#*`and the world begins to fade ( spike/aisling )

[i-cant-sing]

Okay, Moon anon was able to contact me and I'm gonna post their chapters 3-6 here.

Daniel and YN 3 🌗🌗

Rainy days are crazy. Some of YN’s best and worst memories were on a rainy day. It was a rainy day when Daniel was born. His parents overjoyed when he decided to join the world early. The Sunny morning turned rainy when they saw something was wrong. The sky was so dark when the doctored explained that their baby didn’t get enough oxygen in the womb or when he came out. That his brain was impacted by the trauma. It took four years for Daniel’s mother to stop blaming herself, four years for her to understand that she couldn’t have known that something was wrong in her womb. Four years when they had their second child. It was a rainy day when YN and Daniel got lost. Holding each other’s hand, tightly they wandered the Kamino Ward. Hoping that their parents would be right down an alley or around the corner. That was a terrible 6th birthday for YN. The steps Daniel left in the dirt started to get deeper and more burnt. The boy slightly started to tremble. “Daniel.. it’s gonna be ok. Momma and Pop are going to find us we just have to-“ “Are you two lost?” A very tall man in a black suit asked. YN couldn’t remember his face, but his voice was eerily calm and smoothe. His head had snow white hair on it. A look at him would’ve left even the hero All Might scared. “ye…Yes. My brother and I can’t find our parents..” “Oh dear. Well I can help you. They couldn’t have gotten far.” He held his hand to Daniel. And he almost took it had YN not stepped in. “We’re not supposed to touch strangers.” “Oh yes, that’s a very good rule. Well my name is.. Shigaraki. Now what are yours?” “…yn.. and daniel..” “Now we aren’t strangers. Let’s get you two somewhere safe. Your brother’s quirk might level the neighborho-“ “YN! DANIEL!” The relieved voice of their father shouted out. And the two quickly turned away, toward his calls and open arms. Tears running down their faces, swearing to never wander off again. The day was saved. When YN went to turn to Mr Shigaraki to tell him it was fine, he had disappeared into the crowd. But one question lingered in her head. How did he know Daniel’s quirk could be dangerous? It was a sunny day at first when YN and Daniel went out to the park for their Day out. YN had already planned to tell her parents that she wanted to come back here for her 12th birthday in a few months. Daniel kept over-stimulating himself with every single thing that caught his eyes. The anthill, the trees, the way the wind carried the leaves, when he and YN jumped around over the hopscotch drawings. When the rain came down they didn’t want to leave. They wanted to splash in the wetness like a couple of ducks. But Momma was insistent it was time to go back to the apartment. Inside the car YN immediately put on her headphones to listen to nightcore covers of popular songs. It wasn’t until she noticed her mom’s terrified expression and felt her dad’s fear did she take them off. “-I DONT KNOW ITS NOT BREAKING!” “WE’RE GOING RIGHT INTO TRAFFIC! DO SOMETHING!” “..momma?..” “DANIEL! YN GET DOWN!” That was the last thing her mother said to her. The rain hit the car harder. Daniel was quick to cover his little sister as the car swerved towards a large truck. YN felt her brother shield over their bodies. The last thing she heard from her father was a yell. Before they crashed into the truck. Before YN and Daniel were flung out into the side of the road. Scratches beginning to litter their arms and cheeks. YN felt the rain on her face as she tried looking up. Tried finding her parents. It was a rainy day when the last image of her parents was the crushed front end of the car. 🌗🌗

Daniel and YN 4 🌗🌗

The incident at the cafe left a bigger mess then was intended. Of course the waitress didn’t say a word about who caused the mess, still terrified of the threat, but the manager still called the police. At the moment it was being investigated as a break in. It wasn’t until they started to bag the broken vases as evidence did they think to call a hero as they believed this was a terrorist villain trying to strike more fear. When the first cop touch the broken vases he immediately fell over and started seizing. Like someone had sent hundreds of volts up through his gloved fingers and into his blood stream. The second cop tried picking up the glass with prongs so that she wouldn’t get the same effect. But she still felt some pain and volts. Even the glass windows were giving off static. When they were examined no one could find a point of impact. It was almost like they spontaneously exploded. Worse and more confusing yet was the fact that the material seemed to give off radiation spikes. From a computer screen image, it was like a red glow was emanated from the glass. When the police tried to check the cameras, all the footage was either ruined, too melted to gather anything. It left them in a stump. So they had to make a plea to the hero society to get fresh eyes and help on the case. Not expecting any big response. Some heroes wanted to solve the mystery because it stumped them as well. This quirk residue was something unseen before. Calls and emails were left. All saying they would look into it. And it seemed like this would just be a mysterious case left forgotten. That is until the All Might showed up in the station one morning. Along with his protege Deku. They said they wanted to solve the case because if this person left such a dangerous residue after using their quirk, then they were a danger to themselves and others. No on saw the real intentions in their eyes. When they asked about the only other patron in the cafe the police said that they tried tracking them down, but they were gone into the wind. The only other patron at the cafe made their way into a compound. Holding treats meant for a little girl. But first he had to make a stop at his boss’s office. “Hey.. Kai. You won’t believe what Just saw.” Meanwhile in the station two separate rats made calls to two separate people. “Put me through to Shigaraki…. Hello. I have something interesting to tell you. Something that might please you and your Sensei.” “Oh hey there Aizawa. Detective Tsukauchi here. Look I you know about that cafe destruction a week ago? Yea well I think you outta here about this.” Indeed the cafe incident left a bigger mess than intended. 🌗🌗

Daniel and YN part 5 🌗🌗

They’d been gone for at least two months. YN’s feet hurt and Daniel missed his own bed. But they had to keep going, with no intended final destination but a goal to keep away from the previous home they ran from. After the morning at the cafe, YN and Daniel had kept to the shadows for the rest of the day. But they couldn’t keep going like this. They needed to eat today but not at a restaurant. There was only one dreaded… dreaded option. The grocery store. So after they checked in at the latest motel with kitchens in the rooms, the siblings ventured off to the store.YN couldn’t leave Daniel alone yet. He’d panic and probably have a fit. The store was minimally packed. Since it was still early in the day it seemed like they would zip in and out with relative ease. After grabbing the bare essentials, and what she could pack in a backpack without much drag, it was time to go to the candy aisle. It was a long journey thus far, a journey deserving of some sour candies. But of course there had to be another person there. Invading space and looking right at her favorites. She wanted to just grab and go. But her hand and the stranger's hand touched as they reached for the same one. “Sorry. I should’ve watched where I was going heh..” The tall redhead said. A small blush on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fine. Lemme just grab and go here.” She looked back for Daniel, luckily he was close by staring at the varieties of pocky they had. Turning back she noticed his uniform. UA, that might prove to be a complication. But YN was desperate for some kind words and a brief moment to talk to someone her own age. “So you go to UA? Are you a general student or a hero course student?” “Oh hero course definitely! I even have my hero name chosen!” “Wow that’s great. I hope in a few years I get to be saved by…?” “Red Riot!” “Like Crimson Riot?” “Exactly! I really admire him and I hope I live up to his-“ “OI SH**TY HAIR! WE’RE GONNA BE LATE! GRAB YOUR CRAP AND LET’S GO!” A blonde kid shouted down the aisle, also wearing a UA outfit. YN couldn’t place why but she felt like she’d known him before. That volume felt very familiar, but it startled her brother who jumped in fear causing the pocky he saw to fall off the shelving. Time to go now. “I should go anyway. It was nice meeting you.” “Wait, we could walk you and your brother to your school if you guys want?” “We have to go.” The blonde got closer and she could tell something was perpetually up his ass. “Bye.” “Wait! My name’s Eijiro Kirishima. What’s yours?” “YN. Just YN. That’s my brother Daniel.” And before he or his companion could ask anything else the two siblings fast walked toward the checkout and were out the door before they got another chance to talk to them. “YN… huh she was pretty cool right bakubro!” “What ever. Let’s get going before we show up after Deku.” But that name was familiar to him. The girl had long since faded from his mind, but how could anyone forget the day when a quirkless kid tried bashing your head into the dirt. He planned on apologizing the next day for his comments but she was gone. Gone and almost forgotten. It could be possible that this was just someone who shared the same name. But maybe.. possibly.. the universe was giving him the chance to apologize. “YN.” 🌗🌗

Daniel and YN part 6 🌗🌗

YN never really liked her neighbors. She never outright loathed them, but she was uncomfortable with how Inko kept trying to be her mother, and how Izuku had this strange obsessive stare when he looked at her. As long as they stayed in their apartment and never bothered them it would all be fine. But their parents couldn’t watch them all the time. So on days when momma and pop went out Miss Midoryia would graciously watch them. YN never liked pity. So when Miss Midoryia tried to pity and feel sorry about YN’s quirkless status, that just made her dig her heels in longer. She didn’t need people to fuss over her like she was a glass doll. At least with Izuku she could’ve had a companion. She did try to get along with him. But he was so weird. Just because they both were quirkless didn’t mean they’d would be close. “So why are you homeschooled?” “I get into fights.” “Why?” “Because people are mean and they think they’ll have no consequences to their words. I proved them wrong.” “Were they mean because you’re quirkless or because Daniel is… different?” Now obviously he didn’t mean any harm by that. But an emotional 10 year old girl is not someone to mess with. So with a sharp glare to his face the conversation quickly died. In the dining room, Daniel would usually be coloring. Or playing with his legos. Something to stim and distract his mind. Sometimes he’d just pull out a old painting his dad got him, and he’d spend hours looking at the strokes and would mentally add a new feature. Twirling the hair on his head whilst sucking/biting his thumb. “Daniel? Would you like some water?” “No miss. I want momma.” “I know sweetie but she won’t be gone forever. And you call me Inko” Though she’d prefer him to call her something more affectionate. Throughout the night Inko kept trying to mother them. She hovered over YN’s neck and tried petting her head which resulted in a swipe from the little girl. By the time YN’s parents got back, she was relieved and spent the rest of the night complaining to her mom about how she didn’t want to go over to the neighbors anymore and how she felt uncomfortable. Across the hall the two greenettes were enamored with the two kids. Inko adored how sweet Daniel was, how shy he looked to her. Izuku was star struck at this girl without a quirk who was so quick to fight against the norms put in place by a society against them. They'd soon make it a habit to try to talk to the family in the hall, or bump into them on the street. One day, after the family had been gone for a couple weeks, they saw the two with several police officers and a social worker packing away all their belongings. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that something terrible had happened. When Inko offered to watch them, the social worker confirmed the worst and took the children away. Three weeks later, as her son was at school Inko kept trying to find the legal way for her to gain custody of the kids when her door was knocked. Her husband, AFO, on the other side. She tried telling him to go away. Tried saying that he had no part in Izuku’s life anymore. But he had a bigger role than known. “How can you be so cruel my love? Especially now that I’ve opened the door for you to gain what you want?” “What do you mean?” “I’ll help you gain custody of the two children you are craving. I happen to have a fascination with them as well.” “I can’t ever guarantee that we’ll be a whole family ever again.” “Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to. But let’s try something for now.” So Inko made a deal with the devil, to gain two angels. 🌗🌗

Now that AFO is in the story, I'm like so excited! Great work, Moon anon!

[tartagilicious]

Hey, could I have a 700 followers prompt thingy? A soulmate au for Zion from dangerous fellows with the prompt “you’re the only person I wouldn’t want to change a thing about; you’re already perfect.” If not I completely understand, I love your writing ❤

monochrome soulmate au, wherein your vision is black and white until you meet your soulmate. 

thank you~ ❤  

I… want to write soulmate!Zion again

also extremely critical question here, do you think if there had been ’soulmates’ in the game and the mc was one of the other guy’s soulmate, Lawrence would leave them be? let’s discuss 👀

—

You had lived every single day of your life looking for what you didn’t know the appearance of. Colour was like a fantasy to children, and a luxury for anyone else that found their soulmate and had the pleasure of experiencing the world to the fullest. You hoped desperately that you would be able to experience it one day, too. 

In the meantime, you saw black and white for years. There wasn’t a single hint of change, no matter how many people you met, and no matter how many times you found yourself wandering the streets. But, you still looked for the green of the trees, the blue of the sky, the pink of the flowers in your garden, even when you weren’t quite sure what they looked like yet. You imagined the colour of your eyes, of your favourite shirt, and your best friend’s shoes. But you wished to see it as it actually was more than anything else. 

Then there was a breakout.

An unknown epidemic that plagued the world suddenly came to light, forcing you from everything you once knew. You couldn’t find it in yourself to imagine the colours of the world anymore as you walked the streets alone, hiding from the blood-thirsting creatures that controlled the streets. It was an indefinite routine of hopping from one house to the nest, raiding one store or the other, and you weren’t sure you could stomach living in such a way for much longer. 

And at that point, you knew that you would never find your soulmate; you had no hope of doing so.

You no longer dreamed, you no longer hoped, and you no longer saw the one thing you’d been grasping to your entire life. It was a pity when it came up in your thoughts, but your mind refused to imagine the colour of the skies in the same way it had before. 

For weeks it was like that, depressingly so.    

Then you had your biggest scare. 

You had gone into an abandoned supermarket that day after realising that the area around it was void of anything living or undead, but looking back, that should’ve been warning enough. It was a good sweep, almost as if the store hadn’t been touched, but your luck ran out faster than you expected when you turned around to see a zombie in the dimmed corner of the room. 

You stayed completely still as your heartbeat spiked. You cursed yourself and your reckless decisions as you stared at the zombie. It was staggering around vaguely, taking the yucky smell it emitted with it, and the way its bones cracked and fangs clamped did nothing but put you on edge. 

You bit your lip, your eyes slightly wide as you whispered, “Shit,”

You realised your mistake as soon as the words left your mouth, but it was too late, the zombie had already begun to rush towards you. You wasted no time in trying to get away, another string of unpleasant words coming out of your mouth as you tried to manoeuvre through the mess in the aisle. 

Your breaths became anxious as you resorted to hastily kicking around the items on the floor. 

“Please, someone,” You gasped, not daring to look back as you shouted, “Help me!”

You had run through this scenario a million times in your head, but your thoughts were frozen. Your mind was blank, and you didn’t see the possibility of even forming a decent idea under so much stress. 

All you could do was run. 

“This way!”

Your head whipped to the side at an unfamiliar voice, but it was undoubtedly human, so you followed it with no hesitation. You could barely see anything as you stumbled over to the outline of a man with a bat, but he seemed more prepared than you were.

“Shit!”

No sooner than that, you heard a thump beside you as the zombie collapsed. You didn’t know how to comprehend the situation, but you felt slightly better when you heard the same voice ask, 

“Are you alright?”

It was a boy with light hair and dark eyes, you couldn’t tell much more than that, but you could tell he was handsome. He repeated the question when you didn’t answer, and you apologised and pushed out an unconvincing answer.

“But, uh.. who are you?”

A guy that looked to be around the same age as you held out his hand wordlessly from beside the other. 

As you stared at it, he asked, “Shouldn’t you say ‘thank you’ first?”

You struggled to get out the words, but were interrupted by a sigh from someone behind you. 

“Forget it. We’ve got no time,” They said. You turned around with furrowed eyebrows as the boy spoke. “We need to move.”

Your eyes met as the sentence ended, and you immediately noticed something was off. His hair, his eyes, his clothes — all of them were beginning to fill in with pigment. His hair was a light red, and his eyes were yellow — almost gold. You blinked, and he seemed surprised as well, but the others didn’t seem to notice. 

“Are you hurt?”

Another came up to you, his expression worried. You tore your eyes away from the redhead to see the others. The one that had asked you if you were okay had white hair and strikingly purple eyes, while the one that had given you a rude first impression was blonde with brown eyes. You let the one who had come up to you — brown hair and brown eyes — help you up, and at that point, you had no choice but to follow them outside of the store, even if you had no idea what was happening still. 

“Let’s get moving,” The one with brown hair said this to everyone. He seemed to be more of the leader. “We don’t want them coming after us again.”

“I think they already are!”

The redhead turned around, and almost simultaneously, you saw horde of zombies hurtling towards you.

“Damn it! Run!”

This time, he doesn’t wait. Instead, he grabs your hand and starts running. 

You tried your best as to not slow them down and ran as fast as you could, even if your legs were already jelly from the multiple surprises you’d already gotten. 

“Come on, stay focused!”

Your soulmate reminded you as you ran, and while you didn’t reply, you pushed your all into your running. You certainly didn’t want to die, especially not after you’d finally found your soulmate.

The zombies only seemed to multiply in numbers behind you, but you pushed yourself harder, your grip like iron on his hand. You wished the zombies were slower. With the speed they were at, you were sure that no one would be able to tell they were undead.

“Oh, please-” You whisper this in a hurry, getting a glance from the boy beside you. Soon, there’s a gate in sight, and you immediately let go of the boy’s hand, ignoring his shouts as you go to push open the gate in vain. 

The boy with white hair looked frustrated as he stepped up next to you, helping you in your attempt to push open the gate. 

“Damn,” The pessimistic blonde sighed as he helped you both push, “I told you we shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

You were about to reply when a zombie, faster than the rest, reached out towards you after effectively avoiding the two fending them off. Knowing there was nothing else to do, you cringed away, praying the gate would open. 

You opened your eyes to a familiar thump and saw the zombie at your feet, the redhead standing over you as he breathed hard. 

You stared at him for a second, before the gate gave out behind you, and you were all pushed inside. You and the boy fall to the ground and roll over as the other guys fighting the zombies barely make it in time. 

“Zion! Stop what you’re doing and get up!”

The redhead that you now knew as Zion stood up and grabbed your hand without a word, following the others to a safe distance away while the one with the baseball bat closed the gate. You all file quickly inside the schoolyard, and the lock of the gate fills you with a sense of relief, although every last inch of your body is sore. 

 “Oh shit,” Zion looks out the gate with a forced smile as the zombies push and groan. “That was close.”

The zombie’s skin was grey, and their eyes were white and faded, almost exactly as you’d imagined. And, while you were happy that you didn’t have to imagine the colours anymore, you would rather keep going without the image of a zombie in your head. 

Your arms and legs shook as you stood there, but you got a comforting squeeze from Zion who still stood beside you. You tried your best to give him a smile in return, but it felt like you were grimacing instead.

His golden eyes held a strange mix of fear and happiness, one that you were sure your own mirrored. The situation you had found each other in was odd, but forgetting about that, you had barely made it out alive. That was the worse experience you’d ever had to go through, and the mere thought made you frown. You all would be dead if it weren’t for that gate, and the realisation alone gave you chills.

“Are you alright?” Zion brought you back to reality with a question, his eyes showing a caring amount of concern.

You swallowed what you wanted to say and nodded. “Yeah, you?”

Your answer seemed to relieve him. “I’m fine.”

As everyone wasted no more time in going back into the school and leaving the horde of zombies behind, Zion’s head turned to you as you walked. 

“You know, it was pretty lucky we even got out of there in the first place,” He said, pursing his lips slightly as he continued with an indifferent smile. “But somehow I’d say it’s even luckier I managed to meet you at this point.”

“You’re telling me. I spent years daydreaming about that moment, but it happened in an abandoned grocery store in the apocalypse. Even I couldn’t have daydreamed that up.”

He laughed, and the sound made your heart jump. As if your coloured vision wasn’t enough to tell you that boy was your soulmate. 

“Yeah, it’s sort of funny to meet your soulmate like that, isn’t it?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, you were stopped in your tracks by the blonde, who had been walking in front of you. 

“Hold on, did you guys just say-?”

You stood there staring at him for a moment before you exchanged looks with Zion. 

“What are you talking about, Eugene?” Zion asked, letting out a laugh that seemed convincingly natural. “We’ve said a lot of things.”

He quirked a brow. “Soulmates?”

Your lips parted as you gave him an awkward smile. Zion wasn’t saying anything, so you decided to just drop the ball before anything else could happen. 

“Your blonde hair is very pretty,” You complimented him quietly, your ears turning red as Zion laughed from beside you. 

—

it was excruciating to explain it to everyone. Especially to the one girl you’d met, Scarlett, who got severely defensive when faced with the situation. She was obviously close to Zion to some degree, and didn’t believe you when you said it outright. And while you were hurt by that, you felt victorious when she had no choice but to believe you when you began to call out the colours of everything in the room and describe, vaguely of course, what it was like when you met him. 

It was less than fun dealing with it, but she was quiet in the end. 

Lawrence, the boy with the brown hair seemed oddly disappointed in way, too. About what, you didn’t know, but you knew it would be rude to ask, since you weren’t close. 

But, after you were done with your explanations, the first thing you and Zion did was run to the bathrooms in search of a mirror. You’d gone your entire lives not knowing what you fully looked like; and the descriptions you got from others who had found their soulmates had never been nearly enough. 

“You know,” You played with a strand of your hair as Zion fixed his own. “People always told me it was more of a honey brown, but I think it looks a little more like dirt brown.”

“I think it’s a nice brown.” He said, his eyes meeting yours in the mirror.

You felt yourself getting flustered and looked away. Then, with a tentative breath, you joked, “Maybe I should dye it. I’ve heard of people doing that. I’m sure there wold be some left somewhere, considering most people don’t want to dye their hair in the middle of an apocalypse.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you could do it.” He joked along with you, making you laugh. “No one else is weird enough to do that now.”

You nodded thoughtfully. 

“Should I try? Maybe I will, since I don’t really think the colour looks good on me.”

“Hey,” He suddenly stopped playing with his own hair. “I get wanting to dye it, but that’s completely different.”

Giving you a comforting grin, he put a hand on your shoulder and said, “You’re honestly the only one I would’t want to change a thing about. You’re already perfect.”

Colour flooded your cheeks in an instant, and even a laugh wouldn’t have played it off at that point.  So, you did the first thing that came to your mind and buried your embarrassment deep, laying your hand on top of his. Then, staring into his eyes, you smiled and nodded. 

“If you say it, then I’ll believe it.”

[parkjmini]

runaway bride | 01

park jimin  running away from your own wedding was only the beginning of your long check list to finally get Park Jimin to realize you two were fated to be word count: 2789 genre: angst/fluff warnings: explicit language

01 . 02

a/n: new story alert??!1??? lol the summary for it was the shittiest thing ive ever come up with but ya point and blank, that’s that 

The chatters in the chapel filled your restless head. The song went off --- it was starting. You held your bouquet of red roses in your hands tightly, gripping the stems until they suffocated. Your head was ducked low as the double doors opened for your entrance. Your family and friends stared back at you in astonishment at your glamorous white dress and dazzling veil. Your heels echoed in the large room as you made your way down the aisle. 

Jimin stared at you with beautiful glimmering eyes. His suit fit him nicely, tailored to his size. His smile was full of admiration and there were tears welled up at the rims of his eyes. You were glad that your veil covered much of your expressions because you couldn’t hold the smile that came with meeting Jimin’s gaze.

You inched closer to the alter and soon you joined your fiance at the end of the aisle. He held your hand in his and he whispered, “you are beautiful.” You nodded, not phased by his words. Your eyes glanced over his shoulder and Jimin’s figure stood quietly behind him. 

You blinked back at your fiance with guilt and regret. He was not the man of your dreams. Soon after, tears rolled down your painted cheeks and you brought your hand up to wipe them away. You had been indecisive and unsure about marrying your boyfriend of three years these days leading up to the ceremony. When he proposed, you thought it could’ve worked out. However, Jimin silently existed and always had a way to steal your heart. 

Your relationship with Jimin had always been complex. He was your ex-best friend’s boyfriend the first time you had met him. There were no romantic feelings back then, but even after their break up, Jimin managed to pop up in your life throughout the years.

When you and your old best friend had gone your separate ways, you had joined an internship under a large company. Coincidentally, Jimin had walked into the same elevator as you the morning of your first day. He awkwardly looked at you, trying to decipher who you were until he stopped you as you exited.

“(Y/N), right?” He had called after you and you stopped in your tracks at the sound of your name. You had remembered Jimin, but he was never someone significant in your life until that specific moment. He had offered to show you around the building and to eat lunch with you.

As time had passed, you had began noticing his small details, like how his eyes disappeared when he laughed, how his lips formed a small pout, or how he ran his hand through his hair often. He exuded such strong leadership qualities and a charismatic aura. He was fit and laughed at your jokes. You liked Jimin’s company, but you had been seeing someone else at the time. 

After you had left the internship, you lost touch with him and you had gone several years until you saw Jimin again. You had gone to your old friend’s wedding, half expecting it to be like a high school reunion, but to your surprise, Jimin stood among a crowd of people. You had thought it was strange to see him and maybe your eyes had been playing tricks on you. As you hurried to your spot in the church, he sat down next to you and greeted you with his warm smile. 

“What a small world.” He had said to you and sipped his champagne. You had been shocked out of your mind at his sudden presence and you remembering him chuckling at your surprised nature. “Didn’t think I’d forget you right?”

You had broken up with your previous boyfriend for over a year and had slight hope that Jimin had been single as well. It was perfect. Almost perfect. He had explained why he had been at the wedding; he was his girlfriend’s plus one. He was with Cynthia and had been going out for almost two years. 

It would’ve been a lie to say that your heart didn’t crack the slightest. You and Jimin were practically fated to be. You two shared the same humor, same personality, same tastes, but the only issue was timing. You and Jimin were never single at the same time and no matter how long you could wait until he showed up in your life again, it was never enough.

The priest’s voice rambled on and on, fading out in the distance as you bounced between your fiance and Jimin. He saw your shifty eyes and slyly shook his head. The expression of fear took over his face. Jimin knew what went on in your pretty little head. He knew it all. He knew you and your heart longed to just be with him. 

“--I’m sorry.” You abruptly spoke, causing murmurs to erupt in the crowd and your fiance stared at you with confused eyes. Jimin shook his head to plead you from going on. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to marry you. I’m sorry.” You cried and hurried out of the chapel. There were calls of your name and the volume of talk escalated. However, you ran to where your heels could take you. 

There were stares from strangers on the street, watching a distressed runaway bride rush down the streets. You weren’t sure how you ended up where you did, but entered the tiny ice cream shop and your dress filled it up to the brim. The employees smiled, but then quickly blinked at you in awe and confusion.

“(Y/N)?” The manager walked out with new tubs of ice cream for the counters. You had frequented this ice cream joint for as long as you could remember. It wasn’t a big chain, it was the only one you knew. They had an exclusive flavor that you couldn’t find anywhere else. Jimin had introduced you and your ex-best friend this place when they were still dating at the time and it had stayed with you ever since. 

You had come so often to the manager had gotten to know you and your order. She was the one who recommended the catering place for your wedding. She would’ve been there too, but she couldn’t get the day off. “(Y/N), is everything okay?” She ran from behind the counter to lead you to one of the sticky tables.

“I couldn’t marry him. I just ran out of there in the middle of the ceremony and left 7 months of intensive planning go to waste.” You told her as your mascara smeared under your eyes.

“What happened? You were excited! You had everything all figured out, this is not like you.” She went around back to scoop you your usual and to grab a few extra napkins.

“I don’t know what came over me. Guilt. Regret. Confusion. Adrenaline. Fear. He’s not the one I wanted to marry. The person I wanted to be with was behind him, all posh and ready to send me off to someone else.” You said as you recalled the bittersweet memory of Jimin standing behind your fiance.

She sighed, “so what is going to happen now?”��

“I just left one of biggest events in my life, my own wedding. I can’t imagine the heat I’m going to get from my family, my friends, his family, from my own fiance. I made him a fool up there. We had the whole night planned. It was going to be ceremony, then banquet and a night of dancing. Now, it’s 40,000 dollars down the drain.” You stuffed your mouth with the rich chocolate ice cream. “But I couldn’t marry someone I didn’t love.” 

“Oh honey. I don’t know how anyone would recover from this. They’re all probably wondering where you are.” 

“I know a bride in a big, white fluffy wedding gown is not hard to spot, but I don’t want them to find me. I can’t face them after being a runaway bride or hurting my own fiance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael never wanted to see me again.” The manager dabbed away the few tears that escaped. 

The ring of the door opening caused your heart to spike up, afraid that someone had found you. The manager got up to greet the incoming customers, all who strangely looked at you stuffing ice cream down your throat in your wedding gown. “You can stay as long as you want.” She whispered before hurrying back behind the counter to assist her employees. 

-

The sound of your name woke you up from your slumber. A sticky residue stuck to your forearms and it had only hit you that you were still in your wedding gown. You turned around in the chair and shot up when you saw his figure at the door.

The manager cleared her throat, “I’m sorry, we’re closed.” 

“It’s okay. It’s not him.” Those words burned more when spoken aloud. It was incredibly clear at this point. Your own fiance wasn’t the one who found you. It was Jimin, who stood there showing signs of distress and fatigue.

“It took me awhile to figure out where you’d hide, but it hit me.” He walked over to you and held your hand. “You, once, said that ice cream was your comfort food and if you could runaway somewhere, it would be here.” 

You stepped away, “you came alone, right?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t give me bragging rights if I found you with a group of people.” Jimin joked, but his laughter quickly receded. “You want to tell me why you ran off?” 

“It must be chaos over there when I left. How did it go down?” Jimin sighed at your endless questions and no answer.

“I’ll bring you back to my place and I’ll pour you a nice glass of wine. We’ll dine and chat about the shitshow that you caused and then, you can tell me the reason behind it all.” Jimin smiled kindly, and lent out his hand for you to take again. 

That was the best thing about him. He was always calm and understanding. He had a look in his eyes, like you couldn’t have done anything wrong. There was no judgement with him. “I think I’ll pass on dinner. I can still feel the fudge in my stomach.” You laughed the first time that day. Thanking the manager, you followed Jimin to his car and he sped off to his apartment.

-

As you two walked through the lobby of Jimin’s busy apartment, people chatted among themselves and some even congratulated you two on your marriage. They didn’t know that Jimin wasn’t the one you married or the fact that you ran away from your own wedding. 

“Mr. Park, good evening. Oh my! Congratulations on your marriage and scoring such a beautiful bride.” The lobby receptionist greeted Jimin and he only nodded with a smile.

You two waited at the silver elevators and you held his hand tightly, staring at his profile and wondering why he didn’t correct anyone. The doors opened and you two entered the velvet elevator.

Jimin lived in a nice, newer building. It was modern, but still had a touch of elegance to it. It was the complex that only people with enough money can afford to live in. Whenever you came to visit him, you never wanted to leave. 

“Why didn’t you correct them?” You asked.

Jimin peered over at you, hands in his pockets. “Why should I?” 

“Because I wasn’t marrying you today, if I was... I wouldn’t have ran away.” The elevator rang as you arrived on his floor and he led you to his door.

“You say a lot of silly things, so I thought I’d play silly with everyone else too.” He smirked before unlocking his pin. You got a whiff of his minty, musky scent as he opened his door. “Let me get you a change of clothes.” 

“You don’t have to...”

“I’m sure you’re seeking some sort of relief from that corset. Come on.” He gestured you to his large room and you waited as he tossed random articles of clothing onto his huge mattress. “Here’s a shirt and some sweats.”

You thanked him and ran your hand across the soft material. He nodded and headed for the door, “just hang up your wedding dress in the closet and come out when you’re done. I’ll have your glass ready for you.” 

When he left, you carefully got out of your wedding dress. You took a deep breath, finally being able to breathe now that you were no longer suffocated. Jimin’s shirt fell above your thighs and his sweats hung loosely on your body, but you didn’t mind. You brought the collar up to your nose and inhale how it smelled exactly like him.

Your heart soared, being intoxicated with all of him. You almost forgot the events that had led up to this moment. Almost. You walked out and Jimin placed a glass of dark liquid on his dining table. He paused for a moment to admire you in his clothes, that definitely didn’t go unnoticed to you. “I’m going to be frank. The moment you ran of the chapel, hell broke loose.” 

He took a swig of his drink and joined you at the vacant table. “His mother almost fainted and Michael, he ran off to his dressing room to save face. The guy was embarrassed, like extremely embarrassed.”

“Oh no...”

“That wasn’t even the worst part. Your families started fighting and yelling at each other. It was the strangest and most dramatic thing I’ve ever seen. His side was screaming, ‘you’re daughter is an ungrateful, no good fool!’ and your Aunt Nancy yelled back, ‘Michael is a coward and only cared about her eggs!’ I would’ve stayed, but the boys were running around trying to hold everyone back. I took that opportunity to check up on Michael.” Jimin often times spoke with hand movements and his body. He was theatrical and whimsical.

You mixed the crimson colored wine in its tall glass, letting the aroma fill your nose. Jimin’s house smelled like two things: mint and finely aged alcohol. He had crates of bottles stacked against his wall and bottles of whiskey in his fridge. Jimin was an avid drinker and had a high tolerance to such beverages. You and Michael, on the other hand, only needed two glasses to get you two as red as a tomato. 

“I crushed his heart, I already know.” You sighed heavily and sipped your drink, the bitterness taking over your palette.

“I guess you don’t really see a person’s true colors until shit hits the fan, but Michael was definitely not the person I thought he was the moment I knocked on his door. He was crying and pacing around the room, throwing off his tie and his blazer. He was more embarrassed and hurt at the fact that you ran off and left him there alone. He went on about how everyone important in his life just witness you reject him. He wasn’t hurt that you didn’t love him..... it was absolutely ridiculous.” 

That should’ve hurt you. Michael honestly didn’t care about you or how you felt. He only wanted to sleep with you and the thought of you bearing his children excited him. He was intrigued by you, in love with you in a twisted way. But his reaction didn’t phase you, Jimin was probably more angry at it than you were. 

Truly, you didn’t love Michael at all. Not a single second of your relationship. Your feelings for Jimin didn’t allow space for Michael. You were pressured by your parents to agree to Michael’s proposal. He was next in line for chairman in his father’s company. It was a promised, comfortable future. 

Your cheeks soaked in the red liquid, being heavy with intoxication. You smirked at Jimin’s fuming state, “why is it ridiculous?”

He peered up at you, scoffing at your glowing tomato face. “I hate when you depict me as the emotionless villain. For your information, a wedding is a celebration for two people who love each other and who want to spend the rest of their lives together.”

“Thanks, a dictionary would’ve also been able to tell me that.” The sarcasm laced your words and Jimin shook his head at you, already pouring his next glass. “I want to know why Park Jimin finds Michael’s reaction ridiculous.” 

“Because, (Y/N). You deserve to marry someone who loves you.” Jimin’s face leaned closer to yours and your back hit the chair in an instant, your heart racing at his words and the sudden proximity. 

[incessantwritersblock]

La Bague - Pas Si Simple

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Warnings: cursing, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Word Count: 3,016

Summary: When Sirius loses a family heirloom, he’s surprised it falls right into his lap, so he sets out to find who orchestrated the whole thing.

About: This is the third installment of three stories inspired by various aspects of both the movie and musical Amelie, despite the two being very different and the Broadway run being way different than the LA run that I saw and enjoyed. Anyway, I decided to write a story for each of my three favorite marauders.

A/N: I’m watching the Gilmore Girls episode where Rory has her coming out party, and now I’m thinking about Sirius as a Christopher type character at all the society balls. I’m gonna go scream into a pillow now. A potential story may or may not come of this. I just had to get out my feelings, so if you wanna talk about this, tell me your ideas.

More Pas Si Simple: Moony, Padfoot, Prongs

“She’s gonna kill me!” Sirius cried while he turned his entire room upside down in a desperate search, “Like, my mother will definitely curse me if I don’t have that ring on my finger when I get home for the holiday banquet.”

“Relax, Sirius,” James told his friend, “I promise you that we’ll find it in time for the holidays.”

…

The sun had begun to set in the astronomy tower, and it was just about time to begin your work. After fetching your textbooks, notes, and other supplies from your bag, you splayed them out on a table beside a telescope. The golden light streaming across the room warmed your chilled skin while you opened up all your materials to where you could work easily. A glint  from the corener caught your eye unexpectedly, and you approached the light to find a ring sitting on the floor displaying a center emerald within a crest. 

You’d felt like you’d seen the symbol before, so your fingers slid the ring into your pocket. Since it was late on a Friday, you could always turn it into McGonagall on Monday. After all, the ring looked valuable, and there were plenty of students who would likely pawn the thing if they found it. Unfortunately, that also meant someone was probably frantically searching for it before going home for break next week.

While the sun completed its decent past the horizon, you wondered who would lose such a valuable possession. The thought, however, quickly faded once you began to work on your astronomy project late into the night and into the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, you’d been given permission beforehand to stay in the astronomy tower until you saw fit.

Once you’d finished your end of semester project to turn in, you’d shuffled back to your dorm while thinking more about Christmas coming up.  Between the cheesy traditions, the hot chocolate, the decorations, the music, and everything the season came with, you loved the holiday despite never having people to celebrate with you. After all, you usually stayed home alone on Christmas, reading and listening to festive music beside the tree. By the time you’d gotten in bed, the ring had slipped your mind.

The following Saturday morning began as usual. You’d slept in a decent amount before heading down to breakfast to greet your friends. On your walk there, your thoughts drifted back to the ring. You almost thought it was your imagination when you saw a flyer posted that read, “Lost Ring If found, contact Sirius Black. There is a reward.” You immediately knew that the ring you found was his. That’s where you’d seen the image on it before. It was the Black family’s crest.

Shoving your hand in your pocket, you felt the ring you’d slipped in there when you’d gotten dressed. You briskly made your way to the Great Hall for breakfast, where you spotted Sirius with his friends the minute you’d entered, laughing at Gryffindor’s table. The sound prompted your heartbeat to gradually  escalate. You couldn’t just walk up to him and give him the ring. You’d probably embarrass yourself like an idiot if you so much as spoke one word, and it didn’t help that he was handsome.

Without even intending to, you walked past them and to your usual spot, regaining your composure now that you weren’t actually returning it yet. You could just pretend you didn’t see the flyer, and you could give it back when he was alone. So much for working up the nerve to talk to him.

After breakfast, you found yourself in the library. The week had been stressful, and the common room was too noisy for reading on the weekends. So, you found yourself leisurely relaxing in a comfy chair in some far-off corner of the library where nobody would find you. As your eyes skimmed across the words written on the pages, your hand subconsciously reached into your pocket to retrieve the ring there. While your mind raced with excitement, you found yourself flipping and spinning the metal in your fingers.

You’d been waiting for this event to happen since chapter two, and you could hardly contain yourself while you fidgeted faster and faster with the ring until the moment you’d waited for finally came to pass, and you finished the chapter. You took a moment to reflect on the text by shutting the book and setting it on your lap. Your adrenaline had spiked so high that your pulse was almost erratic.

After you took a deep, calming breath, you realized what you were doing, playing with Sirius’s ring. “What kind of person does that?” you wondered to yourself. Quickly dismissing your embarrassment, you hid the ring in another pocket before you picked up your book again.

Before you dove back in to another world, you shifted in your seat to avoid stiffness, all the while scanning your surroundings to assure yourself that nobody saw you holding the missing ring. However, nobody was around that you knew of, but there was someone a few aisles over searching for a book. You heard their footsteps and fingertips brushing across book spines.

A few more chapters in, and you subconsciously noticed the person who had been searching the library in your peripheral vision. Your eyes froze on the word you were reading, and your palms grew clammy. Of course, it had to be Sirius.

Mentally cursing yourself, you remembered your promise earlier. The next time you saw alone him, you promised that you’d return the ring. He looked so deep in thought, though, and you didn’t want to give up this connection to him, even if he didn’t know who you were. So, you kept reading until he left.

This happened four more times. You’d see Sirius and chicken out of talking to him every time without fail. Eventually, you knew you’d have to find some other way to return his ring, so you started brainstorming. The best option you could think of was to return it by owl, and that was how you finally sent it off.

Sirius received the small package one Tuesday evening at dinner when mail arrived. It was tied in paper with an adorable bow and a notecard that had his name scrawled across the front in writing he didn’t recognize. He was almost afraid to open it, but his fear subsided when he decided it couldn’t be from any of his family members.

Unfolding the note, he read the hand-written explanation that his ring had been found in the astronomy tower. His face lit up with a mix of relief and excitement when he cast the paper aside to open the package. Under the brown wrapping, sat his family’s emerald ring bearing the Black Family crest.

Sirius beamed with joy as he held the ring before kissing it and lifting it above his head in triumph.

“James! Remus! Someone found it! Look! Look! Look! Oh, Merlin, I can’t believe this! I’m saved! It’s really here!”

“Calm down, mate,” James patted his friend on his shoulder from his spot beside him, “I told you that it’d turn up.”

“So, who found it?” Remus wondered.

James perked up at the thought. “Oh yes! I’m interested in who now has ultimate immunity from all pranks, shenanigans, nonsense, and tomfoolery until graduation.”

“Wait,” Remus laughed, “That’s what you meant when you said, ‘There is a reward’ on that flyer?”

“Well, I thought it was a good reward,” shrugged James.

“I didn’t say it was bad, I just wouldn’t necessarily consider that a ‘reward’.” Remus shook his fondly at his friends. “I don’t know anyone who would to be honest, but anyway, back to the point. Who found it?”

Sirius picked up the parchment note after slipping the ring on his finger. He scanned the words over again in hopes to find a name, but he came up emptyhanded. “I don’t know,” he mumbled with a hint of disappointment, “They didn’t sign their name... I feel bad. This person truly saved my skin, and I can’t even thank them.”

Remus noticed his friend’s slightly deflated mood, and in an attempt to comfort him, he stated, “They probably just wanted to do something nice without anything in return.”

“I know, Remus,” Sirius sighed, “but that almost makes me want to thank them more. Whoever did this has no clue how much I appreciate it.”

“They might.” James was the one to suggest that.

Sirius stood up from the table slowly while he decided, “Even if they don’t now, they will. I’ve gotta find this person. I just don’t feel right without properly thanking them.”

And without another word, Sirius was walking out of the Great Hall with a plan in mind.

Wednesday afternoon, you walked past the bulletin board on your way to the common room. However, you were distracted when you noticed a new flyer about Sirius’s ring. In bold letters read, “To the person who found my ring, Please, meet me where you found it tonight.

A cold chill ran up your spine before you rushed to your dorm as fast as you could, climbing into bed to hide under your covers for the rest of the night. Nope, you certainly were not going to meet him in the Astronomy tower in the evening, alone. You couldn’t even return the ring in person, let alone voluntarily meet him.

Meanwhile, Sirius sat in the astronomy tower, watching the sun set slowly over the horizon. He’d been waiting for two hours, and still nothing. Another few hours passed, but he was still alone. Finally, the wooden door creaked open, and Sirius spun around with the brightest smile on his face only for it to fall when he found Remus and James standing in the doorway.

“Ten minutes until curfew, Sirius. We figured we’d let you know.” Remus paused, noting that Sirius was alone. “Didn’t show up?”

Sirius shook his head shyly.

“Sorry,” James tried, “You can always try again tomorrow.”

Sirius slowly trudged to the door where his friends stood while absently pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. “Yup. Tomorrow.”

Neither Remus nor James said anything to Sirius for the rest of the night. He was too deep in thought.

The next two days, he waited in the astronomy tower without any luck. After that, classes had ended, and the term was over. He couldn’t wait there anymore, so he decided to take advantage of the final Hogsmeade trip on Saturday. He amended his meeting spot, writing on a new flyer, “The Three Broomsticks. 5:00. Please.”

He was desperate, and something inside you wanted to go.

Somehow, you found yourself outside The Three Broomsticks at 4:50, standing about 15 feet in front of the wooden door. Every time you’d try to go inside, you’d rest your hand on the handle, but then you’d turn around. You weren’t ready for this.

One time, when you almost went inside at 4:55, you recognized a girl you’d seen around Hogwarts. She walked past you and inside where she scanned the crowd to find Sirius wringing his hands nervously at a corner table. She took a slight breath and approached the nervous boy. When he noticed her, the girl motioned towards the seat across from him. He nodded in a silent invitation to sit, and she settled into the seat while Sirius watched her skeptically.

Once she was comfortable, she gave Sirius a smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he replied, “Is there something I can help you with?”

“It’s me.”

“It’s you?”

“The girl who found your ring.”

“You– You’re the person who found my ring?” Something about the situation didn’t add up to Sirius. The girl sitting before him was too sure of herself. She wasn’t timid, like he’d figured that she should be. After all, whoever found the ring had left him waiting for days, and he would think they’d be a bit nervous about that. However, this girl just sat there, looking him straight in the eye with a beaming smile on her face while she nodded energetically. “Where’d you find it again?”

“Oh, uh,” she quickly caught herself from stumbling, “the Great Hall, of course.”

Sirius stood from his seat, explaining, “That’s not where my ring was found. I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”

The girl tried to stop him, but her attempts were in vain while Sirius strolled towards the door to leave. He grabbed ahold of the handle and pushed the door open. As he was about to step outside, he almost collided with you, but you both caught yourselves before you could crash. Sirius didn’t think anything at first when he simply smiled a polite, “Excuse me.”

You were frozen for a half second when his grey eyes looked directly into yours, and you would’ve said something if your heart wasn’t about to beat out of your chest. However, he quickly brushed past you without a second thought, so you quickly slipped inside the door and made a break for it. Panicking, you couldn’t stop asking yourself what you were thinking over and over while you made a beeline for the back exit.

Sirius, on the other hand, had hardly taken a step outside when realization flooded him. He saw that look in your eyes, and a second later, it registered that you were the one who found his ring. Although, when he turned around, you were gone. Quick to follow you inside, Sirius returned to the warmth of the interior only to find that you weren’t anywhere to be found. You were right in front of him, and you’d slipped through his grasp all over again. He didn’t even know your name.

After that, he trudged back to the castle through the snow only to grab a large quill and write on his latest flyer “Why did you run?” Then, he climbed the stairs to his dorm and collapsed on his bed. The split-second glance at you was seared into his mind, and he wasn’t expecting you to be that beautiful.

“Hey, Sirius! How’d the date go?” James and Remus entered through the door with Honeyduke’s bags in hand.

“It didn’t happen,” Sirius groaned in defeat, “We leave tomorrow, and I still don’t know who this girl is!”

James quietly huffed out a laugh. “You don’t know it’s a girl.”

“Yes, I do. I saw her!”

“You saw her?” Remus questioned in surprise.

“Yes.”

Remus was still a bit confused at Sirius’s explanation. “And you don’t know who she is?”

“No,” Sirius continued, “I mean, of course I recognized her when I saw her, but I don’t know her name. Well, maybe I do, but I just haven’t matched the name to the face.”

James had changed into his pajamas while Remus and Sirius were talking, and he told his friend, “Just get some sleep for now, okay? You can figure it all out tomorrow morning before we leave.”

“I can’t, James. I only have hours left, and I need to know who she is, or I might just go mad! I’m crazy about her, and I don’t even know her.”

“Well,” Remus chimed in, “We’re going to sleep. After all, she will be here when we get back.”

With a nod at his friends, Sirius began to prepare for bed even though he knew sleep would be difficult without any knowledge of you.

In the morning, everyone was scrambling for last minute packing, but Sirius still found time to search for you. His heart sank a bit when he noticed that you hadn’t written an explanation as to why you ran, but he couldn’t wait for you anymore. The train was leaving soon.

When Sirius and his friends finally boarded, they snuck into a compartment and started discussing plans over the break. Everyone chimed in except Sirius, who was still deep in thought about you. At one point, he even excused himself with a mumble. “I’m gonna stretch my legs.”

He couldn’t resist glancing through the glass of the compartments in search of you while he strolled down the narrow aisle, but, for once, his attempts weren’t in vain. When his eyes caught sight of you, Sirius couldn’t believe it. You sat alone in a compartment while you read the same book you’d been reading in the library a few days ago. You were almost finished with it by now.

He took a step closer to your compartment to knock on the glass, and the sound caused you to look up from your book. Eyes going wide, you quickly pulled down the privacy shade to block Sirius from looking at you more. Leaning your back against the door, you made sure it was locked before you slid down to the floor.

From the other side of the door, you hear Sirius also sit against the glass before he asked, “Why’d you run?”

Thinking fast, you grabbed a notebook from your things and scribbled a reply before debating on telling him but ultimately sliding it under the door.

“I was scared.”

A few seconds later, the paper appeared on your side of the door again.

“Why?”

“I don’t know”

“Well if it helps, I’m really nervous to meet you too.”

“Why?

“Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

You held the paper in your hands, running your fingers over the letters he’d written, and thinking if you should say something or just hope he’d go away. Sirius had gotten impatient, though. He dug around for a spare candy wrapper he had in his pocket and uncrumpled the paper.

On it, he asked, “Can I come in?”

After sliding it under the door, he thought you were going to ignore him like before, but then, after a minute or two, he heard the lock of the door and shuffling on the other side.

Sirius stood and carefully pushed the door to your compartment open. You sat on one side while watching him nervously.

“Hi,” he breathlessly greeted you. You were somehow even more perfect than he’d imagined.

“Hi.”

tagging:

@nadinissavage @hufflepuffhopes @dontpanicitsmylife

[nic-cage-incognito]

Lecture Halls and Flirting Pitfalls

hey i wrote a (crappy) Glenya Teacher’s Assistant-Student AU, I hope you enjoy it!

there may or may not be a part two, let me know if it’s wanted.

love y’all lots

words: 1,493

in which Gleb is floppy and awkward and Anya is a sleepy hard working student.

Anya trembles slightly as the door comes to a close behind her. The heavy wood clatters, blending in with the thunder outside. She quickly pulls the runner on her umbrella, shaking the rain off both it and herself like a wet dog as she stomps down the corridor to the lecture hall. Students shuffle in beside her, clutching thermoses full of espresso spiked coffee in preparation for the excruciating eight A.M. lecture and stretch as they peel off their coats.  

Hushed conversations die off and Anya glances back, climbing the steps to her usual seat near the top of the room. Dr. Gorlinsky had entered the room, a stuffed folder tucked under his elbow. He trails over to lectern at the front of the room, mindfully shuffling some of the documents left on it. Anya lets out a sigh-not a yawn as she settles into the seat and almost immediately feels her eyelids linger closed for too long. Her eyes snap open and she takes a long swig from her water bottle.  

The double doors to the hall open again and Gorlinsky’s teacher’s assistant, Gleb steps in, swiping his soaked hair back. Gorlinsky looks over towards him, lowering his eyebrows as he takes in his assistant’s decidedly soggy appearance. The cheeky grin on his face fades into a serious nod as the professor holds the folder out to him, mouthing words Anya can’t hear. Gleb grips the folder Gorlinsky points at it. She sees him mouth the word ‘Essay’ and a pit forms in her stomach.

She takes another gulp of the water and watches the folder as it starts heading up the steps. When it gets a few feet away, her eyes flick up to the person carrying it. The assistant’s dark eyes glance down at her, the cheeky grin returning slightly. He has dimples, she noticed. A damp, slightly curling lock of hair falls into his face as he lifts his face back up. Anya looks towards the front of the room as Gorlinsky clears his throat, sounding through the boyband-esque mic

Gleb rubs his eyes and drops the folder of essays on the table in his cramped little corner at the top of the lecture hall. He dutifully begins to work, focusing on the words in an attempt to drown out Gorlinsky’s droning. His red pen scratches at the pages and every now and then, he’d tilt his head and squint or silently chuckle. Neapolitan Bonaparte. Oh man. He blinks, rubbing his eyes again, several essays into the stack and allows himself a stretch.  

Tuning back into the lecture, Gleb strolls over to the railing. He leans on it, peering out onto the class below him. Phone screens flash here and there. Over in the corner, a student isn’t even paying attention. What is that? Dexter, on his laptop screen? Everything makes sense now regarding Dmitry’s essay grade. Gleb shakes his head and returns his attention to the lecture, crossing his arms. Somehow, this professor was capable of turning even the first world war, usually the beginning of the peak of everyone’s interest in this course, into the blandest little molehill. Gorlinsky calls for a break, allowing students to go to the restroom.  

Pushing against the railing, he prepares to go back to his table before glancing down at the rows beneath him. A slumped over figure draws his attention. It’s pretty commonplace to see a student holding up their head, nodding off but from where he was, this was a complete and total knockout it seemed. Gleb glances towards Gorlinsky to see if he’s noticed. The ancient professor hadn’t, he was already back at his podium staring at a book he brought with him.  

Hesitating, Gleb considers doing something he’s never done before- interacting with the students. The professor wasn’t a people person so he hadn’t expected Gleb to be either. But he also knew that he was very easily offended, and if Gorlinsky knew that a student was passed out in his class…

Gleb clears his throat and steps around the railing into the aisle. A few strides later, he was next to the sleeping girl. He clears his throat again, glancing around. One or two students look up, but not the girl. After a moment of agonizing whether or not to reach out, he crouches slightly and nudges her shoulder. She jerks back, drawing her elbow to the side as if to punch. She drops her fist and pulls the strands of hair out of her face, gaping up at him. There’s a hint of… Confusion and anxiety behind the exhaustion.

Gleb stares for a beat too long, even he himself felt the awkwardness before giving what he hoped was a warm smile and turning on his heel quickly. Making his way down the aisle, he gestures at a few other students, talking a bit too quickly. “Does anyone need any assistance? Everyone getting the hang of it?”

Not really waiting for the replies-not that he got any, Gleb didn’t stop until he made his way out of the lecture hall.

The next time class met, Gleb was already at his post against the railing. This time he was halfway through a granola bar, trying his best to seem casual.  

As Anya made her way up the stairs, she tried not to seem intrigued by the fact that the teacher’s assistant was nervously scarfing down a granola bar at the top of the room. She pulls her coat tighter, still pierced by the biting chill outside. Sniffing, she places her bag against the post and makes to settle into her seat.

“It’s cold.”

Anya glances up, bringing her eyebrows together. None of the students around her were looking in her direction.  

“Outside I mean.”

She looks up at the assistant, who was enthusiastically smiling down at her from his place above her.  

“Yeah… I mean it’s November.”  

“Ah. Yeah. I suppose you’re right.” He looks away for a second, a self-pitying chuckle escaping. “But still.” He faces her again, dramatically shivering. The smile returns, this time it’s more self-aware.  

She slightly tilts her head, more confused than anything but laughs a bit despite this. Anya grips her jacket and makes a show of shivering as well before starting to return to her seat.  

At the front of the room, Gorlinsky enters the lecture hall. Gleb steps away from the railing to head over to his corner, but jerks, turning back when he remembers the entire reason for trying to chat.  

“Hey um.” Gleb clears his throat.

Anya, in the middle of opening her notebook, glances back after a second, doing a double take when she sees him leaning over the rail. Raising her eyebrows, she shifts in her seat to face him. His hand, slightly outstretched to her, is wrapped around an unopened bottle. Light coffee sloshed around inside.

“One of the other assistants brought these to the break room. I um. I don’t like it sweet.” He stretches a little more, holding the coffee out. “Besides, I’ve already had my caffeine for the morning.”

Anya doesn’t even hesitate, immediately knowing this was about her nap the other day, quickly coughing out a “No thanks” before seeing the open, hopeful expression on his face falter slightly.  

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll be fine.” She presses her lips together in a weak smile and gestures to her water bottle.  

Interference from Gorlinsky’s mic sends Gleb retreating backwards from the railing. “Understandable. I’m more of a tea man myself.” He disappears to his corner.  

Anya turns back to the professor, sighing-not yawning as class begins. Several minutes pass and by the time Gorlinsky calls for the break halfway through lecture, she’s already slumped over, asleep. Vaguely aware of a rise in volume in the room, she stretches, wiping her face. Sitting up, her notebook gets knocked off her desk and tumbles a few steps down. Someone practically jumps towards it before she even registers what happened and she’s left dopily smiling up at the assistant.  

He sets the notebook and the bottle of coffee he offered at the beginning of class in front of her. Pausing to take in the scene for a few seconds, Gleb finally remembers to return the expression briefly before briskly turning away. He makes his way down the aisle, mentally kicking himself. His eyes close momentarily in frustration, snapping open when his shoe catches on the tread lining on a stair and he almost trips forward.

Overcompensating on pulling himself back up, Gleb stumbles backwards and straightens. He looks at the students near the walkway that stayed during the break nonchalantly.  

“Does anyone need any help with anything or have you guys got it?” He tugs on his jacket.  

The only response comes from the corner.  

“Looks like you’re the one that needs help!” Gleb smiles humorlessly, slightly red in the face and heading for the door quickly as a few giggles emanate from the students.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 17) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 17: Omis Ravir

The manticore gargoyle pawed the ground, thick haunches rolling up on its stone body. Full length, it had to be twenty feet long.

"What do we do?" Ariel asked.

"Maybe it's friendly," Rapunzel said.

It leaped forward, charging them. Ariel dove to one side. Rapunzel to the other. Elsa stumbled back, leaving a jumbled growth of ice spikes where she stood. The beast crushed them with its stone pillar legs. It raised a leg before Elsa.

A blast of light knocked aside the canis's face.

"Hey, over here!" Ariel shouted. She held out her trident, aimed at its head.

Seeing a more immediate threat, the colossus turned towards a new victim. "What do I do? What do I do?" Ariel shouted.

"Shoot it!" Elsa said.

Ariel blasted it with lightning. Its stone head jerked back, but couldn't be hurt.  

Elsa saw her chance. A smooth patch of ice spread under the monster's legs. As it stepped on, the ice cracked into a spider-web. It must have weighed tons--too heavy to slip up.

Ariel backed against the border of the clearing. "Help me, guys!"

Rapunzel backed against a tree. She heaved her hair over a branch and skittered up. After a few more wraps, she made a leaping dive off. She swung in an arc across the clearing, screaming like a savage. The beast craned to look, but its neck was too thick for a full turn.

Rapunzel landed on the monster's back. She slammed her frying pan down with a resounding iron clang. "You. Leave. Her. Alone," she said, each word emphasized with a blow from the pan.

Its eyes squinted with each blow, head bouncing with each jolt. Ariel ran back to open ground.

The beast shook its haunches like a wet dog, slower and heavier.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rapunzel wobbled back and forth until she couldn't hold on anymore. She flew off headfirst, toward a nasty fall on the hard ground.

Elsa followed her with her hand. A snow drift appeared in front of Rapunzel where she landed, buried. She popped up, a pyramid of snow on her head. "Thanks," she said.

Elsa nodded, hiding her annoyance. She had the best chance of defeating the beast, if she wasn't spending all her time saving the others. "Ariel, get behind her," Elsa called out.

While Ariel maneuvered away, Elsa concentrated on forming jagged balls of hard ice. The beast turned its head. The ice chunk fell on the monster's head, jarring it. Then another. Another. Another. All it did was make it madder. She tried bigger ones. No reaction.

Elsa gritted her teeth. She shot melted ice shards at the colossus. A jagged glaze of frost coated its head, belly and front legs. The beast shook it off, pawing away the bigger chunks.

"It's a rock, Elsa. It doesn't care about freezing," Rapunzel said while Ariel helped her out of the snow.

Elsa didn't listen. Bigger ice. More ice. A blizzard as intense as the arctic. She would bring down this monster or die trying.

Elsa's eyes faded into a white glow. Constant ice shot out of her hands. The monster ran forward. Elsa was concentrating so hard, she didn't think about getting out of the way. She had to stop it.

Ariel fired her trident. Two shots hit it in the jaw. The third sideswiped its legs.

It burbled in pain and lost its footing. Eight tons of stone slid straight toward Elsa, scraping away topsoil. Rapunzel tackled her out of the way.

When Elsa's eyes re-opened, they had lost the white glow. "You were going to be killed," Rapunzel said.

Ariel continued to pelt the beast with lightning bolts as it regained its posture.

"This isn't working," Elsa said.

Rapunzel glanced around. If they couldn't stop it with their powers, maybe something else...

"I got it," she said. "Get me on that thing." She started sprinting towards the stone monster before Elsa could ask.

The beast was beginning to turn toward Ariel. Elsa created a set of ice steps under Rapunzel's feet. She climbed up and jumped on its neck. Taking a swath of hair, she wrapped it around the monster's eyes. It roared like a bull while Rapunzel wound three more loops, making sure the beast was blind.

The beast swung its head back and forth, but Rapunzel stayed on, holding her hair like reins. It bucked up and down, each jump bouncing Rapunzel into the air. The ground shook under their feet.

"Elsa--ice barrier! Ariel--shoot the tree!"

"What?" Ariel asked.

But Elsa knew what to do. She swiped her hand across the beast's path, making a thick wall of ice. The colossus crashed through with the force of mountain meeting mountain. Dazed, it fell on its belly, legs splayed out.

"The tree! That tree!" Rapunzel shouted and pointed. A gigantic oak tree, thick as a castle pillar, leaned into the clearing.

Ariel pointed the trident and shot the tree's base with as much force as she could will. The blast blew through the trunk, sending splinters and bark flying, creating flames at the impact point.

The oak made a heart-wrenching creak, then leaned further forward. Its looming shadow shrouded Rapunzel. She yanked up her hair and dove out of the way, landing in Elsa's arms.

The beast propped itself up on one leg. The trunk smashed it back down, followed by a tremendous explosion of leaves.

Ariel rejoined her friends, panting with hands on her knees. "Everyone okay?"

"We're fine," Elsa said.

Once the chaos settled, they could see the beast struggling to stand. But the weight was too much. It made a crooning bellow, equal parts anger and humiliation. Its glassy blue eyes faded to black.

"What do you think it was?" Ariel asked. "Did Omis Ravir make that as a guard?"

"Maybe it was meant to keep him in. Like a prisoner," Rapunzel said.

"No," Elsa said. "Omis made it. A monster to keep people out."

"How do you know?" Rapunzel asked.

"Because I made the same thing."

Elsa pulled open the cathedral door and beckoned the others in. Inside was an unlit chamber held by arched roof. No altar, no lectern, just a bare pulpit. Pews had been broken away, leaving an austere stone floor. Random beams of dusty light streamed through broken bricks and cracked windows.

Their footsteps echoed down the center aisle. "Hello?" Elsa called out. "Is anyone here?"

"Someone has to be here," Rapunzel said. "That stone statue wasn't guarding nothing."

Ariel's head turned, tracking a possible shadow. "Did you see that?" Rapunzel and Elsa hadn't.

They entered the transept. Grass and moss covered the pulpit like a carpet. "Mr. Ravir? Are you here? We need to talk to-"

The doors slammed. Light fluttered like a gas lamp. This was no wind brushing trees, this was magic.

"What's happening?" Ariel asked, clutching her trident. Unearthly sounds whirled in, like groaning earth splitting.

The floor below illuminated a glyph in bright cyan. Its intricate spirals and angles stretched from corner to corner.  

Rapunzel shrieked. She was suddenly levitating. Her hair streamed upward like a ribbon as she floated toward the ceiling. Elsa grabbed her outstretched hand. "Don't let go!"

It felt like resisting a hurricane wind. For a moment, Elsa gulped. As her toes were about to leave the ground, Ariel wrapped her arms around Elsa's torso. They both grabbed Rapunzel, struggling to pull her down.

Ravir had seen their fight, knew how well they'd worked together. "Don't let them split us up! That's what he's trying to do."

They managed to overpower whatever force possessed Rapunzel. The invisible energy released its hold as Rapunzel's feet touched ground.

"Where is he?" Rapunzel asked.

"Show yourself!" Elsa demanded. "We know you're here. We know-"

Wind rushed around them, forcing their eyes closed. Elsa back retreated into her friends, making a back-to-back-to-back formation. Rapunzel held her pan to protect her face. Ariel peeked through the tines of her trident. As the vortex intensified, the light around them dimmed.

"I can't see!" Ariel shouted. "Everything's dark!" Her red hair flapped in her face while Rapunzel's spun into the center of the cyclone.

"Please stop this!" Rapunzel shouted.

Elsa tried shooting her ice, but the tempest swept up the particles into its mass. Rapunzel and Ariel screamed, but the air was sucked out of their mouths. Ravir wasn't going to let them leave. He wasn't going to help them. The darkness was going to swallow them.

"Rapunzel! Sing!" Elsa said.

"Are you kidding?"

"The light!"

Rapunzel didn't sing so much as scream. "Flower gleam and glow! Let your power shine!"

Her hair's radiance flickered like a dying firefly. The vortex was sucking the light from under them. But the wind weakened.

Elsa bellowed. "Let it go! Let it go! Can't hold it back anymore!"

Ariel caught on. She sung the same tune when Ursula had taken her voice. The same that brought Eric to her. "Ah-ah-ahhhh, ah-ah-ahhhh..."

Patches of windlessness permated the air. White light exploded from the center of the vortex. Rapunzel's golden hair fell behind her in a heap. The cathedral was empty again.

"Who are you?"

The voice had a childlike timbre mixed with the brusqueness of age. They couldn't pinpoint the source due to the building's echoes. It seemed to be everywhere.

Ariel aimed her trident fiercely. "Are you Omis Ravir?"

A pause. "I know not of this person."

"Please. We need to find him," Rapunzel said. "We've all been afflicted by some kind of curse. Some arcane magic no one knows."

"Do not look to me. My business with your world ended long ago."

"Then maybe you know something? Please. We're desperate. We can't find a single person or book that can help."

A pause. "You can find no help here. No knowledge."

"But we can't leave. You're our only chance. My kingdom's at stake. All our lives," Elsa said.

The voice responded, "I live in isolation to protect myself and others. I hold no obligation to you or your people."

"We'd still like to talk to you. Can you show yourself?" Ariel asked.

A pause. "You wouldn't like what you see."

"I don't know. I've seen some pretty weird-looking fish," Ariel said.

"I'm friends with bar thugs and ruffians. Some of them have hooks for hands," Rapunzel said.

Silence. Elsa's fingers twitched. She had to suppress the urge to bellow "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. She's the princess of Corona. She holds the trident of the sea god. Unless you come down, we'll send our combined armies to tear this place apart."

But she didn't have to. Out of the corner of her eye, a form appeared as if he had been standing there all along. Ariel and Rapunzel lined up next to Elsa.

The man was gaunt--emaciated to the point where a man shouldn't be alive. His mottled, cobalt skin stretched over the bones of his arms and legs like tight canvas. A sunken cavity lay under his ribs where a healthy stomach should have been. His only clothes were a burlap waistcloth and a mantle covering his mouth. Black stringy bangs hung over opalescent eyes.

Elsa's eyes bulged. Rapunzel gasped.

"I am Omis Ravir. Look upon me. This is the magic you seek."

Elsa stepped forward. "What happened?"

"What all power does--corrupts. The more there is, the more it despoils."

"It's okay." Ariel placed a hand on Ravir's shoulder. He twitched. "We're not going to hurt you."

"I attacked you," Ravir said.

"You're not attacking us now," Ariel said. "My name is Ariel. This is Queen Elsa and Princess Rapunzel."

Ravir blinked his glowing eyes. "You have such rank, both political and spiritual. Someone has seen fit to glut you with privilege."

"We weren't always this way," Elsa said. "Rapunzel's hair should be normal, brown, and shorter. Ariel was a mermaid who became human, but now she keeps turning back. And we think the only magic capable of doing this came from an ancient cult leader named Temeris. Do you know anything about him?"

"I was a knight. A crusader and scholar. Appointed by king to seek wisdom rather than conquer lands. But I do not pretend my journey was noble. My order required small skill in necromancy. Those who stood in my way are now stains on a sword. The journey led me to the Cult of Temeris. Two others sought the same, for their own reasons, and I joined them. We discovered their crypt through fortune and will, and made short work of the remaining members. The cult's strength had withered like old men. In the catacombs, we found the three faults."

"What were they?" Ariel asked. "What did they look like?"

"Three canopic jars, containing a heart, a body, and a brain--the mortal remains of Temeris. Each of us selected one, so none could claim envy. Each took what they believed to be the stronger of the other two."

"And you took... his brain?" Elsa asked.

Ravir nodded. "All the knowledge, the cunning, the sagacity. A universe of insight. It consumed me. People, places, seemed less interesting. Hollow representations of meaning. The insipid spirals of their petty contrivances changed disregard to disgust. At first only the dregs of society suffered my wrath. Soon, no one was beneath my contempt. My loathing manifested until exile became my only recourse."

"How long have you been here?" Rapunzel asked.

"Time no longer has meaning to me. It is a human construct. You wouldn't understand." Ravir held up his hand to silence the girl.

"Are you the one who sent us a message?" Rapunzel dug out the blank letter from her knapsack. "Elsa got one too, but they're both blank."

"I sent you nothing." Ravir peered at the fine sheaf, dragging a finger down it. "But this page is not blank."

"Can you read it? Is it in some magic script?" Rapunzel asked.

"It was meant for you and you alone. The explication is tied to your soul."

"okay," Rapunzel said. "So... what does that mean? How can I read it?"

Ravir sighed. He pointed at a spot in the center of the church. "Stand there."

Rapunzel walked up to it, letter held in front of her chest.

Ravir held his arms over his head. A yellow ball formed, crackling with energy. He threw it into the air over the pulpit. It shot through the stained glass window, raining fragments around them. The girls shielded their eyes.

"Look," Ravir said.

Light streamed through where the window had broken, bathing Rapunzel in a beam of light. On the sheet of paper, etchings glowed where the sunlight struck.

"Of course," Rapunzel said. "My power comes from a drop of sun that fell to Earth. It's even the symbol of Corona. I should have thought of it before."

"What does it say?" Ariel asked.

Rapunzel held out the paper and read.

I haply dote on thine magician's gaze Command me spell bound my heart to find thine The sun beweeps red tears of flame from rays Doth brightest cans't to match thou brilliant shine Time's tyranny of tide calls forth impart But tread most feather-light across its flow E'er contra the raucous tow of mine heart And bid us route to wedding's altar glow That, lo, the nupt of fruits bloom ripe thereof By lost and lonely gods of yore. Let past And future both attend the vow. For love Bear guard through eyes of patience none outlast At nocturne sweet rends mine and thou to we Whence join sweet Iris lock to pair'ed key

"I have no idea what that means," Elsa said.

"What is it supposed to be? A love poem?" Ariel asked.

"I can only show you the door," Ravir said. "To walk in is your quest."

"If you didn't send this, do you know who did?" Elsa asked. "What about your two friends? Do you know where they are?"

"Not friends. Travelers of circumstance. A common goal led us down the same path temporarily. Once we had what we wanted, we left our separate ways. Their names were Lowther Vonde Brackridge and Arcius Cansteth. If one of them knows the source of your turmoil, pray it not be Arcius. That man lacked humanity before the magic corrupted him."

"Was he some kind of sorcerer too?" Ariel asked.

"I shall tell you his tale. Cansteth committed heinous crimes for the sole purpose of being sent to prison. Twelve years isolated in Ogrestone, condemned to death. For twelve years he labored in a windowless cell, preparing, refining, perfecting. Its doors never opened. Once a day, he received a tray of gruel shoved through a slot. At his trial, the only statement he made was that he would walk out of prison with a smile."

"How did he get out?" Rapunzel asked.

"The eleventh year, he begins claiming he's not Cansteth. He's an officer. That the real Cansteth is one of the guards. The officers open his cell and inspect everything, but find no evidence. Each guard that passes he tells he's not Cansteth. Every man that walks by, Cansteth yells that he's been replaced. The others ignore it, thinking he's gone insane.

"On the day of his execution, he asks for a single razor, as a last request. He shaves off all the hair of his body--twelve years' worth. The priest enters. Cansteth knocks him out. Glues his hair to the priest's head and takes his place. The priest yells that he's not Cansteth. That he was knocked out."

"And Cansteth walks out the door," Rapunzel finished.

"With a smile on his face," Ravir said.

The three girls stood in silence, contemplating what kind of man would make such a sacrifice to learn power.

"Elsa, what about your letter? Maybe the ice...?" Rapunzel said.

Elsa filched through the knapsack. She held the letter by one hand. Sparkles drifted down from her other hand, coating the paper in a sheen of white frost.

Line after line of cryptic symbols scattered across the page: squiggly lines and slashed lines and lines with other lines through them, letters and arrows and half-triangles and circles.

"What is this? A cipher?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't see a pattern," Ariel said. "Unless... okay, so there's a line here, and a slanty shape here so... never mind. I don't get it."

Elsa stared at the shapes, waiting for some meaning to pop out at her. Was there anything magical about it what she was reading? The point of encryption was to make sure only the receiver could understand the message. Since whoever wrote it knew them, they might know enough to...

"Agh, I was so stupid. Look!"

She held the paper out to them. Rapunzel and Ariel shrugged.

"This curly-cue here. It means a divisor over Gaussian integers. It's a geometric formula."

Ariel's eyes brightened. "You know geometry. Can you figure it out?"

"Maybe. I need some tools. A compass. Graph paper."

"We have all those back at the castle," Rapunzel said. She turned to Ravir. "Will you come with us? We could use your help. You're so powerful..."

"It is for that reason I dare not leave this domain."

"It's okay," Rapunzel said. "You don't have to be afraid..."

Ravir shook his head. "My appearance is but a fraction of my antipathy. I no longer count myself in humankind. The only safe place for me is here, away from the world."

"I was shut away from the world once too. But it's easier to rejoin than you think. People would accept you. You just need to get to know them."

"My place. Is here," Ravir grunted.

"Please?" Rapunzel said. "You don't have to spend all of your life alone-"

"I said NO!" Ravir said.

The black wind rushed at them. Elsa, Ariel, and Rapunzel held their hands in front of their faces. Old paper and dry thorns brushed at their arms. The ground under their feet coiled and sprang like a trampoline. Then the wind ceased.

Bright sunlight. They were standing in a field, in front of a forest. Ariel turned around.

"Look! We're back at the castle," Ariel said. "He transported us."

"We should be thankful he didn't transport us farther," Elsa said. To Rapunzel, "Why did you make him so angry?"

Rapunzel sighed. "Maybe I pushed too hard."

Elsa sighed "It's all the better, I suppose. We couldn't force him."

"You can lead a captain of the guards to water, but you can't make him drink," Ariel said.

A contingent of royal guards was riding out to meet them--the same soldiers who escorted them. Rapunzel smiled at the story she was about to tell.

Flynn whistled a happy tune while carrying the tray of food. He knocked on the door to the drawing room. "Knock, knock," he said. "I've got some yummy treats for some hard-working girls." He opened the door.

Elsa sat alone at the long mahogany table, buried in scrolls, inkwells, pencils, and wooden doodads. She and Flynn stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.

"Oh. Where's everyone else?" Flynn asked.

She lowered her eyes back to the puzzle. "Rapunzel's with Ansel, educating him about Arendelle's tactical strengths and weaknesses. I don't know where Ariel is."  

"Shouldn't you be with Ansel? You're the queen, right?"

"But I'm the only one who can figure out this message. And Rapunzel knows Arendelle well enough."

Flynn carried the tray in and placed it on the table. "I thought they'd be helping you."

"Does Rapunzel know anything about hexadecimal notation?"

"Uh... I'm not sure anyone in the kingdom does."

Elsa examined the tray. "Is that coffee?"

"Sure is. I even brought milk and sugar and all that fancy stuff."

"I actually prefer tea."

"Oh..." Flynn picked up the pewter mug. "You ever have coffee before? It's great for waking up on those cold mornings."

"No, thank you. I prefer tea." She placed on the graph paper to draw lines.

Flynn pulled up a velvet chair and sat on it in reverse, legs straddling the back. "Is it tough?"

"Not for me. I just need to draw out the formula now. Means a lot of complex calculations, and I won't know if I've made a mistake."

"Gotcha. There's no tutor with an answer key." Flynn picked up a protractor, looking through the hollow space. "So what's it like being a queen?"

"Irritating. You work long hours reading documents. You grind out a deal, make a compromise, and then no one's happy. Everyone depends on you and you get no credit for it."

"So Rapunzel has that to look forward to for Rapunzel." Flynn leaned back. "But Rapunzel's eager to learn and Queen Arianna's sure happy to teach her. I never imagined I'd get along with my mother-in-law so well. But then, I have to or she'll cut off my head. Heh-heh. I bet she's just as thrilled having a thief for a son-in-law. They not only regained a daughter but earned a son."

Elsa looked up from the tops of her eyes.

"Um... on that note, I should... check how she's doing." He staggered off the chair and backed out of the room.

Elsa muttered to herself as he closed the door. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Olaf."

Flynn walked across the castle to the war room. Rapunzel and Ansel stood at a chalkboard with Arendelle's coast drawn out. In the middle of the room, there was a large table with a map and tiny boats. Pascal crawled across the ocean, shifting models around.

"The two biggest ports are here and here," Rapunzel said.

"But are they the strongest?" Ansel asked. "They may have overtaken certain defenses at this point. What are the wind conditions this time of year in Arendelle?"

"I'm not sure. They seemed fine when I was there, but they're having odd weather anyway."

Ansel turned back to the chalkboard. "I believe we should concentrate on ocean territory as much as possible, use the land for boundaries. Using the Diekplous maneuver, we can separate their ranks. I'm assuming calm seas and average depth in the bay."

"I don't know. Elsa would." Rapunzel sighed.

"And I don't think you want to disturb her," Flynn said. "I brought her some coffee and she turned it cold just by talking to me. Are you sure she has ice powers? Because she sure is a drip."

"She likes tea, not coffee. And she's comfortable working alone," Rapunzel replied.

"No one's that comfortable. Even I made friends as a thief. Well, until I skipped town with the loot, but that's different. "

"I asked if she needed help and she said no," Rapunzel shrugged. "I don't think I could have helped anyway.

"Your highness," Ansel interrupted. "I have an idea. If the attack begins here..." he circled Arendelle's inlet, "we can push them to the coast. They'll have no maneuverability and no time to move into formation. They won't expect such an onslaught."

Pascal knocked one of the ships over.

"Don't let them retreat into the two surrounding fjords, or they'll have the kingdom surrounded," Rapunzel said.

"Or perhaps we do..." Ansel said. "If their fleet splits, they'll retreat, then they'll be trapped in the canals. No armada has ever won a battle on two fronts."

"Maybe..." Rapunzel said. "I'm worried about the damage they could do to the town. If they think they're not getting out alive, they'd act like trapped rats."

"One must expect collateral damage in a war. And this is only if we have to engage at all. I'm confident they'll surrender on sight."

"Or at least entreat negotiations." Rapunzel put down the chalk.

"My commanding officers are rallying all the available men, loading supplies. It's my policy to stay twelve hours away from full mobilization at any time. We will leave as soon as we're ready. Just after midnight, by my estimate."

Pascal knocked away all the ships representing the enemy off the board, whacking one with his tail.

Elsa walked through the door to the war room, holding a large sheet of paper. Several loose hairs from her tight braid wisped around her head.

"I finished decoding the letter, but-"

"You did?" Rapunzel squealed. "You got it figured out? What does it say?"

Elsa held up the paper. " I have no idea."

Rapunzel's face fell.

"It's some abstract thing." Elsa showed her a graph of concentric shapes, wavy lines, and number-value pairs along the side.  

"Did you make a mistake?"

"I triple-checked everything. I'm pretty sure this is the message. All the coordinates follow a logical pattern, it just... just doesn't mean anything."

The two princesses stared at the ground in dejection. "Where's Ariel?" Flynn asked. "Maybe she could help out?"

"I think she left to explore the castle," Rapunzel said.

"What about the sonnet? Isn't she working on that?" Elsa asked.

"I've got the castle artistes trying to figure that out. They know about structure, sound patterns, form. She only knows Atlantican poetry."

Elsa grunted. "She should be doing something. Come help me find her." Elsa headed into the hallway before Rapunzel responded.

Ansel nodded. Rapunzel didn't worry about him having his tasks completed. She jogged after Elsa.

"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked Elsa, alone in the hall.

"We're here slaving on these ridiculous puzzles and she's frippering around? I know she couldn't have helped me, but why isn't she there for you?"

"She said she didn't know much about war strategy. I think that's why she left."

"I'm getting really tired of her attitude. Her trident is powerful, but anything that requires a modicum of experience or effort she shrugs off. She thinks everything can come to her by wanting it."

"Well, maybe she's still getting used to... living in a different world. I think she's doing very well for joining a new species."

Elsa stopped a passing guard and asked him where Princess Ariel was. "I think I saw her going up the northwest tower, your majesty."

Elsa started in that direction without a thank you. Rapunzel huffed up the stairs after her. "I think her... previous kingdom was more relaxed. She doesn't like being controlled or bound by rules."

Elsa turned and gave her a hard look. "She's still a princess. She has responsibilities. It's like she forgets she has a curse. Or that we do too."

"I think she's done a lot for us," Rapunzel said. "This 'curse' has been hard on all of us. I'm sure we can figure it out, if we all keep working at it."

Elsa stopped and turned around. "That's another thing. I'm getting tired of your sunny disposition for everything. You have a non-problem."

Rapunzel scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ariel can't stay on her feet for more than twelve hours. My kingdom is under attack--by both the elements and another country. You? You have long hair."

"I just spent seven hours working with Ansel to send out ships to your kingdom. We're taking money out of Corona's coffers for Arendelle, just because we're family. I'm doing this for you."

"And while you were there, I was all alone, doing nothing but geometry problems. Your husband came to visit me. You didn't."

"You said you didn't want us to help you."

They reached the top of the parapet. True to the guard's word, Ariel was there. She stood in the glory of the mid-afternoon sun, letting the north wind blow her hair back.

"Have you seen this view? It's breathtaking. There's mountains, rivers, plains--all in the same view! And the castle! Rapunzel, it's amazing. There's a theater, a greenhouse, two music rooms, a Turkish salon-"

"I know. I live here," Rapunzel said.

"Why are you up here? You've been fooling around while we're working," Elsa said.

"I'm not... I didn't think anyone needed my help. You're doing military stuff and geometry. I'm no good at that."

"So instead you're playing around?"

Rapunzel tugged on Elsa's arm, warning her she was going too far, but Elsa shrugged her off.

Ariel held her hands behind her back and looked away. "Well, I didn't think you needed help. I'm sorry. Is there anything I can help with now?"

"No. That could have been a little more meaningful seven hours ago, but I am done, thank you."

"If you didn't want to help, you could have at least sat in and learned something," Rapunzel added. Elsa's righteous anger was infectious.

Now Ariel frowned. "Well... what about you? You're sending ships to another country. How is that helping our situation?"

"It's helping her." Rapunzel nudged Elsa. "Part of ruling a country means assisting allies. Do you even know anything about being a princess?"

"I'm the daughter of a king," Ariel said angrily.

"So are we all," Elsa said, crossing her arms. "If it weren't for that trident..."

"Is that all you think I'm good for? Blasting things?" Ariel asked.

"Right now, that's all you're good for," Rapunzel said.

"Do you know what it's like having your legs torn apart and sewed up again every day? Do you know what I sacrificed? I almost destroyed the whole sea kingdom for these." She gestured to her legs. "I changed my entire way of life."

"My way of life was torn apart because of this." Elsa held up her gloved hands. "The first moment someone found out my power they called me a monster. I had to run away to the north mountain to live in isolation-"

"Do not bring that up," Rapunzel said. "Don't even try. I was locked in a tower for eighteen years. Is that anything like you experienced? No, it isn't. Because you only spent, like, a day up there."

Elsa backed away, hunching her shoulders. Her hands clenched and nostrils flared.

"Yeah. And it was your choice," Ariel said, joining the reversal gang-up. "Don't act like you had rough."

"Rough? You?" Rapunzel whipped back to Ariel. "Every time you talk about your adventures it's all music and parties and beautiful scenery. I swear you want to go back there."

"If I knew I'd have to work with you kind of people, I might have changed my mind."

Elsa flexed her fingers within the gloves. "Do you smell smoke?" she asked.

Rapunzel sniffed and smelled it too. Wood fires typically burned throughout the castle, but not at the top of a tower.

Ariel pointed down to the city. "Is that supposed to be there?"

A cloud plume rose from the patchwork of houses in the middle of Corona. Rapunzel's silence meant it was not normal.

"What's in that area?" Elsa asked.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "The library!" She treaded in a circle, ensnaring herself in her hair.

"We have to get down there," Elsa said.

"Isn't there a fire brigade?" Ariel asked.

"Yes, but who better to put out a fire than a snow queen and master of the seas?"

Embedded in the tower was a pole. It held a tensile cable that reached down to the courtyard so supplies could be pulleyed up. Rapunzel hooked her hair over and slid down. Ariel followed, using her trident as the trolley. Sparks flew as the friction made a severe zipping sound.

Elsa coated her hands with ice and glided down the rope, the ground growing ever nearer. She stopped panicking when she was close enough to the ground not to break anything if she fell. Ariel and Rapunzel, one on each side, stopped her breakneck speed and caught her.

"Come on." Rapunzel led them to three horses. They raced into Corona's village.

A gathering crowd hampered their progress to the door. They dismounted and maneuvered up to the front.

Smoke curled up at the doorways and windows. Ropes of fire chewed through curtains and books. Splintered, blackened wood jutted out of the entrance like briar thorns.

"My library..." Rapunzel mumbled.

"Is anyone still in there?" Elsa asked the townspeople.

Most of them shook their heads. Then a crying child yelled, "My mommy!"

Rapunzel looked up. "Ariel and I will search. Elsa, you go around and stop the fire from spreading."

She nodded. Ariel and Rapunzel rushed in without another word. Elsa ran into the alley between buildings.

A window spewed flames. As she shot her power, the air crackled and tinkled. The forming ice fizzled as soon as the fire touched it. She tried again, coating the window frame with ice. Nothing happened, except a faint hiss of steam.

"Why isn't this working?" she muttered to herself. No matter how she forced it, the fire lapped it up. She didn't understand why the fire wouldn't let ice form--mounds of snow would appear almost instantly.

Wait, that was it. Elsa rolled her hands. A ball of snow appeared over the flames. When it dropped, the fire hissed, defeated, as white powder slumped to the ground. She walked the perimeter, dumping snow on flames as she saw them.

At the back of the building, space was tight--all shadows except for a foot-wide swath of light. Thick smoke and high-reaching flames covered the roof overhang of the library. Part of the adjacent building had already caught. Elsa pointed, hammering it with dense snowballs. A few more and the fire withered away. Elsa smiled.

Glass shattered behind her. High above, wood groaned as part of the roof broke off. A charred flaming timber dangled from a thin hinge.

Elsa summoned her power but it did nothing. The timber broke. Elsa screamed again as it tumbled down.

An explosive yellow light shot out of a broken window, pinning the timber against the adjacent building with a smack. It glowed amber before disintegrating into black dust.

Ariel poked her head out of the window. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," she said breathlessly.

"Saved your life," Ariel grinned and returned inside.

Inside, flames rippled across the ceiling, dropping ash like snowflakes. The mural of Flynn Rider was melting into a hideous goop of colors, except for the nose.

"Ariel!" Rapunzel shouted, muffled by a layer of hair wrapped around her mouth and nose. She held up a chunk for Ariel to do the same.

They hadn't found anyone yet. The dancing light and smoke kept objects and their shadows jumping. Whoever they were looking for would have to be right under their nose.

"There!" Rapunzel stepped over the scattered small fires from books. Ariel followed her, chained like a mountain climber. One of the bookshelves had toppled onto another. Beneath, a woman reached out her hand.

Rapunzel grabbed it. "We got you." She clutched the shelf and pulled with all her might. But the shelf didn't move. Ariel joined, but they still it couldn't budge. Rapunzel regretted asking for Kingwood bookshelves.

Ariel backed up and stuck her trident in, using it as a lever. Rapunzel lifted while she pried, but it was no use.

Rapunzel pulled down her mask. "Tie my hair." The two of them wound the golden tresses around the wooden plank several times. Rapunzel tied a knot as tight and fast as she could.

"Ready," Ariel said, giving her the thumbs up.

Rapunzel launched forward, her feet dug into the floor like a carthorse. If she could pull people up a forty foot tower, she could do this. She wrenched her head forward, groaning.

The bookcase lifted. Ariel slid the woman out, wriggling like a snake.

"You okay?" Ariel asked. Coughing, the woman nodded. Ariel pushed her toward the door. "Go, go."

"Ariel, help!"

Rapunzel tugged on her the ends of the knot, struggling to free herself. Both of them pried their fingers into the hair. Their chests hurt from the constant fits of coughing.

Ariel poked the center of the trident into the knot, digging like a giant toothpick. Rapunzel pulled apart the loose threads and yanked herself loose. Ariel helped unraveled the hair from the shelf.

"Got it," they both said. Rapunzel and Ariel dashed for the exit.

The entire ceiling had cracked into a spider web, bulging like a heavy water balloon. Persistent groaning grew louder through the fiery crackle. Cracked roof beams bowed out, like spindly arms that couldn't hold anymore. And they were right under the center.

A thunderous crack sounded. Ariel and Rapunzel shrieked. They crouched and turned away.

Elsa stepped in the library entrance. Ice had never fired from her hands faster or colder. The room filled with hissing and fog, swirling everything to white.

Rapunzel and Ariel blinked open their eyes. It was eerily quiet. No sound of the fire or breaking wood. They looked up.

A thick icicle hung down from the ceiling, like a frozen wasp's nest. Blackened roof debris jutted out, caught in midfall.

Ariel and Rapunzel crab-crawled from underneath the icicle. Elsa pulled them out of the doorway. The girls embraced in a three way hug as cheers erupted.

"Saved your life," Elsa said. "You all right?" She thumbed away a smudge of soot on Rapunzel's cheek.

"Fine," Rapunzel said between coughs. "Feels like I haven't breathed in a week."

"Now I know what a fire is," Ariel coughed, "and why it burns."

The head librarian waddled up to the three of them, arms full of scrolls and documents. "Paden?" Rapunzel asked.

"Princess. Thank goodness for your help. You are a saint."

"Is everyone all right?"

Paden grinned. "Everyone is fine and accounted for. Even the fish. And I managed to save the rarest documents from the archive." He held up the pile in his arms.

"How did it start?" Rapunzel asked.

"No one seems to know. The dry paper didn't help any. Maybe a gas lamp knocked over. The fire spread like it had a vengeance to sate."

Elsa's eyes widened, locked on a scroll rolling on top of the librarian's pile. "What's this?" She plucked it off.

"Oooh, you have good taste. That's the Nordsoen monograph, one of the earliest oceanic maps of our region."

"This is it," Elsa said. "This is what I drew."

She let the others see. "I was so close to the problem I didn't see the whole thing. It's a map."