#fortunately getting rid of the cuffs was already a planned change

[the-fibre-stuff]

Who the hell things that expecting me to press an even 1/4″ seam is reasonable? The main turn-up is on the outside, so if this isn’t even it will show.

#at least it would if I was following the pattern properly #fortunately getting rid of the cuffs was already a planned change #and I suspect I wasn't supposed to be working with old wool pants for the fabric #because who uses wool for doll clothes? #but aside from being a bit thick it's perfect #and it's not like I'd do much better with cheap broadcloth anyhow

[archies-litterbox]

Whumptober No. 2: Talking is Overrated

Garotte | choking | gagged

Summary: Zoe wakes up in rather inhospitable custody, as well as in magic-nullifying shackles. She wants nothing more than to make her escape as soon as possible without relying on anyone to find her, but the fatigue and headaches brought on by a certain nullifier cast in the metal of her chains makes that rather difficult. And to make matters worse (or better?), she’s not alone.

Words: 7k

A/N: Welcome to Day 2! This one is a much longer piece than Day 1, but I was actually working on this for like a week before I realized it fit one of the Day 2 prompts, so I figured it worked! (“Garotte” is italicized because although this is written for the theme “gagged”, garottes are mentioned coincidentally). The next piece is gonna be for another fandom, and I won’t get back to ToA until likely Day 4, but for now, I hope you enjoy! Also this may be from Zoe's POV, but be fooled not - Douxie's the one getting whumped the most here. I mean... you know me.

[CW: Kidnapping/Capture, Muzzle, Chains, Swearing, Creepy Whumper (Antagonist acts creepy to Zoe but never lays a hand on her)]

--

It had been, by most conventional standards, not a particularly pleasant afternoon.

It started out fine for Zoe, going about her typical herb-collecting in the woods, but getting a sharp pain in her neck and waking up with cuffs on her wrists pretty much threw a wrench in things. The shackles were generously - as generous as shackles could get, anyway - tethered by a long chain to a stake in the ground, giving her enough length to lay back against a tree. Such was an opportunity she took without hesitation, for something - whether the sedative or some magic nullifier in her shackles - left her feeling drained. 

Drained, but not alone.

No, she woke up with another person in her predicament - another magic user, most likely, judging by the way that shackles were clamped on his wrists the same as hers, linked by a long chain to that same blasted stake in the ground.

But unlike her, he was unconscious. Whatever sedative they used must have been doing more of a number on the boy than it did to her. At least, that’s what she figured while the gangly kid laid knocked out on his side.

She decided not to wake him, instead resolving to try to think of a way out of this. Sure, hedge-witches were well-networked, and one of them was bound to track her down to this literal neck of the woods, if there was one thing Zoe Ashildr loathed, it was being at anyone’s mercy. The sooner she got herself out of here without waiting on anyone, the better.

As they sat around a campfire some meters away, the gang that must have been her and this guy’s captors didn’t even notice she was awake, and she hoped to keep it that way. The longer she wasn’t noticed, the longer she’d be left alone to think.

Well… to try to think, anyway, but it was hard to get any clever escape schemes going with the horrendous pounding behind her eyes.

Besides, her attempts to think through what almost might have been the start of a plan were interrupted by a groan beside her.

“Ooooh, Fuzzbuckets.”

...What was a fuzzbucket?

She’d been looking right at the ground at her feet before, but she shifted her gaze to the stirring boy next to her. Zoe couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Great, now she’d have to keep this kid calm, as if fighting through her brain fog wasn’t difficult enough on it’s own.

He lifted his head and sat up, still too dazed to realize his circumstances yet. But when he did, his big hazel eyes widened at the sight of the shackles on his wrists.

His eyebrows upturned, and he opened his mouth like he was going to scream, but Zoe reached out, almost lunging over to do so, and put a hand over his mouth before he could.

“Mh!” he squeaked behind her palm. His eyes were still widened for another second, but then they glanced down to her hands that were shackled just like his, and when he seemed to realize she was a fellow captive and not his captor, his eyebrows furrowed as if he were confused, if not a little affronted.

“The longer they go,” she whispered, nodding to the still-unawares gang that sat grumbling around their fire, “Without knowing you’re awake, the better. Don’t be loud.”

The boy nodded apprehensively and moved his head back to get away from her hand.

“What are we doing here?” he asked, fortunately lowering his voice.

“Right now…” she crossed her heels over each other, sitting back against the tree, “...sitting. And messing with these stupid shackles.”

He rubbed the side of his head, “How long have I…”

Zoe shrugged, “Beats me. Half an hour, at least - that’s how long it’s been since I woke up, anyway… what were you doing before?”

She wasn’t sure why she asked. His squeaking, even when he spoke quietly, was already worsening her headache.

Well, whatever - the question was out there.

The boy looked down to recollect what happened.

“Well… I was picking herbs. My master sent me out to do it. He’s probably in his study going,” he changed his voice to mimic what sounded like a surly old man, “Hisirdoux, what’s taking so long? They’re easy to spot, even for you!”

Zoe tilted her head, “Hisirdoux, huh?”

He nodded, as if remembering he hadn’t thought to introduce himself yet, “Hisirdoux Casperan! Apprentice to Merlin. But I like going by Douxie. It’s shorter, and people usually don’t sound like they’re scolding me.”

Ugh, great. 

Not only was she chained here, but she was stuck with an apprentice for a wizard synonymous with snuck-up snobbery.

“I was doing the same thing. Looks like that’s how they got the drop on both of us.”

Douxie - it was better, she admitted, and much less pretentious-sounding than Hisirdoux - tilted his head, “Don’t you have a name?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter.” she said.

“Come on, I told you my name.”

“Not like I asked for it.”

Douxie scrunched up his face in an adora-

NO.

Douxie scrunched up his face in a definitely-not-adorable pout.

“Fine, be all secret-y.” He curled his legs up and hugged them close to his chest with his shackled arms.

And that’s what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to say anything beyond what she had to say to Douxie. Not only was she apprehensive - for all she knew, he was some sniveling kid that knew just as much of the struggle of surviving as a magic user outside the sheltered walls of the castle as that privileged Arthurian toolbag did, which couldn’t have been much - but names were risky. If someone knew your name, they knew how to ask around for you. And she tried avoiding that as much as she could. If Douxie wanted to introduce himself, that was him, not her.

There was more she had to worry about besides introductions. Thinking of a plan… getting these cuffs off… not freezing…

She tried to tuck her hands under her underarms as best she could. These shackles drained her energy, and in addition to her magic’s obsoletion and the awful headache, it made her get cold easily in these woods, under the shade.

“...Are you cold?”

She turned her head to Douxie, who looked genuinely concerned. As skeptical as she was, she nodded.

“Not like I can whip up a fire… neither can you, so don’t try it.” she quickly added, holding up a pointer finger, “Draining Dust in the shackles. It’d just hurt.”

His eyebrows upturned, and he took a shaky breath. Merlin must have told him how poisonous it could be if it gets in the system.

“It’s toxic…” he mumbled, “It… it’s poison.”

“It’s not too bad just in the cuffs.” she said, almost to reassure him, “It shouldn’t actually poison you unless it gets in your system. Maybe if they rub against a cut, or something. Don’t worry about it - there’s enough to be scared of right now.”

Douxie nodded, swallowing, looking at her arms before glancing down at his hands.

“If your hands are cold… I could…”

He blushed, hesitation choking him up as he shook his head, leaning back against a tree of his own, next to the one Zoe was using for support.

“Agh, never mind.”

He tapped the back of his head against the bark, squishing his… manbun when he did.

“What do they even want?”

Zoe shrugged.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” she said, “For all I know, we could be going off to the highest-paying witchfinder… I just hope they don’t want our magic.”

“Well, they obviously don’t want it right now.” Douxie grumbled, shaking his cuffs. Assuming him to be truly clueless, rather than purposefully obtuse, she shook her head.

“I mean to do their dirty work. Keep the cuffs on until they need a spell or something, make us do it. We end up like vessels.”

Douxie looked down.

“Oh…”

Zoe stared down at her cuffed hands in her lap.

“I don’t think there’d be anything worse.” she huffed, “That’s the thing about everyone who hates magic. They say they want it eradicated, pushed out of their sight, crushed underfoot… until it helps them get what they want. Then they rip it from whoever they want, autonomy be forsaken.”

“And what if that’s…” Douxie asked, obviously worried now that he considered the prospect of being forced to use his magic against his will.

“...I'd rather they just get rid of me.” Zoe said, “Maybe taunt them until they do. No way they're getting my magic… especially not with these on.”

She lifted her shackled hands.

Douxie lolled his head back against his tree again.

“Urgh, it feels like they’re making me sick…” he whined, “I’ve got an awful headache.”

“Me too.” Zoe groaned, “Thought it was just from hearing you all along.”

Something panged her heart when she saw the way the boy’s eyebrows upturned. It wasn’t from the shackles, but something else… remorse.

“Ugh... sorry.” She lolled her head back against the tree for what felt like the fiftieth time this afternoon. “Uncalled for.” The apology felt foreign coming from her throat.

But Douxie only shrugged, “‘Salright. I’m notorious for causing headaches. And spills. And spikes in blood pressure. Merlin says so…”

His eyes widened with hope - faith, even, an odd thing - shining in his eyes.

“Merlin! He’ll find us! He’ll know I’m missing.”

Zoe rolled her eyes. Did he really have that much faith in that Arthurian toolbag?

“Sure.” She huffed. Douxie's eyebrows upturned.

“Come on… don’t you have anyone who'll miss you?”

Zoe lifted her head.

“A lot of people, actually. Hedge witches are pretty well-networked.” she said, immediately wanting to bite her tongue for mentioning what she was.

Douxie looked like he had stars in his eyes, which was… not the reaction she expected. She thought Merlin would have led him to think hedge witches were lesser in comparison to pristine magicians who managed to slither their way into King Arthur’s begrudging tolerance, but Douxie seemed… impressed? In awe?

“A hedge witch?” he asked in admiration, careful to keep his voice down. It caused a flutter in her heart that she wanted to beat down with a stick, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that could’ve come with her being flustered, so she nodded.

“One goes missing, the rest pick up on it. Just a matter of tracking down from there…”

Douxie’s mouth formed an “O” and his eyes widened, like he had an idea (which must have been something of a rarity, if this afternoon was anything to go off of).

“Oooh, like a game!” he said, “It’s just like waiting to see who gets here first! Guess we’d both win though, ‘cause we’d… y’know…” he lifted his hands, “Not have these on anymore…”

...Wow, he was an idiot.

“Yeah, sure. A game.” she said, sardonic, “Whoever’s people show up to save our sorry butts first wins.”

It was quiet for a little while after that. Zoe still kept trying to think up an escape plan, despite the headache that messed with her head, and Douxie had either gotten the hint that she wasn’t too giddy for conversation, or he’d grown too worried of his predicament for words.

Judging by the way he sat curled up, hugging his knees against his chest as he stared down at the grass, it might have been the latter.

Douxie’s head snapped up at a noise - one that made Zoe’s heart spike as she whipped her head forward; the sound of one of their captors heading over to them.

He was one of four of them, the other four still sitting around their fire and blathering on with cantines abound in their hands, and he was quite the nasty specimen. Big, burly, greasy-looking, but pretty typical, as far as most people who would kidnap two teenagers out on errands tended to look. He glowered down at Zoe, not paying the curled up moppet next to her much attention.

“You’re awake.” he said to her.

She leaned back against the tree, unimpressed.

“Took you and your drinking buddies long enough to notice.” she said, “It’s bad enough you chained us here, but seriously, you’re going to keep us waiting?”

Douxie, still curled up and now shaking, glanced between her and the… bandit, she wanted to presume? These kinds of guys were always bandits, or something.

The man scoffed, “Rather confident for a hedge witch.”

Zoe tilted her head, “Mm… nah, we’re all pretty much this cocky. What do you want? I was in the middle of something back there.”

“And I was too! Something very important!” Douxie squawked. Zoe grit her teeth.

This isn’t the time to try to be included!

“What you’re in the middle of now,” the supposed bandit said, “is a trip to a rather high-paying witchfinder.”

Wow, she thought, I hit the nail on the head. Great. Can I hit this guy on the head too, while I’m at it?

(But she couldn’t.)

Zoe huffed, “If he’s sending you around, then he’s not much of a witchfinder, is he? I mean, he didn’t even find me, a witch - you did.”

“So, er…” Douxie started, “He’s more of a… send-weird-bad-guys-to-find-witches...er.”

Zoe looked at him for a beat, confused by how much of an idiot he was. Really, he kept surprising her in this respect.

The bandit turned his head to Douxie, too.

“Actually, me and my boys-”

“My boys and I.” Zoe corrected, earning a growl.

“-weren’t sent out to find a witch.”

Zoe didn’t understand, and by the looks of it, neither did Douxie.

“Nah, the guy said he’d pay a rather high price for the apprentice to, say, Merlin Ambrosius…”

Douxie’s eyebrows upturned as he shrunk into himself. Wait, he’d been demanded? Then… what about Zoe?

The man turned to her, as if to answer her question.

“But when we saw a pretty little hedge witch going about nearby…”

Zoe’s stomach turned. Her magic, however suppressed, instinctively thrummed at her fingertips in an attempt at defense. She didn’t let it show how much it burned.

“...Why not get more out of the deal?”

So… she was the one that was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Zoe almost felt a little insulted, but it was drowned out by anger and, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, fear.

“If the “more” that you want is a bunch of hedge-witches after the sorry, ugly mugs of you and your “boys”, then go for it.” she said, keeping her voice cool despite clasping her hands to suppress the magic that would only hurt her, as long as those cuffs were on.

The hunter huffed, “I’d take the chance, I think. Worth the money.”

He knelt down. If Zoe could’ve backed against the tree any further, she would have. She gripped the chains on her shackles, wondering how good of a garotte the chain between them would make.

“I mean, I don’t see why anyone would turn that down…” his voice was lower now, and Zoe hated that. She really, really hated that.

“Maybe because they don’t have deathwishes.” she said, much more shaky than her liking as the man leered at her. “Do you?”

He brought up a hand.

“...Maybe I d-”

“DON’T TOUCH HER!”

It all happened so fast.

The screech next to her that sounded so unlike the quivering moppet from the past hour.

The slinking of chains moving fast against the ground.

The thumping of feet getting up on the grass.

The blur of brown, blue, and black that moved to her right.

The yowl from the hunter.

The last thing to finally catch up to her senses was a shocking sight, even more so than her own electric magic.

It was the fury in those hazel eyes as Douxie’s jaws clamped down hard on the hunter’s hand.

Zoe dove away from the scene, but mostly the hunter, as much as the chains allowed. Getting out of the space between those two and the tree, she got right to her feet. She wanted to shout something, do something, but she was too shocked by the scene for words. Here he was, some boy who she thought was a pretentious whiny little moppet who couldn’t do anything without Merlin’s approval, huffing and almost growling with his teeth locked onto the man’s hand like a dog’s on a piece of meat.

But as daring (and stupid, and possibly a tad feral) Douxie had been, he was light and gangly, and the hunter swinging his arm hard was enough to slam Douxie’s head against the tree, stunning him so his jaw opened so the hunter could pull his hand away.

Zoe hated that sound of skull meeting wood, and it made her wince, but it wasn’t as bad as the cry from Douxie. It seemed that ferocity was dormant now, smacked out of him as he lay slumped against the tree, somehow still conscious.

“What the hell…” she panted, still standing still as the weight of her shackles pulled her arms down, “What did you do?”

But, for once, Douxie didn’t say anything back.

“So, the little stray Merlin took in has a bite, now does he?” He said, kicking Douxie in the side on the emphasized word. The boy whimpered, grimacing with blood on his teeth, and with every ounce of the self-preservation that had been ingrained in her, Zoe fought tooth and nail against the urge to protect him. He was a stranger, just a kid caught up in the same messed-up predicament she was. It didn’t matter if he got himself in more danger than he was already in for her sake; she had no loyalty to him, and even if she did, her loyalty to herself was greater.

“...Well, I have something for that.”

But her stomach still dropped when she heard that.

The other three of the captors had already been running over, and when they got to their leader, he held out his hand. Without a word, one of the lackeys rummaged around in a bag for something that, whatever it was, Zoe desperately - no, why desperately? Why was she desperate for Douxie’s sake? - hoped he wouldn’t find.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, panting, her feet still planted to the ground.

The leader of the hunters, who still towered over Douxie, grabbed a fistfull of hair on the back of his head and yanked his bun loose.

“What you always use for dogs who can’t help but bite.”

The realization hit Zoe like a smack to the face. She started shaking her head, however minute the action was.

A second later, the realization apparently hit Douxie too, judging by the way his eyes widened and his breath quickened.

Both of them darted their eyes to the lackey with the bag, both knowing what he was looking for and hoping to anything they could that he wouldn’t find it.

But a damning “Aha!” from him all-but-confirmed their fear only a second before he pulled it out.

Zoe saw the straps. She saw the metal clasps. She saw -

Oh, no no no-

She saw the piece of metal that all the straps connected to; that was big enough and shaped just right that it could - no, it would cover the lower half of Douxie’s face and curve just under the chin to keep his jaw clamped shut.

A muzzle.

“NO!”

The scream/plea from Zoe sounded foreign to her, but she didn’t care. Laying eyes on that thing made her own, and she tried lunging forward, just like Douxie did for her, but two of the lackeys stopped her before she could take as much as three steps. They held onto her arms, both stopping her from moving forward and making her cuffed hands dig into her abdomen the more she thrashed against their hold, but she didn’t care. Not as her heels dug against the ground, not as the fabric of her dress sleeves chaffed against her sleeves with how tight the hold on her was, and not as magic thrummed under her skin despite the cuffs.

Douxie curled up and shook his head, clamping his hands over his mouth as if to block the muzzle from being put on. But once the leader had the muzzle in one hand, he used the other to yank on the chain for Douxie’s shackles to pull both the boy closer and to and pull his hands away from his face, stomping on the chain to keep it pinned. Douxie’s hands were forced down now, a mere inch or two off the ground, but even though he was practically stuck on his knees, he kept trying, trying, trying to tug himself away.

“No, no, no! Don’t! Please don’t!” Douxie pleaded.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Zoe screamed, louder than him. It probably wasn’t a good idea to scream at the man holding a muzzle, but she didn’t care. Not while she thrashed and tried pushing forward and yanking her way out of the grip of the men on either side of her.

Until a blade to Douxie’s throat made both him and Zoe go still.

Douxie froze, save for the sharp rise and fall of his chest, and Zoe stopped her thrashing in an instant. The one who’d rummaged around and found the muzzle in the first place was the one holding it, and the angered look in the leader’s eyes made the demand clear:

“Stay still and shut up, both of you, or he gets his throat slit.”

Zoe shook with anger, but stayed still on her feet, glowering at the man so she didn’t have to look right at Douxie.

But she could still see him.

Douxie was just as frozen as her, shaking more with fear than Zoe’s fury, until he tried to shy away from the blade on his neck (and inadvertently pressed his head closer to the man with that damn contraption in his hands), minutely shaking his head.

But when the one holding the blade put it closer to his throat, pressing it against the skin with enough force that so much as a mere twitch would cut him, he went limp (as much as his trembling allowed), squeezed his eyes shut, and nodded minutely - a silent resignation, a nonverbal “I won’t move, just don’t hurt me.”

Zoe closed her eyes, too. The sting of tears was overpowering, and she couldn’t… she couldn’t bear to watch.

“He’ll kill you.” she heard Douxie hiss, “Merlin will kill you, he’ll kill-”

A sharp intake of breath and a muffled whimper made Zoe’s stomach twist, especially when no more sound followed but those of tightening straps and the “chk” of a lock.

Zoe never thought a sound could hurt so much to hear.

Fortunately, oh so fortunately, the leader went back to his fire, and the others followed suit.

When the men on either side of her let her go, the first thing she did was fall to the ground. The way she unconsciously tried using her magic despite the nullifier winded her, so she ended up kneeling on the grass, further staining the skirt of her dress as she stared at the unfocused green mess underneath her.

She wanted to think that was the reason, anyway. Definitely not because of what she knew she’d see once she lifted her head.

But when she heard Douxie’s shaky breathing through his nose - the only way he could breathe, she knew - she straightened up and looked at him. How could she not?

For the first time today, Zoe realized that all she wanted to do was cry.

His mouth and some of his cheeks were covered by dark, dark grey metal that spread ear to ear, reaching just up to his nose. It was likely cast with Draining Dust, just like the cuffs on both their wrists that shared it’s hue. Two little straps on either side of his nose met at it’s bridge, with a ring that had another strap coming from it, too - one that stretched all the way down the middle of the top of his head (hence why the leader tugged his bun loose). Two straps, one on either side of Douxie’s jaw, met the end of that strap at the back of Douxie’s head, Zoe reasonably guessed. Just as well, she assumed that locking noise she heard was the lock being put on back there.

But guessing was all she could do about that, because she wasn’t looking there. No, all she could look at was his face - at the eyes of the muzzled boy that stared at her like he didn’t know what to say, even if he could speak.

In those heavy-lidded hazel pockets of quiet desperation, nearly hidden by messy strands of black hair, Zoe saw what she could only describe as the poor man’s despondence - so close to being checked out of all this, but not quite there, not quite lucky enough to lose awareness of the situation.

She got closer, so she sat on her knees right in front of him while he stared at the ground. She felt more at a loss for what to say than Douxie, even though she was the only one out of the two of them that could say anything.

“He… you…” she started, but none of the words felt right.

Douxie’s eyes drew up to hers, as if he just realized she was in front of her.

And his breathing picked up, and his eyes widened, as if, although he knew there was a muzzle on his face, the realization sunk in, like fangs into skin, that there was a fucking muzzle on his face.

Desperately, he brought his hands to his head, yanking at the straps in desperation only made quiet by the very thing making him desperate. After a second or two, he forwent pulling at the leather bindings in favor of pulling at the metal on his face, almost digging his fingers underneath it and starting to scratch his face in the process as he clawed near-hysterically at it, making high-pitched whining noises behind the muzzle. His eyes weren’t heavy-lidded anymore. No, they were like a wild animal’s (a resemblance only furthered by the muzzle), wide with the fact that he needed, needed, needed to get it off.

But he couldn’t. Not like this.

“Wait! Stop!” she grabbed his hands, and pulled them down. “You might cut your face! You’d only make it worse!”

The image popped into her mind of somehow, some-bloody-how, traces of that nullifying powder ending up in his blood, and if he got poisoned on top of all of this…

No, she couldn’t bear to think of it.

Douxie tried pulling his hands back, but however gentle Zoe was, she was firm in keeping them away from his face.

It took a few moments, but eventually, his attempts in vain subsided and his arms relaxed… only to start trembling with the rest of his body.

The whimpers and whines from before were nothing compared to the keening wail he let out as the futility of his struggling let in, made all the more awful by how muffled it was; as his torso lurched forward and his head hung low.

(Now, Zoe got a good look at the lock binding all the straps together, but she didn’t pay it much mind.)

Douxie let go of her hands in favor of balling his own into fists, but she still felt his tears fall on her arms as he started to sniffle.

No, no, not good. If started crying any harder, and his nose stuffed up, he wouldn’t be able to breathe through his nose due to the congestion and… well, obviously he wouldn’t be able to breathe any other way. And the last thing she wanted to count on - even less so than that armored, bearded, weird-metal-head-plated embodiment of pretentiousness caring enough to send help for his errand boy - was these guys being merciful and trading the muzzle for something more breathable, let alone just leaving him ungagged.

No, it was too much of a risk.

“No, no, no, no. Don’t cry. Please.” It only made Douxie sob behind the metal again, the thought of something else being taken, but she explained, “If you cry, you might plug up your nose. You’ll suffocate.”

But that only scared him more, she realized as his eyes widened, his eyebrows upturning as he shook his head again, whining behind the metal that made the sound near-inaudible. She put her hands to either side of Douxie’s face, despite herself, despite the coldness she carried with her like a switchblade.

Douxie put his hands over hers. She tried to ignore the flutter in her heart - anything to help him get grounded.

“I need you to breathe. I need you to take deep breaths for me, and I need you not to cry. Just - just keep that nose of yours cleared up, okay?” She rubbed her thumbs over the little bit of his cheeks still uncovered by cruel, horrendous metal. “Can you do that for me, Douxie?”

Douxie’s eyebrows raised, and he seemed to relax a little with a certain realization - one that made Zoe fight back heat in her cheeks…

That was the first time today she’d called him Douxie.

And it was enough to help calm him down; to help his breathing slow, and to help the tension leave his body, even if it was just a little bit.

His eyes became heavy-lidded again, and however strange it sounds, Zoe thought it was a relief. It meant that he’d calmed down; that he was less of that frenzied, near-wild person from moments before and more of that moppety boy he’d been all this time.

Really, it was hard to believe they were even the same person, and if Zoe hadn’t seen it for herself, she wouldn’t have.

And even now, she still couldn’t wrap her head around the way he clamped down on that man’s hand, biting like a wild animal. It wasn’t his being daringly stupid - or stupidly daring? - that unnerved her, but the way he’d been as such…

How was she supposed to expect that from anyone? Especially Merlin Ambrosius’ sniveling errand boy?

“Why…” she huffed, “Why did you do that?”

Douxie couldn’t rightly answer, but he gestured to their captors again, bringing up a shaky hand to do it. Looks like Zoe would have to fill in the blanks.

“You…”

She sighed.

“You just didn’t want him to hurt me, did you?”

Douxie nodded, his head lolling with each motion because of the weight from the metal across half his face.

“...You know,” she started, “If he got close enough, I would’ve just tried using these chains as a garrote.”

Douxie tilted his head, mumbling something unintelligible in confusion.

“Something you wrap around someone’s neck to choke them out.” she explained and shrugged, “...Probably wouldn’t have worked, anyway.”

Douxie shrugged, noncommittal.

“I didn’t expect that from you, but I guess that goes without saying, huh?”

The look Douxie gave her was almost deadpan - enough to let her know that was the wrong choice of words. Oops.

“Heh, sorry…”

When she realized her hands were still on his face, a realization that made a pink tint come to her own cheeks (the same hue she’d eventually dye her hair, which was still brown now), she started taking them off…

...But Douxie put his hands on hers with a muffled whine.

“M’kay…” she gently rubbed under his eyes again, “Alright…”

She humored him, kept her hands on his cheeks. Not because she pitied him, or felt like she owed him for that stupid way he leaped and bit for her sake, but… he was scared, and if she let it show - if she brought forth even a sliver of the fear she felt today, he wouldn’t hesitate to comfort her, just like he didn’t hesitate when that bandit brought his hand up...

And she couldn’t turn down that sad look of helplessly quiet desperation in his eyes, no matter how much she wanted to.

Zoe sighed.

She wasn’t much for reassurance, but for his sake…

“...We’ll be okay.”

Douxie cast his gaze down, clearly not believing the statement as much as she did (even though earlier, the inverse was true). No, no no no - he couldn’t get discouraged; Zoe couldn’t let him.

“I mean it.” she insisted,  “You’re Merlin’s errand boy, right?”

Douxie mumbled something - a correction, a muffled “apprentice” - behind the metal clamped cruelly over his mouth.

“Then he’ll know you’re missing, and he’ll come for you. And the hedge-witches will come for me. Like a game, remember? Like you said?”

Douxie nodded, a little of the light returning to his eyes, as if he were happy that Zoe remembered what he said so naively earlier.

But despite that light… Zoe could tell that Douxie was exhausted.

“...It makes you more tired, doesn’t it?” she said, and it was obvious what “it” was. Douxie nodded, moving her hands with the motion. Of course it did - again, it didn’t take much to reasonably assume that it was cast with Draining Dust, just like the shackles, and now that more of it was on him, it just made him more miserable… 

Douxie moved his head out of her hands and started to lay down on the ground, but he still looked miserable, curling his arms around himself and curling his legs. And Zoe couldn’t take it. If she had any way of making him more comfortable…

...Well, at the very least, she had an idea.

“Sit up, Douxie,” she said to the boy that lay curled up next to her. Obviously a little confused, he sat up so he sat up and put his heels underneath him.

Zoe stretched her legs out and gauged, just by looking, how well her arms could fit around him. Even with his vest, he was rather skinny, and her arms were long, so she figured it would work. 

“I have an idea. I can try to make it a bit more comfortable.” she held her hands up, “Can I…”

Douxie didn’t look like he knew what she’d try to do, but he nodded all the same.

Her back had been laying up against the tree before, but she sat up a bit to get closer to Douxie - close enough to raise her shackled arms and put them over his head and down so they lay somewhat loose around his torso, like she was hugging him from behind. 

He looked a little confused, but didn’t recoil, so she laid back against the tree and gently pulled Douxie with her, so the back of his head laid against her shoulder, and he could rest it there, against the softness of the cloth that made up her dress.

And that’s what she did. As much as he still didn’t seem to get this (and to be fair, Zoe didn’t get why she was doing this, whatever this was, either) and his arms were somewhat pinned to his sides by the embrace, he still seemed relaxed.

“How’s this?” she asked, “If you don’t like it, I can-”

Douxie brought up his own shackled hands, his arms still sort of pinned to his sides by Zoe's embrace, to hold hers, only nestling further against her.

It was a clear enough answer - one that made Zoe feel relieved that she wouldn’t have to let go of him. She hated that relief, as good as it felt. It meant that if she did have to let him go, if something took him from her arms, it would hurt. And that knowledge - the looming threat of that pain - was dangerous.

But she found that right now, for once today, there was little she could bring herself to hate.

“Oh… ‘kay.” she rubbed one of his fingers with her thumb, “Okay…”

Despite the way one of the straps of Douxie’s muzzle - which she wanted nothing more than to blast right off - dug against her collarbone, the slow, steady breathing against her helped calm her as much as her hold calmed Douxie.

Zoe laid her head back against the tree, feeling fatigue weigh on her own eyelids once again.

“...It’s Zoe, y’know.”

Douxie lifted his head a little and looked up at her, “Mmh?”

Zoe brought her gaze, which lay aimlessly at the sky above the forest, down to the boy in her arms.

“You asked my name before.” she said, “It’s Zoe.”

When he seemed to finally understand what she was referring to, he hummed in contentment and squinted his eyes a little - the closest thing he could convey to a smile.

Zoe tried to ignore the way her heart fluttered, trying to at least keep any traces of it off her face.

Douxie closed his eyes and nestled his head against her again.

...She was just tired. That’s all this was. It was the cuffs, the stress, the circumstances. They were the only reasons she felt her heart warm when he saw that he looked content, despite the shackles on his wrists and godawful contraption clamped on his face; the only causes for her relief that his tears were drying under his closed eyes, his pretty lashes. Certainly, it wasn’t because he’d managed to make himself someone who meant something to her, to bumble his way through her barriers. And most definitely, it was not because she loved-

DAMN IT.

Zoe sighed, as if in defeat, and rested her head atop Douxie’s.

“Let’s just… sleep.”

“Mhm…”

And that’s what they did.

--

Zoe woke up some twenty minutes later, she guessed. It got chillier, and apparently, she’d been asleep long enough for thick clouds to form overhead. She hoped it wouldn’t rain - it was the last thing she needed.

She looked down at Douxie, and of course, he was still asleep. Her arms ached a little - something that would have driven her up a wall before - but she didn’t mind much now. Not while she listened to his slow, quiet breaths as his chest rose and fell in her hold.

Zoe huffed, grateful that the boy's breathing was still clear; she didn't calm him down earlier just for his nose to stuff up now.

She could hear footsteps - hulking, stomping steps - come her way. As her stomach dropped, her gaze picked up. She steeled it when she saw the leader of those damn hunters standing over her, glowering. He was pissed, and over what? Over the fact that she tried to comfort Douxie when he made the child miserable?

Gritting her teeth, she held Douxie a little tighter. Not enough to make him stir. Instinctively, she could feel her hands burn as her magic tried to surge to her fingertips, an unconscious attempt brought forth not of desperation, but of resolve.

Just like Douxie protected her, Zoe would protect him, even if she had to shatter these shackles and set this whole forest alight with a lightning strike to do it.

And when that bastard reached down to Douxie, she feared it would come to that.

...but it didn’t.

With a blast of a green magic poofing out around him like an aura, the man froze. That same green hue of magic surged down both her and Douxie’s chains, and when it reached their cuffs, they snapped right open.

With a sigh she felt like she’d been holding in since she first woke up here, Zoe’s hands relaxed and fell to her side, free of that godawful metal.

Naturally, they also dropped Douxie, who, without that little support, flopped on her lap. Thankfully, his head landed on his side, rather than directly on that lock on the muzzle, which hadn’t been affected by that blast of magic and still remained clamped on his face. The last thing anyone needed was the lock getting damaged to where unlocking it would be impossible.

“Mh!” His eyes snapped open, and his eyes darted around in confusion. Zoe couldn’t blame him. Once he seemed to realize his cuffs were off, he rubbed at his aggravated wrists. Zoe couldn’t blame him for that either.

She looked up at the still… still man in front of her.

“He’s frozen.” she said and leaned to the side to see that the same quick work of immobilization had been done to the rest of the hunters, “They all are.”

Douxie lifted his head, as trying a task it was, and he squinted when he saw the green aura around the hunter and the bright green cracks surging through their old chains like glowing veins, as if inspecting - trying to figure out if this was real. If he could really hope.

But Zoe knew he could.

“Looks like he found you first, didn’t he?” she asked.

And seconds later, she heard new footsteps getting closer this time - armored, urgent footsteps - and she knew that she was right.

“Hisirdoux!” Zoe heard a grouchy old man’s voice call out. Of course, he sounded just like that silly impersonation Douxie did of him earlier.

Speaking of Douxie (which he still couldn’t do at all yet), the boy sat up as fast as he could. Swaying with the extra weight on his head, he got up so he was sitting on his knees, and he whined in an odd mix of desperation and relief behind the metal over his mouth, as if - after the horrible, awful afternoon this had been - Merlin Ambrosius could not get over to him fast enough.

“Heh…” Zoe huffed to herself, rubbing her own wrists. Really, she thought her fellow hedge-witches would track her down in these woods way faster than anyone from that ever-pristine castle, but that didn’t matter. A rescue was a rescue.

“Looks like you won.”

#whumptober2021 #no.2 #fanfic #captured #whump #tales of arcadia #toa #zouxie #douxie #toa zoe #hisirdoux casperan #zoe ashildr #pretty sure if i tag it with the bolded prompt it'll get flagged so (:

[thequeenofshebasays]

I get humor and taking stuff lightly... but what happened on Wednesday was more than just a bunch of dopey Trump supporters running amok in the Capitol... it wasn’t something that we should simply shrug our shoulders at. It was a pack of dangerous white supremacists; that attacked the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt and change the direction of the election via intimidation and violence.

They charged in there chanting “Hang Pence” as they searched for him, since he “betrayed” Trump. They asked the cops there where Pelosi and Schumer’s offices were... and they were told where they were... and they broke down the doors.

You may not like Pence, Pelosi and Schumer... and you don’t have to, but the goal that day was to harm these people... force them to make Trump “win”... or at least get rid of those next in line... they had an evil plan.

They went hunting for almost 6 hours for elected officials. They attacked and hurt journalists that were there. Peoples lives were in danger. This wasn’t a joke.

There were people who were armed and had plastic cuffs in their possession. They wanted to hold the Capitol in a siege like in some damn movie. They left pipe bombs in areas.

We are fortunate that these insurrectionists were absolute idiots and not successful, the only ones killed are a few of their own (I have no sympathy for them)... sadly a cop was killed, and it’s terribly ironic... considering how this crowd is.. what they did to police and were allowed to do. (I will go into the hypocrisy of all of this and the insane double standard in another post)

But my point is that... this wasn’t some angry group of anarchists finally attacking the horrible politicians in charge... this was an attack, an attempted coup, by white supremacist terrorists in a bid to keep Donald Trump as potus.

And they were egged on by Senator Cruz, Hawley... Trump himself (here’s a good list) these people are traitors and I hope they’re punished/forced to resign and the latter... impeached.

And they’re not done.

Everyone please stay safe, the next few weeks are going to be intense, they’re already threatening more of this and worst.

#MAGA #an attempted coup #attack on the Capitol #not a fan of folks simply thinking this is either funny or doesn’t matter or should have happened a while ago #NO! #I hope they catch them all #charge them all

[grapenamjams]

Myrrh

Genre: Angst, maybe some fluff? 

Characters: Muriel from the arcana and my apprentice Eliza

A/N:  This is my attempt at a reversed ending for Muriel's route, at the time of writing this his endings have not been posted so I made one of my own and i was sad for the whole day :(  

a little bit about my MC

Her name is Eliza (she/her. Female.) She is 5′2 has brown wavy hair, brown eyes (with specks of green) she also has adorable freckles across her nose. lastly she has a artic fox, named Nell as a familiar who is enchanted to keep cold during the summer and whenever Nell walks she leaves behind snow prints on the ground (think of what Olaf from frozen has lol)

- The Arcana is a Mobile story game where you get to choose your path and get a ending according to the choices you made. created by nixhyrdra, can be found on the app store-

They had fought with everything they had but it wasn’t enough. How could it had not been enough?, Eliza was so sure that they could beat the devil, but as the chains tighten around her she begins to curse herself for being so naïve, so stupid- No! She couldn’t let those thoughts enter her mind now, there has to be a way out, there...there has to be, she just needs to focus, if she could just muster more energy she could-

 “Still trying to fight even when you know you’re beaten? How...pathetically amusing” the devils cold voice washes over her. “You both look like wounded animals that know they are on the brink of death but still fight against their predator, how sad you two look. I thought you both would have the decency to know when to give up.” The devil laughs “but I also thought you two wouldn’t be dumb enough to try to fight me in my own realm! Especially you.” He turns to Eliza who’s on her knees with chains covering her whole body up to her neck. “You knew i would be most powerful here and yet you still came, risking his life in the process” the devil points to Muriel who’s a few feet away from her also wrapped in chains, the devil was right she had known. and yet she brought him here, knowing what the consequences would be. She had done this, it was her fault. anything that happens to him would be her fault.

 “You done talking? Your voice Is annoying.” Muriel’s voice comes out as a dark growl making Eliza’s head snap up to him. His teeth are clenched and his eyes set on the devil with a murderous glare. The devil laughs. “So impatient. trust me, I want to get rid of you both as soon as possible. As you know I’m a busy man with a grand plan. But I am also a generous man.” The devil pauses and opens his arms “I’m prepared to offer you a deal my dear Eliza”

“You are crazy if you think I’ll do any sort of deal with you!” Eliza bites out but quickly lets out a gasp as she feels the chains tighten around her. The devil pinches between his eyes “please refrain from interrupting me, I truly do hate it. As I was saying, your magic would be beneficial to me. adds to my power, would make the merging of the realms become reality much sooner than expected.” The devil waves his hand forth lifting Eliza from the ground bringing her to him. So close that Eliza could smell his rotten breath she holds back a gag. “So how about it dear Eliza? Help me make a better world And You and your warrior lover here will be greatly compensated.” Eliza stares at his red eyes. His offer was insane, how could he think that she would ever accept his offer? Unless.. he did know. “NO! TAKE ME.” Eliza’s heart Drops. ‘No.’ She looks at the devil, a sneer growing on his goat face. His eyes flicker to Muriel who’s voice echo's in her head.

 Muriel strains against the chains. iron digging into his skin, his stomach churning at the sight of the devil before him holding Eliza beside him. “Ah so the gladiator speaks again. And what’s this? Sacrificing himself to save his magicians life? How pitiful you humans are really, throwing your lives on the line for someone else”

“LET HER GO!” He tries to stand but the chains drag him down again. The devil puts a finger to his chin. “Hmmm now that I think about it I can use this pitiful human action of yours. you could be a very good asset for me.” “NO!” He hears Eliza scream “Mur- ahhhh!” Eliza shuts her eyes in pain as the chains begin to glow and fade just as quickly. “ELIZA!” Muriel yells his heart pounding, fury coursing through him. “Really, do you not listen? I told you no interruptions!” The devil sighs “Again as I was saying, you could be a asset to me. As you already know my companion lucio was taken down by your pesky friends. So I am now in need of another to replace him and continue on with the plan. of course lucio was strong in some ways but he was weak, as are those who do things for greed and fortune. But you, my fellow gladiator you don’t want those things do you? All you want is to save your beloved Eliza, isn’t that right?” The chains around Eliza begin to glow again and she lets out a scream, tears start to flow from behind her shut eyes. “STOP! PLEASE STOP!” Muriel yells the chains restraining him. panic rises within his body at seeing her in pain, his mind is scattered He needs to stop this, there’s no other way. he needs to stop this, he needs to save her. Another scream comes from Eliza’s body “just say the words and all of this will be over. I’ll return her safe and sound to your world, I promise”

“When you return her you promise to never touch her again. You promise you will not harm her in anyway” Muriel breaths out, tears forming in his eyes. The devil nodes “agreed, no harm will come her way”

 “No! Muriel you can’t!” Eliza is shaking her breath uneven. He looks into her eyes, fear and saddens fills them, those emotions should haven never reside there he had promised himself that they would only be filled with happiness, but look, he couldn’t even manage that. He had failed, but he could make it right, when he said he would protect her he meant it. he would do anything for her, even make a deal with the devil. “I’m sorry Eliza. You have to be safe.” Her eyes widen in horror changing into desperation. “No! You said we were a team! You promised!” Tears flow down her face “We’ll figure things out together like we always have! Muriel please, listen to me! Please don’t do this!” Muriel’s own tears fall as he looks away from Eliza’s face and glares at the devil speaking the words that would save the women he loves and bind himself to a new master. “I accept your deal.” The gladiator says, the devil lets out a dark chuckle “good doing business with you.” There was a deafening crack in the throne room red lighting appears around them. But all he could her was Eliza yell his name “MURIEL!” As the chains around her body began to engulf her. “ELIZA!” He didn’t register that his own chains slackened as he ran towards her. He reaches a hand to her outstretched one but before he could grab her a flash of red appears before him blinding him. When he came too and opened his eyes everything is silent say only for the dark rumble of the grey clouds above. Muriel looks at the spot were he last saw her only to find the chains that wrapped around her on the floor and Eliza no where in sight. The gladiator drops to his knees in front of them. replaying the image of her being engulfed by the chains in his head “Where.... is she?” His voice takes a dark tone as he addresses his new master.

“Safe and sound in your world as agreed.” Muriel lowers his head and notices there’s a familiar weight to his body, he feels his neck and finds his old metal collar resting there, looks at his wrists and isn't surprised to find grey cuffs on his wrists, they are the same metals Eliza had freed him from when they had kissed for the the first time. Saddens was replaced by well known anger, the same anger he had carried for so many years before meeting her was taking place in his heart again. “What now?” He growls

“For now I have no use for you. we will have to wait till things have calmed down to try the ritual again. So I will send you back and call on you when I need you.” The devil sits on his throne and moves a hand. Chains slowly wrap around Muriel who’s still kneeling to tired to do anything. “Oh I had almost forgotten to tell you. This is a secret between you and I meaning we can’t have any witnesses.” Muriel looks up his skin rubbing against the metal. “What do you mean.”

“You called it a gift when I first gave it to you, isn’t that right? I wonder how you will feel about it now. It’s quite useful, makes it easier to clean up this whole mess” Muriel’s brain is foggy he can’t quite grasp what the devil means, before he can ask again  chains wrap around him completely and then everything goes dark.

 Muriel wakes up gasping for air, his eyes fly open being met with the darkness of his hut. It all comes back to him in a flash, the devil, the deal, Eliza. His hand shoots out to his right were she usually sleeps, but his hand comes in contact with nothing only the cold among the furs. He sits up to see emptiness, the fire has gone out, Inanna isn't in her bed. Muriel tries not to panic, ‘she's probably outside.’ He stands up, moving quickly to the door opening it wide. It was the afternoon, he raises a hand to block out the sun as his eyes get used to the light while he searches for any sign of Eliza. He reaches the chicken pen and there is still no sign of her, he feels his breath quicken but feels Inanna’s presence and turns to see her running towards him, he lets his shoulders relax a bit at the sight of her, he kneels down before her and pets her. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Inanna nuzzles her head against his hand. “Do you know where Eliza is?” He asks the wolf. Inanna steps back ‘shop.’ Her voice states in his mind. ‘Of course she’s at the shop, she’s probably working.’ He thinks, Inanna lets out a small whine. he needs to go see her, he needs to make sure that she’s okay. Without a second thought he starts running. running as fast as he could ‘Please be safe, please be safe. I’m sorry. I’m sorry’ repeating through his head as his feet take him onward.

 He goes through the back trail that Asra had made for him so he could come and go from the shop without going Into the Main Street. When he reaches the back door he pounds on the door twice “ELIZA! Are you in there?” Silence greets him, he pounds on the door again calling out for, her, Asra, anyone. But all he gets is again a still silence. tears brim his eyes as he tries to calm down his breathing. ‘Did he not keep his end of the deal? Did he lie to him? How stupid was he to believe the devil? Is she....gone?’

 “Alright! hurry back” Asra’s voice reaches his ears. Muriel snaps back to the world around him, his heart filling with hope. He runs to the front of the shop were Asra is undoing the protective spell on the door. “Asra.” Muriel says looking over his friend for any signs of injury and is glad to not find any, however there is something on his face, wariness. Asra looks at the Gladiator up and down stepping down into the street away from the shop door. “Can I help you?” Muriel is taken back at the defensive tone in his Friends voice. something starts slowly churning in his stomach. “It’s me” Muriel pushes back the hood of his cloak but the expression on Asra’s face doesn't change. “I’m sorry but the shops closed, I’m going to have to ask you to leave” Muriel freezes. not wanting to accept what his brain is telling him. He shakes his head “Asra please don’t. Tell me where-“ he gets caught off as another voice is heard a little ways ahead. “Got it! It was under the seat. I don’t know what I would do if I lost it!” Eliza comes running towards them her blue bandana in hand. Muriel’s heart leaps as he sees her stop before them. She’s alive, she’s okay. Muriel starts to take a step toward her to touch her and confirm that she really is here and okay but his blood runs cold when he sees her go behind Asra

“who is that?” She asks in a small voice

“I don’t know, but get inside Eliza.” Asra answers her.

 Muriel steadies himself  feeling like he got the wind knocked out of him as realization strucks him. “Eliza, it’s me. It’s me Muriel” he steps forward, she takes a step back from him and he tries to ignore the clench in his chest when he sees her do it. “You have to remember.” Eliza shakes her head “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you, truly” her eyes waver with something and to his horror he sees that she's scared. Scared of him, she’s never looked at him that way before hitting him with another blow to the chest. A idea  passes through his head, Frantically Muriel goes through his pockets “this- this will help!” he finds a small leather bag of myrrh and goes to Eliza opening the bag for her to smell. This will do it, once she smells the herbs all of this will be forgotten and she will remember him once again, all of their memories that they had shared won’t be lost, she’ll come back to him, his light will come back.

 suddenly his thoughts were cut off by a  dark chuckle echoing in his head. “Oh you foolish human, if only it was so simple? Didn’t I say no one could know our little secret? Those herbs won’t do anything” he laughs again “This is still a gift, isn’t it?” The devils presence leaves him taking his torn heart with him because as he looks at Eliza’s face that has no smile, no recognition of him in her eyes after smelling the herbs, his heart completely shattered around him. if the pieces weren’t going to be picked up by her, he didn’t want it. Muriel hadn’t realize that he was crying, hadn’t realized that he was grasping Eliza’s wrist until he heard Asra speak “I suggest that you let go of her right now and leave” Muriel Winces slightly but with all the power he had left with all the energy he had, he lets her go. Eliza held her hand to her chest holding the small leather bag and placing a hand over her wrist that he held, she looked over him once more, “I’m sorry” she said softly for him alone to hear and began walking up the steps to the shop disappearing inside with Asra. Muriel looks at the hand that had touched her last he could still feel the warmth of her, it still hadn’t fully settled within him that the nightmare that lived only in his head at night had just became reality.

* * *

His world was dark once more. Days, weeks, had passed or has it been years? Muriel didn’t care for all he knew it could’ve been the same day still when Eliza looked at him as a stranger, as the true monster he had always been. Everything reminded him of her inside his hut and outside. he tried to sleep to escape but quickly stopped when even in his dreams were filled with memories of her. He only let himself rest before her face would appear in his mind. Yet He couldn’t stop himself from going to the shop and watching her from afar, knowing that she was alive and happy was enough to distract him, but slowly the pain in his chest would return again, he didn’t entirely hated it, it reminded him of what he had done for her, giving her a chance at a life of freedom and he would do it again in a heartbeat.

* * * 

Eliza had been collecting wild herbs in the forest when she realized that Nell wasn’t beside her. She closes her satchel and looks around for her fox calling her name when suddenly she sees her bounding towards her, kneeling Eliza catches her in her arms. “Nell you had me worried! Where did you go off too? Hmm?” she pets her white fur. Nell barks and jumps out of her arms running again, Eliza laughs and follows her familiar’s snow prints. she reaches a clearing with a hut in the middle that’s being engulfed by the roots of a huge tree. Eliza hears Nell bark again and turns to see a very large figure come around the hut. it was a man wearing a cloak around his shoulders, underneath she could see a heavy metal collar around his neck, his large green eyes meet hers and she sees them widen in surprise. 

“What are you doing here?” Eliza swallows slowly the way he watched her makes her heart quicken. She clutches her bag strap “um, I’m sorry. I was following Nell and she lead me here” the man looks at her fox as Nell goes to him and puts her front paws on his leg asking for a pet ‘big man Friend!’ ‘Friend?!’ Eliza eyes widen, she searches the face of the man in front of her, but she can’t remember ever meeting him. So how does Nell know him? She’s pretty sure she would remember a face like his, meaning! The face of a man that lived in the woods... of course his face is handsome and attractive... although his face clearly showed how tired he was, dark bags sat under his eyes and his features had a heavy weight to them. The green eyed man pets Nell once and that was enough for the fox to stick her tongue out and smile up at him, her tail going crazy. “She-she remembers you” the man looks at her. “I’m sorry, but have we met before?” Eliza asks earnestly. He lets out a sigh “Yeah, Something like that.” he states plainly but she catches saddens behind his words. Eliza feels guilty that she doesn’t remember him at all, but with her condition it was to be expected.

“Oh, I’m sorry I probably met you a few years ago. I had a memory loss incident a few years back. But, maybe if you tell me how we met I might remember!” She smiles at him swaying on the balls of her feet. The dark haired man looks her over something flickers in his eyes before disappearing quickly, longing? Saddens?. “It’s not that...” he averts his eyes. "You don't need to know. You should go, it’s getting late.” He begins to move away but she calls for him to wait still keeping her eyes on him. “Can I know your name?” Still looking away he answers her “why?” She moves closer “so I know what to call you?” She has a small smile on her face. “Then don't call me” he grumbles Eliza can’t help but let out small laugh making the man turn to her confused at her reaction. “Well man that won’t tell me his name. Am Eliza! But I think you already knew that... anyway, I want to give you something. I can sense you haven't been able to sleep and I know that feeling perfectly well so here.” Eliza looks down at her satchel and opens it “you don’t-!” She hears the man say as she pulls out a vile and looks up at him blinking in confusion at his panicked expression. Eliza smiles “it’s alright, here” she grabs his hand gently and she feels him tense up she turns his hand over placing the vile into his large hand. She looks up to see the man staring at her in shock, his eyes looking at her like she had grown a second head. “Um. The vile is liquidized myrrh, its known to help calm and relax the mind if smelled. But one drop of this in any drink will help your body relax her eyes widen realizing how weird she sounds offering someone a vile that could help relax their bodies. “I-I’m a magician I work at the magic shop in the city with my master Asra! I promise it’s safe!” the man ignores her rambles only looking down at his hand with the vile. “myrhh...”

“Yeah! I always have some on me” she grabs a small leather bag from her satchel “I don’t know why, but it’s a familiar scent to me, i use it when I’m feeling Anxious about something and when I can’t sleep” she puts the bag away. “Muriel.” Her head goes back to the man “pardon?” His gaze softens “my name is muriel” he repeats himself. Eliza smiles at him “Muriel” she tries it out. it feels...familiar somehow, like it belongs to be said by her. “I like it” she says and she sees Muriel get a tint of pink on his cheeks. He coughs and averts his eyes “you should go.” Eliza looks at the sky and sees it darkening she pouts not wanting to leave him. “I guess I should” she steps back and calls Nell to her side. “It was really nice meeting you Muriel, i hope to see you again and I do hope the myrrh helps!” She waves at him before turning to leave. She didn’t know it then how could she? But when Muriel was watching her leave, an old forgotten feeling lit inside of him, the feeling of hope began to bloom.

#thearcanamuriel #muriel the arcana #muriel #muriel x mc #muriel x oc #thearcanastory #thearcana #thearcanaoneshot #reversed ending #julian devorak #the arcana asra #the arcana nadia #portia #angst #fluff #muriel the mountain man #inaana

[foxyotomelady]

Another love, Chapter XIV (JuminxReader)

Author’s notes:

It's the last chapter :( I feel so empty ;-; This story was different from the previous ones. For some reason, I got attached to it. Maybe because it was longer than the previous ones - and at the beginning, I didn't plan so many chapters!

BUT, I already have an idea for another story, lol. I don't know where these ideas come from, my head's just spitting out one after another. I'm planning the next story to be a slow burn, but we'll see... This one was supposed to be a slow burn too, and we landed in Jumin's arms quite quickly, lol. This guy... He's hard to resist.

Thank you to everyone who followed this story, liked it, and reblogged it. Your reactions make me feel like writing more <3 I even used to write at work, so... 

We will all miss you, Yoon T-T

Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Chapter V | Chapter VI | Chapter VII | Chapter VIII | Chapter IX | Chapter X | Chapter XI | Chapter XII | Chapter XIII | Chapter XIV (You are here) |

Buy Me A Ko-Fi Have a nice reading!

A few days have passed since the unfortunate conversation with Jumin's father. He obviously didn't show how much this situation affected him, but you knew him too well. You saw anxiety in his slightly less controlled movements, including how he massaged his temples when you were drinking wine together in the evening. In his seemingly steel look, in the depth of which was sadness. Today you decided to visit him in the office. You've never done this before, you didn't want to bother him with your person while he was working. However, it was different now - you knew he would need your presence to relax. Of course, you traveled to his company building with Yoon. When Driver Kim came for you, Yoon wanted to sit in the bodyguard seat separated from the last one, but you convinced him to join you. He didn't speak for most of the way, unlike you - you felt at ease with him, so you were chattering like crazy. "Ms. Y/N," Yoon said suddenly, interrupting your tale of how you are happy that Elizabeth the 3rd is again at home. "Is Mr. Han planning to fire me by any chance? Again?"

You blinked, "What? Why?" Yoon scratched his cheek, "You know, miss... Last time Mr. Han did not look pleased that I saw you in a fairly immodest state." You couldn't help but giggled, "I'm sorry, it's my fault, but don't worry. You can always count on me. I will never let Jumin fire you." Yoon sighed, "Thank you, miss, you are too good to me. I am glad that Mr. Han is starting to act differently towards you, more... healthy." "Yes, Jumin opened up and sorted out his emotions. You don't have to worry about me anymore." Jaehee was notified that you would come and even supported the idea. She apparently was also worried about Jumin. Of course, it was already clear to everyone in RFA what was between you two. You didn't just tell them that there was a time when you were locked up in Jumin's apartment... They wouldn't understand and judge him again. When you already were in the company building and said hello to Jaehee, she glanced you up and down, then sighed, "Are you here to help Mr. Han relax and focus or to distract him?" You felt your cheeks starting to burn. Well, maybe you dressed a little too defiantly... You were wearing a fairly tight red dress, which exposed your back in the cut almost to your very bottom. Well... You may have exaggerated with it a bit! Jaehee adjusted her glasses, "Well, let's go. What could go wrong?" She knocked on Jumin’s office door when you were there, "Mr. Han, you have a guest." "Enter, please." When you came in, Jumin looked up from the pile of papers on his desk. Astonishment appeared on his face, "Y/N?" "Hello, Jumin. I hope I'm not disturbing you." "Of course not. I am very happy to see you here." Jaehee cleared her throat, said goodbye and left quickly. "I have a lot of work, but your presence will only help me," Jumin smiled at you sincerely. You approached him and when he returned to work on the documents, you stood behind him and began to gently massage his shoulders. He was really tense, you could feel it in his muscles. Fortunately, he slowly relaxed under your fingers. "You are an angel," Jumin said, and you embraced his neck and leaned down to lean your head onto his shoulder. "But you look like a devil today. Did you do it on purpose?" "Maybe," You muttered in his ear. "And you said I'm the sly one?" "Hmm... Let's say we are worth each other." Jumin turned his face towards you and kissed your cheek, "If I didn't have so much work, I could do something very inappropriate in this office." "Mr. Han!" Jaehee suddenly burst into the office. Seeing you two so close together and you clinging to Jumin from behind, she stopped with 'I'm so done with this job, can't I change it?' expression on her face. You straightened up a bit ashamed, and Jumin said in his stoic voice, "Is something the matter, Assistant Kang?" "Saeran just sent me something important regarding Sarah and Glam. I printed it for you, sir." Jaehee went to the desk and left a few pages on it. Jumin spread the documents on the desk so that you could both see the content. You did not want to know how Saeran got to such documents, but there was information from the hospital confirming that Glam and Sarah were sisters! The second page said the same thing, but it came from some sort of state documentation. The last page contained some old articles about Glam previous husband, who she has left as soon as his company went bankrupt. You felt chills, put a hand on Jumin's shoulder, and he covered it with his own, "This is very useful information, but I don't know if the documents alone are enough to convince my father. Assistant Kang, inform Sarah and Glam that I want to eat dinner with them. I have to talk to Luciel to give me some recording device. I will have these women confessing in front of me. "

Jumin's POV

The place in the restaurant of his choice in his building was already prepared. The recording device was located under the table. Jumin greeted the two women with an artificial smile, even pushed back the chair for Glam, but did not manage to do the same for Sarah. He hated her too much after what she did to  Y/N.

"Oh, thank you, it's so kind of you," Glam squeaked in her annoying voice.

Jumin adjusted his cuffs and sat down at the table opposite women.

"Well, I'm not stupid," Sarah said, with obvious distrust in her voice. "Why did you bring us here?"

Glam hissed at her, "Be more polite, girl. I'm sure Jumin talked to his father and changed his mind about your wedding at last, didn't he?"

"Before we start dinner," Jumin, instead of answering Glam's stupid question, pulled out the documents on the table, "Please, read this."

Both women studied the documents for a long time and paled from second to second.

"Where did you get it from?" Sarah muttered.

"It doesn't matter. However, I think this information will appeal to my father."

"No!" Glam growled. "You can't show him that!"

Sarah shrugged, regained her confidence, "Let him show this to his father. This old man will believe everything you tell him, sister. He even believed that that Y/N girl came up with kidnapping to frame me. He's a fool. These documents are no threat for us. "

Jumin smiled to himself. It was going better than he expected. He didn't think Sarah will tell her secrets so soon - but she was an arrogant and stupid girl.

"These documents come from credible sources, so I think my father will think about them seriously," Jumin continued. "As for the abduction, Sarah. I think he'll think it over again. If you hid from him the fact that you are sisters and that Glam was with her previous husband until his company collapsed, he will stop trusting you two."

Sarah's expression sharpened, and Glam bit her lip. Both were silent.

"I think it just got to you. You are no longer in a winning position," Jumin looked at the women coldly. "I have an offer for you. Something for something."

"Something for something?" Glam asked, interested. "Good, because I'm not going to give up without gaining anything."

"You wanted only one thing from the beginning. Money. You, Glam, my father's money. And you, Sarah, my money. So you'll get it."

The women looked at each other, suddenly pleased. Jumin could hardly believe how dumb and shallow they were.

"So," Glam insisted. "What is your offer?"

"It's simple. Promise me that you will leave my father, me and Y/N alone. That you will never come close to us again, that you will disappear from our lives. I can offer you three million for it. Is that enough?"

Both women's faces lit up. They both looked so comical. Their eyes glowed with profit desire.

"Of course that's enough!" Sarah exclaimed cheerfully but then added, "Well, for a while."

Jumin nodded, "Okay. I will not agree to support you for the rest of my life, because that is what I want to avoid, pushing you away from my family. But when you run out of money, I can promise you will get another three million. I think I'm too generous anyway."

Sarah chuckled, "Is this really happening?"

"I just have enough of you, and this is the easiest way to get rid of you. This solution is beneficial to both sides." The waiters just brought the ordered food and poured the wine into glasses. Jumin raised one towards the women, smiled, "So? Do we have a deal?"

Of course, he had no intention of fulfilling any of the promises he had just made.

The next day, Jumin invited his father to a meeting in his office. He wanted Y/N to accompany him. Now they were both sitting at the low table that was prepared for the guests, opposite his father. Jumin played the recording. His father's face expressed increasing shock and sadness when more and more evidence came to his ears not only that both women had manipulated him, wanted his money, but also actually stood behind the Y/N's kidnapping. Jumin was silent when the recording finally stopped. He waited for his father to speak. Y / N squeezed his hand, which gave him comfort. Although he was glad that his father had finally learned the truth, he also felt restless. He saw that his father was deeply affected by what he had just learned.

"My God..." His father ran over his hair with his fingers, his hand trembled. "All this time... You were right, my son."

Jumin sighed, "I wish I wasn't. But yes, it's all true." "I was so blind." "I can't deny it, father. But this is not the first time that the desire to have a woman has blinded you," After these words, Jumin felt as Y/N tapped his side with her elbow. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes were narrowed. Was she mad at him? For what he said? After how his father treated her, did she still want him to be nice to the old man? This girl... was really amazing. Jumin cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, father. I hope you'll find someone honest one day." His father rubbed his eyelids, and then with a visible sense of shame looked at Y/N, "I owe you a huge apology, miss. I accused you of many things, wrongly. In addition, because of my blindness towards Glam, you have been exposed to danger and you had to go through a lot. Please forgive the old man for his stupidity. " Y/N nodded, "Apology accepted." Jumin felt something fall from his shoulders. Suddenly he felt lighter, and the threads wrapped around his head loosened its grip. "Now, when I look at the scars on your wrists," His father continued, "I can't believe I accused you of planning all this." Jumin gently covered the scar on Y/N's wrist with his hand. For some strange reason, he didn't want anyone to look at it. "Father," He said, "will you do something for me now that you know all this? I know you had an impact on what sentence Sarah got. I want to resume the trial. And I want to ask you to testify. The recording I got will also go to court as evidence. " His father's face became serious. He nodded, "Of course. What's more, this time I will make sure that the bodyguards Sarah bribed also testify and confess everything." "Thank you." The old man looked at Y/N again, smiled sadly, "You are lucky, son. Now I really see it. You found someone who really loves you."

Two weeks later

Your POV

Sarah's trial was swift, with all new evidence and influence of Jumin's father, it went easy. Sarah received a 10-year prison sentence and a large fine. Yuwoon's sentence was also changed - to life imprisonment. Jumin's father, of course, broke off all contacts with Glam and made sure that the media find out how cunning she is.

You've been living in a new apartment for a week. Your place was on the top floor of a guarded apartment building. Jumin, of course, made sure your neighborhood is safe. At first, you didn't want to agree to his idea - you couldn't afford to rent such an expensive apartment, and you didn't want to accept Jumin's money. But after a long conversation - that was your first real fight - you agreed to his help, at least until you found the right job. Jumin also insisted that you feel free to ask Yoon for help if you need extra protection. The building had its own bodyguards, but Jumin didn't trust them as much as his employees.

Today is finally the day when you were supposed to go out with Jumin... You were excited like a kid, you had butterflies in your stomach. It amused you - after all the time you spent in his apartment, after the intense nights spent together, you were nervous now as if you were going on your first date! Well, it was your first date with him. You wondered if Jumin felt the same...

The doorbell rang. You quickly corrected the creases of the dress - one of the ones Jumin bought you, you wanted to please him, so you put it on. You ran to the door, your spike heels tapping on the floor. You let Jumin in, giggling silly. He was looking at you with an equally dorky smile.

"It's quite a fun and unusual feeling... Take you on a date," He stated and took your hands.

"Right? I feel like a child at Christmas."

"Yes, you described exactly how I feel."

You started giggling again and covered your face with your hand, "I can't stop laughing, I'm sorry."

"You look wonderful. I think I should start with that," Jumin stated with a gentle look. "And I have something for you."

You watched Jumin reach into his pocket. He took out a red box from it and gave it to you. You blinked and opened it slowly. Inside were silked red ribbons.

"Ribbons?" You raised your eyebrows, not really understanding.

Jumin carefully removed the box from your hands, pulled out one of the ribbons, "Give me your hand."

You did as he ordered, and he gently tied the ribbon on your wrist, covering the scar with it. Then he asked for your other hand and repeated the action.

"This way, no one else will look at these scars," Jumin raised your hands and kissed your one and then your other wrist.

Butterflies in your stomach fluttered like crazy. You reached for Jumin's face with your hands, stood on your toes and kissed him tenderly.

"That's... so like you," You giggled.

"You don't like it?"

"You know I do."

"Recently I realized that I never told you this... Maybe it is obvious, but I would like you to hear it... I love you, Y/N."

Now you had the impression that butterflies from your belly flew straight into your heart, "I love you too, Jumin."

He pressed his forehead against yours, closed his eyes and sighed, "What a strange being you are, God knows where I would be if you hadn't found me..."*

THE END

*This sentence comes from this song, which I think perfectly reflects the relationship here between Jumin and MC/You.

I don't know how long it will be before I write the next story, but stay tuned! Because it will definitely appear one day :) To leave a small tease of what you have to prepare for, the next story will be inspired by this song. So you know... Get ready for the next drama!

And thanks again for appreciating this fanfic. I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it!

I love you all ;--;

#and they lived happily ever after #*ugly sobbing* #I got emotional #it's the end #T-T #stay tuned for the next one! #Yoon I'll miss you #mysme fanfic #mystic messenger #jumin #jumin han #jumin x reader #jumin han x reader #jaehee kang

[bittykimmy13]

Queen of the Sea (GT): Chapter 6

((All posted chapters))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEVIAN

“Are you alright?” Devian demanded once the door was shut. He tried to move closer to Kaia’s bird cage, but the chains around his wrists were already pulled taut, leaving several feet of space between the two prisoners. The tiny girl didn’t answer right away, standing quickly and looking all around in search of an escape. Up higher, the bars were more spaced apart. Devian had no doubt she could climb up and reach them if she wanted, but there was no safe passage to the floor, seeing as the cage hung from the ceiling. A terribly guilty part of him was somewhat relieved by that. If Kaia slipped away, he would be doomed. Not that his future was looking particularly bright even if they gave the mercenaries what they wanted. But at least with Kaia, the two of them stood a chance. “I… I’m not hurt,” she said, voice tight and unconvincing. “But that… that Huntress Andrea. She didn’t do anything to you?”

In the dying lantern light, he could barely see her little head give a slow shake. “She didn’t hurt me. Not really. She’s very odd. Everything she does is… strange, to say the least. She can’t seem to decide whether she wants to keep me safe, or if she doesn’t care about me at all, or if she wants to toy with me. When we’re alone, she’s more relaxed. But when we’re around others…” Devian thought on it and came to only one possible explanation. “She has a reputation to uphold amongst her crew.” “And I’m not worth the mask she puts on for them,” Kaia sighed. Moving right up to the bars, she peered out at Devian. “What about you? Were you chained here all day?” “Just about,” he answered, shuffling back to sit against the wall. A pitifully thin mattress had been provided for him on the ground, at least. “A meal was brought to me. I believe there was always someone standing outside the door, but I was left alone for most the day. The queen came for a visit, but she was only making sure that your cage was in place.” Kaia’s shoulders slumped as she leaned her forehead against the bars. “Did she say anything to you?” “Only wanted to make sure we were heading in the correct direction,” he said. “She says tomorrow we will begin mapping a solid course using my map and the one in the navigation chamber. There is a stop she insists we have to make, though. They’ll need me to chart the way from there.” She lifted her head suddenly. “Isn’t that dangerous? If you chart the way to the shrine, they’ll have no more use for you, will they?” Devian managed an assuring smile. “This map and language don’t operate like that, fortunately for me. Decoding it hasn’t been easy, and even I don’t understand its properties completely, but I’d say that’s for the best. The text itself seems to be affected by its position on the sea. The location of the shrine isn’t truly revealed until we’re close enough. Until then, the route is uncovered bit by bit along the way.” “Good,” Kaia said, sliding down to sit. She looked even smaller as she curled into herself. “We need to be prepared. When the time comes, I must be able to reach the treasure.” His easy smile wavered. “You said to ensure that these mercenaries want the treasure--to let them know a demigod’s rewards and riches await them. But… I can’t see what you would want with such a treasure. There’s more to it, isn’t there? Can’t you tell me what’s going on, and how it’s going to save us from the queen burying a sword in my back the moment we’re not longer useful?” “I… I can’t tell you.” “Why?” His voice was sharper than intended, but he was too frustrated to apologize when she flinched away from the bars and him. “If we’re really on the same side, why would you hide something so important from me? I vouched for you. I tried to protect you when the Huntress came to the brig. What have I done to make you not trust me?” Kaia stared at him for a long while, then rubbed between her eyes tiredly. “I can’t tell you,” she said firmly. “The less anyone knows of the shrine, the better. Please, don’t misunderstand, Devian. This is for your safety as well. If you knew all the secrets… you might change your mind. You might try to convince the mercenaries to not go to the shrine.” He clenched his jaw. “Kaia. There is nothing--nothing--that will make me not want to see this treasure, especially if you’re so sure you can save us both when we reach it. Am I just supposed to follow you blindly?” “Yes,” she snapped. Devian let the single word sink in slowly, his heart sinking along with it. Just when he thought he’d found a true ally, she stayed shrouded in so much mystery that he wasn’t even sure that he could trust her. For all he knew, she was merely using him as a convenient way to reach the shrine. Then she could rid herself of him as well as the mercenaries with whatever plan she had in mind. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said finally, settling onto his mattress. “That Huntress… if her mood is truly as turbulent as you say, I suggest you tread carefully around her. Several of the pirates aboard the Cutlasswere the same. Friendly one moment, hostile the next.” She chuckled, surely relieved that he had dropped the matter of trust and the shrine. “And yet, you never learned to behave around them, did you?” He peeked one eye at her. “How do you know that?” “I saw you several times in the cargo hold, berated by them. You never seemed to learn how to keep your mouth shut. It meant several dropped crates of food for me when they shoved you, though. So I thank you for that.” Scoffing, he let his eyes fall shut. “You’re very welcome. But for both our sakes, I suppose I’ll work on shutting up.”

“Rise and shine, navigator,” a far too cheerful voice sang. The sliding door of the forecastle banged open, making Devian sit up with a start. He squinted at the door, expecting to see Andrea, but the voice didn’t fit. Instead, Devian saw the druid whom he had first spoken to when bringing supplies onto the Clemency. The one who could read his thoughts. Perfect. “The queen demands your presence in her quarters,” the druid said. “Up, come on. Thorne, you undo his shackles. I’ll be taking our bitty guest.” Thorne the pyromancer strode into the room, looking like far less of a morning person than the druid. Shaking off his own drowsiness, Devian stood and held his wrists out for Thorne to unlock the cuffs. Meanwhile, the druid approached the bird cage, where Kaia was already alert and looking around frantically. She flinched far from the door as the druid unlocked the cage. “Where’s Andrea?” Kaia asked breathlessly. “Busy,” the druid said. “The queen had another task for our Huntress this morning, seeing as we’re planning to dock well before nightfall. Rest easy, little one. Thorne and I will take good care of you in her absence.” He reached into the cage with a surprisingly gentle hand, scooping her into his palm. “What does Ailith need us both for?” Devian asked. “Queen Ailith,” Throne said, “needs to ensure that your stories of the treasure are consistent. So it’s only fitting that you are both present while we set course for this supposed shrine.” He took Devian’s shoulder roughly and guided him to the door. Devian twisted back. “I hope you don’t plan on hurting her,” he informed the druid stiffly. The druid scoffed. “As if I would dare hurt Andrea and Ailith’s little pet.” Indeed, he appeared to be holding Kaia rather gingerly, both hands cupped beneath her rather than confining her to a fist. Kaia met Devian’s concerned gaze and gave him a nod of assurance, but there was no concealing the worry brewing in her eyes. Facing forward, Devian felt his heart pounding. The fresh air crashed into him like an ocean wave. The sun was still near the horizon, blinding in its light. Several other mercenaries were milling about on the deck, but Devian’s eyes were immediately set on AIlith, who was standing near the railing of the ship. Perched on the bannister was that falcon that had stopped one of the Cutlass pirates from attacking Ailith from behind yesterday. Strangely enough, Ailith seemed to be speaking to it, pointing off in different directions at the sea. And the bird was watching raptly, gaze following where she pointed. The falcon briefly turned its head in Devian’s direction. It seemed to narrow its eyes before looking away. It took wing, soaring gracefully on the sea wind. “What’s all that about?” Devian asked. “The queen sends her up ahead to scout before we dock,” Thorne said dismissively. Devian frowned, wondering how the falcon could communicate what it scouted out. He didn’t have time to think about it before Thorne led him straight to Ailith, who grinned broadly at him. “Navigator,” she greeted. “Let’s get started, shall we?” They were taken across the deck to the queen’s quarters. The first room was a navigation chamber, with another door leading off to what he supposed were Ailith’s private chambers. The navigation chamber had a large table in the center, surrounded by chairs. An expansive map was spread on the table, and there were other massive sheets of parchment rolled up and stored on shelves all around the room. “Now, then,” Ailith said, waving for Devian to take a seat at the table. “Take out that map of yours and begin charting a course. And no tricks, my darling. We know these waters, and we’ll be perfectly aware if you’re leading us in circles or to a trap.” He obeyed, biting his tongue to stop himself from questioning what good it would do to lead them to a trap when he was very much stuck on the ship. He tried to keep in mind what he told Kaia about shutting up. This seemed like a good time to apply that practice. He focused between the two maps, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Ailith was sauntering over to the druid. “Give her here, Clive.” She took Kaia from his hands, holding her as though she were a particularly rare and interesting trinket. “Did you sleep well, little one?” Still observing in his peripherals while he worked, Devian saw Kaia shift uncomfortably to her knees and give a nod. “Y-yes, Your Majesty.” “That’s lovely to hear. What isn’t lovely to hear is my Huntress’ report that you weren’t entirely cooperative. A bit quiet when she wanted some answers out of you. Isn’t that a shame?” She brushed a fingertip over Kaia’s hair as though she was petting her. “Behave a little more agreeably, and you may not have to sleep in that cage any longer.” Devian straightened and cleared his throat. “Our route is mapped to the next destination.” Ailith looked up, holding Kaia closer as she strode back to the table and eyed the map. She frowned skeptically. “That’s where the shrine is? Surely it isn’t that close!” “No,” Devian said, setting the pen down. “That’s merely the next destination the map is offering. The map and language are enchanted, as I’ve told you before. It doesn’t give a straight route to the shrine. The map was meant to bring trials upon the demigod hero. Luckily, I’ve come a long way with the map. It can’t be far now.” Ailith narrowed her eyes, still stroking Kaia’s hair. “How convenient,” she sneered, “that you can’t reveal the location of the treasure until the journey’s end. Worried we’ll kill you if you reveal it right away?” He pursed his lips, watching Kaia shiver and duck her head away from the demeaning contact. “This is not my doing,” he said evenly. “I’m only following what the map says, Your Majesty. This language would not bow for a demigod. It certainly won’t bow for the Queen of the Sea.” The resulting silence was deafening. “Very well.” Ailith set Kaia down on the table and examined the ship’s vast map. Her expression grew darker. “You’re taking us into waters that not even the most grizzled of pirates would dare sail. Since you’re the expert on this treasure, perhaps you can enlighten us about the potential dangers ahead?” Devian swallowed hard. “I know nothing about that. All I know is I can show you is how to get there.” She clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t like that look on your face,” she said quietly. “You’re hiding something about this journey, and I want to know what it is. Where exactly are you leading us, navigator? And what will we find there?” “I’ve already told you all I know,” he said, leaning away. “I’m quite aware you’ve claimed that.” She smiled sinisterly across the room. “It’s a good thing our lovely Clive is here. You see, he’s quite gifted at finding secrets hidden away in people’s minds--the truth and information they don’t feel inclined to share aloud. Clive, if you’ll come over here, please.” Devian’s heart dropped to his feet. The druid strode over and stood in front of him, staring him directly in the eye. “Devian,” Clive said, a gentle smile on his lips. “What exactly will we find when we reach the shrine?” His breath caught in his throat. If Kaia had revealed to him the full truth last night, he would be blurting the answer right out. He could feel it--the tug at his mind. But there was no answer to give besides, “I don’t know. How many times do I have to say it?” For a long moment, Clive stared him head-on. “He speaks the truth,” he said finally, clapping Devian on the shoulder and looking pleased. Devian let out a slow breath of relief--a feeling that didn’t last long. “I see,” Ailith said. “The little beauty next, then.” Devian went absolutely rigid. Kaia knew the truth. She certainly did, and she was so bent on keeping it secret that he feared what would happen once the queen knew. Clive took a seat at the table quite casually. He was lean and not very tall by any means, but he still managed to make Kaia look hopelessly tiny as he folded his arms on the table in front of her. “Kaia,” he said with the same gentleness in his voice. “Do you know what awaits us at the shrine?” She shook her head, wringing her hands nervously at his proximity. “No.” Devian held his breath, and Clive’s easy expression became trouble. He sat up straighter and cocked his head, looking confused for a moment as he stared at Kaia. He gave his head a little shake. “She speaks the truth as well.” Ailith sighed disappointedly. “You’re absolutely sure?” “Yes, my queen.” She crossed her arms, glaring through the window as she thought hard about something. Suddenly, she whipped her eyes back to Devian, revelation lighting up her features. “You. You studied with druids, did you not?” Her tone was accusatory. She turned to Clive. “Perhaps he found a way to resist a druid’s influence?” Clive looked Devian up and down skeptically. “Not probable. But not impossible.” That was good enough for the queen. “I’ve had you search the minds of druids before,” she declared. “There is a way to bring their natural defenses down.” Looking down with a sigh, Clive ran a hand back through his hair. “Physical ailment,” he mumbled. “Excellent,” Ailith said. “Thorne can assist you.” “No!” Kaia shouted suddenly, seeming to have stolen Devian’s voice in that moment. “He doesn’t know about the shrine! Neither of us do! You don’t have to burn him, Your Majesty. Please!” Devian wavered and stared at her pleadingly. Kaia could end the whole matter right now. She could tell the truth, tell the queen what she wanted to know. But instead, Kaia continued insisting that Devian knew nothing. And that she knew nothing. He fought the urge to rat her out. Even if he had the heart to, he couldn’t find his voice as he staggered to his feet and backed away from Thorne, who was approaching. “Take her back to the forecastle,” Ailith said to Clive, waving a dismissive hand. “Devian will be ready for you when you return.” Thorne grabbed Deivan’s forearm. “No!” Kaia cried out and squirmed madly as Clive stood from the table and scooped her into his hands. His fingers curled to keep her from leaping out. With no effort at all, he carried her off, leaving Devian to the fire crackling in Thorne’s palms.

#mywriting #gt #gt writing #amwriting #queen of the sea #devian #kaia #ailith #clive #thorne