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collection-of-curios16 · 2 years

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Obsidian Scar: Chapter 1

The whistle of a dozen avian melodies struck through the quaint town of Corey. Cheery, and homey. The spring breeze wafted through the hair of all the denizens of the fair town. Joyous spirits jauntily walked through the Moonbrook Meadow, the town square, and raucous laughter could be heard from the Iron Brew Tavern on the East side of the square. The laughter quickly seized and turned to dead silence. That silence then turned to yelling and rage. The sound of broken plates and a fight echoed through the tavern. The door was splintered as a man was thrown from it.

“I can’t believe you tried to touch my wife’s ass!” Screamed a Half-Orc. The other half was belligerent drunk.

“Are you accusing I, Dominic Rook, of finagling with the wonderful people of this fair city?”

The Half-Orc snarled at the human, sizing him up. He wore dark leather armor and a dark brown cloak with leather bracers. At his side was a strap holding three daggers and he wore a short sword at his hip. His face was bearded and pale. His hair long and dark. He was ruggedly handsome, and his toothy smile had a shine to it that could woo anyone. Except this Half-Orc who was grabbing the human by the collar and pulling him up with a raised fist.

“Come now friend, surely we can discuss this like civilized people. Besides, your pretty wife wouldn’t want to see her big, bad husband get beat up anyhow. She might just send a letter my way if that were to happen.” Dominic said with a wry grin and a wink.

The Half-Orc’s green-grey face went as red as the sunrise, and he threw Dominic across the road. He started stomping towards the prone human with weighty steps and white-knuckled fists. Simultaneously, a lizard man stepped out from the tavern, and surveyed the situation. He was giant. About a head taller than the Half-Orc, who was about a head taller than Dominic. His scales were onyx, and his underbelly was ivory. He wore Silver plate armor with gold inlays and carried around a hefty longsword with a gold dragon insignia etched into the crossguard that wrapped down the hilt. On his back was an iron kite shield.

“Dominic, are you really already starting today? Why can’t we have one peaceful moment?” The lizard man said towards the Rogue.

“Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to help me, Belegar?” Dominic retorted.

Belegar, seemingly the name of this lizard man, drank in some air, and released it with a heavy sigh.

“I will help you get your act together.” As Belegar said this, a dashingly young wizard stepped through the entrance to the tavern and out into the town square with the other three. “What about you, Wrynn? Will you help?”

“I think I’ll watch for now. I’d like to see how this turns out.” Wrynn said with a gorgeous smile.

Belegar noted that Wrynn wasn’t really paying attention to the show in front, but instead was focusing on a beautiful Elven woman in the crowd who seemed to be in awe at the sight of Dominic. She was shooting her gaze back and forth between all the members of their party actually, with the look of a child who has met their hero for the first time. Wrynn knew something, Belegar thought to himself. He was only ever agreeable when he was thinking.

The Half-Orc flinched at the sound of Wrynn’s sultry, calm voice and took the slightest of a moment to look behind him and skim over his audience. What he saw made him do a double take. The wizard looked young. Very young. Maybe 19. However, his pure white eyes held intense intelligence and wisdom beyond any other man he had met. Perhaps more alarming was that the wizards skin was a silky light blue, and his hair was perfect. His countenance was stoic, yet held a slight grin that was charming, and off putting. He wore purple robes and had an exquisite staff made of Blackwood that held a big purple-blue crystal at the top that mysteriously hovered above it all on its own.

“Turn back around big guy. Your fight is over there.” Wrynn said and pointed toward Dominic who was now on his feet and brushing off the dirt. “Where is Fletcher? He’s going to miss the fight.”

“Don’t know. I think he’s still trying to talk to that woman inside the tavern.” Dominic said as the Half-Orc made it back up to him. “Before we do this, can I ask you one question?”

The Half-Orc just snarled at the man and lifted him up by the collar again, this time with both hands.

“Wait wait wait wait. Look here. Do you know what this is?” Dominic said as he pointed down toward his boot.

The Half-Orc looked down in curiosity and was promptly met with the pommel of a dagger in the back of his neck. He gurgled as he fell to the ground unconscious and snoring. A loud thud hit the ears of everyone watching, which there was a nice crowd gathered now, as no one wanted to miss a good fight. Some people clapped, others whined at the sudden end to the encounter. Others just watched.

“I actually cannot believe that that worked. Huh. Let’s go back inside the tavern, find that damn Elf, and get drunk.” Dominic promptly stated with triumph and a curtsy.

“That sounds like a fantastic idea. Perhaps you can attempt to charm another woman and have her husband fight you.” Wrynn slyly stated with a hint of dry sarcasm.

“I don’t attempt to charm. I charm. You saw the way she was looking at me. She practically begged me to whisk her away from her drab husband and show her what a real man is capable of. Tell him Belegar.” Dominic winked towards Wrynn, and patted Belegar on the shoulder.

“I am not getting into this. Let’s just get inside, I need a drink. Hopefully Fletcher didn’t get into as much trouble as Dominic. We can only hope I suppose.” Belegar sighed a heavy sigh again, and then perked up and gave a wide toothy smile toward Dominic.

Thus, the party made their way back inside the tavern, and they saw their friend, Fletcher, the Wood Elf Ranger, sitting at a table talking to an embarrassed female Elf. His green tunic was slightly askew, and his hair was a bit of a jumbled mess, as though he woke out of bed in a hurry this morning. His Elven bow lay out on the table before him. He was actually quite attractive. However, his social skills were lackluster, and he was clearly beyond nervous just being in the presence of this woman. His face was slender, and beautiful. His eyes almond shaped, and a gorgeous light blue. He was muscular and athletic in build.

“...So, I decided that eating the dead opossum was better than starving, and so I did so. It wasn’t a fun night, I can tell you that much, heh.” Fletcher said to the uncomfortable Elven woman.

“Hey, Fletcher. Come over here and have a drink with us.” Dominic said to the Ranger and gave a wink to the female Elf. He then whispered to her as he was leading Fletcher away, “I’m in the room farthest down on the right side.”

“What was all that commotion I heard outside, Dominic?” Fletcher said with a worried expression.

“Well, I was just minding my own business, and this egregious gentlemen took it upon himself to try to bully me out of the tavern. Of course, I had done nothing wrong, and told him as much. He wasn’t having any of it though, and I thought that perhaps he needed a nap to clear his mind.” Dominic said with faux sheepishness.

Wrynn broke up the conversation a bit impatiently. “Sit your dumb ass down, Dominic. Stay put and you can’t get into any more trouble. We have things to discuss.”

Dominic looked back over his shoulder toward the Elven woman that Fletcher was previously attempting, and failing, to flirt with. She was blushing and only met his gaze for but a second. He winked at her and gave her that pleasant smile that hooks in all of his hunts.

“Alright Master Wizard. Whatcha got?” Dominic questioned unenthused.

“The Market has asked us to move into Lakewood in the next few weeks, and set up there. They said that this job is over for us and they can send some people to clean up. We must move on with the plan. Dominic, I trust that you have secured your contact and can get us a safehouse on arrival?” Dominic nodded while sipping at his ale. “And Belegar, you have the concoction that was asked of us?” Belegar flashed a vial of a neon blue liquid on his belt. “Alright. Good. Everything’s coming together. Now, Fletcher, I need you to scout the city out for us once we get there. We’ve been in Alexandria for all of two months and don’t know much about it’s cities. Other than that, the plan goes as discussed. I’ll have a meeting with Lefonde. For now, try to stay out of anymore trouble Dominic.”

Wrynn finished his ale in one swig and got up and walked upstairs toward his room. The others drank merrily the rest of the day and night. Dominic got into another fight, which he ended abruptly, and almost a third until Belegar stepped in. Fletcher managed to charm an elven woman who slipped into the tavern at night during the partying, and Dominic went to bed with three women, including the Elven woman that Fletcher was initially flirting with.

The next morning was one of despair for the small group, who were all dealing with hangovers, with the exception of Wrynn. Dominic, although hungover, still looked quite chipper as he strode downstairs with three women, all of which were gorgeous. Fletcher made his way down with his new companion as well, and Belegar and Wrynn followed suit while discussing something.

“Barkeep! Can we perhaps have some hair of the dog?” Dominic bellowed with a satisfied grin. The tavern keeper only sighed slightly and obliged. These fellows were a bit of a nuisance, but they paid well, and they always paid upfront and on time. Something that some people around here didn’t do. Dominic then noticed that not only was Fletcher being dismissive of him, but that he had a new friend. “Fletcher, who is this beautiful young woman you have with you?”

Fletcher entirely ignored him and was engrossed in conversation with his new friend until Dominic asked again with more sharpness.

“Her name is Ellondra.” Fletcher sighed.

“Ellie is fine.” She said with a beaming smile that lit the room up.

Dominic took Ellie’s hand and kissed it and gave a short bow while still seated. “So, what is an impossibly wonderful woman like yourself doing with... this?” He limply indicated toward Fletcher.

Ellie only chuckled and continued her conversation with Fletcher, who made a slimy face toward Dominic.

“Get the fuck up, Dominic. You have work to do.” Wrynn said dryly.

Dominic looked as though he wanted to complain, or maybe even fight, but instead groaned and got up from the table, “I must leave you ladies. The captain says I have to work.” The women looked equally disappointed.

“I’ll be off to visit Lefonde soon.” Wrynn said in the same tone.

“Woah, you’re going to see him today?” Fletcher asked, pulling away from his intimate speech about poisonous berries and his experience with them.

“No choice. I’d rather not go either, but work is work.” Wrynn said while eyeing Ellie. “So, Ellie is it?” She nodded. There was a long pause and Wrynn narrowed his eyes at the girl. “How long have you been following us?”

The room got tense immediately and there was an awkward laugh from first Fletcher, and then Ellie. Belegar looked a little worried, and it became apparent to everyone what the two were discussing now.

“I’m sorry?” Ellie said.

“What? Are you fucking deaf or something? How long have you been following us?”

“I don’t think I know what you’re asking.”

“Let me spell it out for you.” Wrynn raised his staff and pointed it toward the table next to them and blew it up with a violent, purple explosion that splintered the wood into nothing. He then swung his staff to point right at Ellie’s face. “Answer the fucking question.”

“Okay okay! I have been following you for months now.”

“Who sent you?”

“What? No one. I just wanted to meet you guys.”

“Wrong answer.” Wrynn said while charging up his staff.

“I swear! I swear! I’m just an admirer! I wanted to join you guys, but I knew that the wizard Wrynn, you, doesn’t recruit.”

“Yup. So now you can leave.” Wrynn indicated toward the tavern door. “You’re lucky I don’t blast your ass to wherever you came from.”

“Please! I’m desperate! I have nowhere to go. I’m useful, I swear. I have skills. I even know that Lefonde was planning on betraying you. I can be useful.”

Belegar then stepped forward to intervene a little, and he whispered to Wrynn. “Wrynn. I know what you’re thinking. We are here in silence, and the fact that some girl could find us is a bit preposterous, but you saw her out there. I think she may be telling the truth. Just hear her out.”

Wrynn only nodded to Belegar with a curled brow and malign expression and then turned back toward the girl.

The room suddenly shifted. Wrynn eyed the tavern keeper who locked the tavern door and then walked into the back room. Ellie then realised that there was absolutely no one else in this place, save her and the other four, and she gulped. “What the fuck did you just say?” Wrynn was both livid and curious.

“I slipped into Lefonde’s camp and pretended to be in love with him. I’m good at that. He told me he was a powerful man and that he had powerful friends. New friends.”

“You’re good at lying?” This got a harrowed reaction out of the girl, who then tripped over her own tongue trying to explain how she meant to say it. This in turn got a small chuckle out of Wrynn who seemed to be enjoying the mind game. “Who are these new friends?” Wrynn asked while lowering his staff slightly

“I don’t know, he didn’t tell me. He did mention that he was going to show some people that he’s top dog now, and that he will kill them. I asked who it was, and he said some wizard who thinks he’s tough shit and his friends. I came to you with this knowledge to show you my good will.”

“I can’t fucking believe this! Actually, I can, and that pisses me off more.” Wrynn slurred.

“I know! No one thinks you’re tough shit.” Dominic said from the doorway.

Wrynn was too busy thinking to scold him, but Belegar did give the young human a glance that said, “Watch it, or it could be so much more than just a scolding”.

“So, can I join?” Ellie asked with hopeful, tearful eyes.

“What are your skills, young one?” Wrynn asked with renewed composure.

#writing #story #fantasy #oc #unfinished #book

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youralwaysandforever · 4 years

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the Malfoy bride

Draco Malfoy x Female!Reader

disclaimer; English is not my first language, I am sorry for any mistakes!

summary: you have been engaged to the Malfoy heir since the moment you have been born, although you had never met him. Just when the Second Wizarding War has been officially declared, you have been sent to Britain to finally marry Draco Malfoy, and live with him. (set during the Deathly Hallows Part 1)

warning: strong language, sensitive content (such as panic attacks, violence), graphic sexual scenes.

I had hated the Manor since I had arrived, it had been gloomy, brad, unwelcoming, and lonely. I hadn’t been allowed to leave my chambers. I have been a prisoner in the place that should feel like my home. Draco had rarely visited me, and I have been here for almost two months.

It had been early September (1997), I had been in the library, the only other place, I have been permitted to go. Suddenly, the doors burst open, I promptly stood up, my wand in my hand, pointing towards the doors.

“It’s just me”, he uttered and I exhaled heavily, before collapsing onto the carpet. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I thought that you-”, I shook my head and sat back on the couch.

“You thought that I had been someone else?!”, I only nodded, I hadn’t expected him to sit next to me, but he did. “Has somebody approach you?”, I just sighed.

“I hear echoes throughout the hallways, screamings”, I brought my knees to my chest hugging them. I had been wearing only a satin nightdress, I haven’t found the reason to wear anything but my sleepwear, since I hadn’t been going anywhere else besides my room, and the library.

“This arrived today”, he let out and I raised my eyes to meet his, he had been holding a letter, “It is from your mother”

I hastily opened it and read its content, she had been alive, she would be going to America to stay with our relatives there till the War would end. Typical mother. She hadn’t even asked if I had been alright or if I had wanted to go with her, she had only cared for herself. I stood and threw the letter in the fireplace, staring it as the flames destroyed it.

“This bloody war sucks”, I groaned and I heard Draco chuckling, he had been watching me, his blonde hair falling in his forehead, his grey eyes darkened, and a glass of scotch on his hand. “Where had you been?”, he seemed to be taken aback by my question.

I approached him slowly, his eyes had been studying my moves, I raised my dress, so I wouldn’t step on it, and sat on his lap. He eyed me before wrapping both his arms around my waist, pressing me closer to him.

“You shouldn’t ask where I had been”, he muttered as his eyes landed on my lips, “It isn’t safe for you”, I put a hand on his chin before I leaned forward and kissed him. He immediately kissed me back.

We have kissed before, on the day of our wedding, on the after party, and about a week ago when he hadn’t been sure if he would come back from some mission. We hadn’t been in love with each other but we simply offered each other comfort, closure. Unlike the pecks we shared before, this kiss had been overwhelming, I could feel everything, every single emotion of his, the passion, the lust, the anger, the distress, and the fear.

He suddenly picked me up and laid me over the fluffy carpet in front of the fireplace. Our mouths attached. His hands pushed the straps of my nightdress down, and he rolled my very hard nipples with his fingers as his lips worked on my neck. I moaned and arched my back as soon his tongue began tasting my nipple, he then yanked the fabric of my dress further down and removed his jacket while I literally tore his shirt open. We worked together undoing his pants, the moment they had gone out of the away, he made me sit in his lap again, and I slowly lowered myself on him, taking him in. I heard him hissing and then his teeth grazed on my shoulder. We had been moving in sync, which had been the best feeling in the world, he kissed me, I kissed him. My hands traced his gorgeous muscles while his had been squeezing my bum roughly. I had been close and he had to be feeling it, because, then he changed our positions lying me across the carpet and trust in me brutally, my fingernails scratched his back. We moaned so loud, when we orgasmed, I had been sure the entire Manor had heard us but I hadn’t care at that moment.

Without releasing we had fallen asleep on the carpet, Draco had conjured a couple of pillows and a blanket to cover us. We had just stayed lying together, naked, my head on his chest and his arms around me for the first time in months, I felt that we have been married, that we have been belonged to each other now.

“Kiara”, he muttered against my hair, I lifted my head to face him and he smiled to me, “Wanna go to bed?”

He had asked the most simple thing but for a reason, I could help but widely smile at him, I pecked his lips and when he opened his eyes and stared at each me, I felt something burning inside me, my magic, as if it had changed somehow.

It had been several weeks since we had fucked at the carpet of the library, Draco and I have been spending every night together. He would usually have to attend a meeting with the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort in the evenings but the nights had been ours.

Tonight; I had to attend a dinner with them as wife of Draco, I had been afraid to be in the presence of You-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but I had no choice.

I had been wearing a long, backless, sleeveless, silver dress which had been chosen by Narcissa Malfoy, my mother-in-law, and had been extremely well-fitted on me. I had matched it with a pair of black stilettos and long silver-rose diamond earrings. While my long hair had been beautifully fixed up by the Malfoy house elf.

I have been about to step out of my chambers when I sensed a powerful protecting spell being cast around the room. I grasped my wand and pointed at the door but I lowered because Draco walked inside dressed in the most sexy dark grey tuxedo.

“You look ravishing”, I smirked and approached him seductively, making sure to show the cut in the side of my dress.

“Your mother picked it”, he dragged me to his arms and grinned against my lips.

“Then perhaps my mother doesn’t want us to attend the dinner after all”, he smashed his lips on mine and I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck, pressed myself closer to him.

He suddenly hoisted me up, I unconsciously secured my legs around him, and then he walked towards the bed. He laid me down onto the bed and hovered over me, trailing his tongue along my neck, and shoulders. Draco found my sensitive spot behind my ear and bit on hard, making moan loudly and arch my back, that seemed to appreciate, as he rapidly pushed my dress down enough to fully expose my breasts.

“No bra, my love?”, he asked, grinning, and he closed his lips around one of my nipples as his hand cupped my other breast.

“It has been because of the dress”, I managed to say and he smirked evilly, before shoving his hand under my dress and finding the wet mess which he created.

“You want me, huh?!”, I undid his jacket and shirt, as he then thrust three fingers in me without a warning.

He shoved roughly, added another one, more harshly, I had braised myself against the headboard, while he had been fucking me with his fingers, he twisted and pushed in and out of me in such a brutal speed. I had been a moaning mess under him.

“I asked a question”, he hissed, and picked my nipple with his free hand while he kept fingering me. “Kiara”

“Yes!”, I yelled at the top of my lungs, “I bloody want you so much!”, he grabbed my face kissing me hard.

I heard him whispering something, probably a charm, and our clothes became a pile on the ground. We had been both finally completely naked, he hadn't wasted any time, he replaced his hand with his hard member. I literally shed tears, he had been gripping my hips as he pounded. I had closed my eyes, but then I felt him kissing me on the cheek, jaw, I opened my eyes and I found him looking at me. He smirked and pressed his lips on mine, he kissed me slowly, affectionately, and that had been it.

“Draco”, I screamed as he thrust one more time hard, it had been the best orgasm of my life. Draco came a couples of seconds later.

“Merlin, I love you”, he groaned and pulled out of me, before collapsing next to me.

We had been lying on the bed, completely naked, not even bothering to cover. He had been on his stomach with his head turned towards me, while I had been on my right side staring back at him. His eyes have been glowing with love, he had said that he loved me, and I had to tell him. I needed to. Now more than ever.

“Draco”, I started, then he caressed my lower lip with his thumb while looking at me. “I think I’m pregnant”

His eyes widened, and suddenly moved on top of me, I gazed at him trying hard to not look below his waist. He supported himself on his elbows on either side of me in order to not crush me and simply stared at me.

“You think”, his palm rested on my belly and I sighed, throwing my head back. “You must leave then, love”

“Leave?!”, I asked and he kissed me softly.

“You cannot stay here if you’re carrying my child, our child”, he said and walked across the room, grabbed his wand and conjured back his clothes. He stood in front of the mirror and started fixing his hair.

“I ain’t going anywhere, Draco”, I replied and hugged the sheets around my breasts and he sat at the edge of the bed looking at me.

“You have to, darling”, I had been feeling tears on the eyes and tried to hold them back, he softly squeezed my hand. “You should not attend dinner either, I shall come with an excuse. You make sure you have things ready in case you’ll have to go tonight”

“I don’t want to leave you alone in this house”, he just smiled and then kissed my forehead before going out of the room.

I stood from the bed, packed a bag with things that I would probably need wherever I would be taken, and I decided to have a long bath, I removed my makeup, jewelry, released my hair, and let myself sink into the warm water.

Pregnant. I have been only eighteen and I have never imagined myself having a child before twenty-five at least. But I hadn’t imagined being married so young, so I guess things do change.

I moved out of the bathtub, dried myself and my hair, wore a long sleeveless nightdress with a knit sweater over it. It had been over 10 pm, dinner had to be over, I wondered why Draco hadn’t returned yet. I sat back the bed and decided to the charm to be one hundred sure that I had been pregnant. I placed my wand over my belly, took a deep breath before saying the charm and when I opened my eyes, I found a blue glow over my stomach, meaning positive. I had been pregnant.

It had been early in the morning, I hadn’t managed to sleep, Draco hadn’t returned either which worried me a lot. I decided to do something that I really shouldn’t but I had been extremely anxious about him, I walked out of my bedroom and headed for the living room of the Manor.

“Mrs. Malfoy”, I jumped at the sudden voice and as I turned I lowered my eyes to the ground to find an elf looking at me, he had big blue eyes and a kind smile. “I have been sent to accompany you to a safe house, my name’s Dobby, ma’am”

“Pleased to meet you”, I then looked at the other end of the corridor which lead to the rest of the Manor, “I want to grab my bag from my room, would be alright to apparate from there?”, he nodded at me before he disappeared, I rushed back into my bedroom, put on some shoes and grabbed my wand and my back.

I then let my eyes drift to my engagement ring which had been a simple silver one with a bright pink stone, while our wedding rings had been dark silver with our the crest of the Malfoy family inside of it. I had finally accepted him, us, and now I had to leave him alone. I sighed and stopped my tears before calling Dobby to appear, and he did.

“Ready, ma’am?”, I nodded, the elf had been about to apparate us away when the room’s door burst open. I turned to see Draco standing there with his aunt and father.

“Dobby, go”, Draco spoke avoiding looking at me, the elf let go of my hand and disappeared.

“What’s going on?”, I asked, trying to not show how I trembled.

“You dare to ask! You filthy half-blood!”, Bellatrix then screamed and moved towards me, “You’re a liar! You don’t deserve the Malfoy name! You dared to seduce Draco and make him have your disguising half-blood as his own!”

“But I’m not a”, she slapped me hard across the face, I land to the ground, coughing blood.

“Your whore mother had you with a muggleborn! She had dared to make fool of us! The Malfoys will not let this go”, Lucius, my father-in-law, shouted. He stood next to Bellatrix and kicked me hard in the stomach.

“Father, enough!”, Draco tried to stop his father but Lucius slapped him and pushed him back.

“You have shamed us”, Lucius said, “I will not accept a half-blood Malfoy! Do you understand what you’ve done?”, the eldest Malfoy yelled and kicked me again in the stomach, I cried out in pain. He then pulled out his wand and glared at me, and then glanced back at Draco. “That has to be a reminded that Malfoys take no less than the pure”, Lucius said and with his wand turned at me, he uttered the killing curse.

“NO”, Draco’s gorgeous silver eyes filled in with tears had been the last thing I had seen in this world. Then they were darkness. Absolute darkness, nothing else.

Forever yours, Kiara Malfoy.

(please don’t hate me. I love you! Thank you for all the support! ♥︎)

#draco malfoy #draco lucius malfoy #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine #draco imagine #draco malfoy smut #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy angst #female!reader #draco malfoy x female reader #draco x female reader #draco x reader #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfiction #hp fanfic #harry potter fandom #youralwaysandforeverimagine #youralwaysandforeverfanfiction

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a-simple-imagine · 4 years

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Look Pretty

Requested by anonymous: “Would you please write something with Hermione x reader where they are at slug horns party and the reader is trying to help Hermione escape Cormac and the two are dancing around their feelings for each other or something?”

Pairing: Hermione Granger x fem!reader

Words: 4k

A/N - I’m not sure how i feel about this one tbh but I hope you enjoy it

You had never been one for parties; large social gatherings where people just stood around and talked? What exactly was fun about that. You'd much rather spend your evening in the common room but alas you find yourself stood before a full-length mirror inspecting your outfit for any imperfections. It was considered a privilege to be invited to Slughorn's Christmas party; it was only for esteemed guests and high achieving students. Each student was also supposed to bring a date; this could be anyone the student saw fit. High achiever or not. After some convincing from Hermione, you had agreed to attend the party but now your nerves had you feeling like you could throw up. Outfit number five was beginning to look worse by the second and you wanted nothing more than to just snuggle up in your bed. Y/E/C eyes stare back at you and a defeated sigh slips past your lips. How you wished Ginny or Hermione were here to fight your doubts with their uplifting compliments. Maybe you should change? The first outfit you tried on had been nice.

"How much longer are you going to be?" An impatient Harry Potter calls out to you; it was surprising that his voice carried so well from the common room. Then again, it was rather quiet this evening. With one final glance over your chosen items of clothing, you reluctantly commit to outfit number 5. With a quick spray of something flowery as a finishing touch, you descend the stairs to join your fellow wizard.

"Calm down, Harry. I didn't know you were in such a rush."

"I'm not," He turns around just as you reach the bottom step, his smile beginning to fade. "I just never expected you to take so long- you look nice."

"Really?" You look over yourself with a grimace. It didn't feel nice. "I'm not too sure I like it anymore. Maybe I should have worn something else."

"I honestly think you look lovely," He assures you with the kindest of smiles. Such a genuine boy, you have no reason to doubt him.

"Then thank you," It was hard not to feel a little embarrassed. "You look... rather dashing yourself, Mr. Potter," His dress robes were nothing to write home about but they suited him well; sleek black paired with a reddish shirt and a black bow tie.

"Shall we head out?" Harry holds out his arm in offering to which you gladly accept. Looping your arm through his before leaving the Gryffindor common room together.

It was a pleasant evening as the two of you wandered through the corridors. The quiet corridors a stark contrast to the normal hustle and bustle of Hogwarts School for witchcraft and wizardry. You rather liked how peaceful it seemed. The looks of strangers, on the other hand, you didn't appreciate. Don't these students have better things to do?

"So who did you end up inviting to the party?" Harry asks, relieving you of your increasing self-consciousness that came with the silence.

"No one," Your first choice hadn't been available so why bother with another. It just seemed like an unnecessary task. "Everyone had dates already- Who did you ask?"

You knew whoever it was they were just a substitute for who he really wanted to go with. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have agreed to let you tag along. "Luna,"

"Loony Lovegood?" It was a nickname that often drifted around the castle for the unique Ravenclaw. And not always with the nicest intentions but she welcomed it like it wasn't supposed to be an insult which you found rather intriguing. "interesting choice."

"I wasn't sure who to ask, honestly." He defends his choice. Harry Potter was the chosen one, he could have invited just about any girl to this party and they probably would have said yes. Not to mention that you had overheard that Romilda Vane was hoping he would ask her. She's basically obsessed with him. "And she's my friend so why not?"

"Oh it wasn't an insult- I actually adore how weird she is," Perhaps Harry had been wise to bring his eccentric friend; she'd surely liven up any dull party with her unique tales. "She's like the perfect dinner guest."

You look to him from the corner of your eye wondering what exactly he is thinking. You probably would have asked him if he hadn't already arranged to go with Luna. "You should have just asked Hermione," Harry says after a moment bringing a sour taste to your mouth. Your relationship with Hermione could be easily summed up in one word; Complicated. She was one of your best friends and you wouldn't change that for the world but you also couldn't deny that you had begun harbouring feelings for her as well. "She would have said yes."

With a heavy sigh, you let your arm drop from around his. From the moment you heard about the Christmas party, you had been under the assumption that you'd go with Hermione But when the time came to actually ask her, Harry informed you that she had a date already. Which was fine. She was allowed to go with whomever she likes. "How do you know?"

You hadn't expected to sound so bitter but it couldn't be helped. His shoulder bumps against yours and you weren't sure if it was intentional or not. "Call it a feeling."

"You know what potter? I don't remember asking for your opinion," you huff defensively, storming off just a few steps ahead. "You can't talk anyway- why isn't Ginny your date tonight?"

"Why would Ginny be my date?" You have to stop yourself from laughing. He couldn't be serious. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that he had a thing for the Weasley girl and honestly who could blame him; Ginny was a talented young witch, very smart and beautiful.

"It doesn't take a genius to work out you have a thing for her." You continue with a roll of your eyes. "I know it. Hermione and Ron know it. Everyone knows it- even slug club thanks to you making a fool of yourself during that dinner party."

"I didn't make a fool of myself."

"You did though," You chuckle, thinking back to the night in question. It was a slug club dinner party and Ginny had shown up late. She may as well not have come at all considering you were eating dessert by the time she arrived. Hermione suggested it was because of Dean and you wouldn't be surprised if that was true. "You basically leapt out of the chair, Harry. It was really awkward to watch."

"I was just being polite," You highly doubted that. "And she is with Dean anyway so I suspect they'll be attending together."

"I guess... Dean's cute but Hermione says they're always fighting," Extra emphasis on the always. It wasn't really any of your business but as a close personal friend to the youngest Weasley, it was hard not to get involved. "You two, however," you glance towards the chosen one in all his glory. You come to a stop before him, adjusting his crooked tie so it sat perfectly straight. "Would make quite the pair."

All talks of crushes were lost among the wind as you rounded the corner almost crashing into the young Ravenclaw that stood waiting patiently. Catching yourself before the collision, you take a few steps back. "Hey Luna," Her outfit could not scream Luna Lovegood more if it tried; it was silver and reflective. "Don't you look... shiny."

"Thank you," Had you meant that as a compliment? You weren't too sure but she took it as one. Falling behind, you listen to Luna’s ramblings during the short walk left to Slughorn's office. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings which resembled a tent. There were way too many people here for your liking which made it awfully hot and stuffy. You almost instantly found yourself alone within the crowd feeling terribly awkward.

When with friends like Harry, Ron and Hermione, you could talk forever given half the chance. But being put into a situation surrounded by complete strangers and you'd freeze up; it was hard talking to people you either didn't know at all or only saw in passing. Hiding away in the corner of the room, you search the room for someone you knew. You spotted Neville walking around offering drinks to the guest from his silver Tray. Ginny was halfway through a conversation with Dean; thankfully she seemed to be smiling. Meanwhile, Snape was looking very bored as Slughorn drones on about one thing or another. You never expected to see Snape here but apparently he had been a past member of the Slug Club. No surprise there considering he went on to teach potions. After what felt like a lifetime of standing awkwardly on the sidelines, you finally spotted Mr. Potter just outside the makeshift walls. "I told you not to leave me alone with these people," You whisper-yell as you push the fabric aside. Harry seems surprised by your sudden interruption but all attention has turned to his companion. It was none other than Hermione Granger in a little pink dress; she looked beautiful even as she shoved something into her mouth. "What are you two doing?"

"Hermione is hiding from Cormac," Harry answers, signalling towards the other girl with a flick of his wrist.

"McLaggen? That's who you came with?" Cormac McLaggen, in your less than favourable opinion, was as sleazy as they come. He had shown interest in Hermione but she had never shown any in return. So why had she chosen him over you?

"I didn't have a lot of other options," you share a look with Harry who looked almost sympathetic towards the situation. He was the only one who knew that you had planned to ask her and was also the one to crush your dreams. "Oh god, he's coming over here," She quickly reaches for your hand which brings heat rushing to your cheeks. "Come with me,"

Following her lead, you crouch down and allow her to drag you back into the crowd leaving Harry to deal with McLaggen. "Why are you here with him if you don't even like him?"

"Because he actually asked me." Her words felt like they were directed at you but maybe you were just trying to make something out of nothing. You wanted to tell her that you had planned to ask her from the start but you don't. Now safely on the other side of the room, her hands slip away from yours. "But he's so bothersome. I don't think I can put up with it much longer."

It was her fault but again you keep that to yourself. "Why did you drag me along? I'm not trying to avoid him."

"As a distraction so look pretty." Look pretty? Before you can ask what exactly she meant by that, her hands are against your arms, spinning you around quickly to face a rather irritated McLaggen. This didn't feel right but it was too late to pretend you hadn't seen him now.

"What am I supposed to say?" Your whispers for advice are ignored or more accurately unheard. This conversation was destined to be very awkward.

"Where'd she run off to now?" He comes to a stop before you, running his hand through his dusty blonde hair.

"Who?" He had obviously meant Hermione. But it seemed you were running on autopilot as the word drifted off your lips before you even had a chance to think. He probably thought you were rather idiotic now but then again did you care what this slimeball thought about you?

"Your friend?"

You swallow a lump in your throat. Guess the plan now was to continue playing dumb in hopes of him giving up. With your bottom lip wedged between your teeth, you pause in thought for just a moment. "You mean Harry?"

"I'm obviously talking about Granger? She was just with you?"

"Was she?" Surveying the room, you pretend to search for the girl in question. Luckily enough she was nowhere to be found so your act must look rather convincing.

"So where did she go?"

"Who?" Fighting back a smile, your attention returns to McLaggen; his growing annoyance was evident in the creases forming across his forehead. If it had been anyone else, you'd probably feel bad for them. Although, you will admit that it was rather harsh on Hermione's part to be leading him on like this instead of making her intentions clear.

"Hermione Granger?"

Your shoulders rise in a quick shrug. "I don't know what to tell ya mate."

"Nevermind- I'll find her myself." With a sharp spin, he morphs back into the crowd finally leaving you in peace. You let out a breath you didn't realise you'd been holding as the pressure to cover had been elevated.

"So where is Hermione," This time the source was none other than Harry Potter; who was now standing by your side watching the party unfold. Neville seemed to have bumped into someone who was now causing quite the stir.

"No clue, she ran off somewhere," Stopping a waiter as they pass by, you take a small glass off his silver tray. The contents were golden yellow and you weren't quite sure what it was exactly.

"I don't understand why she agreed to come with him anyway." Sure, he had asked her but that didn't mean she was required to say yes. That had been her own choice which no longer made sense considering she was actively running away from him.

"Who knows," Harry muses aloud. "maybe it's because Cormac doesn't try to hide his interest in her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" You look to him with a scowl. You had never tried to hide your feelings for Hermione but the same could be said about trying to show them. It wasn't exactly something you went around announcing to everyone.

"Nothing," He offers you a flash of a smile as he slinks away to save himself from the upcoming argument. "If you'll excuse me."

Harry scurries away leaving you alone at the party once more. It seemed only fitting for you to take your leave now and head back to the dorms; you hadn't wanted to come in the first place. Plus you didn't feel like having to deal with Hermione and Cormac anymore. The commotion drew your attention for a moment but with a heavy sigh, you head for the exit. Why on earth would Draco Malfoy of all people gate crash such a lame party?

"Thank you," Remnants of your drink now spilt down your chin as you coughed in surprise. Hermione Granger has suddenly appeared once again bringing with her an aura of sweetness.

"Don't- do that," you swat her arm playfully, wiping away your flavoured drool. "You- almost- killed me."

"You're being a little dramatic," a gentle smile paired well with a roll of her eyes. "What did you tell him?"

"Cormac? I decided to play dumb and act like I had no clue."

"Must have been rather easy for you then," You raise a brow; was that a joke?

"You do realise that agreeing to be his date, has probably given him the wrong idea?" You muse, placing the now empty glass down. It was feeling sticky between your fingertips, "And as his date, you shouldn't be running away from him. It's awfully rude, miss Granger."

"I had to bring someone," Hermione looked away from you, a heavy sigh drifting into the crowd. It seemed whatever had happened regarding Draco had sorted itself out. "And he just so happened to ask me."

"You can't avoid him forever," You wonder where the man in question has wandered off to. He couldn't have gone far. Catching Luna Lovegood's gaze for the first time since arriving, she gave you a little wave.

"That's part of the problem."

"Maybe you shouldn't have come with him in the first place, Hermione." You insist sharply, glancing back at her. "You always had other options."

Had you not spoken about the party beforehand than perhaps you wouldn't be filled with such bitterness.

"I would have said yes," Hermonie gently takes your hand in hers. Her thumb dancing delicately over the back of your hand; your entire body seemingly relaxes. "If you asked me, I mean."

Her words felt invasive; as if she had somehow managed to read your mind. Recoiling from her touch, you step away. Crashing into a rather tall lady with deep dark brown hair. She shoots you a less than favourable look before moving on. "Who said I even wanted to ask you?"

"Harry," Seems Mr. Potter had decided to try and play Cupid where he wasn't wanted. You make a mental note to talk to him about it later.

"You could have asked me," you throwback sourly. "Instead you chose McLaggen- someone you don't even like," A harsher tone but you remain quiet in order to avoid drawing unwanted attention. Heading for the exit, Hermione trails after you like a little lost puppy. Why couldn't she just leave you alone? "Maybe next time you should stop playing games."

"Who did you come with?" Hermione asks softly. It's almost drowned out among the noise.

"No one." Your head drops. "I thought about asking Ron but he was busy with Lavender." The sound of the party grew distant as you stepped into the empty hallway. "Stop following me 'mione, go back to the party."

"I'd rather stick with you," Hermione brushes up beside you, falling in line. It was cooler out here and you were grateful for it.

"What about McLaggen?"

"All the more reason to leave," An uncomfortable silence falls over the two of you as you head back to the dorms. You never realised how eerie this place was when it wasn't full of students.

"Did you know Lovegood sleepwalks?" A harmless question to fill the void. "So she sleeps with shoes on although I think slippers would be the smarter choice."

"What?"

"She's an odd one," you smile softly at her. "But interesting,"

Speak of the devil, Miss Lovegood rushes past the two of you. Her dress twinkling in the moonlight.

"Heading back too, Luna?" You call out bringing her to a stop. The blonde turns back to the two of you.

"I am," She nods offering up a tiny smile as she waits for you to catch up. If it wasn't already awkward before it definitely was now. Nobody was speaking to each other so it was just like some weird silent adventure back to the dorms.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Luna?"

"It was alright," The blonde responds quietly. "I did manage to lose Harry a lot."

"Typical Potter," you shake your head in disapproval. "I was thinking..." You bump your shoulder against Luna's. "we should have tea together sometime?"

"Tea?" She muses out loud, "That sounds lovely."

"Great. I will send you an owl," Then Luna just up and turns down the corridor to your right. That wasn't the way to the Ravenclaw common room but maybe she wasn't heading back? With a little wave, you watch her skip away.

"You can be quite forward it seems,"

"What?" Your brows furrow.

"I just don't understand why you didn't ask me? We could have gone as friends?"

"I don't see why you're so mad at me when you're the one who had a date," you fight back.

"You're so oblivious,"

"Enlighten me then,"

The girl comes to an abrupt stop making you slow down. Turning to face Hermione, she seems unable to meet your gaze. "I wanted to ask you but I heard that Zabini was going to,"

"Zabini?" Never, in a million years, would you have thought that Blaise Zabini was interested in you. It was not a bad thing; Blaise was very cool and mysterious but also like too cool for you. Way too cool. "I wonder why he didn't."

"You would have said yes?"

"Better than going alone." You shrug a little.

"There you go then," Hermione huffs, storming past. Was she angry at you for considering another date when she herself attended the party with someone else? "Next time you need a date, go with him."

"Passive-aggressive much,"

"Forget I said anything,"

It was a silent walk back to the common room other than the moment Hermione had to say the password for you to get inside. The problem now was that you happened to share a dorm room with Hermione so there was no way to escape her judgemental eyes. After getting changed, you decided it's best to just retire for the night.

"I would have liked to have attended with you this evening had you actually asked me," Hermione expresses quietly. "When you didn't, I made other arrangements."

"I don't understand why I have to be the one to ask?" You respond. "You're perfectly capable of doing it. And besides, you didn't have to go with McLaggen, Hermione. That was a choice so you clearly didn't want to go with me that badly."

"You can't be serious," She groans loudly. "Why should I have to go dateless because you can't be bothered to ask me unless you don't have any better options."

"That's not even accurate," you growl back. "You're just making stuff up now."

"Will you two shut up," Ginny Weasley interrupts, leaning against the doorway.

Heels held in her hands suggesting she had also just returned. "Everyone can hear you arguing."

"It's-" Ginny glares at you; shutting you up. Falling against your bed, Hermione sits upon her own as the youngest Weasley enters the room. "It's not fair that you insist on playing games and then get mad at me."

"It's not fair that you're mad at me because I found another date when you didn't ask me,"

Ginny sighed loudly. "Hermione. She didn't ask you because by the time she worked up the courage you already had a date. She was always going to ask you, she just thought you'd wait for her." Then her eyes fall to you, she looks very unimpressed. "Hermione on the other hand, heard you'd be attending with Zabini and so she was planning to make you jealous by going with McLaggen okay? you both like each other so either sort this out and go to bed or go argue somewhere else."

Ginny leaves you alone with Hermione and neither of you seems to know what to say. You were just a little surprised she would go out of her way to make you jealous, it seemed a little childish which wasn't her style. "Who knew Ginny could be so scary?"

The two of you share a smile which transforms into gentle and very quiet laughter. "You were scared to ask me?"

"I wouldn't say scared just... I didn't know if I had to ask officially. I kinda just expected us to go together but then Harry said you had a date." You shrug, fiddling with your hands. "You tried to make me jealous?"

"Don't," Hermione buried her face in her hands. How sweet she was. "I'm embarrassed enough."

"I still think you should have asked me," you lay down against your bed, snuggling against the sheets. "But I'll make you a deal. Next time I need a date, we shall go together okay? No matter what it is, you will always be my first choice."

"Alright, deal," you try to look at her but it's hard from your position. Listening as she climbed into her bed and switches off the light.

"You looked really pretty tonight."

"Thank you," she mumbles. "As did you."

#hermione granger #hermione granger x reader #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter imagine #Hermione x reader

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jemmahazelnut · 3 years

Text

I'm not a God

Summary: Laxus isn’t satisfied with anything. He isn’t satisfied with his sex life with women, nor with Fairy Tail's wizards. He wants to change the guild, and he wants to become the Master. Fortunately, in all of this he has his loyal right-hand man beside him. (Set before the Battle of Fairy Tail). [Freed/Laxus]

Link: AO3

This story was born because I imagined what a relationship between Laxus and Freed would be like before the battle of Fairy Tail. When Laxus is still an asshole and Freed… well, let's face it, he's not much better. I warn you right away that it will not be a good relationship. The rating is explicit for a reason, this is NSFW.

Enjoy the reading.

WARNING: homophobic language.

I’m not a God

He felt the alcohol go down his throat as chaos reigned around him. The inn bartender continued to brew beer after beer, the waitresses passed the tables taking away the empty glasses and putting down the full ones, the men began to sing and talk in louder tones, and the women began to wink and pay less attention to their necklines. A typical night in an inn.

He glanced around the room and saw Evergreen still alert flirting with a dark-skinned, muscular man. The girl had a mischievous smile on her lips and she had lowered her neckline, revealing more of what she normally did. But Laxus already knew how it would turn out for the poor man: Evergreen would leave him with blue balls and she would like to know she still had sex appeal.

Looking ahead he saw that instead Bickslow was laughing as he walked up the stairs with two girls. One was clinging to his arm, her short skirt raised too high showed part of her ass and the gait was crooked. The other was making out with the boy, a bit clumsy since they were both walking.

The only one who wasn't enjoying himself was him. Well, and Freed. The boy had disappeared a few minutes ago. He always disappeared on those evenings, Laxus had no idea what he was doing. Maybe he was having fun with some women as well as Bickslow did. Or maybe he just didn't like parties. After all, he had never seen Freed get drunk, or flirt with anyone. It was very likely that he had walked away because he didn't like chaos.

Laxus took another sip of beer, trying to focus on the girl who was smiling at him from a nearby table. She was a beautiful girl, without a shadow of a doubt. Her long dark hair framed her face and her red lips were curled in a winking smile. The dress she wore showed practically everything. Her big breasts, her tight waist and when she got up Laxus could see her long legs walking elegantly around the bar.

Despite this, his gaze was drawn more towards the man who drank alone at the bar. For some reason, Laxus found himself staring hard at his exposed chest from his open shirt, his muscular arms flexing each time he threw a dart at the target, and his hard jaw covered with a light beard.

He felt a chair shift and Laxus immediately looked away, seeing that he was Freed. He had come back from wherever he had been up until now. Laxus hoped he hadn't seen whohe was looking at, and picked up the beer again, only to realize it was empty.

“I ordered you another one, it will arrive shortly,” Freed said. Laxus nodded, glancing at him and wondering if he had seen. He couldn't understand it, his gaze was always an impenetrable expression. Either way, he wasn't going to ask, and if Freed ignored it, so much the better. Also, Freed had promised to follow him everywhere years ago, so he needn't have worried. No matter what he found out about him, Freed would stay by his side.

He had to do it. He had promised it.

“I didn't expect to find you here again. You're usually in a room with a girl right at this time,” Freed said. Laxus knew this. Usually he found one, trying hard not to think about the man who had really caught his attention - usually a stranger particularly undressed with a clear attraction to men - and took her to bed. But he couldn't really find the satisfaction he was looking for, and he found himself incredibly envious of Bickslow.

The Seith wizard always managed to have fun, Laxus always saw him attract the attention of more women easily. It wasn't strange, Bickslow was definitely a handsome boy, and he was no doubt more flirtatious than him. Laxus tried to put that thought in the back of his mind. Bickslow was a man, he couldn't think of him as handsome. Just as he couldn't think the same of Freed. Still, those thoughts were hitting him more than they should have in the last few months.

“There aren't any interesting ones,” Laxus replied. It was true, no woman could get his attention. Even though he knew that they were objectively beautiful and that they would have sex with him, he couldn't find one that satisfied him.

The waitress at that moment placed two beers on their table and Laxus immediately took a long sip. He looked up and saw that Bickslow was still at the top of the stairs. He still hadn't been able to reach his room because the two girls had clung to him and made it difficult for him to walk. Laxus gritted his teeth, finding himself envious of Bickslow. Why couldn't he be like that too? Finding a woman and having fun without too many problems?

“Looks like Bickslow will have a good time tonight,” Freed commented as he drank from the mug. Laxus looked away from the Seith wizard.

“Aren't you having fun?” he asked.

“I've already done that,” Freed replied.

Laxus was silent for long seconds. Great, even Freed was having fun. He was the only jerk who couldn't do it.

He dived again on alcohol to have an excuse not to answer. He had never thought about Freed's sex life, he tried not to do it with his guildmates, even if more than a few times he had thought about both members of Raijinshuu. Never on Evergreen, although the girl was very attractive. He found himself nervous again.

“Sex is overrated,” he said dryly. Maybe he should have stopped drinking for that night. He felt Freed's eyes on him and Laxus thanked the fact that it was him and not Bickslow, who would laugh out loud and tell him that he was missing the best thing in life. “A waste of time and in most cases you find women so drunk they don't even know how to give you a blow job,” he growled.

Freed was silent, and Laxus saw for a moment the man at the counter stand up and throw another dart. Laxus's eyes flew to his back tight in a pair of leather pants that left little to his imagination. Because of his alcohol, his defenses were lowering, but he forced himself to return his gaze to the red-lipped girl. Before Freed saw, if he hadn't already. Laxus sincerely hoped not.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go with women,” Freed said. The phrase came very quietly from his mouth and Laxus whirled towards him.

“What?” he asked. Had Freed seen? Oh god, Freed had seen.

“Try sleeping with men. Maybe they satisfy you more,” the rune wizard said clearly. Laxus tensed his jaw and squeezed his fingers on the glass.

“I'm not a fag,” he growled. Freed looked at him. The look betrayed no emotion and Laxus didn't know what to think. If he was disgusted, skeptical or something else. Surely though, he didn't believe his words and that pissed Laxus off. “Do I look like one of them to you?”

“Why you shouldn't be,” Freed retorted, his tone harder than normal. Or maybe it was Laxus who was imagining him, honestly, he didn't care.

“Because I'm not one of those weak queers. I'm a man, damn it,” he snapped. Freed arched an eyebrow and was silent for a moment. Laxus heard the strong beating of his heart in his ears.

“Do you think I'm weak?” Freed asked. Laxus frowned in confusion, wondering what this had to do with what they were talking about. They were talking about something else, not Freed. “When I said I had fun, I forgot to tell you that I did it with a man”.

Laxus felt his mouth dry, and his eyes widen slightly. If it wasn't Freed but anyone else, he would’ve told him that he didn't want to know anything about a gay's sex life. But he was Freed, the wizard who had promised to be with him. He couldn't say anything and it was Freed who kept talking.

“I don't know what your beliefs about us are,” he began. “But I ask you, do you think this makes me weaker and less of a man?” he asked him. Laxus didn't answer, he squeezed his glass even tighter and stared into Freed's blue eyes, which were waiting for an answer. But the answer didn't come and Freed got up from the table. “If you don't think so, then you shouldn't worry about who really attracts you,” he said and then walked away, up the stairs and into his room.

Laxus didn't know what to think.

***

Laxus was angry. No, Laxus was furious. He could have triggered a storm at any moment as he walked into the room where Freed was resting. A single glance at the guildmate was enough to piss him off even more. He had bandages that covered his entire abdomen, his arm was full of wounds and it was a miracle that his limb was still attached to his shoulder.

Freed sat down on the mattress and gave him an indecipherable look.

“What the hell went through your head, huh?” Laxus bellowed.

“That attack would’ve hit you,” Freed said simply. That answer infuriated Laxus even more.

“I would’ve handled it!” he yelled. “What do you think, that I’m not strong enough to be able to fight someone alone?” he growled out of his mind. The sparks flew from his arms and made the room full of static energy, which made the hair on Freed's head stand on end.

“I'm part of your guardhouse,” Freed reminded him harshly. That pissed Laxus even more, because he knew Freed was right.

“Well, I don't need a fucking bodyguard!” he screamed. “Nor do I need your help. I fight my battles alone, don't you dare get in the way anymore,” he growled.

“We were all fighting together,” Freed said as he got out of bed. Laxus let his eyes wander around his body for a moment. Although thanks to the magical healing of Oshibana's healer his friend was now much better, the fact remained that Freed had hurt himself for him. It wasn't the first time this had happened, but this time Freed had long lost consciousness and Laxus had honestly felt scared. Especially after seeing the exaggerated amount of blood that had gushed out of his wounds.

“I was fighting their leader, you had to manage his underlings,” Laxus growled.

“You needed help,” Freed said, raising his voice.

“I don't need your fucking help, I'm the God of Thunder!” Laxus yelled and a bolt of lightning shot from his arm, hitting the room lamp and letting the room darken slightly. The few rays of the sun that were covered by clouds that day illuminated the bedroom very little.

Laxus felt more electricity pass through his arms but struggled to calm him down, even though he still felt pissed. He was concerned. But above all, pissed off. Because Freed didn't have to protect him, he didn't have to come between him and that shot. Because he was Laxus Dreyar, the Thunder God, he could fight alone.

Freed was silent for long seconds, scanning his face and then he opened his mouth to speak. His voice came out lower than normal, but still firm.

“Is that really what pisses you off?” he asked him and without waiting for an answer he continued. “You know how much I admire you and how much I believe in you, you know I think you’re the most powerful wizard I know,” Freed said. For some reason knowing that Freed thought those things about him made him proud. Perhaps because he was the first along with Evergreen and Bickslow to think so, and that he didn't give credit to his father or grandfather. And he knew that Freed really meant it. He knew that Freed really compared him to a God.

“Well, it seems you didn't think that today,” Laxus growled between his teeth.

“Even a God needs help”.

“Not me,” Laxus said quickly.

“Maybe,” Freed said. “But I chose to defend you at the cost of my life,” he added. That phrase for some reason didn’t please Laxus, who felt a strange discomfort in his stomach. He didn't want it. He didn't want Freed to put his life back for him.

“I don't need you,” he repeated, albeit less angry than before.

“What's the real reason you're pissed off?” Freed asked.

Laxus didn't answer, refusing to say it. Refusing to say he was worried, that he didn't want his friends to die for him. Friends? Since when did he have friends? He studied Freed's face, whose features had softened. It was an expression that Laxus saw a few times, and only when they were alone. Something that addressed only him. Something that somehow made him feel warm inside.

Perhaps that was why Laxus gave in. Or maybe it was the terror that still coursed through his body, due to the memory of Freed passing out during the battle. The fact is that Laxus pushed Freed against the wall, knocking his back against the hard concrete. Then he closed the distance between them and brought their lips together, in a hungry kiss that he had wanted to give him for too long. Precisely, from the night he discovered that Freed was like him.

The kiss terrified him instantly and at the same time turned him on. The most exciting thing was that Freed was reciprocating. Indeed, he was doing it.

He had placed his hands on his shoulders and was moving his lips over him, with such force that Laxus felt weak. Because Laxus wanted to stay between those lips forever. He hated feeling like this, but at the same time he didn't want to stop. Without even realizing it, he was clutching his hands on Freed's bare hips, bringing their bodies together and enjoying the closeness he had long desired.

He didn't know if it was because it was Freed, or if it was because he was the first man he was kissing, but Laxus found himself addicted. He wanted more. And he wanted it right away.

He opened the palm of his hand and ran it all over his torso, enjoying those muscles that so far he had only been able to admire from a distance. God, he wanted it. He wanted it so badly that he already felt hard in his pants. He wanted him so badly that he wanted to drag him to bed and bang him without thinking.

Indeed, he did. He grabbed Freed by the hips and pushed him towards the bed. The rune wizard surprisingly didn’t object, he folded his hands around Laxus's neck and intensified the kiss, making their tongues collide in an explosion of emotions. Laxus lowered his hand until he reached Freed's crotch. At that moment the boy beneath him parted from his lips panting.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Isn't it obvious?” Laxus asked hoarsely.

“No,” Freed gasped as the blonde tugged at his erection.

“Sex,” Laxus replied. “Just sex,” he specified.

“You know I'm a man, right?” Freed asked and Laxus stiffened. They hadn't spoken since that time, but Freed apparently hadn't forgotten. Obviously.

“Shut up,” he growled.

“I just want to warn you, since last time you didn't seem willing to have sex with a fag,” Freed said a bit poisonous. It was amazing how hard his tone came out despite how much he was panting under his touches.

“I said shut up,” Laxus repeated. Freed didn't listen to him.

“Are you really capable of having sex with a man? Are you really ready to open your legs for me? “. Laxus tensed instantly, but he didn't take his hand out of Freed's crotch.

“What makes you think I'll be bottom?” he answered him in a roaring growl.

“What makes you believe that I will adapt to whatever you want,” was Freed's immediate response. Laxus didn’t answer and stopped the movement of his hand. He knew that as loyal as Freed was to him, he wasn't going to have sex with him just because Laxus wanted. And Laxus didn't want to force him. Besides, he didn't even know if Freed would be interested. True, he liked men, but he didn't necessarily like him. He fucking made a fool of himself and what was worse was that Freed was his friend. Or a person Laxus cared about to some extent anyway. He didn't want to force him. But he wanted him. So much.

Freed's expression softened as he had done just before, and the boy placed a hand on his cheek. A somewhat sweet gesture that calmed the heartbeat in Laxus's chest.

“What do you want, Laxus?” he asked again, in a sweet tone that clashed with the usual Freed he was used to. It clashed with the Captain of the Raijinshuu who took the situation in hand without scruples. Laxus swallowed and looked at him uncertainly, feeling obnoxiously weak again.

“I just want to have sex with a man,” he said in a hoarse voice. Freed nodded.

“Okay,” he said and Laxus almost didn't believe it. But he didn't have time to think about his answer as Freed's mouth was on him and his hands pulling up his shirt and down his pants.

He found himself naked before he could even realize it, with Freed equally naked under him. It was going all too fast, a moment before he was talking to Freed and now he found himself rubbing against him. Against his muscular body that he had secretly admired, against his cock that was already losing a few drops.

He was fucking horny.

And Freed was perfect. And too damn fast. His hands before were all over him and then they had taken lube from the nightstand next to the bed. His legs before were tangled in his, and then spread apart as he prepared himself beneath him.

And Laxus was going crazy at the sight. He couldn't believe it. He was about to have sex with a man. He was about to have sex with Freed. He couldn't get it that he felt Freed's hands on his cock, massaging and sliding a condom over it. Laxus couldn't hold back a groan.

“We can stop whenever you want,” Freed said out of breath, red cheeks and dilated pupils. Laxus paused for a moment to look at him. He honestly had never seen Freed in those states. He had never seen the stiff Captain of the Raijinshuu out of a firm expression. And now his face was open beneath him, clearly aroused, his hair untangled and untidy on the pillow. Laxus thought he’d never forget Freed's messy sight.

“I don't want to stop,” he retorted and positioned himself between his legs. He pushed into him and felt a warm sensation radiate from his groin all over his body. The heat rise to his skin. He hadn't moved and was already ready to come.

He filled Freed completely, and opened his eyes that he didn't realize he had closed. Freed had an ecstatic expression under him. An expression that Laxus didn’t want to forget. They breathed into each other's mouth for a few seconds, remaining still so that Freed got used to it.

Then Laxus began to move. He started off slowly, enjoying the expressions and moans that left Freed's lips. It was fucking gorgeous. As the speed increased, the excitement rose more and more and the noises they both made increased in volume, filling the room around them. He saw Freed grab his cock and start masturbating, and Laxus felt even hotter.

He didn’t want it to end, but he felt that his orgasm was rising. He tried to restrain himself and leaned over Freed, madly kissing his neck and snatching another moan from his mouth. Immediately afterwards he felt something wet on his stomach, and everything tighten around him.

Laxus could no longer restrain himself and came breathing and groaning into Freed's neck, continuing to push until he felt completely emptied. At that point he collapsed on top of the boy, without immediately detaching himself and inhaling the intense perfume of Freed.

Honestly, he couldn't feel better.

He stood there for long seconds before moving away from Freed and lying down beside him. For the first time he felt fully satisfied. He now understood what Bickslow meant when he said that sex was great. He remained silent, catching his breath, until Freed sat up in bed and glanced at him.

Painfully Laxus noticed that he had returned to his usual impassive expression. Freed picked up the clothes from the floor, put on boxers and pants and stood up.

“I hope you’re satisfied. See you tomorrow, the train is at eight,” he said and then walked out of the room, leaving Laxus alone.

He didn’t know why but he felt his heart tighten and a sudden desire to cry. It was not sadness, nor happiness. It was something he couldn't understand.

***

The lips slid down his neck and Laxus found himself holding back a groan without success. Freed's hands were resting on his chest. His thighs were wrapped around his hips. Freed's rhythmic movement sinking against his cock was sending Laxus out of control. The pleasure kept increasing, like the heaviness of their breaths, and the speed of Freed's thrusts.

“Shit” Freed escaped when he let Laxus' cock go all the way in. Laxus shivered. He loved hearing those sounds. He loved hearing that Freed was having fun too. He loved knowing that this wouldn't be the last night, but that there would be another one.

And then another.

And yet another.

The first time he didn’t know that it would become a habit, and now instead at the end of each mission they always met in a room of the inn. And Laxus was waiting for nothing but that. He turns off the light, turns off his mind and lets himself be overwhelmed by instinct.

It was all he wanted. Everything he needed.

Freed increased the thrusts, becoming more and more frantic and wild. Laxus wrapped Freed's cock in his fingers and started pumping. He didn't know why, but he wanted Freed to enjoy as much as he did. Maybe it was just a matter of pride, but he always wanted to make sure his friend went back to his bed next time.

And then Freed's moans. He loved hearing them, he loved hearing Freed swear. It didn't always happen. To tell the truth it happened a few times, and those times Laxus always felt overwhelmed by excitement. There was nothing better than Freed letting himself go to the wilder side of him, abandoning his cold expression and letting the most perverse noises come out of his lips.

“God,” Freed gasped on his face. The broken voice, his face showed an expression of pleasure. Then he came, slowing his thrusts and splashing on Laxus's hand.

“Fuck,” Laxus moaned looking at Freed in the faint light from the window. As usual, that was enough to send him over, and Laxus found himself cumming in the condom, grabbing Freed's hips and slamming him into him.

When he felt the orgasm end, Freed collapsed on top of him, sinking his face into his neck and taking deep breaths. That tickled Laxus's neck, but the boy refused to move, enjoying the contact between their naked bodies. He just wanted to prolong that feeling as much as possible. Feeling Freed's bare skin, his sweat and his lips.

But as usual Freed moved quickly from him, sat down on the mattress and as if nothing had happened began to dress. Laxus let him do it, still lying there with shortness of breath. After all, they were just having sex.

What did it matter if Freed cared about him on missions? What did it matter if Freed said he was willing to do anything for him? What did it matter if Laxus felt shudder every time he saw his guilmate in danger? What did it matter if every time Freed left his room, Laxus felt his heart skip?

It remained only sex.

And it was fine like that.

Laxus needed nothing more.

Every now and then he imagined what it would be like to sleep with Freed, what it would be like to wake up with Freed in his arms. He imagined the sweetest expression Freed had given him only a few times, but which Laxus still had imprinted on his mind. He imagined a sweet kiss, maybe a smile. Their hands touch. Their breaths mingle with the morning light, and not with that of the night lamp.

And every time Laxus hated himself. Why did he have to think about those things? They were futile, useless, pathetic things. He didn't need sweet gestures, he just needed to come. Using Freed's body only to enjoy. In those moments it didn't matter that Freed was his friend, that he was the captain of the Raijinshuu.

In those moments there were only two men fucking.

Freed was now fully dressed, grabbed his sword and neatly tied his hair. Laxus knew they would say goodbye longer this time. The Raijinshuu would undertake a mission that would keep them busy for many months. Laxus didn't know why, but for the first time he felt a little empty at the idea of them leaving. For the first time he felt like joining their mission. But he wouldn't do it. It was the Raijinshuu who followed him, not he who followed them.

“We leave in the morning, I think we should be back in three months,” Freed said with his usual expressionless tone.

“Ok,” Laxus nodded, showing no interest. He almost gave in, asking him to stay, but his words got caught in his throat and Freed walked out of the room, saying goodnight.

Laxus didn’t answer, and as had already happened when his guildmate left his room, he felt a desperate urge to cry. If until then he had managed to hold back that stupid instinct, at that moment it all seemed too much.

He just wanted to get under the covers and sob. Instead, he got up, got dressed, and walked out of the inn, looking for a dark guild to take out all his anger on.

***

“Do you believe? That rookie took an S-class mission. You should’ve seen the old man's face, and he dared to ask me to go get him,” Laxus said with an arrogant grin at the Lacrima in front of him.

It was Freed who had called him to brief him on their mission. After talking about what the Raijinshuu was doing, Laxus told how Natsu, the winged cat and a blonde whose name he couldn’t remember, had taken an S-class mission.

“And let's not forget about Mirajane. I almost hoped to see her demon, but that girl has now lost all her strength,” he said, resting his chin on his hand. Freed raised an eyebrow.

“Did he take an S-class mission? This is enough to expel him from the guild,” said the rune wizard, evidently not very interested in Natsu's fate. It was actually difficult even for Laxus to see him interested in anything outside of him and Raijinshuu. Maybe that's why he was the ideal person to have by his side.

“Yeah, but I bet the old man won't,” Laxus commented. “In any case I don't think it will be necessary, I doubt they’ll come back alive to Magnolia,” he said nonchalantly.

“Didn't the Master send anyone to take them back?” Freed asked.

“Yes, Gray. But I bet it won't do any good,” the Dragon Slayer replied. “So much the better. Three less useless people in Fairy Tail,” he commented harshly. Plus the cat. Freed didn't answer right away, and Laxus scanned his face, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach.

He wanted to talk to the wizard as much as possible. He didn't matter what, just hearing him was enough to make Laxus feel better. Maybe because he knew Freed would back him up. Or maybe because, even though Laxus hated to admit it, he missed him. Well, he missed having sex with him, it was normal. Laxus had needs, and Freed knew how to satisfy them.

This was all he missed about the boy.

“I was thinking of a new rule to introduce to Fairy Tail when you will be the Master,” Freed said. Laxus became curious, Freed always had intelligent ideas. Unlike those idiots who frequented the guild, Freed didn't speak out of turn. “Downgrading a wizard from S-class. Mirajane hasn't been fighting for years now, I don't understand why she should still be considered an S-class wizard, when she clearly can't take on missions of that level.”

Laxus smiled and found himself in agreement.

“Well, when I will be the Master, I will also introduce this rule. Also, I'll hunt the weaker wizards who only make us look bad,” he said. Freed nodded.

“I think it's a good idea. Fairy Tail under you will thrive, I'm sure,” he said. Laxus grinned, taking pride in that sentence. How much he wanted Freed to be there, how much he wanted to flap their lips together and undress him.

Unfortunately, however, he couldn’t do it, and unfortunately Freed greeted him, telling him that he had homework to do, but not to hesitate to call him if he had to talk to him. They said goodbye and then closed the communication.

Laxus looked at the empty Lacrima for a while. The grin that he had printed on his face vanished, leaving room only for a bitter expression. He really wanted Freed to be there.

***

Laxus was getting pissed off more and more. The more the weeks passed, the more he realized that someone had to put an end to that farce. Fairy Tail had decided to defend a stupid blonde from Phantom Lord, and those two bitches had even asked him for help. As if Laxus would deign to help them.

Maybe they still didn't understand how things worked. Everyone was gossiping about Fairy Tail, because of the wizards who were part of it. That blonde was no exception. She was a stellar spirit sorceress who was unable to fight and who walked around with Natsu and the blue cat. To be sure, Laxus hoped they’d lose and that Phantom Lord would be able to kidnap the little girl and take her out of the guild.

Although on the one hand, he hated to think that Fairy Tail would be defeated by another guild. He wasn’t surprised, however, by now the guild's strength had diminished over the years, due to his grandfather and his pathetic character.

Laxus had called Freed after arguing with Cana and Mirajane. Freed had agreed with Laxus, a sorceress who caused so much trouble in the guild was better to lose her than to find her, he had said. But then he had added that it would be better to help them, and that if they were closer the Raijinshuu would intervene. Not so much for the interest of the blonde, but to establish which was the strongest guild between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord.

That revelation had pissed Laxus even more. He hated when Freed contradicted him. It happened a few times, but it was still irritating. Laxus had closed the communication almost immediately after, and had felt almost guilty for not having helped his guildmates. That hadn't changed his actions. By now he had told the two bitches that he wouldn't help them, and so he would.

Nonetheless, that episode ended well for Fairy Tail. Apparently, they had managed to win, despite the pathetic members who were part of it.

Too bad that a few weeks later the old man had decided to bring two members of Phantom Lord into Fairy Tail. Laxus was furious. Not only did the pathetic blonde remain in the guild despite all the damage she had caused, but now the two assholes who had caused trouble for Fairy Tail were entering as well.

Laxus now thought the old man had gone mad. Completely. It didn't fucking make sense, all that bullshit about forgiving people was getting over the top. He couldn't wait to beat the two assholes.

He couldn't wait for the Raijinshuu to return, so he’d finally turn the guild around and work out the plan. He needed Freed to do it. His mind and his runes, his power and maybe even his ass. Yes, a fuck would definitely have done him good at that point.

***

The Raijinshuu had finally returned from their mission. They had worked out the plan, and even though Freed had argued about a few things - like advising him to increase the training of the wizards before kicking them out of the guild - Laxus felt satisfied.

As he had thought, Freed would be very useful to him. He had explained to them which Jutsu Shiki would draw, forcing all guildmates to fight. He had shown them from the Magnolia map where he’d place them and Bickslow and Evergreen had been thrilled with the idea. Also, he’d set a lot of traps around the city, and make sure the Master couldn't leave the guild. Laxus was already enjoying it as he imagined the old man's face when they started the Battle of Fairy Tail.

He was going to be a lot of fun, and he already knew what it was going to change for the guild. First, he already knew which wizards to hunt. Although Freed had told him that training them could increase their skills, Laxus remained convinced of his idea. Mirajane couldn’t train, she no longer used any kind of offensive magic, Nab was completely useless, and Visitor made him nervous every time Laxus looked at him.

In addition, the two members of Phantom Lord would be kicked in the ass. At least, Freed agreed on that. Those two didn't deserve a second chance. Not after how they destroyed their building, and not after how they ruined Fairy Tail's reputation.

It was all already decided, all prepared. Laxus could already see himself sitting above everyone as a Master, bringing Fairy Tail to splendor. With Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow alongside.

Especially Freed.

Speaking of the wizard, he was happy that he was back too so he could finally have some fun. He felt a bit pathetic to admit to himself that he had missed Freed. Ultimately, however, a man had needs. It was normal for Freed's body to be missing.

“Come with me,” Laxus ordered as soon as they finished discussing the plan and Freed didn't object, following him without question. That was another reason Laxus liked him. In fact, there were many reasons why he liked Freed. Because he was loyal, smart, powerful, handsome, damn good in bed and… Laxus banished those last thoughts. They were irrelevant.

They entered Laxus' room and Freed closed the door behind. Then, without saying a word, Laxus pushed Freed against the wall, pretending to kiss and touch him. Fortunately, Freed didn't object.

Like the first time they went to bed, it all happened very quickly. Laxus tore off Freed's clothes, Freed undressed Laxus without much preamble, their lips sought each other as if they had waited no more for those three months. And indeed, Laxus had.

He had almost feared that Freed had forgotten about him while fucking with other men, but the boy was there. He was kissing him with such force that he seemed almost desperate. But it was Laxus who felt desperate. It was he who had craved that touch. His hands everywhere. Their chests against each other. Their cocks rubbing.

Laxus dragged Freed onto the bed. He didn't stop to look at him, instead, he immediately flung himself on his neck. He bit hard and hearing the wizard's uncontrolled moan sent a jolt to his cock. Oh yeah, he wanted to hear all the noises from him. He wanted to hear that Freed liked it. He wanted to know that Freed wanted him as much as he did.

He wanted to know that maybe, maybe, Freed had missed him too. It was ridiculous. Freed wouldn't miss anyone. Freed was an emotionless man, he only thought about his duties and that was why Laxus wanted him as his right-hand man.

Freed's hand reached his cock and began to wank it, and Laxus moaned on the wizard's neck. He was already panting and they hadn't started yet. His head was already beginning to cloud with pleasure, and he reached out on the bedside table. In a frenzy he dropped everything, but he grabbed the lube and slipped his fingers between Freed's legs.

After getting them wet, he pushed a finger into Freed's ass, and was surprised to hear the wizard already cursing.

“Shit, Laxus”.

Oh God. How good his name sounded in his voice, in that tone. He wanted to hear more.

Laxus pushed his finger, then added the second and enjoyed the boy's moans. It had never happened that Freed was this loud from the start, but Laxus liked it. In fact, he wanted more. He damn wanted more. He didn't think he'd ever wanted anyone so much in his entire life.

Laxus tried to spread it out quickly, because he honestly couldn't help himself. He just wanted to get inside him and fuck him. He hit the right spot and a loud moan filled the room. Freed took his hand off his cock, then turned on his stomach.

“Fuck me,” he ordered in a hoarse voice. A shiver of excitement ran through Laxus, who didn’t have it repeated a second time. He slipped on the condom and pressed his member against Freed's hole, then entered.

“Oh God,” Laxus moaned as he grabbed Freed's hips. Fuck, he was finally there. He didn't wait to start moving, and slowly and deeply thrusted into Freed. He wanted to fill him, he wanted to have him, he wanted to hear everything Freed had to moan about. He wanted to do it until dawn, and then start over.

From slower and deeper thrusts, he passed to ever more rapid, inconstant and purely savage thrusts. Stronger and stronger he continued to push and it took very little for both of them to come. Freed stained the sheet under them, while Laxus continued to push himself against him still in the throes of orgasm.

Perhaps the most intense he'd had in his life. He wanted to cry, and hold Freed, and never break away from him.

“Freed” moaned “Oh fuck Freed, I missed you,” he moaned without even realizing it. The orgasm ended and he collapsed on top of him, letting go and panting in Freed's hair. Finally breathing in the smell of him, finally holding him in his arms.

He didn't want to break away. He didn't want that moment to end. He wanted to stretch it for eternity.

Then something woke him from his trance. Freed's voice. Soft, sweet and warm.

“I missed you too,” he said.

Laxus let out a sigh, feeling a mad desire to hold him close. Instead, he realized what they had said and panic enveloped him. What the fuck had he thought of? It didn't matter that Freed reciprocated, he didn't have to say it. He didn't have to make himself so weak, so pathetic, so fragile.

Laxus released his embrace, slipped off Freed and threw the condom aside. Then he sat on the bed, waiting for Freed to leave as usual. The rune mage turned to him, and when Laxus looked at him he saw that he had a strangely sweet and almost loving expression. An expression that Laxus found himself wanting to always see. While they were making love, before and after.

A shiver ran through him. Since when did he think of sex as making love? The one with Freed was just and purely sex. Nothing more.

Freed reached out and brushed his cheek in a caress and Laxus remained motionless, while his heart was beating madly and a frighteningly affectionate heat filled his stomach. What the hell was going on?

“You're going to be a fantastic Master,” Freed said softly. God, that tone Laxus had craved was making him feel weak. The Dragon Slayer turned away so as not to have to look him in the eye.

“I’ve to become Master first. Have you written all the Jutsu Shiki?” Laxus asked, forcing himself to have a controlled tone. Freed was silent for a moment, then withdrew his hand and assumed his usual impassive expression again.

“I'm going to finish the final details,” he said as he dressed. Laxus wanted to ask him to stay. He wanted to ask him to sleep with him, not to abandon him, to read into him as only he knew how to do. Instead, he remained silent as Freed left the room.

The only reason he was able to sleep was because he was sure Freed would stay close to him.

***

It was finished. Fairy Tail, the missions, the adventures with the Raijinshuu, the nights with Freed. It was all over. And all because he had acted like an idiot. All because he had been acting selfish, because he had gone beyond his initial idea. Because he hadn't been able to stop. Because he had decided that becoming a Master was his goal.

He didn't focus on the strength of the guild, not only that. He had felt defeated, and he had never been defeated. Never, before that time. And now that he was, it was all over.

Now he had to tell his companions, and Laxus's heart clenched. He had seen them before he went to talk to his grandfather. He had seen Bickslow's wounds after he had fought Loke. He had seen Evergreen's bad mood after she was defeated by Erza. And he had seen the wounds on Freed's body.

Most of all, though, he had seen the pain in his eyes. He had seen it at the cathedral, but he had ignored it. Then he had seen it when Freed had silently accompanied him home to take care of him. Freed hadn't said a word, he had disinfected and bandaged his wounds. He hadn't said anything, but his expression spoke for him.

Because, for once, his face wasn't stiff and expressionless. This time Freed had been completely open to his emotions. He was disappointed, discouraged, guilty. Laxus hadn't even thanked him after Freed finished blindfolding him.

On the other hand, he had forced Freed to sit on the bed and had treated his wounds. He had never done this before. He usually let Bickslow and Evergreen do it. This time, however, Laxus wanted to make him understand that he was sorry for having dragged him into something like this. That he was sorry he attacked him at the cathedral, that he was sorry he ordered him to kill.

So, for the first time, Laxus had run his hands over Freed’s body not to fuck him, or to enjoy his muscles. He had done it only and solely to take care of him, to show him something. Something he couldn't say or put into words. Freed had let him do it, he hadn't asked any questions. He hadn't said anything.

Which was odd, Freed always had something to tell him. He always had the ideal words in his mouth, whether it was cheering him up, or making him think. But this time he didn't have them.

Laxus finally spoke, telling him he was going to talk to his grandfather, and Freed didn't answer. He just nodded, then turned to the window and let his gaze no longer rest on him. Laxus had waited a couple of seconds before exiting the room, hoping to hear an answer. When he realized it wasn't coming, he went out.

He had faced his grandfather, and now the knowledge of having to get out of Fairy Tail was hitting him. He had to tell Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen. But first, he wanted to talk to Freed alone. He felt the need to do it, to tell him that the nights they had spent together weren't just a surge. He needed to do it before he left, and he didn't even know why. But the idea of not seeing him for the next few months was killing him.

He entered Freed's house and walked up the stairs to the boy's bedroom. He knocked and heard his friend's voice answer. Laxus entered and saw that the wizard hadn’t moved from the position he had left him. Freed was still sitting on the mattress, staring at the window. For a moment his eyes rested on Laxus, but he still said nothing.

“I talked to Grandpa,” Laxus said, closing the door behind him. Freed looked at him again in silence, perhaps waiting to hear the rest. At least, Laxus hoped so. Because he needed Freed to want him, that he didn't hate him. Even though he deserved Freed’s hatred, he didn't want it.

But Freed didn't say anything, he didn't ask for anything. Maybe he wasn't interested. Maybe he just wanted him to go away. Maybe he was only there because he was too dutiful. Because he didn't want to back down from the promise he had made years ago. Maybe he would be glad to know that Laxus was going to leave.

Those thoughts broke something inside him. Laxus began to sob, putting his hands to his face and letting his true emotions come to the surface for the first time in years. Not the anger with which he had persisted in covering everything up. Not the violence he had used as a shield. Only heavy sobbing and tears.

He could take it all, but not Freed's hatred. He realized, he couldn't do it. He realized that he loved him. That he really did. That he wasn't mad at him because Freed doubted his strength, but that he did it because Laxus was terrified of his death. That he wasn't pissed off at the dark guild because they made him nervous, but because Freed was gone. That the pain he felt every time Freed walked out of his room was nothing more than pain not to be reciprocated. That sex with Freed was not just sex, but a lifeline. That the way he'd slammed into his body the night before was desperation, for not having seen him after three full months.

Laxus advanced towards Freed and when he caught up with him, he fell to his knees, continuing to sob without being able to restrain himself. He rested his forehead on Freed's knee and shivered at the contact, terrified that Freed might kick him out.

“I'm sorry,” he said. His voice came out strangled and he feared Freed hadn't understood. “I'm sorry,” he repeated. “I'm so sorry, Freed, so much,” he cried.

He deserved his hatred, he deserved it all. Instead, he felt Freed's fingers in his hair, gently massaging his head. Laxus continued to cry, not having the courage to look up to meet Freed’s eyes, he didn’t know what they would show.

Maybe hate, contempt or disappointment. Because Laxus had let him down.

He continued to sob without caring that anyone could hear him, lulled only by the caresses of Freed, who despite everything, was not pushing him away. That despite everything, was still taking care of him.

Long minutes passed before Laxus recovered. His eyes still swollen he looked up and was surprised to see that Freed's face was streaked with silent tears. He widened his eyes slightly. He had never seen the boy cry. And it was his fault. A squeeze in his heart hit him and Laxus reached out and ran a thumb over his cheek to wipe it away.

Freed looked down at him and smiled sadly at him.

“I'm sorry too,” he said.

Laxus shook his head. “No, it's my fault.”

“Not only,” Freed said, then leaned over and ran his hands over Laxus’ face, carefully wiping his cheeks. Laxus let him do it, wondering how long he'd craved those sweet cures from him. Once Laxus felt his face dry, Freed didn’t part with him. He held his face in his hands, looking at him with a disarming sweetness that made Laxus feel fragile. He had long wanted Freed to look at him that way, but he didn't want it to happen that way.

“I’ve to get out of Fairy Tail,” he revealed. Freed frowned slightly, then seemed to understand and his eyes clouded with a sadness that Laxus didn’t understand. Which somehow made him feel good and bad at the same time. Freed still cared about him on some level, but Laxus remained his source of pain.

“I love you,” Laxus whispered, certain that if he didn't say it now, he wouldn't have the courage to do it. He saw Freed's eyes widen slightly and his mouth open, but no sound came out. Laxus needed to say it, even if it was perhaps the worst time.

“It was never just sex.” It was love. “I missed you terribly in the last three months” And I will miss you very much in the next months. “Freed... I love you, and I'm sorry to tell you now, and I'm sorry I made you...” his eyes filled with tears again. He felt pathetic, but he couldn't stop them. His cheeks got wet again and Laxus sobbed. “I made you fight against others, I'm sorry I dragged you into my plan, almost hit you. I... I don't know what was on my mind. I'm sorry Freed.” He cried and just wanted to lower his head and hide from Freed's eyes. But Freed wouldn't let him, held his face up and walked over to him.

“I love you too, Laxus.” The sentence came out sweet and with a surprisingly firm tone. Laxus blinked to shed more tears that prevented him from seeing clearly. But he had heard it. Freed had really said it.

The rune mage leaned over him, and Laxus lifted his chin and straightened his back. For the first time, they shared a sweet kiss that didn't taste like sex. That kiss smelled of tears, sadness and love. All those feelings were confusing Laxus, who could only reciprocate and hope it wasn't a dream.

But it wasn’t a dream, because there was nothing perfect. If it had been a dream, he and Freed would have gone to sleep together and started dating. Maybe they’d try to make a date. It would have been awkward, but sweet. Maybe they’d share a few kisses, they’d hug each other without necessarily having to have sex, and maybe Laxus would finally feel good.

But that was the reality, and nothing like that would have happened. Laxus would leave and leave Freed in Magnolia. They wouldn’t see each other for who knows how long, and then, if and when he returned, who knows if Freed would continue to love him.

They broke the kiss and for long seconds they looked into each other's eyes. Laxus felt his heart explode. Never before would he have wanted to stay in Fairy Tail as he did now. And right now he had to leave. He needed it, and he knew it. He had done enormous damage, he had fought against his guildmates, he had thought of killing them just to be able to reach his goal. He had never felt so disgusting.

“I have to go,” Laxus said hoarsely.

“I know,” Freed said. Laxus groaned faintly, almost fearing that Freed didn't really care. “I know,” Freed repeated. “I don't want to let you go, but I know it's for the best. For you, and for us”.

“For us?” Laxus asked faintly.

“We haven't had a really good relationship for two people who love each other, have we?” Freed asked. No, they hadn't had it at all. “I never should have left after those nights. I'm so sorry Laxus. Know that I didn't want to, that it has always been difficult for me to leave your bed”.

That revelation gave him warmth at the height of his heart. Laxus stared at Freed silently, realizing for the first time that that was all he'd wanted to hear from the first time they had sex. Maybe he wasn't in love with Freed at the time, but he certainly cared more about him than he wanted to admit.

“And know that I’ll wait for you. That my love for you will not diminish, even if I have never shown it to you”.

You did it instead, Laxus thought. Freed had taken care of him, had followed him, had been by his side in the worst moments. Laxus was the one who had done nothing for Freed.

“But we both need it. We have both misbehaved with our guildmates, we have had misconceptions and it’s time for us to take some time to improve. To think about our mistakes and become better people,” Freed said. Laxus nodded, knowing that his friend was right. That didn't make him feel any better.

“I don't want it to… end,” Laxus admitted. Their relationship, whatever relationship they had. Even if it wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted to have. Freed smiled lovingly.

“This isn't our end,” he replied. “It's just the end of a bad relationship. We weren't ready, neither you nor me. And we certainly aren't now. But I'm sure we will be in a couple of months,” he said with conviction. “And I'm willing to wait and start over, and do it right.” Laxus felt better about that promise. “Are you willing to ...?”.

“Yes,” he replied immediately. Freed smiled slightly, and Laxus felt his heart fill with joy at the knowledge that he had snatched a smile from his friend. He stood up smiling, even though the sense of sadness still lingered inside him.

“I don't know when I'll be back,” he admitted.

“It doesn't matter,” Freed said as he stood up in front of him. “Take the time you need”. Laxus nodded and ran his gaze to Freed's features, wanting to impress his friend's face on his head.

“When do you leave?” Freed asked.

“Tonight,” Laxus decided. The more he put off, the worse it would be. Freed's gaze wavered for a moment.

“Don't you watch the parade?” he asked him.

“Better not,” Laxus said. “I'm going to say bye to Evergreen and Bickslow too,” he said. Freed nodded and followed him. By the time they reached Magnolia Park with their friends, both of them had already run out of tears.

***

He wasn't gone yet. He had exited Magnolia after seeing the Fantasia parade, but he hadn't taken many more steps. Laxus kept thinking about everything that had happened. He had never had such an intense day of emotions, but somehow, he wasn't feeling bad now. He had cried with Freed, then had cried when he saw the parade, and now he felt almost better. Maybe crying didn't hurt that much, maybe it was necessary to get rid of the pain.

He looked up at the star-filled sky and thought back to the conversation he had had with his grandfather. How Natsu had spoken to him without rancor. How Freed told he loved him. How Evergreen and Bickslow had cried when he left.

He would miss Fairy Tail. All Fairy Tail. Not just Freed. And not just Evergreen and Bickslow. Fairy Tail had been his home anyway.

Laxus looked at the nearby city and then decided to return. Just a moment, just for a last goodbye to the person to whom he owed so much.

With the speed of lightning he reached Freed's house, landing on his terrace. He wasn't surprised to see that the boy was still awake and reading. He passed the half-open window and the wizard turned to him.

“Hey, I just wanted to… say goodbye,” Laxus said. Again. Freed motioned for him to join him on the bed. Laxus hesitated for a moment, but then he joined him and lay down under the sheets beside Freed.

“Are you staying here tonight?” Freed asked.

“No, I…”.

“Stay,” Freed said. Laxus softened his gaze and silently accepted.

They didn't have sex that night. They didn't even make love. They just slept, embraced and with their legs intertwined. Laxus was the first to fall asleep, his nose buried in Freed's hair, thinking that such a night wouldn’t repeat itself for the next few months. He too was the first to wake up the next day, with Freed in his arms, breathing deeply asleep.

Laxus slipped silently out of bed, without waking him. He left him a light kiss on the forehead and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to greet him a third time, he left the terrace and walked towards the Magnolia exit. He walked the streets in the first rays of the sun. He left the city and walked towards the path, leaving everything behind, but with a promise.

He would come back and become a better man.

#fraxus #freed justine #laxus dreyar #freed x laxus #fanfiction

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sopafa · 3 years

Text

HAPPY 15-16 OF SEPTEMBER [Tales of Arcadia]

A little One-Shot ot the team celebrating a "Noche mexicana" on the Nuñes home.

====

It was an important day.

It was a very important day.

Even if the calendar didn't market it as one, at least for Claire and the Nuñez family, it was.

And the occasion was nothing less than the 15 & 16 de Septiembre. The date that remembered the independence day of Mexico, their cultural root home, and the origin of their latino offspring.

So, as they used to each year, the Nuñez Family organized a "Noche Mexicana", as they liked to say. That was nothing more than using a fancy Mexican term to say that they were going to trow a small -really big- party, with enchiladas, chiles rellenos, tacos, nachos, and montados, to celebrate the independence day.

Claire took advantage of the situation as an excuse to invite all the team to her home, and pass the night between drinks and laughs with everyone, as the really big family they were.

In the beginning, Aja and Krel were not very convinced at all, they were still struggling with all those "cultural earth traditions", but after a really romantic Steve asking his queen to go with him, Aja accepted exited. She would finally have another opportunity to have more "earth dates" with her Steve. Krel, on the other hand, was a little harder to impress, the "Guacamole" and other traditional stuff didn't steal his attention as Claire thought. Fortunately, Douxie helped convinced him, after saying that they could have a "guitar lesson" during the Noche Mexicana.

The idea didn't upset him, so he agreed.

Toby tried to maintain Jim's mouth close because the trollhunter was very excited, and he didn't stop to speak Spanish, with his horrible accent, and quotes off of context. It was annoying, but dam, Claire loves him too much.

The party began around that of 9 p.m.

Humans and Trolls coexisted happily on the Nuñes Home, even NotEnrique helped his "NotDad" to create cocteles on the bar, while the human prepared Piñas Coladas, Clamatos and Aguas-Locas-con-Tequila, the little changeling was creating his own cocteles for his fella trolls. Everyone in there was wearing a sarape, a poncho, or at least a Sobrero de mariachi, just to stay in "roll".

Even Nana danced a good part of the night with Varvatos, at the sound of the mariachis and las valadas.

Douxie joined the group of mariachis with his own guitar, to everyone's surprise, the songs sounded really good, combining the mariachi theme with rock. Something that no one expected at all. The main singer of the group was happy to see that there was more musician spirit around them, and the two other guitarists adjusted some space for the wizard to join his -now trio- of members, behind the singer.

The trollhunters team enjoyed the music, at least for a couple of songs more, until Jim started to signing. The human theft the singer position with a rose in hand, and looked at Claire with all the love of his heart, at the beat of "La Llorona". With a sweet tone, and his really marked accent, he stared so sing:

"Todos me dicen el negro, llorona. Negro, pero cariñoso-"

Was Jim-? Yes, he was doing a serenata.

A "Serenata" consists of a musical composition sung outdoors, normally a boy in love hires a group of mariachis, to sing outside the house of the girl he loves, as a form to please or praise her.

And he wasn't doing it badly at all.

Claire put her hands over her mouth in surprise and felt her cheeks burn out when Jim offered her the rose.

"Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona. Picante, pero sabroso..." Jim took her hand. "La pena y la que no es pena, llorona. Todo es pena para mi-" They stared to dance.

Steve rested his head over Aja's shoulder. And Douxie slowly backed away from the love birds to Claire's mom without stopping playing.

"Does he-?" The wizard whispered.

"Nop. He doesn't know the meaning of the song". Douxie nodded with a small and holder a laugh before returning to his place.

"Cuando la vi pasar, hermoso huipil llevabas, llorona. Que la virgen te creí- Ay de mi llorona-!"

Douxie helped with the cores as the rest of the mariachis. "Ay de mi, llorona" They all said.

Slow and sweet steps were the ones of their vals, with their hands together and their bodies against each other, Jim spun her, and when the song finally ended, he planted a little kiss on her lips.

The little and beautiful interpretation of Jim left the bar open to others to sing with the musical group, so the serenata turned into some kind of karaoke. Krel -Diego Luna- was the next one on the file, with the theme of "The Apolgy Song". Steve and Eli sang "Tequila" -while the Mariachis singed the actual rest of the song-. Toby elected a more basic one: "La cucaracha". Claire rolled her eyes by their elections.

And when Douxie's turn finally came, there was quiet.

The wizard took a second to think, before taking a deep breath and scream from the top of his lungs the best Mariachi-scream that Mr. Nuñes had heard on years.

Then Hisirdoux started passing his fingers over the spellcaster, moving the strings according to a couple of chords that Mr. & Ms. Nuñez instantly recognized.

The Mariachis began to keep up with the boy.

"Un par de ojitos negros-" Hisirdoux began. Claire opened her mouth, not because of how well he sang, but because he was doing it in her mother tongue. When the fuzzbucket had Douxie learned Spanish?

When the core of the song started, it was a matter of seconds before everyone started signing with him, in group the well-known lyrics of "Cielito Lindo".

"Ay- Ay- Ay- Ay- Canta y no llores. Porque cantando see algran Cielito Lindo, los corazones".

They hugged each other and keep singing. Some of them, with their harmonical voices, others -As Jim, Steve, Blinky, Aaaarghhh & Toby- just screaming on the top of their lungs with all the happiness that tequila had given them.

At that moment, Claire felt lucky. Because she had the opportunity to spend nights like that with her family and friends.

And she wouldn't trade that moment for anything.

#douxie #hisirdoux casperan #douxie casperan #jim lake jr #claire nunez #toby domzalski #toa aja #toa krel #tales of arcadia claire #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3 below #wizards toa

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mihidecet · 3 years

Text

Sbi&co: D&D AU: Rivals and Friendships

New chapter POG! This has been a long time coming, friends! I do hope you enjoy <3 Lemme know what you think, and as always thank you so so much for reading!! <3

If Dream had to be honest, he’d say that this team seems to be quite fun.

They appear to be very close friends, from the way they rely on each other and joke around despite the huge Cloaker trying to wrap around the bard hurling insults at him. He does also remember the kid, the one he’d seen at the training grounds, and he’s happy to say that he was wrong to doubt his place in the tournament - he can surely handle himself quite well, and on top of that he clearly has a well established supporting structure built around him.

While the tiefling makes sure to make light of the situation, no matter how much he gets thrown around, Dream still remembers how he’d stepped between the younger teammate and danger before; the half orc greatly respects that, heaven knows how many times he's stepped between something aimed at Sapnap and vice versa.

On top of being a well oiled machine, this team also knows what they’re doing, both in terms of fighting and in terms of performing; he can’t deny how he’s been at the edge of his seat ever since they first entered the stadium, despite how his body is still a bit sore from fighting a Barlgura earlier that day - who knew ape-looking demons could hit that hard?

Sapnap's voice has been turning rougher and rougher too: he had been yelling insults at their opponent all fight, and now he hasn't stopped loudly whooping once ever since he'd seen the kid swoop into the stadium looking like a bolt of fire - the two of them would probably get along, if given the chance; that or they'd murder eachother after just a handful of seconds.

The only thing that's missing from this party is their fourth member who, if memory serves him well, is a rogue - the tall hooded figure he'd seen hanging around with the (maybe?) two tieflings.

He has been seeing the Cloaker they're fighting flinch back from ranged attacks that seemingly come out of nowhere, but as of now they haven't shown themselves yet. Either that or their fourth party member is constantly invisible, which George has assured them would be a pointless waste of arcane energy - Dream and Sapnap agree that it would still be very cool, but they have a mutual agreement regarding trying to stay on the wizard's good side, since they convinced him on sticking around after their round to watch everyone else instead of going to rest.

He is in fact in the process of turning towards George - he'd seen the tiefling kid surround himself in flames ever since the start of the fight and he wanted to ask if that was a common tiefling trait - when a light blue reflection catches his eye. A figure leaps from a stone pillar and disappears mid flight, as if vanishing in thin air, and reappears over the Cloaker's body, since the beast had managed to free itself from the arcane shackles that held it firmly to the ground.

In line with the dark, hooded figure that he’d seen that day at the training grounds, the stranger lands in a crouch, surprisingly stable, cape flowing behind them in a way that almost feels too elegant for the yelling-filled dirt stadium.

One raised hand holds what seems to be a weirdly shaped dagger - it’s a bit too far away to see correctly - before it plunges into the beast’s back, tearing a furious cry from it as it shudders in pain. Its movement jostles the figure around, but they don’t seem to care that much, holding steadily their ground - it awakens old memories of afternoons spent training and refining balance with Master Calvin, because what good is a fighter if they can get knocked on their asses at the first kick in the shin, but he figures the stranger might have served on a ship. After all, that is where Master Calvin picked that important lesson from.

The Cloaker, evidently not glad to have a knife stuck to its back, decides to take matters into its own … wings? and wraps them around its body before quickly and sharply twisting on itself, probably intent on flinging the hooded figure away.

And in its defence, the figure does get thrown off, but as their body flies up towards the sky, it follows a weird trajectory - a hand suddenly grabs his bicep as Sapnap lets out a breathless “holy shit”. That’s when he notices the thick chain the stranger is holding onto, and the weird curvature of the “dagger” they used suddenly makes a lot of sense.

He can’t help but laugh as the figure folds on themselves in order to sail towards the ground, the chain wrapping itself around the Cloaker - whose wings are still wrapped around itself, leaving Dream to wonder how much preparation went into that, or if the four of them have travelled the Underdark and fought one before.

Back on the ground, the kid is hopping from one foot to the other, staring upwards as his teammate descends; he then starts running and leaps, definitely more than should be possible, and grabs the figure’s leg as the chain is starting to curl back upwards, guided by its own momentum, furtherly pushing it forward.

The two struggle for a moment as the kid climbs his teammate’s body, reaching the chain himself moments before the other lets go; then, with a sudden burst of flames, the tiefling pops out of existence, only to reappear a split second later once again over the Cloaker’s back.

But Dream misses what happens on that side of the battlefield, because his eyes follow the movement of the cloaked figure as they fall - he expects somebody to catch them, to throw a spell to prevent them from crashing to the ground, but it never happens: the stranger lands on their feet and immediately propels themselves forward, rolling on the ground and quickly standing back up, as if they hadn’t just fallen from way too high up, and unsheathing a stunning looking shortsword.

Before he can stop himself, Dream hits Sapnap’s side with his elbow, eyes wide open because he is so sure. He know that, he’s seen that move so many times it’s been seared into his brain - his ankles still ache with the phantom pain of trying to achieve that specific landing technique.

Master Calvin’s pride and joy-

“That’s him- Sap!” He whispers in a hush, urgently patting his best friend’s side, trying to catch his attention; the beast’s angry screams are loud now, the chains around its body red and flaming, constricting its movements as it slowly descends to the ground again, thrashing against its restraints, but Dream can’t find it in himself to care about it that much at that moment, eyes trained on the cloaked figure that he’s heard about for years and years of training.

Still, Sapnap doesn’t look, all of his attention focused on the actual fighting happening, giving a questioning grunt before yelling out in glee as the Cloaker crashes to the ground, its tail lashing out wildly and almost crashing against the bard’s body. So Dream insists, quickly pinching his side, instantly finding himself face to face with a very unamused monk.

“What the fuck?!” Sapnap asks indignantly, only for his brows to furrow in confusion at his friend’s elated expression, Dream leaning forward to whisper urgently:

“That’s Techno.”

He waits for him at the exit.

He doesn’t really know why he does, since they will be both tired and beaten up - he’ll still surely be high on adrenaline after his team’s quite honestly glorious win - but he doesn’t really want to wait, he can’t really find it in himself to do so.

And also, he does it simply because he can. All participants have access to the same parts of the stadium, so there is nobody trying to stop him and Sapnap as they move towards the exit. Well, of course there are guards that check their identities, and guards that watch over all corridors. But still. Nobody stops them or questions them while they wait.

Loud chatter and laughter announces their incoming arrival - a bright, almost wheezing laugh is almost completely covered by a strong and high voice quickly recounting “that absolutely badass move I pulled, they’ll be talking about it for years, you’ve got to write a song about that!” - and when they turn the corner and appear at the end of the corridor Dream can’t help but feel himself stiffen.

Either from the sight of his hooded … rival? from across the corridor - he looks definitely much taller now that he’s not so far away - or from how the druid’s eyes zero on him instantly, pinning him down with a neutral stare and a cryptic smile.

“And the jump! Why don’t you use that spell more often, I love it so very much... Ph- I mean Flinar?” The kid stumbles on his words as he notices the elf has stopped laughing, following his eyesight with a confused expression that turns even more perplexed when he sees him and Sapnap standing there, evidently waiting for them.

“Oy! You two got a problem?” The kid asks, loudly, shooting looks towards the guards - counting them, making eyesight as if to check if they’re on a specific side, the kid has evidently been through some stuff - so Dream raises his hands placatingly, displaying the lack of weapons in his hands.

“No problem at all! Just wanted to congratulate you on the fight, it was spectacular!”

Behind the kid, he sees Techno’s shoulders sag with a silent sigh before he steps forward.

Oh, so he does know him.

It’s actually quite sweet how the whole group moves as a single unit, following behind Techno despite the fact that he probably intended to be the only one getting closer to the two of them.

Dream forces himself to display a relaxed attitude as he moves to meet him halfway - which he is, relaxed, he is calm, he has nothing to worry about, there’s nothing as normal and boring as meeting one of the best fighters there is in this whole region.

Up this close, Techno is definitely taller than him, which is something that doesn’t really happen much, with Dream being a half orc; once again, that has no effect whatsoever on his mood, nor the confidence he has regarding this meeting. The positive thing is, being shorter than him allows him to have a clear view of his face under the hood - if he hadn't been sure before, the bright blue eyes, pink toned skin and tusks would have surely confirmed his suspicions.

“I’m Dream, this is Sapnap. I assume I shouldn't be naming any names, right?” He quips, a smirk on his face that gets slightly bigger when the shifter in front of him huffs out a silent laugh, apparently amused, and extends a hand towards him.

“Jerry.” He grumbles out, prompting Dream to use all of his existing willpower to avoid laughing over the clearly fake name as he grips his hand in a handshake; Sapnap has much less restraint, bursting into a wheezing laughter and doubling over - he swears he hears the bard snort a laugh too, but when he looks at him his face is blank.

“So, who is this?” The kid asks, looking puzzledly between the two of them.

“One of Calvin’s students.” Techno answers quickly, prompting an understanding “oh” from the young tiefling, before pinning Sapnap down with a calculating look.

“And I guess you trained with Fruit.” The monk nods with a grin, turning his face towards the youngest of the group.

“I loved your fire tricks, I deal with fire too.”

“Well, mines are definitely better.” The kid replies instantly, so sure of his words that Dream is immediately wheezing, leaning onto Sapnap for support as the monk gapes, shocked.

“Oh my- Oh Sap you just got destroyed by a child!” The half orc wheezes out, which is an even worse choice because the kid explodes into literal fire, flames licking at his body as anger fills his eyes.

“I am NOT a fucking child!” He yells out, furious, but what frightening factor he could have had is very much dampened by how the rest of his team is laughing about it - the bard, which at this point Dream is half convinced must be the Wilbur Soot, is vehemently agreeing, laughing as he insists that yes, that is a child, a youngster, and the two quickly lose themselves into a heated debate.

After a moment, the druid steps in - that’s gotta be the Wandering King; they’re in the presence of legends, watching them squabble with a tiefling kid, shaking hands and playfully trading quips - placing a placating hand on each of the two tieflings’ shoulders and prompting their fighting to quiet down.

“We should be going, it’s late and we need to rest. It was a pleasure to meet you two.”

“Likewise. We’ll see eachother on the battlefield, then, I assume?” Dream asks, shooting Techno a glance; the man simply raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

“If we must.”

With one last chuckle, Dream turns on his heel, him and Sapnap moving back towards the viewing stands where they had previously left Eret and George.

“We’re gonna kick your asses!” Yells the kid a moment later; when Dream turns back he’s got a daring expression on his face, but he looks excited - it reminds him of himself, and he can’t help but laugh.

“Not if we destroy you first!”

#sbi au #sbi dnd au #now sbi&co #dreamwastaken #sapnap #georgenotfound #technoblade #tommyinnit #philza #wilbur soot

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lupinlongbottom · 4 years

Text

Burning Bridges pt. 1

Neville Longbottom x Reader

Summary: Professor (L/N). That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? After starting her dream job, (Y/N) had only the highest of hopes. Until she heard of the other professor starting that year as well. A boy from her year, a Gryffindor. She thought she had left him in the past. Guess not.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: None

A/N: I love my plant boi. I’ve always had this fic nestled in my brain, always in the back of my mind. I guess I just wanted to read something like this so bad I had to write it myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Part 2 ... Part 3 ... Part 4 ... Part 5 ... Part 6 ... Part 7

How long had it been since she traversed through these halls? The sound of her flats slapped against the marble flooring like they had years before. The air had grown more solemn, the walls recovering from the tragedy of the previous battle once taken to these grounds. Years had flown, rebuilding the castle to its rightful glory. Scars of the battle still remained, (Y/N) noted, her fingers gently tracing the edge of broken railing as she descended into the dungeon.

The Potions classroom smelled the same as always. Slightly bitter, a dusty aroma wafted from the shelves. It smelled like home. Her new home.

“Alright then,” (Y/N) grunted, heaving a suitcase onto the wooden table before her. “Better work on cleaning up this place.” (Y/N) raised her wand, muttering a simple Scourgify charm, polishing the spare cauldrons to their former glory. A few other waves of her wand sent the jars flying into groups, settling onto the other tables.

“I see you wasted no time getting settled,” a voice bellowed from the hallway. (Y/N) turned to see an older woman in a slanted hat walking into the classroom. “The last wizard in your position didn’t nearly take as much care into his job as his predecessor.”

“Headmistress,” (Y/N) responded. “Pleasure to see you.”

McGonagall smiled, tipping her head slightly. “Likewise Ms. (L/N),” She chuckled. “Apologies, old habits die hard. Professor (L/N).”

“I could hardly blame you,” (Y/N) chortled. “Seeing as you and the other staff have been calling my name almost in distain for seven years before, I can imagine it's a tough habit to crack.”

(Y/N) wasn’t much of a troubled student during her time at Hogwarts, but her nasty habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time caught up with her. Daydreaming, scribbling in journals and practically shutting herself in her room with only a cauldron didn’t help either.

“We’ve done it before, we can do it again,” McGonagall repeated, pushing her spectacles up her nose. “I do have to admire your haste in filling the open position after our correspondence.”

“An offer of a stable job, educating the subject I’m most passionate about?” said (Y/N), fighting back a grin. “Seemed like a good time as any to break out my quill faster than any school assignment, no?”

“You did make it quite clear in your letter that your previous job was…” McGonagall practically floated across the stone flooring, admiring a bottle of small newt eyes, the jar fumbling between her fingers. “Lackluster.”

“In comparison to a dream job,” (Y/N) shrugged. “Lackluster is the perfect word.”

“I hope Hogwarts can continue to impress you,” the Headmistress nodded. “Once you’ve sorted out your classroom, the staff is having a small gathering, a welcoming of our two newest staff members.”

“Two?” (Y/N)’s eyes flicked up from her jars, meeting her old professor’s.

“Oh yes,” the witch nodded. “After Pomona Sprout retired, we needed to fill the position of Herbology professor.”

“Shame,” (Y/N) sighed. “I always enjoyed Professor Sprout. Screaming mandrakes and all.”

“Pomona didn’t leave without the highest recommendation on the pupil to take over her post I assure you,” McGonagall moved to exit the dungeon classroom. “A small world it seems, he’s also a previous student, from your year too.”

“My year?” (Y/N) questioned, mind fluttering between every boy that was in her year. It seemed every name coming to mind was dismissed almost immediately due to their current status or career. Who could’ve gained the recommendation of Sprout? Unless…

“Mr. Longbottom and yourself are welcome to join at dusk in the Great Hall.” The Headmistress said nothing else as she ascended the stairs, leaving (Y/N) stunned.

“Neville?”

The memories of the Gryffindor boy flooded (Y/N)’s mind. How long had it been since she had spoken to him? She didn’t want to think about it. After the Battle of Hogwarts, the pair of friends parted ways a bit… unsavory. Were they still friends? Of course not. (Y/N) shook her head and ignored the impending hypotheticals, dreading her own welcome party.

The Great Hall had hardly looked empty in (Y/N)’s time at Hogwarts, seeing only the small staff of the castle gathered near the back of the hall was a strange sight to see. The house tables were pushed to the sides, leaving a sizable gap running through the middle. It almost reminded (Y/N) of the Yule Ball, minus the dazzling decor.

“Ah, young (Y/N), finally a professor!” Hagrid exclaimed, slamming his stein flat against the long table. “Knew you ‘ad it in ya!”

“Thanks Hagrid,” said (Y/N), accepting his uplifting hug. Left her nearly two feet off the ground. “Missed your hugs.”

“Always willin’ to give ya one,” Hagrid let (Y/N) go, setting her down less than gently. “Come out of the dungeon anytime ya need it.”

“I’ll take you up on it,” (Y/N) smoothed her skirt, collecting her bearings. The staff was sparse, but familiar. Seeing her old teachers, now her peers, all gathered in one spot was comforting.

“Longbottom!” Hagrid boomed, practically running to the front of the hall to embrace him too.

(Y/N) turned to the buffet, avoiding the Herbologist as much as she could. The food looked like a good enough distraction, desserts towering into pyramids next to a warm roast, food (Y/N) missed sorely. Thankfully, the other members at the party agreed that dinner was a slightly more important matter. Jovial chat echoed throughout the hall before the telltale ringing of a glass sang through.

“Faculty, I hope your summers were uneventful and relaxing as always,” McGonagall started, standing up at the center of the table. “We’re here to welcome the newest members of our Hogwarts staff, both wonderful alumni,” She turned to (Y/N), motioning her to stand up. “(Y/N) (L/N), proud member of (Y/H) house, now skilled Potions Master, a talent we’ve only seen seldom before.” Minerva waved her hand, metaphorically passing the baton over to (Y/N).

“Thank you Professor,” (Y/N) scanned the room, all eyes were on her. How she loathed public speaking. Teaching was one thing, she knew how to teach. Speaking from the top of her head? Not so easy. “I was humbled by Minerva’s offer of employment, nearly spat out my butterbeer!” The hall laughed. “Hogwarts has always been a home to me, I’m proud to be able to continue to call it as such.” (Y/N) bowed slightly, taking her seat as the group clapped lightly.

“Mr. Longbottom,” McGonagall motioned towards the tall man at the end of the table. It was the first time (Y/N) allowed herself to look at him. His face had thinned out, a scruffy beard following the sharp point of his now defined chin. “If you please.”

“Of course,” Neville stuttered, standing up. “Not one for speeches, but I’ll try,” He chuckled, gaining a flutter of laughter from a few surrounding him. “I hope to do my best. Can’t live up to Sprout’s legacy, but I can aim for something of the sort. A Longbottom method to it, I reckon.”

“Well said, Neville,” Flitwick raised his glass, gesturing it towards the young professor. “A toast, to our newest colleagues.”

The other professors followed suit, raising their glasses, a mumbling of kind words fluttered around the table. (Y/N) smiled lightly at the gesture, taking a sip of the rather fruity wine in her own chalice. The rest of the table seemed to do the same, her eyes scanning the faces of her old teachers. Her gaze landed on Neville, chatting cordially with Hagrid. His grin stretched across his face, almost tugged to his ears, happy with the reunion with an old friend. Neville glanced up, green eyes meeting (Y/N)’s.

Immediately she looked away, glancing down at her plate of roast. How long had she been staring? Surely it couldn’t have been that long, right? With another quick bite, (Y/N) stood up. “This has been lovely,” She smoothed her skirt again, nervous habit. “But I think I still have a few more bottles to sort, we’re expecting students to arrive in two days time. After all, first impressions are everything.” She laughed, scooting back her seat.

“If you have the need to retire, feel free,” McGonagall said, taking a long swig of her wine. “I take it you found your lodgings for the year as well?” (Y/N) stood in silence. The Headmistress smiled. “Just as I thought, head stuck in those cauldrons as usual. Mr. Longbottom can show you to the wing.”

Neville stood up, nodding politely. Their eyes met again, this time, (Y/N) didn’t look away.

To say their walk was awkward would be the understatement of the year—no—century. (Y/N) barely had the nerve to breathe too loudly, anxiety nearly taken over her entire body. Neville sighed, his hands deep in his pockets.

“So,” He started, staring straight ahead. “You’ve been well?”

She hadn’t seen this man in nearly five years and he opens with ‘you’ve been well?’. (Y/N) fought the urge to roll her eyes. “You could say that,” She quipped, focusing on her steps and not on the slightly unsavory tone she had.

“I’ve been okay,” Neville shrugged, trying to continue the conversation. “Was working as an Auror for a bit, started with Harry. He was a bit more skilled for the job,” The Gryffindor laughed, looking to his right.

“I can imagine,” said (Y/N), ignoring Neville’s gaze. It felt hot against her side, begging her to add more to the conversation.

“You’re a Potions Master now, right?” asked Neville. “McGonagall mentioned it at dinner. Must’ve been hard work, but if anyone could’ve done it, it would be you. Always at the top of our Potions classes,” He laughed. “Annoyed the hell outta Snape.”

This pulled a small smirk to her lips. “It wasn’t terribly difficult,” (Y/N) admitted. “Far too much memorization for my liking if I’m being honest. I also don’t think Snape was ever really annoyed, I reckon that was just his face.”

They laughed quietly together. For a split second, the wall that had been between them had fallen. Momentarily bringing them back to their adolescence.

“I guess I never really got a good look at it,” said Neville, slowing his pace. “Always tried to avoid it if I could,” He stopped walking. “This is the wing,” Neville spoke hesitantly, almost afraid to bring them back to reality. “A small chunk of the staff stays here, most live in or near Hogsmeade with their families.”

“I see,” (Y/N) hummed, eyes scanning the oak door. “Do you mind…?”

“Oh, right,” Neville shook his head. “You’d probably like to see your room, yeah?” He pushed open the door, leading (Y/N) down the corridor. “The big door’s enchanted, no student can pass through. Well, that’s what Flitwick said anyway.”

Down the long corridor, next to each of the various doors were nameplates, covered in the names of various professors. They arrived at a beautiful stained glass mosaic of a phoenix before taking a left, (Y/N) noticing a rather shiny nameplate as they passed by. Neville Longbottom it read. They stopped walking.

“This is you,” He said, pointing his thumb at the door adjacent to his. “I promise to be a decent neighbor, don’t really get up to any partying. Nothing crazy.”

(Y/N) smiled politely. “I’ll try to do the same,” Her fingers traced against her own nameplate, almost not believing it was real. “Can’t promise my volume when a potion goes awry, though. Always had an affinity to the occasional swear.”

“I hardly think any potion you’d make would go wrong,” Neville mumbled, flicking his eyes down. “But, I doubt it’ll be a problem,” They stood silently, staring at the door. “We should… catch up. More, I mean. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) hummed, only partially interested. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Neville questioned, raising a dark eyebrow upward. “It’s been nearly five years, (Y/N).”

“Exactly,” She turned to Neville, eyes pointed. “Five years. Not a single owl, no letters, nothing. Where was the effort to catch up then?”

“We didn’t exactly leave off on the best of terms, you know that,” Neville sighed, running a hand up to his hairline, fingers lacing through his hair, seemingly recalling the past. “I sent owls—”

“Never got them,” (Y/N) answered quickly, feeling her wall build back up. “Tended to move around a bit—a lot—my job required it.”

“I tried, (Y/N). I wanted to get back in touch,” His voice sounded small, fragile. “You can’t blame me for not trying. Owls can go both ways.”

(Y/N) paused, mouth hanging open for just a moment. “Maybe it was for the best,” She turned back to the door, hand on the knob. “Maybe… leaving it the way we did was for the best,” She repeated.

“You were my friend,” Neville pleaded. “I cared about you.”

“Not enough,” (Y/N) mumbled as she opened the door. “Thank you for showing me to my room,” She entered and began to shut the door. (Y/N) stood in the dark for a moment before turning back to her old friend. “We’re colleagues now. I won’t let this interfere with that if you won’t. Goodnight.”

“Interfere? (Y/N)…”

She closed the door.

General Tag List: @maralisa124 , @leighxlover , @hey-its-me-rai , @missihart23 , @biatheintrovert , @luna-xxxxx , @chocolaterumble, @why-am-i-sad-and-sleepy

want to be added to a tag list? hmu in the replies or ask box with what characters you’d like to be tagged with!

#Neville Longbottom #harry potter #neville longbottom x reader #harry potter x reader #neville longbottom imagine #neville longbottom x you #plant boy #my son but also my husband?? it's unclear #hopefully this goes the way I want it to lol #to say this fic will be entirely self indulgent is an understatement my dudes #this fic is for me but y'all can read it

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itsbenedict · 3 years

Text

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 12

Foolish Heroes of Barley

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, the party had returned to Barley to deal with a few loose ends. They've been staying in town for a while, waiting for their hired Deathseekers to deal with the dragon in the tower. This session, their stay comes to an end, and as you can see from the image here, they don't get into any trouble whatsoever.

A few other things happen before their fateful final night in town:

Kevin Softbreeze, the herbalist from the Deathseekers, visits town and sells Looseleaf some magic flowers that repel demons- though they're not very potent, and she'll need to stop by his garden in Cauterdale if she wants some seeds to try growing. Saelhen buys some potent knockout drops.

The villagers appear to still be arming themselves and preparing for battle with Wheat- since they didn't mention Arnie as the culprit at all, and tried to pin it on the dragon directly, Malath is still skeptical that they're totally safe from invasion, and defensive preparations continue.

Rumors spread that Chitch has gone missing, but no one can find the body. The party spreads rumors of their own- true ones- that Chitch went to go find his daughter after learning that the pain-wizard is dead.

On their fifth night in the village- somewhat earlier than expected- they notice something outside the window of their rooms in the inn. Lumiere's tower, previously unnoticeable, is suddenly aglow with some sort of yellow cylindrical magic barrier, made up of hexagonal panels.

Looseleaf rouses the rest of the party- the plan is to watch from a distance, and not interfere. A very loud roar is heard in the distance, which is suddenly cut off in the middle- it seems the Deathseekers have sprung their trap.

It's not too much longer after that when they begin to hear screams from around them in the village.

Saelhen's elf eyes spot... something rustling in the fields around the village. All of them. Quite a lot of somethings. Except despite the rustling, she can't make out anything but barley stalks. And the nothing- the hordes of nothing- is moving towards the tower.

The party leaps into action, heading downstairs with weapons drawn. On the ground floor, they see... something sort of familiar. Those Greed Echoes, the mud-and-grass monsters they fought on the road- one of them is forming itself out of broken bottles, dust, and wooden planks uprooted from the floor of the Harvester Inn. Cassie, the innkeeper, is watching in terror, knuckles white gripping a frying pan.

Congratulations! You're both right! The dragon is summoning an army of hateful Justice Echoes powered by the roused hatred of Wheat that's been stirred up in town!

Oyobi thinks fast, and oneshots the echo in the kitchen with an arrow, shattering a bottle that'd become its core. The screams outside continue, though, and the party exits the inn to find panicked villagers fleeing their homes. Justice Echoes made primarily from twisted stalks of barley have formed in their fields and homes, taking the weapons amassed for self-defense from their owners. They attack only those who resist, and make their way towards the tower.

Looseleaf: Let's just attack some hate-plague spirits and see if they decide to attack us instead. If they don't attack us at all, then we can just ignore them and run leisurely next to them and pick them off as we go. If they attack us, then it's a regular fight. "We're up to do some heroism this fine night, right, team?" Oyobi Yamatake: "Obviously!" Orluthe Chokorov: "Uh, I don't have that one prepared, do I? Uh..." Vayen: Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I am up to rub Mother K's face in the super obvious consequences of her actions while incidentally preventing pointless suffering." "Go team! Woo!"

Looseleaf starts us off by rending the spirit of the closest barley-monster, using her new Painspike ability to make the target Frightened of her.

However... these monsters have no purpose except to attack that which they fear, so rather than the normal effect of being Frightened, Looseleaf has now drawn aggro from this monster. Which is kind of what she wanted! So, that's a win! She now has a way to goad the enemy!

The party takes some swings at the monsters, knocking a couple out, but most of them seem to just be ignoring them, continuing to run through the fields towards the tower. They could become a problem for the Deathseekers if they're not dealt with- or for Wheat, for that matter.

Backup arrives in the form of Malath Kanthalga, who perceives these events as- what else?- an attack by Wheat. She's screaming, demanding to know who's responsible, and smashing echoes apart with her mace. Still, the echoes are mostly ignoring the village- they're grabbing anything they can find to use as a weapon, sort of ransacking the place, but most of them are just fleeing.

So Saelhen comes up with an extremely well-timed plan. It's a really good plan, I love it, and I'm excited to hit them with the consequences of her plan- until Looseleaf issues a timely bit of advice:

Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen dashes (Cunning Action), steps forward, inhales a great gulp of breath... "FOOLISH HEROES OF BARLEY!" she bellows. "WHILE YOU FUTILELY WASTE YOURSELVES AGAINST WHEAT'S DEFENSES, I, THE SECRET SHADOW MAYOR OF WHEAT, WILL BE HERE BURNING YOUR HOMES!" "AND ALSO MENACING YOUR CITIZENS WITH MY PERMISSIVE IDEOLOGY!" She waves her hooded lantern, unlit, above her head, to drive the point home. "WHO AMONG YOU CAN STOP ME AND DELIVER JUSTICE? NO ONE, PROBABLY, I ASSUME!"

Vayen, in a surprising show of, let's call it camaraderie, is very much in support of this plan for some reason! He takes a break from his busy schedule of doing absolutely nothing every turn in combat to cast a helpful illusion, to ensure as many monsters aggro Saelhen as possible!

A few more rounds of combat ensue, with a good chunk of the monsters- including a few very large building-sized hulks- immediately turning to kill Saelhen. The party gets some good hits in, and Saelhen gets a little roughed up. She... would like maybe fewer things to be attacking her, actually.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Their attention is on me, Mother Kanthalga, the secret mayor of Wheat this entire time, but you might be able to calm their anger! These creatures were born from this town's... collective mind, or something, they may listen to you if you order them to stand down!" Benedict I. (GM): Not with advantage, but a 22... "Wh... what? What are you saying? That's..." She hesitates, then speaks, in a booming voice she- well, you spent a few days here, you know she reserves it for sermons. "STAND DOWN! The time to strike against our foe has not yet come!" "We must be prudent! We must defend ourselves, not attack!" [DEFEND OURSELVES,] the echoes agree, continuing to bear down on Saelhen. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Worth a shot!

It doesn't seem like these things are hugely receptive to emotional appeals or logical argument- they have the one emotion, which they're made of, and they don't super do other ones.

In the following combat rounds, Saelhen... takes a few more hits, which she is not designed to do on account of being a rogue.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: WHY DID I NOT DECLARE ORLUTHE THE SECRET SHADOW MAYOR

More echoes emerge from the fields and attack, and Saelhen is starting to look really rough- and Vayen just keeps the illusion on her, not actually helping in any way. Until... one of them goes for Looseleaf, instead. When it starts looking like she might be in danger, he fires off a bolt of blue electricity, which begins to singe one of the monsters attacking her for damage every turn. He's... a higher-level spellcaster than anyone else in the party, apparently!

Looseleaf, with a little room to maneuver, unfolds her wings and takes to the air- up and out of reach of the smaller monsters, drawing their aggro and forcing them to waste turns. Meanwhile, Orluthe and Oyobi, backed up by Malath and a couple of villagers who've reclaimed their weapons, cut down a few more echoes as more surge forth from the fields to replace them.

Saelhen... keeps trying to persuade Malath to persuade the echoes to stop. She does very well at persuading Malath to try that! Malath tries that, wholeheartedly, once again to no effect! Eventually, Malath stops trying.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Would you consider coming to them as a trusted comrade, who trained them to protect them, rather than the one leading them off to war? Maybe?" Malath Kanthalga: "I am going to come to them as a very angry warrior with a mace," she growls. Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Okay! Okay, fair enough. Spiritual remedies off the table, understood."

Orluthe is getting really tired, and keeps whiffing his swings- it's touch-and-go for a while. But Saelhen and Looseleaf's frantic attempts to kite enemies out of range have been paying off, and they manage to down the remaining super-hulks juuuuust before anyone dies.

Benedict I. (GM): Y'know, it's possible that making the two squishiest members of the party draw aggro was not the number one best strategic move Saelhen du Fishercrown: IT MAYBE WASN'T, NO Looseleaf: eh, it's worked out so far!

The combat wraps up, and we transition to a bunch of Athletics rolls to chase down and terminate as many of the smaller echoes as possible. They build a firepit in the center of town, to dispose of defeated echoes in- just in case that's necessary, because who knows what kind of magic is animating these guys.

So after a wild night of chasing, taunting, fleeing, and burning justice echoes- well, it's not so much a wild night as a wild twenty minutes or so- there's a point at which the fields just suddenly fall silent. A pair of echoes chasing Saelhen fall to the ground, inert.

With a good roll...

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...of course, you're free to dismiss this as the ramblings of a crazed outsider. But keep in mind, Mother Kanthalga, that the ones who fell upon your town, tore it apart in a frenzy of violence, and stabbed you repeatedly for your pains, endangering your people, your daughter and your livelihoods, were repeating the words you taught them." Benedict I. (GM): Malath winces. "That... I don't know why they..." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...think on it. You're reasonable people, around here. You can come to your own conclusions." Benedict I. (GM): "I tell you, I did not make these things! If not for..." She's kind of lost for words. "...Apologies. I have much work to do," she says, and leaves.

After some work mending the village and cleaning up the aftermath, Looseleaf heads back into the inn to check on Vayen, who hasn't been helping at all and is instead drunk at the bar. He asks "Did she make it?"- and Looseleaf gets a nat 20 on Insight.

She's pretty sure that he was talking about Saelhen- and that he sounded almost hopeful. He was unusually jazzed about a plan that involved her being attacked by a horde of angry monsters- and he chose to shoot the echo that was attacking her, not the one bearing down on Saelhen with a bunch of its friends. When she informs him Saelhen survived, she's able to tell he's disappointed.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: so he doesn't hate us, as a group he hates saelhen specifically Looseleaf: But also weirdly- okay, what if: what if he actually has an ancestral quest involving that bracer and he's mad that saelhen beat him to the punch and furthermore used it as a shitty cover story Saelhen du Fishercrown: saelhen going THE DE LA SURPLUS ANCESTRAL QUEST IS REAL???

Looseleaf switches to talking to Vayen via her spirit-magic imitation of the Message spell.

Looseleaf: (Like, Vayen, everything you're doing is about Saelhen in some way or other. And I can't figure out why. You seem pretty much ambivalent towards all of us except for her. I don't get it. If you want Saelhen dead, why haven't you just killed her? I saw that lightning bolt- if you wanted, I bet you could take all of us, in a straight fight.) (You're sending real mixed signals. If you want her dead, why isn't she dead? Why do you want her to be dead via a hand other than your own?) Vayen: He locks up. And then sighs. Looseleaf: (And now you're sitting here sounding all tired and sad and I feel bad about that.) (I dunno, do you want to, uh, talk about it, with someone.) Vayen: "I don't... want her... to be dead," he says, clearly choosing his words carefully. "I have nothing against her." Looseleaf: (Then it's the- bracer??) Vayen: I'm letting that one Insight roll do a lot of work here, but he definitely reacts to that. "I- um, no," he says, lying. Looseleaf: (There is literally nothing significant about Saelhen other than her bracer, unless you plan on telling me that your deepest desire is to defeat the dance emperor of Kanzentokai in a danceoff and reclaim your ancestral throne of dancing glory.) (Which, granted, if that's the case, that'd be amazing.) Vayen: "I don't know what you're- that's not..." "It's all coincidence. Whatever you're thinking. I don't have- I don't have anything against- Saelhen? Noeru?" Looseleaf: (Look, I- okay, here's how I see things. I don't know how the bracer works, it's weird magic stuff, but the way I see it, there's two major ways the bracer could work.) (That is, you either want the bracer for yourself, because whatever it does or whatever you need it for, you need to be the one wearing it- OR, you just need anybody willing to use the bracer to do whatever it is the bracer's supposed to do.) Vayen: "...Can you not?" "I- I have a job." "I have an important job." "It's from the School of Restricted Arts." Looseleaf: "Well, tell us about the dang important job then! Maybe we can help you with it." "I don't get why you're preassuming that we'd never do anything you might want us to do." Vayen: "It's from the School of- are you listening?" "It's secret." "Look, it's- you don't need to worry about it, okay?" Looseleaf: "Hhhhhrlgkrkshxzshktkrrrzzzzktttttkzzz," Looseleaf says, reverting to her natural dialect in a brief moment of frustration. Vayen: "Sure, it's easier if- I mean, she- that was her idea, she wanted to..." "I just- I can just..." "As long as I can keep an eye on..." He groans. "I shouldn't be talking to you." "You're not in the School." Looseleaf: "Okay, just- hhhjkkkkkrkxxxxxtk." Vayen:"Are... you okay?" He's never asked a question like that before. Looseleaf: (I'm fine, that's just how we express frustration, our throats don't naturally conform to making sounds like 'hrrrrrgh', whenever I do that it's a performative thing that I do to adhere to human expectations- look, the big reason why I'm trying to, pound my way through your portcullis of secrecy with a twenty-foot battering ram of blunt communication,) (is because right now Saelhen is like, probably 80% convinced you're trying to poison her in your sleep.) (Seriously, this amount of in-party distrust is, like, way too Ccorde-damned much.) Vayen: "I wouldn't do that," he says. "If I were going to do that, I'd have done it already. Looseleaf: (If you'd express, in a credible way, that you're actually just trying to get Saelhen to do whatever it is she'd do anyways, she'd feel a lot better about it!) (And then she might even work with you to further your goals directly!) Vayen: He doesn't say anything for a little while. "...This is stupid." "This isn't even- it's wrong, even." "Maybe that's why." Man, that bottle he's holding is emptier than you thought it'd be. He's only been here less than half an hour. "Don't try to- guh, friends. He'll never- stupid. What's the point." He sort of collapses on the bar.

Vayen, it seems, can't hold his liquor. Looseleaf... carries him back up to his room.

Next time: the party finally leaves Barley, for good this time! And also a minor medical emergency happens, and also they kidnap a twelve-year-old, but like, it's fine. It'll be fine. Don't worry about it.

#twofaced jewel #tfj log

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ofsinnersandsaints · 3 years

Text

where do you run

rating: E (this chapter is G) word count: 20351 chapter: 7/?

My favorite part of this chapter is that for the whole 'do we sleep or do we fight' conversation I didn't have to change or add any of the conversation. Change a little bit of context and Grog is suddenly the best boyfriend ever

Takes place during episode 81

AO3

Thordak was dead, but Raishan was still alive, and the thought was enough to drive Keyleth a little mad.

She was trying to stay calm and logical, but it was a hard thing to do when she was hyper aware that Raishan was free to hurt and destroy whomever she wanted. Keyleth wanted to scream, but instead she had to get downstairs because Vox Machina was planning out their next steps.

When she got to the dining room Grog was already at the large table, and deciding she needed the contact she sat on his lap, her legs dangling between his, instead taking a chair of her own. His hand immediately came up to rest on her hip. “How you doing?”

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted, picking up his glass and taking a long drink.

“You need to fight?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

She appreciated the offer, and while there was some appeal to a sparring match, she shook her head. “We’ve done enough fighting today, but thanks.”

“Just let me know.”

Keyleth nodded as Kerrek and Allura came down to join them and they went over everything they’d learned about Raishan’s potential location.

“I don’t think she’s going to reanimate Thordak,” Scanlan argued as they debated what Raishan could possibly want with the red dragon’s body. “I think she’s trying to probe him for knowledge of some sort.”

Behind her, Keyleth felt the vibration of Grog’s laugh before she heard it. “Probe.”

Scanlan grinned as everyone else shook their heads, clearly amused. “She’s trying to probe his dead body.”

The laughter around the table helped ease the tension and Keyleth poured ale into the cup she was now sharing with Grog. “Okay, I’m going to scry on this Island of Viscon and see if it’s the same place as the island I saw Raishan on. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I can try.”

Vex looked excited at the prospect, “You can certainly try.”

Keyleth was about to start the spell but Vex got the great idea of having Kerrek try the Sandkegh wine, the prospect of which excited Grog so much she nearly fell off his lap. Thankfully, he managed to grab her before she hit the ground, but the moment she was steady he reached into the bag of holding and pulled out the bottle.

“It’s really good,” Grog assured the paladin.

“It’s so tasty,” Keyleth agreed because they deserved this little bit of fun.

Gamely, Kerrek took a small sip and they all watched in anticipation to see how he’d react. After a few seconds he tried to talk, but all that came out was gibberish. Everyone laughed as Kerrek attempted to speak but obviously could no longer feel his lips.

Grog wrapped his arm around her middle to keep her place as they nearly cried with laughter at how immediately wasted Kerrek was. “That is good shit.”

Understanding what her friend was going through, and unable to let the irony pass, Keyleth reached out to touch Kerrek’s hand. “Now the fire has passed through you.”

The laughter was so loud Keyleth was certain it could be heard throughout the castle, and she wiped away tears as she tried to keep a straight face. “It’s going to go all the way through you, so be careful when it comes out the other end.”

Vax took the bottle from Kerrek to prevent him from drinking anymore and it was then Keyleth realized Allura had set up the scry spell on the table while Vox Machina joked around. Keyleth straightened and tried to look more mature, “Thanks for setting this us, Allura.”

“Oh, please, keep going.”

“We didn’t mean to be rude,” Grog added as he moved to put the bottle away in the bag.

Allura smiled and shook her head, putting up a hand to stop Grog’s apology. “This is the most fun I’ve had in days.”

Keyleth felt Grog still beneath her and she looked over her shoulder to see the spark of mischief in Grog’s eyes. “Do you want some?”

With a look around the group, Allura’s lips slowly curled into a grin. It was easy to think of her as the austere, powerful wizard, but Keyleth remembered the arcanist had once been part of an adventuring party of her own.

She knew how to stand up to a challenge.

“After!” Percy tried to cut in, but no one heard him over the roar of encouragement as Allura reached out a hand for the bottle.

“No,” Vax added, even as he laughed. “It’s a bad idea, don’t do it.”

“She needs to do the spell,” Scanlan reminded the group even as Grog chanted ‘do it.’

“It’s morning, we’re all alive. What’s the point if we’re not celebrating?” Allura asked no one in particular.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Grog encouraged.

Allura brought the wine to her lips and took slightly more than a sip. She tilted her head and then handed the bottle back. “Not my favorite flavor.”

As Grog reached forward to take it back, Keyleth could see the wonder and amazement etched all over his features. “Will you teach me your sorcerous ways?”

Keyleth had to admit she was amazing. She put her hand on Grog’s which rested against her stomach. “I have to stand up now.”

He moved his fingers, but instead of letting her go he pressed them against her ribs and tickled her. She squealed and wiggled away; she tried to glare at him but he just grinned at her, completely unaffected.

“Rude,” she muttered, but there wasn’t any heat behind the words as she reached for Allura’s hands. “Just like old times.”

“Simpler times,” Allura agreed.

Keyleth saw the image of an endless ocean dance in front of her eyes, small pillars of steam rising out of the center of the expanse, and beyond that an island covered in green. An island she recognized.

“It’s the same place,” Keyleth announced to everyone and immediately they began debating whether to go now or after they’d rested.

“I cannot die, Vax,” Scanlan insisted. “I’ve already died once today, I can’t do it again.”

“We don’t have any healing,” Vex reminded the group.

Pike nodded, her face severe. “If anyone dies, I can’t bring them back.”

A quiet fell over the group because Pike had been forced to bring more than one party member back from death during the fight.

“I’ve got two healing potions,” Grog offered helpfully and Keyleth moved to stand beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

“Allura, do you know of any way to restore ourselves faster?”

“I donf,” she started, then paused and seemed to consider something. “I don fink…”

“Oh no,” Pike giggled. “Allura’s drunk now.”

She opened her mouth as if to argue, then shook her head and started to braid her hair, her lips tightly pressed together.

“What’s the minimum amount we have to sleep?”

“Eight hours,” Scanlan answered. “There’s no way around it unfortunately.”

Keyleth let out a sound frustration but Grog didn’t sound as conflicted.

“Let’s do it, let’s sleep.” They debated some more and eventually Grog and Percy were agreeing, which was strange enough. “Let’s be honest, we’re not quite at our best, and it’s one diseased deceiver in a cave with another dead dragon that might or might not come back to life, and two baby little eggs. We rest, and then we give’em hell.”

After debating lairs and meteors and what Raishan might be able to do in the meantime, Grog tugged Keyleth’s hand and held it. When she looked at him his gaze was practically at her eye line even though he was still sitting. “Keyleth, are you worried if we wait, you’re going to lose your chance to kill Raishan?”

She thought about the question, couldn’t express how much it mattered to her that he’d thought to ask her that. Keyleth hated the idea of waiting, but she didn’t think if they waited they’d loose their chance forever. If they didn’t get her now, it was only a matter of time before they found her again. “I don’t think we’re going to lose the chance to kill Raishan, it’s just a matter of who’s killing who first.”

Percy leaned forward in his seat. “I say that we take eight hours of sleep, and we go there immediately.”

“She thinks she’s got cover, but she doesn’t.” Grog stood up and looked down at her, his hand covering the back of her neck in a way which was becoming familiar. “Don’t you wanna be some fucking wicked badass from the sky? Or do you want to limp in?”

“Right,” Vex agreed. “Plus, she’s got 100 books to go through, that’s going to take more than two hours. She might not get a full night’s rest.”

Grog turned Keyleth so they were facing each other. “I know it feels like an advantage to press, but we were five down at one point.”

She wasn’t sure how he understood how torn she was, but she was. In her head, she knew they needed to wait, to rest, there was no way they went forward without everyone dying. But heart? Her red and beating heart demanded revenge now.

“I can’t die again,” Vex said, echoing Scanlan’s statement earlier.

“You can,” Grog quipped with a smirk. “But it’s not advisable.”

“She has none of her resistances,” Keyleth insisted, looking up at him.

Grog was already shaking his head before she finished talking.

“I’m not worried about those.” His faith was rock solid; Grog didn’t care about what these monsters and gods could do. In his mind, none of it mattered when it came down to it because they were Vox Fucking Machine. “Keyleth, we know what we’re asking of you. We’re asking you to wait, again.”

She laughed slightly at that. They were asking her to wait, but only because they’d just killed Thordak, because they’d just saved a country from a tyrant. It wasn’t as if they were waiting because they needed to do some shopping first. “I think considering recent events, I can wait.”

Grog let out a breath, like he’d been holding it while waiting for her decision. He pressed his forehead to hers for a moment.

“Then at dusk…” Scanlan started.

“We plan,” Grog finished with a grin then turned back to Keyleth. “Make the call, Keyleth.”

“We’d better get sleeping, I guess.” It hurt her hear to say it, but she knew it was the right decision.

“So instead of fighting, we’re going to sleep.”

Keyleth let out an aggravated sound as she turned to look at Scanlan. “Well, what do you want Scanlan? You’ve been devil’s advocate this entire time ‘I don’t want to die, she could kill us.’ What do you want Scanlan?”

“I don’t wanna die.”

“Then we sleep,” Percy and Vex said at the same time.

“I don’t want to die either,” Keyleth agreed. “And I don’t want to watch any of you die again.”

Percy’s logic was cold, “If we go right now, you’re going to die.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going to bed then.”

As a group they said their goodnights and went to their bedrooms – mostly. Percy went to Vex’s room, and Keyleth went with Grog’s to his.

“Do you have a dagger and a mirror?” she asked as she began to undress.

“Probably in the bag of holding, let me look.” He reached into the bag and came up with a small dagger and a broken mirror. “This work?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“That for a spell or something?”

“Oh, no. For my hair,” she explained with a wave at the burned and ruined strands. After she’d fallen into the lava a good deal of her hair had been scorched. “I’m going to try and make it look less like I was mauled by an alley cat.”

He laughed and started taking off his boots. Keyleth set up the mirror on the table so she could see herself and began hacking away at the strands. It wasn’t exactly the best look, but at least all her hair was the same length now. “Did I get it all?”

Grog looked up from his axe which he’d been sharpening while she’d been cutting her hair. “Looks like.”

Keyleth turned in the chair to look at him. “Are you the right person to be asking this question?”

He snorted, “Probably not.”

“I’ll ask Vex in the morning,” she decided and ran her hand through her hair now chin length hair. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

When she turned to face him, Grog was sitting on the edge of the bed watching. “What?”

“Are you okay?” he asked gently. “About the decision we made downstairs.”

Keyleth walked across the room and settled on the bed next to him, tangling her fingers with his. His hand was so much bigger than hers, but he never made her feel small. Somehow this big goliath made her feel like his equal. “I’m okay with it. It’s not just the right decision, it’s the smart one; I couldn’t bare to lose someone because we made a rash decision. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Grog nodded his agreement. “How close were you to going down?”

“Pretty close,” she gestured to her hair. “Fucking lava. How about you?”

He sighed, “I wasn’t that close. But I sure was a hell a lot weaker than I’ve been in a while. Thanks for not dying.”

Keyleth laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. “That would have really sucked, death by lava.”

“If I wasn’t so worried about you dying, I would have died from laughing.”

She couldn’t blame him, that whole thing had been a farce, but she pretended to be mad as she shifted to throw one leg over his lap. Straddling him she glared into his laughing eyes. “Think it’s funny, do you?”

“Red, you belly-flopped into lava. It was fucking hilarious.” Her scold was cut off as he suddenly stood up with her, her legs instinctively wrapped around him as he turned to lay her back on the bed. “Don’t worry, my respect for you only went down a little.”

Keyleth laughed up at the big goliath whose body was now completely covering her own. “Geeze, thanks.”

“How about this, I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself.” Keyleth immediately understood what he meant, the glint in his eyes was hard to mistake for anything else. “Let’s see if you can still hold your own against me.”

“We have to go to sleep,” she reminded him and kicked herself because the last thing she wanted to do was rest.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her, all smooth confidence and male pride. “I can be quick, and still leave you more than satisfied.”

Keyleth tried to pretend as if she wasn’t already looking forward to it, and rolled her eyes. “Talk, talk, talk.”

Grog barked out a laugh, and made a playful growling noise in the back of his throat as he palmed her breast and kissed her. There was death waiting for them, there was revenge and danger and a million of things.

But that was all for tomorrow.

Tonight was for the laughter. And love.

#critical role #crit role fic #grogleth #grog strongjaw #keyleth

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darkelfshadow · 3 years

Text

Session Summary - 109

AKA “The Honour Of Phlan”

Adventures in Taggriell

Session 109 (Date: 14th May 2021)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Varis”) Elf Male.

- Bob (Known as “Sir Krondor) Dwarf Male.

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male.

- John (Known as “Ragnar”) Dwarf Male.

Absent Players

Nil

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by Travis>

Summary

- Moonday, 8th Sarenith in the year 815 (Second Era). Late Summer.

- The party begin this session, still in the besieged and broken city of Phlan, under the control of Vorgansharax and the Dragon Cult.

- Having just returned to the underground ancient Escape Tunnels, filled to the brim with refugees, the party discover that Sir Zern has been missing since they left. Before they can mount a search and find operation, the tall Half-Orc comes striding into view, now dressed in proper full plate and wielding a shield and a morningstar.

- Sir Zern has recovered backup gear hidden in the grounds of the Gauntlet Estate. Sir Zern moves to the party and kneels in front of Sir Krondor, a fellow Knight of the Gauntlet. The Half-orc Knight speaks:

“I Sir Zern Xerstil of Phlan, Knight Of The Gauntlet, Knight Of Helm, do hear-by pledge myself to you Sir Krondor Bannerett. You are now may Banner Lord, and I shall serve you as your Banner Knight. My shield, my weapon, my heart, my honour and my oath, do I now pledge to you. From this day forth, I shall follow you as your Knight and obey all your orders, my Banner Lord.”

- Wasting no time the party, now one member larger, walks through the long bending Escape Tunnel until they reach a wide dead end, except for a narrow passageway that runs forward for another roughly 120 feet before it appears to stop at a dead end.

- The party search the dead end and easily find a small, worn indentation when once pressed reveals a secret stone door, which opens into a small larder, with one single door.

- On the other side of this door is an entry guard room, filled with a group of Cult Enforcers and lead by one Cult Officer. The party manage to lure one Enforcer into the room, and quickly dispatch him, but when they try a second attempt they are discovered.

- Battle starts but thanks to Trenchant summoning into the entry guard room an arcane stinking, obscuring cloud, the Cult forces are rendered almost useless. The party pick them off one by one until they all are dealt with.

- Using a set of located cell keys, the party proceed into a corridor with multiple cells, where they encounter four large Torturers guarding the cells. The party dispatch the foes, but not without some of the party getting badly injured.

- Trenchant uses a Detect Thoughts spell to locate which cell Captain Greycastle is held in and the party free her. She is in a very bad state, with obvious signs of torture and abuse. At first she does not believe the party are here to rescue, her mind in turmoil from the Red Wizards using illusions to torment her, but eventually she is convinced.

- Whilst Captain Greycastle is being spoken to, Varis opens one of the cells when he learns that a Drow is imprisoned there. Varis will not listen to reason or be dissuaded and in a blind fury opens the cell door to reveal a single Drow male. The Drow has only a loin cloth on but holds a metal bar that it appears he has forcibly removed from a now broken bed frame nearby.

- Varis and his animal companion, Shadow, immediately move in, with Varis firing an arrow into the unarmoured prisoner. As the Drow reels back in pain from the arrow sticking in his chest, Shadow leaps in and tears out the throat of the Drow with his jaws.

- Sir Krondor looks on in disgust, “Was that necessary. Do you feel better now, killing a helpless prisoner like that? I don’t like the Drow either, but what you did was murder, not justice.”

- Varis, a dark look in his eyes, moves past Sir Krondor, “There will be justice when every last Drow is dead.”

- Captain Greycastle, her mind still affected by her recent treatment, begins to move towards an occupied room, where she tells the party the two other secret doors are: one leads to the Palace and one leads to the graveyards. She intends to confront Vorgansharax and kill the Dragon, even though she is badly injured, wearing no armour and wielding no weapon. It is obvious that she is not yet thinking straight, a look of madness in her eyes.

- Before the party can stop her, they her screaming coming from the occupied room. The door to room bursts open and a tall figure in plate armour that has been painted black, and is dirty from multiple splatters of blood, strides out kicking Captain Greycastle to ground and knocking her unconscious as her head hits the stone wall.

- Removing their helmet, the figure is revealed to be a human female with an attractive face, covered in dirt and blood, and long dirty blond hair.

- Sir Zern gasps, “The Black Knight is Lady Aleyd Burral! She was a high ranking officer in Knights Of The Black Fists.”

- Trenchant yells out, “My lady, don’t kill Greycastle!”

- “Kill her?” replies Aleyd slowly. “Why would I kill her? She was the best of us, Ector always respected her, as did I. No, the two I want to kill are inside the Palace. I’m just passing through.”

- Trenchant moves slowly forward, seeing Greycastle start to slowly stir as blood runs down from the back of her head, and asks “Are you here to help us and the people of Phlan? You’ve been killing Cult Officers and Knight Captains, we need your help now to save the people of the city.”

- Aleyd is momentary taken aback and then bursts out laughing loud, “Help the people of Phlan? I don’t care about the scum that live here or this wretched city. I only loved one thing, the Knight Commander Ector Brahams and I were secret lovers. He was a brilliant man, passionate and unyielding. He sort power and used it! And that traitorous piece of filth, Lieutenant Cron Bolver killed him! Bolver and all the other Knights turned traitor, taking orders from a purple robed Senior Cult Officer called Aseth and that dam dragon Vorgansharax.”

- Aleyd takes a step back towards the door behind her, “I can’t kill a dragon but I can kill a man, two in fact. I have been trying to lure those cowards out but they have remained hidden in the Palace. I got stuck outside when the city was besieged by the magic thicket but then I remembered something Ector told me once, about the ancient escape tunnels. I snuck through graveyard, not a problem if you know what to do, followed the tunnel to this room, killed some sleeping Red Wizards and now, I have work to do …”

- She steps back into the room and begins to close the door. Trenchant yells out, “Wait! How did you get past the undead?”

- “It wouldn’t work for you. But you do need to get out of the city before Vorgansharax destroys this city and levels it to the ground once he learns that his two precious underlings have been killed. And take her …” Aleyd says with resolve in her voice as she looks at Greycastle who is now sitting up. “If any one deserves to live it’s her, she was the honour of the Knights and of Phlan.” She lifts her sword to Captain Greycastle in a salute, as the Captain looks towards Aleyd.

- Then Aleyd disappears from sight, slamming the door shut, and the sound of a sword sliding into a bar lock on the other side can be heard. As the party ran up to the now barred door, they can hear the sound of a heavy stone door closing.

- The injured Captain Greycastle looks around the party, rubbing the back of her head where it slammed into the wall, and looks at the party. Her eyes are no longer showing signs of madness, “I’ve pulled myself together. You heard her, we have little time. If the people of Phlan are to be saved, we act now! You go clear the way through the graveyard, do what ever it takes, and I’ll go back to the escape tunnel to warn and gather the others that they need to leave now!”

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- “The Honour Of Phlan” - Rescue Captain Greycastle = 1000 XP

Creatures Overcome

> XP Allocated (Note: Sir Zern now as a Follower does not count towards XP)

- Dragoncult Human Officer = 1100 XP

- Dragonfang Cult Enforcers = 14400 XP

- Brute Torturers = 2800 XP

> XP Allocated 1 Combatant (Varis Only)

- Drow Prisoner = 600 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start + Received = Total (Notes)

Rob : 152526 + 3357 = 155883

Arthur : 123089 + 2757 = 125846

John : 117329 + 2757 = 120086 (Level 13)

Travis : 139932 + 2757 = 142689 (Level 14)

Paul : 129415 + 2757 = 132172

Bob : 142950 + 2757 = 145707

NPC (Naillae) : + (1379)

#D&D #DnD #5th #5e #ROT

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fairymadnessyeah · 4 years

Text

A Poisoned Heart

Shigadabi week day 6

AO3 Link

Summary: Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, lived a young, kind prince and a young, powerful mage. This is their story...

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Deadly / Magic / Distance

"This way, guys!" Midoriya guided them through the dense swamp.

If Shouto was honest, he hated this place. He preferred forests or open fields than the humid and smelly swamps. But his friends were in danger, and he would do anything for his friends.

A few months ago, their group and Bakugou's had separated. Shouto along with Uraraka, Midoriya, Iida and Tsukuyomi headed north while Bakugou, Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari and Ashido went west. The two groups had different objectives and so their paths separated. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence though, and it wasn't like they had no way to contact each other, which had lead them here.

Two days ago, Sero contacted them and told them Kirishima had gotten hurt by hunters. They were in the middle of nowhere, but they had luckily found a mage who agreed to heal him. Not ones who turn their back on their friends, the group forgot about their quest and went to their friend's aid. If somebody had told him that he, Prince Shouto of the Fire kingdom, second heir to the throne, would find himself travelling to a swamp, he would have thought they were unhinged. But here he was, doing, exactly, that. Accompanied by a young blade master, a witch apprentice, a knight in training and his personal mage on a journey to make sure his dragon friend wasn't in danger. Who would have guessed that the quest to help his brother would leave him to here?

"I see something!" Uraraka yells, pointing towards a line of smoke in the air ahead of them.

They followed it, cutting through trees and greens and stepping on slippery muddy terrain. They knew they were in the right path when the party heard the loud screams of a barbarian they knew. The arriving group soon came to a clearing where a small cottage was situated and outside of it, Bakugou and his companions were there. Once they saw him, they all ran to greet them in their loud and excitable nature. Kirishima didn't though, the bandages over his abdomen stopping him, and neither did Bakugou, the Barbarian King deciding to stay by his dragon's side.

"I can't believe you guy came all the way over here!" Kirishima says as they all gather around him.

"Kirishima! You are one of our friends, of course we would come to your aid!" Iida tells him, moving his arms in a chopping manner and making a clanking sound with his armour.

"So, who did you find to help you?" Midoriya asks, and they hear footsteps and movement in the cottage. The door opens, revealing a skinny man with platinum hair in a dirty hooded robe.

Suddenly, a blade is drawn as mismatch eyes widen in surprise. Before it can strike though, it's path is blocked by another sword. Todoroki and Bakugou faced-off against each other, blade against blade, as the rest of the group stared in surprise at the scene. Todoroki was not someone who attacked without a reason or provocation. Maybe the Barbarian would, but not the prince. The roles had been reversed, and nobody knew what to do.

"What the Fuck, Icy-Hot!? What do you think your doing!?" Bakugou demands an answer.

"Step aside Bakugou," is the only thing he gets. "You can't trust this man," he glares at the man who the blonde was protecting.

"Is nice to you see you too, Shouto..." the mage with crimson eyes says. His voice soft and rough, barely a whisper.

"Do not call me that! To you, it's Your Highness," the royal says making his companions gasp softly. Never before had they heard their friend demand someone referred to him by his title.

The two warriors are slowly separated, but none of the drops their stand. Ready to pounce at any minute, Todoroki's eye don't leave the hermit mage. Bakugou steps between them as a warning. He knows he should be siding with his friend the bastard, but he can't. Not only is it out of character, but also the swamp mage saved Kirishima's life. He owes him enough to protect him from the weird-acting prince.

"Todoroki, this isn't like you," the greenette tells him, trying to make him lower his sword. "He hasn't done anything,"

"But he has," Todoroki says. "It's because of him that my brother is only a shell of the person he used to be,"

"I see," the mage says, the small light that his eyes held gone. "I can give you an antidote for him, but you need to know the consequences it might cause,"

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Everybody had the ability to practice magic. Some more than others. But the only way for one to practice the art legally, you needed to acquire a certificate seal. And the only way to get one was by being taught by a certificated master.

Shimura Tenko, after an accident with his magic, got accepted into The Draiocht, one of the most famous institutes of magic. He aced all of his classes, and once he graduated, he was given the most prestigious of positions a mage his age could achieve. The Personal Mage of a Crown Prince. And not any prince but the heir to the throne of the Fire Kindom, Todoroki Touya.

Kings and Queen, as well as any other royal or council member who mattered, had a personal mage by their side. They acted as bodyguards, advisors and magic experts. He was thrilled to be in such a position. He had become a powerful mage, with the ability to tame the dark arts, and he even had a new name to prove it. From rags to riches, Shigaraki Tomura went from the son of a simple merchant to one of the wizards in the palace of Caith Capital in the wealthiest kingdom. And then he met the prince.

Now, he didn't have anything against royals, but he knew what to expect with most of them, boring lessons, boring high-class parties, boring meetings. He had the plan of practising his magic more and even mastering the subjects his alma matter deemed forbidden when he was a student. But the Todoroki brat he was given to, however, didn't care for any of that. The elder prince spent his days and night avoiding his lessons his father tried to force him into. He would hide in the gardens or the castle's secret tunnels, waste his time in the stables or map-room and fool around with his siblings. Tomura, for the most part, didn't care if the bratty royal wanted to be an irresponsible heir. What bothered him was that as his personal mage, he was dragged to all the problems the prince got into.

"Why are we here again?" the mage asked one day as he was, once again, taken to the map-room of the royal library by the prince.

"I just need to find something before the trip tomorrow," the redhead says as he rummages through cabinets and shelves.

"Can't you be a normal prince for once?" he moans as he watches the royal take out a rolled map. "You are supposed to go on this trip to learn about the old kings of history! Don't you want to be a good king?" he crosses his arms.

"And you think that's the way to learn how to be a king?" Touya rolls his eyes and takes one of the cylindrical cases. "They only teach about dead guys in boring books or documents. That's not what a king is supposed to be," he places the map he took in the case and opens a trap door. "A king should be a servant to his people, and I doubt the guys they tell me about, knew anything about their people,"

That interaction was the beginning of all. The day he learned there was more to the prince than a careless and bratty attitude. The next day, as planned, King Enji took his son to learn about the old kings of the kingdom. They were accompanied by a knight of the palace, his squire and the mages of each royal. On the second day of the trip, the prince tried to slip away from the camp. Tomura was woken by a rustling sound inside his tent, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the prince was packing a bag.

"Where are you going?" he interrupts the guy, tapping his foot annoyed.

"Hunting for food... ?" Tomura sighs frustrated.

"You can't just leave in the middle of the night," he whispers loudly not to wake anybody else. "They're going to think you were killed, or kidnapped, and they are going blame me for it! I'm the one keeping an eye on you-"

"Listen," he interrupts him. "If you want to stay here, fine, but I'm not going to spend another day with my old man. Besides, I'm going to see you all in that 'grand library place'. I'm just going through a more... fun route," the teen says and continues packing.

Tomura, meanwhile, wants to rip out his hair in frustration. He opts instead to scream into his pillow. Once he is done with that, he starts packing too. The teen stares at him for a few seconds before Tomura speaks again. "My job is to keep an eye on you, which means I need to stay close to you, unfortunately," his answer makes the prince smile though, and the two leave camp undetected.

They ended going through a breach in between two mountains that was full of exotic birds. Tomura, when he saw the path the prince showed, though he wanted to hunt some of the fascinating animals and keep them as trophies. But he didn't. The heir to the throne quietly watched amazed and didn't bother the beast or their nest. He took a few feathers, but only those he found on the floor. The two somehow made it to the town before the king and his party, and once there they had fun. They visited the market, played in the woods and spent their night on a local tavern. It was the most fun Tomura had had in a long time.

The king wasn't happy, of course. But the mage believed he would let it go. The prince lived for getting into trouble, and his father's rage seemed to be rewarding enough. He learnt how wrong he was when Touya revealed the truth to him. Ever since he started working for the palace, Tomura healed the fire prince of multiples wounds. None of them were fatal, but he did get hurt on a daily basis. He always believed it was due to his recklessness, but one night as he applied a healing salve on the princes' bruises, Touya started talking. The mix had a dizzying effect on people, so he doubted he would have said anything if it wasn't for its side effect.

"When I become king, things are going to change... My mom is going to be happier... and my brother and my sister and my brother... we are all finally going to be free of him... he won't hurt us anymore..."

That trip had been eye-opening for him.

He understood that the prince was nothing more than a bird in a golden cage. He longed for freedom and happiness. And if he wanted to, he could get it. If he decided to, he could escape the castle walls and run free. Yet, he didn't. For he knew that if he got away, he would be the only one to do so. His mother and his sibling would have to stay behind with his father. Touya tried to make the hell they were living in bearable. He goofed around with his sibling, he pasted a smile on his face for everyone to see, but longed for something he couldn't have. Something, he would have to sacrifice his family to achieve.

Instead he waited, he remained in the dark and took the hard hits for his family. So that when he becomes king, his family could finally live in peace.

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As the years went by, Tomura stayed by Touya's side.

After their first successful trip on their own, King Enji allowed Touya to quest. He would be sent on the kingdom's behalf and only to those the king approved. And as his mage, he accompanied the prince in all of his adventures. The two had become friends over time. Touya still drove him up the wall with his messes, and he had had to save his behind more times than he could count. Touya took him to see the world and treated him like a person. All of the people he met in his life always expected something of him. His biological father expected a perfect son, his professors and mentors expected greatness and power and the king expected loyalty and servitude. And as a poor bastard looking for approval, he tried to meet those expectations. But with Touya, all of that was gone. He didn't have to be Shigaraki Tomura, the royal mage or the best alumni. He only needed to be himself. That was more than enough for the redhead.

"Is everything okay?" he asked as they set up camp near the road. The two were coming back from a successful quest and were in no hurry to return to the palace. "You've been really quiet lately," Touya hums.

"Have you noticed that lately we have only been sent to places with royal and noblewoman of marriageable age?" he says, looking at nothing.

He had. They were always offered a room to stay in by the people in charge of the places they went. They didn't accept all of them, but whenever they found themselves in one, Touya would be doted on by the female heirs of the family. It probably didn't help that the redhead was naturally charming and loved to flirt. Tomura ignored the way his chest tugged in pain whenever he caught him.

"My birthday is coming, and father is going to throw a ball to celebrate it," he says after a while.

"But he does so every year. It doesn't mean he is looking to betroth you," Tomura tries to look at the positive side as the pain in his chest festers.

"I saw the guest list," Touya says defeated. "All bachelorettes of the region will receive an invitation," he sighs and leaves to hunt something for them to eat. When he returns, they don't talk about it, and Tomura suggests they take a longer route back to the castle.

When Touya's birthday comes, just like the eldest prince predicted, princesses in uncomfortable and flashy ballgowns infest the ballroom. The royal family greets and welcomes the guest, and then Touya is presented once everybody arrives. Beside him, as he always had been, is Tomura. The presentation is over quickly, and once they join the guest, Touya is introduced to all the females interested in him. Tomura can see how much the prince wants to run to the nearest exit. He eyes them as a dried man searches for a drop of water.

The ball is boring. Tomura would rather lock himself in his quarters before attending. But as part of the royal court, he has to. He usually spends the night talking to the other mages who show up (which aren't a lot), eating the delicious food made for the occasion or taking care of the youngest prince. The prince Todoroki Shouto was still mageless at his young age, and Tomura liked him enough to keep an eye on him during the more formal events while Touya played Proud Heir. He was with the youngest prince when King Enji called him.

"Have you seen my son, mage?" he demands, belittling him like he always did. "The dance is about to begin, and he has suitors to please,"

'No wonder he left...' Tomura thinks, repressing the urge to roll his eyes.

"I believe he is freshening up, your Majesty. Should I fetch him?" he actually hadn't seen him for a while, but he knew him enough to guess where he was.

"You seem close to my son," the older man grumbles and glares at him.

"I spend a lot of time with him. It's my job, sir," he doesn't understand where the inquiry is coming from.

"Good. Remember that. You are only a mage, and Touya is a prince. Nothing more. Now bring him here." he bows and leaves. He had learned long ago not to talk back to the king.

Just as he expected, he found Touya hiding in the castle gardens. There was a small area hidden between the green bushes and trees. The rest of the family often spent time together there, without Enji breathing down their backs. With a giant tree they could climb on, a swing set, a fountain and flowers, it was the perfect place to get away from your problems. The prince was sitting in one of the swings when he got there.

"I figured you'd be here," he says and sits in the swing next to him. "It's a lovely night, don't you think? As lovely as the women making a line to meet you..."

"Psshh, you don't mean that," the guy grumbles. "Have you ever been in love, Tomura?" he asks after a pause.

"Wha- what?"

"Have you ever fallen in love with somebody?" he askes again, something in his eyes glimmering through the sadness.

"I- I guess not," he looks aways as his cheek turn hot. "I think I would notice if I did,"

"My mother told me she once loved my father," Touya tells him. "That they met in a ball like this and a year later they were getting married. Do you think it's weird that, even if I know it didn't work out for them, I still want to marry for love?"

"Do you love someone?" Tomura doesn't know why, but that hurts.

"I think I do, but I have to dance with everybody and not them," Touya admits.

"I thought you liked dancing," he knew he did. He saw him smiling with his sister and mother whenever they practised.

"Being forced to kind of sucks the joy out of it," he grumbles, and an idea struck his head. "Would you dance with me?" he turns to him, his spirits lifted.

"Huh!?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but..." he gets up from the swing and offers him a hand. "I want to enjoy some part of tonight," Tomura stares between his pleading eyes and the extended hand and, before he can think about it, he accepts.

Touya pulls him to his feet, and he suddenly founds himself in the prince's arm. Their formal wear is tight and uncomfortable, and he feels like he is in a costume when he wears it. As if he is pretending to be someone he is not. But while he is in Touya's embrace, body against body and an arm holding on to his waist, he feel alive. He feels like he belongs there, that he fits. He feels his heart jumping in his chest, beating against his skin, trying to get out. The two sway with the silence. Their music composed of crickets, the flowing water, their silents steps on the grass. Touya stares into his eyes as he rises over him. He gets lost in those blue eyes, shining like sapphires and penetrating his soul. He feels cold shivers run up his back and he knows his cheeks are turning pink.

He is overwhelmed. His pounding heart is deafening him, his head is spinning, and his palms are sweaty under his gloves. He feels as if he is about to pass out or throw up or both. Swallowing down his nerves, he tries to centre himself. He is a powerful mage. He can't get nervous over some moonlight silent slow dance.

Suddenly, the hood over his head falls down.

"You should wear your hood down more often," Touya whispers as he caresses his face gently.

"TOUYA!" a scream cuts through the moment, like a cold blade.

"That's- That's Natsuo," Touya says as they slowly separate. "We- we better get going," Cold filtering through Tomura's bones as he puts his hood back up.

The night goes on as planned by the king. Once Touya is back, he dances with all the ladies that Enji has deemed worth his time, he chats with the monarchs from far away places and Tomura watches as he tries to calm his heart. The royals gush over the prince, complimenting his manners and praising Enji for raising such a great heir. The princesses gossip and fawn over his charm. And soon enough the guests leave and the ballroom is cleaned by the servants.

But as he lays in his bed awake at night, Tomura is shaken. He keeps going back to that moment. With Touya under the moonlight, dancing and being safe in his arms. He had never felt so held, so cared for, so... loved.

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Everything went to hell a few months later.

Touya and Tomura went on another quest to a neighbouring city. It was supposed to be an easy one, just deal with some pest who was eating some of the crops. They expected to be back by nighttime with how simple it was, which ended happening, but not for the reasons they anticipated.

The pests, which were described as small lizards by the townspeople, were actually wyvern hatchlings. And when the prince and his mage started attacking the baby wyverns, the mother retaliated. Even if at the end they defeated her, they had not been ready for a fight like this. Touya had ended badly injured and Tomura, who was fighting against falling unconscious, brought him over to the palace in a rush. Natsuo and Shouto had been waiting for them luckily. The moment Tomura saw them, that he realized his the prince would be okay, he fell down.

When he woke up, Uwabami and Kido, Fuyumi and Natsuo's mages, were at his side healing him. It took him a few minutes to get over the drowsy feeling the restorative salves gave. But once his mind was capable of coherent thoughts, the first thing his head conjured was Touya. It wasn't unusual that the heir haunted his brain, but the last time he saw him, the man was at the brink of death.

He tried to get out of bed quickly. But his fellow mages stopped him, Trying to prevent him further hurting himself and explaining what happened since he arrived. He wasn't paying much attention to them, as he was too busy trying to get out of there, but he got enough pieces. Touya was out of danger but still unconscious, and he was being treated by the king's mage, Ending. It helped calm him a little knowing that he would make it, but he still tried to go with him. His fellow mages had to tie him to the bed to stop him from moving so that he could heal properly. Though, it was kind of pointless to do that since he could do undo the binding with his magic.

He knew they were right. He knew he had to rest so that the magic could heal him. But Touya needed him. He needed him, and he wasn't there. He had to be there. He should be the one in pain, no Touya. They fought like that for a few minutes until the king's mage arrived. Ending told him he could see him, if he stayed one more day resting. If not, he would be quarantined in his room until the king decided he could go back to Touya. Tomura didn't let anybody boss him around or give him ultimatums. But with the threat of Touya in the line, he obeyed.

The next morning, before even the servants entered his room, Tomura was by Touya's side. He didn't leave until his the prince woke up. He missed all meals and only talked with the ones who also came to visit the heir. Queen Rei and Princess Fuyumi were the ones who stopped by the most, along with their mages. The two brought him food and assured him this hadn't been his fault. Prince Natsuo came a few times, when he found the time between his lessons. Prince Shouto stopped by once. King Enji had begun his training, and the kid could hardly move without his father barking out orders. The king neglected the whole matter and not once dropped by.

After a week of sitting by his bed, watching and changing bandages, the redhead woke up. He first heard some painful moaning, and then those two blue eyes that tormented his dreams opened up. And the first thing the heir to the throne told his mage when he woke up after almost dying was a small and weak: "Hey..."

"You, IDIOT!" Tomura did not take that response too kindly. He had been reeling in his emotions for the last couple of days. "Why don't you ever listen to me!? I told you to run! I told you to escape! That it was too much for us! And yet you ignore me and head straight into danger! You could have gotten yourself killed! Do you understand that!?" the mage snaps at the man.

"Calm down. Everything worked out-"

"Doesn't it register in your thick skull that you could've died!? That you almost did!? Don't you understand you can't die, you dumbass!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the heir and all that-"

"I could've lost you, Touya!" Tomura yells and the dam breaks. Tears fall freely out of his eyes, wetting his cheeks, as he hiccups and sobs uglily. "I a- a- almost lost- st- lost you! You ca- can- can't die! W- wha- what wi- will I d- do without you!"

Touya doesn't answer. He only pulls him closer and leans him his shoulder to cry. Tomura holds on to him tightly, as if he would disappear if he let go. Touya strokes his back lovingly with one hand and with the other grasps his silver hair as he wails out his worry. They stay there for what feels like hours, but it was only a few minutes. It wasn't enough for him, though. He could spend a lifetime in Touya's arms, and it still wouldn't be enough. When his sobs start to decrease, Touya takes his face with his hands and places their foreheads together.

"I'm not going anywhere, alright?" Touya reassures him.

He doesn't know who leans in first or who made the first move. But as they hold each other, their lips meet in a gentle kiss. It's everything Tomura could have hoped for and even better than he imagined. It's perfect. It's the best moment of his life. But the beautiful moment is shattered when Touya separates from him and grasps his chest in pain.

A second later, the prince is twisting in pain as black veins grow out of his heart and start to cover his body. Tomura is panicking, trying to heal him with his magic and not understanding what's wrong.

"I- I don't understand, why can't I heal you?" Tomura cries in hysteric as he sees his loved one suffer.

"Because you are the one causing the pain," a voice answers him as the door slams shut.

"What do you mean? What did you do to him?" He asks as King Enji glares at him from the doorway and slowly makes his way to the other side of the bed.

"I told you to remember your place, mage. You are nothing compared to us, just filthy scum we use for protection. Your love is poison, and it will slowly kill him as long as you stay close to him," the king tells him.

"No... no..." he starts backing away in shock and notices the black veins stop growing. "Why- why are you doing this?" he asks the older man.

"My lineage will be remembered as the greatest and most powerful there was. My kingdom will remain a symbol of strength for generations. And I will not let you or anybody get in between my plans," the royal glares. "Now leave, mage. Leave and never return, unless you rather watch your beloved prince die,"

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After his story, Shouto apologized, dropping his sword to the ground, and explained that his father told him the mage had cursed his brother and then ran. "Is the poison what changed him?" Shouto asks him. His brother, a man who once enjoyed his life and smiled, became an emotionless ghost when the mage left. His father had always said he saved Touya from the mage when he was attacking him, but the family didn't believe him. The only thing they were sure about was that whatever had happened, changed his elder brother.

He got married to Princess Moe Kamiji of the Volcano Islands, and a few months later he ascended to the throne. His crowning should have been a good thing for them, but it quickly turned sour. In his dead-like state, Touya was more susceptible to suggestions, and their father was controlling him like a puppet. He made Touya fund his campaign to gain more territory and accept a rotating co-ruling system. On winter, his father would dictate as king while Touya continued the attacks on the rest of the land. On summer, they changed again. He didn't have many memories of his brother from before he traded mages, he was really young when it happened. But in the little ones he had, he remembered his brother was happy. They would pull pranks on the squires, steal pastries from the kitchen and play in the secluded part of the garden. He remembers how his brother would tell him about his adventures with Shigaraki or the time he taught him about the secret passages of the castles.

"No, that's not what changed him," Shigaraki says. "Your brother wouldn't have let the poison stop him. He would have come looking for me and would have gotten hurt in the process. I- I couldn't let him get hurt... because of me..." the mage explains, his voice breaking down. Shouto, now that he had a clear head could see how crushed the mage looked. He had heavy bags under his eyes that had no hope or sparkle left, and his actions seemed to lack motive. He was wholly and utterly defeated and was just as broken inside as his brother. "Before I left, I made a potion for him to forgot all about me..."

"And that included his feelings," Shouto concludes. "But there has to be a way to help him. He is nothing more than a puppet for my father to use now," he pleads with the mage. The skinny hooded man sighs and goes back to his hut. He then comes out with a flask with purple content.

"This will restore his memory," he gives him the concoction. "but you have to promise me you'll stop him from coming near me. He will die if he does," the broken mage warns him.

"I promise,"

It took him a week to reach the castle. His friends had been thankfully alright with taking the small detour on their journey. Shouto had been very lucky to have founds friends like them. Friends that would lend a helping hand for when it mattered the most. His mother was the one who welcomed them since it was spring. On winter and autumn, she stays in her birth kingdom, where now Natsuo resides. Shouto can't blame her for leaving, since he did the same, the moment his father wasn't looking. The only one who stayed the entire year on the castle was Fuyumi, her husband and Queen Moe.

As his mother takes his friends to their quarters where they can stay, Shouto begins his plans. He takes two goblets from the kitchen and fills one with wine and the other with the concoction the mage gave him. His father is away right now, fighting against some small kingdom and spending all the gold they own. However, he is a problem for later.

The obstacle he has to get rid off first is Touya's mage, Hawks. As prince and heir, Touya couldn't be left mageless. Shigaraki's replacement was a graduate from the Hverv Magical School, born from the fire kingdom. (He did come with an apprentice though, Tsukuyomi, who later became Shouto's mage.) He was a good mage, but his loyalty laid with Enji. He wasn't a bad man, far from it actually. But if it didn't work, then he would tell their father, and they needed to keep him in the dark for a bit to take the old king away from the power he still possessed.

"I'll distract Hawks while you do it," Tsukuyomi tells him.

"Thank you, Tsukuyomi," he watches the bird-man walk away with his raven on his shoulder.

Shouto puts the two cups on a tray and heads to his brother's study. When he arrives, the man is signing documents. He doesn't even acknowledge he is there until Shouto slams the door close. "Hello brother, how was your journey?" the young king asks in a monotonous voice.

"Good, we came across something interesting in the swamps of sikker død," he tells him, placing the tray with the two cups on the desk. "A mage, a powerful one, he gifted my companions and I some wine," he offers the cup with the concoction to the full redhead. "Care for some?" Touya grabs the cup without taking his eyes off the document he is going through and gulps it down in one go. He then leaves it on the wood again and return to what he was doing. "Are you feeling okay?" Shouto asks. Shouldn't his brother start to feel something? Was the potion not working.

"No, I ... I guess I took it too fast..." his brother slurs as he starts clutching his head. "What... did you... give me?" he tries to stand up but stumbles, holding to the desk to keep steady. Shouto rushes to his side. His brother let out one scream of pain before he gasps and tears form in his eyes. He suddenly looks at him, his eyes clearer than ever. "You said- you said he was in the sikker død swamp?" he asks, his tone not emotionless anymore, but desperate and on the verge of breaking.

"I can't let you go there. I promised I'll keep you away from him, that'll keep you from dying," Shouto tells him.

"Then I'm sorry about this, Shou," and before the young prince can react, his brother grasps his arms tightly and pushes him with all his force against the table. The young king runs, slamming the wood doors behind him. The noisy struggle catches the attention of the mages close by and when he catches sight of bright red wings. "Hawks! I need you to take me to the sikker død swamps! Now!" he orders the mage, and dragging him down the hallways and disappearing through a room.

Shouto, along with his mage, is hot on his heels behind him. When the two reach the bedroom the two entered, the redhead and his mage are already in the air. They can see them flying on the back of Hawks falcon, Keigo. Tsukuyomi calls forward Dark Shadow and the small raven grows in size. They get on the now giant bird and keep on their pursue, leaving the castle behind. They don't catch up with the two older men until nightfall, and by then, Touya reached the small cottage.

The redhead doesn't even wait for the bird to land. He jumps to the muddy ground and sprints towards the door, calling for his love. Shouto follows him, but he is only by the doorway when he hears the heart-wreaking scream of brother.

"TOMURA!" he sees his brother is kneeling by the bed, next to the unmoving body of the mage. "Please, open your eyes, Tomura! Don't do this to me! Please!" his brother begs as he holds the body of the mage, trying to wake him. "I love you! I don't know what to do without you! Please! Don't leave me!" he kisses the mage's forehead before hiding his face on his neck and loudly sobbing and crying.

Shouto suddenly notices a small bottle with a label and a letter next to it on the table. The bottle is empty, and it says 'white laurels extract' . The message is addressed to Touya. Shouto takes it and moves closer to his brother. His brother is still crying on the mage's body, weeping his heart out over his lost love. He slowly touches his shoulder to catch his attention and offers him the letter. Tears stream down his elder brother's face as he turns to look at him. With a shaking hand, he grabs the piece of paper and starts reading. When he is done, the flow of his eyes doubles and his sobs harden. He places a tear-filled kiss on Tomura's hand and continues crying, grieving the death of his dear mage.

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To my prince,

I knew your brother wouldn't be able to stop you. Nobody could ever hold you back from getting what you wanted, not even me. It drove me insane sometimes. Your persistence knew no limit, and many times it got us into so much trouble. Yet it was one of the many things that made me fall for you.

I love you, Touya. You are my world, my everything. It pains me not being able to hold you or be by your side. But it will kill you. And I can't let that happen.

The people need you. You are their king. You need to guide them to a brighter future and be light for them to follow. I know you can do it. You will be one of the greatest Kings your kingdom will ever have, even if I'm not beside you.

Goodbye, Touya. I love you.

With all my heart,

Tomura

#shigadabiweek2020 #shigadabi #dabishiga #shigaraki x dabi #shigaraki tomura #Dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki family #fantasy au #bnha #mha

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blackcloverdatabase · 4 years

Text

English Translation of Novel 2: Chapter 4 - Captains’ Dinner Party (Part 2 of 2)

(No illustration this time since, sadly, there’s only one illustration per chapter.)

Here is the second half of chapter 4! Less goofy antics in this one since more time is spent fighting in this chapter, but still a fun time with the captains, Julius, and a very stressed out Marx.

And if you haven’t read part 1 yet, you can read that here.

--- Captains’ Dinner Party: Part 2 ---

“Th-the Wizard King! YOU……!! Where have you been loitering about this whole time!!?”

Marx screamed, halfway to tears. He knew it was just a projection of Julius, but he was just about ready to fling himself upon him.

“Ha ha, sorry, sorry. I got too absorbed in analyzing these golems over here.”

“Too absorbed my foot! Everyone’s been waiting for you! Where are you!?”

In response to Marx’s desperate screams, Julius looked a little troubled.

“……I’m in the dungeon, the same one where we had restrained those members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. I made a barrier and then reconstructed some of the old golems.”

‘……I see. That room was a blind spot. It certainly is very large and sturdy. That barrier is probably why I couldn’t reach him before,’ Marx thought to himself.

“It’s just, uh… remember how I told you that there’s a magic space inside the body of that golem? I was wondering what that space was like, and while I was looking at it, I accidentally got inside……”

As he spoke, Julius’s voice sounded more and more embarrassed.

“I used up my magic power…… so now I can’t get out… I’m stuck inside.”

“………………..”

In that moment, Marx didn’t feel anger, nor sadness, nor pity. All he felt was “nothingness”.

“That’s why, uh, this is hard for me to say, but…”

Julius glanced at everyone in the room before scratching his head again.

“……Could you… all come… save me?”

“Kah kah! So, it’s safe to say that… those golems are on the other side of this door, right?”

“That’s what he said…… Ah, but, as expected, we’ll have to go through that barrier. There’s a crazy amount of magic power comin’ outta that thing.”

The captains had arrived at the door to the dungeon. While Jack and Yami were talking, the other captains stood motionlessly. Julius was behind that door. All of them prepared for battle as they approached the door to the dungeon without a word, each of them holding feelings that could not be said.

“Jeez, I’m not even going to bother reminding you that you’re the Wizard King! Still, please don’t forget that you’re a 42-year-old man! You’re getting old! You should take better care of your body……”

“……Yes……yes……yes……yes……”

……Actually, Marx had been lecturing Julius through his communication magic throughout the whole trip to the dungeon, so it wasn’t that quiet, after all.

“Hey, Julius. This barrier, it locks people inside, but those comin’ from the outside are free to enter, right?”

“Huh? Y-yeah. That’s right. I have the switch to operate it. “

“……I see.”

‘In other words, once we step foot inside that barrier, we have to defeat the golems and free Julius, or else we’ll never be able to get out……. Well, if push comes to shove, I could always use my Dimension Slash to tear through the barrier, but that would be a bad idea. If I fail to take them all down with that attack and one of those golems ends up escaping, everyone would be pissed.’

While Yami was thinking, Nozel asked in his usual icy tone,

“Do we know our enemies’ numbers and what their abilities are?”

“There are ten golems. What I’ve confirmed about their abilities so far is that they are immune to magic, and they can copy the abilities of other magic users. When you attack them with magic, they are able to analyze it, granting them both immunity to that attack and the ability to copy it. Being hit by an attack just once is enough for them to use it just as if it were its own. By the way, no matter how beat up the golems are, it seems to have no effect on the magic space inside them, so you can attack them without worrying about me.”

Julius answered smoothly without a moment’s pause. Everyone couldn’t help but wonder how he got trapped even though he knows so much about the golems.

“Also, this fact might be the most troublesome thing about them, but-”

It sounded as if Julius was about to say something vitally important, but,

“……Huh, wait, sir!? What happened!?”

His transmission was suddenly interrupted. Marx repeatedly tried to reestablish a connection, but to no avail. No matter how many times he tried to reconnect, there was no response.

“……Woah. What, you can’t get through? Now that’s creepy. Usually, in scenarios like this, you discover that the guy you were talkin’ to died a weird death.”

“D-don’t say something so ominous! I’m sure that our connection just became unstable like it was before!”

Marx snapped back at Yami’s joke with a pale face. Vangeance stood behind him, contemplating out loud,

“It’s also possible that his magical power has been completely cut off…... this is a scenario I’d rather not contemplate, but staying in that magic space for too long may leave some kind of negative effect on the human body… Either way, we should save him as soon as possible.”

As he spoke, Vangeance pulled his grimoire out from its pouch.

“Nonetheless, there is still much we don’t know about the enemy. None of us know what exactly is going on inside, so we cannot create a clear strategy. Be on your guard.”

“…….Hmph. So, you think you can take the lead for this battle just because you’re the captain of the Golden Dawn?”

Nozel sarcastically retorted while he took out his own grimoire.

“In short, we should destroy them in such a way that they are not immune to. Attacking them with an object like what we did with Poizot should be sufficient…… I can destroy golems with abilities such as these by myself. Why don’t the rest of you go back and continue eating your dinner?”

“W-what are you saying, Nozel-san!? The Wizard King asked for ‘everyone’ to save him, so we should all go save him!”

Rill responded with desperation in his voice. Charlotte spoke up from behind him with a sigh,

“……Rill. Do you want to save the Wizard King, or is it that you don’t want to go back to the dinner party?”

“O-of course I want to save the Wizard King! A-also…… I don’t want to get stabbed.”

Their exchange of words may have sounded like they were fooling around, but both of them were holding their grimoires, taking a stance with no openings as they faced the door to the dungeon. Everyone was ready for battle.

“…….zzz…….zzzz……zzz……zzzz”

….Except for Dorothy. All that could be heard from her was the sound of her snores. She reached this place while asleep, and she opened her grimoire while asleep, too. Since she’s a person one cannot hope to understand, Yami just categorized her as an anomaly and said,

“Alright. Is everyone done preparin’?”

Yami asked as he drew his sword. After confirming that everyone nodded their heads (except for Dorothy) he put his hand on the doorknob.

“Then, let’s all remember to be on guard.”

He said idly as he threw open the leaden doors.

…In truth, they were all a little off guard.

No matter how strong the enemy was, they were seven captains of the Magic Knights. There was no way they could lose. None of them were flagrantly unprepared. However, they came in with the assumption that they “couldn’t lose”, which gave birth to inattentiveness.

……If it weren’t for that, then, surely, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

[Sensing, magic response.]

A shrill voice screeched the moment they all leapt into the room. It was the golems, pitch-black skeletons, and, just as Julius said, there were ten of them. They were scattered throughout the room, but once the captains were reflected in their silver eyes, they swarmed toward the intruders with lightning speed.

“Ewww, these guys are way creepier than I thought they’d be! I, like, don’t want to have anythin’ to do with them! Hey, like, one of you boys do somethin’!”

“Kah kah! And I don’t want to have anything to do with your girly-girl impressions, either!!”

While Yami was joking around, he ran straight for one of golems. Jack leaped up from behind him.

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash”

Yami started by swinging his sword straight toward the enemy. A sharp black blade extended from his sword and struck the skeleton with dreadful force. The blade sliced the skeleton in two, but still, the skull continued to rattle.

[Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ii-I-iit, it hurts, storing in, memory-y.]

“Slash Magic: Death Scythe!!”

The skull and the rest of the body that was still attached to it was cleaved in two by Jack’s aerial attack. However, they weren’t finished with their attacks. He attacked a second, then a third time. He continued his downpour of blows until, in the blink of an eye, the skeleton’s body had been cut into little pieces.

“Kah kah. I see. After it has been hit by magic, it can copy it…… but if we cut it up this much, it won’t be able to move anyway.”

Jack analyzed the situation as he landed. Just as he said, the skeleton, cruelly ripped to shreds, moved a little with a creak before ceasing to move completely.

“Now, what do we do with the rest of them~”

Rill prepared his brush and palette as he aimed for the skeletons. Vividly colored paint-like magic danced around his palette, steadily gathering around his brush. He created a torrent of color, as thick and long as a serpent.

“Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction”

Waving his brush like a baton, he fired a torrent of magic at the skeleton, which wrapped around its body in a flash. The magic then slowly converted into stone, encasing the skeleton’s body inside and sinking into the ground. What was depicted upon the earthen canvas was a single painting of a spring.

[It hurts-ts-tsts-, storing-ing-ing in mem-memory……]

As it was enveloped into the center of the painting, it became completely restrained. Before long, it became utterly silent.

“A-fu-fu-fu~ It seems that completely restraining its movements before it copies your magic is also effective~”

Rill said with glee.

“……As I said, this is just like that time with Poizot. Don’t leave things only halfway finished.”

Charlotte chided Rill as she walked past him, slowly lifting her hand toward the skeleton.

“Briar Creation Magic: Limb-Cleaving Briar Lance”

As she cast her spell, countless thorns shot out from behind her with bullet-like momentum. Dozens of sharp thorns pierced its body, and the skeleton, along with the painting, shattered into pieces.

“What would you have done if it broke out of its restraints? If you’re going to fight, do it right.”

“It was fine. Restraining them is a more sure-fire way to bring them down, after all.”

“…Hmph.”

As they argued back and forth, the two moved on to their next target.

And then, finally, in the back,

“Mercury Magic: Silver Spear”

Nozel fired spears of mercury in the back to support the four in front. The spears pierced through the skeletons, stopping them in place and creating a gap which allowed either Jack or Yami to slash through them, Charlotte to pierce through them, or Rill to make them part of his paintings. Thanks to their downpour of attacks, half of their enemies were already shattered to pieces.

“……Amazing!”

Marx exclaimed, watching the situation from the back. Though they knew little about the enemy, they didn’t falter. They instantly identified the enemy’s weakness, established a strategy based on it, and each one of them performed their role with ease. It was a brilliant performance, a suppressive attack that demonstrated the experience they’ve gained from countless battles. There wasn’t a bit of awkwardness or strain in their teamwork. Each of them understood how the others wanted to move, reading two, even three moves ahead. There was a sense of unity Marx could feel as they fought.

‘As one would expect, there’s nothing that can stop the seven of them, though one of them is asleep…...’

As Marx watched in relief, Vangeance, who was observing the state of the battle from the back, yelled,

“Three golems in the 12-o’-clock direction are amplifying their magic power! We don’t know what they might do, so bring them down quickly!”

However, before anyone could react to his instructions,

[Initiating synchronization between all devices.]

When one of the golems said this, the eyes of all the golems that had been defeated began glowing red. The eyes of all the golems that were still alive then began to glow the same color as well. All of this happened in an instant. It truly was just a single instant, but……

[……..Synchronization complete. Now returning the pain.]

The five remaining golems cast their magic all at once.

[Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash]

[Slash Magic: Death Scythe]

[Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction]

[Briar Creation Magic: Limb-cleaving Briar Lance]

[Mercury Magic: Silver Spear]

The golems fired all the captains’ magic right back at them.

“Seriously…… hey!?”

Yami muttered in shock while dodging the golems’ attacks. The golems they hadn’t attacked yet were using their magic, which means…

“……T-these guys, aren’t they afraid of copyright infringement!?”

“Kah kah, this isn’t the time to be joking around…..I don’t really get it, but it looks like these guys can use any attack that was used against any of the other golems, just as if it was hit by the same attack.”

Jack said when he landed near Yami after dodging the golems’ attacks.

“And now, that means all the spells we just used are no longer effective against any of them… right?”

‘And no matter what attack we launch from here on, if they “synchronize” again, they’ll become even more powerful…,’ Yami thought.

Everyone understood this from the previous attack and switched to fighting defensively. Of course, not all options were lost. They can hit all the golems with a wide-range attack like Nozel’s “Silver Rain” and Vangeance’s “Great Tree Misteltein” and use objects to attack any golems that are left. However, if they do that, they’ll destroy more than just the room they’re in, they’ll destroy the barrier and beyond. Unlike the time they partially destroyed the area when they captured Poizot, there’s a risk that they’ll cause the room to totally collapse.

The most certain way to defeat the enemy would be to restrain them and then destroy them all at once, but all their restriction spells were no longer effective.

Except…

“……Everyone! Just one is fine! Defeat one of the golems and bring me its skull!”

Marx shouted to the group once he made his realization.

“What’s with you all of sudden? If you want a skull, there’s a golem we already beat over there…...”

“No, I need something intact! If it’s damaged to that degree, I don’t think it will function!”

“……Function?”

Yami said as he furrowed his brow. When he saw Marx’s earnest expression, he scratched his head as if he thought the request was a pain in the ass.

“……Jack, Charlotte! Help me out against this guy who’s the closest to me here! Everyone else should keep the other golems from gettin’ close!”

The others swiftly moved into formation in accordance to where Yami pointed his finger. No one asked any questions or demanded any explanations. Marx, the Wizard King’s one and only trusted aide, the capable man who assists the Wizard King in his duties on his own, said he wants the skull of one of the skeletons. That’s all the reason they need.

“Slash Magic: Schack Knife”

Jack made the first strike. He slashed the skeleton a countless number of times, just deep enough to create small fissures throughout its body. In response to his attacks, the skeleton headed toward him with fearsome speed.

“Briar Creation Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Tree!!”

Charlotte fired her magic in response, but it didn’t do much damage. Her briars made a direct hit on the skeleton’s body, but the skeleton knocked them all away and continued charging forward. However, her briars also hit its face, obscuring its vision for just a moment. And, in that moment,

“Alright, well, sorry ‘bout this. I’ll be takin’ your head.”

Yami appeared behind the skeleton, sword in hand.

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Magic Blade”

He swung his black blade across, cutting the skeleton at its neck, and, with a second swing, its detached torso was slashed in two.

Jack’s attack was used to attract the skeleton, then Charlotte used her magic to obstruct its field of vision, giving Yami a chance to land the finishing blow. To make sure this sequence of events wasn’t interrupted, the others held the movements of the other four skeletons at bay. Though Marx had requested the skull himself, he was once again struck with admiration for their skill.

“Here, bowlcut. It might still be capable of movin’, so be careful.”

“Ah……yes!”

The skull was casually tossed to Marx while he was lost in thought. It certainly was still rattling about, but that was no problem at all. As long as he had a model to work with……

“Uwaah……Sorry, Yami-san! There’s two golems headed straight for you!!”

Rill yelled out in a panic as two golems ran straight toward Yami. Since Yami was occupied with Marx, he was slow to react.

[Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction]

“!!”

The golem that Yami had just slain fired Rill’s magic straight at him.

‘Looks like the wounds I gave it were too shallow,’ Yami thought.

“……Tch!”

Yami leaped to the side to avoid it, but the colorful torrent of magic struck his leg, stopping him in place and binding him to the ground. While he was immobile, the two other golems prepared to fire their magic at him, but,

“Time Restraining Magic: Chrono Stasis”

In a single instant, the golems were captured within spheres of magic, and they stopped moving completely. Or rather, they were forced into complete suspension.

……There was only one person capable of this.

“Hey there, looks like I managed to make it in time.”

It was the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono. He gallantly appeared on the scene with his usual gentle smile.

“I was able to see what was going on from within the golems, but… um… y-you did a great job, everyone! Very commendable! Yeah… uh, yeah.”

……Well, he was acting a little more awkward than usual.

“T-the Wizard King!? How…!”

Rill exclaimed in surprise. Everyone else stared in astonishment behind him. He was trapped inside one of the golems, so how did he get here…?

“……I got him out.”

Marx answered everyone’s questions with an exhausted look on his face. He held the skull in his hands, his fingertips curled around its lower jaw.

“I was told that, when you press this part of the skeleton, all the contents of the magic space inside it are ejected…. Well, I’ve never done it before, so I was anxious about what would happen when I pressed it, but….”

The finger that pushed the skull’s lower jaw was still shaking. It was clear how anxious he was.

“But, you couldn’t have known which skeleton he was inside of…. Ah!”

As he was talking, Rill made a face of realization. Marx nodded his head before continuing,

“They said they would ‘sync’. In other words, ‘each of them sustains the same state’. Based on that, I thought that maybe they shared the same magic space… and it seems I was correct.”

‘Or rather, I’m really, truly glad that I was right. I was practically gambling,’ he thought. If he was wrong, then it was possible that Julius would have been trapped in one of the already shattered skulls. Just thinking about it made Marx shudder. No, it’s possible that they would have been able to restore the skulls back to normal after the battle, but who knows how long that would have taken? Plus, Yami probably wouldn’t have been rescued. In any case, he was incredibly glad that his plan succeeded…

[It hurts……ts…..ts-ts-ts-ts, storing, storing in memory-y-y……]

“!!”

Just as Marx had sighed in relief, the skeletons which were sealed away began to tremble.

“W-wait, sir!? They’re moving! The skeletons are moving!?”

“H-huh? A ha ha, I guess I was weakened more than I thought!”

After Julius replied to Rill, he turned toward everyone and said,

“Everyone, on my signal, I’ll release my spell! Immediately afterwards, everyone should attack togeth-

“No need.”

Yami interrupted Julius’s instructions, taking a stance with his sword.

“I’m gonna slice them in two, so all you need to worry about is stoppin’ them if any of them are still movin’.”

A tremendous among of magic power rose from his blade like black smoke.

“Kah kah! Hey, Yami, what’re you planning to do this time?”

“What, you ask? .......As I said, I’m slicin’ them in half. Those skeletons.”

Yami answered Jack’s question and aimed for the remaining four skeletons.

“And the space around ‘em.”

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash”

With one swing of his blade, the four skeletons, as well as Julius’s magic, was sliced in two. The skeletons continued to rattle about, but,

“Everyone, stay where you are!”

Julius shouted, firing off spheres of magic with unmatched accuracy. They hit the skeletons, causing them to shatter without a trace.

“……It’s…over.”

After examining the black dust left behind by the attack, Marx sunk to the floor in relief. This time, it truly was over. The only problem left was……

“Y-Yami! What was that magic you used earlier!? To slice through my magic like that… it’s amazing! It even broke the barrier…… Hey, show it to me one more time! One more time!”

…how to scold that old magic maniac.

“I’m really sorry!! I never thought things would blow up like this……”

Julius was surrounded by everyone else, offering his most sincere apologies.

“Kah kah. I don’t really care~ Thanks to this, I got the chance to slash some guys up.”

Jack happily informed him, glancing at the skeletons’ remains gathered in the corner of the room.

After the battle, everyone collected the skeletons’ remains and repaired the dungeon room to ensure that no evidence remained of the battle that took place. Of course, they did all this without calling for the Magic Appraisal Division or the disposal team. They didn’t want to make this a big affair, or rather, they didn’t want anyone else to know that the Wizard King, the man who stands at the top of the Magic Knights, got himself into such a mess.

“A ha ha… your criticism is helpful, but….”

“No buts! Things turned out okay this time because all the captains happened to be here, but what would you have done if all this happened and you were all alone!? This is why I keep telling you! You need to be more aware of the fact that you’re a 42-year-old-man!!”

“…… Yes……. yes……. yes…… yes……”

Incidentally, Marx continuously scolded Julius the whole time they were cleaning up. Marx was telling Julius everything that needed to be said, so the others felt no need to say anything as they waited for Marx’s anger and disgust to subside. In fact, they may have even felt a little bad for him.

“……Now then, everything has been put in order, so I’m leaving.”

“H-huh!? You’re going home already!? What about the dinner party!?”

Julius uttered in shock at Nozel’s words. Nozel responded with his usual cold expression,

“Because of the time it took to dispose of everything, the food has likely cooled, and the drinks have presumably become lukewarm. There’s only so much time we can spend here at headquarters, so I believe it would be prudent to suspend this party.”

“…………”

He was right.

“Moreover…”

He paused and turned around, facing everyone once more.

“……You understood once you saw our battle earlier, correct? Even without throwing such parties, we captains are able to come together and acknowledge each other’s true strengths.”

“………”

Julius’s mouth hung open at Nozel’s surprising words.

“Of course, I refuse to recognize anything else aside from their strength. First of all, I am opposed to sitting at the same table as any captain who is not a royal or a noble. I still do not agree to the idea that the rank of Captain should be given to such riffraff……!”

He realized that he allowed something akin to rage leak into his words and then coughed as if to regain his composure.

“However, I am aware that, regardless of my stance on the matter, all the people here have the strength necessary to be a Captain. Moreover, it’s a fact that they are capable of fighting beside me…… as long as that fact remains, then that is more than enough.”

“……Well, that was a roundabout way of puttin’ it, but I agree with ya.”

It was Yami who interjected. Nozel glared at him, but he went no further before taking one step away.

“Our everyday relationship definitely sucks, but we can work together when we need to do, so you don’t need to worry ‘bout helpin’ us out with our private lives.”

He looked Julius in the eye and said, as if it should be obvious,

“The Order of Magic Knights you created isn’t that weak.”

A gentle smile appeared ever so slightly on his face as he said this.

“Yeah…… you’re right.”

Julius replied, returning Yami’s smile. After making his moves both officially and unofficially in these past few weeks, there is one thing Julius has become aware of. They are – the Magic Knights of Clover Kingdom are - even more steadfast than Julius ever imagined. It seems that he never had to play any tricks on them at all. They’re perfect as they are.

He knew that they had the power to repel any hardship that comes their way, and, he can feel that, little by little, they’re growing stronger. Knowing that is enough.

“….. Now then, can we leave?”

Julius was immersed in warm feelings, but Nozel’s frank words wrenched him back to reality. He lightly scratched his cheek as he said with a wry smile,

“Y-yeah. That’s right. This isn’t really the right atmosphere for a party, either… And, as Yami said, it doesn’t look like there’s any need for me to interfere in your personal relationships with each other. Ha ha, the cooperation you all showed earlier was magnificent!”

……Well, the truth is, Julius already knew that. Private lives aside, they demonstrate a tremendous ability to cooperate the battlefield. He has known this for a very long time now. He didn’t prepare this dinner party to confirm that……

“……What’s wrong, Julius? Do we have somethin’ on our faces?”

“Ah……no……”

Realizing that he was subconsciously observing the captains’ faces, Julius hastily averted his gaze.

After the Star Festival, the Crimson Lions and the Purple Orcas will have new captains, and they will be back to having nine captains. In other words, this was the last time the seven of them will be able to meet like this. He wanted to watch them all eat and drink together at least once. All that official business he told Marx about didn’t matter to him.

The real goal of this party was for everyone to get along and eat together.

“……Its nothing. I’m sorry for causing you all so much trouble.”

However, this wasn’t the time nor place where such private thoughts could be said, and it’s true that both the food and the alcohol have reached a questionable state. For now, he’ll give up without a fuss.

“……Plus, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to watch you all fight together.”

“Huh? You say somethin’?”

“……N-no. It’s nothing.”

Julius answered Yami’s question with his usual gentle smile.

In truth, Julius could have escaped from the magic space and defeated those skeletons by himself. Moreover, he was lying when he said that he ran out of magical power. If he had, he would not have been able to escape from that magic space, and he wouldn’t have been able to cast his spells twice afterward. He believed in the strength of his captains, and he knew they would work together. However, he wanted to confirm in practice how well the captains could cooperate with one another after losing Fuegoleon and Poizot. And so, he came up with this little “adventure”.

It was terribly unscrupulous of him, but it’s unlikely that this group would have the chance to work together like this anytime soon. Joint exercises take a lot of time, people, and energy to set up, and such exercises wouldn’t show their true power. For starters, no one else would be able to compete with them. In that sense, these golems were a unique opportunity. He had to take some scolding, but, in return, he got the chance to watch them in combat. It was a cheap price to pay.

……Well, his dinner party has also washed away, but there’s no helping that. He’ll set another one up the next time he gets the chance.

As Julius was thinking, Yami was staring at his face and said,

“Somethin’ about you feels fishy…… Mind if I get serious and read your ki?”

“N-no, ha ha! Nothing will come of that even if you do! More importantly, look, if we’re leaving, let’s hurry up and get out of here!”

The instant Julius made this suggestion in a panic, Nozel bowed his head and said,

“Well then, I’m leaving.”

Without hesitation, he turned his heels and walked toward the exit. It may seem rude to simply leave like that, but considering that it’s Nozel, he did a good job sticking around.

“Well, that’s too bad! A fu fu, to think such a special chance to eat with everyone would get suspended! I wanted to talk some more~!”

“Kah kah! Is that so? Then, you can sit next to Charlotte next time, too!”

Rill and Jack exchanged words with each other as they followed behind Nozel.

“……Nonsense. Do you really think I’d put up with your foolish attempts at entertainment a second time?”

“……zzz……zzz…….zzzz…….”

The other Captains also headed toward the exit as they chatted with one another. Not a single one of them wanted to continue the party. Everyone must have hated it after all. Charlotte even said that it was “foolish”. However, that, too, is fine. You certainly can’t say that their relationship with one another is “good”, but that’s exactly why they should clash with each other, argue with each other, and elevate each other. Cultivating one’s character through friendly rivalry is how the Order of the Magic Knights was established. Julius had meddled because he was afraid they were dragging each other down instead of raising each other up. If its ever needed, he’ll enact an even larger plan.

However, based on what he felt earlier, that won’t be necessary. The Captains are serving as exemplary models to their squad members for how such friendly competition should look. It may not be long before the entirety of the Magic Knights does the same. If they can raise each other up and act as one, then they can surely overcome even a tough situation like what lies ahead…….

Julius thought to himself warmly as he followed behind them.

“…..Like I said, you’ve been grinnin’ like a maniac since earlier. It’s scarin’ the hell out of me, so can you stop?”

Yami said as he walked beside Julius. Julius realized that he let what he was thinking show on his face again. He maintained his expression as he turned toward Yami,

“Hm~? It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how much you’ve all grown.”

“……What the hell?”

Yami said with a snicker. Then, he suddenly made a startled expression and said,

“H-hey, are you serious? I vaguely felt this earlier, but have you been thinkin’ lewd thoughts about me……!?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about telling you this for a long time, but those jokes of yours trouble the people around you more than you think.”

Julius replied with a wry smile as he placed his hand over his chest.

“E-everyone!”

Marx yelled out as they were leaving. For some reason, he was sweating, and his lips were trembling. He wore a pained expression, as if there was something important that needed to be said… but he didn’t want to say it. However, before long, he steeled his resolve and spoke,

“I was thinking… about how to make the drinking party more… exciting, and,”

He tucked his quivering hand into his robe,

“I reserved a private room… where we could sing while we drink after dinner.”

And pulled out a leaflet for a certain bar.

“………”

For the second time that evening, everyone froze in silence. Marx truly was a capable man, and a very diligent one at that. Because he’s so capable, he arranged for the possibility of an afterparty. As a result……

“Wha……What are you doing, Marx-san!? Trying to make the party exciting with people like this…… that’s impossible, you know!!?”

Those insulting words came from Rill, who clung to Marx as he pleaded, his eyes wide with panic.

“Also, singing!? Are you insane!? Doing that with these people…… paints such a chaotic picture!”

“There’s no helping that! This was a last-minute decision, so I couldn’t find a reservation anywhere else! With people like this, I couldn’t simply reserve a restaurant that’s open to the public! We would disturb their business!”

Jack approached Rill and Marx with a glint in his eyes as they continued their insulting exchange.

“It’s fine, Rill~ You can sit between me and Charlotte. I can listen to all you’ve got to say. Kah kah,like what you really think of us, for example~”

Jack said as he put his hand on Rill’s shoulder.

“Hey, Jack. I never agreed to going to such a place…..”

Charlotte retorted with an indignant look on her face.

“Huh, what’s with you? Sounds interestin’ to me. I’m going~”

“……Wha?”

Charlotte whipped her head around and responded in a voice several notes higher than her usual range when she heard Yami say he was going. Then, she lightly coughed and said,

“W-well, as I said earlier, since it’s hard to say what a group of stupid men might do…... I-I’ll come, too!”

Hearing this made Yami and Jack turn pale.

“……L-like I said earlier, what’s with you today!? You’re after my life, aren’t ya!? If you’re gonna kill me, just make it quick! Just stop doin’ all this weird stuff to keep me in suspense!!”

“C-calm down, Yami! You just need to offer her something as a sacrifice…. Okay, let’s offer her the deer kid!”

“You bastards… stop fooling a-……! I-I understand. If that’s what you say, then I’ll grant your wish and end your lives right here. Prepare yourself…… Rill.”

“Wait, why are you starting with me!?”

“Ha ha! Everyone, let’s calm down for a bit.”

Vangeance interjected with a wry smile just as a chaotic atmosphere began to drift in the air. He then turned toward Julius.

“The one who proposed we have this dinner party was the Wizard King. I believe that deciding whether we go to the afterparty or not should be left to him.”

With those words, everyone’s eyes were on Julius.

“…..Hmmm. Let’s see.”

Rill’s eyes were full of tears. Nozel’s eyes were full of disgust at the idea of having to go. Marx had a pleading look in his eyes. Yami’s eyes were telling him to do whatever the hell he wants. Looking at all the different thoughts reflected in their eyes, Julius happily scratched his head and said,

“…Well then, we’re all here, so let’s go.”

And so, the afterparty from hell began.

--- The End ---

Afterparty!? With singing!? Ahhhh, this chapter ends too soon….

Did anyone else find Nozel very relatable in this chapter? The dude just wanted to go home.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. My next target is the 3rd novel, the Book of Yuno. So, expect to see a translation for chapter 1 of that book next week!

#Black Clover #Order of Knights Book #Yami Sukehiro #Julius Novachrono #William Vangeance #Nozel Silva #Charlotte Roselei #Jack the Ripper #rill boismortier #dorothy unsworth #marx #my translations

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writings-of-dumpy · 3 years

Text

George Weasley and the Girl in Ravenclaw: Part 5

Warnings: ~shawty fire burning on the dance floo, waoohh!~ No, but just fires and violence mostly.

“He didn’t like it, but he understood,” Raven told the twins as she exited Flitwick’s office. “I will be completing my term by mail starting immediately so that Dumbridge doesn’t get whiff of it and suddenly confine us all here like a jail.”

Fred and George nodded. “Good, then we have nothing to lose.”

Raven looked at them with an unreadable expression. “Are you two sure about this? I’d hate to see anyone else get hurt…”

Fred nodded. “We’ve got trackers on them so they’ll only go after her.”

Raven smiled. “Very clever of you two.”

“Well, we learned it from you, love,” George said.

Later that day, while the fifth years were taking their OWLs, Fred, George, and Raven managed to sneak past Filtch and grab their brooms. Raven had managed to shrink her things down into a small backpack that she wore so that he three of them could fly to the burrow at once.

“Ready?” she asked them.

“This is going to be SO fun…” George gushed in excitement. He could feel a pit in his stomach of anxiety that things may or may not go as planned, but for the most party, he couldn’t wait to see Umbridge’s face when that flaming dragon came straight for her…

~*~

“You did WHAT?” Molly barked at her sons when they returned home.

“You should have seen Raven’s face when she was through with her, mum! She deserved it!” Fred reasoned.

“Of course she deserved it, but if we all got what we deserved, we’d all be dust! I just hope none of this effects your father in a way…” Molly said with an exasperated sigh and sat down.

“Raven, dear, are you alright?” she asked Raven, who still looked slightly beaten up from her time with Umbridge and Inquisitor Squad the other day. George’s heart swelled almost every time he saw her, and he wanted nothing more than to use a spell that he hasn’t learned yet to ease her pain and take that nasty scar on her hand away.

“Yeah, I’m alright, Molly, thank you,” Raven said and welcomed Molly’s embrace.

“Alright, well… I suppose now is as good a time as any for the three of you to join the Order,” Molly said to herself it seemed.

“You mean it?!” Fred said with excitement.

“Well since you have no intention of going back to Hogwarts, and since you’re so eager, I don’t see why not,” Molly said. “But not a word of order business to Harry or your brother and sister. And we have to officially induct you, of course.”

George beamed at Fred and Raven. The three of them decided to share a room in the burrow, and while it was a bit cramped, they made it work. George helped Raven set up a space for her to send assignments back to Hogwarts so she could graduate in a month or two, and he and Fred went to Diagon Alley to scout space for their joke shop.

A few months went by, and the Order was meeting on a regularly scheduled basis now. With the death of Sirius Black, the Order had lost a critical member, and knew that it was his dying wish to allow Harry to be privy to their knowledge, so they all welcomed Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the Order officially. Ginny was an unofficial member as Ron and Harry would tell her basically everything.

Fred, George, and Raven worked day and night to build Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and stock it with their own products.

“I think these Skiving Snack boxes are going to be a huge hit,” Raven said from the ladder above them. “And the awful Umbridge is a nice touch, of course.”

George smiled and laughed with Raven. When she got off the ladder, he noticed something looked different about her today than it had in previous days.

“You cut your hair?” George asked her and reached up to hold a few soft locks in his hand.

Raven smiled and nodded slightly. “Yeah, I wanted a bit of a change… Do you like it?”

George smiled widely. “It looks beautiful.” The pair stared at each other for a moment longer and George wanted so badly to lean in and kiss her, but Fred’s voice from the other side of the shop interrupted George’s thoughts of locking lips.

“Well, I think we’re all set for opening tomorrow! And just in time, too. Hogwarts letters are set to go out this week, so Diagon Alley will be full of kids wanting excuses to skip,” he said with his hands on his hips and looking around.

“Just think of how much trouble you two could have caused if a shop like this had been open back in the day,” Raven suggested.

“Don’t forget your role in those pranks, spunky,” Fred told her with a smile. George nodded in agreement.

As Fred had predicted, the following week was flooded with kids and parents, and on the day before the train left, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stopped by for a few things before departing. George had noticed that he and Fred had been more in sync than ever in their shop, and he couldn’t have been happier. Raven often ran the till for them, but given that they were so busy, Fred and George offered to hop on either side of Raven’s usual spot. They were a well-oiled machine and George thought paradise couldn’t be too far off now. He had faith that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would figure out how to stop Voldemort with eh help of the Order, so he wasn’t too worried about the future. With every day he worked with Raven, his love grew and deepened, and every day he would find something new to make him smile about her. But with each day that went by, he worried more that she had moved on or worse, that she never felt for him in the first place.

“When are you going to talk to her, mate? I know we’re pretty focused with the shop, but… I see the way you look at her. Everyone does. You’ve been in love with the girl since you were thirteen!” Fred said one night as they were closing the shop. George nodded and locked the door.

“I know, I just… I haven’t found the right time. Maybe with Christmas coming up I’ll find a good time,” George said.

Fred nodded. “I just hate to see you looking so lost.” George nodded and the pair apparated to the burrow and were greeted with the arrival of Christmas holiday guests.

After gifts and dinner had been served on Christmas day, everyone retired to their rooms, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were no doubt plotting the latest scheme in their quest to take down Voldemort. George found Raven curled up with a book next to a lamp in the living room and decided to join her. He sat next to her and naturally placed his arm around her shoulders.

“Hi,” she said with a smile and glance at him.

“Reading something good?” he asked her and she scooted closer into his hold.

“It’s a muggle book about a girl with magical powers. It kind of reminds me of Harry’s situation with the rotten parents and sibling type. It’s a children’s book, but it’s quite interesting and fun to read,” she replied without looking up from her book. George smiled and gently rubbed her shoulder with his thumb. He smiled as he watched her turn page after page, when suddenly he heard a rumbling outside and smelled something like fire.

He looked up and saw flames outside of the house and bolted out of his spot next to Raven and armed himself with his wand. He heard Harry run down the stairs with his mum and dad, and the door flung open.

“Bellatrix,” Harry muttered and ran between the flames that surrounded the house. Soon after, Ginny ran after him despite her mother’s cries.

“Come on, we have to put the fire out,” Raven said and grabbed her wand and headed out to stop the flames from encroaching in farther.

She, Fred, and George all went outside and sprayed the fire down to embers and stomped them out as best they could. Before they had time to think and let alone breathe, a wicked cackle rang through the night air as Bellatrix and another Death Eater crashed through the burrow’s windows and set the house ablaze.

“Molly!” Raven cried out and ran inside the burning house. George and Fred followed her and they searched for their mother for a few moments before finding her and guiding her out of the house.

“Where’s Raven?” George asked his mother and Fred once they had stepped away from the flames and he didn’t see her.

Fred’s eyes widened. “I thought she was with you!”

George’s heart raced as he ran back into the flames and shouted for her with no answer. Flaming debris was falling all around him and he couldn’t see much past the smoke. He called again and heard a cough.

“Get out! I’m stuck, just go!” Raven’s voice called out from his left towards the kitchen. He made his way through the flames and found Raven on the floor with her legs trapped under a support beam.

“George, get out!!!” Raven screamed in anguish. Her arm was stretched far from her position and he could see her wand just beyond her reach. He scoffed and levitated the beam off of her, then ran to help her up. She grabbed her wand and George scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the burning building.

“Raven!” Fred cried out and ran towards George. “Is she hurt badly? Is she okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I can walk…” Raven said and wriggled out of George’s hold. “Is everyone okay?”

“I think so…” Molly said in a sad tone. George watched Raven stand for a moment and held his arms out to help her if she fell. Once she was steady on her feet, he stood next to her, facing the fire. The four of them stood away from the flames for a moment and watched in despair as their house burned. After a sigh, Raven started to douse the fire with a powerful hosing spell that got the flames out reasonably quickly. Hermione managed to get the burning surrounding the house extinguished and they all went back inside to assess the damage. Harry and Ginny had returned in the meantime to help.

“I’m so sorry… This is all my fault…” Harry kept saying.

“Did you burn down the building? No. So it’s not your fault, Harry. Stop blaming yourself,” Hermione said sternly, which earned her an impressed look from Raven. After about an hour of putting things back together, they all decided to call it a night. George’s muscles ached and his mouth was dry, but his main concern was Raven’s comfort and safety.

“Only George’s bed is okay up there, mine’s covered in soot and ash,” Fred grumbled. “I’ll take the couch.”

“You can have my bed,” George offered Raven without a second thought.

“Where will you sleep, then?” she asked him. He shrugged. “The floor I suppose.”

Raven shook her head. “I’m sure we can both fit. Come on.”

“I don’t care where you go, just stop talking,” Fred groaned as he curled under the blanket on the couch. Raven and George laughed to themselves and headed up towards the twins’ room.

George’s heart was pounding, and his insides were doing flips. Was he really about to share a bed with the girl of his dreams? He could hardly believe it. Suddenly his fatigue was gone and he felt nothing but gratitude.

“See? There’s plenty of room for both of us… If you don’t mind, that is?” Raven said, suddenly becoming less confident in her idea.

Before her mind could wander and further away from the truth, George spoke up, “Of course not! As long as you’re comfortable, so am I.”

Raven yawned widely and George thought she was adorable. He kicked his shoes off, but didn’t bother changing into his pajamas, and settled on one side of his bed. Raven climbed in on the other side and while the bed wasn’t the smallest, it wasn’t the largest, either, so for the two of them to be comfortable, they were basically on top of each other.

“Comfy?” George asked her once she had settled. Raven nodded against his shoulder. George was lain on his back and Raven on her side facing George. George’s face was a bright red, he was sure, and thanked the darkness for shielding him from embarrassment.

“Good night, Georgie,” Raven said in a small voice.

“Good night, Raven.”

The next morning, George woke up to a clamor in the kitchen that sounded like Harry and Ron having a small argument. George couldn’t quite make out the words, but after a few moments, there was silence and he heard two pairs of footsteps walking back up the stairs. Deciding he wanted to see if the shower was working from the damage last night, he moved to get up, and realized he was lying very close to someone. So close that his arm was around a waist and his chin was touching the top of a full head of air. He remembered the previous night’s sleeping arrangements and his heart pounded. It was Raven who he felt right up against him and who he was holding onto during the night. He didn’t want to wake her, so he carefully and slowly (and very reluctantly) moved his hand from around her waist. As he did so, he heard Raven groan slightly.

“Warm, come back,” she said. George’s breath hitched in his throat and he felt the tent in his pants extend as he re positioned himself with his front pressed against her backside and his arm around her waist. She wiggled herself against him as he pressed closer to her and he was sure by now that Raven was out to kill him. He did his best to control his breathing, but it was ragged and his heart pounded with every touch they shared. He loved their new comfort with each other, and hoped he’d get to cuddle her like this more often. He felt utter bliss with her.

#george weasley #george weasley x oc

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