#just for once can he tell merlin what he actually needs to hear

[tiredcowboyy]

ah the average Kilgharrah experience

#fuck kilgharrah #kilgharrah deserves hell #kilgharrah #just for once can he tell merlin what he actually needs to hear #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin #merthur #merlin emrys #merlin bbc #tiredcowboyys shenanigans

[sincerelyyycece]

i like you. like a lot.

James mustering up his Gryffindor courage to express his feelings to you.

note: just james being his cute, normal self, typical friends to lovers trope.

sincerelyyycece © ─ all rights reserved. please do not repost/translate/copy any of my work.

"Y/N, can I talk to you?" James inquired. "Right now?" He was clearly in a hurry, but why? I shook my head, my gaze shifting between him and my parchment paper. "I’m a little busy right now; how about later?" I asked as I organized my space. "No," he said, causing me to pause and look at him. "We need to talk right now," he said firmly.

I looked down at my papers once more. I could use a rest. "It wouldn’t take long, right? I need to finish these," I said, my lips pursed. He gave a nod. I took his wrist in mine and led him toward the astronomy tower. He was fidgeting and muttering something I couldn't understand. His strange behaviour perplexed me. We arrived at the astronomy tower not long after. I take a deep breath of the cool, fresh air.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I break the silence, my gaze fixed on the stars above rather than on him. I could sense his hesitation. "Just spit it out," I tell him, finally turning to face him. "I like you," he said out loud. I was...surprised. He continued when he noticed I was just staring at him. "Like a lot. I’m not sure when it happened." Silence. "No, I know when it happened; remember the camping trip we all went on?" I nodded in response to his question.

"When we were talking by the fire and everyone was busy playing around, you looked so majestic. You kept talking about your dreams and goals in life, and you talk about those like every day. Don’t get me wrong, I love hearing you talk about them and everything, but there was something different that day. I couldn’t decipher it." I nodded to encourage him to continue. "Deep down. I have always liked you but was so afraid of ruining our friendship that I pushed it down. I kept telling myself in my head that it was wrong to think of you that way, and I believed it for a while."

"I felt out of your league, and I was afraid I would lose you," he admitted. I was at a loss for words. He became tense as a result of my silence. "Please say something," his eyes begged. I keep my gaze away from his. "I-" I manage to say. "This is," I say, shaking my head to focus. "James, this is a lot to take in," I finally said, turning to face him. "I’m glad you told me," I said, smiling comfortingly. "That explains how you get so possessive of me," I joked. He lets out a breathless chuckle. "Believe me, if I could, I would make you all mine," he says. His response made me blush, which made me smile.

"Then go ahead and do it," I said. His eyes glowed with delight. "Y/N? Are you serious?" he questions, not believing me. "I like you too, James," I admit. "For quite some time, actually," I shrugged. He smiled so big that it reached his ears. His cheeks had turned bright red from blushing. "Y/N! Merlin, if you are playing with me right now," he said, still smiling. As a no, I shook my head. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off the ground. The action made me squeal. I laugh as he spins me around.

"James!" I exclaimed once more. We both laughed as he carefully placed me back on the ground. We both smiled as we looked into each other's eyes. He still had me by the waist, and my arms were wrapped around his neck. He looked at my lips. My smile broadens slightly. I close the gap between us, allowing our lips to finally meet. Fireworks. Butterflies. Sparks. Confetti. It was as if our lips were tailor-made for each other. Our lips brush against each other slowly. We were taking it all in. Our kiss was passionate, long, and sweet. We had waited a long time to do that. He pulls away first, resting his brow on mine.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that," he exhales. "I think I have got an idea," I tease, making him smile. We remained silent, allowing the significance of the moment to sink in. He gives me quick kisses on the lips. "Can I kiss you again?" he politely asked. I nodded slowly. He kisses me gently this time. I feel him smile into the kiss as I return his kiss. I was the one who drew back this time. "Y/N?" he says, addressing me. I responded with a hum.

"Can I be your boyfriend?" he asks again before I can say yes. "I know you don’t like it when people make promises because they will only break them, so I’m not going to make any. I will prove to you that I mean all these words I am about to say. I will learn to love you. I will court you every day. I will cherish every moment with you. I would choose you every day. If I didn’t give up before, I certainly will not give up now. You’re the one I want to make memories with." I nod enthusiastically. "Yes!" I exclaim joyfully.

Our journey together began at that point, marked by laughter, shared dreams, and the warmth of a love that grew stronger with each passing day. As promised, he demonstrated his dedication not through words but through actions, making every effort to comprehend and cherish the unique essence of our bond.

Our days were filled with simple pleasures and grand adventures, each memory woven into the tapestry of our shared existence. We navigated the highs and lows of life side by side, from quiet nights stargazing on the rooftop to exhilarating adventures that left us breathless with laughter.

His initial words became a testament to the unwavering dedication he held to our relationship as time passed. He never made grand promises, but his consistency was more powerful than any vow. Our love endured, standing resiliently like a beacon in the storm, despite challenges that tested our patience and moments that celebrated our victories.

Years passed, and we found ourselves reflecting on a journey that had been more beautiful than we could have imagined. The love that began with a simple question had grown into a deep, profound bond woven with threads of trust, understanding, and a shared vision of the future.

On a quiet evening, surrounded by the warm glow of candlelight, he took my hand in his and looked into my eyes with the same intensity that had me hooked from the start. "I never promised you forever, but here we are," he said softly, a gentle smile on his lips. "I didn’t give up before, and I will not give up now; you’re still the one I want to make memories with.”

At that point, I realized that promises were not always made with words; they could also be written in the consistency of actions and the silent vows of two hearts that had chosen each other day after day. I whispered, "I love you," as we embraced the beauty of our shared past and the promise of an unwritten future, knowing that our love story was a masterpiece, painted stroke by stroke and destined to be a timeless work of art.

#james potter x reader #james potter imagine #james potter fluff #james potter fic #james potter x you #james potter #james potter x y/n

[anto-pops]

Mallowsweet Muses - Sebastian Sallow x Female!Reader

Summary: This wasn’t anything new for you– on the contrary, you’d sucked Sebastian off enough times to know how he liked it, what made him crumble in your hands and sing praises of your name. But Mallowsweet hadn’t been a factor then, and you hesitated for a moment as you considered whether or not you were taking advantage of him like this. You looked up at him once more, the question hanging silently in the air, and with the enthusiasm of a puppy Sebastian nodded hungrily.

Alternatively summarized as you and Sebastian getting high and fooling around.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: 18+, aged up characters, explicit content, recreational drug use

Full fic can be found here on Ao3! PART 2 with Ominis now included! PART 3 can also be found here.

Sebastian was one of those rare, pretty smokers. The kind whose eyes would glisten impossibly against the reddening whites, and whose laugh was ten times more contagious. His face would get this attractive flush to it that made his freckles all the more apparent, and those full, kissable lips of his always stayed parted long after he exhaled. You didn’t even want to get into his hands– but you actually did. The long, slender fingers always looked elegant– but when his wand, or the Mallowsweet pipe, or even a part of your body was pinched between them, they looked ten times more seductive. 

There was probably something wrong with you for thinking as much, but you hadn’t found a real reason to care thus far. 

You watched as Sebastian brought the used corn-cob pipe up to his lips and lit the greenery there with the tip of his wand. The sizzle sounded throughout the sparsely decorated cottage, the distinct smell of burnt Mallowsweet evident in the air. You’d been here for quite some time already– Ominis had long since passed out on the sofa in front of the fireplace, leaving you and Sebastian to smoke your way through the generous drawstring sac of Mallowsweet you’d acquired from Poppy. 

Tensions seemed to be running high all throughout the school, what with your O.W.L.’s just around the corner. Your motley trio (or realistically you and Ominis) had been holed up in the library nearly every day after classes for the last three weeks, and you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t beginning to make you go stir crazy. 

To your surprise, it had been Ominis who cracked first, his white knuckled grip on his dictation quill that evening rather telling. He’d slammed his book shut loudly, the glow from the tip of his wand dimming slightly before he declared to you and Sebastian that he needed a ‘break’. 

You could only roll your eyes when Sebastian had shot up from his seat and hastily charmed away his own books and quills, just as eager for a change of pace. An hour later you had found yourselves tucked away in the sanctity of the Room of Requirement, seeing as it offered more secluded options compared to the Undercroft. Namely the vivariums it housed, one of which contained a cozy cottage within. That was where you’d ended up, though before long Ominis had curled up like a cat, satisfied to nap under the effects of his own high and leave you and Sebastian to smoke to your heart's content. 

“This is nice,” drawled Sebastian, pulling you from your thoughts as he extended the pipe towards you. “Praise Merlin, the man did us a favor getting you to collect all this Mallowsweet.” 

You laughed as you tipped the pipe over, emptying its spent contents in a bin before procuring the small drawstring bag you kept the leaves in. You stuffed a few more in the top and brought your wand up to light the contents as Sebastian had, holding the smoke in for a moment before exhaling. The feeling was euphoric– a warmth blossomed in your chest and spread throughout your body, pulling a contented sigh from your lips. 

“If you want to thank anyone, thank Poppy. She’s the only one who deigned to clue me in after she watched me hurl a handful of leaves on a Merlin trial. You should have heard her protests— you’d have thought I kicked a Puffskein.” 

Sebastian laughed at that, the sound deep and rich, and he turned his head over in his palm to gaze at you. The half-hooded look he bore made your stomach flip, and you instantly recognized the glint in his eyes. While the idea was tempting, Ominis’ soft snores from a few feet away had you shoving down your baser desires and instead, passing the pipe to Sebastian. 

He plucked it from your fingers soundlessly, his eyes jumping between yours and your lips before he sat back in his seat. The unspoken tension had goosebumps breaking out over your skin, but you willed your foggy brain to remain calm and collected. If not for your own sake, then for Ominis’. 

“If I’m thanking anyone for the Mallowsweet, it’ll be Madame Beatrice. I don’t doubt for a second that our illustrious Hufflepuff discovered the secret on one of her excursions to Dogweed and Deathcap. She’s just the type to draw that kind of information out of a witless old woman.” 

A laugh bubbled past your lips, and you grinned shamelessly at Sebastian. “Mr. Sallow, are you implying that Madame Beatrice smokes?”

His eyes focused on the back of the sofa as he lifted his wand to the pipe. “Are you counter-implying that it’s normal for her to have full conversations with her plants in front of customers?” 

Your grin practically split your face as you murmured, “Touche,” and Sebastian flashed you a pleased smirk before lighting the bowl again. 

You really couldn’t help but watch him as he moved. Everything about him captivated your attention; from the lengthier strands of brown hair that tickled his shoulders to the attractive curve of his jaw. With his long, powerful legs stretched in front of him, he was the picture of ease as he exhaled another plume of smoke. He tipped his head back, letting the rush of Mallowsweet cloud his mind, and his hair fell seductively over his eyes. The sight nearly brought you to your knees then and there, but you once again found yourself glancing over at the back of the sofa where you knew Ominis lay sleeping. 

He was blind, not deaf. You had to ask yourself if you were seriously considering doing something so reckless. It wasn’t that Ominis didn’t know about your relationship with Sebastian, it was just that you weren’t big on flaunting it, so to speak. Whereas Sebastian was the type to shout from the rooftops that the two of you were together, you were far more reserved. Proud to be with him all the same, but you were much more discreet with your public displays of affection.

But the deliciously inviting way his legs were spread was far too enticing an opportunity to pass up, you decided. His head was still kicked back, those long dark lashes fanning out across his cheeks, and the steady rise and fall of his chest told you he was as relaxed as he could be. 

Silently you rose from your seat across from him, careful not to jostle the table, and slipped around to the other side so you were standing in front of Sebastian. His eyes were still closed, giving you the element of surprise as you sank down to your knees before him and placed your hands gingerly on his thighs. 

He tensed at the same time his eyes flew open, and there would be no missing the deep flush that crept beneath the collar of his shirt when his stare landed on you. 

“What are you doing?” His words were laced with certain interest, blunt nails digging into the arm rests of his chair. 

You gave him a coy smirk, dragging your palms down the thick material of his trousers before curling your fingers around the backs of his knees. “Nothing you won’t like,” you promised, and your eyes flicked to the tenting fabric between Sebastian’s legs. 

This wasn’t anything new for you– on the contrary, you’d sucked Sebastian off enough times to know how he liked it, what made him crumble in your hands and sing praises of your name. But Mallowsweet hadn’t been a factor then, and you hesitated for a moment as you considered whether or not you were taking advantage of him like this. You looked up at him once more, the question hanging silently in the air, and with the enthusiasm of a puppy Sebastian nodded hungrily. 

Your nimble fingers deftly undid his belt buckle, the metal clink echoing throughout the cottage and igniting that fire deep in your gut before you tugged the clothing down to his knees. He met you halfway, lifting his hips to aid in the removal of the offensive attire, and his hands were instantly flying to his tie to loosen the constricting material. 

The extent of Sebastian’s arousal was made all the more apparent without his pants in the way. His dark briefs revealed the wet spot where you knew the head of his cock was, and when your hand came up to palm him through his undergarments, his chest lurched with the sudden breath he took. Grinning in earnest, you let your nails scrape against the taut skin of his stomach as you removed his briefs. They met with his trousers that pooled against his knees, and he hurriedly shoved them the rest of the way down before kicking them to the side, allowing you more room to siddle comfortably between his legs. 

Sebastian’s cock was already painfully hard, the impressive length arching proudly against his stomach as pre-cum gathered at the head. He’d been sporting a half-chub for the better part of a half hour, not that he had chosen to say anything about it. But you were as radiant under the effects of Mallowsweet as you were without it, and he’d been watching you hungrily this entire time, too. 

When your hand slithered up his thigh to grip his solid shaft, the groan Sebastian let out was nothing short of filthy. His head tipped back, knocking against the wood of his chair as you gave him a testing pump once, twice, then dragged your thumb over the pearling liquid at the head. 

“F-Fuck, that feels incredible–” Sebastian moaned as you twisted your fist over the tip, his hips jerking up to chase the dizzying squeeze you gave him before you lowered your hand again. “Merlin–” 

You pressed wet kisses against the darker freckles you found scattered along his length, basking in the power you held over him even though it was you on your knees. “Careful, you’ll wake Ominis,” you murmured with a knowing smile before licking your lips and taking him into your mouth. 

Your warning registered halfway through Sebastian groaning loud. He slapped his hand over his mouth, a choking sound resonating from somewhere deep in his chest as he willed himself to quiet down, lest his best friend were to wake up and catch you in the act. 

A very horny, very shameless part of him kind of wanted that. 

That thought went right out the window, however, as you sank deeper on his cock, your lips pressing and sucking along the thick veins in a way that made his head spin. With gentle, attentive hands, you coaxed Sebastian into spreading his legs further before running your tongue over the slit at the head. He watched you with dark, hazy eyes, his tired expression intense even through the dark eyelashes, but you were more than used to having Sebastian’s eyes on you. One might even say you thrived on it. 

Eager to please him, you focused your full attention on fitting as much of him in your mouth as you could. You didn’t bother to hide the sloppy, wet sounds as you felt the head of his cock hit the back of your throat, nose nestled in the sparse hair there, and you willed away the urge to gag as you swallowed around him. 

“Fuck– don’t– oh, damn,” his keening voice was just louder than a whisper, and his eyes darted over to the sofa again, nervously checking for any signs of Ominis waking. The concern vanished with the feeling of your thumbs tracing over the delicious dip in his waistline, your touch like a brand against his trembling skin. 

You fell into a steady rhythm, bobbing your head up and down on his cock, greedily drinking in the sight of him falling apart as he struggled to control his pleas for more. All the while your eyes stayed glued to his, timing the broad strokes of your tongue with the furrow of his brows, and when your free hand came up to gently cradle his balls, the whine he let slip had heat pooling in your core instantly. 

The distinct sound of shuffling near the fireplace had you pausing your ministrations, replacing your mouth with your hand to lazily stroke Sebastian as you glanced over your shoulder. Ominis had to still be sound asleep, seeing as his neat head of hair didn’t appear over the back of the sofa. When you turned back to Sebastian, he looked seconds away from combusting. 

His hands fisted in his hair, the act one of sheer disbelief. His mind was racing with a million different thoughts, the most prudent of which involved hauling you off the floor and throwing you on the bed in the corner. But the knowledge that Ominis was mere feet away— the slightest noise a threat to the sanctity of your activities— threatened to send Sebastian clean over the edge.

“I’m not gonna last much longer,” he slurred down at you. 

You took it as a challenge. 

With a positively wicked smile, you stroked Sebastian as you stuck your tongue out, whacking the wet muscle with his cock in such an obscene manner, Sebastian could fucking hear the blood pounding in his ears. His hands drifted from his own mused hair to yours, the stinging grip familiar and tantalizing, before pulling your mouth back down on his twitching shaft. 

The intrusion was sudden but not unwelcome, your muffled cry of shock merely an added bonus for Sebastian as the feeling reverberated around his cock. 

“Shit–,” he hissed. Your fingers splayed over his thighs as his hips thrust up into your warm, wet mouth, the thrill of being used for his pleasure making you clench your knees together for some reprieve. 

“F-fuck, you’re incredible,” he grit his praises through clenched teeth, and tears pricked at the corners of your eyes. The only sound in the room was that of Sebastian’s soft grunts and your own muffled, spit-slick moans. “Fuck, fuck, damn–”

Despite his manhandling, you did your best to flatten your tongue against the underside of his cock while you sucked, and Merlin, he couldn’t help but tighten his hold in your already disheveled hair and scoot down his chair some. 

Sebastian’s hips sputtered, and you felt his legs tremble on either side of you as he held your head down on his cock to shoot thick, hot ropes of his cum down your throat. You were ready for him, your fingers digging into the sensitive skin of his inner thighs as you drank everything down, swallowing around him again to effectively milk every drop while his hushed whimpers and sharp gasps spurred you on. 

The stinging grip in your hair lessened some, allowing you the freedom to crane your neck up at Sebastian with his cock still in your mouth. His eyes were foggy, that blissfully fucked out look on his face one that you wished you could frame. The green tie he wore was haphazardly hanging around his neck, and his shirt had been hitched up to his chest at some point when you weren’t looking, revealing the deliciously toned expanse of his fit stomach. 

It really wasn’t fair– you wondered how it was possible to look so effortlessly attractive.

Those dark eyes finally cracked open to peer down at you, and there was no denying the sliver of pure want that coursed through your veins as he visibly processed how you looked. Your own hair was a mess atop your head, clenched in his fist and tumbling over your shoulders as his fingers splayed through the locs to scrape deliciously against your scalp. Your swollen lips were shiny against the glow of the fireplace, still wrapped around the head of his cock as your tongue lazily laved over the slit, and Merlin– it bordered on a torturous kind of overstimulation. 

He followed the bob of your throat as you gave him one last, hard suck, before you were pulling off of him with an audible lick of your lips. 

You were an evil fucking minx, far as he was concerned. 

“Think you can stay quiet if I bend you over the table?” 

Your breath hitched in your throat at the offer, the slick between your legs damn near unbearable as you breathed out a needy “Yes,” and he was suddenly hoisting you off the floor by your forearm. He spun you both around in a quick, fluid motion, and his hand fell between your shoulder blades to push you down so your chest was flush with the table, your ass raised invitingly before him. 

“I’m serious,” his gruff voice in your ear sent shivers down your spine, and you felt his hands trail from your back to your hips to pull you against his quickly recovering erection. “You’ve always been a screamer. Keep quiet, or Ominis will think you’re some kind of deranged exhibitionist.” 

Your eyes fixed on the back of the sofa, the mental image of Ominis stirring from his sleep to the sound of your moans and Sebastian’s hips slapping against your ass enough to make you sigh with pleasure. “What do you think he would think of you?” You narrowed your eyes in anticipation, hoping he would rise to the bait.

Sebastian growled, leaning over you so you were pinned firm between the table and his hard torso as he grabbed your hair and tugged your head back. It exposed the flushed length of your neck to him, and he assaulted your pulse with his teeth, nipping and sucking the skin there hard enough to leave a telltale bruise.

He pulled away just enough to whisper against the wet skin, “You’re an insufferable smart-ass sometimes, you know that?” 

Your breathy laugh was your only reply. Then he was propping himself up above you, his strong arms flexing under his weight as he took himself in his hand and pressed the head against your impossibly wet cunt. 

“Fucking hell, you love this don’t you? The threat of being caught? You’re drenched just from sucking me off next to him.” Punctuating his statement with a smooth roll of his hips, his thick tip breached your walls, and you had to bite your lip against the moan that threatened to spill out. 

Sebastian heard your sharp intake of breath, smirking against the curve of your shoulder as he seated his cock fully inside of you. He spent far too long just grinding against your ass, the slow, sensual drag of his cock in your deeper areas driving you mad with lust. It was far more intimate than the pounding you’d half expected, but Merlin– it was just as perfect. With your body still under the effects of Mallowsweet, the curve of Sebastian’s cock felt exhilarating brushing against your sweet spot, and when he finally pulled his hips back to slowly plunge back in, your eyes rolled shut as you gave in to the ecstasy. 

Sebastian really was doing his best to keep the noise to a muffled minimum. His entire body shook with the controlled effort he exerted to keep his tempo slow, aiming to have you feel as much of him as possible. He watched your profile as you stifled those noises he ordinarily chased out of you with his cock, your brows pinching together as you struggled to maintain your composure around his dizzyingly steady thrusts. 

Your hands splayed against the surface of the table, nails searching to find purchase as you wriggled your hips back in a silent plea. Sebastian interlaced his fingers around the back of your hand and lifted your arm so you were stretched further up the table. You heard something tip over, maybe a potion vial, but all you could focus on was how wonderful Sebastian felt pressed against you this way. 

He let his other hand snake its way up to cover your mouth– you hadn’t realized you were getting loud– and he picked up his pace just enough so that you finally got the friction you were desperately seeking. The weight of his chest on your back kept the table from rocking, but the sound of skin slapping against skin filled the cottage, incriminating you both. 

Sebastian’s fingers dug into the skin of your cheeks as he muffled your moans, releasing the hand against the table to reach between your legs and press his fingers against your throbbing clit. 

Your back arched into Sebastian’s chest, a sharp cry slipping through his clenched fingers as your legs began to shake under you. Your release was close– so damn close, and all you wanted to do was sing praises of his name and loudly knock your assignments off the table so he could properly ram into you without a care. But being held like this, restrained and quieted and your mind blissfully high– it was just as much of a rush, if not a greater one.

With one particularly forceful thrust, you were coming around Sebastian with an airy cry, your breath warming the fingers still splayed across your mouth. Your legs shook with the intensity of your orgasm as Sebastian continued to pump into you, the feeling of your clenching walls making him see stars. He relished in your tight heat for a few moments before his hips faltered, and then he was grinding his balls against your ass as he came deep inside. 

The two of you stayed like that for a while; Sebastian propped on his elbows over you, chest heaving as he sucked down breaths and returned to the present moment. You were slack beneath him, your own breathing muffled by the hand Sebastian still had clamped over your mouth. He removed it then, and the sigh that slipped through your lips was like music to his ears. 

He loved the sex-addled rasp to your voice. Especially knowing he was the reason for it. 

Sebastian let his hands roam your pliant body, mapping every dip and every curve he came across, all smell of sex and Mallowsweet pungent in the air. The tips of his nails gently ghosted up your ribs, eliciting a shiver from you, and he kept going until he reached your hand and clasped it in his own. You felt exceptionally sweaty around your hands, and he glanced up to see a black puddle growing beneath your intertwined palms. 

“Oh fuck,” he said as he pushed himself off of you, ignoring your huff of displeasure. “Ominis is going to kill us.” 

At that, you glanced over your shoulder to see Sebastian staring at something on the table. You followed his gaze and saw what it was he was referring to. 

“Shit.” You were so dead. 

In the throes of passion, you and Sebastian had seemingly knocked over one of your containers of ink, the murky liquid spilling and covering the loose parchment that still littered the table. Some of your papers had been colored black at the corners, but Ominis’ notes were soiled. Nothing was legible anymore, and your panicked thoughts had you wondering if it was only one day's worth of studying material or, Merlin forbid, an entire week’s worth. 

Sebastian’s eyes were wider than saucers when you looked back at him, and the sheepish smile he gave you looked more like a grimace. 

“We can… rewrite them for him?” Sebastian’s pointed look conveyed you just how helpful he thought that sounded. “Well what do you suggest? Any bright ideas bouncing around in there or has the Mallowsweet rendered you speechless?” 

His eyes made a full trip around their sockets, failing to hide the roguish grin that was quickly overtaking his expression. “I wouldn’t say it's the Mallowsweet making me speechless…” 

That was how Sebastian ended up with a black handprint stained through his shirt. He’d grumbled about it for the better part of twenty minutes before falling back into easy banter with you, the two of you hurrying to copy as many of your notes as you could for Ominis. It was casual– normal– and you basked in the simplicity of it all. 

On the sofa, Ominis’ unseeing eyes were still trained on the ceiling, his heart threatening to beat straight out of his chest. He didn’t know if the flush on his cheeks was from his proximity to the fireplace or from what he had overheard, but it didn’t change the fact that the blood had yet to return to where it belonged. His trousers were painfully tight against his achingly hard member, but he didn’t dare lift his arm to readjust himself. No way. 

This was a situation he would be far better suited to handling once he was alone in the privacy of his dorm. Until then, feigning sleep would have to suffice.

#sebastian sallow x you #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow smut #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fanfic #sebastian sallow oneshot #sebastian sallow x female!reader #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #my writing #sebastian sallow x mc

[iamafictionfreak]

TIS THE SEASON TO BE MERTHUR!

Just... Look at them!

I miss everything about this show. Even the very bad CGI and the weak-ass plot points/armour/conveniences/contrivances.

One Christmas Eve, almost 11 years ago, the entire Merlin fandom was butchered into tiny little distraught pieces. It didn’t matter if your favourite character was Merlin or Morgana, Gaius or Gwen. The showrunners held no qualms in destroying your dreams for Gwaine or Perce. The writers did not hold back in their aim to crucify the smile on your face, to forever turn it upside down. No ship was spared. All hopes for the show to finally commit to their original intent, to bring peace between peoples, to save Albion, to allow Merlin his freedom and Arthur the truth, was brought to a bitter, fatalistic end.

Not that I need to repeat this to you, you know what happened, but it’s worth reiterating that this travesty occurred… on Christmas Eve.

CHRISTMAS. EVE.

Christmas Eve.

The night before Christmas, the night before the day where all rules are broken and we can frolic like children around a decorated tree filled with twinkling lights, our collective hearts were shredded.

This event (once we recovered a tiny bit from the shock) gave birth to a plethora of astonishingly well written, poignant, devastating, hilarious fanfictions that had helped nurse our wounds, for nothing could TRULY heal (except a follow-up season with the original characters, come ON BBC) us.

After nearly 11 years of watching these brilliant entries grow, I never thought I’d jump on this bandwagon and write my own fic.

But I've had a few very shit years, as have many people around the world, and I started to wonder as we do when we want to prove magic can still happen.

My brain decided that it wanted my hands to write the most indulgent, likely over done fic in existence for the fandom. This thought stuck with me throughout the year – I was being STALKED by myself – and wouldn’t leave me the hell alone. This hasn’t happened in a long while.

Still… you’ll eyeroll at the idea. It's so OBVIOUS, I'm embarrassed by myself.

What if Arthur discovered Merlin’s magic from the get-go, from episode 1?

WAIT. Hear me out…

So, Merlin saves Arthur for the first time and Arthur SEES. He sees his eyes glow.

He knows he should tell his father, but his instincts are screaming at him. Honour is at stake. This stranger saved his life. How could he reward it with an execution? So, a chance needs to be given, doesn’t it? A chance for Merlin to give up magic forever and live a life of goodness, to turn away from evil and serve Arthur…

Except Arthur can’t help but wonder. About Magic, about Merlin and magic, about the law and all the whys attached and his place within this chain.

But he also can’t trust this peasant who cavorts with the devil, practices wickedness but smiles like a child and offers compassion to everyone. Someone so duplicitous must be dangerous… except Merlin’s an actual idiot! And it’s getting really difficult to keep his guard up.

But isn’t that how sorcerers work? They twist the mind with pleasing ideas, they tempt and coerce, they manipulate.

And slowly, Arthur finds himself being manipulated too. For how could he ever want to trust this man- but he does. He does.

And we’ve never been allowed to see Merlin deal with a S1 Arthur who’s in the ‘know’. Who’s forcing him to keep it secret, who’s threatening him with trial by fire, a young Arthur who’s ignorant, arrogant and so desperate to understand what he cannot trust.

Then there's the layers, royalty versus peasantry, friendship versus alliances, goals versus ideals.

I want to write a fic where this trust is built from the ground up. One of the things about the show that made it impossible for me to let it go is that the ‘relationship’ between Arthur and Merlin fits exactly zero categories, yet all of them.

Master and servant.

Friends

Family

Allies

Enemies

Romantic ideals

Platonic soulmates

Absolute Soulmates

I could go on. And it's one of those rare shows where the writing would be given more oomph if the males leads had dared cross a line or two.

Realistically, they weren't even friends. They were master and servant who'd become a little co-dependant. Arthur could never admit to anything more because of his station, but would he have been able to being completely himself around Merlin if he'd known the truth? We never see Arthur truly be himself. He wasn't allowed to be, not even with his wife. There was always a wall - it was how he was raised and any attempt to develop was killed by plot.

We never saw Merlin completely free, not with a single person. He started happy and healthy and innocent. A liar. He ended up bitter and terrified and angry and alone. Still a liar.

What would he have become if there'd been one person he could truly trust- not Gaius. Not a man already broken and brainwashed by his own self. A victim of the system just as much as he perpetuated the hate and completely unaware of the trap he lived in.

Many of the characters in the show have the versatility and potential to be written a trillion different ways, is it any wonder that fics continue to be written?

Well, I wanted to explore a slow burn development of trust, with Arthur learning how wrong he was, how much he’s trampled on, and all about the seemingly normal peasant boy who meant more to the world than Arthur could possibly understand. What would they have become if they’d been given the time, hm?

When they were young - yes, I'm going there - wild and free.

What of Morgana, what if she could have trusted? What if she could have understood? Would it have turned out differently? Would she have still become the other side of Uther's coin?

Would Merlin still have ended up alone?

There’s lots more I wanted to touch upon, it’s a big what if, but that��ll have to wait for another post.

I’m writing a 5 part prologue that occurs between episode 1 and 2. I’m hoping to release it for Christmas and then take the time to write the rest of the season.

Unless… you guys think it’s a waste of time? Let me know.

In the meantime, I’m STILL SUFFERING (fucking show) and it's making me write, write, write!

(gifs not mine)

#merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc #merlin emrys #guinevere #morgana #Gaius #uther pendragon #fuck uther #potential #merthur #merlin fanfic #merlin fandom

[orions-tears]

Guardian Angel - Ominis Gaunt [Part 3]

Pairing: Ominis Gaunt x Slytherin fem!reader

Themes: Angst, death of minor(ish) character, emotional distress

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series are linked!

It was finally Spring at Hogwarts and everyone was getting ready for their O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S. You and Sebastian, however, have finally found Rookwood. Sebastian was going on and on about how you need to take the fight directly to him sooner rather than later. You knew he was right, but when was the best time? You can rush in, as much as he would like, but if you take too long more people will get hurt. The two of you made a plan to ambush him and his Ashiwinders at the ruins. They won’t even see it coming. Right?

By the time the two of you had flown to the ruins it was crawling with Rookwood’s gang. How in Merlin’s beard are you going to take all these guys out? Sebastian, of course, had no doubt in your abilities, but could you really stand up to all these wizards? Sebastian assures you that no matter what happens he’ll do everything in his power to protect you and you both agree that you’re going in hot. Sebastian creeps up to the side of the parapet and stands up, aiming his wand at an Ashwinder.

“Confringo!” he yells, and a blast of fire takes out the Ashwinder.

You stand and aim your wand at another. “Diffindo!”

The two of you make your way down the walls of the ruins, casting as many spells as you can to take out the Ashwinders. “Levioso!” “Depulso!” “Incendio!”

Taking out the Ashwinders is the easy part. They aren’t exactly the toughest of Ranrok’s army. Thank Merlin there’s no troll here. You look around at that though, making sure you didn’t actually jinx it and conjure a troll somehow. The two of you take out a significant amount of the gang before you hear someone shout from behind you.

“Crucio!”

You hear the spark of the spell before it hits you. Your blood runs cold and you drop to the ground, screaming in pain. Sebastian looks over, yelling your name and runs toward you. He gets to you and looks up, seeing Rookwood grinning. He suddenly sees red and stands, casting any spell he can think of. You can barely hear any of it. It sounds like you’re under water and your vision is fading in and out. It’s getting hard to breathe as you lay down, gasping for air.

Sebastian takes a quick look back at you to make sure you’re still alive, but that was his mistake. Rookwood casts Dipulso, throwing Sebastian into a pilar. You hear Rookwood laugh and look up as he aims his wand at you again, casting Crucio once more. The pain is far more excruciating the second time and tears stream down your face. The only thing on your mind is Ominis. How could he survive this? All you want to do is let go. You want the pain to end. Ominis felt this and he was only a child. How could they? How could they… You barely hear Sebastian calling for you as you black out.

-------------------------------Ominis POV---------------------------------

“They never tell me about anything,” he mutters to himself as he walks outside, grabbing his broom. “Why don’t they ever tell me?”

He only vaguely knows where they’re going based on what he heard but he’ll just follow the sounds of fighting when he gets close enough. He hops on his broom and flies towards the ruins. Eventually he gets close enough and hears it. The loud Crucio makes his hands go numb and he lands the broom behind the ruins. He leans up against the wall, breathing heavily. That wasn’t Sebastian and it sure as hell wasn’t (Y/N). Who cast the curse? Which one of you took it? 

He pulls his wand out leaning around the corner trying to sense where you both are. There’s Sebastian, crawling forward from the other side of the ruins and on the other side…no… No…No! He whips back around, clutching his wand to his chest. How..? Why? What were they thinking? He knew this would go wrong. He knew they would rush into this. No one tells him anything and no one listens to his pleas. All he wants is for them to be safe. For her to be safe. And there she is, lying on the ground. Please don’t be dead, he thinks. Please…

His brain feels fuzzy as he turns toward the entrance. He has to help but how? He points his wand out again, the tip blinking and walks in. There he is. Rookwood. He’s standing nearby, laughing.

“You two really think you could outsmart me. It’s too late. Your efforts are in vain.” He looks toward (Y/N). “I’m going to kill this meddling little brat and then,” he says, viciously, turning to Sebastian, “then I’m going to make you suffer, just like I did your sister.”

Sebastian’s eyes widen and Rookwood turns to face (Y/N). He raises his wand and grins. Ominis panics and his hands start sweating. What does he do? He grips his wand as tight as possible, trying to figure out the right spell. Rookwood points his wand at her and yells, “Avada Ke-“

“Avada Kedavra!”

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

Rookwood goes silent and drops to the ground, his wand rolling away from him. Sebastian looks up in the direction of the curse and sees Ominis who has tears rolling down his face.

“Ominis…” he calls, struggling to stand up.

Ominis looks over at him and drops his wand. “I…I…I had to…” He starts shaking and drops to his knees, facing down at his hands. “I had to…”

Sebastian slowly makes his way over. “You had to.”

Ominis turns his face up towards Sebastian and sobs. “Why?! Why did you have to come here?!” His screams are pained as he chokes out the questions. He crawls towards where he remembered seeing you and paws the ground. “Where is she? Please, Sebastian, where is she?” Sebastian takes his hand and brings him over to you, stepping back.

He moves his hands to you, trying to figure out how you’re laying and feeling for a breath. “Please, please…” he whispers. He feels you breathing, just barely, and pulls you up, cradling you in his arms. He rocks back and forth slightly, putting his face into the crook of your neck and sobbing. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to you,” he mumbles. “You were never meant to feel this kind of pain.”

He stays like this for a moment and then turns his face up to Sebastian. “Nurse Blainey can fix this…right? She has to. (Y/N) has to be okay.”

Sebastian nods. “Yes. If we hurry she’ll be alright.”

Ominis picks you up and Sebastian grabs his wand. The two of them take you back to Hogwarts as quickly and quietly as they can.

Tag list!

Let me know if you want to be added or removed!

@abbiesxox @blueberrydinosaur @sometimesidreamthaticanlevatate @thenerdysimp @kuukimeioo

#hogwarts #hogwarts legacy x reader #hogwarts legacy imagine #hogwarts legacy #ominis gaunt #ominis gaunt x you #ominis gaunt x reader #ominis imagine #ominis x reader #ominis gaunt imagine #ominis gaunt angst #sebastian sallow #ominis x you

[blueseachelle]

I Could Be Lonely With You

Part 3

Ominis Gaunt x Pureblood! Hufflepuff?!? Fem! Reader

It seems like everyone is just as hyped as me for this series! This is Part 3! Poppy is definitely an actual friend. Not an acquaintance. She a real one.

Here's the link to my Hogwarts Legacy Masterlist for the other parts of this story and other posts!

It has been a couple months since Y/n joined the fifth year. She has caught up to the rest of her classmates, but she can't catch a break. She was doing Merlin trials and helping others constantly. She is always away from school. Now, she rarely sleeps there. Ever since she discovered her ancient magic abilities, she gained insomnia with it. Restless nights seem to follow her as she went.

Y/n dueled Sebastian a couple times because he asked, but it always ended with her giving him a hand, saying thank you, and walking off. Sebastian was trying to reach out by requesting a duel, but she never stuck around to talk. The only way he would hear about her excursions outside of school was through rumors and eyewitnesses. The only time they actually "hung out" was when he had to escort her to Hogsmead to get some supplies and a new wand. He always thinks back to that day and it makes him smile. He liked her around. She was a breath of free air to him. He knew Ominis would like her as well so, he wrote her an owl.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Y/n finally got back from her mission. She walked into her dorm for the first time in a week. Her robe's sleeve got torn when she was raiding a tomb in search of someone's dead relative's notes. She walked in to see Poppy sitting on her bed. She held a stack of letters. Upon hearing someone enter, she looked up to see the blonde-haired girl.

Poppy gasped and stood up. The letters long forgotten on the bed.

"Oh, my Merlin! What has happened to you?!?"

Poppy rushed to Y/n's side. She removed the torn robe to reveal Y/n's underclothes. Her once-nice shirt has cuts and dried blood that her cuts once leaked before she took a Wiggenweld potion during battle. Y/n just looked over at the girl with tired eyes and just shrugged. Poppy set the robe on her designated desk in the room,

"I'm going to quickly go draw a bath for you and then, I'll check up on your wounds. While I'm gone, take a seat and relax. You have a bunch of Owls that you haven't got to on your bed."

Poppy gave Y/n a small hug before running off.

Y/n was internally grateful for Poppy. She did so much for her. She'll have to give her something as thanks soon. Or maybe just show her the vivarium she recently has been fixing up and the animals she has saved.

Y/n sat on the edge of her bed. She looked at the scattered letters and picked them up, reading the names as she did. When she went to the last one, the name was very different than the others. Sebastian Sallow.

'Why would he want to write me an owl?'

She carefully opened the letter. She read its contents and sighed. The letter was about 2 days old. She left him out to dry. He is probably worried or feels like he has been ignored. Right before she could write a response, Poppy returned. She walked over to Y/n and held out her hand.

"I'll help you get there since you're tired. We need to hurry because dinner is coming up quick and the water is cooling as we speak."

Y/n nodded and grabbed the brunette's hand.

"Thank you, Poppy. For everything."

Poppy smiled,

"Of course! Now, while we get you cleaned up, you can tell me what the infamous Sebastian Sallow wanted of you!"

____-----____

After a relaxing bath with the help of Poppy, you got dressed properly. You didn't have a robe because well... It needs repair. You just wore your knee-lengthened skirt and a fresh button-up. You tightened your tie as you and Poppy made your way to The Great Hall.

"So, I'm assuming you are going to sit Sebastian tonight? At least I think you should."

Y/n looked over at her,

"Are you sure? You did so much for me. I don't want you to feel saddened or anything."

Poppy shook her head,

"Of course I'm sure! You are gonna be amazing! Just be wary of the stitches on your shoulder. You know the hand signal if you need me."

Y/n and Poppy made their hand look like a Kneazle. (Since Kneazle's have longer ears and the closes thing a Hogwarts animal can look like the Llama hand sign, that's what I'm calling it. You do the Llama hand sign as the signal.)

They both laughed as they arrived at the large door. Poppy looked at Y/n and gave her a reassuring nod. Y/n nodded back as they entered The Great Hall.

_-_

Sebastian send his owl to Y/n two days ago. No response, nothing. To say he was upset was beyond how he felt. He looked for her at every meal. She never showed. He was getting worried.

Tonight, he sat next to Ominis like usual. He just rest his head on his hand and watched The Great Hall doors.

Ominis heard Sebastian sigh. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"What seems to be the matter? You're going to burn a hole in that door if you stare at it any longer."

Sebastian turned to look at Ominis. Crossing his arms during the process,

"Well, I'll have you know that I have invited Y/n to come to sit with us one night. I sent the owl two days ago and no response. She hasn't come to eat either in those two days. I'm just keeping an eye out for her."

Ominis smirked slightly,

"I may be blind, but you are not her keeper. She is probably out busy helping the townsfolk. Like she always seems to be doing."

Before Sebastian could rebut, the doors opened to reveal said Hufflepuff. Sebastian instantly caught her gaze and waved to her.

The blonde walked over to the table. Sebastian patted the seat next to him. She sat down and gave him a smile,

"I'm sorry I didn't send you an owl as well. I've been tomb-raiding for the past two days."

Sebastian nodded,

"I understand. Tombs aren't gonna raid themselves."

Ominis then cleared his throat. Sebastian instantly got the idea,

"Before we continue, Y/n, this is my best friend, Ominis."

Ominis "looked" over at the two,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Y/n."

Y/n instantly recognized the fog clouding his vision. He was blind. Y/n's eyes softened a little,

"It's nice to meet you to Ominis."

After the little meeting, Ominis, Sebastian, and Y/n talked to each other like old friends. Sebastian took a sip of his drink,

"So, Y/n, why were to tomb-raiding and how did it go?"

She smiled,

"I was helping some people reclaim their grandparents' research that was stolen from them. I found everything they lost and it went fine duel wise. I had some potions on me so, all good."

Sebastian put a hand on her shoulder and smiled brightly. Y/n instantly flinched and removed his hand.

Sebastian looked at where his hand was and his smile faded. Blood started to seep through the fabric covering the injury.

"You're hurt. Can I see, please?"

Y/n just locked eyes with him. She looked at Ominis who "looked" at them with concern. She sighed,

"I just have a couple stitches. I couldn't go to the nurse because they would lock me in the castle and I have to fulfill my assignments and help people I promised."

She unbuttoned the top button of her blouse and moved the collar over to the stitches. Sebastian inspected it carefully,

"We need to put another layer over it so it won't open or bleed through your shirts."

Ominis handed Sebastian a napkin folded in half so it was thicker. Sebastian thanked him and put it on the wound. Y/n sucked in a breath as he applied a little pressure. Ominis gestured to Y/n,

"Who helped you so we can get them to come over?"

Y/n sighed,

"I'm one step ahead of you."

She lifted her hand up and did the signal. Sebastian smirked,

"You had a signal to get you out of any awkward situation?"

You nodded,

"It's a girl thing. Saves use more than you will ever know."

Ominis shrugged off his robe while he stood up. Poppy rushed over to Y/n's side.

"My Dear! Are you okay?"

Y/n nodded. Ominis stepped carefully over the bench to the trio,

"Her wound started to bleed through her shirt. She needs a layer on it so we have a napkin on it."

He set his robe over Y/n's shoulder,

"Wear this so you can hide the blood. It will keep you from getting cold too."

Sebastian looked at Ominis in shock. He was never this... kind before. He usually only kept to himself.

Y/n shook her head vigorously,

"I can't possibly take your robe."

Ominis's face shifted to a pleading one,

"I don't want a Prefect to see that blood and you be trapped like you said. So, take it and return it when you can. It's not a choice now."

Y/n's heart began to race. She didn't know why she got so nervous all of the sudden. She barely got out a small okay before Poppy helped her into the robe. Poppy held the napkin gently to the wound.

Y/n looked at the Slytherin duo before Poppy escorted her away,

"Thank you both. I appreciate it."

Sebastian gave her his famous grin,

"Of course. It's only our obligation to help a wonderful girl like yourself. Feel better. Come see us when you are up to it."

Y/n blushed and turned away quickly. She and Poppy walked away from the two. Poppy giggled and talk to the blonde, probably talking about the two being in love with her.

Sebastian turned from their figures and looked to Ominis, which sat back down after hearing there footsteps depart.

"So, Ominis, what's with the sudden kindness? You'd rather let someone suffer than give up your things. What's up?"

Ominis shrugged,

"I never met her before. I know you and her are going to be close and I want to have a good first impression. Is that against the rules now?"

Sebastian raised and eyebrow,

"No, it's not against the rules. It's just different. She probably gonna be sticking around us more. I can tell."

Ominis shrugged,

"You're friends are mine usually so, I don't mind."

Sebastian gave him a slight look still but decided to drop it because he knew Ominis wouldn't tell him. No matter how much he pryed.

_-_-_

Poppy wrapped your shoulder once you got to the common room. She looked a the blonde as she tightened wrap,

"You know who's robe you have?"

"Yeah. Ominis's."

Poppy nodded,

"Yes, but do you know his last name?"

Y/n shook her head. Poppy giggled,

"As you know, Slytherin is a pureblood house. Well, Ominis is the purest of the purebloods. His last name is Gaunt. He usually is cold and aggressive to everyone except Sebastian. Well, he showed a new side of himself. Just for you. You, My Lovely Y/n, may have two boys interested in you. Sebastian reeks it and Ominis is expressing it. Crazy, huh?"

Y/n just sat there. Mostly in shock. She took in a breath and breathed out a "It is crazy."

Poppy tied the wrap,

"There. All done! Now, we can head off to bed and I'll check on you in the morning."

Poppy gave Y/n a big hug, which Y/n returned. She mumbled a "thank you" into Poppy's shoulder. Poppy nodded,

"You're very welcome. Have a good rest. See you in the morning."

The hug was released and they went there respective ways.

Once Y/n sat on her bed, she let out a breath. The Slytherin robe was still wrapped around her body. She looked at the serpent symbol that was embroidered into the fabric. Under it was in small cursive, Gaunt. She went to take it off but the smell of the fabric flooded her senses. The robe smelt of books and... was that a citrus smell? It smelt... inviting.

She decided to change into night clothes but wore the robe over it. She sat down at her desk. She got out some parchment, a quill, and ink. She started to write a letter to her mother. She told her about her time around the castle and all the people she met. She told her about the night she just experienced. She ended the letter with, Gaunt was his last name. What do you know of them? Are they as stuck up as my bio father was? She of course told her mother and father how much she missed them and loved them so. The muggle world was so much more different than this world she entered.

After Y/n finished, she sealed the letter into an envelope. She went to her owl that sat on a perch by the end of her bed. She gave it a small head scratch and a treat before giving the letter to send.

As the owl flew out of the window, she sighed and lay down. Stared at the ceiling, she didn't have time for love. Time for anything in that case but maybe she should try her best to become friends with Ominis and Sebastian. She shall see what her mother says before continuing. Her mother's opinion meant the world to her. She was her best friend. She always had an answer for everything.

Y/n slowly closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep like usual.

_-_-_-

Ominis lay in his bed in his dorm. All that filled the room was Sebastian's somewhat soft snoring.

Ominis was restless. He swore that he heard of the girl that had possession of his robe. His sightless eyes stared at the ceiling. After about 10 minutes of thinking, he finally shut his eyes.

He was on the brink of sleep when a memory surfaced.

Ominis around the age of 8 hid around a corner as his father and mother discussed some important matters with an unknown man. His gruff voice explained that the arranged marriage between the Gaunt and the Dacre cannot commence. The man explained that his daughter was taking in the night along with his wife. Ominis's mother was furious. She shouted at the man, My son's only chance was your daughter. No one wants a blind husband. You have until Ominis turns age 18 to find your daughter or you're the whole household falls. The man stuttered and agreed before leaving. Little Ominis was left in shock.

Ominis shot up out of his bed. Her. Y/n Dacre. Is supposed to be his...  Fiancée? Thoughts ran through his head a million miles a minute. If she is here, was she really kidnapped along with her mother? That isn't possible. There is more to Y/n and he is going to get to the bottom of it.

#ominis x reader #ominis x mc #ominis gaunt x reader #ominis gaunt #ominis gaunt imagine #hogwarts legacy imagine #hogwarts houses #hufflepuff #ominis gaunt x mc #sebastian sallow #part 3

[cbk1000]

Here, have another little excerpt from the giant ‘one-shot’ I’m writing about dumb gay people helping animals in the countryside:

 They were talking again, so Merlin noticed occasionally, in passing, whilst they were ribbing one another, that Arthur’s shoulders stood out under his jumpers, or jackets: and that when he threw back his head to laugh, it showed how the snaggle-toothed smile was contributing to the effect, rather than detracting; all quite ordinary remarks made by a mind whose livelihood was oriented to detail. He had to spot where a foot turned over wrongly in its gait, or a spot was breaking free of some hide; and so he did notice, without especial notice, all these small plodding mundanities of what was slightly more handsome than middling.

He was a little concerned for his reputation for taste when Morgana asked him one evening, “Why are you wearing my brother’s clothes?”; but he was not concerned about wearing the clothes. 

“I’m not,” he said, and bent over the hoof he was examining.

“That’s his wellington, the green one. And that’s his jacket.”

“Oh, erm, well.” Merlin scratched at one of his hot ears. “The wellie I stole because I figured it might as well have a decent owner, and I lost mine. The jacket he just threw in my face. Mine’s got a tear. And he hurled it at me, and I figured if he’s going to be an arse, I might as well get something out of it.”

“It’s very saccharine boyfriends of you.”

“Is it a keratoma?” Arthur asked him, coming up to the stall at precisely the wrong moment with the tea, and glaring at Morgana. 

“Yeah, looks like.”

“Why is Merlin wearing your clothes like he’s your absent-minded husband who never remembers his own rain gear?”

“Like he’s my what?” Arthur barked. “You’re talking utter rot.” He scratched his nose, and turned to Merlin. “So: keratoma?”

“Yeah; I’ll x-ray it and take a wee tissue sample to be absolutely sure, and determine exactly how big it is, but I’m pretty confident that’s what we’ve got. Just need to determine if it can be removed under local anaesthesia, or if we’ll have to do general.”

“How’s your tea taste, Merlin?” Morgana asked in a tone of immense innocence. “Like it’s steeped in tender love and care?”

“Will you shut up?” Arthur snapped.

“I was only asking a question.”

“You’re only being annoying.”

“It tastes like arse,” Merlin interjected helpfully.

“It does not,” Arthur argued.

“How would you know what arse tastes like?” Morgana asked in the same tone in which she had enquired about the tea.

“I don’t,” Arthur snapped. “But I do know all the secluded spots on these grounds where a murder can be both carried out and covered up with no one ever the wiser.”

“You don’t have the stomach for it,” Morgana replied disdainfully. “He cried once because I killed a spider. Didn’t want it on him, but made a fuss like I’d shot the queen because I squashed it.”

“I was six. And I didn’t cry.”

“You were six and still doing human emotions?” Merlin shook his head. “What a cream puff. By the time I was two I’d done away with all that. Every time something upsetting happened to me, I would simply just pound my chest, or punch an adder in the face. Like real men do.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Well, I didn’t cry; Morgana is an infamous and habitual liar.”

“I’ve got loads of other childhood stories, if you want to hear them, Merlin. I think the most embarrassing one, if I have to pick, is when he was fifteen, there was a footie match where he--”

Arthur grabbed her. “You promised to take that to the grave.”

“Oh, I will; but now Merlin knows there’s some story about a footie match when you were fifteen that’s so humiliating fifteen years later you’re still holding me to a childhood pact sealed with some spit and a tenner to never speak of it again. And now he can imagine anything he wants. Any possible scenario is open to him. Possibly he might even come up with something worse than what actually happened, and then you’ll have to tell him, risking the humiliating ordeal of being known, or the humiliating ordeal of letting it simmer in his imagination, where you could be doing God knows what at that footie match.” And she smiled beatifically, and patted Arthur on the cheek, and left them with that tremendous gift she had just bestowed upon Merlin.

“She is pure evil,” Merlin said admiringly.

“I know,” Arthur said drily.

“So what’d you do?”

“None of your business.”

“She’s right, you know. You’re going to have to tell me. I have a very good imagination.”

“I’d rather be kneecapped,” Arthur said pleasantly.

#fic #writing #preview #merthur

[lemissingmask]

4. Icarus - Pushing Limits/Setting Boundaries

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"This is as far as you can go," Arthur said, stopping at the foot of the stairs and putting a hand out to tug Lancelot back slightly when he ambled ahead, "Any further and you're in my father's domain."

"That's the aim," Merlin put his hands on his hips, "Or were you not listening?  Nimueh stole the well.  If she's in there, we need to go in there."

"You may not be able to get back out," Arthur glared, "I will go in and find out if she's returned.  Wait here."

As the gatekeeper of the underworld vanished into the inky blackness of Uther's realm, leaving the unusual pair alone, Merlin rocked on his feet, tucking his hands behind his back in an imitation of casual calm.

“So, Lance…”

The sheep looked at him.

“Did I ever say I’m sorry? You know, for turning you into a sheep?”

Lancelot tilted his head.

“I am. Sorry.”

And it was the truth, but then, in spite of the vague guilt...

He smirked and looked down at Lancelot.

“Although, I have to admit,” he continued, “It has been pretty fun. Aside from the whole threat of Uther gaining all of Gaius’ knowledge of magic.”

Lancelot let out a quiet bleat.

“And you being a sheep of course. What’s it like? Being a-“

Arthur, almost fortunately, chose that moment to emerge from the darkness, before Merlin could finish that awkward sentence.

"She has yet to return, but she will have to come by this way.  If you wait here, you may be able to stop her from entering," the gatekeeper looked up the staircase, "Once in my father's realm, she will be able to shift form, and then you have no hope of defeating her.  You must stop her before she crosses the threshold."

"No pressure then..." Merlin sighed heavily then broke into a frown, "Wait.  We must stop her?  What about you?  You're not going to help?"

Lancelot looked up at Merlin and then to Arthur and bleated in echo.

"I cannot move against my father's will.  You two have only been allowed to come this far because you are not among those I am to bar from entering.  Were a more powerful god..."

Merlin rolled his eyes.

"...such as Morgana or Morgause...or Guinevere...to try to get to his realm, I would be obliged to prevent it."

"So we're not considered a threat?"

"You're not considered at all," Arthur replied plainly, as if stating a known fact rather than throwing a rather insulting discovery in Merlin's face.  Not that he particularly wanted to be considered by Uther.

"Well, maybe we can change that..." Merlin grinned, "So, if you need to go, go.  We'll deal with Nimueh when she comes."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, looking from Merlin to Lancelot and back again, "Sure.  I look forward to my father's dominion over you all."

With that dry remark and a brief flicker of sadness, he turned and disappeared into the inky blackness of the underworld.

"I never know what to think of that guy..." Merlin leaned on the cold stone behind him and pursed his lips, "Can't tell if he's actually an ass or just likes to act like one."

Lancelot bleated and wandered off, going up a couple of steps.

"What?  You don't think he's an ass?"

The sheep returned, little legs nearly tripping on a rock in the haste to headbutt Merlin's leg.

"Sorry.  Didn't realise you were so fond of him..." Merlin smirked, "Don't tell me the god of beauty is involved with Uther's gatekeeper."

Lancelot stared at him then bleated again.

Twice.

Then returned to the stairs.

Merlin poked his head round the corner, following the direction that Lancelot was facing, and saw it.

A long serpent, deep purple with flecks of red and gold in the scales, slithering slowly down the stairs.

From what Merlin knew, Nimueh used this form for stealth - often stealthy attacks - rather than to be fast.  She couldn't move quickly, particularly when the realm fell cold, but few would notice her.

She also couldn't hear.

"Hide!" Merlin hissed to Lancelot, getting behind the sheep and ushering him towards the corner.

"We can intercept her as she gets down here," Merlin whispered, very unnecessarily, "And stop her from entering the underworld."

Lancelot bleated.

"Don't worry," Merlin crouched to be level with the sheep, "I have a plan."

Another bleat, longer this time.

"It should work..."

He peered round the corner.

Nimueh was approaching their level.

"I just need a distraction," Merlin mused, "Something to-"

Off the sheep ambled.

Right out into Nimueh's path.

"No!" Merlin yelled after him, grimacing as the snake lunged for Lancelot, fangs closing on his coat and taking tufts of wool with them, "Not that kind of distraction, you idiot!"

Lancelot bleated and stumbled back out of the way of another attack.

"You're a sheep!  Sheep don't fight snakes!"

Another, more urgent, bleat and Lancelot lost another snake's mouthful of wool to Nimueh.

"Fine!" Merlin sighed in frustration.

He had a distraction.

A stupid, reckless, absurd distraction.

But Nimueh was focusing on the sheep.

Which meant Merlin had time to work his special brand of magic.

The god of revelry might not be a fighter or a genius, a shapeshifter or a spell caster.  He could not command oceans or weather or armies of the dead.

But he could send other beings into states of total, stupefying, inebriation.

Breaking into a grin and flexing his fingers, he prepared to get to work.

It was time to find out if snakes could get drunk.

-

#bbc merlin #merlin #lancelot #mercelot #sheep lancelot #mercelotweek2022

[dzthenerd490]

Kingdom Hearts: The Brightest of Hearts - Chapter 7: Holiday Chaos

Now the Gummi ship finally managed to make it back to Traverse town, There Cloud and Aerith were waiting for them to land. However once Sora, Donald, and Goofy got off the ship and on the ground the three of them collapsed. Aerith gasped in shock while Cloud couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, Aerith then punched his shoulder.

"Heh, these guys really need a break, huh?"

***

Sora then woke up on the same large bed he was in when introduced to Yuffie and Squall; only now, the ones next to him were Cloud and Aerith. Sora got up slowly feeling better after a long rest.

"Hey now, you should rest more, it can't be easy saving the Multiverse without breaks."

"Thanks, but I'm ok now, so don't worry. Hey, where's Goofy and Donald?"

"They’re in town, they actually woke up earlier than you did."

"But even so, if you want to keep resting you-" Before Aerith could finish Sora energetically grabbed his keyblade and jumped out of bed. 

"I better get going then! Thanks guys!" Sora then left the room leaving Aerith confused and Cloud amused.

"Heh that kid really has some spunk huh?"

"He kinda reminds me of you, Cloud."

"Huh? How?" Aerith just giggled and walked off; Cloud groaned in annoyance for not getting an answer.

***

Sora wandered around town noticing the town was even brighter than before. Now it was starting to look more like a town rather than the bleak atmosphere it used to have. As Sora wandered into the town square, he saw two adult men walking around but looking paranoid. Sora however didn't notice their fear and instead he just waved at the two of them. They were spooked at first but when they saw Sora was just a boy, they calmed down and waved back. However, one of them saw Sora holding a Keyblade and gasped in fear, he then pointed at the Keyblade to get the other man's attention. The two of them screamed and ran out of the town square as fast as they could, leaving Sora confused.

"It wasn't your fault if that's what you're thinking." Sora then looked up to his left to see Squall standing next to him.

"They don't understand Keyblades, the Multiverse, Darkness, Light, or magic. So as far as they can tell your Keyblade is no different from the one that turned those guys into Heartless."

"Turned them into Heartless?"

"That's why the town's been getting brighter Sora, as you fight back the darkness and liberate the cursed hearts. Those same hearts return to where they came from, like those men you just saw. You saved them from becoming the Dark Army's playthings forever. They don't know it yet, but they owe you their lives because of that." Sora looked back to where he saw the two men run off to and even though he couldn't see them anymore he smiled brightly.

"The fact that they're free from the Darkness is good enough for me."

"Hm, Yuffie was right about you, always finding the bright side of things." Sora looked at Squall then smiled proudly, owning up to his optimism. Then Sora remembered the valuable Ansem reports he got back in Agrabah.

"Oh! Hey Squall, is Merlin still in town?"

"Uh, yeah he's back in his office. why?"

"I have more Ansem reports to give him! Oh, wait. Before I go, where is Donald and Goofy?" 

"Right over here!" Upon hearing Yuffie's voice Sora saw her with Donald and Goofy all three walking toward him with smiles on their faces. Sora smiled too and ran up to Donald and Goofy to hug the two of them. Goofy accepted the hug warmly and Donald tried to do the same, but Sora accidentally choked him instead. Donald started whacking Sora on the head with his staff to which Sora let him go and laughed while rubbing the sore part of his head. As Sora apologized Donald smiled again and lightly punched him on the leg. The three of them laughed joyfully while Yuffie walked over to Squall to watch them joyfully. 

"It's so nice to see him happy like this."

"... He won't be able to keep it up when he has to fight Maleficent." Yuffie looked at Squall shocked, she then punched him in the shoulder and pouted angrily at him. 

"Hey guys, let's go get these Ansem reports to Merlin."

"you two go ahead, I'm gonna get more supplies for our next trip." Goofy then walked off to Sid's shop, leaving Donald and Sora.

"Why doesn't Goofy want to come?"

"Oh, it's nothing personal. Magic just confuses Goofy, so he doesn't like to talk about it." Sora sort of understood since he didn't fully understand Magic either, unlike Donald it kinda just came to him. Sora was about to walk to Merlin and saw Squall and Yuffie still standing there.

"you guys wanna come with?"

"No need, we already met with master Merlin today."

"But feel free to tell him we said hi!" Sora giggled and nodded as he ran off to meet with Merlin with Donald following him.

***

Sora walked into Merlin's house, familiar with the location thus able to avoid the spider webs; Donald on the other hand walks into several webs and tries to swat the spiders. Sora figured Donald would be find and continued on to find Merlin. Sora then saw Merlin in the same place sipping tea while looking through several floating books and Ansem report pages. The entire time he was whispering to himself, Sora figured this was his attempt to translate Ansem's codes. That was the first reason Sora didn't want to interrupt him, the second reason was because Merlin's display of magic was so cool that Sora was in silent awe. 

Merlin took another sip of his tea but then noticed Sora there and spat out his tea, staining one of the Ansem reports. Merlin panicked and cast a time reverse spell on the page, he then used his magic to reorganize all the other pages and books. Now everything was cleaned up and organized, at the same time Donald finally caught up and was in awe to see Merlin. Donald quickly walked up in front of him and bowed.

"Master Merlin of Magic and Sorcery, as well as a veteran of the first Keyblade war. It's an honor."

"Likewise, Head wizard of Disney Castle, despite your weak body you make up for it with a strong will! Very few have made it to your level, for that you have my utmost respect." Donald's eyes sparkled in glee as he quacked proudly to himself, Sora patted him on the back and gave him a thumbs up for being acknowledged by Merlin. Donald was still giddy but knew they had more pressing matters, so he stepped aside while Sora stepped forward.

"Master Merlin, I have more Ansem reports."

"Haha, splendid, my boy! Just in time too, I have something for you as well." Sora then handed Merlin the Ansem Reports and with magic Merlin sorted them out in his own organized way. Merlin then used his magic to recover a single page of Ansem's Report. Merlin held this report in front of himself and seemed to be filled with glee as he showed Sora, who still couldn't read it.

"It took quite a while my boy, but I was finally able to decipher Ansem's code and found something truly extraordinary! The first part of this page tells of the power of a keychain!"

"A keychain?"

"Ah, let me show you, here give me your Keyblade." Sora was confused by this, so he turned to Donald, Donald nodded, and Sora gave Merlin his keyblade. Merlin raised the keyblade and focused specifically on the keychain at the end of the handle. Merlin then held the keychain and started chanting. Merlin used his magic to raise the Ansem report closer to his face so he could read the writing while continuing to chant. As Merlin was casting his spell the keychain was now engulfed in a field of light that was quickly surrounded by several glyphs of light. The glyphs shifted around until it all was eventually absorbed into the keychain. Then the keyblade glowed as it was covered in a coat of brilliant light. Finally, the keyblade turned back to normal and Merlin held the keyblade out toward Sora while smiling proudly. 

Sora couldn't help but look in awe as his eyes sparkled in amazement. Sora then took the keyblade but almost fell to his knees, not because the Keyblade was heavy but because of its power. Sora couldn't believe the amount of power he felt flowing through the keyblade. It gave him great power before but now it felt tenfold. Sora raised his keyblade high in pride as Merlin looked at him proudly and so did Donald. Sora then started bowing and thanking Merlin for the power up, but Merlin quickly raised his hand to stop Sora.

"Oh no, my boy, it's far too early to thank me. After all, the real potential of that keyblade has yet to be unleashed."

"What do you mean? It already feels so powerful!"

"That, my boy, is merely the tip of the iceberg! Now I want you to recall a world you remember quite fondly of." Sora was confused but smiled and did as Merlin asked. Sora closed his eyes to focus better and remembered Wonderland and Alice, he smiled at remembering the wonderful time he spent with her despite it being so short. Sora then noticed a light so bright he could still see it even when his eyes were closed. Sora opened his eyes and saw the keyblade shining in brilliant light once again, it was so close and bright that it even hurt his eyes. Then the light started to be absorbed back into his keyblade and it reformed into the Keyblade Lady Luck.

Sora looked at the new Keyblade in his hand both confused and in awe, he didn't really understand what this meant. However, Sora quickly noticed how the Keyblade resembled a lot of the symbols of the card soldiers of Wonderland. Sora then smiled and closed his eyes again and thought of Ancient Greece then the Keyblade manifested into the Olympia Keyblade. Then after thinking of all the amazing things, he learned in Deep Jungle his keyblade manifests into Jungle King. Finally, Sora remembers his adventures in Agrabah and his keyblade manifests into the Three Wishes Keyblade. Sora was amazed by this; it was so cool to be able to shift his keyblade into new forms based on his experiences in the worlds he visited. However, after looking at his keyblade in awe for a minute a realization came to Sora, making him look to Merlin in confusion.

"Uh, what exactly do these Keyblades do?" Merlin was watching the entire time, however when Sora asked that question, he closed his eyes and smiled seemingly filled with foy to answer that question. Sora and Donald could sense this, and their eyes sparkled as they anticipated the answer Merlin would give them. Merlin then raised his arms in shrug.

"No idea." Sora looked at Merlin in dumbfounded disbelief while Donald fell on his face due to overwhelming disappointment. 

"Apologize my boy but like you I never had a keyblade long enough to utilize it to its full potential. Ansem was indeed my friend, but he was lucky to even find these secrets so few keyblade wielders themselves were able to extract. As such even as he was extracting the secrets of Keyblades, the Multiverse, and what he could of Kingdom Hearts itself, he had little to no opportunity to properly share them." Sora was still disappointed but remembered what Yuffie and Merlin said about him being the last Keyblade Wielder of Light, so it made sense that even a master like Merlin had trouble with finding answers himself. Sora then sighed and bowed again to Merlin.

"Well either way, this will surely be a huge help. Thank you, Master Merlin." 

"Sora why don't you go help Goofy with the supplies, there's still something I want to ask Master Merlin." Sora was confused at first but didn't think much of it and nodded as he left Merlin's house. 

"Ahem Master Merlin, I-" 

"Oh, just call me Merlin, my friend. I really wasn't much of a Keyblade wielder and only earned my title of master on a technicality."

"Uh, of course. Anyways, why did you tell Sora that it was ok to make connections to other worlds?"

"Hm? Because friendship and love are what makes life worth living and fighting for, my friend. why else?"

"But wasn't it you who established the rule to not interfere with a world's natural order?"

"Well no, that would be Eraqus. Though yes, I did nothing to stop the rule from being established so it is my fault as well. Truth be told, my friend; I have many regrets of my youth and I would say that not changing that rule would be one of them. If I knew how foolish it was to make that rule back, then I would have stopped it from becoming official years ago." Donald was surprised by this, from what he heard Merlin was one of the most important members of the Guardians of Light; especially during their resurgence after the Keyblade war. However, Disney Castle was never known to have good connections with the Guardians of Light hence why the resurgence of the Dark Army and their attack on Radiant Garden as well as the Land of the Departure went under everyone's noses. So, that meant there was no reason to follow the rule so religiously and therefore no reason to be so harsh on Sora. Donald then shook his head in self disappointment at this realization. 

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself, my friend. As story's spread around it makes sense that a word or phrase will change here or there. Besides I already told you I am not blameless, so don't take your foolishness to heart. However, I do ask you to be more lenient on the boy, he may be a novice, but he is our last hope. But he can't be if he himself loses that shining beacon of hope within his heart. It will only shine brighter as he keeps making more connections to the worlds he saves and the people he meets." Donald smiled and nodded and left the room with newfound determination to help Sora save the Multiverse. Merlin then sat in silence as he took another sip from his tea. 

"Yes... why did I let that rule exist... it may have felt necessary at the time but... it just seemed like something... THEY would do."

***

Sora and Goofy were hauling the remaining supplies to the Gummi ship while Chip and Dale were installing a new upgrade Sid gave them. While Chip and Dale were finishing up Sora and Goofy got some pizza from the food reserves. The both of them decided to sit outside the ship while waiting for Donald to show up. However, they didn't have to wait long as Donald showed up rather quickly and walked toward Sora. Sora immediately offered pizza to Donald, but Donald quickly shook his head and bowed to Sora.

"I'm sorry I tried to keep you from interacting with the inhabitants of other worlds. When you didn't listen to me you ended up making good friends and by helping them you made it easier to find what we needed. From now on, so long as it aligns with our mission, I will not keep you from making connections with the world we encounter." Sora just smiled warmly at Donald and simply offered him a pizza slice again. This time Donald smiled back and took the piece and the three of them started eating pizza together. After some time, Chip and Dale were finally done with the upgrades and the trio were done with the pizza. 

"Alright fellas, next stop: Halloween Town!"

"Halloween? As in the Holiday?"

"Holiday? What's a Holiday?" Sora was about to enter the Gummi ship but then looked back at Goofy and Donald in shock.

"You- You guys don't know? Holidays are like a special day where everyone celebrates something... like a party!" Donald and Goofy then looked at each other in confusion, the two of them then walked onto the Gummi ship seeming unimpressed.

"I guess in that case every day at Disney Castle is a Holiday."

"Yeah, no offense Sora but Holidays really don't sound all that special." Sora watched the two in disbelief, Sora then chuckled to himself and followed them onto the ship.

"You guys have no idea what you're missing."

***

At first in the light tunnel things were going well, only basic Heartless Ships appeared, and Sora was able to take them out with ease. Then the dark gray speed blade ships appeared and like last time they were a massive nuisance. 

"I knew those troublemakers would come back! Sora, try to lock onto those ships!" Sora did as Chip asked and tried to keep the Gummi ship's guns aimed at the Heartless Ships. Though Sora kept missing he noticed that only after hovering his aim over the ships once had the screen lock on the Ships.

"Good, you got them! Now press the blue button to fire!" Sora did as Dale instructed, as soon as Sora pressed the button the Gummi ship shot several missiles that locked onto the blade Heartless ships. The missiles instantly destroy the ships, Sora was filled with awe at the sight. 

"Woah! That was awesome, what was that?!"

"Those were magic missiles Sora! With them even the fastest and sturdiest of Heartless ships won't be able to stop us!" As if on cue three big Heartless ships with heavy armor appeared, the first one was in the front and shaped like a shield with only three cannons. The other two were behind and had lots of cannons. The three of them quickly started firing and Sora tried to return fire, but the shield Heartless ships was in the front and absorbing a lot of the damage. In return, the two Heartless ships barraged the Gummi ships every chance they got. The Gummi ship was taking hard damage, but Sora still smiled as he slowly locked on the three Heartless ships the best he could. Thankfully Sora finally managed to get all three ships targeted and fired the missiles. Thankfully the missiles managed to destroy the two heavy ships in the back but the Heartless ship in the front managed to maintain itself. The Shield Heartless ship was heavily damaged but managed to keep flying but rather than continuing to fight, it left the light tunnel. Sora, Donald, and Goofy sighed in relief as the Gummi ship then started flying into the end of the light tunnel.

***

As the Gummi ship landed Sora looked out of the window in excitement hoping to see a small-town celebrating Halloween with lots of decorations and candy. When they celebrated holidays on Destiny Island the adults tried their best to make it spectacular, but it always felt out of place since they were on an island. However, Sora's parents always told him that when he was old enough to leave the island, they could see towns and cities that celebrated grand parties for the holidays. As such now that Sora was in a place called Halloween town, he was expecting such, however at first glance everything looked so creepy and depressing. 

This wasn't exactly what Sora was expecting but like Yuffie said people from different worlds look different and have different lives. Sora thought, maybe the people here just have creepy taste in decor and are actually really fun and awesome to be around. Sora smiled at his optimistic idea and faced Donald and Goofy with determination. 

"Come on guys! Let's go protect this world from the Darkness!"

"Hold up Sora." Sora stopped on Chip and Dales command; Sora looked back at the two of them in confusion because of how afraid the two of them looked. 

"What's wrong guys?"

"Sora there's something off with the dark energy we can detect in this world, it's... stronger, a LOT stronger."

"It's a little more powerful than the one in Agrabah." Sora then looked at Donald and Goofy in fearful confusion. Jafar had an inferiority complex but was a powerful Keyblade Wielder of Darkness, nonetheless. The idea that there was something more powerful in this world would be bad, especially since they only beat Jafar by outsmarting him and pure luck.

"So what should we do?"

"Be cautious, we're not sure but if this dark energy is really coming from the Dark Conduit, then they are not a normal Keyblade Wielder of Darkness. In fact, there's a good chance they are a Lord of Darkness." Donald and Goofy were instantly filled with fear, Sora on the other hand just looked back at them in confusion.

"A Lord of Darkness? What's that?"

"Their bad news Sora, Keyblade Wielders of Darkness can command the Heartless but even their power is nothing compared to the Lords of Darkness."

"The Lords of Darkness are able to fill their bodies with massive amounts of dark energy making them stronger than anything in the world. Even the most hardened and powerful Keyblade Wielders of Light would have trouble fighting just one of them."

"But that's not to say they're invincible, they're just very powerful so if we really have to fight them then be prepared for the worst fight of your life." Sora gripped his keyblade feeling afraid of the idea of having to fight enemies much stronger than any of the Keyblade Wielders of Darkness he fought. However, upon tightening his grip, Sora could feel the power of the Keyblade flowing through him. Sora felt a little disappointed in himself for forgetting the upgrade in power thanks to Merlin. Sora then smiled in determination and faced Donald and Goofy.

"I'm not worried with you guys by my side, besides if there's anything I learned on our adventures together is that the only way we will lose is if we stay down after the bad guys knock us down. So, when they push us down, we'll get right back up!" Sora then put his hand forward, Goofy immediately caught on and placed his hand over Sora's.

"Well said, Sora!" Donald didn't really have anything to say. Normally he would try to have Sora see the harsh reality of life but now he knew better than to do that. Instead, Donald just chuckled and placed his hand over the other two's. On the count of three they all ended up raising their hands high and shouted, All for One and One for All.

***

The three of them then step off the Gummi ship and could feel the Gummi ship covering them with the magical camouflage aura. 

"Huh? That's weird, the magic feels strange this time. Hey, did you guys feel-? aaaAAAAH!" Sora turned back to Goofy and Donald only to see Goofy turned into some kind of Frankenstein like monster and Donald turned into an evil looking mummy. The both of them were looking at themselves in confusion but then looked at one another and screamed. After hearing Sora scream, they looked at him and screamed again while he screamed at them. 

"Wait, Sora? What happened to you?!"

"Me?! What happened to you guys!" Sora pointed at the two of them but by doing so he noticed how his hands now looked more vicious and scarier looking. Sora then started looking at himself and saw his clothes were all black and he even had fangs now. Donald then got out his staff and manifested a large ice mirror and the three of them looked in it to see clearly how they all changed.

"Gosh, we really look scary huh?"

"But why do we look scary?"

"Well, that's just how the Gummi ship works, it's just supposed to make it easier to camouflage into new worlds though I guess when it comes to worlds like this, it has to go the extra mile."

"Does- Does this mean that everyone in town normally looks like this?" Sora was now unsure of actually wanting to go into town, he knew he had to but he really didn't want to. Donald and Goofy looked at each other in concern, Goofy then walked up to Sora and placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. 

"Sora, just because someone looks different doesn't mean they are, and just because someone's scary doesn't mean they're evil. Sure, the heartless are scary but they're evil because they attack the innocent, not because they're scary. Do you think me, and Donald are bad just because we look different from you?" Sora then blushed in embarrassment, he felt ashamed for all the times he thought Donald or Goofy were strange and funny looking and even wanted to laugh at them for it. Granted he stopped doing that but the fact that he never apologized for it made him full of guilt. Sora then shook his head to show he didn't think Donald and Goofy were freaks just because of how they looked.

"... I'm sorry, I didn't realize how bad of a friend I was." Sora then lowered his head to show his shame, Goofy just smiled warmly and gently patted Sora's head. 

"It's ok Sora, so long as you learn."

"Plus, it's not like you were the only one being a bad friend." Donald then walked up to the two of them and patted Sora on the back.

"Now then let's go meet the locals, gotta make those connections, right?" Donald then winked at Sora; Sora then smiled brightly at both of them. 

***

The three of them then finally entered Halloween town however upon doing so they saw that everyone was a scary looking monster. The three of them were scared but knew better than to judge appearances, especially after their talk from earlier. Sora was the first to step forward but was stumbling in fear and accidently bumped into Corpse Mom. Sora was scared still but hoped that after bowing and apologizing he would be shown mercy.

"... oh, aren't you just the kindest and scariest little thing!"

"I- what?"

"Wow you're really scary! So cool! I wanna be scarier like you when I grow up!" Sora then noticed Corpse Kid and blushed while scratching the back of his head due to the strange but genuine compliments. Sora then managed to relax and smile brightly at the two of them as well as wave goodbye as they walked away. Sora then smiled at Goofy and Donald to show them it was ok, Goofy was the first to smile back and walk into town confidently. Donald, on the other hand, was still freaked out and despite how hypocritical it seemed decided to walk away. However Goofy grabbed him before he could take a step back.

"Wow, this place isn't bad at all. I mean, it's pretty scary but apparently here that's a compliment." Donald then quacked loudly as he jumped out of Goofy's grasp and stood by himself.

"Ahem! It's good to know that the people here are nice, however this will lead to a big problem."

"What do you mean, Donald?"

"We'll the people here are scary but so are the Heartless, if the heartless show up now how will we be able to tell the difference between the two?"

"... That kinda rude Donald. Besides, no matter how scary they look, they're nothing like the heartless. I mean look at everyone, they're creepy but nice, even this ghost here. Hello Sir." Sora bowed to a ghost standing in front of him; However, once Sora stood up again he noticed the Heartless emblem on its being.

"... oh no." The Search Ghost Heartless then grabbed Sora by the throat and threw him toward a wall. The impact left Sora dazed, and he ended up falling off the wall and onto the ground face first. Sora raised his head in pain only to see a disappointed Donald standing over him. 

"See what I mean." Sora then pouted at Donald in annoyance.

"This doesn't mean you're right Donald; it just means I need to be more perceptive from now on." Sora then smirked as he saw the Search Ghost approaching Donald.

"And it looks like you should too."

"Huh? What's that supposed to-?" The Search Ghost then grabbed Donald by his tail and swung him in the air only to slam his whole body back on the ground hard. The Search Ghost then tossed Donald over to where Goofy was standing. Donald then looked up to see a disappointed Goofy standing over him.

"He's not wrong Donald."

"... Shut up, Goofy." Goofy just sighed in disappointment as he manifested his shield and walked over to the Search Ghost. Sora tried to get up but only struggled around at best, Sora then laid down in defeat as the Search Ghost approached. Sora huffed in annoyance even with his strength and agility mysteriously getting better after every world he liberated he was still lacking. Sora remembered Tarzan and how he was not only strong but very athletic, especially how he was able to swing from vine to vine so effortlessly. Sora couldn't help but feel envious at the moment, if only he was at the same level as Tarzan. However, to Sora's shock his Keyblade glowed in a gold aura and manifested into the Jungle King Keyblade. Sora was now back to being confused; however, his confusion quickly turned to shock again when out of the keyblade manifested a jungle vine. Like a grappling hook the vine wrapped around the spire at the top of the wall and pulled Sora up allowing him to avoid the slash of the Search Ghost Heartless. 

Goofy tried running at Sora to help him but stopped with a surprised look to see Sora doing just fine and seemingly discovering a new power with his keyblade. The Search Ghost growled in anger and suddenly more Search Ghost as well as Shadow Heartless started manifesting from the darkness. The citizens of Halloween Town looked at the Heartless in confusion only to start panicking when the Heartless started attacking them. Thankfully all the citizens of HalloweenTown got out safely leaving only Sora, Donald, and Goofy to fight off the Heartless.

Sora, who was still hanging onto the wall, looked at the vine, his keyblade manifested with a surprised look. Sora then looked back at the Heartless and smirked at them. By mental command the vine unmanifested and Sora jumped off the wall and landed right in front of a Shadow while slashing it. Sora then ran toward another Shadow and slashed it while kicking a Search Ghost Heartless. The Search Ghost roared at him and tried to slash him back, but Sora managed to jump away in time. Sora smirked at the Search Ghost and used Jungle King Keyblade to manifest a jungle vine that latched onto the Search Ghost. Sora then swung his keyblade around causing the Search Ghost Heartless to be swung in a giant circle. All the other Search Ghost Heartless managed to get out of the way while the Shadow Heartless were hit and pushed into the air. Goofy then swung his shield around to bash the Shadow Heartless as they were falling from the sky. 

Donald manages to get up and sees the Search Ghost Heartless around the area, Donald then casts a fireball at one of them. However, the fireball phases right through Search Ghost as it slowly floated toward him. Donald panicked and tried to run away only for him to be surrounded by the Search Ghost Heartless. Donald was quacking in terror but then remembered a dangerous spell he was working on. Donald then stopped and focused his magical energy into the spell, Donald then cast it and a wall of fire manifested all around him hitting the Search Ghost's directly. The Search Ghosts could not phase for long and thus it didn't take long for them to start burning. However, they proved to be able to take quite a punch as despite being scorched by the magical flames they were still able to float forward. Donald managed to keep his cool since he could see the Search Ghosts being injured. Donald then cast lighting and sure enough this managed to finish off all the Search Ghosts surrounding him. 

Sora finally finished his attack by slamming the Search Ghost hard on the ground. Sora then ran up to the now dazed Search Ghost, Sora wanted to hit the Heartless while it was down to finish it off. Sora then remembered how Hercules managed to beat the Centaur with overwhelming strength and how cool it looked, despite his shortcomings. The Keyblade then glowed in a gold aura and shifted into Olympia Keyblade. Sora then swung at the Search Ghost and to his surprise the Search Ghost went flying into the air and burst, releasing the cursed heart within. Sora watched in awe at the sight, he then looked at his Keyblade and smirked deviously. Sora then started laughing joyfully as he was swinging at the rest of the Search Ghost Heartless making them all fly into the air and burst due to the overwhelming damage. Sora had never felt so strong before, it must have been the Olympia Keyblade, giving him almost as much physical power as Hercules. 

Goofy had just finished shield bashing the last of the Search Ghost Heartless, thankfully at the same time Donald and Sora did. Unfortunately, due to their phasing powers, fighting the Search Ghost Heartless ended up costing a lot of stamina. As such both Donald and Goofy ended up passing out due to exhaustion. Sora on the other hand felt find so he quickly reached into Goofy's bag and got out two healing potions for them. Upon healing them the citizens of Halloween town came out of hiding only to start cheering. Sora quickly helped Donald up; afterwards, the three of them greeted everyone. 

"Huh, so this is what it's like to get recognition."

"Haha! It's Jack!"

"Jack is back!"

"Jack who's Jack?" Just then the gates to the town opened and Jack Skellington drove in on a strange looking vehicle with a large sack filled with lots of stuff. Everyone was so overjoyed that none of them even noticed Sora, Donald, or Goofy. Jack then tells the mayor to announce a town meeting for everyone.

"Gosh these people forgot they were attacked by Heartless rather quickly."

"They probably just thought of the Heartless as thugs rather than monsters since everyone here is... well a monster. Anyways this is good for us, now that everyone's busy again we can search the town and find the Dark Conduit and look for the world's keyhole after taking them down. The best part is that with the town folk busy, there will be no distractions!"

"Uh, Donald." Donald then looked at Goofy in confusion only to see where he was pointing with disappointment. Goofy was pointing at Sora who was following the Halloween town's people. Donald growled in anger at first but then just sighed in annoyance.

"Ugh... maybe I should just enforce the rule of keeping the natural order regardless."

"Don't be too hard on him Donald. Sora may just be a kid, but kids aren't as dumb or weak as most people think they are. Sometimes... you just gotta let them walk by themselves." Donald then noticed Goofy seeming sad, Donald knew this was because Goofy was remembering his son Max and how he wants space from his dad despite Goofy still wanting to be there for him. Donald then sighed and patted his friend on the back.

"Alright I get it. Now come on Goofy, even if we can't stop him, we can at least stay by his side." Goofy smiled and nodded, the two of them then followed Sora as he followed everyone else to see what Jack brought to Halloween town.

***

Sora along with the rest of Halloween Town waited at the town hall in anticipation to see what Jack had in store. Sora was smiling with delight and curiosity, Donald was bored and hoped whatever it was would be quick, Goofy on the other hand was having a friendly conversation with Corpse dad. Finally Jack stepped forward and told them all about his encounters with Christmas Town. Sora then leaned forward as his eyes sparkled with delight, Sora did like Halloween so the fact that there was a town that embodied the holiday was already amazing. However, if there was another town that actually embodied Sora's favorite holiday, Christmas, then that would be a dream come true. 

Jack explained how he walked through a door and into another world. This caught both Donald and Goofy's attention, again they knew nothing about holidays so they figured it was just another town in this world. But Jack blatantly said he walked into another world, and through a door no less. Donald then glared at Jack in suspicion, perhaps Jack was the Dark Lord, if he was then this must be a scheme to convince the people of Halloween town to work for the Dark Army. Donald and Goofy were now on guard, no doubt in their minds that Jack would introduce the Heartless to them and begin their evil conquest. Jack then started singing about Christmas Town and opened the curtains to show a misshaped Christmas tree with lots of ornaments and lots of presents.

Sora was still excited, Goofy sighed in relief, and Donald just sat back down in disappointment knowing they were still making no progress in the mission. Jack then continued his song trying but failing to explain Christmas. The Halloween Town's people kept interrupting Jack thinking that it was all Halloween stuff and not understanding the Christmas stuff at all. Sora on the other hand stood up and not only showed that he understood Christmas and even helped Jack understand the Christmas aspects he didn't understand. Jack then invited Sora on the stage and Sora explained it all with joy and Jack was increasingly happy to learn more about Christmas. Though the people of Halloween Town still didn't get it but were now excited about the idea of Christmas. Goofy was clapping as well, Donald didn't want to at first but figured that since no one got it wasn't a big deal, so he was clapping as well. 

***

Now that the introduction to Christmas was over Sora and Jack were walking back into town joyfully with Donald and Goofy following them. 

"I have to say that the introduction to Christmas was an absolute success. Tell me, what is your name, young boy?"

"I'm Sora! I do love Halloween, but Christmas is awesome!"

"Yes, truly a wondrous experience. Tell me when did you go to Christmas Town?"

"Oh, I never did, I just celebrated it back home."

"Celebrated it? Wait a minute..." Sora was confused but then frozen with fear when he saw Jack Skellington staring at him with skepticism.

"Hm... are you perhaps human, from the human realm? But how, you look exactly like a citizen of Halloween Town?" 

"Uh... Well..." Before Sora could explain anything, suddenly more Heartless started manifesting, a Darkball Heartless and a Wizard Heartless manifested in front of Jack and Sora with several Wight Knight Heartless surrounding the four of them. 

"huh? What is the meaning of this, let us pass!"

"Sorry Jack, but they're not going to listen to us. These are the Heartless!"

"Heartless? I've never heard of such a creature but if their trouble then they'll have to get through me!" Several Wight Knight Heartless screeched in anger and charged at Jack with full intent to shred him into pieces. Jack however jumped up and dodged their claws easily with his flexible skeleton body. Now behind them Jack roared at them to give them a scare, sure enough it worked, and the Wight Knights were paralyzed with fear. Sora took the advantage and slashed at the Wight Knights one by one until the cursed hearts were released. 

"Huh? Weren't those hearts? I thought you said these were Heartless?"

"Well, they are but it's... confusing but trust me when I say these things are not good! Don't hold back on them." Jack still didn't get it but since Sora knew a lot about Christmas Jack was willing to trust him to know enough about the Heartless, so Jack nodded in agreement. Donald and Goofy then backed up Jack while Sora went for the two Heartless that were clearly in charge of the operation. The Wizard Heartless then raised his staff and blasted a fireball at Sora, who only barely managed to dodge the blast. Sora then tried to charge at the Wizard only for it to activate a gravity spell to freeze him in place and accelerate him in the opposite direction, causing Sora to land hard on the Ground. Jack then threw a pumpkin bomb at the Wizard only for it to cast an ice spell destroying the bomb and canceling out the explosion. 

Jack groaned in anger and tried to scare the Wizard Heartless; however, before he could roar the Darkball got in front of him and bit his face. Jack wasn't injured, instead he was annoyed by the Darkball and tried to hit it, but it kept using its phasing and teleporting powers to avoid his attacks. Sora used the increased strength he got from his Olympia Keyblade to force himself up quickly. However, as soon as Sora got up, he was struck with lightning by the Wizard casting a lighting spell. Sora was now getting frustrated, he remembered back in Agrabah how Jafar used a wish to make himself stronger with magic. Sora wished he had a more effective way at fighting against magic attacks. As if on cue, his keyblade glowed in golden light and manifested into the Three Wishes Keyblade. Sora wasn't sure what this meant but still held his keyblade high and pointed it toward the Wizard Heartless. The Wizard Heartless seemingly looked at Sora in confusion but then cast another fire spell casting a barrage of fire at Sora. Sora didn't have time to dodge so he just raised his keyblade in hopes to block the attack the best he could. However, to both Sora's and the Wizard Heartless shock, the spell redirected back toward the Wizard. The Wizard Heartless was now badly burnt but not defeated instead it just fell to the ground.

Jack finally caught the Darkball Heartless and slapped it into the ground disbursing it instantly, however to Sora and Jack's shock no heart was released. Before Sora could ponder, he was scratched in the back by a Wight Knight. Sora grunted in pain but smiled as his Keyblade manifested into Olympia and he slashed the Wight Knight with enough impact to cause it to fly into the air and quickly be destroyed. Sora then saw that Goofy was having trouble with two Wight Knights, both constantly slashing at his shield. Sora smiled as he manifested the Jungle King Keyblade, manifested a vine, and had the vine wrap around one of the Wight Knights. Sora then raised it up causing the Wight Knight to be swung in the air only for Sora to swing it back down, slamming the Wight Knight into the ground and releasing the cursed heart within. 

With the pressure lightened off of Goofy, he quickly bashed the remaining Wight Knight causing it to stagger back away from Goofy. Donald then cast a lightning spell shocking it and finally releasing the cursed heart within. Sora then cheered at their victory, finally feeling like they were gaining an edge over the Dark Army's attacks. Donald looked at Sora, but his expression quickly turned to shock, Donald then suddenly cast a lighting spell at Sora. Sora was confused but quickly raised his arms in a desperate attempt at defense, but the lighting didn't actually hit him. Instead, Sora turned around to see the now fried Wizard Heartless injured beyond repair and fell to the ground as the cursed heart within was released. 

"Marvelous! Terrifyingly Marvelous! You three are extraordinary! I have some experiments to conduct this Christmas, but I couldn't do that with these rude Heartless showing up here and there. Please, won't you protect my beloved town in the meantime." Sora looked at Jack in confusion but then smiled brightly.

"That's actually what we're here for Jack, so you can count on us!"

"Haha! Splendid! I'll get right to it!" Sora then waved at Jack goodbye and stood there with a smile on his face while Goofy and Donald stood beside him. 

"Well, this all ended up working out, you ok with this Donald?" Sora then patted Donald on the head. Donald knew this was Sora's subtle revenge for all the times he lectured him, so Donald just sighed and nodded. Sora giggled a little but then looked back to where the Darkball was destroyed, it was still bugging him that he didn't see any heart leaving the dark body.

"Weird, I wonder why that Darkball Heartless didn't release a heart, was the heart still cursed?"

"No Sora, actually that heartless didn't have an emblem which means it was a pureblood Heartless born from the Darkness in-between worlds."

"Wow, I didn't know there were other variants of Pureblooded Heartless."

"There's not supposed to be, meaning the Dark Army's damage on the multiverse is much worse than we thought. We need to find the Dark Conduit of this world as soon as possible." 

***

At first it seemed like the mission was bound to be quick and painless however a week had passed and there were only minor Heartless attacks everyday but no sign of the Dark Conduit. For the first time since their mission started Sora and Donald were equally frustrated at the fact that the Dark Conduit didn't show themselves. Surprisingly the people of Halloween Town were getting angsty as well, not just because of the Heartless but also because Jack has refused to leave his room. After another victory against the Heartless Sora, Donald, and Goofy were left sitting along the wall of Jack's house. 

"Huh, I thought being here would be fun but for some reason it's so boring. The Heartless are even getting weaker and weaker as time goes on."

"I think that it's actually you getting stronger Sora, or at least I hope that's the case. A-hyuk!"

"Well, I won't lie, this keychain power Merlin unlocked for me is pretty cool, I wonder what new Keyblade I'll get once this world has been liberated... *sigh* if it ever gets liberated."

"Hm, it seems like nobody is making any progress." Sora then looked over to his right to see Sally leaning against the wall looking sad. Sora got up and sat next to her to see if she was alright.

"Uh are you ok?"

"Hm? Oh, you're the boy who knows about Christmas. What was your name again?"

"Oh, I'm Sora, and these are my friends Donald and Goofy. you are?"

"Sally, I'm... well I'm just an experiment of Dr. Finkelstein. I'm nothing special." Sora didn't know Sally but still hearing her say that about herself felt undeserved. Sora met everyone in Halloween Town at least once and therefore he knew everyone here was kind and deserved kindness in return. Nothing told Sora that Sally was an exception.

"Hey, I like your hair, its beautiful and red, I had a good friend who has beautiful red hair like yours. Her name is Kairi and she's very important to me." Sally then raised her head and smiled not only at Sora's compliment but his soft tone when talking about Kairi.

"She sounds lovely, do you like her?" Sora blushed at the question but then smiled shyly and nodded. 

"Hm, that's good, I like Jack but I'm not sure how to help him."

"What do you mean?"

"Even before Jack knew about this Christmas stuff, he felt like he wanted more out of life but could never tell exactly what. I always hoped I would be the one to help him find it. But now he's just trapped in that lab of his, trying to find out what the meaning of Christmas is."

"Well, if there's anything I know about Christmas it's that he's definitely going to have a lot of fun about it."

"I sure hope that's what it is at least, I don't know why but I have a feeling something terrible might happen."

"Eureka!" Sally, Sora, Donald, and Goofy got up and saw Jack who was speaking out from the window of his room.

"Be prepared, Halloween Town, for this year, Christmas... IS OURS! This year Halloween Town will be celebrating Christmas!" Sora couldn't help but get excited at the idea of celebrating Christmas in another world. 

"Haha, wow! Guess there's no reason to worry anymore!" Sally smiled not sure what it all meant but just glad to see at least one thing going right today. She picked a blighted flower and smelled its toxic pollen in delight. However, to both her and Sora's shock the flower suddenly transformed into a tiny Christmas tree only to combust into flames and wither into ashes. 

"What? What was that?"

"I- I don't know... But I have a feeling something really will go wrong very soon, and it might be because of Christmas."

"What? No, that- that can't be true. Christmas is the best and safest holiday... it- it just has to be."

***

More time had passed but now the Heartless were no longer attacking instead Sora, Donald, and Goofy searched Halloween Town for clues while also helping prepare for Christmas. Donald and Goofy didn't like the toys, candy, and decorations because of their scary nature but Sora thought it was ok since he thought the gifts were for the Halloween Town kids. Still in the meantime Sora tried his best to comfort Sally in her growing concern of the upcoming Christmas. Though if Sora was being honest, he was getting concerned too, the last time a Dark Conduit hid himself he set a trap that imprisoned not only Sora, Donald, and Goofy but Tarzan Jane and her dad as well. If the Dark Conduit was planning something similar, then it would really spell doom for Halloween Town. 

After another day had passed with still no Heartless or Dark Conduit in sight. Sora had just finished helping with the decorations at the town center of Halloween Town. At the same time Donald and Goofy came back into town after searching for anything leading to the Dark Conduit. Sora looked at them hoping for answers, only for the two of them to shake their heads. Sora sighed, another day with no progress made. However, Sora was able to smile when he saw Jack in the Santa costume. Sora couldn't help but laugh at how off-putting Jack was in a Santa costume but still covered his mouth to not let it out. Sora then waved happily at Jack and Jack waved back happily at Sora. However, Sora's smile faded when he saw Sally looking even more worried that she usually did. Sira sighed but before he could focus on that anymore the people of Halloween Town started celebrating as Lock, Shock, and Barrel showed up carrying a large bag on a bathtub with feet. Like everyone else Sora walked to the three of them in confusion wondering what was in the bag and how it was moving. 

"Ah! Did you three get him?"

"We sure did Jack!"

"Yup!"

"Here he is! The captured Sandy Claws!"

"... wait what?" The three of them then opened the bag and there was Santa Claus inside the bag. Everyone was horrified by how friendly he looked while Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Sally were horrified by the fact that he was captured at all. 

"wha-?! Jack?! Why is Santa Claus captured like that?!"

"Well Sora, Christmas needs only one Sandy Claws, and it would be very weird if there were two."

"What? I thought you were just celebrating Christmas!"

"I am celebrating Christmas! I'm a holiday spirit Sora, and the best way for a Holiday spirit to celebrate a holiday is to bring a bit of the holiday to the human realm. You see Sora, normally Halloween Town just inspires people to be their scariest for sweets and laughter. However, this year I will celebrate Christmas! which means I'll be the one to bring the gifts to the human realm!"

"You fiend! That is my job! I am Santa Claus!"

"Oh, don't worry my good sir! This year you can be on vacation and leave the Christmas celebration to me! Lock, Shock, and Barrel! Please ensure that Sandy Claws is well taken care of. As for us, we have Christmas to celebrate!" Everyone in Halloween Town started cheering as they were all surrounding Jack, preventing Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Sally from stopping him from taking Santa Claus' hat or from heading to his Halloween sleigh. As everyone else left, Sora fell to his knees out of frustration and sadness. 

"What have I done, I just wanted to help celebrate Christmas. But now Santa Claus has been kidnapped and Jack is going to ruin Christmas!"

"Gosh, this is a disaster! Was Jack really the Dark Conduit after all?"

"I don't think so." Sora, Goofy, and Sally then turned to Donald in confusion.

"If Jack really was the Dark Conduit, he would have captured us as well and put us in the same place as Santa Claus. He didn't though, instead he just went on and is now trying to replace Santa. However, this is still bad. You all saw the toys and candies Jack is going to deliver, if Jack goes through with this it will cause unimaginable chaos! Enough chaos to unleash the endless legion of Heartless onto this Human realm and once that world is destroyed."

"HalloweenTown and Christmas Town will be next as well as all the other Holiday towns!"

"Whoever the Dark Conduit is, if this all goes through, they'll have more than enough power to destroy us with a simple snap of their fingers, then nothing in the multiverse can stop them!"

"Which means Jack is just another pawn in their game! We have to stop him!"

"Don't worry Sora, I have just the thing!" Sally then got out a potion from her bag and showed it to the three of them.

"With this Jack won't be able to leave HalloweenTown! I just need to pour it into a large foundation... ah! The fountain at the center of town, that's perfect!"

"Let's get to it, them!" Sora, Sally, Donald, and Goofy then ran toward the crowd hoping they weren't too late. Jack started getting onto his sleigh, so Sally and Sora sneaked around the crowd while Sally started pouring the potion. Sure enough, as the potion mixed with the fountain it turned into fog so thick it was impossible to see clearly through. Sally was overjoyed while Sora sighed in relief, he was sad to see Jack heartbroken but knew it was all for the greater good. Sora would find a way to apologize later for now they just needed to save Santa Claus and stop the Dark Conduit. Or at least they would if Jack's ghost dog Zero didn't have a nose so bright it could coordinate the skeleton deer's out of the fog and safely fly to the human realm. 

Jack then did his best impersonation of Santa Claus while he and the skeleton deer flew away into the night to celebrate Christmas. Sally, Sora, Donald, and Goofy could only watch in frustration as their plan failed miserably.

"Dang it, just like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer."

"What?"

"It was a funny book I read in Deep Jungle."

"Oh no, now because of Jack those awful Heartless monsters will destroy everything!"

"Don't lose hope yet, Sally! We can still save Santa Claus and therefore Save Christmas!"

"But Sora, we don't even know where he is. Gosh, he could be anywhere and no one but the Dark Conduit would know." Sora huffed in frustration, Goofy was right, if this really was all going according to the Dark Conduit's plan then only they knew where to find Santa Claus. However, Sora then saw at the corner of his eye Shock, Lock, and Barrel in their walking bathtub. Sora then pointed at them to show the other three.

"They're the ones who captured Santa Claus in the first place! If anyone knows where he is, it's them!" Shock, Lock, and Barrel then saw Sally, Sora, Donald, and Goofy looking at them and panicked. The bathtub then started running but Goofy cast an ice spell to keep it from doing so. Shock, Lock, and Barrel then got out and ran away only for Sora to use his increased speed to catch them all and bring them back. 

"You three tell us where Santa Claus is!"

"Oh yeah? what are you gonna do?"

"Yeah, we're just kids! What could you possibly do to us!" Sora stopped to ponder on this, Sora did want to save Santa but hurting kids that looked younger than him felt wrong. However, Donald was not on the same boat and cast a lightning spell on the three of them. The three of them were shocked and left covered in burnt ashes and fell to the ground groaning in pain.

"Tell us where Santa is, you brats!" Lock lazily got up and pointed toward Oogie's manor, a second later he fell right back down.

"Uh Donald, thanks for the info but don't you think that was a little harsh?"

"Of course it was, but we're in a rush. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Sora." Sora and Goofy looked at each other but both just shrugged since it did get results. With time running out the four of them ran to Oogie's manor but were quickly ambushed by Wight Knights, Search Ghosts, and two Gargoyle Heartless.

"Yup, this is definitely the Dark Conduit's hideout."

"Sally stand back, we got this!" Sora expected Sally to listen to him but instead she quickly got out her sewing kit and rearranged the threads attaching her arms. Sally then threw a punch at one of the Wight Knights despite them being too far away from her. However, her arm ended up stretching out and actually punching the Wight Knight, knocking it out.

"Don't worry about me Sora." Sora couldn't help but be in awe of Sally's strange power, he then nodded and smiled as he faced the Heartless with Sally, Donald, and Goofy by his side. Donald then got ready to cast the multi core spell. Sora and Goofy knew it would take him a while to cast the spell, so they defended him while he got it ready. Surprisingly a Wight Knight grabbed two Search Ghost with its large hands and threw them at Goofy. Goofy was not going to let himself get overwhelmed so shocking he threw his shield and it hit one Search Ghost and ricochet into hitting the other. As the two Heartless fell face first on the ground, and Goofy got his shield back Sora ran to them and slashed the two of them until they were destroyed. 

The first Gargoyle screeched in anger as its wings enlarged and sharped, it then flew up only to fly down aiming its wings at Sora to slice him to pieces. Thankfully Donald finished his multi core spell in time and cast it at the Gargoyle. The Gargoyle screeched in pain as it was frozen in ice, burned to a crisp by the fire, then finally incinerated by the lighting allowing three cursed hearts within it to go free. Donald stood proudly but had to dodge when a Wight Knight was only seconds from scratching him. Sora cast a fireball at the Wight Knight and Donald followed up with a lightning spell destroying it instantly. The four remaining Search Ghosts were slowly creeping forward so Goofy charged his shield with magic and rammed right through all four of them making them fly into the air. While in the air, Sora cast fireball at one, Donald did the same to another, and Sally used her arms to punch the last two. All four ended up falling on the ground hard and thus releasing the cursed hearts within as they faded into darkness. 

The second Gargoyle roared but instead of flying it still just stood there and pointed at Sora. This seemingly encouraged the Wight Knights as they were getting ready to charge. Upon charging, Goofy charged back and thus collided with one, Donald cast an ice spell freezing two of them, Sora used his Jungle King Keyblade to bind two together and pull them closer so he could slash them till the cursed hearts were free. Lastly Sally managed to punch one of the last two Wight Knights but the other slashed at the thread causing her arm to fall off. Since he already defeated his Heartless Sora jumped over to help Sally. Sora manifested his Olympia Keyblade and slashed the first Wight Knight to destroy it while it was down while also kicking the second one to gain some space. Now in the clear, Sora tossed Sally her arm back and she quickly stitched it back with new thread. Sally was about to thank Sora but quickly threw a punch at him leaving Sora frozen in shock. However, Sally's arm went past Sora and punched the Wight Knight that was seconds from ambushing him. After Goofy’s shield bashed the two Heartless Donald froze there were no more left except for the Gargoyle. It seemingly screeched but, in a way, to show it was laughing; the Gargoyle then stood up and extended its wings to show it was ready to fight. 

"Uh oh, this one is going to be hard to beat."

"Sorry guys but... you won't have magic to help you this time." Donald then collapsed on the ground as he was out of mana. Goofy then quickly gave him a mana potion to recover faster while he, Sora, and Sally got ready to fight. The Gargoyle flew towards them at surprising speed, so fast they couldn't react in time to stop it. Upon landing in front of them, the Gargoyle quickly slashed its claw's twice at Goofy's shield, nearly knocking him off balance. Unfortunately, the Gargoyle finished it off with a hard kick at Goofy's shield, knocking him to the ground hard. Sally tried to ambush the Gargoyle, but it quickly used its fire breath to graze her with fire forcing her to back off in pain. 

Sora was shocked and angered at the state of things, now he was the only one to face off against the Gargoyle. Before Sora could even prepare the Gargoyle lunged at him trying to overpower him with its size and strength. Sora managed to raise his keyblade to defend in time, but he was still struggling to hold back the Gargoyle's strength. Sora tried several times to push back the Gargoyle but had no success; this was bad, he couldn't attack physically or use magic while his keyblade was being used to shield himself from the Gargoyle. Sora tried to think, the vines of his Jungle King Keyblade wouldn't help, this was a physical attack so not Three Wishes Keyblade either. Perhaps the Olympia Keyblade but this Gargoyle wasn't just strong but fast and could fly, Sora needed more than strength. Sora then remembered he still had the Lady Luck Keyblade, but he had no idea what it did. While struggling, Sora wondered what Lady Luck did, the only thing significant he remembered from Wonderland was how wacky and silly everything was. Besides that, the coolest thing was how Alice grew, perhaps if Sora could grow like she did he could beat the Gargoyle, but Alice used a potion, and Sora didn't have it. However, to Sora's shock the keyblade glowed and turned into the Lady Luck Keyblade. Sure enough afterwards Sora started growing, similar to how Alice grew. 

The Gargoyle was no longer overpowering Sora, instead it was staring up at his enlarged form while shivering in fear. Sora was a little freaked out by his enlarged state but when he saw how small the Gargoyle was now, he smirked and stomped on the Heartless. Sora sighed in relief; he was afraid the battle was going to get dragged out longer but thankfully it was finished quickly. Sora then deactivated the power of Lady Luck and shrunk back to his regular size.

"Don't worry guys, I got the potions." Sora then ran to Goofy, reached into his bag, and got out three healing potions. Goofy and Sally had just enough strength to take the potions and thank Sora while he prepared his own.

"No, no, allow me Sora." The three of them then looked at Donald who managed to recover his mana. Donald then tried to heal the three of them but just made some weeds in front of them grow into flowers. Donald then tried again and again his spell didn't work and just turned more weeds into flowers. Sora and Goofy looked at each other and just started drinking their healing potions despite Donald's annoyance. Sally felt bad for Donald, but she was really hurt by the burns, so she quickly drank it and sure enough she was healed. Donald turned red in anger and looked to Sora and Goofy. Sora scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, while Goofy just shrugged.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Donald." Sora had to cover his mouth to keep himself from giggling. Donald on the other hand started quacking, ran up to Goofy, jumped on his head, and started pulling on his ears in anger. 

***

After Donald cooled off, the four of them managed to sneak into Oogie's Manor. Inside, they saw Oogie rolling his dice to help him decide how he would destroy Santa Claus. 

"Oh no that's Oogie, the most infamous and cruelest monster of all Halloween Town."

"Oogie?"

"Huh?"

"Sora, you know him?"

"... guys what did you say Dark Lords were?"

"Uh, well they're called The Lords of Darkness Sora, and like we said back at the Gummi ship they can fill their bodies with lots of Dark energy making them superior in both physical and magical strength."

"Lots of Keyblade wielders of Light, even Keyblade Masters fell to them during the Keyblade war, why are you asking Sora?" Sora tried to remember where he heard that name before, then it finally came to him. Hey there, Keyblade wielder wannabe! Lord Oogie sends his regards! That was what the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness said to Sora back in Wonderland. Sora was now in a cold sweat out of fear. There was no doubt about it, Sora's suspicions had been confirmed.

"Guys, Oogie isn't just a Dark Conduit he's also a Lord of Darkness." Donald and Goofy looked at Sora in shock, they then looked at Oogie. Now that he knew where to look Donald could see it, Oogie's magical aura was not only through the roof but also full of darkness.  

"How lucky you are little Keyblade Wielder of Light, to be able to make such an accurate assumption. However, you're already too late." Before the four of them could do anything, the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness had already slashed the four of them. The force from the attack forced them to fly out and land hard on the ground in front of Oogie. 

"Well, well, now it really is a party, isn't it? Good work Ludor!"

"I live to serve my Lord." Sora quickly looked up to see the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness. Like the others he couldn't see his face because of the hood, however his keyblade was a lot like Lady Luck except it was black with white outlines of poker clovers, it had a silver ring guard around the handle, and a silver poker clover as a key bit. 

"Hahaha, so you're the brat Sora, huh? baby boy Riku talks about you all the time!" Sora grunted in anger; he was still upset over how Riku was the Champion of Darkness. Moreover, Riku was so convinced that he could beat the Darkness at its own game that he wouldn't even listen to Sora when he tried to convince Riku to help him stop the Darkness.

"Too bad his little plan to convert you to the Dark Army failed! But on the bright side I get to kill you myself! Santa Claus, The Champion of Light, The Head Wizard of Disney Castle, and the Royal Guardsmen! Now that's what I call a jackpot! Your hearts are going to make the most powerful Heartless I ever created, even better than that Trickmaster!" Again, Oogie started laughing but this time Sally threw a punch at him to shut him up. Oogie was surprised at first but then growled in anger.

"Don't forget about the dames, huh? Too bad, all you're doing is raising the stakes and I'm a lucky gambler!" Oogie then threw his dice on the ground, and both landed on six.

"Haha! Midnight, the witching hour! My favorite time, the time of Darkness!" Oogie then unleashed his magical aura of darkness as he started growing and all around his Shadow Heartless started manifesting. The Keyblade Wielder of Darkness then jumped down from the ground to face them as Shadow Heartless manifested around him as well. The situation was not looking good at all, they had to fight a Keyblade Wielder of Darkness, A Lord of Darkness, and an army of Shadow Heartless. Sora was intimidated at first by Oogie's overwhelming size but then remembered his Lady Luck Keyblade. Sora quickly manifested the Keyblade and used its power to grow in size allowing him to meet Oogie at his level. Sora then quickly pushed Oogie out of the Manor and into the open field away from Goofy, Donald, and Sally so he wouldn't crush them. 

"My evil lair! You're going to pay for that punk!" Sora then slashed at Oogie but with his dark aura it seemingly had little to no effect. Oogie started laughing as Sora kept trying to slash at him but was doing barely any damage for Oogie to even notice or care. 

"Hahaha! I can't believe Jafar lost to a twerp like you! All he had to do was unleash his magical aura and he could defeat you. That prideful bastard just couldn't bring himself to use the same magic as the rest of us! Ha, what an idiot!"

"wha- Jafar was a Lord of Darkness?!"

"Ding! Ding! Ding! You win! Yeah, that lousy second best was the weakest of us all for a reason, but then again you only beat him based on pure luck!" Oogie then raised his sack arm and from it manifested a large fist of darkness.

"Luckily for me, I'm the master of luck!" Oogie then rammed his fist on top of Sora, Sora blocked in time, but the force still made his feet dig into the ground. Sora grunted in pain, he wasn't sure what to do, Oogie was seemingly invincible. Though Sora should have seen that coming since Donald did say they were superior in both Physical and Magical power. Then it hit him, magical power, that's when Sora smirked at Oogie for an idea popped in his head.

"Hey this is your magical power, right?"

"Why yes brat, this is my darkness given to me by my benevolent master! Like what you see?"

"Thanks for the info, Jerk!" Sora then switched to the Three Wishes Keyblade which made him back to normal size. However, before Sora started falling Sora slashed at the shadow fist causing it to rebound back at Oogie, hitting him in the face. Oogie grunted in pain while Sora fell to the ground but landed safely. 

"Argh! You little brat!" Oogie used his darkness to manifest four massive dark spears and shot them right toward Sora. Sora then slashed across all four of the spears and like before, the magic redirected right towards Oogie. Again, Oogie grunted in pain as the force from the spears knocked him off balance and made him fall on his back hard. Sora smiled being able to beat him but then looked back to check up on Donald, Goofy, and Sally. They were able to defeat most of the Shadow Heartless, but the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness was a major issue. He was trying to slash Sally to turn her into a Heartless as such Goofy and Donald had to protect her while fighting. Sora tried to run back to help but was stopped by a large spider made of pure Darkness. 

"Where do you think you're going?!" As Oogie got up he manifested two more spiders of Darkness and an even larger Centipede of Darkness. 

"Hahaha, try doing your little tricks with them!" Sora then manifested the Olympia Keyblade and slashed at the spider's leg hoping to make it fly into the air. However, like before it only phased threw, then the spider hit him with its leg causing Sora to be the one flying and fall down hard onto the ground. Should have seen that coming, Sora thought to himself. Sora then got up but was still hurt so he couldn't stand straight. A darkness spider took advantage and tried to strike him down from the back. However, Sora anticipated this and manifested the Three Wishes Keyblade and thus reflected its attack on itself. The shadow spider screeched in pain as its face was scratched by itself. 

"Grrr! You tiny bug!" Oogie tried to stomp on Sora but like before he slashed the attack causing the force to hit Oogie in the stomach instead. The darkness bugs were now enraged and tried to attack Sora all at once. At first Sora was having trouble trying to slash at and dodge all the attacks but quite quickly the darkness bugs were defeated since they were essentially attacking themselves. Oogie was still down while the darkness bugs were gone, Sora used this advantage to run over and help Donald, Goofy, and Sally. 

"Enough!" Just as Sora was close to entering the fight, the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness used a spell to freeze Donald, Goofy, and Sally in time. 

"Finally, now to add this heart to my personal collection." 

"Stay away from her!" Sora manifested the Jungle King Keyblade and out of it manifested several jungle vines. The jungle vines shot out and latched onto the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness; now restrained, Sora swung him away from Sally and toward him. Sora tried to slash at him, but the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness used a spell to slow time, allowing him to dodge Sora's attacks. Sora was confused but shook his head and tried to attack again only each time for the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness to dodge with abnormal speed. It wasn't like he was faster, more like Sora was getting slower. Worst off Sora was getting tired as well, for some reason moving around felt like it took twice as much effort as it normally would. Sora stopped to catch his breath, to which the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness mocked him by doing the "come at me" hand gesture. Sora grunted in anger and tried to cast a fire spell but before he could several darkness tendrils latched onto him and kept him on the ground. 

"Hahaha! What's the matter, little bug? Why so slow?" Sora didn't need to look up to see that Oogie managed to get back up on his feet. This was really bad; Sora's friends were frozen in time, and he was extremely tired with Oogie and the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness surrounding him. Try as he might, Sora didn't have any more ideas, no keyblade, no magic, no attack could get him out of this. 

"Hahaha! Man, as stupid as he was, Jafar was right! We should have just gotten rid of you ourselves from the start! Oh, well guess it doesn't matter since you're going to be squashed now! Ludor, if you'd please." The Keyblade Wielder of Darkness nodded and walked toward Sora with his keyblade ready. Sora kept trying to think of something, anything that could help him get out of this but alas he still had nothing. All Sora could do was cry as Oogie started laughing, after everything Sora went through this was how it all ended, it just wasn't fair. Suddenly two glowing lights seemingly thrown, were flying toward Oogie. Oogie caught then and looked at them to see one was a present and the other was a jack-o-lantern. Oogie just looked in confusion but then, the two exploded with the explosion damaging Oogie even with this magical aura of Darkness. 

Sora was released from his bindings and slashed the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness before he could cast a time freezing spell. Sora now used his freedom to see who threw the bombs and was overjoyed to see not only Jack but also Santa. At the same time the time freeze spell wore off letting Donald, Goofy, and Sally free so they could see Santa and Jack as well. 

"Nice shot Mr. Sandy Claws!"

"Shut it you bone head, I'm still angry with you trying to steal Christmas." Santa Claus then touched his nose and started flying in the air and toward Oogie. Jack sighed and activated a magical fire aura around his body and charged forward. As Jack charged, he ended up hitting the Keyblade Wielder of Darkness before he could get back up. While in the air screaming Sora manifested his Olympia Keyblade and slashed the Keyblade of Darkness again and again. Sora kept doing this, causing him to keep flying in the air until he was finally defeated, and his body disbursed into darkness. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Sally then watched in awe as Santa and Jack displayed their amazing magical power against Oogie. Santa flew to Oogie's head and cast a snowflake themed spell that disrupted Oogie's magical aura of Darkness that was protecting him. Jack then roared at Oogie which caused further damage to his magical aura. 

Sora was in awe at how powerful they were but still, he couldn't just sit by and watch. At the same time there wasn't really much he could do compared to their attacks. However, now that Donald was free and Oogie's magical aura was weakening, Sora got an idea. Sora quickly told Donald his idea and for the first time Sora saw Donald's eyes widen in excitement. Sora smiled as he manifested his Kingdom Keyblade and Donald manifested his staff. The both of them started preparing the multi core spell. Thankfully with the two of them working together it was much easier and the magical orbs were much larger and therefore more powerful. Once they powered up the spell as large as they could they fired it right at Oogie. 

"Jack! Santa! Watch out!" Jack and Santa then backed away from Oogie, Oogie was disoriented but managed to recover only to see three large magical orbs flying right toward him. Thankfully the overwhelming combo of magical energy destroyed his magical aura of darkness leaving Oogie defenseless and weakened. Oogie then started shrinking back to his original size and he was instantly frozen, electrified, and burned. Now Oogie's sack skin was destroyed, and his bugs were left smoldering and melted. However, some bugs did manage to survive and were trying to escape.

"Ah! squash them all! If just one of them escapes, Oogie can be revived!" Everyone then did as Donald said and started squishing as many of the surviving bugs as they could. Eventually it was over with Santa Claus squishing a cricket, Sora smashed a scorpion, and Jack slapped a tarantula back into the fire.

"Ah... we did it! The day is saved!"

"No thanks to you! None of this would have happened if you didn't decide to replace me with your chaotic Halloween themed Christmas!"

"I know Mr. Sandy Claws-"

"Santa Claus."

"Santa Claus, thank you Sora, I promise to never interfere with Christmas again... without getting your permission first!" Jack smiled thinking this was a good idea but was confronted with Santa still glaring at him, Goofy and Donald shaking their heads, and Sally and Sora looking concerned.

"Uh... And I will also accept if... WHEN you say no." Jack then tried to smile while extending a hand to Santa Claus. Santa still looked skeptical and mad but then decided to shake Jack's hand without changing his expression. 

"Good, because I will never say yes to that." Santa then touched his nose again and he flew away. Or at least that would have happened if Sora didn't grab on Santa's arm causing him to stay on the ground.

"Wha?"

"Sora, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Sorry Santa Claus, I didn't mean to do that." Santa Claus looked at Sora in confusion, it was thanks to Santa's magic that he could see through the magical aura surrounding Sora. However, in Santa's eyes Sora was just another kid, or at least that was what he thought before he saw Sora's keyblade. 

"My word, you my dear child, are the Champion of Light! Never thought I would see the day!" 

"Huh? How do you know about that?" Santa then smiled warmly at Sora as if he was reminded of an old and fond memory.

"Tell Merlin, Fairy Godmother, and Yen-Sid I said hi, and that I hope to see them again as fellow veterans of the first Keyblade war." Sora's eyes sparkled in excitement as he was speechless but in awe. Santa Claus was always amazing to Sora because of the holiday of candy and presents. However, the idea that Santa Claus was once a keyblade wielder like him made Sora feel like this was a dream that he never wanted to wake up from. Santa then winked at Sora and touched his nose again and flew away.

"... I bet if I got the chance to tell Riku this, he'd definitely want to change sides."

***

With the chaos diverted and the Dark Conduit defeated, Sora, Sally, Donald, Goofy, and Jack went back to Halloween Town. Now that the Darkness is gone, all Sora needed was to find the world's keyhole and lock it. To everyone's surprise Sora stopped Goofy and Donald from following.

"Sorry Jack but we won't be coming back to Halloween Town, we gotta finish our mission so the Darkness doesn't come back."

"oh, that's alright gentlemen, but I do hope that after you're done with this mission of yours you will see us again, you're always welcome in Halloween Town."

"It's a promise!" Jack and Sally then waved goodbye to Sora, Donald, and Goofy while the trio waved back. 

"So do you guys know where to find the World's Key?"

"Hm, well I'm not sure but I do know a good place to look." Donald then let Sora and Goofy into a deeper area of the woods. After a few minutes they found themselves in a strange area where there were seven large trees, each one had a door. Sora then noticed that in the middle was the world's keyhole. Sora quickly ran to it and locked it, releasing the magical world shield into the sky. 

"Now that's a sight I haven't seen in a long time." Sora was then shocked to see Santa Claus who appeared from behind the Christmas tree door. 

"Santa Claus! But aren't you supposed to be fixing Christmas?"

"Oh, I already fixed that, I'm quite quick at delivering presents and stopping chaos. I've been doing this a long time after all, in fact I only started when I got my own Keyblade." Sora smiled in excitement, not at all noticing the shock on Donald and Goofy's face. 

"As a fellow Keyblade Wielder of Light I couldn't in good conscience leave without granting you one wish."

"A wish? Like a present?"

"Well normally I would Sora but it's difficult, given your status on the list. You see back when you were seven you told everyone you didn't believe in Santa Claus." Sora then lost all of his colors in shock, he remembered that. It was one day when one of the older kids was making fun of Sora for still believing in Santa Claus at seven years old. Sora tried to get him to stop by saying he didn't actually believe, However the bullying only really stopped when Riku beat the older kid up. Still after that day Sora never thought much about Santa Claus after that so he never ended up regretting what he said, or at least he didn't regret it as much as he does now. But then Sora snapped out of it when Santa gently placed his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"But I think an exception can be made for the Champion of Light. Especially if that Champion of Light is a young boy willing to save the multiverse from the Darkness." 

"Uh, thank you Santa but aren't I kinda selfish? I'm only doing this to find my friends."

"And by looking for your friends you free worlds from the darkness. Besides, even if that wasn't required, what's so selfish about wanting to save your friends." Sora looked up to Santa and managed to smile, Santa was right, Sora knew it couldn't be selfish but doubt always flooded his mind for some reason. 

"But if you do want to be selfish then I suggest you do it with this one wish I am offering you." 

"r- really, can it be anything?"

"Well not anything, my magic is grand but limited. I can't defeat the Dark Army if that's what you want. Perhaps wish for something else, like getting your friends back." Sora's eyes widened; this was the second time he got the chance to wish for his friends to be freed from the grasp of the Dark Army. Sora wanted to take the opportunity right away, after all there was no way he would ever get a third chance. However, before he could he had an extremely important question to ask. 

"Santa, can I get Kairi and Riku but also free Riku from being the Champion of Darkness and restore Kiari's heart to normal?" Santa Claus' eyes now widened; he was shocked to hear that Sora's friend was the Champion of Darkness. The idea of such a fate filled Santa with sadness especially with what he had to say next. 

"I am so sorry Sora, like I said my magic is limited, I can't do both, only one or the other." Sora sighed; this wasn't ideal at all. If Sora wished for his friends to be free from the Dark Army, then they would be right here, but Riku would still be the Campion and Kairi would still have her heart drained of its Light. However, if Sora wished for them to be restored and liberated then Riku would no longer be the champion and Kairi would be fixed and awakened but they would both be trapped by the Dark Army. Sora would normally be saddened but instead he smiled warmly at Santa Claus then whispered in his ear. After Sora was done Satna looked at Sora confused for a minute but then smiled, Santa then went to the Christmas door and walked right in. 

"Uh, Sora, what did you wish for?"

"Come on guys! We'll get a better view from the Gummi ship."

***

Now Sora, Donald, and Goofy were back on the Gummi ship but to their confusion Sora asked to fly into the sky without actually leaving. Chip and Dale were confused but did as Sora asked even though nothing was seemingly happening. Then Santa was seen flying through the sky on his sleigh, right over Halloween Town causing the sky to snow. The people of Halloween Town were amazed by the sight and started singing about it while playing in the snow. Sora smiled at how much his wish brought them all, Sora then noticed that Sally and Jack went to the Cemetery while singing their own Song. Sora was confused at first but then blushed and smiled when he saw the two of them kiss. Sora felt like this was probably the best adventure he had yet, it was stressful but so much fun and amazing overall. However, Sora's train of thought was halted when Goofy placed his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Sorry you didn't get your friends back, Sora." Sora was surprised but then smiled back at Goofy.

"It's alright Goofy, I want to save my friends, but I also want to do it the right way. I'll find Riku and Kairi, but I'll wait until it can be done properly. So, until then I'll help stop the Dark Army's invasion of the multiverse as the Champion of Light."

"Well said Sora! Now let's head out!" Sora smiled at Donald and got onto his seat ready for the Gummi ship to launch. The three left the world feeling their mission was completed as perfectly as it possibly could. They were completely unaware of a single centipede form Oogie that managed to escape, carrying his consciousness and rage.

.

Part 8

Part 6

#DZtheNerd #Kingdom Hearts: The Brightest of Hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kingdom hearts fanfic #Kingdom Hearts AU #kingdom hearts sora #kingdom hearts donald #kingdom hearts goofy #Disney #The Nightmare Before Christmas #tim burton #jack skellington #Sally #Santa Claus #Oogie Boogie #disney villains

[fandomficsnstuff]

Witches and Wizards - 7

(Warnings: Some death, a little bit of fluff and character death(Not OC))

Note: I once read parts of a fic where the reader has magic and goes back in time, meeting Merlin. I sadly can’t find it anymore. Also Fred didn’t die in this.

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Ophelia gently knocked before entering the room, her bag over her shoulder and head as she quietly walked inside, giving Gwen a soft smile when she looked up at her. “Lady Bl-”

“Ophelia, please, I don’t like the title, it makes me seem… posh, I guess… I was thinking that maybe you needed rest? I can watch over him… I once worked for-... i-it’s a place called a hospital. A very large physician’s quarters, hundreds of healers and beds for those ill and wounded. I worked there for a few years” Ophelia admitted as she walked a bit closer, Gwen hesitating before sighing, nodding briefly “just a few hours-”

“You’re no use to anyone if you drop dead, Gwen… I tried it, remember? Get some food and sleep, it’s alright” Ophelia stated softly, Gwen nodding with a soft smile, leaving the room, Ophelia sighing as she approached Uther, sitting down at his bedside, a look of indifference on her face. “I haven’t been here very long… but the things I’ve heard about you…” Ophelia shook her head slightly, her face briefly pulling up in disgust at the dying man before her. “What you’ve done to people… I may be a Black, but like my dad and uncle, I know that people’s blood can never be who they are, I know that some people are born into whatever family but that doesn’t mean that they’re not good people. You’ve murdered men, women, elderly people and children, for what? For something they never asked for? Probably never used?...” Ophelia muttered with disgust, once again shaking her head at him. “I hope you can hear me, I really do, because no one seems to have ever spoken out against you. Your son made me an advisor but like you he never seems to think of me more than just someone who floats around in the corridors. Why? Because I’m a woman? Or did Arthur figure my mum wasn’t wealthy? Would you consider me ‘tainted’?... Your son is a good man, I can only hope and pray he wouldn’t execute children for a gift they never wanted or asked for” Ophelia stated in an indifferent voice, staring down at Uther for a while longer before turning and walking over to a chair, pulling it to the bed and sitting down, unaware that Merlin had come to find her to tell her that he was leaving with Arthur, a frown on his brows as he listened to her spiteful words, hesitating to step out from the dark so she could see him.

“You’re a horrible man, from all that I’ve heard, Uther… and yet… you have a son who knows right from wrong, even though he doesn’t seem to care much for my advice… I suppose it’s a good thing, not needing an advisor, it means there’s peace… a peace your son achieved, your son who is brave, strong, stupid as blood hell… your son who knows that mercy is never a weakness and that people are just that. People… that means there must be some sort of good in you…” she murmured, wondering out loud with a genuine frown on her brows as she watched him. “I hope you’re proud of him, Uther… where I’m from he’d-... he’d belong amongst a group of people… those who know right from wrong and have courage… he’d wear the colours of Gryffindor well… he is already, actually…” she added quietly, gently shaking her head and sighing, looking down “not that any of it matters… I’m really just here to make sure you won’t die while Gwen is actually getting some rest instead of watching over you day and night for Arthur’s sake… and I still hope you get better… for Arthur’s sake, even though he’s a twat at times…” Ophelia added quietly.

Merlin hesitantly entered the room, Ophelia looking up at him, her eyes wide in shock, as though she had hoped she would be alone and was embarrassed that she wasn’t. “Merlin-”

“It’s alright” he stated softly with a smile, Ophelia hesitantly looking at Uther before getting up, taking slow steps towards him. “Arthur and I are going to ride out to find someone… a wizard…” he whispered, looking at Uther and Ophelia understood, gently taking his arm and leading him across the room so they could speak somewhat freely without the fear of Uther hearing it. “A wizard??”

“It’ll be me-”

“WHAT?!” Ophelia snapped, Merlin shushing her briefly “it’s alright, he won’t recognise me, I’ll be an old man-”

“You’re not drinking an Ageing Potion, Merlin, last time I saw that happen two fourteen year olds turned into white-haired, bearded, elderly men!”

“That’s the point-”

“Merlin’s Beard, Merlin!” Ophelia hissed quietly, Merlin unable to stop grinning “you’ve really gotta stop saying that around people” he half-joked, Ophelia staring at him for a few seconds before scoffing, a smile on her lips and she tried to hide it, a laugh bubbling in her chest and she began to chuckle, Merlin joining in and she nodded. “Take care, Merlin… I’ve lost enough friends in my life, I don’t want to lose you too” she murmured before almost reluctantly taking a step back, turning and walking back to a still unconscious Uther, giving Merlin a tiny smile before looking back at Uther as Merlin left.

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Ophelia was sitting near Gaius, reading one of her old Herbology books when Merlin burst through the door and hurried up some stairs, Ophelia listening to him and Gaius as they talked and when there was finally a pause, she just smirked a little “I half expected you to have long grey hair” she teased out loud, not looking up from her book as she heard a brief yet soft scoff “white, thank you very much” Merlin mumbled, Ophelia smirking even more as she continued to read. As Merlin hurried off to his room, Ophelia gently closed her book, looking up at Gaius before standing up and walking over to Merlin’s door, gently knocking before walking inside, Merlin looking up at her with slight confusion, Ophelia sitting down on the bed not far from where he was sitting with crossed legs and books splayed all around him, her eyes on the floor instead of on him and it only concerned him more to see her like this, serious and silent. “This means a lot to you?” she asked softly, looking up at Merlin who nodded, swallowing thickly “if this goes right, we don’t have to live in secret, Ophelia… we don’t have to hide who and what we are” he answered softly, Ophelia’s eyes filling with tears and she nodded, sighing, wiping away the tears before looking back at him “I might know a potion, if your magic somehow won’t work or it doesn’t work well enough” she admitted before sighing, standing up and walking out of the room without another word, heading for her own room to dig through her potions kit.

It was evening when Merlin hurried to her room, it wasn’t dark out, but it wasn’t far behind either. He burst through the doors without announcement, quickly closing the doors, hurrying over to Ophelia who stood over a cauldron that was bubbling and sizzling with a green liquid inside. “What-”

“Ageing Potion…” she mumbled, a frown on her brows and she looked genuinely concerned. “Did you brew it right?” Merlin spat out, only realising afterwards it sounded like he knew better than her and didn’t think she was capable of making it correctly, but she just nodded instead, clearly not thinking as much of it as he did. “I did, I just-... never-... I’ve never tried it before… I don’t know how long it’ll last, I know it’s not permanent, and I know the more I drink, the more I’ll age, I just-... it could take a while before it wore off” Ophelia admitted before waving her wand, the liquid flying into a small vial that Ophelia took, putting a cork in it, holding down on it as she shook the potion a little, the liquid flying around in the small glass vial, mixing together with itself. “So… I’m only going to be there as-... backup, sort of, I’ll make sure my eyes will be a different colour, my hair will be white so that’s no problem” she stated nervously before moving over to a drawer, pulling it out and revealing a long, black robe with a large hood, the sleeves a little longer than her arms and the robe stopped just before it’d hit the ground. Ophelia sighed heavily, her fingers gently running over a crest on the right side of the robe by the chest area, Merlin frowning as he saw the crest with an eagle and the blue and silver colours Ophelia seemed so fond of, ‘Ravenclaw’ written in a banner under the crest itself. “So… what’s the plan?” Ophelia asked quietly, looking up at Merlin who frowned a little but ultimately shared the details of the plan, down to the last detail.

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Ophelia nervously chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for Merlin to be done with his ageing spell, which still shocked her, that he was able to do it without the help of a potion. Deciding to just rip off the bandaid, she pulled out the cork and drank half the liquid in the vial, already feeling her body change and when she heard footsteps, she turned, horrified at first until she saw his eyes, a nervous smile forming on her lips “well? Do I look old enough to be an ancient witch?” she asked nervously, the elderly man - no - the ANCIENT man grinning at her as he wobbled closer “you look-... beautiful” he murmured as if in a trance, his eyes locked on hers and she blushed a little at the thought that it was her eyes he saw, not her wrinkly, old skin, Ophelia letting out a nervous chuckle before looking down at her only slightly wrinkly hands “not old enough then” she murmured jokingly, taking another large sip and she winced at the pain in her back, her hand moving to lay over her spine when she heard the old Merlin cackle a little “you’ll get used to that” he murmured, Ophelia smiling at him, she felt tired, weak, sore all over and she hadn’t done anything but standing. She waved her wand and her eyes turned a deep brown, her wand hidden in the inside of her robe, the Ravenclaw sigil hidden from sight, every trace of colour turned black for now. Ophelia nervously looked at Merlin before nodding “here we go” she mumbled, frowning a little at how… old she sounded, following after Merlin, wobbling only a little less than him, the two of them sneaking in and appearing behind Arthur himself. As Arthur turned, he had a sentence waiting on his tongue when it died out, his eyes landing on an elderly woman at the old man’s side. “Who is this?”

Ophelia internally panicked, looking at Merlin who was clearly trying to come up with an excuse. “This is… my… wife!... Ephelda…” Merlin spouted out, Ophelia nervously smiling at Arthur, taking a weak step forward, stretching out her hand, internally cringing when Arthur hesitantly took it and placed a hesitant kiss on her wrinkled skin when all she wanted was a handshake. “My husband told me of your promise. I wanted to see if you were truthful” she got out with a soft, croaky voice, Arthur glancing between the two of them with a sceptical look but eventually he nodded. “We must hurry” he turned to hurry away, Ophelia, or Ephelda as he thought it was, about to follow him when Merlin stopped her “hey! I am led to believe that the King’s Palace is that way” he sneered, gesturing to the palace itself, Arthur looking at him with slight annoyance “I can hardly be seen walking through the main gate with a known sorcerer, let alone his wife as well” Arthur rationalised, Merlin gasping “so you are already going back on your word?! You promised me that my wife and I would not have to live in fear!”

“Mer- Mmmy husband… you have yet to heal the king, follow the prince instead of croaking and moaning about it” Ophelia, or Ephelda, scolded, her shoulders still haunched as she wobbled towards Arthur “now come on, you oaf” she called, Arthur unable to not smile at Ephelda, Ophelia trying to hide her smile “don’t mind him, old oaf, always bickering, always complaining” she squealed, holding up the appearance of an old wife as Merlin grumbled while walking after them. “I swear, I should have married Torfaen down the road, never complained, that one, always did his work” she continued, trying to hide her amusement, remembering how her grandmother used to talk about her first husband, the one before her grandfather. “But what can you do? We love who we love, even if they are pig-headed oafs-”

“I heard that!”

“I know” Ephelda quipped back, a smirk on Ophelia’s lips as she looked over her shoulder at Merlin “dear wife, perhaps you should have stayed home after all?” Merlin tried with slight annoyance, Ophelia turning to smirk at him “nonsense, dear husband, now come on” she urged in a softer voice, giggling lightly as Merlin caught up with them. “Is this really as fast as you can both walk?” Arthur asked with slight annoyance, Ophelia rolling her eyes as she took a small break by the edge of a wall, holding onto it and placing a hand on her hip, Merlin scowling at Arthur “when you are as old as us, we will see how fast you can walk” he sneered before turning to Ophelia as she began to walk again “just the old hip, dear” Ephelda muttered casually, Merlin grunting “told you you shouldn’t have come-”

“Are we really starting this again?”

“Can you two please be quie-”

“You dare interrupt my dear wife?!” Merlin sneered, Arthur sighing in frustration, keeping his mouth shut as Merlin helped Ophelia walk. “Think I drank too much of the potion” she whispered with a scoff to Merlin before forcing herself to pick up the pace again. “Can you two really not walk fa-”

“Then perhaps you should carry my dear wife? Her knees aren’t what they used to be” Merlin sneered, Arthur frowning “I thought it was her hip?”

“It’s my everything” Ephelda mumbled bitterly, both Ophelia and Merlin shocked to see Arthur bend down, ready to carry her on his back and Ophelia couldn’t help but grin at Merlin, the two of them breaking character while Arthur couldn’t see it, Merlin eagerly urging her silently to get on and she did, making a big show out of groaning and mumbling about her ‘old hip and knees’, her feet gently kicking Arthur as though he was a horse. “What are you waiting for? Your father is dying” Merlin sneered before Arthur could say anything, the prince rolling his eyes and Ophelia and Merlin shared a quick glance of amusement as Arthur continued once more. Ophelia subtle got out her wand, pointing it at Merlin as he walked behind “Wingardium Leviosa” suddenly Merlin was lifted from the ground, his eyes wide in shock but Ophelia just smirked at him, Merlin grinning and before Arthur could question the lack of sound, Ophelia kicked him again “a young man like you should have no trouble with carrying an old crone like me, now come on!” she urged, Arthur doing as told as Merlin just accepted the fact that he was literally floating after them.

Ophelia was waiting around the corner with Merlin, the two of them trying to remain quiet as Arthur dismissed the guards “what was that?”

“Levitation, now shh” she whispered with excitement, Merlin smirking at her, following after her as Arthur cleared his throat, the two of them popping out from around the corner.

Ophelia watched as Merlin let the drops drip into Uther’s mouth, her heart racing and as Merlin picked up the herbs but before he could light them, Arthur stopped him. “Wait!”

“Is something wrong?” Merlin asked gently, Arthur looking like he was torn between two worlds, both of whom he felt like he needed to trust. “My father has taught me to never trust magic, and now I’m using it to save him…” he muttered, Ophelia nervously glancing at Merlin before gently placing a hand on Arthur who looked at her “magic has saved your life more times than you know. It’s all around us. It is not good, it is not evil. Magic is as natural as the trees. The trees can be used to build houses and homes, but it can also be used to make arrows that kill, but it is never the trees’ fault for what they’re used for. You do not blame the knife that was used by a person who stabbed another… not all sorcerers are terrible people, in fact only a handful are. One bad apple spoils the bunch. My-... my husband and I can only hope, pray, that one day… you’ll see us in a different light… you’ll see us for who we really are” Ephelda spoke softly and gently, Arthur watching her with tears in his eyes before nodding, removing his hands from Uther’s body and giving a nod to Merlin, Ophelia softly retracting her hand and giving a brief nod to Merlin who began the spell.

Ophelia watched with bated breath, trying not to seem as nervous as she truly was. She flinched when Uther woke up, her feet slowly taking her from the foot of the bed to stand beside Merlin, joy clear on her face as Uther and Arthur saw each other, spoke words, although there were only two words that they each truly said. And then it happened. Uther frowned, groaned, his eyes wide as though he was in so much pain that he couldn’t even make a sound, Ophelia’s eyes wide as she stared at him, his last breath leaving him and instantly she gently pushed Merlin aside to lean down and examine him “He’s-... he’s dead” Ophelia admitted with shock, looking over her shoulder at a shocked Merlin. “What did the two of you do?! What have you done?!”

“It wasn’t us! Why would we risk everything, our lives, if we didn’t want this to work?! You promised us freedom and safety, and we came here, willingly, unarmed and unguarded, to what? Kill Uther? If we wanted him dead we wouldn’t have put ourselves at such risk!” Ephelda snapped, Ophelia’s eyes filled with confusion as she looked Uther over, her brows furrowing as she hesitantly reached for something under his tunic, her head tilted, but before she could inspect further, Arthur began to shout and yell “YOU KILLED HIM! You’ll both die for what you did!” Before the sword could touch either of them, Arthur flew back, Ophelia eyes wide and while Arthur was down she grabbed whatever it was around Uther’s neck, ripping it off and quickly hiding it in the same inner pocket as her wand. Ophelia instantly grabbed a shocked Merlin, apparating out of the room and behind a wall just outside, Merlin quickly drinking his potion, offering some to Ophelia but she just shook her head, making him drink it all instead. “Don’t you dare get caught, I’ll be in my room” Ophelia ordered softly, Merlin nodding as he slowly changed back, Ophelia digging through her pocket, finding the necklace she ripped off and handing it to Merlin “this was around his neck, hidden under his clothes” she informed and the second they were no longer touching, she apparated, disappearing on the spot, ending up in her room, waving her wand to close the blinds and lock the doors.

#Merlin #Merlin x OC #Merlin x Ophelia #Ophelia Black #Merlin BBC #Merlin the show #Hp #Merlin fic #Harry Potter fic

[virgils-posts]

Merlin Beauty and the Beast AU

Okay but imagine Beauty and the Beast type AU but like... different.

- The Noble, Merlin (because I said so but could really be anyone you want), was still cursed, obviously, but not because he was an ass, or disrespectful, or anything like that.

- Like say that it's like a lineage thing, because one of his ancestors was an ass and so the magic user did the whole "I curse you and any child (because they aren't sexist and so the men and women of the family have to deal with the curse) in your lineage that once they come of age, like 18, they will turn into a "beast" and it can only be broken by true love." Or some bullshit along that line.

- And in alignment with him being a dragon lord he gets wings, horns, claws, scales, a tail, and his skin looks a little bit like it might be metallic, having a grayish tint to it, but not quiet shinny, like no twilight vampire bullshit.

- And by the time he's 18 he already has his own business and is quiet successful and has quiet a few people trying to court him, but then at his 18th birthday his curse activates and everyone screams and runs calling him a monster. (And this is even when people had already shit talked him because of the magic) So after that most of his staff quiet (except Gwaine, the gardener. Percival, who is Gwaine's partner, who is the cook. Leon who is pretty much Merlin's secretary and becomes the new face of his company after the curse takes place. And Gaius who is his family doctor who pretty much raised Merlin because i said so) and so this causes the problem that he needs more hands because it's a big manor for just 5 people to live in and take care of so enter "Beauty".

- And "Beauty", instead of being simply a bookworm, which he still is, he is also someone who is like super strong and works the field or something (I'm imagining it as Lancelot but it could once again be anyone you want) but work has been slow and his family needs more money because it'll be winter soon and their crop didn't do great this year or something.

- So then Lance is looking for more work and hear this rumor about some Noble who is looking for workers, but the thing is no one has see the Noble in years and the people who work there swear that the house is "haunted" and the lord of the house must be "evil" because the curse was sudden and no one got an explanation.

- And Lance is apprehensive but he still needs money and it's not a bad deal I mean there's food and it has living courters on the land, and yea that means that Lance wouldn't be able to see his family all the time anymore he's sure he can get off time, and so he sets off.

- And when he gets there the place looks like it really might be haunted (because the garden is big and don't be mean to Gwaine he’s trying his best okay) so Lance is like "maybe it is haunted and I should just go home,” but then it starts like pouring rain so he's like "guess I'm going inside then".

- This part is a little more like the original "Beauty and the Beast" and he knocks, doesn't get an answer, and enters without permission because no one answered but the door opens itself. (Merlin had enchanted the house to make things a little easier since there were no servants and he didn't have enough time to clean the whole manor and he couldn't ask the others to do it because they already had jobs) and so the house let's him in but Leon thinks he's trespassing and puts him in the dungeon.

- So then it's like the next day or whatever and Leon comes down to the dungeon and is like "I'm going to take you to Merlin so he can judge you for your transgressions"

- And poor Lance doesn't know what's going on he just wanted a job. And Merlin is sit in his dark unlit office (cuz he can see in the dark and doesn't want to scare the last few friends he has even when they insist that he isn't actually that scary it just takes time to get used to it) unaware of what's going on just hears a knock on his door not bothering to look up just tells Leon to come in. (They all knock different. Leon's is two heavy knocks. Percival's is just a single quiet one. Gaius usually knocks twice in quick succession. And Gwaine just forgoes knocking all together and just barges in)

- And so when Merlin actually looks up from his paperwork and sees that there is someone with Leon he gets tense and sits up straighter trying to make himself look more presentable before his eyes flash gold and suddenly the large curtains behind him open and let the early morning sun in and a few candles around the room light. And Lance tenses his eyes widening in slight fear cause, holy shit this dude has wings and horns and shit and that's not normal.

- So Merlin just looks at Leon and tells him to explain ignoring the way that Lance looks like he fears for his life, like Merlin might eat him.

- And Leon just says that he caught him trespassing in the house the night before making Merlin raise a brow and look to Lance causing him to snap out of his fear and explain, "I didn't mean to trespass, the rain just suddenly started pouring and the door opened on its own when i knocked." And "I'm actually he to try and get a job" and Merlin instantly tells Leon to take the cuffs off and then represents him because, "you're supposed to listen to people before you just throw them in the dungeon" and "I'm so sorry for the confusion and if you still wanted that job please come work for me because there's only five of us here and one of us is so old he might as well be a mummy."

- And so Lance agrees.

- For a while after he starts working there Merlin just straight up avoids him exept when they’re having dinner (he'd scared him and made him uncomfortable after all, but it would also be rude to let Percival’s cooking get cold) but Lance befriends the others fairly quickly.

- After Leon apologized for locking him in the dungeons Lance quickly forgives him saying that, “Your actions were understandable and I probably would’ve done the same,” and at first it’s a little awkward but they quickly fall into a rhythm where they can easily work together and make jokes on their off time.

-With Percival they are instantly friends. Like as soon as Percy sees him when he comes by the kitchen to offer his help with dinner, or whatever he was doing, he just is like, “I like you. You can come help in the kitchen whenever you want.” And so Percy and Lance will cook together and go for nature walks together all the time, Gwaine sometimes joining them.  (Percy likes to pick up rocks and plants that he thinks are cool and he’ll bring them back to Merlin for his horde because Merlin’s horde is more about sentiment then value) 

- Speaking of Gwaine Lance helps him in the garden a lot. And at first Gwaine doesn’t like this guy cause he’s Merlin’s best friend so of course Merlin told Gwaine about how he was going to be avoid the new guy cause he didn’t want to “scare him again or make him uncomfortable again.” But eventually after being there for like two weeks Lance gets tired of the glares and Gwaine mumbling under his breath so he walks up to him and is like, “What’s your problem with me” and then Gwaine tells him about how “I haven’t been able to work in the garden with Merls lately because Lancelot was there and Merlin was avoiding him,” and then Lance is confused because why would the lord of the mansion be avoiding a servant instead of firing the servant, and so Gwaine explains that, “Merls would never kick out someone whom he could help” and that “They needed help around the manor so they couldn’t really afford to fire him even if they wanted,” and so Lance explains that he’d just been surprised and that he wanted to try to be on at least speaking terms with Merlin so after that Gwaine quickly agrees to help him.

- And so that’s how it goes for about a month or so of him being there. Merlin will avoid Lance whenever he doesn’t have to be near him. Until Gwaine literally locks them in Merlin’s office so that they are forced to talk and Merlin very quickly falls in love with Lance but he doesn’t say anything cause he still thinks he’s a monster no matter how many times Gaius says he isn’t.

- And then like two weeks after Merlin and Lance become friends and like the day after Merlin realizes that “Holy shit I think I might love this man.” it’s time to have guests over for a business meeting that doubles as just a little hangout with his friends and he has to talk to Lance and explain everything. “While they’re here you have to wear a suit and look presentable.” 

- And Arthur and Gwen show up earlier then they were supposed to so Merlin brings them to the library, and like 30 minutes later the door opens and in walks Lance and okay wow Merlin can’t focus on whatever Gwen and Arthur are saying because Lance looks good in a suit and it is so distracting and in this Arthur isn’t fucking blind and notices right away so he just subtly is like, “Oh Gwen we should dance” and Gwen is like “But it would be rude to leave Merlin with no one to dance with.” and Gwaine is already asking Percy to dance with him and Leon isn’t in the room but Lance is and he just smiles and looks at Merlin and asks to dance with him. 

- So they dance and Merlin and Lance just forget about everyone else in the room looking into each other’s eyes. At one point Percy and Gwen pull their respective partner’s out of the room to give the other two privacy, not that they really notice.

- And so after dancing for a while Merlin glances over Lance’s shoulder and realizes that, “shit the others are gone and probably had been for a while” but he also doesn’t want to stop being this close to another person but Lance had already noticed a while ago and also hadn’t wanted to stop and tells Merlin as much and so they dance together until their feet hurt and then they kinda just sit next to each other by the hearth.

- And then Merlin starts kinda awkwardly courting Lance because he wants to do this right but he doesn’t really know what to get Lance cause he knows that Lance doesn’t want any money that he hasn’t earned and when Merlin gets him flowers or plants he just plants them in Merlin’s garden so this goes on for a while where it seems that Lance just doesn’t want to be courted but Merlin refuses to give up without at least saying how he feels to Lance once so he invites Lance to a dinner with just the two of them and then after they eat before Merlin can work up the courage to tell him how he feels Lance suggests that they go for a walk in the garden. 

- And while they’re walking through the garden Lance stops at a section where Lance planted all the plants that Merlin had given him and Lancelot explains that, “I wanted all of them to be in one place and to last for as long as possible because you gave them to me and think that I might I love you” and Merlin just smiles looking a little bashful because, “I thought that you didn’t want to be with me because you kept putting them in the garden.”

- And Lance just smiles grabbing Merlin’s face to make him look at him, “Merlin I love everything you give me and I’m happy that you wanted to give me something that you knew I would enjoy and I wanted it to last as long as possible” and Merlin just smiles, “I think I might love you to” and then they kiss and it’s short and sweet and Merlin’s curse breaks, and then they live happily ever after.

Please add to this. I would love to read any add ons.

#Merlin #Merlot #Lancelot #bbc merlin #Pergwaine #Percival #Gwaine #Athur #Gwen #Gaius #Arthur x Gwen

[perexcri]

For the fanfic thing, please

2, 3 and 11 for To Hell and Back

4, 9, 13, and 15 a flower that resembles you

If that’s too many you can veto what you don’t wanna do☺️

I hope you are doing wonderfully, Perc!!

hi Vee!! i love all of these so i'm gonna answer them but put them under the cut because i don't know how to answer things succinctly lol

first off: To Hell and Back Again :D

2: What scene did you first put down?

basically Chapter 6: Castle!! i originally just wrote a one shot that was this chapter (with some parts that ended up in chapter 5 as well), and after a few weeks i started trying to turn it into the story that it became

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

i honestly do not know? i remember this one less for the actual writing than i do the plot and characters, so i had to dig around a little, but i did find one line i think about fairly often:

Opening his mouth, Mike tries to get the words out–any words–but they won't come. They tangle in his throat, and his own tears pool in his eyes instead. Against the burning aches in his joints, how the backpack still digs into his shoulders, Mike reaches out on his own. He takes his bloodied, cut hand and presses it to Will's cheek, just to feel the pain and know it's real.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

first of all, i’m just glad i finished a long/time-consuming creative project T_T i hadn’t done one in so long and i always feel awful because i constantly start things and never finish them, but writing this helped me prove to myself that i can actually complete long projects

i also really like that i took my own spin on the apocalypse byler concept. i know it ended up definitely taking a more serious/angsty turn about halfway through, but i like that i tried to approach them getting stuck in the upside down with a more humorous lens. when i first wanted to do an apocalypse byler fic, i tried to think of ways i could make the concept more fun for me, and i’m happy with what i ended up with :D

now: A Flower That Resembles You

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue? 

ooooh okay so my favorite line of dialogue is actually from the last chapter for the whole fic (which i already wrote because i was in dire need of some serotonin in church one day lol). so!! i can’t post it, but i’ll take this one from tonight’s update instead :D

“Do you hear it?” Mike asked in the silence of the dark one night. Just a few minutes earlier, the bells had chimed for midnight.

“Hm?” Will groaned into his half of the pillow, cheek squished up against one of his eyes.

Mike shifted a little, just enough that Will could tell he was craning his neck, trying to get a good look at him. “The sea. You can hear the waves in the distance.”

(it’s a few lines of dialogue but let’s just pretend it counts lol)

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic? 

not of this fic specifically, but like my last a/n said, there’s a lot of the world-building that i’m borrowing from an original story i’ve had sitting in my brain for like 8 years now!! the biggest difference between this fic and my original idea is that my original idea took place in a more industrialized city - think the industrializing north in the US during the like 1870s-1890s. if i ever get to working on it some more, i definitely want to keep that industrialized setting!! i opted for the kind of medieval/fantasy setting here because i thought it would work better with the characters (and give me an excuse to draw from my many hours of watching Merlin lol)

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading? 

ahhh i love music questions!! ok so i have the playlist for this fic, of course, but i listen to the full version that i have on private on my account right now. i listen to the whole thing about once a day while i’m at work, just to keep the vibes in my head so it’s easier to write!!

i do mainly remember/classify my fics by what albums and artists i listened to a lot while working on them (even if they do have an official playlist that goes with them). so, in my head, i classify this fic mainly as a Dance Fever, Get Behind Me Satan, and Love Yourself: Tear fic! Dance Fever for the vibes and religious undertones, Get Behind Me Satan because the entire album is centered around truth, and Love Yourself: Tear because that’s the album that The Truth Untold (the song this fic is based off of) is from :D

15: What did you learn from writing this fic? 

i’ve learned a lot about perseverance T_T i hit a point a few weeks ago where i was seriously considering dropping this idea for a while (for lots of reasons not wholly related to the story itself, but still). i’ve been stuck on it for a while and keep worrying i’m not gonna be able to tie it all together, but it’s a story i really want to tell, and convincing myself to finish it solely for that reason has helped me find a bit more joy in actually working on it (even if i am regularly banging my head on my keyboard trying to get from point a to point b)

AHHHHHH apologies for it being so long, but thank you so much for the questions Vee!! i loved getting to answer them :] 💜💜💜

#ask

[czenzo]

On the Hunt – Chapter I

[ao3] chapter links: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

summary: After Simon gets bitten in an unfortunate run-in with a werewolf, he and Penny desperately search for a cure before the upcoming full moon can force him to undergo an excruciating transformation. Lycanthropy comes with many other side effects, however – and not only is Simon soon to experience them, but Baz will surely be dragged into the mess, too.

words: 1685 rating: M

note: it's funny how my brain can only provide me with multi-chap fic ideas when I'm procrastinating something. sorry to the half-written essay that had to watch as I churned this baby out in one sitting!

BAZ

It’s a little after eleven p.m. when Snow shows up at our room covered in blood.

He stumbles inside, a complete and utter mess. It’s awful timing, because I was just about to make a really good point in my essay on 1930s Magickal History before the door slammed open and I lost my train of thought.

“Baz,” he says.

“Snow,” I reply, and then the thick scent of the blood makes my fangs pop. It’s Simon’s; I can tell straight away. My mouth is uncomfortably full as I turn with a grimace and say, “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Wolf,” he pants, and I hear him stumble over to his bed as I take deep breaths and practically beg for my fangs to retract – I know Snow is already fully aware of my vampirism, but I’m not giving him the damn satisfaction of getting solid proof.

He’s probably a bit too preoccupied to notice either way, though.

I slowly turn around in my chair to find him sprawled out on his bed, chest heaving. I scan the length of his body to find the source of the blood, and the second my eyes fall on the wound, I wonder how the hell I hadn’t spotted it before – it’s a bloody nasty sight (pun unintended). Beneath where Snow’s hand clutches at the torn fabric at his waist is a very obvious bite mark, surrounded by a plethora of scratches of varying depths. With every rapid breath Snow takes, more blood gushes out, and– Merlin, it’s fucking abysmal.

There’s a knock at the door, and before I can even turn to look at it, Penelope Bunce walks in, wearing her pyjamas.

“Penny?” Snow gasps.

“Bunce, what in the world are you–”

“Simon!” she cries, and rushes to crouch at his bedside. I stand and make my way across the room to look over her shoulder, and I can’t help but notice that the punctures in Snow’s skin look significantly smaller than when I just last saw them.

“Penny, how– why–?” Crowley, he can’t even finish a full sentence.

“I knew something was wrong. I can’t explain it, I just knew I had to get over here. Now sit still.”

Bunce becomes an encyclopedia of healing spells, every single one under the sun spilling from her mouth as she leans over Snow – Get Well Soon, Early to Bed and Early to Rise, Good As New – she says them so fast they almost sound like one singular incantation. They do little to heal the wound itself, but Snow admittedly looks considerably better once he’s no longer caked in blood. It also helps that I’m no longer fighting for my life with my fangs.

“Care to share the mess you got yourself into tonight?” I ask, one eyebrow raised. I’m surprised at how calm I’m able to remain, but Snow’s breathing has steadied now, and when he slowly moves his hand away from his waist, I wonder if the blood made the bite look far worse than it actually was. It barely looks like anything now.

“Wolf attacked me,” Snow says simply. He’s staring at the ceiling, blatantly avoiding eye contact.

“A wolf?” Bunce says incredulously.

“I think it was were.”

“A werewolf?”

“I mean– I think so,” Snow hauls himself upright with a helping hand from Bunce, and for a moment he just sits and stares at his shredded shirt. “It’s not a full moon, though. Maybe it was just a wolf.”

“Werewolves don’t need a full moon to transform,” I scoff, and at the same time Bunce says, “Watford doesn’t have normal wolves, Simon.”

“Oh.”

“How in Morgana’s name did you get yourself bitten by a werewolf, Simon?”

“I was following Ba–” He stops talking mid-sentence and makes eye contact with Bunce.

“I know you follow me to the Catacombs and back, Snow. Don’t start getting all coy about it.”

“You took a detour on the way back to Mummers and I lost you and then… got lost. And then I bumped into a wolf – a werewolf – whatever it was, I don’t care, but it fucking bit me.”

I took a detour because I knew he was behind me and thought it would be funny to mess with him, but I don’t admit this out loud. I’m feeling more guilt than amusement, now. I look back down to the bite on his waist.

“Snow,” I say, slowly. “Where’s the bite mark?”

“It’s–” He looks down to where it is – or rather, where it was – and pauses.

“It’s gone,” Bunce says. Way to state the obvious.

SIMON

Well, that confirms it.

I got bitten by a bloody werewolf, and its effects have already kicked in. I’ve got to admit, rapid healing is a pretty cool feature, but the whole transforming-into-a-rabid-animal thing doesn’t sound so appealing.

It was a nightmare trying to make it back to Mummers House in one piece, but now that I think about it, the wounds had probably already started healing themselves before I scrambled up off the floor of the Wavering Wood. The pain reached its peak as I climbed the stairs and then faded into numbness by the time I burst through the door of our room.

I didn’t miss how Baz’s mouth looked unusually full as he spoke to me. It’s funny that he thinks dramatically turning away would distract me from the fact his actual fangs just descended out of nowhere. He’s always doing things dramatically, it’s ridiculous.

Speaking of dramatic – that’s exactly what I’m bordering on once we realise that it was an actual werewolf that sunk its teeth into me. I try to remember when the next full moon is, then realise I know absolutely nothing about the moon’s cycles.

“Six days,” Baz says, as if he read my mind. (Can vampires read minds?) (I should ask Penny. Some other time, though. Preferably not one where I’m losing my humanity.) “Until the next full moon.”

“Didn’t need to say it so ominously.”

“I don’t think that’s what you should be focusing on right now, Snow.”

“Shut up, the both of you.” Penny loosens her hair from its sleep-messed bun and goes through the motions of retying it. She messes with her hair a lot while she’s thinking, which explains why it’s never really that neat. “We need to come up with a solution to this. Find a cure, or something.”

Baz scoffs. “A cure?”

“We’re not leaving Simon as a bloody werewolf, Baz. The library will be full of relevant information, but it’ll take me an age to get through it all myself even with the help of magic. We’ll split up the responsibilities, and hopefully we can sort something out before the full moon.”

“What’s the rush?”

“I don’t want to transform into a fucking wolf, Baz.” He holds his hands up in a pathetic pretence of an apology. I scowl at him and turn to Penny. “There’ll be quite a bit of stuff online, yeah? Isn’t worth looking at that, too?”

Penny gives me a look, then turns and exchanges one with Baz. That’s never happened before, and it makes me feel a bit queasy.

“The internet is full of rubbish, Simon. The library is the place to be.”

“Will the library tell me how the hell a werewolf was roaming about like that when it isn’t a full moon?”

Both Baz and Penny are prone to rapidly answering questions to prove how smart they are, so for a second there really is a toss-up as to who will beat the other to it.

Baz does. “Adrenaline,” he says. “During the days surrounding a full moon, spikes in heart rate can trigger a premature transformation. They’re preventable if emotions are kept in check, but the final one on the night of the full moon isn’t. Obviously.”

Obviously. I’m looking straight at Penny, but I can still feel Baz’s eyes boring into me.

Spikes in adrenaline, eh? Perfect. I bet it’ll be a walk in the park for me, of all people, to avoid one of those. (I’m being sarcastic, if you couldn’t tell. Bursts of energy, going off – that’s sort of my ‘thing’.)

I reach for the cross around my neck, hoping to grab it and ground myself with the feeling of its edges digging into my skin, but my hand closes around thin air. I look down to find it’s gone, I must have lost it in the woods. Brilliant.

“I hate to say it, but we’re not going to get away with sneaking into the library at this hour,” Penny says with a sigh as she looks at her watch. “I’ll head back and see what I can find in my own books, and then tomorrow we spend every waking hour between lessons combing the library. Okay?”

Baz blinks. His eyebrows are halfway up his forehead. “We?”

“Yes, all three of us.”

“The more, the merrier,” I grumble.

“May as well invite Wellbelove along at this point.”

The yelp that escapes me is proper embarrassing. “No!”

“Steady on, Snow,” Baz frowns down at me. “What, did you end things on bad terms?”

“Agatha just… doesn’t need to know.”

“Enough about Agatha,” Penny says. “Maybe we can find a way to get her to help without explicitly telling her the reason. I don’t know – we can think about it in the morning. For now, Simon, you need rest.”

Sleep had been the last thing on my mind, but now that Penny’s mentioned it, I realise I’m completely shattered. It’s like my eyelids had forgotten they were supposed to be feeling heavy until the word ‘rest’ was spoken aloud.

Penny leaves soon after, and Baz retreats to his side of the room to be all gloomy and mysterious and whatever – I don’t care. I’m still pissed off at him for getting me lost in the woods earlier. I don’t know how, but I bet he did it on purpose.

Baz Pitch has done a number of shitty things to me in the past, but making me get bitten by a werewolf takes the cake.

#carry on #carry on fic #simon snow #baz pitch #snowbaz #czenzo.fic #on the hunt

[pred1059]

Runaway Wind Chapter Eighteen

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By the time Ventus and Naminé made their way down to the campfire where everyone else had set up, almost everyone else had a plate of food. Yuffie looked at the two after swallowing a bite of eggs, “Hey! Just in time. Was beginning to worry you’d sleep through breakfast.”

Ventus shook his head, “Well...Naminé helped me up in time. So I think she probably deserves a plate before me.”

Naminé nodded before grabbing a serving of eggs and sausage. She looked to Aerith before asking, “I’m...not taking too much?”

Aerith chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all. I’d hardly call your portions big enough to cause problems.” After a moment, her smile faded and she looked over to Merlin, “Still no word from Cloud or Tifa?”

Merlin shook his head, “I’m afraid not, my dear. I’ve kept my ear to the ground, but after Cloud’s appearance at Olympus there’s been nothing since then.”

Ventus looked up from the plate of food he had taken. “Olympus...Hey, that reminds me! I better go and check on Zack and Herc! They’re probably full blown heroes by now.”  His eagerness faltered however, as he saw Aerith look at him in shock. “I...did something happen to them?” worry crept into his voice.

Aerith sighed and tapped her plate with her fork, “Hercules is fine, a hero like you said.” Looking away wistfully she added, “But Zack’s been dead for a long time.”

Ventus winced and looked back at his food, “I…”

“I'll come back when you're a hero.”

“Don't you mean when we'll both be heroes?”

“Oh, so you mean never come back?”

“I’m sorry.” Ventus began stirring his food with his fork. Realizing that there was yet another connection that was lost.

Aerith shook her head and gave an encouraging smile. “It’s alright. I just wasn’t expecting anyone else to really hear that name after so long.” 

Ventus nodded, “Yeah...I guess it’s just news to me,” and resumed taking a bite from his breakfast

“Now, I believe we were promised your story?” Leon set his empty dish aside before crossing his arms expectantly.

“I’m hoping it can answer some questions. Like say…” Cid rubbed his chin as he settled in his seat looking at Ventus, “You knowing Maleficent, how you learned about X-Blade, who Terra and Aqua are…”

“And how you know Sora,” Naminé answered as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“This is going to take a while.” Ventus swallowed a lump in his throat, “But if Naminé was willing to tell her story, I can too. It’d be better to tell you all the truth.”

And so he began to tell his story. The story of the Land Of Departure. The story of his old master and his friends.

And the story of how one man destroyed it all in a mad search for power no matter the price.

In the depths of Castle Oblivion where the halls had been twisted into the belly of a whale, Riku ruminated on his choices. His home. His friends. He had thrown them away. And what were they worth to him in the end?

For a nice room? To be used as a puppet? For a power that he could barely control? Hurting the friends he was so certain he was protecting?

He sighed. He could barely fool himself with that last one. Seeing Sora with the keyblade just drove him to get one over on him. And with Kairi’s life in danger, he had an excuse. Never mind trying just to talk to him. Riku needed to be the one to solve the problem. That was how it always was.

And perhaps...a small part of him wished Kairi looked at him rather than Sora when they competed.

But when the same Sora that he once mocked for taking nothing seriously sacrificed his life for her, he understood. Understood how little he had actually done to help them. Understood the depths of how Sora felt about Kairi.

And when Kairi cried out for him, desperately wanting to bring Sora back, Riku knew he had no chance. The best he could do was hold back the monster that had taken his body. Keep Ansem at bay.

“Yet even so. You could not silence me completely.”

Riku winced at the aggravating companion that had dogged him mentally in this journey. Even though he could not accept the empty shadows he had slumbered in, it felt little different in these halls of Castle Oblivion. Worlds that were vibrant and full of life, stripped to the bare minimum. Only heartless and hollow copies of Maleficent’s band of villains.The only real company being the same whisperings of darkness egging him on.

And then there was that man in the black cloak. Vexen. What exactly was he studying him for, and what was he after? Whatever it was, it just reeked of bad news. More than just the empty stench that followed the man.

But for now, he needed to try. Whatever darkness he had, he could use. Opening the familiar path to the depths of Monstro’s intestine Riku looked up to the familiar heartless that he had thrown Pinnochio into. As the parasite cage dropped to the floor, Riku readied his blade and muttered, “Don’t have a meal for you this time. All I’m giving you is indigestion.”

Cycling through the prisoners on the crystal ball, Vexen looked up at the tell tale sound of the dark portal, “Zexion, good that you have returned.”

Walking out of the darkness, Zexion looked back at him with cyan eyes. “The Riku replica. How soon could we utilize it to fight against Sora?”

“Hmm…” Vexen began to stroke his chin in contemplation, before he began to grin, “why, I believe we could use it immediately.” 

Lexeaus looked up at him, eyebrow raised in doubt, “His mental state is sufficient?”

“Sufficient enough to fight, given basic instruction.” Under Vexen’s hand, the crystal ball’s image shifted to Sora. The boy once again pleading for their former travelling companion to remember. This time, the image of Halloween Town’s ruler turned away in confusion. As the image vanished, Sora, Donald, Goofy were still left confused and concerned. But even so, they doubted. They discussed the possibility that this was a ruse. That the floors with various worlds to the entire premise was less a reality and more a fantasy. 

Perhaps it was time to re-enforce that reality.

Vexen smiled, and turned to Zexion, “Using him now might be ideal for our premise.” After a moment, the academic began to rub his hands in excitement, “And if that’s the case, perhaps I could work on another project to unbalance him. I just need the right data.” With another gesture, Kairi’s image re-appeared on the crystal ball, “Might it be prudent for me to pay a visit to the Princess of Heart?“

Zexion walked to the image with a smile, “Indeed. A replica in her likeness without memories will certainly draw the keybearer closer to the darkness.”

Vexen began to conjure a portal…

Then stopped and turned back to his colleagues, with a contemplative look, “A question. In the multitude of worlds, the chances that two people might share names is near exponential.” Vexen crossed his arms and continued, “Yet I do recall one particular young ward of our former home with a similar name as the princess.” 

“She is the same Kairi.” Zexion without breaking his vigil over the crystal ball. “I remember little from my time in our former home, but I cannot forget her.”

Lexeaus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Zexion, “And you never thought to mention this?”

“Would it matter?” The boy continued calmly.

Vexen sputtered in aggravation, “It most certainly would! It might be possible to emotionally compromise her with this information!”

Zexion turned to Vexen with a smile, “Then consider it fortuitous I have given you this opportunity, and not Marluxia.”

Vexen paused then nodded in understanding, “Ah, most fortuitous indeed.” With a gesture, he departed into darkness to begin his work.

Walking out the door leading out of the image of Oogie Boogie’s lair, Goofy spoke up,“I’ll be honest, this has been gettin’ kinda creepy. And I ain’t just talking about Halloween Town.”

Sora sighed, “I’ll say.” every world that they had been in it was the same. People they had known and fought beside looked at them with fear and suspicion. They were willing enough to help. But once they had fought back against the visage of old foes it was as if they wanted to get away from Sora as fast as possible. Lately, it was as if they vanished when the job was done. “It’s like we never met at all. Like they’re afraid of us.

“And are you sure that this guy in the black cloak isn’t just making it all up?” Donald crossed his arms, grumbling, “As a matter of fact, what’s stopping them from making up Riku and the king being here?”

Sora shook his head and groaned, “I know. I know. But right now we don’t have the Gummi Ship. And this castle has been the only thing around this world that we could find.” 

Jiminy Cricket leaped out from Sora’s pocket and onto his shoulder. “Well for what it’s worth, I think the fact that these doppelgangers are so hostile means they aren't really our friends. Cause all we’ve been doing here is trying to help them, they shouldn’t be afraid of us.” 

“Yeah...You’re right.” Sora nodded, though some doubt lingered in his voice. Because even though he did his best to help Riku, he still turned to the darkness. Still wanted to fight against him.

Despite that, Sora still tried to hold onto the memory of Riku helping to seal the door to Kingdom Hearts. That his friend still wanted to do the right thing.

Just like he held onto the charm in his pocket.

Kairi believed in him.

Sora had to believe in her too.

As they opened the door however, Donald squawked in shock “Wha? Hey! Is that?!”

Goofy shoved the door open all the way in excitement, “Well, I’ll be!”

And Sora ran forward at the sight of his friend back in his old clothes. “Riku? Is that you?!” It was true! His friends were here!

But Sora’s excitement faded as Riku turned to face him. Confusion on his face clear. “What? Who are you?! What do you want?!?” Backing away, Riku summoned that dreaded black suit, and a dark blade in his hand.

“Riku...it’s me. Sora! Don’t you remember?!” Sora pleaded, fear mounting that the other part of the robed figures warning were true. 

That his bonds were falling apart.

“Sora...now I remember,“ Riku’s expression became a wicked grin.“You’re the one I need to defeat!” Sora had no time to process his dismay before Riku lept at him.

Kairi sighed. The maddening world of Wonderland was behind her. Though she didn’t have any Queen to deal with, the architecture had given her plenty of headaches. Honestly, how did Sora deal with it?

She couldn’t help a chuckle there. If there was anyone who had a chance of making sense of a world like that, it was him. But she recalled just as well how that world had thrown him for a bit of a loop. He got pretty lost in the forest. Granted, she was little better.

Kairi began to ponder, how was Sora right now? Some part of her knew he was here, probably fighting for his life. Probably still had her charm.

Maybe when she found him, they could go on their adventure together. With the major threat of the Heartless dealt with, she wouldn’t cause so many problems.

Maybe they could really learn the truth about her past. About Hollow Bastion.

“Greetings Kairi. It has been such a long time since we last met.” A new voice spoke at the end of the white room to the next floor. From darkness emerged a middle aged man with silver long hair, clothed in the same black robes as Lexaeus.

Kairi tightened her grip on her keyblade and shook her head, “I don’t think so. I have no idea who you are.”

“I am Vexen of the Organization,” he chuckled as approached with wide arms, “But come now. Have the years on the lost islands fogged your memories of home, Princess?”

Kairi’s eyes narrowed, as she pointed her keyblade at him, “Given you’re hurting my friends, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to remember you.”

Vexen only chuckled at the threat, “Really? Would such disdain extend to anyone who hurt your friends?” His grin widened.

“Even family?”

“No.” This had to be a sick joke. A lie! She couldn’t be…!

“Ah! So it has dawned on you as well. Then allow me to confirm your suspicions.” Vexen smiled on despite Kairi’s distress, before he spoke with a firm finality.

“Ansem is your father Kairi.” 

In a flash, a blue spiked shield appeared before Vexen. “Now show me if you have inherited his power.”

A cacophony of horrors cascaded through Kairi’s mind. Why did he go so far into darkness?! Let their home turn into a cesspit of villainy?!? Destroy everyone for his mad science?!?

Why did he hurt Sora?

And that question helped her regain her focus in the moment. Enough to give a simple answer before the fight began.

“I am nothing like him.”

#My fanfiction #KH Fanfiction #Kingdom Hearts #fanfiction #fanfic #what if #runaway wind #ventus #naminé #kairi #sora #riku

[dracomalfoysslave]

18+ Hogwarts Boys masturbation schedules (TW explicit sexual content)

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( merlin, did I have fun writing this)

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Draco: Raging libido. He gets half-hard many times throughout the day, occasionally tracing a finger down his aching length during class, subtly under his robes - especially when he sees the person he likes; he always thinks about fucking them, needing to wank daily, otherwise he gets very tense and irritable. He jerks off every morning in the shower, and again at night, quietly in his bed. Luckily he has his Prefects' room now, and he does it sometimes during the day in there; he despised having to wank in a dorm full of classmates because he couldn't wait, couldn't keep his hands off himself once he started aching so badly - and of course they could hear him. During holidays at the Manor, he doesn't have to be as quiet because his parents room is across the house, yet he still feels a little guilty about doing it there.

Harry: Average libido. He wanks every couple days, usually in the shower and sometimes in bed at night if he can't sleep, but only if he hears the assuring snores from each of the boys in the room, otherwise he'll wait until morning, having grown used to ignoring the ache in his crotch; he feels ashamed about it (but oh boy, does he enjoy doing it), being a very private person, not liking to talk about it with his friends, as the boys often do; when he gets hard during the day, it makes him angry out of embarrassment.

Ron: High libido. He jerks off whenever he's in the shower (after Quidditch too) and almost every night before bed, faking loud snores first so that no one will catch on - as if they don't know what he's doing. Living with brothers, he is quite used to hearing other people do it, and never having entire privacy for himself. Aside from his slight shyness about actually jerking off in front of people, he talks about sex a lot.

Sirius: Usually high libido. In Azkaban masturbation helped him maintain his sanity, providing the only accessible pleasure (but he'd never tell anyone). Since his release he's had a lot of time to himself and privacy, subsequently spending a "reasonable" amount of time jerking off out of boredom and intense need a few times each day; he hasn't fucked anyone for years. Why do you think Kreacher hates him so much?

Fred and George: High libido; they are almost always a little hard. They have jerked off pretty much everywhere in the school, marking their territory. They have a little game with each other to see who can get away with wanking in more areas; they even did it under their robes while watching a Quidditch match once - that was tricky feat but well worth it. Aside from frivolous wanks in the bathroom throughout the day, they always do it in the shower and in bed at night, having devised a silencing candy which became highly acclaimed by their schoolmate customers.

Oliver Wood: Slightly higher than average libido. Bursting with energy and spirit all the time, he needs a good release often; after every Quidditch practice and match. It helps him relieve the tension that being team captain has wrought upon him - and besides that, he's generally just a sexually wound up person.

Snape: Low libido. Snape could count the times he masturbates per year on one hand. But yes, he does. Every few months the dull fire simmers once again in his loins, and he can't resist it. So what if he still thinks about Lily and - who is he kidding? Sirius. Since Sirius' release, Snape has begun wanking a bit more, especially since having to meet him often in the Order.

Tom Riddle: Average libido. It does in fact humiliate him, his human needs. He will try to hold off wanking every few days, but it does not last long. The energy it takes to deny touching himself hinders some of his focus from going into the dark arts- intolerable. So he jerks off many days of the week in the safety of his Prefects' room, preferably at night after an exhausting day of study. Jerking off in the mornings energizes him, but then walking the halls freshly roused from sleep knowing what he just did, is harder for him to bare than doing it in the cover of night; he finds it not so hard to wait, his days being engrossing.

Neville: Average libido. He had wanked quietly in bed while the others were awake a few times out of desperation, but he usually does it when the dorm is empty in the late mornings, or early in the morning while everyone is still asleep. On the weekends, late mornings especially, otherwise relieving himself in the shower about every other time he is in there. He also struggles with random erections throughout the day, contributing to his clumsiness. Occasionally, he'll sneak away into the bathroom during the day to jerk off.

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#draco malfoy smut #harry potter smut #snape smut #sirius smut #neville smut #tom riddle smut #fred and george smut #ron weasley smut #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n

[robynlilyblack]

My puppy

Sirius Black and fem! reader

[Requested – see request here]

Summary: Sirius friends make fun of him for his dog side acting up around you

Warnings: Swearing

A/n: 1.2k words, yes yes yes I can so see this happening, thanks for the request hope you like it x

Navigation | Sirius Black Masterlist

Sirius hated this class, not only because Professor Bins always bored everyone half to death but it also had a set seating plan. This meant he had to watch from the other side of the room as Rabastan did everything in his power to flirt with you despite knowing you were Sirius’. He watched the look of discomfort on your face as he moved closer to you, his hand moving to brush yours, Sirius couldn’t help but feel anger well in him.

“Mr Black care to tell me why you are growling in my class” Bins stops droning on about some kind of war and directs his attentions towards Sirius

James, Remus and Peter all try their best to hold in their chuckles as they watch their friend go bright red, floundering as he tries to think of an excuse but coming up short.

“Well if you are quite finished I was just talking about the…” he continues his lecture

You look over at your boyfriend, unsure of what just happened. You had noticed on occasion he has some usual traits, like growling a bit when he was mad, or during other activities, but if you were honest it just made you love him more, he was always so affectionate around you even if he did remind you a bit of a dog

Class finally finishes and you meet the boys just outside the class room “Thank merlin that’s our last class” James sighs in relief

“Why is it always nice outside when we have him” Peter pouts looking out of the nearby window

“Hey why don’t we go a walk before dinner, that was our last class” you suggest

Sirius’ ears practically perk up “Walk yeah definitely” he beams at you “Great idea love” he wraps his arm around you

“Great” you smile accepting his kiss as he leans down, pulling back you remember something “You guys go ahead I need to do something before I forget” you smile, giving your boyfriends hand a squeeze before walking off

Once you were far enough away James smirks “You think she forgot her lead” he teases

“Fuck off” Sirius huffs beginning to walk

“Like I know we all get little traits like Peters squeaks and my poise” James stops walking to pose earning a shove “But yours worse than moony the day before a full moon” he whispers the last bit making sure only they can hear

“He is right pads, maybe not about the poise” James looks at him offended to which Remus moves his hand up to shut is mouth “Calm it drama queen. Seriously though you just growled in the middle of class I mean what happened”

“I think had something to do with a certain Lastrange brother” James muses

“Oh” Remus realises “Jealous were you pads” he wiggles his eyebrows

“No actually” Sirius stops at the door waiting just outside for you “Usually I wouldn’t care, I know she’s mine but he makes her so uncomfortable every fucking lesson” he starts to growl again

“Godric calm down you’re scaring first years” James gestures to some of kids that walk by jumping a bit at the growls

Eventually Sirius calms down and you come out, he perks up “Y/n!”

“Hi Siri, aww thank you for waiting on me” you smile up at him

“Yeah he was a good boy and waited” James mocks his friend earning a glare from Sirius and a chuckle from the other two boys

You laugh as well although you don’t think you understand the joke so you gesture for them to walk “You guys fancy going down by Black lake?”

“Sounds great love, lead the way” Sirius follows behind you as you start walking

James doesn’t walk at first making Remus and Peter at him “What?” Remus asks

“There’s nothing like watching a happy dog follow with their owner”

“Siri” you giggle as you boyfriend pick up yet another stick to the slowly growing collection in both his and your arms

“Last one promise” Sirius kisses your cheek, turning around to see his friends chuckling, he mouths ‘shut it’ before turning back

“You want to sit by the water” you ask

“Yeah love” he kisses your cheek leading you over to sit, the others coming to join you all

After a while you spot some of your other friends “I’ll be back in a bit I’m gonna say hi to Marls and Alice” you kiss Sirius a quick kiss

“Sticks that’s a new one” Remus notes starting to sort through the bunch that was gathered

“We’ve got enough to start a small fire” Peter picks one up

“Hands off” Sirius grabs it from him

“Mate you turning into a dog, like no joke” James laughs

Sirius furrows his eyebrows “No I’m not” he shakes his head defending himself

“You growl, love walks, collect sticks…” Remus waves one of them in front of him making Sirius focus on it moving his head back and forth as his eyes lock onto it

“Bet if he threw it he’d run after it” Peter says as he starts giggling before letting out a squeak at Sirius’ stare

“I mean we’ve all been animagus for the same amount of time so how are you turning into a literal dog while me and Wormtail are pretty much the same” James looks at Sirius a tad confused himself

“I have a theory” Remus speaks up

“What” Sirius laughs crossing his arms

“It’s Y/n, simple as that” he shrugs like it was obvious

“Ooo that’s actually makes a lot of sense” James nods “It only started to happen once you and her finally confessed and started dating”

“No” Sirius shakes his head still in denial “Look I’m not a dog I’ll prove it to you” he points at his friends

“Okay 3 Sickles you can’t go one hour without doing anything puppy like” James shurgs, smiling smugly knowing he probably one even last one minute

“Each” Remus adds

“Okay, one, you’re on because you all are wrong and two, when did it go from dog to puppy” he pouts at the last bit

“Puppy’s funnier” James’ says

“And more accurate” Remus continues

“Enough of that, here she comes” James nods towards you

“Hey!” you walk back over “I was going to go a walk down this path Marlene told me about, wanna come Siri? You can even bring the sticks if you want” you offer smiling down at your boyfriend

It takes every fibre of Sirius’ being to say no “I’m alright you go ahead though” even James, Remus and Peter began to feel bad as your smile drops

“Oh” you frown, this was weird he was always excited to go an adventure especially alone “Okay then, maybe next time” you give a fake smile waving as you walk off not giving your boyfriend a kiss goodbye

The three boys look at each other awkwardly as Sirius just stares at your retreating figure, Remus leans over whispering “3…2…1…”

“Fuck it” he pulls out the money throwing it to them running off after you as the other boys laugh shaking their heads

“Y/n!” you turn back around, seeing your boyfriend jogging up to you, coming right up and kissing you

You stumble a bit but melt into it as he pulls back he cups your face “I’m sorry, I made a stupid bet I wouldn’t do anything puppy like”

You sigh in relief “Thank merlin thought I finally bored you, please never do that again” you let out a small laugh as you cling to his shirt

“I could never get bored of you darling” he pecks your nose “You don’t mind that I…you know…act a bit like a dog” he cringes as he asks

You shake your head “Not at all I love you, you’re my puppy”  

“I love you too” he smiles down at you, weirdly adoring the nickname

As you both walk hand and hand Sirius turns to you “Only call me that when it’s just us, they’ll have a field day if they found out about that nickname”

#sirius and reader #Sirius Black #sirius black and reader #sirius black and you #sirius #marauders era #Marauders