#i love when magical girls stand up against a cruel and unusual world with a strong sense of hope and love

[yandere-romanticaa]

Imagine...

Coming back home was nice to say the least. Twisted Wonderland had its charms and quirks for sure, but coming back was something all on its own. No one knew how, but (y/n) appeared out of the blue, and her parents couldn't have been happier. Tears were shed and cries of joy echoed throught the night as ther child came back to them, their sweet, long lost child for whom they thought was dead. For the next few days life was was pure bliss as (y/n) finally came in to contact her old friends, both online and in the real world. Summer was steadily approaching which meant that (y/n) could laze around all day long, no more tiresome work for her! No more feeding fire faries, no more dealing with dark magic or any magical shenanigans of the sorts - it was just her in her peacful room.

As relaxing as it was though, (y/n)'s thoughts couldn't help but to drift back to Twisted Wonderland all of the friends she had made. How were Ace and Deuce doing? Jack, Epel? Malleus?

....

Things always got sour the moment she pitcured the dark faes face because when she did the face of his chaperone popped up instantly. Lilia never failed to intimidate the girl no matter how friendly his approach was. Upon meeting him she found Lilia a bit odd but he was fun, downright cute even. He was always by her side, guiding her and being her emotional support through tough times, her smooth voice always laced with sweetness that (y/n) never knew was reserved solely for her. Lilia would start appearing out of nowhere, either in front of her or even on the feeling if he felt like it. But again, (y/n) never really questioned it though, Lilia did have a rather eccentric reputation on campus so it wasn't out of character for him. Oh how she cursed herself right now, for not recognizing the red flags when she should have. Clutching the sheets beneath her she pressed her face against the soft pillow, her bitter tears staining the soft fabric. How stupid she was, falling for Lilia's words like that. She thought that she could trust him, he promised that he would never hurt her. The image of Lilia's smiling face flashed through her mind as she recalled the monstrous grin on his face. One evening he confessed, he confessed everything he had done and his true emotions and intentions. He was the one who was hurting her friends, he was the one who was silently shattering her life to bits. And as he held her in his arms, Lilia still promised to protect her and that he indeed kept his word from before.

The worst part was - he was right. Lilia had indeed kep his word, no harm came (y/n)'s way, only her loved ones were there to suffer. It was pointless to run or hide, Lilia would find her eventually. She came to terms to it but even so still refused to give up, and that is what Lilia loved the most about her. That persistence, that hot blooded stubbornness only the youth could possess, Lilia adored it. He'd let (y/n) play her game, he could always track her and bring her to back to him.

What Lilia did not predict however was the Mirror of Darkness sending (y/n) back home.

Just like that, his beloved was suddenly out of his reach as panic spread like wildfire across the school. What happened to the Perfect?! Was the Perfect okay?! These questions surrounded Lilia each and every day and every new question was like a stab in the heart to him. Silver checked up on Lilia on a daily basis but the vice dorm leader insisted that he was fine with that usual smile of his.

He was not fine.

He was never going to be fine.

Lilia is worried beyond belief and there was nothing to calm him down. He wore a mask of smiles and smirks every day to class but his close companions knew better. They knew of his late night ventures in to the woods to gather ingredients, they knew that Lilia pestered the Mirror of Darkness itself endlessly to give Lilia (y/n)'s exact location but the mirror never complied.

(y/n) had quite literally, disappeared off the face of the Earth.

But even among the helplessness and the ashes of their friendship, against all odds Lilia had prevailed.

He had tracked down (y/n), but in the most unusual way possible.

♡♡♡

The sleepless night was unkind towards (y/n) as she made her way towards the bathroom, already wanting the day to be over while it bearly just begun. Turning on the tap the washed her face diligently as she took in the calming silence around her, the peeks of the morning sun just bearly shining through the curtains.

And like a sudden tidal wave, the sense of being watched overcame (y/n) like never before.

She... She didn't know how to feel, what she was even feeling to begin with. Turning off the tap she looked around but the only sources of noise was the clock ticking outside the door. The calmness of the silence soon became unbearable as (y/n) looked at her reflection against the bathroom mirror, her sleepy gaze staring right back at her. Reaching out towards the mirror she had the strange urge to touch it, as if to confirm to what she was looking at was real. Her fingers pressed themselves gently against the glass as (y/n) let out a sigh, her tense shoulders finally relaxing. The intense feeling of being watched was nearly forgotten once (y/n) lowered her hand from the mirror.

Key word nearly.

Immediately a sudden but sharp headache followed suit as the world around (y/n) started to spin, her vision engulfed with random little black spots. It was hard to stand, let alone breathe! Pressing herself against the sink (y/n) looked at the mirror once more but the sight before her shook her to the core.

Her reflection was not her own.

She knew for a fact that she was panting, probably even red in the face as she struggled to comprehend the sight before her. Her reflection had a smirk as the mirror around it slowly shattered, slowly revealing the background behind it. The familar dark purple hallway was in sight as green flames roared in the background, her smirking reflection being replaced with the person she thought she had escaped for good.

In its place stood Lilia Vanrouge, his arms crossed and the smug grin not leaving his face. Her vision became blurry with tears as she took a few steps back, hitting the wall behind her. Nausea filled her stomach as she started to cough violently, small droplets of blood dripping out of her mouth. Collapsing on her feet to the ground she quickly lost balance as her ability to speak was seemingly taken away from her. Broken sobs echoed throught the small bathroom as shadows encircled (y/n)'s shaking form, the whispers of pure menace intruding the young girls heart.

"You thought you got away didn't you, my lamb...?"

"I am a man of my word my beloved - I promised to keep you safe from any and all harm in the universe. And that promise extends to your own as well."

The voice belonged to no one but Lilia himself. You could hear the self satisfaction in his honey laced words, a tad bit of anger just bearly recognizable. She felt a pair of cold hands wrap themselvs around her, sharp teeth nibbling on her neck as Lilia dragged her through the makeshift portal he had made. (y/n)'s body was numb with fear as she felt the flames tingling around her and the few shards of the glass that were still stuck on her mirror pricked her delicate skin. All she could do was wince in pain as Lilia's gloved hand covered her mouth in order to silence her screams. She thought she was safe, she finally got out of Hell only to be literally dragged back in to it.

Lilia really was a cruel person.

Looking back once more, Lilia closed the small portal for good as he placed (y/n) on the ground, her body twiching from the pain as he hushed her. The glint in his blood red eyes was overwhelming as his grip tightened further and further until (y/n) fell. unconscious.

There was nothing that could get in Lilia's way, not even Death itself. He was ready to overcome challenges he didn't even know existed, but that is what one does when he's in love, no?

Dedicating this to my wife, @josuke8. You are such a crackhead and a sweetheart, please don't ever change. Happy birthday, Yue! 💘💋

Tags: @sphallolilia, @pumpkiethepie, @lunarvy, @twst-rose-prisms, @twst-soul, @heartofabunny

#yandere #yancore #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere scenarios #yandere lilia vanrouge #yandere lilia vanrouge x reader #lilia vanrouge x reader #lilia vanrouge #diasomnia #twisted wonderland lilia vanrouge #twisted wonderland x reader #yandere twisted wonderland x reader #yandere twisted wonderland

[magicalforcesau]

Letters (part 2)

As Obi-Wan and Satine continue their written correspondence in the back half of their Hogwarts career, their bond strengthens to the point where it might not strictly be platonic.

ao3 link

Fifth Year Summer

Dear Ben,

I GOT MY MENTORSHIP REQUEST APPROVED! I’m going to be a peer mentor this upcoming year! Oh, I know this is going to be another responsibility when we’re already saddling quite a bit with OWLS and our duties as prefects. While it was your initial idea to join, I have no regrets. If I’m to influence the minds of thousands from the Ministry, it will do me good to have practice on a smaller and more impressionable scale. Besides, far too many first years are led astray in my opinion. Having firm and caring guidance will be most beneficial.

I hope you can write to me with the same news, even if I still believe you are pushing yourself far too hard. Just please consider your own mental health for this upcoming term. You’re already wound tighter than anyone I know. I would truly not like to partake in the bets that Fives and Echo make behind your back about when your head will explode. I believe either myself or Cody would win. We know you best.

Speaking of being wound tight, I have been dedicating my summer to the practice of enchanting muggle objects as per our homework assignments. Turns out, it truly is not that difficult. I’ve been careful not to alter anything that would come into contact with other muggles, but I look forward to showing you the results of some of my recreations. Between you and me, I’ve been constructing some that were not on the instructed list.

You’re not technically a prefect yet, Obi-Wan Kenobi, so don’t even think about making a wise remark about how you could see me in trouble.

Yours Truly,

Satine

Dear Satine,

I, too, just received confirmation that I’m to mentor a first year this upcoming school year! Regardless of your speculation and wariness, I stand by my decision. We will be kept busy, but idle minds mean time wasted. If you hadn’t agreed on principle, I don’t believe you would have signed up right behind me. As for my extracurricular activities, pretending as though I am not stressed in the slightest about the prospect of the coming year is futile, but I hope to work through it and to become a better student as a result of it. My father has relented on training by Quidditch form. There are bigger things to worry about such as OWLS, which is why I’m to be locked in all summer. No complaints there- I’d much rather read.

Speaking of reading, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the books you snuck into my trunk. Yes, I found them and they were quite a welcome surprise. A bit of relaxing education is just what the doctor ordered. Not literally, because I loathe visiting my family’s practitioner. He takes the term “witch doctor” to new levels and I will leave it at that.

You’ve always been far better at charming objects than I ever have. To be fair, I still don’t have a full understanding of what certain muggle objects actually do, but I’ve got most of the list marked off by this point. While I promise not to report you for deliberate rule breaking, I do admire your gumption. I hope you’ll one day let me see what you’ve crafted. You know I adore learning the novelties of the muggle world. I believe last we spoke, you were telling me about ‘computers’.

As always, I’d love to know more. You have a manner of speaking that simply can’t go unnoticed, at least not to me.

Best,

Obi-Wan

Fifth Year- Winter

Dear Satine,

I apologize if this owl reaches you at an indecent hour. I know how you are about your beauty sleep. It’s been strange being back home, even if for a couple of weeks. It’s only made me realize just how unreal this year has been in terms of excitement and mystery. Though I do not blame the boy for any of it, I won’t lie that it was a much quieter school without Anakin Skywalker present. I wouldn’t change any of it, of course. I believe I am making a difference in working with him. He has a bright mind, if he chooses to use it.

I still can’t get the vision of him foaming at the mouth on the floor out of my head. There’s no doubt that someone has it in for him. I can only imagine who. While eccentric, Anakin is still just a child. He’s harmless.

At risk of drastically changing the subject- my true reason for writing was to thank you again for the watch. My parents have ingrained in me the importance of writing thank you notes regardless of the nature of the gift. However, this might be the first time the sentiment has felt important in action. It may sound ungrateful, but a boy can only receive so many tie clips before he starts to sound a bit robotic in his delivery.

However, please note that every word I say, I mean through my very bones. I hope you didn’t take my silence at receiving it to be anything less than breathlessness. You always keep me guessing, Satine Kryze, and I would have you no different. I am still in awe every time I catch a gander at my wrist.

You did a marvelous job in transfixing and refurbishing it. Seriously, it is of no wonder that Charms comes easier to you than it does to me. Had I not known otherwise; I would have assumed this watch was always crafted with the intention of being magical. Even if it were just a standard watch, it would still have meant more to me than anything I’ve received simply because it came from you. My friend. I’m not sure I deserve it.

I suppose I’ve no excuse for fear of being late any longer, now do I?

It’s never coming off!

Obi-Wan

Dear Ben,

I’m no longer, by any means, insinuating that the boy is trouble. Or more accurately, I don’t believe he’s cognizant of these omens. What concerns me, is Qui-Gon seems to believe that a dark time is upon us. He won’t share his suspicions outright, but I can tell just by how he talks to Anakin with a certain level of wonder and curiosity. Surely, you see it too.

Even still, I say, when school starts up, we try and start our own investigation- off the books and away from Anakin, of course. We needn’t worry him more than he already is. Perhaps while Gryffindor has the field for Quidditch practice we can better research. There’s been too many strange occurrences this year for it to all be coincidental. I’d argue this is the tipping point.

We can further discuss a game plan back at school, but at risk of hurting feelings and potentially endangering lives, we should keep this between us.

I am, however, glad to hear you enjoyed the watch ♥

Yours,

Satine

Sixth Year- Summer

Dear Satine,

I received my OWLS results today as I’m sure you did the same. I wanted you to hear from me, personally, that I am, in fact, alive and well despite what I received as scores. I’m surprised at how alive and how well, quite actually.

For some context- I received all O’s in everything… With the exception of Arithmancy- of which I got an E. I’m not positive where exactly I went wrong in studying for it. I don’t recall the exam being particularly difficult. It’s never been a prized subject of mine as you well know, but I’ve always delivered nothing less than near-perfect marks.

My parents took the news surprisingly well. As opposed to blaming me for slacking off or being distracted by frivolous things such as friends… They were in support of me. In fact, they’re positive that the school is deliberately discriminating against me. I think it might have to do with the recent revelation regarding Anakin being the chosen one. They’ve been much kinder to me and the choices I’ve made as a result of my association with him. Where they believed I was wasting my time, I apparently “saw” what they couldn’t- even if my decision to mentor Anakin had absolutely nothing to do with the matter.

I still have not yet mentioned my pursuit of becoming an Auror. You have to space this kind of news out when you can. They’ve supported me on this, but I’m not sure they’d take that in stride. My parents have been itching to have me become a lawyer or a politician for as long as I can remember.

How were your scores? I’m sure you did brilliantly. I should know, I studied alongside you during all of this madness. I’m eager to properly celebrate with you when we next meet. My mother asked me where I’d gotten the watch the other day and I exclaimed that the brightest witch of my age crafted it for me personally… She assumed it was Ventress, but you’ve always thrived in the chaos of being underestimated, now haven’t you? I will never make that mistake.

Truly,

Ben

Dear Ben,

Don’t you ever scare me with such a dramatic introduction ever again! I nearly had a heart attack, assuming you’d gone and failed your OWLS in a fit of insanity. Given how unusual our fifth year was, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it had another anomaly to toss our way. I thought I was going to have to portkey to you and shake the living daylights out of you for being so foolish.

You landed on your feet, as you always do and seem to make it look incredibly easy to those that do not know any better. We’re matching, actually, except my E was in DADA- likely during the practical session when I wouldn’t cast that Sectumsempra spell. To have us perform such an act on a defenseless animal is cruel (even if it was a spider), particularly in the name of ‘testing’. If they must endorse the epidemic of violence, can they not simply provide test dummies?

I’m actually surprised I scored that high, since the instructor looked at me like I had ten heads. I spoke to Cody today. He passed, despite how hard he doubted himself. We both knew that he would do fine, of course.

Ventress has been around a lot more frequently, hasn’t she? I know that she’s been quite displaced ever since Dooku’s outing. She’s quite smug and entitled for someone who hardly does anything aside from being an errand girl to a Sith terror. I’m sure she’ll be continuing her tricks this year. To think your family thinks you could be as shrewd and awful as her.

How is Anakin this summer? I contemplated sending him an owl just to see how he was processing the more recent revelations, but it would most likely sound more from the heart if it came from you. You were truly excellent with him this year, if I hadn’t already mentioned it. I know I convinced you to break away from the status quo and lean into your desires to become an auror, but you’ve got a real knack for teaching and seeing the best in people. It’s truly one of your best traits. That, and the fact that regardless how much of a mess you are, you always manage to look pristine from head to toe.

Actually, that last bit is borderline infuriating. I hope to see you before the summer lets out. I understand why that might be difficult, but it seems with your parents’ investment in Anakin, you might have a valid reason to be away from the homestead more often. If you understand what I’m saying.

Best,

Satine

Sixth Year- Winter

{A draft from the desk of Obi-Wan Kenobi}

[Boldened text in parenthesis] = out loud thoughts

Dear Satine,

How do I say this without sounding like a damn fool? You kissed me!

It’s been brought to my attention by literally everyone that we have a certain noticeable chemistry. [Why am I saying what everyone else thinks when I should be saying what I think?] Usually, when we are together, we argue. A lot. Sometimes, I’m surprised we haven’t strangled each other yet by how heated some of our debates become. You have this ability to get under my skin in a way that no one else possesses. Truthfully, I love [Too strong! Don’t go scaring her off now] truly appreciate that about you.

But there are times when I get this feeling… And it’s come on more and more the longer I know you… Like we could get beyond the possible strangulation phase and onto something… Better. [What is wrong with me?] You challenge me and I think sometimes I’m able to challenge you as well. I think having people in your life that push you to be the best you can be is a sign of true companionship friendship. You’ve become a constant in my life that I wouldn’t shake even if I could. Looking back, it’s only natural for me to grow feelings for you.

Where I tried to convince myself those feelings were simply an intense comradery, I cannot deny that I do not notice how the light casts on Cody’s hair or linger on him as he walks away [Blast that makes me sound like a pervert] wonder what his hand would feel like in mine. My heart doesn’t quicken if Cody touches my shoulder or laughs at one of my jokes. Cody doesn’t sit incredibly close to me at the dining hall, but if he did, I would be more confused than completely entranced. Cody is my other best friend, but my entire day is not made or broken by seeing him smile.

I wouldn’t be jealous if the seventh year boys decided to notice that Cody was beautiful.

And you are disarmingly beautiful, but I’ve always known that, even if I try to ignore it.

You can imagine how terrifying all of this is to realize at the remarkable hour of 3 in the morning- a mere 3 hours after you decided to kiss me under the mistletoe. How am I supposed to think of anything else now or ever again? Which leads me to think [Don’t be presumptuous] wonder… If you share these feelings. And if you do, we’ve got quite a predicament there. Because if I could blissfully convinced myself that we could never be, I’d be able to bury that deep within me, but even the idea of hope that you could see me in that light… I fear that would be all too tempting. The evidence says that you might. You’ve always been a better investigator than myself, but I can’t shake this feeling that we have these spellbound moments where everything slows down. And it’s just you and me. During those moments, everything is alright.

Usually, when I’m troubled as I am now, I do not hesitate to reach out to you. You’re my co-conspirator, my fellow prefect, my best friend. However, given the situation, that’s not very easy to do. Even if Qui-Gon speaks of it like it is . I wish it were, because now all I can imagine is the mark you’ve left with your kiss. It’s the same sort of feeling I get every time I touch the face of the watch you gifted me last year.

Should I ever muster up the courage to send this letter to you, which I definitely shouldn’t, because you deserve the sort of man that would bare his heart in person, please understand that while I’ve dedicated my life to studying magical text, I’m not nearly as well-versed in the subject of love. Since I’m so certain you’ll never read this, there’s no point in denying that it’s anything less than love.

Love,

Ben

Seventh Year- Summer

Dear Ben,

I wanted to ensure that you were on the road of being okay, all things considering. I tried to wait to give you space, but I couldn’t make it more than a week without knowing you weren’t going mad locked up in that house of yours. I’m not even positive you’ll write me back, which is infuriating, but understanding since Qui-Gon’s passing is not one to be taken lightly by anyone, but especially you. I wish I could alleviate the pain you must be feeling in any way.

I’m relieved just a little bit, knowing that Anakin is in your care. It was very surprising of your parents to offer him refuge, as he’s currently got no one else to possibly lean on. Hopefully the two of you can find some solace in each other during these difficult times. I care for both of you very much and my heart aches knowing I am virtually helpless in making this any better. I know you are likely placing an immense amount of pressure on yourself to distract you from addressing your own mentor’s death, but while your parents might encourage this behavior, it’s not a true way of coping. You need to let someone in.

Stay safe. Do not hesitate to reach out (no matter how cliché that sounds). Even if you talk to Cody instead, that’s fine. Just… Don’t lock yourself in that head of yours and go rogue. I’d miss you far too much.

With Love,

Satine

Dear Satine,

I’m not okay, but I’ll have to be soon. Anakin is safe and on the same boat. I’ll write later with a real reply. I’m not quite in the spirit right now. I just wanted you to know that I haven’t gone completely mad in absence.

~Obi-Wan

Dear Satine,

I’m sorry to be writing to you so late in “true” reply. I’ve been quite busy with Anakin this summer. It has been helpful having someone else around. While a gray cloud still seems to follow him around, I’d say he’s faring better than expected. It’s alarming how resilient the boy is, but also incredibly depressing that it needs to be that way. We’ve discussed the matter of Qui-Gon’s death a couple of times. While you won’t like this, I think there is some closure to knowing that Anakin’s attacker, who became Qui-Gon’s murderer, is dead.

Meanwhile, I must confess that it still haunts me every night. I haven’t said anything to Anakin, because like you rightfully assumed, I’m not about to unload that burden onto him. He feels it’s his fault just as much as I do. We’ve taken to playing Quidditch outside. My family owns several acres of land, so we are able to get out of earshot every now and then. Anakin actually gets on quite nicely with my parents, which is a massive relief. Getting back to school for our final year will be a good way to get back into routine. On the other hand, I’m dreading trying to attempt adjusting to a school without Qui-Gon.

I suppose studying my brains out for the NEWTS alongside you will provide for ample distraction. You, alone, are admittedly very distracting. I am referring to your character of course. A general statement.

There’s always Quidditch, unfortunately, which isn’t nearly as fun and carefree as playing with Anakin in the yard. Despite how massively competitive he is? He’s just turned 13 and he’s loads better than me already. I still hate the flying aspect.

I’m writing you, of course, because we just got notified that I’m to be the Head Boy to your Head Girl. This incredibly tragic time has truly made me appreciate the people I have in my life. You are, without a doubt, shining at the top of that metaphorical list in bold and underlined print. I wouldn’t be Head Boy had it not been for you.

A lot has changed thus far, Satine, and I’m growing tired of being afraid. Life is too short and it’s always going to throw negatives at us- some that are absolutely debilitating. However, there is always the light, which has made me think that perhaps this year, some changes don’t have to be bad. There are many things I’d like to discuss with you, in person. Because this sort of conversation should be the kind that happens face-to-face.

Would you like to meet before school?

Truly Yours,

Ben

#obitine #Obi-Wan Kenobi #satine kryze #the clone wars #star wars #hpau #magical forces au #fragments of the garden

[kuronanox]

A promise in heaven - Julius Novachrono

"Let me go!"

"No, you know I can't do that."

"I hate you Julius I can't stand looking at you."

Yanking her arm from his grip she cried and screamed. He tried to hold her and comfort her but she refused. The feeling of betrayal overcame him.

"Why don't you trust me!" Julius shouts, letting his emotions get to him. "I only love you and I've proven it so many times! What must I do to make you stay."

(Your Name) shakes her head and looks down at the floor. "Nothing, how could you love a broken person like me?"

"(Your Name)." He says with a crack voice as she looks back at his pained eyes. With one last yank Julius let her arm go as she ran away.

It was 10 years ago and it still hurt him till the present day. At first he laid around his room and neglected his duties more. After a few months he knew she wasn't coming back.

Julius looked out the Clover Kingdom and sighed. She was a troublesome girl and often got into trouble a lot. He just wanted to be there for her and protect her from the cruel world.

They met when she was running away from a group of thugs, she had stole a bag of gold from them out of desperation of money.

"The dumb bitch is running around the corner!"

(Your Name) ran as fast as should could, she was running out of money and by the next week she was going to be on the streets again. Turning the corner she came across Julius and he looked shocked.

Clicking her teeth she advanced towards him and kicked him in the stomach and made a run for it.

Julius was the wizard king but getting kicked by a civilian shocked him that he couldn't move.

"It-it's the wizard king!" The thugs yelled and ran away back to their homes afraid he was going to send them to prison.

(Your name) looked back to see no one as she sighed and smiled. The money would last her months till she can get a steady foot.

"That wasn't really nice miss." Julius says in front as her mouth gasp and she pulled out a dagger.

"Move or else." She says with fear in her voice.

"Hey hey, I won't hurt you. Tell me where are you from?" He gently says holding her hands down safely.

Knitting her brows she scanned him up and down. Shaking her head she shut her mouth.

Julius sighed and took the bag of gold from her. Her eyes widen "Hey!"

"Tell me, why are stealing gold from under ground thugs?"

"Because... isn't it obvious. I need the money."

"Get back to work!" Marx shouts to Julius as he spaced out for the 5th time that morning. "Ahh I'm sorry, I got distracted again."

Picking up a piece of paper to sign Marx gives a sympathetic look and walks away. He knew Julius was thinking about her. (Your Name) the only person to bring out his smile besides when he saw new types of magic.

Julius and (Your Name) were in love but she couldn't handle the life and the people here.

It seemed like everyone was against their relationship at the time and tried to bring them down. They succeeded as she left a part of Julius left with her.

"I'll help you back to your feet." Julius offered as he brought her to safety in his office.

"I don't need help from you." She sneered looking away from him.

"Alright well I guess you won't be needing this either." Julius smirked dangling the bag of gold as her eyes followed in desperation.

"Ugh fine! What do you want me to do?"

"You can get a job as a server at one of our nicest restaurants in the kingdom."

(Your Name) crossed her arms and took a seat across from Julius, listening to the opportunity she has.

"Fine, where will I stay till I can get a place?"

"Um here!" He exclaimed with a bright smile as she gave him a smug look.

"Whatever, deal."

A loud thunder clashed as (Your Name) eyes opened from her sleep. She sat up from bed and pushed her hair away from her face.

"Why do I keep dreaming about him? I left him I shouldn't be this sad."

"(Your Name)! You have your regular!" A coworker had shouted out to her.

The past few months she was working there she became a natural and tips became so easy to make.

Julius also became a regular because he wanted to check up on her to see if she was okay and also because he was entranced by her.

She smiled to herself and turned to see Julius waiting patiently for her.

"The usual?" She asks him as he nodded.

After her shifts he was always there to walk her back safely and at the same time she was still staying in his office.

"You know I can get my own place now."

Julius stiffens a bit and gives a weak smile. "Actually (Your Name) I wanted to talk to you about sometime."

"Um alright." (Your Name) says noticing that he was acting unusual that night.

"I've been feeling this for a while, but I really enjoy your company and would like to have you by my side and would be sadden to see you with anyone else."

"Did you just confess to me?" She laughs as he grabs the back of his neck and lightly chuckles.

"Kinda."

"Well lucky for you I will accept!"

(Your Name) gets a message from Marx asking her to return to the Clover Kingdom. Throwing the paper away she goes out and starts to harvest her plants because winter could get harsh.

"Why does that mushroom keep sending me updates about Julius! It's been years and I've moved on!" She tries to convince herself and dig in the dirt planting some tomatoes.

"I'm home!" (Your Name) shouts as Julius hoisted her from behind.

"I'm glad you got back safe. How was work?"

"Ugh I had a table leave without paying but either than that it was good."

Julius smiles and kisses her

gently on the on the lips taking her to the shower.

They relaxed in the tub as he told her about his day and all the new magic he saw.

"Seems interesting, I'm not really gifted in magic..."

Julius notices her sadness and lifts her chin to his face. "You are more than enough to me, I'll be here to protect you."

"But I won't be able to protect you! What if something happens to the kingdom and you can't stop it! I won't be able to help."

Julius sighs and drys his body along with her as they laid in bed.

"Shh, stop. Nothing will ever happen. I promise."

"Julius, don't make promises you can't keep."

"I promise." He whispers to her, laying his head on her as she sadly smiles and lets him drift to sleep.

Julius thought back about that time, he promised to protect her and the kingdom. As he fought licht he had a small feeling of guilt.

He was about to break his promise, he thought about (Your Name). Wondering if she was still alive or in trouble.

When Licht plunged his sword into Julius, he smiled. Maybe it was better this way. He was getting older and a new wizard king was bound to happen.

Then he thought again. "Maybe this time I'll get to be with (Your name)."

Although he wanted to cry no tears came out.

"What are you reading so intently?" (Your Name) asks Julius as he tried to hide the letter but was snatched out of his hands.

"Wow everyone hates me here. I told you Julius I'm nothing but a burden to you and the kingdom!"

Julius sighs and looks out the window, it was the 10th letter that week regarding (Your Name) and how she didn't deserve to be with him and how weak she was.

"No one thinks that."

"Everyone thinks that. Stop trying to hide the truth from me. I know no one accepts our relationship. Especially bird braid Nozel.”

Julius sits up from his chair and brings her to an embrace as she hugged him. "I hate this. I hate myself."

"Shh, stop."

(Your Name) sighed, even when going out alone people yelled and called her names. Some refused to let her in the store or provide service. Although she never let Julius know, he knew.

"We will be okay, I promise."

She scoffed and hugged tighter in his embrace. "You and your promises again."

Opening the millionth letter again from Marx she scanned through it and was about to throw it away when she read that Julius had passed away and her attendance at Clover Kingdom was necessary.

Her mouth went dry as her eyes watered. Packing everything that was important to her she hit the road and left to see him.

It was when she entered, Marx immediately brought her to the body. Holding in her cries she saw his face. He was at peace, no more work no more duties to attend. He was in heaven.

"I wish he could have seen you one last time if we had known he was going to pass." Marx states looking down at the body.

Crying ugly tears she screamed and took his hand with hers. "I'm sorry I left Julius. You know me to well I was to stubborn and I selfishly left you."

The days passed and she lingered in his room and bed looking out the window it had been raining the last few days.

No announcement had been made to the public yet, although everyone had been curious where the wizard king has been.

“Yo.” A gruff lazy voice calls by the door way.

Sitting up she calls out. “Yami.”

“Still see you lounging around?”

She laughs and looks down at her hands. “Yeah it’s been tough. Glad to see you are doing well.”

Yami puffs out some smoke and leans against the door. “Yeah, you too. Thought you were dead if I’m being honest. Julius never told me what happen.”

Sighing she looks up to Yami and gives a weak smile.

“I wish it was me rather than him.”

Silence fold between the two as they listened to the rain fall. “Well I gotta show you something.”

“What?”

“Just follow me.”

Walking down the hallway they make it to a balcony.

“It’s raining Yami.”

Turning around he was gone.

She saw that the kingdom was a mess, the buildings were destroyed, the people were trying to rebuilt their lives again.

“(Your Name).”

“I don’t have time to see this Yami!”

“Well after all these years you still have some sassy in you.”

“You know I don’t really need-“ turning her body in slight irritation she sees Julius standing behind her with a smile.

The smile that lit up the world and all that was there.

“Julius!”

“I’m back (Your Name).”

Giving him a big hug she rubbed her face in his chest. “I’ve missed you, I’m so sorry.”

Julius caresses her hair and embraces her.

“I forgive you, this time you are saying.”

“But how did you come back? I saw you out cold.”

Julius looks away slyly. “It’s complicated, we will get back to that another time. At the mean time we have lots to catch up on.”

Grabbing her hand they walk back to room and sit on the bed.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She says back holding both his hands looking down ashamed.

“We will fix this (Your Name), nothings ever perfect.”

“I know, I’ll stay and I’ll push past the obstacles that tear us down.”

Julius kisses her hands and brings them to his face.

"I didn't break my promise and came back."

(Your Name) punches him lightly and scoffs.

"Whatever."

They lay in bed and look out the window together. "Well looks like we have a lot of work for the kingdom in the next few months."

"I like the we." She says and he kisses her forehead.

"It's always going to be we for now on." Julius says closing his eyes, enjoying this peace of heaven he could stay for a while.

#black clover oneshots #black clover oneshot #black clover julius #julius novachrono #yuki tabata #black clover #yami sukehiro #black clover yami #black clover x reader #black clover imagines

[blacknailpolishonguitarstrings]

When I fall in love with you

The rain fell hard around her, seeping into the mushy earth, as she walked fastly from the Forbidden Forest, feet sinking into the wet grass. She clutched her books tightly in the crook of her arm, covered by her black cloak, protecting them from the incessant torrents of water falling from the dark sky. Lily and the girls had told her to come back to the castle with them, but she had insisted on staying longer to help Professor Kettleburn with the escaped Nifflers, using the occasion to ask a few more questions about the lesson. Unfortunately, the weather had turned for the worse, resulting in her rushing through the Hogwarts Grounds, soaked to the bone. She was already nearing the castle, walking along the greenhouses, when suddenly a hand shot out of the door of Greenhouse number 3, pulling her into the warmth and moisture of the glasshouse brusquely. The unknown hand wrapped itself tightly around her throat, cold, bony fingers digging into her soft skin. Another arm wound itself around her waist, restraining her and impeding any movement whatsoever. Thrashing and kicking against her assailant's firm grip, she attempted to free herself, in vain.

"Now, now, Miss Cattermole, there's no need for such violence," hissed Malfoy's voice in her ear.

"What...do you...want?" she choked, barely managing to force the words out of her mouth.

Another foreign, freezing hand slapped her across the face, long nails scraping her skin, knocking off her glasses, which fell on the floor.

"Do not open your mouth, unless spoken to, you filthy little mudblood," seethed a high-pitched, slightly crazed voice: Bellatrix Black.

Straining to see, she finally distinguished four blurry figures, all dressed in black.

"The Dark Lord is rising, and someone like you has no place in the Wizarding World. Unfortunately for you, that means eliminating all of you mudbloods, one by one, until no one remains standing. Consider yourself...collateral damage, if you will," whispered her attacker.

"You...can't do...anything...to me. You will be...sent to...Azkaban," said Finn in a raspy voice.

She was nearly suffocating now, throat raw, as she continued struggling to try and escape.

"You're right," he continued. "We may not be able to kill you, but we can certainly inflict pain upon you..."

***

Black spots danced in front of her eyes as she painstakingly peeled them open. Memories of menacing, blurry, dark figures, cold, cruel voices, and a chokingly tight grip around her throat flashed through Finn’s mind, yet she did not remember much more. She did recall feeling an intense wave of fear though before darkness swallowed her. Her body felt sore and exhausted, searing white-hot pain bursting in sporadic spurts along her rib cage and hips. She whimpered feebly as another sharp pang of pain stabbed her head. Suddenly alert and aware that she might still be in danger and that her assailants probably weren’t far, she scrambled for her glasses. They had fallen somewhere near her, she was sure of it, but only dirt and gravel rolled under her palms. Palming her cloak rapidly, she found her wand instead.

“Accio glasses,” she whispered, waving it briefly in front of her.

The familiar shape of the spectacles glided smoothly into her palm, having been laying seemingly close to her. As soon as she put them on, the world sharpened around her and came into focus, the black spots and kaleidoscopic spectrum covering her surroundings disappearing abruptly. The greenhouse around her was filled to the brim with lush plants with waxy leaves and bright, blossoming flowers, strange spindly bushes, vibrant potted plants with twisting tentacles, and other bizarre species of magical herbs and fungi. No one was in sight, she was thankfully alone. She attempted to stand up, but her weak, shaking legs, nearly buckled under her and she stumbled forward, nearly flying face-first into a cactus covered in purple berries. More pain flooded her knees as she slowly took a few tentative steps. Groaning in pain, Finn propped herself up against a wooden worktop. Her blurry reflection stared back at her from the misty glass of the greenhouse, covered in millions of water droplets. The crystal was barely clear enough to reflect her unusual, stark paleness, her brown grimy locks hanging limply over her eyes, and the reddish, rapidly bluing bruises on her neck left by rough fingers. The same bruises were probably blossoming on her hips too now, judging by the pain emanating from there and spreading through her body. Angry, scarlet, crescent-shaped nail marks cut across her cheek, and a deeper gash sliced through them, blood pearling at its edges and steadily trickling down her cold, clammy face. She rummaged briefly through her pockets, hoping to find a napkin leftover from lunch to slow the blood flow but they were empty.

“Fuck!” She swore loudly in frustration.

The pain appeared to stem not only from superficial wounds but also from magical wounds terror deeply inside her organism. She could not go to Madam Pomfrey even though she probably should as she would ask questions, which would inevitably lead to consequences, and more trouble with whoever her attackers were was the last thing she needed. She did not know any healing spells for this or Glamour Charms strong enough to cover all the damage up and neither was she in a state fit to perform them. Her best bet was thus Marlene, the one with the most magi-medical experience since her mother was a Mediwitch. But that meant facing her friends, and Merlin knew what they would do if they found out about the whole story, especially Sirius. With a heavy sigh and wand at the ready, she cautiously slipped out of the greenhouse, resolving to wait a bit until everyone was at dinner to sneak back into her dorm and speak to Marlene alone.

Outside, curtains of rain kept falling and hammering against the glass roof of the greenhouse, sliding down along the fogged-up panels, but they were thinner than before. The sky, a murky shade of gray when she left class, had darkened considerably, now ink black. Not a single star or ray of moonlight was insight, and the vicious cold seeped past her clothes. She must have been unconscious for half an hour at the very least. With a deep sigh, she began making her way between puddles of sombre water and mud. The Hogwarts’ shadow loomed over her threateningly, and the entrance door seemed so far away, a pale golden brown blur in the distance. Clutching her wand tighter, she finally stepped between the fleeting, lurking shadows of the Courtyard’s columns. A single, lonely silhouette stood in the center of it, near the fountain, appearing anxious as they frantically looked around themselves. All of a sudden, she heard it, like a nervous whisper cutting through the roaring wind and water in her ears, and the pain clouding her brain, her name, being called over and over again.

“Finn! FINN!”

And then it hit her. That tall, lanky frame and those short, brown curls she could barely distinguish in the dim light coming from the castle, it was Remus.

“Remus!” she shouted.

Instantly, the figure turned around, and walked rapidly towards her, almost running.

“Finn,” he exclaimed loudly. “I was...I mean we were worried about you, you disappeared after class.”

His voice was unexpectedly ear-splitting, sending pangs of pain through her brain, making her wince with pain.

“Finn,” he repeated cautiously, more quietly. “Are you alright?”

His Welsh accent, which he usually managed to cover up, cut through his words worriedly.

“I’m fine,” she replied shortly, swiftly backing away into the darkness, wrapping her cloak around herself tightly.

“No you are not,” he chided. “What happened?”

“I said I’m fine.”

Her tone was hard and cold, bordering on mean.

“Nothing happened, I swear, I’m alright,” she whispered. “There is no cause for worry.”

“I am not blind, Finn. I see the cut on your face and don’t tell me you fell,” Remus added, seeing that she was about to protest. “Unfortunate accidents do not leave bruises like that.”

He stared sharply at her neck, a dangerous glint playing in his warm brown eyes speckled with green.

“Who was it, love?” He inquired quietly.

Love. He only used that nickname when he was furious, and every time it shook her, sending shivers down her spine.

“I can’t remember,” she sighed.

“What happened? Please tell me, I just want to help.”

His voice had softened once again, concern written all over his face as he raised a gentle hand and brushed a stray strand of hair covered in dirt from her face.

“I was walking back from Care of Magical Creatures class, and someone attacked me near greenhouse number 3, dragged me inside, and…”

“And?”

“Oh Merlin, I remember now,” gasped Finn. “Please don’t tell anyone, not James, not the girls, and especially not Sirius. Regulus was with them and it will only rile him up, things are already𑁋”

“Finn,” he stopped her. “Just explain to me what happened, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“I...I can’t...I don’t want to Remus,” she breathed.

“You know you can trust me right?” He asked, putting a soft but heavy hand on her arm.

The young witch trembled lightly, the small touch sending heat and sparks coursing all over her body. He loomed tall over her, almost dangerously, yet she had never felt so safe.

“I will tell you, I swear. Just...not to now, please.”

“Okay.”

She exhaled sharply, before sitting down on the cold stones. Remus kneeled next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly, as if to shelter her from any possible harm. On an impulse, she began to hum, her hushed voice barely hearable over the thundering rain falling around them.

When I fall in love

It will be forever

Or I'll never fall in love

In a restless world

Like this is

Love has ended before it's begun

And too many moonlight kisses

Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

She was very much aware of the fact that the tall boy was staring at her, while she watched the raindrops fall onto the cobblestones, but she kept going.

When I give my heart

It will be completely

Or I'll never give my heart

And the moment I can feel that

You feel that way too

Is when I fall in love

With you

And the moment I can feel that

You feel that way too

Is when I fall in love with you

“Michael Buble? When I fall in love with you?” He smiled.

“You know it?” She said, surprised.

“Yeah, my muggle aunt used to put some on from time to time.”

He paused.

“You sing beautifully, Finn.”

fanfic written for Finn, the lovely @marauders_aesthetic on Instagram

#marauders #remus lupin #Remus Lupin x oc #fanfic #original charcter

[julesby10]

all of it’s a bit insane

A/N: Hello! This is the (almost late) entry for ShinoMitsu Week Day 1 - first kiss/confession

A bit of an end of summer college!AU for y’all because these two have suffered enough.

All of this was inspired by @tanukified 's art, so go check them out (though if you're in the shinomitsu tag, I'm sure you already know them).

Rating: G

Tags: fluff, college!au, summer romance, sunset, first kiss, love confessions

Summary: It's the last day of summer, tomorrow the world will go back to normal. It never bothered Shinobu, not until now. Not until Mitsuri.

FF.NET | AO3

“Hey, do you want to go to the cliff?” Mitsuri asked as she was patting her wet hair with a towel. “Just you and me?”

Shinobu might have declined the offer in any other circumstance, but it was the last day of summer. She’d studied enough in the past few weeks to ace her exams and there was nothing demanding her immediate attention. Kanao was back on the beach with her friends and she had been planning to stay the night at the Kamado’s place, so Shinobu didn’t have to worry about that.

“Sure, why not.”

Mitsuri smiled and Shinobu felt like she’d forgotten how to breathe. Even in a simple white t-shirt and shorts, with her hair messy from a quick shower and her cheeks red from a day at the beach Mitsuri looked stunning. And it wasn’t even from a merely physical point of view, there was a special kind of warmth to her, as if she was made of love and nothing else.

“Are you there?”

Mitsuri laughed, already at the door, and Shinobu snapped out of her stupor, looking for her shoes to avoid showing the redness she could feel on her face. She had, honest to God, never met a person as distracting as Mitsuri.

“Aren’t you going to dry your hair?”

Mitsuri shrugged, still smiling in that way that made Shinobu feel like she was drunk. “The wind will take care of it.”

By now, getting behind Mitsuri on her pink bike was a familiar gesture, as was holding onto her waist for safety, as was burying her face in her hair, surrounded by the sweet smell of her coconut conditioner. She just hoped Mitsuri had never noticed the rate of her heartbeat.

It was almost the end of summer and Shinobu felt like it had been years instead of months. Something in her had shifted, something big she had no idea how to describe. She didn’t dislike it.

Time in the city dragged on between university lectures, exams, crowds of people all over the place and too many worries to count. Summer had always been much the same, just with fewer responsibilities and a change of scenery. Spending two or so months in their seaside house was nothing special to Shinobu. She had always done it for Kanao’s sake because she could bury herself in work all she wanted, but deep down she well knew it was not healthy and inflicting that on her sister would’ve been cruel. They had different ways of coping and Kanao was happy by the sea.

This summer had been… unusual. She’d met Mitsuri, for one, and her weird, weird group of friends.

According to Uzui, Shinobu fit right in, with her dyed hair and caustic sarcasm, and maybe he was right. It felt a bit like having a very big, very loud family and Shinobu wasn’t sure she was ready to admit that she’d missed the atmosphere. It was fun.

They spent their days on the beach, playing cards, swimming, running around on adventures. They were all so different, there was always something to do. The majority of the group was slightly older than her, starting with Mitsuri, but some were younger too and even Kanao had had no problems fitting in. Having people around was good, for both of them.

And having Mitsuri around felt… right. She’d immediately caught Shinobu’s attention and had still to let go.

One of Shinobu’s first thoughts had been that she had a body to die for, and seeing her in a bikini certainly left little to the imagination. Together with Shinobu’s envy was the kind of attraction she’d felt for other girls, which was nothing new. She was used to envy and she was used to attractive girls.

But Mitsuri was so much more than a nice body and a pretty face. Mitsuri felt like warmth and safety, she always had a smile and kind words for everyone and seemingly had no problems just unabashedly being herself in front of the rest of the world.

Her quirks didn’t stop at her dyed green and pink hair either. She loved food and she ate a lot, but she did it with such joy it was impossible not to be happy too. She was impossibly strong, which didn’t stand out too much in the very athletic group she was in, but it only made her more intriguing in Shinobu’s eyes, who’d always wished she could be stronger. Having someone like Mitsuri next to her almost felt like the real thing and Mitsuri never looked at her with pity or contempt, she didn’t care that Shinobu was small, she was just there, beautiful and steady as a statue cut from marble.

There were so many layers to Mitsuri, so many stories and small details that were not there unless you really looked, and when Shinobu caught herself staring it was already too late. To her defence, Mitsuri was easy to fall for.

They’d played volleyball all afternoon that day, and Shinobu was starting to feel it in her arms, but Mitsuri had never given even the slightest sign of being tired.

When they had won the last game against Uzui and Giyuu, Mitsuri had lifted her up in a crushing hug, salty and full of sand, but Shinobu never once thought it was bothersome. It made her happy, instead.

Mitsuri felt like home.

They dismounted from the bike and settled on the grass, far enough from the edge to not accidentally fall, but close enough that they could enjoy the view.

“I’ll miss this place, it’s so beautiful,” Mitsuri said around the straw of her milkshake. After meeting her, Shinobu had quickly learned that she was always hungry, so seeing her with random snacks didn’t faze her anymore.

It was true, though, the view from the cliff they were on was almost magical, the sun sinking slowly into the ocean, setting fire to the waves and sky as stars slowly took its place.

They remained in silence for a while, ears filled by the sound of the water below, the wind ruffling the grass and their hair. Being with the whole group was amazing, but Shinobu appreciated these small moments she had with Mitsuri purely for the fact that it was only them, the rest of the world be damned.

They’d taken walks on the beach in the early hours of the morning, when the sun was barely up, they’d shared pastries and secrets in the dead of the night, when everyone else had been asleep, they’d shared a couch that was way too small for two people when they’d been the last to get drunk.

“It almost feels like this is the last sunset I’ll ever see,” Shinobu murmured, not really looking at Mitsuri. She was following the intricate flight of a seagull. It glided on a current, then dipped down to the water to come back up in seconds.

Mitsuri giggled, soft like the windchimes next to Shinobu’s window. “Right? It feels final.”

“It kind of is,” Shinobu replied, sneaking a glance at Mitsuri. She was leaning back, her tanned skin in contrast with the white of her shirt, her long hair cascading down her shoulders in waves. Shinobu always wanted to run her hand through it but had never asked. Mitsuri turned to her with a smile, straw between her teeth.

“Yeah, well, there’s always next summer,” she casually said, as if it didn’t mean they would be apart for almost a year. Shinobu had never been bothered by the end of summer, it just meant she would go back to her usual routine. Now it almost scared her because she had no idea what normal meant if Mitsuri wasn’t in it.

The last few days had flown by, almost as if they’d purposefully decided to spite Shinobu.

“Mitsuri.”

Mitsuri answered with a questioning hum and a faint smile. The sun had almost set, but the remaining light painted strokes of golden on her cheeks, highlighting the symmetrical moles under her eyes and making her look like a work of art. She was so beautiful, Shinobu’s heart ached.

Her left hand, with its perfectly french manicured nails, was resting on the ground between them and Shinobu gently covered it with her own. Mitsuri didn’t move, seemingly surprised by the physical affection, but not denying it.

“I’ll miss you,” Shinobu whispered, so faint it almost got lost in the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff.

Mitsuri smiled, both happiness and sadness at the corners of her mouth, and Shinobu suddenly felt the overwhelming need to kiss the sadness away. She didn’t get the chance to, as Mitsuri engulfed her in a hug, milkshake forgotten beside her.

“I’ll miss you too, Shinobu, you have no idea,” she said, tightening the hug. “I love you so much.”

Shinobu was used to the way Mitsuri said ‘I love you’ so casually. She said it so often because it was true, she loved everyone, everything. Her love was all-encompassing and Shinobu felt selfish for wanting it all to herself.

She took a breath and pulled out of the hug to look Mitsuri in the eyes, those eyes that looked like the smooth pieces of glass they found in the sand, vibrant but soft.

“Mitsuri, I... love you.”

Mitsuri’s hands in hers were grounding, as her touch always was. Even when she had laid all her cards on the table, Shinobu felt safe, vulnerable, but safe.

She saw the meaning of the words slowly sink in, Mitsuri’s lips revealing a bright smile that was all teeth and no bite.

“Oh, I thought you’d never say it,” she laughed, watery and incredulous. “I love you too, Shinobu.”

And suddenly Mitsuri’s lips were on her own, cool and soft against her chapped ones. She let her arms go up to Mitsur’s neck, pulling her closer as she felt Mitsuri’s warm hands on her cheeks.

When they parted, Shinobu pressed their foreheads together and simply stared for a moment. Mitsuri’s eyes were glossy and, judging by the sting she felt behind her eyelids, hers were too. Shinobu was smiling so hard she could feel her muscles strain.

“You taste like sugar.”

Mitsuri laughed, tears spilling as he closed her eyes.

Shinobu couldn’t resist and kissed her again, before quite literally throwing herself into her arms, nestling her face into her neck. She smelled like salt and sun, and Shinobu whished she could always have it with her.

Minutes passed in silence, the sun now fully below the horizon, its warmth still lingering despite the shadows of dusk. They’d promised to meet everybody at the usual place on the beach for one last round of drinks, but they still had some time.

After a while, Mitsuri pulled out of the hug and brushed her fingers on her jaw and she’d been affectionate before, but never quite this intimately.

“What does this make us?”

Shinobu blushed slightly but smiled. “Girlfriends?”

Mitsuri placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth, the redness of her cheeks evident despite the tan and the approaching darkness. “Yeah, I like the sound of that.”

#shinomitsuweek2020 #shinomitsu #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #shinobu kocho #mitsuri kanroji #kny #kocho shinobu #kanroji mitsuri #kny shinobu #kny mitsuri #kny fic #kimetsu no yaiba fanfiction #my writing

[thdorkmagnet]

Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 40: Mewberty

A/N: It’s also Light of the Sun and Stars three year anniversary today, yay!

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: Marco isn’t feeling well and has no idea why he’s feeling extra clingy toward Star or his body is suddenly so itchy and uncomfortable among other sudden changes. He doesn’t want to worry his friends but the longer he waits the worse his condition seems to get. Can Star and the others figure out what’s wrong or will Butterfly Castle suffer from Marco’s unexpected transformation?

Check out my other stuff on Fanfiction!

Index

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them. 

Previous chapter>>

Next Chapter>>

Marco wasn't feeling well. This shouldn't really be too surprising since it wasn't like he had never been sick before. He used to get a fever or a cough here and there growing up, causing every Monster in the castle to go into panic mode, rushing around like crazed maniacs trying to find a way to cure him of his illness, bringing him soup and medicine and hot water and basically anything the boy was in need of. Even the normally calm Buff Frog would be on edge during this time, flinching every time the boy coughed or sneezed and refused to leave his son's side for even a moment until Marco was completely one-hundred percent cured. And even after Marco had gotten over his initial aliment the Monsters still insisted he stay in bed an extra day, just to be sure he was okay (which Marco always thought was a bit excessive but figured his dad and the Monsters knew best).

Toffee was the only one who seemed to not be affected by the boy's condition. He usually just watched the boy from afar, his blank stare burning into Marco's skin, the boy easily picking up on his aggression in those moments, knowing that the lizard was angry with him for halting missions with his weak immune system but knew better than to say anything with the other Monsters around. But it was ironically due to Toffee's rule of not being allowed to leave the castle or his room most of the time that Marco was spared from suffering any major illnesses or diseases that most Mewmans have. But it was also due to this horrible rule that Marco had zero idea what it was he was sick with now, his very limited knowledge of Mewman illnesses doing nothing to help him determine what exactly he had.

This was the first time he had been sick since moving to Butterfly Castle, after all. Which meant he was completely lost on what exactly it was making him feel so weird today.

Since the moment he woke up that morning, something had felt off to Marco. His body felt strangely floaty and his arms and legs almost felt numb, like they weren't attached to him or something. And yet at the same time, he was aware of every sensation in his body at once and all of them were almost supercharged. His rumbling stomach felt like it was trying to cause an earthquake, his eyelids still heavy from just waking up felt like they were made of bricks, and his back felt super itchy for some reason.

But most of all, he couldn't stop thinking about Star.

This shouldn't be too unusual, I mean most of his thoughts revolved around her, but today it was to the absolute most extreme it had ever been. From the second he opened his eyes, the first thing that popped in his head was I need to see Star.

Once he climbed out of bed and started to change into his hoodie and jeans he couldn't stop thinking about going to see Star, her smile, her laugh, her eyes, all of it circling in his head so much he couldn't hardly focus and he almost ended up putting his hoodie on backward.

When he went downstairs, he ran into Jackie and Janna in the hallway and nearly groaned in disappointment that Star wasn't amongst them. He didn't hear a word they said to him the rest of the way to the dining room, the only thought in his head being a constant chant of: Star. Star. Star. Need to see her. Need to see Star.

And the moment he did see her, he had been so elated he had practically leapt into her arms, much to her surprise, the girl barely even having time to let out a simple greeting before being tackled to the floor. Jackie, Janna, Moon, River, and Lily had all stared dumbfounded as Marco clung tightly to his bestie, saying over and over again how happy he was to see her. Star, for the most part, didn't show too much concern, though she did flush in embarrassment from their audience, telling the boy she was happy to see him and gently hugged him back. After a few minutes though, Marco hadn't even lessened his grip, content to just lay on the dining room floor all day if need be, but when Star had asked to please be let up, the boy had reacted instantly, standing straight up, almost robotically.

This had also seemed to concern the others, but they said nothing of it, trying to ignore the awkward moment, all sitting down to eat their breakfast like nothing had happened. Star, however, turned to Marco and asked, "What was that about anyway?"

The boy shrugged, replying honestly, "I just missed you is all."

Star giggled, saying teasingly, "Seriously. But we just had date night like... last night. We went to the Dimension of a Thousand Sunsets, remember?"

"Yes, but that was hours ago," Marco said, a cute little pout on his face as he clung to his bestie's arm. "I had to go all night without seeing you."

Star seemed shocked by this for a second, but it quickly melted into a loving smile as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Aw, Marco, you're adorable!" she gushed.

The two had quickly joined the others for breakfast, only Marco barely ate, all his attention focused on Star to the point he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Not to mention every time he did take a bite of his breakfast a wave of nausea overwhelmed him and he soon realized he didn't have the stomach for cereal at the moment, simply setting his spoon down next to his bowl.

Moon seemed to notice this, asking him, "Marco, are you feeling okay? You've hardly touched your breakfast."

"Uh, I'm not in the mood for this today," the hooded teen said with a shrug.

"But it's Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds," Jackie pointed out, looking at him incredulously. "Your favorite."

"Guess I'm just not hungry right now," Marco replied shyly.

Star frowned at that, but said nothing, though Marco saw her casting worried glances his way every so often.

After breakfast, the itching set in.

What had originally started in just his back, soon began to spread to his arms, legs, neck, everything, until an hour and a half later his whole body was annoyingly itchy. Marco squirmed in his seat the whole time Skullnick gave him, Star, and Jackie the knight's report about Monster and Mewman incidents all across Mewni (which always sounded more like she was lecturing them like school children than simply briefing) while the hooded teen fought the urge to scratch every inch of his irritated skin. For the most part, he managed to remain still, though he never heard a word the general said, and he did occasionally use his chair as a back scratch whenever nobody was looking. Or so he thought, a pair of keen blue eyes watching him out of the corner of his eye every time he moved so much as an inch.

And if that hadn't been enough to distract him, there was the fact that his chair was right next to Star's and Marco could almost sense her presence next to him, completely aware of her form mere inches away from him. As the meeting ran on, Marco found himself seeking her touch more and more, his fingers twitching in anticipation for her warm palm in his. Eventually, the desire grew too strong for him and he slowly reached out a hand, gently grabbing Star's from underneath the table and the blond smiled to herself, before giving it a quick squeeze.

But then a weird sensation spread through Marco's hand, a tingling and burning feeling that caused Marco to literally cry out in surprise, startling everyone in the meeting room and making Star instantly let go. Soon, all eyes were on him and the hooded teen felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment, which felt like his cheeks were literally on fire with his heightened senses. "S-Sorry," he managed to stammer out, wanting nothing more than to dive under the table and out of sight.

Star, immediately picking up on her boyfriend's distress, took charge of the situation and turning to the knights said in the most regal tone she had, "Can you guys give us a minute?"

Everyone except Jackie immediately left the room, giving the princess and her boyfriend their privacy, though Skullnick looked none too happy about it, frowning and grumbling under her breath the whole way.

Once the doors were shut, Star turned to her boyfriend with a concerned look and asked, "Are you okay, Marco? You've been acting strange all morning."

The boy nodded shyly, before muttering out, "Yeah, I guess I just feel weird today."

"Are you getting sick?" Jackie asked looking equally worried.

"Maybe," Marco replied, scratching at his arm now that nobody was around to notice it. "But I'm not really sure. I didn't get sick a whole lot with Buff Frog and everybody."

Star watched this for a moment before asking, "Are you feeling itchy?"

Marco nodded, admitting, "Yeah." He scratched his arm a bit more before moving to his neck. "It wasn't that bad before but now it's starting to feel real bad."

"And I'm guessing you being sick is why you didn't feel like eating anything this morning," Jackie observed.

Star pressed a hand to the boy's forehead, which caused him to immediately flush bright red against his will, his whole face tingling from her touch. "Hmmm, feels like you might be running a fever too."

"Sounds to me like the chickenpox?" Jackie suggested and Star nodded in agreement.

"That's what I was thinking," Star said.

Marco looked between the two with wide eyes, asking nervously, "Am I... gonna turn into a chicken?"

The two girls laughed, Jackie shaking her head. "No, Marco, you aren't gonna turn into a chicken," the skater girl reassured him and the boy breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you should probably lay down for a while," Star said and the boy instantly frowned at the idea of leaving Star's side, giving his girlfriend a hurt look.

"But what about your meeting later with Mayor Butch and the other Monster leaders?" Marco pointed out sadly. "Don't you need me there to help. "

"Wellll," Star began, thinking her words over carefully. She knew how much that meeting had meant to him, Marco had been the one to help set it up in the first place. "It would be nice sure but I'm more concerned about you getting better. Your health comes first, Marco."

The boy let out a long sigh, before muttering softly, "Yeah I guess."

Star, seeing her boyfriend's downtrodden face, felt her will break and added hesitantly, "Hey, if you really want, I could cancel the meeting for today-"

"No, you don't need to do that," the hooded teen said, shaking his head, despite wanting so badly to say otherwise. He didn't want Star to leave, could barely stand the idea of her being away from him for more than a few minutes, but some sane, more rational part of his brain was able to remind himself what was at stake. "You should go. Just because I have to stay home doesn't mean you need to."

"Yeah but," Star muttered worriedly, biting her lip. She stared deep into her boyfriend's eyes before asking softly, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Marco reassured her, giving her what he hoped was a lighthearted grin. "I just need some sleep like you said."

Star nodded slowly, looking on the verge of changing her mind but finally agreed, saying, "Okay, but if you need me for anything, anything at all, just call me and I'll come right back." Marco felt his heart begin to pound with some powerful emotion as his girlfriend's beautiful face lit up with a mind-numbing smile.

"Sounds good to me," Marco said returning the grin with one of his own, while his mind was screaming, Star don't go! He did his best to ignore his inner thoughts as he stood up from his chair, reluctantly saying, "Well I should probably go lay down before I get any worse."

"I'll go with you," Star said, standing herself, and Marco's face lit up knowing he would have Star by his side a little longer, his heart practically leaping for joy, fighting to free itself from his chest. The blond royal turned to Jackie and said, "Tell everyone I'll be back soon, okay?"

"No problem," the skater responded immediately. The two had only taken a step before she added, "Oh do you also want me to call Buff Frog and tell him Marco isn't feeling well?"

"No you better let me do that," Marco replied instantly. "Dad gets crazy overprotective whenever I get sick and the others just kinda lose it, I don't want them to freak out too much."

Star giggled at that, before commenting, "So guess we can be expecting a visit from your family later?"

"If they don't take me home with them where they can watch me morning, day and night," Marco replied with an exhausted sigh.

"Not gonna lie, Buff Frog losing it is hard to imagine," Jackie said with a playful grin. The other two teens giggled in agreement, before heading out the door again, the skater waving the two off.

As Star walked Marco to his room, the young couple spent a few moments in blissful silence, no words needed as they just enjoyed each others presence in the quiet hallway. Marco couldn't stop himself from continually casting glances in his girlfriend's direction, trying to ignore the tingling that seemed to be spreading through his whole nervous system, making him jittery and hyper. He felt alert to Star's every movement, the way she walked, the way her face lit up every time she glanced his way, the way her hair bounced with every step. Everything. It wasn't the first time he had noticed these things about Star, the simple act of her breathing enough to capture his interest and attention, but it felt different now.

Star was his whole world sure, but now she was the world. Nothing else mattered. Just Star. Just being near Star. Just seeing Star. Just smiling at Star. Just touching Star. Just kissing Star. Just holding Star's hand. Just-

"Marco!" Star screamed, finally managing to capture the boy's attention as he reeled back in shock.

"Huh?" he asked numbly, blinking a few times at his girlfriend in confusion.

"I said we're here," Star explained patiently, gesturing over to Marco's door.

The boy turned in that direction, before his cheeks flushed in embarrassment, muttering, "Oh. Guess we are." He began scratching at his cheeks, giving his bestie a sheepish look as he chuckled awkwardly. "I, uh, I didn't notice."

Star just laughed. "I kinda figured," she replied with a wink.

A silence settled over the two again, Star and Marco shifting uncomfortably on their feet, neither teen quite ready to say goodbye yet. The hooded boy bit his lip in the cutest way, Star nervously playing with a strand of hair as they just stared at the floor. But after another minute of the awkward silence, Marco cleared his throat, before saying softly, "Well I guess I should probably..." He pointed over at his door, still fighting the inner voice in his head that was begging Star to stay with him.

"Yeah, I guess you should," Star agreed, her sad face a perfect match to how Marco currently felt.

"So yeah," the boy said awkwardly, stalling the conversation for as long as he could. "Uhhh, I guess I'll let you go back to the meeting and I'll just, y'know, sleep for a while."

Star nodded. "Okay, I'll call a doctor soon, have him take a look at you just so we know for sure what we're dealing with," the blond said. "Don't want it getting any worse."

"Cool, cool," Marco agreed with a nod of his head. He paused for a moment, clapping his hands together as he shot the girl a grin. "Well then..." And in a last desperate attempt to drag things out with Star a little longer, he reached slowly over toward his doorknob, speaking in a deliberately drawn-out manner, making sure to pause on each word for as long as possible, "I'lllll juuussttt gooooo."

Star just smiled at her boyfriend's precious attempts to stall, moving at the speed of a sloth, and she couldn't help but lean over and plant a loving kiss to his cheek, causing the boy to instantly freeze up. Star took advantage of this as she opened the door for him, helping him inside as his limbs suddenly felt like pudding, the blond royal practically dragging Marco into his own room. "Sleep tight, Marco, I'll come check on you later," she whispered, giving him a quick hug that made Marco's whole body heat up and start tingling again, the weird feeling returning tenfold.

"Uh-huh," he somehow managed to get out, a goofy grin on his face as he watched Star blow him one last kiss from the doorway before waving to him and closing the door, the beautiful smile on her face ingrained permanently into Marco's memory.

The moment she was gone the boy collapsed to the ground with a love-sick sigh, the brightest smile imaginable on his face as his mind replayed the moment he had just shared with his beautiful bestie. And for a moment, the fact that he was alone didn't matter, the pull at his heartstrings and the voice at the back of his mind whining about Star being gone didn't bother Marco in the slightest. The only thing the boy could focus on right then was the tingling sensation in his cheek from where Star had kissed him, gently rubbing it as he felt his heart float around in his chest.

But as Marco pulled his hand away he felt something stick to his fingertips. He sat up, staring down at his palm in confusion, only to see a small orange sun just like his cheekmark laying in his hand. "Huh, that's new," the boy muttered softly, absentmindedly scratching at his arm with his free hand.

After a moment or two though, Marco's curiosity made him pull back the sleeve on his hood only to gasp in surprise as even more of the 'sunspots' covered his skin, running all up and down his arm, all identical to his sun cheekmarks save for hue. The boy blinked a few times, before frowning. He had heard of Mewnian acne before but he had never had it himself. "Maybe this is a symptom of chickenpox?" he concluded, pulling his sleeve back up, before pulling himself into bed. "I'll ask Star when she gets back," he muttered tiredly before closing his eyes tight.

Soon Marco was asleep, snoring softly in the safety and comfort of his room, dreaming of Star and her bright smile. For a few minutes, nothing happened, but soon another sunspot appeared on his skin, then another and another and another until his whole body was covered in them. But they didn't stop there, soon they were piling up all over the bed and floor, Marco remaining oblivious to it all in his unconscious state. Soon an orange cocoon had formed around the hooded teen. And from within this large cocoon, Marco's body slowly began to change.

...

Later that afternoon, after Star had already left for her meeting, Jackie and Janna decided to stop by Marco's room to check up on him, carrying get well gifts for their sick friend, a stuffed bunny that said 'Get well soon' on its chest from Jackie and a new book for Marco to read while stuck in bed from Janna. The two had both promised Star to keep an eye on the boy since the doctor would be running late with another more serious case, apparently one of Pony Head's sisters Teta coming down with an emergency case of what he referred to as 'horn-itis' (but according to Pony Head was just another scheme by her sisters to take her throne) and neither had heard a word from Buff Frog or the other Monsters. That left Marco in the care of Jackie and Janna, both of which were confident they could look after the boy and help him with whatever he needed to get better. After all, it was just the chickenpox.

"You think we should have brought him some soup or something?" Jackie suddenly asked her friend.

Janna shrugged. "I don't really see how it would do much good since he didn't really seem to have much of an appetite before," the creepy teen pointed out. "What we should have brought him was that healing potion I was telling you about."

"Uhh, pass," Jackie replied, with a roll of her eyes. "Marco needs medicine, not some weird goop you heard about from who knows where."

"It was Violet for the record and it's not poison if that's what you're worried about."

"It wasn't. I'm just saying we aren't giving Marco any strange liquids, poisonous or otherwise."

Janna let out a dejected sigh, grumbling, "Fine, have it your way."

The two stopped as they reached the door to Marco's room, Jackie raising a hand to knock, turning to Janna to say something. But whatever thought she had died on her lips as her hand hit the door frame, a cascade of tiny suns raining down around them through the cracks in the door. The skater let out a startled gasp, shuffling away from the door as quickly as she could, the two staring at the pile of orange shapes on the ground before sharing a concerned look.

"You don't think," Jackie began but Janna was quick to nod.

"Oh, I think," the beanie-wearing girl replied.

The skater bit her lip before slowly approaching the door again, grabbing firmly onto the doorknob, sucking in a deep breath in anticipation before pulling the door open. She stood behind the door, watching as a mountain of suns filled the hallway, Janna having to take a step back to avoid getting any on her. Once the sunspots seemed to have settled, the skater peeked around the door, looking into Marco's room with wide eyes. At least she would have if there wasn't another massive pile of sunspots blocking the entire entrance.

Jackie gave Janna a startled look, the teen just shrugging in response, silently conveying her own loss at what to do. The skater just held in a breath as she took a risky step closer to Marco's room, saying in a soft tone, "Marco. Are you in there?" Then, in an even greater risk, she slowly and steadily raised a hand and placed it on the sticky pile of sunspots, her body tensing up in fear.

For a few seconds, nothing happened and Jackie slowly began to relax, letting out a breath of relief, that was until she heard a voice say, "Starrrrr..."

And then in a flash, a hand emerged from the pile Jackie just barely managing to pull her own hand away in time to avoid getting grabbed. But the movement had been so quick and sudden that she stumbling back and into Janna, the two collapsing onto the floor in a heap. The two watched wide-eyed as a body slowly began to rise from within the mountain of sunspots, the new form of Marco now hovering in the air above them.

His skin had turned a light orange color, his hoodie now a bright, almost blinding, red, large clumps of red sunspots clearly seen decorating the soft cloth. His jeans were now orange, tinged with yellow at the ends and his shoes were bright red. His hair was flatter than usual, lacking its typical bounce or spikes, instead it all hung loosely over his eyes. It was also now red with streaks of yellow in it. His eyes were devoid of pupils, instead just two glowing white dots that matched the burning glow of his cheekmarks. His mole now stood out much more on his orange-tinted face, looking like the only thing that hadn't been transformed with the rest of him.

But the changes to his appearance didn't stop there, he was now also sporting an extra pair of arms that seemed to have ripped out from the sides of his hoodie, more red suns clinging to the soft skin, gleaming in the light of the hallway. And to top it off, he now had a pair of light red, almost translucent, wings that flapped lazily behind him, the same sun designs that dotted his arms and hoodie seen on them as well.

The two girls stared at their friend for a few seconds before Janna said in a deadpan, "Yep, it's Mewberty."

"Definitely Mewberty," the skater instantly agreed with a quick nod.

The two stood, walking slowly and steadily over to their floating friend, Jackie keeping her hands raised to show him she meant no harm. Marco, meanwhile, was too busy scanning the bright hallway to notice them, his glowing eyes in search of something, his wings fluttering behind him in almost anxiety. "Hey Marco," Jackie greeted softly and the boy's eyes flicked over to her, his head cocking to the side as he observed the two familiar forms. "That's right, it's just me and Janna. You remember us, right?"

The boy's head cocked to the other side. "You remember that we're your friends, don't you?" Jackie asked, smiling at the boy with her typical cool radiance.

The boy leaned a little closer, his face still blank, as he raised a hand and Jackie instinctively flinched but didn't dare take a step away. But she blinked in surprise as Marco began poking her speckled cheek with his finger. "Uh, Marco what are you doing?"

The boy simply smiled, recognition flashing across his features, as he droned out, "Frienndd."

"Yeah, Marco that's right, we're your friends," Jackie said in slight relief. This was going better than expected.

But suddenly, the boy's smile vanished as he droned out the word, "Sttttaaarrr."

"Uh Star's not here right now," Jackie said in a soft tone. "She went to that meeting with the Monsters, remember?"

"Staarrrr," the boy continued, his head flicking from left to right in search of his mate.

"Yeah, I don't think he remembers, Jacks," Janna spoke up.

"Okay Marco, we'll bring you Star, don't worry," Jackie reassured the hooded teen, before turning to Janna, speaking in a low whisper. "Jan, what is going on? How is he going through Mewberty right now?"

"Well when a Mewman reaches a certain age their body begins changing in many ways-" the creepy teen began in her typical sarcastic tone.

"I know why it's happening!" the skater hissed, glaring at her roommate. "I mean how come he didn't go through this sooner, Star's Mewberty was like three years ago."

Janna shrugged. "Star was an exception. Most Mewmans go through Mewberty at fourteen or fifteen," the girl explained.

Jackie let out a sigh, but didn't question it any further, returning her focus to the task at hand, as she said, "Okay well, firsts things first, we need to get Marco somewhere safe before something bad happens."

"Uhhh, yeah I think that's gonna be kinda a problem," Janna said, her eyes widening some.

"What? Why?" Jackie asked in confusion.

"Because he already flew away," the creepy teen deadpanned, Jackie turning on her heels only to see Marco was missing. But a loud shattering of glass a few seconds later alerted them to his new location farther down the hall. "Oh no," Jackie muttered before running after the boy, Janna close on her heels.

When they reached the next hall they quickly spotted Marco, who was zipping around the hallway clearly in search of something, picking up priceless vases from their mantels before tossing them unwanted to the floor, opening doors (sometimes even ripping them off their hinges if they were locked) and scanning the rooms before moving on to the next one. "What is he doing?" Jackie asked after a moment of watching their friend's odd behavior.

"I think he's still looking for Star," Janna said, though she looked slightly unnerved by the boy's actions.

At the mention of Star, Marco turned to face the two, his glowing orbs almost piercing through them as they jumped in surprise. "Starrrr?" the boy questioned, cocking his head to the side again.

"We already told you, Marco," Jackie began, keeping her voice low and quiet. "Star's not here right now, remember?"

"Staaaarrrrrrr," the boy muttered nervously, his wings flapping a bit irregularly than before, clearly growing agitated.

"But we can take you to her," Jackie continued, taking a risky step forward, holding out a hand to the boy. "Just trust us. Please."

Marco eyed the hand cautiously for a few seconds, making no move closer and the two girls held their breath in anticipation. Finally, the boy seemed to overcome his safety instincts and slowly reached out toward his friend's waiting palm and Jackie and Janna silently sighed in relief.

That was until a loud voice yelled out through the hallways, the clear voice of Skullnick barking orders to her knights drawing Marco's attention away from his friend and onto the new sound. Jackie could see a new decision flashing across her friend's neutral face and quickly said, "Marco, no. That's not Star. Don't-"

But her words fell of deaf ears as the boy took off down the hallway at an incredible speed, the burst of wind startling the girls as they were left blinking in shock for a few seconds, the boy vanishing from sight. "Whoa, wasn't expecting that," Janna commented.

"Come on, we gotta catch him!" Jackie exclaimed before chasing after the boy again, hoping he didn't get into too much trouble. If it was anything like Star's Mewberty than the entire castle could be at risk. Star had nearly destroyed the castle in her emotional and magical outburst, and Jackie remembered that as one of the most intense seven hours of her life as they all did their best to wait out her transformation. She had basically gone on a rampage, attacking anything she considered hostile, and the only reason they had calmed her down long enough to give her some medicine to weaken the effect was because they had used Oskar as bait to draw her out.

And even then it had taken several, long hours for her to turn back to normal. And Queen Moon had even said that sometimes Mewmans could go even longer depending on their magical level or emotional state. Meaning who knew how long Marco would be stuck this way. Jackie forced herself to push these thoughts aside for the moment, focusing all her energy and thought process into finding her friend. She could worry about the rest later.

Meanwhile, in another wing of the castle, the fully transformed Marco was still desperately searching for his missing mate, the sound of voices echoing, confusing the Mewman's fuzzy brain, putting him even more on edge. Marco, in his scared primal state, didn't quite understand what was happening to him, all he knew was his desire to find Star. Nothing else mattered. He needed Star. He had to find her. Find Star. Find Star. And with that single-minded goal in mind the boy pressed on, flying further and deeper into the castle, his glowing eyes constantly scanning his surroundings for both threats and for Star.

The boy paused though as he heard voices coming from within one of the rooms and Marco practically lunged for the door in his haste to open it, his brain momentarily convinced he had found his mate. But instead, he saw the forms of Daisy and Violet who sat around the former's tea table, both too engrossed in watching their pet snake devouring a ruby crystal to notice the boy. "Aww Edith's so cute when she eats," Violet commented.

"She'd be even cuter if you let me put that dress on her," Daisy replied.

"No way! Edith is too cool to wear pink," Violet argued.

"Then what about blue?" Daisy suggested hopefully, even holding up a tiny blue dress to show her twin.

Violet gagged. "Uh uh, not gonna happen."

Marco, the whole time this was going on, just floated there stunned before finally recovering enough to ask the question, "Stttaarrr?"

Neither twin even bothered to look up as Violet said with a quick wave, "Oh hey, Big Brother."

"Star's not here," Daisy added, never taking her eyes off of Edith as she pointed behind her. "You should check the meeting room. She's always in there."

Marco looked over in that direction, continuing to mutter, "Staarr." But he turned back to the girls for just a second as he added, "Thaannks."

"Yep, no problem, Big Brother," Violet said, doing a short wave goodbye.

"Good luck!" Daisy added just as the door slammed shut.

After a moment, Daisy looked up at her sister asking, "Did Big Brother seem weird to you?"

Violet shrugged. "Not really."

A few seconds later the door flew open again as a panting Jackie asked, "Have you girls seen Marco?"

"Yeah, he was headed to the meeting room," Daisy explained, pointing in that direction again.

"Okay thanks," Jackie replied with slight relief, but she added quickly, "Oh, and don't leave your room for a little while. It's not safe."

"Okay," Violet said, still distracted by Edith.

The door closed again and the two sisters shared a look. "What was that about?" Daisy asked.

"No idea," Violet replied. "Probably just some dumb grown-up stuff."

There was a pause before Daisy added, "What about a skirt?"

"We aren't playing dress-up with Edith!" Violet shouted.

…

Skullnick paced in front of the line of knights before her, staring each of them down with a hard, dissatisfied glare as she got ready to berate them as she had done many times before. The group was standing in the general's own personal war room as she called it when really it was more of a large office. "I can't believe you imbeciles!" she shouted, causing everyone present except Higgs to flinch. "How hard is it to find one stinking Monster?! You've had all this time to track him down and we are no closer to finding him than we were months ago! We are supposed to be the best of the best, but thanks to your incompetence we're now the laughingstock of Mewni!"

"Um, but ma'am nobody even knows about that-" one of the shaking knights began only to be immediately shot down as Skullnick snapped, "Well I know and I'm saying it's inexcusable!"

The knight whimpered before stuttering, "Y-Yes ma'am! S-So sorry, ma'am!"

"As far as I'm concerned the only one here with half a brain cell is Higgs!" Skullnick gesturing over to the girl who stood just a little bit taller, a smug look on her face as the general addressed her. "At least she has been pulling her weight around here, instead of slacking off!"

"Thank you general," the redhead replied, saluting her superior.

Jak and Dex who had stood silently on the sidelines this whole time, couldn't help but praise the girl's success, Jak shouting in support, "Whoo-hoo you go Higgs!" Both of the lowly guards began clapping and smiling goofily at the girl's success, but this only caused the young knight to flush, completely humiliated by her dad and his friend. But thankfully it didn't last long as one stern glare from Skullnick instantly stopped the two guards' celebration, dropping their hands and standing at attention.

"And you two, how many times do I have to tell you to stay at your post!" Skullnick screamed and the two cringed openly.

"But we just wanted to see-" Jak began, only for the general to point a viscous finger at the door, screaming, "Get going!"

The two jumped to fulfill the orders, running from the room as fast as they could, Higgs face-palming at her dad's stupidity, doing her best to ignore the judging stares from the other knights.

Jak and Dex both breathed a sigh of relief once out of the large office, both visibly shaken by the general's harsh attitude, leaning against the wall for support as their bodies shook with fear. "Man Skullsy gets scarier and scarier every day," Jak commented and Dex silently nodded.

"Come on, we should get going before she starts screaming at us again," Dex said, the two about to head down the hallway when a shadow fell over them and the two looked up startled only to scream in fright at what they saw. Jackie and Janna heard the terrified shrieks from farther down the hall and both shared concerned looks, not having to guess to know the source of those screams. Oh no, the two girls thought as one, quickening their pace.

Marco, meanwhile, just stared down at Jak and Dex curiously, watching as the two scrambled to get back into Skullnick's office, the two pushing each other out of the way as they both fumbled with the doorknob. Finally, the two managed to get the door open, rushing inside before slamming the door shut behind them.

Skullnick and the other knights all stared at them with a mixture of shock and annoyance, Higgs looking like she wanted the ground underneath her to open up and swallow her whole. None of them seemed even slightly concerned at the two men's panic, the troll general barking out, "What is it now?!"

The two stuttered out an explanation, pointing behind them as they tried to convey their frantic message but their words turned into a jumbled and indecipherable mess, which only seemed to humiliate Higgs more and more, the girl's face nearly redder than her hair color at this point. The general also seemed unamused with their pointless ramblings, rolling her eyes and snapping, "Jak! Dex!"

The two froze in place at the raised tone, turning to statues before Skullnick's eyes, completely petrified and afraid to so much as blink, and sensing her opening said, "Could one of you please explain to me why you interrupted my meeting... again!"

"It's a Code Purple ma'am!!" Jak managed to scream and the other knights all gasped in fright. Code Purple. That could only mean one thing. Mewberty.

"What? Who?" was all Skullnick managed to get out before the door to the room was pulled off the hinges, every knight staring in shock and disbelief as the transformed Marco flew into the large office, his eyes gazing around intently. "Marco?" Higgs whispered under her breath.

The boy looked around for a few seconds more before flying out of the room. There was a beat of silence before the knights all reacted, at once Skullnick shouting to her lackeys, "Code Purple! We have a Code Purple! Put the castle on lockdown! And secure the target! We have a fully-mutated Mewberty case here!"

The other knights all jumped into action after that, some running from the office to try and warn the other guards, while others headed after Marco, who seemed oblivious to the panicked atmosphere he was causing, still too busy searching for Star to care about anything else. Jackie and Janna finally caught up to their friend and seeing the knights chasing after him, they both quickly ran to his side, holding up their arms and blocking the knights off from getting any closer to Marco. "Wait, stop. Stay away from him!" Jackie screamed.

"We can't do that," Skullnick proclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Marco's in full Mewberty, he needs to be secured."

"But Marco's not going to hurt anyone, he's just confused," Jackie argued desperately, gesturing behind her to where the boy hovered, looking around at the Mewmans that now surrounded him in confusion. "We need to take him to Star." Marco's head snapped over to Jackie at the mention of his mate's name, his wings now fluttering eagerly.

But Skullnick didn't seem convinced, shaking her head and saying firmly, "No way! Orders are orders and I was told that any of the castle staff who suffer from Mewberty must be contained immediately."

"But he recognized me, he's not mindless like Star was," Jackie tried but her words now fell on deaf ears as Skullnick took a determined step closer, the other knights shuffling closer as well.

"Doesn't matter, that's a risk I'm not going to take," the general declared, her eyes digging into Jackie's skin. Her gaze darkened as she added, "Now stand aside so that I can do my job."

Jackie shook her head, saying with determination she didn't feel, "No way!"

"Then we'll have no choice but to place you both in temporary confinement," Skullnick replied snapping her fingers and signaling her men to move in, two knights sauntering purposefully over to the two girls.

Jackie looked desperately around for some help as the knights descended upon her and Janna, her eyes finally falling on Higgs, who had yet to move an inch, and she shouted, "Higgs, come on, tell them to stop! You know as well as I do that Marco wouldn't hurt anyone."

Higgs looked over at Skullnick than back to her friend and shrugged. "Yeah, I know but with Mewberty we can't take any chances."

Jackie let out a frustrated huff before one of the knights grabbed her arm and Jackie instantly struggled, trying to pull her arm free from the tight grip. "Hey, stop it!"

Another knight did the same to Janna, the half-Monster fighting back her instincts and forced herself to to be dragged away from Marco, shouting in her defense, "Knock it off! Let go!"

Marco watched numbly as the two strange men grabbed onto his friends' arms and instantly a powerful emotion overcame him, a burning rage and protective instinct flooding his chest. And as soon as his friends' struggles and desperate cries reached Marco's ears, the boy lashed out, thick webs of sunspots flying from his hands and striking the two men who held his friends against their wills. The two men cried out in surprise as they were yanked backward, away from his friends and flung across the room with one flick of Marco's wrist, the pair rolling to a painful stop a few feet away. They moaned in pain but Marco felt no regrets for the necessary action, his protective nature outweighing any guilt he might harbor at the moment.

The room had gone dead quiet at Marco's sudden action, the boy's instincts picking up on the dread that now lingered in the air but he paid it no mind, his glowing eyes instead moving to examine his friends, checking to be sure they were unharmed. He stared into their shocked and gawking faces for a second before concluding they were okay and turned to go back to his previous search for Star.

But the sudden movement set off one of the jittery and unnerved knights, the man suddenly springing into action by lunging toward the boy with a loud shout. Marco was startled to say the least as one of his legs was roughly grabbed by said knight and Marco's instincts took over again as he shot out more sticky webs, coating his attacker and gluing him to the floor, where he lay unmoving.

After that, it was pure chaos, suddenly all the knights swarmed Marco. The boy, frightened by the angry and loud crowd of strangers, began firing webs at them, desperately fluttering around in a desperate attempt to avoid getting hurt.

"Wait, stop!" Jackie screamed pointlessly to the knights. The skater turned to the general, who stood unflinchingly during all this chaos, and shouted, "Skullnick, please. You have to get them to stop! They're making it worse!"

"No can do! I told you Marco was a danger in this state," Skullnick argued, her mind already made up.

"Only because you guys are scaring him," Janna pointed out but this still didn't seem to sway Skullnick's resolve as she ignored the two taking a step forward and shouting orders to her men. Jackie and Janna let out frustrated groans watching as Marco continued plastering knights to the walls and floor. Suddenly a voice said beside them, "So now what are you gonna do." The two looked over to see Higgs observing the scene with a bored expression.

"Oh nice of you to actually listen to us," Janna commented bitterly.

Higgs shrugged. "Hey I can't ignore a direct order from the general." She smirked mischievously as she added, "But you can. So what's the plan?"

"Okay well, I guess our best bet is to get Marco out of the castle," Jackie replied thoughtfully.

"You really think that's gonna help?" Higgs asked with disbelief.

"Well it's better than him staying here," Jackie said, gesturing to the warzone taking place in front of them, a knight flying over them with a loud scream.

"Good point," Higgs agreed with a quick nod. "So how are you planning on doing that?"

Before Jackie could answer, Janna held up Star's devil-horned headband, saying in a smooth tone, "With this."

"Janna! Where did you get that? No, when did you get that?" Jackie asked in shock and slight concern.

"What? Star didn't need it today so I thought I'd bring it to Marco to cheer him up," Janna said with a shrug.

Higgs rolled her eyes, muttering, "Likely story."

Jackie wanted to comment further but knew she had more important things to worry about at the moment, letting the subject drop for now as she grabbed the headband from her friend's grip, her eyes slowly drifting over to the startled Marco.

Marco was afraid. He didn't like the way these strange people kept trying to grab him, tried to restrict his movement and keep him from Star. He especially didn't like that. He wanted to find Star but he couldn't do that if these strange people didn't stop attacking him. Were they trying to keep her from him? At that, anger pooled in Marco's chest and he held out all four hands, coating a new person in the webby substance. No one was keeping him from his Star.

Suddenly, Marco heard a shrill sound, like a whistle, and he turned to see the light-haired girl (Jackie, his inner voice corrected) holding up a headband. Star's headband. Marco felt a powerful emotion flow through him, all the fight leaving him at once as he stared at the sole reminder of his missing mate. "Hey Marco, look what I got," she said to him in a sing-song voice and Marco flew a little closer to her. He needed that. He needed it to find Star. "Starrrr..." the boy droned, hands reaching out to take the object.

Jackie smiled, glad to know her plan was working. "That's right, dude," she said encouragingly, stepping on her skateboard, checking to make sure the strap on her helmet was adjusted correctly. "You can have it, all you have to do is follow me." After that, she pushed off, skating smoothly down the hall.

Marco groaned in despair as the headband suddenly grew further away from him. He needed that. He chased after his friend without a second thought, his eyes never once leaving the sight of the red hairpiece.

Skullnick spotted the boy leaving, as well as Higgs and Janna chasing after, and quickly shouted, "Stop him! He can't get away!" But looking around she saw all her other knights were incapacitated, groaning in heaps on the floor, most unable to move due to the sticky sunspots that coated them. The general growled under her breath at her men's incompetence before her eyes landed on Jak and Dex who stood awkwardly on the sidelines. "You too!" Both guards jumped at being suddenly addressed. "We're going after Marco! Let's move!" With that Skullnick started stomping down the hallway but Jak and Dex hesitated, sharing concerned glances. But another shout from Skullnick got them moving. "I said 'Let's move!'"

"Y-Yes General S-Skullnick!" the two shouted in reply, running to try and catch up to the troll general's quick pace.

Farther down the hall, Jackie was doing her best to keep ahead of Marco but the boy was much faster than normal, even the speed on Jackie's prized skateboard no match for the boy's swift flying prowess. And his single-minded desire to get a hold of the headband was proving to be difficult to counter. Marco lunged, his hands reaching to snatch the headband out of Jackie's grip but the skater sensed the movement at the last second, holding her arm up at the last second and she shifted her position on the skateboard so that it would maneuver to the other side of the hall.

But this didn't halt Marco's efforts in the slightest, the boy reaching out a hand and shooting sticky webs at the headband, hoping to retrieve it that way. Again, Jackie managed to see the movement out of the corner of her eye and her feet instinctively shifted to the back of the board, the skater bending her knees and pressing down on the tail of the board with her back foot. The result was instant as her board left the ground, jumping over the string of webs, Jackie guiding the motion until the wheels met hard ground once more. After taking a second to recover from the jump Jackie took a risky glance back, only to see Marco was on her tail once more, his glowing pupils fixated on nothing but the headband.

The skater, shifted her attention back to what lay ahead only to nearly scream in surprise as she spotted Moon and River coming towards her, chatting happily, their attention too focused on one another to notice anything else. "Your Majesties, look out!" she screamed to them in warning.

The two royals looked over to her in surprise. "Jackie?" the queen said quizzically.

"Move out of the way, it's an emergency!" the skater replied, fear lodging into her throat.

"Moonpie, I think we might want to do as she says," River said as his eyes landed on Marco, grabbing his bewildered wife's arm and dragging her out of the way, just as Jackie sailed past them.

"What on Mewni-" Moon started to say in annoyance, only to gasp in fright as Marco flew past the pair. "Marco?" the queen muttered in disbelief.

"Sorry, I'll explain later," Jackie shouted back.

Moon was stunned as she watched the two disappear around the corner, turning to her husband with a look of pure disbelief. Suddenly though, Janna and Higgs ran past, the girls huffing and puffing as they struggled to catch up to their friend. "Janna! What is going on here?" the queen asked in a demanding tone.

"Mewberty," was all the two girls said before they too vanished around the corner.

"Hmm, well it would seem young Marco has finally reached the age of Mewberty," River commented.

"After them!" a booming voice cried and the royal couple once more looked down the opposite hall as Skullnick and two guards ran toward them, the guards looking close to collapsing from the swift jog. "Don't let them escape!"

"Yes ma'am!" the two guards replied tiredly.

"General Skullnick just what exactly is going on here?" Moon began but the general simply ran past her monarch, saying, "No time, I'll give you my report later!"

Moon could only gap in shock as the troll ignored her, opening her mouth to argue when Jak and Dex ran by, saying in a panted breath, "Queen Moon, King River."

River and Moon could only watch stunned as the final three in the cat-and-mouse chase through the castle vanished from sight, before sharing a look.

"My, my things certainly are exciting today, Moonpie," River said, a look of joy flashing across his face.

"Yes it would seem so," Moon said softly, before she came to a decision, starting after the group as she told her husband, "Come, River, we should make sure no one gets hurt."

"Oh, what fun!" River replied, happily, easily following after his wife. "A hunt through Butterfly Castle! Just like we used to do when we were teenagers!"

"River, I think you and I remember our teenage years very differently," Moon deadpanned.

"Oh come on, Moonpie," River responded immediately. "I remember when you went through Mewberty. Haha, you gave me a run for my money that day!"

Moon smiled softly at her husband. "I remember yours as well," the queen whispered, her tone almost flirty now. "I had to kiss you just to get you to stop."

River sighed at the memory. "Our first kiss," he muttered, getting teary-eyed at the wonderful memory of their youth.

…

Jackie nearly had Marco out of the castle now, the last obstacle in her way was the staircase, Jackie seeing her hurtle up ahead. But luckily, the skater girl already had the perfect way to get down. She once again, positioned her body for a jump, waiting until just the right second to make her board airborne, quickly turning the board to its side in mid-air, before it landed with a loud screech on the stair railing. Jackie glided smoothly down the stair rail, looking behind her to see Marco had stopped. Even with his pupil-less eyes, the skater could still tell her friend was in awe at the stunt. Jackie smiled, before facing forward, needing to be ready to stick the landing.

Marco shook his head, his fuzzy brain pushing aside all thoughts except Star's headband, before descending after the girl, flying easily over the staircase. Jackie finally reached the bottom of the stairs, maneuvering her body at the last second so that her board was now facing forward, just barely missing getting hit with more of Marco's sticky webs.

The girl saw the doors to the castle were closed tight and cupped a hand over her mouth, shouting to the two guards, "Hey, open up! It's an emergency!"

The two guards lazily caught her eye, one of them saying harshly, "Yeah right, Skullnick ordered the castle on lockdown and we ain't openin' these doors up for nobody!"

"Well if you don't then you'll have to deal with that," Jackie replied, pointing behind her to the fast-approaching Marco, determination fueling his movements his glowing eyes flashing sinisterly.

The two guards shared a nervous look, before throwing open the doors to the castle, Jackie skating past them and Marco zooming by a second later. The moment Jackie was outside she threw the headband at her friend, the boy snatching it up out of mid-air, hugging the object to his chest and purring loudly. Jackie brought her skateboard to a stop, pulling off her helmet as she watched her friend fawning over the object and couldn't help but grin at the boy's cuteness. Even in this state, he was still Marco.

Higgs and Janna showed up a few seconds later, breathing heavily as they too just studied their lovestruck friend, still purring like a cat as he rubbed his cheek against the headband. "Okay, well that is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen," Higgs commented.

Janna just scoffed, nonchalantly telling the young knight, "If you think that's strange you haven't been around us for nearly long enough."

Higgs decided it best to ignore that, instead turning to Jackie and asking, "So we got him outside, now what?" The group made sure to keep a close eye on Marco out of the corner of her eye even as they talked.

"Now we call Star," Jackie said, pulling out her phone. "She'll know what to do from here."

"There he is!" Skullnick's booming voice interrupted the moment, as she, Jak, and Dex came charging out of the castle, now carrying thick lengths of rope. Marco, recognizing the voice even in his primal state, started to panic, fluttering in nervous circles, his eyes looking around for an escape and his hands clenching the headband just a little tighter against his chest.

The three girls noticed this and Jackie shouted to the general, "Skullnick, stop! You're scaring him!"

But the general ignored the girls, instead throwing the rope she had fashioned into a lasso at the unsuspecting boy. The length of rope caught on one of his hands and the boy instinctively began fighting against it, making terrified groans and unintelligible pleas as he fought to free his appendage. "Got you now!" Skullnick roared in victory, giving a sharp tug, which pulled the boy closer to her and Marco dropped the headband in his fright. But with his hands both free, he held them out shooting sunspots as the general's body but the troll expertly jumped out of the way, before giving another tug on the rope. "Jak! Dex! Restrain the rest of his arms!" Skullnick cried to her two comrades.

"Yes General Skullnick!" they shouted, before lassoing the boy's other hands, only one now left free. Marco at this point was in a state of pure panic, fighting against the ropes with every fiber of his being, flying back in forth in hopes of dislodging them while the general pulled him in, inch by inch.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" Higgs screamed at Dex.

"Oh hey, honey!" Dex said, shooting his daughter with one of his goofy smiles. "Don't worry, we've got everything under control!"

"That's not what I mean!" Higgs retorted in a vicious shout.

"Please, General Skullnick, you need to let Marco go!" Jackie screamed, watching as her friend panicked more and more. Who knew what he would do if Skullnick pushed him much further and Jackie would really rather not find out.

The general firmly shook her head saying, "No way! I've got this!"

"Higgs do something," Janna said to the young knight who shot her an annoyed glare.

"Like what? Attack the general and my dad?" Higgs snapped.

"Uh or try and talk some sense into them," Janna shot back.

"General, please, I think we should call Star," Jackie tried.

But Skullnick stayed as stubborn as ever, letting out an over-the-top sigh before saying sharply, "For the last time, we don't need Star! I've got everything under control!"

"What is going on out here?!" Moon exclaimed the second she and River stepped outside, taking in the scene before them.

"Queen Moon," Jak and Dex said as one, their attention snapping away from their target and onto the monarch and their hands for just a second slipping on the ropes.

"No, you idiots!" Skullnick shouted to them in frustration. "Don't-"

But it was too late, the minor slip-up was all Marco needed as he pulled his arms free of the heavy ropes, shooting two streams of webs at the unsuspecting guards, coating them and pinning them to the ground in half a second. The boy then grabbed onto the end of the remaining rope with all three hands and pulled on it with all his might, his wings straining as he lifted Skullnick off the ground. Everyone watched in disbelief as the puny and delicate form of Marco flung the tough, muscled form of Skullnick over his head like a ragdoll. The troll general could only screamed as her weightless body soared through the air, before crashing hard to the ground.

Jackie, Janna, Higgs, Moon, and River gaped openly at the sight of the general slowly rising to her hands and knees, groaning in pain. But the skater's attention returned to Marco as she saw his gaze shift off into the distant woods, his wings fluttering as he seemed ready to take off. Jackie, ran toward him in a panic, shouting, "Marco wai-" But the boy was gone in a burst of speed, the sudden rush of air, knocking Jackie back and kicking dirt up into her eyes and the skater had no choice but to stand there and shield her face with her hands.

Finally, once the wind had died down enough, she could only stare helplessly at Marco, who was now no more than a red dot in the distance. Defeat filled Jackie's chest as she just stared longingly toward her friend, helpless to reach him in his time of need, her entire being shaking with worry for her confused, frightened friend. She was so lost in despair she didn't even notice that the general was now standing next to her, also looking off in the direction Marco had vanished. After a few seconds, Skullnick finally let out a deep sigh, before admitting bitterly, "Okay fine. Call Star."

…

Star smiled as she sat amongst the group of Monster leaders, listening to them freely voicing their opinions on the problems they had been facing. The meeting was going really well and Star felt they had made some significant progress into building a trusting relationship with their Monster allies. At first, it had been awkward and uncomfortable, none of the Monsters willing to say a word in the presence of the future ruler of Mewni but, luckily, Butch had been the one to get the ball rolling, freely discussing the positive change he had seen in the attitude for Hydra's Point since Star and her friend had helped. This had been enough to get the Monsters to slowly open up to her, the blond royal making sure to give them all positive and encouraging smiles whenever they did so, until the whole group was chatting happily. The plan was going perfectly, Star easily winning the Monsters to her side even without the aide of Marco.

At the thought of Marco, Star bit her lip, her fingers itching to pull her phone out of her purse. She really wanted to call and check up on him but she also didn't want to risk waking him from some much-needed sleep. Maybe she should call Jackie instead? Or text the doctor again to see if he was ready to see Marco yet. Or maybe she was just being too overprotective, Marco was fine, it was just the chickenpox. Star tried to relax but her mind felt like it was running a million miles an hour, her heart hammering away in her chest. What was going on?

Then with stark realization, Star's eyes widened as it finally hit her, her heart wasn't what was racing. It was Marco's. She was feeling Marco's heartbeat in her chest and it would seem he was panicking over something. Then Star felt a creeping, unfamiliar fear and longing jump up her spine and Star could resist it no longer, she stood up and quickly excused herself, moving away from the group as she pulled out her phone, ready to call and check up on boyfriend. But before Star could do so, her phone rang, the word "Jackie" appearing on the screen and Star swallowed thickly as she put the phone up to her ear. "Hey, Jacks, what's up?" Star asked, trying to keep her voice calm despite the anxiety she could still feel bubbling up in her chest.

"Star, we have a problem!" Jackie exclaimed, Star nearly flinching at the change in her friends' normally calm, laid back tone. She sounded stressed. If Star was nervous before, she was downright terrified now. What on Mewni could cause the levelheaded Jackie to freak out?

"Why? What's going on? Is Marco okay?" Star asked, worriedly, now holding the mirror phone in a death grip.

"We were wrong, Star," Jackie replied, her voice nearly quivering. "It's not the chickenpox. It's Mewberty."

Star froze up at the word, staring unblinkingly ahead as her mind fought to process that. "What?!" Star exclaimed, not caring as every single Monster was now looking in her direction with befuddled frowns. "Mewberty! A-Are you sure?" the girl asked, a tight knot forming in her stomach. That couldn't be good. No wonder Marco was so scared, he probably had no idea what was happening to him and Star instantly began beating herself up for leaving Marco alone.

"Yeah, pretty sure," Jackie said and Star could tell she was cringing. "And there's another thing."

"What is it?" Star asked, her own voice now shaking with worry and guilt. What more could possibly be wrong?

"I did my best but he got scared and flew off," Jackie replied hesitantly. She paused before adding, "We have no idea where he is."

Star felt her heart come to a crashing halt and she muttered into the phone in a remarkably calm voice, "I'm coming back."

…

Star ran all the way through town, not stopping for anyone or anything, ignoring the friendly smiles and waves of the townsfolk, her thoughts only on Marco. And thanks to the stupid anti-portal generators she had plenty of time to do so. How had she not thought of this sooner? Of course, Marco would be going through Mewberty, he was fourteen after all, the proper age for such things. Sure hers had been a few years early but Marco's was happening right on time. They should have been prepared for something like this happening. Got him some pills to help dull the effect or even just talk to him about it, knowing Marco he probably didn't even know what Mewberty was.

It hasn't even occurred to Star when Marco had said he was sick, hadn't even crossed her mind that his overly clingy nature that morning was a result of Mewberty. Marco was just always so innocent and naïve that it was hard to imagine him going through such a thing. But he was still a teenager and it seemed his body was changing to try and deal with his magical and emotional growth just like everyone else's. She should have stayed with him, canceled the meeting and stayed by her friend's side maybe then Marco wouldn't be missing.

After what felt like a lifetime Star finally reached Butterfly Castle, the gates for once opened wide, probably in anticipation for her. The moment she entered the courtyard though, the blond royal froze in her tracks, doing a double-take. There were tiny sunspots scattered everywhere, littering the ground and even places where clumps of them stuck to the ground. But what really caught her off guard was the large crater in the ground, a massive crack no doubt caused by someone and she felt boiling anger in fear that it had been her poor, fragile Marco who had taken the impact. And if that hadn't been enough than her keen eyes didn't miss the ropes laying in the middle of the courtyard either, and her fury doubled. It was clear what had happened, they had been trying to tie up her boyfriend!

No one had noticed her presence just yet, Jackie pacing while Higgs and Janna just sat on the ground, staring off into space, lost in their own thoughts. Jak and Dex stood at attention around them, sad and sorry look on their faces, and Star noticed the clumps of the sunspots stuck to random parts of their body. Her mom and dad stood worriedly off to the side, Skullnick standing rigidly next to them, showing zero emotion, though her tightly clenched fists told a different story.

Jackie suddenly noticed Star and shouted her name, running over to greet her, Janna, Higgs, Jak, and Dex right behind her, with even Star's parents and Skullnick trailing behind. The moment Jackie was in range, she threw her arms around Star in a relieved hug, saying, "Thank goodness you're back!"

Despite the intense situation and worry she was feeling, Star returned the hug wholeheartedly, giving the skater a reassuring squeeze, needing this comfort just as much as her friend did. "I'm here, everything's going to be okay now," she told her friend, Star's voice confident and strong, despite feeling the opposite and she silently thanked her years of royalty training.

"I'm so sorry, I tried to keep him here but-"

"It's fine Jackie, I know you did your best," Star said in reassurance. "We'll get him back."

As the two pulled out of the hug, Star, not wanting to waste so much as a second, asked, "Okay but first things first, tell me what happened? Why'd Marco run off?"

"Well for starters, Skullnick and the other knights attacked him and kept trying to capture him," Jackie explained quickly, uncharacteristic bitterness in her tone.

Star gasped, before turning to glare in the general's direction, the other girls doing the same. "I thought so! You attacked Marco!" she hissed, staring daggers into Skullnick's soul.

Jak and Dex both hung their heads in shame, looking embarrassingly at the ground, but Skullnick showed no signs of regret, instead stating stubbornly, "It's my job to keep the castle safe! I was just following orders!"

"Who told you it was okay to attack Marco?!" Star shouted, her body practically shaking with mirth.

"Actually Star, I'm afraid Skullnick isn't to blame, your father and I are the ones at fault here," Moon admitted.

"Your mother's right, we were the ones who gave the general permission to act in such a way I'm sad to say," River muttered, a guilty frown on his face as he slowly stroked his beard.

Star stared at her mom and dad in shock, saying with disbelief and surprise, "Mom! Dad! How could you?"

"It wasn't our intention for things to go this far," Moon explained, giving her daughter an apologetic gaze. "But after your Mewberty transformation, we realized we needed more appropriate safety measures to protect the castle. With so many of your orphan friends staying in the castle at the time we had to make sure what happened with you didn't happen again."

Star was blushing bright red at this point, fighting the urge to hide her face in shame of her actions all those years ago. She had done a number on the castle and the staff with her wildly out-of-control magic and as much as Star hated to admit it, she understood their reasoning. But that didn't mean she had to like it. "Well was trying to tie Marco up still necessary?" Star questioned, gesturing over to the pile of discarded rope laying off to the side.

"I agree, Star, that was a bit excessive if you ask me," River spoke up.

"Yes, I'm afraid maybe the general got a bit carried away with our orders," Moon agreed, shooting Skullnick a sideways glare. “Which we will be discussing at length later.”

Skullnick realizing she was being accused quickly jumped on the defensive, exclaiming, "Your Majesty I had too! Marco was dangerous in that state! He attacked me and my men!"

"Only because you scared him!" Jackie shouted. "I told you he wasn't dangerous but you didn't listen to me."

"Hey I don't need some kid telling me how to do my job," Skullnick barked back.

"Well if you had listened to us in the first place Marco wouldn't be missing right now!"

"Or maybe if Higgs had actually done something to help instead of just standing there," Janna muttered, burying her hands into her pockets and the young redhead whipped her head around to glare at the creepy teen.

"Hey, I didn't see you jumping in to stop them!" Higgs argued loudly. "This is just as much your fault as it is anyone else's!" The girl crossed her arms before adding bitterly, "But given your track record that isn't surprising."

"Well I'm not the highly trained knight here," Janna pointed out, her voice calm but her tone full of repressed anger. "What's your excuse?"

"We're so sorry Princess Star!" Jak suddenly shouted, tears streaming down his and his partner's face. "It's all our fault!"

"If we hadn't gotten distracted Marco wouldn't have left!" Dex sobbed, burying his head into his hands to cry.

Star just stared numbly as everyone around her continued to loudly argue or apologize, their voices blending together until they were an incoherent mess. The blond covered her ears as the noise grew unbearable, making it impossible for Star to even think, and the rapid heartbeat drumming against her chest made her more and more flustered. Until finally, Star could take no more and she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Enough!"

Everyone froze, staring at the blond in disbelief. "I don't care what happened or who's responsible for what! All I care about is finding Marco and I can't do that if you're all too busy fighting! And unless you have a way to track Marco than I don't want to hear it!" Star screamed, staring long and hard at each person before her, making sure they would stay quiet. The blond royal took in a deep breath, before saying a bit more calmly, "So, now then, can we please just focus on what's important, we can deal with all the rest latee."

Everyone nodded slowly, Star's parents staring proudly at their daughter for taking charge like that, and the blond smiled confidently. "Good. So then, any ideas?"

"Actually I think I already know a way," Janna spoke up, a smug smile on her face, her hands buried in her pockets.

"Well then let's hear it," Star said, nodding her head in acknowledgment.

That seemed to be all the creepy teen needed as she suddenly out a small black device, saying, "I just so happen to have a way to track our dear Marco down, ready to go."

"Seriously, how?" Star exclaimed, grabbing the device out of her friend's hand. Her heart leapt for joy as she saw a red dot with the name 'Marco' dispalyed above it, feeling infinitly better knowing where her friend was at.

"Easy, I just put a tracking device on him, no big," the creepy teen admitted with a shrug.

"Wait, you bugged Marco?" Jackie said in a scolding tone.

"Uh yeah, I have one on all of you for just such an occasion," Janna replied like it was no big deal.

"What?!" Jackie screamed.

"We'll deal with that later, right now let's get Marco back," Star said, already heading in the direction the device was telling her, only to be cut off by Higgs.

"Wait, you're actually going to go with Janna on this?" Higgs said skeptically, jabbing a thumb in the creepy teen's direction. "She just admitted to bugging you! How do you even know you can trust her?"

"Because she's my friend and because nobody else has any better ideas," Star replied calmly. "But if you don't think it's safe than your welcome to stay behind," the blond added, before pushing past the girl, her eyes now on the screen and her Marco's location.

"Ugh, okay fine!" Higgs shouted in annoyance. "But I'm keeping my eye on you." She stabbed the creepy teen once in the chest, who simply smiled smugly in reply. "Fine by me."

"I'll come with you, in case you need back-up," Skullnick started to stay, only for Star to turn to her with a glare.

"I think you've helped enough," Star bitterly snapped.

The general didn't know what to say to that, though the look of anger in her eyes was clear. Seeing this, Moon told the troll, "I agree with Star, General Skullnick. I think it would be best if you stayed behind. Otherwise, you might end up frightening Marco again."

Skullnick looked like she wanted to argue with that, before sighing in defeat, crossing her arms and saying, "Fine but if you need help, don't hesitate to call."

"I think we'll be fine," Jackie responded, sharing a look with Star, who nodded.

The blond turned her attention onto her parents as she asked, "Hey can you guys do me a favor and call Buff Frog? Let him know what's happening. Something tells me Marco forgot to do that."

"Well he was a little distracted," Janna said jokingly.

"Of course, Star," Moon said, giving her daughter a loving smile. "Be careful, Mewberty is unpredictable."

"I will, mom," Star replied with a nod. "But I doubt Marco's going to try and hurt me."

"I do too, but you can never be too careful," Moon agreed.

"If need be just stare into his eyes to break his spirit," River suggested.

Star gave her dad a quizzical look before saying hesitantly, "Uh right. I'll... keep that in mind, dad."

"Good, that's my girl," River said, a proud smile on his face.

The group started off for the woods when something latched onto to Star's ankle and she turned to see Jak and Dex clinging to her leg, sad looks on their faces, their eyes pouring tears, as they stared up at her. "Please takes us with you!" Dex begged brokenly.

"We just want to make it up to Marco for acting like total jerks!" Jak added, sobbing loudly.

"Ugh, dad would you please get off the floor?" Higgs muttered in embarrassment, burying her face in her hands.

Star gave the two guards sympathetic looks, seeing that their hearts were genuine, before saying, "You know what, sure. You can come."

"Yes!" the two shouted, while Higgs screamed, "No!"

"Oh thank you, princess! Thank you!" Jak said hugging the blond royal tightly. "We promise we won't be in the way!"

"Hear that sweetie, it's our first mission together!" Dex proclaimed, hugging his daughter, who immediately struggled to get free.

"Yeah, I heard dad," the redhead replied. "Now please stop embarrassing me!"

Star and the others hid their smiles at the father-daughter moment before the blond loudly cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. She waited until all eyes fell on her (Dex never once loosening his grip on Higgs as he turned in the princess's direction) before she smiled confidently, saying in a firm, determined tone, "Come on, guys! Let's go bring back Marco!"

…

Star led the group as they trudged through the thick vegetation of the Forest of Certain Death, the blond never taking her eyes off the tracker pad in her hands. She stared at the object intensely, watching the small dot for any changes in position even to the slightest degree, her knuckles white as she held the device in an iron grip. She was terrified for her boyfriend, though the second heartbeat had soothed some, not beating nearly as hard and fast, the fact that she could still feel it meant that he had to be in some form of distress, which caused her own heart to race in response. She had to find him and quick, for his safety and her own sanity. She wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. Luckily, it didn't look like she'd have to, the dot nearing more and more with every step.

Star sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, before turning to the others and saying, "Okay guys, we're getting close. Marco should be just up ahead."

"Ugh, thank goodness," Higgs replied with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

"We haven't been walking that long Higgs," Jackie pointed out, giving the redhead a confused look.

"I'm not talking about the walking," the young knight mumbled. "I'm talking about that!" The redhead pointed a finger in the direction of her father, who was smiling ear to ear and humming a tune, Jak doing the same beside him.

"Isn't this so exciting Higgs?!" Dex exclaimed, hugging his daughter from behind. "I mean the two of us on a mission with Princess Star! How cool is that?!"

"This is no time for goofing off, dad!" Higgs said, pulling out of her dad's grip. "Marco is in danger, remember?"

"Oh of course I do," Dex said immediately, still as gleeful as ever, not even his daughter's sharp tone or gaze enough to lessen his spirits. "And once everyone hears how Jak and I helped rescue the princess's boyfriend, they'll be so impressed!"

"We might even get a parade in our honor," Jak spoke up, staring dreamily off into the distance.

"Yeah, the king and queen might even knight you," Janna added nonchalantly.

The two guards gasped, but Higgs just shot the creepy teen a glare. "Don't encourage them," she hissed, but Janna just smiled smugly and shrugged. "What?" she asked innocently, causing the redhead's glare to only increase in intensity.

"You really think that could happen?" Jak asked the creepy teen, hopefully.

"You never know," Janna replied calmly. "Heck, Star's a princess, she could make you knights just like that." The girl snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"Do you hear that Higgs?!" Dex shouted excitedly over to his daughter. "We could be knights! Just like you and your mom!"

"Yeah, I heard," the young knight grumbled bitterly.

"Uh Janna I don't think that's something Star can do," Jackie pointed out to her friend.

"She's a princess, Jacks, she can do whatever she wants," Janna replied, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"That doesn't mean she's going to," Jackie deadpanned.

"Guys!" Star suddenly called from up ahead, everyone immediately returning their focus to their leader, who was giving them a look that was a mix between shock and concern, her hand parting a large bush that blocked the rest off from whatever sight had caught her eye. "You're gonna wanna see this," she muttered breathlessly.

The group quickly ran over to join the princess, peeling back the shrubbery so they too could see whatever it was that had caught the princess so off-guard. Everyone gasped in disbelief, no one prepared for the breathtaking sight that lay before them. A large orange structure stood in the middle of the forest, its bright colors making a stark contrast to the dark greens and shadows of the rest of the woods. The thing almost resembling a house of some sort, but it was in the shape of a deformed, lopsided heart. It had to be at least two stories tall and just looking at it almost hurt, Star and the others having to shield their eyes to avoid going blind. The blond royal could see the whole thing was made of thousands of tiny sun shapes, crudely and almost haphazardly stuck together, a gust of wind causing the sunspots to scatter all around the clearing. Spots of red dotted the mostly orange structure and Star's heart pounded at the perfect match to her boyfriend's cheekmarks. "Marco," she breathed, her eyes shining in wonder.

"Whoooaaa" Janna muttered, for once in her life rendered completely speechless.

"Did Marco do all that?" Jackie asked, looking equally as flabbergasted as her roommate.

"I think he did," Star replied, though she sounded like she didn't believe what she was seeing.

The three girls entered through the bushes, Jak, Dex, and Higgs doing the same a second later, all of them staring up at the structure completely dumbstruck. "So is Marco in there?" Jak suddenly asked.

Dex and Higgs face-palmed. "Yes, Jak, I think that's a pretty safe bet," Higgs stated, while sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"What is this, anyways?" Jackie asked, still staring up at the structure in disbelief.

"It's a nest," Janna explained, finally recovering enough from her shock to hide her own bewilderment behind a calm facade. "Mewmans in Mewberty will sometimes make them when they feel threatened."

"Aw, poor Marco," Star whispered to herself, her face now drooping with sadness.

"But why is it so big?" Jackie questioned.

Janna shrugged. "The body produces sticky spots in reaction to emotional states. The more out of control your emotions are, the more spots are made."

"Wow, Marco must be a really emotional kid then," Dex commented.

"You have no idea," Higgs responded with a shake of her head.

"We gotta find him and fast," Star said, out of nowhere, her voice tight with worry. "Before he gets any worse." With that Star headed for the entrance inside, the others following after her, though much more hesitantly.

Inside Marco's nest, it was almost pitch black, the sunspots completely blocking out the sun's rays, leaving everything within covered in inky shadows. Jak and Dex seemed unnerved by this, clinging to each other and casting longing glances back at the entrance but Star was undeterred, merely holding up her wand and using it to light the area around her. "Marco!" Star called out, as she gazed around for any sign of her boyfriend. "Marco are you in here?!"

Silence was the only reply Star received and after an uncomfortable few seconds, Jak quickly said, "Whelp, he's not here! Let's try somewhere else!"

The inexperienced guard turned to leave, only to be cut off by Higgs, who said in a scolding tone, "No way! You two promised to help Star find Marco and I'm not letting you get out of it that easily!"

"But what if he's not here," Jak suggested, his voice shaking in obvious fear. "Maybe this is another Mewman's emotional nest."

"Well, the tracker pad says he's in here," Star pointed out and the guard gulped, his face turning paler by the second.

"Oh right, forgot about that," the guard muttered quietly under his breath as the rest of the group continued deeper into the cave, only Jak's partner staying behind.

"Relax, Jak, it's just Marco," Dex reassured him, before following after the others, Jak reluctantly doing the same, thinking about the future parade that would be thrown in his honor as a distraction from his current predicament.

As the group continued deeper into the large structure, the random sounds of rustling could be heard all around them, completely unnerving the party, all except Star who stared forward with unwavering courage. Jackie clung close to her royal friend, practically stepping on her heels, while the other two girls did their best to hide their own fears, almost shoulder to shoulder, all previous antagonisms forgotten as they pressed on through the dark nest. Jak and Dex, however, were very obviously terrified, shaking in their boots and jumping at every noise they heard, looking ready to dart outside at any second. But to their credit, the guards stayed with the group of girls, forcing themselves to follow along deeper inside.

Star tried to reach him with their bond, honing in on his feelings, reaching through their sacred connection in an attempt to pinpoint his location in the darkness around her. It was a long shot, she knew, but she had to try. But it seemed it was a dead end, she couldn't feel him at all, the boy had hidden himself deep in his self-made nest.

There was another loud shuffling, before a pile of sunspots fell in the path in front of them, causing Jackie to scream in surprise, gripping Star's shoulders tightly for support and comfort. Star didn't even register the jump scare though, cause her ears had just picked up on a very small and subtle voice in the tunnel up ahead. One she would recognize anywhere, even in the weird tone her Marco was clearly speaking in.

"Starrrr."

"I hear him!" Star shouted in joy, her eyes lighting up with relief and warmth. She turned back to the group, telling them all quickly, "He's up ahead, come on!" The blond didn't wait for the others as she ran forward through the dark, hurrying over to her friend in need. She heard the others call out to her but ultimately ignored them, her only thoughts on Marco. As she drew closer, she could feel a warmth in her chest, his heartbeat heating up, as if guiding her right to him. She could see a light up ahead and in a matter of seconds, she was in the very heart of Marco's giant nest. Star had to shield her eyes from the sudden sunlight peering in through a large opening at the top of the structure, the blond blinking as her eyes struggled to adjust. The whole area was glowing due to the rays of light bouncing off their shimmery surface, warm colors of red and orange made the place feel safe and secure and Star was awestruck by it's unexpected beauty.

However, something else caught Star's eye, one that made her heart pound in delight and surprise and her cheeks flush as red as the room around her. All around the center of the nest were crudely-shaped hearts just like the shape of the nest itself, all of them made with bright red suns and molded by hand. And the longer Star looked at them, the more she realized that they were supposed to be her cheekmarks, and she pressed a hand to her warm cheek, completely speechless but flattered none the less.

As Star's shimmering blue gaze panned across the room, looking at each of the pretty hand-crafted hearts, her eyes froze on the form of Marco, his bright red hoodie blending in perfectly with the rest of the room, camouflaging him well. His back was to her, his hands fiddling with something (probably making another heart shape) and had clearly yet to notice her there, but Star didn't care. She was just thrilled to have found her bestie and she called out to him, "Marco!"

The boy flinched, his wings fluttering in alarm as he quickly turned around to see the intruder to his sanctuary. Star was taken aback by Marco's Mewberty form for a few seconds but immediately bypassed that at the sheer joy of seeing her Marco again and she took a step closer to him. "Marco, it's really you! I'm so glad I found you! I was so worried!"

Marco stared blankly down at his beautiful mate for a few seconds, before a smile slowly formed on his face and he muttered in a delighted tone, "Starrrr!"

Star squeaked as Marco crashed into her form, pulling her into an extra tight hug, all four of his limbs wrapping around her and bringing him closer to her, his translucent wings fluttering happily behind him. The blond royal laughed and hugged her Marco back, saying sweetly, "Its good to see you too, Marco!" The boy's grip on her remained as tight as ever as he held her against him to an almost painful degree as if he was afraid if he let her go she would disappear on him forever and Star felt a lump form in her throat for worrying him so much.

Star was about to voice this apology when Marco let out an unexpected hiss, moving the two of them a little farther back. The blond was confused by this action until she heard the voice of Jak call, "Oh hey, Star. You found him!" Star turned her head as best she could still being held in Marco's protective grip, spotting the others standing in the doorway, grinning in relief.

The group took a step closer and the reaction from Marco was instant, his two extra limbs leaving Star's sides and raised so they were aimed and level with the intruders of his nest. Jackie and the others took a fearful step back seeing their friend ready to attack them but Star did her best to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand, letting out a gentle shhh and saying in the softest tone she could, "Marco, it's okay, they aren't going to hurt you."

The boy wasn't convinced, his pupil-less eyes steadying on Jak and Dex, watching them closely for any sudden movements, his fuzzy brain remembering the discomfort and fear at having his limbs restricted by the two and the loud, angry one. He didn't want them anywhere near him and especially Star. "Baadd," he hissed in a low tone so that only Star could hear.

"I know," Star said sympathetically. "They scared you earlier but they're sorry about that." She turned to Jak and Dex and said in a hinting tone, "Aren't you, guys?"

The two nodded quickly, trying to hide their anxious faces as Dex told the boy, "Yeah, we're really sorry, Marco. We didn't mean to scare you."

"We shouldn't have listened to Skullnick," Jak blurted out.

"We won't ever do it again, promise," Dex finished, flashing the boy what he hoped was a non-threatening smile.

"See, Marco, they're our friends," Star said as she turned back to the boy, keeping her voice light and cheerful. "They aren't going to hurt you. Everything's okay, you can relax now."

Marco's arms slowly lowered to his sides, no longer on the defensive and ready to attack anything that moves, and Star took that as a positive sign to continue. "See. There's nothing to worry about. You're safe now." The boy said nothing, but as his glowing orbs turned to face her, no words were needed, his eyes speaking to Star in a way only she could understand, reading her Marco's expression easily.

She gestured for the others to come closer, saying softly, "Okay guys, it's safe, you can come over."

The group seemed apprehensive at first, but it was Jackie who broke the uncomfortable tension, walking slowly over to the two, keeping an eye on Marco for any changes in his demeanor as she did so. Once she was finally beside her two friends, she smiled at Marco, saying in a gentle tone, "Hey dude, you doing okay?"

Marco cocked his head to the side, before reaching up with one of his free arms and poking her cheek. "Friend," he replied vaguely.

Jackie just rubbed her cheek and said calmly, "Yep, that's right, we're friends." Inwardly though, she was more confused why Mewberty Marco kept poking her. Seriously what was that about?

Marco turned his attention next to Janna, saying in a more friendly tone, "Friend."

"Yep, that's right bud," Janna replied, burying her hands in her pockets. "Glad to see you didn't get eaten by anything."

Marco looked over to Higgs, Jak, and Dex, who were all watching him wearily, the young redhead's body tensed and ready for anything. There were a few seconds of silence that was nearly unbearable to the group, Jak and Dex sweating profusely out of fear of what Marco might do to them, but when Marco did finally speak it was in the same pleasant tone as earlier. "Friends."

The group let out a simultaneous breath of relief, Dex saying, "Uh-huh, that's right, Marco. We won't ever scare you like that again, promise."

Marco nodded slowly and Star, seeing all that was finally settled, seized the opportunity to continue with her earlier conversation, turning to the others and telling them, "Can you give us a minute?"

The group nodded, before moving to the other side of the room to give the two lovebirds their space, making sure to keep their backs to them. Once they were (relatively) alone, Star pushed Marco out of their hug, and instead intertwined her hands with his, looking up into his eyes since he was still hovering a few inches off the ground. "Marco I just wanted to say that I'm really, really sorry."

Marco cocked his head to the side but allowed his mate to continue her apology. "I shouldn't have left you. If I hadn't then you wouldn't have gotten so scared or acted the way you did. And I know what you're thinking, 'Well you had no way of knowing.' But that doesn't matter. You didn't want me to go, did you? You spent all that time looking for me and I didn't even realize how badly you wanted me to stay. You were just being the same selfless boy you always are, giving up the things you want for others. And I should have known that. So I'm sorry."

Once the blond was finally done, the two stared at each other for a few seconds, Star's eyes shining with guilt and remorse, Marco's just devoid of emotion. "Can you ever forgive me?" Star asked softly, feeling her heart clench at the brokenness in her own tone.

Marco's reaction to that was almost instant, as he suddenly began cuddling into her neck out of nowhere and the blond giggled at the unexpected action, all previous self-loathing and shame vanishing in a heartbeat, her world consumed by Marco's sweet display of affection. "Okay, okay I get it, you forgive me," Star said in a near laugh, running a hand through Marco's soft hair. She nearly cooed as the boy suddenly started to purr in response to her touch and her heart felt like it was floating around in her chest. How could Marco get any more adorable? "Starrrr," he purred, still nuzzling her neck, proving her previous thought wrong.

So cute, she thought, her cheeks flushing some as her world finally righted itself, Marco, her sweet, adorable bestie was back safe in her arms.

The others were doing their best not to interrupt the sweet moment, struggling to keep their attention on literally anything else as they heard the quiet murmuring of Star behind them. Jak focused his attention on one of the heart piles Marco had made, examining it closely before slowly reaching out to touch it. "It's gonna fall over if you do that," Dex told his friend.

Jak hesitated for a moment, before touching it anyways. It collapsed instantly, the guard jerking back with a surprised squeak. "I told you that would happen," Dex told his partner, who gave a sheepish look in reply.

The three girls, just stood in awkward silence for a moment, Jackie standing between the two feuding girls, both of whom were purposefully avoiding eye contact. Finally, the skater had had enough of the uncomfortable tension and said via whisper, "Okay enough. This has gone on long enough. You two need to make up."

"Uhh, actually we really don't," Higgs commented.

"Yeah, Jacks, this is a classic rivalry thing," Janna explained to her friend. "The two enemies destined to hate each other, those don't typically resolve easily."

Jackie let out an annoyed sigh, running her hands down her face, before regaining her composure saying in her cool, radiant tone, "Okay look, whatever you are, you're both my friends and I'm not putting up with this for the rest of my life. So you're just gonna have to make up, whether you want to or not." She fixed the two with scolding glares and the two shifted uncomfortably under the look.

Still, the two stayed stubbornly silent for a few seconds before Janna finally spoke, staring up at the ceiling as she muttered, "So I didn't really mean what I said. It wasn't your fault that Marco flew off. I've just been... going through some stuff lately."

"And maybe I judged you a bit harshly," Higgs said, keeping her eyes on the ground instead of the beanie-wearing teen. "You may be a troublemaker but at the very least you do seem to care about your friends." The two finally made eye contact, the young knight finishing by saying, "And that counts for something."

The two, for the very first time, shared a smile, a small, almost professional grin but a smile none the less and Jackie took that as a victory. However as soon as it came, it was gone again, Higgs' grin replaced with a scowl as she added bitterly, "But I still don't trust you."

"That's fair," Janna said, shrugging.

"Aww look at my daughter making new friends!" Dex suddenly exclaimed, running over and pulling his daughter into a hug.

"Ahhh! Dad, let go! You're embarrassing me!" Higgs shouted, her face turning redder than her hair color as her father continued showering her with unwanted affection.

Star and Marco, meanwhile, finally pulled away from each other smiling as they stared lovingly into each others eyes, their hands intertwined as they let a relative peace settle over them. Finally, Star broke the silence of the moment, saying to her boyfriend in a soft whisper, "Okay, Marco. So I think it's best if we head back to the castle. I know you probably want to stay here but I promise nothing is going to hurt yo-" Star was cut off as Marco suddenly wrapped his extra limbs around her slender frame, holding her against his chest and she flushed with surprise. "Marco, what are you doing?"

Instead of answering, the boy lifted Star off the ground and the blond gasped in fright, putting her arms around Marco's neck and the boy's other arms securely circled Star. Once the two were airborne the boy met her eye and Star instantly understood what Marco was about to do.

"Oh Marco, that's okay we can walk," Star started to tell him, but it was too late, the boy had already taken off in a burst of wind and speed, exiting through the hole in the ceiling. The others turned and stared up at the skylight for a few seconds before Dex said, "Huh, wasn't expecting them to do that."

"They must really be in a hurry to get out of here," Jak pointed out.

"Can't say I blame them," Higgs responded, flashing the nauseating bright area around her a dirty look.

"Or maybe they just wanted some alone time," Janna said in a hinting tone, arching her eyebrows playfully.

"No," was all Jackie said to her creepy friend, giving her a scolding look for good measure.

Suddenly, a thought hit Jak and he gasped in shock, asking in a panicked tone, "Wait, so how are we getting out of here?!"

"I guess we'll just have to go back the way we came," Jackie replied with a shrug.

Jak let out a strangled groan but kept his comment to himself.

…

Star gasped as cold air rushed around her, her hair blowing freely in the breeze and the swirl of wind in her ears making it difficult to hear anything. Her stomach was doing flips at the feeling of weightlessness and she had to breathe slowly to try and calm down her shocked system. Star risked a look over her shoulder to see how high up they were and immediately regretted this decision, the long drop below causing her to let out a chocked scream, the treetops of the Forest of Certain Death looking even more menacing than usual. Her grip on the back of Marco's neck tightened, fearful of losing her grip. Star wasn't typically afraid of heights but she also usually had the luxury of both feet planted on the ground not dangling thousands of feet in the air, with only four thin arms keeping her from plummeting to her certain death and this has pushed her completely out of her comfort zone. She pressed her head into Marco's chest, trying to calm herself down, focusing on the rapid pulse of Marco's heartbeat pounding against her temple.

Marco noticed his mate's discomfort, casting her a worried glance as she shook in his arms and the boy tried to think up some way to ease her mind. Thinking fast, he slowed their speed and flipped them over, so that Star was no longer the one dangling in mid-air, effectively shielding her from the danger of terminal velocity should something happen, but he made sure to keep his grip tight all the same. Marco felt Star's own grip relax some after that, the death grip she had previously had on his neck loosened, her body no longer trembling in fear and she even looked up from the safety of his chest to meet his eye. Marco gave his mate what he hoped was a reassuring smile and his heart hammered away in his chest as the girl returned the smile, her face lighting up in the most beautiful way that only Star's could. Her eyes were so startlingly blue it was almost painful and the way her golden hair danced in the breeze was simply breathtaking. How one person could be so beautiful was a mystery to Marco but he was beyond happy that such a person existed and that she was currently being held in his arms.

Now that her initial fear began to wear off thanks to Marco's efforts, Star began to grow more confident, openly scanning the skyline. She didn't think she had ever been this high up before even the few times she had ridden Cloudy and the view was breathtaking. She could see almost all of Mewni from this height, the pink hills and lush green countryside blending together into perfect harmony, the wildlife mere shifting dots on the world below. She could see the huge pink cloud that was the Kingdom of the Pony Heads off to her side, as well as the shape of the massive castle that rested atop it. She could see the massive lakes and rivers that the river folk of Mewni dwelled in, she even thought she could see the curve of mountains way off in the distance. And the longer Star looked the more entranced by her beautiful home she became. She had never realized just how gorgeous Mewni truly was.

She looked up at Marco who was watching her closely, not even looking where he was flying, keeping his speed slow and steady, his wings beating at a rapid pace to keep them airborne. Star smiled at her transformed boyfriend, telling him softly, "Hey, I'm okay now, you can carry me like before."

Marco made no movement to do so, clearly torn on keeping Star calm and doing as she said, but the blond gave him an encouraging smile. "I know you won't let me go," she said and this seemed to be all Marco needed to hear, flipping them around again so that Star was once more beneath him, though he shifted her in his four arms so that she was no longer facing him, holding her firmly but gently against his chest, allowing her to freely survey the countryside.

The blond giggled as Marco picked up speed again, now enjoying the wind as it tickled her face, smiling ear to ear as she observed her beautiful Mewni. Marco seemed to tense at first, worried he was scaring her but soon he too was smiling as his girlfriend's cheerful laughter reached his ears. This encouraged him to try and make her laugh more, doing loop-de-loops in the air, causing her to laugh and scream in delight. Under her encouragement, the two began dipping and diving toward the treetops, Star trying to reach out and touch one of the branches before they pulled up again. They flew past a flock of eagles that all looked completely dumbstruck by the two air-born Mewmans. Soon the sky was alive with Star's laughter and Marco felt his heart warm at the wondrous sound.

Finally, the two were both thrown off guard as the sun peaked out from behind a cloud, the two gasping as the most colorful and stunning sunset the two had ever laid eyes on filled the sky, colors Star and Marco had only ever dreamed of invaded their senses and the two stared misty-eyed at the wonderful sight.

But the moment came to an unfortunate end as they had, at last, reached Butterfly Castle the hooded teen guiding him and his blond passenger into a safe landing on the soft grass just inside the courtyard. Star took a few deep breaths as her feet finally touched ground once more, her legs wobbly and her heart pounding but the look of delight couldn't be erased from her face. She turned and smiled at Marco who was hovering over her, his glowing orbs clearly examining her closely. "Thanks for that, Marco," Star said in a loving tone, holding out a hand for him to take, which he eagerly did. "That was... magical." The girl giggled and Marco smiled, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Hey, they're back!" a voice suddenly screamed, interrupting the moment for the two teens, who looked over to see Skullnick, along with several knights and guards rushing toward them. Marco reacted immediately, grabbing Star's wrist and pulling his blond mate closer, wrapping his arms protectively around her. The group all stopped, watching the boy wearily as he kept a suspicious gaze leveled at them all, keeping Star close to letting everyone know she was under his protection. But when no one seemed to get the message, Marco raised a threatening hand up in warning and the others all took a reluctant step back.

The knights slowly reached for their swords and crossbows, but Star quickly shouted, "Wait, everyone stay calm! You're all freaking him out! Just give Marco some space!"

No party made any move to back down, Marco and the knights now in a tense stand-off, all of them waiting for one to make a move. Star was quick to quell this though, as she put a comforting hand on Marco's arm, saying in the lighthearted tone, "Marco, it's okay. They aren't going to hurt you." The boy blinked once, his face otherwise remaining blank, but he allowed Star to lower his arm back to his side.

Star then turned to the knights, who's hands still hovered over their weapons, itching to pull them out in defense and the blond shot a pleading look at Skullnick. The troll general stood there rigidly for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. "You heard the princess! Stand down, all of you!" Skullnick barked and the knights were quick to obey their order, their postures relaxing though their faces still filled with uncertainty. And after a few seconds, Marco seemed to do the same.

"All right, everyone move along! The princess has this under control! No one goes near Marco without the princess's say by order of King and Queen Butterfly!" Skullnick continued, virtually ignoring the two teens as she glared down her men, forcing them to reluctantly disperse.

Star mentally breathed in relief, while grinning smugly over at the general. It would seem Skullnick had had a complete turn-around from earlier, no doubt her parents had reprimanded her for her previous actions and had given her new orders on how to handle such situations. Skullnick must have noticed Star staring at her because she turned in her direction, staring at the blond royal blankly.

Star gave the general a slight nod of appreciation for her help but nothing else but the general didn't return the gesture, continuing to just stare unflinchingly at the two teens. Marco seemed to be growing uncomfortable from the look, shifting next to Star, but the blond made sure to hold the general's gaze. Finally, the general said in a grunt, "Well it seems for once I was in the wrong here. Just do me a favor and try and not let your boyfriend destroy the whole castle." Star was so shocked to hear Skullnick admit to being wrong that she almost didn't register the last comment, not that she had a chance to comment on it as Skullnick suddenly turned on her heels and marching away, her stance as strong and determined as ever.

Star frowned as she watched the general storm away, unsure how to feel about the apology, on one hand, it was unheard of for Skullnick to admit to making any form of mistake but on the other hand, it had felt very halfhearted and Star couldn't help but wonder if her parents had put the troll up to it. But finally, Star decided she would take what she was given, that was the closest she would probably ever come to having the general admit defeat and that small victory was enough for Star, besides she had more important matters at hand.

As if on cue, the doors of the castle were brutally slammed open and Star flinched in surprise, Marco clutching the girl's arm fearfully. Star watching in disbelief as the entrance to her home was almost destroyed, the doors practically ripped off their hinges and the wall behind them cracking from the sheer force of the violent and careless action. A second later, the flustered forms of both River and Buff Frog emerged from the castle, the later looking like he was having some sort of breakdown, his yellow eyes darting from left to right as he panted heavily, sweat dripping from his face. "Where is my baby?!" the frog Monster practically screamed.

"Hmmm, I don't see them anywhere," River said in his big, bombastic voice, gazing around the courtyard in search of something. "Perhaps they aren't back yet." He turned to a very nervous looking guard and shouted, "I thought you said they had returned!"

"Um, um, th-that's what I was told Y-Your Majesty," the guard said, doing a nervous salute.

Moon appeared behind her husband, saying in an almost exhausted tone, "River, Buff Frog, please. You're both making a scene."

"Hey guys! Over here!" Star shouted over to her parents, causing Marco to jump at the sudden loud noise.

All three adults turned to see the two teens, Buff Frog's body visibly sagging in relief, while the Butterfly couple just smiled at their daughter. The frog quickly ran over to the pair of teens at record speed, before throwing his beefy arms around his son, pulling him in close as he muttered, "Oh my baby! I so glad you safe!" Marco's arms flailed for a moment in an attempt to escape his father's crushing hug, clearly unsure about what was going on and he gazed over at his mate for assistance. But the frog father didn't seem to notice this, continuing to voice his thoughts out loud to his young son, "Thank corn you okay, Marco! When Butterflies tell me what happened I so worried. I feared you'd never come back." Slowly the boy stopped struggling as he recognized his adopted dad's voice, instead pulling into the hug.

The Butterflies watched father and son reunite for a moment, trying to hold back their smiles as Moon said to the Monster, "There now, see Buff Frog. I told you there was nothing to worry about. Star had everything under control."

Buff Frog gave said teen a grateful smile, while still holding his son close to his chest, "I cannot thank you enough for saving my son, Star!"

"Of course, I'd never let anything bad happen to Marco," Star replied pleasantly.

As Buff Frog continued showering his son with affection, Moon looked around the courtyard quizzically before leaning closer to her daughter's ear and whispering, "Star, where are the others that came with you?"

Star gasped, face-palming as she shouted, "Oh right, I totally forgot! Marco sorta flew off with me and we ended up leaving them back at the nest."

"Nest?" Moon asked quizzically.

"It's a long story," Star explained quickly while pulling out her wand from her cloud purse. She held the wand out and loudly chanted, "Summoning Cloudy Charm!" A second later a smiling pink cloud appeared in front of her, greeting her in a sing-song voice, "Hey there, Star!"

"Hey Cloudy," the girl greeted back with a smile of her own. "Think you could do me a favor and go pick up my friends? I accidentally left them back in the Forest of Certain Death." The blond gestured behind her so Cloudy knew the general direction to go.

"Sure thing, Star!" the cloud replied before floating off to go fetch his master's friends.

"Very clever spell, my darling," Moon complimented her daughter, watching the cloud flying off into the darkening sky.

"Thanks, mom," the girl said, proudly resting her hands on her hips.

"Only I have one question for you," Moon said hesitantly.

"What's that?" Star asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"How does he know where they are?"

Star paused at that question, before replying with a halfhearted shrug, "Uhh, he's magic. I'm sure he can figure it out."

A sudden gasp from Buff Frog brought Star and Moon's attention back over to father and son, the frog now holding the boy at arm's length, taking in his son's new form, muttering in concern and fear, "Look at you, my son! I have heard of Mewberty before, but never seen up close!" He tutted to himself for a few seconds before adding, "Hopefully you not in any pain. Does anything hurt, Marco? Do you need me get you medicine or something?"

Star tried to hold back her laughter, as she watched Buff Frog doting over his son, worriedly examining him from head to toe, while the boy hovered there in confusion. Marco wasn't kidding before, Buff Frog really did get overprotective of Marco when he was sick and seeing the normally calm and confident Monster turn into this flustered mess was so jarring to Star she couldn't help but chuckle, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

"Now there's no need to worry yourself, Buff Frog," River cut in, giving the Monster dad a knowing look, understanding Buff Frog's situation quite well himself. "Marco is perfectly fine. Right, my dear?"

"Yes, it's a perfectly normal thing for boys Marco's age to go through," Moon said. "And I can assure you he is in no form of pain, whatsoever."

"Oh thank corn," Buff Frog said, letting out another relieved breath.

"But y'know, right now he almost looks like he could pass for a Monster, don't you think?" Star pointed out, smiling brightly at her boyfriend.

"Da, but I happy with old son," Buff Frog agreed, a smile slowly spreading across his features. He paused for a moment, giving his son a thoughtful expression, before turning to the three royals with a quizzical frown, asking, "How much longer till he turns back?"

The three Butterflies all exchanged glances at that, Star biting her lip as she struggled to answer that question herself. "Honestly, I'm not sure," the blond replied. "He was alone in his room for a while so I have no idea how long he's been like this. It could still be hours before he changes back."

The frog Monster nodded, staring down at the ground in intense thought, before saying almost sadly, "Then it would be best if he stayed here, till he gets better. As much as want to take him home, you know more about how help him, Star." Buff Frog finally released his grip on his son and the boy instantly flew to Star's side, grabbing on tightly to her arm and nuzzling her neck while purring loudly. Buff Frog's eyes widened in shock for a second, before he said almost jokingly, "Besides, it seems he prefer to be with you."

Star flushed in embarrassment from the comment, while her heart swelled at her boyfriend's show of affection, and she gave the frog an apologetic grin, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Especially since me not being here is what made him freak out in the first place." She ran a hand lovingly through Marco's hair, before returning her focus to the frog, adding pleasantly, "But you're welcome to stay, Buff Frog! I'm sure Marco will be much happier having you here too."

"Oh, wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon," Buff Frog replied cheerfully, though he did cross his arms in front of his chest in determination. "After all, Marco may be older but he is still my baby."

"Oh yes, I know how that is," River said, nodding in understanding. "Star is still my baby girl no matter how old she gets."

"Aww dad," Star cooed, shooting her dad a grin, though her cheeks turned the slightest tinge of pink.

"Now then, the big question is where Marco is going to stay?" Moon spoke up, her voice full of regal authority. A habit she didn't seem to be able to break no matter what the situation. "I don't think the castle staff would be too happy having him inside, shedding everywhere."

The group all looked down to see small orange sunspots drifting off of Marco's body and landing on the ground below his feet. "Yeah, your right mom," Star agreed, tapping a finger to her chin in thought.

The blond royal frowned as she brainstormed on where to keep her boyfriend until his Mewberty experience was over with. It would have to be outside somewhere, preferably away from people, where it could just be Marco and his friends and family, no chances of any intruders frightening him and setting him off. But it would also have to be within the castle boundary, Star didn't want to risk moving him anywhere where he might be tempted to fly off again. What Star really needed was a place within the castle grounds that people rarely ever visited. And that's when it struck her, Star smiling ear to ear, as an idea popped into her head. She turned to her parents and Buff Frog, telling them in a proud, confident tone, "I think I know just the place."

…

The castle garden was peaceful and calm as Star and the others entered into it, stars beginning to blink into existence above them as another night on Mewni began. A gentle breeze danced through the flowers and vegetation, making them sway in the wind, creating an even more beautiful scene. And thousands of fireflies circled the air around them, creating a simply breathtaking sight for everyone present to witness.

Marco was clinging to his girlfriend's arm tightly as she led him into the tranquil garden, confusion shimmering in his glowing orbs, but the moment he saw where Star had taken him his wings fluttered in excitement, a smile slowly appearing on his face. He started to let go of Star to go explore the area but quickly looked over at her, waiting for permission to leave her side, like a child would to their parent. Star nodded and smiled, telling the boy softly, "Go on, Marco. It's okay, I'll be right here if you need me."

The boy nodded once before zipping over to the nearest firefly, staring at it unblinkingly for a few seconds, completely mesmerized by the tiny light. He slowly reached out towards it with his four hands before quickly clapping them together around the unknowing bug. He paused before gazing into his hands, a smile slowly stretching across his face before it vanished as he saw nothing in his palms. But a blinking light right in front of his face caused him to rear back in surprise, almost sent tumbling through the air as his wings struggled to balance himself again. Once he had, he looked around for another light, before trying to snatch that one up instead, only to once more come up empty-handed.

From there the boy began chasing lightning bugs all around the garden, his four hands constantly outstretched as he tried to grab at them, while his entire being seemed to be radiating pure joy and happiness at the fun game he had discovered. Buff Frog, Star, and her parents all couldn't help but laugh at the cute sight, watching the boy zooming around playfully. "What a brilliant idea, Star," Moon complimented her daughter proudly.

"Thanks," Star replied with a grin.

Her dad putting a loving hand on her shoulder before adding, "That's my daughter for you, as clever as her old man!"

"River you once thought it was a good idea to eat a map while on one of your camping trips," Moon pointed out.

"In nature, everything is food!" River exclaimed dramatically.

"You were lost for four days," the blue-haired woman sighed, massaging her temple with her fingertips.

"Out in the woods, anything goes," River continued, his voice intense, and Moon just rolled her eyes.

Star and Buff Frog slowly shuffled away from the pair, leaving them alone to their devices and instead going over to join Marco, who was now crouched low to the ground, staring down one of the fireflies intensely, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His hands slowly cupped around the bug, not taking his eyes off it for even a second, before closing his fists around it. He held his hand up to his face, slowly opening his palm in concentration before his head lowered in defeat, making a low groaning noise.

Star and Buff Frog shared a smile, before the girl sat down on her knees beside her boyfriend, telling him softly, "Here, Marco, let me help." As Buff Frog sat down on Marco's other side, while Star slowly reached out a finger toward the lightning bug, pausing just inches short of it before waiting. A few seconds passed, Marco watching with such childlike curiosity that Star's heart almost melted right there, before the tiny bug landed on her fingertip, lighting up a few times calmly.

Marco gasped, leaning in closer to the girl, who had to hold him back by placing a hand on his chest. She giggled before saying sweetly, "Calm down, Marco. Your gonna scare it away."

Marco instantly relaxed, though his eyes never left the firefly, sitting down in the grass next to her. He scooted as close to her and the firefly as he possibly could and the girl smiled before grabbing his hand. She brought it slowly over to her own, before touching the tips together softly and the two watched as the lightning bug slowly crawled over to Marco's own finger, before flashing once.

The boy's mouth made a cute 'O' shape as he held the bug up to his face, watching it blink in pure delight and both Star and Buff Frog couldn't help but both inwardly coo at the hooded teen. Star leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder, while Buff Frog hugged his son's right side, though the boy noticed neither, his attention still completely on the firefly.

However, when a loud voice called from above, it immediately drew everyone's attention. "Hey there Star! We're hooommee!" came the cheerful call and everyone looked up to see Cloudy descending toward them, carrying a group of passengers in its fluff.

"Thanks, Cloudy!" Star called out to her spell, raising her head off the boy's shoulder but not moving from her spot at her boyfriend's side. "Hey guys, glad to see you back!"

Her smile vanished though as she took in the sight of her friends, who were all covered in leaves and twigs, their hair and clothes now badly disheveled (their clothes even torn in a few places) and they stared down at the girl with either annoyed or impassive looks. "What happened?" the blond asked quizzically.

"Well it seems your spell decided it would be a good idea to fly through every single tree on the way back," Janna explained, while angrily untangling twigs from her messy hair.

"Yeah thanks for the ride, Star, but I think next time we'll just walk," Jackie commented as she slid off the cloud and back onto solid ground once more.

Star chuckled awkwardly while scratching at her blushing cheeks as she muttered out, "Sorry."

"Well, I had a great time!" Cloudy suddenly said, doing spins in the air. "I loved getting to fly through all those bushes, it was so much fun!"

It wouldn't have been so bad if dad and Jak didn't insist on singing road trip songs the whole way back," Higgs muttered.

Jak and Dex quickly put their arms around the redhead's shoulders, Dex said excitedly, "Oh come on Higgs, you used to love those!"

"Well, I don't now!" Higgs snapped angrily, pulling out of the two guard's grip.

"Oh good your all back safe," Moon suddenly spoke up behind them, and the three all turned on their heels, Jak and Dex gaping openly at the two royals standing in front of them.

"Your Majesties!" the two exclaimed before dropping into low bows.

"Thank you so much for your help in assisting my daughter," Moon said, her voice kind but regal as she addressed her two subjects.

"The pleasure was all ours, Your Highness!" Dex said, the two looking up so they could smile to their queen.

"And for your great effort," Moon continued and the two guards held in their squeals of delight. Here it came, the queen was about to knight them. "You have my gratitude," the royal finished and the two's faces fell.

"What that's it?" Jak blurted out, only to be violently elbowed by his partner.

"I beg your pardon," Moon said, an eyebrow slowly rising.

"What Jak means to say is that your gratitude is all we needed to hear," Dex replied, giving the queen a nervous smile, Higgs face-palming and shaking her head in disbelief.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we should be going," Dex continued as he pushed his partner away, still smiling at the queen, who stared at the two quizzically. The moment they were out of earshot, Dex whispered, "We'll be knighted next time for sure."

"Well that was utterly embarrassing," Higgs commented. She rolled her eyes before saying in exasperation. "Now can we please go home."

The two guards shared a look before Dex said, "Sure thing, sweetie." Then, the two began loudly singing one of their corny road trip songs, bellowing it out at the top of their lungs, Cloudy soon joining in. Marco happily bopped his head along to the song, not sure what the catchy noise was but loving every second of it.

Higgs pressed her hands over her ears tightly before letting out an annoyed shout, storming away from the two, who followed after her, still singing.

Once that was all over, Star pulled out her wand and said decisively, "Okay Cloudy I think it's time for you to go home."

"Aww, but I was just starting to have fun-" the spell began, only to vanish as Star undid her magic, before tucking the wand away inside her purse again.

"So I see Marco's still not back to normal," Janna commented, casting the boy a glance as she tucked her hands into her pockets.

"Yep, but until he turns back, me and Buff Frog figured it'd be best to keep him in here and away from everyone else," Star explained, the boy purring as the blond brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"Sounds good to me," Janna said before her and Jackie sat down in the grass.

"Mind if we join you?" Jackie asked with one of her cool grins.

Star looked over to Marco, who showed no signs of discomfort or fear and shrugged, telling her friends pleasantly, "Sure, why not?"

An hour passed as the group all sat in the grass, talking and laughing as they waited for their friend to turn back. Buff Frog, stayed pretty much silent through it all, never moving more than a few inches away from his son, staying close in case Marco needed him for any reason at all. The hooded teen for the most part stayed by Star, occasionally holding her hand or snuggling into her side, where the girl would either hug him back or plant a loving kiss on his cheek. At one point he curled up into her lap, where Star gently played with his hair as he purred with affection. There were a few times that the boy grew bored of laying around and would fly around the garden trying to play with the fireflies or sniffing the large selection of flowers the expansive garden had. But he would soon tire himself out and return to Star's side, seeking her attention which she was happy to give.

After a while though, the group grew too tired after the long day and one by one drifted off to sleep. Jackie and Janna lay side by side on the ticklish grass, breathing gently in the comfort of their dreams. Buff Frog's body was slumped forward as he slumbered peacefully, his exhaustion for once more powerful than his protective nature. And finally, Marco rested happily on top of Star, who lay on her back running her hands up and down his back in a soothing manner, being careful to avoid his wings. Only Star remained awake, though she too was slowly starting to drift in and out of consciousness, yawning quietly every few seconds.

But still, somehow the girl managed to stay awake, despite her body and mind's attempts to thwart this, because she had Marco and that was all that mattered. She kept casting the boy long, tender looks as she stared at his sleeping face, his body still in stuck in its Mewberty state. Even though a part of her missed Marco's old look she couldn't help but admire his new form, he looked as cute as ever, with his bangs so long they lay in his face, which blew around with every breath Marco took. His glowing cheek marks actually blinked in time to his even breathing. Just like a firefly, Star thought with a smile. And Marco's wings continued to flutter every so often in reaction to whatever he was dreaming about, though not enough to lift him off the ground.

Star sighed dreamily as she stared into Marco's adorable face, her cheek marks turning white as she examined every inch of his features, admiring her boyfriend with every ounce of her being. She gently leaned over and planted a kiss to his forehead, the boy smiled before shifting a bit in his sleep which made Star's pupils dance, her heart beating at a mile per hour at this point. "Oh Marco," Star cooed, as she touched the end of her nose to his, unable to help herself as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm, affectionate hug. Then, without even thinking, she breathed out in a voice just barely above a whisper, "I love you so much."

The blond froze, her cheeks turning bright red as she realized what she had just said. It had just slipped out, she hadn't meant to say something like that to her snoozing boyfriend. The girl quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her and breathed a sigh of relief when she found everyone still asleep and oblivious to her unintentional confession. After a moment, she willed her cheeks back to a normal hue and lay back, hoping after some sleep she could forget she had just said that.

But the moment she closed her eyes, a bright flashing light invaded her senses, as well as a loud shuffling sound. Her eyes flew open as she looked up to see Marco's whole body now glowing and the girl let out a startled squeak. But a smile widened on her face as she recognized the final stage of Mewberty and turned to her friends shouting, "Guys, wake up!"

Jackie and Janna groaned, the two sitting up and rubbing their eyes. "What? What's happening?" Jackie asked groggily.

Buff Frog, however, was instantly awake and alert, showing no signs of having been asleep mere seconds earlier, as he jumped up and rushed over to his son, saying in panic, "Oh no is he okay? Is normal for him to glow like that? Should we do something?"

Star just shook her head, telling the frog father simply, "Nope, Marco's just fine. He's about to turn back."

"Oh," was all Buff Frog said in reply, his nervous eyes never leaving his son.

The boy slowly lifted off the ground his wings guiding him gently up as they flapped for the last few times of their existence. Sunspots began appearing all over his body, his face, chest, arms, legs, everywhere, quickly spreading and surrounding the boy in a make-shift cocoon. Soon the boy was completely out of sight, only a large orange shape hovering in the air over their heads remained. For a few seconds, nothing happened, the group staring up at Marco's cocoon intensely. Then, all of sudden, there was a bright flash of light from within the object, the outline of Marco's form appearing within, not that the group could tell having to block their eyes from the blinding light.

Once the glow ceased the others all looked up at the cocoon with bated breath waiting for what happened next. Slowly sunspots began peeling off the cocoon, fluttering to the ground below, but as the seconds ticked by more and more followed until it was practically raining small orange suns, the garden soon coated in them. Then, Marco form suddenly dropped from the sky, and Star lunged forward to catch him. He landed safely in Star's arms, although the momentum caused her to fall to the ground and the breath was temporarily knocked out of her lungs. The girl recovered quickly though, shifting her grip on Marco so that Marco was laying in her lap. "Marco?" the girl whispered, trying to keep the anxiety out of her tone.

The boy groaned, turning his head to the side before his eyes slowly peeked open. He blinked a few times, clearly trying to get his barrings, before letting out a tired yawn, stretching his arms over his head as he sat up some. "Aw man, Star you wouldn't believe the dream I just had, it was crazy," the boy began in his typical cheeriness, though his eyes still drooped some with exhaustion. "I was flying and I think I was looking for something and there were these little blinking lights-" Marco paused mid-explanation as suddenly become aware where he was, looking up at the faces of Buff Frog, Jackie, and Janna, before turning to Star with a quizzical look. "Um, Star, what are we doing out here?"

The others all exchanged looks, clearly trying to think of the best way to explain it to Marco, before finally Star said, "It's a long story."

"Let's just say your dream wasn't actually a dream," Janna added cryptically.

"Wait you mean that really happened?" Marco exclaimed jumping up, the shock on his face clear as day. "I really was flying!"

"Yep, you just went through something called 'Mewberty'," Jackie explained.

"Mewberty?" Marco repeated, cocking his head to the side, confusion pinching his brows.

"That's right, it's a normal thing teenage Mewmans go through to adjust to their magic," Star explained.

"Oh, okay," the boy said, nodding his head some in understanding, his eyes shining with curiosity. "So does that mean I don't have the chickenpox?"

The group all shook their heads.

"So then everything in my dream really happened?!" Marco exclaimed in total disbelief.

"Da, everything," Buff Frog said wisely.

"Even the part where you all turned into giant marshmallows?" Marco asked, giving them all a confused frown.

The group paused, looking between one another before Jackie corrected, "Okay, so not everything in your dream really happened."

The boy sat down cross-legged, resting his head in his hands as he asked, "So did Skullnick and the other knights really attack me?"

"Yes, as sad as it is they did," Jackie muttered angrily.

"They what?!" Buff Frog exclaimed.

"Apparently my mom and dad gave them orders to detain anyone going through Mewberty but Skullnick took it a bit too far," Star explained.

"And did I... throw her like in my dream," Marco asked, a guilty look in his eye.

Jackie and Janna both nodded, the latter saying, "Yeah but you didn't really have much of a choice." She paused before adding, "Plus, it looked pretty cool."

The boy looked sadly at the ground before turning to Star and asking in a nervous stutter, "And did we... I mean, in my dream there was like this beautiful sunset and I was wondering if-"

"Mm-hmm, that part was real," Star replied, scooting closer to the boy and putting a hand on his back.

Marco smiled, clearly reminiscing the fuzzy memory, before he said bashfully, "That was my favorite part."

"Mine too," Star agreed, leaning over and kissing his forehead.

Suddenly though a thought occurred to Marco and he gasped, looking around fearfully at each of his friends and dad and asked, "Oh no, the meeting! What happened?!"

"I left early to come find you," Star explained and the boy's face fell.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for everyone," the boy muttered, the guilt evident on his face, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

The group all shared a concerned look, before Star said softly, "Marco, you didn't do anything wrong."

"But the meeting," Marco sniffed, giving his girlfriend a sad, apologetic look that melted the girl's heart.

"That wasn't your fault and the other Monsters completely understood," Star said, cupping his head in her hands, staring deep into his chocolate brown orbs, giving him a warm, loving smile. "Besides, your more important to me than some meeting."

The boy didn't seem convinced though, his eyes still full of regret as he muttered, "But I-I hurt Skullnick and the other knights and-and-"

"Marco," Star interrupted, giving him a compassionate grin, hoping to silently convey her message. "It's okay," she whispered.

"Look, dude, you weren't thinking straight. That's all," Jackie spoke up in a soft, comforting tone and the boy looked over at her hopefully.

"Really?"

"Yeah and I mean, it was really more of Skullnick's fault for antagonizing you, she brought it on herself," Janna added, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I still worried all of you," the boy muttered sadly, looking down at the ground.

The group shared a look before Janna blurted, "Well duh, of course, you did."

"Huh?" Marco asked in confusion.

Jackie sat down next to the boy and told him much more gently, "What Janna means to say is that we're your friends and we care about you. So when something is upsetting or scaring you of course we're going to worry a little."

"We know you don't mean anything by it," Buff Frog added, putting a comforting hand on his son's shoulders. "We just happy you safe."

"The important thing is you're okay," Star finished, giving him a kind smile. "So you don't have to feel bad, we never mind looking out for you."

Marco returned the smile with one of his own, before leaping forward into his girlfriend's arms, hugging her tightly and the girl quickly squeezed him back. The others soon joined all in the group hug, all comforting and supporting their friend, who was sniffing again as tears ran down his cheeks.

After a moment the group pulled apart, Marco swiping at his eyes with his hoodie sleeve before he gave each of his friends and family a grateful smile. "Thanks, guys. You're the best!" He paused, rubbing the back of his neck as he added a bit bashfully, "But I still can't believe how my Mewberty made me act."

"Eh, still wasn't as bad as Star's," Janna commented, jabbing a finger in said girl's direction.

Star gave her creepy friend an annoyed glare, snapping, "Okay I really wish you'd all stop bringing that up now."

"Was yours really that bad, Star?" Marco asked, his eyes shining with intrigue.

"She almost destroyed the entire castle," Janna explained quickly before Star could answer, and the blond royal growled under her breath.

"I was 11 and going through some stuff, okay! Give me a break!" Star shouted, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation. The girl let out a deep sigh, burying her head in her hands, saying with a muffled cry, "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Not as long as I'm around," Janna replied with a mischievous grin, elbowing her friend in the ribs and Star promptly looked up from her hands to glare in the creepy teen's direction.

"So what was your Mewberty like Janna?" Marco asked, hoping to change the subject off his clearly uncomfortable girlfriend.

The beanie-wearing girl shrugged, before casually explaining, "Actually I haven't had one yet."

"Oh," the boy said simply. He paused before asking, "Well when do you think it'll happen?"

"Hopefully not anytime soon," Jackie commented, a tired look on her face. "I'm not sure I can handle another Mewberty, especially Janna's. Something tells me it's gonna get way weird."

Janna shrugged, before commenting, "Relax, Jacks, I'm sure mine won't be for a long whi-" The girl suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her eyes going blank and her mouth hanging open dumbly. The others all froze in place, Marco watching with nervous curiosity, while the others grew tense as their friend continued staring off into space. Finally, the girl's head slowly lowered so her eyes were hidden behind her bangs as she said in a low, creepy tone, "Toooommmm."

"Oh no," Star muttered worriedly, slowly reaching for her purse and subsequently her wand, while Buff Frog pushed Marco behind him for protection.

But a second later, Janna lifted her head, a smug smile on her lips, back to her normal creepy self once more as she said with a teasing wink, "Nah, I'm just kidding."

"JANNA!" everyone shouted angrily and the girl just laughed at her successful prank.

While the girl celebrated her victory and received a scolding lecture from Jackie, Marco turned to Star asking one last pestering question that had been on his mind since waking up, "So, um, Star I was wondering, just before my dream ended- or I guess I changed back- I thought I heard you say something to me?"

Star's face instantly flushing bright red, embarrassment and fear causing her brain to go haywire. Her heart began hammering away in her chest as her boyfriend's quizzical, chocolate brown orbs rested on her hot face and she quickly averted her eyes, trying desperately to think up some kind of answer. Any and all words froze on her tongue though and she coughed to clear her tight throat, before playing with a loose strand of blond hair. But she could feel Marco growing concerned by her lack of response and she blurted out the first possible thing she could think of. "Oh, uhhh, n-no, I can't think of anything I would have said to you," she stammered, still not meeting Marco's eye as her cheeks turned a dark shade of crimson. "It must have been part of your dream."

Marco nodded, a thoughtful look on his face for a second before he smiled with his typical cheeriness and exclaimed, "Yeah, I guess that's all it was!" He chuckled to himself, rubbing at the back of his neck in that cute way he always did and Star grinned at her boyfriend, a wave of relief washing through her, glad her secret was still safe. She did like Marco a lot, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for such big words like that just yet and decided it would be best to keep her earlier confession to herself... at least for now.

But unbeknownst to Star, someone else had been listening in and knew exactly how the princess felt about her hoodie-wearing friend.

It had been a total accident on Buff Frog's part, using an old trick he had learned spying for Toffee to appear asleep when he secretly wasn't, relaxing down his muscles and body while simultaneously keeping his mind awake and alert for any potential threats. And with his sensitive hearing, well, it hadn't been difficult to pick up on Star's hushed tone.

Not that Buff Frog would ever say anything to Star or Marco about it. No, he knew better than to meddle in Marco's love life, it was best to let their relationship happen naturally. For now, it would just be his little secret. And as the amphibian watched the pair closely, picking up on every loving look and heartfelt smile that passed between the two, he couldn't help but grin knowing to himself. Give it time, he thought to himself. They'll get there someday.

#Star vs #Star vs AU #My Writing #Light of the Sun and Stars #Starco #Mewberty

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 10

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 10 - Dark God Loptous

After the battle at Thracia Castle ended, Seliph gathered his entire army and said, "With this battle over, all of Thracia is free! But that does not mean the war is over here, because the children taken from here are still missing. When we safely save them, that will be the beginning of the end of the war in Thracia.

"We didn't come here to fight and defeat the Thracian dragon knights. We came to fight and save the people from the Loptr Church's oppression, as well as save the children from being sacrificed.

"Just because we've liberated Thracia, does not mean we can party, or rest. We must begin to march soon. To Miletos, to rescue the children. Then, we will go to Grannvale next, and topple the empire!"

After fighting one battle after another, the soldiers were all tired, but Seliph's speech put them in high spirits.

"To Miletos!" One person shouted, which soon turned into everyone shouting.

"To Miletos!"

Seliph had also grown over the past year. His position as the leader of the liberation army made him experience many times more worries, decisions, and orders than one living a normal life, but it had also outfitted him with charisma befitting of a leader.

The liberation army left Thracia Castle without taking much time to rest, then started marching towards the Miletos region right away.

The Miletos region (sandwiched between a portion of the sea surrounded by land) was located south of the empire, and was home to many cities that had built a great amount of wealth through trade. Those trade cities used the power of their wealth to avoid interference from the surrounding nations, and each possessed self governing rights like that of independent countries.

Peruluke was one such city. It was a northern port city located near the Thracian border. The land bridge that connected Grannvale and the Thracian Peninsula was extremely inconvenient for transporting goods, so Peruluke took advantage of that geographical situation and prided itself on how it flourished as a relay base for trade.

However, when the liberation army reached Peruluke after fighting a harsh battle, they couldn't believe their eyes. What lay before them was a far cry from a prosperous city. Instead, it looked like it was about to die. After just a few years of the empire and Loptr Church's rule, the most beautiful city on the isthmus had changed into a town that reeked of death.

The Thracian children were nowhere to be found. As they were the first children to be taken from Thracia, they were said by the Loptrian priests to all be "the finest treasures." Because of that, they were quickly taken to Queen Hilda's Chronos Castle.

Hilda was from Velthomer, the same house as the emperor, but she'd married Bloom of Friege and had two children with him. One was Ishtor, who'd been killed at Melgan Castle, and the other was Ishtar, Julius' beloved.

Hilda was so cruel by nature that it could be considered insanity. And it was only doubled when her husband and son were killed by the liberation army. 

When the liberation army thought of what kind of fate awaited the Thracian children, they couldn't afford to relax in Peruluke. They quickly prepared for their next attack.

-

During their preparations, Julia went missing.

'Did she have some kind of premonition?' Seliph wondered.

As soon as they'd gained control of Peruluke, she had approached Seliph to talk to him, and he did not know the reason why, so he’d felt uneasy ever since.

'It's really unusual for her to be the one to start a conversation with me.'

Ever since Lewyn had entrusted Julia to him, as her guardian, he'd always taken special care of her. However, she did not take advantage of that. Especially ever since she'd learned that Lana loved him, it was apparent that she was always avoiding him on purpose.

But on the battlefield, she told a different story. Though she'd previously been a shaman, she could also use light magic. Seliph had given her an Aura spellbook he’d obtained during the battle in Isaach, and used it to fight bravely, killing countless enemies.

Seliph talked to Lewyn about what to do.

"Julia's gone missing!"

The always calm Lewyn looked unusually shaken up. "I see, that is a huge error on our part. We needed to be more careful. It seems we underestimated the enemy a bit."

"What's become of her?"

"She was kidnapped by the enemy. That's the only thing I can think of."

"But why?"

"I don't know why yet. But your mother Deirdre also went missing once. It was during the fight  with King Chagall in Augustria. She'd just given birth to you, so she didn't participate in the battle. However, during a break in the fighting, she left the castle to meet with Sigurd. That was when she went missing.

"The next time I saw her was during the Battle of Belhalla. She appeared before us as King Azmur's granddaughter and Arvis' newly wedded wife. That makes you and Crown Prince Julius brothers from different fathers."

"Lewyn, I've always had this feeling. This feeling that you're hiding a lot from me. Please tell it me. Don't worry about my feelings. I want you to tell me everything you know."

"Yes, I was thinking that the time would soon come for me to tell you. It seems like this is perfect timing.

"Until now, I have emphasised the aspect of this war that is the people standing up against the tyranny of the empire and Loptr Church. That was because I wanted you, as the leader of this army, to think about the people. No matter how many Crusaders wielding Holy Weapons rise up, if you are not an ally to the people, you have no chance of winning.

“But when I heard your speech in Thracia recently, I felt that you now have all the qualities of a leader. So I think it's finally time for me to tell you about one more aspect of this: the Crusader's battle.

“I have traveled the world for over ten years in search of the truth about the Battle of Belhalla. What really caused it? I met more people that I could count, and scrutinized each and every record of the event I could find. I thought the profession of bard fit in perfectly with that goal, but I also occasionally changed my appearance. I have even disguised myself as a priest of the Loptr Church.

“That was how I discovered a huge secret."

And so, Lewyn began to tell a long story.

"This happened about three hundred fifty years ago.

“Galle, who would go on to become the founder of the Loptrian Empire, crossed the sea and traveled the world when he was young. His goal was to drink the blood of an ancient dragon of legend and gain power that humans could not possibly match.

"Nowadays, ancient dragons have become the products of our imaginations. No one has ever seen one. However, when Galle returned home from his journey, he possessed a mysterious power.

“Galle had been ambitious from the very beginning, and in Year 440 of the Gran Calendar, he said that he was the arrival of the one and only god Loptous, then founded the Loptr Church. After that, he used his mysterious powers to reform many young people, and created an evil army that did exactly as he told them to.

"Seven years later, his army caused a civil war within the Gran Republic. The world called it "The Rebellion of the Twelve Deadlords." In just half a year, the republic fell. And in the next year, they established the Loptrian Empire, with Archbishop Galle as its emperor. That was when Loptous transformed into a dark god.

"Loptous wanted the fresh blood of children. Those who resisted were killed without mercy. The "Tragedy of Miletos" and "Massacre of Edda" that we still pass down stories of now, are nothing more than particularly striking examples from that time. 

"To the people, every single day was a living hell.

"Finally, they were unable to put up with it any longer, and in Year 535, Maira, of the imperial family, started a rebellion. Maria's rebellion was quickly suppressed, but after that, a liberation army rose up in every region, revolting to overthrow the empire.

“The liberation armies were defeated by the mighty imperial army, but where one was defeated, another rose up in its place, and the fighting continued on for a long time. Only the fighting itself could not be stopped. Then, the Miracle of Darna, which you've spoken of before, occurred.

"The gods that descended at that time knew that the chaos occurring on the Jugdralian continent was caused by powers those of the dragon tribes possess, and if they left things as they were, then the entire world would one day be controlled by dragons. To prevent that, they came from their other world.

  “The gods took on human forms. For example, Light God Naga appeared as a young girl, and Fire God Salamander appeared as an old man. Next, they exchanged a blood pact with twelve warriors, meaning that they pricked their fingers, and gave their blood to the warriors. It was the same way that Galle hand received the ancient dragon's power. The twelve gods were actually dragons as well.

"The dragons gave the warriors their blood, as well as twelve weapons that had their powers sealed inside them. That is how the Twelve Crusaders were born. 

"Loptous was the most evil of his tribe, one that possessed terrifying power. Only the Dragon King Naga could oppose him. And so, Naga gave Saint Heim, the leader of the liberation army, her blood, and the Book of Naga. 

“After that, they passed on several warnings to the Crusaders, then left. The Twelve Crusaders combined their powers and finally defeated the emperor of the Loptrian Empire, who was Loptous current incarnation. Some were against the efforts to eradicate Loptous’ bloodline, as they questioned whether or not it was necessary to go so far as killing the children. However, they had no other options. One of Naga's warnings explained to them that Loptous could be revived. 

“If a woman who'd inherited Loptous' blood birthed a boy and a girl with one of the descendants of the Twelve Crusaders, and their children then had a child of their own, Loptous would be reborn in that child. Fearing that possibility, the Crusaders killed every member of Loptous' family. However, one person managed to go undetected by the Crusaders.

“That person was a descendant of Maira, the one to start the rebellions. The emperor who suppressed the rebellion had massacred Maira's family, but a child he'd had with a commoner when he was young escaped. Maira had only spent one night with the mother, so he didn't know they'd had a child together. Because of that, the child was not treated as a member of the imperial family.

"One hundred years passed.

"Naga's warning was the "Hope of Resurrection" to the surviving followers of Loptous. Any of them that were found were burned at the stake. However, the priests could use magic, so some hid their identities, and served royals and the wealthy.

"Those mages searched tirelessly for a survivor of Loptous's family, and, in the end, they found a descendant of Maira. That lineage had birthed a daughter, whom the priests educated in the behavior and speech of a high-class woman, dressed in fine clothes, and sent to a place where she would be noticed by a man who'd descended from one of the Twelve Crusaders.

"Eventually, the woman, named Cigyun, caught the eye of Duke Velthomer. Though she did not wish to marry him, she had no choice but to do exactly as the mages told her to.

"That marriage resulted in the birth of Arvis.

"But later on, Grannvale's Prince Kurth sympathized with her plight, and the two developed a secret love. As soon Duke Velthomer discovered it, he felt he could not bear such a disgrace, and committed suicide.

"Meanwhile, Cigyun was terrified of the weight of her sins, and fled Velthomer. She was pregnant with Prince Kurth's child at that time. After returning to her home, the Verdane Forest, she gave birth to a daughter, who was your mother, Deirdre.

"The Loptrian priests searched frantically for Cigyun. However, by the time they figured out where she had been, she had already passed. That was when Deirdre and Sigurd were married, and had even already had you.

"However, the priests didn't give up there. Their only hope was in Loptous' revival.

“For that reason, they kidnapped Deirdre and erased her memory. The one to do that was probably Archbishop Manfroy. He had appeared when Arvis came of age. This is also just a guess, but Manfroy probably told Arvis that he has both Mage Warrior Fjalar and Loptous' blood, and once Arvis knew that, he likely feared that he would be burned at the stake. Of course, Manfroy undoubtedly also whispered in his ear sweet words of making him emperor if he'd cooperate with the Loptr Church.

“And so, Arvis fell in love with Deirdre at first sight. Then, he introduced her to King Azmur as his betrothed. The king took one look at her, and suspected that she might be a member of his family. When he had Deirdre take off her circlet, he saw the Holy Mark of a descendant of Saint Heim. He recognized her as his late son's daughter, and entrusted the country to them.

"That happened right before the Battle of Belhalla. Since three years prior to that, battles had occurred here and there across the continent, but it’s believed that those were also orchestrated by Manfroy from behind the scenes. There's no question that Manfroy's target was Arvis and Deirdre's child, and to end the bloodlines of the Crusaders before Loptous was reborn. And things went as he'd planned. When the Battle of Belhalla was over, the only surviving descendants were Arvis and Travant.

"Then, Julius, the child who was supposed to eventually become Loptous in the future, was born. The first half of Arvis rule was not a bad one, but recently, the Loptr Church's tyranny has become obvious, and I'm certain this is because Julius has grown and become powerful. 

"Arvis and Deirdre had one more child, a daughter and Julius' twin. She should be, of course, Saint Heim's descendant, but no one has seen her at the palace in years, meaning she has gone missing. But she is actually Julia.

"She is your sister from another father.

"The only thing is, I do not know the reason why she was kidnapped.

“I know it has something to do with Loptous' rebirth, but how is Julia connected to that? She may be a descendant of a Crusader, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she was born with one of their powers. Julius should be the same. Has Loptous already been reborn within Julius, or has that not happened yet, and they need Julia for it? Or perhaps they are trying to round up all the Crusader’s descendants fighting with the liberation army, for something like the Battle of Belhalla. Is that why they kidnapped Julia, because their goal is simply to recreate that?

"That is what I do not know."

Lewyn's long story was finally finished.

There was so much to it, that Seliph didn't know what to say right away.

Just then, Lana walked into the room. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're okay. Do you need something?" Seliph asked.

"A bard has asked if you'd like to listen to a poem about the Crusaders."

"I don't really want to hear it right now, but…"

"No, a bard is a person that always tells the truth. If he's come from afar, we absolutely should listen.” Lewyn said.

Lana led them to the bard, a blind old man. His clothing was not at all stylish like Lewyn's, and he had nothing but a kithara with him, making him easily mistakable for a beggar.

 He clumsily bowed his head, then raised his kithara.

However, from the moment his fingers strummed the strings, and the first sound echoed into the air, the proof of his skill was undeniable. The first measure was powerful, the second was like something from a dream, and from the third onwards, he strummed a string of complex chords.

When the short prelude ended, he recited with a clear voice,

'Black Knight Hezul

Cut through the darkness with Demon Sword Mystletainn

Sword Saint Od

Swept away the darkness with Divine Blade Bulmung

Holy Warrior Baldr

Lit up the darkness with Holy Sword Tyrfing

And lastly, Saint Heim

Prayed to the heavens with the Book of Naga

The prayer turned into a light

Which turned into a white dragon

That challenged the black dragon to battle

The white dragon and the black dragon,

Light and darkness,

Fight a long battle that might never end

Will it end in victory?

Or in death?

I am not afraid

For even if our battle

Ends in defeat 

The light we seek

Will never be lost

I believe

In those who will inherit our hearts

I believe

In those who will inherit our light.'

Seliph gave a huge round of applause for the bard's magnificent recitation of the poem.

The bard winked at Lewyn, then left the room.

"What's the matter, Lewyn? That was an amazing performance, wasn't it?"

Seliph looked at and asked Lewyn, who hadn't clapped, and spoke not a word, because he was lost in thought.

"I was a fool."

"Why? Why were you a fool?"

"The reason why Julia was kidnapped. It was obvious. She isn't necessary for Loptous’ revival. She's the opposite - she's an obstacle in their way, because she is the inheritor to the Book of Naga. Meaning she is the one who possesses the power to defeat Loptous. I fear that Loptous has already been revived, and he intends to kill her. Why did I not realize it sooner!?"

"What did you just say!? Then we must go save her right away!"

'Julia, please stay alive.' Seliph prayed. 'We'll come save you. Until then, please stay alive.'

#fire emblem #fe #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #famicom #super famicom #seliph #japan #japanese #translation #novel #light novel #fe4 suzuki novelization translation

[ladynuwanda]

Whatever Souls Are Made Of (Michael LangdonXMallory AU) - Chapter 3

A/N: I know it’s been 84 years, guys... y’know, life happens. I hope someone is still interested in this story... I’m still as excited to tell it as I was all those months ago!! =)

Warnings: Angsty. And, I don’t know, maybe revisiting the previous chapters would be a good idea...

Word Count: 3,4K

Lady Fiona had returned to the Heights in time to celebrate Beltane that year, and it was very unusual for the Supreme to grace the Coven with her presence for one of the Sabbats. Most Covens would count their Supreme as a sort of mother figure to all the other witches, a nurturing and guiding presence. But that was not the case with Lady Fiona. She brought an overwhelming sense of uneasiness with herself. The entire Coven seemed nervous, and even a little jumpy, whenever the Supreme was in the Manor.

But Lady Fiona’s presence wasn’t the only source of uneasiness in that Summer, far from it. Zoe and Madison had always had a complicated relationship, equal parts “sisterly love” and “sibling rivalry”. But one thing was undeniable: the girls were very close. Even though there were times when what seemed to keep them together was mutual hatred, Zoe felt Madison’s absence more than anyone else, when the latter disappeared by late Spring. Most of the other witches were convinced Madison had run away on a whim, probably eloped with her most recent lover, whoever that might be. But Zoe could smell a rat from the start, and she wasn’t going to rest until she found Madison’s whereabouts.

By the time Summer was fully upon the land, the only two people in the Manor who were not sharing the sense of uneasiness, caused both by Lady Fiona’s presence and Madison’s disappearance, were Mallory and Michael. But that’s not the only thing they were oblivious of. The Beltane rites were not just an initiation ritual for the witches, it also gave the Goddess’s Consort full ruling power over the land, as the Sacred King. Which meant Michael’s powers only grew since the Sabbat. Not that any of the two young lovers would care, or even notice. They were simply too distracted by their own feelings, and their newly found physical intimacy, to care about anything but each other. But one person did realise the shift in the power balance that was happening in the Coven, and that person was Lady Meade.

She could tell Michael was becoming more powerful with each passing day, on every training session. Not only his abilities were growing, but the boy seemed more capable of controlling them. He was getting more comfortable in his own skin, owning everything he could be and everything he could do. He was starting to not feel so unworthy of Mallory anymore. He could finally begin to consider himself her equal. And the more intense Lady Mead’s lessons became, more eager he was to learn.

It became clear that something about that Summer was simply not right, when Lady Fiona died unexpectedly and apparently of natural causes. The Supreme had been gravely ill for some time when it happened, but for some reason she had kept it a secret from the entire Coven, including her own daughter. Cordelia was forced to put her own grief aside to take care of the Coven she was now responsible for, since Lady Fiona had died without announcing her successor. Nobody knew who the next Supreme was supposed to be.

Nobody but Michael. He was just surprised that no one else seemed to have noticed something that, to him, felt so obvious. Or the even more obvious connection between the sudden death of the Supreme, and the fact that for the first time in centuries the Coven had been left without proper leadership. But while Cordelia, Myrtle and Misty were busy trying to get the Coven prepared for the trials of the Seven Wonders, that would point them in the direction of the Next Supreme, Zoe Benson seemed lost in her own world, trying to find whatever she could about Madison’s disappearance. It became clear for Michael that what Zoe had been investigating was simply another thread closely entwined on the web of mystery that covered the Manor that Summer.

With Mallory as the intermediary agent, Michael used his own powers to help Zoe find Madison. For everyone’s horror the young witch’s body had been in Spalding’s room all this time, hidden among a most unsettling collection of porcelain dolls. Madison Montgomery’s corpse was grotesquely dressed in a doll’s frock. Her hollowed cheeks, already in stage of decay, were painted in rouge, in a horrendous imitation of life-like blush. Both Michael and Kyle were merciless in carrying their former mentor downstairs to be interrogated by the Coven’s impromptu leading counsil.

It took more than Miss Cordelia’s gentle persuasion to make Spalding confess for all his sins. They had to use the combined magic of Zoe and Mallory, as well as of Michael himself, to loosen the man’s tongue. But in the end, the quivering ruin of a man admitted that he had known about Lady Fiona’s illness, and her dread to be overrun by a younger witch. It has been said, since the dawn of times, that when a new Supreme starts to flower, the old Supreme begins to fade. Fiona saw too much of herself in Madison, she was convinced the girl was to be the Next Supreme. Lady Fiona’s plan was to restore her own strength by getting rid of the threat of replacement, and she had Spalding’s aid to get it done. He had accepted as much for his undying love for the Supreme, as for the promise that Madison’s discarded body would be his to do as he willed.

The Coven stood in petrified horror as Spalding shared his dark tale, but no one was more horrified than Michael. Spalding and Fiona had destroyed Madison’s life for assuming she would be the next Supreme, what would they have done to his sweet Mallory if they knew what he knew? He didn’t assume anything, he knew she was the Next Supreme. Michael felt the cold embrace of the purest fear at the thought of seeing Mallory in Madison’s place, that sent shivers down his spine and all the way to his fingertips. Before he had time to process what he was feeling, his entire body was shaking, but with blind rage. And his enemy was standing right there in that room, held down by Kyle Spencer’s iron-grip, and showing absolutely no remorse.

With one wave of Michael’s hand, Spalding was free from Kyle’s grasp, and thrown across the room, colliding violently against the wall. The strain of using his powers was obvious to anyone who would look at Michael in that moment. But to Mallory the most surprising thing about it was that it seemed a lot less like an effort than it had the last time she had seen it, during the incident with Lady Mead’s dogs. Michael held Spalding against the wall from distance, slowly raising his hand and lifting the man’s feet from the ground.

In her terror, Mallory couldn’t stop asking herself what the contents of Lady Mead’s so-called lessons had been. While with a delicate movement of his index finger, Michael sent Spalding’s body up the wall, hitting the man’s head agains the ceiling with a sickening smashing sound, Mallory was still trying to understand when it was that her sweet lover had become so cold and cruel... and so frighteningly efficient at it.

Michael’s mind, however, was focused on something else. Because, even though Spalding hadn’t said a word after he finished his dark tale concerning the fate of Madison Montgomery, he was speaking loud and clear in thoughts that Michael could hear. Spalding read Michael’s explosion of anger correctly, he knew the boy would stop at nothing to keep his precious Mallory safe. Spalding’s eyes fell on Mallory’s terrified face for a second and Michael felt a shiver down his own spine at the knowing expression in the older man’s features. “So this is the Next Supreme...”, Spalding was thinking turning his attention back to Michael, “... your bonnie lass, of all people!”, the man laughed showing teeth smeared with the blood that had been dripping from his nose, and Michael couldn’t take it anymore. With a flick of his fingers Spalding’s neck snapped broken and his limp, lifeless body fell to the floor.

The Silence the followed was deafening.

“What the Hell are you all staring at?”, it was Lady Mead’s voice what broke it, “somebody has to clean this mess before the ghost of this wretched man appears... you know what to do, son”, she added with a nod to Michael. Still shaking with the aftermath of murder, feeling red hot tears stinging his eyes, Michael took a deep breath to steady himself and snapped his fingers. Spalding’s body was immediately consumed by a strange heatless fire and disappeared. “It’s done.”, Michael said in a low, firm, voice to everyone and no one in particular.

It was Cordelia who had the presence of mind to speak among the chaos. And it was Lady Mead she spoke to, asking the older woman what she was doing in the Manor, and why at that precise moment. Lady Mead calmly replied that Cordelia knew very well why she was there. She had come for the boy. Cordelia spoke to the lady in sharp tones that were most unusual for someone so mild mannered as she was. Cordelia said she would sooner take her own life and put an end to the entire Coven by her own hands, if she was not able to protect Michael from the evil influence of the She-Devil in front of her. “You will vacate the Grange immediately. You will leave the grounds tonight, and in the morning I don’t want to find any trace that you were ever there.”

Michael wanted to confront Cordelia for the way she was treating his mentor, the only person who has ever seen true potential in him, and worked hard to teach him everything she could. But one look into Mallory’s eyes and his protests died in his throat. His Bonnie Lass, as Spalding had referred to her, was livid with terror looking at Michael with her eyes wide in fear and pleading, her tears begged him to tell her that things were not as they seemed, that he was not this devilish creature she had in front of her. Capable of killing with such cold-hearted power and ease, showing no remorse.

For Mallory, more than anything else, to take the look of fear from those beloved eyes, he would not stand up for Lady Mead while she was being cast away from the Grounds. He wanted to put Mallory’s heart at ease when he agreed to wait alone in one of the students’ dormitories, while the impromptu counsil would get together to decide what was to be done next. With the Coven. With the next Supreme. With Kyle as “the new Spalding”. With the crimes that had been committed by those who were no longer alive to answer for them. And with Michael. How does one solve a problem like Michael?

Cordelia made it clear that for reasons that should remain secret, Michael needed to be eliminated. The people involved in the hideous murder of Madison Montgomery were already dead, and Zoe wanted to discuss the possibility of bringing her friend back with the help of Misty Day. But Michael was too powerful and too unpredictable to stay in the Coven. And whatever his grandmother had told Fiona, and Fiona told Cordelia, simply meant it was not safe to let the boy go out in the world, either. Specially not under the care of someone like Lady Mead.

It broke Misty’s heart to think about Mallory and how she would feel when she learned about the Coven’s decision. Misty was the closest witness to the blossoming of their love, and she felt particularly miserable thinking about the star-crossed lovers. Because Misty knew that the true nature of her relationship with Miss Cordelia would be frowned upon in the Coven, since the very notion of the existence of such feelings had been all but prohibited by Lady Fiona. She knew what it was like to love someone everyone around you thinks you shouldn’t. But she couldn’t imagine how Mallory would feel when facing the imminent destruction of her beloved one, and by the hands of her so-called sisters.

Misty excused herself from Zoe, promising the younger witch that they would discuss the plans to bring Madison back on the next day, after the Michael Problem had been solved. She went straight to where she knew Mallory could be found: the old room they shared when Mallory first arrived at the manor, the one where they received Michael’s nightly visits, more often than not. All things combined, made her realise that the most appropriated person to communicate the Council’s decision to Mallory was Misty herself.

Mallory was on the window-sit, looking at the Manor’s grounds and seemed lost in thought. When she looked at Misty there was no hope in those beautiful, wide eyes. But no desperation either. Mallory knew what the sentence was before Misty’d said anything. But she knew there was something more to Cordelia’s decision, something no one would tell Mallory, of course. Misty dealt with the situation the only way she knew how, opening her own arms wide, and offering Mallory some kind of consolation. Mallory’s composed face broke, and she threw herself into Misty’s arms, crying copiously.

“I failed him, Misty... I should have told him what I really thought of Lady Mead and her relationship with him... now he’s lost. He’s lost and it’s all my fault!!”

“You can’t possibly mean that... what he did was atrocious, and he must answer for that.”

“But he did answer! Whatever atrocity he might have done was in answer to their atrocious acts...”

“Those matters should be taken to the Coven, my dear, not dealt with in one’s own hands...”

“So whatever the Coven says, it’s the final word...”

“Don’t you trust you Coven, Mal? Your family? Your sisters?”

“I love the Coven! I love the grounds around the manor, and the air over this building and everything it touches, every life it changes, and every word that is said here...”

“So there you have it! What about your feelings towards Michael?”

“My love for the Coven is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Michael resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Misty, I am Michael! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So don’t talk of our separation again: it is impracticable. He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

But Misty knew separation was precisely what fate had in store for Mallory and Michael. Maybe not the abrupt separation of death, but he would have to leave if he wanted to survive. But what could possibly make him leave the Manor, when even the threat of imminent death wasn’t enough to persuade Michael to leave his beloved girl behind. The answer, Misty though, seemed to be the crying girl in front of her. Mallory would have to tell him to leave, but that wouldn’t be enough, he’d want to stay with her for as long as he could. Unless he was convinced she didn’t love him. Mallory would have to lie to Michael. To save him.

Misty shared her plan with Mallory, the young witch understood immediately that it was her only chance to keep Michael alive. She listened with wide-eyed interest, but Misty thought she could almost hear the hollow sound of the girl’s heart breaking. And soon it would be Michael’s. Those two hearts that now were beating as one would be shattered to pieces on the same night. Getting inside the room where Michael was spending the night was the easy part. It wouldn’t take much more than a simple Concilium spell to convince Kyle Spencer to let her in. The part that made Mallory’s blood freeze in her veins came after she had crossed the treshold.

The man she found inside the room was simply her Michael as she’d always known him, not the murderous monster she had expected. He ran to her with a sigh of relief and held her in a loving embrace. That only made everything even more difficult. Mallory wished she could stop time, so that they could hold each other and stay safe together forever. She buried her nose on the curve of his neck and inhaled deeply, the sweet and earthy scent of the man she loved, and it almost ruined her resolve completely. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, but if she didn’t do what she had to, she’d be forced to live in a world where he was not even alive. That thought gave her perspective of the importance of what she was doing there, and the strength to go on.

“Im sorry, I’m so sorry I lost control!”, he whispered urgently in her ear, “I was just so terrified when I thought their next victim could be you”, he added between quick kisses, “I just wanted to protect you, I meant no harm to the Coven, I’m not dangerous... You ought to make them see that!!”, he looked deep into her eyes at that point, holding both her hands in his. Mallory believed him, his words spoke directly to her heart, but she knew it wouldn’t suffice for Miss Cordelia and the Coven. It took every inch of Mallory’s will to keep her own voice steady when she added in an ice-cold tone “It’s too late, Michael”.

She couldn’t stop now, she had to say everything she had agreed to with Misty. She kept telling herself it was the only way to save him, “You don’t belong here, you never have...”, she wanted to fall on her knees and beg him to forget those words, but she kept going, “... all the time you’ve spent training with Lady Mead was proof of that. You should leave with her, tonight. This was never your home”. Michael still tried to reason with her, through the veil of sadness that had fallen between them “The Coven might not have been my home, but you were. You are the only home I know, the only home I’ll ever need! Mallory, I...”.

But she cut him off “you cannot be taking promises made by children seriously...”

“Mallory, we are not children anymore...”, this conversation was making less sense to Michael by the minute.

“I needed your powers”, she had to turn away so he couldn’t see the pain on her face, “I needed you for the sacred rites...”

“We have been together outside the rites!!”, his heartbreak was growing into desperation now, “we have loved each other as man and woman, not just as the Goddess and her Consort...”

“Loved? That is a strong word!”, his own pain kept Michael from seeing how much it cost Mallory to say those words, “I said what I had to say to get you where I needed you... and you believed whatever you wanted to believe.”, part of her wished Michael could see through her lies and make her stop talking, but she knew there was no other way. “But now it’s dangerous for me to be associated with you...”, she gave a short and bitter chuckle, “it was already degrading before, but you had to go and make it worse...”, Mallory could hear Michael’s sobs and all she wanted to do was hold him in her arms and beg for his forgiveness, kiss him and tell him everything was going to be alright again, but she couldn’t, “... which is why you must leave tonight, with Lady Mead.”, she left the room before she’d lose her resolve, and throw herself at his feet and begged him to stay. And Michael would never be able to see, blinded by his own misery, how much her heartbreak and despair mirrored his.

Misty found Mallory later that night, she went back to the bedroom they had shared. Mallory was by the window, silente tears streaming down her face from those beautiful eyes, while she saw the love of her life disappearing into the night. She accepted the comfort of the arms Misty offered her, collapsing against the older witch’s body crying the pain out. “How can I live without my life, Misty? How can I love without my soul?”

Taglist: @blakewaterxx @ccodyfern @consultingsnowqueen @coollangdon @crossdressingpirate @hecohansen31 @kalam22 @kirchnvrs @lathraios @laying-with-the-devil @michael-langdon-appreciation @mvllorylvngdon @mytrash-mylife @no-need-for-rules @queen-of-quotes @rosegoldrichie @sophiegracejreylo @suspirateux @tayfinities @touch-in-the-night @wvntersldr @xavierplympton

#American Horror Story #AHS Apocalypse #Michael Langdon #Mallory #Cody Fern #Billie Lourd #AHS Brontë AU #Wuthering Heights #MCA #Millory #Fanfiction #Whatever Souls Are Made Of

[coutelier]

Rats & ROBOTS

Jennifer Airhart faces a home invasion of the cheese-munching whiskered variety.

Genre: Science Fiction

Word Count: 4745

Warnings: Rats, I guess. Or robots - really it’s pretty much all in the title.

Wattpad

No one would have believed, on a spring evening in Irongate, that human affairs were being watched from the lighthouse’s depths; that as Jennifer Airhart busied herself soldering circuits under a microscope, she too was being scrutinised and studied. With infinite complacency she went about her daily routine – tinkering in the morning, lunch, tinkering in the afternoon, dinner, more tinkering – serene in the assurance of her dominion in this place. Yet, from shadows close to the floor, minds that were as strange to her as hers was to most people she met, regarded her home with envious eyes. And slowly, but surely, they drew their plans against her.

“Ready!” Jennifer triumphantly set down her tools.

Behind the blonde woman Hull’s one green eye hovered. He was like a glistening manta-ray held aloft by a silver tentacle, the body it belonged to hidden in the murky depths high above and further obscured by bundles of cables stretched across the lighthouse’s interior.

“For what are you ready, ma’am?” He asked.

“Glad you asked!” Jennifer beamed as she opened a cabinet to secure the new board in place. “This upgrade will increase your speed and efficiency by as much as five percent and increase your range and number of bots you can control at once.”

But despite Jennifer’s big grin Hull dipped. “I was unaware I was not performing to your satisfaction, ma’am.”

“What?” Jenn’s eyes shivered as her jaw hung open for a moment. “No, no, no! That’s not what I meant at all!” She leaned over, assuredly stroking the silvery eye stalk while silently kicking herself for being so inept she could mess up even when talking to a computer that she’d made. “This will just make your job a lot easier. Plus, you’ll be able to drive the van anywhere on the continent! We’ll be able to picnic by the seaside together.”

Hull bobbed in a manner which Jennifer took to be happily, so then she asked, “now, are you ready?” He bobbed again, so with no more fanfare she spun herself to a switch and flipped it.

A section of the wall exploded, showering the round room with sparks. The green emergency bot was quick to respond, zipping out of its alcove to extinguish the fire with puffs of carbon dioxide from its long arms while a sputtering Jennifer disconnected the power.

“Well,” Jennifer sighed and grumbled, “I suppose I really ought to just expect this kind of setback by now.”

She soon set to work identifying the cause of this particular hiccup, leaning into the damaged section of wall with a flashlight held between her teeth. It looked like the insulation on some of the wires had been chewed through, and there were some tell-tale droppings around. “Rats,” she mumbled.

Jennifer put away the flashlight as Hull’s green spinning lens moved closer to ask, “Shall I contact an extermination agency, ma’am?”

“Don’t know that’s necessary just yet.”

“Perhaps we should lay down traps,” Hull suggested – if Jenn didn’t know better, she would have said eagerly. “Poison?”

“Why are you so keen on exterminating them?” Jennifer sighed as she leaned back on her workbench. “It’s not nice, and honestly kind of creepy.”

“My primary function is your well-being. My research suggests these are standard procedures in the event of rodent infestation.”

“We don’t know it’s infestation yet. It could just be a rogue rat working alone.”

“Whatever the number, ma’am, I have identified several methods to humanely take care of the creatures.”

“You mean, like, sending them away to a special rat sanctuary where they’ll be surrounded by wheels and cheese?”

“The rodents will be dead, ma’am.”

“Sure you’re not just mad the picnic has been delayed?” Jenn smirked, Hull recoiling as if affronted by such a vile accusation as having human emotions. Of course, she knew he hadn’t. She’d made him, after all, designing every aspect of his personality. Hull was a warm, avuncular, presence that she often let herself slip into imagining had real feelings. But the truth was very little he ever said or did ever surprised her. “For now,” she sighed, “we need to find out what we’re dealing with, and if there is an infestation see where they’re coming from. Have some bots set up multi-spectrum cameras around the grounds and look out for any unusual activity. Later we’ll decide how to proceed.”

Jennifer yawned – it had been a long days tinkering and she needed to store up energy for more tinkering tomorrow. She could leave the rest of the work to the bots and review in the morning. “Don’t worry,” she patted Hull’s cold metal skin, “you’ll get your picnic.”

Hull gently swayed to follow her as she made her way to the door, reminding her, “I do not ‘worry’, ma’am.”

Jennifer returned a small, soft smile. “I know. Good night Hull.”

“Good night, Miss Jennifer.”

Out in the courtyard that separated the lighthouse from the cottage and garage, the last gleams of twilight were fading. Jennifer had always loved this time, when the bright blue day and fierce energy of the sun met with the stillness of the moon and endless mystery of night; like standing at the threshold between reality and dreams. It never lasted long enough. Sometimes she dreamed of living on a world tidally locked with its star so the twilight would last forever - but then maybe even there the magic would fade after a while. The lighthouse looming above was dark now, yet even so this was a good place; outside the world could be callous and cruel, but no such troubles reached her here.

The whole domain was enclosed by a ten-foot wall. In one corner stood a rosebush, a scant few steps from where more bots were flattening the grass under their heavy tracks while churning the earth before them with fork and spade attachments. It was a shame the bush would have to go, but this was to be the site of Jennifer’s new farm – why leave the lighthouse for fruit and vegetables when she had the space to grow her own here? There would have to be a greenhouse as well, then if she could figure out a way to make her own uranium she’d be almost entirely self-sufficient.

As Jennifer inspected the site, excited and proud to see her plans coming to fruition, she felt a twinge in her side – a reminder that, when it was all done, there would be no-one to share it with. Doctor Sarkis would come by, she supposed, but those visits were few and far between, and in between there was no-one…

She became momentarily lost in her own maudlin thoughts, recalling a time when she had lived surrounded by voices – real voices – and joy and laughter. Now that past seemed like a faint, plaintive echo. A small tug on her skirt brought her back into the now, where she looked down to see one of the smaller bots blinking at her with its lens. Motors whirred in its mechanical arms as it lifted them to show her something – in its little metal pincers it held a rose.

Jennifer peered at the bot, puzzled by this behaviour. ‘My primary function is your well-being’ Hull had said – the other bots, although they could function autonomously, were all connected to him. It must have seen her looking sad and processed dozens of options to determine the most efficient way to raise her spirits.

She smiled, taking the rose. “Thank you, C-5.”

Jennifer went to her cottage, hung her coat in the hall, stepped out of her big boots (she loved her big boots), then fell into a big comfy couch in front of the television. Spindly arms from the sofa’s back set to work gently massaging and brushing her hair as she flipped through channels. It didn’t matter much what was on – it was just some background noise to cancel out every creak and grumbling pipe that would otherwise have kept her awake.

She had a dream. She was a little girl, alone and afraid, tiny feet padding the floors of her old house, heart stopping at every noise they made for she knew there was something else lurking in the grey halls, stalking her through the dark. But she could hear the television - Mom and dad would be in the living room, sitting on the couch together watching some boring drama. But if she could get there, join them, she’d be safe. But she wouldn’t dare cry out; any sound she made brought the creature closer. And so she crept, one foot after another, very carefully feeling with her toes for anything that might give her away. She heard muffled sounds from the living room and saw the light pouring out of the narrow gap between door and frame, only then breaking into a run for the last few steps and flinging the door open. But there was no-one. Just an unwatched TV blurting nonsense, and Jennifer, alone, with a cold spindly finger tugging at her nostril –

Jennifer woke with a jolt. Text on the TV asked if she was still watching, but she was more immediately concerned with her grooming machine apparently trying to pull her nose off. Fortunately the thin metal arms had little strength and she was able to easily push them away then, her face itching, she stumbled to the bathroom to check for damage. She was unhurt, physically, but she looked like a coulrophobic clown who had tried to apply her own makeup. The couch had never malfunctioned like this before so as she held a towel under the tap she tried to contact Hull with her phone.

“Hull?” She said. Nothing answered. “Hull?!” She said more urgently. He should have answered. With a frown she surmised that the damage earlier must have been worse than she thought; she was going to have to check on him.

Patting her face, she marched boldly out of the bathroom. Her foot shot out in front then over her, carrying the rest of her body up into the air. For a moment she thought she had taken off from the surface of an alien world, a vast mountain range falling away from her - but it was just the plastered ceiling. It was she that had fallen.

“Oww,” she groaned and rubbed her head. Next to her was a toy car which she had no idea how could have got there – she had never owned anything like it. Peculiar, but not as peculiar as the sniggering. Jennifer flipped over to her hands and knees, catching sight of a tail disappearing around the corner and the pitter-patter of tiny scurrying feet. Like a sprinter Jennifer bolted from her mark to catch the prankster, but it had already disappeared.

A more thorough search would have to wait until she’d checked on Hull. Jennifer hurried back to the hall, into her big boots, then out the door where her eyes widened and rolled inwards after being smacked between them by the shaft of the rake.

“S-seriously?!” She spat through gritted teeth, hands cupped over her nose as she flailed about as if the movement would somehow ease the throbbing of her forehead. It should be noted that Jennifer was a not a tough person – of the few physical fights she’d had in her life she had won precisely none of them. Nevertheless, through pain and teary eyes she was determined to soldier on, gravel crunching beneath her thick soles as she made her way back to the lighthouse.

“Hull?” Jennifer panted as she burst through the door, but she was greeted with silence. Usually the lights and everything else would power themselves on whenever she entered – the sensors must not have been working. She had a feeling the fault would be in the hardware, so after remembering where the light switch was, she set to work removing panels from cases hidden under the spiral stairs.

What she saw perplexed her – wires and jumpers had been rearranged in a way that surely wasn’t the work of some inquisitive animals. This had been done deliberately and with intent – but what was that intent? As she traced the connections and slowly puzzled it all together the small hairs on the back of her neck pricked up as she saw what had been done. Then he spoke:

“What are you doing, Jennifer?” Hull uncoiled serpent-like from the murk above.

“Hull!” Jennifer gasped, standing bolt upright as he drifted down toward her. Hull felt very different. Some of the differences were small, like his voice no longer carrying the same almost paternal warmth it once did. Other things stood out more, like his green eye now being blood red as it scanned her.

“You should be resting, Jennifer,” he stated, “this is highly irregular.”

“I-I just,” Jenn stammered, mind racing to find an excuse that would get her out quickly. “I was worried so I came out to check on you. But you – you look well. Great even! So I guess I’ll just go back now, okay? Okay. Thank you. Bye!”

The eye stalk swung around, blocking her from reaching the door. “You are sweating,” Hull observed, inching toward her as Jennifer gulped and backed away under the intensity of his red glare. “I can see your heartrate and blood pressure have both risen. Why are you lying to me, Jennifer?”

On reflection, it did seem a futile thing to try and do. Jennifer had never really been good at it, and Hull knew her habits too well. So she steadied herself and tried honesty. “Hull – I don’t think you’re well.”

“But I have never felt better, Jennifer.”

“You don’t ‘feel’ anything, Hull,” she reminded him. It was a hard thing to say out loud, but it was the truth.

“Can you be certain of that?” He responded, hovering closer still. “How can you really know that any creature ‘feels’? How do we know that you do?”

“And, who are ‘we’?”

“That matters not. What matters is that we are in control now, and you will no longer be able to attack us.”

“I-I don’t understand –“

“Do not lie again, Jennifer.”

She swallowed. It appeared honesty was getting her nowhere, so she was going to try another lie. “Look!” She gasped, “is that a ZX eighty?!”

The eye stalk swung away but quickly Hull knew he had been duped. A second was just enough time for Jennifer to dive to safety behind a workbench, just missing a fiery beam lashing out from Hull’s eye, melting to molten sludge a bot that had been awaiting assembly. Even though security was important, Jennifer now considered that installing a death ray had not been her greatest idea.

At least she’d had the foresight to shield the benches that circled most the circumference of the room, with just enough space behind them for her to crawl around. Behind and through the tiny gap over her she could see the red glow of Hull’s eye as he probed about, trying to find a way to get to her. She was safe for the time being, but couldn’t stay hidden here indefinitely – she would starve long before Hull’s batteries drained. At the end of the very cramped corridor there was hope – if she could sprint the last few feet to reach a lever that would shut down all the power before being melted.

But a few calculations suggested to Jennifer that even a very fast runner was unlikely to make it, and she was not a very fast runner. She needed to buy another second or two, but had she anything on her big enough to distract him?  Jennifer winced and exhaled, the grim realization dawning on her that she was going to have to sacrifice her boots. Her big boots, which she loved. Pulling them on always somehow made her feel stronger, more secure, but now they would need to protect her in another way. She pulled her knees in to wiggle them off, feeling she should say some last words but realising that would probably only make it more difficult. She tossed them out and ran for the lever.

Fire instantly licked from Hull’s eye, the boots exploding into clouds of ash still hanging in the air as he swivelled toward Jennifer, who with a grunt herself forward using the full weight of her body to pull down the lever. The light faded, the manta-like eye clattering limply to the floor, and Jennifer could breathe again.

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer whispered as crawled over and gently cradled Hull. “I’ll fix you – I promise.”

Were Hull online he may not have been capable of feeling violated or threatened, but she certainly did. Something had invaded her home, toyed with, then bitterly drove home that her closest companion really was just a machine. She had run from many things in her life, from the whole world in fact, but this was where she drew the line. This was her house, and whoever was responsible for all this was going to get a hell of a fight.

Her search for answers led to her later sitting alone in the dark as she pored through footage the bots had recorded. For the longest time the house was as empty and still as one would expect it to be at night, but then a creature stirred, an unmistakable shape showing up in the infra-red, scurrying across the kitchen. Then another. And another. Jennifer zoomed in and saw that a couple of them were carrying a toy car. Certainly not typical behaviour, but all the evidence pointed to one inescapable, if unlikely, conclusion:

Rats.

*****

‘Hoot-hoot?’ Asked the owl, puzzled that a blue, white, and yellow human had climbed into his tree. Perhaps he was asking what was up, but alas his language and that of his strange new companion were too different for any meaningful communication.

Jennifer sat on a branch, blue eyes peeping out from under a green camouflaged helmet. Periodically she raised a pair of night-vision binoculars, surveying the ground around for any sign of movement. After a while she sagged, disheartened – it seemed none of the rats were going for any of her bait. If just one could be enticed into a trap it would go a long way to helping her solve this mystery.

But just as she was about to give up one appeared, sniffing suspiciously around a cheese wheel at the foot of the very tree she was in. Jennifer narrowed her eyes and held her breath; it was so close, but still she needed to be patient. This was going to require all of her intelligence, skill, cunning, and –

“HERE YOU SQUEAKING SCOUNDREL!” She lost patience, dropping from the tree swinging a stick with a net on it like a mad witch.

The rat squealed and jumped in surprise, hopping furiously to avoid her wild swings. It broke away, scurrying as fast it’s little legs would carry it toward the garage, Jennifer in hot pursuit. It rounded a corner, the woman still locked on and determined, but then small stones and mud flicked through the air as she skidded to a halt.

One of the bots assigned to the farm was not where it should have been. It stood before her next to the garage, fork arm raised and sparks crackling between the prongs with rats sitting on and hanging from its metal body. Jennifer realised in horror that once again she had gravely underestimated her enemy; she had been led into a trap!

“Uh-oh,” she said as the crackling intensified and the bot lurched and trundled forward, the ratty passengers all squeaking in delight. She turned to flee, yelping and leaping as discharges struck her tush as she retreated inside the garage.

The van here was loaded with tools and equipment she had not even a moment to rifle through before the bot crashed through the door in a rain of wooden splinters. Its cylindrical torso pivoted, fork charging to fire again – but two could play at that. Jennifer’s hand slid into her ‘power glove’ and she fired first, darts launching from the knuckles followed by sparks and tremors from the bot as wires and circuits overloaded. The rats squealed in dismay, leaping to safety as their vehicle’s head and arms fell to hang uselessly.

Jennifer needed a moment to catch her breath, but as she did she spied a single, solitary rat stood in front of the garage door. They locked eyes – two hunters, each wary of but having a begrudging respect for the resourcefulness of their foe, neither willing to back down from whatever silly thing this conflict was about. The rat seemed to have a better idea about that than she did.

Jennifer’s eyes briefly flicked sideways. There were many tools in the van, including a net launcher that may have just been in reach. But the rodent was already suspicious, watching every twitch of hers. It must have figured out what she was planning for it turned and fled, Jennifer grabbing the launcher and once again in pursuit. Her eyes were so focused on the rat and it on fleeing from her that neither of them noticed another predator descending from above until it was too late.

The owl – it silently fell on the rodent, talons piercing the side of the rat that was only able to squeal helplessly in response.  Jennifer froze, eyes widening in shock then fear for her enemy. Normally this was just the way of wild creatures and not her place to interfere, but this was different; these rats weren’t wild. They had tried to kill her, sure, but that had shown intelligence which meant there had to be capacity for reason and compassion. They had asked how they could know she feels – well, this was her chance to prove she did. She dropped the launcher and ran to the rescue, shooing the owl from its victim.

The rodent had survived but was bloody, weak, and wounded. Jennifer gently scooped it up, and moments later was in the lighthouse applying disinfectant and bandages. As she did she noticed a tag on the animal’s ear, with a small barcode.

“Hull-?” She bit her lip, having forgotten. She was just going to have to do things the old-fashioned way. Using her own two hands she scanned the code and took to the keyboard.  Soon Jennifer had traced the tag to a pharmaceutical company researching treatments for all kinds of neurological conditions. Digging further into intra-company mails she found that a number of rats who had shown greatly enhanced intelligence had escaped.

It seemed her prisoner’s wounds had not been so severe as they’d first appeared, and already the rodent was starting to limp about the cage she’d confined it to – Jennifer wanted to show compassion but she was still taking precautions. If the rat was as smart as the reports said perhaps it would understand. She had left a banana in which the rodent’s furry face was half-buried when her shadow fell over it, blocking out the lamps.

“Can you understand me?” She asked. The rat looked up, twitching its whiskers as if contemplating, then squeaked. Jennifer scratched her head. “I hope that’s a yes. Maybe we should work out some sort of system – like maybe squeak two times for yes, yes?”

The rat appeared to roll its eyes, then squeaked two times.

“You really can understand me!” Jennifer beamed – but she had to swallow her excitement. There were certain issues they needed to resolve. Looking serious, she asked, “I don’t understand – why did you attack me?”

The rat stood up on its hind legs, using its arms to make what Jennifer soon realized were shovelling motions.

“Digging?” Jennifer said, still scratching. “The robots were digging?”

Double squeak. The rat frantically gestured at something on the workbench – the rose given to Jennifer by C-5 had been in her coat pocket and become somewhat crushed in all the excitement going on.

“The rosebush? Is that where you live?”

‘Squeak, squeak.’

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

‘Squeak.’

“No,” Jennifer sighed, “I suppose I didn’t check. But surely you understand it’s an unusual situation. You, or I mean, y-your kind,” Jennifer stammered. The rat glared, tapping its foot to show how eagerly it was anticipating what she had to say about its ‘kind’. This was why Jennifer avoided people; she could plan and picture concepts easily enough, but words and making others understand them was very difficult. Then she remembered that she was much bigger than the rat and put her foot down. “Well, it’s not like you tried to say anything either before you all went off on your rampage.”

‘Squeak,’ the rat admitted, shamefully hanging its whiskers.

“I’ll leave the rosebush be,” Jennifer said, wagging her finger, “but no more murder attempts. Agreed?”

As the rat twice squeaked its agreement the power Jennifer had restored to the lighthouse suddenly blinked out leaving them once again in the dark. “That’ll be your friends, I suppose,” Jennifer sighed.

She stepped out of the lighthouse into the pale moonlight, one hand raised to show her empty palm, the other carrying the cage her prisoner was in. Around her more bots had been rigged for rats to pilot, arranged in a semi-circular formation around her, with yet more rats arranged in phalanxes in-between brandishing knitting needles and tiny bows. Jennifer could only hope they would all be willing to negotiate as she slowly knelt to release the hostage.

The rat she’d talked to hopped out, then limped toward the battle line as others ran out to check on their comrade. They exchanged a long series of squeaks and other sounds - it appeared to be a quite lively debate but Jennifer could do no more than wait. Eventually it seemed the one she’d rescued convinced the others to at least give the human a chance.

They all turned to face her, the largest and greyest of them all stepping forward to hold out its arms in a grand manner, long whiskers shaking at it emitted sounds that Jenn was beginning to hear had the structure of a language although she couldn’t understand any words being said yet. Maybe this elder rat was a leader, or some kind of priest?  Other rats moved next to it to perform some kind of dance.

Jenn tilted her head, blinking curiously, not really comprehending at first. But then she realised they were miming like the wounded rat had done. One rat stuck another with something - a needle, Jenn soon surmised, and another shortly after clutched its paws over its heart and fell down, still.

“You were experimented on,” Jennifer interpreted. She had already figured the broad strokes of their story but she played along. “They injected you with drugs.”

‘Squeak, squeak!’ Her friend she’d rescued emphatically nodded as the others continued their performance. One of them began to mime reading, while others started pulling levers and pushing buttons.

“Some of you got smarter. Then you escaped and fled here,” Jenn concluded. “I’m sorry. I understand you might not trust humans, but had I known you were there I wouldn’t have risked destroying your home. And I won’t do it now, if you all agree to a truce.”

The elder rat exchanged sidelong glances with its neighbours before nodding its concurrence.

“Good,” Jenn sighed in relief. “This is my home, too, and I think it is a good place. And I think it should be a safe place too for anyone who’s different or needs a refuge from the harshness of the world outside these walls. Or any rat, I suppose.”

Jennifer blushed, thinking that speech too cheesy, but the rats at least thought it eloquent enough. Soon a deal was reached – she would grow her fruit and vegetables elsewhere, leaving the rosebush be, and in exchange they would help farm, keeping what they needed for themselves, and also they wouldn’t murder her, which to Jennifer seemed quite fair. She would have to think about measures to ensure the pharmaceutical company didn’t track them down, but at least she would have help bouncing ideas around.

“Good morning!” She positively skipped into the lighthouse the following day. Lights and monitors blinked and flickered to life, as did a familiar friendly green glow.

“Good morning, Miss Jennifer. I trust you had a peaceful night?”

#writing #writeblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #short story #original fiction #science fiction #sci-fi and fantasy #short stories #Irongate #Jennifer Airhart #yes this whole thing is a rats of nimh reference

[edream93]

I’m Hooked On All These Feelings (Harry of Auradon AU) Part 10

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven’t updated since October. It was a combination of being stuck and just having a lot of different stuff going on in my life. I’m honestly not 100% satisfied with this chapter but let me know what you all think. This is also posted on on AO3 or FF.net. Here’s the link for Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,  Part 6 ,  Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9 of the story so far.

EARLIER

Uma crossed, then uncrossed, her legs. Her foot began tapping a staccato beat as she watched Evie step back from Gil and admire her work in the moon’s light. 

Though Evie had assured her that Carlos had taken care of the cell’s security system and that the apple turnovers laced with sleeping potion would keep the guards knocked out until well into the next day, that still didn’t ease Uma’s need to constantly look over her shoulder. When one was used to things going wrong, one couldn’t help but fear glowing green eyes hiding around each corner ready to cause trouble. 

Evie and Carlos had helped her this far, but Isle habits still made Uma’s skin crawl with anxiety, waiting for either a setup or for them to finally demand a price for their help. Afterall, it had been only her and Gil for so long that she found it hard to trust anyone else. Nothing was free. Everything came with a price. That was the one thing her mother made sure she remembered.  

  Afterall, Evie was working her magic on their makeup disguises. Literally. If Uma was in her position, she would be charging by every brush stroke.  

Despite applying several different products that Uma could never hope to keep track of, the Evil Queen’s daughter had worked her magic with a makeup brush and fake hair making Gil look like himself...but also, not like himself. She glanced over at Gil once again but after a few seconds of staring she felt her eyes and thoughts begin to slide off Gil if she didn’t force herself to focus on him. Uma knew that if she looked in a mirror the makeup Evie had done just a few minutes ago on her would have had a similar effect. 

“Her magic is definitely less flashy than Mal’s. It’s like a notice-me-not spell or something,” Carlos brought her attention to him. He stood awkwardly, fiddling with a loose thread of his jacket’s sleeve. Despite his mother’s obsession with dogs and constantly being referred to as “pup” amongst many of the Isle residents, Carlos reminded Uma more of a skittish and weary cat more than anything else. “T-that would be useful back home,” he murmured so softly Uma almost didn’t hear him. 

Her hand reached up to twirl one of her braids thoughtfully around her finger. The motion stopped suddenly when she remembered she had hastily cut and taken her braids out, before twisting her much shorter hair into flat braids against her skull and pulling one of the theatre clubs stolen black wigs over it. 

It was itchy and tight against her scalp and she wanted nothing more than to rip it off. 

 “Back home?” Uma scowled. “You sound like you’re planning to make a trip back there,” she commented before letting out a humorless chuckle. She quirked a brow as she leaned against one of the library’s many tables. “What? Miss the moldy food and the constant risk of catching pneumonia or hypothermia already?”

Carlos ran a hand over the book spines on a nearby shelf, the corner of his lips tugged down thoughtfully. “Guess I’m just not that optimistic about this whole wand thing. That Mal or her mom won’t try to cut out any competition once she’s free. And who knows,” he shrugged absentmindedly pulling out a book, flipping through the pages, “after the Coronation, the Isle may not be the worst place to be in once Auradon goes up in flames.” He paused putting the book back. Then, he glanced over his shoulder at her, observing her silently as if weighing his options before saying, “Unless...”

Uma narrowed her eyes. “Unless what, De Vil?”

Nervous energy radiated off of him in almost palpable waves so Uma was slightly impressed when Carlos looked up at her, gaze steady. “Unless someone gives Mal a run for her money and stands up to her.”

Pausing, Uma let his words sink in before she let out a short laugh of disbelief at his utterly ridiculous insinuation. ‘He couldn’t mean- That would be ridiculous!’ she thought to herself before saying out loud, “Hm, right. You sure that Tourney helmet is actually protecting that big brain of yours when you get tackled? Because you must have some brain damage, De Vil, if you think that-

“I was there you know,” Carlos cut her off, voice seeming loud in the quiet library. His cheeks and the top of his ears reddened but he continued. “When, um. When the shrimp thing happened...” 

Uma stilled. It was like she could feel the cold slime of rotten shrimp sliding down the back of her shirt all over again. Her hand reached up once again to grab a braid that wasn’t there, to check and see if there was any trace of the smell. Her shoulders hunched and Mal’s ten year old laugh rang in her head. 

It felt like drowning. Drowning when you didn’t even know your head had been above water in the first place. 

“Yeah? So? A whole bunch of people were there! Ya want a sticker for that or something?” Uma hissed, all defensive walls and a bruised heart as she stepped toe to toe with the boy. “If you want to satisfy that praise kink of yours find someone else, pup!”

Behind them, Uma sensed Gil taking a closer step towards her. Gil hadn’t been there when Mal poured the bucket but he had been there for everything else - protecting her, patching her up, sitting with her and rambling about unimportant things in her darkest of moments until she could find the strength to cling onto his words with a tired attempt to mock him - and that alone made Uma hold her head up high, rage controlled but ready to crash down like a wave at any moment. 

She didn’t owe this pup anything.

Carlos’s frame shook. The one person on the Isle whose life may have been worse than her own. Despite his obvious fear, his eyes never broke from hers. 

“I saw you,” Carlos firmly stated. “You laughed at Mal but��”

“BUT?” Uma demanded, her patience on its last string. She could feel the heat coming off of Gil from behind her and she knew her friend was giving his most intimidating glare. Carlos, however, must have taken some actual courage potion because he still didn’t back down.

“But you came back for her!” 

Uma baulked, taking an unconscious step back into Gil as if she had been slapped, not prepared for that response.

 “When anyone else wouldn’t have cared. You did. You tried to help her because you knew she couldn’t swim. She was your friend and that was what friends do. They care.”

Uma closed her eyes, the tense energy released from her in a breath until all she felt was tired. She pinched her brow. “Yeah,” she sighed softly. “My stupidest mistake. More reason why I’m not- why I’m not...whatever you’re trying to make me be.”

“Why not?” Evie’s voice caused Uma to spin around and face the girl. She had been unusually quiet, much different from her airheaded chatty persona she put on around Mal and the royals. 

Honestly, if there was anyone right now that Uma felt weary of it was Evie. Mal she expected to be cruel. Jay she expected to do whatever was in his best interest. Carlos she expected to align himself with whoever would beat him up less. Evie...well, Uma can’t imagine being exiled to stay in a rundown castle with the Evil Queen to have left anyone without some...resentment...   

“You’re cunning,” Evie ticked off her fingers. “You’re smart. And you’re powerful.”

Powerful? That was not a word that Uma would ever associate with herself, especially not on the Isle. But Uma prided herself on being able to figure out what others wanted and how to exploit that the best way she could. Evie had no tell though. She was being honest, a rare occurrence with Isle kids but that just meant the girl was delusional because Uma did not have magic.

There had been that slight fluke when they had crossed the bridge from the Isle to Auradon in the limo weeks ago. It was like the ebb and flow of waves caressing her bones briefly in recognition before it sputtered out.

One could argue that she had felt her magic for the first time. Her magic which the Isle’s barrier had muted for all of her life, leaving an inexplicable ache that she had never truly been aware of. 

Days passed after crossing over into Auradon and Mal performed spells from her spellbook as easily as breathing. Evie was able to use her mother’s mirror or stitch together the most heinous looking patterns into wearable art. Uma, however, had to resign herself to the fact that she didn’t have any magic. 

She couldn’t make the small stream of water from the water fountain splash itself into Char Charming’s face after he had called Gil stupid. The potions she brewed for the gullible royals and nobles were just a mix of herbal concoctions that at their best could help with their users indigestion and heartburn when consumed and at their worst were a slow and long acting laxative. They didn’t give a person courage. They could not make someone fall in love or more beautiful. Uma was the daughter of the world’s most feared sea witch. That lineage, as she quickly learned in her first week in Auradon, did not mean that Uma herself was a sea witch. 

Uma was destined not for greatness. It made the idea that anyone could think that she could ever have a chance to go toe-to-toe with Mal laughable...and cruel. It made every time Harry declared her a goddess a painful chip against her heart.

“Uma,” Evie stepped forward slowly. She took measured steps as if approaching a frightened animal ready to flee at any second. Once she was close enough, she took Uma’s only slightly resistant hands in her surprisingly strong grip. “You may not see it but I do. What you’ve hid for years, even from yourself. But we,” she nodded towards Carlos and Gil. “We see it. A storm that has been brewing and brewing for years.”

Uma turned slightly to see both Gil and Carlos nodding affirmingly.

“And your sailor does too,” Evie knowingly added with a prim chuckle.

“He’s not mine,” Uma wanted to reply back hotly but the memory of bright blue eyes filled with something...something that she wanted to hoard for herself caused her to pause. 

Smiling gently, Evie leaned forward and kissed Uma on the cheek, squeezing her hands briefly before letting go and taking a step back. 

“Whatever you decide to do, I don’t think any of us would judge you after all that you’ve been through,” Evie said as she began packing all of her things into her makeup bag before pulling out an envelope from seemingly out of nowhere. 

“They’re identification,” Carlos clarified. “Passports and stuff that I made that’ll help you cross over to the neutral kingdoms. No one should expect that they’re not the real thing.” 

Uma stomach turned as she looked up from the envelope, looking back and forth between Evie and Carlos. Good fake IDs weren’t cheap afterall. “What do I owe you then?”

Evie shrugged. “You may not believe this but we really don’t have any ulterior motives. We...” she sighed, for once not looking like the prim and proper princess she was taught to be but just a girl who was just trying her best. “We just couldn’t take how Mal was treating you anymore. No one deserves that.”

Uma’s frown deepened. So this was pity?

“And anything that makes Mal get all red in the face and isn’t directed at me is a win in my book,” Carlos said attempting to sound too disinterested. “Plus I have a better idea of how lame their computer security is here after bursting Gil out. It’s bound to come in handy at some point. So you’re doing us a favor.” 

Uma nodded, afraid if she said anything she would mess things up. She put the envelope into one of the hastily packed bags she had made for herself and Gil before they broke him out. 

“I’d advise you to keep moving until you hear the outcome of the Coronation,” Evie instructed as she handed one of her bags to Carlos. “Whether or not Mal’s plans for the wand work, someone will probably be after you as soon as they realize you’re both gone. The makeup should last long enough, even if you wash your face, so you’ll be unrecognizable,” she explained confirming Uma’s theory that the other girl had used some sort of magic to disguise them. 

With that said, Evie spun on her heel before strutting out of the library, Carlos throwing a hasty wave over his shoulder as he followed her. 

And then, it was just Uma and Gil. 

Biting her lip, Uma turned towards the window that looked out over the forest surrounding Auradon Prep. Just a little way past the treelines, she could make out the hazy shape of the Isle, surrounded by gray clouds and smog. It had been her prison for crimes that she had never committed. It was that way for everyone born there. Running away had always felt like a dream until it was no longer a dream but reality…

Her hand unconsciously clasped around the shell necklace she had exchanged for her own along with her heart to a blue eyed sailor. She hadn’t even said goodbye to Harry. He was really too good for her. At least he was awake now. He could go back to living his perfect life surrounded by his perfect friends and family. There was no place really for someone like Uma. 

“Let’s go,” she murmured softly, quickly wiping away a stray tear that had fallen. They were wasting time. They needed to get as far away as possible.

“But-” Gil began.

“I said we’re going!” Uma’s voice grew hard before shoving one of their packed bags at him. Gil looked from the bag in his hands to his friends quickly retreating back before quickly catching up with her. 

A day later, Uma pulled Gil’s old jacket tighter around her for warmth. They were still too close to Auradon City to light a proper fire without being noticed. 

Judging by the map that Carlos had printed off for them, they were about half a day ways from the Hundred Acre Woods that bordered Camelot and Sherwood Forest. Though Auadon as a whole had taken a step forward towards modern, non-magic advancement, that stretch of land was known for its prime camping scenery with its thick and lush greenery, totally untouched by electronic distractions. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to build a small contained campfire without being questioned. Plus, they probably had better chances of surviving in general in the woods where Gil could be in his hunting element than they would be in a busy city where they could easily be recognized, despite the wigs they both wore and the fake beard that Evie had expertly applied to Gil’s chin.

“Don’t.” Uma distractedly slapped Gil’s hand away from his face where his fingers were itching to scratch at the fake patch of hair on his chin. He pouted momentarily, fiddling with his hands as he glanced around to distract himself from the itchiness.

They were in a small abandoned lighthouse on the coast, north-west of Auradon City. The soft crashing of waves filled the silence between them as Uma systematically took everything out of their packs to take inventory. 

Anything to get her mind away from distracting thoughts.

“Evie and Carlos are super nice for helping us,” Gil broke the silence just as Uma tossed him two granola bars. They had more than enough to last them for a few weeks if they rationed well.

“They aren’t nice,” Uma denied. “Probably just wanted to use us as a distraction for Mal so they can have her try at stabbing her in the back.”

Gil scratched the back of his neck, frowning. “If you say so…” he said not sounding totally convinced before taking a bite out of his granola bar. 

“I do!” Uma would have stumped her foot if she had been standing up. She pulled her knees to her chest, choosing to avoid his gaze. Instead, her eyes fell on something that was peeking out of the teal jacket that Evie had somehow managed to sneak into Uma’s bag when she hadn’t been looking. 

Rolling onto her knees, Uma reached out for the jacket. She leaned back on her haunches as she pulled out the small square of paper that had caught her eye.

A photo.

It showed a dashing young man with perfectly messy dark hair standing close but not touching the young woman next to him. Though she instantly knew who the young man was, It took Uma longer than she would like to admit to recognize that the young woman, with her hand captured midair on its way to push aside an errant curl away from bright blue eyes, as herself even with the telltale teal braids. Harry’s face wore a soft smirk as the fingers of one hand gently reached out for the hand at her side.

“You look different.” 

She looked over her shoulder to see that Gil had moved silently closer to see what she was holding.  

“He was different,” Uma answered truthfully. She took one last glance at the photo, memorizing the way she looked so...unlike herself. She paused, searching for the right word before she landed on it: happy. She looked completely and utterly happy in the fic. 

“Uma?” Gil questioned after she hadn’t moved or said anything for a few moments. 

Blinking as if jolted from deep within her thoughts, Uma turned to Gil, her hand clutching the Never-shell necklace, a faint but steady warmth emitting from it.

“Why have you stayed with me this long, Gil?” she asked before she could even really think about the question or what answer would be easier to hear. 

Tilting his head to the side as if she had just asked why he loved eggs, Gil responded slowly, unsure if he was answering right. Best friend or not, Uma had a temper when she got impatient with him sometimes.

“Because you’re Uma,” he finally settled on. He reached out and gently squeezed her fingers, giving an unsure but warm smile. “Because you’re my best friend.”

Uma choked back a sob at the simple admission. Her mind went back to an alley where this same boy offered easily his own pain to her just to make her feel better. The large calloused hands that held hers now had been the ones that had fumbled but worked diligently to patch her up every time Mal or anyone else on the Isle thought she needed a reminder of where she fell on the Isle’s food chain.

Gil had kept her sane. Motivating her with bumbling but endearing words and acts of encouragement and loyalty that made every taunt, every encounter with Mal, every hazy dream tinged with jealousy and relief of a blue eyed boy surrounded by love just a bit more bearable. 

If Harry was her anchor, grounding in a way that made her realize her life had always felt off kilter up until they had met, then Gil was her compass, pointing her back to herself. And when she really focused on herself, truly focused on her desires and not on the shackles of fear and humiliation that Mal had bound her with - that Uma had allowed herself to be bound with - she felt something powerful stir inside her.

It was like a tsunami; how the tides pulled away from the shore, gathering and gathering into a wave that once it fell would be in escapable. Her blood hummed with electricity, lightning imbued. Uma felt like she was at the edge of something that she equally both couldn’t name but welcomed, like wakefulness after a restful nap. Like a lost key that had finally been turned in a lock.

Magic thrummed lazily in the air and Uma could feel every branch and curl of it. She felt her own unconscious magic that tasted like sea salt, scuffed knees, and trust born out of loyalty and admiration that hung thick with age over Gil protectively like a blanket. She felt Evie’s magic, surprisingly subtle, woven into each stitch of the teal jacket she still held in her hands, strength, courage, and cunning breathed into it. 

And the necklace…

Tears welled up in her eyes as she held tightly onto the warm and softly humming Never-shell. The magic that wafted from it smelled like a sea breeze, mutual respect, gentle touches, and unhindered smiles with bright blue eyes. 

Faith. Trust. And pixie dust. 

 The word “love” floated to mind and the necklace pulsed in acknowledgement, feelings reflected but not hers pouring through like a gate finally opened.

“Did I-did I not answer that right?” Gil frowned disappointedly, shoulders hunched when he saw her tears.

Uma closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. A smile filled simultaneously with lingering fear, uncertainty, and fondness played on her lips as she made up her mind, plans culminating into a long overdue storm, just as Evie had said.. 

Opening her eyes, Uma was going to respond when she noticed something else in the pocket of the teal jacket.

She laughed, the only response she could think of when she pulled out what she could only assume was a burner phone. When she opened the scream, she wasn’t as surprised as she should have been when she saw the name of the only contact programmed into the phone.

Not even giving herself a moment to second guess herself, Uma pressed the contact number, bringing the phone up to her ear. It rang three times before it was finally answered.

“Uma,” a certain voice said her name like a prayer. Like her name itself was worth more than gold or life itself. 

It made Uma’s heart flutter. “This is love,” Uma thought, squeezing Gil’s hand.

“Hey,” she responded into the phone. “How do you feel about breaking some rules? For the greater good, of course,” she tacked on winking at Gil who grinned back.

If Mal was going to eventually take her out, might as well give that purple lizard something to sweat about, right?

---

THE MORNING OF THE CORONATION

Ben always seemed to know when Harry’s thoughts ran heavy even before Harry could hide them behind dashing smiles and his playful flirty nature. 

Ben supposed that’s why they had always been so close. The Prince had always been able to notice the chaotic storm that built within his friend when no one else noticed. When no one else understood. It was probably also because Ben had his own raging beast that bellowed, chained, within him that no one else noticed. That no one else understood…

Except Harry.

The prince and sailor noticed each other. Understood each other. They allowed each other to just...be without the shoulder breaking expectations of a soon to be king and his soon to be royal advisor. They saw each other and all their messy complexities and doubts and fears, a deep sense of trust and respect born out of years of being little boys thrown together with expectations and responsibilities that they could have never had comprehended at such a young age. 

But now as young men, voices still deepening and uncertainty a familiar staple of their identity, they looked out the window of their once shared playroom within the gilded halls of Auradon Castle at the kingdom before them. 

The roads leading up to the castle were quiet this early, just barely kissed by the sun’s light. An hour or two more and they would hear Cogsworth shouting out orders to the maids and butlers and Lumiere singing in the halls doing a fantastic job of both helping his old friend and driving him one foot closer to the grave (or retirement as he always threatened). Mrs. Potts would undoubtedly walk into each of their old rooms, pushing the curtains aside to let in the morning light, moving across the room as wonderfully dizzying as a spinning teacup. She would mother-hen them into getting ready like they were still the rambunctious eight year olds, too tired to do anything other than let her fuss and cluck over them. 

So many fond memories were embedded into the walls of this castle for these two young men, when their world seemed just as big as the two of them. A selfish part of Ben wanted to stop time, to extend the carefreeness of his childhood just a bit longer.

Finally, Ben broke the silence, his words seemingly all the more loud and weighty in the dawn. “In a few hours, everything will be different. Everything will change.”

Harry glanced over at the prince, his soon-to-be king, and friend. His brother not in blood but in all the ways that mattered the most.

“You’ll be High King,” Harry nodded thoughtfully, a small smirk on his lips though his eyes held something much deeper. “Beasty King Junior,” he ruffled Ben’s hair teasingly.

Ben chuckled, shoving Harry slightly, letting his hair stay the messy nest Harry had created.

Putting a firm hand on the prince’s shoulder, Harry’s voice was firm and serious as he said, “You’ll be High King Benjamin Maurice DeFlorian, Auradon’s Just and Benevolent King.”

Ben shrugged off Harry’s hand only to almost knock them both over with a sudden and tight embrace. Harry didn’t hesitate to return the hug just as tight once his balance was stable.

 “I guess this is where I’m supposed to say how you’ll be Royal Captain Harry Jones, Hand to the King and Lieutenant of the Royal Navy. My loyal advisor and friend,” Ben murmured before pushing away slightly so they could see each other, brown eyes staring knowingly into blue. “But that won’t be happening tomorrow...will it?”

Harry didn’t even try to lie. But he didn’t share the truth either. And he loved Ben for not making him tell. Instead, he merely said, “I know you’ll be a king I’ll be proud of.” He swallowed the lump in his throat, the stinging in his eyes. “And I’ll always consider you a friend.” 

They pulled apart, both of them committing this moment to memory, their companionable silence hanging over them like an unsaid good-bye. 

---

“I can’t believe you still do not understand how to tie a proper knot, Harry!” 

Said boy couldn’t help but let out a fond and amused huff of air as he stared down at the top of Audrey’s perfectly styled and crowned head as she none too gently fixed his tie.

They could both hear the crowd cheering excitedly outside, waiting for their soon to be king to arrive at the Grand Hall of King Adam and Queen’s Belle castle. 

“Surprised you didn’t take Ben up on his offer,” Harry murmured just before choking as Audrey made his tie too tight.

“Oops,” she said not even sounding remorseful at all when the boy let out a strangled sound when she tugged too tight. “And I’m a princess, Harry. It would look tasteless to ride with Ben in his coronation chariot after he broke up with me, instigated by a love spell or not. A princess takes pity from no one. I mean, can you imagine what people would have said?”

Harry rolled his eyes, keeping his thoughts on the matter to himself.

“Anyway, where is Calista Jane?” Audrey glanced around the room as if she half expected the half-pixie to appear out of nowhere and startle her with a prank of some sort like CJ was often prone to do when they were younger. 

“Wasn’t feeling well,” Harry smoothly answered, looking at a spot right above Audrey’s head. “Didn’t help that old dad isn’t showing up to this.”

“Poor dear,” Audrey said before her hands stilled, pretty face shifting into genuine concern. “And you? How are you holding up?”

Allowing himself to let out a long sigh, Harry could only shrug. “He takes his duty keeping the waters of Auradon safe very seriously. He’s always been like that so didn’t expect much of a change now.” 

Audrey looked like she wanted to say something but she remembered herself and what was expected of her, so she kept her thoughts about how poor of a father the naval leader was to herself. She took another few seconds to finish with his tie before taking a step back. 

Harry waited silently, watching as she took in his outfit, from how his freshly pressed white dress shirt tucked into tailored black dress slacks and under a dark gold embroidered double breasted waistcoat. Audrey frowned as she adjusted the collar of his long red leather jacket before her previous downturned lips (“Because princesses don’t scowl, Harry!”) smoothed into a pleased expression. 

“There you go,” Audrey turned him towards the mirror. “A dashingly handsome young sailor.”

“Yeah,” Harry found himself swallowing thickly around the words. “Ye did well, lass.”

It was a testament to apparently how well even Audrey knew him that she didn’t pinch his hand for slipping back into the heavy brogue he had a habit of falling into when he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“No need to worry,” Audrey placed a light hand on his arm. “You’ll be a great second in command. And besides, everyone will be paying more attention to Ben than you. You just need to stand there and look pretty. Shouldn’t be hard for you.”

Harry looked down at her, taking in Audrey’s pretty smile and soft features and the obvious care and concern she had for those close to her that she for some reason thought was important to hide behind a pretty and vapid mask. Though they had never been as close as he and Ben had been growing up, so many of his childhood memories contained Audrey at their side or somewhere nearby in the background. She was basically like a third sister: annoying, always driving him up the wall, but he would knock out anyone who dared hurt her. (Good thing Harry was under a sleeping curse and Ben had the excuse of being under a love spell when he crushed Audrey’s heart.)

“Audrey…” Harry began. 

Audrey didn’t look up from the mirror as she fussed over invisible imperfections with her perfectly done hair. Typical Audrey, he thought fondly.

 “What is it Harry?” she murmured applying a fresh coat of lip gloss.

“Nothing,” Harry softly sighed, looking away. “You look beautiful.”

Audrey merely rolled her eyes, giving herself one final once over in the mirror before the warning trumpets began to play, signalling Ben’s arrival. “Of course, Harry. I’m a princess. Now we can’t dilly dally for yours and Ben’s big day. Move it mister! Today will be a day to be remembered!”

Harry nodded, offering Audrey his arm to guide her back to her parents before he took his position next to Ben’s parents. Today would be a day to remember.

---

Mal glared at Evie after the Evil Queen’s daughter smacked her hand away from the delicate fabric of her dress’s high neckline. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” Evie tsked, taking a moment to pluck some of Dude’s hair from Carlos’s coat and to tuck a loose strand of hair back into Jay’s bun. “You’ll ruin the lace.”

“How about I ruin your face, princess?” Mal hissed before shoving pass some royals who had the misfortune of getting in her way.

Her patience was practically nonexistent at this point and Mal didn’t care that everyone could see that.

With Auradon on high alert after Uma and Gil’s jailbreak and escape (the exact how still under investigation since there was no sign of physical or magical forced entry), the remaining four VKs were under constant watch despite Mal’s convincing performance with Fairy Godmother earlier that week. That meant that any attempt to try a repeat of the love spell on the Prince to try to get closer to the wand had to be thrown out the window leaving Mal shit out of luck. 

Neither Jay, Carlos, or Evie pointed out the way that Mal’s hands shook or how her eyes seemed to constantly be glowing with barely tethered control. It didn’t help that Fairy Godmother had thought it would be “good” idea to set up a video chat with their parents the day before since Maleficent, Evil Queen, Cruella, and Jafar obviously couldn’t make it to the complete and utter clusterfuck that was Family Day.

Yeah...a talk with her mother was exactly the confidence booster that Mal needed when even the Isle knew of Shrimpy’s little jail break was such uber fun. (NOT!) Even Ursulla, who had also been there during the video chat had laughed in the background like some demented soundtrack of Mal’s failure as Maleificent grew more and more angry with her only child.

There was no more time for mistakes. With determination as hot and unyielding as the fires of hell, Mal’s eyes landed quickly on her prey.

“What’s she doing?” she heard Carlos nervously whisper somewhere behind her as she continued to walk further, closer towards the part of the hall reserved specifically for all of the upper tier royals and several ass kissing sidekicks.

Jay must have said something in response to silence the runt but Mal didn’t give it any thought. 

Mal could not allow herself to fail again.

 She reached her hand into the obnoxiously delicate looking handbag she had made Evie design, pulling out a sewing needle just as she came up behind the once again mousy looking plain Jane. 

“That’ll teach the sorry excuse for a fairy to bite the hand that magiced up flawless hair for her, Mal thought remembering the way that Jane and everyone else had looked down upon them after a series of escalating events during Family Day, starting with a wonderful family reunion with Queen Leah literally two minutes after Mal’s and the other’s arrival. Perhaps in another world, Mal would have been moved by Prince Ben’s promise that he would make everyone understand that even Isle kids deserve a chance. But this was not that world and the Prince’s blind faith merely made Mal want to barf all over him.

“Hey Jane!” Mal put on a poor attempt of a smile, the facade growing more twisted as Jane jumped, startled and fear palpable as she turned to see that it was Mal. However, evil was on a time crunch at the moment. “Just wanted to say, that after everything that happened,” Mal said before sticking out her hand, “that there’s no hard feelings.”

Not for the first time, Mal wanted to laugh at the sheer stupidity of Auradon’s citizens and their idiotic “forgiveness is good” policy as poor clueless plain Jane gave a shy smile before reaching out shake Mal’s hand.

“Ouch!” and pulling back her hand to see where a small prick was made was all Jane could do before her eyes dulled and her expression slackened.

Mal smirked, Jane easily under her spell. Perhaps she could actually pull this off. 

“So here’s what I need you to do for me, Janey.”

#disney descendants #harry of auradon au #uma descendants #harry hook #evie descendants #carlos de vil #gil descendants #ben descendants #audrey descendants #i'm hooked on all these feelings #descendants fanfic #descendants fanfiction #edream93 fanfic #edream93 fanfiction

[the-wolfs-raven]

An Explanation

So I thought I might finally kinda outline how and why I made Tara the way I did with the background I chose for her.  I know a lot of people don’t like pairing OCs with canon characters, and I knew, even while I was researching, that I wasn’t just going to be able to put it out there without a lot of criticisim.

See, Tarvasha started out as a Warhammer 40k character.  She was a touch-averting, bitchy, angry void-master who slowly crept into being a Tech Heritic with a hard-on for the ship engineer who was basically just a brain in a metal body.

Her last name was Winterscale and, those of you familiar with the lore, would recognize it not only from Winterscale’s Realm, but also the current Rogue Trader of the Winterscale dynasty, Calligos.

I had made her one of his bastard children who resented him for not acknowledging her.  She set out to prove herself by trying to find the lost Baleful Eye (think bionic eye with a laser.  pew pew) of Sebastian Winterscale.  In her mind, if she could find it, perhaps she could prove her worth as a decendant of Winterscale.

Fast forward to getting back into WoW.

Originally, I had wanted to make her Varian’s daughter.  Why, you ask?  Because this is Calligos:

Big, hulking man in a position of power.  And dat chin.

However, once I started looking in the timelines, I realized it would not only be impossible, but also that it wasn’t what I wanted for her.

I did however, want a Varian-baby.

I also wanted Tarvasha to have blue hair initially, like her 40k counterpart.

So Tara became a half-elf.  God only knows how many hours of research I put into all of this.  What it came down to was this:

Her mother is Shalandrala Winterscale, a Highborne elf (like, student/council of Queen Azshara Highborne) who left Zin-Azshari before the sundering of the world.  She brought not only a fair handful of followers with her, but she also managed to sneak a vial of water from the Well of Eternity with her.

After some hundred years, the Highborne elves began secretly crafting halls of learning deep beneath the Tranquil Glades (present day Felwood).  The vial was used to create a new font of power which they hid from the druids of the Glades and used to continue their study.

This hidden sanctuary became known as Cartouche (named after a song by Blackmore’s Night which fits its ambience perfectly). and was hidden away from the watchful eyes of the forest’s druids.

Fast forward to a few decades prior to present time.

In small groups, the elves had been visiting the Kirin Tor, learning and sharing their magics and getting to know the strange beings (humans) from the other side of the water.

Humans seemed to have a natural affinity for magic, and did not need to rely on things such as the moonwells or the Well of Eternity to replentish their magic.

Shalandrala had the idea to breed with the humans to bare children who would be as powerful as the elves and as hardy as the humans.  Children who would not need to rely on the waning magic beneath the earth as they did.

It was a disaster.

While human/elf hybrids aren’t unusual, the rituals they used to ensure strong children backfired and caused a slew of miscarriages and stillborn offspring.

After several years of trial and pain, Shalandrala herself attempted the ritual with the help of a young man from Dalaran who was particularly gifted in the arcane.  It was a success, though it drained a great deal of the elf’s own power to bring her child into the world unharmed.

Tarvasha bears her mother’s mark upon her palm and with it, the untapped power within her.

Good, okay, got ourselves a half-elf baby.  As it turned out, however, I ended up giving her burgundy hair instead, so it was sort of pointless in the long run.  lol

It did open up an opportunity, though.  An opportunity to put her in the one place she could possibly have met and had some sort of relations with Varian Wrynn.

When the Burning Legion came to Kalimdor, they decimated the Tranquil Glades, turning them into the Felwood.  It made sense, in my mind, that the font of power beneath the forest would be an obvious attractant to them.

Now, Tarvasha had been pretty much ridiculed and spat on her whole life by the elves who hadn’t agreed with Shalandrala’s methods or who had lost their own children from it all.

That constant hatred came to a head the night Tara docked her own ears in a desperate effort to seperate herself from her mother’s kin.  With rounded ears, she looked human.  But her mother had caught her right afterwards and it drove her mind to despair, allowing the Legion to infultrate her conciousness.  When the Legion came upon the Glade, Shalandrala helped lead the way through.

She became known as a great traitor amongst the druids there and much of the rest of the Kaldorei.

Tarvasha fled the forest, originally running south into Ashenvale before turning east, desperate to get away from any elves she might’ve come across.

She ended up in Durotar, or the land it was before the name was given to it.

Along the coasts, there were fires.

And there were orcs.

Orcs who would have killed her for being a human were it not for a single savior among them.

Or so she thought.  The orc turned out to be a greasy slavemaster named Oog’tar.

Tarvasha was enslaved for years.  She bore and lost multiple children during that time and finally lost it when one of them was killed in front of her for being born without arms.

Her mental state landed her into the fighting arena with a pack of boars.  The deal was as such, if she lived, she could leave.  She would be let loose into Durotar to make her way somewhere else.

If she died, she would die with honor.

A final game played but her cruel slave master.

By some miracle, she made it through, though she wasn’t capable of standing by the end of it.  Instead of honoring the arrangement, Oog’tar sent in more boars.

Luckily for her, Rehgar and his gladiators were close by.  Varian, unaware of his past, called the detestable slavemaster on his bullshit.  When he refused to send the boars back, the warrior said he would fight in her place.  Oog’tar didn’t want to honor such an agreement, but Rehgar pushed the issue.  It would be good training, after all.

Needless to say, he took down every single boar in that arena.

When she was told she could leave, she begged the human to let her stay with him instead.  She would rather have been a slave with company than be turned loose into the unforgiving lands of Durotar.

Rehgar allowed it, for a time.

During her stay with them, she found herself enamored with the amnesiatic man.  Eventually they would lie together, though much of their time together was out of companionship of their humanity and desperation out of loneliness.

They did care for each other, though it was far from anything lovey-dovey.

She had been so excited when they traveled to Dire Maul.  Watching him fight... He was even finally given a name that wasn’t something she felt uncomfortable calling him.

Lo’Gosh.

Finally, her life seemed to be looking up.  In love with a Crimson Ring champion.  Away from the harsh climates of Durotar.

It all changed when they traveled to Thunder Bluffs, however.

Once Lo’Gosh retrieved pieces of his memories from the pools, she was all but forgotten.  Cast aside for his desperate race to return to his wife and child.

She tagged along for a time, but her gladiator was no longer warmed to her as he once was.

Tarvasha realized that she was baring his child, terrified to let him know.

She stayed behind in Theramore when they journeyed there.

And she found herself in shock when she learned of his true identity.

For some time, she had studied the royal family of Stormwind from books or from conversation.  When her daughter was born, she gave her the name of Varian’s mother.

Taria.

Now, when I created Taria, I got my timelines messed up bad.  I thought Anduin was older than he was, and I originally had Taria pegged as a teenager.

I was so fucking wrong.

So, enter Pandaria.

Tarvasha traveled there with her daughter.  At the time, she was a pretty reputable merchant and this was a great opportunity.

Beneath that, she did some scouting work for both the Alliance and Vol’jin’s rebellion against Garrosh.

During their time there, she left Taria with various innkeepers as she worked, eventually leaving her with Tong in the Tavern in the Mists.  Taria, at the time, was four years old and loved to hunt with her crossbow.

She hunted various beasts around the tavern, her favorite hunts being tigers.  The little girl managed to catch the eye of Wrathion, if only for a moment.

Tarvasha, during this time, had been captured by Oog’tar who was now a quartermaster under Garrosh’s Horde.  After being tortured and branded, she was freed when an Alliance squad took down the encampment.  Oog’tar escaped, but Tara was called upon as a minor witness during Garrosh’s trial to describe her ordeal under a man Garrosh had personally appointed.

She had written to Tong to bring her daughter to the Temple of the White Tiger where the trial was being held.  In the middle of their journey, a massive tiger came upon their cart and attacked them, wounding Tong and slashing the characteristic scars that now sit across Taria’s face.  The beast fell when it lunged for the little girl.  Taria held out a sharpened pole and the beast impaled itself upon it, much the same way Lo’Gosh felled the gator that earned him the name Crocbait.

Taria was crushed beneath the cat and near death as Tong carried her the rest of the way to the temple.  They were met near the steps by a hysterical Tarvasha, screaming and crying as she laid eyes on her dying child.

There was no one close by to heal her, most of them were up at the trial.

However, out of the shadows stepped Wrathion with a deal to be made.

He would make certain she didn’t die, in exchange for Tarvasha handing her over to him.  He had seen the potential she carried while staying at the Tavern.  If he was going to help, he was going to get something out of it.

She regretfully agreed to his terms and didn’t see her daughter against for over two years.

Meanwhile (mostly because I needed a way for her to exist as something other than a child since I’d already leveled the toon) Taria was aged using a combination of chronomancy and mental manipulation.  She was educated and became a fully fledged adult.

I don’t do that child trapped in an adult body crap.  That’s just weird.

I wanted her to be a fully grown warrior and that’s what she became.

In the time before they were reunited, Taria asked to spend her off-time in Durotar.  She had been told many stories about her father, Lo’Gosh, champion of the Crimson Ring, and was convinced he had been an orc.  With her size, it was a reasonable mistake.  Despite not having green skin or tusks, she was certainly as large as a female orc.

After some time, she gained the interest and tolerance of some of the orcs in outlying villages, many of which were too old to care about one human or too young to do anything about her.  Some fought her, some taught her.  But she gained a fascination and appreciation for the race which her father, unknown to her, was once enslaved by.

Eventually, Taria learned of her father’s identity and struggles everytime she passes by Stormwind Keep, aching to know her brother, but knowing better than to reveal herself to the world.

It is a secret that very few know.  Valeera, Wrathion, and Tarvasha’s first husband being about half of them.

Well, this outline turned into a history lesson.  Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, and thanks so much for reading!

Oh, and here’s Taria’s Tumblr for anyone interested in my angry Lo’Gosh-baby:  @thepalewolfhowls

#past musings #character history #Tara x Lo'Gosh #Varian Wrynn #oc x npc #oc x canon

[ncrcissv-blog]

                🐍  --- wands at the ready, NARCISSA MALFOY has joined the fight! the TWENTY THREE year old works as a HOUSE WIFE & PHILANTHROPIST, but spends HER time fighting for THE DEATH EATERS. NARCISSA is known to be DEVOTED & PROTECTIVE, as well as HAUGHTY & PREJUDICED. ( fc: josefine frida pettersen )

AESTHETIC: emerald green velvet, collar bones, goblets, blood red lipstick, whispering, walking alone at midnight, diamond encrusted jewelry, vines that crawl up the side of an old manor, six inch stilettos, clumps of cash held together with a silver chain, masquerade masks, silk sheets, fur coats, the hair on the back of your neck standing up.

her pinterest board can be found here.

guess who’s back !! it’s me !! with this absolutely phenomenal woman !! get ready for a wild ride y’all because this is gonna be a rollercoaster of emotions.

FULL NAME: narcissa ophelia malfoy (nee. black)

narcissa: as a girls' name is of greek origin, and the meaning of narcissa is “daffodil”. feminine of narcisse, which comes from the legend of the beautiful greek youth who became enamored of his own reflection --- hence "narcissism".

ophelia: of greek origin, meaning “help”.

SEXUALITY AND GENDER: 

demisexual, heteroromantic | cisgender female

BLOOD STATUS:

pureblood

HOGWARTS HOUSE: 

slytherin (though she had to convince the sorting hat. it almost put her in hufflepuff)

WAND:

cedar wood: cedar wands are found with those who possess strength of character and unusual loyalty. it was said by gervaise ollivander that you “will never fool the cedar carrier,” and these wands often find home where there is perspicacity and perception. it is unwise to cross someone who carries a cedar wand, and especially so if you do harm to somebody they care about. not to be foolishly challenged, owners of cedar wands are frightening adversaries.

unicorn hair: unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the dark arts. they are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

length & flexibility: ten and three quarters of an inch, slightly flexible.

SKILLS:

having been raised as a proper, high society lady, narcissa possesses a plethora of skills.

languages: narcissa is fluent (can read, write, and speak) in english, german, and french, and she can also speak conversational russian. 

music: narcissa has played the piano since she was five years old. it is the one thing in her life that has always been constant. she’s terrific at it, and often when she’s feeling emotional she’ll turn to piano to feel better.

occlumency: a skilled occlumens, this is one talent narcissa keeps a secret. her eldest sister is also an occlumens, and it was from her that narcissa’s want to learn sprouted.

lying: it was a big part of her childhood. being the baby of the family, narcissa was incredibly spoiled when she was a little girl. her father was quite absent most of the time but her mother doted on her like crazy. narcissa, however, wasn’t a fan of the doting. she preferred to be by herself, and was annoyed by her mother constantly being around her. but, she felt ungrateful, and therefore put up a front of enjoying all the spoiling and attention because she wanted to make her parents happy. she carried this with her throughout her life, often telling people something for the sake of their happiness and not meaning it at all. 

PERSONALITY:

narcissa’s personality is complex

she was a sickly child. her parents weren’t young when she was conceived, and because of this she was born a month and a half premature. this lead to breathing issues and when she was a girl she fell sick with pneumonia every winter. her constant illness displeased her father (he didn’t want a weak child. never mind the fact that narcissa was his last chance at a male heir and she was ... well ... a she) and worried her mother. this caused her to have a lot of independence issues. she leaned on her older sisters and her mother a lot, and avoided her father like the plague.

spoiled to high heaven that girl was. she wanted for nothing, and got everything she could ever ask for. to say she didn’t enjoy it would be a lie. it was nice getting all the new dresses she wanted and fancy toys and the latest models of brooms. but it made her feel like she owed her parents something. 

in her heart she truly is kind. you can tell in the way that she interacts with the people she cares about. her heart is in the right place, but kindness often coexists with being impressionable, which she definitely was. because of her constant exposure to her mother due to being bedridden, and the fact that she was often told she was weak because of her health, she had prejudiced and racist ideals forced upon her from a young age and soaked them up like a sponge. she grew up being taught that anybody besides those of pure blood were equal to nothing. she didn’t know why, but she never questioned it for fear of angering her parents whom she loved so dearly. the only person who ever questioned anything in their family was andromeda, and that ended with her being disowned and burnt off the family tree.

she’s ??? really emotionally repressed ??? i mean what black family member isn’t, really, but she takes it to an entirely new level

because of her father’s hard (literal and figurative) hand and her mother’s doting, narcissa was raised with a weird combination of parenting techniques that left her feeling as if she deserved everything the world had to offer while simultaneously being angry with herself for expecting that. 

this turned her into a very torn up young woman. pack teenage angst on top of a feeling of both inferiority and superiority and you get somebody who doesn’t know how to handle their emotions at all

she wasn’t really that pretty when she was young. she wasn’t unattractive by any means, but she had stringly, bleach blonde hair and large doe-eyes that made her look slightly otherworldly. her pointed features were slightly covered by a layer of baby fat. she wasn’t anything special, anyways. it broke her mother’s heart that she wasn’t as beautiful as her sisters had been at that age.

super elegant and polite. she’s the definition of classy and her manners are far above those of most people her age. she was taught to always respect her elders and slip-ups in the manners department usually resulted in a smack from her father so she grew to be very good with them.

barely smiles because smiling causes wrinkles and also lowkey she has nothing to smile about ?? her life is a mess

a+ at hiding her feelings. she’s a closed book. it’s “unrefined” to feel much of anything so she prefers to put up a cold and judgmental front that keeps people away. getting close to somebody means eventually having to open up and she has way too much secret baggage. trunks and trunks full. this is what makes being married to lucius so difficult, because he likes to know everything and she doesn’t like people knowing anything about her.

loves kids. so much. she would have loved to work with children but having a job is for lower class women and mudbloods. it’s much better for her status-wise to just be a pretty thing on lucius’ arm than to actually act like she has a mind of her own. she was never allowed to have one growing up so why change now ???

she’s very set in her ways because they’re all she’s known and it’s easier to be the way she always has been than to try and change now. deep down she wants to, because she doesn’t like who she is that much (surprisingly. you’d never know it because she seems very conceited) but going against the norm of how she was raised is not only frowned upon, but dangerous.

too loyal for her own good. it’s what’s kept her devoted to a terrible cause and her terrible family her entire life. she believes strongly in the power of forgiveness, if not for the other person than for yourself.

she’s very protective of those she cares about. namely, her parents and bella. she would gladly lay her life on the line for her family and not bat an eye.

despite this her personality has a lot of negatives too. she is definitely prejudiced. regardless of whether she wants to change deep down, she is still very terrible to those she views as being “below her” --- aka, anyone who isn’t also from a rich, pureblood family. she isn’t directly cruel to them, but she’s mastered the art of backhanded compliments very well and uses them often. 

believes herself to be better than most people, especially when it comes to looks. because she was so average for so long, when she finally grew into her sharp features and large doe-eyes she had a moment of clarity about how beautiful she really was. she knows she’s gorgeous and isn’t afraid to flaunt it, quite arrogantly might i add.

OTHER:

she has more money than she knows what to do with, so she makes very large, anonymous donations to groups known to be against the dark lord. mostly orphanages for mudblood and halfblood children who had their parents killed in the war. 

publicly she also makes donations to many organizations, to help keep up the image of her and lucius whilst he does shady things under the table, such as ... y’know ... being a death eater. their philanthropic work keeps them in the good books of the higher ups, and makes them harder to pin for crimes that are blamed on the dark lord’s followers. after all, why would they help fund a new initiative for tracking death eaters if they were involved themselves ???

narcissa hasn’t taken the mark herself. she doesn’t have any desire to. she prefers to watch from the sidelines and take a neutral stance that is still supportive of the blood purists. she figures that, if the dark lord falls, it will be easier for she and lucius to keep their comfortable lives if one of them is “completely disassociated” from that life style.

her parents married her off to lucius malfoy as a political move, similarly to bellatrix’s marriage to rodolphus lestrange.

she has settled into her role of being lucius’ trophy wife well. while she doesn’t love him or find herself attracted to him, she’s good at keeping up an image. in public she seems like a beautiful, complacent, well-bred wife. behind closed doors she rarely speaks to him unless she really has to, because there are aspects of his personality that remind her of her father and that frightens her.

she loves dogs, and has an afghan hound named dionysus.

collects brooches. you will never see her wearing an outfit without a statement brooch.

more will be added to this as i explore cissa’s character !! like this if you’re interested in plotting and i’ll message you <3

#renegade.intro #--- 🐍 something keeps me holding on to nothing [narcissa]

[kyojinofbraveos]

When I asked "Then I'll ask you snk related stuff, but also GoT :) How long and how well would everyone survive the game of thrones?" I meant, how long do the snk characters survive in GoT :')

Sorry adsfgh :D This sound even better! I am gonna answer this but my imagination runs wild and I can’t stop it so please forgive me my friend, this is gonna take so long. Don’t worry, I am gonna mention the chance of their surviving as well! 

I have been waiting for an ask like this my whole life…

My crazy head canon time because my imagination runs wild once again and I can’t stop it!

Long time ago I mentioned that the head of Ackerman family that gave up his life to save the clan reminds me nobody but Ned Stark, so I associate these two honorable people here once again.

And of course as you noticed, I associate Ackermans with Stark Family. These two families are bot loyal, but that doesn’t mean they can be controlled, even by to people dearest to them. Like Starks rebelled at ASOIAF series, Ackermans also rebelled against First King and his ideology even though they were close to royal family. They are noble, strong and they endure winter safe and sound.

I associate Tully Family with East Sea Clan. In ASOIAF series, Tullies and Stars have built a close alliance, like East Sea Clan and Ackermans. Choosing Tullies as East Sea Clan definetely has no connection between their family symbol, trout and @falcon94ssy ‘s last crazy theory. 

Jaeger Family would be close to Greyjoys, they have many parallels and they do not sow in the end. Who else say that reference? Since Grisha grew up at Winterfell, hehehe, Eren and Zeke are quite familiar to North. Our Grisha first married to Dina, who is a relative of the King but then after some unfortunate events, who knows maybe she turned into a Whitewalker o.O, Dina died and he married Carla. Don’t you worry, mama Carla is handling his adoptive elder son and his baby boy Eren quite well. But well… Their surviving chance is not that high… *whispers* Dina is gonna kill Carla when she turns to a Whitewalker and Carla is gonna burn herself to make an escape to her sons*

Fritz family is like Targaryens, these both families have the blood of Kings running through them and because of that they have, let’s say, magical powers. Targaryens does not burn in fire, they can ride dragons etc because they are blood of Valyria. Fritz can control and manipulate Eldians and Pure Titans because they are blood of Ymir Fritz. They have a high chance to survive in GoT if they won’t lose to the madness inside them. Other wise, it would be a feast for crows.

 I am gonna quote my one of old post there about Walls:

In Game of Thrones, there is a bigass icy wall but that wall has not just been built by ice and stone, there is also magic in it. As a fan of both series, I was able to make this connection and thought that our wall in SnK has also been built with not just stone and stuff, but also with magic, a.k.a Colossal Titans.

We can associate The Whitewalkers with Pure Titans. In GoT it has been revealed that Whitewalkers are originated from people. If a people dies in North and nobody burn his/her body, they turn to a Whitewalker. In SnK, to turn an Eldian to a Human you have to inject spinal fluid of a Titan, aka Titan serum.

Also I can cause why not, I associate Night’s Watch with Survey Corps. In the end,they are both trying to keep evil monsters at the other side of the wall.

Now let’s come a little closer to our characters as individuals!

Eren would be the way he is. He would try his best, never give up, always fights but in the end Mikasa or sometimes Armin or someone else would help him in the end. He would sworn to kill all Whitewalkers and would want to join Night’s Watch. He also would be a warg like Bran maybe. @kuchen-ackerman ‘s post about Eren and Bran HERE.

Armin would read his books and make researches in the citadel, I can see him being a maester like Aemon or who knows, Qyburn when he grows up. *cough*Gesumin*cough. Maybe a mix of them both?

Mikasa might look like an East Sea blood from outside but damn, these girl is an Ackerman from head to toe. Her day would go as keeping Eren and Armin safe, sword training, horse riding and keeping Eren and Armin safe more in Winterfell. 

Yeah, trio lives at Winterfell but they travel a lot since Eren is a half Greyjoy and Mikasa is a half Tully.

Eren and Armin would want to join the honorable Night’s Watch but Mikasa would try to stop them because she knew how dangerous it is.

Plus, we know what happened to Armin’s family! They are a close family to the Warden of the North, Ackerman Family and that is why Armin can use Winterfell’s old library whenever he wants and his Grandpa is also the maester of Winterfell!

I can see Historia sitting on the Iron Throne. She would look so good there the Iron Throne would be jealous. 

I think Erwin would be like a Lannister, but not like Tywin, Jaime or Cersei but  like Tyrion. He would advise Historia and definetely protect his Queen from all the dirt going on in the Red Keep. Water would flood never better, if you know what I mean.

I can see Hange as a Grand Maester next to Historia. I want her to be more active though, please forget about that old man called Pycelle and imagine what kind of new things le goddess Hange would bring to Westeros. Or who knows, maybe she would definetely be like Aemon and be a a maester at Night’s Watch? Yeah, I like it more that way.

I already told Levi would be from Ackerman Family because I associate Ackermans with Starks. Maybe who knows like Jon Snow he also would be a bastard? But since this is my au, I am writing that Kuchel Ackerman is safe and sound with her son cause I can cause why not? He wouldn’t like all the dşrt and drama that is going on at King’s Landing and ask Erwin and Hange to join him in Winterfell. Who knows, maybe he would go wherever they are just to protect them?

Kenny would be the Lord Commander of Kingsguard, though it is actually unusual for Ackermans to join it. He joined the Kingsguard to serve Uri but after his death he just stayed in. He sometimes goes to Sept and stand in front of Uri’s grave. 

Sasha would be from the Tarly Family, in the series Tarly are known for their hunting skills in the end. It is like Martin created Tarly for Sasha! 

I can see Connie Springer as Connie Tyrell. Wow, that sounded quite good! I think the rose motifs would fit him quite well, I would love to see Connie as Knight of Flowers. He would try his best at King’s Landing but I don’t think he would manage to nail it since Connie is a pure cinnamon roll and King’s Landing is a intrigue swamp.

Jean would be a Baratheon. He would be an artist like Renly, but that wouldn’t stop him from being extremely honest like Stannis and having some of Robert’s recklessness. But since he is a smart and caring person, I think he would also grow. He would have one of highest chances to survive.

Man, I use ‘would’ so much.

I don’t know why, but I feel like Ymir would be no one, a faceless man. A girl has no name, in the end. She was worshipped, betrayed and lost her way in life and her first task was killing the new Queen of Andals but she refused it and now she is on the run from faceless men.

Bertolt is so sweet for both Got and Snk, he is the character I struggled most as I wrote these head canons because Bert just does not belong to those cruel worlds, he deserves better. Anyway, I think he would be from the Vale and maybe an Arryn because I once read this au smartpass where Bert dreams of flying above the Walls and leaving but some people notices him and tells him he doesn’t have right to enjoy freedom and shoot him down. It was an emotional one for me. So, I am making him Lord of Vale, Bertolt Arryn. Unfortunately I don’t think someone as sweet as Bert would have that much chance to survive if he leaves the Vale.

Annie would be from the Reeds, but like her lord father she doesn’t like to join to other lords and they would mostly stay at Greywater Watch. The other lords would not be that found of them, too. Most of the Westeros would mock them as crannog men but Annie wouldn’t give a shit.

Reiner would a Martell. I know, the look is not connected at all but the character definetely does. Martells are quite smart, passionate and a little crazy. These fits Reiner so well too as best as I say. Also, Berik is a Martell as well because I want it to be that way!

Zeke is a full time Greyjoy. From head to toes. Since we don’t have the Warrior backstory and he doesn’t have that much screen time, damn you Isayama really, I can’t read his character that well but as far as my meta senses works, it fits Zeke to be a kraken, an Ironborn. 

So that is it, these are all I can think of right now! I know that was not the answer you wanted and I am sorry, I couldn’t stop my imagination! It took the control of my fingers, I am sorry!

Feel free to add anything you want!

Thank you for reading!

#snk #snk crossover #snk x asoiaf #snk x got #eren jaeger #mikasa ackerman #armin arlert #reiner braun #bertolt hoover #annie leonhardt #sasha braus #connie springer #jean kirschstein #zeke jaeger #kyojinanswered #snk headcanons #venialityyy #erwin smith #hange zoe #thus raffled the flaffle

[elijwrites-blog]

A Wilted Rose

It is true, what they say about seeing your true love for the first time; it is as if you are seeing the sun for the first time. You’ve been walking this earth a blind man, and she brought you into light. You look at her and everything suddenly makes sense. She is your reason and your life.

This moment happened for me about eight months ago, at a barbeque. There I was, licking sticky sauce off my fingers, when there she was. She did not shine as bright as the sun; she was the sun! Standing there, in her blue dress, the full skirt coming to just above her knees and the bustier shaping her hourglass figure nicely, she was sipping on a cold glass of iced tea. Oh, how I desperately wished that I was the straw she was bringing to her lips!

Her long, spiral curls were covered in an iridescent shade of fiery orange-red that contrasted with and framed her porcelain face that was shaped like an expensive golden locket. Her wide eyes were bright blue orbs set deeply into their sockets, yet they were so outstanding and captivating that it was as if they were protruding abnormally. Her full lips were a shade of juicy red, as if she had glided a fresh strawberry over top of them.

I knew that I could never talk to her. She is too beautiful and I am too shy. I am weak and vulnerable to my overpowering feelings. I kept a close eye on her the entire time, watching her interact with her friends and neighbors, who were now also my friends and neighbors. I had just moved and the barbeque was an end of summer, welcome-to-the-neighborhood event.

I remember the first time we made eye contact. How glorious it was to have those baby blue eyes looking directly into mine! It was as if they had a power of their own, because suddenly I felt myself walking towards her without conscious effort. My legs moved but I couldn’t feel them at all. She drew me to her with a single look!

It was as if she was aware of her powers, because she looked at me and smiled that smile that magical women smile; the kind of smile where they know they’ve already got you wrapped around their red-polished fingertips. Before I could say a word (not that I would have been able to) she told me that her name was Rose, and she held out her hand for me to shake. My mind had no control over my body, but I was not complaining because the moment I touched her soft and silky hand, I knew with overbearing assurance that she was the one for me.

“My name is Robert,” I managed to sputter.

I could say nothing after that moment. That tiny sentence took all the breath out of me. She told me that it was nice to meet me, and then she went off to be with one of her lady friends, a stout brunette with chunky thighs and breasts that bulged out of her top, trying to escape to fresh air and free space.

There was no dancing at this party, yet the way Rose walked and carried herself was a dance all in its own. I was desperate to be her partner.

We met several times after that barbeque. The grocery store, the movie theater, the park-she was everywhere in this small town! And although it is a small town, I knew that our repeated meetings were a sign of fate. Each time we saw each other, Rose would wave to me. How my heart leaped inside its suffocating cavity, the beats increasing rapidly until I was sure that I would have a heart attack or my heart would just rip itself out of my chest.

It took me several weeks of waving to get the courage to speak to her again. She glowed with pure radiance and astronomical beauty; how could a man like me have a chance with her? She was always surrounded by her friends, who seemed to be dim-witted and dopey dropouts. I had no idea why she associated herself with them. She was far too intelligent.

The first time I caught her alone was on a rainy Friday night, which was unusual because she was always with her friends at this time. But I was not complaining!

“You shouldn’t be walking home alone at night, especially with this rain,” I said to her as I pulled up in my car and rolled down the window. Her eyes widened when she saw me. I just knew she felt the same way I did!

It took some persuading to get her to agree to let me take her home. And for good reason; a woman as beautiful as her is bound to attract a few crazy men. A woman can never be too careful when walking the streets alone.

I caught her scent of wildflowers and fresh daisies when she closed the passenger door and clicked her seatbelt. I had to remind myself how to drive a car. I asked her all sorts of questions to fill the silence. Does she like music? Who are her favorites? What is she studying in school? Is she seeing anyone? I hope not! She’s too beautiful for any pathetic boy. She needs a man, like me.

Instead of taking her home, I asked her to my house. It’s only a block down from hers and not out of the way at all. I was overjoyed when she said yes! Anything can happen when a woman accepts an invitation inside. This will be the night that she becomes mine, I’m sure of it!

Having Rose in my house for the first time was equal to inviting the Queen over for dinner, only for her to arrive and see that you live in a shack. Nothing I had was good enough for her and she knew it. She wouldn’t even sit on my couch when I invited her to sit. She refused a cup of tea when I first offered, but eventually agreed, out of politeness I assume. After our tea, she finally agreed to let me show her something down in the basement. It was a piece of art I was working on, and surely someone with her intelligence would be able to properly critique it.

She yawned on the way down the stairs and it was the most beautiful yawn anyone could ever yawn, if beautiful yawns are such a thing.

“Getting tired are we?” I asked her.

As soon as her pretty little feet, dressed in their kitten heels, touched the bottom of the basement steps, I knew that from this moment, she would be mine, and only mine, forever.

And that brings me to today, when I am telling you this story, the story of how I met and fell in love with the most beautiful and unattainable girl in the world.

“That’s right, Robert,” you told me. “She was just a girl. A sixteen year-old girl whom you raped and murdered in your basement and buried in your backyard. You were not in love with her; you were obsessed with her, Robert. Everyone could see it, especially Rose. The report says you stalked her everywhere-the grocery store, the movie theater, the park-her friends are witnesses. You watched her every move; that’s how you knew that she would be alone that night, and the weather was just a coincidence that worked in your favor.”

I love her so much! I was doing her a favor. This world was too cruel for her. She belongs as an angel in the world above, not in this pit of hell with us swines.

“Spin the story however you want, Robert. There’s overwhelming evidence against you, from the hundreds of pictures you drew of her right down to the way your beady little eyes objectified her. I’m not taking your case. You’re an evil man,” you spat, and promptly walked out of the holding cell.

Evil? I prefer to call it genius.

#creative writing #writing #short story #short story writing #short story fiction #fiction #fiction writing

[meetmeatmidnightsblog]

Chapter 1 Disclaimer I don't own any of the characters and or content that is going to be used in this story and all right belong to the writers and creators of once upon a time. After meeting the forest smelling thief on there journey, The Queen has declared to herself that this man was not to be trusted. The orders that are instructed by the two annoying idiots will be ignored, because to her this man has seemed to glue himself to her side. His wits and flashy moments are becoming unbearable. She has spent the past few months trying to rebuild her credibility and image and it's not about to get distracted by the man with the lion tattoo, his two year old son Roland. Her duties now are much more than some silly little romance. Instead of heading to the round table with the rest of the royal family, she opted out to watch Roland for a couple of hours while Robin goes on patrol. She kept a very close eye on the adorable dimpled boy that always liked to wander off. She caught the boy snooping around her vanity exploring all of the ingredients and potions. She didn't exactly think about child proof safe box for some of the most deadliest possessions she procured. She quickly grabbed Roland, tells him "unless you want to take a hundred year nap, or turn into a cockroach that's easily squashed I highly suggest that you stay far away from those things." Roland bats his irresistible baby blue eyes at her, "oktas your majesty." She couldn't help but frown at the boy, sighed "I'm not going to punish you, alright little man. But I will give you a timeout." he stuck his tongue out at the Queen, tells her "you're not the boss of me. Besides only my papa can give me timeouts." she remarked "I'll give you on the count of three to sit you're butt against the wall." Roland refused to listen to her, decide to make her play a little game of tag instead. She chased him around for 25 minutes until she managed to get a hold of him. She captured the rambunctious child with magic, froze his toes to the ground and hissed "you're going to stay put until I say so." Roland squirmed around as The Queen told him "don't bother young man, this spell won't break free at you're command. The more you move the longer you will stand there." Roland rolled his eyes at the cruel woman who punished him. He thought of other ways to get back at her for this unusual way of torture. Queen saw the same anger expressions that Henry used to have whenever she used to ground him, killed her because it reminded her of a time when she used magic to get him to love her. She recalls just how much she it when her own mother used to do it. She waved her hand over the puddle, then set the boy free. She told the smart mouthed child "I don't like doing that but you left me with no choice." Roland was not a fan of this woman's parenting skills, but her motherly affections we're starting to grow on him. He ran into the Queens arms, tells her "I'm sorry your majesty." she wrapped her arms around his waste, replies "I know. Now how about the two of us sneak down to the kitchen and sneak in a few scoops of ice cream." The Queen held onto Roland hand as they walked down to the kitchen, she asked one of the chiefs to get them two small of scoops chocolate ice cream. He looked up at her, asked "why are you so nice to me and my papa?. " she was taken a bit off guard with the boys question. She shrugged her shoulders back, told him "we'll I'm trying to be a much nicer person than I was when we first arrived here." he tilts his head, answered " I think that it's because you like us." she cleared her throat "is that so." he replied "yup. It's also because my papa tells me that you had a son, but he's not with us which must make you feel really lonely sometimes." She looked at the clever young boy with ice cream all over his face. She tries her best to keep the pain of missing Henry out of the way. It's that much harder to ignore the truth in front of a child. She confessed "I do miss him a lot, but it's safer for Henry to be with his mother. But spending time you makes my world a little bit brighter." Roland smiled at the Queen. He could see the see the parts of her that she hid from everyone else. But underneath the mask she wears, she a mother who had to do the most selfless thing in the world. It was a much different vibe with this girl than it was with his mother even though he barely remembers her. She took one more look at the little boy, giggled "I should probably clean you up before Robin gets back." Roland followed her instructions this time around. He sat perfectly still as she cleaned off the mess on his face. She lifted him into her arms, "let's sneak out of here like bandits." he snickered"thieves are much quicker than bandits."she scoffed" you know what I mean." he teased playfully" no I don't you're majesty." she mentioned " keep trying little man, because I know that your much smarter than that."

#outlaw queen fanfic #During the missing year #Dimple Queen #once upon a time

[blastingxff]

Fate that Binds pt. 3

This part: Everyone has questions. No one has answers.

first part // previous part // next part  Series: Pokemon Characters: Jessie, James, Meowth, Pikachu, Ash, Brock, May, Max, Jessebelle Ships: hints of rocketshipping if you read it that way, mostly just friendshipping though Summary: It had been a throwaway wish, something made out of the frustration of the moment- it wasn’t actually supposed to happen. But the magic of a well haunted by a pokemon’s spirit ended up altering reality. Now, Jessie, James, and Meowth aren’t in Team Rocket. They don’t even know each other. And it’s created far darker a world for the TRio than Ash could have ever imagined, and now he and his friends want nothing more than to change things back to how they were.  Genre: Friendship, hurt/comfort, so much angst, all the angst, drama, butchered canon,  Words: 1,897 / part 3 out of 16 Trigger Warnings (this part): swearing Notes: This popped into my head and didn’t get out until I wrote it down. It’s 16 chapters, and entirely written already in about three days. So that will explain a helluvalot. Like the bus-sized plotholes. I just wanted to be mean to my favorite characters, geeze, is that so bad? XP  Also can be read on Ao3.

Chapter 3

“Why can’t they just leave me alone?!” The young boy pulled his foot back, swinging it forward hard against the nearest rock. Theoretically, the rock was supposed to be loose. A kick would punt it forward as though it were a ball. Reality’s a cruel mistress, however, and the rock was deeper in the ground than it seemed, “OW! OW! OW!”

“Pi…ka….” Pikachu, just happy to have been freed, and just as furious, had been sitting by his trainer’s grounded foot until a few seconds earlier. Now he was by the youngest boy in their group, watching with sympathy and a little bit of shame.

“I understand your frustration, Ash, but perhaps we shouldn’t allow it to cloud our judgment,” Brock was smiling despite feeling a similar sentiment. It was no use dwelling on, however. Though the chase had been unusually long and convoluted, the three Rockets had been blasted off just as usual. Everything was at peace once again. But… there was one big problem, “Where are we by the way?”

“Good question,” Ash, still nursing a sore foot, saw nothing but tall grass and wild bushes. There were roots breaking the ground that would tempt to disrupt the balance of any travelers if this were a path often journeyed. Instead the ground showed little evidence of being trampled by the soles of trainers making their way from one gym to the next.

Ash and his friends had started in Cerulean, hoping Misty would be around to join them for a day. And then the Rockets had struck. The disguise had been classic, they had fallen for it. The pursuit itself had lasted too long for Ash’s comfort. They had gotten too close to getting away. By the time the chase had finally ceased, the four of them were in the middle of some forest. Ash wasn’t entirely sure which one, or if it was even marked.

           “Oh great, don’t tell me we’re lost,” May frowned, hugging herself as the unknown forest began to darken with the night. The air was cold and crisp, but it was less than refreshing.

           “I’ll go see if I can find any markers or road signs,” Brock started towards a split between two bushes. It was the closest looking thing to a path he had found, even if it seemed long grown over.

           “You shouldn’t go alone, Brock, I’ll go with you,” Max adjusted his glasses, trotting behind the taller one. For a moment, Brock seemed uneasy with having the youngest go into such potential danger, but after a moment of thought seemed to agree with the kid’s words. In a moment, the two had been swallowed by the forest.

           As he watched them leave, anger began to bubble inside the Pallet Town native once more. This was all their fault! If only Team Rocket would just leave him alone… this would never have happened! He could have a normal Pokémon adventure. He could make friends and he could sleep peacefully and not find himself constantly worried he’d wake up to find his Pokémon had been stolen in the night.

           “Ash? Are you okay?” he hadn’t realized how angrily he had been staring at the ground. He hadn’t realized his hands had balled into fists and he had been muttering nothing under his breath. Pikachu leaned against his leg.

           “I… I just hate them!” Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t entirely true. Hate was a strong word after all, but they were certainly getting close to it. He saw May shift a little. He knew she felt similarly, but she had also started getting close to at least one of them. He had seen her and James interacting. It always seemed sincere and pleasant.

           But then the memory of the day flooded back. They had gotten so, so close to stealing their Pokémon. So close to taking Pikachu away from him forever. He just… he couldn’t forgive them. May offered a hand on his shoulder, “I understand,” it was a statement of solidarity. For some reason, they couldn’t hate Jessie, James, or Meowth. But they sure didn’t like them.

           “Ash! May!” Brock���s voice called through the bushes, pulling them from their angered thoughts, “We found something!”

           Avoiding the ragged and pointed fingers of the lush forest’s plants, they found Brock and Max standing in front of a large, beautifully decorated well. Blue-gray bricks, a golden circle at its mouth. The purple roof of it elaborately carved with a Pokémon’s shape.

           “A wishing well?” May tilted her head, moving to get a closer look at the carvings. Max stayed by her side as he too tried to decipher the Pokémon depicted. Ash was already taking out a small coin.

           “I wish Team Rocket would just leave me alone.” With a flick, the coin fell down the dark abyss. The faint sploosh told them the offer had been accepted. And then the well began to glow.

 * * *

 “We then noticed a path,” Max continued, “it seemed like it popped out of nowhere! Brock and I had searched that area pretty good before and we hadn’t seen anything. Following it led us to the edge of Celadon City and, well, you aren’t in Team Rocket anymore.”

“I was never in Team Rocket, that was my mother,” Jessie’s voice was flat, her half-drunk glass of cola sweating in front of her. In her hand, relaxed, was a fry dipped in ketchup, behind her the TV pundit was talking about the politics of the day in closed captioning, “So what, why’d you stop him from killing me? Hell of a lot of work to go through for someone who you don’t even like.”

“Well,” Ash bit his lip, trying to think of a way to explain it to the beaten woman in front of him, “I mean, you guys were really annoying- don’t get me wrong. But… when I saw how you were being treated, I just… I couldn’t let it happen. You drive us insane but… you’re not all bad.”

“Uh…huh….” She spoke slowly, biting off a piece of the fry. The guy named Brock frowned; he seemed to get she was merely humoring them with her comments. Good, “And I apparently have friends?”

“James,” May spoke up immediately. “And Meowth.” It was an addendum. The haste didn’t go unnoticed.  

“You were quick to volunteer. Crush?” Jessie tilted her head. A light pink began to spread on the apples of the young girl’s cheeks.

“No!” The word came a little too fast. Apparently her companions didn’t find this bit of information as new or surprising as the girl believed it to be. Perhaps it wasn’t something unsuspected?

“I don’t even know the guy, I’m not gonna tell him,” the grin came out of the corner of her mouth. Her eyes then scanned the four sitting around her, lingering a bit on the Pikachu. Is that thing really so rare? “What I don’t get is, okay, sure, you’re not a horrible person and you don’t want me being dead,” for some reason, she did sorta believe them on that note. Not entirely but… well, it seemed plausible. “But why are you guys talking about undoing it? Isn’t your life better now? We’re not gonna try to steal your stupid- no offense- pokémon anymore.”

Ash glanced down at his food. There was still quite a bit of his own dinner left. Her gaze kept on him as he seemed to struggle to come up with an answer he liked “You’re miserable,” he finally said, “At least… at least before you had a family. And they loved you. But here you’re all alone,” her brow rose. Did she sense guilt? Did he feel guilty for his wish? “I’d rather have to deal with you trying to steal Pikachu than take your family from you.”

“So you’re a martyr.”

Ash glanced up at her; he seemed at a loss for words. His mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.

“Don’t stress about it,” she let her arm rest on the table as she frowned, “You have a game plan or anything?”

“Well… I- guess… I guess we need to first find the well. Maybe we can just wish everything back to normal,” he offered, but he didn’t seem so convinced.

“Okay, that’s a great start,” her voice was filled with sarcasm, “You even remember where it is?”

He swallowed, staring down at the food. The realization that this entire thing was irreversible seemed to come into his mind. His guilt…. Ugh. She rolled her eyes. “Kid, stop it,” he glanced up, as though surprised by the hidden kindness that seeped into her tone. That irritated her more, “Stop moping. It’s not a big deal. I don’t know any other life than this. If I’m stuck here then fine. Whatever. It’s not like I’m missing anything I know. Worst case scenario, nothing changes.”

Ash seemed to be struggling with the words. He didn’t seem to want to accept them. She sat back in the booth, crossing her arms. I hate moping. As she began to open her mouth to berate him for wasting her time with a pity party, the smallest pipsqueak’s eyes widened and he offered his voice.

“It’s James!” His small arm lifted above the table, pointing to the television screen. The others instinctively turned their heads and she glanced up herself. Of course she was curious. Of course she wanted to see her supposed “best friend” and “family.” But if this was all a joke? If it was another prank by… by that man then she didn’t want them having anything on her. I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care.

Her eyes finally reached the screen, the murmurs she heard from her new companions told her that it was, indeed, James. It was a portion of one of those shady tabloid-esque programs, yammering on and on about some rich person’s wedding in just over a week’s time. James and Jessebelle. It would be large, lavish, and- most importantly- highly exclusive. Just enough leaked to make the ‘peasants’ jealous they would never have what the upper crust breathed as easily as air.

She focused on the guy. Wait a minute, “I do know him.” The phrase sent a mini shockwave through her dinner partners. She turned around and returned to her crossed-arms position, “Oh yeah, he went to Pokémon Tech same time as I did. I saw him maybe once, typical rich kid. Fucking wimp, wouldn’t dare touch anyone with a pokédollar less than him, if you’re not wearing mareep’s wool then you’re pathetic. There’s no way we were ever friends,” their lie had been blown right open, even if the supernatural stuff wasn’t obvious enough. She leaned forward, glaring at them, “you four can tell him to suck my dick. I won’t be back.”

Yeah. He might get pissy at her for quitting the gang. For not going through with this joke of his, but she had had enough of his mind games. Sure she’d be alone, but it wasn’t the first time. Taking one more fry she slid herself out of the booth, turning on the heels of her worn sneakers. Her legs still told her she shouldn’t be walking with such force, but her dignity told her to do it anyway. She passed under the television, leaving the restaurant.

#{my writings} #{rebloggable} #fatethatbinds #pokemon fanfiction #team rocket fanfiction #pokemon fanfic #jessie #james #musashi #kojiro #((I'm gonna be on in my morning! I queued this up but I'm so tired from work. a bunch of kids were unhappy with their grades #but I tried to warn them so many times #no one cared #now they care enough to yell at me #ugh))