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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 1 year

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Keep it alive

Part 2 to Keep it alight

Warnings: suicide and aftermath thereof

The day Jiang Cheng died had been suffocatingly warm. Sunlight barely breached the thick smoke of resentment that sat atop the Burial Mounds like a stubborn cloud - but the heat could seep through without issue, stifling and unforgiving. It made the stench of corpses, wrath and ancient hatred rise even higher in the air than usual, a putrid smell that made the place even more unbearable than usual.

Wei Wuxian had been too busy with his new inventions to pay much attention to it, fiddling with talisman paper and sketches of spells and arrays. He had already come up with ways to control the corpses and the resentful energy to some degree, and until he could complete that, he had to come up with a solution to keep them at bay.

Hence, the talisman and spellwork.

Jiang Cheng sat a little a-ways, looking as resigned and indifferent as the first day they had been thrown in the Burial Mounds, staring at nothing in particular. He didn't have any feelings in particular about what Wei Wuxian was doing, although he found it odd, sometimes sinister, but mostly, pointless.

There was no way he could achieve all that he promised Jiang Cheng he would - take them out of there, kill Wen Chao, go back to Lotus Pier - and even if he did, it made no sense to even do all that. Jiang Cheng wouldn't ever resort to the kind of... techniques Wei Wuxian was starting to use, and his life at Lotus Pier would be just one of shame and uselessness.

Not to mention, his efforts, his inventions... they all felt... superfluous. Like an insect that just wouldn't die no matter how much you stomped on it.

And Jiang Cheng just really wanted to die.

"Aren't you tired?" He asked, at some point, growing somewhat frustrated with the noises and the experiments, despite his apathy.

"No." Wei Wuxian responds absently, drawing on talisman paper. "I can't be tired. I have to do this, so we get out of here already."

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah... get out, kill Wen Chao, go home... when will you stop?"

A sigh. "When we leave this place, Jiang Cheng. We already had this conversation. Let me work."

"You've been working for weeks. No results."

"Some results."

"Not enough."

Wei Wuxian turned his head to send him a warning look. "Jiang Cheng."

"I'm tired of all this."

"You're not the one doing it."

Jiang Cheng sighed quietly. The conversation always went the same way. There was nothing dissuading Wei Wuxian from his ridiculous endeavours, Jiang Cheng should have known not to try again.

"I won't do this kind of cultivation with you."

"I know, you told me before. But it's fine, it's enough if I do it."

"I don't want you to protect me."

That had Wei Wuxian pause. "What?"

"You heard me. I don't want you to protect me. I never did. You should have let me be killed by the Wens."

Wei Wuxian had to take in a deep breath. Emotions ran haywire in the Burial Mounds, the resentful energy messing with people's minds, aggravating feelings. He had to take that into account for both himself and Jiang Cheng. He had to make sure his emotions were his own, not the Burial Mounds'.

"You're talking nonsense again. Go to sleep, you're tired and irrational."

"Why did you have to save me?"

"Because. Now go to sleep. Or I will knock you out again."

"You should have let me die."

Wei Wuxian decided not to bother. They had that argument over and over, and it never led anywhere. It was better for him to put his energy into his work rather than go back and forth with Jiang Cheng. He'd have to accept the actual reality of their situation - that they weren't dead and that they could escape in a short while - and stop sinking into that bottomless pit that he seemed so convinced had become his life now.

"I would have been with my parents now, instead of this horrible place. This is worse than torture, than hell, than-"

"I know it's horrible, I know it's every fucking shade of fucked up, but I'm trying to fix it, okay?! I don't expect appreciation but at least don't make me feel worse than I already am!"

"Why do you always have to fix everything?! Why can't you just fucking let fate run its course for once?!"

"Because I'm not like you!"

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, as soon as he saw the way Jiang Cheng somehow looked even more broken than before as he sat in his corner of the cave again, quiet and unmoving.

Wei Wuxian cursed lowly under his breath before speaking again."Jiang Cheng... why do you always pick a fight? What's the point? You know I won't just let you die or die myself here if I can do something about it."

"Can you? If you could, we would be already out. We wouldn't even be here at all!"

That stung a bit more than Wei Wuxian let on.

"I'm trying to fix this. I'm almost there. Just wait a little longer and-"

Defeated, Jiang Cheng looked up at Wei Wuxian with a tired, sorrowful look. "When will you understand there's nothing for me on the outside? I don't want to live like a commoner or do whatever demonic tricks you're trying to invent. So what do I have left to do? Nothing. I can't even fulfill the duty I have as my father's son."

"Uncle Jiang wouldn't-"

Jiang Cheng's expression darkened as he looked away. "Don't talk as if you know him better than I do."

Wei Wuxian ran a hand through his hair, frustrated and confused and angry. "What do you want from me, Jiang Cheng? You don't want me to protect you, you don't want to leave, what should I do?"

"Just let me die."

"No."

"Kill me yourself then."

"No!"

"Then just... go away. Go work, or whatever you do. I don't want to see you or hear you. Get lost."

Wei Wuxian huffed, annoyed beyond measure and almost stomped towards his little makeshift table. The last thing he wanted to do was work, his mind clouded with negative feelings and thoughts he wasn't sure were his own.

"I'm going to get us some food."

"Whatever."

---

He returned with... something to eat. He had cooked it so Jiang Cheng wouldn't know what it was, and had managed to calm down in the meantime. He could have only hoped Jiang Cheng did too.

When Wei Wuxian stepped inside the cave, it was eerily quiet. Dread sank into his bones immediately as he lit up a talisman and the greenish flame revealed the haphazard state of the place, even more so than before, and-

"Jiang Cheng!"

He laid down, motionless, lips already purple and skin translucent, hollow eyes staring ahead, as his hairpin stuck out from the side of his neck, blood having already started to dry around it.

Wei Wuxian screamed so loud it felt like the whole mountain shook with it, like the whole world shook with it. He screamed and screamed, tears streaming down his face as he cradled Jiang Cheng's body, his own shaking with so much force that the clarity bell around his sash jingled with it.

He had screamed and cried for hours like that, begged Jiang Cheng to come back, to forgive him, to anything - but of course nothing happened. The body in his arms only grew colder and stiffer and the realization made Wei Wuxian wail so painfully that the resentful energy that had begun swarming the cave drew back.

His eyes fell onto the hairpin obsessively. It was the only thing Jiang Cheng could have used, there was nothing else around - and Wei Wuxian had been so careless... why didn't he take it away? Why didn't he stay? Why did he agree to the surgery? Why did he risk it all like that and lost so miserably?

He had finished carving Chenqing that morning. She was beautiful, powerful. Wei Wuxian had never used her before - just other spare flutes he made out of anything he could find, for practice - but he felt like there was nothing to lose now.

He placed the flute to his lips and began playing it quietly. The wisps of resentment responded to it, gently wrapping around Jiang Cheng's body, dissolving the hairpin in his neck, covering him like a transparent veil. Wei Wuxian kept playing. Jiang Cheng's right arm twitched, then his left. Then his neck craned just a bit, like he was trying to find the source of the melody, though his eyes remained empty.

Wei Wuxian found himself crying again. Was he really turning Jiang Cheng into a fierce corpse? Was he really desecrating his body like that, disrespecting his final wish... for what? Why?

The corpse stood up on his legs now, his gaze empty as it awaited orders. Wei Wuxian ended the melody gradually, and the resentment subdued.

He was alone with Jiang Cheng's corpse now - a corpse like the thousands outside. An empty shell, a carcass.

Wei Wuxian played his flute again.

And again.

And his mind began working on a new invention.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #writing attempts #jc is so hard to write #im trying to keep him as close to canon as possible #at least how i see canon #i hope i dont get discourse for this

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j0iryyde · 5 months

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Hell is not real.

We all know that. But it’s funny to me that Chr*stians are so worried about ppl leaving their hateful cult that they will really convince you that you will be thrown into this scary pit of fire with an ugly demon man as its ruler as your demise.

I would have far more respect for a religion that makes leaving optional instead of forcing you to stay by taking advantage of the things you can’t see.

Christianity itself is the real hell.

Because any system that won’t allow you to be free is the ultimate torture.

#Christianity #fuck evangelicalism #hell #hell on earth #Jesus #random thoughts

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randomizationblog · 2 years

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Game: Demo enemies

Here are some ideas for my enemies I want to do. I have grabbed inspiration from other games and media to come up with these simple ideas.

Ideas:

Fallen princes- Old fairytales tell of noble princes, riding on a great stead and climbing a tower to defeat a mighty dragon and rescuing the princess. They tell you the winner but never the losers, these young princes were once great warriors hoping to be the winner but instead became tortured demon knights. I aim to make them knights with swords but look really damaged and zombie like, making them look kind of sad.

Hangmen- For years, men and women have been hanged. Some were a result of a prosecution and some were done themselves. Either way, these tortured souls are souls that were killed by a hanging and now wear the noose forever. I aim to make them look like really tall creatures with a noose around their necks, making them look really creepy.

Burning soul- A typical saying is ‘burn in Hell’. These souls did. After reaching Hell, souls are thrown into fiery pits of Hell and have to escape to become a demon. Those who don’t become constant fireballs of death, never going out at all. I aim to make them look a fire ball with a face and arms, making them look not much of a threat.

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obae-me · 3 years

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Upside Down CH-1

Author’s Note: Hi, yes, hello, welcome to the fic series that no one asked for! Do I have other things I need to finish? Yes! But has this been the only thing on my mind for the past four days? Also yes! For some reason I was incapable of writing anything else! Thanks, brain, for this out of the blue obsession!

Tags: Reverse AU

Word Count: 4587

Next Chapter

Hell Away From Hell

Wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was a mistake. It had to be. Although, with every clink of your restraints, your reality was becoming ever clearer. The chains rattled, echoing down the hall like a set of twisted wind chimes. Ones that sung of your dismal fortune. The demon ahead of you yanked the lead attached to your cuffs, sending you stumbling forward. You bit your lip to keep from cursing. Steading your body, you took their less-than-subtle message and picked up the pace. Keeping your eyes glued towards your destination, your stomach sank to your knees. Why? Why had you been brought to the castle? You hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, not anything to warrant being escorted by the palace guards in chains. And as they led you silently inside, past the polished halls and gaudy antiques, your fate pounded just fervently in your mind as your heart was in your chest.

They were going to present you in front of the prince.

It was torture in and of itself just making it to the throne room. The worst part about it all was your rampant imagination. You could only imagine what type of horrific techniques the prince was aware of. Halting in front of the large double doors, the demon behind you moved to open the entrance. Holding it open, the guard tugging you along guided you in. You managed to take only a few steps inside the room before you were practically thrown inside, your body tumbling over the ground. Both the guards smirked at you, flashing their pointed fangs in their conceited gestures before shutting the door, leaving you alone inside.

“MC.” All the air inside your lungs had conveniently escaped. Lifting your chest off the ground, you tightened your lips as you met his gaze. Those glistening emerald eyes pierced right through you. Quickly, you lowered your eyes, attempting to show as much respect as you could to gain his favor.

“M-my lord.”

The melodic note that left his throat was a mix between a laugh and a coo. “Now, now, none of that groveling. I had you brought here to ask you a favor!” You could hear him stand to his feet, and you watched his shoes approach, clicking against the marbled tile. Then, you felt the smooth skin of his hand caress your right horn. The sudden sensitive feeling had your tail rapidly twitch and tuck under your leg. He pushed your horns back, raising your chin so you could look up at him. His dark hair drifted down across his forehead, curling around his horns that curved above his head like a broken halo, his face soft and inviting, and yet your gut wouldn’t let you believe it. “Please, from now on, just call me Simeon.”

Simeon hummed as he lifted his tea cup to his lips. He had been hospitable enough, but you still couldn’t shake this feeling of unease. Plus...what he had brought you in to ask you was...well, something short of insanity. You continued to rub your wrists where your constraints had been. And as much as the prince of hell apologized for his guard’s brutish behavior, you had a feeling it was purposeful. A message of sorts. Even now, as he had his little servant bring in sweets and tea as sickly sweet as it could get, it all tasted bitter to your tongue. “So let me get this straight,” you started. “You want me to be a member of this…”

The prince tilted his head, eyes practically shining. “Restoration program.”

You cleared your throat after the little scone this blonde demon had given you made your throat run dry. “R-right. And I’m assuming I don’t have a choice in the matter?”

His voice was soft, but the light reflecting off his horns and his fangs suggested another answer. “We all have choices, MC.”

Swallowing your nervousness, you lowered your head again. “But, with all due respect, sir...why? Why a restoration program?”

Another voice chuckled behind your figure. “Because, why not?” You strained your neck, getting a view at the newcomer behind you. White hair, a mischievous smile, and something unknown swimming at the back of those dark eyes. Not only that, but the figure was wearing clothes as pure as clouds, with a certain glow to him.

Simeon stood, hand out to greet this person as if they were an old friend-and for all you knew, they might’ve been. “Solomon, how good to see you.”

The new guest-now known to you as Solomon-beamed. “Likewise. You’re looking well.” He turned, giving you a once-over to take you in before nodding. “And you are MC, yes?”

Glaring, already feeling your skin about to burn, you leaned away from him. “And you’re an angel.” Your distrustful attitude let him frown for just a moment, but whether it was just his angelic nature or his personality, that smile was right back on his face.

“Yes, well, the plan requires an angel, so Simeon personally asked me for my hand in this matter.”

The both of them could tell that you were unbelievably confused, so Simeon gestured for the angel to take a seat at the table. “Luke.” The prince gestured to his small servant, the one who had not only brought you sweets but had taken the liberty to be staring you down the entire time. Finally, he turned his attention away from you. “Please do me a favor and get our new guest some refreshments.” The lesser demon squinted at you, nearly growled at the angel, and then took his leave with rapid little steps. Simeon laughed quietly to himself. “Don’t worry about him, he’s not used to others quite yet. But, MC.” With your name mentioned, you straightened your posture. “I’ve been planning this for quite some time. It’s been a desire of mine to bring the three realms closer together.” You couldn’t help but wonder why, what purpose it served, but you kept your mouth shut. “And while I’ve started to make decent progress fixing the old wounds between the Devildom and Celestial Realm, most of my kingdom and Solomon’s people refuse to make connections with the humans.”

Mortals...even just the mention managed to leave a heavy pit in your stomach. “If I may speak.” You waited for the prince’s go-ahead before speaking your mind. “What would be the point of connecting with the humans? They serve little purpose. They’re either so corrupt they destroy their own kind or they think they’re so pure they isolate themselves or get themselves killed in the name of their twisted justice.” Speaking so passionately against the idea, you didn’t realize your nails had grown into talons, leaving marks in the wooden table. You took a breath, reclaiming your typical form. “They can’t even do themselves any good, what makes you think they’d be good for our realms?”

Solomon, an expression of understanding mixed with pity, bounced a little in his seat. “That’s the question, isn’t it?” He turned his head to Simeon, who was nodding at you with a bit of approval.

“That’s what this plan is all about. Testing them, observing them. We’ll be watching these humans, and at the end of this project, we’ll be able to determine if they’re ready and worthy of being brought together with us.” The ruler crossed one leg over the other, his tone making it sound as it was as simple as eating pie.

Setting down the fork to your pastry, you felt a sense of dread wash over you. “And by we you mean?”

“Why, you and Solomon of course! A demon and an angel, both working together to restore the bond between the human world and ours! The Demonic and Angelic Restoration program! Or D.A.R. -dare- for short.” If it weren’t for the horns, you’d almost think this demon was an angel with the way he eagerly talked about restoring bonds and bettering the nature of the realms. But, then you felt nauseous.

“What...what exactly do you need me to do to help with this...program? And why me?”

It was actually the angel that spoke up. “I’m sure you’re aware of the Morningstars?”

It was such a silly question, you ended up scoffing. “Who doesn’t down here? Those brothers are filled with so much corruption and chaos they end up fueling about half the lesser demons down here...why?”

They both straight up ignored your question and instead asked you some of their own. Simeon leaned forward, looking at you intently. “It took me quite a bit of time to find you MC. Most people don’t know you exist, and those that do hardly know your name. You simply are known to most as Isolation. Is it true that you’ve never made a pact with a human? Rumor is that you even refuse to subsist off their sins. And you’ve never taken a soul? That’s typically unheard of nowadays.”

Shifting in your seat, you gave it to them straight. “It’s true. I do whatever I can to avoid contact. Haven’t even seen a human in the past millennia. Haven’t talked to one in about twice that time.”

Clapping his hands together, Simeon let out an amazed sigh. “Perfect. You will be able to have a fresh eye! A clean slate. An unbiased--well, mostly unbiased opinion. You won’t be tempted to corrupt them, you’ll give me honest answers.”

“Plus,” the angel agreed, “if you have the strength and willpower to live without human sustenance and influence for this long, you probably will have the patience to keep from killing them. If anyone could manage to live with the Morningstars, it would be you, from what I’ve heard.”

You were grateful you had put down your drink a while ago. Your breath caught in your throat. “Wait, excuse me, what did you say? Live...with the…”

“Mr. Morningstar!” A laugh, a handshake, even a pat on the shoulder, it nearly made you ill watching the upcoming king of the Devildom greet a human like this so casually. You couldn’t help but sneak glances at this mortal...one of the Morningstars, the eldest. The one who fueled the most demons without even knowing about it. People down in the Devildom called him by Pride. A human world CEO-whatever that meant. He was powerful, influential, not to mention ridiculously rich. And he’d do whatever it took to keep his status, even at the misfortune of plenty of other people. His suit and posture told you pretty much all you needed to know about him. A fancy well tailored pitch black suit, a striking red tie with a subtle but regal diamond design, diamond cufflinks, the works. It was as if dust and winkles knew to avoid him entirely. His hair was as dark as his suit, save for the ends which were greying. He didn’t seem that old, so you wondered if it was intentional or simply stress. You thought you heard someone say that once, that humans could get grey hair from stress. Did they all possess capabilities to change their hair based on their emotions? That human lady you saw outside the building with the blue hair must’ve been feeling something intense.

“Mr-” The human you had come to see was cut off.

“Please, you know to call me Simeon by now!”

The mortal cleared his throat. “Simeon…” The human glanced at you, and raised his chin as he took Simeon by the shoulders and brought him away from you. If you had been a human, it would’ve been a decent tactic to keep you out of earshot. Unfortunately, you could still hear everything they were saying. “I know you have good standing with the company, and I’m pleased to know you respect and trust me with such a task, but...this is far from business.” You could feel his eyes on you. “I have to respectfully decline your request. I don’t think I can allow them to live with us for a year. You know my family.”

“It would only be for a year, and I know you have plenty of room in that house of yours!” Simeon laughed a bit and then lowered his voice. You could feel the alluring pull of his influence flood the space. The human stiffened, his intuition picking up on a shift in the room. “Besides, Lucifer. You know I wouldn’t ask for a favor like this without some proper and well deserved remuneration. Listen...I happen to have something on the head of that business owner that’s been butting heads with your company. Wouldn’t it be nice to have them completely out of the picture? Not only is that increasing your profit, but if they happen to...I don’t know, completely go bankrupt, that little building of theirs on the corner of Main is some prime real estate.” Reaching into his pocket, Simeon pulled out a small...plastic...rectangle of sorts, with metal on one end. “I got everything right here.” Smiling, one hand firmly against Lucifer’s upper back, he looked him right in the eyes and whispered something you knew would have this human caught. “You can’t let them bother you like this. You need to show them and everyone else who you are, and that you’re not to be messed with.”

It took the mortal a moment of internal struggle. Decline the offer and figure things out himself without assistance? Or swallow the smallest bit of ego for self satisfaction? Either way, this mortal was past helping. Already drowning in pride. Eventually, he gripped the object, tucking it into a pocket beneath his suit jacket. Despite being handed assistance, he still found a way to be demanding. “Alright, but no more than a year, and if I feel like anything is going awry, I’m sending them away. Is it really too unreasonable to just set them up on their own? Surely for you it’s no problem.”

Backing up slightly after his incentive worked, Simeon shook his head. “I would feel endlessly guilty leaving alone, desolate, isolated, after what happened. Poor thing...they haven’t even said a word to me in days.” That last part wasn’t a lie. You’d nearly refused to say anything to him since being dragged to the human world. Prince or no prince. “My poor cousin, suddenly losing all their family like that. It’s tragic, isn’t it? Losing people you love?”

Lucifer, with his arms folded, let his hand tightly grip the fabric of one of his sleeves. His eyes lowered the slightest touch, his jaw tightening. “It...is...I know it all too well.” You caught a hint of some emotion from the mortal.

“Then you know that what would be best for them right now is company. Trust me, I wouldn’t have brought them to you if I didn’t think it would help. Besides, this is a win for all parties involved, right?” Simeon gestured to the gift Lucifer had tucked away, and the last string of resistance had been snipped.

Sighing, the human looked at the luxurious watch on his wrist. “I’ll take them home. Let my brothers know what’s happening. Is it too much to assume they’ll be better behaved with a guest in the house?”

Laughing once more, the prince shrugged. If only Lucifer knew who he was in the presence of. “You’ll all just have to find out!” Patting the other man on the shoulder, Simeon then came over to you with his arms outstretched. “It’s all settled, MC!” He pulled you into a hug, taking the time to speak quietly to you. “Remember to keep your identity a secret. I’ll be checking up on you and Solomon once a month for a report. Keep them safe. Play nice.” He pulled apart, coming around behind you and settling his hands on your shoulders. “And remember, what Mr. Morningstar is doing is unbelievably nice, so make sure to thank him and keep yourself out of trouble.”

You broke your vow of silence out of irritation. “I’m not a child you’re sending away to school. I know how to keep my own head on my shoulders.” You attempted to brush his hands off but the grip was tightened. Swallowing your frustration, you kept yourself from grimacing, looking at the fabled Lucifer Morningstar. “Thank you...for letting me live with you.”

For a human, he had a tenacity for picking up on things. He noticed your lie, giving you a stare down of his own before grabbing his phone. You only recently figured out what those devices were. Simeon had made sure he gifted you one of your own, since apparently it was the main source of communication in this realm. Too strange, but you picked it up fairly quickly. Lucifer just raised his head and pressed his cell against his ear. “Just make sure you refrain from being as irksome as my brothers.” The line he was dialing picked up. “Yes, have a driver prepare to come pick me up. And someone please contact my brothers for me so they know I’m bringing home a...guest.”

It was going to be a long year…

The...metal contraption rumbled, making your head feel light. Without magic to get around, they had to use...these things. The movement slowed till it came to a stop. Looking out the pane of glass, you peered forward to see what the issue was. A big red circular light shone a bright crimson in front of the lane. Was it a threat? If so, why was the world seemingly filled with them? Then the eye turned green and the long carriage rumbled back to life. It was completely different than the last time you had been here.

“Before you even step foot in my home, we need to set some ground rules.” Even just the sound of his voice almost physically rubbed you the wrong way. You bit the inside of your cheek. Play nice, the prince had said. How long could you keep your patience around these mortals? You looked up at him, feeling him stare you down to the corrupt depths of your soul. “Since you’re going to be living with us for so long, you’re going to have to follow the same rules I give my brothers? Understand?”

Was this all worth it? Would having your soul be torn to shreds be that bad? “Yes.”

He nodded, then decided his attention would be better focused towards whatever he had on that electronic device of his. He gave you orders without even looking at you. No wonder all the lesser demons who fawned after him were so pretentious. “No parties. No pets. You can stay up however long you want, but you must be back at the house no later than midnight. You can have your own room but you must keep it clean, don’t expect me to hire a maid for you. You’re responsible for looking after yourself. I might be providing a roof over your head, but anything you need is up to you. You break anything, you’re responsible for replacing it. Just use the basic level of common sense and we should have no trouble. Hopefully the year will be over before we—oh excuse me.” Without another word he picked another call, his third one since you’d been blackmailed into this ride. You just gave a gentle sigh and stared out the window. Just a few days ago you’d still existed in your botherless existence. A personal utopia of your own making. Now you were in this...hell away from hell, the scent of smog and exhaust still burning the inside of your nose.

The rest of the ride was spent with you trying to think of ways to escape this fate, but finding none in sight. You didn’t need to fully see the building to get this overwhelming wave of impurity. The tempting allure of sin. Practically a demon buffet. These morons were just screaming to be killed or worse, eaten. Even just approaching the gate to the driveway, you could see remnants of spirits, demons without full forms clawing at the fence. Wisps of black sinking into their sidewalk. But not even those, you could smell the presence of other lesser demons...but more dangerous ones. Outside the gate were small crowds, not too many, but enough to safely conceal their presence. Photographers, journalists, fans, wherever they were, they were eager to get in. And amongst the rabble stood demons pretending to be mortals in an attempt to sink their fangs into one of the Morningstars. You slunk down in your seat, trying to conceal your presence, but you were sure they’d be able to feel you. The car slipped past all of them, approaching the first set of gates. Whoever was patrolling the vehicle pressed their fingers against a small pad attached to a pillar by the gate. It waited for a moment, then made an affirming noise before the gate swung open. The cries of mortal and hidden demons alike pleading for the smallest sliver of attention from this human made you feel sick.

Despite having nearly ignored you the whole time, Lucifer scoffed. “You’ll get used to it.” The curved metal fence shut behind you, and the sound of the crowd slowly faded as you pulled up in front of the massive house. If anything, it reminded you a little of home. It was an old fashioned looking house, but fanciful nonetheless. With dark stone, piercing towers, arched windows, and an overall gothic aesthetic. You managed to take a moment to breathe. At least there was one silver lining. Lucifer stepped out of the idle vehicle first, paying you no mind as he approached the steps to the door. Slightly panicking, you tried simply pushing the door before noticing the small handle. Pulling it unlocked it, and you rapidly exited, feeling the motion sickness fade with your feet on the ground. You followed the mortal to the door, and was slightly pleased when he put his phone away to open the door, leaving it open for you. Lucifer shut the door, a small high pitched noise ringing through your ears. You turned and watched him mess with a little panel near the door. “Our security is top of the market. I make sure the code is changed every day, so if you’re not inside by midnight, I hope you enjoy camping.”

You were about to speak up about that, but both of you were bombarded with noise. A noise you would later learn to get used to. “Oi! Lucifer!” A bundle of energy came racing down the stairs. Wild hair, dark skin, rings on nearly every finger, you recognized this individual without having to ask his name. You could feel the influence. Greed. Demons almost loved this brother more than Pride, because from what you’d heard, he’d make deals impulsively with demons without knowing their true intentions. As long as money or something expensive was in front of him, he’d jump for anything. It had gotten him in more than enough trouble, and it made him too much of a prime target. At least Lucifer knew how to look over his shoulder. The second brother confronted the eldest. He didn’t even glance at you. “Hey, I need some cash! For some reason my card keeps declining...you can spot me right?”

Lucifer didn’t even hesitate. “No.”

“Eh? Why not?! I did that thing the other day for you, remember?”

“Hm?” Lucifer tilted his head, taking the time to recall-or pretending to. “Which thing would that be? Would it have been before or after you stole and immediately maxed out my card?” Lowering his eyes, the older one gave off a menacing smile.

Mammon took a step back, muttering. “O-oh you found about that, huh?”

The smile turned into a full on yell. “Of course I found out! I got a call from the bank as soon as they saw the purchase! What exactly do you need a golden tiger statue for, Mammon? Seriously, you’re absolutely ridiculous! I returned it by the way, and in the meantime I cancelled all your cards.” Mammon went to open his mouth in anger but didn’t have the chance to say anything. “You can try to find some extra work to pay off all the bills you’ve left me with. And if I think you’re ready, I’ll reopen your accounts in two months.” The effort of shouting sent Pride’s eye twitching. He lifted a hand to press against his forehead, the blood draining from his face. You shifted ever so slightly in your spot and he groaned. “Right, you’re here. Mammon, this is MC.”

Eyebrows raised, he jumped a little when he finally spotted you were in the room. “Wait, wait, wait, that whole thing with someone staying with us for a year wasn’t a joke?”

“No.” Although the slight warble to his voice seemed that that fact was just now settling in. “It wasn’t. And since you’ve so kindly volunteered yourself, you can take their bags and show them to their room.” He simply turned. No welcome, no tour, no warmth in those cold eyes of his.

“Hey! Come back here!” Yet the younger sibling showed no signs of chasing after him. “Lucifer!” His older brother just quickly headed up the stairs and disappeared into the house. Was it really going to require a full year of observation? Just from what you were seeing right now, you wanted nothing to do with humans. Nothing. Mammon ran a hand through his hair, one of his strands getting stuck in one of his rings, but he tugged it out without noticing, like it was a daily occurrence. “I can’t believe this.” You could watch as the anger started to swell within him. “Screw this, I’m out of here!” You were ready for him to leave, to give into his emotions. He had wrapped his hand around the door handle before he stopped. Pausing, he just tutted to himself before shoving his hands in his jacket-pockets, looking in your direction but not fully at you. “You want the guest room we have upstairs or down?” Loud, brash, rude in some ways, but there was a weird sort of innocence about him. You simply shrugged. He nodded, grasping one of your bags suddenly, gesturing you to follow. “I’ll give you the downstairs one. Most of our rooms are on the second floor, so it’s a bit quieter down here, plus it stays cooler.” He led you past the entrance hall and back into the rest of the house. “Plus, it’s easier to sneak out from here, but you didn’t hear that from me. I’m guessing Lucifer gave you the whole rule spiel?”

You restrained the urge to roll your eyes. “Yeah.”

He hissed in air through his teeth. “Sucks, man, are you sure you want to stay here?”

The pain around your wrists was still too prominent. Etched into your skin was a mark, a line of runes and symbols around your wrists. Who knew demons could give temporary pacts to other demons? Simeon ensured you a small fraction of his power, just in case you ran into trouble. But in exchange he had a hold on you, able to summon you to him whenever he needed you. It was your chain keeping you imprisoned here. There was no running. There was no hiding. “I didn’t have a choice.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke

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maxineswritingcenter · 3 years

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Heart’s Possession - MichaelxAdamxfem!reader part 2

Adam and Reader grew up together and were high school sweethearts, after his death and learning about monsters, (Y/N) tries to move on but never forgets her first love. When ten years pass, what will happen when a familiar face appears?

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Adam pulled away, his hands moving up to her cheeks. There was a large grin on his face and his whole body seemed like it was shaking.

“Oh wow, look at you...” He let out breathlessly, “You’re so beautiful.”

Emotions got the best of her, little hiccups in between her crying, “H-how? How are you alive? What happened to you?”

Adam opened his mouth but then closed it, his eyes scanning the area, “Not here.”

She nodded, swallowing thickly, “Alright, well, uh, we could go to my place or-” Before she could offer another location, the world changed around her instantly and the bustling streets of modern America in the daylight changed to sand and a tent, the Great Pyramid of Giza lit up by spot lights.

The sudden movement and change in location made her knees buckle, falling back to the ground. Instead of sand, her bottom was met by a soft stool made of colorful fabrics.

“What was that?!” She shouted. Adam went down on his knees in front of her and held a finger to his lips to shush her.

“Sorry, shoulda given you a warning.” He let out a hesitant laugh, “We just uh teleported.”

(Y/N) held her stomach, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“It’s hard to get used to.” He held a hand out to her to help her up. She took the hand and stood, looking out of the opening of the tent.

“Are we in Cairo?” She asked incredulously, “Egypt?”

Adam came to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Yeah, uh, Michael said it would be safer.” She shrugged his arm off, looking up at the man she once knew so well.

“Adam, what the hell is going on?”

He sighed and motioned back to the stool, “You might wanna sit back down.”

(Y/N) sat back down on the stool and looked up at him expectantly, “So I heard some things at the diner. Like how you were talking to yourself, or I guess, to Michael. The archangel and you smited Lilith and...You said it had been ten years since you had a burger but you’ve been gone for eleven years.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, “Adam, what’s going on?”

Adam grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down in front of her, “Look, I know it’s hard to wrap your head around. It was strange for me too at first. But it’s true. About ten years ago, I was brought back from the grave to be the vessel for Michael since Dean didn’t want to. And to be fair, I didn’t really want to either. But then Michael explained that it was part of my destiny.” He grinned, “As it turned out, John gave me the ability to be great. To defeat Lucifer, right?” He leaned back in the chair, “Well, then Sam was possessed by Lucifer and we both got thrown in the pit.”

“The pit?”

“It’s a cage that was meant to cage Lucifer, but it caged us too.” He explained. She breathed deeply out of her nose and motioned for him to continue.

“So, we’re in hell, Lucifer was spending time torturing Sam. Michael was praying to God to take him out. And then... One day, Sam was gone.” His jaw tightened, “Another angel, Castiel, took him out. And left me behind. Ya know, Dean and Sam talked a big game about Winchesters sticking together and how we were family and they wouldn’t let anything happen to me. And they left me in Hell to rot. I was in Hell for ten years but ten years is not the same in Hell. From what I counted?” He shook his head and chuckled, “I was in hell for over a thousand years. Waiting. Waiting for my family to save me.” He looked up at her, “But then Hell opened up. And we were free. And in our time, Michael and I got close. We have a bond unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, ya know?” We agreed to share my body and just live our life.”

“That’s... A lot.” She said, still processing the fact that he was in literal Hell. Adam paused then nodded to himself.

“Michael says I shouldn’t say anything else. He’s not sure about you yet.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, “Me? An angel is not sure about me? What can I do? I’m a librarian.”

“He’s protective of me.” He said, “We’ve been kinda burned by people who are supposed to care about us most.”

She opened her mouth in shock, then narrowed her eyes, “I grieved you for over a decade. I thought I went crazy when I saw you again. I’ve been wearing your class ring around my neck just to try and remember your touch.” She brought the ring on the chain out from under her and stood up, “I have no intentions to hurt you. I still love you. But it seems like you’ve already moved on.” She shoved past Adam and out into the sand.

(Y/N) walked, her anger fueling her to tread through the sand. Eventually, she got close to the pyramids and her feet were screaming at her for her stubbornness. She also noticed how cold it was, which was not something she automatically thought about being stranded in the desert.

How was she going to get home? She didn’t have a wallet on her and even then she didn’t have enough money for a plane ticket. There was always the American embassy, she could tell them she was kidnapped.

Even if she did get home though... (Y/N) would have to live with the fact that Adam was alive and possessed by an angel and he... He was trapped for so long. And she couldn’t have done anything. It killed her to think that if she had known more, she could have saved him. But what could she have done? It took an angel to get his brother out of Hell. What’s a human to do? And knowing now about monsters and demons and angels... She felt weaker than ever. So insignificant.

(Y/N) didn’t notice him until a jacket was wrapped around her shoulders that Adam was standing behind her. She looked up at him but realized it wasn’t Adam, not really. His body language and stern expression told her this was Michael.

“Michael.” She said softly and nodded at him to thank him for the jacket, “Thanks... Didn’t realize it got this cold.”

He ignored her words, “You must know Adam well if you can tell the difference between us.”

She looked up at him, he was staring out at the pyramids, “You know how well I know him if you two are so... Close.” He looked down at her, his stare was so intense that she avoided direct eye contact.

“I do know. His heaven was of your senior prom. Uriel found you both dancing, that was his ultimate happiness.” He said, “You were planning a life together.”

“If you saw that then why did you choose him?” She asked, “As your vessel or whatever he called it. If you saw we would be happy, why would you take that away?”

Michael’s jaw tightened and he thought for a moment, “My purpose is to serve my father and stop my brother from turning his creation into darkness. Dean refused to be the vessel, Adam wanted to save humanity.”

“Lilith said that you both started the apocalypses to bring God back. Does that mean God isn’t out there? That you were willing to kill your family to bring your dad back?”

Michael turned to look at her fully, his eyes glowed a bright blue, “I will do what I must for my father. My brother betrayed all of us. Betrayed me. I wouldn’t expect a human like you to understand.”

She flinched away from his harsh words and the energy coming from him.

Michael’s eyes lost their glow, taking a step back from (Y/N), listening as if he was hearing something, “I... Apologize. Adam would like us to get along. He still loves you very much.”

Lips trembling, she smiled, “I found the engagement ring in his pocket. I keep it in my jewelry box my grandma gave me.”

“The one made of cherry wood.” He said it more as a statement.

She nodded, “Yeah. I look at it every once in a while. At this point in our lives he would be a doctor, have his own practice. I would be his nurse. Maybe a family.” She stood up, holding the jacket close around her, “I know you care about Adam. Especially since you spent a thousand years together. But I can’t let him go.”

Michael nodded, “I know. That’s why I’ll make you forget.”

Her eyes widened as he lifted his hand at her, “What? No!” She backed away.

“Do not be afraid.” He said softly.

“Wait.” She tripped as she backed off, scrambling in the sand.

Michael reached out to her, but stopped abruptly. He grumbled and looked at her, holding his hand out to her, “Come on.”

“What?” She asked, shaking in fear.

Michael sighed in frustration and grabbed her arm to stand, “I am being summoned. Adam would like to bring you with us.” The surroundings changed from the desert to a dark and abandoned warehouse.

“Stay here.” Michael ordered, walking through a tarp and to another room. When he was gone, she gasped deeply. She leaned over, her hands on her knees. Teleporting took so much out of her. It was funny, teleporting was only the invention of science fiction until today.

She crept slowly towards the tarp Michael had gone through and peeked through the opening. There was a man in a trench coat

“Thank you.” The man said in a deep, gruff voice, “Thank you for coming. Do you remember me?” The man asked.

“You called me "ass-butt" and set me on fire.” Michael said snidely, “And then you helped send me to hell.”

“I did.” The man nodded sadly. Before she could hear anymore, one arm wrapped around her middle and the other around her mouth so the scream she let out couldn’t be heard. Whoever grabbed her was strong and he was dragging her to the other side of the room around Michael. She was breathing erratically, struggling against the arm that held her.

“We’re not gonna hurt you but you have to be quiet.” That voice. She knew that voice. It was deeper than when she last heard it but she knew it instantly.

She nodded against the hand and it was removed, when she turned she saw Adam’s brothers: Sam and Dean. Sam had a strong grip on her arm.

“And now what?” She heard Michael ask, “You’ve come to tell me that God, my father, creator of all things, is my enemy? Or maybe you just came to beg forgiveness.”

“Oh, I didn't come to beg.” The other man said before the familiar flicker of a lighter opening brought their attention back to Michael and the man with the trench coat. Michael was trapped in a circle of fire.

The Winchester walked her through another tarped area and to the main area where the trench coat man and Michael stood. Michael stared them down, looking betrayed once again. His eyes darted from his vessel’s brothers to (Y/N). When he met her eyes, his jaw tightened. It seems like he’s mad to be in this situation and because she had gotten captured. She should have been more careful. (Y/N) pulled to get away from the tall brother’s grip but it only tightened. The other brother, Dean, lifted a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and showed them to the archangel.

The worst part was, Michael looked concerned about the ordinary seeming handcuffs.

“Castiel.” Michael inhaled deeply, the flames seeming to weaken him, “What have you done?”

(Y/N) and Michael were brought to a bunker that was nearby. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside, but on the inside it was a completely different building. The bunker had a large library with an extensive amount of books. Michael began pacing around a table in the middle of the room, his hands cuffed in front of them. Whatever kind of handcuffs they were, they could put an archangel out of commission.

Sam pulled a chair out for (Y/N) where she sat, he leaned down to handcuff her to the chair when she slapped his hand away, “Unnecessary. There’s no way I’m taking you down, ‘Squatch.” She sneered. From the corner of her eye, she saw Michael’s lip twitch upward, but it quickly went back down to a stern line. Sam still stood behind her with Dean and Castiel on either side.

“Even for you, especially for you, this is stupid.” Michael glared at Dean.

“Good to see you too, Mike.” The older brother said gruffly.

Michael turned his attention to the brother behind her, “Sam. You look well. Last time I saw you in the Cage…”

“Yeah, it doesn't matter.” Sam said, “We need your help. God-”

“I've heard. Repeatedly.” He sat down in a chair on the other side of the table. It was then that she noticed a similarity between Adam and Michael. When he was pissed the whole room could feel it and his anger could be explosive if not given an outlet. Adam used to take a baseball bat and use all of his strength to swing against a tree. A lot of the anger was directed at John, which is probably why he used a baseball bat.

Castiel spoke: “Well, then you're aware that-”

“I'm not aware of anything.” Michael snapped, “You're asking me to trust you- you, who doomed me, you, who let Lucifer walk free while your own brother sat in hell.” He looked pointedly from Castiel to Adam’s brothers.

“Doing what we do, we've had to get used to losing people.” Sam took a step forward around the chair, “Probably too used to it. With Adam, we said goodbye because we thought we had to. We were wrong.”

“Well, don't tell me.” Michael said, “Tell him.” His eyes flashed bright blue and when it faded Adam was sitting in the chair.

“Hey, Sam.” He looked at each brother, “Dean.” He smiled, pulling at her heart strings.

“Adam?” Sam asked, confused.

“Ha!” Adam gave him the finger guns and chuckled, “By the way, man handle my girlfriend like that again and I will kill you.” He added without dropping his smile.

“Wait, Mic- Michael lets you talk?” Dean asked, eyebrows narrowed, “I mean, he lets you be?”

“Uh, yeah.” He replied, “In the Cage, we came to an agreement. We only had each other.”

Dean shared a glance with Sam then looked back at his youngest brother, “Adam, look, I know we bailed on you, okay, and there is nothing that we can say to fix that.”

Adam sighed, his smile fading, “How about, uh "I'm sorry"?” Before Dean could answer, Adam’s eyes glowed and Michael was back. She could tell Adam was getting upset, Michael must have too and took back over. He was protecting him.

Michael grunted, “Enough. Why am I here?” He glared, his mouth in a tight frown. He was getting anxious, not sitting still. He was seconds from a blow up.

“Michael, we needed to speak with you because God is back.” At Castiel’s words, Michael’s eyes widened and the frown faded, “You didn't think the Cage just opened on its own, did you?”

“If my father is back, he will usher in Paradise.” He said simply. But even she knew that wasn’t true after what she heard through the hunter line.

“No, he won't. Because Paradise is boring, and your dad- he's just looking to be entertained.” Dean said, “Which means we're his puppets. All of us, especially you.” Michael stood up abruptly

“I won't hear this. You're lying.” He pointed to Castiel and the brothers, “I don't know what your agenda is, but you're lying.”

“Michael-” Castiel started to say, but Michael’s eyes turned blue and Adam returned.

“Hey.” Adam said, as if he had no idea of what the conversation had been, “It's Adam.” He chuckled, “I'd give it a rest. He's not listening.” His attention went to her and he smiled, “There’s my girl.” (Y/N) pushed the chair back, hearing Sam grunt when she probably hit him in the groin, and stood up, making her way to the other side of the table to stand by Adam’s side.

“I gotta have a talk with Michael but... Are you okay?” He whispered and held her hand with his cuffed ones, moving his thumb across her knuckles. She sighed and nodded.

“Great.” She hummed, “Well, except for when Michael tried to erase my memory of you.”

Adam nodded, “Yeah, that wasn’t the best first impression. He was trying to be helpful in his own way.”

“Okay...” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “You two talk, I’ll be out there I guess.”

“Be careful.” He said. She nodded and was led out of the room by Castiel and the two brothers.

Once they were in the main room of the bunker they offered her another seat at an even larger table with a map of the world lit up on the top.

“I uh,” Dean started, “I’m sorry about what happened back there. We didn’t know if you were hostile.”

She glared at him, “You wouldn’t know anything about me. Especially after abruptly leaving me to plan two funerals. For my boyfriend and his mother.” She pointed, “You two just got to have your little funeral pyre and left.”

“If you don’t think we grieved him-” Sam began.

“But did you?” She snapped harshly, “You didn’t even think that he was your brother until he was already dead.” She chuckled, “How do you think I felt in that crypt seeing the love of my life dead in a coffin while I was hugging and kissing his killer an hour earlier?” She paced, “Oh! And! And I just found out today that he was alive again. Because from what I understand, your family just kinda comes back to life all willy nilly. And neither of you thought to get a hold of me? God forbid you lose a loved one, get them back and don’t hear about it.” She stopped and pointed at Castiel, “And this guy set him on fire.”

Dean took a step towards her, “I understand you’re upset. But so are we. When Adam was brought back from the dead, we did everything we could so he wouldn’t become a meat suit for Michael. We never wanted that for him. They locked me away from him and I nearly broke my damn hands trying to get it open again. Because he’s my brother.” His face softened, “We shouldn’t have left you in the dark. You deserved more than that. We’re sorry.”

She didn’t answer so Castiel stepped forward, “I was going to go check on him. Would you like to come with me?” She only nodded, following the angel back to where they had left Adam.

Castiel opened the door, leading both of them inside, “Adam?”

“Not this time.” Michael looked up from the table towards the two, “I'll spare you the effort. I'm not gonna betray my father and everything I've believed in.”

“Why not?” Castiel dropped his arms down to his sides, “You know, he betrayed you.” The angel started walking into the room, “You know, Michael, I never really liked you. Even when I was just another angel, I thought you were too haughty, too- To paraphrase a friend, you had an entire oak tree shoved up your ass.” (Y/N) covered her mouth to hide the smile on her face because Castiel was right. Michael was a tight ass.

Castiel continued, “But now? I'm looking at you, and I- I just pity you. Because you were never God's favorite. You were just a little part of his story, a tiny part of his story. You weren't even a star.” (Y/N) smile faced as Castiel walked closer. Michael had a tight smile and she could tell the explosion was coming, “At least Lucifer knew that God can't be trusted.” He leaned on the table Michael was sitting at, “But I guess he was always the smart one.”

“Oh sh-” She began to say as Michael quickly jumped up and grabbed Castiel by the collar and slammed his head about the table top. The two angels fell to the floor, Michael using the hand cuffs to choke Castiel.

Castiel reached up, placing his hands on either side of his head, “See the truth for yourself.” Michael became tense, his body shaking. After what felt like hours, Castiel took his hands away and Michael loosened his choke hold, falling down onto the cement floor.

“Michael!” She rushed forward to his side, going down on her knees to turn him on his back. His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot. He was struggling to breathe, gasping for air.

“Michael, you have to breathe.” She put a hand on his chest, inhaling deeply through her nose and exhaling through her mouth to coach him. He followed along, the red leaving his face.

He finally caught his breath, turning to Castiel, “Leave. Get out. I want you dead.” He said through his teeth. Castiel helped (Y/N) to her feet and she didn’t struggle. Michael needed to be by himself.

Castiel led her to the kitchen where she was able to get a drink of water and a snack after not eating all day. They both sat at a table in the middle of the kitchen in silence until Dean walked in, going to the refrigerator and grabbing himself a beer.

“Maybe you went too far.” Dean said, greeting the room.

“Maybe.”

“I mean, he's been in lockdown for quite a while, you know? Maybe you just, uh, went too fast. What's he doing now?”

“No idea. He was very distraught.”

“They’re a lot alike.” She chimed in after swallowing a bite of her apple, “They take a while to cool down after the eruption.”

Dean looked at her then back at Castiel, “Yeah, but what exactly did he say?”

"Leave. Get out. I want you dead". We didn't bond.” He recounted, “Where's Sam?”

“Eileen hit a snag with a case. So, he won't be gone long.” AS Dean said this, a rumbling shook the bunker.

“Michael.” Castiel said, leading the group into the room where they had left the archangel. The rumbling stopped right before they opened the door.

They found him sitting on the floor where they left him, looking as angry as ever.

“God lied to me. I gave everything for him. I loved him. Why? I'm not even the only Michael.” He spoke aloud then stood up and looked at the group, “So, yes, I will help you. What was done to the Darkness can be done to God, if he's as weak as you say. And I know how.” He awkwardly reached into his front pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He slid it across the table to the hunter and the angel, “That's the spell.”

“And the ingredients?” Castiel asked, looking at the paper.

“Myrrh, cassia, rockrose.”

“We've got that.” Dean said.

“And, to bind the spell together, the nectar from a Leviathan blossom.” Michael added.

“A Leviathan blossom? What is that, like a flower?” The older brother asked.

“A flower that only grows in one place.” Dean seemed exhausted at Michael’s words, “Purgatory.” He snapped his fingers and a yellow lighting-like light appeared.

“That's the door. It'll remain open for 12 hours. Now, if you'll please.” He held his hands out. Castiel and Dean shared a glance before Dean unlocked the handcuffs and took them off of the arcangel.

“You coming with us?” Dean asked.

“No.” Michael walked around the table and put a hand on her lower back, leading her towards the exit.

“Before you go, can I talk to him?” Dean’s voice stopped them. Michael’s eyes flashed blue and Adam turned back to face his brother.

“Yeah?”

Dean took a few steps forward, “ Adam, I want you to know we are sorry. What happened to you… You're a good man. You didn't deserve that.”

Adam smiled tightly, his eyes looking glossy and red, “Since when do we get what we deserve? He asked, then nodded, “Good luck.” He took her hand and led her out of the bunker and back out into the world.

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Read part 3 here!

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onp4012 · 4 years

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Romanian monsters and myths

I’ve seen that some of you want to hear more about those monsters and myths, so I am ready to spoil them.

Moroi

As popular as the Strigoi is the Moroi, an evil entity that comes from the spirit of an unbaptized dead child. In most parts of the country, Strigoi’s and Moroi’s are considered separate entities, but in Oltenia they are confused. The Moroi is the dead who have to return from the pit to bring trouble to family and friends. According to folk tales, an unbaptized dead child is sure to turn into a Moroi. Unlike Strigoi’s, where the transformation came almost immediately after death, the Moroi’s waited seven years to rise from the pit. When seven years have passed since his death(because number 7 is considered a magic number), the soul asks to be received in the kingdom of heaven and cries out "Baptism, Baptism!" or according to other sources "Cross, cross!". If anyone hears him then he can save him by giving him baptism: "The son or daughter of God, John or Mary, is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen!". The ritual is completed by a piece of cloth that is thrown on the grave of the unbaptized baby. If this ritual is not performed, the soul does not find peace and turns into an evil spirit, known as a Moroi. The Moroi haunts the owners of the land where he was buried. It makes the owner's animals and children sick, who eventually have to leave the land to avoid a tragedy. It is a nocturnal creature that manifests itself especially on New Year's Eve. It is said that it can leave its native land by metamorphosing into a dog. If it receives food, the dog-mule does not cause damage and does not scare those who cut it off. Encounters with the Moroi in the middle of the night are usually fatal. The victim either falls in bed for a long time or finds an end until dawn.

Pricolici

Is a werewolf/vampire fusion in the Romanian folklore. Pricolici, similar to Strigoi, are undead souls that have risen from the grave to harm living people. While a Strigoi possesses anthropomorphic qualities similar to the ones it had before death, a pricolici always resembles a wolf. Malicious, violent men are often said to become Pricolici after death, in order to continue harming other humans. Even as recently as modern times, many people living in rural areas of Romania have claimed to have been viciously attacked by abnormally large and fierce wolves. Apparently, these wolves attack silently, unexpectedly and only solitary targets. Victims of such attacks often claim that their aggressor wasn't an ordinary wolf, but a Pricolici who has come back to life to continue wreaking havoc.

Samca

Samca is a female, grotesque, horror and demonic spirit that ruins underage children and pregnant women’s health. She allegedly has long, disheveled hair, crooked fingers that end with sharp nails, fire-spitting mouth and hands made of iron. Legend has it, she’ll turn up at the end of each month in front of a young child or a pregnant woman and either kill the poor soul or leave him/ her crippled for life. According to the myth, the spirit has not one, but nine different names. Samca enjoys torturing women in labor, sometimes killing them. She also either kills their their children, or blesses them with a disease bearing her name. A children suffering from Samca will have seizures, cry all the time, sigh a lot and eventually die. If one writes all of her names inside his house, Samca will not be allowed to enter. She is thought to be the wing of Satan, and she is said to have tried to kill baby Jesus, but was stopped by Michael ( the archangel, not Jackson). She can also change appearance, in order to deceive mortals.

Pâca (Pafa)

Pâca, also known as Pafa, is, according to Romanian mythology, the spirit of tobacco and smoking. Romanians have imagined her as a woman as old at the world itself, ugly and black, having horns on her head and a big, long nose, swollen eyes, tusks and talons, a tail and a pipe in her mouth. Flames and black smoke come out of her throat and she reeks of tobacco. When Pâca came out from the depths of Hell, death spreading smoke came out with her. Then her sons, the demons (dracii), gave birth to a seed which they sowed. The plant sprung from that seed is called buruiana dracului ( the Devil’s weed) or tămâia dracului (the Devil’s incense). As you may have guessed, this plant is what we call tobacco. Then some other demons invented the pipe, for people to worship Pafa by inhaling the smoke made by the plant the devils had sowed in her name. Pâca‘s children also invented snuff tobacco. The funny part is that God, upon seeing what the people were doing, took their tobacco leaves and instead of destroying them (since he’s almighty according to christians, right?), mixed them with basil (so they could smell nicer?) and gave them back to people, teaching them how to use the new product. (Good job, God)

Crasnicul

Crasnicul, or Crâsnicul, is the child born out of a woman’s union with a demon. Apparently, he looks like a cross between a piglet and a normal kid. However, as opposed to the latter, the first thing this demon spawn does after birth is not crying, but running around the house screaming. I bet it sounds similar to Dani Filth’s work with Cradle. Somehow, my intuition tells me their similarities go beyond sound, and we could also link the two aesthetically. In some areas, people thought you should trap the thing in a stove and burn it alive. Other believe that the Crasnic is born after an eleven months gestation period. It is also said that the Crasnic has a hellish desire to bite and kill the people around, immediately after birth. After he’s done with them, he (it?) will try to go back to where he came from. To prevent all this, the midwife will wrap him in a cloth and call the mother’s relatives to bludgeon him to death. Imagine how many malformed children have been bludgeoned to death just because people thought they were the result of the mother’s union with the Devil. Sad. But a great Horror image, nonetheless. ;-; (Ain’t very proud).

Muma Pădurii (Mother Forest)

Is an ugly and mischievous or mad old woman living in the forest (in the heart of the virgin forests, in a hut/cabin or an old tree). She is the opposite of fairies such as a "Fairy" Zână. She is also the protector of the animals and plants, brewing potions and helping injured animals. She cures the forest if it's dying, and she keeps the unwanted trespassers away driving them mad and scaring them to flee. She can be associated with witches (like the witch from the story of "Hansel and Gretel"), but she's a neutral "creature", harming only those who harm the forest. (She’s my favorite “horror one”, I really respect her.)

Iele

Ieles, evil fairies in Romanian mythology are the most mysterious and fascinating creatures that Romanian legends have been talking about for hundreds of years. Sources of inspiration for poets and writers, who turned them into literary characters, the ieles are also the subject of folk studies in which the authors tried to explain both the origin and the meaning of the creatures. Supernatural female creatures appearing in groups on the plains or in the woods, singing and dancing in steamy or undressed clothes, leaving behind signs of circles of fire. It’s said that they are the result of an incestuous relationship between the Sun and the Moon, so they were cursed to send their daughters on earth. This is the portrait of the ieleles, described by folklorists and folk tales over time. Legends about iele, which differ from region to region, say that the creatures appear in groups of three, five or seven. The stories depict the evil fairies in Romanian mythology as very beautiful, dressed in steamy clothes or simply naked. In the story they appear at night, in the fields and in the forests, far from the eyes of the world. Legends also say that the iels burn crazy and cheerful choruses that the eyes of ordinary mortals should not see. Behind them are signs of circles of fire in the burning grass. (In my region, it’s said that they are wives of unfaithful husbands that cheated on them, at which, the woman committed suicide in a river or was simply killed by her husband.)

#romania #myths #legends #monsters #transylvania #romanianmythicalcreatures #romanianmyths #pricolici #Samca #strigoi #iele #para #crasnicul

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amchara · 3 years

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Road to Hell (Wait for Me, I'm Coming) Pt 1 - Kit / Ty fanfic

An expanded version of this Orpheus and Eurydice post

Part one tonight, fingers crossed part two tomorrow!

The silence in the Faerie wood was deafening.

Ty stared at the spot in the clearing where Kit had just been standing. His last words echoed in Ty’s mind, as he lifted up his chin and said. “Take me instead.” He had spared a glance at Ty, clear blue eyes burning with purpose and another message that Ty was still trying to decipher before he had vanished.

Dru and Anush came rushing over and Ty allowed Dru to help him up. Ty could feel his muscles aching from where he had been thrown but he barely paid attention.

“What just happened?” Dru asked, her freckles standing out her pale face. “Where’s Kit gone?”

A giggle erupted from a pocket of thick bushes nearby. Ty didn’t even stop to think, he plunged in, a knife appearing by instinct in his hand as he hauled out the short, wiggling goblin and shoved him up against the nearest tree.

“Where did that Faerie take him?” he spat out, his mind spinning as he suddenly struggled to deal with the fact that Kit. Was gone.

The goblin stopped giggling; its voice sing-song in its malice as it said: “To Hades. You’ll never see him again, Nephilim.”

The world narrowed to a pinprick, on its horrible face and mocking smile. Ty could see the splash of red on the goblin’s throat growing, as his knife started carving in, before Anush’s hand wrenched it out of his hand, as he pulled Ty away.

The goblin snarled, its shark teeth flashing in the fading sunlight as it scurried away.

“What the hell, Ty?” Anush was shaking from the effort, and Ty stopped fighting him, allowing his knife to fall on the ground.

His mind latched on what Anush had just said. “Hell… I know where he’s gone.”

He whirled around and started walking out of the clearing, already starting to connect the dots of the plan, his fingers tapping out a pattern on his weapons belt as he thought.

The audience with the Unseelie King was held in a smaller, private room, rather than the grey throne room, strewn with boulders. Kieran looked grave. “I have no authority over Hades and his realm… it is an ancient part of Faerie that has never ceded to either Seelie or Unseelie rule. There are tales that it is a remnant of the original demon realm from the demon who helped sire the Fae.”

He paused, as he took in Ty, and his voice softened. “Hades is one of his eldest children, it is said. I have never heard of anyone who has returned from his realm-- it is said they are as good as… dead.”

Ty could feel Mark’s gaze on him, from where he was standing beside Kieran and he surged forward, as if to touch Ty on the shoulder or give him a hug.

Ty neatly sidestepped him and Mark stopped short. “Ty- we can keep looking but…” and in his voice Ty could hear the truth - and Mark would not sugarcoat it for him. He thought Kit was gone.

“I see,” Ty said, and for the second time that day, he started walking away. Distantly, he knew that he should be more polite and continue the conversation but he couldn’t. Not while Kit was in the literal underworld and he was out here. Not when he had failed before with Livvy. That wasn’t about to happen again.

Ty searched out the Herondale necklace that he wore below Livvy’s locket, stroking it as he thought. This time… this time would be different.

The Underworld was… not what Kit had expected. But maybe that was on him, as despite not being religious, he still pictured hell as a fiery pit filled with demons, torturing the souls of wicked people.

This was not that - but it was still hot, Kit admitted. The weak fluorescent lights showed grey and brown walls rising up twenty feet or more, the roof barely visible with no light shining in from the dirty windows, while machinery and sparks flew around and workers with dull, lifeless faces walked past.

The Faerie guard pushed him down another corridor and Kit felt trepidation as they neared a heavy-looking wooden door, with a sign spelling out the word: BOSS in stark black lettering.

“Good to know I’m important enough to be taken to the person in charge,” Kit said, but he felt his heart sinking. He knew it had been a stupid plan but he had panicked - he knew currently he had one ace - that he was the heir of the First Descendent - but that was as likely to get him killed as get him out of a sticky situation.

The Faerie guard smirked, as he shoved Kit through the door. “The Boss sees all new workers.”

And then he closed the door, leaving Kit to stand face to face with Hades.

Kit wasn’t that up on his mythology but Hades wasn’t what he had expected - no Disney villain with grey skin and burning flames for hair or a toga-ed bronzed man with the abs of a literal Greek God, but make no mistake- this version was still impressive.

He looked at Kit from where he was sitting behind a rich mahogany desk, a burly man in his sixties, in a sharply-cut black suit and a full head and beard of snow white hair.

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve caught a pretty angel bird in my trap,” he said, his deep voice almost crooning, as he laid down a fountain pen and folded his hands in front of him.

Kit cleared his throat. “Yeah- well, I came of my own free will- to protect my friends,” he said.

Hades took in Kit, from his torn and dirty gear to the unhealed cuts on his face when Kit had still attempted to escape when they first arrived at the underworld’s gates. “Is that so?” he said, his amused chuckle almost a rumble.

He pulled out some sheaves of paper from a drawer and pushed them across his desk in front of Kit. He held out his pen. “In that case, I’m sure you’re happy to sign the contract.”

Contract… something in Kit’s memory screamed out a warning but he found himself mesmerized by Hades’ eyes - there were the flames, he thought - burning like a fire’s dying embers. He walked towards the desk and he felt his hand pick up the pen, almost of its own volition and moving towards the papers.

Behind him, the door opened and a woman’s musical voice rang out, cutting through the spell. “Hades? Are you almost finished with your work?”

Kit jerked back and he dropped the pen, the ink spilling out on the page.

The woman came around to stand beside Hades, her full figure brushing past Kit as she walked past, and her green eyes burned brightly in her dark face as she examined him.

Hades stood and he placed a possessive arm around the woman, whose small wince was so fleeting that Kit wasn’t sure he had seen it.

“Almost, my darling,” Hades said. His voice was sharp as he barked at Kit, who was surreptitiously trying to find an escape or at least, a weapon. “Stop.”

His compulsion was strong but Kit tried fighting back anyway. He summoned the brief training he had had with Tessa on his fae powers. It might have worked too, if the woman hadn’t looked at him, a slow smile emerging on her face. “Oh, he is a pretty one…” She reached out and grabbed Kit’s hand. “You must stay here.”

“Sign the contract,” Hades commanded.

Kit signed.

(Part Two)

@dontmindmyshadowhunting @sandersgrey @thechangeling @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @foxglove-airmid @jesse-is-spiraling

(let me know if you don't want to be tagged! Or if anyone else wants to be tagged - no worries either way)

#kitty fanfiction #tsc fanfiction #kit herondale x ty blackthorn #ty herondale #kit herondale #hadestown musical #not pure greek myth inspired mostly by the musical i admit #my fanfic

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hypnomicimagines · 3 years

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For Honor [Samurai!Yamada Ichiro/Reader] - Chapter 3

You’re happy to learn Ichiro didn’t grant you an empty promise.

As dinner was slowly cooking over the fire Ichiro had led you away from the horses, making some joke that he didn’t want you to spook them. You were excited as he removed the sword from his hip and brandished it for you to admire, almost feeling like a child when he began to explain how truly dangerous his weapon was. With some ‘get on with it’ hand movements Ichiro sighed, ushering you close to him and turning the blade away from you just in case you suddenly grew clumsy. Holding the hilt of the sword was an experience on it’s own, you could tell why his hands were so rough as the material wasn’t nearly as smooth as you thought it’d be.

“Is this an old sword, Ichi?” The nickname caught him off guard, leading him to not reply to your question for several long moments. When you repeat it, this time without use of his name, he stuttered out his reply.

“It was a gift from a town I helped… I had to chase bandits, fought most of them with my bare hands since I was too poor to afford a proper sword. They had a talented blacksmith who offered this as compensation. It would’ve been rude not to accept it…” He looked at the sword with a fond grin, it almost seemed mischievous in nature which was a far cry from what you’d seen of the proper swordsmen so far, “It’s seen the best and worst of times with me.”

“Now those are tales I’d like to hear!” You held the sword out in front of you, immediately surprised by the slight weight of it in your hands.

You nearly fumbled forward, not quite falling but your balance thrown off. Ichiro, being both your protector and a professional big brother, panicked immediately as the potential situation of you falling on his sword blade up flooded into his brain. His one arm wrapped around your middle, steadying you again while his unoccupied hand reached out to prevent the sword from slamming into the dirt after you dropped it in surprise. You can feel his breath tickling your neck as he let out a sigh of relief, turning to look at him with burning cheeks. It only took another few seconds for Ichiro to realize the inappropriate position you were in and he released you without a second thought, carefully sheathing his sword before he got to his knees in front of you.

“I apologize, princess! I should have asked permission… I should never have allowed you to put yourself in danger like that…” Ichiro’s forehead is practically on the ground with how low he’s gotten, feeling truly guilty for having touched you without permission. To think he had approached a young lady so brazenly, and a noble one at that. You must think so poorly of him now.

You’re more upset that the moment is completely ruined due to this but you placed a hand on Ichiro’s shoulder, once again noting the way he flinched under your touch. You removed it as you didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable than he already was, telling him you accepted his apology (as you did not feel like arguing with this stubborn, honor driven man about how his actions hadn’t bothered you) and turning the topic to dinner. He seemed grateful for the change and immediately went to tending the food, the silence speaking volumes as you ate without speaking another word to each other.

You curled up in the wagon that night with memories of how it felt to have Ichiro’s body pressed against yours, your imagination running away with itself when you thought of how it might feel if he had a distinct lack of clothing. Naughty thoughts were unrefined for someone of your social standing but so was thinking that marriage was about love, an ideal you wanted to hold onto for as long as you could. You knew you were on your way to potentially seal the deal, to be with a suitor of your own status, but the thought of it truly filled you with dread. You didn’t dislike having to be married off so young but you wish it was more your choice; your parents shoving bachelors in front of you and going ‘pick one!’ still wasn’t a real choice, at least, not in your opinion. When you had rejected each one of their line-ups, they had finally gotten sick of giving you this illusion of choice, instead opting to great an agreement with a neighboring kingdom to have you marry their prince.

They told you that should you think anything is wrong, you could reject the proposal and they’d welcome you back with open arms, but you’re not so sure that was a statement based in reality.

You’re beginning to fall asleep when a twig snapped outside, your sleep-addled brain unworried as you assumed it was just Ichiro. It’s when the careful sound of multiple sets of feet start to surround the cart that you’re alarmed, and you let out a loud cry as the back of the wagon is forcibly opened. You can hardly make out faces in the dark but you see bright shining eyes and scars, your leg suddenly in a heavy grip that you can’t escape from. You let out another scream as you’re pulled unceremoniously from the cart, falling into the dirt and scrambling to cover your body as your nightwear was quite thin. You sent out a defiant glare but your face faltered at the sight of Ichiro, bloodied up in a pile near the fire pit from earlier.

“You look so pretty, princess, you wouldn’t mind if I had a taste, would you?” The bandit closest to you touched your face in an overly familiar manner that filled you with rage.

You kicked out at the man saying such disgusting things to you, hoping he’d kill you before you ever allowed him to touch you in such a way. You’d rather face a thousand deaths than allow a man such as him to defile you, you hoped that at least in death your ghost could come back to haunt and torture this man a thousand times over. You’re full of even more fury as he picked your body up like a rag doll, tossing you over his shoulder like you were nothing even as you fought to get out of his grip. You saw a man bigger than the others, likely the leader, sitting a few feet away from Ichiro, watching you with interest.

“Keep calm, princess. We just want to strike a deal with ya. Coin is all we’re after… Simple folk, and all.”

You let out an ‘oof’ as you’re thrown on top of Ichiro, pulling away to see that his eyes had opened at the sudden impact. There’s something eerily calm about his aura that sets you a little more at ease now that you’re within arm’s length of him, even if his hands are currently tied behind his back. You knew his sword was at the bandit leader’s side, you had seen it when the leader had addressed you initially, so how were you to get out of this situation? There didn’t seem to be many men, three others without including their leader, but there was only one of Ichiro. You remembered his earlier story about saving a village from bandits with his bare hands but had they been heavily armed? Had he just been lying to impress you with his feats?

You placed your hands on Ichiro’s chest as you looked up at the leader with an annoyed look.

“Who the hell are you to touch me, you insolent beast!” You spat out, ignoring the way Ichiro’s eyes widened from underneath you. You felt him start to move, his voice muffled by the gag they had wrapped around it, but you were already using up every ounce of bravery you had to keep eye contact with the leader; you were afraid if you looked at Ichiro you would crumble back down, and now was not the time to be weak. “You will get no gold from me. My parents will send only the best of the best after you, you won’t know what’s hit you until you’re burning in the afterlife!”

“We were goin’ to be nice…” The leader stood, taking a few steps towards you and standing still for a moment before his hand suddenly lurched out, taking a fist full of your hair. “But if you don’t got manners, then neither do we.”

You brain is screaming to act and you do so immediately, once again acting on impulse before the sensible side of you causes you to shrink back. You’re going against every bit of training you’d ever received, always made to be compliant, always told to be kind and pretty and perfect, but those were the rules of the elite. Out here in the woods, there were no rules, no proper etiquette that was forced to be upheld for the sake of one’s reputation. Here you were free, no politics at all, and you would run with this chance while you had it.

The dagger dug deep into the chest of the bandit who let out a yowl at the surprise attack; you had caught him off-guard, angered him so deeply that he had forgotten he didn’t do a full body search on the samurai. You couldn’t blame him, most samurai only carried their swords and nothing more, but you’d have to give personal thanks to Ichiro’s ninja friend if you made it out of this one alive. The cries of pain caused Ichiro to jump back into actions, the ropes tying his hands together falling to the ground uselessly. He had been working at them slowly but surely as everything was going on around him, the bandits far too full of themselves for thinking they had gotten the jump on him.

Ichiro had something to prove now.

#Yamada Ichiro #Ichiro Yamada #Hypnosis Mic #Hypnosis Microphone #Hypnosis Mic Imagines #Hypnosis Microphone Imagines #Hypnosis Mic x Reader #Hypnosis Microphone x Reader #Hypmic #Yamada Ichiro x Reader #Scenario #AU

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suchalonelysunflower · 3 years

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The Siren’s Song (c.h)

Where The Storm Gathers - Chapter 3

Pairing: Stable Lad! Calum Hood x Princess! Reader

Summary: A glance of hope stands in the distance as Y/N and Calum set sails to see some old friends, but the waters are not as calm as they seem.

Warnings: Mentions of murder; Torture; Violence; Blood; Abuse; Sickness; Manipulation; Language; Some grammatical errors (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 7.5 K

Author’s Note: Had to divide the chapter into two, you’ll understand why next week ;) This is the last boring chapter, I promise. Remember that Reblogs, Feedback, Comments and Likes help a lot (please help out of this ban!) 💕 Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋🌻✨

My Materialist // tag list on bio!

Book 2 Materialist || Prologue || Chapter one || Chapter two

Ashton could hear the distant sound of thunder rumbling all over the kingdom. He thought that if he could hear that, then maybe the storm was closer than anyone could anticipate. He hasn’t seen the rain in months, let alone the sun.

He got himself into this mess, he thought. He should’ve fought harder and stopped being so naive in regards to his father.

Ever since Y/N left, he made sure to let everyone know exactly the type of person the King of RoseWood was. Letters were sent and crows were removed from their positions in different courts. Ashton would look for allies to his cause; allies that could potentially help him to take the power from his father once and for all.

It was not Ashton’s plan to take the crown at such a young age, he never asked for this even though it was bestowed upon him since birth. But he would do whatever it takes to keep his family, loved ones, and people safe; and it was more than clear that his father could not provide that same kind of security and comfort.

After the failed attempt to get his daughter married to the King of the Vail and take control of their army, King Richard went into what villagers called “a madman serenade” If the rumors said that he had lost his mind and his thirst for blood was as strong as ever, he would make sure to comply.

Richard brought the kingdom ruin, taking men out of their homes and putting them into training fields. He recruited the most fearless, sadistic men of the crow’s army and put them in charge of his new order. He lost his mind to the delusion that he will run all the kingdoms and turn them into an empire. And Ashton was almost about to uncover his plan when he was suddenly taken in the middle of the night and thrown in the dungeons like a dog.

Accused of treason and deprived of any contact with the outside and its people, Ashton swore he would not let his father win. He endured the tortures with a straight face, not saying a word to anyone that tried to pull something out of him. He spent countless nights without sleep, weeks without food, and days without water, all so that the cause and his sister could be safe.

He knew they would come for her eventually, he just hoped they had more time. Maybe he could’ve escaped by now and warned her, to make sure she and Calum are safe from the deathly grip of their father...

But instead, he was sitting in his cell once again, eyes fixed on the same spot on the wall as his lips were dry and sealed, even when the pain of the iron chains that rounded his ankles made him want to chop his limbs off. Feeling like a failure as he awaited his death. He has failed as a brother and as future King, and right now there was nothing he could do about it except listening to the thunder and the moaning of the other prisoners.

It was the dangling of the keys that caught his attention as it mixed with the sound of the heavy rain. He wondered if he was dreaming every time someone would come into the cell, hoping to wake up from the nightmare he was in, but they all made sure he lived through it. Never too much to kill him, but cruel enough to make him endure it.

“Diner,” The guard said in a monotonous tone and Ashton thought it was weird.

This guard never talked to him in a tone that held anything but pity and desperation, trying hard to win at least some kind of good reactions out of him even when the young Prince would lash out at him. Did he give up too?

Rian Dawson put the tray of food on the floor in front of the Prince. He was fidgeting with his hands, looking nervously at the door, almost as if he was afraid someone might come in at any minute, and Ashton noticed it but didn’t say a word.

“Eat!” Dawson demanded a bit too loud, but he wasn’t looking at Ashton, instead, his gaze moved nervously through the door and the tray.

Still, firm and stubborn as always, Ashton did not move or say anything, not wanting to give the guards the satisfaction of seeing him weak. But at the same time, he knew that the moment he put that piece of bread in his mouth, he might not be able to hold it after so many days without eating properly.

“Your Grace…” The guard then whispered, looking at Ash with a pleading gaze “Please…”

Ashton furrowed his brows. It was not normal for a guard or a crow to be this nervous around him anymore, and he did not trust it. After all, this was the same guard that would come every now and then to change his chains; heal the wounds just enough so that they don’t get an infection; and take him to his next torture. Why did he seem so desperate now?

“Please, I beg of you, Your Highness. Just-” He continued to whisper, but got cut short when a new set of dangling keys could be heard along the hallway “Shit”

“Dawson! What the hell are you doing?!” The Commander asked, standing right outside the Prince’s cell, and, once again, Ashton did not move a muscle to acknowledge him.

“They ordered me to get the traitor dinner, My Lord!” Rian said loudly, standing tall and ignoring Ashton altogether “But it seems like he would rather starve than be useful for once!”

His tone did not convince Ashton in the slightest since he could see through the lie. But it must’ve not been the same for the Commander who started to laugh.

“Let him starve, then!” He said “Before he dies we would have to feed him forcefully until the King says enough. Then he could rot all he wants. Come, Dawson! You are needed on the training field”

And with that, the Commander walked away, but Rian only allowed himself to breathe once the sound of the keys could not be heard over the thunder.

“Your Highness,” He said calmly as before, still keeping his eyes on the door as he started to walk out “Please, please eat. For RoseWood”

Ashton heard the cell door close again and the heavy footsteps disappear in the hallway. Then, his hazel eyes shifted to the tray that contained a piece of old bread and a cup of water. His narrowing gaze suddenly became wide open as his head snapped towards the direction of the door, waiting for any sounds besides the thunder that could indicate someone’s coming.

His heart was beating loudly inside his chest as he leaned forward, placing one hand on the dusty, musky floor, trying to see if he could support himself with his arms without making too much noise with the shackles that imprisoned him.

Slowly, Ashton started to crawl, biting on his tongue to not let out any noise as the pain of his wounded wrist shook through his whole body with every little step he made with his hands until finally, he reached the tray.

With shaky hands, the Prince of Roses opened the bread in half; eyes immediately watering as he had to prevent himself from letting out a cheerful and hopeful sob when he saw the piece of parchment hidden in the crumbs.

“Help is on the way. Let the true ruler of RoseWood be seen again - The Knights of Roses”

Y/N fell to her knees, hiding her face on a bucket as Calum held her hair place soothing movements onto her back with the palm of his hand. It was the third time today, the movement of the waves and the worry set on the pit of her stomach made everything fuzzy and revolving, making her throw up on an empty stomach.

“Love?” Calum asked, wincing as she started to cough through the tears “Y/N, it’s okay”

“It’s not okay, it’s disgusting” She cried, wiping her face with a cloth.

They were kneeling on the floor of their cabin on the Kaleidoscope, the same one they got when they were just arriving at the Crimson Islands. But what once was an exciting, frightening, and adventurous trip, has now turned mournful and dreadful as they made their way to The Vail’s coast.

Two days ago King Alex received a letter addressed to the Princess of Roses, sent by none other than King Luke Hemmings from The Vail, claiming that her brother had been captured and imprisoned by their father, who was now starting to prepare for a war to reclaim all Kingdoms to himself.

Y/N and Calum stood there in shock and tears as they read the letter over and over again, desperately wanting to make all of this just another bad dream. But the nightmare was not over, in fact, it seemed like it was just barely getting started.

King Alex gathered a small crew and together with the couple from RoseWood, wasted no time in preparing a trip to meet with the King of the Vail and his advisor, Sir Michael.

“We cannot let that madman win,” The King said “Say the word, Princess Y/N, and we’ll fight by your side. Anything you two may need, I will gladly provide. I am at your service, Your Highness”

And with that, the Princess and the Stable Lad ended up on the Kaleidoscope again with Captain Merrick; his crew; a few other soldiers; and a few volunteers. Ready to sail and get to The Vail where other rulers are gathering to decipher a plan of attack if Richard won’t back down.

But all this stress; worry; fear and sorrow was too much of a shock for Y/N and Calum even though they tried to hide it from each other. This was not a simple game of sneaking around in the woods, this was a life or death situation with Ashton’s life hanging on a thread if they don’t hurry, that is, if he’s still alive.

“Do you want me to get you anything?” Calum asked once her breathing had calmed down, softly rubbing her back.

“A glass of scotch could be nice” She grumbled, getting up with Calum’s help as she sat back on the bed.

“Are you sure you’re allowed to drink?” Her husband asked carefully, sitting beside her as he held her hand.

Y/N furrowed her brows at him, trying to decipher the meaning behind the gleam in his eyes until it finally hit her.

“I’m not with child, Calum”

“How do you know?” He shrugged, placing a hand on Y/N’s stomach “You were not sick on our first trip to the Isles. And the Maester said-”

“The Maester doesn’t have a uterus,” She shook her head with a glimpse of a smile drawing in her lips “And even so, I know my body. It is not time yet, love. And, dare I say, if my father manages to win… it might never be”

Calum pressed his lips in a thin line, nodding at her words as he moved his hand from her stomach to cradle her hand once more.

“The time will come,” He smiled softly at her “Whenever you’re ready, and probably in years to come, it will be perfect. But, as of right now, my rose, I don’t think a glass of scotch is going to do you any favors”

She rolled her eyes lovingly at him, smiling as she said “How do you know? You’re not a healer”

“Nope, but I’m a guy whose friends would drink themselves to death and ended up exactly where you are right now” He chuckled, getting up from the bed and placing a soft kiss on her forehead “And I’m a husband who wants to take care of his wife, not make her sicker”

“Sometimes I hate that you’re a good husband” She pouted

“I can live with that,” He smiled, caressing her face with the back of his hand. “I’ll get you a beverage, though. I know Zach keeps some for the crew that get seasick”

“I love you,” She said through a sigh “Wish I could kiss you”

“Well…”

“Don’t even think about it, Hood. Get me the beverage and some mint leaves with lemon first”

Calum chuckled, “As you wish”

The stable lad exited the room with a faint smile that quickly disappeared when he closed the door. He hated seeing Y/N sick and he knew that the waves were just an added factor to all the turmoil she must be going through. He knows his wife; he knows she’s hiding all the pain she’s not allowing herself to feel. And he also knows that the stubbornness of his princess is strong and she would never admit it.

It’s all his fault, he thought as he walked towards the main cabin. He couldn't help but feel that he took part in sealing Ashton’s fate even though there was nothing they could’ve done at the moment. They needed to keep Y/N safe, no matter the cost. But why should Ashton pay for the crimes Calum committed by loving her? It should’ve been him the one sitting in the cell, not the only family Y/N has left; not the only family that loved her.

She’s already lost so much; her homeland, her mother, and now Ashton… She didn’t deserve any of it and Calum was more than determined to help her bring him back, no matter what it takes. They will not let Richard win.

He walked up to the deck, already making plans inside his head to let the guilt die down for a second as he concentrated on getting Y/N’s health back to normal when his pace was cut short by someone who purposely stood in front of him.

“Good morning, my Lord. Won’t you say we’re having such a splendid morning, today?”

There was something on Jack’s smile that made Calum want to punch it, something mocking yet sinister that hid something that he just couldn’t figure out.

At first, they couldn’t believe he volunteered for the trip, having just got to the Isles and finding a role in the court. He seemed too eager to go back to the Vail and help them defeat the King of RoseWood, saying it would be an honor to serve the Princess on whatever she would need. And even Y/N had to admit that was a bit off, but they needed all the help they could get.

Still, Calum did not trust him. And after he told Y/N about what happened back on the training grounds of the palace, she also started to distrust the man going by Jefferson. So his presence here brought more questions than reassurances.

“How’s the Princess doing?” Jack, also known as Sir Jefferson, asked; leaning over one of the masts with a glint in his eyes as he looked up and down Calum’s body.

Calum didn’t even try to hide his feelings towards him anymore as his hard, brown eyes stared at him with annoyance.

“My wife’s health is none of your business, Sir. Now, if you’ll excuse me”

But at the same time he took a step forward, so did Jack.

“Ouch,” He said ironically, “Thought you would be more thankful, my Lord. After all, isn’t your brother-in-law we are talking about here?”

Calum bluntly ignored him as he walked past the crow, bumping his shoulders as he did. Jack smirk, for his plan of railing up the stable lad, was working and he was also having fun with it, making it a personal challenge so for when the time comes to let all the truth come to shove, at least the fighting will be interesting. So he followed him.

“Who would’ve thought it would come to this?” He said, walking alongside Calum “A mad King, a Prince held hostage… Only, that’s all we know. Maybe things at RoseWood are more interesting”

Calum ignored him, pushing through the crowded deck to get to the Captain’s cabin. Jack’s voice became white noise as he tried to get the medicine he needed and then go back to his wife waiting for him at the other side of the ship. But then…

“Think of how this would’ve never happened if you never left. Or maybe things are finally working out for you”

Jack smirked at the way the stable lad stopped in the middle of his tracks, but quickly hid it the moment he turned around as the crow greeted him with a faux-innocent look of concern.

“Is everything alri-”

“What did you just say?”

Calum was fuming. The hair on the back of his neck rose in anger as a chill ran down his back when he heard those words. His fists were clenched to the sides, knuckles turning white from the grip as he dug his nails into his palms, reminding him to not lose his temper as they stood right at the entrance of the cabin’s hallway.

A shadow hid most of Jack’s face and Calum could swear he saw him smile for even just a second before his voice became soft as he said:

“I’m just saying that if you had stayed in RoseWood then maybe the Prince would not be in the dungeons, am I wrong for assuming that?” He said, furrowing his brows almost as if he didn’t understand why Calum could be mad about it “Royals can be tough, but you knew that before getting involved with the Princess, I assume. And then running away with her… Seemed like a poorly executed plan that started in chaos and, like most things, would probably end in chaos. Unless that’s the plan all along”

“What the fuck do you mean by that?”

Jack gasped, placing a hand over his heart as he blinked at Calum “That language, my Lord, very aggressive”

Calum grabbed the crow by the lapels of his clothing, pushing him against the wall.

“Cmon,” Calum said with his face only inches away from Jack’s “Say what you must, if you dare”

The crow let out a small, sarcastic laugh “Oh, my lord. Was I wrong to assume how this could benefit you? Don’t you think is a little suspicious? Father gets mad, you marry the daughter and then suddenly the prince disappears… Who gets the throne once it’s all said and done? Now that’s a story worth telling, don’t you think?”

Calum’s eyes filled with rage as he banged Jack’s head against the wooden walls, knowing that people might be watching. But he could not let go of that offense as if it was nothing. How could he think that he could do that to Ash? To Y/N?!

“You don’t know shit of what happened,” He said through gritted teeth “You don’t know what we went through, what she went through. You don’t know our story so don’t pretend like you do and start assuming on other people’s lives”

“Calm down, my friend,” Jack said, trying to defuse the tension. “Maybe I’m mistaken but I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking already”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it, too? What does Y/N say about it?”

“What are you talking about?!” Calum demanded in hushed tones, gripping tightly onto Jack’s lapels and making him hit his head on the wooden wall behind him again, but the crow didn’t even flinch as a glimmer set in his eyes, sending chills down Calum’s spine.

“Oh, may the gods bless your foolish heart, Calum” The crow sympathized. “I knew Y/N would be too kind to let you borrow some of her burdens, but for you to be so clueless… Must be a blessing to walk around like that”

“Like what?” Calum was getting impatient.

“Like you didn’t cause all of this”

“My Lords? Is everything alright?” Captain Merrick’s voice came from the end of the hallway as he walked up to them.

Calum let go of Jack in an instant, too shocked by his words to say anything else as he looked at him with wide eyes and an expression that hid too many fears inside of it.

Jack, on the other hand, just smiled at the Captain “Everything’s fine, Captain. We were just having a friendly conversation, isn’t that right, Cal?” He patted Calum on the shoulder and walked away without saying anything else.

“My Lord?”

“I-I’m fine, Captain,” Calum said, blinking a couple of times to clear his thoughts “My- uh, My wife is feeling a little bit seasick, I was wondering if you could help me get her something to ease her stomach”

Zach smiled “Of course, my Lord! Come, I have exactly what she needs in my cabin”

Calum nodded, “Oh, and Zach?”

“Yes?”

“If you can,” He said, looking toward where the crow just disappeared “Don’t let that man go near our cabin nor near Y/N if I’m not there to stop him”

An echo passed through her ears as she stood in the empty hallway. How she got there, she didn’t know; but it all seemed so familiar, almost like a dream. Only she didn’t know if it was a nightmare.

The clanking of the chains could be faintly heard from miles away as the hallway seemed to have no end, blending into the darkness.

Y/N took in her surroundings, looking from left to right and finding not a soul that could tell her what was going on. The humidity of the walls started to cling to her skin, making it seem like her gown was becoming heavier and heavier the more time she spent standing on the cobblestoned floor.

Then, a small, faint light came from one of the rooms hidden in the hallway. A candlelight gleam illuminated her path of darkness as she felt compelled to it, feeling the need to follow it. So she did.

The closer she got to the light the more real things started to become. Y/N was starting to feel as if this was not a dream anymore, a memory perhaps? She could feel the warmth of the light gracing her cheeks with every step she could, and, if she paid enough attention, even the sound of laughter would brush her ears.

The laughs were heavy, grave and she guessed it must come from a group of men. They were laughing at something, yet she couldn’t see what just yet nor she could hear anything besides the laugh and a faint sound of a whip, thinking that maybe they were just messing with the horse’s equipment as the drunk guards used to do back at RoseWood; Calum always hated that but they were always nice enough to pay back whatever they might’ve broken.

Could she be back at the stables? Was her mind playing with a forgotten memory?

Still, the crackling of the whip grew louder and louder as well as the laughs that couldn’t hide it anymore. But that's all it was. A whip and laughter, nothing else. So why did her heart beat faster as she approached the slightly ajar door?

From the small crack, she witnessed a group of men dressed in black, a red rose embroidered in their chests as they carried the RoseWood symbol with pride. They were drunkenly laughing at something -or rather someone - that Y/N couldn’t see just yet. She examined the men’s faces and couldn’t recognize them as his father’s guards, they weren’t the guards from the woods nor any that you’ve met before.

Yet, they seemed to be having the time of their lives as one of them grabbed the leathered whip from the other’s hand, laughing as he swung it over his head until it crashed with a surface while the others started to count.

Trying to get a better view - or at least an idea of what was happening - Y/N pushed the door open just a crack, hoping none of the men realized as the wooden door squeaked against the cobblestone, luckily they were still entertained with what was happening at the other corner.

The first thing the Princess noticed once she got a clearer view was the blood. So much blood scattered around the room in little splashes, pooling down in the middle. She felt her whole body tremble, feeling sick just looking at it, remembering the last time she saw so much red when Calum was captured.

Still, she couldn’t look away. It was almost as if her eyes were glued to the gruesome scene, following a trail until it landed on a target.

Her eyes widened and filled with tears; a scream threatened to escape her throat as she covered her mouth with both her hands to silence it. Her knees started to buckle and she felt as if she could throw up all over again, completely horrified at what was in front of her.

With a manacle on each wrist, each hanging from opposite wooden pillars and keeping his arms open wide, unable to sit or to let his body fall from the physical trauma, stood Ashton with his back completely open and bloody.

In front of him stood a small, dirty mirror where Y/N could see how he could barely keep his eyes open anymore; biting on his lip with each crack of the whip, making him lean forward and letting the manacles cut his wrist when he did so. Still, he didn’t say a word as the guards kept counting and Y/N didn’t want to know how many rounds they got before she got there.

Ashton’s hair fell in front of his face, stuck in sweat and blood to his forehead as his face changed with every hit of pain, only adding to his anger.

“C’mon, lads!” One of the guards laughed “Gotta be a lot proper with the royals now, don’t we? Start the count again, and this time do it more… gently”

The guard stood up and handed his friend another leathered whip, the only difference was that this one held spikes at the end, making sure to cut through the skin at just a simple touch.

Y/N watched in horror at how her brother’s back arched as he bit down his tongue, barely even opening his eyes to glance at the small mirror hanging in front of him, and she could swear that just for a moment, his eyes met hers before receiving another blow.

Unable to stand it any longer, Y/N barged into the room, making all of the men stop what they were doing as they stared down at her with eyes filled with fear as the man threw the whip on the floor.

Without wasting a breath, she ran to Ashton’s side and stood in front of him, trying to wipe some of the blood out of his face. But before she could say anything, she noticed how her brother’s eyes changed and were now filled with rage directed at her.

“You did this,” He said through gritted teeth, spitting blood at Y/N’s cheek.

Shocked and scared, Y/N looked around the room and found it empty.

“What?” She asked out loud, looking over at Ashton who also disappeared in thin air.

Her breathing became elaborated as she searched the room, trying to find any evidence that someone was there. Yet, when she turned around all she could find was the mirror and a different set of eyes looking straight at her.

For in that moment, her reflection wasn’t hers; it was her father, looking back with a proud smirk at the monster she thought she was.

The sudden shake of the ship made her jolt awake, taking in her surroundings with wide-open eyes as she tried to remember the dream she just had.

Her mother used to say that dreams are made of people’s greatest desires and fears; they could come from a memory or a premonition of the future and should never be taken lightly, for a dream was just as important as a thought. Dreams are the thoughts we don’t dare to say out loud.

A chill ran down her spine as her father‘s eyes were engraved in her memory; so cruel, so proud… Was she like him in a way when she ran away, leaving the ones she loved behind? Taking the easy way out, would he have done the same?

The simple thought of that made her blood run cold. She was not cruel; she was not a monster. She did what she needed to do to survive and make sure that Calum was safe. She made the only choice she could make but, would everyone understand that? Or would they just see her as her father’s daughter?

The sheets shifted slightly as Y/N’s eyes finally landed on Calum, the only comfort she had. She ran a hand delicately through his shaved curls, thanking the gods that they allowed him to sleep peacefully at least for one night and that she didn’t wake him up with her nightmare. He’s been so restless lately, she just wished to share some of his grief with him. She already put him through a lot, he deserved some peace of mind and she wants nothing more than to be able to provide that for him; let them be just themselves like they were in the woods, away from all fears and terrors and villains… just two kids playing around with fairytales and horse rides, so in love and with nothing to fear.

After a while, it became obvious that Y/N couldn’t go back to sleep so easily. With a sigh, she got off the bed, kissed Calum’s temple as he started to lightly snore, and wrapped herself with her robe as she exited the cabin; looking for a distraction in the middle of the star-filled sea.

Y/N closed her eyes when the cold night breeze graced her face, making her hair fly as she walked barefoot through the deck. All members of the crew and the volunteers were sound asleep.

She got closer to the board, looking straight ahead at the vast sea as her fingers grip the wood of the rails. They were still a few days away from getting to The Vail and once they get there, they have to start their strategies, plan the trips, know how many people to take, embark on the journey… who know how long it’ll be till they reach RoseWood again, but they were determined to do so. She knows Luke and Michael won’t let her down and they’ll do everything they can to get Ashton back and her father out of the throne; she knows she could trust them.

“Can’t sleep, Your Highness?”

Y/N jumped at the sound of a voice coming from the shadows of the quarterdeck, placing a hand over her heart as she watched Sir Jefferson emerge from the dark corner, smiling kindly at her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, Princess” He apologized, raising his hands in defense.

“Maybe you should’ve thought about it before talking from the shadows” Y/N sighed, looking back at the sea “We never know if the person hiding there is a friend or a foe, Sir Jefferson”

“And where would you place me, Your Highness?” He asked, taking a step closer to her “Friend or foe?”

“Am I talking to the same man that hurt my husband in training? Then, I’m not sure”

“It was a friendly match,” Jack said, leaning over the board and placing his elbows on the wooden planks as he looked at the sea as well.

“A match is still a match. You were lucky it wasn’t a duel” Y/N rolled her eyes “Either way, I don’t particularly understand the need men have for violence. For practice and self-defense, I get it. But to draw blood from innocent people… Seems barbaric”

“It’s in our system,” He shrugged. “Men search for violence even when they claim peace. We all know our nature and how far we can go, trying to push it beyond those limits until we reach the glory at the end. Even the most compassionate of men could tell you about the temptations of power and blood, maybe by doing things they know it’s wrong just to have a little taste of what it feels like”

Y/N’s mind couldn’t help to wander over to Ashton again, on how he played a part in scattering crows around the kingdoms in order to favor their father. He said he didn’t know why, but he still went ahead and did it; and even though she believed him, she also wonders if he ever at least had a slight idea of what he was doing.

“And once a man gets a taste….” Jack continued, biting the inside of his cheek as he watched Y/N’s clouded eyes “It becomes part of him”

“That’s awful”

“But it’s true. We cannot escape who we are, no matter how much we try to run away from it. If it’s in our blood, then it’s fate’s design to follow it”

The crow noticed how, suddenly, Y/N’s eyes started to water as she hugged herself even tighter. And for a moment, just a slight moment as the moonlight graced her face, he felt pity for her.

“The sea is quiet tonight,” He said, changing the topic to spare the little Princess, at least for tonight.

“I don’t suppose it makes much noise anyway” She answered, quickly brushing away a stray tear that escaped her eye “It’s just water”

“Careful with your words, Princess” Jack smirked “Or they might hear”

“Who?”

“The mermaids”

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows “That’s a fairytale, Sir Jefferson”

“Only to those who refused to believe in them,” He said “My mother used to tell me these stories, about pirates and adventures, but her favorites were always about the women who hide in the deep ends of the ocean. The mermaids are the protectors of the seas. Some legends say that mermaids are women who’ve been thrown out of their ships as a sacrifice to the gods; others, that the creatures were created by the gods themselves as a punishment for those who wander without the purest of hearts. They seek vengeance and justice, luring people of all around the world with their voices and deceiving them as they make them fall in love with fake promises and lust, sinking them into the sea with them. And, once they’ve realized they can’t breathe anymore, that’s when they show their true form. It’s a lesson, I suppose”

“Of what?”

“Never trust the beauty unless you can see the soul behind the eyes,” Jack said seriously, looking at Y/N “There are horrible people out there, Princess, hiding in their pretty clothes and all their riches, thinking they know it all just because they have it all. But no one is sinless, they know what they did”

The wind blew strangely, whistling through the sails as Y/N took in his words. No one is pure of sins, but could they ever repent them? She wrapped herself tighter in her robe, watching the crow’s back attentively as his eyes wandered over to the water, humming to himself an old siren’s song.

“My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold”

His voice was deep and rough as he sunk into a memory, thinking about his mother and all that was taken from him for people like the King; they always have it all yet they don’t care about their people, going on about their lives celebrating meaningless accomplishments as their people die on the streets. If he could get some of that power; if he could make them pay… And he will, by the gods he will.

Jack became no one of many names throughout his life, fighting to be the best in everything he does so when the moment comes, everyone will scream out his name in glory and gore.

“It’s getting late, Princess,” He said after a while, turning his head toward her “You should go back to bed”

Y/N’s lips parted as she stared at him; his eyes held something deeper than just a memory, they were cold and somewhat cruel as he looked at her, but only for a second as his signature smile was back on his face in the blink of an eye, making her wonder if she’d just imagined the familiarity of that glare.

“We still have a long way to The Vail, and around this time of year their days tend to be longer, so there won’t be much resting once we get there” He smiled.

Y/N nodded “You seem to know a lot about The Vail, Sir Jefferson. Have you ever been there before?”

Jack nodded with a sigh as he pointed to the scar on his left eye “Fearless warriors, they say. I have to admit they were right”

“They are a peaceful Kingdom and have been for decades” The Princess questioned him “Their King is one of the kindest souls I know, and to my knowledge, they only use violence for training and nothing more since the wars are over. I still don’t understand how you managed to get that scar on a Kingdom with people like that”

“Well, appearances can be deceiving, Your Highness. You just never know who to trust” Jack said gravely, gracing his eyes to the floor before looking up at her again “But that might be a story for another day, you should get some sleep”

“I don’t think I can, really,” Said the Princess “But that shouldn’t keep you up, my Lord. I’ll be fine”

Truth was, Y/N was still pretty shaken from her nightmare and the words from Sir Jefferson, feeling a sense of warning running through her mind. For some reason, she didn’t feel safe and was relieved when Jack seemed to understand and nod.

“Perhaps I have something that could help you, Princess,” He said, reaching into one of the pockets of his jacket and pulling out a folded handkerchief “I always carry some with me, just in case”

Jack opened the small piece of fabric revealing a couple of dry leaves on it.

“It helps you sleep,” He said with a smile “You just have to put them in water, cold or hot, and drink it after ten minutes. Works like a charm, or at least that’s what my mother used to say and I never found any fails to that logic”

Y/N smiled kindly, taking a couple of leaves in her hands as she looked at them, furrowing her brows just slightly.

“Are you certain this would help?”

“Extremely”

She nodded, “Thank you, Bernard”

He smiled at her one last time before she turned around and hurried to her cabin once again, speeding up the pace once she was out of sight from the decks, opening up the heavy wooden door and locking it instantly as her breathing became heavy and beams of sweat started to cover her face.

With heavy hands, she went to the small desk in the room, sitting in the chair and lighting up the candle; wasting no time in grabbing a leaf and burning it.

From the moment she saw them she knew what they were, she remembers seeing them in one of the Maester’s lessons.

“This is called La Torture De Méduse, an ancient poisonous leaf that causes a complete body paralysis, starting from the legs, then the torso and the arms, and lastly, the brain and the rest of the organs. All without the victim knowing since it makes the poor soul who ingested it fall into a deep slumber as their bodies die slowly. One can literally become stone, hence the name of this vile creation of the gods. Luckily, it is easy to identify if you notice the little green dots on the petiole and midrib. Do not ever go near them and if you do…”

Destroy them.

And that’s exactly what Y/N was doing as she watched the second leaf burn into ashes. Her mind was running a thousand kilometers per hour, trying to find an excuse for Sir Jefferson who so kindly and so naively, gave the leaves to her. He said that it helped him sleep, but these could not be the same leaves he talked about. If he ever drank the beverage created with them, then he should be dead already.

Unless he knew exactly what he did by giving her the leaves, expecting to receive the news of her untimely death the next morning when Calum finds her cold next to him. But why would he do that to her? They barely know one another and she has done nothing to wrong him. Nothing made any sense...

“Rose?” Calum’s voice alerted Y/N as she pulled the leaf away from the fire, letting it fall with the remaining others onto the desk “What are you doing, my love?”

She hesitated to answer. She couldn’t lie to him, but at the same time, she didn’t want to accuse an innocent until she got further proof of his wrongdoings, afraid she’ll become like her father.

If she tells Calum about the leaves and what they do, he will kill Jack with no hesitation and he’ll be sent to trial again, only this time he might serve time for real or worse: he’d be sentenced for murder. The law does not care if it was in self-defense, as far as the court will know, Jack never intended to hurt the Princess and it might’ve been just an honest mistake. And Y/N was not ready to lose Calum again.

“I couldn’t sleep,” She tells him a half-truth, leaving what happened with Jack aside “Thought I could use some air and then I came back here”

Calum rolled to his side, watching her with sad, understanding eyes “I know how difficult this must be for you, my rose. And I wish I could take some of that pain away from your eyes and hide it somewhere where you’ll never see or feel it again in your life. But all I can offer you is the promise that I’ll be here through it all with you, my love, we’ll be home soon”

“You’re my home, Cal,” She said “You’ve always been my home”

“Then come back to bed and let me hold you,” He said softly “Let us fight these nights together and share our mornings hand in hand. You’re not alone in this, my rose”

“And neither are you”

He beckoned her with his head and she smiled softly at him, turning around to blow out the candle and hide the remaining leaves on the pocket of her stash without him noticing it, promising herself to get to the bottom of it soon.

Calum wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her close, kissing her forehead as she laid on his chest with her head tucked under his chin.

“You’re the strongest person I know, Y/N” He whispered against her hair as his fingers drew figures on her back.

“Only because I have you with me,” She answered, kissing the side of his neck “I love you, Cal. Please, never leave me”

“Not in this life or the next, my love” He replied, drifting to sleep again with her chest pressed against his “Not in this life or the next”

Still, with Calum fast asleep next to her, Y/N could not phantom getting back to her dreams as she watched the moon disappear into the sea through their small porthole, hoping that the sirens would hear her pray and lure her to sleep in the midst of a dreamless sea.

tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @mystic-232 @talksoprettyjjx @theshyspy @hoodhoran @flaneurcth @conversecake @bubblegum18 @irwin-fletcher-ash @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @1980holland @wiiildflowerrr @hoplessromantic727 @fivesecondsofonedirection @another-lonely-heart @aabc5sauce @dudethisiswhyyoudonthavefriends @fakebetch9694 @5sos-imagine @SunflowerAngel2123 @perfectnouis @in-superbloom @lukeisstillapenguin @sadcupofcoffee @superstarmarvel @personalmuyverypersonal @cnco.angels @vtte @as-hs-blog @himbohood @sofiaaraee @irwindoll @lolzkye @weasleytwinscumslut @ashtonsunflower @nicebasscalum @calumspupils @secretsicanthideanymore @the-ghost-of-ash @alltimepogue @wontlastimokwiththat t @ttinahood @lukespitinmymouth @perfectnouis @cncoangelss @darrensos @whywontyoulovemecami @itwouldburnupintheatmosphere @yeah-and69 @fckingpernico @multistann @averageantichrist @a-darneddarling @tpwkcth @f-mu @kindahumanbutalsoinsane @floweronyourskin @ihavenoideawhattodowithyou @bittersweetb4by @aria-grace-scott @thestarsandtheircoffee @bvbygxrl @luisa180206 @xxxlaura @iamdayanaz

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lov3nerdstuff · 4 years

Text

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 6.9}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 5.4k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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At the first glance, Robin believed that she had been teleported into a forest. A dark one that is, with roots or vines creeping across the floor like serpents, and mountains of trees towering around her to unfathomable heights. But when she looked down at the ground beneath her feet, trying to suppress the tears that so desperately wanted to fall from her eyes, she realized that she was standing on the same stone as in the castle. And she realized that she still stood in a circle of very much the same nature as the one she had left through. A sudden and desperate hope grabbed her and she pushed the fear aside as she repeated the very sentence that had brought her here. The same bright and sizzling flash around her, the same odd feeling, and she was back in the study half a second later.

Snape still stood in the same spot where she had left him, her eyes found his in an instant, and while Robin did her best not to break down crying, his expression turned from something she could only describe as horrified desperation to a mixture of relief, concern and irritation. In a blink, he was in the circle with her, not even a step away.

"What were you thinking?!" He barked, gripping her shoulders in both hands while he stared down at her with an expression so intense it made her heart skip a beat. "Do you enjoy ignoring everything I say to put yourself at risk? Again? Or do you just want to torture me?"

Robin opened her mouth to reply, to explain, but all that came past her lips was a strangled sob. She didn't want him to be mad at her, not now, not when she hadn't even meant to do anything wrong! Not when she needed him to feel safe. Not when she had just found a way back from a place like that, dark and scary and alone… Her chest hurt from the still relentless racing of her heart, and she felt too hot, out of breath. Screw this, screw everything! Whatever this bloody circle had done with her, it had scared the living hell out of her even more than anything else. The tears of shock spilled over her cheeks at last, hot and relentless and angry and she couldn't stop them even as she tried.

His features softened immediately in return, every trace of anger and annoyance blown into the wind until only the concern lingered. And a subtle touch of fear. "Don't…" He started, more a plea than an order, and Robin couldn't help averting her eyes from his at last. The look on his face just broke her heart, unguarded and honest, and that made her want to do things she knew she shouldn't even consider. But his hands stayed on her shoulders and upper arms, and she allowed herself to enjoy the comfort of that lingering touch at least.

"I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't mean to worry you. I promise." She breathed after a moment, in a voice still laced with tears as much as her eyes were. She still couldn't look at him. "I don't know what happened, I just said that bloody sentence and then it was bright and dark and I was alone… Please don't be upset with me."

Robin could feel him hesitating for a moment, a stillness going through his being, before his grip on her loosened up, but didn’t disappear even as he answered at last. "You vanished into a darting flame right in front of my eyes and there was absolutely nothing I could do but watch." A pause. "I am not upset with you, Robin. I was terrified. And that isn't an emotion I take well to."

Her eyes were back on his in an instant, and it was him now who struggled to hold her gaze. But he did, and it meant more to her than she could put into words. "I understand." She said quietly, and it really did make a ridiculous amount of sense now. Of course he wouldn't show fear as fear itself… not until now at least. Robin understood indeed.

He let out a barely audible breath, as if those two words were so very surprising to him, but perhaps they were. Robin's heart sighed again, and now she was the one who wanted to comfort him instead of the other way round.

"I was terrified too." She said, allowing herself to lean into his touch ever so slightly. "As I said, it wasn't something I wanted to happen either. And it was… scary over there."

"I am sorry for yelling at you." He replied much to her surprise. Apologies were still a rare occurrence, especially ones not asked for. "I didn't mean to make matters even worse for you, and I certainly did not mean to make you cry."

"You didn't, not really." She offered him a reassuring half smile upon his conflicted expression. "It was just the surprise, the shock… the fear that resulted of being thrown into a pit of darkness that overwhelmed me for a moment. Not you. Your presence was comforting, actually. It usually is…"

He stilled once more, and Robin regretted saying those last two sentences immediately. Of course he wouldn't want her to be comforted by his mere presence, gods, he probably thought she was either lying or making some kind of twisted joke. What had she been thinking?! She hadn't been thinking at all. Idiot…

"Do you actually mean that?" He asked after a moment, having retreated to the safety of his perfect neutrality, and finally dropped his hands from her shoulders. At least no scowl, no disgust, no scorn…

"Of course I mean it. You know that I don't lie." She replied openly, calmly. But then she had to smile ever so slightly at a thought that would hopefully take the edge out of the situation. "And since you seem to believe that I don't listen to what you say anyway, I wouldn't even know that you yelled at me in the first place now, would I?"

That finally made the corner of his lips quirk upwards. "How would you know I made that assumption if you did not listen indeed?"

"Damnit…" Robin's smile widened a little at first, but more and more once his neutrality ebbed off again to be replaced by the ease that was solely reserved for her. "I was going to let you win this once."

"As if I would need your help for that." He replied with a huff and a not-smirk, and Robin could tell that he was glad for the change of topic. Still, for such a major slip up on her part, the situation had gone surprisingly smoothly.

"What would you have done without my dictionary, huh?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Or without me ever finding the passageway to this room? We would still be searching for the tracing dust, and…"

She stopped in her sentence upon her own words, looked down at the stones beneath her feet, and finally back up at Snape again. "The dust is gone. I must've taken it with me to the… other side. It must've moved away before I returned though, so…"

"Whatever attracted it is still on that other side, as is the dust." He finished her sentence, with a curious frown that made Robin smile again. Somehow it was beyond endearing to her, but she was rather sure that nobody else would even be able to differentiate it from all those other frowns of his.

"Precisely." She finally said. "And as much as I hate the prospect of that right now… perhaps we should go through the circle once more. It's not dangerous as far as I could tell. It works a little bit like floo powder but without the fireplace and without the powder. It's only a two way portal, and I guess that's why the sentence to activate it is a palindrome. Forwards and backwards the same. Like… a magical door to another room."

"Is that a theory?"

"Yes. You wanted me to share my thoughts, so there you go."

"And you believe it is safe?"

"The circle, yes. The place it leads to… I'm not so sure. It reminded me of the forbidden forest back at school, but I was quite panicked for the few seconds I was there, so that evaluation should be seen with that in consideration. Objectively, I can tell you that there was no immediate threat or danger, no movement and no sound."

"Would you like to return there for the sake of the tracing spell?" He raised an eyebrow at her in question. "You are aware that you do not have to, yes?"

"I know… But I want to see this through to the end now. I'm not giving up on the last string of my theory just yet." She sighed, more so to herself than to him. "I want to go. But I don't want to go alone."

"You aren't alone." He said, and stepped closer so that they were both standing in the middle of the circle. After dark, ready to be consumed by fire indeed. "I am right here with you."

Robin nodded, unable to speak now without saying something even more impossible, and upon her silence he spoke the sentence to take them away instead.

The flash, the odd feeling, and then the darkness, just like before. This time however, Robin had her wand in her hand already and the lumos on her lips from the very moment they faced the darkness. Much better.

"Finding the dust in this place should take a while." He mused as he started off into a random direction. Robin however stayed standing in the circle for another moment, digging through her backpack and making him turn back to her with a frown.

"Who knows how far we have to go. Without hallways or a clear ground or floor structure, we might never find the circle again if we wander off like that." She explained, and finally pulled out a rock shaped like a pyramid along with a heavily wrinkled piece of parchment. The rock she set down inside the circle, and shoved the parchment into her pocket. "Now we may go."

"What, pray tell, did you do back there?" He asked in sincere curiosity as they made their way through the darkness side by side. This place seemed to be a garden of sorts, or at least it had been once upon a time. By now, it was a wilderness inside a stone hall of ineffable size.

"Oh, nothing special. A mapping charm. It draws a temporary map of the area we walk through now, so that we can find the way back later. Makes it really hard to get lost." She shrugged, staying close by his side nonetheless. Honestly, she was done exploring on her own for today, and definitely done walking ahead so very bravely and even more stupidly.

"Where on earth did you find a map like that?"

"Nowhere. I created it myself out of a piece of parchment that had crumbled up in my backpack, and a random paperweight I bought in a Hogsmeade. Made it for Cas, when she kept getting lost when taking walks in her first year, and she just gave it back to me some time ago." Robin explained while keeping her eyes open for the blue dust, but she also didn't miss the small smile that fell onto Snape’s lips when he thought she wasn't looking. Perhaps he actually didn't mind her constant over-preparedness, or her repeated improvisation and invention of random pieces of magic. Perhaps he might appreciate that about her even. Robin surely hoped he did.

For quite a while they moved through the various plants, weeds and species that couldn't even be identified anymore, and the further they walked the more obscure their surroundings got. But finally, finally they found the tracing dust that had spread among a group of bizarre flowers. Bright ultramarine, slightly glowing, and impossible to miss. The flowers in return were equally impossible to overlook themselves: Scarlet petals, full and lush and pointed, on long white stems with blue thorns. Amazing, but definitely not wraiths' moss.

"Any inkling what kind of flower this is?" Robin asked with a small doubtful frown directed at Snape, who however looked equally puzzled as she did herself.

"I am afraid I have no idea."

"Somehow… I feel like I've seen it before. It looks so unique with its contrasts and especially the light blue thorns…" She closed her eyes for a second, scanning her mental index. "Blue thorns… it rings a bell."

"How many books about plants have you studied, exactly?"

"I looked through a couple hundred." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her rose. "Read in their entirety though… A few more than the ones you have lent to me over the years."

Again, her own words rang a bell in her mind, and she knelt down on the cold stone to dig through her backpack once more. Seconds later, she pulled out three books of considerable size and an even more considerable page count.

"Aren't those mine?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, undoubtedly humoured, but also inquiring enough to make her look back down at her bag in a rush of embarrassment.

"Uh, yes. They are." Robin replied, forcing the heat away from her cheeks before it would turn her into the same colour as the flowers in front of them. "I meant to return them to you after summer, but I wasn't done with the handbook yet, so I held onto them for a while longer… Anyway, the point is that I am absolutely certain that I've seen the flower before, and I assume it was in one of those books. So we better start looking."

It took them less than five minutes to find the correct page. The specimen in question was a blue thorned Siazella, a subtropical flower that wasn't even supposed to be growing here. But it was, undoubtedly, and while neither of them had an idea why that was the case, they soon discovered why the tracing spell had sought it out at least. And upon that, everything else became clearer as well.

The tracing spell, or rather the specific dust Robin had come up with for the occasion, was supposed to trace an attribute that in Europe only appeared in wraiths' moss. The Siazella however, as an alien to the natural landscape of Scotland, just so happened to share this very attribute. Even worse, it ran way stronger in the Siazella than it did in the moss, which precisely is why the dust had found its way into this unlikely place, and right to the Siazella. That explained why there had not been a speckle of blue in the entire castle but in this very place.

"If Siazella grows here in this place, it should also be able to grow in the greenhouse." Robin finally reasoned, glancing up at Snape. "So… how likely is it that we would ever come across it again? I mean… It originally grows in the Vietnamese highlands, not the Scottish ones. We weren't looking for it, technically, but I would like to take a few samples nonetheless. It would be a reasonable thing to do."

"I agree. It could be interesting for us to experiment with, and Pomona would certainly appreciate a new kind of flower to study as well."

"Exactly!" Robin grinned at him, delighted by how little she actually had to say for him to understand her so well. "I am thinking along the lines of three entire flowers, is that agreeable?"

He nodded, and upon that Robin got to work, carefully digging out one plant after the other, roots and all, and she actually managed not to sting herself on the thorns. Then she shrunk them down to a workable size and packed them up in a random jar in her backpack. If anyone would've asked her just how many jars, vials and boxes she carried around on a constant basis, she honestly wouldn't have been able to tell. But that's what she had the shelves for, after all.

After this unplanned but still quite impressive success, they decided to return to the circle. Robin's map turned out to be most helpful indeed, in this dark maze of madness, for they definitely would've lost their way without it. At least that's what Robin reasoned when Snape told her he would've chosen to walk into the opposite direction of where they needed to go.

Once back in the still candlelit study, they returned everything to the state they had found it in, much to Robin's disappointment. She would've loved to take some of the books, but she also understood that it would be better not to. Foreign magic was better not to be messed with, and ghosts of the past were sometimes better left alone. Perhaps she would come back here at some point to study them though.

"So I'm wondering… if the Siazella simply has a stronger pull on the tracing dust than the wraiths' moss does, we could be surrounded by the bloody stuff and wouldn't even know." Robin mused when they walked back through the narrow passageway. "I'm just saying… The Siazella got in the way of proving my theory, it didn't actually falsify it."

"Yes, that thought had crossed my mind as well." He mused in return, and Robin's skin tingled upon the realization of just how close behind her he was. If she had stopped walking, he most certainly would've ran straight into her. Maybe they both weren't all too fond of the idea of letting each other out of sight another time tonight after all. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"If we could somehow narrow down the attribute searched for by the dust, we could try the tracing spell again. But I have no idea how to do that, I would need to study the Siazella's specifics more thoroughly." Robin replied with a sigh, then stepped through the magical wall and back into the actual castle. The eerie something returned to her conscious mind in an instant, but she knew better now than to be afraid. It was a protective spell most likely, placed upon the secret study to keep people as far away as possible. Quite clever, really.

"Since you already know more about these plants than I do, it is needless to say that I am of no help in that regard either. But how would you like to limit the existing tracing spell to the dungeons instead?"

"You know how to do that?!" Robin's head whipped to the side to look at him with big eyes, a spark of hope blossoming in her chest.

"Oh, don't pretend to be so surprised…" He replied with a pointed expression that made Robin smile. "I know magic you cannot even dream of."

"I'm all ears."

"You do a surprising amount of talking for that."

"...said the person who wanted me to share more of my thought process." She quirked an eyebrow at him in amusement, while they made their way back down to the stories below. "You really are one big contradiction, you know that?"

"Only to you, it appears."

"Curious, isn't it?" Robin smiled, but she didn't get any answer and honestly didn't expect to either. It was obvious enough that they both were aware of the fact that she knew him quite a bit better than most other people ever would, and that thought made her smile even more.

They reached the dungeons not long after, without even considering splitting up this time around. Snape placed his spell on the entire level, upon which Robin dug out the sample of the tracing dust she'd actually meant to take back to the lab, as well as her handbook for the spell. She repeated the process they had gone through this morning, upon which the dust assembled into the infamous blue line at first, then however turned into a smoky cloud immediately afterwards and finally fanned out into all directions as it had upon their arrival at the castle. This time however, the effects were visible immediately. All around them, in all the rooms, cells and even the hallway, the blue speckles settled down near the ground, on top of invisible objects, giving them both shape and texture. Robin's anticipating and hopeful expression turned into one of excitement and glee, and she grinned at Snape for a second before moving straight ahead to inspect their new find.

"It appears that your theory was just proven correct indeed… I cannot say that I'm at all surprised." He said while Robin charmed the first patch of moss to become both visible and harvestable. "It is a truly admirable achievement, and it is all yours. Congratulations."

"Thank you." She smiled up at him over her shoulder for a moment, then went back to packing up as much of the moss as she could. "I can't quite believe that it actually worked after all. It has been such a hassle… but it definitely was worth it."

"Some things are worth every effort." He mused in return, almost quietly, while Robin finished packing up the second patch of moss. "And some turn every effort into a pleasure."

Robin smiled down at the box in her hands, which was now filled to the brim with wraiths' moss. It would last them years, most likely, and buying the same amount would've cost more than either of them could ever afford. Her heart danced in happiness, and her mind in giddy excitement. She had done her job well, had proven that it was possible to find even the rarest plants with planning, research and unconventional thinking. For once, Robin was actually proud of herself.

… … …

Fifteen minutes later, they finally left the heavy masses of stone behind, making their way out of the castle, through the ancient gates, and out into the night. It had stopped raining, but the sky was still clouded and the air still cold and moist in a way that inevitably crept up your sleeves and beneath every layer of clothing. Robin shivered, but she reasoned that they would be back at Hogwarts soon enough… no need to start making a fuss now.

After looking so bleak for a moment back then, their mission had turned out to be a huge success after all. Her theory was proven, her methods working (with some necessary but minor revisions for the tracing dust still due) and they had acquired not one but two rare plants they could experiment with in the future. On the other hand, they had hiked for hours on end, gotten caught in the rain and been drenched entirely, and finally had encountered more strangeness than they usually did in a year. It had been a perfect day, to Robin at least, and she couldn't stop smiling as they finally came to a stand outside the gates. Time to apparate back to Hogwarts.

Robin focused on releasing the tension from her body like she had done this morning, trying to relax her muscles, but when his hand brushed against hers so very gently before slowly taking a hold of it, all efforts were drowned out by the surge of electricity rippling through her once again. His touch was surprisingly reluctant, more so the closer they got, a contradiction within his person yet again. But Robin wouldn't even think about complaining. His contradictions were part of him, a confusing and beautiful part she loved dearly.

"Ready?" He asked if on cue, tightening his hold on her hand which led Robin to do the same.

"Definitely." She smiled, then relaxed again and held her breath, a broken second before she was pushed and pulled through the dimensions of open space once more.

Their arrival in front of the Hogwarts grounds became most evident through the immediate rustling of trees, and even before Robin opened her eyes, she had to smile at the familiar smells and sounds that undoubtedly spoke home. She blinked, a second of dizziness passing, and wondered if apparating became easier the more often one did it, or if she was simply getting better at it. It didn't matter, not today. A few seconds passed, and she was still holding Snape's hand, but more importantly he was still holding hers as well.

"Home at last, huh?" Robin smiled up at him, expression soft, warmth in her gaze. "It's been quite a day. One I certainly will never forget."

"Neither will I." He replied in an equal serenity, still keeping his chilled fingers wrapped around hers to the point where Robin wished that he was doing it intentionally. But she couldn't let herself believe that.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze then, a soft reminder of what he was doing, accompanied by the same positive smile that hopefully covered up the hint of sadness she felt upon doing the right thing. He let go of her in an instant, just like she had thought, but the irritation or at least the neutral facade she had expected never came.

Instead he returned her gaze calmly, and finally quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Do you plan on standing outside the gates all night or are we finally heading towards the castle?"

Robin frowned at him, but the humor returned to her smile at the same time. "Well, you could get going first yourself if you're so desperate to."

"You've been dragging me through the country all day; you might as well lead me back up the final path now."

"You're right." She smiled, then took a leap of faith by nudging him in the side with her shoulder as she started walking. "C'mon then."

In companionable silence they made their way through the night and up the paths towards the castle, and climbing the hill admittedly took a lot more effort than it usually did, with a full day of hiking already sitting deep in their bones. At least Robin guessed that he must feel the same, going by the way he moved no faster next to her. It thus came as a relief when they crossed the courtyard, walking on even stone towards a place that was full of life at last.

As soon as they stepped into the entrance hall, Robin's eyes fell onto two dark spots sitting on the grand staircase, which jumped into action immediately upon her entry. Her eyes widened for a second, then she couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Robin!!!" Cas squealed in excitement while she skipped ahead towards them, with Jorien following more moderately a few steps behind. "You're back! Took you long enough…"

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Robin quirked an eyebrow at them in amusement. "Shouldn't you be at least in the common room at this time?"

"We waited for you." Jorien answered with a shrug, giving Robin a small smile before she looked up at Snape with an insecure frown. "I… I asked Professor McGonagall when you would be back, and she asked Professor Dumbledore, but neither of them knew for sure what exactly you were doing in the first place, so we kinda just… stuck around here after dinner."

"Your intentions do not justify a breach of curfew." Snape returned seriously, but with a calm tone the two younger girls obviously weren't used to. They looked irritated for just a moment, but it sufficed already and his expression immediately turned back into the usual scowl he put on for almost every social interaction. That seemed to be more familiar to them already. "Has nobody seen to it that you return to your dormitories?"

"It's still before nine in the evening!" Cas protested immediately, but her mouth snapped shut when she realized just who she was talking to.

Snape frowned in return, sincerely irritated by the comment as if the concept of time was entirely foreign to him. Robin's smirk widened, for she too had lost every feeling for time long ago. When he turned to look at her in the same confusion, raising an eyebrow at her, she could help but sigh and chuckle at the same time.

"I know. Me too." She said to him, and –paying attention to him like she always did– she didn't miss the corner of his lips twitching upwards for a broken second.

"You too what? Nobody's even said anything." Cas wondered then, disrupting the wordless conversation between Robin and Snape.

"You just didn't hear it, Cas." Robin smiled at the girl then, turning her attention back to her roommates entirely. "We both are merely surprised by how early it still is."

"You are?" Jorien frowned at her, then up at Snape a little more carefully, and finally back at Robin.

"Obviously." Snape was quicker to reply, and Jorien's cheeks tinted pink in return.

"Really? Both of you?" Cas asked in obvious ignorance of her friend’s flustered expression as well as Snape’s scowl, as she let her gaze flicker from Robin to Snape and back, unsure of who she was addressing with the question in the first place.

"Would you prefer to have it spelled out even more easily, Miss Miller, or is the time of night clouding your judgement of who to pester with redundant questions and who clearly not?"

"Either way..." Robin intervened in an attempt to save both Snape and the girls from each other right now, giving him a pointed look first before turning to address her roommates once more. "You guys should return to the common room nonetheless, it is rather late after all." Only then she checked her watch at last to make sure if her statement even made sense. Quarter to nine… good guess on her part, as it seemed.

"What about you?" Jorien picked up on the attempted rescue immediately, and Robin felt a little proud of her for taking an opportunity when provided with one.

"We still have work to do, so you'll have to go on ahead without me for now. I'd appreciate it if you could take my jacket back to our room though… Just toss it onto my trunk, yes?" Robin raised her eyebrows at the two of them, looking from one to the other while she took off her jacket indeed.

"Sure, will do. We already kinda guessed that we won't get to see you again before we go to bed. So we at least waited here for your return, to make sure you got back to the castle in one piece." Cas sighed heavily, with a crooked smile on her lips.

"That's very kind of you, honestly. I will tell you about today's story tomorrow, alright? After tutoring." Robin smiled back, handing over her jacket to Jorien, who was faster than her friend, just as always.

"I… had also kinda guessed, or rather hoped, that you would forget about tutoring for once." Cas shot Robin an exaggeratedly hopeful smile, a touch apologetic even, as if she already knew that it would be a request in vain.

"Not in this life, and not in the next." Robin smirked in return, feeling actually humoured more than offended by the weak attempt to evade tomorrow's lessons. "Tutoring, tomorrow after breakfast."

"Alright…" Cas groaned, rolling her eyes before she smiled in equal amusement. "Whatever you say, Professor Mitchell. See you tomorrow then. Can't wait for the stories of your adventures!" With that, she turned on her heels and tried dragging Jorien off with her, but then simply walked ahead when she wasn't successful at the first attempt.

"Goodnight, Sir." Jorien said, addressing Snape with a polite little nod before turning to Robin with a kind smile. "I'm really glad you're back, Robin. Good luck with your work." Then she hurried down the hallway as well, trying to catch up with Cas before she was entirely out of reach. And as much as Robin had grown to love her roommates over time, she couldn’t help sighing at the realization that an entire day alone with Snape had been but a glimpse into a perfection she could never have.

______________________________

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rokachan · 2 years

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snapdragon : is your muse merciful ? why or why not ?

This is... This is a tough one, because it really makes me see how much Roka has changed over time.

The short answer? No. She's not merciful. She's brutal and vicious and not at all hesitant about it. Longer, more detailed answer under the cut because I kinda... Feel like going into this a bit I guess? Trigger warning for some torture/horror/generally bad stuff. I sorta went off on a tangent just a teeny bit and wandered off-topic as well, sorry >.<

When I first started playing her Roka was a genuinely good person. A little naive, extremely optimistic, and willing to forgive people for... Frankly just about anything. Even if they didn't apologize outright. She genuinely wouldn't hurt a fly unless it was in a friendly sparring match or in defence of one of her people.

There have been numerous instances of this in action, played out, and where I've given her full reign to see how it would go. Partly because I was genuinely curious if my little brainchild really was like that. Spoiler: She was. She put herself in the line of fire for a friend, accepted being nailed to a chair with railroad spikes, the scales of her brow pried off with a chisel (prior to her choice to glamour as a Miqo'te) and a pipe taken to her knees instead of a worse punishment falling on the person she wanted to protect. They patched her up enough afterwards that she was able to crawl home. She could have easily given the name away. She could have turned absolute hell on him for what he did and in doing so ensured her friend wouldn't ever be in danger from him. She didn't though. She forbade the few who pried the name out from acting on it, and she kept her mouth soundly closed around anyone she thought might ignore her wishes.

She sent a basket of her pastries and bagged teas with an apology note to the person who did it instead. No threats. No promises. She apologized for getting blood on his chair.

She got a faceful of acid that stole her sight, and never tried to track the responsible parties down. She moved on with her life.

She lost a leg to a maddened mage during the Faceless plotline and forgave the woman who'd done it. In the same plotline, she was thrown into a pit and trapped by shadowy javelins, left for her mind to torture her for her betrayal, and while she was spooked for a long time by the one who did it? She ultimately forgave him.

She's swallowed her own feelings to do what someone else asked her because it was ultimately a kindness to them no matter how she may feel about it.

Historically, Roka has practised forgiveness, mercy, and kindness in response to any wrongs done to her. While she's never really held back when she's sparring, it has never been in malice or harshness. Sparring with Roka means sparring with an opponent who expects you to fight back to the best of your ability, and she's not going to insult you by holding back herself.

Over the years Roka really has hardened a lot. She's been hurt by that mercy and kindness so many times and while there's nothing her people could do to her that would provoke her to revenge or spite or cruelty to them, that's not extended to strangers. If you find yourself on the dangerous side of her claws and teeth? Do not expect to walk away by an act of her volition.

When she hunts she is brutal. She doesn't understand how to take what she needs gently and rather than allow herself to be horrified by what she does she embraces it. She's borderline bloodthirsty at times, and if someone she didn't care for was suffering at her feet? The only mercy she might show them is making a meal of them.

It's honestly startling for me to sit back and really pick Roka apart like I did when I saw this question, because while I know she's fallen a long way I don't always think about just how far it was. I hope she can find redemption and mend what's been broken. I think it will be a tough road for her to find her way back to being a genuinely good person (if even possible? I don't know... Genuinely good may be a bit too far for her anymore, but at least a decent person) after everything she's been through, but I also think it would be an enjoyable adventure to write.

Whatever direction she ends up going will probably be heavily influenced by her IC interactions with the world, just as she's always been.

#ask answered #roka #thank you for the ask !!!

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set-phasers-to-whump · 3 years

Text

hiding injury

prompt: hiding injury

whumpee: eddie diaz

fandom: 911

hi here is my fave trope ft. one of my fave characters!!! this kinda got away from me in length lmao but i loved writing it and im not mad ab how it turned out. i hope you enjoy!!!!

Something had felt...off about tonight’s victory. It had been in the way his opponent had looked at him, not the usual disappointment and anger that typically came with losing a fight, but something stronger, more violent. Eddie’d brushed it off. He’d had worse looks thrown at him.

He’s regretting having brushed it off right about now. If he hadn’t, if he’d just talked to the guy, calmed him down, something, he wouldn’t be here right now, hand pressed to a stab wound in his torso, leaning up against the door of his truck, feeling blood slowly seep through his fingers, warm and wet.

For a split second, his non-occupied hand reaches for his phone, but he stops himself before he even unlocks it. He can’t call 911. If he calls 911, then the 118 will discover what it is he’s been doing...they’ll realize that he’s dangerous, reckless, stupid, for having gotten himself stabbed, and he doesn’t want them to think that. He can’t lose them, not now. So no 911. He’ll be fine. He used to be a medic. He knows how to treat a stab wound.

He gets into his truck, left hand still firmly pressed to his torso. He fumbles around with the other until he finds a rag on the floor. Not bothering to think about where it might’ve been, Eddie balls it up and presses it as hard as he can into the wound, gritting his teeth to stop from screaming.

He drives home as carefully as he can, for the most part keeping a hand pressing the rag to his torso, but occasionally having to let go. His lap and seat are coated in sticky blood by the time he gets home.

For the first time in his life, he’s grateful that Chris isn’t there. There’s no hiding the blood coating his torso, legs, hands… He doesn’t know how he’d even begin to explain this to his son.

Eddie gets himself inside and into the bathroom, making a pit stop in the kitchen to grab some alcohol first - this isn’t going to be pleasant.

He stands in front of the mirror, dripping blood onto a towel he’d pulled quickly down from the rack. A first aid kit sits open in front of him. He takes a larger-than-probably-necessary sip from the bottle in his hand, then sets it heavily down onto the counter and gets to work.

First, he has to clean the wound. He grabs a bottle of saline solution, grits his teeth, and pours it onto his torso, hissing at the stinging feeling.

He waits for the pain from that to subside before starting on the more painful part of the task - the stitches. He pours some hydrogen peroxide over his supplies to make sure they’re clean - this cannot get infected - and then he takes a deep breath and begins.

In, out, in, out, in, out...it’s not a terribly long wound, which is good, because every stitch feels like getting stabbed again (which it technically is). He’s crying when he ties the thread off, and his hands are beginning to shake. He’s just glad they waited until he didn’t have a needle poking through his skin.

Eddie carefully sticks a gauze pad over the stitches, then gives himself a once-over in the mirror, hoping he’ll be able to say he looks pretty good for a guy that just stitched himself up.

But he doesn’t. His face is slightly pale and his eyes are red and there’s blood smeared all over his body like paint on a canvas. He can’t go to sleep like this, although sleep is about the only thing he wants to do at the moment. He’s got to clean himself up.

There’s no way he’s getting in the shower with his freshly-done stitches, so he settles for ruining several washcloths, cleaning his body with water from the sink. He can’t get all of the blood, because he can’t quite bend over without his torso pulling in a way that suggests more stitches will be imminent if he keeps doing it. But most of the blood is removed from his body, anyway, which is good enough for him. He strips out of his bloody shorts and puts them, the washcloths, and the towel from under his feet into the trash. He’ll take it out as soon as he gets redressed, so Chris won’t find them.

He puts on clean pajama pants, not bothering to run the risk of putting on a shirt, and grabs the trash, taking it outside to the can on the curb, pain thrumming through him with every step. That done, he returns to the bathroom and wipes his blood off of the counter, extremely grateful that none had dripped off of the towel and onto the floor.

He runs a quick check of the house, making sure there’s no blood on any of the floors (there is, but he scuffs a towel over it with his foot, which is not bloodsoaked enough to warrant the trash, but is instead tossed into the washing machine). He locks the doors, triple-checking to make sure they’re secure, and does the same with the windows. He doesn’t particularly think the guy that stabbed him is going to come after again (and even if he wanted to, it’s not like he knows where Eddie lives), but it never hurts to be cautious.

When all that is done, Eddie finally lets himself sink very carefully into his bed, placing a couple more towels under him in case his wound should start bleeding in his sleep. He prays it won’t. He doesn’t want to have to stitch his skin up again.

He wakes up in the morning, immediately checking himself for blood, which, fortunately, hasn’t seeped out of the gauze. There's a few spots on the gauze itself, but he needs to change it anyway.

It looks pretty good, Eddie thinks, eyeing the wound in front of the mirror. Not infected, stitches holding...about as good as he can expect.

He gets dressed, very painfully, and nearly dislocates his arm trying to get his shirt on without causing any stress on his chest. He makes a halfhearted attempt to make himself look like he didn’t just climb out of bed and head straight to work, but that is what he looks like, he’s sure.

Buck confirms this for him the second he walks through the station doors. “You look like shit, Eddie,” he says, bumping Eddie’s shoulder with his own.

Eddie gives him a smile that feels more like a grimace. “Overslept,” he says. Buck nods. “Chris was at that sleepover with...oh, what was her name...Olivia? Bet you expected him to wake you up early for breakfast.”

Eddie nods, surprised that Buck remembers where Chris is. He’d ordinarily smile at the fact, but currently can't bring himself to.

They head up the stairs to the loft, Eddie dragging along behind Buck significantly. Every step pulls on his stitches, and he feels like he can literally feel them starting to pull apart. Which he very well could be feeling, he knows. He just hopes he isn’t. They can’t know about this.

Of course, for them to not know about this, he has to act completely normal. Which is a task far easier said than done. As soon as he steps foot into the loft, Bobby’s tossing a container of oatmeal at him from the kitchen, with instructions to come over and help him out. Eddie catches the container with a barely concealed wince, and reluctantly goes into the kitchen to help Bobby, leaning up against the counter when he can.

“You okay?” Bobby asks him, as the team settles down to eat breakfast.

“Yeah,” Eddie says, though it doesn’t sound very convincing, even to his own ears.

Bobby nods, not pushing the issue. Eddie sees Buck look like he’s about to say something, but Bobby interrupts him by telling everyone what they’ve got on their plates today - cleaning the station. There are general groans from around the table, but Eddie’s never been more excited at the thought of mopping. He’s pretty sure he can do that, but rescuing someone from a burning building might push him a bit too far.

And if that’s the case, he shouldn’t be here. Not that he should be here anyway, he knows. Ideally, he should be at the hospital. But he can’t be there, and if he’d called in sick today they would have been concerned anyway, and worse, someone might have come over to check on him. So he’s here, gratefully grabbing a mop from the supply closet.

He turns around, mop in hand, and comes face to face with Buck.

“Look, I know we’re still...not on the most solid ground,” Buck starts, “but I am sorry, Eddie. I told you why I did what I did, and I understand if it’ll take you some time to process that, but…”

“It’s fine, Buck,” he says, as kindly as he can muster up the energy to do. “Really.” He means it, though he’s pretty sure his words lack the sincerity he feels.

Buck looks at him doubtingly, but after a second he seems to accept that answer, and then, before Eddie can stop him or back away or do anything, Buck’s hugging him tightly around the middle.

It would be just about the nicest feeling in the world if it didn’t make him want to scream in pain. As it is, he manages to turn the scream into a low groan, muffled into the fabric of Buck’s shirt.

Buck, of course, hears it anyway. He pulls back, arms on Eddie’s shoulders, scrutinizing him. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Eddie says, trying to sound dismissive. Before Buck can say anything else, he adds, “we really should get to mopping.”

Buck can’t argue with that, so they begin their chore, though Eddie doubts that Buck is going to drop this.

Fifteen minutes of painful labor later, Eddie’s taking a break (hiding from the torture of the mop) in the locker room. Even the simple task had been absolute hell on his stab wound, and he can feel wetness beginning to seep through the gauze. He’s extremely grateful that his shirt is dark enough to hide the stain that is surely growing on it.

Knuckles rap at the glass. Eddie starts and stands up, turning around and coming, again, face-to-face with Buck. Can we talk? he mouths, and Eddie can’t exactly say no, so he nods.

Buck comes into the locker room looking somewhere between hurt and angry. “What’s up with you?” he asks.

Eddie turns his face away from Buck’s eyes. “Nothing,” he says, and Buck laughs humorlessly.

“Right, ‘cause that sounds so believable. Eds, you’ve been acting weird all day, you still look like shit even after Bobby’s breakfast, and I’ve caught you wincing at least five times in the past twenty minutes. What’s up?”

Eddie shakes his head. He can’t do this...he can’t let them know. Nobody can know about this side of him, this anger and this pain and this goddamn stab wound…

Which all of a sudden hurts a lot more. Eddie snaps open eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed and sees Buck’s hand pressing into his torso, not yet touching the wound, but extremely close.

“Stop,” he whispers, but Buck presses on.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong with you,” Buck insists, moving his hand and pressing down directly on top of Eddie’s injury.

He makes a noise like a strangled scream, and Buck pulls his hand away suddenly. “What the hell, Eddie?” he asks, and then he looks at his own hands, which are covered in Eddie’s blood.

“What...the hell?”

Eddie shakes his head. Buck pushes him down onto a bench, and Eddie goes willingly. Buck pulls his shirt off over his head, jostling his arms, and Eddie doesn’t make a sound. His eyes have gone unfocused and his vision has gone blurry from tears he’s unwilling to let fall, but he can still make out the shape of Buck in front of him, knows what his face looks like without having to see it. Disappointed. Angry. Disgusted. He knows this must be how Buck feels. It’s how he feels.

A hand touches his face, cool and soft, and Buck’s voice sounds much the same when he says Eddie’s name.

Buck moves his hand back to Eddie’s torso, this time gently touching the skin around the wound, pulling back the gauze carefully. Eddie can’t stop himself from whimpering, which he immediately hates himself for, but Buck doesn’t seem to feel the same way when he apologizes and puts a soothing hand in Eddie’s hair.

“Eddie. Eddie, can you look at me? Please?”

Eddie focuses his eyes as best as he can and looks at Buck, who is crouched on the floor in front of him. “Eddie, what happened?”

He can’t hide it now...Buck knows, and they’re all going to know, know how weak and angry and in pain he is, and then they are going to hate him for it.

“Hey, hey, Eddie. It’s okay. I’m not going to be mad at you or anything. I promise. Just please tell me what happened so I know how to help you.”

Buck’s hand is back on his face, brushing away tears that he hadn’t ever wanted Buck to see. He takes in a ragged breath.

“Got stabbed.”

“Okay,” Buck says. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he says in return. It’s the only thing he can think of to say, and it’s not enough, it’s never enough, he’s never enough…

“You don’t need to be sorry, Eds. I’ve got you. We’ve got you.”

Buck shouts for Hen and Chim, and Eddie hears him explaining to them what’s happened. He tries not to pay attention, tries to ignore their voices. He can’t hear them. Can’t hear what they must think of him.

“Eddie?”

It’s Chim. He nods in response.

“We’re gonna take you to the hospital, alright?”

He nods again. He can’t fight them, he knows. He desperately hopes they won’t be too mad at him. “I’m sorry,” he says again.

“For what?”

It’s Hen this time, and he feels her hand on the back of his neck. He doesn’t reply, and this seems to be fine, because nobody asks him anything else, except for Buck, who asks if he’s ready and doesn’t give him time to answer before they’re all helping him up and onto a gurney, then pushing him into an ambulance.

Hen’s driving, and Buck and Chim are sitting in the back with him. Chim’s busy being a paramedic, though since Eddie’s already cleaned and stitched the wound there’s not a lot for him to do. He slips a pulse monitor onto Eddie’s finger and asks him how he’s feeling.

“Fine,” Eddie says, which is the wrong answer, obviously. Chim sighs and asks if he’s sure that he really feels fine, you know, with a stab wound to his torso and all.

“Fine. It hurts,” Eddie mutters, and Chim says a smug thank you that almost makes Eddie smile.

Buck grabs his hand from where he’s sitting next to Eddie, holding on tighter than can possibly be necessary, like he’s worried Eddie’s going to just fall away. Eddie wishes he had that kind of power.

“Will you tell us what happened?” Buck asks. Eddie shakes his head slightly. He can’t talk about it. Or, he can, but he doesn’t want to. Except some part of him does. He doesn’t say anything as he tries to figure that one out.

“Eddie, listen. I know you’re hurting right now. Because of Shannon, because of Chris, because of me...I know I haven’t been the best friend lately, but I have never stopped caring about you. Whatever happened, you can tell me. I promise I won’t judge you or be mad at you.”

“Same,” Chim adds, putting a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

They won’t be mad, Eddie tries to tell himself. They won’t be mad. They won’t be mad.

“I was street fighting and it went bad,” he says, the words coming out of him in a rush.

“Okay,” Chim says, with professionalism. Buck, on the other hand, says nothing. He’s looking at Eddie with this unreadable expression on his face and he’s not saying anything, and Eddie thinks that this is it. This is something that can’t be looked past. This is the moment that Buck leaves him, for good.

“Okay,” Buck agrees, and his grip on Eddie’s hand tightens even more. “Thank you for telling us.”

They arrive at the hospital not ten seconds later, and then Buck, Chim, and Hen are walking beside him on the path to the doors, and when they reach the doors, rather than surrendering him to the doctors and turning around, they follow him in.

A few minutes later the four of them are crammed into a room that’s a little too small for all of them. Eddie’s lying on a table and the others are standing around him, giving the nurse a wide berth but anxiously looking over her shoulders. She’d told them there was no need for surgery and that he hadn’t lost enough blood to be in serious danger. She’d give him an anaesthetic, clean and stitch the wound, and then he’d be kept for observation for a couple hours. She had also pulled the other three away and talked to them about something Eddie hadn’t been able to hear. Him, most likely.

Buck, Chim, and Hen then clear out for the nurse, who smiles kindly at Eddie and asks whether he’s alright with receiving the local anaesthetic. He’d like to say no, that he’s fine, he’ll tough it out, but he is unfortunately now familiar with the feeling of stitches pulling through his skin, and he accepts the anaesthetic readily.

A few minutes later, he’s been stitched up far better than his at-home job, and he’s lying in a hospital bed trying to argue with the nurse about going home.

“It really is best if you stay, just until this evening, Mr. Diaz,” she’s saying, and he knows full well she’s right, but he hates it anyway. But Buck and Chim and Hen are standing behind her, eyeing him with looks that leave little point in arguing further.

He resigns himself to staying in the hospital for a little while. Buck, Chim, and Hen head back to the station and promise to come back as soon as they can. Eddie calls his abuela and asks whether she can pick up Chris from his sleepover. He tells her he’s been hurt on the job, nothing major, and he’ll be home that night. She says she’ll bring Chris by in an hour, and tells him he’d better not think he’s getting away with his shoddy explanation.

He tries to keep himself occupied as he waits for people to arrive, but time in the hospital passes extraordinarily slowly, and he finds himself bored out of his mind and kind of sleepy. He closes his eyes experimentally and finds it easy to drift off.

He wakes up to voices. Chris and Buck, he realizes, talking very excitedly about a new school project involving plants. Eddie smiles and opens his eyes.

“Dad!” Chris shouts excitedly, standing up so quickly he about topples over in his haste to give Eddie a hug. Buck catches him before he can fall and reminds him to be gentle, and then Chris is hugging him around the neck and saying he’s so glad he’s okay, and did he hear them talking about the new project? And does he think Buck can come over and help him work on it after school on Monday?

Eddie answers Chris’ questions as well as he can, and Chris seems satisfied with the answers, sinking back into his chair and grinning. Buck gives his hair a tousle and looks at Eddie. “You okay?”

Eddie nods. Now that they’re here, truly, the answer is yes. “I’m sorry,” he says, and he looks Buck straight on, hoping he’ll feel Eddie’s sincerity. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell anyone. I thought it would be fine. I just...I didn’t want you to know.”

“Know what?”

Eddie looks at Chris, who is looking between the two of them somewhat confusedly. He shakes his head. Chris doesn’t need to hear this.

At just that moment, there’s a knock on the door, and Eddie looks up to see Athena, with Harry and May in tow. “Bobby’ll be here as soon as he can,” she says to him. “And then you and I are going to talk.”

He nods. He’d figured this was coming. He’s just glad she hadn’t said they were going to talk right now.

“Hey Chris?” Buck asks, and Chris turns to him, grinning.

“Dad’s really okay?” Chris asks, before Buck can finish his sentence.

Buck nods. “He’s going to be just fine, I promise,” he says, holding up his hand like he’s swearing it. Chris giggles.

“Okay, Buck. Then...can I go play with Harry?”

Chris looks imploringly at Buck, then at Eddie, and Eddie catches Harry giving the same look to Athena. All three adults nod, and the two boys head out into the hallway, Athena and May following behind them. May closes the door behind her and smiles at the two of them, almost encouragingly? Which Eddie thinks is a bit odd. He’s broken away from the question by Buck slipping right back into their prior conversation.

“You didn’t want me to know what?”

Eddie takes a breath in, then turns his gaze to his hands, intertwined atop the blanket. He doesn’t think he can look at Buck while he says this.

“I didn’t want you to know how much it hurt. How angry I am. I didn’t want to tell you because then you would realize that I’m not enough, that I am angry and hurting all the time, and I’m not worth the trouble. I didn’t want you to know that about me. I didn’t...I didn’t want you to leave me.”

Buck doesn’t say anything. Eddie risks a glance up at him and sees that there are tears in Buck’s eyes. He hates himself for putting them there.

“Oh, Eddie,” Buck says, and his voice is as soft as anything. He grabs Eddie’s hand, rubbing his thumb in circles on the back of it. “Eddie, there is not a thing you could say to me that would make me leave you. That would make me stop loving you. I’m gonna be right here, no matter what. I’ll be here when you’re hurting, angry, upset...I love all of you, Eddie, not just the parts of you that you show to the world. All of you.”

He’s briefly interrupted by a whoop of joy from the hallway, a mix of Harry and Chris. Eddie looks back up at Buck, who’s smiling despite the tears on his face.

“And all of Chris. I’m not going to leave either of you, Eds. Even if I get mad at you sometimes. Even if I am mad at you for not telling me that you were hurting.”

Eddie’s crying too, now, and he feels Buck’s hand gently grab his chin, lifting his head so they lock eyes.

“You are more than enough, Eddie. For Chris, for the 118, for me...we all love you. We’re all right here. You don’t need to keep going through all of this alone.”

Eddie nods, feels a sob escape him, and then Buck’s holding him, incredibly gently but still grounding, running fingers through his hair and telling him, over and over, that he is enough. That he is loved. This just makes Eddie cry more, until finally he pushes Buck away, for once wanting to meet his eyes.

“I love you,” he says, and even after everything Buck’s said to him, he panics for a moment and wonders whether this is too much, and then Buck is moving towards him, slowly, looking at him like he wants confirmation that this is what Eddie wants, and of course this is what he wants, of course it is, and it must show in the look that he gives Buck in return, because the distance between them rapidly closes, and then he is kissing Evan Buckley, and Evan Buckley is kissing him.

“Eww!”

The two of them break apart in surprise, and Buck laughs softly, resting their foreheads together. The door to the room opens, and Chris, Harry, Athena, and May walk in.

“Kissing’s gross,” Harry says, and Chris nods. May whacks her little brother on the head. “What?” Harry protests. “It is.”

Eddie looks at Chris, for a second terrified that his son is going to hate him for this, but then Chris gives the most exasperated sigh that Eddie has ever heard come from a child, and he says, “I guess kissing’s okay.” Harry looks at him with betrayal on his face. “It’s still gross, mostly” he reassures, “but it’s not the worst. ‘Specially since we’re at the hospital. You’re supposed to kiss people better.”

Eddie smiles at his son, and he catches Buck doing the same, looking so incredibly happy and bright that it’s damn near painful to look him straight on.

“Yes!” May says suddenly, and she meets the questioning gazes of everyone in the room, looking up from her phone, where she’d been furiously texting. “Hen and Bobby and Dad owe me $20. I owe Chimney $20, too, though.”

Athena gives her daughter a look. “You bet on this?” she asks.

Eddie feels himself blush, and sees Buck’s cheeks darken, too. Had this been that obvious?

“Mom,” May starts, but Athena interrupts her. “And you lost to Chimney?”

May nods.

“And so did Bobby.”

Another nod.

“So we collectively owe Chimney $60. I can’t believe it. I swore I’d beat him. Ooh, he is gonna gloat.”

“Athena!” Buck yelps, mock hurt. “You bet on this?”

“It was a matter of time, Buckaroo.”

Buck smiles at her, and then turns his face back to Eddie. “A matter of time, huh?”

Eddie nods. “Apparently so.”

aghhhh thanks so much for reading this!!! i had literally the best time writing it and i hope you enjoyed!!!

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhumpday13 #hiding injury #911 #eddie diaz #hidden injury #field medicine #kinda #stabbed #hospital #cared for #my writing #i say things

19 notes · View notes

scorlettimagines · 4 years

Text

Supposed To Save You: A Caliban Imagine

Request from Anon: Heyyy I love your work! And I was wondering if you maybe could write another caliban imagine? maybe something like he comes to readers rescue thinking he lost her but fluff to the end. but honestly just do whatever you wanna do i bet it's gonna be amazing anyways haha.

Hope this is okay for you lovely, and enjoy x

If there was one thing Caliban was certain of, it was that he was destined to be King. It was what he had been made for, sculpted from the clay from the Pit, forged in Hellfire and brimstone, all to sit on the throne that had once belonged to a fallen angel. Caliban had learned that he was destined to do a far better job than Lucifer, to take over the mortal realm and turn it into the tenth circle.

If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he had a job to do, and he would do it well. Nothing would get in his way.

That was, of course, until she showed up. Y/N Y/LN. Trouble.

He had first met her on the Shores of Sorrow, a seemingly placid little demon with her toes in the sand, eyes closed as she listened to the sound of souls screaming in agony. He’d watched for a moment as the wind blew through her hair, the tide flowing in and out, water reaching her ankles every so often.

“It’s rude to stare.”

Four words that had been the start of something beautiful.

Y/N visited most days, always with something new to tell him. It turned out that she worked in Pandemonium, under Lilith’s rule. Caliban smiled as she slated the self-proclaimed Queen, about her lack of wanting to do anything for Hell. He liked that Y/N paid close attention to his ideas for expansion, the way she called him a dreamer.

She didn’t know about his destiny, about his purpose. He didn’t tell her, in fear of scaring her off. She was a friend to him, one that caused feelings to bubble up. Feelings he couldn’t quite explain.

As the weeks passed, Caliban saw more and more qualities in Y/N that made him like her even more. That made him think she would make the perfect Queen. She had a fire in her eyes that burned through her soul, the heat reaching him every time she looked at him.

It was when she spoke of enslaving witches that he felt the urge to kiss her for the first time.

But he didn’t, fighting a power inside of him that he could only wish to explain. He felt his heart beating faster; if he had blood, it would have been singing. So instead, he blurted out words he’d been too scared to say.

“I’m going to be King.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Y/N, I’m serious.”

And so he had explained everything to her. Just who he was, what he was made for, the path laid out in front of him. Caliban expected her to hit him when he’d finished, her friend having lied to her for so long. But instead, she smiled, that fire in her eyes burning bright.

“Well, I guess you’re going to need my help.”

Never in a million years did Caliban think to take Y/N’s words seriously. They were onto the second challenge now, and she had been unbelievably supportive in his fight against Sabrina Morningstar. He would never forget the smile on her face when he placed Herod’s crown on his head, celebrating with him that night.

That was the second time he felt the urge to kiss her. But he didn’t, pulling her into a hug instead, keeping his mouth shut so the words didn’t escape him.

Marry me. Rule with me.

And now, here he was, ready to go to Golgotha and claim Pontius Pilate’s bowl. Y/N was nowhere in sight, and he assumed she was still nursing an epic hangover. That was the only reason she wouldn’t have been there to support him, at least, that’s what he hoped. Caliban touched the time-stone and found himself transported to two thousand years ago. Here before Sabrina. Fantastic.

At least, that was until the world went black and he found himself in a cage.

Caliban stood up, his head thumping, and tried to force the door open. Nothing. He tried again, Y/N’s face in his mind. She would be laughing now, always scolding him for being too arrogant.

“It won’t work. Neither will shouting. The girl tried that, and it hasn’t ended well for her.” The voice came from behind him. Caliban turned to face a rather destitute-looking mortal in one of the other cells.

“And you are?”

“Barabbas. I’d stop doing that if I were you.” Caliban was still shaking the bars of his cage, and stopped, slumping onto the floor at Barrabas’ words.

“You said there was a girl. What girl?” Had Sabrina shown up before him? Barrabas had said it hadn’t ended well; maybe that meant he was King now.

“Some girl. Arrived a few hours before you.” Barrabas continued, and Caliban felt his heart sink at the description he gave. Y/N. Y/N was here, trying to help him in retrieving the bowl. Y/N was- No. He refused to let himself believe that Y/N was dead. She couldn’t be. He couldn’t lose her. Not when-

Not when he hadn’t even told her he loved her.

Caliban was certain of that now, the thought of losing her sending pain shooting to his very core. He knew what that feeling was, the one he had felt so long ago on the Shores of Sorrow when he had seen her for the first time. She was supposed to be his salvation.

He was supposed to save her.

And now, he may have lost his chance.

Caliban sat, defeated. If he didn’t have Y/N, was the throne even worth fighting for? What was a King without his Queen?

He looked up as the door to the cell next to him was thrown open, Sabrina Morningstar forced inside.

“What took you so long, Princess?”

The cocky act didn’t fool the Morningstar, her eyes falling on Caliban and his depressed state.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Caliban couldn’t stop himself. He told Sabrina everything. About how Y/N was here, about how she was probably dead, his voice catching in his throat when he said that last word.

And then the door opened, and Caliban watched as a body was thrown inside. A grunt of pain emanated from it and he moved over to get as close to it as possible. It seemed broken and bloody and all too familiar. He couldn’t help the smile that reached his face when he realised who it was.

Y/N. Not dead after all, thank Satan.

But hurt, badly.

“Is that her?” Sabrina’s voice was merely a whisper, the witch clearly shocked at the state of her opponent’s friend. Caliban didn’t answer, instead threading his hand through the gap in the bars and grabbing Y/N’s. He squeezed it tightly, her eyes opening, a glimmer of that fire still left in them. She tried to talk, but he shushed her.

“It’s alright, Y/N. I’ve got you.”

He was about to say more, interrupted as Pilate came over, demanding that one of the prisoners should be whipped.

“If neither of you are going to volunteer, I’ll just take her back,” he nodded over at Y/N, “She was very talkative, that one. Difficult to extinguish the fire from. But I like a challenge.”

Caliban felt a fury like he had never known. He already thought he had lost Y/N, and he knew that any more torture would most likely make that a reality. He wouldn’t lose her, not now, not ever. If he was supposed to save her, now was the perfect time.

“I’ll take the lashes.”

He looked over at Y/N once again, his hand escaping her grip. He made a promise to himself as she watched him leave with affection in her eyes, that if he survived this, he would ask her to marry him. To be his queen.

But first he had to tell her something. So he did.

“I love you, Y/N.”

CALIBAN MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

#caos imagines #caos #caos imagine #chilling adventures of sabrina imagines #chilling adventures of sabrina #chilling adventures of sabrina imagine #caliban imagines #caliban #caliban imagine #caliban x reader #sam corlett

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not-so-mundane-after-all · 4 years

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Well, I think it’s time to create my own list of thoughts and wishes for season 3 of Titans

(I am well aware that some of these points are merely a wishful thinking but a girl can dream, right?)

First of all, the official stuff we found out so far:

- Redhood - I know Jason was treated poorly (to say the least) in s2 and that is a legit reason to be angry at the team but please let this transition make sense. Curran is putting a lot of work into it and I am sure his performance will be amazing, but storywise I really hope it’s not gonna end up being done in a “bratty kid throwing a tantrum” kind of way.

- Barbara Gordon - I don’t want to hear anything about a love triangle, got it? She’s being introduced as Dick’s ex for a reason. There might be some little things thrown in here and there like we had with Dawn in s1 but a full blown drama? We don’t need that shit! And besides, it’s been said she won’t be very happy to see Dick, neither she’ll be thrilled about Nightwing and Company running around her city.

Unless they turn it all into a comedy where instead of Kory being jealous - it’s the kids! Gar and Rachel going completely feral whenever Barbara gets close to Dick, giving off you’re not our mom so get out vibe and Kory lets them because she finds it hilarious (this season is supposed be *lighter* and *more fun* as I’ve heard, right?)

- Scarecrow - I am VERY intrigued to see that character. He’s supposed be locked up and working with GCPD but I do hope we’ll get to see him in action. I’m not really into comics world, I had to do my research on him, but from what I’ve found… Damn, fear toxin torture that show their biggest fears and nightmares would be awesome for my angst crave

- Blackfire - personally I don’t find a reason to panic. I know that the treatment of both Anna and her character, especially in s2 was unacceptable, I 100% agree with that. And it does give a reason to worry for s3. BUT why am I not worried?

1. Damaris Lewis has been promoted to a series regular a long time ago

2. Even with all the stuff happening in Gotham, Blackfire is still set to be the main villain - we had the same situation in s2. Cadmus was brought up to introduce Conner, even though Deathstroke was the main villian. So whatever is happening in Gotham, it’s for the introduction of Red Hood while Blackfire remains main villain.

3. Look at what Anna has been saying and the vibe she’s giving off! Would she be this happy if Kory wasn’t getting more screentime? Would she be getting calls from the showrunner about creating Kory’s background and having a chance to pitch him ideas like incorporating her native culture in building the world of Tamaran? WOULD SHE SAY WITH A HUGE SMILE ON HER FACE THAT THIS IS THEIR BEST SEASON YET?

So don’t worry too much about our girl. I’m sure she’s getting her time to shine. Even if it ends up being not as much as we would want, it’s still progress from last season.

And if the writers follow a similar schematic as for previous seasons, I see it going like this:

Blackfire = Deathstroke = Trigon (Main Villian)

Gotham stuff/Redhood = CADMUS/Conner = The Organization/Nuclear Family/Angela (side villian/introduction)

Scarecrow and Barbara = Doctor Light = Amy Rohrbach and Nic Zucco (plot device, appearance in 1-3 eps at most)

I might be wrong though, so don’t hold me on that. Because there’s also another storyline that needs to fit in between all of this

- Rachel on Themyscira - I am sure they won’t show as much of the island as they were originally planning for the same reason they moved the team from San Francisco to Gotham - weather conditions in this time of year resulting in lower temperatures, shorter and less sunny days. All of that wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for filming being pushed back due to Covid. I also had a feeling from the beginning that Rachel won’t come back victorious, or at least she will come back alone, with Donna showing up on her own later or at the end of the season. Now, with an information of the possible use of Lazarus Pit, it all makes even more sense. All my knowledge about those pits comes from Arrowverse so correct me if I’m wrong, but is Donna going to struggle with Blood Lust because of that? It is possible imo.

- Roy Harper and Tim Drake - I don’t have much to say about them, really. I’m excited to see Roy but the only valid reason for him to show up is to grieve Donna and maybe share his condolences to Dick or something like that. We don’t need more OG Titans drama. And Tim… well, new Robin in town will catch Jason’s attention and definitely spark some jealousy, evolving into a feeling of being ditched and abandoned, further confirming his belief of being a “reject”. All of this will only push him further to Red Hood.

Now, for the things I personally want to happen…

- Dickkory getting together - even if it happens in the finale, we need to see the progress! I don’t want this to happen off screen during the possible time jump. I want to see them supporting each other and being there for each other. I want to see Kory being his right-hand (wo)man and them leading the team together. And most importantly for me - the one thing that really brought them together in s1 - a continuation of their co-parenting of the younger Titans.

- Gar’s trauma being adressed - and I’m talking BOTH SEASONS. He really struggled with killing that guy in s1 and what CADMUS did to him made it all worse. He needs to talk about this with someone (and I hope that someone is Dick). And I really want to know if what happened to him is gonna have any lasting consequences.

- Donna and Dick need to talk things out - the worst thing about her death for me is the fact that these two didn’t get the chance to talk about what happened. Donna wasn’t a saint either and I find her behavior in the second half of s2 very hypocritical. It almost felt like this Donna and s1 Donna are two different people! She and Dick have a very strong bond and a lot of history. I’m sure they’ve had their fair share of fights in the past. I really hope they will sort this thing out and get back to being this amazing duo I fell in love with in s1.

- Rose and Jericho - I really want to see how this relationship will work and progress with them not really knowing each other but sharing one body.

- Growth and progress in Kory, Rachel and Gar’s powers - I think I don’t need to elaborate on that. I want to see Kory and Rachel fly, Rachel using more of her powers and discovering stuff like teleportation and telekinesis, Gar turning into other animals (lets pray HBO MAX will provide a decent budget for all of that). And obviously, following that…

- Supersuits for those three! - do I need to add more? I don’t think so.

- And can we get rid of Hank and Dawn? - I liked them in s1, tolerated them at the beginning of s2 and by the end I just wanted them gone. They are completely useless. Honestly? If I were to pick one… Hank can stay, we can still do something with him. But Dawn can go and don’t come back for all I care. I only need her for one more thing I’d like to see but more about that later.

And now the two most important things for me…

- MORE CORE FOUR FAMILY MOMENTS - this was the magic of season 1 that we only got some crumbs of in 2x01 and then it disappeared completely. I am in desperate need of Dick and Kory co-parenting their two superpowered teenage kids. And can someone FINALLY call Dick a DAD?! I would pay fortune to see that happen.

- Relationship progress between the Core Four - all the possible variants, but especially with the kids. It’s already been pretty much established that Rachel is Daddy’s Girl while Gar is Mama’s Boy. And it was nice to see Dick and Gar growing closer during season 2 while Rachel poured her heart out to Kory. But I was VERY MUCH with Gar and Kory when they both asked Rachel “Have you talked to Dick?” because girl YOU AND YOUR FATHER NEED TO TALK! A lot has happened, okay? (Not just because I am an absolute sucker for this dynamic and they are my favorites, but… get ready for a rant) I really want to go back to the way things were in s1 where they had at least one scene together every episode, where they talked and bonded a lot, where we actually could see the progress of this relationship. We’ve been stripped of that in s2. A little bit at the beginning, something at the end (I’m still mad Rachel didn’t get any closure for that nightmare that scared the hell out of her and yet had no influence on further events). I want to see Dick really embracing that role of a father, stepping up to responsibilities he kinda forgot about in s2. It would be nice to see a callback to his conversation with Dawn in 1x02 about how he’s “not taking her in” because “he can’t do family”. I’d love for Dawn to throw one big “I told you so!” in his face (and Dick agreeing she was right all along). I want to see Rachel leaning on him for support and encouragement while also growing independent in her own way. I also need to see more physical affection. Hugs are great and we always want more of them, but a touch of hand on the arm or cheek, or a forehead kiss would kill me. And I dream about a verbal “I love you” everyday…

Well, I think it’s all for now. Nothing else comes to mind atm. I might update this list as time goes on and we get more details…

#dc titans #dick grayson #rachel roth #kory anders #koriand'r #garfield logan #donna troy #jason todd #red hood #titans #titans season 3 #dcu titans

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moongoddesslee · 3 years

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What Once Was...

This is written for the SessKag Prompt Raffle, for StormieLikeWeather’s prompt.

@sesskag

"There is a murderer afoot, spoiler it's Kagome, and she has her reasons. What will happen when Sesshomaru discovers that he's been hunting his lover all this time?"

I am still working on this, I had some personal life stuff happen and even went to the hospital. I’m ok now but hopefully you’ll forgive me for this not being completely done just yet Stormie! I will also be posting the next chapters for this on A03. Here’s the link for it https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472691/chapters/69768393

My mind went a bit out of the way with this one, this fic is a bit on the darker side so please take that as a fair warning before you start to read this. It has a brief mention of a subject that most people don’t like to read or hear. So read at your own discretion. Anyways here we go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even with all the noise, light pollution, smog, and everything else the humans had created. He thanked his few lucky stars that there were still places like this around.

He stood in the middle of a beautiful and enchanting valley.

Inhaling he sighs and stares up at the sky in silent contemplation.

Valleys like this were like a balm to his frayed nerves and senses.

They all seemed to have been frozen in a time long forgotten and he missed it dearly.

From afar if someone were to stumble upon him they would think he was an apparition.

His skin was a chalky white instead of the glowing alabaster it had been long ago.

Though tall he was mostly nothing but skin and bones now, gaunt, and dark black-purple circles under his eyes.

His once regal and authoritative air gone, his stance nothing more than a slumped body shuffling along.

He knew he used to be a downright merciless bastard to everyone who ever dared to cross his path.

He had begun to change slowly when his little Rin had come along.

Even after Naraku had been defeated and the odd priestess had disappeared, Rin had chosen to come back with him after living for some time in Edo.

How he wishes she had stayed in the village instead of following him. Closing his eyes he felt the tears starting to run down his cheeks.

Choking sobs broke through despite his efforts to not and he fell to his knees among the tall grasses and flowers.

His forever cheerful daughter gone in the blink of an eye, taken away, tortured, and killed by the people who he had thought were his allies.

She had been so strong, stubborn, kind, gentle, caring, and free-spirited. He had tried to track down and kill every single one of them.

Though he couldn't seem to find them all. Even after killing only a few he still had hungered for revenge.

He hung his head as more tears kept tracking down his sharp cheekbones, the bone sticking out just slightly from his sunken face.

Rin being killed had been the beginning of what he thought of as the start of his horrible existence. He didn't know which god had it out for him but after she had passed everything slowly went to complete hell.

Opening his eyes as his tears were still falling, traveling down his sharp cheeks to land among the grass and flowers. Closing his eyes again he thought back on his hellish past. _______________________________________________________________

His allies had thought his precious daughter had been brought back to his home to be his bride. What fucking idiots that they had been. He had killed the first five of them that had voiced that opinion without thought. After that, the comments went quiet and he didn't hear anything on the matter again. It however did not mean he was an idiot and anticipated some of his advisors to try something someday.

He had just returned from paying a visit to his half brother's village and had been slightly shocked to see the odd priestess had returned. It had been nearly five years since she had disappeared.

Rin had been elated to hear of her return and thus started the weekly visits to the odd woman. Over time though he came to see her as a friend as they would talk. After a year had gone by of these visits he had realized that he had fallen in love with the klutzy woman. He kept to himself at first but Kagome eventually caught on and surprised him greatly.

By "climbing him like a tree" and soundly kissing him on the lips. Things sped up after that and soon after they were lovers in secret. Though he could guess his brother knew otherwise. Seeming since he stayed away from the village when he came to visit.

Eventually, he started to leave Rin with her in the village more and more. It had become too dangerous for her to stay at the Shiro. His advisors and allies had begun to get more and more deceitful. The sickly sweet scent always rolling off of them in waves as they lied to his face.

Sesshomaru had voiced his concerns with Kagome on the matter and she had agreed to have Rin move in with her. Though he didn't want to have his daughter so far away from him, he knew it was for the best.

She returned with him to the Shiro one last time to say goodbye to Jaken and his mother. Sesshomaru ordered her things packed and sent them ahead to Edo with Jaken.

As Sesshomaru made his way to gather Rin up to take her back to Kagome one of his advisors said there was a report of an attack. A village close to the Shiro was being burned to the ground. Demon and human alike being killed mercilessly.

When he had returned he stood on the hill shocked as he watched his ancestral home burning to the ground. Hearing the screams of agony of his people he snapped out of it.

Landing amid his broken home he started to search for survivors all while trying to locate Rin. The screams of pain had gone quiet as he looked and he couldn't hear a single heartbeat.

As the smoke started to affect his sense of smell he finally caught a slight scent of oranges and sunshine on the wind. Immediately he took off running and came to a stop just outside of the once beautiful gardens. There on the ground was a piece of Rin's usual orange checkered kimono.

Bending down to pick it up more pieces of it caught his attention. Slowly he followed the trail and began to panic as pieces of hair and blood started appearing. As he got closer he started to recognize the scent of his lover, fresh ocean breeze, and calming lavender.

The further he went the more panicked and angry he became as he caught the different scents in the air. He stopped as he came to the end of the scent trail in a field and fell to his knees.

There among the wildflowers was a body torn into pieces scattered around the area. There were thousands of different scents overlapping but the most prominent was that of his daughters. He could make out strands of black hair amount the chunks of body and blood on the ground. His loving daughter was gone, her body strewn throughout the clearing of wildflowers that she loved so dearly. Sesshomaru couldn't comprehend all that he saw for a few moments.

Her now cold blood pooling around the chunks of her body, sticking to everything now. He could see an arm thrown off to the side and part of a tow underneath a thick bush. Sesshomaru could still smell Kagome's scent in the area but didn't see or hear anything nearby. His shock set in even more when he began to think that they had killed off his chosen as well.

He just stayed there motionless for hours upon hours never moving. Even as the smoke began to clear and no more agonizing screams could be heard. _______________________________________________________________

Kagome had had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as Sesshomaru had left from this last visit. She knew he had gone back to get Rin and her things before bringing her back to Edo.

She couldn't shake the feeling all morning as she went about her chores. Sighing Kagome had packed a small pack and told Miroku and Sango she was leaving. They had offered to come with her but she politely declined and headed out.

Along the way she had thought the offer was nice but didn't want to be coddled anymore. In the five years, she had been gone Kagome had enrolled in multiple training classes. Training with multiple different weapons and martial arts just in case she ever did go back.

As she trained over the years the more she came to control her Miko powers as well. Shaking her head back to the present she made her way along for the better part of the day. Stopping as she needed to rest and eat.

It was the nearly early morning of the next day when she finally made it to Sesshomaru's ancestral home. Kagome had only been there twice so far and had wanted to come back but Sesshomaru had told her no. It was for her own safety, if it was getting dangerous for Rin then it would be worse for her.

She was shell-shocked as she looked upon his home and saw it all blazing in a fire. Everything seemed to be just starting to fall apart. Kagome came out of her shock as the screams and cries started to filter through her hearing.

Taking off at a run Kagome made her way to the Shiro as quickly as she could. Pouring some of her powers into her legs to speed herself up. She came to a stop as she registered the auras of some of Sesshomaru's people.

Quickly Kagome took off in hopes of being able to help and save anyone that she could. As she got closer to the burning Shiro she could hear the screams from inside getting quieter. A stray tear fell down her cheek as she knew that they could not be saved.

Shaking herself she moved on and started to help her lovers' subjects and employees as she came across them. Worried about them all she could only spare a few quick moments to check each of them over. Moving on to the next as she circled around the burning building. As she neared back to the front of the once beautiful home she stopped in shock.

Kagome could hear the screams of a child, but she had heard those screams before. Taking off in a panic she raced forward towards the screams. Muttering to herself hoping to be wrong about those screams.

Those said screams were getting quieter as she got closer. It only spurred her on to run faster. Even as her legs protested the extra exertion she carried on. Kagome came across a line of trees and followed the trampled path she could see through it.

Making her way quietly she couldn't help but gasp and cry as she saw two little girls' bodies lying on the ground surrounded by pools of blood. As she walked forward she swept her powers throughout the area checking for auras.

Noticing that the retreating ones she could sense still were that of Sesshomaru's advisors and other staff her powers flickered in anger. Going to her knees in front of the bodies tears started to fall from her eyes. There laid Rin and a little girl motionless. Rin's orange checkered kimono was ripped to pieces with scratches all over her body.

As Kagome looked over to the other little girl she cried even more. The other girl's body was in pieces all over the clearing. Blood and hair splattered over the flowers nearby and pieces of skin hiding among bushes.

Minutes went by before Kagome shook herself and got up and began to look around the area. Hoping to find at least some way to identify the other little girl besides part her head that was laying on the ground.

After a few minutes of searching and finding nothing, Kagome knelt down again. She picked the lost child's head up and wrapped it in an extra blanket from her bag. Going over to Rin's motionless body next Kagome began to cry harder as she brought out another blanket.

Lifting her small body as gently as she could she moved her and wrapped her small body into the blanket. She tied it together with some spare rope the best she could and brought her body to rest against her back and stood up.

Kagome began to walk out of the area as the sun was starting to set. ________________________________________________________________

Someone was slowly coming up from behind him, their footsteps light and unsteady. All of his senses were closed off from the world. Even as the visage of his mother came into view, he couldn't react.

He just watched as she looked around and saw her gasp softly as she clearly recognized the scents. Sesshomaru watched as she walked over to the pools of blood and fell to her knees. Even his own stoic mother sat there at her knees crying for the loss of her adopted granddaughter.

It seemed like hours before he finally came back to the world of the living enough to stand and walk back to the ashes of his home. Not turning back even as he heard his mother calling his name as she stood back up.

He was on autopilot as he walked among the smoke and ashes searching for something, anything. Some kind of clue to tell him that his daughter and lover were alive and not dead. He never turned back around stuck in his self made prison in his head.

He just walked for weeks stuck in his own limbo until he was confronted by his mother again. Being told that there had been reports coming in about the advisors, generals, and lords that had plotted against him. The ones responsible for the two lights of his life being extinguished.

They all seemed to slowly be found killed or dying in some manner or another. Curiosity sparked him from his shock and he set off to find these traitors and kill the rest himself. If he so happened to come across the person already doing it he'd thank them personally himself. That is if he could actually find the person responsible.

#sesskag prompt raffle #sesskag

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