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angel-with-paper-wings · 1 year

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The Siren’s Song

A super quick one-shot I threw together after being inspired by this amazing art done by nipuni!

This takes place while Erik the siren/merman is in Persia and working for the Shah, and Nadir is charged with making sure he is cared for and ready to suit the Shah’s whims. I hope you all enjoy and thanks again to nipuni for the incredible art and idea!

Rating/Warnings: rated T, tiny amount of gore, references to murder

The sun dipped just below the west horizon, painting the Mazenderan sky a bright blood-red. From the window of the great Persian palace overlooking the Caspian Sea, the sunset’s glowing splendor made for a breathtaking view. A single figure stood at the window; Nadir watched the light disappear below the horizon with a heavy sigh. With the end of the day came one of Nadir’s most important duties, one that he either found mildly enjoyable or extremely unpleasant. The probability of either outcome was as unpredictable as the waves in the sea below him.

Nadir tipped the last of his cup of tea into his mouth, letting the flavors cradle his tongue for a moment before turning away from the window. He then walked through the halls of the fine palace towards the kitchen. The Shah had spared no expense in the construction of the lavish building, which served as His Majesty’s personal home in the region of Mazenderan. Nadir Khan held authority of the property when the Shah was not present, and as such was in charge of the strange rituals that occurred within the building. Or, more accurately, below it.

In the kitchen, Nadir prepared two small baskets of sustenance, then took them and proceeded to the entrance to the palace’s cellars. Down the dark stone steps he treaded, so accustomed to the path by now that he could walk it without the aid of a lantern. He arrived outside a large wooden door with a ruby-encrusted doorknob. Willing his heart to stop beating so fast, he turned the doorknob and opened the door.

Inside was an enormous room, with dark stone walls lit intermittently with torches. The floor of the room was almost entirely missing, replaced instead with a great pool of black water. The surface of the liquid was eerily still and presented no indication of how deep it was. The stillness, coupled with the obtrusive feeling of unknown, gave any who entered it a chill along their spine.

Nadir felt the feeling wash over him again, but let it pass with a practiced air of calm. He stepped forward from the doorway onto the stone platform that formed the edge of the pool. The platform extended forward about three meters, before stopping at the water’s edge. However, a thin stone catwalk, wide enough for a single person to stand on at a time, extended out along the surface of the water, stopping in the center of the great pool. Simply standing on the platform near the door was terrifying enough, but many enemies of the Shah had found themselves being urged out onto the slippery catwalk to meet a ghastly fate. No one in their right mind would step foot on that catwalk, even if they were unaware of what lay beneath the water’s surface; even now, Nadir felt his primal defenses tensing and urging him not to step forward. But he had done this many times before.

He closed the wooden door and let the loud slam echo off of the stone walls. He then stepped forward across the platform with purposefully heavy footsteps: one, two, three, four, five. With a deep breath, Nadir then stepped forward onto the catwalk. He kept his movements slow and scanned the water carefully with his jade-green eyes.

Once he was almost at the edge of the walkway, he became aware of a strange sound surrounding him. It was so faint he did not notice it at first, but by each passing second it grew into a low droning note, half-breath and half-music. It seemed to rise from the water itself, the surface of which remained smooth and black as ink. The soft humming wove itself into Nadir’s mind, pulling him closer and closer, but he fought to keep his legs steady on the platform and his eyes fixed on the water. His voice called out into the chill air of the room, breaking through the humming with a single word.

“Erik?”

At once the humming stopped. Nadir looked around for any sign of movement below the murky water.

“You’re late,” a voice called from behind Nadir. The Persian man jumped and almost slipped on the stone catwalk, hissing out a curse. He turned around to see the figure of a man—well, a man’s head and torso—sitting atop the edge of the stone platform. Where his hips would have begun, the pale skin faded into black scales: the beginning of a long black tail that at the moment remained hidden beneath the surface of the dark water. The top half of the siren’s face was covered by a sculpted white mask, and the bottom half was curled up in an unsettling grin, his yellow eyes unblinkingly fixed on Nadir.

“I had to finish my tea,” Nadir muttered. “But I am not one to forget my duties.” He held up the pair of baskets in his hands.

The yellow eyes shifted to rest on the basket. Erik’s eerie grin widened, his thin lips pulling back to reveal two rows of razor-sharp fangs. Without warning the siren plunged himself into the water, barely leaving a ripple in his wake as he disappeared beneath the surface. The room became deathly quiet again, until Nadir saw a shimmering out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look down at the water next to him, and watched the spiny points of fins dragging along just under the surface. The whiplike tail then flipped out of the water, sprinkling Nadir with a spray of droplets. The man grumbled and wiped his face bitterly.

He whipped his head around to the other side and saw the siren’s head poking out of the water a few feet off of the catwalk, the sly grin frozen in place. Nadir knelt down on the stone walkway and said, “You make this quite difficult. Although I’m sure that is the intention.”

Erik scoffed. “You offend me, Daroga. It is always my intention to make guests feel comfortable when they visit my home.” He brought his bony elbows up to rest on the stone catwalk and craned his neck to see what Nadir was rummaging with in the basket. “What have you brought for me to break my fast with today, hmm?”

Nadir let out a huff as he extracted a large fish, freshly caught. He avoided meeting Erik’s eyes as the siren’s tongue poked out from between the thin lips, dragging across the dagger-like teeth. In the other basket, Nadir revealed his own meal: seasoned lamb kebab with rice and flatbread. At the sight of the “human” food, the siren turned up his nose. “You’ll spoil my appetite, Daroga,” he whined, inching himself further away.

Nadir gave Erik an amused glare while he sat and took a bite of the bread. The siren made a face of disgust before turning his attention to his own meal.

The strange pair began to eat together; at one point, Nadir looked up at the siren, but immediately wished he hadn’t. Erik’s mouth was rimmed with blood, and Nadir’s stomach turned as he watched the long tongue swipe hungrily over his fangs, wiping them clean of fish. “How is your new invention coming along?” Nadir asked, attempting to distract himself from the rather frightening image.

Erik’s yellow eyes sparked. “Perhaps you could tell me,” he said mischievously. At Nadir’s questioning look, he added, “I just tried it on you.”

Nadir frowned. “The humming?”

The siren nodded. Behind him, the fins of his long black tail splashed excitedly in the water. “I have found a frequency of sound that most humans find relaxing, even intoxicating. Amplifying this signal allows it to pass through water with relative ease, reaching their ears without them realizing the source…until it is too late.” The fang-filled grin flashed across his face again.

Nadir nodded in understanding. He wouldn’t lie, it made him a bit disappointed inside to know that Erik was capable of such ingenuity and artistry, only for it to be exploited in the name of causing torture and death. He sighed to himself.

“What about you, Daroga? How are things faring in the world above?” Erik asked as he set aside the bones of the fish and began picking at his fangs with one slender finger.

“Well, the Shah is having trouble finding a replacement vizier, one that he finds more trustworthy than the last.” Nadir couldn’t help his eyes from glancing over to where the scaly black tail shimmered and swished beneath the water. The last vizier, after his betrayal to the Shah was discovered, had found his death in this very room not a week prior, his neck snapped within the elastic force of that same strong tail. Nadir inhaled a deep breath to clear his thoughts. “As such, His Majesty has found himself under a lot of stress. He questions the loyalty of almost everyone around him. Because of this, I imagine you’ll be getting more…visitors soon.”

At Nadir’s last statement, Erik’s eyes darkened. “Visitors,” he spat the word with disdain. He pushed himself off of the stone catwalk and sunk lower into the water. He began to effortlessly swim in a circle before Nadir as he spoke impatiently. “There is no need for petty euphemisms, Daroga. I know what my role is to the Shah. I am his royal executioner; he sends me those he hates the most, the ones he wishes to see die the most agonizing deaths. And much like you, I am not one to forget the duties assigned to me.”

Nadir met the siren’s burning yellow gaze. “That is not the only role you fulfill, Erik,” he assured firmly. “You are an architect, the greatest Persia has ever seen. Your creations have brought wonder and beauty to many, not just terror and destruction. Trust me, you are valued much more than as a simple executioner.”

Erik’s tail lashed through the water, and he practically leapt forward until he was in front of Nadir. “Then why does the Shah keep me in a shallow tank and feed me like an exotic pet? Do not dare lie to me, Daroga, for I know my true worth in this country.” He slowly slid back into the water, turning his black-spined back to Nadir. His hand drifted up to touch the edge of the porcelain mask that hid half of his face. “I know my true worth…in this world.”

Nadir watched Erik with great pity within his noble and generous heart. After a quiet moment, he reached a hand into the inner pocket of his coat. “I believe you requested this a few days ago,” he said softly.

Erik turned his head around, and his eyes widened as he looked upon the object in Nadir’s hands. It was a large book, leather-bound with gold letters forming a title across the cover. He eagerly swam closer to find out what it said. “Italian Architecture of the 16th Century,” he read. His fingers reached up and snatched it from Nadir’s offering hands; he opened it up and began looking through it quickly, paying little attention to the small drops of water from his wet hands soaking through the pages. “Fascinating.”

Nadir smiled at his eagerness. “I suppose I’ll leave you to it, then. Enjoy your evening.” He have a small bow before standing and waking back along the catwalk to the stone platform.

Just as he reached for the door handle, he heard the voice behind him again say, “Daroga.” Nadir paused, before turning back around.

Erik slowly swam forward, cutting through the water like glass without leaving a single ripple. He reached the edge of the pool and pushed himself out with his wiry arms, resting the base of his tail on the stone platform. In the torchlight, Nadir could see the scars that slashed across his chest and shoulders, the way his ribs and joints protruded plainly from under his greyish pale skin. Despite the nocturnal darkness that rimmed his golden pupils, Erik’s eyes appeared soft as they focused on Nadir. “You have my thanks,” he whispered timidly.

A warmth erupted in Nadir’s chest as he took in Erik’s quiet words. With the corners of his lips turned up in a smile, Nadir gave Erik one final nod before opening the door and climbing back up to the world above.

#phantom of the opera #poto #Phantom of the Opera #Erik #Daroga #Daroga/Nadir Khan #erik x daroga #platonic erik x daroga #you can read this as romantic or platonic #I didn’t really specify either way #my writing #one shot #fanfiction #poto fanfiction #mermay

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castrian-amore · 1 month

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Stellata Notte(C’è finalmente libertà)

Death Defying(Danny Fenton x Dick Greyson), DC X DP, Space AU, Unfinished, Chronic Illness, Please see ao3 for full list of tags

Gift fic for @nikki-pondtheauthor

2/? Chapters | Chapter Length: 10,162 words

Chapter 2: When the Welcomes of Star Systems Sing

Dick Grayson was born at approximately 20 Darths and 4 Tiths on the 3rd rotation of the calendar year on the planet of Isman. The planet where his family’s business had taken them for the moment with the intergalactic Haley’s circus. It had been a normal day for them. Land the ship and begin to set up outside of the city capital. Of course his mother had gone into labor and even though she hadn’t been performing that night any hope of the Flying Grayson’s performing at all for the next little bit would have been ruined in general.

The circus was originated by the Humans of the planet of Earth centuries ago but there was little care in the world now where it originated. Now it had shown the detailed and impressive physiological feats of many races from across the galaxy and the various star systems throughout. They were a wonderful mix of new and old and ancient. Forgotten performances of praise to gods no one knew the names of. Dangerous acts of high intensity swinging, and of course that had been how Dick Grayson had grown up.

He was used to the strangeness of the universe and known life having lived and grown up alongside them, many questioning whether or not it was fit to have such a fragile little thing to travel with them. Many watched as the Grasyons taught Dick the very basics of the trapeze. They taught him how to fall. How to catch himself and how to react at a moment's notice. His parents had taught him the ins and outs of the performances and so when it was time for him to perform he would do so flawlessly, and thus two became 3. Of course Dick had loved it growing up around such wonderful and kind people.

He learned various languages and methods of communication from across the galaxy. He learned of the stone people and their precious stones they used to convey emotions because they could only make one face and one tone with their voice. Stone used to clearly display their mood.

He met the kryptonians who looked so similar to himself and yet vastly different in a way that he enjoyed. He met a few Amazons, one of the only species to be able to facilitate one species with all of their residing members having both male and female sex organs they could choose whether they wanted to carry or to impregnate someone themselves. It was interesting and as Dick grew and learned he found himself staring at the miracles that beheld him in space traveling with the circus. He got to watch miracles of life and the misfortunes of death from several of their residing species. What he hadn’t expected was for him own parents to leave him too soon as their show went on and the accident happened upon the planet of Krypton.

No one had expected them to die or for their technology to malfunction around them. No one had expected any of it, and yet here they were. Dick had watched his parents die and thus he was left with no family around him. Humans spread too far and thin across the galaxies with no true planet to call their home, they were known as a wandering race anyways.

Dick thought he might have to find new partners to continue to afford to live and eat aboard the ship not knowing where he would turn too scared and confused about what he had witnessed convinced someone had targeted his parents for something, that had to be it right? It couldn’t have been in an accident? They had done this same routine a hundred times and it seemed no different to them that they couldn’t do anything about the accident.

But it had been just that, an accident.

So Dick sat on a bench inside of the ship staring out the window at the landscape of krypton underneath the red run. What could he do after all? What was he going to do? He had only been brought from his reality now once more at the door opening to his room. Haley stood there rubbing the back of his neck.

“There’s someone who wants to meet you Dick..”He spoke softly and gave the man a small smile. Dick had glanced back to see another human in a business suit. He gave a gentle sad smile and walked over.

“May I sit here?”He motioned at the free spot in the window sill. The two sat in silence for another moment and Dick wasn’t about to be the one to break it before the man spoke again.

“My name is Bruce Wayne and my home resides here on Krypton… I am sorry to hear about your parents' young Grayson,”He spoke genuinely and as Dick stared up at him he saw a matching expression. The man held sorrow in his eyes and a soft smile filled with regret.

“Thanks…”Dick whispers out, pushing down his feelings and staring back out the window.

“How are you holding up?” Dick gave a shrug at that one. How was he holding up? How was he holding up against the crushing weight of the worlds resting upon him now. Everyone asked if he was okay. Everyone apologizing to him for his loss. Everyone repeating the same lines over and over again and some slightly different than others but at the end of the day he saw it all for what it was, a facade of caring.

No one offered to take him on as a foster. No one offered him a job to hold onto in the meantime so he had a way to feed himself. No one offered him anything but their sympathies and false promise of hope and dreams that they would never fulfill. Of course they did. Why would they help the now poor orphaned Flying Grayson who was the only one lucky enough to not fall to their deaths.

Then there was this guy, and Dick was so sure he was going to offer him nothing but sympathies and apologies and wishes of things he didn’t even want. Dick didn’t know who this man was or why he had been there talking with him in the first place but that didn’t mean anything to dick did it? This man meant nothing and would mean nothing to him because why should he? He had to be like everyone else right?

“Holding on,”Dick curtly replied, pulling his knees to his chest and gazing fixed out the window in a quiet daze as the thoughts ran rampant through his mind.

“Your parents gave an amazing performance, You did too,”he offered and in a way it was more blunt and stating fact than him trying to actually calm down Dick. It was a quiet comment that he had done his performance well as if that was all there had been to it. Another performance. Another compliment and job well done. What did this man want?

“And? The systems still failed, they died.”Dick ripped the tears wanting to form in his eyes for a moment trying to hold it together and then he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder as he looked up at him.

“But you’re still alive and kicking aren’t you,”he offered that same longing smile. A smile and eyes that hid the fear behind them and the quiet intonations that he knew what Dick was going through.

“I guess..”He curtly replied.

“Do you have anything you want to do when you get older?” Bruce gave him a gentle smile. “I wanted to be a pod racer. You know the ones they do on that desert planet just a few darths away from the Kraison system? Have you heard of it? There’s an entire league and they even stream it. It’s still pretty cool if I do say so myself.”

“I haven’t heard of it?” Dick replied softly as the other pulled away. ‘I don’t think I do.. I just wanted to perform with my parents.” Dick looks out the window then down to his hands. “I can’t do that anymore.”

“I think you can use that though, can’t you? Do you like the stars? You like traveling?”Bruce smiles.

“Yeah?”

“Then let’s live one day at a time until you figure out what you want to do. How you want to move on. Moving on from anything is a big task after all isn’t it? Mourning is an even bigger one that is going to take time. Maybe spending some time out in the stars and planet will help, but maybe with a new group of friends.”

“What are you saying?” Dick slowly looked over at the man. His hair black and slicked back in his formal suit and eyes glistening with a plan as he glanced over at Dick gently giving him a smile.

“If you’ll have me. I think I'd like to see if you’ll allow me to take you in as your foster parent. No need to call me dad. No need to feel pressured into my lifestyle. You just will have the freedom to do what you want alongside me for a while and go to school, and study, and maybe figure out a new life one step at a time.” Bruce gave him a smile and stood up offering his hand out to Dick.

A young Dick Gray son new to the world and scared at the news of his parents death and finally looking at the single person he felt as if wouldn’t betray him in the eyes. The man with an old soul and plenty of money as well as the unshaking urge to continue pushing forwards no matter how hopeless things seemed to get.

Dick had learned many things from him. Now where to begin…

9 YEARS AGO

“We are gathered here today to celebrate our graduates of the Federation Academy. All of these students are hard working, responsible members of the federation. We would like to take this time to announce our top graduates in their fields of study and their new ship assignments,”The President beamed. The Federation Academy. The high school was only for the best of the best and the only school allowed to take students from any walk of life and allow them to immediately enroll within the Federation ships.

The classes allow for those who aim for certain fields to focus on them and join within the ranks of the ships where they can build their careers and press on.

“May I present for the top of the Medical Field Classes Jazz Fenton.” The fiery red head walked on the stage giving a bright smile as she waved and took the certificate allowing the media to take a good look and their cannon shots of her. She was charismatic and good at what she did. Able to not only fix you up in a heartbeat physically but mentally. It also made her a dangerous opponent to fight though. Dick couldn’t count the times she used knowledge she learned from who knows where to take down opponents twice her size with secret techniques and things about their physiology No one would normally know. He knew she had a brother she barely got to see and other than that they briefly had interacted. She stepped off the stage exiting to the right of it to sit down in the designated spots.

“M’gann M’orzz head of our Interspecies Relations!”

She gave a polite nod to the class and gave a big wave to everyone. She was always so friendly so the fact she landed top of her class there was no surprise to him. Dick got along well with her and helped her adjust. He had briefly met her uncle J’onn on one occasion alongside Bruce. He was very straight forward but caring in comparison to M’gann who liked to do her own thing and was very animated. He hasn’t been to Mars in a long while. M’gann always said she would show him around if he ever decided to visit.

“Koriand’r of Tamaran top of her class in Civil and Interplanetary Defense!”

Dick had always had a thing quietly for Kori. He had tried to make moves but turns out she wasn’t interested in him back and in turn they still remained close friends as Dick had been the one to first befriend her and help her learn the way of life on Krypton. It had been a tricky situation for all of them.

“Dar’ith Kal’halium,” the man took a breath with a smile as the Greviaan walked on stage with his 4 tentacle like legs.” Head of the class in Engineering and ship design!” An award that would later find itself in Tim’s hands and it would be Dick in the crowd happily clapping at the man with a smile. Dar’ith was a kind soul and he found himself often in trouble a lot more than one would think. He would get to involved with work he forgot to not only take care of himself but he commonly got so distracted he would almost always accidentally drop something or almost hurt someone because of it. Dick would laugh and help him before they moved on.

“And lastly, the top of this years class not only as a whole but also top of the class in Interplanetary piloting in small grade, multi-warp, and long haul capable vessels, Dick Grayson,”the Kryptonian introduced him as he saw his family in the crowd cheering for him loudly. Still a few years before the accident that would end up Driving Jason away from the federation. Dick walked the stage taking the certificate, giving his charming smile across his face and giving a small nod of thanks to the headmaster as they stepped off to the side.

“Everyone give a round of applause for the tops of the classes!” The crowd cheered loudly and Dick looked over at all his friends standing beside him. He couldn’t ask for better people. “We welcome these young souls into the Interplanetary Defense Federation with open arms if they so choose. We have already reviewed words from 4 of them who would like to enlist so now I will read out their ship assignments.”

The crowd began to quiet down and now this was what Dick was nervous about. Ship assignments. His focus was to be a captain of a ship but there was no way he would be given a ship at just 18. Which meant he would be assigned to a ships defense pilot squadron. He knew which one he wanted. The I.D.F.S Unrelenting. The newest ship in the fleet fitted with a long haul multi-warp engine and it’s own 10 small grade defense patrol if needed. It was built for the soul purpose of exploring deep space. Though he didn’t think he’d mind the I.D.F.S Trinity either. Both were newer and the most technologically advanced ships but the catch 22 but even being 18 most humans weren’t allowed for long haul flights and there were rumors of the I.D.F.S Unrelenting to be released on a long deep space mission. It was the largest ship in the fleet after all and it seemed best to go and explore with all of it’s abilities.

“Jazz Fenton will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Trinity! Koriand’r of Tamaran will be on the I.D.F.S Starfire! Dar’ith Kal’halium on the I.D.F.S Krisme the space station orbiting here around Krypton. Dick Grayson will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Bludhaven.”

Dick’s heart fell… the Bludhaven? He was top of his class! He excelled in everything and yet Jazz Fenton beat him out for the Trinity! The BludHaven was an older single-warp long haul ship with a small 4 ship defense grouping. Still, the crowd cheered and Dick fought the disappointment in his eyes and his heart about where he was stationed. The BludHaven was a patrol ship around the outer galaxies centered on the dying planets and maintaining a close bond with the edge of the universe with the rest of the galaxy. It was far away from most people and commonly required a smaller multi-warp capable ship to get to it despite the fact that it, itself was not a multi-warp ship.

Of course he didn’t get it. Of course he never truly would.

5 YEARS AGO

“Dick.” A broke voice called out to him through heavy breaths of smoke.``Dick get up!” There were flames everywhere and Dick was fighting the smoke inhalation as he choked on his own words trying to form any semblance of a sentence to get his thoughts together. He could feel the blood trickling down his face and almost getting into his eyes as he sat up looking around him painfully aware of his throbbing skull and knowing there must be a concussion there. Dirk was already pulling him to his feet with a panicked look across his smooth features Tentacle tightly wrapped around his wrist.

“What’s happened?”

“Someone’s attacking the ship! We’ve got to go! All the other defense pilots were taken out and the captains called for a full evacuation!” Dirk pulled him along the stubling man being dragged behind in his uniform. Both of them trying to blend in with the crowd his mind was trying to work and he pulled himself from Dirk’s grip.

“No-- I have to get to my ship,”he shook his head. “Someone’s gotta help defend the escaping pods none of them are equipped with weapons.”

“This ship is a patrol ship! It’s stationed amongst mining colonies, it’s not meant for things like this!” Dirk tried again to pull him.

“So what?!” Dick flinched as the ship rocked and both of them were roughly thrown into the wall another call for the evatuation filling his ears as he coughs some more his lungs still burning. “So what? Dirk what happened to the other ships? Their pilots? My squadron?”

When Dick had been stationed out here he struggled with finding a place because they had brought him out to replace the old squadron leader. They apparently didn’t seem worth it to promote from within and it had taken him a year and a half before his squad finally started to respect him. He had been the youngest squadron’s leader in the history of the Federation. It had been why they had sent him out there, to try and keep the place from falling apart even as he learned of his groups and the ships nefarious duties. He kept quiet about. Desperately trying to underhandedly sabotage the illegal shipments they let through. Take proof of the bribes and mysteriously send it to command. The ship knew there was someone causeing issues aboard and ruining their entire legal operations but Dick maintained a facade he knew Bruce helf onto far too well.

Bruce always did far more than he let on, having shown Dick his personal space station he had nick named the “BatCave”. Based on old art he had found in the old Earth Archives of an animal that had existed too long ago. Bruce apparently had been apart of a secret society trying to weed out the bad guys within the Federation and across several planets landed himself the name of “Batman”, Specifically on the planet of Gotham. Dick had done it with him for a short while but balancing that and the Academy had not been easy.

Now though, here on the BludHaven? Dick had ended up doing as his father had. They had given him the nickname of “Night” Because he appeared during the sleeping hours of the ship. Dick didn’t quite understand it but he took the name and ran with it. Keeping his little side hobby of ruining the ships underhanded and nefarious purposes were difficult, and he despised most of the people on the ship.

“Dick,”Dirk was pulling him from his thoughts. He shoved a set of bracelets in his hands looking away before walking off. The identification tags. He stared at them. These were his squadrons tags. He was the only one left. That meant there was only one more person able to protect the people. The bridge, he had to get to the bridge. He pushed past the people running towards teh escape pods. He went agains the currents fighting way to get to the bridge. Melinda. She had helped him and if she was ordering a ship wide evacuation he had to know.

“Mel!”He screamed as he pushed his way through the crowd as the doors to the bridge opened. Mel was in rough shape. She had several gashes from expected explosions throughout the ship and she was barely holding on to the captain’s chair as she looked back at him.

“Dick,”she smiled weakly. “I thought I sent Dirk to get you out of here?” Her slightly blue tinted skin gleamed in the light. She had come from a water based planet and had gills normally covers in a thin film to protect them as well as webbed fingers and mere holes for ears with electronic adapters connected through her skull to process sound without overwhelming her.

“You know I don’t listen,”He laughs before he watches her stand and then immediately collapse as he rushes over to catch her. “What’s going on Mel, talk to me?” He urges her.

“It’s a pirate fleet. They caught on that the ship was causing problems and interfering in their trade practices of Sprint. No longer aiding in it.”She coughs weakly and Dick’s eyes widened seeing her cough up the green blood of her species. He looked her over eyes widening finding the

“So they’re taking care of the issue,”He finishes quietly looking out the main bridge window, seeing the several ships. He pauses as he is yanked down to her level.

“Dick,”she starts obviously struggling to breathe. She grabbed his wrist tag and pressed the small button on the side not letting him react. “I name you Captain of the I.D.F.S BludHaven under emergency order code 67901.” She let go of his wrist as the tag flashed red then green.

“Mel, what are you--”

“Shut up and listen to me,”She breathed out collapsing more into his arms. “You are one of the kindest and more caring people I’ve ever met. You care for everyone no matter what and you have a heart a gold and you are one of the best leader’s I’ve seen in the field even when you know that your underlings hate you.”

“Mel, stop. You’re talking like you’re going die!” Dick pulled her close trying to stop her bleeding trying to fight the tears welling in his eyes.

“I am. Stop this.”She uses the last of her energy to push him away. “Go get your fighter ship. Protect your people. They’re your responsibility now. I’m going to drive this ship into these bastards and let this ship go down with glory, in flames.”

Dick paused, wiping his eyes before she weakly slammed her hands on the captain’s chair forcing herself back up as she gave him a final smile. Dick gives a firm nod and a final salute. He hadn’t planned on being captain at only 22 years old. It would not be overlooked as he tried to ignore the pain still edging behind his eyes.

He took a deep breath and turned on his heels and ran towards the ship's bay.

“Kai!”He called out as the AI of the Kryptonian inventor appeared.

“Yes Dick?”It greeted.

“Prepare bay doors for emergency fighter ejection, Is the NightWing ready?”

“She is always ready in case of an attack. Though, the captain put the entire ship on emergency evacuation so I must insist you return to the evacuations Shuttle pods.” Dick held up his wrist.

“No, I’m piloting the NightWing. This ship is set to blow. I’m protecting those transports from the attacks. Give ‘er all the firepower you can.”

The small blue light and scan passed over his wrist as the AI nodded. “Very well then Captain Grayson. I will move her over as you change.”

Dick was already stripping from the standard uniform and into the pilot's gear as quickly as possible. “What percentage of the ship has gotten to the escape pods?”

“Approximately 89%. It will take another 5 minutes to finalize the rest of the ship minus those who have already been recorded as dead.” Kai appeared in front of him, handed over the head piece for the suit and he slipped it on behind his ears.

“Can you connect me to the bridge?”

“Of course Captain,”Kai nodded as he watched it patch him through.

“Mel, I know you can hear me. You have to wait 5 more minutes for the final ships to get out of here. Give them everything we got. I'm about to head out myself okay? Hold on for just a little longer.”

“Oh trust me Dick, I’m holding on with whatever life I have left.” Dick laughed softly trying to ignore how weak she sounded but she was a stubborn one wasn’t she?

Dick climbed into the NightWing as the tops shut and he gave a heavy sigh flipping the controls before he sighs. “Broadcast to the shuttles and this ship.”

“Of course,”A pause from Kai. “Connected, now broadcasting.”

“This is Captain Dick Grasyson of I.D.S.F BludHaven enacted to my position from emergency protocol 67901. Get on those transports as fast as possible and get out of here and jump. Until all ships have warped out of here I will be acting as cover as the last of my Squadron’s Protection Unit. I know this is scary. We will make it through this, and listen to me. I will not let anything happen to the remaining shuttles as best as I can. We will get through this. This is the Nightwing. Comms out.” The communication shut off as he felt the purr of her engine start and watched her come to life in front of him.

He shot out of the bay and it had been a long time since he’d had to do active fighter maneuvers but it proved just how good he was at it, not even the slightest bit rusty.

Still, as the last shuttle still standing left the local space and all enemy fire was on him he stared at the BludHaven, watching her dive headfirst into the main Pirate ship. He watched her explode. Eyes closing as he took a final deep breath.

“Kai, how’s the warp corp?”

“Holding and steady.” His ship rocked as the blast of the Bludhaven finally reached out. “Wait! Losing power! If you need to jump, do it now.”

“On it,” Dick flipped the switch trying to ignore the damage reports now filling his vision as he took another ship and his head moved and hit the glass. Another shock sent down his spine. Fuck, no not yet. “Enable warp.”

Dick barely pushes the button before he blacks out, praying he wouldn’t crash.

ONE DAY AGO

“Dick, this isn’t looking good!”Tim’s voice was frantic from down inside the engine bay. The man had to have been running back and forth with his tools like a madman. “How are they getting so many hits? Why aren’t our shields operating at full capacity.”

“You’re telling me!”Dick hissed out gripping the sides of the pilots chair firmly as he wove them in and out of the way to the best of his abilities trying to avoid what he could from the debris field coming their way. The rings of a planet long since lost to a comet or asteroid having run it through and yet somehow the rings still maintained their shape, probably would end up drifting eventually and cause even more problems but this wasn’t his system and it wasn’t his problem. His problem right now, was the fucking pirates hot on their trail.

They could keep up which was a concern in itself on so many levels. He didn’t know how to take it so that someone could keep up.

“We need to jump,”Jason commented sliding over to push more buttons so Dick could focus on steering the ship in front of him, he just wished they could have left her on autopilot mode and went on with the even with little to no worry but yet here they were being attacked by something, or well someone. A group of people more than likely with their own impressively fast ship.

“You’re telling me! We need to lose them before we can jump!”

“We’re only going to have one jump!”Tim’s voice exclaimed. “I only think we can make it one more jump before we lose warp capabilities!”

“We need to lose them then,”Dick mumbles under his breath. “I need to try out our stealth mode, that's the only way. They only found us because we took them off. We need to turn them back on.”

“You want to jump while in stealth mode! We haven’t even tested that!”Tim’s voice cut off at the end of the radio as Dick heard a squeal and probably the sound of Dick falling.

“Do we have another choice!”Jason pressed. “I’d like to live long enough to go on a date. I promise my girlfriend once she got back from her mission by the way!”

“You’re saying that as if I didn’t cancel a dinner with Bernard for this!”

“Will both of you shut up!”Dick hissed out at his siblings who went quiet at Dick’s stress. He always held his cool. He took a deep breath and gave a sigh. “I’m sorry. Tim, buckle up. You too Jason. We’re initiating stealth mode.”

“On it!” Tims voice echoed and cut off and soon enough the doors to the cockpit opened with a small hiss and in ran Tim who almost practically fell into one of the chairs as he buckled up.

“Initiating spy initiative,”Dick calls out as Jason flips a few switches. “Now.''He and Jason press the designated buttons as they move and feel the ship shutter for a moment and immediately Dick moves to initiate the Warp drive procedure. “Opening coolant vents.”

“Initiating warp corp,”Jason replies.

“Coordinates?”

“The Earth System. We should be able to make it to mars and get a full run down on the ship there,”Tim quotes. “No other system is close enough for us to be able to safely make.”

“Delightful,”Jason grumbles as Dick gives them a smile.

“Come on Jay! You said you wanted an adventure!”

“That was you Dick,”Jason rolls his eyes and Dick smirks.

“Huh, that it was, wasn’t it?” A smile crosses Jason’s face.

“Shut up Dick. Press the goddamn button before we get shot down.”

“Alright alright!”Dick laughs and looks at the joystick in his hand as he presses the button and the three of them are welcomed with the familiar feeling of the FTL drive activating and they soared through the galaxy on their way to their intended location. Mars.

However, they fell out of hyperspace too soon. The entire ship jostled and sparks flew through the cockpit as Tim hopped up without a word and bolted down to the engine bay.

“We have a problem. I don’t care what planet it is but you need to land this ship now!”

“What do you mean Tim?”

“We’re about to lose most of her power capabilities.”

“Nearest planet is that desert planet. I’m still on stealth so asking Barbara isn’t a question,”Dick hisses out as he switches their flying back to 100% manual. Out of all of them DIck was the pilot of the family. Jason the Brawn and Tim was the brains of their little trio, and when they had Damian, well he was a little bit like all of them in his own unique way. Not that Dick let him fly the ship after all.

The two of them buckled and Dick praying Tim would at least be holding on down there he prepped her for landing the ship as they entered the atmosphere picking up the readings of the city below. A small port with seemingly one of two bigger buildings and a shipyard and boy was she shaking and it was taking everything with in Dick to not want to fight her so much as she landed with a small his and no sooner did he put the breaks on her for full final landing initiative did she shut off completely the emergency backup lights overhead picking up and the stars blinking above them.

This was not how this mission was supposed to go. Jason and Dick bolted for the engine bay where Tim was coughing having seemingly just put out a fire.

“So uh.. We may have a few things to repair,”He gave a sheepish smile and Dick groaned quietly, turning on the balls of his feet to head up to the cockpit. Of course they did. Of course he was going to be off planet for a bit.

At least he met a handsome stranger who kept up with his bad jokes.

At least the man had listened to their concerns and took them seriously and more importantly hadn’t ratted them out.

At least he was breathing.

At least he was alive… for now.

At least they had made it to the next star system in one piece.

At least they were Wayne's.

CURRENT

“LOOK AT ME!”Jason shoved Dick into the wall, hands grasped on his shirt. “Leave the kid to me! I know you’re fawning over him. I know that look in your eye where you want to wage war, but who here has fucking first aid training.”

“You.”

“Who here is the only one of us qualified to drive a multi-warp long haul vessel?”

“Me.”

“Exactly,”Jason shoves him towards the bridge as Dick fights the memories of the fires and Mel bleeding out in front of him and watching the shuttle transports explode around him as he tries his best to defend them. Right… Dick took a deep breath. This would be for naught if Danny dies. He had just gotten to the stars; he couldn't die yet. Dick stares at his hands and the blood of the sick friend dying as he watches Jason pick his lip body up to move him.

Warp. Yes, they had one job. He had one job. Jump them to the next system. Dick wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief as he walked to the main bridge moving to sit down as he heard the doors open and close behind him not long after. Of course Tim was coming along to the Bridge with him. He takes a deep breath as he stares at the systems in front of him moving to adjust what he needed to as he entered the coordinates for the next major system over, the only one they’d be able to make a warp too and fast. He turned off the spy systems now that they were closer to mars.

“I saw that look,”Tim begins.

“Not now Tim… we’ll talk about it later.”

“You always want to talk about stuff later when it comes to yourself, Dick. Why not now?”

“Because Danny is dying!” Dick spins around to look at him. “You and I both know we don’t have the medical equipment on board to take care of him Tim!”

“Jason is a talented Field medic! He can make someone live with a fucking single roll of gauze and some bullshit medical supplies! If he’s going to survive anything it’s going to be because of Jason!”

“That’s not the point! He’s not a miracle worker! He’s not a fucking medic, a science officer! He was supposed to go to the Federation focusing on Interplanetary Defense, not the medical field!” Dick rubbed his face. “I’m jumping this conversation is finished.”

“No it’s not,”Tim rolled his eyes and turned in his chair clicking the button to allow for security as Dick did the same opening a coms to the room Dick knew Jason would be in.

“Get strapped in this is about to be a bumpy ride to the Greshin Moons.”

“Why there?!?!”Jason called back.

“Closest place with human capable doctors and engineers that can work on this beast,”Tim replied before Dick had time too. “Besides, isn’t that where your girlfriend is stationed?” A smirk could be heard in his voice.

“Jumpin in 5, 4,3--”

“Damn he is in a Pissy mood,”Jason replied. “But yes she’s on one of them, but I’m also supposed to be on Krypton so how about we don’t--”

“1,”Dick finishes as the pull of the warp corp surrounds them as the ship shakes as he hears Tim hissing over the stats on the engine in front of him before they land and the entire energy of the ship flickers and a small explosion is heard from the engine bay.

“FUCK”He heard Tim exclaim before standing up and rushing to assess the damage as Dick ignores it and hails the tower of the port on the first moon of Greshin. Dick was partly thankful the names of the moons were literally just 1, 2,3,and 4. Greshin was a Gas Giant afterall and yet somehow had an entire city built within the highly toxic gasses of the city. The top of the spire just barely visible through the clouds of smoke. He ignored it, heading straight for the main port.

“Central command on Grenshin Moon 1, this is Dick Grayson of Wayne Enterprises on the “Sleeping Bat” entertaining act 4 section 5 of the Federation support code. We would like to request emergency medical aid to meet us upon arrival for a critical human male.”

“Heard that Grayson. Your request is confirmed. Land in sector 7-93.”

“Copy.” Dick didn’t mind the Greshin moons that much. They were filled with a nice group of more beastial races but he didn’t care too much because they had good engineers and were loyal to the Federation most importantly which meant there would be minimal questions as they didn’t like to avoid themselves within the conflict of the federation and the surrounding planets. The only reason why Jason had an issue with the planets was because during his little separation from the family for a little bit he smuggled a lot through the Greshin moons and so most of the authorities on the planets like to give him problems. He wasn’t quite sure what the man did exactly but he would manage he presumed.He had too because Danny seemingly had no other choice did he?

Dick did as he was told though and landed the ship meeting Jason by the doors of the bed bay. As the doors opened they were greeted with the familiarity of the Greshin people. Their dark fur in a wide array of colors overed the body and they had a gurney by them as Jason rushed Danny over to it, setting him down on top and immediately moving to follow. Dick was about to follow until Tim grabbed his arm and shook his head.

“Wait, we need to move. Let’s get our ship fixed. It’s going to take them a second to stabilize Danny anyways let alone think about when he will awake. Jason can stay with him for now and Jason has his tag on so we’ll be fine.” Tim looks at him calmly. “Come on Dick, I don’t think I’ve seen you this mellow in a while.”

“Oh be quiet,”Dick sighs softly, giving a small slightly forced smile as he followed the others knowing exactly where they were headed. “You just want me because Hai’ta’l likes me better than you.” Dick elbowed Tim in the side and Tim responded with a push.

“She does not!”

“Does too! We always get a discount from her! Also your translator working properly?” Dick teases softly as he moves to switch his on. Hai’ta’l didn’t speak English; her particular specifies of insectoid origins didn’t have the capabilities to make the noises that could produce the language. Instead Hai’ta’l spoke through a series of clicks and hisses with her mandibles and even if the name they had given her didn’t completely fit it was the closest translation of what it meant or even the sounds equal to in the english language.

‘Yeah I upgraded it a little too so it’s not so like-”He stopped for a moment trying to think about how to phrase his next sentence as they walked across the jungle-like planet watching one of the Greshin swing onto the next platform above them. “Laggy? I guess?”

The planets of Greshin were beautiful and lush humid planets with lots of oxygen but low enough levels that Humans could still thrive just fine. The planet was filled with large trees and shrubbery with most of the cities being built off of cliff sides of amongst the trees themselves. The carnivorous plants and Jas’i’as lives below them so living amongst the trees was the safest way to traverse the planets. All of them sharing in the similar jungle like environment. The beastial Greshin people who lived there came in a variety of colors of fur and similar yet different features. Most of them had teeth to fit that of a human as they were omnivores and skilled specifically in medicine. Their planets held some of the rarest plants and 20 incredibly different trees with healing and separate factors to assist in healings.

This had been the best place for Danny.

A lot of the people of Grenshin used their claws to climb up and down the trees as well as swing to various platforms amongst the trees, however as they had delved into space exploration and began to travel amongst the stars they had made their lands far more accessible to travelers as well as several different species moving to live amongst the trees as the Greshin did. He knew on the 3rd Moon they were having a Federation sponsored event on the medicinality of the herbs of the Greshin moons and how they could be used and incorporated into the Federation Medical campaign and treatment over all, and it would also talk about how to maintain and keep the plants alive on various ships and even them having talks of the Federation taking spores and roots back to Krypton for the International Greenhouse. Dick only knew of that because Jason always shared what Jazz was doing, always in a constant state of bragging and being proud of her and rightfully so. They cared a lot about each other.

Dick had been discharged after the BludHaven incident at his request. He wanted a break from the Federation but as far as he knew his friends were still involved and wanted him to come back but Dick hadn’t been with the federation for almost 4 years and he didn’t know how to feel, He liked working with his family, and the federation had given him an upgraded version of the Nightwing and now it sat in the garage of the Bat Cave collecting dust. In this day and age most ships didn’t need a large protection squadron and that left the ships like the Nightwing obsolete used for war and quick in and out bombings and raids and things and that wasn’t something he wanted to involve himself in given the current chaos of the war he foresaw coming.

He didn’t want to kill people because his commanders deemed a life less than. He didn’t want to hurt people. He took a deep breath. They showed up to the large warehouse built on the sturdy platform near the shipyard that Hai’ta’l used as her place of operations. Her beloved warehouse where she worked on her ships.

“Well, I did not think I would see you two for a while,” Her form appeared in the doorway her mandibles clicking as her head cocked to the side on her double jointed legs.

“You know us, we have a tendency to break things!” Dick smirked.

“You do have an uncanny tendency to break things,”Tim agreed.

“You’re not innocent yourself tiny Microwave.”She smirked looking at Tim who admittedly was about 3 inches shorter than Dick and about

“It was one time!”Tim exclaimed and she laughed softly at him, motioning them inside.

“What happened this time?” She asked moving to her desk as they moved to sit down and Tim pulled out his blueprints and set them down and laid them out in front of her.

“I can show you this, but you’re going to need to see this yourself in person to see what the damage is,”Tim replies shyly as she looks over the blueprints in front of her.

“Were you commissioned by the federation for this?”

“Yeah,”Tim rubbed the back of his neck for the moment looking away as she poured over the blueprints.

“I can tell from how technologically advanced it is, shit Tim. I know you’re one of the head designers for Wayne enterprises and all but what the fuck? This is insane? You want me to work on this?” Dick gives a nod.

“Not super concerned, we have an injured person with us . We need to get home soon but he needs to heal as well so us spending some extra time here isn’t too much of a concern.” Dick explains.

“Tim, you’re going to have to work on this with me.”

“Oh yeah, that’s kind of not the worst part?” He looks away. “We jumped and definitely broke like a lot more stuff? Uh, we had it patched in the Earth system but like it was just barely patched?” Hai looked at them and gave what amounted to a sigh.

“Yeah you’re helping me with this. Are you guys doing your usual payment methods?”

“We can double it if you fast track it too,”Dick commented. “Tim, if you want to stay here I can go get the ship while you go over the specifics of what needs to be fixed. “ Tim gave a nod as Dick stood up exiting the building as he started back towards their ship and moving it over as Hai opened the bay doors so they could get the ship in. Dick stayed around to watch Hai’s reaction to the damage trying to stop himself from Cackling as he heard the horrendous screech coming from Hai as she saw what she was working this.

“How did you even warp?!?!”

“He was a very good mechanic?”

“Very good mechanic?!? I need to meet this fucker! He did this out of scraps. Imagine what he could do if he worked on an actual ship and with actual parts instead of just---”

His communicator pinged.

“What’s up?” Dick asked as he walked out of the hangar into the outside.

“It’s about Danny..”Jason began. “I don’t even know how to explain this, but you need to see this.”

“What?”Dick frowns, a small panic filling his chest as he begins towards the large white buildings built around the tallest tree with windows lining the sides of it. The hospital. Plants grew up the sides of the building. Dick was hurrying towards it. “What happened?”

“Dick.. he’s fine mostly but this is just-- we need to get him to Krypton. This changes everything Dick..”

Panic filled his lungs and he began to bolt for the hospital adrenaline filling his system as he pushed for the building and almost burst through the doors as the nurse seemingly was there expecting him as she held her hands up.

“Take a deep breath, come follow me.” He does as she says, catching his breath for just a moment before he moves to follow her into the scan room.

Jason was staring at his full body scans in front of them. The holograph projecting everything in front of him.

“Dick,”Jason greets before the nurse shuts the door and Jason gives a nod and the door is locked and then the doctor walks in through the other one locking it behind him.

“What’s going on…” Dick was on edge hand going for his phaser on his waist Jason shook his head stopping him.

“Dick, don’t this is too important.” Jason warned.

“Hello, I’m doctor Lalir,”she introduced herself. “That is my main nurse Fismin.” Fismin gave a curt nod. “We’re here to talk to your about your friend. The injured one you call Danny.”

“Yeah?” Dick crosses his arms and looks at the holograph.

“The first things first is that this is what his body normally looks like under a standard scan, we were able to replicate what it should look like based off of scans we already have,” the holographs flickers just slightly as it shows his bones, nervous system, organs and all in 3 separate layers.

“This is what his showed up as,”The form flickered and it almost all became static for a moment before he could pick up little bits and pieces.

“Why is it so distorted?” Dick frowns.

“Well, we weren’t completely sure so we started running some more tests, Taking blood, fixing him up, etc. Then when he tested the blood we saw it was highly radioactive. The radiation dies off quite quickly when exposed to standard oxygen for some reason and it disperses to the air but it still almost permanently leaves the blood with an almost green tint to it. Then we did other tests.”

“And?” Dick was concerned. Radiation permanently fused to his blood? What could do something like that?

“He apparently is so infused with radiation he gives off the same levels within his body that are similar to a warp core. The power inside of him is also like that. He’s undergoing surgery right now, but we have our staff members who we trust enough to work on him wearing radiation suits and being careful while taking care of him. We were able to get a clear picture of his leg to fix it as well but we believe that was likely only due to the fact that we zoomed in incredibly close to the bone and it was far away from his chest where the radioactive energy seems to be centered.”

“What does this mean? Is he still human?” Dick frowns. More scans replaced the ones in front of him.

“It seems he carries the meta gene and as a reaction to high and intense levels of radiation it seems it activated his recessive genes, and when he was in this high stress event of high radiation levels he absorbed it and bonded with it.”

“He’s a walking warp core,”Jason seems to finish. “The guy is a walking, living radioactive warp core inside of a human body. He thrums with energy and electricity and I’m not sure if he knows the extent to which he is but he must know something went wrong? He mentioned an accident right?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t tell us anything just that it fucked up his leg,”Dick bites at his nail hesitantly as he thinks for the second anxiously. “Do you think that accident was this? What could have caused this though, something of this level.”

“Another warp core?”Fismin suggested. “The only thing I can think of with that much exactly and condensed radioactive energy is may there was a crack in the warp core casing? Maybe it shattered when he was near it and consumed him and he only survived because his body bonded with it rather than anything else?”

“Maybe..” Dick hums,” You’re right about getting him to Krypton. This is a medical mystery, but at the same time he doesn’t deserve to become a walking test subject.”

“We agree,”The doctor gave a smile. “That is why we are limiting contact with him and those who want to see his records need my permission to open them, and as soon as he is finished being under our care I will see to it his records destroyed.”

“Is he dying though, how are his cells holding up?”Jason decides to ask next as he looks calm and serious.

“It appears they are withstanding the radiation incredibly well,” Another hologram appeared on the screen of the blood. “These white blood cells you see here? They normally react to intruders and fight of diseases. The white blood cells bonded with the radiation and now it seems the further away from the body they go the less radiation they carry and the faster the cells seem to die.”

“So if he ever loses that radiation with in him?”

“He’ll die, at this point that focal point of radiation centered in his chest around his heart is what’s keeping it moving. If his body loses that radiation then this body will begin to do septic and try and kill him.”

Dick rubs his face anxiously. Of course it would. What the fuck. “But he’s fine for now? He’s going to be okay?”

“Yes, but there is a problem you all need to be aware of. This radiation in his blood? It means unless you can find another cursed soul to have this flowing through them? No one can donate blood and I’m not even sure we can make synthetic blood because of how fast the radiation fades. His lungs are also failing him. It seems on his planet he inhaled so much smoke and dust it seems to have permanently damaged them beyond what I can do here. Because of his radiation I can’t even build any synthetic organs either.”

Dick had felt like he should have expected that from how he coughed and how worn he seemed overall.

“What if you build a small containment device and you put something radioactive in it? We can offer some money in the meantime for you can begin to study it but even if you have to keep the synthetic blood in the chamber it’s important he has a backup because none of us have radiation in our blood.” Dick suggested.

“That could work but it would take time.”

“Something is better than nothing,”Jason agrees. “The reason I think we should get him to Krypton is because what if there’s more to it than just he’s radioactive? What if we’re missing something here? We need the resources to make sure he’s okay. We can have him live a normal life there and he’ll be safe from harm. If we need to get him out, all of us own several conservation planets, we hop from planet to planet.”

“That could work but he just got off Earth. I doubt he’s going to want to remain on another planet for very long,”He laughs softly.

“Okay so how about this..”Jason begins slowly. “We go to Krypton next. We get our scans and we tell Danny what we’ve found. If he wants to stay, he can stay. Otherwise.” Jason pauses with a smirk,”Otherwise you can take a ship and go show him some of the other planets. Dick felt his cheeks get hot.

“Shut up Jay,”He hisses softly.

“What, you can have a crush, all of us have had them,”He smirks and moves to unlock the door before leading.

“Fismin, do you have a waiting area?”He asks quietly.

“Yes of course Sir,”he gives a smile and the Doctor removes the information, locking it up as Dick was shown to the waiting room. It was only another 20 minutes before he was shown to Danny’s private room close to the top of the tall tree, his eyes glancing out the window in awe as he turned to Danny knowing he was asleep.

“See. I told you. You’re out of there aren’t you? You’re free!”He smiles gently. “When you’re awake I’ll help you explore the galaxy.” Dick pulls his chair to the bedside of Danny’s unconscious form. “When you’re awake I’ll show you all of my favorite spots. My favorite planets. The best planets for food. I’ll show you my home on Krypton and at Wayne Manor. I’ll show you my favorite spots to eat and I can introduce you to amazing life forms you’ve never met or encountered before.”

“You’re kind.. Did you know that?” He sighs softly as he moves to take his hand gently tracing over the gentle lightning like scars over it, and now that he was paying attention he realized the other’s scars wound up both his arms. “Shit, you don’t have clothes do you?” Dick rubs his face, Maybe the other could just borrow clothes from Tim until he could get some of his own? Dick could take him clothing shopping, though admittedly shopping on Krypton for clothing was better than anything else. Maybe they could do a full makeover for him once they got back to Dick’s home planet. He gently smiled at the thought. He was sure he could get Kori and M’gann in on it as well and maybe if he was lucky he could get Kon in on it. There were plenty of people he was sure would love a makeover day.

He paused for a second. Did Danny have any experience with ice planets? He smirked and smiled thinking about Danny seeing snow for the first time, or any of the ice planet animals with their layers of fur and fat and that made him smile thinking of Danny in one of those obnoxious Parka’s that always made him laugh. It was silly.

God, Dick was falling hard wasn’t he? He felt like he was on a planet crushed by the gravity that was his heart and keeping him so forcefully continatained all he could think about was how beautiful and resilient Danny was. The man was obviously malnourished and far too skinny right now and yet hadn’t pressured any of them for money offering to help without a care in the world besides the fact they didn’t know if they were bad people.

Danny had the air of nonchalance about him that made him so easy to talk to that even if you had done something so awful he might just say he forgave them and move on with it all. He wore a beautiful smile despite how often he coughed and knew he would eventually fall to his lungs if they couldn’t figure out something. He wondered how Danny’s eyes would look reflected in a pool of water and in a way Danny’s eyes were beautiful hazey green and now with the radiation flowing through him their color made more sense and even how his hair seemed to deny gravity just slightly it also made sense.

There had been such a short amount of time working together, there had been such calm collected conversations between them about topics and where Dick had known quietly about his sister he had kept quiet. He didn’t want the others to know yet and he for sure was not about to tell Jason’s fiery girlfriend he almost got her little brother killed. He knew Jazz would fly over in a heartbeat if she knew Danny was here but he couldn’t risk making a scene. He wanted Danny to be healthy when they met again and in a way where Danny and Jazz could catch up in a way they had never been to before because they could never talk to one another.

Dick wanted to give Danny everything. He thought that he would never meet someone so beautiful and so kind again and his soft mismatched hair was cute and knew he probably needed it cut and how he felt himself with a smile and didn’t let anything stop him was adorable.

Dick wanted to give Danny the universe but he knew he couldn't not really not truly, but he could give him a new life of adventure and smiles and good food. He could give Danny clean air and clean clothes. He could give Danny friends and maybe more family than his own. He could give Danny maybe his love if they evolved that far. Dick didn’t care at this point if Danny would ever develop feelings for him and maybe that was because right now all he wanted was to be with Danny and for Danny to be his Friend. He just desperately wanted to be Danny’s friend and to him? Nothing else mattered.

So he began to talk about Krypton to his sleeping form, unaware he began to stir.

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spacebugarts · 15 days

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Holy shit I just realized that my dreams have a version of PotO (Broadway version) where the Phantom just fuckin shoots Raoul in his box and it apparently happens not long after Masquerade? Like in place of the Red Death scene they all go into the theatre and Raoul is in box 5 alone for some reason and Erik just. Shoots the poor guy with a period-typical pistol and disappears. Raoul recovers eventually but its like the turning point of the story yk.

#also Philippe is in it!!!!!#hes the one that finds Raoul and takes care of him afterwards :)#also i have reoccurring dreams about being part(?) of a local theatre priduction of it #my position in the musical changes sometimes but the Raoul Getting Shot part is canon #to the degree where I noticed it was coming up and was confused when it didn't #turns out they wanted to try pushing it back a bit and I Did Not Vibe With That #most of the time im either a background actor or set design but once im pretty sure I was Raoul?#which was cool :)#bc in Dream Fashion the actors actually looked like my headcanons for the characters #so i got to be hadley fraser lol #i distinctly remember being on the set crew and getting excited when they got to Masquerade #bc it meant my favorite part was coming up lol #like i feel bad for Raoul bc hes my blorbo but the Tension! the Drama!#might fuck around and write about it idk #poto #phantom of the opera #rip Raoul you deserve better but Damn That Character Arc

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pagesofangels · 1 year

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👻 for the meme?

👻 "What is your wildest headcanon?"

I headcanon that Christine Daae, in both Leroux and ALW, believes in fairies. She likes to leave little pieces of candy or other sweets around her living space to keep them happy (so they don't cause mischief like moving her items around or causing things to fall over).

When she noticed all the strange things happening in the opera house, she at first thought it was the work of fairies who were grumpy. So, she started leaving little treats around the theater.

Maybe Erik took notice....and every so often he would take whatever treat she left out for the fairies. When he did, he would make sure nothing went awry with the theater that day.

#the phantom of the opera #I've been thinking about turning this into a little ficlett or one-shot

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bluetooththereptile · 2 years

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His Muse

Yandere jotaro kujo x fem reader (Phantom of the Opera au)

(Gif by unknown)

( English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes in the following text.)

Note: this is a gift from me to my dear friend @helpimhyperfixating. Check out their blog they've got so many interesting fics for our Jotaro boy!

Also I know I've said I won't do ansfw but please if you are not okay with mentions of past "improper" actions please don't proceed!

Summary: You've revealed an old secret to your friend, and you'll meeting the consequences of it!

Tw: mentions of past abuse, past nsfw actions, injuries and yandere tendencies

"You are a true monster! A blind beast, you can't see the hideous thing you are! Can't you see the pain you've inflected on me? Can't you see all of those years that I spent here to be close to you? Is this what I get as a reward for protecting and taking your side? For being loyal to you? Is this what I get for being your only friend? My beauty, my promising future, my heart, my purity...they are all gone because of you, and this is how you treat me?"

Your words echoed in the dark dungeon you were in as your mind shifted between reality and the nightmare you were experiencing, you screamed, letting out the frustration that had built up within you in for a long time, but you stopped because of feeling heavy and your head throbbed in pain. You could see outlines of the tall caped figure in the shadows, the person you were talking to, but you knew it was unreal. He couldn't have been there with you, you were already out of the Opera Populaire...how could he be there?

But soon you'd find out that you were wrong. Your body felt heavier every second that passed, the storm of your nightmarish dream subsiding as your body woke up. Your first reaction after opening your eyes was to groan as pain rushed within you, your head, hand, and belly aching so hard as if something heavy had crushed you beneath it. You tried to move your hand that was not hurting as much as the other, but it felt heavier than your other arm. Some seconds needed to be passed so your mind could progress what was happening but you couldn't collect your thoughts. You finally opened your eyes, thinking you'd find yourself in the uncomfortable bed of an Inn with Jolyne next to you. But what you saw didn't meet your expectations.

The first thing that caught your eye was the black thin curtain around you. You could swear the inn's bed was not that elaborate to have a curtain when you had checked it for the possibility of having lice. And it was black? Who used such a color for a bed's curtain? Confusion filled your mind as you felt the soft mattress beneath you, the sheets rather slippery and softer than a normal one, you didn't remember that when you had passed out on the bed from exhaustion.

You moved your head a little and it dipped into the several pillows and cushions behind it, the smell of perfumed pillows filling your nostrils. Alright! This must have been a dream or something of such sort, maybe your mind had made up something rather nice to ease up your anxiety after the nightmare you had experienced. But the pain seemed too real! You moved your hands so you could lift your body, but noticing several things made you freeze in your place.

First of all, your hand that hurt badly was wrapped with a bandage, and the red spots of your blood could be seen on it. There was no surprise at seeing your injury, after your little argument with your old friend you had cut your hand, but the strange factor of what you saw was that the bandages were not dirty, you had wrapped your hand in a rush with q dirty cloth, risking the infection when you were in panic after finding out your hand was bleeding, but these were clean! Not to mention your other hand that was handcuffed to the headboard of the bed! So that was why it felt heavy, the chains linked to the handcuff seemed heavy to move around.

But noticing that you were completely naked, laying on a huge bed with red sheets was the reason you were frozen in place. Obviously, someone had pulled the covers away from your body since you could notice the pile of the covers at the curved end of the bed, and they had let you see what kind of a mess it had become. Your inner thighs, under your belly, chest and neck were filled with blue and red kiss marks, several bite marks could be found here and there that were deep enough to break your skin and let blood ooze out and dry...and between your legs was a large sticky stain, the sticky liquid oozing out of your insides as you struggled to close your legs despite the sharp pain and fatigue you were experiencing, realizing what the horrible scene meant was not that hard.

Panic rose within you as you looked at yourself, chained to a bed, naked in an unfamiliar place with your body mutilated. Did the Inn keeper do something funny to you? You could swear that old bastard's knowing look at you and your daughter hid dark things beneath it. Remembering Jolyne you looked around, but she was nowhere to be found. You tried to shout out her name, but your dry throat clenched at the sudden rush of air, making you start to cough loudly. Your body tensed up as you realized the mistake of making a sound in your situation. The loud sound of footsteps made you realize the grave consequences of that mistake.

You pulled on the chains as the footsteps came closer and closer to you, your mind thinking about what you were going to face when the curtains were gone. Your actions turned more hectic with every second passing, your body trembling in fear. All of your life you were afraid of ending up in a situation like this, many of your friends with the same background as you had ended up going missing a long time ago, and now you were in the same position as them, used and injured by an unknown person. Your head turned to the right, where the curtains moved, and revealed your captor.

You gasped at seeing a familiar face. Those deep blue eyes, the face covered in a half mask...the sharp cheekbones and bold eyebrows...It couldn't be! You got away from Opera Populaire days ago! You were three days away from Paris when you decided to rent a room in an Inn! "J-Jotaro?" Your shallow voice hardly reached your ears, it was him! Your captor was your old friend! Jotaro, the Opera ghost...the man that had bounded you to the Opera Populaire...your captor was him!

Your heart ached as you held the handle of the lantern in your hand tighter, you ignored the chilling wind swirling into the dark tunnels beneath the Opera, you had left Jolyne and her friends alone, so she would stay unaware of your disappearance, she was a naive girl and that helped her to stay ignorant to your misery, which was for the better, at least she wouldn't question her mother's sadness. You wanted your innocent little angel to be away from the dark shadows that haunted you, she didn't have to know, the world had shown her cruelty already.

Your feet felt heavy, throughout all those years of being the leading lady, you hadn't felt this hesitant until now. You knew you were entering a wounded beast's lair, but you had to bare your soul to the only person that had linked you to this cursed opera, you had to speak up and tell him the truth you've been hiding for all these years. You had to tell him that he was the cause of your misery, the reason behind all of those false accusations and burdens that you carried on your shoulders, all on your own. He had to know it all, even if it meant his anger would be unleashed upon you once more! He had to know!

"Jotaro?" You called for your old friend who had been living in those tunnels since the time you had rescued him from the hellish state he lived in. Only the hissing sound of the wind answered you, you knew he could hear you, and if he was not acknowledging your presence it meant he didn't want to have you there. But you were determined to summon him. "Jotaro?" You called for him louder this time "We need to talk!" The sudden rush of air behind you made you freeze in your place, your inner voice begging you to leave, but you stood there, coping with the intense gaze upon you.

"Leave!" The deep voice of him echoed in the tunnels as he shouted making you close your eyes as you bit your tongue to hold onto the last drops of courage you had. Anyone would have left by now, the mere thought of what he was capable of making anyone that had dared to enter his lair run away as soon as they felt his presence, but you were not going to back away, not this time. "We need to talk Jotaro...there's something important that you should know-" the sudden thud sound of him landing next to you made your body straighten up in shock, your hand that held the lantern starting to tremble as you raised it, so you could see the caped figure that loomed over you better.

"Get out!" He snarled, leaning down so he could stare into your eyes, his non-masked eye reaching deep into your soul, making you feel uncomfortable. "I won't!" You said, "You should know the truth!" You continued. "Truth about what? That you betrayed me by letting that filthy man take my Christine away?" Jotaro hissed as his gloved hand grabbed you by your chin, squeezing your jaw. Your insides burned in jealousy at being reminded that he still held Christine in his heart. You couldn't let him treat you like this, no, not this time.

"Listen, man child, Christine didn't love you!" You said before whimpering in pain since his grip tightened. Jotaro was a strong man, he stood way taller than an average person, and his strength was proved to be enough to snap someone's neck, like what he had done to the poor caretaker of the stage. He snarled in your face "Don't talk about her like that!" "I won't stop telling you Jotaro! She didn't love you! She didn't want to commit herself to love you! She didn't want to spend prime years of her life dealing with a man child that you are, she didn't want to end up like me!"

Jotaro's intense gaze didn't subside but he arched his brow at your last words, still holding a tight grip on your jaw, making you struggle to speak "I've...I've come here to talk to you about two important things..." your hand tightly grabbed his wrist to make his grasp loosen, but it didn't help, so you continued to look at him in the eyes as you spoke "I'm leaving Paris Jotaro I'm leaving France...I'm leaving Europe, getting miles away from you, and I'm taking Jolyne with me!" He narrowed his eyes "Why do I need to know about your pathetic life and your stupid daughter?" You frowned at what he said "Because you are her father!"

Jotaro, who had been having enough of your babbling shoved you onto the floor, making the lantern in your hand break, the oil inside it poured out, getting lit by the fire of the lantern, brightening where you were at. You hit the floor hard, your face burying in the dirt. "Stop talking nonsense woman!" He said, turning away from you "You are Jolyne's father Jotaro! Why can't you understand? Haven't you all of these years wondered how I became pregnant with her while I didn't have any patrons or lovers? Can't you see the year she was born was the time you used drugs to get inspired by those imaginary muses you always talked about? You raped me and forced me into having her Jotaro, and yet you don't even remember the fact that you had done that!" You said, spilling out the secret you were holding in you for years.

"Stop projecting your past lustful acts upon me woman...everyone knows you became pregnant by whoring around!" He responded to you, breaking your heart even more. You screamed to make him stop "Shut up!" Your anger took hold of you as you stood up "Just shut up! Don't think that because everyone ignored your pain, you have the right to ignore my misery and say such filthy things about me!" You grabbed his cape as you pulled on it not so gently, not caring how he would react. "I've been your only friend and you think of me like that?" Jotaro turned toward you so he could grab you by the collar of your dress and pick you up from the ground. "I don't have a friend named Y/N anymore! After the moment I found out that you sold me to that filthy man you died to me!" He put you down, spitting in your face "Now, Leave! I don't want to hear any nonsense about your past or that stupid daughter of yours-"

Jotaro was silenced with your hard slap to the masked side of his face, it was so hard that made the thin glass mask crack and half of it fall onto the ground, the other half cutting your palm deep. "Monster! You foul ignorant monster! All of these years I valued you, helped you with everything I had, I loved you and gave up so many things to be close to you, and you, a man child that was blind to his surroundings fell for another woman? And now that she has proven to you that she didn't want to keep up with you, you mourn for losing her? Now that I've told you the harsh truth I've been facing for years you treat me like this? You deserve to be in a cage and displayed as a monstrous being, but not because of your deformed face, it's because of the dark soul you have, murderer! Son of the devil!" You screamed the last parts before running away.

"I see that you're awake darling..." Jotaro's soft tone made you shiver as you tried to back away from his touch when he touched your cheek with the back of his fingers. He frowned at your reaction, but the look was not filled with rage, it was...worry that lurked in his eye. he put down the bowl of water he held as he knelt beside the bed, looking at you up and down as he sighed deeply. "I do apologize...but I lost my control last night..." his fingers touched your belly, making you shiver "The sight of your peaceful form beside me was so alluring!"

"What...what have you done? Where am I?" You asked in a hushed voice as you tried to swallow the non-existing saliva inside your mouth. He hummed to himself as he dipped a clean cloth into the water bowl and started to wipe down the blood on your feet and thighs, making you flush and tense as he touched your unclothed form. "W-wait! What are you doing?" You shrieked, making him put his hand on your hips to make you stay steady. "I'm cleaning the mess I made of course..." he said as he gently wiped your skin, mumbling apologies whenever you hissed in pain. It took some minutes for your mind to get out of its frozen state, and Jotaro's attempt at wiping down between your legs helped that. You quickly sat up and pulled away from him, keeping your legs close. "N-no!" You said, making him shake his head as he sighed. "You need to be cleaned darling, I've seen everything already, there's no need of being shy!"

You put your injured hand in front of you to stop him from touching you, but he ignored your attempt and took your ankle in his large hand, pulling you to the side he was kneeling on. "Wait! Wait! I need an explanation first! Where am I? What happened? Where's Jolyne? How....how could you do this to me?" Jotaro hummed again as he started to wipe you clean, making you flush even more. "After you left the Opera with our daughter, I realized the mistake I had made by letting you two go. So I followed you, and..." he paused looking at you "You were going to leave for Russia?" He asked, his voice filled with concern as if he was hurt by knowing that! You looked away from him, he knew why. You didn't want to be close to where he was, in Russia ballerinas could be successful, so by leaving Europe you'd be leaving him behind as well as giving your daughter a great chance. But your plan had failed.

"It was not hard to find you two, I convinced the Innkeeper to put drugs in your drinks so I could take you back home. I put Jolyne under the care of the new leading lady and took you here with me, so I could take care of you personally..." You whimpered in pain when he touched your bruised hips, reminding you of what he had done to you. "I do apologize, my dear Y/N, I swear that I couldn't help myself, I had to claim you! You've been sleeping for four days and I couldn't hold back..." You could feel his hot breath on your neck as he pulled you closer to him "I haven't realized what a precious thing you were all these years, your beauty maturing even more after all those decades!" He whispered to you, making you shiver "P-please let me go...Jolyne needs me!" You pleaded, your body weak and your mind filled with horrifying thoughts, you couldn't get away from him, you struggled to get out of his grasp, you even tried to slap him again but he took your free hand and firmly held it down.

"Hush now my love...don't speak of leaving me!" He said as his arms pulled you even closer to his clothed form. "She thinks you're away on a long, long trip... don't worry, I'll treat her well until you're ready to meet her again, but for now...I shall spend my time with you...to make up with the lost time" he kissed your head before starting to murmur in your ear:

My dearest angel is with me,

Her wings are broken.

She descended to save me,

She wears scars as her token.

I was buried in darkness,

Her hands broke my tomb,

I was pulled out of the blackness,

Her fingers turned to my hair's comb.

My Angel's wings are torn,

Her eyes are weary,

Her bones are broken,

I shall keep her company.

My fingers are covered in blood,

My shovel is in crimson,

Her features are troubled,

Her body rapidly weaken.

My Angel is with me,

I shall keep her here,

I ignore her pleas from me,

She shall stay here.

I have made a sin,

I tore the wings of an angel,

Dear God, I love this sin,

For that, I have my angel.

My angel is with me,

I will have her forever.

You were in hands of a murderer, a mad man, and he was not planning on ever releasing you. You wished you had kept your secret to yourself.

#yandere jojo #yandere jotaro #yandere jotaro kujo #yandere jojo x reader #yandere x reader #fem reader #yandere #yandere one shot #yandere anime #yandere phantom of the opera #phantom of the opera

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marleneoftheopera · 2 years

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Screenshots of two promo shots from this interview with Sara Esty!

#finally a somewhat actual online release of the hannibal one #so pretty #i love the masquerade shot as well #matthew murphy has so many hidden gems #sara esty #poto broadway #emilie kouatchou #raquel suarez groen #The Phantom of the Opera #meg giry

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operafantomet · 2 years

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Dressing gown galore from Georgia Wilkinson (and also featuring Georgina Hopson), from POTO Sydney Harbour

#cool to see replica and non replica dressing gown in one shot #dressing gown #phantom of the opera #poto sydney harbour #georgia wilkinson #georgina hopson

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ariadnasdiary · 6 months

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Hidden in the shadows - A Halloween special

Mun Ari: Hello!! Although I don’t celebrate Halloween (I'm more of a "Día de muertos" person for OBVIOUS reasons lol So! I'm not late, but rather in time!!), I wanted to make something special! It’s been years since I made something for the occasion ^^. Plus! It was the perfect excuse to share this gorgeous commission @vixen-ocs made for me! OF COURSE I HAD TO MAKE AN SCENARIO TO SHOW IT OFF :D. Cause’ in this blog we LOVE the Phantom of the Opera! Hell yeah!!!

Note: Also! Let's consider this one-shot for Diatober - day 14: possession.

Anyway, enjoy!

When the curtain goes up, the show begins. She has done it various times already, yet she can’t get used to the feeling. She can’t help but feel a knot forming everytime in the pitch of her stomach. However, she has to focus: she knows he’s watching.

But that doesn’t help with her nerves, so she pushes that thought aside. If she gets nervous, her voice won’t be able to reach the correct notes. That pisses him off, he has been taking extra care to fix that bad habit of hers. Last time, he punished her severely: by making her sing until her vocal cords felt like bleeding.

“The curtain is about to lift, are you ready?” someone asked her, interrupting her swirling thoughts.

“Y-Yes!” she stuttered, that’s not good.

“You sure?” the staff member asked her in concern.

She knows what people say about her: how was an amateur like her able to get herself a spot in tonight’s show? She didn’t have a proper education regarding music or singing. She was a nobody, who everyone thought she "thought she knew how to sing". But everyone had their doubts: how would she be able to sing in such a big scenario, when she was so shy and stuttered whenever she had to speak to a big audience? When she couldn’t even look into the eyes of the director when she was selected as part of the show?

“Sure! Don’t worry!” she smiled reassuringly, although she was fighting with all her might to sound confident and bury her nerves.

The young staff member nodded and gave the sign to the rest of the crew to start the show. Everyone went to their places and so did she.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Welcome to Eden Opera House! Today’s show promises to be unforgivable!” the master of the ceremony announced. “This is the third call! Let’s begin!”.

The orchestra started playing the introduction melody, a round of applause was heard and everyone backstage were preparing the last details for the show.

“Today is very special you see!” the master continued “We have a special number prepared just for you! You may have never heard of her, but that makes her the most intriguing part of tonight’s show!”

She could hear the low mumbles of the audience, all curious as to what it could be.

“Don’t let this young lady fool you! Don’t you dare underestimate her! She might be young, small and unknown! But her voice… her voice is like nothing you have heard before!”

Ari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew the song, she knew how to sing it, I was going to go well. It better be.

"We present you: Miss Ariadna!"

A round of applause was heard and soon the curtain lifted. Ari opened her eyes and for a single second, she saw the public. She was scared, but remembered his words:

"Don’t look at them. Look somewhere else, never to their faces or you'll lose the little confidence you'll have".

She quickly looked at the distant vase of roses placed as part of the decoration at the very top of the theater. That should do. She bowed to the audience and then waited for the music to play.

To think she would be standing as the main singer… not once it had crossed her mind. It all happened so suddenly…

She was visiting an old friend in the theater as she was in town for some time. He has been working there for quite some time, however things didn't turn out as she should. She wanted to have a glimpse of the theater's scenario. Her friend told her no one was working that day and she started singing to spend some time while his friend had to do some things before finishing his shift.

It was a sweet song, one that she had memorized as it was her favorite. She sang it as it came naturally to her, she never thought of her voice as anything extraordinary, she simply enjoyed it. Who would have thought that a certain someone would be there and came to like her voice?

When she finished, she heard an applause. She was straddled and for a moment thought it was her friend, until he spoke:

"Not bad~ considering it came from a tiny amateur like yourself~"

She didn’t hear him coming, not a single footstep. It was like he was part of the darkness, and decided to make himself noted.

“W-Who’s there?” she asked to that darkness that had spoken to her.

“I’m impressed there’s still someone who doesn’t know about me yet” he replied.

She made some memory and THAT rumor came to her, her friend had told her about it. It was said that within the deepness of the opera house existed a strange being. No one knew how or when he arrived, they just knew that he was already there. He dedicated himself to observe the people acting there, if he liked their talent he would help that rising star to shine. Every artist he had chosen had gone over the top. When people ask them about their secret, they refuse to speak other than: “he saw the talent in me and got me here”. Oh, but there’s also a dark side to this man: if you dared to try to tame him, trick him or go against his wishes… death was sure to come to you. Many dead bodies appeared all around the theater installations and no culprit. The common similarities of the bodies were disposed artists that had failed or pushed their luck into being liked by him. Everyone blamed him, they knew it had to be him, but there was no proof and not to mention that, how could you take justice to a phantom? Besides, it has been over a year that no talent has been chosen. People wondered when he would choose someone, but they knew he wasn’t gone. They could feel it, even if they never truly saw him.

“T-The phantom of the opera?” she asked, a little mockingly.

It couldn’t be him… right?

“The one and only~”

From the shadows she could see at the distance the figure of a man, ever so elegant as mysterious.

She knew she had attracted unwanted attention, a praise from him was like a curse: either a one that could end in bless or death.

“I’m not really sure if I should be honored or scared to make your acquaintance,” she said sincerely.

She earned a low chuckle from him.

“That depends on you,” he simply replied.

She wanted to run, but she knew better that once the rumor turned to be true… she had to be careful. You shouldn't run, you shouldn’t test his patience, always listen first, and most importantly: obey.

The lights suddenly went out and Ari shrieked in fear. She could hear him laugh and as she sought for any source of light or exit, she had to try.

“Come”.

She didn’t want to, she was scared to have been chosen by him. Especially when she was no artist.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of light, and another until it formed a path within the pitch dark atmosphere.

“I won’t repeat myself” he warned her “You must know better not to test me”.

She had no choice, she followed down the candlelight path. The more she walked, the deeper she got. At a certain point, she arrived at a huge mirror, but it wasn’t an ordinary one: it led somewhere. Ari was forced to continue and she got into the very heart of the opera house.

The music started, the melody making her focus on getting ready. Sweet music notes surrounded her and she silently counted until she had to start singing. The lyrics came natural to her, after all she had been practicing them nonstop. If she could describe him: he seeks perfection and results. Under what purpose? Who knows.

After that night they met, he didn’t care for introductions or formalities. She tried to explain to him she was no aspiring artist, she only sang for fun and it was merely an impulse for that exhibition. He didn’t care, he only asked her to sing for him. SHe tried to refuse, but he had intimidated her into giving in for her sake.

After an improvised song, the first that came into her mind, he decided to choose her to be his next pawn. And she had no say in it.

Word after word, her voice reaching the right tone. She had worked so hard for it. She wanted to please him, so she could be safe. He had promised to let her go if her performance was flawless. That’s why she tried not to complain about the harsh training and all the sleepless nights. Not until she learned the lyrics and got everything right, she had to.

High pitches, medium ones… everything was simply going perfect. She was almost there.

Strangely, as the nights and rehearsals went, he became more insistent and had a need to get closer to her. He wasn’t hiding anymore from her, no longer instructing her from a distance, he had gone so close to her… she no longer feared the uncertainty of his appearance. Strangely enough, it made her feel at ease.

The song almost came to an end and she discreetly looked up in the private and furthest balcony in the theater: a place only destined to him.

He was indeed watching her: every movement, examining and attentively listening to every sound her voice made. Like the harshest critic and the most inquisitive professor. However, he was smiling. Maybe she had passed the test.

She reached the finale and after an epic end, the audience broke in joy. Applauses and ovations, some even threw flowers and the cheers made her open her eyes in awe as well as flustering her.

She bowed and the curtain fell. Just as it did, everyone backstage gathered around her.

“How did you improve so much in such a short amount of time?”

“Did you hire a teacher? Present him to me!”

“You have such an amazing voice! Like that of an angel!”

Angel… yeah, he described her voice like that as well.

“What is your secret?”

Oh, that question…

“I have a magnificent teacher, strict… but he knows what he’s doing”.

The rest of the crew and artists prepared for the next act, and Ari was allowed to rest in her dressing room. She was nervous, what would he think about her performance?

A celebration came afterwards, right after the show ended and the public left.

“What a successful night!” the owner exclaimed, while all his workers cheered with him.

“Did you see the amount of people we had tonight? They sure filled every seat!” someone said.

“I think it was thanks to the announcement set all around town!” another said “After all, HE chose someone else after so long!"

“Now that you mention it… who was the artist he chose this time?”

Everyone looked around, and someone suddenly exclaimed.

“Where's Miss Ariadna?”

Little did they know, she was having a hard time walking in the darkness of a long secret hallway. Taking her deeper and deeper into the very heart of the opera house. Wondering just how things had turned out since she made the mistake of showing her voice to no other than him. Singing to ease her fear and somehow feel accompanied, a song of resignation.

“In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came that voice which calls to me and speaks my name And do I dream again? For now, I find The Phantom of the opera is there inside my mind…”

Taking step by step, closer where she had to go… after all she couldn’t refuse when he called for her.

“Sing once again with me Our strange duet My power over you Grows stronger yet And though you turn from me To glance behind The phantom of the, opera is there Inside your mind”

One could believe the owner of such a voice was to be trusted, but that could lead you to become prisoner of him. A mere puppet obeying his commands, to his heart’s content.

“Those who have seen your face Draw back in fear I am the mask you wear…”

“It's me they hear”.

She kept walking, following the voice that always answered back no matter the song she dared to sing.

“(Your) My spirit and my (your) voice In one combined The phantom of the, opera is there Inside my (your) mind!”

It worked like a secret code to identify each other whenever they set an encounter. One could freak out if you hear someone replying to your songs, but at this point Ari was already used to it.

“He’s there, the Phantom of the Opera” she sang more to herself, to get ready for what was coming. It was hard to guess his mood by his voice only…

She finally arrived at her destination. The chamber hidden meters and meters deep into the Opera House. But there’s where he hid.

Ari doesn’t understand why he had to hide, in such a frightening place like that chamber. You could hardly consider it a home: a single yet huge bed, a huge organ occupying half the space, a single desk filled with papers and sheets of music spread every inch of the surface, bottles of inks and pens and everything hardly illuminated by candles.

He wasn’t anywhere to be seen… until she felt a goosebump.

“Looking for someone~?” a voice startled her coming from behind her.

She turned around and there he was: wearing his special tuxedo, the one he apparently used every night there was a show, his gala outfit. She met him with that same tuxedo. Not to mention the mask he wore hiding half his face. The so-called Phantom of the Opera… or Kino as he had presented himself to her.

“I guess…” she replied, shrugging “You called for me?”

“As boring as ever” Kino seemed disappointed, she had learnt that scaring people and especially her was a hobby he enjoyed. He hated it when she didn’t react like he expected.

He passed next to her and took a seat by his grand bed. Ari never knew how to behave or anything when it came to this situation where he called for her down to his hideout.

“A-Are we going to practice?” she asked, better prepare for it.

“You want to?” he asked, arching his eyebrow.

“N-Not really…but you always call me here for that” she replied, resignation echoing her voice.

He looked at her, but she looked somewhere else.

‘Never look for long to his face, he hides it for a reason and he can kill you for that’ those were the warnings his rumor had to offer her and she always took them into consideration.

“Considering your performance tonight…” he said.

There it was, he was about to grade her. His all so strict teacher. Always seeking perfection.

“I think you deserve something regarding it”

“Is it bad?” she looked at him slightly scared.

“That’ll depend on how you see it”.

He made her a sign to step closer. Ari gulped, but did as he wanted.

When she was right in front of him, he spoke.

“How do you think you did?”

Ari thought it, but she never knew. If she thinks she did good, he’ll defer and vice versa. How was it this time?

“So?”

“I think… I could always improve?”

He chuckled. Maybe her answer was right?

“There’s always a space for improvement” he agreed “However~"

He tugged her by the waist and she was suddenly trapped in his embrace, looking straight into his face. Up close, it felt surreal. He had that mysterious yet breathtaking beauty: deep red eyes, pale like snow skin and dark hair like the very night. Yet that was her opinion… one she couldn’t share as no one had ever gotten a closer look at him. He wouldn’t allow it, he liked it to be like a shadow hidden within the darkness. She felt nervous when he was close to her, she always felt he could see deep into her soul or read her thoughts. She couldn’t truly hide anything from him… in many ways. He was always looking, he had an eye on her specially.

“This time, you fulfilled my expectations” he said, satisfied “congratulations”.

Was that a complement? She thought those didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

“R-Really?” she asked, seeking confirmation.

“Feel honored, none of my students got to please me like you did tonight” he gave her a smirk, one that made her flustered as was unfairly breathtaking. She hated feeling like this.

“I-I’m so glad then” she looked down into her dress, in an attempt to hide her face.

“For you to be satisfied with so little as a compliment” she heard him chuckling, that damn sound that made her stomach be filled with butterflies. Hopefully he wouldn’t listen to her altered heartbeat.

“That’s too much coming from you,” she admitted.

“So you admit it?”

“Is there any point in denying it?”

“No, I like it that way”

She wanted to go and hide, she didn't like to give him the satisfaction to see her so altered by him or anything that he did or said. She felt weak all of a sudden, maybe it was the lack of energy after the relief of his approval.

“Good, I guess… I’ll get going now” she said, but when she tried to break free from his embrace, he didn’t allow it.

“It’s been a long night” he said “Stay here”

“E-Excuse me!?” she raised her head, surprised by the sudden proposal.

“Calm down, I’m being considerate, you know?” he seemed like he was enjoying it “You are barely keeping yourself awake at this point”

That was right, she felt her eyelids heavy, it had indeed been such a long night.

“Consider this both an order and your reward” he said and Ari couldn’t fight her tiredness anymore.

She sighed and allowed him to position her into his lap, her back leaning into his chest. Slowly losing the fight to keep herself conscious. He was oddly kind tonight, she couldn’t tell why. She was so tired, she could have sworn he was playing with her hair, soothing her to sleep.

“Sleep” he said, may have sounded like a commandment, but his voice was soft and also sounded so far away from Ari. “And have sweet dreams, my angel of music”.

He could be so kind when he wanted… and she couldn’t help but love it when he was like that and when he specially referred to her like that. She would only allow him, because he was the only one that saw her talent and acknowledged it. He claimed to see her potential and he brought it into the light, he had proven it. Whatever the reason was for investing so much in her… she didn’t mind it.

“My angel of music… you’ll be the one to make my plans come true” he smiled with a dark note Ari didn’t get to see, long lost into the land of dreams.

Besides, she was willing to let him use her for whatever purpose he had.

After all… she loved being his angel of music.

Mun Ari: The tension… I could feel it up until here!!! Part 2? Nah~ jk! I made it to be a one-shot… unless 7u7. Anyway! Thank you Vale! I love it!! Also! Is never too much to mention that the song credits goes for the creator and I don't claim them as mine! I just copy them from Spotify jeje~

#ariadnasdiary #ariadna koizumi martínez #kino #ariadnaxkino #arino #diatober 2023 #commission #credits to @vixen-ocs #mun ari speaks #one shot #phantom of the opera AU #diabolik lovers oc #diabolik lovers latino

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