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marcynomercy · 1 month

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Fate written in blood

I wanted to write a fanfic of Calamity and Carnifex for a while so I took courage and did it, hope you enjoy reading.

Thank you @tragedybunny for beta-reading.

Summary: The blood has always been her way until the day that fate changed, After being kidnapped by mind flayers and the fall of the Nautiloid Calamity had a new opportunity for freedom and strangely her fate crossed with that of Astarion when the elf put that dagger around her neck.

Their fate until now was written by others, but now they would write with their own hands in blood.

Warnings: Violence, blood, game events, mentions of trauma, distress/comfort, mention of abuse. (That’s it for now)

Ship: Astarion and Calamity (Tav), Shadowheart and Carniex (Tav), mentions of other characters.

Chapter 2

Chapter 1 - The beginning of a bond

Freedom was just a dream, a dream she still cherished and strangely came true in a distorted way. It became reality in the form of a capsule being opened and the shock of her body on the floor.

A pain in her head and the knowledge that there was a tadpole in her brain... nothing comes for free does it?

The first thing she did was look at the capsules looking for her twin brother, maybe he was kidnapped too? Unfortunately, she did not succeed.

After the fall of the Nautiloid, Calamity awoke for the second time, by the gods she really thought it was her end but strangely fate had other plans as always.

She did not hesitate to look for her brother even after the fall, she looked body by body, wreckage by wreckage...nothing. But on the contrary she met the cleric who had helped before, her sudden infusion of kindness had good results and so her group began to increase.

Shadowheart was the first to join her on this journey and then soon after came that strange familiar pale elf who left a beautiful first impression... a blade against her neck. Her response was a headbutt.

After the misunderstanding was explained he apologized.

"Excuses accepted, if I were in your place I would have done the same." That was her answer. “My name is Calamity.” She introduced herself.

"A somewhat ominous name for such a cute person, well I’m sure your parents meant well." The elf joked. "My name is Astarion."

So Astarion joined them.

He saw her circling the ship freely as he tried to find a way to escape, but he noticed that strangely she seemed to be looking for someone. At first he deduced that she was looking for Shadowheart, but soon fell off the idea seeing how she was still looking for that person; given the way she looked at the bodies with fear and then with relief mixed with disappointment. Calamity did that until they had nothing left to scour just a wounded mind flayer trapped by rubble, that thing tried to control them, but it was too weak so they managed to resist. They were angry, so much anger and hatred for a nasty creature like that... so worried about becoming one of them.

They could not think about it, they had to forget at least for a moment and continue.

In a few hours the group recruited two more members, Gale of Waterdeep and the warrior githyanki Lae'zel who was already known to the girls.

Lae'zel was adamant and insisted on looking for the creche, Calamity on the other hand agreed with Shadowheart as to be wary and distrustful of githyanki so she tried to handle the situation as best she can.

"We already understand your point Lae'zel, but at the moment we do not have the resources for this. We need a place to set up camp, supplies and most importantly investigate this whole situation. There is something wrong and if we want to survive we need this information, so yes we will look for this creche and get its location meanwhile nothing prevents us from looking for answers, do you not agree?" One talent that Calamity cultivated and honed was persuasion and it fit her like a glove at that point.

Astarion was surprised how she was a smooth talker and a good sense of survival, he decided if he wanted to survive he should focus on her.

"In fact we don’t have a defined leader here right? In that case I think our dear Calamity would be perfect for that role." Astarion wasted no time in ensuring his target the most important role, all for the sake of his well-being.

Calamity stared at him in disbelief.

"Me what?!" she protested in shock.

"Well he’s not wrong, you seem to have skills for it given the way you handled it well during our short period on the nautiloid and now after the crash." Shadowheart commented thoughtfully. "Actually for me it doesn’t matter who would actually be the leader, but that you were nominated I won’t be against it."

"I don’t see any problems either." Gale also agreed.

"Tsk, if you’re all for her leadership, I won’t question it... for now. Better prove yourself worthy of that role."

Still stunned as everyone simply pushed her to the leadership, Calamity just sighed and nodded.

"Okay, okay... so let’s move on." She just took the lead and they moved on.

Astarion smiled, pleased. The first part of his plan was a success now he just needed to conquer the rest of it which didn’t seem to be difficult for him.

Well, that’s what he thought.

For the rest of the day he tried to approach her, but either Calamity ignored him or she just replied disinterested... How frustrating!

He took it out during the fight in front of the gates on those filthy goblins, it was good to kill something for a change, but then he saw that Calamity wasn’t just a pretty face. She beheaded the goblins as if they were nothing, her attacks were swift, agile and precise. It always focused on the vital, simple and practical points. This was no amateur skill, Astarion’s sharp eyes realized it was the skill of a professional, trained assassin. Calamity until now was a box of surprises for him, since they went from plunder this crypt to pacifying an argument between a tiefling and a human, knocking out the human with a punch to finding an improbable clue just because of a mistrust. He noticed the way her eyes ran around the place analyzing everything and that she was suspicious about something, then she tried to be a little too curious and quickly managed to sneak behind the stone shelves of one of the rooms by finding a chest with a suspicious letter addressed to Kagha.

But just as she proved to be very suspicious and cautious, she showed herself to have a terribly naive side! - dumb and stupid being more sincere.

Astarion was incredulous when she trusted the druid Nettie and being poisoned by her, but again Calamity saved herself with her lip and got the antidote along with some answers and her best bet was the druid Halsin... then another stupid decision, accept the poison Nettie gave.

"You know I’m starting to think you’re an idiot! You should have denied the poison!" Calamity stared with a serious look.

"I did it to spare us a possible confrontation unnecessarily and she would only let us go if I accepted and if the genius did not notice she locked us there with magic! And we gain a potent poison it can be useful in future battles." She seemed to have thought of everything.

"Well that doesn’t justify your stupid decision to trust her first!"

"Yes it was a stupid decision, but what could I do? I had to risk it and at least we had some productive result in this, never heard that the ends justify the means?" Her voice had a sarcastic tone and it irritated him.

"I can’t believe she poisoned you, tried to put you down like a dying dog without as much as a whisper of consent!" Gale was quicker in expressing his outrage.

"She gave up at the end." Calamity replied.

"Yes! But that doesn’t change the fact! How dare she snuff out life with as much thought as snuffing out a bloody candle?!"

"Are you all right, Gale?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. It’s just that, had it been me…Had it been… But you handled it, and you handled it well! As for myself, I could quite do with a tumbler full of Waterdeep Whiskey."

He really showed concern so she smiled sweetly at him in response.

"Oh, so you’re the kind of guy who prefers whiskey? That’s good to know, but I think at the end of today no one here would deny a drink." The way she spoke almost sounded like flirting, at least to Astarion’s ears.

The elf crossed his arms bored while they talked, it was decided that it would be better to find a place to camp and close the day.

The camp was set up. It was a tiring day, Calamity lightly massaged her strained shoulder after taking off the leather shoulder pad. Waking up on a devastated beach, recruiting one by one her new companions for that group, being chosen as a leader, plundering a crypt where you had a weird skeleton that was now in your camp, killing some goblins, being poisoned by a druid... She went over the day in her mind as she counted every event on her fingers, a tired sigh escapes from her mouth before she lies in her sleeping bag.

"Where are you brother?" she muttered covering her face with her hands.

Maybe he wasn’t kidnapped... so what would she do? Her mind starts spinning, she tried to focus her thoughts. Come on she needed to think of a plan! Wait... when did her mind get so clear? Was it the tadpole? Since she woke up in the Nautiloid she did not feel that weight that excessive fear caused her, the tadpole suppressed it?

Of course the same was still with her, but he did not control her anymore. Calamity smiled taking advantage of this relief, no anxiety, fear or panic... just a brief moment of tranquility. She gave herself the luxury of enjoying two minutes and then began to worry again, they will surely come after her.

"I don’t want to go back, but I can’t leave him..." She swallowed the cry.

She was free, but her brother wasn’t.

This brief moment of relief was taken by anguish, she could only hope that he is not suffering because of her. If she comes back maybe they’ll never have a chance to be free, she looked at the group through the small crack in the fabric of her tent’s entrance, she also had to worry about them now.

Her hands searched for blank book pages she had found, if she wanted to do that she needed to write it down! That’s how she started this diary, noting possible missions and progress and of course a way to vent alone. Calamity wrote everything, her advances of the day, the discoveries, hypotheses, theories, ideas for future plans and finally what she felt.

"It’s weird, I’ve never felt so good after so long... am I wrong? All this seems like a distorted dream from which I hope not to wake up, still not sure if my brother was kidnapped or not since I did not find any trace of him. I don’t know if I feel relief or regret for not finding him, on the one hand I’m happy because if he wasn’t kidnapped it means he wasn’t infected but at the same time I feel anguish because it means he was alone... I miss him."

She wrote with her anguished heart so she soon closed the diary and left it aside when she realized that someone came to her tent.

"Gale made dinner and I came to warn you." It was Shadowheart.

"Thank you, I’m starving." she replies putting on her social mask again and coming out of the attempt. " We’re lucky to have someone with culinary skills with us." She smiled and walked to the campfire beside the cleric

That first night together as a group was... quite a bit distant, Gale after dinner stood watching the fire and shared his pessimistic thoughts full of reality shock. " There’s nothing abstract about it" was what he said, Calamity understood his point but all he could offer were words. She then spoke to Astarion who expressed just as everyone else had how serious Gale was and later commented how new it was to him.

"The night normally means bustling streets, bursting taverns. Curling up in the dirt and resting is… a little novel."

"I confess that all this is strange to me, it’s the first time I’m away from the city but we need to take a chance after all we have a lot to do tomorrow."

"You mentioned that you were from Baldur’s Gate and I couldn’t ignore your abilities." She just got serious staring at him. "No need to look at me like that, what I mean is that I noticed that you are someone capable. Well I’m no place to rest yet, today has been a lot. I need some time to think things through to process this, you rest I’ll keep watch."

"If you say so, I’ll sleep quietly knowing there’s someone watching."

"The pleasure is all mine. Sweet dreams."

She walked away and Astarion kept his eyes on her, a single measure of her abilities made her alert, he was no idiot and knew that if he angered her, it could be his end tonight. Although it left him more intrigued by the minute, thinking he might have met her earlier wouldn’t make sense, but he still had that impression rooted in his mind... where he saw those eyes before? Her eyes are unique, the left eye sapphire blue and the right eye red this combination is not seen every day around.

He saw her talking to the other half-elf and then she returned to the tent, this matter occupied him for the rest of the night along with his hunger.

Well that’s it! Thank you for reading the first chapter.

@spacebarbarianweird @spacesquidlings@thechaoticdruid

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marcynomercy · 20 days

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Fate written in blood

I know it took long to get out, but chapter 4 is between us! Thank you @littol-rascal again for the incredible beta-reading!

Their fate until now was written by others, but now they would write with their own hands in blood.

Warnings: Violence, blood, game events, mentions of trauma, distress/comfort, mention of abuse, wounds, mentions of torture. (That’s it for now)

Ship: Astarion and Calamity (Tav), Shadowheart and Carniex (Tav), mentions of other characters.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3.

Chapter 4 - Reunion

The next morning…gods, it was terrible!

At first, they all found it strange when Shadowheart went to call on Calamity in her tent. When she saw it was empty, and found Calamity sleeping in Astarion’s tent by his side, the explanations were made, and... well they reacted a little better than he had imagined. And of course, Calamity defended him as he had promised.

"Don’t blame him! I gave him permission to drink my blood to satiate his hunger,” Calamity said. “He’s controlled it all this time, and we need to keep this group united." Calamity stepped forwards, placing herself between the group and Astarion, maintaining the same firm stance her comrades had come to know.

"She’s not wrong. We’re bound together, no matter what comes." Astarion moved Calamity’s side, smiling slightly to try and reassure her.

"You say all the right words,” Gale began, “but I’m not so sure you mean the right things. Still,” he sighed, “I will respect the decision that you made." He watched warily as Shadowheart moved to Calamity’s side, helping her away to a corner, a little ways from the commotion so that she could treat her.

Helping Calamity to sit, Shadowheart began treating her.

"Well,” Shadowheart huffed, “at least we know your little secret now. I respect those who know how to keep secrets, but this particular one might be something that should be cleared up before this whole situation. "Though not entirely hostile, the sharpened edge to her voice was unmistakable.

"I just did what I thought was right,” Calamity retorted. “As I said yesterday, I don’t think the fact that Astarion is a vampire puts too much on this group as a whole... it was just me who decided to be his dinner yesterday." Calamity kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke, refusing to meet Shadowheart’s gaze as she quietly defended herself.

"Well, we are a very unusual group,” Shadowheart mused, “so having a vampire among us does not seem to be a problem, anyways… I will not persist in the matter. After all, as you said, it’s your choice." Shadowheart finished treating her using the lesser restoration and then went to examine the bite mark on her neck. "It got ugly and very purple... Looks like he’s really hungry and your pale skin seems to be very sensitive." Her pale skin was something that caught Shadowheart’s attention before, but compared to Astarion, Calamity was warmer, a healthier sort of pale, anyways.

"There’s not much to do for that,” Calamity sighed. “I get bruises on my skin very easily so it’s no surprise... I think I will need to make a bandage, or a cover or something to avoid attention, right?" Calamity turned to her friend.

"Well, unless you wanted to display that mark on your neck as a trophy… I’m sure a certain vampire would be very amused by such a thing." Shadowheart chuckled at the thought, but Calamity only seemed confused.

"Why would he be… because I left the mark exposed?" She asked innocently.

Shadowheart was completely unprepared for such a question, and the cleric took a deep breath, realizing how genuine the innocence in that question was as she tried not to laugh.

"Oh gods..." She tried to keep her composure and seriousness, but it was hard because of Calamity’s confused look. "You know..." She approached to whisper the answer in her friend’s ear. " He can keep his ego inflated by you showing the mark he left, something a little… intimate?”

"Intimate..." Calamity said softly. A moment passed, then Calamity gasped, realizing what Shadowheart meant as her cheeks began to flush a brilliant shade of pink.

This time, Shadowheart couldn’t hold her laughter, a hearty chuckle leaving the cleric at Calamity’s embarrassed face.

The others watched the scene confusedly from afar, especially Astarion, who was sure his name was involved in some way.

The diary that Calamity started on this journey had been very useful to her, mainly to keep her thoughts together, but she enjoyed writing down bother her personal and sentimental observations at the end of each day’s journey. It would come as no surprise to her when Astarion’s presence in the pages of her diary rivaled that of her brother Carnifex’s every day–she always wrote of Astarion whenever he reminded her of something old, or showed her something new.

Unlike her brother, Calamity did not insist on preserving the old parts of her during those100 years…her brother, at least compared to her, had more personality, opinions and desires. After all, he was the more rebellious between them.

Carnifex always, even suffering, even tortured, kept everything deep in his soul and waited for the first opportunity to turn the game in his favor. Calamity admired this side of him, this force... And now, she’d begun to see that trait in Astarion, an uncommon trait, but one the two shared between the pages of her words.

"I hope you’re feeling better." Astarion mentioned to Calamity as they searched a basement they found in the village ruins.

"I’ve had worse days, don’t worry,” Calamity assured him, “getting a little anemic isn’t the end of the world." Calamity chuckles, turning back to the shelf in front of her.

"Oh, really?" Astarion approached Calamity, who didn’t even notice his movements. "How much worse?" At this point, he was practically holding her against the silverware–Calamity became nearly immovable when she realized.

She froze–in her heart,Calamity knew that Astarion would not harm her, but her body did not share the same trust in him... She felt trapped, terrified in the same way she felt before, from the pressure and fear from her past. Her hands began to shake, Astarion noticing the trembling immediately.

"What is it, darling?" he asked, clearly concerned about her anxious, shaking silence.

Unbeknownst to Astarion, Calamity was in the midst of a moment of dejavu–one of the bad ones. In her mind, she was facing the wall, being pushed violently to and fro, against it and pulled back repeatedly. It wasn’t unusual for her to be treated like this... but it was something she really hated, something that terrified her. This isn’t like back then, this isn’t them, this is Astarion, it's okay, I’m okay, she repeated over and over in her mind.

"My mind wandered…” Calamity mumbled, “to a bad time... it was nothing." She breathed deeply, oxygen filling her lungs as she inhaled and exhaled shakily.

"Are you sure? I can still walk away, you know." Astarion suggested, but she just turned to face him.

"No, I’m okay... why are you here, though?" she asked, taking the vampire by surprise at her innocent tone.

"Wait... what?" Astarion’s confusion was all-too-apparent, in his opinion, and he took a moment to collect himself…she really didn’t realize what his intentions were?

"Don’t you understand?" he asked, his voice lower, a little sultry, even.

"What..." Calamity’s voice was lowering as she finally understood the situation and soon her face blushed.

Astarion laughed in response. How adorable to him, the way her face turned red, her expression flustered... oh, that was something indeed.

"My, my... what will I ever do with you?" Astarion leaned toward Calamity, enjoying the nervous, perhaps anticipatory look in her eyes.

"A-Astarion..." she began, lowering her gaze to the floor in a desperate bid to avoid eye contact.

"Yes?" He stood, awaiting her question, his lips only inches from hers as he placed a finger underneath her chin, forcing Calamity to meet his gaze. Predator and prey; the cute, little doe-eyed rabbit, and the wily wolf with fangs as sharp as daggers.

"What are you doing there?" Shadowheart’s questioning tones came as both entirely surprising and entirely unwelcome, bringing Astarion’s little game to a screeching halt. The cleric glanced at the guilty parties, whose faces flushed red–well, as red as Astarion’s cheeks could manage, anyways.

"N-NOTHING!" Calamity gasped, pushing Astarion back, who yelped as he stumbled backwards. "Need something?" She asked, trying to change the subject, shooting an apologetic glance to Astarion, who seemed to be rather enamored with the floor–or perhaps unsensibly enraged at how it failed to cushion his near-fall.

"Actually, yes, we found a secret passage." Shadowheart sighed, pointing to an armory across the room. "How about taking a look at how we could unblock the path?"

Calamity nodded, promptly following along with Shadowheart to try and help while Gale stayed behind, waiting for Astarion–who looked irritated at best, judging by his furrowed brow and the whispered curses leaving his lips.

"So... was it worth almost crushing her?" Gale teased.

"Shut your fucking mouth, wizard." Astarion huffed, turning to follow the girls.

It was a calm and productive day - they just had to kill some skeletons and some spiders. But they did get a lot of potions, some useful items... and apparently, Gale was a walking bomb all this time?

What a surprise, well… that explained his condition that required him to consume magical items - Calamity had just been helping him without much thought, which was just another thing that made Astarion mad. Anyone within earshot could recall the vampire’s words, as Astarion had verbalized that "that Netherese jack-in-the-box should be a blip on the horizon by now!"

Let’s just say it was the first time the vampire had received a look sharp enough to kill from Calamity since this group had formed.

Back at camp, Calamity refrained from socializing with her companions, choosing instead to think, simply–the problem of the parasite plagued her and her companions both physically and mentally. She felt as if she was starting to falter, as their leader... insecurity began to flow from her in increasingly devastating waves as she thought about Halsin, about every futile effort expended thus far.

She hated that feeling; the anxiety emerging, the insecurity threatening to consume her… it would be so very easy to lose control, and let everything crumble.

She paused, looking to the parasite she kept in a glass, the same one she took from the priestess... the power seemed to be trying, testing her, in a way.

Maybe she should listen to the stranger who took her brother’s face in her dreams, maybe embracing that power... that potential is the step she needed to take.

Maybe. Perhaps. Doubts, and dread.

The anguish struck her then; as something she missed more than anything was the consolation she felt having her brother by her side. Calamity missed the connection, something natural and comforting that only they felt - down to their souls.

The connection they received by sharing the same maternal womb, someone to be by their side during their life... there was no way either could avoid distress while they remained apart, while the void remained empty.

"Copper for your thoughts? You seem rather lost in them." Calamity startled, turning to face the approaching Shadowheart.

"I didn’t even hear you coming..." Calamity muttered, rubbing her face sheepishly. "I guess there is a lot on my mind."

Shadowheart moved to sit next to her.

"Do you want to discuss it? Maybe it’ll help get your thoughts in order."

"Well, aside from the obvious lack of progress in our current dilemma... I’m just feeling... alone." Calamity sighed, exhaustion apparent in her voice. "I miss the connection, not the invasive and uncomfortable connection of the tadpoles... the connection with my brother."

"Curious... Can you describe how this connection is supposed to be? Besides it not being unpleasant, of course."

"Well... It’s like intuition, instinct... vibration. You just feel that connection, it’s soft as a breeze and welcoming as a hug." Calamity paused, smiling softly at Shadowheart before she continued. "You know, we didn’t need to say anything, sometimes… we understood just by looking into each other’s eyes… the worst part isn’t being away from him, the worst is being away and not knowing if he is okay... it’s eating me alive, Shadowheart."

"You haven’t said much about how you lived before all this,” Shadowheart mused. “Is he in danger, perhaps?" Shadowheart asked, letting her curiosity speak for her.

"We were treated very differently,” Calamity said softly. “In my brother’s case, torture was almost routine, no matter how much I tried to take his place to keep him from... it didn’t always work."

Shadowheart stared at her, eyes wide with shock.

"Did you... allow yourself to be tortured?" the cleric asked.

"I think the answer is obvious," Calamity replied sharply, almost rudely. "I don’t want to talk about it anymore."

Calamity couldn’t sleep that night, so she did the same thing as the last time–she went to the riverside. Though she expected to be alone at such ungodly hours, she was greeted by a familiar, moon-pale face.

"What took your sleep this time, darling?" Astarion asked, moving to sit beside her.

"I... I was thinking about my brother, wondering how he is now. I don’t want him to suffer because of me."

Astarion frowned.

"From the little you’ve told me, you two have been through a lot so far. I think he can handle a little more."

Calamity turned to meet Astarion’s gaze, annoyed to hear these words.

“It’s amazing how you can be an insufferable piece of shit sometimes." Astarion stared at her perplexed and annoyed at hearing these words.

“Excuse me? Did you hear what you just said?" He asked unbelief at her sudden attitude, Calamity had never acted so hostile to anyone in the group... especially him.

"What? I can’t just say how much of an asshole you are to say that?!” Her voice rose in pitch and volume, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “If I told you that because you’ve put up with it for 200 years then you can take a little more, how would you feel? Don’t... Don’t say that again please." Calamity spoke at last, hugging her knees as she curled into the fetal position.

Astarion felt… well, he felt like an asshole–he’d taken ten steps back with this blunder, and though Calamity was being such a promising target, now it seemed he’d put everything to waste.

"I’m sorry, I’m not used to comforting others with words." he admitted shamefully, only hoping she would answer him.

"I got it." Calamity replied sarcastically, her voice still tinged with anger. "Sorry... I know I’m not okay, right now…, I was rude to Shadowheart too, earlier."

"Oh yes, we saw how you just stood up and walked away while Shadowheart watched... I imagine she’s the one that brought up this delicate matter that is taking your sleep." Calamity nodded, and Astarion snorted. "I don’t know how that feels, having someone to worry about and obviously I don’t know what to say to comfort you. I actually don’t know what words will make you feel better..." He stopped talking when he saw her eyes, glistening with tears. "Oh no, no, no! Please, do not cry!"

Calamity started crying like a child, gods, why the hell did he have to do that?!

"Hey! Stop crying! You’re not a kid anymore." Astarion stammered nervously, as he just couldn’t handle tears. Anger, sure, rage was fine, even–but not this.

"Idiot! Do you think I want to cry?! I... I... Just..." Calamity gasped between sobs and tears. "I can’t control this!"

"And what do I do?!" he asked, distressed.

"Could you hold me?" she asked. " I... I just need this."

Astarion just hugged her. Did it upset him, this feeling of helplessness, the feeling of Calamity, warm in his arms as tears streamed down her cheeks? Why was it making him angry, just to see her cry and not be able to help?

As the minutes passed, Astarion moved to gently run his fingers through Calamity’s tousled hair, listening with relief as her breathing eased, her heartbeat slowed, and her tears fell fewer and farther between.

"Caly..."

Calamity turned, hiccuping in surprise at the use of her nickname.

"I know that just saying don’t worry won’t do any good, but please… don’t worry. We’ll fix it,” Astarion soothed, “you’ll find your brother soon and all this will pass so... don’t cry." Astarion looked into her eyes, still moist and slightly reddened by crying. Her expression now calm and that look... for some reason, to him, was inviting.

Maybe he took advantage of the moment, but Astarion chose to kiss her. Calamity tensed slightly, but then relaxed into his embrace, letting his lips meld against hers.

For the first time, Calamity realized it could be pleasant to be kissed by someone.

The next day, Calamity was feeling a little better, but something was bothering her.

A strange feeling, a familiar feeling, something messed up, in a way. Calamity was trying to focus on the plans, but try as she might, she couldn’t, her thoughts were disorganized and disconnected... That wasn’t good.

To her companions, it was clear that something was bothering her.

"Maybe you should stop for a while." Gale suggested, seeing how frustrated she looked.

"Yeah, maybe... I’m just sorry, I don’t know what’s bothering me." She massaged her temples, sighing with frustration.

"Looking at nothing won’t help you figure it out." Astarion said, putting his hands on her shoulders. " As far as I’m concerned, getting lost in your thoughts isn’t going to solve your problems."

Calamity looked up to face Astarion’s red eyes…she felt a little embarrassed, and her cheeks reflected a similar crimson shade.

"You don’t have to tell me the obvious, I just wanted to do something productive." she retorted, snorting.

"Well, darling,” Astarion chided, “sitting there is not a productive thing."

Calamity frowned, but she agreed, albeit silently.

"Great, now get up from there,” Astarion continued, “and let’s get out of this camp and start the day. Make no mistake darling, I worry about my well-being that will be threatened if you continue with your head off in another world."

"Astarion, be more sincere, or she’ll be mad at you." Gale stated, and the vampire looked at him angrily.

"Nobody asked you anything, Gale!"

Calamity laughed, moving to stand up as she glanced between the two men.

"Right, right. Let’s go." Calamity chuckled, and then she left with the group for another day.

All along the way the same feeling was still there bothering her. This restlessness refused to calm down, and she felt this growing anxiety in her chest. As she walked this familiar feeling increased... Wait... would it be possible? She was already running before she realized it, her body was instinctively following this impulse, this call.

"HEY! CALAMITY, WAIT!" Astarion screamed, running after her along with Shadowheart and Gale.

Calamity ran, following the feeling, the connection in her heart without looking the way or where she was going, and then she saw him.

"Carnifex...?"

A moment passed, and Calamity jumped towards him and Carnifex moved to hold her immediately, hugging her tightly and even lifting her off the ground a bit, though Calamity couldn’t have minded if she had tried.

"It’s you! It’s really you!" Calamity hugged him tightly, though her arms relaxed slightly after a few seconds–she didn’t want to choke him, but gods she wouldn’t let go of her brother, of him, not this time.

"I can’t believe I found you..." Carnifex’s voice was low, gentle, but warm, like a hearth-fire, like home.

The emptiness they felt was finally filled, their special bond... Thanks be to the gods that the tadpole hadn’t suppressed it. Calamity was grateful, finally, something good in the middle of all this chaos.

While the reunion took place, the rest of the party finally caught up and saw the scene, of course they were confused–mainly Astarion. Seeing her in someone else’s arms with such affection caused the vampire’s temper to flare with jealousy!

"Could you explain to us why you ran out to throw yourself into the arms of another?" Astarion asked, his sarcastic and unfriendly tone apparent to the currently-beaming Calamity.

Calamity turned to face them, but Carnifex prevented her from letting go–she didn’t want to anyways. He turned his gaze to the group... not a terribly pleasant gaze, especially in Astarion’s opinion.

"WAIT!" Calamity exclaimed. " They’re my friends…”

Gale and Shadowheart were apprehensive, but Astarion was ready to pick a fight.

"Are you sure? I did not like the attitude of that bastard elf." Carnifex replied, keeping her cold and hostile gaze on Astarion.

"I’ll gut you, you arrogant piece of shit!" Astarion was clearly ready to draw his daggers, but Calamity intervened, breaking free of her brother’s grasp by punching him in the collarbone.

"I SAID, THERE WAS NO NEED TO BE HOSTILE!" Calamity spat out, watching as her brother clasped a hand over his chest.

"Ouch… That hurt!" he complained.

"That was... unexpected." Shadowheart whispered to Gale, watching as the perplexing situation unfolded.

"When we thought this couldn’t get any weirder..." he whispered.

Carnifex finally took off the hood and mask he was wearing, finally revealing his face to the group, who stared at him with even more surprise.

"I’m Caly’s brother." He finally declared. " So stop complaining about me holding her, because I’m her brother, okay?"

"Oh, gods..." Shadowheart muttered, seeing how handsome he was.

"WHAT?! Is anyone else not suspicious of him showing up out of the blue?!" Astarion protested, maintaining hostile eye contact with Carnifex.

"One thing at a time, Astarion." Gale tried to appease the vampire. "Let them have their moment..." The wizard approached Astarion to whisper something to him. "And are you sure you want to pick a fair fight with her brother?" Astarion snorted and crossed his arms in response, clearly annoyed.

Carnifex finally put Calamity down - against his will - and turned to face the group properly.

"My name is Carnifex, and how I got here is a long story… but I will explain everything..."

Astarion interrupted him.

"But before that, why do you smell so strongly of blood?"

Calamity stared at Astarion, perplexed, and then turned her attention to her brother. Touching his back gingerly, she felt warmth, and pulled her hand back quickly, slick with blood.

"BY THE GODS, CARNIFEX!" she gasped. " How did it happen?!" She asked, but her expression changed as soon as they looked into each other’s eyes.

She knew.

As soon as she looked into his eyes the answer became clear, and her eyes clouded in grief.

"It’s not your fault..." Carnifex consoled, smiling softly at her.

"Let’s go to camp!" Shadowheart interjected, taking the liberty of helping her friend to support her injured brother.

When they returned to the camp the others faced the situation, all suspicious and confused by the new addition.

"This is my twin brother, Carnifex." She introduced him.

Everyone was... very surprised, to say the least.

"Hi..." was all Carnifex said.

"WOOOOOOOW!! IT LOOKS LIKE I’M SEEING A MALE VERSION OF CALY!!" Karlach was the first to say something–well, nearly shout something in excitement. "Wait... is he hurt?" she asked, worried by seeing him being helped by Calamity and Shadowheart.

"Yes." Calamity responded, helping her brother sit near her tent.

"Caly... could you step aside?" Carnifex asked his sister who stared at him with a look of grief and worry.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes." He replied, and Calamity just agreed to the request.

"I’ll get water..." she murmured before she walked away.

Shadowheart helped Carnifex lift his clothes to see the wounds on his back.

"By the gods..." she muttered as she saw his back.

Carnifex’s back had old scars mixed with recent deep cuts, the lines were perfectly drawn forming a spider web. A web drawn minutely on his flesh, the wounds did not seem to have been treated properly... they opened as he moved and winced.

"You shouldn’t even be standing!" Shadowheart spoke in shock, horrified at how severe his wounds were." You lost a lot of blood, and yet..." She was silent, when she saw Calamity standing there in front of the entrance of the probe with a vessel of water in his hands. "Caly..."

Calamity’s eyes had a deep guilt reflected, she could feel nothing but remorse.

"I knew I would need water to clean the wounds..." Calamity trailed off.

Shadowheart understood everything, his wounds were not treated because the person who did it was Calamity and she was no longer around to do it.

"I know you don’t want me to see what they did to you this time, Carnifex, but I don’t want to walk away... understand my selfishness,” Calamity murmured, “please." She forced a smile, setting the water vessel on the ground before she moved to sit beside him.

"Silly... I know you’re worried, but just this time I wanted to spare you. I know how much you suffer..." Carnifex replied, moving to hold his sister’s hand.

"We’ve been doing this for years, Carn,” Calamity said softly, “trying to save each other from suffering... now, we don’t have to do this anymore." She squeezed his hand gently. "Then let me take care of you."

"This time you won’t have to wait long to be fully recovered… one night and you’ll be brand new." Shadowheart stated to ease the tension between them.

"This time we have you to give him a little help... thank you, Shart." Calamity smiled and thanked her friend.

"No need to thank me, now, your brother is one of us, and we need each other."

Carnifex turned his gaze to the cleric, he seemed still to be suspicious, but at the same time was grateful.

"We’re gonna need a few more towels and bandages, the cuts have opened up as he’s moved, and if we don’t take care of him properly this time, he could get infected." Shadowheart warned, and Calamity nodded in agreement

"That’s if you’re not already infected, and your stubborn ass is just playing tough." Calamity put her hand on her brother’s forehead to check his temperature. "Damn... you’re a little hot, I should have known." Calamity tidied up the sleeping bag quickly and helped her brother to lie face down.

"I’ll get the missing things, I’ll be right back." Shadowheart said, leaving the two swiftly.

Calamity took the clean towels she had brought and dipped one of them in the water, beginning to carefully wipe Carnifex’s sore and bloody back. He winced, groaning sometimes because of the pain and whenever he did, she was even more careful with how she passed the moist tissue on his skin. Though the familiar action of tending Carnifex’s wounds brought comfort at his closeness, but every bloodied cloth Calamity used left her with anger, despair, and hatred as the pile of reddened linens grew.

Meanwhile, the group was talking to each other about Carnifex, when they saw Shadowheart passing them.

"Hey, how is he?" Karlach asked.

"Well, apart from the carnage, infection, reopened wounds, and the blood loss, he’s fine." She responded with an ironic tone, but her expression was serious.

"It kind of matches his name." Astarion mocked, and got a frowning look from the group in response. " What? It was just a little joke."

"I doubt Caly would find it funny if she heard you, Astarion." Gale scolded him. "And by the look of Shadowheart’s face, it doesn’t seem frivolous to make a joke… I feel sorry for her, she looked radiant when she found him, but it hardly lasted, unfortunately."

Astarion rolled his eyes in response, he remembered last night and how emotional she was... all because of him. It was almost a mockery of fate, he said they would soon find her brother just to calm her down and the next day that he is! Whether it was manifestation or destiny, it was almost boring.

Well that’s it! Thank you for reading the fourth chapter.

@spacebarbarianweird @spacesquidlings @vixstarria @thechaoticdruid @xxfaithlynxx

Who wants to be tagged in the next chapters please tell me in the comments.

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marcynomercy · 1 month

Text

Fate written in blood

I have a doubt, do you think the narrative is running? Something very shallow? Please tell me that I will improve the writing.

Thank you @tragedybunny for beta-reading.

Their fate until now was written by others, but now they would write with their own hands in blood.

Warnings: Violence, blood, game events, mentions of trauma, distress/comfort, mention of abuse, flashback of torture. (That’s it for now)

Ship: Astarion and Calamity (Tav), Shadowheart and Carniex (Tav), mentions of other characters.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 - Pleasant cold

They got up early and left the camp to continue their search, Calamity had previously planned their actions and done it in a way that they could readjust quickly if something during the day changed the plans. It was something she learned in her work. Never rely on a single plan, always have options and anticipate possible setbacks.

So first she decided to go behind the place that had the letter she found in that hidden Kagha chest. The Grove didn’t seem to be a bad place to have as a "resource" and it was a safe place, so it would be very bad if it was closed because of that ritual of thorns. Doing so earned them a fight with some guardians, but that was no big deal as the answers were worth it.

"Oh, apparently Kagha was really getting involved with who shouldn’t be." Calamity hummed with a satisfied smile on her lips.

"So... what are you planning?" Astarion asked, annoyed.

"Something that benefits us in the long term until we find this Halsin." She replies holding onto the letter. "Now let’s continue and take a look at the temple that was infested by goblins. It would be good to take a look to make sure what we will face when the time comes."

They were relatively close to the site so it wasn’t a problem, just before entering the ruined village they found the group of adventurers who were in the Grove before whose leader was the same guy that Calamity had punched. After a little dialogue with him and getting the information about a reward for a treasure called "Night Song" they made their way to that temple. The first time she used the tadpole’s powers was in the entryway with the goblins by reading one of their minds and using that to get in smoothly.Then in a few steps before crossing a bridge they fell to the ground being crushed by a terrible power and a voice that oppressed them demanding obedience. They managed to get rid of it thanks to the artifact that Shadowheart carried.

Shadowheart was revealed to be a follower of Shar at this point Being honest, Calamity didn’t really care much for it, only worried about the artifact. What was he? Why did Shar want him? Because he could protect them? Who were those people in the vision they had? What did it all mean? Without these answers she could only rely on the cleric oath to keep this artifact safe even if it cost her life.

They passed through the party and the guards, the temple desecrated with the goddess statues broken and destroyed, that yielded depressive and sarcastic comments from Shadowheart now that she felt more free to express her beliefs. A goblin was branding the followers with hot iron and turned to them with a certain enthusiasm. She called them "True Soul" and offered the brand - something that was immediately denied. Then a familiar sensation, darkness seems to swallow the temple, leaving them with a vision of the goblin priestess, receiving instruction from a handsome young man. One of the Chosen… The vision dissolves away. They stand before the goblin priestess in the temple once again, Calamity severed the connection abruptly, now she knew that this goblin also carried the parasite.

She said something about shadows in her mind and offered to help.

"That’s a bit particular..." Calamity replied.

"Of course we go to my chapel, where it is private, we don’t let others interfere in the dealings between us True Souls."

They followed her to the place, the door was closed and the priestess called them closer.

"Ready to clear your mind?"

Until that moment everyone thought that Calamity would make the stupid decision to trust this goblin, Astarion himself was rolling his eyes at the situation.

"Actually, I changed my mind..." Calamity smiled sweetly saying these words calmly and in the blink of an eye her hand moved and the goblin’s throat was cut. "I’m gonna kill you now."

The priestess fell to the ground,blood gushed, and everyone was staring at the atrocious scene. And when she pulled that blade? The most disturbing was the smile she kept on her lips, a sweet and innocent smile that became disturbing in this situation. Astarion was perplexed by the way she hid her murderous intent, none of them realized, HE did not notice.

"True Souls, they’re infected like us but think they’re thinking talking to a god." she commented, rifling through the goblin’s body.

"Was this the intended destination for us? Blessed in ignorance to think we could talk to a God? What joke of bad taste..." He mocked angry in the end.

When the priestess tadpole abandoned her body everyone was disgusted, but this power... her body moved on its own from the influence of the tadpole. Calamity just accepted it and kept the tadpole for now. She knew she should not trust this, should not accept, but at the same time, something within her wanted this power and desired more. Unfortunately they could not go very far after finding the secret passage, they began to feel some symptoms and preferred to take a rest at the camp. The heavy air, the sweat and the sore fingertips.

That was not good.

Lae'zel attacked Calamity by putting a dagger around her neck saying they were transforming. Everyone told her to put down the blade and stop it. Tempers began to flare, mixed with pain, fear, despair and distrust. Calamity’s head hurt again... she hated this atmosphere, this feeling. She was drowned in the same for many years and now everything could end up that way. No, she wouldn’t let me.

She used the tadpole to spy on Lae'zel’s mind and felt the uncertainty and disgust. She used it to convince her that it was just a fever and that it would pass with a rest.

"Gah, I don’t trust my own mind. So I think I should trust yours. I will wait. But know this I will be watching. If the sickness does not pass, come dawn... I will end us all."

That threat was a beautiful knot in the stomach for everyone and that night was difficult. But then a figure appeared in her dreams... with the face of her brother.

The dream visitor was wearing his face and said he was protecting her, this was a very low blow to her as she only trusted him briefly because of the face he was wearing. He promised that when she woke up she would be better and... really he did not lie. More questions hit her mind and when talking to all her companions the stories hit, same dream same message.

Unmasking Kagha was easy and quick, getting rid of the shadow druids was simple and with that they ensured the Grove as a safe point. Calamity talked to the druids about Halsin who had not yet found him, but did not believe he was dead . Her suspicions were that he would be stuck somewhere in that lair since if they had killed a druid who could turn into a bear the least they could do was have his head was stuck on a spear and displayed as a trophy.

Astarion remembered the scene from the previous day, the way she kept that same pleasant and calm expression while slicing the goblin’s throat. The slight smile drawn on her lips, the smile she was now using to be friendly to the druids and the tieflings... he was impressed how vile she could be and still maintain the appearance of "good girl".

"We chose a wolf in sheep’s clothing as leader." He commented.

"I don’t think it’s bad, I even like this side of her is practical and makes people lower their guard easily." Shadowheart argued, watching her too. "And she doesn’t really seem like a bad person."

"No?" Astarion questioned.

"Look at her well." Gale said watching her talking to the children. "She saved that girl from Kagha, that boy from the harpies and was being kind to the others Look into her eyes, see the compassion reflected in her and that’s something you can’t fake Astarion."

Astarion said nothing more, really she had this compassionate look at that moment while interacting with the children and he became even more confused. How could a killer like her have such a side? Be so ruthless and at the same time so kind.

The village seemed to have good resources and while exploring ordinary conversations became natural.

"So Calamity, do you have some love waiting for you in the city?" Shadowheart asked humorously.

"I don’t have time for romance." It was an anticlimactic response for the group.

"Really? So who were you looking for?" Astarion asked curious. "It was impossible not to notice you scouring the rubble of the fall."

"I was looking for my twin brother, we separated before I was kidnapped, and maybe he was taken too, but after not finding him I think he was lucky not to have been taken."

"Or in the worst case, he is one of those ignorant people we meet." Astarion replied, hardly interested.

"Hope that’s not the case." Calamity warned. " My brother is as skilled as I am and much more brutal. Even I would have trouble facing him in a fight... and I would hate that." Her voice became a weaker tone and had a lot of regret, her feelings were clear.

"It’s understandable, twin ties are often very strong I can only imagine how painful it must be for you to be in that position." Gale laid his hand on her shoulder and even though it was barely noticeable, Astarion saw the way she trembled even for a second in aversion to touch.

"Thank you, Gale, well let’s hope he’s had better luck."

Unfortunately not everything was quiet after all. A devil appeared, playing his game with rhymes of a poem and dragging them to a banquet hall.

"Great now I have a devil in my pocket? Continue with your rhymes and offerings, I will never accept." Calamity was firm in her words.

"Still, I’ve a feeling you’ll change your mind before it’s changed for you. Try to cure yourself. Shop around - beg, borrow, and steal. Exhaust every possibility util none are left. And when hope has been whittled down to the very marrow of despair - that’s when you’ll come knocking on my door. Hope. Hahaha! Such a tease."

"Keep dreaming about it, no matter how much despair I’m in, even if it’s death before me, I’ll NEVER make a pact with you." The certainty she had in her words and in her eyes made everyone be impressed, even Raphael.

"Hahahaha, I’ve heard those words before and only one was true to them... hum." He approached her and held her chin to better see her face.

The way Raphael looked at her, that he looked in the back of his eyes as if he were spying on his soul. Calamity pushed him in disgust.

"What an interesting twist."

"Are you done with your silly little game?" she mocked.

"I believe your words, but what if it was to save someone else? Your brother perhaps?" Calamity was losing patience to the point of moving her hand to pull her sword.

Astarion was faster and held her wrist.

"Are you crazy?! Think well before you act." He warned as he received an angry look from her.

" What a sad situation perhaps I should do a little favor."

"Leave him out of this devil! You made your offer and I denied it!"

"For now." Raphael, with a gesture, teleported them back to the village and the group looked in.

Calamity was very upset, that devil quoted her brother and he was right... If it were for him, she would make a pact without hesitation.

"Now there’s a bloody devil trailing after us? This gets better and better." Astarion commented angrily.

I think he wants something from us. Badly. " Gale commented thoughtfully and worried.

"Sure he does, but apparently he’s devoted special attention to our dear Calamity."

"No matter. We’ve dealt with every other oddity thrown at us lately - we can handle this one too. Now, as for this “Raphael”... He knows our secret, he claims he can help… what do you make of him?" Shadowheart asked.

"We don’t trust him, simple!" Calamity responded adamantly.

"No doubts at all? Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. He’s clever, my order uses the same tactic when dealing with enemies of Shar. You don’t need a scourge or a rack to break people. Fear and self-doubt are sufficient. When actual pain comes, the victim’s already done the heavy lifting for their torturer. There were no right answers with that devil. He was toying with his food - us."

"I didn’t realise you were so… well-versed in mental and emotional torment. It’s a good thing to know."

"And it seems that you are very familiar with this, did not doubt and did not hesitate even though you lost the line by having your brother cited."

"What can I say, part of the trade. I just... Never mind, we need to focus on the current goal and prepare to kick a devil’s ass if we have to."

Back at the camp after an exhausting day, Raphael returned to Calamity’s mind. Her concern was turned to her brother but maybe Raphael is the least of the problems, two days... she had been missing for two days. What would they be doing with him now?

Were they torturing him? Or worse?

The best chance is he’s chained up in his room... Shadowheart is right, fear and doubt is sufficient. She was too thoughtful even now in front of the fire listening to the conversation of her companions, her attention was not really there.

"So we’ve all talked a little bit about ourselves at least enough for this group to work." Astarion said looking at Calamity. "But our leader hasn’t said much yet Sorry darling, but I think it won’t hurt to say a little bit."

She stared at him but without any hostility and sighed.

"Well, what can I say? I’m an assassin in Baldur’s Gate... I’m part of the Assassin’s Guild, being more specific."

Astarion raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"Are you referring to the Assassin’s Guild of underworld city? The one that clashes with the Thieves Guild over business?"

She agreed with a nod.

"Me and my brother... well they called us Black Dogs."

Silence.

Astarion stared at her in shock, even he had heard of them. A pair of terrible assassins who accept any job, the nickname came on account of their unwavering loyalty to the Guild Masters. Without question, without hesitation, they did the work, and it was always so bloody that even the cultists of Bhaal were impressed.

"You are very different than I imagined." Astarion broke the silence.

"I don’t appear to be someone with blind loyalty? Of course not, I was bound to be so. They recruited us when we were very young, we had no other option to survive and they took advantage of that. They trained us, tortured us, they no longer wanted subordinates with ambitions and opinions of their own." She laughed. "No... They wanted dogs that would obey any order without complaining or hesitating. And that would be happy with it, well that last part we learned to pretend very well. Funny, it was thanks to all this confusion I finally managed to think more clearly for myself after years... I ruined the night apparently, I’m going back to my tent." She got up and left.

It was dark, she was back in that place, chained to the wall. She was facing the floor... what are they going to do with her?

"Hello little girl." A dark-haired elf entered the room and stood in front of her. " Look at me!" He ordered and she obeyed. "Much better, you know you’re going to be punished for letting that child escape, right?"

Right, they were ordered to kill a noble family of the city... all of them without exception, but when she saw that crying child cowering in a corner felt pity and guilt, she helped that child escape.

"Can we get started?" A Drow entered the room dragging her twin brother with her.

"B-Brother? Wait! I WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THE MISTAKE! I SHOULD BE PUNISHED! PLEASE LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" She pleaded, begged in tears.

"Oh my dear doll..." the elf bent down and held her face. "It wouldn’t be an effective punishment if I just beat you or tortured you, no... it hurts you much more if he suffers." She was trembling in despair.

The Drow chained the half-elf boy facing Calamity so that she would be able to see his face perfectly while he was tortured in her place.

"Caly, don’t worry, it’s okay." Her brother tried to comfort her, but then he screamed in pain as he felt the flesh of his back being torn by Drow’s blade.

The first cut was made slow and very precise.

"NO!" She fought, pulling the chains that bound her arms. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

It did not help, the Drow continued cutting him slowly and agonizing. He screamed at every cut scratching his back while his sister was forced to watch and see his face in pain.

"See? Your brother is suffering because YOU made a mistake! You are to blame for his suffering, every cut of his back is your fault!" The elf grabbed and pulled her hair, forcing her to keep her eyes on the scene.

"Brother... Carnifex... Carn... forgive me..." She cried his name as she watched the torture. "FORGIVE ME PLEASE!"

Calamity woke up with a suffocating a scream. It was just a nightmare... a nightmare and a memory.

She wiped the sweat from her face and sighed heavily... hell. He may be suffering again that same way alone now, and it’s her fault... it’s always gonna be her fault.

"Carnifex my brother... You forgive me, don’t you?"

She got up and left the tent. Looking around, it seemed that everyone was still sleeping. She walked quietly to the river near the camp and felt that near the shore, the water reflecting the night sky was a calm sight for a disturbed mind.

After that day that she watched her brother being tortured she never dared to have mercy on anyone... even if it was a child.

She was tired, but didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, so she just took off her boots and put her feet in the water, it was cold but pleasant. Calamity hugged her knees and took advantage of the calm and cold sensation of the water against her skin.

"Oh... I didn’t expect you to be awake." It was Astarion’s voice, but she didn’t move.

Astarion had gone hunting and decided to come down to the river to wipe his face that could be stained with blood. But he did not expect to find Calamity huddled by the river.

Honestly, he didn’t know what to think about her, but he had thought a little about what she said. She was shaped to be someone without opinions or ambitions of her own, practically an object so to speak... it irritated him. Now seeing her shrunk there without saying anything, out of curiosity he approached her and saw her eyes full of tears.

"Are you crying...?" he asked, surprised.

"Me? Crying?" She hadn’t even noticed the tears running from her eyes. "Oh... It’s been years since I’ve cried."

Shit... she looked so helpless.

The expression so sweet and sad, but her eyes were empty and cold as a doll... it could drive someone crazy.

"Astarion... Are you a vampire?" He froze.

"Why the question, dear?" He was sweating cold.

"Well... I don’t see your reflection." She replied tone innocent, as she pointed to the water.

Unbelievable, he was caught by such an oversight because he lowered his guard to this vulnerable face?! He had to agree with Shadowheart, Calamity had a knack for keeping people off guard.

"Don’t worry, I won’t kill you." She declared at last.

"Excuse me?" he continued, perplexed.

"I have no intention of killing you, Astarion." She stated again with the same empty look and innocent expression.

He just laughed it off.

"Hahahaha, gods... you really are a figure, dear Calamity." He sat next to her. "What will you have in return?"

"Pardon?" she tilted her confused head.

"Well, you’ll lie secret in exchange for what?"

"Nothing." She answered automatically.

Shock again, impossible! She wanted something, everyone always wanted something!

"Don’t be shy, darling, I know you want something." He insisted.

"I don’t want anything." She replied again.

He looked into her eyes and saw nothing, ulterior motives, malice, lies... nothing but emptiness.

"You..." He held her face and kept looking into her eyes.

Was that it? She was broken?

"Do you really not want anything? Even after being free?"

"I want to remain free, and I want my brother to be free too, I want nothing more than that." This could not even be seen as ambition.

"Gods below... I really thought you’d have some ambition, apparently I’ll have to teach you to be a little more ambitious." Her eyes lit up with these words.

She looked like an innocent puppy.

Calamity leaned back a little from his touch and wet her hands in the water and then wiped his face.

"Your face was a little bloody." She explained quickly, and then she held his face gently. "I like the touch of your skin, it’s cold and pleasant like river water."

Was she serious? Few would say that the skin of an undead is something pleasant, but her words were so genuine and innocent. What was that feeling? For some reason he wanted to take care of her, why?

Well that’s it! Thank you for reading the second chapter.

@spacebarbarianweird @spacesquidlings@thechaoticdruid @vixstarria

Who wants to be tagged in the next chapters please tell me in the comments.

21 notes · View notes

marcynomercy · 1 month

Text

Fate written in blood

Thank you @littol-rascal for beta-reading and for giving me so many tips and suggestions to improve writing thanks to that the next chapters got better too.

Their fate until now was written by others, but now they would write with their own hands in blood.

Warnings: Violence, blood, game events, mentions of trauma, distress/comfort, mention of abuse. (That’s it for now)

Ship: Astarion and Calamity (Tav), Shadowheart and Carniex (Tav), mentions of other characters.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2.

Chapter 3 - Blood and a song

That night, Calamity told Astarion her story–vaguely, because it was a bit too foreboding in the middle of the night, and perhaps the details would leave them both with nightmares, she said.

In turn, Astarion heard everything she was willing to say, making his own mental notes: First, that her masters were two motherfuckers who deserved death just as well as Cazador, and second, that she was clearly broken—she just didn’t know how much.

She’d admitted that she was just "acting" the lead role, and Astarion found himself impressed since she’d done so quite it masterfully... so he just realized that she just assumed what she needed at the time, like a good doll and puppet.

He felt disgusted by it.

For some reason, he began to hate it, the lack of personality, ambition and greed... the lack of life in her. By the gods, he was an undead and had more to live for than she who had a beating heart in her chest!

So he started little by little, and when she seemed to want something, he encouraged her to take it, no matter how useless it seemed.

"Darling, if you want something, take it! No one willcare, and it’s better to have than to not, don’t you think?"

Hearing these words, Calamity just kept quiet, but she agreed.

Calamity went on to pick up a few things, starting with one or two books that she became curious about, and then jewelry–they found a bag with some, and Astarion picked up almost all of it, with the exception of one piece–a silver necklace. After all, he had to stay away from silver, but Calamity kept staring at the necklace with great interest.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"A-Ah... the stone." She pointed to the small stone in the setting, probably a ruby, judging by its crimson hues. "It’s beautiful… I like that color," she said softly.

"Do you like red?"

"Yes! It’s a strong and welcoming color..." She looked into his eyes. "Like your eyes."

Astarion found himself at a loss for words.

"R-Right, if you like the necklace, then take it! I can’t touch it," he chuckled

That’s how she took the necklace she would wear around her neck often now.

It was the sixth day after the fall of the Nautiloid and the formation of this strange group, and now, they had two more members: A tiefling who fled the blood war called Karlach, and the hero of the coast, Wyll.

So far, they’d just had to deal with some goblins, gnolls, some false paladins of Thyr, and at the present time–a hag.

"That bitch pissed me off." She told the group as justification for chasing the hag to the bottom of her lair.

Was it perhaps another idiotic reason? Maybe, but this witch had angered everyone in the group one way or another, so no one protested. At least it was a decision she made based on the trial itself, and that was progress and... well, they found a Gur. For some reason, he’d been there on the trail near the hag’s house, and they bumped into each other after the fight against the hag, saving Myrina and giving her a zombie husband. The Gur said he was looking for a vampire spawn,and immediately Calamity and Astarion’s gazes met.

"And what will you do with him? Kill him?" Calamity asked.

"I have orders to capture him and take him back to Baldur’s Gate," the Gur replied, "my people are waiting for me there."

As easy as it would be to pull a dagger and kill him– something she’d done before– didn’t seem justifiable, since she was the only one to know Astarion’s secret... therefore, she discreetly poked the vampire, hoping he would stop looking at the hunter as a beast ready to kill, saying goodbye quickly before snatching the elf, taking him down the road with her until they were out of the Gur’s earshot.

"Why the hell did you spare him?!" Astarion’s tone was frustrated at best, downright furious at worst. "I should have killed him!"

"Shh!!" Calamity put her hand over his mouth as she walked him away from the group a little so they could speak. "I did it to keep your secret hidden for longer! Think about it, Astarion… if I killed him without a GOOD explanation what others would think?" She argued, stepping away from him a little. " You once told me to think first before acting impulsively."

"Well, that was because you tried to draw the sword to a devil! He was just a Gur, and we killed a Hag because she annoyed you, remember?"

"I think the Hag’s death was enough of an impulsive action for today."

He rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Yes! But if he shows up at camp..." Astarion’s tone was pointed, clearly expecting a response.

"Well," she replied, meeting his gaze with as serious of an expression as she could, “then I will have the pleasure of killing him, and draining his blood to be your dinner." She finished with a flourish of her hand, smiling at the vampire.

Astarion just laughed in response, imagining her hanging the cadaver upside down to drain the blood–imagining such a small and adorable person doing it was frankly hilarious.

"Hey, you’re mocking my height in your mind again, aren’t you?!" She crossed her arms, a half-pout on her face.

"Me? No," Astarion said, feigning both seriousness and innocence, "I was just thinking lovely things about how cute and small you are."

Judgind from Calamity’s expression, she was ready to hit him.

"Hey, when did the two of you start being so close?" Shadowheart asked suspiciously. " Now you’re even talking and whispering."

"Awww, let them talk! They’re so cute, like a couple." Karlach, chuckled, seemingly enjoying seeing them like this.

Both of them looked up, denial and surprise evident on their faces.

"It’s either that, or you’re trying to make up for her brother's absence, which is kind of a... pathetic thing anyway." Much to their dismay, the cleric seemed as sharp as ever.

"Astarion and I just got a little closer as friends... what’s up? Is Shadowheart jealous?" Calamity teased.

"Only in your dreams." Shadowheart replied, rolling her eyes.

"You hurt me, Shadowheart, I thought you liked me." Calamity fake-pouted, though the beginnings of a smile were evident at the corners of her mouth.

"Don’t be dramatic, you silly." The cleric said amicably.

After all, Calamity and Shadowheart seemed to have had a good rapport from the beginning, and if she wanted advice or to clear her mind so she could plan more clearly, the other party members could be sure they would find the leader of the group talking to Shadowheart.

As they walked, Shadowheart pulled Calamity away from Astarion.

"What are you two hiding?" she asked.

"Nothing that is problematic in, I think..." She thought a little better. "I think it’s not problematic... at least not for me. Anyway! It’s a personal thing for him, and I promised that I would keep it a secret, and you better than anyone understands secrecy, isn’t that Shart?" The cleric sighed, mainly due to the fact that she'd used the nickname.

"Are you really going to insist on the nickname?"

"If you don't like this, I’m accepting suggestions! You know... you’re my first friend, and I know that nicknames are something affectionate..." Calamity’s cheeks flushed slightly."So... you can call me "Caly" if you want to."

"Oh, that’s a cute nickname. Your brother calls you that, I suppose."

"Yeah, you know, whenever he calls me by my name,I’m usually going to get scolded, or it’s something serious."

They talked for a while as they made their way back to the camp.

Maybe it was because of the awkward encounter with the Gur or just his mind dragging him back into misery to remind him not to relax, but Astarion had a nightmare.

The vampire from his trance after dreaming of Cazador meeting him in the forest. He was terrified of his desperate mind, and hunger tended to strike him as terribly and strongly as his fear did. He needed more strength, more power... he needed blood, not those animals he was taking, but someone. Astarion left his tent and began to think about who he should pay a visit to, but luckily for him, there was someone sleeping outside the tent tonight... It was Calamity.

She said she’d help him, so she probably wouldn’t be mad at him for that, right?

However, Calamity woke up before he could bite her, and stared at him, sighing in exasperation as she sat up on her sleeping bag.

"You know…” she trailed off. “I expected you to at least ask." Calamity paused, watching Astarion for a moment. " What happened? You didn’t get anything in the forest today?"

"I..." He was silent for a moment, thinking about what he would say. " I had a nightmare with my Master, he found me and I went back to the shadows... I need to get stronger, and the hunger… it’s consuming me."

She saw the despair in his eyes, in his expression… it was a despair she knew very well.

"I understand you, and you know I promised to help you and trust you,” she said, trying to reassure him.

"Can you trust me but a little more?"

" If it’s a bite you’re asking for, I don’t have a problem with that, but just…” Calamity paused. ”Don’t overdo it. Can you promise me that?"

"Of course,” Astarion replied, feeling the hunger gnaw at his stomach, “now, how about we get comfortable?"

"I think we’d better go to your tent." she suggested. "Better to prevent any accidents, I’d hate for someone to try to stake you."

"You’re right, of course,” Astarion chuckled. “Can we?" he reached out to Calamity,who gladly accepted his hand.

So silly. She trusted him so very easily…was it really so easy to conquer someone like her, just like that?

As soon as they entered his tent, Calamity just watched everything quietly, as it was messy; the empty blood jars and the wooden tablet on the floor... He didn’t seem very comfortable.

"Wait a moment." Astarion took some pillows and a sleeping bag,quickly preparing a bed for her. "Much better."

"Why don’t you do it for yourself when you get some rest?" An innocent question from Calamity, but it hurt, somehow.

Astarion ignored the question, making her sit in the sleeping bag accommodating her.

"How do you want to do this?" Calamity asked almost automatically, her eyes wide.

"Well…” Astarion paused. “Are you afraid?"

"Of being bitten by a vampire? Honestly, I’m not afraid. I can’t explain it, but it seems natural to me..." Calamity said softly, her expression thoughtful.

"Have... you ever been bitten?" Astarion was intrigued by her perspective.

"If I was, I don’t remember, I don’t remember anything before I was 10 years old, and there are things I just know."

"No memories, but her subconscious remembers information it needs, so to speak..." he muttered, more as an observation to himself. "Well, whatever’s most comforting to you."

Calamity just grabbed her hair that was loose, moving to lie on a pillow leaving her neck easily accessible to him. Astarion then positioned himself on top of her calmly, watching her features. She stared serenely waiting for him... so soft, so inviting.

He slowly approached, placing his hand behind the back of her neck, then he finally set his fangs and bit down, feeling the blood flow into his mouth.

The taste was... something he himself could not explain, it was coppery, savory, and sweet as vanilla, but had something more full-bodied, dense, strong... powerful. It was intense and addictive, and the more he drank, the more his desire increased. Meanwhile, Calamity felt pain, but also something completely new, unique; she could feel her blood flow from her body to his... but even after that, there was still something more.

Something asleep inside her that began to stir, deeply. Calamity grabbed the fabric of his shirt, trying to something, but Astarion couldn’t make out the words. He lifted her body, embracing her waist as her grip on his shirt tightened, her voice rising again.

"A-Astarion... please... stop." She pleaded with him, her vision blurred, her tone exhausted, weak even.

Astarione realized he may have gone overboard, detaching himself from her neck immediately, but he kept holding her in his arms...saw what he did to her.

"Calamity?! Hey, don’t sleep!" he demanded, hiding his nervousness.

"Calm down, I won’t close my eyes." Calamity’s voice was weak and her eyes looked heavy, yet she still tried to reassure him...

To Astarion, her skin looked paler than before, and the blood was still flowing from the bite on her neck. Astarion then licked the blood that was dripping from the punctures,laying her down carefully.

"That - that was amazing. My mind is finally clear. I feel strong. I feel… happy." Astarion said as he stroked her face. "This is a gift, you know. I won’t forget it."

Exhausted and drained, Calamity chose to just accept the affection willingly.

"I’m happy to help... is it a bad thing if I fall asleep? I feel so... tired."

Her breathing was heavier, and Astarion feared that if she slept, her heart would stop beating. An irrational fear, perhaps, but a fear nonetheless.

"You know, darling, maybe it’s a little dangerous if you sleep." He sat next to her.

"Are you afraid I’ll die?"

"Well, if you die after letting me drink your blood, I don’t think others will see it in the right light…it would at least be a stake in my chest."

"Do you think someone like me would die so easily?" Calamity questioned, slightly turning her face to look at him.

"Would you be offended if I said that at this moment you seem very fragile?"

"No…” she trailed off drowsily. “Am I delusional, or do you look worried?"

"It’s kind of hard not to be a little worried right now." Astarion admitted, concern laced into his voice.

Calamity smiled when she heard those words.

"You know, I’m gonna need to sleep sometime."

"Then, please drink a healing potion before closing your eyes." Shuffling about, Astarion quickly took a jar from somewhere–she couldn’t tell where.

Calamity raised her head high enough to be able to drink the potion without problems. Astarion helped her, of course, and then laid her down again.

"Will you rest too?" she asked.

"Not yet, if you’ll excuse me, you’re invigorating, but I need something more… filling."

Astarion left her in his tent and ran into the forest, the truth is that he was hungry in a different sort of way.

"Gods... any more and I would have devoured her." He muttered, feeling heat begin to simmer beneath his skin, feeling the tension pooling in his groin.

When he returned to his tent, Calamity was still there, seemingly in a deep sleep. He laid down beside her, but much to his surprise, she was awake, turning towards him and open her eyes.

"Are you tired?" She asked.

"I’m still far too awake to go into a trance now." He sighed.

"I can sing, to help you relax." she suggested.

"What? Will you put me to sleep with a lullaby?" He joked, looking mischievously at her.

"Well, it’s a unique offer." Calamity hummed.

"In that case…” Astarion paused. “How could I say no."

Calamity began to sing; a soft and beautiful melody, but the music hit Astarion in a way he would never have imagined.

"Light is not a salvation, the shadows are,

Your place isn’t in the light but you still miss it;

Blood calls you, so don’t hold on,

I will accompany you; wherever you go, I will be by your side.

This moment is our eternity,

Don’t think about tomorrow or the next century;

Just stay in this brief moment by my side,

I’ll be yours until I die.

You don’t belong to the light,

The darkness in you that even the brightest light can’t illuminate;

For some reason I am drawn to this darkness, I can’t help it,

It ‘s the darkest part of my soul taking a breath from this welcoming darkness."

It seemed to Astarion that this song was made for him, as the lyrics made every part of his being tremble, even down to his soul.

"Darling... where did you hear that song?" he asked perplexed.

"I don’t know, I don’t remember. But this song is recorded in my heart, I sang it whenever I felt lonely and helpless. It was my hope and my comfort, so I hope she will give you some of that comfort and hope Astarion." She smiled and stretched out her hand shyly to him.

Astarion was still atonite, he didn’t know what to think or what he was feeling... but this is nice, why not? He held her hand and she continued to sing to him.

"So I took her in,

I took you in,

If it’s my blood you want, I’ll give it to you;

If it’s my life you want, I’ll give it to you;

I’ll give you everything, down to my soul,

This moment is our peace,

This moment is our redemption;

Let me stay with you in this darkness,

This is our eternity, my love."

He listened to the end, his mind slipping gently into a trance. Upon seeing him relaxed, Calamity finally gave in to sleep too, whispering to him before slumber took her...

"Sweet dreams, Astarion."

Well that’s it! Thank you for reading the third chapter.

@spacebarbarianweird @spacesquidlings @thechaoticdruid @vixstarria

Who wants to be tagged in the next chapters please tell me in the comments.

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