neophytye

[neophytye]

Cobalt - Comfortember 2024

Summary:   

SPOILER ALERT: MAJOR REVEALS FOR ARC OF A SCYTHE SERIES' ENDING

Rowan tries to live on, in a (space) ship, surrounded by strangers and without Citra, for a hundred years. 

Words: 2800 aprox 

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60643708

∅∅∅∅∅

Rowan was trying to get along with his life; he was slowly but surely getting along with the rest of the crew, and that wasn't an easy task.

At the beginning, everyone thought of him as Scythe Lucifer, and they were terrified of him. For them, he was this mythical figure that brought chaos everywhere he went, and to be honest, he couldn't blame them.

After all, his actions spoke tons of himself, exaggerated or not by Goddard and his puppets. But, after a while of trying hard, he slowly made his way into the crew, and when realization hit him, he was sort of the leader there.

He hated that role, not because he hated being in charge, but because that role was supported to be filled by Citra, not him. But here we are, with Citra deadish and him being alive.

Oh how much he would give to have their roles reversed… Most days, he used to think he didn't deserve the role, but he grew up to it. He knows Citra would want that for him, so he did.

It has been nearly a year in the ship, and, even though, most days Rowan tried to fill his days with tasks, he, from time to time, found himself unable to do anything else.

And, on those times, he tends to have a conversation with Cirrus.

- Hello Rowan - Cirrus announced in a nearby speaker.

Rowan notices the clear differences between this one and the Thunderhead, and even though he would never admit out loud, he is glad this is the one that stuck with them in the ship.

No shade to Thunderhead, of course.

- Nothing to say today, I see - Cirrus noted.

Most conversations usually began like that, but today, Rowan wasn't really feeling in the mood. Today marked the week when Citra went dead.

- Deadish - Rowan told himself - she is just resting.

That should be comforting, but it didn't help make it hurt less. Every single day since he went into the ship, he had gone forward, trying to carry on with some degree of success.

But these days, it was very difficult to evade that sadness. And so, now, without prying eyes, he allowed himself to break down and cry.

- I know these days are difficult Rowan - Cirrus said, while a tray full of tissues appeared- Can I suggest something?

Rowan, who was unable to express a full sentence, hooded his head while he took a bunch of tissues.

- Most people in the ship find some sort of solace in the VR section - Cirrus pointed out - It helps them cope with the disadvantages of the situations when it becomes too much.

Rowan knew some of them did that. Indeed, Cirrus hasn't been the first to suggest so, but for Rowan, there was no solace in a virtual copy of Earth; he left behind nothing of worth after all.

What he wanted was in the ship, so close, and yet, so unreachable. But he didn't want to discuss this again with Cirrus, because he would be looping in circles for a while.

- Sure - Rowan said, with disdain in his voice - maybe I will.

If Cirrus noticed his behavior, he didn't comment.

∅∅∅∅∅

He isn't still convinced to do that, but, with so many opinions in favor of it, including Cirrus, he might as well give it a try, even if it's just to make them shut up.

So Rowan went ahead to the VR section. There were tons of people, more than what he could have guessed, and for a moment, he wondered if the people abroad the ship were really happy about that split second decision they made a year ago.

Maybe, this space mission was doomed, after all, but Rowan knew that the only way he was going to see Citra again was if this was a success. So, he made a mental note to try and cheer those people up, whatever means necessary.

Looking around, there were still a few stations free, and he made his way to one. The device wasn't like the ones from the mortal age; now, these devices were merely a slim headband that made his magic into the brain.

He wasn’t a science guy, so he desisted a long time ago to try and understand how they really worked. The only thing that mattered to him was that it really works, and it was truly immersive.

He paid attention to the video explaining how to set it up and how to use the machine correctly. The surprise was that the moment he tried to search for a specific environment, the menu was locked, and an environment was preselected.

He couldn't change those settings, so he guessed that it was Cirrus' doing. He wasn't in the mood to fight, so he gave up quickly and went ahead with whatever Cirrus had in store for him.

And so, he put on the headband, and everything went black.

∅∅∅∅∅

At first, he didn't know where he was. His eyes couldn’t focus well, but he knew that it wasn't his eyes' fault, but the simulation; with all the advancements in the world, simulating one still was very hardware expensive.

In other words, the effect that Rowan was experiencing was the world finishing rendering. It didn't take more than a few seconds, but for Rowan, it was an eternity that already broke immersion.

When the world was ready and Rowan could focus, he found himself in a familiar place. Sort of.

He was back in Faraday's original house, the one where he started his journey. The one where both did. The thought of Citra threatened to make him cry again, but he kept them on hold. He supposed that it was not a good idea to start like this whatever was planned for him.

The main door was opened behind him, and he expected to hear Faraday's voice. For sure, Cirrus knew how to try and confront him.

- Oh, you are home early - the voice behind him said.

And that voice wasn't Faraday's. It was Citra's. His mind went nuts, and he couldn't even turn around to see her. He didn't know if he wanted to see a fake.

He knows he should be furious with Cirrus for doing this, he didn't want their "reunion" to be like this, and he felt like an idiot to feel directly into this obvious trap.

- Are you going to stay there all day looking at the wall - NotCitra said – as amazing as it can look, I would prefer if….

Rowan turned around and faced her. Then, whiteout a single though he gave her a big thought.

- Oh - she said - What's happening?

Rowan world came crushing down. Of course, she wouldn't know; her memory construct couldn't know what had happened, and if she did, she wouldn't act on it until promoted.

- I….. - he tried - I missed you.

He broke the hug and forced himself to look at her perfect reflection; it was like time had truly frozen for her. Maybe it had.

- Can't say I missed you too - she said, with a grin - I saw you just now.

Rowan was about to ask about that, to try and know at what point in time the construct was frozen in time. But she didn't let him.

- But I miss this - she gestures the house - back when our lives where simpler, wouldn't you say?

Rowan allowed himself to smile; even though this was not the real Citra, maybe, just maybe, he could allow to fall into this fantasy. Just for a while.

- Do you remember - she asked, bringing him back - when we pranked Faraday on April Fools?

Yeah, maybe this could work, or so did Rowan told himself, while smiling as much as he hadn't done in a long time. Finally, he was home.

∅∅∅∅∅

After only just a session, Rowan was hooked. He didn't know he needed those interactions until he tried the first one. After that, he didn't care that it was just a memory construct, a fake.

But this fake was more than a simple construct; it seems like it remembers all their earlier interactions, but he still doesn't know where her knowledge cut is.

And he doesn't care to figure it out. He has told her enough to know about his situation, while being vague enough to not make Cirrus mad, not that he has forbidden him of anything.

These days, he would gladly spend time with a former shadow of her than nope in the corners of the spaceship. And that decision paid off; he seemed livelier than before, happier, and that reflected in the decisions he took and the way the crew looked at him.

He also was starting to be more social with the people on the crew; it has been after a few interactions with Citra that he realized that he couldn’t waste his social battery on just this.

And so, he finished filling on the shoes of his role. All thanks to Citra.

Today, he was going to go talk to her, and he wondered where Cirrus would set their environment. Because, after a few talks, Rowan noticed that they never repeated the environment; sometimes, it was one that Rowan knew, and other times, it was somewhere she knew.

But even then, he would gladly have a small tour with her.

This occasion though, he knew the place; it was the memorial of Pittsburgh. It was from the time where Rowan was gleaning Scythes.

Where Citra had asked him to be careful.

- What a nice place to meet up - Citra said, behind him.

She looked as radiant as the day they met here, in the real world. Rowan could only hope the same for himself.

They both walked up to the spot they were that day, and Rowan started to tell her about how he was doing well with "the crew" and some were beginning to truly see him as their leader, after a ton of effort.

Citra never asked about what he meant by "crew" or anything, and that made Rowan wonder about her knowledge cutoff. But he didn't push.

Instead, something got into his mind, and he felt like it was the right thing to do.

- You know - he started - I never got to say sorry. About Curie I mean.

Citra's face fell. Rowan never saw that happened in the simulation, and Rowan wondered if he had pushed the limits too far, but a mere seconds later, she looked back at him and hugged him, just like he had done that very first incursion.

She started to cry, and Rowan couldn’t help but reassure her that everything was fine. If he didn't know better, he would have thought this was the real Citra.

But she was dead, waiting to get reanimated in 115 years.

∅∅∅∅∅

The years went by, and his physical appearance started to change. He didn't want to turn back young, but he didn't want to see how Citra didn't age in the simulation, and he did.

So, Rowan and Cirrus made a compromise. He was going to be able to keep his younger appearance in the simulation while he aged in the real world. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for Rowan.

Because that helped him differentiate what was real and what was the world he wished was. That didn't mean his interactions decreased, but he was less addicted to it.

Now it was just like a normal meeting, with a dear one he could see whenever he wanted.

Through the years, they kept reminiscing about their past, and telling things only the other knew. Sometimes, he wondered if the stories Citra told were fake or not, so Citrus had to assure him that those were indeed not fabricated.

That didn't help much; he felt like he was intruding where he shouldn't. Maybe the reflection was more permissive that what the real Citra wished to be, and those doubts flooded his mind for a while, but after a few weird exchanges, he concluded that this Citra wasn’t doing anything different from what he remembered.

So he let those fears go, and he enjoyed the years pass by.

∅∅∅∅∅

After 117 years, they finally reached their destination; only a few hours and they would reach it.

Only a few more hours and Rowan could reunite with Citra, for real this time. He was anxious, and he had already turned back the clock, to keep himself busy for a bit. But after he found himself with his hands empty, he went to his safe heaven.

He went back to the simulation. To say goodbye to that Citra. He wasn’t going to say something heartless like he didn't care that she wasn't real, because, after all this time, it sort of was, to him at least. She kept him company while the real one couldn't, and she deserved al the very least a proper goodbye.

When he went into the simulation, he found himself in Kwajalein. They were looking at the final preparations of the spaceships, the day before Goddard's attack.

- It looks amazing - Citra said.

Rowan was more than curious than ever about the knowledge cutoff, and he wondered if today was the day that mystery was going to be revealed.

- Today is my last day here - Rowan said, without elaborating.

Citra nodded, not asking about "here".

- So, this is a goodbye then - she affirmed, looking into his eyes.

Even now, Rowan felt unable to lie to her, so he went instead to a white lie.

- We would meet soon - he answered - after the crew has sorted out a few things. Then, I would make it happen as fast as possible.

Citra looked happy with the answer, and she looked right into the spaceships.

- So, what do you think about the mission? - Citra asked - Do you think we will be successful?

Citra looked back and him, and curiosity was all over her face. Rowan finally understood that this was where her knowledge cut.

- Yes - he said - we will make it, and you will see it through.

She smiled back at him, and with a smirk, she asked Rowan something he didn't expect.

- What do you want to do once we get there? - Citra asked.

It was a simple question, but it carried a lot of baggage for him. He was looking forward seeing Citra alive, but after that…. he couldn't say he had anything planned: he hadn’t been able to plan his future for a while back on Earth, and here, he didn’t really care.

- I would love to go around with you - he blurted out - anywhere really.

Citra looked up to the sky and gave it a bright smile. She was happy with the response.

- I would love to go strolling another planet with you - she said, not breaking contact with the sky.

They spent a few more moment like that, with silence between them, but being comfortable with each other. Citra broke the silence first.

- Let's call it a date then - she said, looking back at him - you owe me one after all – she finished, giving a genuine smile back at him.

And he couldn't help but smile too; he would totally accept a date anywhere if it meant he got to spent it with her.

- Anytime - he answered back.

∅∅∅∅∅

Citra woke up in a strange room. The only thing familiar to her was Rowan's face, and he didn't look a year older than what her memories provided her. She remembers the accident, how she got deadish and how Rowan carried her in her last moments to the spaceship.

Rowan told her it had been just a few seconds, but she knew that was a blatant lie. She let it slide, nonetheless.

It took her a few more hours before she got discarded, and when she could finally walk free on their new home, Rowan never left her side. Citra noticed that the hospital was rudimentary, and it was the only thing that was more or less set up. The other things…. well, they were still underway.

- I made sure you were revived first thing the moment we set foot - he explained.

Citra nodded; she had another thing to say herself.

- I'm sorry - she said - we were supposed to go into this together, but I…..

Rowan stopped her on track and looked directly into her eyes. It was a glare so intense, Citra believed he could read into her own soul.

- It wasn't your fault - he said - just a…. unfortunate event.

They were walking around, without anything in mind, and Rowan was a bit anxious about the future, so he decided to ask.

- What are we doing? - he said, talking about the future.

Citra stopped in her tracks and looked directly into Rowan's eyes, like she could read Rowan's mind.

- We are going on a stroll - she said - you owe me a date after all - she finished, with a smirk on her face.

[neophytye]

Sangria - Whumptober 2024

Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab 

Summary:  

Kell is badly injured, and Lila tries her best, but things go south. 

Words: 3380 words 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell woke up with a headache. He felt a bit disoriented and looked around him to try and get a sense of familiarity, but instead, he found himself in a room full of shades of white and what it felt like a hospital bed. 

As Kell looked around the room and let the details sink it, he found it a bit disturbing; it only had his bed, a bedside table and a sideboard in front of the bed, with a decorative plant. 

Kell would have found the addition of the plant in this highly artificial room amusing, if it weren't for the fact that he felt like he was very far from home. Maybe... he was in one of those hospital rooms of Grey London. 

But her memories.... it told him another story.  Memories about Emery’s place, the kidnapping of Lila, the fights....and the cursed door. They were trying to close that door to nowhere, and once the spell was pronounced, a sharp pain invaded his body and darkness overtook him. 

Doubt fell over him... did it work? He began to wonder. He didn’t have much time to ponder on those questions, thought; soon enough the door at his left opened and another figure came through. 

It was a young lad, not much older than himself, who was carrying a tray with a glass of water and some weather. When he realized that Kell was awake, he smiled at him. 

 - Glad to see you awake – he said, smiling. 

This lad started to ask Kell some questions about his wellbeing, and Kell answered them without resistance. There was no malice in them and Kell didn’t feel in immediate danger. 

After a while, the boy left the room, leaving the tray behind, in the bedside. At fast as he left, Kell expression became somber. Yeah, it was true that there was no ill intention coming from the boy, but Kell noticed something in his voice. 

He spoke High Royal perfectly, at least, grammatically immaculate. Artificially pristine, Kell would say, and the voice sounded a bit too.... crispy? It was odd, like his voice was overlayed on top of another sound. 

He has seen that kind of magic before, but the people who Kell knows use this kind of tool more are the residents of White London. 

 - But it's.... odd – Kell thinks to himself – why on Earth would I end up here?  And why isn’t it cold? 

If this was indeed White London, Kell couldn’t tell for sure. The smell of blood was there, sure, but it was faint and nearly unnoticeable. The other characteristics, as low temperatures, weren’t so clear right now, but Kell figured that he would have to go outside to check. 

And the only way out was through that door. And if he was truly in White London, he would bet that, behind that door, a small army of soldiers would be waiting from him on the other side. 

So, he would have to play it safe and nice. 

 - Maybe I can use this time to try if my magic is back – he though. 

And for a long moment, he stayed still, looking at his hand and deciding if it was worth to try. Wherever he was, he was sure that it was way too far from home, and if something happened, he might not have the necessary support. 

Kell remembers that the last incident he had with magic made him end un here. He didn’t wish for another thing like that. 

So, he held back, and decided that, once he got out of whatever this mess was, he would give another change to his magic. Just to be sure. For now, he studied his situation and started to build up an ambitious plan. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Days went by, and Kell picked up on the daily routine. The young lad usually came every three hours or so, to bring him food or check on him. Every time he came, Kell paid attention to his pattern of speech, detecting that, indeed, he was right.  

He was using a translation device, and probably, the same as the one the Astrid family used. So, he was sure he was dealing with whatever crazy royal had gotten into power. 

But that didn’t answered the how. How he got here? Maybe the door malfunctioned and sent him here? Another evil Antari like last time? Could Holland be back? 

Kell discarded those thoughts; some of them were even ridiculous, and they would get him nowhere. But still, he was worried about his family, about his friends... and about Lila. 

He didn’t feel like some damsel in distress, sure, but still... he expected Lila to try and find him. To rescue him from whether he was, like they have done for one another.... till now. 

Kell thought, that maybe, she was also in a bad situation, but that would even mean a whole new layer of things to worry about; would that mean that his brother was in danger too? 

As Kell was deep in his thoughts, he started to pick up the sound of steps outside, and he decided that it was time to go into action. He wasn’t going to fight; he was in disadvantage, so, the next course of action was to make his captors a bit scared. 

And with that idea in mind, Kell tried his best to hide inside the sideboard. It was perfect, because, even if it was a bit small, it had holes that allowed him to see both the door and his bed from inside. 

Si he had the perfect view of what was going to happen, without been seen, probably. He knew there was a big chance the guards would find him, if they care, but it was worth the shot. 

He didn’t wait too long; the doors opened soon after he hide himself, and the lad entered, as usual. From his perspective, he could only see an empty hall outside the door, so this was his chance to scape. 

He saw how, once the boy saw the room empty, his hands failed throwing the tray he was carrying in the ground, and run away, into the empty hall. Kell at once left his spot and run towards the door and the hall. 

Once he was running in the hall, he wasn’t surprised to find the architecture too familiar. His memories of White London coming back. Once he found an intersecting, he heard voices shouting in Maktahn, and they were probably directed at him. 

Once small peak over the edge confirmed all his suspicions; the lad was coming with a small army of guards. 

 - Too little to stop an Antari – thought Kell. 

He started running again, and the guards were slowly trying to catch up to him, but the hall never ended, or that was the impression Kell had. But even in the chase, a thought invaded Kell’s mind. 

 - Why are there so few guards? What is happening? 

It wasn’t the norm, for sure, not in his London and not here, from what he can gather from his earlier visit. So, he figured, something was going on. 

As he was about to turn into a corner, he found another set of guards stopping him. He found himself surrounded, and a cold shiver was running down his spine....  

But, before his fears fully materialized, behind the guards, Kell could see a figure approach him. She looked a bit younger than, but the guards were treating her with the utmost respect. 

It wasn’t after he got a clear look at her face that he understood why. Sure, her own crown spelled it out to him, but the most impressive trait wasn’t her royal crown, but her left eye. 

It was as black as the night. The sign of an antari. 

For a second, he feared her being another...... artificial antari, like that messenger, Ojka,  was. Because that would mean that, again, that evil magic was back in the game. 

But, as much as he looked at that black eye, it didn’t bleed out the darkness. It looked as natural and genuine as a dark eye could ever be. So, he allowed to leave a small breath he didn’t know he wasn’t holding. 

 - Glad to see you well, Master Kell – the queen said – My name is Kosika, current ruler of Makt. 

Kell forced himself to give a bow out of respect. 

 - Kell Maresh, your majesty – he forced himself to say, calmly. -Would Her Highness be so kind to answer some questions? 

Internally, Kell hoped this Queen was a bit more.... reasonable that the last few ones. He hoped to clear everything out and be able to go back home, but he knew that those things weren’t possible with these royals, so he was already thinking of alternatives. 

 - Sure – she said, snapping him out – lets go to the gardens and talk. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Outside, in the gardens, everything looked far batter in White London. It was like everything was recovering here. 

 - Things have got better here since your last visit, master Kell – the Queen commented, beside him. 

Kell didn’t knew how she was so sure about him and who he was but decided that there were other pressing matters now. 

 - I'm glad – he responded – I have one request, his majesty.... - he started 

Kell looked at Kosika, who, now, was also looking at him, and asked what he was dying to say for all those days. He was about to speak when she interrupted. 

 - Do you know why you are here? - she said 

Kell’s face responded in his name; he was as lost as a fish in a fish tank. Kosika went on with her explanation. 

 - You were hurt, a lot – she explained – after a magical artefact went haywire, but you and your people stopped it on time. 

Kell noodled, he remembered all of that. 

 - But you didn’t get better; it was getting worse every day, and.... - she doubted – miss Bard was concerned about you. So, she went here, after exhausting everything from your world. 

That took Kell by surprise. He knew that Lila cared, sure, and she was very reckless.... but to go back here, to this London? After everything? 

 - We researched for a bit – she went on – and, eventually, we found something. It was dangerous, but it was worth the risk. 

Kell didn’t like where the conversation was going; the last time someone wanted to do good without considering the risks, Osaron was let free. 

 - It was like a reset button – she explained – we were supposed to reset everything, even the wall between worlds. But first.... 

Kell knew exactly where this was going. 

 - You needed to get into Black London and do it there. You tried to restart Black London. 

He was getting more scared the more he knew, and he needed to go back home. 

 - I’m coming home – he announced 

Kosika didn't move or used any magic to stop him, but she used words. 

 - You can – she said, sadly – or... well... you shoudn’t. Things didn’t go smoothly, and consequences were paid. 

As she said that, some kind of weird smell got into Kell. It came from the other side of the river.... When he saw what it was, it scared him. 

It was the corruption of the black magic, destroying buildings and even part of the river at the other end. It looked horrible. 

 - At first, everything went right, flowers started to look right in Black London and all.... but a few moments later, it became corrupted, like that – she finished, pointing at where Kell was looking. 

Kell was speechless. 

 - We tried to stop it from leaking, but some got into White London before we stopped the flux. - she looked down – but we didn’t realize that, while stopping the flux here didn’t stop the problem. 

Now, he was completely terrified. 

 - It changed direction to somewhere else. - he finished. 

He was drawing blood here, in the palace, not caring where he was about to appear, when Kosika said the last thing to him. 

 - She went back – she said – and a few hours later, you appeared here, full of ash but with your magic restored. But she never came back here. 

The implication was obvious to Kell, but still, he ignored the warning. Whatever was waiting for him at the other side, he would face it. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell smelled ash when he first put his foot down on Red London. He was close to the river, and he expected some kind of... seashore smell, but not this. 

He wasn’t also expecting a cloudy day, with storms and a destructive rain, but was glad, because, as he could see, everything was on flames right before it began. 

But the burn down shops and bad smells wasn’t everything. Not even close. The people.... they were burned alive converted into nothing more than a pile of ash that still keeps some kind of humanoid form. 

Kell touched one, by mistake, and it collapsed into nothing. He followed it, into the ground, where he suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe, like the world was becoming dizzy. 

And he cut himself, not to do a blood spell, but to focus on that pain and regain back consciousness. He used the momentum to get back up and continue walking, but he stopped himself and decided to look back. 

And what he saw, would haunt him forever. Because, standing right behind him was Lila Bard, looking defiant as ever into something in front of her. But there was nothing there, and when Kell looked closely, she wasn’t Lila. Not anymore, at least. 

It was just another pile of ash. 

That broke him down. He fell, again, to the floor, and this time, he couldn’t hold back the tears. His world had succumbed to the darkness, and he wasn’t even there. 

He should have, but Lila had sparred him. And now, she was gone, alongside everybody else. He felt angry at him for not being there, at Kosika for not helping here, at the world for being unfair. But he knew that it didn’t change a thing. 

Kell tried to touch Lila, to say the words to heal her, but he knew right from the beginning that it was foolish to try. Still, he did, and the pile of ash crumbled and left him. 

Kell stayed there, paralyzed. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

He got to the palace a bit after the night came. He was carrying an urn full of Lila’s ashes with him, unable to leave them behind. 

In the palace, he went looking for anyone alive, but he found the same thing he found in the street; bodies made of ash, none in the land of the living anymore. His brother, Alucard, the crew from Grey Barron.... all gone. 

His guilt was consuming him from the inside out, but he wanted to get to his room. He wanted to see his things, at least, one more time. 

When he got there, he found a small piece of paper in his desk. It was written in haste, like the author didn’t had time to waste, and it didn’t even have names on it, but it read: 

“I’m sorry” 

Later that day, Kell went into the port, where he found the Grey Barron. He went upstairs, and once he got to the bow, he opened the urn and throw Lila’s ashes into the sea. 

They never talked about this, but Kell knew, with all his heart, that this was the place Lila would love to be. 

These days, the only tangible thing Kell has from the Fallen London, apart from his magic coat, is a small piece of paper. Kell never talked about it, but there are some rumors. 

And those rumors always involve a legendary Antari that once walked alongside him, going on adventures and salving the worlds. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Lila knew she screwed up. The moment she left White London and saw that the Darkness was overtaking her city too, she knew she made the wrong choice. 

 - No going back now – she told herself. 

The apocalypse was coming but she was calm; they had already stopped it in White London, so it pretty straightfoward to do so. She indeed, had gone back to the palace and to the Sanctuary to talk gather the best mages available. 

She even checked if Kell was doing alright; Kosika told her that if this worked, that it would take a bit of time. So, she only checked his pulse and, once she was relieved, she went back to his task. She would have plenty of time to sort this out later. 

In the following minutes, she gathered an emergency committee full of mages, doing the ritual that they had performed back in White London. When the corruption was getting serious and it was even visible from the castle, they started the spell. 

And it worked. The threat was contained, and everyone was safe. At first. 

While everyone celebrated, Lila looked anxious to the point where the Darkness had appeared. It had been easier than in White London, and her instincts were telling her than something was off. 

She knew it was just irrational fear, but her instincts never failed her. So, she talked to other mages and, even though she was an Antari, they discarded her opinions. She was just a newbie who didn’t understand those complex spells. 

She was furious, but maybe, she thought, they were right. She was good in her element; Antari magic and elemental magic, and out of there, she was no one, and she should leave it to experts. 

And so, she did. But the night came, and she was once again, proven right. 

From her window, she could still see that spot, and she couldn’t sleep thinking about it. And in her obsessive view, she, in the middle of the night, thought it was coming back, faster. 

She blinked a few times, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating, and then, changed clothes and went to alert the castle. But when she saw the staff from the castle, they were all turned to ashes. She searched the castles and found all those mages dead, too, turned to ashes. 

 - There is no way out of this- thought Lila 

She ran towards Rhy’s and Alucard’s rooms, but they had been turned into ashes too, and fear overtook her for a moment. She was scarred of Kell’s fate, but, once she got to his room, he was still there, sleeping peacefully. 

She knew her situation was dire, but not how much. So, she went to his desk, pulled a small piece of paper and wrote a small note to Kell. Kell was so predictable that, if something truly went wrong today, Lila knew, he would come here, eventually. 

So, the small paper was left there, just in case she didn’t make it. 

After that, everything was fuzzy for Lila; she ran over the streets of London, as the Darkness started to create chaos and converting everybody into ash. On a few occasions it nearly got her, but she managed to evade it. 

She wasn’t as fast as she would be without Kell, but there was no way she was leaving him behind. There were both going to escape to White London. 

In the chase, she tried to remember White London’s map and tried to get as close as she could to the castle from here, so only a door would be needed. But, once she was there, a thief tried to rob her, and slowed her down, just enough for the Darkness to catch her and convert her to dust, slowly. 

It was a weird sensation, but painful and pleasant at the same time.  Lila’s eyes were full of tears at this moment, and she got enough force of will to open a door to White London. 

As she opened it, she felt like her body was slowly shutting down, but she got strength to push Kell to the other side. 

 - Anoshe, Kell – she said while the door closed in front of her. 

As the last display of courage Lila Bard Was ever going to do, she stands up and looked directly into the Darkness, without ever blinking, until the last part of her body turned to ash and her consciousness vanished. 

[neophytye]

Ceulean - Whumptober 2024

Summary:  

Nova fights against Frostbite in HQ, but things go south. 

Words: 2600 words

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Nova was about to achieve what she was hoping to; getting away with Ace’s helmet. Everything she had done had culminated in this very precise moment, and she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. Not Trevor, formerly known as Gargoyle, for sure. 

So, she did what she does the best; he put him to sleep for a while and got ready to disappear. But there was one more person still standing against her, Frostbite. And she, right now, looked too mad. Mad... and confused. 

 - How.... how did you.... - she said, confusion overthrowing the other emotions. 

Right, she should have lost her powers... but the talisman protected her. Not that Nova was going to let her know about it thought. 

 - Ah, sure...... it didn’t work as you can see. - she finished, shrugging. 

Now, Nova could clearly see Genissa mad. In insane level on madness, she picked up Captain Chromium’s Silver Spear and went right to her heart.  

Such a stupid move would have gotten a chuckle out of Nova. At that distance, she could do a few backflips before ever thinking about evading her opponent. But that was on best conditions; she realized, early after, that Max was behind him, and got scared about what could happen to him. 

So, time seemed to slow down for her, and she used the time she had to push the invisible lad out of Genissa's way. She was relieved, a few seconds after, that the boy became visible, and he was out of harm's way. 

She let out a sight she had kept contained for far too long for her liking and started to make her way out of the danger. But that didn’t happen; Genissa was already stabbing her heart with the spear and lifting her up in the air in a gesture of triumph. 

Nova was in shock, so much that she didn’t feel any kind of pain. She felt the blood coming out of her chest, but nothing else; her body was shouting down, slowly. Soon after, Frostbite throws her down on the floor and looked at her masked face. 

She didn’t like that her identity stayed a mystery, and in her last moments, Nova saw how her secret got blown away by Genissa removing her mask; she looked.... weirdly satisfied by what she was looking. Not that Nova expected her to cry a lot, but at least... some kind of regret due to hurting a Renegade colleague. 

What Nova didn’t consider back then was that, for Frostbite, she wasn’t Nova the Renegade, but Nova, alias Nightmare, the villain, the anarchist. Her enemy. 

The last thing Nova saw was how Genissa took on her mask and started to punch her face with it. Nova lost consciousness soon after. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Adrian didn’t exactly know what to expect; the alerts on HQ were rare and unusual but he didn’t remove his Centinel gear, just in case he needed to use the full range of his powers. 

Once he got there, he saw a level of destruction he would have never guesses in a million tries. Everything close the entrance he was, was indeed a mess, and there were blood and unconscious people scattered around the place. Mostly, Frostbites' team members. 

But seeing that destruction, Adrian’s first instinct was to check on his brother; after all, his place in HQ was tottally destroyed, so he could be... hurt. He could need his immediate help. 

It didn’t take too long to find him; he was crouched in a corner nearby, crying a lot and with his head on his hands. Adrian didn’t think twice and came there to try and soothe him. His efforts were... not as efficient as he had hoped, because he kept repeating the same phrase over and over. 

 - N...N... Frostbite has.... has.... killed Nightmare 

Adrian wasn’t so sure of that; he guessed that this destruction was about that, but he wanted to believe that Genissa wouldn’t take that far; killing someone, even a villain in HQ was a horrible act. Surely, there might be a reasonable explanation. 

And then, she heard some loud gaps coming from another one of the entrances not far from them. Someone was standing still while another person was badly hurt on the ground. 

He couldn’t see their faces... but Adrian had a cold shive. Maybe.... his brother wasn’t so wrong; he had to check it out immediately. 

And when he got to a closer point, what he saw was horrendous. Nightmare was the one in the ground, yes, but she was completely covered in what Adrian guessed was her own blood and her face was so beaten up that Adrian could barely distinguish anything from it.  

But she wasn’t moving, like, at all. 

The other person was, indeed, Genissa, who had nightmare’s mask in her hands, covered full of blood too. 

Netherless to say, Adrian feared Frostbite in that moment; surely, she wouldn’t hurt a Everheart. But... would she hurt the Centinel? Would she try and kill him too? Two birds with one stone? 

He realized he wanted to be safe, so he shot one light beam to Genissa, knocked her unconscious, and then, run towards Nightmare. He searched for her pulse, just in case, and didn’t find any. 

It was a cruel villain, of course, one that had attempted something on HQ, but... she didn’t deserve to die like this, impaled by her father's spear. 

He hated to do this, but he searched for clues about her identity, because, it was the protocol, after all, to have all villains localized by name. And if, by pure chance it gave him some closure, it was good too. 

But eventually, he found the clue he wanted. And that tore his soul even more. It was Nova’s bracelet. For a few moments, he wanted to believe that, somehow, Nova was dragged into the fight, was defeated and Nightmare decided to wear this like some sort of .... trophy? 

But that theory didn’t stand on its own; for starters... wasn’t Nova going to check out on his uncle? Why would she be here then? 

Now that Adrian looked at it, Nightmare has a similar height to Nova, and both have the same hair.... Maybe.... 

Adrian had his stomach in knots, threatening him to throw everything up, and his mind was spinning out of control.... in his mind, Genissa had killed...... and then she had gone on and on with her corpse.... No wonder she had made a body horror out of her. 

Fear wanted to overtake him, to keep him distracted for a while, to take on Genissa and scream revenge until his lungs couldn't take it more. But his eyes couldn’t leave her, and his legs eventually collapsed, and he got down on his knees, defeated. 

He cried, for a long time, because he felt truly alone. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Nova woke up like a bolt. 

She felt... dizzy and a little bit disorientated, but mostly, she felt like she had slept all the due time she had pending. Which, once upon a time, she believed was impossible, but since that day in Adrian’s house... she didn’t know what to think. 

Blinking, she refocused on where she was. Back in her room, in the house she shared with the other Anarchists. 

But there were some... changes. The first thing she noticed was the IV bag that was connected to her. 

 - That means... I might have been on some freak accident, maybe involving Leroy’s experiments. 

But that didn’t sit right to her. The last thing she could recall was being in a party with all the Renegades, talking with Oscar and kissing Adrian. 

 - Maybe.... someone has spiked my drink? - she theorized. 

Again, her mind was telling her that it wasn’t the answer either; she clearly remembers leaving the party early and being with Leroy and Honey. 

- What could it be then – she struggled for an answer, to no avail. 

But she would get an unexpected visitor, and none other than the one and only Queen Bee. 

 - Nova – she said, clearly surprised – you are.... awake. 

She was looking at her like she was.... weird, and that prompted her to look back at the mirror. She saw nothing strange. 

 - Looks like it – she said, trying to probe the room – what happened, Honey? 

Honey looked doubtful for a second, like trying to make sense of what she just said. 

-  She probably didn’t expect me not to remember whatever happened – realized. 

Once Honey found the right words, she told her something she didn’t quite bought. 

 - There was an accident – she said – and we needed help. Don’t worry and rest a bit more. 

And then, she left the room, making Nova even more confused. 

She looked around the room and noticed something odd.... there was a tattoo gun sitting on her desk. And none of them were a fan of tattoos...  

She removed the IV from her arm and get up from the bed. For a few seconds, the fast pacing of the movements made her a little bit dizzy, but she was able to quickly regain her composure. 

After that, she moved to the door, with the intention to exit the room. But the door was opened right before she had a chance, and she found herself looking right someone unexpected here. 

Adrian Everheart was looking back at her, relieved to see her. Nova felt like at the verge of breakdown... for she didn’t understand a bit of what was happening. 

Her first reaction was to push him into the room and close the door, as fast as possible, to hide him from the other Anarchists, and protect her secret. 

 - How did you get here?  - she asked confused 

Adrian didn’t answer back; he stayed still, looking at her and... in the verge of tears? 

She was tired of all this, so she grabbed him and asked him, gently. 

- Andrian, what is happening? - she tried 

This seemed to make a different reaction of him, like the one from Honey. But he wasn’t as good as a liar as Honey, and she wasn’t going to let him either. 

 - And don’t go at me with ‘there was an accident’ - she started – details, I want details. 

At first, he looked doubtful, but after a few moments, he started to speak. 

 - There was a fight at HQ – he said – and it was.... pretty bad Nova. 

Nova started to remember something; she was supposed to break into HQ and steal Ace’s helmet. 

 - You had a fight against Genissa and she.... - he doubted to continue 

 - Wait – she said, knowing full well the answer – why did she fight me? 

Adrian looked at her and tried to sound as calm as possible. 

 - Nova.... I know. 

Nova’s world broke apart. Her secret was out there, and Adrian of all people, knew. But he seemed calm about it. 

 - How do you think I got here in the first place? - he said – I already know who your “family” is. 

This seemed to kick a few gears in Nova’s mind. 

 - Hold on... you know them? 

She thought that the fact that both Leroy and Adrian could share a drink would be hilarious to see, but now that it was a possibility, it scared her. 

Adrian, on the other hand, looked as calm as ever and grabbed the tattoo gun. 

 - Sure – he said – I don’t like their.... ideas, but they seem nice to you. They care, Nova. 

Nova was confused now, and Adrian continued speaking. 

 - As I was saying, Frostbite was fighting against Nightmare in HQ, and Genissa... Genissa lost it. She killed Nightmare. 

A cold shive ran down Nova’s spine, but Adrian went on. 

 - A bit later, The Centinel found both Genissa having a crazy breakdown and Nightmare’s body. He took Nightmare body and brought it here. 

Nova was silent for a while, but she had a few questions. 

 - Ok. So, you say that Nightmare’s dead.... - she tested the waters – like... That’s the official story? Did you saw it? 

Adrian looked apologetic, like he didn’t want to talk about it. Nova didn’t know why, but she felt sorry for pressuring him. 

 - Nova, I saw you dead – he said, not looking at her. I brought you here, completely broken and lost. And I found them. They helped both of us and I am grateful for it. 

Adrian dropped the tattoo gun and looked back at her, with tears in his eyes. And then, he went for a hug. Nova reciprocated the gesture, but in her mind, the implicit truth wasn’t lost. 

She “died”, and Adrian was the Centinel. She didn’t want to unpack the second one just yet, she had much to discover about the first. 

 - Sorry – she says – but I am a little bit lost. What do you mean by “dead”? 

Adrian cut the embrace and looked at her. 

 - I suppose is time you see it for yourself. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

The whole band was at the door of an unused door of the house. Both the Anarchists and Adrian. Even Phobia, who rarely showed up, was here. 

 - Are you sure? – Leroy asked her 

She noodled with her head; whatever she was about to see, she felt like she had to see it. But a part of her already felt like she knew who was behind the door. 

When the door opened, the room was completely closed; all the windows shut and the lights off. Tired of the mystery, Nova was the first to go for the light switch and turned it on. 

A few seconds later, she could see what seemed like a covered corpse laying in a couch. 

Not thinking much, she went forward and uncovered the corpse. The shock was so intense she thought the windows would break. They didn’t, but she kind of broke herself. 

She had to step a bit backwards, and Adrian caught her and embraced her. No words need to be said, but still, she had questions. 

After all, she was seeing her corpse, with Nightmare’s clothes and mask. It didn’t make sense. 

 - You were gone – Adrian started – but I got an idea and explained them to your... people. 

Nova looked back and forth between him and her corpse, not really believing her eyes. 

 - I designed a tattoo that would... in a sense... tether your “soul” back into a body – he said - But your body was broken beyond repair, so.... I kind of redraw you in your back and made a physical clone? 

She was speechless, truly, and looked to the Anarchist with her. 

 - It’s true – said Leroy – we saw it in action. 

Nova was, again, spinning. 

 - So... am I a clone? - she said, scared. 

They all looked and each other, and then, at Adrian, who looked at lost as all of them. 

 - I... - he doubted – I don’t think so. After all, that’s the propose of the tattoo I draw in your back; it was sort of a... transference? 

She had doubts, more of them, and she wasn’t much convinced about the supernatural aspect. 

 - So, to get this right – she explained – my physical body is cloned, but somehow, this is sort of a spirit possession, where I got put into another body? 

Everybody nodded their heads, in perfect synchronization. Nova would have found it funny if it weren’t for the dire circumstance. She, instead, felt herself numb, and Adrian had to help her get out of the room. 

She saw, before turning her back on her former body that Phobia was covering the body back up.

 - We will get through this – Adrian told her, while caressing her hand with his 

Nova thought abot everything they had to go through now; what to do with her former body for starters, what the world knew, where they were standing in relation to each other.... 

But, deep down, Nova knew that he was right; they would get through this, together. 

[neophytye]

Cinereous - Whumptober 2024

Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab 

Summary:  

Lila goes undercover, but things don’t go as smoothly as they planned. 

Words: 2600 words 

∅∅∅∅∅  It was supposed to be an easy mission, get in and get out style.... pretty straightforward; some suspicious activity was happening between some ships, doing shady exchanges of items that might or might not be banned literally everywhere. 

The thing is.... Lila is not the type of person that does those kinds of things. She let it happen unless it directly affects her, but Rhy had asked her.... both of them, actually, to keep an eye out there. 

And she couldn’t help but come across one of those ships doing some shady business. And well... she had to get involved, but time was running out; by the time she had everyone alerted on what she was about to do, they were departing. 

She wasn’t going to let those bastards scape; so as a coherent person she is, she did the most coherent and level-headed thing she could do. She was going to ask the captain for permission to get in the ship. 

Obviously, she wasn’t going to either tell who she was or why she wanted to go with them. She wasn’t going to do as she did when she first got into a ship in Red London; no weapons involved yet. 

No, she tried to be civilized for Rhy’s shake and tried to talk the captain into letting her travel along with a classical story... she was a runaway that needed to get as far as possible and was happy to tag along. 

 - Sure – the captain said – you can travel with as long as you do the usual chores. 

Lila, for starters, wouldn’t have, in a thousand lives, let someone with a story as incomplete as her's get into her ship, even if they promised the world. But that wasn’t the case with this captain thought. 

To be honest with herself, Lila was kind of expecting some sort of pushback, some snarky remark.... something that would push her to resort to some kind of violence. And when she didn’t get any excuse, she resorted back to her lie and walked right to the ship while the rest of the crew was getting ready to leave. 

If the crew looked as her in any way, she didn’t care. Because, as the ship was leaving, she couldn’t stop looking where her ship was docked. She was worried about her real crew, about how they would manage without her, 

If Kell would be able to lead everyone right. She knew that these past five years he has been acclimatized to this environment, but having to suddenly lead a crew must be a whole new thing. It was, to her, all those years back, but she quickly grew into the shoes. 

She hoped Kell could figure this one out without her. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

As weeks passed by, Lila learned more and more of the crew, their hopes, dreams, but more importantly, their goals and their fears. It was disappointing though, that even though she had hoped they would keep their secret more to themselves, that she would have to fight to get the truth, she didn’t have to. 

She didn’t learn about it in the conventional way though. It was by pure sheer luck that, the night before, while she was going to look at the stars in the night sky, she heard some voices coming from the captain’s room. 

She could hear some arguing here and there.... and as the not-so-calm conversation grew louder and louder, it became more evident to her what was happening.... 

Not everyone in the crew wanted to do those shady business, and one of these people had decided to confront the captain. 

 - Bad idea – Lila thought – to confront a Captain in his own ship, in the middle of nowhere. 

But yet, this Captain was nothing like her, and she had seen it through this travel of her. Maybe he would let this rookie live and breathe. 

As she was thinking that maybe the rookie would survive, Lila started to see some smoke come out of an open window. Curiosity got hold of her and she looked inside, as discretely as possible. What she saw, indeed, disgusted her. 

The rookie was being burnt alive, and it looked like the captain was regulating the fire through magic, so he would suffer as long as possible. 

Lila was certainly left speechless. Not because the rookie was being tortured only... But because he was doing so in silence. He wasn’t screaming, but he wasn’t moving a single muscle either. 

Lila was impressed with the self-control and show of bravery of the rookie, but then, she noticed something.... she saw a small struggle in his hands and then, when she looked into his face she saw the same thing in his mouth. 

That was when she realized she had underestimated the Captain. He might seem nice in the surface.... but if you got into his bad side he would turn into this monster. Into a mage that controls both fire and bone magic. 

And he would use it to impose his word, if his kindness fails. 

Wanting nothing more of the scene, and being unable to do anything, she decided to flee up to the ship’s bow. 

The thing is.... while she was going up the stairs, someone suddenly appeared in front of her and throw her balance out of the ship, by hitting her face with a wooden plank she didn’t know or care where it came from. 

The blow, however... she cared too much about it, and responded back to his attacker, but she found herself unable to move.... as if her bones were being forced to remain still. 

She used her own will to push back that resistance and managed to look behind her. It was the captain. 

 - What’s going on? - he inquired, a little bit mad. 

Lila would have love to say something, but she couldn’t. His opponent could, however, and he told his boss everything. 

 - She was spying on you, boss. She saw everything 

Nothing else mattered then. Lila looked up to the exit and saw that the night was cloudy. 

 - What a pity – she thought – I wanted to the see night sky so bad. 

The plank was used against her, again, and, this time, it was enough to knock her into oblivion. Her last thought was of her crew, wondering how they were doing without her. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Next time Lila waked up, she was in the Captain’s room. At her right, some ashes remained from the previous visit, and she wondered if her final destiny was going to be it. 

She wasn’t going to transmit that message to these bastards though, and when she looked back at her company, she gave both the captain and the traitor a confident look that would rival theirs. 

She looked at them like she had some sort of master plan to get out of there. Which she hadn’t. What she was expecting, thought, was for the classical interrogation that was so common in situations like these. 

But it looked like the captain already had his dose of interrogation scenes, and he wanted to skip to his favorite part. And so, he went straight to the shelve where he had a box of oil and put it in the desktop at Lila’s left. 

She wanted to get out of there, but she was completely paralyzed, both physically and by magic. She didn’t know how the captain was keeping his magic hold on her, but it was like he was the greatest bone magic she has ever encountered. 

Not like she had met a lot of them recently. 

 - Any last words? - he said 

And Lila really wanted to scape, tried so hard to make a fast way out of there, but she couldn’t get anything. So, at least, she found some solace in going out with a bang. And, like a thunder, she came up with something. 

The perfect phrase to end it all. 

And, as she was going to say it, the ship crashed into something. Lila didn’t know what it was, but she was glad it gave her some room to breathe. 

Immediately, someone else knocked into the door, and the Captain let her in. 

This third person wasn’t impressed when she saw Lila completely tied up and ready to be burned alive. Lila wondered how many times it might have been done already to be completely normal to part of the crew. 

 - We are sinking captain – she said – and the weather isn’t with us, so the chances of scaping on smaller boats are low. We are doomed, sir. 

Bad weather?  The last time Lila checked, it was cloudy, but it wasn’t even raining. So odd, but she wasn’t in a position to argue back. 

The captain didn’t look so happy; he was indeed furious that this was it for him too.... and he decided to have a bit of fun first. Lila was, for a while, the receiving end of punches everywhere, reminding her of those dark days in grey London that she thought were over. 

She hoped so, but it looks like, in the end, destiny catches up to you. 

And while Lila’s face was getting more and more unrecognizable, she was starting to fad in and out of consciousness, and the only thing she could gather from her surroundings was that everyone was losing her minds up in the ship’s bow, while the captain was here, running one last errand. 

Decided to finish already, the captain stopped his physical torture and throw the oil to Lila, covering her entirely. 

With a crazy smile, he looked at her, waiting to her eyes to contact his. And when they did, he ignited a small flame on his hand and threw it at her. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

For the second time in a row, Lila Bard found herself waking up in a different place... but this time she was on the shore of a beach, surrounded by nothing more than broken wooden planks and... well, bodies. 

Tons of bodies, floating far on the sea and resting alongside her on the shore. She recognized them immediately; they were members of the crew of that ship. 

And, if her memories didn’t make a fool out of her, that ship was broken by half thanks to its main mast collapsing. She can’t honestly say sorry; after all that mast broke through the room she was in and saved her life, while also throwing her body up high and putting her back into the land of the unconscious. 

So now, she might not be dead, but she may be as well screwed, with no way home, and having to wait for another ship to find this remote island.

 - Yep, looks like I'm officially a shipwrecked. - she said, taking everything into consideration. 

She looked through her pocking, making count of how many knives she has lost during this whole debacle, and finding comfort in the fact that her favorites hadn’t gone missing. 

Then, once she realized she had nothing more of value in her, she moved onto the bodies stacking up on the shore. She hated to do this to the dead, sure, but she had to find a way out of this. 

The only thing she found, after looking through every single one of them, was a ruined map, a broken compass with a washed-up photo, that, somehow was partially visible. 

She looked far into the island, realizing that there wasn’t more she could do. 

 - Well, I suppose we had a long run – she said, sitting on the shore while looking at the photo in the compass. 

For a few moments, it looked like Lila had given up. She could maybe try to survive there, recollect some food and build somewhere to live while she waited for help. For sure, that would be what anyone else would do. 

Not her though. 

After a few seconds of self-reflection, she stands up and walked right into a stone wall. Of course, she was going to use her antari powers to get out of this mess; the real dilemma was whatever or not to use the ring Kell gave her long ago. 

For a while, she thought it was her only way out, but she really was stubborn and didn’t want to give Kell the satisfaction of proving him right. So, she had been searching for something other to use, to send her somewhere with people; the compass. 

That tiny item looked like it belonged to another person, a parting gift of some sorts. It was worth the shot. 

So, Lila cut her hand and did the usual charade. 

 - As Tascen – she said- hoping the woman in the photo would be her destination. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell was mourning a loss. It wasn’t official, not yet, but.... she had gone missing for months and the only news he ever got was that the ship she was, the one filled with criminals, was destroyed, killing everyone, probably. 

Kell didn’t want to think about it; she was an Antari, like him, so she might have survived, right? She might be searching her way home or something. 

Sure, he didn’t want to face the alternative; that he might need to live on a world without her, that no magic in the world, broken or not, would take her to him. 

He had considered it, thought, using magic to try and find her. But that would be a final confirmation on whatever she was dead or not, and honestly, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know. 

In one hand, he would love hearing Lila berate him about using his magic in his current predicament, just to make sure she was safe. 

 - Of course I am – would say Lila – how could I not be? 

But.... if the magic failed, if it were unable to take him anywhere... that would be the greatest pain he would have to pay to use that spell. And the pain, he suspected, would never truly fade away. 

And, like that, he decided to play the trusting game for a while, hoping that she had managed to survive and was coming home. But it has been too long already, and there were talks about doing some kind of ceremony in her honor. They had even asked him how it used to be back in Grey London. 

He refused to even explain it. Not even when his brother looked back at him with those eyes; the eyes that told him that not even he believes it anymore. 

He fought for weeks, but today, his brother wasn’t having it. 

 - We are doing it Kell – Rhy said – it would be.... rude not to. 

 - She is not gone – Kell said, angry – she is still there. 

 - You know it’s not true... she would love for you to move on Kell, don’t make things harder on yourself. 

Kell felt some sort of pain in his chest, like when he used magic. He hated to think about it.... but maybe they were all right. Maybe she was truly gone. 

Maybe he had to face it for real. 

 - I am not giving up on her; let me try one thing before. 

Rhy looked at him, knowing exactly what he was about to do. Kell, on the other hand, took Lila’s handkerchief out of his pocket. It was from when they had met all these years ago, but it still worked. He didn’t know or care why. 

He leaned in the closest wall and made a cut in his hand, while thinking about Lila and everything they had lived. 

 - Please, please.... - he said, voice breaking – please be alive. 

Kell couldn’t complete the spell then. He broke down in tears. 

He didn’t need to, either. 

 - Be alive.... who? - Lila said, entering the hall as if she had been only gone for hours. 

[neophytye]

Redwood

Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab   

Summary:  

Our favorite group of people try to mess up with the dead, and things go south. 

Or Lila brings a Ouija on the last day of October and chaos ensures. 

Words: 3k approx. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell Maresh didn’t came to London too often these days. It has been 6 years since they defeated Osaron, since Maxim and Emira died, since he left to explore the world alongside the wonderful Lila Bard. 

Since his magic broke apart and never came back. 

Since those days, he usually only came back here in rare and important occasions, but never overdoing his stay, for this place didn’t feel like the home it used to be. Even his red colors felt.... odd now, like he was impersonating a long-gone person, like his magic. 

 - At least my room is the same – he thought, lookig around the room where he once felt like he belonged. 

So many memories were here, most of them good, for sure, but the events surronding Osaron made some of them look bad now, and it hurt. So, that's why, a few years back, he made the choice to go away. 

He needed to see the world, sure, he wanted to be with Lila too. But as much as all of that, he also needed to start afresh; the emotional load here was too much to bear back then. 

And he was scared that, if he stayed too much now, the load would be too unboreable again. But he would try, for all the people that counted on him. 

 - It’s just three days – he repeated, looking at the calendar that was sitting on his room. 

He was going to spend the last days of October here in London, while their ship refilled with all the necessary things. It wasn’t a completely unwanted stop, but Lila had reassured him that if he wanted, they could go and search for another spot. 

He didn’t want to make foolish decisions based on past ghosts, so they ended up here. Kell only hoped that this visit was as uneventful as possible. 

Lila, on the other hand, had other plans. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Lila, indeed, had another batshit idea. 

Later that day, she had sent some letters to people close to her, to have a small gathering the last day of the month in Rhy’s room. It wasn’t an unusual place, per se, but, normally, Lila used to make use of Kell’s old room. 

Not that he cared a small change. The thing that made him flinch more was the lack of the details; normally, considering how she was, that would mean very bad news, but when he had confronted her in person, she had reassured him that all she wanted was try something from her place. 

So, Kell decided to trust her. It wasn’t commonplace that she wanted anything to do with Gray London, let alone talk about it with more than one person at a time. He wasn’t foolish enough to let this occasion past; he was as interested as ever. 

Before leaving his room, he had yet again to make a choice. As he looked in the mirror, he saw himself in those familiar red colors again, and he doubted if he should go with or without them. He was about to change to a greyer tone when a guard called to his door. 

He was running late. 

He decided that red would have to do for now, as he run to his brother’s room. It wasn’t long before he got there, and for once, he was impressed not to be the first to arrive; normally, as an antari, he was expected to be the earliest in everything, but in these times, that rule wasn’t enforced anymore. 

And it looks like he was getting lazier, because he was the last one to arrive. While he was opening the door, he pushed the door so fast that he made some things that were near it fall. 

Lila looked back at him, and made some sort of joke he didn’t quite hear; probably something along the lines of “clumsy prince”. He smiled back; didn’t want to bring down the happy mood they looked like they had. 

Scanning the room, he saw they were actually a small gathering, consisting of his brother, Alucard, Lila and now, himself. 

 - If Lila is going to talk about her past, this makes sense 

And she came walking right to him, making his heartbeat in anticipation and completely clearing his mind of past worries; she was quite literally one of the few people in this world that kept him sane.  

But he failed to notice that her attention wasn’t focused on him. Instead, once she reached the door, she looked down and picked up the things that had fallen over. 

Curious, Kell tried to glance over to see what this was all about, but she quickly returned to where he first found her standing. Alucard and Rhy looked at him, equally perplexed; they didn’t have a clue what was happening. 

A few seconds passed and Kell still stood there, not really knowing what to do. Lila noticed that everyone was waiting on here, and she gestured Kell to come over them, while she started explaining. 

 - So, there is this new thing going on around London – she said, as casually as ever – and it is basically a game that is played on the last day of October. 

She showed everyone a wooden board with letters and numbers on it. This board also had the High Imperial’s “Yes”, “No” and “Goodbye” engraved on them. 

Kell honestly didn’t know what she was talking about; he had, through his whole life been interested in the other Londons’ cultures, yet, he had never heard or seen a board like that. 

His curiosity was in all-time high, and he felt like his old self would have enjoyed this, so he let himself relax, hearing as Lila explained an important part of her culture. Kell could easily noticed that she was very... thrilled to talk about this, something rather unusual. 

 - So, the folks call this “Ouija” - she explained – and it is going to help us talk to people long gone. 

 - Long gone.... - Alucard said, carefully – as dead? 

That was, Kell realized to late, a very bad topic to bring up. In Grey London, he knew that people believe in ghosts and the permanence of the self after death. That wasn’t so widespread here, considering that here magic ruled everything supernatural. 

 - Yes – said Lila – We are going to try and contact dead people today. 

Rhy and him exchanged a look they both quickly understood; they didn’t quite buy that this was going to work, but none of them wanted to be the one to tell Bard so. Alucard wasn’t so scared of her, though. 

 - You have to be joking – said Alucard, laughing – I don’t think that's going to cut it Bard. 

Lila, on the other hand, remained unfazed. She simply reached for her coat and took out a comically large plectra and looked back at Alucard. Alucard’s face went as blank as a new blanket. 

 - You know Bard.... even for your standards, that quite an unconventional weapon. 

Lila looked at him, slightly confused.... and looked between him and the “weapon” a few times, until she realized what he was implying. 

 - It's not for you – she said, laughing, but for the board. 

Kell noticed that Lila seemed too relaxed for her usual self. He felt... happy that she could find moments like these, when she could feel a little safer. He decided not to comment on that, no not break the illusion. 

Lila, for her part, left the pointer down on the board, and explained how it worked. Kell found interesting how Grey people though that their ghosts would lose their time in contacting their dead people through these.... unconventional methods, rather than, something more direct and confrontational. 

But still, he left his skepticism apart and decided to go along. His brother and Alucard seemed on board too; they, as well as him, were very curious about it, and even if this didn’t work, at least it would make for a fun evening. 

When everything was ready, they turned off all the lights except a few candles they had around the board. Those candles resembled Grey Londons ones, and they are even lighted them up manually, without resorting to magic. 

Maybe that was too much, but Lila had wanted to capture as much of the essence as possible, so they tried to dial back the elements of magic in the play. 

To begin with, they asked a simple question.  

 - Is someone here? - Lila asked 

Everyone had their hands on the board, waiting for an answer, but as the pointer looked like it was going to move, a loud noise came from the door. Needless to say, Kell got scared and jumped a tiny bit. 

They were all looking at the door, like it was some sort of foreign creature, and the same noise came back from it; someone was asking to enter. It was Ren. 

Considering the nature of the game, there shouldn’t be any problem on her presence, but neither Rhy neither Alucard wanted to get her involved, so instead, they accompanied her back with her caretaker. 

In those moments of chaos, Kell realized, they haven’t even had a look at the board. Curious, while Alucard and Rhy were leaving at the door, he stole a glace and it, and he got a lot more frightened. 

The pointer was standing on the “S”; not quite the position where it once was. IF the element was moved through magic, he would have totally noticed, so it wasn’t a simple party trick. He didn’t know what to believe in. 

 - You know – Lila said – we don’t have to wait on them. 

Lila had seen his hesitation and offering him more proof, this time, uninterrupted. And he took it. 

 - You can ask a question this time – she prompted him 

Kell didn’t have a clue what to ask, so he went for the most unreasonable thing he could muster 

 - Can you make me believe in you? - he asked, not really knowing what to expect 

The board didn’t move initially, but after a few moments, the candles began co crackle, and the lights came and went, even without moving air. 

After a few moments of being in the dark, he was relieved to see that they came back; he didn’t want to resort to magic to get them back. But his relief was short-lived; Lila was gone, without a trace. 

And he was all alone, in the room. 

In the board, the phrase “Yes” was marked, this time, with blood. That was all Kell needed to lose it. 

He left the room, and started running, shouting everyone’s name. He, for once, expected that, if this was somehow Lila’s prank, that she wouldn’t make herself appear too soon. 

Maybe his brother would pity him though. 

But his idea of a prank was quickly vanishing when Kell didn’t found anyone in the entire castle. Not Rhy, not Alucard. Even Ren was and Nadiya was missing. There were no guards either; he was truly alone. 

The theory of Lila’s prank was already on thin ice. Yes, she might have the power to do all of that, but... 

He stopped walking when he saw a body on the first floor of the castle. If he could call that body, of course; everything was so messed up... all the parts that made a person were thrown away, separated and nearly unrecognizable. 

He wouldn’t know who this was if it weren't for two key things. The coat and the ring he thought she had thrown away. Indeed, Lila wasn’t behind this all; she was a victim of this. Lila’s broken body was recorded in perfect detain in his pupils, and he may never forget about it. 

Kell felt his whole world spinning and, for a moment, he reached out for his own heart, feeling like he could breathe. But, instead of consolation, he got even worse; he couldn’t feel Rhy’s pulse. 

He couldn’t even break apart from Lila’s body yet, he was still processing one loss.... but the thought of also losing his brother was making him move fast. He was considering even using his own magic, even if it came with a cost. 

So, he used Rhy’s ring to open a door straight to him. He knew the ring was only for emergencies and his brother would get mad at him, but he felt like this was one hell of an emergency. 

A few moments after using his powers, he found himself in Ren’s room. Rhy was standing in a chair, looking directly into the bed, and his back was directly facing Kell. 

He didn’t like the situation, but he went forward. In the darkness of the room, he eventually got a glimpse of his brother. He had a smile made of blood, the same as his eyes. The crown was standing in his lap, completely broken and tinted out of the red that used to leak from his stomach. 

Kell had to run out of there, to find someone, anyone that could help him understand this situation. But once he stepped out of the room, he found Alucard. Or at least, he thinks it was him; difficult to say when his body is hanging on the roof, and you only noticed it because of the drops of blood. 

After all that slaughtering, he had seen, Kell felt broken. He didn’t even know how they got in this situation, to begin with. They had faced so much powerful threads together he couldn’t even begin to comprehend who would be able to do this. 

Kell moved like a zombie, directionless. A while after, he found himself in one of the bathrooms of the palace, and he went directly to the closest basin, to throw up. He was truly in shock, and he was deciding to go somewhere far, to clear his mind. 

Maybe even another London. But as soon as he was spinning a coin in his hand, entertaining more the idea, the mirror in the bathroom fogged up, and words began to appear. 

Do you believe now?  

Kell doesn’t remember much after that; he felt a gentle touch in his hand, something that should b, of course, impossible, considering he was alone. The touch went along a fog in his own vision, and in the next blink, he was right back on his brother’s room. 

And everyone was here. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Lila was worried about Kell. 

One moment he seemed intrigued by it and the next, he looked terrified. She doesn’t know what got him, but she made sure he knew she was here. Whatever he was going through, he had to know he always had her back, right? 

Even with Kell’s fear, the night went all right; the original plan was to make a prank on Kell, but considering how he was, they decided to have a lightweight evening and just having fun. 

Sometimes the board moved along with some answers; at first, she has to say she was the one moving it, but all the other times it moved by itself, or so it looked like. She wasn’t terrified, per se, but the thought of talking to ghost made her uncomfortable. 

So, after a few rounds of questions (Kell didn’t make any), they decided to stop and move onto the next thing. Kell seemed better once the board left his vision, and she felt a little bad for trying to make a prank on something like that to him. 

But, again, she decided not to press on; he would tell her what was bothering him when he felt ready. 

What she wasn’t expecting was that, that very same night, he had problems sleeping, and that bothered her too. So, she pushed on and got an answer. He told her everything he had live through and it sounded very scary. 

She wasn’t an expert on people’s mind, and she wasn’t very rational either, but she didn’t want to think on the possibility that a ghost would make that happen to someone. She wanted to believe that it was just a small hallucination he had when he spaced out. That it was some unresolved fears from Osaron. 

In reality, the next day, she picked up the board and throw it away, hoping to never have to think about these things. Or at least, not in a while. 

And, in the last day of their visit, everything seemed normal, and they all said their goodbyes and all, but she could feel Kell stiffen when he was leaving. Lila didn’t have to say anything; she only offered him her hand to show him she was there. 

For Kell.... it would take some months on the high seas to make him behave normally again, and once he did, he would, sometimes, talk about the matter as some crazy dream he had. 

Lila hadn’t lived that experience, so for her, it was only some cautionary tale of sorts... and after a few weeks, she got over the fear of it. It was only a curious story in a world filled with magic she didn’t believe in first. 

Still, she, from time to time, would doubt it, so she would talk to mages from everywhere about the experience, even to the Aven Essen, but she didn’t know either. 

Nobody was able to give her an explanation for that. And because of that, one day, a year after that, she decided to give it a go and try for herself. That way, she would be able to uncover the truth behind it all. 

[neophytye]

Bistre

Fandom: Renegades - Marissa Meyer 

Words: 1900 aprox 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

These days, it was gray all Nova saw. Not only in the mud of the prison, but in the soot that was everywhere she looked. It was like the universe was reminding her that dark days were all she had to look forward to from now on. 

Thinking about the last few weeks.... it was hard. She had known, deep down, that it was foolish to have hopes so high, to even begin to think that she could get Ace out of this dammed prison. 

Now, been one of its residents, she understood how impossible of a task it was. Maybe she, herself, had set up for failure. 

 - Stop thinking about that – Nova scolded herself – there is no point in crying about it 

Now, indeed, was the time to think about what she could do. It has been just a few days, but she hasn’t seen Ace anywhere... maybe he was locked down elsewhere, or maybe.... 

 - Nop – she reiterated- not going that route either.... 

She didn’t know what to think about these days.... and nights. Every memory of hers brought pain and desolation, but she couldn’t escape the ever-present memory of her family being murdered. 

She had spent countless nights crying, but now, isolated like this, it was even worse. The residents didn’t even want to talk to her and felt like a total outcast, like she was truly alone in the world, left to pick up what remained of her former life.  

Sometimes she wondered if she was a total failure. 

Around the room, a small light entered, and she could see her own hands, and her broken fingerprints, from the time when she was first going to enter the Renegades. So close and yet so far in time.... is like she has live a lifetime since then. 

What would her team be doing right now? - she wondered – would Adrian even care? Would he be disappointed? Heartbroken? Does he even care? 

Tons of questions plagued her immediately, and she couldn’t help but wonder... 

Could she had been compelling enough to make Adrian believe she was being wrongful arrested? 

She was transported back to that precise moment, and his sad face was haunting her like a curse. He totally didn’t want to believe she was his enemy. 

They were dammed from the very begging, and she shouldn’t have hoped for anything. Yet, these days, she wishes she could wake up again in that paradise he created, while his family was having breakfast upstairs. 

She longs for these simpler days, when her lie wasn’t destroyed, when her uncle was somewhat safe and when she could pretend she was a normal Renegade, with a promising future. 

 - What a foolish hope – a voice said. 

Nova was... confused. Nobody was here, but yet... She swore she heard someone talk. 

 - Look at you... when did you fall so hard that your dreams got reduced to that. 

She realized that the voice was coming from the mirror. But when she looked, there was nothing else than her own image. She hoped it was Narcissa coming to the rescue, but it was not the case. 

 - So, dependent from the rest; where is the brave Nova? - her reflection said. 

If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought she was hallucinating due to exhaustion, but she can’t get tired, not like that. Intigued, she decided to play along. 

 - So.... mirror on the wall, what do you want? - she said, trying to be sassy. 

 - Very funny – the reflection answered – but you know very well you should be saving that for later. After all, you will be staying here for a while. 

Nova was taken aback; for a hallucination, she wasn’t expecting such a response. 

 - What, cat ate you tongue?  or have you finally realized your current predicament? 

She still didn't know what to respond, so she let der double rant more. After a while, her expression softened, and she looked a little bit sad. 

 - I warned you, you know. This whole thing with Adrian wasn’t going to work out, but you still went through it. You should have kept your distance when he was getting away. 

This is getting crazy – Nova though – sitting down gaian, and tryint to shout the voice down. 

It didn't work. It keeps going and going about how she was a failure and reminding her of everything she could have done better. Her anxiety kept going harder and harder to keep at bay, and she felt horrible. 

It was no physical pain, for sure, but she still felt like a thousand cars had run over her. Or even worse. 

So, as she felt herself being pushed over the edge by some imaginary voices, she did the best she could. She started breaking things down. Literally. 

First, she went over the mirror, and she punched it hard, breaking its glass into pieces and making her own hands start to bleed a bit. But she didn’t stop there; the voices just kept making fun of her and she continued punching through the remaining structure of the frame. 

Due to it being wood, it wasn’t as durable as an iron one, so, with a lot of punches and a lot of dedication and fury from Nova, she eventually tore it down and it fell apart on the floor. 

Her fists were now a dark shade of red, not a good look for sure, but she didn’t even notice. Her own mind was dead set on one only objective, and it was not caring about herself. 

An outsider would have agreed that she had lost it, but there were no guards that care enough. It was just another villain. Another failure of society. 

On her own, Nova even managed to make a small hole on the wall. And then, when she realized, the voice had shut down. It was replaced with the screaming of some guards suddenly entering her cell; it looks like making a hole on your wall could be considering trying to escape, even a tiny bit. 

The last thing she remembers is looking down at her bloodstained hands and lousing consciousness and a heavy object impacted on her head. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

From safe distance, a shadow was looking down Cragmoor, satisfied with the results of its own meddling. 

 - I hope you don’t lose focus little Nightmare – Phobia said – for this is the price to pay for your own failure. 

Skeletons couldn’t smile, but one could argue that, in that moment, Phobia was the happiest he had been in a while. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

A few days after the Supernova, there were still just getting started with the changes in society. Nova was trying to help as much as possible, but she couldn’t be anywhere. 

But this was one of those rare occasions where she forced her now filled agenda to be wipe out clean for this visit. She was coming back to Cragmoor. 

The trip wasn’t easy, and her team offered to go with her, but she felt like going alone. She needed it. It was like closing chapter of her life; it felt right. 

So, the moment she entered the prison, memories flooded her; how at first, she felt like an outcast, how recomforting was to hear that Adrian still cared, that her... that Alec was alive, that her comrades dint hate her.... 

It might sound a little awful to say, considering how much she suffered the first days, but the strength she found after, the clarity in her ideas, it may as well pay off in the end. After all, she, alongside her team, they saved the world. 

Yeas, it was from her uncle, but still... it was a win. She gets the change to change the world for the better, finding a middle ground between what it was in the Era of Anarchy and these last ten years. 

While she was looking for the place, she was glad it was empty; everyone was being relocated elsewhere while awaiting a trial. Because now, they were looking to reintegrate the less dangerous people back into society, looking onto their cases again, one to one. 

It will take a while, but she hopes that at the end, the ones that deserve a second change gets it. 

In her little crossing, she ended up in the cells, and all those good ideas in her mind were exchanged by bad memories. And where she got to her past cell, it got even worse. 

She started to have an ache in her stomach, and she wanted to throw out. Her body was screaming to run away, because she was going to get locked up again. 

She ignored those unfounded fears. Better to get over them now. So, she asked for permission to enter the cell, and she had a brief look. 

Of course, everything was as she left; there was not much to change. Indeed, the only mutation in the room had been the new mirror they had brought soon after her... crisis. The very same mirror where Narcissa had talked to her. 

She took the mirror in her hands and put it on the ground. The mark in the wall was still there; the only proof she had that that night was indeed real. She hated to remember that moment; she had never experienced something like that before, but she had to admit that those days had been really tough.  

As she was touching the mark, she realized some guards were looking at her. She didn’t know if they knew about the history behind, if they were the same guards. She didn’t care either. 

Right now, it was a conversation between her and her memories. And she could picture herself, crying in a corner, not knowing how to stop the voice. She wishes she could talk to that Nova, to reassure her that the voice was totally wrong, but she couldn’t. That Nova was in the past, immutable as always. 

She would give her a hug if she could though. 

After a few moments more of reminiscence, she got out of the cell, never looking back, and closing that door, at least, for now. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

From time to time, Sketch’s team liked to keep up with all sorts of things, from sports to celebrities. They preferred to keep politics as out of their civilian lives as possible. 

 Not for Nova though; she, wherever she had free time, she liked to read about the stories of the villains who got reincorporated after Cragmoor, and how well they were doing. 

Most of them struggled at first, as everyone was suspicious, but once they got a chance to shine, they succeeded. For the ones who opened a business, Nova tried to go there, from time to time. 

Some of them remembered her time there, others were struggling so much they had completely forgotten that time. But she always found time to recollect those stories and make sure they weren’t forgotten. 

Maybe both the Renegades and the Anarchist were the main protagonist of this story, but she was looking forward to getting the full picture.  She is going to collect the story beneath, and learn from it, so they don’t end up making the same mistakes in the future. 

Because, as much as she hated to admit it, her original ideals were as wrong as the ones from the Renegades. They didn’t need to wipe out the heroes as much as Alec wanted. 

So maybe, she still had some flaws, and the only way to find them was to confront their ideas with the real world. With both heroes and former villains, so they can finally move forward. 

And with a pen and paper, she entered a beekeeping store, while she waited for the owner to come and talk to her.

[neophytye]

Sapphire - Whumptober 2024

Fandom: Renegades - Marissa Meyer   

Words: 2800 aprox 

Summary:  

Nova is fed up with all the fighting between heroes and villains, but she has a conflict of interest fighting inside her. 

So, she does the next best thing; she finds something to do and get away with. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Nova stayed back. She couldn’t handle all that fighting between heroes and “villains” anymore, not after her proposal and its utter failure. 

So now, she is doing some rounds around the room where her (former?) team is tied up, making sure they don’t scape. Not like they could leave too far, but still, it was better than nothing. 

But things get so funny sometimes that she even wonders if the world, as an entity wants to make fun of her. Because, as it turns out, near her, she has a window where she can see both Adrian and her uncle. 

So anyways.... she may not have a front row seat, but she is still in the public.  

It didn’t take too long after her uncle opened a hole in the barrier that Captain Chromium appeared. Adrian’s dad. 

Shaking her head, trying to kick out thoughts about Adrian out, she refocused on the people talking behind her. They were...  begging? 

 - YOU ARE GOING TO LET THEM KILL HIM – Oscar shouted, tired of her not giving answers. 

She was... surprised to say the least; she had never seen him do such a thing. They were.... preoccupied for the Captain? 

No, deep down, she knew. The were going to actually try to kill Adrian. And she was here, doing actually nothing. 

Well... you are actually doing something – she told herself – you are running away, again. 

 - They won’t - she told them – It's a promise.  

And it was true. Alec said that they weren’t going to take innocent lives, no more. 

 - And why should I trust them? Why should I trust you of all people? 

That statement alone hurt her. Her rational part told her that it was something expected; after all this was the second time they learned she was Nightmare. It was a big betrayal, and twice, nonetheless. 

 - Do you think he would have done the same, were your roles reversed? 

That, she had an answer for. 

 - He did – she answered, still hurt by the memories – He actually left me to rot in the prison, back when I was outed. Did you all forget about me then? 

Oscar was taken aback, not expecting that. But his confusion disappeared after a while, and he looked directly at her. 

 - You don’t know – he said, pitiful – He felt horrible, and he fought back and forth with his parents. Honestly, he looked like he was about to get you out of there all by himself. 

 - Why didn’t he thought? - she replied back 

 - What good would it make for Adrian to out himself as The Centinel? 

 - So... that’s why – she thought – he was in a catch 22. 

That didn’t relieve her much, but the fact that he tried at all... it was refreshing to her. She was glad. 

Loud noises came from where her uncle was, and she saw something that deeply disturbed her. His uncle had given the captain a bottle, a very suspicious bottle. She had a very bad feeling about it. 

Silence filled the room when they all saw how Adrian’s dad drank it all. Nova felt like the world was going to end. 

What would happen in a world where his uncle was left unchecked. She would have loved the idea a while ago, but now... she was a bit scared, to be honest. 

A minute went by, and everyone was holding their breath, but when everybody realized that nothing was going to happen, Nove let out a long sigh. But still, her own comfort didn’t last long; Queen Bee wanted revenge, and she was going to attack Adrian. 

Before she could be preoccupied, Captain Chromium threw his weapon directly at Honey, missing her by only a few inches... enough to distract her for a while and for Adrian to counterattack. 

She doesn’t know when or how, but she started running towards them. Or so she wanted, but Phobia appeared. 

Nova didn’t know if he was even going to try to stop her, or if did he even know, or his appearance was bad luck. She didn’t care either, she had other priorities. 

And those priorities were screaming in pain right now. A sound so bad her stomach hurt too. She didn’t want to even begin to think what Honey had in mind, and she wasn’t going to waste time to figure it out. 

But she had to face Phobia. Al least, that’s what she thought, but when she looked back at her enemy, he was fading in and out of existence. It took her a while, but that was the confirmation she needed. 

Adrian’s creations depend on him.... so, if Phobia was truly his creation and his life were in serious danger... something like this would happen. 

She put that last idea at the back of her mind and run through the, now fading, image of Phobia and continued her run. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Adrian was trying his best. Truly. 

But not even him could keep up long enough with a seasoned super-villain, who, for his disadvantage, was part of the group that brought chaos to the world before he was even born. He had won against Ace once thanks to his weakened state, but nothing more. 

So yeah, he had a low chance to get out of this. He could, however, make time and look for a way out. 

And with this mindset, he began drawing whatever could help him; right now, he was using a bee repellent for all the ones Harper was launching at him, but it was not enough.  

Some of them got him, and they were a bit.... bad for his health; he began getting a bit of fever, and he was starting to lose consciousness. The Vitality Charm helped, sure, but it looked like it couldn't keep up with the number of bees. 

It was an unhinged number; if asked before, he wouldn’t have though that many bees could even be in the same place at all. 

But finally, the illness got him, and the vitality charm was only delaying the inevitable; he fell to the floor and looked up to Honey Harper, looking triumphant and pulling out a gun. 

 - So, this is how it ends huh – he thought 

Maybe it was the fever, but he wasn’t scared at all. Maybe that would help send a message to the villain in front of him.  

His whole body felt like it was slowly breaking apart, like he had been thrown into the Sun. It should be a very unpleasant feeling, and, in the beginning, it was. He doesn't remember when he got used to it. 

She was speaking, but Adrian could hear a thing, not that it mattered to him. 

As Honey was loading the gun, he was finally entering the world of dreams. Ahd he could swear he heard some footsteps getting close. 

But it didn’t matter, because, this time, the Renegades wouldn’t come. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Nova was running as fast as she could, but her mind was elsewhere. She was remembering every time she has let down and failed someone. Flashbacks of her family came and went too. Past and present regrets were mixing in her thoughts, and she couldn’t even tell them apart. 

She was becoming a walking mess of regret. But she had an objective in mind; not adding Adrian into that list, and that determination made her keep going. 

She didn’t even notice she was getting up there with them, when, suddenly, she started to hear Honey talking about revenge and all. And she heard a gun being loaded too. 

That was the moment when all her senses went overdrive, and, as fast as she got with them, she went directly to Honey’s hand, putting her power at maximum while driving the gun away from Adrian. 

The gunshot went off, and no one was hurt. But Harper was still very much awake and perplexed at what had just transpired. Her face was full of disbelief and disappointment at the same time. She didn’t expect Nove to appear here. 

Nova, now a little bit more relaxed than ever, was going to try and talk Honey out of this mindset, but as soon as she was going to say the first word, Honey started to raise the gun again. 

So, Nova did what she thought was best for them; she punched her in her face while activating her power, making sure she was knocked down. And like that, she fell down, as sleepy as a baby. 

If it were any other situation, she would have hoped not to hurt her teammate.... but she couldn’t think clearly, and she didn’t even know if she was her teammate anymore. 

 - Problem for another moment, I guess – she told herself 

She snaped out of her thoughts when she heard Andrian breathe. He was sleeping too, but he was severely injured. By the looks of it, he had flighted Honey both physically and through her bees. 

And he was quite in a bad shape; his clothes were torn in various faces, and everywhere you looked there was a bruise or a scar on it. Some of them would leave a pretty nasty reminder. 

 - I wonder why the vitality tattoo didn’t work – she questioned 

When she touched him, she realized he also had a high fever, and his rapid breath told her he was having a painful experience. He wasn’t completely asleep then. 

From the place they both were, she could see the big battle against Ace. It was pretty bad, and she wanted to do something, anything, to put an end to this madness. 

She looked back at Andrian and wished she could help him any other way, but time was running out and she had to do something. So, she put him to a deep sleep. Not like Honey, with full of rage, but like last time, with care, slowly and in the most delicate way. 

And when she made sure he was properly resting now, footsteps could be heard behind her. When she looked back, it was Leroy. 

She had a lot to explain. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

When Adrian woke up, he didn’t know what to expect. However, having Cyanide as his personal guard wasn’t on his bingo card. 

By the looks of it, he didn’t realize he was awake, so maybe, he could get out of this mess easily... 

- I see you woke up already – he said – sooner than expected that's good. 

Adrian looked back at him, expecting some malice in his features, but instead, he saw happiness. Cyanide was happy to see him awake. What? 

 - Nova told me everything – he said – how are you feeling? 

Honestly, Adrian had even forgotten that he was sick... he didn’t know what this villain did, but he had to recognize it was quite effective. 

 - Cat ate you tongue huh – Cyanide responded back – don't worry, I see you fever went away, and your bruises look way better. 

 - How? - Adrian asked 

 - Well.... - he answered – It wasn’t easy, and I had to improvised with what I had, but...... 

 - No, not that... How are you able to help me? 

Cyanide just smiled at him and tend him his hand to help him get up. 

 - Come on – he said – they need us down there. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Oscar was a little bit confused. 

First, Nova was their enemy. Then she wasn’t. Now she was again. 

And a moment ago, she left to go save Adrian, came back and told them to wait here, while she went looking for trouble. 

They shouldn’t listen to her, or at least, that was what the rationale part of him said... but also, he knows what Adrian would have wanted them to do. 

And his gut says it would probably align with Nova, so that's what they are sticking worth. Even Danna was alright with this, considering their troublesome history. 

And when he saw Adrian came back with none other than Cyanide, he knew that the moral compass he used to know was truly broken beyond repair. Probably for the better though. 

 - Now that we are all here – Danna said, like having Cyanide on our side was totally normal – what do we do? 

He saw Adrian doubt.... No wonder, given the situation, but a few moments after that, they received a special guest. The one and only Phobia. 

They were about to try and do something to him, but Phobia quickly grabbed Adrian, and a big square of smoke surrounded them. If it weren't for the dire circumstances, Oscar would have felt nostalgic for his own powers. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Adrian was in the amusement park. And Nova was with him. 

Why was he worried about a moment ago? He couldn't quite remember. 

He was here, and Nova was with him, and everything was fine. They were on a date, back where everything started, when he had first told her to go on a date. Where she had agreed. 

Right? 

No. This... feels wrong. 

Novas was right here, with him, but... it felt wrong, very wrong. He was worried about something. 

He felt a knife being pushed thought him. Nova was stabbing him, with a sadist smile. 

 - This is an interesting fear – she said, with an unnatural voice – way better than your mother’s. 

Phobia. 

He remembered where he was moments ago. 

 - So, you are scared that she is using you.... that everything she does for you is an act. So typical, yet so... powerful. 

He was bleeding out a lot... but it wasn’t blood. They were.... memories? He was seeing all his fears like an old film, and Nova’s evil laugh wasn’t helping at all. 

 - You are a disappointment, you know... even to her, to your archenemy. 

He looked up to her and he knew what to do. He sat down in the floor looking defeated and listening to (fake) Nova’s rant. While doing so, he began to draw something. Maybe it didn’t work, but it was worth a try. 

If Nova was able to create a device with Agent N, so could he. And what a better device that a ring that temporally disables you power? 

Phobia, distracted in his rant, realized too late what Adrian was doing. By the time he knew, Adrian was already putting the ring in his finger and hoping that the Vitality tattoo doesn’t interfere. 

The dream world crumbled away. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Cyanide was amazed. 

One moment, the Everheart boy was trapped in Phobia’s lair and the next, he had defeated him, alone. 

Truly, he was fit for his role. No wonder Nova had great appreciation for the boy. His admiration even grew bigger when he explained what he had done; a device that mimics the effects of Agent N while wearing the ring. 

Truly impressive work. 

He asked him a million-dollar question, one that bothered him a lot. 

 - Why didn’t the vitality charm work against it? 

Adrian looked lost, like he didn’t know either, but he responded either way. 

 - I guess... I infused it with the intention to override it... so it works? 

Not a very convincing answer... but it would have to do, for now at least. They had bigger problems out there. 

As they were talking, a Supernova was taking place. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Everywhere you looked, a sense of victory could be seen. A collaborative effort between former villains and heroes helped take down once and for all the threat of Ace Anarchy. And along the victory, everyone got a fancy superpower, so now, everyone was a prodigy. 

Everyone got happy endings, and even the Council had agreed to make changes to the system, to accommodate everything new and fix all the problems that arise before. 

Honey Harper, however, wasn’t so happy. She was looking far away, form a safe distance, the celebration that was taking place in the street, with former villains and heroes. 

With her former teammate, the long-gone Nightmare, and her new boyfriend, the Everheart boy. How she despised them. She had exchanged their revenge, their possibility of a better future, the vision of her uncle, just for him. 

A childish crush. 

 - Not for long little Nightmare – she said, low enough not to be heard – sooner or later, your own nightmares will come back to haunt your back. 

And, like that, Honey left the streets, entering an old building where they couldn’t be seen. 

 - Are you ready? - she asked, to seemingly no one. 

At first, no replay was given, but seconds after, a shadow appeared from one of the corners of the room. 

 - As always.... I’m ready to make Ace’s vision true and make the traitors pay – Phobia answered. 

[neophytye]

Carmine - Whumptober 2024

Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab

Words: 3800 aprox 

Spoilers for Threads of Power #1 (Shades of Magic #4). Canon divergance from Part 11, Chapter 5.

Cross-posted to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59354233

Summary:  

Lila isn’t so lucky this time around, and she can’t resort to magic to get herself out of this mess. 

Kell doesn’t reach her on time without the ring’s help. 

Everything changes and consequences are paid. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Lila was truly in a bad position. Her hands were tied up and her power.... her power was being used by her opponent. Her opponent, who was no one else that Alucard’s despicable brother, Berras Emery. 

But as much as she hated him and the idea of the ring, right now both had given her a golden chance to fix her current predicament. 

 -  As vera tan – she had said. But nothing had happened.  

True, it was the first time she ever used the ring, but she was expectant to receive some sort of feedback, a signal that it worked. 

It clearly didn’t. 

The ring doesn’t see me.... doesn’t see my magic – she realized, a little too late. She was truly alone, for now. 

It wouldn’t take long before her thoughts were interrupted by another sharp pain, this time coming from her own head. This forced herself to look up to the other person in the room. 

Berras Emery broke the ring’s cord and took it with him. Sadness invaded Lila; she might have despised the idea of the ring.... but it was a gift form Kell after all... 

-  WHAT HAVE YOU SAID? - Berras grunted back at her, taking her out of trance 

She didn’t realize until then than she was so.... powerless in those moments, like a bird trapped in a cage, like... her first encounter with Holland, back in her old London. 

 Because in dire situations, like back then, like now, she always had a choice.  True, fear was starting to take over her however she was going to keep up her bravado. 

-  I said.... there is no magic in the world that would make you look less of a moron. 

Another pain travelled through her head, even stronger than the last, making her a bit dizzy. Yet, she had to gain time, to survive. 

-  Look at you.... all the power of an Antari....  yet using tactics like these – she started, feeling blood at her lips – maybe you weren’t born for greatness after all. So, unlike your own brother. 

Suddenly, air scaped her lungs. 

-  Is this trick worthy of your presence, mas arna? 

She was going to give a clever response, but his attack he didn’t stop there; he started to break apart every bone she had, slowly. Holland had tried that before, nearly a lifetime away, but it didn’t make it easier to handle. 

If she didn’t feel like dying before, she certainly did know.  

She was coughing up tons of blood and now she couldn’t even get air inside her own lungs. Truly she was at the edge of.... 

No, I have to think of something – she repeated to herself – this can’t be it how... 

And Lila Bard felt unconscious, and her luck had run out. Because, unlike last time, Kell didn't come. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Bex wasn’t having the time of her life. Her duty right now was pretty easy... and Colin was.... as much as she hated to say it out loud, doing it right. 

Or at least right enough that allowed her to wander a bit. So, she left the room where the Persalis was being fixed and went upstairs, to the room where Beras was. 

-  There is a lot of noise coming from there, so something good might be going on. 

But when she got into the room, she was heavily disappointed. The antari was on the floor, unconscious, and Beras was doing whatever with his newly found magic. 

As she completely entered the room, she made a small noise on the ground, which prompted Berras to fully turn to her. And his face was... terrific, even to her. 

He looked like a complete maniac, as if he had achieved greatness. Maybe that was what antari magic made someone be, she didn’t know. 

What she knew is that, given the wrong step, she may be in serious danger, and he wasn’t going to ger his way again. Not if she could stop him. 

So, she did what she does best, punch first. Not with her fist though, or rather her blades, because those have already proven inefficient with this subject. 

No, she pulled the ring he had in his hand hard. Indeed, she applied so much force that she broke the finder and pulled it towards her. 

She only took a small glance towards the ring, because the real interesting thing is if her idea worked, if that gestured stunned her opponent enough to give her an advantage. 

And it clearly did. He no longer looked so radiant and powerful, and he even looked... dizzy. 

She wasn’t going to spend more seconds searching for a kore appropriate word; she dove towards him and knocked him down with a clean knock on his face. So effective that his head collided first with a nearby table and then with the floor. 

-  Surely, that should be enough – she though, not entirely convinced. 

She scanned the room, searching for something that might give her a brilliant idea, when saw the fire poker. 

-  Perfect 

The poker came to her like it was nothing, and once it reached her, it started to bend itself making the form of a “U”. 

-  This should be enough to keep you in check – she buried the poker so that Berras was trapped inside it. 

Bex noticed that he had another ring in the palm of his other hand. 

-  Better to keep this from him... I don’t want more dirty tricks. 

She was about to search for more suspicious items in Berras, but some noises kept coming from the room she was previously on. 

-  Looks like the fun is getting started – she said, with a smirk on her face – and they didn’t wait for me. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell felt like he was on a race against the clock. 

Lila had disappeared a while ago, and, although they had searched everywhere in that place, they hadn’t found a trace of her. 

He was starting to have a bad feeling about all of this. Truth is, he didn’t share a heart with her the same way he had with his brother, but it didn’t stop him from having a... sense of when things go wrong. 

And right now, he knew in his very own soul that she was in a big mess. 

He was so anxious about it that he had to stop for a moment outside to take a few breaths. He felt like dying. 

And when has the world around him started to spin so fast? 

-  You.... ok? - asked Alucard 

Normally, he would despise him, but now.... now it wasn’t the time for this. He was willing to leave this charade of theirs if it meant finding Lila safe. 

-  Yeah – he replied – just need to calm down a .... 

A person made some gestures to go to them. Even from a distance, Kell knew who he was. A “res in cal”, the royal crows. 

-  Ma vares – she said – there have been some reports that indicate some kind of disturbance in the House of Emery. 

Alucard was frozen in place. 

Kell, on the other hand, didn’t waste any more seconds. If Lila was somewhere tonight, it was going to be there. 

Because Lila was drawn to problems. 

So, Kell didn’t doubt for a second and drew some blood to draw a symbol he didn't thing he was ever going to see again. A symbol that would open a door directly into Alucard’s place. 

-  Don’t tell me you have one of those for me – Alucard noticed, not really knowing what to think. 

Kell on the other hand, didn’t reply. Whatever motives he had didn’t matter right now, for, the only thing in his mind was Lila. 

He didn't eve doubt about calling his magic. 

-  As Tascen – he called, not really caring if Alucard was following him. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Tes had finished “fixing” the Persalis. 

But she was far from ok. Actually, she felt like dying; the poison was making her truly miserable, and she doesn’t think she can hold herself anymore. She just wants to lay down and sleep a little. 

But first, she wanted to see if her work was worth it. And Calin was going to test it out. 

He was testing her out, to see if she was lying, but she answered all his questions diligently.  

No, it wasn’t a clock, not that it mattered what it looked like. These are the words needed to make it work. 

Here is the key. 

She was a bad liar, she knew, but still, she was poisoned, so... it made sense that she was clumsy, right? 

Not for Calin, though. As much as an airhead he seemed to be he saw through her lies, throwing the antidote through the door that leads nowhere. Destroying her precious way to a normal life. 

Rage consumed her, nothing like other times in her life, and she did something that later on she couldn’t believe. 

She pushed him towards the door. It didn’t matter that he was stronger and didn’t fell through, because the door sort of... consumed him? 

 - Maybe that had been a mistake – she realized, seeing as the door grew... stronger. 

She tried. She tried to close the door, but it refused to listen to her. That was a new for her, a creation revealing against its own maker. 

The only thing left for her was to look who the door gets bigger and more menacing for each passing moment, while she was powerless. 

She should be scared, or at least, that’s what her rational mind said. Instead, she searched for the comfort of Veras, while looking at the ever-menacing door from afar. 

She heard footsteps approaching her just as she was falling unconscious. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

The fun was not Bex was expecting. 

She wanted to believe the kid was going to offer some kind of resistance, maybe play some dirty trick on them. 

Maybe oppose some sort of resistance towards Calin. 

Instead, she found an unconscious Tes in a corner of the room. And in the other.... it was horrible. It was a void of nothingness floating in the room. A spot that was trying to absorb everything. 

Something took straight from the tales of old, the fake legends she wasn’t so fond of. 

She was completely paralyzed for a while, but something went floating straight through her face, making her snap out. 

She knew she wasn’t all powerful or smart, like the people that were unavailable on this house. Yet, she felt like she had to try something before that door became strong enough to absorb her. 

She was a fighter after all, she wasn’t going to let that thing overpower her without trying a thing. So, she went to the table Tes created that machine and started to search for something. 

Something that would let her stop that thing. 

She didn’t know how she was going to differentiate the useless things from the one she was supposed to find.... but she guessed she had to trust her gut in this. 

With so much tension in her shoulders she didn’t listen how one person entered the room. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kell was having one of those bad days. 

And for the look on Alucard’s face, he didn’t look so good either. Must have to do with the fact that he was forced to go back to this haunted house of memories. 

Not that he liked coming back here either, but they had a job to do. They had both decided to split up to find Lila or whatever was here, and deal with it. 

Not a good plan, but it was better than nothing. 

So, he went looking for the rooms further from the entrance.... and for a while all he faced were empty rooms. He was getting anxious with time, the feeling in his guts were only increasing more and more with the passage of time. 

He felt like he was wasting time here. 

-  Maybe I should head back and see how Alucard is doing – he though 

But as his eyes fell through the next door, his heart shattered. 

Lila was there, but she might as well not. It was Ronesal over and over again, or even worse. 

Kell felt like dying in that very same moment, and he could swear he was actually dying, but he through all his pain away and focused on the only thing that truly mattered there. 

He went to help Lila. 

She was in the floor, over what looked like a broken chair. And she was surrounded by tons and tons of blood. 

For a moment, he feared she wasn’t breathing anymore.... but she still was. 

Nothing mattered more then, not even him, and so, he did the only rational thing in his mind. 

-  As Hasari – he said, as pain overcame him.  

He fought back the pain thinking about her, about everything they have lived through. About what could the future bring. 

And in that moment, he knew he would do anything for this to not be her last moments. This could not be their last paragraph, this shared story couldn’t end here, not like this. 

He couldn’t bear the thought of a world without Lial Bard. 

And like that, one moment she was on the brink of death.... and in another, she was stable. 

But still, she didn't look like waking up soon. 

He looked around the room, and he saw that Berras Emery was there, unconscious too, and immobilized. 

-  Things I would have to ask about later I guess 

And so, he carried her back to the entrance, not even caring about anything else, but as he was nearing the point when he left Alucard, he heard fighting. 

And he saw Bex fighting Alucard, right, but also, he saw Tes unconscious. If that were everything, Kell would have said that the mission was a complete success. 

But... There was something far more sinister in the room. The was a big hole that was trying to suck everything. 

-  That doesn’t look good – he remarked, while leaving Lila behind, safe. 

As Kell entered the room to support, he saw something near Bex. There were two rings, and he recognized Lila’s one. 

It was full of blood, and Bex had some too on her hands. 

As rage completely consumed him, he threw himself towards Bex, calling magic like he hadn’t done in a while, with only one objective. 

Setting the score right. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Bex was one moment in a... more or less equal match when suddenly, something attacked her. 

No, not something. Someone.  

The prince with black eye was attacking her like crazy. Like he wasn’t holding back, like before. And that deeply annoyed her because with him, now odds were against her. 

What she didn’t expect was that the prince was going to single handy overpower her. Maybe she had underestimated the antari duo, after all. 

Maybe... there were holding back this entire time. But for what? And... why wasn’t he anymore? 

Those questions, unfortunately, went unanswered for her. In an unfortunate turn of events, Kell pushed her towards the door. 

And the last though she ever had was about whatever Calin made it out alive of this mess. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Alucard was... impressed. 

He knew about the strength of the antari... but to see him this unhinged, this was truly something uncommon. No, it was uncommon back then, when he was younger, and magic came to him easily. 

It was rare now. 

Something might have happened then – he said as he looked back. 

It was then when he saw Bard. She was... in pretty bad shape. It certainly brought him unpleasant memories, so he got what Kell went through. 

A loud noise came right form behind him, and what he saw left him ever more speechless. 

That woman from before.... she was gone. Alucard tried not to think about the implications of that statement, as he saw Kell approach the kid. 

He went back to take a better look at Bard. 

What he saw wasn’t pretty, but in her hands, she had something way worse. The Queen’s modified antari rings. That controversial invention. 

He wasn’t a big fan of this, but he could quite understand why in the world would Lila ever have this with her. Why she would be the losing side of it, too. 

More loud noises came from the room behind him; the door making itself more and more powerful. 

It was truly something from a nightmare. And Kell stood there, always defiant. In that moment, Alucard was reminded of why the people had such respect of the antari. 

They might as well be the heroes of their world. That thought was quickly shattered when Kell spoke. 

-  I can’t do this – he said – I don’t think I have what it takes, painful or not. 

It was then that, Alucard understood the assignment. He entered the room trying to contain his fear about the floating void and started searching for something. And that something was found gently resting on a table nearby. 

The other part of those.... royal rings. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

As soon as Kell saw the rings he knew. 

This was the best shot they ever had; consequences be dammed. 

The truth was, once Kell was relived of all his anger he was in great pain, his side effect of using magic. 

-  Maybe – he thought to himself – if I rely on Lila’s magic it won’t hurt. 

Surely, it sounded plausible, but Kell didn’t want to think about what the implications of him being wrong. 

He didn’t know how much dangerous this void could grow up to, and honestly, he didn’t want to find out either. 

So, he put the ring without a bit of doubt. And he felt amazing; Lila’s magic was filling the blanks that his own had left, all those years ago. 

He felt like he was the powerful person he used to believe he was in his younger adventures. And that gave him the final push he needed. 

-  AS STARO – he shouted, ordering the magical void to close. 

He was an antari after all... the world, magic choosed him, so he had a right to be heard by it. And magic has always bent to his will. 

In those moments, he felt like his will was fighting against the door’s. But he wasn’t alone. Maybe Lila was unconscious, but her own will helped him, and both, together, closed it. He felt relieved that even in moments like this, he would always have her back. 

And in the seconds following the door’s closure, everything was right. Kell looked at Alucard and both felt relieved that this was over. 

But there is always a price to pay if you want magic to hear you. And Kell’s price was his very own self. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Red London used to be a place that no matter how many times she saw it took her breath away. 

But these days Lila Bard could only see Red London as dull as her London. She didn’t want to think too much about the implications of that. 

Because if she though too much... she would remember the pity in everyone’s eyes. The sad faces... The “sorrys” leaving their mouth. 

The way they said he would probably never wake up again. Like she was going to sit down and cry. 

She was never one to do that, even if she felt like it. But oftentimes, she leaves her mind to wonder, she often comes up with a world where the ring worked. A world where help came in time, and she was there to stop the void. 

In that fantasy, she likes to imagine she tried to close that door, not Kell. Maybe then, he would still be whole. 

(If only I could hold into that fantasy – Lila wondered) 

So instead, to keep herself from breaking down, she decided to be proactive, to find unconventional solutions, even if that meant breaking a law of two. 

(It didn’t matter that Tes tried and failed, more than once) 

She searched in every corner of all dark markets in London, she even got scammed a few times. But she wasn’t going to give up on him, not when everybody else had. 

When that option had vanished, Alucard had briefly told him about a kid he found while searching for Tes, and she was so desperate for another miracle that she was about to go and find him. 

She even got Alucard to draw something that would help her identify him. 

But that was idea was quickly dismissed when another, more dangerous one popped right into her head. And with that idea in mind, she forced herself to go to Kell’s room, in search of something. 

(Kell’s magic was clearly broken.... so maybe she needed to bend the rules of magic) 

Because for her plan, she was still missing one critical part. Not that she ever though she would need it, but right now, she was willing to play all the cards she had. 

Once in Kell’s room, she tried not to look into the bed, currently holding a body, risking herself to a bad memory lane. Instead, she went straight to a small box he has in the closest table. A fancy box, for sure, but even fancier the things it holds. 

The keys to other Londons, yes, but particularly, two Londons (or even one specifically). 

White and Black London. The one that always do the impossible, that aligns itself with the worst of magic to get what they want and the one that got too powerful that burned themselves out. 

Her rational part knows this is a bad idea; she should go looking for trouble there, even more with another Antari in the throne. 

If she had dedicated more time thinking about it, she would have found similarities between her and Holland. But she was too blindfolded to realize. Or maybe she didn't even care. 

For her, it was a fair shot. She hadn’t found in seven years a thing able to fix Kell. (except Tes, but she appeared too late). 

Maybe she had to get creative and start looking outside the frontiers of her own world.  

-  Who knows, maybe another miracle is waiting for me there 

As she took both White and Black tokens, a smile threatened to appear at Lila’s face. She was going to show them what the last antari of Red London was capable of. 

∅∅∅∅∅ 

Kosika and Holland had plans to reignite Black London, but realistically, they wouldn’t be able to carry it without some help. 

Luckily for them, Lila Bard was coming to them, no lies and deception needed. Perhaps this time they would be able to get along. 

After all, all of them have something to win from reigniting the flame of magic.