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pog-sad-muffin · 3 years

Text

The dreamscape.

Vilbur and Reader pt. 6

!TW! freezing, manipulation, yelling, violence, mentions of blood, feral Tommy!TW!

Hope you enjoy <3

Art credit to: @elevenshaze on twt

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Tubbo's POV

I know I am dreaming, I can hear Phil pacing around the room. Soon his pacing fades away.

-entering the dream state-

The sun rests just over the horizon, Tommy is here. We are on the hill that overlooks L'manburg.

"Hey, big man?"

"Yeah what's up?" Tommy answers.

"Will we get our happily ever after? Everyone is talking about how they work towards their happy ending. But I just can't seem to see the end." I say brushing my hair away from my eyes.

"There is no ending because there was never a beginning," Tommy says, his voice getting scratchy.

"What do you mean," I ask, turning to look at him. His eyes are the void and a smile is etched into his face. No! NO! DREAM CANT TAKE HIM FROM ME! please...

Waking up with a start. Sweat dripping down my face, my breathing erratic, and shaking all over. Phil, with a concerned look on his face, swiftly walks up to me.

"Are you alright mate, you look like you just had a nightmare," Phil says softly, sitting down next to me and rubbing circles on my back. I open my mouth but no words come out, my mind racing from what I saw.

"It's ok you don't need to talk about it. Go be with Ranboo, he was worried about you." Nodding, I shakily stand. Walking cautiously down the stairs I make it to the kitchen. Collecting myself I look around for Ranboo. Nope, not in the kitchen, not in the living room. Though Techno is when he notices me peeking into the room he points to the porch. Stepping over to the door I bring it open and looking out. Seeing Ranboo playing with Michael, a lazy smile adorned his face. Smiling softly to myself I walk outside fully and close the door, getting their attention.

"Dad!" Michael yells, wobbling up to his feet he shuffles towards me.

"Hello buddy, how are you?" I ask resting Michael in my lap after I sit down in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch.

"Good, Papa called some people over. Mister Pink looked at me weirdly and Mister Green told Papa to relax so he played with me out here while you were sleeping! We played all these fun games…" my son's voice settling into the background, he thought I was sleeping and Techno saw him… "and then I saw you and you were awake and here!" Michael says finishing his story.

"That's nice, now I need to talk to your Papa for a moment, would you go inside with Phil?" I ask, voice cracking slightly.

"Ok, Dad see you later!" Michael says, jumping up and running inside. We wait a few moments, I'm still sitting on the ground, the cold of the snow no longer bothering me.

Ranboo's POV

I look over at Tubbo when Michael runs inside. His eyes are glassy, and he is still on the ground. After a moment I walked over to him. Sitting down next to him I pull him into a hug. I feel him start to cry, it burns into my chest, but I don't complain. Comforting him I feel myself starting to cry as well. My tears cascading down my face, sizzling and burning down my face. It is snowing now. Tubbo and I don't care anymore, we grasp onto each other and start sobbing. Tubbo let out a cry, one you would hear from someone who just got the news that their last hope had passed.

3rd person POV

Techno is watching the two broken children cry into each other from the window. Something in him breaks in him as well. They shouldn't be in this life of violence, they're only kids. And yet they had suffered so much. He thinks shaking his head. Started when he hears the most heart-wrenching scream from Tubbo. His eyes tearing up, he turns away and walks up to the room where Tommy lays. Phil has long since left the room to comfort Michael. Looking over Tommy, he notices all the details of what had happened. Tommy's lips were dark purple, his exposed skin looked like icy veins crawling up his body, Tommys breathing slow and labored. He is not much better than when Ranboo found him. We don't know why he isn't getting better. Niki should be on her way, unfortunately, she lives far away from Ranboo and Tubbo's house.

Knock knock knock. Phil upon hearing this sets Michael down on the bed, the young child having fallen asleep. Hears the knock and makes his way downstairs. Opening the door, letting Niki inside.

"So where is Tommy? I saw Tubbo was awake." She mentions, taking her winter coat and winter gear off. Grabbing the satchel that was under the coat.

"Good to see you again mate, follow me," Phil says waving his hand towards the stairs. As they make their way up the stairs Niki is looking around, looking for clues to what had happened to the boys. Phil stops at the door opening it for Niki.

"He's on the bed over there," Phil mutters, refusing to make eye contact or look in the room. Niki looks at Phil with sympathy in her eyes before entering. Walking in closing the door softly behind her. Techno once he saw her stood up, knowing her past and her hate against Tommy. Pulling out his ax in a defensive stance.

"Woah, calm down I'm only here to help. Phil called me in," Niki says, trying to calm Techno. Slowly lowering his defensive stance in front of Tommy, who is effectively dying without treatment.

Niki's POV

As I cautiously approach Tommy, I can see the damage of whatever had been done to him. His lips are dark plum and black near the center, his ears are blue and black, his hair was stiff from what seems like the cold Ranboo found him in, his breathing is more like wheezing and pained. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Focusing my eyes back on Tommy I grab the bag that I had brought with me. Opening it I grab my book, my candles, and a heater. Looking over at Techno I ask, "Would you put some coal in here," I hand him the heater. He looks skeptical about it before doing what I asked. As he loaded coal into it, I pulled out my book looking through various supernatural creatures before finding what I was looking for.

“Here!” I shout, after a while, startling Techno. “Sorry,” I say softly when he glares at me.

Hearing a thundering sound running up the stairs, Phil bursts into the room, “Do you know what caused this?!” Phil says frantically. Techno being confused at the question looks between Niki and Phil expectantly.

“He means what creature caused this,” I explain, “I'm a mob expert.”

“HUH! Since when?”

“She has been for a while… Anyway, that's not the point.” Phil says.

“Yes, Phil is right. I found what caused this. It says here-” I say, pointing at a page in my book,”- the only thing that could have caused this would be… A spectator aka a ghost essentialy.” Once I say that Phil and Techno’s eyes go wide and they stare at each other, then Tommy. Their eyes are filled with confusion and terror. And then the realization hit me, we only have two ghosts, and both of them were close to the young boys. But they wouldn't do this… would they?

Tommy's POV

-entering the dream state-

It is warm here, I remember it was cold earlier. Why was it cold again? Eh doesn't matter now that I am warm. A new wave of heat cascades through me, thawing my body into comfort. I am calm, wow when was the last time that happened. Maybe when Tubbo and I were building our bench, Techno and Wilbur watched our back. It was the most peaceful week of work… ever I think.

"Hello?" I hear an echo crossing the room.

"Hello, who are you?" I question back to the voice, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Tommy is that you?" I hear, starting to recognize the voice. Snapping my eyes open, I look around in search of the voice. Y/n they are here, I want to see them again. I miss them.

"Y/n? Where are you?"

"I'm right over here Tommy," they say. I turn around and see them, glowing with their arm stretched towards me, a soft welcoming smile decorated their face. Rushing over to them I tackle them into a hug, crying slightly.

"Hello Big man," they say softly, engulfing the smaller in a hug. I smile through the tears that are free-falling down my face.

"I missed you Y/n," I say, my voice heavy with emotion. Finally, I reluctantly pull away from the hug.

"I have something important to tell you, Tommy…" Y/n says, eyes going downcast and glossing over. "They are trying to take you from me," their voice growing softer, as I grow more confused and I furrow my brows.

"Who is trying to take you? I want to stay with you." I say, standing my ground ready to fight anyone who gets in my way of being with my sibling I was forced to lose.

"They are Tommy you have to stop them…" their voice fading away more as I am being pulled away from them.

"No! Stop! I want to go back! Y/n!" I yelled, reaching desperately towards them, despite me being pulled away.

Waking with a start, all of the warmth from the dreamscape gone. Niki, Techno, and Phil standing over me. They are smiling. Why do they get to be happy? I just want to go home, the place where I belong. With Y/n, Will, Tubbo, and L'manburg. The good days.

"How are you feeling?" Phil asks, my head slowly turning towards him. I throw myself at him, clawing at him. I get a handful of feathers and his hat before Techno and Niki pull me off of him with my arms behind my back. I hear an animalistic growl until I realize it is coming from me. Not that I care they were the ones trying to take me away from Y/n. Phil, who has now fallen onto the floor. Looking at me in shock. I feel my lips curl up to bare my teeth and growl once again.

"Niki what's happening?!" Techno shouts frantically, as I struggle from their grasp. I hear people storming up the stairs. Tubbo and Ranboo slam the door open. They see me and I'm not sure what sparked it but I think it was looking at Ranboo, I never liked him, he took away my friend, and now he is here for Y/n as well. With newfound strength, I launch myself at Ranboo, ripping my grasp away from Techno and Niki. I go to attack him only to be hit with something and thrown off to the side. Looking at where the item was thrown I see a shaking Niki, standing on all fours I growl at them. My hybrid features on display. My tail swishing behind me defensively, my razor-sharp canines bared at all of them, the two joints on my legs ripping through my pants near the joints.

"Hey… Tommy, Big man calm down…" Tubbo says cautiously sidestepping towards me, in response, I let out an unnerving growl that makes everyone flinch in response.

"Niki! What is going on!" Techno growls, furiously.

"I don't know this isn't supposed to happen! Though there is a chance that the spector had said something to him!" she says, looking through her book frantically trying to find an answer.

"What do you mean! There is a chance! What could they have said'' Phil yells, I ignore them focusing on Ranboo. Tensing my legs and lowering myself onto the ground I feel something fall from my mouth.

"Umm… Phil what is dripping from his mouth," Tubbo asks, voice quivering. Suddenly everyone's attention is on me again. I let out another growl, more of the goop falling from my mouth, looking at it this time I see it is a black-looking slime. Hearing someone step closer to me, my head snaps at them. I let out a roar. Tubbo and Niki are staring at me in fear, Phil is staring in shock, and Techno in distress. I lunge at Ranboo once more this time reaching for his horn with the reached ring on it. Tubbo shrieks when he sees what I'm going for, and he jumps at me. I make it to my target and start yanking on his horn trying to rip it off, so he will let me see Y/n again. Tubbo hits me off, falling to the floor with a whimper. Techno and Phil rush to restrain me, Niki rushes to Ranboo to check on what I hurt. I see Ranboo reach for his horn and realize the ring is gone.

"My ring is gone! Did it fall off!?" Ranboo asks, I plant myself onto the ground. It's not like I needed to, I have two people keeping me on the ground. Smirking, I look Ranboo in the eyes.

"Tommy where is it!" He yells at me, part of his jaw unhinging. I close my mouth tighter, locking my jaw.

"Guys… I think it's in his mouth." Tubbo says, noticing my jaw tense.

"How? We didn't see it?!" Niki says, baffled. She runs over to Techno and Phil, something in her hand.

I feel something cold touch my neck as the world fades to dark.

-entering dreamscape-

"Tommy are you ok?!" I hear Y/n yell when they see the state I'm in.

"I wanted to come back… they are the enemy…" I mumble my words slurred.

"Ah... I see what happened. I'm so glad you came back," they say, picking me up into a soft warm hug. Just like Mum used to do. Feeling the familiar warmth return.

"Don't worry Big man I will protect you," they say. I feel warmth flood my being and patterns scorching into my body. I didn't mind though it felt nice.

"They're going to sting when you wake once more, but don't worry I will always be here when you go to sleep." I nod limply.

"Want to see them?" Parking up at this I nod once more, not finding the energy to speak. A mirror appears in front of me. I have marks up and down my back and arms. They have symbols that look like, "⋔⊬ ⌿⎍⌿⟟⌰" I feel myself fading out of dream world into a deep sleep.

"Y/n would you stay with me?"

"Of course my pupil."

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Thank you for reading, don't be shy if you have a recommendation🖤

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everlarkficexchange · 3 years

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Written by: @alliswell21

Title: One of Us

Prompt 145: She moves in with her aunt and uncle when her parents dies in a small town. After suffering through trama, Katniss slowly starts to get better with the help of her family (aunt, uncle, cousin) and the Mellark brothers. But when things starts happening to her and the people around her, it’s revealed that she and almost everyone in the towns are apart of the werewolf pack and that one of the Mellark brothers is her mate. #werewolves [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Rated: G for general audiences.

Tags: Canon Divergent!AU; Modern with a dash of Supernatural; Grief/Mourning; Feeding as a Language of Love.

Note: This is my final submission to this year's EFE challenge! Yay! I really am grateful to @xerxia31 and @javistg for their continued support of this fandom and for hosting once again this event. You are such amazing people, and I’m absolutely honored to be part of a community with people as amazing as you two are! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for keeping EFE alive!

@animekpopxx, thank you too! You feed my muse! And you give me Werewolves!!!!

This story was a bit of rushed job, though, and there’s more of it, I mean... we haven’t seen them turn into wolves yet!!! 🤣 I just didn’t have time to edit the complete fic before the deadline, but if you’d like to read the finished product, keep an eye out for it on AO3. I’m fairly sure the rating will keep, but we will see.

Kpkpkpk

There’s nothing but the sound of crickets and frogs filling the vast darkness of the night.

It’s another moonless night out here in Panem… or is I like to call it ‘the middle of nowhere’. It’s weird, how dark nights feel here, there’s barely a start peeking tonight, but in a strange way, I like it.

Sitting on my aunt and uncle’s porch to watch the infinite dark ahead while listening to the nocturnal critters it’s about my favorite thing to do… it’s what did used to do when we came here for long summer stays, anyway. He used to say he felt at peace and relaxed, connected with nature. Too bad it took him to be gone, for me to appreciate what he meant by that. So every night I come out here and sit in the steps hugging my knees, staring at nothing but the deep, black night surrounding the cabin, whisking my dad was sitting next to me.

Tonight is different than usual, though. It was raining until recently, and the smell of wet earth is so familiar my chest feels tight and my throat is knotted.

“Petrichor, Katniss,” I mumble the words noiselessly, “is the smell of rain, hun. It smells the same everywhere in the world.”

I lean my chin on my knees, wishing I could go back to feeling numb like when my parents just died. But thinking of the word petrichor, while smelling the thing, is bring forth a plethora feelings and memories I don’t know how to handle.

Dad used to love Scrabble, crossword puzzles and trivia challenges. He tried to get me interested in those games, teaching me words and their meanings, every time he had a chance.

I wish I had been more enthusiastic about learning the darned stuff; it would’ve meant an extra moment spent with Dad, and less regret to feel right now.

An involuntary whine leaves my chest. It hurts to think about it, and not for the first time, I dig my nails into my skin to keep myself rooted in place, and not tear running into the void.

I feel like I’m spiraling out of control, I fear this time something will break in my head and I’ll do something crazy, like scratch my skin away and run wild into the woods, like a beast… but the overwhelming thoughts gets halted when I hear soft noises from out in the distance.

It’s like the crunching of footsteps on the gravel at the mouth of my aunt and uncle’s property. It’s too dark and isolated here, deep into the country. I’ve seen big wildlife roaming around: deer, raccoons, coyotes and even a lynx. But the longer I hear the noises, the more certain I am I’m being stalked by something big and fast.

My heart beats erratically in my chest; every hair in my body stands on point, fear is clawing its way up my chest and into my throat, my eyes feel about to pop from my skull, and then I’m disentangling my knees from my arms, standing up as tall as I can— which isn’t saying much—and then I call into the night, “Who’s there?!”

I hear a faint disturbance of air, and then…

“Good evening, Katniss!”

Slowly, from the shadows, a blonde head pops, eerie for a second. Broad shoulders follow, and then a torso. Before the rest of his body comes visible into the light of the porch, two more blonde heads come into view, flank the first person on either side: Shoulders, torsos, Jean covered legs… The three Mellark brothers make their way leisurely towards me.

I nearly faint from relief after the rush of adrenaline pumping in my veins. Going through so many emotions: grief, sorrow, dread and relief, so fast in such a short amount of time has left me winded and unsteady.

I lose my balance, but one of the boys— Peeta, the youngest— breaks ranks, and rushes to hold me upright.

“Are you okay?” He asks softly, helping me sit back down on the porch steps. I lean my head against the main post.

“I’m okay. Just a little lightheaded,” I try not to glare. They gave me a fright, but I doubt they did it on purpose.

It’s something I’ve learn over the years. People in Panem are kind of quirky.

“Sorry we scared you,” Peeta offers, sheepishly. “We wanted to check up on you, and bring you something…” he looks up at his two older brothers and Rye — the middle one— steps forward, holding up a brown, paper bag, with little greasy spots on the sides.

I can guess what’s inside. They’ve been bringing me cheese buns almost daily, since Peeta found out they’re my favorites.

Rey hands the baggie to Peeta, and the latter offers it to me with a soft smile.

“Thanks,” I mumble, gratefully. I can smell the cheesy, yeasty treat through the bag; I can feel the warmth of the buns too! “While I love freshly baked cheese buns, you guys didn’t have to make this trek just to bring me a treat… on a dark, moonless night no less,” I fix them with a glare. “How did you even get here anyway? You couldn’t have walked and I never saw a car coming?”

My aunt and uncle’s cabin is at least 4 miles from town, and surrounded by woods; but then again, most houses in this weird little place are built in similar locations. It seems the townsfolk take their privacy extremely seriously.

“We rode our dirt bikes,” chimes Rye in, cheerily. “Not much light on those bulbs, though, but it’s okay. Our night vision is prime!” He gives me the A-Okay gesture.

“Rye,” the eldest, Bannock, warns lowly. Baring his teeth.

Rye shrugs and slips his hands on his Jean pockets.

I swear Rye hisses something like “it’s true” under his breath, but Peeta has been rubbing my back with the tip of his fingers all this time, and I’m getting drowsy, so I may have imagined the whole exchange.

“You should eat those while they’re still warm,” Peeta murmurs close by my shoulder.

I nod, and open the bag, releasing all the delicious smells of the buns, while Peeta massages my shoulders, encouragingly.

I must be really out if it tonight, because outside of my family, I’ve never been comfortable with people touching me… but, my family is all gone now, and I can’t go through the rest of my life without human touch, can I?

Grief stricken me out of nowhere, and barrels through me. I gasp at the acute pain in my soul at the loss of my parents. But in an instant, I’m enveloped in strong, thick arms, warm and steady. I’m sobbing into a hot, solid chest, covered in the softest cotton I’ve ever felt.

“Shush… I’ve got you, Katniss. I’m here for you,” Peeta whispers soothingly into the crown of my head.

He smells so good; like cinnamon and dill, from the bread he must’ve made this afternoon at his family’s bakery.

It takes a few minutes for me to get a hold of myself, and embarrassedly push out of his embrace, “I’m sorry,” I mumble, mortified.

Bannock presents me with a handkerchief, and I take it gratefully to wipe off my face and nose, before returning the soiled square of fabric to him.

I’m not sure why the Mellark brothers are being so nice to me. I’ve never been around them more than a handful of days over the past few years, when we came to see Dad’s remaining family outside mom and I, his half brother, his wife and their child.

I don’t know the Mellarks all that well, but in the handful of weeks since my parents’ funeral, the three brothers have been incredibly attentive and generous to me. Peeta more than the other two, but I don’t mind… I like him best anyway.

“It’s okay to cry and be devastated, Katniss.” Says Bannock, sagely. “You’re going through the worst time of your life, and we care for you… like family.”

“Oh,” I sit straighter, blowing my nose. I feel a little strange hearing him say that, “thank you? I appreciate your kindness,”

He nods, “Peeta’s right, though. You should eat the cheese buns before they go cold.”

“A full stomach always helps me feel better,” Rye adds, patting his belly, and smiling at me.

My stomach growls, as if to show agreement. I am hungry. I didn’t touch my supper earlier. I pick up the bakery gingerly, and pretty much shove my nose into it. The steam curls out of the baggie, filling my nostrils with the delicious smells. I pluck out a bun and practically inhale it in a second; quickly followed by another one. My third cheese bun, I decide to savor, slowly.

The Mellark siblings just hang around while I devour my treats.

The front door opens just as I’m wiping my hands on my leggings. My aunt’s head peeks out of the door.

“Oh, why hello everyone!” She greets, as bubbly as always. She’s wearing a dark purple wig, to match her dark purple outfit.

“Good evening, Effie,” says Peeta, standing from his squatting position next to me. “We brought Katniss a gift,” he points at the now empty bag in his hand.

“How sweet of you, Peeta!” my aunt gushes, “thank you for checking on our girl, and making sure she’s put something in her tummy before bedtime!”

I roll my eyes. Aunt Effie keeps treating me like a kid. I hate it. I’m 17 and mourning, not a freaking baby!

“It’s no problem at all, Effie! We were just on our way home anyway.”

“Well, it’s always nice having you boys over,” she offers, “but it’s getting late, and Primrose is already in bed, which is why I came out here to begin with, to let Katniss know that her sister was already asleep, so she’d know to tip toe back inside when she was ready to go to bed herself,” my aunt smiles.

I feel a slight pang of guilt; I’ve been wallowing in my own sadness this evening, and missed tucking my sister in to sleep. She’s the only person I’m sure I love, yet tonight I’ve let my own misery drown me.

“Don’t mind us, Effie,” Says Bannock, “We were about to leave…” he pauses and then calls a meaningful, “Peeta?”

“I’m going to wish Katniss a good night, and then we’ll go,” he says.

Not for the first time, I wonder if Peeta has a crush on me? I wouldn’t know he did, even if I wasn’t feeling so rotten inside. I’m not very good at flirting… but with Peeta it is different I think. He’s so nice to me, he’s taken up asking if I’ve eaten that day and if I haven’t, he feeds me something from his family’s bakery without charging me… it’s like he actually cares for me and my well-being, and his brothers care, because he does. It’s mesmerizing at times.

Peeta looks me in the eyes, “Are you ready to go inside?” He asks, offering his two open palms to me. He helps me up from the floor, and then smiles sweetly. He doesn’t let go of my hands while we stand facing each other.

Then something strange happens. Peeta doesn’t blink, as his clear-blue eyes bore into mine, and then his pupils blow out full, until only a ring of deep, glowing azure remains for his irises, “Sleep well, Katniss,” his voice sounds deeper and warmer than usual, “Rest and have a relaxing, dreamless night. Remember what I said: we are all here for you, to help through this hard time… alright?”

I feel groggy, “Yes, Peeta,” I mumble feeling my eyelids getting heavier.

“Oh dear, can you please instruct her to walk herself to bed? She might look lithe, but I promise, her little body is as heavy as any of us,”

Huh? What’s aunt Effie going on about? I don’t understand.

Peeta chuckles, squeezing my hands warmly in his, “You heard Effie… don’t fall asleep until you’ve gone into your bedroom and change into comfy pajamas.”

I nod, “Okay,”

“Good night, Katniss, I’ll be back tomorrow. Try to eat something on your own, I know you’re sad, but you need your strength for when the solstice comes.”

What a weird thing to say! Everything is strange here though… so I nod and march inside the house, mumbling my good nights to everyone and rubbing my very sleepy eyes. Once I’m in my sleep clothes, I lay in bed, and try to ignore the yearning of having Peeta rubbing my back like he was doing while I ate my cheese buns.

I sigh and go to sleep, a weird thought pops into my mind: “I’m so lucky to have such a sweet, caring mate. Peeta Mellark. Can’t wait to be bonded with him,”

#alliswell21 #animekpopxx #prompt 154 #Springtime Edition 2021 #submission

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writingwithacupoftea · 4 years

Text

The Perfect Birthday Present

Summary: Y/N Shelby’s birthday was fast approaching, and Tommy has no idea what to buy for her. Who would have thought that a night of drunken antics would give him the perfect answer?

Word Count: 2462

Y/B/M = Your birth month

A/N: Is this fic basically a belated birthday present to myself? Yes. Is it completely different to the one I planned? Absolutely 😂 Hope you all love this one as much as I do 💜

Upon Tommy's arrival back to Arrow House, Mary could tell as soon as he stepped out of the car that he was in a foul mood, even by his standards.

He'd been in London for the past week, sorting out some business. That part of the trip had gone well, Tommy had conceded, but the same couldn't be said for the other part of his mission: finding a birthday present for Y/N. In the past the Shelby's had clubbed together to buy presents, however this year Tommy wanted to get Y/N something special that was just from him.

It was to be a thank you, really, for having put up with his shit for so long, yet never wavering in her loyalty to him. To say that he was supposed to be the one looking after her, for Y/N was his little sister, the roles had definitely been reversed over the last few years: she had helped him through his nightmares and opium addiction, provided him with brutal and blatant honesty (no matter how much he sulked or raged afterwards until he realised that she was right), and had dropped everything to move to Arrow House with him and Charlie after Grace's death.

To say that he was grateful for Y/N would be an understatement.

But seeing as everyone knew that Thomas Shelby was abysmal when it comes to talking about emotions, he wanted to show it in the only way he knew how – spending ridiculous amounts of his money on her.

He had dragged Ada through all of the best shops in London, looking for something spectacular to gift to Y/N. Tommy had ignored Ada's reminders about Y/N's love for simplicity and the little things: in his eyes, Y/N deserved the best that money could buy, so that's what he would get for her.

Yet nothing that they had looked at seemed quite right – it just wasn't Y/N enough. He should've realised then that Ada was right.

So Tommy returned to Warwickshire a day earlier than expected, empty-handed, exhausted and annoyed at himself.

Curiosity took over, however, upon hearing music echoing through the halls of Arrow House. After following it, even Tommy's seemingly ice-cold heart melted slightly at the sight that greeted him home: Y/N has dug out the old gramophone, which hadn't been used since Grace had died, and she was dancing around the room with a whiskey in one hand and a half-smoked cigarette in the other.

Tommy smiled softly at the sight of his sister swaying to the music, unaware that she was being watched. She looked young and happy and carefree, a far cry from her usual reserved and guarded self. Tommy forgot about his own troubles just watching her, enjoying seeing Y/N so alive.

But quickly, his mood changed and the smile vanished. Tommy found himself mourning, almost, the life that Y/N should've had, but because of him she could never live. Times like this shouldn't have been a rarity for his little sister: her whole life should have been filled with the unabated joy that exuded from her in this moment. Instead, she looked over her shoulder at every turn, cleared up the mess after each of his mistakes and constantly walked the streets with a target on her back.

Y/N chose this moment to turn around, having noticed that her glass was empty once again, and was momentarily stunned at seeing Tommy. That feeling passed in an instant, however, and she found herself barrelling across the room, throwing herself into her brother's arms. "TOM!" Her delight could be seen from a million miles away.

"You alright?" He rubbed her back gently as they hugged, and he noticed the strong smell of whiskey on her. "How many of those have you had?" Tommy gestured to the empty glass sat on the table, which Y/N was now refilling, along with a second one that she poured for him.

"Only one or two, Tom." Despite her best efforts to look and sound innocent, what Y/N didn't realise was that her flushed cheeks and the devilish glint in her eye gave her away, causing Tommy to smirk in amusement.

The track on the record changed to a lively Charleston, which only sounded vaguely familiar to Tommy's ears, however sparked far more of a reaction from his sister. She gasped loudly and downed her drink in one, slamming the glass down on the table, causing Tommy to raise his eyebrows at her. Y/N had a large smile plastered on her face as she exclaimed "Oh , I love this one!" She ran to turn the volume up, and started dancing once more.

"Won't this wake Charles up?" Tommy wasn't in the mood to deal with the screaming baby, especially if he was already fast asleep.

"Oh no, Tom, he's the reason I got the gramophone out in the first place. What I've discovered over the last few days is that your son adores music." Y/N turned to face Tommy, and adopted the matter-of-fact tone that she used so frequently with him. "A little dance to something upbeat to tire him out, then you put something gentler on and in no time at all he's out like a light."

Tommy felt guilt bubbling up inside of him, replacing his amusement at his younger sister's drunken state. Y/N had managed to find the solution that he had been looking for since Charlie's birth in a matter of days. It showed how little he knew about his own son, and was just another thing Y/N had had to figure out on her own, another problem that she had taken upon herself to solve for him.

Following Tommy's long silence, Y/N looked over at her elder brother, noticing the sad and far-away look on his face, and held out a hand dramatically towards him. "Will you join me, Tom, or have you forgotten how to dance?"

"I'm tired, Y/N/N. Another time, perhaps."

"So you have forgotten."

"Remember who taught you how to dance, sweetheart." His gaze softened as he recalled fond memories of his sister stepping on his toes. "Anyway, I don't think I could keep up with you now I'm older, as you kindly keep reminding me."

Y/N smirked at this. "Yes, Tom, but I'm older as well... that's how age works." She grabbed his hands in hers and started to force him to move his body a little to the music. "Come on, old man, you're not doing anything to help those creaking bones of yours!"

Tommy sighed, realising that he wasn't escaping, and reluctantly started to dance a bit with her. Y/N cackled at how out of practice he was, his movements stiff and face void of emotion, and was determined to get her older brother to loosen up before she went to bed.

***

A couple of hours later, the room was filled with laughter and both siblings had uncontainable smiles on their faces.

Everywhere was a mess. Records were strewn across the table, as they had quickly been through every one and couldn't remember which ones they liked the best; the furniture had been shoved to the side to make more space, with Tommy's suit and tie discarded on the sofa; and empty bottles of alcohol and various glasses were dotted around the room.

It's safe to say that Y/N had succeeded in her mission – Tommy was the happiest that she had seen him in a long time. She wished that this night could last forever, just her and her favourite brother in their own little world, where none of their worries could touch them.

***

The clock on the mantlepiece would have told Tommy that it was now the early hours of the morning, but he paid no attention to it

A slower tune played as the brother and sister swayed together in the middle of the room. Y/N was half-asleep, exhaustion having taken hold as her body caught up with the amount of alcohol she had consumed. It was rare for her to spend so much time with Tommy these days, despite having moved into his home, and she refused to waste one second of it while he was in the right mood.

As for Tommy himself, he was thinking; not at the fast-pace at which his thoughts usually raced, but just thinking. Well, more reminiscing. He hadn't spent a night like this since before the war; in fact he hadn't come close to feeling this free and at peace since before the war. Even when Grace was still here, his mind was more often than not occupied by business.

He thought about the not so little girl wrapped safely in his arms. Placing a soft kiss on the top of her head, he wondered ‘When did she become so grown up? Where did the time go?’

Breaking the quiet between them, Tommy only just heard his sister’s drunken mumbles of “This is the best birthday present ever,” and felt his heart melt even more.

He observed the contented smile that rested on his sister’s face and realised that Ada was right about Y/N: she lived for the special little things in life, she lived for family and for love, not money and jewels.

Y/N lived for moments like this… and, just like that, Tommy knew what the perfect present would be.

***

Two days later, and it was Y/N’s birthday.

Since it was a Sunday, all that she had wanted to do to celebrate was to have a big lunch with all of her family. So, the whole Shelby clan, spouses and children included, piled into Arrow House for one very chaotic afternoon.

Y/N couldn't have been happier with how the day turned out. Arguments were kept to a minimum (but Y/N secretly enjoyed the slight bickering that inevitably occurred), she was able to play with all of her nieces and nephews in the garden to her heart's content, and the whole of Arrow House had a buzz about it.

Even Tommy didn't seem to be as grumpy and pre-occupied as usual. Something had changed in her brother since that drunken night, and Y/N couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. But it was a change for the better, so she wasn't going to complain or question it. Despite her longing for a night like that again, she knew that it was an unrealistic dream: Tommy had far too much on his plate nowadays, even if Y/N thought that it would do him the world of good to let go every now and again. And, Y/N admitted to herself, she had missed her big brother much more than she realised.

But Y/N didn't dwell on that for too long, knowing that she'd miss out on things if she spent too long in her own head (such as John, who had just fallen out of a tree in an attempt to beat his own children in climbing it).

***

It was dusk before the family left, and as much as it was one of the best birthdays that Y/N could remember, she was glad for the quiet and a bit of time to herself.

After eating some more birthday cake and having a cup of tea on the bench in the garden, watching as the stars gradually appeared in the Y/B/M sky, Y/N retreated back inside having discovered that it was nearly midnight.

Mary informed her that her brother had already gone up to bed for the night. On any other day, Y/N would have been surprised at this bit of news, knowing how late Tommy normally stayed up to work; but her family was exhausting when they were all together for half an hour, never mind half a day, so she quietly padded up the stairs to do the same.

Her attention was immediately drawn to a large box that rested on her bed the moment that she entered her room. Y/N would’ve been suspicious if it wasn’t for the note that sat on top of it:

“Happy birthday, sweetheart.

Love,

Tommy x”

Excitement and intrigue building up inside of her rapidly, she untied the messy bow (Tommy had clearly tried his best) and lifted the lid. Inside she found four new records and two bottles of whiskey. For a moment she was confused, but then she found a second note:

“For the next time…

T x”

Y/N felt her heart swell with emotion and tears began to line her eyes as she smiled.

She threw on her nightdress and wandered down the hall to her brother’s bedroom. Knocking gently, she pushed the door open slightly, just enough to stick her head around it. Tommy’s crystal blue eyes locked with hers and she suddenly found herself wondering why she was there at all: she and Tommy were both awful at things like this (when then were sober, anyway). There was a reason why he left the present somewhere that she would find it by herself, rather than giving it to her himself.

Suddenly feeling awkward, Y/N smiled slightly and nodded, not knowing what to say to her brother. As she began to close the door again, Y/N heard a slight chuckle from inside the room and Tommy softly called her name.

She shuffled back into the room, looking at anything but her brother sat on the bed. "I know it's late, but I just wanted to say -" But she was unable to finish that important sentence, a loud, long yawn having escaped her.

When she opened her eyes again, Y/N saw, to her surprise, an amused smile playing on Tommy's lips. He pulled back the covers on the other side of his grand bed, and raised his eyebrows, silently posing a question that he hadn't asked for a long time.

In recent years, Tommy hadn't been overly affectionate: Y/N guessed that it was just another side effect of the war. So, when the opportunity arose for Y/N to get a hug from her brother (who used to give the best hugs, not that she'd ever tell her other family members), she would never refuse.

She half-ran over to the bed and snuggled under the duvet before Tommy could change his mind. Cuddling into his side and letting the warmth envelope her, the siblings lay there in silence for a while, perfectly content.

As Y/N's eyelids began to flutter shut, she mumbled into her brother's chest a soft "Thank you, Tom," that he only just caught.

Tommy tightened his arms around his Y/N's frame in response and pressed a kiss to her hair. He turned out the light next to him as he felt his little sister's breaths even out, and whispered so that no one else could hear: "No, darling, thank you."

#peaky blinders #tommy shelby #tommy shelby x sister reader #shelby sis #shelby sister #peaky blinders sister #peaky blinders x sister!reader #shelby!reader #shelby!sister #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fic #tommy shelby x sister!reader #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine

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writtenonreceipts · 3 years

Note

29 I thought ypu were dead aelin and aedion

Thanks so much for the prompt! I had fun with this.

Slight Canon divergence—Alternate Aelin and Aedion reunion. Mostly because I can’t remember how the actual scene went…it’s been a while since I’ve read the books. Oopes.

And it is deff longer than I intended it to be. My bad…

Reunion

The body slumped against the stone cobble of the tavern wall with as much grace as a sack of potatoes. There was nothing special about the body. No significant rings or emblems. Even his coat was second rate.

As Aelin stared down at him, she almost regretted her actions.

Almost.

She wiped her knife clean on the edge of the man’s coat and left him there, his throat sliced open like a second mouth. Aelin looked into his dead eyes, dull now that the dark blue hue appeared black. Not even the oil lamps over head could illuminate anything in this alleyway.

Aelin stood and sheathed her knife. She knew she should keep it out and ready. The night had only just begun and she had deeply intricate plans of how she would spend the night. She kicked the foot of the dead man and left the alley.

Tucking her cloak around her, Aelin slunk through the shadows. While she couldn’t see him, she knew Rowan was lurking somewhere nearby. The ass felt it well within her right to take care of this part of her training without any help from him.

Not that he was helpful to begin with.

Aelin paused at the corner of the street. There was something wrong with the night.

Standing just out of reach of a streetlamp’s dull glow, Aelin peered into the night. She couldn’t sense Rowan nearby. He was likely in his hawk form on a rooftop somewhere. No, there was something else disturbing the peace of the night. Something…familiar?

Aelin scowled. She was supposed to be gathering intel on traitors to Maeve and Wendlyn. She was supposed to be gutting men and women for their secrets. Using their own lies against them. She was supposed to be proving herself worthy for her own birthright.

“Where are you?” she whispered into the night.

The village she was stalking was relatively small. There was only one main square for businesses before the main road peeled off to homes and farmland. It truly wasn’t the most exciting place to be or find secrets hiding in the dark corners.

That did not mean, however, that there was nothing to be learned here. Aelin only wished that she didn’t have to kill everyone she spoke with.

Not that the last man didn’t deserve it. Not with his wandering hands, his vile tongue, and the fact that Aelin knew exactly how many mistresses he had.

Aelin shook her head. She needed to focus. There was something in the darkness of this sleepy village that watched her. And it wasn’t Rowan.

Never one to walk away from her problems, Aelin cast one more look over her shoulder and then stepped off the cobbled road of the village and into the forest beyond. Rowan could follow if he wanted, but Aelin was certain there was something far more menacing in this village than a grumpy old Fae warrior and herself.

Another cold breeze rushed through the trees. The branches overhead groaned and rustled while the dead leaves on the forest floor skittered about. Aelin pulled her cloak tighter around her, making sure the hood kept her face covered. Having the cold air assault her face was the last thing she wanted.

As she moved deeper into the trees, Aelin could have sworn she heard footsteps behind her. If she had better control—more control—she would have been able to tell for sure who or what was there. For now, she remained alert. After all, hunting things in the night was one of her specialties.

The snap of a tree branch had Aelin spinning one direction when another force came up from behind. She spun around again but found nothing but trees looming over her and shadows crawling across the forest floor.

Baring her teeth, Aelin hissed into the wind.

She didn’t have time to try and call out to Rowan when a massive shape barreled into her.

Yelping, Aelin and her attack fumbled in the dirt and debris of the forrest floor. She managed to free her knife from its sheath only to have her attacker whip her around onto her belly, knife flying from her fingers.

Fae.

A damned Fae.

Growling, Aelin struggled in the strong hands of the Fae. The hands holding her tightened and she was yanked up, send headfirst into a tree. Aelin barely managed to catch herself before breaking her nose. Her cheek and hands certainly were scraped up by the rough bark of the tree.

“Who the hell are you?” she snarled.

Aelin grabbed from the second dagger hidden in her boot. Brandishing it, she stared into the empty void of the forest. Her attacker disappeared.

“Little killer, little killer,” a low voice sang. It wasn’t Rowan. Aelin knew that much. But there was something, something familiar about it. “And I thought you’d put up a fight.”

“Show yourself bastard and I’ll give you a fight,” Aelin said. She spun the dagger in her hand and strained to listen to the sounds of the forest. Anything different, any steps, any change in the air.

The Fae moved for her. Aelin met him with her dagger slicing up for his belly. He rolled from the attack and Aelin only managed to rip the edge of his cloak.

His legs swiped for hers and they were on the ground again. Aelin tried to swipe at him—to hit flesh, bone, anything. It didn’t matter. He blocked her every move before he got one large hand wrapped around her throat.

Gasping, Aelin dropped her dagger and reached up to grip his hand.

The male chuckled and drew leaned over Aelin. His face was cast in the shadows of his cloak, but Aelin could still see a sharp smile on his mouth. She scratched at his hands, his wrists. This was not how she would die.

Where the hell was Rowan?

Overhead, moonlight broke through the cloud coverage of the night and filtered through the empty tree branches of the wood. Finally, Aelin was able to see better than the blue and gray shadows of the night. If only she could breathe.

But the male leaning over her froze. Something caught his attention because he swore and rolled off of her.

Immediately Aelin gasped for air, her hands going to her throat to massage the tender skin.

“Hell,” she croaked.

Before she could recover properly, the male had a dagger out and aimed directly at Aelin.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

Aelin continued trying to breathe. Answering him didn’t seemed to be very important. In their scuffle her hood had fallen and now she had dirt and leave in her hair. Shaking the mess out, she scowled at the Fae and his still covered face.

Now that they weren’t fighting to the death, she could tell his was a large male. Tall, broad shouldered, well-built. He wore fighting leathers and a loose tunic tucked into his breaches. Wisps of blonde hair flew out from his hood.

There was nothing overtly familiar about him. Yet still, Aelin couldn’t shake the thought from her mind…she knew him.

“Don’t make me force an answer from you,” the male said.

Aelin stared up at him. The dagger in his hand gleamed in the moonlight. It was a beautiful weapon. Well-crafted and balanced. If she made it out of this alive, she’d have to figure out a way to steal it from him.

“Tell me your name and I’ll tell you mine,” she crooned.

She half expected a chuckle, a curse, something other than the dead silence.

The Fae took a step closer until the blade of the dagger kissed Aelin’s neck.

“Who. Are. You.” His voice took deadly edge, far sharper than the weapon at her throat.

Aelin cocked her head. The bite of the dagger on her skin wasn’t anything special, hardly noticeable. Even when the small bead of blood slipped down her neck.

“Aelin Galathynius,” she said. She was trying to discern what this male was on about. The sooner she could figure that out, the sooner she could get out of this mess.

The words were no sooner off her tongue than the Fae had a hand at her throat again, the blade to her belly. He pulled her to her feet.

“Liar,” he hissed.

The sudden motion had his cloak shifting and his hood fell from his face. And Aelin found herself looking into his eyes. Her eyes. Ashryver.

Her mouth went dry and her muscles taut. She’d heard rumors of the wolf. Adarlan’s Whore. She didn’t want to believe them. Didn’t want to think of her cousin, her once best friend as such a monster…

“Aedion,” she whispered.

“Who are you?” he snarled.

Aelin gaped. He was handsome, she’d always known he would be. A strong jaw, straight nose, golden blonde hair. They could have been siblings. They practically were.

Against her better judgement, Aelin reached a hand out to rest on the side of his face.

“Aedion,” she repeated. “By the mother, look at you.”

And he was stumbling back as through Aelin’s words, her touch, had burned him. Breathing deeply, he ran a hand through his hair and stared.

“It’s not possible,” he said. His gold and blue eyes were wide and wild in the moonlight. “I didn’t want to believe that captain and what he said. It’s not possible.”

Aelin couldn’t help the tears that burned behind her eyes. The slipped down her cheeks as she looked at him.

“I thought you were dead,” Aedion whispered.

Dragging her hands over her wet cheeks Aelin shook her head. “I may as well have been.”

As he sheathed his dagger, Aedion kept shaking his head. His eyes never left Aelin though. It was as though he believed she would disappear the second he looked away.

“I never wanted to believe what happened,” he said. “I wanted to…I tried to…”

Aelin stepped forward holding a hand out to her cousin. “I know,” she said, “I know what you did.”

And looking into his eyes, Aelin started to understand a little bit of why he did those things. Because not only were their eyes the same color—they had the same regrets, the same horror painted in the iris’.

“Aelin.”

Without any warning, Aedion rushed forward and pulled Aelin into a bone crushing hug. For the first time in a very long while, she finally began to feel like she was returning home.

Thanks for reading. My ask box is always open, my messages too!

tags:

@tottenhamboys20 @morganofthewildfire @aelinchocolatelover @more-espresso-less-depresso-xx @bamchickawowow @ladywitchling @ireallyshouldsleeprn @courtofjurdan @sassys-world @sleeping-and-books @superspiritfestival @chieflemming @julemmaes @lysandra-ghost-leopard @harrymoncheri @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln

#throne of glass #throne of glass fanfiction #aelin ashryver galathynius #aelin #aelin galathynius #aedion ashryver #aelin and aedion #canon divergence #see not everything i write is pain #rowan whitethorn

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tokoyamisstuff · 3 years

Text

Betrothed Ch. 6 - Illumi Zoldyck x Reader

Chapter 6: Bold

Summary: Two pretty unusual family meetings, but one of them lacks a happy end.

Warnings: Angst, Family Drama.

Words: ~4300

Story Masterlist

A/N: Tumblr accidentally posted the unfinished draft a few days ago. Sorry for the confusion! As a treat, you get a very long chapter! (:

Before you were married, Illumi was rarely at home.

He had no one to come home to anyway, let alone someone who cared.

Anyway, this was only one of many things you had changed.

These times, whenever he left, it was only for a good reason like missions, training or caring for his siblings. Sometimes family conferences you were allowed to attend as well, yet not to talk.

Whenever he got home, it felt so cozy and peaceful.

Like he was welcomned and safe here - unlike anything he knew before.

Your home would always smell like scented candles, the many flowers you had planted at the balconry, and whatever you were cooking at the time.

It was very lovely and kinda cheesily decorated by now. Most of the things were stuff you asked Illumi to bring home from his missions, but lately he got you anything he thought you'd like.

Of course you were grateful for everything. It meant he took the time and actually think about what you'd appreciate!

Occasionally, you’d bring home injured animals you found in the forrest surrounding Kurokoo mountain. Sometimes your husband reluctantly assisted you, even though he found kindness futile - he just couldn’t say no to your begging eyes, so be it.

From you, he got love and care in return for his efforts. But a wild animal? Well, if he thought about it, he consdiered himself lacking a real consciousness just as much as the pets you kept.

One day, he’ll understand why people help each other without wanting something back - you promised him. Even though he always emphasized that saving such small lives won’t redeem him anyway.

Yes, the weight of his sins was sure massive - especially now that it all broke down on him, suffering under his newfound sympathy.

You swiped through your phone, adoring all the photos you persuaded him to take together.

It filled your heart with joy to notice every small change he underwent:

He'd run himself a bath from time to time, buy sweets or other things to try out, and spent his free time reading or wandering the estate's forrest instead of thoughtlessly staring into the void.

And for the more nasty things, well...let’s just say Illumi is a quick learner. And you were glad that he began taking the initiative and try out things he may enjoy.

Your husband was more and more developing a personality.

"She's so pretty!"

"Yeah, right?" you proudly commanded the owl to come back, and she immediately landed on your lap. "Her name is Luna."

“She was a gift from big bro Illumi, right?” Your familiar had grown strong very fast, yet it's claws never hurt you. Sometimes you almost forgot that Luna was a dangerous animal rather than a cuddly pet. “Yes, she is!”

"Maybe we can play in the forrest some day. I just need some time to convince your parents."

Alluka was sitting on a chair next to you, cheerfully petting the patient bird. "Thanks, big sis!"

Illumi's little sister was probably the only normal person in this building. No nen, no assassin training either, and a loving nature.

If only there wasn't-

"Y/N!" Oh no. Your husband was back earlier than you expected. "Did you bail her out again?!"

"Big bro!" the little girl cheered, jumping down the stair and wobbling to his direction.

There was not the slightest hint of hate inside of her. Even though she was alone all the time, she was blissfully unaware about her own family resenting her.

"Illumi!" That was the first time you actually raised your voice against him. "Take.down.the. needle. Right now!"

You kept Alluka from getting closer to Illumi, defendingly wrapping your arms around her.

God knows what he'd do...

"Then get that thing out of my face."

Actually, you didn't want to fight in front of a child, but Alluka needed constant superveilance . "How can you be so cruel? She's your sister!"

"Did you make a wish?"

"Of course not! I used my nen to get her out unnoticed, so she could spent some time like a normal child. I would've brought her back tonight. That's all, really! I promise!"

Suddenly, you felt a foreign, powerful aura under your palms.

Damn it.

You forgot her last wish was a hug, which was exactly what you gave her right now.

"Aye."

"That's enough." Illumi already had his needles prepared, infusing them with nen. "I'll end this right here."

You knew he didn't mean it like this. He was afraid of Nanika's powers, and even if this wouldn't end in a disaster, his parents would punish you for your reckless actions.

"Nanika?"

The girl answered, her blackened orbs obediantly glaring at you. "Aye?"

"Y/N" Illumi almost growled, still hesistant. "Know your place."

"Give Illumi a hug."

Baffled, Illumi's needles disappeared into thin air. The girl didn't even reach up to the tall man's thorso, rather embracing one of his legs.

She was so small and weak and fragile - and for the first time, Illumi was able to acknowledge the affection his sister felt for him.

"See?" you calmly explained, now hugging him as well. "Nanika is not evil. Only the people's wish are."

"...she's all alone" he spoke to himself, trying to at least logically understand the situation. "Just like you when I'm gone."

He didn't get it.

Hard enough to understand why you were caring so much about him, but Alluka? The sibling he always despised, insulted, abused, and locked away?

There were still so many things he didn't know yet.

"Well, if it's only the two of you, and I'm supervising..." he mumbled, kneeling down to the girl's height, "Then I guess I can promise you a few liberties."

Alluka's face and aura were back to normal, her glimmering eyes blinking happily at her brother, who was absentmindedly petting her hair.

"Great!" You clasped your hands together, disappearing in the kitchen. "Let's make a hot chocolate for you guys!"

Quickly, you reappeared to the two sitting on the sofa with an awkard distance, until you wrapped them in a blanket.

Illumi sat in middle of you two, deeply buried in thought while you and Alluka were watching TV until she fell asleep.

"I'll bring her back now" you whispered softly, but Illumi already cradled the snoring girl into his arms. "No. I will."

For a second, you were taken aback, unsure about his intentions - but you wanted to believe in him, so you stayed quiet about your apprehensions.

"She's cute, right?" you noticed as Illumi got a strand of hair out of her face. He held her with such great care and insecurity, it was a truly cute sight.

"Dunno. I know the definition of cute, but I don't think I really understand it."

"You are cute, for example." Placing a wet kiss on his cheek, you waved him goodbye as he walled out the door - but in the frame, he stopped.

"You're changing so many things at once."

"For better or worse?"

Illumi wouldn't turn around to look at you, instead watching Alluka's soundly sleeping face.

"I don't know. We'll see."

When Illumi took longer than expected, panic began to rise inside of you.

Did his parents find out? Due to your powers this should basically be impossible, but still-

"Alluka wanted me to stay and play with her" Illumi's voice appeared behind your back, making you jump a little.

So that's why he took so long.

"Was it fun?"

"I'm not a good brother" he murmured, "Not to her or any of them."

He remembered the time he got Kalluto a kimono you picked out for him, as a gift.

“You’ve changed” the boy said back then, and the confusion in his eyes made Illumi painfully aware that the child was close to become just as inhuman as he was.

And he was the one who teached his siblings to be that way.

Your husband sat on the edge of the bed, with you already laying inside. He buried his face into his hands, seemingly distressed.

Yes, it was fun. Even though he didn't know how to properly entertain a child, Alluka seemed to enjoy her brother's attention inconditionally - just like you did.

Was that love?

"You just tried to protect your family, Lumi" you cooed, massaging his tensed shoulders.

"What about yours?" he suddenly asked, turning to you with a stony expression.

"I, uh-"

"Do you miss them?" Seems like he was afraid to lose you.

You tugged on his arm until he'd finally let himself fall into the bed, and you put an arm and leg around him, effectively trapping him into your hold.

"Of course I do. But this is my home now."

"And they're nice people?" he wondered, since your parents were assassins too.

He laid his head onto your chest, trying for your heartbeat to lull him to sleep.

"They are...special. Strict but loving. I think all parents fuck up their children somehow. But I still love them."

Both of you had already closed your eyes, his cold skin feeling refreshing on your warm one.

"Then let's meet them" Illumi suggested as his hand ran across your bodyline, before he stopped himself with a tender kiss on your skin.

"I want to know what other families are like."

Only a week later, you were allowed to leave the Zoldyck estate for the first time. Wether it was because of Illumi’s curiosity or maybe that he knew you missed your family, it didn’t matter.

Two different worlds.

Your family was living in the midst of the small town, loved by the inhabitants. Being honorable head hunters who mainly killed wanted criminals and acting as protectors of the city, you had kind of a reputation.

So it was no wonder everyone you saw greeted you with great respect, yet also as if you were never gone.

That was what a real home must feel like, Illumi thought as he watched you casually talk to anyone who recognized you while both of you wandered the main street.

“They sure think highly of you” he deducted out loud, seeing how anyone was smiling and cheering at you.

“Well...” Flustered, you rubbed the back of your head as you kept on walking, “I’ve grown up in between those people. Of course they know me! That’s all.”

“Mhh” he murmured, still eyeing everyone quite suspecting. This was your first day outisde the manor, and your husband would be damned if something would happen to you.

“There it is!” Already running ahead, you pointed at the tallest building of the town - your birthplace.

“Y/N Y/L/N” a familiar voice behind you spoke, trying way too hard to keep a straight face.

Turning around, you saw all of your siblings gathered at one spot. Of course you knew they had followed you this whole time, due to your nen - but it was still a pleasant surprise. “You guys!”

Giving each one of them a wholeheartedly hug, you immediately began to chatter about all kinds of things. You haven’t seen each other for a while, and you wanted to know everything.

“Better tell me next time” Illumi abruptly cut you off, and only now you realized the needles in between his fingers. “I almost killed them.”

Oh. So he noticed them too.

Well, your family had it worse, so they just laughed it off.

“So this is your husband, huh?” They didn’t dare speak his name - the family was too infamous, and not in a positive way. it wouldn’t really gain you the good kind of attention. “I thought you’d be more...intimidating.”

All of your siblings got way too close to Illumi, aving hands in front of his face and eyeing his appearance, at least trying to make the stoic man react in any way.

“Nice to meet you!” One of your brothers offered his hand for your husband to shake, yet Illumi decided on staring him down instead.

“Pleasure is all mine” he retorted in his robotic way, sounding way too fake for anyone to buy it.

At least they were not afraid of him. Your husband was very talented in hiding his bloodlust, after all - even though it was constantly there, not even a skilled nen user would notice.

“Mother and father are awaiting you at the usual spot.” Your brother’s voice was more serious now that he had assessed the situation.

It was clear from the very first moment that they didn’t only come to greet you - their main goal was the eldest Zoldyck.

“Seems like he’s now our leader” you pondered as all of them dispersed into different directions.

Things had changed. Of course they did.

Back then, you declined your fate of becoming the clan-leader, even though it had been the centre of all your ambitions up until now.

Meeting Illumi made you question anything you expected from life.

You didn’t even know why: What would it matter if you left an assassin family just to join another one?

Even your youngest sister was different. You could feel her steady aura, meaning she had completed her training.

The situation made you both nostalgic and anxious.

“Do you regret it?” Illumi’s blank stare turned to your form, black orbs interrogating you. He knew you were meant to be a leader, yet you gave up on that dream and had laid down all your independency.

“Not really.” Shrugging, you quickly linked arms with your husband, leading him to the secret entrance of the headquarters. It was sealed with nen, just like back then.

At leas that didn’t change, and so you’d soon find yourself in the middle of the hall where you’d plan all of the operations back then.

“You’re home.” That solemn tone was fitting for your father: Hard to detect his emotions, but easy to understand. “Welcome home.”

Illumi took a few steps back, almost withdrawing into a dark corner of the room as if he wanted to disappear from this earth. He was more likely to be a mere bystander or observer than to be in social situations.

“My little angel of death!” your mother almost cried out, both incredibly happy and sorrowful. “You’ve returned to us!”

“And that handsome young man over there?” After she was done smothering your face in kisses, she directed her welcoming nature to Illumi was well. “C’mon, don’t be shy. Take a seat!”

That’s right. She’s never seen him before. He was here exactly once to propose in front of your father - god knows how he even got inside. Obviously it wasn’t really a big deal to him.

Your family was so insignificant compared to his heritage - not that it mattered to you, it was just an observation.

“When we heared your wish to bid our humble fort a visit, we were greatly honored” your father declared as all of you sat down at the great, round table. Now everyone was there: Siblings, uncles and aunts, even your grandparents and great-grandparents. “And we are glad of your safe arrival.”

Illumi didn’t really seem to be impressed, being able to silence the room with a single gesture of his hand. “Don’t go out of your way. I am here because Y/N wished to see you.”

You couldn’t help but smirk at his polite manner, even though he wasn’t very talkative. Trying to get a hold of his hand under the table, you’d spend the day just like that.

Hours just flew by as your family held a great dinner to honor ‘the happy couple’, with Illumi absorbing every little detail like a dry sponge: Daily conversations about irrelevant topics, tales about the past and especially the childhood.

He even managed to show a lopsided smile when he realized something made you particulary happy.

Yet everytime someone of your family tried to get close to you, all of you noticed how tense he became.

Of course he was very possessive, and didn’t want to share you with anyone. But it was so damn sweet that he at least tried to get himself together...

“I’ll be waiting outisde. Might give the town a visit.” Even through all of your objections, your husband was gone faster than any of you could comprehend. “Take all the time you need.”

“He’s amazing” you thought to yourself, not noticing how much you were trembling due to your excitement. Being here together with him was such a huge progress, and he was doing so damn great.

“Y/N?” Your father was the first one to take the word, clearing his throat before continuing. “Now that we’re alone...”

Of course he knew they weren’t. Illumi was supervisioning everything somehow. But they waited for so long, and needed to let it out.

It was ‘speak now or stay silent forever’.

“Tell us about life with the Zoldycks.” Your sister once again let her hand run up and down your arm, and you realized this wasn’t just loving closeness - they were searching for injuries. “Are they harsh on you?”

“His family is pretty crazy, but it’s nothing wild, really. I manage” you stated, pulling away from the touch of your siblings.

All of the eyes were on you now, dropping the act. Everything left was sympathy and...guilt?

“So...what’s your point?” You didn’t know why, but their glares made you furious somehow. Maybe because you knew what they were hinting at. “Just speak your mind.”

“Y/N, dear...” Now your mother was the one taking the initiative, squeezing your hand ever so slightly. “We’re so, so sorry! You need to understand why we did this, okay?”

“Did what?” When they didn’t respond, you repeated the question with a much weaker, almost broken voice. “Did...what?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” your brother now spoke, almost disgusted by what he was about to say. “Giving you away to this...freak.”

“Huh?”

Your mother now clung to you, as if you were about to disappear if she was to ever let go. “There was no other choice!” she exclaimed, while your father dramatically swung his balled fist on the table. “The Zoldycks are dangerous! We knew your fate was sealed when he came asking for your hand in marriage...”

“Of course we despise that sick weirdo. Who would wish for their child to be with someone like him?!” your father continued, his explanation wrenching your heart dry. “But if we hadn’t complied, they would’ve taken you by force. You know they would’ve killed all of us. It was to protect the family, so we had to give you up! My sweet, sweet child-”

“-shut up” you whispered as you felt tears burning in your eyes.

“It’s okay, Y/N” your sister was trying to wipe them away, letting her thumb run over your cheek. “We’ve grown stong now, Y/N! You don’t need to protect us anymore, we’re-”

“You still don’t stand any chance against them.” You got up from your chair, slamming your palms on the table. “But that’s not the point!”

“What did that monster do to you?”

“Oh, he? Nothing!” you now screamed, slamming a plate to the ground to release some of the built-up tension. “In opposite to you, who abandoned their daughter to save their own skin!”

You didn’t know. How could you have missed that fact? Those people weren’t glad you married him, they just weren’t honest with you.

And they were selfish - for all they cared, they would’ve given you away to die if Illumi had been that way.

“My husband-” you choked on a sob, feeling as if the love you felt for Illumi was crushing you, keeping you from breathing freely. “He’s been here with you, wanting to understand what a normal family is like. But only now I realize this one is just as fucked up!”

“Don’t say something like tha-”

“I’m not done!” Suddenly, an outburst of your aura shook the whole room. “Illumi is a kind and confused person. He was benevolent with you, against all of his teachings. And you are talking behind his back? How cowardly of you. I thought we were a family of proud warriors!”

All of them were looking at each other, nodding in unity as they all thought the same.

“Illumi Zoldyck is probably the most dangerous of them all. Maybe not the strongest, but the most mad of them all.” You grid your teeth, almost snarling at your grandfather’s words. “Don’t fool yourself, Y/N. Love is a foreign concept for him. The word has spread across the whole continent: Even his own family, those bloodthirsty monsters fear that young man!”

“You don’t know him like I do.” Turning around, you prepared to leave - but your siblings blocked the way. “As if I’d listen to the opinions of people who gave me away just like that.”

“Listen to us, Y/N. Maybe you can free yourself. He might’ve placed a needle-”

“That’s enough.”

Your eyes widened in wonder. How did Illumi get back in without any of you noticing?

Yet here he was, and his aura had turned purple, stained with black from all the disappointment, hurt and anger he miraculously contained without breaking down.

“I think Y/N is tired and wants to leave.” His voice was as unaffected as always, yet one look of him was enough to make your siblings freeze in terror.

“You’re Y/N’s family, so I won’t kill you” your husband declared in an absentminded tone, grabbing your wrist and turning towards the exit without anyone daring an attempt to stop him. Just after he shoved you out of the door, Illumi would turn around one last time - a threatening ember sparkling in his eyes.

“But consider this a warning: Y/N belongs to me.”

“Why?” your father asked with an almost begging undertone. “Why did it have to be Y/N?”

“Because your child is important to me.”

Illumi had carried you all the way out of the town, only getting to a hold when you were at a mountain far enough away. Not that your family would follow you anyway.

After being done crying to your heart’s extend, your husband let you down in the slightly wet grass, and you were able to see the dim lights of the city far away at the horizon.

“We’ve played here very often” you sniffled, trying to get a hold of yourself. “My siblings and I.”

“Ah.”

You appreciated moments like these. Illumi was a very good listener, even though you weren’t even sure that he actually cared about what you were saying.

It just felt good to have him near when you were sad.

“I’m so terribly sorry, Lumi...they shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s okay.” No, it wasn’t You knew he tried to hard to be the best version of himself today, to try and respect boundaries and to trust people, and yet- “I am aware I’m a repulsive person.”

“Not to me.” Gently stoking his face, you could feel him rubbing his cheek on your palm in return.

“That’s enough for me.”

For a while, you just sat there, enjoying your closeness and the absence of anyone else in silence.

“So this is what family is like” Illumi cut through the nature’s sounds, “They protect you. And they only want your best.”

“They only ever thought of themselves.” You pulled your knees onto your chest, burying your face in them.

“I refuse to believe that.” Your husband wanted to pat your back, but decided against it just at the last second. “They seemed to be in great pain because of their actions. Can’t this only be because they cared about you?”

He was right, of course. The man with the heart of stone was great at knowing other people’s feelings, apparently. What an irony.

But you were too angry at that moment to listen to his rational explanation. That was only human, too.

“You know, when I was a child, my parents-”

“Please.” You wanted him to stop right there and now. “Don’t elaborate.”

Every time Illumi would complete a story about his childhood, it usually ended up with you having a crying fit. Then he was the one having to console you instead of the other way around, and it made you only feel guilty.

Of course you were happy that he’d finally open up a little, but...no. Just not now.

“You defended me” he changed the topic, quietly adding “Even though they were right...”

“That’s only natural. You’re my husband.”

Back then, you didn’t know Illumi’s intentions when he asked you to become his. But truth was, you didn’t regret it - not even for a second.

Illumi on the other hand was as overwhelmed as always.

“I was afraid you’d stay with them.” His voice sounded impassive, yet you knew him better than that. “But now-”

Listening to you passionately defending your husband’s honor was satisfying, obviously - yet knowing you broke with your family left a foul aftertaste in his mind.

No one ever stood up for him like that.

What a day.

His mind was racing, still trying to catch up with everything that had happened today: You did all of that, no - gave up so many things, just because of him.

His entire life was going one set and predetermined way, revolving around his family. Yet meeting you had changed both of your fates in a completely different direction.

And this meant he now had to learn with the consequences of actions he did out of his own, free will.

What for? And was it good or bad?

Now that he was with you, he had liberties. Choices. But freedom felt wrong and made him feel...scared? Not even he could decipher his emotions very well.

All that was clear from now on that - to a certain extend - you were free to draft your own ways - and together, it didn’t seem all that bad for him.

_____

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whereflowersbloom · 4 years

Text

Alfred’s farewell

The sky had begun gloomy since even before the sun had the chance to rise. Mist was overshadowing the city of Gotham, and drops of dew are still littering every surface. The birds were unusually quiet, nestling safely under the warmth of their nest. A large group of grey clouds lingering above the place, promising unpleasant weather to deal with later on. Lighting crackled in the grey sky and snatched away any hope of a golden day. Only songs of sadness spread around, feeling the sorrow taking place. Even the world is holding its breath and everything is still, the earth seemed to be mourning as well the unexpected loss. The atmosphere was exceptionally dark and lifeless, each face filled with silent and bitter grief and regret. Tears do not fall, there’s a blackhole forming in place of his heart. This date…this date would be burned into his soul for the rest of his existence, it would be a permanent reminder to himself of how foolish he was, how everything…could change in matter of seconds. Seconds only a few more seconds would have made the difference. The tree that was once full of life, the one Alfred looked after kindly, because he planted it himself after coming to work for Thomas and Martha Wayne, was now barren as the weather grew colder and the icy wind blew the leaves away.

There’s people gathering, familiar faces and unknown ones. The solemn mode had settled between them, and soon the ceremony comes to an end. It’s time to say farewell.

Will I always, from now on, be this cold? Was Pennyworth really gone? He didn’t dare to pronounce his name. He discerned the sounds of footsteps slowly fading away and all that was heard afterwards was the thud of knees hitting the ground. Grayson. Even Dick was so lost and crushed, the man who always looked so high-spirited and brave, so even-tempered and filled with honor, seemed so weak now.

“Alfred, I am so sorry…” Richard whispered with a low-pitched and desperate sob as he caressed the stone with his trembling hand. His face, marred for life, had an even more painful expression plastered on his face as tears started to fall slowly onto the dirt. But it’s not your fault. Damian wanted to let him know. He wasn’t there to stop it. Unlike you his mind whispered.

Jason Todd remained silent. Todd had always been quick to emotion in general, to tears when someone else was sad, to contagious laughter when their siblings were smiling, quick-tempered, choleric when provoked. Surprisingly an empathetic sensitive soul, spent many years alone, hungry for tenderness and familial ties. And yet he was wearing an expressionless mask, but his body betrayed his affliction, shaking so badly that Tim had to grasp tightly at his arms to prevent him from going down. Drake. Tim was clearly having so much invisible burden on his shoulders. His curved jaw clenching tight, and his dark blue eyes cast downwards and unblinking. He didn’t have his daily cup of black coffee. No, he didn’t have a single drop of his precious caffeine today. He kept his head low the entire ceremony, maybe he didn’t have the heart to look up at the crying mess everyone was. Perhaps he thought somebody had to tough it out, specially considering Father’s absence.

Stephanie standing close to him, blonde curls dancing with the autumn wind, biting her lips the entire time. Stephanie who tried to be strong and now, after holding in for too long, the tears break out like a leaking dam. She was devastated and weeped openly, clinging to Tim’s coat as if her life depended on it, as if she were drowning, the sight made the hole in Damian’s chest squeeze around his heart. Guilt. Distress.

Cassandra was hardly moving from her spot. She had a deep crease on her brow, and face as hard as rock. She hugged herself in the arms, shielding her frame from the icy wind, when Duke swiftly placed his Armani cashmere coat on her shoulders, her hands were going cold, and the moment Duke noticed the way she shivers with small movements. He considerately held them between his, providing temporary warmth, trying to find some kind of comfort in each other, but Cassandra avoided making eye contact with anyone, her mind was really blank as a void. Possibly still attempting to process the reality. Duke Thomas, the only one that hasn’t lost his mind amid this consequent emotional instability, drops of tears still hanging from the corner of his eyes, while the rests were slowly drying on his cheeks. Damian wasn’t exactly close to Duke but he wondered how he managed to carry on. Where did he find the strength to persist? Damian walked closer to the tombstone, feeling resignation seep into his bones.

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, beloved father, grandfather, mentor, friend, heroic veteran, a talented cook, a man of family, with a great big heart. Alfred Pennyworth had been a man with many facets. He brought balance to this dysfunctional family, he was the peace and voice of reason. Alfred who made Dick stay in bed when he was badly injured and encouraged him to eat proper meals, lectured Jason for his vulgar language, introduced Jason into the culinary arts, trusting him with the top secret Pennyworth recipes, who secretly switched Tim’s coffee for decaffeinated when he had too much, who prepared Stephanie waffles after a night out patrolling, didn’t say a word of the nights she sneaked out with Kara, who enjoyed the company of Cassandra lurking around the manor, when she’s having a bad day he used to watch the stars with her, listening to Cass make up stories about each star, Alfred who never had to fix anything Duke broke because Thomas instantly apologized and offered to fix it himself, Alfred that found intriguing sudden Duke’s interest in gardening. Alfred... who who spend each and every Damian’s birthdays with him ‘every birthday is special and must be celebrated Master Damian’, gifted him a cat because it made him think of him, offered him a cup of hot chocolate or tea sleepless nights. Alfred, who told him he was proud of him. Alfred, who raised him and loved him wholeheartedly until his last breath.

Damian ran his hand down a large polished stone, ‘Wayne’ carved into it expertly. He sighed wearily and stood beside a gravestone, right next to the family stone, he absentmindedly ran his fingertips along the engraved letters.

‘Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth’

August 16, 1943

October 10, 2019

‘The light of our household is gone. Leaving only haunting echoes lingering in this home. A place is vacant in our hearts, which will never be filled.’

It was indeed fitting. Their light was Alfred and he was gone for good. For good the words echoed in his head like an incessant prayer. He felt a pang of pain surge through him as he recalled his last moments with the man who raised him. It felt as if his life was torn apart just yesterday.

‘I miss him already.’ Cassandra gestured in sign language, a single tear rolling down her cheeks. Damian didn’t know if she was saying it to him or his siblings, maybe she just wished to get the weight off her chest, when he didn’t think it could, his heart broke even more.

“Fuck.” Jason swore with pained voice, his turquoise eyes blurring with angry tears that he wiped away roughly. Not particularly at his siblings but himself. For not being able to protect the man who offered a ray of kindness to him, who nurtured his severely malnourished body to health. He didn’t blame Bruce or the others. He was supposed to be better, strong enough to defend his father. Dick was a fucking mess in the dirt,embracing the tombstone with all his strength, like it would somehow bring the dead man back to life. Steph wouldn’t stop crying. Tim was silently punishing himself in his own way, and Cass had been in a mental limbo until a a minute ago. Bruce wouldn’t leave his room for Pete’s sake. He isolated himself from everything and everyone, he simply existed in his bedroom. Not surprised. He should be here, saying goodbye to Alfred, who dedicate his entire life to help him, instead of retreating to a dark room and lying in bed, brooding over his problems. Damian. Damian was so young, he looked like hell, devastated as everyone else. Jason could detect the shadow of regret in his green eyes. He’s seen it before because he experienced it and he saw it every day in Bruce’s eyes. But at least Damian was here, dealing with the crude reality and his anguish.

It felt unreal, like this was only a horrible slow-motion nightmare and they would wake up any minute, a sharp knife that bore a hole through their hearts yet they kept on standing still.

Perhaps it was time to fulfill Alfred’s wishes. He wanted Bruce to set his thirst for justice aside and find happiness, maybe a companion, spend quality time with the children, who clearly weren’t children anymore. The youngest being Damian, who just turned fifteen a couple of months ago. He wanted Richard to start a family of his own with Barbara. He wanted Jason to come back home and stop fighting with a Bruce. He wanted a Tim to seek professional help, see a counselor, quit drinking that damned coffee in excess. Stephanie to stop denying her feelings for Tim and give their relationship a chance. Cassandra constantly suppressing her emotions, fearing to get attached, she was human not a machine trained to commit murder when ordered. Duke should leave behind any doubts to forge his own path and accept he was loved by their family. Damian who Alfred loved like his own grandchild, no matter what he did or what type of person he decided to become, Alfred would always be proud of Damian. ‘In the end, you makes you. No one else, Master Damian.’

“How are you holding up, shortstack?” Jason asked him unexpectedly, snapping out of it, he didn’t know how long his mind had been replaying fond memories with Alfred, he felt the weight of Jason’s hand falling on his shoulder, wearing a genuinely concerned expression.

A cold wind passed by, gracing the leaves and making some brief sounds. The wind leaving with a trail in the form of chilly, close to freezing air. Damian weighted the question in his head. There was only ever-growing emptiness in his chest. After a long moment he spoke.

“I will live.” Damian answered softly, eyes completely fixed on the stone. “I’ll miss him, too...brother.” The young Robin unreservedly confessed, Jason looked slightly taken aback at the words Damian muttered. Damian’s emotions were expressed with snarky comments, throwing daggers and knives, making deadly threats and intimidating stares. He had an aggressive and confrontational demeanor. Damian has never called Jason brother, but it made his lips curl into a small smile. Yes, he was his brother.

Damian was vaguely aware of Jason’s body heat now at his side, followed by Richard who was helped by Tim to stand up, his chest sore from sobbing, black suit covered in dirt but he didn’t seem to care. Meaningless material assets, nothing compared to the irreparable loss they suffered hours ago. Steph took a couple of steps closer to them, her eyes, twins pools of sadness, red and swollen, soon the Wayne siblings gathered around their youngest brother. Embracing tightly the teenager into a group hug.

They shared the same deep numbing pain, but it's more agonizing for Damian because he had been there when it happened, they all knew Damian was suffering so much. The feeling ate him inside, consuming and breaking every part of him miserably. But he isn’t alone anymore, he has his family with him. Damian’s tears are hot and travel down his tanned cheeks, he didn’t want to cry but he couldn’t hold it in any longer, the heartache, the loss, agony, guilt, everything was hitting him all at once. It hurt so much knowing full well that Alfred won't wake up ever again from this neverending deep sleep, buried under the ground lonely and cold and breathless. His grandfather.

It'll be just the the eight of them and it is frightening to accept the truth, that Alfred wouldn’t be around anymore to look after them like he did after all these years. Ever since he first set foot in the Wayne manor. He would me missed every single day. Rchard’s heart broke at the sight of Damian in such crumbling state, his characteristic composure fallen and so alien after living together so many years. Damian was broken too. Dick did the only thing he could think of, patted him affectionately on the back, rubbing it soothingly, mumbling quietly “We are here, Dami.” Letting him know they were all there for him in every possible way. They would try to carry our Alfred’s last wish, for them to get along, integrate, be an harmonious family. Be true siblings. Always Alfred’s children. Together they sang farewell to Alfred with broken chords.

I am not sure if I want to edit this later but here s the progress. I might add Bruce’s part later or tomorrow. My tribute to Alfred 💜❤️❤️❤️

@sofiii @chromium7sky @deep-in-mind67

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icequeenoriginal · 4 years

Text

The Meaning of FamILY

Note: I am so sorry for this taking centuries to come out, I blame laziness and writer’s block. So here it finally is, @khadij-al-kubra, the fic you requested. Again, I am so so sorry this took so long to get out. Also, this takes place a year after Intimacy and All Its Forms. Also Happy Late One Year Anniversary of this AU’s blog.

Thank you @theromnempire for editing. You’re the best!

Names of side characters belong to @hi-i-love-u-bitch. This AU belongs to @ask-spiderverse-virgil and @sugarglider9603

Trigger Warnings: Deaths mentioned, two past minor character death, crying (Let me know if I missed anything)

Pairings: Prinxiety and Logicality

Roman was ushered into the living room by his older sister. He couldn’t understand why. Normally when his father came home, he would see Roman sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework and his father would walk over and ask about before changing out of his work clothes.

Maybe it was a celebration! Or maybe a surprise! But…why was Amá crying?

Roman’s mother looked up and locked eyes with her confused, innocent son. It made her burst into more tears and Roman ran to comfort her.

“¿Amá?¿Por qué lloras mami?” Roman asked while tilting his head to the side.

Lupita couldn’t help but smile at Roman, almost forgetting what had just happened. She frowned, and more tears fell as she realized what she had to do now.

“Roman ...mi Valiente chico…tengo algo que decirte...se trata de tu padre…”

Roman woke up with a start like he did every year on this day. It’s always the same memory that would wake him up like clockwork, ending right before his mom said the words that shattered his world forever. Roman’s brain liked to torture him but pretend to forget the worst part.

He decided not to think about it and just dressed.

Roman never noticed how quiet the house actually was on this day. Any other day of the year, even if he was the first to wake up, there was some kind of noise. It could be anything from the humming of the ceiling fan or people rushing to get breakfast ready. But today, nothing. All the sounds of the apartment were swept out as if the family occupying the house needed a reminder of what was happening

Maybe Roman just lost his touch with reality on this day. He was never sure, not that it really mattered. He knew the world did not stop just because he is in a shitty mood. Did that ever make him feel any better? No, but it gave him a false motivation to get up and get ready for school.

He walked to the twins' room, like every day, to get them ready for school. Any other of the 365 days of the year, the twins would already be awake, fully ready to run around and make Roman’s morning even more hectic. Today, both had a blanket over their heads and he could hear his little sister sniffling.

He wished it was because of a cold. It never was.

“Vamos, es hora de levantarse,” Roman said, just loud enough for the twins to hear, worried if his voice went any height they could hear how broke it was.

“NO!” both Jenni and Marco shouted, pulling the blanket simultaneously over their heads. Roman wanted to laugh at the sight, badly.

Instead, he sighed “No no, you guys gotta get up and go to school.”

“NO!” Marco shouted

“It’s a bad day today!” Jenni cries

“I know guys but we can’t miss school,” Roman said softly.

“We’ll go to school tomorrow!”

“Yeah, when it’s not Papi’s death day!”

Roman inhaled sharply, it was the first time of the day someone acknowledged what the 17th of February meant. The house somehow got even muter, if that was possible. His sister and brother burst into tears and Roman felt his face heat up. But he couldn’t cry, he was-

A soft, reassuring hand landed on his shoulder as he took a step forward.

“Amá…” Roman said, his voice strained

Lupita’s eyes were full of storms of sadness, threatening a downpour. “Roman ... ve y desayuna.”

Roman shook his head. He could do it, he had to. His mother had enough on her plate. “Pero Amá--” Lupita cut him off.

“Está bien. No te preocupes por eso”

Roman sighed “Okay.” He was too tired to argue. This day seemed to already take so much out of him and it had hardly had started.

Roman sulked to the kitchen and made himself some toast. Something quick, easy and he was least likely to get sick from. He stared absently, unfortunately making eye contact with his father in an old happy family photo. He sucks in his breath as silent memories began to haunt him like they always do. He hated those more than any amount of his siblings sobbing or screaming in agony. He could tune those out with music, his one constant. These just got louder and louder no matter what he tried.

What snapped him out of the pitiful void was a vibration from his phone. He pulled it out to reveal a text notification from Patton.

Bestie <3: I’ll be on the fire escape in a minute! Alex stole my sweater again :(((

Roman frowned, had he really taken that long to get ready? He hadn’t even made anyone’s lunch or even breakfast. He wasn’t even sure he was ready to talk to anyone today. Much less to get their glances of pity. Constantly hearing “sorry for your loss” got old quick. Besides, he didn’t want to bring anyone down, especially his best friends, just because of what today is. He sighed and texted Patton back:

Romaine Lettuce :): It’s okay. I’m gonna swing over to school today, go on without me.

Roman saw that Patton had read his text but he didn’t reply. Roman didn’t think much of it, he figured he was still chasing Alex around, and just grabbed his toast as soon as it was done in the toaster.

“Amá! I’m heading out to school! I love you! Bye!” Roman didn’t wait for a reply and ran up the stairs that lead to the roof as he put on his costume. Web swinging always seemed to calm his nerves, or more accurately, distracted him. Something about one mistake and you can fall to your death really makes your other problems seem small. As he was about to fire his first web, a voice shouted for him to halt.

Patton ran up to him, also in full costume “Wait for me!”

“Pat?” Roman asked, not trying to hide his confusion. “What are you doing here?”

Although Patton had the mask on, It wasn’t hard to tell he was smiling. “I’m going to swing with you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know but I want to head to school with you like I always do.”

Roman felt a mixture of happiness and guilt swirl around in his stomach, creating an unpleasant cocktail make just for him. Not that he knew what a cocktail tasted like.

Roman gave a small smile behind his mask “Okay then Pat, I’ll race you” and took off without another word.

They swung without another word, which relieved Roman. He didn’t want to be asked about how he was doing, the answer was obvious and Roman was tired of being asked it.

Unfortunately, this feeling did not last and Roman quickly returns to his self-pity and dark thoughts. Roman was so lost in his brooding thoughts of the bombardment of sympathy that he would receive through the day that he did not see the tall building in front of him. Thankfully, Patton did and webbed Roman quick enough so that he landed on the roof.

Well...landed is a generous term here. With how fast Roman was going, Patton had to quickly web him and throw him on the roof of the building.

Patton landed gracefully next to him. He placed his hands on his hips and said: “Okay, that’s enough swinging for you, mister!”

“I’m fine Patton, I just wasn’t paying attention this time.”

Patton shook his head, “You’re distracted, understandably so and I know you don’t want to talk about it, even though you should, but I won’t make you. It’s not safe Roman! I can’t let my best friend get hurt again! Not on my watch…”

Roman could see the agony swept into Patton’s eyes. He knew that memories of the year before, bad ones brought nothing but pain, were swarming Patton’s mind. Memories of Roman avoiding him, the fighting, the robot battle, all were tearing Patton down. It was a look far too familiar to him.

Roman ran to Patton as he began to shake. Roman muttered an apology that seemed small to himself but was perfect to Patton. Once Patton was able to calm himself down, he hugged Roman tightly, to show he was never going to let him go.

“Let’s walk to school okay? I know a game we can play. It’s called “Beautiful Things’. As we walk, we point out the beautiful things we see and why we find them beautiful. Alex and Georgie made it up after Frankie…passed…and we played it all the time”

Roman raised his mask just above his lip to show that he was smiling “That sounds great, Patton, I’d love to.”

So they snuck off the roof, changed, and walked. They pointed out birds, children, babies, and music playing from cars. Roman had no idea that such a simple game could bring him so much calm, but it did. He never realized there is so much good in the world, that was what they, as heroes, fought for.

When they got to school, Roman headed to his locker. To an outside viewer, it was nothing out of the ordinary. But for the four, it was breaking the sacred tradition. First, they would meet at Logan’s locker as it was the closest to the entrance. Then they would make their way to their own lockers while catching up with one another. Finally, they would arrive at homeroom to get ready for the school day.

However, as Roman watched Patton saunter over and embrace Logan, his feet didn’t want to go anywhere except towards an island of isolation. He didn’t want to ruin the happy mood, especially after making Patton think of Frankie so early in the morning. What best friend forces you to remember your dead brother?

He opened his locker and slowly pulled out the books he would need until lunch. When that took less than a minute. He stared at the objects he taped onto the door of his locker over the course of the year. At the top was a small mirror that he suddenly did not want to look into. At the bottom is a whiteboard with reminders of tests written by Logan, supportive messages from Patton, and quick doodles by Virgil. He felt the tug of a small smile on his lips, though it went away quickly.

He had only begun scanning the dozens of photographs he had before two arms snaked their way around his waist. He felt warmth in his chest as his boyfriend’s lips were pressed on the space between his shoulder blades.

“Morning” Virgil said, tiredness leaking into his speech.

Roman smiled softly and leaned slightly into the touch. “What leads you to my neck of the woods?” Roman asked as if he did not already know the answer.

“I needed to escape before I drowned in the puppy love.”

It wasn’t the answer he was expecting so he pressed on, “What do you mean?” Roman turned his head slightly to look at Virgil. Virgil, without lifting his cheek off Roman’s back, unfortunately, removed one of his arms from around Roman and gestures to his right.

In distance, Patton has Logan’s shirt held carefully in his fingers, playing with the buttons as he talked to Logan. Logan watched with nothing but love and appreciation in his eyes. Roman couldn’t help but sigh at the couple, he was part of the team that got them together after all. One of his best accomplishments, if he’d say so himself..

“It’s so sweet...disgusting.” Virgil continued. Switching from resting his cheek on Roman’s back to his chin, he looked up and said, “Now give me my good morning kiss.”

Roman chuckled and happily obliged. When they pulled apart, Virgil asks “I’m going to ask you a stupid question.”

“No question is stupid, love, ask away.”

“Are you okay?” “I stand corrected.” Virgil elbowed Roman in the side, both happy for their spider-strength for the opposite reasons.

“I mean it, Ro. I know you hate being asked that question, especially today, but I rather you get annoyed with me than let something happen like last time. So I’ll ask again, are you okay?”

“I am.”

Virgil raises an eyebrow “Am what?”

“Fine.” “I asked you if you were okay”

“Same difference.”

“Big difference, people only say they’re fine when they don’t want to admit they aren’t okay.”

Roman just looked away, having nothing to really say, plus he didn’t want to argue. Virgil sighed and hugged him again. Roman doesn’t push away, the pressure behind his eyes getting more and more unbearable. His emotions were already becoming too much for him to handle. He hugged back, relishing in the warmth of another person. It was stupid, in his mind, since Virgil was just hugging him moments ago.

With a sigh, Roman pulled back. He brushed his knuckles gently against Virgil’s cheek and whispered “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay because I’m sorry too,” Virgil said softly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile at that. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t. And with that, I’m going to spend this whole day cheering you up.”

“Virge…You don’t have to. Really! There’s no reason to-“

Virgil suddenly poked Roman chest, silencing the boy. “Do you remember the day that marked the anniversary of my grandpa’s death?”

“Of course I do, you were so upset. You didn’t even want to leave your room”

“Yeah, and you know what you did? You broke into my room, like some lunatic by the way, wrapped me up like a burrito-“

“It’s called a blanket burrito for a reason.”

“Don’t interrupt me. You wrapped me up, put on all my favorite movies that I wasn’t even aware you remembered and fed me snacks as we cuddled. Not even Logan had thought of doing that, he would just let me lie under my blankets while he just sat in the room.” Virgil paused to smirk before continuing “And I was never more grateful for you than at that moment.”

Roman’s face began to heat up. He couldn’t help it. No matter how big or small the compliment that Virgil would give him, he would turn into a blushing schoolgirl, ready to throw himself at Virgil and pepper him with kisses.

He opted to just hug Virgil again, a silent thank you. They were in public after all. They had some class.

Virgil embraced him for a few moments before the warning bell went off. “Listen, I’m going to make sure today is not going to be total shit for you.”

Roman chuckled in response, “Thanks, stormcloud.” Roman took a step to walk to his class but stopped when Virgil firmly grabbed his hand, “Huh?”

“What? I can’t hold my boyfriend’s hand as we walk to class?”

Roman chuckled, if there was one thing he knew about Virgil is that despite his boyfriend’s wariness of physical affection, Virgil always saw things through. Roman gently squeezed Virgil’s hand, absorbing the love that came from that simple gesture. Logan told him a few months ago about Love Languages and how physical touch was definitely his. It was a nice bonding moment for him and Logan, and it made Virgil really happy. Roman was rewarded handsomely for it.

Compared to every other year since his dad died, this was actually a pretty good day. Virgil would bring him to every class, even the ones were Virgil’s classes were nowhere near. Virgil had to keep reassuring Roman that it was fine, “I will just use my invisibility and sneak in. It will be funny to see how confused my teachers will be.” It made Roman genuinely laugh, something seemingly unachievable on this day.

The classes he did share with Virgil were the best. Virgil left his non-writing hand resting on Roman’s shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze whenever he felt Roman quiver, shake or tense up. Which was often since their teacher would not stop shooting Roman sympathetic looks, even after Virgil glared at her. Other classes that Virgil wasn’t in, Virgil would wrap his hoodie around Roman before he headed off to his next class. People would focus on this action and how cute it was that Roman would forget, even for a few minutes.

Around lunch, Roman’s mood changed from melancholy to calm, relatively speaking. He wasn’t walking with his head down, and even partaking. The numb and somewhat painful feeling in his chest was still present, but it was no longer the black pit sucking his emotions into it like usual.

Already seated at the lunch table were Logan and Patton, whispering and smiling at one another. Before Roman could announce his presence to the couple, Virgil tugged him back. He nearly made Roman fall backward in the process, but they both knew it wasn’t intentional. They always forgot how strong their spidey strength actually was.

“Sorry!” Virgil said instinctively though he did start laughing as Roman caught himself.

“What was that for?” Roman asked once he regained his balance.

“I needed to tell you before I forget, I asked Thomas if we could borrow his living room for a movie night and he said yes. Ask your mom if you can stay over.”

Roman smiled, “That sounds great”

Virgil smiled back as the two sat in their normal seats. As soon as the two entered Patton’s vision, his eyes light and he pushed a plate covered in tin foil towards the couple. It wasn’t anything uncommon, Patton using any excuse to make people food, from “Virgil had a headache” cookies to “You saved a bus filled with little kiddos and the city still won’t give you a key!” double chocolate cake. Roman removed the tin foil to reveal donuts. It shocked Roman, he had a bit of an expectation that Patton would make one of Roman’s favorite desserts; like he always did in years past.

Roman looked up at Patton puzzled and Patton reached over the table to squeeze Roman’s arm as it rested on the cafeteria table. “I know you don’t want to make this day all about you, so I made something we all consider a normal snack. Is it okay?”

Patton’s eyes read desperate and Roman, half because he wanted to be a good best friend and half because he did not want Patton to use his Empath powers, smiled, and nodded.

“This is perfect, Pat.”

Patton pulled back so he could properly muffle his squeal of delight since they were still in school and he did not want to get into trouble for “starting a disturbance.”

Logan whispered to Patton “You told me it was because you did not have enough time to make Roman his favorite cake.”

“...I can have multiple reasons” Patton whispered back, glad that Roman and Virgil were too busy bickering about the best Avenger to listen in.

Everyone ate their lunches and donuts, just enjoying the time they had together. Logan commented on how he heard that Roman and Virgil would not join them on patrol and he hoped that they “don’t burn down Thomas’ apartment”. That earned him a look from Roman, a “Logie!’ from Patton and a kick in the shin from Virgil all at the same time.

“It was a simple precaution!” Logan shouted, only to be told to quiet down by the cafeteria monitor.

It would later become a memory they would always look back on, Virgil even including it into his best man speech at Logan and Patton’s wedding, much to Logan’s dismay.

Once lunch was over, Roman snuck into the bathroom and sent off a text to his mom asking if it was possible if he could stay over at Virgil’s, adding that if she needed him to come home then it would be fine. He didn’t want to be selfish.

Roman figured he would get his reply by the end of the day since he knew his mom would be really busy at work and he wasn’t exactly sure when his mom had her lunch break. He put his phone in his pocket only to scare himself when his notification sound went off in the silent password. He pulled it out and his phone and had a new text from his mom.

Amá: Of course you can, Your sister is watching the twins today, go have fun. It’s what Papí would want.

Roman smiled, a single tear fell down his face. His mom was the best.

Roman’s afternoon classes came and went, nothing exciting or saddening happened of note. Though it wouldn’t have mattered, the prospect of cuddles and Disney movies filled him with so much excitement and joy.

As faith would have it, he had no play practice since their show season had just ended and Mr. Bell always gave them a week off so he could tie up any last loose ends and decide the dates for the next auditions. This gave him an extra two hours to spend with his boyfriend, perfect!

Roman ran up to Virgil’s locker and bounced on his toes as his boyfriend got his stuff together so they could head off. Virgil smirked and tilted his head to Roman, “You seem excited.”

Roman smiled and nods “I’m really excited for tonight”

“Oh?” Virgil teased “What’s happening tonight? I can’t remember anything important”

Roman lightly punched him in the arm “You’re so mean, remind me why I love you again?” “It was your choice to get into this relationship, Princey, don’t forget that” Virgil waved his hand as he spoke and Roman, to Virgil’s surprise, quickly snatched Virgil’s hand.

Roman smirked back “I am very aware, and I am so happy to have you.” He then kissed Virgil’s knuckles.

Virgil cursed his cheeks for the blush that always came when Roman did something romantic. He pulled his hand back and nervously giggled “Oh shush, let’s get going already.”

Man, did he love that boy.

After swinging over to Thomas’ apartment with Patton and Logan, Roman and Virgil quickly went to work on their pillow fort as the two other spider children spoke to their spider dad about the details of the patrol.

Once everything was set up, Thomas said “Great. Patton, you and Logan get my snack bag and go to the bodega on the corner, there is money in the bag so don’t worry about using your own money. Meet me on the roof in half an hour.”

Patton and Logan nodded and left to get their favorite snacks.

Thomas turned to Roman “Hey, Ro? Before you guys start, could you come with me to the roof?”

Roman was confused but agreed. He was a bit nervous, he felt like a child about to get yelled at and tried to think of what he could have done wrong recently.

Once they got to the roof, Roman asked, “If this about keeping your apartment clean, I promise Virgil and I will not burn it down. Logan already gave us the rundown.”

Thomas put his hand on Roman’s shoulder and softly smiled “I can feel you stressing out, even without Patton’s power. Don’t worry, I trust you. I just wanted to tell you something. Sit with me” Thomas patted Roman’s head when Roman released a sigh of relief.

The two sat on the edge of the roof, Thomas in his Rainbow Weaver costume with the mask on and Roman in his civilian clothes.

Thomas gazed over the city before saying “I know you are probably expecting me to give you a speech about grief and how to handle it, but I hated those speeches at your age when I got them because of my Aunt Patty. In fact, you remind me a lot of myself when I was younger, and I’m not just talking about being a fellow theatre geek. I never wanted to think about when she died and I would throw myself into helping people, with or without the suit. One thing led to another and I ended up beaten and bloodied in an alley on the anniversary of her death. When Talyn and Joan found me, I swear my Aunt Patty possessed them to yell at me for it. I thought Talyn might kill me themself.”

Roman laughed “I can see them doing that.”

Thomas chuckled and nodded “Oh yes. But what they and Joan did instead was patching me up and we had a FRIENDS marathon, ‘the police will handle crime for now’ Joan said. I broke down after three episodes because I love my friends so much. So before I start crying again at the memories, I just wanted to tell you that your friends--including Joan, Talyn, and I--are always here for you. Don’t make the same mistake I did and forget” Roman threw himself at Thomas for a hug “Never again, I promise.”

Thomas hugged back “Thanks, kid. Now go have fun.”

Virgil looked up from his phone when he heard footsteps coming towards him “What did Thomas want? Hey, are you okay?” Virgil pops out from under the fort and cups Roman’s face to wipe the tears away.

Roman smiles “I’m fine, really. I’m just...thank you, for putting up with me”

Virgil kisses him “It’s not putting up with you, it’s loving you. Ready to start Tangled” “Of course my love”

Tag list (Ask if you want to be added or removed):

@corkeecoderyt @per-seph-o-nee @3milystuff @asymmetricalgarbage8888 @fairytailtwists @sanders-sides-rebloger @mycatshuman @sanderssidesfluffyangst @unikornavenger @0callmevirge0 @gloomingwitch @roxiefox24 @ijustreallylovesanderssides @unisaurioamorfo @nadja-chamack16 @angelic-cali

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #spiderverse au #prinxiety #logicality #roman sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #joan #talyn

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vaguelyrotten · 3 years

Text

Like a Lily in a Flood

Title: Like a Lily in a Flood Artist: @myulalie Beta: @another-random-stranger Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, mentions of Jimon and Reyhill Word Count: 70k Warnings: Mild Gore, Beheading, Nearly being eaten alive and burned at the stake, Discrimination, Sickness Summary: Alec returns home to find his town plagued by a mysterious illness. Unable to find a cure, he ventures into the woods to seek help from an unlikely source. We must not look at goblin men... This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2021: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Chapter Nine

“Do you really think they’ll go hunting for those ingredients?” Jace asked a few hours later as their horses trotted steadily towards the entrance to Edom Forest.

“Well, I gave them direction, which is what they ultimately desire...and I plan on returning to the forest to collect what they’ve gathered once I have examined Alec again.” He’d sent the goblins on a search for the ingredients to make more of the healing paste. It wouldn’t wake those affected, but it would certainly help with the stiffness in their limbs when they finally awoke. Magnus was hoping to be prepared.

“I thought you said killing the king would break the spell.”

“Yes and no,” Magnus started with a sigh. “My father’s spell was the cause, but killing him was only part of the solution. Now that both parties involved in the spell are out of the way, hopefully I can get a better grasp on what the true cure will be. The magic of the contract will no longer cloud what I can see.” All in all, it made perfect sense. Magnus was just hoping that it was the truth.

“Well, if anyone can figure it out, it’s you. We knew that before; based on the way that Alec talked about you but after these past two days...any doubt that I may have had is gone.” He was silent for a moment — the only sound was the horses’ hooves clopping across the hard ground. “You’re good for Alec. There was a time before he left that we thought we were going to lose him.”

Magnus felt a chill run through him. “What do you mean?” he asked quietly.

Jace sighed and dropped his reins, letting Ghost follow Elias while he turned in the saddle to look Magnus in the eyes. “Robert and Maryse. They were hard on him. Harder than they ever were on the rest of us. They expected him to take over the family. Succeed where they couldn’t...There was a time there where he started to get cold and drift away. Honestly, getting accepted into Alicante University was the best thing that could have happened to him. He learned how to be Alec again.” Jace paused in thought, before turning to Magnus with a grin spread across his face. “Second best thing, that is. You’re the best thing that ever happened to him.”

“I know I’ve done a lot to help you all try to find a cure, but how can you say that?” Magnus asked quietly. “I barely know Alec.” Despite Magnus’ personal feelings about Alec, it was true that they had only actually met a handful of times.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jace replied happily. “Some people just fit, you know? Like me and my Simon - he’s a musician back in Idris. I knew that first time that we met that we were meant for each other. That’s what you and Alec are like. Sometimes he has a hard time talking about his feelings, but Izzy and I can tell.”

Magnus chose not to reply, instead mulling over Jace’s words in his head. He knew that he and Alec fit together like pieces of a puzzle. He’d known that since he’d first laid eyes on him. A man who had snuck past his wards and made Magnus’ magic buzz in a way that he’d never felt in the hundreds of years that he had been alive. He didn’t want to say soul mates, not out loud, at least, but what other answer could there be?

It was nearly dark by the time the horses passed through the treeline and plodded down the cobblestone road towards the Lightwood estate. Isabelle was waiting outside for them when they arrived, looking every bit the anxious sister waiting for word of their success or failure. “Oh, thank the Angel!” She explained, bounding over to Jace and pulling her brother into a tight hug before turning to do the same for Magnus. “I didn’t know how long it would take, but when you didn’t return last night I started to fear for the worst. Were you successful? Is the spell lifted?”

“We were successful,” Magnus started, his body tense and unused to hugs. “My father is dead. We can begin to truly look for a cure now. His magic would muddle what my magic is trying to tell me.”

“Not to mention Magnus sort of became king.” Jace added, jumping off Ghost’s back and beginning to loosen the mare’s girth.

“Sort of?” Isabelle asked, her eyes wide, with disbelief written in every line of her face.

“Yes.” Magnus answered, still a tad uncomfortable with the very prospect of that. “There is also that, but we can dwell on kingship later. Let us take another look at Alec and see what we can figure out now that my father’s spell is broken.”

He followed Isabelle into the house and up the stairs to the room that he was now starting to recognize as Alec’s, leaving Jace outside to finish taking care of his mare.

“Has there been any change?”

Isabelle shook her head. “He still hasn’t woken, but the paste has pretty much removed the stonelike texture in his skin. He looks less ill now; if only we could wake him.”

Magnus stepped closer and ran the back of his hand gently across Alec’s cheek. If he hadn’t known the full story, he would have guessed the man was simply sleeping...except that he was far too still.

He let a wave of familiar blue spill from his fingers and he closed his eyes, focusing on what his magic was telling him.

The wrongness that he associated with his father’s magic was gone. There wasn’t a trace lingering anywhere in Alec’s body. It was almost like Alec was now frozen in time, just waiting for his body to get a restart.

There had to be something that Magnus could try. Some sort of magical cure-all that he could try now that his father’s spell wasn’t interfering. Maybe a combination of magical plants that they hadn’t tried, maybe he could infuse them with a little bit of his own magic…

His mind grinded to a halt quickly as a realization struck him.

A magic amulet that had been made to help a human woman through a tough pregnancy so many years ago — one that he and Alec both had a connection to. A magic amulet that had recently come into his possession that had helped cure a dear friend from a curse…

He reached into his jacket pocket with a slight tremor in his hands. There was a very, very slim chance of this actually working, he knew that. It was too easy, but it was worth a shot. He’d try anything if there could be even the smallest chance it would bring Alec back to him.

He laid the amulet and Alec’s chest and took a deep breath before he crossed his hands and placed them over the figure of the serpent. He gave Isabelle a small smile before closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in the deep well that was old sentient magic.

When he’d done this to heal Raphael, he’d nearly lost himself amidst the swirling void. Had it not been for Ragnor and Catarina’s grounding presence, he wasn’t sure if he ever would have found his way out. He didn’t have that now but he had Alec’s sister and brother and Alec himself counting on him. That would have to be enough.

He felt the questioning presence of the magic inside the amulet. What was he doing here again so soon? What more could he want?

Please, he begged it, please help him. Please help all of them. Innocent people don’t deserve to suffer because of the greed of a few.

The magic swirled around him in the void. He felt how it judged him and considered his request and he could only pray that it would accept. He’d told Alec that old magic artifacts tended to have a mind of their own and that was very much the case with this amulet. Please, I can’t lose him when I’ve only just found him.

There was a flash of coldness that made Magnus jump before the void around him filled with a pulsing warmth.

He let out a sigh of relief. That was both permission and acceptance.

Magnus poured what little magic he had recovered into the amulet and let the ancient magic do the rest.

He opened his eyes as Alec took a deep, gasping breath. Fond blue eyes met his and Magnus let out a sob. “Alexander.” He twisted his fingers gently in the man’s dark hair as his sister dove across the bed to pull him into a hug, tears welling up in her eyes.

Magnus snapped his fingers, ignoring the pain of his drained magic, and summoned a glass of water. He held it up to Alec’s lips and helped him take a few small sips.

“You did it,” Alec croaked, his voice scratchy and quiet from the illness. “You figured out a cure.”

“We figured out a cure,” Magnus replied with a smile. “You and me, your siblings… it takes a village to cure a village, I suppose.”

Alec tried to push himself into a sitting position and frowned as his limbs wouldn’t seem to work. “Hey,” Magnus said sternly, sliding his arm around Alec and helping him sit up. “You need to take it easy, Alec. You just woke up. Your body still needs to heal. It will take some time before your limbs feel up to moving.”

Jace walked into the room and froze in the doorway as he saw Alec awake and sitting up. “Alec! It worked!” He practically dove across the bed much like Isabelle had moments before and pushed her out of the way so that he could get to Alec.

“I hear you had a hand in that,” Alec whispered, his voice still rough and quiet.

“Magnus and I killed his father. Your boy is king now.”

Magnus winced as Alec turned to him with wide eyes. “King?”

“It’s a long story, my love, I’ll leave you to catch up with your siblings.” The sadness that flashed across Alec’s face didn’t escape him and Magnus removed his hand from Alec’s hair to turn his head gently and place a soft kiss on the man’s forehead. “None of that, I’ll be back shortly. I’ve got my father’s people, my people, looking for more of the ingredients for the salve so that we can make enough to begin to heal the rest of Idris. I just need to meet up with them and gather what they’ve collected. I’ll be back before you know it.”

He left Alec to the care of his siblings and made his way down the stairs and out the front door. Elias had long since left to return to wherever he went when he wasn’t with Magnus. The kelpie had given more time than he’d needed to a problem that had nothing to do with him because he and Magnus were close. Once this was all over, Magnus felt he owed him some sort of feast.

He knew that he could likely borrow Flame, Alec certainly wouldn’t care, but he figured that the short walk down the path to the edge of Edom Forest would do wonders to calm his nerves. He’d barely made it around the bend before a shadow passed behind him and he frowned, turning to see who had come up behind him. Something iron struck him across the head and Magnus had just enough time to process that his skin felt like it was burning before he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

----------

When he woke, it was to the morning sun shining brightly in his eyes. He groaned, throwing an arm over his face to block the light as he tried to think past the relentless headache pounding in his head. There was hard ground under his back, and he cursed himself for not finding a more comfortable place to sleep the night before. He tried to magic his throbbing headache away and swore when it didn’t instantly disappear.

Wait.

He shot up, looking around as the events from the previous night came rushing back to him. He’d cured Alec and gone to meet up with the goblins in the woods to get more ingredients to make the salve so that he could start curing the rest of the people of Idris. He’d never made it to the woods...he’d been attacked from behind.

He found himself in a cage. It was too small for him to move around much or stand up, and the bars were made of a heavy iron. It was the metal which prevented his magic use, which meant that he was as trapped as any normal human would have been. He grabbed a bar and gave it a tentative tug, wincing and recoiling as his skin burned from the touch.

“You won’t get out that way, creature. If those bars can hold an angry bear, they can certainly contain a skinny little whelp.” The woman who spoke was older than Alec and his siblings, with a stern face and harsh eyes. She was dressed in a neat black dress and plain shoes. Magnus rubbed the heaviness out of his eyes trying to get his vision to clear. “Frankly, I would have just dispatched you right then and there instead of bringing you back here. After what you did, you don’t deserve a trial.”

“What?” Magnus asked before he had a chance to stop the words from falling from his mouth. “What am I supposed to have done? I did nothing to deserve this.”

She scoffed, stepping a few feet closer with a disgusted look on her face. “Please. You know exactly what we’re talking about, you vile creature. You’re the one responsible for the stone sickness — what else could it be but disgusting magic?”

“What? I’m not the one responsible! What proof do you even have?”

“Other than the fact that you were seen around the Lightwood’s shortly after their eldest succumbed to the disease as well? How much longer before Maryse loses her other children?”

“I was leaving the Lightwoods because I’ve been trying to help them find a cure and we did. I healed Alexander last night!” He knew that protesting was a lost cause. He could see that she didn’t want to listen — didn’t want to believe him — but he wasn’t about to go down without a fight; not with Alec waiting for his return.

She snorted and shook her head in disbelief. “And why should we believe that? We’ve got stories about the horrible things that your people have done. Why would you help one of us?”

“Because I love Alec,” he started quietly, raising his voice ever so slightly before he continued. “And because innocent people don’t deserve to suffer. The stone sickness was caused by a pact between Valentine and the goblin king. The spell binding them together has been broken. I know how to heal the rest of your village. Please. Give me a chance.”

A raindrop hit Magnus’ face and the woman glanced towards the center of town where a large pyre was being built before turning her attention back to Magnus and giving him one last look. “Your execution will be held as soon as the weather clears. We can’t very well have a fire in the middle of a rainstorm.” She turned and walked back towards a large building at the end of the lane, her heels clicking against the cobblestones and echoing in the nearly empty town.

The pit of Magnus’ stomach dropped as he focused on the growing pile of logs in the center of the square. His heart started pounding as he watched two men haul another log over and add it to the pile.

Not this. Anything but this.

Magnus had been both too young and too traumatized to remember much from the day his mother died, but there are flashes from that time that occasionally haunt his nightmares. He remembered that they’d once lived in a cabin on the edge of the woods — halfway between his father’s camp in Edom Forest and the town of Idris where his mother was from.

His father did love his mother, in that weird way that only Asmodeus could, but the people of Idris showed no such love. Once Magnus had been born with his cat eyes and a shower of magic around him, she’d been forced out of town and had taken refuge in the rundown and abandoned house. While they wanted nothing to do with her or her monstrous child, she brought them exotic fruits that had long since been forgotten from deep in the goblin territory in Idris. They tolerated her occasional presence as long as she continued to provide them with the forbidden treats.

As Magnus grew, he spent most of his time playing in the woods either by himself or with others like him. He would accompany his mother into town on the rare occasion, but the humans would keep their children far away from him. He’d been too young to truly understand why at the time.

He still didn’t know why his mother and father had fallen out. He could remember his father screaming, the goblin king’s magic nearly suffocating him. It had been so heavy in the air, and he remembered his mother crying and begging. He remembered his father turning and walking away.

His mother sat there and cried for what felt like ages to his younger self. When the tears finally stopped, she gathered him up and took them home. Magnus had a vague sense that a few days passed before there was a knock on the door and his mother froze. He would never forget the look of terror that flashed quickly across her face. She’d instructed him to hide under the bed and to not make a sound. No matter what he saw or heard he was not to come out.

He’d done as she asked, hiding under their bed as far back as he could, and he watched as his mother answered the door and discussed something quietly with two of the mean-looking men from town. After that, everything had happened nearly too fast for young Magnus to follow. The two men grabbed his mother and dragged her from the house as she screamed and cried and begged them to let her go.

The door had thumped close behind them and the house had gone silent. He had done as she had asked, hiding under the bed until night fell and their little cottage began getting unnaturally dark before he had dared crawl out from his hiding place. He remembered calling out for his mother knowing that she wasn’t there.

He hadn’t known what to do. He had never been without his mother. Was she coming back? Was he supposed to wait for her?

He eventually grew tired of waiting and snuck out the front door, following the path into town that he and his mother had taken so many times before. He remembered seeing a large crowd gathered in the center of town — unusual as Idris had seemed nearly deserted any time they’d visited before — and their attention was focused on something tall and bright in the middle of the square.

He didn’t think he could get closer. There were far too many grown-ups in the way so Magnus had scaled the closed tree and had scrambled to the top for a closer look. From the top of the tree he could see it was a giant bonfire, bigger even than the one his father liked to dance around. And in the middle, tied to a post…

...was his mother.

Her skin was burnt and charred and looked like it was melting. She was screaming in pain, a sound Magnus hadn’t heard her make before. He still remembered the bright red of the dress she had on as it was consumed by the flame.

He had bolted out of the tree and into the woods towards his father’s camp.

He’d hold that image in his mind for the rest of his immortal life. It was his first lesson on the cruelty of humans.

Magnus, somewhere in his heart, had known it would come to this. If he didn’t meet his death at the hands of his father’s people, he was going to go the way some of the other half breeds had — stoned, burned, or drowned by the people of Idris.

And of course, of course, it was raining - because truly, it seemed like it was always raining in Idris. For once in his life, however, he could be grateful that he was soaking wet. The non-stop storms over the past few days were the only thing keeping them from tying him to the post they’d constructed in the center of town and lighting the pyre.

The past few days had been trying and Magnus just wanted it to be over. The people of Idris had mocked and shunned him. A few had looked at him in pity though they were few and far between. The iron in the bars that surrounded him was starting to hurt. His skin ached, his body ached, his magic wept.

He sighed, and pulled his knees up to his chest, relieved at least that they’d let him keep his clothes, even if they weren’t doing much to keep him warm and dry at the moment. The cage they’d pushed him in was uncomfortable enough. He didn’t need to add embarrassment to the list of problems he currently had.

A voice from behind him coughed politely, and he turned his head towards the sound out of instinct, only catching himself afterwards and wondering if that had been a good idea. “Excuse me — Magnus is it? Is it true you cured Alec Lightwood?” The man was young, about Alec’s age if Magnus had to guess, and blond. He was standing in the open doorway of the building closest to Magnus’ cage. A quick glance up at the sign told him that it was a bakery.

Magnus nodded, but turned his head back to glance at the looming pyre. “Yes, not that they’d believe me. It would be easy enough for them just to go to the Lightwood manor and check but that doesn’t matter. They have no leniency towards monsters.”

“Could you do it with the others who have fallen ill? Could you heal them too?”

“I did it once. I could do it again… unfortunately, I won’t get the chance. After I die, I doubt any of the others like me will be willing to risk their lives to help.”’

“But you could do it? If we could stop your execution?” The man asked, still leaning in the doorway of the bakery to keep out of the rain. The smell wafting out of the building made Magnus’ stomach rumble. When was the last time he’d eaten anything? It had been three days since he’d been in this stupid cage. He’d absolutely kill for some food right now.

He nodded, drawing his knees closer as he fought back a shiver from a gust of wind. “That was the plan,” he muttered as he buried his head in his arms. “Alec was just the test subject. If it worked for him, we were going to take it to everyone. Who do you know who fell ill?”

“My sister.”

“I hope you can find someone else to help her then.” There was no response to that and Magnus realized the man must have gone back inside. He shivered again as he bit back a sob.

He needed a miracle. Unfortunately, there were no miracles for people like him.

#shmb2021 #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #fanfic #like a lily in a flood

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frozenartscapes · 4 years

Note

prompt: el finding out about seiros/wilhelm from his diaries after she's freed from the dungeons and deciding to go to rhea for help OR el slowly turning more Nabatean after the experiments and rhea taking her in.

Kind of going from what I established in this fic. Although this one is an alternate universe of where I was initially going with that one.

---

She was the only one who made it out of that dungeon. She couldn’t even say she made it out in one piece. They had cut her open, removing and adding so many things, that she wasn’t sure if anything was missing or not. Her heart felt like it was missing - her figurative heart, that is. It felt like it had been ripped out and stomped on, leaving nothing but tiny fragments too small to ever put back together and a void in her chest.

She looked into her mirror and a stranger stared back. Pale skin, white hair, sunken, empty eyes. The colour had once been such a vibrant lilac but now they almost looked like a dusty brown, mostly cool grey with just a touch of warm purple left. The girl in her mirror was thin - barely more than skin and bones. And she bore a haunted look that made her more like some kind of ghost unable to move on from the mortal realm.

She certainly felt that way.

She winced as a flare-up came. Whatever those creatures had done to her was still taking hold of her, still changing her. She could feel the foreign magic burning through her veins, shooting through her bones and writhing under her skin. She didn’t know what they did to her, only that they seemed happy about it. Which was why she was permitted to move back into her old room.

They wouldn’t tell her what they had done. Only telling her that she would be a part of something far grander than herself.

When she would go to conjure her Crest, another one would try to manifest first. One she had never seen before. One that felt a lot stronger than her Crest of Seiros, but it also strangely spoke to her Crest. Like it was trying to join with it, embrace it, in a way.

She was so tired. It was getting hard to breathe again. So she laid down in her bed that felt softer than she deserved and fell into a deep slumber.

---

She awoke and felt better. Healthier. Stronger. She drew a deep breath and her chest no longer hurt. When she pushed herself up, she could feel muscle in her arms again, and her skin looked warmer. Still covered in scars, but many looked like they had healed significantly.

When her eyes landed on her mirror across the room, she froze, petrified by shock and fear. A small, strangled gasp escaped her lips. There was a stranger staring back at her, but it was a different stranger.

The second stranger’s hair was mostly the same white it was on the first, but now the ends of the long strands were a soft, light shade of emerald green. Her eyes, at least, seemed to have regained some of their lilac colour...or rather, one of them did. The other had turned a shade of green to mach the ends of her hair. There was flesh on her bones again, her skin a much healthier complexion, and the deep shadows under her eyes were gone. But her ears...they were pointy.

She tentatively reached up to confirm what she was seeing, gently pinching the new, pointed tip of her ear with shaky fingers.

She slowly got out of bed and walked toward the mirror, resting one hand on its cool surface. The other toyed with her newly coloured hair as she continued to take in what had to be a dream. It just...it had to be.

Was she...was she even still Edelgard anymore? That one violet eye was the only part left of her now.

There was a knock on her door that startled her enough to make her jump, the mirror rocking dangerously from her sudden movement. Before she could say anything, the door opened and in skulked a monster in her uncle’s skin.

“Ah, so Sleeping Beauty finally woke up from her slumber,” he greeted cooly, ignoring how she froze in fear and shrunk in on herself as he approached. He took her chin in his hand and deeply scrutinized her appearance. “Hmm, not a full transformation, it would seem,” he muttered.

“What...what happened to me?” she stammered. She glared at him with all that she had, but he didn’t even flinch at her attempt. “What did you do?”

“We made you something more, your Highness,” he replied, his voice eerily smooth, “However I won’t know for sure until you conjure it.”

“Conjure...what?”

“Your Crest, Edelgard.”

She gulped nervously and held one hand out. Despite the trembling in her body, she found focus, and called upon the magic within her blood. Red energy danced from her palm and into the air, twisting and looping until the Crest of Seiros formed.

“Not that one,” her Uncle sighed, his non-existent patience wearing thin with her already, “Your new one.”

But she thought she was calling for her new one. Suddenly she gasped in pain. She felt her magic surge, exploding from her chest, through her arm and out into her manifested Crest of Seiros. Purple tendrils of energy wrapped around her original Crest, seemingly strangling it like a vine strangling a rose. For a brief moment, the red Crest of Seiros and the purple Crest of Flames existed together, overlapping above her hand.

Then they both turned green, creating the form of an entirely new Crest.

Her uncle bore a sickening grin that made her blood run cold.

“What a good little test subject you are,” he cooed, reaching out to the new Crest as if to try and take it from the air. It broke her concentration, and the Crest disappeared before he could touch it, much to his annoyance. But still, he smiled at her the same way he would when he visited her and her siblings in the dungeons.

“What did you do?” she demanded, taking a step away from him, only for her back to meet her mirror.

“You should be thanking me, really,” her Uncle told her, his voice still dangerously calm, “Think of all the good you will do now! You will be such a great help to our cause.”

“But what did you do?” she asked again, feeling tears prickling in her eyes.

He stalked closer to her, and her heart began to beat for rapidly she thought it might explode out of the still-healing scar tissue on her chest. As he moved forward, he reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small, silver and glass device.

She recognized it. That...that thing in his hand was something she feared more than rats and chains. They called it a syringe - an instrument consisting of a long, thin needle-like apparatus connected to a glass tube, and a plunger on the other end of the tube. And either empty or full, they would always stab the needle into her skin. When it was empty, they would suck out some of her own blood. When full - often with some glowing, ominous liquid - they would push the contents in. And she’d write in pain and agony for hours, after. Sometimes they would even use both kinds of syringes at the same time.

This one was empty, but why her uncle wanted her blood only further added to the question he refused to answer. She tried to run, to make use of the fact that she was no longer bound by chains, but he grabbed her before she could. He had her by the collar, forcing her roughly up against the mirror. He took the syringe and plunged it deep into the base of her neck.

She fought and squirmed but it was of little use. Thankfully, he got what he needed and released her. As she fell to her knees, the mirror toppled over as well, shattering on the floor into thousands of pieces. Each piece reflected a terrified girl she didn’t recognize, trembling and pathetic on the cold ground.

She looked up and to her horror, spotted what was in the syringe. It was supposed to be her blood. But the last time she checked, her blood wasn’t supposed to be green.

“I really must thank you, Little El,” her uncle sneered, “You’ve provided a great service to us.”

He then turned and left, leaving her alone with her shattered reflection.

---

It was late at night when she finally mustered the courage to leave her room. It partly felt wrong, that she could just...waltz out of an enclosed space and into the wider world after so long being unable to do that. But she also didn’t want anyone to see her. Would they even still recognize her? How could they when she barely could herself?

She clutched a shard of mirror in her hand, uncaring of how the edges cut into her skin. She just...she needed to check, every now and then. Maybe all of this was just a terrible nightmare and her brown hair and lilac eyes will return in time.

She had skipped every meal and at first couldn’t stomach any of the food that had been sent to her. But now she felt the gnawing pain of hunger in her gut and she went out to raid the kitchen for a snack. As she crept through the halls, ducking into shadows whenever she heard footsteps, she stumbled upon something that made her pause.

It was a portrait of Saint Seiros.

Edelgard looked down at her reflection in the mirror shard, and then up again at the painting. It...it couldn’t be...

“Lady Edelgard?”

She whipped around, free hand reaching for the dagger she had found sitting on her dresser. But she didn’t have to unsheathe it. As her initial panic faded, a small smile worked its way on her face. “Hubert!” she gasped happily, racing forward and throwing her arms around the older boy, “It’s you! I...I was afraid they might have...”

Hubert stood stalk still in her arms, and eventually pulled away to regard her further. “My Lady,” he breathed, olive eyes scanning her changed features with hidden distress, “What have they done to you?”

She swallowed hard, and told herself forcefully not to cry. “I...I don’t know,” she admitted, “They...they gave me a second Crest, Hubert. At least, I thought that’s what they did but... I don’t know anymore.”

Pain flashed across Hubert’s face for an instant, before he pulled her back into a tight embrace. And now it was her turn to be shocked, because Hubert never willingly hugged anyone. “I thought I lost you,” he murmured, “Forgive me, Lady Edelgard, I... I failed. I failed to protect you. I...I tried to protect you, but they...”

“It’s ok, Hubert,” she whispered back, relishing in the small comfort of hugging someone she cared about, “They would have killed you if you tried.”

“And then they released you, but...” Hubert continued, “You were asleep for so long I thought you would never wake.”

“What?” She pulled away, staring at him with building worry, “I...I was only asleep for a night. Perhaps a day, maybe...”

Hubert frowned in concern, slowly shaking his head. “My Lady, you were asleep for almost two months,” he told her.

It felt as though the floor had fallen out from underneath her. That...that couldn’t be right. It felt like just yesterday that she was taking in her room for the first time since her imprisonment. Had it really been two months?

Although that might explain why she felt so much healthier. She had been asleep through the worst of the healing process.

She glanced back up at the portrait of Seiros. The Faith of the Church of Seiros had been drilled into her head since before she could read - coming from a family supposedly blessed by Seiros herself would result in that. So she was no stranger to scripture, and now one verse was sticking out in her mind: “...And so Seiros, gravely wounded from the battle of Teutates, slept for forty days and forty nights. And when she awoke, her health had been fully restored...”

“My Lady?” Hubert wondered as she muttered the verse to herself.

Part of her wanted to abandon the Faith all together. Despite her curiosity, she felt a burning resentment as she stared up at the Saint who was supposed to protect her. That’s what everyone had told her as they drilled prayers and scripture and ritual into her head as a child - that the Saints and the Goddess love and protect all that is good in the world. So what did it mean, then, that despite spending every waking hour praying for salvation, the Goddess and the Saints hadn’t deemed her or her siblings as worthy enough to save. There hadn’t even been a sign to keep hope or faith... They had just...abandoned their children when they were needed most.

But now she couldn’t deny that the same Faith she wanted to denounce might be the only place with answers.

“We need to go to Garreg Mach,” Edelgard breathed, gazing down at her reflection in the mirror shard, “The Archbishop might know what has happened to me. I...I think, whatever it is, it has something to do with Saint Seiros.”

Hubert’s frown deepened, but he nodded. “It might be for the best, anyway,” he sighed, “We should flee this place before they try to do any more to you.”

Edelgard nodded. “Tonight, then,” she stated, “Pack a light bag for the journey and then meet me in the stables. To get over the gates without being detected we’ll need a pegasus.”

Hubert tried and failed to hide his anxiousness. “So we will be...flying...to Garreg Mach?” he confirmed with a small, worried gulp.

She sent him a sympathetic smile. “It’s the fastest way,” she said, “But once we get far enough from Enbarr, we can walk, if you like.”

“It’s alright, my Lady,” Hubert told her, “It would be better for me to get over my fear of heights sooner rather than later.”

---

Edelgard quietly stepped into her father’s study. She headed to the desk, littered with parchment and quills, and books of Adrestian Law and records stacked almost over her head. She cleared off an area directly in front of the chair, and left a rolled up letter in the space.

She had no idea how long she would be gone, and she didn’t want her father to worry.

She then headed for the stables. Hubert was already there, a bag packed with food and a couple of blankets slung over one shoulder. “I’ve already bribed the stable master,” he said as she approached, “Courtesy of Marquis Vestra himself. We are free to take a pegasus and no one will ever know where it went.”

Edelgard frowned. “Are you sure stealing from your father is wise at this time?” she asked, “What if he notices?”

“He won’t notice until later,” Hubert assured her, “Besides, we’re already doing a number of things that would anger him and his...allies.” He looked visibly disgusted by the thought, practically spitting the word. “I’m sure a couple gold pieces missing won’t hurt.”

“Except if you were sloppy, Hubert. As always.”

Now the dagger did come out of her sheath, and she whipped around at the sound of the new, menacing voice behind her.

“Father,” Hubert hissed, dark magic gathering in his palm, “What brings you here?”

“I should be asking you the same question, boy,” Marquis Vestra sneered, gesturing to the bag, “And where might you two be off to?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Hubert snapped, “You will let us leave, or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what?” A new voice emerged from the shadows, cold and heartless and so terrifyingly calm. Volkhard von Arundel stepped out of the darkness behind them, flanked on both sides by mages in bird-like masks.

“U...uncle!” Edelgard gasped, moving to cover Hubert’s back. More mages appeared out of the darkness, and it became evident quickly that they were surrounded.

“Oh Edelgard,” Volkhard sighed, “I’m disappointed. We gave you this freedom because you were such a good subject, but this is how you use it?”

“You never gave me freedom!” Edelgard cried, “You weren’t ever going to, were you? You just want to use me!”

He chuckled, mirthlessly, and sent her a sinister smile. “Did it seriously take you this long to figure it out?” he laughed, “Although I suppose you were in a coma for some time.”

“I...I won’t let you!” she stated, defiant, brandishing the dagger toward him, “I am not some tool for you to use and dispose of!”

His smile disappeared, his withering glare so intense it sucked any courage she might have had clean out of her. Then he laughed. His maniacal laughter echoed through the courtyard, his voice a distorted and twisted mutation of her uncle’s once joyous laughter. “You won’t let me?” he cackled. His face fell again, growing deadly serious in a heartbeat. “When have you ever had a choice?” he growled.

He motioned to his men, and barked, “Seize her!”

The bird-headed mages lunged, one of them managing to grab her by her back collar. She swung around and buried her dagger into the mage’s side, but another was there to nab her arm before she could get it free.

“Lady Edelgard!” Hubert exclaimed, spinning around to help. But he was yanked back by someone grabbing his collar.

“Not so fast, boy!” Marquis Vestra sneered into his ear, pulling him away from the fight, “There’s still the matter of your punishment.”

Hubert fought under his father’s tight grip. “No!” he shouted viciously, lobbing spells randomly behind him, “I won’t let her go again!”

Edelgard pushed and pulled against the hands that grabbed her with all her might. Her eyes landed on Hubert, also in a fight of his own, slowly being dragged further and further away from her.

“Take her back to the cell!” Volkhard shouted over the commotion, “We’ll have to wait until she is more subdued before allowing her out again.”

His words were like a poisoned arrow, finding her heart and spreading fear rapidly throughout her body. She only fought harder, more desperately, as the hands around her arms, legs, and throat began to feel more and more like the chains she dreaded so much.

Hubert heard the decree, too. And with a roar of rage, he managed to land a hit on his father. As his father reared back from the dark ball of magic to his face, Hubert broke free and began running toward her.

Marquis Vestra recovered, and with a furious glare, aimed his hand charged with dark magic of his own directly at his own son.

Hubert let out a agonized cry as dark energy engulfed him, the strike sending him down in an instant. Edelgard could only watch helplessly as her last and only friend lay on the ground, seriously hurt. “Hubert!” screamed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

She kept fighting, kept pushing. She had to break free. She had to help him. She had to get them both out of there, now. She was terrified and desperate and furious. She let out another scream, raw and primal, as those emotions overwhelmed her.

Except it wasn’t a scream. It was a roar.

Green fire exploded around her, creating an energy wave powerful enough to send the mages holding her flying. Everything felt fuzzy as a dizzying amount of magic seemed to surge within her. Her vision darkened, and for a moment, she thought she had passed out.

But then she awoke and she was back in front of the stable, too many of her uncle’s men surrounding her and Hubert still lying on the ground. But she still felt strange. She felt...taller.

“It actually worked!” Volkhard exclaimed, excitement and disbelief clear in his voice. But then he was back to his usual cruel self. “Don’t just stand there!” he shouted as his men, “We can’t let her escape now!”

A couple of them rushed her from behind, and with a powerful swing of her tail, she swatted them away.

...What.

She looked down at her hands, only they weren’t her hands. They almost looked like an eagle’s talons, her fingers now long and tipped with sharp, curved claws and covered in thick, bright red scales. She looked down further and saw her body had received a similar treatment, coated in heavy armoured plates and scales. Something moved on her back and they were wings, large and powerful, resembling those of a black eagle’s. And her tail...her tail...looked just like the rest of her: red scales running down the length, with gold, red, and black feathers fanning out at the end.

She was broken out of her petrified shock when an arrow bounced off the scales on her shoulder. Guards were running over, clearly concerned about the sudden appearance of a large, red dragon on palace grounds.

Marquis Vestra was stalking over to Hubert, and suddenly instincts she didn’t even know about kicked in. It felt as though her body was operating on its own accord, and she was along for the ride. Which...was probably a good thing because the rational part of her mind was too stupefied by what had just happened to her.

She surged forward, placing her self - on all fours, of all things! - over Hubert and snarling like a rabid dog. Apparently, that had been intimidating enough for the Marquis to stop, but he then charged another ball of dark energy in his hands and sent it her way. Unlike the spears, swords, and arrows, magic worked its way past her new armour and burned far more than she ever thought possible.

She roared in pain before swinging her clawed hand toward him. The other mages began bombarding her with spells of their own, each strike feeling like hellfire. One particularly powerful spell struck her and sent her down to the ground with a tremendous crash. The noise and destruction of the stable spooked all the pegasi, as they took to the air in a flurry of feathers and frightened whinnying.

She noticed Hubert beginning to come-to on the ground, and his father trying to approach him again. “Stay away from him!” she roared, even her voice changed by this new form. Her magic surged again, she could feel it beginning to burn in the back of her throat. Once again, instinct took over and opened her mouth wide - releasing an intense stream of pure magic and fire directly at the Marquis.

He only just managed to dodge, but now was stuck on the other side of dragonfire from the rest of the fight.

Hubert began to push himself up, and their eyes met for a moment that seemed to freeze time. “Lady...Edelgard?” he uttered.

Another blast of powerful magic struck her, originating from Volkhard himself. Hubert shot to his feet and sent out a spell of his own, one that managed to distract her uncle from readying another devastating blow.

“Go, Edelgard!” Hubert shouted over the flames and shouting, “I’ll hold them off!”

She pushed herself up to her feet and extended her massive wings. But she wasn’t leaving just yet. “Forgive me Hubert,” she said as she reached down, carefully scooping her friend up and awkwardly throwing him on her back, “But I’m not leaving without you.”

“Wait,” Hubert demanded as he saw her wings twitching in preparation, “Do you even know how to-”

She surged forward, leaping over her uncle and his men and building speed across the courtyard. Then, with a loud whoosh and a powerful flap of her wings, they were off the ground. They dipped almost immediately, Edelgard not at all used to flying herself. She forced her rational mind to take a backseat once again, allowing the instinct of her new body to take over.

She could faintly feel Hubert’s death grip on the feathers running down her neck.

---

Dawn was breaking over Garreg Mach monastery. Archbishop Rhea stood on her balcony overlooking the main courtyard, breathing in the fresh morning air with a serene smile. The academy was currently on a break, allowing its students to spend some time at home with family and friends before classes kept them away for the rest of the year. As a result, there was a sense of peace and quiet now that there weren’t students and faculty running all around, wandering the halls and courtyards or occupying its many learning spaces. Even as early as dawn, there would normally be a fair amount of eager students up and heading to the dining hall for breakfast. It was nice, now, to have the morning mostly to herself.

But then she heard a sound. It sounded almost like the screech of a Demonic Beast, but less distorted. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference but she could. Her heart began to beat, fast and intense, as she picked up the sound of large wings straining under exhaustion. She scanned the sky and picked out the shape of a winged-beast, flying as if it had just seen battle.

Her first thought was Macuil, because Indech couldn’t fly and she could see that the wings were feathered. But why would he come here? Unless perhaps he was in grave danger.

She turned and raced for the door to head down to the main courtyard.

As she threw open the main doors, the beast crested over the walls of Garreg Mach and crashed into the courtyard, skidding across the ground and tearing up cobblestone as it did. And now that she could see the dragon, she felt her heart stop dead in her chest.

That was not Macuil.

There was a human boy who had been thrown from the dragon’s back in the crash. He had pushed himself up despite his injuries and rushed to the dragon’s side, seeming distraught and fearful.

Rhea hadn’t realized it right away but she had started running.

The dragon’s body shuddered and she let out a pained moan. The scales began to lift from its body, turning to bright red petals that danced in the early morning breeze. As the petals peeled away, it revealed a girl - perhaps maybe thirteen years of age? - who looked like she had been through the depths of hell and back. Her tattered clothes revealed scars more horrific than anything Rhea had ever seen, her body thin and weak, her breath laboured and pain evident on her face.

“Edelgard!” the boy cried, scooping the girl up in his arms and holding her tight. Rhea arrived at the crash site and he met her gaze with eyes that had seen far too much pain and suffering for such a young thing. “You must help her,” he demanded, motioning to the girl in his arms.

“Who are you?” It was all Rhea could say. All she could think. Because she thought she knew everyone who remained in her family. And she didn’t know her.

“Hubert,” the boy told her quickly, “Hubert von Vestra.” He hugged the girl a little closer when she let out a small groan. “And this is Edelgard von Hresvelg. She...she thinks you might be able to help her. Please help her.”

She almost didn’t hear his desperate plea, her mind having been immediately transported back in time at the mention of that name. “Wilhelm...” she murmured, too quiet for anyone to hear.

She shook her head sharply. There would be time to reminisce later. Along with asking questions and getting answers. Right now the poor girl needed medical attention and a good rest.

She nodded to Hubert, and motioned toward the main doors of the monastery. “Follow me,” she said, “And do not worry: I won’t let anything happen to her ever again.”

#foodncomfort #fe three houses #fanfic #au ideas #edelgard #hubert #nabatean!edelgard

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neon-ufo · 4 years

Text

Answering some OC asks

cool-human-98 said:

Since there's not much info about Ness, I'm really interested in what he's like. What do you have on him so far? Of course I'm asking about things that are not spoilers

Ness is 17, which makes him the youngest character in the entire story, and he acts like it too. He’s very careless, loud and free-spirited, with a good sense of what’s right and wrong.

He absolutely doesn’t know when it’s not the right time to have a big mouth and can get himself in trouble by talking too much, or not following directions.

He’s very eager to meet new people, because he didn’t have many chances to do so in the past due to reasons I don’t want to disclose yet.

He makes very quick judgements and will often make a decision in the spur of a moment, not really thinking about the consequences of it. He’s very much led by his heart more than his brain.

He loves comics and power metal, and I think the fact that Gloryhammer is his favourite band says quite a bit about him.

My friend once said he's a personification of the Ultra Pink Monster Energy drink and that’s a pretty good summary of him (thought I’d say he’s more of the Pipeline Punch flavour).

behold-a-bastard-in-this-house said:

Are there any details on Ciril's curse, maybe? As in, how he gained it and when? Thank you much!

Without spoiling too much of the core conflict of the story, Ciril’s curse was basically caused by him being too curious and going to places he shouldn’t have gone to. I am not fully set on the timeline of how long ago he’s been cursed, because it has to be lined up with events regarding some other characters (Mario and Ren), and I haven’t really sat down and properly match it up yet, but he’s been cursed for a couple of years at this point.

The curse slowly saps his energy, making him physically extremely weak; there are times when he can’t even get out of bed, and some days he can only move around with a wheelchair. He’s only 32 years old but looks much older.

While the process of the curse is slow, living with it at this point is terrible, as he’s not just weak, but he also can’t taste food, he’s constantly cold, his overall feelings feel very numb. It’s clearly out to kill him, and he has no idea how to lift it. Because death is his biggest fear, and he feels like he’s running out of time, he’s very desperate to save himself by any means necessary.

Anonymous said:

Does Vivid have a favorite meme?

Dabbing & Minecraft, no questions about it.

blacksheep28 said:

What's Vivid's big dream in life?

He’s not really a person with any big plans for the future, he keeps his options open! One thing he definitely wants is to make things that bring joy to people.

In the current time, he’s an actor in a community theater. Sometimes he plays guitar and sings on the streets and then gives his earnings to those in need, since he loves to perform, but he doesn’t really need any additional income, so he just does what he can to bring some overall good vibes to his community. If any bars have an open stage, you know he’s there.

He can play a guitar and piano, however he doesn’t want an actual career as a musician, or an actor, as he’d find that restricting. Basically, he’s just vibin’

bayygel said:

Who is most likely to cry when surprise punched in the face? Who is least likely to cry? I hope this question is up to your standards, Jim :) because I for one am very curious!

Vivid is a HUGE weenie when it comes to pain, his pain tolerance is non-existent. He will cower at any threat of pain, despite being pretty muscular and big. Being an actor, he’s able to put up an intimidating charade if necessary, but if his bluff is called he immediately retreats to avoid any further confrontation.

As for least likely.. About half the characters are pretty damn tough. Mario and Barbi would be hard to push to crying through pain (Barbi would cry from frustration sooner than from pain), and Ren is stone-cold. However, Otto is a clear ‘winner’ here, as life got him to a point where he’s too jaded to really care about much anymore, and that includes pain (which he has an extremely high tolerance for, he could probably lose a limb and not care)

Anonymous said:

I don't have a particular question but I'd love to hear more about ren! i guess if you need something more specific then maybe something about her sibling kind of relationship with mario?

Mario and Ren started off on pretty rough terms which caused her to be wary of him for a while. On the other side, Mario felt extremely bad about it and did everything he could to make her realize she’s safe and can trust him. Eventually, she came around and they’ve been really close ever since; he was the first person she ever felt calm with and he helped her a lot when it came to basically learning how to socialize, despite him being a total extrovert and her a total introvert.

Mario is an only child who always wanted a younger sibling, so meeting Ren filled that void for him and he protects and spoils her like a little sister, he’s willing to listen to her talk about her interests even if he doesn’t get it, he takes her out shopping, plays basketball with her, etc.

Ren is very aware of this and deeply appreciates Mario for it. He’s constantly supportive of her, and while Ren is the kind of inexpressive and quiet person that might come across ungrateful to an outsider, Mario knows better than that and knows that this means a lot to her.

Anonymous said:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how huggable are each of your characters?

Ciril: Not huggable - bony and thin, will greatly oppose to hugs. Em: Somewhat huggable - might oppose at first, but it’s very possible for his motherly instincts to kick in and a gentle hug will be returned. Mario: Huggable - but your bones will be crushed Otto: Possibly huggable? Might not know what’s going on. Alternatively, he might think you’re upset and try to awkwardly pat your back. Ren: Not huggable, will flinch. Barbi: Only huggable for friends, otherwise she will headbutt you in the face Vivid: Extremely huggable. Possibly the most huggable. Will always hug back. King: Not huggable. Will not like it. Ness: Huggable. Will be happy to receive a hug and might spin you around.

Anonymous said:

Did Jojo inspire your characters designs? If so, are there any specific characters who inspired the designs? And on the topic of design, who is your favorite and why?

Araki’s work influenced me in general, not just when it comes to character designs, it basically changed how I look at art altogether. A lot of the characters are directly inspired by stylistic choices, rather than specific characters;

- Crop tops. - While Em was not inspired by Kakyoin directly, he was inspired by how I decided to stylize Kakyoin when I drew him. - Barbi’s hair is inspired by Araki’s rigid style of drawing hair which I love a lot - King’s hair was inspired by Diavolo’s hair, because I interpreted Diavolo’s hair as having a leopard pattern, and that gave me idea for King’s zebra pattern - Similar as with Em, this isn’t a DIRECT inspiration from JoJo, but the way I draw Mario is slightly based on the way I stylized DIO - Ciril’s two-tone hair was inspired by my initial interpretation of Abbacchio’s headband being differently coloured hair on top of his head. - Ren’s pitch black no-shine eyes were inspired by Mista, and her spiky hair is a mixture of Narancia and that 2000s scene style where everyone gelled the hair at the back of their head - The ‘holes’ between the strands of Ness’ hair were inspired by how Reimi’s hair was drawn, I thought that was really cool.

As for my favourite, I’m fond of all of them since I worked on streamlining their designs a lot, but if I had to pick, I think King is generally the one I like drawing the most for some reason. I’m very happy with how Inverness turned out too, and Em being kind of a fashionista is fun to design outfits for.

Anonymous said:

Do any of your OCs watch anime? If so what type?

Ren is a bonafide weeb. Kuroshitsuji is her favourite anime because she loves Sebastian. Her favourite genres are supernatural mystery anime and slice-of-life anime. She prefers older shows and doesn’t really dig the hype of the seasonal shows, though she will occasionally check them out. She generally doesn’t like the Shounen genre. She likes Dragon Maid too, Fafnir being her favourite (as you can see she has a type). She uses Picrew to make her avatars.

Anonymous said:

Who of your OCs is the least athletic? Who's the most athletic?

Due to his current predicament, Ciril is by far the least athletic one, as sometimes he can barely walk. Before the curse, however, he was a traveller, meaning he was in a pretty good condition.

If we don’t count Ciril due to his curse, then Em would be the least athletic one. He’s slim and elegant and makes sure to stay that way, but any work out he does isn’t really preparing him for any serious conditions, he’ll be the first to lose breath if everyone ran a race (not counting Ciril who, frankly, can’t run.)

On the other side, Otto doesn’t look like it and doesn’t live like it, but he’s pretty much peak condition among my characters. He actively works out as a way to cope with the mess that is his life and had military training in the past.

(Mario is also a good competitor for this, being a fitness bro, but he doesn’t have nearly as much experience as Otto, and despite their difference in size, Otto could absolutely take him down.)

Anonymous said:

ideas on how any of your original characters would deal with self isolation/quarantine?

#oc #ocs #text #long post

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catalinaroleplay · 3 years

Photo

Gender & Pronouns: Cis woman, she/her

Date of Birth: March 16th, 1983 (37)

Place of Birth: Beverly Hills, California

Neighborhood: Ventura

Length of Residency: Since 2011

Occupation: Development Executive, Director & VP of Title Track Entertainment

Face Claim: Minka Kelly

BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGERS: Substance Abuse, Overdose, Suicide.

If there is one thing she could wish to the stars, was the chance to reach for them. Every night she would look up at the sky and ask, let me go up there with you and shine bright as you do. The young girl was a dreamer, a free-spirited with a marvelous, creative mind, and the world wouldn’t stand a chance.

It was easy to point Nicole as an ordinary, and stereotypic California girl walking down Sunset Boulevard covered with privileges and her parents’ money to fill a void left by their issues and to be raised by nannies because they were too busy to pay attention to their child. She fit the mold perfectly. But there was far more to her than it meets the eyes, and it only takes one look underneath the surface to know that, actually, it only takes one smile and a conversation.

Nearly impossible to miss the similarities in her features that are the same of a young Marla Templeton, an old Hollywood actress that made her first appearance on the big screens in the fifths and fascinated her audience with her uniqueness, trilling a career that nourishes its importance to this day. Yet, a brilliant career did not mean an equal and easy personal life. Marla Templeton had many failed marriages, only one that lasted more than the others and gave her three children, Mark, David, and Lisa Thompson. It’s not surprising to say that the relationship between them wasn’t an easy one, and when Marla and Peter got a divorce, the children decided to live with their father. Marla just wasn’t suitable to slip into a mother’s role when her career was her number one priority, and she did not want to make a choice. It worked, at first, Peter was more than happy to stay at home and care to raise the children, and Marla was the one making the surprising visits, bringing the expensive presents and taking them on vacations around the world. It wasn’t expected that Lisa wanted to be just like her mother when she grew up, she was bolded, and Marla had no problem with that until it became a case rivalry. At first, it was finally something the two had in common, something to share and talk about. Still, when Lisa was getting more attention than Marla, things got heated, and when Lisa was seventeen, after her first blockbuster — things started to fell apart. The fight with Marla only got worse, her father did not want her back in the house and she couldn’t bear to be with her mother. Therefore, they made a deal, she would walk in line and stand out of the way till Lisa turns eighteen and could go leave life as she pleases also known as the start of her own path to self-destruction. It started with minor crimes, shoplifting for her own amusement, consuming a little pass of the amount of alcohol than the night before just to kill the boredom she felt when she wasn’t inside the set, and walking with the wrong set of company. Her career took the fault as well, and slowly, her new start glow started to burn out and fade. The first trip to a rehab clinic for damage control came not soon after she was caught, drunk, arguing with a set producer. But her reputation, however, was already set as the troublesome alcoholic teenager star and, perhaps, was better to set aside for a while, and it was when she met Levi Padallino. It was an attraction at first sight and nothing more. They only kept it going because there was something to be taken from it on both sides. Levi was good to her reputation, and Lisa had the means to help him get out of the debuts that college would cost. One year into the relationship and Lisa was pregnant, twins.

Nicole Eva Padallino was born two minutes after her twin brother, Lucas. And four years later, Levi was long gone. Baltimore was more appealing to him than his children. After all, he already got what he desired and it was a free ride to Med School and an internship in one respectful hospital, Nicole and Lucas would be just fine in the hands of Lisa: she had the money to cover it up. Is money, isn’t it? What makes the world turn around and cover wounds left open. In truth, Levi knew the kids were not fine at all because Lisa Thompson was struggling with her own addiction and was yet to seek help, to admit it to herself. And that only left Nicole and Lucas to be raised by nannies, to watch their mother barely stand by herself, sometimes forgetting to pay the bills or show up to work, and it was the twins that at a very young age learned that they were responsible for keeping their home a functional one. Of course, having staff around the house did not make the burdened weigh as much as someone with fewer privileges, Geraldine, their mother agent turned to be like an aunt and came as great help from time to time. She dealt with Lisa better than anyone because she could not afford to lose her best-selling client, sober her up, and put her in the car to show up on the set for work. In the meantime, the kids would stay at home with their nannies, tutors and doing their best to keep the problems hidden from everyone else, especially their grandmother, when she would show up to check it if they were okay. They would put on their best show because truth is, Marla turned into someone else at the minute she settled her eyes on those children. For her, they were her second chance of being better when her own child was vanishing right in front of her eyes. She did not see hope for Lisa anymore, she never did but now was definitely too late to do something else. But she was a good grandmother, the best, she would play along with the stories they create in their head to excuse from their chaos and misery that life outside those stories was. Marla gave them their first camera, to register their adventures in homemade movies and while Nicole was a bit resilient to the present, Lucas loved it. He recast Peter Pan, Lion King, Hercules, Batman, and even his sister to play Anastasia.

One night, however, when Marla came to the house to find that the power was cut off, the staff was two months without payment, and the kids were living off from frozen pizza because Lisa was on the verge of going bankrupt. She took Nicole and Lucas out of the house when their mother came stumbling drunk through the door, again, with a nameless man as she has done countless times. They were thirteen, and Marla legally became their guardian after Lisa was admitted to rehabilitation. It was very public and very traumatic for their family, but no one took it as hard as Lucas, but neither saw the signs, not until when they were sixteen and Lucas committed suicide. Nicole’s entire world crashed in front of her. The twins were too attached to one another because they have always been the only family they could count on: best friends and siblings. He was her better half, and she knew nothing without him. He was her hero. How can a normal functional and loveable teenager be able to act? All he left behind was a film, his final project for movie class was a documentary to say goodbye, goodbye to her. A goddamn movie to say goodbye, but it still wasn’t enough and Nicole suppressed that pain, that feeling. But it was only the beginning because she had another curving ball to face when her father decided to show up at the funeral.

Levi was back in California, working at Cedars Sinai for the past three years but never had the nerve to tell anyone until Marla tracked him to tell his son has passed. And there he was, back in her life, but why was he there to begin with? He was a stranger to Nicole. The only thing she has of him was his last name. When he stood there, he hugged her and invited her to a stroll later and to meet his family. The family, just like the one Nicole and Lucas always wanted: with parents that remember your birthday, that makes you feel safe during a thunderstorm, that sit together to eat dinner or to light up the Christmas lights or to pick up the presents or someone that cares enough to fake snow prints on the floor and wrap presents to celebrate to holiday in the next morning. A normal childhood like in the movies they used to watch. Their house was cold and empty almost every Christmas. If they were lucky, Lisa would come home with a treat from the party she had just attended or Geraldine would take care of buying each a gift. But maybe, with Levi and his family, this could be her chance. He asked her to move in, but her grandmother was against it, Nicole decided to stay, even though no place feels like home. After all, the thought of living with her father is a close shot to having a home, but she wasn’t ready for a huge change.

Yet, Nicole went beyond to show her father how good of young woman she has become. The perfect American girl, captain cheerleader, senior prom queen, excellent GPA, and dating life make all her friends jealous. She had planned for her future. Though, as she began to share her dreams and give him a chance, the brittle truth comes out from her father. Levi was never interested in having a daughter. He already had a family of his own and was making sure to take care of them and that was what he wanted. He wanted Nicole to speak to her mother and grandmother to annul the contract he signed when the twins were born that said he had to pay for tuition when they decide to go college since Lisa paid for Levi’s entire Med School. Needless to say, she was devastated because her mother wasn’t great, but yet she was still there and never walked away, and neither did her grandmother. Nicole decided he would pay, Lucas wasn’t there anymore, but she was and college may not been been her first plan but now? She would make it her mission.

Nicole got into Stanford with a major in biology; she could hate every minute of it, but there was one thing she was good at and that thing was: when she puts her mind into something, she went the distance. It was for her, her mother, and Lucas. The first part was to get her degree in biology and then go to Medical school. But, what she was going to do with a medical degree? She had no idea. To spite her father and make him pay more? All she wanted was to travel, to see the world. The woman never had the time to think of herself. She always lived to help others survive through days and be pleasing for the needs of others. This was supposed to be when she was going to find herself, but there she was, acting for what knows what end.

If there was ever a God… he was a cruel, manipulative bastard.

Yet, Stanford was a surprise she did not expect, she found not only a family there in the form of her best friends. But love, partnership, and her true calling because who would tell that she would pick up from where her brother left? It started with her finding his old camera when she was visiting her grandmother for Thanksgiving, watching some of their old homemade movies, and flipping through old notebooks and diaries — they were quite the duo. She cried the entire night. It was unfair, it was a crushing pain upon her chest like no other and a feeling she has been carrying around for so long that she doesn’t seem or doesn’t know how to get rid of it. It was too much, and for just a second, she thought was what Lucas felt? It was until she found his diaries, and she did not want to read. But something pulled her to do so, and there was a light into a part of her brother she never saw before. It gave her a just a bit more comfort. Going back home, she took the camera with her and started to work with it, just recording her friends, making little videos of her day like Lucas used to. She did not have much money, she saved whatever her grandmother sent her and her father only paid what was he legally requested to do so, so she started to work on a little coffee shop outside the campus and met a band, it was where it changed for her.

Becoming friends with the band that used to play there, she started to produce, direct, script, edit their videos, and publish them online until they went viral. Soon, so did her name. But Nicole has settled in finish Stanford, so she started to work with the local bands while taking classes, it was her and one of her best friends that was soon to become her partner. And when she finally graduated, she was free. The girl decided she did not need revenge or anything from her father, she was going to drop from the idea of going to Med School and move to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaker but first, she was going to travel. She was finally twenty-one and she has received the trust fund of both Lucas and hers, she knew Lucas’s money was going to be made into something else, but hers, she was going to take for a gap year. Somehow, her first place was Brazil, and it was a life change for her because a visit to the town of Pedro Leopoldo and everything she once knew believed it was true, changed. She visited the old house that belonged to Chico Xavier, the works there picked her, and even if she was a non-believer she opened to experience and took the letter in hands. A gasp of air, she was sitting in the midfield crying in her hands but the content of the said letter was kept a secret. The message from her brother. Until she attended a concert in 2004, in Buffalo, NY, Nicole felt her soul be more filled and healed than ever before. Her faith was her own, she did not scream to anyone, not even back in Los Angeles when she started to search more about Spiritism and attend the weekly speeches. It was something she decided to make her own.

Her career started to blossom and with it, the desire to not be known using her father’s name and she decided to change but she also did not want to use her mother’s or grandmother’s — something having to do with raising her on her own. She then started to use a stage name: Nicole Ainsworth. And that name was growing, she used half of Lucas’s trust to open the Title Track Entertainment and the other half was donated to a foundation to help kids with mental health issues. Nicole’s name was growing first on the internet with producing documentaries for pop music artists and directing turns and awards. It was until her big break as a producer that worked on Frozen, shortly after, then as a director came after directing a number at the Oscar and receiving a call to direct and produce: The Greatest Showman. She made a name for herself and started choosing projects to build a great portfolio, working with Disney and Marvel’s upcoming projects for their streaming platform.

After all of the years of life throwing complications her way, often making Nicole doubt herself, one of her biggest dream came true ─ her first child with her partner, Harry. Baby Noah was their biggest project and came when they least imagined, but just when they were both ready, the only problem? Both are freaking about being super protective parents to the point where you can only enter the house with hand sanitizer and slippers off and foot protection on. As well as her responsibilities of being a parent, Nicole still manages to practice Spiritism while preparing for future projects with her company, Title Track Entertainment, but taking time to enjoy the quaint island of Catalina during the time of her maternity leave.

PERSONALITY

Positive: Illustrious | Lyrical | Vehement

Negative: Overwrought | Appetent | Paradoxical

Nicole Ainsworth is portrayed by Carol.

#all #cis #woman #ventura #minka kelly #substance abuse tw #overdose tw #suicide tw

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all-might-blog · 4 years

Text

The middle of nowhere

Summary:

Emily Thompson, aged nine, goes to visit one of her siblings at U.A with her sister. Things go downhill when she ends up the same room as All Might, Eraserhead, Momo, Inko (who's gone to see her son), Todoroki, Izuku, Tsuyu and Eri. Emily's quirk suddenly manifests. Turns out she has a teletransportation quirk.

Notes:

First of all, I would like to say that my life is DESTROYED. I got up to chapter 277 of MHA and now I have to wait for the NEXT CHAPTER *screams into the void* I AM DEVASTATED *sobbing* WHICH IS WHY I AM WRITING THIS. AS YOU WILL NOTICE IT'S DEPRESSING AND ANGST-I. *wailing* pls give me a moment to compose myself (Now I need to watch the MHA anime, but since it isn't on Netflix, it's gonna be hard). This fanfic was inspired by the following fanarts: It was a really well done drawing of All Might, in his weak form but dressed in a jumpsuit not unlike his hero costume, sitting on snow. Behind him, lying on the snow, was a yellow sack. I am sure that it was Eraserhead, because there was a ZZZZ onomatopia thing just above it. I took a photo of it because I was originally planning of trying to draw something like that, but in the end I decided to use it for this. This is the really annoying part: I tried finding the original fanart. I spent about fifteen minutes going through my MHA board on pinterest... and I didn’t have it there! LUCKILY I still had the copy on my camera, which meant that I hadn’t absolutely lost it! The picture below this is actually the version I downloaded from my camera. I takefull responsabilities for what happened, and apologies to the artist who drew this for having to use another copy TMT

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this fanfic! Um... just a warning... it has angst, involves a near-death situation and it's kind of depressing.

THIS is the fanart I got inspired by:

(I mean... do you get the hopeless kind of vibe?)

Emily was nine, but her quirk hadn't manifested yet. She knew it would soon enough, because the doctor had told them that she was just a really late bloomer and that it would come soon enough. Her hand was grasped in her sister's as the security guard checked their permission cards. "You came here to see a student?" he grunted. "Yes. He's my brother son." she replied. "Well, your names are on the visit list, so you may come in. You have a limited time of two hours. You need to ask the headmaster if you wish for an extension." he replied. "Thanks," she replied, "Come, Emily." the small girl cheerfully waved to the guard, who waved back as the gates closed behind them. "Rebecca?" Emily asked as they made their way to the school. "Yes?" "Do you think I will ever be able to come here when I get my quirk?" "Of course. Jacob was also a late bloomer, and so was Hannah." Rebecca replied. Emily nodded, satisfied with the reply she had gotten.

"Izuku!" Inko stood up as her son entered the waiting area. She had been speaking with Todoroki, who apparently was waiting for his siblings' arrival, and Momo and Tsuyu, both of whom had just seen their families. "Hey, Mo-" the air was squeezed out of him as she wrapped him in a tight hug. "Mom, I can't-" "Sorry! It's just... it's been a week and a half since I last saw you!" she said, pulling back. "Security measures have gotten really serious ever since you came to live here." "At least they are letting family memebers in," Izuku laughed. "And I took the opportunity to see you since I am having a parent-teacher meeting with your mentors," she said. Then she spotted Eraserhead standing just outside the door, with Eri by his side and All Might standing just a bit far off. "Speaking of which…" "Mr. Deku!" Eri said, entering the room with that cute smile of hers. "Aizawa said he was gonna to have a meeting with your mom so I thought you would also be here!" "And you thought right!" Izuku said. "Mornin', miss Midoriya." Eraserhead said from the entrance with a small wave. She nodded her acknowledgement back to him. "Well, Izuku, I will see you when I finish." she said. He replied with a nod. But before she could follow his teachers out-

Emily stumbled down the hall, clutching at her head with trembling hands. "Ow. Owwwwww." she muttered. Stabs of pain and dizziness were giving her a terrible head ache. Rebecca, who had been about to enter the guest's waiting room, turned around. "Emily?" she asked, walking to her. "Are you okay?" "My head hurts," Emily muttered. "Awe. I will ask for some tea when we get to the waiting room. Come on," she said, stretching out her hand for her to take. Emily bowed her head, her dark, golden brown curls falling over her face. "Emily…?" Emily's head suddenly snapped up. Her eyes glowed blue, whites included, and her hands were trembling harder than ever. She fell to her knees with a scream. "Emily!" Rebecca shouted, dropping onto her knees in front of her younger sister. "Hey, what's going-"

There was a blinding flash of light. It filled up the corridor. Rebecca felt a spinning sensation, and the feeling that her eyes would be blown off if she didn't close them. She did, clutching Emily in her arms. It was as if she were flying. No ground beneath her. Nothing. Then she suddenly fell, yelping at how cold everything was. Emily was still clutched in her arms. She took a pair of steading breath, but the air she breathed in was freezing cold, as if she were breathing in small shards of ice. She was suddenly glad that she had chosen to wear a jumper and trousers despite the fact that it hadn't been cold. She slowly got to her knees, clutching her sister close to her as she looked out to the white wonderland surrounding her. "You will get frostbite if you don't put something warm on, miss." she looked up to see a girl standing in front of her, holding out coats for the two of them. Rebecca took them. "Thank you so much. Wh- what happened?" she asked, putting hers on. She then realized that Emily was unconcious. "Emily!" "Help me get her into that coat." the girl said as she magically produced another coat for herself. "I think she took us here." "Wha- what?" Rebecca said as she shakily helped the girl put Emily into a coat. "Do you think you will be able to carry her? She's small, so I suppose that if we take turns it will be fine. Let me just make some boots, gloves and scarfs."

"What just happened?" Todoroki coughed, getting onto his hands and knees. He looked down to find that his hands were sinking under snow. He got to his feet, looking around him. Miles and miles of snow on each side. Then he spotted something lying not too far away from him, half buried in the snow. He recognized Tsuyu's face, instantly remembering her weakness. "Tsuyu!" he called, running toward her. His feet kept sinking into the snow and, along with the strong wind, it was hard to walk in. He used his flames to melt a path over to Tsuyu. She was curled up, barely breathing. Her skin was terribly pale and she looked sick. Todoroki quickly set to using his flames to warm her body. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "Better," she murmured, shivering. "I am going to melt the snow around us and see if I can find ground. Give me a second." Todoroki quickly made massive flames, melting the snow on instants. He found frozen grass underneath it. The wind blowing his hair into his face, he helped Tsuyu down, using his ice to make an igloo-like roof over them, blocking the wind outside. He then lit a fire, holding his flaming hand close to Tsuyu. "I am sorry for having you waste your energy on me," she said feebly. "It's okay. We just need to find out what happened and get the hell outta here." he replied.

"How the hell did this even happen?" Eraserhead asked, standing up. "I have no idea. But the others could have gotten dragged alone as well." All Might replied grimly. Truth was that he felt like he would be getting frostbite any moment soon, but he knew he was tougher than that. "I think that might be Izuku," Eraserhead said suddenly. And it was, his green hair standing out in the white snow. The wind blew harder, nearly knocking them down. "Let's get to him!" All Might said. The two of them moved as quickly as possible, their feet sinking into the snow with each step they took. "All Might!" Izuku shouted, catching sight of them. Soon the three of them were together. "Is there anyone else with you?" Eraserhead asked him. "No. But I know that Mom and Eri were with me before this happened." Izuku said. "Let's go." Eraserhead growled, setting off. "Wait! We don't actually know where they are- or if they are even here!" Izuku shouted. "We might loose each other!" All Might said. "We need to wait until the wind dies down!" Eraserhead looked tortured as he said that they should dig a hole in the snow to shield themselves from the wind and cold. It pained him to know that Eri, or anyone else, could be anywhere but they had to wait the storm out. They quickly dug a large hole with a wall to protect themselves from the wind. Eraserhead had somehow brought along his sleeping sack and used it as a mantle, turning inside out so the warm part was exposed to their freezing bodies. They huddled there, hoping that the storm would die out soon enough.

"Eri, is it?" Inko wheezed. "Yeah. Are you okay?" Eri asked weakly. The two of them walked side by side, Inko using herself as a wall for Eri against the wind. She had choosen to wear warm clothes, but the snow beneath her feet was freezing cold and her hands felt numb. "I am perfectly fine. Hopefully-" she coughed, doubling over. "Sorry." "Look!" Eri suddenly said, pointing. The faint outline of a igloo could be seen through the snow-loaded wind. "Come on," Inko said, gripping Eri's hand tight in her own. As they got closer, she could see movement coming fr om inside it. She pounded on the icy surface. Before she knew it, a hole had been melted through the ice and Todoroki was helping them in. "Miss Midoriya! Eri! Are you two okay?" he asked, sealing the hole shut. A small fire burnt in the center of the space that he had made, Tsuyu sitting in front of it. The other three joined her, Todoroki making it a bit bigger. "Do you two know what happened?" Todoroki asked them. "No." Inko said quietly. "But I hope no one else had to suffer the same problem."

"Are you two okay?" Momo asked. "Yes. Emily is still unconscious, but she's not freezing to death thanks to your help." Rebecca said. Momo had set up a small tent, complete with a tiny ice melter, blankets and equipment. "Thank you." Momo said. "I am sorry my quirk couldn't be of much help. Memory is not the best in these kinds of situations…" Rebecca said. "You remembered a great deal of things about how to survive a snow storm," Momo pointed out. "Yeah... but it didn't help as much as you did." Rebecca said. "I am glad that you found us. I think we would be… if you hadn't found us." "It's fine. But when the storm settles, we need to see if there are any others."

"How long is this stupid storm going to last?" Izuku whined. "Patience, my boy. It will soon enough." All Might said. "I hope that the universe listens to you for once," Eraserhead said, covering his face with his hands. "She will be fine," Izuku said gently. "She's a strong girl." Eraserhead didn't reply, choosing to remain silent. He knew that Eri was a strong girl... but he didn't know until what point. And it was killing him. "The wind is dying down," All Might said. He stood, peering out. "I think it's safe to go out now." Eraserhead got to his feet, folding up his sack and getting out of their makeshift shelter. The other two were quick to follow his long, determined strides. They walk for a long time. Izuku's hands felt numb and he tried to warm them by stuffing them into his pickets. It didn't help much, but it was something. Net to him, All Might looked incredibly worn out, his breath coming out in clouds of vapour. "Are you-?" "Yes." All Might replied gruffly. Izuku saw right through the lie, they both knew that, but he decided not to press until it looked necessary. "Hey... what's that thing over there?" Izuku asked, smotting a small, different hill from the rest. It seemed to sparkle in the dim light. Todoroki's doing, probably. Eraserhead wasted no time as he strode forward, All Might and Izuku struggling to keep up. All Might suddenly caught his foot on something and fell over, the air getting punched right out of him. "All Might!" Izuku said, rushing back to help him up. All Might coughed, spitting blood onto the white snow. "Here," Eraserhead had nticed their falling behind and had ran back to them, noticing their positions. He gave Izuku the sack, who opened it and quickly tried wrapping it around himself and All Might, putting All Might's arm around his shoulders and helping him up. This time Eraserhead was slower as they made their way to the hill. It was like an igloo, and Izuku could just make out a flickering flame inside it. Eraserhead wasted no time in slamming his hand twice on it. Soon Todoroki was melting through the ice and helping Izuku get All Might inside. Eraserhead hopped in and Todoroki sealed it shut once more. "Eri!" Eraserhead said, noticing the small girl by the fire. She stoof up and barreled into him, hugging his knees tightly. "What- what happened to him?" Inko said in a hoarse voice when she saw All Might's state. She sat by Tsuyu, her arm around the girl's shoulder and offering extra warmth. She stood up and hurried over to help Izuku lower All Might into a comfortable position. Blood smudged his chin and his eyes were a little unfocused. He looked even weaker than before. "Todoroki! We need a little fire over here!" Tsuyu croaked. Todoroki, who had been warming up Eraserhead's cold clothes by holding his flaming hands in front of him, hurried over to them. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, holding out his flames. "Old injuries," All Might wheezed. He coughed again, blood leaking from his mouth. Izuku suddenly remembered about his missing lung. "Try not to speak," Inko whispered, patting his hand. He gave her a feeble nod. Todoroki tried to dry up as much as he could, making him feel a bit better. "What are we going to do?" Eri asked, sitting next to Eraserhead. "For now, wait until the storm is completely out. Then we need to find out if there's any-" a sudden, slamming noise came from outside, as if someone were slapping their hands on the ice. They all looked up to find three figures standing on one side of the igloo's ceiling. Todoroki quickly melted a hole through the ice. "I thought it had been you," Momo said as she jumped down. "Rebecca, pass me Emily!" a young girl was slowly lowered into her outstretched arms as a third woman jumped down, her dark brown curls dirty with snow and face wide with fear. "it worked?" she asked. "We tracked you guys down," Momo said, holding up her phone. "Only Todoroki's phone was working, so..." "Smart," Tsuyu said. "Now we just have to get Emily to wake up so that she can take us all back." Momo said, gesturing to the young girl that she had given back to Rebecca. "I'll do it," Todoroki said. He made his flames bigger and hotter, holding them close to Emily. A minute or so passed before her eyes flickered open. By then, Momo had already made blankets for all of them and specially warm jackets for Tsuyu and All Might, both of whom were the ones most affected. "Wh-what happened?" Emily asked. "Your quirk manifested," Rebecca said, gently setting her down. She crouched in front of her. "I need you to take us back. Do you think you can do that?" "I don't know." Emily whispered. She looked around at all of them, seeing how worn out they all looked. Her eyes suddenly sparkled with tears. "Did I do this?" "It was an accident." Rebecca said. Emily sniffled, hands trembling as she wiped at her tears. "I a-am so s-sorry," she sobbed. Rebecca hugged her, patting her back. "It's all right, Em." she said. "It was a small mistake. It can be fixed." "B-but I d-did t-this," Emily sobbed. "Emily, right?" Izuku crouched next to them. "When my quirk manifested I ended up breaking my entire body. We all make mistakes." "See?" Rebecca said. "We've all done mistakes. You have the chance to fix yours. I know you will be able to take us back." The little girl wiped at her tears fiercely. "Okay." she said, "I will try."

They all gave her space as she closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly. She went deep within herself, to where her power had been hiding until then. She imagined herself standing in front of a big, blue bird-like thing. Well, the image came into her head. She stretched out her hands as they begun to tremble. Everyone watched, holding their breath as she opened her eyes and lifted her head. Her eyes glowed blue. A flash filled the small space. And as quick as it had started, it was done. They all found themselves in the spots they had been at before Emily's quirk had manifested. The young girl remained on her feet this time, but she looked out of balance. Rebecca, who found herself in front of her sister, hugged her tightly. "It worked!" Izuku cried. "Ah, so warm..." Tsuyu was saying, sinking onto one of the chairs. "You don't look too good," Inko was saying, helping All Might to his feet. "Just a bit off balnce and tired. Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix." he replied. "Rebecca! Emily!" they all turned to see a student enter the room. "It's been an hour! Where have you been?!" They all shared nervous laughs or looks. "It's... a very long story."

Notes:

The end! I hope you enjoyed the read (because my eyes are begging me to close)!!!

#All Might #Midoriya Inko & Izuku #Todoroki Shouto #momo yaoyozoru #Eri #Eraserhead #Emily and Rebecca Thompson #Asui Tsuyu #Angst #You might get frostbite...#Oops #They end up stuck in the middle of nowhere #Everyone is in need of hugs #Remember that thing about Tsuyu being VERY sensitive to cold weather? Sorry Tsuyu :(#Originally posted on Ao3

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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🏰⚔️🐲🐲👑 DMODT- 56 update

Groaning, Eren woke to a rhythmic rocking beneath him, the squeak of wooden wagon wheels and the blurred stars above him confusing the poor omega. Scrunching his eyes closed, he tried to sit, only for a strong hand to hold him down as another took his right hand in theirs "Eren, shhh. It's ok" "M-Mikasa?" "That's right. I'm here. What were you thinking, charging into battle like that?" "M-Mika... Zeke..." Feeling around with his left hand, he wanted to know Zeke was safely with him, wherever here was "He died" "I know... his body, have you got his body?" "He's right beside you..." There was mumbles back and forth in the cart, Eren's head throbbing too hard to make any of it out. As it was, he had to concentrate to pay attention to his sister "Good... good... he was trying to help me and Yelena killed him" Coughing, tears welled in his eyes. Zeke was dead, and his mind was fuzzy... "Shhh. I've got you. We're falling back from the front lines for now" Good. That was good... it was safer... but he felt like he was forgetting something important "Get some more sleep Eren. I'll be right beside you" "Thank you, Mika..." Eren was in and out of consciousness for the ride. Each time he woke, he couldn't remember the previous time. Each time he asked for Zeke, and each time Mikasa reassured him that he'd been retrieved from the battle front. * Waking in a soft bed with a solid roof above his head, Eren whined as he tried to burrow back down into the soft warm furs of the bed. He wanted to fall back to sleep, but baby was pushing on his bladder, not caring that he was both mentally and physically exhausted. Whining again, he clumsily pushed back the covers, before yawning loudly. He could easily go back to sleep... but... peeing came first. Pushing himself up his world span, a hand grabbing his arm to keep him upright "Where do you think you're going?" Eren's breath caught. His instincts to throw himself at the man holding his arm, while his mind filled with anger. A distressed whine coming from his lips as he yanked his arm free. Levi... Levi really was back "Don't touch me!" Spitting the word at his alpha, Eren realised they were back at the castle in Levi's old chambers... Like it was the natural thing to do "Eren... I..." Eren didn't want to hear it. Levi had fucking left him and everything had gone to shit after he had. Pushing past the alpha, his sluggish mind was working better than his alpha. His exhaustion had him shuffling, as did his heavy belly, meaning his storming off wasn't as nearly as angry and dramatic as he would have liked. Having peed, showered, winced at his new scars, and eyed his even larger stomach with equal part confusion and excitement. The omega was still leaning against the bathroom counter as his thoughts finally started to sort themselves out. Zeke's death. Yelena's betrayal. Killing Pieck and Porco. Erwin's injuries and Levi's return... How the hell had they managed to get back here? And why... why did Levi have to show up right now? And why was he so fucking weak for him? Just knowing the alpha was in the joining room left his heart racing as he started slicking in response. Not a work in months, and he turned up like they weren't on the battlefield with hundreds dying around them... he... he couldn't face Levi. Not like this... What was there to even say? I married another man less than a month after you deserted me, and now I'm the widow that caused this war? Wiping away the stupid tears, Eren straightened himself up. There were things that needed to happen, people he needed to talk to. First he had to ascertain if Erwin had survived. Then Zeke's body would need to be prepared for transport back to Marley and his sword removed. Armin needed to be appointed prince, and Luca needed to be returned to his side. Luca was the easy part. Levi had left himself out his quarters while Eren had cleaned up. His son was curled up beneath the furs on the bed, just his nose sticking out. Smiling fondly at his son the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, despite his relief to know the little dragon was alright "Some guard dog you are" Jumping up, Luca blinked at him with wide eyes before letting out a long trill "Did you miss me, baby boy?" Sitting up like a dog begging, his son placed his feet on Eren's stomach carefully, before nuzzling at the swell with a rumbling coo "I know. Your sibling is just fine... I'm just fine... I missed you, beautiful boy" Leaning down was made awkward by his stomach, but Luca stretched up to meet him, the kiss landing between his two horn knobs "I love you. I don't suppose Armin brought me clothes?" Luca chirped, jumping off the bed and running over to the dining table. Waddling over, Eren found a fresh set of robes and a tray of food. It was a wonder Luca hadn't helped himself while Eren had slept... Right... Levi had been there... sighing, Eren half wished he hadn't brushed the alpha off, but he really couldn't deal. Just like he really didn't feel like "dealing" with the food in front of him, yet he knew he had to "Help me finish breakfast? I'm really not in the mood for food... Were you good for your father?" Luca chirped, cocking his head sideways as he did "Levi. Seriously... what is he doing here? And how long did you let me sleep?" Eren couldn't hear explosions, but the smell of smoke was still in the air. They didn't have time to be sitting back and resting. Marley needed to be informed of Zeke's death... Fuck... They'd have to transport Zeke back to Marley, and then they'd have to deal with Queen Dina... Would she even believe Yelena killed Zeke? There was so much shit to deal with... and Levi's bed full of furs were right there... it was soooo beyond tempting. Nuzzling his hand, Luca chirped loudly. He'd promised him food after all. No wonder his son was such a fatty "Right. Sorry, mummy is scattered right now. Let's eat breakfast, then you can show me where everyone is" Three spoonfuls of porridge had Eren running to the bathroom to throw it all back up, Luca more than content to take over his food as he rushed away. He wasn't sure that he could blame it all on his nerves over seeing Levi, when he was falling asleep slumped over the toilet. Nothing really felt real yet... or again. He knew once he saw Zeke's body, it was going to hit all over again. He hadn't deserved the way he died, and the way he'd wanted this baby... it wasn't fucking fair. He couldn't even tell the truth in his final moments, and now Eren didn't know if it was out of cowardice or because it would have only broken the dying alpha's heart. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to get better with him hugging the toilet. Fuck... How was he supposed to face them all? With Luca by his side, his son lead him through the castle like he owned the place. Leading him to the royal libraries, he found Jean and Connie guarding the doors. Both of his friends looked exhausted, Jean not even coming out with his usual insults as he opened the library door and announced him. As expected, Levi was in the room, the alpha seated by the fireplace while Mikasa, Armin and Hanji were looking over maps. Moblit was absent, as was Erwin. It was hard for his mind not to jump to the worse case scenario, the man so close to death the last time he'd seen him. With her arm in a sling, Hanji shot him an exhausted smile "Welcome back" "How bad is it?" "Could be worse... could be a hell of a lot better to" With a racing heart and sweating palms, Eren forced himself to join the others. The map was covered in black lines, broken up with crossed made in red "What's happened? How long was I out for? And where's Zeke?" He couldn't bring himself to say "Where's Zeke's body?". He just wasn't there yet "Eren... Zeke..." "I know. I was there. Yelena severed his spinal cord, and he bled out in my arms. Still. He is still my husband, and he is still the Prince of Marley. His body needs to be treated with respect" The first half of his reply slipped from his lips with such coldness all of them were surprised. Hanji cleared her throat, looking away from a moment. Pity was written all over her features "He's in the royal crypts. Most of the bodies we've recovered are down there, given the cooler temperature slows decomposition. The infirmary is full, and the overflow is extreme. We have everyone we can helping. We did as you asked and took a complete list of those missing and dead. Most of Mitras has been evacuated to the castle's underground, or have travelled north to Nedlay" "And food supplies?" "Running low" As expected... Though still tired, his magic had returned in full force "I'll do what I can. How long was I out?" "3 days. Historia and Ymir came down, along with Steege and Freya. She flew you back from the front lines" So much for their policy of non-interference. Rod would be livid... but Marley had voided the treaty first "Oh... ok... What else do I need to know?" "Erwin passed" Eren flinched as Levi's voice cut through the moment of silence. Armin sniffled, Eren only now noticing how red his best friends eyes were. Holding out his left arm, his shoulder stung, but not too badly. He'd healed, so it was probably nothing more than lingering exhaustion, as the pain was nothing like when he'd been shot, despite the fact it scarred. Shuffling over to him, Armin buried his face against Eren's chest in an awkward sideways hug thanks to his stomach "That was two days. What do we do now? He was the prince... and... Levi said Erwin said something about me? How am I supposed to do anything? I'm not like him. I can't take over his role" Hanji patted Armin's shoulder "No one is asking you to" Well... "Actually. In the place of Erwin's death, his dying request was for Armin to take the throne" Hanji wrinkled her brow, Eren confused. He'd thought Hanji knew about Armin's bloodline? "What? Why me? You're the prince..." "I was the prince through bond because Zeke declared it way, thinking it would please his mother. Then Prince through marriage. But I was never actually a prince" Hanji softly interrupted "We'll discuss the line of succession later. Right now, how are you feeling?" "Tired. Really fucking tired. Still sore, but that's because I may have slightly overdone things" Armin pulled back enough to punch him in the shoulder before pulling him close again "You idiot. I told you that you needed to rest. You... you weren't healing properly... What happened to you?" "I don't think I want to tell you, not if you're hitting me before knowing the full story" Mikasa's voice trembled as she snuggled "Eren, you were bleeding to death. There was so much blood that we thought you'd lost the baby" His sister's tears dripped onto the wooden table as her hands clutched the side "I'm sorry... I was careless. I thought I'd taken care of the harpoons, but they landed a lucky shot. Were Pieck, Porco and Yelena recovered?" Mikasa and Armin share a look, he'd already figured out that they were attempting to shield him from what had happened "Guys. Don't. Ok. I woke up. I showered. I ate. Now don't hold back. I know I killed Pieck and Porco, and I know Levi beheaded Yelena. But were their bodies recovered?" "They were" "I'll be taking them with me to Marley. I'll be returning Zeke's body to Dina personally" Armin shook his head "No. No more rushing in. No more doing stupid things... You're the prince. We need you here" "He was my husband Armin. Hanji, were Zeke's personal belongings recovered?" "They're with his body" "Thank you. He asked me to take his sword..." Crap. He was tearing up again. Levi's scent was turning angrier with each mention of Zeke, but the alpha no fucking right to be mad, and no right to force his feelings onto him. Hanji sighed softly "Eren, perhaps its best you're not here? We're currently reorganising troupe routes and supply points... There's nothing we can do here at the moment, and you need to rest. Not just for yourself, but for the sake of your baby" "No. No. I'm fine... I'm ok..." He didn't want to be weak. Not when everyone else had been pushing themselves so much "Eren" "Hanji, it's fine. What happened to your arm" "It's nothing. I tripped when a bomb hit the castle. It's just a small break" Releasing Armin, Eren took the few steps to close the distance between him and Hanji. Placing his hand on the woman's damage arm, he let his magic flow into her. A bad sprain rather than a break "Eren, wait... oh wow... that feels much better" The tug of a smile played on the omega's lips. He had a use... even if it was something this small "Mikasa, how about you? Are you hurt?" "No. I wasn't" "Have you rested?" "What? Oh. No. We don't have time" "If Hanji can send me back to bed by saying there's nothing to be done at the moment, then you can take a break" Hanji snorted, untangling herself from the sling "He's got a point there" "I'm fine" "Mikasa..." His sister wasn't fine. Not by a long shot. None of his friends were... "Eren, I'm ok. Hanji's right. You're the one who needs to rest" He didn't want to rest... and his baby didn't wish to either. A hard kick causing him to gasp as hand flew to his belly "Eren!" Talk about an overreaction. All eyes went to him as he rubbed at the spot where the baby decided it needed to bash him internally "Hanji, you don't need to yell. This little one just kicked hard, that's all" "You really should rest. You lost a lot of blood, and were severely confused as you drifted in and out of consciousness. It's not healthy for you or the baby to lose that much blood" "Tell that to the baby... I... never mind" Erwin's face came to mind. How the alpha had dragged him back from the fight, then calmed him over the baby... It wasn't fair. He'd started to melt down, and Erwin had been right there for him, and all he'd done was let the man die "No, what were you going to say?" Placing his hand on his, Armin's voice was soft. Armin was probably the one feeling Erwin's loss the most. He'd loved the alpha for years before Eren had returned, and now he was gone... Even if he didn't know they were brothers, Armin still cared for Erwin "I was just thinking of Erwin... I think I want to see Zeke. Armin, will you come with me?" "Yeah. Of course I will" Leaning forward, Mikasa shook her head "Eren, it's not pretty. You should remember him how he was" "I know it won't be pretty. I remember all of it... but I need to see him, and you're all insisting I rest. I'll rest once I know Zeke's body is clean, and that he hasn't been disrespected further. He wasn't a great man. But he was trying. He loved this baby, and he said the three of us was like a dream... I didn't even tell him it wasn't his" Mikasa nearly took out Hanji as she rushed to gather him in her arms. Hushing him softly, Armin joined in front the other side, with Luca jumping up on the table to force his way into the hug "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be crying" "None of us knew him like you did. And none of us can honestly say we liked him, but this is important to you. If you promise to rest, Armin and I will both come with you. I'm sure Hanji and Levi will find a way to handle things here" "P-please?" "Of course. Do you need help walking? You've grown again" Eren snorted a rather gross feeling snot bubble "Historia said that my body was protecting the baby because my mate wasn't there, and I didn't feel safe... I guess because... Well, they're growing again... it probably won't be that much longer before this little on graces us with their presence" Especially given how he'd grown again. He couldn't see his junk, let alone his feet, and his breasts were definitely heavy with milk "That's amazing" "I don't know about that. It's a human child, not showing any dragon magic. I'm long past a normal and healthy due date..." "Just don't go into labour right now. You won't, right?" Eren hiccuped and sniffled "I won't, Uncle Armin" Labour was the last thing they needed... He didn't want to go into labour without Levi there, his omega was already sulking that they weren't curled up in Levi's lap, soaking in the man's comforting scent. The thought of giving birth without him scared him. Especially after having birthed his clutch. He never would have made it through without Levi by his side through the long hours of labouring and birthing.. Would Levi want to be there? How did they find their path back together, if he didn't know how to even find the start of it?They'd both changed in their time apart, more so than the year they'd spent separated, and now they had a baby that complicated things further. * Zeke's body smelt horrible. No one had been down to clean the man since his body had been placed on a stone slab in the royal crypts. Laying beside him, his sword was sheathed, a large red scale set on both sides of the pummel. Carefully, he lifted it down, feeling the dragon magic pulse in his hold. Unlike Obsydin, the sword didn't hold the soul of the dragon it'd been fashioned with, just residual magic. Drawing the blade, Eren placed the scabbard down as he tilted the blade. Armin and Mikasa both looked horrified, though there was no danger of a repeat performance of what had happened in Draecia. Inscribed with runes along the blade was a spell of protection for the weirder. At the hilt Zeke's name was engraved, as well as what Eren assumed to be a name "Vermil", which was most probably the name of the dragon that had been Obsydin's mate. As carefully as he'd drawn it, Eren resheathed it, tying the leather straps into place before handing it Mikasa "This sword is to go to Levi. It forms the pair with Obsydin's sword. It doesn't have the same powers, but Zeke wanted to reunite them" "It's what?" "Marley butchers dragons, we know this. The dragons on the battlefield were mindless, driven crazy by Marley. I wish to honour Zeke's request" Mikasa crossed her arms, looking annoyed "You don't owe him anything. And as for that midget, if you want him to have the sword, return it to him yourself. He's been in a mood since we found you on the beach" It felt wrong to talk about his mate in front of his dead husband. His mind wouldn't let up on the way they'd ignored the alpha all over again. "I don't want to talk about that... Not in front of Zeke. He'll need a change of clothes from his trunks. His nicest clothes. We'll need some water and soap, as well as a needle and thread" Armin took the sword, propping it up against the slab, where Luca was fast to sniff at the weapon "Do you want me to go? Or we both can, so you can have some time with Zeke" Eren sniffled as he nodded. Taking Zeke's hand in his, he rubbed circles on the back with his thumb "That would be nice. I need start undressing him. I need to sew his wounds up. His mother won't show him any respect..." Murmuring the words, Eren turned his back towards his friends as he used his free hand to push Zeke's hair back from his face. After three days, the alpha didn't look like he was sleeping anymore. His organs were rotting, gasses escaping from the holes tore in by the battle dragon after his death. It really wasn't a sight he should be near or handling in his condition, but he wanted this done right and with respect "You stupid idiot... Why didn't you leave me there? Why did you come back here? None of this was worth so many people dying... Worth you dying. I didn't understand you when I was with you, then you died... How could I tell you the baby wasn't yours? You cared so much..." Sinking to his knees, Eren clutched Zeke's hand as he wept. Zeke was flawed, but he was learning. Returning with what he'd asked for, Eren was still on his knees as his friends joined him in the royal crypt. Taking on her "scolding mum" persona, Mikasa was quick to dump Zeke's clothes by the man's feet, the pull him back up to stand, snapping at Armin to find Eren a chair. He didn't need a chair, he needed to prepare Zeke, and as it was, Armin was carrying everything else he'd asked for. His friends hands were full, and an playful Luca wasn't helping. A small snort escaped him, the omega feeling immediately terrible for making such a sound in such a place. He needed to pull himself back together. Shaking, he started by unclasping cloak. His clothes were practically rags, the alpha would have been appalled to have been seen like this. Walking to stand on the other side of the slab, Mikasa caught her hand in his as he moved to shift the cloak from Zeke's shoulder "Eren, are you sure you're alright to be doing this?" "He didn't die of disease..." "That's not what I meant" "I know. Look. In his final moments, I learned a lot of Zeke's character. Under absolutely everything was a lost and broken man who felt he'd never be good enough to please the only family he had in his mother. Everything he did was all a front, while inside he desperately wanted someone to see and acknowledge him, for himself. That's why he cared for this baby. He didn't want to be the kind of parent his mother had been. Perhaps because I rarely held my tongue when we were alone, Zeke came to see me as me and not the omega he married simply to take over Eldia. His final moments were spent in my arms, and I need to do this. I need to do this for me, and for him" Mikasa seemed skeptical, but didn't voice it. Instead her hand went to the buckle Zeke's chest armour "I'll take care of the armour. It can be tricky when you don't know what you're doing. Why don't you start with his boots? But Eren, if I think you're pushing yourself too hard, I will send you to rest" "Ok... I... could probably use some help, but I'll be the one to clean the body" Returning with a found chair, Armin was walking on tiptoe as he carted the solid wood thing "Why can't you use magic to wash him? Wouldn't that be easier?" There was a solid thud as Armin dropped the chair down, leaning on the back of it as he pants. Sighing to himself, he didn't understand how someone as caring as Armin didn't get it "I want to wash him down myself. Then I'll stitch his wounds. It's much more respectful than conjuring up a rain cloud to leak all over him" "Oh..." He didn't want Armin to feel even worse. Somewhere in the crypt Erwin laid, though he'd probably already been washed and made ready for burial "Yeah. Help me with his boots?" "Of course"

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