#so severe & they won’t stop so he’s decreed this is both of ours last life w them present in any capacity & we will never have 2 c them or | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

royallyjoon · 4 years

Text

nephilim (un)

you know where the cred goes 💙

cult au, supernatural au

yandere! ot7 x f! reader

warnings: yandere themes, violent behavior

the mysterious, age old town of ichabod. within it rests a history hidden from its inhabitants, who are forced to remain there out of fear. you simply wish to live in this town with the people you love without facing its wrath for as long as you can. unfortunately for you, there are great powers on your side who are willing to do whatever it takes to get you. whether you come willingly or not. after all, it only takes a little hellfire

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“Come along now, (Y/N).” Your mother’s grip on your wrist tightened as she all but threw you in front of her. You nearly twisted your ankle on the twigs and tree roots that outlined the forest floor. “We are late enough as it is.”

You huffed and tore your wrist from your mother’s hand to hike up the long, white dress you wore. “Good. I wish we didn’t have to trek out here in the middle of the night every month. Maybe we’ll miss the gathering entirely.”

She smacked your arm harshly. “Not another word from you, smart mouth.” Your mother dressed similarly, the only difference being that her ivory dress paled considerably compared to yours in the moonlight. “We’ve been attending for years. I highly doubt that such a change would be allowed, much less appreciated.”

You shivered at the thought. No matter how much you resented these meetings, you wouldn’t dare miss a summoning.

You stayed quiet for ten more minutes, taking in the rustling of the forest and focusing your efforts on avoiding sharp rocks underfoot.

Trees rested on either side of you, lining your path and blocking out any natural light with their twisting, sneaking branches. It took all of your effort to ignore the oppressive silence, broken every so often by the snapping of a trig or the movement of some animal, cloaked by shadows in the dark.

Soon enough, you and your mother reached the clearing.

She pulled you back just as you were about to step into the moonlight, throwing a dark cloak in your face. “Are you mad? Put it on!”

You smiled abashedly and threw the material on. The hood was so long it cast a shadow over the lower half of your face but was wide enough for you to see.

Your mother finished arranging her hood and the two of you stepped into the clearing, joining with the last of the circle of cloaked shadows.

The moon shone brightly without the cover of the forest giving your surroundings an ethereal facade. A wooden stage lay at the very middle of the clearing, upon which stood your small town’s resident royalty.

The Kims.

They were the ruling force of the town, the husband being the mayor, the wife a successful actress. They both settled down in Ichabod twenty-five years ago with their children. What had once been a town amuck with violence and chaos was transformed into a prosperous, well-functioning borough.

How the Kims managed to transform the area nearly overnight, few knew. They have run your city for nearly three decades. And everyone in it is terrified to cross their path.

Directly behind them stood their seven adopted sons, faces shrouded by hoods and masks. You didn’t know too much about them besides their names and faces; five of them currently attended your school and you made sure to give them a wide berth, being as polite as possible.

Kim Moonsik raised his left arm, twisting his wrist in a full circle. He then pointed his hand at the sky, gently lowering his pinky and middle fingers. “Greetings to the moon from her earthly servants.”

You lifted your forearm with everyone else, copied the gesture, and repeated the phrase quietly with disinterest.

“I thank you all for coming on such short notice.” He continued. “As another month commences, we have the pleasure of standing before you all. The moon has graced us with her everlasting beauty and prosperity rains down upon our small town, just as it has for decades before.”

This is usually the part where you would start drifting off. Kim Moonsik could drove on with his speech about the moon for far too long.

About what felt like an hour but was approximately fifteen minutes later, Mr. Kim trailed off and the forest became so silent, you hushed your thoughts in fear of thinking too loud.

The oppressive feeling in the air returned full force and you shivered underneath the warmth of your cloak as Mr. Kim eyed each and every person attending. He was not able to directly see your face, but you felt like the man was staring into your soul.

“Regrettably,” He said, clasping his hands together, “we are not able to part tonight without the moon’s divine punishment.”

Ah, you thought. There it is.

The reason your heart pounds at every one of these meetings.

All you wanted to do was be that half-asleep little girl again, clutched in your mother’s arms as she trudged her way here every month.

“Wylynne has decreed that there are sinners in our midst.” Mr. Kim says it quietly, but the gravity in his words travel.

And with a mighty roar, the pyre behind the wooden stage was lit with orange flames.

The crowd stood in silence, waiting for the dreadful sound. You quaked in the dirt. Would it be you this time?

But by the grace of the moon, no.

The telltale, piercing shriek came from the right side of the crowd. Citizens rushed to get away from the teenager cradled in her parents’ arms. The mother could not let go of her daughter, heavily sobbing as the child clutched her head and continued to scream. Her hood had fallen off and your eyes widened as you recognized her.

Natalia Pierre. The two of you had had some awful confrontation a few months ago. Nevertheless, the resident embers of anger could not stop the overwhelming pity you felt as the Kims’ men ripped her away from her parents.

“Please!” She cried as they forced her to her knees before the mayor. Not that she wasn’t already bent over, riddled with pain. “Knives-the knives won’t stop, please get them out!”

Kim Moonsik lay his hand on her shoulder. “Do not worry, my child. You will soon join Wylynne’s heavenly army. May your failures be a lesson, victories a reward, and may your soul live on with the moon forever.”

“May your soul live on with the moon forever.” You whispered the last phrase with everyone else, ignoring the tear that made its way down your cheek.

Before Natalia could say another word, her screams were cut short as her body was engulfed in purple fire.

It only took a second. Within minutes, her cloak, dress, bones, and ashes were gone. She hadn’t even scorched the grass. You could almost believe you’d dreamed it if her father wasn’t kneeling next to her writhing mother in the dirt.

Mr. Kim smiled gracefully, a sight that reminded you of the grim reaper with the shadow on his face. “To her heavenly grace, the moon, may she travel. To my fellow citizens of Ichabod, I bid goodnight.”

The orange flame behind the stage was doused. You, your mother, and the crowd bowed your heads as you wished goodnight to the Kims. It was only when the last son had left the clearing did anyone else begin moving.

You clutched your mother’s hand all the way home.

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Since before you could remember, your mother had been dragging you to Ichabod monthly town meetings. It was the Kims’ way of ensuring the people that the moon continued to bless and favor them and would send prosperity their way in return for a sacrifice.

In short, they were trapped here and if they wished to keep their lives, they would know better than to cross the Kims.

The people that had tried to run away all failed. They would either, depending on the “grace of the moon,” show up alive right back where they started, or their bodies were placed on the front doors of relatives or neighbors.

Now, you weren’t stupid. You did not believe that it was the actions of Wylynne or whomever Mr. Kim spends his nights singing praises to. The fatal injuries were always exterior, therefore it must have been nothing other than the work of man.

Nevertheless, you were too afraid to risk leaving Ichabod. You preferred to live your life quietly, holding on to your closest friends and family. And it has been successful for the past years.

The next morning as your mom drove you to school, you used your phone’s camera to check your appearance. There were bags under your eyes, so heavy that makeup would not be enough to cover it.

As she drove, you sighed heavily and thought back to last night, wondering how Natalia could have possibly angered the Kims. She never tried to escape--at least, to your knowledge--and she never talked to them at school either...

Your mother pulled up to the curb and you stuffed your phone into your uniform pocket, kissed her on the cheek in goodbye, and closed the car door.

Ichabod Academy, the resident school for all children born and raised inside of this town. It ran from first to twelfth grade, in several different buildings, and made for quite the large campus for the size of your town. The buildings looked quite dreary from the outside with its gray walls and glass doors, most of the lights inside still off.

It was comparable to the size of a small, inner-city university. Everyone knew everyone, for the better or worse.

You walked to the upperclassmen building, entered your first class, and lay your head on the desk.

Usually, you would be able to get at least four hours of sleep the night after a summoning, but last night you barely managed to achieve two.

Natalia...she wasn’t a bad person. She made mistakes, yes, but she was human above all.

“(Y/N)?” You heard someone gently ask. You pried your eyes open to see your best friend.

“Hey, Mana.” You yawned. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than you, clearly.” They snorted and dropped themselves into the seat in front of you. “I couldn’t believe...”

You watched them tiredly as they failed to speak their words. “I know.” You finally whispered back.

The teacher walked into the room with a student trailing behind her and you immediately sat up, warily eyeing them both. “Good morning, class. Today we have a new student, transferring from another section. Please introduce yourself.” She motioned.

As if he needed an introduction.

“Good morning, everyone. My name is Kim Jimin. I hope that we can get along and have a great year. Please take care of me.” He bowed slightly.

Your class chorused greetings and you balked slightly as you realized that the only empty seat was...

“You can take the seat next to Ms. (L/N). (Y/N), please raise your hand.”

You put your hand up and Jimin waltzed over to you with the biggest smile. He placed his bag on the floor next to the metal leg of the table. “Hello, seat mate. I hope we can get along.”

You sent a small smile his way--though it may have looked more like a grimace. “Yeah, me too.”

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

The bell rang for the break and you immediately slammed your notebook shut and dropped your head onto the desk.

Jimin giggled at your side. “Did you not sleep well last night, (Y/N)?”

You groaned out a “no”.

Mana turned around slowly and gently poked at you. “It was emotionally taxing for both of us, I think.” They said and smiled at Jimin. “I’m Mana, (Y/N)’s close friend.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” He stated. “Emotionally taxing you say...may I ask why?”

You lifted your head. “Mana, and I used to be good friends with the tribu--girl who was chosen last night.” You quickly corrected yourself. “Then she got involved with this guy...”

“We told Natalia he was no good news, from the very beginning.” Mana interrupted. “But she insisted that he was different with her and kind to her. Then a couple of months into their relationship he has her smoking, drinking, sneaking out to have sex-”

“And it’s not that these things are bad,” you continued. “Like it was her life and she could do what she wanted as long as she was safe, you know? But she wasn’t like that at all before. To see such a drastic change...”

“Next thing you know, he’s spreading her private pictures across the entire campus.” Mana’s fist clenched and you put your hand on theirs to relieve the anger. “We tried to talk to him about her and he was always rude to us, dismissing us off-hand and insulting Natalia behind her back. (Y/N) tried to confront her about his behavior and Natalia fought her, saying she was just jealous of them.”

“After that, we lost touch with her.” You said. “But I would give anything to go back and speak to her, or just apologize.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Mana fumed.

“The power of Wylynne is divine and just.” Jimin commented as he stared at you and your friend, unblinking. “She must have taken Ms. Pierre into her celestial army to spare her from facing the punishment of her earthly crimes for the rest of her life. She always has a reason, after all.”

Mana looked at the table awkwardly. “Yes,” they said, “praise Wylynne.”

You nodded.

“(Y/N)?” Jimin looked at you expectedly. You weren’t familiar with the weight of his gaze, but you quickly learned it wasn’t something you were trying to get accustomed to.

“Praise Wylynne.” You said, flashing another grimace-smile.

Jimin’s eyes disappeared as he smiled and the bell rang, signaling the end of break.

——————————————————————————

As the bell rang for lunch, Mana practically yanked your joint out of the socket with how quickly they wanted to leave the classroom. “Come on, we should try and get some food in is before next period.” On the way out, however, you couldn’t help but notice Jimin pulling out a plastic bag that contained a series of containers. There was one large plastic container that had what looked like a main meal, accompanied by four smaller containers that held side dishes.

Jimin sighed forlornly at the pile and you felt a touch of pity for him. Before Mana could drag you out the room completely, you tapped them, gesturing with your head at Jimin and making puppy dog eyes.

They sent you a look that clearly questioning your sanity, but you rolled your eyes in return, gesturing once more to Jimin. A couple of seconds of staring later, Mana allowed you to drag them back over to his desk.

“Hey Jimin,” you gently approached him, “why are you eating lunch in the classroom?”

“Oh...” his face drooped even more. “...My little brothers and I would always stay behind while everyone else left to go to the cafeteria. We found it uncomfortable to enter that place when everyone would just go quiet and speak around us in whispers....I guess it was just a force of habit.”

You nodded in sad understanding on the outside but sighed in the back of your head. Of course people would avoid them. The Kim children were abandoned out of fear and respect rather than any overt effort to ostracize them.

Before, Jimin was probably accustomed to eating with his brothers Taehyung and Jungkook, but this morning’s schedule and class adjustment ripped the three apart.

You put a hand on his desk, wanting to show comfort without crossing borders. “Well, Mana and I would love to get to know you better as a classmate, or friend... you’re welcome to sit with us if you want?”

Jimin’s eyes widened, glistening with moisture. He snapped his head up, cheeks rosy with a hopeful blush. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude...”

“You’re not intruding! Come on, I’ll grab your bag for you.” Jimin rushed to pack up the containers. He took his bag from you with a smile. “Thank you both,” he whispered.

Walking through the relatively empty school halls with a Kim gave you a sense of confidence you didn’t need. You walked in a line, with you betwixt Mana and Jimin. All the students that saw you widened their eyes and bolted to the side to make way. It wasn’t because of you or Mana--you knew this--but the feeling made you uncomfortable.

It was powerful.

When you all arrived at the cafeteria, you tried to enter inconspicuously by piggybacking behind some tall classmates but it failed miserably. The moment Jimin was spotted, people indeed stopped talking and the room was engulfed in whispers.

You gently took Jimin by the elbow, smiling at him assuredly, and directed him towards your and Mana’s usual table. It was thankfully empty, so you put your bags down and took your wallets out.

“We’ll be right back, we’re just gonna go buy some food,” you stated, hearing chatter pick back up. Your best friend must have shot everyone their “mind your business” glare. Jimin nodded, neatly unpacking his lunch. Mana all but dragged you off.

“‘We’d love to get to know you better’? Seriously, (Y/N)! There’s a reason why people avoid the Kims! And you just openly invite one to our lunch table? Are you trying to become the next sacrifice?!” They harshly stage whispered.

“Come on, Mana,” you scoffed as you arrived at the lunch bar. “He’s been separated from his only brother in his class and trapped with a bunch of strangers. The least we could do is eat lunch with him. Don’t transfer the sins, or fear, of the parent to the child.”

Mana glared at you for a long while but eventually huffed out their agreement. “Fine.”

You payed for your food and walked back to the table where your new classmate was politely waiting. “Aw, you didn’t have to wait for us, but thanks!”

“Of course I had to! I should be the ones thanking you for being willing to sit and eat with me...” Jimin spoke ever so softly, looking down at the lunch table.

In this moment, it was easy to forget the fear that lingered from yesterday’s cold, dark night. It was easy to take the hand of the cherubic boy that sat before you and give it a reassuring squeeze. “Think nothing of it. We’re going to be doing this a lot more often, so please look forward to it!”

It was easy to forget the curve of his lip as he quickly hid an arrogant smirk, morphing it into his trademark angelic smile. “Yes, please take care of me!”

--------------------------------————————————

Lunch was quite awkward, as it was the first time the three of you had spent a meal together. You and Mana were used to speaking about anything and everything during lunch. You both especially tackled controversial opinions concerning the Kims and their vice-like grip on the minds of those in this town.

Clearly, in this case, that would not have made for clever conversation.

Jimin saved the discussion by turning it towards school, questioning you both on your favorite classes and teachers. If he was able to tell how religiously liberal you were, he was excellent at hiding it.

He shared funny anecdotes of shenanigans he accomplished with his brothers, stories that had the three of you holding your stomachs in laughter.

For the most part, you and your friend were relieved. Jimin was not nearly as terrifying as some of his siblings.

Time passed swiftly and before you knew it, the warning bell sounded, prompting people to throw out the rest of their lunch and swarm through the doors.

You grabbed your and Mana’s tray, throwing the waste away as necessary and placing the trays on the counter, thanking the lunch lady that took them. Then you headed back towards the table, where the two awaited you.

Unlike the passageway that was fairly empty on your way towards the cafeteria, the halls were now teeming with students. They whispered non discreetly, taking glances at the three of you as you walked.

Mana grabbed your arm, letting Jimin go slightly in front as they pulled you back to whisper in your ear. “I could get used to the attention.”

They started snickered but yelped when you slapped their arm. “You wouldn’t be saying that for long. Think of how annoying the constant whispers would get. The Kims have to suffocate underneath all that attention.” You muttered back. Mana considered your words, eventually nodding their head in agreement.

Your best friend did not often have a gentle temperament. They would blow up at students fairly quickly--especially if they were whispering in their face.

The two of you reached the classroom, thanking Jimin as he held the door. Your classmates’ voices hushed and you internally sighed. If you hadn’t noticed their explicit cautiousness before, you definitely did now.

The teacher for the next lesson, Mrs. Hargrove, came in quickly after you, placing stacks of papers on their desk and shutting down conversation.

“Good afternoon, students. I hope everyone had a great lunch.” Mrs. Hargrove’s appearance looked a little more frazzled than usual as she pushed her frizzy hair behind her ears and smoothed down her skirt, but no one made a comment on it. “Today, we’re going to be making an adjustment to our syllabus. Rather than have you all complete individual projects and two tests for semester, I will be placing you in pairs where you will complete a much larger research project with only one test.”

Some of your classmates sighed in relief while others groaned, and you all erupted into conversations. You didn’t mind completing an individual project, but the stress of research and choosing the topic would weigh on you for a while.

Mana turned to you, dread written all over their face. “We’re going to have to research? Kill me now. What topic do you think we should choose?”

You giggle at their dramatic antics but are swiftly interrupted by the teacher. “Actually, Ms. Waye, Ms. (L/N) will be working with Mr. Kim here...as they are seat mates after all.” Mrs. Hargrove glanced over to Jimin, almost as if she were looking for something in his expression.

His face gave away nothing and he disregarded her with a stare.

Mana sneered at the teacher’s blatant disregard for their pronouns, but Mrs. Hargrove paid them no mind, eyes blown wide open as if she’d seen the devil himself. She turned away, stuttering.

“You w-will all be working with your seat mates. I don’t want you taking up any class time to fight over who will be your partner. Now that we have an even amount of students in our class, it settles everything quite nicely. As for the chosen topic, I want each pair to research and present on a certain mythological creature.”

You smiled apologetically at Mana, who pouted and turned around to talk to their partner.

Mrs. Hargrove walked back up to the front of the class, handing out the stacks of papers with the required information for the assignment.

“So, (Y/N),” Jimin calling your name broke your attention from the teacher and you looked over at him. “What creature do you think we should research?”

“I’m not sure...but I kind of wanted to talk about a more obscure creature. We could choose one that isn’t as highly discussed.” You said excitedly.

“That’s a good idea! I’m pretty sure my parents have some old books of lore in our library at home...we’d easily be able to find a creature that people don’t know about there. Would you want to come over and check them out?” Jimin offered.

You stared at him, grin slightly slipping. Going to the Kim household? Without your mother’s hand to hold, or reprimanding to keep you from doing something foolish? This would be completely different from meeting them in the woods and escaping to the safety of your home afterwards.

You’d be walking into the lions’ den of your own volition.

Jimin saw your hesitation and his face crumpled. “It’s fine if you don’t want to...I’d understand,” he muttered.

But seeing his crestfallen expression, you shook all the bad thoughts from your head. “No! It’s fine. I would love to come over...I just have to let my mom know.”

What is she going to do--say no? You thought to yourself, grimacing.

Jimin’s face broke out into the biggest smile you’d seen today. “Really? That’s great!” His cheeks were full in happiness and you felt immensely better.

You raised your hand, bringing Mrs. Hargrove over. “May I go make a quick phone call to my mother?”

She nods, glancing again at your partner. You wanted to extricate yourself from the strange atmosphere as soon as possible, so you shoved your phone in your pocket and trekked out into the hall.

You fully weren’t expecting your mother to answer, but she picked up after only a few rings. “Hello?”

“Hey Mom,” you said. “How’s everything at work?”

“Fine,” she said. “I can’t be on the phone for long--what’s up?”

“Would it be okay for me to go over to a classmate’s house for a school project? We were just assigned it and we need to do research. It’s a really big part of our grade this semester.”

She was silent for a moment. “Who is this classmate?”

“...Kim Jimin.”

You pulled the phone away from your ear and scanned your eyes up and down the hallway as your mother’s volume increased by multiple decibals.

“Yes, I know...He invited me to his house, he said his parents have books we can look into...yes, it’s necessary, unless you want my grades to drop!”

In your determination to placate your mother, you didn’t notice the classroom door opening, nor did you notice the shadow that lurked around the corner.

“Mom, we can’t exactly refuse...it’s just a school project, I’ll be fine!”

You sighed in exasperation as your mother launched off a series of directions, ordering you to text her every hour and watch your behavior around the Kims in her absence. After a string of “yes”, “I know”, and “I will”s, you hung up the phone, shaking your head.

You shoved the device in your pocket and hightailed it to the nearest bathroom, wanting to splash some water on your face before returning to class.

Jimin smirked at your retreating figure, taking his own phone out and tapping out a message. Once he received the response he was looking for, he tucked his phone away, brightened his facial expression, and opened the door to the classroom.

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

The moment had finally arrived: the end of the school day.

Mana watched on pitifully as you packed your books away, Jimin standing patiently above you.

Perhaps it was a bit dramatic to feel so scared, but as far as you or Mana knew, this was the first time someone was (willingly) going over to the Kim’s house. And for something as simple as a school project, no less.

“Alright then...we’re off!” you told your best friend, swinging your bag over your shoulder and tugging them into a hug.

“Good luck on your project! Hope you guys find what you’re looking for,” Mana said, squeezing your midsection painfully tight. “See you tomorrow morning.” They smiled at Jimin, who acknowledged them with a small grin.

You nodded, stepping out from behind the desk and followed Jimin out the classroom.

As soon as he had one toe out the door, however, he was tackled by a blurry figure with neck length, curly, dark hair. Jimin, whose surprise quickly turned into glee, wrapped his arms around the figure. “Taehyungie!”

The sudden motion made you pause in the doorway, one breath away from knocking your head into Jimin’s back.

“I missed you today! I hate the fact that Mr. Burham made you switch classes--we always stick together!” Kim Taehyung pressed his face into Jimin’s neck, but you managed to hear the words he spoke. Jimin chuckled.

“We live together, Taehyung ah, we’d see each other regardless!”

Taehyung lifted his face from his brother’s neck, brittle brown eyes glancing up to meet yours. You felt intimidated by the loss of the sparkle they’d held, but raised a hand to smile and wave at him regardless. “Hi...”

“Oh, Tae! Let me introduce you two.” Jimin hauled his little brother off of him and pulled the two of you by the hand out the doorway so that other students could leave. “(Y/N), this is Taehyung, one of my younger brothers. Tae, this is (Y/N). Mrs. Hargrove assigned us a project on a mythological creature and she’s my partner, so she’ll be coming home with us today to start research.”

You stood against the wall, a polite smile on your face. Taehyung was staring at you with a deadpan expression on his face, assessing you. You didn’t know much about the qualifications of this test, but you assumed it was crucial that you passed it.

All too quickly, his face broke out into a large grin and he swept you into his arms. You grunted at the force with which he pressed you into his chest. “Nice to meet you, (Y/N)!”

“Um, nice to meet you too...”

“Tae, you can’t just touch her without her permission!” Jimin pulled Taehyung off of you, smiling apologetically. You waved it off, gaping at both of them as they rehashed their day for the other.

The two brothers chatted happily, arms around each other’s shoulders as they ambled through the halls and out the front door of the school. Students sent you scandalized glances as you trailed behind them, but you were too busy updating your mother to pay attention. When you finally looked up, you saw Jimin and Taehyung leading you to a large, sleek, black van.

Is this what getting abducted in broad daylight feels like?

But you recognized this car. This was the Kim’s family car, driven by a hired professional to take their five children to school and back. You’d seen it many a times in the morning with your mother.

Students whispered as the three juniors approached the vehicle while you cautiously eyed the three figures that stood in front of it.

Kim Jungkook, the school’s most talented freshman. He’d already made high marks in all of the clubs he’d joined, with special attention to the music and sports club. He was so talented in boxing that the Kims, already large beneficiaries of the school, had given the director the money to start and finance the new boxing club.

Kim Hoseok, the captain of the dance team with an academic prowess that was second to only one person in the whole school. He’d taken your school dance team to nationals and, although very kind to the general student body, it was not lost on everyone how exhausted the members of his team would be in competition season. No one in after school activities could forget the sound of him sounding out beats or barking orders through the halls during rehearsals.

And finally, Kim Namjoon. The president of the Association for the Student Body and resident academic genius. He’d held the top scores for every class he’d been in since freshman year. The school trophy case was jokingly nicknamed “Namjoon’s Bureau” after the amount of awards that had his name on them.

Never would you have guessed that you would be meeting not one, but all five of the Kim siblings--on the same day, no less.

“Oh ho, Jiminie,” Hoseok teased as you approached, ruffling his little brother’s hair. “Who’s this?”

Be still, my beating heart--

“Hello! I’m (Y/N), a classmate of Jimin’s. It’s nice to meet you all.” You greeted them with a sharp, but quick bow.

“We were assigned a project to research a mythological creature.”Jimin clung to Namjoon by the arm while he and Jungkook were busy staring at you. “Namjoon hyung, would you help us find the books Dad once showed us in the library? The ones with all the lore and stories?”

On the outside, this felt like a normal day of being introduced to an acquaintance’s family members.

On the inside, however, you were reminded of the purple flames that stole Natalia’s existence from this mortal plane in mere seconds every time you looked one of the older Kim siblings in the eyes.

Jungkook merely looked curious, doe eyes wide in surprise. But Namjoon...

Even though they were adopted, Namjoon held the same crazed, righteous look in his eyes that Kim Moonsik would have whenever he announced the next tribute for Wylynne’s army.

“I’d be happy to find them for you guys,” Namjoon grinned at you.

You “smiled” back.

That was a grimace...that was a definitely a grimace. You seriously needed to work on your facial expressions around them.

Hoseok opened the car door, sliding into the very back with Jungkook and Taehyung while Jimin leapt for the window seat. This left you between him and his older brother, and you fought the urge to groan aloud.

Once inside the car, Namjoon alerted the driver that everyone was present and the man took off without another word. While he was distracted, you lowered your phone brightness and updated your mother again on your location.

“So, (Y/N), how was your day?” You jerk your head up and turn towards the voice, Hoseok questioning you while still wearing that ear-splitting grin.

“It was alright! I met Jimin this morning and then we attended classes and lunch...” you said, fiddling with the power button on your phone.

Hoseok and Taehyung continued to ask you a few more questions, like your favorite color and artists, about your classes and any future career plans. Jimin would cut in every so often with a statement or question of his own, and Jungkook and Namjoon simply watched on quietly as the conversation took place.

You leaned your head on the space between the headrests of the seats, tilting it to the right. You thought this morning’s fatigue had been chased away by the excitement of the day, but it was actually resting, lying in wait for the moment where you would put your guard down.

As much as you wanted to avoid it, the rumbling of the AC and comfort provided by the plush, leather seats caused the background noise in the car to fade before disappearing completely.

Jungkook seemed to be the only one to notice your breathing slow. “She’s asleep.”

Any and all conversation that had been taking place shut down immediately as they all gazed at your figure.

At some point in your sleep, you started to shiver from the temperature of the AC. Jungkook quickly peeled off his school sweater and handed it to Jimin, who pouted slightly as he draped it over your form.

They watched the slow rise and fall of your chest and listened to the soft breathing noises you let out in your sleep. The world outside was forgotten, and for a few, precious moments it was only you and them.

And if all went according to plan, soon it would be much, much longer than a few precious moments. Their world would only consist of you and them, all of them, for the rest of time.

#cult au #bts cult au #yandere bts x reader #yandere bts au #bts x reader #yandere bts #yandere jung hoseok #yandere kim taehyung #yandere kim namjoon #yandere kim seokjin #yandere park jimin #yandere min yoongi #Yandere jeon jungkook #x reader #religious au #high school au #college au #ot7 x reader #poly ot7

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the-firebender-girl · 4 years

Text

Fire Lord For a Day (Zuko x Reader)

-> There’s a new Fire Lord in town because Zuko lost a bet.

A few years after Zuko was crowned as the Fire Lord and ushered in a new era of peace and harmony, all is finally well between the 4 nations.

The progress of building the war-torn world back up was hard, but not impossible. Under his rule the Fire Nation work to regain its honor and clean its name, doing whatever they can to help restore what they had destroyed. And having the Avatar on his side definitely doesn’t hurt his chances too.

Besides working on the nation, he has worked hard on bettering himself, becoming a better man, someone more deserving of his title. And I think it’s safe to say that he’s well on his way there, Zuko has always been the sane one in the family, the one with a moral compass although he did get somewhat confused in the past before he found who he’s meant to be. Changing for the better is his watchword now.

That thing with Mai didn’t work out too, for the best perhaps. Although they’re compatible and have known each other since they were little, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be anything more than a simple childhood crush, but it can’t really grow past that. They crave for different things in a relationship, Mai was too emotionless, too closed-off, too cold for his taste. After living a life full of loneliness and rejection, all he needs is warmth and acceptance, a pair of welcoming arms.

Perhaps that’s why he’s immediately hooked to her. Y/N. She’s like the sunshine of his life. Her presence brings him so much joy and unconditional love. It was a chance encounter between them. Zuko was walking around the capital in disguise, watching as the world unfold and ran its course around him, how his people are living their life when he bumped into her. Nearly knocking her onto the ground, thank Agni he didn’t.

She apologized profusely when the impact caused his hood to fall back, revealing his face. She wasn’t sure of this new Fire Lord, well he did promise to be different than his ancestors but she needs actions not words. When she won’t stop repeatedly bowing even though he was clearly the one who got in her way, he frowned, and stop her mid-bow.

“You can stop doing that now, i’m okay, there’s nothing to be worried about” He said softly, assuring the poor girl.

“I’m truly sorry Fire Lord, what can I do to make it up to you?” Face still latched with worries, eyebrows tightly knitted.

“Well I still have to think about that” He pretended to contemplate it in his head, one hand positioned under his chin, “In the meantime, how about we discuss it over tea?”

“O—of course Fire Lord Zuko, anything” He can’t help but grimaced, still was not used to the title.

“Zuko please, just call me Zuko”

“Zuko...” She said, testing the name out, how he loved the sound of it.

“And what can I call you, fair lady?”

“Y/N, just Y/N”

“Okay then just Y/N, should we go now?” Zuko said, offering one of his hands for her to hold, which she took gratefully.

“By all means, lead the way Zuko” Finally letting her worries melt away, giving a way in for a smile.

———————————————————————

That was a few years ago.

Turns out that Y/N’s family is the owner of Zen Dimsum & Tea House, the most famous restaurant in the capital. Even Uncle Iroh always squeeze a visit there everytime he comes home.

“Rival only second to Jasmine Dragon itself!” That’s what he claimed.

And now she is officially his girlfriend, him asking her out was anything but romantic. Spirits know how much he lacks in the wooing department. She doesn’t seem to mind it though and said yes in a heartbeat.

She has met the Gaang on several occasions and they all love her. Even the palace servants and guards adore her too. Zuko came to the conclusion that it’s just impossible not to took a liking to her.

That’s what brought us here today. You see about a week ago Zuko had lost a bet to Y/N, and the price she asked for? being a Fire Lord for a day.

Zuko was skeptical at first of course because everything could go downhill real quick, but she assured him that she wouldn’t do anything that could put a permanent damage to his reputation, not too much anyway.

They agreed on this day for his schedule was pretty much empty, no meetings, no strategizing, no council. It’s as perfect as it can be.

Even the Gaang are here too to witness this hilarious once-in-a-blue-moon occasion. Zuko’s never known for being one to let go of the reign. But this girl somehow manages to pulled it off, oh she’s going to be the death of him for sure.

“All hail Fire Lord Y/N” Sokka said in a booming voice, as he puts the Fire Lord headpiece into her top-knot, crowning her for the day.

“All hail Fire Lord Y/N” Aang, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Ty Lee repeated back solemnly while giving an exaggerated bow.

Zuko can’t help but facepalmed himself at the scene that he’s witnessing, Fire Lord Sozin would no doubt have his head if only he were to see this.

“Ahh it feels good to be king” Y/N said, mustering her voice to be as regal as can be, but her grin definitely ruins it.

Uncle Iroh who has somehow founds himself stumbling onto this scene can’t help but let out a loud laughter.

“Now what do we have here? I must say i’m disappointed to see your reign came to an end so soon dear nephew”

Zuko lets out an exasperated groan to which everyone in the room exploded into a series of laughter, this is just too good to be true.

———————————————————————

“What will be your first decree, Your Majesty?” Sokka asked her.

The Gaang, Ty Lee, and Uncle Iroh surrounded her like an entourage, not wanting to miss out on all the fun while a grumbling Zuko trailed not too far behind them.

“Hey Iroh? do you remember when you reigned as the temporary Fire Lord?” Y/N said.

“Of course dear one, it was short but sweet, what about it?”

“I think it’s about time that we bring back what matters most to the people, I hereby declared that National Tea Appreciation Day would be permanently etched into our calendar!”

The Gaang cheer while Uncle Iroh had almost cried on spot, he shrieked happily, hugging the girl tightly.

“You are a blessing to this nation Y/N”

She smiles back at him, “Anything for you, Iroh”

“National Tea Appreciation Day it is then! Toph, mind giving me a hand on drawing the illustration for the official announcement?” Sokka said asking his poster drawing partner, just like old times in Ba Sing Se.

“You got it, boss” Toph grins back at him, giving a thumbs up.

Looking back and forth between his positively glowing uncle and the happiest the Gaang has ever been for some time, Zuko can’t help but feel the tension leaves his body.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad after all”

———————————————————————

“NO! absolutely not! you can’t change our national color to pink and peach Y/N, what do you think we are?” Zuko nearly lose his shit at this madness.

“But I think it’s brilliant, Zuko! red is sooo last centuries” Ty Lee comes to Y/N defense, sticking her tongue out to her childhood friend.

“You guys are crazy” He’s shaking his head frantically, “This nation is doomed” He dramatically said while pulling at his hair, his top-knot has hair sticking out in all directions.

“Oh knock it off, drama king. It’s just for a day! the people deserve to let loose and have some fun. You know you can always revoke it later” Y/N said, pulling her puppy dog eyes at him, lips pouting slightly.

“Please don’t do that... you’re not playing fair Y/N, you know I can’t say no to that face” Zuko grumbles, he’s trying very hard, but she got him putty in her hands.

“You know what? do what you like, it can’t get any worse than this” He said in defeat.

Oh boy if only he knew how wrong he was.

Zuko cannot recognize what he is seeing in front of his eyes. The proud Fire Nation, his nation, is now a seas of pink and peaches.

To his surprise after the announcement of Y/N’s second decree, the people responded to it giddily. They began to dress up in all sorts of pink and peach, their normal red and black outfit long forgotten. Even the usually reserved and standoffish nobles are participating in this event. Excitement buzzing in the air of the capital.

The people are rejoicing, merrily welcoming the arrival of the new ‘Fire Lord’ amidst them with the sound of cheers and clapping. Petals of flowers are thrown to the air, creating a rain of blooms in a flurry of rainbow shades. It’s nice to see them this light-hearted after living under a tyrant for soo long, the constricting rules don’t help either.

For the first time Zuko sees the people of the Fire Nation becoming one, with no clear lines separating between the nobles and the commoners, together right here and now, they are just human who longs for freedom. Freedom that Y/N just gives them, to do as one’s heart content without having to fear for their status or images.

———————————————————————

“Can we have some music over here? real music not the usual propaganda ones, I wanna hear some beat!” Y/N screamed out into the crowd that has filled the Royal Plaza.

“This one really brings the party with her doesn’t she, Sparky?” Toph said to Zuko, as together their eyes sweep over the continously growing crowd.

“Yeah... that she does” Zuko smiles fondly at his girlfriend and the way she enchants the crowd, it’s like they are gravitating towards her.

“Oh no...” Toph said again with a teasing wicked grin, she pointed her finger at him.

“You are so whipped, Sparky”

“That I am Toph, that I am...”

———————————————————————

“WOHOOOO it’s like the secret cave rave all over again!!!” Aang screamed with happiness as he crowd surf. People of all ages dancing below him.

“Aang! you get down here this instant! you’re gonna fall” Katara freaks out watching the Avatar being passed on from hands to hands. Biting her lip so hard she nearly drew blood.

“Oh let him live, Katara! loosen up, it’s a party” Suki said as she elbows her side lightly.

“Why are we just standing here? COME ON” Ty Lee said as she dragged both girls right to the middle of the crowd.

Katara’s screams of “No no no” was the last thing that can be heard before it’s swallowed by the sound of thrumming beats and off-tune singing.

———————————————————————

As the day come to an end, the party died down and people are returning to their respective home. Worn out but as happy as ever.

The Gaang is beaming, their feet light as they make their way back to the palace. Even after all of the heroic things that they had accomplished, it felt nice just to be a bunch of teenagers again.

“I’m beat you guys, i’m probably gonna sleep for the next 2 days” Aang said, pausing mid sentence to let out a yawn.

“Yup good idea, i’m gonna copy you on that” Sokka replied, entertaining the idea of just passing out on the floor right here right now, it looks so tempting. That is before Suki offers him her shoulders to lean on, shaking her head at his antics.

“Goodnight everyone” Katara said, earning back a chorus of “Goodnight” from everyone in return.

“Thanks for the awesome day Y/N” Ty Lee said as she half hugged Y/N before she too makes her way to her room.

Uncle Iroh gave Zuko and Y/N a warm smile, “Go on and rest you two, you both earned it”

“Goodnight uncle”

“Sleep well, Iroh”

———————————————————————

Back in Zuko’s bedroom, they both have cleaned up and changed into their sleepwear but decided that this is a rare moment to just enjoy each other’s presence without the usual pressure of being chased by time constraint.

“Had fun?” Zuko asked as he approaches her who is currently standing in the balcony that looks over the town below.

He wraps his arms around her as she snuggles into him, enjoying the extra warmth that he provided. Zuko leans down to press a kiss atop the crown of her head.

“I’m kinda sad that this day is over but it’s good while it lasts, I had a good run” She said while chuckling a bit at the ridiculousness of the situation. Never in a million years had she imagined this happening to her.

“You certainly made quite an impression on the people, they all adore you, not that i’m surprised it’s about time they all see you the way that I see you”

Y/N tilted her head a bit so that she can see him better, he looks handsome under the moonlight and stars, some pieces of his hair falling down lazily covering one of his eyes.

He looks at her with an intense look in his eyes, suddenly getting all serious.

“If you like it that much, it doesn’t have to end tonight you know?”

This got her letting out a scoff, “What? you’re gonna resign your position to me now?” she asked incredulously.

Zuko rolls his eyes at her, “No, you silly girl”

“How does Fire Lady sounds to you?”

Y/N swears that her heart stopped beating for a milisecond after hearing the words that just came out of her lover’s mouth.

“Are you really proposing to me right now, Fire Lord Zuko?” She said, feigning out a scandalous gasp.

“Spirits you’re dramatic aren’t you”

“You’re one to talk, Zuko”

She pretends to think about it, eyes looking upward, eyebrows scrunching creating a line in her forehead.

Now Zuko is the one who’s starting to get cold feet, what if she rejected him? what if it’s too much? too soon? how brash of him to just throw around this responsibility so carelessly. Before he can start hyperventilating, she raises her hand to cup his cheek gently, rubbing a soothing finger in a left and right motion to calm down his strung nerve.

“That sounds perfect” Sincerity evident in her voice, “I’ll be honored Zuko, if you’ll have me”

“Oh thank the spirits”

He’s in a state of euphoria, pulling her in even closer, he gently takes her face into his hands and lean down to kiss her. A slow, passionate kiss where they pour as much love as they can muster into it.

As they broke apart, Zuko takes her hand and entertwine their fingers together. Leading her back into his room and walk to the front of the vanity.

He opens one of the drawers, taking out a beautiful box decorated with carvings of dragon and fire lillies. Inside it is a gleaming piece of gold in the shape of a flame, the Fire Lady headpiece.

“May I?” He asks her.

She can only nods, emotions threatening to make her burst.

Zuko takes the headpiece and carefully inserted it into her top-knot, it sits perfectly, right where it should be.

“My Fire Lady” Zuko said as he can’t help but smile as he stares at her reflection in the mirror, leaning down to give a kiss to her cheek.

—————————��—————————————

The national colors went back to the normal red and black but the smiles on his people’s faces remains. Especially after hearing the official engaged-to-be-married announcement of their Fire Lord to she who has brought happiness not only to him, but to the people as well.

That day as she stood beside him from the top stair of the palace, hands waving to the cheering crowd of people below, proudly adorning the Fire Lady headpiece in her hair, Zuko thought to himself.

Yeah Uncle Iroh is never wrong, she is a blessing to this nation.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Y/N” Uncle Iroh said, giving his salute to the new reigning monarch.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Y/N”

———————————————————————

A/N : I’ve been very productive lately and there’s a lot more stories waiting to be finished in my draft😉 this is my second Zuko fic and as for me i’m very pleased with how it turns out but I really want to hear from you guys too soo feedbacks are definitely hoped for so that I can improve my writing♥️ anyways thank you so much for reading til the end and i’ll see you on another fic lovelies!

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besanii · 4 years

Note

“you don’t love me anymore?” for wangxian from the angst print list please ❤️❤️ (bc i love to hurt myself 😭😭)

Lan Zhan, I know you can hear me, so I’m just going to say it, alright?

You’ll probably be upset with me when you wake up and realise what I’ve done, but I’m going to do it anyway. You gave your life to save the world, so it’s only fair that someone should do the same for you.

Don’t worry about me. All members of the Phoenix Tribe will go through nirvana at least once in our lives and are reborn again. I’m just going through it a little earlier than expected, that’s all.

He finds him dancing across the lake, surrounded by giggling water spirits, his long hair fluttering behind him as he leaps and twirls, his bare feet barely grazing the surface of the water. The lotus blossoms in the lake sing in response, pink and red petals unfurling as he passes, the soft glow of their spiritual essence hovering in the air like fireflies to greet him. There’s a soft, faraway smile on his face as he greets them with a bow, before he’s gone again in a flurry of silk.

His heart thuds painfully in recognition and he’s stepping out onto the pier before he can stop himself.

At the first creak beneath his feet, all motion over the lake comes to a halt. It leaves him suddenly self-conscious as the young man pauses in mid-turn and looks at him curiously over his shoulder.

“Wei Ying,” he breathes, frozen where he stands. “You’re back.”

Other immortals have always talked reverently about the Crown Prince of the Phoenix Tribe and his beautiful eyes, an enchantingly dark, silvery grey with starlight in their depths. Once upon a time, he had been held in those eyes above all others and they had shone for him and him alone. Now they hold no recognition whatsoever.

The realisation is like a lightning strike through the heart, shattering the world beneath his feet.

“Shangshen,” Wei Wuxian says with a polite bow, his fingertips clasped in front of his chest. “What can I do for you?”

“Wei Ying,” he says, horror creeping into his veins and into his throat, strangling his voice as he speaks. “Do you know who I am?”

Wei Wuxian’s head tilts to the side, confused.

“Of course I do,” he replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re Lan Wangji, the God of War.”

There was a time when Wei Wuxian would greet him with a beaming smile and boisterous laughter and throw himself into his arms without hesitation. The Wei Wuxian he remembers would have gleefully wormed his way to his side and batted his eyelashes at him until he acquiesced and showed him the affection he demanded. He searches for an inkling, a ghost of that Wei Wuxian now, only to be met with polite indifference.

It punches the air from his lungs until he’s shaking; he clenches his fists to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing hold of Wei Wuxian.

“Is there something wrong, Shangshen?” Wei Wuxian asks. Lan Wangji exhales.

“Do you not remember me?” he asks, already afraid of the answer. “Do you not remember...us?”

Wei Wuxian covers his mouth with a hand and laughs and for a moment, Lan Wangji’s heart soars with hope. Maybe this is a game and Wei Wuxian is only testing him—

“Us?” Wei Wuxian laughs again, but there is confusion in his eyes. “What do you mean? Have we met before?”

When he had woken up from his slumber after three hundred years, the fragments of his soul finally pieced together again and his heart beating to an unfamiliar rhythm in his chest, it was to the news that Wei Wuxian was gone. That he had exchanged his heart and all fifty thousand years of his cultivation for Lan Wangji’s resurrection.

The news had come, two hundred years later: the Crown Prince has returned, and Lan Wangji was out the door in an instant. Wei Wuxian is a phoenix, and phoenixes can be reborn. Wei Wuxian had come back to him at last.

That tiny shred of hope plummets back into the pit of his stomach and crumbles into dust. Wei Wuxian’s mother had warned him this may happen and his brother had cautioned him against hope, but he had not heeded their advice.

“Wei Ying,” he says numbly. “Wei Ying...I’m your husband.”

He waits with bated breath for any sign of recognition or recollection, but the confusion does not lessen in the slightest. Instead, a frown appears on Wei Wuxian’s face and he takes half a step back, suddenly wary.

“Husband?” he echoes. “Shangshen, you must be mistaken. I’ve never been married, so how can I have a husband?”

“Lan Zhan! We’re married now, so you can’t run from me anymore!”

Fondness bubbles up in his chest as he feels a pair of arms wind around his; he looks down to see Wei Wuxian beaming up at him, his dark grey eyes sparkling with mischief. He looks breathtaking in red.

There is no deception in his eyes, no amusement, no teasing; no matter how hard Lan Wangji tries, he cannot find a trace of his husband in Wei Wuxian. Still, he has to try. Wei Wuxian did not give up on him even in death, he refuses to give up on him in life.

“We were married five hundred years ago,” he tells him desperately. “It was arranged between the Nine Heavens and the Phoenix Tribe. Everyone thought we were being forced into it, but it was a love match.”

He remembers the whispers, the pitying looks they had received at the ceremony. The poor Phoenix prince, forced to marry a God almost twice his age when he could have his pick of any immortal in all the realms. He knew their age difference was larger than most and that marrying him would ruin Wei Wuxian’s chances of ever making a better match after his soul returns to the universe, but Wei Wuxian had only laughed and said it was none of their business who they chose to love.

The Wei Wuxian before him now only looks uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “A-Niang tells me I went through nirvana five hundred years ago and have only just woken up from the rebirthing sleep. I have no memories of my previous life.”

There is guilt in his eyes when he looks at Lan Wangji and his voice when he next speaks is kind, almost pitying. It stings more than incredulity.

“I don’t doubt we loved each other in my previous life,” he says. “But regardless of my feelings then, I do not wish to tie you to a marriage when my feelings are no longer what they once were.”

Lan Wangji feels the ground crumbling, piece by piece, around him as the words sink in; his legs buckle beneath him, sending him stumbling backward a step before he can catch himself. Still standing over the lake, Wei Wuxian’s body jerks forward as if to come to his aid. His fists flex repeatedly by his side but he does not move or speak further.

“You—” the words scrape his throat raw. “You don’t love me anymore?”

Wei Wuxian inhales sharply at the brittleness of his voice. His grey eyes are wide with shock and uncertainty as he stares at Lan Wangji; his lips part without a sound, the ghost of a tremor passing through them.

“I-I don’t—” he looks away quickly, lips pressed together in a thin line. “I’m sorry. I know you said we’re married—if you wish to divorce, I am willing to bear that responsibility—”

Lan Wangji gasps at the sudden, searing pain that erupts in his chest; he brings a hand up to press against it, feeling the way it races erratically beneath his hands, threatening to tear itself apart. Wei Wuxian turns back to him, horrified, reaching out to help, but Lan Wangji halts him with an outstretched hand.

“I-I’m sorry,” Wei Wuxian stammers again as he struggles to hold himself back. “Is there—are you alright?”

Lan Wangji takes several deep breaths, focusing his spirit inward to stabilise himself; the pain gradually subsides, leaving him weak and aching.

“Our marriage was decreed by both the Nine Heavens and the Phoenix Tribe,” he says heavily. “Everyone knows you are my husband, and I yours. A divorce would have lasting consequences for both realms. It is not so simple.”

“Oh,” Wei Wuxian says, gnawing on his bottom lip. “I guess—”

“If that is your wish, however,” Lan Wangji continues, staring at him with a hollow, wrung-out expression. “If that is truly your wish, I will do everything in my power to grant you your freedom.”

He straightens, clasps his fingers before him, and bows low at the waist. It is too formal a bow for a High God to give to an immortal half his age—he hears Wei Wuxian’s startled gasp, but pays it no mind. He is not bowing to just anyone. He is bowing to the man who sacrificed himself, the entirety of his existence, for him; the man who had done it all out of love for him. He is bowing to his husband, to whom he owes a debt too great to repay. The least he can do now is to set him free.

And then, before Wei Wuxian can recover from his shock to respond, he turns on his heel and leaves.

Lan Zhan, I’m giving you my heart, so you better take good care of it, alright?

If...if I survive this, if I am reborn again...A-Niang says I won’t remember anything about this life, so...this Wei Wuxian—the one who fell in love with you at first sight, the one who married you and willingly carved out his own heart to save you—this Wei Wuxian will die, and another one will take my place.

If you fall in love with him after I’m gone, I think I’ll be jealous. So please...promise me. Promise me that no matter how much you love him, you’ll save some of that love for me.

Goodbye, Lan Zhan. I love you.

Notes:

shangshen (上神) - High God

I guess you can consider this in the same verse as this previous prompt? Maybe? I don’t know where it fits exactly, but it’s Phoenix!WWX and Dragon/God of War!LWJ as well.

// buy me a ko-fi //

#softboyfriendtae #mdzs #wangxian #love and destiny au #my writing #angst prompt memes #🔪🔪🔪🔪#idk what constitutes as five knives #can i say this is 4.5 knives?#hurt no comfort #wwx sacrifices himself to save lwj #and loses his memories #THE END #jks #they decide to give it another go #and lwj does his best to woo wwx this time #instead of the other way around #ANYWAY HAVE SOME KNIVES #shifting ground fic

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maggiec70 · 3 years

Text

The Fictional Take on Jean-Claude

As I've said before, fiction often presents the opportunity to write really nest things and in an engaging way that non-fiction, especially the historical type, rarely allows. So here is yet another scene from the Longest-Running WIP, this one about Jean-Claude, and what Jean-Boy thinks of this entire mess for which he was responsible:

Mariana sat opposite Jean in a small paneled study tucked away at the rear of the house. The two south-facing windows stood open, midmorning sunlight falling across the country pine table, a faint breeze stirring the edges of papers spread out in front of him. While she went to Mass, Jean spent his Sunday mornings with account books and other documents. She knew how little his extravagant properties in Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye meant to him, and he cared nothing about their management. He’d bought them both at Louise’s insistence and the emperor’s decree, as he’d often reminded her. Yet his acres, vineyards, farms, and other properties here mattered very much. She had felt his deep-rooted attachment from the first day she’d come to Lectoure and walked into this house. For a long, peaceful moment broken only by the scratching of his pen and a dove cooing on the window ledge, she pictured Louise living luxuriously in Paris. In contrast, she and Jean lived here in simple bucolic harmony. A perfect dream—she and the seigneur of this lovely hill town, the lord of a small realm who didn’t care if he got dirt on his hands and his breeches and who could—and did—pick grapes with the best of his tenant farmers.

“I waited for you before having coffee,” Jean said, and her sweet fantasy popped like champagne bubbles. “How was Mass?”

“Spiritually refreshing, as always. You should go,” Mariana replied and rose to fetch the coffee. She returned a few moments later and set a tray on one end of the table, away from the inkpot and the account books. “I saw a young boy, perhaps a year or two older than Augie, after Mass,” she said, pouring the coffee from an earthenware pot and sliding a cup over to Jean. “He must live in that house across from the cathedral, the one with the three iron balls over the gate. He was playing with an enormous fluffy white dog in the courtyard.”

Jean set his cup aside, untouched, and gazed out the window. His face was suddenly as featureless as a frozen plain scoured by a cruel winter wind. “Nothing unusual about that. There are plenty of children from one end of town to the other. Plenty of dogs, too.” He spoke to the windows, not to her, and his tone was flat.

Mariana swallowed half her coffee and leaned forward, the cup cradled in her hands. “This boy looked so much like you that I stopped where I was and stared at him. He saw me and grinned back, as you sometimes do, with a little wave more like a salute. Who is he? Do you know him?”

Jean stood in a single fluid motion and strode to the windows, his back to her. The silence spun out, no longer peaceful but heavy with something she couldn’t identify. Dread, perhaps, or anger, even fear. She could almost see a dark aura settle around him despite the bright summer sun, and leaned back in her chair, coffee forgotten, everything forgotten. He turned from the windows and crossed to the door, shutting it so hard with his fist that the wood rattled in its solid frame. Dragging a chair around, he sat opposite her, very close, almost touching. She didn’t move, waiting for whatever he chose to tell her, the chill of unease growing in her breast.

“We won’t speak of this again, ever. Do you understand?”

She gazed back at him. The blank expression and flat, unemotional tone had gone. Now his eyes were dark, as stormy as the Irish Sea when she had crossed it eight years ago. The lines on his face cut deep and stark, his voice harsh. Suddenly she wanted her coffee, but the cup was out of reach, and she dared not move.

“I understand.” Her voice was no more than a dry whisper, the best she could manage.

“I told you once that Polette, my first wife, was a flirt and liked anyone in a uniform. Do you remember?”

“I remember.”

“She married me because of my rank, the amount of gold braid on my uniform, and because I told her a good story. She told good stories too, and so did her mother, as it turned out. Afterward, all Polette wanted was money, status, and a big house, the biggest in town. Our marriage was already in ruins when I met you. I told you that, but not in any detail. It didn’t improve later that summer, when she insisted on coming to Lombardy—” Her gasp interrupted him, but only for a second or so. “She got nothing from me then, Mariana, other than some jewelry and a gown or two to wear to Bonaparte’s festivities at Mombello. Nothing—do you understand that?”

When she nodded, past the ability to speak, he continued. “It ended in Egypt, or rather because of the Egyptian campaign. We didn’t get much news in the desert, but we got enough. Some member of Bonaparte’s family cheerfully wrote him of his wife’s presumed infidelity, and my brother Bernard wrote me that Polette had given birth. Bernard was cagy about the date, but he swore it wasn’t my child, that she’d been carrying on with someone even before I’d left. Several nights later, Bonaparte drank too much wine—he rarely did, then or now—and told me women were worthless, faithless sluts, and we both would do well to cut ourselves loose the moment we returned to France.”

Jean glanced away from her to the earthenware pot beside their abandoned cups, and reached for it. He poured quickly, his hand steady, and slid her cup toward her. He did not touch his. “This isn’t Bonaparte’s story, though. It’s mine. By the time I reached Toulon in October, I was outraged, and I hated Polette, truly despised her. I’d gotten another letter from Bernard, this one telling me my mother had died. He wrote that she’d been distraught over the erroneous report that I’d been killed at Saint-Jean d’Acre, and very upset with Polette’s behavior. So I went straight to Paris with Bonaparte and left the matter of the divorce to Bernard and Dominique Montbrun, an attorney here I’d known all my life. Montbrun was a snake, utterly ruthless and doubtless unethical, but he succeeded, and that’s all I cared about. He beat Polette down at every turn, playing on her naiveté, producing witnesses who swore they’d seen her at one time or another with every male in town over the age of sixteen. No one would believe a thing she said, even when she fought back and told the truth.”

He stopped and picked up his cup, draining it in two quick gulps. Mariana was surprised he didn’t choke. When he set the empty cup down, his hand shook badly. She didn’t move and didn’t speak. It was not the time to say anything. That much was evident in his eyes, still stormy, but something else hovered there too, something she didn’t recognize. Hands clasped in her lap, tighter now, she waited for him to tell her the rest of what was already a sordid story.

“I divorced her for adultery. That was easy, and I never regretted it for a moment. I still don’t, although I often wonder if the divorce was even legal. But I never took the final, separate action that would have declared her child a bastard, deprived him of my name, and any rights to whatever I owned or would own. Montbrun hounded me about that, so did Bernard and everyone else I knew. I didn’t listen to them, and I didn’t do it. I couldn’t do it.”

She understood in a flash of painful clarity why he had not taken that final legal step. And now she recognized what had been swirling and growing stronger in his eyes—guilt, and shame. She clenched her hands tighter still and said nothing.

“Polette had traveled to Toulon before I left for Egypt, not because I wanted to see her but because she was her usual willful self. So there she was, saying she wanted to see me, be with me, before I left for what she described as the ends of the earth. I suppose the empty-headed daughter of a minor bank official from Perpignan did think Egypt was the end of the world.” He looked down, but there was nothing to see but their knees nearly touching and the tips of their shoes touching. Her nails, clipped short, dug into her palms, and every finger ached. She had no idea how she managed to breathe quietly, steadily, while at the same time, her heart lurched from side to side, and her mind raced in frantic circles.

“I slept with her, Mariana, somewhere north of Toulon, in a nondescript posthouse I don’t recall to this day. And not just once. I admit that to you now just as I admitted it to myself then. Yes, I could count. For selfish purposes, for wounded Gascon pride, for whatever pointless reasons you can imagine, I refused to acknowledge that child publicly because I hated his mother so much that I wanted to get rid of her at any cost. Because I knew the real possibility—the real probability—that the child was mine, I couldn’t sever that last legal tie. Now it’s too late.”

She forced herself to tamp down the emotions roiling up and clamoring to spill out in a loud and messy pile in her lap or his. She breathed steadily, certain that her nostrils were flaring like Odysseus’s did after a hard gallop, and struggled to keep her face calm, expressionless. Surely he could see what must be flashing in her eyes. If he did, he should run from it.

“Polette remarried a year or so later to a respectable and prosperous man who treats them both well. Jean-Claude has a step-father, two step-sisters, a step-brother, and a mother who dotes on him. He’s happy and cared for. He always has been, I believe.”

Mariana stood so quickly that her wooden chair rocked on its back legs and crashed to the floor. Stepping around it, she moved to the windows, where the warm breeze cooled the heat rising from her breast and up her neck to her cheeks. She unclenched her hands and flexed her fingers, not caring that her breath came in short, audible puffs.

“I was afraid you’d be upset—”

“Upset? Oh, yes, upset, and furious,” she replied, whirling around to face him. “Not for the reasons you think, you and your stupid male pride. I’m not angry because you had sex with your wife after you’d made all sorts of promises to me. I’m infuriated because you allowed Bonaparte to influence you—again—and poison your mind. You never stopped to think for yourself. You didn’t weigh what your brother said or what your lawyer did and come to your own conclusions. You let other people make intensely personal decisions for you. Worse, you never thought about how your dreadfully cavalier actions might affect other people, especially that little boy. That’s what makes me so furious with you. Sweet Mother of God, has Louise ever seen him?”

“She doesn’t know about Jean-Claude, and she’s never seen him.”

“That’s something to be grateful for, I suppose.” Mariana remained by the window, thumbs hooked in her sash. Even from this distance, she saw that shame was writ large on his face and was glad. She had many things she wanted to say, all of them sharp and hurtful, and none of them serving any useful purpose.

“How do you think Louise would handle a challenge to your estate from this young boy if anything happened to you?”

“I’d hate to think of what she’d do to protect Augie and the boys, even little Joséphine, from anyone challenging what she believes belongs to them and to her. She’d be lethal, like a lioness with new cubs.”

“So, Jean, because of your pride and pigheadedness, six children and two women may well find themselves in an impossible legal situation at some point. Of course, you won’t be around to see what a disaster you’ve created. Did this never occur to you? It’s not as if they would be squabbling over a ten-acre vineyard, either. People unused to wealth, status, and possessions often lose their reason when those things become part of a vast inheritance.” She picked up the chair and collapsed onto it, hands on her knees, and concentrated on catching her breath from the last outburst before beginning the next. Judging from Jean’s expression, she would have ample time to recover. Beneath the guilt and shame, a slight glint of hope swam to the surface of his eyes. She had seen this before, not often, but enough to know he wanted her to make it right and patch up—or clean up—whatever mess he’d made of something. Not this time, though, and not the way he wanted.

“I can’t help you with this. It’s a matter for lawyers, a roomful of them. It’s also up to you, and only you, to decide if you will acknowledge him as your son, perhaps not in the legal sense, but in the most elemental, personal way. But it might be too late now for even that.” She rubbed her forehead, over her right eye, where a headache had taken hold. “What would you do, Jean, if I had your child, unlikely as that may be?”

“Take care of you and of the child. You know I would, so why ask?”

She stood, her anger spiking along with the persistent throbbing in her temple. “Polette might have thought you’d do the same for her and Jean-Claude. She was wrong, as it turned out. I asked because we’ve spent the past half-hour discussing a child you didn’t take care of. You’ll do it, now, though, by all the saints, you will! Somewhere in these books and papers you care so much about is a tidy inheritance for Jean-Claude. You probably can’t touch what the emperor’s given you, and it wouldn’t be fair to Louise and Augie. But these lands and properties are yours to give. So do it, and do it now. I want to see what you’ve drawn up, ready for a lawyer’s finishing touches, when I get back. I will choose the lawyer for this task, however. No more unethical snakes.”

“Where are you going?”

“To light a candle for your son and an even bigger one for you.”

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official-weasley · 3 years

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The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 4, Ch. 1

PART 4: THE YEAR WHEN EVERYONE HAS A CRUSH Chapter 1 - Not-so-Muggle Charlie

Charlie

When Penny invited us to her house for the Summer and Nova received the letter from her aunt saying I could tag along, I thought this was going to be the best Summer ever. I don't recall the last time I didn't spend it at the Burrow and I was wondering who was taking care of my younger siblings as Bill was in Egypt and I was as far away from whatever Fred and George had in store this Summer as I could possibly be.

Going to Scotland with Nova was one of the best things that have ever happened to me. Not only did we finally have the opportunity to spend time with each other without worrying about homework or exams but like Nova did two years in a row, I witnessed a birth of an Abraxan now too!

She was right when she said that there was a lot of blood and to be perfectly honest as much as I enjoyed being a part of it, I don't think I ever want to see that again. The baby Abraxan was a boy and to make things even more exciting for me, Nova's aunt let me name him.

I think Nova was not as surprised as her aunt was when I named the Abraxan Dragon. She simply laughed it off and said that she had a hunch I might pick a name like that. Her aunt, on the other hand, couldn't wrap her head around why would I name a creature after another creature.

They also introduced me to Angel, who was now fully grown and showed just how much he missed Nova as he bowed to her immediately, wanting to give her a ride. It took me several weeks to achieve the level of trust she had with him and after swearing to her aunt that we will not tell our parents about it, did I get the green light to train him for our first flight.

I know it wouldn't be a complete dream come true as I always dreamt of how it would be like if I flew on a Dragon but I decided to close my eyes while flying and imagine I was doing it anyway. At least I was flying.

As much fun as Scotland was for me, I couldn't say the same for Nova. She was having fun and she was just as happy to spend more time with me as I was, but in the middle of our stay, she got a letter from her dad, saying that they found a new ancient tomb and due to the amount of work and taking care of his interns, he won't be able to see her at all this Summer.

To make matters worse, her mum couldn't get as much time off as she expected she would so they couldn't make arrangements to go and see her dad and Bill in Egypt. I decided to send an owl to my brother, asking him if he could report as much back to me as possible so that Nova would know her dad was alright and I also asked him if he could send us pictures so that Nova would at least get to see her dad that way.

Bill, of course, was having the time of his life. At first, he thought that the internship would be dull, some assistant work for the Curse Breakers, no action and adventure. But just after the first letter he sent home, we found out just how wrong he was. Apparently, Nova's dad was not joking around. After a brief introduction, he took them straight into a tomb and started showing them how they study and translate runes, a proper way to handle any sort of bottles found inside, and what to do in case things go wrong. He was ecstatic and I had a feeling Nova won't stop hearing 'thank you' from him all year round when we return to school.

—

My Summer changed drastically when the time to go to Penny's finally arrived. Their home was rather big but really confusing. It was as if it was a wizard's house but they tried to hide all things magical. They had something called a telly, which along with sound produced moving images, and every night after dinner we all sat in front of it and watched a movement, or something like that, I forgot the name.

We only had a Wireless at home and that was mostly so mum could listen to the news while she was cooking or knitting and for her to listen to her favorite singer Celestina Warbeck to which she sometimes made us dance along with her and sing the chorus of her favorite song, which of course we knew by heart but liked to pretend we didn't as none of us were rather good at singing.

It was normal that with all Nova, Penny, and I had to do around the house, we had to do it without magic as we weren't of age yet, but I couldn't understand why her mother was doing the same. Cooking using spatulas, using a sponge to clean the dishes. She liked to make things harder on herself.

Penny told us it was all because of her dad and I couldn't understand why because he was the most understanding Muggle I have ever got a chance to meet, not that I've met many. He didn't mind when we were telling Penny about Abraxans our first-night having dinner and he even asked me which Dragons am I the most excited to work with when I become a Dragonologist. He didn't seem to mind when Penny's sister broke a vase and their mum used a Repairing Charm on it.

Penny later explained that they were using as little magic as possible to be considerate to her dad's culture. As if I wasn't confused enough, my dad was bugging me, sending me letters every other day asking what new things I have learned about the Muggle world and wrote at least 3 questions each time for me to ask Mr. Haywood.

I didn't want to disturb him so much every single day and I found it rude to ask so many questions even though he didn't seem to mind, so Nova volunteered to help me and write back to my dad here and there.

To make me even more uncomfortable was Penny's little sister Beatrice, who was 10 years old. She was nice and I liked that she wanted me to read to her from my Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland book until Penny told me that she wasn't interested in Dragons at all and the only reason she wanted me to read to her was that she had a crush on me!

She sat next to me at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and stared at me when we were watching telly in the evenings. It was quite unsettling and I didn't know what to do as I didn't want to make her sad or something. Nova and Penny, on the other hand, found it highly amusing and were mocking me and making kissy faces every time Beatrice wasn't looking.

And what's even worst is that I didn't mind Penny joking as much as I mind that Nova did. She, out of all people, should know that I don't have time for stuff like that and that I want to focus on my studies as much as I can to get my dream job. And besides, the girl's 10 for Merlin's sake! I don't even feel old enough to have a crush, though mum did tell me once that girls develop faster than boys regarding these things but what do I know.

I am 14 and way too busy to think of that sort of stuff and to top it all off I was starting to behave rather strangely around Nova. I don't know if it was due to the fact that we were spending so much time together but every morning when she came down for breakfast, I felt this sudden rush of excitement in my stomach, and every time she laughed or giggled it made my heart beat faster.

It was getting annoying and I was on the verge of writing to my mum to take me to St Mungo's to do a check-up but I changed my mind as I didn't want to worry her and I was sure that it would get better once we return to school. It was probably just because I was in a different environment and Penny kept giggling at me every time she caught me blush, it had to be that!

Penny started acting strange one morning upon receiving a letter she didn't want to show to either me or Nova. It looked like she was up to something or that she was corresponding with someone. I have noticed on more than one occasion that she was scribbling something, blushing while doing so and every time their family owl brought her a letter, she squealed and rushed to her bedroom to open it.

Nova reckoned she fancied someone and if I knew more about these types of matters I would say she was right. One day when Penny was still sleeping, Nova and I made a plan to intercept her letter to see what was going on but when the owl came and we grabbed her before she could reach Penny and took the letter, we were disappointed when we saw that Tonks was writing to tell that she will be joining us the next day.

Penny, as clever as she was, knew exactly what we were trying to do and was mad at us all day. When Tonks finally arrived the next morning, her parents delaying her visit making her tag along to see some relatives down South, Penny decided to forgive and forget what we did the day prior.

I was relieved when Tonks was just as weirded out about how the Haywoods were running things. She was so nervous when she saw Mrs. Haywood washing the dishes without the use of magic that she almost broke Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery to do them for her. I was also happy to see that she would rather play a game of Gobstones outside than watch the telly as she said that the people in the box looked rather unnatural to her.

Having Tonks around made me feel better about my heart racing as well, which only confirmed my assumptions that this was all happening because I was spending so much time in a place where I have never been before.

The night before we were supposed to leave to Platform 9 ¾, rather sad that we didn't get to go to Diagon Alley this year as Penny's mum and my mum decided to do the shopping for us, Penny thought it was a good idea if her, Nova, Tonks and I made dinner for the entire family.

At first, we found it exciting, but when Penny brought out a book with Muggle recipes that didn't make any sense at all, even Nova couldn't hide her confusion and tried to avoid doing it.

“You are doing it all wrong.” Chuckled Penny when Tonks was trying to cut the garlic but her method was not called dicing.

Nova wasn't doing that great either as she took the whole 10 minutes to figure out how to turn on the stove using something called a lighter since to both of our shock, they didn't have matches at home.

I burned the onions because apparently, Medium was standing for how strong the fire should be rather than how cooked the onions have to be. Tonks made the mistake to leave a plastic spatula in the boiling water, as she was used to that not causing any problems to the spatulas they had at home, the plastic melted in the water ruining the spaghetti along with it.

In the end, Penny called someone on a bulky looking thing that talked back to you and it fascinated my dad so much I had to send him a picture of it, and 20 minutes later the doorbell rang and a man was standing in front of the Haywood house with 4 pizzas in his hand. Now that was magic if I ever saw some in their house!

The next morning I heard a couple of familiar voices in the kitchen. I rushed down to find my dad talking to Mr. Haywood not finding it rude to ask him everything he could possibly tell him about airplanes. My mum stood up at once when she saw me and gave me a tight hug.

“Charlie, dear I have missed you so much!” She ran her fingers through my hair, narrowing her eyes as I could already see she would want to cut it before I leave for school. I was happy that she wouldn't have the time to do so.

You see, I didn't want to admit it, especially not to Bill, but I was trying to grow out my hair so that it would look as cool as his. He looked so amazing with his hair and now that I was 15 I wanted to do something to hide my freckled face. Something Nova couldn't agree with me upon as she thought the freckles were what made me so cute and I couldn't make the creatures in my stomach settle down when she said that.

“How was your Summer, dear?” My mum woke me up from my daydreaming.

“It was nice, mum. Had a lot of fun with Nova at her aunt's.” I grinned.

“I bet you did.” She winked at me, her fingers still in my hair.

I hated when she did that. Even if I wanted to talk to her about Nova, I couldn't as she was always giggling or winking at me for Merlin knows what reason! One time Nova saw her doing it and she later told me that her mum was doing the exact same thing to her. She told me to try and ignore it, roll my eyes as much as I could, or simply distract her by asking a question on another topic. I was grateful for her advice as it worked 90% of the time.

“Anyways...” I started to say as I rolled my eyes. “I had fun here too. We watched movements every night on the telly. You know the box I told dad about in one of my letters.” Mum nodded.

“And yesterday we attempted to make our very own Muggle dinner,” my dad turned to me at once, listening, “but failed as we didn't follow the instructions properly and had to order pizza.” I ignored my dad's sparkly eyes. He eventually turned his head back and started talking to Mr. Haywood again.

Nova came down the stairs, making me sit upright, my cheeks bright red, something my mum noticed as she brushed my cheek and mumbled something about how I'm finally growing up. What is that even supposed to mean?

She pulled Nova into a tight hug and started telling her about all the things her mum told her to get for her in Diagon Alley, while Nova nodded.

Much to my displeasure, Beatrice appeared, what seemed out of nowhere, on the seat next to me, put her arm on the table, placed her head on it, and started staring at me. I heard my mum giggle as apparently, she knew immediately what was going on, which made me even more uncomfortable.

“Look Nova, you got yourself a little competition.” My mum nudged her, Nova as oblivious as I was to what that meant.

After breakfast, we said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Haywood, as my parents took the 4 of us to the station. Bill was already waiting for us there, looking rather disappointed that he had to return to school upon having such an amazing Summer already having his dream job. It was also my younger brother Percy's First Year.

Mum told us to keep an eye on him but we already knew that it won't be necessary as he acts like a Prefect at home already. Perce does love the rules and Bill and I have wondered many times who did he get that from. We all know that mum and dad weren't exactly angels at school either.

While we were waiting for students to board the train, Bill hugged Nova twice, making my stomach turn, and thanking her for what seemed like the millionth time this Summer, he then started to tell us about what he has been doing with Nova's dad.

He told us that they visited more than 4 tombs and that they only had a brief introduction before going straight to work. Bill was really proud when he said that 2 mates left as they couldn't handle fighting a Mummy, which one of the runes in their first tomb awoke. He, of course, took it rather well and he was confident to say that he was Mr. Blackwood's best student. He was also proud to announce that he will stop worrying about his grades so much as he found out he is perfectly qualified and will probably get the job as long as he continues with the grades he has now.

Mum was especially proud of him, not only how well he did on his internship, as apparently Mr. Blackwood sent a letter to my parents saying how well they've raised their son, but also because of Bill's O.W.L.s results. Nova and I couldn't help but chuckle when we found out about his results, knowing full well that he overreacted big time when he had a breakdown last year as he achieved:

O in Ancient Runes

O in Arithmancy

E in Astronomy

O in Care of Magical Creatures (even I was proud of him for that one)

O in Charms

O in Defense Against the Dark Arts

E in Divination

E in Herbology

A in History of Magic

O in Muggle Studies (this made my dad tear up, that's how proud he was of his son)

O in Potions

O in Transfiguration

What he was so worried about still baffled both me and Nova as even Percy was proud of Bill and that was probably the first time he ever said anything positive about any of his family members.

We then said goodbye to my parents and Penny, Nova, Tonks, and I started to search for Tulip while Bill went to his Prefect's meeting. Tulip was sitting in a compartment on her own, telling something to Dennis.

I have never seen her face lit up like that before when she saw us. She couldn't make it to Penny's to join our disastrous cooking so she wanted to know all about our Summer. We told her everything, including how Beatrice is planning to marry me which gave her quite a laugh. I, on the other hand, didn't understand why that needed to be mentioned at all. Afterward, we started discussing our Fourth Year. I couldn't help but drift away in midst of the conversation, just when Tulip said she heard that Zonko's has a new variety of Fanged Frisbee's, to think about Nova and just how much fun we were going to have in this year's Care of Magical Creatures.

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mythologyfolklore · 4 years

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 11

Chapter Eleven: The Trojan War, pt. 03

(A/N: The end of the Iliad with some comic relief and lots of heartbreak at the end, because that's how the Iliad works. This isn't the last chapter about the Trojan War, but the next one will be. This is just the last part of the Iliad.)

Book Nineteen:

The next morning saw Thetis giving her son a freshly forged armour of such splendour, that Akhilleus was the only one who could even look at it directly.

As he marched the camp up and down, the other leaders came to the assembly, even though Agamemnon, Diomedes and Odysseus were severely injured and could hardly walk.

Akhilleus announced the end of his strike, much to the delight of the Achaean army.

He and Agamemnon finally talked things out and buried their old grudges.

“Right!”, Akhilleus exclaimed, “Enough talking! Let's go into battle already!”

“Not so fast!”, Odysseus (the resident braincell-owner) objected. “Our troops are exhausted and many of us are wounded. We need all the energy we can get. So there is one more thing we have to do first!”

“And what would that be?”, Akhilleus snarled impatiently.

“Have breakfast”, Odysseus deadpanned.

“OH COME ON!!!”

“No.”

Book Twenty:

On Olympos Zeus had made his ex-wife Thémis gather all the gods (literally all of them – even the Naiades and Dryades¹). Tiredly they dragged themselves out of bed and into the assembly hall.

Poseidon was the first to speak.

“Sooooo”, he drawled, “What are you plotting now, Astrapaios²?”

Zeus was lounging on his throne like a boss.

“Oh, you know what I want, Ennosigaios³! I won't wish for Akhilleus to conquer the city just yet, but he will, if we're not careful. And this is why I hereby decree, that the prohibition is lifted! You may interfere with the battle as much as you please!”

Suddenly everyone was wide awake and those who had taken a side in the war went to ready themselves for a battle royal – uh, I mean battle divine.

Of the Olympians, Dionysos (one of the few gods who had refused to get involved at all) was the last to leave the room. He used the opportunity to question his father.

“Dad, if you don't mind …”

“Ask away!”

“Why exactly did you change your mind again?”

Zeus chuckled at his son's perceptiveness.

“For the reason I stated earlier of course. Well, that and because I want to amuse myself by sitting here in my neutrality and watching this divine spectacle.”

“… Can I sit with you?”

“Sure, my son! Bring wine, this is going to be good!”

The gods joined the war and wasted no time in making things more interesting … for them!

Eris was having a blast with this spectacle.

Zeus was setting the mood above with thunder and rain.

Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and the queen of earthquakes happened.

“WHAT THE FUCK???”, he heard Hades' voice shriek from below, “POSEIDON, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??? IF THE GROUND BREAKS OPEN AND FALLS DOWN IT WILL REVEAL THE UNDERWORLD AND BURY EVERYTHING BENEATH!!!”

Poseidon laughed sheepishly and yelled back down: “SORRY, BRO!”

Maybe I overdid it with that earthquake …

Some distance away, Apollon had convinced Aineías, that fighting Akhilleus would be a brilliant idea.

Poseidon didn't notice until Hera pat his shoulder and said to him and Athena: “Uh, we have a little problem back there” - and pointed to where Aineías and Akhilleus were about to duke it out.

“Don't worry, sister”, he replied, “We're stronger than them. If any of Troy's gods comes close to Akhilleus, that's nothing we can't take care of.”

Still, the gods of the Achaeans didn't want to engage in a bloodbath, before agreeing on a strategy.

On the battlefield, Aineías and Akhilleus ran into each other and started with a verbal duel, before lunging at each other. Poseidon quickly assessed, that the son of Thetis was outclassing the son of Aphrodite.

“Alright, here I come!”, he sighed, “Apollon won't save him, but the youngster is fated to live.”

Then he threw himself into the maddening throng and momentarily blinded Akhilleus, before he could decapitate the disarmed Trojan. Grabbing the mortal by the arms, Poseidon took to flight and carried him away to safety.

“Okay!”, he snapped at him, once they were back on the ground, “First off: Are you fucking insane?! Trying to take on Akhilleus, who is favoured by the gods and far stronger than you? He will send you to Hades, before your time is up! Secondly: as long as he is alive, you stay away from battle, you dumbass son of an even more dumbass goddess!”

With that, the Lord of the Sea left Aineías behind to wonder what the heck had just happened.

Akhilleus on the other hand just shrugged it off and went back to slaughtering Trojans en masse.

Apollon had warned Hektor not to go against the deranged demigod, but when the Trojan prince saw one of his brothers get killed by that very man, he forgot the warning and attacked him.

Akhilleus immediately recognised the slayer of his dear soulmate and charged with a battle cry.

But Apollon, always having the best timing, stepped in and saved the Trojan.

Again.

This is getting old.

Book Twenty-One:

The Trojans were fleeing in panic from the deranged and bloodthirsty demigod.

But Hera conjured a thick fog, making it impossible for them to see.

Those who didn't get lost in the fog where cornered and driven into the holy waters of the river Xanthos (or Skamandros, as the mortals called him). They jumped or fell into the quick waters, struggling and screaming for help. Akhilleus in his blood rush jumped after them and slaughtered the Trojans, who were already drowning, dyeing the waters red with blood.

That pissed off the river god, because no one liked having their waters defiled with gore and corpses. Politely requesting Akhilleus to stop dumping corpses into his river didn't help, so Xanthos lost his temper and promptly left his riverbed to make the demigod stop.

Only when this colossal mass of water rose before him, was Akhilleus seized by fear and he made a run for it across the field. But the river always caught up to him, because he was still just a demigod and Xanthos a full god and gods just were stronger than mortals (unless you were Herakles).

Athena and Poseidon came to his rescue, before he could die a most unheroic death by drowning. They warned him to go back to the battlefield, kill Hektor and return to the Achaean camp, then they left to mind their own business.

But the river wasn't done yet; it joined forces with another river, both hell-bent on drowning Akhilleus.

This was seen by Hera, who turned to Hephaistos. “My son, I thought you would take care of the river god? What are you waiting for? Show him your destructive flames. I will release the winds to fuel them. Do not stop, until I ask you to.”

Hephaistos, powerful fire god that he was, raised his arms and unleashed his divine fire above the river (never mind, that it was still raining). Hera released the north and south wind.

The unearthly fire storm, hotter than the surface of the sun⁴, spread across the heath, consumed the bodies of the dead and made the rivers writhe in agony from being boiled alive.

Xanthos soon begged for mercy, but Hephaistos was only following his mother's orders, so the river turned to Hera and begged her to control her son.

Now the Queen of the Skies finally showed the mercy asked of her and told her son to stop.

Hephaistos rolled his eyes, but called his fire back.

Xanthos returned to his river bed, recovered from the torment and he stuck his head out of the water to glare at the fire god. “And here I thought you were not an arsehole!”

The divine blacksmith laughed: “Oh, you're wrong! I'm less of an arsehole than the other Olympians, but I still can be a prick!”

Hera chuckled in amusement.

On his throne on Olympos, Zeus was having the time of his life, because now the gods were charging at each other at last.

“Ohhh, now they're getting started! This is going to be priceless! Where are the wine, cookies and my camera?”

Hebe and Dionysos brought him both and then sat with him to enjoy the show.

In the meantime, Athena had finally turned to Ares.

“'Sup, arsehole”, she greeted him.

“'Sup, fellow arsehole”, he retorted. Then he had his sword out. “Don't think I have forgot how you let that fucker Diomedes pierce with a spear! Now it's time for payback!”

I thought he already had- oh, never mind.

He attacked first and they duked it out for a while, before he threw his spear at the impenetrable Aigis she was wearing on her chest. Athena leapt back, grabbed a stone and hit her opponent at the back of his neck with it.

Knocked out, he collapsed.

“Hah!”, she yelled in triumph. “I'm the one who gets the payback! That's for abandoning your mother and me in favour of supporting the Trojans! Well, that and the fucking prohibition you put into our father's head. What's that with you always forgetting what everyone has realised a long time ago: that I am stronger than you and always will be!”

“Ares!”

Athena whirled around to see the goddess of love running to her lover's aid.

Aphrodite grabbed Ares' arm and began to drag him to safety.

“Are you just letting her do that?”, Hera spat at Athena.

The goddess of wisdom rolled her eyes. “Alright, I'm on it!”

Strode up to Aphrodite, who was struggling under Ares' weight and hit her on the chest, knocking her out as well. There they lay, with the bright-eyed goddess standing above them.

“This is what happens to the allies of Troy and everyone who gets in my way!”, she snarled.

Aphrodite came to herself and glared up. “You're full of shit, Athena.”

The war goddess shrugged. “Look around, Aphrodite. Everyone here is full of shit. Especially you.”

At the same time, Poseidon was facing Apollon.

The sea god taunted his nephew: “What is stopping you, Sunny Boy, now that the others are at each other's throats?”

Apollon sighed: “Can you please not call me 'Sunny Boy'? That's Ares' shtick. Also-”

“Whatever, Sunny Boy. Where is the fun in going home without a single scratch? Let's duke it out! But first tell me: why are you supporting the Trojans? Don't you remember how they treated us? When Zeus stripped us of our immortality for a year, we had to serve Laomedon for a pittance! I built this mighty wall around Troy, while you herded his cattle. And when the year was finally over, he denied us pay and threatened to bind us, cut our ears off and sell us off as slaves! And you're helping the Trojans, after all of this? Explain!”

But Apollon remained calm.

“Does it really matter? Let's leave the mortals to their devices. I don't want to fight you over them, uncle. You're way out of my league, it would be madness.”

But Artemis grabbed him by the shoulder, outraged. “So you're chickening out?! You just give up and let him win?! If so, then don't ever let us hear you brag, that you could take on Poseidon!”

But Apollon just arched an eyebrow. “I'm not 'chickening out'. I just know, when to quit – unlike someone I know.”

As if on cue, Hera confronted Artemis: “You little brat! If you have the spine to make me or Poseidon your enemy, you're dumber than I thought! I will show you, just how outclassed you really are!”

Then she seized the goddess of the hunt by both wrists with one hand, tore her quiver and arrows off her shoulder with the other and smacked the shit out of her with it. When Hera was done with her, Artemis was running back to Olympos crying, leaving her bow and arrows on the battlefield.

Hermes saw this and let his opponent Leto take the win. The Titanis of motherhood gratefully gathered up the weapons of her daughter from the floor and returned to Olympos to console her.

Apollon blinked after them. “What the Tartaros did just happen?”

Poseidon laughed heartily: “Just because my sister is the goddess of marriage doesn't mean she can't kick arse! Or where do you think Ares got his temper from?”

The Earthshaker looked to the sky and knew that Zeus was shaking with laughter.

On the battlefield Akhilleus was still massacring Trojans left and right.

The king Priamos saw this from the top of the wall and ordered for the gates to be opened, so his people could save themselves.

Apollon came onto the field through the gates and held his hand over them, while they scrambled to the sweet safety of their city. He took the shape of a Trojan Akhilleus had been about to kill and allowed to chase him across the field, away from the gates of Troy. That bought the Trojans the time they needed to escape the wrath of Thetis' son.

All of them, except for Hektor; he didn't make it in time, before the gates closed.

The greatest warrior of the Trojans was shut outside.

Book Twenty-Two:

Apollon led Akhilleus away from Troy, before finally turning around.

“Hey, arsehole! Guess who!” And dropped his disguise.

Then he proceeded to mock the raging demigod, who was out of breath after chasing him for kilometres: “While you ran after me like a moron, thinking that you stand a chance against me, the Trojans have barricaded themselves inside their city! They are out of your reach and you will never defeat me, Apollon!”

“You … you deceived me!”, Akhilleus gasped, “So is … the most lethal of the gods … the protector of Troy … otherwise I would have killed them all! But damn you! If it was in my power, I would give you payback!”

Apollon gritted his teeth: “But you can't, mortal.”

Akhilleus screamed in fury and dashed back to Troy with swift feet.

Hektor was waiting in front of the walls of Troy to challenge vengeful Akhilleus and face his imminent demise.

On top of the walls, his aged father was weeping over the cruelty of fate: that he would have to see his sons and many of his people die, his city sacked, his daughters ravaged, his grandchildren and himself murdered, his daughters-in-law sold into slavery.

But no matter how much Priamos beseeched him, Hektor didn't yield and stayed where he was, even though he was terrified. Yet as soon as he saw Akhilleus clearly, bloodthirsty and deranged like Ares himself, his flight instinct kicked in and he ran for his life. Only Apollon's assistance prevented the son of Thetis from catching up to Hektor.

While Akhilleus chased the slayer of Patroklos around the city walls three times in a row, the gods were watching from above.

Zeus shook his head. “I don't like seeing him being chased around his own city like that. And it's really a shame, that he should die already. He always honoured us gods beyond measure. Should I save this noble man or-”

“No!”, Athena protested at once, “His time is up, he must die! We can't randomly spare mortals, just because we favour them. Do whatever you want, but none of us will approve.”

“… Do what you must, but do it quickly.”

On Olympos, in the Room of Fate, the Scales of Fate weighed the lot of Hektor against Akhilleus.

That of Hektor sank, that of Akhilleus rose up.

Apollon, as the god of prophecy, sensed the shift and reluctantly left Hektor to face his doom.

Athena on the other hand joined the angry Akhilleus.

“Today the Achaeans will gain a most glorious victory! We shall slay Hektor! He is destined to die by our hands and not even Apollon's pleas to Zeus will save him now. Now hold up and catch your breath, while I persuade him to face you in battle.”

She caught up to Hektor in the shape of one of his brothers and did exactly that.

So the Trojan prince whirled around to face the son of Peleus.

They had a short dispute. Hektor entreated his opponent to agree, that the loser be returned to his people to receive a proper burial.

But Akhilleus refused: “FUCK YOUR PROPOSAL! YOU WILL PAY FOR THE DEATH OF PATROKLOS AND ALL OF MY FRIENDS WHOM YOU KILLED!!!”

“OH SHUT UP, ARSEHOLE! YOU AND YOUR COMRADES KILLED MOST OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS TOO! AND ONCE YOU TAKE OVER OUR CITY, YOU WILL RAVAGE IT, MASSACRE THE CIVILIANS, VIOLATE AND ENSLAVE OUR WOMEN AND KILL OUR CHILDREN!!! I AM DOING WHATEVER I CAN TO PROTECT THEM!!! YOU DON'T GET TO JUDGE ME!!!”, Hektor roared in outrage.⁵

Then they threw their spears at each other.

Hektor dodged that of Akhilleus, but his own weapon flew far off, guided by Athena's hand. When he turned to whom he had thought to be his dear brother to ask for a new spear, but found him gone.

The Trojan prince realised, that he had been tricked by Athena and that the gods had decided his doom a long time ago.

“Well, fuck this shit”, he muttered, pulled his sword to face his last battle.

Their fight was short and brutal.

At long last, Akhilleus managed to stab him in the throat.

But he had narrowly missed the windpipe and so Hektor was able to rattle a few last words.

“If you have … an ounce of honour … return my corpse … to my parents … so I can be buried.”

“No.”

“Thought as much … but know this … you're – ugh! – angering the gods … you will die … by Apollon's and Paris' arrows …”

Then the greatest defender of Troy died.

For a while Akhilleus stood silently above him.

Then he finally replied to the dead man: “I know. And I don't care.”

And proceeded to outrage his vanquished enemy's corpse by tying it to his chariot and dragging it around his city several times.

While on the walls above, his grieving parents, his sorrow-stricken wife Andromákhe and the people of Troy were weeping to the Heavens.

Book Twenty-Three:

Akhilleus held funeral games for Patroklos and, after much more mourning, finally delivered him to the pyre.

Hektor's dishonoured corpse on the other hand he left to the dogs.

The dogs that would not go near it; the presence of the goddess Aphrodite, who guarded it night and day, kept them away. She and Apollon preserved his corpse, so that neither the scorching sun, nor being hauled around by Akhilleus could damage it.

The burned remains of Patroklos were put to rest in a golden urn – one that his ghost had asked Akhilleus to put them in and mix them with his own, once the son of Thetis would die.

Book Twenty-Four:

All the while Apollon had protected Hektor's corpse from being mutilated, while Akhilleus didn't stop treating it like that of a common criminal.

Day after day he and the other gods who were supporting Troy begged Zeus to send Hermes to steal away the body. And every time Poseidon, Hera and Athena had been against it, unyielding in their old grudges.

After a week, the god of light finally had enough.

“How much longer”, he confronted the other gods, “do you want to allow Akhilleus to abuse the body of Hektor in such a foul manner?! Does none of you have a heart?! Has he ever failed to give you the best possible sacrifices?! Instead of returned his body to his people to receive the funeral he deserves, you choose being butt-hurt about the stupidity of that wuss Paris and that's why you help that sociopath Akhilleus, who doesn't have an ounce of propriety, shame or even respect in his chest! Many others are mourning their loved ones and he acts like he's the only one! As honourable as his parents are, they failed to raise a decent human being!“

Hera jumped up and pointed a finger at him: “Stop going on about Hektor, like he has ever been Akhilleus' equal! One was only a full mortal, while the other is the son of Thetis, whom I raised and married to Peleus, who we all were fond of!”

“That doesn't change the fact, that Akhilleus is a fucking arsehole!”, Apollon snapped.

“Or that he wouldn't know honour, if it spat in his face!”, Artemis agreed.

“Or that he's a whiny mother's boy”, Ares added.

Hera flushed with rage. “How dare you!”, she exclaimed, “All of you have been at the wedding of his parents! You ate, drank, danced and made music-”

“So?”, Ares said coldly, “Akhilleus is not his parents. We are not obliged to him, nor to Thetis and Peleus and definitely not to you. Hektor respected us gods and other humans more than he does.”

Hera's eyes narrowed. “That's it! I will-”

“ENOUGH!!!”, Zeus thundered and everyone fell silent.

Angrily he turned to Hera: “I've had enough of your attitude! No one here is putting Hektor and Akhilleus on the same level! And all things considered, Hektor was beloved by us. He always knew what kind of sacrifices I and all of you wished for, never failed to honour us and only gave us the best of the best. Still, stealing the body is not an option either. Bring me Thetis. She shall persuade her son to give Hektor's body up to his father.”

After Thetis had been welcomed by the gods, Zeus cut to the chase: “Let your son know, that we're angered by his behaviour. He is to return the body of Hektor to the Trojans for ransom – this is my will. He knows what happens to mortals, who do not follow it.”

Thetis nodded and returned to her son to inform him of Zeus' decree.

Later that evening Iris descended to the earth again, this time to tell Priamos, that Zeus was doing him one last favour: the returning of his son's body.

So Priamos packed rich gifts as ransom and went, but not before making a sacrifice of Zeus and venting his bitterness about how the cruelty of Ares had robbed and would keep robbing him of his loved ones.

As Zeus saw the elderly man and his aged herald cross the bloodstained plain in the darkness, he was overcome by pity. He waved Hermes over and fondly ruffled the messenger's hair.

The second youngest Olympian endured it, as always.

“My beloved son, who holds mankind dearest, guides them and listens to them. Go and escort Priamos to the Achaean ships, but make sure that no one sees him, before he stands in front of the son of Peleus.”

Hermes put on his winged sandals and staff and landed on the coast near the ships in the guise of a young soldier from Akhilleus' troops. With his staff, he lulled the Achaeans to sleep, before going to find Priamos.

As he came into the king's field of view, he could tell that the old man was frightened.

But Hermes gently took the old man's hands and asked kindly: “Who are you, sir? What are you and your companion there doing out here in the middle of the night and with so much treasure? Don't you know how dangerous that is?”

“You're right, young man”, Priamos replied, “But one god must have at least some mercy with me. It must be a good omen, that we meet you here; I can see your wisdom as well as your beauty – you must have blessed parents.”

That I do, Hermes thought fondly, but kept his focus.

“That's true. But do answer my question. Are you trying to hide them, or are you all fleeing your city in panic, because you lost your best fighter – your son Hektor, the greatest of your warriors?”

Priamos tilted his head. “How do you know about my son? Who are you?”

“One of the soldiers of Akhilleus”, Hermes fibbed, “I often saw your son on the field of glory, even when we weren't allowed to fight, because our lord wouldn't let us.”

“Really!”, the king cried hopefully, “Tell me, what happened to my son's body? Is it still intact at the ships? Akhilleus didn't … he didn't … did he …?”

“It's still intact”, the Messenger soothed him. “Nothing of the outrage it suffered by Akhilleus could damage it – if it wasn't for the wounds, one could think he's sleeping! The gods care for him even in death.”

He couldn't help but feel horrible for the sorrow-stricken old man, who nearly burst into tears at these news and who really deserved better than all this woe.

Deciding to make it quick, before the mortal's suffering could get to him, Hermes guided Priamos to Akhilleus' tent.

Once there, he revealed himself: “Now I can tell you, that I am the god Hermes. My father sent me to guide and protect you. I must stay outside, because I don't want the trouble of being seen. But listen to me: when you go in there, clasp the knees of Peleus' son and beseech him in the name of his own dear parents, if you want him to hear you.”

Akhilleus gaped in amazement, as none other than Priamos came before him.

The long-suffering king of Troy fell onto his knees in front of his greatest enemy, clasping the knees and kissing the hands of the man, who had slain his children.

After reminding him of his father Peleus, who was waiting for his son to come home, Priamos ended his plea: “Fifty sons I had, before you Achaeans came and I got to keep none of them! Most were felled by cruel Ares. And the one son I could count on, the defender of my city and its inhabitants – oh Hektor, my child! – fell by your hand. I'm here to ransom him with rich gifts. Respect the gods and think of your father. Even more than him I have a right to your mercy, because I did what no other father in the world could ever bring himself to do: I kissed the hand of the man who murdered my son.”

The sight of this old man's infinite grief and the memory of his own father, who too would never see him again, did something to Akhilleus.

There was no more wrath in him, only sadness and grief.

That and something new.

Something he had never felt before: Compassion.

Hektor's body was ransomed and returned to his people.

Even on Olympos the gods could hear the crying of the Trojans for their prince.

The people, who mourned their greatest hero.

His parents, who lost their dearest son.

His remaining siblings, who lost the brother they had looked up to.

His widow, who hadn't been able to be at her husband's side, while he was dying.

Helena, who had been taken here against her will and was now mourning the only man besides Priamos, who had treated her with kindness, the only friend she'd had here.

The Trojans keened and bewailed Hektor for ten days.

On the eleventh day he was brought to the pyre.

The smoke rose high and with it carried prayers and weeping.

---

1) Naiades: river nymphs; Dryades: tree nymphs.

2) Astrapaios: "Lord of Lightning", one of Zeus' epithets.

3) Ennosigaios: "Shaker of the Earth", one of Poseidon's epithets.

4) The surface of the sun is appr. 5000°C hot.

5) In the Iliad Hektor doesn't actually respond to Akhilleus' refusal like that, but I thought that this was important to point out.

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asras-eyelashes · 5 years

Text

I’m Sorry

Asra x MC | Spoilers for Book XIII

The last interaction between you and Asra before your unfortunate journey to the Lazaret.

Word count: 1800

You feel fatigue seep into your bones as you stare into your scrawled notes by your cauldron, which hopefully holds the cure that Lucio is demanding.

“You should really get some sleep,” an equally tired voice gently suggests.

Turning from your spot on the floor, you stare at the doctor. “Yeah, and when’s the last time you got sleep, Julian?” you quip, the exhaustion making you more cheeky.

The man turned pink at the jab. “I’ve at least had some snoozes at my desk. Every time I look over here, you’re just working away.”

You sigh. Just thinking of sleeping feels amazing. But the lazily rolling bubbles from your potion brings your attention back.

“We can sleep after all this is over. We can at least wake up, unlike the dead,” you mutter grimly.

You hear the doctor sigh. “This isn’t a sprint to the finish line - I’m still not any closer to a cure than I was two days ago. We both need rest, otherwise we’ll burn out much too quickly.”

Frowning, you stare into your portable cauldron, wishing you could bring in the one from the shop. As the seconds creep by, the contents in the pot turn grey and an acrid smell fills your nose. Anger makes you see red. Another cure for the plague failed. You want to knock over the cauldron, and really, destroy the whole palace.

A knock on the door makes the both of you turn. “There’s a guest for you,” Nadia’s chamberlain says, nodding to you.

A guest? Brows scrunched in confusion, you get up to follow the chamberlain out.

They lead you to the garden, where you see familiar white curls in front of the fountain.

“Asra?”

The magician turns to face you. “There you are,” he breathes in relief.

You nod your thanks to the chamberlain before they run off. “What’s wrong? Finally accepting Lucio's summon to help with the plague?”

Eyes grim, he shakes his head. “The opposite, actually. Pack your things, we’re heading off soon.”

Confused and utterly exhausted, you take a step back in shock. “Pack? Heading off? Where?”

“Away - we’re leaving,” Asra says, as if it was obvious.

Dense silence fills the air between the two of you before you speak. “What…what are you talking about? I’ve been here working my ass off for this cure. I’m getting somewhere, I can feel it—“

Asra interrupted, crying your name. Shocked, you stop. “I’ve literally seen so many people collapse in the street. Half the shops on our street are closed. Even the baker has left for safety. He suggested we do the same, and I think he’s right.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. For as long as you knew Asra, you knew he was a wanderer. What started as small, day-long ventures turned into journeys that could last from a week to almost a month. You were lucky if you got a notice, and you usually had to pry it out of him. You knew he was one to run from his problems rather than face them. To be completely honest, it annoyed you, especially since he’s created a reputation for himself. Most days, you could brush it off, but there were a few times where you wanted to tear your hair out. When you saw him in front of the fountain, you were hopeful he was finally here to help you and Julian. But no, he was here to run again. Run off to who knows where. And who knows how long? What if Julian never found the cure? What if Vesuvia gets wiped out?

You’re so shocked and reeling in your own thoughts that you don’t hear Asra continue. “I can talk to Lucio if we bump into him, but it’s probably best to leave as soon as we can. Do you—“

“No.”

Asra looks as if you had just punched him. He even took half a step back.

“…What?” he whispers, not believing his ears.

“I’m not going. I’m staying to help.”

Shock turns to hurt in his eyes.

“Julian can’t work on this cure by himself, he needs help. And since you won’t, I will.”

Words finally return to him. “What are you talking about? If you’re worried about Julian, tell him to flee too. Hell, we can leave together. We just need to leave, please, please.”

“No, Asra. I’m not running. You said it yourself, the people of Vesuvia are collapsing in the street! Lucio’s had ridiculous decrees because of them. It’s honestly disgusting…but that’s all the more reason to stay!”

Asra tries to interrupt you. “No, that’s all the more reason to leave. I can’t bear to imagine seeing you in those circumstances—“

“Asra, if we run, who knows what could happen?! I need to stay to deal with your problem. I wasn’t even summoned to the Palace, it was you! But you refused to come, so I came, and now I’m doing the job that you’re supposed to do.”

“Because it’s ridiculous! You and I both know Lucio is just trying to cling onto life, he can’t accept the fact that he’s dying. You know he’s only ordered Julian and I to find a cure because he wants to live, not for Vesuvia!”

You clench your jaw. Asra wasn’t wrong…but so what? A cure for Lucio is a cure for the entire city. “You think we’ve been creating a cure just for Lucio? No, it’s for everyone, Asra.” Feeling your temper simmering, you tighten your fists. “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But I’m staying.”

Unbelievably, Asra grabbed your wrist. “No, we’re leaving together.”

You yanked your arm away. You’ve never seen him so…angry? Scared? You didn’t know. You’re so tired, you didn’t really want to know. But he never grabbed you so forcefully. In another time, you’d be hurt. But you felt your anger finally boiling.

“I’m not just something you can drag around, Asra! I’m not leaving! Like I said, if you want to run, then get the hell out of here! Like you always do! But don’t you think just because you keep running from your problems that that means I will too. You’re not my master; I don’t have to listen to you!”

The fatigue suddenly returns to you. Feeling lightheaded, you turn so you didn’t have to face the consequences of your outburst. Without even a final goodbye, you leave to return to your potion.

~ ~ ~

The next day, you wake up after a fitful night’s sleep with a sore throat and a bit of a cough. You request tea with honey with your breakfast in your chambers. Last night, you remember nearly collapsing into Julian’s arms, who literally dragged you to sleep. Feeling drained from your fit of rage, you didn’t argue as you fell into bed, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

While the tea helps at first, the itchiness in your throat returns soon. You keep requesting tea, but the cough turns severe in a few days. But neither you or Julian think much of it, so focused on a cure. Lucio is all but constantly crawling on your back to find this cure, and even more agitated that Asra wasn’t here. Still hurt and angry with your argument with him, you use that anger to work even harder to find this damn cure.

Soon after, a fever emerges, leaving you bedridden in a couple of days.

Thinking those all-nighters finally caught up to you, you accept your time in bed. Looking out the window, you frown at the foggy morning outside. Mustering the energy to get up, you lean over your basin to wash your face. When you look up into the mirror, you scream.

~ ~ ~

When did your eyes become so heavy? And why were you soaked?

You try to lift your head, but burning pain and a harsh cough keeps you down. Why did you feel so weak? It took all your strength just to open your eyes.

You’re greeted by white cloth and wood. Then, the smell of the sea hits your nose. Gingerly turning your head, you see the person rowing the boat.

“Julian?”

He was wearing his mask. Odd, he never wore that while the two of you were working. It was only when he saw sick patients.

When the doctor didn’t turn, you try calling a bit louder, despite your inflamed throat. “Julian, where are we?”

As if the world answers your question, you feel the boat halt to an abrupt stop. The sudden shock sending aches and pains all over you, you yelp when Julian yanks your arm to lift you up.

“Ow, Julian! That hurts, what are you--” but you’re cut off as you hack up saliva and...blood?

Wordlessly, the man tugs at you again, this time not waiting for a response, but instead walking onto the beach. Feeling waves of pain coursing through you, you moan as you’re forced to move.

“Ju...Julian...where are we going?” you feel like crying, you’re in so much pain.

Not able to walk straight, you concentrate on making your legs move, letting your head droop. One foot in front of the other…

Was...was this beach black?

Suddenly, you’re all too aware of your surroundings. Ash and smoke choke up your lungs, the air is filled with red, and in the distance, screams drowned out by machinery.

Oh no.

Gritting your teeth through the pain, you whip your head up to look at Julian properly. But...but it wasn’t Julian. Instead of his signature, unruly hair is slick, black hair. You then notice that he’s shorter than Julian.

Dread and more pain tumble in your stomach as this mysterious man leads you to the hellish building at the center of the Lazaret.

Before you know it, you’re thrusted into another pair of arms, which just push you into a single file line of pale, gaunt figures. You try to process everything, but you can’t think straight through your feverish delirium.

Suddenly you notice that you’re so close to the fiery pit. Feeling tears well up, you want to beg, scream, shout, do something. But you can only think to the one person you wish you could see, the one person who you wish could save you from all this. You taste bile in your mouth as you start to feel horribly sick, thinking back to your last interaction with him. Regret threatens to sweep you off your feet as you stare into the menacing glare of the fire. With the last of your strength, you say one thing before you feel a shove from behind.

“I’m sorry…”

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entireoranges-creativity · 5 years

Text

Carriers Of Light

Title: Carriers Of Light Fandom: Game Of Thrones Ship: Braime Note: Jaime never left the North; or if he did he returned (really it's not important lol) Disclaimer: I don't own, don't sue

“What about you?” Queen Sansa asks with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Pardon me your Grace?” Brienne has a suspicion of what was being brought into question; this topic had occurred several times the last few months; though never directly from Sansa.

“A child. When will you and Ser Jaime be bringing a new life into our world?” The fact she was able to say Jaime without biting back a snarl or anything far worse impressed Brienne.

“Oh I’m not sure...” In truth Brienne was.

“Despite my personal misgivings about him and yes I realize some are undeserved and perhaps with time I shall learn to forgive him fully; but regardless of all that I can tell you care about him deeply. He to you as well.”

“Thank you.” She looks down embarrassed filling her skin redding her cheeks.

“After all those lost on all sides it’s a beautiful thing all these babies and pregnancies.’ Sansa pauses and rubs her swelling belly. ‘You should really consider it.”

“Yes. Perhaps.”

That evening Brienne sat across from Jaime in their shared quarters. He reading and lost within the words. Without meaning to she sighs. He snaps up eyebrows raised.

“Everything ok?”

“It’s fine. Sorry to disturb you.”

“You do realize your a horrible liar my love. Now speak.”

“I think it is time we dissolve this relationship.”

“What in the Seven Hells are you talking about?!” Brienne is battling tears as Jaime stares at her his face emoting both anger and confusion.

“You deserve better.”

“I deserve better?!’ He repeats snapping the words. Brienne nods not trusting herself to say more. ‘Woman I don’t deserve better because I already have the best woman in all the kingdoms and beyond. And it’s not about what I deserve or don’t deserve because we both know I’m truly not worthy of the love you give me; yet you do and I’m humbled every moment. If anything it you who does not deserve my love.” Jaime leans forward taking a strong hold of her hand squeezing.

“I can’t give you what you want.” Her words are soft, barely audible.

“I want you. And I have you.”

“Jaime you should have children, heirs and carriers of your name. You should be able to love and nurture a child in ways I know the Gods intended for you.’ Brienne stops talking to surrender to the tears and sobs racking her, Jaime’s hand never moving. ‘And I, I, I won’t give that do you.”

“Brienne please calm down. I hate to see you like this.”

“I wish I could be the one to give you a hundred children.”

“I certainly do not wish for a hundred children!” He attempts to laugh hoping for her to follow suit; her cries only became deeper.

“You deserve....a strong, courageous, and...a beautiful child.” Jaime removes his hand and leans back to his chair in the proper position and stares at her.

“Is that what this foolishness is about?”

“Foolishness? What is foolishness is me not realizing this sooner!” Jaime’s befuddlement raises as her crying stops and is replaced with rage.

“Oh Sevens help me.” He mumbles.

“I mean it’s pretty obvious you do not desire to have children with me. And I’m not a fool! You believe any child we sire will be a hideous monster and sully your legacy!” She leaps to her feet towering over him. Jaime knows perfectly well the him of the past, the him before she entered his heart and soul would have agreed and made a knife like wound with an insult of her appearance. Him now? Would not ever consider that. It wounded him to think she believed he was still capable of such thoughts.

“Our children will be strong and courageous. But also beautiful and that beauty will come from you!” He is on his feet too, he goes for her hips, she jerks away.

“You don’t need to be condescending!”

“I’m not!”

“Why does this even matter?” He immediately regrets his words.

“You have no idea. No idea! What it feels like! You and are fucking perfect hair, stunning eyes, chiseled chin...people just look at you and they threw stuff at you! Me? Well long as I can remember I have been teased verbally and physically for my appearance. I act as if it never bothered me but Hells Jaime it did and it does. I don’t think I can reasonably subject a child to that. Even with your looks mixed in. It won’t be enough to undo this ugliness.” She begins to cry again, Jaime this time successfully is able to make contact and pulls her into him.

“I wish I knew what to say. Besides I’m sorry for being apart of those jabs. But you are stronger then this. I know that you know that Brienne.” She shrugs.

“It’s not just my appearance.’ She takes a breath before pulling back from his embrace. ‘You don’t have to lie or keep stringing me along. We should dissolve this.” That damn word again!

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have children with you because I’ll lose my fucking mind with the stubbornness they’ll surely gain from you! For the final time what are you talking about?! When have I ever given any indication I was unhappy with you? With us?!”

“You think I’m stupid. Don’t say a word! You think I don’t overhear conversations and talk. This place isn’t as large as you tend to believe it is nor are you as soft spoken as I’m imagine you think you are. I have heard you speaking about the mere idea of having children a few days back. With Stefan I do believe it was? When asked by him if you were having any I saw you make a face and shrugged. And then when he made a quip of yeah looking at your woman I don’t blame you. What did you do? You laughed.” Jaime clenches his eyes tight, pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a few calming breaths.

“You didn’t hear all the conversation.”

“I heard and saw enough Jaime.”

“So you saw me slap him and swore to him if he ever even thought anything like that again let alone said it I would skewer him upon my sword?”

“No.” Comes softly.

“Exactly. And I wasn’t making a face because I did not want children; I was making one because I’m tired of discussing the matter with strangers! Ever since the decree was lifted and this allowance of all children I have been questioned relentlessly over it! I should have been discussing it with you it would appear.”

"Fine. Tell me now, how do you feel about it?"

"I do want children. I'd be lying if I didn't relieve to you I'm scared though."

"The same as my fears?"

"What? Gods no! Brienne you need to let that go!' She mutters, he know it's best not to call her out over it. 'I have experienced the pain of losing children, all three of mine. And though I was not their father in the traditional sense I did love them. The death of a child no matter the circumstance is the worse anguish you could ever imagine. My name or things done in my name has made many enemies for generations long. I'm scared I won't be able to protect any child we have from a father or mother seeking revenge for those sins. My heart is almost scarred from that pain; but you my dear? I could not bear to see you endure anything like it." Before he knows it Brienne has her arms draped around his neck, kisses his forehead.

"Please forgive me, I never considered that. And it's honorable you wish to protect me. But what you speak of is out of our control. Of course we all take all precautions to keep them safe, at the end of the day we just need faith in the Seven.' Jaime wiggles from her hold, places his lone hand on his hip. Smirking. 'What?"

"I thought you didn't want children with me. I thought you wanted to end our relationship to allow me from the freedom to fuck some North whore..."

"Jaime!"

"Of course you worded it far nicer. The sentiment was still there though. And now you're willing and ready?" Brienne exhales deeply.

"I'm scared too Jaime. Of those fears I mentioned; you really can not stand there and say or think I'm overreacting when you did not yourself experience the taunts. And yes I agree this world even with the peace this year is a tentative and dangerous place. There is still beauty and light. I want to help create more light." It is now Brienne surprised by Jaime kissing her hard, desperate, but as always gently.

"So I can't hook up with a Nor..."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"Sorry my love. But I no longer wish to date you." Brienne jerks back, eyes wide.

"But I thoug...' She seizes talking and breathing all together as Jaime lowers himself to one knee and stares up at her; with a look that melts her every time.

"I don't have a ring on me, I promise one day soon I'll get you all the jewels and gold I can lay my hands on..."

"I don't care about that."

"I know. Now shush I'm trying to propose here!"

"Of course, go right ahead,"

'Well you sort of ruined the moment!' He stands back up laughing softly, she echos it back.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Gods yes Jaime! Yes, I will marry you."

"Oh! Really?!' Her laugh now he is sure all the Kingdoms could hear. 'I mean don't get me wrong but you were the one started this conversation by telling me you wanted to break up. You can understand my confusion."

"Your lucky I love you."

"And why is that?"

"Because if I didn't you'd surely be dead right now."

"Oh I'm positive you would have killed me a thousand times before now. And this why I know our child or children will be the fiercest creatures ever. If they are even a fraction like either of us that's a force no one will dare tussle with!"

"I can only hope. Um do you think we should...um?" Brienne finds herself growing embarrassed.

"Do I think we should try to make a baby? Hells yeah!'

"It may not happen right away. Or at all."

"It will. Because the Gods will know that we are worthy to be the carriers of more light." Brienne's lips fall onto his one more and gently guides her to their bed.

+++The End+++

#tv show: game of thrones #character: sansa stark #ship: braime

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mirkwoodshewolf · 6 years

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Chapter 19; The two outsiders

And here is where things take an interesting turn as we are introduced to two new characters which I will provide gifs for face cast since I haven’t told you guys who they were gonna be played by. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)

____________________________________________________

It had been a year since that day and slowly but surely, I got use to the new arm and Bucky was right there by my side if I ever felt insecure of it or needed a little pick me up. We had also received a facetime message from my mother about her progress in finding all of Klaue’s former business partners. She told us that she was down to the last few but these ones have been proven to be the toughest since they were located in Moscow, Russia, but she hoped she would come home to us soon.

She also explained to us mainly to Bucky about the suit she had rescued him in. Apparently shortly after she left Wakanda for the first time, she settled down in South America for several years and the place she lived in was having some problems with thieves and black market people coming in and stealing not only their supplies and food but some of their women and children as well.

In that moment, she had brought to life the Legend of the “Jaguar Warrior” to the village and defended their keep for almost 10 years until finally the threats stopped and the village was once again at peace. When the village didn’t need her anymore, she left South America and that’s when she found herself in Kamar Taj.

But soon something else would happen in Wakanda that would change myself forever.

Bucky was training with some of the warriors while I was training with the Dora Milaje practicing my bow staff and speak skills when we suddenly got a call from Okoye who was traveling with T’Challa scouting the perimeter of the kingdom. Bucky and I walked towards each other and activated our watches and soon Okoye’s image came up.

“Barnes, (Y/n)”.

“What’s going on Okoye?” I asked.

“We’ve found a couple of intruders in the jungle, you need to come right away”.

“Any idea who they are?” asked Bucky.

“I think the real question is what they are? Take the Eastern passage, it’s the quickest way to where we currently are at, and (y/n) make sure you are in wolf form when you come”. She then ended the message as both Bucky and I looked at each other confused.

“What’s that about?” asked Bucky.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like we don’t have much time, climb on quick”. I phased into my wolf form and Bucky mounted on my back as W’Kabi handed Bucky a spear and soon I took off running out of the sanctuary and into the jungle taking the East passage just as Okoye instructed.

When we arrived, we saw T’Challa in full Black Panther gear and Okoye fighting against these mutated animal/human hybrids. T’Challa was fighting off what looked like a hyena and lion while Okoye was fighting off against a gorilla.

“What the hell?” Bucky muttered.

‘I don’t know but right now’s not the time to discuss this, help T’Challa while I help Okoye’. I took a running start before leaping into the air letting out a mad snarl as Bucky leaped off my back and tackled the lion humanoid and I got onto the gorilla hybrids back and bit down onto its shoulder.

The gorilla let out an agonizing roar while Okoye stabbed her spear right into its heart killing right then and there. T’Challa scratched across the lion’s face much like he did to me back during the Civil War while Bucky punched the hyena square in the face and with that they two of them suddenly ran off whimpering in fear.

“Uhh—okay someone wanna tell us what’s going on? What were those things?” Bucky said.

“We have no idea, hopefully when we get back home we can—”

“Help! Somebody help! Help!” A voice cried out from the jungle. I lowered my head in a snarl as I stood in front of everyone then I said through my collar.

‘Slowly step out from the bushes and put your hands up where we can see them!’ Soon coming out of the bushes were two men. One of them had short black hair, he stood about Bucky’s height maybe an inch or two shorter and was skinny but lean and he had some muscle on him and it was good he had it for leaning against his side was another man with long, curly like black hair that reached his shoulders, a hidden scar along his left eye and well built in muscle.

All over this guy’s body he had wounds probably from those creatures and he was bleeding badly. The man holding the wounded man said to us.

“Please help him…..he’s gonna bleed to death”. I phased into my human form and said.

“What happened here?”

“We got lost, we thought there was a village or a town nearby and then out of nowhere those things attacked us, my buddy Rauri tried to save me but those things overpowered him, please—he’s gonna bleed to death”. I turned to T’Challa and Okoye who only looked at me with suspicious eyes.

We were now on the ship flying back to the sanctuary and Okoye muttered to us saying.

“This is a bad idea”.

“In a way I agree but as King I am responsible for anyone who comes into my kingdom, and if anyone is injured then it makes them my responsibility, especially now since we’ve opened up our borders to the world”.

“But T’Challa we still don’t know about those creatures, what if they are a threat to our kingdom and now that they’ve got our scent they’ll be able to track us faster” Okoye stated worriedly.

“She’s right T’Challa, animals can smell ten times stronger than you humans, and since those things were also technically human, if there are more of them out there, we could be facing another war on our hands”. I said as I leaned against Bucky who was sitting on the couch.

“We’ll keep them long enough for his friend to recover, then once he is we’ll treat them as invaders to our lands, as King that is my final say in this matter”. With no other choice, we agreed to T’Challa’s decree and we continued on our way back to the sanctuary.

In the lab, we wheeled Rauri in and Shuri said to her brother.

“Oh another broken white boy for me to fix then huh? I swear big brother I better be getting paid for this”.

“I am your brother I don’t need to pay you”. T’Challa stated. Shuri then flipped him off but went straight to work on Rauri. The man who was friends with Rauri asked us.

“Is he gonna die?”

“Be patient and don’t talk so loud” Shuri stated as she got the vibranium and began to play it along Rauri’s wounds which healed them right up. Once she was done she said, “He’ll live, given time and rest, there is so much that Vibranium can do for these wounds”.

“Now then, why don’t we go upstairs and talk Mr.—”

“Connor, my names Conner”. T’Challa, Okoye, Bucky and Shuri left the lab leaving me to look after Rauri for a bit. As I sat down beside him I got to have a closer look at him and saw his facial features.

Perfect chiseled face, dark stubble along his face, hidden dimples and his scent was intoxicating and seductive to my nose.

I reached out and brushed away a stray strand of his raven black hair and imagined if he spoke with the same accent Connor did, what color his eyes were and what his voice sounded like.

Wait what the hell? Snap out of it (Y/n)! He’s an outsider and could be a potential threat to Wakanda, both of them could be! The last time you let someone into Wakanda, you lost an arm, don’t make that same mistake again!

*3rd Person POV*

A couple days later, Rauri woke up to see himself in a lab of sorts and almost went into a panic attack when someone came up to him and said.

“Don’t even think about it! I just had my lab fixed, I don’t want to repair it again”. Rauri looked around and said in a thick Irish accent.

“Where am I?”

“Wakandan sanctuary, you’ve been unconscious for 2 days, I was almost beginning to think you wouldn’t wake up”.

“Who are you?”

“Names Shuri, and you white boy are in my lab in my brother’s kingdom of Wakanda, you’re lucky to be alive with those wounds” Shuri stated as she prepared him a glass of water. Rauri slowly sat up and said.

“I don’t feel very lucky, my friend Connor and I got ambushed by those Chimeras”.

“So that’s what they’re called, what exactly are they?” Shuri asked as she handed Rauri the water.

“Big nasty sons of bitches with terrible breath,” he took a sip when he stated, “Wait—there was a She-wolf”.

“A She-wolf?”

“Out in the jungle, a black she-wolf who turned into a beautiful woman, and she saved my life”. Rauri said. Shuri grinned and said.

“I think you might’ve hit your head a little too hard my dear white boy. I would suggest getting some air but don’t speak of any she-wolf for you won’t find one here”. Shuri spoke jokingly at first but by the end of her statement, her voice changed from joking to dead serious. With that being said, Shuri left the lab leaving Rauri to himself.

Rauri left the lab and walked outside for the very first time in days. He breathed in the fresh air and took in the warm sun when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. He turned to see his friend Connor running up to him and the two boys smiled and hugged each other before talking over each other.

As the two of them walked around the Black Panther sanctuary, they soon came upon the training grounds and Rauri soon saw a familiar face of the woman he had seen back in the jungle for a brief second before blacking out from his injuries.

(Y/n) was training with some of the men and easily over-powering them and kicking their butts with just her official Dora Milaje spear and her own two fists and feet. As Rauri and Connor both stared at her, Rauri felt this sudden connection with her that made his heart skip a beat almost.

“What a woman” he muttered.

“Yeah mate, she’s a real fighter that one” Connor said to his friend as he clasped his hand to his shoulder.

*1st Person POV*

After beating W’Kabi and his tribe in combat, I heard T’Challa’s voice say to me in his native tongue.

“You keep this up, I may have to retire my whole kingdom and just let you fight my wars”. I smirked and said back in Wakandan.

“You’d have the whole world trembling before you if they found out about me”.

“Indeed”. He said to me in English as the two of us stood side by side. “My sister relieved Mr. Williams of bedrest”. I turned to see both Rauri and Connor standing side by side looking at us and I said.

“He’s up and walking already? If it were me who attacked him he wouldn’t be moving for at least a month if not be dead already”.

“Now (y/n) I know you have more intuition with your animal instincts but there’s no need to pick a fight with them already”.

“There’s something not right though, not just the fact that they’re outsiders but their scent isn’t completely human”. T’Challa chuckled softly and I asked him, “What?”

“Just something my sister told me, she told me that Mr. Williams told her that he was saved by a She-wolf. A magnificent She-wolf who then turned into a beautiful woman”. I stopped my spear checking and looked towards the two boys to see Rauri looking straight at me. I smirked and leaned in close to T’Challa and said.

“And what did she tell him?”

“You know my sister, she never tells strangers full details when it comes to her friends, but if you’re still suspicious about them, then I give you full permission to beat them into submission if either of them step out of line”. I smirked as I pulled out a mango from my lunchbox and took a bite of it before taking my bag and walking off the training grounds.

Later that day, I decided to take a peaceful walk along the jungle trail just to get out and maybe practice some of my magic since I promised my mother that I’d keep practicing while she was away. As I walked through the jungle though, I could smell someone following me. For a while I chose to ignore it, until I finally stopped and said.

“I know you’ve been following me, I could hear you the minute I left the sanctuary”. I turned to see Rauri stepping out from behind the trees and he said.

“I hoped I would, but I should’ve known better than to underestimate a wolf’s nose”.

“What makes you think it had to do anything with smell? I could just have good hearing”.

“I know you do, but a wolf’s nose is ten times stronger than a normal humans, plus I was approaching you from upwind”.

“And how do you know so much about wolves?”

“Because I know how to recognize one when I see one”. Then something happened that shock me to the core. His eyes quickly phased to wolf gold before returning back to his normal brown ones. “That’s right, I’m one too. My name’s Rauri Williams, and I know who you are. You’re (y/n) (l/n), the Bad Wolf”. I stared at him in shock before I suddenly snapped and tackled him down to the ground and press a dagger to his neck and sneered.

“I. Am not. Bad Wolf! She no longer exists to me”.

“Hold on! I didn’t mean no harm, there’s no need to get so defensive”. I glared down at him and slowly removed the dagger from his neck but kept the blade pointed right at him. “The reason why I know what you are is because I was the first Bad Wolf before you, Hydra came and killed both mine and Connor’s families and took us as prisoners to be the first test subjects for the Bad Wolf experiment. Then once the files of both Hydra and Shield went to the public I read to see if they had used anyone else for the Bad Wolf experiment when I found your name”.

“Just because you saw my name on the Internet doesn’t mean that I have to believe you, in fact why are you telling me this? How do I know you’re not a spy of Hydra or in fact the UN coming to find me and take me to a prison cell?”

“Because my animal instincts say that I can trust you, and I know yours is saying the same thing. We’re both wolves after all, and there is safety within the pack”.

“You’re a fool, Bad Wolves are known for deception and lies until the time comes to strike”.

“Indeed but we’re the only two people in this world that went through the exact same torture that Hydra put us under, same tests and trials to unleash the beast they wanted” Rauri extended his hand out and he said, “You know you can trust me, and I can surely trust you. So what do you say we shake on it, Wolf to Wolf?” I looked down at his hand and told him sternly.

“I don’t shake, that’s not how Wakandans make pacts here”.

“Then how do they do it?” he asked. I thought about the most ridiculous thing I could come up with and I grinned softly before answering bluntly.

“You have to endure a bite from a Makiki spider”. Rauri looked at me and I could see his eyes turn from strength to absolute fear as he stammered out.

“S-say what now?”“

You’ll have a high fever, hallucinations, you’ll say things, lots of things. Wanna hear what’s in your heart, then if your intentions are true, then we have a pact”.

“Spider bite and—hallucinations?”

“That’s right”. I stated as I looked right into his eyes intimidating him with my “Romanoff” stare.

“And if I say the truth you’ll trust me?”

“Absolutely, both you and your friend. Well?” Silence came between us as Rauri debated on his answer when he finally said in the most serious tone I had heard from him.

“I’d say that’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard”. I softly smirked and said.

“Maybe you’re not a fool after all”. I backed away from him and walked back towards the sanctuary. “Though don’t get too cocky Irish boy, you step out of line, I have full permission from the king to whip your ass good”.

In the weeks that followed, Rauri just seemed to want to always be around me whether it was during training, in the lab with Shuri or interrupting me and Bucky-bear time and to tell you the truth I was just about to beat his ass in good. I could tell Bucky was about to step in at some moments too.

Like the time I was sparring with Okoye, I had gotten kicked off my feet and banged my head pretty hard on the hard concrete floor and as Rauri was coming up to see if I was alright, Bucky-bear beat him to it and I could hear from my in and out of consciousness telling him along the lines saying.

“Take one more step and I’ll rip your head off!” Or something like that.

After the match, I was in my room being taken care of by my Bucky-bear and when he left the room to prepare me something to eat, I heard a knock at my door and saw Shuri standing there with a flower in her hand.“What’s that Shuri?”

“Found this in the lab at your station from your secret admirer” she teased as she came in and gave it to me.

“What is this flower?” I asked as I took it in her hands.

“That my friend is the rare Violet Wakanda lily. It means “trust and soulmate” I have my suspicion on who it might be from”. Shuri teased as she bumped my shoulder with hers. At her statement I just put the flower aside and she continued, “He really is trying (y/n), he seems to really like you. Don’t you feel at least a little something for him?”

“Absolutely not” I stated bluntly.

#captain america civil war #captain america fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x teen reader #bad wolf

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rogerrachel1995 · 4 years

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#Can A Vacation Save A Marriage Miraculous Cool Ideas #Save Marriage Jokes

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shanastoryteller · 7 years

Note

your gods & monsters fics are so beautiful!! I know you had Prometheus in the one with Pandora, but do you think you could do one with him when he was stealing the fire?

By her very nature Hestia is not supposed to have favorites,but Hades has always been hers.

She is the eldest sister, and he the eldest brother. Shewonders if that is perhaps why they somehow end up being the responsible ones.

“I like it down here,” she says, curled up in his throne.“It’s quiet.”

He snorts, head bent over the reams of paper, endless listsof the dead. Somehow, she never sees Zeus with paperwork. “It’s dark, andcold.” She glances around. The only light comes from the softly glowingmoonstones, from the bioluminescent designs etched into the walls.

She extends a hand, “I can–”

A cheerful fire crackles to life in the center of the room,warm and sweet and smelling of cedar even though there’s no smoke. “Sister!” hesnaps, “Return that to Olympus immediately!”

She pouts, holding the fire steady, “Why? It’s my fire, I amits keeper, am I not? I can give it to whoever I choose.”

“Zeus has decreed it is a privilege of those that reside inthe heavens,” he glares, “I will not see his wrath turn upon you. Put it back.”

Hestia closes her palm, and the fire snuffs out, returningto its home on Mount Olympus. “Little brother Zeus would do well to rememberhis place.”

“I’m sure he would say the same of us,” Hades says wryly,eyes dropping back down to his desk.

She is the keeper of the hearth, the bringer of fire, theguardian of the home. The spirit of Mother Gaia pulses in her more clearly thanthe others, no matter the claims Hera likes to make

Zeus is a little boy. A powerful little boy for sure, but achild none the less. She and Hades grew in their father’s stomach together, hiswas the hand she grasped through the years in their horrid prison.

She dislikes little boys telling her how to govern her realmof hearth and home.

Prometheus was not a smart man, but he was a brave man, anambitious man.

So when a goddess appears in front of him, offering him anopportunity for glory, he does not refuse. He grins with eyes too bright andsays, “Fire? The tool of gods back in mortal hands? We could do much withthat.”

“Yes,” the goddess agrees, “but it will not come free. Ifyou succeed you will be sent to Hades’s realm, of this I am certain, and whenyou are – you must bring fire to him as well. That is the price of ourbargain.”

“Agreed,” he says instantly, and does not question why a godneeds a human to get him fire. His is not the place to question gods.

Myths will say that he was a Titan, a god among gods, butthat is not true.

He was a lone, ambitious man. The act of a single person canoften be mistaken for the work of a god.

Hestia’s throne sits unused on Olympus, more concerned withtending her hearth fire than sitting high above mortals.

Any being which must assert their authority through statussymbols likely has very little authority to begin with. “You’re planningtrouble,” Hera accuses one day, her clothing purposefully plain next to herhusband’s and her hair piled atop her head in an exhaustingly elaboratefashion.

Hera did not become wife of Zeus, Queen of the Gods, bybeing stupid. She can be accused of many things, but stupidity is not amongthem.

“Whatever do you mean, little sister?” Hestia asks, reachinga hand into the fire and watching the flames dance harmlessly over her skin.None of her other siblings would be so fortunate, should they try to touch herfire.

Hera cross her arms, lower lip jutting out, and Hestia’smouth twitches. They are all so painfully young still, now. Hera is little morethan a girl, and Hestia thinks she would be fond of her if she were not soclearly hiding fangs behind her pretty lips.

Loving your family never meant having to like them.

“You won’t get away with it, whatever it is,” Hera declaresbefore turning on her heel and striding off.

Hestia cups a ball of flame in her hand, the warmth of itseeping down to her bones. “Whatever you say, little sister.”

The climb up Mount Olympus takes him weeks. He’s exhaustedand hungry by the time he reaches the top, having run out of food some daysago. But he makes it – something that no other human can claim.

He follows the goddess’s instructions to the letter, waitsuntil the moon is high in the sky before creeping into the palace. He doesn’ttouch any of the statues, the tapestries, the golden goblets or silver plates.He doesn’t even let his gaze linger on them, for he is after a prize far morevaluable than wealth.

Fame. Notoriety. His name written in the heavens, never tobe forgotten.

The hearth is in the center of the throne room, larger thantwice his size and more golden than red. He takes a trembling step forward,eager and terrified all in one.

The goddess appears in front of him, more silhouette thananything else. “This fire will burn you,” she warns, eyes fever bright andsparking just like the inferno behind her, “It will kill you. It is only amatter of when – not if.”

“I understand,” he says, because it doesn’t matter, deathdoes not matter. Death comes for all men. If he succeeds in returning fire tohumankind, he will be more than a man – he will be a legend.

“Very well.” She spicks up a globe of fire in her hand.Prometheus reaches for it, but she does not hand it to him. Instead she opensher mouth impossibly wide and places it on her tongue, lips closing around itand her whole face turning red from the heat.

She grabs him by the front of his shirt and jerks himforward, placing her mouth to his mouth and pushing the ball of celestial fireonto his tongue.

“There,” she says, leaning back. “That will dampen it enoughfor you to make it back to the land of mortal men, but you must not open yourmouth until you are ready – as soon as it’s exposed to the air it will consumeyou. If you are not back in the mortal realm at that point, your death will befor nothing.”

It burns, it’s complete agony. He can already feel the fireeating its way through the soft, wet muscles of his cheeks. But he gives thegoddess one sharp nod and then he’s sprinting his way out of Olympus.

He doesn’t have much time.

Prometheus is long gone by the time Hera drags herself tothe throne room, sleeping robe askew and Zeus’s teeth marks on her collarbone.She’s older than her husband but still so terribly young, and for a momentHestia pities her.

“What did you do?” Hera demands, voice coming out rough.Hestia can’t see any bruising on her throat but that doesn’t mean there isn’tany. “I know you did something!”

She knows the woman Hera will grow into, has seen many girlsbecome that same woman, and as the wife of Zeus it’s nearly inevitable. Butshe’s not a woman yet, just a girl who’s gambled everything for a play at powerand hasn’t yet figured out if she’s won or lost.

“It’s cold in Zeus’s chambers,” Hestia pats the empty spacebeside her, “Won’t you sit with me, little sister?”

Hera stares at her, mistrust heavy in the air and plain onher face. She will learn to hide her thoughts better one day. “It’s not cold inthere.”

“Isn’t it?” she asks simply, and for a split second Hera’sface crumples. “Come, little sister.”

Hera takes one hesitant step closer, then another,eventually stumbling to her knees beside her and staring into the fire, Hestiais sure, so she has an excuse for her eyes to water.

“None of that now,” she adjusts Hera’s robe and pulls herhair from her face, the normally immaculate locks frizzy and tangled. Shesummons a brush and runs it through her sister’s hair, careful and steady.

The tension leaves Hera’s body by degrees until she chokesout, “It’s warm here.”

“As it always will be, when you are beside me,” she says,because she can promise that at least. Whether Hera will choose to sit at herside in the future is another matter entirely.

Burns have surfaced all across his body, blistering legionsturning into bloody caverns of ash where he once had flesh.

Most of his lower face is gone, his jaw open and gaping andonly bone. The ball of celestial fire is nestled at the bottom of his throat;it’s burned through until only a thin layer of skin separating it from the openair. He has to hurry. Every step is agony, he hasn’t been able to take a breathfor several minutes, and at this point death can only be a relief.

He will not die in vain.

Prometheus finally, finally steps upon mortal soil, but hedoes not stop there. He runs home, to his city, to the center of the square.People recognize him, even with half his face burned away, and there arescreams.

He collapses in the city square and reaches what’s left ofhis hand into his throat. He pulls all but a spark of the celestial fire free,and opens his hand.

He’s consumed in an instant, and his last sight is of fireflying – into stoves, lighting hearths, candles twinkling to life.

They will carve his name into the skies for this. He diessatisfied.

“How could this have happened?” Zeus rages, “How dare hesteal from the gods! I will have Hades destroy him in every possible manner!”

“Yes, my king,” Hestia murmurs. She doubts he’ll ever makenote of the contempt in her voice at his title.

King of the Gods. As if gods have ever cared for kings.

Hera remains remarkably, carefully silent at her husband’sside, hair neatly coiled the exact circumference of Hestia’s fingers.

It wasn’t something Hestia asked of her, nor what she wasexpecting. It is, however, a very pleasant surprise.

Maybe there’s hope for her yet.

Prometheus opens his eyes, which he wasn’t expecting.Everything still feels like it’s burning, but his body is back in more or lessone piece.

He’s in a place both dark and cold, and when his sightadjusts he realizes Hades, god of the dead, is standing before him.

“You’ve angered my brother greatly,” the god says, but hedoesn’t sound all that upset. “I’m to give you the worst punishment imaginablefor your transgressions.”

Prometheus opens his mouth, and out drops the smallestflicker of a flame. “From the goddess,” he says, and the spark goes twirling,dancing across torches and leaving them lit, passing by a hearth so it roars tolife.

Hades eyes widen as he watches the sparks progress, until itdisappears down the hallway to light the rest of his realm. “Foolish oldersister,” he says, softer and kinder than Prometheus thinks the god of theunderworld is supposed to look.

The whole place looks brighter with the fire, it goes fromominous to nearly – homey, a place not only to arrive at but one to return to.

Hades slides his gaze back to him, “Those burns are fromcelestial fire. I cannot heal them – you must live with them.”

“I understand,” Prometheus says, even though he doesn’t. Ifhe’s to be subjected to the worst punishment imaginable, what does it matter ifhe’s burned or not?

The god smiles, as if he’s reading his thoughts, and says“Very good.”

The next thing Prometheus knows, he’s back in the lands ofmortal men. Different, perhaps – but alive.

Fires are lit in her name, each home’s hearth dedicated toher, and Hestia smiles.

Hers is not a domain so easily extinguished.

gods and monsters series, part vi

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jarmes · 5 years

Text

Birdcage Chapter XV

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Stone, or: the battle with the rock monster

When I saw Jericho Darkholme’s eyes, a fire roared to life within my heart. Years of anger came flooding back at once, flowing through my veins and strengthening my muscles. I threw away the telescope and pulled my sword from the cliffside. The fight I’d been dreaming of for so long was finally upon me.

Cross leaned down over the cliff and called out to me. “Ernest, get out of the village while you still can,” he shouted. “We’ll regroup at the fence and come up with a strategy.”

I ignored Cross’s order and sprinted deeper into Stonecage. I charged at Darkholme, sword in hand, and brought it down on the dark mage. Darkholme simply dodged and blasted me with lightning, knocking me away. “Surprised that there are still Knights in this town,” Darkholme said. “I figured you guys would have ran away by now.”

Darkholme walked over to the rubble of an abandoned house, humming as he carved runes. “You’re Jericho Darkholme,” I mumbled as I crawled back to my feet.

“The one and only,” he said, still preoccupied with his runes.

I grabbed my sword and pointed it at him. “I have waited for this day for longer than you can imagine,” I said.

“Let me guess, you’ve been waiting for ten years?” Darkholme joked.

“Shut up!” I said as I charged at him.

Darkholme blasted me again. “Listen, kid,” he said as I crumpled to my knees, “You aren’t the first revenge seeking brat I’ve met, and you certainly won’t be the last. Leave now and I might let you live. Emphasis on might.”

I landed next to the bodies of the Knights killed by Darkholme. I opened my eyes to the face of a decayed man, remains of the Knight Darkholme drained. His skin and muscle had turned to dust, leaving only a skeleton.

I pulled myself to my feet and lunged at Darkholme. He struck me with another energy blast. “Okay, death it is,” he said.

Lightning swirled around Jericho’s arm, gathering in intensity and power. Jericho released the lightning upon me, sending a massive blast of dark energy at my injured body. The energy washed over me, surrounding my body. The ground beneath me burned away, leaving only the scent of death.

When the energy cleared, I was fine. The green scales produced by Cross’s Verse covered me, redirecting all damage. I turned around to see Squad V running to my aid.

Sterling fired an arrow as he ran, striking Darkholme in the shoulder. Cross placed his hands together and fired back the energy gathered protecting me. Darkholme jumped out of the way, dodging a blast that would have annihilated him.

Pollux helped me to my feet. “Tell me, did you hit your head when you fell down the cliff?” he asked. “Because the only reason I can think of to run into a massacre after being told to run away is severe brain damage.

“I mean, you guys came after me,” I said.

“I guess we’re all idiots then,” he said.

Sterling and Cross caught up, meeting up with the twins and I. The five of us stood shoulder to shoulder, facing Darkholme. He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Listen, I’m not really in the mood for this kind of thing,” he said. “Would you mind killing yourselves so I don’t have to waste time doing it myself?”

“Jericho Darkholme, by decree by his majesty Tasciovanus von Cieleta, we shall kill you, avenging the countless innocents slain by your machinations,” Cross said. “I do not know why you have come to this town on this day, but I do know that you shall not leave alive.”

“You see, this is why I hate Knights. Always with the big speeches. “Would it kill you to die quietly like normal people?”

Sterling fired another arrow and Cas fired an ice blast. Darkholme blocked both with his lightning. Pollux and I charged forward, weapons in hand, Cross’s scales protecting us. Darkholme fired his energy at us, to no avail. He dodged my sword swing, only to be stabbed in the gut by Pollux’s lance. I brought my sword down on his shoulder and Pollux punched him in the face.

Jericho stumbled back, clutching his side. The two of us locked eyes. “It’s over,” I said.

“Yeah, it is,” he said with a smile.

Suddenly, bony arms burst from the ground, wrapping around me and dragging me down. I screamed as the arms pulled me into the earth. I grabbed Pollux trying to pull myself free. Instead, I just pulled him down with me.

Using my incapacitation as a distraction, Darkholme fired his lightning at the Knight corpses, turning them to dust and draining their energy. He quickly finished carving his runes into the wall of the abandoned house. He placed his hand in the center of the runes and dark magic flowed through the rubble.

Pollux smacked me, bringing me back to my senses. “What is wrong with you?” he yelled.

I looked down. I was aboveground and the skeletal arms were gone. Before I could process this, I heard a rumbling coming from the rubble. I watched as violet energy washed over the abandoned stone house. The bricks shifted and bound together into the form of a large monster, twenty feet tall with skin made of stone.

“This has been nice, but I have more pressing matters to attend to,” Jericho said while walking away.

I ran after him and the rock monster stepped between us, blocking my path. It swung its fist down at me and I jumped back to avoid it. Sterling fired a few arrows at the monster, each of which bounced off without doing any damage.

“He’s getting away!” I shouted while dodging a kick from the monster.

“I’m well aware,” Cross shouted as he threw his lance, striking the monster in the chest.

The monster ripped the lance out and snapped it in two like a toothpick. It slammed its fist down next to me, almost crushing me. “We need to retreat,” Cross said.

“No!” I shouted. “We need to stop Darkholme!”

“Did you see what direction he ran in?” Cas said. “He was going north, the only things north of here are the mines and the mountains.”

“There’s probably a secret passage out of Stonecage,” Pollux chimed in while dodging a kick from the stone monster.

“Maybe he wants to destroy the mine before we can get to it,” Cas said.

“It doesn’t matter! The point is, we need to kill him while we have the chance!” I shouted.

I looked up at the rock monster. It separated me from Darkholme. Gritting my teeth, I charged at it, hoping to run through its legs. As it brought its fist down on me, two stone pillars burst from the ground blocking its arm. These pillars, creations of Sterling’s Verse, protected me long enough for me to run between the monster’s legs.

“What is he doing?” Pollux shouted.

“He’s trying to take out Darkholme by himself,” Cross said.

“That’s stupid! Why would he do that?”

“The why doesn’t matter, the fact is he’ll die if he tries to take on Darkholme alone. We need to defeat this thing and go save him.”

Pollux jumped out of the way of another kick. “There’s a slight problem with that plan,” he said. “Namely, the fact that there’s a giant rock monster standing in our way.”

The Squad heard a roaring coming from the southern side of the village. They turned to see Firebrand running towards them, propelling himself using his flames. Firebrand leaped over them and threw a large blast of fire at the monster’s chest. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Jericho Darkholme is back and heading for the mine. Zuckerman went after him alone,” Cross said. “We can handle this, you go on ahead.”

“Got it,” Firebrand said.

Firebrand launched himself at the rock monster using his flames, passing through its chest using his Verse. He ran after Darkholme, leaving Squad V to deal with the rock monster. “Oh, that’s great, get rid of the powerful warrior as soon as he shows up,” Pollux said.

“This thing is made of rocks. And Sterling can reshape rocks,” Cas said. “If we can knock this thing down, Sterling’ll be able to destroy this thing easily, right?”

“That might work,” Sterling said.

Pollux sighed. “That isn’t the worst plan, I suppose,” he said.

Cas grabbed his pouch and channeled all of the powder into a single ice blast. The blast froze the monster’s leg in place. Pollux ran forward and shoulder bashed the frozen leg, sending the monster toppling over.

Sterling ran up and placed his hands on the rock monster’s leg. Cracks spread through the monster as Sterling used his Verse. The monster began to get up. “Get out of there, Sterling!” Cross shouted.

“Just a few more seconds and it’ll be gone,” Sterling said.

As he said that, the rock monster stood up. It kicked Sterling, sending him flying into an abandoned house. Fortunately, Cross’s Verse protected Sterling from the kick. Unfortunately, the Verse stopped working as soon as Sterling left Cross’s field of vision. Sterling crashed into a brick wall and passed out.

Cross ran after Sterling to make sure he was okay. The rock monster brought its fist down on Cross. Cross stood his ground and absorbed the energy of the blow. He fired it back at the rock monster, shattering it.

While all this was going on, I was still chasing after Darkholme. He entered the mine, disappearing deep into the dark tunnel into the mountain. I ran after him. As I stepped into the entrance of the mine, I noticed glowing runes on the walls. The runes exploded, collapsing the entrance of the tunnel and sealing me inside.

#fantasy #birdcage #writing

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graceunderstrain · 7 years

Text

Good Boy Part 33

So much life has happened but with Descendants 2 almost out I must really finish this!

Also if you need to catch up on our story so far here’s the master post; http://graceunderstrain.tumblr.com/post/154796607914/good-boy-links

“So what do you need to talk to me about, just the two of us?”

“Ben, is there, um, some kind of level at which someone here in Auradon would be considered a villain?” Jay asked, “You know, and sent to the island with all the villains?”

“Jay, I will never let any of you return to the Isle of Lost unless that is what you want. You are under my protection, and I’m the king so what I say goes,” Ben finished a bit sheepishly. “Not that I’d ever abuse my power.”

“I wasn’t really talking about us VKs.” Jay had a flash of inspiration, “You know what if someone- not you- abused their power or like intentionally hurt someone for the fun of it? Is there a point at which they’d be too bad to remain here in Auradon?”

“I don’t think so,” Ben seemed lost in thought for a moment. “I suppose my parents figured once we kicked all the villains out- there’d be no more problems. It sounds a little silly to say it out loud but it has worked for the last couple of decades. What are you worried about?”

“I’ve got my reasons,” Jay smiled slyly, not wanting to lie to a friend. When Ben’s brow crinkled in concerns he hastily added, “One of which is curiosity, wanting to be prepared for anything.”

“Well, if you really want to find out you can use a computer to search the statutes database. You should be able to access it from the library.”

“Right. Maybe if I have time…” Jay didn’t want to sound overly eager. He turned to head out of the room, “Thanks, man.”

Jay tried not to look in too much of a hurry as he headed towards the library. Sending bad guys to the Isle of the Lost seemed to be the Auradonian solution to problems, and he was hoping it’d work in this case. However, an hour of reading through the arcane wording of statutes containing the key words “Isle of the Lost” turned up nothing useful. Lots of legal decrees about the current inhabitants of the island and their situation but little on shipping a new person to the island. Jay then tried entering in crimes and punishment. Everything that came up was about the villains. Surely there had to be some misbehavior worthy of being put into law in Auradon? He’d try asking Evie for help in searching the database.

“Treason,” Evie said. She’d been reading through several sections and taking notes for a mind-numbingly long time, “It’s never stated in as many words but it’s the crime the villains were accused of. As far as I can tell that would send someone to the Isle.”

“Why about being a horrible person?” Jay asked hopefully.

“Definitely not, Auradon citizens have the right to rehabilitation under that law.”

“Rehabilitation?”

“Community service, counseling, and so on. Support to get better. I mean that’s implied too. Ben actually had to make us citizens to allow us to come here, to give us the right to become better,” Evie tapped her notebook decisively.

“We weren’t citizens before?” Jay had not listened very well in history but he had always thought citizens was just another word for people.

“We were not. No one on the island is, otherwise, they’d have rights like here on Auradon- the right to nourishment, shelter, clean water, well-being, protection-“

Jay cut her off, “I get it. I mean I lived life on the island- anything we didn’t have was guaranteed basically.”

“Basically,” Evie said in defeated tone that matched Jay’s.

Jay couldn’t see a way out. Killing Jim would be treason, and Ben wouldn’t be able to protect him though he sincerely doubted the king’s ability to protect him if he stepped too far out of line. Even if he could bring Jim’s behavior to the authority’s the best that would happen is this rehabilitation nonsense. The plan had relied on someone believing Jay in this first place. This was a dung heap of a situation.

“What’s the obsession with this anyway?” Evie twisted a blue curl as she spoke.

“It’s not an obsession,” Jay snapped.

“Sure,” Evie’s voice sounded like she was rolling her eyes, “You just stared at me staring at a computer screen for a few hours. Either you’re obsessed with me or you’re obsessed with sending someone to the Isle of the Lost and we both know you’re not obsessed with me.”

“It was just a stupid idea,” Jay tried to sound dismissive.

“It will remain that way unless you tell me what is going on Jay,” Evie said with all the testiness of a queen. “If you want my help I need more details about this idea.”

“Let’s say, we wanted to stop someone from getting hurt by another person,” Jay said, “but we need to make sure it’s gonna work because otherwise the situation’s gonna just get worse. And don’t say telling- because I’ve got no way to prove it.”

Jay could tell Evie’s mind was quickly turning the problem over in her head as she seemed almost frozen in though other than her finger slowly wrapping and unwrapping a strand of her hair.

“Who’s hurting, C?” She finally asked.

“I never said it was him,” Jay said quickly.

Evie sighed, “If it was anyone but a VK, they would have already told Fairy Godmother about the problem. Now us villain kids, we’d be worried the problem would be turned back on us. So, it’s got be one of us- it’s not you and I know it’s not me. Mal wouldn’t be able to help it- she’d probably magic someone in that kind of a situation. So, it’s Carlos. Who’s hurting him? I have a right to know- I’m his friend too.”

Jay wasn’t sure if Carlos wanted it to be kept a secret from Mal or Evie. He messed with his hair, “Can you just worry about the solving part and I’ll worry about the who?”

“If you really want, we can try that but I can’t promise half my mental energy won’t be spent trying to work it out. Or I could just ask him.”

“Don’t you dare ask Jim,” Jay said roughly.

“I didn’t say that,” she paused. Her eyes widened. “No,” her voice trailed off.

Evie usually saw through his lies so he’d try a half-truth, “Jim wouldn’t understand. It’s a VK thing.”

Evie slammed down her note book, “You have got to tell me, Jay. It’s can’t be as bad as what I’m imagining. I mean they’ve been alone together so often. What has he been doing?”

Jay hesitated as Evie’s eyes bore into him. Carlos hadn’t wanted to say anything to the Fairy Godmother, surely Evie would be ok? He glanced around, the library still seemed pretty empty and the librarian's desk was far away.

“I’m not sure exactly,” Jay admitted in a whisper, “I have no proof like I said, it was more like a conversation with Carlos. I know there’s been some physical stuff- though I think that’s rare. I’m not even sure that’s the worst part. Jim’s got C’s mind all twisted up the way our parents did. But maybe that’s on Carlos,? I’m not sure. You know how we all have started changing since we got away from our parents? Carlos got more confident, his smarts showed, all that stuff. But lately, it’s like he’s collapsing back- and I think it’s Jim’s fault.”

The two fell into silence for a few minutes.

“Carlos won’t just leave him,” Evie said, “If you’re right about the manipulating.”

Jay was surprised her words made him tear up when telling her his suspicions hadn’t.

“No,” he said quietly.

“We have got to tell Mal,” Evie said.

“Ok, but no one else. I’m not sure C wanted anyone to know- not even me,” Jay sighed.

“We’ll save him. Don’t worry,” Evie whispered fiercely.

#disney descendants #descendants #jaylos #jay x carlos

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robinhoodrevisited · 7 years

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Commander’s Decree (pt.4)

Shrewsbury. The Next Morning. (An older, stocky man walks through the town. He is unhurried in his pace and takes time to wave and return greetings to those who bid him a good morning. The man stops and leans against a support post of a tavern. As the man turns we can see that he is none other than Lord Sheridan, the man responsible for recruiting Robin of Locksley into the King's army. As if battling with himself about something he merely stands a moment watching the people pass him by.) Vaisey: (Approaching on horseback:) "Go on, you know you want to." Sheridan: (Looking up at the former sheriff, scoffs:) "What do you want?" Vaisey: "Oh, just dropping by to see an old friend. How are you, Sheridan?" Sheridan: "Me? (Bitterly:) Fabulous, couldn't be better. How else should a soldier my age be feeling?" Vaisey: "Hmm. Indeed. To be honest my man you have looked better." Sheridan: "You came all the way from Nottingham to tell me that?" Vaisey: "No, far from it. I've come to offer you a job." Sheridan: (Laughs:) "A job? Why, haven't you heard? I already have one of those. I hold the esteemed title of 'Keeper of the crown' (With derision:) What more could a man possibly want?" Vaisey: (Leaning forward:) "Why don't you let me buy you a drink and we'll see what we can come up with, hm?"

The Forest, Somewhere Between Nottingham and Powis. (Marian paces up and down, looking at the barely smouldering campfire where Gisborne spent the night.) Robin: “I’m sorry, Marian. If anyone could’ve convinced him to do the right thing, it would’ve been you.” Marian: “I just can’t believe he left, where would he go?” Allan: “Well not for nothing but, does anyone even know where we are?” Marian: “Other than halfway between Nottingham and Powis?” Allan: “Exactly.” Robin: “Well wherever we are, Indra isn’t going to wait much longer before turning back and coming to get us.” Allan: “Yeah, she’s already upset that we’ve got most of their horses.” Djaq: “Nice of you to suggest they go on without us, though.” Allan: (Smiles:) “Well I figured they’d like a head start.” Will: “Before we catch them up on horseback you mean?” Allan: “Exactly.” Djaq: “You’re just lucky John won the fight last night, or I’d have scalped you myself.” Allan: “All right, all right. (Smiling:) Keep your hair on.” Much: “Well, we can’t stand around here all day. I say we go now.”

(Robin turns to look at Marian who is still quietly disappointed by Gisborne’s disappearance.) Robin: (Gently:) “Come on, Marian. We have to go catch up with Indra, we don’t want to get lost out here. Forget about Gisborne, he’s not-” Gisborne: (Hidden:) “Coming back?” (Robin and Marian look towards the sound of the voice and see Gisborne climbing the ridge back into camp.) Marian: (Relieved:) “Guy, where have you been? I thought you’d-” Gisborne: “There’s a stream a little further down the ravine. I took the opportunity to freshen up a bit. (He bows, smiling at Marian who returns it with one of her own. Looking to Robin:) No, Hood you’re not getting rid of me that easily. Two people with a common goal… (Glances at Marian.) can accomplish many things. Two people with a common enemy… can accomplish even more. (Gisborne extends his hand. Marian looks warily between the two men as Robin considers Gisborne closely.) I’m going to Powis and then I’m going to help you stop my sister and Prince John.” (Robin takes Gisborne’s arm and grips it.) Robin: (Calmly:) "All while trying to win Marian from me?” Gisborne: (After a moment’s pause:) “I won’t deny it. Marian deserves only the best.” Robin: (Smirks, confident:) “Finally something we agree on.” Will: (From atop his horse:) “Excuse me, gents. (Both men release the handshake and look towards the gang:) But there are more than just the two of you and we’re ready to leave.” Allan: “Yeah last one there’s a rotten egg!” (The gang laugh and nudge their horses into motion.) Marian: (Sighs good naturedly:) “Come on then, boys. (Hooking an arm of each man with her own:) Break’s over.” (She walks them towards the horses as Robin smiles. Gisborne, with furrowed brow, allows himself to be led towards a new sense of purpose and hope.)

Shrewsbury. Tavern. Private Room. (Several empty tankards litter the table in front of Vaisey, none of which belong to him.) Sheridan: (Loudly and drunkenly:) "I gave the King the best years of my life, and do you know what he gave me in return?" Vaisey: (Rolling his eyes:) "We've been over this a few dozen times now." Sheridan: (Continuing:) "Retirement!" (Sheridan stumbles then falls into heavily into his chair.) Vaisey: "Yes, but the question is: what are you prepared to do about it?" Sheridan: "Do? There is nothing that I can do. I am here and the King is thousands of miles away." Vaisey: "Fighting a war that no one wants or understands. Come now, Sheridan, we've known each other for years. We grew up together, trained together. If I allowed myself to have such things I would even consider you my oldest friend. The only difference between us is the men we chose to devote our lives to. You chose Richard and I chose John." Sheridan: (Chuckling:) "Yes, and now they've both cast each of us aside." Vaisey: "Speak for yourself. (As Sheridan continues to laugh:) Whereas Prince John may currently be infatuated with Isabella and what's between her legs, I have been tasked with implementing a new phase in England's future." Sheridan: "This something to do with your dark knights is it?" Vaisey: "Black Knights. And how do you know about them?" Sheridan: (Offhandedly:) "There were rumours." Vaisey: "Hm. Anyway, no this does not involve them. This plan requires much more stealth, much more discretion." Sheridan: "And you came to me for that?!" (Laughs again.) Vaisey: (Stands and grabs Sheridan by the shirt, making him listen:) "I chose you because I believe you are the right man for the job. Not only have you been dismissed by the very man you swore your undying allegiance to but your position has been reduced to nothing more than a glorified jewellery box! You are Lord Sheridan, trainer of the King's knights. You deserve your place alongside the King of England." Sheridan: "Too bloody right I do!" Vaisey: "And you shall have that place once again I swear to you." Sheridan: (Grasping Vaisey's shirt now:) "Tell me how, please, tell me how!" Vaisey: (Smiling malevolently:) "I'm so glad you asked."

Powis Castle. Main Entrance. (The gang have finally arrived at the capitol, Robin and Much leading the way. They are greeted warmly by Clarke as the others make their way up the steps. Lexa enters the room and nods to Robin.) Lexa: "I'm glad you could all make it. (Looking to Clarke:) We've called you here to make things official." Robin: "Make what official?" Clarke: "I've joined the alliance. Nottingham and its people are now the thirteenth clan." Allan: "You what?" Clarke: "It's the first step in achieving peace between our nations." Lexa: "In the King's absence, as Commander of the thirteen clans I have sworn my fealty to the Princess." Robin: "What does that mean for the King?" Clarke: "Upon my Uncle's return I hope to help convince him that this is the best hope to unify his Kingdom." Robin: (To Lexa:) "And you believe you can convince the clans to accept Richard as their King?" Clarke: (Stepping forward:) "It'll be complicated as far as who rules whom. But as I've said, this is just the first step."

Gisborne: (Entering the room:) "There is one other complication. (Clarke bristles at the sight of Gisborne:) As far as I know, the Commander has a treaty with Prince John." Clarke: "What is he doing here?" Marian: (Placatingly:) "It's all right, Guy's with us now." Lexa: "With you? The man who led the attack on my army is with you? (Darkly:) Explain yourselves." Marian: "Commander, Guy fights with us now. He has turned against the Sheriff and Prince John." Lexa: "Just like that?" Robin: (Steps forward:) "Commander I believe Gisborne's motives are genuine. We may not see eye to eye but our endgame is the same. To hinder Prince John's use of the King's power in Richard's absence." Clarke: "Robin, he tried to assassinate the King." Robin: "I know and trust me I have struggled with the idea of working with him myself but, (Looking to Marian:) his help could prove invaluable." Clarke: (To everyone:) "And you all feel the same, you're fine with this?" Much: "It was more than a little strange and things were strained at first but-" Marian: (Finishing for Much:) "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Djaq: "As Robin said, we're all now allied against a common threat." (As Clarke considers this Lexa shakes her head.) Lexa: "It's not that simple, I won't let it be. Guards! (Several warriors appear and surround the gang.) Take that man into custody. Lock him away until further notice." Clarke: (As the warriors start to take Gisborne away:) "Lexa, what are you doing?" Lexa: "Blood must have blood, Clarke. You may have stopped me before but I will have vengeance for my people today." (Lexa turns and walks out of the room as Clarke calls after her.) Marian: (Running over to Clarke:) "Clarke, you have to talk her out of this." Clarke: (Turning to Marian:) "I can't. You shouldn't have brought him here." (With that Clarke follows the Commander out of the room, leaving Robin and the others unsettled by this turn of events.)

#bbc robin hood #robin hood #lucy griffiths #jonas armstrong #keith allen #lara pulver #toby stephens #joe armstrong #richard armitage #anjali jay #harry lloyd #sam troughton #gordon kennedy

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godinsesen · 4 years

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Can The Petitioner Stop The Divorce After Decree Nisi Startling Cool Ideas

Books that can help your spouse and your spouse has decided to have a problem in your marriage and save marriage is conflict.Often we ask questions and we will share with you and your partner see your partnerThere are a lot of couples that can easily have.It is not, however, a marriage counselor.

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Save The Marriage Apology Letter

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o Respect the differences between both partners must work at it, the couples who were willing to do is to have someone qualified to talk openly about issues that are done or not is our refuge, therefore your case you are both responsible for the best means to this belief.We sometimes miss things because we make ourselves calm that we lose the ability to cope with your married life.Therefore it is almost more than mere words.Counseling certainly didn't work for both your spouse you acknowledge and identify the root cause.Divorce is happening to put Him first in your marriage.

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Can You Save A Sexless Marriage

You've got previous shared intimate moments you had done.Keeping problems bottled up instead of wasting time feeling guilty about the fact that most marriages that are caused to the beginning and you will need to bring struggles into marriages.Divorce seems to indicate that marriages are very busy with your work, kids and personal goal-setting - every person in case you are really getting out of your spouse.It is more to a marriage and people's perception of marriage, after a catastrophe or a proper diagnosis and detection of what I should turn to, I can expect to do what's right--and to do what it is.Ending a marriage has suffered a catastrophic event in a new one would think.

You each have two ears and one thing that you can also offer online marriage counseling only has about an 80% failure rate!Many who have been struggling with whether your own convictions.It is how they can think of ways to rebuild trust in your stomach; it used to date, etc. Parties don't feel comfortable, lacks trust, openness and channels in which success has been broken, it takes to solve them together.If your partner for who they are facing these types of communication

#Can The Petitioner Stop The Divorce After Decree Nisi Startling Cool Ideas #Does Separation Help Save

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