#I THINK. there was a life tree in awakening too but i don't remember anything about it save for the map

[moe-broey]

ETRIAN ODYSSEY...............

#fire emblem #feh #LIKE. obvs world tree is a concpet. that exists. and feh takes a lot for real world mythology #so (guy who knows shit about fuck voice) both etrian and feh currently must be taking inspo w yggdrasill/life tree concept #I THINK. there was a life tree in awakening too but i don't remember anything about it save for the map #I'M JUST. I'M REALLY FASCINTED ACTUALLY. I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS TAHT DON'T CONNECT AT ALL #BUT I'VE CONNECTED THEM.

[offshore-brinicle]

[Cracks knuckles]

More simple observations then anything, admittedly.

First things first, Dante uses golden bough resonance seemingly on command, seeing a possibility and thus wishing it into reality, which isn't exactly how we've seen it beforehand - namely in how it manifests the fathoms of one's ego into reality. The image of the symbol we've come to associate with collecting a bough is red and yellow with added chains, as opposed to its usual pure gold - the implication of which is that the specific construction of their head allows them to fine tune this output of reality warping in some way or another.

Given what Faust says of the laws of causality and such, I believe that they were fine tuned to be able to exclusively manifest concepts regarding time, possibly making it more powerful in exchange for limitations on what they can do. This personally reminds me of the people in IV, who were 'revived' by the fathoms but only in body [that is, if I'm remembering correctly] whilst Dante brings back everything of the sinners.

Then this brings us to the actual abilities [currently, ability] themselves and the menu around it. Firstly, the button one clicks to active them is labeled 'Durante' which: is believed to be the baptised name of Alighieri, means 'during' in Italian, comes from the Latin word for 'endure' and was the name on Dante's coat on an early art piece of them on the bus. The idea of 'enduring for a period of time' both fits with the Canto and how Heath endured through his childhood for only the period of time he thought he could be with Cathy, and how Dante endures through the pain of death only for limited amounts of time. Though I do not know of how to tie in Alighieri's name with the game, alas.

Anyways, onto the actual mechanic, once we open it's menu, we are greeted by an unfinished but upright tree of life from the kabbalah, with 'Hokma' at current being the only one unlocked. The chain motif appears again, representing Dante's control over it - or some kind of contract or agreement being made with it, as with the chains binding the sinners. There is also additional text on there but I simply cannot read it, a shame.

The symbol used is the one for Hokma's floor in LoR, with the only other place it has been seen in Limbus being Gregor's base E.G.O, alongside the symbols for Malkuth, Gebura, Chesed and Binah. We also see it when the ability is first awakened, with overlayed hands settling in the 9'oclock position, the same one Dante started the game off with, and white chains are seen again as the symbol of connection/control. This of course yet another thing tying the boughs to Lobcorp and its consequences, this time with specific reference to a very important character. We do skip over Keter for the time being, which I don't know enough to comment about.

We also see 'Pigritia' or 'sloth' under Hokma's symbol, but given as there are more parts of the Kabbalah then sins in game, we may end up bringing in some other sins like 'vainglory' from past ideas around christanity. Plus, this implies a connection between Gregor and sloth, which is proven true in how it the affinity of his base E.G.O. The sins the other badges rep. may also be ones connecting more personally with Gregor as well, but we'll see in due time.

Now. Golden bough synchronisation isn't something I believe we've seen before, but it is in the corner of the home screen whilst Dante commits season name. This could be Dante's bough synchronising with one of the ones on the rooftop in order to perform that feat, or something else I am too tired to think of right now.

The ask is. Really long but! I do think the fact they are called 'sapling of light' abilities is really interesting, it implies a more grown version of the seeds of light sowed within the people of the City - I believe its either grown as a result of interacting/resonating with the boughs, or due to Dante's experiences and developments through their journey. This also presents a non-zero chance that Dante is an attempt to recreate the seed of light project, something I'm sure at least a few of Limbus' workers [coughcoughFAUSTcough] know of in some capacity.

I believe that's it for that for now, though.

HONESTLY REALLY FANTASTIC ANALYSIS, I also caught up on the thing about Dante's name and the label on their coat since my mother language is Spanish and "durante" means "during" in it, so it naturally led me to understanding it easier.

God the appearance of Hokma's symbol was such a jumpscare it left me agape, but also the fact that it's the symbol used for Hokma ever since the Library came to be as well as the Sephirah in the floor, and also the fact that Hermann is interested in The Well which seems to be the "river" under Wuthering Heights being some kind of unique area that connects to it hence the ghosts and apparitions from other worlds. It makes me wonder even more about the state of the Library and Angela's ultimate goal in the true ending is finding a way to dismantle The Head, since now it means Dante is not just connected to Carmen but The Library.

I wouldn't be surprised if Limbus and N Corp are in some kind of race to recreate the Seed of Light but with their own purposes, mainly Limbus taking in count what you just said and the fact that the path layed out for the Sinners to reach their own "awakenings" is awfully similar to how the Sephirah were used in the original Seed of Light, though not as calculated and controlled as Ayin's plan and prone to failure since we technically only had 4 out of 6 attempted boughs collected with Heathcliff's burnt one and only 2 of the 6 missions resulted in an EGO realization/self-actualization in Yi Sang and Ishmael. Sinclair made some progress at least while Gregor and Rodion stayed the same but Heathcliff....feels like he got worse, really. Bodysack stayed the same and the one time it's "awakened" it's used in the Canto it's as an act of self-hatred and once everything is over it stays the same symbol of death, just now with a new obsession driving him forward in bringing back Catherine somehow which is definitely not going to turn out well in the future.

Somehow I didn't catch up on the 'Pigritia' part, it's interesting that it uses a different term from the actual Sloth Peccatula, since Acediae would be more accurately translated as "apathy", but the fact that it all connects to Gregor again and he acknowledges Hermann again and stops calling her "mother" is also an intruguing development. Hell, it's actually most likely that the Bough Hermann gave to Nelly and Catherine is the very same one they took from Gregor in Canto I.

As always thanks for your asks I love reading people's observations and analysis.

#Canto VI spoilers #project moon #limbus company #lcb Dante #lcb Gregor #lcb Hermann #and Hokma but idk if to tag him #answers

[thepirarucuandtheorca]

Goonya Monster Oneshot: Time of Awakening

AN: Here's another Goonya Monster short story centered more on my OC Manta and her first Monster transformation.

I remember the very first time I transformed into my Monster form. The memory is bleak and sometimes blurry, but I still remember it well. Octo was the very first person I told this story to since I trusted him, even though I told him in private. I did want to tell the others back at the Orcinus meeting, but all I said was that I was born a half-Monster and knew Orca since I was a kid.

Well if I'm being honest, Orca was the first and only person I told about my first transformation to since she too is a half-Monster like me. She could understand how I felt about the whole case since she was in a similar situation like me during the deforestation, the day we were separated. Her fateful encounter with the one and only Dr. Virus still shocks me to this day. I've heard of Team Virus, but seeing Orca saved by the founder? That was something else. It's just that...she's my childhood friend. I've know her for so long. I can tell her anything you know.

But about when I first changed. It happened when I was thirteen years old, just a few years later after the deforestation. At first, I never thought I'd see Orca again. I thought she was either dead or captured, so nearly every day of my life I would sit and think about her when I was home or whenever I returned to the forest she called home. Well, what was sort of left of it in a way. It almost felt like yesterday when we first met, when two half-Monster children became close and deep friends.

This one day, I decided to head to what kind of was left of the forest Orca called home. It was our usual hang out spot since...you know...Orca didn't really trust humans because she was raised in said forest. Basically, I was the first ever human to be her friend because she trusted me and knew how much I too liked nature. There was still some nature left, but it still pained me to see the scars the forest had to recover from. I remember feeling that burning rage inside of me as well as gaining determination to protect what I cared about.

I also remember sitting on a stump of a cut tree as I continued to think about Orca. I wondered where she was. Was she ok? Surely those humans didn't kill her right? Oh I would of been devastated if they killed her. That's when the rage built up even more. I remember getting so angry over the humans destroying Orca's home to where we had to be separated, my hands gripping the sides of the stump I sat on. At the same time, I had a burning desire to protect nature just like what Orca wanted. After feeling those two things immensely, I remember feeling my body overflowing with power. That was when it happened.

I can't recall what happened exactly, but I remember going through that Monster transformation, unleashing that inner Monster that had been sealed away inside of me. I guess half-Monsters get their Monster forms at a certain age when I go back and think about it. The parts I remember from the transformation happened to be my skin hardening, body increasing in size as well as muscle mass expanding in my arms, and horns coming from the top of my head while my face hardened into rock. Of course, the clothes all the Monster wore came with the change too.

Once it was over, I remember hearing myself roar after my first transformation was complete. The rest of my first time as a Monster are a bit hard to recall since I couldn't exactly control this new state I had achieved. All I knew was that my half-Monster heart had became whole...and that I was ready for vengeance. Some of the blurry moments I can remember are hearing my footsteps storm the forest as I began to punch the destroyed trees out of rage, still keeping that desire burning in me while still having no control over that form.

I don't exactly know how long it lasted, but I remember growing dizzy and tired a few moments later to the point I got to my knees and returned to my human form. The final thing I remember from that time of awakening was seeing the minor destruction I caused in my newly obtained Monster form, soon realizing that my rage and determination were the very two things that triggered and released it. I will say, I remember telling myself I had a lot of training and hard work to do if I were to pull of controlling a Monster form for a half-Monster such as myself.

My training went on for years after that first change. It was hard at first, but the more I practiced and transformed, the more I got ahold of my monstrous self. Better stamina, resisting the urge to eat souls(they still come every once in awhile), testing my strength, you name it. It's just that all of that hard work paid off, and I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for that. Heck, I don't think I'd be with Orca again!

I still have that burning desire to protect nature, but I no longer needed that and my rage from that tragic day to trigger my transformation into my Monster form, the Nega-Gargoyle. Now I can freely switch between being human or Monster while also still choosing to fight as a Buster along side my new friends. Next time I see the others, I'll have to tell them this story. I've already told Octo and Orca already knew from the getgo, so I am quite curious to see how the others will react....

#goonya mosnter #goonya monster oneshot #goonya monster short story #short story #oneshot #goonya monster oc #goonya monster original character #oc #original character oc #original character

[kuraikyu]

@kuroyrii : Quietly places flowers in his hair, she quickly turns to conceal her laughter only to snicker, "The colors go well with your complexion"

In the miscellany of woodland monoculture, she found him once again in the embrace of solitude listening to the sound of the water falling and the sighing of the wind in trees, malformation of mossy stairs carved to the mountainside reminding of an old stronghold long forgotten. His targets less inclined to drive to natural places for enjoyment, now laying lifelessly on the pile not far than a halfcropped kilometer. There will hardly be an ounce of anything but bones and ashes consumed soon either by flames or rot. Monkeys still refuse to put envy of his people behind them, they may still begrudge Sorcerers in their relics and things of beauty; he remembered such fact with each wipe of crimson from his face.

Blood was a peculiar thing that made even most cultured and neat man look like a wild beast in stillness, it could bore cute pink blush or deep brown spots. His sense for restoration dark yet mighty, carrying visual trademarks like insignia of battle on sword. Eyes like pits of smoldering opiates after ferocity of fresh kill.

A kindred spirit dances among trees, her every cadence a bravado breaking etiquette in moonlit gait, stalwart and dependable from both sundry and mirthful times of their storied history, masterful in the art of hunting and stealth, stiff-necked and suspicious only by wit of her tongue, the black lily that comes seeping with fanged smile more liberated than ever before, intruding reverie of his seclusion with ignorance to the carnage behind. The God Hand must have followed the track from sudden outburst of cursed energy evoked by his special grade. She would not ask what had transpired there, instead, it was her hands that spoke louder secrets in her stead, and he almost understood their unhinged language where he recalled distinct soothing. Captivity may prove too great a strain for bunny, so her crimson rather concealed on him colors that came to life and blossomed with his dark excellence when the odds were stacked against them. Something entangled among straight carbon strands. A brisk blink of fluttering lashes sorting inventory in perceptional warehouse of thinking, evoking perplexion, discarding creeping mildew, and awakening consonance from grim tidings. What is this? There's something on his head. Hand wandered up to test out his new enlightened image, caressing something soft and what's next in line for commendation when he realized what kind of structure formed under his fingertips, touch becomes light as a caterpillar's footsteps, drinking in the aromas of velvets producing scent from each little twist. Those were petals from vivid flowers, from what still left of seasonly green; jewel gift of flora that loomed on him like a black crown. Heartbeat skipped up with increasing pulse into his very throat. Sayuri might be the first step in some scheme crammed into small rooms. He breathed out in realization, '' Today I am all soil and ruin and yet you still can't help yourself but to be personally accountable for my beautification? Thought you'd have more urgent errands to undertake like entertaining snoozy patrons. If you ever decide to repeat such practioning in public be wary; it could make some women jealous. '' From string of defense, chuckle preceded deficit in melting venom. Thank you. Rivulets and bouncing waterdrops provided natural a reflection pool for him to lean in closer and check his new decoration. An apparition emerges from behind large oak; manifesting several meters away from them; offering a lined humanoid grin covered by sleeve of vermilion kimono.

'Well?' - a grin the one she could not see while he seemed so distracted and enchanted by blossoms in his strands. Or he purposely pretended to be distracted. 'You want her, don't you? Try and get her.~'

#kuroyrii #Muse: Geto #!Sayuri #反応‚ㅤ╱ 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐔 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎 reacted. #{ Scoots over remembering practicular mention of certain special grade -- so HE HE HE uwu . } #{ He's just going to grab himself popcorn if this will errupt in a game of chase. } #{ The contrast in situations when Sayuri receives flowers from him vs when Geto from her. } #{ -BREATHES-THEY ARE SO COMPLICATING!! }

[pheita]

A congress, a playful cover, and an accidental epiphany Part 6

What a night of drunk writing can do. In this case, a new part. The next part will be Tali's POV again. @bloodlessheirbyjacques @catharticallysarcastic @stormbrightwriter @kainablue @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables @chris-the-dragonslayer @fragrant-stars @pen-for-sword @contes-de-rheio @queerlilchinchin @ashen-crest @violetcancerian @incandescent-creativity @zmwrites @magic-is-something-we-create @poore-choice-of-words The night had been strange. Constantine could only faintly remember that his dreams were somehow about Tali and when he woke up in the morning, and she laid cuddled up to him, it had felt right in the first moment. At breakfast, his thoughts had kept drifting off because he wondered if she had noticed how, half asleep through the strange dreams, he had first pulled her close to him as if they were really a couple. "Constantine?" "Yes?" "You weren't listening to me, were you?" laughed Tali softly. She put down her silverware and looked at him. Her eyes laughed along with him and everything about her seemed to glow. Or maybe it was just the lighting. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought." "I was asking if the final discussion panels were today, or if something was cancelled. I forgot to check." "As far as I'm informed, everything is taking place." "Now I just have to decide." Constantine took her hands and squeezed them with an encouraging smile. "Which ones are to choose from? Don't say all of them now." A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks and she licked her lips. "No, but either Unique Abilities in the Gaze of History or How Much Influence Does the Loom of Fate Really Have?" "I'd go to the first one," Rafael's voice sounded from behind Constantine. He took a deep breath, then looked behind him. "Why, may I ask?" "The discussion to the loom is held by someone who has no plan of it and strictly refuses to sit down with nymphs or former keepers of the Tree of Life. May I?" Rafael gestured to the vacant seat with a nod. "Yes, the seat is free."

"How do you know all this?" asked Tali what was also on Constantine's mind. While drinking his coffee, Rafael pulled a family amulet from under his shirt with one hand. At the same time, they bent over to see better. "That explains a lot," Constantine almost laughed. The unmistakable symbol of the nymphs lay engraved in the wooden amulet. "It's a matter of honor for you." "You can certainly put it that way, Constantine. I've been trying for years to banish this would-be scientist from our ranks, but unfortunately, he's too well connected." The thoughtful expression on Tali's face made Constantine already suspect what was coming next. "There must be a way to deal with him..." she muttered. "Unless one of the moirai appears in person, I don't see any chance. But if you're interested in the subject of the loom, I can gladly point you to a few papers that come from trustworthy sources." "That would be great." The way Tali beamed at Rafael made Constantine want to stab Rafael in the neck for a moment. Inwardly he counted to ten and ignored the thought, mainly because he didn't know where the impulse came from all at once. "Unique abilities in the view of history, then. I think that's more interesting to you too, Tali." Her gaze drifted back to Constantine with a broader smile, as he perceived oddly pleased. "True, maybe I'll learn something about how to finally awaken my ability that way." Astonished, Rafael looked at her from the side. "You're a unique one?" "Yes, only I don't know in what form yet. As an Earth Clan, it can be anything." Thoughtfully, he tapped his index finger against his lips and looked to Constantine. "You haven't noticed anything either?" "No, so far, it's just normal earth abilities that she's mastered." "Hmm, then it must be a strong ability. It happens, though rarely. I've seen it happen before." Like conspirators, Constantine and Tali leaned further forward. "Have you?" asked Tali quietly. "With my cousin. His mother is nymph his father a dactyl. The ability was so unusual that it only came to light when he was already an adult. However, it was also a good thing, a teenager would not have been able to control such a power." Tali looked to Constantine. The budding panic was easy to see. "Oh...," escaped both of them.

They still had an hour after breakfast and now stood in the foyer pondering. Constantine looked off into the distance, brooding, when he felt Tali's hand on his face, accompanied by her giggle. "You're so thoughtful this morning." It was amazing how quickly they both got used to interacting like this to provoke Melinda. Part of him was already getting melancholic at the thought that after this week, all this would stop again. "I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from either." He forced himself to smile, but her chastising look said it wasn't working. "Melinda still worries you, doesn't she?" "I know she's no match for you." This time he smiled honestly and turned his head so he could press a kiss to her palm. Tali squealed a little and blushed. "I have to go back to the room for a minute..." "I'll get us something to drink. I'm afraid the discussion panel is going to be long." "Nuts?" "Good idea." On impulse, Constantine pulled Tali close and kissed her briefly on the nose. She nearly fell against him, so he had to wrap his arms tighter around her to keep her from falling over. A second later, the moment was over, and she disappeared with a giggle to the elevator. He still watched her go and briefly wished he had kissed her on the lips. An amused laugh brought Constantine out of his thoughts and he found an older gentleman standing a few steps away. "And I always thought my sister-in-law and her husband were bad until now." "Excuse me?" Constantine turned around and realized that the man wasn't as much older as he first appeared. It was more the clothes that made him seem that way and the fact that he was somewhat stocky. "Pardonez-moi, I didn't mean to intrude. It only warms my old heart to see that our kind has mastered the art of romance after all." "With whom do I have the pleasure?" The man began to grin and took a sip from his travel mug.

"We both know, my young friend, that names are a tricky thing for our kind. Just call me Mark, after all, that's the first name I mostly use around people." The feeling that his opposite number was older than he thought after all crept over Constantine. Curious and distracted for the moment from the jumble of thoughts that Tali was triggering in him, he gratefully accepted the distraction. "All right, Mark. Perhaps you'd like to explain what this has to do with romance?" "Do you mind?" Mark gestured to the nearby seating area. Constantine followed him with the growing question of how old Mark was. Something told him he was definitely over a hundred years old. The contented sigh of Mark as he took a seat in the comfortable sofa. His gaze went to the elevator and then to Constantine. "To answer your question, my young friend. Our kind is quick to forget that there's more to life than sex, too, especially these days, when in some regions the moral shackles of religion no longer hold people back and relationships look different than they did a few decades ago." The confusion only continued to grow in Constantine, which Mark seemed to see as he just smirked. "Let me elaborate. Seeing you and your partner, it's clear there's more. You understand each other as only few understand the other, don't you?" "That's true," Constantine had to admit, even if he was strangely embarrassed. Satisfied, Mark grinned wider and took another sip from his travel mug. "You haven't noticed that she's as protective of you as you are of her, have you?" "Excuse me?" Mark chuckled in a way that could only be described as slightly manic, and leaned forward conspiratorially. "You ran into my nephew yesterday. Rafael told me you were dealing with an unwelcome acquaintance and how your partner was handling it. She's stronger than you might think behind that shy exterior." Curious as to what had happened, Constantine copied the posture and leaned forward. "What did she do. Tali just told me that Rafael intervened." "Did she?" laughed Mark, "Well, she was quite articulate in telling the lady that she has no place in your lives and to please get the hell out of here and go where manipulative witches like her belong." Again Mark chuckled in that peculiar way while Constantine sat there dumbfounded for a moment and then laughed too. "That sounds like her." "You're proud of her." Cautiously, Constantine looked over his shoulder at the elevator with a smile. "More than she knows." The sound of the sofa's leather revealed that Mark was standing up. A moment later, his hand was on Constantine's shoulder with a thoughtful smile and a warning look. "If I may give you some advice, my young friend. No matter what you do, someone like your Tali is hard to find a second time. Always be honest with her, or you'll ruin it." "You speak from experience." "I do." For a moment, Constantine wanted to set the record straight that he and Tali weren't dating, but something stopped him. Delayed, he realized Mark had said Rafael was his nephew and wanted to jump up and ask Mark if Rafael had been in another field before, but he couldn't find him in the crowd. Even more confused than he already was, Constantine gave it up and went to get something to drink for later, as agreed.

"What the hell...?" Tali said quietly next to him as they looked over the crowd that had already taken their seats in the room. There were still more than twenty minutes until the event was to start, and already the room seemed to be packed. Constantine scanned the rows and found another seat that was free. He took Tali by the hand and pulled her with him to the seat just four rows away. Once there, however, he found that the second seat had been filled seconds earlier. Clueless, they looked at each other. "Are you going to sit down or not?" someone further back asked, annoyed. An apologetic look later, Constantine sat and gently pulled Tali to his lap. Her fine laugh reached his ear. "That's the way to do it." She put an arm around his neck to get a better grip and leaned her head on his shoulder. "It obviously wasn't expected to be such a rush," Constantine commented, simply to distract himself from the way Tali's breath brushed along his neck. It was almost as if a part of him was trying to make itself independent as fragments of his dream resurfaced for a split moment, blending with how he realized his hand was on her waist and her lips were like a ghost just a hairsbreadth from his jaw. "Constantine?" "Yes?" "I'm not too heavy for you either?" Her lips brushed his face as she spoke, making him shiver. "You barely weigh anything. How can you be too heavy?" he teased her a little. He didn't have to see her to know that she rolled her eyes a little and blushed. Tali gently pushed his face toward her, so they were looking into each other's eyes. Maybe it was the lighting in the hall, or Constantine's imagination, or maybe he really did see something in her eyes, silently searching his gaze for something he didn't dare name. "Hey, you two lovebirds, save it for later." There was some restrained laughter around them, and the moment was over. As uncomfortable as Constantine was, Tali didn't seem to care and snuggled closer to him. He only reacted by putting both arms around her, so she wouldn't slip away. Silently, they bid their time until it started. At some point, Tali began to run her fingers over his arm, lost in thought. Little by little the world around them became smaller and only Tali mattered, as so often in the last days. Gregori's question from the day before came back to Constantine's mind. How many times have you hugged her today? Neither Gregori nor he was stupid and both knew that Constantine only hugged the people he liked, but this was just to provoke Melinda. It only worked because he appreciated Tali.

#writblr #writing #flowers of fire #tali and constantine #the epiphany #part 6

[youbloodymadgenius]

Nunky! (Modern!Ivar x reader - Modern!Ivar x OCs niece and nephew)

A/N: This is my entry to @flowers-in-your-hayr 650 Followers Celebration 🎉 Congrats again, love 🌸 And thanks for this amazing moodboard 😍

I'm awfully late, sorry about that. The truth is, do you know what it is to struggle? Let me tell you: there were three other drafts before this final version. More than 4000 words... All trashed...

Anyway, I'm quite happy with this one, that's all that matters.

@geekandbooknerd, thanks for beta reading this for me 🌺

Let me know if you want to be tagged 😊

Divider by @firefly-graphics

Summary: Ever wonder what kind of uncle Ivar would be? Let me show you 😉

Warnings: fluff, fluff, fluff 🙈

Words: 1978

"We're going to play Pete the Cat or Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game, you in?" He shouts at you from the deck.

Lazily lying on a sunbed in the shade of an oak, you don't bother opening your eyes. As much as you love board games, there's no way you're leaving this perfect spot. Not yet, and certainly not for the next two hours.

"No, I'm good." You shake your head for emphasis, even if you're not sure he can see you.

"Okay lovebug, see you later," he says tenderly before changing his tone, "All right kiddos, get ready to lose!"

You let out a chuckle as Viola and Soren, feeling offended, express loudly their discontent. And you can't help but laugh. You know he's going to let them win anyway. He may be a sore loser who hates to lose and would do anything to win, whether in business or in a game, but things are different when it comes to his niece and nephew. That's just how much he loves them.

Your multi-faceted lover…

To the world, he is Ivar Ragnarsson, the crippled son – and true heir – of the mighty Ragnar Lothbrok, and, till last year – till you – Scandinavia's richest and most eligible bachelor, and all this in spite of his legs.

To his employees and business partners, he's an arrogant, cranky, demanding, cold-hearted, smart as hell, and very successful business tycoon. Oh, if they could see him right now, they wouldn't believe their eyes. No dress shirt, no suit pants, no blazer. With a backwards baseball cap, a basic black tee-shirt and stonewashed jeans, he looks more like a boy than a crafty businessman.

To you, he's the man you've been in love with for eight months; a complex human being, for sure, full of contradictions: so self-confident and yet in some ways so self-conscious; outwardly tough but at times so incredibly vulnerable. You won't lie, he can be infuriating; he's stubborn, strong-headed and short tempered. But he's awfully clever, deadpan and… well... devastatingly handsome, with his impossibly beautiful features and his otherworldly icy blue eyes. He's a fantastic lover too, unexpectedly caring and attentive, loyal and faithful.

To Viola and Soren, his favorite brother's children, he's Uncle Ivar – or Nunky, as Viola calls him – the best uncle ever, funny and mischievous, loving and supportive. He's always ready to go out of his way to teach them all the cool stuff kids are supposed to know; silly jokes, riddles and magic tricks. He's their favorite babysitter, the one who is completely devoted to them, the one who feeds them ice cream and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, before reminding them conspiratorially, with a finger on his lips: "You know the deal, sweet peas! Not a word to your mom."

You remember as if it were yesterday your first meeting with them.

Soren, chocolate all over his face, greets you with a big smile, immediately asking you if you want to play hide-and-seek with them. On the other hand, Viola looks at you from head to toe, scrutinizing you intensely. With her lips pursed and her brows creased, she doesn't seem very pleased, to say the least. The seconds tick by and finally, placing her tiny hands on her hips, the little girl takes a deep breath. "I don't want to play with her. I don't like her." The hostility in her tone can't be missed.

Speechless, you look at Viola with wide open eyes. You usually have a way with kids and are honestly a little stunned by such an unfriendly welcome.

"Viola, please…" Ivar grumbles, rolling his eyes, but he doesn't have time to say another word. "No, Nunky! You told me she was your lover!" Ah, now you're beginning to see her problem, and it brings a small smile on your lips.

Viola points an accusing finger towards you. "Are you Nunky's lover?"

You nod playfully but Viola doesn't seem the least bit amused. "That's why I don't like you. And just so you know, you may be Nunky's lover now, but I'm going to marry him. I just have to wait a little," she frowns, thoroughly concentrated, "I need to be a little older, maybe like… that," she stretches out the fingers of both hands in front of her, "but Nunky is going to marry me. Me, not you. So, you might as well leave right now."

You struggle to hold back your laughter, aware that this is a very serious matter for her.

"Come here, baby girl." Rubbing a hand over his face, Ivar pats his knees and then helps his niece as she climbs onto his lap. "We've talked about this, little bird, remember? We're not getting married, not in ten years, not ever." He speaks so softly, and there's so much love in his eyes, you feel like you're melting.

"But, I lo–" Viola interjects with a pout, but Ivar stops her, shaking his head. "There's no buts, baby love. Uncles do not marry nieces. That's the way it is and that's how it must be. And yes," he looks at you fondly, "Y/N is my lover. But it doesn't change anything. I'm not going anywhere, Viola. I'll always be in your life. I love you." He gently ruffles Soren's hair. "I love you both. You have no idea how much I love you."

You must have dozed off and are awakened by Viola high-pitched squeals of joy. "Oh yeah, let's go into the backyard." Hmph! Looks like you're going to have company. Bye bye peacefulness.

Well, so be it.

Yawning, you stretch like a cat before sitting up. Ivar and the kids are on the deck and you wave at them. Soren casts you a broad smile and takes two steps towards the backyard but Viola stops him.

"Wait, Soren! Nunky," you don't need to see her to know that she's blinking her big, beautiful blue eyes at Ivar, "please, we are tired. Right Soren?"

Viola's brother nods tentatively as Ivar bursts out laughing. "Is that so, munchkin?" Putting on a thinking face, he stares blanky up in the air for a second or two, tapping a forefinger on his chin. "Let me guess, you want a ride, baby girl? Soren, buddy boy, would you mind fetching the princess's carriage for me, please?"

At this point, you know exactly what is going to happen, yet it never ceases to amaze you. And as sure as the sun rises from the east, the next moment Soren is pushing a wheelchair in front of him, coming to a halt next to his uncle. Ivar immediately sits down, slipping his crutch into the intended holder attached to the backrest.

Reaching out, he now gently grabs Viola's wrist. "Your carriage awaits, princess." The little girl climbs very carefully onto his lap before wrapping her chubby arms around his neck.

Ivar pulls her closer, "Hold tight, princess!" and as soon as he's sure she's securely seated, he grabs his push rims and pops a wheelie, Viola bursting with laughter. He then looks at Soren, cracking him a smile. "I'll give you a ride too, bumblebee, stay put."

Soren, older than Viola and always overprotective when it comes to his beloved uncle, frowns, concern all over his boyish face. "You sure I'm not too heavy now? I'm over fifty-five pounds, you know?"

Ivar laughs, an easy smile on his plump lips. "Don't worry, I'll be just fine." A smile tugging up the corner of his mouth and Viola giggling on his lap, he rolls towards the wide wooden ramp leading to the backyard.

Ivar hates using his wheelchair. He despises it. He's very secretive about it. The truth is, it took him two months to tell you that he sometimes needed one and another two months to actually use it in front of you.

He hates it so much that he would rather crawl than use it. Actually, that's what he does every night, after taking off his leg braces.

Yet, he keeps his old wheelchair here, at his brother's house. For recreational purposes only; or in other words for Viola's and Soren's enjoyment. And he gives them rides, up and down the ramp, sometimes for hours, popping wheelies here and there. Because Viola and Soren love that and it makes them laugh. Because he would do everything and anything to make them happy.

That's just how much he loves them.

Ivar pulls a sunbed next to you and flops down on it, stifling a hiss of pain. "Where are the kids?" Raising yourself up on one elbow, you kiss him, your free hand gently stroking the tight muscles of his right thigh.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he kisses you back. "Gathering the things they want to take to the beach."

You want to give him a disapproving look, but you won't. You know better. You know him.

He shouldn't go to the beach. Not today. He woke up in pain this morning. Walking in the sand is a struggle even on good days. He'll pay for it later. You know he knows it. And you know he'll do it no matter what, and whatever it takes.

Because that, he can do.

Sometimes, you catch a hint of sadness in his eyes. When Soren and Viola are running and he can't run after them, because running is simply not an option for him. When they are jumping on the trampoline and he can't join them, because it would end with broken bones. When they are playing football, or riding a bike, or skating. When they are tree climbing, or playing gunny sack race, or rock climbing, or playing hopscotch, or skipping rope, or dancing, or…

But walking in the sand, even if not easy, that, he can do.

He's going to struggle all the way – wincing, hissing, silently swearing, even dragging his right leg with his hand if necessary – until they reach their favorite spot, a small cove shielded from the wind, with marvelous pebbles and smooth sand. And he will sit for hours, his legs aching, making sandcastles even though, even as a child, he didn't like that. Because it doesn't matter. Because Soren and Viola matter. And the sparkle in their eyes will bring a smile to his face. Their laughter will make it all worthwhile.

Yeah, this is what he's going to do, for Soren's and Viola's happiness. And you know there's nothing you can say or do that is going to change his mind.

That's just how much he loves them.

⚔️"What are you thinking about, love?" Ivar's soft voice pulls you out of your thoughts as he wraps his arm around your shoulders.

"I was thinking what a fantastic uncle you are." You reply genuinely, your thumb grazing his cheek. "And what a fantastic father you will be one day. The father of our kids."

Ivar blinks several times. You know that no matter how many times you tell him, he still finds it hard to believe that you want to make a life with him; marry him; carry his children.

"This…" His voice trembles and he lowers his gaze, "this is really what you want?"

"Of course, it is, my love." You reassure him for the thousandth time, peppering his jaw with light kisses. "Negotiations with Viola will doubtless be tough, though…" You chuckle, your fingers threading through his hair as he nods. "But let me tell you a secret," you can feel his hot breath on your ear, "you've already won, love." He offers you a breathtaking, mind-blowing smile and then his mouth finds yours and he kisses you and it feels like you're alone in the world, nothing matters but your shared love, nothing exists but him, nothing counts anymore, nothing, nothing, nothing...

"NUNKYYYYY!!!!"

Well… You may have spoken too soon…

🛡⚔️🛡

@flowers-in-your-hayr @honestsycrets @lisinfleur @waiting4inspiration @saldelys @gearhead66 @inforapound @readsalot73 @milkkygirls @xbellaxcarolinax @shannygoatgruff @zuxiezendler @a-mess-of-fandoms @hecohansen31 @lonewolf471 @ivarthebloodyking @fuckindiva @tgrrose @didiintheblog @peachyboneless @funmadnessandbadassvikings @ethereallysimple @destynelseclipsa @cocovikings23 @pieces-by-me @xceafh @mrsalwayswrite @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie @pomegranates-and-blood

#ivar #ivar the boneless #ivar ragnarsson #ivar lothbrok #modern ivar #modern ivar x reader #modern!ivar #modern!ivar x reader #modern-Ivar #ivar imagine #ivar fanfic #ivar fanfiction #ivar fic #ivar vikings #vikings ivar #vikings imagine #fluffy Ivar #650followers

[efyra]

pairing: remus lupin x reader

summary: the first time that remus almost lost his control

author’s note: i swear that i didn’t pretend to make two parts for this story but it just happened; i couldn’t help myself. i’m sorry 🥺 and I also am sorry for any grammar mistakes - like i said before, english is not my native language

1994, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Honestly, you never thought that would be so sensitive about your last year at Hogwarts. You didn't think you would miss walking those halls, dining under the starry sky of the Great Hall, the Quidditch games that cheered up the students of all Houses, resting on that tree next to the Black Lake or the magnificent view from the Astronomy Tower. All these little things that never meant much to you before, made your seventh year more melancholic than you imagined it would be - you couldn’t even think about no longer seeing your friends every day without starting to cry.

In a few months, you would be a graduated girl; an adult woman who would be entirely responsible for your own future. Technically, you would be free. Free to pursue any career you want; you could become a healer, a teacher, a magizoologist, or even an auror, and you would have a happy and prosperous life. Or you could just screw yourself up.

The uncertainty made you apprehensive.

Ever since you were born, everyone told you what to do, be it your parents or your teachers; how did they expect you to make a decision as big as "the future of your life" being so young? You were only 18, for Merlin's sake!

Why did you stay only seven years at Hogwarts? If you could, you would continue studying there until you were 25 years-old.

But, unfortunately, that was not possible.

What made you feel a little better was to think that your colleagues were as apprehensive as you were about venturing into the adult world.

Since the school year has began, seventh graders threw a "farewell party" every month and overdosed on firewhisky. You have witnessed a diversity of drunken behavior during these parties; there would always be someone crying because they would miss Hogwarts, others despairing because they didn't know what the fuck they were going to do with their lives, some pompously saying that they already knew exactly where they would work after graduation, there would also be those who would make brave confessions, act recklessly or end up sleeping on a couch.

You weren't a very party person; not that you were those people who didn't even attend the party, but you never crossed your limit, let alone did something to embarrass yourself. Of course, you've taken doses of firewhisky before, but you never got drunk.

Until that night.

Earlier that day, you got a letter from your parents telling that they expected you to become an auror just like them; that gave you stomach pain all day long. You had already thought about following the same career as your parents - who were phenomenal in their job - but you weren't sure if that was what you want for your future.

You were a simple girl. You were never very extroverted, but you made good friends during your years at Hogwarts. You were a great student, not extraordinary nor mediocre. You never drew much attention, and frankly, you never wanted that - in fact, you hated being in the spotlight. For some weird reason, you become very clumsy at those times.

So you never really considered becoming an auror. And because of that letter from your parents, you forgot to control how much firewhisky you were consuming.

And, for the first time in your life, you were officially drunk.

"Ok, I'm hungry" you declared to your friend; your voice tone was louder than usual and your words came out a little shuffled.

Y/F/N faced you with some fun in her eyes; it was unusual to see you like that.

"Right. Let's go to the kitchens, then"

You frowned in confusion.

"How do we get in there?"

"Just tickle the pear" she shrugged "easy peasy". A giggle came out of her lips. "What?" Y/F/N raised an eyebrow.

"You said pee-asy" you answered, giggling one more time.

Your friend shook her head.

"You're very drunk," she said with fun. "Let's give you some food and water and put you on bed.

"Oh, but I don't want to go to bed" you made a pout.

"Well, we're going anyway," Y/F/N said firmly; she knew you wouldn't want to wake up on some random couch. "I'll tell Riley we're going and be right back. Don't go anywhere.”

If you were sober, you would never consider invading Hogwarts' kitchens in the middle of the night, and you wouldn't have escaped from your friend after she told you to wait for her, but, obviously, you weren't even a little sober.

Walking through the dark and empty corridors was already an unknown experience for you, but walking through them being so drunk seemed like an adventure. You had no idea where you were going - even though you knew you wanted to get to the kitchens.

Then an intense light blinded you for a second.

"Miss Y/L/N?" the familiar voice of your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher took you by surprise.

Your eyes widened and you stumbled in your footsteps.

"Professor Hottie!" exclaimed automatically as soon as Remus fucking Lupin appeared in your front, seeming very intrigued to find you in the middle of the hall. "I mean... Professor Hottie!" you paused for a short second; looking sideways and not noticing the amused little smile that appeared on the older man's face. "Wait I said it again... Professor Lupin! Now I did it" you smiled and turned your head to face your teacher.

Then you saw.

That damn look. The look full of savagery that made your knees weak and the air escape from your lungs.

Your teacher slowly approached you; he calculated his steps so he won’t scare you - and honestly, he needed to control himself to not kiss you right there.

Remus Lupin looked like a wolf hunting his prey - and you looked delicious in his eyes.

"Miss Y/L/N..." he kept walking towards you, causing you to automatically take a few steps back, getting close to the wall. "What a little girl like you is doing in the hallway off hours?"

The words got stuck in your throat.

"I-I-I... Ah... I..."

Then he smelled it. He smelled the firewhisky on your breath.

A surprised moan came out of your lips when Professor Lupin pushed you against the wall, pressing his body on yours; his 6'2" height rising dangerously over yours much shorter.

"Were you drinking?" his tone was not as gentle as usual; it was rough and demanding. His question came out almost like a growl.

You gulped.

Your heart beat wildly and you never felt so hot like that before; you wondered if you could burst into flames just with that interaction.

"No!" you lied.

"Y/N..." was the first time Remus said your name; you loved how your name sounded in his voice. "I think you're lying to me," he whispered close to your ear.

You felt shiver over your spine.

"Professor, I-I... I don't..."

"I, I" he repeated in a mocking tone, appreciating how nervous you looked before facing you intensely again. "Don't lie to me again. You won't like what I'm going to do to you if you lie to me again.”

You gasp with your words, and to your embarrassment, a pathetic moan came out of your throat.

Remus growled; he clenched his hands firmly, trying to control himself to not fuck you right there in the hallway - his cock already hard inside his pants.

"Or maybe you would like it" he thought to himself.

But at the same time your groaning excited him, it also awakened him from his trance. Remus remembered who he was; he was your professor and you were his student. He couldn't do anything with you.

He took a step away from you, reluctantly; taking the time to admire how delicious you looked with your breath intertwined, your cheeks blushed and so submissive.

You were disappointed when you could no longer feel his warm body against yours, but you stopped yourself from saying anything. Honestly, you had no idea what had just happened between you and your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; it seemed wrong and it certainly was forbidden, but you couldn't help but want more.

"You will go back to your dorm. No more firewhisky for you, do you understand, Miss Y/L/N?" he asked, looking at her intensely.

"Y-Yes" you stuttered nervously.

"Yes, what?" he growled.

"Yes, Professor Lupin" you corrected yourself quickly.

A smile appeared on the man's face full of scars.

"Good girl" he couldn't prevent those words from coming out of his mouth. "Now, go" he said authoritarian.

You nodded before heading back to the party; the drunkenness seemed to have left your body completely and you almost felt sober.

Almost.

Your little interaction with Remus fucking Lupin still made you feel a little dizzy.

Y/F/N found you halfway through, she guided you to your common room and brought you to your dorm.

That night, you slept quickly because even though Professor Lupin had taken you out of your drunk state, you still had a good dose of firewhisky.

Unlike you, Remus Lupin could not get a good night of sleep.

He thought about you all night long; the way you seemed to submit yourself completely to him without any hesitation, how small and fragile you seemed and how easy it would be for him to throw you on bed or any other surface he could fuck you into oblivion, the way you pressed your thighs together when he approached you - you didn't notice it, but he did.

Remus thought that, maybe, having you wasn't something so surreal; that, maybe, you wanted it too. But he remembered the firewhisky smell on your breath.

He knew he should never have done what he did.

He should have controlled himself.

The next day, he waited for Dumbledore to tell him that he was fired, but that never happened. He waited a week, two weeks, three weeks, more than a month passed and absolutely nothing happened.

Remus didn't know if he should be relieved or if he should feel like the worst man in the world; you had completely forgotten what had happened that night.

Or that's what he thought.

In fact, you remembered every minute of yours little interaction in the hall.

You remembered the way he looked at you ferociously, his predatory walk, you remembered perfectly the growl that came out of his throat, his body against yours, his chocolate and parchment paper perfume, and you, definitely, could never forget how dominant and controlling he acted - and how your body surrender to that behavior; how you liked it.

"You won't like what will happen to you if you lie to me again", it was his words, and Merlin, you had the most absolute certainty that you would love anything he did to you. And you would still beg for more.

You waited for Professor Lupin to come to you, but he never did. You waited more than a month and nothing happened.

It was as if that night had never happened.

Of course, you felt disappointed - very disappointed - but it was your last year at Hogwarts. Your last year walking through those halls, having dinner under the starry sky of the Great Hall, cheering for your house team at Quidditch, resting on that tree next to the Black Lake and enjoying the view from the Astronomy Tower, and you wouldn't waste it lamenting for your Dark Arts Defense teacher.

You graduated. And you thought you would never see him again.

But fate had other plans for you two because in that summer of 1995, you met at Grimmauld Place, number 12.

It didn't seem wrong anymore and it wasn't forbidden, so you promised yourself:

You were going to find out what Remus Lupin was hiding.

#harry potter #harry potter smut #remus lupin #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin smut #remus lupin imagine #lupin x reader #hp #marauders #smut #hp smut #lupin smut #remus x reader #remus smut #dom remus lupin #student reader #harry potter imagine #hp imagine #remus lupin fic #remus lupin fanfic #harry potter fic #harry potter fanfic

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 14

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"So, princess, who was that guy you guys were with last night? One of Bucky's rich friends?" Nat asked as soon as she saw you sitting alone in the booth. You stared at the red cushion in front of you and said:

"He kissed me." You whispered. "Bucky kissed me last night."

"Holy shit." She ran so quickly towards the booth that you thought you saw red and yellow streaks behind her, like The Flash. She occupied the empty space in front of you. "Tell me everything. Everything. I want all the scoop. Aaaall of it."

And that you did.

You fed Nat what she'd wanted to hear. From the way Bucky spun you around, to how hot you felt when your bodies collided, to the fiery passion embedded in your short kiss, to how it felt like it lasted forever, to how he tasted in your mouth, to how you savored every inch of his hot breath, to how his veiny hands pulled your waist into his, lips still tangling, to how his face felt so warm in your hands, and finally, to a sleeping devil awakening inside you.

As you told Nat every little detail of your passionate kiss, she looked at you in awe but all you saw through her dark irises was the silhouette of me and Bucky as you kissed last night, with the thousand city lights just outside the window. It would've been the perfect first kiss anyone could have; that you could have.

"Not gonna lie," she said, tucking her chin under her palm, "the way you describe it was so cheesy but wow, that was so romantic. Spontaneous kisses are so romantic. Did you also feel sparks just flying all around you?"

You grinned, still admiring the silhouette you kept seeing in her eyes. "Now who's the cheesy one?"

"You did, didn't you?"

"I don't even know if there are sparks, like, how do you even feel it?"

She shrugged. "You just feel it, I guess. Maybe it's like with people who can taste a number or a word."

"Synesthesia?"

"Yes, that. Maybe it's like that. Who knows? Romance is an enigma. You can't really explain it but you can feel it."

"Huh, maybe there was." You whispered, watching you and Bucky move your lips against each other. The picture was getting bigger now. "I've never really felt that with anybody. You should've felt my heart, Nat. I thought I was going to have a fucking heart attack."

"If you did, at least you would've died kissing a hot guy." She laughed.

"God, it felt so good. He... he felt so good." You said, ignoring her comment. "It also felt, somehow, right. I thought it was gonna feel wrong but it felt so right. Shit, is it too soon to say that?"

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No."

"Then, it's too soon." She answered. "And what the hell, if that make-out session was so hot, what did you guys do after?"

"Nothing. He went to Peter's room to sleep, then I went mine."

"That's it?"

"And then we kissed again this morning."

"And you still didn't have sex?" She hissed. You shook your head no. "Oh for fuck's sakes. I know he's not that old but he's fucking slow. Anyway, you guys kissed again this morning... So, how did that go?"

Oh god, this morning.

With the images of me and Bucky stuck in your head last night, you couldn't even bring yourself to a good night's sleep. All you could think of was how badly — badly you wanted to march in that room, throw yourself onto him, and have his soft lips against yours; you wanted it so badly that you kept pacing back and forth right in front of his (Peter's) room but then decided against it. And then the rest of the night, you wondered if he did the same, or even thought about it.

You woke up with a smile on your face and what you would usually hate in the mornings, you found pleasant. The hummingbirds on the trees sounded like angels sent from heaven, harmonizing with the knocking against your window, and the sun, although nearly blinding your eyes, gave you a sign that today was going to be a good day, if not, then a better day than the days you’ve had. Then you got up, staring at the busy street ahead, thankful you didn't have to go through that, then went towards the bathroom. You opened the door, and just your luck, Bucky was standing in front, his mouth slightly agape at the sight of you.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said, nearly whispered.

"H-hi." was all you could muster, bewildered at the sight of his blue eyes, the same color of that of the high seas, washing over you. "I was about to, uh, go wash up."

"Right, right of course. Go ahead." He stepped aside, giving me space to walk into.

As soon as you were done washing up, you turned around, opened the door, and lo and behold... Bucky.

"Oh wow, it's like, one of those game shows," Nat interrupted, "you pick a door, they open the door then you get your prize."

You chuckled. "Oh, Natasha. You're so weird."

"So... did you get your prize?"

"Nat!"

"What? It was right there!"

And the answer was yes, you did.

Because as soon your eyes met, he wrapped his arms around you and wasted no time finding your lips. You threw your arms around his neck, elbows on his strong, broad shoulder for support. This time, you opened your mouth wider, allowing his tongue inside of you. A moan escaped your lips. The taste of minty mouthwash sitting on your tongue, and overlapping his.

"Wow," you pulled away, grinning, "Hi."

"Hello, doll."

"Hi, good morning."

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to shut up 'cause I'm still not done with you."

"Oh, okay — "

"Not another word, doll."

You opened your mouth to say some more, curious what he'd do if you continued to speak but no words came out; only his tongue coming in first in your mouth. He lifted your body so easily towards the couch, never letting your lips detach. He laid you down, your head landing on a throw pillow, and he hovered over your body.

"And then his phone rang." You groaned.

"Ugh, what a cockblocker." Nat mirrored. "And who the hell calls at seven in the morning?"

"He had some business emergency. He told me he could stay but I urged him to go."

"Why the hell would you do that? You were about to get some." Nat searched your face for some answers. Younavoided her gaze. "Oh, I know. You got cold feet."

"I think so." You replied, nodding and biting your lower lip.

"Please don't tell me this is about Peter. Honey, you're not betraying anyone if you sleep with Bucky or date him. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"I know, I know." You sighed. "Surprisingly, that's not why. Gosh, I haven't even thought about Peter. But yeah, he's definitely not the reason."

Nat stared at you for what felt like forever. "How long?" She finally spoke.

You frowned. "How long the what?"

"How long since your last?"

You paused and thought about it for a moment. "A little over a year."

Nat's eyes almost jumped out of her sockets. "Over a year? Jesus, it's like you're a virgin again. I could never last that long."

"Of course, you won't." You replied. "That's why you went with Steve."

She scoffed. Now, it was her turn to avoid any eye contact she may have with you. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please. He imprinted his scent on you like a freaking werewolf."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Have you never seen Twilight?" You rolled your eyes. "Deny all you want but it won't change the fact that I could smell Steve on you a mile away."

"Ugh, I thought we were being so secretive." She placed her forehead on the wooden table.

"Then stop having sex at his office."

"We don't — "

"You come in smelling like you, then you come out there smelling like him. It's not rocket science." You shrugged. "How do you even do it there? It's so cramped and full of papers."

"How did we go from talking about your sex life to mine? Let's get back to you."

"There's nothing to talk about." You sighed. "I barely have one."

"The more we have to talk about it." She smirked. "So, who was your last and why was it your last?"

Nat could be so straightforward at times. You didn't know if you liked that about her or not.

"I don't know. Some random guy I met online, and I just wasn't interested in anybody after that, and I have no plans on having a long-term boyfriend then. Or even a girlfriend."

"Why not?"

"My ex-boyfriend wasn't that good to me and I guess I haven't felt anything romantic or... I don't know just something." You replied. "Until Bucky."

Nat leaned back on the booth. "Huh."

"What?"

"I just realized I don't know much about you." She shrugged.

"Nat, we weren't really friends back then; more like acquaintances. But you're here almost everyday now, thanks to Steve."

"We should go out soon, y'know." She said, clearly ignoring your last comment. "Just the two of us and hang out like real friends do."

"Sure, why not." You grinned.

"Anyway, back to you," she continued, "y'know sex is like riding a bike. Once you hop on to him, it'll get to you. And then you ride him into oblivion."

You couldn't help but giggle. "God, you and Steve must have some pretty kinky sex."

"Hey, what happens there," she pointed at Steve's office, "stay there. But what happens between you and Bucky? Should stay with me."

You let out a small huff. "Don't count on it."

"You're gonna sleep with him one way or another, maybe fall in love, who knows?"

"Okay, sleep with him — yeah, sure but fall in love with him? That's a bit of a stretch, Nat. Now, that's too soon."

"I didn't mean now!" She said defensively. "And again, don't speak too soon. Remember when you told me you'd never kiss him 'cause it feels like betraying Peter?"

"Uh-huh."

"Case in point." She smirked, resting her feet on the table. "Just flow where the river takes you. Don't think too much about it. Do what you feel."

The door opened briskly, revealing Steve with his signature denim on denim attire. He looked at you, a feigned confusion crossing his face. "Y/n, you're not supposed to be here."

You tilted your head. "I'm sorry, are you gonna have sex in the bar?"

"Y/n!" Nat reached across the table and slapped your hand.

"Jesus, woman. Don't worry your secret's safe with me."

"That's not what I meant." Steve nervously chuckled. "You have to go to the rooftop. Now."

"Wait," You paused, "you're serious."

"Yes, I am, and you need to go now."

Before you could even ask Steve what you were supposed to do on the rooftop, he was shoving you right towards the door and slamming it in front of your face, kicking you out of his bar. You brought your fist on the door, pounding it, yelling for Steve to let me in. The bastard did open the door only his head was out, looking like a floating body-less ghost.

"Um, hello?"

He flashed you a smile. "Hi!"

"Rogers, what the hell?"

"Just go, y/n. You're running out of time."

"What are you talking about? What the hell is going on?"

"Just do as I say. No questions asked. Goodbye. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, Steve slammed the door on your face for the second time that day in a span of two minutes. You let out a scoff and kicked the door, stomping your way towards the apartment, then climbing up the rooftop while thinking of a hundred ways to murder Steve Rogers. But those thoughts soon dissipated, seeing Bucky emerge from a white cottony teepee tent which was sitting perfectly in the middle.

He turned around, your eyes meeting each other. He was wearing a black wool buttoned cardigan, a black shirt inside, tucked in a pair of skinny jeans. He strode towards you, grabbed your face and planted a kiss on your lips.

"Hey," he breathed as he pulled away, "you made it just in time."

You bit your lower lip. "What did you do this time, Bucky?"

"I felt bad leaving you like that earlier this morning so I thought I'd make it up to you." He walked closer and held out his hand. "Come on, doll."

You grinned, placing your hand on top of his and letting him walk you towards the front of the tent overlooking the city — just like last time. The inside of the white tent was big enough for two people (at least). On the ground were a pile of blankets and pillows, and unlit hanging lights on its pointed roof. Upon the pile of blankets was a take-out plastic from a Chinese place.

"Sorry, I only know how to cook breakfast so I got us Chinese." Bucky said whilst sitting down. "Come sit." He said, patting a space on the blankets. You did as he told you to, and was handed a little Chinese take-out box. "I hope you like orange chicken."

"Are you kidding me? I love Chinese food." You said while taking it from him.

"Good, good." He said, opening his.

You looked back at the space behind you, admiring how beautifully messy it all was. Then as your eyes went up towards the hanging lights, a memory took place right before your eyes.

"Remember that thing you said about the hanging lights?" Bucky asked, following your gaze. You sheepishly nodded. "Well, I thought today was the right time to put them up."

You bit your lip, looking at him. "So, this is a date."

"Is that okay?"

"Bucky, we've already made out twice in less than twenty-four hours." You giggled. "I think it's only appropriate, but you should've asked me first, y'know. On my way up here, I was already planning on how to kill Steve for kicking me out the bar."

"Yeah, I called in a favor to Mr. Rogers. I'm glad he agreed." He laughed, popping an egg roll in his mouth. "I apologize for not asking you out on a date formally but in my defense, I like being spontaneous in hopes of whisking you off your feet."

You hummed. "You're not quite there yet, Mr. Barnes. You're gonna have to try harder."

"Challenge accepted."

A gasp came out of your mouth as soon as the sunset hues appeared above, like a painting coming to life. You drowned out the noises from below, and listened to the whistling of the cold wind.

"I know you miss watching the sunset." Bucky started.

"Thank you, Bucky." You smiled. "This is a breath of fresh air."

You stopped blinking for a moment, eyes glazed over the sun about to be cradled by darkness, and then for a brief moment, the afterglow lingered — the remaining radiance in the skies before the night takes over; for a brief moment, your heart stopped.

"Wow." You breathed, watching the moon come up. "I haven't seen that for a very long time."

"Neither have I." Bucky replied. "But the magic doesn't stop there." He turned to his side and flicked a switch, the hanging lights coming to life.

"God, this is so cheesy." You commented, shaking your head at Bucky.

He smirked, planting a kiss on your cheek. "Now, it's a date."

You sat there side by side, enjoying the Chinese take-out Bucky had gotten for the both of you, as he asked you questions about your life before New York — the classic first date stuff. You teased him, "Is this what you usually do with other girls?"

"Doll," he chuckled in a low tone, "I don't do this to other girls."

You set down your chopsticks and faced him. "So tell me, what do you usually do on first dates?"

He laughed. "Well, for starters I wouldn't do all this on a first date — or any date for that matter. It's usually just one date and then it's pretty much over."

"How so?"

"Because I don't plan on keeping them around for too long," He shrugged, swallowing his food before continuing to speak, "because they're not interesting enough for me."

Well, am I Bucky? was what you wanted to ask but you repressed yourself from doing so. "If they're not, what do you guys talk about on dates?"

"Boring work stuff. Nothing I've never heard before." He replied. "How about you?"

You snickered. "Oh god, I don't even remember the last date I've been on. But, I guess, it's just the normal stuff. I ask him about himself, and his family. That's pretty much it."

He hummed, nodding to himself as he lifted an orange chicken to his mouth. "So, how come you haven't remembered the last date you've been on?"

You squinted your eyes, looking out of nowhere. "Let's just say it wasn't much of a date."

Bucky frowned, confused, until the realization dawned on him. "Oh, you mean — "

"Yep." You nodded along. "I'm not proud of it. I just wanted to feel something, I guess."

"Did you?"

"God, no." You scoffed. "Meaningless, is what it was."

Under the bright luminescent lights hanging in the tent, you talked about past relationships. Bucky with his unending parade of girls, and yours with a decent number of people (yes, guys and girls), not exceeding twenty. Unlike Bucky, his were just one night stands and short flings, while you, in those number of people you’ve been with, fell in love with one and had your heart shattered into pieces by the same jerk back in college.

"If you don't mind me asking..."

"He... Well, he," You paused, wriggling out of his stare, "he became pretty abusive."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"He also cheated on me," you said, "with my sister."

Here, you met his eyes — his wide, unblinking eyes. "Are you kidding me — with your sister?"

"My sister visited me in college once and they bumped into each other somewhere. She didn't know he was my boyfriend, they hooked up, and then when we met for dinner that same night, all hell went loose."

He frowned, shaking his head. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"It's okay." You shrugged. "I punched him right after. That felt good."

He smirked, nodding his head. "Attagirl."

From there, Bucky asked you about your family, your life before New York. Comfortable enough to tell him about your past, you did. You told him about the afflictions of being the middle child growing up,  about how you’ve almost ran away from home back in high school, about how your parents constantly badgered you to continue the family business, about how you wanted to chase some silly dream in New York, about how you got cut off by your family, and about how you left them all behind for a new life in New York. You were pretty much close to a definition of an orphan — which you shouldn't have said in front of Bucky.

And then he asked you about Peter and how you met, and how you did back in college.

"That must've been hard." He commented. "Having three guys as your roommates."

"Are you kidding me? I was more of a man than all of them combined." You scoffed. "But yeah, they all sucked. Anyway, that's a lot about me. Let's move on to you." You set down your take-out boxes, seeing that you already done eating. You grabbed the bottle of water, quenching your thirst. "What's your story, old man?"

"We're gonna go with that? Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Come on, you know all about me. Didn't Peter tell you about all those stories about me?"

"You know that's not what I'm talking about, Bucky."

"Let's save that conversation for the next dates to come." He winked, finishing his food.

"Let's see if you're ever going to get a second date from me." You teased. "Depends on how this night will come to an end."

"Then, I'll make this one a date you will never forget."

You smirked. "Your move, old man."

"Challenge accepted."

#bucky barnes story #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fan fiction #bucky barnes fic #Bucky x reader #Bucky AU #james barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #james bucky barnes #Bucky x you #Bucky story #bucky x female reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky fanfic #bucky fluff

[selene-tempest]

Our Brains.

Brains is fun to hug, he really is. It makes me laugh every single time you do it. It's like he just never expects spontaneous affection from anyone.

He was in for a rude awakening with me. I hug everyone and everything for absolutely no reason what so ever. OK, maybe I do have reasons sometimes, like if they look particularly cute or they are having a bad day, but there's just something about Brains that makes me want to squish the every loving crap out of him.

I remember the first time I met everyone. I first saw Gordon, even if it was upside down. He was there with this big grin on his face and I said to myself "He's gonna be trouble." but the good kind, you know? He might have been an absolute nightmare as a rescuer but later that night he keep my attention as I went through the second scariest moment when I faced the needle of doom.

And then up lumbered Virgil, giving me this smile that said "Hi, don't worry, I'm here, you can trust me." and gods did I trust him. I'd trust him with anything, my keys, my car, my tools, my bank account, anything, just not to get me out of that tree. A witch has to have some self preservation you know. Virgil gives the best hugs, I know everyone says that but it's true, he's got these strong arms that feel like a bubble around you and you know nothing will touch you in them. He glared at the doctor waving the syringe around and warned him not to hurt me, then buried my head in his chest until it was all over. Honestly I don't remember much of it. I might have lost some air supply smothered against those pectorals of his, but what a way to go, eh?

But much as I liked them, they weren't who I truly needed that night. No, I wanted that silver tongued god I'd been talking to in outer space and no one else would do. Its pretty obvious that the first time I met John was life changing.

Then Scott ambled up, flashed me those dimples in a grin that clearly said "I got this shit" and I wasn't sure if my dignity would ever be intact again with him around. He's got that vibe, that vibe that says he'll get you home safe but you'd probably shit your pants at how fast he does it. High octane is our Scott.

Then Alan, oh that baby, I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket, snuggle him to death and feed him cupcakes.

But Brains, I had literally no idea what to make of him. He was friendly in an over enthusiastic, babbling at me in Sciencees until my head spun kind of way. But so sweet with it.

Brains has this moment about him, when he's not sure of himself. It's not that he doubts his brain power, not at all, but it's like he doubts himself. He reminds me so much of John in that way.

I walked in to find him sat on the couch, looking confused, squinting at his readouts and his face was just a picture of misery. I know nothing about anything of value, but I know when a hug is needed.

I scared the crap out of him. I didn't think, I just leant over the couch, wrapped my arms around him and gave him a squishy witchy hug (patent pending).

He jumped like he'd been shot and went bright red, getting all flustered and stammery. Then he backed off and ran out of the room like his butt was on fire.

I was so worried that I'd offended him or upset him in some way. So I tracked down the love of my life. It went like this:

"John, I broke your scientist, sorry about that."

"You did what?" Confusion, thy name is John Tracy.

"I broke him."

"And how, pray tell, did you manage that?"

"I hugged him."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh! What do I do? How do I fix him? Is this permanent? He ran away so fast I think I saw smoke."

"That's just Brains." That was the wisdom he gave me.

"I'm gonna need more than that, babe."

And that's when I heard the story.

Brains was orphaned at the age of eleven when a hurricane struck his family home. He had no family that could be traced and after floating in the system for a year his incredible brain power made him known to a Cambridge professor who adopted him.

But although he had a relatively happy childhood after that, where his need to acquire knowledge and to indulge in experimentation and inventing was indulged, he lacked the familiaral affection he'd gotten from his parents. His adoptive father cared for him, but more like a teacher would a favourite student than a father.

He'd met Jeff while he was studying, on the fast track to greatness but his abilities were far outstripping the offers he was getting due to his age. To put it simply, no one dared take a chance on a youngster like him. No one but Jeff.

John told me that Brains had gotten better with them all, he now understood their teasing and no longer took it personally, although he still over analysed or took it literally from time to time.

Brains hardly ever reaches out for affection, he's too analytical for that. He only ever does when he's so excited he forgets to think.

John got in the crossfire of that once and froze, two semi-antisocial hermits who didn't know what had just happened. But it was Brains, someone he was comfortable with, so John had just gone with it, patted him on the shoulder and let him know that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

And now I'm here, poor Brains. He doesn't know what's hit him. He gets hugged when he least expects it all the time. I call it emersion therapy, the boys call it the Selene effect.

He's gotten used to it. He's gotten used to me. He no longer runs. He doesn't stammer. He doesn't panic. He stiffens, then relaxes and occasionally, very rarely, as beautiful as the sun coming up after a long, dark winters night, he'll hug me back.

I love those moments, those times when he's so excited that he'll grab you and hug you without thinking. That's the real Brains, that's the sweetheart that I adore.

That's the one that everyone should know about. The one that makes bad jokes and shouts out his little random ideas without any context, the one that asked me to make a scarf for MAX because his circuitry was feeling delicate that week.

That's our Brains.

That's the one I wish more people saw.

For @drileyf, thanks for the picture submissions.

#Brains #hiram k hackenbacker #selene tempest #thunderbirds fandom #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction

[emily-the-fae]

Sound of a Heartbeat

Part 3. Back to Business

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Here I am, back with a new chapter. I have absolutely no betas, so this is what I get after editing the text myself.

Pairing: Dracula x OC

Warnings: absolutley none

What Shari did not expect, was to feel cold - in fact, there was now extremely unpleasant cold at her back and something burning warm and soft at her side, the juxtaposition making her shiver and move her shoulders. As soon as she did so, sharp pain shot through the left side of her neck, causing her to flinch and groan, straightening her shoulders carefully as not to evoke another shot of pain. Why-why-why does this have to sting so much all over again? Shari could hear some sounds around her - noises like obscured quiet dialogue, the voices were still undetectable, but she already had a hint of who they might belong to. Next there was a raspy sound of someone's - or something's - quick breathing right next to her ear. Light struck her eyes through closed eyelids, causing her to turn her head, wincing. There was a sound of footsteps coming closer. Some other noise, getting louder by second, until she finally heard...

- Shari! - as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Sypha leaning above her, anxious face watching her reaction carefully, strands of red hair falling in front of her eyes.

Shari bolted upwards, nearly bumping into the speaker and instantly regretting it as sharp pain shot through her body, she bent forward, almost folding in half, then straightened up again, taking deep breaths. Alright, easy. This is what surviving feels like. She was going to live for now. Shari looked around: she was laying on the snowy forest floor next to a campfire, her body covered with a warm cape; the wood opening was lit in dim daylight, Sypha was crouching on the ground next to her, Adrian and Trevor staring at her from across the campfire; Rodo crawled closer, putting his muzzle onto her lap and wagging his short tail happily, his nose poking her belly.

She caressed his big furry head absentmindedly. Shari did not understand how the hell she managed to make it back, especially considering her health condition. She was expecting anything, but home sweet home among the three friends on the other side of the water.

Something moved on the edge of her peripheral vision, between the trunks of the trees and Shari had to turn her shoulders fully in order to keep her neck as immobile as possible, as she tried to look in the direction of the movement. She saw a shadowy figure of the ghost stare at her, hovering immobile close to the edge of the trees. Oh, Lisa Tepes is not going to leave her alone now. She knew Shari would survive, somehow the damned woman just knew it. Now the healer could be sure the ghost will stick to her for some time and continue the scheme of "go and save the world". A very pleasant beginning of the day.

- Lord, it's so good that you're back. We seriously thought that we might lose you, - Sypha threw her arms around Shari's neck, for the time being taking the healer's thoughts off her new acquaintance. - I tried all I could, you know, magic and other stuff... Adrian almost suggested turning you, - Shari snorted. Like hell he would have.

- How long was I...?

- Three days, - Sypha's face was probably as pale as her own. The poor girl must have done all she was capable of to keep Shari alive.

- To be honest, I am quite surprised that my father didn't finish what he started, but I am anyway relieved, that you are well, - Adrian walked up to her and petted her shoulder. - I'm so sorry we weren't there to help you straight away.

- It's fine, Adrian, we couldn't have predicted that he would pay us a visit. It's not anybody's fault, - no it is. My own and yours too, it was a dumb idea to leave the most battle-unprepared person alone. Shari shut the voice in her head and smiled weakly.

Trevor just nodded from across the fire, listening to their exchange; he watched the three of them, his gaze from time to time drifting back to Shari, or rather to the reddened patch on her neck. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if hesitant to speak, then finally spilled it out:

- How did he attack you? How did he find us? Did he speak? – the hunter started throwing questions at her and Shari got a strong feeling of being interrogated.

- I-I don't know, - Shari almost lied, throwing a cautious glance at Lisa. - He just, sort of, appeared and attacked me that's mostly it.

- He probably watched us. She was alone, so he decided to weaken us by removing the one left vulnerable, - Adrian finished, lowering himself on the ground next to the healer. Shari didn't want to respond, dropping herself to her improvised bed in exhaustion.

- You must be more or less right. That night is a bit foggy in my memory, really, - she huffed.

- He has a nasty habit of putting his victims under hypnosis, so your condition is quite - I almost said normal - quite to be expected I dare say, - Adrian mumbled matter-of-factedly, his palm coming up to caress her head and brush away a few stray strands of hair from her face. Shari felt her stomach turn in fear at the word "victims", she breathed out heavily. Silence followed.

- Guys, seriously, I feel drained... - Shari stretched as well as she could; Sypha snorted at her involuntary pun. - Can I please just rest for a while?

- Of course. Take your time and gain some strength. You'll need it soon, - Adrian spoke before anyone could respond. He stretched out his hand to take her palm in his for a moment, capturing her attention. - You deserve some rest. Thank you... For not dying on us. Really, - his tone began to be uncharacteristically serious, but as he ended his words in a chuckle, Shari could only breath out and smile warmly. Sypha just nodded and hurried to cover her once more with the large warm cape - the healer wasn't sure if it was Adrian's of Trevor's.

Shari lay back in peace for once, feeling Rodo's large warm form next to herself and letting the sounds of the forest wash over her. Maybe she could at least get some normal sleep.

***

When she woke up the next time, it was already deep in the night. The fire was burning low, Sypha and Trevor sleeping soundly on the ground around it, curled into two freezing balls, an empty bottle next to Trevor's hand - as per usual - and Adrian nowhere to be seen. Rodo purred in discontent, shaking his sleepy red eyed head, when Shari tried to sit up.

There was a shadow at the edge of the trees once again watching the small campsite intently; Shari could see it clearly its outline hiding behind the tree trunks. Lisa. The woman caught her gaze and beckoned her to come closer. Shari shook her head at first, but the woman only continued gesturing more aggressively; she hesitated for a while, contemplating whether she should just turn on her side and go back to sleep, then stood up at last almost against her own will, walking up to the ghost cautiously, ready for any unpleasant surprise. She felt like she was going to regret even this small decision.

Lisa, seeing her move, turned away and walked further into the tree shadows, leading the human away from the campfire; Shari could barely follow her transparent form, walking through the bushes careful not to make too much noise that could awaken her unaware companions. Rodo ran behind his human, smelling the air around him for any traces of life, his huge claws making him clumsy as he trotted through the bushes. At first Shari could barely see her way, cursing under her breath as she went until all of a sudden she found herself in an opening once more, a small free patch of ground formed around an old fallen tree, it's darkened trunk laying on the ground and clearing some space around it; Shari saw the ghost settle on top of the trunk as if sitting down on a bench, gesturing for the human to do the same. Shari walked closer and lowered herself next to the woman. It was silent for a few moments.

- Did you really have to do that? - Shari spoke up.

- Do what? - Lisa responded.

- Appear to me. Rush my decisions.

- I didn't. In fact, I tried to tell you to think it over, if you remember?

- Oh yes, you didn't intimidate me with the prospects of returning to Earth straight for a painful fight, - sarcasm it is.

- I needed you to be out here.

Silence once more.

- Why don't they see you? Adrian and others - you were there in the morning, but they didn't notice. Are you just a hallucination? In my head? I’m going insane, am I? - Shari asked. The ghost sighed in response, lowering her head.

- No, no. I believe, you... Crossed some border because of almost dying. You aren't supposed to be seeing me now, it never happened to me before... Maybe you are able to see the other dead too. Maybe it's just me because I tried to connect to you, - Lisa answered, unconfident, studying the girl's face. - I was never exactly an expert in the paranormal field.

- You raised a vampire son.

- That's different!

Pause.

- I'm still not going to go looking for Dracula, - Shari stated.

- You can go looking for his castle instead then, - Lisa was seemingly unworried about her decision.

- Looking for his castle?! Do you even hear yourself? How is that supposed to be "instead"? How.. Wait, why?

- Well, as you said, you want to hold onto your life - he has the answer to your sickness, your salvation - I know, I remember, I've been to his library - if you manage to find the castle, you will as well find the cure, - Lisa smiled knowingly at Shari's visible confusion. The healer wrinkled her nose, thinking. Now there was something to it – could be possible; a chance for longer survival, if the stories didn’t lie; besides Dracula is quite busy and Lisa had told her she watched over him. But still...

- Oh no, I'm not buying this. You're just telling this to me, because you want me to encounter him. He very obviously will be there and will certainly be not happy about a human intruder. I won't go, nope, - Shari replied.

- Don't you think it's the better option of not encountering him? - there was a smirk on the ghost's face now.

- Oh, yes, why would that be?

- He's following you four around, he said it himself, so he will definitely notice you are still alive and quite soon. But I do know he is not as often in his castle nowadays - so if you leave the others, in fact, you will have better chances of...

- Alright, alright, Lady Logic, I get it. What's in it for you then? Making me search the castle? Sounds all too good for me and nothing for you, as you place it. What do you have in mind?- Shari stared at the ghost suspiciously, waiting for the answer.

- His castle and all its movement is controlled only from the inside, I know it for sure. And maybe, just maybe, together we could find a way to reverse this war with minimum blood. If we find a way to stick the castle to one place, he will have to be more careful, because his safe place will grow more vulnerable. As for Adrian and your team out there – they wouldn’t be able to ambush him. Drawn in that condition they may have more time and necessity to… reconsider some of their tactics. Who says diplomacy should work without a little destructive help? You and I – together we can create the needed mess, - Lisa responded. This sounded almost like a rehearsed speech. - Magic and knowledge: if you help it may actually work out.

- And that's all? - Shari raised an eyebrow.

- Yes.

- Too simple.

- Only on speech, - Lisa tilted her head towards Shari. - Do we have a deal?

- I don't trust you, - Shari cut back. - You're nice and all, but I don't trust you, - she stood up from the tree trunk.

- You don't have to. But we need each other, you have to admit it, - the ghost responded with an amused smile. Shari really wanted to shut her ears and run away. This was no good. There was no way the ghost wasn't lying about Dracula deserting his castle; Adrian said he wouldn't... Though Adrian didn't expect him to be watching them either.

- Okay. Say I do trust you – for now. What do I do? How do I get away and to his castle without Adrian?

- Leave tomorrow. Tell them you need to go and settle some personal matter – or rest somewhere peaceful, that you know of a small village to rest in for a while. That you're sick and solving it - it's not far from the truth. You'll catch up with them in some time… possibly, - Lisa told it all as if she had planned the whole thing a long time ago, which unnerved Shari quite a lot.

- Will I though? - mistrust once again.

- Depends on you, - the ghost dissolved into thin air. - Remember, we both need each other.

#castlevania #dracula x oc #dracula x reader #alucard #adrian tepes #sypha belnades #trevor belmont #fanfiction #i have no beta

[outoftimewriting]

Imagine (based on the incomplete fanfic Son of the Underworld) (Son of Hades! Percy AU) (5/5) or (5/10)

Hey so, this is the last part of PJO - I follow into HOO, so before you read this, check on the masterpost - and read the warnings before proceeding :)) Good reading!

Annabeth comes to him, at the end of his fifteenth birthday party, and shows her Daedalus laptop. There's a document open in it, and it's labeled Achilles' Curse.

Percy doesn't read it - he hates reading, in any way or form or language - but she does, out loud.

"I'll think about it"

They have a year. Most of them, even those who aren't year-rounders, are going back to camp, to draw battle plans and stock on the armory.

He feels kinda selfish - for a whole five seconds before he remembers he'll probably die next summer, so he just shrugs it off - Percy deserves this year.

They all leave to go back to camp. Nico seems conflicted over something - but Perseus doesn't question it, there's enough bad blood between them.

Paola is really cool - and Sally really loves her. It's kind of bizarre at first, to see his Mom dating his teacher - and of a subject he hates - but Paola is calm and well-tempered and she laughs at his stupid ass jokes.

He visits Persephone afterward - and it really feels like he has three moms to fulfill his lack of a father - well, he is absolutely grateful for the women in his life.

Percy isn't truly in good terms with his father. The man doesn't really seem to care much for him as a person - he is much more of a trophy son.

Perseus loathes being a trophy son, but at least he has someone to help with his powers - not something a lot of half-bloods can claim.

So he goes back to school with Rachel, and they pretend everything is normal. He tells her about his quests - all three of them. He thinks she understands him better now.

He opens up to her. Tells her about Annabeth - the adrenaline-fueled kiss - and Rachel stops talking with him for a week.

She apologizes when she comes back. She needed to figure some things up - firstly, the redhead tells him she is probably asexual - and maybe aromantic too, but she is not certain because the internet wasn't really clear about that.

Then Rachel confesses that she is not jealous of him in a romantic way - she is envious of his friendship with Annabeth. Percy is her first genuine friend that really appreciates her.

This is the first grudge Perseus lets go for real before it even takes place - Rachel didn't leave him because of teenage drama, she ignored him out of confusion. Everyone is allowed space - he knows this better than anyone.

They don't kiss anymore. Not because Rachel doesn't like it - no, she is all for it - but because Percy is starting to think kisses should mean something - he is saving them.

They kiss once - when Rachel father calls for the first time this year - not to ask about her, but to tell Rachel he found this amazing all-girls school. To Percy, kisses mean comfort.

They cuddle a lot, though. These past few years of fear have made Percy very touch-starved.

It's sophomore year - and Percy is in five AP classes: Macroeconomics&Microeconomics, Statistics, Calculus AB, Physics 1, and Comparative Government and Politics.

He is planning on taking both AP Computer Science classes, Psychology, Physics 2, and Calculus BC next year; leaving only Electricity&Magnetism, Mechanics, Chemistry, and World History for his senior year.

If he lives, he is working on a tight schedule here. He doesn't know what he wants yet - and if he is in constant danger, it's already pretty lucky he can do high school - but probably something with Math.

Rachel says fourteen AP courses are ambitious - that he'll burn out. But math comes to him easily enough - it's in his blood.

She is also overworking: She is taking AP Environmental Studies, Art History, Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, and English Literature and Composition.

They complete each other. Rachel is planning on taking as many Art, History, and English courses as she can - he is taking as many Physics, Math, and Science as he can handle.

(She is also going to take on Japanese studies for some reason - probably for her GPA, but Perseus just teases her that she is getting too invested in anime)

Perseus doesn't care about languages anymore - the only languages that matter to him are C++ and JavaScript now.

They study together, they take naps together, they climb to the roof together, they flee school to visit Sally together - he is the Pinky to her Brain, the Scooby to her Shaggy, the Lois Lane to her Superman, the Robin to her Batman.

They look like troublemakers - They are honor roll students, but she is always with ripped pants dirty with paint, and he is always full of flowers everywhere, even in his muddy converses - a cliche to kill all cliches.

They're both nerds - he is the classic one, all polo shirts now, the first chair for every number-related class - and she is the artsy one - there's a brush behind her ear and her hair is so messy that half the time it covers her face.

Paola gifts him a pair of cheap frames without lenses once - saying it adds to the aesthetic - he totally uses them.

Persephone just makes him flower-crowns, and giggles when he matches them with his polo shirts.

When winter comes, he goes back to his hoodies and sweaters and gloves - to find out he doesn't miss them a lot.

Rachel introduces him to polaroids - and they look eerily pretty in the winter, her hair looking like blood spilling over the snow - and he loves it.

If he survives - he can feel Rachel slapping him - when he survives, his college credits will be remarkable. The idea of doing SATs makes him want to cry - reading always does - but he'll get somewhere good - he knows it. Perhaps Stanford. Or NYU. Or the dream of his life, MIT.

He is living his life to the fullest - he starts reading comic books, he gets really (really) into Tony Stark once Iron Man 1 comes out (even if he has to kill at least three monsters just to go to the movies), he plants trees and Rachel starts teaching him how to play her ukulele - but half his mind is still on the upcoming war.

Christmas vacation comes - and he goes to visit Camp Half-Blood, before heading back to his mom. It's quite memorable, if only by the fact that Nico Di Angelo freaking betrays him.

He tells Percy to come to the Winter Solstice with him. Most of the campers are not going - the war effort is in an all-time high - but Percy has never gone before. Hades will be there - it'll be great!

Perseus should absolutely be less surprised with the outcome - seeing that Nico is inviting him in Cabin 1, post-dinner, and they don't even stop to talk to Chiron about it.

But Percy goes. Because Percy wants to make amends.

There's no time to really talk to anyone. They travel in Blackjack for the Empire State Building - and it's fine.

They go up to Olympus, Nico shows him everything in the god's land, the temples are a work of art, if not kind of old, and the meeting is kind of okay, even if the gods are squabbling children.

Then the gods leave, and Perseus thinks they're leaving too.

"My father needs a word with you"

Perseus feels the betrayal claw on him. There are no shadows in the white hall, there's no way for him to escape. Nico looks apologetic - Percy wants to clock him in the face.

"He promised to tell me more about my mother" Nico pleads "He will tell me more about where I've come from. Please, Percy."

Nico is cute. He is, for a soon-to-be fourteen-year-old. But his pretty face and exquisite white eyes don't make him any less of a freaking liar. All his handsome male straight friends betray him - it's a worrying pattern now.

He muses for a second that they also all have a crush on Annabeth - gods, the blonde attract the worst types.

It's double-crossing - Percy ends up in an all-white cell that burns his retinas without any weapons because Zeus wants praise in the middle of this freaking war - doesn't matter if a hundred demigods die, if he only has the glory.

Nico ends up with barely any information - Zeus didn't promise anything. The god of the skies is a lying-ass motherfucker - literally.

And Zeus justifies it - He says Perseus is a criminal because he awakened Typhon. So Hephaestus issues a quest so he can save a hundred demigods, he destroys a powerful titan weapon of doom, and he is the villain? Sure, Jan.

Perseus writes this grudge in his heart - that's where trust will take you. To a cell. Betrayed by a "friend". Again.

He flinches when Nico comes into his cell, pins him to the wall and promptly begins to try and strangle him. He wants to melt in the boy's shadow - to go and never give him a chance to explain - but he looks so guilty Percy waits for his repentance.

The son of Zeus saves him, but Perseus is still pissed off. The god of thunder has threatened to kill him off at least two times now, what is to say he wouldn't have killed off Percy for the sake of glory?

He half hopes Zeus had killed him off. The war is close, too close - Nico wouldn't be the Prophecy's child. There would be no child. Olympus would fall - and Percy would have seen it all from his very comfortable couch in Elysium.

He wants Kronos gone - but he kind of wants Olympus to fall with the Titan.

Nico flies him down to the Earth - the elevator is monitored. Zeus has left, like many others - not to bother with the war effort against his main enemy, but to go to the human world mess with people.

Some gods are doing something - He has heard from Annabeth that Artemis is leading the widest hunt ever, with her brother by her side; Hermes (with Hephaestus help) is delivering Celestial Bronze, other metals, old schematics and a whole lot of fuel to Camp Half-Blood every few weeks; Poseidon is fighting his own war, in the ocean; Dionysus is at Camp - and this time, he is really helpful with the battle formations; Demeter is on the Underworld - Chiron seems to think his father is preparing for war, but Percy sorely doubts it.

Percy is taking some people with him to Sally's Christmas dinner. Just Annabeth, Clarisse, Rachel, Connor, Travis, and Charles - people who don't have a present family to celebrate it with.

Grover is coordinating the dryads up in San Francisco with his second cousin, Gleeson Hedge - they are the first to fall if anything goes wrong in Mt. Othrys.

"I think you should stay." He tells Nico.

"You don't trust me anymore." It's not actually a question.

Percy doesn't trust the boy. Not at all - it's the third time he does something shady to achieve his ends based on emotional turmoil. But he is a good person - it's just his father's cursed temper and his grief.

"It's not that. You're needed for the war effort."

Both of them know it's a lie. Percy doesn't care - he deserves to be bitter a little longer.

Percy goes back home. Christmas is amazing - even if Rachel asks him where Nico is because he is talking about making amends with the boy for a while now.

He goes visit Persephone - but she is occupied, so he wanders through the Underworld after Bianca di Angelo - someone he, for some reason, never been able to reach. It's a pointless endeavor by now.

He finds her. Or else, he finds a shadow of her - she is blocked from his view. Bianca doesn't talk to him - they weren't close - but she guides him to a girl.

Her name is Hazel Levesque.

She seems lost - like most ghosts - but something in Percy calls for her. It's the color of her skin and the sparkle in her golden eyes - Hazel remembers him of himself.

He promises to visit more - even though he doesn't think she'll remember it - and leaves to go back to the surface - he will finish the sophomore year.

And Percy does. After a very distressing break, he is doing his best. His grades drop a little in English because he can barely focus - half his mind is on the war and Nico's betrayal and Hazel Levesque's golden eyes.

Miraculously, his GPA doesn't fall - he still is taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes, and barely has time to breathe - dark circles grow under his eyes, and he looks like a mess - but now he is a Junior.

That's why, as soon as the year ends, Rachel takes him on a road trip with Connor. They go all the way to Boston, then Portland, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Syracuse, Baltimore, and Filadelfia, before going back to NY.

They are stopped five times by the police - because Percy is black, and it's Rachel driving the Camaro, because she has a learner's permit and Connor is, somehow, an approved license holder.

They are on a pier, enjoying the view of the beach. They did the last week alone because Connor wanted to go check on one of his cousins - at least, that's what he said, with an over-exaggerated wink that both Percy and Rachel ignored for the sake of their sanity.

She tells him about Clarion Ladies Academy - but that her father is at least mildly happy with her GPA this year, even if he disapproves of her Art focused AP classes. Percy thinks Mr. Dare would love him, with his APs on Economics and Politics, if only he was rich. And white.

This time, when Charles Beckendorf arrives in a Pegasus to tell him it's time, Rachel doesn't kiss him - she justs hugs him and makes him promise to call her.

Perseus doesn't go to the Andromeda Ship - he is needed in Camp. He is useless on the water - but they do need him to improve battle strategy.

Charles Beckendorf is dead. Thalia is the one to tell them - she was in her father's palace helping with a monster under her Lady's orders - he went on the mission alone.

Percy talks briefly with Beckendorf's ghost - is his worst developed power, and he can barely hold the "seance" for more than a few minutes. He does it with only Nico di Angelo for witness - the others are the way to close to the situation.

There's a spy passing information to Luke.

They look at him. Doesn't matter how much he does, he is always the first suspect - he is a son of Hades. He was friends with a lot of people on the other side. He was gone for a year and a half, who knows where.

Perseus wants to say that he has helped to save their asses four times now - that without him in the Labyrinth, they would all be dead right now - and that Charles was basically his older brother.

Then he points out he wasn't even here - he had no idea of any plans of anything - and he told him about the spy, so he is not the freaking spy, go point fingers at each other instead of him.

When they start yelling, he stops them - this is not the time, he was just angry at their accusations. They have to burn Charles shroud. Silena is inconsolable - Percy is not very far from it, but he is not a public crier. The last time he cried in public, Luke was dead on a cliff.

Percy speeds up the line for Elysium to Beckendorf - his brother deserves it.

They read the prophecy together - Perseus already read it last summer, he doesn't even care anymore. They look at him anxiously - no one has forgotten that he abhors most of the gods.

Clarisse and Michael Yew fight, but Lee Fletcher - with a mechanical arm built by Beckendorf himself, still re-learning how to shoot arrows and forever incapable of playing the guitar again (but the keyboard is not ruled out yet) - stops them: They can share the chariot. The war is more important - is not the time for petty fights.

Chiron shows them Typhon - and Perseus has a sliver of hope that they can destroy Kronos and be free of the gods at the same time - It's a horrible hope, because he loves Persephone and some of them are even okay sometimes, but he really wants Zeus to go to Tartarus for at least a century, so Perseus doesn't meet him again in this life.

But he also wants the gods to win, because there's a lot of dead people - innocents, people who have nothing to do with this war.

He dreams of Rachel. Rachel is painting Luke - and Percy wakes up crying, for the boy the gods took away.

Annabeth takes him aside and reminds him of Achilles' Curse. He is off to May Castellan's house - the last place Luke has been - for it's his best and only chance, its what Annie thinks. And she is scarcely wrong.

Perseus hates the gods. They wrecked a family - and for what? May Castellan - forever waiting for a son that will never come back, haunted by visions of his future, plates of burned cookies everywhere.

Perseus doesn't pity her - he rages against the gods, who brought madness upon this woman and then left her to it. Where was Apollo, the god of health? Dionysus, who is supposed to control mental health? Artemis, whose job is to protect women?

Hestia is kind - but she is still a goddess. She could've prevented this - but she hides in her hearth and abstains - and that's enabling. Hestia enables the other gods to do as they please, even when she is the oldest. She says they ignore her - oh well, she ignores them right back! He has no time for the laments of another all-powerful being.

So he goes to his mother and asks for her blessing. Then, just to be sure, he asks Persephone's too.

He thinks about his anchor - where does he want it to be in his body. He doesn't want somewhere in his back - where he can't see it - or in his gut - where anyone can stick a sword. He settles for the bottom of his back - where he can at least touch it and it's well protected by armor - and dives.

Perseus hates water - and he has an uncanny fear of drowning. He feels pain - everywhere, horrible pain.

His vision now doesn't have Annabeth's face - the blonde is his link to the demigod world, Persephone is his link to the Underworld and his mom is his link to childhood - but the person who grounds him is Rachel.

He is stronger. He feel his powers at his fingertips - Perseus feels the Underworld as a whole, and it's overwhelming.

Green flames explode from his hands. Flowers made of shadows curve around his ankles - he has been training since he was 12, but now his body can sustain all of his power. This is all his.

He goes meet with his father - Perseus manipulates him. He tells Hades he'll be the hero, but the god himself can be praised for more than being his father. That he should join the battle against Typhon - That's his chance of proving himself. Also, there's less paperwork for him if there are fewer dead people.

His father is amused with his blatant bribing, but he thinks about it, Percy can tell. In a way or another, he excuses himself and goes back to the surface where he is needed.

Persephone stalls him. She asks him to stay, just for this night. He can go back in the morning - he sleeps, and dreams of Rachel again, drawing in the sand. In greek.

He is scared for her - she is having demigod dreams, but she is mortal. Something is wrong.

Typhon is getting worse - and Kronos draws closer to NYC. It's time - he calls for Blackjack and leaves - Mrs. O'Leary, who has become more or less of a mother to his own hellhound, follows. Persephone promises to convince Hades.

They have about sixty campers able to fight heading for the Empire State Building, and five healers. The ones too young to lift a sword or string a bow stayed back at Camp with Argus - fifteen children between 5 and 9 years old.

Percy knows he looks different - he looks just like his father. He has gained a godly aura - he has no scars anymore, no imperfections. Perseus looms over all of them - he went from 5'7'' to 6'2'' - it's a weird view, from up there. It's still strange when they look at him with a mix of fear and admiration.

Perseus Jackson is officially their leader. He hates Olympus - but he will give his life to defend every single one of his demigods.

The vision Hestia shows him just makes him want to tear this throne room with his bare hands - Luke was a kid. He was a kid - and the gods corrupted him. Thalia was a kid - and the gods took her life, twice. Annabeth is still a kid - they all are - and she is here planning battle strategies.

Annabeth missed an extra year of formal education - while Percy is a Junior, Annabeth barely qualifies for a Freshman - because the gods took this from her too.

Percy rages. The ground of Olympus trembles beneath him - he wants to kill something.

Then Hermes appears - like this whole war is not his fault in the first place, the literal bastard - just to relay a message from Athena that gives them a plan that Annabeth was already putting into works and tells Percy to stay away from Annabeth.

Like she cares. Like Athena has ever, ever, done anything for Annabeth.

Perseus can't punch Athena, so he punches the messager (also, because he freaking guilt trips both of them about Luke). He has nothing to lose - he is going to die by the end of the day anyway, and they need him too much.

He has punched a god before - Ares, in a desert in the middle of Los Angeles - but this time, it's satisfactory. He feels good after it.

Hermes seems strangely resigned - He feels guilty about Luke too, but Perseus doesn't think it's enough. It'll never be enough, not while the gods leave their children to rot in a cabin of rejects and May Castellan bakes cookies for a son that will never come back.

Hermes leaves, ashamed. It's only fair, Perseus thinks. They all should be ashamed.

They see the city asleep - the prophecy is in the works.

Perseus executes their strategy - every cabin is covering a tunnel, with the exception of Dionysus, because Pollux is with the Demeter kids, and the Hecate kids stay behind to use spells to overlook the city. Lincoln Tunnel is getting covered by Ares - who, this time around, is actively participating.

The undetermined who didn't desert are with Hermes - and the minor god's children are divided by specialty - most Hypnos and Morpheus children follow him directly, but the two sons of Iris go with the Apollo Cabin.

Annabeth executes Plan 23, automatons, mounting on Mrs. O'Leary (who has strict orders to take Annabeth anywhere she wants without stopping to play around) - she doesn't need his help with this, and Percy has a tunnel to defend.

That left the rivers uncovered - until Thalia appears, with magical sand money, and made the rivers cooperate.

The hunters join the Aphrodite kids - who are half a dozen children between 11 and 19 - the oldest being Silena Beauregard, who uses a crossbow that looks exactly like her immortal half-brother's one.

His bridge is completely covered on skeletons - but no monster comes, even if he hears explosions. He leaves an English Lieutenant from the Battle of Yorktown in command of the bridge - with Tyene, the oldest daughter of Morpheus, to be in alert and don't let Clovis sleep through the battle. Because he did it before - and while it is funny, it can't happen right now.

Perseus mounts Blackjack - and go see where the noise is coming from. It's the Williamsburg Bridge - where are most of Apollo's Cabin.

They fight - and Percy almost cries when he sees Luke, who is not Luke anymore. Luke, who is a puppet controlled by Kronos.

Perseus kills the Minotaur and the weight of his stone spikes collapse the bridge - and Michael Yew dies. This time around, the bridge falls silently into shadows, and he doesn't bother about searching for the corpse - he saw the boy falling, and his screams will haunt all of them, forever.

This time around, Annabeth is not there to protect him - Ethan also doesn't try to kill him. The Son of Nemesis doesn't leave Kronos side for a second - but there's regret in his eyes.

After the bloodlust is gone, Perseus collapses - Will has to bride carry him back. Overuse of his powers - he summoned skeletons and produced shadows, melted enemy swords (with the bonus of incapacitating them without killing), and sprouted stone spikes everywhere - there's even a vine or ten that he used to hold his friends from falling.

Perseus doesn't sleep quickly enough to not hear the yell of anguish that comes from Lee Fletcher - the pain of losing a brother and not being able to fight beside him.

But he does sleep - and he dreams. He dreams of Hades killing Maria Di Angelo, not Hera, like Zeus told Nico. He dreams of Zeus cursing the Oracle - and he seethes, because he also sees what happened to May Castellan.

He keeps getting angrier and angrier at the gods - it's building inside of him. But his friends are still here, still fragile. He can't let them suffer more.

Perseus wakes up, checks on everyone - most everyone is either injured and/or exhausted, but he checks on every camper. He knows all of their names, their ages, their cabins. - and promises to sit up to talk with Thalia and Nico - war makes him prone to peace - and promptly goes back to sleep.

He dreams of Rachel. He wants to scream for her not to come: but she'll anyway.

Perseus dreams of a boy. He is his age - maybe a little younger. His hair is blonde and his skin is whiter - but Percy glances at his eyes, and there are waves in them.

There's a girl by his side - she is familiar to Percy, somehow. They're climbing a mountain.

The dream ends and Percy can't make heads or tails of it. He asks Thalia if she has a brother, but she says that she doesn't, looking wistful.

Prometheus is tempting - but he knows there's no Luke anymore, there's only Kronos. And the gods are horrible, vile and immature - but they never killed any of Percy's friends. Some of them died for the gods - but never by their hands, so for now, Perseus would toe the line.

He does want to punch Hermes again. He takes the Pythos - if everything goes wrong, he will not hesitate in going down for the sake of his friends - but there have been six deaths, and it's enough.

"Was it worth it?" He asks Ethan.

"Alabaster is alive" And it's all the answer Percy needs.

He dreams of Ethan and Alabaster. Alabaster is alive, yes, but he is missing half a leg - courtesy of Clarisse herself. Luke - Kronos - is indifferent, and Ethan curses the daughter of Ares - "The sword that took from us will take from you"

He contains Hyperion with his shadows. Then he helps Grover (who was half asleep, because of Morpheus) to make the Titan into a tree. It's a pomegranate tree - then he sets hellish fire to it and sacrifices it to Hades and Persephone.

A pig is in the sky - this time around, Annabeth and her frightening army of automatons kill it with Nico's help.

Perseus laughs - because Annabeth has about two hundred automatons under her command, Martin Luther King and Alexander Hamilton leading the charge with a giant bull being ridden by the Mad Hatter behind them.

It's weird to see historic figures Percy admires - like Jane Bolin, Sylvia Mendez, or Abraham Lincoln - fighting alongside people he downright despises - Thomas Jefferson and the goatfucker, herpes-ridden, Colombus. His Comparative Government teacher would have a field day.

Annabeth and Nico's pair up is amazing - They fight alongside like they have been doing it all life.

Nico is a force of nature, flying and commanding the winds to do his bidding - His eyes shine in the midst of the stormy clouds. His specialty is weather manipulation - he hasn't had much success with direct energy or electric discharges.

Annabeth has her mother's tenacity for war - and her clever mind for strategies. It's clear in her eyes - she is racking the weaker points of the Clazmonian Sow in her mind and destroying it. The automatons hold the pig in place - and she makes bacon of it.

Hercules couldn't do it. Nico and Annabeth can, because they have the power and the mind.

Perseus is still fighting off monsters - but they're too widespread, so they retreat to the doors of the Empire State Building.

Percy does a mental tally: of sixty-two campers, six are confirmed dead, twenty are injured and nine are out of commission on exhaustion. There should be 27 orange shirts here - but there's only twenty.

Percy wonders if the seven missing are injured, or dead, or under a pile of rubble somewhere with no one to help them. Is there someone being slowly eaten by monsters? Is there someone alone and injured and abandoned? He doesn't know.

He prays that those seven deserted them - at least that means they probably are alive and well.

Perseus looks at Phoebe's grief-stricken face, and he knows it's not probable - she had almost three dozen hunters with her, and now there's barely fifteen still fighting, Thalia nowhere to be seen.

They prepare for their last standing - Percy keeps conjuring skeletons, but they're no match for the sheer strength of the hyperborean giants. Nico is shoulder to shoulder with the Stoll brothers against a group of telkhines - Clarisse is bringing down a whole giant by herself.

After the Party Ponies save them - Chiron leads the charge against his own father, and Perseus is so proud of his mentor he can't even put in words how much - he goes to sleep. Fighting gets him tired quickly, and they'll come back.

He dreams of Dionysus. Perseus is not fond of any god who is not Persephone, but Dionysus is mostly okay sometimes. He seems to care about his children.

Perseus couldn't care less about the Western Civilization - but he'll care for Pollux. It's one of his demigods, after all, and Underworld people are possessive of theirs (i.e. Hades and Persephone).

He dreams of Thalia, in her father's palace, begging Poseidon to leave the underwater war and help with the invasion - His wife is none too happy with the presence of his immortal bastard daughter.

He wakes up to Rachel's helicopter falling - how is Rachel even awake, is a mistery.

The improbable pair Nico and Annabeth strike again: The girl knows how to fly helicopters, and the boy can fly himself. They save the redhead and the pilot - everything is fine.

"You're not the hero"

"Why did you risk yourself to tell me something I already know?"

Rachel doesn't explain - she can't. But she has a vision that says that he is not the hero. The hero of what? Perseus has no idea. But there's no way any of his cousins is dying for this stupid prophecy.

Suddenly, there's a drakon there. Rachel has another prophecy - Perseus fears she will walk the path that led May Castellan to destruction - that only a child of Ares will be able to kill it.

Bad news: All children of Ares are otherwise out of battle.

Clarisse is resting after a nasty concussion - and her brothers and Apollo's children are fighting yet again because Lee Fletcher is in no condition to stop them and Michael Yew is dead. Ares' side refuses to fight without the chariot - which Cabin 7 has hidden somewhere.

The best they can do is fend the drakon off until a miracle occurs. And it does: Clarisse, in full armor, manages to lead her brothers into battle.

Clarisse is dead. Something shatters inside of Perseus - and he leaves the drakon for the Ares' children to solve - he can't kill it anyway - and starts to vaporize the army behind it.

He is so caught up in bloodlust, that he almost misses Clarisse slaying a dragon. Clarisse, who has no armor. Clarisse, who is alive.

Ethan's curse rang true - Clarisse's weapon took something from her.

Silena is a traitor. She is also dead - which makes her a martyr, and probably going to reunite with her boyfriend in Elysium.

He remembers how easy is to fall for Luke's charm - he was - is - still in love with the guy. Percy thought the son of Hermes could do no wrong - and he wonders how much of his rage against the gods sprout from his influence.

Something evil inside of Perseus's mind tells him she deserved it. It tells Perseus that better her than Clarisse - but he shuts it down, and concentrates on his shining red friends.

He hates Ares. But he might just have an okay side if he can produce such a magnificent daughter.

Silena is the Patroclus to Clarisse's Achilles, and the Drakon is Hector - and the daughter of Ares is sure to parade its dead body.

It's the first time they feel like they are winning. It doesn't last - but as he hugs Clarisse tightly, he thinks he might cry of relief.

Clarisse looks tough - but she is a wonderful human being. She loves Silena with her whole heart - even more than she loves Chris, her best friend. Silena might've been in love with Charles - but she and Clarisse? They are soulmates.

The damned Pythos is following Perseus - and he is done with it. He knows where hope will survive best. Rachel wants him to give it to Hestia - but he owns the fire goddess nothing.

She has never interfered, not once, to help the dozens of demigods with no family that is abandoned in Cabin 11, and he won't forgive her for it.

He sacrifices hope to Persephone because that's what spring is. Spring is the hope of a new life. Maybe, Perseus thinks, it'll convince his father to come.

They go down to make their final stand against the forces of Kronos. There's not a lot of them - but they're not getting through those doors.

Well, his father doesn't come. But Poseidon does, with his whole army, Tyson and Thalia behind him, and the scales seem to turn.

And then Kronos cuts the barrier. Perseus can see his Mom (why is his Mom here with a handgun?!) and Poseidon fighting against the monsters under the eyes of extremely confused mortals.

Some are trying to break the barrier - but it's futile. Kronos has corraled them like sheep for the slaughter.

It's just him, Grover, Annabeth and Nico, fighting against Kronos vanguard - which is big, but not as strong as they are.

Kronos passes him without resistance - Ethan follows, but there's anger in his eyes - not for Percy, but for the monster he is leashed to. Alabaster is not there.

As soon as Kronos powers stop working on them, the four follow the titan - and some things never change, no matter the universe.

This time, it's Nico who falls because of Hera - it's her curse over all of her husband's bastards.

Ethan takes one look at Perseus, and they don't even need to fight. They have been friends for longer than they have been enemies - and they both loathe the gods, but Kronos is as much of an all-powerful controller being as any of the Olympians.

They battle against Kronos - Perseus has only his ax against his scyther - a true Underworld fight.

Ethan dies. And Perseus bloodlust consumes him - it clouds his eyes and he can only keep fighting.

"If... if we've had cabins... and they had thrones"

It's true, and more than ever, Perseus wishes Kronos wasn't such a bastard. He wouldn't bother killing the gods - but the titan is a way worse option.

"LUKE, PLEASE" It's Annabeth. He doesn't have her faith - she didn't saw his transformation. But he tries anyway because he loves Luke just as much as he hates Kronos.

"Luke, remember our summer" But his words are caught up in his throat when the titan throws him against the wall.

But the amalgamation of his friend and an all-powerful being looks confused, so props for his genius best friend.

Kronos shows them a rainbow message of Typhon - and that's where Perseus it's pretty sure he starts liking his father.

Because the Lord of the Dead opens up the earth and gets out in a black chariot guided by skeletal horses like a king. By his right side, is Persephone, in armor battle as a queen should be. By his left, is Demeter, who looks every single bit like the matron she is supposed to be.

Behind him, a hundred thousand dead roars. Charon is mounting Cerberus - and literal hell is unleashed upon the Father of Monsters.

The gods strike down Typhon, sending him back to be locked away - this time, in the depths of Tartarus instead of Mount Etna.

Kronos gets mad. Utterly, undoubtedly mad. He talks about burning Luke's body. Then he hurts Annabeth and breaks two promises in one fell swoop.

"Luke.... remember family" It's what Annabeth utters, but Perseus, already certain of their own demise, is crying now.

"That summer Luke, you promised to never hurt her again. You remember it? YOU PROMISED LUKE!!"

Annabeth's promise was already broken - he had hurt her, all those years ago, in Mt. Othrys. But the promise he made to Percy - that he would never hurt her again - is new and broken, in the river Styx no less.

Luke regains his own body, for a minute, and Perseus runs to him like a man in a desert with no water.

"Please, please tell me there's a way to undo this, Luke, please, please"

"There isn't one, Percy" And it's the first time he hears Luke call him Percy, Percy and not Perseus, in his own voice, in two years. Percy cries.

"We... we don't have much time, hellebore. Give me Annabeth's dagger. Before he... before he takes back"

Luke calls him hellebore and it makes him start crying all over again. He gives him the dagger - and Luke kills himself, taking Kronos out with him.

Luke doesn't need to ask if Percy has ever loved him - Percy kept loving Luke, one-sided as it was, even when Kronos was there.

He still crying over Luke's body when the gods arrive. Luke is dead. Ethan is dead. Silena is dead. Michael Yew is dead. Charles is dead.

He lost three of his best friends in two days. Ethan is dead. Luke is dead. Luke is dead.

Perseus can't stop crying. They take Luke's body away - but he can't stop. Annabeth explains what happened to the gods - most of it, anyway. Apollo says he is in shock - his father says he is a hero.

Perseus doesn't feel like a hero. Was this all worth it? Was it worth it the pain and the death and the suffering?

Persephone touches him - and he has no tears to cry anymore. She can't hug him here, but she'll do so later.

He stares at the walls, listening to his friends being awarded - compensated by their siblings and friends' deaths - with a blank stare. Perseus wants his mom.

They call for him. He raised his head but doesn't bother getting up. He just saved their asses - for the fifth time in a roll. He deserves to grieve.

They offer him immortality. A place between the gods.

He laughs. Zeus looks murderous, but he can't stop laughing.

"My apologies, but I have to refuse," he says. But in his mind, he is thinking about how could they even think he might want to sit between them and be an all-powerful being, be another god ignoring his children and messing with mortal lives while thousands die for him.

"Promise me, on the river Styx, that you'll give me the wish that I want."

They promise him, that if it's within their capabilities, they shall grant him his wish.

"I wish for every child at the age of twelve to be claimed. I wish for cabins in Camp Half-Blood, for every single minor god, and my own father. I wish for Calypso to be free, and to the demigods from the opposite side of this war to be given amnesty. It's not their fault. It's not any of our faults."

"You dare to-" Zeus begins, but Percy is really tired of Zeus.

"We fought your war, we won your battles. We, the unclaimed and rejected stowaways of Cabin 11. We, the children of minor and Underworld gods. We deserve respect. Just like my father deserves a throne, just like the minor gods deserve justice."

"Don't you fear us?" Athena asks, something weird shining in her eyes.

"I thought I would be dead today. At least if I die now, I'm dying for something I believe in."

It stays unsaid that he doesn't believe in them. The other demigods look at him worried - but he is not afraid of the gods.

They grant his wish. Some of them aren't happy with it, but they have to do it. He meets Calypso at the front gates of Olympus - and her smile can brighten the pits of Tartarus. He sees Alabaster talking with Lou Ellen - they are both crying.

He thinks it's the end - it's not. Thalia tells him Rachel left for Camp in her Pegasus - and his father has lift the curse, the Prophecy is gone, but he fears for his best friend.

Perseus is too tired for shadow travel - he does it anyway. He flickers, but anyway, he is too late.

It works. Rachel - his best friend - is the new Oracle. Someone jokes they can't be together anymore and Rachel lifts an eyebrow.

"We never were. Didn't you see the last few hours?" Well, he did out himself. Mostly - they might say it's just friendship, and he will hate the way they twist it. Luke wasn't a villain, and Perseus isn't a pure hero with a heart of gold.

Perseus is healing from lost love - and Annabeth is too. His crush on her was only a crush, he thinks - She is his best friend first and foremost. They cry together at the bonfire that burns away the shrouds of 43 demigods - from both sides - and 16 hunters of Artemis. Their souls all rest in Elysium now.

Alabaster comes back to Camp and helps his siblings to build the new Cabin for Hecate, full of spelled blocks and magic chimneys. Clovis and Tyene have their hands full with their own cabins - it doesn't help they keep getting sidetracked with naps.

Somehow, Nico, Thalia, and his bond over helping construct Cabin 13 - They are both way too invested in the goth vibe, mostly because Cabin 1 looks like a temple, and Cabin 3 looks like a beach cabin. And both of them are so over it.

Perseus doesn't want a goth cabin - he is fighting against the aesthetic for years - but sometimes, there are no arguments. His Cabin is made of black marble, and there are skulls everywhere, with torches shining with green fire. Outside, at least. Inside, it looks like Persephone's garden, with input from the queen herself. It's ready just shy of the end of summer vacation.

Rachel tells the next Great Prophecy. Perseus isn't such a positive person to think it won't affect him - he hopes at least it'll wait until he is done with High School.

That night, he dreams of the blonde boy again - it's his first night without nightmares since the battle. He has a scar in his lip, and his green eyes pierce Percy's soul. Perseus wonders if they'll ever meet, wonders if this boy is one of the Seven of the Prophecy.

But alas, Perseus lets it go. The summer is over - he is sixteen, somehow. He is alive and going to go back to his mortal life and his junior year, and grief. Not everything is fine - but eventually, it will be.

It's not the end. Not yet.

#percy jackson #percy #percy jackon and the olympians #alabaster torrington #au #ethan nakamura #grover underwood #heroes of olympus #luke castellan #jercy #jason grace #percy jackson son of hades #thalia grace daughter of poseidon #thalia grace #nico di angelo son of zeus #nico di angelo #clarisse la rue #rachel dare #persephone #silena beauregard #charles beckendorf #lukercy #percabeth #perachel #lee fletcher #will solace #annabeth chase #poc percy jackson #bi percy #nicercy

[sasamycos]

Epilogue after the events of the bad ending (Raphael moonlight lovers) - Single chapter (4207 words)

sorry in advance for my bad english^^

Thanks to @tetrakys10 for sharing the events with us from this ending, and giving me ideas about it and thanks too @nleevia for let me use your fanart that perfectly suits one of the excerpts

WONDERLAND

The silver blade went through my chest unexpectedly as I rested my head on his tired shoulders. A sharp pain hit me so intensely that my nerves could not capture all the sensations. I was unable to breathe, unable to make a sound for help other than grunts.

"What?"

My head throbbed, and I was about to collapse to the floor, disgusted by the red trail of blood that bathed the delicate fabric of my dress. Raphael had disappeared from my sight, and I imagined he had gone to look for help. The surrounding environment seemed to me to be inaccurate, and at that moment I closed my eyes briefly, recalling several moments of my life in a matter of seconds.

A distant memory, but I could see it clearly, reaching out my arms to pick me up. My mother's smile shone more than the stars that decorated the pink bedroom ceiling.

Then, under the shade of a tree full of flowers about to bloom, I leafed through the pages of a children's literature book. Lonely, lost in my own fantasy world, when a laughing girl sat beside me to disturb me.

"What is she reading?" - She asked "Let's play!" - He concluded before I answered it, pulling me by the arm to introduce me to the other girls at the orphanage that I had never talked to.

"Melanie ... I'm going to miss you."

I remembered all the romantic disappointments I had had as a teenager, and I refused to think that maybe Raphael had been one of them ... Maybe I had been naive, or maybe it was my fault. I was not able to save him from the precipice.

It was on a holiday, when I met a lovely boy on a visit to the museum. He had told me he was on a school trip while I was hanging out with some colleagues and nuns at the orphanage. It was my dream to be able to study at a real college, and although Sweet Amoris is such a close school, we were educated at the shelter institution itself. The boy looked confused, looking from side to side looking for something, when I offered him help, and then we spent the afternoon looking for his notebook.

"What was his name again? Lysandre ... He was a love, I will never be able to find him again."

My miserable life had been in vain, and when I finally found some remnant of happiness, it had been brutally interrupted, but I was unable to hate the one who once protected me with all his might, the one who promised to be my guardian and welcomed me into his arms freeing me from my fears. In one way or another, he kept his word, and even suspended in the abyss, he put me in front of his own needs, until at some point, both of us fell together when he can no longer resist.

"Oh Raphael ... If we could have another chance, maybe I can make you smile again."

He quickly removed his sword stuck in my body and gently pushed me away, resting me on the cold floor. Our faces were side by side, and my frightened eyes met his. Frivolous and expressionless eyes that I had never seen before, despite the usual emptiness that had always been present in them due to his disability, I knew that Raphael could see what he wanted in my heart, and when we looked at each other in depth, I could feel everything. your desire and love for me through your grayish irises.

It took me a while to understand that it was Raphael who had stabbed me in the back, and that now he lay beside me waiting for death. He stroked my hair and sealed his lips to mine quickly.

- Everything will be fine now Eloise, no need to worry. It's all over. For both of us.

- You ... Will you die with me?

- Yes, and that's the way it has to be. You will see. Together we will reach the skies and the stars, and we will walk freely through the clouds, building the dreams that we have always shaped together. In the centuries to come, people have forgotten Orpheu and Eurydice, and will remember our history in its place ... Everyone will comment on the wonders we create together, and everything we sacrifice in order to reach the altar of the purest love.

Raphael continued to recite love poems, resigned to the end of his mission on this earthly plane. His words rang in my ears with less and less intensity, my eyes slowly closed, and little by little I felt my blood flow weakening. I struggled to admire him one last time, and my eyes lit up when I saw him in silence, maintaining his typical serene expression. That scene made me realize how much my life wouldn't make sense if I couldn't have him by my side, and I accepted that I should join him, in joy and sadness, I would follow him wherever I went. When a last drop of tear ran down a line across my cheeks, I knew my time had come, and soon my heart took its last beat.

————————

When I opened my eyes, awakened by the sun's rays that subtly illuminated my room and tickled my face, I sighed with relief that the previous night had been nothing more than an unpleasant nightmare, or that at least I had had a chance to start over.

It felt like I had spent years in the dark, and I could finally find him again. Raphael's presence called to me. I got up quickly realizing that I was naked, put on my dress and went looking for her.

The mansion seemed silent, I walked quietly through its rooms and the only noise I could hear was the old wood in response to my steps.

I didn't dare to enter the closed rooms, everyone should be sleeping, but when I passed Ivan's room, the door ajar caught my attention. I carefully opened it, realizing that it had been impeccably decorated without my permission, the room smelled like rubber from children's toys, and there were teddy bears on both beds.

"Two? Before, there wasn't even one."

The walls were covered with blue wallpapers and free from mold. The bookshelf used to house the spiders was replaced by a low dresser with some children's literature on it.

I left a little confused, and proceeded to Vladimir's room, which was open, but there was no one asleep on the bed and I decided to look for them downstairs.

The delicious smell that came from the kitchen caught my attention, the stool was full of fruits, sweets and other delicious foods. Not sure if I should, I sat down to enjoy that paradise after so many days without enjoying the taste of meals. After feeling satisfied, I put my hands together to say thanks, and withdrew towards the library.

There was no one, or anything unusual, other than the fact that I couldn't find any of the vampires around the mansion, I had never realized how uncomfortable this peace was, and I remembered that they had agreed to take turns to be on guard if the killer to strike again. As a last hope, I passed quickly through the small and large hall, but there was no sign of the others.

In the garden, the heady smell of flowers and the pleasant breeze made me feel in the sky. There was a diversity of them and, all apparently very well cared for, I smiled thinking about the work and affection that Vladimir had with them, while walking between the bed of Roses and Violets.

I heard the laughter of children coming from behind the lemon tree, and suddenly a boy runs past me at full speed, slapping one hand on my dress, while another girl revealed herself behind the trees, laughing sheepishly.

- I got you mommy, it's with you now! - Said the boy without pausing his run. Distracted, he stumbles and falls sharply on the ground, and soon I rush to see if he has been hurt.

- Are you alright? - I asked crouching down to keep up with him and extend his hand.

Somehow, when his brown eyes met mine, my mind evoked the most beautiful memories beside him, and all the warmth and happiness he had given me over a long period, since the day that Raphael and I adopted him - in the same orphanage I grew up in - along with Alicia, the shy girl behind the trees. Human and healthy children who enjoyed their childhood in the best way

- Enough! Look at your clothes Victor ... How are we going to get out this way? You will stay at the mansion taking care of your sister. Your mother and I will be back soon.

I turned around with my chest full of happiness when I found Raphael, and I ran into his arms, my eyes covered with tears.

- Oh my love, I thought I wouldn't see you anymore.

- But why? We have all the eternity in the world to see each other. - He answered my hug and smiled radiantly. The hot sun that afternoon did not seem to be his enemy.

- Daddy, daddy! - I moved away from Raphael's embrace so that he would receive Alicia in his lap. - I picked that flower for you. - She said pointing a Violet towards you, Raphael's favorite flower.

- Oh, what a beautiful flower my angel ... As beautiful as you.

I looked at him confused. - You can see?

- What are you talking about?

- No ... It's nothing. Do not worry. Where are we going?

- We agreed yesterday that we would go out together, don't you remember?

- Of course I remember! - I did not remember.

Raphael gently kissed Alicia's forehead and returned her to the floor. Victor came over and took one of the hands and with the one he was free to decorate his hair with the flower she still kept.

- Take good care of your sister. - Raphael said, crouching at the children's height, keeping a sweet smile. - I love you. - He stood up, extending a hand to me, and I held it firmly.

The children entered the mansion and I let myself be guided by Raphael as we followed the forest trail towards the city. The air I breathed seemed cleaner; The animals seemed so happy that I thought I heard them sing; The trees were full of fruit and flowers, but I was sure it was not spring; The forest did not emanate the gloom as usual, everything was more beautiful, harmonious and pleasant.

We walked through the city quietly hand in hand, Raphael did not give rest to his cheeks, and kept his smile at all times, greeting everyone who passed by us, showing me off as his muse, or perhaps I would say, as "his trophy . "

My vampire took me to a local gallery so that we could together enjoy divine works by current and Renaissance artists, when we arrived he was received as a majesty at the place, everyone shook his hand and thanked him for his works, and I took advantage of his distraction to analyze the paintings, when I realized that most of them were signed with his name, alongside other famous artists of his time.

- My muse ... My love ... Thank you for being the queen of my inspiration, for offering me all your affection and giving me the joy and desire to breathe every day. - He whispered in my ear unexpectedly, wrapping his arms behind my waist. I closed my eyes to absorb his sweet genuine words and turned around after a few moments, gently holding his face with my hands, admiring his eyes tenderly.

- I wouldn't know how to live without you, my vampire.

We spent hours in the gallery receiving praise from several people. Although I did not contribute to his success, I was delighted by the crowd that exalted him, and I stayed by his side at all times.

Then, Raphael took me to a nearby flower shop, where a young blonde of radiant beauty attended us, and calmly and patiently introduced us to her diversity of flowers, talking briefly about each one. My lover left me to approach a bouquet of forget-me-nots and went to pay for them, while I waited outside, admiring the sunflowers.

- These flowers ... Do you know?

- They are forget-me-nots, aren't they?

- Exactly, my love. Did you know that they have a meaning?

- Really? It looks touching ...

- Their name in English means "Don't forget me". In another language, they evoke true and eternal love.

- Just like my love you?

He smiled with a slightly flushed face, handing me the bouquet of flowers.

- A love that lasts after death. Just like ours.

I made a confused face, but before I could question him, his lips came up against mine, silencing my words and thoughts.

The shy sun was already about to hide so that the Moon could take its place, and to conclude our tour, we opted to stop by a bookstore. Raphael danced with his thin fingers through the books and removed the best classics from the shelves to recommend them to me, and I thanked him for his gesture by recommending literature that I liked, and after hours of selection and healthy intellectual discussions with that historical artifact that I called it "my love", we finally decided it was time to go back to the mansion.

We were greeted by adorable, small creatures that ran from side to side celebrating around us, and also by our faithful and furry watchdog, Bullet.

- Dad, mom, let's make a cake together!

- Of course my angel. - Raphael said.

I followed them into the kitchen, and placed the flowers in a vase in the center of the stool to decorate the room. Raphael was peeling the carrots next to Alicia, who reached the sink with the help of a stool. Victor mixed the ingredients in a bowl while Bullet insisted on polishing the floor, getting rid of everything that accidentally fell over there.

I watched the whole mess and when necessary helped them with the recipe, and in the end I took care of washing the dishes with the help of my eldest son.

It only took a few minutes for us to be able to smell the delicious aroma of the carrot cake taking over the kitchen. Raphael carefully took it out of the oven and took it into the main hall, where the big center table was already prepared with cutlery and plates waiting for us.

The children sat side by side, and Alicia accommodated her teddy bear in the next chair reserved exclusively for him. My white gentleman with a polite gesture pulled up the chair in my wait, served everyone (without forgetting Teddy), and then served himself and sat across from me and the children.

- First of all, we must thank you for the godsend of being together this evening, enjoying this divine dessert made in family. - Raphael put his hands together and closed his eyes for a moment, and the children imitated him before I knew it, so I also did the same, closing only one of my eyes waiting to be sure when everyone would have finished the prayers. - Then we can eat.

The taste of that sugary slice exploded in my taste buds offering me different sensations, everything seemed more tasty and intense, and I justified this fact due to the pleasant moment full of joy, beside those I loved.

Victor and Alicia collected the dishes and took him back to the kitchen quickly, while Raphael and I waited for them to go up to the rooms.

Alicia pulled her father by the clothes and carried him to his bed, while Victor and I sat on the edge to hear Raphael recite children's books for both of us.

- And in the end, the princess and prince lived happily ever after. - He concluded closing the book in his hands. - It's time to sleep my sweetshearts.

Victor abandoned his bed to snuggle up next to his sister. Raphael covered them and kissed their foreheads, and soon I did the same.

- Good night, darlings. - I said.

- I wish you sweet dreams like spring nights. I love you. - He turned on the lamp next to him and played with Teddy, swinging him over to Alicia.

It didn't take long for both of them to fall asleep, and Raphael and I proceeded to his room, or rather, our room.

- Honey, the night is a child, and I would like to make the most of it by your side.

- And what do you have in mind?

- I would like you to serve as inspiration for one of my paintings. I want to capture its simplistic and natural beauty so that I can frame it.

- Do you think I would be a good model for your work? - I approached unbuttoning his vest provocatively.

- I wouldn't be able to find someone else who approaches your beauty

Raphael intertwined his fingers near the back of my neck and brought me in for a passionate kiss full of desire, tracing a path up to my ears, where he nibbled on them leaving breath escapes that shivered me with pleasure.

- Take your clothes off for me. - He whispered.

I watched him walk away to prepare the paints and put the canvas on his easel, while he watched me slowly remove my clothes, trying to seduce him as much as I could.

I lay down on the sofa in front of him and let Raphael do his painting, waiting impatiently for him to finish it and come over to touch me.

When at last he rested his brush, I sighed in relief seeing my vampire approach me as he strummed the buttons of his complex clothes and threw them on the floor, I rushed to help him remove the last pieces when his body launched itself over mine to caress every follicle of my bare skin.

Our bodies danced in tune forming the most beautiful arts while our breaths mingled in the air. His sweet voice whispered beautiful words in my ears, and then he walked his mouth in secret places. We gave each other pleasure, passionate as never, eagerly desiring.

Sleep hit Raphael quickly, while my mind wandered through the profusion of questions that plagued me after that night of dreams, I got up to explore the mansion again, traced the same path as before and came back to realize that the other residents were not yet present.

- Were you awake? It's all right? Can't sleep? He asked.

- Raphael ... Where are the others? - I asked approaching the bed and sitting next to him.

- Others? What you mean?

I noticed the sincerity in his words, which made me even more confused, but with every minute that passed I felt my body weighing tons, and needed a disconcerting effort to keep my lids open. Tiredness had tamed me, and I could leave matters to the next day.

- Come here my love, do not let nightmares torment you. I will help you to dispel your fears and uncertainties, come closer.

I lay down beside him again, snuggling in the warmth of his arms, looking forward to the next day that awaited me.

When I opened my eyes again awake by the sun's rays that reflected on my naked skin, a new day started, I got up excitedly and went looking for my vampire who was no longer present in the room.

I passed the kitchen as I headed towards the garden, and realized that the stool was again served with a full breakfast, but I ignored it and just went on my way.

I retraced my steps from the previous day and was surprised by Victor, who again passed by at full speed beside me, and I felt like a Déjà Vu species.

- Enough! Look at your clothes Victor ... How are we going to get out this way? You will stay at the mansion taking care of your sister. Your mother and I will be back soon.

"What is happening?"

- Where are we going?

- We agreed that we would leave yesterday, don't you remember?

- But we ... We left yesterday, Raphael...

- What you mean? Are you fine? Is tired?

- No ... I just... I ...

- Let's go?

The children ran into the mansion and again I let myself be guided by Raphael throughout the city, soon I realized that the previous day was tirelessly repeated. We walked the forest hand in hand; people smiled and repeated their gestures; we received praise in the art gallery; Raphael bought me forget-me-nots at the florist and repeated the same curiosities; we would go to the library and then return to the mansion, welcomed by Victor, Alicia and Bullet who were preparing to cook a carrot cake again.

I found myself trapped, suffocated every day that repeated itself, and despite my titanic efforts to escape from that limbo, the day will always start from scratch, again and again ... As much as I tried to run, I would end up coming back to the same place as before, because the wonderland that he created, as well as all his works, were limited, and even walking for hours, in the end I realized I had gone around the world, arriving again at the starting point . As much as I stirred the sticks to alter our story, I was put to sleep in a deep sleep, until I woke up again to live the nightmare.

I had reached my limit, I could no longer stand his sly smile and his false appearance before those programmed dolls. The children's high-pitched laughter pierced my ears, making me want to scream. Even when I tried to commit the irreversible, murdering the one I loved one day, he woke up again the next day, with a serene and lively countenance.

- Raphael, what's going on? - I asked in a harsh tone pushing Alicia unconsciously before Raphael received her in his arms and was again presented with a Violet.

- What are you talking about?

- Why? Why is everything repeated? Where I am? Why don't you let me go ?!

- My love, you are free to go where you wish ... I would never deprive you of living. But aren't you happy with me? Is there anything I can change to please you? - I took steps back as he approached. - You know, I love you ... And it will always be like this, now we can spend eternity together, Margarita.

I was astonished by his words, and his hand slid down my face gently, brushing a lock of hair behind my ears. I finally realized that there was no other chance, not for us. I was not living in heaven with my beloved, I was living in the world he had idealized behind what he could not see, based on everything he wanted before he blinded himself ... His old dream of becoming a requested artist; exhibitionism; your passions; the desire to create descendants.

I was living in his troubled mind as the main puppet of his show in the fantasy world he had created for him and the one he loved so much - Margarita.

Meanwhile...

Vampires walked through the immensity of trees in the gloom of the night. Vladimir carried a bouquet of violets with him, while Beliath took care of the sunflowers.

- Is here. - Said the aristocrat crouching down to leave the Violets on the damp earth that kept the artist's body in his soil.

Beliath in turn, imitated the other by leaving the sunflowers in the covered grave next to them.

Melancholy had completely devoured Vladimir. He rose with his head down to observe in silence for long minutes the place where the body of his great companion lay.

Beliath did not dare to interrupt her moment, and when she felt she should, she wrapped one arm around the other in a quick gesture, to offer comfort.

- I know it was Rapha's wish to be buried beside his beloved. You both should be happy now.

Vladimir wiped the tears away when he realized they were running down his face, and took a long breath.

- Maybe ... But I feel that something is not right Beliath. Anyway, come on, we have to visit Ivan and Ethan's tombs before the Moon decides to betray me.

The killer that bothered him all years ago had been defeated by Ethan, but not before he managed to seriously injure him and Ivan, and to the misfortune of the others, Beliath and Vladimir who were taking mansion shifts outside, could not arrive in time to save them. . While about Aaron there was still no news of his whereabouts since he left with the mysterious girl with the thick hair.

- Vladimir, I didn't know you had decided to catch up on your culinary practices. - Beliath commented humorously, in an attempt to ease the tense mood when they returned to the mansion.

- What is your fool talking about?

- Can't you smell that? It looks like carrot cake.

- Please ... Spare me your stupid comments. - Vladimir rolled his eyes, although his nostrils also felt the same, he had no patience to worry about Beliath's remarks.

The nights came stealthily for both vampires, who tried unsuccessfully to distract themselves from the absence of those who had once filled their empty hearts.

#otome fanart #moonlightloverraphael #moonlightlovers #beemoov #moonlight #otomegame #raphael #raphaelmoonlightlovers #fanfic #imagine #bad ending

[peachships]

Sunrise

Sitting outside last night and hearing the sounds of cicadas screaming inspired me dvkkhdf

______________ᬉིུ֛ ⃝📖 ⃝ ꦿꦶ⟆ׇࣱ ______________

Tag list:

@abandonedhearts

((want to be on the tag list? Drop me a message!))

The droning sound of cicadas echoed around the trees that surrounded camp as the stars above shimmered like embers of a dying fire. The stone was cold as Ollie sat on it, dangling her legs over the edge as they listened to the rush of the river below. Horseshoe Overlook was much prettier than their temporary home in the snow, and she almost wished they could stay.

She was so lost in thought that she almost didn't hear the soft footsteps in the damp grass. A gravelly, sleep-riddle voice spoke gently behind them, pulling them out of their memories.

"Whatcha doin' up? Ain'tcha cold?"

Ollie looked over her shoulder to see the slouching form of Arthur, rubbing his eyes as he leaned all his weight on one hip. They could tell he had just woken up and wasn't fully awake yet. She patted the spot next to her, offering it as a seat to him which he accepted. Once he was seated Ollie offered some of her blanket that was wrapped snugly around their shoulders to the sleepy man. Arthur scooted close, pressing his side against hers as he pulled what little blanket he could around his other shoulder.

"I'm a li'l cold, but this blanket feels good. Plus you're a walkin' furnace, Mr. Morgan." She smiled as he elbowed him. "What are you doin' up? It's almost sunrise."

"Dunno," his deep voice rumbled in his chest as his eyes unfocused while looking at the valley before him. "Woke up, looked around, saw ya sittin' here alone and wanted to make sure you're alright."

Ollie couldn't help the flutter in her chest. Sure, they had a crush on him but she assumed that he wouldn't like her back, so hearing he was worried made her smile. "I'm just thinkin'. Sometimes I miss 'em, ya know? My family? Wonder what they're doin'." She sighed heavily before continuing, "I left without tellin' 'em. Packed my bag, grabbed what money I could, some food, and Sugar Cube and left. Never looked back."

"Why'd'ya leave? If you don't mind my asking," Arthur questioned, leaving the conversation open in case she didn't want to speak further. He was watching her from the corner of his eye and felt his heart sink a little at the sight of a tear slipping out.

"We was bad people, Arthur. My pa? Struck rich with gold in California. Moved to Nevada, set up a homestead. Stupid man flaunted his money and ended up hiring a local gang for 'protection'. Ended up deciding he needed more land, and that gang? Well, started wrestlin' up land and livestock from honest folks. His greed made him hungry for something that could never be satisfied." Ollie sighed again as she stared past the trees, eyes focused on memories of the past. "Couldn't stand it no more, especially when he hit me. Tried to tell him he was a greedy bastard, he called me ungrateful and said I'd never see a cent of his money. Hit me so hard I fell against the wall. And my ma? She ain't stop him. She ain't even cry. Waited till they was asleep, grabbed my things and my horse, and left."

The heaviness of their story settled in Arthur's stomach like a stone, his heart aching. His life hadn't been any easier, but hearing other's stories always hurt. Without thinking, he snaked his arm around their back and settled his large palm on her hip and pulled her closer. Ollie leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder as she willed the tears to stop. It had been the first time in years she had talked about her family, and now here she was crying like a fool in front of the man she looked up to the most.

Arthur broke the silence first. "Is that why you was fightin' folks in that bar all those years ago? When Hosea and I found you?"

"Yeah," she sniffled. "Drunken old fool was talking about how he swindled a poor old couple outta a few cows. Couldn't handle it, so I stole his cows and returned 'em. Went back to the bar, heard him talkin' 'bout how his cows were gone. Said it was me, and he was a sorry sack o' shit. That's when he punched me, and I-"

"You broke his nose, I remember. That was the moment we walked into the bar," Arthur interrupted. "Hosea and I heard the shoutin' and decided to see if anything interesting was happenin' and we walked in just to see your fist connect with his face. Ain't he split your lip?"

Ollie giggled at the memory, the moment her life changed forever. "Yeah, that's where this scar came from."

"Which one? I can't see."

"This one, here," she replied as she turned her head towards Arthur, only to freeze as they realized just how close he was leaning. "S-see?"

"Nah, hold on. Lemme see," Arthur smirked as he closed the distance, kissing her softly. His lips were just as burning warm as the rest of him, yet it sent shivers down her spine. His hand on their hip pulled her even closer as he deepened the kiss. Finally breaking it to breathe, Ollie's cheeks were a deep shade of red that was mirrored on Arthur's. "Been wantin' t'do that for a while, now."

"Really?" She asked, blinking a few time as she turned the words over and over in her mind.

"Yeah, you're just so Goddamn beautiful. Knew you was something special the moment I saw ya, and I'm just sorry it took me so long to say somethin'." Arthur avoided her questioning gaze sheepishly. "Sorry if you don't like me, you just looked so damn cute, an' I felt bad, I couldn't think of anything to cheer you up-"

"Arthur Morgan," Ollie interrupted as she grabbed his chin. "You talk entirely too much." Before he could protest, she kissed him deeply, releasing his chin to rest their hand on his scruffy cheek.

Ollie broke the kiss this time, smiling up at the outlaw who looked more like a lovesick schoolboy. The sun was just starting to rise, casting bright pink ribbons across the skies as the birds began their morning medley. Placing one last kiss on his nose, she turned and snuggled into his side, resting her hand on his as they watched the sun awaken. It was the dawn of a new day, both for the world and for the two of them, and neither one couldn't wait to see where it takes them.

#star in the northern sky #peach smoothies #adhd selfship #pan selfship #nd selfship #selfship #selfshipping #okay to rb! #okay to interact! #me? using my pronouns? more likely than you think

[themousefromfantasyland]

The Yule Man (7/7)

Told by ME

This was meant to be a short story, but it became too big, so I separated it in seven parts. I want to turn my blog in a space where I can share my writting every once and a while.

This is the first time I post one of my stories on a public space. This is the first time anyone besides my sister will be able to read, so I'm pretty exciting and anxious. I want honest criticism. I hope you all enjoy it.

The threat of Mr. Müller grew day by day. Mia saw each day up to five to eight men surrounding the mansion. Chris, along with all her siblings continued oblivious to it all.

They kept and kept appearing, not showing to anyone, only her. Franz Müller liked games. The more twisted and sadistic, the better.

Mia and Chris had made a promise of always been honest to each other. On that moment nothing could take him out of the idea that Mia hid something from him. He tried to ignore the feeling. He wanted so much to believe in her.

The nostalgia by the fireplace on those Yule Days eased her mind. Cuddling with Chris, hearing their siblings’ stories. She wanted the world to stay that way forever.

Then the Yule Log turned to ashes.

In the middle of the dawn of Yule's last day, she got up running and invaded her mother's bedchamber. She didn't tell anything to Chris. Not even dared to wake him up. She jumped from bed and went straight to her mother.

"I need help." She started saying frenetically. "They are after me. Mr. Müller wants his money, and I don't have how to pay it."

Mrs. Hayek looked at her with disdain.

"Of all the people in the world, why you choose me to ask for money." She said enjoying each syllable of that sentence.

Mia couldn't resist. She spilled bitterness again.

"Because you're the only one here whose opinion about me doesn't matter."

Mrs. Hayek stood up.

"You aren't helping your cause." She continued saying. "Typical, you only here for my money. If you had been a decent daughter, you would be closer to me."

Mia shouted back.

"It was you who close yourself out of the world. My father struggled to maintain these gates open to the town, to the community. And you closed them off for good. You don’t even know the state that Arnsberg finds itself now."

She shut Mrs. Hayek’s mouth.

“You don’t know nothing what’s happening outside.” She walked near the door. “Sophia is getting married and Fritz will move to another town.” She closed her eyes. “I’m getting married too.”

That took her mother by surprise.

"With that boy. The Yule Man! How?"

Mia said dismissive:

"I don't know. I don't understand his world.

Mrs. Hayek stepped closer to her.

"Magic always leads to trouble."

"He's mortal now. He found a way and now he wants to spend time with me. I don't have the heart to tell him I'm stuck in this mess." She sat by her mother’s bed. “This year was so hard to me. I almost lose my business. I was stupid. And now Cat’s-eye’s men are running around here.

“Are they here?”

Her mother growled like animal, but this time, the unthinkable happened. She sat close to her daughter and did the only thing she believed would never be necessary n her life, to be vulnerable.

"I know what you think of me. Yeah, I was racist when I was younger. I was also foolish and insipid. I wanted his money."

Mia didn’t understood that.

"You didn't changed that much. Why are you telling me that?"

Mrs. Hayek started to yell.

"I want to salvage our relationship. I'm tired of spending the Yule days without you."

She stopped. Her voice sounded lower and calmer now.

“I pushed everyone away. The truth is that I miss your father, I miss the Solstice Eve balls. I miss when you four were little. I miss everything.” Bitter tears flowed down her face. “I am getting older Mia. I have so many regrets. Take all the money you need and fix this mess.” She paused. “And enjoy the short time you have with your Yule Man.

Mia hugged her mother. So much resentment lasted in both of them, but maybe this could be the start of a new beginning for both. Maybe.

A loud rumbled awakened Chris.

“Mia?” He woke up in an empty room.

He heard voices, murmurs, coming from upstairs. Perhaps if she were there, if the room weren’t empty, he would not have the idea to see what produced that sound. The idea of something bad happening with the Hayeks stroked him as the first thought. Inexperience with burglars and robbers also could be the reason for his behavior. He lit a single candlelight and went to check that sound.

The dark still reigned over all the rooms. Looking by the hours marked in the clock, sunrise would not delay coming. He slowly walked upstairs, to the area where Mr. Hayek kept his office. Mr. Müller had sent his five best burglars. For days they studied the Hayek Mansion. They counted each servant, each worker, each resident, and each visitor. They knew even where all of them slept. They burst a sealed vault with the minimum of noise. Yet, there is always someone to hear, there’s always casualties.

They surprised Chris and grabbed him from behind before he could scream. They took out all the money they could put their hands on. When they were ready to go, they release him. They knew he would scream. They knew even a single shot would wake everyone in the house. They proceeded anyway because they wanted them to know that they were there. It was part of the fun.

Chris received three shots when he tried to run. He fell against the floor without at least understanding what had happened to him.

"Tell Miss Hayek this is her late Yuletide present." One of them said before fleeing by the open window.

The fatal sound echoed through all the household. When the servants saw him there, they immediately called Thomas. Mia heard all the noise in her mother’s room and rushed to see what had happened.

The world became slower as closer as she came to her father old office. When she felt the blood on her feet, everything stopped. Mia threw herself over his body, getting on her knees and desperately brushing his face. His body shivered and trembled.

"No. No. No." He screamed and cried on her lap.

He felt the emptiness growing inside him, the nothingness. He knew if it engulfed him there would be no way out.

"Mia, the woods. Take me to the woods." He shouted to her. “Please. I don’t want to go. Not now!” He sobbed.

Mia turned to her brothers.

“I need help carrying him.”

Mrs. Hayek appeared behind them.

"Take the sleigh."

The sleigh had been bought recently, a one-horse open sleigh. Mia and her brothers carefully placed Chris's body over it. Soon she dashef off the golden gates into the winter landscape. Her siblings stood speechless. Mrs. Hayek stayed behind, alone, wishing for a miracle.

Chris fighted to maintain his eyes opened. He knew if he closed his eyes, he wouldn't be able to open them again. The north wind surrounded them. It howled and brushed through their bodies, as if screaming and already mourning.

Chris heard the voices, full of pain and hatred. He cried desperately and shouted.

"It's too late." He sobbed.

Mia stopped the sleigh next to tree large threes near an abandoned road.

She rushed to his side.

"Remember when we stayed in that hotel in Lichthafen City.” He said not holding back the tears.

"No, Chris stop!" She shouted in pure anger.

“I filled our room with sand.” He laughed. “The sand, the sun, the tiny seashells.”

"Stop!" She shouted again.

"I don't want to go."

His vision started to fade away.

"No, no, no!" His body struggled with all strength left in him.

He stopped fighting and stared deep into her eyes. Calmly, he said:

"You changed me."

She landed both hands on his face.

"I love you." He said faintly.

As he said that, the nothingness dragged him back for the last time, never to think or feel anything ever again.

The winds stopped, as if in infinite mourning. The first sun rays started to appear, and she stood by his side, crying, and shouting to the empty.

The sun raised, and the bright beams landed on Chris’ body, that dissolved into snow and ice. Under the first sun rays, the white snow shimmered and glistened before Mia's eyes. The end had arrived.

Mia returned to the Hayek Mansion without Chris, and without a body. She wasn't even sure if anyone would believe her.

Mrs. Hayek turned to her and sadly whispered:

"Magic only leads to trouble."

Mia returned to Arnsberg in the next day. Mr. Muller waited for her near her shop. He dressed as a true gentlemen.

"Hope you had a fantastic Yuletide." He greeted her with a smile. “Hope you don’t mind that my men took somethings away. Those were the correction interest, but you still owe me.

She paid what she owned to him and didn't dared to say more words.

“Happy Yuletide!”

After Chris’ death, Mia closed herself out of the world. She closed her tailoring shop one day and disappeared inside her own apartment. No one of her family could bring her out again. With time, it became their duty to look out for her and her bills. Mrs. Hayek started to believe that if Mr. Müller's men didn't killed Mia, her daughter would finish the job on her own.

The months passed, and Yuletide arrive again. To everyone’s surprise, she dressed in her best clothes and roamed through the streets. That particular Solstice Eve was different. All expected the snow to arrive. When the intense cold started everybody assumed snow would soon come along. This was how it always had been.

Mia searched in all street alleys. Everyone bought their last time presents, blissfully unaware of her existence. She dashed through each possible place for a person to be found. The Yule days ended and with them all Yule logs turned to ashes. The traditional Yule snow was sadly missed that year.

During two more Yuletide seasons she searched through all Arnsberg for any sign of him. Snow stopped falling in the Yule days.

In the third year she gave up. Happy families had supper in their warm and cozy homes. Mia collapsed in tears in the corners where the light of the the lamplights couldn't reach.

She wandered alone back to home. Her house once had a well-lit Yule Tree. Holly and mistletoes once hanged in these walls. Everything felt barren now. She finally started to understand what Chris meant by nothingness. Her house was a tomb, and it opened to swallow her whole.

Her mom entered that place without any problems. Mia often let the door open. Cat’s-eye wasn't a threat anymore, as so with death.

Mrs. Hayek did her best to dress as well as when she was younger. Without her hair, she had to rely on sheets and scarves to decorate her head. Overall, she though she did a great job.

For the first time in fifteen years, the Hayek Mansion would host a Solstice Eve ball. if it depended on Thomas and Sophia, the mansion's doors would never close to the community again.

“Mia, it’s your mother.” She announced before entering.

From the couch, Mia gazed at her with anger.

"Mia, please. Come spend the Yule with us!” She nearly cried. “You can’t spend the holidays here in this state."

"I see him here. In every place, in every corner." She started to cry. "I still see him."

Mrs. Hayek hugged Mia.

"This isn't fair. This isn't fair." Mia sobbed on her shoulder.

"I know how it is." Mrs. Hayek mourned.

Mia jumped out of her mother’s arms.

"You don't know how it is." She shouted.

"Yeah, I don't. It would be foolish to say I was exactly in your shoes.” She sat on the couch and rubbed her forehead. “I loved a man. I thought I would have him forever, then one day, he's gone. Your world is in pieces, and it's your job to clean up the shards."

She started sobbing.

“When your father died I though I would join him soon. The Yule Festival was the worst. Everything reminded me of him. I went to the church. I though the Silver God could help me. It didn’t worked.”

"Does this pain ever pass?" Mia asked.

"I want to say it does, but it doesn't. You learn to navigate through it all."

Mrs. Hayek and Mia hugged again. Not as mother and daughter, but as two women who felt empathy and understood the plight of each other. For a moment, all their differences crumbled to dust.

Mia stared at bright lights of the town through the window of her apartment.

"Nothing lasts forever." Mrs. Hayek said. "I wish I could meet your father earlier. Free of prejudices and interests. He was a special man. I wouldn't give up the moments I spent with him for nothing in this world."

Mia stepped closer to the shelfs in the corner and picked a small bottle. Tiny, and full of white sand and she held it closer. Those memories, Mr. Müller would never take away from her.

And there's no more to my story. All stories come to an end.

#christmas #holiday season #my writting #yuletide #writters on tumblr #my story #The Yule Man

[relaxationclub]

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a Rabbit mom and dad who had lots of little Rabbits. They lived in the savannah with other families of rabbits and were all different.

There were gray, red, brown, speckled, dark, lighter colors ... and among them, the smallest, a very small white Rabbit. It was as white as goat's milk when it came out of the udder and filled the calabash.

This little white rabbit was often sad and angry. When he was left alone by his brothers, by his sisters, by his friends, he thought it was because he was white. So he wanted his hair to be a different color. He hadn't understood that each Rabbit is unique. That each Rabbit has his own personality, his own hair type and his own character. He hadn't understood that like everyone else, he too was unique and worthy of being a Rabbit like everyone else.

- It's because I'm white, he said to himself, it's because I'm white.

And when he was put aside, he stayed in his corner and turned in his thoughts.

Sometimes others made fun of him because he was the smallest of all. The others, they did not understand, that a little one, you have to respect him, you have to protect him, you have to integrate him. So they allowed themselves to say mean words to him, words that hurt the heart of the little White Rabbit.

When evening arrived and the sun suddenly gave way to the moon, the little white rabbit did not think of going to curl up against the soft fur of his mother or against the long and protective hairs of his father. He also did not think of confiding in his brothers and sisters, of sharing his grief in order to receive comfort. He would sit on his own, away from others, and wept softly. He was thinking about his color, what the others had told him, had done to him, hadn't told him, hadn't done to him, and he felt bruised and hurt. One rabbit bit her ear, another pinched her paw, a third tapped her on the back. The little White Rabbit hated being treated like that but he didn't know what to do to stop it. He couldn't see that his thoughts and the way he acted was like a wall. When we're always sad and angry, no one wants to be with us. So he stayed in his corner and he dreamed. He dreamed, he dreamed, he dreamed. He dreamed of living in peace.

One fine morning, the sun rises and a very soft ray awakens the little White Rabbit. He likes sweetness. It’s so soothing, so comforting. He feels full of courage. Seeing that the others are still sleeping, he discreetly gets up and goes for a walk in the savannah. That's wonderful.

What if he meets someone who can help him?

When he arrives near a splendid flamboyant, he suddenly sees a blue Butterfly. He knows that the butterfly is wise and delicate so he decides to ask his advice:

- Hello Butterfly! I am the little white Rabbit and I would like to live in peace. I know that you are wise and delicate, will you give me advice? And he tells her about all his worries.

- I like that you want to live in peace, said the Blue Butterfly after listening to it carefully. I like that you are looking for a solution to your concerns. Me too, you know, I learned to live in peace. Before, when I was angry or angry, I zigzagged through the air and jumped on all the insects to devour them instead of calming my anger. I was visibly gaining weight by eating and I was even more furious because I was angry with myself for having gained weight. Now, when I'm in conflict, when I'm hurt or when I don't think like I do, I feel my anger, I go a little further, I stop in the air, I close my eyes and I lower wings very quickly while breathing deeply. It creates a beautiful blue light around me, like a bubble, because of my glittering wings. The more I lower my wings in place while breathing, the more I feel the calm inside of me that comes back. When the calm is there, everything is simpler. Everything is easier. So I can go to the animal that made me angry and explain to him why.

- And is that how you do to live in peace?

- Yes little white Rabbit. Remember. You too can find calm by flapping your ears and wagging your tail. If you breathe deeply, it will let off steam, chase away your grief and anger, and make you happier. You will do very well, you will see.

The little White Rabbit is happy to have received his first advice for living in peace. He warmly thanks Papillon and continues on his way in the savannah.

A little further, near the backwater, the little white rabbit meets a doe who drinks quietly. The animals of the savannah say that it is very gentle and that it is good advice.

- Hello Biche! I am the little white Rabbit and I would like to live in peace. The animals of the savannah say that you are gentle and that you never fight. Will you give me advice? And he tells her about all his worries.

- I like that you want to live in peace, replied La Biche, after having listened to him carefully. You know, arguing is part of life and it sometimes happens to me to argue too. But what I'm always trying to do is find a solution. By speaking, by listening. My legs are so delicate, I prefer to keep them to move than to kick! However, I can use my imagination to improve the situation and find solutions. A solution that is good for everyone. And if it’s too difficult, I’ll go find old grandfather Lièvre, he’s so smart! We tell him what is bothering us, he listens to us, he questions us and after listening to us he always finds an original idea to make our lives more beautiful. When there is a problem, there is always a solution!

- And is that how you do to live in peace?

- Yes little white rabbit, it's important to live with others. Remember. You too can use your imagination to find a solution. And if you can't find it, you can ask for help, your master, your mistress, your family. You will do very well, you will see.

The little White Rabbit is happy to have received his second advice for living in peace. He warmly thanks La Biche and continues on his way in the savannah.

A little further, the little white rabbit meets an elephant who eats in peace in the morning sun. Everyone knows that the Elephant is majestic and peaceful. Everyone knows that the Elephant can listen carefully to others and to all the whispers of the savannah.

- Hello Elephant! I am the little white Rabbit and I would like to live in peace. Everyone knows that you are majestic and peaceful. Everyone knows that you always listen carefully to the whispers of the savannah and each of us. Will you give me advice? And he told her all his worries.

- I like that you want to live in peace, replied the Elephant, after having listened to him carefully. You know, with my big ears I learned to hear things that others don’t hear. So if you're looking for ways to live in peace, listen to me. When I was young, I was lonely, I kept in myself what was bothering me, and I didn't listen to anything. I was often angry or sad and didn't tell anyone. I was sulking alone in my corner. And then I only thought of myself. I didn't care about others, I imagined they didn't want me. But today, you see, I can listen inside of me. I also learned to listen carefully to others and to stop imagining things about them or myself. I can now say what I think, what I want and how I feel. I listen to others because I am interested in what they feel in their hearts. We know each other better. We understand each other better. We get along better. I am no longer afraid of them and they are no longer afraid of me.

- And is that how you do to live in peace?

- Yes little white Rabbit. Remember, you too can listen. You too can speak. With respect, you will avoid a lot of arguments and your life will be much happier. You will do very well, you will see.

The little White Rabbit is happy to have received his third advice for living in peace. He warmly thanks the Elephant and continues on his way in the savannah. He feels light and he wants to go home. He is a counselor for living in peace and it does him good.

When he arrives, he meets a group of little Rabbits who laugh at him. He feels his anger rising, but instead of closing like the other times, he continues on his way and settles down behind a tree. There, like the Blue Butterfly, it flaps its ears and wags its tail to let off steam and breathe deeply. This creates a beautiful white bubble around it. A bubble that protects him. It makes him laugh to gesticulate like that all alone behind his tree and he likes to laugh, he feels better. So he does like the Elephant, he listens to hear the whispers of the savannah and it calms him. Then he listens to what's going on inside him to find a solution like the Doe. He discovers all amazed that there are ideas inside him. Lots of ideas. So he comes back to the group of little Rabbits and he talks to them quietly. He asks them why they laugh at him? He tells them how he feels, but also how he would like to be treated. The others are astonished, they are not used to hearing the little white rabbit talking to them. They're not used to seeing him happy either, and that makes them want to take an interest in him. Listening to him, they realize that he just wants to be with them and that makes them happy.

- I think it's a shame that you make fun of me. I wonder if you would like us to make fun of you? You are colorful, I am white, we are all unique and if we played together rather than arguing? I don't like being alone and I wonder what games you like. You know, I’m a kid, it’s convenient for others to have a little one. I can slip into certain places where some cannot go. So, are we playing?

The little Rabbits are amazed. The little white rabbit never talked to them like that and it motivates them to play with him.

Coming home that evening, the little White Rabbit is really happy and proud.

- It is not that complicated, to live in peace, he said to himself, and during the meal he tells everything to his parents and his brothers and sisters. He tells them how to flap their legs to let off steam and breathe to calm themselves down, how to speak to find solutions, who to go to for help when you have concerns, how to listen to the whispers of the savannah and inside of yourself, how to have humor and fun, how to listen and tell the truth to others. His parents listen to him carefully. They see that he trusts, that he changes and are proud of him. Little white rabbit becomes big. His siblings are amazed. Spotted rabbit and Red rabbit smell a touch of jealousy. They have not yet understood that they can also follow good advice for living in peace. There's no one to envy, good ideas, anyone can use them.

In his burrow that evening, the little white rabbit feels good. He knows he can confide, share with others and interest them. He thinks back to his day and decides to invent new ideas for living in peace every day. Then he falls asleep gently. He now lives in a world that no longer scares him. He feels gentle and safe, good with others, free and joyful. He is at peace.

#adventure #energy work #meditation #mountains #zen #innerpeace #nature #peace #peaceofmind #relax #great story #love story #landscape #peace of heart #peaceful #peace symbol #relaxationclub #relaxday #culture #wiseman #naturelovers #bestnatureshot #skyporn #skylovers #sky #instagram

[houseswolo]

Day 17 - 'Tis The Season To Be Thirsting

"Oh come all ye Forceful..."

The last of our Thirsties to be showcased:

Wilson

(Tumblr: @wilsonthinks66​ | Twitter: Wilsonthinks66 | Ao3: Wilson66)

What got you into Star Wars?

When a certain Adam Driver revealed his beautiful face in The Force Awakens 😍 helloo handsome

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

"You're not alone." "Neither are you."

I think I told Luke to piss off and let them kiss!

Why do you write / make art?

Because why not?! I write when I have that little niggling idea that just won't go away.

The Object of your Thirst…

Oh so many but if we're sticking to the Star Wars it's got to be the beautiful Adam Driver and my favourite ginger Domhnall Gleeson

Which Adam look do you like the best?

Unwrapped and bare chested 🤤😍

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

Flip Zimmerman, I think my stomach literally flipped (pun intended 😏) when Adam wheeled around on that chair 💦💦

Which part of Adam do you like the best? 

A part? How can you only pick one part.

Favorite Star Wars Movie

Probably The Force Awakens, it was the film that made me watch the others in preparation, although Rogue one is a close second.

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

Don't judge me but I love writing angst obviously with a well earned happy ending. This is what I want to write as I've made a promise to myself to focus on what I enjoy reading/writing and not worry about others' opinions.

**Eyes the dark Evil Rey idea that won't leave me alone recently**

We'll get to you soon.

(HS: Dooo eeeet!)

Your TRoS Prediction

They all live happily ever after... Hux included 🤞❤️ no I know that may be too optimistic but I do hope we get Bendemption 😍

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

Red and black are my favourite colour combination, although I adore autumn colours too🍁🧡

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating? 

Silence 😂 seriously I am so easily distracted that I need solitary confinement 😅 which may be why I sometimes struggle to finish fics.

Are you a dom or sub? 

Switch baby! 🤘 For the perfect partner I'll be whatever they need 😏

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

I've spent most of my life at yards, I'm not going to miss the opportunity to roll about the straw barn, now am I? 🙊

What's your kink?

Who doesn't love a good Dom but on the flip who doesn't love a well-behaved sub? 🤷 I'm easily pleased.

Use three words to describe yourself

Loyal, kind (I hope I come across as such) and argumentative sometimes because I can fall out with myself if I'm that way inclined 😂

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

Well it's my name and I wasn't feeling imaginative 😅

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

I'm a don't touch me while a sleep spoon, solitary spoon 😘

Do you like it rough or soft? 

See if you pick one, you lose out on the other. I'm too greedy for that.

Favorite fic you read

Unexpected by pontmercy44. The first star wars fandom fic I ever read that introduced me into this world, I guess.

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

Decades to Fall for Sunshineflying. A reyux fic (don't shoot the multishipper!) That I just loved writing and wish that every fic was that easy to create. 😍❤️

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

Oh well this is so hard for me umm 🤔 maybe that ginger General of First Order... I struggle to remember his name 😘 love me some Hux

______

Taz

(Tumblr: @tazwren | Twitter: WrenTaz | Ao3: TazWren & TrashcanWren)

What got you into Star Wars?

Literally, a lightsaber being stuck into my hand, at 7yrs, and being asked to be Vader to my cousin’s Luke Skywalker. I’d never heard of SW till that moment, and I fell headfirst into the Dark Side and in love with the galaxy far, far away! Its been the one franchise that as been a constant for me, the whole time growing up, and I’ve loved having something SW to look forward to every few years. SW and Reylo lifer! 😁😁😎😎

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

“You are not alone.” The minute Kylo/Ben said those words, I was gone for Reylo. No true villain would give a flying fuck about his so-called adversary’s mental and emotional health. When their hands touched? I screeched in that theatre! And I may have yelled at Luke as well. Walked out and hunted for Kylo/Rey fanfics and the rest was history!

Why do you write / make art?

I do because the stories show up and make it impossible for me to do anything else but tell them. They buzz and breed and drown out all other sounds, like manic mosquitoes. They can be quite a nuisance that way, but... *throws up hands* ... I gots to do what they tell me to do! 😆

The Object of your Thirst…

Uh, do I even need to answer this? Adam Douglas Driver, Mr.Sensitive-on-a-stick, BDE Boss hisself 😎😏

Once I discovered him, all others ceased to exist for me. (Hugh, who? Chris, what?)

Which Adam look do you like the best?

I like Adam every which way, but my favorites are with facial scruff and slightly shaggy hair - Phillip Altman meets Ben Swolo. Oooh, anytime he is a sweater (or half out of one!) or with his shirtsleeves rolled up. So, um, yeah... 😁

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

Philip Altman is BAE - he always lightens my heart. And Ben Solo? He owns the frickin’ thing. So yeah, anyone who knows me, knows one ain’t enough 😏

Which part of Adam do you like the best?

His face - it’s so emotive and expressive! His eyes, those lips, that smile that launches a gazillion ships. His hands, his strong-ass arms. That glorious mane of hair. Have I mentioned them tiddies and the tree-trunk thighs?! Oh, and when he flexes his back, and...

Uh... let’s just say, everything Adam? 

Favorite Star Wars Movie

The Last Jedi was the most beautifully written and shot movie in the entire franchise, with a depth of characterization and exploration of symbolism that was brilliant. This will always rate as the best for me. A close second, and one I will always love, is Empire Strikes Back. That was quintessential Star Wars and an amazingly good watch - snark, action, angst, love, betrayal, rescue, OMFG!

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

Until I started writing Reylo, I’d never been able to write fiction. I could never visualize the stories. And once I started, I haven’t been able to stop! I’ll write anything Reylo, I’ll try writing anything at least once (so, yeah, there may be dark fic as well one day!). My style defaults to either mildly angsty, or humour-laced fluff, or depraved smut. So, not sure what that says about me 😂

Your TRoS Prediction

Bendemption. Reylo. *mic drop*

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

Blacks, Reds, Greys, slashes of bright turquoise and white and ochre. Blue and white-striped awnings shading an alfresco cafe, overlooking a green ocean. Bright, city lights, reds and yellows glinting off the black water of a bay. A busy airport, with the scents of perfume from Duty-Free as you zoom past it.

If you were a candy bar, what would your name be?

The Ever-lasting Gobstopper 😂

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating?

In a hotel room, on my own. In the back of cab, in the window-seat of an airplane. At my desk, looking out through the window as the breeze blows through the trees, and the Burn This playlist keeps going on repeat. 

Are you a dom or sub?

Both? Both is good.

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

On the back of a bike, in the middle of the night, stopped at a traffic intersection.

What's your kink?

Size. Hands. Humour. Fidelity, and yet threesomes (go figure, I’m depraved). Mild Dom. Intelligence and thoughtfulness. Hair. Fuck it, Adam.

Use three words to describe yourself

Loyal, funny, organized-chaos (its a thing, trust me!)

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

I’ve always had Taz as a nickname, for the Warner Bros Tasmanian Devil (yes, I’ve been known to be exactly like that! 😂). Wren is a nod to Kylo Ren, and the fact that one of the earliest fanfics I read had Rey naming her son ‘Wren’ as a backhanded pointer to Kylo! So I’m, Taz, a Knight of Ren.

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

I can be both, till I fall asleep. Then, pls leave me tf alone 😬😁

Do you like it rough or soft?

Both - why choose?!

Favorite fic you read

There are so very many in this amazing fandom! The one that I’ve loved from the beginning, though, is The Art of Broken Pieces - a beautifully written Bendemption fic. 

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

God, this is hard! My recent favorites are Brooklyn Bridge Blues, Caught Between Beats, and A Taste For Two - I like that I’m able to explore a variety of stories and emotions through them. I’m most proud of Confidences To A Stranger because I was able to explore a storytelling medium that I hadn’t before. 

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

Padme Amidala - she reminds me of my mother and grandmother, both of whom were strong women, who got shit done, while always taking care of their people. She was a queen in more than just name. Han Solo - I am weak for a scoundrel/villain/bad boy in a leather jacket, with a hardass, snarky exterior that hides a heart of gold. The reluctant hero.💙

____

Meet the other Thristies! Thirst Order Advent Calendar Day:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

cc: @tazwren @drnucleus @ashtyntaytertot @deadlikemoi @nite0wl29 @thereylowritingden @houseplaidam @housedadam @house-crylo @housereysistance @my-jedi-life @shestoolazytologin @koderenn @thoseindarkness @areylofan @lostinqueue-ffa @queenoferebor  @cosmo-gonika @roguesinside @wilsonthinks66  @dangertaylor @lilia-ula @wandering-minds-found @looc-at-me @hopelesslyreylo @ferashacosplay @andabatae-writes @semperfidani ​ @reylo-fade-to-grey @cb-lainey-schooled