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euphoricfilter · 4 months

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if we were to live among the stars:

pairing: carpenter! yoongi x bunny hybrid! reader

genre: fluff || non-idol au || hybrid au || established relationship

summary: a story of the compulsory new christmas bauble

word count: 1.6k

tags/warnings: tooth rotting fluff, they’re kinda just in love it’s sickening, christmas!!!!

notes: this is connected to this universe, however can be read as a standalone <3

navigation where you can find my other work!!

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆.

there were a few times a year the shop got slightly out of hand. christmas being one of those times.

yoongi would like to hope that with every year that passes, he’d be slightly more prepared for the influx of people that take an interest in his craft. but alas, another year comes around and he’s close to losing his mind with how much work needs to get done before he can rest until new year.

the both of you have slowly worked out a system. christmas is the one time of year yoongi never feels guilty recruiting you as his little helper. and on brand, he likes to indulge in a new costume for you to wear each year around the shop. the elf had been his favorite; naturally so because it was fitting for the occasion.

so many years of christmas costumes tucked away in the storage room. last year he’d convinced you to be a reindeer, not without complaint from you, the little antler headband knocking against your poor little bunny ears. which he pet in apology that night until your fallen asleep on his lap and he’d had to carry you to bed.

this year, it was you who had convinced him to match with you.

you’d wanted to be Ms Claus, which of course meant yoongi would dress as Santa. the beard had come off less than an hour of him working, frustrated huff passing his lips before it’d been dropped onto the slowly growing pile of wood on the floor.

although christmas was simultaneously yoongi’s least favorite holiday (simply because it meant so much more work, and less attention directed at you), he couldn’t help the most gentle smile that would grace his lips when he’d glance over at you every so often. your tongue dipping past soft lips as you concentrate painting each of the small ornaments for him.

always utterly determined to strive for perfection, because the work you produced was a reflection on yoongi’s shop, and you wanted everyone to know he was simply the best at his craft. that christmas wasn’t the only time of year they should bother pottering through the door, or checking what he had on the online store.

“almost done for today, my love” he murmurs, back of his hand wiping the sweat from under the fluff of his santa hat.

you pause, paintbrush hovering over the small wooden christmas tree as you glance up at the clock.

“but it’s only 3” you turn to look at him, eyes flickering over his face.

he hums, “we’re almost done with orders…” yoongi pauses, tongue wetting his bottom lip, “and we haven’t done any of our own christmas shopping yet”

you blink, nodding “yes”

“i sense a but” he narrows his eyes at you

“but… your work is important” you tell him, gently placing the paintbrush on the wooden pallet he’d made you.

“our work” he corrects, “and i know that but… we haven’t gotten each other anything yet. plus, we still need to get out compulsory new baubles for the tree”

you shake your head at him, “i told you i don’t need anything this year”

“but that’s doesn’t mean i don’t want to treat you” he argues

“save your money for something better”

he drops the chisel on the table, clank of it ringing in your ears.

“my love” he takes a step closer to you, crouching down beside your bed of blankets and pillows, “there is no ‘better’ than you”

you sigh, “i thought you were saving up for a new shop” it comes out barely above a whisper.

he falls back so he’s sitting, fingers slipping between your own.

“it can wait”

“but you’ve been talking about it for months”

“and?” his fingers squeeze yours

“and… don’t spend money on me because then you can save up quicker” you shake your head, “i’m more than happy just spending time with you, you know that”

he hums, tugging you forward. his eyebrows crease when your knee almost tips the paint water over your blanket, quick to help you step over it until you’re sat in his lap.

“i know, baby” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to your cheek, “i’m having second thoughts on the new shop”

you pause for a moment, “pardon?”

your eyes are wide as you look up at him, “but yoongi—“

he groans, head tipping back so he can avoid your eyes, “i know, i know. i’ve yapped on about it for months”

“then what changed?”

“you”

you blink at him, “me?”

“yeah, you” it isn’t accusatory, never would be and you doubt it ever will. because yoongi would never be able to bring himself to blame you for anything.

“why me?”

“look at us” he gestures between the both of you, “we’re happy. and we worked so hard for this place, it’s home”

“we can make home in another place” you murmur, “don’t give up your dream because of me”

“it’s just—“ he starts, eyes flickering across your face as he tried to find the right words, “i’ve had enough for that place i was looking at for months… i was going to call the guy who’s selling it but i couldn’t bring myself to do it”

“why?” you whisper, perhaps scared you’d ruin the mellow vulnerability if you spoke too loud.

“because this is us” he motions around the shop, “it would crush me to move us and then hate it, for me to walk into a new shop every single day and the warm feeling in my heart to never be there again” he tells you, “because you wouldn’t be able to nap on the window ledge, and we wouldn’t be able to walk down the street for coffee and your ice cream. years of you building up this—“ he points to your pile of blankets, pillows scattered how you like them, “would all be gone and it wouldn’t be the same”

“if you’re sure” you nod, “but if you change your mind—“

“i won’t” he stops you, “i know this is everything i need”

“and what if you need a bigger space?”

he groans, “i’ll throw away a table, i don’t know, it doesn’t matter. as long as it’s us and this shop then it doesn’t matter i’m happy”

“okay” you swallow, “i didn’t really want to leave anyways”

“why didn’t you tell me?” his fingers skim along the base of your bunny ears.

“because i’m not here to hold you back” you say, “i told you, where ever you go, i’ll be right behind you. because i trust you more than you’ll ever know”

“what if you were unhappy?” he runs a hand over his face.

“a piece of me will always be happy as long as we’re together. wether we stay here forever, or live among the stars with no one but us; i would be happy”

a smile quirks onto your lips as tears glaze over his eyes, the raw sort of love, all consuming, crazed, the kind of love that fills you up and threatens to spill out of every pore, so much contained within one fragile human body squeezing at yoongi’s heart as he looks at you.

his hands wander, over your shoulders and up to hold your cheeks, “okay”

“okay” you parrot, leaning into his touch.

“merry christmas” he leans forward, stealing the words from your tongue as he kisses you, ever so gentle and sweet.

“merry christmas” you whisper against his lips, quick to press a quick kiss before pulling away a little, “i might have already gotten our compulsory new bauble”

“without me?” his smile drops, eye brows furrowing

“we can get another one… but think of it as an early christmas gift”

you slip out of his lap, slinking over to your bag hung up by the door, fingers slipping past the zipper. yoongi can hear the paper bag crinkle between your fingers as you hold it behind your back, quick to sit beside him.

he turns his body to face you, knees knocking against yours.

you look down at the paper bag in your hands, mild hesitance painting your posture, sure to have so many thoughts running through your mind as you hand it over to him, not daring meet his eyes as he holds it.

“i like everything you get me” he reminds you at your clear nervous display.

“i know… but it still scares me” you admit

he lets the paper bag fall into his lap as he tugs your hands to hold his, “i love you”

your head tilts up to look at him, “i love you too but i don’t see—“

he stops you, finger pressed to your lips “i love you which means anything you’re willing to give to me will mean the world”

you frown, “open it then” you murmur

his hands slip from between yours, delicate as they unfold the paper bag.

a laugh bubbles up his throat at the sight of it, pure joy simmering beneath his skin as he holds it up in front of his face: a little wooden heart, a photo of the two of you sat prettily in the cut out.

he doesn’t remember when the photo was taken, but he remembers what you’d told him seconds before the shutter had captured that singular moment in time, locked in stasis forever.

“let’s love each other in every life, okay?”

because he remembers telling you that is the only way he planned to live, big smile on his face as you kiss his cheek.

“i love it” he whispers, eyes glued to the ornament like it were the most precious thing he had ever had the chance to hold, “i love you”

you smile, “i love you… merry christmas yoongi”

he lowers the bauble, “merry christmas, my pretty little love”

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umbraastaff · 1 year

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as is my nature, i am compelled to ask u for some more about how the atla taz group (gaang? oh my god grup? like group + lup???) meets kravitz

taz atla au

the grup... oh my god. perfect

anyway i did that here but here's something else you might like.

Slipping in through a window and coming to the elf chained up high in a tower, Kravitz realizes something that the Admiral and all of his subordinates did not: this is not the Avatar.

Taako, conversely, has no realizations about the identity of this burglar. His face is concealed by a skull mask, and he's never seen anyone running around with a scythe like it's a weapon before.

But the burglar cuts him free, and he's not one to turn down a gift. "Alright, reaper man!"

They get pretty far before encountering any real problems. The Reaper moves just as quickly and almost as smoothly as Taako, so they have no issues keeping up with one another as they escape, even as they start getting chased. He even manages to pick a few pockets.

But when they're stopped less than ten feet from the final door, surrounded, the Reaper turns to a more desperate measure. Taako suddenly finds his neck between a sternum and a blade.

He can feel the Reaper's chest against his back as they move backwards through the open door, Taako's life as the bargaining chip.

They get a good distance away before Taako hears the thwack of an arrow against the Reaper's mask, and feels him slump. Taako flings a smoke bomb he picked off someone to the ground, and with the cover, he drags his rescuer into the woods and loses their assailants.

(And he'd better be so fucking grateful about it, Taako is built for dexterity, not strength, and he's well past out of breath by the time they reach a safe spot--)

Taako's normally of the opinion that a masked man ought to have a right to his privacy, but also, he should really check if this guy's breathing.

Oh.

He must have come for Lup, then. Did he realize it was Taako when he arrived, and rescue him anyway? Or did he just not know?

In another universe, someone waits for light to awaken their rescuer before fleeing.

Taako doesn't. He lays Kravitz in a way where he won't choke on his own spit, lingers only another silent moment, and leaves before the prince can begin to stir.

#terezis #atla au #taakitz #taako #kravitz #taz balance #the adventure zone #ask #this is the episode the Blue Spirit so i guess barry and lup are delirious in a swamp somewhere while this is happening #thank u for ur support btw ginny <3

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hanaleeappreciationweek · 10 months

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HLAW 2023: Masterlist

(This gorgeous poster is the handiwork of our brilliant host @sazanes!!)

Day 1: Throwback

Art

Hana Lee by @pixi3ferry

The Dress by @sazanes

Edits

Vampire!Hana and Alien!Hana by @masked-alien-lesbian

Fanfic

Crossed Bonus by @queenmiarys

Probably A Bad Idea by @angelasscribbles

Cordonian Karaoke: Hana and Hana Take 2 from Cordonian Karaoke by @angelasscribbles

Petals and Thornes (series) by @lizzybeth1986

Chapter 6: Moments in Between from Marshmallow by @twinkleallnight

Meta

Skills vs Passions - What's the Difference? from Hana Lee: A Study in Erasure by @lizzybeth1986

Moodboard

Dance Moodboard for Hana by @lorirwritesfanfic

Chocolate

Art

Hana's Chocolate vs Liam's Vanilla by @cassiopeiacorvus

Fanfic

Eurochocolate by @masked-alien-lesbian

Day 3: Music/AU

Music

Art

Hana and her Keytar! 🎹🎸 by @sazanes

Headcanon

Hana Lee: Music Headcanons by @lizzybeth1986

Fanfic

A Ballad to No One by @lorirwritesfanfic

Edit

Wood Nymph!Hana by @masked-alien-lesbian

Fanfic

HLAW Snippet from Dark Elf by @angelasscribbles

Day 4: Relationships/Homes

Relationships

Fanfic

I'll Be There For You from American Girl by @angelasscribbles

Worthy by @noesapphic

Headcanon

Relationships, Homes and HCs by @angelasscribbles

Hana's Engagement to Peter by @thecapturedafrique

Moodboard

Moodboards for "Out of the Chrysalis" by @lizzybeth1986

Homes

Art

Hana Lee with a Lotus by @pixi3ferry

Manhua Reader by @sazanes

A Tea Party by @mariemarieohcontrary

Headcanon

Hana's Origins by @lizzybeth1986

HC: Relationships and Homes (and an AU) by @masked-alien-lesbian

Day 5: Hana's Perfect Wedding

Art

Hana's Perfect Wedding!! by @sazanes

Headcanons

Headcanon: The Wedding of Duchesses Kiara Thorne and Hana Lee by @lizzybeth1986

Hana's Ideal Wedding by @masked-alien-lesbian

Hana(ra)'s Perfect Wedding by @thecapturedafrique

A huge thank you to ALL our participants - we're in awe of all the stuff you've put out and we honestly can't wait for everyone to see your pieces too!!

We know a lot of you struggled to get your pieces out, and would like you all to know that if you'd still like to send in something when you're done...we would be happy to include it in the masterlist!! Do tag us!! 💖💖💖

We would highly recommend all of you who see this masterlist check out every piece in this masterlist 🤗🤗🤗🤗

To find the HLAW 2022 masterlist, go here.

#hana lee #hanaleeappreciationweek #HLAW #the royal romance #the royal heir #the royal finale #HLAW 2023 #HLAW masterlist #HLAW 2023 masterlist

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romeoandjulietyouwish · 11 months

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There's a lot of classism in horse back riding and that interacts with the horse stable au. Vex does western and barrel racing and honestly she loves doing just trail rides. But that kind of riding is seen as lesser compared to dressage. And there's obviously there's extra layers because of being a half-elf and being an employee taking care of the horses so Vex is just dirt to the rich fucks boarding their horses at the stable.

So being with Trinket in his stable is just a moment or two is such a relief for her. He'll nuzzle against her cheek and make her laugh and it just makes her day a bit better.

One day Percy sees her crying in Trinket's stable, just brushing his man and talking to him softly in Elvish. And he knocks on the wood softly and checks in on her and it's the first time that he's approached her and the first time that anyone that boards there checked in on her personally.

#horse stable au #critical role #vox machina #percahlia #lis makes hcs

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dreamescapeswriting · 2 years

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Dirty Blood ~ LF [Request]

⤜WORD COUNT: 8K

⤜PAIRING: Felix x Fem!Reader

⤜GENRE: fantasy AU, Elf au, Felix Elf and reader is Half Elf and half human, a little angst (because its not me if there’s not a little angst) happy ending, cottage/elf core, mentions of bullying, strangers to friends to lovers, hidden identity,

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - May 2022

⤜MASTERLIST

There were only two reasons a halfling like yourself was out in the woods this early in the morning.

One: For gathering materials and you'd been doing it all night long

Two: You'd gotten lost and hadn't been able to find your way back until the early hours when the sun had begun to rise.

Neither of which was good since you'd been in the forest since 8 pm the night before in the desperate search for the items you needed for your potions. You were physically exhausted from staying away most of the night with your dagger clutched tightly in your hand ready to kill any creature that tried to attack you. You weren't like other Elves around you, far from it in fact.

You were half-human and half-elf which meant you needed a lot more rest compared to those you lived near and you were constantly attacked by creatures in frantic attempts for your flesh and blood. Your only other defence against the creatures was your German Shepherd dog "Snow" who had left you less than ten minutes ago in search of food.

"Snow!" You called out to the darkness but there was no sight of him, you knew he was just in the clearing in front of you but you wanted him to stick by your side. The villagers knew who he belonged to and you very much doubted they would be kind to him if they saw him without you by his side.

"Snow!" You whistled this time in hopes he would come running back to you but to no avail. You knew you should have taken your horse the night before, at least if you had taken Storm with you, you could have been home faster and not had to struggle with your basket.

Last night's trip was supposed to be a basic routine in hopes of finding some basil and cinnamon but you'd stumbled upon something much better than that. A whole secret section of the forest filled with everything you needed and more to get you through the next month or two. The shop was going to be stocked full of every potion known to Elves and you were going to be the one creating and selling them.

"Snow!" You hoasted up the edges of your gown and clock as you stepped over a wooden log doing your best not to fall on the ground. The whole forest was still wet from the rainfall you'd had from the previous nights and this was no place for you to be right now. It was cold and damp and all you wanted was to go home and curl up in front of the fire. Usually, this job was left down for apprentices to do, or someone within the village who was qualified to go out into the woods at night. Someone with experience in fighting monsters and finding ingredients but no one would work for you.

No matter how much you would pay or offer the village hated you and all because of what you were. Half-human and half-elf. "Dirty blood" was what they would murmur whenever you would walk by them, "dirty blood" "scoundrel" "halfling"

Not many people would have stayed to deal with what the villagers would say but it wasn't as if you had much of a choice. Your only options were to stay where you were unwelcome but of good use or go to the human realm where you would be miserable and useless. You chose to be of use here and be happy with what you did.

Helping those who were in need of assistance for anything.

For although the villagers around you disliked you, they used your services and paid handsomely for them since you were one of the best potion makers in all of the fade.

The fade was home to almost 40 villages and the main district where the high elf lived with most of the royal subjects. The high elf ruled over every village within the fade - not that he ever came to them to check how they were doing. Most lived in poverty and disarray but no one ever complained about it to the high elf. They very much doubted the young prince cared about anything apart from himself.

"Hey, bubba!" You called out as Snow began to race back toward you, his fluffy white tail wagging as he panted heavily in front of you.

"You thirsty?" You quizzed, looking around for any body of water you could find but there was nothing around, not for a few miles at least.

"Run home, I can handle myself." You told him as you rubbed his chin softly, the dog looked at you as if trying to determine if you were sure so you nodded. Watching him rush off into the distance without a care in the world, you just hoped he would reach the store safely before anyone could spot him.

"Shit," You whispered as you felt your ankle twist and the basket slip from your fingers, ingredients flew all over the place as you scrambled down to your knees to pick everything up.

"Whoa, you need any help?" Your whole body tensed hearing a voice out here, the forest was usually empty this early in the morning. Vampires were hiding from the sunlight and it wasn't as if any of the villagers would venture out so early. Slowly you moved your hand to the slit in your gown, retrieving your dagger from the holster on your thigh so the person wouldn't notice your movements,

"I'm fine," You spoke calmly and clearly, not wanting to give away how nervous you truly were in front of a stranger, especially with your back to them.

"It's no problem, I can help if you need it." There was the sound of boots hitting the ground and you glanced your eyes down to the floor, there were boots and hoves close by.

"I'm Felix, I won't hurt you." You scoffed a little,

"As if I would believe a stranger-" You stopped yourself from speaking as you turned to look at the man in front of you. Standing beside the man was a horse made of shadow and the man himself was beautiful.

All elves were beautiful but there was something about Felix that was different. His hair was long and blonde almost silver, a small braid was down by his cheek which was almost sharp points. His ears extended away from his face into points and you smiled a little, he was a full elf. Your ears were just like humans and you used silver cuffs with diamonds to make yours a similar shape to his. You continued to stare at the man in front of you, your eyes finding his as you shivered a little. His eyes were a brilliant nut brown, almost the same colour as the mud when it had rained and he made it look beautiful.

Felix was ethereal, handsome and power just radiated off of him as he stood in front of you. His lips were moving but you hadn't registered anything he had said to you.

"S-Sorry, what?" You quizzed, wanting to kick yourself for seeming so rude in front of a beautiful stranger such as him. You'd never seen him in the village and you could only think he had travelled from another village not too far from you,

"I asked if you needed help, you look as though you could use it." He suggested as he looked down at the spilt contents from your wicker basket and you sighed a little.

"Sure, I'm yn." You told him as you both began to place everything back into the overflowing basket.

"You must be a potions maker, right?" You nodded proudly and smiled at him,

"The best in all of Thyletaesi," You mentioned your village name in hopes he would tell you his but he simply smiled and picked up the basket from the floor.

"I'll help you the rest of the way, I was just passing through." He said as he looked at you so unsure of him, it wasn't as if you could go around trusting those you had just met.

"I can walk, it's no bother."

"But if you walk you'll be out here for another hour or so, at least if you ride with me I can get you there faster. I'm sure your shop and assistants need you." You swallowed the lump in your throat, that was the problem. You had no assistants which meant if you weren't there to open the shop would stay closed and who knew what would happen if you weren't there during the day.

"Sure but you have to stop at the bridge into the village..."

"Why?" He quizzed, arching his brow as he stared at you, when he first stumbled upon you he'd noticed your ears but he wasn't one to judge. The fade was filled with half-humans and half-elves it wasn't as though it was a bad thing.

"Because if people see you with me they'll only be cruel to you."

"And not you?" Felix was interested to see if things were as bad as he had heard here. He knew not much when it came to different villages and he wanted to explore before he found one to rest in until the end of his life,

"You're a full elf I'm half...I'm already subjected to their cruelness I'm not sure it can get much worse." He was taken back a little, he'd heard of halflings being subjected to mean words but never too much that it affected them this badly. He placed your basket into the small cart his horse was carrying and smiled over at you, the smile was enough to make your heart swoon.

"What do they do?" He questioned, jumping onto his horse before taking your hand in his as you both stopped for a second. A jolt of electricity had shot through you both upon a simple contact but neither of you mentioned it,

"An easier question would be what don't they do." You tried to laugh a little, to play this off as though it wasn't a big deal but it was. Carefully Felix lifted you up onto the back of the horse,

"Keep your hands around my waist," You didn't move, you kept your hands on top of his shoulders until the horse began to gallop and you let out a small squeal. Quickly you wrap your arms around the man's waist and hold onto him tightly watching as all of the trees pass by you quickly.

"You're beautiful," You whispered to the shadow-like horse, running your fingers through its mane as you stopped at the bridge just outside of your village. The store was a two-minute walk and you'd made it in record timing thanks to your new companion. The ride had been mostly silent thanks to the wind and sound of hoves hitting the floor,

"Here you go," He said with a smile, handing you the small basket once again as you carefully took it into your arms,

"Thank you so much for the ride, I really should take Storm out into the forest with me from now on." You spoke out as you slowly began to head to the bridge, Felix followed on foot as he pulled his own horse with him,

"Storm?" He raised his eyebrow and you nodded,

"My horse, he was my fathers but he's not as fast as your beautiful girl," You laughed looking at his horse who stepped in time with both of you,

"Eclipse," He said as he motioned to his horse with a proud smile on his lips,

"She's brilliant, truly." You smiled warmly as you glanced through the village. People were beginning to wake and set up their stores or head out for the day, it wouldn't be long until someone spotted the two of you together.

"I should go, it was lovely to meet you Felix and if you ever need anything. My store is through a small alleyway just down there," You pointed in the direction of a row of houses and Felix nodded, bowing his head to you as he watched you take off in a sprint toward your home. Eclipse huffed from the side of him, placing her head on his shoulder,

"I know Eclipse we're behind but I wasn't going to let her struggle." He whispered, running his fingers through her hair as he continued to watch you until you disappeared down the alleyway.

"Besides, we can stay a few days...I'm sure there's an inn." He looked at Eclipse before starting to walk around the village in hopes of finding somewhere to stay for a couple of days.

As you'd made your way through the village you ignored the comments you got from passers-by and tried not to look when people shielded their children from you.

"Dirty blood," Someone said before spitting on the ground beside you, you moved to the side and shook your head as you began to unlock the door to your shop pushing it open and smiling as you saw Snow curled up on the floor.

"Hey fella," You whispered, putting the basket down onto the cluttered counter and bending down to stroke through his fur, he must have been just as tired as you were from the trip. The only difference was that he got to sleep all day while you made potions and served anyone that would come in.

"I have to make Cal his brew, sleep away bubba." You whispered pressing a kiss against his fluffy forehead and slowly getting yourself up from the floor. The sooner you got the brew to boil the sooner you could change from your dirty clothes and into something that smelt fresher and felt better.

It was going to be a long day of making brews, poultices, sleeping draught, strengthing potions, as well as some healing salves. A full day of work on no sleep was going to be interesting to say the very least. Your mind kept going back to Felix as you walked through your home, wondering why you hadn't heard him coming in the first place and what he was doing here. Thyletaesi wasn't exactly the biggest village and not even the most liked, if anything you were sure Thyletaesi was slow on the rating list of villages to visit. You were just thankful someone had helped you home, you would have hated to come to work to find the windows smashed...again.

It had been little less than a week since someone had broken in one night to steal most of your potions. You were just happy all of your books and journals had been locked away under a magic ward only to be opened with a drop of your blood. There was no way you were going to risk someone getting their hands on hundreds of years' worth of information passed down through generations of your family.

The chime of the bell above the door to your shop stole your attention from the healing salve you were making. It had been a day since your visit to the woods and you were running out of ingredients once again, you knew you were going to have to venture out soon enough which was why you were shut today. You had enough potions and products for emergencies but you were in desperate need of a trip to the woods.

"Sorry, I'm closed and only open for emergencies today." You spoke, slowly turning around to see Felix watching you from the door, a giant smile on his face as you smiled back at him. The man was seriously contagious with a smile,

"Felix?" You laughed a little setting down the jar of valerian root and brushing off your hands,

"Do you need something? Healing potion? E-Erm...Some tea? Brew?" You were so thankful to the man in front of you, you didn't care if he needed almost everything inside of your store you would give it to him for free.

"I just came to see you, it's a lovely store you have here." He motioned around as he took in the appearance of it all. Each wall was lined with dark wooden shelves but most of them were bare,

"I'm out of a lot, I need to go into the woods later in search of almost everything." You let out an awkward laugh when you noticed his gaze lingering on everything your shop didn't have.

"Didn't you just get things?"

"I used most of them, I have a lot of customers who are bound to their houses. I take them their regular items."Felix's mouth formed a small "O" shape as he looked at you. He had no idea you did so much for the community, when he'd asked around most people pretended not to have heard him or only say mean things about you.

"Can't you send one of the gathers out for you? I'm sure they would have it done a lot faster and be able to carry more." He suggested as you poured both of you a mug of herbal tea, and gestured for him to take a seat.

"No one will go for me, dirty blood and all that." You whispered as you brushed down your seat before sitting down,

"Dirty blood?" The term had been used in front of Felix before but he never would have assumed many people to use it in the presence of someone such as yourself. It was typically never used nowadays least of all in front of those who were half-human and half-elf.

"Dirty blood, disgusting, waste of space. Oh, I was also called sepsis for a while but they stopped that one." You shook your head at the memories. Ever since your family had passed it had only gotten worse in the village but you never let it bother you. You were in the process of saving enough to leave this village and embark somewhere nicer. Somewhere you wouldn't be judged for your blood.

"Do they have nothing better to do than to belittle someone that cares for them?" He sounded more offended than you ever would be, it wasn't as if you took it to heart. You'd learnt from a young age to take what they said with a pinch of salt, nothing they could ever say or do would matter to you.

"Apparently not. But that's why I'm shut today. I need to go out later, I'm going to take Snow with me since Storm isn't feeling up to it." Speaking of the devil your dog came rushing into the room carrying a ball in his mouth, dropping it in front of Felix his tail wagging so much you were sure it would drop off.

"This is snow?" Felix chuckled as he ran his hands over his cheeks, smiling down at the dog as you nodded your head. It was incredible to see Snow getting along with someone so quickly, he wasn't exactly the most people person dog and typically stayed by your side and nobody else.

"My best friend," You told him with a bright smile, Snow had been your best friend ever since you'd gotten him as a pup. The two of you went everywhere together and were practically inseparable, your father used to joke about the two of you being meant to find one another.

"He's the cutest best friend," Felix cooed before Snow walked away to go and lay in front of the fire, watching the door closely the way he always did.

"Definitely," You let out a small laugh as you glanced back over at Felix. Today his hair was down and the braid had been undone, he still looked as beautiful as the day before and he was wearing a green cloak.

"So, no one will go for you?" He quizzed, going back to the topic of conversation from before and you nodded playing with the small locket around your neck,

"I typically go at night when no one will attack the shop, most of the villagers are too afraid to leave their homes at night." You admitted as you slowly sipped on the tea,

"I can go for you. I would love to go into the woods and explore, I used to gather for people in my village," Your eyes landed on Felix, he looked too rich to be a gatherer but you didn't want to say no to him. The thought of someone helping you would be exceptional, especially when you had deliveries to make today.

"I can pay you, I'll pay half now and the rest when the job is done," You suggested as you thought back on the money you had stored away, a little dipping into the savings wasn't going to hurt you.

"I would do it for free, think of it as a friend doing a favour for a friend," He said as he placed down his mug, Felix was always ready to go on any kind of adventure.

"And what would I owe you in return?" You knew better than to assume that no one did anything for nothing these days, somebody always wanted something.

"Spend quality time with me, give me a tour...Show me how you make some of your potions. I want an insider's view of the village and food...The food at the inn I'm staying in isn't the best," You laughed a little but nodded your head,

"Sure. I'll cook for you tonight if you come back tonight that is. I know some people stay in the woods most of the night,"

"I'll be back in a few hours, don't worry about me. Just write me a list of everything you'll need and I'll bring you everything and more." You smiled brightly at the idea of it, if Felix was willing to go into the woods for you and gather materials you were going to be good for at least a while. A long while.

"I'll make you some special stew tonight then," You told him with a smile, quickly writing down everything you were going to need as well as some places he could find it.

Felix had stayed for an entire month with you in Thyletaesi, learning the ways of the village as well as familiarizing himself with the woods since he would venture out there almost every other day for you. Even on the days when you had everything you needed he would go out to gather more items for you, claiming he never wanted you to run out. That continued for almost four months, the two of you had grown quite close with one another but Felix's visits were becoming less frequent than before. He told you he was busy in his home village but would come once or twice a month to see you and go into the woods with you,

The two of you were quite the pair and had even started to go out into the woods together whenever he came to visit you,

"Cal, I told you I can't keep making this brew. I gave you the recipe." You told the old man as he sat down in your chair while you brewed his remedy for him, glancing at him as he looked over at the fireplace.

"I can't make it as you can, you always make it taste so much better," He grumbled as you shook your head at him. Cal had been coming to you since before you were 12, he was always coming to see your father and to get his brews from him.

"You're just trying to get on my good side,"

"I'm always on your good side." He mumbled as you hummed a little, he wasn't wrong. Cal was one of the villagers who stuck up for you, though since they had seen you with Felix not many of them belittled you anymore. There were still the odd comments but they began to calm once they saw you weren't alone.

"Where is Felix? I thought today was the day of the month you went hiking together," You looked at Cal and arched your brow,

"What? I can't take an interest in when you get extra happy? Or when you get so giddy you barely sleep." You tried to ignore his comments but it was painfully obvious that was how you got whenever Felix was due to come around. You had found yourself having a strong attraction toward him and it was harder to hide than you first thought it was going to be.

"So...Where is he?"

"Probably late. He's a busy guy," You grumbled trying not to look at the time. Felix was normally here bright and early, waiting outside of your door for you to open the shop but today when he wasn't there you felt a sinking feeling inside of his chest. It wasn't as though you were pushed down to do this, he was free to come and go whenever he wanted. A part of you hoped he wasn't bored of you and decided not to come around anymore.

"I know that look, you think he's not going to come?"

"I do not, I just think he's busy and lost track of time and besides," You put the bowl in front of Cal and handed him a spoon,

"We're not together, we're not married. He's not required to be here, he can come and go as he likes," You took a seat in front of Cal and looked down at the fire, adding another log onto the others and trying not to let your thoughts get too clouded with Felix. If you thought about it for too long you knew you would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

"But you wish to be married, I can see it in your eyes,"

"You see nothing in my eyes, I don't wish to be married. Marriage means giving all of this up," You gestured around the store and Cal scoffed at you,

"I believe Felix would never let you give up something that made you this happy," Cal chuckled happily as he looked at you,

"Felix and I, aren't together." You grumbled at him as you shook your head,

"Not yet."

"Not ever."

"Why not?"

"I am dirty blood and he is pure blood. The purest of pure there is," You mumbled, bending down and picking up some of your cross stitching work to try and distract yourself from the topic of conversation.

"If I ever hear those words come from your mouth again I'll never come back," He yelled out, slamming down his bowl as he took a look at you. Cal would never allow you to speak of yourself in such a way, regardless of the fact that you were half-human and half-elf. It did not matter to him, to him you were just as good an elf as anybody else in the fade and there was nothing you - or anyone else - could say would change that.

"You would and you know it. You can't live without my brews." You smirked a little as he picked the bowl back up and brought it to his lips, glaring playfully at you.

"Hush child," You were about to say something, when you heard, hoves galloping through the alley and you smiled, racing to your feet as you knew it was going to be Felix.

"Look how excited you are, and you tell me you're not in love." You shot Cal a look to tell him to shut up and rushed to the door, smiling as Felix climbed from Eclipse's back.

"Hey, I'm late and I'm sorry but-" He stopped when you walked into his arms and hugged him tightly your head snuggling against his chest as he let out a happy sigh.

"I missed you," You admitted as he wrapped his arms around your waist, laying his head down on top of your own as he nodded.

"I missed you too," It wasn't the first time either of you had embraced one another like this and it wasn't going to be the last. If everything was going to go according to plan Felix was going to have you in his life forever.

"I'm calling in that favour," Felix stated as you both walked into your store, Cal bowing his head before leaving you both alone for the day.

"What favour?" You quizzed, pouring a cup for each of you and sitting down with Snow at your feet,

"The one from the day we met, after I took you home and went to the woods for you," He glanced at you as you smirked back at him,

"You already cashed that in, you wanted a friend and a friend I was." You told him as you wiggled your eyebrows only to be met with a serious look from Felix. Your whole world stood still as you suddenly took this as seriously as he did,

"What do you need? Is it a brew? Is someone sick?" You got to your feet, ready to work with whatever he needed but he took your hand in his and shook his head,

"No one is sick, I want you to do something with me." Your heart was racing and you were almost sure he could feel it through the touch of your palms.

"Sure...What is it?" You would do anything for him without him "cashing in" a favour, if Felix needed something you were more than willing to help him out.

"There's a ball coming up, in-"

"Ellenas," You cut him off as you nodded your head. You knew of the ball, everyone who lived within the fade knew of the ball and every year tried to get an invite to it. It was a prestigious masked ball that everyone wanted to be a part of. Every year people from all over the Fade would fight to get invited to this place since it took place in the palace kingdom.

"The high prince is looking for a wife this year," Felix explained as he kept his eyes on you. You were completely unreadable and he didn't know if you were happy to go or pissed at him for asking.

The truth was Felix had been wanting to ask you to go with him ever since he met you and now he finally could.

"I'd have nothing to wear," You reminded him. You only really owned around four gowns and some sleepwear. You weren't exactly the most well-dressed person in the village. You doubted they would allow someone poorly dressed inside of the palace.

"Already taken care of, the owner of the inn is making you a gown and a sculpted mask." He smiled proudly at himself, he had been working on asking you this for months. He'd gotten all of your sizes from your previous gowns and all that was left was a fitting for the mask.

"Sculpted?"

"So it won't slip from your face," He said casually as he sat you down on his knee, your eyes looking anywhere but at him.

"Why? Why do you want to go to the ball with me?" You frowned not following along. The ball was too big an event for someone like you, someone who wasn't used to these kinds of things.

"As my date." He whispered, running his hand up to cup your face in his hand and run his thumb along your bottom lip softly making your whole head spin.

"Date?" He nodded as your eyes lit up, you'd never been on a date and to hear Felix ask you, you were pretty sure you were going fall right off his lap.

"You wanted to go on a date?" You questioned again, trying to figure out how long he had been wanting to date you. Had it been as long as you wanted to date him?

"I wanted it to be special."

"You could have taken me to the woods and that would be special enough," You told him as you shook your head, giggling a little as he shook his head in protest at you.

"I know but this is different," He smiled as you nodded your head. It would be completely different. A date to a huge ball where you would be dancing all night long.

"How did you even get tickets?"

"It's me, I'm special," He smirked as you nodded your head in agreement. He was very special, he always had some kind of aura around him that made him inviting and people adored him.

"Very,"

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes, it's a yes." You giggled as he dragged his thumb along your bottom lip,

"You have no idea how long I've waited to ask you that," He whispered thickly, his throat drying as he looked from your eyes to your lips. You moved your head into his palm and smiled, there was s sense of familiarity in his touch. Something you never wanted to lose,

"Yn?" The way he said your name made your head spin,

"Yeah?" You locked eyes and he said nothing. He simply pulled your face toward his and your mouth met his. His arm tightened around you, yanking you closer to him as you kissed him back. The smell of elderberries and honey surrounded you and he tasted as sweet as candy. You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck as Felix ran his tongue along your lips while you let out a small whine moving to sit on his lap with your knees on either side of him on the chair. Felix pushed his tongue into your mouth and slipped against yours gently. The movements were rough and needy but still felt full of love and passion for you.

"Felix," You whispered as you pushed him back against the chair, looking at him as you both gasped for air. Felix stared at you, his lips shining and parted as he smirked back at you,

"Kiss me again," You begged as you moved closer to him, his eyes burning as he dragged you down into another passionate kiss.

"I'm never travelling that way again," You groaned as you leaned over, holding your stomach as you felt your stomach beginning to churn. You were almost sure you were going to vomit everywhere and your head was spinning too quickly for you to even see straight.

"What? It was fun! Besides, you're going to need to get used to it." Chan - someone Felix had sent to fetch you - explained as he watched you closely. Teleportation was anything but fun and you never wanted to do that for as long as you lived. You were holding your head as you slowly got up from the floor and looked around you.

"Whoa. Felix splashed for a really nice inn. Seriously, this place is fancy." You laughed a little looking at the walls which were covered in paintings and plants of all different kinds. You'd never seen an inn that had this much stuff inside of the rooms, most of them had a bed and wardrobe and that was it. There was nothing quite like this, at least not in Thyletaesi.

"Inn?" Chan frowned not following along with where you thought you were right now.

"Well, isn't that where we are?" You laughed a little, suddenly feeling awkward around the man who was in front of you.

"Not exactly," Chan gestured to the window and you began to walk toward it, your eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as you stared down at the ground. From where you were everyone looked like ants and people were all lining up outside of the palace yelling and trying to get inside.

“How did we get into the palace? Is he a guard?” You quizzed turning to look at Chan,

“Not exactly.”

“If you say that one more time I’m going to slap you,” You warned him as he stared over at the door where a small knock was coming from. Followed by a small woman walking inside with a giant grin on her face,

“I’m here to dress you, I believe you have your own gown and mask.” She held out her hands to take the bag from Chan and you stared at her, she looked to be around 5''2 and had wings on her back. A fairy. Typically used within palaces as chambermaids and cleaners, you'd read a lot about their kind.

“I can dress myself. Thank you..." You said slowly, not wanting anyone else to see you naked. You were perfectly capable of putting on a gown.

“It’s customary for the chambermaid to do that ma’am. Please.” You stared at her and then at Chan who was slowly trying to sneak out of the room, but you snapped your fingers at him.

“Don’t even think about it. Where is he? Where’s Felix?”

“Felix is preoccupied at the moment, but he has sent us to assist you in any way that we can,” Chan explained as you suddenly felt sick.

It made sense as to how Felix got tickets if he worked within the palace but why wouldn’t he just tell you, you were sure you and Felix had an understanding of one another. And after the heated night, the two of you shared you were positivity he trusted you enough to tell you he worked for the high prince. You didn't understand why he would hide that he worked here, it wasn't as though you were going to hate him for his job.

“What’s he so preoccupied with,” You mumbled as you slowly walked toward the bathroom, followed by the elf who was your chambermaid

“The high elf is always preoccupied with something.” You stood still and the fairy bumped into you, your eyes turning to look at her as she flushed.

“I mean, Felix. Felix is always-” She stumbled over her words trying to gather her thoughts together but it was too late. You'd already heard what she didn't want you to,

“You said high elf. Chan!” You screamed but he’d already left the room and slammed the door behind him. The sneaky man was probably already on his way to tell Felix that the cat was out of the bag on this secret.

“Felix is the high elf?” You questioned, staring at the fairy who was turning a bright red colour.

“Yes ma’am.”

“I slept with the high elf?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“He’s looking for a wife?”

“yes, ma’am." Your blood boiled with her as you heard the same words come from her lips once again.

“Do you know how to say anything except that?”

“Yes ma’am,” You groaned at her before shaking your head.

“Fuck,” You looked over at the mirror in front of you. This whole time you had been spending time with the high Elf and you didn’t even know it, he’d slept with you and lied about who he was. Though, technically he hadn’t lied since he didn’t tell you he WASN’T the high Elf.

“Am I in trouble? Is that why he’s brought me here?” You turned back to look at the fairy who was hanging up your bag and taking the gown out from inside.

“No, Felix is…Felix has been looking for someone for a long time and for a while we didn’t think he would find somebody.” You frowned a little, why would he look for somebody. You were sure his parents would have set him up with someone of higher status. Someone who was better suited for him.

“Somebody?”

“Somebody who would love him, someone to care for him.” You frowned but nodded your head trying to follow along with her. You thought everyone within the royal family married for power, not for love.

You cared for Felix deeply, High elf or not he was still the man you had begun to fall in love with from the moment he took you home that first day you met. It just meant that things would be different from this point on. You were going to have to accept the fact that he wasn't your Felix any more. He wasn't the man who would run into the woods whenever you needed.

“Does he need to marry someone of higher status? Someone who isn’t-”

“Half-human?” A voice asked, making you turn your head over your shoulder to see Cal standing there. Only he looked better than he had ever done in Thyletaesi and was wearing a fine suit of armour.

“Cal?” You breathed out, drinking in his appearance. He looked healthy, nothing like he did in Thyletaesi.

“At your service,” He bowed a little and your mouth fell open,

“What are you doing here?”

“I serve the High Elf and his family. For many, many years." He told you as he walked further into the room.

“But you live in Thyletaesi…You need my brew every day to keep going,” You shook your head as you turned to face him completely. You were finding it hard to wrap your head around the fact that he was here with you right now. The man you had known since you were young worked within the palace. Though it did explain why he didn't work and was still able to afford his food.

“I do live in Thyletaesi but I don’t need the brew. The High prince has one of us stationed in every village in the Fade. He wants to keep a close eye on everything that happens within his kingdom. Every problem needs fixing and he fixes it,”

“Did you know who he was when I met him?”

“I did.” He nodded his head and your stomach sank a little. Was this all some kind of trap to get you to marry Felix from the beginning?

“Did you set it up?”

“No. You happened upon each other when he was coming to visit the village. It was a happy accident.”

“You say happy accident, I say complete disaster! He's a prince! I’m-”

“Don’t you dare say it,” He warned as you looked down at the floor, there was no way you were going to be able to date a prince much less marry one? How could he spring this on you and not even be here to tell you about it?

“Where is he? I wish to speak to him before I go down to the ball…Did he think I was just going to walk out there and not notice he was the High Elf?” You questioned as Cal shook his head, he had no idea what Felix had planned to do when you arrived. He'd been begging the Prince to tell you the truth from the moment you met.

“if it's any consolation I told him to tell you from the start but he wanted you to like him for him…Not for his status,” You hummed tiredly and looked at the mirror once again trying to calm yourself down, getting yourself worked up wasn't going to help anybody.

"You look breathtaking," Felix whispered as he walked into his room to find you fully dressed, as soon as you saw him it felt as though a weight had been lifted from your chest. You'd been left along with your thoughts for what felt like hours and you were finally happy to have someone around you.

"Don't make me smile. I'm mad at you." You did your best to make it seem as though you were annoyed, though you weren't. As soon as you saw Felix everything you had been worried about completely dissolved away. He was still your Felix, the same person you had fallen in love with.

"Will you be mad for long? I was hoping to get a couple of dances in with you," He smirked as he stepped closer to you, snaking his arm around your waist as he dragged you into his touch and smiled happily.

"You're the High Elf," You reminded him as if he didn't already know of his position.

"I am," He laughed a little, shrugging his shoulders as he seemingly found no problem with that.

"Felix...This is serious you're the high elf and I'm half-human. Don't you think this is going to cause some questions?" You quizzed as he pretended to think about it for a couple of seconds before shaking his head at you.

"Nope, why would it?"

"Dirty blood-" You couldn't finish what you were saying as Felix crashed his lips to yours and you melted against him, he pulled your body firmly against his and you pushed your hands into his hair. Tugging on the silver strands a little as he moaned against your lips, as badly as he needed you neither of you could go any further just yet.

"We can't do that yet," He whispered against your lips as you ached for him to kiss you again. You'd never wanted to kiss someone more than Felix, it was always so filled with passion and love.

"I want you to kiss me forever," You breathed out as he held his eyes with yours, his eyes darkening a little as he heard the words fall from your lips.

"Say that again,"

"I want you to kiss me forever?" You frowned a little,

"Do you mean that?" You stared at him as you realised what forever meant. You would be his. His queen. The queen of the fade to rule side by side with Felix for the rest of your life.

"Yes." You whispered as he looked at you, he hadn't planned to ask you to marry him for a while. He at least wanted to introduce you to his world slowly before he popped the question. Though he was sure he wanted nothing more than to marry you tonight of all nights if he could.

"Yn..." He whispered husky and deep,

"You have to think about it." He finished as he stare at you. Your head and heart were in complete agreement with one another. You wanted Felix and you wanted him for the rest of your long life.

"I already have. I want you in my life forever, Felix." You told him as he kiss you again, his tongue running along your lips seeking entry which you gladly granted him. Moving your body against his as he pushed you against the closest surface, his fingers brushing down the curve of your breast and hip and hungrily grabbing you.

"My queen," He whispered breathlessly,

"My High Elf," You whispered before crashing your lips to his once again, biting his lip softly as he groaned rolling his hips down to meet yours.

"Yn." He growled pulling back and shaking his head,

"We have a ball to go to." He reminded you as you let out a small whine of protest. You didn't want to go down there yet, you wanted to keep Felix to yourself just a little while longer.

"Ugh, can't we stay here and kiss all night long?" You whispered seductively, pulling him closer by the belt of his pants as he licked his lips and smirked a little.

"As badly as I want that, we have an engagement to announce." He laughed softly, bending down and kissing you deeply once again. Leaving you needier than ever as he pulled away from you and stood by the door of the room.

"Are you ready, my Queen?" He smirked, holding out his arm for you as you took in a deep breath. You were more than ready to face anything with him,

"Yes, my love." You whispered as you linked your arm with his and headed out of the room. Though you didn't know the first thing about being a Queen or even how to act around royalty you knew you would be able to do anything with Felix by your side.

Tagline: @minholuvs @taestannie @sw33tnight @acciocriativity @mwitsmejk @taeechwitaa @justbangtanthingz @lolalee24 @stillwithlix @yubinism @ethereallino @kimahnjung98 @halesandy

#skz #skz x reader #skz imagine #skz imagines #stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagine #stray kids imagines #lee felix #felix #felix x reader #felix imagine #felix imagines #lee felix x reader #lee felix imagine #lee felix imagines

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waltwhitmansbeard · 1 year

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go on, claim my heart: chapter eleven

see my masterpost for what came before this. inspired by @romeoandjulietyouwish's medieval au.

Vex is still swearing under her breath as Percy drags her down the hall, Grog just behind to prevent her from charging back into Syldor's study to give him a piece of her mind. They pass a pair of doors that are just a bit ajar, and Percy takes the opportunity to duck inside, away from the rest of the house. It's some kind of parlor, one with the type of furniture created for viewing rather than sitting, but he'll take whatever he can get at this point. He pushes Vex down onto an ornate dark wood settee and says, "Is it all out of your system yet, or is there more abuse you'd like to hurl at the world?"

"Fuck him," Vex snarls, but then she crosses her arms and sinks back into the settee.

"Wonderful." Percy perches on the edge of a tea table and buries his face in his hands. All things considered, asking the twins' father for help could have gone worse, but not by much. He detests being in the position of sitting and waiting, of hoping that Keyleth and Vax can convince the arrogant fool to change his mind. If anything, he and Vax should switch places; he could use his political skill to cajole Syldor into changing his mind, while Vax prowled the house to steal whatever his nimble fingers could take.

Instead, he looks up at Vex, who is still seething. He sets a hand on her knee. "You may find it little comfort, but you ought to be very proud of what you have made of yourself when that is what you come from."

Despite her anger, the edge of her mouth curls up into the smallest smile. "Well, when you're motivated by little else but spite, it's not too difficult to succeed at disappointing your father."

Pike comes over to sit beside Vex on the settee. "Do you think there's any chance he might change his mind? Would he really be so heartless as to refuse his own infant granddaughter the help that could save her life?"

"I have learned never to doubt the depths of that man's condescension. I am sure he believes that Vax deserves what has happened to Vilya, that Vax was a negligent father for letting her be taken." She snorts. "As if he has any right to be accusing any other father of negligence."

"Uh, hi."

Percy turns at Grog's words, and he blinks in surprise when he sees a pair of large hazel eyes staring at him from the small opening between the doors to the parlor, only a few feet off the ground. When whomever the eyes belong to sees each face in the room turn toward the doors, they disappear with a small gasp.

"Who was that?" Pike asks, but before anyone can answer, the eyes appear again, this time followed by a nose and mouth, and a little girl is peering into the room.

Her head cranes up to gawk at Grog. "You're very tall."

Grog shrugs. "You're not."

She laughs, and then, checking up and down the hall to see if she's being watched, the little girl darts into the room. She stares at Vex, with whom, Percy quickly realizes, she shares a number of physical attributes—the nose, the long, dark hair, the hint of mischief in the eyes.

"Well, hello there," Scanlan says, sitting atop a sideboard just inside the room. "What's your name?"

"Velora." The girl grabs two fistfuls of her bright yellow dress and dips into something resembling a curtsy, wobbling as it is. She straightens up and, still staring at Vex, says, "You came to see my daddy."

Percy looks to Vex, who is wide-eyed and speechless, staring at this little girl. Under his breath, he asks, "Did you know?" She shakes her head, and now her eyes are shining.

He can see by the long, sweeping points of her ears that Velora is a full-blooded elf. He guesses by her size that she is around seven years of age, which would put her birth mere months after the twins' flight from Syngorn. Percy wonders if they would have left at all had they known about their half-sister's existence, wonders what all of their lives would look like if they had never come to Zephrah.

Velora's eyes bounce between everyone in the room, lingering the most on Grog and Vex, to whom she finally runs up and stands before. She peers up into Vex's face, like she's an accomplished artist surveying her finished creation. "You look like us. Kind of. The ears are different. And your eyes are darker." She pauses. "I know who you are, you know. Daddy thinks I don't, but I do." She smiles conspiratorially and drops her voice to what she must imagine to be a whisper. "I know a lot of things I'm not supposed to."

"Is that so?" Vex's voice is strangled, as if it is taking every ounce of her strength to keep herself together. "What sort of things do you know that you ought not to?"

Velora shakes her head vigorously. "Oh, I'm not telling. But I know that you're my sister." The grin becomes impossibly wide. "I always wanted a sister."

Percy watches Vex's face, the dynamic display of emotions that never seem to last longer than a second or two. Vex's relationship with her brother is the most important thing in the world to her, he is well aware, and this, a second sibling, a young child who clearly already idolizes her, is something so foreign, so unexpected, Percy cannot believe she's still sitting upright.

Finally, Vex breathes, "Oh. Well. Yes, I am your sister, and...you are mine."

Without waiting for an invitation, Velora scrambles up onto the settee to sit half in Vex's lap, tugging on her braid and asking a thousand questions a minute. "Can you do my hair like that? Did you come here on a horse? Can I see it? Why did you leave anyway? Is Va-Va-Vax'ildan here too? Can I meet him? What did you have to talk to my daddy about? Why is that man so tall?"

Vex looks at Percy, eyes wide as saucers, as Velora makes herself comfortable nestled into her side. Percy can't fight the grin on his face, nor the ache in his chest; curled up into Vex, Velora reminds him so much of Cassandra, who loved nothing more than to cuddle up with Vesper for a story before bedtime. As dreadful as it is for Vex to be here, Percy hopes that in this darkest storm cloud of a situation, a bright silver lining has just been discovered.

Vax and Keyleth sit on one little sofa in a corner of Syldor's study, his father on one just opposite. Everyone's posture is stiff, uncomfortable; of course, no one wants this conversation to be happening for a myriad of reasons, but here they are anyway. Keyleth's knees bounces nervously next to his, and he rests a hand on it to still the motion. "So." He looks his father dead in the eye. "What do you want?"

Syldor's eyes narrow. Gods, he hates looking at his face. "What do you mean?"

"You and I both know this is a matter of power. Congratulations. You have it. We don't. Make whatever demands you wish, and we will honor them in exchange for your aid and information."

"You always were arrogant, Vax'ildan." In the corner of his eye, Vax can see Keyleth's jaw drop. "You presume to have something I want? You presume that I can be bribed to give aid to a foreign nation without the approval of my government?"

"You would be giving aid to your son," Keyleth gasps, fists clenching in her lap. "We are not asking you to betray your nation, we are asking you to help us save our daughter, your granddaughter, from those who would do her harm!"

"Your husband—" He spits the word scornfully. "—ceased to be my son when he and his bastard sister fled like thieves in the night from this house. You abandoned us first, Vax'ildan, and these are the consequences of your actions."

The ground beneath their feet begins to shudder, and Vax side-eyes Keyleth in alarm. She is glaring daggers at Syldor, who is clearly bewildered by the sudden earthquake. "You could be so spiteful, so hateful as to let your own blood be harmed in order to prove a point?"

Vax murmurs her name low in warning, but Syldor speaks right over him. "I see now how well-suited the two of you are for each other. Arrogant, the both of you. I respect your office, Your Highness, but I do not care to be spoken to in such a manner. You are not to be my sovereign some day, lest you forget to whom you speak. Our nations are allies, yes, but I am very much not your subject."

Vax can feel his wife's temperature rising beside him, can feel it in the dangerous shake beneath his boots, but he finds that the more his father speaks, the less angry he becomes. This man, this...frightened dog of man, who is so accustomed to his bark doing the trick—he cannot bite like Vax can, does not understand the rending of flesh the way that Vax does. He is nothing, no one, just a fool who has fashioned himself a king in this big, empty house. Vax spent years afraid of him, furious with him, antagonistic of him, doing everything in his power to attract his father's wrath so that his sister might be spared it—and for what? He cannot hurt them, never really could, not when he was far more afraid of what they could do to him and his life and his career than they ever were of him. He and his sister, they have had the power the whole time, and it is not until this very day that he could see it.

Vax leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees, and he slides a dagger from the back of his boot, twisting it casually between his fingers. He enjoys the way Syldor's eyes flash, the beads of sweat that appear at his hairline. "Do you want to know why you'll help us, Father?" Syldor says nothing, just watches the way the blade reflects the light from the windows beside them. "You'll help us because you, all evidence to the contrary, are not an idiot. You are aware that having the Ashari Nation, a powerful and resourceful country, as an ally is good for Syngorn. You are aware that making an enemy of the woman who will someday command an army nearly three times the size of Syngorn's is most unwise indeed. You are aware that someday, your own blood will sit upon a nation's throne, and that elevates your status quite a great deal. You are aware that both of your bastard children ended up with far more power than you had ever anticipated, and they have a long list of reasons to want to wield that power against you, specifically. You have only ever been motivated by self-interest, Syldor, and you know full well that it is in your best interests to help us defeat our enemies and save our daughter's life. I do not come to you for mercy, I do not come to you for pity, I do not come to you for charity. I come to you because you have something I want, and because I know that you are smart enough to give it to me."

Syldor is sitting ramrod straight, a seething hatred in his eyes. The tremors from below have quieted some as Keyleth waits for him to respond. The silence stretches on, and for the first time Vax feels the prickle of anxiety, a desperation for him to hurry up and get on with it. Finally, Syldor spits out, "You will have supplies and what information I can gather on Whitestone and these Briarwoods. You and your...friends may stay the night, and then you are to leave at first light. And Vax'ildan: you are never to darken my doorstep again, do you understand?"

"Nothing would make me happier, Father."

With that, Syldor shoves himself up from his seat and stalks away, disappearing into some other section of the study. Keyleth sags back, the quaking slowing until it stops, and she breathes, "Thank you."

Vax stows the dagger away and pulls her into an embrace. "I know terrified men, and that man fears more than most."

"I do not care for the way he spoke to you," she grumbles in his ear. "I should like to tear his tongue from his mouth."

Vax laughs low. "That is because you are the most fiercely loyal person I have ever met. It is one of the many reasons I adore you." Vax pulls back to take her face in his hands. "We are going to get her back. I need you to believe that."

Keyleth nods. "I know we will. We'll get her together."

And though he knows she ought to be back in Zephrah, where she is safe, where there are walls and guards to keep the world at bay, he cannot but feel grateful that she is here beside him, on this most vital journey with him. He kisses her, and for the first time in days, allows himself to feel the tiniest burst of hope deep in his chest.

#critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #vaxleth #vaxleth fic #vaxleth au #vox machina #vox machina fic #vox machina au #tlovm #tlovm fic #my fair lady #go on claim my heart #my fic

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rma1031 · 1 year

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Hermit Age: Pearl

Hello! This post will be regarding my interpretation of Pearl for my AU, Hermit Age! This AU is essentially putting the Hermits and their friends within the world and universe of the Dragon Age series and giving them flavor to fit in!

If you want to check out the plans I have for this AU, check it out here!

I've also made my interpretations for Impulse, Gem, and Skizz, check them out if you want to!

CW for descriptions of fantastic racism as well as mentions of purging. This interpretation's another long one just like with Skizz's.

Appearance

Pearl within the world of Dragon Age cannot exactly be wearing her hoodie jacket so of course the only thing I can retain most is her hair color and eye color.

(from this picrew)

As you can see, even though she is elf-blooded, she remains physically human. In the Dragon Age universe, those that are elf-blooded are human still and will not have any elven traits. She doesn't have the pointy ears elves have.

Pearl is slightly taller than the average human woman. She would also wear some form of armor (like the above) that is free and loose but still can be great to defend with. Her hair is loose and long and I tried my best to base it off of her MC skin. Also her color code can be integrated as well with her Dragon Age self.

Origins and History

Pearl came from the Free Marches, in the city-state of Ansburg, located nearby Antiva. The city is a center of agricultural trade and farmers thrive there, but it is also quiet and serene.

She was born from her elven mother and her human father, making her elf-blooded, which can make her discriminated by both sides. For most humans, she is as much an elf as another elf, which makes her perceived as inferior. For some elves, she is perceived as "flat-eared" (which can be considered derogatory and insulting if connotated negatively).

By fortune, she didn't live in the alienage and spent her time in a comfortable, if not cramped, home with her father. Her mother was nowhere to be seen throughout her life in Ansburg, except that she gave her a trinket in the form of an amulet, a wood-carved halla.

Despite it all, from the uneasy looks to the hurled insults, she carries pride from both races, even if her father wishes to keep her quiet about it. She'd proclaim her pride for her elven heritage at the great expense of her social advantages as a human.

Soon enough her simple life would vanish. One fateful day while playing and helping her father, magic came forth from her palms, freezing a solitary patch of flowers solid and crumbling easily. Her father, horrified, soon got the attention of the Ansburg Chantry and soon her life outside would disappear.

As the Templars took her to the Ansburg Circle, she only had one thing with her, the halla amulet.

A new life came to be for Pearl, as she now will be living in the Circle for most of her life, learning, training, and controlling her magic.

Even in the Circle, she'd still be discriminated for her elf-blooded status. She'd get called "half-elf" or "half-blood", mostly from the more arrogant mages and the ignorant templars, but she stood her ground and fought proud for herself and her heritage, keeping her amulet close.

She would go through her Harrowing and succeed. She made friends with the other mages and even got the respect and friendship of a few templars. She'd continue to defend herself from those who belittle and insult her. She would excel and become an Enchanter herself, teaching mages and apprentices how to use Entropy and Creation magics.

Altogether she loved this quiet but busy life within the Circle, the outside still beckoned to her.

Nearing her twentieth year inside the Circle, chaos erupts. News arrived to the Circle from Kirkwall, explaining the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry and the eruption of conflict that would culminate to the Mage-Templar War.

The mages within the Ansburg Circle feared for their lives. Pearl feared for her life as well. The chaos outside would have definitely caused the other circles to call for the Right of Annulment to quell the conflict. The fears of the mages were warranted though, as the Templars got the call of the Ansburg Chantry to annul and purge the Circle.

The First Enchanter protested against the Knight-Commander's wishes and soon the Circle went through an upheaval. Mages and templars fight each other as one tries to overcome the other. Pearl didn't want to go through this but she wanted to survive. She needed to survive.

As she looked at her fellow mages and former friends dying around her, she knew she had to get past this as soon as possible and get free. She fought valiantly through the crowd, evading the templars and fighting them if needed.

As soon as she knew it, she escaped. She was now an apostate, like all the mages now.

Pearl needed to hide. She can't attract attention at all lest she get called out by the people or the templars.

And so she hid for a while, remaining in her own solitude, until it ended when she met Impulse, Gem, Skizz, and their friends.

Name

Pearl is the name given by her father, a reminder of her mother that left. She never blamed her for leaving, elves are discriminated all about in the land.

Pearl would also gain a nickname given to her by her few friends when she was young, "Satina", after one of the two moons of Thedas. Her eyes remind them of Satina for the moonlight that glimmers and pierces through the night sky.

She would prefer to be called Pearl though and makes use of Satina whenever she doesn't want the attention of people.

Personality

Pearl is a playful, enthusiastic and gleeful mage, looking to make fun and make ruckus with her friends and companions, from a quick joke to a hilarious prank, she'll make do to play with her companions. She is friendly yet cautious. Given her life as a mage, she wouldn't want to get the attention of anyone else and so she keeps her distance somewhat from others. Nonetheless she is nice and caring to her companions.

Cautiousness also tends to make her mistrustful and doubtful of others, giving her a defensive and guarded personality, attributed by her life as a mage and her elf-blooded status.

Equipment and Combat

As a mage, she would wear light armor in the form of the vestments above, fit for travels and adventures. She would also have her staff to cast spells and attack enemies and support allies with. She would flourish it with ease after many years of magic training.

As the mage of the group, she has an arsenal of spells to help the party. She specializes in Entropy and Creation magic, making her a controller-debilitator and support mage. She excels at controlling the battlefield and making enemies suffer through paralysis and weakness, sleep, hexes and draining spells. She also does greatly at helping her party through healing magic, enhancements, glyphs, and summoning spells.

Being that she is a mage, she stays away from the frontlines and helps her companions farther away. She could conjure up an enhancement spell and improve the capabilities of Impulse and Skizz with their damage or make Gem faster through Haste.

She is a force to be reckoned with, which also makes her a big target. Her talents and capabilities as a spellcaster makes her quickly the focus of opponents, causing her to stray further away from her friends lest she gets caught by her enemies. She also isn't proficient with melee combat and will suffer injuries and damages if ever fighting as such. She would always need to be under the watchful eye of Skizz in the fight, the tank of the party.

That's it for my interpretation of Pearl!

I may do more interpretations in the future, which can be found here! As for now, I want to formulate and create a fic for these four friends within the world of Thedas, who knows what can happen?

And as always, do check the wiki, it will help bridge the gap you need to understand this AU!

#rma posts #mcyt #hermitcraft #traffic smp #life series #empires smp #dragon age #hermit age au #pearlescentmoon

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birdstooth · 1 year

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APRIL FIC RECS ft. doodles

30 img limit hurting me a lot... so I had to cut images from literally every selection 🥺 so if you want to see the full assortment of doodles click the links! (* = more pics in story link)

Alphabetical by author :) (sorry ppl at the end of the alphabet I had to edit more of the pics near the end bc I’m bad at organization 😭 next time I’ll be better do reverse alphabetical lmaoo )

Also I can’t guarantee the doodle comics are accurate to the plot FYI… It’s just what comes out of my brain 🙈

@alwayssunnyinedensgate

Angel of Music/POTO AU

doodles from chap 2*, 7 & 9*

Blessed Be the Fruit/Handmaid's Tale AU

doodles from chap 1 *, 5, & 8 (+ more CURSED IMAGERY*)

Check Out Any Time You Like/Hotel Cortez (AHS) AU

doodles from chap 2

The Second Mrs. Rogers/Rebecca AU

doodles from chap 5, 7, & 9

(I had to take chap 7 doodles out bc dmg limit but it was Elle Woods inspired lol see them HERE)

Thrill of the Kill

doodles from chap 1* & 2* (& 2 again* bc I'm bad at keeping track of things lol)

Be Thee Wolf of Sheep/Far Cry 5 AU

doodles from chap 1, 2*, 3*, 13* & BONUS LORE ;) *

@buckymorelikefuckme

arOOOOOga* (click for +3 more doodles)

no shelf control* (click for full doodle comic)

@imyourbratzdoll

a bunny and elf special* (click for full doodle comic)

jennifer check x fem! pillow princess reader* (click for doodle!)

@darkficsyouneveraskedfor

God Mode* (click for full doodle comic)

Hue and Cry - part XXII

Who's the Boss - part 18* (click for +2 additional comic panels) & 22

@georgiapeach30513

Stained Like Georgia Clay - pt 16

@navybrat817

Two Sides of the Same Coin*(full doodle in link haha)

Prelude to A Kiss (click for doodle!)

@straywords

Y.O.U.

@thenhewaswrongaboutme

Your Hands Have Made Some Good Mistakes - pt 7

#Bucky barnes fanart #poto fanart #Steve Rogers fanart #Lloyd hansen fanart #fic recs #personally curated fic recs #fic art #fic rec masterlist #April fic recs #comics and doodles #IF IT’s UNDER A CUT WHY CANT WE PUT 999999 imgs tho

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theskeletalsys · 11 months

Text

When a dorky wood elf meets the god of the forest idk stuff happens-

This is fanart for a fanfic that's wiggled itself into my dumb little desert duo brain. A fic by @tobias-vale called the birdcage au and holy mackerel it has my brain in a choke hold!!! /pos

I'd 100% suggest you check it out. It's on their tumblr page or on they're ao3 where we found it. Please go give them some love, their work is beautiful. In the meantime here's an unfiltered version (I.e. With no overlay)

I need them in my life 💔

#desert duo birdcage au #desert duo #desert duo fanart #fanfic fanart #hermitblr #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #Yes i gave scar pink girly socks #At me sis #You won't #grian fanart #goodtimeswithscar fanart #hermitcraft grian #Hermitcraft scar #desertduo birdcage au

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deckthehaus · 1 year

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Hey y'all! It’s December, which means it’s officially Deck the Haus month!! You still have two more weeks to finish up your works.

Remember, fanworks of all shapes and sizes are welcome! Multi-chapters? Of course! Drabbles? Absolutely! Podfics, art, videos? You bet! Just make sure your fanwork is complete when you submit it.

Looking for some last minute inspiration? Check out these prompts featuring rare (and rare-ish) pairs!

Bitty and Ransom not able to sleep, drinking hot chocolate on the front porch, watching the snow fall. Blankets and cuddling. Could be either platonic or pre-relationship.

Snowy is a fairy/magical snow prince and Tater is his bodyguard.

Elf AU in which Shitty, raised by elves, undertakes a journey to find his long lost biological father and ends up in Samwell. Maybe his father remains unredeemable, but it turns out the journey is the friends you make along the way. (Shitty/Lardo)

Frog Freshman year, the world's two best Bay Area Natives are woefully unprepared for a New England Winter. How do they cope and help keep each other warm in their brand new relationship? (Chowder/Farmer)

The Zimmermann's making latke's together for Hannukah. 5+1 including the winter immediately after Jack's OD and the winter after Bitty graduates. (Alicia/Bob)

Thirdy's family celebrating Christmas together, maybe his kiddo wants to be a goalie and he acts horrified about it.

Mandy and Jenny like to exchange gifts every year during the winter holidays‚ which can be difficult since they’re ghosts so they need to get creative.

Jack does the biathalon (after the draft, instead of hockey ever, not competitively, whatever), and while on a long distance cross country ski trek through the Canadian woods, he meets Tater who is out snowshoeing. Meet cute or meet messy.

Visit Deck the Haus on AO3 to claim one of these prompts!

As always, please reach out with any questions you may have about the fest in general, prompt claiming, the work submission process, etc. Happy creating!!

#omgcheckplease #omgcp #check please #check please fic #check please fanart #check please podfic #deck the haus #deck the haus 2022

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yellow-faerie · 2 years

Note

Before you take the prompts down, maybe 30 for the Tyelpe and Gil Galad Brothers AU?

I like this, I like this prompt a lot.

From this prompt list.

30 - "Oh, thank all that is good that I found you, did - ow! Why did you do that?"

When the battle was raging in Nargothrond, Celebrimbor had to keep an eye on both Gil-Galad and his younger cousin.

Of course, he managed to lose both.

And when he'd found Finduilas, pinned to that tree, and quite dead, he had feared the worst for his little brother.

"Lord Celebrimbor!" Someone calls as Celebrimbor is helping one of Orodreth's advisors organise the what refugee stragglers they have managed to find and group together.

Analoth is a young elf, born on these shores around the same time as Finduilas, and had been her lady-in-waiting since both of them could walk. She had not taken the news of Finduilas' death well so it is a surprise to Celebrimbor that she looks quite so...alive.

"Lord, I have seen another group of refugees, coming up from the south. They must have been hiding in the woods." Her eyes have a fiery hope in them. "They might have Prince Ereinion with them."

Celebrimbor's whole heart clenches at the mention of his brother but he manages to keep his face straight. Best not to show anything until there is something more substantial than a hope.

Analoth's face falls slightly. "Is this not good news?" She asks, sounding hurt that Celebrimbor had not taken the news as well as she had hoped.

"No, no it is. Anymore people who survived is a blessing." He turns back to Fanaril, who's gone on to make the necessary annotations to their map while he talked.

"I'm going with Analoth to help scout out this new group. We can finish this later."

"Right, my lord." They roll up the paper and tuck it safely in their bag. "Safe journeying."

Celebrimbor nods and turns back to Analoth. "Show me where they are."

"Not far. I saw them while looking for wild mushrooms. Mushrooms are hardy and I thought some might have survived the orcs destruction. I found a good patch not far away and I saw them coming but I didn't want to wander too far unless...unless it was a trick of the Enemy."

"That was wise," Celebrimbor says, checking that his sword is easy to remove from the scabbard on his back. "On both counts: the mushrooms was a stroke of genius I wouldn't have thought of. When we return, please spread the word to keep an eye out for them."

"Of course."

Celebrimbor lets out a soft sigh and smiles imperceptibly. It's by no means a fix for Analoth's grief but Celebrimbor hopes that keeping busy will help her as it's always seemed to help him.

Analoth starts beside him suddenly and speeds up. "Ah, there's my basket! We're here."

She snatches her mushrooms from the ground and straightens up, looking around. The forest is blackened and still on fire in some places but it is not difficult to see far here.

"Analoth, I cannot see anyone."

She slumps down. "Oh. I swore I could..." She sighs and rubs at her eyes like she's about to cry. "...I guess it was one of the Enemy's tricks."

"But you did good," Celebrimbor says softly, reaching out to gently rub comforting circles into her shoulder. "You managed not to fall for it."

"Yeah." She doesn't sound very happy about it. "I guess...I don't know what I guess."

"Let's go back to the camp, alright? We'll take your mushrooms and I'm sure someone can make something warm to eat out of them."

It takes a little bit more coaxing but Celebrimbor manages to steer her back around and they stumble through the blackened remains of the forest to where their small group of refugees have found a place to huddle.

"Ana!" Someone calls as they get closer and Analoth's older sister appears from the crowd.

"Mina?" Analoth says in surprise and is wrapped in a tight hug by Minloth. Celebrimbor steps away to let them have their reunion and looks instead for Fanaril.

Obviously, while they were away looking for Analoth's hallucination, an actual group of refugees appeared which meant-

His eyes fall upon a familiar head of silvery-gold hair, still tied back with the silver hair pins Celebrimbor had made him for his last begetting day.

Gil-Galad is sitting on a fallen log, swinging his legs and looking a little lost as people swirl around him with greetings for each other.

Celebrimbor passes a few people he knows on his way over but he spares them little more than a smile.

"Gil?" He asks softly and his little brother turns around sharply. Celebrimbor can feel muscles he hadn't known were tensed, relax, and he smiles.

"Oh, thank all that is good that I found you," he says, crouching down in front of him. "Did-" he starts but does not get to finish as Gil-Galad aims a really hard kick against his shin. "Ow! Why did you do that?"

"You left me!" Gil-Galad says, crossing his arms. There are furious tears glittering in his eyes. "You promised Atya that you would protect me and you left me."

Celebrimbor hates how much his voice must break when he speaks again. "Oh Gil, I'm-"

"No!" Gil-Galad looks a little surprised by the force of his words but carries on all the same, "I was scared and it was so loud and busy and I had no idea where you were. You're my brother, you're meant to be there for me, you were meant-"

He cuts off abruptly with a hiccup and he starts crying.

Celebrimbor gently takes his hands in his, wanting to just pull him straight into a hug but not sure whether that would really be appreciated right now.

"Gil," he says and his brother looks up at him, "I'm sorry."

There is a moment where Gil-Galad just stares at him, searching his face for something that Celebrimbor can't quite work out, and just as Celebrimbor thinks that his apology is going to be rejected, Gil-Galad sobs and pushes himself right into Celebrimbor's arms.

"Please don't leave again Tyelpë," he mumbles into the front of Celebrimbor's shirt. Celebrimbor rests his cheek against his brother's hair, still fluffy from childhood even as he gets into his adolescence.

"I shan't. Not if I can help it Hánya."

It's more than his promise to Finrod in a back corridor of Nargothrond. It's more than a half-conversation had with his father in the night. It's more than a hundred words said.

It's simply that Celebrimbor loves his brother with all his heart and he would kneel here, in this thick mud among the burned remains of one of Beleriand's great forests forever if it would bring even an ounce of happiness to him.

"I give you my word," he finishes, in barely a whisper, and he knows the seriousness of such oaths.

#does this parentage provide so much angst potential?#Yes #Gil-Galad #Celebrimbor #OC: Analoth #OC: Fanaril #OC: Minloth #Silmarillion #Tolkien #Fanfiction #The Curious Case of the Parentage of Ereinion Gil-Galad #Gil-Galad Curufinrodion #Fae's Stuff #Fae's Fic #Prompt #Prompt List 3 #Ask #ibrithir-was-here

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bookishlilcorner · 2 years

Text

Agents of Night and Starlight - Chapter 1

A Nessian, Gwynriel and Elucien centric fanfic series (with Emorie on the side).

Modern Fantasy!AU, Fantasy action, Fluff, Angst

TW(s): mentions of stalking, dating violence, sexual violence and abuse. Violence, blood and swearing.

Word Count: 6k

I hope you enjoy the first chapter. I edited it over and over again and I hope it’s good enough and it brings you joy reading it.

Sypnosis: In another universe where ACOTAR is set in a modern fantasy world, the Valkyries are an independent group of secret agents composed of Agent Silver, Agent Ghost, Agent Nymph and Agent Ivy walking the streets of Velaris with one goal in mind: to take down the biggest criminals corrupting the City of Starlight. One night, a particularly dark mission causes them to encounter four members of a unit called the IC working under the High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court. Despite being at each other’s throats, the rulers of Night decide to make them work together in order to stop a death lord from raising an army of the undead and launching what could become the bloodiest war in Prythian history. With trainings, missions, secrets revealed, friendships and love at the rendez-vous, they will have to work hard to bring down the death lord threatening the fragile peace in Prythian, that is if they don’t tear each other apart first.

SERIES: Part 1 - Part 2 -

______________________________________________________________

“Silver, do you have a clear view of the target?” A deep, sensually feminine voice echoed in the earpiece.

“Yes, Ghost. He is approaching the dealer as we speak.” She answered, crouched behind a wall.

The skin-tight black leather clothes she always wore were particularly unnerving tonight, and the familiar scent of spray paint coating the wall induced a small headache to her temples. The autumnal rain tonight was annoying. She felt sticky, wet and uncomfortable. She tucked a strand of light brown hair that escaped from her usually perfect braided bun behind her delicately arched ear, synonymously High Fae. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and be in her warm bed reading her romance novel with a piece of chocolate praline cake.

She surveyed the three men discussing in front of the backdoor of a tall building owned by some big do-gooder company for lesser faeries, her gun pointing right at them. It was a simple black customized handgun with silver details of thorns and flames, adapted for a variety of ammunition. Guns were a creation brought to the Fae by humans after the new peace treaty promising peaceful co-existence, protection, trade and alliance. Usually, her gun had bullets made from ash wood, particularly toxic to the Fae, but tonight, she charged it with darts containing a tranquillizer powerful enough to render a Fae unconscious for 4 hours.

“Are you sure you have the right darts this time, Silver?” A sweet, honey-like voice said through the small electronic device in her ear.

“Yes, Ivy’s right. Last time, she didn’t check and shot a Laughter at a Leprechaun. I could barely concentrate on the task without laughing my ass off. You know how hilarious a Leprechaun’s laugh can be.” Another voice, this one mystic, deep and yet so clear like a siren’s, said with a laugh.

Oh, there’s that headache again.

“Since when are there Leprechauns in Velaris, Nymph?” Ghost asked.

“They arrived from the continent two months ago. I told you about it last time at Ivy’s shop. Did you forget? Or were you too busy staring at the beautiful Elvish woman to retain any information?” Nymph answered with a cheeky tone in her voice clearly indicating tease.

Ivy’s sweet laugh echoed in the earpiece, making the crouched female roll her eyes. “Was it an Elf or a High Fae? I swear, we look too much alike.”

“Pretty sure it was an Elf. They got this-”

“Girls, shut the fuck up. I’m trying to aim here and your gossiping is making my headache even worse.” Silver said through clenched teeth.

“Well, that one’s on you. You insisted on having that damned coffee this afternoon. You know that too much caffeine-”

“Gwyn, seriously. Shut up.”

“Nesta! We agreed to use our code names. What if someone hacked into our system?”

“My system? Please. That would take some a prodigy hacker.” Ivy scoffed.

“Elain is getting pretty arrogant.” Ghost laughed. “Three months since your sister joined us and she’s already turned like us, Nesta.”

Nesta rolled her grayish blue eyes, annoyed. “Seriously, we need to focus on our mission. I’m getting tired of crouching here in the cold with sticky clothes. Emerie, do you have eye on anyone suspicious at the charity event?”

“It’s Ghost, by the way.”

“I don’t care.”

Emerie rolled her eyes and looked around the spacious, sumptuous ball room filled with guests, all lesser fairies. They all had formal attire, beautiful dresses and suits fitting the color theme of the occasion: navy blue, gold and white. She herself was dressed for the occasion, and for infiltrating, with a pearly white skin-tight midi dress and gold, Illyrian designed jewelry adorning her brown skin. Her black wings, large, wide and bat-like, characteristic of her Illyrian heritage, were tucked in behind her back. Her hair, smooth and thick, the color of a raven’s feathers, was untied, cascading down to her waist. An all golden headpiece of roses and vines details sat on top of her head, its biggest rose on her forehead.

An Illyrian queen. That’s what she looked like.

She stared at everyone, shaking her head. “No. No one here acting like a homicidal maniac with a thirst for blood. Or illegal weed, in our case.”

“Both works.” Gwyn said.

Elain giggled and Nesta sighed. “Okay, so far it’s good. From what I’m seeing on my side, Silas doesn’t have the detonator yet.”

Silas was the CEO of Stargazers without Borders, a company that specifically protects lesser faeries of Prythian from homelessness, discrimination, mistreatments and attacks. It was well known all across Night Court territory, even to neighboring courts like the Day Court and the Winter Court. He even appeared in the press after meeting the High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court, Rhysand and Feyre, who congratulated and gifted him for his thoughtfulness and desire to stop discrimination and mistreatment of lesser faeries.

However, what was unbeknownst to the citizens was his hideous racism towards lesser faeries and the corruption rotting the company. He never had any intentions of helping them. He was a fraud who stole money from them and manipulated their trusts to build a machine and enough Venenam weed to contaminate the whole population of lesser faeries of Velaris with a deadly disease promising a slow and cruel death. A prototype to an even larger one intended for the whole Night Court. The weed in question, a rare plant that only grows in the Prison Island, was purchased for this occasion. It can cause thickening of blood, narrow air capacity in the lungs and paralysis in the first 10 minutes after exposition and if not treated within thirty minutes, death follows suit.

‘He is trying to kill us all. We can’t turn to the authorities without proof. Help us. Help us expose his plan so that no one gets hurt. We’re sick of this. Our lives keep being threatened again and again. We’re sick of this.’ That was what their client told them in a lengthy email two weeks ago.

‘We’ll make sure he faces justice for his acts.’ Elain had responded after she and Gwyn did a long, extensive research on him, hacking into the company’s mainframe and Silas’s personal electronic devices. They always did some investigating beforehand to make sure the individual in question was indeed a criminal needed to be stopped.

Velaris was considered the best city to live in for lesser faeries in Prythian, but there were still assholes like Silas, who hide their bigotry under smiles and caring behavior.

“Silas is horrible, creating a lethal weapon to get rid of lesser faeries. He’s repulsive.” Elain said as she looked through every cameras of the company’s building from the comfort of the basement of their house. She usually stayed there with her soft violet and light pink pyjamas consisting of a tank top and shorts while the other three went out to do the dirty work. Fighting wasn’t necessarily her forte, but what she couldn’t do in terms of combat was made up by her knowledge of technology, computers. She had the mind of a genius. No one understood computers and network systems as well as she did. Furthermore, she was exceptionally skilled in the arts of poisons. Her passion of gardening opened a path to the meticulous art of crafting poisons ranging from weak to lethal.

The tranquilizer in Silver’s darts were made by her. It was also a great fertilizer for moon lilies.

A quick movement caught Nesta’s eye. “I think he’s getting it right now. I have to be quick.”

She aimed again at the three men in front of her. Silas wore a deep navy suit and a bright metallic gold tie almost matching his curly hair, his arched ears barely peeking through. It looked unnatural, almost plastic. She clicked her tongue in distaste. He looked ridiculous. This guy can’t dress for shit.

Just as he was about to touch the small detonator, she pulled the trigger. Three shots. The sound of their bodies crashing on the cold humid ground echoed like a murmur, easily heard by Faes. They were all instantly lying unconscious, the rain pouring onto their bodies.

She stood up and walked over them, grabbing the detonator. She gave one last look at the blond High Fae and shook her head. She said, her voice laced with disdain: “Mother, he fucking deserves it for dressing up like this. Where did he think he was? A fucking Kids Award ceremony?”

She heard Emerie cough out a laugh.

Nesta looked around. “I guess it’s over for me then. Nymph should have found the machine by now.”

“I did.” Gwyn said, swiftly jumping on the ground from the air vent with no sound. She grinned, her teal eyes promising malice. “It’ll be quick, considering we have the one issue being the detonator solved. I’m going to enjoy destroying this shit to pieces.”

Elain interrupted her. “Hold on. I’m seeing something else.”

“What?”

The sound of fingers pressing in the keyboard echoed through their earpieces. Her dark brown eyes simmered as she muttered, “Of course he did that.”

“Ivy?” Emerie said.

Elain cussed under her breath. Emerie’s eyebrows went up. Rarely did Elain use swear words. It was mostly Nesta and Gwyn who spew out swear words one after the other.

“He put another detonator on the machine itself. A timed one.”

Gwyn, on her side, was in the basement, her dark navy blue leather clothes reflecting the light coming from the machine in front of her. She stared at it, tall enough to reach the ceiling and large enough to fit the whole wall. It glowed a calm azure blue, so strangely at odds to the things it can do. Four large cylinder containers were attached to it, with seafoam green fumes trapped inside. She could tell those drugs were finalized in a vapor formula and, according to the timer on the screen, were five minutes away from being set off in the whole building.

Gwyn sighed. “Of course it had to be me. Remind me why I volunteered myself?”

“You wanted to prove a point.” Nesta said with a smirk, reminiscing the challenge she posed to Gwyn last night. She had always been so competitive.

Gwyn was mostly High Fae, but she was also a river nymph, her grandmother being one herself. Those fumes could be deadly to her, and to Emerie who was in the ballroom with other lesser faeries. She ran a hand through her lovely copper brown hair, tying it up into a ponytail, before reaching for the object attached to her hip. A dagger. Extremely sharp and double-edged, its hilt detailed of stars and waves. Gwyn was an excellent fighter and great at using guns, but knives and daggers were her strength. She had a staggering aim that could put any archer to shame and knew how to maneuver them with the mastery of an ancient warrior.

Walking in front of the machine’s access panel, she asked: “Ivy, tell me which wire to cut to deactivate the detonator.”

While Elain was doing a quick research, Gwyn carefully opened the panel, looking into it. “It should be the blue one.”

“Which blue one? There are three. The deep blue, the teal blue or the sky blue?”

“What the fuck?” Nesta muttered under her breath, getting herself warm inside the entrance porch of the building next to the company.

A long blonde haired waitress came up to her and asked if she had a reservation. She barely noticed that she went in a restaurant. “Oh, I don’t have one. I’m just waiting for my friends here because it’s raining.”

Gwyn and Elain, on their side, were still trying to figure out which wire to cut. “I have three minutes left. Elain?”

A short silence. And then, she said, “The deep blue one. It’s radiating a different vibration. Pretty sure it is the one.”

“Pretty sure?”

“Yes.” A pause. “I think.”

“There’s no ‘I think’. I don’t feel like vomiting blood and having my lungs emptied.” Gwyn retorted, her anxiety rising with every second.

“I’m inclined to agree with Nymph. It’s not tempting.” Emerie said, her bracelets jingling together.

Elain pressed her fingers on the keyboard again. “Yup. It’s that one. Cut it, Nymph. There’s only 1 minute left.”

Quickly, she took her dagger and cut the wire. A few seconds passed. The countdown didn’t stop.

“Shit. We’re fucked.” She cursed. “I can’t believe I’m going out like this.”

Nesta smiled at her dramatics.

“No, shut up.” Elain said. “It’s working.”

Indeed it was, another few seconds and the countdown stopped at 15 seconds. Gwyn and Emerie let out a relieved sigh.

“Great. Now, all I have to do is fill the containers with this…substance?” Gwyn said, lifting the bag of foul-smelling herbs that Elain told Emerie to bring from the mountains near Illyria.

“These herbs are natural neutralizers. It is the only effective solution against Venenam.” Elain said, Emerie agreeing with her as a security guard walked pass her.

A male walked towards her. Tall, long dark hair and piercing gray eyes staring into her brown eyes, his full lips curved into a flirtatious smile as he asked: “Hey, gorgeous.”

She scrutinized him. He looked like a Seraphim, with his soft feathery wings tucked behind his back. He must’ve settled here from the Dawn Court. He looked at her with a cocky grin, standing like those men who think they’re the shit because they're males.

She knew damn well that kind of men.

Looking away, she said indifferently. “No.”

“No?”

“That’s what I said. I’m not interested.”

He stayed silent for a moment. “Your loss. You’re ugly anyways. Men don’t want stuck up women like you.”

He turned around and walked away. Emerie couldn’t help but snort at his words while Nesta was laughing through her earpiece. “I don’t think I have to worry about that.”

“Not him calling you gorgeous and ugly in the space of two minutes. These males are so fucking idiotic. It’s hilarious.” Nesta said.

Emerie laughed, but then a movement crossed her vision. Two security guards went down to the basement, and she swore she saw a flash of guns and a steel staff. She immediately followed them, thankful of having her shorter black leather suit under her dress.

She warned Gwyn, pulling on her mask she hid in her dress. “Shit. Nymph, two guards are coming at you. They have guns and staffs. It might get ugly”

Gwyn, who successfully neutralized the poison and destroyed the machine, stood up, stretched her limbs. Putting her mask on, she reached for her daggers, twirling them around her fingers in both hands.

She grinned behind her black mask. “Finally. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

The moon was high and radiant in the sky when a tall, solid mass landed on the long grass with a thud. He was standing on the top of a hill and the wind blew gently through his long, thick black hair that reached his neck, the ephemeral scent of rain floating tingling the man’s nose. It had rained earlier in the evening rather vigorously as he could tell by the wet on the grass. He stretched his black, bat-like wings and arms, his leather suit making small noises at the movement. The seven jewels that were attached on his person, a fiery crimson red, glowed slightly under the moonlight. He was exhausted by the flight he’d taken since they winnowed in the continent. It was too risky to winnow directly at the destination. They could have been caught by the enemy.

“Did you need to land that loudly? No wonder you lost the spy job to Shadowsinger.” A warm, almost captivating feminine voice said through the electronic device in his ear.

“I didn’t lose the job to him, Truth, I simply chose not to take it.” He said, his deep masculine voice echoing in the void. “Spying isn’t my style.”

“Yes, because you’re terrible at it.”

A low chuckle resonated following the jab, making the winged man roll his eyes. His friends never failed to make fun of him at the slightest chance.

“Send me a scan of the place, Thunder.” A deep, yet soft masculine voice said.

He tapped the red jewels on his hands, and a small holographic screen in the same, but muted and less opaque color, appeared. He scanned the perimeter, the data transmitted back to the headquarters.

A silence resonated for a short moment, then the same voice said, “Perimeter’s safe. No one else’s around.”

He heard the flapping of wings behind him and turned to stare at the second tall man with wings similar to his own who landed with a softer, quieter thud. His black hair, shorter than his, ruffled against the wind. He was slightly shorter than the first man, but still an impressive height nonetheless. His wings were tucked behind his back, leaving parts of his face illuminated by the moonlight, showing off his handsomely sharp angular features. He wore a leather garment with seven jewels similar to his own, but instead of the fiery red, his were a calmer cobalt blue. Shapeless moving darkness floated around him, like living shadows, as he put their friend down on the ground.

The woman beside him was holding his arm as she stepped out of his arms into the long, wet grass. Her long blonde hair, almost platinum under the glow of the moon, waved as the wind blew, revealing her arched ears. Neither of the two men had arched ears as they were no High Faes, but Illyrians. Her black leather clad legs rubbed together as she stood up beside the man who landed with her.

Her brown eyes gleamed with tease as she assessed the red jeweled Illyrian in front of her. “Didn’t bother tying your hair up like the usual?”

He pointedly ignored her. “Why were you late?”

“Smartass over here-” The winged man beside her said half-heartily as the woman protested, “-dropped her earring in the middle of her monologue while we were flying so I had to land to get it back.”

“I wasn’t- I was telling you to be careful this time because the last mission, you injured yourself. You had to stay in bed for a week.”

“Exactly. Monologue.”

The blonde Fae sighed, exasperated. “How about the next time you’re trying to get yourself killed, do me a favor and let me do the killing, Shadowsinger?”

“I was fine. It was just a little scratch.” He exclaimed.

“Just a little scratch? You’re delusional, Az-”

“Truth,” the voice in the earpiece interrupted, “You’re in the middle of mission.”

Which meant they couldn’t use their real names here, in case the enemy could hear and track them and those they care about down.

“Spell-cleaver’s right. We need to be more careful about saying our names deliberately.” Shadowsinger said, earning a deadly glare from Truth.

Thunder chuckled at their interaction despite the worry growing in his heart. He hoped this mission will go smoother than the last one.

“Let’s get in. We need to find that object before they get it.” He said, turning towards the abandoned house standing on top of the hill.

It was an old one, going back to 300 hundred years at least, judging by its architecture. The wood was chipping, deep lines on the door, and dirt and vines covered the once bright light brown exterior wall. According to Spell-cleaver, it used to belong to an old lord from the mountains and was used as a vacation house, but now it was potentially the hiding place of a dangerous object their enemy desperately wanted.

They entered the house, dust and spider webs coating the chipping painted white walls. The brown wood on the doors and steps almost looked like they were decaying. Leaves and vines managed to grow inside, intertwined with the railings. A faint sound of mice could be heard through the walls and a bizarre and putrid scent floated around, causing Truth and Thunder to sneeze. The sound bounced off in the silent as the dead atmosphere.

“Shut up. You might as well wake up the neighbor ten miles away.” Shadowsinger shushed.

“Oh, I just sneezed. Get over yourself.”

“Not you, Truth. I’m talking about him. The guy’s sneeze is a whole trumpet.”

Spell-cleaver snorted through the earpiece and the blonde Fae chuckled quietly. Thunder halted his step, turning to glare at the other Illyrian. “I don’t have a trumpet’s sneeze. I have a normal sneeze.”

“Now that’s being delusional.” Spell-cleaver said, causing the other two to laugh as quietly as they could.

Thunder walked into the kitchen, muttering something along the lines of about wanting to throw them off the cliff and shaking his head, while Shadowsinger walked to the basement and Truth took the stairs to the bedrooms. They roughly knew what to look for. Their bosses informed them that it was a small object used for magical rituals, and it was rumored to be located in that specific house. A small, glowing spherical ball. It supposedly looked quite innocent, similar to a pixie’s tiny glowing globes, but it was a far more dangerous object. It was theoretically capable of doing a lot of good or a lot of evil, and if it were to ever fall into the hands of an individual with a rotting heart and evil intentions, it would lead to catastrophic consequences to the world.

Spell-cleaver, who was in the comfort of their headquarters, worked head on and belly full to locate that object, a piece of veggies filled pastry in his left hand while his right hand typed on the keyboard. He had his long fiery ginger-red hair in a low ponytail as he watched through the three big monitors, courtesy of their bosses, his friends’ body cameras for unusual heat waves through infrared imaging. He discovered during his research that the object in question released a different heat wave than others that could be found in that house. His eyes, one of russet and one of gold metal, looked over all three cameras, searching for any sign of weird heat wave.

“There’s nothing in the kitchen, Thunder. Try the living room.” He told the Illyrian in red after a few minutes of silence, dusting off small crumbles off his brown and gold ornate blazer.

Thunder left the kitchen for the living room. Everything looked... like a tornado passed through the room. The table was turned over, pillows were on the floor, vase was knocked off, the once fresh and blooming flowers lying next to it and personal belongings lied here and there. He saw on his right a painted frame of a family. A man and his wife with his two kids wearing ancient clothes. It stuck out like a sore thumb among the modern furniture and objects, like a figure of the past time traveled into the future. They looked like some type of nymph. Strangely and disturbingly enough, only the wife’s face was visible, unscathed. The rest had their faces burned as if someone held an open flame on the picture and purposefully burned it. He swallowed difficultly, turning away from the uncanny painting.

He tried to ignore the weird, chilling feeling running down his spine. Something felt strangely cold, anormal and bizarre. He couldn’t exactly tell what it was or understand why he felt like that. All he knew is that he wanted to leave immediately. Desperately.

“Something’s odd.” He said to the earpiece before resuming to the task at hand.

Truth was in a bedroom upstairs, one that clearly looked like a little boy’s. Her body cam was recording everything for Spell-cleaver. She looked through the drawers, searching for that object, before coming across a framed painting of a little forest nymph girl sitting on modern and clean white nightstand. The girl’s face was burned and at the bottom sat a small old parchemin paper with an inscription.

She quickly took the paper and read the words in a whisper.

In death reigns no stillness, only torment remains.

She unfolded the paper, curiosity prickling her skin, only to find another painted picture, this time of a woman with uncanny blue and gold eyes, quite unusual for forest nymphs. Unburned.

“What is that supposed to mean?” She heard Spell-cleaver’s voice ask.

Truth scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “I’m not sure.”

She tucked the piece of paper in her pocket and examined the room closely. The bed was left unmade, furniture were still there and personal objects were still lying around. The edge of the carpet was turned over, as if someone stumbled on their way out. There was even a small stuffed animal toy on the ground. She noticed the same kind of havoc in the other rooms she went to earlier.

Whatever happened in that house made the old inhabitants leave in hurry.

“Guys, don’t you notice something strange? Everything is still here. All the furniture, the personal belongings, everything.” She said.

“Yeah, you’re in a house. Congratulations for finding that out.” Spell-cleaver joked.

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up, idiot. Listen. The old inhabitants’ personal stuff are still here. Their beds’ are unmade. Their carpets are turned over. Objects are knocked over on the floor or their furniture. Something happened in this house that made its last inhabitants run away.”

“You’re right. The living room was a mess. And there was this creepy medieval painting.” Thunder said, leaving the living room after nothing was detected by the infrared camera.

“Here as well. I found paintings with burned faces.”

“I had a doubt it was going to be like this. I’ll try to research again, see if I can find more about this.” Spell-cleaver said. He turned to another keyboard and opened a new page on the second monitor, already typing.

“I have this weird feeling that won’t go away. It feels creepy.” Thunder muttered, shaking his head.

Shadowsinger, who was at the basement, stared at one closet in particular. He was barely listening to the conversation, seeming entranced by the ancient closet. Tall and wide enough for him to fit inside, the light brown wood looked burnt and the handle locked by old, oxidized chains. The moving shadows around him moved frantically around him, skittering back from the ominous furniture, seeming to whisper something to him. He felt a shiver running down his spine and the hairs on his arms raise. His head was pounding as he felt strange things, yet he stayed unflinching to the pain. He almost didn’t hear Thunder calling him, his voice getting closer, until his hand touched his shoulder.

“We’ve been calling you this whole time- Why are you looking at me like that?”

He looked back at Thunder, the same hazel eyes he has staring with a faint hint of concern, then at Truth by his side, and felt reality sink back in.

He blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Did you find anything?”

“You looked like you saw a ghost.” Truth said, concerned.

He turned back at the closet and said, “I think this house might be inhabited.”

“We’re alone here, what are you- Oh.” The long haired Illyrian realized, his eyes going wide.

“A little scared, tough guy?” The blonde woman smirked, crossing her arms on her chest.

He scoffed in return.

“Shut up.” He added after seeing her silently laughing.

“I didn’t say anything.” Her eyes were wide, but her tone suggested tease.

They heard a sigh in their earpiece. “Nothing suggests that it is haunted. Nor anything about why the family left. I only have a picture. I’ll send it to your phones.”

Their phones vibrated soon after, and upon seeing it, Thunder exclaimed, “This isn’t the same family that I saw in the painting.”

The picture showed a family of four, all High Fae. It seemed to have been taken about a hundred years before now.

“You’re right. The woman and the little girl I saw were forest nymphs, not High Fae.”

“Maybe these painting were already in the house before these people lived here.” Shadowsinger said, interrupting them.

“I had a slight doubt it might’ve been haunted upon seeing it before the mission, so I told Truth and Thunder to stay with you during this mission just in case. We all know how you get when spirits are nearby.” Spell-cleaver said as he looked through Thunder’s body cam, who went in one of the two rooms in the basement.

“I guess that’s a negative of being a shadowsinger.” Truth said, grabbing her friend’s arm and dragging him away from the ominous closet.

They walked into the only other room, looking through drawers and closets for any signs of the object. It seemed to be a laundry room judging by the large washtub and wooden board. It was the norm back then since washing machines were not yet invented.

Upon pushing a wooden cube aside to open a closet, Truth noticed a small folded paper. It had a strange, vaguely familiar seal. She quickly took it in her pocket before opening the closet.

During their search, she asked him, her voice quiet and tentative, “What did you feel when you were by that closet?”

Shadowsinger halted, thinking back at that moment. “There was... pain. And rage. I could almost hear it. I was-”

“Oh, hell no. Ask him when we’re out of here.” Thunder said from the other room. “This place is already creepy enough.”

“Aw, the big bad tough Illyrian is scared.”

“At least I can admit that. Don’t think I didn’t notice you hiding behind me when we found him by that closet acting possessed.”

Shadowsinger opened his mouth to protest, but Spell-cleaver’s voice interrupted them once again. “Wait, get closer to the right wall. I’m noticing some hot waves.”

He did as told, and a silence reigned in the room for a few minutes. Thunder walked into the laundry room, muttering that he didn’t find anything.

Suddenly, the red head’s voice was heard again, but this time he sounded alarmed, almost scared. “Get out of here. Right now.”

They all took a step back.

“There’s a bomb. It is one minute away from exploding. Fucking run!”

So they did.

They ran as quickly as they could, bumping into each other in the process. The two Illyrians’ wings could barely pass by as they ran upstairs. Running toward the door, a faint scent of smoke trailed after them.

Truth got out first, followed by Thunder shortly after.

Just as Shadowsinger stepped into the threshold, a sound echoed.

And the flames followed suit.

“Argh!” A pained sound came out of the Illyrian’s mouth as he jumped out of the house from the impact, landing on the floor roughly.

“Azriel!” Truth yelled, running towards him followed by Thunder. “Cassian, help me get him up.”

Thunder grabbed him by the upper arm, hoisting him up. The shadowsinger hissed in pain, shadows surrounding as if protecting him. Blood tainted his hand as he touched his shoulder.

“You’re injured again.” Truth said.

“The fire burned me. It’s not as bad as it seems. The fall was more painful.” He said, his gaze turning serious. “I’ll be fine, Mor.”

Flames took over the house with a loud, guttural noise as if coming out from the depths of the earth. They turned their heads at the house on fire in front of them. As the flames brightly lighted up the night, a weird phenomenon happened. They started taking shape, forming a faceless head with horns and fangs and hollow eyes. A demon’s head.

It moved towards them.

They walked backwards frantically as the shaped fire moved closer and closer, but to no avail. It was much faster than them. It swiftly moved and Cassian prepared to shield them from it, his hand on his red jewel on his chest ready.

Until it hit a wall.

A wall of flames.

The tall flames, strange and cold silvery flames, lined up in front of them, as if protecting them from the head of fire. It successfully stopped it from getting anywhere near them. And as if that wasn’t enough, droplets of crystalized water rose from the wet grass, taking the shape of a sphere that enveloped the fiery demon head and kept it trapped until it became a ball of smoke.

The nightmare now over, the three of them stood in silence for a minute, trying to process what just happened.

“Are you guys okay? What the hell was that?” Spell-cleaver asked, frustrated. His leg repeatedly bounced anxiously. He was the one behind the computer, the brains that understood computers and hacking with a genius never seen before. He joined them sometimes when long-distance technology wasn’t possible as he was a skilled fighter as well, but he knew he was helping the team the most by using his computer skills. However tonight, he wished he could have been out there physically instead of being behind a screen and having to witness them in danger without being able to help.

“I don’t know.” Cassian said. “And we were saved. Saved by- Lucien, did I just see correctly or were we just saved by silver fire and drops of water?”

“No, your eyes are right.” He answered. “Also, no name using.”

“Who cares? No one’s here anyways.”

“Look.” Azriel said, his head turned to the right.

They all turned their heads towards where he was looking at, with Lucien looking through the cameras. They could see faint shapes far away, four to be precise. They could tell by their forms that they were individuals, but not more than that. They weren’t able to see more clearly because they immediately disappeared. Winnowed.

“The universe loves proving me wrong.” Cassian said, rolling his eyes.

“Who are they?” Mor said to herself. “Do you think they heard us?”

Azriel shook his head. “I don’t think so. They were too far away even for their Fae ears to catch any sounds.”

“You need to come back. We need to report this to the bosses. The mission was a dead end. It would seem like the object wasn’t there to begin with. We were given false reports.” Lucien said.

“We’ll take care of that detail when we get home.” Mor seethed.

“We need to rest. Az is injured.” Cassian retorted.

“It’s taken care of. The bosses will arrive soon. Just leave the hill. They will come get you home. There are other objects we can find before the enemy beside that one.”

They proceeded to walk down the hill in silence, leaving the burning house behind. They expected the next meeting with their bosses to be more complicated now that they were given false reports. It’s not that they were bad, they just find it annoying that they will have to double-check all the reports that were given to them. Paper work was always such a hustle, and they were already frustrated enough with the mission being a dead end. They knew they would need to find other ways to find where these objects were and retrieve them before their enemy get them first.

But that was a problem for another day.

Azriel’s back tingled as he was walking down, and he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder, getting one last look at the burning house. His shadows were enveloped around his neck and arms as a wooden bar fell from the house in a loud thud. He still felt the shivers, still felt in trance almost, and he swore he heard a faint feminine voice echoing from the ancient house. Something shifted inside him. Something ominous and dark. He couldn’t shake the feeling, didn’t know what or why he felt this dread.

Only that he knew it was just the beginning, somehow.

And he abhorred it.

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