amethystpath-writes

[amethystpath-writes]

Hii this is my first request so I hope it finds you well, here is a cookie 🍪

Can you do something where the shy f/hero has to seduce the m/villain as maybe a part of a mission but is actually VERY scared of him and villain has empathy but also likes to be intimidating and to mess around with her to see how far hero really would go (sorry if that’s too detailed) pls the people want fluff!!

Love your writing!! ✨

With all my inactivity, I'm so happy to be your first request! You must have read enough to know I'm not so generous in handing out fluff. I'll make an exception for you since you were brave enough to request ;) Delivering my favorite setting of all time in this request...Thank you for your kindness, love <3 🍨

******

A Warm Distraction

---------

The ballroom roared with laughter and feet skipping across the floor. Some glided like professionals on ice while others toppled into heaps on the ground with spilled wine and stained dresses.

Hero wore a vibrant but deep red dress, so wine was no worry, even with her inexperienced dancing. Truthfully, dodging others proved more difficult than her poor, and perhaps embarrassing, moves.

The mission was to distract Villain while Leader and Other Hero gathered information from the villain's base during his absence. She wasn't the right person for the job. At least, she didn't think so. Hero was shy, hiding behind screens while her team performed on television, making statements she wrote.

The world had no idea who she was, and she was okay with this. What she wasn't okay with was suddenly being in charge of occupying Villain. Like the rest of the world, he likely had no idea who she was. How could she ever make an impression on him, or keep him distracted?

"I don't imagine you might be a friend of one of my guests?" So quickly, Hero spun on her heel. "I'm sure no one here would think it wise to sneak someone in without my knowing."

He didn't look so intimidating. Pretty, sure, but no killer. Then again, Hero didn't think anyone with an online presence could be a killer. Villain was intelligent. He pretended to be like any rich influencer or man with money. Pictures of the beach or a pretty girl he met at the bar. Poorly taken selfies with an unintelligible background.

Looking into Villain's database, she realized she was staring at one of the most dangerous men in the country, a man with so much influence that anyone could fall victim to his crime and persuasion. The money, the petty charm, the promises made...Hero wanted to say she could never fall victim, but others had thought the same. She clasped her hands together and pressed the nail of one finger into another- a reminder.

"I wasn't invited," she said simply. Leader told her to say this, to be transparent.

'Villain enjoys a show, a challenge.'

Watching his interactions with others, Hero knew this was true. He would smile, then play into her motives, tease her and let her doubt herself or her team, then convince her maybe she could do it after all. A game of back and forth. He drank confusion like honeyed water before bed.

"I'm the distraction."

Even knowing how he would react, she found herself swallowing as his lips split.

"Relax." He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed down. "Take a breath. Calm your nervous little heart, okay?"

But she couldn't. In fact, her breathing only quickened as his hands pushed further down, then began massaging her muscles. She couldn't relax, not when she knew who he was.

"I knew why you were here the moment I spotted you. If I wanted to do something terrible to you," He leaned in, lips against the tip of her ear. "I would have done so already." Villain repeated once more, "Relax."

The tactic didn't go unnoticed. Villain saying he knew why she was here was just a way of informing her that he was responding to Leader and Other Hero as she stood in front of him, that nothing they were doing would be successful. She knew what he was going to say next without him even saying it. Still, she listened, shoulders still tense despite the incessant rubbing.

"You must be well-informed if you felt so confident telling me your intentions. Maybe," he said, "you've thought of something I have not."

And there it was. The false hope, the installment of confidence, just so he could rip it away again.

"You know," Hero said, "I might be on the other side, but I would be lying if I said I didn't admire you."

He pulled away at this, smile broadening. She flattered him. "Is that right? And how is it that you admire me, my dear distraction?" He would entertain the idea, flatter himself for the time being.

She attempted a smile, but was afraid she felt short. Something awkward and still fearful twisted her lips in a way she just knew was obvious. This was what Leader wanted, a stumbling fool to entertain the self proclaimed King of Crime. "Your arrogance," she said. "You're confident, and successful. Most are one or the other; you manage to fit the character of both. What's better?"

"Breathe." Damn, he could still tell she was nervous. "I know you are not considering switching alliances. Still, I admire you."

Hero lifted her chin, feigning the same confidence she observed in Villain. "Tell me why." Demand, don't question.

"Your innocence," he returned. Villain was at once a step closer, closing any distance he once put between them. His hands clasped her own and she couldn't help but gasp as he spun her, then dipped her with ease.

It was as if the crowd awaited this moment as they erupted in hoots and hollers. Hero swore space cleared around them as he put her back on her feet.

"You are so frightened, yet you pursue your ambitions of- what's the motto? 'A better world.'" He swiped a hand across the space between them as if he were presenting something extravagant and grandiose. Villain was insulting the mission, but Hero would play into the continued arrogance, slide into the act further, if only to give Leader and Other Hero more time.

He spun her again, and this time she was more prepared, sending herself into another spin before Villain could pull her back in. She would steal the show from him, give him something else to chase; his pride against his sense of entertainment.

"It seems as though you have a secret or two of your own. You acted clumsy with your steps before; you tricked me."

In all honesty, Hero didn't expect her spin to end successfully. She was self-taught in most everything she did. As a child, she taught herself guitar by watching videos online, studying their fingers and how they plucked or glided along the strings. She studied paintings until she understood their every composition or mixed paints until she could make any color she wanted without thought of how much of one color or another to add. Hero's talent was adaptability. When Villain spun her once and she stumbled, she learned to mind the angle of her foot, the way she balanced herself as she pulled or pushed against him. She became the dancer.

"Leader trusts you to keep me distracted. I might be inclined to let him have what he wants."

"And what would convince you to do so?"

Villain's chin dipped and his eyes scanned Hero's face before resting on her own eyes. "Show me another one of your secrets," he said, "and your little team can have all the time they want."

The fear was creeping back, like a thorny vine reaching from her stomach to her throat. Her mouth felt dry as she said, "I don't have any other secrets."

"Oh, I highly doubt that, Hero." He knew her name? "Come on, put on a show for us." That dastardly smile returned as he held her at an arm's length. "Kiss me."

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and ears. "I don't- no secrets. I have none, and even if I did, a kiss is hardly a secret."

"It is a secret if it's forbidden."

"It's not a secret if there's an audience," she hissed beneath a breath as Villain pulled her in again. The spinning, the pushes, and pulls...it was all becoming debilitating.

"These are my friends. You could relish in your actions with them as a celebration. Wouldn't it feel liberating to kiss the enemy? Wouldn't it be a curiosity?"

She would be wrong to say it didn't sound...exhilarating in its own twisted way. Would it be so bad to distract him further? To think of what Leader and Other Hero could do with the extra time...Hero would kiss Villain again and again in front of this crowd if she had to.

His breath was hot on her ear, an all too-familiar feeling at this point in the night. She was almost afraid separating from Villain now would send a chill down to her bones. He was warm and... and he was a distraction. A warm distraction worth welcoming.

For a better world, she told herself, but she and Villain both knew it was more than that.

[amethystpath-writes]

Also, congrats on your marriage!!! I wish you both all the happiness ever. (This is my first time in a while back on tumblr so I’ve missed a lot. Idk if you remember me but I was the anon from a WHILE back who kept sending you very random messages in your asks. I promise I have matured since then 🫡)

Hi anon! Thank you so much for the sweet congrats :) It still feels unreal that I get to spend forever with my closest friend. I'm happy you could be a part of that growing journey.

As an update to the married life, Valentine's Day just passed and his gift to me was a pair of foam swords so we can swordfight over chores in the house. I figured you guys might like to entertain this :)

I never mind, or minded, the silly or random asks. In all honesty, they sometimes break up the pressure of feeling like I constantly need to write (since we all know I've been slacking quite a bit).

With that said, I want to give my sincerest thanks to those who have stuck around for this long. I know I used to produce much more, but I'm thankful for those who have been understanding, who have checked in to see if I've posted more, reread what was already written, and continued to send requests. I don't get around to requests often, but please continue sending them always. I love to see your ideas and to entertain them throughout my days, even if I'm unable to post them immediately!

As a final update, my profession has grown vastly in my absence from this blog. My resume continues to expand and every day is a day closer to completing my degree, and a day closer to reaching my dreams of becoming an author. I currently have two manuscripts in chronological succession of the other that I so look forward to sharing on my blog someday.

Thank you, all, and with all my love,

Xx Captain Dee (wondering if nonny is old enough for Cptn. D 🤔)

[amethystpath-writes]

Writing Challenge!

Hi, everyone! I felt like doing something a little different, and remembered the song/lyric challenge I did in the past. The gist is:

Send me an ask with your favorite song, or lyrics you like, and I’ll turn them into a short story!

Feel free to reblog if you think you would have fun doing this challenge yourself!

For myself, I typically write hero/villain or some form of fantasy- most often involving a medieval aspect, magic, fae, or vampires. If you want a specific topic, please specify! Excited to be returning, y’all! :)

[amethystpath-writes]

Could you please write a story where a fae and a human have been friends for about a year. However, the human finds out what the fae is, and freaks out, thinking the fae is toying with him or wanting to make him his servant or something. When in reality, the fae had always watched humanity from afar, and just wanted to play along to see what it was like to have genuine friends?

Always excited to see you in my inbox, love! <3

Listening to Stars

******

"You lied to me?" The human's voice cracked, and the fae felt the emotion like a whip.

"I would never," he responded, void of tone. It took control from the fae, to not respond how he wanted. To cry, or to yell, or to do anything with an overtly amount of emotion. He wanted to say, 'I would never lie to you; I can't,' but that felt like rubbing the fact in his friend's face.

"I never said I was human," he said instead, and instantly came to regret it. Rather than stopping while he was ahead, and possibly keeping his friend, the fae continued. "I wanted a friend! A real one. The fae..." He looked at his feet, not able to look the human in its eyes, then shook his head. "The fae are full of trickery and deceit. I didn't- I can't be friends with them."

The human could only scoff in return, obviously hurt by the fae boy, hurt that the fae would keep this a secret for so long. "You think I don't know your ways? That I haven't been warned all my life of the games you play?" He muttered to himself in the next moment. "A year. A whole year." It was surely meant for the human's ears only, but the fae heard it and wondered if his freind wasn't upset at himself as much as him for being fooled. Not fooled. I wasn't tricking him.

"Of course," the human started again, "a year is just a blink of the eyes to you. How many of you were in on this?"

"In on...this wasn't some elaborate plan!" The fae felt a heat like fire rise to the tips of his ears. "You all think we have the answer to everything, don't you? That our magic makes us so knowledgeable that we're bored and turn to trickery to entertain ourselves."

"Sounds about right."

Heat spread to the fae's hands as he clenched them in tight fists. He wasn't sure exactly what he was mad at. It could have been himself for hiding this secret for so long, ruining any chance of continuing to be friends with the human. If he had been transparent from the start, this moment could have been avoided. Then again, how could he blame himself when it was at the rest of the fae which created this perception of their entire race.

“What will it take?”

“What?”

“What will it take for you to believe me?”

Thinking, the human squinted. “Show me what you really look like.”

What he looked like? “And what would that prove?”

“Nothing, I just want to see.”

He didn’t change his appearance. It would just confirm his likeness to his human friend and push him away even more. “I’m not going to-”

The human shrugged. “I guess I’ll be going then. Have fun tricking the next”- he gasped.

Pale blue skin, freckles like stars, and a wicked point of the ear.

“So, can you really read the stars like they say?”

“Read them?” The fae’s brow lifted, and for two reasons. One, reading the stars? What did that even mean? Two, he expected a larger reaction from his friend, with all his demanding and suggesting there was so much distrust between the two of them.

“Yeah, like a book. They say fae can hear the stars, the stories of their creation and demise.”

A rumour. Humans loved to make those about the fae. Then again, this wasn’t the worst one he’d ever heard them spread.

“I thought you hated my kind. Now all of a sudden you want to know if we can speak to the stars?”

“Listen, not speak. You can hear their stories, but they don’t respond. The fae have their limits,” the human boy explained.

“Fae can’t hear the stars!” What an elaborate lie to create about something the humans know nothing about. “Your kind fears mine and here you are saying we talk- listen- to the stars? What do you even know of fae that’s true?”

A new argument sparked. “And what have you heard of humans?” Or so the human boy thought. He expected his friend to say something about pitchforks and torches or maybe even the fights that break out in pig pins, outside of village inns.

“I heard you make music. That you hold balls just to sway to said music and that there are people who specialise in twirly clothes. There are others that specialise in decor, plates of would coloured with berries or little…what did she call them?”

“She?” the human interrupted.

Memories flitted across the fae’s mind, but he kept his answer simple. “There was a girl, years ago, that ventured to our borders. The others fooled her into walking the way she came, but I followed her to a human town. She was a friend.” He stopped for a moment, looked the human boy in his eyes. “I did trick you, and I’m sorry, but I didn’t deceive you with magic. I knew your kind already. You make better friends than what the fae do.”

The anger from before melted away, and in its place was a melancholic blanket. It shrouded the fae boy’s mind, draped against his shoulders, and stained his teeth as he spoke.

“We can say goodbye now,” the fae said. “I won’t expect to see you again.”

“Your friend from before, do I know her?”

He didn’t expect the human boy’s to ask. In all honestly, he wished he wouldn’t have. “You did.” The pain he felt thinking about her was almost too much. At times, he would remember the human boy’s relation to her. At these times, the fae would make an excuse to go home, then hide somewhere deep in the woods so his own mind wouldn’t find him. They didn’t know about his relationship with the humans, but they knew something was odd.

“As in ‘used to?’ Was she from my village?”

“Your home,” he specified. “Do you remember the kid that visited your home, a friend of your sister’s?”

The human boy’s brows drew together, confused at the change of subject, no doubt. “When she was alive, yes. He was visiting his relative in another nearby village. Did you know them both?”

Nodding, the fae explained, “I knew her. I was him.”

Crickets chimed around the two of them, reminding both of the setting sun.

“It’s getting dark. I should go home before…anything happens.”

“The wolves don’t touch these woods.” But he understood. He hid beneath a guise, then did it all over again. “Take your time. I’ll be listening to the stars in the meanwhile. You can raise your torches and pitchforks.” He smiled as he caught the human’s eyes.

“So you don’t listen to the stars. You listen to my mind.”

“Only the second time I’ve done it, actually, but we’ll talk another time. Go home, friend.”

[amethystpath-writes]

Challenge Me

Hello! I had this idea around Halloween time when all the scary movies were playing about, so excuse the morbidity!

Warning for numerous mentions of death and vague depictions of a dead body

******

Villain should have looked more unsettling. Pale, maybe, or even blue. Perhaps it was simply too good to be true. Not that Hero necessarily wished him dead, but the alternative was...her stomach churned and she reluctantly touched her own neck. If she thought about it too long, she'd feel the cold of that knife again.

This wasn't what she wanted, yet she was ashamed to admit her relief at the sight.

"You're debating who the real villain is."

She froze, staring at the body, wondering if she truly watched its still lips actually move.

I'm hallucinating, I must be. Hero stepped closer. Suddenly, the walls of the cell felt much closer. It was just her and Villain's body in this confined space. Leader had stepped away. 'So you can process without influence,' he said. She didn't mind or even acknowledge that he had shut the door until now.

Her hand waivered as she reached down, down, down until her second and third finger rested against the artery of Villain's neck. No beat.

If his heart wasn't beating, surely there was no breath. But that voice. It was so distinctly Villain's. Hero leaned down and held her own breath. Villain, too, held his, as all dead bodies did. That was until-

"Should I watch you convince yourself you've lost your mind?"

Hero was halfway across the cell before the body uttered its third word.

"Are you alive?" It came out as a desperate whisper, one so rushed she barely understood her own words.

"Depends on who you're asking." This time, the voice came from the cell door. Hero released a breath, relieved at the sight of Leader. It wasn't until she'd walked close enough to the bars of the cell door that she cocked her head. Shouldn't he have already opened it by now? Come to think of it, why had he closed it at all? It must have been her. She shut it subconsciously, right?

"I'm glad you're back. I didn't realize I closed the door behind me and you're the only one with a set of keys." She chuckled awkwardly, and tucked a strand of hair back, hoping it might also push away the thoughts of the body behind her, of it moving and speaking.

Leader smiled with closed lips and Hero noticed that, for once, his lips were chapped. He made no move to open the door, just stood there with his fingers tucked in his front pockets.

"Did you step outside while you were gone?" she ventured. Why wouldn't he open the door?

"Can't."

She wrapped her fingers around one of the bars, hoping to signal Leader to the door again. "You said he was dead, right? Surely, it's not HR's rules keeping you prisoner to the body."

The body. She was still in the room with Villain's body.

"Not Villain's. Look again."

Her brows drew together and she tilted her head. It was as if Leader read her mind, but she'd known him for at least three years now; he didn't have that ability.

"Sorry?"

"Look again," he repeated. His voice verged on amused, like he was waiting on someone's reaction to a sweet surprise.

"I'm okay," Hero said. Sweat was forming on the back of her next, against her palms, now squeezing the bars. "I've seen enough. I'm just- I'm ready to go home now, Leader. You have the keys."

"Look."

"Leader-"

He took his hands out of his pockets, and if Hero weren't so anxious, she wouldn't have noticed that it was his left hand which held the key to the cell door.

"I didn't know you were ambidextrous." Leader used his right hand, right leg, right everything for all tasks. Hero would know. They used to play games between missions; Inverted Hangman was the game. They would write phrases in reverse order, start drawing from the feet, and use their less-dominant hand. Hero and Leader were both right-handed.

"I'm left-handed," he said simply as he turned the key. Hero stepped back as the door swung open, but Leader gave her no time to step through. Instead, he blocked the way out. "When I tell you to look, I expect you'll do as I say."

His hand shot out in the next moment and grasped Hero's right wrist before twisting it. Her shoulder twisted with and she yelped as Leader grabbed her once again, this time by the shoulder. He pulled her until he was able to capture both shoulders.

Hero slammed her eyes shut and held her breath as her back was spun, held against Leader's chest. Not Leader. This wasn't Leader, and she knew what sight would be before her if she opened her eyes. A confirmation she didn't want.

Leader was dead, and the body on the table wasn't Villain's.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" There it was- Villain's voice, but this time it came from behind her. The body in front of her was as silent as before, only this time, she knew it would be pale, blue, cold, and unmoving. Dead. "I thought you would have figured it out sooner. This was supposed to be fun! Entertaining!"

Leader is dead. He was more than the leader of the team. He was a friend, and he was kind and fun and...and he didn't deserve this. Hero opened her eyes. "No." Leader wasn't just dead. He was...A whine rose in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut again.

"He was entertaining, kept bargaining. Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with this anymore. Please. She doesn't deserve this. Kind of like what you thought, huh? Come to think of it, he was a little predictable. Everyone is."

Villain's voice made her sick. She could feel the bile rise, taste it in the back of her throat. "Is that all you want? Someone to surprise you, say something you haven't heard before?" What could she say or do that would rid him? Was it even worth it? Leader was already gone, and if he were gone, so were the others.

"Probably. Haven't figured it out yet." She felt that smile of his creep against the back of her head, felt the slight pulling of her hair as his lips lifted. "The chase was exciting." Hero hated the way he spoke to her like an old friend having small talk one year after graduating from high school. "They hid you well. I just outsmarted them. It's crazy," he said, "I've had this type of...of access to the mind for years, and yet I still learn new things to do with it." The smile fell, and he whispered, "Can you feel that, Hero?"

The cold. The thin, sharp cold she was too familiar with. A blade. Hero didn't dare swallow, no matter how much saliva instinctively gathered on her tongue.

"What's even crazier," he ventured, "is that there's no knife at all. I just found it in that hazy corner of your mind which you try to keep hidden. You can't forget me, Hero, but I like to watch you try. I like to prove to you in every new way that you can't."

Why me?

"You were the first." He said it so sweetly, as if a body didn't lay in front of them, and a body they both knew to be alive at once. "You were confident. Told me to explore the ability. Told me it could do so much and I was wasting it by hiding. Aren't you just so happy I discovered I wasn't the monster I told myself I was?"

"There are other ways"- she gasped as the imaginary knife dug deeper- "to use your abilities. I didn't mean for you to-"

"Become this?"

She nodded.

"Predictable." He sighed, and the sting of the blade evaporated. "I'm going to let you go, and you're going to run as far away from me as you can, okay?"

"How can I run when you know my every move?" Still, she kept her eyes closed, unable to face Leader, and her arms were stiff as she was held back. She ached to run, but how could she?

"Challenge me, Hero. Prove to me that I'm not the monster I told you I was all those years ago, the monster you tried to convince yourself didn't exist. Prove it." He released her. "Run."

[amethystpath-writes]

Hey so…if you read this far, that means you get a cool announcement that others might miss.

I got married! The OGs will remember a time where my followers were oddly obsessed with my boyfriend. Well, that boyfriend is now my husband and that’s like…kind of insane. (I love you, you stinky rat. 🐀 )

Anyway, love you all! I know I say it all the time, but I’ll write a story with some even more time.

Sea of Diamonds

(NOT A PR0MPT)

hello! you are the first (and only it seems) person that i’ve ever seen write hero x leader, and i actually really like it! i think it’s a cute dynamic, and would love to see more of it!

so if it’s okay, could you please write another snippet with this dynamic? thank you! :D i hope you have a lovely day <33

You know, I can’t say what possessed me to write it, but I’m glad everyone seemed to like it!! I hope you have a lovely day, too, nonny :)

******

“You know this is illegal, right?”

Hero squinted. “Mm, not sure about that.” Her feet touched the ground and she pushed off, sending her chair spinning in circles. “It’s probably not preferable- citizens might suspect you pressured me into it, but I doubt it.”

Leader huffed. “So the people might hate me, which means the agency would lose everything.”

“It’s marriage,” Hero said, planting her feet firmly on the carpeted floor. “It’s not like you’re spending the night with Villain. That would be a spectacle. It’s me. I’m a much better bride than Villain.”

“Still,” Leader ran a hand through his thick hair. “It’s a risk.” There had to be a balance, right? If Leader married Hero, he risked the agency falling apart, meaning Villain would be on the loose, along with any devious comrades.

“What makes you think anyone will even care?” Hero asked. “If anything, I think they would celebrate.” She shrugged and stood from her- well, Leader’s- chair before walking over to the wine fridge. “Buttery”- Hero pulled out a yellow-tinted wine- “or sweet?”- and she pulled out a red one. Biting her lip, she decided she might as well take both. “We would become this big power-duo in the city, and who knows, maybe the team would even respect me a little more.”

Missing the point, Leader sighed. “They do respect you. They just-”

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now- open this?” As Leader took the bottle, Hero strode across the room back to her desk, where she already had wine glasses placed. It was supposed to be a celebratory night; her and Leader were engaged (even if it were secret). Instead, Leader was riddled with worry. Surely, Hero thought, the wine would be necessary now. “My point is that we love each other, and no matter what happens, we’ll be there for each other. Whether that means your employees sneer at me in the hallways-”

“They wouldn’t.”

“-or the citizens think you’re as big of a bad guy as Villain, or nothing happens at all and we’re simply a happy couple…” Hero took a breath. “Whatever the outcome, we experience it together. I have your back.” She took the opened wine bottle out of Leader’s hands and began pouring the crimson liquid into his glass before handing it to him.

He took the glass and nodded. “And I have yours.”

Hero paused in pouring her own drink. “You still have more to say.”

Yes, he did. He was still just as worried as before, which was a shock considering all the risks he’d taken already. Every mission which Leader organized came with the thought that the team- that Hero- may never return. And now he was supposed to marry her with that in mind? “Is it selfish of me to be scared?”

“Of what?”

“This marriage,” he explained with a slow blink. “I’ve never been married. I’m not the type of person to be married. I count the heads of people who walk in the door and report to someone else if the expected number is below what it should be.” Leader was out of breath. And the glass in his hand was wet with sweat. “What if I lose you?”

Hero always meant something to Leader, but now she would mean more. As much as he loved her, he never let himself fully experience that feeling.  It was a dangerous thing.

“Would you feel better if you married Villain?” Hero joked, and maybe it wasn’t the time for it, but Leader’s lips curled up, and that was all she wanted. “Think about it. You don’t love her- let alone like her. She is quite literally the most wanted person, which means she’ll eventually be in custody, or even dead. With no emotional attachment and some financial benefits, she’s the perfect bride.”

Leader could almost laugh. Hero was good at pulling him out of his funks. She was the only one that saw through him- peered into his fears and insecurities- and she was the only one that could pull him out of them.

It was moments like these where he remembered that it didn’t matter what the rest of the world thought about him, or even the rest of the agency. If it meant having Hero at his side, he would take the brute of every hit.

To be known was all Leader ever wanted, even if he hadn’t realized it until Hero strode along. Before her, he thought he wanted the opposite- to be so well-masked that no one knew a thing about him: the things he’d been through, the memories he had, the scars he bore- both physically and mentally…

But here he was now…a girl in his room and two glasses of wine. Leader had never been a drinker; it made him too vulnerable, too unaware, too dependent on anyone besides himself.

With Hero in the room, though, twirling wine in her glass as if the liquid were a sea of diamonds she couldn’t wait to adorn, nothing else mattered to him.

“Villain could never give me the life you have.”

“Ah, breaking out the sappiness, are we?” Hero took a sip of her wine now, and Leader suddenly realized that he never saw Hero pour herself drink. Had he really been so distracted? “I think the sappiness deserves a place in time, especially when it sometimes leads to kisses. Does it lead to kisses now, Leader?”

He didn’t have to say a word back. Leader set his glass down before reaching to Hero, grabbing her glass, and setting it beside his own. He held his hands out and waited for Hero to take hold of them before hoisting her in. “I love you, you know that?”

Hero smiled against his chest. “I love you, too.”

******

Master tag list:

@whatwhumpcomments @faeruine

[amethystpath-writes]

I’ll be on vacation this weekend and probably won’t be doing too much writing, but want to have something to keep in mind! One of these is already drafted 😁

[amethystpath-writes]

No, No, No

NOT A PR0MPT

I present to you /*…a vampire snippet. Yippee! Tough themes: character death, a little bit of blood- not descriptive, possessive and manipulative villain. Arguably not the worst, but worth mentioning :p

******

“Hero, we need to-” Lover’s voice was cut off with a loud bang. Hero would have screamed if her ears hadn’t rang out first, but the sound was so loud that any and all processors went out the window.

In a daze, she looked behind her. What happened? What was that sound? Was it really Lover’s voice she heard? Where was he? Hero held her head to settle the swaying of her vision.

“I warned him.” The footsteps entering her room was what drew her attention to Lover.

A shrill gasp filled her ears. It was her. Her gasp. Lover’s body. Her tears. On his red chest.

She found him, and oh, how she wished she hadn’t.

“No,” she heard herself say. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“He could have left. I gave him the opportunity to, but oh no. Poor. Hero.”

Hero couldn’t stop the no’s from spilling. She tripped over them, mumbled and groaned and cried, rocked back on her heels and rested her knees against Lover’s back. “Say something. Lover, stay with me, please.”

She hadn’t paid attention as to where the steps came from, where they were going, or even where they stopped. If she had been paying attention, she would know the footsteps stopped where Lover’s head lay, where she was crying and shaking her partner’s body. So much hope, and what for?

“Come on, up you get.”

Hero wasn’t sure of the words leaving her mouth. All she knew was that she was screaming so hard that her voice could no longer be heard. Not by herself, not by the man hefting her over a shoulder, and certainly not by Lover, who Hero now realized was in a pool of something glistening.

The moonlight filtered through so perfectly through Hero’s room at night. It only brightened her room after 3am, so she didn’t get to bask in it often. Had the circumstances been different tonight, Hero would have ran to her window and watched the moon until she could hardly keep her eyes open. The light was bright enough to lull her to sleep, and dim enough that it barely reminded her of what she was as it touched her skin.

“You can’t leave him! You can’t leave!” The pool, she finally realized, was blood. Lover was bleeding out. Of course, his chest was red earlier, when she pressed her head aside it, but Hero thought…well, Hero was in shock. She didn’t think anything.

“The money is in bringing you back alive. No matter for anything else.”

The word ‘money’ did not register in Hero’s brain. This man was being paid to kidnap her by any means necessary, including killing Lover and leaving him to rot on the floor of their bedroom.

She swung her legs into her captor’s legs, trying to aim higher or lower- wherever his more sensitive spots were. She felt disoriented, but she punched and kicked and kneed and-

“You keep doing that and you’re not going to like the consequences.”

But Hero wasn’t good at listening, especially when it came down to large, burly men carrying her over a shoulder. She screamed, “Put me down!” until there was a rasp in her voice.

The man obliged, bouncing his shoulder so that Hero’s body became unhooked from his own. However, he kept hold of her legs so that they acted as a fulcrum. Hero’s body fell back and she had only a moment to realize that she was about to hit the ground.

In the next moment, Hero was opening her eyes against weights on her lashes. She was tired- so tired.

“You look unwell. Go back to sleep, doll.”

Her eyes were already half-closed by the time the voice spoke. She easily agreed with it. She didn’t feel well, as much as she was sure she looked unwell.

But then again, her eyes were opened, and though she was unsure whether it was the same moment, or another undetermined amount of time, she wasn’t susceptible to suggestion.

A groan escaped her lips as she drearily blinked. All she could focus on was the intense throbbing at the back of her head. Hero touched a finger to it. She gasped, not at the pain which erupted at her own touch, but at the fact that everything she thought she remembered, every hazy detail, was real. “Lover.”

“Not quite.”

Her head snapped up, taking in the room she sat in for the first time. And not just the room. Villain.

“Where am I?” she demanded, though her voice shook.

The room was grey, and Hero could only tell by the hand-width slit in the wall, which allowed for one beam of sunlight to come through. Aside from Villain standing across the beam of light, the room was empty.

“You’re home, with me,” Villain said. When Hero didn’t respond, he continued, “I heard you put up quite the fight.”

Why wouldn’t she? Large men walking into her room after her partner just…“Where is he?”

Villain returned her question with a smile. With just the barest daylight seeping through, Hero could only slightly see the wicked teeth that scared her away so long ago, the ones she found her tongue rubbing against in her own mouth. She recoiled from herself.

“You think Lover was your friend?”

“He was my partner.”

He began stepping forward, slowly, as if preparing to comfort Hero. “He was hindering you, my sweet, from your full potential.”

Her gums were throbbing, something that hadn’t happened since she and Lover became an item. Even when the man broke in, Hero felt more confused than fearful or defensive.

“You cannot change what you are.”

“I wouldn’t even be this if it wasn’t for you,” she bit back. Her gums hurt badly enough that a short whine escaped her.

“Do you know why it hurts?” Villain asked. “Your head, your gums, Lover’s death?”

Death? No, he wasn’t dead. Sure, he was injured, and badly at that, but no, Lover wasn’t dead; he couldn’t be.

“It’s because you ran, Hero. I was willing to help you adjust, to grow into what you are, but you refuse to embrace it. You want that pain to go away, don’t you?”

Her pain had nothing to do with her running. If anything, she should have run away so much sooner. In fact, never knowing Villain would have been the best. He was a predator, a killing machine. And now, Hero was just the same- or would be, if she didn’t choose to control her urges.

“I’ve dealt with the pain for long enough.” And it was true, she had. “I don’t need to conform to it, or whatever it is you’re trying to convince me to do. I don’t need this,” she said. “I don’t need you.”

“You love me,” the villain said. “And I know you do because I can feel your heart beating from here.” Here, being two feet away from her. Still, it was a distance that no regular human would sense a heartbeat from.

“I am terrorized by you. I am horrified and I’m scared.” She didn’t want to give him the upper hand or any advantage of the situation, but what didn’t Villain already have? He was suave and he got his way with anyone. He was strong- mentally and physically, and it wasn’t just because of his theory of ‘leaning into vampirism.’ He killed Lover- no, not killed. He hurt Lover, and Hero was going to get him back.

“You’re still thinking of the mortal.”

“Get out of my head.”

“You can come back to me, Hero. That- that temptation is gone, and I’m here for you. I’ll help you adjust.”

“Stay away from me,” she blurted as Villain took a step towards her. “Stay away from me. I don’t want you. I will never love you, Villain. Never.”

Now this…this stopped Villain in his tracks. While his emotions were known for being hidden, now they were ever clear. Anger. Disgust. Vengeance.

“You’ll learn,” he said. “You’ll learn that you need me more than the very blood in your veins. When you’re starved- because you don’t have that little blood bag you called Lover- you will beg me to love you like I did. You’ll beg me to give you another chance. And because I won’t bow to you, bow to you like I did the moment I turned you, you’ll stand in that window until you burn.”

Hero felt the heat of him, the anger pulsating against the beating of her heart. Whether she liked it or not, the two of them were synced.

“When you fall, it will be no one’s fault but your own. I offered my love. You denied it.”

With this, Villain left, and Hero cried in his wake.

[amethystpath-writes]

Hello!! I just read your part 2 to “Spare Him” and I just wanted to say you are such a talented and amazing writer! I could feel the emotions of Hero and how heartbreaking everything was in her situation and villain’s betrayal like give the girl a break villain🥹 The way you write literally can make me imagine another world im reading in a book! It was so so so good and enjoyable to read and kept me hooked the entire time bc of Villain being so highkey cryptic of everything 😆😆

Been a very big fan of ur writing for quite a long time now and its just getting better each time you write a story! ❤️

also just wanted to ask! will you be making a part 3 to this? and if so i would so so love to read it!

Have a great day ahead! always keep urself hydrated:))

- anon

I hoarded this message because it is just so sweet and has continuously made my day. Writing is a huge passion of mine and although I don’t require the praise, it’s always so heavily appreciated.

With that said, I am absolutely writing another part to this, but I unfortunately won’t be posting it on Tumblr. I’m turning this story into a manuscript for publication, so keep your eye out on any announcements ;)

Thank you always for the support and kind words <3

[amethystpath-writes]

Could you please write something like Hero let Villain rest at Hero’s house after Villain was beaten up and half dead injured, but Villain sneaked out Hero’s house as soon as they regained consciousness and when they were still burning up because they thought they were such a burden, now Hero had to find Villain in the rain and persuade them they were not a burden at all

Golden Boy

(A/N) This sat in my inbox for a MINUTE. I got a little behind 🤏 but I’m here! I made it. I did it. I got…*drumroll* a Kindle Scribe! Best device I have ever owned and I have written, not one, but TWO stories in just one day. This is just one of them. Thank you all for your continued support. Here’s some well-earned fluff (enjoy it while it lasts- you know me).

<3

******

“Villain, are you insane? You’ll freeze out here in the rain!”

Sure, Villain heard the hero- loud and clear, actually- but she had to keep walking. Her leg stung badly, and Villain wasn’t sure she would make it, but she was alive. She could push through. All she had to do was-

“-Villain!”

Her breath caught in her throat and she choked back a cry as she collapsed. Her leg. God, how it hurt.

Rain poured down on Villain, pelting her face and loosening her bandages, though clinging against her skin all the same. The pain of everything should have made her sick, but all she could focus on was Hero’s footsteps growing faster. She wasn’t his problem, so why was he running to her?

“Villain. Villain, hey. Are you alright?” His footsteps began to slow. She grimaced, wondering why he couldn’t just leave her alone.

“I don’t need your help,” she seethed.

He ignored her- blatantly. His hands were placed delicately on her shoulders, tugging at her and trying to convince her to turn and face him.

“Don’t touch me,” Villain snapped, and she gulped at the pain in her stomach as she twisted away from Hero.

“Sorry. Sorry, I’m sorry.” His words were rushed. “Did I hurt you?”

He wasn’t worried for her. He couldn’t be. “Is it that difficult to believe a girl doesn’t want to be stalked in the dark by a man and be dragged back to a home that isn’t hers?” This, of course, wasn’t the problem. Her own home didn’t come with a medic, or any first aid for that matter.

She faced him now, only to see him gnaw at the dead skin of his bottom lip. His gaze fell to a puddle forming on the road beside Villain, and she could see something like remorse glint in his eyes- or maybe it was just the rain.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just- what are you doing out here? I heard a noise in the kitchen and by the time I could throw my boxers on, you’d already gone out the front door.”

“Oh, don’t do that. Pretend you care and…” She trailed off, her voice sharp as she made an attempt to stand. It burned, stung, and throbbed, but she pushed, pushed, pushed until the pain was so great that she ultimately collapsed again.

Something pulled- her skin, and it was warm where it ripped.

“You reopened the wound. Let me take you back, Villain.” He held his hand out to help, but Villain rejected it with a swat of her hand. “You need re-bandaged and then you need to rest.” He didn’t touch her shoulder this time, didn’t offer a hand again, but he looked at her. Looked at her like he was pleading with her.

“So what? So I can use up all your medical supplies? I- I can bleed on your couch and-”

“Bed,” he corrected, “and yes, so you can do all those things and more. Whatever you need if it makes you better. You really think I care about inventory and dirty sheets?”

Villain rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to pretend you care about me. I already know I’m the last person you want laying on your couch.”

Hero opened his mouth to speak, but Villain beat him to it.

“Bed,” she corrected this time. Villain took a deep breath and held it deep in her chest before making a second attempt to stand. Somehow, despite the open, bleeding wound in her stomach, and the pain of her battered leg, she managed to stand this time. Painfully, she began stumbling away on her own.

“You’re not a burden, you know?” Hero’s voice was muffled by the rain between them, but she heard well enough to stop in her tracks. He struck a chord.

Instead of accepting it, she bit back. “Bet that’s real easy for you to say, Golden Boy.” Her voice was breaking. The pain throughout her body was becoming impossible to ignore. She swallowed. Could Hero even hear her? Did it matter? She should keep walking, Villain thought, but Hero’s voice stopped her before she could.

“Who made you feel this way about yourself?” His voice was closer than Villain expected, having just walked away from him. When did he come so close?

A breath whistled from between her parted lips. When did she become so tired? And when did she place her arm on Hero’s arm for support?

“Maybe it was me,” Villain said. “Don’t they say you’re your own worst critic?” She tried to chuckle, tried to show defiance at the first sign of care, but she coughed instead. Perhaps she should have taken it as a sign, but Villain was stubborn. She didn’t feel she deserved Hero, not with as many problems as she came with. “Go home, Hero. Take your boxers off and enjoy your silk sheets.”

Hero looked down at her now, one eyebrow raised. “I don’t have silk sheets.”

“You do. In the closet, across the hall.” She was running out of breath.

He hummed. “You found clean sheets and remade my bed before deciding you were too much. What an awful being you are. How horrible. How terrible and-”

“Smart-ass doesn’t fit you,” Villain rasped. “And neither do those boxers. Not from that dusty old closet, too, are they? Her hand brushed against his bare chest as she felt her eyes slip back, and she shuddered awake, feeling the goosebumps along his skin- a reminder that it was cold and raining, and that her clothes were soaked and bloody…”Will you walk me back?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Will you run off again?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. What if your blanket slips and I see something I don’t want to see?” Out of breath, out of breath. Breathe. Breathe, Villain. Was she talking to herself or was Hero talking to her?

“As if you wouldn’t be the one pulling it off before you left.” Hero was already turning around and supporting Villain as she matched his actions.

“Right.” It was all Villain’s lungs had the capacity to say. She would banter later, when Hero was changing her bandages in the morning- on her stomach and leg, places she’d have to lift her clothes or pull them down in order to see and access.

Villain hummed, and for a second time she woke herself up from her exhaustion, jolting and grasping at Hero’s chest. She hadn’t meant to hum at her own thoughts.

“What are you thinking about?” They were already at the front door. Hero must have left it open, assuming he would be returning with Villain in hand.

“You’re arrogant,” she quipped. “You know that?” Breathe. Breathe, breathe, breathe-breath-breathe.

“I know that you’re sleepy. Here, lay down. I need to change your bandages first.”

And so the night went, Villain’s bandages were changed, and she swore not to run off again. She swore, too, once Hero left the bedroom, that she wouldn’t let herself dream of the golden boy in boxers, running in the rain to tell her she’s not a burden. She refused, but then hadn’t she also refused refuge?

Yet here she was. Fresh, silk sheets- though perhaps a little dusty from the closet- on a thick-foamed mattress and a boy without boxers in the next room over.

[amethystpath-writes]

P2 Spare Him

Part 1 here

HIII HOW R U? SORRY, IT'S JUST YOUR NEWEST WRITING THE "Spare him" ONE WAS JUST SO LOVELY (Actually, all of your writings are ✨amazing✨) AND MY CURIOSITY IS PEAKED- PLEASE MAKE A PT 2?? (If you don't want to that's okay!)

Hope you're doing well, Thank you and have a great day <333

---

omg hi! so i just read your snippet “spare him” and it’s sooo good! i was wondering if you could continue it?

---

(A/N): Thank you both!! You guys are too sweet <3 Buckle in, this is a long one :)

******

Hero was silent as Villain led her down various corridors of his palace. He had left his audience of council members without a word, and cued his guard to follow along with his free hand. Now, Hero just wondered where they were going. She expected Villain would keep her locked up with the petty thieves and criminals, but they were going up stairs, not down.

She focused on Villain's fingers as they walked, and it wasn't until now that she noticed his knuckles were pink instead of white. He loosened his grip. When? Hero wasn't sure, but this sight was more familiar than the calloused king in the throne room. This touch, this lead, was welcoming, but she couldn't become accustomed to it again. It would be too foolish.

"You may leave us," Villain stated as the three of them approached a door on the right side of a long hall. There were four more doors past the one they stood at, and two behind, while the left side of the hall held the same seven doors.

"Your Majesty-"

"You may leave." Not a request, a demand. This tone would never be usual to Hero. It would never be the tone she expected to hear. His tone hurt, a quill against the drum of her ear, sharp and stinging and sudden. It made her stomach turn.

The guard didn't attempt to argue further. Hero wanted to ask, Would you have hurt him if he didn't leave? Would you have killed him for disobeying? Alas, she remained silent.

Anger would have better suit her situation. Screaming and demanding, beating Villain's chest with her fists. She wished to have her childlike rage back, when her brothers would mix mud into her perfumes or ripping her teabag when she wasn't looking so she would get a mouthful of herbs upon her next drink. Oh, they made her furious.

More than nothing else, she wanted this fury. Instead, she had become tame over the years, questioning her emotions before responding to them. Sometimes, she pondered so long that she couldn't even react in the face of her brother's murder. Sometimes, that was today.

She strode through the now-open door, not even noticing that Villain had entirely released her, walking in alone and leaving her alone in the hall. He didn't demand she follow, just waited with his back against a bedframe that stretched to the ceiling.

Walking into the room further, she noticed an abundance of decorations: tapestries on the walls, rugs beneath the bed and desk, and wooden knickknacks...knickknacks. Those were from Hero; she gave them to him during his last visit, before...

"You kept them."

Looking to Villain, he only nodded. In the throne room, amusement lit Villain's eyes. Now, Hero couldn't see his eyes at all. He wouldn't look at her, much less meet her curious gaze. "He asked me to," he finally said, ignoring her remark about his knickknacks altogether.

"What?"

"Close the door."

Hero obliged, shutting it with a soft thunk. She stood by the door, still, feeling safer by it than being any closer to Villain than need be. He was going to have me executed.

"Your brother. It was the only way to stall your father."

"Villain, what are you talking about?" Whatever it was, could she even trust what he said? Her palms were sweating with anticipation of what he would say next.

"I didn't believe him at first- i didn't want to, but he had these letters, and they had your faither's stamp." Villain's back left the bedpost as he began pacing about the room. His demeanor was panicked, and Hero felt her emotions arising without the time to process them. Tears welled in her eyes, and in her confusion, she wasn't sure why.

"Villain, stop. Stop, I don't know what you're saying." Hero reached behind her to touch the door, to feel anything solid.

"Do you remember my father falling ill." Hero shook her head, despite her recollections. Villain's father had fallen ill upon their last visit to Hero's kingdom. The king came down with fevers and hallucinations. He spoke of his heart beating as quickly as horses' hooves running into battle. He fell into a sleep one day, and though Hero expected a sweat to break across his forehead, one never did. Her own father grimaced and cold it a case of bad weather. It had been dreary and cold, after all.

"My father was poisoned. It wasn't the rain, Hero."

"Did you see it happen?"

"No, but your brother-"

Horror clutched Hero's heart. "Is that why you killed him. You thought he killed your father?" Hero didn't doubt that his father may have been killed, but by her older brother? "You are despicable and you..." She was already pushing the door open, ready to leave, to dart down any hall she had to in order to leave. Learning her brother was killed for nothing almost felt as though he was being killed again.

"Hero, listen to me." His body was in front of her in a flash and his arm held the door. "It was your father, and your brother knew it."

"Nothing you are saying is making any sense. My father would never kill the king of another country without good reason. We were betrothed, Villain." Betrothed since Hero was born; they're kingdoms were always meant to become allies. It wouldn't make since for her father to kill Villain's. There was already an alliance.

"I know, I know. The pieces are scattered. Your brother's words were lost on me, too, but come here. I have the letters from your father."

Hero was reluctant to leave the door she stood by. She didn't trust Villain well enough to leave her one and only escape behind. But then...where would she escape to? Villain had always been faster than her when growing up, and that was as children playing games, not kings chasing runaway prisoners.

Villain seemed to pick up on her hesitancy because he volunteered, "I can bring them to you?" He was already at his desk, clutching papers between trembling hands. His gaze was soft, and Hero found her own gaze meeting the knickknacks on his desk again. Was it possible he was the same boy now that Hero gave those to then?

She nodded.

Villain's jaw clenched as he turned his head to the side with closed eyes. His expression spoke of pain. Hero watched the lump in his throat bob before he gently shook his head, opened his eyes, and began to walk over.

Her palms were hot as she clenched her fists and her shoulders ached with the tenseness strung between them. A knot formed in her throat, as large as Villain's adam's apple. She thought she was going to choke on it as Villain's arm brushed her own. He was leaning in, holding the papers out in front of either of them.

"I'm going to share these with you, but you can't speak about it outside of this room." He paused before gently asking, "Do you understand?"

Again, Hero nodded voicelessly. She felt as though she was in a dream, a sick dream which haunted her, gripped her throat, and wouldn't let her go. Was this real? Was any of this real?

"Your brother found these, trying to play a harmless prank on your father- stuff feathers in his boots; you know how he was."

And so Hero did. She almost felt a smile tug at her lips. She could imagine the scene:

Everyone would be in their chambers, bathing, and dressing for the night. Hero would be on her balcony, looking at the moon, stars, and clouds. Her sweet and mischievous brother would poke his head out of his own door and warn her to stay inside.

‘What did you do now?’ she would ask him.

He would smile and say, ‘Stop worrying, won’t you?’

‘Father is going to have enough of you one of these days.’ Did he? Was Villain telling the truth? It wouldn't explain why villain was the one that killed her brother, but maybe there trily was more to the story than a senseless betrayal.

"-council is fitting for my style of ruling. You are blunt, unlike my own family and council.”

"Wait, wait I wasn't listening." Without thinking, she took the papers from Villain's hands, brushing her fingers against his own. She read and read until, “One of my lords has a garden for the Assassin’s Keep. My wife has always found the flowers unknowingly pretty; it would not be difficult to harvest some…But the lord’s garden is poison.” This last sentence was Hero’s own. “He has been keeping poison in his chambers so acclimate her to their beauty. She would have never thought differently of them.”

“Keep reading,” Villain encouraged.

“I don’t-” Hero couldn’t read any more. Where would it lead? If she kept reading and learned her father really did want to kill Hero family off- “I left my brother, Villain. I have to go back for him.”

Hero turned on a heel, papers clutched tightly in her fist. As her hand reached the door, Villain’s hand stopped her.

“I can’t let you go back.”

“Villain-”

“I will send someone to search for your brother, but it’s not safe for you to return.”

“But he has no one to-”

“For all we know, your father has already started a search party, and what do you think they will do when they find you?”

Well, Hero hadn’t considered that. If her father did want her dead, whatever soldier was in charge of finding her wouldn’t bring her home; they would kill her on the spot, say they found her dead in the woods- much like her own father possibly blaming the king’s death on the weather. It reminded her…She circled back to Villain’s desk with the papers still in hand. Hero thought now, if Villain truly was the nefarious one in all this, well, she was alive now, wasn’t she? Maybe there was some truth behind his words.

“What does your father have to do with this?” she mumbled as she skimmed. “Here.” Hero wasn’t sure why she was pointing it out as if Villain didn’t already know. In any case, she began to read aloud again. “The king is soft- focused too heavily on friendliness than actually protecting his people…Who is this even addressed to?” In her frenzy, Hero didn’t even think to look until now.

Gods, where was her mind? She was once a child full of reactions, then a young lady with a reserved mind, then a daughter- now sister- in mourning, then a prisoner kneeling beneath a sword, and now a woman so desperate for the truth that she couldn’t think straight to retrieve it.

She skimmed the words as she flipped back to the beginning. Surely, the papers were out of order by now. Hero certainly wasn’t keeping track.

“Villain, you killed him.” She slammed the papers down. Hero couldn’t let herself forget this no matter who was involved. Villain still killed her brother. None of these letters could explain that.

Villain drew a breath at this time. “How about I leave you here tonight? You can look at your father’s letters without me breathing down your neck.”

Hero looked up. “Will you be back?”

“Before morning.” Villain nodded to the vastness of the room. “It’s not appropriate to emerge from a room that is not his.”

This was Villain’s room. It made sense; he had a nice desk, rugs, wall decor, a large bed, the knick-knacks Hero gifted him, amongst many other things. It looked much like Hero’s room back at home. But, “Why have the king’s chambers in the middle of the hall?”

“My council said it’s an unpredictable location. Among their own hall, I’ll never be expected.” His lips drew tight and his nose wrinkled as his brows pinched. “Personally, I think it puts me more at risk. After all, a council is not made up of soldiers.”

“Why would your own council put you in that position?”

He shrugged. “Keep reading. I will see you before sunrise. Best you lock the door when you leave.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“Recently, it’s easier for me to sleep with my eyes open. Rummage as you will. My room was always meant to be yours anyway.”

Betrothed. Villain and Hero were always meant to marry. It was meant to unite their kingdoms. If it was already agreed upon, and Hero and Villain were even in agreement, why would her father throw it all away?

She looked to the papers on the desk, sprawled out where she had thrown them. “The key?”

“Look around what you’re familiar with.”

Thoughtlessly, she lifted two of the three knick-knacks. Under one was a small key.

“I’ll slide a clover under the door when I’m ready to come in. Don’t open the door for anyone else.” He turned his back to her, and left with a final, “Sleep well, Hero,” in his wake.

[amethystpath-writes]

how do I make a request?

Hi! Thank you for asking! You can send any request you’d like to my ask box. :)

I just ask that people don’t leave them in comments because I can’t keep up with them!

[amethystpath-writes]

Hi

It's been brought to my attention that there are people out there who are sadly plagiarising my work again.

1. This is not okay.

To clarify, while I'm very happy for people to take inspiration from my stories (in the same way you might any book you read from a bookshop), I don't want my work used or reposted without credit.

I'm not going to go into lengths on why it is wrong to plagiarise someone else's writing. I don't think my tumblr post is magically going to change anyone's mind, especially as if you've followed me long enough you know we've done this rodeo before.

So.

2. How to tell when writing is plagiarised

It can be very difficult to tell when something is plagiarised, especially if we have never come across the original work before and have no reason to recognise it.

I don't think it's realistic for everyone to vet everything they come across online for plagiarism, but it's also something I don't see talked about a lot for fiction.

These questions to ask yourself are not foolproof and not applicable to everything. But I think they can be a start.

If the writer has posted more than one story, is there a similarity across them? While writing style can change across an author's different pieces, there is still usually going to be a similar feel across stories if they came from the same person. Writers have voices and quirks and little things that are specific to them. If every piece feels wildly different then it might be coming from different places. This is probably going to come down to gut reaction and instinct in the first instance. But that's okay. Because that gut reaction is just there to make you think twice and maybe investigate more thoroughly.

How much are they posting? Can people churn an extraordinary amount of words out? Yes, sometimes. But...as a general ballpark, no. Writing takes time and effort. If someone is coming out with enormous amounts of writing every day or week or month or whatever, then this can be a hint to look a little closer.

Do you ever see hints of their writing process? Can the writer talk about their characters or what they want out of the story or anything like that? Do they ever post a story organically in response to a request or whatever? Not all writers know in-depth everything about their story or characters or plot, but the main point here is that the finished product is the tip of the iceberg. If someone is a writer than there is more going on beneath the surface of the posted stories.

I hope this helps!

[amethystpath-writes]

Spare Him

Hello :) Could you do something where the hero and villain were lovers but the villain betrayed the hero somehow and now it’s super angsty and the hero is begging so hard for the villain to not do whatever they’re going to do (maybe getting on their knees to beg too, who knows) and it’s just SUPER ANGSTY :)) Sorry for the long ask, thank you very much and I love your writing!

A/N: As promised, although I feel like I filled this request before, here it is! Thank you for the kind words :)

******

"Why are you here?" Villain's tone was bored and cutting. Hero missed his tone before; soft, like a caress or a smooth fur blanket that Hero couldn't wait to curl into at the end of the day.

"Do they trust you?" Hero asked, and though she had just arrived, she thought she manipulated the situation so well. This was until Villain smiled, his lips splitting ever so slightly to reveal his sharp teeth. Hero never found them fitting until now as she stood below his pedestal.

There was unspoken conversation between the two of them, and Hero felt humiliated, even though Villain was the only person who understood. He had betrayed her and it hurt to say the very least.

Villain remained silent, and Hero knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted her to keep talking, to keep asking questions, and to keep digging her own hole further into the ground at the face of his Council. They were lined up on either side of the throne room, surrounding her as she stood in front of Villain.

She obliged Villain's unspoken request. Hero would embarrass herself if it meant stopping him and his traitorous doings. "What are you doing this for?" She didn't want to say too much, didn't want to say something she would regret. Did his council know who stood before them aside from their own king?

"Elaborate."

But Hero couldn't, and Villain knew that. He knew who she was and why she was here even if she wouldn't state it aloud. He was playing a game with her, but this was dire to her.

Her hands were shaking. "I would like to request a private audience with you." The guard behind her held back a laugh; she could tell by the hot air on the back of her neck. It made her all too aware of how close he was standing. His presence was less threatening, however, than Villain's.

"It sounds as though you trust yourself less than me. You can't speak your mind in front of my council?" He raised a brow and gestured to the grandiose of the room, how everyone was listening, waiting to see why she had shown up- this girl who was alone in front of a king, and too afraid to speak.

Villain tapped his fingers against the arm of his throne. He still bore that half-amused smile. It made Hero's stomach churn, and for a moment, she had to stop herself from crying. His smile widened as if he could see the halted tears in her waterline.

However, his smile fell away in another moment, when he rolled his eyes, seemingly tired of his own game. As Hero concentrated on Villain's eyes, she realized they were no longer focused on her, and instead focused behind her. The guard. "Take her away."

"Villain, wait!" Still, a hand remained on her shoulder. Villain held a hand up and nodded. The hand slid away, but in its place, a weight held her down.

Hero was afraid. She was alive, and as great as it was, she half-expected to be killed when she walked in. It was part of Villain's plan; she was certain given his betrayal. She squeezed her eyes shut thinking about it, gave herself a moment to regain her composure.

The plan was to make a bargain, but not believing she would make it this far, Hero had no bargaining chip- only a plea.

"You killed my brother"- her head twitched and she recoiled at her own memory. Villain. Sword. Brother. Blood...She couldn't finish her request.

"And what? You took it personally?" He tilted his head at her, remarking her as though she were a curiosity, not as someone who he had ever loved, cherished, or betrayed. Villain's lips came to a satisfied close as his council snickered and jeered at Hero from their seats.

"I came to ask you a favor." Her chest was hurting, swelling with the thought of her request. She felt herself swallowing as she heard her own breaths, too loud in her own head. Villain's fingers tapping against his throne didn't help. "I know you plan to kill my last brother. I am sure you have planned to kill me, as well. While I don't ask for you to spare me, I ask that you spare him."

She paused for the briefest moment. Hero couldn't take her eyes off of Villain's hand, its incessant tapping. It reminded her of two things.

It reminded her of humid nights when she and Villain knew the guards in her homeland wouldn't be on standby due to the mugginess outside. They would go off into the woods, find a clearing, and lay down, then peak at the stars through the foliage. Villain would wrap an arm through her own and drum against it with his fingers. They felt warm, always warm.

The tapping reminded her of another moment, one more sinister. Her brother was a good man; he was going to make an even greater king. He would take his armor off, beat it into a sheet, and lay it on the ground for anyone if there were a puddle. And if that weren't enough, he'd walk away and let the armor become a bridge so that no one faced the puddle again. Oftentimes, he didn't wear his armor, and Hero scolded him for it. There was no scolding him as Villain killed him. Hero could hear her own screams echoing back to her now.

Though these memories happened over a course of years, they flashed across her eyes in a moment. She begged Villain, "Please let my last brother live."

"Speak up."

Hero could only close her eyes and bite her tongue. What she wanted to do, what she wish she had to capability to do, was to scream at Villain. Curse him for the love he gave and the terror he committed after- during. Hero would have never imagined Villain would betray her, would kill her brother in a passing moment.

It was a duel. It was meant to be a duel. But Villain grabbed her brother's shoulder so ferociously, so intently as he pushed his sword.

'First blood?'

Hero had been happy that Villain and her brother got along. Hero could still hear her brother's sword bouncing off the ground as he bled into Villain's chest.

'How about first one to stumble?'

Her brother didn't enjoy fighting and would only swing his sword while training. Hero was shocked he agreed to duel Villain.

And Villain held her cheek afterwards, fingers coated in blood. He told her that he would be leaving now. A brisk murder and an even swifter absence.

"Hero."

A knot formed in her stomach as her attention was recaptured. Villain stood in front of her, and his hand was reaching towards her cheek. Her chest shook with sobs as his hand touched her skin, and it was soft.

"Don't," she said, and she spoke quietly so that no one else could hear, save Villain, and maybe the guard if he were still behind her.

"What would you do?"

Hero hadn't realized she pushed her cheek further into his hand until she was looking up to meet his gaze. Did his love always look like curiosity? Had she been mistaking him all along?

"For my brother?" she asked, and waited for his single nod. "Anything."

He hummed, and his closed lips lifted into a gentle smirk. His thumb ran across her cheek bone, and Hero clenched her jaw. "Your life for his. On your knees."

Her chest quaked again and she swallowed. Without thinking, she dropped. "How will I know you won't kill him?"

It was in the next moment that she knew the guard was still behind her because his sword came to rest on her shoulder. The edge of the blade touched her neck and Hero found herself turning away from it.

"Because you will be alive to stop me should I try."

Looking up, Hero found the same grin Villain wore before as he shoved his sword through her brother. "I want you to kneel there and beg me to marry you." His voice was loud enough for all to hear, and the Council even began shifting in their seats, leaning forward, straightening their spines for a better look.

"Marry you?"

His eyes darted up, and in the same moment they found Hero's again, she felt the blade sink in just a little further. "Villain, please..." ...don't make me do this.

"Continue."

She tried to adjust her shoulder, to make the blade fall, but the guard just pushed it further than before. It took everything not to push it away with a hand. If her arms left her side, she knew the guard wouldn't hesitate to harm her. So she clenched her fists instead. Her breathing was perhaps the least controlled aspect.

"You want to save your brother, don't you?"

"Villain." She couldn't do this. She couldn't-

"Three," he began, "two..."

The back of her head was pounding and her heart was throbbing, beating against her chest like it needed an out as much as she did. Chills spiraled up and down her arms and neck. She shuddered.

"One. Take her outside. I will be there shortly." Villain turned his back and began walking towards his throne once again.

Hero felt the sword cut into her neck as the guard slid it away. She winced and her back caved as she felt relief. Tears streamed down her face and for a minute she thought she was in the clear. Villain let her live.

But the realization hit as quickly as the relief. He would kill her in the public's eye to prove a point. The chills resurfaced, and as she was pulled from the ground onto her kicking feet, Hero screamed, "Villain, no! Please. Let me marry you. Let me be your queen and I will never look back at home or my brothers or anything that you have done. Please, Villain. Let me save my brother."

The room erupted in short snorts and satisfied chuckles. Villain hushed them with a hand before circling back to Hero. His steps were off-beat from the beating of her heart; it made Hero's head spin faster than the memories she relived just minutes ago. Had it only been minutes?

"Tomorrow. You become my queen, and your kingdom receives no word of it. You will not speak to them, and you will not speak of them. Let go of her." This last part was said to the guard, and so he did. Hero was once again a slump on the ground. Villain leaned down to her, and grabbed her arm before yanking her forward. She winced as his lips touched her ear, but she released a breath as he whispered, "There's something you need to know. Follow along."

******

Part 2 here

[amethystpath-writes]

Hello :) Could you do something where the hero and villain were lovers but the villain betrayed the hero somehow and now it’s super angsty and the hero is begging so hard for the villain to not do whatever they’re going to do (maybe getting on their knees to beg too, who knows) and it’s just SUPER ANGSTY :)) Sorry for the long ask, thank you very much and I love your writing!

Hey. Hi. I swear I answered this prompt at one point and I can't remember if I did?? Help?? Someone who is dedicated and uh loves this blog enough to search the vastness of it (please don't scroll back to the BTHB prompts yikes)...would one of you be willing to find this prompt- answered- on my blog?

[amethystpath-writes]

Haunting

NOT A PR0MPT

******

Hero swore she recognized him. Thinking back on how he looked before was difficult as she looked to him now. Stared, rather. She shook her head, ducked it down, and moved along.

Leader would be expecting her any moment, so it was important for her to show up focused and prepared. Forget the familiar looking man; she had an idea for the agency.

Being only a door away, she thought it would be easy to slip away unseen. Alas, she was disappointed.

"Hero?"

She swore beneath her breath. It was exactly who she thought; it was Villain.

"God, it's been years. I thought I recognized you, but"- she gestured- "the beard threw me off."

He smiled. "I've had it for a couple years now, but I haven't seen you for the last four." He knew exactly how long ago it had been, what setting it had been in, what he had done. If Hero didn't know better, she would have thought he planned this encounter. Then again, maybe he had.

"So," Hero began, and she twiddled with a pen between her fingers, "how are you?" It wasn't the question she wanted to ask. She wanted to ask what he was doing here- or, what he could possibly need at the agency, knowing the man that he was. He was no hero. He had no business being in this building.

"I could lose a couple pounds," he joked. He had the audacity to laugh, despite being all muscle. Despite being more terrifying now than Hero thought then. She hoped to never see him again, but she had a feeling now that she would only see him more. Maybe she should have quit. Instead, she continued twiddling and shifting her weight. "Other than that, I'm okay. What have you been up to?"

The casualness at which he spoke...Hero felt sick. "Working. I have a presentation coming up."

"Is that right?"

She almost dropped her pen and her cheeks went red. Just stop messing with it, she thought, but it was futile. The pen was the only thing keeping her nerves intact.

"Less of a presentation and more of a pitch. It's nothing, really. Nothing exciting going on."

Truthfully, she just didn't want him to expect her around. If he thought this day was a pure coincidence, then he would expect to never see her again, and he would never come back. Because that's why he was there to begin with, right? To torture her. To bring a flood of memories. To paralyze Hero in her tracks and push her into the hurricane she evaded so long ago.

He didn't have to stop her.

He didn't have to pretend to be friends.

He didn't have to entertain himself like this- torture Hero like this.

Regretfully, she bit her lip. God, she tried so hard to suppress the nerves, the fear of seeing him, of recognizing him, and him recognizing her.

What made it all worse was when he said her name again. It would haunt her.

"I should go now. I'll see you around, Hero."

******