye, as he studied my face.

“Not much of an improvement,” his voice was low, quiet even. He shook his head and released me. “Let’s fucking go, let you see what you gave up your fucking life for.”

I should have felt fear. It should have made me worry about what I was going to see. Yet, I felt nothing. I wasn’t here, not really, not as long as I could slip back inside myself, back to nowhere.

I followed him, again close enough to keep up without exerting myself, but far enough that I didn’t have to be near him. As I’d been able to do for months, or years now, I took note of everything without taking in anything. Going through the motions, seeing but not experiencing, taking stock but not worrying, all of that was as second nature to me as breathing. As fighting. As surviving.

The marketplace, or whatever he termed it, where his people bartered points earned through work for necessities or luxuries. The cafeteria, again based around earnings through these jobs that he kept mentioning. He stopped our tour long enough to give me food. Hovering to watch me eat, making sure everything was consumed. Satisfied that I’d gotten something down, as though I didn’t eat, we kept going and I wondered, perhaps he had decided on my purpose. Perhaps. Outside, a closer look at his walker security system, I wondered if eventually we’d all be found here, guarding a building without any notice of what or who we had been before. Back inside, to the infirmary, where the wife that had introduced herself, Sherry, was getting results of a pregnancy test.

I had a flicker, as she told Negan it was negative, as the man with the ruined face was nearby, of something tugging in the back of my mind. Hadn’t I, at some point, wanted this? The hope of a child. The future of a family. With Daryl? Maybe, but that was once upon a time, and this was the real world.

I didn’t pay attention to the interaction between Negan and the doctor, or Negan and the man he called ‘D’ or the wife. The doctor, I’m sure I was told his name, but what need did we have of names? What did it matter? He stepped forward, toward me, and asked me to sit on the exam table. I sat. I did what was asked of me, nothing more, nothing less. It was automatic, muscle memory with a hint of listening to what was necessary. Simple. Done. I didn’t notice what he’d checked, or what he said. I didn’t care. I was healthy, clearly, since I was still breathing. I’m sure Negan and the doctor spoke. I’m sure they shot me looks. I didn’t pay attention, I’d gone back to nothing. To nowhere. Where it was blank and easy.

I was told to follow him again. And I did. Back through the building, more hallways, more information. Then we returned to the room filled with women. All clamoring for attention, and he brushed them off and took me back to his private space. And he told me to get more rest, and I wondered why? What was so important about my resting? But I only pondered for a moment, because in the end, nowhere was beckoning. And that temptation of nothing was too powerful to resist.

I woke to darkness again. Complete and perfect. Home. And as I let my internal darkness tempt me away, I wondered if it mattered where I was physically, since I wasn’t there. Not really.

[razieltwelve]

Royalty and the Avatar (AtLA x LoK)

Korra gasped and strained against her bonds as the fingers inside her curled just so. The blindfold made it impossible to focus on anything but the sensations, and she could only arch her back and ride the waves of sensation that followed until she slumped back onto the bed, limp and exquisitely exhausted.

"Hmmm… I certainly can't fault your enthusiasm, but we do have to work on your endurance."

Azula tugged the blindfold off, and Korra stared as the other woman looked her straight in the eyes and licked her fingers clean. Spirits, that was hot.

"Are you really criticising me at a time like this?" Korra asked. She would have sat up, but she was currently tied quite securely to the head of the bed.

The princess's golden eyes gleamed in the twilight of the cabin, and Azula reached down to trail one finger along Korra's belly. Heat flickered to life, just shy of painful. "Self improvement is important, Korra. Isn't that what your instructors taught you?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure they were referring to bending and not sex."

Azula's lips curled, and she leaned forward. It provided Korra with a wonderful view. "You know, when I first started chasing after you, I used to wonder what I'd do with you once I'd caught you." She smirked. "It's a good thing I never caught you back then. Killing you would have been such a waste." The words were accompanied by another heated look at Korra's bare body.

"Yeah, I'm glad to not be dead too." Korra grinned. "But do you think you could go back to describing your megalomaniacal plan? You were in the middle of covering that before you decided to tie me up and have your wicked way with me."

"Ah, yes, my megalomaniacal plan." Azula sat up, and a single candle flared to life. The azure light cast shadows across her face and body, and she looked equal parts alluring and imposing. Korra rolled her eyes. Azula was nothing if not theatrical at times. "Would you prefer it if I monologued, perhaps threw in a cackle or two, or would you prefer the simple version."

"I think the simple version would be best." Korra tested her bonds and sighed. Trust Azula to be ridiculously thorough even in a situation like this. "You can go into detail later."

"Very well." Azula sat down next to Korra and let her fingers trace whimsical paths across her body. "First and foremost, I want to assure you that I have no intention of trying to conquer the world."

"Right…"

"I mean it," Azula said. "I do think I would make an excellent ruler of the world, but conquering the entire world is simply impractical. The Fire Nation has neither the manpower nor the resources to conquer the world, never mind actually keep it under control."

"So, hypothetically, you would conquer the world if you thought you could?"

"You're better off not knowing the answer to that." Azula patted Korra's head fondly. "You'll sleep better at night. But, to return to matter at hand, it's really a simple matter of wanting what's best for the Fire Nation. Above all things, I am a patriot. I love the Fire Nation, and I want nothing but the best for it. This… war has dragged on for a century, and what do we have to show for it?"

"About a century of suffering and woe."

"Exactly." Azula held up one hand. Flame kindled around her fist, first orange, and then blue, and then blinding white. Korra shivered. Azula was the single most powerful fire bender she'd ever met, and it was a miracle she'd survived those early years when Azula had genuinely been trying to either kill her or capture her. "A foolish person might say that the Fire Nation has never been stronger, that we now control the North and South Poles and that we have subjugated most of the Earth Kingdom."

"And what would a smart person, presumably you, say?" Korra asked. Azula had many good qualities. Modesty was not one of them. Then again, was it really arrogance given what she'd accomplished so far?

"We hold the North and South Poles by the skin of our teeth. Oh, we've managed to grab hold of the major settlements, but it's getting harder and harder to fight off the resistance groups when they can melt back into the wilderness." Azula scowled. "Trying to fight off water benders in a land made almost completely of ice is the very definition of a bad idea. Oh, I've no doubt we could crush the Southern or Northern Water Tribes in a conventional battle, but they're not stupid. They're never going to give us a conventional battle."

"Yeah, that probably wasn't the greatest idea the Fire Nation has ever had." Korra snickered.

"Oh, be quiet," Azula grumbled. "And it's not like your ancestors have too much to be proud of. They somehow managed to lose despite the initial battles being conducted either at sea or on ice." The princess sighed. "The point of conquest, Korra, is that the conquerors should get something out of it. What does the Fire Nation get out of conquering the North or South Pole? We get constant trouble, land that none of our people want to live in, and vast sheets of ice and snow that serve no real purpose."

"Hey, there are resources in the North and South Pole," Korra countered. "How do you think my people have lived there for so long?"

"Well, of course, there are resources," Azula replied. "But they're the kind the Fire Nation could get far more easily through trade. Conquering the North and South Poles served no real purpose other vanity and bragging rights. Meanwhile, we're forced to waste almost a third of our entire military trying to keep them under control."

"Yeah," Korra said. "My people are pretty awesome."

"And then there's the Earth Kingdom." Azula covered her face with one hand. "By all the spirits, what were my ancestors thinking? The Earth Kingdom is absolutely massive and has multiple times the Fire Nation's population. How exactly were we ever going to maintain control over it?"

"Genocide?" Korra made a face. "I'm pretty sure at least one of your ancestors advocated that."

"Yes," Azula ground out. "My grandfather, an otherwise reasonable man, did propose wiping out the Earth Kingdom's inhabitants and replacing them with Fire Nation citizens." She snarled. "Lunacy! Madness! We are warriors not butchers, and I would have the Fire Nation stand ascendant over a prosperous world, not a world of ash and bones."

"Well, I'm glad you can agree that genocide is evil."

"Defeating the Earth Kingdom in battle was a foregone conclusion," Azula continued. "Their lack of tactical acumen is matched only by their lack of technological progress. However, the sheer size and population of the Earth Kingdom means that occupying it long term is an exercise in futility. The Fire Nation simply lacks the manpower and resources to accomplish that." Azula shivered. "And the less I say about our attempts to attack the Air Nomads, the better. Oh, we had some success initially when we caught them off guard, but since then…"

"So… you want to stop the fighting?" Korra asked. "You? The youngest, most successful general in Fire Nation history?"

"If this war continues," Azula replied. "The Fire Nation will eventually lose. It will take years, and we will inflict terrible wounds on our enemies, but we will lose, and do you think they will be in a merciful mood when we do?" Azula shook her head. "No. They will rip us limb from limb. It is far better to seek an end to hostilities now while we are in a position of strength."

"But you can't end the war," Korra pointed out. "You're not Fire Lord."

"No, I am not." Azula's eyes shimmered, and the blue candle flame roared. "But I could be."

"Ah." Korra nodded slowly. "I see."

"My father truly believes that we can conquer the world and keep it. With Sozin's Comet arriving in a matter of months, he's even come up with a plan. He wants to burn the whole Earth Kingdom and the North and South Poles."

"…" Korra gaped. "That… that might just be the most scarily idiotic thing I've ever heard."

"Yes. Even with the power boost the comet would give us, there simply aren't enough fire benders to burn more than a fraction of the world. That, more than anything, convinced me that I could no longer stand aside while my father leads the Fire Nation to ruin."

"So you want to overthrow him?"

"Korra," Azula said as she shifted to straddle the Avatar's waist. "I have been planning this for years. I have at least half of the Fire Nation's nobility on my side already, and I believe the other half would join me if the Avatar pledged to support my cause."

"I see." Korra's eyes narrowed. "So in exchange for supporting you against your father, you would end the war?"

"Indeed. I would, of course, have to keep some of the gains we've made - nothing too large, I assure you - but the war would end. I would become Fire Lord, and you would become the Avatar who ended the Hundred Year War."

"And you think your father will give you the throne when he realises the nobles support you over him?"

"Oh, no," Azula said dryly. "I'll have to challenge him to Agni Kai and kill him, but that will be the easy part. My dear father hasn't fought on the front lines in more than a decade, and I am the greatest fire bender and warrior my nation has ever produced."

"Not the least bit arrogant, are you?"

"It is not arrogance if it is true," Azula shot back. "The question, Korra, is whether or not you will help me. I will take the throne. Without your help, it may well involve a mountain of corpses. With your help, it will only take one."

"You know, even two years ago, if someone had asked me if I would ever help you, I'd have called them insane."

"And if someone had told me two years ago that I would seriously be contemplating making the Avatar my royal consort once I took the throne, I'd have said the same."

"…" Korra jerked up, tearing her bonds with a subtle application of air bending. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious." Azula smirked. "You look wonderful in blue, Korra, but I think you'd look just as good in red." Her smirk widened. "And I'd be yours as much as you'd be mine." Azula leaned forward until their lips were almost touching. "Tell me I wouldn't look amazing in Water Tribe blue."

Korra gulped. The thought of Azula in Water Tribe blue was… intoxicating. "Yeah." She shook herself. She could think about that later. "So you're really going to do this?"

"Why do you think I'm sailing back to the Fire Nation with you in secret?" Azula bared her teeth. "This war has gone on long enough. I will defeat my father and become Fire Lord. I will put an end to the war, but I'll need your help for what comes after."

"Ah." Korra grimaced. "That will be tricky. Even if you do end the war, the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes are still going to be pissed."

"Indeed, which is where you come in. Use some of that charm of yours to help bring about a peaceful solution."

"You think I'm charming?"

"To an extent," Azula countered. "But more than anything you keep your word. You don't make a lot of promises, but you always keep the ones you do make. More importantly, you have won the respect of people throughout the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes. Negotiating a lasting peace will be difficult with your help. Without your help, it will be impossible."

"You do realise that they'll accuse you of seducing me to win my favour."

"Maybe. I'd argue they'd be right." Azula smiled thinly. "But perhaps you could try to make it seem as though the opposite occurred." She swooned melodramatically. "Imagine it: the aloof and cruel Fire Nation princess, defeated and then seduced by the Avatar. Driven by her newfound love for the Avatar, the princess overthrows her father and promises to end the war and bring peace to the world."

"…" Korra shook her head. "I don't think there is a single person in the world who would believe that."

Azula straightened. "Of course not. But that's not the point. What we need to impress upon them is that regardless of the… intricacies of our relationship, peace is the best way forward."

"Well, you're not wrong." Korra sighed. "But you really couldn't have explained this to me before we started sailing toward the Fire Nation?"

"And spoil the surprise?" Azula laughed. "Korra, you know me better than that."

X     X     X

Author's Notes

This is obviously a massive AU. I'll get into the specifics in later snippets, but the gist of it is that Aang never ran away, the Air Nomads managed to survive after initially sustaining heavy losses, and the Hundred Year War has been extremely bloody.

By the time Azula shows up, Korra is the Avatar. They're similar in age, and Azula does spend some of her early years trying to capture/kill Korra. However, due to certain events, things change, and Azula develops a better understanding of the conflict and its likely ending.

Let me know what you think.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

You can find my original fiction on Amazon here. In fact, I’ve just released a new story, Attempted Adventuring. If you like humour, action, and adventure, be sure to check it out.

[thedrown]

GOTS Lore- Sikha’s Family

 This lore tidbit isn’t BLAABR but instead me Star Wars story Ghosts of The Separatists! You may have noticed my love for the Kaleesh and while there are seemingly many Kaleesh characters, most are actually part of Sikha’s family so this entry will briefly take a deeper look into her background that her bio didn’t cover!

 Sikha’s clan known as “Ourag” originate from the small port city of Shakren named after a Kaleesh Sith lord during the Cold War. As with most Kaleesh, ancestral reverence was important to her and Sikha’s ancestors played a significant role in turning Shakren into a hub of foreign trade during a previous generation of five siblings whom branched out to expand Kalee’s position in the galaxy. Two sisters left to neighboring Muunilinst and learned of trade and finance, a brother maintained tradition becoming a proud warlord of a small mercenary army in the Outer Rim, while the remaining two brothers remained on Kalee consolidating the outside resources and funds of their siblings into their hometown to overhaul and expand Shakren’s infrastructure into a small, but capable, spaceport and shipping dock. The combined efforts of these siblings’ wider worldview beyond Kalee pushed Shakren into the corporate eye attracting the IGBC and their subsidiaries and such investments laid a foundation for what was on a galactic level a minor trade spot but for the Kaleesh meant a stepping stone into greater regional affairs beyond mercenary work. The small industry these five brothers and sisters spearheaded laid the foundation for clan Ourag to be respected clan in Shakren as well as leave a significant amount of wealth to their descendants through their enterprises within the IGBC’s network of commerce. The city stands in the shadow of Kaleela but remains a bustling trade hub for Neimoidians, Muuns, and many other aliens overseeing business in the city with the IGBC, Baktoid Armor Workshop, and Hoersch-Kessel Drive all maintaining small facilities and cargo depots in it’s industrial shipping zone. While the Ourag’s business has since fallen under the IGBC, they maintain autonomy when it comes to affairs on Kalee and operate with minimal outside oversight due to the significant cultural nuances of the worlds masked denizens. 

 Beyond these enterprising ancestors clan Ourag has few claims to fame beyond one distant individual being a slave turned Sith apprentice during the time of the Old Republic which thus brings us to her immediate family and current generation during this time of the Secessionist Crisis and Clone Wars. Sikha’s grandfather was a veteran of both the Huk War and the even older Kaleesh-Bitthaevrian War having fought first hand beside and later against the Jedi during the conflicts. Recruited and trained by the Republic as a pilot, he bombed many Bitthaevrian bases and worlds and his deeds during this conflict would weigh on him in his old age though his immense feelings of betrayal from the Jedi during the Huk War left him largely dejected and withdrawn. It was only the onset of the Clone Wars did he spur back to life jumping into the pilots seat and acting volunteer to the CIS navy as a squadron leader deployed under the IGBC’s forces. His war stories acting as inspiration to a young Sikha, he only shed his withdrawn nature when it came to his grandchildren trying instill within them a nobility to their Kaleesh beliefs as a form of safeguarding their inevitable lives of combat from being manipulated as he once was by the Republic. 

 Following this are his two sons, Sikha’s father Aukad and her Uncle Isso San Ourag. Isso left Kalee at a young age being sent into an exchange program with Muuns to learn banking and gain greater exposure to the larger galaxy and as a result is scarcely much of a warrior and is a true and proper businessman and doesn’t even live on Kalee currently, residing instead on Scipio following the war encroaching upon Muunilinst and Mygeeto. While sporadically present in Sikha’s childhood, Isso holds a spot as a loving bringer of many curious gifts from beyond Kalee’s space and is someone she holds very dear.  Isso’s younger brother Aukad on the other hand had to forgo a normal life when the the Huk War broke out when he was just entering adolescence and thus was thrusted upon an unrelentingly violent conflict that ravaged his home. All he had was his father who was forced to teach a young Aukad many difficult lessons in the name of survival, the scars of which haven’t fully healed. As a result of his stolen youth and strained relationship with his father, Aukad is an extremely protective father who’s jaded feelings towards his peoples fixation on warfare left a lingering cloud of concern when it came to raising his children in Kaleesh custom whilst fearing the outcome it could have in whatever conflict falls upon their world next. He is a deeply conflicted man feeling immense shame over the rift between him as his son, overwhelming fear of Sikha’s wellbeing both physically and emotionally now that she serves in the CIS, and self doubt as a father for his youngest daughter Aicha. Despite this, Sikha views him only as her perfect father regardless of flaws or familial loss and after the death of her mother the two came to rely on one another for their reunited family following Sikha’s return from Mandalore. While worrisome of the greater war, he actively serves in CIS intelligence in a largely unimportant listening post in the Kadok Regions under Admiral Riivas.

  Speaking of, Sikha has two siblings in her older brother Takhan and little sister Aicha. Khan left Kalee and his family behind when Sikha was still little and she knows very little of him and her parent’s lack of explanation developed feelings of abandonment within her towards her older sibling, a sentiment that turned from somber to bitter following the death of their mother. Meanwhile, small innocent Aicha is fiercely protected from the outside world by both her overprotective father and her coddling overbearing older sister who both seek to give her a life away from their family tragedy and conflict. By in large they’ve succeeded to this end as she is largely unaware of problems both at home and the greater galaxy and is simply enjoying her childhood with only brief curiosity as to the ever diminishing size of their family as the war progresses. Khan, while absent from family and Kaleesh only in species not culture, has created a small mercenary army based on Jedha offering his security services to the highest bidder portraying himself as a carefree vagabond ignoring the considerable chip on his shoulder towards his home. He intentionally distances himself from all things Kalee even seldom wearing a mask and fully embracing greater galactic culture as a spacer with the constant comments on his lack of “Kaleeshness” being infuriating jabs to his ego though he simply presses on in his search of wealth he doesn’t even care for. His resentment for home is only tempered by his relationship with comrade and fellow bounty hunter Kla Sekkru. The peppy and excitable Trandoshan is close to her culture being a hunter purely for sport to gain Jagannath points yet is similar to Khan in that she appears highly irregular to most of her kind. Kla is endlessly energetic in pursuit of new experiences and methods of gaining points. Her joy in experimenting with her peoples deep rooted customs is a curiosity to Takhan who sees none of the burden his culture holds upon him holding Kla down, in fact it seems to drive her forward instead. The only person he’s ever opened up to and an object of fascination, Kla is something of Takhan’s missing piece though her whimsy persona diminishes his emotional sentimentality to unequivocal acceptance of who he his; Kla doesn’t act his therapist, being her loving self unchanged by his exposing of emotion means more than her sympathies ever could and she as such chooses to simply love him in the simplest form.

 Lastly is Sikha’s unnamed mother. A hunter from the north who battled an everyday fight for survival while the Huk pillaged the rest of Kalee, she grew up close to family and communes of her small tribe trekking across the tundra with all tribesmen and women being a single unit united in survival and mutual care. It was during the warmer season where the blizzards broke did she and other young tribes members venture to the mainland to sell and trade their polar goods and she would meet Sikha’s father Aukad when he purchased meat from her only to spend all his budget on her handmade trinkets after instantly becoming infatuated with the heavy coated nomad. For the rest of the season he would visit her in the market and even help her sell her wares as the two bonded. It wasn’t long before the two were wed and she would return to the tundras for another season before returning to Aukad to stay for good, the time and distance had changed nothing and despite his coming of age, he took no additional wives despite the option and happily awaited his distant bride. They had a happy marriage living in the Ourag estate and raising their children alongside Isso and his family. Where Takhans departure weighed heavily on Aukad, his wife instead accepted her son’s decision hoping for his return once he concluded his personal journey and always made preparations at clan shrines awaiting his eventual return with calm confidence. Her warmth and caring nature while being deeply tied to northern Kaleesh customs lent to Sikha’s development as a more worldly and open individual who is Kaleesh first, but always seeking new and greater knowledge to expand upon herself. Despite her closeness to her father, Sikha takes far more after her mother though her death at the hands of Huk defending a young Sikha dramatically altered her disposition reserving the aspects of her mother behind a near impenetrable wall to all outsiders to her life and manifesting a stoic coldness at best and borderline sociopathic grudge to those she blames for tragedy at worst. The Huk War, death of mother, and time enslaved by the Hutts and subsequent freedom by Mandalorians distorted her mother’s values in Sikha making her present self someone who speaks of the morally gray whilst practicing only in black and whites.

 Beyond this Sikha’s uncle Isso also has two wives who both serve in the CIS on the frontlines as shocktroopers while their triplet sons all joined the Bounty Hunter’s Guild to gain martial experience being sporty and supportive cousins to Sikha while their mothers were the ones who trained Sikha and caught her up to the Kaleesh rites and customs lost during her time away from Kalee post Huk enslavement.

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 5

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 5,219

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

I had perfected a system.

A system for avoiding eye contact with him.

You know… him.

He whose lips that my lips were last seen canoodling with.

That is to say, Lea.

It’d been a few days now since the little kiss incident - or Kissident, as I had taken to calling it in my head. I had not listened to Rayne’s advice, so had yet to talk to him. I’d tried, believe me, I really had tried. But just one look at him and the Kissident would flash through my brain once again in high-def and stereo surround sound, causing my heart to leap up into my throat and strangle me, making getting any words out impossible. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t do it. No way.

But that’s where my system came in! So flawless, yet so simple.

All I had to do was… not look at him.

As one might guess, that presented a bit of a challenge, given that Pizza Planet was straight across from us and given that, due to some cruel, sadistic twist of fate, his shifts seemed to almost always line up with mine. But to someone with my determination and ingenuity, not to mention years upon years of experience of avoiding human interaction like the plague? No sweat.

He looks my way? Oh hey, that ice cream cone I was getting for this customer is just right for blocking his line of sight to me. A glance from him? Man, the lights in here sure seem extra bright today, I’ll just pull the bill of my Ice Palace cap way down to shield my eyes. So much as a glimpse out of the corner of his eye? Gee, Kristoff, you make the perfect boulder for me to hide behind while I focus really hard on not existing. Or, oopsie, looks like I dropped something, time to kneel down and spend, say, I don’t know, the next five minutes picking it up.

But always, always look carefully before standing again. I’d learned my lesson there. No need for a repeat of the Kissident, thank you very much.

And if all else failed and I caught even the slightest hint that he might be out from behind his counter and heading my way? Whew, look at the time, I need to go on my break! Let me just slip into the back room and chill there until the coast’s all clear once more.

What’d I tell you? Foolproof.

Not to mention totally and one hundred percent mature. Look at me adult like a pro.

Hey, don’t knock it. It was the only way I’d managed to survive the past several days.

In any case, it was currently late afternoon. The heavy chimes of the mall’s iconic clock tower echoed throughout the all but deserted food court. By now, I was almost getting used to the rushes that came with lunchtime. Did nervous energy still course through my veins the whole time we were slammed with customers? Yes, but it wasn’t too bad. Turns out people are pretty friendly when you’re the one handing out the ice cream and feeding their sugar addiction. Plus, ever since the Kissident, I almost preferred the busy times. The throng of people was just one more thing for me to hide behind.

But now that it was dead and I had no such cover, I had to resort to one of my more drastic measures…

...a scoop.

One eye shut, I held the little metal contraption up, examining it closely.  For stains, mind you. Having sparkling, clean, spotless tools of the trade at my disposal was very important to me. Your health and safety are my top priority, dear customers.

And the fact that I was lining the scoop up perfectly so as to blot out a certain redhead from my view? Well now, that was just a bonus. Purely coincidence.

...wait… was he even still there? ...it had been several minutes since I had begun, ahem, “inspecting” the ice cream scoop. Had he really not moved from that spot? Maybe he was sneakier than I’d realized and had managed to somehow slip out from behind his counter without me noticing. Even now, as I stood here completely oblivious, he could be stalking, prowling, creeping up on me, about to catch me unawares.

I gulped, suddenly nervous. Maybe a quick look would be good… just to be sure the green eyed devil hadn’t escaped his pizza-scented, space-age themed domain. 

Licking my dry lips, I carefully squeezed the scoop’s handles together, making it split down the jagged middle just enough for me to peek through. Immediately, my muscles relaxed and I sighed in relief. Yup, still there, assisting a customer at the register.

I loosened my grip so the utensil snapped shut again, blocking him from my sight once more. Now the only person I could see at the little pizzeria was his coworker, a short, blonde guy currently pulling a pizza out of the massive oven and-

Wait a minute…

My eyebrows knit together.

Hadn’t Blondie there been working over at the Lucky Cat Café before? My gaze darted over to the little coffee place a few spaces over.  There the blue haired chick was again, but today she was accompanied by a big guy with slicked back, choppy brown hair.

Huh. Perhaps Pizza Planet offered better benefits and he’d jumped the java ship to sling dough instead? Or maybe-

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?”

I squeaked, fumbling the scoop for a few seconds before managing to get a firm grasp on it once more, hiding it behind my back as I whipped around to face the voice.

Riku stood on the other side of the countertop, arms crossed and eyelids drooping. 

I managed a weak smile for him. “Yes?”

One silver eyebrow quirked. “Then what was I saying?”

“You, er… wanted ice cream?”

“Okay, what kind of ice cream?” he rolled his eyes.

Oof, this one would be a little trickier.

Fingers fidgeting with scoop, I pursed my lips to one side. “...the cold kind?”

There was a snort from Frozone beside me as he counted the register. “She’s not wrong.”

Riku, on the other hand, merely narrowed his eyes. Somehow, I got the feeling he was not nearly as amused. Just a hunch.

Taking a step forward, I said, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Please, tell me what I can get for you, I promise I’m listening now.”

He fixed me with that dull stare for a few more seconds before sighing and shaking his head. “Three scoops of the Spark Lemon on a cone and a bar of the Royalberry.”

“Coming right up!” I immediately set to work, grabbing a cone off the stack, sliding open the frosted glass, and plunging the (now thoroughly vetted by me to be completely hygienic and immaculate) scoop into the giant bowl of the lemony yellow ice cream.  It was just after I had plopped down the first orb onto the cone and was going to dig up the next one when I spotted it at my peripheral. A flash of that familiar blazing crimson. Aka You-Know-Who’s hair. Thankfully, he hadn’t budged from where he was last spotted, but still… a chilling reminder.

I hesitated for a heartbeat before stabbing down into the ice cream once more. Then my gaze shifted up to Riku briefly before flicking back down with a frown. “Um… do you think maybe you could… scooch a few inches over to your left? If you don’t mind?”

His brow furrowed, then he glanced over his shoulder towards the Pizza Planet.  Putting two and two together and releasing another sigh, he sidled over, obstructing Lea from my vision. 

“Thanks,” I smiled, carving out a nice big scoop for him.

“...you haven’t talked to him yet, have you?”

I winced, but said nothing as I plonked down the second ball on top of the first.

His face softened, “Well I did talk to him and-”

“Wait, you did what?!” I snapped, forcing Riku to jerk back in surprise.  My blood ran cold. Oh, not good, this was so not good! I groaned, “No! No, no, no! You talked to him?! How could you talk to him? Gah, now he’s going to know I’ve been avoiding him!”

A snort escaped him. “You think he didn’t know that already?”

“Of course not!”

“Says the girl who was doing this not two minutes ago.” He snatched the steel scoop out of my hand, twisting around to hold it out in Lea’s direction. 

“Stop that!” I lunged forward, stretching across the counter in a desperate attempt to get the utensil back, all while miraculously keeping the small stack of ice cream balanced atop its cone.  However, he simply hopped back out of my reach. Shoulders slumping, I looked to Frozone. “Little help?”

“Oh-ho no,” he chuckled, not looking up from tallying the munny. “I’m staying outta this.”

Gee, thanks.

Riku was still holding out the scoop as I looked to him again and hissed, “He’s going to see you!”

He bit back a grin. “And when you were doing it, you were, what, invisible?”

“No, but… but…” I released an agitated huff, “two people doing it is just weird!”

“Trust me, one person doing it was weird.”

With a tiny growl, I abandoned trying to get the stupid scoop back and instead straightened up to start pacing.  “I still can’t believe you talked to him,” I thrust the cone at him accusingly as I passed him on my little patrol back and forth. “I had a plan, it was a good plan, the perfect plan, a plan that was working, and now you’ve ruined everything and it’s all-”

“What was this oh so great plan of yours?” he asked, finally dropping his hand so he could fold his arms under his chest.

I froze mid-step, shooting him a flat look. “To not talk to him!”

He snerked. “And then?”

“And then to… to... continue not talking to him! Forever!” I stamped my foot down. “And we’d live happily ever after. Not talking. Ever. The end!”

So what if I was being a bit petulant? So sue me.

He’d frigging talked to him!

Riku could kiss my employee discount goodbye, that’s for sure!

His eyes crinkled as he shook his head, “Or you could try Plan B and do this crazy little thing called using your words to put this whole mess behind you two.”

I stared hard down at the cone in my hand, pursing my lips to one side. “But we never gave Plan A a real shot. I think it has potential, so maybe I should just keep working with that one.”

Riku puffed out a breath, handing me back the scoop. “Look, like I said, I’ve spoken to him, and he totally understands. Accidents happen. But you both have to work here, so you really should clear the air. Don’t you want to feel comfortable at your job and not have things be all awkward?”

“You do realize it’s me you’re talking to, right?” I scoffed as I took it from him and dug into the tub of Spark Lemon once more. “I’m the walking, talking human form of the blush emoji. Awkward is my middle name. At this point, I don’t think I know how to be anything but.”

“Well… you do you, I guess,” he shrugged. “Just know that he’s ready to talk whenever you are, okay?”

I paused, then slowly nodded as I topped off the cone with the third and final scoop. Then pulling a bar of the Royalberry from the compact fridges below, I handed both to Riku and rang him up at the register. As he quirked an eyebrow at me charging him full price, I shot him a blank look. “You know what you did.” 

He sighed through his nose, but a grin tugged at one corner of his lips as he paid. “Fine, whatever. See you later tonight,” he waved as he walked off, licking away at his ice cream.

“Is this gonna be a problem?” I heard Frozone ask and I glanced over at him.  He didn’t look up as he closed the register with his hip, instead just gesturing with his chin towards the Pizza Planet as he jotted something down on his clipboard.

Squaring my shoulders, I shook my head. “No, no problem, I promise.”

“You sure? Do you need me to bust any heads? Rough him up? Rearrange his face?”

I fought a tiny smile. “I’m sure. No face rearranging necessary, thanks.”

Now he looked up at me, eyes deadpan. “Am I going to have to drag you over there by the ear so you two can make up and play nice?”

All color draining from my face, I was rapidly shaking my head again. “N-no, that’s okay! You have nothing to worry about, I got it all under control!”

After all, I had my super great and totally amazing system that could not, would not fail me in any conceivable way!

His face broke out into a grin. “Good, that’s what I like to hear! Now you,” he pointed at me. “Tonight. Closing. First time all by yourself. You ready?”

“Absolutely!” I nodded. “I’ve closed with Kristoff the past couple nights now and I’ve got it all down. Seems straight forward enough, I should be fine.”

Frozone cocked his head, “Should be?”

“Definitely,” I hastily corrected myself. “I will definitely be fine. Better than fine. I will be perfection! You can count on me!”

“Fantastic,” he tapped a fist to the side of my arm before turning his attention to the second register.

Surprisingly, I actually wasn’t too concerned about it.  Like I’d said, it was pretty simple stuff.  Restock napkins and spoons, refill any empty ice cream tubs, wipe down surfaces, and so on. Sure, I was being given some responsibility, but I had zero problems with that. Responsibility was easy. Responsibility I could handle. It was people that I couldn’t deal with and that was the beauty of closing: there wouldn’t be a customer in sight. I’d be all alone, just the way I liked it.

Yup, I would be totally fine.

Not a single worry here. Nope.

Alright, one worry.

One big, whopping, massive worry that I really should have seen coming from a mile away.

Guess who also happened to be closing a certain pizzeria tonight?

That’s right! A certain redhead whose name rhymes with ‘flee.’

Which, coincidentally, is exactly what I wanted to do in that very moment.

But instead I took in a deep, calming breath and steeled myself as I continued to return our freshly rinsed and sanitized scoops to their homes on the Ice Palace counter so they’d be ready to go for the morning crew tomorrow. I concentrated very hard on not looking up, always trying to remain singularly focused on each task at hand. But as if my eyeballs had minds of their own, I couldn’t deny them a brief, furtive glance through my lashes in his direction every now and again.

Like right now.

Stupid mutinous eyeballs.

He was currently just in his work polo and khakis, having discarded his apron and visor. He seemed just as determined as I was to pour all of his attention into getting his closing chores done, never once looking my way… at least, not that I was ever able to catch anyway. Since Riku’d talked to him, he probably was fully aware of how uncomfortable this whole situation was for me and was now just doing his best to give me my space. 

Having just tied off a full garbage bag, he picked it up and I stiffened as he turned in my direction. But his gaze was everywhere and anywhere but on me, face impassive as he just kept pivoting into a one-eighty, slinging the trash over his shoulder and walking out the rear door of the Pizza Planet, probably heading for the dumpster. My whole body sagged as I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Ugh, why did I have to be making this all so weird? We were just two separate employees working our two separate jobs at two separate corners of the food court! On the surface, you wouldn’t even be able to tell there was anything wrong. So why did I feel the need to spazz in utter terror every two goddamn seconds?

Grumbling softly to myself, I quickly deposited the last of the utensils into their spots. Maybe if I hustled, I could finish everything and split before he returned. Then this could be Future Elsa’s problem to deal with, because let me tell you, Present Elsa was feeling so done with it all.  Having already topped off the ice cream bowls in the display, I moved on to snapping their lids down before double checking that the freezers below were fully stocked. Then I began shutting everything down, starting with the registers.

It was just as I had moved over to the soft serve/milkshake machine and was reaching for its power button that it happened. That Pizza Planet door opened once more. He came back. I looked. Our eyes met.

Instant.

Panic.

My chest tightened and my finger slipped, pressing down on a button.

It wasn’t the power button.

A fact that I became immediately and woefully aware of as the machine let out a decidedly unhappy sound that could most accurately be described as a banshee screech, making me jump and stumble backwards. I watched wide eyed as it began to rattle and shake, its lights and digital display screens flickering in random patterns all over with no rhyme or reason.

I’d pushed that button. The one Kristoff had warned me about. The Anger Button.

Why’d they even put the dumb Anger Button right smack dab next to the Power Button?!

What was even the point of the Anger Button?!

Suddenly, the machine was spewing lime green ice cream at me. With a tiny yelp, I ducked, narrowly avoiding getting globbed in the face as it instead splattered against the wall behind me. Straightening up, I snapped at the machine, “Hey, stop that!”

Its only answer was to fling more ice cream at me, this chunk in a cotton candy pink. I managed to dodge that attack too if only just barely before making a dive for the power button, palm slamming down on it. And that… got me zilch. If anything, the giant tin can only seemed to rumble harder as it now shot out a neon orange gush that I had to sharply crane my neck to evade.

“I said stop that! Right now!” I scolded it. As if making demands of the thing would actually do any good. I mashed the power button several more times, to zero effect. Now in full on freak out mode, I desperately started pressing all the other buttons, flipping all the switches, and yanking all the levers as I continued to dodge the now rapid fire spray of chocolate-vanilla mixed bullets flying at me while its quaking grew more violent and its high-pitched shrieking just kept getting louder and louder.

I only seemed to be pissing it off more.

Like the legendary apple of biblical fame that never should have been eaten, I’d pressed the button that never should have been pressed. I’d enraged the ice cream gods and now they were punishing me. Smiting me for my foolishness, making me suffer their divine, sugary-sweet wrath.

“What do you want from me?!” I shouted at it in frustration, snatching my cap off my head and using it to smother the nozzle in a pathetic attempt to stem the never-ending flood of ice cream. “What will make you happy?! A ritualistic dance? An offering of my blood? The sacrifice of a small child? What?!”

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. A blur of movement. A streak of crimson. None other than a very familiar redhead vaulting himself over the Ice Palace countertop and landing right next to me.

I only had time to gawk at Lea before he was grabbing my shoulders and yanking me out of the way. The second my hat was off the spout, he was blasted with what was now a vibrant rainbow torrent of ice cream, drenching him from head to toe. Using one arm as a shield, he groped around the machine with his other hand until he found the power cord, seized it in his fist and ripped the plug out of the wall.

Almost instantly the machine stilled and the metallic screaming died down. The hush that followed was almost eerie by comparison. Wringing my cap between my hands, all I could do was gape as Lea turned to me, cold iridescent slush dripping from every inch of him as he wordlessly held the cord out to me. I blinked down at it.

...well fudge, why didn’t I think of that?

I mean seriously, I’d tried to negotiate with the damn bucket of bolts and even suggested presenting an infant up in offering to appease the almighty dessert deities before the mere thought of pulling the plug had crossed my mind.

I really needed to get my priorities straight.

I slowly took the cord from his hand before hesitantly looking back up at him. Still he was silent. Maybe he was trying to let me take the lead on this, waiting for me to make the first move. My lips parted, but nothing came out.

...well? Go on already, say something! Anything! Stop just staring at him like a total goob!

“You…”

You helped me when you had absolutely no reason to.

You were amazing.

You’re a total hero.

“...are covered in ice cream.”

...ah, me. Master conversationalist. Queen of Wit.

Stating the super obvious was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.

His head rocked back slightly at that. “Huh? Oh,” he looked down at himself with a soft chuckle. “Yeah, guess I am.”

Alright, Elsa, let’s try that again. Take two.

I cleared my throat and averted my gaze. “...th-thanks.”

Alright, so I’m not going to be winning any sort of originality awards there, but hey, I liked to think it was at least a step up from my last comment.

He gave a dismissive wave, sending a few multi-colored droplets spattering with the gesture. “Don’t mention it.” He rubbed the nape of his neck. There was a long, painfully awkward pause where neither of us spoke or looked at each other. Then he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “Well… guess I’ll be going... then...”

He turned, planting his hands on the counter, preparing to catapult himself back over to the food court side. But then he stopped, just standing there for a couple seconds before puffing out a low breath and glancing back at me. “Look, about the, ah… the-”

“Kissident?” I blurted out.

...what the hell, mouth? I’d told you that codename in confidence! I thought we were friends!

“...sure? Okay, yeah, I guess that’d be a word for it,” he rubbed a curled knuckle along his lips, hiding a tiny smile. Or maybe he was just wiping some of the frozen muck away. It was anyone’s guess, really. “Whatever you want to call it, do you think maybe we could just... forget it ever happened? Hit the rewind button and do this whole first impression thing over again?”

Could… could we even do that?

Was that, like… allowed?

Realizing I was twisting my work cap to the point now where it was going to be filing charges against me for domestic abuse, I loosened my grip on it slightly as I gave a slow nod. “I would… really like that, actually.”

Would you look at that? I’d not only managed to string more than two words together, but in a way that suggested some form of minor human intellect no less. Progress!

Wiping his hand off on one of the few dry spots still left on his pants, he stretched it out to me. “Hi there, name’s Lea. Got it memorized?”

I stared at it for a second, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. Then shifting the cord and hat to one hand, I reached out my other one to tentatively shake his. “Elsa. It’s... a pleasure to meet you.”

He grinned, “Likewise.”

And just like that, a weight had been lifted. All that stress and anxiety shrank down to next to nothing. Not completely gone, mind you. It’s not like you could totally erase something like the Kissident, not with a simple handshake anyway. But still, it was suddenly a lot better than it had been over the past few days. At least I could once again breathe in the presence of this man.

He also seemed to sense the tension banishing. My hand tingled a bit as Lea released it and he beamed at me, bouncing on his toes slightly. But then he frowned as he seemed to abruptly remember that he was still caked in sugary goop as he glanced down at himself again. “Shit, it really got me good, huh?” Hooking a finger in his collar, he tugged it out wide so he could look down inside and grimaced. “Ick, even managed to get all in my shirt. I love ice cream more than the next guy, but even I have my limits.”

And then, I kid you not, right then and there, still standing beside me behind the little Ice Palace counter, with all the scoops and cones around to bear witness, he reached over his shoulder, grabbed the back of his polo and pulled it up over his head and off.

A tiny noise escaped me that may or may not have resembled a “meep” as I dropped the cord and hid my face in my hat.

...had he really just done that? Surely not! I had to have imagined it! Although if it was just my imagination, why my brain felt the need to supply the picture at this exact moment was a whole other can of worms that I wasn’t particularly prepared to deal with at this time. But putting the Why aside, an overactive imagination would be the only thing that would make sense! I mean, it made more sense than some presumably half-way sane person just starting to strip in the middle of a public mall literally three seconds after being formally introduced to an all but total stranger!

Get a grip. It was all in my head. I had to be seeing things.

With a firm nod and a fortifying huff through my nose, I lowered my cap just a smidge to take a peek.

Then right back up the hat went.

Yeah, no, it was real. There was totally just some topless dude standing two feet away from me using his balled-up shirt to wipe ice cream off his abs.

...his well-sculpted, leanly muscled abs.

...not that I particularly paid attention to such things.

“Sorry,” I heard him say, my spine snapping rigid at the sound of his voice. “But this stuff’s gonna get super gross super fast unless I take care of it now. Hope ya don’t mind.”

Heart spasming and face sizzling, I shook my head quickly and opened my mouth to respond but-

“Hey! What are you doing back there?!”

I jerked my head up at the new gruff voice and looked out into the food court where two men now stood, one with his arms crossed, both scowling. The guy on the left was a big, stocky fellow with a square jaw and chiseled features, his ginger hair kept short and slicked back. His partner, who was almost just as big, had thick sideburns that hooked around his cheeks and wore his black hair in long dreadlocks tied back into a ponytail. They were dressed as mall security, the names on their uniforms reading Aeleus and Dilan.

As they both slowly stalked towards the counter, eyes narrowed on Lea, the one with dreads, Dilan, asked me sternly, “Is this degenerate bothering you, miss?”

My gaze just darted back and forth between the two of them as Lea threw his hands up, “Hey, woah now, you got it all wrong! I was just helping her out!”

Aeleus gave him a dull look, eyeing Lea’s current state of partial undress then curling his lip slightly. “Sure you were, buddy.”

“Oh come on! I don’t recognize you guys so you must be new, but I work here! See?” Lea unfurled his polo as evidence, only to discover the Pizza Planet logo on it had been hidden by a thick coat of ice cream. With a groan, he tried to swipe it clean, but the stuff had already hardened into place. Facepalming with a growl, Lea then looked to me. “Go on, tell them!”

...me?! He wanted my help?

Hadn’t he learned by now what a complete and total disaster I was in social situations?

No, don’t think like that. The guy had just rushed to my aid a few minutes ago and now it was time to repay the favor. I had this.

...I hoped.

“I-it’s alright,” I stammered out to the security guards, “everything is fine! This is all just a… a big misunderstanding! It’s actually just so silly, really. It all started earlier this week when he caught me off guard and all of sudden we were kissing and-”

“Excuse me?” Dilan asked coldly, turning his glare full blast on Lea. “Are you telling me this lowlife assaulted you?”

Paling, I rushed to reply, “No, no! It’s okay! It’s all good now because, see, just a bit ago, he charged at me, threw himself over the counter, slathered himself up in ice cream, took off his shirt and-”

Wait.

This was all coming out so wrong.

“That’s it, I’ve heard enough,” Aeleus ground out through his teeth, pulling a pair of handcuffs off his belt. “You’re coming with us.”

With a snort and a smirk, Lea pulled down his left lower eyelid with his middle finger and stuck his tongue out at them. “Fine then, be that way! But you meatheads’ll have to catch me first. Here!” He chucked his ruined shirt at Aeleus’s face. Then shooting a wink my way, he turned and bolted out the Ice Palace’s rear door.

“He’s trying to escape out the back!” Dilan catapulted over the counter as Aeleus snatched the polo off his face with a snarl. As he barreled through the same door, Dilan called back over his shoulder, “I’ll chase after him, you go around and try to cut him off!”

Aeleus gave a stiff nod before running off to the left and out of my sight.

So there I was. Soggy cap a crumpled wad in my tight, white-knuckled grip as I now just stood there, frozen and blinking in the middle of the Ice Palace, ice cream splashed across the walls and dripping from the machinery and ceiling.  And all I could do was wonder…

...how on earth I was going to explain all of this to my boss.

Author’s note: Oh em gee, at long last, HE SPEAKS! Not only that, he has absolutely ZERO shame! But that's okay, Elsa's got more than enough shame for the both of them xD And of course, I had to insert his obligatory catch phrase along the way xP But what’s this? The small, tentative makings of a possible friendship has started to form? Madness! And wouldja look at that… a certain pair of castle guards are now mall security, but Lea’s still giving them the ol’ runaround… guess some things never change xD Side note, looks like in this AU, Elsa is just as bad at controlling her ice cream powers as ever (buh dum tss!). And for those who don’t remember from BBS because it’s been too long or whatever, minor fun fact: Spark Lemon and Royalberry are ice cream flavors from that game! Worry not, I’ll exhaust the whole BBS ice cream list before long in this story, mark my word!

Next chapter, will this delicate new friendship blossom even further? Will Lea safely escape the clutches of mall security? And just how WILL Elsa explain the Ice Palace ice cream mess to her boss? Stay tuned to find out! Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve started following me, seeing that always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

[you-imagine-i-write]

Saviour (mine or yours?)

SURPRISE, IT’S ME!! This is literally the first thing I've been able to write in longer than a year and it’s help remind me what pleasure I get from writing. On May 20th I have my final University exam before I take a gap year dedicated to doing the thing I love - writing! I aim to finish my first novel and hope to be significantly more active on here so I hope to provide you with a lot of content and hear your thoughts on it or requests for more!

Summary: OUAT Peter Pan x Reader. Charming and co decide it’s a good idea to kidnap the person that Pan cares about most, Hook realises that that’s a very bad idea. You, on the other hand, are having great fun being kidnapped and can’t wait for Pan to show up and cause some hell for the idiots who came up with this plan.

Word Count: 1,611

---------------------------------------------------

The man standing over you was one you recognised, Prince Charming in all his glory; you and Pan liked to watch his little group run around Neverland like they own the place, oh how it made you laugh.  

“Charming, how wonderful to finally meet you! I’ve been watching you for so long I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get the joy of talking to you,” you giggled, staring unbothered down the line of the Prince’s sword.

David stooped to untangle the net he’d caught you in, trying his hardest to convince himself that this was for the good of his son as he brought out some rope from a bag on his back.

“Stand up, please. I need to bind your hands and take you back to our camp,” Charming said, struggling to keep eye contact with your piercing gaze and maintaining a delightful air of politeness.

You grinned widely and clapped your hands. “Oh, we’re going for a walk, how lovely! Care to give a lady a hand up?”

David’s eyes narrowed and he contemplated it for a second before holding his hand out in front of you, sword still pointed closely at your throat.

You reached out to grasp his hand firmly, pulling yourself up in a fluid motion until you were next to the prince’s ear with a sword pressed against your neck. You whispered, “It’s only fair to warn you, hurt a hair on my head and you won’t leave Neverland alive.”

Startled, Charming pulled back and hurriedly began tying the rope around your hands, trying to ignore the nerves your words created.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be threatening me.”  

You laughed out loud at this, “Me? Hurt you? Oh, I wouldn’t hurt a fly, Charming. But it’s not me you should be worried about.”

A dangerous glint formed in your eye, the one that usually followed the devilish grin you were currently sporting. You revelled in watching the Prince’s demeanour change as he realised to whom you were referring, and his eyes suddenly began to flicker rapidly around the silent trees in search of an attack.

“We’re going to the camp now,” he said firmly, “turn around and walk in front of me, don’t get any ideas.”

You span around with a flourish, delighted with the attention you were receiving and were sure to soon receive from Pan as you skipped through the forest, practically tugging the Prince along as he held onto the rope trailing from your bound hands. You didn’t bother to register the sword pressed into your back, simply choosing to enjoy the deviation from your usual routes around Neverland.

When the pair of you arrived at the camp of adults, all eyes quickly turned to you and you were met with an array of confused and apprehensive faces. You did, however, see a face you recognised very much and enjoyed watching his jaw drop when he realised the severity of dear Prince Charming’s actions.

“What the hell have you done this time?” Hook practically yelled across the clearing, storming towards you with a manic fear in his eyes.

As the pirate moved to untie your hands, David brandished his sword at him and asked in an incredulous tone, “What are you doing? You said Pan has a female he holds in high regard, so I’m giving him an incentive to return Henry to where he belongs.”

“Given Pan an incentive to kill you slowly and painfully more like,” Hook yelled, throwing his arms about with agitation. “You need to let her go right now before Pan turns up and stops your heart for touching her.”

Watching the situation unfold had been far more entertaining than you had expected and once more you found yourself laughing, “You think I’m here against my will? If that were the case Pan would have killed you already, he’s just letting me have a little bit of fun – I never seem to get out of the house these days.”

The witch, Regina, piped up. The others you could have fun with, the witch you simply disliked.

“If she’s so important to him, maybe Pan will trade her safety for Henry’s,” she growled, already stalking towards you.

Not liking the fire in the witch’s eyes, you took a step back from her approach and smiled, “Bored now.”

You let a high pitched and impressively loud whistle leave your lips and Hook swore extensively.

“Now you’ve done it, you bloody women,” he groaned.

Eyes narrowing in anger, Regina raised her arm and your whistle was silenced in your throat as magic trapped it there, along with your ability to breathe. A strangled noise barely had time to escape your lips before the leaves in the forest swirled in a familiar pattern.

Why should you care about something as stupid as breathing when your own prince had arrived right on cue?

“I believe you have something of mine,” Peter’s voice swirled around in the breeze until his body followed, a dangerous look on his face.

The invaders’ medley of weapons were quickly pointed towards where Pan stood at the edge of the clearing, and Prince Charming bravely spoke, “We could say the same to you.”

Air rushed back into your lungs as Regina’s throat was closed just as yours had been and Peter had a delightfully malicious grin as he said, “I don’t think you should be saying anything to me that’s not your deepest apologises or best attempts at convincing me not to kill all of you right now. Y/N is not part of our game and her involvement will not be tolerated.”

As the sound of Regina choking filled the trees, the women you recognised as Snow White rushed to her side while Emma and the prince brandished their weapons and Hook tried to appear as apologetic as possible.

“Let Regina go, Pan. We don’t want trouble, we just want Henry,” Emma pleaded.

“You should have thought of that before you got Y/N involved,” Pan growled, “It’s a shame, I was having such a fun time playing our little game – unfortunately now I have to kill you.”

Emma was the next to lose the ability to breathe, and it was Charming who dropped his weapon to rush to her. Leaving yourself unarmed to assist a comrade when there’s nothing that you can do about it? The selflessness of it intrigued you; selflessness was not in abundance on Neverland.

Suddenly deciding (definitely not because of the pure desperation in Charming’s eyes as he watched Emma suffer) that watching these adults run about could be more entertaining than watching them die, you piped up, “Peter. I’m bored, I want to go home.”

That was all that needed to be said and in a flash you were in your sweet prince’s strong arms, and with a gust of wind you were back in your tent.

Releasing a sigh to remove the adrenaline that you no longer had interest in keeping in your body, you fell back onto the soft covers of your bed with a smile.

“You know, a person who didn’t know you as well as I do may have thought you were actually concerned about my safety back there, Peter,” you giggled, amused by the idea of the great Peter Pan allowing himself to feel anything at all. “You know I think you’re becoming attached to me.”

Pan stared deeply into your eyes with a deadpan expression, and you forced your face to do the same. He grunted, “If anyone asks, I’ll deny everything.”

The deadpan expressions gave way to matching grins, as the pair of you allowed the facades necessary to survive Neverland to fall away. Pan stood up from the bed and made to leave your tent, all this genuine emotion obviously too much for him.

Needing something more, you sat up abruptly and smiled shy at the idea of the vulnerability you were about to offer to Peter. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Thank you” was not something often said on Neverland, it was an announcement of your debt to another person and often seen by some of the boys as a relinquishment of power to another person.

If the statement was one that shocked Pan, he didn’t let it show, breezing past it and instead saying, “What were you saying about being bored? We could do with going on a hunt, I know how killing things keeps you entertained.”

Clapping your hands in approval you let the wide grin spread across your face again as you rolled off the bed to try and find your bow. “Oh, you know me so well, Peter Pan.”

He was silent for a second, before his voice sounded considerably closer to you than he had been, “I should be thanking you for saving me, you do it every time I look at you.”

Shocked by the very idea of Pan himself using such a taboo phrase, let alone the vulnerability he allowed himself to show by using it in such a sincere sense, your mouth fell open. When you turned with astonishment to see where Peter had teleported to, your lips were captured in a passionate kiss. You allowed yourself to melt into it, not knowing when Peter’s walls would come down again and fall back into being Pan.

After some time, your lips were released, and you sighed in contentment before opening your eyes to meet Peter’s, “Oh yeah, you’re definitely not attached to me...”

“I could have you kidnapped again in seconds, don't test me.”

Laughter filled the tent as the pair let themselves embrace vulnerability, if only for a minute.

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Book One: Death (Noctis x Reader) Chapter Five

A/n: The horses you'll find in this series will all be named after gods or goddesses that correspond with the Horseman presented in the book. Just a little fact for y'all! Also, I know there aren't really any horses in the Final Fantasy world so just go with it! Love you all!!! ••••••••••••••••••••

"How?" Noctis questioned curiously. (Y/n) continued to smirk as the moon casted down a faint glow. She walked over to the small pond and stared out at the calm water. Then, she placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A strange and eerie fog loomed over the surface of the pond as it slowly surrounded Noctis and (Y/n). The sound of hooves and splashing water could be heard, grabbing the young prince's attention. From the fog, a horse with a glistening gray and black coat emerged.

Its creamy mane and tail blew faintly in the breeze as it trotted across the surface of the water as if it were lighter than air. The horse neighed as it came to a stop in front of Death and lowered its head. (Y/n) placed her hand against its muzzle, stroking it gently. "Good boy, Thanatos."

The horse neighed once again before closing his eyes and nuzzling his snout against (Y/n)'s cheek. She giggled at the ticklish and cold sensation before turning to face the astounded Noctis. "Ready to go?"

"Uh," the boy mumbled, eyes still glued to the magnificent steed. "Yeah. Let's get going."

(Y/n) hopped onto Thanatos' back, followed by Noctis. With nothing to hold onto, the raven-haired boy had no option but to latch onto Death, her freezing skin providing somewhat of a strange comfort. The girl glanced over her shoulder, wondering if the prince had a tight enough grip around her waist. "Ready?"

Noctis nodded, his grip slightly tightening. "Yeah. You know where you're going?"

"Yep. We'll be there in less than a minute." The Horseman held onto Thanatos' mane, which the horse didn't mind.

"No way," the boy scoffs, rolling his azure eyes in disbelief. "It takes at least five minutes by car."

(Y/n)'s lips curled up into a smirk. "I'm about to prove you wrong. You better hold on much tighter than that or you'll be thrown off in a heartbeat."

Not wishing to kiss the ground, Noctis tightened his hold on (Y/n) as he was now practically hugging her. "Now I'm ready."

"Alright!" The girl digs her heels into the horse's sides. "We're off, Thanatos!" The steed neighed then took off at an incredible speed. Wind rushed by as Thanatos jumped over the railing and onto the highway. Luckily, it was now nighttime and no one would be on the road due to the threat of daemons.

As Thanatos stormed down the highway, Noctis felt he was squeezing the life out of (Y/n) in the current position he was in. His face was buried in the crook of her neck while his arms were tightly locked around her waist. Due to her smaller stature, his body nearly engulfed hers. Although noticing his actions, he refused to let go as he was afraid of falling. Death didn't complain about how tight he was holding her because it wasn't painful. Also, she wouldn't admit that the position was comfortable or the fact she cherished the touch of another after so many years of wandering in the abandoned tomb with only the whispers of the dead as company.

Just as (Y/n) promised, she and Noctis reached their destination-Cauthess Coernix Station. Before guiding Thanatos into the parking lot, she glanced around to see if there were any prying eyes or busybodies in the area. Fortune was on her side as there was no one around except for Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis. From the back of the horse, she spotted Ardyn inside the convenience store and sighed in relief knowing he wasn't lingering around her new companions.

Thanatos' hooves clicked against the asphalt as (Y/n) guided him around the caravan and to where the others were sitting around a small table. Prompto jolted out of his seat when he saw the rather large horse trot around the corner. "That is not a normal-sized horse."

"I'll say," Gladio spoke up.

"Quite an impressive steed, I must say," Ignis complimented.

Thanatos' neighed in response to the tactician's accolade. (Y/n) patted his neck while rolling her eyes. "Don't let it get to your head, buddy." Noctis hopped off the horse's back and offered the Horseman a hand. She accepted the gentlemanly gesture with a smile and dismounted her steed. "Thank you, Noctis."

Once Death was on solid ground, Thanatos lowered his head and rested it on her shoulder. (Y/n) laid a hand against his muzzle and ran her fingernails gently down his hair, earning a happy whinny from him at the pleasing sensation.

"How'd the hunt go? Any issues?" The shield asked as Noctis joined them at the table.

An exasperated sigh left the prince's lip as he sat down. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean?" Ignis inquired further.

"Four of those damned things escaped. We've no idea where, either," the sapphire-eyed boy responded.

"Or even if they've regrouped and are moving as one unit. It's possible the four are now separated and going in different directions," (Y/n) added.

"And how bad is that?" The sharpshooter questioned.

"Very bad. We were able to slay half of them, but if they decide not to regroup, it'll make them even harder to find and more likely to wander into a town or outpost. It only takes one of them to start a bloodbath and those who survive will demand answers as to how a beast so vicious has not been recorded in any way, shape, or form." (Y/n) stared down at the ground, unable to meet their gaze.

Noctis recognized the look and knew she was blaming herself. "Don't you dare blame yourself. It's not your fault that those things escaped from the Inner Sanctum."

Death was startled at Noctis' words, but hearing them made a small amount of weight lift off her shoulders. Although she felt relief, the guilt was still there. Thanatos even tried to comfort her as he nuzzled his snout against her cheek. She couldn't help but smile when she felt his whiskers tickle her cheek as he showed his affection. "Love you, too, you big sweetheart. You better go before our unwanted guide decides to meander over."

Thanatos backed away from Death and turned. He wandered out of the parking lot and down the road before disappearing in a shroud of mist. Gladio leaned forward in his seat as he stared at where the horse once stood. "What do you feed that thing?"

(Y/n) knew he was talking about Thanatos and huffed with laughter. "He's an udead horse. I don't feed him anything. He's known as a draft horse. It's normal for him to be large and muscular."

"Are they known for their speed?" Noctis inquired.

"Nope. That's just thanks to his ties with me. Death can't afford to have a slow steed or a weak one with all the work we do together in the Inner Sanctum."

"Still, that's one helluva horse," Gladio chuckled.

Their cheerful conversation ended when they heard the sound of shoes scuffling against the asphalt and spotted Ardyn wandering over to the caravan. He smiled creepily as his amber eyes landed on Noctis and (Y/n). "Ah, good to see you both are unscathed." His eyes lingered on the Horseman as he stopped a few inches in front of her.

(Y/n) frowned, not fond of how close Ardyn was. Her eyes narrowed as one of his hands reached out to touch her. Before his fingers could brush against her skin, Noctis promptly intervened and grabbed the man's hand. "You're really touchy, you know that?"

"Excuse my rudeness, but I simply am enticed by such beauty. I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable, my dear," Ardyn said as Noctis released his hand.

"It's fine. Just... no more touching," (Y/n) sighed. "I'm not fond of strangers touching me at random."

Ardyn just continued to smile as he walked into the caravan, closing the door behind him. Noctis scratches the back of his neck as he returned to his seat beside Gladio. "I can't wait for him to be gone."

"That goes for all of us," the brute replied.

"Indeed," Ignis said.

"Wait," (Y/n) intervened. "He's not spending the night in there, is he?"

"Though unwanted, we diverged the cost of the caravan with our esteemed guest," the tactician explained.

"Ugh..." Prompto and (Y/n) groaned in unison.

"Great. Now we've gotta sleep near the weirdo," the prince scoffed.

"Guess I'll be spending my night outside and away from Mr. Touchy-Touchy," Death stated, walking a little ways away from the caravan.

Noctis shot out of his seat and grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Oh, no, no, no. If we gotta be near him, so do you."

"Seriously?!"

The prince dragged the struggling girl back towards the caravan and into their temporary abode. (Y/n) finally gave up on escaping when Noctis forced her to sit at the small table in the very back of the caravan with him. Gladio claimed the couch while Ignis and Prompto sat across from Noctis and (Y/n). Ardyn was relaxing on the bed as Death glared at the man. She rested her elbow on the table and cupped her chin in her palm. "I'm gonna make my escape the moment you all fall asleep."

"No, you're not. You're gonna suffer like the rest of us," Noctis retorts.

(Y/n) turned her glare to the prince as she crossed her legs under the table and crossed her arms in disdain. She slumped back and sunk down in her seat with her cheeks puffed out. "I hate you..."

<------<<<<<<<

After about fifteen minutes of debate, the boys and Ardyn decided where everyone would sleep. (Y/n) remained silent the entire time as they bickered back and forth like children. The only ones who were civilized during the argument were Ardyn and Ignis. Death remained sitting at the table as the red-haired man claimed the couch. Ardyn had mistaken the relationship between Noctis and (Y/n) due to how the prince defended her twice in one day. Now, they were in the same bed while Prompto and Gladio were given the tiny bunkbeds. Unfortunately, Ignis would have to make himself comfortable at the table where the bench-like seats had thin padding and rough cushions. (Y/n) tried to trade places with the bespectacled advisor, but he refused even though he knew she didn't sleep like normal humans.

Under the covers, (Y/n) stared up at the ceiling. Not needing sleep, she awkwardly laid beside the prince, who seemed to already be fast asleep. Slowly sitting up, Death stared out the window in deep thought and remembered the time she was human. Beside her, Noctis stirred and winced in his sleep. The girl placed a hand on his chest, wondering what could be causing such a disturbance. The moment he felt the hand on his chest, Noctis' eyes flew open. He gasped as he flew up, nearly losing his balance and falling off the bed.

(Y/n) removed her hand and pulled her knees to her chest with the sheets still covering her legs. "Nightmare?" She whispered.

Noctis ran a hand through his hair as he leaned against the headboard. "Yeah. It's the same one from last night."

"What's it about?"

The boy glanced at (Y/n) for a brief second before returning his gaze to the sheets. "It's... not important."

"Oh? And what makes you think you're the one to determine that?" She questioned with raised brows.

Biting his lip, Noctis knew she had a point. He didn't want to tell her it was about her, but he couldn't keep it a secret from her any longer. "Fine. You're right. The nightmare is... about you, (Y/n)."

[ashlynncoy-blog]

Misfire: By Royal Invitation

MORNING: THE DEATH STAR: ALDERAAN SYSTEM

“Commence primary ignition.”

No!

This couldn’t be happening!

There were beeps and tweeters, the sounds of buttons being depressed and of levers being pulled. A whirr and a buzzing as lights flashed on panels all around. The unmistakable whine of a laser being charged. And then…

Nothing.

Silence.

For a moment everything on the deck was still. Tarkin gaped at the viewport, at the blue and glowing orb of Alderaan as it slowly rotated—peaceful and unmarred by his instrument of ruin.

And then a sudden flurry. The helmeted ghouls, just moments ago tasked with a planet’s destruction, running around like madmen.

“What happened?” Tarkin barked.

“A misfire, sir.”

“How is that possible?”

“The power plant might not have had full recharge after the operation on Scarif. We may need more time. We’re working on the problem now.”

“Take the princess back to her cell!”

FOURTEEN DAYS LATER: REBEL BASE: YAVIN 4

It was getting late when Leia came tiptoeing up the boarding ramp of the Millennium Falcon. That was normal for her—for them—their semi-spontaneous afterhours rendezvous had become almost routine.

But Han Solo was in no mood to be a routine tonight.

Because another routine had emerged for the princess, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Tonight, and for the two nights previous, instead of joining the other rebels in the mess at supper time, Leia had dined with her parents aboard their ship. Ordinarily, this would not have bothered Han; the Organas were rumored to be leaving Yavin any day—the threat of the Death Star having surely passed by now—and Han didn’t begrudge Leia’s wanting to spend time with them before their departure.

It was the other person at dinner he was begrudging.

For three nights in a row now, Leia had spent the evening aboard the royal shuttle with her parents. And so had Luke Skywalker.

And it bugged him.

It bugged him a lot more than he cared to admit, so when Leia showed up tonight, he wasn’t sure what he was going to say to her about it.

Bail and Breha Organa had been nothing but pleasant and friendly to him—and Bail had done a hell of a thing getting him out of hock to Jabba the Hutt. Not once had they seemed the least bit put off by his background; they hadn’t appeared to mind his association with Leia at all.

He’d been good enough to fly with her to Alderaan. Hell: he’d been good enough to sleep with her on Alderaan (although he had a sinking suspicion that mother and father Organa were unaware of that bit), but all the sudden, once the dinner invitations started rolling out, it seemed as if the Royal Parents had somehow forgotten he existed.

And now here was Leia, clambering aboard his ship, helping herself to the mocoa he kept hidden behind his instakettle, acting as if nothing was at all out of the ordinary.

“How was dinner?” he asked. It wasn’t an attempt to make conversation. Although he did genuinely want to know what had been going on for the past three nights, he mostly wanted her to hear his tone and understand that things weren’t ok. If she was about to fix herself a drink and make herself at home, then she was about to have to answer what might be a few uncomfortable questions.

“It was good,” she answered. Her tone was oblivious. Either she was deliberately ignoring his, or she’d had such a nice time with Luke and her parents that she couldn’t see past her own good mood.

With Leia, he’d learned, it could be either thing.

“Did you have a nice time?” he asked then, “with Luke? Tonight? And last night,” he added, “and the night before?” There was a little more venom in his voice at that last than he’d intended. But when she turned around to look at him, hands on her hips and with an incredulous scowl, he knew she’d gotten the message.

“You’re jealous!” she accused. Leaving the steaming kettle and powdered mocoa behind her, Leia crossed the room to stand in front of him where he sat at the dejarik table.

“A little,” Han replied. He’d wanted to deny it outright. This thing between him and Leia had been so easy up ‘til now, so effortless, it was a shame something that seemed so petty had cropped up. But this thing—this whatever it was—had also been born and bred of honesty; no good could come in lying to her now.

But he didn’t have to show all his cards right away.

“You’re jealous,” she repeated. This time it was a fact, not an assertion.

“And why wouldn’t I be?” he asked in reply. “You don’t mind comin’ in here to see me in the middle of the night, but I’ll be damned if you so much as smile at me in daylight. And now it’s comin’ clear who is and is not welcome at the royal table.” It might have been unfair of him to make that ‘in the daylight’ comment. When Leia was working, she was all business; he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her smile at anyone in daylight—not on base, anyway—at least not since the day she’d hung that medal around his neck.

Around his neck and Luke’s….

Han had begun to work up a good head of steam. It didn’t concern him much—Leia could take as good as she gave, and she could give quite a bit. If they were about to have a knock-down-drag-out argument about class and grace and noblesse oblige and table manners, then he was here for it. Maybe nothing would come of it. Maybe nothing would get resolved.

At least she’d know how he felt on the subject.

Han looked up at Leia, expecting to find the fire in her eyes that meant he was in for a tete-a-tete the likes of which he’d never known existed before getting involved with the princess. But that’s not what was there.

She’d crossed her arms over her chest, and her gaze had fallen to the floor. She looked pensive—hesitant. Her head was shaking slowly as she chewed her lower lip, unsure of how to answer.

“My parents had some things to tell us,” she said, treading carefully. She wanted to tell him everything now. She hadn’t been sure at first but hearing how he felt left out and let down by her cloistering herself with Luke and her parents, she didn’t want to keep this secret from him. But it wasn’t solely her secret to tell. She didn’t feel right revealing things, to Han or to anybody, without being sure that it was all right with Luke.

“Let me guess,” Han posed, “they’d like to arrange a marriage?”

“No!” Leia exclaimed then, unsure as to whether he’d been joking. He knew, because she’d told him so, that marriages on Alderaan hadn’t been arranged in millennia—even royal marriages. But at the same time she wondered if he really might presume her parents to be matchmaking. Leia shook her head and reached into her pocket, withdrawing her commlink and keying up Luke’s code.

“Skywalker,” the voice answered from the other end.

“Luke,” Leia said back, “it’s me. Would you mind meeting me aboard the Millennium Falcon—right away? And bring that holocron my father gave you.” Leia took a deep breath. Telling him to bring the holocron had been tantamount to announcing what she was asking him to do. If Luke felt uncomfortable sharing what they’d learned with Han, he wouldn’t agree to bring it.

“Yeah,” Skywalker answered immediately, “I’ll be right there.” Leia nodded and shut off her commlink.

“He’ll be right here,” she said sternly, moving back to the instakettle and her abandoned attempt at making mocoa.

By the time she’d finished mixing three mugs of the steaming sweet, Luke had arrived in the lounge with the requested holocron. Leia traded him for a mug of mocoa, and looked sternly in his direction as she set the shiny metal object onto the dejarik table. If he had any objections to what she was about to say, now was the time to make them.

Luke simply nodded his head and took a sip from his mug.

Leia patted Han on the arm before switching the thing on.

A woman appeared then. Dainty and miniature, in a headpiece that looked far too heavy, and wearing a gown as wide as she was tall, she managed somehow to look both regal and delicate, both fragile and powerful. She reminded Han a little bit of Leia that way.

“Her name was Padme Naberrie,” Leia shared, “her reginal name was Amidala. She was elected Queen of Naboo when she was only fourteen. When her terms were through, she moved to serve her people in the Senate—where she fell in love with a Jedi who had been assigned to protect her. They were married in secret,” Leia said then, “as Jedi were forbidden from forming attachments. She died at the time of the Jedi purge—carrying his child. Except that was a lie.” Leia took a small sip from her mug and a deep breath before she continued. “She gave birth just before she died—to nor one, but two babies. Knowing that either or both of them could grow to have great power in The Force, their existence was hidden—from the Emperor and all who would do his bidding. The twins were separated, as the two surviving Jedi masters believed this would keep them safer than rearing them together. The boy was sent to his father’s family, and the girl adopted by her mother’s dear friends—the royal family of Alderaan.”

Han looked back and forth between Luke and Leia, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing.

“The Jedi’s name was Anakin Skywalker,” Leia said then, as though to punctuate everything she’d just said with a name she was sure Han would understand.

“So, this…” Han said then. He was trying to put the pieces together. He was trying to make sense of what Leia had just told him. How could it be true? And yet how could it not be?

“This is what my parents had to tell us,” she said. “This is what we’ve been talking about these last three nights. About the Jedi, and the purge, and about the fact that I was the one sent to find Master Kenobi because my father was sure he’d have an eye on Luke on Tatooine. They wanted us to know before they went back to Alderaan.”

Han shook his head as he looked back and forth between Leia and Luke. He took hold of her hand then and kissed it.

“I’ve never been anything but honest with you,” she said to him quietly. Han wondered if she’d forgotten Luke was still standing there or if she’d decided it didn’t matter. “If I ever want to be with anybody else, I assure you—you’ll be the first to know. And if you really want to have dinner with my parents, I can certainly arrange that. I just didn’t think that was something you’d be interested in.”

“Hey,” Han countered, a playful smirk on his face, “I put on that fancy suit and sat at the royal table on Alderaan,” he reminded her.

Leia snickered.

Yes, indeed, he had done just that and then some. He’d looked remarkably handsome in those velvets he’d let TwoBee dress him in. And she’d had an awfully nice time getting him out of them when the festivities were over.

“It’s too bad you didn’t bring that suit back with you,” she teased then, glad to see his bout with upset seemed to have passed.

Han winked at her and waggled his eyebrows as he took a sip from the mocoa she’d made. He was grinning when he set the mug down and asked,

“Who says I didn’t?”

[mangled-dreams]

Dealings with a Devil (Part 21)

Dealings with a Devil (Part 21)

Reader X Darkiplier

You, Reader, have made a deal with what you believed to be a fantasized version of your favorite YouTuber’s alter ego, Darkiplier after he’d visited you in a dream. You believed Darkiplier to only exist in your dreams and on Markiplier’s YouTube channel, but by some impossible way he’s real and he intends on collecting on your debt to him.  

((Just as an FIY, Sean’s “fiance” is someone I made up and for the sake of the story he still lives in Ireland. I’m trying to stay mostly true to real life but it’s hard sometimes, especially when it doesn’t cross your mind to actually look up facts. lol.))

You wondered around London with Sean and Marline, visiting a few touristy points before meeting up with a few of Sean and Marline’s friends that heard they’d be in town. You were greeted in kind, a few having seen your work. You blushed at their kind words before heading into a pub and sort of enjoyed a half a pint of some kind of amber ale.

It’d been bitter and made your face scrunch up each time you took a spin. Sean took pity on your soul and ordered you something fruity and flavorful. He took your pint and easily drowned it. You laughed, thanked him, and sipped on your strawberry mango fusion.

You’d learned a lot from the Irishman and his buddies. There was a whole back story to their meeting, and they told you in detail. Some things better left to the imagination, if you’re being honest. Honestly you couldn’t have made a better day if you tried.

Marline and you decided to hit a few retail shops after dumping Sean on his English friends. Marline and you have a blast wandering through the shops and trying on random outfit, snapping photos, and laughing before getting a little more serious and purchasing a few items. You bought something for you mom and dad, even your two brother and for Dark despite your worry and displeasure with his disappearance.

"You look distracted." Marline finally says watching you pause in your action to look at her.

"Is it that obvious?" you ask a little defeated.

Marline gives you a soft smile and puts the shirt she was looking at away, trading the fabric for you. "Sweetie, you've been half gone since you arrived." she tells you resting a hand on your shoulder. You sigh.

"My boyfriend was supposed to join me on this trip. Kind of like a spur of the moment thing. He was going to meet me here in London, but..." Okay so you're not telling the complete truth, but at least you're not out right lying to her. "But someone at his work decided to act out and he was forced to cancel. I guess I'm just really bumped. This was going to be our first trip as a couple." you add not counting your trip to the Void thanks to Anti.

Marline gives you a sympathetic smile and offers a hug which you gladly accept. "I'm sure he would rather be here with you, drinking too much with Sean, and watching you smile so big as you try on clothes." she says. You nod your head in agreement, pressing your forehead into her shoulder.

"I want him here too." you whisper, meaning it.

Laying back on the hotel bed you stare up at the ceiling wondering where the hell Dark is for the third time in twenty minutes. You'd tried to keep your mind preoccupied with British late night TV and what American channels the TV gets. Letting your eyes drift you start to tune out the TV and let the blackness of unconsciousness take you over. It's blissful and free of worry...

At least it should be...

"Anti! I told you not to come near her!" Dark growls jarring you from your sleep.

You jolt up and look around, you're no longer in the hotel but in the Void, and in... an establishment? Looking around you notice a few faces staring right at you as Dark and Anti continue to argue behind you. Turning around you notice the establishment is like a pub.

"Who made you king?" Anti argues back. You look at the two, noticing their disheveled look.

"I did." Dark growls back.

You want to snap something back but refrain. Instead you stand up and dust your bare thighs off. You really wish you would have put your pajama pants on before laying down, but the room was just so warm and you just didn't care. "D-Dark? Anti...how did I get here again?" you ask watching both males swing their heads to look at you.

"Dove, what are you doing here like that?" Dark asks instantly at your side, wrapping his coat around your shoulders. The bottom of the coat brushes across your knees as you look up at Dark.

"I fell asleep in my hotel room and woke up here when I heard you and Anti arguing again." you respond glancing around at the shocked faces looking back at you. "C-can you send me back to the hotel room? I don't like being without my pants with so many eyes on me." you tell him holding the coat in place.

"Of course." Dark says, agreeing with your request. He too does not like so many eyes viewing what is his and his alone, despite what someone my think.

"No! Ya only just arrived to that party. Come sit with me, share a drink. Wouldn't want you to miss the best part." Anti says zipping to your side and easily takes you from Dark's grip. He sits you down on a bar stool, your feet easily dangling in the air before resting on a small peg meant for height challenged individuals such as yourself.

"Anti, I want to go home. I don't have the right kind of..." before you can finish you sentence you're clothing is different. A knee length cocktail dress replaces your tee-shirt and panties and Dark's jacket reappears in his arms. He glares at Anti, walking over to the table and claims the seat next to you.

"She asked to go home, Anti. Respect her wishes." Dark warns wrapping his arm around your waist. You look between the two then at your clothes. You wonder if you could create clothing too in the Void.

Looking at Anti you decided to give it a try as retribution for his actions. You draw inspiration from a Las Vegas documentary you saw for a few brief moments while channel surfing before being brought to the Void, you imagine Anti dressed in bright fluorescent pinks, yellows, and oranges. You picture him with a large feather, peacock esque back piece wrapped securely around his shoulders and a two piece bikini with bright rhinestones and glitter galore. A headdress mirroring the feathered back piece on a smaller scale and thigh high three inch silver metallic boots finish off the outfit.

The sound that comes out of Anti mouth as his clothing changed instantly from his normal ripped jeans and faded graphic tee to a Las Vegas showgirl is priceless and hilarious. You've never seen anyone look so horrified by their own appearance. Well, once but that was because Anthony lost a bet. You so wished you had your phone to take a photo of the ridiculousness of this moment.

Green electrical sparks fly off Anti as his whole form began to glitch in and out at a rapid rate. You can see a look of pure hatred and blood lust in his eyes as he looks to Dark with accusation. You quickly sober when it become obvious Anti blames Dark for his sudden and less than appreciated clothing change.

Clearing your throat Anti's gaze jumps to you. "I think fluorescent pink is a rather attractive color on you, Anti." It's not what you meant to say but it instantly takes the blame off Dark. Both males stare at you with awe and horror. "Sorry, I may have gone a little far with the outfit, but honestly you had it coming, Anti. I mean the freaking biting and transporting me here! What do you expect? Even I have a mean streak. I do have two older brothers. A girl has to have a few dirty tricks up her sleeves if she wants to survive that horror show." You say as his clothing quickly changes back to what he was wearing before.

"How long have you been able to manifest clothing?" Dark asks practically sharing your seat.

"Ah...just now? I never come here so I didn't even know it was a possibility." you tell him honestly. How are you supposed to know what you can and can't do when you suck at every attempted training and you're always on the go? What little down time you get anymore is spent with Dark or with your family.

Dark gives a thoughtful look before looking at Anti. "No ideas, Anti. She's going home." Dark decrees sternly.

"No, not home. The hotel in London. I can't just disappear. Poor Sean and Marline would have heart attacks." you say frightened at the thought of waking up in your apartment and there be a frantic search in London for you.

"Of course, Dove, that is what I meant." Dark says a little tight lipped.

You frown at him. "Dark, I...."

"Nonsense. You can stay here, I'll gladly keep ya company. After all, we do share a very intimate bond, you and I." Anti cackles from his seat across from you.

"Anti you rarely make sense to me. What are you talking about?" you ask. Half of what Anti says is confusing and full of mystery. If he were a bit more charming and circumstances were different, it's be intriguing, but circumstances as they are, he just annoys you.

"Didn't lover boy here explain what it means to blood let?" Anti asks as a few people, well, demons in the room gasp. Others simply stare in horror.

You feel a dread in the pit of your stomach. "You said that you turned me into whatever you really are...isn't that the extent of blood letting?"

Anti smiles wide at you, that same wide smile that makes your cheeks hurt. "Oh, no my dear...you and I are bound. No matter where you go, what you do, or who you," For a moment you believe Anti to say love, but instead he crudely says, "fuck, I will always know. I'll be that little voice in yer head, talking, whispering, in there. There will never be a time that I cannot reach ya, darlin'. You are stuck with me for all yer life. That how I can easily slip in without alertin' ya until it's too late." Anti explains. You suppress a shiver at the knowledge.

You look down at the table, trying to make rational thought after this little informational speech of Anti's, when it hits you. If you are like him, and there was a transfusion of blood, of sorts, then you should have the same capabilities as he does. "Then that means I can do the same. I doubt thing around her a simply one sided. If you took my blood, whether it was or was not offered--which it wasn't, then the abilities should swing both ways. I'll be able to slip right next to you without raising your alarms as well as talk telepathically with you." you say smiling at Anti. "Which is honestly bad on your part. I mean knowing whom I sleep with...I could...you know accidentally connect to you while in the thralls of love making and you'd be subjected to whatever comes to mind. I'm not sure if you'd have such a cocky smile at that point." you say watching his smile slowly die as your words slowly sink into his skull.

Dark chuckles. "This is promising." he says continuing to chuckle at the dark look on Anti's face.

You shrug your shoulders at Anti. "Sorry, Anti my boy, you chose the wrong woman to share blood with. I'm telling ya. I may seem pretty sweet and innocent, but when you've been working for people on the internet for as long as I have you, well...don't let the smile fool ya." you add. You can't add anymore or listen to Anti response. the world goes back and when you are able to see again, you're in the hotel room on your bed once more.

Frowning you look at the clock on your night stand and sigh. Time flows so differently in the Void.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Dark ask and you jolt up once again.

"You're here!" You say happy to see your lover in your neck of the woods once again. Jumping from the bed you wrap your arms around Dark's waist and hold him close. "You're not hurt are you?" you ask looking Dark over for any signs of injuries.

Dark shakes his head before lifting you from the ground and carries you to the bed, setting you down. It's during this time you realize you're still in the dress Anti had manifested for you. "Is this going to disappear?" you ask grabbing a handful of the skirt.

"Yes," Dark says matter of factually. "however, it is not because you are outside of the Void, but because I am making it disappear." he adds as the dress disappears off your body leaving you bare to Dark's eyes. His very hungry eyes. "I fear I have been gone from you for far too long." he whispers before pressing a kiss to your breast. You agree.

Part 22

[stripesthesupervillain]

The Mad Hatter’s Guild to Happiness: Chapter 1

Questions from Kings (connected previous one-shot)

Next ->

Well… Here we are. My first Batman chapter series.

This follows a road trip with Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter, and while parts are meant to be funny, don’t be taken aback if it suddenly gets serious. 

Summary: On a drive to retrieve research for his toxins, Scarecrow is joined by the Mad Hatter so they can discuss their upcoming plans to stop the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, not everything will go according to plan as the two attempt to avoid Batman and to survive each other.

Dear Jonathan Crane,

We hope this letter finds you well.

Jonathan Crane sat in the swivel chair he had taken a particular liking to in the past few months. Sure, it may have been dusty and overused, the arms dirty from years of wear and poor upkeep, but he wasn’t too picky when it came to uncommon luxuries such as this. He enjoyed turning himself ever so slightly with a gentle push of his foot whenever he needed to review his notes, chewing on the end of his pen as a force of habit. It was comfortable, and to the former doctor it had definitely a welcome to see it still untouched upon his recent break out of Arkham Asylum.

However, on this day, he was still, sitting straight up despite the backing of the chair there to support his small weight. Eyes narrowed behind thinly framed reading glasses, he read over the letter in his gloved hands once again, having pondered its words for several hours now. He grimaced at the final words, the costume he wore feeling suddenly constricting, despite him designing it specifically with the ability to move freely. His infamous mask lay on his desk atop his notebook; wearing it had become too much when out of the public eye, and right now he just needed the time to breathe.

He needed to be alone.

He needed some time.

A knock on the door sounded, and from the way it so thunderously beat, he knew it could only be his guard. He gave so curt sigh, deciding he had been given enough time to think this over, and promptly stuffed the folded up paper in a spot of his notebook, removed his reading glasses, and put on his his burlap mask and brimmed hat. “Come in,” he ordered firmly, closing the notebook and folding his fingers in his lap.

The door was slowly opened, and in poked the burly man that was Rocky, the thug he had assigned to keep watch over the entrance. “Yes, Rockwell?” he hummed, watching him carefully from the eyes of his mask. “The Hat guy’s here,” Rocky informed him, looking back to whoever was behind him. “He keeps asking for a ‘Harry’ or something.”  

“It’s ‘Hare’,” Jonathan corrected, recognizing the description and coming to a stand. “Let him in. He’s of no current threat to me.” Rocky gave a quick nod and the usual “sure thing mister Scarecrow sir”, before turning back to whomever he had been speaking to and letting him into the room. As expected, Jervis Tetch was the one who was gestured in, the tops of his eyes raised in curiosity as he looked back at the thug. “A few manners that one has,” he chirped, turning his attention towards his peer. “I’ll never understand how you’re able to get them to behave in such a way.”

“Fear,” Scarecrow said simply, his voice taking the usual darker tone when talking about his preferred subject. “It’s all about fear, Hatter.” He gestured to the room off to the side, where his chemistry table was laid out. He continued to talk as he entered with the Englishman. “Not like those zombies you prefer to keep around. Fear is what grants the results I desire.” Jervis gave a small “hmph”, quickly going over to the edge of the table to watch the doctor work on his toxins. “Well then, Hare, I believe a demonstration should be in order. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I would like to see it in action. These brutes never learn to listen to the Hatter, oh no. They joke and they jest and they jeer, but they never listen.” He looked up at Jonathan with a furrowed brow. “Though it pushes me to ponder why you have only one. And it’s the same one from my last visit, too! Quite the surprise that is.”

Crane merely hummed in slight amusement as he observed the chemicals bubble. “Hatter, we only just got out of Arkham. I’d prefer a low profile for now, so just one will suffice. Rocky’s proven a fairly loyal help so far, able to keep my research well protected until I got back, so I suppose he’s worth keeping around for now, even if he may be a few apples away from a bushel.” He lowered the temperature and mixed a few of the readied chemicals until the concoction turned a sickly orange. “So, I can assume what brought you here was…?”

“The plan we formulated together, of course,” Hatter finished for him. “We spent such a tremendous amount of time pondering that dear thing that it’s all I could think about, really. As soon as I was settled, I came here first thing.”

Crane paused in his work, letting out a small sigh as he removed his hat. “Hatter, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cancel on out plans.” The Hatter’s displeasure was immediately shown. “I know, I know, it’s a bit too late to tell you, but trust me, it’s not on any poor planning on my part. Due to a small setback, I need to be out of town for a short while, maybe a week or two, so you may just have to hold off until then.” Of course, knowing his peer, Hatter was more than capable of doing just that. Jervis definitely seemed curious, though, as Jonathan had expected, and knew there would be a few inquiries.

“Out of town? Now what in all of Wonderland could drag the March Hare from the tea party?” the smaller man questioned, his brow furrowed as the other loaded the chemical into a few of his weapons. “And all with preparation involved, I see?” The doctor saw no benefit in hiding most of the truth. “I’m unsatisfied with a few aspects of my toxins,” he replied. “As hard as I’ve worked on it, I believe Batman may be attempting to work out a cure for it. So, I’m traveling back to my home town to snag a few research notes for the formula my toxin is based off of. The creator is long since dead, so I doubt any notes will be missed. That is all there is to it, really. As subservient it may seem in comparison to our little scheme, I’d rather not have the Bat take us down so easily should he find the proper antidote.”

Jervis took his words into consideration, playing with the rim of his oversized hat some as he pursed his lips. Overall, though, he seemed to understand where he was coming from quite well. Both needed the tools of their trade to work fairly well if they were going to survive longer than an hour in an encounter with the Bat. “Well that’s a bit of a mimsy pot you have yourself trapped in,” he hummed. “As crestfallen I may be by this sudden turn of our plans, I completely understand.” Crane gave a slight nod. “Thank you. I knew you would understand.”

“And so I will come with you.”

The doctor blinked, pausing for a moment in his tracks and looking over at the rather proud Jervis. “I’m sorry, what was that?” he rasped slowly, taking his attention away from his chemicals. The Hatter let out a soft chortle, grinning in slight amusement. “I said I will be coming with you.”

“This… is more of a solo mission,” the other explained, still taken aback by the offer. “Oh poppycock,” Jervis dismissed. “That’s a long drive, don’t you know? And with our plan set back, I believe it would give us more time to smoothen out the details.” He closed his eyes, smiling to himself. “Besides, we do need to lay low, don’t we? The best choice, of course, would to be to get out of town for a few days. After all, you wouldn’t want to come back with me in Arkham once again, would you?”

He had a a point there. As much as Jonathan preferred to do this alone, Jervis wasn’t the worst of company a man could have, and they certainly did need to finish up the details of their plot against the Dark Knight. However, there were a few quirks that needed to be worked out.  

“I plan to leave in only a few short hours. What about your things?” he questioned, which Jervis retuned with a gesture to the door. “I can retrieve a few things I may need, though it’s not as though I have much of that. I keep most necessities on me.”

“Necessities being?”

“My book, my hat, a few cards, and tea.”

“Of course,” Jonathan sighed to himself, somewhat amused by the other’s response. “And you’re willing to spend an entire car ride with me?” Tetch gave a visible roll of his eyes, an uncharacteristic move for him. “Of course, of course, why would I not?”

This would either turn out to be a mistake or a small help to him. Should the former be the case, he could always ditch the small man and hit the road. Jervis would be understandably upset, but Crane knew he would eventually be forgiven despite his misdeeds.

“Fine, you may come, then,” he complied, watching the other’s expression light up quickly. He had always found it curious to see the Hatter’s moods flick to upbeat and happy in such a quick manner. What did he ever have to be so happy about all the time? It was a welcomed sight, nonetheless, even if his constant and quick changes in mood were a hazard. Jonathan had to  always remind himself that Jervis was still a very dangerous man, especially when off his prescribed medication. While they had originally moved past any grudges held toward each other, Crane never let it be forgotten that he was able to describe what losing control of his own thoughts and cognitive functions was like.

“I leave in just a few hours. Most likely around dawn,” he sighed, picking up his scythe. “But if you’re going to be traveling with me, you have to remember that we need to keep a low profile. We cannot have our plans ruined if we’re suddenly recognized.” He took off his burlap mask and heaved the staff of the scythe over his shoulder to rest there. “So, for the entire trip there and back, you will only know me as ‘Jonathan’ and I will refer to you as ‘Jervis’. Understood?”

Hatter gave a small grimace, but dutifully nodded and removed his hat. “Understood, Jonathan. However, what about in case of an emergency?” Crane paused and took a moment to look at his scythe. “This is a simple car ride from here to there, so I doubt anything too dire will happen along the way. But, just in case, I’m bringing my weapons and Scarecrow. You’re free to do the same, but don’t expect anything exciting. So no references to Wonderland in public, no Hatter while we talk to others, and for the love of all things detrimental in life, no made up words. I refuse to be caught just because you can’t realize that ‘frabjous’ isn’t a word.”  

Jervis gave the other a quick glare, another uncharacteristic action for him. “We’ve argued about this countless times, Jonathan; frabjous is a legitimate word!” Crane just rolled his eyes and put on his mask and hat again before walking out of the room. “Just go get your things before I leave you. We’ll fight about this in the car.” The neurologist huffed, but nodded and trotted out of the room and to the exit.  

Crane looked over at Rocky, who stood guard near the doorway. “I will be leaving for a week or two. No one gets in or out, understood? If I see anything missing, I’ll have you gassed. If everything’s as I left it, I’ll double your payment for a week.” Rocky gave a curt “sure thing mister Scarecrow sir”, and with that, Jonathan went to get ready, grabbing his notebook. He grabbed the loose paper tucked within the pages, reading it once over. With a small grimace, he went to pack up his chemicals.