#does cassandra de rolo know i would die for her

[waltwhitmansbeard]

go on, claim my heart: chapter seventeen

see my masterpost for what came before this.

Cassandra de Rolo is alive. Keyleth's mind can hardly process the information, so stunning is it. She has known Percy since he was a boy, flinching and haunted, and even though, as they grew together, he would eventually come to tell her tidbits of what he remembered of his lost siblings, it was Cassandra he spoke of the least. Keyleth could tell she in particular was a sore spot for him, and while she used to believe this was due to the fact that she had been the youngest of all the children, she now knows it was Cassandra's dying in his arms that has led him to keep her locked away in his mind all these years.

Except Cassandra didn't die in his arms—or did she? They are dealing with a necromancer, after all; Keyleth would be foolish to dismiss the notion that the Briarwoods resurrected the child after slaughtering her in front of her brother. Either way, the Briarwoods have kept her alive for over a decade, but to what end? Why keep one de Rolo child after so cruelly dispatching with the rest? Could she play some part in their larger schemes? And how does Vilya factor into all of this?

She is so lost in her own thoughts that she nearly misses the door to the cellar reopening and Percy and Vex's descent. She searches her oldest friend's face, and all she sees there is stunned despair. She knows the feeling well. As the two rejoin the circle, Keyleth reaches out and grabs Percy's hand. He meets her eyes, his shining and wild, and she says nothing. There are no words to say.

Chancellor Desnay continues their previous conversation. "You've said that you did research before coming here. What have you learned that might be of use to our cause?"

Pike, who is sitting on Grog's shoulders, begins. "I spent most of my time researching necromancy as best I could with the resources available to us in Syngorn. These magics are dark and forbidden, so much of my reading covered the prosecution of such arcane practitioners and the extent of their crimes, and not as much the magics themselves. I know that in addition to the ability to create undead, Lady Briarwood's abilities can bring about death swiftly and effectively." She frowns sorrowfully in Percy's direction. "She is...quite the efficient killer."

"They both are," he replies tonelessly.

"I wanna know more about this vampire," Grog interjects. "As in, how do I go about killin' 'im?"

"I think you're going to be a key part of that strategy, Keyleth," Vex says.

Keyleth starts, surprised. "Me? Why?"

"One of a vampire's greatest weaknesses is sunlight. I can presume that getting him outside of that castle in the middle of the day is unlikely, so we'll need to bring the sunlight to him."

Grog's eyes go wide. "Can you do that?"

Keyleth shrinks in on herself a bit. She has only done what Vex is describing once, when Gaben Finefirn attacked her and Vax in the middle of the night. She was terrified and desperate when she did it, and though she feels much the same way now, she doesn't know if she'll be able to call the sunlight to her hands as she did back then. "I...I don't..."

Vax's arms slide around her chest and hold her tight. "It is an option," he says to the rest of them, his tone making it clear that he will brook no argument. "Let's explore others."

The group goes on to share what they learned in their research in Syngorn, adding to it whatever helpful tidbits Chancellor Desnay can share. Desnay tells them that the remaining population of Whitestone is desperate for change, for relief, and Keyleth, though single-minded in her goal of saving her daughter, is eager to give it to them. No one should have to live under the kinds of oppression that these townsfolk have for over a decade. Her heart breaks for Percy, who has walked through a shadow of his home's former glory, has seen the ghosts of what once was in each cracked brick and dead flower.

She knows she must figure out how to conjure the sunlight that she created all those months ago in her chambers. It is not an option, as Vax suggested, but a necessity, something she must do to aid her compatriots and bring her daughter home. She wishes she were better at this, her magic, more confident in her abilities. She watched Pike charge forth to face down all those mindless undead and wield Sarenrae's power without hesitation, and it was a sight to behold. So far, Keyleth has had little success in using her gifts when not prompted by intense fear or anger, with the exception of some gentle magical encouragement for the plants in her garden back in Zephrah.

Vax has made more of an effort in his studies with Pike. His magic is far closer to hers, also bestowed to him by a goddess, and he has had an easier time of following her direction. Keyleth tries not to feel jealous, but she does wish that she had the guiding hand of a god to direct her talents.

As she listens to her friends and colleagues outline the difficulties they face in their aims, she cannot slow the swirl of despair that chokes her heart. Her baby girl is lost in this storm of death and darkness, and who are they to help her—a sheltered princess, a court jester, a holy woman, a councilmember, and a couple of guards? Who are they in the face of those who would wield the undead, when they have no idea what they want, what they're planning, what they're capable of?

There is a pair of lips at her ear. "Hey." Vax's voice is so low that he doesn't interrupt whatever it is Desnay is saying. She turns her head just enough to indicate she's heard him. "Are you with me?"

He is solid and warm behind her, and for the briefest moment, when she closes her eyes, they could be back in Zephrah, resting against the trunk of her mother's cherry tree. She nods. "Always."

"I cannot do this without you."

Despite her despondency, she smiles. "You'll never have to." She sighs. "I just wish we knew more, more about what they were up to, what they wanted with Vilya. Oh, to be a little thing inside that castle, something they couldn't see, something that could fly up and hear all of their scheming! I'd fly right in and learn all of their plot and then—"

Keyleth's imaginings are cut off not by another speaker, but rather by the fact that she no longer has the ability to speak. Vax's arms are gone around her, and where her own arms used to be, now there are leathery, membranous wings, which are flapping wildly to keep her afloat. She looks to Vax, who is suddenly huge and rather blurry and looking at her with his jaw nearly on the floor, and she tries to speak, but what comes out instead of words is a sharp, high-pitched chirping.

"Um." Keyleth spins in the air to look at Scanlan, who, like the rest of the group, is just as visibly gobsmacked as Vax. "So...the princess is a bat now. She just...is a bat. That is a thing we all saw?"

Keyleth flies forward, ignoring the others' breathless gasps, and stares into the reflective sheen of Grog's battleax. Staring back at her is a bat, about the size of Pike's foot. Keyleth flaps her wings, and the bat's wings move accordingly.

Oh. Well.

"My wife is a bat." Vax sounds on the edge of hysteria. "I...my wife is a bat."

She flies back to Vax, who watches her approach warily, and settles on his knee. She attempts to speak again, but more chirps come out instead. Annoyed and very much not wanting to be a bat anymore, she flaps her wings aggressively, hoping to shake herself out of it, and after a few seconds, the world is shifting rapidly, and she collapses in a heap of arms and legs in Vax's lap. "Oh!"

Vax quickly helps her right herself while everyone starts talking at once.

"How did you do that?"

"Did you know that was something you could do?"

"Can you turn into something that isn't a bat?"

"Hey...where did the bat go?"

Keyleth frowns at Grog and ignores his question, but then says, "I...have no idea what that was. Certainly that was never anything I'd done before...Pike?" She calls for the Mistress of Divinity hopefully.

Pike throws her hands up. "Do not look at me, Your Highness. I have seen much in my time, but that...that was new."

Keyleth looks to Vax, hoping he'll have some kind of insight, but he seems just as lost as she is. "You were a bat," he says unhelpfully.

"Right." There's an air of awkwardness in the room now, as no one knows what to say to the sight of a princess magically transforming into a bat, and frankly, the princess doesn't know what to say to it, either. What she does know, however, is how useful this ability would be for the very thing she'd been speaking about when she transformed. If she were a bat, she could fly into the castle under the cover of darkness and listen for the Briarwoods' schemes—or even better, to find where they are keeping Vilya.

Keyleth smiles slow and wide as the plan coalesces in her mind. She laces her fingers with his and squeezes tight. "What is it?" he asks, confused by what must be quite the manic look on her face.

"I know what we ought to do next," she says, "but you're not going to like it."

.

"I hate this."

No one is listening to Vax as they scurry up the hill leading away from the town of Whitestone and toward the castle. It is dusk, with the proper darkness of night quickly approaching. They move as swiftly and silently as they can; it was easy enough to avoid the army of zombies with Desnay's expertise, and now they are being careful not to draw the attention of the guards posted closer to the castle itself. The grounds are ringed with evergreens, so the group easily finds a place to hide while still keeping the giant stone structure in sight.

"I hate this," Vax hisses, pulling Keyleth to his side. "This is wildly dangerous."

Keyleth presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I'll be fine. In and out."

"You've done this once, and you have no idea how long it lasts. What if you turn back while you're in there?"

"Twenty minutes," she promises, squeezing his hands in hers. "Surely it'll last at least that long. I will go in, learn what I can, and get out."

Vax's heart feels as though a fist the size of Grog's is crushing it. "If something happens to you in there..."

"It won't. It won't." They both know she can't know that, but he lets her say it anyway. She turns to the rest of the group. "You lot should spread out, stick to the shadows. I'll come back soon."

Vax presses a final kiss to her forehead, and then he lets go of her hands. Before she can do anything, Percy is there, pulling her into a hug. Vax can just barely hear him whisper to her, "If...if you see her..."

Keyleth smiles softly. "I'll let you know. I promise." She extracts herself from a hug, shrugs with a small laugh, and then, mystifyingly, his wife is a bat once more. She lets out a few squeaks so high-pitched they rattle his eardrums, flaps around his head—despite the unbearable horror of their situation, she seems to be having fun—and then takes off into the falling night, soon invisible against the blue-black of the sky.

Vax stares at the last place he saw her, not breathing. A hand slides into his and he jumps, glaring at his sister for scaring him. "She'll be alright," Vex assures him, and somehow, he's more inclined to believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"How do you know?"

Vex shrugs a shoulder. "She's a mother. She's not going to stop until her child is safe."

Vax's brow furrows. There's something Vex'ahlia isn't saying, he's sure of it, but one thing he learned ages ago was never push her to say something she was unwilling to divulge. He thinks of their mother, how glad she must have been in her final moments that they were far from Byroden, far from the flames and the screaming and the terror. "That is what worries me."

"It shouldn't. We'll need her, her magic and her strength and her leadership, if we are to bring Vilya home. Brother, she must be able to call the sunlight to her as you described her doing in her chambers that terrible night. We need her to weaken Lord Briarwood so that the rest of us stand a chance of killing him."

Vax sighs. "There is so much of her magic she has yet to understand." He gestures toward the direction she flew off in. "Every day it seems we learn something new."

"Then let tomorrow be this," Vex insists. "I know how much you wish to protect her, but you cannot protect her so much she is afraid of her own abilities. She needs your support, Vax, and so does your daughter."

There are few things in the world Vax hates more than when his sister is right. He squeezes her hand. "Alright, Stubby. Presuming she makes it back here alive, I'll...talk to her."

Vex checks her hip into his with a smile and then melts back into the forest, leaving him to return his gaze to the darkened sky where his wife disappeared.

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

[awkwardspiritanimals]

so i think a thing that is not talked about nearly enough is cassandra’s feelings about the fact that she was the only member of her family specifically chosen by the briarwoods to live

because, ok, yes, the briarwoods didn’t kill percy, but as far as we saw in canon, prior to percy literally trying to kill them, they didn’t really give a shit about percy and whether or not he was still alive and what he might be doing out there in the world. the first time they see him in emon, sylas freaking laughs. the briarwoods are just not that concerned about percival until he and vox machina come after them.

but anna ripley is canonically obsessed with percy, and has been for a long time. it doesn’t take much of a stretch, i don’t think, to imagine that percy’s life was part of the deal she struck in order to help them. sure, i’ll help you overthrow and murder the de rolos. but in exchange, you spare the second son and he’s mine. and that’s fucking disturbing as hell, but i have no trouble seeing the briarwoods striking that deal, particularly if they have taken the time to study the de rolos prior to their attack, understood that percy wasn’t the heir and had no interest in ruling whitestone, could assume that he would not fight like the some of the others (and oh how wrong they would be, eventually, but that’s a story for a different time), could think that ripley would have no trouble controlling him.

but cassandra? cassandra, who has to be a fairly young teenager at this time, they look at cassandra and think she could be ours. oh, their god gets the temple, gets whitestone, gets the world eventually, doesn’t he, and so certainly he wouldn’t begrudge them one girl? one girl for their little family, the family he enabled, and so certainly they can have this for themselves, a daughter.

i’m a briarwood, cass says when percy and the others are trapped behind the acid, and the in world cass grew up in, family names are so so so important, and the briarwoods have taken cass’s family and her name and given her their own, they’ve made her one of them. it’s very important that she specifically says that, that she claims their name instead of just their alliance.

(and it’s easy to think that their keeping of cass is part of what drives the wedge between the briarwoods and ripley. because it was cass who freed percy, who cost ripley her prize, and even after she escapes, even after she leads a failed rebellion against them, the briarwoods keep her with them, consider her a daughter, and ripley’s prize, the boy they promised her in exchange for her help, is gone because of cassandra.)

and so, beyond whatever feelings she has about her betrayal of whitestone, of percy and vox machina, whatever sins she is trying to atone for, there has to be a part of her that also wonders what it was about her that made the briarwoods look at her and her alone, of all her family, and say yes, that one. that one we can twist and bend. that one we can make like us. what dark and loathsome thing did they see within her that made them think that? if they could look at her and see whatever it was they saw, how is she supposed to rule, how is she supposed to go on, with everything she does and this thing inside her that the briarwoods saw and twisted?

(and the thing, of course, about cassandra de rolo is that knowing these things and feeling these things and having done these things, is she looks at whitestone, at her brother, and she looks all those doubts and fears in the face and says fuck you. this is something i must do. this is my responsibility. this, not anything the briarwoods did, is my family legacy. this.)

#cassandra de rolo #percival frederickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #sylas briarwood #delilah briarwood #critical role #i had a lot of feelings about cassandra de rolo and then i started to write de rolo siblings fic and those feelings quadrupled #and i think a lot about how ripley (who arguably was the one conspirator who hurt percy more than any other) was at the bottom of his list #and we know now that this is in part because he was afraid of her (exactly because she was the one who hurt him the most) #and in working that into the fic it became clear that cass would have ripley at the top of her list #because it is hard to confront the people who hurt her the most (the briarwoods) #and much easier to hate and confront the person who hurt the brother she loves more than anyone in the world #she wants all of them to die but she wants ripley to suffer and she wants to be the one to inflict that suffering #but ok i got a little off track there but i love cassandra de rolo and i think about her a lot #and the de rolo sibling au can be a slog sometimes but getting to write percy and cass being siblings always makes it worth it #does cassandra de rolo know i would die for her #explosion son #disaster asshole family

[nochiquinn]

legend of vox machina episode 7: scanbo OR it’s only comic relief until it stops being funny

I got so excited when I saw the title of this episode

all the reactors I've seen thought stonefell was anders on account of the weird cut/camera focus when percy was talking about them

yes your honor I would die for cassandra de rolo

she does sound moderately like a fable npc

mala: that was an assassination attempt

anders is built like a pear on a barbecue fork

like okay. he's not wrong about the baby de rolos being pampered b u t that's not THEIR fault. kids are never responsible for the situation they were born or brought into, only with what they do with it once they're old enough to develop agency. he's just lashing out at them bc they're easy targets. and papa de rolo is right, it's NOT his job, and if it's not an urgent "everything's gonna blow up if we don't do this" matter he shouldn't have kept pushing. also don't bitch about your students' parents in front of them, let alone directly TO them.

okay I'm done now we can continue

I did NOT see the nails holding keyleth's effigy's antlers in place until mica pointed it out and for the record: I hate it

"I assure you, I'm in control" press x to doubt

his hair is getting a lot fluffier/less coiffed as time goes on (good)

"if you turn that thing on any of us again, I will not hesitate, I will kill you"

imagine knowing what percy's guns can do, even if you don't know what they are, and seeing him use them brutally and mercilessly on two prone, helpless people in two days (never mind what they all knew stonefell was and what he did), and now he's leaking smoke and his eyes are black from corner to corner and he's pointing it at you. and if he'll point it at you, his teammate (you'd like to think friend), who won't he point it at? vex? keyleth? and the only way you know to stop him is to put him down.

there's gonna be a lot of meta/fic in these next few recaps and I refuse to apologize

this means he kept the de rolo crest buttons this whole time

I love how they visualized this. just this whole sequence with the hammers and the barrel clicking

how'd he get a forge tho

scanlan

mala pointed out this is how early scanlan deals with dark shit, is to make a joke out of it, but has no filter on when it's appropriate to say it out loud

pours one out for matthew mccoughnatree

this is a really nice sequence tho

when keyleth's ambition outstrips her control

"who's the sixth barrel for?" props to whoever it was caught percy's shadow

I wasn't sure ale would put out a fire instead of dousing it but it probably has a pretty low alcohol content compared to like vodka

it's like dousing a fire with natty light

vax actively countering vex instead of just sniping at her

"this is bigger than all your personal shite" I mean yes but I would like more of the personal shite

s c a n l a n

like he has one job and that's fucking with everyone but. scanlan.

can archie like. wipe his face. it wasn't bothering me until mala pointed it out.

venkman

"let. me. be. ANNOYING." huge tiktok audio potential

me: oh no is this a musical episode mala: it was threatened

this was INTENSELY unneccesary

CrItIcAl RoLe WaS nEvEr ThIs CrAsS

D&D GUARDS

I'm sorry, they're clearly playing bunions and flagons

blink? I assume?

"how would this ever help?" idk if you needed to get inside a dragon

nut check WITH the gauntlet

I remember the fire breath being much more controlled in the stream, I am probably remembering wrong.

scanlan: literally a thirteen year old

yes. YES. the triceratops is LOOSE.

doors: the only thing to stop a charging triceratops

"who let that sex-crazed gnome do this solo?" "uh...you?" "never listen to me again."

"excellent plan, vox machina" "I mean that is what we're known for" rank lies

"I was dead yesterday, remember? can only improve from here."

tbf the DOOR wasn't trapped. just the everything else.

I just love how bigby's scanlan's hand has been used in the show, much more versatile than I remember it being in the stream

(or it was just so ubiquitious in the stream I stopped appreciating it properly)

you have activated GrogRage™

"oh man, they are fucked now"

mala pointed out vex and keyleth still work together in battle, regardless of their personal squabbles. they can hate each other later when they're still alive.

(also probably helps that keyleth actually has no beef with vex, and is likely absolutely bewildered at the way vex has been treating her lately)

COCK LIGHTNING

no! double-tap! confirm the kill!

"good show, scanlan."

I legitimately loved vax running in ahead to find anders (and percy beating the shit out of him for it later) but this does make more narrative sense

"let her go and we can discuss a future where you're still breathing."

hey show what the fuck

hey show what the Fuck

#the legend of vox machina #lovmtag #critical role #spoilers #crititag #liveblog #reaction post

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

Hii gotta say that all of the asks and ideas about the hunger games AU hurt so bad but are so great!! I'd absolutely love to read a full fic from you about it. The whole talking about Percy's game (and the idea about a De Rolo getting chosen every game) made me think, ok but what if it's only him and Cass left and she gets chosen and he volunteers instead of her? like Prim? And then he knows he has to stay alive to be there for her but he can barely live with what he had to do to there (1/2)

(2/2) And then he knows he has to stay alive to be there for her but he can barely live with what he had to do to get there that and and then after he can't be there for her anyway- (Also Ripley as Percy's mentor would be so good but so awful). And Then in the year he does join as a mentor they do pick Cass? I really love your idea of finding a way of keeping most of them alive in an actual fic and i most certainly don't want Cass to die but fuck this idea hurt my brain

I am for sure going to write this now! I've started outlining and everything but I probably won't start fully working on it or posting chapters until I finish my pirate au.

And this is for sure going in it now, just the added angst of Percy thinking that he found a way to get Cassandra out of it because for years afterwards she was safe, but then the same year he decides he's well enough to be a mentor his baby sister gets chosen and there's literally nothing he can do but try to help her from the outside and then that gets taken away too and to his absolute horror, she is mentored by the briarwoods, the same people that got all of his siblings before him killed.

#lis makes hcs #critical role #vox machina #hunger games au

[enkelimagnus]

A Castle in the Forest

Percy x Vex’ahlia, Chapter 12, 3016 words,

A Modern AU, in which Vex is a park ranger taking over the Alabaster Sierras post, and finds much more than she bargained for.

Read on AO3

This chapter has some traumatic responses to perceived threat, please be careful.

--------------

When Vex makes it back to the cabin, Vax is pacing around the main room. The bow’s box is open on the floor, the gorgeous weapon on display and Vex can’t help but stare at it for a second before she looks back at her brother.

She hasn’t been gone for that long, but enough to piss him off, it seems. Too bad. She can’t deal with this right now, she needs him for other issues and those need to come before whatever his problem is. She needs to be selfish, she needs him to be selfless so she can rage against others before he rages against her.

She’s still tittering on the edge of the folder in her hand. Her mind is still filled with memories of Saundor and the fire and the parties. She feels like her scars are itching. They probably aren’t.

Vax’s eyes fall on her where she’s standing in the entrance of the cabin. She feels like a doe shaking at the edge of the woods, staring at a hiker wondering whether they are a hunter. It’s her brother. Why is she so anxious suddenly?

Maybe it’s the look in his eyes. It’s the look from his first visit in Shademurk, it’s the look from the first time she was asked to be a lady, it’s the quiet fury he only ever seems to feel when it comes to her. Never for himself. Always for her. Because of her.

“Vex,” he starts but she shakes her head.

“Please,” she cuts him before he can add anything. Her voice is firmer than she thought it would be. She feels so fucking shaky.

He seems taken aback from that and the look in his eyes grows. She’s tired and furious and hurt too and she doesn’t want to deal with this. She really fucking doesn’t. And he’s going to confront her, because of course he will. He’s never let her run away from the hard things.

“Please what?” Vax asks, crossing his arms.

He’s so mad. The door is unlocked though. That’s good. She’s between him and it, and it will be okay, and… he’s not going to hurt her. Gods, Vex. What is she doing? What is she thinking? He would never. He loves her. As if that has stopped others before. She wills her mind to stop talking now.

“I’m not…” She shakes her head. “Please don’t.”

Vax shakes with annoyance. “You can’t run away from it, Vex.” He sounds tired now, more than angry. Maybe she’s not able to read him properly today. That’s bad.

“I know,” she snaps back.

She can’t run away from anything ever. No matter how far she goes, it will find her. They will find her. Syldor and Saundor.

Vax points at the bow. “Where did you get it?”

Vex sighs a little, exhales. He doesn’t seem that aggressive and her mind is playing games with her. She’s choked up and ready to run at a moment’s notice.

“You know where,” she replies.

There is no way that he missed it. It stood in the center of Saundor’s home like its heart. It stood on a pedestal, and she’d not been allowed to touch it, or try it. Now it’s hers. But she barely touches it, and hasn’t tried it. Saundor had made sure she revered it appropriately, the way she revered him.

“Fine,” Vax huffs. “Keep it to yourself.”

Vex crosses her arms too. The folder feels heavy in her hand. Lead, pulling her away from the surface. She doesn’t like when Vax is like this. But at the same time, she so rarely sees him like this. Usually, everything falls off of him like water off a duck’s back. Usually, nothing ever gets to him. She hasn’t seen him show so much… distress in a really, really long time.

“It’s just a fucking bow. Why do you care so much?” She asks defensively.

It’s hypocritical and she knows it. She’s the one who is terrified of touching it, just in case it’s a beacon that will bring Saundor back to her. She’s the one who acts as if it’s either a sacred relic or a cursed horror. She’s the one that cares too much. He’s just asking questions.

“I don’t like the idea that you have pieces of him lying around like this. I wish you would move on.”

How can she move on? How can she move on when the fire burned her skin and scarred it irreparably, when his words burned her mind and scarred it irreparably, when everything that happened during those months and years have borrowed under her skin like a small poisonous insect, ready to sting but also to lay eggs that threaten to come out and destroy her?

She walks through life on the edge of breaking, a broken mirror stitched back together by an unsure hand with ugly red tape.

“It’s just a bow,” Vex repeats. She can’t bring herself to sound mad anymore.

Vax shakes his head. “If it’s just a bow, why don’t you use it? It’s much better quality than the one you have now. Why don’t you use it?”

Vex opens her mouth and closes it again. She has a lot of answers to that question. Because it’s beautiful and rare and probably worth more money than her life is and if she uses it, she will break it. There will be scuffs and marks of use that she doesn’t want to add. Because it’s Saundor’s and she’s scared of it. Because she doesn’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve to wield such a beautiful bow. She’s not a fey, or a ruler, or even a full-blooded elf. She’s a small mortal thing and she doesn’t deserve to wield the Wrath of the Fey Warden.

“Fuck, Vex,” Vax huffs, looking away, even turning away from her.

She’s not going to succeed in making this stop if she doesn’t talk. He’s just going to keep getting mad at her, and she can’t have that. She knows, deep down, that he’s not going to hurt her. But the last few years are keeping her in that state of fear she can’t get out of.

“It’s an Archfey’s weapon,” she starts slowly. “I’m barely even an elf.”

The look Vax sends her makes her want to puke. He looks at her like she’s a broken, pathetic little thing and she’s nauseous suddenly. She should have yelled at him, she should have insulted him. She shouldn’t have told him this.

“I don’t think it cares. It’s just a bow,” Vax answers, in a voice so soft and sweet Vex really starts considering punching him to make him go back to the anger.

The anger makes her want to run away and hide, but that soft, soft pity is even worse. It speaks of all the things she’s desperately trying not to be. Of the broken little girl she is, even if she tries to be strong.

“Everyone I have ever loved has cared.”

Vax is silent for a moment. It seems to last forever and she can’t make herself look back at him. She can’t make herself see how he’s looking at her. It’s probably going to be the soft pity again.

She doesn’t see why the bow would want her to wield it. It’s the kind of weapon imbued with enough magic that it can get picky about its wielder, the kind of weapon that chooses its archer no matter what the archer wants. It’s been the bow of Lord Saundor the Forsaken for a millennium, or more. Why would it want her?

She’s small, she’s weak, she’s a half-elf and a bastard, she’s nothing.

“That’s not true, Vex, and you know it,” Vax says after a moment. He’s firm and simmering with anger again. She both dreads and welcomes the anxiety his anger brings. At least it’s not the pity.

“I know, but it doesn’t matter,” she replies. “I know I’m out of Shademurk, but it’s like he’s hiding around every corner of Whitestone, waiting to take his revenge on me. I still smell of him, Vax. All I am is the thing he made me. I can’t escape it!”

She feels like she’s drowning. The file with the photos are still in her hand. The fiend’s words: “You smell like Fey” still resound in her head. The scars will forever be on her skin, and in her mind, and she’s afraid of her own twin so much she’s wondering how to please him to appease his anger, how to make him stop, what she can give of herself for him to stop.

“There are so many things I know,” she continues. “That I know I know. Consciously, I’m aware that he can’t find me here, that I’m safe, that you love me no matter my blood, that I’m skilled, that I’m good at my job, that this is not all my fault.” There are tears on her face and she’s hiccuping now, and she doesn’t even know when she started crying. “I know,” her voice rises in the words. “But it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change how I feel.”

Vax’ face is softer when he pulls her in his arms, holds her to him like he has so many times. He presses a kiss into her hair and when Vex inhales, he smells like home. He smells like the soap they use in Syngorn, with the pressed flowers that made her want to help with the laundry even if it was supposedly not a dignified activity for a young lady of her standing. He smells like the firewood and the furs, like hide and the dyes that make that deep dark color he prefers to wear.

“I’m scared,” Vax whispers into her hair. “I’m scared of losing you.”

Vex can’t control her sobs at that. She buries her face in his shoulder so her tears will be absorbed by his clothing. She wishes she could disappear in this moment, in his arms. She wishes the world would stop existing outside of the cabin.

“Forget about the bow. Hide it forever, I don’t care. I just want you to be okay. And I can tell you’re not. And I don’t know how to fix it.”

Vex moves back for a little, not answering anything to that. She puts the file on the table next to them and opens it. Vax moves in closer to look at the pictures and his arms tighten their grip on her a little as he sees the photos of her and Saundor.

“I can’t escape,” Vex starts again. “I thought… I thought I could erase him.”

“Where do these come from?” Vax asks, quiet anger back in his voice, but right now, it’s not directed at her.

She tells him about the meeting she just crashed, about the information they have, about the castle in the forest and Percival de Rolo. About Cassandra, and how she’s desperate to save her brother, so much so that she’ll let people walk into traps and let people die to make sure no one knows about the fiend she’s hiding.

They come back to the reports about the fire, to the pictures of her and Saundor. They’re both sitting now, Vex has Trinket on her lap, Vax has stopped holding her to him but he hasn’t stopped being by her side.

“I didn’t think there would be pictures,” Vex whispers. “I didn’t… I hoped no one in the Material Plane would ever see these memories. I thought… I thought I was safe from them. But I can’t erase this. This is evidence, and I can’t undo it.”

Vax nods quietly. “I see.”

“How can I forget, when the world won’t stop reminding me?”

She sounds so tired and small. And that’s how she feels suddenly. Like this giant mass of pain and memories is after her and all she can see is its shadow on the ground, but the shadow completely swallows her already.

Vax swallows. “Maybe you’re not supposed to forget.”

Vex huffs loudly, looking at him. “Then what?”

“I think you’re supposed to… live with it.”

“The way we’re living with what Syldor did to us?” she asks, a bit defiant.

“Better, hopefully?” Vax replies, looking up at her. He has a little wry smile on, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Now that she thinks about it, Vax hasn’t been this animated, with his pacing and worry and anger, in a long time. It was as if he was awake for a moment, but now he’s back to saying those things and pretending like everything is rolling off of him like it doesn’t touch him.

She reaches for him. “Are you okay?” She asks. It’s nothing more than a whisper. It feels wrong to ask these things louder.

Vax stares at the table for a long moment before he sighs deeply. “I don’t think so.”

Vex swallows. She doesn’t know how to help him. She doesn’t know who to ask. She’s pretty sure there is no one around Whitestone that can help with mental health, but maybe she should ask the priests. They betrayed her, yes. But they’re the only people she knows here.

“Have you told anyone?” She mostly means to ask if he’s told Gilmore.

Vax shakes his head tiredly. “No. I don’t think there is anyone to tell. Gilmore’s… miles away. And you have way too much on your plate already.”

He’s right. Gilmore can’t really help from Westrunn. Vex doesn’t even know how to help herself.

“You can tell me about it,” Vex points out. “Anyway. We can… You’re helping me a lot; you’re helping me carry a lot of my burden. I can help with yours.”

Vax smiles a little. It’s a bare hint of something but it feels more genuine than anything she’s seen on his face in a really long time.

“Not right now,” he mutters. “I need a little time to… put words on this whole thing.”

Vex nods in understanding. She gets that. Words are so incredibly hard to find.

“I love you,” she says softly.

Vax relaxes and reaches to pull her close. It’s awkward with Trinket in the middle and it lasts for a second but it’s a good, wonderful second.

“I love you too.”

They start moving a little, tidying around. Vex puts the bow back under the bed, and even if Vax looks like he’s about to say something, he doesn’t. He understands now. Perhaps not the entire story, but enough. Enough so he lets her do this at her pace. And she’s not ready for the bow just yet.

Now that Vax knows all about what’s going on, she can share her plans, or whatever there is that looks like a plan.

She needs to help this little gang of plotters to get rid of the fiend. She has no idea where to even start with that plan, but she knows… she knows she wants to avoid killing the host. Whoever this Percival guy is, no matter how he came across the demon in the first place, it seems he was the one responsible for her escape. It seems he was fighting for control, to let her go. She’s planning to try to honor the life debt she owes him now.

But there’s also the issue of his weapon, and what it did to her. It was unlike anything she’d ever come across. The pain was searing, the shot very clear and it can probably kill with a horrifying ease. She needs to know what it is, and how to make sure it won’t hurt anyone else.

It’s easy to disarm swords and arrows, but this thing? She doesn’t have a clue what it looks like. She just knows its noise. And the pain and destruction it caused. She was lucky to at least be able to give herself a small healing spell. She could have bled out.

If it comes to it, she’ll need to take the fiend and the host down. She can’t let whatever that weapon is exist in the world.

Vex guesses that’s somewhat part of her ranger job. All of the rangers of the TWC are responsible for a park, but if you put all of these outposts together, the TWC is responsible for the entire continent of Tal’Dorei. They’re here to keep it safe.

In the absence of the Grey Hunt, in the absence of anyone that has the authority to take care of this, it falls down on Vex. It’s too big of a responsibility, to make sure this sort of weapon doesn’t get out, to make sure this incredibly powerful fiend is taken care of, but she needs to do her job correctly.

Yesterday, her own pain and anger led her to run into the mouth of the beast unprepared. She won’t make that mistake again. Next time, she’ll come with healing potions and all her spells at the ready, with her weapons too. Next time, she’ll be ready for the monster. Next time, she won’t let it get into her head.

She texts Pike to ask when the next meeting is going to be. She has questions to ask, and she’s bringing Vax. It’s non-negotiable. They need her, and she needs Vax. She’s going to take control of this whole operation now, no matter what they tell her.

The next meeting is scheduled in three days, when the priests and Cassandra are all free.

Vax and Vex go to bed curled up in each other, as they have many nights since they were born. The fire crackles away next to them, the bear cub snoozes by the bed, and they have each other.

Strangely, Vex sleeps much easier than she has the last few nights. She’s not feeling better per se, but having talked to Vax, knowing they are both in a bad place… It makes it easier to be in this bad place.

As long as they have each other, they can get through anything. Right?

#perc'ahlia #vex'ahlia #vax'ildan #vaxilmore #vox machina #critical role #fic #mine

[your-turn-to-role]

Top 5 critical role npcs who are family members of player characters

you know i’m kind of honoured by how well you lot know me, all the questions i’ve got today have been so targeted at the shit i’m into

but oooooohhh, this is a question

like there’s a space for family members who i love

and there’s also a space for the ones who are complete dickheads or outright villains but are interesting, or have interesting scenes (thoreau lionett, syldor vessar, kevdak, a lot of the trickfoots)

but just going with that former question....

5. Cassandra de Rolo

her and percy have the best relationship, for starters, i love the very careful mix of “we lost all our other family and you’re all i have left and you’re the most important person in the world to me and i love you” but also “you’re my sibling and i cannot stand to see your face”, it makes for the funniest scenes, percy hugging her and her fighting him off, cass mocking percy after they get back in search for bob, the whole thing after his resurrection... it’s wonderful.

but also just on her own merit, this girl has been through a lot, like... losing your whole family when you’re only 13 or so (a lot of people seem to forget she’s the youngest de rolo), hiding in your own house and hearing them torture your brother, helping him escape only to get shot down and nearly die, wake up and be told percy’s dead too, you really have nothing left. living in the same castle as the murderers for your entire teenage years, watching as they slowly kill your city, mind controlling you into helping. being freed from that and suddenly instated as the leader of the city, just barely an adult and not trusting any of your own decisions but knowing that everyone relies on you, and you can’t let them down. and fucking doing it, like, cassandra is so fucking strong, barely anyone even knows she’s struggling. more hugs for cass pls she’s real good and didn’t deserve this

(also, rogues. are my fave.)

4. Velora Vessar

god i wish we could have seen more of her. i know they can’t do anything about the technical difficulties but the fact that her first scene gets cut out is an endless source of frustration, i want to see the child!

but what we do have is wonderful, she’s so cute, i love. both of the twins are so soft around her which is a side of them i love seeing, and also like... her and her outdoorsy nature and her owlbear and her just lowkey encouraging the twins’ rebellion by being a rebellious child and her pretending to be the twins and just aaaaaahhhh

she’s also like... somewhere between fjord and caleb’s age (which is kind of weird to think about but also you can reverse it and think about how during the vox machina campaign fjord and caleb were this tiny), so she’s high on the list of characters i’d like to see return in campaign 2, it probably won’t happen but like... i wanna know what velora’s like now

(rogue! rogue! rogue! rogue! rogue!)

3. Calliope or Clarabelle Clay

yeah, i really can’t pick on this one. i mean this space is kinda for all the clays, because i adore this family and everything about it, but particularly the sisters. calliope because we saw the most of her and her relationship with caduceus which is also great (like, i love endlessly loving sibling relationships as much as the next person but sibling relationships with taliesin’s characters are just so antagonistic in the funniest way, the scene with cad and calliope and the pool? perfection), and clarabelle because she’s small and weird and likes bugs and i adore her

2. Marion Lavorre

i love that there’s a mother in this show that isn’t dead? and is a good mother? of the very few mothers in dnd that are alive, most of them aren’t great people, or at the very least, enabling a very not great father. but marion is just so wonderful, i love her so much. i also love the fact that like, she’s a sex worker and everyone knows this but no one thinks less of her for it, she’s incredibly highly respected and everyone loves her, and while she may be a single parent of a daughter she wasn’t prepared for, she’s given that daughter more love than like every other parent in this show combined. takes no shit, is incredibly respectful of whatever jester wants to do with her life, jester can talk openly to her about anything, there’s no judgement, just support. also like... has fears, struggles to leave the house, but isn’t looked down on for that either

(also i just adore seeing her interact with the rest of the mighty nein, it’s so funny)

1. Kaylie Shorthalt

it’s funny considering scanlan is pretty low on the list of my favourite characters, not because i don’t like him, just, he’s not much my type and everyone else i like more. but seriously i would watch a whole show just for kaylie. i love the way matt plays her, i love her personality, i love her character arc and development, i love what her presence does to scanlan’s character arc and development, i love that she’s a tough street-wise gnome girl who will beat your ass in a bar fight but also is a violinist (and like, fiddler style, i say this as someone who plays the violin and also has a bit of experience with most instruments, that is one of the hardest things to learn in music, it requires so much patience, dedication, and precision. fiddlers get a reputation based on the style of music they play of being like... easy going laid back jokey people but legit if someone can play a fiddle well they are every bit as professional as a goddamn orchestral pianist), as well as pretty good in most other instruments. this girl will 100% cheat you out of money in a gambling game but also you could put her in a music school and she’d show up almost everyone there, i’m not kidding.

her dedication and skill is also pretty clear when like... her and scanlan left for a year to figure themselves out and returned as crime lords running half of ank’harel.

and then she decides what she wants to do with her life after vecna’s gone and scanlan’s no longer in danger is go to school, because she never finished school, but not just to learn, specifically to prove she’s better than rich kids

(and probably beat up one or two i’m sure)

seriously she’s the best

#cr1 #cr2 #cr thoughts #cassandra de rolo #velora vessar #calliope clay #clarabelle clay #marion lavorre #kaylie shorthalt #ask #text #Anonymous

[the-littlest-goblin]

@mithrilwren that’s all the excuse I need! De Rolo kid headcanons ok let’s go

Vesper Elaina de Rolo (b. 814 PD)

A tinkerer at heart. Where Percy specialized in small, intricate mechanisms, Vesper prefers large works of civil engineering. Her irrigation system designs revolutionize the farms around Whitestone, and later all of Tal’dorei.

Takes over the title Sophist of Native Ingenuity when Percy retires

Tries so hard to be a Proper Older Sister and a Good Influence, but has caused too much structural damage with her experiments for that reputation to take hold.

Always left in charge when Percy and Vex leave to do adventurer things. She is a cruel and tyrannical babysitter.

Secretly Trinket’s favorite.

Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo IV (b. 816 PD)

“Freddie.” No one calls him Percival unless they’re being ironic, and absolutely no one calls him “Percy.” 

A ranger like his mother. Spends all of his free time exploring the Parchwood and started training with a bow and arrow as soon as he could hold one. His greatest dream is to join Vex as a member of the Grey Hunt (which he eventually does).

Resents being the only one of his siblings saddled with a million middle names. As a teenager he responds to their teasing by being a pompous asshole about it. 

Barn owl companion. He brought a baby owlet with a broken wing home for his mom to heal and it never left.

Johanna Whitney de Rolo (b. 816 PD)

The black sheep of the family, insomuch as they even have one. She’s constantly trying to get a rise out of her parents but Percy and Vex are pretty chill comparably so it often backfires.

The ultimate ride-or-die sibling, especially with her twin.

Must Climb. Trees, walls, buildings, the higher the better. The embodiment of that “He likes to be tall” meme. It’s especially useful for avoiding her tutors when she’s cutting class.

Takes to weapons training the most out of all her siblings.

Also the only one to follow in VM’s adventuring footsteps. She never gets to god-killing levels of danger but she’s been in her fair share of scrapes. Likes to bring home stories that make her siblings jealous and give her parents heart attacks.

Rogue, because I love pain and generational parallels.

Julius Vax’ildan de Rolo (b. 820 PD)

Quiet & Introverted Bookworm. Even more so than Percy was as a kid.

“I’m telling Mom/Dad!” sibling.

Tires of all the history and science books in the library of Castle Whitestone. His interests lie elsewhere: he’s practically memorized the few arcana books they have.

Later starts spending summers in Emon, apprenticing with Gilmore and studying with Allura.

Conjuration wizard

Raven familiar. There’s a longstanding argument with Freddie over whose bird is better.

Madeleine Cassandra de Rolo (b. 822 PD)

The inevitable tiefling de Rolo baby. She has zero angst about it, everyone is just jealous of how awesome her horns are.

Sweet and unassuming youngest sibling, until you realize she just puppy-dog-eyed you into doing her chores for her.

No one can stay mad at her, ever, and she knows it.

The only religious one. She saw Vex glow once and was hooked.

Becomes an acolyte in Whitestone’s (now flourishing) Temple of Pelor. The entire congregation Would Die For Her.

Light domain cleric

#thank you for that #critrole #critical role #cr1 #don't mind me

[words-writ-in-starlight]

hey so rewatched legend of the sword yesterday w/ a friend (partially cuz i showed them one of your posts about it) - so vox machina: legend of the sword au maybe? randomly generated hozier lyric: Mid-Youth Crisis. hope youre doing well :)

INSPIRED!  EXCEPTIONAL!  VISIONARY!  For this ask meme, which is still open!

mid-youth crisis

“Percival deRolo,” the queen says, rolling her words over her tongue like a fine wine lacedwith poison. She’s dressed in a fine gown of deepest blue, with the Briarwoodcrest embroidered over and over in silvery white at the hem. Her dark hair ishalfway pinned up under her circlet, the rest falling in orderly curls down herback. “You did cause us no end of trouble.”

“My name isPercy, Your Majesty,” Percy says, forcing himself to bow his head over hismanacles and look afraid. The fear isn’t a challenge. The bow costs himeverything. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m here.”

“Don’t you?You would have been—what, nearly eight?”

Percy triesto look guileless, tries to look baffled and afraid and every inch the bastardson of a whore. He doesn’t know if he’s selling it, but he does knowthat the second he stops trying, he’s going to be executed. He’ll never see Vexor Vax again, and any chance of revenge he’s ever entertained, any hope ofmaking the queen and her consort pay for the fall of the de Rolos, will diewith him. He wasn’t ready for this, he wasn’t prepared, and now he’s in a cell,unarmed and completely unable to call for aid. Even if he could, three streetfighters with a sword, a bow, and six knives between them aren’t liable to getfar against the full might of the Briarwoods’ personal army.

He neverexpected to live, when he faced Queen Delilah Briarwood, but he’d hoped to atleast take her down with him.

“I’m—twenty-three,Your Majesty,” Percy says. He keeps his eyes fixed on the chain between hisfeet. If he looks up, the acid rage in his chest will fight it’s way up histhroat, until he’s snarling at her. He forces his head down further andpictures Cassandra, her chubby little hands losing their grip on him and herblood staining her nightgown. “If that helps.”

“I’m sureyou’ve been told you look older,” Delilah says, reaching through the bars ofthe cell to curl her fingers thoughtfully into his hair, raking at the whitecurls. 

The familiartouch, as casual and friendly as if he were her son, or her dog, is too much totake.

Percy jerksback hard, as much as he can without moving his feet and testing the chains.His head snaps up and he doesn’t know what his face looks like right now, buthe’ll gamble it’s neither deferential nor frightened.

“Do nottouch me,” he snaps.

“There itis,” Delilah says, and she catches his jaw in a lightning-fast move, forces himto look at her as she studies his eyes, the brilliant blue that he inheritedfrom his father, and his father before him. “That famous de Rolo pride. Tell meyour name, my dear boy.”

“You’regoing to kill me anyway.”  He can hear an old accent starting to touch hiswords, distantly, as if this is all a play on a stage and he can’t do anythingto change it.  The streets of Londinium fade, the high towers of thecastle taking their place in his vowels and liquids.  If she wasn’talready sure of who she’d managed to capture, he thinks that alone might haveproved it to her.

“That’strue,” the queen says, her grip tightening until it’s nearly enough to leavefingerprint bruises on his jaw. “You are the oldest surviving de Rolo heir, theBorn King.  The sword knows it.  I can’t allow the people to know it,too.  But if you cooperate, I may not kill anyone…else.”

Percy has amoment of ice-cold dread as he wrenches himself away from her grip.  Gods,who—  “What have you done?” he whispers, and it’s all nobility.

Delilahsmiles at him, the calm satisfaction of a cat watching its prey run directlyinto a trap.  “My dear,” she says, raising her voice from its usual softmurmur to a summoning shout without taking her eyes off Percy.  “Join us.”

And a womanwalks down the hall to stand at Delilah’s side.  She has long, chestnutbrown hair threaded in several places with snowy white, pinned up over a longoval face, and for a wild moment, Percy thinks mother, but no.  Thewoman is too young, younger than her hair and severe expression suggest—youngerthan Percy, maybe, with traces of childish roundness still in her stubbornchin.   She’s dressed in a lighter shade of blue than Delilah’smidnight, a simple dress cut from expensive cloth that makes the woman’sstartlingly blue eyes nearly glow in the torchlight.  

“Cassandra,”Percy chokes out.  He feels like he did when he took the hilt of thesword, like there’s such unimaginable energy in his chest that there’s nowherefor it to go, nothing for it to do but rip him to pieces.  Cassandraalways had the family eyes, even when she was such a tiny thing that her hairhadn’t yet darkened from baby-blonde to their mother’s deep brown.  Hehasn’t seen his sister since the night the castle fell, when his mother forcedCassandra into Percy’s arms and told him to run.  Cassandra had been fouryears old when she died.  Cassandra had been four years old when shewas shot with an arrow, while he was still holding her, and the blood hadstill been soaked into his nightshirt and coat when he was pulled from theriver, numb and tearless with shock.

Cassandrahad died.  Percy had watched her gasp desperately as he clumsilytried to stop the bleeding, had seen her eyes slip shut before he fled from thespell-creature in the silver helm, shaped into a bird’s skill and wielding awar scythe.

Cassandra hadto have died, because if she hadn’t—

Oh, gods, ifshe hadn’t, he’d left her there.  

“Cass,”Percy forces through numb lips.  “You’re alive.”

“Percy,” shesays.  Her face is utterly serene, utterly removed.  Colder than thestars and just as untouchable.  “It’s good to see you again.”

“How did you—Isaw you die, how are you here?”  He turns a look on Delilah andwhatever it is, whatever his blind rage has done to his features, it’s enoughto make the queen blink, although not quite enough to change the expression ofself-assured satisfaction on her face.  “Is this some kind of trick?”

“Of coursenot,” Delilah says, almost offended.  “I believe you’ve met my daughter,isn’t that right, my dear?”  She strokes the back of herknuckles over Cassandra’s cheek, as carelessly proprietary as the way she’dtouched Percy’s hair, and Cassandra doesn’t flinch.  She doesn’t evenblink, still watching Percy with a strange combination of white-hot intensityand complete blankness, as if so entranced by what she’s seeing that Delilahcould put a knife through her chest and not get even a flicker of response. “Cassandra, dear, answer the boy’s question.”

Cassandrainclines her head and says, “Of course, my lady.”  Her eyes fix back ontoPercy’s, the bright blue showing a flicker of real life for the first time—anger. “After you left me to die,” she says, and her voice is still controlled,emotionless, so that her words cut like a naked sword, “I was found by HerMajesty herself.  She saw to it that I was saved—that my wounds werehealed and no sickness was allowed to fester.  She and Sylas have beenvery good to me, the past fifteen years.  I was fortunate to be given asecond chance at a family, after my first one betrayed me so completely.”

Percy cannotbreathe, still so washed in the shock and elation of seeing her that he canfeel a smile fighting to appear, even under the fresh pain of her words. It takes a moment before he can answer her.

“I—Ibelieved you had died,” he says, and tries not to sound too much like a lostchild.  Tries not to laugh in raw wonder.  Tries not to rage atDelilah, for all she’s taken from them.  He steps forward, so quickly thathis first step comes up sharply against the manacles around his ankles, andwraps a hand around the iron bars separating him from his sister.  “Cassandra,I—I had no idea.  I had never heard tell that the Briarwoods had achild.  No one has ever spoken of a surviving de Rolo.  Not even me.”

“I am not asurviving de Rolo,” Cassandra says, biting off each word like she’s in a hurryto get them away from herself as quickly as possible.  “You left yoursister to die, and she did.  I am a Briarwood, and—” For the first time,Cassandra’s determination flickers, and she advances a step, staring Percy deadin the eye like she’s challenging him to something.  “And,” she continues,as hard as before, “I look forward to attending your execution tomorrow,Percival.”

Withoutanother word, Cassandra turns on her heel and strides out of thedungeons.  It’s her stride that gives away her emotions, more than herperfect mask of neutral engagement and her near-immaculate vocal control—hergown flares and swirls around her with the force of each step, a fighter’s walkthat doesn’t match the image of the polished court lady.  Delilah watchesher go with the same pleasantly satisfied smile as before, and turns back toPercy while he’s still reeling.

“So,” shesays, silken.  “I believe you were telling me your full name.”

“Percival,”he whispers, staring after Cassandra.  “Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowskide Rolo.  The third.”

“Very good,” Delilah says, as approving as ahoundsmaster praising the latest addition to the pack.  “Now, it mayinterest you to know that we are also looking into your friends in Londinium,but I expect that lovely Cassandra should be more than enough to assure yourcooperation, don’t you?”

#percy de rolo #cassandra de rolo #critical role #vox machina #lady delilah briarwood #starlight writes stuff #ask meme #this is actually such an UNBELIEVABLY phenomenal concept that i may write the rest of it?????? #I GOT EMOTIONAL ON SHIFT AND WROTE LIKE...A B I T OF SYLAS STUFF IN THIS UNIVERSE??????? #some other stuff in no particular order #keyleth is the mage/merlin but like...a beautiful earthshatteringly powerful goober #who spends all her time converting percy to the idea of actually ruling #rather than just showing up and murdering the briarwoods and calling it a damn day #vex and vax are backlack and wetstick except scarier #vex brings keyleth a wounded bear cub and gets herself A Pet #grog is a wayward viking berserker the size of a house who runs a fight club/training house in londinium #it is frequented by his long time best friend pike who was camelot's trainee priest before the briarwoods #she's also Scary with a mace and helping plan a revolution but nbd #scanlan wouldn't be helping if pike wasn't but she is so he's right there with her they're bedivere and goosefat bill sort of #THEY OVERTHROW THE BRIARWOODS AND PERCY GETS A MAGIC SWORD IDK WHAT ELSE YOU WANT FROM ME #lotheben #asked and answered #queue deeper than the sea of stars

[pearwaldorf]

readingtheend on Twitter wanted to know about the good fic I read this year, so here's what I have, sorted by mood. Multifandom, multi-pairing. Spoilers will be noted.

Special shout-out to my fandom bff notcaycepollard, who writes the best Star Wars, Sam/Bucky(/Steve) and Stackie fic. Pick one, pick them all, you can’t go wrong.

Funny

played it so nonchalant by impertinence TFA/TLJ; Finn/Kylo Ren Kylo keeps talking to people in the Resistance about Finn's opinions on, well, everything. And the worst part is, he's quoting conversations they actually had. There's pretty much no way this would happen in canon, but it's just plausible enough that it makes it hilarious.

Sad (but hopeful)

one hundred and thirty (including the porgs) by Peradi TLJ spoilers, gen-ish As they flee Crait, Finn counts what is left. Gentle, comforting, hopeful, necessary.

Breathe by tetrahedrals Stranger Things (s2 spoilers); Terry Ives, Eleven, Kali Fix-it fic where Eleven comes back w/ Kali to help her mom.

Oh god. My heart has been gently carved out.

Trope-a-licious

The Good Hermitage by burglebezzlement The Good Place; Eleanor/Tahani It’s not like Eleanor wants to move into the run-down cottage on Tahani’s property. And it's not like Eleanor wants Tahani to get snowed in with her, either.

A madeleine is a Madeline is a madeleine by moemachina The Good Place; Eleanor/Tahani Trapped in Chidi's old apartment, Eleanor and Chidi settle down for a long night of alcohol, charades, home-decorating tips, impromptu baking, and some surprising confessions. The characterization is absolutely perfect.

Bruising kisses, whispered confessions by tangerine_skye The Adventure Zone; Magnus/Taako The trio stop over at an inn for the night. Taako and Magnus share a bed.

your head is good, it's loyal, it's clean by anonymous The Adventure Zone; Magnus/Taako

Fake relationship, drunk makeouts. This is the Good Shit.

diamond heart by possibilityleft The Adventure Zone; Magnus/Taako Magnus and Taako start out sleeping together -- just sleeping. Magnus isn't sure what to do when he realizes he wants more than that. I love this one, the way they slide into a relationship before they realize it and it turns out to be a thing they both miss when it's not there.

Emergency Consolation in the Pocket Spa by anonymous The Adventure Zone; Magnus/Taako If Magnus wants to hug a wizard, Magnus gets to hug a wizard. Normally prickly stand-offish person letting down their emotional guard? Check. That weird emotional space where your friend becomes something more kinda but nobody knows how it's going to shake out? Check.

Worldbuilding and/or character centric

Gweilo Gongfu by PR Zed Captain America AU; Steve/Bucky

The one where Bucky Barnes is Cantonese-American and Steve gets adopted into Chinatown. The details are all right, and this is so, so good.

sharp edges, sharp hearts by salts Wonder Woman; Antiope Antiope is the greatest warrior in Themyscira, so she loves her Diana like a warrior should: viciously, with a sword in hand. Short, vicious, emotional. So good.

That Lonesome, Starry Line by PsiCigni Wonder Woman; Diana/Steve Every night, Diana dreams of home. Often, Steve is there. Sad and wistful and lovely.

fifteen feet of pure white snow, by cinderfell Critical Role (post Chroma Conclave arc); Cassandra de Rolo When you've lived your life in a gilded cage, it's hard to leave even once the door has been opened.

This is such a fantastic character study focusing on a fear that Cass would plausibly have, and it's treated with such empathy and compassion.

head of the flock by teacuptaako The Adventure Zone (Stolen Century spoilers); Lup Lup knows she's beautiful, and brilliant, and adored by everybody she meets. She has to know it because you can't leave shit like your worth up for discussion. My beautiful, fierce Lup

crack your bones with veins of gold by tardigradeschool The Adventure Zone (Stolen Century spoilers); Barry, Taako In a hundred years, one tends to see their friends die a lot. It doesn't get easier, except it kind of does. I love the slowly developing relationship Barry and Taako have.

Transactive Memory, by dimir_charmer The Adventure Zone (Stolen Century spoilers); Taako-centric, Taako & Lup As it turns out, when you take someone's friends, their family, their memories from them, they aren't a better person for it. I love the way this sets everything up, the way you can see the absence of everybody else, especially Lup

it's kind of nice just to go home by altschmerzes The Adventure Zone, Tres Horny Boys Taako has a bad day, Magnus exercises his cuddling skills, the tables turn, and Merle is not prepared to deal with feelings today. A gen fic heavy on the affection, light on the plot, told in three parts.

because that's what love is (equivalent exchange) by teacuptaako The Adventure Zone (Stolen Century spoilers); Barry-centric In which Taako and Barry try to understand each other. A gorgeous character study of Barry and the rest of the IPRE crew, with an especial emphasis on Lup and Taako.

Breakfast by anonymousalchemist The Adventure Zone (Stolen Century spoilers); Taako It’s doublethink in his head, it’s like being two different people at the same time. There is the elf who grew up alone and crystallized callous in his own loneliness, who was a chef before he was an enchanter, who only made close friends seventy-some years into his lifespan. And there is the elf who grew up hand in hand with the best damn sister a guy could ask for, who cooked as a hobby for his friends and spent years studying magicks, who joined a mission to explore the multiverse and ended up spending a century trying to save it. Who had a family. Lovely little character study.

Cinnamon Rolls by goldfishoflove The Adventure Zone; Taako, Magnus The morning after the Eleventh Hour, Taako and Magnus are still rattled by what they've learned. Sweet bit of teammate bonding. Also, it has the tag "voidfish innuendo"

starting to sound like a friendship thing by Psilent The Adventure Zone; Taako, Magnus

The one where Magnus saves Taako's life and asks for a favor. I love how this captures their budding relationship, and their personalities.

Dead dove do not eat

Beyond my Reach by Lizzen TLJ; Rey/Kylo Ren As the force bond lingers, Rey and Kylo Ren circle each other on a different playing field. Their strange intimacy grows into a dangerous game.

A Balanced Tribute by cracktheglasses vaguely historical AU; Rey/Kylo Ren, Rey/Hux, Ren/Hux She will be wed, and she will hold The Butcher’s hand, will let him slide the Emperor's ring on her finger, will ride beside him to Coruscant.

#my fic recs

[vicious-rhythm]

pLEASE write out some arranged marriage au's for perc'ahlia. i BEG you

literally all you have to do is ask, so long as you don’t mind a summary of ideas rather than actual fics because…..i would die if i tried. but i have many ideas regarding these two and marriage, and quite a few are arranged marriages. let’s see….

You have your classic arranged marriage, based on a timeline where the de Rolo family is alive and Vax and Vex are far more controlled by their father’s wishes. I like to think of this one as the left overs idea, seeing as it’s founded on the principles of Frederick and Johanna having to arrange a marriage for their third child who will not go out courting, and Syldor having to make a match for Vex before he can feasibly find a future husband for Velora. The deal is struck after months of arguing, when Vex finally agrees to marry some little lordling from the north because, well, the rumors about him are that he can’t be bothered about a wife, so he ought not to mind one that spends more time in the woods than by his side, right? And she’s heard Whitestone is lovely if chilly and distant (thought, really, that’s a virtue when it comes to getting as far from Syngorn as possible, and she even gets to take Vax with her).They meet as proper nobility and this would be the fic in which Percy politely offers to cut his finger on the sheets. Instead, they stay up most of the night with Percy carefully explaining Whitestone’s traditions and Vex explaining how rubbish some of that is, and the maid finds them asleep against each other in the morning, still propped up against the headboard in casual day clothes, a map and what looks like half a written and scribbled-over argument in parchment pieces strewn across the bed. She’ll have to be checking the linens later, then.

Then we have the canon-compliant arranged marriage that I have seen written in some form or another, where Vex was supposed to be married off to Percy, but then of course the Briarwoods happened and Byroden happened and it never got all worked out. This idea mostly involves me wanting to write Vax being an ass about it on principle and/or Cassandra casually mentioning Percy’s betrothed, which causes a whole slew of confusion and one ill-fated quest to make sure he isn’t still engaged (which of course he is) because Percy really does not want to be engaged to anyone but Vex (which of course he isn’t). The endgame of this whole comedy of errors being Vex holding the papers legally binding them hostage, while Percy tries to grab them back because “It ought to be our choice, I don’t want to push a deal on you that you had no say in.” “Oh, so you’re not interested in making deals you don’t know the full repercussions of now, hm?” “I’m not - It’s not the repercussions I’m working about, it’s - I’d rather make this deal with you - give me the damn papers, Vex!”

I also have this idea for something very Swan Princess-esque where Vex and Percy grew up knowing they were going to be married, but then i also have this love of doing things a little backwards. So Percy is the one who starts falling in love first - in tiny inches, with the way Vex stands straight and tall with her brother when they’ve gotten in trouble again, with her laugh when it’s soft and light and then also when it’s too loud and sudden and she sometimes looks as though it’s caught her by surprise. He falls in love with her messy braid and the feathers in it, her awful-sounding Abyssal and the way it makes their tutors cringe, her insistence on keeping both a pet bear and a table full of cosmetics, the both of which she learns to wield and treasure for how they keep her safe and happy.Vex, on the other hand, feels only a grudging sort of friendship. Sure, Percy’s alright. He’s clever enough and polite and stopped trying to lock her and Vax out of his rooms years ago (for all the good it ever did him when Vax was more than happy to pick said locks). And Vex knows she’s going to marry him one day, and that will be fine, but she doesn’t expect him to have grown to tall over a year. She doesn’t expect him to have a jawline she can see her lips following or eyes that beg to go darker with passion, and she certainly doesn’t expect his familiar wry grin to punch the breath from her chest when it’s directed at her now. He shows her the siege arrows he’s made (”They’re much more powerful than the exploding ones, you see. You’ll have to test them, but I’ve also had an idea for something like a grappling arrow that I’d like to try if you’re willing to give me some input.”) and Vex remembers the things he’s made and done for her and all the times she never thanked him and he never seemed to mind, and oh. Well. There’s an idea. Perhaps he loves her, and Vex finds herself a little in love with the thought.

The last thought I’ve had is angst-ridden and only half-formed, but it begins with the Briarwoods deciding to marry off the surviving de Rolos instead of Percy escaping, and he gets shipped to Syngorn. Vex is determined to hate him, just like everything Syldor has ever brought into their lives, but he’s so damn fragile when he arrives, and Vex has never been able to walk away from broken things. He’s her husband, yes, but Vex does a lot more of being his only friend than being a wife, and Percy slowly opens up. The twins are not nearly as bad as he’d dreaded and it’s certainly better than staying trapped in his old home, shadowed by monsters and wraiths, or chained in the dungeon and left to Anna’s tender mercies. He behaves because of Cassandra, but she is also why he never can quite enjoy his new life. Vex catches him, eventually, in a moment where he seems to be truly happy for once - and a breath-taking sight that is, when he’s creating and thinking, beautifully vibrant and casually sharp-tongued - just before he catches himself out and remembers to be quietly miserable.“Tell me what you’re thinking about when you do that,” Vex insists. “What is it that always makes you force yourself to look guilty for enjoying things.”Percy tells her, in halting, almost forgotten and definitely avoidant sentences, about his home and the people who took it from him, about the sister he left behind and why he’s never on anything less than his best behavior. Because if word ever gets back that he isn’t, it will be on Cassandra’s head.“Well,” Vex says, after she’s swallowed down the impulse to simply hold Percy as close and as tightly as she can. “Let’s go get Vax. If we have to go liberate our city, we’ll need him.”“You don’t have to get involved,” Percy tries. “It’s my problem, not yours.”“By law, it’s half mine,” Vex says, flippant in the way she knows gets across how serious she really is. “The problems and all. That’s marriage, darling.”It’s the first time Percy says he loves her, so quietly any human wouldn’t have caught it, but luckily, Vex is half elf.

#replies #anon #long post #Critical Role #perc'ahlia #i'm sorry but you literally asked for it #warning: don't ask me for AUs you will get an avalanche of words

[waltwhitmansbeard]

go on, claim my heart: chapter twenty-one

see my masterpost for what came before this.

Cassandra has not moved since Lady Briarwood gave chase to the bat that escaped into the hall. She has no idea what to make of the chaos; as far as Cassandra is aware, the bat was just a bat, but Lady Briarwood seemed instantly convinced that something more nefarious was afoot, and she learned long ago never to argue with her.

The baby is still crying behind her, but Cassandra does not move to help her. What can she do? The child's misery is perfectly logical. She has been stolen from gods know where by people who wish to kill her in some terrifying arcane ritual. Cassandra would be wailing too, if not for the bone-chilling fear.

The Night of Ascension is two days away, and Cassandra must imagine that the castle is crawling with guards and—she resists a shudder at the thought—a myriad of Lady Briarwood's undead servants. How is she meant to smuggle a screaming baby out of here at a time like this?

(If she were stronger, braver, she could show the child mercy. Better to die swiftly here, now, than in whatever macabre circumstance the Briarwoods have concocted for her. They would punish Cassandra with her life, but it would be worth it, to deny them their grand mission, to spare this infant that most acute horror. But she won't, because she is a scared child herself, and she'd rather take a blade to her own throat than this helpless baby's.)

She jolts when Lady Briarwood reappears in the door to the nursery, her face a mask of fury. A moment later, and she is right there, curling her fingers around Cassandra's throat. "Who was that?" she snarls as Cassandra gasps for air.

"I—don't—a bat?" Cassandra squeaks, clutching at Lady Briarwood's hand. "Just—bat!"

Her sneer hovers inches from Cassandra's face. "That was no mere bat, you fool! That was a mage of some kind! I could smell the magic on them!"

Cassandra whimpers, black dots appearing before her vision. Before she passes out, a familiar voice sounds from behind Lady Briarwood's shoulder. "Delilah, dear, leave her be, lest you want to be the one responsible for the infant's care."

The fingers tighten for a moment before releasing, and Cassandra collapses to the ground, gasping and clutching her throat. Lady Briarwood whirls on her husband. "We are under attack, Sylas. And I cannot believe she does not know anything!"

Lord Briarwood hums, then steps into the room to crouch before Cassandra, who instinctively shrinks in on herself. "Let us find out." His large hand extends toward her, and one finger gently raises her chin so that she meets his gaze. "Tell me, sweet girl..." And she can feel it, that strange, mystical influence, the one that makes her want to please him so very badly. "...did you know your brother yet lives?"

Cassandra's jaw drops at the same moment Lady Briarwood hisses, "What?"

Your brother yet lives. She knows immediately to which brother he refers, having seen the bodies of the other three for herself ages ago, the images of it burned into her mind like a brand. Percy is alive. She tries to remember, tries to conjure an image of what he looked like when they were running terrified for their lives—but it doesn't matter that she can't, because that was so many years ago, and he must look like a stranger now.

Lord Briarwood must be satisfied by the intensity of her shock, because he drops her chin and stands. "She knows nothing, Delilah. She was unaware that the de Rolo child we believed to have died in the Parchwood somehow made it out alive, and in the very company of this squalling child's father, no less."

Lady Briarwood reaches out to grab her husband's arm. "Tell me you are joking, Sylas. Tell me that the Champion of the Raven Queen is not here. Not when he is meant to be dead."

"My love." He reaches out to stroke her check with a few knuckles. "You need not worry. Their little band of heroes cannot impede what we have in motion. We'll increase the guard around the castle, and we'll have these pests eradicated long before our big day."

She sighs and leans into his touch. As monstrous as they are, Cassandra cannot deny their devotion to each other. "If you say so, dear." She turns to glare down at Cassandra. "Do not believe for a moment that they are coming for you. They want that baby, and they'll die before they get her. Make sure you don't give us a reason to dispatch of you, too."

Cassandra nods, and she doesn't breathe again until the two of them have swept out of the room. She waits until the sounds of their footfalls have disappeared to stand, her limbs shaking. She goes to the bassinet and scoops the baby, who seems to have cried herself out, into her arms. "He's coming," she breathes, the first smile she's smiled in ages curling at the corners of her mouth. "Percy is coming for us."

.

Percy creeps through the tree line, one eye on the castle, one eye on the path ahead. Vax has taken to the front of their trio, marking the path for he and Vex to follow on the way back to the others. Vex has been positioned into the middle, neither man willing to let her be snatched away again so easily.

Percy slips out of his coat and drapes it over Vex's shoulders. She startles, her hands coming up to instinctively pull it closer. "What...?"

"You look cold," he says, embarrassed by the heat that comes to his neck and face.

She smiles indulgently at him. "Thank you, Percival."

"Are you in any pain? My water skein is cold, you could press it to the wound."

Her hand reaches back for his. "I'm alright, Percy, truly. You do not need to fuss over me."

"I..." He slows his pace, pulling her a bit farther back from her brother. "I am so sorry for what happened. He never should have been able to put his hands on you."

"It's good to know how quick and strong he is. I'd rather us learn this lesson now as opposed to later."

"I'd rather not learn that lesson by his taking and biting you!" He worries his lip between his teeth. He has to ask, has to know, but the words are getting caught in his throat.

She must sense his hesitation, because she asks, "What is it?"

"What..." He reaches a finger up to briefly brush against the fresh wounds behind her ear. "What did he say to you?"

He watches her eyes carefully, and he watches a dozen different choices being made all at once. He is in agony waiting for the answer; could Briarwood have whispered to her the same words that Oliver heard right before he died?

Finally, Vex comes to a complete stop, tugging him with her. She lifts herself onto her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Nothing true," she murmurs, and then she resumes her quiet pursuit of her brother. Percy stands there, dumbfounded for a few moments before scrambling to catch up.

They press on as silently as they can for a few more minutes before Vex murmurs, "You know, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, Percy."

"Oh?" He sees her fingers twisting nervously around her bow.

"Percy, I..."

Before she can find the words, Vax hisses over his shoulder, "We're here!" Percy looks toward him to watch him bolting between the trees toward where the rest of their party is tucked out of sight of the castle. As soon as the three of them are in view, Pike darts forward to wrap her arms around Vex's legs. "You're okay!"

Vex laughs low. "I'm alright, Pike, though I could use a bit of your magic touch."

"Alright, you minx," Pike quips as Vex kneels down to allow Pike to heal her.

Percy keeps pressing on, and he sees Vax sitting on the ground with Keyleth, who has thrown her arms around his neck and is sobbing into his shoulder. He skitters forward to crouch in front of her. "What happened? Were you hurt?"

Vax shakes his head. "She saw Vilya."

Ice splashes down Percy's spine. "Keyleth..."

"They're going to kill her," Keyleth gasps, clutching onto Vax's armor as if it is the only thing tethering her to the earth. "They're going to kill her, and I left her there."

Percy reaches out to squeeze her knee. Something about his touch jolts her, because she rips herself away from Vax to clutch at his hands. "Cassandra!"

His eyes blow wide. "You saw her?"

She nods furiously. "She has been charged with Vilya's care. She's...deeply out of her element, but she seems to be trying her best. From what I heard, the Briarwoods have no desire to harm her, at least not in the immediate future, not like..."

She doesn't need to finish the thought. "We'll get them both out," Percy vows to her, "but first we must get ourselves out of here. Our presence is known, and we're not going to get this solved tonight."

Vax nods and stands, pulling Keyleth with him. "He's right. We need to regroup." He pulls his trembling wife away from the castle, and before Percy moves to follow, he casts a final glance toward his family's home, toward where his sister is waiting for him.

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

[awkwardspiritanimals]

a living breathing invitation to believe better things (part 4)

Critical Role– a living breathing invitation to believe better things– part 4 of Vox Machina college!au

“Percival, Pike tells us you’ve got the evening off!”

(part 4 on AO3)

“Percival, Pike tells us you’ve got the evening off!” Vax says, much too loudly to be considered polite in a library, but he either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care about the glares being directed his way as he drops into the seat across from Percy. His sister hauls over an empty chair from the next table.

“That’s true,” Percy answers cautiously, unsure why Vax seems so excited about it and a little alarmed at the show of enthusiasm. He’s worked every Friday since he and Cass arrived in Emon, but it had been a slow week at the shop and Victor had shooed him out yesterday, telling him not to come back until his tow truck shift Saturday night.

“Excellent! That means you have to come out with us tonight. We’re going to Kima’s for dinner and then to the Slayer’s Take to get properly plastered.”

“I can’t, Vax.”

“Come on, Patches, what’s your excuse? It’s Friday, you can put off your homework for one night, and the Take sure as hell isn’t going to kick you out for being underage unless you actually try to order something alcoholic. So what’s up?”

“I’ve got a fifteen year old sister I’m responsible for, and I can’t really leave her alone so I can go out not-drinking with you all.” He figures there’s little point in making anything up, since the twins and the rest of the group are well aware of the de Rolos’ situation.

Cass is perfectly capable of looking after herself and often does, but Percy still feels guilty about it, about how much time she spends in an empty apartment or stuck at the library with him while he studies or in the shop’s tiny waiting room, drinking Victor’s terrible coffee and doing her homework, and he doesn’t want to sacrifice the time he does get to spend with her. He figures if anyone would understand having a sister, the responsibility of that, it’s Vax.

The other man considers this for a few seconds before he shrugs and says, “Bring her along.”

“You want me to bring my little sister along to the dive bar with us?”

“The Slayer’s Take isn’t that bad,” Vex says, “There usually aren’t any students except for us, because it’s not very close to campus, and the regulars don’t want to be bothered or bother anyone else.  And on the off-chance someone did try to cause trouble concerning Cass, there’ll be a whole line of people waiting to smear them across the floor.”

“She’s probably more fun than you anyway,” Vax adds, which makes Vex laugh even as she elbows her brother in the side, “So what do you say?”

“I’ll have to ask Cassandra,” he answers after a few seconds, still a little stunned by the whole conversation, and is met with matching smiles from the twins.

“Perfect! We’ll see you tonight then. I’ll let you know what time we’re meeting at the restaurant,” Vax says, and then they’re up and away from the table, Vex waving at him over her shoulder, before he can protest that his answer hadn’t been a definite yes.

With a sigh, he pulls out his phone and texts Cass.

The twins have invited us out with the group this evening.

Both of us? she sends back a few minutes later.

Yes and then We don’t have to go. We can just get pizza and go home, like we’d planned.

We sound so lame when you put it like that. You don’t want to go?

I just, Percy types, and then isn’t sure what he was going to say. He genuinely does like them, this little group who seem to have claimed him and his sister as their own with somewhat startling enthusiasm, but he’s still not sure quite what to make of it all. It’s just been him and Cass for a while now, and he’s still trying to get used to the idea of having people again, after what happened and everything that came after.

I just don’t want you to feel like we have to. It’s just dinner at Kima’s and drinks at the Take.

It’s a few minutes before he gets a reply: They want me to come to the bar with them?

I think they might like you more than me.

Not hard to believe, she sends back before he can finish his next message, and he tacks Haha. on to it in front of Vex pretty much volunteered everyone to fight for your honor if necessary.

That’s flattering enough that I think we have to go, even if it didn’t sound like it would be fun.

-------------

“You’re allowed to have fun,” Cassandra says, turning in her seat to look at Percy. He tries to pick her up from school on the days he doesn’t have work or classes; sometimes it’s the only chance they actually get to talk for the entire day.

“I have fun.”

Cass scoffs, “Working at Victor’s doesn’t count. Just because you like fixing cars doesn’t mean it’s not still your job . And when’s the last time you got to work on Bad News?”

“Bad News doesn’t need any work, it’s perfect,” he says, finally able to turn right and escape from the terrible after-school traffic.

“Seriously, Percival, you’re twenty, not a hundred and twenty.”

“You just want an excuse to go out with everyone.”

“I just don’t want to be your excuse for not hanging out with our friends on your day off,” Cass says, all the teasing is suddenly gone from her voice, and Percy glances over at her. She’s leaning her head against the window, fiddling with one of the zippers on her backpack.

“Cass, you know it’s not like that.”

“If you didn’t have to worry about me, what would you be doing tonight? Hell, where would you be right now?”

Six feet under. The thought is so immediate and sharp that Percy is afraid for a second that he’d actually said it out loud, but Cass is still staring out the window. He pulls to a stop at a red light and rests his head back against his seat for a few seconds before he speaks.

“The only time I’ve ever regretted my decision is when I haven’t been the big brother you deserve. Otherwise I’ve only ever been glad you’re here, and I don’t know where I’d be if you weren’t, but I don’t think it would be anywhere good, Cassandra.”

“You’re a good big brother,” Cass says after a few minutes of silence, rubbing at her nose.

“Even if I take my sister out to the bar with our friends?” he asks, and she brightens almost immediately, “You should text Vax, ask what time we’re meeting at the restaurant.”

Even if Percy didn’t actually want to go himself, the smile on his sister’s face would be worth it.

---------

The Slayer’s Take is apparently just a few blocks from Kima’s, and Vex bumps her shoulder against his as they walk.

“Having fun yet?” she asks, grinning, and Percy can’t help but return it.

Dinner had been… well, it had been loud, mostly, but fun too, two tables shoved together with all of them crowded around and all talking at once, stealing food off each other’s plates.  Kima had fired Vax twice and threatened to kick Scanlan out at least five times, but she had said she’d see them next week as they were leaving and reminded Vax of his shift the next day, so Percy figured that she wasn’t actually as annoyed by them as she seemed.

“I think I am. Even if you only invited me so that Cass would come,” he answers, nodding towards where his sister is walking a little ahead of them, talking to Grog, and Vex leans into him again, a bit harder this time.

“Completely untrue. You think Vax and I voluntarily enter the library for just anyone?”

“Besides, if they’d only wanted to invite Cass, they could have just texted her in the first place. They wouldn’t have even needed to bother you,” Pike says from Vex’s other side, and Vex laughs, looping her arm through Pike’s and then surprising Percy by doing the same with him.

“Exactly, darling. You’re just going to have to accept that we like you at this point.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he says, as Vax pulls open the door of a small brick building with The Slayer’s Take stenciled straight onto the wall in black. It has the look of a place that decided a long time ago that the kind of customers who would be scared off by its appearance weren’t really customers it was interested in having.

“Kashaw! Greetings!” Tiberius calls as they walk into the building, and Percy is pretty sure that the guy behind the bar actually sighs when he looks up at them.

“Oh, joy,” he says, coming over to the table they all settle around to pass out coasters.

“One of these days, Kash, you’re going to have to admit that you actually like us,” Vax says with a grin, which Kashaw meets with the most deadpan expression Percy has ever seen.

“Unlikely. Hey, Keyleth, what’s up?”

“Not much,” Keyleth answers, and Percy thinks she might be blushing.

“Cool.” And then he nods a couple times and retreats behind the bar to polish more glasses. No one else says anything about it, so Percy doesn’t either, but he and Cass exchange a look that must give them away, because Vax laughs.

“That’s Kashaw. He was a TA for a religious studies class that met before mine and Kiki’s econ class last semester, and we’d chat sometimes. He’s the one who told us about the Take in the first place.”

“Technically he invited Keyleth out for a drink and the rest of us crashed that invitation because she was nervous,” Vex says, which makes Keyleth blush again, and she’s about to continue when someone calls “Vex’ahlia!” from the bar and she practically throws herself off her stool to hug someone making their way towards the table.

The embrace is so enthusiastic that it takes Percy a few seconds to realize he knows the other person, having been introduced to Zahra a few weeks ago while he was eating lunch with Pike and Vex. It’s the long white braid that gives her away, especially since she and Vex had spent a good five minutes that day teasing him about the white in his own hair while Pike tried to control her giggling.

“It’s good to see you again, Percival,” she says, once she’s leaned back from Vex a bit, “And who is this young lady?”

“That’s Cassandra, Percy’s younger sister. We only invited him out so she would agree to come,” Vex says, winking at him, and Percy can’t help the little indignant noise he makes in response. The rest of the table laughs, and it seems somehow to light up the entire dingy space of the bar.

“Nice to meet you, Cassandra. I see you’ve got the same taste in hairstyles as your brother and me,” she says, flipping her braid over her shoulder and laughing when both Cass and Percy reach up to touch the lighter parts of their own hair, “So what’s everyone drinking?”

Zahra doesn’t write anything down, but she doesn’t get any of their orders wrong as far as Percy can tell, although it’s possible that nobody bothers to complain because alcohol is alcohol at this point. Grog, Scanlan and Vax seem particularly intent on getting completely plastered, and Cass gets roped into acting as the judge for whatever drinking game they’ve decided on, drinking her Shirley Temple and laughing at the three of them as they get progressively drunker. Keyleth takes her drink over to the bar to talk to Kash, and Percy ends up in a conversation with Tiberius about his current film project. He’s not sure what it’s about, mostly because Tiberius doesn’t really seem to have a firm idea of it himself, and just as he’s running out of reasonable questions to ask, Vex pulls him over to play darts with her.

“Pike is terrible completely sober, so it’s really no contest now,” she explains as they watch Pike take her turn. Only one of her three darts actually hits the board.

“How are you sure I’ll be any better?”

“You pretty much have to be,” Pike says, looking perfectly pleased to stop playing and sit at the table with her beer to watch the two of them instead.

“And even if you aren’t, at least I’ll have the chance to beat someone else instead of just beating Pike for the third time,” Vex says, handing over the darts she’d collected from the floor.

They split four games, because Vex is very good but she’s also drunk enough that between turns she leans against Pike, the two of them laughing and heckling Percy as he throws. He doesn’t mind, since Pike is equally enthusiastic about teasing Vex when it’s her turn, and is just thankful he’s holding his own.

Vex is downing the rest of her beer while he resets the scoreboard so they can play again when there’s a commotion at their table, which turns out to be Scanlan drunkenly attempting to stand on his stool as Vax and Keyleth, equally drunk, try to keep him from falling. Grog is laughing so hard he’s in danger of falling off his own stool.

“Scanlan trying to put on a concert by himself is usually our cue to leave,” Pike says, climbing down from her stool and steadying herself with a grip on Percy’s elbow.

“Unless it’s karaoke night, because then he’d have started a long time before this,” Vex adds.

“They have karaoke night here?”

“Absolutely. Okay, guys, I think it’s time to go home.” Pike has to raise her voice a bit to be heard, and she’s met with groans from most of the group, but none of them argue with her. Between Tiberius and the de Rolos, who are sober, and Pike and Vex, who are tipsy but certainly less drunk than the other four, they manage to get everyone outside without any property damage or physical injury. Vex stops to hug Zahra goodbye, and Keyleth babbles drunkenly at Kash, who surprisingly almost looks like he might find it endearing.

“Does everyone have a plan to get home? Anyone need a ride?” Tiberius asks.

“You still okay with us crashing at yours, Pike?” Vax slurs, leaning on his sister for support, and Pike nods.

“Then I’ll bid you all good night.”

It sounds easy enough, to make it the relatively few blocks to Pike and Grog’s apartment, but it turns out to be pretty challenging almost immediately, particularly for the drunker members of the party.

“Pike, you know that I would-I would walk five hundred miles for you, and then, after that, you- I would walk five hundred more. But your apartment is so far away from here. From this spot where I’m standing, your apartment is-is-is very far away,” Scanlan says, after the fourth time he’s tripped over his own feet.

“Our apartment’s two blocks closer,” Percy says without really thinking about it, and the group sort of lurches to a stop.

“I vote for that,” Vax slurs after a few seconds.

“Closer is better,” Vex adds, and Keyleth nods and then immediately seems to regret it a lot.

“We don’t have a lot of furniture,” Cass says, which is true. Other than the cheap bed frames in their respective bedrooms, they’ve only got the card table they eat at and their couch, which is barely longer than a loveseat.

“Really any horizontal surface will do at this point, I think.”

“Hell, I’d take a verti- verti- verti-macallit surface right now,” Scanlan says, which makes Grog laugh hard enough that he almost falls over.

“You guys don’t have to,” Pike says, voice slurring a bit, “The longer walk might do us all some good.”

“We don’t mind, if most of you are alright sleeping on the floor.”

“Again, any horizontal surface will do. I’d lie down on this sidewalk right now if it wasn’t so fucking cold.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Scanlan says, drawing a soft, ragged cheer from the group, drunk and tired and happy.

Under normal circumstances it probably would have taken about five minutes to reach their apartment, but it ends up taking the better part of twenty, because even if the de Rolos are sober and Pike and Vex are less drunk than the others, less drunk is still drunkand puts them at a disadvantage as far as herding the other four in the correct directions as they walk.

Once they’re finally inside, everyone seems at least somewhat capable of taking care of themselves, which Percy is extremely grateful for. He’s never exactly had a normal sleep schedule, and it’s only gotten worse since everything happened and even more so since they got to Emon, between school and work and friends and everything else that crops up when you’re twenty years old and responsible for yourself and your sister. But it’s two in the morning and he’s exhausted, with the late tow truck shift staring him in the face, so he’s glad that all he has to do to help people settle in is to show Vex and Pike where the glasses are and pull the extra blankets to drape over Keyleth, who has collapsed face first on the couch, feet sticking out over the armrest.

He sticks his head into Cass’s room, where she’s already half asleep, Slinger curled up by her feet.

“That was fun,” she says, and Percy hmms in response, which draws a sleepy huff of exasperation from his sister, “Remember, you’re allowed to have fun, Percival.”

“I remember, Cassandra, I promise. You should get some sleep,” he responds, and Cass nods, burrowing deeper in her blankets.

He goes through his nightly routine mechanically, nodding off against the sink with his toothbrush jammed into one cheek, and crawls into bed without bothering to get underneath any of his blankets, too tired to bother. Even closed in his own room, the apartment still feels full and warm, the way that the Take had when they’d all laughed, the way Kima’s had as they all picked food off each other’s plates and everyone talked at once.

Percy thinks, as he drifts off, that he might actually be able to get used to this.

-------------

“Where did you get eggs?”

The apartment is full of people, and Percy, in the cold light of day, isn’t exactly sure how to deal with that, so he’s focusing on the fact that Cass is sitting at the kitchen table eating scrambled eggs, even though neither of the de Rolos are morning people and he’s certain that the only breakfast appropriate items they have in the house are chocolate chip granola bars and coffee.

“The Food Mart a couple of blocks from here. One dozen for forty-nine cents, it was in the paper a couple days ago,” Vex says, leaning against the counter with both hands wrapped around her coffee mug.

“She has a photographic memory for savings,” Pike explains, cracking a few more eggs into a bowl and scrambling them with a fork.

“We all have our talents. One of mine is the ability to feed eight people for three dollars.”

Percy can’t help smiling as he pours himself some coffee, leaning against the counter next to Vex. Everyone else seems to still be asleep, although he’s just assuming that Vax and Keyleth are probably somewhere under the pile of blankets and coats spilling off the couch onto the floor next to it. Grog, for some reason, is sprawled out underneath the kitchen table and Scanlan, for reasons even more unfathomable, is curled up on top of it.

A month and a half ago, he and Cass had loaded everything they owned, which wasn’t a lot, into the bed of Bad News and driven to Emon, where they knew exactly one person, and now there are people- friends - all over their apartment, sleeping off a night out like it’s completely ordinary, and Percy’s not entirely sure how that happened.

Vex surprises him out of his thoughts by pushing up onto her tiptoes to press her lips against his cheek, lightning quick. She smiles when he blinks at her in shock.

“Thank you for letting us take over all the flat surfaces in your apartment last night.”

“You’re welcome. It’s not really- we had the room.” This is, of course, a ridiculous thing to say with Scanlan sleeping in the middle of his kitchen table, but he’s sort of flustered by the kiss most immediately and the overall situation in general.

“I want to thank you for letting them crash here because it means I didn’t have to deal with them in my apartment,” Pike says, but Percy can hear the way she’s smiling even with her back to them as she fills two plates, moving to set them on the table before coming to a stop in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. It takes a few seconds for Percy to figure out what it is she wants, but then he leans down to lessen the considerable difference in their heights so that she can kiss him as well, stretching to press her lips firmly against his temple, right beneath the white patch in his hair, lingering for just a moment as he steadies her with a hand at her waist.

And it’s… something, warm and soft, Vex’s hip right next to his against the counter, Pike’s hand on her shoulder as she leans up into him. It’s been so long since he’s had anything that felt like this outside of Cassandra, felt like home or family, that it’s all a bit overwhelming, and Percy can feel his breath beginning to hitch in his chest, doesn’t know how he can possibly explain to them the way his instincts are all screaming at him to twitch away from them, from all of this, because it’s too much and too fast and yet somehow not enough at the same time and-

Then Pike swipes his coffee right out of his hand as she leans back away from him, grinning as she takes a long drink. Vex laughs, taking a seat at the table, pushing Scanlan’s feet further away from one of the plates Pike had left there. The still sleeping man makes a noise of protest, trying to roll further away, except he runs out of table about halfway through the turn and crashes to the ground with a thud that makes Percy’s bones ache for a moment.

“Ow,” he groans, “Shit. Fuck. Ow.”

Grog stirs underneath the table, hands coming up the clutch at his head a few seconds after his eyes open. Slinger, lying across Cass’s feet, scrambles up to crawl into Grog’s lap, who buries his face in the dog’s ruff immediately.

“That you, Scanlan?”

“It sure is, Grog.”

“Let’s make a deal: I’ll kill you, you kill me.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“No mutual murder pacts, boy,” Vex says, “At least not before coffee.”

“Speaking of,” Pike says, setting a full mug down in front of Scanlan’s face where he’s still lying on the floor.

“Pikey, you always give me the nicest things. Let’s get married and go live on an island far from the cares of man.”

“I’ve got a biology test on Tuesday,” Pike says, not looking up from where she’s turned back to dishing up more eggs, “And no jokes about helping me study, please. People are trying to eat.”

“There’s food?” Vax asks, trying to struggle his way out of the blankets. He gives up after a few moments, collapsing back onto the floor with a groan, “It feels like something burrowed through my brain and then died in my mouth.”

“Please don’t talk about it,” Keyleth groans, red hair everywhere as she pushes up from the couch, shoving even more blankets onto Vax, “Someone describing what it feels like somehow makes it worse.”

“Food will soak up the alcohol. Or the pain. Or something,” Scanlan says, having finally gotten up off the floor and accepted a plate of eggs from Pike.

“That’s why you can’t help me study for my biology test,” Pike laughs, dishing up plates for Vax and Keyleth as they stumble over, leaning on each other for support.

Percy retreats from the kitchen slowly once everyone has sort of settled in, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible until he can escape to his room and sink down onto his bed, burying his hands in his hair, curling down over his knees. He’ll be okay, he will, if he can just have a few seconds to himself to close his eyes and breathe, to remind himself that he doesn’t have to be terrified of this.

“Are you alright?” someone asks, and Percy startles, not sure how long he’s been sitting here, looking up to see Keyleth standing in the doorway. She’d obviously tried to do something to actually tame her hair and then given up and thrown it into a high ponytail, slightly off-center.

“I’m fine,” he says, trying to smile, but she just gives him a look, and he must be worse off than he thought, if he can’t even lie well enough to fool Keyleth of all people. She crosses the room and sits next to him on the bed, although she leaves a good foot of space between them.

“I’m sorry, I know we can be a bit overwhelming, especially all together like this.”

“It’s not- well, no, it is that, exactly so, but it’s not really your fault. It’s just been Cass and me since-” He cuts himself off there. They all know that he is Cass’s legal guardian and that they don’t have any other family they can turn to, but nothing beyond that. “For a while now, it’s just been the two of us, and I’m still… adjusting, I suppose.”

Keyleth considers this for a while before she awkwardly but gently reaches over and pats him on the elbow a few times. It’s awkward but heartfelt, and Percy can’t help but appreciate it.

“If it makes it any easier, we’re all glad you’re here. At least, I am, and I think the others are too. They just have strange ways of expressing it sometimes, which has a lot more to do with them than it does you and Cassandra.”

Percy laughs, and he doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone look as pleased as Keyleth does at that reaction. “Thank you, Keyleth. Truly.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes until Keyleth clears her throat awkwardly.

“I don’t want to rush you or anything, but Grog will actually eat all the eggs, so if you want breakfast…” she trails off before brightening, “Oh, I could bring you some in here if you want!”

Percy, overwhelmed and off-balanced as he feels, can’t possibly stomach sitting in his room alone and eating eggs while his friends hang out in his kitchen. It’s too much, even for him, and he pushes off his bed and offers Keyleth a hand up.

“I think my parents would be disappointed in what a terrible host I’m being right now,” he says, and Keyleth’s face does something strange. For a second he’s afraid she’s going to ask about his family, and then he’ll really have to hide in here, possibly forever, but after a few moments she just smiles and accepts his help up.

Percy can hear the others out in the kitchen, Cass’s laugh layered over their voices, and he reminds himself that this is something he’s allowed to want, something he’s allowed to have.

--------------------------------

Notes: First things first, I certainly did not make it as clear as I thought I had in the first chapter that, with the exception of Tiberius, none of Vox Machina are quote unquote traditional students, in that they graduated from high school in the spring and then started college the next fall. All of them, for various reasons (mostly relating to money, but there's plenty of family stuff in there too), put off attending college (or graduate school, in Scanlan's case) for a few years, which is why all of them except for the de Rolos can legally drink. The twins and Keyleth are 21/22, Pike and Grog are 22/23, Tiberius is in his mid-20s and Scanlan is in his late 20s. The only ones I've definitively nailed down are Percy and Cass, because I had to in determining their ages relative to each other and the rest of their siblings; Percy turned 20 a few weeks before this chapter takes place, and Cass is 15, so there's about four and a half years between them.

Speaking of Percy and Cass, there's a lot more coming for them (probably predictable, since this is based on my de Rolo siblings AU), particularly in their backstory chapter (which is probably up next as far as this story goes), but I suppose the most important thing to note here is that so much of their relationship in canon is so wrapped up in their guilt that even in this and the de Rolo siblings AU, there's still a lot of guilt that infects their relationship and they have to work through: Percy worries that he's not a very good big brother a lot, and Cass feels like she's a burden keeping Percy from doing what he actually wants.

If you're wondering who Slinger is, well, uh, let me ask you, what two kids in the universe deserve a Good Dog more than Percival and Cassandra de Rolo? Slinger is a border heeler mix and a Very Good Dog, and he switches off sleeping in Percy and Cass's rooms every night and Grog takes him out running pretty much every morning and sometimes Vex takes him when she's working in various parks in Emon and Vox Machina loves this Good Dog and this Good Dog loves them.

Also, if you are like 'Zoe, this seems like maybe you might be trying to hint at Pikeval'ahlia but you're not very good at hints, to the point that you have to write a note about it?' then congratulations, you got it in one. That's the only endgame ship thing I've got in mind, because once again, the plot of this pic is really just 'friendship.'

Uh, these notes are getting very long very quickly, so I'll leave off there, except to say that I've titled the past three chapters, if that's the sort of thing you're into checking out. If you've got questions, feel free to ask!

#vox machina #critical role #percival frederickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #percy de rolo #cassandra de rolo #disaster asshole family #explosion son #does cassandra de rolo know i would die for her #ride or die

[enkelimagnus]

A Castle in the Forest

Percy x Vex’ahlia, Chapter 5, 2641 words,

A Modern AU, in which Vex is a park ranger taking over the Alabaster Sierras post, and finds much more than she bargained for

Read on AO3

In this chapter, we move a little away from Vex and meet Vax, Keyleth and... Percy?

--------------------

Vax’ildan awakes to the ringing of the great clock in the corridor that leads to the bedroom. It clangs a little, old and cranky. Vax buries his face into the pillow. A scent of patchouli and spices linger onto the fabric of the pillowcase. He smiles lazily.

He refuses to open his eyes for a while, to let himself feel really awake. He has to leave Westrunn today, drive the last leg of his journey to Whitestone to see Vex. He’s missed her terribly, but right in this moment, in this bed, he really doesn’t want to leave.

He feels himself being gently pulled away from his pillow and back towards the man whose bed he’s currently lounging in, and lets it happen with lazy happiness. The only thing he really does is turn over to face the other, cuddling into his warmth.

“I shall soon contact the rulers of Whitestone to set up a teleportation circle…” Gilmore grumbles sleepily into Vax’s hair. “Having you leave me like this is much too cruel.”

Vax chuckles lightly and looks up at his boyfriend with a smile. Gods, he’s beautiful. He always is but this… sleep-mussed and heavy-lidded and warm version of Shaun Gilmore is one Vax especially cherishes.

“You would go through that costly and lengthy process for a few hours more of me?” Vax hums, kissing Gilmore’s lips lightly.

“In a heartbeat, Vax’ildan.”

Gods, he’s the only person allowed to call Vax by his full name. He’s the only person that doesn’t make it sound contemptuous. It’s beautiful on his lips, with his light Marquesian accent. Vax melts, reaching to slowly caress Gilmore’s chest.

He’s been in Westrunn for a week now. A lot of that week has been spent in this bed, though he did walk around and explore when Gilmore was working. That man will never stop working for anything, and Vax accepted that a long time ago. Watching the enchanter at work is entertaining enough.

Vax pulls up the deep purple sheets as he shifts to rest a little more comfortably by Gilmore.

“I still have a few hours,” he hums. “Whitestone isn’t that far from here…”

Gilmore rolls his eyes a little. “I’d rather you not be driving through the Parchwood Timberlands in the dark, darling,” he points out. “There are many stories about the creatures populating that area. I would hate for you to find your fate.”

Vax huffs a little, but doesn’t say anything back. He loves Vex, wants to see her, but he has no desire to leave Gilmore. He doesn’t see him often enough as it is, both busy and living on very different sides of the continent. It’s a bit of a struggle sometimes, despite video calls and other nifty technological ways of seeing each other.

“Maybe you could just… call your sister and let her know you won’t be there for a couple of more days…” Gilmore points out, starting to pepper kisses over Vax’s face, anywhere but his mouth. “I’m sure she’ll understand…”

The kisses get a little more insisting and Vax can’t help the happy sigh that escapes his lips. Gilmore smirks at his success. That smirk does things to Vax’s heart and body that he can’t actively describe, especially right now as his mind is very focused on the direction and pattern of the kisses, on the light scratching of Gilmore’s facial hair.

They roll over a little and Gilmore’s hand gently comes to tuck a strand of long black hair behind Vax’s ear. Their eyes meet and Vax starts drowning in brown so dark it’s almost black. He can’t refuse this man anything, can he?

“Come on,” Gilmore hums. “Just a couple of days…”

Vax leans up to capture his lips but Gilmore moves away at the last moment.

“You’re playing, Shaun,” Vax points out, raising an eyebrow. He hooks one of his legs over his boyfriend’s hip.

Gilmore raises an eyebrow. “And what are you doing?” He asks with his signature smirk.

“I’ll call her,” Vax sighs after a moment. “If she doesn’t need me, I will stay. If I hear one thing that makes me think she needs me there? I’ll go.”

Gilmore nods. “Of course, beautiful Vax’ildan. I will never keep you from her if she needs you, or if you need her.”

Vax leans up again, and this time, Gilmore lets him kiss him. They make out like this for a moment, a bare hint of heat between them, waiting to be kindled to a burning fire.

“Thank you,” Vax smiles. “But I will do this once we’re out of bed. Right now, I have something much better to do.” He smirks and shoves Gilmore back gently, pivoting his weight to roll them over and straddle him.

The next hour or so melts away in between the two of them.

----------

Keyleth darts through the tangled weeds of the Parchwood Timberlands, avoiding bigger and harsher foes and finding her way back to where she’ll be safe for the rest of the night. Her rations are too short this time, she wasn’t carefully monitoring them, and she doesn’t want to go hungry.

Her backpack is heavy with clockwork machines that she needs to sell soon, and she’ll need muscles to carry it back into Whitestone. Her monthly task is complete, and she’ll soon be able to go back to her own work.

She left more food and resources than usual, and warned him that she wouldn’t be there for a while. She needs two months or so to get to Terrah and complete the first trial of her Aramente. She can’t wait any longer.

It’s been years already, and her people are waiting for her at home. They have no idea of the situation she’s gotten herself into here. They have no idea where she stands. Or where she is.

If she takes too long, they’ll think her dead, and she can’t imagine doing that to her father, not when the loss of her mother hangs over her like a shadow. Following in her footsteps was necessary but worrying for everyone. Including her. She doesn’t want to either die or cause her father more grief.

She rushes through the low bushes until she finds the now much clearer path. From there, her instincts guide her to the entrance of the tunnel and she passes through the smaller hole without issue. Being able to turn into small beasts is a blessing in these kinds of situations.

The tunnel is damp and dark and Keyleth hates it. Even when she’s in her wolf form it’s uncomfortable. And yet she finds herself there every month or so, stuck in this routine that doesn’t seem to promise to end any time soon.

She turns herself back into her regular form, stretches her arms out. Her belly is full now. She can try and sleep.

Drops of water crash into the stone below her feet, resounding in the empty tunnel. She decides to light a fire and does quick work of it. She’s done this what feels like a million different times.

Hopefully no one will notice the smoke coming out of the secret tunnel. That would be just Keyleth’s luck. Maybe that ranger will see the smoke and find the entrance and everything will be lost because Keyleth was cold and wasn’t careful this time.

She huffs, staring into the flame. Things have gotten so much worse now that the new ranger is there. The one before was either oblivious or just let them do things as long as they didn’t leave a blood trail.

This one, Vex’ahlia, seems very different. She sensed the fiend, which the previous one might have also done, but hadn’t asked Keyleth or anyone else about it. And she’s investigating it, and going around asking for help in defeating it.

The situation just got much more dangerous for everyone involved.

She closes her eyes and tries to calm down. Her pulse is quick, her mind working overtime. She needs to calm down. She doesn’t want to bring creatures that would sense her anxiety to her. And she doesn’t want to break. Not while her best friend might be in earshot, and might hear her pain and fear.

She’ll do the screaming and the crying and the possible breaking of furniture once she’s in an inn or in another cave on her way to Terrah. Then she’ll be able to let it all out and punch the walls and heal herself afterwards. Right now, it’s too close. She needs to hold on.

Keyleth decides to turn back into her wolf form to sleep. It’s easier to keep warm that way.

---------------

The gun is warm. It beats against his hand like a heartbeat, maybe to the beat of his quickened heart, his adrenalin and revenge-fueled heart. They’re gone, they’re dead, they all have wounds, perfectly round holes that turned their bodies cold when he shot them.

It gets warmer against his skin. His fingers are splattered with red dots, blood splatters. Everything feels blurry. His vision has long ago tunneled. The only thing he can see right now, really see, is her.

She stands across from him, arms raised, a rapier in her right hand. It’s useless, so useless. A contemptuous, hungry laugh comes out of his mouth, taunting her. A rapier is nothing against a gun. It will never be anything.

Percival…

The voice licks at the back of his skull. He knows what he has to do. His hand rises, the gun aimed at her, the bullet in the chamber, her name on the metal. Cassandra de Rolo.

“Brother…” She says softly. She’s distressed, he can taste it on his lips, it’s sugar sweet and delectable.

She’s all yours for the taking… the last of the ones who have betrayed you…

She has betrayed him. She shoved him away and called herself another name. Why isn’t Cassandra Briarwood the name on the barrel? It should be, if she renounces the De Rolo name.

But this is Cassandra. She was never supposed to die. He was always going to forgive her. She stands there in front of him and he loves her. He forgives her. He always will, over and over. He understands she didn’t have a choice.

Why is his gun pointed at her head, why is his hand so steady?

“I’m sorry,” she cries. Tears fall on her cheeks. He wants to taste her anguish. He wants to devour her soul.

What? No. It’s his baby sister. She’s everything, and he thought he had lost her forever. She’s everything to him.

She made the rebellions fail, she made Whitestone crumble. She’s the one who kept your people subjugated. It’s her fault….

Smoke fills every corner of his being, his body, his soul, his eyes. All he can see is the spot he’s chosen to fire at, right in between her eyebrows. Her hair is still brown, while his turned white months ago. She needs to die.

His little sister who saved him, whose body he still saw in his nightmares, shot through with more arrows than he could count. The one he still thought was dead when he killed the first name on his list, the first guilty one. His little sister that loved books as much as him, but liked sneaking out much more.

Cassandra and her bear plushie that he’s pretty sure he saw in her room when he investigated the castle. Cassandra who is wearing their mother’s armor right now. Cassandra who told him she saw the Briarwoods kill their parents, from the balcony she’d snuck onto in the middle of the night and yet who STILL, after EVERYTHING, wanted to become one of them.

The monster in his heart screens and shoves and claws into him and settles there. Cassandra is still staring at him, waiting.

“Why?” She asks. “Percy, why?”

“Because you betrayed us,” he replies. “Because you betrayed me.”

“I had no choice,” Cassandra shouts this time. Her tears are rivers on her face, there’s blood splattered on there too. He is vaguely aware of a singing burning pain where he was hit by the sharp end of a sword. “They took me in, they forced me to work for them, and then…”

“And then you TURNED,” he roars out with venom and hatred and the pain, the greatest pain in the world. He loves her, and the voice in his head keeps saying he should kill her. Because he loves her. Because he trusted her. Because she was supposed to be gone. Wait…

He freezes a moment.

“Did you know she was alive?” He asks out loud. He can see that Cassandra is confused. His grip falters a second.

Of course I knew, Percival…

The hand holding the gun starts shaking. He doesn’t know why. But it does. Betrayal erupts again in his chest, and it hurts almost as much as Cassandra’s did. It floods through him like a cleansing fire.

Cassandra had no choice. Orthax however…

“Was her name supposed to be on the gun?”

Get your revenge, Percival. She deserves it.

The hand gets steadier again. The tunnel vision comes back and smoke billows from his eyes again. But this time, the knowledge is enough. Percy shoves back.

“Answer me!” He shouts. Cassandra takes a step back.

Yes. I knew of her betrayal, and I knew that you wouldn’t accept it. So I hid it until you were ready… Now KILL HER!

No. No, no, no.  Percy shoves himself back, forces himself to take a step back. The gun is shaking now, greatly, and he knows he doesn’t have enough control. Orthax can still pull the trigger.

“Run!” He shouts at his sister. “Cass, run!”

She looks at him, stares in confusion. “What-”

“For the love of Pelor, PLEASE, RUN, NOW!” He screams, and forces another step back.

Orthax pulls the trigger and the shot goes wide, but Cassandra’s eyes widen.

“Percy… I’m sorry…” She still isn’t running. What will get her to run?

Orthax’s claws sink into Percy’s soul and the pain is greater than anything he has experienced before. His eyes water, but the liquid is not clear. It’s red. He’s crying blood. He’s breaking.

Another shot fires. It hits closer to Cassandra this time. She’s frozen in place.

“Cass… Cass please…” He begs, voice twisted from the agony of resisting Orthax. “Please go. If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”

Cassandra’s hand goes down, her rapier hits the ground and she starts running. Percy doesn’t manage to take a step back. Orthax laughs in his ear, triomphant, and another shot fires.

Cassandra screams in pain. Orthax laughs. Percy screams.

Her body stumbles to the ground and the name disappears from the barrel of the gun. The gun is warm in his hand, his eyes are still crying blood and he feels something breaking, over and over again as she seizes. There’s blood everywhere, a sea of crimson, that’s all he can see.

She stops moving. Percy’s heart stops beating for a moment. He dies with her there, until Orthax brings him back to life. Until he’s forced to watch her body be turned over by his own foot, prisoner of his own skull. She’s gone. Her eyes are open but the light is gone, they’re glassy and hideous.

The hand brings the gun up. In the place of the names he spent years thinking of killing, new ones have appeared. Keyleth. Father Reynal. Keeper Yennen. Simon Whisk.

His eyes open in the darkness of the room he inhabits in the castle. His hands are red with blood, and so is most of his clothing. He doesn’t know where the red is from. He doesn’t care to go look for what he’s done when he wasn’t in control.

Orthax laughs in his mind.

#perc'ahlia #fic #vaxilmore #vaxmore #keyleth #vox machina #critical role

[words-writ-in-starlight]

modmother replied to your post “hey so rewatched legend of the sword yesterday w/ a friend (partially...”

I WOULD READ THE HELL OUT OF THIS

Good news, I wrote more Legend of the Sword AU.  This isn’t a complete fic, but here, Final Battle Sacrifice: Briarwood Redux.

every version of me dead (and buried)

Sylas Briarwood listens to the chaos settling in outside with a neutral expression, ice in his heart and snowmelt in his veins.

It's a simple equation.  The Briarwoods have an army of Blacklegs, armed and armored.  The de Rolo children have one mage, one magical sword, and perhaps a dozen motley fighters between them. 

The outcome is foregone.

The Briarwoods are about to be wiped off the map, nothing more than a shadow of nightmare for people to tell their grandchildren about.  The days before the Born King, when the de Rolos were deposed by a sorceress and her consort.  They simply do not have the strength of numbers to stand down the de Rolo boy with Excalibur in hand, to say nothing of his companions.  If they had the incredible good fortune to kill Percival outright, his traitorous bitch of a sister is at his back, ready to take up the blade and the birthright.  

And the reality is that they simply won't get that chance--the de Rolo allies are few in number, but absolutely dominant on the battlefield.  The red-haired windwalker mage, the twin street thieves in blue and black, the berserker Northman, Frederick de Rolo's own bard and priest, having escaped the purge and apparently returned for vengeance.  It's a fatal combination.  Perhaps Sylas and Delilah could have turned the forces back, could have held them off, if they'd been able to shelter in Camelot's high walls and wait the attack out.

The de Rolos, though, have taken their lessons well from the fall of their family.  They wasted no time on border skirmishes, struck straight for the heart of the castle with all their might and magic.  They are already inside, and they will win.  The Blacklegs are no more than living shields at this point, training dummies, and Delilah--

Delilah, his beautiful merciless wife, the love of his long life, is finally all out of things to sacrifice.  Cassandra de Rolo might have been a possibility, but she saved herself more thoroughly than she knew when she turned on them to save her brother.  No longer beloved, no longer an option.  All of Delilah's grief and courage will be for nothing, because her magic just is not enough.

Sylas turns away from the window and picks up the knife on his dinner plate, testing the edge with his thumb.  He watches it part the skin there with a kind of removed interest, like a man who has never seen blood before at all, and leaves the room.

The lake below the castle stinks of mold and decayed things, layered over the muddled scent of wet stone, and the bell seems to echo forever through the cavern.  Sylas has been here, before, when Delilah bled her heart out for the power to remake the world, but he is alone this time, and the difference is infinitely more than he imagined.  When the water parts, it reveals a slick black-skinned creature with the upper body of a handsome young man--not unlike Percival in his features, Sylas notes distantly--and the lower body of a many-tentacled thing.  Sylas has to swallow against a sudden surge of nausea as those fathomless eyes lock onto his and the lips part in a smile that shows a thousand sharp teeth.

"My lord," says the thing in the lake.  It forces its upper body out of the water and sketches Sylas an elaborate bow, mocking.  "There is trouble on the surface, I think."

"It's the boy," Sylas says.  His voice is a thousand leagues away, but from what he can hear it's sure and steady.  "The last of the de Rolos have come to retake the castle, and we are overrun."

"A tragedy," the thing in the lake purrs.  Its skin is so perfectly black that it seems like smoke made flesh, shadow made solid, and the whites of its eyes and teeth are disconcerting, jarring, against the even darkness.  "And where is your lady wife?  Defending her crown to the last?"

"She will lose," Sylas says.  He blinks twice and suddenly, he is himself again, in his own body, clutching the knife in his hand with such fervor that the engraved hilt is certainly leaving marks on his palm.  "She hasn't admitted it to herself yet, but she will lose, and everything she has done and given and wept for will be for nothing."

He is losing the thing's interest.  He can compel its attention with the bell, perhaps, but that doesn't force it to care, and while Delilah is all Sylas cares about, it would be naive to assume that the Briarwoods are anything more than this creature's latest hobby.  The thing drifts over to a stone and lounges against it, with a liquid drape to its limbs that nothing remotely humanoid should be able to achieve.  It gestures disinterest, with one hand and three tentacles, and says, "That is no concern of mine."

"She has provided for you through all these years!" Sylas snaps.

"And is she here now, to beg my help again?"  The thing smiles again, showing off needle-like teeth.  "Or did she send you to me, to grovel in her place?  I do not care who rules in the castle above."

"She didn't send me," Sylas says.  "She doesn't know I'm here."

That earns him an uncomfortably avian tilt of the thing's head, and a murmured, "Well, well.  Isn't that interesting."  It disengages from its stone couch and swims nearly to the edge of the lake, where the water is just barely deep enough to accomodate it.  Sylas has never seen the creature entire, but he has always suspected that there is more beneath the surface that it has ever let on.  "So, my lord," the thing asks, voice slick and sweet.  "Are you here to make a request?"

"I want you to give my wife the power to stand against the Born King," Sylas says.

"That--is a great deal to ask," the thing says consideringly.  "What will you pay, for this gift?"

"Anything," Sylas says, without a moment's hesitation.  "Everything."

And he raises the knife to his own throat.

The thing in the lake laughs, and Sylas knows he's won.

"You would take the thing your wife loves most, to see her victorious?  Condemn her by saving her?"  The thing reaches up as if to stroke Sylas' cheek, but ebbs back before touching him.  "I do think I underestimated you, my lord."

"Do you accept?"  Sylas presses the blade harder into his skin, until he feels a bright arc of pain and blood beginning to trickle hot down his flesh.  "I will not see her reduced.  I will not see her defeated.  I am all she has left to sacrifice, and I would rather die to save her than see her fall at the hands of that--that child."

"I will give her all the power I can offer," the thing in the lake says, and opens its arms to Sylas like an old friend.

Sylas closes his eyes and pictures Delilah, in crown and gown, the dazzling queen he had always known she could be, given the chance.  In his mind's eye, his wife smiles at him, the slow, sweet thing that first ensnared him when they were young and he couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than Delilah, smiling.

It's been a long time and much bloodshed since those first innocent days, but Sylas never did imagine anything more lovely than his joyful bride.

He turns the point of the blade against the hollow below his jaw, where his pulse beats frantically against the thin skin, his heart trying to get in as many beats before the end as possible, perhaps.  Foolish.  Base instinct, trying to stop him, trying to save him, because base instinct does not understand arithmetic.  Does not understand that Delilah, victorious, is worth any price, any payment, any sacrifice.

She will forgive him.

Sylas drives the knife into his throat, in one swift thrust all the way to the base of the blade, and wrenches it out at once, casting it into the water.  Blood begins to bubble through his lips before the pain strikes him--good, he thinks with preturnatural calm and clarity.  Good.  He pierced the windpipe.  Dying will be unpleasant, drowning as his fool heart desperately pumps blood into his carotid artery and thus into his lungs, but swift.

Sylas Briarwood stumbles three steps forward, and crashes to his knees in the frigid water of the underground lake.  One hand is pressed thoughtlessly to his throat, as if to hold back the tide of crimson spilling his life onto the stone, and the other reaches out blindly, forward, seeking--

A cold grip clamps around his wrist, and Sylas is wrenched down under the water.

High above, in the half-finished mage's tower, Delilah Briarwood freezes.

Later, no one will remember the details.  All they will remember is the explosion of brilliant red-white fire, and the sound of the usurper queen screaming for her husband like a thing destroyed.

That makes it hard, later, to hate her properly

#critical role #starlight writes stuff #legend of the sword #sylas briarwood #vox machina #i have no idea what to call this au #but listen: delilah would NEVER sacrifice sylas #but sylas....sylas might #if it was to save his wife #also this isn't included but God Mode Delilah is ripley in the orthax bird-skull helm #and the thing in the lake is orthax obviously #OBVIOUSLY #anyway ask and ye shall receive #i'm Really Into This AU #Stay Tuned #i'll probably eventually compile the whole beast into a single oneshot of epic proportions #and post that monster on ao3 #with a title taken from 'the devil and the huntsman' #but REGARDLESS that monster will be from percy's pov and this won't be in it #so please enjoy this sneak preview #queue deeper than the sea of stars #replies #modmother