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im-not-corrupted · 4 years

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Safi, No (a Witchlands fanfiction) - Chapter One

This chapter was written by @un-empressed

Summary:

On a rare occasion, Safi knew the answer in geography class. But when Merik Nihar spoke over her, she wasn't so happy. So her and Leopold devised a revenge plan to get back at him, and accidentally got everyone involved.

Vivia Nihar doesn't really have many friends, apart from Vaness. She's mostly focused on her studies - and what's wrong with that? But then she meets theriverstix online.

Aeduan and Iseult didn't mean to get involved in the revenge plan, but it was inevitable. But that's okay. They had each other to talk to.

Also posted on Ao3

Tags: @Iseultdetmidenzi

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Safiya fon Hasstrel didn't know what she had done to deserve such maltreatment. Not only was geography a disaster that morning, her best friend wasn't listening. Or rather, she was until she realised what Safi was talking about. Apparently she was immature for wanting the basic right of speaking. It wasn't her fault that she had an insufferable classmate, and it certainly wasn't her fault that he decided he could speak over her.

It wasn't like she enjoyed geography, but she actually knew the answer. That was a once in a million years occurrence and Merik Nihar ruined it. She didn't even know his name before he so rudely interrupted her.

She wouldn't even have bothered to ask someone - asshole from third row worked just as well for a name - but she was confronted by another classmate after geography. A very pissed off one at that. Safi knew Vaness by name, because everyone knew Vaness. They'd never talked before, though, so Safi didn't know what to expect.

She was definitely surprised when Vaness verbally attacked her. Well, it wasn't an attack, but what she said was just a pretentious way to say "Go fuck yourself" and they both knew it. Apparently Safi's huffing and whispering to her friends that she was going to kill Merik over "an idiotic thing that doesn't even matter" was making it hard for Vaness to take notes. And apparently calling her a "poor dear" was "condescending" and "rude".

Why had she never talked to Vaness before? She knew now. Caden laughed to her face after having overheard the disastrous conversation. Safi found that absolutely unnecessary. At least Zander and Lev laughed at her behind her back. Well, she didn't know for sure that they did, but she hoped that Levs's so-called reassurance of "I've hidden many bodies before, nobody ever misses the ones like him" was a joke.

"Saf, I'm sure he didn't mean to inconvenience you," Iz said, trying to be reasonable. Safi liked that about her best friend; she wasn't as reckless as Safi herself, but she was definitely easy to drag along to stupid adventures.

"You don't know him."

Iseult rolled her eyes. "Neither do you."

"Irrelevant."

Iseult sighed. She was about to say something else, probably about how it was actually relevant, but Corlant came. Safi wasn't sure what his deal was, only that someone ought to push him off that table he liked standing on to feel better than everyone else. But no, the school encouraged free speech, and Corlant claimed whatever absurd shit he said (Safi didn't bother enough to listen) had something to do with his religion.

Safi didn't know who or what he worshipped, but she personally found lunches without him causing a scene holy. Maybe she should start a religion that specifically opposed him. Or maybe she should take Lev up on that hiding a body offer.

"This is ridiculous," Iseult muttered. Safi personally would have yelled it so he could hear, but she already did and he didn't seem to care. Asshole.

Safi didn't even notice Leopold approaching their table until he sat down. And, he wasn't alone. "Girls, this is Aeduan. Aeduan, Safi and Iseult".

The name didn't sound familiar at all, but Safi had talked to the guy once. Well, it was barely a conversation. She asked for a pencil, and he spent five minutes mocking her for not bringing two. Just when she was about to tell him to fuck off, he handed her the damn pencil. Safi made a point of using it only when she lost the pencil Caden had lent her.

She never even returned the pencil. Maybe that made her an asshole, but she needed something to write with for the rest of the day, and he never even asked for it. How was she supposed to know it wasn't meant to be a gift?

Aeduan uttered out an uninterested greeting, hesitantly sitting next to Iseult. They shared commiserating looks as Safi told Leopold about her encounter with the world's biggest asshole that morning.

"Look! There he is, talking to his friends. I bet they're just as rude and inconsiderate-"

"Saf, those two literally mean the same thing," Iseult said. There was a slight difference, but Safi wasn't about to say that. Leopold was willing to hear her complaints, and she wasn't about to waste the potential this conversation had.

"And besides, you're overreacting. That's Ryber Fortiza over there, and she's pretty nice. I'm willing to bet the others are too. You took this way too personally."

Safi had talked to Ryber Fortiza once or twice, and she knew that Iseult was right. She wasn't going to say that out loud, though. Judging by the look on Iseult's face, her best friend didn't care at all. She went back to her probably dry conversation with Leopold's friend.

"Way too personally? It is personal!" Leopold said. Safi was glad that at least someone knew she wasn't overreacting.

"Thank you!"

Iseult rolled her eyes. She did it so much around the two, Safi wouldn't be surprised if her eyes fell out one day. And she had yet to hear about what Vaness said, even though Safi knew Iseult would agree with most things said.

Suddenly, she remembered something that made her groan. Leopold raised his eyebrows. "I have geography again tomorrow."

Leopold grinned. "Why the disappointment? It's your chance to get revenge."

Safi quite liked how that sounded. Even more than that she liked the fact that Iseult obviously didn't approve of the idea, if her face was to be trusted. She could've been making faces at what Aeduan was telling her, but that didn't seem likely. Leopold's friend seemed to have the same opinion. All the more reasons to do it.

Besides, Safi already had a few suggestions for the revenge plan herself.

Safi smiled, making Iseult shake her head. "What did you have in mind?" [x]

"-And she kept staring at me the whole time, whispering something to her friends. I'm telling you, that girl is insane."

The story didn't get reactions Merik Nihar was hoping for from his friends. Ryber pretended she didn't even hear him, and Cam just rolled his eyes. Merik was pretty sure Tanzi wasn't even listening. That didn't hurt him, because she was Ryber's friend. Stix was asking if 'he was done yet' after every word. That didn't hurt either, because she was like that. At least Kullen was on his side.

He smiled, and Merik didn't know what to expect from his best friend. Kullen often heard what he wanted to hear instead of what was being said. "Maybe she likes you! And, you've never talked about this girl before. Why would you even look at her if you didn't like her?"

Kullen was not on his side.

"It wasn't like that!" Merik said, trying desperately to seem like he was telling the truth. Which he was, of course. Kullen just caught him completely unaware.

Stix grinned. "Oh really?" Merik knew she didn't share Kullen's delusion. She just took every single chance to make him uncomfortable.

Cam and Ryber looked at each other across the table, seemingly not surprised at all that the conversation was taking that turn. Tanzi was too busy copying Ryber's homework to listen.

"Really! The teacher called on her and I knew the answer, so I might have possibly answered instead of her. I wanted to see her reaction but she was just glaring at me and I'm pretty sure I heard her friend say something about hiding a body." Merik realised that the story in its entirety made him look the slightest bit bad, but being perceived as rude was better than Kullen getting ideas.

"Can we blame them, though?" Stix asked. She just raised her hands in mock surrender when Ryber shot her a look. "I'm just saying."

"You did speak over her," Cam reasoned.

Ryber sighed. "That really was rude. No one likes people who do that."

Merik was willing to admit that it wasn't his best moment, but it was really not that big of a deal. Sure, his classmate might be pissed for a while, but that wasn't his problem. His only problem was Kullen, who was grinning at him from across the table.

"You could still like her. Maybe you inconvenienced her just so she would talk to you - that seems like the kind of 'I'm bad at admitting my feelings' thing you would do and call flirting if it succeeded," Kullen said, making Stix laugh.

Well, now Merik was offended. He did nothing to deserve the unjust treatment. Even Ryber was against him, and she rarely cared enough to pick a side. Merik needed to start hanging out with Tanzi; She never listened to him, which meant she couldn't mock him for every single thing like the traitors he once called friends.

Besides, Vivia insulting him 24/7 was enough. He didn't need his friends and his sister to have anything in common. He wasn't sure anyone except Kullen even knew he had a sister. Good.

Vivia preferred solitude, but Merik knew that if Ryber found out, she'd make him ask her to join them. That would likely result in either of the three catastrophes he'd rather avoid:

1. Vivia thinks he's making fun of her for eating alone and yells at him.

2. Very awkward lunches because Vivia yelled at him when he didn't tell her what time it was fast enough.

3. Vivia finds out about Kullen's theory and tells the girl.

The last one might have been a bit of a far stretch if it was anyone else. Vivia, however, wanted nothing more than to ruin her brother's life. The amount of love was mutual.

And, she was definitely the kind of person capable of figuring out someone's name and all social media usernames just from a vague description. Merik dreaded of the day Kullen and Vivia talked alone, without him there to filter his best friend. That would be a disaster. For him, that is. For Vivia, it would be a way to accomplish her mission in life.

"Ryber, control your boyfriend," Merik said.

Ryber just rolled her eyes, which Merik found rather rude. It wasn't like he was the one terrorising Kullen, it was the other way around!

"Look, it's not Ry's fault you were stupid enough to mention it to Kullen of all people," Stix said. Merik didn't know if that was supposed to be an insult to him or to Kullen.

"Mention what? I'm not in love with some girl whose name I don't even know!"

Stix sighed. "You don't have to be for Kullen to think you are. You should know that by now. He only sees what he wants to see." Cam nodded in agreement.

"Look, are you on my side or are you not?"

"I'm not necessarily on your side, I'm just not on Merik's." Kullen nodded, as if that was a completely reasonable answer.

Merik blamed his trust issues on his friend group, which consisted of Kullen, Cam, Stix, Ryber and occasionally Tanzi. All people who tolerated him but didn't dread to tell him when he did or said something stupid. Except Stix, but Merik doubted that she actually hated him. Either way, she, too, was never going to meet Vivia if Merik was to ask. He usually wasn't when it came to his sister and what she did, but he had to hope that Vivia wouldn't want to do anything with a friend of his.

"That's ridiculous. You hate me for no reason."

"Ridiculous? That's it, you've lost your Stix privileges. It's Stacia for you from now on." Merik fought the urge to tell her that what she just said was ridiculous as well. People lost their 'Stix privileges' at least three times a day.

Ryber rolled her eyes, silently listening to the exchange. She occasionally whispered something to Tanzi, who was still doing her homework.

"Thank you very much for doing as I said and controlling your boyfriend," Merik said. He was getting fed up of everyone being against him for a simple mistake.

"You're welcome," Ryber said, turning to help Tanzi read something. Even Ryber, who was usually the responsible one, was seemingly tired of him. Merik was starting to think he had done something wrong.

Kullen probably noticed that Merik wasn't fighting back, because he sighed and said: "Look, Merik, we're only making fun of you because you don't see that what you did was wrong. Just... Try to be nicer to the geography classmate."

It seemed nice enough, and, even though Merik hated to admit it, it was good advice. But Kullen wasn't done. "And then, when you're a couple, Stix and I will pretend we're your siblings and tell her made-up, embarrassing information."

Ryber took one look at the three of them and sighed. "That might not work."

"Cousins, then."

Ryber rolled her eyes. "That still won't work. Just say you're his friends."

"But no one ever takes the friends seriously!" Stix whined.

"No one should take the two of you seriously."

"Bold of you to assume they won't make all of us do it," Cam said.

"See? Cam gets it!"

Sometimes Merik really hated his friends.

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Read Chapter Two here

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eilonwiiy · 5 years

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Hi! I love your blog and posts! I was curious - in the next Witchlands book, how do you think the group of Safi, Iseult, Aeduan, and Leopold will get along together (because they BETTER be in the same place)? Also, how do you feel about the possible Safi x Caden ship?

Hi anon! Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoy my sporadic, and often times silly, postings. And thank you for the ask! I am ALWAYS down for talking about The Witchlands.

I am VERY excited to have Safi, Iseult, and Leopold in one place and see what that dynamic is like. Leopold is still very much an anomaly. We really don’t know what his deal is, and his interactions with Iseult in Bloodwitch created even more questions - which I didn’t think was possible bc BOY do I have a lot of questions about him.

I have a feeling we may not get Aeduan reunited with the group in the next book, or if we do, it won’t happen until the end? That’s just my gut feeling, I have no real info to back me up on that. But I think it’s safe to say that the Aeduan thing is going to be a problem for Safi, and there’s a good chance it’s going to be a source of conflict between her and Iseult… which would be interesting because we’ve never seen them at odds before. It actually may be something they need? At this point, Safi knows that Iseult has been traveling with Aeduan, but she doesn’t trust him. I think eventually Safi will have a grudging acceptance of Aeduan, whereas Aeduan will probably have one of two reactions to Safi. Either he won’t give two shits about what Safi thinks of him (old habits die hard, ya know?) and it may take some prodding on Iseult’s part to get him to actively make an effort to become friends with her. OR he’ll know right off the bat that, as Iseult’s Threadsister, Safi is more important to her than anything in the world, and the only way he can truly be with Iseult is to earn Safi’s trust. I think both of these reactions would be in character for Aeduan, despite being the complete opposite of each other. I prefer the latter, personally.

(also this sounds more like something I invented in a fever dream, but I’m pretty sure Sooz once mentioned during one of her ClanChats on twitter that Safi refers to Aeduan as “Knifey” in the future?? Can anyone confirm this? Or did I really make this up? It sounds too good to be true)

As far as the possibility of Safi and Caden goes… well, let me put it this way: if you had asked me this question back when Windwitch came out, I would have been more chill about Safi x Caden. Up until Bloodwitch, Merik was probably my least favorite character in the series. He was sooo Extra in both Truthwitch and Windwitch. Like, he honestly drove me crazy sometimes with his angst and the “Nihar rage” (I was practically crying tears of joy when Cam called him out in Windwitch). I just wasn’t really a fan, even though I felt like I was supposed to like him.

Bloodwitch did a number on me for several characters, namely Merik and Vaness. My outlook on them shifted drastically throughout the entire book. While Sooz finally made Vaness endearing to me, she took Merik’s story in a direction that I was not expecting. Like, who knew someone could be having a worse week than Aeduan in that book, but yeah! I think Merik won that round.

And like, the whole thing with Esme was just so unexpected, but it was what I needed. And what Merik needed. Well. I shouldn’t say “needed”. What Esme put him through was bananas. But the conversations they were having were important. I could feel him growing and listening and changing. By the end, I was bawling when him and Kullen went to “sleep”. Sooz totally sold me on him having the ability to grow into a better man, and by extension, made me genuinely invested in Safi and Merik being together. Both of them had/have a lot of growing to do, and I think when (or if? *cries*) they do officially reunite, they will be a much more compatible pair than they would have been if they’d had the time to get serious with each other in Truthwitch. When I really examine the trajectory of Safi and Merik’s stories from Windwitch to now, I find it particularly compelling how similar their arcs have been despite being thrown into vastly different circumstances. I believe there is undeniable significance in the fact that at one point both these characters believed the other one to be dead and that their metaphorical rise from the ashes has run parallel to each other. Both of them needed to learn how to see the world for what it really is, Merik looking beyond his arrogance and Safi looking despite her ignorance. That makes for some pretty intriguing ship material.

All that isn’t to say I dislike Caden. I really like him, in fact. And the rest of the Hell-Bards. I want to get to know them better and I’m glad that they’re in the same place as Safi, Iseult, and Leopold too. I’m not sure what Sooz’s plans are for Caden and Safi. The tension has definitely been simmering between them for awhile, and regardless of my feelings towards Merik, I’m ready for them to take the next step. I’m ready to see some sparks fly. It may become something… but I think ultimately Safi x Merik is endgame and where my heart lies.

#replies #anon #the witchlands #merik nihar #safiya fon hasstrel #caden fitz grieg #safi x caden #safik #aeduan #iseult det midenzi #leopold fon cartorra

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im-not-corrupted · 4 years

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Safi, No (A Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Three

Also written with @un-empressed, who wrote Aeduan’s POV for this chapter!

Thank you, @lseultdetmidenzi for the idea of littlefox!

Read the first two chapters here: Chapter one | Chapter Two

Chapter Summary:

Merik annoys Stix and Safi confuses Aeduan.

Also on Ao3!

Merik, that fucking asshole, was annoying her so much.

Merik annoyed everybody. It was a generic trait of his, annoying people. Stix was relatively used to it, but the constant talk about this girl he now hated for some strange reason was putting her in a bad mood. He was somehow more annoying today - she had the idea of punching him to shut him up, but, well, she figured Kullen wouldn't appreciate that. Kullen was the only reason she was there after school. He had convinced her to come with them to the shop, which really meant 'I don't think I can deal with Merik alone'. Which was stupid - nobody could deal with Merik alone without going insane, but Ryber, his girlfriend, was there. Stix failed to see why she had to play as Kullen's support system, but well, what else could she do? She already wanted to go home, but that was rude. She only liked being rude to Merik, and he deserved every minute of it. Thankfully, when the group decided to head to the small coffee place before heading home, Stix got the chance to just scroll through her phone and ignore them. For all his begging, Kullen didn't exactly seem that interested in talking to her. Stix didn't mind. She had better things to do than listen to Kullen try to convince Merik that being kind was the right way forward. She knew he wouldn't get anywhere - Merik only had two brain cells, and they both worked together only on a good day. This was not a good day for him. And since Kullen didn't talk to her, and Merik was far too occupied to bother, Stix decided to go through the notifications blowing up her phone. Okay, she was exaggerating slightly - there was only a few likes on posts she made on the app she had gotten only so she could use it when Merik was being himself. She noticed a most of them were from the same person, littlefox. Normally, she didn't bother doing anything like this, but she really needed to interact with a human that wasn't Merik (though to be fair, she didn't think he was human - a human couldn't complain that damn often), so she sent a message to littlefox. Hey, noticed you in my notifications! She typed. I'm a little bored, decided to message you. Hope that's alright! She didn't know if littlefox wanted people to message them, and she didn't know if she would get a reply, but she was really, really bored and equally annoyed. She carried on scrolling through her feed, sending Kullen a 'thank you' when he placed her coffee in front of her. She didn't have to wait long, though, because littlefox replied after a few minutes.

littlefox: Hi, it's great to meet you! It's alright, I was pretty bored too.

Stix smiled to herself and quickly sent another message, glad littlefox actually replied and didn't think she was a weirdo. Being a weirdo meant she was like Merik, and no one wanted that. Heh, great to meet you too! How are you doing? she sent. She spent a lot of time texting Kullen, so she was used to typing fast. littlefox: I'm good. And you? Just then, Merik decided to start talking incredibly loudly, loud enough that Stix couldn't quite block it out despite her practice. "Oh come on!" he groaned. "Why is everyone always against me?" Because you're an idiot and are actually imagining things? Stix thought. Nobody was never against Merik - that was just what he chose to believe, despite how stupid that was. And it was very, very stupid. They usually thought the things he said were stupid, but no one was so against him like he always said. I'm great, though my friends' best friend is annoying the shit out of me, Stix answered, rolling her eyes at Merik. God, how the hell was Kullen his best friend? Stix would've died of annoyance if she ever played that role. Littlefox replied quickly this time.

littlefox: Oh, I understand that. My brother annoys me as soon as he opens his mouth. Stix laughed at that, conveying it through a few laugh-crying emojis. Kullen sent her a strange look. "What on earth are you laughing at?" he asked her. Stix blushed slightly, realising she had laughed out loud by accident. "I'm just talking to somebody," she told him. "Who?" Kullen asked. "Your only friend is me." "And me!" Merik said. Then he looked at them, confused. "Wait, what are we talking about?" No fucking brain cells, she thought to herself. Kullen rolled his eyes, as did Stix, and neither of them gave him an answer. "Who are you talking to?" he asked her again.

"Someone on that app I downloaded," Stix answered. She felt her phone vibrate in her hands and replied to the last message from littlefox, before looking up at Kullen again. "They're pretty cool." "Is it anybody we know?" She shrugged. "I don't recognise the username." Most of their friends had the same app - in fact, most of the school did - but Stix already followed everyone she knew. "What is it?" "Littlefox," she answered, and replied to the next message. Kullen frowned for a second, but shrugged. "I don't recognise it. Maybe they don't go to our school." Stix rolled her eyes. "Really? Wow, how did you come to that conclusion?" Another message came through. littlefox: Sorry, I have to go. Speak later? Littlefox went offline almost as soon as the message came through, and Stix swallowed her disappointment. She was enjoying their conversation, more than she thought she would. She hoped they would talk soon, so she quickly sent another message. Of course we'll speak later! she said. She hoped she didn't seem to eager, but, well, she doubted she would ever actually meet littlefox so what did it matter? She sighed and pocketed her phone. Merik was still being annoying - "But why does she hate me so much?" so she stood from her seat, finishing her coffee, which was close to cold by now. "Well, I'm gonna head home," she announced. Merik didn't seem to care less, but that was expected. Kullen nodded at her. "Oh, okay. See you tomorrow." Ryber smiled widely at her. "See ya!" [x]

Aeduan usually wouldn't bother with annoying people. He respected himself too much for that, even though he didn't think all that highly of himself. People like Leopold fon Cartorra were worse than he ever could be.

If he was being honest, Aeduan had no idea why he hadn't just blocked the guy's number. It would have been easier, and he wouldn't have to listen to Safiya's rants. Or just Safiya period. She wasn't worse than Leopold, but no one was.

At least he wasn't the only poor soul subjected to the doom that was Safi and Leopold's conversations. Iseult didn't seem like someone who'd get along with either of the ridiculous people right in front of him, who were now planning revenge.

Aeduan wasn't about to defend Merik Nihar, but he did think that the pair had gotten a little extra in all their planning. Iseult didn't seem to care. It was like they'd done it before. They probably have, Aeduan thought. Despite knowing the two for a short time, he wouldn't be surprised if Iseult had to bail them out of jail a few times. Still, Iseult was quick to defend them. Well, to defend Safiya. She seemed to be as irritated by Leopold as Aeduan himself was.

"I think Vaness - you know Vaness, right?" Leopold nodded, "good. I think Vaness would be willing to help us if I promised I'll keep quiet in geography."

Leopold, for the first time that day, didn't seem too pleased with Safi's idea. "Are you sure you know Vaness? She's never going to help. You know I love you, but how do you even plan to get her to listen to you enough to reject the offer?"

Safiya grinned. "The answer is simple: Bribery and corruption."

"Safi, no." Aeduan was glad to see Iseult put her foot down, but he doubted it'd last all that long. She was too attached to her reckless friend to actually do something about it. And Aeduan was almost sure he saw her smiling a few times. Even Aeduan had to admit that some of their discarded plans were amusing in a way.

"Why not? You don't want me to be sad, do you, Iz?" Safi asked.

Iseult rolled her eyes as if she heard that argument a thousand times. She probably had. "You can't just say that every time you want me to agree with you."

"Well now you're making me sad."

"Fine, fine, but only this time." Safi smiled triumphantly. Aeduan suspected Iseult said the last part every time. Friendships were weird. "You are a monster, Saf, do you know that?"

"Know and pride myself for it," Safi turned to Leopold. "Now, obviously Vaness, if she does agree to help us, is capable of breaking somebody's spirit with just words. To be fair, what hurt me the most was the fact that I didn't even know what some of the words she said meant. That was pretty defeating."

Leopold laughed and Iseult shook her head. Friendships were really, really weird.

Besides, Aeduan doubted that this Vaness was all that terrifying. He also doubted words could actually hurt someone if they didn't know what the words meant. Perhaps it was the tone that showed how she felt about Safi and what she did.

Aeduan knew how he felt about the fact that he was dragged to a revenge planning session. He even had to pay for Leopold's ice cream because his self proclaimed friend forgot his wallet home.

Of course, Leopold thought it was hilarious. That was nothing new; Leopold thought all his jokes were, and Aeduan had no doubt that he left his money home on purpose. In reality, he was about as funny as a funeral.

Not even a regular funeral of an old and somewhat-loved person with questionable past actions. No, Leopold fon Cartorra was the funeral of a family pet in the garden.

"Aeduan can help too. He's good at making people feel bad. Good thing I know all the toughness is an act," Leopold said.

Correction: Leopold fon Cartorra was about to be the dead pet.

"You know absolutely nothing about me, except my phone number and name, and I don't even know how you got those."

Leopold grinned. "It's just like Safi said before: Bribery and corruption," he said vaguely. Aeduan was already sick of dealing with him, and they had only been "friends" for a day. He pitied Iseult more than ever.

He couldn't help but wonder who Leopold could have bribed, but it was probably an inside joke, or a figure of speech. Leopold had introduced him to many of those just during that one day, and Aeduan hated all of them.

"Now, about ruining Merik Nihar's life for good-" Safi started.

"That's a bit too dramatic considering the fact that we all know what you're going to say."

"Iz, my dearest friend whom I love very much, let me have my damn moment," Safi said before dramatically lowering her voice, "we will need to use two of the most despicable things known to humanity... Bribery and corruption."

"Oh my God."

Read the next chapter here - Chapter Four

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im-not-corrupted · 4 years

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Safi, No (A Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Six

Written with @un-empressed, who wrote Aeduan’s POV!

Read the previous chapters here: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Chapter Summary:

Aeduan and Iseult really, really want to know why they’re friends with everyone else. Also, Safi likes to Bribe and Corrupt people.

Also on Ao3!

"Maybe tomorrow we can start some rumour?" Safi suggested, grinning widely. A gleam of mischief shone in her eyes, but really, that was pretty much there all the time now. It was her default setting, especially when it came to Merik.

Leopold hummed in acknowledgement. "Yes. Maybe tell everybody he was born with two heads and the other was surgically removed."

At the other end of the table, Vaness rolled her eyes. "That's far too unrealistic, let alone unbelievable. At least come up with something that makes sense." Iseult had been convinced Vaness wouldn't even bother with Safi's revenge plan, but here she was, in the flesh. She was fairly sure Safi had used her new method of Bribery and Corruption to convince her.

Even Stacia Sotar, one of Merik's group members, joined their group that lunch time. Iseult had to admire how well Safi's Bribery and Corruption was working, even if she didn't approve and Safi didn't actually use it on Stix.

"Or don't come up with a rumour at all," Iseult suggested. "You know, like decent people." It fell on deaf ears, though. Of course it did. They were all far too invested in this, and Iseult really wanted to know what she had done in this life to have been involved in this. Surely this was a form of karma.

"Maybe we could just say he had a terrible accident as a child and suffered a head injury which caused his brain to be very damaged, hence his stupidity?" Safi replied, seemingly taking Vaness's advice seriously. Far too seriously, considering what they were talking about.

Leopold nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, that could work. That could definitely work." Then he turned to Vaness, who watched the two with an expression that said 'what the fuck is wrong with you two?' Based on what Iseult knew about her, she was very surprised Vaness didn't just say it. "People tend to listen to you."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do," Leopold argued.

Vaness rolled her eyes. "I am not getting involved in this."

Safi raised an eyebrow slowly and grinned at Vaness. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then I suppose I must resort to annoying you during geography class."

Vaness sent her a glare, which did nothing but make Safi laugh. Iseult found that a little confusing - the other day, she was scared to death of Vaness - but then she figured out why. "Fine," Vaness sighed. "But you can't annoy me in geography."

Safi grinned. "Of course." Then she turned to Iseult. "I told you. Bribery and Corruption - works like a charm."

Iseult sighed and shook her head at her friend. How on earth was she friends with Safi? They were nothing alike. Iseult was quiet, and wouldn't do something as reckless as this. Safi was loud and outgoing and determined, and come up with insane plots such as the Merik-Revenge-Plan.

But really, Iseult wouldn't replace her and Safi's friendship for something else. Even during times like this - listening to a plan on how to get revenge on someone she had never met, listening to them creating an insane rumour about the very same person - Iseult still loved her friend. Even if her friend was a terrible person sometimes and Iseult had to play the role of babysitter.

During her inner discussion with herself regarding her friendship with Safi, Aeduan had joined them, sitting next to Iseult. He didn't look happy to be here, so Iseult asked him, "Did they resort to Bribery and Corruption to get you here, too?"

Aeduan looked mildly confused by this, and he shook his head. "No? Leopold just spammed my phone with messages until I agreed to come."

She sighed. "Sounds like Bribery and Corruption to me."

That seemed to confuse him more, but he just turned to survey their company. "What did I miss?"

Iseult raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

"Not entirely, but why not?"

"Suit yourself." She sighed. "Well, this morning, Safi resorted to Bribery and Corruption to get Vaness involved, Stacia Sotar is part of this now-"

"Wait, isn't Stacia part of Merik's group?"

She shrugged. "I thought so, but apparently not. And now Leopold wants Vaness to start a rumour about Merik."

He shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with these people?"

"Do you want a list of that, too?" She asked him. "I could probably write one up by tomorrow."

He laughed slightly, loud enough for Safi to hear. She sent her a small smirk before continuing her planning. "No, I think I can figure that out."

"Thank god," she replied, smiling faintly. "My hand would hurt a lot if I had to do that."

This time, he laughed loudly, eyes bright. And Safi didn't even bother reserving her smirk for just her, because Aeduan noticed it. "Why is she doing that again?"

She sighed. "You don't want to know." When he looked like he was about to protest, she said, "Trust me."

Aeduan shrugged. "If you say so."

Then Safi checked her phone and groaned. "Well damn, Eron wants me home." Iseult felt like cheering at that. "We'll continue planning over the group chat." She didn't feel like cheering at that.

"There's a group chat?" She questioned, because this was news to her.

Safi grinned. "Of course. Check your phone."

Iseult did, and groaned when she saw the notification. She mostly kept her phone on silent, with vibrate off, so she hadn't noticed. Safi had named the group 'REVENGE PLAN' and both words were bracketed by an evil devil emoji. She quickly checked to see who else was in it, and found it was the whole gang, including Aeduan and Vaness. "Really, Safi?"

Aeduan snorted and she glared at him. "You're on here too."

His eyes widened in panic and he searched through his pockets to find his phone. He quickly looked for the notification and groaned when he found it. "Really, Safi?" He echoed.

Safi nodded eagerly. "Of course. Now, I must go. See you." Then she glared at Vaness. "Don't forget to spread that rumour."

Vaness rolled her eyes. "The chances of me forgetting this are non-existent."

[x]

It was foolish of Aeduan to think that he would escape the revenge plan that day. Still, getting hundreds of messages from Leopold was not what he expected. Looking back on it, Aeduan didn't know how he didn't see it coming. Leopold was truly something else.

Aeduan didn't know why he let himself get dragged along, but he found that he didn't mind. He noticed new faces. One of them had to be the Vaness Safi was planning on convincing to help them. Or maybe convincing wasn't the right word.

Aeduan sat next to Iseult, hoping she would see how lost he was and explain who the newcomers were. Instead she asked him : "Did they resort to Bribery and Corruption to get you here, too?"

Well, Bribery and Corruption sounded way more accurate than just 'convincing', but it wasn't what he was expecting. He shook his head. "No? Leopold just spammed my phone with messages until I agreed to come."

"Sounds like bribery and corruption to me."

Aeduan didn't even know why he was there. Iseult was the only half sane person in the group, and even she confused him endlessly. "What did I miss?"

Iseult raised her eyebrows. "Do you really want to know?"

Aeduan did not. "Not entirely, but why not?"

"Suit yourself." She sighed. "Well, this morning, Safi resorted to Bribery and Corruption to get Vaness involved, Stacia Sotar is part of this now-"

Now Aeduan was even more confused. "Wait, isn't Stacia a part of Merik's group?" Iseult shrugged. "I thought so, but apparently not. And now Leopold wants Vaness to start a rumour about Merik." He shook his head. Out of all the annoying people he could've met, he got himself involved with the worst group possible. "What the hell is wrong with these people?" "Do you want a list of that, too?" Iseult asked him. "I could probably write one up by tomorrow." He laughed slightly, loud enough for Safi to hear. She sent her a small smirk before continuing her planning. "No, I think I can figure that out." "Thank god," Iseult replied, smiling faintly. "My hand would hurt a lot if I had to do that." Aeduan laughed, despite it not really being a joke in the sense that it was untrue. He caught Safi looking at him and Iseult, much like yesterday. "Why is she doing that again?" She sighed. "You don't want to know." When he looked like he was about to protest, she said, "Trust me." Aeduan shrugged. "If you say so." Then Safi checked her phone and groaned. "Well damn, Eron wants me home. We'll continue planning over the group chat." "There's a group chat?" Iseult asked Safi grinned. "Of course. Check your phone." Iseult did so, and then groaned. "Really, Safi?" Aeduan snorted and she glared at him. "You're on here too." His eyes widened in panic and he searched through his pockets to find his phone. He quickly looked for the notification and groaned when he found it. The group chat had the least subtle name of all, and Aeduan wasn't even sure how Safi got his number. Probably Leopold. "Really, Safi?" He echoed. Safi nodded eagerly. "Of course. Now, I must go. See you." Then she glared at Vaness. "Don't forget to spread that rumour." Vaness rolled her eyes. "The chances of me forgetting this are non-existent."

When Aeduan got home, he checked the group chat once again. He saw that there was already a conversation going on, and the name had changed from REVENGE PLAN to BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. That inside joke still confused Aeduan. He had to admit that it was awfully fitting, though.

He scrolled up to the beginning.

Stix: My friends asked what I was doing with you the rest of the lunch? And I don't know what to say?

Safi: Say you were bribed and corrupted

Iseult: Do not say that

Safi: Come on, we all know that bribery and corruption is the only way

Leopold: Only way to do what?

Safi: The only way

*Safi changed the group name to BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION*

Stix: That does not answer my question

Vaness: Say you were just standing up for Merik?

Stix: Ahahahahha as if I would ever

Safi: I like you already

Stix: Feelings not mutual until you return my pen

Stix: I still can't believe you gave it to someone who didn't need a damn pen

Safi: I thought it was Merik's, you can't blame me

Stix: I certainly can

Aeduan was amused by the exchange. He was about to type an excuse, but Vaness already sent something.

Vaness: I might be planning to "bribe and corrupt" another person. She refused once but I cannot deal with the lot of you on my own

Safi: Love you too

Read Chapter Seven here: Chapter Seven.

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im-not-corrupted · 4 years

Text

Safi, No (A Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Fourteen

Written with @un-empressed!

Chapter Summary:

Stix confides in Kullen and it goes very, very wrong.

Also on Ao3!

Stix was very, very screwed for two very separate reasons.

Here was the first: Vivia had asked her for help in finding her online friend, who went by the name of theriverstix. Stix had known immediately how fucked she was, especially when she decided to not tell Vivia that she was actually her online friend.

Maybe that was a stupid decision, or maybe it wasn't. What if Vivia was disappointed that it was her and not someone else? She couldn't be sure, and she didn't want to take that chance. Not now, not ever. Vivia was amazing - she didn't want to ruin that friendship.

Which is why she agreed to help Vivia find theriverstix - why she agreed to help find herself, quite literally.

What the fuck was she going to do? She couldn't just not help Vivia look - she had promised, after all - but she wasn't sure revealing herself was the best course of action, either.

And she hadn't replied to any of littlefox's - Vivia's - messages, though she got each one. It felt wrong, somehow, to send a message under the guise of theriverstix. Like keeping a secret that didn't belong to her.

Fuck. She was so very, very screwed.

She debated talking to Kullen about it. The two weren't that close, but they were friends. Wasn't that what friends did? Listen to each other, talk about problems?

She obviously couldn't talk to Vivia, so really, Kullen was the only option left. She didn't feel like talking to the Bribery and Corruption crew because she didn't really know them that well. Not well enough to talk to them about girl problems, anyway.

Which is the thing that caused the second reason for her being so very, very screwed.

That and math.

Stix had a burning hatred for math. Nothing made sense! It was just a bunch of numbers thrown together in an equation that equalled confusion.

Unfortunately, hating math did not mean she couldn't not study for the test she had coming up. So she invited Kullen round her house to help out, giving her the perfect excuse to bring up Vivia and her predicament.

Of course, Kullen couldn't resist a chance to prove how smart he was. He was a show-off, sometimes, and hadn't hesitated before coming over with a few math books that he said would help her.

Math books would not help her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that. So they went up to Stix's room to 'study' - which really meant 'pretend to listen to everything Kullen is saying while actually thinking about Vivia'.

Stix was beginning to think that the amount of time she spent thinking about Vivia was a little unhealthy, but she couldn't stop. Didn't want to stop. Vivia was - is - amazing. Stix had never met anyone like her - shy yet somehow confident, guarded yet somehow an open book. It was confusing, and Stix loved it.

And her problem didn't help her to stop thinking about Vivia, because now she was thinking about what to tell Vivia as well as how she felt about Vivia.

Kullen poked her in the arm and sent her a glare. "Are you even listening to me?"

Stix nodded. "Of course," she lied. Yes, she was definitely listening. No, she was certainly not thinking about Vivia and how pretty she is. Definitely not.

Kullen narrowed his eyes at her, an action Stix figured out meant 'I don't believe you'. Sometimes, she swore he was a human lie detector. "Oh, really?" He drawled, leaning back in his chair. "Okay, then. What did I just say?"

"Uh..." Stix scanned her brain, trying to think of something to say that might actually be what he said. But she came up with nothing, so she said, "That I'm the best person ever?"

Kullen rolled his eyes. "Nice try, but no. Ryber holds that position. Now, what's on your mind? You're not usually this unfocused."

That was more than true, and she knew it as well as him. She sighed. "There's this girl..."

"The supposedly really cute girl you've been flirting with?" Kullen asked and she hit his arm.

"There is no 'supposedly' about it," she replied. "But yes, that's the girl I'm talking about."

He raised an eyebrow, an action that always infuriated her. How the fuck does one raise their eyebrow? "Do tell."

Well, if she was given permission to rant, she was certainly going to use it. "Okay, so, this girl, I met her a while ago and she's truly amazing. Truly wonderful. And earlier, she came up to me asking me for help. So, of course, I said I would help because why wouldn't I?"

"You like her, don't you?" Kullen was too observant for his own good sometimes.

"Not relevant to the story," she answered, dismissing his question with a quick wave of her hand. "Anyway, she asked me to help her find someone she had been talking to online - someone who went by the name of theriverstix." She watched him, waiting for the penny to drop. To connect the dots. He didn't fail her.

His eyes widened. "Theriverstix? But - that's you! So that means this cute girl is also the girl you were talking to online."

She nodded. "Littlefox." They hadn't really talked about it after Kullen had asked about it, but they both remembered it clearly.

"Wow." He shook his head in disbelief. "So, what exactly is your problem?"

"I agreed to help her."

His eyes widened again. "You didn't tell her?" He shouted, and she shook her head.

"I didn't. And now I don't know what to do about it."

"Tell her. That's the only thing you can do, isn't it?"

She sighed. "I guess." She closed the math book in front of her and grabbed some history homework. "No more math. I'm gonna do this homework and then we can watch a movie or something."

Kullen opened his mouth as if to say something, then he closed it again before nodding. "Sure," he said, then sat on her bed. He had only brought his math books, so he didn't have anything else to do but wait for her.

After doing about half her page of history homework (most of her time was still spent thinking about Vivia), her phone made a little noise, announcing she had a notification.

She groaned. She left her phone on the night stand beside her bed, and honestly couldn't be bothered to go over and get it. "Can you read out the notification to me?"

"Yeah, sure," Kullen answered. "It's a message from Leopold? Saying Are we still doing the rumour? Because I have some great ideas that Merik is going to hate."

Stix froze, mentally face palming. The group chat! How could she have forgotten? Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"'The rumour'?" Kullen asked her, voice laced with confusion. "What does this mean, Stix?"

She turned to him, turned to his face which was looking down at the phone then up at her. "It's...a joke?"

He narrowed his eyes at her before unlocking her phone. Fucking human lie detector. Why did she ever tell him her password? She was so very stupid sometimes. "'Bribery and Corruption'? What sort of group chat is this?" He scrolled through her phone, and Stix wished a sink hole would appear and swallow her up so she didn't have to see his face when he realised.

"'We need another way to make Merik's life hell'," he read slowly, then looked back at her. "Stix, what is this? What does this mean? And no lies."

"It's a group that are trying to make Merik's life hell," she told him. He was going to find out anyway.

Kullen gaped at her for a second. "A what?" He shouted. "Are you out of your fucking mind? That's - that's wrong on so many levels."

"To be fair, Merik is a fucking asshole," she stated, ignoring his angry glare.

"That doesn't warrant a plan to make his life hell! Who else is part of it?"

She shifted on her feet slightly. "Uh, Safi, Leopold, Vaness, some other people..."

"How many other fucking people? Nevermind, I don't want to know." He pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply, before gathering his things. "I have to put a stop to this."

Stix grabbed his arm before he made it out of the door. "Kullen-"

He shoved her off. "I really can't talk to you right now. You're part of a group that wants to make my best friend's life hell." Then he ran down the stairs.

Stix knew the moment he left the house because of the bang that followed, the one that signified he slammed the door.

Yeah. She was so very, very screwed.

[x]

Iseult didn't expect somebody to be banging on her door at 7pm, but, well, here she was.

It startled her at first, then annoyed her, but she went down to answer anyway, figuring it was Safi. Safi's timing wasn't great, and certainly hadn't been during the whole time Iseult had known her.

But on the other side of the door, Kullen Ikray and his girlfriend, Ryber, were stood there. Kullen looked furious, with his hands balled into fists at his sides and a fire in his eyes. Ryber seemed to be comforting him with soft words and small touches on his arm that seemed to have some affect on him.

Iseult was fairly sure she had never given Kullen or Ryber her address and immediately asked, "How are you here?"

Kullen scowled at her, though Iseult was good enough at reading people to know that his anger was not directed at her. "We asked Vaness," he told her, then gestured to the door she was keeping open. "We need to talk to you."

She raised an eyebrow. Nobody other than Safi came to talk to her while being this angry. And they weren't close, either - she hadn't had a proper conversation with Kullen before. "To me?"

"Yes, to you," Kullen snapped at her.

Ryber placed a hand on his arm and shot her a small smile she guessed was supposed to be comforting. "He just found out about the revenge plan."

Iseult blinked slightly. "Oh."

"Yes, oh." Kullen glared at her. "Can I come in now?"

"Yes, I suppose you can," she said, holding the door open wider.

Kullen wasted no time heading inside, and she led them to the kitchen, where she felt would be better to talk about it. There was more room for pacing he floor and less damageable things if he decided to go punching his anger out.

"Who came up with it?" Kullen demanded once they were in. "Who came up with the revenge plan?"

"Safi," Iseult answered. A small voice in the back of her head reprimanded her for throwing her best friend under the bus, but, well, they had been found out any way. And Safi had left her fingerprints all over it.

"Merik was right the whole time?" Ryber asked, sounding surprised. "Wow. That's surprising."

Kullen didn't say anything in reply to his girlfriend and crossed his arms. "She needs to apologise to him."

"Good luck with that," Iseult told him, trying not to laugh. Safi apologising was as likely as Vaness giving away genuine compliments. Especially when it came to Merik.

Kullen, however, didn't really share in her amusement and glared at her. "She needs to. It isn't fair. Merik may be an asshole - he's admitted as much to me already - but that doesn't warrant a revenge plan."

Ryber nodded with him. "Even I have to agree here, and I'm pretty fed up of him. You're Safi's rational half - surely you could do something?"

Iseult knew it made sense. Of course she did - she wasn't stupid. She had told Safi the same thing again and again - that the revenge plan was wrong. That Safi shouldn't bribe or corrupt people into doing what she wanted.

But the chances of Safi apologising to Merik were slim. A beautiful fantasy, sure - Iseult would no longer have to listen to her best friend create rumours or bribe and corrupt more people - but a fantasy all the same.

Still. On the off chance of the whole thing being over..."Fine." Kullen seemed satisfied with this, but she warned, "I'll try but no promises."

"That's good enough for me."

Getting Safi to apologise was as hard as Iseult had believed it would be. Her, Kullen and Ryber decided to talk to Safi the next day at school, because while Iseult was perfectly fine with turning up at Safi's house after 7pm, she was not fine with turning up at Safi's house with Kullen and Ryber in tow and the intention of getting Safi to apologise.

That would take far too long and Iseult valued her sleep.

As soon as they said 'apologise to Merik', Safi down right refused. "Apologise? To Merik?" She had exclaimed, attracting the attention of a few people. "Not a chance in hell."

Kullen glared at her. "You have to!"

"Really?" Safi asked with a hint of sarcasm. Enough sarcasm to let Iseult know that her 'really' was more like a 'no, now leave me alone'. "I don't need to do anything, especially for Merik!"

"You kind of do, though, Saf," Iseult pointed out. "You did plot to ruin his life."

"So did Leopold. And Vaness. And Stix. You aren't telling them to apologise."

Ryber asked, "How the hell did you get Vaness to be a part of this?"

Safi grinned at her. "A little method I like to call Bribery and Corruption. It's amazing, and incredibly effective."

"We're getting off topic," Kullen snapped. "Safi, you came up with the revenge plan. The others need to apologise too, but you're the one who started it."

Safi sighed. "Actually, Merik started it."

"How?"

"He spoke over me in geography! I hate people who do that. Like, jeez, the world isn't all about you!" Safi huffed, and Iseult knew this whole thing was a lost cause.

She had told Kullen exactly that before they confronted Safi, but Kullen didn't really care. Neither did Ryber.

"Besides," her friend continued. "Based on what everyone has told me about him, this is a long time coming."

"Maybe it is," Ryber agreed. "But that doesn't mean it's right."

"Please, Safi?" Iseult asked. If there was anything that would get through to her friend, it was her. Not Kullen or Ryber, who didn't have any influence in her life at all. "You can't keep doing this anymore. It's not fair to Merik."

Safi raised her eyebrows, disbelieving. "Not fair to Merik? Have you met him?"

Iseult actually hadn't. She had seen him around, sure, but they had never talked. Regardless, she replied, "Sure, he may be a self-centered asshole but Kullen told me he's trying to be a better person."

"I'll belive it when I see it."

"Apologise, and maybe you will."

Safi stared at her for a few seconds then sighed. "Does this count as corrupting me? Because if so, you have become a master of the corruption part of Bribery and Corruption."

Iseult grinned. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a yes," her friend said begrudgingly. "But only because you're my friend."

Read the next chapter here: Chapter Fifteen

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