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night-market-if · 2 years

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Paper Lanterns Part 30

READ BEFORE CONTINUING

This is the final part to Paper Lanterns. There will be a small companion piece after this, to tie this and the Night Market IF together in a way. The MC's name (cannon MC) will be dropped in this part. Also, there needs to be a warning for this part. If you do not care about warnings, go ahead and read. If you are someone triggered, please the last tag in this post and read at your discretion.

Winner of the last vote was choice 2 and 3 in a tie

You step forward, placing yourself between the Baron and Malcolm and Hazel. This was your fight. You had been the one foolish enough to be manipulated, and you were not about to let the two people you loved most in this world, suffer the consequences. The Baron knew this. Probably always had. The way her grin stretched at your actions told you that this was what she had hoped for from the very beginning.

“We can figure this out,” you said, holding your hands in the air in surrender. Take it nice and easy. Nice and slow. “You got a Gatekeeper here. We can find a world. One that can sustain your people.”

She quirked a brow at you. “So easy to offer the lives of strangers, isn’t it?”

You grit your teeth. When the choice was between here or somewhere else, you were finding you didn’t care. Here was what mattered. Here was where Hazel was making a life, creating a business she loved. Finally, gaining confidence after being beaten down for so long. Here was where Malcolm wandered the streets, his smile easy. So much easier than what it had been when you were children, back when he was still born inside a body he hated, living the life of the little girl his mother wanted him to be instead of who he truly was. Now, he walked with purpose. The anger having melted away a long time ago to be replaced with broad shoulders and a look that made you weak in the knees.

Here was your home. For the first time in forever, you could admit it. Here was the place you were meant to be. And you would protect it.

“You want to take the deal or not?” you ask, your stomach rolling with fear.

The Baron walked forward, delight on her face. She was shorter than you and as she came toe to toe, she popped upwards, her fetid breath heating your face. “No,” she said.

Behind you, Malcolm moved. “I’m calling the council,” he said.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Outside, the windows blacked out. Faces, pale and full of pointed teeth, were looking in.

“We’re done,” Malcolm said. “You want access to the gates, fine. I give it over to all of you. But controlled. This was never something that should have been given to one person alone.”

“It wasn’t,” she agreed. “But the Night Market deemed it so. Therefore, who are we to squash tradition.”

“So there’s no negotiating?” Malcolm asked.

“Of course not,” she tittered. “Did you ever think there was?”

You looked at her, dropping your palms. “No. Which is why we had you come here.”

From the second floor, something began to rumble. While the Baron was dancing and playing her game, Hazel had slowly made her way up the iron stairs, curling herself into something small and unseen. Hazel was often forgotten and for once, it was to your advantage. From the second story, you could see her. Her arms were rising slowly in the air, her eyes pitch block with green flames flickering vividly inside. Her hair and skirts rose, the world around her becoming weightless as she was lifted from the ground, a hex rumbling from her lips.

For the first time, the Baron looked scared.

You rushed forward then, grabbing the Baron by the waist and forcing her backwards to the floor. She screamed, her cries ear splitting just as the door burst open and the vampires came rushing in. Bottles began to shatter around you, noxious fumes rising in the air as the contents fell to the floor, burning through the wood. The screams began to sound louder and louder, filling the room with piercing wails that rattled the foundation of the shop. Hazel’s head snapped back, the words coming from her throat guttural and deep.

Then the ash began to spin.

Dozens of vampires stood around you, motionless, their bodies vibrating and still as stone as their insides began to shake apart. Blood poured from their eyes, their nose. Black putrid sludge as their organs liquified into something foul. And then they started to crumble. One by one their faces slid from their skull before their bones rattled into dust and all that was left was ash that swirled up into the air, twisting together in one long braid that shot towards a little garden gnome that sat on the front counter.

Malcolm stood by it, twirling a key in his hand. When him and the Baron locked eyes, he slammed the key to the floor.

The gnome rattled and shook before exploding into a thousand shards. All of which formed into a shimmering door. A gate. Now open. And one in which Hazel sent the remains of the vampires through.

You looked down at the Baron. “You're next,” you said.

Murder colored her cheeks, her youthful face now twisted into something batlike and cruel. Red eyes soaked in blood, an elongated jaw and a flat nose with two slits. Her nails grew long and curved and the incisors of her teeth stretched through her now cracked lips. Opening her mouth, she screamed and lunged for you.

You were prepared for the attack but not for the strength. Not with the way your side was still healing. She lashed out at you, connecting with the recently closed wound. Above, you could hear Hazel thud to the ground, the hex taking its toll. It would be up to you and Malcolm to shove this Baron through the door.

Rolling on the ground, you tried to hold your own. You could see Malcolm rushing towards you, and you knew that if he reached you, the two of you could do this. This could all be over. You had been so stupid. So so stupid. And you planned to tell him that. How irrational you had acted this past year. You never should have let him go. You never should have let him walk away from you. You…

Your side split in pain as the Baron dug her nails into you and the wet and sticky feel of blood soaked your tunic. You screamed, crying out in both pain and surprise as you felt her long talons wiggling inside you.

She was bent over you, laughing, her eyes bright and shining as she breathed so close to your face, ready to sink her fangs in you. But then Malcolm was there, ripping her away and leaving you bleeding on the ground, your side shredded. You gripped at the tear near your hip, feeling the split flesh and knowing this was going to take more than Hazel’s tonics to cure. You had to help Malcolm though.

Looking up, you could see the two of them, Barons locked in a battle. The Baron of the Mists was fast, lashing and clawing and screaming in shrills that broke the last remnants of the windows within the shop. She was kicking out in blurred strikes that Malcolm was parrying.

He had this.

Slowly, he was leading her towards the still open gate, the two of them battling across the now broken apothecary.

But then something happened. Something that you watched in slow motion.

Hazel came down the steps, her face ashen and cold. You stood, blood dripping between your fingers, and Malcolm looked at you two. Taking his gaze away for one moment. One singular moment.

The Baron’s long, curled claws sunk into either of Malcolm’s sides, lifting him off the ground before throwing him across the room. He rolled, hitting the bottom of a bookcase, the shelving falling upon him.

Hazel screamed, running towards him while you looked at the Baron. She was panting, hurt, staring at you. You stumbled forward, ready to drag her through the gate, going with her if you had to. But she grinned, something wide and feral as she scented the air.

“Kill me or say goodbye,” she whispered, blood dripping from her lips. “Which will it be?”

She didn’t give you a chance to respond. When your eyes ticked to Malcolm, she took off. Wings sprouting from her back as she launched herself into the air, tearing through the roof of the shop.

Debris fell down around you in a cacophony of noise and ruble, and you covered your head, trying to protect yourself from the onslaught. When everything settled, the shop grew quiet. The only sound the crackling of the gate, humming beneath the blue willow wisps that began to gather in the opening above.

That, and Hazel’s tears.

You looked over. Malcolm was cradled in her lap. The siblings had their heads pressed together as they traded soft words. Malcolm was gripping her hand tightly, smiling at her while she nodded to each breath. When she leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her brother's cheek, you felt your heart break.

Slowly, as if walking through water, you made it to their side, sinking to your knees. Malcolm’s sides were in ribbons, blood pooling beneath the three of you, his face becoming grey and cold.

“Hey button,” he smiled, reaching up and cupping your cheek. You could feel the tears spilling forward, dripping ugly down the side of your face. Down your chin.

“Mal?”

“Don’t do it,” he said. “You’ll see me around.”

You shake your head. A restless spirit. Someone haunting this shop forever. Just like the alley. Just like everything that haunted them each night, screaming in the dark for the lives they lost. Malcolm would lose his mind one day but the Night Market had taken its hold of him so long ago. You didn’t want that for him. He deserved to be vibrant and whole. Not a spirit of vengeance that could barely cling to who he once was.

“Hazel, you have to do something,” you said desperately. “Heal him.”

The sob that ripped from her throat was aching. “I can’t. I used up too much power already.”

You looked at her with dawning horror, your body beginning to shake uncontrollably. Hazel could not meet your eyes and Malcolm was kneading the side of your neck with fingers growing weaker with each passing second. “There has to be a way to stop this. There has to…”

“Milo,” he said your name and your head snapped upwards. His expression was soft. That one he only showed you in the early morning light when you two were curled in bed together, not quite ready to face the world. You weren’t ready to face this. “Tell me you love me before I go.”

You shake your head. “No.”

Malcolm’s thumb drifts across your cheek as he smiles sadly at you. “Stubborn.”

“Mal, please, don’t do this,” you began to beg. You had just gotten him back. You weren’t ready for the warmth of his arms to leave you or not catch a glimpse of him throughout the market. That was not the life you had fought for. “I can’t do this without you. I stayed here for you. I didn’t leave all those years ago because I didn’t want to leave you. You can’t leave me now. It’s not fair.”

Malcolm’s eyes ticked over towards Hazel’s and suddenly, you felt her arms wrap around you. She was trembling, her tears wetting your shoulder.

“Mal?” You say shakily.

“I love you. Both of you,” he smiled, a tear slipping down his cheek. “I’ll be seeing you.”

“I’ll be seeing you,” Hazel whispered.

Dragging his eyes back to yours, he pressed his fingers tight against the side of your neck. You scrambled to keep them there as they began to slip. And as his eyes drifted closed, his lips parting in a final breath, you felt the words tear from your throat.

“I love you. I love you so much.” Bending forward you press your forehead to his chest. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Hazel held you tight, rocking with you as the tears streamed down both your cheeks. The body beneath you was still. Broken. He was gone.

“Milo,” she whispered. “We have to put him through the gate.”

“What?” You looked up at her, not comprehending her words.

“He belongs to the Night Market,” she said patiently, her face twisted in grief. “He’ll become a restless spirit, and he will hate that. If we push him through a gate, the Night Market will call him home. Spirits can’t come through the doors, Milo. The Market will bring him back.”

Anger filled you then, something irrational and full of despair. “No. I’m not shoving his body through a fucking door. We can do something. We can—”

“This is what we can do,” she said. “This is what we have to do.” Scrambling to your side, she takes your face between her palms, her eyes broken. “He’ll come back to us. He will. But we have to do it before the door closes. Please,” she begged. “Please. I can’t lose him either.”

One heart-wrenching cry ripped from your chest as you leaned forward, one hand still on Malcolm, the other wrapping around her. You held Hazel tightly to you, feeling her shaking against you, clinging to you desperately. Then, slowly, you stood.

You don’t know how the two of you did it, weak and bleeding as you were. But you got his body to the door. He looked at peace. Like he was doing nothing more than sleeping. You didn’t want to do this. You didn’t want to believe this. You wanted to hold him until he opened his eyes again, his lips curling into that knowing smile.

“We have to,” Hazel whispered.

You looked at her. He was the last of her family. The last of everything. She was alone now. Just like you. But she held belief that this would help. That this would give him back. And it would keep him from becoming one of the vengeful ghosts that wandered the market. It had been a fear of his since being a child. Selfishly, you wanted to keep him. But you knew that if you did that, he would never forgive you.

“I’ll do it,” you said. You weren’t going to make her give the final push. She had already done the hard part and made the decision.

Hazel nodded, leaning forward to give Malcolm a kiss. Her lips pressed softly to his forehead, her fingers brushing against his brows. “I’ll see you soon,” she whispered.

When she backed away, you looked at him. You remembered him as a child. The way he stared at you, some dirty street kid, terrified of the world around you. He never gave you quarter. Yelled at you for every single mistake. Demanded you be better. Made you be better.

Then one day he kissed you. You were young and stupid and didn’t know how to kiss him back, your hands fumbling at his sides. But he had held you until you figured it out, showing you that he loved your uncertainty and the softness you were never allowed to show. Malcolm Albright had loved you more than you had ever known. He was the only reason you stood there today.

Brushing the hair from his eyes, you felt a part of you die. It would go through the gate with him. You knew he would not be returning. You didn’t have the belief that they did. Hope had never been a friend of yours.

“I’m so sorry,” you whispered to him. Leaning forward, you press your lips to his, feeling them cold and unresponsive. Shaking, you linger, trying to memorize the way he smelled, the feel of him beneath your palms. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, you pushed him through.

You didn’t watch his body go, nor did you watch the gate close. You held Hazel instead, holding her tight as she cried against you, your own tears mingling with her own. You stayed there that night, long after the tears had dried, surrounded by destruction and pain. You sat with Hazel until both your legs went numb and neither of you knew what to do.

Outside, down a burnt alley, through a market that continued to thrive, the lanterns dimmed. Just for a moment, they dipped out, plunging the market into black and letting only the starry skylight the way. They shuddered as the world began to shift, and they mourned their Gatekeeper.

And somewhere, in the very very dark, a key was set into a cool palm, just below the sway of a paper lantern.

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#paper lanterns #interactive fiction #community fiction #the final part #it has been a wild ride and I have so many thoughts #I'll share them if you guys want #this was hard for me to write #hazel ablright #malcolm albright #milo next #warning #character death #he is in book 2 though you guys

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taeiun · 23 days

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try guys and tbz collab what i have come back to

#(>。☆)　. . 　jun shut up 　?#i got home last night and i am dead bro #i’ve been hanging out with two guys in the grade below me on this trip #and they’ve been rubbing off on me a little too much LMFAOOO i’ve been saying ‘it’s so over’#and also been taking part in ur mom jokes with them 😭😭💀#it was so fun me and the two guys explored basically all of venice in 4 1/2 hours it was amazing #also me and w (one of the guys) lost it on the plane ride back

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stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage · 1 month

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As much fun as I'm having doing my alternative run of DA2, one thing I really miss about my mage Hawke is his friendship with Merrill.

Those two are best friends and he's 100% supportive in her goals toward the eluvian. Ed has the humorous/charming personality, too, which bounces off super well with Merrill. He doesn't think any less of her for her usage of blood magic; if anything he's impressed by her level of strength and willpower. He's so ready to defend her from the other companions and the clan, and he's absolutely out here attempting to matchmake her and Carver....at least he is in my heart because the game won't let me, it's fine, I'm not bitter about it or anything-

But then my warrior Hawke? She has the diplomatic personality with quite a bit of direct/aggressive thrown in there and she ends up having the same attitude as that one party banter Aveline and Merrill have: "Merrill, you're clearly talented and meant for great things, but you're stupid," and that's so difficult for me to lean into. I'm trying to play Aris differently so she ends up being so condescending to Merrill, like she's trying to gently tell her to give up on the eluvian but it doesn't come off well.

Also if Carver was around, Aris would be the opposite of Ed, she'd look at the suggestion of her brother and Merrill getting together and be like, "No :) I don't think so :) I like Merrill, she's my friend :) but she's not right for Carver."

But I guess it makes sense; if you told him that Bethany would giggle and kick her feet and twirl her hair around Sebastian, Ed would've thrown him in the ocean as a warning. Meanwhile, Aris is like, "A handsome prince that could take my sister away from all of this? Wonderful, we just need to work on his incorrect views on mages, but that shouldn't be a problem :)"

Anyway I miss playing Hawke as the #1 Merrill stan.

#dragon age 2 #da2 #da2 merrill #carver hawke #bethany hawke #sebastian vael #da2 hawke #edgar hawke #aris hawke #listen i'm a little weirdo i like comparing the different ways to play the heroes of da games but especially the different hawkes #i like comparing my own hawkes and i like looking at other peoples hawkes and the different relationship dynamics they bring to the table #kicks my little gremlin brain into gear #like ed always rivals aveline and their relationship is strained at best... meanwhile aris and aveline are ride or die best friends #and seeing aveline from both perspectives is....... well it's an experience i'll just say that sksksks #oh also i miss anders so much sksksk i miss his romance and the dynamic he and ed have #aris rejected him right from the start and while it's neat to see her character through an unromantic lens i still miss him and his bullshi #aris romanced isabela and *that* makes me want to bite nom nom so interesting and heartbreaking in its own way like losing leandra like tha #and then dealing with the qunari bullshit only to find out isabela's part in it before she abandons aris with the book #and then aris reunites with bethany who is bitter and pissed off and can't get away from her fast enough like........ the end of act 2 y'al #aris was *ready* for the arishok fight solely because she needed an outlet for her frustration and grief and agony #she couldn't kick his ass fast enough sksksksks and now she's so Done with everything and then isabela admits that she's in love with her #and it's just................. a lot. it's so much. i can't #anders and isabela's respective romances drive me nuts for very different reasons i love them #this has been another 'cj needs to ramble about [blank]' post #stay tuned for next week where she continues to sob about the hawke twins

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sassenach082 · 1 year

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this may be an unpopular opinion but i personally think that Eleanor has a part in Ice’s childhood being shitty. obviously the Colonel is the main reason why but what i’ve seen so far, she didn’t really defend Ice or any of the other kids. Ice basically raised John and Tim when that should have been Eleanor’s job. Everyone in the family has become comfortable with putting pressure on Ice. They all since he’s strong enough to take it, he should. The scene where Sarah hugged the Colonel right in front Ice made me a little mad and sad for Ice. I hope that Mav puts them in their place but that normally isn’t how it works :(

Hey nonnie!

I would have to agree, to a point. To build their backstory up for you a bit (since it will come out over time through Tom's narrating), Eleanor and Bill Kazansky got married when she was 20 and he was 21, and they had Tom a year or so later.

Eleanor had 5 kids in 8 years and a husband who was away all the time. I think she tried her best and she loves the hell out of all her kids, and she does love her husband, but this was also the 60s (Tom was born in '61 [so in 1987 he's 26], John in '62, there was a miscarriage in '63, the twins in '66, and Tim in '68 which nearly killed her). Leaving your husband was basically unheard of, and how would she even do that?

They'd have bounced around every 2-3 years (or sooner than that, depending on Bill's postings) and she wouldn't have had a community to rely on other than friends she'd make on post before getting transferred again every time she got comfortable. Tom was born in San Clemente and lived in 6 different states (as well as briefly abroad in Germany) before his 13th birthday, after which Bill's job sent them back to California.

Long story short Eleanor tried her best, she really did, and she made sure her kids knew she loved each and every one of them. But she did also put pressure on Tom when he was growing up because a part of her needed someone to support her. Tom also is the oldest and definitely has firstborn syndrome so I think he, just being Tom, stepped up to the plate to be there for his siblings because at his core he's a protector. Little Tom would have gotten to the age when he realized how much his mom was doing and stepped in to do it with her, and I think at first she probably protested, but the relief of not having to do it all alone was probably overwhelming.

I think Eleanor and Tom have a really complicated relationship, but Tom definitely doesn't resent his mom for it, not at all. I think Tom understands, and that's why he's so protective of her and says she tried her best and makes sure Pete knows he never doubted that his mom loved him for even a nanosecond.

#sassy answers asks #i'll ride au #eleanor kazansky is a complicated woman #but she also did the best she could with what she had #and just because you don't SEE her yelling at her husband doesn't mean she doesn't #the kazansky's are old fashioned in the sense they don't fight in front of company #but mama kazansky isn't a pushover she just picks her battles #but yes nonnie you are correct she COULD do more and DOESN'T or maybe she just can't #(not me acting like I don't know her motivations lol)#anyway the point is pete endeared himself to eleanor in about .2 seconds because he stood up for tom #and tom's siblings love him to death but they're so used to him being their shield that it's never occurred to them to shield him back #his siblings take him for granted #but it's also complicated because parts of them resent him too #since tom is so “perfect” at first glance #whereas tom resents them right back because their dad is kinder to them than to him #and just imagine being a 20-something guy coming home from war to be a dad and your 10 year old you barely know is doing your job for you #so there is a long history of tension between them because the colonel is very stern and tom... isn't #not with his loved ones #and it would have pissed tiny tom off to no end when bill yelled at his siblings #meanwhile the colonel pushes tom the hardest because he sees tom's potential #but in treating tom like a subordinate and not a son he alienates him at every turn #anyway join me for #the kazansky family: a shit show in seven parts

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