#the king is powerless to save his daughter... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kitten4sannie · 1 year

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𝐀 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞

pairing: dragon shifter! seonghwa x knight! reader (fem) x fem! oc feat. king! hongjoong

genre: fantasy au, slight angst, romance, smut (so, so much i promise <3)

summary: a knight is ordered by the king to save the princess from a fearsome dragon. this, of course, is a common fairy tale with a predictable ending — but what happens when there’s more to the story than meets the eye?

w.c: 11.3k

warnings: brief mention of branding, some violence/injury/blood, service top! seonghwa, switch! reader, switch! oc, f/f, threesome dynamics, pet names, praise, marking, long tongue kink, use of a tail (yk what i’m sayinggg), fingering (f/f receiving), oral (f/f/m receiving), deep throating, unprotected sex, breeding kink, creampie, dumbification

a/n: this was originally just going to be about dragon hwa but then i started thinking about a pretty princess and a knight and i just – also this is dedicated to my friend haru aka @stardragongalaxy as a late bday present also thank you for giving me creative (🏳️‍🌈) freedom with this fic hehe,, i hope you enjoy lovely <3 also i rewrote this thing a thousand times and i just don’t really know how i feel about it but i wanted to share it regardless so if you liked it please consider leaving some feedback <3

song recs: all around me by flyleaf, crossing over by elysion, constance by spirit box, desert rose by lolo zouaï

Masterlist

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As the daughter of the most feared knight of the round table, and your king’s most trusted confidant, you were thrown into the complicated web of the royal family, forced to navigate their endless strings of high expectations and saccharine lies. Instead of a silver spoon, you got used to one that tasted of metal and rust. To make matters more difficult, you were born without the perks of being a man. Expected to be quiet and prone to sewing doilies in the comfort of your bedroom, you instead doubled down on learning to sword fight, deciding to follow in the footsteps of your father. You learned early on that you were handed certain cards in life, expected to never trade them in. But you wanted more. You knew in order to receive the respect of those around you, it was imperative that you rose up to the same rank as your late father after he passed.

And so, you became a protector of the royal family, ordered to watch over the king, as well as the eldest princess. She treated you like you were just another person, one without a collar around their neck, unlike her father who sought to treat you how he saw fit. With forceful words and orders just as intense. With sweet promises, gazes full of lust, and late night visits to his bedchamber, followed with shameful walks back to your own. You didn’t truly realize your place in the cogwheels of royalty until you were caught giving the princess a gentle cheek kiss. It was then that he would discipline you. Brand you. Forever remind you of your role as the royal family’s guard dog.

Despite this fate, you wanted to prove that you could be more than a simple pet. You could be a lot more. You had something to offer. Something you could offer to the one that would receive it with a gentle smile and a heart full of warmth.

༻✧༺

Bending at the knee for the king, you didn’t stand until he ordered you to, resting your hand on the hilt of your sword, your heavy armor feeling a bit stifling from the intense stare he was giving you.

“My eldest daughter Rosanna, as you know, has been missing and we’ve just gotten word that she’s been spotted at the abandoned castle near Crescent Falls.” Grimacing, Hongjoong closed his hands into tight fists, unable to handle that he was powerless, despite having the highest form of power any individual could possess. “But, she’s being held hostage by a filthy dragon,” he growled out of anger, his loud, impassioned voice echoing throughout the throne room.

You stood still for a moment, a pivotal memory of the princess standing near her favorite patch of roses still fresh inside your mind.

“I’m going to be leaving tonight,” Rosanna said softly, twirling a rose she was holding and admiring the soft red hue, careful not to prick herself on the thorns. “My friend said he can take me away from here.” Wanting to be careful of her words out of fear that you wouldn’t understand, she continued vaguely, “He figured out a way to protect us.”

“How?” you questioned softly, about to speak more when she shook her head, making your mouth close up.

“You know I trust you, but out of precaution, I can’t go into detail…” Rosanna gazed down at the family crest etched into the hilt of your sword. “You know why.”

You nodded your head, knowing she could see the invisible leash her father had around your neck, feeling shame burn into the skin of your cheeks.

Fading back into her overjoyed headspace, she angled her head down and smiled to herself, the rose petals blurring into a mess of crimson, her eyes wet with tears. “No more forced marriage proposals. No more slaving away for my father. N-no more…father…” Her thumb grazed a thorn, but didn’t let it slice into her skin. “I’m going to be free from this prison…”

Your body twitched at the sight of Rosanna’s bittersweet expression, wanting to hold her, but remaining still, knowing your place. “Is the friend…Is it Seonghwa? That apothecary apprentice you’re always talking about?” you whispered near her, glancing around your surroundings to make sure no one was listening, before leaning in. “Princess, are you sure you can trust h–”

“I’m sure.” She turned to you, pulling you further into the gazebo you were both under to completely conceal yourselves from any wandering eyes. “Y/N…” Her features softened, her eyelids lowering slightly so that she looked at you through her wispy lashes. “Won’t you come with us? We can both…” Her voice trailed off, a light blush forming on her cheeks, her fingers drifting over one of your gloved hands. “We can…be ourselves.”

You were chained to the castle, to its king, to its people. If you were to abandon your post, you knew you would be putting yourself at great risk, but…there was something very familiar tugging at your heart.

“Y/N,” Rosanna whispered, now inches away from your conflicted face, giving you a soft smile. “Don’t you want to see where this goes?”

You slowly relaxed with her unspoken permission, squeezing her fingers ever so slightly when she entwined them with yours. “I…I do, but…”

When you couldn’t form the proper words, Rosanna pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek, rendering you speechless. The princess pulled away after a few seconds, rubbing her lipstick off of your face with her silk glove, her sad eyes meeting yours. “I know I’m asking a lot, but just think about it. I’m sure my father will want someone to come look for me, so I give you permission to find me.”

You nodded weakly, your cheeks feeling hot to the touch, standing eerily still like one of the marble statues that were littered throughout the garden. You were unable to react to the hug she gave you besides a small squeeze back, and only produced a small ‘goodbye, princess’ as she bid you farewell, leaving you to gaze at the sea of roses by yourself.

Before she disappeared that night, she left the rose on your bed inside your sleeping quarters. You closed your eyes and pressed it to your cheek, picturing the warmth she left on your skin.

“Y/N,” Hongjoong snapped, making you fade out of your bittersweet memory and ignore the tightness inside your chest. “You will come back to me with my daughter safe and sound.”

Were you willing to betray the king? The one who had his tendrils wrapped tightly around you, barely allowing you to breathe? The one who would burn entire kingdoms down for his daughter? Was going against him worth the destruction he would leave behind?

“I…I will defeat the beast and rescue the princess, my Lord,” you said softly, bending at the waist the best you could to bow to him, unable to look him in the eyes.

At that moment, Hongjoong got up from his throne and walked down the steps to stand at your level. With one finger underneath your chin, he tilted it upwards until you were forced to meet his fiery gaze. With the scent of ale on his breath, he leaned in close, pressing his lips against your earlobe, murmuring pointedly, “And if you don’t come back with my daughter...” Hongjoong grasped your jaw, his thumb pressing into your bottom lip, studying your eyes for any deception. “Don’t bother crawling back to my bedchambers. You’ll be dead to me just like your poor father sitting in that cracked urn you keep in your room. Do you hear me, pet?”

Swallowing harshly, keeping your emotions at bay, your hand slowly formed a fist over your heart, feeling the prying eyes of the King’s staff burning holes into the back of your head, afraid that they all knew about your secrets, about what you were planning to do next, about everything you were about to risk. “Understood, my Lord. I will return only with the princess by my side.”

༻✧༺

Sitting on your knees in front of a nearby stream to take a drink and cool your body down, you went stiff upon hearing the sound of your horse nervously trotting back and forth over the forest foliage, causing you to instinctively grab the hilt of your blade. You looked around the general vicinity, trying to spot any movement around the bushes and trees that surrounded you, unsure of who or what was watching you.

“What is a knight doing so far away from home?” a deep, sultry voice came out from behind you, causing you to spin around, almost dumbfounded that you couldn’t hear him sneaking up on you, despite your careful hearing. You saw a man standing before you, one that had a dark hood on, only allowing you to see the point of his nose, the sharpness of his jaw, and his smirking lips.

“I’m…here with the orders of the king,” you responded carefully, your fingers squeezing around your cold blade handle, but not pulling it out just yet. “The princess is being held hostage by a beast inside the castle many miles from here. I’m here to save her.”

The man took a small step forward, his smirk growing ever so slightly, tapping his fingers against the small black crystal hanging from his neck by a silver chain. “A beast, you say? Do you think it has piercing eyes that’ll petrify you?” He took another small step. “Or how about large, ghastly talons that’ll tear you to pieces?” He took one more step, just a few feet away from you now, his smirk turning into a grin, his canine teeth a lot sharper than you cared to admit to yourself. “Do you think he’ll try to swallow you whole? Or will he play with you instead? What do you think, knight?” When he tried to take another step, he stopped in his tracks, the razor-sharp tip of your blade pressing into his chest and drawing a bit of blood.

Your eyes narrowed at the stranger, standing your ground, having a very good idea of who he was, but choosing not to voice it. He didn’t have a weapon on hand. Taking him out while he was in a vulnerable state would be going against your code. “Everything I have. Everything I am. I will give.”

“So the King really does have you on a tight leash. What a loyal little puppy you are,” he replied disdainfully, leaning back slightly to relieve the pressure of the blade cutting into his skin. “Or are you doing this for the princess?” Seeing your eyes widen slightly, he chuckled softly. “Oh, I see. Will you free her from the tower and share a true love’s kiss?”

“Do not mock me, stranger,” you growled back, ignoring his question, the tips of your fingers turning white from how tightly you were holding your weapon. “You don’t know my motivations or my story, so kindly fuck off.”

“Got a bit of a temper there.” The man fiddled with his necklace some more, still grinning, finding delight in your reaction. Figuring he was done testing you, he bowed his head to you, his raven hair falling into his eyes. “I wish you the best of luck.” He angled his head up, giving you an intense stare, his forked tongue just barely slipping out of his mouth to lick at his lips. “Let’s see if the pretty little knight slays the dragon before he slays her.”

༻✧༺

You arrived at the abandoned castle by sundown, having to use an old torch to light your path through the dark, empty hallways and rooms, searching for any sign of life. Opening the next pair of doors you saw, you ended up in the library. You froze, your gloved hand still resting on the metal handle, suddenly caught off guard by the woman sitting inside on an old velvet couch with a candle and an open book in her hand.

“Princess Rosanna…?” you called out, making her jump and turn her head to the familiar voice she wasn’t expecting to hear so soon. Upon seeing your distinct features, the princess ran up to you once you stepped foot into the room, the cold metal of your armor and chainmail causing her to let out small noises of protest. “Princess, I’m so happy to see you alive and well.”

“You came for me,” she said as though it were a revelation, slowly pulling away to get a good look at you, licking her thumb and wiping a bit of soot away from your cheek. “I’ve missed you greatly…”

“Likewise, Princess. You’ve been in my thoughts all this time. Night and day…” You stood still, looking into her gentle eyes, her thumb still pressed to your warm cheek, feeling it slowly drag downwards to your lips, her thumb moving across your bottom one. “Do I…have something on my face…?” you whispered, not even noticing when your fingers clutched her lower back.

“Mm-hmm,” she murmured back, clutching your chin, bringing it towards hers. “Should I get it for you?”

It took everything in you not to lose yourself in this reality you’ve created for yourselves, as much as you wanted to. It was simple, really. You were a knight under the command of the king, and she was the princess, and if Hongjoong got his way, was destined to court with a prince that was up to her standards. Regardless of the situation, she was still pure gold — untouchable and timeless. You, however, were plain ivory, doomed to crack and crumble to pieces when the time came. Would she be satisfied?

You pressed your forehead to hers, closing your tired eyes, your heart still pounding away inside your tightening chest. “We…we shouldn’t…”

“Why shouldn’t we?” she questioned as fiercely as she could, caressing both of your cheeks, her thumbs gently rubbing along your jaw, encouraging you to open your eyes back up to look into her twinkling ones. “My father isn’t here. We’re miles and miles away from the castle. Who’s going to know?”

Despite the incredible complications present in the game of chess you were a part of, you felt your once idle piece beginning to move forward across the board.

“Princess…” you whispered back, your eyelids lowering slightly, closing your grasp around her waist, bringing her against you. Ignoring your dizzying heartbeat, you lowered your gaze to her parted lips, ready to risk everything for the woman looking back at you like you were her…well, her knight in shining armor. “May I…?”

“You may…” she returned, waiting for you to close the space in between the two of you, your lips meeting in the middle. Instead of fireworks, you both felt like you had been submerged into a warm pool of honey, slowly enveloping your bodies in its comfort, eventually drowning you in its adherent serenity.

As one desperate, though purposeful kiss led to another, the princess slowly led you backwards to the couch, sitting you down and lowering herself down onto your lap, her lips still connected to yours. The heavy sensation of arousal buzzing throughout your mind and body clouded your thought process. All you could think about were her plush lips moving against yours like you were her only source of oxygen, her warm hands moving down your jaw and up the back of your neck to slip into your tangled hair.

Rosanna broke the kiss for a moment to whisper breathlessly, “Touch me, Y/N. You have my permission.”

Your head was spinning, but you sought to keep it screwed on tight, removing your gloves to touch her body directly, though delicately, slowly moving your hands up to her waist, being drawn in towards her neck, leaving gentle kisses along the warm expanse of her skin. “Princess, your skin is so hot…Are you feeling unwell?” you murmured onto her, hearing her breath hitch from your teasing words.

“Quite unwell…” Rosanna sighed softly, playing along, pulling at the strings near her chest, loosening up her dress so that it began to slip off her shoulders. “Take care of me, knight.”

Greatly encouraged by her demand, you reached out to grip her shoulders, sliding her dress down little by little, gazing at her lovely, exquisitely soft body, the one you could only picture inside your head during the late hours of the night year after year. And now she was right here in front of you. You must’ve fallen asleep at the pond and been caught inside a dream you never wanted to wake up from.

Rosanna caressed your heated face, watching you with a loving gaze, letting you take your time, despite wanting to rip her clothes off along with every single piece of your armor. Slowly, but surely, you were brought out of your cloudy headspace when you noticed a deep bite mark imprinted in her skin just above one of her barely-covered breasts — one that was fresh and bruising. “Did…Did Seonghwa do this?”

She brushed a few loose strands of hair out of your flushed face and pushed them behind your pierced ear, nodding her head knowingly. “Yes, but–”

“Princess,” you interrupted Rosanna, gently taking her wrist and giving it a small kiss, motioning to the door with a soft smile. You believed in your heart that you could take better care of her than any man could, especially one that just did as he pleased. “Let me take you away from here. We can–”

“No!” the princess cried, overwhelmed by the thought of leaving, feeling your hand loosen around her arm, allowing her to pull away from you and stand up. She pulled her dress back up and began tying it up diligently, glancing down at it instead of your concerned eyes. “I don’t want to leave, Y/N. I’m happy here.”

“Happy?” you questioned, your voice losing its volume towards the end. “You’re happy staying here in a crumbling castle alone with a shapeshifter? I know he’s your friend, but are you not afraid of what he could do to you? After he’s already done this to you?” You motioned to where the deeply embedded bite mark was located underneath her thin clothing, grimacing.

Rosanna held her hands up to her head and gripped her braided hair, turning around to gather herself, appearing to be incredibly frustrated. “He’s more than that to me…”

Choosing not to face the possibilities of her words, you stood up to your feet, taking a step towards her in order to turn her around, taking her hand to hold it. “Princess, you know I just have your best interest at heart.”

Rosanna squeezed your fingers tightly, desperately wanting you to see her side. “Y/N, he’s not what you think! He’s actually incredibly sweet and takes care of me.” She looked down and smiled to herself, her eyes lighting up underneath her long, wispy eyelashes. “He loves me.”

“He does?” you mumbled, your eyebrows joining together in confusion, jealousy pricking into your heart like a thorn.

“Yes, and he can take care of you too, Y/N. He has more than enough love to give.”

“H-huh…?” You didn’t understand the context of her words, but it made your throat go dry.

She grasped your chin with her manicured fingers and leaned closer, suggesting, “Why don’t you stay here? You can spend some time with him and maybe you’ll end up falling for him like I–”

A loud, ear-piercing roar rumbled throughout the castle, making you jolt, your hand settling on your sword, until another screech replaced the silence after the first, this one so powerful that it made the large bookshelves nearby tremble and shed century-old dust into the air around you.

As if she was used to this happening, Rosanna walked over to the door to lock it, sending a glare your way when you stepped in front of the door, your back against it. “What are you doing?” she questioned sharply, pushing on your chest to move you, but not being able to. “You can’t bother him when he shifts, Y/N. He doesn’t have much control over it and he’ll…”

You gave Rosanna a stern look, putting a hand on her shoulder, proclaiming, “I’ll protect you, Princess. Don’t worry.” And with that, you turned around and ran out of the room, unable to register the many protests behind you, heading towards the sound of yet another roar, everyone’s words echoing throughout the labyrinth of your mind. Your father’s, the king’s, the princess’, Seonghwa’s, your own. You didn't know what you were doing, but you were going to follow through. The rattling inside your chest told you to.

༻✧༺

You followed the sounds of growling and deep bellows, the carpeted floor below you trembling every now and then, the old frames on the walls ready to fall off of their hinges, figuring that the beast must’ve been enormous for it to affect the castle. Eventually making your way to two heavy, opulent doors, you pushed past them and entered the vast empty garden area filled with dirt and crumbled stone just in time for you to come face to face with the dragon.

It was just as big as you imagined, taking up a sizable portion of the outside area despite it being spacious enough to hold at least a quarter of the kingdom that used to reside there centuries ago. The dragon’s scales were pitch black like the night sky, but shimmered with a holographic sheen under the light of the moon that shone down from above. Its tail had to be at least ten feet long, as thick and long as one of the countless oak trees sitting inside the forest nearby, its movement reminiscent of a snake slinking around in the grass. You noticed its talons next. They could probably tear you to ribbons if he caught you in his grasp. Lastly, you were drawn to its eyes, large and piercing, striking you with instinctive fear, reminding you that you were prey. Though you wanted to continue studying its immense presence, the dragon seemed to notice you standing there challenging it with your sudden intrusion.

“You’ve finally arrived, little human,” the creature bellowed in the deepest voice you ever heard, his words coming out serpent-like and seductive. He opened his mouth, baring his elongated, oversized fangs, his hot breath hitting the cold air. “Come here and show me what you got.”

Pissed off by his arrogance, you unsheathed your sword and began heading in its direction, circling the dragon carefully when it began doing the same thing, a low chuckle erupting from its large throat.

“What makes you think you can defeat me?” Seonghwa questioned, slamming one of his large claws down onto the ground near you, making the ground shake. “I could swallow you up in a second or turn you into nothing but ash and bone. Why are you doing this?”

“To prove a point, goddamn it!” you growled back, swinging your sword at the dragon and slicing into his large black leg, watching as blood began to drip out from the wound. Seonghwa didn’t like that very much. Emitting a harsh exhale, you barrel-rolled out of the way of his large claws when he attempted to stomp on you, having to run in the opposite direction, the dragon hot on your tail.

“And what point is that, you little pest?” Seonghwa growled, swiping at you, but missing due to your fast reflexes, your sword already making contact with the center of his palm, making him groan out in pain.

“That I’m much more suited to take care of Rosanna,” you grunted, ducking out of the way of its other large claw, unable to take a breath before his tail swung in your direction, forcing you to jump over it before it made contact with your body. You forced out a laugh that sounded just as arrogant as you wanted it to, giving the dragon a crooked smile. “You seem to be struggling to take out a ‘pest’ like me, so I think I came at the right time. She needs someone like me. Not an egotistical beast like you.”

A large amount of smoke suddenly began emitting from the dragon’s nostrils, a strange glowing light slowly becoming visible from the center of its stomach. “Now you’ve done it, knight. No more playtime.”

You backed up a bit, observing your surroundings for the best escape before it was too late. Seeing a large crumbling staircase behind you, you turned around to head up the steps, a few strands of your hair starting to float up into the air as though there was an electrical charge in the air. “Oh shit!” you exclaimed to yourself, as a large zap of lightning with a purple hue hit the steps in front of you, turning them to dust.

“Run away, little puppy. Let’s see how far you make it,” Seonghwa challenged in a guttural manner, watching as you continued your way up the stairs and headed down the opposite side of it. He lifted himself up into the air with his expansive wings and sent another burst of lightning in your direction, finding it amusing how the old concrete wall he hit far above you started falling around you in large chunks, causing you to leap out of the way of them and tumble down the rest of the stairs.

“Fuck…” you whispered to yourself, feeling a bit dizzy, but forcing yourself to get up and grab your sword, before starting to run away as fast as you could, the large flaps of the dragon’s wings behind you sending fear into your thumping heart. Before you knew it, you were back inside the forest you had navigated earlier, the vines and foliage crunching underneath your worn down boots. A few trees near you suddenly erupted into flames once the violet lightning struck them, slowly falling in your direction, the roots preventing them from dropping completely.

“Poor puppy isn’t fast enough,” Seonghwa commented gruffly, inhaling, little sparks of lightning exiting his mouth, before a large amount of it shot out past his fangs, heading quickly in your direction.

Glancing back out of the corner of your eyes, you ducked underneath the trees and continued running, diving into a nearby river at the last second when the zaps of electricity touched your back through your chainmail, feeling it shoot up your spine. Cringing from the pain, you forced yourself to stay underneath the dark surface of the water, despite it being freezing enough to shock your body, your limbs starting to grow numb with each passing moment.

Seonghwa landed back onto the ground with a thud so that he could stalk around the river in a calculated manner, keeping his head low to gaze down into the water, watching carefully for movement. “Come out and face me, knight,” he commanded fiercely, annoyance laced into his words. “So that you may submit to me.”

Unable to hold your breath any longer, you forced yourself out of the water and grabbed onto the dragon, holding one of his large twisted horns as he lifted you up into the air. “Submit…to me, beast!” Using the adrenaline in your system to your advantage, you grunted and swung your sword upwards, slicing off a portion of his other horn, hearing him growl deeply in response. Just as you had made your decision to attack him, Seonghwa had sent one of his claws up in your direction, slicing your forearm and chainmail up the middle, then cutting into the side of your jaw and up to your cheek in a one clean swipe.

Watching you wince and shut your eyes from the pain, Seonghwa feigned concern, “Oh, poor little puppy has a cut. Will you crawl into a corner and lick at your wounds?”

The sweat from your hand caused you to let go of his horn, eventually falling back down into the freezing water below, your blood leaking out into the murkiness around you. “Fight me as yourself, Seonghwa!” you called out once you got your head above the surface, coughing and sputtering to get the water out of your lungs, ignoring the pain pulsing from your wounds. “Don’t be such a fucking coward!”

Angered by your words, Seonghwa pressed one talon into the small black jewel that was lodged into his large chest, causing a misty puff of smoke to appear around him.

Too busy swimming to the edge of the river, you didn’t notice Seonghwa’s disappearance as you climbed out of the water, your chainmail falling off of your body, exposing your thin top underneath. You stood up and stumbled a bit, feeling your armor start to grow loose on your body from how soaked you were, opting to just rip them off out of frustration with your current state, gazing down at the droplets of blood hitting the ground below. Suddenly sensing a different presence, you turned around just in time for a naked Seonghwa to send a punch in your direction, hitting you square in the jaw where you were bleeding from, sending you back into a nearby tree. “Augh…” you groaned, glaring at Seonghwa through your hazy eyesight, able to catch his next fist with your hand now that you were ready for him.

“Just give up and submit to me already,” Seonghwa spat, grabbing you by the collar of your top and getting up in your personal space, growling into your face. “Get on your knees and admit I’m better.”

Now that Seonghwa was this close, you couldn’t look away from him. He was annoyingly handsome, despite looking disheveled as all hell. Pretty black hair, a few locks of it falling into his face. High, pointed cheekbones. Plush lips. Definitely kissable. What were you even thinking? It must’ve been the blood loss that had you acting like this.

“Did you hear me, knight?” Seonghwa leaned in closer, staring you down with an intensity that frightened you, amongst other things.

“Uh-huh…” You couldn’t really think. You were too distracted by his eyes. They were as blue as the ocean you’ve only seen in pictures. Entrancing, like the waves had crashed into you and swept you under, pinning you in between currents.

“On your knees!” He slammed his hand against the oak beside your head, bringing you out of your headspace. He waited for you to finally give up, but grew unceremoniously stunned when you answered him by sending the blood that had pooled inside your mouth straight into his face.

“You get on your knees and suck my proverbial cock, dragon shifter,” you returned aggressively, sending your fist up into his chin, causing him to bite onto his tongue and stumble backwards, almost tripping on his own tail. You pursued him, temporarily distracted by the man’s actual cock swinging in between his thighs. It was big. Way bigger than what you were used to seeing amongst the knight’s guild. Well, he was a beast after all. This distraction proved to be too powerful, allowing Seonghwa to sweep his tail underneath your feet, sending you down onto the rough ground in order to pin you underneath him.

“I didn’t think you had all of that in you,” Seonghwa huffed out, his heart racing from the adrenaline pumping through him, his pupils resembling marbles.

“Yeah, well, I did…” you mumbled, trying to breathe properly with his weight pushing down onto you, your own heart threatening to beat out of your chest.

Blood dripped out of his open mouth and landed on your face and neck, dribbling down the center of your chest, your soaked top glued to your skin. “Y/N…”

Thrown off by the use of your name, you tried to pull your wrists away from his tight grip, gently biting into your cut lip. “Wh-what?”

“I can smell your arousal…” he admitted under his breath, leaning his face down closer to yours, happily devouring the sight of your uncharacteristically flustered expression. “Why are you wet, knight?”

“Because I fell into a fucking river!” you snapped, trying to ignore the heat emanating from your face and the pulsing from in between your legs. Seonghwa moved one of his knees into between your legs so that you couldn’t close them, pressing it up into your mound and causing some friction, leaving you breathless.

“Don’t deny it, pup. We’re both adults, after all. You can admit that you want me. It’s okay.” Seonghwa pressed his lips onto your jaw, licking at the congealed blood that was left there, making you shiver.

“It’s just the adrenaline rush, okay? That’s the only reason I want this…” you mumbled to yourself, not wanting to admit to yourself that you’ve wanted Seonghwa since you came across him at the pond earlier that morning. And you definitely didn’t want to admit that you needed him after seeing what he was capable of doing. Needed him to treat you like a little play thing that he could simply swallow up. Perhaps you were a hypocrite for questioning Rosanna earlier.

“Take your trousers off. Panties too. I want to see how soaked you are for me,” he commanded gruffly, letting go of your wrists and sitting up, his tail slowly moving around in a snake-like motion around him, the ribbed tip of it flicking at one of your ankles. Seonghwa was looking down at you like you were his next meal. His next target to claim. To mark. You were going to be his just like Rosanna.

You sat up and pressed your back against the rough bark of the tree behind you, forcing your shame down into your throat and pulling your wet trousers off, tossing them onto the grass next to you. You swallowed harshly, hooking your fingers into the straps of your see-through panties, blushing deeply at the sight of the man in front of you. He was drooling, for starters. Breathing hard and heavy like he had just got done running. Burning holes into your skin with the intensity of his gaze, waiting to see you bare for him. You wondered just how much shifting into the headspace of a beast affected his normal thought process. Would he fuck you like a beast too?

“You look like you’re about to eat me,” you commented, pouting a bit.

“Not yet, puppy,” he replied in a low, calculated tone, his eyelids lowering slightly, the look in his eyes sending a jolt of fear down your spine. “I’ll save that for later.”

You saw a flash of black when you blinked. “Oh–” you barely got out, not even able to respond to his words, looking down at your bare cunt glistening with your slick, your panties split down the middle and falling into a pile on the grass. “Really?”

“You were taking too long.” Seonghwa moved closer to you so that he could get a good look at you. “Mm, you're a soaking wet mess just like I thought.” The tip of his tail slithered up and over your mound, making you gasp, eventually moving up and underneath your tank top, ripping it off of you.

“Does this thing have a mind of its own?” you asked with concern, watching as his tail wiggled in between your tits, fighting the urge to give into him completely, wanting him to continue leading you.

“No, this is all intentional, my love.” Noticing your gaze trailing his tail and the way it coiled around one of your tits, he licked at his lips, moving it up towards your mouth. “Get it wet for me.”

“G-get it wet?” you squeaked, your heart skipping a beat at his choice of words from before, not appreciating how soft it made you feel. “For what?”

Seonghwa shook his head slightly, blowing a bit of air out of his nose, amused by your reaction. He adored watching you submit to him little by little. He couldn’t wait to see what you looked and acted like when you were like putty in his claws. “So that I can fuck you properly,” he replied calmly, reaching out to grab your jaw, coaxing it open. “Don’t you want to be filled, knight? I can guarantee you’ll feel pleasure you didn’t even know existed.”

How did you get here? You were there to save Rosanna and be by her side and what were you doing? About to let her dragon shifter lover enter you with his tail? Now why on earth would you–

༻✧༺

“Just like that, pup. Just like that,” Seonghwa praised in between pants, watching as his tail slipped in and out of your open mouth, the tip of it hitting the back of your throat with each sloppy thrust, knowing he could stop at any second but not wanting to. His cock was too hard. Twitching. Shiny and red, and drooling just like he was. He was completely unable to take his eyes off of your watery ones and the way your throat contracted every time you choked on him. “You’re–fuck–doing so well. I…promise I’ll reward you. Don’t worry.”

You blinked your tears away, doing your best to relax your throat and breathe through your nose, trying to make sense of what was going on. Trying to understand why this was the most pleasurable moment of your life. Realizing that his tail must’ve been some kind of erogenous zone. Wondering what it’d feel like to get stretched out by it. Tempted to demand for him to fuck you with it. If only you could use your voice.

Sensing your desperation, Seonghwa slid his wet appendage out of your throat, letting it slide down your body, leaving a trail of spit behind. “You look like you want to say something, my sweet,” he mused, reaching towards your glistening chin to wipe some of the spit away.

“Inside…” you mumbled under your breath. “I want it inside.”

Seonghwa smirked, tilting his head to the side. “Want what?”

“Your…tail…” Your cheeks burned incessantly, making sure to swallow down the saliva that persistently filled your mouth. “I want it inside, Seonghwa. Give it to me.”

Taking in your delightfully submissive gaze, Seonghwa brought your chin in his direction and pressed a kiss beside your swollen lips. “Now that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“Give it to me before I chop it off and see if it regrows,” you returned snidely, feeling his grip tighten around your chin, his smirk growing wider.

With his thick tail coiled once around one of your thighs, Seonghwa used the tip of it to thrust steadily into your squelching hole, not completely sure how long he had been going at it for. It felt too good to think. “You haven’t felt pleasure like this for ages, have you, knight? You’re so wet…like it’s the first time you’ve been fucked by something other than your fingers,” he sighed out, running his own fingers up to your hips and holding them, feeling them jolt routinely against his touch.

“I’ve never…felt this before…” you replied in between breathless moans, trying to hold onto his shoulders for support, your hands starting to slip off of them from the sweat that had been coating the both of your heated bodies. “It shouldn’t feel this good…”

Seonghwa leaned in closer to lick at the cut on your lax jaw, tasting the remnants of blood, studying your feverish expression, figuring you were getting close again. “Just wait till you have my cock inside you instead.”

You squeezed around his tail again, making him groan, grabbing at his horns instead to keep from falling backwards, feeling the jagged edge of the one you sliced off earlier with your calloused fingers. “Seonghwa...shit…I don’t know if I can…nnngh…” You were already making such a mess on the dragon hybrid’s lap, your clear arousal spilt all over your joined thighs and lower abdomens, some even coating his already dripping cock.

“Shh, my love. You can let go now…Just let go and feel…” Seonghwa whispered into your ear with such gentleness it sent you over the edge once again, launching you into an endless abyss of pleasure, one that you weren’t even sure if you could crawl your way out of. What happened to your mission? Where was Rosanna? What would she think if she found you like this, being fucked beyond comprehension by the very individual that you swore to protect her from?

“Seonghwa, please, I can’t,” you begged near the man’s ear, your vision starting to fade in and out, your thighs shaking uncontrollably, unable to believe that his tail was still pistoning in and out of your tightening hole at a rapid speed.

“You can and you will,” he suddenly demanded raspily, burying his face into your neck and sinking his teeth into it, marking you just like he wanted to.

You came again, this time so hard, your ears began to ring and your vision faded out completely, passing out from exhaustion and not being able to witness Seonghwa cumming himself with a growl, not even having to touch his dick to do so.

༻✧༺

Rosanna stood in her bedroom with her arms folded across her chest, observing her lover holding you in his arms and gingerly walking up to her. You were sleeping soundly, your naked body limp, covered in bruises and cuts. “What did you do to her, Hwa?”

“We fought. She wanted to prove herself. She got me good too.” He walked up to their shared bed and laid your body down, pointing up to his sliced horn, not able to see the bruises left on his face.

Rosanna reached up to it, concern etched into her face, then looked down at you, running her fingers near the deepest cut on your arm. “You took things too far, Hwa. You were supposed to convince her to stay, not this.”

“She’s not as fragile as you think she is, my love…but, yes, you’re right. I’m trying to control myself in that state. It’s proving to be a bit more difficult.” Seonghwa turned around and walked to the other side of the room, gathering up a few jars of herbs and potions so that they could heal your wounds.

“How does it make you feel?” Rosanna asked, taking some of the jars from Seonghwa and opening a few of them, in order to prepare a mixture.

“The thoughts are taking a longer time to leave my head when I return to my normal state.” He handed Rosanna a mortar bowl and watched as she began crushing up the mixture inside.

“What kind of thoughts are you having?”

“Earlier, in the forest…I wanted…” he started, his blue eyes trailing your naked body, watching as your chest rose and fell, studying your closed legs, wanting to be in between them. “I wanted to breed Y/N. Until she couldn’t move. It was such a visceral feeling too, but I…I held myself back for the most part.”

“You’re waiting for my permission, hm?” Rosanna asked, turning the herbs into a fine paste underneath the pestle she was using. She chuckled at Seonghwa’s obedient nod, reaching over with her free hand to stroke his hair. “You can breed her, darling. Whatever you want, as long as she wants it too, you can give it to her.”

Seonghwa wiped his mouth to prevent any drool from falling from it, watching as Rosanna began placing the paste onto your wounds with a soft hum. “Do you think she’ll stay if we show her how much we want her?”

“I would like to think so.” Hopeful, Rosanna sat down on the edge of the bed and began petting your hair. She rested her hand on your cheek, smiling softly as you turned your head towards her palm, but didn’t wake up. “Though it has to be her decision.”

༻✧༺

You woke up to the feeling of a warm washcloth gliding across your abdomen, as well as two fingers running over the scar tissue of your brand, the trickles of water making you shiver. “Mm…” Once you opened your eyes, you blinked a few times to get used to the golden light pouring inside the room through the open window, eventually focusing on Rosanna, who sat in a chair beside the clawfoot tub you were laying in. “Princess…”

“Y/N….I know my father…he…” she started in a weak voice, gently tracing the insignia that was etched into your skin. “He’s a monster for doing this to you. I wish I could’ve done something to protect you. I…should’ve been by your side. I just didn’t know if he had control over you…if you were close to him like your father was. That’s why I kept to myself for so long, but that was…so selfish of me.” She closed her eyes, a tear falling from them once she looked at you, clearly struck by grief. “I’m so sorry…”

Hesitating only for a moment, you lifted your hand out of the heated water and caressed her cheek, rubbing her tears away with your thumb. “Don’t be sorry. You did what you had to for your own protection.” When Rosanna placed her hand over yours and leaned down further, you gave her a soft smile. “We’re two sides of the same coin, love. We both wanted to protect and take care of each other, but there was always something caught in the way.”

“And now…?” she whispered, dropping the washcloth in favor of holding your face, watching as you sat up.

Sighing softly, you pressed your forehead to hers. “Now, there’s nothing left to stop us. I see that now.”

She sighed as well, exhaling out all the worries, rage, grief, and despair she had felt for so long, instead drawing in everything that you were when she pressed her lips to yours. You kissed her back, sharing a gentle exchange of love and warmth, until it grew more desperate, more passionate, wishing it could somehow allow you to convey the myriad of things you felt inside that you simply couldn’t verbalize.

Breaking the kiss, Rosanna slipped out of her silk robe and climbed into the tub onto your lap, pressing kiss after kiss whenever she could, focusing on your neck once she heard the small breathless sounds you couldn’t help but let out. “What’s wrong, Y/N? Hmm?”

“Feels good…”

“Yeah? Do you want more?”

Smiling at your quick nod, her hand slid down in between your wet bodies, groping gently at your breasts, before slipping one, then two fingers inside you, chuckling softly at your surprised gasp.

“Princess,” you moaned, heat consuming your body and soul, tossing your head back just as she began to pump them in and out of you, her thumb pushing into your clit every time she filled you.

“What is it, love?”

Swallowing saliva down your throat, you gripped her thigh, pleading with your eyes. “Let me fill you too.”

Rosanna nodded her head at your request, emitting a choked gasp as you pushed two digits into her entrance as well and tried to match her thrusts, the both of you eagerly trying to bring one another to the same peak of pleasure. “That’s it, Y/N. Just like that…”

You leaned forward to bring Rosanna into an open-mouthed kiss, thumbing her clit with your other hand with as much quickness and pressure as she was offering you, moaning and gasping into her mouth, your bodies beginning to shake and tremble against one another’s. “Princess, oh my gods, please come for me…”

“I’m cumming, Y/N,” she cried out, resting his head in the crook of your neck, her cunt spasming around your fingers, until they were slick with her release. Rossana felt how tight you became around her own fingers, squeezing and rubbing your clit until you let out a silent cry and squeezed her shoulders for comfort.

Trying to catch your breath, you gazed at her until the bathroom door opened behind the both of you. “Rosanna…I…”

“Seems like you two are getting along,” Seonghwa interrupted cheekily, striding across the cracked tile floor and reaching down to pet both of your heads, his fingers slipping through your hair. “This is a lovely turn of events.”

Rosanna nuzzled Seonghwa’s hand, smiling to herself. “My love, won’t you take us to bed?”

“T-to bed…” you murmured to yourself, your cheeks hotter than the surface of the sun upon thinking about what had occurred the night before.

Seonghwa gave Rosanna’s forehead a kiss, before turning to you, grabbing you by the waist and hoisting you up over his shoulder, finding the squeaks you let out to be insanely adorable. Turning around the walk out of the bathroom with Rosanna at his side, he licked his lips, already drooling. “Let’s go, pup. I think it’s about time I eat you.”

“E-eat me?” you gasped, trying to bring your head up to look at Rosanna with pleading eyes, blushing even harder when she smacked your bare ass and chomped her teeth down in a teasing manner.

༻✧༺

“What’s wrong, pup?” Seonghwa asked huskily in between long, drawn-out licks to your reddened, puffy folds, his long tongue reaching from your clit to your tighter entrance each time, admiring the distant, glazed-over look in your dilated eyes. “Aww, already fucked dumb and I haven’t even bred you yet, hm? Tell me how good it feels.”

“It feels so good, Seonghwa,” you slurred out, unable to react to the feverish expression etched into the dragon shifter's face besides biting into your bottom lip, idly grasping at the princess' wrist for support.

“I bet it does. Hwa’s really good with his tongue,” Rosanna commented cheekily, suddenly blocking Seonghwa’s view of your face when she placed both of her knees on the opposite sides of your head, craning her head back to give him a perverse smile, much to his enjoyment. She pulled back slightly to gaze down at you, carding her fingers through your sweaty hair. “Want to show me what you’re capable of, my love?”

Dumbfounded, you stared up in between the princess’s thighs, swearing you were witnessing heaven itself. “I…wow…Yes, princess, please let me show you,” you answered her, having to swallow saliva down before you choked on it.

Chuckling softly from how endearing you were, she positioned her cunt down onto your mouth before you could say anything else, your eyes rolling back slightly as soon as you tasted her sweet warmth on your tongue. “Mmmn…” You instinctively wrapped your arms around her thighs, lapping at her folds up to her clit like an obedient pet, encouraging the princess to stroke your hair lovingly and rub herself on your open mouth out of pure desperation. “Yeah, just like that, pretty girl. Keep it up.” Fueled by Rosanna’s praise, you let go of one of her thighs to play with her clit, your moans sending pleasurable vibrations through her, unable to register the rest of her breathless praise from how distracting Seonghwa’s tongue was due to the way he kept shoving it in and out of your pulsing hole.

Seonghwa spread your lips apart with two fingers in a V formation, using his thumb from his other hand to rub and swipe at your swollen clit, not giving you a chance to instinctively buck your hips away from him, using his tail to wrap around you and hold you down. “Uh-uh-uh,” he teased in a muffled voice, pushing his slick appendage so far inside you, your vision started to fade out. You kept licking and licking, flicking and flicking your tongue up the princess’ throbbing pussy, opting to shove your tongue into her hole just like Seonghwa kept doing to you, losing yourself completely in the white hot pleasure that was pulsing through your entire body. There was no knight. No princess. No dragon. Just endless love. It was only when a hot gush of liquid spilled out into your mouth and went down your throat that you came to, squeezing and kneading Rosanna’s trembling thighs with your weak hands, drinking it down until there was no more.

Panting heavily, Rosanna climbed off of you and encouraged you to sit up, leaning her flushed face towards yours, dragging her tongue up past your bottom lip and into your mouth, tilting her head to bring you into a deep kiss, lowering one of her hands down to squish and pull at one of your tits. She opened her eyes up slightly to gaze into your barely open ones, her tongue coiling around yours, swapping spit and warm arousal with one another.

Once Seonghwa slurped your abundant arousal up into his mouth and licked his lips clean, he sat up as well, before standing up on the mattress in front of the both of you, idly grabbing your other tit, rubbing your nipple around with his thumb. “Do you like being filthy with your lovely princess, Y/N?” he questioned you in a gravelly voice, gripping the back of your head, as well as Rosanna’s as soon as you made a muffled sound of approval, alternating the position of your heads, deepening the kiss between the two of you, making the both of you moan into each other’s mouths. As soon as spit began to drip down your chins, Seonghwa emitted a low growl from the back of his throat, slowly slipping his cockhead in between your open mouths, groaning as you both began sucking on opposite sides, your tongues and lips working in tandem to slurp on his twitching length.

Knowing Seonghwa had been waiting for his chance to mate you, Rosanna slowly pulled away, wrapping her fingers around his cock and guiding it to your mouth, watching as you gingerly allowed it inside, the corners of your lips stinging from his size. “That’s a good girl, Y/N. You can take it all, right?”

You nodded your head quickly, sitting up on your knees to suck him off properly, holding onto his hips for support, trying not to gag when Seonghwa suddenly bucked his hips forward, forcing his cock down your throat, stretching it out.

“Mmmm, look at the pretty little knight with the dragon’s cock stuffed inside her pretty little throat. Isn’t it a beautiful sight, my love?” Once Rosanna nodded in approval and moved some of your hair out of your face, Seonghwa zoned in on you with glowing eyes, hunger visible on his arousal-stained face, the tip of his forked tongue swiping at one of his elongated fangs as he began to fuck your throat, thrusting steadily and enjoying all the gurgled noises you made. “Yeah, that's right. Get it nice and wet for me so I can breed that pretty pussy of yours, pup.”

You kept your mouth open as wide as possible for as long as you could, almost feeling lightheaded from the way his hot, heavy length kept pushing past your throat, gasping as soon as he pulled out and used your spit to slick up his cock, along with the abundant pre-cum that dripped from it. Seonghwa was breathing too heavily to speak his mind so you looked to Rosanna for guidance.

She kissed your cheek and hugged you lightly, rubbing your lower back in small circles. “Are you ready to take him, Y/N? He’s been waiting to become one with you, but only if you’re ready for it.”

You looked back at Rosanna, smiling softly, your body and heart full of warmth for her. Once you pressed a kiss onto her cheek as well, gingerly lacing your fingers with hers. “I’m ready.” Rosanna nuzzled you with her cheek, before looking up at Seonghwa, reaching up to pat his hip, causing him to spring into action.

In a head-down, ass-up position on the stiff mattress, you made sure to keep your eyes on the large, throne-like chair that was positioned at the foot of the bed, zoned in on the princess’s sweaty, shuddering body laid back against the seat, her fingers pushed deep inside her. “Oh, Princess…” you sighed out, overcome by the sight of her, but also taken by Seonghwa’s heavy body pressing down into your back, his cock ramming you forward with each powerful thrust. She gave you a lustful look back, breathing heavily and emitting soft moans of pleasure, pleased with the sight of her dutiful knight being fucked to hell and back by her precious dragon shifter.

Seonghwa chuckled darkly into your ear, hardly out of breath, despite how hard he was ramming into you. “Do you like the way Rosanna is looking at you? At us?”

“Yes,” you admitted shakily, a few beads of sweat dripping down along your neck and lower back, making you shiver, your throat hurting from how dry it was after breathing and moaning so heavily. “It feels so good…having her watching me…”

His tongue slithered out to lap up the sweat that dripped down your neck before it trickled onto the bed, eyeing the fading mark on your neck and sinking his teeth into it to make a fresh one, pleased with the strained moan that reverberated out of your throat. Seonghwa picked up the pace, his claws closing around your hips, hunching over and fucking into you like a ravenous animal, asking into your ear, “Tell me, do you want my kin inside you, Y/N? Do you want me to breed you like a proper mate?”

Locked into a delirious state of pleasure, barely able to focus on Rosanna’s increasingly blurry body jolting and sinking down into the chair as she met her climax, you found yourself nodding as quickly as you could. “Yes, yes, yes,” you chanted each time Seonghwa pounded himself into you, overcome by a delirious amount of pleasure once you felt his tail slide underneath your body to swipe and rub along your swollen clit, the rough scales sending almost painful strikes of pleasure into your core. “Breed me, Seonghwa. Breed me and make me yours.”

Seonghwa met Rosanna’s gaze, his lips curling into a blissful smile once he saw hers, knowing both of their wishes were coming true. You were his, and she was yours. The three of you allowed to mingle inside a space of your own, without any threats, able to join each other at a pinnacle of love for as long as your hearts desired. “As you wish, my love,” Seonghwa replied breathlessly, flipping your body around and facing you, using the tip of his tail to press into your clit in just the right way to make you let out a choked sob, your arousal coating his throbbing cock. “I’m going to fill you now. It’s coming, beloved.”

You tossed your head back onto the sheets below your head, about to fade away completely when Rosanna sat on her knees near the edge of the bed, beginning to run her fingers through your hair and leaving kisses on your cheek and earlobe, whispering sweet nothings and encouragement into your ear. Seonghwa’s relentless thrusts and the sudden intrusion of his cum flowing into your womb and filling you up to the brim sent you over the edge once again. You yelled out for them, reaching out your hands as well, feeling like you would drown in ecstasy without a way to come back to the shore. Seonghwa took your hand in his and held it tightly, leaning down against your body, still sheathed inside you, keeping you full of his love. Rosanna held your other hand just as tightly, pressing her cheek against yours, neither of them letting go of you.

༻✧༺

Turning your sore, bruise-riddled body in the velvet sheets, you faced the two slumbering individuals beside you, studying their features bathed in the moonlight that was peeking through the stained-glass window. Your dear Rosanna was wrapped up in Seonghwa’s arms, being held protectively from anyone or anything that wanted to do her harm. She held him back, her fingers clutching at the ends of his raven hair, her face displaying complete and utter peace. When you first arrived, you remembered the serenity etched into her features, her eyes diligently studying the book she was reading in the library. You remembered how Seonghwa looked at her anytime he was near her. With sparkling eyes full of love and longing. Perhaps they didn’t need you. You suddenly sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, holding two fingers over your heart, feeling it hammering inside your ribcage, your chest tightening up uncomfortably. Without thinking, you stood up and walked over to your clothes to begin putting your trousers on.

“I know things are complicated for you, but you shouldn’t go back to that monster of a king,” Seonghwa said in a hushed voice, already sitting up against the headboard, brushing his fingers over Rosanna’s hair as she slept soundly. You craned your neck back to look at the man, swallowing hard, the warmth inside your heart telling you that everything you felt before wasn’t a fluke. He ran a hand through his bed hair to smooth it out, leaning his head against the wood behind him. Sensing your apprehension, he sought to quell your fears. “ I’m truly sorry I gave you such a hard time before. I was acting out of selfishness. I couldn’t accept that you offered her something I couldn’t…”

Your grip loosened from the material that was hanging from your hips, letting it pool around your feet below. Seonghwa reached out for your hand, prompting you to take it. He squeezed your fingers, his eyebrows upturned with regret. “Please forgive me, love.”

You squeezed his fingers back, sliding back down onto the bed to leave a peck on his cheek. “I forgive you, Seonghwa. It’s okay. I…couldn’t accept that either, actually. I wanted to be the one that saved her. That took all her pain away. I wanted to be…her prince.” You laughed weakly at your own words, shaking your head, but Seonghwa looked at you with deep understanding. “I’m just a nobody with some rusted chain-mail. But…I’m happy being whatever she wants me to be.”

Seonghwa gave you a genuine smile, one that filled you with comfort. “She wants you to be you, darling. She fell in love with you…not the knight of the round table…” His voice drifted off as he pressed his lips to your cheek, closing his eyes. “Not the loyal guard of the king…” Another kiss, this one just beside your lips. “But you, Y/N, the softhearted, tenacious woman that’s underneath all the heavy armor you wear. That’s who she fell in love with.”

“So…I’m enough?” you asked under your breath, as though you were ready to crack and crumble underneath the weight of them.

“More than enough.” As Seonghwa encased your cheeks with his slender fingers, he brought you into a real kiss, letting you whisper a broken ‘thank you’ in between kisses. He brought you into his arms, giving you another gentle reminder, “You have a place here. With us. With her. I promise you.”

Once he let you go, you leaned your head in the crook of his neck, gazing down at Rosanna who was still sleeping soundly in his arms, tears threatening to leave your eyes. “I’ll stay...” Seonghwa nodded to himself in silence, rubbing your shoulder with his hand and pressing a small kiss to your cheek. You held your hand out above Rosanna’s head, wanting to touch her hair like Seonghwa had done earlier, but hesitating out of habit like you had done for many years prior.

Seonghwa took your trembling hand and guided it down to the princess’s head. “It’s okay, Y/N. You’re safe here. You don’t have to hide anymore.” He looked at you with his soft sapphire gaze, studying your softened expression for a moment, before looking down at Rosanna. “She wanted you to stay the most, you know. She’d stand at the windowsill right over there day after day, waiting for you to come. All this time.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until you saw your teardrops land onto Rosanna’s cheek and slide down onto the sheets in small splotches. Seonghwa sighed to himself, wondering if you had finally removed the last piece of armor you had on.

Rosanna’s eyes fluttered open when a tear landed on her eyelid, concerned by the sight of your immense display of emotion. She reached up to touch your tear-stained face, immediately asking, “Y/N, are you okay?”

You nodded, taking her cheeks into your warm hands and leaning down to press a gentle kiss onto her lips. Once you pulled away, you heard her make a small noise of protest at the loss of your warmth, causing you to let out a chuckle. “I’m more than okay…”

She wiped a few of your tears away with her thumbs, gazing up at you. “Then why are you crying, my love?”

Taking in a deep breath, you pressed your forehead onto hers, whispering, “I love you, Rosanna…since the very beginning, I’ve loved you with all my heart.”

Rosanna blushed heavily, suddenly wrapping her arms around you and pulling your body flush to hers, burying her face into your neck so that you couldn’t see how much you had affected her. “I love you too, Y/N. More than you know.”

“Once more,” you requested against her ear, eventually meeting her uncharacteristically shy, but passionate gaze.

“I love you, Y/N,” she answered with all the passion she could conjure up, relieved that you looked just as flustered as she did.

Your thumb pressed into her bottom lip, wanting to feel it move under your skin when she recited the spell that she now had you under. “One more time…”

Rosanna clutched the back of your head with two hands, her heart still skipping a beat when she said, “I love you…”

“As do I, Rosanna. Always and forever,” you returned, encouraging Rosanna to press her lips onto yours, your bodies melding to one another, making you forget about everything else entirely.

Seonghwa reached down to pet the tops of your heads, thankful he could witness a happy ending being written right in front of his eyes, the ink still wet to the touch. Though the books ahead were still full of blank pages, the first was finally complete, ready to be put back onto the shelf in favor of a new one.

➽───────────────❥

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stuckybarton · 1 year

Text

Bathala and the Forsaken Queen

Summary: He was called by the Spanish as the child without love, but to you, his wife, he was the man that has saved you and your child from the impending death at the hands of the colonials dead-set on killing your entire bloodline. Character: K'uk'ulkan/Namor x Filipino!Queen!Female Reader. OC Daughter (Adlaw) Word Count: 6,388 Warnings: Philippine History Inaccuracy, changed some dates to suit the story. Mention of War and the Atrocities during the Spanish Colonization in the Philippines. Death and mentions of corpses. Angst. Happy Ever After. BPWF spoilers and slight deviation to the plot. Mention of consuming dangerous plants. A/N: A request from @kpopgirlbtssvt, Another banger of a request from you thank you so much for this. Again I did tweak a few things here and there and i hope that's fine with you.

Masterlist || Join the Library ( i no longer do taglist you can just turn on notif here)

Bathala and the Forsaken Queen

TALOKAN | PRESENT DAY

Shuri walked into the room where Namor had been spending most of his time painting the murals on the walls. The vibrant colors and intricate details caught her attention as soon as she stepped in.

“Princess.”

Shuri continued to observe the paintings, noticing the different scenes depicting the history of Namor's people. She pointed to one in particular, showing a woman and child, protected by a God-like being from attackers.

“Who is this?” Shuri had inquired. Among the numerous of artworks, there was a certain veneration, a certain care into painting this woman among the rest of the artworks in the murals on the wall.

“She is my wife, my Queen, the mother of Talokan.”

MACTAN, CEBU, PHILIPPINES | 1592

You hold your daughter close to you as you run along the sandy beaches. The wind is whipping at your hair and dress, and you can hear the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the screams of death of your people, and the sound of the fire enveloping your homes. Your heart was pounding in fear as you glance over your shoulder to see the Spanish Conquistador chasing after you with a sword in hand—blood that you were certain was of your husband, the King’s after the brutal fight. Now you and your child run to avoid becoming the spoils of their victory.

“Keep running,” You urged yourself, holding your infant close to your chest, trying to sound calm despite the terror and anguish in your heart. “We will not let them take us.”

Your daughter coos as if sensing your own dread, her eyes filled with tears as she was looking up at you. You can see the fear in her eyes and it breaks your heart to know that she is experiencing such terror at such a young age. You are the Queen of your people, but in this moment, you feel powerless against the force of the Spanish invasion.

As you run, you see a large rock formation in the distance. It's your only chance to take cover and make a stand against the Conquistador. You pull your daughter towards your chest even more, hoping that it will provide some protection.

As you reach the rocks, you turn to face the Conquistador, your heart heavy with the knowledge that this could be your final stand. The Conquistador approaches, his sword gleaming in the sunlight.

You stand tall, ready to fight for your life and the life of your daughter. You know that the odds are against you, but you will not go down without a fight. You hold your daughter close, feeling her small body tremble with fear. You whisper words of love and comfort to her, trying to give her strength in this dark moment.

The Conquistador approaches, his sword raised high. You close your eyes, ready to face your fate. But before he can strike, the sound of a neck being snapped and the Conquistador falls dead to the sandy ground below you was what now comes to you.

You feel the surge of gratitude and relief wash over you as you turned to face a possible soldier from your people that helped, but the smile that was slowly growing on your face faded just as quick as it had appeared. The man in front of you was no soldier of your people—but a man that exuded power greater than any Gods in your lifetime.

Was this Bathala? Has he finally answered your prayers? You could not think straight out of fear of everything that has transpired, you had pulled your daughter closer to your chest. Protecting her from whatever wrath the God might come for you and your fallen people.

The man speaks, a language that you know nothing about. Fear grew more and the possibility of him being just like the Conquistador but instead of savagery, you were given a small bracelet which he gently slipped onto your shaking wrist.

You approached the man cautiously, your mewling daughter close to your chest and ready to move if the need arises. With his hands held up, you took a look at the man and realizing he was truly no human you had ever seen in your life before.

Pointed ears, same skin as you, his ears, nose, and neck adorned in jewelry but the most shocking part of the man in front of you were the pair of wings on either side of his feet. How only now did you realize that he was not standing on the sand, but was hovering and the sight of the fluttering wings both interested you as much as it did scare you.

With your own shaky hand you slipped off your own gold armband, handing it to the man in a quiet exchange hoping he would understand you were no threat, just simply a mother trying to protect your daughter. You watch him take hold of it, how he had slip the band around his wrist and the smile of reassurance resting on his face.

The fear slowly fading away from your system at a friendly company, but your mind was now washed with the anguish of what was left of your home. Everything that close to ashes at this point. No longer did you hear the sound of cries nor the sound of swords in the distance. It was quite painful to hear the empty silence of what was left of your people because of the Conquistador.

As you turned to finally thank the man that has saved you and your daughter, the man was gone, leaving you and your daughter to tend to yourself from now on.

TALOKAN | PRESENT DAY

“She was just like me, but from another country far from our own. Her people and her first husband were killed in the aftermath of the Spanish Conquistador.”

Shuri could only nod, watching as Namor gestured to images of you, who moved and settled to a cave-like home, far from what you were once so accustomed to in your life.

“She had a daughter?” Shuri wondered, looking more into the child that once had the same color of skin in the first image before her skin was now painted blue just like your own now.

“My blessing. She might not have been my blood, but I have treated her just like my own.”

MACTAN, CEBU, PHILIPPINES | 1592

It was hard to start from scratch.

The fear of possibly another Conquistador coming for you and your daughter had you on edge and instead of returning to your home, you have decided that it was best to live in a cavern close to your home, but discreet enough to hide you and your daughter from anyone that would place the both of you in harm’s way.

It’s been days since the attack in your home, days since you have ever caught a wink of sleep. In the damp floor with your daughter resting on what was once your lavish robe laid besides you sleeping, you found yourself sobbing. You begin to mourn the death of your husband, who fought valiantly against them in hopes of buying enough time for the both of you to escape. You could remember the way your husband was outnumbered, how in his dying breath he had screamed for you to and your daughter to run for your lives, how he had told you his love and devotion to you, his Queen and his wife. The memory was a burning reminder of everything you have lost because of the invaders.

Your hands had covered your mouth, fearing that you might wake your daughter up because of your despair. You watch your daughter’s chest gently rise and fall and in the image of her, you grew numb for what you knew you needed to do to live, to strive, and to ensure that she would grow up happy and away from whatever danger that was in this world.

In the stillness of what you now call your temporary home, you heard footsteps. The alertness waking you from your sleepless state. You crouch in the dimly-lit cave, your heart racing as you listen for any sound of approaching danger. In your arms you had lifted your daughter up, your six-month-old daughter sleeps peacefully still, oblivious to the turmoil that surrounds her.

You stroke your daughter's soft cheek, marveling at her innocence and her trust. She is your hope and your future, the embodiment of all that you hold dear. You vow to keep her safe, to teach her the ways of your people, and to instill in her the strength and resilience needed to survive in this harsh new world.

As you wait in the darkness, your mind drifts back to happier times, before the arrival of the Spanish. You remember the lush forests and sparkling beaches, the vibrant festivals and colorful ceremonies. You remember the warmth and generosity of your people, the sense of community and belonging that permeated every aspect of your life.

But those memories are tinged with sadness and anger now, as you realize how much has been lost. Your people have been forced to flee their homes, to abandon their farms and fishing boats, to abandon their traditions and beliefs. The invaders have brought disease and death, destruction and despair. They have shattered the very fabric of your society, leaving nothing but chaos and uncertainty in their wake.

Suddenly, you hear a commotion outside the cave grow louder. You can hear the Spanish shouting and cursing, and the sound of horses whinnying in distress. You dare not hope, but perhaps there is a chance that they will not find you. But your hope is short-lived. You hear footsteps approaching the cave, the sound echoing in the darkness. You hold your breath, trying to remain as still as possible. You do not want to give yourself away.

The footsteps stop just outside the cave. You can hear the Spanish muttering to each other in their foreign tongue. You understood what they are saying having insisted to your husband that it was a good thing to learn their language to know their true intentions.

Suddenly, a hand reaches into the cave, groping blindly in the darkness. You shrink back, trying to make yourself as small as possible. But the hand finds you, gripping your arm tightly. You try to pull away, but the hand is too strong. You feel tears stinging your eyes as you realize that this is the end. You and your daughter are going to be captured, enslaved, or worse.

Turning to the owner of the hand gripping onto you, you saw the same man that had saved you a few days prior. He held up a finger against his lips, requesting for you to keep quiet. He had guided you towards the darker corners of the cave, wrapping a blanket around you before he walks towards the sound of the Conquistadors that you were certain were still after you and your daughter.

You hear the sound of violence, the sound of your savior killing the remaining Spanish soldiers who came to look for you in the cave. You do not want to listen, but you cannot help it. You can hear the brutality of the way he kills each and every single one of them without mercy. You can hear the sound of bones breaking, of swords clashing, and of flesh being torn.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it is over. You hear the man's footsteps approaching, and you brace yourself for his arrival. You do not know what to expect, but you know that it cannot be good. But when he appears, he is different than you expected. He is covered in blood and dirt, his face twisted in rage. But there is also something else there, something that you cannot quite name.

He looks at you and your daughter, and you see the rage in his eyes soften. He approaches you, his hand outstretched. You catch sight of the golden band you had given him wrapped around his wrist. You do not know what to do, but you realize that you must trust him. You take his hand, and he helps you and your daughter to your feet.

He spoke a language you did not understand. You blinked uncertain what you could say or do to understand the man.

“Mi nombre es K'uk'ulkan, aquí no estás a salvo. Hay muchos que todavía te buscarán. (My name is K'uk'ulkan, you are not safe here. There are many that will still look for you).”

You pulled your hand away as he spoke the same language as the Conquistadors. You held your daughter closer to your chest, fearing of what the man might do now or of his intentions with you in this moment.

“No quiero hacer daño. Mi gente es víctima de los conquistadores como la tuya. (I mean no harm. My people are victims of the Conquistadors just like your own).”

You find yourself sadden by his words. You had believed that you and your people were the only victims, only to turn out there were more people like that had suffered so much at the hands of the colonizers. Walking a little closer to the man now, but still the precaution was ever so evident for you.

Standing in a damp and dark cave with your six-month-old daughter in your arms, you can feel her little body trembling as she snuggles closer to you, seeking warmth and comfort. This was not the healthiest environment to have her live. You can have no one else to blame, for you were just as afraid about this circumstance. You know for certain that the Conquistadors would continue to hunt you and your daughter still. As you look around the cave, you see nothing but darkness and silence. You wonder if this is where you will spend the rest of your days, hiding away from the world.

The man, K’uk’ulkan, was a tall and imposing figure, with a regal bearing that genuinely reminds you of the nobles of your own people. He is dressed in a long white cloak with a headdress adorned with shimmering feathers. He looked far too different from the first time you had met him and it didn’t truly give you the benefit of trusting him in this moment. Especially with the blood that still painted his skin and some of on his cloak from his actions against the Conquistadors.

“He venido a ofrecerte santuario en mi propio reino. Es el lugar más seguro para usted y su hija mientras los conquistadores aún los buscan. (I have come to offer you sanctuary in my own kingdom. It is the safest place for you and your daughter to be while the Conquistadors still search for you).”

You stare at the man, uncertain whether you could truly trust him. But the two instances of him saving your life should have been enough for you to at least try. Aside from his abilities to kill the Conquistador with his bare hands, the sight of him with wings and the pointed ears had you cautious of what more he was capable of doing. It was as if you were not truly in the presence of a mere mortal—but something far greater or worse depending on what you decide to do.

"Mi reino está lejos de aquí, pero me aseguraré de que tú y tu hija lleguen a salvo. Puedo ofrecerte protección y un hogar, donde estarás a salvo de cualquier daño. Y prometo que haré todo lo que esté a mi alcance para garantizar que nunca más serás perseguido por los conquistadores. (My kingdom is far from here, but I will ensure that you and your daughter arrive safely. I can offer you protection and a home, where you will be safe from harm. And I promise that I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are never hunted by the Conquistadors again)." The man continues, his voice spoke softly.

You consider his words carefully, weighing the risks and the benefits of accepting his offer. You know that the journey to his kingdom will be long and dangerous, but you also know that you have no other choice. The Conquistadors are still searching for you, and they will stop at nothing to capture you.

Finally, you nod your head, accepting K'uk'ulkan's offer of sanctuary. You feel a sense of relief wash over you, knowing that you and your daughter will be safe from harm. As you follow K'uk'ulkan out of the cave, you can't help but feel a sense of trepidation. You know that the road ahead will be long and hard, but you also know that you have made the right decision.

The walk out of the cave was filled with death, you did your best to ignore the bodies laid around and brutalized by the man that walked in front of you. But it filled you with a great sense of fear and reassurance, fear for what he was capable of doing and the reassurance that he will be there to protect you should the need ever arise against the Conquistadors.

As the sunlight begins to beam against your eyes, you tried your best to adjust as the first brush of the wind has brushed against your cheeks and your baby slowly but surely waking from her slumber.

“¿Cuales son tus nombres? (What are your names?)” He asked you waiting by the end of the cave.

You told him your name, of your daughter, Adlaw, a daughter-born under the scorching sun that had ended the long-standing drought in your land. He smiled as you explained your daughter’s name to him. How invested he seemed to be of what was once your people.

“Tu hija le ha dado a tu pueblo la lluvia tan necesaria como yo le he dado a mi propio pueblo el sol. (Your daughter has given your people the much needed rain as I have given my own people the sun).”

You gasped, realizing that the man was truly a God after all.

You continued to walk through the now deserted beaches. The putrid scent of death and burned down husk wafted and it took a lot out of you not to gag from where you stood. As your eyes to one last glance around what you once called your home, you noticed something strange. Warriors that were now closing in on K’uk’ulkan who have blue skin.

You rub your eyes, thinking that perhaps you were seeing things from lack of sleep, but when you open them again, the blue-skinned warriors were still there and meant no harm as they kneeled in front of your savior. Hands helped up in a gesture that was similar to an open flower.

You glance over at K’uk’ulkan, who notice your confusion and apprehension.

"Esta es mi gente, (These are my people)," he explains. "Son los soldados más valientes y leales que he conocido (They are the bravest and most loyal soldiers I have ever known)."

You can't help but stare at them in wonder. You have never seen anything like them before. Their blue skin seems to shimmer in the sunlight, and their eyes are a reassuring shade of black just like your own. Aside from armor that were somewhat similar from that of your own people’s, aside from their skin color, it was the mouthpiece covering their mouths and nose that took you by surprise, made you wonder how they could breathe at such a constrictions. As you walk alongside them, you feel a sense of safety and security that you haven't felt in a long time. These warriors are here to protect you and your daughter, and you can tell that they take their duty very seriously.

But as you continued to walk, you felt uneasy as you walked closer towards the water instead of what you would have expected to be in the forest up above the mountains. You had watched half of the warriors make their way towards the waters, diving in without an ounce of hesitation. Turning towards K’uk’ulkan, he provided a reassuring smile, holding onto your hand.

“¿Confías en mí? (Do you trust me?)” He asked you.

“No. Pero prometiste mantenernos a salvo a mí y a mi hija y cumpliré tu promesa. (I don't. But you promised to keep me and my daughter safe and I'll hold you onto your promise).” You responded right back honestly.

“Y mantendré la promesa mientras viva. (And I will keep the promise for as long as I live).”

Eventually, two of the warriors have come to stand in front of you, the mouthpiece they wore was now handed to you and your daughter and with a small prayer of guidance and remaining bravery after everything that has happened in your lives, you accepted the mouthpiece and with K’uk’ulkan holding you and your daughter made your way further and further towards the water to a life that was not your own anymore, but for the sake of your daughter will be the best thing to happen.

TALOKAN | PRESENT DAY

“Yuum!”

The sound of giggling children sounded catching Shuri’s attention. Turning to where the sound began, she had watched the sight of three small children making their way towards the both of them, walking slower after them was two women, spitting image of each other.

“In Reina. In sáasil k'iin.” Namor spoke so tenderly towards the two women. His attention turned towards the three children, peppering each and every single one of them with kisses and endearing words that reminded Shuri so much of her father long before he had passed.

Shuri turning her attention back towards the women, she had come to realize who exactly they were. The similarities and the much more evident jewelry that adorned their necks and ears.

“You are the mother and daughter in the murals.” Shuri spoke.

TALOKAN | 1593

“Mama.”

You smiled the slow but sure progress of your one-year-old daughter in a place that you now call as your own. Your daughter was slowly but surely learning the ways of Talokan, of their people without sacrificing the ways of your own people too. You have mourn the death and end of your people for months, being allowed the courtesy by K’uk’ulkan to do a ceremony for your fallen people and of your husband.

But like your daughter, you began to learn about the ways of the people of Talokan, even if you remained in the comforts of K’uk’ulkan’s cavern above the water. Every single day, a teacher would come to visit you and your daughter, teaching you the language of their people and slowly but surely you have stopped using Spanish to converse with the people and began to use their own, in your own end had thought them about the history of your own, of your Gods and of your culture that were somewhat like their own before they had escaped to the waters.

“In chan k'iino'. (My Little Sunshine).”

Turning, you realize you and your daughter were not alone. K’uk’ulkan has returned from his duties. You gave him a smile, it been a year now since you have arrived in Talokan after he had saved you from the Conquistador—twice. He had kept his promise to keep you and your daughter safe away from the Conquistadors and from whatever danger may come lurking in the corner. Upon your arrival to his home, you have learned of his identity—a King and God to the people of Talokan, the first-born of the people of Talokan and a man that gave his people the hope that never truly settled because of the attack of the Spanish.

You watched your daughter make her way towards K’uk’ulkan. It warms your heart how it had been easy for your daughter to trust the man, the people of Talokan, and of the new life that was not of your own. Just as much as it had been hard for you to do the same. The never ending apprehension even with all the kindness his people have given you and your daughter.

“My King.” You spoke greeting the man.

“I thought we have agreed to call each other by our names, In Reina.” He playfully scolded, arms were quick to hold onto your daughter and to lift her up.

You had watch how K’uk’ulkan had a soft spot for her, how he grinned and played along with your daughter and her dangerous curiosity. How he had allowed for your daughter to hold onto the jewelry nestled on his nose even as hard as your daughter would tug at the jade.

“I am no Queen in Talokan.” You spoke, finding yourself now sitting onto the chair, your eyes lingering on the murals that painted the walls—K’uk’ulkan’s creations.

“But you are the Queen of your people, as much as your daughter is still the Princess. It does not change here as long as I would allow it.”

You nodded, knowing it was no use trying to argue with the man, he would always find a way to ensure that he gets his way.

TALOKAN | 1598

A year turned into two, then into three, then you have realized that it had now been five years since the fateful day that the man had saved you from the clutches of the Conquistador. Five years of living your life and your daughter’s own under the confinements of the cavern of K’uk’ulkan’s home. You were beyond grateful for everything the man has done for you, for keeping his promise of keeping you and your daughter safe, for stepping into the role of your daughter’s father but always spoke kindly of your late husband and his valiant effort to keep the both of you safe all those years ago, for allowing you to believe that there were still people you could trust and love even after all that you have been through.

It wasn’t sudden, nor did you plan for it to happen but it did. How you found yourself falling deeper and deeper in love with the man that loathed the surface world and its people, but had opened his home to you and your daughter. He had promised you a life safe from the terrors in the surface and he gave you the home that was nothing you had ever dreamed possible.

But the most important thing he had ever given you was the choice. A choice to remain as the human you still were or be just like his people, to live in the waters like every single one of the people of Talokan. You know your daughter craves the water, from the instances of her playing with K’uk’ulkan in the shallower parts of the waters, how she had longed to be able to play with the other children of Talokan deep in the waters instead of the confinements of the cavern.

He promised you that he would respect whatever decision you might decide, but he provided the option should you want to finally make a change.

“You want to go back to the surface?” The panic was all so evident in his face when you had made the request one morning. It’s been five years since you took the risk of coming with them and you have yet to truly regret your action. But you needed to have the much needed closure before you open the new chapter in your life.

“I—I want to see my home one last time.” You explained hoping it was enough of an explanation for him. And the nod he had given seemed like it was. He requested for two breathers to be brought for you and your daughter.

It took no time at all when you made the request. No hesitation and no apprehension from the man at your request. How it was easy for him to explain to your daughter about the trip that you were to make up to the surface. How the excitement bubbled in every question that escaped her lips, her eyes twinkling as she continued to ask K’uk’ulkan about the surface world, of the life that you once had before Talokan.

You did not truly have the heart to tell her that this was the closure that you would finally have for the both of you. Your late husband would have wanted just as much, after everything that has happened, it was time to finally move on with your life and with everything it encased.

It took less than an hour for you, your daughter, K’uk’ulkan and a handful of his most trusted warriors to arrive to your home. The shore of what was once your home was a part of the home you missed, of the laughter and fun you had growing up with your siblings, running through the sands and talking about the life you would have hope to have growing up. It was bitter to know that as you stood looking at your feet, that you stood as the last remaining member of your family and of your family’s line and worst part was those dreams of the life you hoped to have no longer viable for you or for your daughter.

“Are you alright, In Reina?” K’uk’ulkan had inquired, he kept his voice low, hoping that your daughter would be unaware of the mental chaos in your mind.

As you approached closer towards the land of your once-beautiful home, you felt your heart racing in anticipation, of the hope that your home was restored and there was still a glimpse of hope of your people even in the years of your disappearance. It has been years since you had last laid eyes on your home, remembering the gore and death that you had run away from and of the smell of fire and blood.

The hope has died further into the pits of your stomach, you were struck by the emptiness and desolation that surrounded you. Your heart sinks, the tears have fallen at the sight that have come before you. Corpses from all those years ago still remained, like trash discarded for the wilderness to take. Homes that was once gave you comfort burn, golds and jewelry robbed and the number of weapons that were discarded, both guns and swords littered the ground.

You look around in disbelief, struggling to make sense of the scene before you. Your beloved home, once filled with your people, now lies abandoned. The trees were stained with blood and ashes. As you move through the land, you heart grows heavier with each step. All around you, evidence of a brutal invasion was evident, after the initial one that you had escaped from. Your once-beautiful gardens have now been trampled and burned.

As you move to where you knew was your hut, your heart grows heavier at the sight that befell you. You were certain of who it was. The putrid smell of death could not waver you as you kneels toward the skeletal remains of your husband. How he still wore the garments from which he had died in. The anger for the Conquistadors for removing his gold jewelry after, of the array of brutality you were certain they had placed on his body after his death, it brought a sob out of your lips.

You whispered a prayer, hoping to the Gods that your husband has finally laid to rest peacefully. Kissing your hand before resting it on his skull, you stood back up and made your way further into your hut, to see that every single jewelry and possession you once had now gone with some of the clothes you had woven for your infant now torn and painted in blood.

You sobbed as you were now facing the truth of the aftermath of the Conquistadors. Everything you had left behind was taken from you. You felt the deep sense of loss. You walked out of your hut to the sight of K’uk’ulkan that was carrying your scared daughter and the number of his people keeping guard while to took one last look at your former home.

The sound of a far too familiar language had you turning to the owner of the voices.

“Kill them.” You ordered the Talokanil warriors.

“In Reina—”

“Kill them and burn everything to the ground.” You ordered to which the warriors bowed towards you before doing such thing.

You stepped towards your daughter that was now shaking in fear at the sight of you tear stricken and the sound of death of the remaining Conquistadors being killed by the Talokanil soldier.

“Hush, little girl. Once we come back home, you’re gonna be able to play with the kids in the water.” You whispered reassuringly towards your daughter, sensing how K’uk’ulkan had tensed at your words.

“Are you sure?” He asked you, cupping your cheek with his free hand, his thumb rubbing away the tears.

“We have nothing else here in the surface to live for, the Conquistador had succeeded in destroying my people. It is only right for us to return back to Talokan as part of your people. Not as a guest, but part of your community.”

“I want you to be my Queen.” He pleaded, pulling you closer to him, his warmth radiating giving you as much as it did your daughter, the reassurance that you did not truly have in the moment of weakness. “Be the mother of my people as much as you are the mother of our daughter.”

Your heart raced, he had always showed his love and affection for your daughter, but this was the first time he had actually acknowledged her as his own. Not by blood, but by circumstance that he made the most out of it. Nicknames might had constantly escaped his lips when it comes to your daughter and your daughter had always called him ‘Yuum’ and your late husband as his Baba but this was the first time that there was a clear indicator of it all from him.

“I have kept my promise of protection and all I want in return in your love for me and for my people.”

Looking, you had realized one of the healers has arrived from the waters, you had realized that he had the idea of you finally making your much needed decision for your sake and for the sake of your daughter. In his grasp was a glowing blue plant and you know that once you’ve made the life altering decision, you will finally live the life that you have never expected but realize was all you needed.

“You always had my love and of my daughter’s.” You whispered smiling as his forehead rested against your own. You held onto your daughter’s hand and as the pain of your past slowly washes away, you could only hope what the present and future would be like for you three as a family.

As you three had walked towards the shore, the sound of the crackling fire echoed the skies, you had accepted the bowl given to you by the healer, you had watched K’uk’ulkan sit on the sand besides your daughter, reassuring her that things will be alright and when she wakes up they could play in the deeper part of the waters from now on.

You watched as K’uk’ulkan had hand fed your daughter the plant, seeing how your daughter was wincing at the bitter taste of the crushed plant but continued on as her eagerness to be in the waters overcame everything else. You took a deep breath as you finally consumed the plant in one go, your teary eyes closed as you tried your best to eat everything that was in the bowl.

You felt your skin grow jelly and with one of the warriors holding you up, you were assisted onto the sand and as you opened your eyes you saw your daughter now unconscious in the arms K’uk’ulkan. The panic never sets in, as the trust on the man had grown a hundreds of folds since the first time he had asked you to trust him to return to his home. You trusted him more than you would have ever believed you could.

“Thank you for giving me this new life, K’uk’ulkan.” You whispered.

“Ch'ah Toh Almehen.” He spoke, moving your head until they rested on his shoulder.

“What?”

“My real name. My people call me K’uk’ulkan, my enemies call me Namor, but I want you to call me by my birth name.”

You nod, your eyes grow heavy as your last words before darkness consumed you was his name, the name that he had entrusted for you to use from now on as you lived a life away from what you once lived for. No longer were you the Queen Mother of the Raja in Mactan, but now as the last ounce of life in the surface world fades away, you now became the Queen of Talokan, the mother they had always hoped to have in their life and in their community.

You awoke hours later, but instead of the beach from where you had finally made the decision to change, you were in he middle of the water and the first person you had seen was the man that had saved you. A smile on his face as he pointed towards the side and your eyes had caught sight of your daughter, freely playing with the children in the middle of the waters—breathing through the waters just as much as you and K’uk’ulkan did.

You smiled, holding onto the man’s hands and before you know it you pulled him into a kiss—sealing your fate as the Queen of Talokan and eventually the wife of the great King and God of Talokan.

#k'uk'ulkan x reader #K'uk'ulkan oneshot #K'uk'ulkan oneshots #K'uk'ulkan fluff #K'uk'ulkan imagines #K'uk'ulkan imagine #namor x reader #namor oneshot #namor oneshots #namor imagines #namor angst #K'uk'ulkan angst

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toh-tagteam-au · 1 year

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Tag Team AU Synopsis – Hooty's Moving Hassle

Synopsis Masterpost Link

Previous Part [Covention]

Next Part [Lost in Language + Once Upon a Swap]

My personal favorite of the season 1 concepts. Notice how we’re skipping The Intruder. This will be important later.

It pretty much opens the same as canon, with Eda, King, and Hunter at the market while Eda gets her elixir. Hunter has been informed about her system at this point. They run into Willow and Gus, who are talking about the moonlight conjuring. The fact that Hunter is powerless comes up.

Amity comes up at this point, inviting Willow to her Moonlight Conjuring party as an awkward symbol of friendship, to which Willow declines saying she has better things to do. When she leaves, she reveals she actually doesn’t have anything planned, but Gus suggests they have their own conjuring. Eda initially says no because she just finished talking with the potions guy who told her to head to the night market and that Hunter has to watch the house, but Hunter declines that as well, saying that he has his own plans tonight.

CUT TO THE EMPEROR’S CASTLE! Time skip: Luz and Hunter are in uniform (save for the masks) and discussing how likely it would be that Belos would say yes to joining their own midnight conjuring. Luz is optimistic, while Hunter is not, citing the last outburst as a point against them. Belos hears them whispering behind a pillar, and calls them out into the open.

Belos is in Nice Grandpa mode, no mask and just doing paperwork at a long table.

(I’m probably just gonna end up putting all of Belos’s lines on here because I worked HARD on these ones dammit. I wrote this shit pre-season 2b)

Cut to Willow and Gus, looking for plants, when they hear a scary noise. They realize they’re at the Owl House, which is completely trashed: Hooty is off his hinges, the window is shattered, etc. They decide to call for help, Willow using the GG’s business card since she knows Hunter is involved with them.

Cut back to Hunter and Luz, excited out of their minds that Belos will be joining them, when Luz gets a call on a crow phone. Confused, she answers it to Willow, who says something is wrong at the Owl House. The siblings immediately figure Eda is under the influence of her curse, and Hunter tentatively leaves to go help.

Hunter arrives at the Owl House and meets Willow and Gus, who go into the house to help. Together they find King, who explains that they got carried away playing Hexus Holdem when Eda turned into a monster, and they take down Eda using illusions, plants, and light glyphs (surprise, Hooty’s Moving Hassle was The Intruder this whole time!!!!).

Cut back to Luz in the castle. The moon has set, and Hunter is not back yet. Luz and Belos have a conversation.

Cut to Eda waking up.

Hunter explains to Eda what happened, and is visibly surprised when Eda apologizes.

Intermission time. Slight time skip as Eda goes through the portal into the human realm, and walks to Camila’s house with a large bag over her shoulder. She knocks on the door, and Vee answers! They welcome Eda in, where she drops off the hexus holdum cards for Vee to eat and Camila thanks her for looking for Luz. Also – implication that Vee is dating Masha at this point.

EDIT: I SHOULD MENTION. Eda hasn't seen Luz's face yet! She doesn't know the Golden Guard she made the deal with is Camila's daughter! Important stuff.

Previous Part [Covention]

Next Part [Lost in Language + Once Upon a Swap]

Synopsis Masterpost Link

#Tag Team Synopsis #toh #the owl house #toh tagteam au

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leo-fie · 6 months

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Pater Hoyt: Let me tell you this tragic story of the slow death of my church, the desperation of believers to save it, the most terrifying trees, the dismissiveness of science for "unimportant" subjects, and a concept of immortality so gruesome it makes priests question the existence of god.

Sol Weintraub: Let me tell you about the slow death of my only child, about time and inevidability and being a parent, about having to witness your daughter wake up confused and frightened every single day and my powerlessness to help her. Let me tell you about the Binding of Isaac and my lifelong struggle to square this circle.

The Consul: Let me tell you about the doomed rebellion of a beautiful world and the death of it's ecosystem. About how interstellar travel and relative time separate people. About my lifelong struggle to fight my grandmothers fight to the detriment of my own person to the point where I do not even have a name.

Martin Silenus: Let me tell you about my incredibly long life and all the stuff I've lost. I lost earth, my family, my ability to speak. How I became unfathomably wealthy writing shitty pulp fiction. And how the one time I tried to build something it failed. About the work I could never finish.

Brawne Lamia: Let me tell you about our Robot Kings and how humanity is unable to stop whatever they are doing. About how everything you have been told about our history might be a lie. About corruption and murder in the highest office of our government. And about the cute twink I met, fell in love with, got pregnant from and then lost.

Het Masteen did not live to tell his story.

Fedmahn Kassad: Let me tell you about my incredibly hot secret girlfriend and about all the sex we had in detail!

#hyperion #hyperion cantos #dan simmons #science fiction #space opera

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mhaynoot · 10 months

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rereading orv and i just keep thinking about the dokkaebi and bihyung and how they start as these strange beings and storytellers and how they turn human in the end and:

what is the dokkaebi? they are a streamer, the vehicle in which constellations can glimpse and read the lives of incarnation - they are the storyteller.

we are led to (justifiably) hate and despise the dokkaebi throughout the novel. it is an almost universal sentiment; kdj hates the dokkaebi, even some dokkaebi hate dokkaebi, the wenny hate the dokkaebi, the incarnations hate them. the constellation use them but do not love them. some are wicked, some are not. some are paul and some are bihyung. they are the beginning of tragedy, the horsemen of the apocalypse, and yet they are the bringer of the story, the beginning of end but nevertheless still the beginning. they are as powerful and powerless as the story they are weaving.

in the end, kdj still hates them, destroys the star stream, and kills all those great dokkaebis who incarnate and push him into the enemy of the story. and yet he mourns for bihyung's death and yet he embraces biyoo. and yet loves his dokkaebi daughter who becomes the dokkaebi king, the promise he had given her other father.

in the end, bihyung was a storyteller and he loved a certain story. and his story, his ■■, was sacrifice for this story we love.

does this negate the harm the dokkaebi have wrought with their storytelling? perhaps not. but do you hate hsy?

she who doomed the millions for one reader. she who endured the tragedy, perfected an ending, and then started it all over again for the sake of one lonely boy. the world for the life of one soul. does that make her evil? to the ones that died, to the ones who endured suffering and pain, to herself and kimcom. to kdj and to the reader who she saved and doomed? to herself who she cast into hell itself with her pen? would anyone ever blame her? for she is the beginning of pain and the beginning of salvation. she is the most powerful and powerless being ever.

author, story teller, god of the world. when you write tragedy, do you think the characters will blame you for saving yourself? for trying to save someone else? or do they reach out to you, and press your pen down and say: use us and doom the world for love.

hsy, author, god of the world, and someone who couldn't even save one reader.

#orv spoiler #orv analysis #hankim #god i jsut #han sooyoung #i love you so fucking much #“if i was a god i was the most powerless god ever” <- hankim CRY #long post

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toctua · 4 months

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🐍INFO Characters 🐍 Noctua Lavinia Cowell -Profile

▹ Date of birth: the 3rd of November ▹ MBTI: INFJ-T ▹ Blood status: PureBlood ▹ Wand: Hornbeam | Unicorn Core | 12 ¼ Inches | Flexible ▹ Nickname: Noc/Nock, Notty ▹ House: Slytherin ▹ Patronus: The king cobra ▹ Boggart: Werewolfs ▹ Amortentia: lime, eucalyptus, tooth powder, cranberry juice ▹ Animagus: The king cobra (registered by the ministry) ▹Ability: Occlumency, Parselmouth.

Personality: As a child, Noctua was a eccentric child. It was hard to tell what she was thinking or what she would do, often in her own thoughts. She had no friends due to the fact that she and her father lived in the wilderness and therefore the first year at Hogwarts was difficult for her. Communication with peers the first year was burdensome for her. As she aged, Noctua began to look more like a mixture of her grandparents. She seemed to many a well-mannered and responsible girl, although in fact she had a penchant for mischief and violation of school rules. In adulthood, she became more restrained and even strict, the atmosphere of the upcoming war could temper her character, but the oppressive atmosphere rather broke her. Noctua began to experience bouts of powerlessness and alienation, increasingly closing herself off from the outside world.

Basic facts:

▹ Provided that Noctua was not particularly outgoing her first year at Hogwarts, she showed great learning ability and was one of the top students at the school from beginning to graduation.

▹Noctua was especially skilled at Transfiguration and might have become Dumbledore’s favorite if not for her friendship with Tom Riddle.

▹Although she had no sympathy for the Gaunts, due to the stories of her father and grandmother about them, she considered it a privilege to be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. She loved to talk to snakes, and devoted a lot of time to studying books about her great ancestor.

▹She had no problem getting a job at Gringgots Bank as a curse breaker. Mostly thanks to his father’s connections, and not an excellent certificate.

▹She adored her work and treated it with great enthusiasm and interest, noting for herself how much new she discovered for her. A tech-year internship in Romania was practically a salvation for her, if it were not for the intensified longing for her native England in the third year. ▹Noctua was expelled from the family for her ongoing communication with Tom Riddle, but the father did not find the strength to inform on the young Dark Lord, as he was afraid for the fate of his daughter, even though she was in exile.

▹She was terribly offended by her father because he expelled her from the family. She was homesick just as Eleazar was for her, but did not find the strength to return, rather out of irrational fear of her father’s reaction to her appearance.

▹Noctua died under the rubble by mistake of her squad, but according to the reports, it can be understood that Noctua had the opportunity to save herself, but she chose to save her trainee.

▹Died instantly, her ribcage was thinned with a large block of stone, when the vaults of the cave collapsed, which she and a detachment of curse breakers cleared out for the goblins from Gringotts Bank. ▹It is not known exactly where she was buried, as her family did not even receive the body and did not attend the funeral. ▹On Noctua, the line of Cowells from Ominis and Aena was interrupted, as Eleazar had no more children by blood.

#info character #noctua cowell #hp oc #harry potter oc

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sapphickocho · 7 months

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*sigh* another crack au that i'm totally going to have to write one day

Otherwise known as the Genmui Rapunzel au.

Long ago, a drop of moonlight on a misty night fell from the sky and produced a magic flower called the blue spider lily that was said to have healing properties.

A notorious man named Kokushibo hid the flower and used it to retain his youth and beauty. Centuries later, the flower was taken by soldiers from the nearby kingdom of Corona and used to save their pregnant and ailing Queen, who gave birth to a son with teal hair, named Muichiro. Kokushibo snuck into the castle and discovered that Muichiro's hair had inherited the flower's magic, but turns brown and powerless when cut.

To keep the flower's magic, Kokushibo kidnapped Muichiro and now raises him in a hidden tower in the woods. Each year on their daughter's birthday, the king and queen release sky lanterns hoping they will guide her home.

Meanwhile, thief Genya Shinizugawa, steals Muichiro's intended crown from the palace; to prove to his older brother who abadoned him that he was useful. He is then relentlessly pursued by a infamous guard-horse brothers named the Hantengu. Genya discovers and takes refuge in the tower, where Muichiro, of course knocks him out with a frying pan and hides him in a closet. When Muichiro attempts to show him to Kokushibo as proof she can defend herself, he forgets (because its of couse) and Muichiro instead asks for a sword as a gift, sending Kokushibo on a three-day journey.

Genya then reveals himself again, causing Muichiro to nearly knock him out once more. However Muichiro hides the crown, and strikes a deal with Genya, promising to return it in exchange for him taking her to see the lanterns, since Muichiro has always been obsessed with them. A companionship is formed.

or in a more cracky sense, lets look at some incorrect quotes I made that sum up this story.

Genya climbing up the tower: Who are you? Muichiro weilding a pan: a fair maiden of course

and

Genya: You dont remember me? Muichiro: No? Genya: You knocked me out with a pan and hid me in a closet. Muichiro: Oh yeah *raises his pan again* Genya: no no No NO!

and

Kokushibo: Muichiro is my son, but also my descendent. Kokushibo: But he sometimes forgets the last part Genya: I would want to forget that too.

On a more sweeter note, just imagine Genya brushing out Muichiro's long hair! And then braiding flowers and spider lilies into the teal of his strands.

like are you seeing my vision or do i have to hit you over with a pan to hallucinate it?

#kny #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #genmui #kny au #muigen #muichiro tokito #genya kny #genya shinazugawa #muichiro #kny muichiro #shinaguzawa genya #kokushibou #kny kokushibo

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rockislandadultreads · 11 months

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Read-Alike Friday: Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Angrboda's story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she's foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.

Ithaca by Clarie North

Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.

Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.

This is the first volume in “The Songs of Penelope” series.

Phaedra by Laura Shepperson

Phaedra has been cast to the side all her life: daughter of an adulteress, sister of a monster, and now unwilling bride to the much-older, power-hungry Theseus. Young, naïve, and idealistic, she has accepted her lot in life, resigned to existing under the sinister weight of Theseus’s control and the constant watchful eye of her handsome stepson Hippolytus.

When supposedly pious Hippolytus assaults her, Phaedra’s world is darkened in the face of untouchable, prideful power. In the face of injustice, Phaedra refuses to remain quiet any longer: such an awful truth demands to be brought to light. When Phaedra publicly accuses Hippolytus of rape, she sparks an overdue reckoning.

The men of Athens gather to determine the truth. Meanwhile, the women of the city, who have no vote, are gathering in the shadows. The women know truth is a slippery thing in the hands of men. There are two sides to every story, and theirs has gone unheard. Until now.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

This is the first volume in “The Celestial Kingdom Duology” series.

#fiction #mythology #fantasy #Retellings #Library Books #Book Recommendations #book recs #Reading Recs #reading recommendations #TBR pile #tbr #tbrpile #to read #Want To Read #Booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog

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xalygatorx · 3 months

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Powerless (2017) | Chapter 5, "Everything I've Done"

Years after Sarah’s wit and bravery saved her brother and brought the Labyrinth to its knees, her daughter Andie is transported to what remains of that same fantastical place, somewhere she thought only existed in her favorite childhood stories. To find her way back home, she must traverse what’s left of the crumbling kingdom, find a way to set both moments and magic in motion again, and even save the Goblin King, himself. But who will save her from him?

Powerless is a SFW slow-burn romance between Jareth and an original female character. The story overall contains descriptions of fantasy violence, mild suggestive content, and grief regarding family illness. Chapter-by-chapter warnings will be provided as well.

Summary: Andie and Jareth get acquainted while waiting for help. Jareth offers her an alliance that hinges on her helping him guard the truth of his condition and reclaim his kingdom.

Pairing: Jareth x Fem!OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.9k

"Do be quiet, they won't hear you," said the voice wearily nearby as Andie shouted again, having scrambled back out of the light when he'd first spoken, her eyes still searching the gloomy subterranean perimeter for the owner. "Even so, this is an oubliette. Do you know what that is?"

Andie faltered. "A… It's a trap, isn't it?"

"Indeed. For those to be forgotten."

"Who are you?"

She was finally able to make out a dark form sitting opposite where she stood, but no details came into focus for the lack of light. It was the most human figure she'd seen here yet, even more so than the half-human Nyle. "I think a better question is who you are," the male voice countered as he stood, making his way over to her side of the cave. "You don't seem to be who I first thought. And how have you come to my labyrinth to fall down a hole?"

Her eyes widened incrementally. "Your labyrinth—wait… You're the Goblin King, aren't you?"

A soft chuckle danced around the space just as a boot crossed the rim of the light shining down from the opening she'd made high above them. Into view stepped one of the most eccentric looking men she'd ever seen and, even with the oddities in his appearance ranging from his somewhat spiky blond hair and some smudges of what appeared to be eyeliner around his eyes, he could have easily passed for human. Had she not known the truth, anyway. His teeth glittered faintly as he sent a weary, yet Cheshire smile her way. "Now, that is something I've not heard someone call me in quite some time."

"What are you doing down here?"

"All questions I could easily be asking you," he pointed out, eying her closely. She wondered if he was somehow able to see better than she was down here. Then again, who knew how long he'd been down here. Now that she thought about it, his hair looked matted in places, his clothes a bit rumpled, and he appeared particularly thin, though she had no memory of him to compare his present self to. Perhaps that was just the way he looked.

"Well, then maybe—," Andie began, only to pause when she heard a faint echo of her name down the tunnel. She brushed past him to peer up toward the light, where she could now see a pin-sized head peeping over. "I'm down here!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice more efficiently.

"Stay there! I'm coming down to get you!" Hoggle shouted and he disappeared from over the opening.

"Yeah, where else am I going to go…," she muttered softly, smoothing a hand through her hair before regarding Jareth again. He was watching her with an amused sort of air and the scrutiny in his eyes unnerved her. "What I was saying is maybe we should both be answering these obvious questions. Since we'll probably be stuck here awhile."

He scoffed a bit. "You've no idea what 'awhile' is, girl."

"I take it you didn't just get here, too," she noted with a grimace.

"Oh, no," he murmured with a slight shake of his head. "No, I've lost track of the years."

Andie's eyes widened. "Years? How are you still alive?"

"Time has stopped in this world. With it, so has the aging process for every creature in attendance," he explained calmly before sitting down on the floor again. "Even you."

"So, you just…"

"Starved without emaciating, withered without withering, oh… Yes. And it was more excruciating than actually dying such a pathetic death." He looked at her wearily. "Sit. You're tiring me further by standing like that."

"Well, excuse me," she grumbled, but sat down nearby. "Why couldn't you just magic yourself out? I'm sure the king of the goblins has some kind of magical ability, right? Or am I relying too heavily on fairytales?"

Jareth chuckled, but the sound was weak. He seemed disgusted by it. "I had that ability, long ago. But that's left me, too, it seems. I'm sure the lack of time progression has something to do with that."

"Why would that have any influence?" Andie asked dubiously.

He seemed worn out by her questions already, though she figured he was probably just worn out, period. "Because have you ever had something remotely in the realm of 'magical' happen while you're standing still? Isn't it always after moving forward?"

"You're getting a bit too existentialist on me, Jareth," she commented.

"Now, is it fair that you know my name yet I do not know yours?"

"I guess not. It's Andie."

"Andie, hm? I've never heard such a name. Short for…?"

"Cassandra."

"Interesting," Jareth murmured, though his bored tone disagreed with that sentiment. "So, Andie, what were your other questions? My memory is slacking with my current state of health, as I'm sure you understand."

She was somewhat suspicious of his manners—Hoggle had made it sound like he was a wild, aggressive thing, but it looked like he could barely move. She half expected him to turn on her at any moment, at least until she figured she might just be his ticket out of here. He was perhaps simply lucky she'd dropped in, pun intended. "How'd you end up down here?"

"I lost my magic directly after the Labyrinth, itself, fell to pieces," he said uncomfortably and she could only wonder why he was telling her this. "Those I presided over grew more rampant and restless and some attempted a mutiny once they felt the scales begin to tilt. I thought it wise to disappear awhile."

"You meant to get trapped down here?"

"Of course not. I took the plunge down here while attempting to disappear, of course," he said irritably before sighing and glancing at the tunnel over them. "Succeeded too thoroughly, I suppose."

"Why are you telling me this?" Andie finally asked. "About your magic being gone and your blunders, why would you give me that information when we've only just met?"

Jareth looked at her pensively before replying, "I need your help. And you must know that it is quite humiliating for me to say that. It is also a leap to trust you with that explanation, as—you're right—I've known you but a few moments in a timeless world. However, I would hope for both our sakes that this is not a mistake."

"What do you need my help for?"

"Well, first for getting out of here, which you've already managed to do just by being here. Also for finding a way to return the Labyrinth to its original form. I need time to move again so I can regain my power and my control over this unpredictable place."

"I'm supposed to help you with that?"

"You seem moderately intelligent," he said with a lift of his shoulders that made Andie want to pummel him. "And you seem to have already won allies. I will need such connections and, this time, they cannot stem only from fear." Jareth's intense gaze moved over to meet hers again as he said his next words. "I will also need you to keep my lack of magic to yourself. Under no circumstances can I afford this information to be divulged. Do you understand?"

Andie met his gaze levelly before looking at her hands and saying seriously, "You know, it's unwise to go on first impressions of people."

"I do not have much choice at this moment. I need someone on my side."

"And what makes you think I'm on your side?"

"Well," he murmured, beginning to become irked but containing it. "You are not not on my side…"

"That is terrible logic," Andie told him. "Awful. You're lucky you've not been killed on that thinking."

"Indeed, but it is true," he groused. "Look, I'm putting a good amount of faith in you, recognize that this does not come lightly—"

"Or with permission."

"Andie," he grumbled.

"All right, all right," Andie muttered. "But make more informed decisions in the future. I may not spill your secret, but I'm not planning on risking my neck to save your skin either. And don't act like you know me, like we're friends. You don't know anything about me."

"And the same applies in reverse," Jareth pointed out. "At least I'm willing."

"Because you want something from me."

"There is no point in denying it, as I've already made that clear. Yes. I want your help."

"Earn it," Andie snipped just as a hidden door nearby swung open and Hoggle entered the oubliette.

"I knew I shoulda gone with ya, are you—" He paled when his eyes found Jareth. "It's you!"

"In the flesh," Jareth said flippantly, shooting a glance toward Andie as he stood. "Having a chat with your new friend. Say…" He paused and looked at her considerately. "How did you come to be in my Labyrinth anyway?"

"I picked up a glass peach, it cut my hand, and then—boom—I was here."

Interest sparked in his eyes and she began to ponder what Hoggle had warned her about earlier. "And how did you manage to come across such a trinket?" he asked softly.

She started to answer and, after catching Hoggle's eye, who was practically begging her silently not to tell the truth, she said instead, "I found it. In a thrift store."

Jareth's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't press the subject. "Curious."

"Indeed," she murmured, not breaking his gaze. He watched her a moment longer before nodding and walking toward the door, ducking low to make his way into the tunnel beyond. She looked down at Hoggle. "Thank you for coming down here."

"Of course, though I might've done things differently had I known he was down here, too," he murmured, casting a sideways glance through the doorway. "Go on."

Andie stepped through the doorway and then straightened up, hearing Hoggle walk out and shut the door behind them. They then began to walk down the tunnel, Hoggle stepping ahead to lead the way. There was something rigid in Jareth's frame that reminded Andie of a caged animal wary of recapture, so she kept her distance. However, the young woman nearly leapt out of her skin when a booming voice shattered the silence only permeated by their footsteps. "TURN BACK."

"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY," boomed another up where Hoggle was walking.

"Oh, shut it," Hoggle grumbled, ignoring the enormous stone heads. "Don't mind them, they're just False Alarms."

"NO, THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING."

"Now, that's just rude, trying to steer people off course," she accused the last one to shout.

"It's… It's my job, Miss," it said awkwardly, glancing away from her. When it didn't shout again, she cut it some slack, moving along to catch up with Hoggle and Jareth, who had slowed to wait. Jareth still had an air of amusement about him, but said nothing.

After following Hoggle through the winding tunnels of the Underground, they reached the end and crawled out through a small burrow, camouflaged beneath a line of brush. Hoggle turned around to help Andie out and grimaced when Jareth stepped out as well. He leaned toward Andie and whispered, "What's he still doing here?"

She shrugged. "Feels like tagging along, I guess."

"Not fond of my company, Hogarth? I'm offended," Jareth commented patronizingly.

"It's Hoggle! I see at least one thing hasn't changed in this place!" he grumped as he began to lead the way back to the campsite.

Walking ahead to mutter about things Andie only heard bits and pieces of, she walked at her own pace, finding that she'd scraped her cheek a bit when she'd fallen in the oubliette. "Stupid hands," she sighed as she ran her fingertips over the uneven edge of the scrape and winced when it stung.

Ludo was pacing around the camp when they got back, visibly relieved when he saw that they'd come back. Andie couldn't be sure whether he just didn't notice Jareth or didn't have an opinion of him since he didn't react to the addition to their party, but Jareth certainly didn't seem to care for the bumbling giant. Didymus, Leona, and Nyle all had their reactions, however.

"Oh, goodness me, are you all right?!" Didymus fussed as he hurried over to them, his jaw dropping when he saw Jareth. "And where on earth did he come from?"

"Everyone is so shocked to see me, where did you all think I went?" Jareth muttered with a roll of his dual-colored eyes, which soon fell upon the half-goblin nearby. "Nyle. An interesting surprise."

Nyle inclined his head, but the venom in his voice was plain. "Your Highness."

"Indeed," Jareth agreed flippantly, which only seemed to piss Nyle off more. Andie made a mental note to ask him about the Goblin King a little later on, expecting a nicely candid answer from someone with such a sour opinion and not afraid to express it. "And…?"

"Leona," the sphinx said calmly, though her eyes were narrowed with some contempt.

"Ah, yes… You've left your post."

She snorted softly through her stone nose and Andie wondered suddenly if she was only stone on the outside or if some kind of magic made her stone body malleable. She couldn't really say why she kept wondering about these things when none of it made sense, but her brain hadn't stopped trying to categorize and decipher the oddities yet. "So have you."

"The entirety of the Labyrinth is my post, I recall assigning you to the clocktower."

"It was the side entrance to the castle and this place is already so disorderly, it hardly matters."

Jareth arched a brow her way. "You would speak so to your king?"

"I am fashioned to fear nothing and, as such, I have nothing to fear," she said dismissively. "This is what makes my guardianship so absolute."

"Hm," he murmured before shrugging it off. "Fair enough." He appeared to be a mixture of equal parts miffed and impressed. "Say, where might your… A-ha!" He'd sighted the provisions, but Hoggle began to make a beeline toward the stash. "Excuse me, dwarf, you think this wise?"

Hoggle paused and seemed conflicted in what to do next, but ended up slowly stepping away, muttering about being a coward. It was no wonder he wanted everyone to still think he had his magic, Andie noted. He's an absolute bully. She watched Jareth step over and pour himself a cup of tea from leaves Didymus had contributed, which had tasted strangely like cold medicine to Andie, and help himself to the leftover food. Didymus looked to Andie after a moment of quiet had passed in which everyone had cast judgy, aggravated glances toward Jareth and said, "I was thinking, perhaps the Wiseman would have some, well, wisdom for you on how you might return home."

"The Wiseman?" she repeated curiously.

"Exactly as he sounds, milady. Quite wise. And it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?"

"Not at all, thank you for saying something," Andie said with a smile before heading over to sit near the wall, where she'd taken lunch earlier. A patch of dark sky had wandered near and had begun to take over the area of the courtyard and for about a square mile all around. Her fatigue hit her all at once and Andie slouched just enough to gain a stable position and before she knew it, her eyes had shut and she was out like a light.

Jareth was making a point of eating slowly, despite his stomach feeling as if it would gnarl and swallow the rest of his insides at the first sign of nutrients in centuries. The curse of living agelessly while his body's needs and soul's unrest rotted him in a cell was disturbingly potent, as he'd previously had doubts that anything in this world could faze him any longer. It was all he could do not to cringe every time he swallowed another bit of dried meat or sandwich, it didn't matter what he ate or drank from the provisions by the fire, it all felt like lead in his stomach. He could feel eyes on him though, and knew now wasn't the time to show even mild discomfort.

Darkness closed in around them and painted the visible overhead with spiraling stars and an endless depth of black. Jareth listened to the other creatures around the campsite shift and settle into place for the "night," though the cycle of light had been disrupted with the rest of the reality around them. Once he heard stillness fall back over the courtyard, he looked up, surveying the faces decorated by shadows and the flicker of the fire. Jareth glanced away from Ludo and Didymus across the clearing with disinterest, his gaze settling on the dark-haired girl to his right. He stared at her for a long moment before scoffing softly to himself and looking back down to his tea, which he sipped deeply and then nearly choked on, before going off to rest for the night as well, though the last thing he felt the need for was sleep after spending so long in the dark of the earth and his own mind.

It was only forever, he thought to himself with a dismal tinge of melancholy disguising itself as irony and humor. His lips curved without the expression touching his eyes. Not long at all.

Next chapter: Chapter 6, "Falling Down"

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