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#the dark one verse
rulimaquina · 2 months
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My OC Eric, during his pre-war against the Dark Ones era.
To learn more of him go to @monstatron or to MY AO3
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thought--bubble · 2 months
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Things We Cannot Change
Dark Aemond X (Strong Niece Reader)
Warnings after the cut
Word Count: 1938
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Aemond (Canon Era) Masterlist
Full Masterlist
Banners & Dividers by @arcielee
Based on THIS request
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Warnings:: Reader's hair is brown. That's the only descriptor due to the request received, Breeding kink, Targcest, Virginity Loss. Mental abuse, mentions of canon deaths.
On your knees.
A place you thought you would never be, but alas here you are. On your knees looking up at the cold, cruel face of your uncle.
Once a boy you played with, read with, considered a friend. Now, he holds the life of your youngest brother in his hands. The only member of your family you have left.
"I ask you, Aemond-" He interrupts you with a cruel chuckle.
"King Aemond, my dear"
You cringe at the title. The war that ravaged both of your families put him on that throne. The thought of all you had lost made you sick.
"I ask you, your grace, to please spare my brother and I. There are so few of valyrian blood left." You keep your head bowed, your knees aching against the cold stone beneath them.
The both of you go quiet, you could still smell your mothers burning flesh, hear her screams as she was scorched and eaten alive in front of your very eyes. All for nothing, you thought. Your entire family is dead for Aemond to be the one to ascend the throne.
Your mother had been executed immediately, no court, no trial, just a woman and a dragon. Aegon II had demanded that you be executed as well, but luckily for you, he did not survive the trip back to the capital. Thus, your younger brother and you had been delivered to Aemond as traitors.
Followers of the false queen is what Aegon II had called you. Worthy of a public execution.
"On that front, we can agree bastard" He places his fingers delicately under your chin and tilts your face up towards him.
"I fear that dragon riders may become a thing that history boasts about if we are not careful in our decisions." He rubs his thumb gently across your bottom lip.
"So you and I shall marry, to preserve the bloodline," you audibly gasp at the absurd statement. You were now a mere strong bastard not fit to be queen.
"B-but your grace, I have been stripped of all royal titles. Surely I am not worthy to marry the King"
"You are not." he says curtly."But, preserving our dragon blood is of higher importance than that of courtly titles." He removes his hand from your chin and steps back, clasping his hands behind his back.
"The choice is yours, dear niece. Marry me or face the blade. If not to breed you, I have no further use of you."
You gulp audibly as your eyes begin to well. "I shall serve my duty to the realm your grace."
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The betrothal was announced to the realm with mixed reactions. Some houses understand the reasoning others are very upset that a bastard would be queen and not one of their highborn daughters.
All concerns fell upon deaf ears because Aemond knew what he wanted, and he wanted you. As king, he would have exactly what he wanted.
Your life changed very little after the announcement of the betrothal. You were given chambers instead of being in the dungeons, but you were not trusted.
You were escorted everywhere you went, and the incoming title of Queen did little to garner you any respect.
Everyone knew what you were. A vessel to breed valyrian blooded babies and nothing more.
What was worse was the embarrassment.
Aemond made sure to embarrass you at any opportunity. He would have you serve him at meal times instead of servants. Pull his bath for him. Even perform his ridiculous hair care routine. All of it meant to demean you.
You had hoped that after the wedding, he would stop this disgusting showcase and allow you at least a modicum of comfort, but even in that thought, you were mistaken.
After the two of you had been escorted to your marriage chambers and left alone, Aemond ordered you to pour his wine and stand in the corner. Once again, as if you were a servant and the treatment had finally become too much for you to bare.
"I'll take the sword," you say after moments of silence have fallen between you.
"Pardon?" Aemond lifts an eyebrow and looks up at you.
"I will take the sword, i do not wish to live this way for years and years." You stand with conviction. "I ask only that you spare Aegon so that he might have children in the future."
Aemond chuckles and sips his wine. "The offer has expired, dear wife. You are mine now, to toy with as I please."
"I was kind to you!" The words almost echo throughout the room. The connotation is clear.
"You were." He simply nods and continues to look into your eyes, no clear expression on his face.
"Then why do you treat me like this? Like a-" You search your mind for the words but come up empty.
"Like a traitor? Because you are a traitor. You knew the laws of the world in which you live. You did not at any time attempt to talk my dear sister out of war, did you?" He stands up from his chair and stalks towards you.
"My sister Helaena took her own life, my nephews murdered in the cruelest of fashions." His breath is heavy as he glares at you with his one eye. "You were complicit in their deaths. How should i treat you?"
"As if I lost nothing? You killed Luke. You weren't complicit in it. You did it with your own hand!" You can feel your rage bubbling up in your chest and try to suppress it to no avail.
"You killed Rhaenys and Daemon. There is far more dragon blood on your hands than mine. " You regret the words as soon as you say them, expecting his wrath to be swift and harsh.
He clicks his tongue and looks away from you. "That may be true, but there will not be anymore dragon blood spilled by me. Least of all yours."
He walks toward you but stops when he sees you backing away from him and sighs. "There are things we can not change. The war. The losses we suffered." He continues to advance on you but moves much more slowly.
"Although I believe I can change this, your fear of me."
"I am not afraid." You attempt to sound convincing, yet the shake to your voice gives you away.
"Let me try," He says gently as he gets close enough to cup your face. "This needn't be a marriage filled with fear and hate. We are all that is left of the house of the dragon. Let us rebuild, together"
Your heart cramps in your chest at his words and soft demeanor. This is the Aemond you remember. The boy who was always gentle with you, kind. Not the monster who murdered your brother and countless others in a ruthless pursuit for the throne.
"I have known fear. I do not wish to spend the remainder of my days being the cause of yours." He presses his forehead to yours and kisses the tip of your nose.
"Will you stop? The public shaming?" A tear trickles down your cheek at the thought of continuing to live in this manner. The abuses mounting, the shame unbearable.
"Yes. twill not happen again." He takes your face in his hands and lifts until your eyes meet. "This i swear."
He gently kisses your cheek where the tears have started to fall.
"We have all shed enough tears for a thousand lifetimes." He wipes a tear from your other cheek with his thumbs. "No more."
He pulls you close to his chest, gently swaying from side to side. "Shhh." He tries to comfort you as he strokes your hair.
He very softly brings his lips to yours and whispers. "Let me be more than the monster, I implore you."
You press your lips to him in desperation. Do you love him? No.
Will you ever truly trust or forgive him? Most likely not, but you want to feel something. Anything other than the dull ache that you have carried in your chest since the day Luke died.
If Aemond was aware of your true feelings, he did not let on. He reciprocated your neediness with hungry kisses of his own before lifting you and carrying you over to the bed chamber.
"I always wanted you to be my wife," He admits between kisses. "Always"
You choose not to respond, instead pulling at his clothes. He drops you down onto the bed and rucks up your skirts. Pulling your small clothes down quickly.
"Close your eyes," He whispers huskily, kissing up your inner thigh. You comply with his demands, closing your eyes and turning your mind off. Surrendering entirely to the physical sensations you are experiencing.
He brings his hand to your heat, pushing you open before bringing his tongue down upon you. The feeling is overwhelming at first, and you can't help but cry out.
He tightly grips your thigh as he nudges his nose against your clit, running his tongue along your tight entrance. Never before have you felt something like this and as if your body is controlled by an invisible force your hips buck up towards his face.
He chuckles and grips your hips, holding you in place. "Patience my love, patience" He circles your clit with his tongue, the gentle flicking driving you to near madness.
"Oh gods," you bite your bottom lip as an unfamiliar pressure builds up in your lower stomach. "Aemond!" You clench at the bedsheets beneath you, the breath tight in your lungs as a searing fire moves throughout your entire being.
"Gods!" You arch your back as the feeling hits a peak before dropping back on the bed, your breath coming out in short huffs.
Aemond chuckles as he removes his breeches his hard cock slapping against his stomach. "Im going to fill you with my babes and everything will be better."
He moves on top of you prodding your entrance with the tip of his cock. "Hold onto me, this may hurt for just a moment" He warns, gentleness in his voice.
You head his warning, wrapping your hands around his back, as he begins to push into you, the stretch painful, not excruciatingly so but shocking nonetheless.
"eeeek," you can't help the slight screech that escapes your throat.
"Shhhh, it is alright." He comforts while he continues pushing into you until his hips meet yours.
"Are you alright?" He asks, his breathing labored.
You are ok. The pain, the fullness. It is something, and after so long of feeling nothing, the something, even if it is pain, is relieving.
He thrusts his hips against you, steadily increasing his pace. "You will be with child soon. We will be happy then, " He huffs.
You close your eyes and hold his head to you as he buries his face in your neck gently kissing at the sensitive skin there, and for the first time since the war began you feel calm.
His grip on you tightens as he buries himself to the hilt in you again. "We will be happy. we will" he grunts into your ear as the pressure once again builds up in your lower stomach.
As the two of you reach your peaks together, trembling and smiling you allow yourself to believe.
Even if just for a moment. That he is right. He is telling the truth.
That even after so much death and loss, the house of the dragon can stand tall and be happy once again.
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livwritesstuff · 4 months
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a happening in the harrington house circa 2010-ish
(aka another example of Eddie being a kind, loving, gentle parent like Wayne was to him and Steve being absolutely fine with his children being mostly feral as long as they’re alive)
“Dad, am I adopted?”
Eddie blinks, then furrows his eyes as he looks at his seven-year-old daughter, Robbie (who he hadn’t even heard come into the room, to be honest), because he knows that he and Steve have been very upfront with all three of their children about how they’re adopted.
“Yes,” he tells her, “You’re adopted. You’re all adopted.”
“Then how come Hazel and Moe look like sisters and they don’t look like me?” she asks.
And Eddie feels his heart break a little bit.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he says, running a hand over her curls, “Well, first of all, you all look very similar, and you do all have the same mom, 100%. Sometimes genes are just weird that way.”
Robbie scrunches her nose, “Jeans?”
“Uhh…” he trails off, scratching his head and knowing full well he barely made it through sophomore biology (and that was almost thirty years ago).
When Steve comes home thirty minutes later, he finds Robbie Skyping with Dustin in Indiana and he’s got his camera facing a white board while he talks the first-grader and her middle-aged dad through a very basic explanation of punnett squares and genetics.
“What’s going on?” he asks skeptically, dropping his backpack onto the counter.
“Uncle Dustin’s showing me why me and Moe aren’t related,” Robbie replies, not taking her eyes off the computer screen.
“No,” Dustin cuts in emphatically.
Steve looks at his husband for an explanation.
“She thinks she’s not related to Moe and Hazel because she doesn’t look like them,” Eddie tells him.
Steve’s eyebrows fly up as he looks back at their daughter.
“Robbie,” he says, “Where’s your head at? You and Moe have the exact same face with different hair.”
“Moe has brown eyes,” Robbie fires back.
“And Hazel has blue eyes just like you. So what? All three of you are basically identical. When you and Moe were little, you were so tall that people always told me how cute my twins are.”
yEARS later, Moe and Robbie do that tiktok trend where the camera switches back and forth *very* quickly between their faces to show how similar they look, and their friends all comment shit like ‘wow y’all TWINS twins’
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limeartichoke · 10 months
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RAHHH I LOVE THEM
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ameliora-j · 2 years
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— cherry chapstick 𐐪𐑂 stepdad!eddie
𐐪𐑂 summary → your stepdad knows that he shouldn’t feel the way that he does about you. but how can something that’s so wrong, feel so right when it’s happening?
𐐪𐑂 content → darkfic, dark!eddie munson, housewife kink, stepdad!eddie munson, stepcest, infidelity kink, innocence kink, corruption kink, daddy kink, size kink, virginity kink, cigarettes, alcohol, dacryphilia, masturbation mention (m and f receiving), kind of an oc but written in second person, only one small descriptor of reader’s body, reader is much smaller than eddie, cnc, somnophilia—eddie peeks at reader’s pussy while she’s sleeping, extreme mutual pining, perv!eddie, cumming in panties, dubcon if you squint, but the acts are very much consensual, literally just filth, 18+ ONLY MINORS DNI
𐐪𐑂 words → 3.26k
part two
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it was wrong, the way that eddie thought about you. it was downright sinful. possibly illegal, depending on what state you’re in. he shouldn’t imagine your cherry lips wrapped around his cock while he strokes himself to finish. shouldn’t think about the way you sound when he fingers you open. shouldn’t imagine how you touch yourself late at night. shouldn’t picture what you’re hiding under those cute little skirts you’ve always got on. and he definitely shouldn’t imagine it’s your cunt wrapped around his thick length instead of your mom’s late at night.
° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ
his pants tightened when you called his name. when you gave him that innocent look as you asked him a simple question. when you needed him to do simple tasks for you because you couldn’t do them yourself. eddie just wanted to wrap you up in a pretty bow and keep you in his pocket forever. 
his pants tightened when you called his name. when you gave him that innocent look as you asked him a simple question. when you needed him to do simple tasks for you because you couldn’t do them yourself. eddie just wanted to wrap you up in a pretty bow and keep you in his pocket forever. 
his pants tightened when you called his name. when you gave him that innocent look as you asked him a simple question. when you needed him to do simple tasks for you because you couldn’t do them yourself. eddie just wanted to wrap you up in a pretty bow and keep you in his pocket forever. 
you skipped into the garage, eddie was laid under his pickup truck as you knocked twice. “daddy?” you called out softly. he slid out from under the car and smiled up at you. 
“hi there lemon drop” he grinned widely, winking up at you. “whatcha need?” he asked. 
“wanted to ask what you want for dinner” you smiled a bright, innocent smile. one that made his pants impossibly tighter. “mom’s gone on another business trip, so it’s just us this week” you told him, picking at your nails. 
he hummed softly as he thought. “how about we order a pizza?” he asked, shooting a charming grin your way. 
“no no no” you shook your head, furrowing your brows as you frowned. “just cus mom’s not home doesn’t mean i’ll let you go all willy nilly eating fried and greasy foods” you teased, poking at his tummy as he was now standing in front of you. “we can have pizza on friday, but tonight i’m cooking” you nodded definitively. 
eddie smiled adoringly down at you. he hated to admit it, but he loved it when your mom was out of town. you doted on him extra when she was gone. made sure he slept, ate well, and drank enough water. even got him beers and cleaned up after him. he constantly assured you that you didn’t have to, and he could do it for himself. but you’d just giggle, scrunching up your cute little nose and telling him you liked taking care of him. that made eddie’s heart flutter. 
“fine fine, you little bugger” he laughed, ruffling at the top of your hair. “how bout some cheeseburgers yeah? can throw on a veggie burger for yourself, ‘n we’ll do french fries ‘n maybe you can make that salad you do so well baby?” he posed with a smile. 
“anything for you daddy!” you chirped with a wide smile. “need anything before i start dinner?” you asked, tilting your head as you gazed up at him. 
“can you grab me a beer, n my cigarettes and lighter, sweet thing?” he smiled softly. you nodded and skipped off. you grabbed his pack of camels and a can of iron city. you went back out to the garage, cracking open the beer and holding the cigarette box out to him. 
“thank you sweet thing” he half smiled as the cigarette hung from his lip. he lit it up and took a drag, kissing your head before exhaling, and allowing you to skip back off to the kitchen. 
 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 
just as eddie asked, you made burgers, french fries, and a blt vinaigrette salad. you kept the bacon bits on the side, however, as you did not eat meat. you stepped out into the garage, apron wrapped around your waist, and smiled. “wash up daddy, dinner’s done” you informed him with a small smile. 
eddie’s tip leaked when he caught sight of you. the tight tie of the apron accentuated the curve of your waist perfectly. you’d clearly gotten hot while cooking, as you had a claw clip holding up your hair. your shirt had come off, and your small boobs were curved perfectly at the top of your tank top, nipples hard as he drank you in. you were truly a goddess. and he hated himself for how much he wanted to wreck your tiny body. 
pin you down onto your pretty pink sheets and pound your tight little cunt untill your headboard left a dent in the wall. his mind was flooded with the thought of you. your tight cunt gripping his thick cock. crying for him and telling him it was too much for your little virgin pussy to handle. whining and crying out—“daddy?” your small voice snapped him out of his sinful thoughts. he blinked, and now realized your head was tilted to the side as you looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “did you hear me? said wash up for dinner. ‘s ready,” a cute smile spread across your lips, and suddenly eddie felt guilty for the way that he thought about you. you were too innocent for that. he needed to ease you into it. take it slow on your pretty little body.
“yeah, princess. sorry, got distracted for a second” he smiled softly down at you. “go set the table while daddy washes up, hmm?” he asked softly. you nodded as you followed his orders. before skipping off to the kitchen, you left a small kiss to his cheek, edging on the corner of his lips. 
he watched your little ass sway as you walked back into the kitchen. eddie needed a shot. maybe even a therapist. he sighed quietly as he walked up to the bathroom. he washed his hands and splashed some cold water on his face before walking back downstairs. you had the placemats set out, his beer and his plate at his spot, while you had a glass of water at the spot right next to him. 
your hair was out of the clip now, back down your shoulders and the clip was on one of the strings of your tank top. eddie’s cock had been rock hard in his pants since you first walked into the garage. he needed so fucking bad to rub one out, and soon before he burst in his pants. he felt like a teenager again. a horny virgin with no control over his cock. he sat beside you at the table and smiled at you. “it looks amazing, sweetheart” he complimented. 
“thanks daddy” you giggled before digging in. dinner went by relatively silently, eddie only commenting on how good the food was while you thanked him. other than that, no words were exchanged between the two of you. 
° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ°
once dinner was finished, eddie helped you clean up the table and do the dishes. “so daddy, my friend was tellin’ me about this movie called dead silence” you began as you dried the dishes while he washed them. “sounds really good n i wanna watch it… think we can rent it on amazon” you offered with a small smile. “o-or we can.. can go to bed” you shrugged nervously when he took a few beats to answer. you didn’t want to bother him. 
“does my little princess want a movie night?” he asked, teasing smirk as he playfully flicked the water at you. you squealed as you giggled, bobbing your head up and down exuberantly. “well if that’s what the princess wants, then that’s what she’ll get!” he decided. “go on and get into your pjs honey. i’ll do the same n we’ll get a nice blanket fort set up right here in the living room, sound good?” he checked. 
you giggled as you nodded once more. you put the dishes away and skipped up to your room. little to eddie’s knowledge, you wanted eddie just as much as—if not more than—he wanted you. you’d wanted him for a while now. he was too young for your mom. too kind and gentle. she didn’t deserve him. eddie deserved the world. he deserved someone who could make him feel good, please him. not someone old fashioned that came home from work and complained about being too tired to blow him or make him feel good. 
all you knew, is that if eddie was your’s, you’d be on your knees for him every night. stuffing your mouth full of that big fat cock that you can see outlined on his sleep shorts. you’d give eddie any hole he wanted. prepare yourself for him. lay spread eagle and naked on the bed when he let you know he had a tough day at work. you’d give eddie your body, and let him fuck him like he owned it. 
sure, you were a virgin, but you watched enough twitter porn to know what you liked. when you were humping the jumbo avocado toast squishmallow he’d bought you for christmas. or even that cute bunny teddy he’d got you on his way home from work one time. the little pink button nose felt so good against your needy little clit. and you’d hump and hump untill you’re little cunt was so overstimulated that you were crying, and your cute little bunny was soaked in your cum. you always felt bad after, and asked eddie to wash it for you. and you wondered if he knew what you did with that pretty pink bunny he bought you. 
you’d made it your mission to get eddie to fuck you while your mom was on this business trip. you had at least two weeks to tease him until he was practically on his knees begging to fuck you. and you’d give it to him. in any hole that he wanted. 
you changed into your little satin pink short and crop top set, brushed your hair back into a ponytail and skipped back downstairs. your “innocent” smile was one of triumph when you saw eddie eyeing your legs. eyes glazing over your body. he wore a pair of basketball shorts, and you caught the outline of his thick cock hardening as you eyed his chest. you loved movie nights with eddie. he was shirtless, allowing your eyes to travel all along the small tattoos littered on his upper half. 
“ready daddy?” you asked softly, gesturing to the fort he’d set up on the couch. 
“ready princess” he nodded. you squeaked in blitheness, and rushed over to the fort. you had your pink bunny in your hands, setting him atop your lap as you got cozy on your end of the couch. eddie sat across from you on the other couch cushion, the movie had already been rented, the popcorn and drinks set out and the fairy lights around the fort were on. once the two of you had gotten comfortable, he pressed play on the movie. 
° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 
when your friend told you about the movie, they failed to mention how scary it was. you had been nervously inching towards eddie as the movie progressed. “you okay princess?” eddie asked when he felt your body heat up against his arm. 
“it’s scary…” you whispered shyly. eddie softened a bit. he opened his arms, inviting you to curl into him so you could hide behind him at all the scary bits. you welcomed his invitation, curling into his side and allowing him to wrap his arm tightly around you as you set the bowl of popcorn on his lap. you were comfortable against him, thinking about how much you could get used to the feeling of being wrapped in your daddy’s arms. you hid behind his arm at all the jump scares, trying your hardest not to cry, up untill the movie was over.
“you gonna be okay to go to bed honey?” he asked as he looked over at you sympathetically. 
“yeah daddy” you smiled softly. “goodnight. i love you” you whispered, leaning up on your tiptoes and kissing his cheek. 
“goodnight my sweet princess, i love you too” he kissed your forehead and rubbed your hair, watching as you skipped off to bed before beginning to clean up the living room. 
° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 
the night was terrible. you’d been tossing and turning for upwards of three hours now and still no luck. every time you closed your eyes, you saw the horrible image of that horrible doll. you gave up with a soft sniffle and stood from the bed. now, only dressed in a pair of pink cotton panties and a two-sizes-too-big shirt. you sniffled once more, tears pricking your eyes as you knocked on your mom’s bedroom door. “daddy?” you called softly. 
“shit!” eddie cursed. behind the door, he had his ringed hand wrapped tightly around his big cock, leaking with precum as he stroked it to the image of your lips wrapped around him. “give me a second princess!” he called. 
he was quick to pull his boxers up over his hips and rush to open the door. he drunk in your appearance, cock leaking even more, producing a small wet patch on his boxers. he took a deep breath, clearing his throat as he collected himself. he wished with all his might that he could say that the sight of your tears made his boner go down, but in fact it made him harder. “can’t sleep” you pouted up at him. 
“oh princess” he frowned. “movie was too scary?” he asked softly. 
“yeah daddy” you sniffled. 
“oh c’mere princess, wanna cuddle in with me tonight?” he whispered. you nodded quickly and bustled your way in. you snuggled deep beneath the sheets, on his side of the bed so that you were fully engulfed in his scent. he chuckled at you, but couldn’t deny how pretty you looked underneath his sheets like that. 
he closed the door and climbed into bed with you, pulling you close to his chest and rubbing your back. “daddy’s got ya baby” he hummed, kissing your head softly. “daddy’s right here” he nodded. 
“thanks daddy” you whispered as you snuggled up to him. “love you so much” you whispered. 
“i love you too, my sweet princess” he whispered, wrapping a tattooed arm around your waist. 
° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 
eddie was able to hold off untill he heard your soft snores emitting from your mouth. he tried everything to make the painful boner go down. thought of every dark and disgusting thought. but nothing worked when you were cuddled so close to him, and he could smell your sweet cherry shampoo as you breathed slowly atop his chest.
eddie shook his head, groaning as you rolled off of him with a soft whimper. the sound you emit made his cock head seep with precum. he couldn’t handle it any longer. he climbed out of bed, instead kneeling on the floor beside it as to not wake you with his movements along his thick cock. 
he pulled his boxers off and looked down at his cock. he cursed at the swollen red tip and spit down onto it. eddie watched as the spit dribbled, from his mushroom tip down to his heavy ball sack. “shit” he cursed quietly as he squeezed at the base. he imagined your lips wrapping around him as he began to stroke his cock. his eyes squeezed shut as he twisted his wrist around the base. 
“take that fuckin cock” he grunted. he pictured you beneath him. sucking his balls sloppily, coating them all up in your saliva while he stroked his cock over your face. eddie loved nasty sex, and he just didn’t get that with your mom. he knew that if it were you, he’d be able to mold you into the perfect pretty little sex doll for him. “you’re so fuckin good to me. perfect little cockslut. i love the way you choke on this big dick” he grunted. 
he couldn’t help but start to fuck his fist. the combination of his saliva and precum making it a thick hole. he froze, squeezing the base when you stirred and whimpered quietly. he cursed himself as he turned to look at you, biting his lip so harshly he tasted blood. his eyes rolled as he caught sight of you. your legs spread, pretty cotton panties on display. he saw the outline of your gorgeous, bare shaven cunt. he saw your swollen little button poking at the apex of your cunt, and a dark wet patch decorated the center. 
“jesus fuck” he cursed softly. the sight caused him to stroke faster. “shit you’re so fuckin gorgeous” he whispered, squeezing his mushroom tip as his thumb ran over the angry vein pulsing on the side of his cock. he bit his lip softly as he climbed onto the bed. he stroked his cock as he looked down at you. “i’m so sorry,” he whispered softly. his jaw dropped as he pulled the band of your panties back. the second he got a peek at your freshly shaven mound, he was spilling all over you. 
his breaths were heavy as he came all over your little panties. “shit shit shit, sorry” he cursed, panting heavily as he came down from his high. he bit his lip as he drank you in. the pearly liquid of his cum sticking to your little mound, dripping down to your swollen little clit. he couldn’t help but leave a kiss to your hip. he pulled your panties back up snug on your hips and fixed your shirt. 
“i’m so fucking sorry sweetheart” he whispered, pulling you to his chest. unbeknownst to eddie, you’d been awake for the entire ordeal. you hummed softly as you turned into him, snuggling closely to his chest. 
“it’s alright daddy” you whispered, hugging him tightly as a smile graced your face. you felt eddie’s body stiffen under you. “liked it a lot. thank you for givin’ me your cum” you whispered before contently falling asleep snuggled into his chest. the sticky warm feeling of his cum pressed up against your mound providing you with a strange sense of comfort. 
so yeah… your stepdad was positively fucked for you. and he couldn’t wait to spend two weeks alone in the house with you while your mother was gone.
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mswyrr · 9 months
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more on michelin stars
I genuinely think it's going to be an important plot point in s3 re: why exactly Sydney wants a star and why *one* specifically. I went and researched and discovered something I used in my fic, which is that one Michelin star restaurants are excellent cuisine that normal people can still afford. And that connected, for me, to what Sydney had told Marcus about how going out was so special when she was a kid and she wanted to share that kind of amazing thing with people:
We didn't really like eat out a lot growing up, so when we did, it felt special even if it wasn't.... I wanna cook for people and make them happy and give them the best bacon on Earth (1x08)
I'm so hopeful/convinced that the research they have with, like, Matty (the chef who plays Fak) right there on set, means the writers know that about what one star places can be like. And that it's meant to be part of this - more humane vision of excellence for Sydney, where their spot is AMAZING, but it's not a cruel kitchen culture, it's not only for the rich.
For her, it’s *part* of her vision, where she says: 
“I think this place could be so different from all the other places we've been at. But, in order for that to be true, we need to run things different.“ (1x03)
But Carmy sees a star and all it means (all he’s ever known it to mean) as a repudiation of that kind of humanity. You say the word "star" and immediately Carmy goes "fuck stars" (2x01) as pure self-defense - because stars are just pain and suffering to him. They're NYC chef and everything that mess became.
He's so traumatized by the whole thing he doesn't think to ask the right questions: why do you want one? What is your vision for it? Why do you specifically want *one* instead of two or three? What timeline do you have in mind for getting there and how can we strategize on this together?
Instead, because he wants so desperately to please her, despite that instinctive, self-defensive "fuck stars" he relents and asks - okay, are you sure? Are you positive this is what you want? Really?? It's terrible. It's just dread and fear and throwing up every day before work. You really want me to give you this?
(I’ll give you anything you want)
He never asks the right questions. Just assuming the level of pain which is his only experience of this is what the thing IS--playing into that theme about how people only know what they're taught, only know what they are given, and if we are given pain and patterns of it it is so hard to even imagine things can be different and, when you can imagine it, still so hard to actually get there.
(It’s not a coincidence that the ASL sign is one of the few positive, healthy examples of kitchen culture Carmy witnessed - we only know what we’re taught, and it can be hard work to even figure out what “not shitty” IS let alone doing it)
So he's assuming all of that and it's like - if she's his CDC, does she want him to push her as hard as he was pushed? Push himself that hard again? He doesn't want to do either of those things. But that's all he knows. And she keeps saying this is what she wants. And he wants to give her everything she wants.
(In the same conversation she kept saying yes, this is what I want, she expressed admiration for the designer chef outfit he later buys her as a gift - he wants to give her everything she wants, even when it seems like a terrible idea he’s torn about)
I think this misunderstanding is intentional and it’s going to come out in S3. A one star restaurant fits so perfectly with what we know of Sydney’s goals and love for her work! And Carmy not able to even conceive of something better because of the patterns he’s stuck in and finding his way to her vision makes sense for him.
I think Carmy figuring out how this work can be joyful and humane is going to be a huge part of S3. Sydney not becoming lost in the high stress environment, not following in younger!Carmy's footsteps living a life of pure drive and dread, and Carmy finding that for the first time.
I do think that, given where they both end in 2x10, there’s going to be a period of conflict and a real bunch of issues for both of them - but with themes and ideas like this seeded into the story there’s so many ways to make s3 start out in a bad way and then really end in joy in a beautiful way?
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i-am-just-a-girli · 1 month
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"Please.....I need you."
"Sweetheart, I don't exist."
And I woke up.
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sparklecryptid · 13 days
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Curse AU crossed with AtB verse becomes hilarious when you think about it as Bahamut frantically running around trying to make sure the Lucis Caelum line doesn't die out before his Prophecy happens. After all Ardyn's Curse is only picking up momentum and it's becoming increasingly difficult for LCs to have even one kid that lives to adulthood.
Just, Bahamut messing with probability so Regis has his various bastards and then staring at his work.
Bahamut: Eight should be enough. Surely, one of them will make it to adulthood and not get killed in weird accidents. I only need one for this.
*Ardyn swanning in into Bastards' lives*
Bahamut: seriously?!
*Ardyn adopting the Bastards and removing the Curse from them*
Bahamut: seriously?!
*Regis somehow managing to have a kid despite the Curse and the Ring working against him*
Bahamut: sErIoUsLy?!
Ardyn: Listen up, there are eight of you, at least one of you needs to become my pawn and destroy Lucis for me.
The Bastards: *share a Look*
Thanatos: Sounds boring. Kingdoms can crumble from anything. Count me out.
Persephone: Given who my husband is I'm afraid I will have to decline. It would be far to easy.
Ardor: Sounds boring, no.
Jules: Uh. No thank you.
(Ardyn: You're too precious for this world it was never going to be you.)
Bard: Honestly no, maybe if I got to record a killer soundtrack that plays as the kingdom of Lucis crumbles around me but other than that? No.
Mercury: ME? CONTROL A KINGDOM *laughter that goes on for ten minutes followed by 'FUCK NO'*
Jupiter: I would prefer not to get involved in anything that will make Sonitus yell at me.
*everyone turns to look at Ace*
Ace:....Look, your concerns are valid. But I'm already plotting the downfall of the Imperial Dynasty I have no time to lead another kingdom to ruins.
Meanwhile Ardyn has uncursed all of them and cant wait for everythign to turn into chaos when regis finds out about his eight other children
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hum--hallelujah · 6 months
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half of From Under The Cork Tree is edgy sketchy and explicitly voyeuristic but the other half is heartbreakingly tongue in cheek confessional. and this duality makes me want to scream
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moot-ramsey · 10 months
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THIS THOUGHT STRUCK ME LIKE A TRAIN... Hellspider... Hellboy if he were a spiderman... I think he's neat...
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yellowfingcr · 28 days
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looking for trouble, and if I cannot find it I will create it!
indie, selective, nonprivate yellowfinger heysel from dks3 / crossover and oc friendly!
                   about + rules ♡    
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thought--bubble · 3 months
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Mine To Claim
Dark Aemond X (Commoner Reader)
Warnings after the cut
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Canon Aemond Masterlist
Full Masterlist
Banners by @arcielee
Based on THIS request
Warnings:: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Dub-con,
A/N: Hit 200 followers today!🥳🥳 Thank you to all of you who read and interact with my stories! You make this so fun and make me want to keep writing more and more! 🥰
The bell over the door in your little store chimes at you, and you look up to see the face of your long-time friend. It is an unlikely friendship and a friendship most people know nothing about, but it is a relationship that is dear to your heart.
He holds two small dresses over his arm. There is a seamstress in the keep. An incredibly talented one, but still, he takes dresses to you to be tailored or repaired.
"Hello, my prince," you smile as he brings the dresses up to you.
"These are small. Must be for the little princess?" You take the dresses from him and lay them out on the table before you.
"Running around with her brother, she damaged them. Here and here, " his face is stoic as he points to a few minor tears on the garments.
"Oh, I'll have these fixed up quickly." You hum to yourself as you lift the dress, trying to match the color to your available thread.
"No need to be quick. I have nowhere to be. " he sits down in the chair on the other side of your sewing table.
This was a regular occurrence, ever since the night you found him curled up cold and shaking outside the brothel your father frequented.
He had been dragged there by his brother to "become a man" and was so uncomfortable during the whole ordeal that he ran out into the dark streets alone to escape. It was raining and cold, and he had never been down in here on his own.
Lost, scared, and traumatized, he stumbled down the alleyways behind the brothel, passing by your little hovel where you sat on the stoop just watching the rain. As he moved just past your hovel, he drops to his knees and buries his face in his hands. Once you hear the sobbing, your heart breaks. From his size alone, you can see he is a child like you, so you ran to him, bringing him into your home, and miraculously, he went with you.
When he had pulled his hood down and you saw that silver hair, you froze in terror. It would be your luck that you accidentally dragged a Targaryen prince into your house.
You had apologized profusely, but he wasn't upset with you, and that was how it started, from there, he would come back to town with his brother regularly but instead of following him into the brothel he would come to see you.
You were a secret for him, a safe place where he could unload, you never judged, only supported, and because of that, the two of you grew to be very close.
You couldn't deny that he was handsome and charming. As he grew from a boy to a man, you could not help but be impressed by his commanding presence and his dedication to his swordsmanship and studies.
Today as he sat in the chair across from you, you couldn't help but smile.
"So...." you start and look at him knowingly.
He raises an eyebrow at you and you chuckle.
"How did it go? Your nephews being back?"
He instantly goes rigid and the calm look on his face hardens into a look of fury.
"Well, very well" he chuckles to himself as he crosses his legs.
"Is that so?" You know there is no way it went 'well' by an average person's definition of the word, you were however talking to Aemond so it's possible in his mind it did.
"Yes, I gave a wonderful speech, well received" he leans back in the chair a smug smirk crawling up the corners of his mouth.
You knew better than to continue to pry so you changed the subject. "I also have some good news" you continue stitching the dress in your hand as you wait for his reply.
"hmmm" he taps his fingertips on his knee "and what is that?" He keeps his eye trained on you, with a look of skepticism splayed across his sharp features.
"I am to be married!" You smile brightly and your cheeks heat up.
You have been seeing a fisherman, a young man by the name of Oscar. He has brown curly hair to his shoulders and warm brown eyes. A charming smile with a broad chest and shoulders.
You should have waited until marriage to let him bed you. You knew that. Yet, his charm and charisma had you leave your convictions by the wayside, and you found yourself missing a moon blood shortly thereafter, and when you bombarded Oscar with your fear and panic upon his most recent return, his response was that of elation and he quickly asked your father for permission to wed you.
Aemond's silence is deafening. You stare at him your smile beginning to faulter at his lack of reply.
"Are you not going to congratulate me?" You ask beginning to get a bit more frustrated and impatient.
"For what exactly?" His voice is cold and cruel, his fingertips tapping against his kneecap.
"For... for my happiness?" you are so confused at his behavior. He had always supported you, when you opened your own shop, when you finally put your foot down with your father and got him off the drink.
He grips the arms of the chair he is sitting in, his knuckles turning white. "Happiness?" he grits his teeth and stands up looking toward the door.
"When?" He still hasn't turned around and his voice is tense.
"In a few days..... Aemond.... this won't effect our friendship if that is what you are concerned about" You try to combat his anger and tense air with gentleness and understanding.
"Why is this so hurried?" He completely ignores your prior statement.
"What?"
"Why are you getting married so quickly? What. is. the. hurry?" He is now looking at you with his jaw clenched and his shoulders tense.
"Oh.... I'm ...... " You take a deep breath in. You know that he is a loyal follower of the seven. As are you. This confession is going to make things so much worse.
"I am with child." You close your eyes and squeeze them tight and wait for the inevitable chastising and disappointment.
"So you wish to marry him?"
You slowly open your eyes and look at Aemond with confusion. "Yes"
"And when the child is born, with silver hair and purple eyes, will people not question their true parentage?" He takes in sharp short breaths, and his lone eye is wide open, pupil blown.
"Why would my child look like a Targaryen?" You rub your temples to try and ease the pressure building there. 'What in the seven hells is he getting at?'
He quickly rounds the table and grabs your chin, pulling you up to your feet, your neck strained with your face up to look directly at him.
"Because of me." His face is still as stone. A look of conviction that has you even more confused than before.
"Aemond..... we have never....ummm. " You clear your throat, hoping that he would come to his senses.
He doesn't. He lowers his mouth to yours, placing a gentle kiss on your lips. At first, you can't help yourself, and you kiss him back. His lips are just as soft as you had imagined them.
He brings his hand up to the side of your face and slides it into your hair. When his kisses start to trail from your mouth down your neck, you start to remember that this isn't right.
"Stop." You push him away and back up. "We can not do this." You run your fingers through your hair.
"Why?" The anger pulsating off of his body is stifling.
"Because! I am to be married! I am with child! Another mans child! Aemond, you are a prince! This is madness!" You turn from him believing this would surely be the end of the situation.
"You are mine to claim!" He yells out.
The booming sound has you swing back around in shock.
He stalks toward you, a dragons fury burning in his sole eye.
"I must claim what is mine. It is not freely given to me. I will take it by force if I must, but the result remains the same. What I covet shall be mine"
"Aemond.... " You slowly back away from him, putting your hands up in front of you in a defensive gesture.
"You are mine." He steps closer to you. "You belong to me ever since the day I found you." He continues moving closer to you as you do your best to back away.
"Your body, your mind, your soul, it's all mine," the pupil of his eye has taken over entirely as he corners you in the back of your little shop.
You again attempt to reason with him. "Aemond... this baby..." He puts his hand up.
"Is mine"
"it can not be, it isn't possible." You press yourself up against the wall tightly. "You know this to be true!"
"It is mine.... because I will it so. " he wraps his hand around your throat, moving his face close to yours, whispering directly into your ear. "I waited too long, I see that now."
He ruffles up your skirts. "You are still mine." He moves his fingers over your heat and releases a husky breath.
"You can feel it, I know you can." He rubs his hand over your clothed center.
You mewl quietly as he moves his hand in a circular motion, applying more and more pressure.
"Your body..... it tells me what you will not. " he pulls your underclothes down to your knees before bringing his hand back to your center.
"You are soaking for me, and still you wish to deny us?" He slides a finger into you while tightening the grip around your throat.
He starts to pump his finger. "Your body has already given into me. The mind will follow. " He lightly nibbles at your cheek, and he crooks his finger, looking for the spot inside of you that would make you even weaker to his touch.
You start moaning loudly. "That's right Dōna Riña " He uses the palm of his hand to apply pressure to your pearl as he starts to slide a second finger into you. "submit"
"I .... I ..." Your body is responding to him in ways it has never responded to Oscar. Your senses are so heightened that you can't even form a coherent thought.
"Tell me you are mine." He tugs at the shell of your ear with his teeth as he brings you closer and closer to climax, holding the weight of your body up with his other hand.
"Yours." You practically whisper as you close your eyes, ready to ride out your pleasure. As soon as the words leave your lips, he stops.
"Not on my fingers." He picks you up by the waist carrying you back over to the sewing table. He slides his hand across, knocking all items to the ground.
You are like putty in his hands. Just desperate for him to touch you again. He lays you down back flat on the table, legs hanging off the end.
He pushes your dress up, exposing you to him. He slides his finger up and down through your folds, causing you to buck your hips toward him. "Say it again," he growls while he pulls the strings of his breeches loose.
Your hazy lust riddled mind is confused, and all you can muster is a gentle "huh?"
He pulls out his hard cock and slides it over your clit spreading your wetness. "I said to say it again, say what you are"
"Yours?" As soon as you say this he starts to push into you.
"Again," he grunts
"Yours!" You whimper
He wraps a hand around your throat as he bottoms out, moving gently against you. He sighs.
"That's right mine" He tightens the grip on your throat as he starts to fuck into you harshly "mine"
"This cunt is mine" He jams two of his fingers into your mouth making you gag "This mouth is mine"
He pulls his fingers out of your mouth, dragging the wet digits down the front of your face.
He brings his hand to your chest and palms your breasts through your dress. "These tits are mine"
He brings his hand back down to your pearl, rubbing it in circular motions with his thumb. "It's all mine"
With this, you feel your climax surge through your body, your whole body clenches around him. He lets go of your throat, bringing both hands to your hips, pulling your body to him while he slams into you harder and harder, chasing his own release.
"This womb...." He grunts as he hits his own peak, making sure to fill you completely,"is mine"
You lay back on the table, having been fucked dumb.
"I'll come back for the dresses." He fixes his breeches before pulling your dress back down.
"And when i do, I better not see a husband here"
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wr-n · 1 month
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so, i was rummaging through your Masterpost, like one does. And stumbled upon BlessedVerse. And despite how interesting it looks there's like, nothing about???
So I have taken upon myself to request a BlessedVerse ramble/lore dump.
If you'd be so kind.
ASDFGHJKL
My friend you just handed me a fistful of dust (my au)
WOW I havent thought about BlessedVerse in a long long time! (back when I used to write for Wattpad)
Most of the story can be found there but to summarize it:
The Bad Sanses were on the run from the Stars and ended up trusting Nightmare in hopping multiverses (they knew there was a risk of just dying but they were together and thats all that mattered. there was also a little prior horrordust in there).
They end up in a medieval-themed Verse
I'd love to tell you more but there is just SO MUCH LORE
Like the Blessed Isles, The Badlands, the Blessed Army, Slayer (Killer) becoming a butler/assassin out of spite, Canary(Dust) being forced to sing until he mentally degraded and became a mute, Hunter(Horror) being a Greater Skeleton Monster who was frozen in ice and tamed into joining the party with food, etc.
Don't get me started on the fact that Oracle(Error) is being manipulated by Dawn(Dream) to be his lover--
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💥The ULTIMATE Bo-Jantje-Verse Sex Man SHOWDOWN💥
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Hello one and all!
This contest is meant to determine the ultimate sex man of the shows 1899 and DARK. Each show will stay seperate at first but eventually meet in the finals.
The polls will last one week each because frankly I do not have the time to update this daily.
Polls of ROUND 1 will start tomorrow at 12:00 GMT. Following polls will each start one day later also at 12:00 GMT
~~DIVISIONS~~
A sex man is multifacetted and there are many types of sex men. To ensure equal ground (don't look at the bottom left) I have divided this contest into six divisions:
The MEOW MEOW Division Who is the wettest man? Who has the most pathetic little whimper?
The BABYGIRL Division Who is the prettiest princess of them all? Bonus points if you can carry him in your purse.
The FUCK THAT OLD MAN Division Self explanatory.
The MALEWIFE Division Who is the most devoted to their partner? Who would look the best in nothing but an apron? The WHORE Division Also self explanatory The JUST SOME GUY Division Who will be a tower of strength and harmony in trying times? Who can make vanilla taste exciting?
~~ROUND 1~~
>>1899 MEOW MEOW Krester VS Daniel Ramrio VS Sebastian
BABYGIRL Olek VS Jérôme Lucien VS Ángel
FUCK THAT OLD MAN Anker VS Henry Franz VS Eyk
>>DARK MALEWIFE Aleksander VS Michael Noah VS Magnus
WHOREJonas VS Ulrich Egon VS Tronte
JUST SOME GUY Peter VS Bartosz Helge VS Tannhaus
~~ROUND 2~~
>>1899 MEOW MEOW Daniel VS Ramiro
BABYGIRL Olek VS Ángel
FUCK THAT OLD MAN Anker VS Eyk
>>DARK MALEWIFE Alkesander VS Noah
WHORE Jonas VS Egon
JUST SOME GUY Bartosz VS Tannhaus
~~ROUND 3~~
>>1899 Daniel VS Olek VS Eyk
>>DARK Bartosz VS Jonas VS Noah
~~ROUND ?~~ Maura VS Eyk
Martha VS Jonas
~~ FINALE ~~ Jonas VS Eyk
Congrats to JONAS to officially claiming the title of ULTIMATE BO-JANTJE VERSE SEX MAN!
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demons-and-demigods · 20 days
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Demons and Demigods Part Ten: Written Scene #6: The Hunt for Victory
Here it is! This will probably be the last part for a little bit while I get some more writing done as this'll pretty much get us caught up to what I had written before starting this blog.
Now, this part starts out kind of hand-wavey transition-y, but it's not enough to warrant its own post and it gets into proper writing pretty quick. This is probably the longest part yet, so be prepared. I also had some fun with making Percy a little eldritched in this one, hope you like it!
To return to our demigods, they’ve dealt with the ghosts and shit in Ithaca, Annabeth was antsy the whole time being away from Percy, Jason had his ‘oh look, I’ve been impaled’ moment, they met Hera who told them to subdue Nike, they got back to the ship to find that Percy had exploded all the plumbing while anxiously pacing the deck waiting for them to get back. Annabeth immediately went to his side to help them both calm down while Piper helped Jason down to the infirmary. Leo is cursing in Spanish somewhere within the bowels of the ship about Percy exploding the plumbing. Frank is hanging out with Percy and Annabeth to help them regulate again now that they’re back together and Hazel is helping Piper with Jason. 
They set out for Olympia, and everyone is lowkey freaking out about Jason having been impaled and trying to figure out how to help him. Jason is annoyed with everyone hovering over him but too exhausted to do anything about it. 
Finally, they’ve reached Olympia, about to face Nike and shit. They try to figure out who to send that Nike won’t be able to immediately pitch at each other’s throats. They’ve decided four of them need to go, two Greek and two Roman to hopefully help balance the unstable goddess. Percy and Jason shouldn't both go together, the Poseidon/Jupiter rivalry is pretty strong and they both already almost killed each other in that Kansas cornfield so it’d be best to avoid a repeat of that. Piper shouldn’t go because Nike, all about victory and competition, might see her as a threat because of Aphrodite also being about competition in a way. Annabeth and Frank probably shouldn’t go together since Athena and Mars don’t exactly get along either. That pretty much makes their decision for them, leaving them with two team options: Leo, Percy, Hazel, and Frank, or Annabeth, Leo, Jason, and Hazel. 
Jason is still dealing with his Impalement Predicament, so that also knocks out the Annabeth/Jason/Leo/Hazel team.  
Neither Percy nor Annabeth are happy with this. They’re still fresh outta Tartarus, and they have not been handling it well if the other is out of sight for very long (see the exploded plumbing when Annabeth went to the palace in Ithaca and Percy had to stay on the ship). They get jumpy and anxious, quicker to snap, sitting on a hair-trigger of violence, ready to lash out at any moment.  
Nobody is sure that splitting them up for an unknown amount of time and keeping them probably miles away from each other is a good idea, but it’s the only option they’ve got.  
So they split up to get ready to face Nike.  
Percy and Annabeth wait on the deck for the others to gather what they need. While they wait, Percy and Annabeth try to prepare themselves for being separated. They stood silently, foreheads pressed together as they breathed slowly, soaking up the other’s presence. They squeezed each other’s hands tightly, slowly opening their eyes and pulling back slightly to just look at each other for a moment.
Percy soaked in the way Annabeth’s hair glittered in the morning sun, her blonde made gold and her streak of gray turned silver, as her curls just barely brushed her shoulders when they swayed in the gentle breeze. She had started to regain her natural tan and freckles dusted her cheeks. Some of the weight she’d lost in the Pit had returned, but she was still painfully thin. Her gray eyes met his and she stared at him just like she always had, picking him apart with her mind and gazing into his soul. Her lips, no longer cracked and bleeding from dehydration, were full and pink again as they quirked up in a small smile.  
Annabeth let her eyes rove across Percy’s face, committing every detail to memory. His inky raven hair stood in stark contrast to the still too pale color of his skin and his streak of gray made nearly white in comparison. There were new scars scattered across his face, little white lines among jagged red ones still trying to heal. His eyes were as bright and vivid as ever, watching her as they always did, filled with a depth of warmth and love that always left her breathless. He smiled softly down at her, and she loved the way one just-too-pointy tooth poked over his bottom lip. She reached up with one hand to cradle his jaw and he leaned into her touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment.  
She resettled her hands on his waist as he reached up to cup her face. His hands were rough with calloses built from years of sword work, but his touch was gentle on her skin. He leaned down and kissed her brow, letting his lips linger there for a moment before pulling away.  
He took a half-step back and reached one hand over the railing and an orb of water floated up to his palm. He looked at it and tilted his head, and the water began to shape itself in his hand until a miniature guinea pig hovered there. He squinted his eyes and it turned to ice. He broke out into a wide grin. He grabbed one of Annabeth’s hands and placed the little ice figure in it.  
“Here,” he said softly. “Now, even though I’m in the city, I’ll still be right here with you.”  
Annabeth gave him her patented ‘Percy, what the fuck are you talking about’ look, but he just smiled, waiting for her to get it. She squinted at the ice guinea pig, assessing it, before her eyes widened in realization and she laughed. She’d almost forgotten. The little ice figure looked exactly like Percy had when he’d been turned into a guinea pig by Circe when they were thirteen, right down to the indignant expression on his little rodent face and the spikey mess of his fur. 
“It won’t melt. Well, I’m pretty sure it won’t melt, anyway.” He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “But, y’know, I thought it might help.” he ducked his head as his cheeks flushed.  
“Thank you, Seaweed Brain. I love it,” she laughed, and leaned in to kiss him. “Here,” she said, carefully setting down guinea-Percy and reaching up to unclasp her camp necklace to put around Percy’s neck instead. She smiled, settling the beads, her father’s college ring, and the coral pendant Percy had given her against his breast. The leather cord of her necklace was longer than his own, so they layered easily enough. “Now, even though I’m on the boat, I’ll still be right there with you as you take on Nike.” She patted his chest and her grin sharpened. “And remember, we need her. Don’t get carried away, okay?”  
Percy gave her a shark-like grin. “Of course, Wise Girl. We’ll bring her back alive. Can’t promise that she’ll be in one piece, though.”  
“Uh,” someone said, and Percy and Annabeth both turned their heads to see Leo staring at them with wide eyes. “I didn’t hear anything,” he said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. “I heard nothing about you guys casually talking about potentially maiming or killing a goddess. Nope. Wait, is that a guinea pig ice sculpture? Where did that come from?”  
Percy and Annabeth both just laughed. 
A few minutes later, the others arrived on deck ready to go.  
Percy and Annabeth shared one last kiss before Percy disappeared into the city with Leo.  
Leo, who’d held a healthy dose of fear for Percy since the whole eidolon-possession-firing-on-Camp-Jupiter thing, was not ashamed to admit that that ‘fear’ had morphed into full-blown terror now. Like, Percy had always been a little scary. He was insanely powerful, even for a demigod kid of the Big Three, and he was scary good with a sword. At a glance, Percy looked like the type of kid that would have beat the shit out of Leo behind the school. He was tall and made of pure muscle with weird scars covering almost every inch of exposed skin. His eyes were unnervingly bright, his gaze intense in a way that made Leo feel like he was staring into his soul. He had the meanest rbf Leo had ever seen, and it somehow paled in comparison to the nightmare that Percy’s face became when he was actually angry.  
After spending some time with the guy, though, Leo had been able to relax around him. Percy was super down-to-earth for someone who’s supposedly done some rather insane stuff, and he was funny. He was laid back and always willing to help out. He was smarter than he let on, too, Leo had noticed. He was more than handy to have in a fight and honestly, he was weirdly easy to talk to.  
That is, until they got him and Annabeth back from the Pit. Something had changed in both of them down there, which was understandable. But . . . it was terrifying. Leo could feel that something was different about Percy, about his powers. His instincts screamed at him that Percy was dangerous, like a wild animal or a cornered beast. When Percy entered a room, Leo’s senses went on high alert, he was hyper aware of everything going on around him, desperate to keep Percy in a good mood. It was stressful.  
Part of Leo felt bad for being so afraid of Percy now. Percy and Annabeth needed support from their friends and Percy had never been anything but kind and friendly to Leo since they sorted out the eidolon thing. But he couldn’t help it.  
So, now, going into the city with Percy, alone, Leo was barely able to stop himself from freaking out. Especially after hearing Percy and Annabeth on the ship, joking about not getting carried away and making sure to bring a goddess back in one piece. Like, what the fuck. Leo had never questioned whether Percy could take on a god and come out on top, he’d just also known that Percy never would. Now, however, Leo had the feeling that it was less a matter of ‘would’ and more a matter of ‘when.’  
Anyway, they’re wandering around Olympia, trying to find Nike, and Leo is just, so nervous. So nervous. Percy is just strolling along, hands in his pockets, chill as can be, and Leo is fighting hard not to run away screaming. Leo knows that Percy knows that he’s acting weird, and he knows that Percy knows he knows that he knows, and etc. But Percy is just too nice to bring it up, so Leo doesn’t bring it up either and they continue wandering around awkwardly while neither of them acknowledges the weird tension between them.  
It’s a stressful time.  
After wandering for a while, Leo and Percy sat down on a bridge that spanned some river or other and dangled their feet over the edge while they waited for Frank and Hazel to meet up with them. 
Leo really wished they would hurry up.  
Look, he’d already mentioned how nervous Percy made him, but he figured it bears repeating because at that moment? It was just downright eerie. Percy stared intently at the river below them, his eyes a perfect mirror of the rippling water. Before the Fall, Percy had been a lot like Leo, always moving and trying to fill the silence. Since he and Annabeth had come back, though, it was different. Percy was quiet, he didn’t talk as much anymore and moved silently. He would sit, eerily still, so still that Leo could swear that he didn’t blink or even breathe, and always with this glazed sort of look in his eyes, like his mind had left the building or something. Despite that, though, Leo was under no illusions that Percy was still hyperaware of his surroundings.  
Leo wanted to say something, anything, to break the awkward, tense silence between them. But what the Hades do you talk about with a guy who just clawed his way out of Hell and had no doubt faced unspeakable horrors? It’s not like he could go, ‘hey, did you catch the new episode of Dr Who? Oh wait, sorry, you were fighting for your life through the Pit of Eternal Damnation.’ I mean, come on. Talk about insensitive.  
Leo was just gearing up to say something stupid, probably like ‘nice weather we’re having today’ or something equally as idiotic, when Percy spoke up first.  
“You met her, didn’t you? Calypso.”  
Leo whipped his head around to stare at Percy with wide eyes so fast, he probably gave himself whiplash. “H-how did you—” he sputtered.  
Percy shrugged, still staring at the river. “Someone mentioned that you’d gotten blasted off the ship and disappeared for a few days only to come back looking healthier than ever in clothes that were suddenly fireproof.” He shrugged again, and finally turned his piercing gaze from the river to meet Leo’s eyes. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.” He shook his head and sighed, looking back at the water. “I guess that means the gods broke another of their promises.”  
Leo wanted to be mad at Percy for promising to find a way to break her out and then not following through, but Percy’s comment gave him pause.  
“What do you mean?” he asked.  
“I’m sure you’ve heard stories about the Titan War and the Battle of Manhattan,” Percy started. “Most of them were probably exaggerated, especially if they were about me. But one thing you might have heard that wasn’t exaggerated, was that after Luke sacrificed himself to kill Kronos and the war was won, the gods offered me a reward. They offered me immortality. And I turned them down.”  
Leo’s eyes widened. He’d heard about that, sure, but he’d just assumed it was the other kids pulling his leg; like some sort of hazing ritual or something, trying to convince the new kid of something ridiculous so they could all laugh at him when he believed them.  
“Instead, I told the Olympian Council to be better parents.” Percy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Fat lot of good that did. I told them to claim their kids and make sure they made it to camp by age thirteen. There were four months between the end of the war and Hera’s bullshit, and I get my memory back and find that two sixteen-year-old demigods had not been led to camp or claimed until after I’d gone missing.” Percy let out a low snarl and Leo shuddered. “That’s strike one.” he scowled down at the river that seemed to be reacting to his anger as it foamed and bubbled. “How many other demigods are out there, that should have been led to camp and claimed but haven’t been? If Aphrodite and Hephestus, two gods on the Olympian Council, and powerful ones at that, have already failed to do so, how many children of minor gods have slipped through the cracks too?”  
The sky darkened above them, and Leo felt the air grow cold and damp, surrounded by the feeling you got right before a big, coastal storm rolled in. The river below them swirled, and a quick glance towards what Leo could see of the beach from where they sat showed that the sea was affected, too. Waves crashed into the shore with large white caps and the boats in the marina rocked dangerously on the suddenly choppy water.  
Percy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and the water calmed as the sky cleared, returning them to the bright, sunny day they’d been having before.  
Percy continued like he hadn’t just almost caused a tropical storm.  
“I also made them promise to free Calypso from her island.” He gave a bitter laugh. “I should have known better than to trust that they’d do it. I had four months to check that they had followed through on their promises, and I didn’t.” He shook his head and let out a derisive scoff. “I can’t exactly blame her for being angry, but I’m not going to forgive her for what she did, either.” Percy clenched his fists and took a few more deep breaths. “Strike two.” Percy lifted his gaze to the sky and glared. “Honestly, I’m not fighting for them. The gods can go get fucked for all I care. The only reason that I’m fighting this war is to protect my friends and family. At the moment, the gods are the lesser of two evils. Compared to Gaea and her Giants, the gods are almost harmless. But one of these days, they’re going to stop being the lesser of two evils, and I’m going to stop protecting them by way of protecting those I care about.”  
Leo held his breath, his heart thundering in his chest. He was a little amazed that Percy hadn’t been hit by lightning or otherwise smote {smitted?) for talking like that. Percy finally looked up from the roiling river and locked his gaze on Leo, his eyes full of steely promise and Leo heard nothing but the truth in his next words.  
“They have one more chance to get their shit together before I stop playing nice. They’ve already hurt my family enough. One more mistake, and they won’t live to hurt them again.”  
Leo gulped. 
Thankfully, he was saved from having to respond by the arrival of Frank and Hazel.  
When they shared that they hadn’t had any luck finding the goddess either, Leo sighed.  
“Well,” he said, standing up and brushing off his pants. “I guess we just start wandering around together and let trouble find us. It’s always worked before.”  
Percy, too, got to his feet and stretched before shrugging. “Might as well. Come on, let’s go see the sights.”  
The four of them meandered through Olympia, visiting ancient ruin after ancient ruin, each pile of rubble as impressive as the last. Which is to say, not very. Frank had a tourist map/guide thing that he used to lead them around and point out ‘interesting’ stuff.
They looked around for hours, but still nothing. Leo, for one, was ready to call it a day and get back to the ship. He could tell that being away from Annabeth for so long was really taking its toll on Percy, too, though he hid it well. He figured it wouldn’t take much provocation for Percy to snap and he wanted to avoid that at pretty much all costs.  
He was just about to suggest they head back to the ship and pick up the search again tomorrow, when something Frank said made him stop.  
They were at the ruins of an old temple of Zeus, and Leo thought he recognized it from somewhere.  
“Hey, Percy,” he said, turning to the son of Poseidon. “That Nike statue we saw in the museum, the one in a bunch of pieces,” he gestured at the temple ruins. “Didn’t it use to stand here?”  
Percy tilted his head and studied the ruins. “Yeah, it used to be inside before the temple started crumbling and the locals moved it to the museum to try and prevent further damage to it.”  
“That makes this as good a place for her to be hanging out as any, right?” Leo asked, feeling his energy return a little at the prospect of maybe, finally finding the goddess they’d spent most of the day searching for.  
Frank and Hazel traded glances and shrugged.  
“I don’t see why not,” Hazel said.  
“Alright, but if she is here, how do we draw her out? Promote Adidas shoes?” Percy said, crossing his arms and scanning around them consideringly.  
Hazel gave him a confused look, and Frank cracked a smile. Leo snorted.  
“Yeah, I bet that’s totally against her sponsorship deal,” he said, faux serious. “Those are not the official shoes of the Olympics! You will now die!” he shouted in a terrible falsetto. Percy laughed and Leo grinned. It had been too long since he’d seen Percy joke around and smile like that.  
Then, a thundering voice said from behind them, “YOU WILL NOW DIE!”  
Hazel squeaked and a horde of precious stones popped up around her, Frank yelped and poofed into a bulldog, and Leo’s pretty sure he let out a rather girly scream and jumped about a foot in the air.  
Percy, however, had Riptide in his hand and was swinging his sword with a nasty snarl on his face before the rest of them had even reacted.  
Leo watched in morbid fascination as Percy swung his sword in a glowing bronze blur at who had to be Nike. The goddess flapped her massive golden wings and jumped into the air, hovering just out of reach of Percy’s sword. Percy growled low in his throat and dropped into a crouch as Nike glared down at him.  
“How dare you try to attack me, you insolent child!” the goddess cried. 
Leo bit back the urge to make a snarky comment in defense of his friend, figuring it would only land them in more trouble, but it seemed that Hazel had no such compunctions. 
“Hey! You’re the one who went and snuck up on a traumatized demigod teen who just escaped the Pit,” she said sternly, one hand on her hip and the other pointed accusingly at Nike’s face. “Don’t you go blaming him for reacting violently to something like that. He just spent who knows how long in a place where letting someone get the drop on you was a death sentence. If I’ve learned one thing about this time, it’s that we do not victim blame.” 
Gods, Leo loved that girl. (Not like that, his heart lay solely on Ogygia, but, you know, Hazel was just fucking awesome.) 
Nike sputtered indignantly as Hazel walked forward to carefully place a hand on Percy’s shoulder. 
Percy blinked and lowered his sword, slowly standing from his crouch. He looked down at Hazel and gave her a soft, thankful smile before returning his gaze to the goddess. 
“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I guess,” Percy said with a shrug, but Leo noticed that he didn’t sound very apologetic. He hadn’t put Riptide away, either. 
Nike huffed, seemingly not keen on accepting an apology from or giving an apology to a demigod, but settled her feet back on the ground regardless. She was pretty, in her white sleeveless dress with her dark brown hair piled in braids atop her head beneath a laurel crown. 
But those wings. What Leo had first taken to be golden-yellow feathers looked like they were actually made of gold. They glimmered and shone as they reflected the sun. They were near impossible to look at with how bright they were. He could feel the air around them heating up. He squinted and shielded his eyes when Nike shifted her wings slightly, redirecting a sunbeam directly into his face. 
“Could you fold the flappers, lady? You’re giving me a sunburn,” he said. He also couldn’t imagine the intense heat was helping Percy’s headspace much and he’d really rather they not send the poor, terrifying guy into a flashback or whatever. 
Leo heard the goddess huff and lowered his arm when he felt the heat lessen only to find her staring at him with dark eyes, a crazy glint lighting them up from within. He repressed a shiver. Man, this lady was intense. 
She shifted her gaze to Hazel and Frank and her form flickered. She groaned and clutched her head. It looked like she was splitting in two. On the right side, she didn’t change, with her glittering white dress and laurel crown atop a head of dark braids, her golden wings folded behind her. On the left, she had changed; her dress was purple beneath her armor and her wings were a snowy white. On her head rested a tall, plumed helmet from under which peaked auburn hair. 
“I am Nike!” the one on the right shouted. 
“I am Victoria!” the one on the left cried. 
“Woah, Nelly,” Leo said. “That’s trippy.” 
“Shut up,” both sides of the goddess growled at him. He held his hands up in surrender. 
“This is impossible!” Nike said. 
“You are giving me such a headache!” Victoria said. 
“There must be a winner!” They cried in unison. 
Nike’s eyes locked on Leo and Percy as Victoria’s locked on Frank and Hazel. 
“You must kill the Roman traitors!” Nike demanded. 
“The graecus scum must die!” Victoria roared. 
Leo felt the anger rising with him and clenched his fists even as he fought against Nike’s influence. He saw Percy’s face twitch, but the son of Poseidon otherwise remained calm. He risked a glance over at Frank and Hazel and saw that they weren’t doing much better than him. 
Frank had a nasty glower on his face and his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. Hazel had closed her eyes and was taking deep breaths, her grip on her sword tightening. Gods, they were probably thinking about how easy it would be to take him out and the only reason they hadn’t tried already was because they knew they stood no chance against Percy. He should show them just how easy he’d be to defeat. 
He felt fire wreathe his hands and shook his head. Stop that, he chided himself. They are your friends, not your enemies. You may have had your rough patches in the past, but you guys are over that now. They trust you and you trust them. 
Percy snarled beside him, and Leo jumped, temporarily knocked out of whatever trance or some shit Nike had put him in that made him want to kill his friends. 
“No,” Percy snapped, and the sharpness of his voice cut through the tension in the air like a knife. “There will be no killing each other. We are friends and we trust each other. Now, enough with your fucking mind games, because I have had it with gods trying to get me to kill my friends.” 
A different pressure surrounded them, a smothering intensity that built up and up until Leo almost found it hard to breathe. The air turned cold, the temperature dropping until Leo could see his breath in front of him. He shivered. 
The goddesses glared down at them, but Percy just glowered right back, his eyes darkened and his lips pulled back in a snarl. His teeth glinted in the dwindling light as clouds began to cover the sun. Even though they were miles from the shore, Leo swore he could hear the roaring of the tide, the crash of waves as they slammed against a rocky cliff. 
And just for a second, Leo could have sworn he saw his friend change; Percy’s mouth filled with rows and rows of elongated teeth that morphed into sharp, serrated fangs. His eyes became swirling pits in which Leo could see the horrors of the ocean depths and all the monstrous creatures that dwelled so far from the light. His hair was an inky black that seemed to swallow up all the light as it floated eerily around his head, the streak of gray hanging limp and lifeless in his face. The scars that littered Percy’s body seemed to glow with a dark, golden light and his skin turned almost translucent, flickering and insubstantial where it looked to be stretched far too thin over his hauntingly skeletal frame. 
Then Leo blinked, and it was gone. Percy was his regular (if absurdly attractive) looking self, no eldritch-horror-creature-features here, no siree. 
Leo glanced to the side and saw that Frank and Hazel looked as shocked and lowkey horrified as he felt, so at least he wasn’t losing his mind and seeing things. Nike and Victoria, it seemed, had also been taken aback by the momentary shift in Percy’s appearance. Their mouths dropped open in simultaneous shock and their eyes near bugged out of their heads. 
Their forms flickered again, so it was less like they were splitting in half and more like two separate images overlaid atop each other (like those 3D movies with the red and blue layered over each other so when you put on those cheap glasses the pictures pop off the screen, Leo thought). She leaned forward, so she could scrutinize Percy up close. 
“You are more powerful than you should be, little half-blood,” she said, and her voice had taken on the same distorted, layered quality as her appearance. It made Leo’s head pound. “What are you hiding beneath that veil of Mist, little hero?” 
Leo wiped a hand across his top lip, and it came back bloody. He shared nervous looks with Hazel and Frank, who both had matching nosebleeds. They needed to end this. Quick. 
“NOthInG YOu wANt tO FiNd oUt ABoUt,” Percy growled in response, and his voice had gained a layered quality too. It was at the same time so deep that Leo could feel it reverberating through his bones and so high that it made Leo’s ears ring. He had a sneaking suspicion that Percy was broadcasting his voice at both ultra- and sub- sonic levels that were beyond the human body’s ability to register. He glanced back at Frank and Hazel and saw blood beginning to trickle from their ears. He was sure that if he checked, his ears would be bleeding too. 
As Percy and the split goddess continued to glare each other down, the air continued to thicken and grow heavy with power. It was cloying, sticking to Leo’s skin and making his hair stand on end like the air was charged with static electricity. It was also suffocating, making it hard to breathe as the air in his lungs grew heavy and leaden. He tried to speak, but his throat closed up, choking on the power-soaked air. He let out a strangled gasp and staggered to his knees, two soft thumps telling him that Hazel and Frank had done the same.  
Percy appeared unaffected, locked in his staring contest with the goddess and paying no mind to what was going on behind him. They had to find a way to get Percy’s attention and stop this before it went any further sideways for the rest of them or any mortals unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire.  
Frank managed to grunt and pound his fist into the pavement. (At least, Leo thought he did. It was hard to hear properly over the ringing in his ears.) Thankfully, that noise was enough.  
Percy’s head whipped to the side, his eyes widening when he saw the state his friends were in, and just like that, the power he’d been exuding snapped back into place within him. Leo sucked in a desperate breath as the air grew lighter again. His ears stopped ringing and he could hear Frank and Hazel panting beside him.  
Percy ran over to them, kneeling at Leo’s side as he muttered curses under his breath. His hands fluttered around helplessly, unsure how to help as his gaze flicked between Leo, Hazel, and Frank worriedly. He spared the goddess one more look, a glare that said, ‘try anything, and I’ll kill you,’ as that oppressive aura slipped out for a moment to surround them, before he drew it back in and turned all his attention onto his friends.  
“Shit, fuck, fuckity fuck, gods I’m so sorry guys, are you alright? Shit.” Percy babbled, tearing a strip from the bottom of his shirt and dabbing at the blood dribbling down Leo’s chin and the sides of his face before moving on to give Frank and Hazel the same treatment. His brows were creased in concern and he gnawed on his lip anxiously. “Gods, I’m so sorry,” he repeated.  
Hazel reached out and laid a shaking hand on his arm, making him stop. She gave him a weak smile.  
“It’s okay, Percy. We’re alright. A little nectar or ambrosia and we’ll be good as new. No harm done,” she said softly. When Percy still looked skeptical and guilty, she tutted at him and tugged him in for a hug. “Really,” she insisted, though her words were muffled from where she had buried her face in Percy’s chest. “We’re okay.” 
Percy closed his eyes and buried his nose in Hazel’s curly hair, breathing deeply to try and calm himself down. If Leo didn’t know that they were both dating someone else and were ridiculously devoted to their respective partners, he’d have thought they were dating. As it was, he figured it was more of a sibling relationship that the two of them shared. 
(He had to admit, he was a little jealous. He’d had plenty of foster siblings over the years, but none of them had ever tried all that hard to make him feel welcome or be his friend. Sometimes he wished that he’d had an older sibling growing up, someone who’d take him under their wing and teach him how to make the best of the foster system, to be there for him and show him that he wasn’t alone. After meeting Percy and spending some time with the guy, seeing him interact with the others and all the stories he’d heard about the son of Poseidon at Camp, well. In his private moments when he was alone and his insecurities were getting the better of him, he let himself imagine that Percy was that someone, let himself fantasize about Percy being there as he grew up and acting like his older brother. They were always nice dreams.) 
Nike/Victoria looked on silently, watching them carefully. Her form had stopped glitching, and had instead settled on, Leo squinted, a sort of combination of the two? She looked mostly like how she had when they first met her, as Nike, but Leo could see some bleed over from Victoria in the handful of white feathers mixed in with the gold of her wings and the purple accents on her glimmering white dress. The goddess still wore the breastplate she boasted in her Roman form, and her hair was the same auburn color he’d noticed peeking out from beneath her helmet though it was now done up in the elaborate pile of braids with a laurel crown like her Greek form had it. 
The crazy light in her eyes had faded away and been replaced by something curious instead. She tilted her head at them and watched as Percy slowly pulled back and helped Hazel to her feet, then walked over to help Frank up and then Leo as well. 
“Interesting,” the goddess hummed, and they all turned to look at her. “Why did you come to find us, little demigods?” she asked, and though the question was directed at all of them, Leo had the feeling that she was really only talking to Percy. 
“The Earth Mother is waking,” Percy said, calmly stepping forward. “Her children, the Giants, are rising to help her. We are working to unite our two camps to fight against her. There are seven of us, a mix of Greek and Roman demigods, that have set out to try and put a stop to the Giants’ plans to raise her in Athens. Juno herself appeared and told us to come find you. Well, technically, she said subdue you, but at the moment you don’t seem to need any subduing. When we first found you, sure, but you appear to have calmed down.” Percy gestured vaguely and raised an eyebrow before continuing. “Anyway, I figure we need you, or at least your blessing while in a more sound state of mind to get on with our quest and hopefully, y’know, achieve victory and all that.” He shrugged. 
The goddess hummed, considering, before nodding once to herself. “Alright. Take me to the rest of your group.” 
What? Leo thought. 
“What?” Percy asked. 
The goddess gave him an indulgent smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’ve impressed me, little heroes. I’d like to meet the others on this quest with you.” 
Percy glanced over his shoulder to share a bewildered look with the others. Leo shrugged helplessly in response. “Uh, okay. This way, I guess,” Percy said, and they began the walk back to the docks on the other side of the city, Nike/Victoria trailing along behind them. 
“Hey, what should we call you, by the way?” Leo asked, glancing back at the goddess. “You don’t seem like you’re fully Greek or fully Roman at the moment, and I don’t wanna upset whatever balance we’ve managed to achieve here by calling you the wrong name or something,” he elaborated when she merely raised an eyebrow at him. 
She tilted her head, thoughtful. “I suppose you may use either my Greek or Roman name. I don’t believe it would ‘upset the balance,’ as you called it.” she shrugged. “Either name fits just as well as the other, and I haven’t a third name you could use instead.” 
“Okay, cool,” Leo said awkwardly. And hey, cut him some slack, what else was he supposed to say to that? 
The rest of the trek back to the Argo II was made in relative, awkward silence. 
When they reached the boat, Nike nodded approvingly, and Leo tried not to beam too brightly, proud that his ship met the approval of a goddess. 
Annabeth must have been waiting anxiously for them because she came flying down the ramp as soon as they were close enough and threw herself at Percy. He relaxed as soon as he had her in his arms, practically collapsing into her just as much as she had collapsed into him. They clung tightly to each other, muttering softly. 
They stayed like that for a while, completely oblivious to the world around them until Nike cleared her throat. 
Annabeth pulled back just far enough to look over Percy’s shoulder and glare at whoever had interrupted them. Leo, even though the glare wasn’t directed at him, flinched back. Nike just raised an eyebrow, resettling her wings behind her. Annabeth didn’t relent in the face of the goddess and instead just narrowed her eyes further. 
“Nike? Or Victoria?” she asked, her stormy gray eyes raking over the goddess’ form, no doubt picking her apart and cataloging everything about the goddess. 
The goddess merely smirked. “Either name works, daughter of Athena. I am neither one nor the other at the moment but am rather a mixture of both. You have your,” she swept her hand out in a vague gesture at Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Percy, “friends to thank for that.” 
Annabeth ignored her and turned a questioning look to Percy, silently asking him to tell her what had happened. Percy leaned in and whispered something in her ear before kissing her cheek as he pulled away. Annabeth’s face betrayed nothing about what Percy might have told her. She just nodded and turned on her heel, grabbing Percy’s hand and tugging him back up the ramp and onto the ship. 
Leo, Frank, and Hazel had no choice but to follow, and Nike, it seemed, deigned to join them. 
Percy and Annabeth waited for them on the deck before leading everyone down to the galley where Piper and Jason were talking softly as Piper tried to get Jason to eat something. 
“Look who I found,” Annabeth said as they walked into the room. “And they brought a new friend back with them.” 
Piper barely spared the goddess a glance before turning her gaze onto her friends, looking them over for any injuries. Everyone looked to be as healthy as they’d been before they left aside from some dried blood crusted around Leo, Hazel, and Frank’s ears and noses. She’d have to ask about that later. 
“My lady,” Jason said from beside her, though he made no move to get up and bow. If he had, she’d have wacked him upside the head for being stupid and forced him back into his seat. 
The goddess merely hummed and swept forward to pull a chair out from the table. She sat down, looking every bit as elegant and poised as a goddess should, and crossed her legs. She looked down her perfect, aquiline nose at them with curious eyes. 
“The deep bond of friendship and comradery between the four of you who found me was strong enough to heal my mind and bring my two aspects together, even if only momentarily, and for that I owe you my thanks,” the goddess spoke, and to Piper’s surprise she dipped her head at Percy where he’d found his own seat beside Annabeth. “And as my thanks, I shall tell you this: one of you four,” she locked eyes with Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Leo in turn, “Is fated to die fighting Gaea. There will be no victory for you without death.” 
The goddess’ eyes were sharp and cold as she swept her gaze across them all, her face a neutral mask as she no doubt gauged their reactions. 
Piper’s heart sank. She heard a couple of the others draw in sharp breaths and saw Percy stiffen, tightening his hold on Annabeth where she sat practically in his lap. 
“There has to be another way,” Hazel said shakily, tugging nervously on a lock of hair until Frank reached over to take her hand in his and squeeze it reassuringly. 
Nike/Victoria or whoever she was regarded Hazel consideringly. “I suppose Hecate taught you that, little witch,” she said, and sighed. “One of you will die. One of you must die if you are to succeed.” 
Piper opened her mouth to protest but the goddess held up a hand to silence her. 
“There is, however, a chance that perhaps the one who dies may be brought back. The physician’s cure. It is a powerful and dangerous potion, near impossible to obtain. Much stands in your way: the poison of Pylos, the chained god’s heartbeat in Sparta, the curse of Delos. Overcome the trials, and maybe you could cheat death.” The goddess stood and spread her large, glimmering wings behind her as far as she could in the galley of the Argo II. “I leave you with this: call on me when the time has come for your last stand, and I will come.” 
She disappeared with a rustle of feathers like falling leaves and a flash of gold. 
That was when Piper’s mind made the connection: To storm or fire the world must fall. They’d been operating under the assumption that ‘fire’ was referring to Leo, and that ‘storm’ meant Jason, son of Jupiter, the Lord of the Skies. But Jason hadn’t been one of the four to find Nike. She turned her gaze to where Percy now held Annabeth fully in his lap, his head tucked into the crook of her neck as she brushed her fingers through his hair. Piper locked eyes with the daughter of Athena and suddenly knew that she had realized it, too. 
She and Annabeth had made the same connection, something they had overlooked before, something that had been practically staring them in the face. There was someone else on this ship the prophecy could have meant, someone else who had been there to find the goddess of victory, someone else who might be fated die. Piper couldn’t believe that they hadn’t remembered it sooner. 
Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, lord of the seas. The Earth Shaker. 
The Storm Bringer. 
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astarionsilverbough · 7 months
Text
The Devil and the Sorcerer
Arrogance.
That is his greatest folly. It may not always be this way, but thus far it has always been.
And ensconced within that arrogance - a byproduct of that folly - is a certain level of unpreparedness he did not think himself capable of. He is a strategist, and an excellent one at that. Yes, he has been outplayed time and again by the sire he sprung from, but there is no other more equipped to play the grand game than he.
The gambit of gods and devils, of arch-fiends and so-called divine things.
But you know what they say, don’t you? Make a plan, and Fate laughs.
Because for all his strategy and mastery of the divine game, nothing could have prepared him for -
“Open your eyes. Let me see you.”
Everything is impossible heat and inescapable, unstoppable pressure. Each thrust of Dekarios’ hips drives the madness of the entire situation higher and higher up his spine until he’s not entirely sure he can ever recover his former, seemingly saner reality.
Some part of him wants to lash out, wants to shove at that broad chest marked by allegedly misplaced ambition and snarl out a grating ‘you do not get to see me - you do not deserve to!’
But it’s the other way around, isn’t it, little Devil?
It is he who is unworthy - unworthy of opening his eyes to find the man above him gazing at him as if he was some previously unknown form of magic. Unworthy of the way Gale Dekarios touches him like his body isn’t some infernal machine, bred and built and brutalized for war.
For the short drop of a miserable existence and the sudden stop of a merciless death.
Not for -
“There you are,” and Dekarios - ‘say my name. Please, I want to hear it’ - smiles. It’s a tender thing, crooked and a bit wondering; Gale Dekarios smiles more with his expressive, autumn-warm eyes than his mouth, and right now those eyes are fixed on him and all he knows is fire.
His greatest folly has always been arrogance - but his ruin would surely be this. It would be the way Gale Dekarios kisses him, one staff-calloused, spell-weaving hand supporting the nape of his neck, thumb pressed along the hinge of his jaw; it would be the way he moves inside him, thick and gouging and throttling.
And it would be the fact that his heart was undeniably out of reach. Especially for something like him. For what fiend could ever compare to a God?
“Don’t run,” Gale exhales against his ear; every muscle in his body clenches in response, keeping him firmly suspended in place beneath the man inside him, surrounding him.
Possessing him.
At least, it feels like possession. What kind of man could possess the devil? Therein lies the problem: he did not anticipate Gale Dekarios of Waterdeep. Not in his wildest machinations or imaginings could he have predicted a man like this. He could not have invented a man like this.
Though surely he needed him. Needs him.
A cruel thing, then, when he wakes alone in a bed far too big, the imitation of Gale Dekarios’ imagined touch fading like summer on his skin.
Anger replaces desire and he shuts his eyes.
Arrogance. It has always been his greatest folly.
But this… this obsession will be his ruin.
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