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skekheck · 3 years

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All About the Seven Clans: the Vapra

THIS POST CONTAINS EVERYTHING I COULD FIND ABOUT THE VAPRA. SOME INFORMATION WRITTEN HERE ARE FROM OLDER MATERIAL AND MAY EITHER CONTRADICT STATEMENTS OR IS NO LONGER RELEVANT. I WILL DO MY BEST TO STRING IT ALL TOGETHER AS COHERENTLY AS POSSIBLE. IF THERE IS INFORMATION THAT I AM MISSING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I’LL ADD IT!

Clan Index: Dousan Drenchen Grottan Sifa Spriton Stonewood Vapra

High above the Northern Mountains that bordered the Silver Sea Coast lived the Vapra. As the Skeksis’ ambassadors for the Gelfling race, their high societal status led them to acquire an abundance of resources which made them both rich in wealth and knowledge. Ha’rar was not only the capital of the Vapra but for the entire Gelfling race during the Age of Division. It was also the home of the All-Maudra, who doubled as maudra of the Vapra and the matriarch leader of all the Gelfling clans.

The Vapran totem animal was the Imperial Unamoth and their core elements were light, day, and keepers of the future. Their clan color was silver, their sigil was purple and silver, and their pennant color was purple with silver and gold detail.

Characteristics

The Vapra were well adapted to their environment as they were hardly affected by cold weather, ice, and snow. As creatures of altitude, air, and lightness they lived comfortably high above on the windy mountains. They were the masters of camouflage as they could easily disappear into their surroundings. Some works said this was thanks to their physical appearance but others, those of which were older, credited this to a type of magic they had.

They had a fair complexion with hair that was generally light as well. Hair color ranged from white to silver to various shades of blonde. On rare occasions a Vapra had black or brown hair. It could have had highlighted sections of dark blue, blue-purple, lavender, or all three. Vapran hairstyles were commonly extravagant, even in Gelfling who performed trades or menial work. They could be curled, straight, braided and more, with ribbons and beads for decoration. The Vapra had a diverse range in eye color which could be shades of green, yellow, brown, grey, and blue. In the J.M. Lee book series, they also had lavender-colored eyes.

Unlike most clans, Vapra prioritized fashion over function. They had clothing for every occasion or to portray a certain mood. Vapra fashion had an ethereal quality with soft light blues, silvers, and pinks that matched the sky. They wore plenty of jewelry, a sign of their nobility. Vapran garment had wind shaped vestments along the back even worn by those who never had wings. They were heavily garbed with cloaks and hoods whose function was to protect clothing and jewelry from the elements rather than keeping the Gelfling warm.

According to skekNa the Slave Master, Vapran essence was prized above all others for their restorative effects making the clan an important resource for the Skeksis.

Vapran Wings and the Art of Flight

The Vapra’s gossamer wings were broad and light which made them one of the fastest flyers among the other gelfling, only rivaled by the Sifa. Their skills were largely contributed from their environment with its updraft winds created from the Silver Sea and manmade airy channels within Ha’rar. At the same time, their abilities were thanks to the Vapran tradition of flight. Like most Gelfling, taking wing was seen as one of the most joyous pleasures of Gelfling life.

Flight was also a sign of prestige, power, and ability. It was believed that the skeksis placed the Vapra above all other clans was due to their aerial abilities. When winged Vapras needed to settle a dispute, they’d compete with each other in the air to test their agility and strength.

Lifestyle

Life in the Northern Mountains was always cold with long, dark winters with snow falling nearly every day. Even during the summer the sky remained clouded with very rare instances of sunny days. The Vapra carefully prepared for the stretches of dark winters and shortened days during the summer.

As their maudra was also the matriarch leader of all Gelfling, the All-Maudra was too busy to make time for them. So the Vapra became independent and self-sufficient which allowed the All-Maudra to tend to her duties. Each Vapra did their part together doing specialized tasks that allowed the community to flourish. In fact, the Vapra had the highest population count out of all seven Gelfling clans.

The Vapra lived luxurious lifestyles, thanks to their access to natural resources, their strong trade economy, and their relationship with the skeksis. Being placed the highest on the gelfling hierarchy provided them with services that were a rarity among gelfling, including the ability to read or write. Although some Vapra flaunted their status in the public eye, most held private lives which they spent the majority of with their families.

When a Vapra committed a transgression, punishment involved being sent to a gelfling community service called the Order of Lesser Service. Led by the Daudran, the “Members of the Lesser Service” were forced to do unpaid work such as pre-chew food for Nebrie or do a Podling cleaning ceremony called “deterge” while wearing a jester hat with bells. A Vapra could spend up to a trine in the Order of the Lesser Service dependent on their sentencing.

Daily Routine

Unlike in other clans, the Vapra didn’t rise together in the early morning. They each had their own unique, flexible schedule to follow throughout the day. It was primarily self-determined and revolved around the Vapra’s needs and the needs of others. They spent their days working their trade and returned home in the evening to be with their families.

The Vapra were a large industrious clan and had a variety of different occupations. Some of the more prestigious jobs were metalworkers and artisans. They had great access to minerals and metals found within the Silver Sea cliffs and were skilled in both practical and ornamental designs. Artisans, for example, were praised for their metal and colored glass works which were commonly seen in Vapran architecture. Plenty of Vapra dedicated time to scholarly and political activities thanks to the abundance of knowledge readily available to them.

The Burden of the All-Maudra

According to skeksis propaganda, the role of the All-Maudra was created to end supposed clan discord and skirmishes and brought order to all gelfling. Although gelfling of other clans had taken up the title, the skeksis decreed that only the Vapra could be All-Maudra some time during the Age of Division. As a ruler and ambassador, the All-Maudra had to take care of their own clan, the other six clans, and heed the will of the skeksis to bring it down upon all gelfling. On the rare circumstances the All-Maudra was absent, the successor or a regent would temporarily take their place.

The All-Maudra spent their days trying to fulfill the needs of the the Gelfling and the skeksis lords, the latter of which were very demanding and impatient, within a timely manner. The All-Maudra had little time for their own clan. Many spent their entire lives without seeing them and simply gaining a hearing with them was considered an exceptional honor. Even their family was neglected where the idea of “duty first, family second” was something that couldn’t be tested. Relationships between the All-Maudra and their successors were constantly strained as the successor went through difficult and harsh training so they would be prepared for the role. The intention was never out of malice, but it negatively affected many generations until the Gelfling Rebellion.

This role was discontinued during the Age of Power as both Jen and Kira ruled as the Great Elders of Thra.

The Living Crown

The traditional head adornment of the All-Maudra was the Living Crown. It was a symbol of the All-Maudra’s power, unity of the Gelfling race, and loyalty to the skeksis. It consisted of seven detachable pieces which were only removed when it was time to appoint the new heir. The coronation of the new All-Maudra was a highly celebrated event with Gelfling all over Thra arrived to witness.

The ceremony began with the All-Maudra breaking the Living Crown into its seven pieces. They give six of the pieces to Windshifters to be sent to the other maudras. If the All-Maudra died unexpectingly, the heir would sing a song to have the Windshifters take the pieces themselves. The other maudras would then go on a pilgrimage to Ha’rar with their piece of the crown, assisted by their own successors and closest council members. Once arrived, the maudras reassembled the Living Crown whilst giving their blessing to the heir. The blessing was also an oath of fealty, not just to the new All-Maudra but what they presented as the ambassador of the Gelfling. If the All-Maudra was still alive, they placed their final piece of the crown and officially crowned the new heir as the All-Maudra.

Possible but rarely could the claim for the Living Crown be challenged. One of the maudras could withhold their blessing and fight for the Living Crown through trials. This occurred during Seladon’s coronation when Maudra Fara challenged her to Trial by Air. A similar crisis like this happened 639 trine prior. Trials like these, as noted by Maudra Seethi, weren’t the way of the Gelfling but of the skeksis. Other gelfling could make legitimate claims for the crown under certain circumstances. Fenth of the Sifa clan had made at least three attempts and was the only male Gelfling noted to do so but was not successful.

The Living Crown was destroyed during the late Age of Division. Instead of going through with Maudra Fara’s challenge, Seladon made a new crown proclaiming the old one was tainted by the treachery of her mother. When Maudra Fara refused to accept her as the new All-Maudra, Seladon threw her into the Living Crown and broke it.

Paladins

Paladins were specially trained, mostly Vapran, warriors who worked under the All-Maudra. They were charged with a variety of tasks including protecting Ha’rar and its Citadel, escorted Vapran trade caravans across the Skarith Region, captured fugitives, and go on rescue missions. Paladins with wings also undertook airborne missions. Many paladins were skilled at fencing and riding Landstriders. When one addressed a paladin, they were given the title of either “sir” or “lady”. A paladin was stripped of their title if they acted dishonestly.

For a gelfling to become a paladin, the All-Maudra must knight them. Not all paladins were Vapran as evident by a Sifan paladin and Hup the Podling who was knighted by All-Maudra Mayrin. Sometimes when the All-Maudra had multiple children, if they chose, could lead the entire paladin class. Princess Katavra, for example, commanded over the paladins during the late Age of Division.

Chrysalisday

Two nights every trine the three Sisters appeared in the sky, which was a gelfling holiday known as the Celebration of the Sister Moons. On the day before one of these nights the Vapra celebrated another holiday: Chrysalisday. The Unamoth, the Vapra’s sigil animal, had an unpredictable hatching timeframe from their chrysalis. Some opened within an unum while others waited a trine or longer. And some never opened at all, which the Vapra used their chrysalises as good luck amulets. No naturalist or far-dreamer could predict when the Unamoth chrysalises opened. Thus, Chrysalisday was a reminder of the potential of the future and the unpredictability of fate.

On the evening of Chrysalisday, youths carried lanterns down to the wharf where they’d released them into the sky. The lanterns themselves were made of paper, crafted by their bearers, and mixed with flammable bluedust. The dust eventually caught fire from the heat of the lantern and popped in bright colors. However, the distribution of the dust was uneven so no one was able to predict when they ignited, if at all.

Diet

The Vapra had access to all sorts of foods and spices through trades, making the Vapran diet varied with meats, fruits, and vegetables. Vapran chefs were also knowledgeable in preparing traditional dishes from other clans, putting their own spin on it. A gelfling could get any kind of food they’re craving, but would had to pay a large price for it. Not surprisingly, the Vapra had excellent dining manners and preferred using utensils.

Vapran food was sweeter than other clan cuisine because of the groves of sugarwood grown in the mountains. They also preferred less spices and seasonings in their food.

A traditional Vapran dish was a hearty, sweet stew of mushrooms and cream. It was sometimes served with a baked mint-apple over the top of it and garnished with Hooyim oil. Vapran Frost, a type of soft cheese dusted in powdered sugar, was considered a delicacy.

Ha’rar, Capital of the Gelfling World

Surrounding the cliff sides to the north of the Silver Sea Coast lied the city of Ha’rar. It was the largest gelfling settlement on Thra lined with hundreds of domed, thatched roofed houses clustered together around the Citadel. Vapran homes had additional doorways on the roofs, sculpted with hand and foot rails and platforms for winged gelfling to land comfortably on. Underneath Ha’rar were vent channels created from the wind helped winged Vapra get around.

As it was considered the capital and hearth of the Skarith Land, it was a popular destination for both tourists and merchants. Ha’rar was in a good location near the mouth of the Black River and along the Silver Sea Coast which brought a large of influx of merchants and goods to the city. Its port market was the best place to sell and purchase goods. Gelfling from all walks of life could be found there, even rare visits from Dousan and Drenchen travelers.

Important ceremonies were held at Ha’rar, one of which was the tithing ceremony. In the early Age of Division, it was held every three unum where gelfling from every clan made their way to Ha’rar and offered their products of labor to the skeksis. Over time as the gelfling populations grew, tithing ceremonies were reduced to once a trine and were held in other gelfling settlements. But Ha’rar was still honored with being the first to hold their ceremony and other clans still came to attend. It was the only opportunity for a gelfling to see both the All-Maudra and the Lords of the Crystal themselves.

Outside of Ha’rar were individual Vapra villages, hot springs, the Waystar Grove, and Landstrider pens to its south. Hidden within the cliffs and mountain forests lied a hovel made of stone and ice. In the book series, it belonged to urSan the Swimmer. Her home was filled with charts of the stars and waterways found all over the Skarith Region.

During the Age of Power, the Gelfling capital was moved from Ha’rar (or what remained of it) to the Castle of the Crystal.

The Citadel

The Citadel was the capital building of Ha’rar and the home of the All-Maudra and their family. It was built from carved stone of the Vapran mountains, reinforced with metal, notably silver, and crystal. It was visible nearly anywhere along the coast and was a must-see for any gelfling visiting the city. The Citadel housed the All-Maudra’s throne room where they’d met with citizens and the Skeksis, hosted ceremonies, and held court. Within their personal chambers was a cluster of Unamoth chrysalises as a reminder of the meanings taught by Chryalisday. A secret chamber lied beneath the throne room which housed Lore, a creation of skekGra the Heretic and urGoh the Wanderer, who would help the Gelfling end skeksis rule if they solved the puzzle in the room.

The Citadel’s creation, and who built it, was lost to time. Most historians believed it was built with the help of the skeksis, but most information was transformed into legend. The structure represented as the symbol of the Vapra and considered the most impressive Gelfling architectural feat. Some songs, like the ditty “Twin Castles”, compared its likeness to the Castle of the Crystal.

The Library

Just as important as the Citadel was the Vapran library. It was only a short walk from the Citadel and one could easily spot the white marble domed building. It was a labyrinthine of multiple floors, book cases, and spiraling stair cases with its stained glass ceiling illuminated the entire building. It contained an overwhelming amount of tomes, scrolls, and precious artifacts neatly organized and maintained by librarians. Librarians could have familiars as evident by the Librarian in the Age of Resistance and his Pluff’M.

Any Gelfling could come to read or be read out loud by librarians for those who were illiterate. Plenty of scholars like Princess Brea came to the library to learn. Brea utilized a lot of what she learned from the many scrolls and tomes on her quest, including the book that gave her the vision of the aureyal.

An ode called “Immortal House” was created by an unknown songteller who was present on the day the library was completed.

Mountain Hot Springs

Deep within the mountains were pockets of hot springs. Getting there was difficult as the distances between Vapran settlements and the springs were filled with blizzards and slippery conditions which made mountain climbing dangerous. But despite the risks, dozens of Vapras could be found occupying the pools at a time.

The springs also held a bizarre tradition or belief. For one to enter the vicinity, they were required to disrobe. Even hair garments were taken off. The belief was, as the gelfling were only in their own skin, no one could tell what status they had. Whether Vapra or any gelfling from another clan, in these places they were all one.

Kira-Staba

Kira-Staba or the Waystar Tree was a grove of trees that resided within a bay near the Silver Sea. Much like the Cradle Tree, all of the trees were a part of one tree which grew around it like toadstools. The Waystar Trees had an interesting property to it which allowed them to glow blue at night. Its light wasn’t seen from Ha’rar but easily anywhere along the Silver Sea Coast.

The Waystar Tree was used as guidance by all gelfling, whether it be Sifan sailors or Vapran explorers. It was because of the Waystar Trees that the Vapra founded Ha’rar. It was memorialized in a song called “the Forty Sisters”. The grove was also a metaphorical guider as the Vapra looked to in times of need. The journey to the grove was not easy as there were no carved paths and the winds were relentlessly cold. But when they reached the grove, the gelfling would be warmed up by the light the trees gave off.

In the book series, in order to reach out to the Vapra clan and help them light the fires of resistance, Tavra, Kylan, and Amri went to the Waystar Tree. With Kylan playing his firca, Amri dreamfasted with the tree to help Tavra carry her message to her people to encourage them to join the rebellion. She was able to inspire the Vapra just before skekSa the Mariner destroyed one of the trees.

Relationships with the Skeksis and Other Clans

Although there were some Vapra who looked down upon outsiders and held attitudes of superiority, most of them were kind, curious, and considerate. This doesn’t mean they weren’t susceptible to ignorant stereotypes and were less likely to get in trouble for it. Some clans viewed them with contempt. The Stonewood, for example, believed they should have been chosen as the Gelfling ambassadors and weren’t afraid to make such remarks known. These vents never took too far as it would have damaged the Stonewood’s reputation with both the Vapra and the skeksis. Going against the Vapra was going against the skeksis.

As the Vapra were the skeksis’ chosen ambassadors for gelfling kind, they were the closest to them. The Vapra even developed a dialect that matched closely with the skeksis’ gelfling accent, which they emphasized around the Lords and other clans. In turn, the skeksis favored the Vapran above all others which the clan benefited from the wealth and security awarded to them. Despite the trines worth of service, it was the All-Maudra who stood up against the skeksis and would have been the first to convince the Vapra to join the resistance if she wasn’t killed.

As Ha’rar had a trade-based economy, the Vapra sought to maintain trading relationships. Arguably the most important of these relations was with the Sifa. During the spring and autumn, the Sifa arrived at Ha’rar’s port and traded goods from the sea and in turn the Vapra exported foodstuffs like Nebrie eggs and Sourloaf. Over the Age of Division, the Vapra and Sifa got into skirmishes. The most notable of them was the Age of Sifans secession movement which was created as a result of late All-Maudra Seladon’s (mother of Mayrin) treatment of them. The other was a shorter diplomatic incident caused by Princess Brea when she erased Elder Cadia’s memories. Both conflicts were solved and restored clan relations. There was a brief period of strong unity between the two clans when All-Maudra Mayrin decided to wed and had a child with a Sifan captain named Kam’Lu. For unknown reasons, their relationship ended and whatever positive implications it had vanished as enforcement of clan separations continued. It was considered a punishable offense, which required serving time in the Order of Lesser Service, if a Vapra dated outside of their clan. This was especially ironic as, in the book series, Mayrin disapproved of Tavra and Onica’s relationship to the point the two had to keep it a secret.

The most interesting clan relations were that of the Vapra and Grottan. The two clans used to be one, known as the Silver Sea Clan. According to the Song of Six Sisters, the Silver Sea Clan was tasked with not only looking after day and night, light and shadow, but also the past and future. Because this was too much for one clan and Thra desired seven clans, the Silver Sea Clan was split into the Vapra and Grottan. The Grottan had some connection with the Vapra during the early Age of Division as some of their spices were still sold in the market places. But with a combination of the Grottan’s reclusive nature and their association with dark and unknown things, the Vapra wanted nothing to do with them.

Outsiders often called the Vapra Silverlings. Vapran princesses or those of royalty were sometimes referred to as “their Silverness”.

Legacy of the Vapra: Kira

Although most gelfling were seemingly wiped out during the Garthim Wars, some managed to survive. One of these gelfling were Kira. Although the identities of her parents are unknown, her mother was at least of Vapra descent. Her mother (presumably) hid her within a tree, but was captured by a Garthim shortly after. Kira ended up finding a podling village and was raised by Ydra. She lived with them and her pet Fizzgig for many trine up until her fateful encounter with Jen. She immediately helped him on his quest, using her skills she learned from the podlings including bola throwing and animal soul speaking. After she was caught within the castle’s catacombs and nearly drained of her essence by skekTek the Scientist she threw the crystal shard to Jen so he could heal the Crystal. But in the process she was fatally stabbed by skekZok the Ritual Master. She was later revived by UngIm when the skeksis reunited with their mystic counterparts.

Like Jen, Kira was taught about her heritage but it’s unknown how much of it she knew. She was at least told about what happened within the ruins surrounding the Wall of Destiny that she refused to go there for what happened to the Gelfling. However, she showed leadership qualities. When she sat on throne within the Gelfling ruins, she noted how it felt right for her. She would also rule over the repopulating Gelfling civilization with Jen as not an All-Maudra but a Great Elder of Thra.

Notable Vapra Members

Brea: All-Maudra Mayrin’s youngest daughter who lived during the late Age of Division. An inquisitive scholar who, after witnessing two gelfling who couldn’t pay their tithe, began questioning skeksis rule. It was through her curiosity that she discovered the truth about them and joined the Gelfling Resistance with Rian and Deet to end skeksis rule.

Katavra: Better known as Tavra, she is the second oldest daughter of All-Maudra Mayrin who commanded over the paladins. In an attempt to rescue Gurjin, she was captured by the Skeksis and later used as a vessel by the Ascendancy to capture other Gelfling. In the book series, she also had a secret relationship with the Sifa far-dreamer Onica.

Seladon (II): (Note the Roman numeral is not canon it makes it easier to identify the character) The eldest daughter of All-Maudra Mayrin. As the eldest child, she was trained to become the next All-Maudra. She suddenly succeeded the throne when her mother was killed and had a brief rule as All-Maudra Seladon. After a traumatic experience with the skeksis and realizing the error of her ways, she joined the Gelfling Resistance with her youngest sister.

All-Maudra Mayrin: The matriarch leader of all seven clans during the late Age of Division. Her early rule started when she suddenly succeeded the throne after her mother’s death and quickly had to deal with political tension between the Vapra and the Sifa. During her rule she both respected and feared the skeksis and never questioned their decisions. But when confronted with the truth, she made a stand against them only to be killed by skekVar the General.

Mira: A Vapran castle guard and former girlfriend of the Stonewood Rian. She was the very first victim of essence draining and her death had a ripple effect on the relationship between the gelfling and skeksis lords which eventually developed into the Gelfling Resistance.

Juni: A Gelfling girl who was sent to the Order of Lesser Service for trying to have a Spriton lover.

The Librarian: A nameless Librarian who had a Pluff’M familiar during the late Age of Division. He worked for the royal family aiding the scholar princess Brea with her pursuit of knowledge and was present while All-Maudra’s was tended to. He used to travel with the Sifa and had an unspoken relationship with Elder Cadia.

Kira: Descendant of the Vapra clan, saved by her (presumably) mother and raised by podlings for many trine. She grew up with some knowledge of Gelfling culture, including what happened to the Gelfling race. Eventually she met Jen and aided him in his quest to heal the Crystal of Truth.

Seladon (I): (Note the Roman numeral is not canon it makes it easier to identify the character) The All-Maudra who proceeded before All-Maudra Mayrin. Although she made efforts to bring unity, she severely neglected the other clans to the point their cultures were endangered. Despite this and the strained relationship they had, All-Maudra Mayrin named her first daughter after her.

Dot'leth: Loyal royal advisor and friend to both All-Maudra Seladon (I) and All-Maudra Mayrin during the late Age of Division. When the Sifan Fenth sought to exploit the political void left by the disappearance of Mayrin, Dot’leth acted as regent to stop his efforts from claiming the Living Crown.

Barfinnious: A paladin during the late Age of Division. He became a traveling bard who told exaggerated stories of his adventures to villages all over the Skarith Region. He ended up meeting a podling chef named Hup and promised to teach him how to become a paladin like him.

Kel: Also known as Lady Kel, she was the daughter of Elder Vedev who lived during the late Age of Harmony and early Age of Division. She was one of the few witnesses of the Great Division.

Elder Vedev: The mother of Kel who lived during the late Age of Harmony and the early Age of Division.

[Sources: Song of the Seven Gelfling Clans, the official Dark Crystal website, Shadows of the Dark Crystal, Song of the Dark Crystal, Tides of the Dark Crystal, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the Dark Crystal, The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, An Epic Return To Thra, The Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious, the Journey Into the Mondo Levidian, Author Quest: The Gelfling Gathering, Creation Myths, Heroes of the Resistance, the Dark Crystal Bestiary, Power of the Dark Crystal, the Dark Crystal novelization]

#the dark crystal #gelfling #all about the seven clans #vapra #my posts

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sleightofsight · 4 years

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angst :-)

warning: possibly major character death, blood/injury mention, general whump warnings. light gore warning.

word count: 1.6k

characters:

berith ryan kensley. (oc, belongs to me (alt account for berith &co is @divergent-demons) )

marvin collins-delvaux.

erin attwell. (belongs to @lilsprout-exe.)

alphie hallbjörn-seeker.(aka they of many names.) (belongs to @sibling-ursidae)

jackson collins-delvaux. (belongs to @miishae)

nebula (haha redacted last name go brrr). (belongs to @oasisofgalaxies.)

mentions of egos.

——⍟——««»»——⍟——««»»——⍟——««»»——⍟——««»»——⍟——

Our star adversary of the night clicks his tongue impatiently as he tosses a knife into the air with a casual flick of his wrist, his softened wool coat lying open and spread against the seat of his chair. The coat framed a white button up shirt, short-sleeve with a formerly worn black suit jacket below it. Admittedly, he’d only taken it off after sneaking into an apartment complex full of people who could take him one with one hand tied behind their back.

Taking two of their occupants with him was hard enough without detection, but well-placed portals helped Berith out well enough.

Not to mention the chosen time of half past three am, of his caper.

The stress was enough to make him sweat, even with the planning he’d taken, and it did. No one likes wet clothing.

Two teenagers glare at him from the center of the surprisingly well furnished hideout, wrapped down into softened velvet armchairs with twin clear sprays of water. The substance had wrapped around their wrists and tied them down to the armrests, traveling upwards to fasten to teens to one another with their forearms back to back.

There was no reasonable answer for the bruises and inch-long cuts they’d both suffered, with about three each.

Information has a price.

No bonds for their heads or mouths yet, as neither of them had really mouthed off all that much.

Save for the one with strawberry-pink hair cursing at him using...candies? Whatever being called a ‘rotten peppermint patty’ and ‘plastic-mold gummy bear’ meant, Berith didn’t quite care for it.

Along with the other one, the one with messy brown hair knotted into a braid...they were merely glaring at him, but every so often, they seemed to....-vibrate?- in their seat.

Certainly a trick of the eyes.

Right?

“When will your father arrive?”

His first words to the pair were ones of calculated weight, measured out for the moments of silence before, and yet thrown out with all the grace of plastic-wrapped rubbish.

The brighter boy manages an extremely non-threatening scowl before turning away, but the other one- Alphie, his research had garnered, they/them and rather...ordinary- spoke up, almost certainly vibrating in their seat this time around.

“Why’d you take us? Where’s da? Where’s dad?”

With an over-pronounced sigh falling from the man’s lips, Berith stands up from his own ornately decorated armchair, catching the hilt of the emerald-inlaid blade with one final flick of his fingers. There’s barely a space of ten feet between the chairs, but each step he takes makes it feel as though it was an eternity, widening the distance as the silver of his weapon glints from a diamond-decorated chandelier light.

“I couldn’t give a single damn caring about your father’s husband. I want your father, the one who goes by the name of Marvin Delvaux, here. We have a matter to settle, and he seems to ...spurn my beckoning. Seeing as you two are the closest ones to him, exempting the space girl, and the husband, you were the best ones for the job.”

He could see Alphie visibly tense, and another few steps were taken forwards as the strawberry-blond boy speaks. Erin Attwell, taken in by this family, as Alphie had.

“They wouldn’t come here, they’re not pissbabies like you. Marvin and Jackie are better than you could h-”

Pissbaby?

Berith blinks in semi-shock at the teen’s statement before rolling his eyes, flicking his wrist and binding a bolt of water across his mouth, cutting him off mid sentence.

“You don’t know the magician like I have. The fool would do anything for his loved ones.”

With his back towards the wall, and body facing the teens, his blade was inches away from Alphie’s neck, ready to draw blood if need be to get this damned man out of hiding, after all these years-

So he’s able to see the way their lips blossom into full smiles within moments, shoulders straightening as their eyes both fix on a point behind him-

Ah.

Probably should’ve done something to take care of the parents, rather than leave them be-

“Berith!”

Shit.

Seafoam green cracks a vertical line in the wall before widening into the familiar circular portal of the magician wielding it, slicing open as fire swims off of the man emerging from it.

Formerly blue eyes roll with dark blue flames, a color rarely seen at Marvin’s hand, before he levitates over to the demon, gripping his white dress collar and lifting him about an inch off the ground.

Only raising the two-inch shorter man to Marvin’s level.

Behind the two, from the portal, a baseball-cap wearing entity with wild purple hair leaps down, accompanied by a supersuit clad hero in red and black.

Nebula and Jackie, both hellbent on making one man pay.

Neb grips the hilt of a baseball bat, eyes dancing darkly as a single nod from the hero at her side leads her to the tied down teens, followed soon after by Jackie himself.

Those bonds would take some time to work through.

While they led on, Marvin’s fingers tighten around Berith’s collar, burning the fabric under his mere touch, as he yanks the man up higher, pure rage and adrenaline dancing through his red-hot blood.

“Marvin, old friend.”

Even in this scenario, Berith gives the magician a winning smile, toes barely brushing the ground, as his knife was only gripped tighter between the fingers of his right hand.

“Don’t you dare call me that ever again. Not after what you did.”

Marvin’s fingers tighten, burning Berith’s upper torso and shoulders, along with either side of his neck- but it didn’t garner an emotion other than a mere flutter of pain from the man.

Emotions run high and fast between the two of them, as Marvin lowers Berith to the ground, only to grab at his wrists and form a fiery linking chain- but he wasn’t fast enough.

Sometimes, the numbing power of adrenaline, in certain parts of the body, was a disadvantage.

What he didn’t notice was the knife slipping into his rib cage.

What he did notice, however, was the sudden stabbing pain searing it’s way through his chest, causing a scream to tear from the magician’s lungs; multiplied by two.

Multiplied by twists.

The second wound leaves the silvery blade slick with blood, the winning smile formerly displayed on the demon’s face extending more into a sick grin. Dislodging the weapon, scarlet shines against the delicate carver, the amount of blood dripping from the wound becoming wildly disproportionate for a blade injury of that size.

“Gotcha.”

Blood magic.

A subset of water magic.

One Berith’s training had let him learn, and handle well.

And one that caused the magician to drop to the ground, sucking in a rattled breath as his hands rise to the feline shaped mask crowning his features, ripping it off in a search for air.

His hands fall to the ground, trying to raise themselves to the wounds to heal.

The leather dress shoes before him click against the ground for a moment before a wave of whitewater rises up;

and Berith Kensley is gone.

“Jackie-”

Vermilion shades flash before Marvin’s eyes as he nearly slips in his own blood, feeling the coppery liquid soak into his clothing as it formed a decent-sized puddle below him.

Neb and Jackie had managed to loosen the bonds just enough for them to slip out, but upon Berith’s disappearance, they slid away, splashing against the ground.

Just in time for Jackie to glance up, and see his husband lying in a pool of his own blood, breathing raggedly.

“MARVIN!”

He doesn’t wait for the others. He doesn’t wait for anything, or anyone. Not right now. Jackie’s footsteps thump across the wooden flooring, falling to his knees- damning the bruises, sure to form.

The trio can hear his shattered cry, and they glance up, almost confused- before their eyes widen.

By the time Jackie’s reached his body, Marvin’s magic is flickering across his chest, trying to stitch the first wound up. Flickers of spring green essence manage to staunch the flow somewhat, but deep carmine bursts fight back, bringing forth the damage once more.

Seems as though someone left some of his magic in Marvin, as a residual.

As insurance.

“Hey, love.”

Marvin manages a grin, glancing up at the man, despite the white fabric turned cerise-red all over the front of his chest, and the strong scent of copper throughout the area.

“Don’t you ‘hey, love.’ me. You keep your eyes open right now, Delvaux.”

Tears roll down the hero’s cheeks as he grips the scarlet smeared fabric within his fists, holding the man’s mask in the other as he’s pulled Marvin into his lap.

Blood dribbles out of the wounds steadily as Marvin’s magic intensifies in color and speed, flying back and forth, and yet it’s barely doing anything, capping off the blood flow.

Marvin’s breath rattles within his chest as he manages to speak again, the blood loss getting to him. Spots dance before his vision as he struggles to stay awake, the magician seeing blob-like spots of his family’s faces.

“Guess I should’ve...figured out a way to talk this out over coffee, then.”

His chest rises and falls unsteadily before falling stock still for a beat, lips pausing between breaths to release a breath of air, eyes slipping shut.

#HAAH ME WRITING A PROPER ENDING? NO <3 #marvin the magician #marvin the magnificent #jackieboyman #jbm #jackie collins #nebula #erin attwell #alphie #lily writes #berith kensley #ego shipping #septic writing #fanfic #marvin is breathing although very weakly

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dwindledglow · 4 years

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001. MEET FRANCESCO

FULL NAME: francesco mirkó mancini. PREFERRED NAME: francesco. NICKNAME/S: kekko, ciccio, franci, franco, mir. DATE OF BIRTH: february 28th, 2000. GENDER & PRONOUNS: cis male & he/his. ORIENTATION: hetero. RELIGION: non-practising christian. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: in a relationship with lillian atkinson. OCCUPATION: racing driver, currently racing for prema powerteam in fia’s f3 championship. RESIDENCE: in between modena, italy and flatiron district, new york city.

002. CHECK FRANCESCO’S BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: verona, italy. NATIONALITY: italian. ETHNIC BACKGROUND: italian. LINGUISTICS: italian which is his native language and english, french, portuguese and spanish in a fluent level. EDUCATION: he has graduated from high-school and completed the first year of double major in chemical and mechanical engineering while taking on pre-law classes at columbia university. CRIMINAL RECORD: clean. BIRTH ORDER: fifth. FATHER: alessandro mancini, born on august 10th, 1965 in firenze, italy, currently residing in milan, italy. he’s a former professional racing driver who competed in formula 1 who now owns a management company alongside his wife. MOTHER: gisella sofia micucci, born on march 22nd, 1967 in milan, italy where she still resides. she’s a former mechanical engineer for ferrari who now owns a management company alongside her husband. SISTER/S: miuccia sofia mancini, born on july 12th, 1995 in modena, italy, currently residing in montecarlo, monaco and working as a test driver for formula-e after having won the british gt4 championship. bianca giulia mancini, born on january 3rd, 2009 in milan, italy where she still resides and studies, while competing in the super one series. franca maria mancini, born on october 4th, 2012 in milan, italy where she still resides and studies, while doing karting. BROTHER/S: alessi andrea mancini, born on september 30th, 1992 in modena, italy, currently residing in mooresville, north carolina and working as a professional racing driver for nascar. gian luca mancini, born on december 18th, 1993 in modena, italy, currently residing in mooresville, north carolina and working as a professional racing driver for nascar. leone alessandro mancini, born on may 14th, 1999 in verona, italy, currently residing in lugano, switzerland and working as a professional motorcycle rider who competes in moto2 championship. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: lillian atkinson. CHILDREN: none so far. OTHER RELEVANT FAMILY: andrea luca mancini, uncle. EX/ES: giulianna ricci. PETS: kyio, a chihuahua and mochi, a merle french bulldog.

003. GET UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

HEIGHT: 6′0″ or 183 cm. WEIGHT: between 165 lbs or 75 kg and 168 lbs or 76 kg. BODY BUILD: if such thing was an acceptable description, most would say francesco is an exercise-junkie. he loves working out and trying out all kinds of exercise and different sports which, of course, gives place to pretty solid results. he’s naturally slender and thanks to his healthy routines, he has a rather athletic physique. his overall body is toned, particularly his legs and neck, and you can tell he spends a few good hours in the gym by the muscular arms and the six-pack. EYE COLOR: hazel-brown. EYESIGHT: his eyesight is perfect, he doesn’t need glasses or contacts. HAIR COLOR & STYLE: francesco doesn’t bother much with his hair. he has what could be considered a fade cut, shorter on the sides, longer on the top which isn’t a particularly high-maintenance hairstyle. DOMINANT HAND: right. NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: his chiseled features are perhaps the most notable of his physical traits and the one people pick up on the quickest. alongside, his overall body build that does stand out. other than that, there’s nothing too particular. SCARS AND MARKS: there’s nothing particularly major or outstanding. he has scars and little marks as everyone which are courtesy of every day life. TATTOOS: none so far. PIERCINGS: none so far. VOICECLAIM: tony arbolino. ACCENT & INTENSITY: francesco has been living in the states for, at least, four to five years now but the italian essence has never for once left his being. even though he’s fluent in english and will get around the language with ease, you can tell he’s italian. the northern italy accent peeks through every word, shines through even in the way he enunciates himself and when he switches to his mother language, the intensity just grows within seconds. ALLERGIES: tree pollen, cow’s milk and mould. PHOBIAS & FEARS: not evolving, being stuck in the same place without the opportunity to grow and do more. MENTAL & PHYSICAL ILLNESSES: none so far. ALCOHOL USE: socially. SMOKING: no. NARCOTICS USE: he smokes weed when faced with situations of high stress, but otherwise he stays away from other drugs. INDULGENT FOOD: sometimes, he likes to have a clean diet but he won’t say no to some comfort, soul food from time to time. SPLURGE SPENDING: it’s rare. francesco is very conscious of how he spends his money, actually. GAMBLING: no, never.

004. DIG DEEPER

CAN THEY DRIVE? yes, he can drive. CAN THEY COOK & BAKE? yes and badly. CAN THEY CHANGE A FLAT TIRE? yes. CAN THEY TIE A TIE? yes. CAN THEY SWIM? yes. CAN THEY RIDE A BICYCLE? yes. CAN THEY JUMP START A CAR? yes. CAN THEY BRAID HAIR? no. CAN THEY PICK A LOCK? yes. EXTROVERTED OR INTROVERTED? extroverted. DISORGANIZED OR ORGANIZED? organized. CLOSE OR OPEN MINDED? open minded. CALM OR ANXIOUS? a healthy in-between. PATIENT OR IMPATIENT? impatient. OUTSPOKEN OR RESERVED? outspoken. LEADER OR FOLLOWER? leader. OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC? leaning more on the pessimistic side. TRADITIONAL OR MODERN? modern. HARD-WORKING OR LAZY? hard-working. CULTURED OR UNCULTURED? cultured. LOYAL OR DISLOYAL? loyal. FAITHFUL OR UNFAITHFUL? faithful. NIGHT OWL OR EARLY BIRD? night owl. HEAVY OR LIGHT SLEEPER? heavy sleeper. COFFEE OR TEA? coffee. DAY OR NIGHT? night. TAKING BATHS OR SHOWERS? showers. COCA COLA OR PEPSI? coca-cola. CATS OR DOGS? dogs. NETFLIX OR CINEMA? cinema. SHOWS OR MOVIES? movies. LAPTOP OR GAMING CONSOLE? gaming console. HEALTHY OR JUNK FOOD? healthy food. ICE CREAM OR FROZEN YOGURT? ice cream. PIZZA OR HAMBURGER? pizza. LOLLIPOPS OR GUMMY WORMS? gummy worms. BEACH OR POOL? beach. SNOWBALLS FIGHTING OR ICESKATING? iceskating. LITERATURE OR SCIENCE? science. HISTORY OR ART? art. CHOCOLATE BARS OR COTTON CANDY? neither. XBOX OR PLAYSTATION? playstation. FACE-TO-FACE OR PHONE INTERACTIONS? face-to-face interactions. DRAMA OR SCI-FI? both. HORROR OR COMEDY? both.

005. FRANCESCO’S FAVORITES

FAVORITE ACTIVITY: training. FAVORITE ANIMAL: lion. FAVORITE BOOK: outliers - the story of success by malcolm gladwell. FAVORITE COLOR/S: red. FAVORITE CUISINE: italian, though he enjoys trying different things. FAVORITE DISH/ES: gnocchi, ravioli, risotto alla milanese, bruschetta and a long list of mostly italian food. FAVORITE DRINK/S: mocaccino and plain, iced water. FAVORITE FLOWER/S: white lily. FAVORITE GEM: ruby. FAVORITE MOVIE: three billboards outside ebbing, missouri by martin mcdonagh. FAVORITE SONG: just like you by emotional oranges. FAVORITE SCENT/S: ginger, melted chocolate, the scent of fresh bread, passionfruit. FAVORITE SHOW/S: he’s not really one to sit and watch tv shows, he mostly has no patience to wait weeks or months on end for episodes and new seasons but three shows that caught his attention and he’s been keeping up with: watchmen, black mirror and the handmaid’s tale. FAVORITE SPORT/S & TEAM THEY SUPPORT: formula1, motogp, soccer, he supports inter milano, and basketball. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR: winter. VACATION DESTINATION: somewhere in indonesia, maybe bali.

#── ✰. ┊ francesco : — HEADCANON. ❜

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redisaid · 6 years

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Two Rooms - Chapter 7

Safety in Numbers

This one was giving me trouble, but here it is! Only one chapter left now...

Wanna read previous chapters?: Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch. 4, Ch.5, Ch.6

4908 Words

Read it on AO3!

Jaina watched as the wagons of the supply train rolled in. The sun was high and bright over Dalaran, doing its best to melt the snow. It had to be nearly noon now.

Not that she really noticed. No, Jaina had been too busy reliving the night before. Honestly, the wagons could have been full of snarling beasts and not much needed supplies and she would not have even bat an eye.

She was too busy thinking about cool kisses. She was too busy thinking about the odd softness that Sylvanas’ voice had when she wasn't shouting. She was still thinking about the words she’d finally coaxed out of her. Things like “mutual attraction” and “something I would like to continue to explore...privately, if you agree, of course”.

Jaina was too busy thinking about getting comfortable in that dark room--about lighting a little fire in the hearth, taking off her cloak, watching Sylvanas get to work on two nights worth of papers, feeling a little bad about that being her fault. Only a little. It was all the sudden very comfortable. It had been almost like going home.

They just talked again, only this time, exploratory affection was sprinkled in. Jaina talked about Dalaran. Sylvanas shared a memory of the city from well before her time. It was a rare treat to get her to say much about her old life. For that, Jaina rewarded her with a kiss. And then maybe two or three more.

But she let her get back to work. They talked more and traded tenuous touches and glances, almost as if they hadn't just been very much more intimate in that very room just the night before. But it was sweet. Jaina didn't mind at all.

She didn't even mind Sylvanas teasing her as she yawned twice in the same sentence. She protested, of course, when Sylvanas told her to go to sleep. So much so that Sylvanas got up with a sigh, then laid on the bed herself. Red eyes stared up expectantly at Jaina until she joined her.

They talked more in bed. Sylvanas toyed with the end of her braid. She kept on with little touches--a brush of her shoulder, pushing hair out of her eyes, a quick kiss. It was almost like she was afraid Jaina might still change her mind.

But she hadn't yet. This was all so adorable, so unexpected. And it was just so nice to do this with someone again, to not be alone as she drifted off to sleep.

Jaina had given up hope on that kind of intimacy being a part of her life ever again. With this marriage, she was sure she had sealed her fate in a lonely life, forever embattled in a daily little power struggle with much larger consequences, should she allow it to get out of hand. She was so sure she had sentenced herself to a life of petty slights and thinly veiled insults.

But now, she felt safe there, amidst the garish satin sheets. Definitely not her color or her choice of fabric, but it was all beginning to grow on her. Maybe it was just the steady crackle of undead energy next to her. Even as she closed her eyes, she could feel it. Once, it had been a sign of danger. Now, it made her feel something entirely different. Maybe not safe. That was a strong word for her still. Maybe something more like appreciated? Watched over. Cared for. Understood. Yes, that one.

They didn't speak of such things, but Jaina knew that the woman next to her understood tragedy. She understood death. She understood sacrifice. In essence, their stories were different, but the same in so many points. Sylvanas knew the pain of the victim of the Scourge. She too was just another relic left in Arthas’ wake. And the years after that had certainly not been easy. Their paths parallelled many times again.

Jaina understood that too, which was exactly why they did not speak of such things.

In the morning, Sylvanas woke her to say goodbye. Jaina didn’t remember too much about that. She did know for sure that there were more flowers and more pastries left behind for her.

She did know that she spent the morning in Dalaran, trying not to grin like a fool, watching wagons and trying to pretend like she was paying attention. She did slightly regret that she wasn’t all that worried about Vereesa. How could she be, when all she wanted to think about were how amazing the last few nights had been?

An unfamiliar voice stirred her from further reveries. “Excuse me, Queen Proudmoore?”

A familiar chuckle sounded beside her. “Good luck getting her attention,” Modera said off to her left.

Jaina shot a quick glare her way before turning to see who was trying to speak with her.

A void elf she did not know. A woman, ageless as any elf was. “I have a message for you,” she said as she finally caught Jaina’s gaze.

Hmm. Alleria? She must not have been wasting any time in her investigation.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Jaina offered to Modera, who waved her off, seemingly unconcerned.

Not that Jaina had been much help that morning, or really needed to be. She was just supervising.

Jaina led the void elf away from the hustle of Krasus’ Landing, where the wagons were making their way into the city, and back to the mostly abandoned Silver Enclave. There, amidst what was left of the sanctuary that Vereesa has once created for her kind, they could speak freely of her.

“I don’t have much to say, save that Lady Alleria wishes to meet you again where you met before,” the messenger told her. “She says that you will need to know where she is. She is in Boralus again, but this time at the dockmaster’s office.”

Jaina offered a quick thanks before finding her way back to Vereesa’s abandoned apartment.

She created the portal to Boralus as soon as she locked the door behind her. Alleria was alone in the office, waiting beside a ledger. Instead of walking through the portal, she beckoned Jaina to come to her side.

Jaina hesitated. It felt wrong. Even if it was only for a quick moment, secretly leaving felt like a betrayal. Oddly, now more so than ever.

So she just stuck her head through the portal instead. Jaina was well-acquainted enough with magic to handle the odd sensation of vertigo that came from her body being in two place at once. “I don't usually leave without giving explicit notice,” she tried to explain. “Your sister--"

“My sister would be furious to know that you brought me into the heart of New Lordaeron last time, I know,” Alleria finished for her. “And we are not telling her anything about what we are doing right now, so it doesn't matter. Now please, get over here, I have something to show you.”

Well, she wasn't wrong. Sylvanas would probably be more angry about Alleria being anywhere near the capital than she would about Jaina taking a quick portal trip away for a few minutes. Even Alleria’s presence in Boralus, technically a part of New Lordaeron, was barely tolerated, and only because it had become a launch point for the eventual assault on the Black Isle.

So, reluctantly, Jaina stepped all the way through the portal.

Alleria seemed pleased with her decision and offered a sort of sad smile as she made space for Jaina by the large ledger book. “I have an idea, not about where Vereesa is, but why she's doing this.”

Alleria hovered a finger over one entry in the log. Jaina followed it.

Lady Vereesa Windrunner and crew of 12, The Silver Hawk, 75ft elven brigantine, docking for repairs. Port of call: Menethil Harbor. Destination: Black Isle.

“Why?” was all Jaina could ask.

“I have no idea,” Alleria confessed, “which is part of the problem. No one who saw her in the harbor even questioned her. They thought she was on orders from Anduin or myself.”

Jaina read the entry again. The date was just a few weeks ago. “She shouldn't be anywhere near the Isle. If anything, high elves are probably the worst--"

Alleria cut her off again. “They are absolutely the worst possible being to cross into the danger zone. Elves are naturally sensitive to magic. They crave it. Those that follow her have not had a sustained source of it for years now. They will latch onto anything that even has a hint of the Arcane to it.”

“Which I'm sure N’zoth is well aware of, due to his dealings with your ancestors,” Jaina concluded.

“Exactly. He could offer them madness so easily and they would gobble it up like cake. Not to mention the fact that Vereesa is still grieving. She…” Alleria finally ran out of steam as her eyes found Jaina again.

She must have realized that she didn’t need to explain that suffering to her. Jaina knew it all too well. She and Vereesa had spent a great deal of time grieving together.

Which was why her stomach was in her throat as she said, “I still don't understand why she would go. You are certain Anduin didn't send her?”

“So certain that I asked him myself. Don’t worry,” Alleria assured her as Jaina tried to object. “He doesn’t know anything other than the fact that I heard of it down on the docks, which is true. That’s how I found out about this in the first place.”

“Alleria,” Jaina began slowly. “You realize what this means then?”

She sighed. “I suspect that N’zoth was in Vereesa’s head well before this trip. He didn’t need the proximity to get to her. Like I said, the temptation is always so great. I can't possibly explain it to you, and I know Vereesa. She is strong-willed, sure, but I know how much she needed the comfort a bit of magic would offer her. I wouldn't trade the whispers of the void to experience that hunger again, and that's saying a lot. She should have gone home, made amends, sought out the comfort she needed in the Sunwell.”

“She couldn't,” Jaina told her. “Not after what she's done...and what she did on my behalf.”

Alleria drew in a deep breath.

“Do you think she's still in New Lordaeron?” Jaina asked, glancing back at the still open portal behind her.

“If it’s N’zoth’s will for her to kill Sylvanas, then I doubt she will stray too far from her target. Luckily for my other sister, she’s no easy mark,” Alleria lamented.

“We can’t just let this happen,” Jaina pleaded. “Sylvanas will kill her if she attacks her. I don't think she will like it, but she will do it.”

“Probably.”

“Can nothing be done to save her then? Don't you care?” Jaina went on. She approached Alleria, just barely holding herself back from reaching out and shaking her.

Alleria sighed again and held up a hand. “Don’t mistake my steadiness for a lack of fear. I grieve for her already, but I am afraid that Vereesa might try to kill me next if I try to save her.”

“Why?”

Alleria looked her in the eye. The weight of millenia pushed against the blue of her gaze, and a haze of the void darkened them in an entirely different way. “She will have to give up the thing she has spent all this time fighting for. The only way for her to rid herself of the influence of the void and its creations will be to conquer it--to become like me.”

Vereesa, who founded the Silver Covenant, who was willing to kill those she had called her kin just a decade prior, who took great pride in being one of the world's few remaining high elves, would have to become a void elf to be saved. “I can’t decide if that’s worse than having Sylvanas kill and raise her instead,” Jaina eventually said.

“I don’t think she would like either option, but you're right, Jaina. We can’t just stand by and let it happen, for the twins, if nothing else,” Alleria said. “But I fear I will risk losing both sisters even if I try to help you.”

“Alleria…” She was right. Jaina knew she was.

Alleria’s eyes quickly flashed to darkness. She looked far away from just a moment, but then quickly said, “You need to go back. Something’s happened.”

“What? What do you mean?” Jaina asked.

Alleria was still far away, receiving more messages, no doubt. Darkness began to shroud her further. Jaina could almost hear them. Dozens of quiet voices, all whispering frantically. “There’s been an attack. They’re looking for you, trying to get you back to the keep. Sylvanas has ordered it. Wants you safe.”

Oh no. They were already too late. “Was it Vereesa?”

“I don’t know,” Alleria said. Her eyes cleared up, and the darkness surrounding her faded just as quickly as it came on. “But you need to go.”

“Not alone,” Jaina protested. She grabbed on to Alleria’s arm and started to try to guide her back toward the portal.

“Jaina! I really don’t think--” Alleria started to object, and dug her heels in.

“Please,” was all Jaina could say. “For your sisters. Please.”

Alleria let herself be pulled through into Dalaran.

---

“That’s what they get, charging in like madmen. Sylvanas and her undead have done us a great favor. They’re getting rid of themselves,” Genn said as he passed Jaina the spyglass. They were anchored off of the shore of the newly erupted Black Isle, watching the Horde from afar.

She took it from him and used it to look at the Forsaken fleet, or what was left of it. Only the flagship was mostly intact. The rest of the fleet was already sunk or in the process of sinking. The flagship was falling back, trying to stay in range to allow the survivors to board her.

On the bowsprit, Sylvanas Windrunner herself was fighting. She was keeping the naga at bay, shooting one arrow, then another, then another, in rapid succession. Each was hitting their mark, but it wasn’t enough. For every arrow she shot, another two naga dragged more of her soldiers beneath the waves for good. For every twinge of her bowstring, another eldritch horror climbed from the wreckage of one ship, heaving its way toward hers.

They had been foolhardy, trying to attack the Isle like this, but Sylvanas must have had some plan for this, some reason. She was always calculating, trying to stay one step ahead of them. Even as the Alliance kept their distance from the new landmass, the Horde went right in to attack it. Reports were all over the place, some saying that there was a great deal of Azerite there, others saying that the Horde was trying to subjugate the cursed inhabitants of that place, to smite their old god and claim dominion over yet another island in the Great Sea.

But now they were losing, quickly and badly.

Jaina watched as Sylvanas seemed to come to this realization herself. She kept firing, even as one of the horrors began to climb onto her own ship. A look of genuine fear clouded over her, so easy to see that Jaina could make it out even through the distance and a somewhat fogged up spyglass lense. She had never seen such an expression on the Dark Lady’s face before. She’d only known her to show anger, smugness, or a generally aloof and uninterested expression.

But this fear, this was new.

It scared Jaina more than she cared to admit. Anything that could move the likes of Sylvanas Windrunner was something that the world should truly worry about.

In her panic, Sylvanas didn’t see the horror. The beast was made of too many eyes and far too many limbs. It reached out with a giant, mangled arm, and made to smash the Banshee Queen from her perch at the front of the ship.

She still didn’t see it. She was firing frantically, still trying to provide cover for the Forsaken soldiers that were making for the ladders to board her ship. Trying to bring them to safety. Trying to save her people.

The arm smashed down directly on her, sending her body flying back toward the ship’s deck. Jaina watched. She should have been glad. She should have rejoiced in the death of a bitter enemy.

Instead, she felt her heart lurch in her chest. Sylvanas had just been trying to save her men. She had died yet again, just trying to protect her people, even when the situation seemed hopeless.

But that wasn’t entirely true. As Jaina watched, the forms of five great Valkyr arose from what seemed like nothing. They carried something with them, between them. Jaina couldn’t see it, but she could see how it burdened the creatures. They cried out, lamenting so loudly that their screams could be heard even from across the sea. Then they too disappeared.

And Sylvanas stood up.

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Jaina said to Genn from where they watched, safely aboard her ship, still not putting down the spyglass.

Jaina watched as Sylvanas began to fight again. She shot the horror that had just killed her clean through its largest eye. That made it lose hold of the ship and fall into the sea. Then she was back to the naga. Back to saving her men. Or at least trying to.

But the fear was still plain on her face, now joined with tears in her eyes. In fact, it was different still. Not just fear. Abject horror. Loss. A grief that words could not capture. The face of someone who had just died for the fourth time.

Greymane seemed to notice even without the aid of the spyglass, “Damn! She just won’t lay down and die, will she? Damn Forsaken witch! How many times can she come back?”

Judging by the expression on Sylvanas’ face, Jaina had to guess that was the last time. She kept that to herself.

Jaina turned to the helmsman and ordered, “I want you to bring us in range for the long guns. Quickly.”

The helmsman shouted an, “Aye, Lord Admiral,” before he began barking orders to the crew to get the ship moving again.

Greymane gave her an incredulous look, “As much as I appreciate this sudden interest in killing Sylvanas for good, I don’t know if those fiends need any help from us, Jaina. Better to keep your hands clean here.”

“Then you’ll be very disappointed to know that we’re giving them cover fire,” Jaina told him as she handed back his spyglass.

“What?! You can’t be serious!” he snarled back.

“I am very serious,” Jaina told him. “This is my ship. Even if my entire crew objects, which they don’t seem to, then I could just as easily pick this thing up and fly it over to help them. I would suggest you hold your tongue, Genn.”

“But why? Let her die! Let us be rid of her!” Greymane objected.

“If we want to beat this thing, then I think...I think we’ll need her,” Jaina told him.

---

Sylvanas took a firm hold of the young soldier’s shoulder. His eyes were wild, darting all over the place. He was a young, human man--a boy, really. Far too young for all that armor. Definitely too young to process what he had just seen.

“I’ll ask you again, soldier. Tell me exactly what you saw,” she said, giving him a shake.

The boy’s eyes snapped to her, then darted to the company of Deathguards that surrounded them. “My brother...is he…?” the boy croaked, eyes still wandering.

“The medics are doing what they can for him,” Sylvanas lied. The boy’s brother and fellow soldier was dead, torn to pieces by the very creature he was trying to save him from. A creature that Sylvanas desperately needed a decent description of.

“Light preserve us,” the youth whispered to himself.

Sylvanas shook him again. “I gave you an order. Tell me what this thing looked like. Describe it as best you can.”

The boy’s eyes finally focused on her for a few solid seconds. “It...was made of darkness. At first it just looked like a person, then--”

“What kind of person? Human? Undead?” Sylvanas demanded.

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t see it first. My brother…” the boy trailed off again, looking distant.

“Your brother cannot tell us now, but you can,” Sylvanas reminded him. “You saw it after it changed then?”

“Yes...it was made of darkness,” the boy repeated.

“You said as much already. What else?” Sylvanas said, shaking him a third time. She was beginning to lose her patience.

“Eyes…” the boy said. “Dozens of red eyes…”

He stared at her, at her own red eyes. Terror claimed his face like a mask, freezing it in place.

Sylvanas let go of him with a frustrated grunt. She turned to address the officer in charge of her guard. “We won’t get anything else out of him. It’s clear what this is, though. N’zoth has sent one of his corrupted minions to our city, to hunt down our people. This will not stand. Join the others and spread this description. Be cautious around anyone who seems to be acting strange.”

“As you command, Dark Lady,” the sergeant replied. “Do you want me to leave some men with you?”

“I am more than capable of defending myself, as I’m sure you know. Go and hunt this thing down, but get this boy to the healers first. Ensure that any further descriptions that he might utter are passed along the ranks,” Sylvanas demanded.

The undead soldier saluted and helped the boy to his feet. With the assistance of another Deathguard, they steadied him between themselves and fell into formation around him.

They left Sylvanas alone, just outside the royal quarters. That’s where the thing had struck, at the two guards keeping watch over the doors. There was no one inside, of course. Jaina was in Dalaran, and Sylvanas had been in the war room, meeting with representatives from United Kalimdor to discuss the most recent assault plans.

But clearly, this thing was looking for either her or her wife, and it was still here, loose in their home.

Sylvanas and her Deathguards had swept the quarters. Nothing was hiding there. The rest of the keep’s soldiers were busy either hunting the fiend or corralling any non-combatants into the armory, where they could be kept safe. Sylvanas had sent word to Dalaran, requesting that Jaina come back to help defend those that sheltered there. Well, more so that she wanted to ensure that Jaina was also defended. Asking for her help was just a convenient excuse to get her to the safest place possible.

She only hoped that Jaina wouldn’t see through this. Or question it. Or think too much on why Sylvanas’ first instinct when the attack was reported was to protect her.

There would be time to deal with all of that later. Sylvanas had to trust that Jaina would do as she was asked, and not try to foolishly go after her.

Still, something didn’t seem right. Why would this thing attack alone? What had it looked like, before it changed, that the boys guarding the door didn’t even bat an eye until it was too late?

Sylvanas turned back to the royal quarters, entering the double doors alone, bow drawn and arrow knocked. Maybe she could entice this thing to show itself again. She could end this threat as quickly as it began. She could keep Jaina, her people, and her home, safe.

That was all she ever wanted to do, and it always seemed like she was the only one that could do it.

---

Sylvanas was used to quiet. Death had brought with it a newfound appreciation for silence. Without a heartbeat or breath to disturb her, even her own body was a bastion of quiet. As the camp around her bedded down for the night, she awaited her tent to become something like the same. There was no need for a crackling fire, after all, or bubbling kettle. Just her, and an enchanted lamp that emitted only a soft greenish glow, and no sound.

Oh yes, and Jaina Proudmoore, tossing and turning in her bed in the back. Always mumbling or making soft little grunts of pain. Night after night, she ruined that silence with her constant nightmares. And that was when she did sleep. When she didn’t, she was full or arguments. Suggestions she would call them.

Sylvanas didn’t need suggestions. She needed her silence back. It had only been a week. Did she now have, what, maybe forty or fifty more years of this to look forward to? Jaina would definitely need to find some place else to sleep, if this didn’t stop. Surely they could find her another tent. Damn that righteous idiot, giving her own tent up for the healers. Surely someone else would take her in, right?

Sylvanas sighed, leaning back from the map she was marking troop movements on, and glanced at the corner of the tent. Sure enough, Jaina was tossing fitfully again, half out of the sheets.

Sylvanas wondered what it was this time. Sometimes, she could tell, just by the names that were muttered, or even sometimes shrieked out in a manner that would make her own screams seem muted in comparison. Was it Theramore again? Sylvanas had hear both the mana bomb and Rexxar’s attack on the city plenty of times already. So many, “Father!”s and “Rhonin!”s.

This time, though, Jaina’s cries were still soft. She didn’t fight the covers, or wave her hands around like she was casting spells, as she sometimes did. She just tossed and turned.

Sylvanas wondered what would be worse, sitting through another nightmare or waking her and having to deal with her nonsense again?

Finally, a coherent word came from the bed. Soft and simple, “No.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Sylvanas replied, even though the dreaming Jaina wasn’t talking to her.

No, it would be worse to wake her. Sylvanas didn’t need to be lectured again this night. Let her suffer in her nightmares. Sylvanas would just have to learn to block out the noise of them.

Jaina quieted for a moment. Maybe she was settling back down again? Hopefully not waking up.

Sylvanas sighed and turned back to her map.

Just as she set pen to paper again, Jaina started up again. This time crying. Sobbing. Her voice shook as she said, “I’m sorry, Arthas. I can’t watch you do this.”

That name.

Sylvanas lost herself for a moment. Her pen stained the map beneath it with a large blot of black ink as she froze.

Her first reaction was anger, of course. How dare this girl presume to have nightmares about that bastard? He didn’t kill her. He didn’t tear her soul from her body and use it like a child’s plaything for months on end. He didn’t keep her body in an iron coffin to torture her with. He didn’t take away her free will.

She didn’t try to stop him either. That much Sylvanas knew. Jaina let him go. She let him become what he would become.

And now her map was ruined. Great. Fantastic. Another night’s work rendered useless by these cursed nightmares.

Through the sobbing, another, “No!” came from across the room, louder this time.

Jaina started to thrash about violently in the sheets.

Sylvanas shook herself out of that anger enough to finally let go of the pen. Her hand was stained with ink too. Lovely.

“Arthas! No!” Jaina cried again in her sleep.

Expect this time she fell out of the bed.

Well, that had to have woken her. Now Sylvanas wouldn’t know any peace.

The relative quietness that followed told her she was right. Sylvanas didn’t pay it any heed. She found herself a bit of cloth and did her best to wipe the ink off of her hand. She made a point of not looking in Jaina’s direction, mostly to save both of them the embarrassment of it all.

All she could hear from that side of the room was frantic breathing. Like a terrified animal, cornered by hunters. Or maybe something like a woman who felt as if she was about to die. It reminded Sylvanas of the sounds her own body made, just before Frostmourne sank into her flesh.

For that, she hated them. She hated each and every breath, because it was too much like her own. The ones that Arthas had robbed from her.

What had he taken from Jaina?

Sylvanas finally turned to face her. Jaina’s eyes were open wide. She was trying to collect the blankets that pooled around her on the floor, to hold them to herself like some sort of shield. She wasn’t quite awake yet. The dream seemed to still be very much with her.

“You’re safe,” Sylvanas told her. “He’s not here. He’s gone. He can’t hurt you.”

She was only glad that she didn’t need to sleep. Her nights would probably be filled with worse terrors than this.

The fear disappeared from Jaina’s eyes. The mature, rational woman returned behind them. She stood up. She collected her blankets. She tossed them back on the bed, but didn’t dare return to them.

“I…”

There was no explaining. Sylvanas knew that well enough. She didn’t demand an answer. She just continued to try to get the ink off of herself.

“Thank you,” was all that Jaina could arrive at. It was all that she needed to say.

#sylvanas windrunner #jaina proudmoore #sylvaina #wow #fanfic #two rooms #fuck this one i had to start it over like 3 times #almost done with this thing already #dayum

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dietaku · 5 years

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The Legend of Iann Stilt-Walker

For those unaware, I also run an Exalted game, and one of my PCs met an ancient hero of his tribe. To solidify this NPC, I wrote up a sort of canon version of the folk tales surrounding this guy. I thought you all may enjoy that, so here it is.

Born in the trees between the Wall of the Mountains to the East and the Plains of the ordon to the East, there lived one of the oldest heroes the Vicriuth honor; that of Iann Stilt-Walker. Even the hero's conception was legendary, for his parents meeting was pure happenstance, occurring on a rare forest flood that trapped the pair together for ten days and nights. His mother's pregnancy lasted a full year, and when born, he already had a warrior's braid and could speak, reciting his lineage to his grandparents on both lines. When three, he was given to his grandfather to train in the arts of war, and by the age of twelve summers, he killed his uncle, Oscar, for attempting treachery by way of poisoning the clan's crops with fae-magic. He was strong enough at this point to lift a great sloth and quick enough to catch a forest gazelle, meeting no end of ire from the Fae Courts that resided within the forest boughs. It is by these games that he gained the weapon most familiar to those who know him, the Spear Liathbolg, a weapon carved of a still living demonic tree which possessed the living essence of its progenitor still and would grow within those cut or stabbed with the weapon, killing them painfully and slowly. Surrounded by the Court of the Byronic Lord of the Flute, Anscylloif. Those astute in the genealogies of Faeries, such as they are, will note this is the twin of Ancsyllrie, the Sugar-Garrote Poet, although the two rarely mention the other. The Romantic Lord of Woodwinds noticed the heavy destiny within the trapped boy and his heart swelled with the opportunity to see such heroics in action. Looming over his quarry, he declared,” Child, your people are crave beasts, forced to dwell in trees to hide from My People and our hunting beasts who walk the forest floor, along with the hidden beasts of the Masters who made this place. Yet, here you are, walking along the floor like you own this place. Tell me, what drives you to such arrogance?”

“I am Iann, son of Finn the White. I am a warrior of excellent caliber! I have slain over a dozen men and even bested the Raccoon Avatar, Rohke. Of course I am proud! I see no reason to step aside to monsters like yourself who did not work for your power!” he countered, as Ancylloif tapped his chin, an evil idea forming in whatever passes for a Fae mind.

“My dear child Bedeia live in a palace upon the clouds. I will give you one week. If you are capable, bring to me a token of her's back to this spot. To flee is to break this oath I will now bestow upon you, and there is no god in this world or in Heaven who can withstand my fury. Do you understand, Boy?” the Lord of Flutes asked.

Intrigued by the notion, Iann agreed, but soon discovered he had no way of traversing to the Clouds, even as strong as he was and even after stomping on the tallest Oak Mother till she agreed to let him use her as a springboard.

“How can I get to the Clouds? He wondered, as he heard the peals of beautiful harp music. This turned out to be the work of a nearby Skald, extoling the virtues of the nearby glenn.

“Ho! Skald, what wonders do you know to sing with such power?”

The Skald rose, bowing,” Good Day to you, Lord Iann. I am Oisiin of the Horse Clan. I have been banished from my ancestor's lands for my voice is so strong that my praise of my son's borth burned down the trees we resided in. Now, I am a wanderer, who makes do with what my whispering earns me.”

“You must be a powerful magician indeed to perform such a feat. Come, join me! I am in need of a way to reach the clouds. In a week's time, I must account to a Faerie Lord or else lose my life,” Iann explained.

“Tis a hard road you're on, indeed. Very well! I will aid you. However, let me send word to my little brother. Fergus, for he will be of great use to us,” Oisin agreed, and in a day's time, Fergus joined the pair. Fergus was a mountain of a man, a great warrior who possessed the Faerie Warbeast Grundbachm, the Howling Grinder. Seen as a many-toothed sword, this beast would grind all it grabbed into dust, even able to slash through a mountain within minutes. Once appraised of the situation, Fergus agreed to join their quest, but Oisin brought up a new problem.

“While it would be a simple thing for me to bring us to the Clouds, we also need the permission of the Five Oaks to do so. The Skies above the forests are their domain after all.” The Five Oaks were the rulers of the Spirit Courts, and also mischief makers of the highest caliber. After their old mistress, Lively Hyacinth perished under mysterious circumstances in the days of the Falling Stars, the five took control and ran it as an active racket, extorting worship and favors from thei mortals residing nearby, even allowing Faeries to live nearby unmolested so long as they paid gifts to them. Chief among them was Mother Willow, a conniving schemer who sought to dominate the entire East as the Goddess of Trees. When approached by the band of heroes, she quickly agreed, but on one condition.

“You must take my daughter along on your errand. She is a mighty magician and a hunter of Faeries. She will surely be a boon to you,” she declared, as a white haired beauty stepped forth. This was Charming Mizzet, the daughter mentioned by Mother Willow, and therein was the trap Mother Willow set, for she desired to have such a strong warrior in her control, and if she could ensnare him into her family with her daughter, then he could be used against her enemies, like the Great Sequoia, Calphrans himself!

With the permission they needed now within their possession, Oisin used his bewitching voice to sing a song of longing and beauty. So powerful were his words that the clouds themselves drew closer to listen, and it was in this way that Iann and his allies climbed to the clouds. There, they found Ancylloif's castle, but it was also guarded by a trio of creatures; the Flame-eyed Octopus Frothou, the Stone-Skinned Armadillo Doffboi, and the Gale Mosquito Jaubronn. Fergus made short work of Deffboi, gridnign through his stone skin, while Oisiin's powerful songs drove Frothou to tears, boiling himself alive, while Mizzet's swift arrows downed Jaubronn. Inside, Iann found Bedeia as promised, a golden haired beauty wearing a gown of woven emeralds with the soft cries of happy children dancing about her garb. Ignoring her beauty and pose, Iann persisted, demanding a token from her.

“My Lord, I knew of your coming, but to possess such bravery and arrogance to march through the front gates,” she cried, as she humbly gave him her belt for his token,” My Father will recognize this, and surely grant you his pardon.”

With his prize, the quartet of heroes fled the strange lands and returned to the agreed metting place. There, Iann presented Anscylloif the belt.

“You have done as I asked, but you took two tokens from my dear child. For, although you hold her belt, she also gave you her heart. If you were to take her hand, then I would not object,” he said, as Iann agreed, for his heart of adventure had been satiated in the journey and also because Blondes were his thing. The pair were soon wed, and Anscylloif presented his new son with his greatest weapon, the spear Liathbolg. However, despite the happy future seemingly in store for the happy couple, disaster would strike. Furious at the failure of her child, Mother Willow withehled her blessing from the lands of Iann. The rain no longer fell, wild beasts fled the forests of his Clan, and the trees and plants no longer offered their bounty. Despairing for his Clan's future, Iann once more approached Mother Willow for a boon to end this hardship. Mother Willow cruelly grinned at his plea.

“Your wish is easily granted, but nothing will come for free. I wish to take your legs, for you cut the legs out from my dear Mizzet with the marriage of yourself to that Faerie,” she sneere. Iann nodded, and with a single motion sliced off his own legs at the mid-thigh. Collapsed on the ground, bleeding, Iann looked up at Mother Willow as she clapped slowly.

“You have done as I asked, although you are a fool, to not even ask for another price. You are ruined, Hero, and now, you have your respite from your Clan's poor future, you own is ruined thanks to cleaving to that monster,” she declared, leaving Iann to his fate. Mizzet, despairing for the Hero, dragged him back to Anscylloif, fearful for his life. Despite rejecting her advances, she still cared for him dearly, and hoped to save his life. Upon seeing his son in such a state, the Flute Lord was quick to act.

“My dear boy, to have been wounded so, you are a true Hero. I can heal your wounds, although your life will never be easy,” he offered, as Iann agreed,” Very well.”

“Once you walked upon your own legs, but now your warbeasts will propel your forward. These will be your limbs, but also a burden,” he warned, as Iann looked down at his new legs. No different from his earlier limbs, they still radiated raw power.

“Flying in Blue Sky

Claws Outstretched to Kill Mortals

I am Faubahgau.”

“Swimming in Blue Waters

Teeth Ready to snatch swimmer

I am Juubrufraq.”

And so, Iann recovered from his maiming. However, he soon discovered what his father-in-law meant. His new limbs terrorized the forests, hunting down and scaring off clan's cattle, and driving away the game of the forests. It became so bad that when Galain the Crucible Knight, a burning Faerie king approached Iann's lands, Bedeia fled with him. This in turn prompted Iann's vengence upon the invader, calling upon his allies to return his wife. After many journeys, Iann discovered his wife hiding from his rampage. Dropping to his knees before her, relieved to see her well, he pleased to her,” Why? Tel me why you left me?”

“Because you're a monster now, Iann. A man of reckless action. Your new legs only exacerbate this. I love you, but you'll spread terror around you. I'm a princess who yearns for peace, and so we'll never stay happy together. The best I can hope for is to flee, and you follow after me. That way, no one else has to suffer,” she mumbled, as he sat there, shocked by her words. In this moments she jumped through a nearby open window, flying on the morning breeze to parts unknown. Thus, this is the quest of Iann Stilt-Walker, to reunite with his beloved, no matter how far or how long she flees.

#Adventure #fantasy #fiction #short story #exalted

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chibinightowl · 6 years

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A Man Walks Into a Saloon

@charcoal-soul, your little head cinemas are going to be the death of me.

For those who aren’t privy to these little headcanons, welcome to the Wild West where Bruce is the town Sheriff, Dick is his secret deputy who really has too much fun wearing a skirt, and Stephanie runs the local saloon.

I could be persuaded to continue this. We’ll see.

~*~*~*~

Dick is a performer, through and through. It’s in his blood, is part of the very essence of who he is. But just because he’s on stage dancing his heart out in men’s burlesque show in front of a crowd of rowdy customers doesn’t mean he’s not paying attention to what’s going on around him. Bruce trained him better than that.

Not that anyone knows he’s a deputy for the wily sheriff. Much of his work here at Stephanie’s saloon is just that. Work. Bartending and running tables when he’s not on stage or rehearsing, but through it all, he keeps an eagle eye out for folks who just don’t look like they belong here. He’s gotten to a point where it’s practically a sixth sense.

And that sense is screaming at him as his blue gaze lands on the tall man who strides into the saloon and takes a seat at the bar. He looks road weary and dusty like most do in these parts, as does his companion, an equally tall woman with fiery locks barely contained in her long braid. Normally his attention would be on the redhead, especially since she’s dressed in men’s clothes rather than the divided riding skirt that’s more common in these parts, but Dick keeps going back to her dark-haired companion. There’s just something about him that sends a tingle down his spine.

This warrants further investigation.

But first, there’s a show to finish.

When he and the other men are done, they hop off stage and work the crowd. Or rather, Dick works the crowd while the others run off and change. While they’re all part of the entertainment, he’s the only one as comfortable in women’s clothing as he is men’s. And that means more tips and more attention for him. Dick has no problems playing both sides of the fence and Stephanie knows he’s more than capable of taking care of himself if someone gets too handsy.

One less thing for the saloon owner to worry about.

Dick slowly makes his way to the bar, stopping here and there as he does to chat. One woman even stopped him to ask where he found the rich blue silk that stands out so vibrantly against the black of his skirt.

“Had it special ordered from St. Louis,” he says, twirling around so she could see the full effect of it. “No offense to Mr. Pennyworth, but this just ain’t something he keeps in stock down at the general store.”

“It sure isn’t,” she agreed, her eyes lingering not only on the silk, but also on the ribbed corset in matching colors going up his waist.

Dick grins and winks at her as he walks off. The corset is strictly for show, as is the little bolero jacket he wears over it. His best friend Wally often teases him for how he looks in costumes like this, but to him, it’s all part of the act. Stephanie doesn’t care what he wears as long as it brings in customers, so he’s allowed free rein.

As he approaches the bar, he can’t help but like what he sees and wonders if maybe the shiver earlier was simply him picking up on the gorgeous hunk of a man sitting there. From behind, all he can see is broad shoulders, well muscled arms, and a solid trunk of a torso. The man’s jacket falls over the back of the barstool so Dick can’t make out the rest of the package, but so far, things look promising. Time for a closer inspection.

The stool on the man’s right is open, so Dick flops down with a flourish of silk and lace. “Hey, Steph! Got anything you’d think I like?” he calls out to the busy bartender/owner. The blonde woman knows better than to give him too much alcohol after a show (especially since he has another set in an hour) but dancing and flirting is thirsty work.

“Honey, you like it all,” she replies, dropping a pint of beer in front of him. “Try not to have too much fun in that new skirt of yours.” Steph winks and bustles off, her own purple and black striped dress looking fantastic on her. He’d ordered the silk for hers along with his own.

Dick salutes her with his glass. Turning, he looks at the two strangers and instantly, his heart starts beating harder. The woman is stunning, but the man…he can’t find words to describe him. His face looks like something out of one of Tim’s history books, the ones about Ancient Rome or Greece.

Time to turn his flirting up a notch.

“Hello, stranger,” Dick says with a saucy smile and runs a gloved hand over the smooth fabric of his skirt, outlining his thigh in the process. He picks up his beer and takes a sip, eyeing the man over the rim. The man is dressed for traveling, his dark brown leather jacket shiny with age. A dusty cowboy hat rests on the bar next to an empty shot glass and a mostly full glass of beer. “You must be new in town,” he offers with a wink. “I’d never forget a face like yours.”

The man honest to god blushes. Dick wants to crow in delight as red stains his cheeks.

“Yeah, Arty and I are just passin’ through.” The man replies as he tries for casual, even running an awkward hand through his black hair while his companion laughs boisterously. He’s young, probably around Dick’s age, but he’s got a white streak in his hair that’s rather eye-catching.

“Jay, I swear you always act like this whenever anyone hits on you.” The woman, Arty, slaps him hard on the shoulder. She catches Dick’s amused eyes. “Don’t let the blush fool you. He’s had his eye on you since we first walked in.”

Jay groans and gives Arty a good-natured shove. “Shut it.”

Dick laughs because this is just too much fun. “If it’s any consolation, I have too.” He takes another swig of beer and holds out his hand. “I’m Dick.”

The man accepts it and grips it firmly. “Jason, but I go by Jay more often than not.”

Dick reaches across Jason to shake Arty’s hand too. She also has a very firm grip. “Artemis. Only yahoos like Jay get away with Arty.”

“Noted. So, what brings you two into town?” Dick settles in for some small talk. He’s got the time but maybe if he plays his cards right, he won’t be crashing into an empty bed tonight. It’s rare that someone gets him this interested this fast, but hopefully Jason won’t be like the others.

He has a tendency to be attracted to the wrong type, usually with questionable appreciation for the law. Wally and Tim both joke about his poor taste, but Dick only has to remind them that they’re both single and to shut up, that at least he gets laid on occasion. Stephanie doesn’t run a brothel, no sirree, but she doesn’t care (much) what her employees do in their off time.

“Like I said, we’re just passin’ through,” Jason replies easily as he sips at his beer. “Wanna try and get to Colorado Springs before the end of the month. Heard tell there’s gonna be some hirin’ down there for some merchant trains and we could use the work.”

Before Dick can probe further, there’s a commotion over by the main entrance. Shouts ring out and Stephanie reaches under the bar for her shotgun.

“You assholes take it outside!” she shrieks loudly and pumps the shotgun for emphasis. “Now, before I blow someone’s hand off!”

Dick doesn’t even realize he’s stood and sits back down, but as he does, he catches sight of Jason lowering his jacket back over the gun on his belt. The stock on the revolver is inlaid with pearl. That’s an unusual sight and one that doesn’t exactly fit with the poor cowboy image the man is trying to portray.

Something isn’t right here.

He starts talking with Jason and Artemis again, casually flirting and enjoying the crap out of the blushes he gets from the other man. Soon enough, his hour is up and it’s time to get ready for his next show. As he stands, Dick runs a gloved hand over Jason’s lightly stubbled cheek. “Keep your eyes on me,” he whispers and leans in to plant a kiss where his hand just was. Jason looks startled, his deep blue eyes wide as he blushes again.

Artemis laughs raucously as Dick walks away, making sure to put an extra sway in his step.

Jason is seriously cute and Dick really wants to find out how far down his neck the man’s blush goes, but he’s still bothered by the sense that something is off about him. He’s halfway through the next set when he figures it out. Only years of performing keep him upright and in character.

The man sitting at the bar is the Red Hood.

Bruce had shown him the new wanted posters that arrived with this morning’s post. The sketch doesn’t do the man justice at all, especially since he always wears a red bandana over the lower half of his face and the brim of his black cowboy hat pulled low, but the sketch did mention his deep blue eyes.

Some additional information about him was passed along only to law enforcement, which Bruce shared with him as well. Like the pearl gripped revolver and the fact that his accomplice is suspected to be a woman. Dick remembers the poster for Artemis being even more vague as she wears a full wrap of faded red around her face and head, leaving only her eyes bare, probably to conceal her feminine features and that massive amount of red hair.

The pair are wanted in conjunction with over a dozen robberies in the last year. Almost no one is ever seriously hurt but one man was killed when he tried chasing after them. He’d been shot in the shoulder and the impact sent him flying off his horse where he then landed wrong and broke his neck. Accidental to be sure, but murder is murder.

Dick wants to groan in frustration as he kicks up his legs and dances around the stage. Why does this always happen to him? It’s like he’s one of those magnets that attracts trouble rather than iron shavings.

But he remembers Jason’s blush as he flirted with him and how sweet he is, even while telling Artemis off for ordering a third beer. This can’t be the same person that has a $500 reward for his capture.

Additional verification needs to be done first. After all, the sketches for the Red Hood Bandits are iffy at best.

It doesn’t take long for Dick to rejoin Jason and Artemis after his last performance. Stephanie drops off another beer for him, which he downs quickly. “Care to take a walk, Jay?” he asks with a wink. “I could use some fresh air.”

Artemis all but pushes Jason off his barstool. “You do too. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Jason curses and mutters something that Dick doesn’t quite catch, but has his companion laughing uproariously as she slaps his hat on his head and shoves him towards the door.

Outside, the night air is cool against Dick’s flushed skin and he welcomes the change in temperature as he and Jason stroll down the wooden sidewalk. Jason’s heavy boots jingle slightly as they walk from his spurs. He awkwardly holds out his arm for Dick, who can’t help but laugh lightly at him. “I am a guy, you know. I just wear women’s clothing because it’s fun.”

“Well, my ma beat it inta me ta always offer my arm to a lady and since the one I travel with never wears a skirt…” Jason’s lips quirk in amusement.

“I accept then,” Dick replies and takes his arm. The man is taller than him but not by much. Warm too, but in a good way.

They stroll for a little ways before Jason speaks up again. “Ya know, wanderin’ off with strange men may not be the smartest thing for someone like you ta be doin’.”

Dick waves off the warning. “Thanks, but I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“That so?” In the faint light from the moon, Dick catches a glint in Jason’s eyes.

Challenge accepted.

Before Jason can react, Dick has him firmly pressed against a wall, out of sight of the street and one of his secreted knives pressed lightly against his throat. “I grew up in a circus,” he breathes into the other man’s throat. “Learned a few other things besides how to put on makeup, kick up my heels, and look fabulous in a dress.”

“I see that,” Jason replies carefully, not moving in the slightest against Dick’s body, which he thinks is a crying shame. “So what now? You gonna rob me?”

Dicks smiles into the warm skin and presses his lips firmly against Jason’s fluttering pulse. “I can think of one thing I want to steal from you.”

“What’s that?”

“This.” Dick slides the knife back into his skirt and presses even more against Jason, capturing his lips in a heated kiss. The man gasps into it, startled, but then lets out one of the sweetest moans he has ever had the privilege to hear.

Oh, good lord. If Jason is the Red Hood, boy is Dick ever screwed.

#chibinightowl writes #Jason Todd #Dick Grayson #JayDick #Wild West AU

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secretlygrantaire · 6 years

Text

Everybody’s Replaceable. Kylo Ren X Female Reader Soulmate AU. Chapter Six.

Synopsis: The reader was taken away from her family as a child to work on a First Order base as a weapons tester with other children. After managing to escape the First Order when she is older the reader lives by herself and begin to feel her connection and sensitivity to the force. It is discovered that she has similar abilities to Kylo Ren who is ordered to take her in as an apprentice and show her the ways of the force. I’m not going to give anything else away I’ll just say that they are soulmates but don’t know it yet, chaos ensues.

Warnings: THE LAST JEDI SPOILERS SORT OF!!! Angst, the reader gets injured, fluff.

All research for fact-checking is done on Wookieepedia.com or Starwars.wikia.com

Previous Chapters:

One: http://secretlygrantaire.tumblr.com/post/169673830791/everybody-is-replaceable-kylo-ren-x-female-reader

Two: http://secretlygrantaire.tumblr.com/post/169719813901/everybody-is-replaceable-kylo-ren-x-female-reader

Three: http://secretlygrantaire.tumblr.com/post/169749517901/everybody-is-replaceable-kylo-ren-x-female-reader

Four: http://secretlygrantaire.tumblr.com/post/169755457691/everybody-is-replaceable-kylo-ren-x-female-reader

Five: http://secretlygrantaire.tumblr.com/post/169794929001/everybody-is-replaceable-kylo-ren-x-female-reader

Y/N= Your name

Y/F/N= Your Full name

Y/H/C= Your hair color

Y/E/C= Your eye color

The reader goes by her middle name once she becomes Ren’s apprentice, in this story, her name will be Alia, pronounces Ah-Lee-Uh

Chapter Six: Dream Bonding

A soulmate can be described as two or more individuals whose souls, (the very essence of who they are) were crafted in the beginning of everything from the same stardust. Nobody quite knows for sure how or why soulmates came to be but what is known is soulmates share an unbreakable bond stronger than, hatred, violence or even death. When an individual turns 18 the name of their soulmate appears on their wrist, however very few individuals are fortunate enough to find their soulmate within their lifetime, sometimes language barriers block the two from meeting, sometimes two people will be separated, living lightyears apart from each other and sometimes a person’s soulmate will be taken by the cruel hand of death before they could even meet, when a person’s soulmate dies the name on their wrist will vanish. Despite the circumstances, the bond between two soulmates cannot be broken, some have tried to erase the name from their wrist even going as far as to cut off their own hand only to see the name appear on their other wrist. Some have gone mad searching for their soulmates, terrified of the concept of dying alone, and yet no one is ever really alone, even if you never meet your soulmate in person, the soul has its ways of connecting soulmates, through dreams. Dream bonding is the act of two or more souls connecting mentally, and subconsciously while a person is asleep. When apart from one another the soul will allow for a person’s mind to connect to their soulmate’s mind, if their soulmate is awake the person watches over them like a wandering spirit but if they are asleep, the two may dream together in harmony, reunited in the world of dreams. The act of dream bonding is exceedingly rare and occurs only when two souls truly yearn for one another. When soulmates are united they can sense each other’s emotions, their movements, their breathing patterns and can feel their heartbeats when touching soulmate’s hearts will occasionally beat in sync, for the two souls also share the same heart beating only for each other. The concept of a soulmate can be controversial as some people have no soulmate, their unique soul finds peace and comfort in the world around them and with the people they love. Yet the bonding of souls cannot be denied, for love shall overcome all.

Y/N stood in the shower, her eyes closed, letting the hot water soothe her strained muscles. She didn’t know what she expected to happen during today’s training but this certainly wasn’t it. She wondered if every day would be like this if Kylo would always be as harsh and cold to her as he was today. She remembered the look of disgust in his eyes, “He doesn’t care that I’m his soulmate.” She thought to herself. “Of course he doesn’t! He’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want a soulmate, and why would he? It’s all a big waste of time.” Y/N leaned against the cold stone wall of the shower and slid to the floor, looking down at her wrist she wished she could erase his name and have this all end, grabbing a washcloth Y/N began to harshly scrub her wrist, hoping that when she looked again it would be as clean and empty as it was a few weeks ago. But to her dismay, his name remained bold black letter staining her now sore wrist. Y/N signed and leaned back resting her head again the wall and letting the water run down her face like rain. Moments passed in a painful silence before Y/N turned the water off and left the shower, wrapping herself in a black towel she stared at her tired face in the mirror, she was a beautiful girl with brilliant Y/E/C eyes and soft lips. She dried her hair in the towel before pinning it back into a braided bun, she then proceeded to slip on a clean uniform, the soft fabric feeling nice on her cold body. She sat on her bed and stared at the floor in front of her, Kylo had told her he would show her around the ship this evening, but she didn’t know when “this evening” was. Y/N signed and stood, strolling around her chambers, she stopped at her desk and pulled open one of the drawers, five books were stack in alphabetical order, she pulled the top book off of the pile and read the cover. “A detailed history of The Republic 1032 BBY to 32 BBY.” Though it sounded incredibly dull Y/N had nothing better to do, so she sat on her bed and flipped open the novel.”After the end of the Sith War, a new Republic was formed through the Unification of Intergalactic Systems...” Y/N could feel her eyelids growing heavy before she was jolted awake by a loud knock on her door. Expecting there to be another stormtrooper outside her door Y/N was surprised to find none other than Kylo Ren standing before her. “Master Ren.” Y/N said, “Come with me, Alia.” His voice distorted behind his mask. “I am going to show you around the ship, so as to ensure you won’t get lost again.” Y/N nodded, closing the door behind her she proceeded down the hall with Kylo. Y/N followed the man down the twists and turns of the maze that was the Dreadnought, trying to mentally keep track of every room he named, wishing she could write everything down or create a map or something! Kylo stopped next to a large room, filled with tables and benches, “This is the canteen you may eat your meals here but you are not required to, the kitchen where you will get your meals is across the hall.” Suddenly remembering that she had I fact not eaten all day Y/N stomach rumbled loudly, Y/N could feel the blood rush to her face. “Are you hungry?” Kylo asked. “Oh, no sir, I’m fine.” Y/N said quickly only to be interrupted by her stomach rumbling once more. “The kitchen is closed now... but follow me.” Y/N followed Kylo down a hallway until they reached a grey metal door, Kylo swiped his pass key and motioned for Y/N to follow him. “This is the break room for officers.” He said as he took off his helmet. “Doesn’t it ever get hot in that thing?” Y/N asked before she could stop herself and to her surprise, Kylo chuckled. “You get used to it.” He replied as he placed the helmet on the table, “Sit, I’ll get us something to eat.” Y/N nodded and pulled out a metal chair, surprised by how nice Kylo was acting towards her. Kylo walked to the conservator and opened it there wasn’t much but it was better than nothing. Kylo returned to their table carrying two small apples and half a loaf of bread. He sat opposite Y/N and handed her an apple before tearing off a piece of the bread and handing it to her as well. “Thank you.” Y/N said graciously taking the food, the two ate in a comfortable silence before Kylo said: “So we will start training on a regular basis, every morning at 8:00 AM.” Y/N nodded “Yes sir.” “You have the Force within you Alia, you just need to learn how to control it, how to center your abilities without the need for anger or fear or sadness.” Y/N looked up meeting his deep, sad eyes. “I don’t know how.” She whispered. Kylo took her hand, “I will show you how.” Y/N could feel her pupils dilate as she stared at the man before her and she could swear they were leaning forward when suddenly the break room’s door opened. Kylo dropped Y/N hand as a head of orange hair entered the room. General Hux stood before the table, a smirk on his face, “ Am I... interrupting something?” He asked. Kylo stood and grabbed his helmet, “No I was just leaving.” He placed the helmet on his head with a click and turned towards Y/N, “Tomorrow 8:00 AM, don’t be late.” And with that he left. Y/N stood to leave before being stopped by an arm, “Oh no don’t leave yet Alia, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Y/N turned around slowly to face the General. “Sir?” She asked. Hux took a step towards her, “Take my advise, when it comes to Ren everybody is replaceable, he has no care for anybody but himself, the sooner you learn that the better off you will be.” Y/N furrowed her brows, once again hearing that phrase, “Everybody’s replaceable.” Hux titled his head, “Has he not told you? The only reason you are here is because our Supreme Leader ordered for him to find you and make you his apprentice, he didn’t choose you.” Hux let out a laugh. “You’re nothing more to him than a beetle under his boot.” He sneered, “And while he may be training you, when the time comes that you grow too powerful, he’ll just snuff you out.” Y/N gritted her teeth, as Hux grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, “I like you Alia, it would be a pity for you to be destroyed.” He released her arm and took a step back. “Ren’s loyalties don’t lie with you, remember that.” Y/N watched as the man left. She clenched her fists, “You’re wrong.” She whispered, but the phrase “Everybody’s replaceable” echoed in her mind. What if Hux was right? Was Y/N really nothing to him? Y/N left the break room and headed back to her chambers, feeling the tears burn in her eyes she waited until she was behind closed doors to let them escape. “He’s wrong.” She wept into her hands and she slid to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest she let out sob.She knew she shouldn’t let Hux’s words affect her so much but yet, they did. Wiping the tears from her eyes Y/N changed into her nightwear and slid into bed, too exhausted to do anything but sleep.

Kylo’s POV:

Kylo entered his chambers and pulled off his helmet, throwing it to the floor. He didn’t know what had gotten into him thinking back to the break room, staring into Y/N’s beautiful eyes, he suddenly remembered he had left her alone.. with Hux. Gritting his teeth he knew it was too late to go back, he decided a shower was best to clear his head. He let the hot water run down his back, not wanting to leave the warm oasis. He stared at the tattoo on his wrist, his eyes tracing each letter of her name, the more he tried to dismiss the idea of a soulmate the more he wanted to let her know. Begrudgingly he turned off the water and wrapped his body in a towel, he dried off and slipped into his nightwear before brushing his teeth and combing back his unruly black hair, he slipped into bed and stared at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep. When Kylo opened his eyes he was in a dark room, there was nothing around him for miles, he was alone. But he did not feel alone, Kylo could feel his heart pounding in his chest at a steady rate, suddenly he knew she was there. “Alia?” He called, turning around in the dark. “Alia?” Closing his eyes he heard in the distance barely a whisper, “...Kylo.” He spun around “Alia?” He called once more walking towards the voice. “Kylo.” She whispered. As Kylo continued to walk the room became lighter and lighter until he saw in the distance, her figure. As the two approached he could hear their hearts beating as one, the couple sat down facing each other neither of them said a word Alia simply held up her hands, Kylo reached forwards and pressed his palms to hers, intertwining their fingers. And slowly they leaned forward before pressing their foreheads together, a warmth overcoming them. Kylo could feel her breathing, he could hear her heart beat along with his, a smile graced his lips as the two sat in pure bliss. This was something he had never experienced before, they had dream bonded.

END OF CHAPTER SIX! Wow this one was really cute, ALSO I did some research and found out that in the Star Wars universe they use the same time system as we do on Earth, (convenient) and the equivalent to a refrigerator is something called a conservator, like, that’s so extra just call it a fridge damn. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, especially my concept of dream bonding, this is just something I came up with and really REALLY enjoy writing about. Let me know if you want more or if you want to be a part of a tag list! Thank you so much!!

#star wars #Star Wars fanfiction #Star Wars imagine #kylo ren imagine #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren #ben solo x reader #ben solo imagine #ben solo #tlj spoilers #dream bonding

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007blonded · 6 months

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shiftingpath · 6 years

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to my Exalted Secret Santa

Three options under the cut:

Ledaal Manus, Twilight Caste Solar Spymaster Cathak Argon, “The Forge of Melted Chains”, Slayer Caste Infernal Prince Black Wings to Blot the Sky, Day Caste Abyssal Renegade

1) Ledaal Manus, Twilight Caste Solar Spymaster

Manus is a beautiful, feminine, very privileged young Dynast-turned mastermind of the clock city of Towersong. He acts as social prep/cleaner and advisor to his small Circle, and specializes in seeing everything and making people underestimate him so he can work freely.

He is extremely pretty in a soft, gentle way. He dresses in a sort of semi-Victorian style he’s borrowed from Thorns, brocade vests and slim trousers and so on. He still likes the very high collars and wide sleeves common in Realm fashion, though. He is slim and around average height. His skin is very pale (though should still be recognizably Realm in ethnicity, which for our Creation is closest to Chinese). His right eye is icy pale blue, and his left is a darker, warmer blue (having had it replaced after the original was cut out by a Lunar). His hair used to be white graded to blue at the bottom, kept in a four-foot braid down his back, but recently Ligier chopped it off in an ill-advised duel. Now it falls just below his jaw, short at the back and longer in the front, pure white, and he keeps it pinned back, sometimes with the longer front “french braided” along his scalp. (Drawing either is totally fine.) He wears small oval spectacles and especially loves wearing purple. He has a strong aversion towards displaying skin, so covers up to his neck, down to his wrists, but if it is relevant, he has a brand around one bicep- a chain with a crown linking it like a lock.

He idolizes his Air Aspect father, and often wears a piece of pale blue clothing as if it were his token. Though he has a lot more jewellery, he almost always wears a simple gold circlet on his brow, a brass gear ring nailed through his finger, and a silver pin (on his cravat or coat) of an upright-pointing clock hand, a human hand before it, an eye on the palm- a gift from his Zenith queen when she appointed him her Hand.

He is brilliant and cunning and a dedicated problem-solver, which are put to the test in his role as right hand to one of the queens of the city. (He is always up to his neck in paperwork and responsibilities and happy about it. A consummate bureaucrat, he is Bureaucracy Supernal.) He fights using the sword he pulled from a tree (fulfilling local prophecy at the time), the long and delicate moonsilver-and-starmetal daiklave Silver Riddle. Having recovered his long shorn braid from Ligier, Silver Riddle now wears it like a tassel. He also occasionally uses one of a matched set of artifact assassin blades, the Sun-and-Wind Talons. Manus’ has the image of an orichalcum sun laid over a blue jade sky, but he usually keeps it hidden under his sleeve. In combat he fights with Solar Melee and the counter attack-focused evocations of Silver Riddle, and for sneaky purposes has a little training in two separate Martial Arts styles concerning assassination.

He is a Solar Circle sorcerer, initiated in all three times via scrying into the depths of the giant clock he lives on. He has three signature spells: a clock version of Corrupted Words (which flares his eyes with a subtle emerald flash), Lost Hour’s Offering (in which he uses weird clock magic to remove memories, taking the form of him ringing an ornate hand-bell), and The Titan’s Held Breath (in which he steps between the spaces between Autochthon’s laboured breaths and can run through a strange green-hued clock dimension until he either passes out from nausea or he chooses to allow time to function again).

His anima banner is gold in the center and fluxes to reds and purples towards the edges. The image is a hand presented like the Vitruvian Man, fingers extended and closed simultaneously. An eye opens wide in the palm. Lines of proportion encircle the fingers and their joints and extend out into the rest of the world to display the symmetry of Creation.

Reference:

Normal clothes 1 2 3

His stupid yachting costume

“Savage warrior of Karn” clothes

= = =

2) Cathak Argon, “The Forge of Melted Chains”, Slayer Caste Infernal Prince

Argon’s backstory is Extremely Second Edition and will be under construction until whatever year Infernals are released. However, here is what is not confidential:

Argon was raised in House Cathak alongside his twin sister Araka, raised to believe that obedience to his superiors was right and good, and that it felt right and good, and that his superiors deserved his unquestioning loyalty and admiration. His sister learned alongside him, but all she took away was that the strong get what they want. She exalted as a Fire Aspect, and the two attended the House of Bells together, Argon praying to exalt every step of the way. Araka’s carelessness with her power and her personal abuse of his loyalty to her were key to convincing Argon that his superiors did not, in fact, deserve his loyalty. A metody, one of the acid Malfean elementals, took advantage of his onset of doubt to offer him the demons’ bargain. He exalted as a Slayer, and fled the Isle. Araka, always pressing their relationship beyond that of brother and sister, refused to accept his fate, and wastes countless resources pursuing him wherever she finds a trace of his passing.

Argon is not particularly tall, with a slim build, but is muscled like a lightweight boxer. His skin tone was originally the same as Araka’s, a natural sallow skin native to the Isle, both with brown hair, but as her exaltation brought out ruddy auburn tones in her skin and hair, Argon’s turned his more yellow, mimicking the virulent acid of his co-adjutor. His hair is pulled in a ponytail, and it writhes with uncomfortably living force; distinctly more disturbing than the way an Air Aspect’s hair might blow in unseen breezes, Argon’s seems more to twitch and curl like some strange animal. His eyes are a brilliant acid yellow, and he smells of brimstone. In all ways, he is meant to mimic a Dragon-Blood of Malfean element, with the same sort of elemental “Tells” aspected towards the demonic.

He wears essentially a House of Bells training outfit slightly pimped up to look more majestic. Grey soft clothes underneath, maroon and red tabard over top, with a bright yellow band to signify his loyalties. He bears a yellow jade short spear partially encased in basalt, the Standard of the Beggar-King. From just below the head he has flown a long pennant, bearing only a field of solid black laced with brilliant green pavement cracks. He wears a tainted iron hearthstone amulet after conquering a brutally physically punishing manse in Malfeas itself, and has set a Gem of Infernal Regeneration into it. As a result the scars he bears from his time in the House of Bells and later in Malfeas have filled with basalt; the most noticeable ones are across his nose and cheeks and one deep one in one shoulder, though several smaller ones splash across his arms and torso.

Argon tries to be patient, noble, stern and proud, and emulate the virtues of the Prince as taught in his childhood. He has come to regard the Isle as corrupt, but still believes that a good, benevolent leader exists, in the form of his patron, the Brass Dancer Malfeas, whom he knows almost nothing about and only caught a glimpse of, dancing, for a few minutes once. He believes that he is destined to be the treasured, benevolent leader of some nation, and that he just hasn’t found it yet. His surety that people want to follow strong, loving leaders is somewhat undermined by his powers, which lace him with radioactive essence and punish the slightest misstep on the part of his devoted followers. He is trying his best to believe that he hasn’t signed on to the wrong team, and steadily and stubbornly turns his eyes from any proof that he might not be the worthy leader he believes he is.

He has By Rage Recast (3rd Edition willing), so whenever he goes iconic he transforms into a gargoyle-like beast (an Argoyle), with talons on his hands and feet, a thick tail, bright yellow armored scaling, sometimes black horns, if you liked Gargoyles the feel of it is ripped right out of that. His caste mark is a searing green X as if cut by a blade, and his anima banner is a broken crown with a cracked emerald in its brow.

Reference:

1 2 3

= = =

3) Black Wings to Blot the Sky, Day Caste Abyssal Renegade

Wings was raised as a princess in one of the tiny nations of the Hundred Kingdoms. It was expected that she would be married to broker some allegience, and was made into a creature of beauty and desire, with pure white hair nearly to her knees, unblemished rosy skin, and tattooed with a pattern of white lilies down her body. She would rather have died, and she did.

The princess would have been laid to rest in a state ceremony unlike any her tiny nation had ever seen, had anyone been able to find her body. But as soon as the touch of death came upon her, she rose a different creature. Shearing their hair off, they bound their chest with a strip of cloth ripped from their closet of sumptuous gowns. Clinging to shadows, they left their realm, following the call of something deep and terrible.

Wings is small of build but raring to go. Their hair is still pure white at the sides, cropped short, but they’ve grown the rest into a wild mohawk and dyed it bright red. Their skin is an ashen grey, and they still bind with a strip of no-longer-white cloth that was once a very nice dress. They have been training in martial ways since they left home, and they wear a pair of soft, baggy pants and a red sash around their waist. They have the old style pointed deathknight ears, pierced with several silver rings, and their bottom lip has a thick silver ring as well. Their eyes are crimson, and their cheeks are tattooed with a crest of black points to denote their royalty. The lily tattoo is still in evidence, but they’ve been tattooed many more times since, marred with black bands like shackles and barbed wire from their brief time at the Walker’s side.

During that time, they dressed considerably more princely, with fine, high-necked black tunics and scarves, ornate silver armor set with jet and garnets. They left that all behind in a mirror of their exaltation, when they realized how awful the Walker really was, though they kept the oversized soulsteel smashfists he gave them. Wings has no intention of returning those, and is kind of fiercely enjoying the idea of the fight they’ll give the Walker if he tries to retrieve them. They still tend to throw on scarves sometimes, looping them over their shoulders like dark wings, and they have a weakness for garnets.

They’re a little hotblooded these days, trying to play it cool and not attract too much attention, but unable to stop themself from interfering when their temper gets the best of them. They tend to swear a lot of very earnest and compelling oaths, which they have to grudgingly follow through on in the sober light of day.

Their anima starts as a halo of ominous darkness like a storm in the evening, and culminates in a rushing cloud of bats, their detail reduced to nothing but rapid beating wings, white teeth, and shrieking horror.

I don’t have a design for the smashfists but i’d love to see them on either renegade wanderer Wings or loyal new servant Wings with their full deathknight regalia. They’re originally from a concept where all deathknights can turn into bats so like, forgive furry Wings in the references

Reference:

1 2

#exalted #exalted secret santa

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anavoliselenu · 4 years

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freedom chapter 6

I held Selena's small hand in mine as we cut our massive, five tiered, gold-embellished wedding cake that stood on a table in the middle of the room.

There was a loud roar of applause from around us.

"Do you want some?" Selena asked me, holding up a small piece of cake.

I took a bite and chewed before feeding her some.

To my surprise, I was actually having fun at my wedding. This was a time for me to forget the stress and all the bullshit. Alice was making it incredibly easy to just enjoy the wedding. She was a beast with the preparations, and nothing was out of place as the ceremony drifted seamlessly into the reception under the large white tent on the other side of the yard. Everyone took pictures, and I had seen some of them already. A rare smile was on my face, and it was kind of strange to see.

It looked like Selena was enjoying herself as well, which was my main goal. I would have given her the big, white wedding if that's what she wanted, but I was glad she didn't. This was better; small, intimate, and personal. This was also the first joyful occasion after Niccola's funeral and to have it amongst family was special to me.

All the normal rituals were kept from our first dance, to the speeches, to a fancy Italian dinner that was done superbly, and then Carlisle's important wedding toast, which was very profound and heartfelt. It was perfect.

Sometime around midnight, I took my bride's hand and led her out of the tent with the party still raging inside.

"That wasn't too bad," she said, swinging our hands between us.

"I think it went quite well. No one died, and I actually kept my cool."

"And Charlie was there. That made it special. Did he talk to you?"

"Not really. I think he wanted to, but then chickened out. He said he wanted nothing to do with me, so I guess that's fair."

I hated to admit that I was like a normal, newly married, son-in-law. Should I try to impress him? Should I just let him warm up to me? Should I just have "the talk" with him now? I didn't know any of the answers.

"He's just in shock," Selena assured me. "I'm just glad he came, even if he wasn't too happy with my choice of groom."

"That can't be helped. I'm not going anywhere." I stopped walking and pressed my lips to hers.

"I'm an official Justin now." She grinned. "What do you think of that?"

"I think the name suits you."

"It finally happened. We're married." We continued to walk back towards the house. "Did you ever think we would get there?"

"I knew we would. It was just a matter of when."

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "You sound confident now, but I distinctively remember you being just as nervous as me at one point."

"I don't think so," I protested. "You must be remembering wrong."

"Okay, Mr. Justin."

We walked through the back door of the silent house, and I flipped on the lights, illuminating the family room.

"Selena, Justin!" I heard being called from the backyard.

Esme ran into the house, out of breath.

"Hi, Mom." I said.

"I just wanted to come in here and tell you how sorry I am about what I said in Italy. I had no right to say those things. I was mad and…I'm sorry."

I looked to Selena because this was their fight. I was still mad at my mother, even though I never really said anything.

"Um, well thank you for that." She replied, "It's nice to hear that. It's still going to take me some time to calm down."

"I know. I crossed a line and I shouldn't have even brought the baby up. I just…snapped. I know we have things to work out, but I wanted to tell you that before Carlisle and I left." She hugged the both of us awkwardly before going back out into the backyard.

"That was…strange." I said.

"I still haven't forgiven her yet fully."

"Don't. That was a half-ass apology. She can do better." I wrapped my arms around Selena's waist, "Have I told you how stunning you look?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"About ten times already." Selena laughed. "But it never hurts to hear it again."

"Well, you do."

"Thank you. And you look dashing in this tux. Incredibly handsome."

"I do try." I led her up the stairs and into our bedroom. "I know we said we weren't doing gifts, but I had to get you something."

"Justin, no," she argued. "I don't need anything else. All of this is enough. You built me a house. That serves as a present for the next couple of anniversaries, birthdays, and Christmases."

"I couldn't help myself." I went into the closet and pulled out the large white box on the top shelf, where Selena couldn't reach. I brought it back into the bedroom.

"What is this?" She took the box from me and sat it on the bed.

"Open it."

She pulled the top off and unwrapped the paper. "Wow. A fur coat?"

"I figured since you're now a mob wife, you should have the quintessential 'Mob Wife Fur'. It's mink. And the animals were already dead when they were skinned. Just in case you have a problem with it; I wasn't sure."

Selena took the pure white coat out of box, and it fell to the floor. "No, it's beautiful. I don't know if I would ever wear it, though."

"If you want to be the most bad ass wife in Chicago, you will have to wear it." I took the coat from her and put it around her shoulders. It fit perfectly.

"It's heavy." She ran her hands along the collar.

"And it's not hot so you can even wear it in the summer."

"Cici would be proud." Selena examined herself in the mirror on the wall.

"She helped me pick it out." I laughed, "No one knows furs like Cici."

"Well, thank you for this. It was very thoughtful. And I'll have to get you something later since I thought we were actually sticking to the rules this time."

"When I have I ever asked you to return a gift? I don't expect anything."

"So… there's nothing I can repay you with?" She started to undo my bowtie from around my neck and then the buttons on my shirt.

"Well, I might be able to think of a few things, Mrs. Justin."

That night, we christened our marriage bed, ten times over.

My rimmed glasses sat low on my nose as I lied in bed, reading through Sun Tzu's The Art of War for the tenth time in a month. I had been attached to this book like it was a part of my own body. Whenever I had free time, I was either reading this or making devious plans in my head that would probably send me into the far depths of hell. I was okay with that.

This book had become my lifeline, teaching me and guiding my decisions. I was learning everything I could before Carlisle left, which just happened to be in a couple of days. Then it would be my turn to take the reins.

I let my eyes scan the page again, but I wasn't really reading the words. By now, I knew the maxims by heart and could pick out the most important ones at the drop of a hat.

All warfare is based on deception.

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.

I found these to be the ones that stuck with me. I first read the book when I was fourteen and back then, it didn't make much of an impression on me. Now I read it all the time. Sun Tzu's principles had a way of being so deceitful and strategically planned. I loved that.

The bathroom door opened, and Selena came out with freshly braided hair, smelling of lilac shampoo. The steam from the shower filled our room with scents and I took a deep breath, trying to convince myself that I wasn't creepy.

"Are you reading that book again?" Selena pulled off the towel from around her naked body.

"It's a classic," I said.

She went into the closet and came out a couple seconds later in one of my college shirts with 'Dartmouth' plastered across the chest. "You'll turn into Sun Tzu if you keep at it."

"If only I could. He was a genius. I'll be lucky to be half the man he was."

"Wow. I don't hear you speaking so highly of people every day."

"Don't get me wrong, if he was alive I would stomp his ass into the ground, but he did write one hell of a book."

Selena climbed onto the large bed and snuggled under the covers. "Are you nervous about when Carlisle leaves?"

I put the book on the nightstand and turned towards her. "I was, but I'm ready now. I've been waiting for too long. I'm ready."

"I think everyone's excited. Or anxious, maybe. They're waiting to see what you'll do."

"I can't wait to fucking dominate," I said with eagerness.

It felt weird talking about this kind of thing with my wife…

Just to say it, "my wife", felt strange. I now had a wife? I would have never thought.

Our wedding was just three days ago, and it was almost as if we hadn't gone through the motions at all. Nothing felt different. Was that a good thing? Carlisle said it was just the fact that we were already an old married couple. Still, the papers were signed and Isabella Swan was now Isabella Justin.

I had to smile at that.

Renee and Phil had left yesterday on account of baseball spring training starting and they couldn't hang around. I didn't know how much more of Renee I could take, anyway. She was… a lot, almost worse than, Alice. But Alice knew when she was being too much and backed off. Renee just kept going. Of course, I would never say anything to her, but I sometimes had to sneak off for a smoke when her stories began to grate on my nerves. She had so many questions and always seemed to find me when I hid out. Thankfully, Renee had good intentions, so it wasn't like you could get mad at her. She was just hyperactive.

Charlie still wasn't speaking to me. He was just like Selena; silent, stoic, strong, but spirited. Neither of them talked much, but when they did, the impact was there. Charlie was the type of man who demanded your attention. Of course, there was the small fact that he hated my guts, but that was to be expected. I was ready for that.

I was probably never going to make him think that I was a good man for his daughter, no matter how much I argued otherwise. In his eyes, it was almost as if I didn't exist. We didn't speak more than five words to each other, but I planned on changing that.

"I'm taking Charlie golfing tomorrow before he leaves," I told Selena.

Her eyes went wide. "Alone?"

"No, Carlisle volunteered himself to chaperone."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Justin. You can't change Charlie's mind with a simple golf trip."

The bed shifted as Francis jumped up on the covers next to Selena and curled up for a long night's sleep. She started to pet his head, and his eyes closed. I tried to shake off the uneasiness I felt with him on my bed.

"I know that, but I want to show him that I'm at least making an effort." I refocused myself on the conversation.

"Oh, God." She groaned and rolled onto her back. "You're going to kill my father, aren't you?"

"I'm not going to fight with him. That won't solve anything and I'm determined to win him over without showing my true colors."

Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Another one of Sun Tzu's quotes that might come in handy later.

"What do you plan on accomplishing by this?" Selena asked me.

"Not much. I just don't want you to have to choose between us. On the road that Charlie and I are headed down we might never talk to each other and that'll just make it more awkward as the years go on."

"Well, thank you for making an effort, but don't expect him to just accept you. He still won't even really talk to me." She sighed. "What if he never forgives me? And then I won't even…"

I silenced her worrying with a gentle kiss. She eventually melted into my advances.

The next morning, I was up early and in the shower, ready for the golf outing with my father-in-law. I was determined to make him see that I wasn't some outrageous maniac. He was under the impression that I had no self-control and Selena was in danger by being married to me. That was what irked me the most. Did he really think that I would harm her? He knew the rumors of my questionable dealings, but it wasn't like he ever asked me about them. I might have actually told him the truth.

I had heard from Selena that Charlie liked to golf and fish. There was no way in hell I was getting on some fucking boat with smelly fish, so I figured the golf course was my best bet. As much as I despised the country club and everyone in it, I realized that I would just have to suck it up.

Even though I was trying to be as positive as possible, I could just tell that today was going to test my patience.

Selena was waiting downstairs with breakfast when I sat at the table.

"Don't you look properly preppy." She tried not to laugh at my outfit, which consisted of khakis, a pale blue golfing shirt, and a fucking cap to match.

"It's just for a couple of hours," I said mostly to myself. "I can do this. I'm trying to act more like a regular person. Regular people go golfing."

"I think you look so cute." She snorted, picking Francis up off the ground and placing him in her lap.

"Can you put him down?" I asked, sipping my coffee. "I can't look at him while I'm eating."

She fed him a piece of sausage that he gobbled up greedily. "He's as much a part of this family as you are."

"Bullshit," I grumbled. "When are we going to put up signs? He belongs to someone."

She shrugged, warding off my question without saying anything. Thankfully for her, Alec plopped down in a chair and started loading his plate up with food. He was dressed similarly to me, but mostly in pink.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I asked him.

"Carlisle said we're going golfing," he replied. "He called it a man day."

"Damn," I said. How was I supposed to get on Charlie's good side with my psycho family around?

Half an hour later, Alec and I were in my Saleen with golfing equipment packed into the trunk. The country club was about twenty minutes away and reminded me of the watering hole on safari. It was the cesspool of gossip, where ladies in big hats giggled inappropriately at those less fortunate than them, and businessmen closed deals on the sixth hole.

It was more of tradition than anything else to be a part of the exclusive club, but I hated it so fucking much. No one ever got me there. Everyone fawned over Emmett and Jasper for being the "perfect" Justin kids. I was the outcast and a pariah. I was actually okay with that. As long as people left me the fuck alone, they could talk all they wanted. I had more money and more prestige than any of those yuppy club members anyway.

The unseasonably warm weather made it the perfect day for golf; bright blue sky, billowing white clouds, freshly mowed grass, a hot sun. It all made me sick.

I pulled through the large, iron gates of the club and valets swarmed the car as I stopped. They pulled out the golfing things and immediately put them to the side.

"If there's a one fucking scratch on it, I'll have you fired, and then come to your house to shoot you," I told one valet and handed him my keys. He nodded shakily.

"There you are, Justin," Carlisle's voice said from behind me. "We were waiting."

Emmett, Jasper, and Charlie were already situated in a golf cart on the path. Charlie was glaring at me and turned his head.

I sighed heavily, "Just play the part, Justin."

"He's better than he was at the wedding. I think it has something to do with the fact that he's leaving today." Carlisle patted my shoulder. "It's only an hour. You can do that."

I nodded and situated myself into the driver's seat of a golf cart. Carlisle sat next to me, and Alec hopped on the back. Emmett took off, speeding onto the course ahead of me.

By the time we got to the fourth hole, his one word answers to my questions had subsided to grunts. He seemed to be getting along with Carlisle quite well, which surprised me. They actually discussed sports and TV shows. The cop and the mob boss in a civil conversation. Who would have thought?

Charlie acted like I wasn't even here.

I just leaned on my golf club and tapped my fingers until I could swing at something.

"What the hell is up your ass?" Emmett asked me.

"Nothing," I snapped. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, is poor Eddie sad because Charlie won't play with him?" he said in a baby voice.

"Shut the fuck up." I hit his shin with my gold club.

"Ouch." He hopped around. "Don't be mad at me because he hates you."

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked rhetorically. "I have a job and money; I treat her like a fucking queen, and I take care of her. I don't ever complain because I really do love her. I'm a catch."

"Yes, you are," Emmett placated me in jest. "I would marry you. But you're marrying his only daughter. Of course he's going to be pissed at you."

"You and Jasper are so lucky. Rose's father hates her and Alice's is dead."

"I'm good with fathers. They love me. You just don't give off that vibe."

"There must be some way to win him over."

"Leave it alone for a couple of years."

Our conversation was interrupted by the group of men behind us. "Hey! What's the hold up?"

"We're golfing, jackass," I shouted at him.

"We've been waiting for the past ten minutes to use this hole."

"Well, wait longer."

Carlisle was good at a lot of things, but golfing wasn't one of them. We usually had to spend an extra hour on the course just for him to get done. That caused a lot of problems on days like today, when people were waiting behind us.

I already wasn't in a good mood, so when the man from the other group got out of his cart to come over, I was doing my best to just stay calm. I moved on the other side of Emmett so I wouldn't be tempted to kill this guy.

"There is a certain cycle to golf, in case you didn't know. We can't just wait for half an hour for this dipshit to hurry up," he said.

"Sir, we're leaving in a second. Just go sit back down," Emmett replied, calmly and rationally. I just stayed silent.

"We've been behind you for more than a reasonable amount of time. Either get it together, or move the fuck on." The guy was fat and balding. Along with his two friends, they made a collection of wheezing old men who had nothing better to do but golf.

Carlisle finally hit the ball, sending it into the hole, and we were able to move on. Once again, on the way down the green, I thought of a way to get to Charlie.

"So, how are you liking Chicago so far?" I asked him as Jasper lined up his ball to putt.

"It's too big and filthy. Selena doesn't need to live in a place like this," he replied curtly, wiggling his mustache in disgust.

"I think she loves it here," Carlisle interjected. "She's adjusted quite well."

"Selena belongs back in Forks."

"She doesn't like it in Forks," I said.

Charlie turned to me. "She liked it before you took her."

"I didn't take her. She chose to live here."

"You brainwasher her!"

"Justin, let it go." Carlisle stepped in between us and pulled Charlie off to the side.

"That went well," Emmett chuckled as I put a ball down to putt. I twisted my torso and swung the club, sending the ball flying down the green.

We watched as it plopped down near the hole and bounced a couple of times.

Alec whistled. "Damn."

"Impressive." Jasper nodded.

Charlie just huffed and crossed his arms.

"Oh, great. These fuckers again." I heard the rude man from before.

It was as if no one either cared or wasn't paying attention to him except me. While everyone conversed amongst themselves, I took the opportunity to say something.

"Look, we're having a good time on the green and I don't need your mouth messing it up," I said right in front of his face.

The man made his first mistake when he rolled his eyes. He made his second when he put his hands on my shoulders and shoved me backwards.

"We want to golf. I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I will have your membership revoked if you hold us up any longer."

I was too angry to actually say something. Besides, actions speak louder than words.

"You better fucking know how I am." I took the golf club in my hands and swung it at his cart, smashing the glass on the front, "I'm Justin Justin, you motherfucking. If you ever put your hands on me, I'll do a lot more than break your fucking cart."

"Alright, that's enough." Emmett pushed me in the opposite direction.

"I'm sure as hell not done with you." I tried to get out of his grasp and attack that man again, but Alec held me down in the cart as Emmett sped off down the path.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Emmett asked angrily. "You're going to get your ass in jail."

"Did you hear the way he was talking to me? Let me out of here!" I struggled against Alec.

"What are you going to do, kill him in front of Charlie?"

That kind of made me calm down somewhat. I probably already caused too much of a scene. I completely forgot he was even there.

"Shit." I pulled at my hair in frustration.

"You can't keep doing this, Justin. Get your anger in check," Emmett scolded me. "You have to use your brain. There's a time for force and a time to just shut up."

"Since when did you become so thoughtful?"

"Since I grew up." He parked the cart in front of the club and turned to me. "If you're going to lead this family then you need to us a little more tact."

"Should I… apologize to him?" I asked through my teeth.

"Maybe it would be just best to let him leave without seeing Charlie again. The next trip might be better." Alec patted my shoulder before getting out of the back.

I tapped my foot on the sidewalk as I waited for the valet to pull my car around.

I shouldn't have lost my cool back there, but I knew this was going to happen. Returning to Chicago was no good for me. Old Justin was hot tempered and aggressive. He had social skills on the surface, but absolutely no tolerance for stupidity thus making it very hard for him to actually interact with anyone. He went from zero to one hundred in a second without any middle ground. Thankfully, Selena was able to put up with him but not many other people could.

"Here's your car, sir." The valet held the door open for me as I slid into the seat. Alec got in after me.

I took off over the gravel driveway and peeled out onto the street.

"Selena just called me. She asked us to pick up a few things from the grocery store," Alec said.

"Did you tell her what happened?"

"No, I figured you would. It's not even that bad. I mean, you didn't beat up Charlie or anything. You just lost your temper."

"Yeah, but what does that look like to him? He probably thinks I abuse her or something," I groaned.

"Probably," Alec chuckled. "She'd just beat you right back, though."

It didn't take me long at all to pull into the local grocery store about fifteen minutes from the house. For some reason, it was packed. Every spot was taken and I circled through each lane, trying to look for somewhere to place the car.

"Must be some kind of sale going on," Alec observed.

"Just keep an eye out for a space."

I inched along slowly and was determined to stifle the impatience that was starting to creep up. I had already blown up once today. I think I reached my limit. I almost held it in… That was until someone honked their horn behind me. It was more of an obnoxious blaring than a honk and held a certain amount of anger from the driver.

I glared into the rearview mirror at the small, black, vintage car that was nearly on my bumper.

"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" I rolled down the window and looked behind me. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was a woman, but she had a scowl on her face that was threatening to burn holes through my back windshield.

She honked again rather rudely and flicked me off.

It wasn't like I could go any faster so I kept tip-toeing along through the lot, trying to find a space. The woman behind me was beeping like a crazy person and each blast jabbed at my brain like an icepick.

"Justin, don't start," Alec warned when he saw my hands holding the steering wheel like a vice grip.

"Tell her to shut the fuck up," I snarled.

She just kept honking.

Thankfully, a spot opened up. It was directly opposite the front door of the store, and I sighed in relief when the car backed out, leaving it free.

As I lightly touched the accelerator pedal, the black car sped around and screeched into the spot that was rightfully mine.

No the hell…

The car was a vintage, 1971 Porsche convertible. I knew that because Carlisle had one just like it in white. He used it as a showpiece, though. I had never even seen the thing fire up.

The middle-aged lady got out of the car with her nose turned up and slammed the door shut.

"Uh, excuse me." I spoke out of the window. "Can you move, please? I was about to park there."

"No, I won't move. I got it first. I'm sorry."

"Please, just move your car."

"You drive too slow. I can't help that."

I snapped.

"I know damn well you saw me getting ready to take this spot."

Zero to one hundred!

"I saw you," She threw her bag over her shoulder, "and I took it."

"Please move your little black car before I move it for you." I was willing myself to stay seated.

"Justin, just let it go," Alec whispered.

I turned to him. "Shut up. Lady, move your car."

She smirked and then took off towards the store.

I wasn't above shooting this woman. Normally, I would be the gentleman and let her have the spot, but she had to be a bitch about it. She wasn't getting away from me now.

"Excuse me!" I shouted out of the window and inched the car up next to her. "Maybe you didn't hear me, but I was waiting for that spot just like you were."

She kept walking, and I kept moving slowly forward. "Well, it's my spot now. You drive like an old man."

"Lady, I'm trying very hard not to run you over right now. Go move your car." I was almost at the entrance to the store and if need be, I would drive right through the motherfucking glass. People were smartly moving out of my way.

She flipped me the bird again before slipping inside, leaving my car idling in the entryway.

Has she lost her mind?

"Justin, let's just go to the other grocery store down the street," Alec suggested.

"This woman is going to make me tear the sign off of this store," I said angrily.

"We just talked about anger management with Emmett. You've got to be calm."

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, debating on what to do. I could easily let this go and just drive off. Unfortunately, that was a Carlisle type move.

"Are you buckled up?" I asked Alec.

"Oh, God. Not today." He braced himself.

In homage to Nicola, I threw the car in reverse and backed up at an unhealthy speed. The back of my Saleen connected with her small convertible, and the windows shattered on contact. The side was dented in and made it almost unrecognizable. I pulled forward, and then reversed again, slamming into her car a second time.

By now, it was totaled, and I felt a hell of a lot better. People were gawking, but I didn't care.

"Was that fun for you?" Alec was panting loudly as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"Very. She could have avoided all that if she'd just listen to me."

"You couldn't let her have the spot?"

"Cowards die many times before their actual deaths," I quoted.

"I don't care about Sun Tzu… or whatever the hell is name was."

"That was Julius Caesar and I'm in no way a coward."

By the time I turned off the car in the driveway, I was almost giddy. It must have had something to do with all the pent up anger I'd just released.

"Don't say a word to Selena." I got out of the car and went inside.

Francis trotted up and practically begged me to pet his head. He sat at my feet and just to see how it felt, I bent down and lightly rubbed him between the ears.

I immediately withdrew my hand and shuddered from the feeling of filth.

I went into the kitchen where Selena was seated, reading the paper. I washed my hands in scolding hot water.

"You just missed Charlie," she said.

"He came by the house?" I asked, not turning around to look at her.

"Yeah, he said he had a great time with you guys."

"Really?" Alec questioned in surprise, carrying Francis in his arms. "He didn't…"

"What did he say?" I cut him off.

"Nothing." She shrugged. "He just said he can't wait to do it again. He thinks you have a lot to learn about golf. So you two had a good time?"

I kissed her. "It was a perfect day for golfing."

The next few days passed very quickly since I was locked in a room with Carlisle, learning everything I could. I hadn't slept for more than an hour each night; I didn't have the time to waste. I sat with Emmett, Jasper, and Alec, trying to get them on board with me taking over. They were surprisingly more accepting to me leading than I thought. I figured Emmett would protest the most, but he didn't say a word. He just provided insight when I asked for it and seemed supportive.

My "coronation" was set. Carlisle and Esme were to leave within a couple hours of me taking over. I assumed they couldn't wait to get the hell out. The both of them had been in this life for decades and a break was much needed. I didn't blame them.

The night before, I didn't sleep one wink and just stared up at the ceiling.

Is this really what I wanted?

Of course it was. I had been trained for this my whole life. I was a machine who had the perfect instincts and abilities for this; more so than Carlisle or any of my brothers. I was ready.

The sun rose around six that morning, and I let out a deep breath. Just as I rolled out of bed, the alarm clock rang and Selena shut it off before sitting up.

There was a weird sense of anticipation that hung in the air between us.

I held my head in my hands and said a silent prayer for guidance. There was no turning back.

"You ready?" Selena's arms wrapped around my from behind.

"Yes." I answered clearly without a hint of wavering.

We showered together, giving nothing more than light touches with soothing hands.

My suit was made of the finest material and fit me like a glove. I knotted one of Nicola's red ties around my neck and made sure it was securely in place. I had never used this particular tie, but he gave it to me when I was thirteen after making me promise that I would wear it if this day ever came.

Selena's dress matched my tie, and we looked very polished as we sat at the kitchen table, silently sipping coffee. Alec joined us shortly after in a pressed black suit with his hair styled for once.

At nine o'clock sharp, we walked into Carlisle's house. I gave Selena a kiss that lasted longer than it probably should have before climbing the stairs to his office.

He was seated at his desk, waiting.

"Good morning, Justin." He grinned. "Are you ready?"

Stop asking me that!

"Yes." I nodded and sat across from him.

"You will have full control over the Justin dealings, real estate, finances, and all our holdings internationally once I leave the country, which is in about…" he checked his watch "…three hours. There's no backing out."

"I'm well versed on what I'm about to do."

"Good."

Carlisle dug through his desk and placed three items in front of me. The first was a small pistol, the second was a dagger, and the third was the image of a saint printed on a simple piece of paper. It looked like St. Peter. I groaned quietly as the first Pope stared up at me from the page and tried to look away from him.

"Then we can begin." Carlisle stood up and placed his hands on the desk. "Can you please write for me the Ten Commandments of a Mafioso." He pushed the image of Peter towards me and turned it over.

I took the fountain pen next to me and started to write with a steady hand:

No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.

Never look at the wives of friends.

Never be seen with cops.

Don't go to pubs and clubs.

Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.

Appointments must absolutely be respected.

Wives must be treated with respect.

When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.

Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.

People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

I set the pen down and pushed the page back towards Carlisle. He read it over quickly before nodding. "Good."

Of course, these rules were never set in stone and sometimes they had to be broken, but it was a code that I should strive to live by. Obviously, there was nothing we could do about number ten. I didn't give a fuck who Selena's father was; she chose me, and her father's occupation couldn't be helped. He was retiring soon, anyway.

The door opened behind me. Alec, Jasper, and Emmett stood next to Carlisle, staring me down like I was on trial. They took turns questioning my commitment and my feelings regarding criminality and murder, despite them already knowing my history. All the while, the pistol was pointed at my head and would be fired if I answered a question wrong. Tradition was kept.

I affirmed myself, Justin Anthony Justin, Mafioso of the Justin family.

I stood up and Carlisle took my right hand in his, turning it palm side up. He pricked my finger and smeared my blood over the face of St. Peter.

"Selena, you can come in now," Carlisle called.

Her heels made soft noises on the carpet as she walked slowly up next to me.

"Isabella Justin, are you prepared to stand by your husband in his ventures and support him in every way you can?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Perfect." He passed her a match and gave me the image of the saint.

I held it up for her to light, and we watched it burn in my hands.

"Justin Justin, if you betray Cosa Nostra, your flesh will burn like this saint." Carlisle spoke with finality.

I threw the paper on the floor and stomped out the flames until they were nothing more than embers.

"Shots!" Alec broke the awkward tension and ran towards Carlisle stash of expensive liquor.

"Is that all?" Selena asked me.

"Yeah, that's all."

"I'm so fucking proud of you." She hugged me tightly.

It took me a second to regain my motor functions, but I wrapped my arms around her when I did.

We pulled away from each other, and she took my pricked finger into her mouth, sucking the blood away from my small wound.

The deal was done when Emmett, Jasper, Alec, Carlisle, and I downed one shot of strong Italian vodka.

I was the Boss.

SELENA POV

"Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain... To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices - today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it."-Kevyn Aucoin

All things Twilight related belong to Stephanie Meyer.

No, this can't be happening right now.

I stood, banging my head against the cold wall in the bathroom. I took deep breaths and tried to think rationally, but it was hard to convince myself of anything other than the truth when it was staring at me in the face.

Ten pregnancy tests were lined up on the counter all with some form of "positive". There were two lines, pink dots, plus symbols, and even the word 'pregnant' on one of them. There was no denying it.

I was going to have a baby.

Besides all the physical evidence, I could feel it. There was something growing inside of me, and I was holding back a flood of emotions that were threatening to break the dam I had built after losing Elizabeth. I couldn't do this again. Not yet. I wasn't ready.

I realized that something was off about a week ago after Justin's coronation. I was so tired and just felt… off. I was always hungry, and no matter how much I ate, I always wanted more. I knew what that meant. But I didn't say anything or tell anyone because I wasn't sure yet. I definitely had an answer to my questions four days ago when I didn't have my period. That did it. I brought a heap load of pregnancy tests and hid them in the bathroom until I had a chance to be by myself.

I was about a five weeks along and I could count back the days perfectly. I knew exactly what night it was when Justin infected me with his devil sperm; the night we were ambushed on the island. All the signs were there: my boobs starting hurting a couple of days ago, I woke up from eight hours of sleep still exhausted, my back ached slightly, I could smell everything, and this morning I threw up twice before breakfast.

I looked at myself in the mirror and turned to the side, trying to see if I could tell. I could have sworn that there was a bump. Maybe the hormones were making me delusional.

I wanted to smile, and then I wanted to cry… and then I wanted to smile again. I was going to have a baby—Justin's baby.

This wasn't the best time. He had just taken over the largest crime syndicate in the world, for God's sake. Now we had to worry about a child. This was not going to go over well. I tried not to think about how Justin was going to react. He claimed that he would be fine with it, but I knew him better than that. He was going to flip.

It wasn't like I had planned this. I was on birth control, but I knew the statistics. This was bound to happen at some point or another.

The door banged open and Alec was standing there with a large camera, like the kind they use on the news.

"And here we have my sister-in-law Selena." He put the lens right in my face.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screeched. "Get out!"

"I'm making a documentary for class. You signed a waver saying that you'd do it, remember?"

"Of course I remember, but don't you think you should have knocked first?"

"Oh, right." He shrugged. "Anyway, say something nice."

"No, and this isn't going in that video. I could have been naked."

"Well then… I guess you'd just make a different type of movie." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Get out!"

"Alright, alright." Alec rolled his eyes and turned the camera away from me. Unfortunately, his lens landed right on the counter. "Oh."

I quickly got rid of all the pregnancy tests, which wasn't easy since he was blocking my way, but I put them in the trash.

"Selena, um… I'm no expert, but I think we need to have a talk." Alec put the camera back in my face.

"Please don't say anything," I pleaded. "Not yet."

"Of course not." He bounced on his feet like Alice would. "Are you pregnant?"

"I don't know yet," I lied. "The tests could be wrong."

"This is so going in the movie." He laughed, walking out of the bathroom.

I pounded my fists on the counter in frustration, but tried not to scream.

Damn you, Alec!

He was going to ruin everything. I prayed to God that he didn't let this slip. I was going to have to watch not only what he said around Justin, but everyone else as well. He and Alice could gossip like catty chickens. No one could know about this before Justin. He would be pissed beyond belief.

Maybe I could call Esme. We weren't on the best of terms right now, but she would know what to do. The only problem was I didn't know how to reach her. She and Carlisle had left a week ago, and we hadn't heard from them since. Justin said something about them being in Australia, but they could be anywhere. He wasn't really sure himself.

"Just take it one step at a time, Selena," I said to myself.

I had to tell Justin soon. That was the first priority.

I rushed to take a shower because I had to work tonight, but I was also meeting Justin for dinner before. Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity.

I chose a professional blue dress to wear with capped sleeves that stopped short of my knees and tall black heels that made me a couple of inches taller. I was a pro at these things now. Being a mob Boss' wife meant dressing a certain way. No more sweatpants or jeans in public for me again. I always had to be in the finest designer clothes and the best pumps. These were the obvious indicators that Justin was rich—in case people didn't already know. They said 'I have more money than you could ever dream of and I treat my wife to the best in life'. If anyone missed all that, I could always blind them with the radiant light of the massive wedding diamond on my finger. It was a strange way of thinking, but there were certain rules that I had to live by. I understood.

I checked myself in the mirror to see if anything was visible in my stomach region. I knew it was silly, but I just had to make sure.

Alec was filming Francis playing with a ball in the family room when I went in to get my keys.

"I'm leaving for dinner, and then I'll be working late. There's a lasagna in the oven for you." I spoke quickly.

"Okay," he said without moving. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Of course I'm going to tell him. But act like you never knew. He has to be the first. I'm still pissed at you, by the way."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you were in there. I really didn't mean to do that. I won't tell him; I swear to it."

"Well, thank you. Just give me a couple days."

Alec put his camera on the sofa and stood up. "How are you doing?"

"I'm… okay, I guess. I haven't really thought about it." I hung my head and watched the toe of my pump mess with the carpet.

"No bad thoughts going through your head? No reminders of Elizabeth?"

I shook my head.

"Do you want the baby?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. "It's not the right time, but I really do. I think I do, at least."

"Well, it's about time. Sheesh. I've been waiting for a little Justin or Selena for years now. I was even going to start replacing your birth control with Tic-Tacs."

"Don't even joke about that," I laughed. "I'm going to need you when Justin blows his lid."

"I'll be here. Congratulations, Selena." He hugged me softly, and then bent down to speak to my stomach. "Hey, Little Selena. I'm Uncle Alec. I'll meet you soon."

I smiled even wider. "Okay, stop it."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, sweet! My present is here." Alec jumped over the back of the sofa and ran to the front door.

"What present?"

"It's my birthday soon. Did you forget?"

"No, but there's still a month left," I said.

"I know, but I couldn't pass this up."

"Pass what up?"

"I got a pet." Alec beamed and opened the door to reveal a man in a brown uniform.

"Is this the Justin residence?"

"It sure is. Is that my pet?" Alec asked excitedly.

"Yup. I just need you to sign these." The deliveryman handed him a pad.

I noticed the large enclosed tub at the man's feet. It looked like a gallon drum.

"What exactly is it?" I was afraid to ask.

"Okay, Selena, don't freak out, but I might have bought a snake."

"A what?"

"A snake—a python, actually."

No, no, no, no…

"Are these things safe to have in a house?" I asked the man. "Are they legal?"

"I get them shipped to me from Africa, and then distribute. I don't ask questions."

"So, you're a black market dealer?"

"I'm an opportunist." He smiled sleazily. "They are actually legal if you have the means to afford one. They eat very little, the attack rate on humans is low, and they keep to themselves; just for show, really."

"I don't know how I feel about this," I protested.

"Where do you want it?" the man asked.

"In my room. Let me help you." Alec carried one end, while the deliveryman carried the other. Even with the both of them, it looked like a struggle.

"I'm not so sure I want that in my house." I backed away.

"I already asked Justin, and he said 'yes'. And I'll keep him away from Francis and feed them both every day. I promise, Selena. Plus, I already forged the papers to get the permit."

I had to hold onto the wall for support. I wasn't really scared of snakes… I didn't think, but I had never really been that close to one. Now I had a python living in my house. I had to talk to Justin about this.

"I have to go. I'm late," I shouted.

"Bye. Francis and I will try not to burn the house down," Alec yelled.

"Please and thank you."

I ran into the garage and hopped in my car, starting it easily while buckling up. I was out of the driveway within a couple of seconds and sped towards Chicago with my bottom lip between my teeth. All thoughts of the stupid snake flew out of my head as I thought about my newly conceived child.

The closer I was to the city, the more excited I got.

I was going to have a baby! Forget the timing or what everyone else thought. I suddenly wanted this. It was a completely different feeling than the first time I had been pregnant. I had so many questions back then about how a child would affect my future, especially with Justin. Now, I was looking forward to seeing what could happen.

This was definitely going to be a turning point for us. It might have come quickly, but I was ready. We were ready.

I parked in the underground garage of the studio where I worked, and then just walked down the block where I bumped into happy tourists and eager businessmen. I just kept my head down and moved my feet through the crowds until I arrived at one of Justin's favorite restaurants.

"Hello, ma'am. Do you have a reservation?" the hostess asked when I went into a place called Blueberry on the River.

"My husband said he was already here. Justin Justin."

All it ever took was a name—that name and I could have anything I wanted. I usually didn't really like people knowing who I was married to. I wasn't ashamed, but I just didn't want to get off easy for anything. Plus everyone was terrified of him, so I didn't really make friends. It did make it nice in situations like these, though.

"Oh, of course, Mrs. Justin. Follow me." Her face fell into a slightly more professional façade, "How are you tonight?"

"I'm fine." I answered in a clipped tone.

Another rule for a Boss' wife to live by: never have conversations with service people aka waitresses, drivers, hostesses, bartenders, or anyone of that nature. Loose lips sink ships and they had the loosest around. I didn't like being so off-putting sometimes, but I got it. You wouldn't believe how many conversations I picked up while working at the club in Rio. People think that just because you aren't paying attention to them, you aren't listening. In this world, information was key and if it got into the wrong hands, there could be deadly consequences.

"It's nice weather we're having, wouldn't you agree?" She tried again.

"Very nice." I nodded.

She got the point and just led me through the restaurant. We went into the very back where a door opened up to a patio that overlooked the Chicago River. No one else was out there except Justin and a small table with candles.

"Here you go, ma'am," the lady said to me and closed the door.

"Justin, what is all this?" I asked as I looked around and walked towards the table.

"Oh, you're here." He stood up quickly and kissed my lips. He then pulled out my chair. "Have a seat."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just thought we could have a nice dinner. Alone."

I sat down and looked over the railing at the cars and people passing on the streets down below.

"This is very nice," I told him. "Did you do something bad?"

He chuckled, "Stop being so cynical, Selena. I wanted to do something nice for a change and to thank you for being so flexible with our new lifestyle. You haven't complained once about anything and I know it's been hard for you."

"No, it really hasn't. I'm fine. But thank you. This is nice."

"Would you like some wine?" Justin held up a bottle.

"Uh, no. I think I'll just have water. I have to work later and wouldn't want to be buzzed." Thoughts of the baby went through my head.

Tell him…

"True." He poured himself a glass. "Our food should be out in a minute."

"You rented out this whole area for us?"

"It's a date, Selena. Just go with it." He grinned.

"Usually, you're trying to cover something up if you go this far for a date."

"Not this time. I've been on my best behavior."

"I'll be the judge of that." I sipped my water. "How has your day been?"

"Good. Nothing exciting."

"No daring illegal deeds?"

"Not yet, Selena. I'm still feeling out the territory."

"Um, just a quick question. Did you tell Alec that he could get a snake for his birthday?"

"No," Justin replied firmly. "I said we could talk about it."

"Right. Well, we're now living with a python in the house, and I don't know how I feel about that."

"That fucking brat. I said we needed to ask you first of all and I never told him to get one without my permission. How the hell did he pay for the thing?"

"I didn't ask. I had to get out of there as soon as possible."

"Are you scared of them?"

"I don't think so, but then again, I've never really seen a python, so I'm not sure. Snakes don't usually creep me out, though."

"I love snakes. They're clean, the big ones eat once a week, they tend to themselves, and don't make a mess." Justin sipped his wine. "We don't have to keep it if you're afraid."

"No, I just need to get used to it."

"I guess he can keep the thing, but only in the garage."

"I agree. I don't think Francis should be around it either. Don't they eat pigs and stuff?"

"I'm not quite sure. I guess we'll learn as we go."

"This sounds incredibly dangerous."

"Speaking of dangerous, we're going to the opera tomorrow night. You're not working, right?"

"No, I'm not working. The opera?"

He pulled out a newspaper article from his jacket pocket and handed it to me so that I could read it.

The Chicago Opera Theater was playing Don Giovanni, and it was supposed to be one of the first social events of the season. I recognized a lot of names that were slated to attend, including Volutri and Denali.

"Giuseppe Mangicavallo and his sons will be there," Justin said.

"Should I know who he is?"

"He's the one I need to look out for. He and his family are trying to rival us and we've yet to meet. Tomorrow might be the perfect opportunity."

"How diplomatic of you." I put the paper down. "You won't kill him, will you?"

"Not tomorrow night. He's not the one I need to worry about, anyway. His sons are the real problem. They're basically like us, or trying to be at least."

"Well, I look forward to meeting them, then."

"I warn you, everyone there will be looking at us like we're diseased. Remember what I told you; it's just like high school."

"I'm ready for them." I took another long pull of water.

Our dinner was off to a good start, and we didn't shy away for more aggressive conversation, as Justin put it. I was worried that he might shut me out when he took over the family, but he told me everything and answered all my questions. Then we started with lighter conversation about work and normal things like that.

Not for one second after my initial thought did it cross my mind to tell Justin that I was pregnant. It should have, but I would do it soon. I just had to judge his temper first.

Maybe it was fate, or just an ironic occurrence, but about halfway through the meal, a baby started crying inside the restaurant. Justin tried to ignore it at first, but after a while, he became obsessed with the sound.

"Am I the only one who can hear that?" He ground his teeth together.

"It's just a baby, Justin. Let it go."

"I can't. It's hurting my head too much. Why do people bring their children to nice restaurants? There are certain things that you just don't do."

I tried to get his mind off of it, but talking wasn't an option. He was fixated on that baby.

He eventually called a waitress over to us. "Can you please tell the people in there to take their child home. I can't take the noise anymore."

"I'll see what I can do, sir." She scurried back inside of the restaurant.

"This is ridiculous." He swirled some wine around in his mouth. "I'm sorry that they've ruined our dinner."

"No one's ruining dinner, Justin. I can barely hear it." I assured him.

"I can," he replied.

The waitress came back out with a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, sir, but they said they're not done eating."

"I swear to God…" He pulled at his hair. "Tell them I'll pay them to leave."

"Justin, it's okay. I have to get to work anyway." I turned to the waitress. "Tell them 'sorry'. We're leaving."

I didn't want to think about what this would mean for our own child. I refused to take this as a bad sign.

Justin grumbled under his breath before handing her his credit card.

We walked out of the restaurant after our bill was paid.

"So, will I see you tonight before I go to bed?" I asked him as we strolled down the street hand-in-hand. He put on his sunglasses even though the sun was setting. Another rule: never let people see the real you. Justin's eyes were the way he communicated with people without words so they were almost always covered in public. You could always tell what he was thinking if you knew how to read his eyes. There weren't that many people who had the skill to decipher them. I was one of the select few.

The sidewalks were considerably less packed so I didn't have to worry about him getting even further agitated with anyone. I looked behind me, over my shoulder, and saw the three bodyguards following us secretively. They were always there and always would be.

"Maybe. I have to take a drive… somewhere tonight." He answered.

"Really? Where?" I questioned, trying not to sound too worried.

"I'll tell you when I get back in the morning."

I nodded, knowing that I wasn't going to get any information out of him.

He walked me the few blocks to the studio and kept me close to his body during our kiss goodbye. His hands clutched at my dress and my fingers knotted in his hair. Our lips devoured each other like dehydrated lovers seeking out water. I had to pull away from him when fire started to radiate down below, and my libido threatened to take over.

"Justin, I have to go," I panted.

He kept his face close to mine, our noses touching, as he placed soft kisses anywhere he could reach. "Let's escape somewhere."

"I have work."

"Come on, I can get the jet ready in an hour. We can go to… Miami for the night."

"Just one night?"

He nodded, his forehead on mine. "Let's go. It's romantic."

"No, Justin. " I said, grabbing the lapels of his navy suit, bringing him closer, "You and I both have things to do. Remember? You have to go… somewhere."

"Emmett can handle it," he groaned, "I have the power to delegate tasks however I see fit. Right now, I think I need to be with you, on a private beach, wrapped in a towel with our naked bodies pressed against each other…"

"Oh my God." I whispered, "That's so hot. Please stop."

"Selena, I can make you feel incredibly good. Just let me take you away." He languidly kissed from my neck up to my lips, "Let's escape somewhere."

I was almost crying at the beautiful picture he had created in my head. I wanted to escape with him so badly. Alas, real life was calling and my hopes were stomped on.

This was another one of those moments that I could say something about the baby. He was in a good mood. This rare show of PDA was evidence of that.

Tell him…

"No. I'm sorry." I kissed him once more. "Now please leave before I take you up on that offer."

"I wish you would."

"I'll see you tonight or early in the morning if you're not back by the time I pass out." I separated from him completely as to not tempt myself.

"Alright, Selena." Justin finally conceded with a gentlemanly nod of his head, "I'll let you go. But I would like to draw it to your attention that we haven't had sex in four days, twelve hours, and fifteen minutes. That's a lifetime for us."

"That damned brain of yours will be the death of me." I muttered.

"Italian men don't go without sex...ever. You know that better than anyone." He sauntered closer to me, whispering close to face, "I'm very horny."

"Oh, my." I let out an exasperated breath.

Justin finished playing his games. With a smirk, he pulled away.

"I love you, Selena," he said softly.

"I love you too."

I turned and walked inside.

Work was getting easier every day, and I actually enjoyed learning each aspect of my job. The behind-the-scenes stuff was important in order to make everyone look good, and it was a very fast paced-type environment. We basically had a two-hour time window to put segments together, and then make sure that the show ran smoothly. My work was also made better because Alice was always there. She handled all the wardrobe and makeup, so she was a little worker bee for the entire live show.

Alice was at my side in a minute as soon as I stepped off of the elevator. "How was dinner with Justin?"

"Good. We're going to the opera tomorrow night."

"I know. Jasper and I aren't, but I heard it's supposed to be big. Everyone's going to be there."

"Why aren't you going?"

"My mom's coming into town and wants to do something." She rolled her eyes. "Maybe I can just send her off with Jasper. She loves him almost as much as I do."

"Supposedly, it's not just a social night. Justin's scoping out the competition."

"Oh, really? Sounds like fun. You and Justin working as a team to take down the bad guys." She giggled.

"I'm not taking down anyone. I'm just going to the opera."

Alice rolled her eyes and whispered, "You're one bad ass mafia wife."

"Thanks." We came to our separation point, where I would go down the hall to the production room and she to wardrobe

"Bye, Selena!" She skipped down the hallway.

I pushed the door to the large media room that looked out onto the sound stage open. Everyone from production was in there, in front of monitors and computers. It took a lot of work to get a show up and ready to go.

I sat at my station, making sure that the one commercial break I had to cut was ready to go.

Violet, our distinguished resident TV reporter, strode into the room, an air of superiority about her, in a lavender pantsuit that made her look ridiculous. A makeup girl was fluffing out Violet's graying hair while she walked.

"Okay, people. I need everyone alert. In the last segment my lighting was off. You couldn't even see the beautiful cheekbones that my father gave me. If you're interested, you can read about them in my new book where I trace my ancestry back, but that's beside the point. I need better lighting." Her voice was shrill with a demanding tone.

I rolled my eyes and tuned her out.

As the minutes progressed, I became thankful that I didn't have to work with the crew. Violet actually stopped her interview to have them change the lights over ten times. At one point, I thought she might climb up a ladder and do it herself. It was a good thing this wasn't live. I could tell the whole time that Violet was bored out of her mind from having to interview some pop princess. Maybe she knew she was about to get fired and just didn't care anymore.

By the time I left the studio, I was tired—exhausted, actually. I had to remind myself that I was pregnant, because it had slipped my mind while at work. Suddenly, everything became different. I realized that I was carrying someone inside of me and moved cautiously even when walking. I wasn't going to risk anything this time.

I drove home slowly, thinking. I had to tell Justin soon. It needed to be done, and I was going to fight my hardest to make him see that this baby wasn't the end of our world. But if I had to do that much work, maybe it wasn't meant to be. Should we really be having children if he didn't want them so badly?

"Well, I'm having this child," I said to myself as I sat in the driveway.

I had thought about this moment for the past two years. I knew there was always the possibility that I would get pregnant, and I would have to make a choice between the baby and Justin. I would choose my baby if it came to that again.

Maybe I was just jumping the gun, though. He claimed to have matured and was open to the idea, but that was when he knew it was coming. Justin said we could plan for a baby in five, ten years. Now I was just going to spring it on him without warning

Lord help me.

I walked into the dark house and locked the door.

I took off my coat and put my bag down before sliding out of my shoes, sighing in relief. I found Alec sleeping on the couch with Francis on his chest. Alec was snoring slightly with his phone resting in his hand. I took it from him and saw several text messages from Jane.

I didn't know what their relationship was as of now, but they were definitely into each other. Every time she came by the house, he would dress up and try to impress her. Little did he know, she was already falling for him. He didn't need to try so hard.

"Francis, go to the bathroom," I whispered and lifted him off of Alec.

Francis wasn't very happy that I woke him up, but stretched his muscles and trotted towards the backdoor. He came back a couple seconds later, and I let him in. I set the high-tech alarm with the passcode and could almost hear the electric fence boot up. Justin wasn't playing when it came to security. Sometimes it felt like we lived on a military base, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Alec," I shook him, "Alec, wake up. You need to get to bed."

"No." He rolled over on the couch. "Leave me alone."

"You're going to have a crick in your neck in the morning. Wake up."

He huffed and opened his eyes. "If I can't get back to sleep, I'm blaming you."

Francis barked at us, an indication that he was tired and wanted to get in a bed. We all climbed the stairs, and Francis ran into Alec's room. That was his domain.

"How was work?" he asked me.

"Good. I learned a lot today and even made my own commercial."

"I'm impressed.

Even from the hallway, I could hear the hiss of the python behind Alec's door.

"Oh, my God. That thing is starting to freak me out." I shuddered.

I peeked into his messy room. The snake was in a large, glass container. It looked like an empty aquarium. The python was massive, with a coiling body that wrapped around the inside of the tank. It was a dark, olive green color with tan spots and a long pink tongue that licked at the glass.

"You can't have that," I asserted. "I can't have that thing in my house. I'm sorry."

"Come on, Selena. It's non-venomous and this is a show snake. It was in movies and shit so it's kind of tamed. It knows not to bite." Alec pleaded with me.

I inched into his room, closer to the tank, which was being heated by a large lamp. "What does it eat?"

"Not humans," he said adamantly. "I just have to feed him a mouse or two every other week. He's just about three years old right now. They eat less as they get older."

"It's a he?"

"Yup. Do you want to touch him?" Alec stuck his hand in the cage.

My heart stopped. "Don't do that. He'll bite you."

"No, he won't. They don't bite unless they're attacked. I've been training with this one in my zoology class."

"You stole a snake from school?"

"No. They were sending him off to a reservation somewhere so they could get new ones. I just bought it from the animal dealer. They just don't know it." He grinned as the snake wrapped his way around Alec's arm and started slithering onto his shoulders. They looked very comfortable with each other.

"This is gross." I bit my lip, but was secretly intrigued.

"Pet his head. He's nice. It's a ball python. They don't bite and are good for beginners."

"Alec, this isn't a good idea. We have Francis to worry about."

"I'll move the snake to the garage. I just have set up his habitat. Don't worry. I have it all figured out."

"Does he have a name?"

"Valentino. He's just misunderstood. I can't wait to show Jane."

I hesitantly reached my hand out, and then felt the cold, scaly skin of the python. He hissed, but didn't snap or anything. He leaned into my palm and nuzzled it. His deep, black eyes blinked at me and didn't look threatening at all.

"Valentino?" I asked, still petting him.

"Yeah. Isn't he cool?"

" He's, um, okay. What about the baby? I can't have a snake around my newborn." I shook my head.

"I swear the habitat will be safe out in the garage. He won't ever be in the house." Alec's eyes were wide, waiting for my answer.

"Just… keep him away from anything that moves and talk to Justin first." I wiped my hand on my pants.

"This is going to be awesome." The snake coiled around Alec's neck, and I could see just how long the thing was. Must have been about six feet and incredibly thick.

"Put him the garage first thing in the morning."

"I promise."

I shot out of bed before Justin's six o'clock alarm went off and ran to the bathroom. I ended up emptying the contents of my stomach into the sink, because I wasn't going to make it to the toilet.

Five minutes later, I was breathless, and my throat hurt so badly that I was crying. This morning sickness was so much more intense than I remembered. It was almost painful.

I panted on the floor and waited until I was sure that no more was going to come up. I brushed my teeth and washed my mouth out with Listerine.

"You're up early." Justin's lips were on my neck.

"I didn't sleep well last night," I lied. "I figured I might as well get up."

"Are you okay? You look flushed."

"I'm fine," I told him with certainty. "I'll go get breakfast ready."

"Would you like to join me in the shower?" Justin turned me around so that we were facing each other, and his lopsided smirk almost did me in. His lips traveled across my collarbone and up the column of my neck, tasting my skin.

"I can't…" I really didn't want to do this without telling him first. I didn't know why, but it just didn't feel right, almost like I was lying to him.

"Why? Please." His hands cupped my butt forcefully, giving my cheeks a squeeze.

Thankfully, before I lost my mind, the doorbell rang.

"That's why. Breakfast is here." I kissed him and rushed out of the bathroom, eager for food.

Every morning, Justin had food delivered for breakfast since he didn't cook and I sometimes didn't wake up in time. I found out that if you were rich enough, anything you wanted could be brought right to your front step.

I rushed to the foyer and turned off the alarm, which took a lot of intricate button pressing, and then undid the three locks on our massive, front door.

"Hello, Mrs. Justin," the delivery boy, Ralph, said cheerily. He was a college kid who was delivering for extra cash.

"Hi." I smiled. "How are you this morning?"

"Great. Just two more stops." He handed me a large bag filled with wonderful smelling aromas.

I put the food down and got my wallet to give him a tip.

He refused at first, like he always did. "That's not necessary. Mr. Justin pays us more than enough."

"No, I insist. Please just take it." I handed him the twenty.

"Well… thank you. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Ralph nodded, and then waved as he walked back down towards his truck.

I closed the door and picked up the food, which was being sniffed at by Francis, who appeared out of nowhere. I went into the kitchen and started unpacking.

Everything was on plates and came with silverware. I didn't know where Justin was ordering this stuff from, but I had learned by now not to ask.

My regular breakfast of waffles and bacon smelled so good right now. Justin had his usual steak and eggs, while Alec's food took up the biggest portion of the bag. He had sausage, bacon, pancakes, two omelets, and cereal.

There was even a pork flavored dog meal for Francis, which I put his bowl. He didn't even wait for me to put the food down before he attacked. I then set the coffee maker, and strong Brazilin beans started to roast in the pot. It would be ready by the time Justin came down.

I set the table with our food and tried to wait as long as I could, but with my morning sickness and everything else going on, I had to start. I said a short Italian blessing before taking small bites of bacon.

"Geez, you couldn't call someone?" Alec plopped down at his place. He usually didn't even have to set an alarm. He just smelled the food and came running…almost like Francis.

"I couldn't help myself."

"I forgive you since you're eating for two now." He chuckled.

I shushed him, "Are you crazy? I haven't told him yet."

"Oh, shit." Alec slapped a hand over his mouth. "I didn't mean to say it."

"Don't even talk to him. You're going to slip up."

He nodded vigorously, digging into his food.

Justin glided into the kitchen and immediately went to the coffee. His hair was tousled, and his shoes made light taps on the hardwood floors. He poured himself a large cup before sitting down to eat. As always, he was dressed smartly in a suit. They made him look so handsome. This morning's was gray. I had to cross my legs to stop those feelings from shooting throughout my body.

"So, Selena, I have a couple of things coming to the house today. Are you going to be here?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, I don't have to work." I poured some syrup on my waffles and reminded myself to take it slow as to not attract too much attention. "What's coming?"

"They're taking out all the bottles of wine in the cellar and replacing it with new stuff."

"New stuff?"

"I bought a winery. They're bringing in samples so I can test the merchandise."

"You bought a winery?"

"Two, actually. One in France and one out in Napa," he replied, taking a bite of steak like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Sweet!" Alec bobbed his head up and down. "Free wine."

"I'm diversifying my assets," Justin told me. "Wine is a very lucrative business and the vineyards are a great way to make extra money. I would be a fool to let this pass by."

"That's certainly a big business venture. Do you know anything about wine?"

"Selena, it's like you don't even know me," Justin chuckled. "I've been drinking wine since I was five and know basically every brand out there."

"I didn't think you were such an expert to own a vineyard."

"Two," Alec corrected me behind a mouthful of food.

"I want you to taste some. I'll teach you," Justin said to me.

"Oh, um, that sounds like fun." I bit my lip, hoping he would forget about that. Of course, Justin never forgot anything so if I didn't tell him about the baby soon, I was going to have to make up excuses as to why I wasn't chugging down gallons of wine.

"Shit. I have to go." Justin took one last bite before getting up from the table. He came over to kiss me. "Don't forget about the opera tonight."

"I won't. I'll meet you in the city."

He nodded and left the kitchen. I heard his car speed out of the driveway a couple minutes later.

Justin, being the real estate mogul that he was, had several apartment buildings in the city. We had a townhouse downtown and Alec sometimes stayed there when he had a late class or early morning. It just made more sense for him to sleep in the city instead of driving all the way back out here. That's where we were meeting tonight before the opera.

"Jane's coming tonight, by the way," Alec said, gulping down orange juice.

"You finally asked her out?"

"We've been going on dates for a month. I think it's time to step my game up."

"How sweet of you. I think she was getting bored of dinners."

"Please," he scoffed, showing his youthful arrogance. "I've got this."

I rubbed my stomach unconsciously, and then stopped when I realized what I was doing.

"Glad no one slipped that time. I did well, if I do say so myself." Alec took his cleared plates to the sink. "I'm going to set up Valentino's new home."

I nodded, but didn't reply. I had almost forgotten about that damn snake. I guessed I could tolerate him if he just stayed outside.

Throughout the day, deliverymen were going through the house, bringing in cases of wine. Since Alec didn't have classes, he directed them to where it went while I just sat on the couch, thinking about my predicament. Then I cleaned the already spotless house, and then cleaned it again just for something to do.

Alice and Rose both asked me to go to lunch, but I declined, saying that I was kind of sick.

"Selena, what are you doing just sitting here?" Alec asked me, running into the family room. "We're going to be late."

"What time is it?" I looked around for the clock.

"Five. We're supposed to meet Justin for dinner at seven. Thankfully, he's bringing Jane from the office so we don't have to pick her up." He lifted me off of the sofa. "Let's move."

Alec held his tux in one hand, securely in a garment bag, and pushed me with the other. Alice had placed a dress at the apartment, and I would just change there. I put on some sneakers, and then got into Alec's Range Rover. I barely shut the door before he took off.

"You look nervous," I said to him.

"I'm going to kiss her tonight."

"Kiss whom?"

"What do you mean, 'kiss whom'? Jane, that's who," he snapped. "I'm freaking out."

"Oh, I can't help you there. I'm staying out of it."

"I've never kissed anyone before?"

"Of course you have, right?" I tried to think back and couldn't remember.

He shook his head, "No."

"Just make sure you go in too fast. There's nothing worse than a man who doesn't know how to kiss who thinks he does and bites your lips off. Just be soft."

"I've seen you and Justin kiss forcefully."

"Justin knows what he's doing, trust me. And our kisses always lead to something more, yours won't right now. Just follow her." I patted his shoulder, "And don't rub up against her. For the love of God, don't be overly sexual."

"What a great sister-in-law you're turning out to be." He rolled his eyes. "Just take a nap or something. You look tired."

"This baby is exhausting the hell out of me."

"You're only like a couple months along, right?"

"I think so. I need to get to the doctor soon."

"You need to tell your husband soon."

"That too," I sighed.

I leaned my head on the window and fell asleep.

All too soon, Alec was nudging me awake. I wasn't really alert until he pulled me out of the car and I started walking up the steps of the rustic townhouse. I called it the Blue House, because it had a bright blue door that made it stand out along the street. Justin had bought this place for its "architectural importance". I didn't really know what that meant, but he had the inside refurbished and renovated. Now, the three story place was beautifully done in a modern style. It probably cost as much as our regular house.

Alec and I both raced upstairs to get changed.

I didn't need to take a shower since I already did earlier in the day, so I sat in front of the mirror in our large bathroom, doing my makeup. I wasn't an expert like Alice or anything, but I was happy about the fact that I now knew what eyeliner was, unlike in high school.

I laughed to myself at the thought.

Tonight was extremely formal. The mayor was going to be there, and Justin told me that everybody who was anybody would be attending. Rose and Emmett were going to meet us at dinner before we went to the opera house. I didn't know what to expect, but I hoped that Justin kept himself in control when he met this other crime family. I reminded myself to pack his extra anxiety pills for tonight.

"Selena, I can't tie my bowtie." Alec knocked on the bathroom door. "Help me!"

"Calm down. I haven't even put my dress on yet. Wait downstairs."

"No. It has to be done before Jane gets here. She's going to think I'm a bum." He rattled the knob. I had learned to just keep the doors locked since he loved to barge in.

"I don't even know how to tie a bowtie. Ask Justin."

"Urg," he groaned. "Fine."

I rolled my eyes as I finished with the last of my makeup. Alice would certainly be looking at pictures from tonight, and I didn't want to hear her mouth.

My dress was hanging in a bag in the back of the closet with a specifically written note on the type of bra I was supposed to wear, the way I was to walk, the shoes, etc., etc., etc. Alice never did anything halfway.

I unzipped the bag and put on everything I was supposed to.

My dress was a deep burgundy color that flowed all the way down do the floor. It had a sweetheart neckline and rested nicely on my boobs. I realized that I was going to have to start going shopping for new clothes in a month or two.

I left my hair down, over my shoulders with a slight curl and realized just how long it was getting.

My wedding band and large engagement ring were sparkling in the lights of the bathroom. I didn't think I needed anymore jewelry, but according to Alice I did. I slipped on the diamond bracelet but refused to wear the necklace.

There was a knock on the door of the bathroom half an hour later. "Selena, are you in there?"

"Yes." I unlocked the door for Justin.

He blinked a couple of times when he saw me and shut his mouth.

"What, is this too much?" I asked.

"No, you look… really good."

I felt a blush coming on. "Well, thank you."

"I would kiss your lips, but I wouldn't want to mess with your makeup." He pushed me against the wall of the bathroom and descended on my neck.

"Justin, we have to leave soon and you need to get dressed." My resolve was quickly dissolving. We hadn't had sex in…a long time.

"We're not going. Forget it." He lifted up my dress and his fingers lightly pushed my legs apart.

I yelped when he started to rub my most sensitive area.

I threw my head back as he hoisted me up against the wall. He pushed himself between my legs, and I didn't even know he had dropped his pants until I could feel him against me, skin rubbing skin. He pierced me in one quick motion that stretched me to the maximum limit.

I yelled out in pure pleasure.

His lips stayed away from my face, but he bit… sucked… licked… all over my neck.

I grabbed hold of his shoulders as we began to rock against the wall. I was over the mountain in what felt like a second; it was the quickest, yet one of the most intense, orgasms that I had ever experienced.

Justin followed soon after, and I felt wetness on my thighs as his seed dribbled out of me.

"I really didn't mean to do that," he whispered in my ear, "but I couldn't help myself."

"That was hot," I laughed breathlessly.

"I… love you. A lot." His green eyes bore into mine,. "I just wanted to say that, Mrs. Justin."

My heart jumped in my chest.

Tell him!

"Um, Justin. I have to tell you something." I unwrapped my legs from around him and slid back down to the floor.

"Okay, can we talk while I'm in the shower?" He started to undress from his work suit.

"Sure, I guess."

He got into the shower, and I took out his tux from the garment bag next to mine.

"So, what is it?" he asked loudly over the water.

I bit my lip hard. I just couldn't say the words.

I'm pregnant.

"Alec needs you to fix his bowtie." I shut my eyes and internally hated myself.

"Oh, is that all? That's no problem."

He knew I was lying. I could hear it in his voice.

"Yeah, he's freaking out. Did you bring Jane with you from the office?" I started to clean off my legs from the juices Justin left behind.

"She's downstairs. Last I saw them, they were staring at each other like lovebirds or some shit like that."

"Hurry up. We have to leave soon." I rushed out of the bathroom as it started to fill with steam. I couldn't take the stifling heat anymore.

I ran and opened the window, letting the soft breezes cool me down.

"I can't believe you, Selena." I shook my head in disgust.

Half an hour later, Justin was striding out of the bathroom proudly in a tuxedo that was too handsome to describe. His bowtie was fastened expertly and everything about him screamed sensuality.

I got hotter.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, combing through his hair in the mirror.

"Yeah." I slid my feet into my shoes and fixed my dress one last time. I quickly transferred things into the small black clutch that I was bringing tonight.

"I have the tickets." Justin patted his tux jacket.

"Okay, then. Let's go." I started to walk out of the door, but he caught me by the wrist and pulled me back.

"Selena, is everything alright?"

"What are you talking about?" I smiled.

"You seem… off today."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little nervous." I thanked God for my improving lying techniques.

He still knew I wasn't telling the truth, though. I could see it in his eyes.

Justin nodded. "Okay, Selena. I trust you."

I felt tears start to roll down my cheeks just from the look on his face. He was so hurt that I was lying, but he wasn't going to push me for an answer. He would never push me. Beyond everything else, we had trust. I couldn't betray that. I felt so bad that I wanted to crawl into that tank with Valentino and let him strangle me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my mind flashed back four years ago. I would never be able to forget the scene that occurred between Justin and me when he learned I was pregnant the first time.

There was another crash, and then his feet stomped back into the dining room. "Selena, you better not be joking. Did Emmett put you up to this?"

"This isn't a joke, Justin."

He nodded. "Okay, then. Deal with it."

"Deal with what?"

"Get rid of it." Justin started climbing the stairs.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize what the hell he was saying, and I almost went into full volcanic mode when I did. I ran up the stairs after him and barged into the bedroom.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, I want you to get rid of it; the baby has to go," Justin muttered with finality.

"Are you serious? You don't even want to think about this? You're first reaction is to get rid of it?"

"Yes, I'm being a realist. Get rid of the baby."

"What happened to all your old Italian, Catholic teachings?"

"Don't get all religious on me, Selena." He undid his tie roughly. "Do you realize how bad this is?"

"Do you realize how good this might be? We're going to have a child."

"No, we're not. I'm going to give you my credit card, turn my head, and you're going to handle this."

I just couldn't do it.

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