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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 3 years

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Book Three: Pestilence (Ignis x Reader) Chapter Fifteen

A/n: I leave a small inkling as to who War was in her past life at the end of this chapter. Her whole backstory will be revealed in the next book. Love you all!!! ••••••••••••••••••••

"Hand over the orb, Ignis," (Y/n) ordered, her form looming over the advisor's as she remained on the stone railing. "I would abhor in reclaiming it by force."

Ignis shook his head, rejecting her strict command. "Enough of this!" He shouted angrily, shocking the Horseman. He lunged forward, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her off the railing. She tumbled from the force, but she was able to keep from falling. Before she could break free and push him away, he released his hold on her wrist and both of his gloved hands grabbed her face.

Shocked to the core, Pestilence took a few steps back and her lower back came in contact with the railing. His hands remained on her cheeks as he followed her movement. Feeling his gentle touch and seeing the turmoil in his jade eyes made all plans of escaping annul. She placed her hands on the railing behind her to keep from tipping over it. The only things she could hear were her thunderous heart and the heavy rain. She bit her bottom lip, rolling it between her teeth before releasing it and finally shattering the suffocating silence. "Why're you so stubborn?"

"You are the obdurate one," Ignis responded.

Without another word, their lips were connected. The kiss felt like it last for hours, but it only lasted a few seconds. (Y/n) was the one to break the exchange, pulling away from Ignis. "A kiss will not mend my past or change my mind. It would be for your good as well as the others to go our separate ways." She placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away from her.

"Your unforeseen arrival allowed us to accomplish strenuous feats we would have failed on our lonesome," Ignis stated matter-of-factly, refusing to let go of her in fear of her vanishing out of his life for good. "The annihilation of Silas and his men was necessary and unavoidable. You simply performed the burdensome task of eliminating a threat to us and innocent civilians."

(Y/n) closed her eyes once Ignis' hands fell from her cheeks. She slumped forward, her head resting against his chest. "Answer me truthfully, Ignis. My hands are tainted with the blood of men and will continue to keep killing. Am I a monster?"

"Far from one," Ignis answers without even having to think. "Edric was a hellion. Raiden's blood is on his hands, not yours."

(Y/n) seemed relieved at hearing his answer. She didn't doubt his response and felt the catalyst of her sorrows be quelled. She knew this was her second breakdown and felt ashamed of her behavior. But once again, Ignis was the one who picked the pieces up and put them back together. She was thankful for his patience with her and was overjoyed to know a person like him loves her.

They were startled when the Regalia's horn blared. The couple stepped away from each other and glanced toward the vehicle. Knowing from the horn, they knew the others were growing restless and were desperately wanting to return to Cape Caem.

Without wasting another minute, Ignis and (Y/n) headed to the car. The Horseman ended up sitting in the front seat, both her and the tactician soaked to the bone. The boys in the backseat were grinning as they eyed the two. None of them said a word as they departed from Taelpar Crag.

<------<<<<<

Arriving at Cape Caem, the rain had ceased, but the stormy clouds above remained. While Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio checked in with Cid and Cindy, Ignis and (Y/n) headed to the house to dry off and warm up.

Pestilence's outfit wasn't difficult to dry. It only took a few minutes thanks to her magic to dry her clothes. Afterward, she decided to wander to the room next to hers, which is currently being occupied by Ignis. She, without announcing her presence, pushed the door open and stepped into the room. His back was turned to her as he was now adorned in a striped dress shirt with his hair in the normal spiky style. Her bare feet padded against the hardwood floor gently, the small sound being enough for the strategist to detect.

Ignis turned around at hearing the faint sound. "(Y/n), what are-?" His eyes widen as she suddenly pushed him down onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling, bewildered and paralyzed at her action. His body began tensing up as he felt her mount the bed and straddle his waist.

Looming above Ignis, (Y/n) placed her hands on his chest as she leant down slightly to stare into his emerald eyes. She searched them for any indication if he wanted her to move, but she found nothing but confusion and shock. She wondered if he was going to say something, but he didn't even mutter a word. Seeing this, she bent her elbows and lowered herself more. When their faces were only a few inches apart, she stopped. "Of all the people you could possibly have, you chose a reanimated corpse. Why would you choose a woman who's past is tainted by the blood of others?"

Ignis reached up, placing a hand against her cheek. "You've displayed no ill intent toward myself or the others. Must I also remind you of when you saved my life?"

(Y/n) leaned into his touch, smiling down at him. "Is that when your infatuation began? You'd only known me for nearly a day."

"No," he confesses. "But I am truly grateful and indebted to you for your brazen action. Our early morning chats were truly the origin of my fixation for you."

The Horseman huffed out a small giggle. "You truly are an honest man, Ignis. I must confess-I'm bewildered no woman has won your heart except for me." She leant down to steal a kiss but froze when she heard the door opening. Looking to her right, she saw Gladio standing in the doorway with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Am I interrupting somethin'?" He asked, eyeing the couple.

"We were just talking," (Y/n) responds casually, still straddling Ignis' waist.

"In that position?" The shield asked with an arched brow.

The ivory-haired girl tossed a grin in Gladio's direction. "Yes," she replies before changing the subject. "Was there something you needed, Gladio?"

He chuckled at her smooth transition. "We're ready to depart for Altissia. The only people missing are you two."

(Y/n) removed herself from Ignis' body and climbed off the bed. "You four were recently captured by a madman. I suggest you postpone the trip to Altissia for a day in order to get some proper rest. The boat will still be there in the morning."

"I must also insist our departure be delayed," Ignis said.

Gladio has no qualms, feeling the exhaustion overtake his body. "Alright. I'll tell the kids," he teased before closing the door and leaving the couple to themselves.

<------<<<<<

The next morning, the boys went on ahead down the elevator while (Y/n) checked on Erra. Once she saw he wasn't in need of anything, she headed to the docking bay below the lighthouse. Before she could step foot onto the lift, she heard a familiar voice from behind her. "You seem to be cozying up next to that fellow with the glasses."

Pestilence spun on her heels and faced War with a stoic expression. "Well, a "hello" to you, too, dear sister."

"What do you plan on doing the moment you defeat the draugr? You have to return to the Inner Sanctum. Death, Famine, and I can't keep all the monsters in line," War stated. "What if those damned things break the seal again? If you're here on Eos, then we won't be able to repair the seal."

"I know where my duties lie, War," the white-haired Horseman sighed. "The draugr is all that remains. Hopefully by the time I slay the creature, my resolve to return to the Inner Sanctum won't be shaken."

"The closer you get to him, the harder it will be to leave," War scoffed, crossing her arms. "Y'know, I expected this from Famine, but not you. Break your ties with him and the others before it's too late."

(Y/n) looked down at the ground between the crimson-haired girl's feet. "You speak as if I know not of the consequences of my ties to these men. All of us deserve a slither of joy even if it is fleeting. When have you ever been truly happy since your resurrection as the Horseman of crusade?"

War fell silent. She already knew the answer to the question, but she didn't want to admit there was truth in her sister's words. In the end, she feigned annoyance and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. "Do as you wish. I'm not gonna try and stop you. I know you know what you're doing, but be careful, Pestilence." With that, she vanished into a puff of scarlet smoke.

With a heavy sigh, (Y/n) stared at the spot her sister once stood for a few seconds before heading to the lift. As she stepped off the elevator once it reaches the docking bay, she heard an unfamiliar voice. "Something I gotta get off my chest."

"What's that?" She heard Noctis question.

"I'm sorry," the unfamiliar voice replied. "Sorry I wasn't there for your father. I swore an oath to protect the king, but I wasn't strong enough to uphold it."

"Ain't nothin' nobody could've done to stop what happened," another unrecognizable person said.

"Yeah, I realize that," the ravenette responded.

(Y/n) silenced her bare feet, feeling the cold metal as she walked down the stairs. No one noticed her quiet approach, glancing toward the older gentleman as he spoke up with a southern drawl. "But you need to realize just what you mean to the boys by your side."

Noctis was silent for a few seconds before nodding. "I do."

"Even if they can't solve your problems, you can't hide what's goin' on from 'em. It hurts like hell. Remember-those ain't your bodyguards, they're your brothers. Trust in 'em. Always."

The Horseman clasped her hands together with a smile as she was reminded of her sisters. They may not have been blood-related, but they were her family and she wouldn't trade them for anyone else on Eos.

The younger man of the two strangers turned around and spotted her smiling at them. He bowed his head politely, knowing exactly who she is. "It's an honor to meet you, Pestilence."

"Wait," Noctis spoke up after the marshal's formal greeting. "You know (Y/n)?"

"His late Majesty held the Four Horsemen in high regards," the man responded as he lifted his head. "I never expected you four to be traveling with one of the Horsemen, but I must confess it is an excellent decision. Our king will be needing all the protection he can get."

"They would be perfectly fine without me shadowing them," (Y/n) stated.

"No," the man denied. "I feel even more at ease knowing you are standing beside His Majesty. Who knows what the empire has planned next."

The snowy-haired girl was eased when hearing the man's approval. She peered at him as she thought back to all the times Death had visited Insomnia and mentioned only a few people by name. "Are you Cor, perchance?"

The marshal nodded. "Yes. It seems Death has mentioned me once or twice."

"As her role as liaison between Insomnia and the Inner Sanctum, she has mentioned you on occasion. A pleasure to finally put a face to the name, Marshal."

Cor couldn't help but smirk at her formality. "You truly are the prim and proper one out of the bunch."

"Someone has to be," she grinned in amusement.

After her chat with Cor, (Y/n) headed over to the boat while the boys chatted with the older man, which she learned his name was Cid. Her thoughts wandered to her conversation with War, knowing she would have to severe her bond with the boys sooner or later. She detested the thought of breaking Ignis' heart and cutting loose the others since they were her friends. Her hand slowly moved up, coming to rest over her heart as it ached.

"Waitin' for an invitation? Get your asses on board!" Cid proclaimed, shocking the Horseman out of her thoughts.

She blinked a few times at his sudden proclamation and didn't realize the others were aboard the ship, waiting for her.

"Hey, (Y/n), you comin'?" Noctis asked the Horseman as he peered over the side of the ship and down at her.

The young girl looked up at him with a forced smile. "Oh, my apologies, Noctis. I was lost in thought."

Gladio pokes his head over the side of the boat, smirking down at her. "You better get on before we leave you behind."

She climbed aboard just as Cid started the boat's engine. She walked over to the side, placing her hands on the metal railing that aligned the sides of the vessel. She stared down at the water as the boat slowly pulls away from the dock.

"Hey! Your Majesty!" The boys and girl heard Talcott shout. They glanced toward the small boy as he stood beside Iris.

"What's up?" Noctis asked as the boat began to pick up speed.

"Please come back soon! We need our king!"

Noctis smiled with a nod. "Yeah. Count on it."

Talcott and Iris wave goodbye. Noctis waves back as (Y/n) smiles at the two, standing beside the azure-eyed boy.

"You truly are loved by your kingdom, Noctis," Pestilence comments in a hushed whisper, reminiscing in the time War shared her past with her. The redhead and raven-haired boy were complete opposites, but their positions were nearly the same. She couldn't even imagine supporting an entire nation on her shoulders like her sister once did.

What (Y/n) didn't know was Noctis had heard her. Before he could say a word, she was headed toward the others. Deciding to ignore her seemingly sad words, he followed after her.

The Horseman sat on the plush, leather seat beside Ignis as the boat sped across the surface of the gleaming ocean. She stared out in the direction of Altissia, wondering how much the city has changed since her time on Eos. She placed a hand over her heart. "I pray not too much..."

#ffxv x reader #ffxv #final fantasy xv x reader #final fantasy xv #ignis x reader #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #Noctis Lucis Caelum

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kewltie · 5 years

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contains: slavery, caste system

Quirkless. Lesser. Lesser than humans.

The thick metal collar goes around his neck and closes with a secured beep. "Be good to your new master, Izuku," the Headmaster instructs. "You're the pride of our academy so try not to shame us. Always remember your lessons and oath."

"We serve at the behest of those who greater than us," Izuku recites solemnly. A mantra that was beaten into him since he was taken from his mother's arms by the DQA when he was only just eight years old and deposited in one of its many training academies.

"Good, good," the Headmaster says, looking particularly pleased with himself. "You're quite fortunate that you're benefactor is such a high profile character that you might be able to pay off your contract debt in ten years or so."

"Yes," Izuku agrees, even though he wouldn't have acquired such a debt if he wasn't stolen away and forced to learn at the feet of adults who claimed to know better. Claimed they were there to help him because he is quirkless. Useless. He must be taught to serve society better.

"Will they--," he swallows the flash of nerves for a moment, "may I know who is to be my new master?" The Headmaster grins, eyes twinkling brightly against Izuku's shadowy apprehension. "I have no doubt that you may already know his name."

"A public figure?" Izuku murmurs thoughtfully. A politician or an idol perhaps? Someone whose name and face is spread everywhere enough that even locked away in the fortress of the academy Izuku would still be familiar with him to recognize who he is. "A celebrity then?"

The Headmaster snorts in amusement. "Close enough," he answers. "In his line of work he might as well be with the way the media and his legion of devout fans like the sink their teeth into him if they could." Izuku blinks, mind racing as he connects the dot. "A prohero?!"

His eyes widen and lower jaw dropping in surprise when the Headmaster gave a short nod. "I believe he's around your age, so young still but a prodigy they say. Having broken into the top fifty ranking in only two year after his graduation from U.A, now he’s among the top ten. His performance had truly been impressive.”

Izuku's heart stops.

U.A., the school Izuku had once dreamed of going to before it all came crashing down. In another life, in another world it would have been his alma mater, but this is his reality now. Now, he can only glimpse of those heroes on TV and thinks of all the could haves, would haves.

That should be me out there, his younger self had thought with a yearnful heart as he pressed his hand against the screen of the TV, but the academy was no place for broken dreams and fanciful wishes. It carved out every weakness of his and crushed it under its firmed teaching.

Izuku may have outgrown those childhood fancies, but he never stopped looking toward the sky like a bird with clipped wings. If he couldn't be one of them then he wanted to know everything about them. News clippings, scholarly journals, and books, he had devoured it all.

"I know you always did have a fondness of the proheroes scene," the Headmaster comments idly like Izuku's earlier obsession with heroes, though argue by his handlers that it had truly never gone away, wasn't a topic of heated contention throughout his years at the academy.

"This is the best match up we could ever hope for. You're one of our most brightest students--one I, dearsay, haven't seen in decades," he says, looking fondly at Izuku as though Izuku hasn't been dragged into his office so many times for corrective behavior measure.

Izuku has always been a good boy, but never an obedience one, his former teachers would often lament about that fact. It's precisely why although Izuku had had broken so many grounds and records at the academy, consistently ranked at the top of his class, but finding him a proper sponsor was hard.

On paper, he was perfect, if choosing to ignore his long disciplinary paper trail, but once the sponsor had met him in person and saw all the cracks of his polished submission in the rigid of his shoulders and eyes unwilling to fall to the floor, they knew right away--there was something terribly wrong with him.

Like, how he was a failure for being born quirkless so they had to carefully train him up with the best money the government could buy in hope that one day he could serve their best and brightest. Even then he'd failed to live up to their expectations of him.

"This pro-hero," Izuku says slowly and carefully. "Does he know of me?" Will he also be disappointed when he meets Izuku like all the rest?

"He specifically requested you. He was very insistent about it," the Headmaster responds, and then he frowns. “Rather forceful actually. Wouldn't take no for an answer. I'd even suggested going through our catalogues of other Lessers first before he make up his mind, but he nearly rip my head off." His frown deepens as his face pinches at the memory. "Such a crude behavior indeed. I almost wanted decline if it wasn't for his reputable reputation as a hero."

Izuku's eyes widen. "He asked for me personally? Who is he then—tell me?!" he demands, taking several steps toward the Headmaster with hands extended out as thought he was going to shake the answer right out of him.

"Izuku," the Headmaster snaps, eyes narrowing in contempt. "Calm yourself! You’re not a child anymore. You're a representative of this elite academy, so such ill manner does not become us!”

Izuku freezes, quickly dropping his hands to his side once more. "I--" His gaze fall to the ground as heat rises to his cheek. "I deeply apologize, sir. I don’t know what came over me like that." He quickly falls back, putting enough distance between them to regain his composure.

The Headmaster sighs. "I know you're excited because this may be your last chance at getting a benefactor after so many fail sponsorships, but do not forget your place, Izuku."

Izuku’s mouth dries and there’s an awful twist in his guts as another lecture starts rolling in.

"It's with your head bowed, eyes down, and on your knees at the feet of your master. You're incredibly brilliant and talented student, but no matter how good you are you're still a Lesser," he explains as though Izuku hadn't heard it a hundred times before. "You'll never amount to anything spectacular compare to the rest of us. Such is the plight of the quirkless."

Izuku bristles, hands clenching and unclenching at his side but he holds his tongue. If he says the wrong thing again, it'll cost him maybe everything.

It only takes one chance. That's all he need. A reason to get out of the academy's iron grip and its intense scrutiny so he'll have room to breathe and plan his way out of these shackles that bind him.

Freedom on bent knees and a collar around his neck. Oh, the irony.

"I keep that in mind, sir," Izuku murmurs, plastering a smile that he doesn't quite feel on his face. "When will I meet my new master then?"

"Now," the Headmaster says with a wave of his hand toward the exit of his office. "I'll take you to him right this instance."

Izuku jerks in surprise. "So soon?!" he asks. Though he'd long accepted his fate is not his own, but he hasn't been mentally and emotionally prep for a meeting with the man whose name will be carved onto his collar.

The Headmaster purses his lip unhappily. "He wants to meet you right away even though I'd insisted we give it a few days to prepare you first, but he's--" he scrunches up his face in annoyance, "extremely vocal about what he wants. Twenty billion yens will get you a whole lot of favor it seems."

Izuku chokes on air.

Twenty billion yen?! "Is that--" Izuku starts and then stops, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "I-Is that how much he'd paid for me?"

The Headmaster frowns, scratching his chin as he steers Izuku out of his office. "It's how much he's sponsoring you for."

"Ah, I see," Izuku replies, even though he doesn't see how is that any different. No matter how they may have prettied it up, it's still an exchange of money for a service and in any other world that would be frown upon but here's it's a way of life for the quirkless.

The Headmaster escorts him through the winding halls of the academy where several students--their age vary as young as seven to even older than Izuku at twenty-seven--roam unrestricted in the hallway during their free period.

The campus is a sprawling education complex.

They're always learning to be good, better, for their master. Everything is for their master. From basic domestic skills like cooking and cleaning to learning violin first hand under a maestro, and then there's math and physics. The education here varies and complex.

It's all in service of their master in the future. They must be mold to be whatever their master needed. Trained to be the best so they can serve to the best of their abilities as companion, assistant, and consort. They have to be everything and nothing at all.

Coveted by those who only saw value in the rarity and the novelty of owning a Lesser, Izuku and his kind are ornament pieces meant to decorate the arms of their master but once their master get bored of them, they're quickly discarded and are no longer of any worth.

They are consider a priceless treasure up until the point when they're not anymore. To be treated like a commodity, with no inherent worth until others deem it so, is not the way Izuku wanted to live.

But nobody had given him a choice in that regard. Him and thousands of others like him.

"We're here," the Headmaster says as they stand outside of one of the private VIP rooms where they often entertain special guests visiting the academy. It's a place Izuku had been to many times before, presented to potential sponsors like a piece of meat to be sold.

There's a price on Izuku's head, a price on the head of all the students here. It an arbitrary number, but it's important enough that people have live and die by it. Izuku knows his worth and it has little to do what anyone else think, but it all comes back to money in the end.

Money from sponsorship that lined the pocket of the academy, money that kept Izuku and others collared and trap in their gilded cage and it is ultimately money that brought Izuku right in front of this door to meet the man who will decide his fate. Izuku puts on his warpaint.

He wears an indomitable smile on his face as though it was carved from stone as the Headmaster pushes the door open and leads him in. His eyes flutter shut for a moment and he breathes as he steps forward onto the battlefield with nothing but his wits to guide him through.

The room opens up to marble titles lining the floor, lights cascade down from a crystal chandelier hanging above, several muted grey accent chairs surround a glass coffee table, the walls are painted white on white, and even the rest of the decor stay resolutely neutral in colors.

It's simple, clean cut, and modern. And it left Izuku feeling cold and bereft every time he walk into this room. The only jarring difference this time around is the other person in the room beside him and the Headmaster. His presence alone immediately takes up all the space in Izuku's head and leaves him startlingly breathless and dazed with confusion.

Domineering is a word, Izuku would use. All-consuming is another. It's like stepping into a vortex and getting swept right up in the eye of its storm. A furious red storm that Izuku had been caught in since he was a child, fallen under its spell with a single infuriating glance. It's those same pair of eyes that had looked at him with contempt and scorn back then as though whatever they found of him it was sorely lacking.

The man doesn't rise from his seat and didn't offer a single word, but Izuku knows him, knows him like he knows his own heartbeat. The slope of his shoulders, the wide expanse of his back, the hard plane of his chest, every inch of him Izuku had a glimpsed of on the TV screen, he’d committed it all to memory.

It been more than ten years since they have stood right in front of each other, Izuku had changed since then but so did he. He's taller. Bigger. His presence more pronounce and dizzying in way like he'd finally grown into the great person he always boasted to be.

But then again, he wasn't ever boasting. He had meant every word of it. Believe it like it was a certainty that carried him through every one of decision and action. Izuku have always admired that decisive nature of his and here he is again, appearing before him like a dream made real.

The Headmaster lowers his head slightly in greeting. "Zero-san, I have brought him just as you requested," he says, stepping aside to let Bakugou Katsuki have full view of Izuku like he hasn't been boring a hole in Izuku's head since the moment they'd walked through the doors.

All the training that got him here, he had things he been primed to say, it all went out the window the second Izuku had seen him because nothing had prepared him for this, for reuniting with his former childhood friend again after more than a decade. Bakugou Katsuki is the one person he would have never expected to come here, let alone if it’s for Izuku. The last time they had seen each other, they’d parted with a lot of tears and vitriol thrown at each other.

“—I never want to see you again, you useless nerd! I hate you, I fucking hate you. Go away!”

The marks left over from that fight had never truly healed. Years later, he still carried those bitter words to into his dream, always wondering if he had another chance maybe he could have mended their tattered friendship again. Now, staring into the eyes of the nightmare that had haunted him ever since then, a strange mixture of wariness and curiosity warring within him.

“K-Kacchan—?” he asks, moving in stuttering steps as though he was pulled forward.

“Izuku! What are you doing?!” the Headmaster hisses, scandalized tone leaking into his voice, but Izuku found it was impossible to heed his words. “Stop that now!”

He takes another step and another, and then the collar around his neck constricts and sends a jolt of electricity throughout his body, dropping Izuku to the floor in shock. Izuku’s trembling hands fumble at his collar as he desperately tries catch his breath.

Out of the corner of his panic stricken eyes, he catches the sound of heavy footsteps as Katsuki makes his way to the Headmaster in three long strides. He grabs the Headmaster by the collar of his shirt and shakes him. “What the fuck did you do him, you bastard?!” is the first thing Katsuki says, and it’s so, so fierce and cutting that the words cut through the air like lightning.

Izuku recoils, fear taking hold of him for a second.

The Headmaster’s mask of composure doesn’t slip one bit, not even in the face of a top twenty rank pro-hero. Wordlessly, he carefully removes Katsuki’s hand from his person and smiles reassuringly. “Zero-san, it was just a precaution to control him in case the Lesser acted out. Don’t worry, he’s fine,” he promises, his voice slipping into a melodious and soothing tone.

Right away, Izuku can feel the earlier rise of panic and anxiety stirring inside of him is quickly disappearing under the Headmaster’s emphatic quirk. As a level four, the Headmaster has masterful commands of his quirk that let him use his voice to inject emotions into everyone nearby. It’s one of the many reasons he was left in charge of the Lesser Sponsorship Program because he could easily defuse any complicated situations if it arise to that. “Your merchandise remains unharmed,” he is quick to assure Katsuki, instilling as much calm as he could in those words that Izuku’s head is fuzzy with warmth, choking on a sweet toxic scent and if the Headmaster had asked, Izuku would have walked into fire for him.

But Katsuki is not Izuku, he isn’t defenseless babe against such a measly mind altering quirk. Katsuki snarls, shoving the Headmaster abruptly back. Hastily, he wraps a hand around his biceps, nails digging into his skin as he winces in a pain but whatever he did, he sobers up quickly after that.

A level four quirk user going up against a level six, who had been training and perfecting his power since he was young to able to use it at professional level and fight for his life and the lives of millions of other, is a joke in many ways.

The Headmaster is completely outmatched this time.

“Cut that shit out or I’ll blast a fucking hole in your head,” Katsuki bites out, vicious and meaning every word of it. Both of his palms are crackling with intent.

For once, the Headmaster acquiesces as he steps back and fixes his shirt. He remains cool and unperturbed, but the slightest tremble in his hands says otherwise. “I apologize, Zero-san, if I offended you somehow,” he offers, and slowly the tense air around them clears out.

Izuku can finally breathe properly now as thought a spell was lifted from him.

“Yea?” Katsuki sneers. “And who said you can put a fucking collar on him?! I didn’t tell you to do any of that shit.”

“Sir with all due respect, it’s standard procedure to assure the safety of our clients. We put it on every one of our Lessers when they’re meeting with their potential sponsor for the first time and during their probationary period,” the Headmaster explains as calmly as possible against Katsuki’s rising anger.

“He’s quirkless! What the fuck can he even do to me, huh?! The day I let a loser like him get the better of me is the day my old hag of a mother stop nagging me about useless shit,” Katsuki spits out.

Before Izuku can even let Katsuki’s jab against him sink in, he is drag up from the floor by the arm. Just as he got both feet planted on the ground, Katsuki’s hand reaches for him, his palm hovering right over Izuku’s throat. Eyes wide with shock, Izuku can feel the heat emanating from Katsuki’s touch and he quickly squeezes his eyes, mentally preparing for the pain to come.

It never did. A crackling pop erupts near his ears and he hears nothing else except for the burnt smell of metal teasing at his nose.

He gingerly opens his eyes to see whatever remains of the collar on the floor and Katsuki already retreating several steps back with a scowl on his face. Pawing his hands clumsily at his throat as though to make sure it’s real, his neck feels strangely bare and light for once.

“You won’t be needing this anymore,” Katsuki asserts, but it wasn’t aim toward Izuku.

“That was unnecessary, Zero-san,” the Headmaster rebukes, but he moves no actual move about it. Izuku casts a quick glance at the Headmaster beside him and sees while he’d managed to keep his voice even, he is clearly shaken by the Katsuki’s abrupt and forceful action.

Izuku has no doubt the Headmaster has every reason to be terrified.

Even at eight, Katsuki was rated by the Bureau of Quirk Testing to be a level three, making him leaps and bounds ahead of kids their age. Under the Number System, the government gives the most benefit and support to those people with higher quirk level. In a caste like class system where society value those with active overt quirk that are flashy and useful, Katsuki was already set apart from everyone else a young age. He was already overpowered and talented back then, but it was untrained and wild.

Now, seeing tit up close and personal, the way he had blasted the collar off of Izuku without leaving a single singed mark on him, it was so precise and in control that Izuku can’t help the swell of admiration rising up in him. Their years apart had done wonder for Katsuki’s burning talent. While Izuku was learning to get on bent knees and serving his future master properly, Katsuki was honing his skills and fighting villains in order to keep their world safe. The difference in their two diverging paths is a bitter pill for Izuku to swallow.

He digs his nail in palm as he curl right fist, but his expression doesn’t change. Katsuki’s entire series of action remain a puzzling mystery to him. Izuku knows Katsuki, of the young boy who was once his friend and then nothing at all, but that was back then; he doesn’t know of the man who stands before him now.

Katsuki is silence for a moment, his eyes unflinchingly rakes over Izuku as though he prying apart Izuku piece by piece to see what he is made of. Izuku shrinks into himself unconsciously under the intense scrutiny.

“Fuck this shit,” Katsuki declares finally, breaking the stilted silence, “we’re getting out of here.”

Izuku’s jaw drops in surprise. “W-What?”

“Wait—sir, you can’t take him yet!” the Headmaster interjects quickly.

Katsuki’s head swivel toward him with a glare. “Didn’t you get the money I wired to you?” he demands .

“Well, yes, but there are still paperworks for you to sign,” the Headmaster answers. “And I would like go over our ninety days grace period in case you any sort problem arise or you find our Izuku lacking during that time.”

“No need. Send it all to my lawyers,” Katsuki instructs, and before the Headmaster can get another word wedge in, he takes Izuku by the hand. “Come on.” He drags Izuku forward with a forceful tug. “This entire place creep me the fuck out,” he says, cursing a storm under his breath as they leave behind a disgruntle looking Headmaster, who clearly never dealt with such a whirlwind in the likes of Bakugou Katsuki.

Izuku quietly lets Katsuki drag him of out the room and into the wide hallway, and leads him out across the campus without any further exchange. They didn’t speak much or at all in the VIP room previously, but the things he wanted to say and ask were things he doesn’t know if he could.

It’s all very, very different now. They’re not kids anymore; Katsuki who stands at the pinnacle of society while Izuku is just a lowly Lesser. He doesn’t know what he can hope to expect from this version of a much older and mature Katsuki.

He can only hope to find out in the following days, that is if Katsuki doesn’t send him back right away once he realize Izuku is not what he wanted.

In their silence, they march through one of the big botanic gardens where most of the students congregate in their free time and in their hurry they stir up enough commotion with Katsuki’s recognizable face and fame, and then there’s Izuku’s notoriety.

Loud whispers swirl around them as they make their way the garden.

“Is that Ground Zero?!”

“Wait, what is he even doing here?”

“—and with Midoriya of all people?”

“Did nobody warn him that Midoriya is a defected goods with how many sponsors he had turned over?”

“How much you bet Zero will send him back here in a week.”

“Not even. Watch, it’ll be just three days.”

Izuku grimaces. They haven’t step off the academy yet and the rumors are already running amok. Izuku’s stellar reputation in the academy precedes him once more.

“Ignore those fuckers,” Katsuki hisses, tightening his hand around Izuku’s own as they make it pass the garden and enters the main pathway toward the visitor plaza, where the entrance and exit is tucked away in. “I’ll kick their ass for spouting bullshit if I didn’t want to get out of here as soon as possible. The longer we stay here the more I want to blow up this entire place up.”

Katsuki’s hatred for this place is made obvious, but then why did he even come here in the first place? Is it really for him? But, then why? What did Katsuki even want from him? All these questions dog his step and confuses him even more. But in that moment he realizes there’s something even more important that he was forgetting.

“Kacchan, wait,” Izuku calls out, pulling to a stop.

Katsuki’s arm is yanked back and he too halted in his spot because of Izuku. “What now, Deku,” he snaps, turning around with an impatient expression on his face.

“I have to clean out my dorm first,” Izuku tells him, shifting his foot nervously. “There are things I want to get.”

Katsuki clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Just leave it. Whatever you need I’ll get buy it for you later.” At Izuku’s frown, he sighs. “What other useless things do you even that is important enough to stay at this cesspool any longer?”

Izuku bites down on his lower lip, pauses, and looks away. “My mother’s mementos,” he answers finally.

A beat, then. “Fine, we’ll go get your stuff first but after that you’re coming home with me,” he states, like it’s an unshakeable true. “No more fucking detour, you hear me?”

And that’s all it take, just those few words is all the assurance he need that maybe this wasn’t some cruel joke after all. Home. With Katsuki. He is going home with Katsuki. Katsuki wants him enough to take him home. For what reason, Izuku doesn’t know yet but he takes note that Katsuki hasn’t let go of Izuku’s hand since they’d walked out on the Headmaster.

Katsuki’s hand rough, full of calluses and little cuts and scars, but it’s warm and he holds Izuku’s with immeasurable care. Though Katsuki’s words hadn’t been kind, his hands speak for what couldn’t be translate into words.

This he will trust. In this he hands over his fate to Katsuki, so please, please don’t disappoint him like the rest of the world had. Katsuki has him by the his heartstring and Izuku hopes he doesn’t regret it.

#fic snippet #bakudeku #fic: <

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an-ambivalent · 5 years

Text

Oath Of Desires: Eight

Synopsis: [Yandere! Jungkook x Reader x Taehyung] [Poly AU]

It had only been them three for a long time. Not one person more, not one person less – just Jungkook, Taehyung and [Name].

Jungkook was elated when Taehyung and [Name] told him that they had become a couple. He literally could not have been happier.

They were his favourite couple, and he loved them both…. A little too much.

When there was a hindrance in Taehyung and [Name]’s relationship which caused them to fall apart, Jungkook was distraught. Afterwards, when he realized the depths of his love for his ‘friends,’ Jungkook made an oath of his dark desires – he was going to do whatever it took to get them back together. And this time, he was also going to become part of their relationship.

Warning: As this story contains yandere themes, the characters display behaviors that can be triggering or uncomfortable to read. Read at your own risk. This work is purely fiction. I do not believe any of the mentioned members would display any sort of this behaviour irl.

(A/N: This chapter is like time skip after the last chapter. Nothing extreme like Notice Me Noona I swear, because they’re still in captivity but time skip because there wasn’t anything else to add in between this chapter and the last).

___________

Feelings linger, and we suffer.

You promised yourself to me,

In return, I promised myself to you.

You cut me deep,

And I simply let my wounds bleed.

___________

Taehyung hissed in pain as [Name] rubbed some disinfectant in his wound, and started to wrap bandage around it. As she did this, her own hands were shaking slightly due to the pain from the bruises that littered her fingers. Taehyung watched her with an observant gaze as she concentrated heavily on patching up his injuries, while enduring the pain of her own.

His heart constricted at her sight.

“You’ve gotten better at this from before,” He started, and he smiled as if he was reliving in the nostalgia of their old days. “I remember before, everytime I came home from a fight and asked you to help me bandage my wounds, you would first cry at the sight of my blood; then have me console you, and then be somewhat mentally prepared to help me bandage up. And even then, I had to hold your hands to make sure you wouldn’t pass out half way through.”

[Name] snorted.

“You would always get in fights for the littlest things. I remember when you punched that guy in high school and broke his phone because he wouldn’t delete the picture of me he took without my permission and uploaded it on his chatsnap for everyone to see. He never even glanced at me after that,” [Name] said, and she giggled. Then, she tucked the end of the cloth bandage under the folds other layers, before she patted it gently.

“There you go Mr. Tough guy.”

Taehyung gave her a grim tight-lip smile.

“I’m not tough [Name], I never was. The only thing I’m at tough at is knowing how to use my fists mindlessly, and my mouth to spew out unnecessary bullshit. I-- I hurt you for no reason [Name], and I continue to hurt you. You’re, you’re,” Taehyung stammered, as his eyebrows creased together, and he looked at [Name] up and down, who was covered in marks of red, black, blue and shades in between; she was a mess of what Jungkook referred to as “his marks of love on her.” Meanwhile, Taehyung was also forced to wear such mark. However, his condition was not as bad as [Name]’s.

“You’re this hurt because I chose to keep fucking up. I let my temper get the best of me again, and purposeply provoked Jungkook each time. But the consequences of my actions weren’t suffered by me… They, they were suffered by you. You got hurt because of me. I, all of this is my fault. I promised that I would protect you [Name], but I never have. I’ve only worsened everything for you,” Taehyung murmured, and a few tears welled in the corner of his eyes.

[Name] frowned, before she scooted closer to him, and side hugged him. As she did this, Taehyung tried to move her body away from his.

“Don’t touch me [Name], you don’t know what Jungkook might do to you if he sees you touching me when he isn’t here. It’s risky enough for us to talk, but he’s absolute on the rule of us not touching each other when he’s not here. I don’t want you to get hurt more--”

“I don’t care Taehyung, I don’t care about what Jungkook does to me anymore. You’ve hurt me Taehyung, you really have, and I won’t deny that. But this, all of this, all these things we’ve been through this time, and what Jungkook did to us, that’s not our fault Taehyung. That’s on him,” [Name] started strongly, with frustration embodying in her body, and she clenched her fist in anger. However, this frustration and anger soon morphed into anxiety, and sorrow, because her clenched fist began to shake, and her lip quivered.

“All of this… Those, those a-awful things w-when, when he, when he strangled me while he--Taehyung, it's so painful -- this is too painful. I-I don’t want to go through that again. I can’t go through that again. Taehyung I can’t handle what Jungkook does to me. Expressions and actions of love are meant to feel nice Taehyung, like they felt with you. Jungkook he-- everytime, even the littlest mistakes, he lashes out and he, he-- I, I-I can’t think about it Taehyung, I don’t want to think about it,” [Name] sobbed, and buried her head in Taehyung’s chest, as she wrapped herself fully around him. She cried and shook like a helpless child separated from their parent in public.

Immediately, like it was second nature to him, Taehyung returned her embrace by wrapping his arms around her tightly, and bringing her close to him as much as he could physically. While Taehyung had cried a few tears before, he refused to cry anymore. He did not get the privilege to vent out his feelings when now, [Name] needed him more than he needed her. She always sacrificed herself, her happiness, her feelings for him without ever asking for anything in return. She had been his biggest pillar, and now, it was time for him to step up, and do the same for her.

Taehyung patted her head gently, and kiss her forehead as a way to offer some sort of reassurance.

“You won’t have to think about it anymore [Name]. You won’t have to do anything -- Jungkook’s not going to hurt, muchless see you ever again, I promise. I promise that I’ll get us out of here [Name]. I’m going to--” Taehyung exclaimed, however, he was forced to cut his sentence short when [Name] suddenly pulled away from him.

Quickly, as fast as she possibly could, the [h/c] female pulled away from Taehyung, stood up from their sitting position, and ran to the toilet in the room. As she soon as she entered, she was on her knees, vomiting her guts out.

Like he had been doing so regularly, Taehyung followed after her instantly. Automatically, as if this had become a set routine for them, he gathered up her most of her hair, and held it back in order to assist her with her vomiting.

Casually, he remarked, “[Name], you’ve been vomiting a lot lately. It’s not normal to vomit this much.” A pause, and then a sudden realization entered his mind, which caused his eyes to widen impossibly wide.

“[Name], you haven’t gotten your period this month have you? What if?” Taehyung said, and [Name], who had finally stopped vomiting, and had motioned for Taehyung to let go of her hair, turned her head towards him with eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Just as quickly as Taehyung had realized it, [Name] was quick to put two and two together. Her eyes had widened, and right away, her hand went to her stomach.

She looked at Taehyung with fear written all over her face.

“We can’t let Jungkook know,” [Name] said. Almost instantly, they received a reply from the person whom’s presence they dreaded the most, and failed to notice when he had arrived.

Casually, as if they had gathered around for a cup of tea, and that he had so not kidnapped in order to live out his fantasy, Jungkook leaned against the door frame that led into the toilet.

He gave them a forced smile.

“What can’t we let Jungkook know?” He asked, and both [Name] and Taehyung froze.

#yandere bts #yandere x reader #bts smut #jungkook x reader #bts poly au #taehyung x reader #yandere jungkook #yandere taehyung #yandere kpop #x reader #fanfiction #yandere bangtan #vkook x reader #bts x reader #oath of desires #chapter eight #ambivalent writes

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canid-slashclaw · 4 years

Text

The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapters 10 and 11,Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Thunder roared across the skies over Triskell Quay as raindrops began to fall over the lakeside village. Kaleb emerged from the waypoint near the traveler's district and realized he had forgotten to bring a raincoat.

When he arrived home late evening yesterday his father had handed him a letter from the Queen's Seraph Guard. The parchment stated that Corporal Kaleb Grimwald was to the Kessex Hills outpost by the end of the month. It also noted that upon his return, his unit would soon be transferred to an as-of-yet undisclosed location. With his return to active duty less than a week away, Kaleb wanted to inform Amalthia right away just in case he was unable to get in contact with her later on.

He managed to make it to the butcher shop just a few minutes before the rain started to pour down in sheets. But when he opened the door he immediately noticed that the steam whistle did not sound off once the door closed. Instead, the only sound he heard was the click of the latch.

"Is anyone here?" Kaleb said as he walked toward the meat counter.

"You don't need to shout so loud. My father is sleeping." Amalthia's voice came from her upstairs loft.

As she descended the spiral staircase, Kaleb noticed her footsteps were noticeably shaky and her gait off balance.

"Amalthia! It's so good to see you. And sorry about that, I'll be quieter from now on."

She did not look in his direction once she reached the base of the stairs. Instead, she headed over to the spice aisle and began organizing the various bundles of products.

"Things would be much quieter if you just left," she said in a somber, monotone voice.

Kaleb wasn't sure what to make of what she meant, so he remained in dumbfounded silence.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Leave!"

Stunned by the sudden change in her behavior, Kaleb walked over then put his hand on her shoulder hoping she would look him in the face. But as soon as he touched her, she spun around, grabbed his hand then violently pushed it away.

"You shouldn't be here!' She hissed and stared at him with a harsh glare the likes of which he had never seen before.

"Wha... what's wrong, Amalthia? Why are you acting like this??" The expression of hurt on his face was painfully obvious.

"Why? Are you really that dense? Look in the mirror then look at me... never mind... don't look at me cause it might give you the wrong impression," Amalthia snarled as she stomped towards the front door.

"What could I have possibly done to upset you like this? We had such a good time yesterday, I don't even get why you are suddenly acting this way," Kaleb said as tears began welling up in his eyes.

"Done? I'll tell you what you did, Kaleb. You walked through that door six months ago and entered more than just this building," Amalthia said as her eyes being tearing up as well, "you walked into my heart and never left!"

Hoping to comfort her, Kaleb rushed over, but as soon as he did, Amalthia pushed him back nearly knocking him to the floor. "Don't! Just, don't. You need to just step back for a moment and take a good whiff of reality. You are human and I am charr. The world would never accept us as a romantically-involved couple."

Kaleb shook his head. "I don't believe that's you talking. You're mother got to you somehow, didn't she?"

"Leave her out of this, Kaleb. The less I have to think of her, the better my life will be. I will open this door and you will walk through it agreeing never to come back," she said as she stepped back then opened the door to the pouring rain.

"So you're just going to kick me out in the downpour, are you? If that's how you are going to treat me then you are more cowardly than most humans I know. I fell in love with you because of your honesty and strength of spirit. And I don't believe for one second that you genuinely want to roll over and cave in to the norms of society," he said as he slowly stepped towards the open door.

"And I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have, Kaleb. But you are correct in one aspect. I am doing this because my... mother... found a warband that was willing to accept me into their ranks. Please understand that I have to know how I would respond when I'm around my own people. Until I am exposed to that, neither of us can ever really be sure if I'm bonding to you out of loneliness or genuine love," Amalthia looked into his eyes as she fought a losing battle with her tears.

"I think I understand it now. Amalthia - I am going to walk out this door into dreary soaking rain and I'm going to head on over to Ulfgar's place and knock back the strongest lager he serves. It's fitting, I suppose, that today should be so gloomy. Anyway, fare thee well, Amalthia. You will forever be in my heart."

With those words, Kaleb departed running as his form vanished into the stormy torrent.

Amalthia knelt down and remained there for nearly an hour as sheets of rain began to soak her fur. She closed her eyes and began recalling the memories of the times that she and Kaleb had spent together.

"I have some warm tea for you, cub. It's been a long day for both of us," Ludrick's gentle voice came from behind as he gently placed his massive paw over her right shoulder.

"He is right!" She said as she placed her pawed hands upon the wet concrete.

"Amalthia..."

"I am a coward."

Suddenly, something within her snapped. She remembered her oath of loyalty to her original warband and what it meant to stand by those she cared about.

No. I am not a coward! I am charr! I will fight to my last breath in defense of those I love. And not even the dragons themselves will keep me away from you, Kaleb.

"I am not a coward!" She muttered as she crouched on all fours while angling towards the outside.

Ludrick sensed what she was about to do but he was too late in stopping her.

With a lunging burst, Amalthia loped from the shop on all fours, running at top speed in the blinding gale.

"I am chaaarrrr!"

Her fur became completely soaked but she didn't care. She knew where she had to go and how to get there. The only question was - would she be too late?

***

Rainfall fell heavily upon the town of Claypool as well. Soaked to the skin, a distraught Kaleb eventually found his way to the one place where he could find some measure of solace in his misery. The gas-powered lights gave off a bright orange glow just inside the windows of the Jotun's Corpse tavern.

Ulfgar had just finished serving some regulars when he noticed Kaleb's completely soaked slumped form resting with his head over his folded arms. The wise old norn immediately knew something was wrong and decided to prepare a special lager just for the distraught young man.

"By the looks of things, I can see water is comin' from more places than just your clothes. What's eatin' ya, lad?" The norn said in a voice that could shake the room yet was a gentle as a summer wind.

"Thanks, Ulfgar. It's been one of those days, yanno?"

"Those days, or those days? I can see a tale of woe behind those eyes plain as day. If you wish to get something off yer chest then I'll be right here if you wish," Ulfgar grinned as he offered Kaleb several towels.

"Definitely one of those days, my friend. Sorry about the puddles on the floor. I forgot to dress in weather-appropriate gear," Kaleb said with a downtrodden tone.

"It's not the puddles on the floor that concerns me, lad. It's the ones streamin' down yer face."

"Is there someplace we can talk more privately?" Kaleb asked as he looked around the tavern noticing all of the patrons still present.

"Of course. That table over there is especially reserved for just such occasions. C'mon my boy. Tell old Ulf what's been draggin' your bottom lip to the ground."

Once the two of them drifted on over to the more secluded location, Kaleb took one last draught before preparing his mind for what he was about to tell."

"Amalthia blew up on me earlier today for no apparent reason and claimed that any possible relationship wouldn't work out because of our differences. She said that her mom found a warband that was willing to take her into their ranks. I think her parents had a lot to do with her sudden change in temperament, honestly."

Kaleb exhaled upon thinking of the ordeal then removed his outer jacket hoping that doing so would help speed up the warming process.

"Hmm. It sounds like she wanted to protect you from further heartbreak. She may have been afraid that you would be afraid of her leaving you to be with one of her own kind."

Kaleb looked up at his long time friend and spoke with a tone steeled in resolve. "The truth is Ulfgar, I not only love her for who she is but also what she is. I am well aware that the mere sight of an interspecies relationship, especially between a human and a charr, is going to be fraught with monumental struggles from bigoted mindsets. However, there is this part of me that feels that it's the world that needs to change, not us."

"Then perhaps your true legend may lay along an entirely different path, my boy. It reminds me very much of an old norn story my father used to tell." Ulgar looked up at the vaulted ceiling of the tavern as he rested his crooked fingers against his bearded chin.

"I've got the time. Let's hear it."

Ulfgar pulled over a small chair then sat down across from the eldest Grimwald son.

"This tale is known as the Bear and the Wolf," the old norn said while gulping down a tall stein of mead.

"Long ago in the far Shiverpeaks, there wandered a lone bear. Now Bear was lost and lonely. He had become separated from his hunting grounds seasons ago when the ice sheet that connected his land with his current location had melted away."

"But off in the distance, he suddenly heard a long and somber howl. Curious to know where the howl came from, Bear followed his ears and nose to find out. What he came upon was something he did not expect. For lying in on the ground and fur matted in dried blood from an as-of-yet unseen wound, lay a she-wolf."

"Wolf looked at Bear fearing he would attack and eat her. Bear just wanted to investigate and see what was the matter."

"He soon realized that the wolf was injured. To Wolf's surprise the bear did not attack. Instead, Bear walked over, sniffed the wolf and just sat there staring at her."

"Wolf looked into those dark brown eyes then felt the strangest sensation come over her. It was as though she had known the bear before, but as to how she could not fathom. "

"Upon gazing into Wolf's golden eyes, Bear noticed that she looked strikingly familiar. Even though he could not figure out the reason, he swore to himself that no harm would come to her."

"Eventually, Bear realized that the wolf would need food soon and so he went to the riverbank and caught a fresh salmon for her to eat. Once Wolf had regain her strength, she repaid the kind act by cleaning with her tongue an old injury he had received ages ago."

"Over time the two became inseparable. Wolf hunted for Bear when prey was too swift for him to catch and he did the same for her when prey was either too strong or lived in fast-moving rivers."

"Then late one winter, Wolf came into season. Bear wanted to show his affection, but doing so would have been against the laws of nature. Yet, she was so beautiful. Why should they be denied the pleasures of each others' being all because of some taboos that had been handed down from generation to generation?"

"Then on the night of the full moon, Wolf and Bear did the one thing that others in their respective tribes told them not to do... they made love."

"The next morning when he awoke, Bear raised what he thought was his front paw as he placed it upon the outstretched back of Wolf. But he noticed that instead of a paw, he had a furless, blunt fingered hand. What's more, instead of the silken fur of the she-wolf laying beside him, she had the most voluptuous body of a flaxen-haired norn that he had ever seen."

"When both lovers realized what happened, they discovered that they had at one time been mates who had taken different paths in discovering their spirit animals."

Once Ulfgar finished his tale, he looked into Kaleb's eyes and said. "Every so often there are those who are put on Tyria for the sole purpose of defying cultural norms. Such people are referred to as outliers."

Kaleb just looked at Ulfgar with a stunned look on his face. "Wow. That had to be the most unusual norn tale I've ever heard. Thanks to you, I'll never look at a wolf or a bear the same way again."

Ulfgar laughed.

"And yer never likely to ever hear one like it again either. At least that's what my pappa always used to say."

Then it suddenly dawned on Kaleb. "They were your parents?"

An even bigger laugh echoed through the tavern as the old norn just smiled and winked.

"In a matter of speakin'..."

Several hours had passed and by now all of the patrons had left with the exception of Kaleb. Although he had consumed only a few more lagers, he wasn't completely smashed.

"I had better get home. My folks are probably worried that I may have gotten eaten by a risen or something."

"It's still a pourin' out there. Mind if I accompany ya home?"

"Thanks Ulf, but I'm fine. I'm sure I can manage my way home by myself. But thank you anyways."

After thanking Ulfgar for allowing him to stay past hours, Kaleb began his lonely trek home from the tavern. Thick drops pelted his wet hair and soaked overcoat then suddenly began to cease. When he looked up he saw a large umbrella hanging over his head. To his amazement, Amalthia was standing there holding it aloft.

With sullen eyes and ears hung low, she said to him in a soft voice. "You are going to catch cold walking home like that, silly."

"A... Amalthia?"

She looked down, standing upright, nearly a charr head and a half taller and gazed deeply into his dark brown eyes.

"I figured I'd catch you at or near the bar. Come, I'll walk you home, if you don't mind my terrible company."

Looking deeply into her golden amber orbs, Kaleb said in a reassuring voice, "you are never terrible company... well, almost never. Earlier today being the slight exception, right?"

"I completely understand if you cannot forgive me for how I acted towards you earlier. But at the very least, I wanted to tell you the why. I owe you that much."

"I'm listening."

Amalthia explained. "I am joining a warband known as the Blades. Once I am in, I will receive a last name that somewhat reflects some of my talents and personality traits. I am telling you this because mating between warband members is commonplace."

She went on further. "I know that open relationships in your culture is extremely taboo. Not so in mine. I also know if you found out that I had a physical relationship then bore cubs with one of my people, you would be devastated. I acted the way I acted in order to avoid having you subjected to even more emotional hurt."

"My house is just around the corner. I really wish I could introduce you to my family, but I'm not sure some of my members would receive you," Kaleb stated as he pointed towards the farmhouse at the end of the road.

"Give me your thoughts, Kaleb. Please."

"I've always been willing to go the distance, Amalthia. But you are going to have to meet me halfway. And by the way - there is nothing to forgive. Nothing will change how I feel about you. But if you only wish us to remain friends then that's fine too, I suppose."

She looked into his eyes for a moment, closed the umbrella then raised her head into the air and smiled.

"I love the rain. The water relaxes me and sometimes makes me say things that I normally wouldn't say to anyone."

Amalthia raised her arms aloft taking in the invigorating sensation of the raindrops against her wet furred body.

"My former warband leader violated me repeatedly in an attempt to prove what a weakling I was. I showed him a thing or two by nearly ripping his balls off with my hind claws. The truth is, I would sooner die than allow another one of my kind inside of me. It's quick and painful. I also drink nearly a cask of mead a day. I am a soiled, drunken loser who is just trying to make her way in this thing called life. If you would have a scrawny bag of bones such as me to call your mate then you would have to be godsdamn crazy!"

"Then I am crazy! Crazy in love with you!" Kaleb shouted with glee.

Amalthia looked down once more at him as she gently used her clawed index finger to brush back a lock of his hair that had washed over the left side of his face. "You silly mouse."

With a gentle caress, she slid her hand to the back of Kaleb's head then pulled him towards her muzzle. Her raspy tongue pushed past his lips as their mouths locked together in a synchronous embrace. When their mouths parted, Kaleb gently bit down on the side of her thick neck gnawing playfully until his nose rested just below her lower ear.

Savoring the sensation of her warm, wet fur Kaleb pointed towards the back of his home. "The barn has a spot where we could... you know, go all the way."

Amalthia laughed as she licked the top of his head then gently nibbled on his ear. "Kaleb. Remember what I said - one step at a time."

She then pulled back, looked him directly into his soaked face and said in a loving voice. "This was just my way of saying that I choose you over what society has chosen for me. I'm just playing the game for now… at least until we can find a way of being together in the long run."

"Then the barn can wait. It smells bad in there anyway." Kaleb smiled at her with understanding.

"Oh. I've smelled much worse. Trust me. Anyway, write me! I'll be sure to write back as much as I'm able. Once I'm in the Black Citadel we won't have to go through Ulfgar to keep in contact."

"You better believe that I'm gonna write you enough to fill an encyclopedia. By the way - I'm getting shipped back out to Kessex in the next week and from there, who knows? So it looks like we will both be doing the long-distance relationship thing for a while." Kaleb hugged her as they began to walk toward his house.

"Oh. One other thing I forgot to ask - how badly did I dag you in the butt?" She asked pointing to his posterior area.

"Not too bad. A little swollen, but otherwise fine. You have some moves on ya girl! Where'd you learn 'em?"

"Daddy taught me!" Amalthia smiled pointing towards the hilt of her sword.

"No wonder I got walloped."

"It also works great on rapist ex-warband mates as well," she chuckled.

With a final departing hug and light kiss on the lips the two lovers parted. Amalthia dashed off into the night running on all fours while Kaleb spent the next five minutes wringing out his wet garments. After cleaning up and getting into a fresh change of clothing, Kaleb fished around in his pocket for the wad of letters that Amalthia had written him previously. To his pleasant surprise, the letters were not soaked. He wanted to read them but was too tired to do so at the moment.

"Kaaalaab... there are some leftovers in the ice chest in case you want them," his mother called from downstairs.

"Thanks, mom. I'll be there in a few," he said as he grabbed some of the dry letters then lifted up the corner of his mattress to place his stash. But when he lifted it up, he found that the book on the mating habits of charr was missing.

Oh crap! Arg! Rachel! She must have been snooping in my room while I was gone.

Moments later, he ran to the door that led to his younger room and began knocking.

"Rachel..."

"Rachel!"

Her condescending voice came back just a few seconds later. "Stop banging on the door so loudly. Whaddyou want anyway?"

Kaleb growled. "You know what I want. What did you do with that book you checked out for me? I know you snuck into my room when I wasn't around. Don't lie to me!"

He was greeted by a moment of silence before he heard her snarky reply through the door. "Then maybe you shouldn't have left it in such an obvious hiding spot."

"You have no right going into my room snooping around! You got that?"

"I can go into your room when it involves MY property. That book was due back at the library anyway so I dropped it off at the return box. Gods only knows what would have happened if that librarian had contacted our parents and they found out that I checked out such a filthy book."

"Was there anything else with the book like a note or something?" Kaleb asked with a hint of distress in his voice.

"Nope. Not a thing."

At the other end of the door, Rachel sat on the bed with the Mating Rituals of the Charr. Vol. XI opened right in front of her. As she giggled and perused through the pages, she started fanning her face with the love letter that Kaleb had used for a bookmark. (Chapter 13 is also up on Google Docs)

#gw2 fanfic #tyriaslibrary #the outliers #charr and human #kaleb and amalthia #guildwars fanfiction

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bee-kathony · 5 years

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The Oath | Ch. 11 “Need”

a/n: thank you everyone who has left kind comments on this story! I will be posting the next chapter on Sunday and then continuing as normal on Wednesday :)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10

August 8th, 2019

After Frank showed up and ruined their evening by demanding that Claire come with him, Claire had spent the night cleaning up Jamie’s bloody hand. His knuckles were split and the skin around them was angry and red. As she touched the skin lightly with an alcoholic swab, Jamie winced, cursing under his breath.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s going to sting a bit.”

“Aye, it does,” he said through this teeth.

“Do you get into fights often?”

Jamie looked at her, a smug expression on his face. “Nah, och well maybe a few when I was younger. Just a stramash here and there wi’ the lads.”

“A stramash,” Claire repeated, a smile on her lips as she looked up at him through her lashes.

“A wee fight,” he smiled back softly. Slowly, he reached his uninjured hand up to cup her cheek, “Claire, I’m verra sorry ye had to see me like that, I canna hold my temper sometimes. I’d understand if ye were scairt of me now.”

Sighing, she turned her head, kissing the inside of his palm. “I’m not scared of you. Perhaps I was a bit frightened, but no… I’m not afraid.”

“Good,” he grinned. “Because ye need no be scairt of anyone or anythin’ when I’m wi’ ye.”

“And when you’re not with me?” She paused her work on his hand, holding it in her lap.

“I’ll not be far,” he ran his thumb over her cheek.

The air between them was buzzing with an electricity that made Claire’s heart beat fast. Shaking her head slightly, she bent it back down to continue to tend to Jamie’s hand. Just a few minutes later, she had it cleaned up and bandaged.

“Don’t go punching anyone for at least a week alright?”

“Aye, Sassenach,” he blushed.

Claire stood from the ground and held out her hand to help him up. When he came to his full height, Claire was standing close to him, her nose just a breath away from his chest and she looked up at him.

She thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he took a step backwards, running his unharmed hand through his hair. “Would ye like to go to Lallybroch next weekend? That is if yer free?”

“Lallybroch? Your house?”

“Aye, well ’tis Jenny and Ian’s now — her husband. My Da left it to me, but I didna have much use for a big ol’ grand house and they’ve bairns to fill it wi,” he shrugged then his expression softened and he placed his hand over her stomach.

“I’d like them to meet ye both,” he smiled. “If ye want to meet my family?”

Claire covered Jamie’s hand with hers, squeezing it gently. “I’d love to meet them. Do they know?”

His cheeks blushed pink, “Aye, they ken. It might have come up a few weeks ago.”

“What did they think? That I was some gold digger after you and your successful business?” Claire sighed, letting her hand fall to her side.

“Nah,” Jamie shook his head.

“What is it?”

“Och, ’tis nothing,” he smiled, but Claire could tell there was something else.

“Jamie, you better tell me before I meet them…”

His hand slid from her stomach and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “My sister Jenny, well—“ he sighed, his shoulders heavy. “She thinks ye to be some kind of whoor since ye dinna ken who the father is.”

Whatever she had been expecting him to say, that was not it.

“Oh.” Claire gathered her first aid kit, walking back into the kitchen to put it away.

Jamie cursed under his breath, following after her. “She doesna even ken ye Claire, ye mustn’t take it too seriously.”

“Well she’s right though isn’t she?” Claire said, her back facing him, her hands on the counter in front of her. Claire wasn’t embarrassed of her baby, nor was she embarrassed of Jamie. But the fact of the matter was that she had had a one night stand with a stranger and had gotten pregnant. Of course, it could still be Frank’s, but Claire shoved that thought aside quickly.

“Sassenach,” Jamie reached out, touching her elbow. “Ye are the furthest thing from a whoor. Yer beautiful. And smart, a good doctor wi’ a kind touch…. I know it.”

Her shoulders sank and she turned to face him. “Then I must be on my best behavior,” she smirked. “I’ll show her I’m no whore.”

Jamie laughed at hearing her speak in such a way. He’d never met a woman who swore as much as she did. “Ye’ll be meeting my godfather, Murtagh as well. I’ll ask him to come over,” Jamie smiled. “He was my Mam and Da’s best friend, been around all my life.”

“And he helps you with Fraser & Co. right?”

“Aye, he started it wi’ my Da and now wi’ me,” Jamie smiled sadly.

Claire reached up, cupping his cheek, “You miss them?”

“Every day.”

“I miss my parents as well,” Claire agreed, dropping her hand from his cheek to her stomach. “I wish they were here to meet the baby.”

“I wish that as well, Sassenach.”

Claire glanced at the clock on the wall, it was past eleven at night and Geillis had been gone for just over an hour. She knew Frank would be at the hospital all night from the beating Jamie had given him; he was also very drunk and would be hungover as well as in pain.

“Jamie,” Claire looked up at him. “Would you mind staying the night? Or at least until Geillis comes back? I just… don’t want to be here alone.”

“Och, of course, Claire,” Jamie smiled, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

“I’ll um, just make up the couch.”

What she wanted to do was ask him to her bed and not even to sleep with her, but to hold her. Claire walked to the small hall closet and pulled out a blanket and pillow for Jamie, setting it up nicely on the couch in the living room. It was probably not long enough for him, but it would have to do.

“I hope this is alright,” Claire waved her hands at the makeshift bed. Jamie smiled, sliding his arms out of his jacket and took a seat, his hands patting the cushion.

“Tis perfect, Sassenach.”

Nodding, Claire grabbed her phone and started walking back to her room.

“Claire?”

“Yes?” She turned back to him.

“Would ye,” his cheeks turned red as he sat on the edge of the couch, one hand holding a shoe he’d been taking off. “Would ye like to come and sit wi’ me for awhile? My hand,” he held his bandaged hand up, “Tis hurts a wee bit and ye always make me feel good.”

Jamie mentally cursed himself for saying such a stupid thing to her, but Claire smiled and walked back over to him. Sitting beside him, she pulled his arm around her shoulder and leaned into him as they laid back against the couch. Neither of them spoke, but simply lay there listening to the other breathing.

Two hours later, Geillis came home to find Jamie laying on the couch, his arms wrapped around Claire — both asleep. Geillis couldn’t help herself as she tip toed over to them, taking out her phone and snapping a pic. It was their first “family” photo and she knew Claire would secretly be happy she had taken the pic.

“Night, love birds,” Geillis whispered and went off to her own bed.

Being a light sleeper, Jamie had woken up when the door opened, but kept his eyes shut. He’d have to ask Geillis for the picture she’d taken, but that could wait until tomorrow.

++++++

A week passed and finally, Claire and Jamie drove up to Lallybroch — the place where they first met. A strange expression crossed over Claire’s face and Jamie noticed.

“What is it, Sassenach?”

Looking up at the estate, she remembered that she wanted to know if Lallybroch really meant “lazy tower”.

“Aye, it does,” Jamie grinned and pointed up to the large stone tower near the back. “Broch Tuarach means north facing tower.”

“But it’s circular,” Claire laughed as they stood on the gravel outside of the house. “How can it be north facing?”

Jamie smirked, staring down at her. “The door faces north, Sassenach.”

“Bloody Scot,” Clare rolled her eyes and followed him into the house. They were staying for the weekend and Claire was only slightly nervous about meeting his family — considering the situation.

“Dinna fash, Claire,” Jamie whispered to her as he set their bags down. “They’ll be in the kitchen, then.”

He took her hand, leading her through the house. It looked different in the daytime. It also looked different with less people and less alcohol coursing through her system. God, what she wouldn’t do for a dram right now.

Claire had only heard Jenny and Murtagh’s voices in the hall that night, as Jamie hadn’t wanted anyone to see them sneaking up to the library. When she laid her eyes upon his sister, she was taken aback; she wasn’t at all what she pictured.

Hair as black as the night, small frame that just reached Jamie’s chest — Jenny Fraser Murray looked almost nothing like her tall red haired brother. Claire made a mental note to ask Jamie for a picture of his parents later on.

“Janet!” Jamie embraced her, kissing the top of her head. “Tis good to see ye.”

“Aye, ye too mo bhràthair,” The woman smiled, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek and ruffle his hair as a big sister would do. Claire’s eyes followed Jamie as he then embraced a man who must be Murtagh — a tall fellow with a thick beard and kind eyes.

Jamie came to stand beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, making her feel safe, guarded. Not that she needed to be afraid of them, but she couldn’t help but feel inadequate.

“This is Claire Beauchamp,” Jamie said proudly. “And this is my bairn,” his hand slid over her stomach and Claire’s heart skipped a beat.

“It’s so nice to meet you both, I’ve heard so much about you from Jamie.”

Jamie’s godfather, Murtagh walked over to her, immediately embracing her. “We’ve heard all about ye, Claire. It’s good to finally meet the woman Jamie canna stop talkin’ about.”

Her cheeks blushed red and hot as she released him. She still felt the cold stare of Jenny in the corner and took a step forward out of Jamie’s reach and held out her hand to Jenny.

“Hi Jenny,” Claire waited, hand outstretched. “Thank you for having me in your home,” She added.

With a look over her shoulder at her brother, Jenny then cast her gaze to Claire, having to look up slightly at her. Then Claire’s heart leaped as she saw a familiar smirk on the woman’s lips and suddenly she was being embraced by Jenny Murray.

At once, Claire felt accepted. Like she belonged in whatever weird way that she did. No matter what happened between her and Jamie, they had this baby and this baby girl now had more family to love and protect her.

“Where’s Ian, Jenny?”

Jenny slid her arm around Claire’s waist, squeezing it a bit. “He’s wi’ young Jamie and Maggie in the stables, feeding the horses.”

“And Katherine?” Jamie smiled.

“Just laid her down in her crib for a nap,” Jenny smiled back and then looked up at Claire. “I’ve the three bairns, my youngest is but a few months old.”

“I’d love to meet them,” Claire grinned. Cousins. Her baby would have cousins. Growing up, Claire had always wanted siblings and cousins and she loved her Uncle Lamb, but she always wondered what it would be like to grow up in a big house with people running around it.

“Och, ye will, Claire. They’ll be screamin’ the second they get inside. The weens love meetin’ new people,” Jenny laughed.

“Ye’ve only just got here though, how about I show ye where ye’ll be stayin’ — ye’ll both be in Jamie’s old room.” Claire tensed at that and Jamie coughed awkwardly from the corner in the kitchen.

“Two rooms, Janet.”

Jenny nodded, understanding crossing her face. “Ah, two rooms. Well, Claire ye can still have Jamie’s old room. Tis nicer than the guest room which is where I’ll put Jamie.”

“Thank ye, Jenny. I can show her,” Jamie held out his hand to Claire for her to take. “We’ll be back down after we settle in.

A distinct Scottish noise come from Murtagh and Claire turned her head to see him wink at Jamie and had to try her hardest not to laugh.

“Well that went better than I thought,” she sighed as Jamie led her up the stairs.

“Aye,” he chuckled. “At first I thought Jenny was goin’ to snap yer head off, but I think she’s trying to understand and just accept what we have goin’ on.”

They walked down the same hall as that night, past the same pictures, the same doors. “That’s the library,” Claire commented as they passed it.

Jamie squeezed her hand, “Aye, tis.”

They both laughed, if only from a kind of bashfulness that came with remembering what occurred in that very room. Then Jamie opened a door further down the hallway and Claire was in his room. It was clean. Simple. And very Jamie. Or at least the Jamie that had lived here those years ago.

The bed was huge, as it had to be for someone as tall as him. A four poster wood bed with grey linen sheets and comfy looking pillows. Because Jamie only visited Lallybroch and didn’t live here, most of the personal effects that made a room its owners were gone. But there will still traces of Jamie here. Books on the shelves, a Scottish rugby team poster on the wall by the dresser.

“It’s nice,” Claire walked over to his desk, fingers tracing over a few of his items. Her eyes landed on a journal and she opened it, flicking through the pages.

“Och, dinna look at that,” Jamie came over to her quickly, shutting it fast.

“Wot? Why not?”

“Tis nothing,” Jamie laughed nervously.

“What’s in the journal, Jamie?” Claire smiled, trying to open it again.

“It’s just… well, ’tis wee stories I wrote as a lad. I dinna ken why it’s still out here in the open for anyone to be readin’,” He blushed, pulling it out of her hands.

“Will you ever let me read something you’ve written?”

“Aye,” Jamie nodded, hiding the journal behind his back. “But no today, Sassenach.”

“I won’t forget you agreed,” Claire smiled and walked over to the bed, plopping down with a sigh, “God, I could just fall asleep right here, I’m so tired.”

“Then take a nap, Sassenach.” Jamie smiled down at her as he placed her bag near what must be the closet. “We dinna have anythin’ to do.”

“What will you do?” Claire asked as she moved back on the bed.

“I’ll go and see Ian for a bit, visit my horse Donas,” Jamie nodded.

“That sounds nice,” Claire said slowly as her eyes fluttered shut. She didn’t hear Jamie leave the room, but knew that he’d left and she rolled to her side letting sleep take her.

++++++

Jamie had been nervous about introducing Claire to his family. Mainly because it wasn’t the traditional way of things. His father had told him to find a lass and marry her then start a family. Jamie had gotten those things a wee bit out of order.

He left Claire asleep on his bed, curled up on her side with her hand on her stomach. It was a beautiful sight to see, her so round with his child growing inside. At least he hoped it was truly his daughter.

Ian was where Jenny said he’d be in the stables. Young Jamie — named after him — and Maggie were leaning over the gate to feed hay to a horse named Brimstone, a mare with a lot of spirit.

“Och, Jamie lad, tis good to see ye around here. Ye brought her then?”

Nodding, Jamie couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his lips. “Aye, I did. She’s takin’ a nap upstairs. She gets tired a lot as the bairn grows.”

“I ken all about that,” Ian ruffled his hand through Maggie’s curls. Jamie squatted to her height, pinching her cheek.

“How are ye lass? Do ye remember me?”

“Of course I remember you Uncle Jamie, I saw you two weeks ago!” The little girl burst into giggles and Jamie picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

“Ye and Claire are havin’ a girl, are ye no?”

“Aye, a wee lassie,” Jamie smiled and then blew a raspberry on the side of Maggie’s stomach, only making her laugh more.

Ian smiled watching his best friend and daughter and then noticed Jamie’s bruised and bandaged hand. “What did ye do this time, man?”

Jamie followed his gaze to his hand and flexed it, still a bit sore. “Claire’s ex,” Jamie’s brows rose and he carefully set Maggie down on her feet and she ran off to where her brother was feeding another horse.

“He came by the other night, demandin’ that Claire come wi’ him and that the bairn was his,” Jamie sighed, crossing his arms tight over his chest.

“Is it his?” Ian asked.

“I dinna ken. Claire is afraid to find out, so I told her we wouldn’t, but it’s killing me,” Jamie’s shoulders sagged with the weight of the pressure he’d been holding up. He wanted to know and very badly, but he didn’t want to push Claire into anything.

“Of course it is,” Ian clapped his hand on his back. “Tis only normal that ye’d want to know if the bairn is yers or not. Will you stay wi’ her, if the lass isna yers?”

Jamie turned to face his brother-in-law, “Of course. I made her a promise that I willna break. She doesn’t have anyone.”

“Just because she doesna have anyone, doesna mean that she must rely only on ye brother,” Ian said, shrugging as he returned to his kids. Jamie knew that Claire was strong and that she didn’t need him. But Jamie wanted Claire to need him — to want him to stay and be with her. And she’d told him as much. But Jamie also wanted to have every part of her and then he remembered that this visit to Lallybroch wasn’t exactly just for Claire to meet his family.

He walked back into the house and upstairs to what had once been his mother and father’s room, but was now Jenny and Ian’s. Jenny had kept all of their Mam’s jewelry and had told Jamie where to find their mother’s wedding ring should he need it.

Jamie found it. A beautiful simple silver band with thistles carved into it and took it from the box and stashed it in his pocket. He didn’t know when, but only hoped there would be a time that he would need it.

Chapter 12: Conversations

#the oath #outlander fanfiction #outlander fanfic #chapter 11 #need #jamie x claire #jamie fraser #claire fraser #mclairefras #curlsgetdemgurls

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xxsovereignsarayaxx · 5 years

Text

Elizabeth Mikaelson - What If Chapter 14

Authors Note: I’m back baby! Here is a super long chapter to make up for my absence. I also want to get to know the super amazing family who read this so feel free to send me questions or requests. Any-hoo Enjoy this fab new chapter!! Want to be added to the Lizzie-Lijah Stag Tag? Let me know you beautiful people! 🖤💜

Lizzie-Lijah Stag Tag: @skeletoresinthebasement Daniel laid dead on the wooden floor his heart by his lifeless corpse, Elijah was busy wiping his hand that was covered in the young hybrids blood with his neatly pressed white handkerchief that was commonly found in the inner pockets of his suits. I stood in the doorway shocked but I was also happy to see my husband was finally free from his coffin and from that wretched silver dagger. Both Niklaus and Elijah had taken a glace to see me standing among them.

"So Niklaus what did I miss?" Elijah asked.

Nik was stunned unable to answer his brother, I couldn't help myself any longer even though I was a little distance away I sped over to my husband and looked him deep in his brown eyes momentarily getting lost in them.

"Elizabeth you look beautiful as ever." He says while tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear and then following up to gently take my hand and plants a small kiss on my knuckle.

"Niklaus you look surprised to see me so it wasn't you who removed the dagger from my chest." Elijah said breaking the silence, letting go of my hand and turned to take a few steps towards his brother.

"You look like you could do with a drink. And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?" Nik suggests, gesturing for Elijah to follow him to move to another part of the house.

Suddenly out of nowhere Elijah sped towards his brother and attacked him throwing him through a set of closed doors, hearing glass and wood smashing alike. "Easy! I've just finished renovating" Niklaus shouts gritting his teeth. Getting back to his feet Nik rushes over and puts Elijah through a table.

"NIKLAUS! ELIJAH!" I shouted trying to get them to stop fighting before one of them got seriously hurt.

"You know you have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word, I reunited you with our family." Niklaus says while he had Elijah pinned down.

Elijah rushed up and attacks his brother once more bringing the fighting to where the coffins were stored noticing that they had no intention of stopping anytime soon I quickly had to use my speed and agility to move out of the way otherwise I would have been collateral damage. Niklaus got knocked against one of the coffins and swiftly opens the lid and removes the dagger from the occupant and threatens my husband with it while pinned against another.

"Don't make me do this to you again Elijah!" Nik says.

"Come on. Use it. I dare you. You'll have Kol to deal with." Elijah replied.

"NIK!" I shouted once more.

I was getting upset more by the second this fight carried on and my emotions were flying all around the place, I stared at the silver dagger that was in my brother in laws hand and suddenly I heard a sizzling sound and Nik drops the dagger in a flash. The sound of the dagger hitting the floor breaks my focus and I just flutter my eyelids in confusion. Using the quick sudden turn in events I rushed over and grabbed the dagger earning a glare from Niklaus and a worried look from Elijah.

"Mikael is dead!" Nik blurted out relaxing his grip on his brother.

"What did you say?" Elijah replied dumbfounded straightening up.

"I killed him. With his own weapon. He's gone Elijah. Forever." Nik says walking over to me gesturing for me to hand him back the dagger, my eyes met with his and I reluctantly placed the hilt of the dagger into his palm.

"Why do our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over nine hundred years, Kol for over a century." Elijah asks.

"Because of Stefan Salvatore. He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them. There are things that you do not know about our past, Elijah. Our mother's death. Things I never wanted you to know but I'm ready to tell you now. I only ask that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me." Nik states, he moves to a small table that was placed to the side of the room and opens the lid on a small jar dipping the tip if the dagger inside it and made his way over to the coffin where the body if Kol was placed in.

"Nik? What are you doing?" I asked softly. The dagger is inserted back into Kol and Nik looks at me for a moment and then at Elijah.

"Always and forever. I need you both to stand by my side. Elijah be my brother. Help me destroy Stefan and I promise you both our family will be whole again." Nik promised us as he closed the lid on Kol's coffin.

After the confrontation between Elijah and Niklaus, Nik had left, said he was hungry and left me and Elijah alone. Instinctively I went to go find a sweeping brush to start tidying up the mess of the broken glass and wood the two brothers had caused in their fight. It was only as I was about to leave the room Elijah gently grabbed me by the hand to stop me moving.

"I've missed you my dear." He says bringing me into an embrace.

"I've missed you to Elijah, so much it was driving me crazy not having you by my side." I admitted inhaling his scent while feeling safe in his arms.

"I have no intention on leaving your side again Elizabeth you have my word." Elijah tells me.

"I love you." I replied breaking away from Elijah's embrace.

"And I love you."

With that Elijah's lips were on mine. The feeling of his touch on my body once more brought sparks throughout my body, the kiss became rough as we moved around throughout the house and we ended up in our bedroom. My hands slipped around Elijah's neck as I looked into his eyes, a small tear left my own eyes and I pressed a long, deep kiss on his lips.

"Forgive me." I whispered and with a simple motion I snapped the neck of my husband, his body slumped against mine as I gently laid his body on the bed, getting up I quickly made my way over to my handbag that was placed near the door and lifted out a small needle filled with heavily concentrated vervain giving the contents a quick flick I then gently inserted the needle into Elijah's arm, I had to reduce his healing ability, I just had to. Yes I worked so hard trying to get Elijah back and I honestly I felt so guilty for snapping Elijah's neck, but I need to step up and take control to what and how this family handle things we cant just kill anyone who stood in our way, we have the ability to negotiate with our enemies so why don't we? I took a final glance at the bed and got dressed to meet up with Damon.

It was early morning and as I searched walking through some of the woods I picked up the end of a phone call. "Tea with a friend." I stood tall and proud as I waited for Damon to end the call.

"Now your not my favorite original, matter of fact your not an original at all but your by far the prettiest of the Mikaelson's." Damon says sarcastically putting his phone in his pocket.

"Best not let Rebekah hear you say that." I replied with a chuckle.

"I put two and two together Damon I know it was you who removed the dagger from my husband, I mean who else would have slipped this note inside Elijah's jacket pocket?" I added pulling the note from my coat pocket holding it with two fingers.

Damon let out a small laugh. "Oh yeah, Dear Elijah, let's get together and plot the destruction of your brother xoxo."

I raised my eyebrow "Damon." I finished.

"Was I right to un-dagger Elijah or are we going to have a problem?" Damon asks me.

"Considering I took a page from Niklaus' handbook just to be here you tell me." I replied.

"Where is that husband of yours then?" Damon asked.

"Curious one aren't we? Elijah is currently recovering from a snapped neck so he won't be joining our little chat, but I do hope my little ruse didn’t leave any hard feelings? I'm here now let's talk." I replied sarcastically.

"I'll start with an easy question. Any idea what kind of Klaus-killing weapon could be magically sealed in a mystery coffin?" Damon asked once more.

"Now we both know I'm not that old however I'm aware of a few family secrets, well how about this. I shall organize I nice little evening to where your brother and Niklaus can try and patch things up and you pop the lid on the mystery coffin." I replied sweetly.

"How about telling me what's inside it?" Damon inquired.

"You get Stefan to agree to be on his best behavior and I'll explain everything once the lid is open." I sassed.

"How can we be sure your on our side?" Damon asks.

"You don't, I'll see you at eight." I said with a smile and quickly left leaving Damon standing alone in the woods.

As I returned back to the mansion I saw Elijah sitting in the living room a glass of whiskey perched on the arm of the chair he was sat crossed legged in a old book sat in his lap, he glances up as he sees me walk through the front door. All that was present of the face of my husband was the look of disappointment, so in order to get things cleared up I made my way over to him. Cautiously I closed the book Elijah was reading.

"I understand you have have every right to be furious with me." I said quietly.

"I don't think furious is the correct word my dear, betrayed seems to be more fitting." Elijah replied dryly.

"I had no choice, with you gone it was down to me to play your role in this family. Niklaus was causing nothing but chaos..." I started.

"And yet you joined him? Seems you and Niklaus have spent too much time together." Elijah interrupted.

"My efforts were to get you back Elijah! It was all I ever wanted. I had to get Nik to believe I was on his side. I couldn't sleep at night knowing you were so close yet so far from my reach, call me pathetic but I felt like I was going insane. I didn't have your touch, presence, I just didn't have you. I chose you all those years ago and I still choose you now Elijah. You are my husband. Just as I am your wife." I shot back as I poured my feelings out.

"I love you Lijah, I always have and I always will." I added with a whisper.

I looked down at my wrist to check the time on my rose gold watch, I had roughly nine hours to put together a civilized dinner between the Mikealson's and the Salvatore's.

"I hate to put this conversation on pause but we have some other matters to discuss, I've invited Damon and Stefan Salvatore to dinner tonight, if you would like to join me in having a hand to prepare the menu for this evening I would be honored. Your wine pairings have been perfect over the years." I suggested with a smile. Elijah straightened his tie and fiddled with his cuff links.

"Of course, shall we?" Elijah says holding out his hand.

After some hard work with getting Nik to be on his best behavior and agree to attend tonight's dinner, along with setting up the perfect menu for the evening, I was finally sat in front of the wooden oak vanity in mine and Elijah's shared bedroom, carefully brushing through my curled hair to add a pair of diamond earrings, the final touches to my dress for the evening. It was an elegant off the shoulder, red knee length dress showing just the right amount of cleavage. Pairing with matching red high heels I looked simply divine. I felt the cold sensation of metal drop to my collarbone.

"I know we haven't spoken about anything but business since this morning, but you look simply beautiful, however I felt you were missing something." Elijah says gently as he places a white gold necklace around my neck. After fixing the clasp he planted a simple kiss to my lower neck.

"After this evening has been done and dusted I wanted to have a talk if that's ok?" I asked.

"I'd love nothing more" Elijah replied helping me to my feet. As we both walked down the stairs hand in hand we saw Nik waiting for us at the bottom.

"Seems that you both are better acquainted." He says with a smirk.

"Not now brother." Elijah says shaking his head a little, as he made his way to the front door, as he opens it revealing Damon and Stefan.

"Please behave yourself." I said in a hushed tone as I was straightening my dress.

"Niklaus, Elizabeth our guests have arrived." Elijah says as he invites the two brothers inside, we were all stood in the hallway of the mansion.

"Damon. Stefan. Elijah tells me, you seek an audience. Very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?" Nik states.

Stefan glanced at Elijah raising an eyebrow "It's better to indulge him." Elijah adds.

"Come gentlemen, a lovely menu has been created just for tonight's proceedings, I do hope it is to your liking." I announced to try and ease the tension as I lead everyone into the dinning room, the large table was all set up with food with the slight help if the two female servants Niklaus had compelled to assist me.

"I didn't come here to eat. Fact, I didn't want to come here at all. But I was told I had to cause Klaus would hear us out." Stefan grumbles.

"Well, we can sit and eat this lovely meal my sister in law has put together or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. The choice is yours." Niklaus replies.

We all sat at the table and everyone apart from Stefan began eating. One of the servants pours wine in our glasses. "Thank you Marla." I replied sweetly as she moved to Damon's glass.

"Thank you, love." Damon says with a flirtatious smile.

"You lost your appetite?" Niklaus asks Stefan. "Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home." Damon says to his brother, sighing

Stefan starts to eat the food that was placed in front of him, I looked around the room and I gave a reassuring smile to each of the male vampires in the room.

"That's the spirit. Isn't it nice? Five of us dining together? Such a treat. Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?" Niklaus says to Damon with a smirk.

"Well, I know how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier." Damon replied playfully and winked at Elijah. Rolling my eyes I reached out to take another sip of wine.

"Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the century. But we always make it through." Nik replied with a smug look.

"The only reason why you and Elijah made it through this century is the fact that I was often around to try and stop the you pair destroying whatever house or town we lived in." I thought to myself.

"Kind of like you and Rebekah, right? Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her." Stefan spoke up stealing Nik's smug expression from him.

"If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah." Nik replied.

"Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad? Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert." Damon said sarcastically.

"We're here to make a deal, Damon. Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses." Stefan shot back in a grump.

"I think what your brother is trying to say is that we have a lovely evening ahead of ourselves so pace yourself Mr Salvatore." I interjected pointing my knife at Stefan with a sickly smile.

The next few courses seemed to go on without a hitch until Elijah had asked about Elena. "Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Elijah asked innocently.

"I don't know. Ask Damon." Stefan replied sharply. Nik started to laugh at the sudden change of atmosphere.

"I'm sorry, you've missed so much. Ah, trouble in paradise." I let out a sigh at Nik’s reply to his brother.

"One more word about Elena and this dinner's over." Stefan snapped.

I sent a glare at my brother and he stopped chuckling and put a finger to cover his lips. "Perhaps it's probably best if we keep Miss Gilbert in the do-not-discuss pile" I said to the other males at the table, hoping that it would be a warning to Niklaus to keep quite about Elena.

"I think your right." Damon said agreeing with me. Shortly after that I had excused myself from the table to help the two compelled humans take some of the empty dishes into the kitchen to be cleaned and put away.

"Its just the allure of the Petrova doppelganger, still so strong." Niklaus said from the other room his words echoed in my mind as I scrapped the left over food into the bin.

"Mrs Mikaelson shall we bring out the next course?" Marla asked me. Breaking myself from my thoughts I recomposed myself, "Yes would you please take out the next course while I speak with my husband regarding another bottle of wine." I replied back to her.

As Marla left I went over to the cupboard and selected five clean wine glasses. "So you both loved the same girl?" I overheard Stefan ask. Placing the glasses on the side I quickly re-entered the dinning room.

"Yes both Niklaus and Elijah have loved the same girl, on more then one occasion might I add. Harsh words and blows where traded but they are as strong now then ever before because 'Family above all' is the sacred bond that keeps us together." I said proudly.

"Family above all." Elijah and Niklaus said in unison clinking their glasses together.

"So, why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah says to break the silence.

"That's very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan, and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges." Damon responds taking a sip of wine.

"The deal sounds fair brother." Elijah says and looks at his brother.

"I also agree Nik, maybe it is best if we leave Mystic Falls behind this time for good?" I suggested.

"I don't think any of you understand. Elena's doppelganger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind." Nik starts as he gets up from his chair and paces around the dinning room, I looked at the Salvatore's and then Elijah and then cautiously got up from my own chair and made my way over to Niklaus.

"Brother please calm yourself." I said quietly trying to calm him down.

"Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is...the two of you." He finished.

Damon gave a weak smile to Elijah and myself before getting up from his occupied seat. "I'm going to get some air." He says leaving the room.

"Let me deal with this." Elijah says to his brother.

"Do you wish for some fresh air my dear?" Elijah asked me.

"Please." I replied to him and made my way to Elijah.

"Why don't you both try and come to some sort of arrangement without killing each other?" I suggested to Niklaus and Stefan, and joined Damon outside.

"So oh so noble one, what's the plan?" Damon asked Elijah.

"Plain and simple Damon we win Klaus' trust we do as he asked, continue to play the charade that we have all played a part in." I said to Damon.

"So your the one calling the shots?" Damon asked raising an eyebrow.

"We all have our reasons for wanting to get back at Klaus, I've had time to think and to...plot" I replied.

"You sound a lot like him you sure your on our side?" Damon started.

"I assure you Damon, Elizabeth's intentions will always be honorable don't ever forget that." Elijah warned the younger vampire stepping closer to him.

"Now shall we?" Elijah asks Damon gesturing towards the door.

"What do you say, Klaus? It's time for you to put something on the table. We've made our offer, now you counter." Damon asks as we all re-entered the dinning room.

"Okay. I offer Elena's future happiness. You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot. And to fall in love with a human, maybe that nice football player, you know the blonde one?" Nik replies.

"Matt Donovan??" Damon and I say together.

"Yeah, why not? They'll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family." Nik replies with a smile.

"And continue the Petrova bloodline. Every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelganger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right Klaus?" Stefan interrupter shaking his head.

"Consider it a small return on my investment in her well-being. See, after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life. You know it's what's best for her." Nik says to him as he gets up from his seat to walk towards Stefan.

"So, what do you say Stefan, hmm? Do we have a deal?" Nik speaks again sounding hopeful. Stefan who was stood up already headed towards my brother in law, myself Elijah and Damon stood slightly away from the two vampires held our breathes. Niklaus holds his hand out for Stefan to shake, he grabs it.

"Nice try, Klaus. But no deal." Stefan replies. Suddenly Niklaus breaks Stefan's arm he yells out in pain, he then kicks one of his legs which instantly breaks he falls to one knee and Nik grabs the broken arm and forces it into the nearby fire place which was roaring ablaze. Stefan screams in pain as his hand burned in the fire. Damon attempted to rush over to try and help his brother but Elijah intercepts and stops him.

"What are you doing?" Damon hisses at my husband.

"Wait." I hissed back as Nik continues to hold Stefan's hand in the fire by the sight and smell of burning flesh I could tell it was bad.

"Stop!" Damon shouts.

"Niklaus that’s enough!" I shouted.

"Now, bring me my coffin before I burn him alive!" Niklaus demanded.

"I'll get it." Damon says.

"Go with him, brother. You keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you and I will hand over our family." Nik adds. Elijah bowed his head slightly and turns to leave with Damon and myself.

We headed into one of the lower rooms of the house and Elijah opened up the coffins that belonged to my family. "The plan?" Damon asks growing irritated.

"I shall un-dagger my siblings, Elizabeth would you please return to Niklaus while we wrap things up here." Elijah asks me.

"Of course, my pleasure." I replied planting a kiss to his cheek and headed back to Niklaus and Stefan.

"Niklaus enough with the fire cinematic's." I shouted as I pushed him away from Stefan and helped him to his feet.

"Are you ok?" I asked he nodded and got back up to his feet.

"You really have given up, haven't you? Where's the fight? Where's the Ripper?" Nik spats trying to itch closer to the younger Salvatore. I heard several different sets of footsteps and a smile plastered my face.

"Whats with you?" Nik asks me looking confused. He turns to see Elijah, Damon and Marla to whom was holding a silver tray.

"Elijah...why haven't you left?" Nik asks.

"Where are you manners, brother? We forgot dessert." He replied as he lifts the cloche from the tray to reveal two silver daggers.

"What have you done?" Nik asks gritting his teeth. "What have you done? You see, I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now." Elijah spats. I returned to Elijah's side happy with the outcome of what was happening.

"You've taken away our family for the last time Niklaus it ends today!" I added to my husbands remark.

Seeing Nik trying to apprehend what was happening more chaos entered the room and by more chaos I mean the one and only Kol Mikaelson.

"Kol." Nik states.

"Long time no see brother." He says stepping towards his younger brother. Nik starts to step backwards but Finn suddenly appears grabs one of the daggers from the tray and then stabs him in the hand.

"Finn, don't!" Nik begs. He then rushes backwards but bumps into his only true sister.

"Rebekah!" He shouts sounding slightly shocked. She then stabs him with the dagger.

"This is for our mother." She shouts. As Rebekah pulls out the dagger, Finn and Kol restrain and pin their brother down. Elijah turns to Stefan and Damon.

"This is family business, your free to go." He states.

I turned to usher Stefan and Damon to the front door. "Thank you for a lovely evening gentlemen, hope to see you again soon boys." I said with a giggle.

"Are you sure your going to alright?" Damon asks.

"Oh please, I'll be more then fine Damon this will be the highlight of the evening. Be sure to get the coffin back. We will speak later." I replied and closed the door and headed back inside to my family.

As Rebekah was roaming around one of the rooms she picks up a vase and looks at the detailing. "I love what you've done with the place Nik." She says sarcastically throwing the vase full force at a wall it smashes into a million pieces.

"I wanted it to be for all of us. A place we could all call home. A place we could all be a family. None of us would ever have to be alone again." Nik stutters.

"Well you're right, none of us will be." Elijah says stepping forward.

"Your staying behind." Finn announces.

"We're leaving you, Nik. Right after I kill that doppelganger wench, then you will be alone. Always and forever." Rebekah adds.

"It's your turn to be alone after you have made each of us suffer." I finished.

"If you run, I will hunt all of you down." Nik spats.

"Go for it!" I growled heading towards my brother in law, his eyes glowed a yellow while mine glowed red, this time I didn't back down I felt no longer frightened.

"Then you'll become everything you hate. Our father." Elijah says to break the tension, gently rubbing my arm to calm my temper.

"I'm the hybrid! I can't be killed! I have nothing to fear from any of you." Nik shouts his voice echoed throughout the house.

"You will when we have that coffin." Elijah shouts back. Suddenly we all here the front door of the mansion open, the entire family turned to see who was at the door and to all our shock.

"Mother?" Rebekah gasped.

"Look at me! Do you know why I'm here?" Esther commanded.

With tears forming in his eyes. "Your here to kill me." He struggled.

"Niklaus, you are my son and I am here to forgive you. I want us to be a family again." She says looking around at each of us her eyes landed on me and Elijah and for the first time ever I stood face to face for the first time with my mother in law and I had no idea how I felt but yet I felt the pure power that irradiated from her body.

The original witch.

The only emotion I felt was...Shock.

#elizabeth mikaelson #Damon the eternal stud #vampire diaries #vampire bookclub #elijah mikealson #elijah mikaelson x reader #Niklaus Mikealson #klaus mikaelson #Rebekah Mikealson #Kol mikaelson #damon salvatore #Stefan Salvatore #elena gilbert #this is why we can't have nice things #fanfiction #Wattpad #love my readers #Fill my inbox

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silenthillmutual · 4 years

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I don't know if you're the right person to tell this to but I think my mom's emotionally abusive. She gets mad whenever I get upset at her and gaslights me(probably??) whenever I call her out. I tried to tell her that she never apologized for hurting my feelings and she responded with, "I don't have to apologize to you" and it just made me feel worse. My family's Christian and all but I'm scared to tell the pastor(or anyone) because I don't want her to get mad at me. Do you have any advice?

I guess I’m a decent source for that, and I’ve got enough spoons today to answer this!

I’ll be honest with you, a parent reacting with anger whenever you get upset with them is never a good sign. The “I don’t have to apologize to you” response is definitely emotionally abusive, especially if it’s not a reaction in a vacuum; anything as an isolated incident is understandable since we all make mistakes, but this doesn’t sound like a one-off thing.

I had a couple of friends help me through being gaslit myself; here are a few articles on the topic, all of which are pretty brief:

Were You Born Under the Gaslight?

11 Warning Signs of Gaslighting

a resource post from r/RaisedByNarcissists

I’m not a psychologist in any capacity, but having been through it myself and having sat down and watched a film adaptation from where the term hails, here’s a sort of brief rundown of some things gaslighters will do to their victims:

making attempts to isolate you (from friends, from family members, etc; ex, excessive monitoring of your communications with friends to the point of taking your phone or computer so you can’t contact them, although this may be done subtly)

telling you that you have traits or attributes that do not feel or sound like things you do (ex, telling you that you are “forgetful” or “tend to lose things” even when you are not a forgetful person)

accusing you of lying, whether directly or indirectly (ex. asking, “what did you do with x thing?”, not believing you when you say you haven’t seen it; then when you find it, saying something to the effect of, “so you did know where it was”)

saying things with emotion and then denying there is any emotion behind their words (ex. if they say something to you in an angry way and when you say, “don’t be angry,” they say, “i’m not angry” and look at you like you’re crazy)

making you look bad in front of others (this can be making you look like a jerk, making you look inconsiderate, making you look foolish, like a buzzkill, etc.)

taking on a tone to imply that you are scaring them, even when you have not done or said anything out of the ordinary (if you’re thinking to yourself, “i didn’t even have any emotion behind this, i didn’t even sound angry” and they’re reacting like they’re afraid you’re going to hit you? that’s gaslighting)

whiplash mood swings and honeymooning - quickly going from being angry at you to putting on a convincing happy act in front of others; “honeymooning” is when, after a period of abuse, they start to act really nice and considerate towards you, making you think that they’ve changed, or maybe they do one really nice thing for you as a way to “make up” for their behavior (this never lasts, don’t buy it.)

turning themselves into the victim of every situation (guilt tripping you, especially in situations where you are telling them that they have hurt you. parents really love this one; it’s the “oh so i’m a horrible parent” comeback to any time you’ve ever said “this really hurt my feelings”)

infantalizing you (another parental favorite)

upsetting you in public, covertly, so that only you are aware of what they have said/done

threatening you with institutionalization

Another big one that I don’t think I mentioned here because it’s not one that came up in the film is outright denying that something ever happened. We tend to assume that’s something we’d be able to catch outright, but the truth of the matter is that their lies start out small and they do all of these things above & more for the sake of putting you off balance and confusing you so that by the time their lies get to the level of things you should be able to look at and say plainly, “that’s not true,” you’ve gotten to the point where you feel like you can’t trust your own memory or judgement of things.

I’ll give a couple examples because the list of potential things they could lie about goes between fairly small stuff to extreme stuff:

my mother claimed once that she was never on her phone during dinner

my mother claiming she’d never seen movies that not only did i remember her commentary on, but i’m pretty sure one of them we actually saw in theatres

her claiming i’d never told her things that i most definitely had told her before

combined with that one: lying about the last time we’d had contact; right before i cut off all contact with her i was able to actually screenshot the dates and times of the last time we’d spoken and send them to her

lying about actual historical facts; in my mother’s case: refusing to acknowledge that ABA had, since its inception, used aversives and was abusive in practices, was the foundation of the conversion therapy movement. i sent her screenshot and link proofs of this as well and she did not appreciate it

she also claimed that she never threatened to kick me out of the house and claimed that i promised her i would start therapy before starting HRT - neither of which are accurate or even remotely believable (you really think i’d up and move w two weeks notice halfway across the country if i hadn’t been kicked out? i have to laugh.)

Another one that did not really get shown well in the film but that I believe i’ve read somewhere and have personal experience with, is that they like to keep you traumatized. It keeps you in a state of like... uncertainty, I guess you could say. It keeps you from feeling completely lucid or in control of things, and more likely to need help and depend on them for continued support. They may also be likely to mess with your head in other ways, like with the use of drugs - and I don’t just mean illegal ones; parents who have control over your medication and make sure you take it do have to potential to keep you up on medications you don’t actually need as a method of control. (Both of these can actually be seen in use in the film Midsommar w/ the suicide ritual being a method of continued trauma and the constant drug use being...obvious. I’m sure it gets used in other places too but that was the first one to come to mind, and Aster does a really good job of showing how effective that shit is.)

I don’t really know what other religions rules are like when it comes to confidentiality. I was raised Catholic, and there was a certain understanding about priests and ethics that pretty much went that unless you had a warrant (and on top of that, a damn good reason; iirc there have been plenty who don’t even testify under oath) they weren’t to tell anyone what you told them in confidence. If you know anything about their ethics regarding that or even feel that you can ask them safely about it, it could be a good place to start if you feel that church community is one where you feel safe.

The biggest roadblock tbh is age and...idk how else to put this other than status? If you’re a minor there is, unfortunately, not a lot you can do to get away from her or get her to stop - especially if you’re in a situation where she’s really your only parent. Which is sort of what I meant by status; do you have another parent or step-parent, sibling, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc you feel you could talk to about it?

I really wish I could recommend school guidance counselors, but I’m not altogether sure they’re equipped with the right materials to help you out there. That being said, if you have a family member that you can trust to help you find a therapist outside of school, that would also be a really good resource; whether you’re an adult still living within that contact or a minor who can’t get away at the moment, a therapist can help you come up with some coping techniques to deal with it until you can safely get away. I’d suggest looking for one who specializes in trauma or in PTSD, esp if they have c-PTSD listed (the ‘c’ is for complex, which is a proposed addition(??) to PTSD that would separate a singular traumatic event from an ongoing traumatic situation like living in war zones, being a POW, domestic violence, etc). PsychologyToday has a search function for finding accredited therapists in your area that should list their specialties, credentials, and insurance plans they take. (And if you’re asked why you need one, honestly, extrapolate on a minor issue. Like tbh you could just say body image issues.) Therapists are bound by license-revoking ethics not to tell anyone what you discuss in therapy unless you are going to hurt yourself or someone else.

[If you feel you’re being monitored too closely at home and don’t have a way to get this information at school, I suggest asking a reference librarian to help you out. A lot of public libraries will have community resource information, and if they don’t have flyers or brochures out, reference librarians’ entire jobs are to help you access information whether that’s in the library or in the community! That’s why I work in LIS, lol.]

Other than that the two big pieces of advice I have are:

Build up a support network outside your family. If you feel you can’t trust them with this, or even if you’re worried about putting them in the middle of a difficult situation - and even if those aren’t concerns for you - it’s always good to have a support network that isn’t connected to the situation in some way. Most of my support network came from friends, a bulk of whom I knew from online, and from coworkers. The first person to tell me I was being gaslit was actually a coworker, who I talked to when I got kicked out and was shaken up about it. I had a p good relationship w my boss and all my coworkers there, so when I had to put in my two weeks’ notice I actually got an offer to stay with my boss in the event that the situation escalated, and also knew I could go and stay with my one of my best friends with their grandad, or their sister. In fact, right when that happened, my friends already had a kind of escape plan half-formed because things had just kind of been getting worse, and for almost a year now I’ve been living with my other best friend. Even if things never get to the point of you having to leave the house, just having people that you can rely on who will be on your side entirely is crucial to dealing with that kind of stress.

If you think or feel you may be getting gaslit - even if you’re thinking to yourself that you’re just blowing things out of proportion or that it’s “not that bad” (a lot of us go through that) - start keeping a journal of things your mother says to you. You don’t have to show anyone. Just keep it for yourself. It doesn’t even have to be anything important; like I said earlier, it can be as simple as off-handed comments about movies you’ve watched or appointments you’ve made or what have you. Write them down when they happen, date them, and then when she says something that you feel contradicts what you’ve already heard - you can fact-check it. You can also do this with screenshots if it’s over text or something, and if you think you can get away with secretly recording her on your phone that might help too. I don’t recommend telling her you’re doing this or pointing out when she’s been lying; in the event she doesn’t outright deny it she could flip it around to make herself the victim or spiral out of control and get worse - this is just for your peace of mind. The goal of gaslighting, to quote the movie, is to “systematically [drive] you out of your mind”. This would just be a way to reassure yourself that you’re not making it up, you didn’t forget, you’re not blowing things out of proportion.

If you need anything more specific, feel free to let me know! I’m so sorry you’re going through this, it really just fucking sucks. But I believe you can make it! And there is an it - there’s an out, even if it’s hard to get to or takes long.

#advice #links #long post #abuse ment #gaslighting #ok to rb #ask to tag #plato posts #[redacted] asks #answers.txt

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kimvvantae · 5 years

Text

Umbra; 9

➜ being ruled by an ancient commandment, your sole purpose is to serve. you were born to protect the king with your life, tied by an everlasting oath; you are nothing but a shadow, a silent and insignificant being. he appears to you like the sun, the warmest and brightest star in the sky, and gives you a chance to live. it is then that your entire universe starts to orbit around this sun, and you decide that you are truly willing to die for him.

pairing: King!Taehyung x (f) hybrid!reader

genre: royalty au, fantasy, angst

warnings: descriptions of violence, blood, death, mistreatment and abuse that might be triggering especially on this chapter.

word count: 11.3k oh wow

A/N: I will repeat it here because some people seem to ignore the warnings. I tried to make things as brief as possible, but this chapter in special contains a particular scene that might be a trigger. I know that even the tiniest mention can make some people uncomfortable, so I’m warning you again. If you have any issue or trauma regarding abuse, proceed with caution. If you are sure that even the lightest mention might trigger you, I advise you to simply jump past Y/N’s flashback. Although the scene does not contain any explicit description and it’s not heavy at all, I don’t want to trigger anyone.

enjoy uwu.

➜ Chapters: check up masterlist in bio!

“It means I’ll be able to buy dresses, brother?”

Yoongi huffed, however he had a big gummy smile on his lips – a rare sight. “Chuu, you’ll be able to buy much more than just dresses.”

The girl let a high pitched, excited scream at this.

I watched with a small smile, sat a little far from them. The entire palace was euphoric that morning – and not because of the presence of Vanaheim’s Princess.

The announcement of the new work-policy has just been released.

Posts were glued on walls all over the service area, and even at the kitchen. Superiors were deemed to explain the entire situation clearly. Slowly, each servant – worker; this is how everyone should be called from now on – received a document showing their exact monthly payment according to their task. Also, the superiors had to explain (between gritted teeth) that no moral abuse or physical punishment would be tolerated, and if they wanted to keep their jobs they would have to act accordingly.

The palace was smiles everywhere.

It was barely nine in the morning, but the service area was a mess - in a good way. I heard people saying how they could be able to sustain their families now, how they could have a better life or remodel their houses, or even how they would be able to finally open their own businesses and be free from the palace. The usual quiet and serious palace was now exultant.

I looked at Yoongi and Chuu. The catman seemed slightly dizzy, as if he still couldn’t believe his eyes. Chuu was just laughing and rambling about all the pretty dresses she would buy. I looked at the shiny breaded bracelet on her wrist, which I gave her just a few days ago – and she loved it immediately.

Well... it wasn’t exactly my gift, but I hadn’t told her yet exactly who gave it.

Someone sat quietly by my side. I crossed my arms.

“I told you His Majesty is good.”

Jungkook sat there in silence, not looking at me. He watched the commotion around us. His dark eyes showed some confusion.

“How do you know he did it himself?” He asked suspiciously.

“He showed me the entire document before anyone else. It was really him.”

The rabbit-boy crossed his arms and looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Why would he show you first? Aren’t you his guardian or something?”

I could see the word “slave” passing through his mind. “He treats me like a normal person. That’s all.”

Jungkook still eyed me suspiciously. Being honest, as much as I wanted to defend Taehyung from him, I also couldn’t blame him or think he was wrong. I didn’t even need to feel auras to notice how Jungkook had deep wounds - not physical ones. I could see in his eyes, how he seemed to be angry all the time, how he barely interacted with anyone. That was a young man that learned to not trust people through pain.

I stared at him in silence for some moments.

“What’s your story, Jungkook?”

The rabbit-boy seemed even more suspicious. “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to understand you,” I said in all honesty.

Just like what I did with Yoongi, I wanted to hear Jungkook’s story. I wanted to know what lead everyone into their current feelings. Only knowing what happened with others I would be able to find out what was right or wrong.

At first, I thought Jungkook would just ignore my ask. He was erratic, difficult to approach. However, I finally noticed: he respected me. It was a mix between admiration and fear, I could tell – he knew what I am and what I can do.

It was odd. No one never feared me. In the Royal Guard, although based on the hierarchy I was just behind the General, everyone else treated me like I was in the lowest ranking. No one never displayed any kind of respect towards me, and fear was unthinkable. I was just a shadow after all...

Although I could kill all of them if I wanted. I was aware of this fact, too.

It was quite an interesting perspective.

Jungkook sat there in silence for some moments, jaw clenched. His aura felt like fire all the time – unsettled and angry. It was sad that Jungkook felt like this, because I could see that deep down, he was a good, sweet person. However, his wounds had calloused him.

I wanted to know his wounds.

“I was born as a free hybrid,” he started, voice quiet yet suppressed with a mix of anger, sadness and guilt. I could see that it was difficult for him to speak, as if there were spikes on his throat, yet he was making effort. It surprised me. How much Jungkook actually trusted me? It didn’t make much sense, since we barely knew each other. Maybe Jungkook has been alone for so long that having someone to at least sympathize with was what he needed to finally trust again. “My parents were free. We were poor, but we were happy. I didn’t know things such as pure-human supremacy back then... that is, until humans burned my village to ashes. All the adults were killed and the children were enslaved.”

Shock took over me as I heard these words. I stared at him, watched the turmoil that was his aura. The way he said that... even though he still felt pain, he was so used to it that he couldn’t even bring himself to show any reaction anymore. The pain and sadness had anesthetized him, putting him into a state of inertia. I could tell this young man hadn’t cried in a long, long time.

He was cold in the outside.

But just in the outside. His aura showed me his constant state of angriness. Jungkook was like a cursed rock; he could explode anytime.

And it was scary how I could sympathize with it.

“I have a younger sister. Her name is Heejin.” he continued, voice quiet. “We were sold to different people back then. I spent years searching for her.”

“And did you find her?” I asked hesitantly, afraid of his answer but at the same time hopeful.

Jungkook nodded and looked down to his hands resting on his lap. “I did. But... she is not the same.” He closed his eyes for a moment, as if having an ugly, painful memory. “The things she suffered, the things they did to her... it killed her inside out.”

We stayed in a solemn silence for some moments. I could imagine very well what his untold words meant. Jungkook was different from me and Yoongi: he knew the pain of loss. He already lost everything he once had, yanked from his grip at an innocent age. I didn’t understand the pain of loss. Death was nothing more than a natural happening to me. I didn’t know what it was to lose family. All dragon hybrids have little to no contact with their progenitors or any kind of information about them. I did not know my father, and my mother died giving birth – like most female dragon hybrids die.

There was a reason why so little female dragons existed.

And it also made me remember of something important that has been bothering me...

“Jungkook,” I called after some moments, trying to formulate my sentence in the most delicate way possible. “The other day, you said that your parents used to tell you things about dragons... why is that?”

It was yet another thing that made no sense. Everyone knew about The Dark Years. Everyone knew what my race did in the past. Why would his parents tell him good things such as “mighty and powerful” about us?

Jungkook looked at me, eyebrows set. His gaze darkened. Although he couldn’t hide his emotions well, in that moment I was not able to understand what his gaze meant.

And what he said next just made me more confused.

“That was the reason they died.”

I was willingly avoiding Taehyung.

It was a nearly impossible task, yet I still tried. Differently from my behavior these past months, I was covering my presence with extra care. Of course, since he could feel me through our connection using the Royal Ring, Taehyung always knew when I was near or not, but it didn’t make me stop avoiding him. I would leave the exact second my duty ended, vanishing from his presence as fast as I could. Just a few weeks ago, I would stay around him, trying to make excuses just to have a few more minutes with him...

I couldn’t do that anymore.

Being with Taehyung hurt me way too much.

I did not understand why he came to my room that night. I did not understand what the things he said meant; I did not understand why he looked at me that way, why he was so close. I simply did not understand.

But there was something I could finally understand very well:

My feelings for him were too deep.

It was more than respect and admiration. I wanted to be close to him in a way a guardian shouldn’t even consider. But I had reached a point where I didn’t care anymore about what a guardian should and should not. That inner war still happened inside of me: one side saw things with different eyes, while other side still held onto everything that was taught to me since birth. I couldn’t tell which side was winning the war.

At the same time I agreed that hybrids received an unfair treatment only in positions of subservience, me included, I couldn’t even think of leaving my guardian role. First, because it was the elves’ commandment; I, as a dragon hybrid, had an everlasting debt with the entire world, because of what my ancestors did millennia ago. Second, because Taehyung was good. He never mistreated me, never made me uncomfortable, never forced me into anything, never punished me. He showed me how freedom felt and what it was to care about more than just one person in my life.

The fact that he was so good to me was perhaps what made it hurt even more...

Yet, Taehyung was still a big mystery to me. I still didn’t know why he chose me as his guardian, why he was so adamant about it. Back then I would never question him, but I have changed. I wanted to know. I was tired of being blind and deaf, oblivious about the world around me.

And in the end, thinking about him made me somehow angry. I was tired of him making me confused, and he never confused me as much as he did when he went to my room that night. He made me uneasy, he made feel pain, he made me sad. Taehyung was betrothed, however he still went to my room that night and stood so close. Why would he do it? Why would be so close to give me what I wanted and yanked it from me right after? Why would he make me feel like flying, just to make me fall and leave me there, crying on the cool floor?

That’s why I chose that the best for me was to stay away. I didn’t feel that Taehyung felt as affected as me because of this situation; he had Princess Sana, and he spent a lot of time with her, like his mother wished. I had to stand and watch. In these moments, I would do my best to simply ignore whatever they were talking about, whatever look they were giving each other. I paid attention to anything but them, even if it meant stare at a leaf of grass for hours straight or count every single tiny crystal that adorned a chandelier in the ceiling. I counted three thousand fifty hundred and two. Twice.

It was the worst psychological torture in existence.

“Even though he's gone, I feel that he's still controlling my life.” I kept remembering what he said that night. Now, I could understand: that was “the deal” he had with his father: in exchange of his freedom in which he traveled for six years, he promised to marry Princess Sana. He negotiated it. Taehyung wasn’t wrong, for his father was somehow still controlling his life even in death. He was put into this situation forcefully. But at the same time... I couldn’t forget what Queen Seojeon said:

Look at them, Yeri. How could they not fall for each other?

In the middle of all these chaotic emotions, I felt fear. Fear that, after every date, every dinner, every walk in the gardens, every touch and smile, they would fall for each other the way his mother said. They would start “liking” each other. Yes, that type of like.

I was afraid that Taehyung would completely forget about me.

He never even considered me this way in the first place.

I was slowly starting to hate that Princess Sana. I hated her beauty. I hated her perfect smile. I hated her smooth hair. I hated her delicacy and politeness. I hated that she could be with Taehyung the way I wanted to be.

And I learned one important thing about feelings: they hurt.

I suddenly missed the times when my mind didn’t feel like an angry hurricane, when things were easier. They were monochromatic, but easier. I knew how to deal with simple physical pain, to ignore it, to shove it to the farthest corner of my mind; but no one never taught me how to deal with emotional pain. I was not trained for this.

I was also trained to avoid any kind of addiction, but chocolate was stronger than my training.

I munched the fourth chocolate cookie quietly, sat in the Orphanage’s kitchen. Of course, I didn’t come here to eat cookies – and I swear I tried to dismiss Zofia’s polite offer –, but the sweet scent was too much for me to bear. The woman looked more than happy to see me eating, and she wanted me to eat more.

Zofia was quite talkative, too. She was giving me random facts about Taehyung’s childhood for the past ten minutes. As if I wanted to think about him.

“Ah, but that boy is so strong,” she went on, a big smile on her face as she told me the story of when Taehyung and Jimin fell from the highest branch of a tree. “He didn’t even get a scratch. Taehyung is as healthy as a bull! I don’t remember a time when he fell sick!”

Jimin, sat beside me, narrowed his eyes at Zofia playfully. “Are you bashing me, mama? Just because I broke my arm that time and he didn’t?” he said, pretending to sound offended.

The woman laughed loudly and put her hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “Ah, of course not, Jimin! It’s just that Taehyung has a good health.”

“I always knew you preferred him. It’s because he’s the King now, isn’t it? You don’t love me more than him just because I’m a commoner?” Jimin whined, crossing his arms and pouting, but I could see it was all teasing.

I watched as they argued-played with each other with a puzzled expression. Jimin treated Zofia as if she was his actual mother – well, she was, since he was raised in the Orphanage. It was heartwarming to see a human and a hybrid having such a loving relationship.

We heard the noise of something crashing in the living room. Zofia immediately turned around and yelled: “Mikasa! I told you to not climb the cabinet!”

She walked in that direction at heavy steps, while the whiny voices of children echoed towards us. Jimin laughed softly, watching the woman leave.

He then returned his gaze to me.

The way that man stared at people was almost as intense as Taehyung. Maybe they learned it with each other? I could tell Jimin was suspicious and somehow intrigued by me. He did not know what my relationship with Taehyung was. Yet, he chose to keep his questions unspoken – although I could see very well on his feline eyes what he thought.

“You really liked these cookies, huh?” he said, tilting his head slightly, a lazy smile on his plump lips. I also noticed how Jimin had this flirtatious attitude. It’s not as if he was suggesting anything with me – he was married – but it seems that flirting was such a natural behavior of him that he did it thoughtlessly. It was not with words, but with stares and movements instead. I was sure he could make anyone fall for him.

I would have fallen, too, if my insides didn’t feel like frost.

“I like chocolate,” I said, shrugging. Who cares about healthy diet? I, at least, didn’t care anymore.

“Taehyung loves chocolate, too,” Jimin murmured.

And yes, I noticed very well the suggestive tone of his voice.

I decided to change the subject completely before he could say anything else, touching the paper in front of me. “So, are you sure these are all you found?”

Jimin nodded. “Yes. Seven wolf shapeshifters registered at the Tower. That’s all I found.”

I read yet again all the names and locations written on the paper. One of them should be the culprit – or at least I hoped so.

“I still wonder why Taehyung didn’t ask for it himself, though...” Jimin murmured. I stared at him seriously.

“And you’ll keep wondering.”

Jimin laughed and shook his head slightly. “Ah, alright! I already understood you won’t tell me. But a man can imagine, can’t I?”

I shrugged again, shoving another cookie inside my mouth. The sweet taste was intoxicating.

“Taehyung must be very busy with the Festival, right?” Jimin murmured, staring at nothing in particular. I nodded. That was partially the reason why I came here alone: the Dökkálfar Festivities would start the next day. Because of that, the Capital was already crowded.

The Royal Wedding would be announced the next day, too, during the Festival’s opening.

I gulped the cookie almost painfully.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Jimin sounded serious all of sudden, what made me look at him. His expression changed, and he approached me more, lowering his voice.

“I don’t even think I should be telling you this, but Taehyung seems to trust you, so that’s enough,” he continued, now catching my attention completely. He looked behind his shoulder for one second, checking if Zofia or any other kid was entering the kitchen, but we were alone. “There is this story going on... I think that every hybrid knows it at this point.”

“Say it already!” I rushed him, getting impatient.

“A rebellion,” Jimin said, looking at me very seriously. “I don’t know much about it, but what I heard is that this rebellion is made of hybrids. They want to start a coup d’état.”

I frowned. “That’s not new. There are hundreds or rebellions through the entire kingdom.”

“No, you didn’t understand. This is huge, Y/N.” The seriousness in his voice told me he definitely wasn’t playing. “It’s spreading, and most people that knows about it support them. They are tired of the Kim Dynasty, tired of the way hybrids are treated. I would even agree with them, but... they are aggressive. And they don’t know Taehyung, not the way we do. They don’t know he is a good person.”

A cold feeling made me shiver. Jimin was right; they didn’t know Taehyung. They probably thought he was just another evil King...

“That’s all you know?” I asked. Jimin sighed.

“Yes, unfortunately. Most people know about it, but they are being very careful. I don’t know what exactly they are planning and how they’ll make it. But please, be careful. I don’t know if Taehyung knows about it or not, but make sure to warn him. I’ve seen rebellions before... but not on this level. Taehyung has to keep safe.”

I nodded vehemently, that strong feeling of discomfort and hurry growing within me. I couldn’t stay away from Taehyung. If what Jimin told me was true...

“But, Jimin... do you know what they will do after the coup d’état?” I questioned.

Jimin exhaled deeply. “What I heard is that they will put another person to rule Ëlv’en. Someone of their choice. The chosen one, is what they are saying. An informant of mine said it is the leader of the rebellion, but he didn’t know who this person is. What really matter is: this rebellion is not just a rumor, it is real. And Taehyung is in danger.”

Taehyung is in danger.

This phrase would not leave my mind for the next days.

As I left the Orphanage (after eating two more cookies), the paper carefully folded and hidden in my clothes, I felt my mind getting more and more troubled. What if the shapeshifter I was searching for was a part of this rebellion? Their first attack didn’t work, and now they would try again. I already suspected back then that a rebellion could be behind the attack. Maybe I was right?

The only thing I was sure about is: I had to protect Taehyung more carefully than ever. I couldn’t rest now after this new information. And I also needed to visit each of these seven people in the list to make sure they were or were not the culprits.

I ran back to the palace as fast as I could. It was middle afternoon; the streets of the Capital were crowded, as it always happened this time of the year. The Dökkálfar Festival was one of the most important dates not only in Ëlv’en, but in the entire continent, when everyone thanked the dark elves for the good harvest and prayed that they would give us an even better one next year. The festivities would last for ten days.

It was not hard to go unnoticed during the festival, when the city was so full. I expected I would be able to enter the palace again unnoticeably...

But I didn't.

As I entered the great gates, General Namjoon was able to see me from far. He dismissed the soldiers he was talking to and walked towards me.

I immediately stopped and saluted.

"Where were you, Guardian Y/N?" He asked in a demanding tone. I knew Namjoon never liked me. Whenever he was at the Capital, he tried to make it very clear. As if I didn't know already...

But I was also not in the mood to be questioned.

"As you may already know, Sir General, the work policy for hybrids has changed. Now, I don't need to ask permission to leave the palace's properties during my free time, just as I did now. Since I am not breaking any rule, I don't need to answer your question regarding my whereabouts. Now, excuse me, Sir General, for I need to go back to my duties."

I bowed respectfully before leaving, not even looking back.

I could almost feel General Namjoon's angry gaze on my back. I was used to it already...

Because he knew what happened that day with his predecessor. And, just like most members of the military, General Namjoon decided to simply hate me.

It was an ugly memory I would never be able to erase.

I have just turned one quarter of cycle.

In human age, it means I am around thirteen years old.

Being honest, my routine is so busy I always forget about my age. It is something rather irrelevant for a dragon hybrid; time crawls for us at a slow pace. Although the age of thirteen is a considerable age for humans, and in some cultures it means they can do things such as get married, for a dragon hybrid, I am still barely a baby. In another words, I am weak like a baby. But things will start to change now.

I had my first bleeding two months ago.

When I woke up and saw all that blood, I almost panicked. I did not understand it; perhaps someone wounded me in my sleep? But then, I had a brief memory from my trainings in Niflheim - a special class for me, the only female. Women have monthly bleeding cycles. It means that our bodies are starting to walk into adulthood.

I don't like it. I have to clean myself all the time, and I feel dirty. It is difficult to deal with it when I use my armor and embarrassing to explain to my superiors. I am surrounded by men almost all the time, none of them can understand me or give me any aid. And what came with the first bleeding was also shocking and sudden; even though I am a baby, my physique develops in the speed of a normal human's. I have noticed how I grew in height and... well, I grew everywhere. I already had to readjust my armor three times only this year, and my clothes are becoming short.

That is not the most intense transformation in me, though.

The bleedings mark the moment a girl starts to become a woman, when their bodies are adjusting to carry the miracle of life. For a female dragon hybrid, it means more.

It is the time when the powers fully flourish and become stronger.

I can't remember how many times I destroyed things unintentionally, when I wasn't even using much strength. Magic flows through my veins in such intensity it makes me dizzy. I have dreams all the time - strange dreams that I don't understand. Suddenly, I can feel the auras of everyone around me and hear their minds, even when I don't want to, and the sensation is maddening. My sole existence became so strong that, past week, the protective spells of the palace did not recognize me; they marked me as a dangerous threat and I was almost incinerated - but it didn't happen, because not even the spells the Royal Mages put were enough to hurt me.

I don't know how to deal with all this power. I can't sleep properly, I am afraid to hurt people. There is no one to help me, no one can understand me. I have to learn how to control all this power on my own...

But what if I can't? What if because of that, my master will judge me as useless or dangerous? I will never forgive myself if it happens.

It couldn’t have happened in worst time. We are in the middle of the Dökkálfar Festivities; the city is crowded, streets so full it is difficult to walk, and as always, the Royal Family receives many visits. I am being extra careful not to mess up things. My master won’t forgive me if I end up hurting someone during this holy time of the year.

The presence of the army is heavy at the Capital, because the city is too packed and they came to help keeping the order as usual. It also explains the presence of General Matheo. I stand inside the room patiently, waiting for his arrival. I don’t know why the General has called me here – my immediate superior is General Christopher, current leader of the Royal Guard – but I came anyway without complaints. It must be something regarding King Taejun’s safety.

I hear the door opening and turn around as General Matheo enters the room. He is a tall and strong man, not exactly old, but his hair is already grizzly. He is a respected warrior not only in Ëlv’en, but around the entire continent. His acts in the past were legendary. I immediately salute him and wait for him to speak.

I frown.

Why did he lock the door?

“Guardian Y/N,” General Matheo starts, voice husky. “I called you here because I need you to do an important task.”

If it happened months ago, I wouldn’t have noticed. His voice sounds normal. He stands several steps away from me yet.

But now, I am able to feel auras.

Back then, I wasn’t able to feel it. I could feel when there was imminent danger around me, but nothing more. Although I still can’t control it well, I can feel people’s intentions.

There’s something wrong about Matheo’s aura.

It is condensed and rushed. If it was visible, I would say it was colored in a deep shade of purple.

I don’t like it.

I also don’t like the way he’s staring at me.

General Matheo steps closer. I can’t move, but I wish I could.

“You’ve really become something, Guardian Y/N. It’s been only some months...” he continues, his voice getting strangely low. He’s stepping closer and I start to feel terribly uncomfortable. Why exactly did he call me here?

“Permission to spe-”

“No,” he interrupts me before I can even finish my sentence. I don’t like the way he’s looking at me. I don’t like that grin growing on his lips. I don’t like his proximity. “You’ll have to stay very quiet now.”

I gasp when General Matheo grabs my wrist and pulls me close to him.

He chuckles. I start to feel disgust crawl beneath my skin as the General presses his body on mine. What is going on? Why is he so close?! But I can’t say anything, because he told me to be quiet. If a superior orders me something, I have to obey.

But this situation is unbearable.

My heart beats fast, sweat forms on my forehead. I hate the way he’s touching me. How can I simply be quiet when I don’t even know what’s happening?

“S-Sir General, what-”

“I told you to be quiet,” he growls, lifting my chin roughly and making me look at him. Matheo has a playful gaze on his eyes. No, that’s not just playfulness, it is... it is...

It is lust.

And in the moment I feel his hand starting to slip under my shirt, I can’t take it anymore.

I want to push him away. I want to say please, step back. I want to open the door and leave. For the first time in my life, I don’t care if I’ll be punished because of my actions.

But that’s not what happens.

My palm touches his chest. I am not even using much strength.

But as I touch him, I feel the power flowing through my skin.

Everything happens in the blink of an eye, but it’s as if I’m watching in slow motion.

A gust of pure energy produces a deafening bang, just as loud as a thunder. All the windows break at the same time, glass flying in all directions. All the paintings, shelves and cabinets are destroyed; the floor shakes maddeningly. The chandelier falls from the ceiling. Shards of glass, porcelain, fibers of wood, pieces of crystal and steel – I watch everything floating in the air around me.

And I watch as General Matheo is sent flying back violently. His back hits the wall with such strength the marble cracks.

I can even hear the sound of several bones breaking all at once.

I watch as he falls to the ground, completely immobile.

I can’t move.

The entire room is destroyed.

My body shivers, my legs feel wobbly. I can’t take my eyes off of the man lying on the ground.

I just wanted him to step away.

I watch as, slowly, a pool of blood spreads under his body.

I just wanted him to step away...

I still can’t move as I hear several feet out of the room, accompanied by yelling voices. The entire palace heard the explosion of energy. My breathing is difficult, my throat is dry. I can’t blink as panic takes control over me.

I wasn’t even putting much strength...

The doors are opened forcefully, and many guards enter the room all at once, ready to fight if necessary.

They freeze.

They look at the destruction around; they see General Matheo on the floor. They see me there, standing immobile.

“What did you do?!” one soldier I don’t recognize demands. Another guard runs and crouches down by the General’s side; he searches for his pulse.

I can’t answer.

I didn’t want to do it.

“What did you do?!” the soldier repeats more angrily this time, stepping closer to me.

It wasn’t supposed to happen...

“He’s dead,” the guard says, still by the General’s body. “It killed him!”

I didn’t want to kill him.

Immediately, I am surrounded by them. They throw me to the floor violently and make me immobile, holding my arms behind my back; I don’t fight. All the guards and soldiers seem too shocked by the scene, but I feel their hatred towards me growing.

I just killed the highest ranked member of the army. Not only that; that man was a living legend.

And everyone knows that killing any member of the military is punishable with death.

I am going to die.

I want to explain things; I want to tell them what happened, that I didn’t intend to hurt him – but it seems that my voice disappeared. I doubt any of them will listen to me anyway. I hear more steps and voices and know that the hallway outside is already full with more soldiers and guards. One tell their own version of what happened to other, and to other, and to other, and it has already spread. But they still don’t understand what happened.

They just want me dead.

I stay right there, my body smashed against the cool marble floor full of debris, until all soldiers open a gap for someone to enter.

King Taejun.

I shiver in fear.

He looks around, looks at the corpse, looks at me.

“What happened here?” he asks, voice demanding.

“Your Majesty, General Matheo was murdered by that... thing!” one soldier starts to explain, pointing at me angrily. All men around start to murmur in agreement, sending me wrathful gazes – but they stop the moment King Taejun lifts his hand.

“I didn’t ask you,” he reprimands, making the soldier lower his head. My master then looks at me. “Y/N, what happened here?”

The entire room is now silent, waiting for my answer.

Slowly, I lift my head with struggle and look at my master. I shouldn’t, but I do.

I have the opportunity to defend myself well, to convince everyone around me. But I am still too shocked, too confused. I use all of my strength to stutter:

“H-He tried to touch me, Your Majesty.”

And I stare at him deeply.

I stare at him in a way I never did before.

King Taejun’s face is still as impassive as always, but I see something changing on his eyes. And suddenly, I know: he understands what happened.

He nods and orders: “Leave her.”

The soldiers around gasp in unison. “B-But, Your Majesty- it killed General Matheo!”

“Don’t question me, soldier,” King Taejun reprimands, voice spiteful. Against his own will, the man holding me back finally lets me go, and I start to lift myself slowly.

King Taejun looks around to every soldier inside the room.

“Listen well, all of you,” he starts. The room and hallway are now completely silent, his voice echoing. “If any of you try to do what Matheo did, I give her full permission to do the same thing she did to him. Is it clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” all of them say. I look at my own feet, completely shocked at the turn of events.

“Good. I don’t want anyone outside of the military to know about this; the Dökkálfar Festival must keep peaceful. You all, clean this mess. Contact the next General according to the hierarchy.”

And with that, King Taejun leaves as if it is a simple issue not worthy of his full attention.

I can’t believe what I just saw. King Taejun stood by my side for the first time. My master – he understood me, he defended me.

It is also the first time in my life I heard him addressing me as “she”.

As a person... not a thing.

Not a monster.

It was also the last time King Taejun did it.

Because of that incident, I held a terrible reputation inside the military. Most soldiers didn’t know exactly what happened – they just knew I killed General Matheo, an honored warrior, a role model. He was treated like a hero until the end.

After that day, I started to hate any kind of physical contact.

But it was no time to think about something that happened so many years ago. I had to concentrate in my current duty – one I didn’t know if I was ready to bear.

It was a common tradition regarding royal weddings. As a vow of trust and to prove the union between the kingdoms, guardians switched masters for a short period of time, until the day of the ceremony.

It meant that, starting now – the day of the announcement – until the wedding day, I would have to watch over Princess Sana instead of Taehyung. Although Princess Sana wasn’t crowned yet, meaning she did not have a guardian, Yuta – King Satoshi’s guardian – would fulfill this role and watch over Taehyung in my place.

I would have to follow her.

I had been trying to get ready for this moment, but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it. Not after I saw her with Taehyung so many times. Not after this gruesome feeling about her grew inside of me.

But I had to do it anyway, and it just made the wound inside my chest get deeper and deeper.

As I approached her room, I felt my heart tightening even more. It was a mix of sadness and anger; anger of the entire situation I was put in, and just pure anger towards her. Would I be able to live around that person for so long? Although the wedding ceremony would happen soon, I couldn’t say I would be able to survive this torture that seemed to be worse than days of physical punishment in the dungeons.

I could already hear the cheers of thousands of people at the principal square in front of the palace, waiting for Taehyung to officially kick a start in the festivities. The palace and the Capital were decorated accordingly. There was this happy feeling everywhere, especially at the palace – partially because of the Festival, and also because of the new worker-policy. I, in the other hand, felt horrible, almost as if I was barely an empty shell, just watching everything quietly yet not being affected.

However, I could not let my feelings disturb my duty. I had to remind myself all the time of what Jimin said; the city was full of travelers that came every year to celebrate Dökkálfar here, many foreigners. It could be easy to infiltrate and start an attack this way. Although I would be watching over Princess Sana, I had to protect Taehyung, too. I couldn’t tell the truth to Yuta, so he was unaware of the real danger, even though he was a competent guardian.

I stopped in front of Princess Sana’s room.

There were two guards in front of it. They promptly opened the doors, already knowing I had permission, and I entered.

I had to hold my breath for one moment.

Princess Sana was sat near the window, while a maid made some adjustments on her hairstyle. And she looked stunning: she was wearing a long dark-brown dress with black gems woven on it, the traditional colors of the Dökkálfar Festival – the colors of soil, the colors of the dark elves. Everyone else was wearing attires in similar colors to please the dark elves and bring good luck, yet Princess Sana was be able to stand out in the middle of a crowd. Her hair was half braided and decorated with tiny white flowers; she also used black gems on her earrings and necklace.

Her beauty did not fail to amaze me again.

I just felt angrier.

The women inside the room did not notice my presence for long moments. Princess Sana chatted with the maids lightheartedly. I did not know any of them, because they were Sana’s personal assistants that came from Vanaheim. After some moments in which I stood at the back of the room unnoticed, all the maids left.

Except for one.

She stood near Princess Sana by the window.

“Today’s the great day,” the maid said, sighing. Princess Sana nodded softly. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know exactly,” the princess admitted, looking down at her hands resting on her lap. I frowned; she did not sound excited, as what I supposed she would feel. Her aura was unsettled. And I saw something very similar of what I saw in Taehyung; an invisible weigh on her shoulders.

“Hey,” the maid said softly, and took Princess Sana’s hands on hers. “Everything’s gonna be fine. You are strong, you can make it.”

“I appreciate your efforts, but I know you’re lying, Dahyun,” the princess said, opening a sad smile.

“I am not,” the maid, Dahyun, said emphatically. “You are the strongest person I’ve ever known. People will love you. And... you look beautiful today.”

Princess Sana’s smile became more genuine.

And they stared at each other.

I started to feel like an intruder; the moment between them feel too delicate, too intimate. I didn’t want to interrupt it, but at the same time I couldn’t help but look. Their auras... they had a similar feeling. They felt like a soft shade of pink; it was almost like their auras were in tune.

I only got more confused when hints of tears appeared on Dahyun’s eyes, and she had to look away.

“I’ll leave you now,” she said, voice wavering only slightly. Princess Sana nodded. “You’ll do amazing today. I know it.”

“Thank you,” Sana said, almost a whisper.

They still stared at each other for some moments before Dahyun left. Looking at her leaving felt like looking at a withered flower.

I didn’t understand exactly what happened there.

Princess Sana sighed and looked at the window. It was very different from what I’ve saw from her up until now; she looked small... lonely. Sad.

It was against my conduct code. I had to be unnoticeable for her. But I just didn’t care about conduct codes anymore.

I coughed slightly to sign my presence, pretending I had just entered her room, and bowed respectfully.

“Your Highness, my name is Y/N. I am Ëlv’en’s Royal Guardian, and I will be serving you for the upcoming days,” I said.

The princess looked surprised. “You are the guardian?”

I nodded. She measured me from head to toe oddly. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Princess Sana then smiled, and I could tell she wasn’t forcing. “That’s a relief. I prefer being in the presence of a woman. I hope that our convivence will be friendly from now on.”

Oh.

Unexpected.

“Today’s the announcement day. We have a lot of work ahead,” she said, staring at the window again.

I noticed the exact moment her smile shadowed with sadness; that smile did not reach her eyes. She just looked plain sad. Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Princess Sana looked always so joyful during her time with Taehyung...

Or perhaps that was what she wanted everyone else to think?

I shifted, slightly uncomfortable. “Are you feeling unwell, Your Highness? Should I ask for the aid of a healer?” I asked. Maybe she was just nervous. Humans tend to feel sick when nervous.

She shook her head slightly, that sweet smile never leaving her lips. “No, it is not necessary. Thank you for your concern.” Her voice truly sounded like birds chirping in the morning. Princess Sana sighed deeply. “I am just... thinking.”

“Is my presence bothering Your Highness at the moment?” I questioned, ready to leave if she wanted, but the princess shook her head again.

“No.” She wasn’t looking at me again, staring down at the crowd at the front square instead. She kept quiet for long moments. “We must do what’s necessary for the greater good. Even if it hurts us sometimes.”

I frowned, not understanding exactly why she was saying that. I could see it was like she was talking to herself, not to me. The tone of sadness and resignation on her voice was so deep it made me feel a pang.

“I understand very well how it is, Your Highness,” I said. Why was I even chatting with her in the first place? Princess Sana looked at me and quirked one eyebrow.

“You do?”

I nodded. “A guardian has to give up on every personal desire in order to follow this path,” I said.

That’s all I have been doing my entire life. I did not let myself show emotions, caging them deep down inside of me. I did not let myself show the affection my two only friends deserved. And now, I had to resign myself to watch the man I had feelings for get married with another person.

The ache in my chest was overwhelming.

Princess Sana nodded. We looked at each other – yes, I knew I shouldn’t - and I saw something I wasn’t expecting: I saw empathy. I saw similarity.

Sana could understand me very well.

“I wish us both strength to bear what’s about to come,” she said softly. I knew she was being sincere. “Something tells me we are going to get along well.”

Suddenly, I didn’t hate her as much as I did a few minutes ago.

We heard a knock on the door and a male voice saying: “Your Highness, the opening ceremony is about to start.”

Princess Sana sighed and got up from the armchair, adjusting her long dress. “It’s time. Let’s go.”

I nodded and followed her from behind. We walked quietly to the principal balcony where it was usual for kings to make speeches, right in front of the principal square. Queen Mother Seojeon, Princess Yeri, King Satoshi and some Council members were already sat on their respective places; but he was still standing behind the curtains...

Taehyung.

He wore all-black, from head to toe. The only color came from the blue of the sapphires on his crown and Royal Ring. I should be used to his beauty already, but unfortunately I wasn’t.

The first person he looked at was me, standing behind Princess Sana.

His gaze had so many emotions I could barely decipher. However, he did not say a word to me. Taehyung looked at Sana and nodded. “Are you ready?”

The princess nodded, but after seeing her some minutes ago, I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth. “Yes.”

Taehyung smiled and offered his arm for her to take. They looked at each other encouragingly and stepped into the balcony.

The immediate roar of the crowd below filled my ears as I entered the balcony too beside Yuta. We stood very quietly by the door. I expanded my senses, trying to track any bad intent coming from the people around; I knew the exact position of every soldier and guard. The security system was heavy, but I couldn’t let myself relax. I could feel at least fifty thousand people just at the square, and the entire Capital was listening. Humans, hybrids, rich and poor.

Princess Sana sat by Queen Seojeon’s side and Taehyung walked to the railing, waving to the people. We were high. He was scared of heights...

Taehyung lifted his hand for a moment, and the entire crowd went silent, waiting for him to start his speech.

“First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming here today,” he started, his voice echoing. Everyone could hear him thanks to a simple spell that equalized his voice throughout the main square and the entire Capital. Millions of people were hearing him speak at that moment. “We are at this holy time of the year again, in which we thank the dark elves for the blessings they gave us. I am sure all of you are anxious for me to officially start the festivities – and the good food that comes with it -,” the crowd laughed at that last sentence, “but before we start, I have some important announcements to make.”

He looked back.

For one second, our gazes crossed.

It was so brief, yet I saw in his eyes guilt. I saw sorrow. I saw... resignation.

His aura was painted with pain.

But our eye contact ended as quickly as it started. He looked at Sana and nodded; the Princess got up and approached him, standing by his side.

My fists tightened behind my back.

I wasn’t strong enough to watch that.

“I am sure all of you already know Princess Minatozaki Sana from Vanaheim, our great ally,” Taehyung said. He took her hand gently.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. I had to watch intently.

All these days, I was hoping for something to happen. Anything that would cancel this betrothal. I was hoping that Taehyung would change his mind, that King Satoshi would give up on his idea – I waited for literally anything. But now, it was too late. Now, they would announce it to the entire world. They couldn’t go back on their words.

I swiped the tears away before anyone could notice.

“In this moment, we are happy to announce that, in three weeks, we will officially get married.”

The crowd roars in unison. Populations always love royal weddings. They don’t even care about what it truly represents. Princess Sana looked beautiful as she smiled and waved her hand... I already knew it, but I was sure she would be able to make an entire kingdom fall for her.

“Me and Your Majesty Kim Taehyung will work hard to make the bond between our two kingdoms stronger than ever,” she said, her voice too being equalized. She said something more, but my brain wasn’t processing it properly. They looked beautiful together... Queen and King. It was the perfect arrangement.

I fought the urge to cry more.

“We have yet another announcement to make,” Taehyung said, making the crowd get quiet again.

He looked at Sana and she nodded, stepping back. I heard a quiet commotion around me.

“What is Taehyung doing? It wasn’t on the plans,” I heard King Satoshi whisper hurriedly to Queen Seojeon, that just stared at her son’s back in fear.

I frowned.

“I am sure all of you heard about my travels these past months,” Taehyung started, voice serious. Everyone listened quietly, clinging onto each word he pronounced. “I visited each city within Ëlv’en. I wanted to become close to you, to know what are your concerns, what we can do to make your lives better. And, during my travels, I saw a situation that can’t be ignored anymore.”

Adrenaline started to rush through my veins. Was he doing what I thought he was...?

“Ëlv’en is great and powerful. I am sure all of us are proud to be ëlvians. However, we don’t resemble a powerful kingdom anymore, for one thing still lacks: justice. In my travels, I saw poverty and famine. I saw people being enslaved with no chances of freedom. I saw pain and suffering. How can a kingdom be great if its population is suffering? How can a King be good if he can’t take care of his own people? That is why, in front of you all, I announce that Ëlv’en will take a step further, out of the darkness.”

The commotion around the balcony continued; the counselors looked at each other in pure confusion. Taehyung was acting by himself? He didn’t tell anyone what he was about to do?! My heart was beating fast in expectation...

“I can’t keep living knowing that children, women and men are enslaved simply because of their race. Ëlv’en will only become a great kingdom when all of its inhabitants have fair and equal conditions. That is why, from now on, I will start a battle against slavery. It will not be an easy task; many will be against me,” the gaze he sent the counselors was so fierce it made me shiver, “but it will not stop me. With your support, I will not rest until every ëlvian hybrid has their freedom; I will not rest until every poor person has good ways of living. I am the King, and as the ruler, I am here to serve you – not otherwise. With all of you by my side, I am sure we’ll be able to build an Ëlv’en that has never been so strong, and we’ll become a role model to the entire continent. I will not rest until we are in a world in which humans and hybrids will be simply saw as people, and all of us will walk into this path of light, together. All of us will be free!”

The moment he finished speaking, the crowd started to roar again.

It was twice, three times louder than before. I watched, speechless, as people yelled at the top of their lungs, as a thunderous applause made the floor beneath my feet shake. It was the longest and loudest cheer I’ve ever saw; it seemed to be going on for minutes.

The Council members stared at Taehyung in pure shock.

The King had a smile of triumph on his lips.

“The Dökkálfar Festivities are officially opened. May the elves guide us!”

I should be used to Taehyung making me feel like I couldn’t breathe. In that moment, more than ever, I realized how I would never be used to it.

He just declared war against the entire Council and his own family.

And, to fight this war, he already had the support of millions of people – and soon, more than half of the population of Ëlv’en.

He was playing dirty.

As Taehyung himself said: I never run from a fight.

The palace was even more euphoric, if that’s possible.

It was a tradition that, during Dökkálfar, the servants – workers – had permission to celebrate as well. It was also traditional of the Royal Family to share a great banquet at the city and to distribute food during the ten days of the Festival. The cooks worked with no rest for days until all the food was ready for the banquet of the opening night, and would not stop working for the days to come – but now that the work was done, all the workers were free of their duties until the next day.

The huge back courtyard near the service area was decorated, there were many tables full of food, barrels of wine and juice of all flavors. It wasn’t as full as it used to be in past years, because now the workers could leave and enjoy the Festival freely at the city, but many of them stayed anyway – like me, that didn’t have anywhere to go.

I was sat on a wooden stool in an almost hidden spot, a near empty glass of juice on my hands. I watched as Chuu danced in the middle of the courtyard with her friends. Like everyone else, she used a brown dress and tied her hair in two pigtails. Although the music was loud, I could hear her laughter. I’ve never seen Chuu so joyful...

Yoongi seemed happy as well, and it was honestly a heartwarming sight. I knew very well he was not a cold or emotionless person; Yoongi had just learned to act this way because he suffered too much during his life. Seeing him smile like that and talk to his friends made me feel happy for him. Happy for everyone around me...

Taehyung’s speech spread like fire in a forest. I was sure it had already reached neighbor cities, although it has been only some hours since he made the announcement. Most hybrids overall were more than happy, as well as poor people. Many humans were also pleased by the news; not everyone had any kind of prejudice against hybrids and also thought that slavery was unfair. But I also heard many suspicious people, not believing Taehyung was telling the truth and that he only said it to increase his popularity. In fact, people couldn’t talk about anything but this subject.

But I knew that many were angered by Taehyung’s speech and what it represented. Even though the population supported him, the people of power – the ones who could actually make changes – would be against him, for prohibiting slavery would be prejudicial for them.

He started to walk a dangerous path.

Yet, although what he did meant only good news for me and the ones of my race, I could not feel much happiness myself.

That wound inside myself was throbbing, bleeding. Taehyung had announced his engagement with Princess Sana. It would inevitably happen; now, it was more real than ever. In three weeks, they would get married. After the wedding, it is expected of the King and Queen to have heirs...

I flinched momentarily in disgust.

Not only that. In a few weeks, I would reach the full dragon adulthood. The right age.

My deal with Hoseok.

I didn’t know if I was brave enough to explain it to Taehyung...

I sighed, feeling tired. It wasn’t physical tiredness, though. I felt that my brain – and my heart – had received too much information recently, and I didn’t know how to deal with most of it. Everything was so foreign and new...

I closed my eyes. The fact that I was surrounded by happiness but couldn’t feel happy myself was horrible. At that point, I just wanted to go to my room and sleep during these free hours.

I just wanted things to become less complicated for once...

That’s when I heard someone sitting by my side very quietly.

I didn’t even need to open my eyes to know who it was. But I did it anyway, and stared at him in surprise.

“They seem happy,” Taehyung said, voice very quiet. He didn’t wear his cape and crown anymore. The shadows made his face look somber somehow.

Nervousness immediately hit me all at once. We hadn’t interacted since that night. His sole presence beside me was enough to make my heart warm and ache at the same time.

“What are you doing here, Your Majesty?” I asked, immediately feeling my body stiffening. Taehyung shrugged slightly.

“Celebrating this kind of date with royals is boring. I prefer this,” he said, pointing to the scene ahead with his chin. People were dancing happily in the middle of the courtyard, some of them very ungainly due to the excess of alcohol.

A strange feeling grew inside of me. I could tell Taehyung wasn’t relaxed the way he used to be around me. Why was he acting as if nothing happened, as if nothing between us has changed? It started to anger me.

“They are going to notice you,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Not if we stay here.” Taehyung sighed, his eyes still scanning the small crowd. He looked tired in a way I’ve never seen before. I already noticed how Taehyung seemed to display fragility in front of me, but that day it made me somehow shocked.

I’ve never seen Taehyung look so small and fragile.

“That one with pigtails is Chuu, right?” he asked, pointing in her direction, and I nodded. A small tired smile grew on his lips. “She’s wearing the bracelet.”

“She never takes it off.”

We fell in silence for long moments. Slowly, the smile on his face disappeared. His half-lidded eyes, shoulders heavy, the way he was sat so carelessly with his legs spread – everything about his demeanor showed tiredness, concern and... sadness.

A very similar sadness I saw in Princess Sana.

A very similar sadness I felt myself.

“Do you think I did the right thing today, Y/N?” he asked very quietly after several moments.

“Of course you did,” I said without even thinking twice. “Don’t you see how happy they are? Although it didn’t happen yet, you brought happiness back to the hybrids.”

Taehyung looked at me for the first time, gaze piercing with something I couldn’t quite decipher.

“I’m not talking about this."

My breathing failed.

He was talking about the marriage.

I immediately avoided his gaze, feeling a hotness spread up to my neck. Why was he even asking me this? Only if he knew how much it hurt me...

“What are you doing here, Your Majesty?” I asked again, staring at him intently, my voice becoming hard.

Taehyung looked at me in silence for some moments. His gaze never failed to make me waver. “I wanted to see you.”

My fists tightened, my heart beat increased. “Why is that?”

“Because I miss you.”

Yet again, I was dazed because of his straightforwardness. But I couldn’t let myself drown on it. “I am around you all the time. Why would you miss me?”

Taehyung opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he closed it again. He stared at me deeply, analyzing my features. I tried not to waver, to keep firm.

He then said, voice barely audible:

“Because I miss the way things used to be between us.”

I avoided his gaze, once again feeling that my heart was being smashed. “Don’t say that.”

“But it’s the truth.”

My eyes closed tightly momentarily as if I was in pain. I was sad, I was hurt, I was angry. I was tired of his mysteries, of the way he always made me so confused. Didn’t he understand how it hurt to hear him saying such things, when he didn’t feel the same as me? He didn’t miss me the way I missed him. He made my heart flutter in a way it shouldn’t, especially because he would soon get married.

I just felt shattered. So shattered that I was not able to control myself anymore.

Taehyung shifted closer to me – too close for me to think properly. I widened my eyes immediately as I felt his fingers touching my cheek very gently.

I didn’t even notice I was crying.

Taehyung stared at me in silence, pure sadness and sorrow on his eyes and face as he wiped my tears away. I just stared back, too weak to move, too weak to fought the urge to keep crying. It felt that everything around us was suddenly distant and blurred – the loud music, the voices, the laughter – as if we were inside a bubble that kept us away from the world outside.

“Y/N,” he whispered my name weakly, voice fragile, just as fragile as it sounded that night when he came to my bedroom. He inhaled deeply, and it looked that even speaking was difficult to him. “I am so sorry. I... I shouldn’t be so weak.”

If I had strength enough to speak, I would have asked why he was apologizing. But looking at his eyes, it felt for a moment that he understood why I was suffering. Again, it was a kind of sadness very similar as Princess Sana’s...

We must do what’s necessary for the greater good. Even if it hurts us sometimes.

We all suffered from the same pain.

Taehyung gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. I felt small and fragile because of him, and it was strange that I was beginning to feel solace because of him, too.

“I don’t know what hurts me the most,” he whispered after some moments, his eyes never leaving me. “Being away from you... or being with you.”

Neither of us moved. I didn’t understand what he meant, why he was saying such thing. But, just like that night, I didn’t want that painful, confused and bittersweet moment to end.

I didn’t want it to end...

But my peripherical sight caught a small movement.

At first, it didn’t bother me. But my eyes focused on something behind Taehyung’s head, several meters away, at the back gates, the service entrance and exit.

It was barely a silhouette in the shadows. Sitting there, watching us from the darkness. Resembled a dog...

No...

It wasn’t a dog.

All of my instincts awakened in the blink of an eye.

It was a wolf.

I immediately got up and touched Taehyung’s shoulder; a green sign started to shine on the spot where my hand touched – a rune. It meant protect. He looked up at me, confused.

“Y/N-”

“Get inside the palace, now!” I screamed to him.

I made eye contact with the wolf for one second. That thing looked like a simple animal, but these intelligent eyes couldn’t lie to me. It was in fact a person.

A shapeshifter.

The wolf turned around and started to run.

And I ran after him.

I ran without looking back not even once, adrenaline rushing through my veins. With a command of mine, the gates opened with a loud noise. The wolf was fast, running down the road towards the crowded city. I couldn’t let it escape. That person was the proof we needed, the possible culprit behind Taehyung’s attempted murder. It wouldn’t escape from me.

Without stop running, I evoked an Earth spell; the rocks under the wolf’s paws started to crumble and explode, what made the animal fly in the air and land violently again. However, it got up and started to run again. But I noticed that I managed to slow it, and blood already stained its grey fur. That thing couldn’t be able to run away from me. Shapeshifters are masters of disguise, not of fight.

It was slowing down even more; I was getting closer. I expanded my mind towards it, wanting to reach it; if I could control its mind, it would immediately stop and I could see the identity of the culprit. I did not try to be delicate, forcing myself inside of its mind with all my forces; the animal growled in pain and flinched.

I was reaching it, both physically and mentally. Some more steps and I would touch it. Some more seconds and I would invade its mind and know who that person was.

So close...

A wave of pain so strong I feel my entire body getting rigid.

I screamed and fell to the ground, rolling several times on the dirt.

My hands held my head, gripping my hair. The pain was so strong it felt as if someone literally hammered my skull several times. I squirmed and groaned, my mind so confused I didn’t even know anymore where I was, my vision white; I couldn’t see anything. It was so painful I felt as if my mind was starting to fade away.

I have no idea how much time it took for me to come back to my senses, for my vision to focus again, for that pain to cease and to remember what happened.

Someone entered my mind and made a psychic attack so strong it almost teared my consciousness apart.

I stumbled, trying to get up, my clothes dirty, my chin wet with my own drool. I looked around, anger starting to take over me.

“No!”

The wolf was nowhere at sight.

I tried to run towards the city, just to fall again. I got up, tripping and dizzy, my head still aching too much, my members tingling. I had to find that shapeshifter. I couldn’t let it escape...

But I reached the city, and it was too full of people. The constant noise of music and voices seemed to penetrate my skull like arrows. There were too many people. That person probably already shifted into their human nature again and camouflaged inside the crowd.

I was so angry that I wanted to scream.

I lost them. I let them go.

And the most shocking part is that someone was able to attack my mind. The well-trained mind of a soldier. The almost impenetrable mind of a dragon hybrid.

Someone was watching us from up close, the same people that tried to kill Taehyung.

And these people – whoever they were – were much more powerful than I ever imagined.

Nobody is safe anymore.

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01/06/2020 DAB Transcript

Genesis 13:5-15:21, Matthew 5:27-48, Psalms 6:1-10, Proverbs 1:29-33

Today is the 6th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it's great to be here with you today. This is the first Monday we are experiencing in this new decade and I’m glad to be here to share it with you. This will be our first full week together as we journey into this new year and into the Scriptures. So, kind of a set sail and we’re kind of getting our bearings, moving in and by the time…by the time we complete this week we should have established a rhythm that will carry us through this year and I’m excited about that. I'm excited about the journey that we’re on. I’m excited about all we’re gonna see and the way the Bible is going to show up and give us what we need each day. So, let's get to that, let's get into this first full work week of the new year. We’ll read from the New International Version, which is what we began yesterday. And today, Genesis chapter 13 verse five through 15 verse 21.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the Gospel of Matthew we’re working our way through what is known as Jesus Sermon on the Mount, which really is the…a foundational piece of the teachings of Jesus. And, so, we kind of talked about the Beatitudes a little bit yesterday because we were moving through them and we…we noticed that it's almost like Jesus is describing up an opposite way of living in the world that we live in, right? So, we were saying like, “how can…how is it that blessed are the poor in spirit? How are the poor in spirit blessed?” Like, it's almost like the opposite of what we would think. And we talked about the disruption of…of pure wisdom kind of flowing into our lives in the way that often happens in disruptive ways that we have to stop and think through, like meditate upon, consider, contemplate, deeply allow things to move past only our minds comprehension and allow our heart to be a part of that conversation. And we will notice this in pretty much all of the teachings of Jesus. And, so, we’re continuing the Sermon on the Mount today and it's like, “okay. Jesus is saying some pretty interesting difficult things to read about adultery and divorce and oaths an eye for an eye and the posture that we should have about that and the way that we should…the way that we should love our enemies.” So, like there is plenty of disruption to go around, but a lot of that tension arises in our, like, five physical sense-based experience of life. So, it’s like, “okay. Wow! I thought Jesus was coming to bring me freedom, but now I'm reading what He's saying and it’s just like more rules. Who can live up to this standard?” We must realize that Jesus is also waking up our hearts. I mean here's an interesting truth for us to consider. I mean we know we have a body. We can look in the mirror and see that we have a body. And we know that that body moves around and has a being some way. Like, if we want to move our finger, we move our finger. And…like…like just move your finger for a second. Like, that just kinda happens, right? Like you’re not thinking, “okay, I need to engage my mind and I need to fire off certain synapses that will…will travel toward my finger and it will move.” Like, it just happens. So, somewhere within you is the will for your finger to move and then…and then your mind and body collaborate in this seamlessly and you never really think about the distinction between your mind and your body. And we know that we are made up of a body and we know that we have a mind and we also know that we have sort of the deep core truth of who we are called our heart, our identity and yet functionally, we…we sort of live as if those components are all…like they don't necessarily work together, they’re just compartments. Like, we can be in the compartment of our mind thinking or we can be in the compartment of our body eating or working out or whatever, we can be in the compartment of our...our heart and feel. But what if all of those – body, soul, and spirit - what if they are all made to be in harmony with one another making a complete and comprehensive whole person? And what if we began to realize as a whole person, we become aware that we are irreversibly interconnected with every other person because this is what Jesus prayed for. This is what Jesus prayed for, “make them one as we are one” is what Jesus said. So, you can be like, “this is kind of interesting. I'm just not sure what it has to do with the Sermon on the Mount.” It's really interesting that the Sermon on the Mount reads quite differently if you're looking through that perspective, a perspective of union and unity and wholeness. Let's understand that when we…when we observe Jesus in the Gospels and when we hear his words flowing out of the Gospels, we are certainly seeing God made flesh and dwelling among us, but we are also seeing humanity in a perfect state, right? Remember that little glimpse that we got when we began this journey in the very first pages of Genesis? That kind of wholeness and perfection contained within one human being hadn't existed upon the earth until Jesus arrived. And, so, a lot of what we see in Jesus, even things that we might find confusing or that we’re not quite understanding, we’re seeing depicted for us what wholeness in a broken world even might look like. And I think…I think we would all agree that Jesus operated in a way that was misunderstood by many but was also out of sync with the world he was in in the same way that it’s out of sync with the world we are in. If your heart and your mind and your body are submitted to Christ and, as Paul said, “it's no longer you live, it's Christ's in you” the hope of glory and the hope of us living whole and complete then we can understand that adultery shatters everybody that it touches, right? You can participate in adultery with your body and be seeking bodily pleasure or excitement or…or to ease your mind from of the difficulties of working through a very difficult relationship, like, but you can't do it whole any more than you can love your neighbor and hate your enemy whole. So, we can be frustrated about, you know, new categories of rules and behaviors that we have to modify to try live up to the standard of Jesus or we could understand Jesus is showing as what our lives could look like if we would embrace wholeness in Him. And we will not be able to do that by just attempting to try get our mind and bodies to cooperate or try to integrate our hearts and allow us to kind of feel and process and be where we are, wherever we are, whenever we are. We will not be able to do this without the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the voice of wisdom's counsel. And the further that we get into the Gospels and the more that we look at Jesus, and when I say look at Jesus, I mean, like, really. Like, we can go through the Bible stories again, like we go through the Sunday school stories again. We can smile and go, “I haven’t heard that story in a long time. I really love that story” or we can really look at this Jesus. We can really, really look at what He's saying and what He's doing and…and how He's behaving and how He's navigating life on earth. And if He is our Savior, the Son of the living God most-high, which I believe He is, and if we are to be imitators of Christ then we need to look really closely at what He's doing and…and understand that we will not be able to understand without our hearts and our minds and our bodies in collaboration with each other, with the goal of being Christlike and whole. And we will need voice of wisdom to do that.

And, so, like even in our reading from Proverbs today, the voice…like the voice of wisdom actually sums up everything we were just talking about. The voice of wisdom today in the book of Proverbs said, “since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice”, “my” being wisdom, “since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. Sounds ominous, but all that’s said…that’s being said here is, “okay you want to go that way. That's fine. You will reap what you sow. But you…but you could sow other things that would actually lead you to life.” Wisdom goes on to say, “the waywardness of the sinful will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.”

Prayer:

Father, once again we’re inviting Holy Spirit, that we might hear the voice of wisdom and see wisdom in action all around us, see You moving in and among us, transforming us, making us whole. And we pray Father that we will recognize this and that we will open our hearts, that we will open ourselves to Your work within us, as difficult as it may be. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We have been told there is a narrow path that leads to life and we ask that You lead us on that path. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, and its where you find out what's going on around here. And we’ve been spending the last few…few days getting into this New Year's talking about different things that are going on and how to get connected, how to stay connected, how to just move through the year in this rhythm that we have, that we’re in together.

So, I've talked about the website and maybe you’ve kind of glanced around there and see what's going on. I'll mention the Daily Audio Bible Shop is at dailyaudiobible.com and in the Daily Audio Bible Shop are a number of resources that are specific to the journey that we’re on together. These have all been created to either directly affect the journey that were on or just to create a sense of community and that…that we’re in this together because that becomes important. A lot of things happen in a year. We can look back over year and go like, “wow, that flew by”, but a lot of things happen in a year and we face highs and lows that can be extreme and unexpected and it's so good to know that we are rooted in the Scriptures and that we aren't alone. And, so, there are a number of resources that are aimed at in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage and I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. We’re just getting ourselves launched into year 15 and this has been a community project from the get-go. Daily Audio Bible just kind of rose up out of the dust of the Internet and here we are. And it's just…we’ve figured it out as we've gone, and we've been in this together and we wouldn’t be able to do this if we didn't do this together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Given button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment you can just hit the Hotline button. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, that’s the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Father, today on this December 27th I’m praying that just like I did eight years ago as I was…as Brian was talking about this morning…as I was sitting on a couch on New Year’s Eve thinking about my spirituality, thinking about big changes coming in my life and I stumbled on the Daily Audio Bible, I am praying right now on behalf of this community, this worldwide church community that those that are also searching and stirring will stumble upon the Daily Audio Bible and their lives will be changed just like my life was changed. And I pray that the 30 copies of the God of Your Story I gave away to people that meant a lot to me, that You will stir something in them, to pick that up and to look through that and look at the wisdom in there, and join this journey, truly this journey of a lifetime. I’m just reminded today, and I’m so thankful for Brian, for Jill, for this community, this ministry that they’ve started, just on a day like today of how he challenged and encouraged us to consider going deeper in Proverbs next year. I know I need that. I need wisdom. And looking at vision, looking at the good in everything. I desperately need that too. And I pray that this will be fulfilled in my life and everyone else that’s listening. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Stephen from Alabama. Thank you, Brian.

Hi family this is Biola from Maryland. I hope you’re all doing well. Brian and Jill God bless you, God bless your family and this beautiful ministry. Hey, I want to pray for the brother that called in from Utah, Kurt. I’m praying for you and __ my sister that called in from Washington DC, I’m praying for that ailment that you say you have something __nitus, I can’t even pronounce it but I know it’s a name and the name of Jesus is above that name. And right now, at the name of Jesus I command that ailment bow in Jesus name. Brother, I want to car encourage you. The Bible says that the expectation of the righteousness shall not be cut off and I want you to hold on because definitely tears may endure for the night but joy always comes in the morning and I want you to keep holding on because our God is not a liar. The sister who called in who lost her son that was coming up even on the anniversary of his suicide. Sister, I heard you, I prayed for you over and over. I just want to give you a shout out. I pray that God will wrap His arms around you and will keep comforting you in the name of Jesus. My sister the poet who uses the word of God to just write beautiful poems, sister I’m praying for you that the…that the God of healing will touch your body and heal you completely in the name of Jesus. Sister, it’s not over until it’s over. That is __ report and I want you to hold onto God in the name of Jesus. I’m praying for everyone in the Daily Audio Bible family who has one ailment or the other, be it cancer, whatever it is. I pray that the son of righteousness, Jesus Christ himself, who came to die for you and rise up for you, will arrive over you with healing in his wings in the name of Jesus. __ I’m right now in Canada, I want to give you a special shout out to brothers and sisters in Canada. I’m visiting family. I don’t know how you all do it, but there’s been freezing rain every day. God bless everyone that lives in Canada. Okay. Have a wonderful year and a 2020 filled with blessings and hope in Jesus’ name.

Hi DAB family this is the woman who called back in October from Philadelphia. I did not get my name. I still need to not give my name. The Lord knows who I am and I just want to praise Him and thank Him for this group of people and for the readings and the teachings that Brian and his family provide and all the prayer warriors. I’m just calling for a prayer request because I am filled with fear and I know I’m not supposed to be because my 40-year marriage looks like it’s going to end and I ask for prayer for my husband and for the other person that he’s involved with too and for my family. But I’m filled with fear and I ask you if Lord God, forgive me, and guide me and strengthen me through your Holy Spirit. Thank you. Thank you all.

Good morning DAB family this is Michael from Mesa. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Probably this will get played in the new year, so wishing you all the best of 2020 where we may embark on greater vision for our lives and the ability to settle. I was struck also by, as many others have been, by the words this year. Vision is a huge part of what I’m doing. I’m in my work trying to build business. Those of you who have been praying for me for clients, the update on that is that there are many proposals on the table. And, so, the Lord took in Q4 for me in 2019 has set up a lot. And it’s just a matter of trying to get all that closed in 2020. So, if you’ve been praying for me for clients, please pray, continue to do so, that’d be great. On the settle part, what I thought was really interesting was that’s a word I’m already using in my life. When the days are stressful and life seems to be going too fast, just as I’m…just even throwing my legs over the bed this morning getting ready to get out, I just stop and I tell myself to settle and to get perspective before I go rushing around for the rest of the day. It’s just a great time to use that word. So, I’m really looking forward to the next year of DAB. I can’t even remember kinda when I started, it’s been a long time. But love to you all. For the new folks that are here, welcome to DAB. It’s a great time. There’s prayers at the end of the session, so listen to those. It’s a great way to engage with the family more and check out the website of course. Alright, love you all. Michael from Mesa. Bye-bye.

Hello. If you’re new to this app, this journey, on behalf of…of the Daily Audio Bible family this is Stephen, I want to welcome you and tell you, you made a great, great decision. And as someone who is beginning their ninth-year listening, I just want to give you a few tips and encourage you that may help you keep going. As I told my children on Thanksgiving when we were talking about what we are most thankful for, I told of them this ministry, this app was the thing I was most thankful for in my life because it is changed by life more over the last eight years than anything. And I’m praying that happens for you to. I told them it’s allowed me to love them more, to be a better father, to be a better husband. So, I’m praying that this is what you’ll experience to. Now, what I’d like to tell you is a few tips is one, give yourself a little grace. Don’t try…this is my recommendation…don’t try to keep up if you miss a day or two or seven. I found that if you’ll just go…if you’ll miss a day or two it’s okay, it’s okay.Give yourself some grace. Don’t try to catch up by trying to listen to several days in a row. You’ll get bogged down, you’ll get frustrated. I have found that God speaks every single day on His own. So, if you’ll just…the day that’s on the calendar…if you’ll just push play on that day. Give yourself a place where you can be free from distractions. For me it’s always been first thing in the morning and just push play and let God speak to you with an open mind and open heart. I’m praying for you. God bless you. Here’s to a great 2020.

Hi Daily Audio Bible I’m choosing to remain anonymous but I desperately need your prayers. This is probably going to be the most important prayer request that I’m ever going to call about my entire life. Less than two hours ago I found out that my sister has died or more accurately has killed herself. And, so, now I’m trying to make arrangements to fly out of state to go to a funeral that hasn’t been planned yet and our holy just needs showered with tons of prayers especially my dad who is already severely blaming himself because he thinks that is probably from pressure that he put on her, which I don’t need to go into. He…bottom line, he’s a good dad and nobody’s perfect and some people just have personalities where it’s harder for them to communicate conflict, like my sister. And I guess this was the anniversary of a death of a friend in high school when she was in college. So, couple years ago and I guess this time of year has always really bothered her. And I wasn’t able to go home for Christmas this year. So, I’ll never see her again except in heaven, but I don’t really know what else to say. I’m just in shock and I just hope that you guys will pray for me. I know you will. I just…yeah…please pray. Okay. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible prayer warriors. I need prayer right now, I’m a first-time caller and I’m in desperate need of prayer. Please pray for me that I will fully trust God through all the storm that I’m in. My husband said that he will commit me. He wants me to believe and bullies me into believing supposedly that I did not see him kissing another woman, my friend. I’ve seen him kiss her on three separate occasions when I caught them in a room by themselves. He says I’m delusional and believing a lie. I’m praying that I will be strong and listen only to God, not to his bullying and threats. Please pray for me friends and family. I really need prayer. Thanks. Bye.

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Trump Accused of Enlisting a Foreign Power to Help Him Politically https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/democrats-impeachment-trump.html

Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump

Faced with new allegations against President Trump and administration stonewalling, Democrats have ended months of caution.

WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House would begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump, saying that he had betrayed his oath of office and the nation’s security in seeking to enlist a foreign power for his own political gain.

“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said after emerging from a meeting of House Democrats in the basement of the Capitol. Mr. Trump, she said, “must be held accountable — no one is above the law.”

The announcement was a stunning development that unfolded after months of caution by House Democrats, who have been divided over using the ultimate remedy to address what they have called flagrant misconduct by the president. It had the potential to reshape Mr. Trump’s presidency and to cleave an already divided nation only a year before he plans to stand for re-election.

In this case, with an avalanche of Democrats — including many who had resisted the move — now demanding it, Ms. Pelosi said that Mr. Trump’s reported actions, and his administration’s refusal to share details about the matter with Congress, have left the House no alternative outside of impeachment.

At issue are allegations that Mr. Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to open a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his son. The conversation is said to be part of a whistle-blower complaint that the Trump administration has withheld from Congress.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that he would authorize the release of a transcript of the conversation, practically daring Democrats to try to find an impeachable offense in a conversation that he has called “perfect.” But Democrats, after months of holding back, demanded the full whistle-blower complaint, even as they pushed toward an expansive impeachment inquiry that could encompass unrelated charges.

“The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” Ms. Pelosi said.

The president, in New York for several days of international diplomacy at the United Nations, issued a defiant response on Twitter, in a series of fuming posts that culminated with a simple phrase: “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!”

“Such an important day at the United Nations, so much work and so much success, and the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage,” Mr. Trump wrote. “So bad for our Country!

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Such an important day at the United Nations, so much work and so much success, and the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage. So bad for our Country!

39.3K

5:08 PM - Sep 24, 2019

Ms. Pelosi said she had directed the chairmen of the six committees that have been investigating Mr. Trump to “proceed under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry.” In a closed-door meeting earlier in the day, she said the panels would put together their best cases on potentially impeachable offenses by the president and send them to the Judiciary Committee, according to two officials familiar with the conversation. That could potentially lay the groundwork for articles of impeachment based on the findings.

The decision to begin a formal impeachment inquiry does not necessarily mean that the House will ultimately vote to charge Mr. Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors — much less that the Republican controlled Senate will vote to remove him. But Ms. Pelosi and her leadership would not initiate the process unless they were prepared to reach that outcome.

Ms. Pelosi met privately on Tuesday with the leaders of the six key committees involved in investigations of Mr. Trump, and later huddled with the full Democratic caucus. Her announcement came amid a groundswell in favor of impeachment among Democrats that has intensified since late last week, with lawmakers from every corner of her caucus lining up in favor of using the House’s unique power to charge Mr. Trump if the allegations are proved true, or if his administration continues to stonewall attempts by Congress to investigate them.

The House Judiciary Committee has been conducting its own impeachment investigation focused on the findings of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, as well as allegations that Mr. Trump may be illegally profiting from spending by state and foreign governments and other matters. But that inquiry has never gotten the imprimatur of a full House vote or the full rhetorical backing of the speaker, as Democrats remained divided about the wisdom and political implications of impeaching a president without broader public support.

Now, after the revelation of a conversations between Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in which Mr. Trump pressed the foreign leader to investigate the Bidens, a cascading flood of Democrats has come out in favor of a formal impeachment proceeding.

The shift in outlook among Democratic lawmakers has been rapid, and could yet still turn away from impeachment if exculpatory evidence comes to light. The developments that have turned the tide began less that two weeks ago, when Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the Intelligence Committee chairman, first revealed the existence of a secret whistle-blower complaint that the intelligence community’s internal watchdog had deemed “urgent” and credible but that the Trump administration had refused to share with Congress.

Democrats have given Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, until Thursday to turn over the whistle-blower complaint or risk reprisal. And they have threatened to subpoena the Trump administration for a copy of the transcript of the president’s call with Mr. Zelensky and other relevant documents after Thursday if they are not shared voluntarily.

There were also indications the whistle-blower might not wait around for the complaint to be disclosed. Democrats said on Tuesday that a lawyer for the whistle-blower had informed the committee his client wanted to speak with the House and Senate intelligence panels, and had requested directions from the office of the director of national intelligence on how to do so.

Though it has attracted much less fanfare, the Senate Intelligence Committee intends to meet privately with the inspector general and Mr. Maguire this week to discuss the whistle-blower complaint.

The House will begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday. More than two-thirds of the 235 House Democrats had already said they support such an inquiry, according to a New York Times survey and public statements.

At least 45 Democrats announced their support since Monday, as more details have emerged from Mr. Trump’s attempt this summer to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden.

Starting in May, The Times asked every representative for his or her position and has been updating this page with each response. Many House Democrats who do not currently support impeachment proceedings say investigations of Mr. Trump should continue. The White House has stonewalled these inquiries.

Some Democrats called for impeachment after the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, said that he could not clear Mr. Trump of obstruction of justice. Representative Justin Amash of Michigan was the lone House Republican to publicly conclude that Mr. Trump has “engaged in impeachable conduct.” He has since left the party, becoming the lone independent in the House.

SEE FULL LIST OF THOSE FOR AND AGAINST IMPEACHMENT ON NYTIMES WEBSITE

"About time! Finally, maybe the Democratic leadership has realized that spineless half measures and empty threats are perceived as WEAK by not only the monster Trump and his Republican lapdogs, but also by the entire country. It is up to Congress to hold this tyrant accountable." RICK, ROCHESTER NY

"Remember Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide who revealed Nixon’s secret Oval Office taping system, which provided evidence for his impeachment? The whistleblower who revealed this secret conversation will, I hope, someday receive the gratitude of our nation for helping to expose the traitorous behavior of this soon-to-be-impeached occupant of the White House." THERESA, CA

"Clearly the whistle-blower has deeply damaging information on Trump ... this is why he is hiding it, and why the whistle-blower has reached out directly to the House him/her self. This person is the real hero here ... finally, someone with the spine to come forward and speak out against the traitorous trump. Perhaps we will soon be rid of the fool."

GREG, COLORADO

"God bless the whistleblower! That person may have saved our country! God bless the IG. Both these people are very brave! Speaker Pelosi knows what she is doing...she is pretty cool!" SANDRA, CA

"“I think it’s ridiculous,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “It’s a witch hunt. I’m leading in the polls. They have no idea how they stop me. The only way they can try is through impeachment. This has never happened to a president before.” Six sentences: six lies. Is that a record? 1) It's not ridiculous. it's very serious 2)Witches are not involved 3)He's losing in the polls 4) They know how to 'stop' him 4) there are at least two other ways to get rid of him, not counting 2020 election; 25th amednment , forced resignation 5)It happened to three other presidents" DAVID GUNTER, LONGWOOD FLA

"Finally! After the indictments and convictions against many of his associates, thousands of lies, at least 10 instances of obstruction of justice - not to mention incredible damage to the domestic and international community - there is finally going to be a process that puts the whole of Congress on the record for history to show who stood up to the nightmare of Donald Trump. Even if the cowards in the Senate to not vote overwhelmingly to impeach, there will at least be an undeniable accounting of who stood up against Trump’s wrongdoing and the belief that no one is above the law." HONEST TEA, USA

"Move quickly! Trump is becoming increasingly unstable. Time is of the essence. Impeachment will have a small amount of Republican support, but I still believe that it will fall short of the 67 votes needed in the Senate to remove Trump from office. It is important for voters to know who is in favor of removing Trump from office, and who is in favor of keeping him in office. Voters need to know where each and every member of Congress in both houses stand on this issue, so that they can be held accountable in the 2020 election. All of America needs to know who is responsible for retaining Trump in office just in case he does something catastrophic and irreversible. It's not a matter of whether he does something catastrophic and irreversible, only when." S. BUTLER, NM

"Frankly it’s so long past time for Nancy Pelosi to begin impeachment of the most openly corrupt president in the history of the United States. Get on with it Nancy! No half-hearted measures. Treat a bully like a bully! Be strong. Be proactive. Lead! Stop worrying about pill numbers and your incorrect preconceptions. Anyone who has children understands the importance of setting boundaries. My god, why has this been so hard for Nancy Pelosi and her feckless house lieutenants? After all the prior impeachable behaviors? Hopefully now we will *finally* see the Democratic Party spines and stand up to the openly 24/7 lawless behavior of Trump and his band of GOP sycophants. Stop worrying about poll numbers Nancy - let’s start worrying about whether our little democratic experiment can survive after 2020. Enough is enough!" BRETT B, AZ

"It took months, but we finally have the smoking gun that has forced the Democratic leadership into action. Some of Democrat House members are putting the good of this country ahead of their political careers (they come from marginal Democrat districts). Ms. Warren is correct; impeachment must start today. The future of this country is at stake. By the way, impeachment will also ensnare many in the current administration, as well as GOP Senate and House members, before this is all over. Yes, there is risk to Democrats going forward with impeachment. However, it is even a bigger risk, to the future of this country, if they don't."

NICK, CO

"Congress needs to see the full whistle blower's complaint as well as all the other documents Trump has refused to turn over. Calling for an impeachment inquiry will help with that. There's still no guarantee the president will honor the courts' decision -- and this could force a true Constitutional crisis -- but at least there won't be months and months of delays, which Pelosi et al. seem to have been fine with, hoping to run down the clock. It appears that she and her leadership team have finally realized that their inaction has not only hurt the country, which they also seemed to be fine with, but it's now hurting them personally. Better late than never." AVRDS, MONTANA

"I am one of those people who was against impeachment but this latest scandal has changed my mind. If Trump isn't called out now, then we are all implicit in his crimes. We cannot sit back for another year and do nothing and hope that the ballot box will rescue this nation." AK, IOWA CITY

"Ms Pelosi remarked"The first responsibility...." Ms Pelosi surely knows, as the speaker of our "House" that her first responsibility is to honor the US constitution and its laws, a responsibility that transcends her leadership of House Democrats. If she and her Democratic epigones fail to impeach Trump, she and they will fail in their responsibility to assert and uphold the the power of the legislative branch of our government. They and the rest of us will suffer the irremediable consequences. Moral cowardice will likely lead us to a second Trump term and a ticket to terminal decline." DIDEROT, PORTLAND

"I still support moving ahead. It's duty. But there is nothing that actually requires the Senate to hold a trial. Does anyone think McConnell will have Republicans get on record regarding this? My limited legal research indicates he can surely ignore whatever the House does - experience says he would do so without thinking twice. We know because of what happened to Merrick Garland. This is why we have to impeach. Either branches of government take their duties and separation of powers seriously, or they don't. If they don't we wind up with an imperial presidency, game over. A stand is needed against the slide toward that, even if it's not reversible at this point."

SARAH, CHICAGO

" Trump is beyond any and all acceptable / tolerable limits. Cease the never ending 'discussions' and pull the trigger!! Forget the Senate; use the impeachment process to expose the MOUNTAINS of illegality surrounding Trump; set the stage for his criminal indictment. Use the accumulated facts to get him in front of a federal judge for wholesale criminal behavior, be it for next week or next year. Democrats, citizens, anyone and everyone, get up on your feet and JUST DO IT! It's time to hold this con man accountable."

FORGETABOUTIT, OZARK MOUNTAINS

"Just because a majority of Americans might not support an impeachment inquiry does not mean there should not be one. This isn't the Clinton era. This is more like Nixon on steroids - serious malfeasance and abuse of office." JEFF, NY

"Nancy Pelosi stood back patently and waited for Trump to impeach himself."

HECTOR, TX

"A week ago I strongly believed that the window for impeachment has closed. This new information about Ukraine has caused me to completely change my mind. Impeachment is now the only option. If Trump is allowed to get away with this then our democracy isn't merely threatened, it's already long gone. It took a violent revolution to obtain our freedom as a nation - let's not wait until that's our only option to restore it." RS, PMW

If Trump had been a Democrat, the GOP would have impeached him within his first few months in office. OBSERVER, WASHINGTON DC

"The UK stood up to Boris. Right now it looks like Great Britain is great again. We'll see about America." ANONYMOUS, USA

"If I understand it correctly, it's the law that Maguire must turn over the whistleblower information. If it's not possible to make that happen, something is very wrong with our system. But the fact that he won't do that alone speaks to the dubious nature of this administration." KIM, NEW ENGLAND

"Nancy Pelosi announced that impeachment proceedings will go forward in a short but strong statement this afternoon. She is upholding the requirements of our Constitution in so doing, and I hope that most Americans appreciate her prudence in waiting until Trump performed such an odious action--asking a foreign power to get dirt on Joe Biden and his son--that impeachment became imperative." ELIZABETH, AZ

"I live in one of those swing districts that replaced its GOP member with a Democrat. The political differences within my district seem to fall along the lines of tax policy and the amount of business regulation. Differences in economic and government philosophy do not equate to condoning criminality. I see little threat to my newly-elected member for standing up for the rule of law." GREENFISH, NJ

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muffincactus · 5 years

Text

The Oath | 3

A sad golden ankle guard

A particular encounter on the ship and the beginning of your new life in Kashbah. Even if it all seems like a dream, reality strikes when you least expect it.

Pairing: Warrior!Jimin x Healer!Reader

Genre: Angst, Violence, Fluff, Greek Mithology, (eventual) Smut, Enemy to Lovers (au), Historical (au), Fantasy (au).

Words: 3.8k

Y/N: As promised, here you go with the third chapter! Our Jiminie made his appearance and I was so unsure how to describe him, what kind of personality give him at the beginning and what role but, after some thinking, I decided for this. We have just finished a long war and Y/N is a slave so, for the first appearance, I decided this was the best choice. Tell me what you think and always a HUGE thank you for your support. Love you <3

P.S.:I am already writing the fourth but I am not sure when I will publish it, I need to settle the story and to correct it, so please be patient! I will start also studying for my exams but I will try to keep a one-chapter-a-week if I can!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

When Jimin woke up, he found himself in a ship, lulled by the movements of the waves. Probably, it was night because he could not hear anything or anyone, only the rumor of the sea, the creaking of the wood and the snoring of the other soldiers. When he tried to move, he felt a stinging pain from his thigh and stopped: he pulled away the sheet and saw cleaned bandages and a strong smell of herbs. A piece of wet cloth fell down from his forehead: it was probably used to lower his fever, he felt sticky and tired. The last thing he remembered was the battlefield full of Kashbah’s soldiers. They were trying to breach the main gate of Nereidya to win this infinite war, protecting themselves from the arrows, the rocks and the scorching tar that the Nereidyan guards threw on them. He can remember clearly well the moment in which the wood of the gate collapsed and the sensation of victory that spread in his body: finally, he could avenge the death of his mother, he could make his father more proud of him. But, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his thigh and when he looked down, he found a poisoned arrow in the flesh of his leg. Yoongi and Hoseok were beside him and, when they saw the scene, they immediately took him away from the battlefield: Nereidyan poison was one of the most lethal venoms existing and they absolutely needed to save the only Prince of their nation. But, because of the panic that took them, they did not see the rock that one of the guards threw at them: it landed on Jimin’s head and he passed away.

He groaned and closed his eyes, letting his head returning on the pillow and trying to lull himself to sleep again until he felt someone taking the bandage and putting it again on his forehead. He suddenly opened his eyes to see who was taking care of him, the previous healer died from what he knew, and he saw the figure of a tired girl, with quite short hair very different from the fluent dark hair of the Kashbyan girls, big rounded eyes that peered at him coldly but professionally and deep circles under her eyes. She was not a breath-taking beauty but to see a gentle face after only images of fighting and blood was always a welcoming view. However, it did not last long: when she put on him the sheet again, he saw her Nereidyan earring and the feeling of rage that became his companion from his mother’s death invaded his body. He clenched his jaw and abruptly sat up while glaring at her from the most profound fury of his soul.

“Don’t you dare touch me.” With a cold and angry voice, he yanked her hands away. His breathing was fast, with dilated nostrils, his hands were twitching as if he was trying not to kill her. She froze immediately, turning her head and looking at him a little surprised but she understood completely, he spoke in Nereidyan.

“Excuse me?” she asked quite confused.

“Are you deaf? I said, don’t you dare touch me. Who told you to cure me? Where is Seokjin?”

She glared a little at him and crossed her arms on her stomach. And that behavior made him more irritated than ever. “No, I am not deaf, thank you so much. I am a professional healer that was instructed to cure you all and Seokjin will come back in a minute. Can you please avoid doing such abrupt movements? Your wound is healing and I would really like not to begin from the start with that.”

He cocked his eyebrow: not only she was a filthy Nereidyan, she spoke to him as if he was a mere peasant. What the hell. “You are ordering me? You are a slave, know your place. You filthy Nereidyans should lose this attitude if you do not want to be punished as the low slaves you are.” At his words, he saw her eyes harden and her lips twitching as if she wanted to say something but she decided to restrain herself. Really, he couldn’t find in him a single trace of guilt for what he said: Nereidyans deserved all of this, they betrayed his reign and killed his mother. The Gods decided for the victory of the Kashbyan and there was anything else to say.

In that moment, Seokjin entered in the room and immediately saw him: he sprinted towards him and smiled the brightest of his smile.

“Oh, thank God! You know, when they took you with that arrow, I felt my heart exploding from fear of losing you too!” he said, while checking on him. Jimin smiled at him.

“You always are so dramatic, you know that it is not easy for me to die. It was only an arrow, I bet you could remove it without any problem.”

Seokjin became a little embarrassed, touching his neck. “You know… For the wound in your head, I managed but she was the one who took the arrow away. If it was for me, you would have already died.” At that words, Jimin turned to her and looked a little at her features. But he only felt rage at the view of her face, so he turned to Seokjin.

“Let’s pretend it was you.” He said and Seokjin looked at her a little pained.

You huffed and indicated with a gesture of your head the soldier. “He asked for you, from now own, he is in your charge. He does not want me to touch him.” And then, she walked away to check the other patients. Jimin continued to observe the girl as if he was controlling a feral beast that entered in his room.

“Why do we need a Nereidyan healer, for God’s sake? Don’t we have Kashbyan healers?” he grumbled to Seokjin, clearly displeased by the situation. The latter observed briefly Y/N doing her job and sighed, turning to Jimin.

“Jimin, I understand your feelings but please, always remember that the common people do not have anything to do with the incidents between reigns. She is a skilled healer, she helped me with all the soldiers and she saved your life… I do not say to be grateful but, at least, let her check on you, she knows her job.”

“No. She is Nereidyan, that is enough for me to keep distances.” He said and with that, he laid down to rest a little until they reached Kashbah.

It was Nereidya’s fault in the first chance if this war happened: he left his home to fight this battle because his mother was killed by a stupid Neridyan prince that he never liked. He lost many comrades, friends and brothers, others were wounded or disappeared. How could he take pity on a Nereidyan healer? Yes, she cured him but it was her job. Now she was a slave and she must behave as one. No more, no less.

When the ship reached Kashbah, it was in the middle of the day. The capital was a huge city called Myenah, centre of the economical and political life of the reign. It was said that in Myenah, you could find whatever object you desired: precious silk from Naaneh, pearls and precious stones from Phontos, spicy food from Ymir and, when Nereidya still existed, the most valuable Nereidyan gold. It attracted merchants from all the reigns and this helped the finances of the Crown that used all this wealth to pay for the military campaigns. You looked at that city made of many buildings in a typical Kashbyan style: from little houses of dark wood used by the commoners, to the most luxurious houses of the noble people made of stone and high pointed roofs, to the Imperial zone, with its striking dimensions and presence. The castle was in a higher position than the rest of the city to differentiate itself and it was surrounded by high walls that protected it from possible attacks. It was a luxurious prison in which the most important people of Kashbah organized the reign and decided for it. It was there that a Nereidyan prince committed a crime, there where it all started.

After you arrived at the port, you helped the soldiers with most difficulties and then, you took all the necessary to disembark and start this new life. During the voyage, Seokjin became quite chatty and you started to relax a little more but you knew yourself: the worst part had yet to come and, until you knew your official mansion, you would not be relaxed at all. While you were observing the constant movement of the port market with fishers that were selling the freshest fish and buyers that were discussing on the prices, Namjoon came near you and Seokjin.

“Where are the other women?” You asked looking behind Namjoon’s shoulders: you did not see them since you left Nereidya. You did not felt threatened by Namjoon so it was easier to ask him some information.

“They are being divided right now and we will let them work in different areas. You need to come with us to the Imperial Palace: our most skilled healer died in the battle and probably, you will be asked to help there.” He said and started to walk in direction of the palace, followed by you and Seokjin.

Your life has always turned around your role since you were thirteen years old: when you started to learn the profession of the healer, you dedicated body and soul at it. The only people who could travel were the merchants and you remembered very well their stories on these magical travels in exotic cities and far away reigns that used to tell to the children. And, even if they were a little exaggerated, you could find the same things in your imagination while observing Myenah: people busy trying to sell you all the types of goods, merchants talking of the latest news, women that washed the clothes in the near wells, children that played in the middle of the streets, beggars in the darkest points. It was refreshing to see a city so lived after three years of war but also heartbreaking while thinking to Nereidya. In the past, your reign too was beautiful and lived.

When you reached the castle, the guard opened the gate and let you enter in the Palace’s gardens. It was breathtaking: tall pines and camphor trees that with their magnificent foliage created shadows under which the nobles could delight themselves with painting and reading; cherry trees near the pond in the middle of the garden that in spring would paint the water and the corridors of little pink petals; beautiful red camellias that gave a bright red to the landscape and maple trees. Now, you understood why they described the Palace’s gardens as “Zeus’ favorite place”. The route to the throne room was long but it did allow you to see a little of this huge palace made of wood: the structure was divided in groups of little houses linked by external corridors that looked at those magnificent gardens and let you admire the nature while walking through them. The chambers were divided by their function: the main places in which politicians and powerful men usually discussed with the king about the reign were around the throne room followed by other rooms in which the women and the young noble would play and relax. In the second level, there were the private rooms of the king, the queen, his concubines and the prince and then, in the third level, the most external, there were the rooms for the servants, kitchens and bathrooms. It seemed like walking through a unified place, there was no distinction between the walls and the nature and you could not escape easily from this structure. You reached the throne room after passing seven different gates heavily guarded by warriors. They opened the doors and, finally, you entered.

The king was seated in the opposite side of the doors, surrounded by men and guards. The room was immense, with typical Kashbyan vertical hanging scrolls on the walls, precious celadon ceramics and a carved wooden throne. The branches of the roof and the pillars that supported the structure were painted with different colors, from red, to white, to yellow, to black and green. It all displayed the power and the wealth of this reign.

Namjoon walked for a while and then bowed to the king, you stayed behind and Seokjin reached the other men that you saw with Namjoon before. They seemed to be very close with each other.

“Namjoon-ah! We finally won the war and destroyed Nereidya, all thanks to you and your counselors. You are all loyal Kashbyan, you make me very proud.” He spoke proudly and fiercely from his position on the throne. He was a thin man, but his presence was overwhelming: he could make the hugest man bow to him with an only look of his almond-shaped piercing eyes.

“You are too gentle, Your Majesty. It was your son’s good intuition that helped win this war. He is a very capable prince.” And the King laughed, flattered by the compliments he always heard about his son.

“Speaking of him, I heard from Yoongi and Hoseok that he was shot with a poisoned arrow but they cured him well. Who was that saved my son’s life? I want to thank him.”

In that moment, you felt your heart started skyrocketing. Not only for the king’s question but also for the realization that the man you cured from the arrow was the Crown prince and you even glared at him on the ship. Now, you felt panic raising in your throat: would the Prince tell the King your behavior? Also, the Prince was cured by a Nereidyan, a person of the same reign that caused the war, that killed the King’s wife. You were screwed, you felt it under your skin.

Namjoon turned slightly to you and made a gesture with his head to reach him. You started walking but you felt like a wooden block from the fear and, when you reached Namjoon, you prostrated on the floor.

“She is a Nereidyan healer that we found when we conquered the reign. She is very skilled and she cured the prince and all the other soldiers.”

Ice, thick as a the same that covers the water of the lakes in Nereidyan winter, fell down in the crown room.

“A Nereidyan healer…?” the king asked while looking at your prostrated form. Your golden earring was a proof of your provenience, there were no doubts. “You are telling me that a Nereidyan healer, the same who killed my wife, put her hand on my son, the crown prince?”

Namjoon felt his throat tighten. He knew that, in the moment when he asked for your help, convincing the King of your role would be a very hard task. “Yes. Our healer died and it would have been useless to call someone from Kashabah, it would not have made it in time. The prince was touched by Nereidyan poison, we all know that it would have caused the Prince’s death. I am mortified by having taken this decision without Your Majesty’s previous approval but it was a question of life and death for the Crown Prince” he said while bowing deeply.

The king listened in silence and stood up from the throne. He reached you and stayed in front of your form. “Stand up.”

God, please, if he wants to kill me, let him kill me right away.

You felt your body moving so slowly that you couldn’t understand if you were moving at all, your breathing faster for the fear with your eyes casted on the floor. He took your chin and raised your head while scrutinizing your face with piercing eyes.

“From who did you learn?”

You gulped, your throat was dry like the desert of Naneen, and spoke. “From Master Yaweh of Nereidya, Your Majesty.”

“Master Yaweh, huh? He was pretty famous even here in Kashbah for his knowledge but also for his… strange behavior. He did not accept disciples, so I assume you need to be very skilled to be welcomed by him.”

“I do not know if I am so skilled, I do only what they ask me to do, Your Majesty.” You answered.

He laughed a little and released your chin, your head lowering immediately. “You know, the rules would make me execute you for having touched my son but I cannot let go a Yaweh’s disciple. I owe him and he is the only Nereidyan I cannot bring myself to hate.” He said while returning to the throne with his hand clasped behind his back, as if lost in deep thoughts.

“You will work in the Imperial hospital here in the palace. But remember, just a false step and you will be executed.”

You bowed again. “Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for the opportunity.” Maybe, just maybe, Apollo was still protecting you.

After you were dismissed by the king, you were conducted by Seokjin to your quarters in the imperial hospital: they were near the vegetable garden and the kitchen quarters. Seokjin also explained to you where you could find the bathrooms for the servants and he gave to you a golden rigid ankle guard carved with the animal emblem of Kashbah, the dragon. The ankle bracelets were used by all the slaves to differentiate them from the other people and the material designated both your provenience and whose slave you were: the most precious materials were used, of course, by the most important families of the reign. Yours was golden as Nereidya and precious because you were a servant of the Imperial Palace. When you reached the bathroom, you undressed, threw away the worn-put linen dress and entered in the warm and perfumed waters. You sighed, embraced your knees and put you head on your arms while the water slowly caressed your tired form. In the past four days, everything changed completely for you and the others.

How are they? Are they safe? Are they being treated humanely? For who will they need to work? And, will you ever see them again?

Too many questions, your head was spinning. It is never easy to adapt to the changes and they happened so fast that your mind still could not comprehend what had happened. First, the Prince with his arrogant attitude on the ship, then the King and the debt he has with Master… You just couldn’t relax, not right now, not after only four days. So, you started to scrub the dirt away with a sponge and to wash you short hair; you needed to get out to examine your hospital. The ankle bracelet that you put on you tinkled sadly in the water, as if it was tired himself of reflecting the light of a reign that no more existed.

#bts imagines #bts fanfic #jimin x reader #jimin x you #bts rm #bts jin #bts suga #bts jhope #bts jimin #bts v #bts jungkook #bts fluff

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