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carrotycake · 3 years

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the world put you in front of me (and we aligned)

A chance encounter at an Ishgardian dance, and Ysayle finds herself falling in love all over again.

4.1k words | Rated M | FFXIV | Estinien/Ysayle pairing | AO3

It’s funny, Ysayle thinks. She has spent so much of her life fighting and despising everything the nation of Ishgard stood for, that to be standing here, on the balcony of one of Ishgard’s largest manors, feels a tad hypocritical. For the first time, she appreciates the beauty of the land stretching out in front of her, the late-night sunset (which is as close to a summer as Coerthas gets) casting orange and pink hues across the grey pointed spires of the city itself. She rests her arms on the balustrade, observing the chatter of guests down below. It is oddly peaceful, despite her protestations at being invited in the first place. And still bitterly cold, of course, despite it being summer. Ysayle, shivering, rubs her hands together in an attempt to warm herself up; she had left her coat inside and the thin fabric of her gown was not nearly enough to ward off the freezing night air.

She sighs, her breath exhaling into a cloud of mist in front of her. Had she not gone by the name ‘Iceheart’ for years, revered by her heretic followers? She had survived many harsh Coerthas winters, only for her to shiver now at the merest hint of a breeze. Admittedly, she had found the warmth of the ballroom inside to be a little much, packed as it was with nobles, commoners, and politicians alike. The fresh air, cold as it was, was extremely welcome.

It was Aymeric, of course, that was behind the ball, and her invite to it – the Warrior of Light’s dear friend, and perhaps the most influential man in the city. Endlessly charming, he had persuaded her that it was an olive branch, of sorts, to mend the rifts between heretics and men. And – well, she had wanted to make amends. Lead those who walked after, and all that.

“Out here enjoying the festivities, I see?”

A familiar voice drags her from her thoughts, and she turns to see the tall, lithe body of Estinien crouching carefully on the gables above the double doors leading back into the ballroom. She frowns, irritated that he had caught her unawares in a moment of introspection.

“How long have you been sitting there?”

He shrugs, getting to his feet and gracefully hopping onto the ground beside her; ever the dragoon, she notes. He’s not in the armour he wore the last time they had seen each other, before Azys Lla. Like Ysayle, he is dressed in an approximation of Ishgardian formal wear, his long white hair tied in a loose half-ponytail. He’s handsome, her mind helpfully supplies, and she wills the thought away before it becomes trouble.

“Long enough,” he replies, leaning on the railing a fulm or two away from her, his gaze distant. He frowns. “Formal…balls aren’t really my thing. I needed some air. And – a break from drunk nobles trying to get me to dance with their offspring.”

Ysayle chuckles, despite herself. “I must admit, I did not recognise you at first. You clean up well, when you’re not head to toe in dragon blood.”

He bows his head. If Ysayle is not mistaken, she sees the hint of a blush colour his pale cheeks.

“Well,” he mutters, “You are the opposite, Iceheart. I believe there was not a soul in that room that did not notice you upon entering.”

She raises an eyebrow. “In a good way, or a bad way? Pray, do elaborate.”

Estinien splutters for a second. “Well, I – It is a nice dress. That is all I meant. No doubt the haberdashers will be inundated with requests for similar styles by tomorrow morning.”

A slightly backhanded compliment, but a compliment, nonetheless. “Damned by faint praise, I see.”

She turns to look back towards the sunset. “It is actually one of Tataru’s creations, so they’ll have a hard time prying the pattern from her little hands.”

Tataru had taken over creative control of this project, because formal dances were certainly not Ysayle’s area of expertise, and the Lalafell had been only too happy to help out. The light, drapey cerulean fabric of the dress belied the traditional Ishgardian style, but Ysayle had never cared much for tradition anyway. It was pinned and tucked beautifully, with embroidered details on the neckline and hem. It even – scandalously – showed off a little cleavage, something Ysayle wasn’t necessarily unhappy with.

They stand like that together, a little distance apart, for a few minutes; enjoying the last rays of the sun in what appears to be a companionable silence. How many times had they done this, a mere few months ago? Accompanied by Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light, of course, but together nonetheless. Sunsets always seemed even more spectacular when seen on islands beyond the clouds. Ysayle had never thought to see such beauty again in her lifetime; she had expected to die on Azys Lla, one last act of service as Shiva.

The gods, as it happened, must have had other plans, as she’d fallen from that great height and landed in the middle of a Vanu Vanu outpost; the last remnants of Shiva’s protection shielding her from further harm in the fall. Word had gotten back to Camp Cloudtop of her survival, and she had eventually woken in the infirmary in the centre of Ishgard. Mere days after her own discharge, and Estinien was staying there under the very same care as she had.

She had avoided visiting, though, despite Alphinaud’s almost-insistence that she do so. She had never thought this far ahead in life; now there was peace, real peace, and her old role was no longer needed. Lord Aymeric, introduced through the Warrior of Light, had requested her help in rehabilitating the remaining heretics and repairing the city in exchange for a pardon for her crimes, and she was not about to turn down such an offer. The Scions had allies, and she herself was still blessed with Hydaelyn’s gift, so she might as well make herself useful.

In quieter moments, however, her mind always drifted back to Estinien. She admitted to being a little disappointed when he disappeared from Ishgard without a trace after his recuperation; the small, naïve girl within her longed to believe that they could have been…something, more than just acquaintances passing in the night.

“You are deep in thought, my lady,” he says, a statement more than a question. Ever with the formalities, even when they were at each other’s throats with opposite ideals.

She shakes her head. “Just reminiscing. My life has taken on a trajectory I could not have anticipated before I had met you and your allies. I have much to be grateful for.”

“I admit, I was – glad to hear you had lived. My own fortunes were, you could say, not so lucky after our victory on Azys Lla. I did not hear about – you – until after I had awoken in the infirmary.” Estinien looked – embarrassed, perhaps? Ysayle could not tell, in the dim light of the evening.

“I-” He falters, swallowing. “I wanted to apologise. For things I have said. Knowing now the full truth of the war betwixt man and dragon, I – I said some unkind things. ‘Twas not your fault that I was ignorant.”

Ysayle takes a moment to think on his words. They were not the people they once were, after all. The truth, she thinks, has changed them both. She looks at him, then – he does not shy away from her eye contact – and nods.

“Apology accepted. For what it’s worth, I have a great deal to apologise for as well. My conscience is not clear, by any means.”

Estinien cracks a small smile. (She tries not to think that a smile suits him. It really does.)

“Aye, that is true.”

Their conversation was momentarily interrupted by a change of music from the ballroom – a slightly faster tune, reminiscent of folk tunes Ysayle heard as a child at communal dances in Falcon’s Nest. It was clearly designed to bring more couples onto the dance floor, and was so far having the intended effect. Ysayle could see the Warrior of Light, dressed in finery (another of Tataru’s creations), swinging Alphinaud a little too fast round in circles on the dancefloor. Aymeric could be seen, too, dancing politely with Hilda; commoners and nobles alike danced merrily to the band’s music. If this was their new republic, Ysayle thinks, then she quite likes it.

It is this train of thought that compels Ysayle with more bravado than she has; not thinking about where it might lead, she turns to her brooding companion.

“Well, when all is said and done-” She holds out a hand to Estinien, “Care for a dance?”

His brow furrows. “I’ve never- I mean. Forgive me, Ysayle. I’m not much of a dancer.”

She smiles lightly. “Neither am I. But we are alone, for the time being. Indulge me.”

“As you wish,” he frowns, still a tad reluctant, but he takes her outstretched hand regardless and pulls her close and Ysayle thinks, oh.

Oh no.

It has been a long time since she has been this close, physically, with anyone, and she wonders if Estinien can feel her heart thudding loudly in her chest. They stumble at first, taking a few attempts to figure out the rhythm of the song versus the clumsiness of their feet, but eventually settle into a gentle waltz.

Ysayle is acutely aware of the position of Estinien’s hand on the small of her back; its warmth – and he is so warm – practically burning through her dress. They are closer than they need to be, exactly, for the formality of ballroom dance, but Ysayle finds that she does not mind. He is avoiding her eyes now (deliberately, she thinks), so she instead concentrates on the position of her hand on his shoulder, her other hand clasped tightly in his as they circle aimlessly together across the balcony.

“So,” he begins, uncertainly, once they’d found their rhythm, “Where did you learn to dance, then? You seem to have more of a head for it than I.”

Ysayle smiles. “A little, as a child. And we had plenty of impromptu dances when I was-” When I was with the heretics¸ she would have said. Another time, in another life. Estinien, evidently noticing her hesitation, raises an eyebrow.

“Forgive me, my lady, but I simply cannot imagine a band of heretics indulging in such trivial things as dances whilst plotting the fall of Ishgard.”

“You are a fool, then, if you believe that we did nothing but sit around and curse the Holy See whilst getting drunk on dragon’s blood,” Ysayle scowls, swinging Estinien round a little more forcibly than she had intended. He stumbles, a little, before righting himself.

“I did not give much thought to the heretics unless they were forcibly attacking the city,” Estinien says, his tone serious, but the quiet glint in his eyes relaying a certain kind of humour. Ysayle rolls her eyes. He always knew exactly how to push her buttons to get her riled up when they were travelling together, and it seems not much has changed.

“I’ll have you know,” she huffs, “Lord Aymeric himself requested my assistance in restoring the city-”

“To avoid a jail sentence, yes,” Estinien has an eyebrow raised, smirking. He positions his arms just so, allowing her to dip backwards as part of the dance. His arms are secure, holding her in place perfectly before swooping her back up. They continue their circles together, Estinien chuckling at Ysayle’s irritation.

“For someone of little skill, you have picked up this dance remarkably fast,” she comments, her face flushed – from the exertion of the dance, or from Estinien’s attention, she was yet unsure.

“I’m a fast learner,” he says, and was it her imagination or was he a little closer to her than before? He stares resolutely ahead, his expression faintly jovial, and Ysayle tries not think about how good his arms felt holding her up.

The upbeat song currently playing comes to a close and, after a brief interlude, a new one starts up, slower than the previous one. Adjusting their pace accordingly, she thinks back a few months to their expedition together. Gods, she had not cared for the dragoon upon first meeting him. He was narrow-minded, and brash, and had been all-too willing to fight and kill the very creatures they were trying to make their allies without a second thought.

And yet – she had grown to like him, over those many days travelling. At first, the attraction had been purely physical. He was handsome, after all, and Ysayle had caught a peek of him removing his armour to see chiselled muscles and a wiry frame; something inside of her had fluttered, momentarily, when he had removed his helmet in front of her for the first time, revealing uncharacteristically soft, fair hair and deep-set blue eyes.

“Don’t get used to this,” he’d muttered, noticing her looking at him. “I can’t eat your soup with a helmet on.”

She’d blushed, then, almost as much as she was surely blushing now.

Even with Estinien’s growing connection to the Eye of Nidhogg – she’d felt it, creeping, growing, gnawing at him even as they travelled together – and his insistence that killing the wyrm was the best solution, she had caught glimpses of a kinder man underneath his harsh determination. Alphinaud had seen it too, as had the Warrior of Light. It endeared him to her, whether she wanted it to or not. And in the long weeks that had followed her miraculous survival, there had been much time for her to dwell on these thoughts.

Halone’s tits, she was in it now, wasn’t she?

It occurs to Ysayle, just then, that the slow pace of the current song meant that their little, secluded waltz had become less of a dance and more just – swaying gently, endlessly circling, not really paying attention to any kind of rhythm. The whole world, for a second, felt like it was just the two of them, the stars aligning to bring them together in a single moment.

“Your hands are cold,” Estinien murmurs, and she forgets for a moment that she still had one of his hands in hers. Usually a woman of great eloquence, she suddenly finds she is tongue-tied, she cannot speak-

“Y-yes, well. Perhaps it is you that is warm,” she whispers, her breath hitching in her throat as he brings her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. He almost seems surprised at his own boldness, his eyes crinkling in a rare bit of humour at her response.

“Mayhap,” he replies. The night is almost completely upon them now, the only light illuminating their faces being the candlelight from the outside lanterns and the ballroom itself. Their eyes meet, Estinien’s expression unusually soft.

Ysayle is not sure who makes the first move but suddenly his lips are on hers, her arms snaking around his neck, his hands on her hips, guiding them in a new kind of dance. In the end, it does not matter, because she is kissing him, and it is suddenly all she can think about. How long had she thought of this moment? How long had she imagined what Estinien’s kiss would feel like? It was, in truth, longer than she would care to admit.

He kisses with the air of someone who does not have a huge amount of practice, but makes up for whatever experience he lacks with strong, guiding hands; Ysayle soon finds herself pressed up against the iron railings of the balcony, the coldness of the metal on her back in sharp contrast to Estinien’s warm embrace. She feels goosebumps on Estinien’s neck where she is touching him; – yes, her hands are always cold, so cold – she moves a hand round to his lapel, using it to anchor herself to him and pull him closer, ever closer.

They break apart to catch their breath, and she looks up at his face, flushed as red as she’d ever seen it, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Do you, perchance, have a residence in Ishgard, Ysayle?” he breathes, still so close to her. Ysayle knows where this is going, knows where this might end up. And she wants it, Halone knows she does.

“That depends,” she says, curling a lock of his hair around her finger. Estinien exhales, almost impatient.

“On?”

Ysayle pulls away, just enough to see his face fully. “Is this…something you want? Truly?” Am I someone you want? She doesn’t say it, but the words settle between them anyway.

He frowns, a trademark scowl, and grasps the hand currently playing with his hair.

“It is. I am not one to deliver undue suffering to a soul such as yourself. And-” He looks flustered, struggling to articulate, “-this is something I have thought about often. In times of difficulty. The possibility of…something more.”

Oh.

“Well then,” she murmurs, his answer more than satisfactory, “In that case, I have a small apartment in the lower wards of the city.”

“I would very much like to get out of here,” Estinien replies, pressing a kiss to her cheek, another along her jawline. She lets her nails scratch the back of his head, just a little, privately enjoying the effect it seems to have on him.

“If you would permit me, my lady-” He breaks away suddenly, a spark of mischief in his eyes, and scoops her up bridal-style. She splutters, wriggling.

“What are you doing?!”

He peers over the edge of the balcony cautiously. “Avoiding any odd stares we might receive from my good friend’s guests. Now, hold still.”

Before Ysayle has any chance to protest, Estinien bends his knees and leaps, and Ysayle’s heart is rushing, the wind howling in her ears momentarily, and it is not far off what a dragon in flight feels like-

He lands, gracefully, some distance away from the mansion, and places her back on her feet with an uncharacteristic amount of care.

Hand in hand, she leads him through the lamp-lit streets, following well-worn paths to the lower area of Ishgard. More than once he catches her against a wall in a bruising kiss, so the walk takes considerably longer than it normally might on one’s own, but Ysayle is too busy wrapped up in Estinien’s arms to care.

The night is fully upon them now, so upon reaching Ysayle’s apartment there is a small amount of stumbling in the dark until she manages to find a lantern. Estinien, helpful as ever, is predictably distracting as she reaches for a pack of matches, hindered by his hands on her waist as he caresses her from behind.

“You know a lantern isn’t really necessary,” he growls, apparently eager. She rolls her eyes – realises too late that it was a gesture he could not see – and bats him away, momentarily.

“I don’t know about you,” she retorts, “But I like to see my lovers when I’m in bed with them.” She manages to strike a small flame into the lantern, illuminating them both in dim, soft candlelight.

Estinien raises an eyebrow, tailing after her as she leads him to the bedroom. “And has the Lady Iceheart had many lovers, in the past?”

She places the lantern down on the chest of drawers with a thunk. “A few. Borne out of convenience, mostly. Some out of love. All enjoyable, for the most part.”

It might have been a cold way of looking at it, but her time leading the heretics had come with its perks, namely that there was no shortage of people interested in her and her powers. She would never have dared manipulate anyone into sex or abuse her power in any way, but she had not been without company, had she so wanted it.

“And what about the famed Azure Dragoon?” she says, her tone a little more defensive than she had intended, “I’m sure the position comes with its own amount of attention.”

“Some,” he concedes, “But for the most part, I preferred to spend my free time training. A few dalliances, here and there. Nothing serious.”

Ysayle nods. Fair enough, she thinks. You’d have to be out of your mind if you actually wanted to sleep with that grouchy, stubborn arse of a dragoon anyway. Yet here she was.

“Well then,” she says, instead, “I still wish for your company tonight, if you’ll have me.”

Estinien is already against her, capturing her mouth in his and lifting her – a little roughly, not that she minds – onto the bed. “I was hoping we would get to that eventually,” he grins, wickedly.

“You’re an arse,” she replies, but there is no heart in the insult, not really. There’s not much time for thinking, after that, and she is happy to lose herself in Estinien’s arms for the time being.

Ysayle wakes from what might have been the most restful night’s sleep she’s had in some time. She casts a sleepy glance over her small apartment; the curtains had been left half-drawn the night previously, and the morning light was casting a bright glare across her bed, and the sleeping souls that lay within.

Ah, right.

Estinien is still sound asleep next to her; they must have moved apart in slumber during the night, but she distinctly remembers falling asleep in his arms. For the first time, she sees him and all of his scars in full daylight, and fights the urge to trace them gently with her fingertips. She settles for brushing his bangs out of his eyes; he is so peaceful in sleep, she thinks, his usual furrowed brow replaced with one of general content.

There are bruises too, newer ones, scattering across his neck and chest. Ysayle blushes, a little, because she knows that she is the one who put them there, and that there are similar marks on her own body. They will be covered with clothes, eventually, but for now they sit as a reminder of newfound passions and a lover she can’t quite forget.

His eyes flutter open, and an immediate scowl crosses his face as he adjusts to the bright light streaming in.

“Gods, do you always wake this early? To this kind of racket?” His voice is raspy with sleep, his long hair a little dishevelled.

She throws him a mock-frown. “Usually I remember to shut the curtains. I might have been…a little distracted last night.” She runs a finger along his jaw, lifting his chin so that she could lean and kiss him. He leans into her touch, a different kind of reverence.

“Ah,” he says, softly, when she pulls away, “Yes, that would make sense.”

Their clothes, haphazardly rumpled on a nearby chair would also suggest a measure of distraction. They had only paused long enough last night for Estinien to peel off Ysayle’s dress and his own clothes and place them somewhere off of the ground before continuing his ministrations.

“I don’t have anywhere to be today,” she says, by way of invitation, unsure as to how her overture would be received now that it was morning. Morning, bringing with it clarity, and the uncertain light of day. Estinien may not want anything more than whatever the previous night had been.

To his credit, though, Estinien reaches for her and brushes a few strands of silver hair behind her ear.

“Me neither,” he says, and Ysayle’s heart thuds in relief, “What activities have you planned? Lunch out, mayhap?”

This elicits a laugh from her, despite herself.

“Mm,” she smiles, “Maybe later. For now, I want you all to myself.”

Estinien responds in kind, using his advantage of strength and centre of balance to hold her firmly by the waist and flip her over, laying on her back.

“That can be arranged.”

His eyes are dark with want, and Ysayle finds that it pleases her greatly to be able to obtain this kind of reaction from him. She wants – well, she wants Estinien. All of him. Now. Obviously.

What she really wants, though, is Estinien for longer. Knowing that they might have something to come back to, a home found in each other’s hearts – the thought terrifies her, as it wasn’t something easily articulated to her stoic lover. Still, she thinks, perhaps in time.

For now, she has the man she wants in her bed, and that is enough.

#ffxiv #ffxiv fanfiction #final fantasy 14 fanfiction #estinien x ysayle #final fantasy 14 heavensward #carroty writes #this is me remembering i used to post my fanfic on here so here we are i guess #this is extremely self indulgent and i will not be criticised

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bard-of-light · 3 years

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Last Chances

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I wanted to write how Hilda and Mehna finally got together. This does contain spoilers for the first part of 5.5 so be warned! There will also be some heated scenes and foul language but nothing explicit. Mehna is currently 20 so don't come at me.

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Mehna sighed as she walked into Ishgard with a knapsack on her shoulder. She knows that Tataru wanted them all to relax after all they went through recently but she just couldn't. There were so many worries piling up in her mind that she just needed to feel like a normal person.

Wearing her armor with her sword on her back, she stopped in front of Hilda's house in the Brume. She raised her hand to knock, hesitating for a moment.

The door swung up, revealing a half dressed Hilda. Mehna felt her heart lurch as she took in the sight. Hilda had her hair down and it looked disheveled. She wear only a white tank top along with her signature form fitting pants. Her eyes were unknowingly traveling down the sharpshooter's body.

"My eyes are here, kitty," Hilda remarked with a smirk.

The Bard tensed as her eyes shot up. "F-Forgive me. I'm just...not used to seeing you like this," she mumbled as her face flushed and her ears went down. Damn hormones.

Hilda chuckled a bit. "Never said I minded. So what brings you here?"

The Miqo'te rubbed the back of her neck, resisting the urge to shiver as the cold steel touched her bare skin. "Well, the Scions were told to take it easy for awhile but if I stayed at the Rising Stone, I'd never relax. Don't get me wrong. The Scions are like family to me but," she trailed off.

"Say no more. Come on in." She moves out of the doorway to let the Bard in.

Mehna walked in and set her knapsack and sword down. "I really do appreciate it, Hilda. I'll make it up to you."

"Eh don't worry about it. The company is nice," she said as she began to make some tea.

Mehna sat on the couch as she watched...what was Hilda to her? An ally? A friend? No, she was something much more than that and that terrified Mehna. Most of her life, it was only her brother and herself and even he left her. He found her eventually but it still stung.

"Yer very quiet, kitty. Something bothering ya?"

The Miqo'te's ears perked up. "Huh? Oh sorry. I guess I must be more tired than I thought."

Hilda turned to her. "Bullshite. Something is clearly bothering ya."

The Bard was surprised how well Hilda could read her. None of the Scions, save for the twins, could figure out what troubled her. Her fault for being so quiet but her troubles paled in comparison of the troubles of the world.

A warm and soft hand touched her cheek and tilted her head up. "You don't have to hide anything from me, Mehna."

Mehna's eyes closed briefly before opening them again, looking into Hilda's scarlet gaze. "I'm just worried that this is the end....that we're all going to die. What kind of hero am I if I fail now?"

"You aren't just a hero to some people. To some of us, you're a friend and a trusted ally. I mean, I'm sure the Scions feel the same."

Mehna sighs and pulled away from Hilda. "Sometimes, it feels like they only deal with me because I'm the Warrior of Light."

The sharpshooter sighed before sitting next to her. "Let me ask ye something. If you only had one day left, what would ye do with it?"

The Miqo'te's ears perked up before beginning to think. "Honestly, I don't know. I always lived in the moment and I never cared about anyone but myself but once I joined the Scions, that changed."

She paused before continuing, "I suppose I would confess my feelings to the person I fancy."

Hilda felt her heart drop but she put on a cocky smirk. "Oh? Tell me about them." Why was she doing this to herself?

"Well, she's fiesty and an amazing fighter. She has so much confidence that I feel like I can take on anything with her by my side. She'd never admit it but she is a big old softie. She's also gorgeous. Her eyes are so full of emotion, be it anger or pride."

Hilda sighed under her breath before leaning back on the sofa. "She sounds bloody perfect."

Mehna let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "Oh, hardly but I think that's why I lo- uh...why I like her so much." Her cheeks turned red at her near slipup.

"So, this girly of yours have a name?"

Mehna was silent for a bit before turning her head away as she mumbled something.

Hilda quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't catch that."

The Bard sighed, sounded exasperated as she looked at her. "I said it is you, for fuck's sake."

Ruby eyes widen in response. Okay, she sure as hell wasn't expecting that. When the silence dragged on too long, Mehna huffed and stood up. "This was a bad idea. I'm going to go stay at the Forgotten Knight."

Just as Mehna started for the door, Hilda broke out of her daze. She quickly stood up and grabbed the Bard's hand, forcing her to turn back to her. "Ya just gonna leave? Just like that without even hearing what I gotta say?"

She placed her right hand on Mehna's shoulder and pressed her against the door, causing the usually stoic Miqo'te to squeak in surprise. Hilda made a mental note to give her hell for it later but she leaned in, capturing the Bard's lips in her own. It took a few seconds for Mehna to respond but once she did, she began to kiss back in earnest. Neither had too much experience with this but even with how clumsy it was, it felt right. Mehna wrapped her arms around Hilda's lithe waist as the sharpshooter's fingers tangled in her hair.

Hilda made a small noise in the back of her throat as Mehna's fangs grazed her bottom lip. She could feel herself quiver in anticipation but soon the need for air became too great. They both pulled back from the kiss, panting heavily.

"Well, fuck me sideways," Hilda exclaimed softly.

Mehna couldn't help but chuckle as her tail wrapped around her lover's waist. "Maybe another night," she teased, earning her a slap on her shoulder.

"So what does this mean for us," Mehna asked.

Hilda tilted her head as she tapped her chin with her finger. "I ain't too fond of labels. Ironic, I know but all I know is I don't want to lose ya. So just until ya get called back, stay with me?"

Mehna had never seen Hilda so vulnerable before. She gave her a small smile before kissing her forehead. "I'm all yours," she swore.

Hilda tucked her head under Mehna's chin. The Bard sighed happily. Now she has a reason to stay alive.

#ffxiv #Hilda ware #Mehna Nuwu #wol x hilda #ffxiv 5.5 spoilers #finally they get together!

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crestbound · 3 years

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"Wow, Sylvain, can you imagine how awful things will be here with Gareg Mach's two most attractive people gone for a whole month? I sure feel sorry for everyone left here without us." She grins up at him. "But really, take care of yourself out there. And try not to miss me too terribly."

"Now you're just asking for too much, Hilda! Me? Not miss you? It'd be easier to drag down the sun," Sylvain replies, mirroring her smile. As much trouble as she tends to cause, he actually is going to miss her a little. (For how shallow and vapid she tends to act, Hilda’s always had a sharper eye than most. It’s not a terrible thing, to be seen and used.)

"You don't have to worry about me; after all, who's going to get roped into doing all your chores if I die out there?" Likely... any one of the students, but that's not his point. "Of course, that means you've gotta come back in one piece, too. I don't want to see you limping around because you injured your foot for real this time—but if it does happen, you know who to call for a quick lift. These arms are always ready to carry a lovely girl like you."

#flowerofgoneril #support: hilda #UnlockedWesternFaerghus2021

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iamnotoriginalphil · 4 years

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Family Matters (Zelda Spellman x Reader) - Part 11

Synopsis: Zelda’s suspicions have been raised.

Words: 1192

Warnings: none

AN: So after the final party before going into lockdown I now have infinite time to write. I’m hoping to get through my requests faster but I’m not going to forget this story either. Let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters.

Zelda watched you from behind her newspaper, taking a deep drag on her cigarette. You tucked your hair behind your ear, chewing on the end of your pen. You made a note in your notebook, pursing your lips. Zelda had come to realise that when you didn’t think you were being watched you became very expressive. It was so at odds with how closed off you usually were with her.

Hilda dropped a pan, a loud clatter causing you to jump, your head snapping towards the kitchen. Zelda sighed, putting the paper down. She rose from her seat. The shutters came down on your eyes as you noticed her presence.

“Luna, can you run into town and find Sabrina? She was meant to be home hours ago.”

You opened your mouth then promptly closed it. She raised an eyebrow, daring you to say what was going through mind. You gave her a tight smile in return and stood up.

“Of course, Zelda,” you said, “your wish is my command.”

She ignored the mirth that comment created, glaring at you until you’d closed the door behind you. Zelda turned the diary around, checking the upcoming appointments. There were very few, business drying up in the short time that Greendale had been going through a safe spell. She pushed it away from her again, walking into the kitchen.

“Sister, what do you think of Luna?”

“Oh, she’s lovely,” Hilda said without hesitation.

“You have no complaints?” Zelda asked.

“None whatsoever,” she replied, “she’s a lovely girl. I like having her around the house. She brightens up the place.”

“You have no complaints?”

“No, but I’m beginning to think you do.”

Zelda sat herself in her chair, waiting for her sister to settle a teacup in front of her. She took a sip, making a contented noise. Hilda went back to the stove, staring at whatever was in the pot. Zelda took a long drag from her cigarette.

“Spit it out, Sister,” Hilda said.

“There is something that she is not telling us,” she said, “I would like to know what it is.”

“She is under no obligation to tell us everything about herself. We keep our secrets. She’s entitled to her own,” Hilda said, wiping down the table.

“Not if they put our family in danger,” she snapped.

“And are they?”

“I don’t know, as I don’t know what they are.”

Hilda ignored her, tidying up the kitchen. She ran her finger along the rim of her teacup as she considered the problem running through her head. You were so difference around other people and yet you were so guarded. She had never seen you be trusting towards anyone.

You made no sense to her. You said you wanted to trust her but it was obvious you were constantly keeping her at arms distance. Even if you let Ambrose and Hilda closer, you obviously kept your walls up around them. The only time she didn’t see them was when you believed you were alone. In those moments she saw something she wasn’t sure she liked.

“We can’t trust her purely because she’s sweet,” Zelda said.

“You like having her around, Zelds. I’ve seen you talking to her. You like her,” Hilda said.

“She’s a good employee,” she replied.

“And it doesn’t hurt that she’d rather beautiful,” Hilda said.

“Hilda,” she snapped, “that is hardly the point.”

“I’m not hearing any disagreement.”

Zelda felt her nostrils flare but she stifled the need to snap back by taking a long drag on her cigarette. She lent back in her chair, assessing the situation. She was unable to deny the twinge of attraction she felt every time she saw you, but underlying that was the need to know what was going on in your head. There was more to you than met they eye, and she needed to know what it was.

“She’s hiding something.”

Hilda laughed, not bothering to turn away from the stove to acknowledge her sister’s statement. Zelda bristled, not enjoying being ignored. It was on her to keep her family safe and it was impossible to do it when very single member in the house ignored her. Especially when her gut told her there was something wrong.

“She sneaks out at night.”

“Ambrose says she has trouble sleeping. You did much worse at her age than sneaking out of the house,” Hilda replied, before tasting whatever was in the pot on the stove, “it’s not as if we gave her a curfew.”

“Then why does she sneak?” she asked.

“Perhaps she has a paramour,” her sister suggested.

“She doesn’t have to keep that a secret.”

“We can’t be mad if she chooses to keep her private life private.”

Zelda stubbed out her cigarette harder than was needed. She stood up, dumping the tea cup in the sink. She grabbed the bottle of brandy on the side, sloshing some into a glass. She downed it in one, filling the glass again. Zelda sauntered over to Hilda, watching her add some salt to the liquid bubbling on the stove.

“We can if she plans on bringing her private life into ours,” she said, “this feels like more than young rebellion.”

“I thought you were finally getting on with her,” Hilda said.

“She’s not going to trust me unless I’m her friend,” Zelda snapped, “if being nice means earning her trust then I will play nice.”

“That is not an appropriate reason for making friends, Sister,” Hilda said, finally turning to look at her.

“It is if it saves our family or coven,” she said, “the ends justify the means.”

“Do you think you have problems forming attachments with people without allowing fear or paranoia into it as a defence mechanism that allows you to avoid being hurt by others?” Hilda asked.

Zelda shot her a glare. That had nothing to do with it, and it was insulting her sister was suggesting it was. She could feel that something was wrong. Being ignored was more infuriating than trying to patch up every mistake Sabrina had made in her few short years on the earth.

“Zelds, she’s just a desperate young woman looking for money and a place to sleep,” Hilda said, “there’s nothing more to it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I promise she’d not going to hurt us.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“She’s done nothing wrong the entire time she’s been here,” Hilda said, “you have no proof she’s hiding anything beyond the norm for a woman her age.”

“Not yet.”

Hilda’s gaze hardened. Zelda had seen it again and again with her younger sister. She would adopt a wounded animal, and become protective over it beyond anything Zelda could understand. She had hoped it wouldn’t happen with you.

“You are not going to go poking around in her life,” Hilda said, “she is entitled to her privacy.”

Zelda refrained from answering, knowing her sister would not back down on that point. That didn’t mean she was letting this go. All she needed to do was wait until the next time you snuck out.

She was rather adept at staying hidden when she wanted to be.

Tags: @theenglishwizard @eyesofanangeltongueofadevil @hallospaceboyy @alexusonfire @justkeepbreathingnow @ghostsunderstoodmysoul @witching-imagines @praisezeldaspellman @escapetodreamworld @panicnymph @anxiousgoldengirl @theprassebox @witchessticktogether @pizzapyjamas @plooffairy @whos-to-know @spicyrice20 @fallenangelmuse

#Zelda Spellman #zelda spellman imagine #zelda spellman x reader #caos #caos imagine #family matters

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frizz22 · 4 years

Text

Heavy is the Head

Hilda doesn’t let Zelda go back under the pretense of the Caligari spell.

Notes: This has been half finished in my drafts for ages, so sorry if it's an old idea. But it always bothered me that no one objected to Zelda going back after saying it was torture... anyway, hope you enjoy! Read on ao3

Zelda sniffed in distaste as she picked up the bag with what remained of Leviathan. Steeling herself against the nausea roiling through her, Zelda forced her mask back into place.

Going back was the only way. Pretending, pretending to still be under the Caligari spell was the only way to keep them all safe and alive.

Deftly flipping her hair over her shoulder, Zelda sighed. “The things I do for this family.” She quipped, doing her best to sound unaffected by this decision.

As she made to leave, though, Hilda caught her arm. “I can’t.” She shook her head, lips pressed tightly together. “I can’t let you go back, Zelds.”

Touched by her sister’s concern, Zelda gave her a small smile. “Hildie, I appreciate it, but there’s really no other—"

“We’ll find one.” Her sister interrupted, looking at her earnestly. “You said it was torture. This would be no different, or, or maybe it’d be even worse. I’m not letting you go back there either way.”

Forcing back tears of gratitude, Zelda swallowed hard. “Then what do you suggest we do? Faustus is expecting me back, if I don’t return, he’ll know, and Hell knows what would happen to Ambrose.”

A wicked smile curled her sister’s lips. “Oh, I have just the thing.” Eyes gleaming with rare malice, Hilda took her hand and led Zelda into the greenhouse.

Frowning, Zelda set the bag of mouse remains down and let herself be ushered deeper into the house. “Hilda...” she hedged. As much as she wanted an alternative, if they took too long Faustus would deduce something; he wasn’t an idiot, though he played the part convincingly enough at times.

Hilda held up a finger and flicked her free wrist to gather the supplies she needed. After everything floated to her worktable, Hilda arched a brow at Zelda. “A poppet.” She added, a little unnecessarily, given Zelda had recognized everything from when they made one for Shirley.

She huffed in disbelief. “Well, if it’s not broke...” she mumbled, joining her sister at the table. And it really was quite brilliant. Faustus would never be entrapped by a Caligari spell; he’d be too wary of any musical device after what he’d done to her.

They worked together in near silence, only occasionally asking to be handed an item. When the poppet was done, Hilda held up the tin of ear worms once more. “Take two, just to increase the strength.” She murmured, scowling at the miniature Faustus doll Zelda was holding. “Can’t chance the bastard wriggling his way out somehow.”

Only too happy to comply, Zelda slipped two worms inside the poppet’s head and sewed it shut as she and Hilda sang the spell.

Once finished, Hilda looked up at her. “And now, we kill him.” She murmured darkly, likely picturing all the gruesome ways they could make Faustus kill himself.

Smiling cruelly, Zelda weighed the poppet in her hand. “No.” She breathed, possibilities flashing through her mind of how else they could approach this. While she wanted to punish Faustus, killing him was too easy, too final. “I have much better plans for him than death.” Feeling lighter than she had since that cursed spell was forced on her, Zelda winked at her sister, picked up the bag full of Leviathan, and teleported away.

~~~

Faustus looked up from his book when she reappeared. Arching a brow, he marked his spot. “Run into trouble, dearest? It took you some time.”

Daintily placing the bag on his book, smothering a smile at how he sneered at how it leaked onto the pages, Zelda clasped her hands together. “They cloaked the mouse, husband, thinking they were being clever. I found it and dealt with it as you instructed.”

“Of course you did, Zelda.” He stood and rounded the table to stand in front of her. “Because you’re my good girl, aren’t you?” Faustus stroked the back of his fingers along her cheek before slipping his hand into her hair.

And oh, how such an action would have made her feel, even just a week ago, before the spell. Now it took all her self-control not to shred him for daring to touch her.

Carefully keeping her face blank except an empty smile, Zelda nodded despite the nausea growing in her stomach.

“I have something else for you, your Excellency.” Zelda added as Faustus turned to pick up his drink. He hummed and reached for the decanter to refill his glass without looking at her. Letting the Caligari demeanor drop, Zelda stepped up behind him and started to sing into his ear.

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout. They eat your eyes, they eat your nose, they eat the jelly between your toes.

The drink fell from Faustus’ hand and he stiffened. Pleased with herself, Zelda rounded her husband and gave him and assessing look.... he was fully bound by her spell.

Lifting her chin, Zelda smirked and moved to settle in his chair, propping her feet up on his desk. “Faustus, dearest,” she mocked the endearment, “pour me a drink.”

Face blank, Faustus moved automatically to fulfill her order.

As the warmth of victory and revenge spread through her, Zelda lit a cigarette, taking a long, satisfying drag and blowing the smoke into Faustus’ face before she took the drink from him.

“Very good, husband.” She huffed in amusement at the title. “Now, sit and listen like a good little Antipope.” When he complied, Zelda continued. “I entered this marriage for power. And sex,” she admitted, “the sex was incredible and why would I have denied myself? It seemed such a simple marriage, both of us enjoying power and sex so why not get more of each by working together. But you had to go and reach beyond yourself. Tried to turn that power on me.” She tsked and knocked some ash off her cigarette. “You should have known better. Should have known you couldn’t control me, not for long at least. So now, as your punishment, I’ll control you.”

She took a sip and watched Faustus carefully, ensuring no facial tics indicating he wasn’t fully under her spell. Satisfied, she continued. “Only I did it better. Nothing to smash to end my spell... seems I’ve bested you again, Faustus, just like in our academy days.” Zelda arched a brow and took another drag of nicotine. “Sadly, I still need you. Don’t go convincing yourself it’s sentimental, it’s that you’re too powerful to waste. I’d have killed you by now otherwise. No,” she sighed and knocked back the rest of her drink and held out the glass to him, Faustus immediately stood to fill it. “I have to keep you if I want to rule. The witching realm isn’t ready for a witch leader, misogynistic as most warlocks are. So, I’ll rule through you, make sweeping reforms, raise up witches...” she looked off to the side, a small smile tugging her lips as she envisioned the future. Refocusing on the warlock in front of her, Zelda dropped her feet to the ground and stood. “I suppose all your conniving paid off in the end, I’d never be able to make such a difference with a mere High Priest for a husband, an Antipope though...” she lifted a brow and stubbed out her cigarette. “Clean up this mess, Faustus,” she indicated to the bag still leaking mouse fluids on the book, “and then come find me, we have a lot of work to do.”

~~~

The following years passed smoothly.

Her reforms were questioned at first, but with Antipope Faustus as her mouthpiece the witching realm accepted them as the Dark Lord’s will and adopted them with alacrity and enthusiasm.

Sometimes, to toy with Faustus and gloat, rub his face in how well the witching realm was doing with her as the ruler, Zelda would let him surface—with a number of restrictive spells, of course.

Tonight was one of those times. Zelda had just passed a law stating witches could hold positions of power within their covens and the Churches of Darkness.

Lounging on the couch in what was technically Faustus’ office, Zelda watched as the warlock struggled against his bounds. “I won’t need you much longer, dear husband.” She informed him, eyes gleaming cruelly. “As I’m sure you’re aware, you’ve praised me highly to both the High Council and the witching realm as the inspiration for all these popular reforms, for the peace we’ve been enjoying. With this new law, I will be the logical choice to become the next Antipope when you meet a sudden and unfortunate end. I’ll mourn you publicly, of course, but then I’ll bravely rally to carry the cause my late husband and I worked so hard to further. The High Council will fall over themselves in their haste to appoint me.”

“You won’t get away with it.” Faustus forced through clenched teeth, eyes a little manic. “You’ll crumble under the power and pressure.”

She smirked and continued to paint her nails. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown, dearest. You’d know, you crumbled pathetically fast under the weight when you got your hands on it. Fortunately for the witching realm, I wear and bear the crown so much better.”

Before he could argue further, Zelda cocked her head. “The worm crawls in...” she sang, inspecting her now finished manicure, and Faustus was back under.

Muttering a quick spell to dry her nails, Zelda teleported home, perhaps Hilda would have some creative ideas for murdering her husband and making it look an accident when the time came.

#caos #caos fanfiction #caos fic #Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #Zelda Spellman #hilda spellman #faustus blackwood #anti-spellwood #netflix #ao3 #AO3 fanfic #ao3fic #mentions of #ambrose spellman #shirley jackson #fanfiction #fanfic

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non-fantasy · 5 years

Text

holy shit.

okay.

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

hilda just tends to drag dimitri around whenever she thinks he needs a break and do whatever. everything from shopping trips to eating out to just sitting and chatting together. she’s taken to trying to teach him how to make jewelry recently

dimitri goes along with hilda’s decision because honestly? he’s just happy spending time with her? but on the times he does decide what they’re doing, it’s either something to make her happy like a meal at a restaurant she likes or taking a walk or training together lol

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

hilda actually is secretly a huge romantic under her “lol” attitude! she would get really embarrassed if she ever had to admit it but she just really likes... dimitri... how he’s so nice and knightly and sweet and cute???? like she admires that attitude but sometimes it scares her because oh no, he might self-sacrifice...

dimitri admires how hilda is so loyal to her friends and really kind and brave despite her worries but he just!! really wants her to realize how incredible she is!!!!

(does this question mean physical appearance too? oh whoops.)

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

hilda reminds dimitri that she’s there and she will listen! on really bad days she will just be hugging him as he’s crying.

hilda has a bad habit of framing her insecurities really casually? she says this thing about how she might disappoint everyone but she doesn’t seem all that upset about it. dimitri is really awkward but he reminds her that he thinks the world of her and that he’s also there for her. one time he hugged her to comfort her and hilda just completely forgot that she was upset because goddess her boyfriend is cute

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

lol neither of them want to imagine a future together at first because of their insecurities?

but then as they actually get better at that, hilda’s view is most just that they still relax together, but they’re also... completely mushy and in love... we’re talking birthday bouquets... casual kisses... everything...

meanwhile dimitri’s view? is like. he cares less about hilda reciprocating and more about doing things that will make her happy. his future is just sometimes giving her gifts and seeing her smile and telling her earnestly that she’s wonderful. he doesn’t even realize it’s possible for her to like him back until after they get together.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

dimitri is mostly passive because uh, insecurities. he’s honestly baffled hilda likes him back at all in the beginning, so he tries not to be too selfish because that might make her hate him :c hilda is more dominant but then she tells him to be more selfish with his desires and tell her what he wants

they become more equal but hilda still has an edge over him, but it’s because she’s the one dragging him to sleep and not letting him overwork himself.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

i’m legitimately trying to come up with scenarios where they fight and the only one i can come up with is “dimitri!!! STOP ALMOST DYING TO PROTECT ME” and that ends with hilda bursting into tears and begging him not to sacrifice himself for her. he apologizes and she tells him that she will only forgive him if he promises not to do that

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

dimitri is so fucking grateful??? all the time????? every time she does anything.... every time hilda helps him or smiles at him.... he’s so fucking grateful.........

hilda is also grateful for how dimitri keeps trying to make her feel happy and she expresses her gratitude by helping him but this makes him feel grateful and try and repay her and this is an endless loop

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

dimitri tries to hide just how badly he’s been traumatized and depressed at first but slowly starts trusting hilda with that information. hilda doesn’t really hide much? one of the biggest secrets she’s hid from him is that she accidentally broke one of his lances and immediately tried to fix it but ruined it even more so she just had to say that it got lost

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

lol that’s the entire thing with them? hilda helping dimitri out of depression and trauma with friendship and love.

obviously not just that. she helps him sleep better and make more friends and stop overworking himself, which contributes greatly to it.

on hilda’s side, dimitri helps her stop being so scared of disappointing people and believe in herself more!

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

listen... dimitri is a prince.... he’s strong and hot and smart.... he’s probably had more than a few admirers.... so hilda just hugging his arm to his chest and being cute is just hilda reminding them that he’s off-limits, okay?

meanwhile hilda has a fuckton of admirers and also is friends with claude “casually flirts with my teacher” von riegan. at first dimitri was insecure because “i don’t even know why she likes me in the first place” but as he starts having the self-esteem? he’s just going to be hugging hilda and resting his head on top of hers as she’s talking to people. angrily hugging her.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

dIMITRI IS SUCH AN AWKWARD KISSER AT FIRST GOD

hilda went to kiss him on the cheek but then he turned and she accidentally kissed his lips. that was their first kiss.

but seriously it takes so long for dimitri to warm up. he’s awkward and has trouble initiating and he’s doing his best and hilda loves him for it.

after they got more used to it? hilda is more casual with her kisses, but also, she’s tiny. she compensates for the sheer difficulty of kissing dimitri on the lips most of the time by kissing him on the hand, neck, back, all the more easily accessible places. she has attempted to kiss all of his scars before.

dimitri on the other hand does it less often but he almost always goes for the lips. either real slow and tender or uh. super aggressively, lol.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

it’s either dramatic blood-covered dimitri screaming that “you can’t die! i love you!” or just. they’re just sitting together, relaxing, and then hilda quietly says “i love you” and dimitri? is surprised by how calm he is when it happens. he takes her hand and says he loves her too.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

it’s fire emblem, they’re bound to get married. and they really wanted to, too.

dimitri managed to be very nervous but pull out a ring anyways, which makes hilda pause. he panics and thinks she’s trying to reject him but then she just pulls out the ring she got for him.

their marriage is just like. hilda as queen? yeah she’s doing her part but there are days she just stays in bed. they aren’t that common because she has learned that dimitri can and will work all day if she’s not there. she works to keep dimitri from being crushed by the workload alone and also so she can drag him to bed when they’ve done enough.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

they just use their names for each other. hilda’s probably one of the only people to call dimitri by his name at all.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

their mutual pining has been obvious to the entire school for so fucking long.

dimitri is even more shy and awkward than usual. he tries to give hilda a gift and winds up asking her to a sparring match because that’s just what his mouth blurted out.

hilda! is trying so hard to act casual but sometimes her mouth slips and she flirts by accident. she is so quick to dismiss it as a joke.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

at first? they’re actually kinda shy because “holy shit you like me back?”

hilda is braver tho and starts holding hands more easily. sometimes hugs. dimitri gets more and more brave over time and then eventually gets to the point where he thinks nothing of bridal carrying hilda whenever she jokingly complains about being too tired to walk. in front of everyone. even hilda got embarrassed by that.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

hilda remembers a lot of lullabies since she needed them a lot when she was younger. it’s useful because dimitri likes her singing voice and maybe for after..?

dimitri is surprisingly good at massaging. only hilda, tho. one time he tried to massage sylvain’s wrist and wound up breaking it.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

dimitri is very cliche but he’s doing his best!!!!!! he gives her flowers (because she said she liked them) and loves her a lot!

hilda is more creative. she accidentally shaped jewellery-makers for generations with her gifts to dimitri

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

hilda is on the fence because on one hand yeah she does love and support dimitri but on the other hand, dimitri? please don’t destroy yourself for revenge. don’t do that. please?

dimitri absolutely supports and believes in hilda. without a fucking doubt. he would die for her (hilda voice: STOP)

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

they like the peaceful routine of working and relaxing and hanging out with friends. the things they do to spice it up are usually just trying a new place to eat.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

they’re both the type to try and learn what they can about their partner, i think. they’re also good at reading each other.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

hilda has to tackle dimitri to stop him from dying for her because of this question. hilda loves him dearly but please for the love of everything dimitri have some fucking self-preservation.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

after they got married dimitri accidentally invented valentines day because he tried to send her all the chocolate he could. hilda screamed that there was literally no way she could ever eat all of that in twelve lifetimes. she had to start a chocolate festival to get rid of them all.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

oh hell yeah.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

sometimes theyre separated because of kingly and queenly duties...

hilda dealt with dimitri being gone by wrapping a one of his cloaks around her shoulders. he was so embarrassed when he came back

dimitri writes letters but will they ever be sent to her? when they’re so embarrassing? who knows?

(someone stole them and sent them. this thief has never been identified but is suspected to be someone close to the royal couple.)

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

haven’t we had enough of dimitri almost dying. can’t we have dimitri in love. gosh.

#hildimitri #hilda valentin goneril #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe3h #alphabet thing

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spellman-sisters-mortuary · 5 years

Text

(i’ve never written from Hilda’s perspective, but i like how this one turned out. mentions of self harm at the end)

Hilda walked slow when she heard the clatter, then the dull thump on the carpet and the gasping sigh of her sister in the sitting room. Her head buzzed, stomach dropped, and as she took a deep, calming breath the hallway seemed to spin slow, the fun house spiralling whirlwind of fear that liked to grip Hilda at the most inconvenient moments. Shoulders tensed, body gripped tight, she couldn’t fathom what she’d find behind the door. Slowly, Hilda pushed it open. The room was lit in a soft yellow glow, fire crackling in the hearth and candles lit along the mantle, in between family photos and the odd herb and spell scrawled on post its Hilda left lying around.

Zelda had always disdained her disorganized way of mapping the things that lingered in her head, the scraps of spells she scribbled down before it left her, new potions to try when she’d finished cooking Sabrina dinner. Zelda told her it was why she rarely finished a single thing she started, why she hadn’t kept her job at the Academy all those years ago, too scatterbrained, undisciplined, lazy. The funny part, albeit exhausting, was that Zelda said it after collecting all the scraps at the end of the day and handing them to Hilda before heading to bed, some passing comment heavy on her tongue about how curious her notes were, how if she put them together they might actually amount to something. Hilda had learned to appreciate the small things, living with Zelda again, the compliments that Zelda hid behind her cruelty, the small gestures of love. Zelda had stopped doing that lately, collecting the notes for her, had stopped smiling at her after dinner when Sabrina dragged herself to her room after an exhausting day at the Academy and Ambrose had cleared the table. She’d stopped giving Salem milk, secretly, when she thought no one was up yet. She’d abandoned the care of the cemetery, had let weeds grow around Edward’s grave, and Hilda didn’t know how to process that. So when she opened the door to the sitting room late that night, hearing the thunk, the gasp, and Zelda’s stumbling steps, she feared, just a bit, what she would find.

Zelda stood there in stockings and the dress she’d worn to the Academy that day. Her hair was mussed, flyaways sticking up, tangled at the ends, and glowing amber with flecks of bright red from the fire that haloed her at the back of the room. A lamp had fallen at her feet from the end table, shade crushed and body cracked, but the light still spilled from the top against Zelda’s knees. She was holding a bottle of gin by the neck, and at the sound of the door creaking open she looked up and dropped it. It thunked on the carpet, too empty for anything to spill from it, and Zelda’s mascara had run and long dried on her flushed cheeks. “Hill-duh, what’re you doing up?” Zelda asked, words slow and concentrated from her lips which looked swollen and numb from the gin.

Hilda’s mouth fell open just a bit, brow furrowed as she stepped in, clad in a floral nightgown, feet bare, and eyes tired. “Zelds,” Hilda breathed, reaching out as if to touch her sister, but she felt too much like a mirage. “It’s a Tuesday night.”

Zelda didn’t respond with words, just sighed through her nose and swayed with what Hilda assumed was supposed to be a shake of her head but was in fact just a quick tilt and drawing of her chin to her shoulder. Then she looked up and tried to stand dignified which was difficult when her pupils were darting side to side, trying to get the room to stop spinning. “You’er always such a prude, sister,” she drawled, staring down at her over her nose.

“And you’re pissed,” Hilda scoffed, looking her over, holding her place in the doorway. “I think it’s time to go to bed.”

Zelda raised her brow, “Surprised you don’t wanna talk,” she curled her lip, puffy and parted.

“Oh, we’ll be doing a lot of that in the morning, I can assure you,” Hilda answered as Zelda, ignoring her, stumbled back to look at the lamp she’d toppled and broken.

“I’ll clean this,” she mumbled, pointing at it, narrowing her eyes. Then she opened her hand, and Hilda’s eyes widened.

“No, nope, I can take care of this. No harm done,” she assured, containing her panic, tensing her body as Zelda focused her energy on the lamp. Zelda had a long and shaky history of using magic when she was drunk or angry or sad or scared, and Hilda had thought, perhaps foolishly, that she’d learned to contain it by now. But then she raised her hand, and the lamp followed, rocketing forward and crashing against the wall behind it, the ceramic bursting into a hundred shards on the floor, the bulb exploding with a spark and a pop, and then the deafening ring in Hilda’s ears in the aftermath. Zelda swayed back on her heels, arm out forward, and blinked.

Zelda laughed then, slow, breathless heaves of her chest, a grin lazy on her lips. Hilda sighed, having had enough, and walked forward to grab Zelda’s arm, digging into the fair skin of her arm. Zelda stumbled over her ankles, nearly fell into Hilda stepping over the bottle she’d dropped. “To bed,” Hilda commanded, dragging her forward and slowly up the stairs. “Sleep it off,” she mumbled to Zelda’s slow, unfocused gaze and wavering steps.

Once in Zelda’s room, Hilda unzipped her dress for her, let it fall to the floor in a heap as Zelda brushed her hair from her face. “‘M not uh child, Hildegard,” Zelda slurred in a breathy stumble back from the dress. The gin rolled off her heavy as their father’s cologne, and Hilda frowned as Zelda swatted her away, holding her arms close to her chest, flushed and blotted, shoulders hunched.

Their father had drank sometimes, after their mother left, whole bottles of aged whiskey he kept on the top shelves in his office. Bitter and sad, he’d curled his lip at her and Zelda as they stood in his doorway, just watching him throw back the glasses with a gasp and a wince. Zelda drank like their father. She’d learned it from him, stealing liquor and telling Hilda not to be such a baby about it, a few years shy of her baptism, Zelda suffered under the mortuary roof with him.

“Well you’re sure acting like one,” Hilda shot back, grabbing her stockings and pulling them down to her knees, “sit down,” she told her, and Zelda flopped down on the bed, petulant and suspicious. As she rolled the stocking down over her heels, draping them over a chair, Hilda glanced at her, quiet and tired. “I haven’t seen you this drunk since Rome, when was that? The eighties?”

“Lifetime ago,” Zelda mumbled, seeming to sober for a flicker, the hardness returning to her eyes, the tight furrow of her brow, staring right through Hilda. She picked out some pajamas for Zelda then, light things, easy to put on, none of her silky nightgowns and frivolous little straps she liked to wear. A tee shirt, buried deep in her drawer, surfaced, and Hilda chuckled at it, shaking her head. It was one of Edward’s from a festival he’d been to so many years ago, Woodstock. Talked about it for weeks afterward, completely insufferable, and Zelda had nearly killed him for it, complaining about his love of mortals and the trouble he liked to stir up in the coven because of it. Even then he’d been a hippie. It wasn’t until Edward’s wedding they found out it was where he met Diana. Zelda must have dug the shirt from his things after he died.

“Arms up,” she told Zelda, not letting her see the front, and Zelda complied, swaying, as Hilda shoved it over her head, pulling it down over her chest. She drowned in it, and Hilda hadn’t seen her quite so soft in longer than she wanted to think about. She’d forgotten what Zelda looked like when she didn’t have all those walls up. And Satan forbid Sabrina see her like this. Zelda would never hear the end of it, and then Hilda would end up in the Cain pit for letting their niece get anywhere near her so drunk. “Zelds,” Hilda asked gingerly, and her sister looked up at her, eyes glazed over. Hilda wondered if she’d remember this in the morning. “You’re not acting yourself. I know something’s wrong. You let the weeds grow over Edward and Diana’s grave,” she nearly whispered, and Zelda frowned. She looked tired, and something broke in her eyes.

“Hildie, uh’m sorry,” she breathed, shaking her head, and Hilda was alarmed at the tears that were forming in her sister’s eyes. She sat down next to her on the bed.

“What’s wrong, my love?” she asked gently, a hand on her back, rubbing circles that Zelda swayed to.

“Uh’ve been trying. For th’coven. Fur Sabrina, an’ Ambrose. You. I…” the tears rolled down her cheeks, and Hilda felt a lump in her throat. “Somethng’s wrong, Hilda, I…it’s all jus’so hard.” Her voice cracked out then, turned hoarse and weak, and she rested her head on Hilda’s shoulder.

“Oh, Zelds, I didn’t know,” she breathed, holding her there, in the quiet dark of the night, the stale air of Zelda’s bedroom, the sniffling of her sister, and the buzzing of Hilda’s head, whirring with questions. “I think we should talk about this more tomorrow.” Zelda didn’t respond, but she lifted her head, and her expression broke Hilda’s heart. Heavy and so pervasively sad, it ached even in Hilda’s bones, and so she rested her forehead against Zelda’s, gentle and slow, they sat there for a moment. Just quiet, just still.

They’d never talked about Zelda’s honeymoon, Hilda afraid to pry, and Zelda never talking anywhere near it. She was too good at holding herself together, and Hilda so wished she knew she didn’t have to. Not for her family. Not for Hilda.

“Get some rest,” she told her softly, and Zelda nodded. Hilda stood up and walked to the door then, afraid to step too loudly and break the moment, whatever had cracked between them. She looked back at her sister from the doorway, sitting on the edge of her bed, a whole bottle of gin later, a lamp in the sitting room shattered, and Zelda in tears. She’d laughed when it broke, and something about it scared Hilda, the way she sighed, as if some of the tension inside her had broken too. Hilda remembered too vividly the day she’d walked in on Zelda with that whip, her back in tatters. The panic that shot through her and the fear that settled in her stomach at Zelda’s defeat, the weakness of her grip, and the way she didn’t flinch, didn’t blink, didn’t even breathe when Hilda cleaned her wounds.

She closed the door to Zelda’s room, it creaking in the quiet, and stood there in the hallway for a long time, staring at Zelda’s door. Then she let out a breath and padded slowly back to her room down the hall. It wasn’t until she climbed back into bed with a groan that she realized she’d never actually gotten the glass of water she’d gone downstairs for.

#wrote this just now so it's completely unedited #might add this to when i die series #writing #caos #zelda spellman #hilda spellman #completely irrelevant but this was cathartic after yesterday #caos fic

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just-jordie-things · 5 years

Text

I Need a Place to Stay - Nicholas Scratch

word count: 1562 warnings: none summary: (y/n) gets into a bit of an argument with her Aunt Zelda, and leaves home to prove her point. Luckily her warlock boyfriend always has an open door and open arms.

(y/n) watched with irritated eyes as Sabrina argued with her Aunt Zelda. Ambrose and Auntie Hilda sitting at the kitchen table, silently watching their little dispute grow into something bigger. They knew better than to get involved.

The evening had been a nice one, the weather was beautiful, her garden was even just starting to sprout Lavender and Wormwood. But the Spellman family had a way of stirring up an argument out of seemingly nothing.

(y/n) knew that her cousin Sabrina had a lot of feist in her, the same way Ambrose used to before he was housebound. But she never imagined her to stand up to their Aunt Zelda the way she was right now. Their yells were so loud, it seemed the house was shaking.

WIth a glance towards Ambrose, (y/n) raised her brows, wanting him to dare her to jump in to side with the young blonde witch.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of!” Sabrina snapped, red painted lips formed in a snarl.

Another glance towards Ambrose, and he shook his head at her, warning her not to get involved.

“Brina’s right, Auntie,” (y/n) spoke despite Ambrose’s plea, quirking a brow at the older woman. “She’s grown much more powerful since her birthday, and she hasn’t even signed her name in the book-”

“That’s enough of that!” Zelda waved a threatening hand towards (y/n), but she continued anyways.

“I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t have signed my name”

“This does not involve you, (y/n)!” Zelda cautioned. “I would watch your tone before you get yourself into trouble further. Dark Lord knows you’re halfway there already”

Now both Hilda and Ambrose were giving (y/n) looks, their eyes pointedly telling her to shut her trap. But she had already dove in head first, and was going to side with her younger cousin.

“I’m with Sabrina,” She stated boldly, standing up from her seat to stan with the relatively shorter girl, earning a smile. Wrapping an arm around Sabrina’s shoulders, (y/n) smirked at her aunt. “She’s about to be the most powerful one in this house. Have some trust in her”

Zelda narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line as she stared down her eldest girl, but (y/n) wasn’t about to back down, and stared right back, a confident smirk plastered on her face.

“That boy has gotten into you, (y/n),” Zelda muttered, finally making (y/n) crack, just a little, but she’d certainly physically deflated. “Go to your room, and stay out of this, this no longer concerns you”

“This is my family too!” (y/n) argued. “I most certainly have a say in this-”

“Room. Now, (y/n),” Zelda uttered, summoning a cigarette and lighting it, taking a long drag with a sigh. “Before you get yourself into more trouble with that mouth”

(y/n) glared at her, but Zelda remained a statue. Emotionless, unbreakable.

“Auntie Z-” Sabrina tried to plead with her aunt to be a little more reasonable, but was cut off. Surprisingly, by (y/n).

“It’s fine, Brina. I’ll figure something out that will help you,” She promised kindly, smiling sweetly down at the girl, before turning to her aunt. “I’m going to Nick’s” She told her.

“Oh no you aren’t young lady, until further notice you are grounded! To the house-!”

But (y/n) had already mumbled a spell, snapped her fingers, and was gone in a second, before Zelda could even finish her threat.

Nicholas Scratch had been in his dorm room at the Academy of the Dark Arts, reading and practicing not-so-legal-spells as he often did during his free nights, when there was a sudden knock on this door.

Now, he knew at this hour, no one in the Academy was permitted to leave their rooms, and that (y/n) was staying at home while she attended school, so he had no idea who it could be.

When he opened it to reveal his girlfriend standing there, a perplexed look but a smile on her face, he was more than confused.

“(y/n), sweetheart, what’re you doing here?” Nick asked, a small smile on his face as he leaned against his doorframe, crossing his arms as he looked down at her.

“Can’t I just come visit because I love you?” She asked in a weak attempt to lie, but tried her best to sell it by leaning up on the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He chuckled at her, and shook her head.

“That was almost convincing, but you’re going to have to tell me the truth now” He said, and she looked at him defeatedly, storming her foot a little bit with a pout on her face.

She was giving him quite the show, and it never ceased to amuse him when she let her annoyance get to her like this. She went from being stubborn and badass and turned into a child in seconds flat.

“I need a place to stay” She admitted, almost under her breath. Nick heard her fine, but wanted to tease her just a little more.

“What was that love?” He asked, the grin on his lips giving him away, making (y/n) glare. “Couldn’t quite hear you”

“Shut up, Nicky” Her words were fiery but her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. He laughed and smiled wide, pulling her into his room and shutting the door.

“Of course you can stay with me, dollface,” He told her, kissing her knuckles. “How could I say no to that face?”

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on the tips of her toes to kiss him, but he tilted his head back before she could do so.

“Hold on,” He said almost sternly. “First, you have to tell me what happened with your Aunts and then you can have the prize”

“So you’re calling yourself a prize now?” She asked, the excitement in her features falling to a bored look.

“Fess up or no kiss”

(y/n) rolled her eyes, standing flat on her feet again, but keeping her arms around him. “Fine,” She grumbled. “Auntie Z got into a bit of a debate with Brina, and I took Brina’s side” She told him reluctantly. Nicholas furrowed his brows, not understanding what the argument was about.

“For what?”

“Necromancy” (y/n) answered too simply. He laughed, eyes lighting up with delight.

“That’s a forbidden practice you know” He told her, and she shrugged a shoulder.

“Sabrina had a good point,” She argued back, pursuing her lips. “Besides, I’d always pick her side. She’s my cousin and I trust her. Plus she really knows her stuff now, getting less reckless”

“Sounds like you” Nick teased, and before she could react with a zinger, kissed her softly, hands cupping her cheeks as she melted into him. Just as she was about to push him towards his bed, he pulled away.

“Stop doing that-”

“I love you” He cut off her whine, instantly replacing her frown with a smile that she tried not to let get too wide.

“I love you too, Nicholas Scratch, no matter how infuriating you may be- ah!”

His arms wrapped around her as he threw them back onto his bed, making her squeal and giggle in surprise and excitement before he quietened her with a kiss.

“I have neighbors you know,” He told her, but she just giggled again and pulled his lips back down to hers. “And you don’t care” Her small laughs found their way into his mouth as she kissed him, sweetly, lovingly, eagerly.

“Let them be annoyed,” She hummed, threading her fingers into her hair. “They can suck it up for just one night”

“You’re just staying one night?” He asked, leaning off of her a bit too look at her, getting another pouty look from the girl that just wanted to kiss her boyfriend.

“For Satan’s sake Nicholas why can’t we just makeout like every other couple and not talk about our feelings for one night?” She asked dramatically, but he just stared at her and waited patiently for her answer. “Yes, I’m just staying for one night,” She gave in. “Long enough to prove about to Auntie Z and still be able to have a civil talk with her tomorrow and go back home”

“Your home is so far away” He said with a frown, and she giggled again.

“Look who’s whiny now,” (y/n) teased him, kissing his frowning lips. “I’ll sneak over and spend the night again sometime,” She promised. “But for now, tuck me in and tell me goodnight lover boy”

He smiled at her as he did just that, wrapping the blankets around both of them and using magic to turn off the lights. She snuggled right into his open arms.

“I could get used to you staying over, you know” He murmured, fingers tangling into her hair and petting her softly and soothingly. (y/n) smiled against his chest, blushing at the idea of a domestic and mundane life with him.

“Maybe someday it’ll be more often” She whispered back.

Nick kissed the top of her head, lulling her to sleep.

“I think someday I’d really like that, Spellman”

taglist: @reblogserpent

#caos #caos x reader #caos fanfiction #caos scenario #caos imagine #Nicholas Scratch #Nicholas Scratch x reader #Nicholas Scratch imagine #Nicholas Scratch scenario #Nicholas Scratch fanfiction

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nicolewrites · 4 years

Text

i apologize for my divinity (it is never enough) - iii

this ride don’t stop till i say it does. here’s part 3 and it’s even wordier than part ii so you’re welcome?

Rating: T+ Genre: Angst, Friendship, Family Characters: Byleth/My Unit, Claude R., Dimitri B., Sothis, the Golden Deer Words: 7,958

AO3 | FFN

pt. i | pt. ii

iii - white clouds, redux

- ~ -

/ great tree moon /

If Byleth swings her sword a little quicker now, Jeralt doesn't notice. Cutting through the bandits is achingly familiar, but she feels weak. Her muscles are looser and not as practiced and the skill of her students is lacking as well. Byleth finds herself fighting close to Dimitri's side out of habit, but it feels wrong somehow to see him as he used to be–whole and unbroken.

There's a terrible, dark moment when she sees the leader of the bandits lunge at Edelgard. She wonders, what if I don't save her? What happens then? Her feet are anchored into the ground as her mind deliberates.

The answer is not one she likes. Both Claude and Dimitri lunge forward to protect the Imperial Princess in her stead. Dimitri takes the axe across the back and his lance dips and plunges into Claude's stomach as the Alliance Heir shoves Edelgard away. Byleth doesn't wait for their bodies to hit the ground before she's whipping time backwards.

"As to be expected," Sothis says. "We'll have to change things later on."

Byleth drives her blade up and protects Edelgard. She escorts the students back to the monastery, alongside her father, Alois and the Knights of Seiros. The familiarity of everything hurts and Byleth can't help but feel that she's trudging an endlessly repeating path to a mass grave.

As Garreg Mach looms above before them, Byleth can feel the unease rolling off of her father. Alois seems excited, as always, but Byleth keeps her mouth pressed quietly into a firm line. She watches Dimitri and the other exchange barbs. There's a lightness about him here, in this moment, that she aches to feel, but now that she looks at him all she can see is the hunched shoulders and incredible pain of the Dimitri he may become five years from now.

Edelgard's posture is stiff, but it's not yet the posture of the emperor she may become. Her lips still quirk at something Claude says which tells Byleth that she has time. Now that she's looking closely, she easily picks out the sheath of Dimitri's dagger at her hip. If it mysteriously disappeared, would it fix anything?

Claude, on the other hand, is still just Claude. His green eyes are playful and allude to the cleverness that hides just beneath the surface. To her surprise, however, Claude keeps stealing glances at her. When he studies her when he thinks she's not watching, his brow furrows just a bit and Byleth sees the analytic part of her student as he tries to dissect her with his gaze alone.

Later, after Alois drags Jeralt off for a drink and Byleth is left standing in the entrance hall with the three house leaders, Dimitri and Edelgard excuse themselves to find the rest of their houses. Claude lingers.

"This is going to sound a bit crazy," he says slowly. "But, have we met before?"

Byleth feels surprise ripple across her face because of course they have met before, but there is no way that Claude has any memory of it because that timeline was destroyed the moment she broke that thread.

Sothis? she inquires cautiously.

"Hmm, how peculiar," the goddess muses in Byleth's head. "He certainly has no real memory of you, but perhaps this is something deeper at work."

"No," Byleth articulates finally. "I've always been with my father and I've never left Fódlan."

Claude shakes his head briefly and gives her one of his signature trouble-maker smiles. "Of course, how silly of me to assume otherwise."

He leaves then and Byleth watches him go, a warm curiosity blossoming in her chest. Maybe, she ponders.

"Indeed," Sothis agrees.

- ~ -

The second time, she succumbs to her wonderings about Claude, Alliance Heir.

- ~ -

/ harpstring moon /

The Golden Deer have a kind of unrestrained chaos that was absent through her time with the Blue Lions. Sothis finds it funny as she struggles to rein in Claude and Hilda and to connect to the quiet Ignatz and Marianne.

Leonie seems to have a grudge against Byleth that can only be attributed to both of their relationships with Jeralt. Lorenz seems to have a mild enough interest in her, but she remembers that it is simply due to her Crest-bearing nature, even if no one here knows she has the Crest of Flames yet. Raphael is bright and optimistic and seems interested in her strength on the battlefield and her appetite in the dining hall.

Ignatz is quieter, but she catches him studying her many times as she lectures. Byleth hides her smile and lets him doodle her portrait. He has a great talent. Marianne is back to the quiet, self-hating girl Byleth remembers from before the war and she does everything she can to try to boost the girl's spirits. Lysithea is all sharp edges and defensiveness. She continues to work herself to the bone and Byleth brings her sweet treats and soothing tea to absolve the girl of some of her stress. Its origin is unknown to her, but she refuses to let any student of hers crumble under the pressure.

Hilda is both infuriating and entertaining to watch. She's a beast on the battlefield, cutting down her foes precisely and powerfully. But, she plays herself off as a dainty flower, batting her eyelashes and showering her fellow students in compliments until they do her dirty work. Byleth just rolls her eyes and presses Hilda for answers in class until she inevitably gives up the act and gives the answer that she's looking for.

Claude seems to find everything Byleth does funny. He sits in the middle of the classroom, close enough that she knows he takes notes in his elegantly messy scrawl, but he watches her all through class and combat training and even over shared meals like he's trying to break her down slowly. He has a calm, casual smirk on at almost all times, but it never seems to soften the sharp judgement of his green eyes.

In the time she has been here, Claude has not given up on his theory that he has met Byleth before and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit worried about that fact. Claude is disastrously clever and the last thing she needs is a distraction from the reason that she's here–to fix things. Sothis finds him funny and takes every occasion to tell Byleth so.

Byleth ignores her for the most part, but when Claude gives her a more genuine smile it warms her right to the core and she has to turn away to hide the growing smile on her own face.

- ~ -

/ garland moon /

Facing off against Lonato feels strange without Ashe. Byleth has made a habit of checking in on her Blue Lions students pretty regularly and trying to forge connections with them even as she leads the Deer. She finds him in the cathedral the night after Lonato's death against and this time she sits with him and holds out her hand.

Ashe takes it without a word and squeezes it so tightly that it stings. After a while, his grip loosens, but his head hangs and he doesn't let her go. He doesn't seem to understand Byleth's investment in the situation, but he says nothing to her. When he finally leaves in the early hours of the morning, Byleth lingers, staring up at the statue of Saint Seiros.

Is any of this pain worth it? she asks silently.

"Is any of it preventable?" Sothis inquires back.

Byleth frowns. I don't think so.

"Then we must keep going," the goddess says.

Byleth nods and turns to leave. Claude is standing in the entranceway of the cathedral, staring at her and she stumbles when she sees him.

"Good morning, Teach," he says casually.

Byleth folds her arms as she approaches her student. "What are you doing awake?"

Claude shrugs. "I was going to do some aerial patrols and I saw you and Ashe. What's your deal with the Blue Lions, anyway?"

Byleth presses her lips together. "They're good kids. You all are. I'm just trying to make sure that everyone gets their fair share of time with me. I do teach everyone even if I'm leading the Golden Deer."

Claude steps forward, tipping his head to the side like a cat. The sharpness of his eyes glitters in the dim light of the cathedral. "And these good kids must include Edelgard and Hubert, right? And that's why you refused to correct Edelgard's axe grip even if you spent almost an hour trying to get Hilda to admit she already knew it."

"This child is too observant for his own good," Sothis grumbles.

Byleth steels herself and tries to present the neutral expression that had been second nature to her when she had been the Ashen Demon. "Shouldn't you be glad I'm not increasing the skills of another House Leader as much as I am with someone in your own house?"

Claude recognizes her deflection and gives her a slightly cheeky smile. "I am going to figure you out, Teach, you can mark my words." He winks and turns to leave, the yellow of his cape fluttering with the movement.

Something deep inside Byleth aches for a familiar blue cloak and the quiet stolen moments she shared with Dimitri in another life. She frowns as she watches Claude leave. He whistles for a wyvern as he's partway across the bridge connecting the monastery proper to the cathedral. He flies away on the beast like it's second nature to him and Byleth shifts uncomfortably.

Sothis is right. Claude is entirely too clever and observant for his own good. She needs to try harder.

- ~ -

/ blue sea moon /

Byleth has tea with Ferdinand and Lorenz one afternoon and smiles at the bottom of her cup as the two nobles chat about frugal things. It's a conversation that she's sat through before, but it's nice to see a lighter, genuine side to both of the students.

"Have you ever thought about changing houses, Ferdinand?" she asks before she can stop herself.

Ferdinand's teacup pauses halfway to his mouth. He cocks an eyebrow at her. "To the Golden Deer?"

Byleth shrugs. "Or to the Blue Lions."

Ferdinand muses over it for a moment. "It's an interesting proposition, Professor, and if my loyalties didn't lie so heavily in the Empire, I might consider it more."

Lorenz chuckles. "Well, we did win the mock battle so I can't blame you for wanting to join the clearly superior house."

Byleth laughs lightly at Lorenz's words, but the depth of Ferdinand's words draw her the image of the young man so corrupted by loyalty he died for a ruler who had no particular care for him. She bites into her lip and hides her displeasure behind her teacup.

They're sharing tea in Byleth's quarters upon Lorenz's suggestion and as she looks past her two guests, she spots Dimitri strolling by. She stands up before she even realizes what she's doing. She pauses, looking down at her students and smiling.

"Excuse me for a moment, I just need to grab Dimitri for a moment."

She slips out of the room before either noble heir can protest and sees that luckily Dimitri hasn't gone too far.

"Dimitri!" she calls out.

The Blue Lions Leader turns and smiles upon seeing her. "Professor, what a pleasant surprise!"

She smiles back at him. "Would you like to join us for some tea? Lorenz and Ferdinand had just stopped by and I thought you might want to sit down with us."

Dimitri's smile dips a little and he glances to his right to the Training Hall. "Ah, I would, but I had promised to train with Ingrid and Sylvain."

Byleth steps back. "I won't keep you then."

Dimitri looks back towards the Training Hall and hesitates. "But, if you'd like to join us after you finish with tea, I'm sure we would all appreciate your guidance."

Byleth raises her eyebrow. "Lances and spears are definitely not my strength so I'm sure you're all more adept than I would be." She presses him curiously, interested to see how he responds.

"But you're a strong fighter so you could figure it out, or you could use a sword and just absolutely destroy us either way," Dimitri points out.

Byleth chuckles. "I suppose I could." She glances past Dimitri to see Claude exiting the Training Hall and she consciously steps back, suddenly hyper-aware of the space between her and Dimitri.

Claude beelines towards them and slings an arm around Dimitri's shoulders, smirking. "Hello Dimitri, Teach," he greets.

Dimitri tenses at Claude's touch, but relaxes once the Alliance heir starts speaking. "Hello Claude," Dimitri greets coolly.

Byleth notes that the tension isn't completely gone from the prince's shoulders. He's definitely not as comfortable with Claude as he feels around just Byleth. She presses her lips together and turns her attention to Claude.

"Would you like to join Lorenz, Ferdinand and myself for tea, Claude?" she invites politely.

Claude winks at her. "I'd be honoured. I'll see you around then Dimitri." Claude lets Dimitri go and brushes past them both towards Byleth's quarters.

Byleth hesitates for a moment before following after Claude. "I'll see you for training later then," she says as a way of goodbye to Dimitri.

He smiles and warmth curls in Byleth's chest. He's not lost to her yet.

- ~ -

Much later, the Sword of the Creator hums in her grip. It's warm to the touch and familiar, but the way that the Golden Deer eye her with awe and surprise is a bit off-putting. She cracks the sword against the stone and cuts down the Church rebels without much further thought. There's no time for her to consult the familiarity coursing through her veins.

She focuses on the fight, not stopping until her breathing is the only thing she can hear. Her chest is tight and she's tired, but she is alive and her Fawns are alive and they're stronger than they used to be. They have gotten used to following her commands and execute them almost flawlessly.

Pride wells in her chest as she examines the path her students have carved. There is loss there too, for the time she has tackled this same set-up with the Blue Lions, but she refocuses on the moment. Her Deer have become important to her too, just like she intended.

"Professor!" Hilda calls.

Byleth turns and sees Hilda striding toward her. Claude is limping along behind her, his eyes fixated on the sword clutched in her hand. Byleth slides it into a loop on her belt and descends the dais towards them.

"Who's hurt?" Byleth asks Hilda.

Hilda shakes her head. "No one seriously," she replies, still staring at Byleth. "What is that?"

"It's the Sword of the Creator," Claude answers. His brow is cocked curiously. Despite whatever reason he is limping for, he doesn't seem to care, focusing entirely on the unique relic Byleth holds. "Isn't it?"

Byleth nods slowly. "Yes, I think so."

Claude shakes his head. He is obviously still suspicious, but his relief at the end of the battle seems to dominate his current consciousness. "I think you're going to have to explain some things to Rhea, Teach."

"Explain to Rhea?" Sothis scoffs. "More like she has some things to tell us."

Byleth shrugs both for Claude and Hilda and the goddess in her head. "I'm hoping she'll be able to answer some of my questions, actually."

- ~ -

/ verdant rain moon /

The black beast that Miklan turns into is no less unnerving this time than it was last time. It roars and charges her students and Byleth doesn't have time to be distracted. It seems to have a personal grudge against Ignatz as it pursues her archer even as he retreats.

Byleth doesn't have time to get to his side before it's atop him–jaws tearing at his throat his chest–and then she's calling on her Divine Pulse and praying desperately she can prevent that future from coming to fruition. For a terrifying moment, Byleth hears the beast's cries echo across the stones mixed with the terror of her students, and then her gut lurches and time winds backwards.

She instructs Ignatz to stay back this time and the beast focuses on her instead. She faces it down, clutching the sword so tightly that her palm burns from its constant heat. She slashes at it, Lysithea blasts it with her dark magic, and Marianne's white magic keeps her on her feet long enough to take it down.

Ignatz approaches her after, holding out a Vulnerary. "Professor," he says, brow creased. "How did you know to keep Claude, Leonie, and I out of its line of sight? We would have been done if that thing had gotten in close range."

Byleth downs the healing drought and smiles warily at her student. "I have a feeling that that thing was still clever enough to see an advantage where it could take it."

Ignatz studies her face for a long moment and Byleth hopes he can't read the lie on her face. After a moment, he nods and turns away. Byleth exhales and rubs her shoulder. The vulnerary has helped some, but she's still aching.

Better me than them, she thinks determinedly.

"They're different from the others," Sothis notes quietly.

Byleth considers the statement, watching as they clear the ruins of the bodies of the thieves, helping each other and passing around healing items to those who need them. Lysithea and Marianne focus on magic while Raphael and Hilda do much of the heavy lifting. They know their strengths and play to them.

I think I love them too, Byleth admits.

Sothis laughs and it warms Byleth where her heart should be. "I know you do."

- ~ -

At the monastery, as soon as Manuela lets her out of the infirmary, Byleth looks for Ingrid and Felix. They're chatting quietly in the Knight's Hall and look surprised to see her.

"Professor!" Ingrid exclaims, straightening her spine as Byleth approaches. "Weren't you hurt?"

Byleth waves off the concern. "Nevermind that." Felix eyes her slightly suspiciously and Byleth takes a deep breath. "I can talk to Hanneman for you," she offers.

Ingrid looks surprised, but Felix keeps his face strategically neutral. "Why?" he asks bluntly.

Byleth smiles sadly. "Because I know Sylvain is hurting and I want to help."

Ingrid frowns. "You don't have to do that."

"You'll do it even if we tell you not to though," Felix discerns, studying her face.

Byleth nods. "I will. I wish I could have stopped it."

"Did he really turn into a beast?" Ingrid asks quietly.

"I wish I could tell you otherwise," Byleth says slowly.

Felix turns away, staring at a training dummy in the sandpit instead. "And now Rhea wants Sylvain to take that relic, doesn't she?"

"He's safe to use it," Byleth assures, but Felix turns his flint sharp gaze back to her quickly.

"And you're sure about that?"

No, Byleth thinks desperately. I don't know if having the relics brings more pain than it's worth, but I'd so much rather it be in his hands than the hands of the church.

"Yes," she says instead.

Felix looks frustrated, but Ingrid nods. "We'll talk to Sylvain," she says finally.

"I wish you didn't have to," Byleth adds before she turns to leave. I wish I could absolve you all of your pain and your burdens.

- ~ -

/ horsebow moon /

Byleth feels the burn of the poison in her veins as soon as the Death Knight's scythe cuts into her. The familiar burn triggers something in her and she drops to her knees as pain turns her vision white.

"Professor!" Lorenz yells. He's the closest to her so he pulls her to her feet and studies her face intensely, trying to see why she collapsed.

Byleth drops the Sword of the Creator and breathes slowly as her vision comes back to her. The pain isn't even that bad yet, but the memory of it seems to have shocked her body to the extreme. "Get Claude," she orders strictly.

She stumbles against him and Lorenz whips his head around. "Raphael!" he yells. "Get Flayn and Monica out of here. Leonie, find Claude. The professor needs help."

Byleth feels a spark of admiration for the leadership traits Lorenz has, even if he buries them under layers of noble snobbery most times. Marianne hurries over to them and her white magic tingles as it heals most of Byleth's wounds. She says something softly to Lorenz that Byleth doesn't catch, but Lorenz shakes his head in response.

Another pulse of fire burns from the wound and Byleth grimaces. She steps away from Lorenz and looks around the crypt. The strange soldiers are gone now, including the Death Knight, but their presence makes Byleth's skin crawl. Those soldiers had been Edelgard's last time and the insignias they bear this time are the same.

Am I too late? Did I not do enough?

Sothis doesn't reply and anger prickles along her skin. She has torn apart her future to come back to try and stop the war and to save her students and she isn't sure that she can handle losing them again.

"Teach!" Claude yells. Leonie and Claude are rushing towards them. There's a smear of red across Claude's cloak from where he had dammed Manuela's wound. He looks wild and shaken, but relief blossoms across his features as he realizes Byleth is still standing.

His hands land on her biceps as he reaches her, looking her up and down. "What's wrong, Teach?"

Poison pulses through her veins. She grimaces and grips Claude's hand in her own. She slides it towards the wound. His hand is warm against her even through her shirt. The blood seems to concern him, but he's sharp and knows that's not what is actually bothering her.

"Leonie, give me your hunting knife," he instructs.

He cuts away the fabric where it sticks to her skin and curses as he uncovers the wound. Leonie, behind him, blanches at the sight of the blackened veins. "What the hell?" she exclaims.

Claude touches the wound and fire burns through Byleth. She cries out unintentionally. Claude hisses an apology and fumbles for the pouch of poisons and antidotes on his belt. He pulls out the familiar clear vial. Byleth doesn't hesitate, downing the antidote without waiting for him to say anything.

Most of the pain fades, but the wound still aches dully. Claude slides an arm around her waist. "Come on, Teach, let's get you to the infirmary."

Even with Claude's support, Byleth stumbles her way out of the crypt. Her exhaustion seems to have caught up with her and the lingering effect of the poison amplifies it. She leans her head against his shoulder as they emerge from the tunnel in Jeritza's room and breathes slowly, trying to centre herself.

"Kid?"

That voice makes her look up sharply. Jeralt and a contingent of knights have just entered the room and her father's worried gaze is fixed directly onto her. She straightens up a bit, trying to look less like she's relying on Claude to keep her upright.

"I'm okay," she assures.

Claude snorts out a laugh. "The Death Knight's blade was poisoned," he informs. "I got it out of her system, but she needs rest, not whatever the hell Rhea is going to try to have her do."

Jeralt's brow furrows. "I'll worry about Rhea." He walks forward and presses a firm, warm kiss to Byleth's forehead. The display of affection is unusual for Jeralt, but she knows the meaning he places behind it. "Get her to the infirmary," he says to Claude.

Byleth wants to ask him to stay, to take her himself, but he's a captain and he has a job to do. She bites her tongue as he walks by her even if every bone in her body wants him to stay or to leave and get as far away from the monastery as possible. The selfish shadow in her chest tells her that she's not sure she can go through losing him again.

"Teach?" Claude inquires. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Byleth inhales deeply and tears her eyes from where her father had disappeared to. "Yes, I'm just tired."

"Why are you still lying to him?" Sothis asks suddenly.

Claude steps forward to assist her again and Byleth realizes that she doesn't have a good answer to that question.

- ~ -

/ wyvern moon /

This time, Claude once again backs her participation in the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion. Dimitri and Edelgard had protested, as expected, but Byleth studies their expressions as they each present their argument. Dimitri still seems concerned about her well-being, but Edelgard has something cooler and tenser in her expression. It is disconcertingly reminiscent of the expression she had held in the Holy Mausoleum.

Between Claude's scheming and Byleth's tactics, their battle plan comes together smoothly and even more efficient than it had been when she had fought this fight with the Blue Lions. Ignatz and Leonie share the responsibility of the ballista and the defence of it. Lysithea, Marianne, and Lorenz easily sweep through Felix, Ingrid, Dedue, and Sylvain due to their lack of ranged attacks. Byleth, Raphael, Hilda, and Claude take on the Eagles and the whole thing topples with remarkable efficiency.

After the battle, Byleth's standing with Claude atop the hill when Dimitri and Edelgard approach.

"Professor, that was a remarkable strategy," Dimitri compliments. "It's like you knew my every move before I could make it."

Edelgard inclines her chin. "Almost as if you knew what it would be, really," she adds. There's an undertone of suspicion in her tone and Byleth frowns.

Thankfully, Claude, despite his notable previous suspicions, laughs. "Come on then, where's my compliment? I am an equal contributor to this strategy," he argues.

Byleth smiles. "He's right about that," she points out.

Edelgard rolls her eyes. "Your schemes hardly count as a concrete battle plan, Claude."

Dimitri's attention stays fixed on Byleth. "It did all feel familiar," he says to her quietly. "But, strange, nonetheless. Almost like you should have been fighting with me instead of against me."

Byleth laughs weakly. "Strange," she echoes.

Dimitri shakes his head and holds a hand out. His palm is warm against hers as she shakes his hand. "A battle well fought," he concedes.

- ~ -

/ red wolf moon /

The Golden Deer are equally as disturbed as the Blue Lions were after the battle in Remire Village. Lysithea and Ignatz, in particular, seem concerned with Solon and the fact that he had been disguised as Tomas.

Byleth had been heading back to the Golden Deer classroom when she heard mention that Tomas had been at the monastery by recommendation of House Ordelia. The admission had caught her off-guard so she redoubled her pace to the classroom, wanting to talk to Lysithea again.

Unfortunately, Tomas's connection to House Ordelia is as concerning to Lysithea as it is to Byleth. Her youngest student has three different historical texts in front of her and her eyes have dark circles underneath them. Byleth reaches over and closes the book in front of her. Lysithea turns a burning gaze to her, displeased and Byleth shakes her head.

"Get some rest. The situation won't change much by morning, and we need everyone to be at their best for the future," she says to her student.

Lysithea's shoulders hunch. "I know," she admits slowly. "I just," she trails off, looking frustrated and vulnerable.

"It's not your fault," Byleth says. "Don't ever think that this is your fault."

Without another word, Lysithea twists in her seat and tucks her arms around Byleth's waist. Byleth tenses for a moment before she lowers her hands to reassuringly touch her student's shoulders. Lysithea is stubborn and her refusal to be seen as young means that she builds so many walls to hide her emotions behind. Seeing her scared and vulnerable like this is almost reassuring because it shows Byleth that she's feeling and that she's connecting with people.

The quiet contact between professor and student seems to reassure her and Lysithea pulls away after a lingering moment. She wipes at her eyes and stands up from the table. She looks exhausted, but her shoulders are square as she announces her plan to head to her room and take a nap.

Byleth shifts uncomfortably as she leaves. She can still hear the cries of people in Remire Village in the back of her mind and she's afraid of what it will mean for the next month.

- ~ -

/ ethereal moon /

The ball is suffocating. She wants to smile and enjoy herself like she did last time–to dance with Dimitri and to spin in silly circles with Claude since neither of them actually know how to dance properly–but the air in the room feels stale and it burns when she breathes.

Byleth ducks out and heads to the goddess tower, hoping that it's empty. The height and quietness of it call to her. She keeps her hands pressed against the stone as she climbs to ground herself. Her head feels like it's spinning as she climbs and her breathing is shallow.

She reaches the top and staggers to the balcony on the edge. She curls her fingers into the stone railing and breathes. The air is cool and it stings, but she's finally able to feel like she's breathing again. She doesn't feel like she's going to collapse anymore.

She stands alone at the top of the tower for a long minute, eyes closed and breathing slowly. There are soft footsteps behind her and she prays for a moment they'll leave so that she can be alone, but not even she is that lucky.

"Teach?"

Byleth turns to face Claude. He is standing just at the top of the stairs and he looks concerned. She bites her lip and turns her gaze back to the window she had been looking out. She can't look at Claude. Like Sothis has said, he is very observant and too good at reading her expressions even when she doesn't want him too.

He apparently either doesn't realize that she wants to be alone, or doesn't care, because she hears him walk over until she can feel the warmth from him radiating into her space. "Are you going to tell me why you ran away from the ball?"

Byleth swallows. "I'm worried about tomorrow," she admits.

Claude raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

Byleth rubs at her temples. "It's not going to go like we think it will."

"You sound sure," he points out.

Byleth bites her lip. She's tired. She's so tired of living the same days and losing people and watching the world fall down the same spiral that led to 5 years of brutal war. She really doesn't want to do this anymore.

Claude contemplates something when she doesn't reply and she feels, more than sees, him shift in her periphery. "Teach, what are you so scared of happening tomorrow?"

Something in Byleth breaks and she leans forward onto her hands, pressing her forehead against the stone. "I'm running in circles and nothing will stop any of this. There is so much senseless death and destruction and I can't make it end. I thought I could stop this, but I've been following the same footsteps and walking the same path."

Claude doesn't hesitate to sink so he's level with her. "Teach–Byleth–I don't know what you're talking about."

Byleth inhales slowly and tries to calm her racing mind. "I have a goddess inside my head and I can turn back time," she says abruptly. Claude tenses. She laughs and shakes her head. "You probably think I'm crazy and I don't blame you. Tomorrow my father is going to die and I'm so terrified I won't be able to do anything about it."

"You're not crazy," he says firmly. "I may not understand half of what you just said, but, Teach, you're not crazy. I mean, you trusted me with this, so maybe you're a little crazy, but you're not crazy."

Byleth laughs lowly. "I can't lose him again."

Something warm drapes over her back and shoulders and tugs her sideways. They shift so that they're sitting on the floor of the tower and Claude's arm is wrapped firmly over her shoulder. Byleth presses her head to the crook of his neck and breathes in his familiar scent of pine and parchment.

"We won't lose him," Claude assures.

Byleth shakes her head against his neck. "That's what I said last time."

She can feel his pulse thrumming where she rests against him. He doesn't seem to know where to take the conversation and instead just keeps his arm around her and lets her rest against him where they sit. She's sure there are a million places Claude with his charming smile would rather be, but he makes no attempt to move away from her, staying a warm, reassuring presence to her.

Slowly, Byleth reaches for his hand. She guides his fingers to the inside of her wrist where her own pulse pulses rhythmically. He doesn't say anything, but his index and middle fingers press into her skin as he feels the hum of her pulse. After a moment, she guides his palm up to her upper chest and rests it against her bare skin above where her heart should be. After a moment, Claude stiffens and pulls his hand away.

"You have no heartbeat," he says matter-of-factly. "How is that possible?"

"I have a goddess inside of me and a Crest Stone instead of a heart."

Claude's breath catches as he leans away from her just enough that he can make eye contact with her. "You weren't kidding."

Byleth closes her eyes and shakes her head. "No."

He leans forward again so that their foreheads are pressed together. The moment feels painfully intimate and a part of Byleth's head is in uproar–DIMITRIDIMITRIDIMITRI, it whispers–and the rest of her is blissfully silent because as wrong as this feels, it feels more right than most things have since she reset the world.

- ~ -

Byleth presses her forehead to the side of Jeralt's face and closes her eyes. She's crying and shaking and

everything hurts again

. She thought she had done it right this time, putting herself between her father and Monica, but Jeralt had asked her to check on Leonie who had been injured in the battle. Byleth had hesitated and her father had insisted and Monica had already been walking away.

He had taken her blade straight to the heart as soon as Byleth had turned away. Thales had thwarted her Divine Pulse and Byleth was once again in the mud, clutching the still body of her father.

Why am I not enough? she asks Sothis desperately. Why can't I save him?

"Perhaps this is his fate. I am the Beginning, but I cannot see the End."

Byleth shakes her head and pulls Jeralt's body closer. With a shaking hand, she tries to pour white magic into him, but just like last time–just like with Dimitri–the spell doesn't take. Finally, having exhausted everything, she cries again.

"I'm sorry," she whispers to her dead father.

There's a sharp gasp over her shoulder and a rush of footsteps as her Golden Deer finally find her. A warm body presses against her side and a tan hand reaches forward to gently close Jeralt's eyes. A hand closes over one of hers where she's clutching Jeralt's chest and she leans into the body, letting it keep her upright. The other hand curls over her back, stroking and comforting as best it can.

Claude swallows heavily as he holds her. "I'm sorry," he whispers. It hurts because he knew and he tried, but they're still sitting here and her father is still dead.

The Golden Deer pile around them shortly after. Their hands brush against Byleth and against Claude and against Jeralt. No words are exchanged and no one complains. Raphael inserts himself last, using his large frame to try and shield as many of them as possible from the rain. Leonie presses her head against Byleth's curling both her hands over Byleth and Claude's joined fingers on Jeralt.

The warmth of their bodies pressing around her is like an echo of the other life, but Byleth thinks this one hurts more because she knew it was coming.

"I'm sorry," Sothis whispers. "I'm so sorry."

- ~ -

/ guardian moon /

You have got to be kidding me! How could you fall for this again?

" Sothis scolds.

Byleth lets out a growl and spins. The odd place where Sothis resides is exactly as it was last time and she's just as annoyed. "I'm sorry, alright? I just got mad." She exhales slowly and turns back to face the goddess.

Sothis descends the stairs towards her. "You understand what this means, don't you?"

Byleth frowns. "I can't leave here without your power, can I?"

Sothis shakes her head. "No, you can't. And we've established that you must go. But," the goddess pauses.

Byleth stares at her. Sothis looks remarkably young, as she always has, but she looks troubled. "What is it?"

Sothis reaches out and stops just before she touches Byleth's face. "My friend," she says softly. "If I go this time, I do not know if you will be able to reach me again."

Byleth tenses. "I found you last time."

"And we have been together this time differently than last time. I fear you will feel my absence more."

Byleth lowers her head. "I have to go."

"I know," Sothis replies. "And I am sorry, Byleth, that I have not been enough to save your father and that I was not enough to save Dimitri last time."

Byleth shakes her head and looks the goddess straight in the eye. "We are one, Sothis. Any weakness of yours is a weakness of mine as well. I will find you again when I need you."

Sothis laughs. "Oh my friend, you misunderstand. I hope you will never have need of me again."

Without another word, Sothis reaches forward and presses a hand against Byleth's chest. The goddess dissolves into golden light. The light burns, bright and warm and Byleth screams out. Once again, golden light sears the darkness and she swings blindly out with the Sword of the Creator.

The world bends around her and she cuts through it, tearing the fabric of dimensions to return herself back to her world. There are mixed gasps from around her from the Golden Deer and from Solon's forces.

Byleth ignores it all and flies at Solon, letting her rage burn through her as her awakened sword strikes down. She cuts through the remaining enemies in a blind rage, grieving for Jeralt and for Sothis and for everyone that she has lost.

When she's done and Solon is dead, Claude is at her side. His hands grip her arms and steady her as the glowing energy in her veins fades leaving her drained and exhausted. He studies her, taking in changed hair and eyes and shakes his head slowly.

"Your goddess," he murmurs. "She gave you her power?"

Byleth nods. The world blurs at the edges and her eyes are hot with tears. She tries to ask Claude how her Fawns fared, but her tongue is lead in her mouth and the darkness spins violently. She blacks out so hard and so quickly she almost doesn't hear the cry of her name that tears from his throat, drenched in concern.

- ~ -

/ pegasus moon /

"Hey! Teach!"

Byleth spins to see Claude jogging in her direction. She's standing on the eastern balcony at the cathedral and she's a bit surprised he found her. But, to be fair, Claude is relentless when he wants to be. She nods to him in greeting and he slows to a walk.

"I wanted to catch you before we went into the Holy Mausoleum. I want to know what you're feeling about all of this," he says.

Byleth wraps her arms around her waist and looks out over the monastery again. "I'm still worried," she admits. "There are things that may happen today that we may never recover from. I can only hope we've done enough."

Claude's brow furrows. "This isn't just about what revelation you may receive is it?"

Byleth sighs. "No, it isn't."

"We'll be with you, Teach, all of us. No matter what."

Byleth turns to look fully at Claude. "That promise we all made to come back in five years. Do you think they'll honour that too?"

Claude laughs. "You've met us, right? We're a bunch of crazy sentimental fools."

Byleth smiles and it feels a little sad. "I like the sound of a bunch of sentimental fools."

Claude smiles and something in Byleth's stomach twists. She has no idea what awaits them in the Holy Mausoleum and she can only hope it won't be exactly what she's expecting. She steps toward him and slides her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Claude," she says quietly.

He hugs her back and for a moment it's quiet, just the two of them and the wind.

- ~ -

After Rhea gives her the order, Byleth's grip on the Sublime Creator Sword tightens until it hurts. She stares down the leader of the Black Eagle House.

"Is it worth all of this, Edelgard?" she asks.

Edelgard's face is steeled cold and neutral. "Everything was leading to this. I've accomplished my aims here."

"Why does it have to lead to war?" Byleth presses.

Edelgard frowns. "There is no other alternative. Professor, we have been walking this path since the moment we met. There was no other way this could go."

Byleth holds her sword out and shakes her head. "If I'd come to you, could I have set you off this path?"

Edelgard's expression hardens into something that's almost cruel. It almost reconciles the images she has of the Flame Emperor's cruelty and the young woman before her. "Professor, if you would have joined me, you would have had the pleasure of being on the winning side of this war that will come."

Hubert appears in a burst of light and then they're both gone and Byleth's chest tightens until it hurts. Inevitable, she laments. Was all of this for naught? It hurts to consider that everything she had been through, all her pain and suffering, was just so that the world could walk the same brutal, bloody path again.

Byleth closes her eyes and lets the tip of her sword brush against the stone. She doesn't want to see the rage on Rhea's face and the dismay and betrayal on Claude's. She doesn't want to think about telling Dimitri and initializing the Kingdom Prince's true descent into madness.

She doesn't want to think of Thales and the cliff and what might come next.

- ~ -

/ lone moon /

Byleth finds the Blue Lions in their classroom, looking serious and troubled. She has just finished speaking with the Golden Deer about the situation and imagines Hanneman has done the same for the Blue Lions. Still, several of them turn sharply in her direction when she enters that classroom.

"Professor!" Ashe exclaims. He wrings his hands in front of his, his brow creased. "Is it all true?"

Byleth nods slowly. "Edelgard is the Flame Emperor and she is leading a march on Garreg Mach. We must be prepared."

Sylvain frowns. "And the Black Eagles?"

Byleth shakes her head. "No, none of them knew but Hubert. I imagine many of them are just as shocked as the rest of us." She looks around the classroom and notices two notable absences. She bites her lip and turns towards Felix and Ingrid, almost not ready to hear the answer to the question on the tip of her tongue. "Where are Dimitri and Dedue?"

Felix scoffs. "The Boar is in the Knight's Hall butchering everything he can get his hands on before he gets to Edelgard."

Byleth flinches. She had, futilely, hoped to be the one to talk to Dimitri, but it didn't look like she was going to get that chance. There is a good chance that Dimitri has already started his spiralling into the mad prince he became after five years. "Dedue is with him?"

"Yes," Annette pipes up. "The rest of us thought it would be good to give him some space."

"It's hard to believe Edelgard would do all of this," Mercedes murmurs softly.

"She's always been ambitious, but this isn't what I was expecting at all," Ingrid adds.

Byleth pulls a hand through her newly mint-coloured hair and sighs heavily. "It will not be an easy fight, that is for sure, but we must all survive."

She turns to leave the Blue Lions. They are not hers anymore, no matter how much she still cares for them now. She hopes that her attempts to guide them and connect with them this time have resonated enough to keep them the same kids and young adults she knows going into the future. She pauses at the threshold of the Blue Lion classroom.

"It's a shame there won't be a celebration for the Millennium Festival. I would have looked forward to seeing you all there."

- ~ -

After the initial briefing, Byleth is placed in charge of relaying the commands to Dimitri and Claude. She sends a squire to summon them both and meets them above the graveyard where if she cranes her neck she can just see where both of her parents are buried. It doesn't take long after she summons them for the two remaining House Leaders to find her.

Dimitri looks haunted. His eyes are tired and his posture stiff and alert. His facade of "perfect prince" is well enough in place for those who don't know him, but Byleth sees through it and she knows the Lions do too.

Claude, on the other hand, simply looks tired. His green eyes are dimmer than usual and his hair is messy, even for him. He has a book tucked under his arm and a bow slung along his back.

They both look achingly young for what lies ahead.

"I have information from Rhea and Seteth about the plans to protect the monastery. We want to protect the monastery, but if it comes to it, it is more important to evacuate those who cannot fight. We want to survive, not be slaughtered here," Byleth instructs.

Both Claude and Dimitri take in the information silently, nodding along as she relays their instructions. When she reaches the end of the information that Rhea had given her, she pauses. Byleth holds out both of her hands, one to each of her students.

Claude doesn't hesitate before slipping his hand into hers. Dimitri takes a moment longer, but she has forged enough trust with him that he does take her hand. She squeezes both of their hands and sends a silent prayer to Sothis that this is not the last time she will see them.

"You must survive," she tells them. "Your people will need you and we will see each other again."

If her words ring oddly to them, neither says a word. Dimitri's hand–large and calloused across the palm–squeezes her back lightly. Claude's hand–slimmer and rough along the fingertips–reciprocates a tighter grip.

- ~ -

In the end, little changes. There is a cliff and a crack and this time she doesn't scream.

She closes her eyes before she hits the ground and welcomes–

darkness.

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random-imagines-blog · 5 years

Text

In Between Days {Kiernan Shipka x Platonic!Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: @h-a-j-i-m-e-ru Wordcount: 2422 Synopsis: Your best friend is away filming her hit Netflix show. You miss her and decide to do something about it.

Kiernan’s face finally came up, replacing the blue Skype loading screen. You could see your own face in the corner, much smaller than hers, and made yourself laugh by making a face at her. “And here I thought you were too busy out in Studio-land, earning your fortune.” You said, laying down on your bed. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and made a face back at you, making you laugh again. While she was distracted, you looked behind her to see a grey screen - she was probably in the middle of filming an interview or something, which made you feel a bit downhearted. “Are you ever coming home? Your mom misses you.”

“First of all, it’s Vancouver.” Kiernan said, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. “Your hair looks cute, did you get it cut? And soon, I hope. There’s a couple more weeks of shooting left and then I can take a break.” You knew what she was doing - using the haircut thing to attempt to distract you from missing her. It never helped. Kiernan could act but she was never able to fool you. She smiled though, and that made you feel a bit better. She was happy - that’s all that really mattered.

“Kiernan, my hair always looks cute,” You joked, going along with her. You brought your legs up behind you, kicking at the air in the stereotypical female fashion. “You said break, that means you’re not going to be back for long, am I right?”

There was a pause as Kiernan looked past her phone at something, and then back to you. Icicles hung near your heart as you knew what her answer was going to be. You sighed before she even opened her mouth. “The break is only for two weeks...” She said nervously.

“You might as well start waving around a Canadian flag, you’re there enough. You know the national anthem yet? Lunch everyday is poutine and freedom? How is your igloo doing, is it warm enough?” You stuck your tongue out at her, making her roll her eyes.

“I think you’d actually like it up here. Vancouver is really nice - it’s a mix of city and nature, right on the water.” She said, enticing you. The thought was nice, actually. The fact that your best friend was working so far away made you realize that you were feeling stuck where you were at, and like your life wasn’t really moving anywhere. A plan started to hatch in your mind, and you had to turn your face to hide it from Kiernan.

“It sounds nice,” You said, rather flatly. You avoided looking into the webcam, and feigned like you heard something in the background. “You know, I think there’s someone at my door, and since I know it’s not you, it’s probably my dinner. You going to be around later?”

“I might be, text me first!” Kiernan said, leaning forward to look at you in her monitor, sensing that something was going on. “You aren’t very good at hiding things, I know all your tells.”

“Kiernan, I’m shocked and appalled that you think I would hide anything from you!” You acted dramatically, giving her your best Macauley Culken in Home Alone impression. You laughed afterwards, and hovered near the end call button. “Love you, talk to you later.”

You signed off of Skype, effectively getting rid of your friend for the next couple of hours. But you did open a couple of websites and started to do some researching.

“Kiernan...” Lucy Davis said, shuffling towards her young co-worker. After her came you, bent down low and hiding behind her dress, hand over your mouth to stiffle your giggles. It took all of your muscles not to burst out into laughter at the anticipation of seeing your best friend again. Kiernan was not expecting anything, as far as you knew, since you had skyped her the night before from your room, signing off just as your cab came up to take you to the airport so you could fly up to Canada for the next week. Much like Kiernan thought you would, you did find what you saw of Vancouver to be beautiful.

“Socks are a bit loose, they keep falling down,” You heard your friend telling the wardrobe woman. But she did eventually notice the woman who played her Aunt Hilda come into the room. “Morning, Lucy!” She said, cheerfully. “Your carrying a stowaway, I think.”

Your cue, you assumed. There was a moment of confusion when Lucy didn’t move out of the way quickly to expose you, so you stuck your head up over her shoulder and gave your friend the biggest grin that you could muster, and it was entirely real. The blonde gasped and jumped up from the chair where they were trying different length socks on her, in different colors, since apparently Sabrina is really into socks.

You shuffled past Lucy and gave your best friend a hug that took up most of your strength. This wasn’t very much since you were a bit jet-lagged and had to wake up early to take a cab to the studio and meet the people you talked to in order to let you onto the set in the first place.

You both wore the same perfume, and you could smell it on her while the two of you were so close. Kiernan was the first to pull away, look at you, shake her head, then hug you again. The wardrobe woman laughed and excused herself so that you two could have some time to catch up before the scene would begin to be shot, and Lucy left as well, claiming to need to go over her script again.

“You are actually here, in Vancouver?” Kiernan said, her expression a mixture of shock and happiness.

“There just so happened to be a couple of vacation days saved up, so I took them all now. Surprise!” That made Kiernan laugh and shake your arms to make sure that you really were there. “Later though, show me the set Miss Sabrina!” You insisted.

Forgetting about the socks, which were starting to fall down on her calfs and puddle around her ankles, Kiernan took your arm and started to show you around. There were plenty of people to meet, and things to see. It was a whirlwind adventure, being on a TV set like this. Too much was happening that it was hard to learn it all. You weren’t used to this hustle and bustle, even though your own job could be a bit busy at times.

“Your job is way cooler than mine,” You said, walking into Sabrina’s room. You made sure not to touch anything, because you figured that these people would be nitpicky about that. You whistled and settled your gaze back on your friend, who had her thinking face on. It was a face you recognized well, since her thinking got the two of you into trouble many times.

“They might let you be an extra, if you wanted to be. So you can maybe be in a school scene we’re shooting later!” It wasn’t a bad plan, and one that probably wouldn’t turn out to be troublesome so you eagerly agreed to it. It only took a second for Kiernan to grab your arm and drag you over to the director to ask them on your behalf.

It was soon time for your first scene. You weren’t a character that was even named, but you were put into a more trendy outfit and positioned down the hallway from where Kiernan’s character, and another girl you hadn’t been introduced to, were standing.

And then, it was go time. You started to walk down the hall, adjusting your backpack strap, doing your utmost not to look at the camera. The first half of it started off well, but when the camera went into the other actress’s face to get a clear look at her expression, Kiernan turned her head sharply to look at you, and made an ugly face. You attempted to keep your composure as you were walking, and you almost succeeded. Almost.

The bulky shoes that they put on your feet, some sort of heel because apparently people wore those everywhere these days, bumped into one another and you fell onto the floor, laughing in shock at the fall and in amusement at your friend’s face. You weren’t embarrassed or ashamed, but you did cross your eyes at Kiernan and blamed her for making you fall.

“Cut!” The director called out. “Tell me that it won’t happen again, we don’t need another long day.”

Kiernan was about to speak for you but you got onto your feet and smiled as sweetly as you could. “You got it boss!” You returned to where you were before walking onto the scene to get ready to do it again. You had no idea that just walking through a hallway in front of a camera could be so difficult. That it would play at your self-conscious like were you making an odd face, did you have a weird walk, were your shoes making squeaky sounds? Really, you had no idea how Kiernan did this so often.

You waited for the director to call action and walked out again. The scene went smoother this time, and you didn’t have to do a reshoot. Kiernan didn’t make any faces at you, or acknowledge you, though you could see that she angled her body so she would be able to see you walk past. Even that was nearly enough for you to start giggling but you held it all in, as painful as it was.

You had a couple of other scenes together, and were getting ready to film one of them now. It was during a party scene, so you could be more loose, you could smile and laugh. But you weren’t prepared for your best friend’s tricks.

“You better be on your best behavior.” The make-up artist said after sweeping a bit of powder onto your face to reduce any shine from the lights. “It annoys the director that you have more chemistry with Kiernan than any of her on-screen friends do.”

Kiernan and you really did have that connection. Which, of course, made it hard not to talk to her during shooting. She always seemed to catch your eye and you had to stop yourself from referencing a private joke or making one of the faces you knew would make her laugh. You knew it was probably hard for her too since the director always called her out on taking too many steps away from her co-stars towards you. Kiernan did her best to remain professional, since this was her career, but you quickly realized that acting wasn’t going to be in the cards for you after this.

The scene had to be re-shot five times before the Director finally pointed at you as you were talking in the background to one of the other extras, telling the story about the time that you and Kiernan went swimming when it was too chilly and ended up with blue lips. Kiernan had overheard what you were saying and laughed, which certainly was not in the script.

“You, you’re outta here.” You looked at the director to see that he was indeed pointing at you. The rest of the actors looked at you, and Kiernan whispered a sorry in your direction. In your defense, all you did was give a sheepish smile then made your way off of the set to get a cup of coffee. Helpful was the director’s assistant who came with you and explained that it wasn’t really your fault, but you did take responsibility anyhow. You were a distraction.

You met up with Kiernan in her trailer once she was done shooting the party scenes. The actress had all but run towards you, and wrapped her arms around you in a hug. “You didn’t deserve to get fired, I’m so sorry!” She rambled about how she was going to talk to the director tomorrow but you laughed and stopped her.

“You know me, I’m not great in front of cameras.” Your face scrunched up as you remembered some of the god-awful pictures that you two had taken together, which no one else in this world would ever see. “Kiernan, I came here to hang out with you, not to be on set. I’m totally fine with just hanging out with the wardrobe woman or making sure that everything catering makes is wonderful.”

“You sure?” Kiernan asked you, looking into your eyes to make sure that you were telling the truth. To be absolutely sure, she always knew exactly where to look.

“You know it,” You scoffed. Kiernan smiled, seeing that you were being honest with her, and hugged you again.

“It doesn’t mean that you can’t be around on set, you just can’t tell those embarrassing stories about me anymore.”

“It probably means that I can’t go on set since I’m ‘such a distraction’” You said the last three words in an imitation of the director that wasn’t entirely kind. “That’s okay though, I’ll just be surprised like everyone else when I binge your face on Netflix. Really though, it’s going to be so weird seeing me on TV.”

“You get used to it.” Kiernan laughed. “It gets less overwhelming over time. Are you sure you’re okay though?” She asked, still looking a little guilty.

“Psh,” You waved your hand. “This is just one of your many acting jobs. To be honest, there’s going to be so many directors out there who will love me and beg for me to do a scene with you, I might just overpower your career.” You joked, making Kiernan nudge you. She did smile though, which made you feel a bit better.

“You’re going to be my best friend forever, you know that?” She said, finally relaxing and sitting down on the bed of her trailer. Your legs followed hers and you sat down beside her, stretching out.

“You can’t get rid of me, duh.”

#Kiernan Shipka #Kiernan Shipka x reader #Kiernan Shipka oneshot #celebrity #celebrity oneshot #oneshot #oneshots #request #kiernans

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necrokittytales · 5 years

Text

Necrokitty Tales: Trouble in Inkwell Isle (Chapter 25)

Authors’ note: Necrida’s writing will be in italics and SPKC’s writing with be regular font.If you have no idea what this roleplaying thing is, you can start from the beginning here.

This has some nsfw bits! ———————————————————————————

Hilda was sitting in the projection room, over some blankets and pillows. In front of her was Cagney smiling at her, and between them, a wonderful cake lit with candles.

“Is this what you want?” Cagney said to her, holding her hand. She didn’t understand his question but before she could say anything, everything turned dark and lit up again. This time they were sitting at the club. People around them were blurry. Cagney gently took her to the dance floor and danced slowly with her, keeping her very close to him.

“Is this what you want?” He asked again sweetly. Hilda looked at him confused.

“I… I don’t kn~.” Cagney pinned her down on a soft bed. She gasped in surprise as she felt him rubbing against her body.

“Is this what you want?” He asked again, grinning and with lust in his eyes. Hilda’s back arched as she felt him penetrate her roughly and released a moan of both pain and pleasure.

“Wh- what do YOU want?” She managed to say between the hard thrusts Cagney was inflicting upon her.

The flower started to pull vines around the bed and started to entangle around Hilda’s body. She felt the vines getting tighter on her chest. She started to suffocate. She couldn’t speak or yell.

Cagney transformed into a terrifying mix of his monstrous self and the crystal dragon. He came face to face to her, and with a deep horrifying voice, he whispered.

“I don’t want to see you again.”

The need for air woke Hilda from her nightmare with a startled shriek. She remained still in her bed, laying on her side for a moment, recovering her breath. She felt something tight in her chest. She look down to see Beppi’s arm wrapped around her - the clown was spooning her.

She looked horrified at him, as he slept sweetly with a teddy bear between them, sucking his thumb. “GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” She yelled, violently pushing the clown off the bed.

“Miss Beeerg!?” She heard a child’s voice calling her. “Mis Beerg! You ok?” She recognized it was Mina. She must have seen the mess at the observatory.

Beppi hit the ground with a thud and a whine. “Honey, not now, I have a headache,” He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, still hugging the teddy bear in his other hand. He looked to see an irritated, yet distracted Hilda and sidled back up to her. “Looks like you woke up the kids,” he teased. He patted her on head. “Don’t worry, I’ll go get it for you!”

Beppi planted an overdramatic kiss to her cheek before hopping off the bed and running to open the door first before the zeppelin woman could recover.

Hilda stayed on her bed, unbelieving the clown’s boldness to treat her like that. This was already turning out to be a horrible day.

—

Mina and Harvey knocked a few more times, paying attention to any sound that came from inside the house.

“You think she’s ok?” The little bat asked worried. They had seen the damage from the observatory from a far and she was understandably worried about the woman.

“She’s really tough,” Harvey pointed out, “for all we know she might actually be the one who broke the roof. She’s done it before.”

The door swung open and Beppi stood there, manic grin already on his face. “Hello there, children!!!” He exclaimed grabbing the two kids and dragging them inside. “I’m about to make pancakes!”

The kids yelled, terrified and tried to escape the clown’s grip. Hilda was alarmed by the shouting and ran down stairs. “Beppi! What the hell are you doing!?”

“He’s gonna kill us!” Mina yelled, clawing at the clown.

Beppi plopped the children at the table. “I’m making pancakes!”

Harvey panickedly looked toward the kitchen. “Made with flour and not children, right?”

“Wellllll I do have a special ingredient that I like to put in the batter. It makes the children really scream.” The horrified faces of the kids left him delighted. “It’s chocolate chips,” he added with a wink.

“Sorry about Beppi,” Hilda started to prepare some tea. “He can be a bit… intense.”

The kids exchanged confused looks but remained at the table. “If you’re not here to kill us… what are you doing here? Did you destroy the observatory too?“ The little b-cat asked the clown, still a bit scared.

Beppi had started making pancakes as Hilda apologized. But at the little bat’s question, he started to giggle again.

"No, no. Hilda and I just had a sleepover is all. I’m here dragon hunting!” He explained.

Harvey paled. “You’re not hunting Grim, right?”

“Nah, that would be too easy. I’m hunting the dragon from the other night. The one you blew up with a churro.”

Harvey gasped. “You mean it is still around?”

Beppi finished making the pancakes in the shape of circus animals and plopped them on the table. “Well not now, but Cagn-eh, I’ve got good knowledge that it might be lurking around this isle.”

Hilda’s eyes twitched at the comment of the clown. Harvey would certainly tell his mom all this, and it would be a matter of hours before the whole isles knew about Beppi’s sleepover.

"Heheh! Yeah! Eh… don’t tell anyone though. It’s a secret mission!” She tried to persuade the kids, serving them more pancakes onto their plates. “If the dragon finds out there’s a hunter hiding in here, he won’t come back at all!”

“Ficrwept mifion!” Mina said with her mouth already full of pancakes. She swallowed with a noisy gulp. “How can we help?!” She said, excited. This would be a great chapter in her adventure journal.

Beppi whistled. “Wellllll, it’d be nice if we could get Hilda’s tower rebuilt so I could have a higher spot for looking out…but I’d also settle for both of you two keeping a lookout if you see something weird.”

Mina looked at the pancakes and an idea popped in her head.

“We can sell cookies! Like the girl scouts.” She said excited, looking at Harvey for his approval.

Harvey’s ears perked up. “Yeah! We can use my mom’s kitchen and we can go set up in places with a lot of people.”

Beppi waved his hand. “Feel free to use the circus. I’m sure they’ve swept up all the glass by this point.”

Mina yelled of happiness and excitement. “We will make money in no time! But we’re going to need help. We should call Spike!”

While the kids talked, Hilda sipped her tea, thinking that it was actually a good idea. Maybe she should talk to the school principal and make a whole event out of it.

Harvey nodded excitedly. “This is a really good idea!” Hopefully Spike wouldn’t try to bully them but it seemed for now there was at least an okay truce between them.

After eating a bunch of pancakes, the kids decided it was time to leave.

“The sooner we start baking, the sooner we’ll get the money! Don’t worry, Miss Berg! We will help you rebuild your observatory!” Mina said, walking towards the door and waving goodbye.

The sky witch’s heart melted at the kids’ enthusiasm to help her out. Maybe she wouldn’t have to leave after all. “Thank you, kids. I’ll take all the help I can get.”

The kids left in a hurry, heading to Spike’s house.

Hilda eyed one of the pancakes and tried one. “Hmm! This is pretty good, Beppi! I didn’t expect you to know how to do anything else but hotdogs and popcorn.”

Beppi nudged her. “My speciality is my hotdog cotton candy pancakes!” He cracked his fingers. “So what’s on the agenda for you today, Miss Berg?”

The woman made a disgusted face at the clown. “For today, I need to call someone to clear the debris, I got to talk to the mayor see if I can get some money for repairs. That baking thing might be a good idea, I may talk to the school see if we can organize something with all the kids.” She served herself a bit more tea. “What about you?”

Beppi slapped her on the back as she attempted to sip more tea. “Say, that’s exactly what I was going to do! Why don’t we go together?” He started to pick up pancakes and shove them in his pockets. “You should definitely wear that ring though. I don’t want to get smushed by an anvil because I’m walking with you!”

Beppi made her spill some of her tea. “What!? Don’t you have a dragon to catch?” She said frowning at him cleaning the spill.

Beppi threw his hands in the air. “Do you really think I’d be able to catch it if I saw one without you? I can’t exactly float very fast, you know.” The clown made sure to be even more overdramatic than necessary. Cagney did not want her out of his sight. And the last thing the clown wanted to deal with was an angry daisy AND an angry genie.

Just one of them was hard enough.

Plus, he thought as he eyed Hilda’s legs as she bent over to clean the tea spill, she wasn’t too hard on the eyes either. Since Bon Bon wasn’t working out, it wouldn’t hurt to try things with Hilda.

He had a thing for deadly women.

Hilda knew it was pointless to argue with him. He always got what he wanted, so she might as well play along. She finished cleaning and went up stairs. “I’m gonna get ready, don’t come up here.” She said, giving him a threatening look.

—-

On their way to Spike’s, Mina took the chance to explain Harvey what happened to her and Spike when they were in front of the magic mirror with the large dog that tried to come out. And how Spike had spoken fearfully that the dog looked just like his dad. “So I hope his dad is not around…”’

Harvey nodded solemnly. “If SPIKE doesn’t like his dad, I can only imagine how scary he is.”

The two children approached a shack with a fire hydrant up front. There wasn’t much to the house, a couple of big bones in the yard, but otherwise it was just a house. Harvey knocked on it hesitantly and waited.

In a few minutes, a sleepy Spike answered the door. “Hey losers,” he yawned, “What’s up?”

Mina smiled at him. “Hey, Spike! We just found out the observatory got destroyed by the crystal dragon from the carnival. We were going to earn some money to repair it by selling cookies. Would you like to help us? We’re going to need all the hands we can get!”

Spike snorted. “That sounds kinda girly but okay. Lemme just get dressed.”

Harvey paused. “Do you have to ask your dad if you can go?” He asked curiously.

Spike shook his head. “Nah. He’s busy right now. Gimmee a sec.” The bull dog pup shut the door and quickly got dressed. He opened the door again, a little wider this time, allowing Mina and Harvey to see a large figure laying on the couch, snoring heavily. There was an empty jug labeled “XXX” nearby.

Spike shut the door as he stepped out. “Alright lead the way”

Mina felt sorry for Spike. Because of her mother’s line of work, she had been around clubs, and so she was familiar of the negative effects the alcohol produced in people. She decided not to address it, though, and focus on their mission.

On their way to Grim’s, Mina and Harvey told Spike about the night they saw Venus and why was important to rebuild the observatory.

“And without it, how are going to see if there’s life in other planets? Or if evil aliens come to conquer us! That’s why we have to save it,” Mina said, hoping Spike would get onboard for the long run, and not just to use them as an excuse to get away from his dad.

Spike considered it. “If any evil aliens come, I would totally kick their butts. But I guess it would nice to see them coming. So I guess I can help fix it.”

Harvey nodded. “Great! As soon as Mina is done with her flying lesson, we will get started!”

The kids reached the dragon’s tower and knocked at the huge door. Seconds later, Grim opened the door with a smile. “I was starting to t-think you forgot about our classes.”

“Hi, Grim! Actually, we have an important mission today, and I was wondering if we could make it a short class?” Mina asked, holding her hands on her back.

“W-why?” The dragon asked, curious.

The kids explained what happened to the observatory and told him about their idea to help Hilda earn money for repairs.

“Aww, kids! T-that is a wonderful idea! I would like to help. You could cook here, I got a huge oven I barely use.” He went inside his tower signaling the kids to follow him to the kitchen.

“What type of cookies should we make?” Harvey asked as they walked in.

“If anyone says oatmeal raisins, I’m going to give you such a bad charlie horse!”

Mina wondered what was a charlie horse, but knowing Spike, it was probably something painful.

Harvey winced. “How about chocolate? Or sugar cookies?”

Grim opened the oven to show the kids, and they were surprised to see they could all three fit in if they wanted to.

They had the oven, now they needed the ingredients. A sudden realisation hit the little girl.

“Uh… guys… I just realized we need money to buy the ingredients….” She said searching in her pockets.

Harvey huffed. “Darn. I didn’t think about that. We could go ask my mom if we could have some money.”

Spike scratched his ear. “Why don’t we ask the Baroness if she has the dough we can borrow?”

Even though Grim would love to go see Bon Bon again, he knew how busy her agenda was, and he wouldn’t like to bother her for something this small.

“I t-think I have enough ingredients for a first b-batch. No need t-to bother the Baroness.” The dragon searched in his pantry and tooked the ingredients. “Hey! I even have some ch-chocolate left.” He said, happily surprised.

“Oh great! We can make chocolate chip cookies!” Mina said excited.

“And while t-they bake we can start your flying lessons,” Grim added, preparing the tools to make the mix. He also grabbed a few chairs so the kids would reach the counter and help with the preparations.

They all had fun making different shapes for the cookies and finally, it was time to bake.

As Grim said before, they went outside for a quick flying lesson for Mina, who was improving very fast. The dragon thought she was a quick learner, but the truth was he was a very good teacher. He didn’t notice, but he even stuttered less when he focused on his lessons.

Finally, the time for testing the first batch arrived. They all took a cookie and ate at the same time, only to spit it almost immediately. They could only taste the bitterness of the flour and the texture was all dusty. If it wasn’t for the chocolate chips, the cookies wouldn’t have any flavor at all.

After drinking some lemonades to wash up the taste, Grim admitted it was time for professional help, and flew with the kids to Bon Bon’s castle. They landed at the door and Grim asked politely to one of the guards if it was possible to get an audience with Bon Bon.

The Baroness was in the midst of some paperwork when one of the guards knocked on her door. She glanced up irritably. “What is it?”

“Sorry to disturb you, Baroness, but you have some visitors.”

“I’m rather busy at the moment.”

“It’s Grim Matchstick and some children.”

The Baroness raised an eyebrow. “Oh, well, that’s different.” She excused the guard and checked herself in the mirror subconsciously, patting down her hair and straightening her dress before walking out to the entrance, calm and regal.

“Grim, what a delight to see you and the little ones. What brings you to my castle? Are you having another flight lesson?”

Grim discretely wiggled his tail happy to see the Baroness. Mina did a knight salutation with her fist on her chest.

“Hello, Bon Bon! We’ve just finished t-the lesson, but we’re here for something else.” Helped by the kids, the dragon explained the situation of the observatory, how they wanted to sell cookies to earn money to rebuild it, and the fiasco their first batch was. “So, c-could you help us out? M-maybe you have an easy recipe we can follow?”

Bon Bon’s eyes lit up at the request. “Of course. But perhaps we could do accomplish this task best in my personal kitchen? I have quite the confectioneries to work with,” she suggested, beckoning the small group to follow her.

When no one immediately declined the invitation, the Baroness led them to the kitchen. It was almost surreal. Cupboards upon cupboards of every topping and sugar and flour and cream known through the isles. There was honey and molasses and cherries and raisins. Almost too much to count.

She knelt down to Mina’s level. “So what type of cookies are you looking to make?”

Mina’s eyes widened at the view of all the ingredients. There was even stuff she never saw before. The Baroness’ question brought her back from her thoughts. “Oh! Uh, we tried to make chocolate chip cookies, but, anything will do! As long as it taste good.” She chuckled looking at her friends for their approval.

Harvey and Spike nodded, equally gobsmacked by the selection of baking supplies. The Baroness nodded and began to pull out ingredients. “Grim, can you hand me the cookie cutters on the shelf up there?”

Harvey brightened up. “Hey, do you have any star shaped ones? Since we’re doing this for Hilda?”

“Oh! Good idea, Harvey!” Mina patted the little bunny.

Spike clapped his paws together. “Oh! Aliens! Got any aliens?”

Bon Bon nodded. “I’m sure I have the stars. Grim, do you see any aliens or other space ones up there?”

Grim looked on the shelves and found cookie cutters in.the shape of stars, half moon, a couple of rockets and a planet with its halo.

“Would t-this suffice?” The dragon showed the shapes to the kids. Mina nodded excited.

“They’re going to look awesome!”

Bon Bon could easily turn out rows upon rows of cookies by herself but she knew that this would defeat the purpose of the children raising the money so she helped instruct them how to put the right amount of flour and sugar ratios.

Spike learned how to beat an egg. He was quite pleased with himself and even Bon Bon was impressed by how naturally he could do it. “I’ve beaten a lot of things,” he chuckled, much to Harvey’s chagrin.

Harvey meanwhile loved to roll out the dough, putting flour on the rolling pin so as not have it be too sticky.

The Baroness had Mina pick and choose ingredients as she saw fit, making a batch of chocolate and then a batch of sugar cookies next.

Grim was delighted to see the Baroness explaining to the kids how to prepare the cookies. His imagination quickly drifted to a future with her. But that bubble quickly burst, realising the big differences between them. Even if they could, somehow, manage to do it, not to brag, but it would probably destroy her.

Besides, Bon Bon probably didn’t want him romantically. Sure they had fun together, and she often would pet him and stroke his head, but did she see him only as a pet?

He glanced nervously at the Baroness from time to time while helping the children to cut the shapes into the dough.

The Baroness was unaware of Grim’s inner turmoil, helping the children to get the first batch of cookies onto the tray. She went to open the oven only for her brow to furrow.

“The oven’s cold,” she realized, “The pilot light must have gone out.” Someone would pay dearly for that but until then, she would have to think of something else.

“Grim,” she called, breaking the dragon from his thoughts, “would you be a dear and help relight the pilot light?”

Grim nodded. “O-of course!” He got close to the oven and softly blew a small flame to turn it on. Mina was amazed at how easy he made spitting fire look.

“While we wait, we should think of a spot to put our stand. Or should we go door to door?” Mina asked her friends.

Harvey thought about it. “We should choose a spot to sell the cookies and maybe someone can go tell people we are selling cookies?” He suggested.

“Didn’t that dumb clown say we could use his circus?” Spike asked.

“You’re right, Spike! Oh! And we’re going to need a big sign so people can see us from far!” Mina started to get really excited and was imagining a neon sign guiding people to their huge stand.

The Baroness left the kids to work with the oven, catching the sight of a piece of paper to the side of the kitchen counter. She picked it up and read it over, her facing becoming slightly irritated. “It appears we are behind on a cake order,” she realized, “what with the pilot light being out.” She ran her surprisingly clean hands through her hair. “It’s a large cake…and I’ve set the baker home already.” This would take forever on her own, even with knowing the recipe by heart.

Noticing her irritation, Grim shyly approached her. “Em, well, c-can I help?” He said, playing nervously with his cookie dough covered claws.

Bon Bon nodded. “Yes, I suppose. We might get a bit dirty though. Let me change real quick into something a bit more comfortable?”

“Of c-course!” The dragon nodded and washed his hands in the sink. His mind drifted again and wondered what Bon Bon looked like without all those layers on. He shook his head to prevent his imagination to go further. That did remind him however, he had his letter to recover from Hilda! Maybe later tonight he could swing by and ask for it. He hoped Hilda hadn’t opened it yet.

Bon Bon departed to her chambers and quickly changed into a shorter dress and blushed. She almost felt naked with something with only one layer but she knew she would quickly overheat in her regular outfit what’s the oven going and working next to Grim who generally seemed to run hot.

She stepped back into the kitchen, pulling a book from one of the shelves. “How familiar are you with Grand Marnier cake?” She asked, trying to be nonchalant about it, even as she felt highly sensitive in her outfit.

Grim was astonished when he saw the lovely frame of the Baroness in that light dress, and could only mumble his answer. “Uh…um… eh… .”

The Baroness began to pull ingredients as she could hear the excited children making another flying saucer batch of cookies. “It’s a bit of a more difficult cake to bake but I think we could do it. Are you sure you’re okay to help me?”

The dragon managed to snap out of it and nodded. “Yes! I want t-to help. What do you need me t-to do?” He asked nervously, trying to not stare at her.

“I’m going to need you to start mixing with this while I pour ingredients in.” She gestured to a large bowl and whisk. “It gets really tiring to have to do both at once,” she admitted.

“Okay.” The dragon nodded again and started mixing.

After a few minutes Grim started to feel awkward and decided to say something about her dress. “Y-you look delicious, by the way….” He realised how horrible that sounded and quickly tried to correct himself. “I mean! The d-dress looks delicious cause…what is it made of? M-marshmallow? I-I-I didn’t mean as… you are delicious… just… eh…oh b-boy….” He started to rumble, red of embarrassment and whipping the mix way too hard and not daring to look at the Baroness.

The Baroness awkwardly laughed. Her family had been very concerned when Grim first showed up that the dragon would indeed eat her up along with anyone else on the isle.

Obviously by the fact that everyone was still alive and well that this wasn’t the case and Grim ended up being a very nice, innocent dragon. A little too innocent, she lamented to herself.

Sometimes when they were alone, she wanted to do a little more than tea and giggles. But there was no way such a shy dragon such as himself would be up for that. So she took care of things herself, imagining what it would feel like.

Bon Bon especially liked the daydream she’d have where he really would be eating her up…just a little further down is all. She realized she had turned a bet heated at that and tried to respond to what Grim said as she fanned herself. “Yes, it’s marshmallow…probably not the best choice. It’s so warm in here, I would love for you to eat it off.”

She froze. “Uh, take it off. Wait, I mean, I would love to take it off with you. Cause…excuse me one moment,” she calmly walked out of the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water. Only once she was out of sight did she splash it on her face.

“Control yourself, you’re a Baroness,” she ordered herself quietly

Grim was dumbstruck by what he heard, or thought he heard. She wanted him to EAT her dress off? He blushed heavily. He could feel his body heating up at the thought. But she didn’t really say that…did she?

He glanced quickly at the children to make sure they didn’t get any of what just happened. They seemed too focused on making the perfect shape for the cookies and creating slogans to boost their sales.

“If it rhymes, it will bring bigger dimes!” He heard the little bat chant to prove her point to the other two.

“How about, buy our cookies or else?” Spike suggested.

Even Harvey had to giggle a bit, enjoying the sugar high from working with all the baking supplies.

The Baroness cooled off enough to come back in, a smile on her face. “How’s the whisking going?” She asked. She saw how quickly he was stirring and she frowned. “Oh! Slow down a little bit otherwise you may beat the air out of the mixture!”

Mina shook her head. “Oh, Spike. Violence is not the answer for everything. Mind games is.” She smirked. “We need to make people believe they need our cookies, or their lives would be miserable.”

Grim was still very red and he didn’t dare to look at Bon Bon. He did slow down his movements and started to mix more gently. “Like t-this?” He asked shyly. He couldn’t get the idea of devouring her outfit out of his head.

The Baroness smiled at Grimm’s careful whisking. “Yes, that’s it. Not too rough. can’t be too rough with this stuff, otherwise it won’t be so fluffy. Now for the final ingredient.” With the children distracted, the Baroness withdrew a brown bottle from a discrete cupboard.

It was liquor. Grand Marnier to be exact. “We don’t want to accidentally pour too much, otherwise this will become quite a boozy cake.”

Hearing the Baroness explaining him with a gentle tone aroused him even more. He felt the pressure in his crotch and knew he had to get out of sight immediately.

“Uh! I g-g-gotta use the bathroom!” He said pushing the bowl into Bon Bon’s hands and running out of the kitchen to go to the nearest toilet.

Mina kept thinking out loud. “Hm… if your day sucked, take a bite back… hm… if you want to help Berg… buy our cookies, you turd!” She chuckled.

Bon Bon blinked in surprise at Grim’s rapid departure. She placed the bowl down and started to add the liquor. “Huh, maybe he was overheating too?”

Grim locked himself in the bathroom. It was a service bathroom, for the kitchen staff, so it wasn’t as impressive as the ones reserved for the guests, but it was good enough for the heated dragon.

He immediately opened the sink and splashed his face with fresh water and looked at himself in the mirror. “K-k-keep it together, Grim! You’re not an animal!” He scolded himself, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of his natural impulses.

The pressure between his legs started to turn from irritating to painful. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer.

He looked around desperately and noticed the bathtub. Maybe a cold shower might calm him down. It would be weird to explain to Bon Bon why he was taking a bath in the service restroom.

He ground his teeth and decided he would worry about that later, and opened the water to fill the bathtub.

“C'mon,c'mon, c'mon!” He whispered while the water painfully filled the tub at a slow rate. He held his crotch to make sure his piece would stay put, but it only made him want to rub himself against his own hands.

“Enough!” One of his extra heads popped out alarmed. “Shame on us! You’re in the Baroness Von Bon Bon’s castle, you perv! And there are kids and everything in here!”

“I knew this was gonna happen!” The last head interrupted. “We should masturbate more often! I keep telling ya! This is not healthy to bottle it all up!”

“Guys! Not the b-best time to argue who’s right.” Grim pointed down at his now erect penis.

“Quick! To the bathtub!” Said the first head, and Grim obeyed. The tub was too small for the dragon, but he managed to fit his rear in, spilling half of the water all over the bathroom.

“Oh, for Christ sake!” All three heads spoke at the same time. They looked down to see if the cold water was doing its job, but their piece stood there just as hard.

“Okay… let’s get this over with.” The second head broke the awkward silence. “We gotta do it.”

The first head looked at him horrified. “You want us to masturbate? Now!? Are you insane!?”

“Well, it’s either a quick relief or go back out there with a fourth head. You think she won’t notice THAT?” The second head said sarcastically.

Grim sighed. He was starting to think he was right. Since it had been so long since he paid any attention to himself. It was be quicker to just do it and go back like nothing happened.

“You are disgusting! At least let’s fly back home….”

“Yeah… haven’t you noticed the big red flag we’re hoisting?”

Grim shushed them. “K-keep it down!” He whispered and looked again at his crotch. “Maybe if I hurt myself will g-go away.” The other heads looked at each other, worried.

Grim drew his tail to his mouth. “Okay…just a little b-bite would do.” His tail was now between his teeth, but he was too scared to close his jaws.

The third head was tired of waiting and pushed Grim’s jaw roughly down, causing all three heads to growl in pain. They stood silence for a few seconds to hear if somebody was coming.

They didn’t hear anything, and now they were hurting in two parts, not just one.

“Well, that was pointless. Can we, please, just, touch ourselves?” The third head started to get anxious. “We already have the material to work with,” he smirked maliciously.

“Ugh! Fine! I still think this is filthy and we WILL regret it!” The first head said, blushing, thinking of ‘the material’ the other head was referring too. Grim blushed heavily and looked away from his crotch.

—

The Baroness was starting to become concerned when Grim didn’t return within a few minutes. She thought about trying to find him however, she didn’t want to leave the children alone with the high powered furnace. Luckily, she spotted one of the Jelly Bean Bakers walking by and quickly called him to attention.

“Watch the children while I locate Matchstick,” she ordered, keeping her voice stern and authoritative.

“Yes, Baroness, of course. I believe I saw him near one of the service washrooms.”

“Thank you.” She paused as the Jelly Bean approached the children with oven mitts. Why on Earth’s name would he be over there? He knew where the guest restrooms were. Maybe he was looking for a glass of water?

She poured a glass from the bottle next to her and quietly walked out of the kitchen to find him. She didn’t hear anything as she approached the washroom and was about to consider that her servant had been incorrect when she picked up the slightest of groans.

She approached the door, the groaning continuing, now a little bit louder and heavier. That sounded like Grim. Was he having a stomach ache? Perhaps he’d eaten one too many of the ingredients they were using. It sounded like he was trying to talk to himself, maybe to make himself feel better?

“Hmm, what did she say again? She wants you to eat her dress off… yum!” He said, slowly licking his lips with his long pointy tongue.

Grim reached down slowly and twitched at the touch of his hand against his very sensitive part. He delicately wrapped his hand around the tip and started stroking very gently. They all bit their lips at the pleasurable sensation.

“Ohh… this is so wrong,” the first head said nervously. "We better hurry up, they’re right next door.”

“Hey, hey, calm down.” The third head whispered. “Focus on Bon Bon’s delicious marshmallow dress.”

“Probably melting with the heat in the kitchen.” The fist one added innocently. He was just stating the fact, but realised how Grim was stroking a bit more vividly at the thought of the melting dress.

“I would have t-to lick all of it.” A silly smile grew on his face.

Lick all of what? The bowl with the cake mix? Bon Bon was puzzled.

Licking the bowl would just get him sicker if he was having a tummy ache. She can hear another voice now speaking and realized it was one of his heads. Goodness, he really wasn’t feeling well if those two had popped up.

“Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. And we would help you out! We cover the north… and you go aaall the way south.” The third head smiled widely, feeling the more rhythmic strokes Grim was giving to himself.

That, that didn’t sound like baking. If she didn’t know any better, Bon Bon would have almost thought he was talking about…

The dragon heads all tried their best to moan as little as possible, but it was hard to keep themselves from groaning after a long time of neglect.

“I would….” Grim continued. “I would stick my t-tongue all the way inside her. I wonder if she tastes as sweet as she smells.” Even in cold water the dragon was really hot. He let his tongues hang from their heads, panting softly.

The sound of the dragon moaning made the member of royalty stiffen. Bon Bon turned as red as a tomato as the image of cute little Grim shattered as the dragon managed to purr out such sensual words.

She stifled a gasp with her hand as his words triggered a needy twitch within her abdomen. Her eyes darted around worriedly for any other witnesses but there was none.

“I want to give her so much pleasure,” the first head spoke this time, delirious from the good sensations.

"I want to bite every part of her delicate body.” The other head added breathing heavily.

BonBon sent her fingers on her lips trailing down against her neck and the suddenly very tight feeling of the hem of her dress.

Who was he talking about that had the dragon so worked up? His heavy panting and the lack of other servants emboldened her actions, the free hand having dipped further so it was needing her now very sensitive breasts. She entertained the idea he was lusting after her and a desirous thrill made her body shiver with the thought.

“I want to show her how much I love her….” Grim said stroking his piece more violently.

The Baroness froze at that line.

Grim was in love with someone? Her mind raced with thoughts of who it could be. She had always thought that the dragon had a crush on her, but hearing him like this, learning about a side of him that she had no idea existed, she wondered if she had been completely wrong about that.

Sure, the dragon had asked her out, but perhaps it had been friendship? He never said he liked her or anything. Guilt and shame began to press in, small during the desire that had sparked up at hearing him speak like this. She was the one who pressed little kisses to his cheek, not the other way around. And there were times during summer where he disappear for days, even weeks on end sometimes in the summer… Was he seeing someone else?

Without realising they had an audience, Grim and his heads all started to moan and groan a bit louder. “I want her… only her…. I need her to scream my name!”

Bon Bon felt so foolish. She backed away from the door and took a shaky swig of the water, only to nearly choke as she realized should accident report herself a glass of the Grand Marnier liquor. It burned as it went down her throat, and she quickly hurried down the hallway, stifling a cough and perhaps the beginning of an unhappy sob.

Grim could feel he was pretty close to climaxing. He kept imagining the delicate frame of Bon Bon under his hungry tongues, dipping inside her as deep as they could reach, feeling her twitch and moan his name.

“Oh, Bon Bon!” All three heads growled climaxing releasing a heavy load. He tried to recover his normal breathing, caressing himself slowly while his erection, finally satisfied, softened away.

"I can’t believe we just did that….” The first head said, embarrassed.

“Wow, we REALLY needed that!” The third one added. “Maybe next time I suggest something, maybe you’ll listen to me, huh?” The first head rolled his eyes and Grim was still in the blissful afterglow to pay any attention.

He stood up, emptied the bathtub and washed himself. The fresh water was very welcome. Now that he was relaxed, the other heads returned to the body and he started to get ready to come out again.

—-

As a future explorer, Mina was very observant, she figured out something was wrong between Bon Bon and Grim and now that they both left she dared to ask.

“You think Grim and Bon Bon had a fight? I feel like something is wrong between them….”

Harvey looked around, realizing that Mina was correct. Both the Baroness and Grim were gone. “Maybe we should go look for them?” He suggested.

The kitchen doors opened abruptly and the children jumped up in surprise. The Baroness had walked in, looking slightly just shoveled. Upon realizing she was being watched, the woman straightened herself out, placed an empty glass she had been carrying on the counter, and coolly smiled.

“I apologize,” she began, “I was worried that Grim was having a stomach ache.”

Spike laughed. “Haha, that sucks.”

Harvey’s ears drooped. “Is he okay?”

“Yes, I’m sure he’ll be joining us later. Let me see how your cookies have come out.” She wiped her eyes and approached. Spike sniffed the air, slightly confused. "You kind of smell like my dad right now,“ he noted.

She appeared taken aback. "Does your dad smell of sugar?”

“Not exactly…nevermind. Look at my alien cookies. This one is eating Harvey’s astronaut cookie.”

—

After a few minutes, the dragon got out of the bathroom, still blushing of embarrassment, but much more relaxed. He took a deep breath before entering the kitchen, waving his hand to the kids.

“H-hey! Sorry about that. I had a t-tummy ache. Probably from the first batch of cookies we made.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Oh! You feeling better?” Mina asked, worried.

“Uh, y-yeah, don’t worry! I’ll be fine….” He turned even more red. “Are t-the cookies done baking?” He asked Bon Bon, playing with his fingers nervously and avoiding eye contact.

Bon Bon swallowed, pushing down the last of the bile in her throat and appeared very calm. “Yes, the first few batches are done. I think the kids will be ready to go sell in an hour or so.” She made sure to also not directly look at Grim nor touch him at all, not even a brush with her shoulder.

Harvey hopped up and down. “I forgot, where did we say we’re going to sell these?”

“We could try next to the third isle bridge. A lot of people pass by. Or near the balloon tree,” Mina proposed.

Spike whistled. "I haven’t been to the third isle in a while. Plus, if they don’t buy a cookies, we can throw them over the bridge!”

“I am going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part,” Harvey muttered starting to pack away the cookies for transport.

Grim hadn’t noticed Bon Bon’s cold shoulder for he was still thinking of what he had done minutes ago, and that made him lose focus on what was going on. He did hear the Baroness and he nodded.

“G-good, good….” He wanted to leave but leaving the Baroness alone with the kids would be kind of rude, so he decided to stay until the batch was done. “Eh… what about your cake, Bon Bon? Anything else help with?” He asked looking for the bowl they were working on.

Baroness hardly heard Grim initially. She realized what he had asked and that a response was probably necessary. She looked at the half finished cake batter and shrugged. It had been whipped too harshly, she doubted it would rise. She probably could have saved it, but the idea no longer appealed to her.

“No, that will be all. Thank you, Grim,” she responded politely.

“O-okay.” Grim answered, starting to suspect something was wrong with her, but he shook his thoughts, thinking it was probably him being paranoid. He helped the kids to finish packing up all the cookies and they were soon ready to go.

“Thank you very much, your highness.” The little bat bowed to Bon Bon. “Thanks to you we will save the observatory!” She smiled at her, truly grateful for her help.

“Yeah, t-thank you very much, Bon Bon.” Grim smiled and forced himself to look at her, turning really red, afraid she would see through his eyes to see what he did earlier.

The Baroness politely nodded. “Of course. I’m afraid I don’t have the type of dough that Ms. Berg could really use, but my kingdom would like to help in any way that we can.” She motioned for one of the jelly bean guards to approach.

“I’ll have you escorted safely to the bridge when you are ready. I would hate for somebody else to just steal them away before you get a chance to sell them.”

When they were at the door, Grim said goodbye to the kids who left with the escort Bon Bon had assigned them.

The dragon gathered the strength to talk to the Baroness. “S-say.. uh… t-thank you again for helping… hmm… I was wondering… if you’re not t-to busy, perhaps … you would like to come by later? I bought this new forest t-tea blend I think you might enjoy….” He said shyly, smiling trying to sound normal.

The Baroness almost instinctively said yes but stopped herself. Knowing that Grim was involved or at least romantically interested in someone else, it would not look good for her to continue her frequent visits to his home. People would talk, especially if any of them had spotted Grim’s beau.

The last thing she needed was to tarnish both her and Grim’s name with people thinking they were engaged in something sordid.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I have some delegations I need to attend to. Perhaps another time?”

Grim dropped his ears sad to hear that. “Y-yeah, whenever you’re free. Uh… I’m gonna g-go now…. t-thanks again… .” And with a couple of powerful flaps, the dragon flew away to his tower.

—-

Amoury sat in front of a wounded and tired Carlos. They were in a simple hotel room, and at the door there was Francis and Connor, the gorilla and toad who were assisting Carlos in recovering the cargo.

The spider was furious, but you could only tell by the deadly look he gave to the cat, for he didn’t spoke a word to him. In his hand, he held a glass of brownish liquor, making a tinkling noise with the ice hitting the glass.

“Amory… I know I… kinda messed up things… but it wasn’t all my fault. The guy wanted to check the cargo! Mc Crabbe didn’t tell him about our… arrangement… and this masked cat, popped out of nowhere!” Amory hold a hand to signal him to stop talking, and took a sip of his glass. Carlos rolled his eyes. He knew Amory had a taste for the dramatic acts, but this ‘silent type’ was starting to get to his nerves.

“You said you were ready for the job, Buenaventura.” Amory said calmly.

“You can just call me Carlos.” The cat smiled. “Buenaventura is kind of a mouthful.”

The spider didn’t find anything amusing in his comment, and glared at him with his five eyes. Carlos gulped. “Buenaventura sounds fine!” The cat quickly added. “And, again! I was ready! just… I miscalculated… I should have listened to my mamá and stayed in school.”

Amory left the glass roughly on the table with a loud thud. “Three quarters of the cargo, Buenaventura. Three quarters, gone….” He kept that disturbingly calm tone.

Carlos dropped his ears. “Well, let’s stay positive! Thanks to Francis and Connor here….” He pointed at the two at his back. “We recover one quarter! That’s better than nothing! … right?” He forced a smile but it erased from his face when he noticed one of the spider’s eye twitch. “Mmmkay… I’m going to shut up now.”

The spider finished his glass with one gulp and left the glass softly on the table this time. “You will keep an eye on Sullivan Wells, and you better pray that this… masked cat won’t interfere with our business, Buenaventura. I can get us out of this one, but we won’t be so lucky next time.” He gestured the cat to leave. “You have two days to recover. Then, come see me here.”

Carlos nodded and, with a bit of difficulty, he stood up from his chair and left the hotel, heading toward Cagney’s garden.

—

Cagney had probably had one of the worst sleeps he had ever had in his life. Grim hadn’t really been up to taking visitors, so he kind of made camp at the edge of his garden. But the city kept him up. All the loud noises and screams from Beppi’s circus kept jostling him awake. And he could have sworn he heard fireworks coming from the third isle.

So, he was irritable, a little more than normal at least. He was tired, sore and maybe just a tad pent-up. He did have quite a few lewd dreams with Miss Hilda that he would have greatly enjoyed except for the fact he was getting woken up every 30 to 45 minutes.

As he crossed the bridge connecting the second and third Isle, he can hear the whistling of the boat coming into harbor and could smell the salty air. Plants weren’t so much a fan of the ocean water, due to its high concentration of salt, but Cagney could appreciate any form of natural thing in this part of the industrialized Isles.

He was close to Rumor so now he was starting to run what he was exactly going to say through his head. If he could even get an audience. The bee was a peculiar one. His mind was so preoccupied, he hardly noticed the orange furry cat darting to and from between nearby shipments on the dock.

—-

Another day, another heist. Hopefully. Although this one was slightly different than Amber’s normal targets. According to Sully’s charts, this was a honey delivery. But not just any honey. Royal jelly honey. The premium stuff, the top shelf stuff, the stuff that they kept locked behind the counter to avoid people like her getting her paws on it.

Oh, not that Amber should probably touch that stuff. She could only imagine how sticky it would get her fur, and how much it she’d have to groom and bathe herself before would finally come out. But, it was worth a lot, and considering what a bust last night had been was losing the rest of the weird magical exploding gems, it was a risk she was willing to take.

Actually, it was probably a slightly greater risk as she was doing this in the afternoon. Trying to steal when the sun was up at any point, was never the best idea. But if at night, people with guns were going to shoot her, she was willing to deal with a possibility of getting spotted rather than getting shot..ted.

She watched the dock workers carefully unload the stuff and noted the absence of bee guards. Amber would have thought the cargo of this quality would result in the Queen Bee’s own guards standing guard but it didn’t appear to be the case.

Amber sidled a little closer to the boxes of honey, holding in her hand a sturdy flask. Even one glass at the stuff could net a hefty sum and would have her rolling in catnip for weeks if she so desired.

—

Sullivan had just started his shift. His coworkers kept asking him questions about last night and he started to grow tired of the attention. He tried to focus on his schedule for today and he sighed tiredly. Royal Jelly for Rumor Honeybottom. He hated to deal with the bees. They were all very pompous and spoke down to him, even though he was the one making sure their cargo was safe.

The big boat arrived and Sullivan order people around to get the crane’s ready for the unload, while he went to the shack to notify the bees of the arrival of their honey. The corkers did as they were told, and carefully stacked the boxes at the dock, next to many other bigger ones hiding them from simple view.

“We will send our people immediately to pick up the honey.” A male’s voice answered on the other side of the line that Sullivan dialed. “Please, take good care of it! And in the name of her highness Honeybottom, thank you, once again, for your service and we apologize for our delay.”

Sullivan rolled his eyes. “Its ok, Gary, you don’t have to be so formal with me.”

“Actually, I do!” The voice whispered. “ Our beloved queen has ordered to do an inspection in all sectors of the hive. Her majesty wants to do 'adjustments’ on the personnel.”

“Adjustments? What do you mean? Like fire you?” Sullivan couldn’t help but ask.

“No… her graciousness prepared a program to turn every bee who’s not working 100% into a model worker. Robert got busted resting his eyes for a minute after a ten hour shift, and when he came back from the program…it wasn’t the same Robert. If you go tonight at the joint, I’ll tell you more about it.”

“You’re just exaggerating!” Sullivan grumbled, “Robert is a lazy ass, and you’re no better either. You should have been here forty minutes ago! I bet the program is just a friendly reminder of your obligations as workers or something like that,” Sullivan tried to rationalize. “Now hurry up, we’re running out of space and we’re still waiting for more shipments.”

They both said goodbye and Sullivan hung up, picked up some more papers and got out of the shack walking back to the honey cargo.

—

Cagney watched the dock workers unload whatever shipment they were getting in next. It didn’t really concern him too much and he was about to keep walking toward the hive when the flash of brown caught his eye.

He looked again to see a familiar looking feline lurking near one of the isolated boxes. He felt himself tense up, but stopped himself. He had literally attacked two other mammals in the last week in a case of mistaken identity. he shouldn’t just be jumping through violence whenever he thought he found the burglar.

And then he saw her take out a bag and slip on a mask and start to dig a hole in the box and realize that this was her. He grinned, realizing this was her and he was well within is right to beat the ever living shit out of her.

—

Amber had just about punctured the box when she felt something tap her in the shoulder. She froze. She had counted the number of workers, there was no way she missed one. It tapped again and she turned around to find herself looking up at a large carnation.

“Hi there,” he greeted.

“Hey-?” Quick as lightning, he backhanded her hard enough to send her flying over the honey box and crashing into a pile of boxes.

Sullivan’s team just finished unloading the last box when something passed flying the boxes. A couple of workers turned their heads where they thought they flying thing landed.

Amber grunted painfully as she sat up from where she had been slapped. Pieces of wood chunks lay everywhere. She wondered how she wasn’t more seriously harmed, until she realized she had crashed into a box carrying several large bags of flour. It looked like Rumor wasn’t the only Royal resident expecting a shipment of something.

She didn’t have much time to thank her lucky stars as she saw the carnation bearing down on her. Amber’s eyes widen as she realized where she have seen him before. He was the flower from the observatory. And he looked pissed enough to kill her. “Woah, woah, wait,” she started, “listen, I only took one thing, I’ll bring it back!”

“There is nothing you can do to bring back Hilda’s dome!”

“Hilda’s…dome?” Amber was really confused. She hadn’t stolen any domes. “Wait, Mr. Flower…”

“It’s Cagney, dammit!” He snarled, lunging for her.

She struggled to escape, but her foot was stuck under heavy bag of flour. And when flight was off the table, that only left one other option.

Before he could grab her, she grabbed one of the bags of flour and smacked it down on his petaled head.

Cagney saw stars and white powder as he reeled back from the surprise attack. He blinked unsuredly before growling and opting to swing around wildly instead, hoping to make contact with something

The workers around the flour shipment saw the giant flower get hit with one of the precious cargo.

“Hey! What’s going on!?”

“Somebody’s fighting!”

The crew mates started to gather around the carnation.

Amber freed her foot just in time to take an acorn to the gut, sending her rolling backwards in a clumsy somersault. Cagney dizzily pulled out another one, shaking his head to regain his senses. “Next one’s going for the head!”

Amber scowled. “If that’s how it’s gonna be, then fine!” She picked up the acorn, climbed up one of the rafters and chucked it at his face, smacking him hard in the nose.

Cagney drop the other acorn and grabbed his nose. “Argh, you bitch!” He couldn’t stretch up after her but he still had his thorns. He wrapped his thorny stem around the rafters beam and squeezed tightly, sending the pole shaking as he sent cracks up and down the sea soaked wood. It wavered dangerously close to the edge of the water.

Amber hissed, her fur raising. She crouched and pounced on the carnation, latching onto his hand and clawing him with an angry yowl.

Cagney squealed, unwinding himself and tried to shake her off by slamming her into things but the cat had sunk her claws in nice and deep.

Amber went to pull out something from her bag, loosening her claws. Cagney saw his opportunity to yank her off and slammed her in the ground, breaking through the bottom of the deck of the porch. The cat clunk desperately to his green fingers and looks down fearfully at the cold choppy water underneath.

She scrambled up the length of his arm, back on top of the shipyard, before clinging to his petals. the Carnation tried to pull her off, but this time she wasn’t letting go, biting at hands that got too close. “Get off me, pussy!”

He head-butted the rafter once more, hoping it would just dislodge her, but it only made both of them dizzy. Amber hissed and yanked a petal. “Thought you were tougher than this, I’m going to prune you, you dumb daisy.”

He flinched at that comment. Hilda liked calling him a dumb daisy. It is much as he dislike the term, he hated that anyone else would dare to use it other than her. A burst of vindictive rage finally allowed him to pry her off despite her biting and scratching and he held her aloft by the scruff. “I’m a carnation, you flea-ridden rat!” He pitched her at a box and she hit it with a thud.

Amber felt around for something to use, only for her paw to touch something sticky. She looked down to see she had touched honey. Where the hell was the honey coming from? She turned behind her to realize the honey was leaking from a small hole in the box. The force of the carnation’s throw must have led to her accidentally puncturing the box. It was only a small hole though and just one of the boxes… Amber realized at the site of one of the insignias stamped on the box, but this was the royal jelly box. She panicked but tried to remain calm. As long as nothing else hit it, the leak could be fixed and the box could be saved.

At the sight of the carnation approaching, she realized the flower was oblivious to how weak the honey box was, so she held out her paws. “Wait, wait, the honey, hold on!”

Cagney stared at her in disbelief before snapping. "My name’s not honey, it’s Cagney!“ And with that, he slammed both his fists down toward her.

"No, you stupid-!” She didn’t even finish her sentence as she couldn’t quite move in time, splintering the box open behind her with a loud snap. Honey gushed out, coating the combatants in its sticky yellowness.

Cagney slipped and fell to the ground when he tried to keep his balance and Amber screamed angrily as she looked at herself.

“Do you have any idea how long is going to take to wash out of my fur, you stupid carnation!?” She hissed, leaping on the fallen flower. “It’s going to take weeks! Weeks!”

“Weeks?! Do you even know how long it’s going to take Hilda to rebuild that dome, even if she had the money!?” Cagney snapped back, trying to push the sticky feline off of him. At least her claws were pretty much useless with amount of yellow gunk covering them.

“You broke it!”

“After you broke in her place!

"But you broke it!”

“Shut up, I know!” Cagney angrily admitted, “and I’m ruining everything I had with her trying to fix it, you dumb bitch!”

Amber paused slightly at that. “Wait, you and the meteorologist…?”

“Not anymore!”

“I didn’t know.”

He finally managed to get a scruff on the slippery cat. "Of course you don’t! You’re a thief! You don’t care at all!“

Amber felt something inside of her that she didn’t normally feel at that. She didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t like it. So she hit Cagney a little less hard. Still hard enough to cause bruises if he was an animal.

"I’m going to fix this,” Cagney continued, “beating the shit out of you is going to make me feel a lot better about it!” He tried to toss only to have her stick to him even more.

Sullivan was on his way to the honey containers when he saw a bunch of working bees and some guards arriving in their trucks. He greeted them and took to their shipment, only stop abruptly at the view.

A few of the priceless royal jelly boxes where cracked and leaking the precious amber product all over the docks and into the sea.

In the middle of the mess, Sullivan recognized the giant flower, struggling to stand up, and somebody else was with him. He got closer and recognized the voice.

.“..Amber?” He said in disbelief.

Amber cocked her head at her name and looked around only to stop in her place as she saw Sullivan staring right at her. “Uh…hi Sully?” She managed, “this looks bad but…”

Cagney managed to catch the cat off guard and smack her into one of the broken boxes. “Didn’t see that coming, didja you bi-hey! Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” His attention turned toward the guard bees who had appropriately swarmed the flower and were in the process of trying to restrain him.

Amber likewise managed to pull herself out of the honey only to get pinned to the ground next to Cagney with an indigent yelp. “Hey! Watch where you’re putting those antennae, you perverts!” She hissed, struggling uselessly against the guard

“What the…! .” Sullivan dropped his clipboard and got closer them. “W-wait! This is a misunderstanding! A-a-an accident! GET YOU HANDS OFF HER!” He wanted to pull one of the guards away from Amber but was violently restrained by another bee.

“This is Royal business now, Mr Wells,” the big bee holding him said in a deep voice. “And you better watch it, or we will take you too.” He threatened him.

The worker bees tried their best to fix the leaking boxes while the guards took Cagney and Amber to their truck. Sullivan struggled to get loose. “No! It’s a misunderstanding! They’re not even supposed to be here! Please! No! AMBER!”

But the guards ignored him and drove their sticky prisoners to the hive.

———————————————————————————

CHAPTER 01, CHAPTER 02, CHAPTER 03, CHAPTER 04, CHAPTER 05, CHAPTER 06, CHAPTER 07, CHAPTER 08, CHAPTER 09, CHAPTER 10; CHAPTER 11; CHAPTER 12 ; CHAPTER 13 ; CHAPTER 14 ; CHAPTER 15; CHAPTER 16 ; (nsfw) CHAPTER 17 ; CHAPTER 18 ; CHAPTER 19 (nsfw) ; CHAPTER 20 ; CHAPTER 21 ; CHAPTER 22 ; CHAPTER 23 ; CHAPTER 24 ; CHAPTER 25 (nsfw)(you are here now!)

#Cuphead #fan fiction #smallpersiankitten #necrida #trouble in inkwell isles #cagney carnation #amber alleycat #hilda berg #Beppi the clown #grim matchstick #Baroness von bonbon #mina betchstein #harvey hare #Spike #Sullivan Wells #submission

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eternalsshipsandfics · 5 years

Text

In Cold Blood: Chapter 4

Summary: The illustrious Kuran family is thrown into disarray when the crown princess disappears under suspicious circumstances. Will she ever be found?

Yuuki's curiosity about her newfound surroundings was quickly quashed by the appearance of a large pile of clothes dropping forcefully into her arms. She staggered back a little under the weight before she re-established her balance.

"You're going to be helping me to wash clothes today!" The plump woman who had provided her with her workload informed her. Yuuki thought that she picked up her own pile, but she couldn't see very well past the wall of clothes. She imagined that this was how a bat would feel, relying on sound to blindly move through the world.

"Are there only two people for this task all the time?" She asked, hoping the human woman could hear her muffled voice. She was vindicated when she heard a booming laugh.

"We're very busy at the moment, you know!" She responded jovially. Yuuki was thrown off guard by the friendliness she was being shown. Didn't she know that Yuuki was a vampire, and therefore the enemy?

"Oh, I haven't told you my name. I'm Hilda. You'll be with me today." Hilda laughed. "Our great leader must like you to let you roam about out here!" They had stopped at a shallow stream, which looked to Yuuki as though it didn't connect to the area she had been taken to bathe. Two odd looking contraptions had been laid out by the side, and Hilda had strapped an item of clothing to it as she spoke. Yuuki watched her carefully before attempting it herself.

"I'm Yuuki. It's nice to meet you. And I wouldn't go so far as to say he likes me." He had always been cautious with her, even when he had been keeping her occupied. She had allowed herself to feel far too comfortable around him, as the only face she had seen for a long time, but he had definitely not felt the same way for her.

"Allowing a pureblood vampire to integrate into the community? He likes you."

"Why are you so friendly to me?" Yuuki's curiosity bubbled over. Everyone had acted coldly to her (bar Yui), so she hadn't expected any different from her supervisors. Hilda appeared to mull over the question for a minute.

"There are good vampires out there too, no matter who disagrees with me."

They worked in silence for a few minutes, Yuuki stutteringly copying the more experienced woman beside her. This silence was more pleasant than the others she had faced; it was tranquil with no hint of aggression.

"Do you know Yui?" Yuuki broke the comfortable silence.

"Ah, everyone knows Yui. Little rascal. Always getting himself into trouble." Hilda shook her head disapprovingly. Yuuki smiled softly. It sounded like he was okay. She hadn't really expected anything different from the resilient boy.

"He told me that he came here with Kiryuu when he saved him. Did you come here like that?"

"Something like that. Why do you ask?"

"Well, everyone here talks about him as though he's a sweet heart. But then some act as though they're afraid of him. I don't understand."

"He's no angel, but he has saved a lot of people here. He has a bit of a temper, that's all." Hilda glanced over at Yuuki. "You haven't seen him angry yet."

"He seemed pretty angry when he found out the guard's had forgotten me…" She jumped when Hilda laughed once again.

"When he's yelling, you're quite safe. It's when he goes quiet that you have to worry."

"Have you ever seen him angry?"

"Thankfully not." She beamed at the younger female. "I haven't had the pleasure of his company enough to see."

Yuuki wondered if that had been a jab. She didn't know just how much time the man allowed for the others in the colony. The sheer size of the colony meant that it was impossible for him to have time for everyone. Had he spent more time with her, his enemy, than he had with his allies?

The conversation between the two became more general until the large pile of clothes had shrunk to nothing. Yuuki was swiftly released from her duties; she wasn't sure that Kiryuu had meant for her to roam freely and she was a little nervous about running into him without a supervisor. More so for the person who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her than for herself.

As she nervously toured the area, she spied a familiar honeysuckle mane in front of her.

"Yui!" She called out excitedly. His head whipped from side to side as he searched for whoever had called his name. She felt her happiness rise as a wide smile spread across his face.

"Yuuki!" He threw himself into her arms in an enthusiastic hug. "I'm sorry I haven't been to see you! I didn't forget you, I promise!"

Yuuki chuckled. There was a theme here.

"Did they throw you in a single room too?" She teased. He shook his head as he released his hold on her.

"No, but they did keep a super close eye on me. Grown ups are way too scared of everything."

"How many times do I have to tell you that they're worried about you? It's a good thing."

He made a disgusted face, drawing another giggle from Yuuki.

"Were you going somewhere?"

"Oh yeah. I was going to the medical bay. The grown ups are planning a supply raid. We're super low on medicine. Did you wanna come with me?"

"Is that alright?" She asked tentatively. Would she be strung up from the nearest outcrop if she attempted to go near any injured humans? She couldn't imagine that they'd be too happy about her presence.

"You worry too much." Yui grabbed Yuuki's hand and dragged her along behind him. When he was suitably satisfied that she'd follow him, he let her go. The scent of blood hit her strongly all of a sudden, and she realised that she had been catching a faint whiff of blood all day. It had steadily been growing stronger; much stronger than the usual scrapes and bumps would produce.

She felt a growing sense of unease, similar to the unease she had felt before her carriage had been attacked. The boy in front of her remained oblivious to Yuuki's distress.

Finally rounding the corner to the infirmary had Yuuki stop dead in her tracks. The infirmary was full to bursting with casualties, each person sporting more severe and painful looking wounds than the one before.

Her heart constricted as she fully took in the groans of pain and the haunted looks on agonised faces.

"Wh-what happened?"

"They were attacked by vampires." The familiar voice of the hunter's leader reached her ears. "They were waiting for them."

"All of them?"

"Yes. All of them."

"How did they escape?"

"They were let go as a warning to us." Kiryuu was watching her carefully. Instinctively, Yuuki approached a man with a large gash on his arm. He watched her cautiously as she lifted his arm and gently slid her tongue along the cut, savouring the taste of the fresh blood as her saliva began to heal the wound.

Part of her had been expecting it when she was suddenly and violently yanked away. The grip on her arm was painfully tight.

"Did you just come here to feed, vampire?" Kaito hissed at her.

"I want to help." She replied simply, allowing the healing wound on the man's arm to speak for itself. The man himself was gazing in awe at his arm.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." He murmured to himself.

Kiryuu stepped forward and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Let her go, Kaito."

"Zero-"

"Kaito." His tone left no room for argument. Kaito glared at him before letting his grip fall from her arm. She rubbed the newly freed flesh tenderly. "We can handle this."

"It'll be a lot quicker if you let me help. You could use my blood-"

"No." Kiryuu's response was sudden. "No blood."

"But it can heal-"

"I said no, Kuran."

"Why are you so against something that can help?" Yuuki was beginning to raise her voice. She couldn't help it. Did he hate her so much that he would sacrifice the health of his followers?

"A vampire's blood can only lead to darkness." He told her. There was something in his voice that quieted any further objections. Had he seen something? Was that the reason why?

"Fine." She looked around the room once more. "Do you still object to me helping with their wounds?"

Kiryuu deliberated for a minute. Yuuki waited patiently. Her saliva didn't need to be injected, and certainly couldn't cause any perceived damage. He was a smart man; she was certain that he would realise that. "Go ahead. Yui, keep an eye on her."

Yui, who had been standing silently by an injured woman's bedside as the events unfolded, jumped slightly as he was addressed. "Yes, sir!"

He received a small smile and a loving pat on the head.

"You're leaving a child in charge of a pureblood vampire? Are you crazy?"

"Stop questioning me, Kaito. I do know what I'm doing, as much as you may disagree. Now, come with me. I need to talk to you in private."

The brunet grumbled for a minute before obeying the order he had been given. He had one more mistrustful look for Yuuki before he disappeared. She caught sight of another hunter eyeing her mistrustfully out of the corner of her eye. She was almost certain that it was the same hunter who had brought her before Kiryuu for the first time. She sensed something a little different in his aura, but dismissed it as he moved away.

Under Yui's careful supervision, and the wary eyes of those surrounding her, she set about making as many people comfortable as she could.

~Z~

"Kiryuu's so confusing. He acts like he trusts me one minute, and then he doesn't the next. I know we're natural enemies, so why trust me with anything?" Yuuki vented to her young companion much later on.

"You mean about the blood thing? I can answer that." Yui responded chirpily.

"There's a reason for it?"

"Yup. I hear the lady who was in charge before Zero went crazy. She'd lose her temper over little things where as before she was really nice and patient. I think she cut herself on a hunter blade one day, and it came out that she had been drinking a pureblood's blood. She was going crazy because she hadn't had any in a long time, but she had pretty much become a human vampire. That's all I know."

"Kiryuu was here to witness that?"

"He sure was. He was the first to notice that she had injured herself."

It made sense now. If that was what he thought happened when someone ingested vampire blood, then of course he would be against the idea. But Yuuki was left wondering; if this story was true, who had she gotten the blood from? She didn't know any purebloods that would willingly allow a human to drink their blood.

He wouldn't know the answer to that, of course, so she decided to indulge in another of her curiosities.

"When I spoke to Hilda earlier, it sounded like everyone has a story about being saved from a vampire. I was wondering if Kiryuu also had a story like that?"

Silence filled the air between them, causing Yuuki to re-evaluate her curiosity. She was relieved when Yui finally spoke.

"He does… but our stories are pretty tame compared to his. He wouldn't want me to tell you, but…"

Yuuki was intrigued. It wasn't like Yui to shy away from a subject, even if it would lead him to trouble. She should tell him that it's okay not to tell her, but the more selfish part of her told her to keep her mouth shut. Her continued patience paid off.

"Did you notice that he has no family here?"

"I hadn't really thought about it, but now that you mention it…" A sense of foreboding washed over her. Yui took a deep breath, releasing his words in a hurried torrent.

"When he was little, a pureblood vampire tortured and killed his family before it tortured him. It wasn't a quick thing either. It happened over a couple of weeks. He wasn't found for hours after the vampire disappeared. Apparently, it was months before anyone could get him to speak, and even then, he'd just talk about killing those beasts in human form." He glanced over at Yuuki, noting that something was wrong with her. Her face had gone pale and her eyes were wide. "After having something like that happen, I think it's pretty cool that he can even talk to you. If I had gone through that, I don't think I would be able to stomach being near a vampire."

Yuuki silently agreed, working hard to process the sad summary of a story she had just heard. As much as she mistrusted his initial motives for keeping her entertained, she had to admit that he was mentally strong. He was being pursued as an enemy to all of vampire kind, not to mention that it sounded as though he had only had contact with those she would deem to be bad vampires. Coupled with a devastating past, the very fact that she was still alive amazed her.

"Poor Kiryuu…" She couldn't bring herself to pry any further, but she was left with a burning question. If this vampire had killed his family, why hadn't it killed him too? Were there vampires who were that sadistic? She didn't think she knew any, but she couldn't disregard it outright. She wasn't that naïve. "I'm sorry, Yui, can I be alone for a while?"

"But Zero told me to keep an eye on you."

"It's fine. I'll go back to my room. He can't punish you for that."

He sucked in his cheeks in contemplation. "Alright. As long as you do go to your room!"

"Thank you."

Yuuki waved him off before retiring to her room.

~Z~

A couple of hours later, Yuuki decided that she would seek Zero out. She couldn't dwell on the horrific thoughts that arose just with the suggestion of torture. She wanted to prevent any suffering that she could, so no matter how futile her attempt may be, she was going to offer her help in the upcoming raid.

As she approached Zero's abode, she could hear two voices on the other side of the door. She strongly resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she recognised one of the voices as Kaito's. She had hoped to get Zero on his own.

"We have to seriously consider that the vampire girl is still in communication with the outside! How would those beasts have known that we were coming if they hadn't been told by someone on the inside?"

"She wasn't involved in the planning. How could she have known?"

"Yui likes her! Who's to say she's not manipulating him into telling her everything he knows?"

"I don't think that's the case."

"And you know that because?"

"Because I've spent time with her! You really think I was playing games with her for fun? She doesn't think that way."

"How do you know that she isn't manipulating you too?"

She heard the scrape of a chair being violently pushed back, and hands angrily slamming down on a wooden surface.

"She may have had time to manipulate me, but she certainly hasn't had time to manipulate anyone else. Who would have told Yui, a child whom we want to protect, our battle plan anyway? What would they gain from that? The mole isn't Yuuki Kuran. We have to start looking at our own."

There was a disgusted snort from the other man. "What's happened to you?"

There was the sound of footsteps before the door was violently flung open. She stumbled away from the door in surprise; Kaito opting not to speak to her but simply giving her a revolted look as if it could turn her to dust. Zero appeared at the door next.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough. You think someone is talking with someone amongst the vampires?"

"There's no other explanation that makes sense." He combed a hand through his hair, causing Yuuki's heart to skip a beat though she wasn't sure why. "I'll deal with that. Did you want something?"

"Why would you think I wanted something?"

"Because you came looking for me."

"Maybe I just wanted to hang out with you again." She restrained a smile as one eyebrow shot up in a silent question. "Oh, you thought I wouldn't because you let me out and we've already spent so much time together?"

"Kaito was right; I don't understand you."

"I'm not manipulating you, if that's what you're thinking." Yuuki decided to drop the teasing, as much fun as it was to see the unflappable Zero Kiryuu in a state of confusion. He wasn't worried or afraid of her, his mistrust wasn't so deep that he'd suspect her of plotting against the small colony, and she took that as a positive sign. "Actually, I wanted to help with the supply raid."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Ah, so there was the mistrust. Though she had to accept that she had been expecting some misgivings. Raiding meant heading outside, after all.

"You do." He said thoughtfully. Her eyes softened as she held his gaze.

"No matter what, I can't just stand by while innocent people are being hurt. Please, let me help this time!" She hoped that her honest sincerity would be enough to persuade the hunter. He slipped back down into his seat, watching her expression carefully.

"We are a few men down…" He began begrudgingly. "Having a pureblood's powers on side would be a useful advantage. Alright, you can come. But you stay close to me."

"Yes, sir!" She playfully saluted him. "I promise that you can trust me. I won't bring the vampires down on you."

He was silent for a moment. "I know."

Her heart leapt at that simple statement.

~Z~

"The people are starting to notice that Yuuki isn't here." Kaname stood across from his father, his arms folded angrily. Aido stood silently to his left, having declared that he would be there to support the distraught Kaname.

"We have to maintain the image that she is. Yuuki is a popular girl; if it got out that she's gone missing, there would be outrage."

"Our discreet searches have led to nothing. Isn't it about time we stepped up our game?"

"Yes. We shouldn't keep hiding the fact that she's gone. We should use the citizen's anger to form a hunting party. That way, we get her back, and the hunter problem is eliminated in the process." Rido chimed in from his comfortable position in front of the blazing fire.

"No. We can't confirm anything. Let them have their unsubstantiated rumours. There is a more peaceful way to get Yuuki back. Excuse me." Haruka hurriedly left the room. Aido had noticed that he was looking more and more tired as the days progressed; the stress of trying to find his missing daughter weighing down on him. He felt that the other two Kuran's were being unfair on him, allowing their own concerns to blind them to his worry. It wasn't his place to say anything, however.

"Well, I'm going to actually continue looking for Yuuki." Kaname stated, before striding purposefully out of the room. Aido gave one last glance at Rido, who seemed unusually unconcerned about his niece's welfare. He had given him his due respect as a rare pureblood, but there had always been something very off about him. He seemed like the black sheep of the Kuran family.

Kaname was waiting for him as he took his leave.

"Thank you for being here, Aido. I need to do this alone, however."

"But-"

"It's alright, honestly. You enjoy yourself. Don't worry about this." With an air of finality, Kaname left Aido alone.

He never lets me help, Aido thought to himself. Doesn't he trust me after all these years?

Never mind the fact that Yuuki was someone he considered his friend also. He sighed wearily to himself. The Kuran's never seemed to fully trust him, despite his best efforts. They always kept a minor distance between them and him.

He hadn't mentioned anything, but he couldn't help but be suspicious. It was convenient that this supposed band of hunters that the family were now convinced had kidnapped Yuuki knew precisely when she was leaving. Sure, they had decided to turn the visit into a political show, but at its heart, it was a personal visit. The public wouldn't have known precisely when the visit was to take place.

And had the target been Yuuki? After all, the job had fallen to her last minute because Rido had been unable to go. Were the hunters waiting to attack Rido? The others didn't seem to be taking these thoughts seriously, and he couldn't really blame them.

He would be going out of his mind if someone took Yori away from him… He shook his head, attempting to put such thoughts out of his mind. It was improper.

He didn't know quite how long he had been occupied by his own thoughts, but he was aided out of them by the very same Yori. She seemed panicked and out of breath, as though she had been running. His protective instincts kicked in.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yes! It's awful, you have to come with me right now!" Ignoring her station as a lowly servant, she grabbed her lord's hand and pulled him along behind her. Something had really rattled her, and he desperately wanted to put it right for her.

As they exited the manor, he was instantly aware of the huge crowd gathered around a particular small back alley. He was catching snippets of the myriad of conversations, but he couldn't put anything together that would tell him what had happened. The pair pushed their way through the crowd until they could see a clear area in which Kaname and Rido stood.

As they saw Yori and Aido approach, Kaname gave a small nod to signal them through. As Aido approached, his heart leapt into his mouth.

At his feet lay the dusted remains of a vampire he quickly identified as Haruka Kuran; identifiable by the familiar royal clothes that were flapping lightly in the breeze. Time seemed to slow down and then to stop.

What had happened? He had been alive only a little while earlier, looking harried but not afraid. What had he been doing out here? Had he been meeting with someone? Had that someone been the one to end his life, or had that been someone else? And how had they been able to kill a pureblood?

The questions swirled endlessly in his head. He watched Rido squat and pick up something. He crouched down with him to get a better view while Yori hovered around him anxiously. In his hand, Rido held three small strands of silver hair.

#vampire knight #zeki #eternal zeki #radiant zeki #fanfiction #archive

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