#I absolutely loathe crystal palaces | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

snowbellewells · 3 years

Text

“Thick as Thieves (or Princesses)”

I hope you will enjoy my first brand new one shot in quite a while. It’s written for the lovely Alma ( @teamhook ) for the #love4teamhook collection. Though I realize this didn't happen in canon, I consider it more a divergent missing moment which could have happened than fully AU. Killian did seem to make friends with a lot of the various princesses who came and went on "Once", until it sort of seemed like he had a Princess Squad. This story came from that.

Alma, it’s my hope that this little sidetrip to Agrabah might bring a few chuckles as welll as some heartwarming fluff.

Summary: When Killian, Emma, and the Storybrooke crew travel to Agrabah for the wedding of Aladdin and Jasmine, our pirate learns just how many people have his back.

Also available on AO3 here

“Thick as Thieves (or Princesses)”

by: @snowbellewells

“I never thought I’d see the day,” a disgruntled voice tsked, standing at the mirror and just out of Emma’s line of sight. The speaker had that disapproving tone to her words, one that Emma had come to know well growing up surrounded by people who looked down their noses at her and were constantly disappointed in her prickly demeanor and tough exterior.

The speaker’s companion, a woman whose robes were a violently garish mauve and who kept fluffing her already quite voluminous mane of curly dark hair, sighed in regretful agreement. Her curls bounced as she seemed to nod sagely at her friend’s words. “It’s true - seems just about anyone can marry into the royal family now.”

The first woman tittered gleefully, enjoying having a sympathetic ear for her gossip no doubt. “Never mind the scruffy length of that Aladdin’s hair…” the mocking emphasis she put on the new prince consort of Agrabah’s name, as if it were too ridiculous to take seriously, had Emma clenching her fist angrily, ready to storm into view and speak up on her friend’s behalf. However, the rest of the woman’s words, knocked her back on her heels for several stunned, painful seconds, “...but did you see the sort of riff raff on his side of the aisle? Street rat that he is, I suppose I really shouldn’t have expected more from the guest list, but honestly!”

“And the visitors are no better! What are Queen Snow and her Charming thinking accepting a pirate for a son-in-law… with his reputation and that hook?”

Emma’s pulse was pounding so strongly in her temples that her vision was going a bit hazy when she charged into the ladies room from the short hall where she’d been listening, revealing herself to the bitter hags at the sinks, practically vibrating with righteous anger and staring them both down as their mouths fell open in shocked embarrassment. Their entire aspects changed as they began to simper and apologize, hoping to placate the royal standing before them.

Emma was having none of it. She might not have grown up being taught the diplomacy and etiquette she would have if she’d had the chance to really grow up as Princess of Misthaven, but she had enough manners not to mock people behind their backs and then feign sweetness and innocence to their faces. Breathing heavily, she glared at both of the Agrabahn women. She darkly thought that the scare served them right as their obsequious attempts to atone eventually trailed off into silence. Crossing her arms over her chest, intending to cut every bit as imposing a figure in demure light blue dress (so she’d wanted to try to match her pirate’s eyes, sue her!) as she would wearing her red leather jacket and sheriff’s badge.

“You two should be really glad I don’t know your names. I can’t imagine that the Sultan would like to deal with this sort of disloyalty on such a happy occasion. He at least seems astute enough to care for who brings his daughter happiness rather than who comes bearing the fanciest pedigree or the newest style.”

Blowing out a breath, she almost turned on her heel to storm back out and leave them with some food for thought, but then she wheeled back around, drawing even closer, until she was almost nose-to-nose with the two gossips. “And furthermore, my husband might have been an indentured servant, and a pirate, but he is the finest man in all the Realms, and I won’t stand for any insinuations otherwise. If you really want to pick on a street rat, you might as well start with me. I may have been born a princess, but I grew up as much ‘riff raff’ as you called your new prince.”

She gave them an arched brow and waited; a clear challenge to direct their taunts and barbs to her face.

Shaking their heads in nervous denial the two women quickly excused themselves and hurried from the room without looking back.

“That’s what I thought,” Emma muttered under her breath with a curt little bob of her head as she watched them flee. She wasn’t even offended on her own behalf; she didn’t care if some strangers and hangers-on thought she was the “right sort” of royal, and she knew her parents felt the same. The barbs struck beneath Killian’s armor though. He talked a good game, and played off such insults well if one didn’t know him as Emma did. He judged himself too harshly and was loath to bring any imagined slight to her name with his past.

Shaking her head, Emma breathed out a sigh, hoping to shrug off her consternation, knowing said pirate would be waiting for her just outside.

Sure enough, as she re-entered the large, open air ballroom set up on the shining gilt-covered porches of the Sultan’s palace, her husband was at her side in moments. Brows waggling playfully, he clearly had a quip or come-on at the tip of his tongue, but he stopped short at the sight of her face. Head tilted to study her, his hand came to her elbow, steadying her curiously. “What is it, Love? You look like thunder!”

She wasn’t about to lie to him any more than she intended to hurt him; they understood each other too well for that. “Nothing important,” she fluttered her hand carelessly. “Just turns out that snobs and bullies are the same in any realm is all.”

He gave a small nod of affirmation, clearly understanding her. “Aye, that does seem to be the way of it.”

Both were quiet for a moment watching couples dancing, Aladdin and Jasmine mingling and greeting their guests, Belle laughing merrily as Henry told her some story with impassioned and enthusiastic gestures for emphasis, before Killian spoke up again. Devilishly handsome smirk in place once more, his eyes sparkled as he added. “No matter, Wife. I’m sure you showed them the error of their ways.”

She snorted, shaking her head at his antics, even if he was absolutely right. Holding out his hook to her gallantly, Killian bowed before murmuring so close to her ear that it sent shivers all along her skin, “Pay no more heed then. Dance with me, instead?”

Flushing in a way that she knew spread all the way down to her more pushed-up and on-display than usual decolletage, she grinned broadly. Her husband seemed rather spellbound, his eyes following the rise and fall of her breaths helplessly and his tongue flicked out to trace his full perfect lips at the sight on display. “If you think you can handle it,” she winked. “I was starting to think you’d never ask.”

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

Sometime later, after several dances and Emma’s begging to rest her feet, unused to heels that weren’t knee-high boots these days, Killian had seen her back to the table they were sharing with her parents and Henry, and was fetching them both drinks from the elaborately flowing sangria fountain, somehow arranged to flow steadily into a large punch bowl, where waiters then dipped it into crystal glasses for guests as they approached the table.

“Two please,” he told the server when it was his turn.

Accepting the filled cups a moment later, Killian couldn’t resist a quick sip right then, having worked up quite a thirst with he and Emma’s exertions, the close crowd, and the arid desert surroundings. Humming at the pleasant blend of flavors on his tongue, he questioned curiously, “Is there rum in this? It tastes as though some of the best has been blended in with the fruit juices.”

“I - I believe so,” the server stammered rather uncertainly.

“Well, my compliments. It is one of the better libations I’ve had the pleasure of imbibing.”

It was as he had turned away, heading back to Emma at their table, that he heard the words whispered behind him. “Well, he would know, wouldn’t he?” hissed one lowered voice.

“Word has it he’s found the bottom of more liquor bottles than most people have ever seen,” countered another insinuating murmur.

“A one-handed pirate with a drinking problem given free rein in this palace full of treasure to tempt his baser instincts… seems like a recipe for disaster, if anyone had bothered to ask me,” chimed in a third, the sniff of indignance making that barb carry with a bit more volume. Killian felt his shoulders hiking up toward his ears with the tension, but he managed to hold himself steady and not to turn to glower at the servants threateningly. Time was he would have whirled and taught them all a lesson they’d not soon forget, but he was trying to be a different man - a better man - though it would seem to some his efforts made little difference.

“And to think, he has the Crown Princess of Misthaven on his arm!” huffed yet one more hateful voice, again well within his sharp hearing whether or not that had been the intent. This was the shot which met its mark, causing Killian to drop his eyes to the two cups balanced carefully in his right hand, hoping to make a quick escape before anyone realized he was around. It was like he had tried explaining to Emma before - people had a long memory when it came to expectations for their leaders, and married True Loves or not, there were some who would never approve of Captain Hook as Prince Consort to one of the most prominent kingdoms in the Realm.

His hasty retreat was abruptly blocked however, by two dainty feet in golden and turquoise-jeweled sandals, barely skimmed by the hem of a long, white silk gown standing right in his way.

Surprised, Killian’s head jerked up to find Princess Jasmine’s eyes staring back at him sympathetically. She had clearly heard the same hateful words he had just been subjected to, yet she appeared anything but ready to sneak off and let it continue. In that moment, with her lips pursed and eyes calculating as she weighed her next move, a delicate hand on his forearm to stall his retreat, she looked incredibly like his fierce and beautiful Swan.

“Speaking of temptation,” she purred, the feigned placid smile on her face a warning as she stepped around him to eye the gathered help pointedly. “The only thing I am tempted to do is search for a new kitchen staff - one cultured enough not to speak ill of a particular friend of the bride and an honored guest.” Princess Jasmine was a petite woman, but the way she drew herself up before them, staring down her nose imperiously at each offender in turn, made her seem every inch a tall, proud monarch it would not be wise to cross.

A hushed, abashed-eyed chorus of “Yes, ma’ams” and “Apologies, your majesty,” fell over each other as the whisperers bowed or curtsied and then hurried from the princess’ sight, properly rebuked for having displeased her, and on her wedding day no less.

“Ahh… thank you, Milady,” Killian offered quietly, feeling more than a bit awkward that she had felt she must come to his defense in such a way. He had certainly heard similar insults before - and much worse. Even carefully cradling the two drinks in one hand, he still found the curve of his hook raising to rub behind his ear in nervous embarrassment - his eyes hardly wanting to hold his saucy friend’s gaze even as she eyed him knowingly.

“Nonsense,” she dismissed easily, waving away the sheepish gratitude with a quick flutter of her hand. “They needed correction. Anyone who is going to work in the royal palace needs to be wise enough not to insult the guests!”

“Be that as it may, Lass, there’s no need for you to trouble yourself over my hurt feelings. They weren’t wrong, after all…”

Jasmine was having none of that. Her dark hair beneath the gorgeous flow of her organza veil swished around her as she shook her head emphatically, eyes sparking intently as she refused to allow him to glance away. “Hardly, Captain! I think I am a better judge of character than that, and I know backbiting chatter does not begin to capture all of your fine qualities, merely the flaws. Besides,” and she winked here, lacing her arm through his free one as she steered them back toward his family’s table to greet them all herself, “you would do the same thing for me were the situations reversed. And I hear that your lovely wife has already been speaking up for my own handsome scoundrel. We princesses who can recognize a diamond in the rough have to stick together!”

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

Things calmed down as the reception festivities wore on through the afternoon. Killian found it easier than expected to brush the sniping words he’d heard to the back of his mind and enjoy himself. There was too much to see and do, too many friends, both new and old, to catch up with, and far more happiness to celebrate than sour notes to dwell on. He had challenged David to a game of darts and trounced the royal soundly. He had spoken at length with Aladdin himself about the future as a married man, starting families, and loving a princess. He had even attempted to settle a heated debate between Henry and Belle over whether The Thousand and One Nights or The Book of the Wonders of India were the better read. He had respectfully declined to offer his opinion in the end though, knowing better than to side against either one of them when they were so passionately involved.

As the hours seemed to melt heedlessly into evening and the lavish banquet was served to conclude the night, Killian found himself seated with Henry and Emma on one side of him and Belle on the other at a long table, and across from him, grinning broadly with the guileless enthusiasm one couldn’t help but love was none other than Ariel and her husband, Prince Eric. Everyone was chatting happily throughout the appetizer, but as those first plates were cleared away and the main course was served, Killian encountered a rather vexing conundrum.

The fragrant lamb dish placed before them was tempting enough to make his mouth water in mere seconds. However, how to actually go about eating it posed a bit more of a challenge. Had he been on his own or back in Storybrooke where he was comfortable, it would have been no trouble. He would simply have pierced the larger cut of meat with the point of his hook to hold it still and then cut it into smaller pieces with his knife, then switched to his fork when finished. However, using his hook at this fine a table and in such company seemed as though it might raise a few eyebrows.

He paused, attempting to gauge his options without alerting his companions that anything was amiss. And, of course, it took no more time than that for the jackals to begin circling once more. Prickling along the back of his neck, Killian sensed that he was being watched as he debated his next move. Glancing about him surreptitiously, he found the culprits easily enough. Agrabahn nobles or wives of council members, he thought he remembered vaguely from an earlier introduction. They had also seemed reluctant to shake his hand, and now he saw that his instinctual assessment has been correct. Though he couldn’t hear their actual words, their heads were bent together as their eyes drifted from him to his plate and utensils and back before he did hear a small trill of smug laughter.

What he did not expect was the cry of outrage that rang out just across from him in the next moment. Shooting to her feet with an abruptness that sent her chair toppling to the floor behind her with a loud crash, sweet natured Ariel herself was pointing at the two catty women with a finger that practically trembled in her righteous anger. “How dare you, y-y-you harpies!” she exclaimed, her volume attracting more attention than Killian would have hoped, staring at his plate with jaw clenched enough to make the muscle within it tick noticeably as well as the heat of a blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!” Ariel continued, her own pale cheeks flushed with her fit of pique. Eric reached out a concerned hand in an attempt to soothe her, but she wasn’t finished. Killian half expected her to stamp her foot for more emphasis.

“Have you - either of you - any idea how much the man you’re giggling at can accomplish with just one hand? How much he has done for numerous ones gathered at this very table? It would hardly matter if you were about to see him use one of these ridiculous forks incorrectly!”

As if to illustrate her point, Ariel picked up a fork and twirled it around her fingers rather menacingly, if Killian did say so himself. “I’ve had to learn to eat with unfamiliar manners and utensils too. It’s not as easy as it looks! And if any of you have any more to say about it in regards to my friend, well… I’ll show you another way to weld the pointy end of these things, right in your pompous behinds!”

The whole gathering was stunned into silence for a moment. Killian could hardly move as he watched Ariel breathing heavily and then plunking back down into her righted seat and leaning in Eric’s solid comfort. He could sense Henry’s wide-eyed awe beside him as he looked at the mermaid princess admiringly. Yet, he struggled to make himself shift his eyes to Emma on Henry’s other side, hating that he had put her so close to such an embarrassing spectacle. Though when he did, a relieved whoosh of air escaped as he saw her glancing back at him, biting her lip and looking torn between wanting to pull him away from the table and soothe him as only she knew how, and standing up to whistle and applaud her agreement with Ariel’s speech.

Leaning closer, so that only he and Henry could hear her, Emma’s eyes twinkled merrily with mischievous pleasure as she told him, “You’ve got an entire Princess Squad watching your back, don’t you, Pirate?”

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

Late that night - or early the next morning, depending on how one wanted to look at it - Emma rolled over in bed to prop her chin on her husband’s chest, idly running her fingers through the dark hair covering his always deliciously warm skin. Though he had been holding her cozily as always, arm around her waist and her back pressed to his front, cocooned in his embrace, she knew he was still awake and was sure she knew what was troubling him.

She couldn’t help thanking her fellow princess once again in her mind for remembering that she and Killian were basically still newlyweds as well. Jasmine had seen to it that they had a gorgeously appointed suite to themselves, far enough from her family and the rest of the Storybrooke visitors to afford them some privacy. The large, open room’s windows with gauzy curtains let in the rapidly cooling air deliciously after it had blown so hot across the desert all day. It felt luxurious on her bare skin beneath the fine, light sheets in the giant canopy bed. She had definitely thought there would be some things they could get up to in that bed once they’d returned from the reception some hours ago, but Killian had merely readied for sleep, lay down, and opened his arms to hold her.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, or that she minded cuddling up with her handsome husband whenever they could catch a quiet moment, but she sensed something bothering him in his lack of playful banter and the tension she could feel in his body. That was why when she rolled over and began to run her fingers lightly over his skin. She took a deep breath, and then finally raised her eyes to meet his. Words were not always her strong suit, but she was determined to try - especially when she got a glimpse of the melancholy lingering behind the look of sleepy affection in his eyes.

“You know that those few people who would doubt you are such a tiny minority… don’t you?” she asked, hoping that he did, and that he would believe her in this as he always had before. “And even if they weren’t - which they are - it wouldn’t matter. The people who count know what kind of man you really are; they see the same hero that I do.”

Emma paused, holding her breath, watching as Killian opened his mouth, then closed it, then swallowed hard, before finally speaking aloud in ragged but determined tones. “Aye, so all of you have assured me. Most of the time, I even believe it. Still, those incidents tonight…. They remind me that I do not wish for my past, my villainous reputation, to cast doubt upon your family. I would never want to tarnish your rule or your standing with your people.”

He looked so distraught, so painfully sorry that Emma had to cradle his face in her hands and lean up to kiss him right then, trying to pour all of the comfort and reassurance she possibly could into the gesture, even before she answered his concerns. When she did pull back, he offered her a smile looked at least mildly soothed, and she gently brought one hand back to his chest while the other sought out his hand to twine her fingers with his.

Squeezing gently for emphasis, she tried to answer him the best way she knew how. “Okay, first of all, what’s this about my family and my people? They’re yours now too. Killian, you have to know that my family loves you. My dad is like a lost puppy when you can’t come to his Tuesday Guy’s Nights - ” That did make him crack a genuine smile she noticed happily. “That’s what it means when you marry and two become one, right? What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine. There’s no separating it back out now.”

Killian nodded his agreement, but a furrow of concern still creased his forehead. “Aye, Love, of course you’re right, but still - ”

“Ah ah ah,” she shook her head, cutting him off, “I’m not done. You also have to see that though it felt like a lot bubbled up today, it was less than 10 people, in a gathering of hundreds. They are such a tiny percentage, and they do not matter. Anyone who really knows you would never think any of those things you heard today. Besides that, this rule and kingdom you seem so concerned about? What bearing does that have on our everyday life? Storybrooke isn’t some old-fashioned monarchy, and we’re going back to Storybrooke. You aren’t hurting anything… you make it so much better.” She spoke that last with fervent emphasis, clinging to his hand and waiting for his response.

Slowly the last of the clouds and the frown of concern seemed to ease from her husband’s face. Emma felt her heart flutter a bit as he met her eyes with a look of such awed reverence and love, and joy where there had been shame and self-doubt. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Emma, but you’re right. I’ll not allow a few naysayers to ruin what we’ve built.”

Shaking her head, eyes welling with tears of relief and love of her own, Emma just managed to choke out, “I’m the one who doesn’t know how I managed to deserve you. You chose me, you didn’t give up on me - even when I made it difficult, and you put me back together, Killian. You - you showed me my heart still worked.”

He was on her the minute she stopped speaking, lips capturing hers as his thumb came up to brush away her tears. He rolled them to hover over her, and just stared at her for a moment, both their hearts pounding, before she reached up and pulled him back to her. There were still a few hours of darkness left, and neither of them planned to waste it with any space between them.

Tagging a few others who might enjoy: @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @revanmeetra87 @xsajx @elizabeethan @donteattheappleshook @therooksshiningknight @spartanguard @xhookswenchx @winterbaby89 @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @stahlop @hollyethecurious @gingerchangeling @kday426 @profdanglaisstuff @shireness-says @thisonesatellite @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @let-it-raines

#love4teamhook #cs ff #ouat canon divergence #ouat missing moment #thick as thieves (or princesses)#cs one shot #ouat one shot

41 notes · View notes

jyunshiim · 4 years

Text

Catharsis *✬★*’☽* ✬ ⤷Jungkook X Reader au | Part 1

Genre → supernatural | some angst | romance | historical (ish)

Contains → vampire!Jungkook | romance | supernatural concepts |

Listen to → Catharsis

Word count → 12K ( 12247 )

TW → some mentions of death, blood and gore

Chapters/sequels → coming soon

Summary: After being told the Tales of Prince Jungkook, you were curious to discover more about the history of your town and the abandoned castle you were forbidden to enter. You discover who he is and why he was he had such fate but you also discover who you really are. Little did you know, your family’s history and the towns history intertwined. Will the past ever leave you?

Centuries ago, legend had it that vampires and werewolves and many other supernatural creatures roamed the grounds of your hometown. The mountains were inhabited by these supernatural creatures and the mortals objected to sharing the land with these callous creatures since they believed they were bad luck. This mystical town was at the edge of war; riots between the mortals and immortals would transpire every full moon, blood and wounds in every direction. Of course, the King sat and observed; what more could he do when the two separated societies loathed each other. There was little power over the hatred they had for each other, nothing could keep them apart for the selfish humans craved destruction, blood and death. The Castle sat towering over the town, holding its status. Red skies sheathed the firmament that loomed over the now silent town as the King stands at the large stained glass window that looked over into the town. He could see the clear separation between the mortals and the and immortals; he sighed. As much as the King tried to keep them civil, it would never happen. He turned around to see his son gazing at the shelves and the paintings that were hug up in the King’s private study room which was located in the tallest tower of the castle. His finger brushes over the leather cover of the books and took one that was a book on Folklore which interested him the most. “Father, can I borrow this?” He holds it up to his father and his father nods in affirmation. The son takes the book and runs down the spiral staircase and finally down the large staircase that faced the vast wooden double doors to the castle. He pulled the rings on the door to open them and ran down to the front green space which was enclosed by evergreen trees arrayed along the front. He went down and sat on the verdant grass, the evening air gentle and pleasant. He flicked the page open; there was a contents page on all these supernatural creatures from vampires, witches, psychics, sirens, werewolves and many others. He was invested, he wanted to learn more about these creatures, but he didn’t know the history of his bloodline. Years prior to 1864, the King studied Vampires and how to kill these creatures, how to abolish such vile specimen. His family were hunters and studied how to capture, torture and kill vampires. He peacefully read the piece of literature, immersing himself and broadening his knowledge. He heard the sound of heels climbing up the stairs of the castle and it was none other than she, the love of his life, the one the Prince was going to marry. She was beautiful, divine piece of art, everything he ever wanted. He jumped up onto his feet dropping the book onto the grass. “Evening my dear Prince, Jungkook,” she curtsied to you. He felt his heart thump out of his chest. “Oh please, do enter my father must be waiting for your arrival,” Jungkook opens the door like the gentleman he is. Her smile was everything to him, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He kept a photo she gave him as a token of devotion and love, she loved him too, but she waited for the time the King arranged the royal wedding.

As the love of his life walks into the main hall, he goes back to grab his book which has seemed not to be where he dropped it. This was a strange occurrence, and he didn’t know what he did with it. Jungkook began frantically searching behind the bushes until someone pushed him over to the other side of the bush. “looking for this your majesty?” A tall male with a dark demeanour approached from behind him holding the Folklore book. Jungkook was angered by the utter disrespect he experienced and tried to grab this disrespectful man. “uh uh, it’s not very royal of you to grab a commoner like this is it?” he scoffed. As Jungkook blinked, the man vanished – where did he go – Jungkook was confused. He brushed himself off and sighed as he attempted to go back into the castle but he was tackled with super speed by this man. Everything turned black. He awakens, his neck and head in pain and his stomach growling in hunger. He thought he was pushed over and hurt his head and neck, only having a minor concussion on his head.

He thought nothing of it, the man must’ve attacked you since the King wasn’t favoured by a lot of people, so the prince was leverage to get back at him. He gulped, trying to cure his dry throat and entered back into the palace. The girl was sat at the dinner table along with his father and the girl’s assistant. She was a part of a rich family so her status was compatible with him. “Son where have you been? Why do you look so…. Pale?” The inspects him as Jungkook’s breathing became heavier. “Son are you unwell? Servants, take him to his quarters!” his father demanded. The girl’s assistant looked at Jungkook concerned, she knew what was wrong and little did the King know, she was a descendant of the most powerful of witches concealed as a commoner that would assist the wealthy family’s prized possession – their daughter- since she was the only half witch, wealthy child in the town. The daughter was also a part of the same bloodline, they were cousins of course although the daughter’s mother married a rich man, who was a powerless human being making her less powerful. As Jungkook was escorted to his slumber quarters he lay there in cold sweat.

“Your Majesty, would I have your permission to see your son to just examine his condition?” the assistant pleaded. The King agrees to the offer; “oh yes, please feel free, please tell me what’s wrong with him!” the King sounded concerned. She nods as she runs up the stairs holding her dress and stand outside his door. “May I come in?” she knocks with respect and manner. There was no reply or response so there was no choice but to open the door on her own, so she twisted the door handle and gulped. She gasped in absolute horror to see Jungkook drenched in the blood of his servants with the tall, broad shouldered man next to him. “well done my little fledgling, your first taste of human blood,” he smirked before going towards the witch. “Why are you here?” he asks the witch. “ Seokjin I could ask you the same! Why did you turn the PRINCE out of all people!” her voice was angry and infuriated. “just a bit of fun my magic potion,” he strokes her shoulder, or attempts to before he hisses. “hmm ouch extra witchy protection…” he scoffs “ well Prince Jungkook’s going to need one of your fancy sunlight protecting rings like your great-great grandmother made me, see you later.” He sits at the edge of the window before shifting into a crow and vanishing into the nothingness of the forest. What could she tell the King? She didn’t want him to become exiled or even worse, executed!

That’s what your aunt used to tell you. The tales of the vampires and the numerous supernatural creatures that roamed the town you lived in and how the castle that sat on the mountain was a chamber of secrets that no one dared to discover. It was said that anyone who even attempted to enter would either disappear or have vivid night terrors – it was deemed to be so haunted. “That sounds so cool!” your voice sounded vivacious “now I wanna go and see for myself!” but your aunt gave you a disapproving look. “I don’t think that would be the most ideal thing to do, don’t even dare!” she raised her voice, moving her hair out of her face as she began to gather the utensils from the side of the sink to dry them up and put them away. Your great grandmother gave you a family heirloom that was a blue crystal locket which was filled with a flower and another gem like stone which had a carved white rose on the surface. Your before she passed away, she told you to take care of it and to never lose it. You didn’t know why but you kept her word and wore it all the time. “so what happened to the prince after? Did the king ever find out?” You ask. “Your grandmother would know this, It’s just a story anyway but I think this is what happened,” she begins and continues the captivating tale of Prince Jungkook.

Shortly after the maids encounter with Seokjin, she turned around and heard rattling at the door but before she count meet whoever was outside, she failed to keep it closed and his lover ended up finding him in this condition; the fear in her eyes flooding her mind and showing on her face. Little did she know vampires fed off fear since adrenaline was what made blood sweeter and more available. He charged at her before the witch warded him off with the poisoned Vervain scalding his face making him whimper like a puppy. “you-”his lovers voice cracked, ““BEAST! FIEND! Stay away from me-” his lover screamed in terror. The witch shut the door on him and put her necklace with other magic and herbs on the handle of the door so he couldn’t open it. Jungkook’s lover ran down the stairs, stumbling and tripping but not caring, not giving a second though as to where she is running to. “where are you going!” the King tried to stop. “Your son- t-the Prince,” her words stumbled upon each other, “VAMPIRE” she yelled before running out of the palace, Jungkook watching the love of his life leaving him forever.

“what happened next? This is getting too good to stop here Aunt,” you lean on your hands at the island counter as she cooks dinner. “Hm, from what I can remember she told me that he had to be exiled probably executed too”

The Prince spent weeks in his room not being able to leave until the King brought in priests and organised a ceremony for everyone to attend although by everyone, he meant just the supernaturals. He didn’t like what he was going to do to his son, but he had to do as much as he could to keep his people safe even if that meant to kill his own son. During that ceremony, which was held at a local church, he trapped all the vampires inside and transported Jungkook to the building. He was chained like an animal and thrown into the building like he meant nothing. The supernaturals congregated outside the venue which was an ancient church that was built by the commoners many years prior to 1864. The doors opened to rows of concreate seats facing to the front of the church, wooden supports holding up the ceiling above the immortals and the alter standing at the front empty for a little while. Everyone was seated, the immortals though that them and the mortal King had a civil relationship- they were wrong. The ceremony started and Seokjin sat at the back and watched Jungkook sitting on the backrow, starved. “awh seems like someone was held hostage,” he snickers before getting his composure back. “Just a joke but you know what’s happening right?” Seokjins eyes widen excitedly, “this is a mass execution, he’s blowing the church up… bOOM!” He laughed hysterically “I know this only because this church had been rebuilt before because the same happened to me,” He sits beside you. “what! Blown up?” Jungkook asks, “yeah but it’s fine, I just wanna keep you by my side,” he smirks before searching for an escape route and little did the King know, Seokjin has been around for many years and knew the underground tunnel systems, so behind the alter was the entrance to the underground tunnels. There was a short pause before starting since the King forgot his ‘speech’ and had to go and find it in his carriage however that was when it was all going to happen. And it did.

“So did Prince Jungkook survive?” you question at the cliffhanger. “No one knows but legend has it that his spirit still lingers in the castle and the church and on top of that you can hear his angelic voice down every hallway,” you felt shivers down your spine. You wanted to see it for yourself; was it true the castle was still functioning as normal like people said. Your brother opens the front door and walks in beaten and bruised. “Namjoon! What happened?” the tone in your voice your voice sounded startled! It had been months since he got into a fight and it was usually over something stupid but this time something felt strange. “what happened? Answer me!” your aunt raise her voice. Even if he was 20 he still needed some discipline since you both lost your parents at a young age. “fight, what else?” he throws his shows aside near the door and runs up the stairs slamming his bedroom door. Your aunt sighs’ “you two are making me feel old!” you get up from your seat and help her with the table, “but you’re very pretty though so don’t you worry.” Your mind lingered about the forbidden area of the town, where the new bell towered church sat, on the boarder of the road to the castle and the main town.

It was a new semester and you entered the school with confidence as your two best friends waited at the entrance for you. After the long summer, you, Jimin and Yoongi were finally united as a trio again and caught up on your summer away. “so, where did you go?” Jimin asked as he fixed the raven brooch on his jacket. “Oh, I just went to the countryside to see my grandmother and she told me all sorts of weird stories about our family, not going to lie they didn’t sound real, but her great grandmother was a witch!” the fascination in your voice being clear and present. “so that would mean you’re a witch, through descent!” Yoongi wonders, “but witches aren’t real?” you shake your head. “No, Yoongi, apparently according to her we also have psychics in our family so I could be either there’s a possibility!” you sounded crazy to them but you brushed it off because you know what you were told. Maybe it wasn’t real, your grandmother is old and stories can change over time. They’re stories after all. “maybe you’re right Yoongi, maybe it is just stories,” you continue walking with them. Despite being a new semester, it didn’t feel different at all. You wondered around to your class and placed your bag on the floor, your necklace falling out of your bag made another student turn their head. “Hey, you,” the person called out and you turned your head pointing to yourself. “me?” you tilt your head. “yeah, where did you get this collector’s item from?” He sounded so fascinated by it, “oh sorry for just taking it off you, I just love collector items especially when they have close historical links with the town!” he smiles “I’m Taehyung by the way!” he hands the necklace back to you and you held it back in your hands and wore it around your neck again to not lose it. For your films class you were put into pairs to produce a short film of any genre. There wasn’t anyone you really knew in the class although everyone has some acquaintances in the class so you glance over at Taehyung who twiddles his pen, leaning on his palm. It seems like he was waiting for someone to pair up with him. “you must me joking,” you mutter to yourself before you take your stuff and seat yourself next to him. “about time, I thought you’d move sooner to be fair,” he smiled at you, the curl on his forehead sitting peacefully before he blows it away from his face. “what you staring at? My curls,” he messes with you. “whatever, we need to plan our film, what are you into?” you ask him and he ponders with a pout, “I like documentary, what about you?” so you think. “I mean I don’t really mind, documentary is easy but maybe a short film would be so cool especially with the whole spooky history, what do you think?” Taehyung nods. “I supposed that’s a good idea too, we could combine them if we tried hard enough and I don’t know what kind of worker you are.” He rolls his eyes and then flashes a playful smile. God how cocky. He seemed like a nice guy so you let it be and tried to write up a plan for your class. Although once the bell went, you thought he’d leave – like every other project buddy you had – but he asked if you were doing anything after school. “oh, umm no I’m probably going to do some homework or start reading up for other classes, why?” he smiles softly, “oh I was wondering if you wanted to do anything interesting, only if you want!” You paused and stopped walking. “depends what it is?” you hoped it wasn’t something weird. “wanna go exploring?” the bells in your head started to ring. Did he just say exploring, as in discovering new things. “exploring what…” you drag on “oh come on, the forest! No one has been there in years god knows what we could find!” His voice was ecstatic. You didn’t want to be impulsive; “hmm I’ll let you know,” you shrug before you turn to go to the cafeteria, “wait! Heres’ my number if you’re interested” you take the piece of paper that seemed crumpled up and thank him, waving him goodbye. You see Jimin at his locker; “Hey!” you made him jump and he groaned, “oi, don’t do that that scared me, where’s yoongi?” he asks looking around. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him since class?” but as you said that, he walks around the corner. “I see you made an impression on Taehyung,” he nods at you, “how did you know?” your eyes widened. “He’s going around telling false tales about him being a part of the hunter bloodline and how he found a witch or something, so I assumed he was talking about you” Yoongi whistled before heading to the cafeteria. You were confused, how did he even know that. “must be one compulsive liar,” Jimin snickers before punching Yoongi. “Possibly” he shrugs but it made you think how Yoongi didn’t believe you about the witch thing so there could be an element of truth. You were curious.

Home was where you felt safe yet so limited. A wooden box with a silver latch sat at your window ledge, entreating you to open it and discover what was inside. It was gifted by none other than your great-grandmother; and you glanced at it, your fingers twitching to unclip the lock. You ignore it, trying to dedicate your focus to your trigonometry homework however you felt an energy calling you. You tutted and groaned at your focus being dismantled by your frantic thoughts; you dropped you pen and slammed your book shut, walking over to the window where the box sit.

“this box should be kept near the window to ward off any supernatural energy to keep you safe.”

Your grandmother said weird and wacky things however you went along with it. You wanted to open the box and you went against your grandmother’s rules and sat at your window ledge but before opening the box, you realised that there were lights on at the vampire castle. Your jaw dropped and your eyes widened in joy – were you imagining things – you rubbed your eyed however they weren’t a figment of your imagination. It was real. You wanted to yell at your aunt to let her know but she already thought you were crazy so you left it and opened the box. It was an amethyst necklace with a silver spiral trapping the get and a purple and white flower inside and along with the necklace was a letter written a long time ago, it was concealed with a wax seal and carefully placed inside of the box. Your curiosity was intensified by the castle and you thought to yourself for a bit. Didn’t Taehyung want to go exploring? Maybe now would be a good idea but no, you wanted to see for yourself on your own. “hey, can I come in?” your Aunt asks knocking on the door so you leaped onto your bed and grabbed a textbook. “yes, you can!” you said slightly breathless. “I have some snacks for you, eat up,” she says before looking at your window wide open, “so what’s this then?” she sets some warm soup on your desk. “oh, it was just getting a bit stuffy” your nervously chuckle. She narrows her eyes, “alright, eat up alright, I’m going to watching a show, if you need me in downstairs.” She lets you know before shutting your door. You couldn’t let the soup go cold so you eye it for a moment before sighing and sitting at your desk, both hands cupping the curve of the bowl and, you guessed it, downed it in one go. You wiped your mouth fast and think of a route out and looking outside of your bedroom didn’t seem like a far jump down. You grabbed your phone and your jacket and tried to sneak out. It was a success. You sighed in relief and walked down the back streets, hood up, to the forest.

Dancing in the dark.

Stumbling through the leaves and decaying animals, you managed to enter the mystical forest you dreamed of going into you. The air was different, it stung to breathe in but perhaps that was the cold weather who knows. You hear a crunch of a twig snapping in half which startled you, your head whipped around to see nothing but the leaves swaying in the icy breeze. Inhale. Exhale. You went on your way further. The darkness made it difficult to see anything, you squint your eyes to check your surroundings. Are there still these supernatural creatures living or were they all killed off? The buzzing in your mind catches you off guard and you strip on a piece of concrete and reach out to grab the leafy floor although it was another concrete brick like textured object. Frantically, you search for your phone and press the flash button to see a staircase. A gasp leaves your mouth and you stand yourself up. The towering structure, two turrets and one fragmented turret loomed over you dauntingly. “that must be where he was held..” you whisper to yourself. A flash occurred from the corner of your eye and you were shaken by the suddenness of it. It seemed like a candlelight was blown out from the middle room of the castle but you weren’t too certain. You were hesitant to go inside but you took a deep breathe and you did. How bold of you. The doors were tall, around 7 feet tall with two ring handles, which seemed to be made out of a type of metal. The colour was faded and rusty. Your fingers brushed over it but the heavy, wooden doors gracefully opened welcomingly. The relinquished palace had a strong aura, an aura of life. You peer through the doors to see the interior cold and untouched. The mess of the table, an earring to gleaming in the moonlight next to your feet. You pick it up. This must be Prince Jungkook’s lover’s earring. You begin to explore this castle, the unbelievable history was at your finger tips right now. You look up to the stained glass windows that looked to the full moon, your necklace was shining bright… brighter than usual. Your curiosity took you to the broken turret room, the bed soaked in blood from that specific evening, the box let wide open with crystals and stone. “That must be from my grandmother,” you pick up the crystals, “holy water and herbs, what a great pair.” A voice spoke from behind your startling you. You turned around but no one was there; was it his voice still echoing in this room, does his spirit still roam?

“no, don’t be stupid, spirits can’t scream,” He chuckles. Why did he sound a lot like Taehyung? “Taehyung?” you stutter, “oh! It worked, wow I’m so happy,” Jungkook chuckles, “years of practice what can I say, the Kim’s were easy to mirror.”

You couldn’t believe it, it really was him in real life but you froze from fear and shock. “frightened now are we?” his eyes were glowing an fiery red, “go ahead, run like they all did,” he smirks before giving you way. You drop the crystals and you clutch to your necklace but as you bolt to the front door, stumbling down the stairs, he was already there waiting for you. “hm I’ve gotten quite good at this haven’t I My Love,” he smirks before you felt a pang of fear in your heart. You tripped over the concrete stairs again and you get back up again, running to the main town. Little did you know, you lost your necklace making you a lot more vulnerable than you think.

You climb onto the bins and try to pry your window open again and sneak back in. The lights were off so you had to be quiet. “my necklace!” you gasp at the realisation you lost it.

Your nightmares were vivid, like your were being attacked by him since you didn’t feel safe without your necklace. You didn’t know what it did but it kept you safe.

The necklace helps keep you safe from compulsion. Compulsion from a vampire is dangerous especially when they know you’re a witch, they can almost ask you for anything and use you for their own benefit. The necklace should always be worn, never taken off. The ring a vampire wears is keeps them from scorching in the sunlight, so they are among us – Witches society 1800’s

“Whatever, I’ll go back and find it,” you shake your head and open your eyes during the early hours of the morning. Two glowing orbs moved from your window and you rubbed your eyes and turned away. Your heart beat hard, like it was going to beat out of your chest.

You felt uneasy the next day at school but you went on as you would do. “have you seen Taehyung today?” Jimin asks pointing at him standing against his locker with your necklace in his hands. Anger flooded through your blood stream, why does HE have it? “Taehyung! Why did you take my necklace again?” you seemed to have forgotten what happened the night before. “what? I found this at the ca-“ he stopped himself, “hm, I see.. apologies here take it back,” he hands to you with a glint of mischief in his eyes, “only if you promise to help me find him.” You gasped at the absurd deal but you wanted to find him too, you wanted to know more. “fine..” you sigh and he smirks, “perfect…”

Why did you forget about what happened last night? Was it because you were under some sort of compulsion; the orbs? It must’ve been him. “Did you know your ancestors were from the line of the most powerful witches?” Taehyung whispers to you in film class. “yes, I did, how do you even know that?” You reply dryly. “Well your ancestors were of great help to us hunters,” he leans back in his chair, “although some of you were in love with the Prince and his family,” he scoffs. What did he mean by that? “huh? Elaborate please?” you ask him, pausing your written plan and turning to him. “My ancestors left letters, diaries and capsules for us and there was a division amongst the witches; some of you lot protected the prince and others wanted him dead so all the vervain plants in this town and perhaps all over the world were cursed as a repellent for compulsion, some other magic stuff was involved but I’m a hunter,” he starts off, “So the Lady of Prince Jungkook had a close link with the witches to protect her lover but unfortunately he turned and her assistant began to protect him since he did a lot for their family, no one knows of what happened to the Lady but legend has it that she was turned by something else I don’t really know and-“ you interrupt him, “you know awfully a lot don’t know hm…” you began to get suspicious of him but the crest on his jacket seemed believable enough. “maybe we should hang out after classes to actually talk about our history” his lips curl and he looks back at the teacher at the front of the room.

Later that afternoon; you and Taehyung sit face to face, opposing each other at a local café. “so, you are from the witches who kept these vampires safe and I’m obviously a hunter,” you taps his fingers on the table, “you’re not a hunter you’re a descendant don’t get too cocky Tae,” you rolls your eyes. “Have you done magic?” he asks you, “well obviously not?” you take your cup and sip aggressively at his stupid remarks trying to drown it out. “I see, but you know what that necklace does right?” he points at your neck as the stone hung down. You shake your head. “stop compulsion and it’s also a poison to vampires,” he nods. “is it now…” you sounded unfazed. His hand touched your hand and you felt a strange sensation. Your body went into shock and a bright light flashed at your eyes and you were able to see something, like a movie but you were actually there. You saw yourself running away but your were inside of the castle, the lights were bright and you felt fear. You saw people with stakes and fire, as well as bows and arrows shooting at the turrets. It was the day the prince turned. Why were you running away? He lets his hand off you. “how was that? Did you know you could do that?” he smugly smiles. You felt your chest pang with pain and you felt breathless. “what the fuck was that?” you kick him under the table. “you just saw your past life, that’s all…”

So was Jungkook’s lover a witch too? Were you her? You couldn’t be. “I think we should go back to the castle, I want to check something,” you say, “now we’re talking little Witch,” he pats your head. “don’t fucking call me that, “you push his hand away, “disgusting.”

“Hey Aunt, I’m going to a friends house to stay over is that okay?” you ask her politely. “Of course! You can call me whenever you need to okay.” She smiles and waves. This was your chance to collect items from the castle. You met Taehyung at the taped trees where it said ‘no trespassing’ yet you and him crawled underneath and wondered deep inside the forest. “Wow, what if we just kissed here,” he nudged you. “I’ll tell you now, I have zero interest in you Hunter boy, shut up and start looking,” you sounded a tad bit aggressive but you had to show your place. You arrived at the entrance again although no lights in sight. The door was opened from the night before so you walked in, holding your necklace for protection; “I want to go to the study room,” you point and Tae nods. The study room was extravagant the walls opaqued with leather spined books. Your fingers brushed over them until one of them caught your eye. It was a book on Folklore but wedged between it was a thick envelope. You pulled it out, the wax seal opened and a fire damaged letter amongst others. They were love letters exchanged between him and his lover and one of them which he seemed to have opened when he was in the church. He managed to save it. You pull out a photograph too of his lover and you look at it closely, inspecting every detail until realising how much she looked like you. “doppelgänger?” you gasp before Taehyung wonders in finding something. “Hey, has there always been running electricity here?” he asks you. “it’s a really old castle so there shouldn’t be,?” you reply to him, shoving the letters in your bag. Taehyung switches a light on and back off. “you shouldn’t be snooping around my office…” Jungkook sits at his desk, legs up his eyes glinting a fire red. “You know, it’s been a while since I tasted any human blood in years, no one seems to give me any company…” You see a black shadow move to the light switch out the door and back to the seat in under a second. “oh yes and um.. you guys are trapped in here,” he smiles playfully. “now, what should we play? Spin the bottle and the first human it lands on I drain you? Sounds fair right?”

“we didn’t mean any harm, I was just curious what was in here because-” you were interrupted, “I know you didn’t mean any harm witch, I mean him,” his eyes began to burn a bright red, his fangs appearing as he smiled, his eyes dark. “nono, I’m not like them I’m just a highschool kid!” Jungkook nods at him pleading. “you know, the more scared you are the sweeter your blood tastes,” he charges at him and you squeal. “STOP!” Jungkook stops, his fangs and eyes turning back to normal. There was something about you that you didn’t know about yet Jungkook did. “Seems like you missed out on you history classes,” he chuckles before he gazed into Taehyung’s eyes and whispers something. “So, why did you want to snoop into my castle? Steal from me?” he scoffs as Taehyung moves to stand next to you. The necklace was dangling out of your bag and he carefully pulled it out and Jungkook smiled as he did so. “Leave from here..” His eyes glow a yellow this time and there as a feeling within you that you had to leave. Taehyung dropped the necklace to the floor and you had an urge to run away from this castle. Adrenaline began to seep into your system as Jungkook whispers “boo,” you bolted out the door which flung open. The rapid steps you too through the leaves was frantic and desperate to leave. His sly tricks; he used Taehyung’s weak body to compel you. You were vulnerable now.

Weeks went by and you had a memory which you couldn’t remember, a void in your mind, pure emptiness. You move your bag to the floor to empty a seat next to you in your history class but Taehyung wasn’t in today. Although someone else was. He looked familiar and like you knew him but you thought nothing of it. “hey, long time no see?” his lips curl into a smile and pushes his dark hair back. What? But when you blinked he was gone again. You were seeing things and you thought you were genuinely delusional to the point a doctor’s appointment sounded good. “yo guys?” you asked Jimin and Yoongi as you guys sat in the basketball court that lunch break. “Was a new student admitted today or am I going crazy?” You think carefully. “no new students today, you my friend need to lay off the caffeine and start sleeping, you’re up at like 3am every single day?” Jimin sighs, “SLEEP WILL YOU!” Your friends thought you were going a little crazy but you took their advice. You were feeling fatigued and low when you arrived home and your aunt was sitting on the couch with someone. “hey! Your friend came over to return this saying you lost it at school,” it was the necklace you thought you had. What, how? “hey there! Thought I’d come visit you to return this,” he smiles and his eyes glint the amber tone. Fuck. Jungkook compelled you to forget that day you and Taehyung went to the castle, he was playing mind games all day. So he was in school but only in your mind or had some power where he couldn’t be seen? “I was asking your aunt if we could hang out more often since you keep avoiding me these days,” his tongue rests on his fang before retracting them when your aunt faces him. “what a nice boy,” your aunt smiles, “of course you guys can hang out I’m more than happy to allow that, in fact now would be great since I have an interview to go to” she gets up in a hurry and grabs her bag. “where?” you ask her. “The café and bar down the road from here?” your aunt looks at you suspiciously. “Oh okay,” you say nervously before you and Jungkook were left in your house alone together.

“You’re not a very smart witch now are you, a little bit clumsy hm,” he hums, he stands up and moves closer to you. “since I have been invited in, no salt or garlic will ward me off..” he smiles mischievously, “your family gave me permission to enter, a little careless to be quite frank with you,” he rolls his eyes and smirks. “what do you want…” your voice shakes but you feel frozen. “What do you think? New blood…” with his power of speed, pushing your by your shoulders to the wall, his eyes sharp. “don’t mess this up for me okay, don’t do it again…” you felt a surge of emotions and visions moving through your mind, you could feel pain and resent , the feeling of betrayal and devastation, your neck burning on your left side before he let go of you. “You just saw everything didn’t you?” His voice profound. “I-” you gulp “what if I did? I don’t have control over it!” you pant after using that energy. “no one has done that for years, I guess you are useful after all even if you are the dumbest witch I’ve ever seen…” he scoffed. “well I guess I’ll go but I’ll see you when I need you to find her, bye dumb witch” he waves as he just walks out of the front door with no care in the world, like he’s a normal human. “I’M NOT A DUMB WITCH!” you screamed internally before slamming the door. It seemed like he was searching for his lover but why would she be alive now.. unless someone turned her?

A few months went by with no contact from Jungkook until your phone pinged in class this one day during class from a random number.

“look outside the window, meet me outside now.”

What the hell? You did what the text asked you to do and you see Jungkook in a jacket that you recognise. It was a leather jacket embellished with large silver button on the front, isn’t that yoongi’s. “yes witch it is yoongi’s but I didn’t kill him, hurry up,” he could hear your thoughts. You ignore him and moments later the fire alarm goes off. He was like a little demon causing trouble in your life!

You manage to go outside to evacuate, and he pulls you aside and used his powers to move away from the site. “Can you see into the past using this?” it was the letters and the photo you took but he got them back somehow. You didn’t want to admit to stealing them. “I don’t know how to use my powers,” you mutter “what… you don’t what…” he stands towering over you, “just try, I don’t know manifest it or whatever you do?”

He was clueless yet desperate to get answers about his beloved. “I have to read up on this I really don’t know much,” you panic before he holds you hands between his, the letters and photos sandwiched between you palms. He was the closest thing to her and it worked, his energy worked.

–

You saw a night sky, the stars scattered across the sky like precious jewels it’s luminescent light beaming down with a full moon perched just above one of the towers. His beloved stood at the castle doors after Jungkook’s father’s death, the empty halls echoing Jungkook’s shrieks of pain. It was empty, or so she thought. But you felt a sensation, it was harsh and painful like something piercing through skin. It was Seokjin. “every single one of my prey are stupid,” he tuts before draining her and leaving her lifeless corpse to someone else. There was a crowd of people, hunter supposedly; “Stop, isn’t this the woman that was supposed to marry the prince?” One of them gasped. “yes sir, it was but is she dead?” another queries. “Seems so Hunter… do you think Jungkook is still alive?” the leader tuts. “I don’t think so, the fire seemed difficult to escape from…”

But during that time Jungkook left for Europe, to be safe, to join the European vampire population for a while before returning a few hundred years later.

–

Jungkook’s pale skin became paler with anticipation. “so… what did you see?” he asks, eyes full of hope. “she died… a long, long time ago..” you gulp pulling your hands away before running the opposite direction. Jungkook catches up. “Oi witch,” he chuckles nervously, “you better be joking,” his voice trembles and slowly turns into anger. “Who killed her, tell me, tell me how she died witch or I will kill you for being so useless!” he raises his voice. “I don’t know! He had pale skin and dark hair, broad shoulders and he was a vampire too!” you yelp. Jungkook steps back. “seokjin attacked my Princess… knowing I was waiting for her…” Jungkook’s voice became sorrowful, his heart shattering into a million pieces there and then. “I searched for her for years and what’s the point now..” his fiery eyes shoot at you. “what can you do to fix this, to bring her back, you can do it right?”

“I-I don’t know how, please don’t hurt me,” you cover yourself with your arms. “I wont hurt you.. you did the best you could and I cant be angry at you, I’m sorry”

You could feel his pain, his heart tightening and not releasing at the though of the love of his life being gone. “is there anything I can do to help you?” you ask hoping there was something you could help with. “you could stake me?” His voice was lifeless and monotonous. “I don’t think I want to Jungkook, if it makes you feel better I have always been interested in you and your history, my great grandmother told us about how everything was like back in her times and-” Jungkook interrupted you; “who was your great grandmother what did she do?” You felt a connection now, there was something he unlocked. You explained to him how your great grandmother was a part of the powerful witches in her time and how his lover was close with her. Although that’s when it hit you that that was her story she was telling and you unlocked a new timeline. “you are no way the descendant of-“ he paused, “let me process this, so I am talking to a close relative, well distant but you know of the woman I was meant to marry.. it makes so much sense why you looked like her I followed you around every where thinking it was her but I have been proven wrong and I’m sorry…”

he followed me? It all made sense.. the glowing orbs outside the window, the strange noises you’d hear every night, the vivid nightmares.

“oh, that’s fine,” you didn’t know what more to say but you felt bad for him. Jimin texted you and said that everyone was sent home because there was a gas leak in the school. “ah great, we’ve been sent home because of a gas leak,” you sigh, “well, I guess I’ll be going sorry for not being much help.” You say before turning around and making your way to the street. Jungkook grabs your arm. “wait, I’ve been so lonely and constantly on the run,” he begins, “it would be nice to have a friend that’s close to home,” he smiles. He genuinely smiled at you; “me? Didn’t you call me dumb?” you tut, “okay maybe I did and maybe you are but hey there’s no harm in some teasing hm?” he eases on his grip. “well, okay I suppose but where Taehyung?” you ask him suspicious of his intentions. “Oh, I told him to stay away from you since I knew how his ancestors were like, not nice people I’ll tell you,” You nod you head, interested in what he had to say. Maybe this would change things around, make your boring life a little more interesting.

Weeks went by and you didn’t hear from Jungkook which was of surprise to you since HE was the one pleading you almost to be friends. It was around 1am and you sat at your window watching the moon and the stars as the breeze brushes against your legs. You sigh, what a mad world you lived in? People think you’re crazy but the crazy people think you’re fascinating. Funny. You noticed little trinkets and strange objects being wedged or put outside your window. First it was some sort of herb then it was a gold chain with a rose that opened to store powders to other herbal substances in. “Nice moon right?” Jungkook smiles making you yelp nearly tumbling out of the window. “How are you in my ro-“ his finger rests on your lips and hushes you. “Shifting, finally mastered it, wanna go out for a bit and talk?” he asks and flashes a mischievous smile. “1am? Are you crazy?” You gasp. “you’re asking a vampire who eats people if they’re crazy…” you look at him and blink. “I don’t eat people only those who deserve it,” his cheeks puff up as he smiles. “okay fine lemme just ge-“ before you could finish any sentence he grabbed you around your waist and you both were somehow on the ground. “You need to stop doing that, I have motion sickness,” you breathe. “maybe you should collect some leaves for that then,” Jungkook sarcastically remarks and you groan at his incompetency to communicate without insulting you. “please, stop insulting me,” you roll your eyes. “but… you’re a bit of a idiot though… you couldn’t even figure out how to use your necklaces and utilise your herbs what if I killed you huh?” he shoved you as you walked through the empty town. “then I DIE? Oh wait you wouldn’t know that because you’re IMMORTAL!” you scoff, “bet you don’t even know how death feels like,” you cross your arms.

Jungkook laughs at you getting angry at what he says. He’s been around long enough to figure out how to tease. He looks around to see if anything was open. “there’s that diner place open,” Jungkook points. “please stop reading my thoughts, it’s weird and creepy!” You mumble and he chuckles. “Scared I’ll see something I shouldn’t?” he nudges you gently before opening the door to let you in first.

“Jungkook, long time no see,” the owner smiles with such delight as she goes to hug him. You were confused and downright shocked to see such close interaction. “this is the owner, I don’t think you met her, she’s very sweet almost like my mother,” Jungkook’s arm drapes around her shoulder. “how long have you known him for?” You ask knowing for a fact that Jungkook is a few hundred years old. “He came in a couple years ago drenched in the rain, he seemed so exhausted,”

I wonder why…

“ohh okay, fair enough, just so you know I’m not his girlfriend or anything,” you tut before sitting down. “I love the steaks here, they’re so .. tender,” Jungkook teases. “please don’t put me off-“ you raise your hand gesturing ‘stop’. He sat back and let the waitress do her job. You sat there with food in front of you and Jungkook gesturing for you to eat, “promise you wont kill me will you, I’ve had enough of the tension of you trying to kill me,” Jungkook’s eyes widen. “oh no no you got the wrong idea, I want to befriend you not k-“ he whispers, “kill you?”

“right so what DO you want,” you chew as you speak. “friendship dumb witch what else? Just a companion until you die or something,”

Great, just another person to use you again.

“mmh okay,” your unsure, monotonous voice echoes in his ears.

Since the night at the diner you had a bittersweet relationship with Jungkook and ever since that day, he began to wait outside you school to see you and hang out with you or sometimes turn up at your house. He was suspicious to you but you went with it to do your own investigating.

“Why are you here?” your harsh tone a little too harsh for Jungkook’s liking. He gazed at you and then your aunt; “hey is your niece allowed to come to mine since we have a project to study for?” he shouts out to her and she turns around elated. “oh of course anytime! Thank you for asking for permission, I’m not good at this parenting stuff,” he scratches the back of her head. “what do you think you’re doing?” your intonation increases. “a favour trust me,” he winks at you and then smiles at your aunt. “come on then, we better be going since it’s super important!”

You were confused and unsure how to react. What did he want from you that needed you to be away from the town – it was incredibly suspicious. You and Jungkook walked down the main street towards a small gap behind some buildings. “what- where are you taking me?” Your stutter and Jungkook sighs, noticeably annoyed at you for being so uncooperative. “maybe it’s easier if I just do this-“ he groans as he swipes you of your feet and all you felt was a huge gust of wind in your face. Your face, unconsciously, buried itself into Jungkook’s chest as you gripped onto his arm for safety. He needs to not use his speed on you without notice, motion sickness is not fun. After meandering through the trees and trampling over dead leaves he arrives to the destination. “if I put you down you will throw up on my stairs and I do not want that witch,” he grins as he saw your face embarrassed since he read your thoughts. “also it is not weird you buried you head into my chest, quite frankly, I enjoyed that,” he chuckles as you slap his chest defensively, “don’t make fun of me!”

He seats you down on a chair, embellished in gold and a burgundy velvet, the arms a solid wood. All the chairs were like this, the royal aura still remained. “everything is fully functioning because over the years I adapted and I fixed things here and there, the only thing not working right now is the dismantled turret,” he laughs thinking this ‘joke’ was funny. You let out a nervous laugh. You weren’t going to lie to yourself but your heart acted strangely when he showed his true self to you. “you were interested in discovering more about the castle so why not give you a tour!” as he began he gently took your hand considering you were feeling a little sick from the sudden, rapid movement. Your heart did it again, stop.

Jungkook started off with the dining and study area going into depth about how his father would do his work there and how he would sometimes fall asleep. Jungkook spent most his time in this study when he read books and learnt more about the world around him and. The grand staircase; he helped you up the stairs, hand in hand and showed you the east side and the west side. There was a locked door in one of the walls which caught your eye. “What’s this?” you ask Jungkook, “ well that used to be the execution dungeon and since my father died I never opened it once,” he continues to walk up as you nod your head affirmatively. “Finally this is my bedroom, since my one was well… destroyed,” you gulp. You look around; the brown and beige colour scheme was very modern although the lights were still chandeliers. The walls were all painted a hazelnut tone but there was gold embellishing on the side skirting. There was a combination of modern and historical aspects, it was fascinating. You felt an odd connection to the castle but you never understood why and thought nothing of it yet again. “my love looked exactly like you,” he sat down solemn on his bed and pats the space beside him for you to sit next to him. “I remember she used to pick those lavenders in the lavender fields with her maid over there,” he points out of the window where there was a windmill but the land was replaced by plain dirt. “she loved blossoming flowers, Gypsophila, she loved those,” he trailed off as he looks at a broke stem on his bed side table. “I though he’d turn her, he promised he would for me?” you stopped him there. “wait who is this ‘he’ you’re taking about?” you ask engrossed in his own history. “Seokjin, member of one of the first ever vampires, he turned me for no reason other than boredom,” he groans in annoyance, “why me?”

“does he not visit now and then or is he just travelling all the time?” you ask. “of course, he’s living his life, committing crimes, getting the women he loves and left a hopeless, family-less prince alone for years, he lied to me,” his voice cracked. “Hey, don’t worry it must’ve been hard for you to be alone all these years and fend for yourself! That’s just cruel,” your hand settles on his shoulder and he falls to your lap. “now, you’re the only friend I have and who doesn’t think I’m insane…” he begins “but the downside is you look like her and I don’t know what to feel?”

You needed answers. Everything he said made sense although you needed to find out more and your grandmother’s friends were the place to go… at some point.

As you sat at a table in the cafeteria with Jimin and Yoongi you scroll through your messages from your aunt since you searched for any contacts your grandmother left behind. There was one person who you knew quite well though you needed some time to visit her. “what are you doing, you’ve been so distant from us we don’t hang out anymore?” Yoongi confronts your odd behaviours, “yeah you have and it feels like you don’t want to hang out because we saw-“ Yoongi eyes Jimin to be quiet. What was being said about you? “what? Saw what?” you ask looking at them both, “the dude that waits for you outside like everyday, you never said you got into a relationship?” Jimin crossed his arms. “look, that isn’t my boyfriend for starters, he just needs some help with finding someone who was close to me,” you lie a bit, “he’s just someone who knows my family and I’m helping him until he leaves, don’t get mad at me for it,” you pleaded. They both look at each other and nod; “fine, I’m assuming you’re busy today too?” Yoongi sips at his drink. You nod. “as I thought, alright no problem we’ll organise something some other time,”

Phew. You were off the hook. After school that day, you went home to pack a bag with some necessary items like your portable charger, some snacks, your purse, a hair tie and just an extra set of clothes if you got stuck somewhere. “hey Aunt, I’m going to visit grandmother’s friend, is that okay?” you ask her ad she stares as your bag. “how long for sweetie?” she points, “oh not too long, I just have stuff in there for emergencies since buses don’t go there often,” you nod. “hmm okay, fine keep messaging me and updated! Be safe,” She waves. You open the door and Jungkook stands there, a new phone in his hand. “got an upgrade!” he smiles “wait, where are you off to?” he asks as he follows you to the bus stations. “no where, just go home,” you mutter. “no tell me or I’ll read your mind!” he threatens -playfully of course- , and you stop walking. “just leave me alone this once and let me find something out alone without you constantly invading my privacy! Get a grip vampire!” your tone was harsh and frustrated. “there was no need for that but apologies witch, I’ll leave you, farewell.” His smile faded and his playful face vanished. He turned around and walked away without turning back and eventually disappeared into the dark nothingness.

You tried to brush it off but to think that’s how his past lover might’ve acted towards him made you feel guilty. The bus was empty, as dead as night, only a few travellers boarding to visit people or for other reasons that no one knows about. The engine growled as the driver sighed as he waited for all the passengers to board. You situated yourself on the left, three rows from the back placing your bag next to you so no one sat with you. The bus jolted and began to move out of the bay it was parked in; the journey began. The stars covered the bleak sky and your head rested on the cold glass of the bus. Your phone flashes blue; “hope your journey is safe!” it was Jimin sending you a text message. Your grandmother’s friend’s house was around 2 hours away so the journey was a long one indeed and the last stop was directly near her home. During the trip you drifted off and the dream you had felt like a message. You saw fire, blazing flames and hear shrieks and screams but from your point of view, you were running far far away. You saw a carriage and a white horse which you climbed into and you began to go somewhere, like it was an escape. The area was a rural area, with flower fields and a windmill – one of which you recognised- although there is where you dream stopped and the bus driver was standing next to your seat. “Sorry ma’am but this is the last stop, are you getting off here?” he asks you a little concerned. “oh yeah that’s fine, this is the stop I needed anyway!” you frantically grab your bags and run off the bus. There was barely any lights except for one house which was visibly your grandmothers friends home. You remember the windmill behind her home and the large flower field that stretched out for miles. You knock on the door and it immediately opens. “I was expecting you darling,” she smiles as she lets you in to get warm and comfortable.

“I know what you’re here, I’ve been feeling a strange energy for a couple months, something supernatural?” she utters, “am I right that you’ve encountered supernatural energy?” she asks straightforwardly. “how did you even know” you ask her your mouth semi gaping open. “your grandmother left me a few things and one of them was a necklace connected to you,” she smiles as she shows her wrist with the stone with your initial on it. “ like voodoo?” your eyes widen. “no silly, it’s to keep you protected,” she smiles setting down an herbal tea in front of you. You sip it and it tasted bitter; “sweet isn’t it?” the woman asks, “you can call me your grandmother by the way.” You look at her strangely. “is the tea supposed to be sweet because it’s too bitter?” the ‘grandmother’ shakes her head, “you’ve been interacting with this supernatural energy, have you been put under compulsion,” she asks concerned. “well that’s why I’m here, I met the Vampire Prince and he said that I look like his past love or something and that there’s a strong connection with me and his past so I came here for you to look at my past life?” you explain to her briefly. “past life? Connection to THE vampire prince? I haven’t heard of him in years I thought he was killed that’s what my great grandmother told your grandmother before she passed?” she thought carefully, “okay what did you want to know? Your past life?” she asks again, and you nod your head sure and certain that’s what you wanted to do.

You sat in the armchair and she began to speak to you until you suddenly went into a dream like state. From then you had no idea what was happening in the real world.

Your past life was blessed with riches and wealth. You were in your early 20’s and had a good life til then. You had a cousin who was by your side all the time and you spent most of your time together in the lavender fields and at banquets with your past life father’s family. There was a lot of gold and white, lace and silk. You wrote long hand written letters and sealed them, storing them in a brown tea stained envelope with a rosemary tied to it with a small length of tweed string. From the riches and wealth it declined after you ran away from a castle, your pearl earring falling from your ear. You also tried to run away but were stopped by another entity and that’s when you passed away.

So it did make sense. You were a perfect reincarnated version of the vampire prince’s first love. It made sense how you were a witch too, it made sense how your parents were murdered. It was the hunters trying to cleanse the town of all witches since they sided with the vampires. You opened your eyes from your hypnosis and felt your cheeks wet. “don’t worry, now you have your answer use it wisely,” she says as she goes to the kitchen. Maybe seeing Jungkook next might be the next best idea. Although tonight you had to stay here since it was already late enough and your grandmother’s friends let you stay for the night.

Jungkook sat on his bed looking at the stem on his bedside table. He sighed wishing he could bring her back but what use was there if she grew a bitterness to him because of him being a vampire. The new version of her was so much more open minded and considerate. She was different but also the same but all that mattered is that he felt accepted by you. Perhaps the Prince was falling in love again and wouldn’t that be predictable if he felt accepted. “it could’ve been this way if you weren’t so afraid and trusted me…” he whispered to himself, a tear trailing down his cheek. He was certain he was falling for you, he could feel a change after all these years. Finally he felt the burden raise from his shoulders and he felt like he can move on with someone new. Change has come.

Your route home was early the next morning. The bus arrived at 8am so you needed to take that bus home so you could at least attend you afternoon classes. The bus was fuller, and you had to sit next to someone. You gave them an awkward smile and sat down although they didn’t acknowledge you at all and ignored you. 2 hours felts too long but you dealt with it. Fast forward to when you arrived, you went home to grab your books to go attend classes. You felt some ease knowing your past and your connections it also seems like Taehyung transferred elsewhere after the threats he got from Jungkook. You seat yourself in your class and Jimin hands you over the notes taken for another class, you mouth ‘thank you’ as you take them off him. “how was your trip?” Jimin asked. “it was okay, actually it was great!” you smiled. Something seemed to have changed since to left for a day.

When your afternoon classes ended, you walked out with Yoongi and Jimin waving them goodbye since they had other plans for the evening. You see Jungkook leaning against the fence waiting for you and waved at you. He has a glow today and seemed really ecstatic. “hey, are you alrig-“ before you could even finish your sentence he pulled you into a hug. “I feel great,” he smiles, “wanna grab a coffee? It’s on me,” he smiles, his bunny like teeth showing. It was truly endearing. You nod your head, “of course!” the change of behaviour making you feel something in your stomach. Butterflies? Possibly, yes.

You sit at a table in a rustic looking coffee house and Jungkook goes to order two coffees, one being a caramel macchiato with extra caramel drizzle and a black coffee with an extra espresso shot. “ you seem so happy today? Whats up,” you ask him drinking your black coffee. He smiles shyly, you’ve never seen this side of him before; “I guess I’ve moved on after all these years,” he sips his sweet drink, “I found someone else,” Oh someone else… “is she pretty do I know her?” you pretend to act dumb. “yes, yes you are.” He looks at your, eyes full of love. It made sense, his past lover was bitter towards him and the universe let him start again with you. “me?” you point at yourself, “don’t be stupid why wo-“ he interrupts, “because you accepted me, no one else did and if they did it was the work of compulsion.” He gulped. “I mean it would be wrong for a vampire and a witch to be together any way right?” He chuckled nervously. “I don’t think so…” you began to let your suppressed feelings seep through. “it’s not a crime is it, to love someone who makes you feel the way you do?” you begin to mumble nervous that the words spewing out of your mouth made sense. “are you telling me Little Witch that you shared the same feelings,” his cockiness took over again. “oh my god you ruined the moment with your cockiness!” you swing your head back in frustration, “yes yes I do, is that clear enough?”

Despite you being passive aggressive, he found it charming. After your lowkey coffee date, you both walked along the stream that was near the town with beautiful greenery. His hand nervously tried to slip into yours as you walked but he freaked out every time. “what’s wrong, the herbs getting to you?” you tease. “huh what, what herbs are you trying to poison me!” he pretends being over dramatic. “The herbs behind those mushrooms there,” you point and go to collect them into your little metal tin box. “don’t worry I’ll wash my hands in the stream so you can hold it, it’s getting pretty heavy for me,” you cringed at your pick up line but Jungkook appreciated it. “with your advice, I borrowed a book from someone that was passed down for generations so I can practice witchcraft properly!” You tell Jungkook as his hand holds yours. “wow you actually took my advice,” he becomes shy. “this isn’t like you, you’re usually so confident and cocky,” you laugh before he smiles and uses his speed to push you up against a tree as he looks at you with eyes full or adoration. “is this more like me now?” his fingers brushing down the side of your cheeks and tucking your hair behind your ear. He admired every inch of your face and you stared back at him in awe. Without anything being said he had his first kiss with you after all these years waiting for the other version of you. The kiss only lasted a couple seconds since it was a peck and he moved back and lovingly gazed into your eyes for a little bit before your hands cupped his jaw and brought it closer to your lips for something a little more meaningful than a peck. Although midway through the kiss, drops of rainfall plunged from the grey clouds looming above you. “ugh,” Jungkook groaned before he swiped you up again, “hang on tight,” he smiled sweetly before speeding to his home sheltering you from the rain. “are you feeling okay because I know last time you weren’t feeling the best.” He asked you. “yes I’m fine,” you brush yourself down from where the rain did catch you.

Months passed and your relationship with him grew. You were both at your happiest until Seokjin came to visit one day. “I see you found another one,” he scoffs, “what a lousy vampire you are!” he leans against the wall of his castle. “leave her alone, I know what you did to my first love!” Jungkook growls. “or what? Are you going to kill me,” you laughs manically. “being a vampire means being alone and just using people for your own good,” Seokjin was cold, “either you break her heart or I will, your choice” he threatens. “Seokjin, leave, just go I don’t know what you’re on my tail,” Jungkook yells. “you’re a vampire not a wolf idiot, and because you are one of my creations,” he laughs again. “you wouldn’t kill her,” Jungkook states, “you’re right I wouldn’t, but I can kill you and devour your corpse, your choice…”

He leaves again but his words meant nothing to Jungkook. Was there a reason to why he killed his first love and threatened him about Jungkook’s current girlfriend now? There was. A hidden history no one knew about, not even Jungkook. He ignored him and continued his relationship with you inviting you to his castle that day. “hey, what’s wrong?” you ask him, embracing him after the phone call you had. “can you stay with me today?” he asks. “yeah I can but what’s wrong?” Jungkook didn’t reply. He didn’t speak but he arms wrapped around your body and embraced you back. “just be with me, like this for a little while,” little did you know he was battling an actual war with Seokjin but he refused to let anything get between you and him. He would risk his life for you, fight for you. Losing himself would be better than losing you and he lived by that. Beneath the ‘Vampire Prince’ image was just a poor boy who lost everything. You lean back and lift his head up as it was drooping so low. Without any notice, his lips landed carefully onto yours and his arm around your waist pulls you closer although the atmosphere was different. He was scared and desperate. He said nothing but only a small apology left his lips. He was gentle and slow but began to feel desperate for more than a mere kiss. His kisses trail down the side of your lip to your jaw and as much as you trusted him you were a little frightened at his cravings. “don’t-” you panic. He looks at you with pleading eyes, “I promise, I will never hurt you,” his voice cracked. He was deceived and left stranded to be killed by his previous lover, you were his only anchor now. He began to get slightly more passionate that before and using his speed abilities, you found yourself in his bedroom, you still between his arms. You knew he wouldn’t cross the line, he wanted whatever you wanted, and this is where you were most comfortable with. Jungkook proceeded to continue his actions moving closer to his bed and gently laying you down as he situated himself over you. The passion within him was burning like a fire, he was waiting for the day he could care for the love of his life.

Star crossed lovers. The universe tested you and will continue to do so. Was love such a crime? All Jungkook knew was to keep you safe even if it meant risking it all, he didn’t want to be in such excruciating pain ever again. Even if he was happy with you, he was paranoid and scared of all the possibilities that could happen but right now it was just you, him and the history that combined your love together and satisfied you both. Each-others presence was enough and if Seokjin ever took you away from him, let there be war.

80 notes · View notes

steponmepinkjun · 4 years

Note

Can i ask for a few HCs of a Vampire Asra and/or Vampire Julian with a Male/GN MC? Please? 🥺 Dont Matter if it Is short

I may have gone... a bit overboard here. But like. If it hasn’t been made known already. I kind of have a Thing for vampires. My fav vamp universe lore would have to be the Vampire Academy damphir/moroi/strigoi lore, that shit SLAPS. But uh anyway.

ASRA AND JULIAN AS VAMPIRES 🧛‍♂️🍷👄

WARNING: MENTIONS OF BLOOD, GORE, SEX, DEATH.

Asra ~

Honestly picturing Asra as a vampire is weird asf? Like I almost cannot compute

Vamps are all ~ooooo darkness and gothic stuff and skulls and whatever

And Asra’s like…

Babey.

So honestly I feel like he’d be more of a modern True Blood style vamp? Like was probably chose to become a vamp because he sees it as an opportunity to have forever with MC, and to be able to experience all the miracles of life for hundreds of years

Definitely isn’t plagued with the existential bog of usual vampire lore. Being alive for millenia, able to witness advances in medicine, music, technology, art, science, etc, in real time? And do it all with MC by his side? He sees it as a gift and is always thankful

I picture his vampirism as being more of a… form of magic for him. He discusses in his route how things like blood, bone, etc are very powerful catalysts for magic. So he would probably look at it like an exchange; he takes blood and it enhances his magical ability and gives him certain powers.

He’s not a “unable to sleep” kind of vamp, or a “can’t come out in the sun” vamp. Magicks himself able to come into indirect sunlight for limited amounts of time, and spends just as much time sleeping as he did when he was mortal. His dreams as a vampire are intensely vivid and detailed.

He spends a great deal of his new life in university or studying abroad; he wants to visit literally every place on the globe, learn every language, study every subject. His library is vast and he spends many years of his new life simply travelling and collecting ancient magical tomes. His new not-so-alive but not-quite-undead state enhances his magical connection to the Beyond, or afterlife, whatever you prefer. He definitely learns to dabble in realm-walking, time-bending, and necromancy.

Isn’t ashamed of needing blood to survive, but it does take him a few years to be able to master convincing (seducing) mortals to let him feed from them. He never drains his partners, only takes as much as he needs to sustain himself, and greatly prefers that the experience be co-mingled with sex and sensuality. His bites impart a very potent high. If MC isn’t also a vampire, he’ll feed exclusively on them; they might request he bite them during sex more often than he feels is safe for their health. If MC is also an immortal, Asra will absolutely relish feeding with them, finding alluring partners to fuck and feed on and lavish with attention.

He actually feels worse about feeding on animals than he does humans; after all, they can’t consent. But he has been forced to a few times, and he will sometimes indulge in a quick bite of new or exotic species.

Julian ~

Julian is. Without a doubt. THE definitive angst-fest of the vampire world.

He’d definitely be a Twilight style vamp. Don’t fight me on this. He and Edward would be Melodramatic Self Loathing Woe Is Me Vampire bros and spend years writing mopey poetry and sighing dramatically into their crystal goblet of blood.

Julian is definitely a fancy OG Victorian goth kind of vampire. Loves the theater of black velvet capes and flashing his fangs. He’s been alive long enough to have procured a crumbling castle deep in a foggy crop of woods, filled with portraits of him through the centuries. There is, of course, a massive pipe organ at its center.

Like any good drama queen, his time is torn between his corpse-like slumber in his red velvet tufted interior/gleaming obsidian exterior coffin, listlessly floating around his lonely palace lamenting his damnation as a creature of the night, and secretly relishing in the drama of luring pretty young mortals back to his haunt with a mysterious air and a flash of pearly fangs. He’ll never admit how much he loves the dance he must do with his prey (feeding is very much tied to sex and self loathing in equal measure for Julian), but he doesn’t skimp on aesthetics. If you’re looking to be bowed over a silk chaise lounge, his frilly shirt sleeves tickling your throat as he opens his mouth wide and sinks his teeth in with a toss of his hair, then Julian is your guy. He’s basically the cinema vamp archetype.

Almost certainly wasn’t changed by choice. I think he’d probably have gotten himself mixed up with an immortal many centuries ago, when he practiced human medicine, and maybe he got… infected somehow? Vampirism does seem to be a bloodborne pathogen.

I imagine most of his lonely nights would be spent reading and studying. After he was able to get his bloodlust under control, he’d definitely go back into the medical field. His passion is helping people, and his new, keener senses help in diagnostics.

If MC is mortal and wants him to change them, he’ll be deeply, deeply conflicted. On one hand, he does believe he’s an abomination of nature, a demon, wretched and hopeless. But on the other hand, his long weary existence would be so much brighter with MC at his side for the rest of his days. Could he really damn them to eternal night?

If MC meets him as a fellow vampire however… ooooooooooooh, boy. All bets are off. He might just realize he’s not doomed, after all. Could this existence really be so horrid if it means getting to spend eternity staring into his gorgeous MC’s eyes while they share a meal and explore every kink ever known to man or demon?

This boy definitely wants MC to bite him during sex if they’re both vamps, whether they’re able to feed off him or not. And the whole vampire-strength and stamina thing comes in handy when he just needs a three day long shibari suspension sesh.

Vampire Julian is still a major bottom. The closest he ever comes to topping is when he sinks his fangs in. Vamp MC topping the fuck out of him? And using his vampire self-loathing as fodder for major degradation play (with consent)? It’s more likely than you’d think.

118 notes · View notes

mymyfangirlsidedontlie · 4 years

Note

it's not that Elsa is a poorly-written character... it's that she's not a good example/person. she runs from her problems; she refuses to face them. she harms those around her, sometimes deliberately. she's selfish. she isn't an idol for people struggling with mental health. the way she treats her sister specifically is gross... no hate to you, it's just mind-boggling that people idolise someone so cruel :/ i used to idolise her too but once you get out of the darkness you see clearly..

Well that’s actually a really good point and I’m really glad you brought it up!!!

Because you are absolutely right. Elsa did a lot of terrible things. She hurt other people, and herself. She treated her sister terribly. She tried to run away when things got hard and she got overwhelmed. But in all honesty that’s why I like her! Elsa was an entirely imperfect character who did things she shouldn’t have, some self destructive, other’s causing harm to other people. She had some really unhealthy coping mechanisms.

And so did I!!!

And so do a lot of people who are dealing with trauma!!!

You see the thing is humans aren’t perfect. People will scream and get angry and say things they don’t mean and hurt people they don’t wanna hurt. Elsa isn’t gonna be any different just because people want her to be an ‘idol’. She was hurting and struggling and didn’t know how to handle things. She had been told she was something to be locked away and so she locked herself away like she was ‘supposed’ to. She was taught she couldn’t be around people so she pushed them away, emotionally and physically. She’s terrified of herself and what people will try and do to her if she shows her true colors. Which explains a lot of what she does by the way.

Let me break it down.

Running from her problems. Like you said, a huge issue. A major character flaw. And also one of the most common things people do ever when dealing with things that overwhelm them. That’s not even a trauma thing; some people’s natural response to dealing with a lot of stress and hurt is to run away and shut it out. Is it healthy? Absolutely not! It doesn’t fix the problem, and it doesn’t allow you to process what you’re feeling. I do the same thing dealing with stressful things; I run away and shut them out. That’s the only way I can handle them, that’s the only way I know how. And seeing how she was raised, dealing with being isolated and pushing away everyone to ‘protect’ them, I’ll bet she hasn’t learned any other ways to deal with it either. Having her react that way to a situation that made her stressed and scared out of her wits makes perfect sense.

Harming other’s around her. Oh, this one’s a tough one, but I’ll do my best. Yes, I absolutely agree, she hurts people when she shouldn’t. She hurts Anna when she pushes her away at the party, and she deliberately attacks and tries to kill the men who attacked her at her palace. First, let’s go over what she did to Anna. Elsa her whole life has been told that she’s dangerous. She’s told to shut herself away from the world and that the only way she could keep everyone safe was to keep her powers locked deep within her. However, as with every person, that doesn’t stop her from craving connection with other people. She wants to know Anna; she wants to be the sister she knows Anna didn’t have, and she wants Anna to be there for her too. We can see her attempt at this in the beginning of the ball scene, where they begin to talk to each other. They get along, but Anna talks about openness, about letting people in around them constantly. Elsa goes into panic mode; she’s not supposed to be around people at all, ever, she’s been told, so there’s no way they could allow people to come to their castle freely. It’s just not possible. So she tells her off. The second time she does this is with Hans, where they want to get married. This does two things; it ‘takes’ Anna away from her (Anna immediately latching onto someone else basically sends the message of ‘I don’t wanna be around you, I wanna be around this person.’ Not the most accurate conclusion to jump to, but it happens) and it also brings this overwhelming idea of letting more people into her life. She can’t even let Anna in at this point, so how could she possibly handle all of his brother’s? Their future children? The life they’d want to create? So she says no. She prays they’ll drop it. And when they don’t, she snaps. Elsa at this point is terrified. She doesn’t know what to do, she can’t handle letting so many people into her life, people she could hurt, people who could hurt her. She’s scared and lonely and afraid and angry so she lashes out. And we see that she immediately regrets lashing out because what does she do? She runs. Because there is a deep aching and hurt and guilt and inner turmoil with her screaming at herself fo messing up. I could feel that in my chest, watching that scene. Accidentally hurting someone you want to keep safe while your head screams ‘what have you done?!’. Later on when she sends Marshmallow after Anna, that’s that fear and anger and anxiety kicking in; she desperately wants to keep Anna away from her so she can’t hurt her, and so that she won’t keep getting hurt herself. It’s a selfish way to look at things, but when you hurt someone, you can feel all the guilt and hurt in your gut. Sometimes it can get so intense you can feel like you might throw up or sob. So she pushes her away before either of them can get hurt. Was this a good method? Absolutely not! And I’m not saying it is. But it does make sense.

Had to split this up because it was really long. Let’s move into the other time where she gets particularly violent. This is of course when the two men attack her when she’s having her mental breakdown. She’s already got all this fear and self loathing running through her head. And here come these two men wanting to kill her. Honestly I don’t blame her for lashing out! She’s emotionally unstable, hating herself, and terrified of herself and what she’s done, and then two people come in and try to kill her! She goes into fight or flight mode and immediately tries to neutralize the threat so they can’t hurt her. She wants to win the fight so there’s no way that they could possibly hurt her anymore. Given the situation, their size in comparison to hers, the backup outside, her already unstable emotions, and the weapons that were pointed at her, it only makes sense she assumes the best way to keep herself safe is to kill them. Even if she knocks them out and they get arrested, there is always a chance they could come after her and try to kill her again. In this situation, Elsa is reacting mostly based on her emotions. So are her decisions going to be good ones? Probably not. But do they make sense and at to her having natural reactions that make her a well fleshed out and wonderfully flawed character? Absolutely!

I’m not gonna sit here and say Elsa hasn’t done anything wrong. She made some selfish decisions. She made some bad decisions. She hurt people, hurt herself, and made herself to be immature and unfit to rule. Which I will argue makes sense because Elsa ultimately is a traumatized person who never actually had the chance to recover. In her mind she’s still that terrified child who hurt her little sister and doesn’t know how to handle things. She never learned how to cope, or how to deal with her emotions. She never learned to let her emotions flow through her; instead they were literally crystalized inside her and rotted her from the inside out. And that’s the main reason I really liked Elsa’s character. She’s hurt and angry and lonely and desperate and has made some terrible decisions and just wants things to get better. She wants the chance to do better. And you know what?

Elsa still got the chance to recover. After everything that had happened, someone finally showed Elsa that she could be loved. That she wasn’t something that had to be locked away from the world forever; that she wasn’t someone that no one could ever get close to. She could learn she wasn’t ‘too dangerous’ to be around. No one is saying Elsa’s character is perfect. Not even me. But that’s why she appeals to me; she fucked up, just like I did. She said things she shouldn’t have and regrets, just like I did. She hurt people when she didn’t mean to, just like I did. Her journey was awful and so was mine. And she could still get better in the end.

So yes, anon, Elsa can be selfish. And cruel. And she did hurt people. She did treat Anna terribly.

And I still love her.

I have no darkness I have to see through. I’ve seen everything quite clearly, thank you very much.

~Queen

5 notes · View notes

mommymooze · 4 years

Note

Write me a fic about Claude helping Dimitri get through his PTSD post War.

Healing Dimitri

This is my best answer. It took a while, I tried from several directions, finally settled on this.

Warning: dealing with post traumatic stress.

The war is over. Healing must begin. Claude must leave for Almyra. Byleth leads the church and rewrites the doctrine to right the millions of wrongs.

Claude worries most about one thing. Not about claiming the throne to Almyra, he has to do it himself and he has been planning this for years. Not Byleth in fixing the church. He has Seteth and Flayne and many good clerics to help fix it.

His biggest concern is Dimtiri. He’s seen the slow progression into the beast as he called himself. Claude watched as Dedue returned and Rodrigue worked with his friend. Dimitri clawed his way up from the hell his mind had sent him in and became more human. Claude could see that his royal friend is better, but not always well.

His friends are good for him, but not enough. None of the friends that grew up with him deal with trauma well. From the Blue Lions, Mercedes would provide the most help, however she has her hands full with her brother and working with Byleth in the church.

Claude is a firm believer in the best person for the job. Whenever one of his team fell in a battle, he sent a cleric. Sure, he watched around them, shooting down enemies trying to attack an injured friend, but he didn’t run over, he sent the healer. His job is to take down the enemy, keep track of everyone on the field, keep everyone alive. His thoughts keep bringing him back to Marianne. That woman’s been through some trauma. Some of it outside, some self-inflicted, however she has grown past that to a beautiful functioning person who is so much stronger and better. Hmm. Not unlike Dimitri’s in some ways.

Claude reaches out to her. She meets him in Derdriu, they talk. She’s willing to go to Dimitri but she wants Dorte and she wants the cleric from Garreg Mach.

Byleth complies with the request sending the cleric and Dorte as well as a small regiment of soldiers to ensure safe passage. They arrive at the castle shortly after Marianne. They are greeted and ushered into an audience chamber. Dimitri welcomes them warmly.

“What brings you both all the way up to Fhirdiad?” The King asks, his eye bright and a smile on his face.

“We go where we feel we are needed most. At the moment, we feel as if we are needed here. That, and Marianne missed Dorte. Besides, who would not want to spend summer up here where it is cool and pleasant?” You smile widely, happy to see your old friend.

“True. We have the best weather for summer on the continent.” Dimitri agrees. “What can I get for you both?”

Marianne smiles softly, “I think we would like to have a place to stay and clean up. Would you like guests for dinner, Dimitri?”

“It would be my honor. Please, both of you join me for dinner. If you require anything special, please let me know. I do have some work to complete, however I will happily join you later.” The King takes his leave.

You are shown to your quarters which are next to each other down one of the many corridors of the palace. You cleanse the dirt of the road from yourself, putting on clean robes, a balaclava and hood. Once dressed you knock on Marianne’s door. She bids you to enter.

“I don’t think Claude told him anything as to why we are here.” The bluenette says softly, her shoulders drooping.

“Claude doesn’t fill anyone in on his plans. He executes them first then confirms that was his intent from the beginning. Claude is aware that Dimitri is still not recovered from the war. He is leaving it up to us to see that the King regains his health and doesn’t let himself spiral into despair. I think Claude has been planning this for a while. There is so much turmoil with settling the lords of territories down, establishing his household, getting the government re-established. For Dimitri more things are in place, and now he can begin to start routines. We can work on his healing. Incorporating into those routines methods for recovery. He may look better on the outside, but inside he is still a very broken man. We need to support him, but not be a crutch.”

“I understand.” Marianne looks the cleric in the eye with renewed resolve. “Part of him still feels he is a beast. Part of him feels unworthy of anything. We must remind him that he is human. Help him through his pain, lead him away from self-destruction and punishment.”

“You understand. So do I. It is one thing to help, it is another thing to have been there and fought through it. Knowing first hand the fear, the self-loathing, the pain. We are here for him, and for each other.”

“Exactly.” The fellow healer smiles. “I will check on Dorte and then unpack.”

“He is going to be so happy to see you. He had a pleasant boring ride here. I think he loves the area and now that you two are together he will be spoiled rotten!” You laugh.

“He was my best friend when I needed him the most.” Marianne reminisces.

Marianne, Dimitri and you have a quiet dinner in a smaller dining area in the castle. There are grand dining areas with fine silver and chandeliers and multiple crystal goblets but dining with good friends calls for more intimate surroundings, and much, much less glamor.

Dimitri is dressed in a white dress shirt, black leather belt with a buckle of the Lion of Faerghus, crisp, starched black pants and shining black boots. Marianne is wearing a modest dress that is Faerghus blue, necklace and earrings that Hilda made to accompany the dress. You are wearing your usual healer robes, never changing.

Dinner is pleasant and there is plenty of small talk. Dimitri is pleased to hear any news about others that he worked with during the war and those he went to school with. He listens intently to Marianne’s stories of what has been happening in the alliance. Ignatz stopped by her residence a few months ago to paint the growth of spring in her area. She recalls how beautiful it is that he can take something as simple as a few buds opening on a tree and turn it into something wistful and serene.

You provide the gossip of the monastery. How Flayne shocked Seteth one day to say she was going to visit Raphael and Maya and see the world. The day she left Seteth had cried for hours and how you were there to reassure him that his baby sister is fine and all guardians need to let their little fledglings leave the nest someday. Byleth is doing well and has been working in Abyss when he doesn’t have his hands absolutely full with the Church of Sothis.

Dinner is finished and Dimitri must return to his duties. The work of a King is never done. He sits at the desk in his office writing correspondence. He is left to his work until he calls for tea service at 10:00 pm. Instead of a servant or kitchen maid, you bring the tea, along with a cup for yourself.

“This is a pleasant surprise.” Dimitri greets you.

“I wanted to thank you for allowing me to stay and also speak with you about a few things.” You say pouring Chamomile tea into both cups.

Dimitri’s eyebrows furrow just a bit. “I think I know.”

“Well then, please tell me.” You ask, reaching for the honey to add to your tea.

“I have been telling everyone I am fine. But it is not the truth. The war is over, but it is not over inside my head.”

“That is one of the things. There are others. You and I have known each other for a long time.” You begin.

The two of you speak of thoughts going back further and further in your memories. It is completely understandable that he does not remember much after being freed from the prison in Fhirdiad until a time after Byleth’s return.

“What about the voices of the dead?” You softly ask him.

“They are still there, not as loud. Still angry and judgmental.” He admits.

After your session, Dimitri must attempt to sleep so that he can work the next day. You instruct him to get into bed and you will remain with him, sitting next to the bed in a chair. A lamp is on a low flame placed on a table behind you, blocking the light from falling on him and illuminating your paper. Quietly you sketch on your paper. He watches you at first, the scratching on the paper is soft and repetitive.

Hours pass, when he is long asleep you have switched papers to making notes of the conversation you had with Dimitri earlier.

Dimitri begins to stir, his eye rapidly moving around under his eyelid, his legs twitch and his hands open then go into fists. He wakes, sitting straight up in the bed with a terrified look on his face.

“Dimitri.” You speak softly. “I am reaching to touch your hand. Please allow it.”

You stand beside his bed, gently running a finger along the back of the hand closest to you that is fisted in his sheets. You run your fingers along the back of his hand until it relaxes. Once it is relaxed you lay your hand on top of his.

“Talk if you would like.” You encourage him.

“Enemy soldiers. I tore them to pieces.” His voice is quiet and trembling.

“How did you feel about them then.”

“I was angry and surviving and they were terrorizing my people. They did not belong here. I wanted them gone by any means.” His eyes are closed, brow furrowed.

“Seeing this now, how do you feel about them. “

“My anger was too much. Too vicious.” Dimitri almost sounds angry with himself.

“To be able to look back and reflect, it is good.” You answer softly rubbing on his hand. “If you could go back and talk to yourself what would you say?”

Dimitri looks a bit surprised. “I don’t know. I have never thought of that. “

“I think you should try to go back to sleep.” You tell him. He is significantly calmer, more relaxed. Instead of concentrating on the nightmare, he is concentrating on his thoughts about it.

“Perhaps.” The King says, stifling a yawn. “What have you been drawing?”

I show him a sketch of his hand, clenched in a loose fist.

He studies it in the low light. “Is that my hand? I recognize that scar there. Am I angry? “

“Not at all.” You reassure him. “I will show you again once I have finished it.”

Dimitri closes his eye as I again work on the drawing. The scratch of my pen on paper is now more familiar to him and he relaxes.

You and Marianne both write to Claude/Khalid about working with Dimitri and the progress you have been making. He sends back encouraging letters hoping that in the fall, before the snow blocks all of the roads that perhaps Dimitri can take a vacation in Derdriu? After discussing this with Marianne, it sounds like a fantastic reward for the King’s progress.

Daytime Dimitri is Marianne’s specialty. Having come from a Noble house, she is much more accustomed to working with nobles and political persons. She can put on airs and suppresses much of her fear and tension. She teaches Dimitri some of her coping mechanisms. Marianne is also good at making Dimitri take breaks. The weather is beautiful and they both love horseback riding. They leave for a picnic away from the palace every few days. This gives Dimitri some down time to just be calm and centered.

Consulting with each other you discuss the words that make Dimitri react negatively, discussions that seem to be more difficult for him than others. Those are saved for you to discuss with him in your nightly chats. You work with him developing skills to deal with the more difficult situations and conversations. Both of you teach him breathing techniques to deal with stress and uncomfortable situations, bad feelings. He diaries every day about his thoughts and feelings. It is discussed with him how he feels about everything in the past, how best to deal with it for his future.

After weeks of conversing with him, watching over him as he sleeps you give Dimitri a small present. He opens the rectangular package. It is the drawing of his hand, a daffodil is held in his grip. The flower is healthy and not damaged.

“Daffodils mean forgiveness, correct? Dimitri asks.

“Yes. An appropriate gift.” You smile.

Dimitri stares at the image. “I have forgiveness in my hand.”

“You do. You have the ability to forgive yourself.” The cowled cleric smiles at him.

“Do I deserve forgiveness?” The King asks out loud.

“I believe you do. But only you can forgive yourself. The flower is also a symbol of rebirth. After the cold harshness of winter passes, it is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, even blooming after late snows. It perseveres through all hardships to spring forth and share its beauty and happiness, letting us know that spring is here.”

“Truly inspiring. I hope I can live up to this challenge.” He says modestly.

Dimitri is improving. He has is good days, he has his bad days. The clerics remind him that everyone has some days better than others. The good days are appreciated. The bad days are left behind. This year he is without Dedue on the anniversary of his parent’s death. The day is spent in remembrance. Food popular in Duscur is served at meals. Quiet meals are enjoyed with those that recall Lambert and Patricia, they share some fond memories of the now King when he was younger. Dimitri’s face lights up on occasion when he remembers bits and pieces of his own past.

You talk with Dimitri about the ghosts. They are still around. Not all of the time. Yes, he had mistakenly thought they would go away once the war was over. Discussing his taking on the blame for things that are well beyond his control. Working on small steps, ways to move forward, to remember the past, yet leave it behind. Helping him to understand that he has a future, he deserves a future. Helping him to reveal what he wants to see, setting goals and working toward them.

The weather is getting much warmer. This is a good year for farms and crops. A bit of prosperity is returning to the land, which greatly helps with the healing for everyone. Dimitri is adding more and more items to his list of things that make him happy, that make him feel peaceful and relaxed. Marianne goes riding with him more frequently, she has been assisting him with delegating some of his work. They are working very well together and have positive body language between them.

The three of you are sitting in one of the rose gardens enjoying afternoon tea. A young cat, perhaps 5 or 6 months old wanders to your area. Marianne of course must pick up and cuddle the soft fuzzy creature, immediately making it purr happily in her hands. She hands it to Dimitri, who is always hesitant with delicate things. The kitty walks from her hands over to his, sitting in his large palm and looking up into his smiling face, purring happily. As the friends chat, the cat climbs up his shirt to sit on his shoulder, rubbing it’s face on his neck. Dimitri laughs heartily as the fuzzy friend bats and plays with his hair that is not pulled back from his face.

More frequently Dimitri sleeps through the night without any dreams wakening him. When he does waken due to a nightmare, he is able to recognize that it is his mind trying to deal with the issues of the past. It is not a punishment, it is nothing he has control over and he is able to get himself back to sleep without major interruptions.

Dimitri is setting many excellent goals. Not only regarding his self-care and self-reflection but in other areas of his life. Goals for restoring the city, goals for working with the different areas of Fodlan and goals in restoring some of his friendships. He has been dealing better with talking about the traumas. Identifying where his fears are coming from. Showing less symptoms of depression, not being as withdrawn as he had been just a few months ago. He feels better about asking for what he wants, saying no to something he does not wish to do. He begins to live for himself and for the future.

Finally the time has come. Marianne and Dimitri head out to Derdriu while you stay up north, the hotter weather does not agree with you.

Dimitri greets the fellow king confidently and warmly. Claude is happily surprised. While Marianne is there to see the interactions between the friends, Claude wants to share with you his gratefulness. Dimitri is more of his old self, able to laugh and freely speak his mind without apologizing for everything that doesn’t go perfectly smoothly. He recognizes that his friend is so much more relaxed and feeling confident.

A few weeks later a slightly tanned and still relaxed Dimitri greets you upon his return. The vacation and diplomatic meetings were just what was needed. When the three of you sit down together for dinner, you do not mention to either of them that perhaps they sit a bit closer to each other than they had in the past.

You announce that you will pull back on your sessions with Dimitri. He needs to keep focused on his recovery, it is a long hard road but he has been led by the best down this path. You have found that there are others that may be in need of some assistance working on their coping with the past.

2 notes · View notes

lightning-obsessed · 4 years

Text

One Last Thing (A RWBY V8 AU)

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

"..You two have gotten close." Emerald commented. Chris slowly looked up from her game, fully conscious of the fact that Neo was clinging onto her back. "What gave you that idea?" Chris deadpanned, focusing back on her scroll. "I- you know what, never mind." Emerald let out an exasperated sigh before going to leave the room. "Cinder's room is the second one down the left." Chris inquired, unsolicited. "I- I know that!" The mint haired girl weakly snapped, blood running up her face.

Neo watched Emerald leave, not so subtly amused with her flustered manner. "You enjoy giving her a hard time, I see." She wrote on Chris' back. "She's the easiest to tease here. Mercury and I have a good laugh from time to time, but business prevents anything more. I have a hunch Hazel doesn't like me, and Tyrian's.. Tyrian." The blonde explained. "And as for Salem, I have to keep up an act." Chris rolled her eyes in displease.

"I may know a thing or two about that."

"Figured as much."

The next moments were spent in silence, as with how they've spent half their time the past few weeks. Sometimes in the exact position they were in at that time, Chris sat on the floor while Neo very conveniently sat either on Chris' lap or on her back. Due to her smaller frame, Chris' back wasn't given what's considered to be medically dangerous amounts of pressure.

Salem has actually caught them in the act in a couple occasions, and surprisingly could not care less. In fact, she didn't bat an eye and cut straight to the chase every time. Cinder raised an eyebrow the first time yet flat out ignores them the next, Mercury shrugs it off, Hazel is his gruff self yet says nothing, while Tyrian's.. again, Tyrian. More specifically, he told Chris to quote, "Keep the little gremlin of yours in check," and in response Chris gave a mere chuckle while Neo fires a glare at the scorpion.

That night in particular, Neo felt particularly bored. Don't get her wrong, Chris was pretty much the only thing taming her on the daily, but something was missing. Cliché to 'say', she knows and loathes it. The deja vù hit Neo by surprise just as she was about to execute her little plan. Roman's voice calling out her name as she flew away along with her parasol barged in her head.

No. Absolutely no way am I reducing myself to the disarray I was in the past.

With newfound, unexpected streak of determination, Neo traced Chris' jawline and made her way to the grimm hybrid's chin. At first, Chris didn't react, having gotten used to the flirtatious gestures. Once Neo began pulling her face towards hers though, it sent her adrenaline rushing. Neo roughly smashed their lips together, desperate to forget everything from her late lover, Cinder mistreating her, Salem, everything. Kissing Roman was different, though not too different. It'll never be the same with anyone, anyway.

Something about Neo's action didn't sit right with Chris, and she can't pinpoint exactly why. It lacked the usual playful nature Neo had, and there was barely any teasing.

For a second, Chris forgot it was Neo.

Chris was sitting all by herself on one of the roofs in the palace, with the excuse of patrolling. Well, she just came up with it in case one of the crew, or maybe Salem herself, asks why. In reality, she didn't have any particular reason to lounge in such an unusual place any other day. This time though, the excuse technically wasn't necessary. Well, it was complicated.

Her eyes were locked on one thing and one thing only; Neo. Neo, who was trailing behind Cinder with Emerald not far behind. The group was leaving the vicinity and if Chris didn't know any better, she was certain that wasn't Salem's orders. If it was, they wouldn't be sneaking out. And sure, two of the three had illusion related semblance which would make the escape a hell of a lot easier, but this was Salem they were getting away from for who knows what.

Even after the time Chris received to observe Cinder, her motives to her other than power weren't exactly crystal clear. The two could be said were Salem's most valuable lackeys, one being the fall maiden herself and the other was her adopted, half grimm child. She couldn't say she was proud - quite the opposite - but alas, there was no way out.

Just as the three were boarding the airship, Chris noticed Neo was subtly looking her way, as Cinder and Emerald wasn't paying attention to her. The ice cream named woman tipped her fedora ever so slightly, offering a small wave. Just like their shared moment the night prior, it didn't feel like Neo was being herself. The expression of displease just proves it.

A minute later, the airship took off with Neo in the driver's seat as per usual. Chris watched as the vehicle finally fade out of view, before looking down towards the main doorway when she heard someone leaving. Or entering ? No, leaving, she confirmed, seeing Tyrian standing there on all fours whilst cackling like a maniac. Basically, how he typically cackles.

Whatever they were up to, they're already under Salem's radar.

"Child," Salem beckoned Chris over, sitting on her throne with Hazel and Mercury guarding the door where Chris entered from. The half grimm warily glanced at the two men before approaching Salem, her shoes tapping on the ground as she walks. "How can I be of assistance, my liege?" Chris asked in the most polite tone she could manage, getting on one knee as a knight would. "Firstly, please, address me as your Mother." Salem requested, ruffling Chris' silver hair.

"Yes, Mother."

"Very good. Now, I have a favor to ask you."

"And what may that be?"

"I would like you to go to this location. I have sent you the coordinates."

"Is there a specific objective?"

"Yes. I believe the airship our little Cinder arrived with has mysteriously disappeared.. along with Cinder herself."

"And also her two little minions, as Tyrian told me." Hazel's eyebrows furrowed as he added. "Correct. Your mission would be to simply retrieve them, dead or alive. Preferably alive for Cinder, I don't care much for the other two." Chris' nerce tensed at the last part, but remained silent. "Is there anything else?" She asked instead. "No. You may take your leave now." Salem gestured to the door.

Mercury was ordered to walk Chris out the building, which she was thankful for. He was a much better match for her compared to Hazel. "You better get Emerald back." Mercury growled. Chris looked at him up and down briefly, before nodding. Combing the two orders with her own, it basically means Chris has to get all three of them back, hopefully in one piece.

But as Chris finds Emerald carrying an unconscious Cinder in her arms while Neo was blasted by Penny's laser beam against the airship, which seemed to deplete most of her aura, it seemed like that would be wishful thinking.

#RWBY au #rwby volume 8 spoilers #neopolitan #oc #salem #cinder fall #emerald sustrai #mercury black #hazel rainhart #tyrian callows #chrisfuckingwritesforonce

1 note · View note

trashy-croud · 4 years

Text

Nevada: Nevada Desert

Okay this level starts us off smack-bang in the middle of nowhere. At least it make you feel that way as you only find a small source of water, cacti and bushes around in this sandy wasteland. We encounter vultures once more along with snakes - although these snakes are far more different compared to the previous area we were in. Instead they are much smaller, but nonetheless do some damage despite their size. We do some exploring to find a cave and to encounter our first secret of the level. Luckily there is only three in this level and finding them wasn’t as tedious as I would’ve thought of them being.

We basically did a drop of faith into barbed wire - dodging it only just, and encountering more snakes. Doing this enabled us to claim the first secret and oh god, was I thankful for the save crystal we got. We also got some flares and a small medi-pack. I felt like I was making a little collection of these because unlike the previous instalment, I’ve decided to actually try and not waste flare of medi-packs constantly. We’ll see how long it lasts.

After claiming this secret and progressing forward. We stumbled upon a black box structure... thing. I suppose it was a container of some kind. We did different types of jumps to get over there, moving around in the upper levels of where we were only minutes ago. We got a whole new view of it all, and it felt very similar to how they would reference back to previous levels in the previous instalment, such as the Ice Palace where you could look onto the previous level. But rather than that here, we looked back on where we began in this level and interacted with it all in a much more different way. It was really nice.

After getting on top of this structure, I noticed there was a hole. And holes, mean jumping in. Without hesitation. There was a crap ton of hesitation from my end. I dangled and then felt like not doing it. It wasn’t until my dad loomed over my shoulder and made me jump that Lara would finally fall into the hole. We landed in water, which is all good, but it wasn’t good for my poor heart.

After the swimming, we encountered a section that I have gotten stuck on multiple times. I cannot do precision jumping for the life of me as we were at a canyon, water beneath us so there shouldn’t be too much to worry about, right? Wrong, you jump on platforms and a vulture comes to great you and knocks you into the murky depths below. But that ain’t all, because he proceeded to do this several times. Purely because I couldn’t shoot and stay on the platform long enough to shoot him. My own fault, sure, but, let’s just push the blame onto the vulture just this once.

We managed the reach a climbable wall in this canyon but the way it was laid out reminded me of the Temple of Xian - just over the lava pit where the ladder splits halfway across so you can’t climb up the way you came. Sneaky, I must say, but it also meant that after I got the second secret that hid itself in a cubby by this ladder, I couldn’t climb up and carry on. So we had to make our way back up again. Oh how I started to loathe this because it takes me several attempts to even get back to where I was in the first place due to me pressing the wrong buttons or not timing my jumps very well.

Once we got back to where we were, we climbed up the ladder and made a couple more jumps, only to encounter another snake and a rather tricky situation. There is a hole in the ledge next to you, what do you think is the best thing to do? Jump into the hole? Oh, no, don’t do that. That’s a slippery slope to your demise and having to do it all over again. So we hang off the edge and let go before holding on again super quick and swinging across to the side. With some monkey bars and a ladder, we made it up to where we needed to be. We spotted a little lever with a boulder facing it - oh god another boulder trap. I thought we left those in India?! But there we spotted a cable leading down into the cave from the lever and being the nosy sod I am, I just had to follow it. So down we went to spot a big old box of T.N.T. I swear I sung “T.N.T.” by AC/DC throughout the rest of my time playing this level. It got stuck in my head for so long. We went back up to go activate it but we didn’t have a detonator key. So off we went to go find one, and this meant trekking up into the mouth of the waterfall. Y’know, where I fell in. A lot.

Reaching the entrance way of the cave, I decided to sacrifice a save crystal and began my journey further in, oh boy was it tedious. Sometimes Lara didn’t jump, other time she jumped too soon and I was about ready to lose it. But we finally made it and there was an overhang which we got to crawl under and find a ladder. Sneaky, very sneaky. Then I heard a snake hiss and the secret chime. Man, I was so ready for this, there was back flipping, snake killing and the works before we managed to pick up our set of uzis. Actually what I said wasn’t a hundred percent right. More like I back flipped, failed to land on the ledge, tried again, landed on it, got poisoned by the snake, killed it, wasted a medi-pack and then picked up the beloved uzis. I was an absolute fool.

After claiming the last secret of this level, which all were surprisingly close to one another, we managed to progress further on with this level. We encountered another snake as we left the overhang, and then encountered our first person of the Nevada levels. Or just in general if we ain’t counting Tony the Loon. If we are, he was the first man in this level we encountered. I was easy to deal with him as we also searched around a bit, before climbing up, I went to go check out the little cavern to the side, only to find a rather large drop which I wasn’t willing to jump into any time soon. There was also a save crystal which I picked up. I was thinking about going down but I knew my own luck was I would let go and fall to my demise. So I scratched that idea and instead went out to climb up the waterwheel and to explore more. Now I died a couple times in the water in the area we got to next. This is because, I hate swimming levels. Anything involving swimming, I cannot do for the life of me. This was no exception to that.

So there’s also some hidden levers, one which is in the other pool to get some items - I believe they were grenades? But then one in the passageway to actually make some progress. I didn’t know where it was at all and it wasn’t until I had died several times that I’d manage to actually find the switch. Totally didn’t press action at random to see if I could find anything. You can’t accuse me of doing that. You have no proof.

Anyway, all these switches and swimming led us to being able to divert the water towards the waterwheel and also enabled us to activate the elevator as we see a small cutscene of it coming up. This is where that side cave was and where the big drop was. Turns out that’s an elevator shaft. Learn something new everyday.

Making our way back to this elevator shaft, we found the detonator key sitting inside, as well as another man who seemed to think it was cool to hitch a ride in the elevator. Won’t blame him, though curse him for taking the easy route in there. So now came the challenge of getting back to the spot where the T.N.T. laid dormant. Eventually I gave up with attempting some jumps and instead let the water take me over the cliff and to climb my way back up again. You know, like the weakling I am. (Or as my sister says.)

As we got back to the detonator, we plunged it and had to jump quickly out of the way. Don’t think I forgot that boulder trap so quickly! No way was I forgetting it and letting that death loom over me. As we went into the caves to see the damage we’d done, I was quickly reminded of the T.N.T. in Natla’s Mines, during the first instalment of this series. Perhaps this was a throw back to that as it changed the environment we once new and would have to climb our way up and out. This is when my Dad decided to get involved.

I saved once more and would up outside some wire gates/walls, and my dad told me it’d be funny if I walked into it or touched them. That’s never a good sign, and my dad has clearly played this level and remembers some things about it because it all leads to death. Wire metal fences = death. They are electric and although I was a bit annoyed he got me to go into them, I was interested in the effect they used to show that Lara has been electrocuted. It almost looked magical-esque. It was a strange appearance, not that I’m complaining. I just haven’t seen Lara electrocuted before in the previous games, I mean we could in the first game with Thor’s room in St. Francis Folly, but it wasn’t that sort of effect. It was just interesting to see this slight difference and how they told the death apart from others, rather than just having her fall, the also gave that effect. I thought it was pretty neat so just ignore me if you’d like.

Anyway, after discovering it was electric, we went on searching around and found a crawl space, not only that, we could jump up to find a small area filled with water with two switches. I’m not sure what one of the switches did but the other opened another door. Ah, the switch to open a door, to pull another switch. You gotta love Tomb Raider games. After pulling all of the switches, we made our way to a water tank, after finishing off two guys who came charging towards us. This water tank helped us to get higher ground and to be able to jump into the compound that’d electrocute us if we tried to go in by any other means. Did you know that if the fences are electric, that electric current an pass through the metal switch on it? Funny that, ain’t it? So yes, we had a couple of deaths by electrocution during this part of the level. I mean, even accidentally touching it, this level showed me no mercy whatsoever!

We powered through, taking care of more guys in this compound and would finally make sure the fences were no longer electric from flipping an entirely different switch, hidden behind a keycard-locked door. Fun times. After this, we took the bike out and would finish the level by jumping over another fence with it!

This all triggered a cutscene in which Lara has knocked herself out, she got where she wanted but got a little injured in the process. The comments by the two guards referred to her as a “crazy geek freak” whereas the other suggests she’s an “eco-terrorist” but the first guard completely dismisses that idea as they take her away to the compound. And that’s it for this level. A very interesting level which paid homage to some of the things that they did in the previous games, that’s what it looked like to me at least, with the revisiting of somewhere we’ve been before but from a different view, and the use of T.N.T. changing the area we knew once before. It was a difficult level but we powered through. Now onto the next level - “High Security Compound”. Why is my dad laughing so much? Oh God, what’s coming next?!

#tomb raider #tomb raider 3 #classic tomb raider #lara croft #classic lara croft #croud's playthrough #nevada desert #a very interesting way to start off the nevada levels #a difficult start but bring it on whatever's next!

2 notes · View notes

superwolfiestar · 5 years

Text

Across Another Dimension Ch.16

Everyone in the wrap pipe screamed as they fall fell down, down, down they go inside the green pipe!

They were all falling, hurtling down a hole that was littered with nothing. Everyone was falling down like as if they are falling down the rabbit hole, They seemed to fall for what felt like forever.

“Wh-What happening?!” Scrooge McDuck screamed.

The trip through the portal was very strange. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Snow's panicked and furious presence was somewhat comforting.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Donald!" Donald heard at one point from his uncle. “When we get home, you’re big trouble mister for making me being a silly jester to that kid!"

But soon they all saw what looked like the bottom of the hole was a bright light at the end. When they reach to the end, they all pop out of the wrap pipe and went high in the air. Donald look around, it seen that they are no longer at the King Zeus Kingdom anymore, but instead. They are in some Mesa place. Donald could tell because the ground aren’t greenly as grass but replace with dirt, a lot of dirt. No tree, hills, It as if they are in Nevada, on their way to Las Vega. They landed on each other, everyone got off to each other and clean themselves up.

“Where are we?” Scrooge ask as Donald help him get up.

“I don’t know Unca Scrooge.” Donald answer him rub the dirt off his jester costume.

“I do! We’re at Sarasaland.” Boy Princess answer. “I been there before when I was visiting my twin older sister Princess Della Duck for tennis, kart racing or other activities she invite me.” That sent chill down on both Donald and Scrooge body when the boy princess say “Della”. “Sometime I take my private jet and sometime I take my private car. Come on, I know the location. Follow me!”

The other began following the real boy princess. Heading toward where the Sarasaland is. Donald and Scrooge is going to get to meet Della but not their Della. The royal princess Della. Donald could tell when they meet her royal highness, think will get awkward.

Back in Sarasaland, Princess Della was stained in the balcony where the palace entrance are. She was staring at the sea and the sundown because the sky is a little pink and mostly orange. She couldn’t get that question out of her head, she listened to most of the boy conversation and how they miss their mother in their world. What did their mother do? Did she left or abandoned the boys?

Lena walk into the room, carrying a tray of tea. “So like. Della, are you like totally okay?” She ask the flower princess.

Princess Della let out a sight, “No Lena.” The princess reply. “I am not okay. It just, I just listen the boys conversation that I shouldn’t be listen to. They are talking about another dimensional version of me. That dimensional me is the mother of these three boys.” Princess Della walk back inside the throne room and sit on the elegant couch and began drinking. “And how other me decided to took that “rocket ship” and abandoned them on the day they are going to hatch. I want them to tell all about their mother.

Lena wasn’t exactly a therapist but she listen carefully and nodded understandably. “Look Princess Della, like I am not your therapist or whatever but my advice is that you probably not to get involved of their personal life’s or whatever. I think you should leave them alone, they will tell you when the time is right.”

Princess Della sight as Lena was right. She smile as she ruffle her head. “Thank Lena, you’re probably right. Maybe it best to not talk about her until they can find the way to get home.”

Princess Della smile for a bit, then, her smile faded away, she heard something. It sounded like the drum beating each rhythm. She turn where the sound is coming from.

“Your highness? Is everything alright?” Lena ask the flower princess.

“Shhh.” Princess Della shush her before continued hearing the drum. It getting louder and louder to where she’s at. She got off the elegant sofa and walk over to the balcony with Lena filling behind her. When she step into the balcony.

*BOOOOMMM!*

All of a sudden, metal cannonballs were shot from an airship, knocking down one of the houses and building in the plaza, catching the people by surprise!

Soon, more about five airships arrived, still shooting more metal cannonballs at the plaza. Some of the metal cannonballs hit her people, causing them to become trapped in a strong glass crystal!

Princess Della was absolutely in shock and horror of what she have seems. They are attacking her kingdom.

One of the airships she saw held a black flag the symbols of King Zeus. The airships fly towards the castle, where she was. Princess Della grab Lena arm and dash out of the room. “Hurry! We must find the boys, immediately.”

#ducktales 2017 #mariotales au #across another dimension #across another dimension fanfic #super caballeros #super caballeros fanfic #fanfic

4 notes · View notes

louis1kwords · 5 years

Text

December: Elverum

Sitting in a rigid church pew, watching light adorn a high-ceilinged, painted cathedral. Halfway through the performance I have a couple realizations. I am surrounded by people who represent past lives I’ve led in Philadelphia, watching a person perform songs that deal largely with personal legacy, relationships, growth, and pain. I have not been to a Philadelphia church sanctuary since 2008. The cushion is uncomfortable and the memories are a little discomfiting as well. I’m constantly embarrassed when I remember my younger self, even if no one remembers me as an embarrassment. Art students who are still in their 20s, figuring out their niche in the downtrodden adult world, still practically able to ignore stimuli around them. Saw one person I knew who has experienced a great loss, an appropriate attendee. Ditto to my emo idol, Johm: A peripheral person in my life for over 10 years who I don’t know, kind of like P. Elverum himself. Aging punks who have a real reverence for the music being performed, and are perhaps more reverent because of how much psychotropics they consumed prior to the show. We discussed Watchmen, Chernobyl, Huppman, flaking out. Talking new media and local connections with these grown boys was as refreshing as an experience I could have hoped for given their level of glaze.

Inevitably, being in this space carried me to times I have spent here. Hanging out with Aaron and a chattering Bradford Cox while his band looked on with loathing, hearing shoegaze synth erupt from a plexiglass box emanating blue light -- “Cathedral - M83″, Nosferatu on Halloween in 2008 with pipe organ accompaniment. I thought a lot about my past Beat worship that has been polished by this point in my thirties. It served a purpose to keep me moving and looking for things buried in the grey world that can bring me a glimmer of light. That will hopefully persist in a way that is helpful. Is it crystallized the point where I can never lose it? On some levels it seems self-congratulatory, but that cheapens the joy I derive from these wistful moments. I bought his homemade release “Now Only” because it speaks the most to me about these feelings and features the songs that feel most like the crucially revisited entries in a diary. I could have left with three other records, and regret not picking up the latest but there is a lifetime for collecting relics of memory. Showing up alone to see what was an outward display of isolation and loneliness seemed appropriate enough to eat one of my $25 tickets. Also bringing a companion to an event like this stokes expectations I am not sure could be met. An encounter with the only person I knew would be in attendance at the merch table left me feeling more alone.

Karl Blau did a bunch of a cappella covers of songs, including Snow is Falling in Manhattan by Purple Mountains, a darkly beautiful song that reflected the evening’s theme of grief. His funny earnestness brought the room to warm crescendos of applause.

Up to this point I have always had my personal expectations of what the mind behind Mount Eerie would be like in person. Equal parts boyish, thoughtful, grim, and fixated on everyday beauty, it is easy to follow the connections his music weaves through my mind. He should look like a small form, too small to sail a ship, yet striking out to sail it through the tumults ahead. I can picture myself as a child playing in the schoolyard of my elementary school, looking up at trees, lacking the willful desire to climb them, paralyzed by their infinity and beauty. Digging in the dirt to make clay, picking small stones to build some imagined palace for the future. My goals all seemed immediate and although I knew nothing of the vastness of the world, I still felt it lurking at the periphery. I felt that colossal jumble of personae, physical objects, renderings of human existence and played in spite of them. That is the closest I can get to pinpointing how I have felt listening to Phil’s music.

Phil’s voice and appearance has an innocence that belies his inner struggle. In person, behind the table selling his work, Phil himself seems unfit for his form. He is obviously torn between celebrity and reclusiveness, and a whole album of songs about breaking up with an A-list celebrity is what he has to show for it. I told him I looked forward to seeing his performance. His self-consciousness about the show didn’t seem to impact his performance, since craft like his seems to exist completely separately from the consequence of how he feels. I truthfully hadn’t listened to the record enough to recognize every song, but that is how I have enjoyed some of the more moving performances I’ve attended (e.g. Emily Haines, Miracle Fortress). The imagery woven by Phil and Julie included the affecting “Widows” which closes with a memory of the fledgling love that came before Phil and Michelle’s likely schism. The accompanying beauty was hearing the songs that acknowledge nothing about the world but its frank existence in contrast to being within a building built to praise a higher power. Phil’s message is clear: the universe is just an experience that we have, it is indifferent to how or what we feel about it. There are things that we cannot help but note: like a bonfire, the loss of contact (eternally) with the ones we love.

The closing duet he and Julie Doiron shared was Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. The absolute perfection of this move was that the version they played was couched in a style that masked the song until the hook erupted into the air and everyone was smiling, cheering, and singing along. The catharsis of breaking through the sad subjects of the evening with a joyous affirmation of eternal love seemed like a dose of Lost Wisdom indeed.

#mounteeire #firstunitarianchurch #rumination #selves #grief #phil elverum

0 notes

readbookywooks · 8 years

Text

As one who in his journey bates at noon, Though bent on speed; so here the Arch-Angel paused Betwixt the world destroyed and world restored, If Adam aught perhaps might interpose; Then, with transition sweet, new speech resumes. Thus thou hast seen one world begin, and end; And Man, as from a second stock, proceed. Much thou hast yet to see; but I perceive Thy mortal sight to fail; objects divine Must needs impair and weary human sense: Henceforth what is to come I will relate; Thou therefore give due audience, and attend. This second source of Men, while yet but few, And while the dread of judgement past remains Fresh in their minds, fearing the Deity, With some regard to what is just and right Shall lead their lives, and multiply apace; Labouring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop, Corn, wine, and oil; and, from the herd or flock, Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid, With large wine-offerings poured, and sacred feast, Shall spend their days in joy unblamed; and dwell Long time in peace, by families and tribes, Under paternal rule: till one shall rise Of proud ambitious heart; who, not content With fair equality, fraternal state, Will arrogate dominion undeserved Over his brethren, and quite dispossess Concord and law of nature from the earth; Hunting (and men not beasts shall be his game) With war, and hostile snare, such as refuse Subjection to his empire tyrannous: A mighty hunter thence he shall be styled Before the Lord; as in despite of Heaven, Or from Heaven, claiming second sovranty; And from rebellion shall derive his name, Though of rebellion others he accuse. He with a crew, whom like ambition joins With him or under him to tyrannize, Marching from Eden towards the west, shall find The plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge Boils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell: Of brick, and of that stuff, they cast to build A city and tower, whose top may reach to Heaven; And get themselves a name; lest, far dispersed In foreign lands, their memory be lost; Regardless whether good or evil fame. But God, who oft descends to visit men Unseen, and through their habitations walks To mark their doings, them beholding soon, Comes down to see their city, ere the tower Obstruct Heaven-towers, and in derision sets Upon their tongues a various spirit, to rase Quite out their native language; and, instead, To sow a jangling noise of words unknown: Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud, Among the builders; each to other calls Not understood; till hoarse, and all in rage, As mocked they storm: great laughter was in Heaven, And looking down, to see the hubbub strange, And hear the din: Thus was the building left Ridiculous, and the work Confusion named. Whereto thus Adam, fatherly displeased. O execrable son! so to aspire Above his brethren; to himself assuming Authority usurped, from God not given: He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl, Dominion absolute; that right we hold By his donation; but man over men He made not lord; such title to himself Reserving, human left from human free. But this usurper his encroachment proud Stays not on Man; to God his tower intends Siege and defiance: Wretched man!what food Will he convey up thither, to sustain Himself and his rash army; where thin air Above the clouds will pine his entrails gross, And famish him of breath, if not of bread? To whom thus Michael. Justly thou abhorrest That son, who on the quiet state of men Such trouble brought, affecting to subdue Rational liberty; yet know withal, Since thy original lapse, true liberty Is lost, which always with right reason dwells Twinned, and from her hath no dividual being: Reason in man obscured, or not obeyed, Immediately inordinate desires, And upstart passions, catch the government From reason; and to servitude reduce Man, till then free. Therefore, since he permits Within himself unworthy powers to reign Over free reason, God, in judgement just, Subjects him from without to violent lords; Who oft as undeservedly enthrall His outward freedom: Tyranny must be; Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse. Yet sometimes nations will decline so low From virtue, which is reason, that no wrong, But justice, and some fatal curse annexed, Deprives them of their outward liberty; Their inward lost: Witness the irreverent son Of him who built the ark; who, for the shame Done to his father, heard this heavy curse, Servant of servants, on his vicious race. Thus will this latter, as the former world, Still tend from bad to worse; till God at last, Wearied with their iniquities, withdraw His presence from among them, and avert His holy eyes; resolving from thenceforth To leave them to their own polluted ways; And one peculiar nation to select From all the rest, of whom to be invoked, A nation from one faithful man to spring: Him on this side Euphrates yet residing, Bred up in idol-worship: O, that men (Canst thou believe?) should be so stupid grown, While yet the patriarch lived, who 'scaped the flood, As to forsake the living God, and fall To worship their own work in wood and stone For Gods! Yet him God the Most High vouchsafes To call by vision, from his father's house, His kindred, and false Gods, into a land Which he will show him; and from him will raise A mighty nation; and upon him shower His benediction so, that in his seed All nations shall be blest: he straight obeys; Not knowing to what land, yet firm believes: I see him, but thou canst not, with what faith He leaves his Gods, his friends, and native soil, Ur of Chaldaea, passing now the ford To Haran; after him a cumbrous train Of herds and flocks, and numerous servitude; Not wandering poor, but trusting all his wealth With God, who called him, in a land unknown. Canaan he now attains; I see his tents Pitched about Sechem, and the neighbouring plain Of Moreh; there by promise he receives Gift to his progeny of all that land, From Hameth northward to the Desart south; (Things by their names I call, though yet unnamed;) From Hermon east to the great western Sea; Mount Hermon, yonder sea; each place behold In prospect, as I point them; on the shore Mount Carmel; here, the double-founted stream, Jordan, true limit eastward; but his sons Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills. This ponder, that all nations of the earth Shall in his seed be blessed: By that seed Is meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruise The Serpent's head; whereof to thee anon Plainlier shall be revealed. This patriarch blest, Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call, A son, and of his son a grand-child, leaves; Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown: The grandchild, with twelve sons increased, departs From Canaan to a land hereafter called Egypt, divided by the river Nile See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths Into the sea. To sojourn in that land He comes, invited by a younger son In time of dearth, a son whose worthy deeds Raise him to be the second in that realm Of Pharaoh. There he dies, and leaves his race Growing into a nation, and now grown Suspected to a sequent king, who seeks To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests Too numerous; whence of guests he makes them slaves Inhospitably, and kills their infant males: Till by two brethren (these two brethren call Moses and Aaron) sent from God to claim His people from enthralment, they return, With glory and spoil, back to their promised land. But first, the lawless tyrant, who denies To know their God, or message to regard, Must be compelled by signs and judgements dire; To blood unshed the rivers must be turned; Frogs, lice, and flies, must all his palace fill With loathed intrusion, and fill all the land; His cattle must of rot and murren die; Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss, And all his people; thunder mixed with hail, Hail mixed with fire, must rend the Egyptians sky, And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls; What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain, A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green; Darkness must overshadow all his bounds, Palpable darkness, and blot out three days; Last, with one midnight stroke, all the first-born Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds The river-dragon tamed at length submits To let his sojourners depart, and oft Humbles his stubborn heart; but still, as ice More hardened after thaw; till, in his rage Pursuing whom he late dismissed, the sea Swallows him with his host; but them lets pass, As on dry land, between two crystal walls; Awed by the rod of Moses so to stand Divided, till his rescued gain their shore: Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend, Though present in his Angel; who shall go Before them in a cloud, and pillar of fire; By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire; To guide them in their journey, and remove Behind them, while the obdurate king pursues: All night he will pursue; but his approach Darkness defends between till morning watch; Then through the fiery pillar, and the cloud, God looking forth will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot-wheels: when by command Moses once more his potent rod extends Over the sea; the sea his rod obeys; On their embattled ranks the waves return, And overwhelm their war: The race elect Safe toward Canaan from the shore advance Through the wild Desart, not the readiest way; Lest, entering on the Canaanite alarmed, War terrify them inexpert, and fear Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather Inglorious life with servitude; for life To noble and ignoble is more sweet Untrained in arms, where rashness leads not on. This also shall they gain by their delay In the wide wilderness; there they shall found Their government, and their great senate choose Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordained: God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top Shall tremble, he descending, will himself In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets' sound, Ordain them laws; part, such as appertain To civil justice; part, religious rites Of sacrifice; informing them, by types And shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise The Serpent, by what means he shall achieve Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God To mortal ear is dreadful: They beseech That Moses might report to them his will, And terrour cease; he grants what they besought, Instructed that to God is no access Without Mediator, whose high office now Moses in figure bears; to introduce One greater, of whose day he shall foretel, And all the Prophets in their age the times Of great Messiah shall sing. Thus, laws and rites Established, such delight hath God in Men Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes Among them to set up his tabernacle; The Holy One with mortal Men to dwell: By his prescript a sanctuary is framed Of cedar, overlaid with gold; therein An ark, and in the ark his testimony, The records of his covenant; over these A mercy-seat of gold, between the wings Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn Seven lamps as in a zodiack representing The heavenly fires; over the tent a cloud Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night; Save when they journey, and at length they come, Conducted by his Angel, to the land Promised to Abraham and his seed:--The rest Were long to tell; how many battles fought How many kings destroyed; and kingdoms won; Or how the sun shall in mid Heaven stand still A day entire, and night's due course adjourn, Man's voice commanding, 'Sun, in Gibeon stand, 'And thou moon in the vale of Aialon, 'Till Israel overcome! so call the third From Abraham, son of Isaac; and from him His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win. Here Adam interposed. O sent from Heaven, Enlightener of my darkness, gracious things Thou hast revealed; those chiefly, which concern Just Abraham and his seed: now first I find Mine eyes true-opening, and my heart much eased; Erewhile perplexed with thoughts, what would become Of me and all mankind: But now I see His day, in whom all nations shall be blest; Favour unmerited by me, who sought Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means. This yet I apprehend not, why to those Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth So many and so various laws are given; So many laws argue so many sins Among them; how can God with such reside? To whom thus Michael. Doubt not but that sin Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was law given them, to evince Their natural pravity, by stirring up Sin against law to fight: that when they see Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak, The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude Some blood more precious must be paid for Man; Just for unjust; that, in such righteousness To them by faith imputed, they may find Justification towards God, and peace Of conscience; which the law by ceremonies Cannot appease; nor Man the mortal part Perform; and, not performing, cannot live. So law appears imperfect; and but given With purpose to resign them, in full time, Up to a better covenant; disciplined From shadowy types to truth; from flesh to spirit; From imposition of strict laws to free Acceptance of large grace; from servile fear To filial; works of law to works of faith. And therefore shall not Moses, though of God Highly beloved, being but the minister Of law, his people into Canaan lead; But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call, His name and office bearing, who shall quell The adversary-Serpent, and bring back Through the world's wilderness long-wandered Man Safe to eternal Paradise of rest. Mean while they, in their earthly Canaan placed, Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sins National interrupt their publick peace, Provoking God to raise them enemies; From whom as oft he saves them penitent By Judges first, then under Kings; of whom The second, both for piety renowned And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive Irrevocable, that his regal throne For ever shall endure; the like shall sing All Prophecy, that of the royal stock Of David (so I name this king) shall rise A Son, the Woman's seed to thee foretold, Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust All nations; and to kings foretold, of kings The last; for of his reign shall be no end. But first, a long succession must ensue; And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed, The clouded ark of God, till then in tents Wandering, shall in a glorious temple enshrine. Such follow him, as shall be registered Part good, part bad; of bad the longer scroll; Whose foul idolatries, and other faults Heaped to the popular sum, will so incense God, as to leave them, and expose their land, Their city, his temple, and his holy ark, With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey To that proud city, whose high walls thou sawest Left in confusion; Babylon thence called. There in captivity he lets them dwell The space of seventy years; then brings them back, Remembering mercy, and his covenant sworn To David, stablished as the days of Heaven. Returned from Babylon by leave of kings Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of God They first re-edify; and for a while In mean estate live moderate; till, grown In wealth and multitude, factious they grow; But first among the priests dissention springs, Men who attend the altar, and should most Endeavour peace: their strife pollution brings Upon the temple itself: at last they seise The scepter, and regard not David's sons; Then lose it to a stranger, that the true Anointed King Messiah might be born Barred of his right; yet at his birth a star, Unseen before in Heaven, proclaims him come; And guides the eastern sages, who inquire His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold: His place of birth a solemn Angel tells To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night; They gladly thither haste, and by a quire Of squadroned Angels hear his carol sung. A virgin is his mother, but his sire The power of the Most High: He shall ascend The throne hereditary, and bound his reign With Earth's wide bounds, his glory with the Heavens. He ceased, discerning Adam with such joy Surcharged, as had like grief been dewed in tears, Without the vent of words; which these he breathed. O prophet of glad tidings, finisher Of utmost hope! now clear I understand What oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain; Why our great Expectation should be called The seed of Woman: Virgin Mother, hail, High in the love of Heaven; yet from my loins Thou shalt proceed, and from thy womb the Son Of God Most High: so God with Man unites! Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise Expect with mortal pain: Say where and when Their fight, what stroke shall bruise the victor's heel. To whom thus Michael. Dream not of their fight, As of a duel, or the local wounds Of head or heel: Not therefore joins the Son Manhood to Godhead, with more strength to foil Thy enemy; nor so is overcome Satan, whose fall from Heaven, a deadlier bruise, Disabled, not to give thee thy death's wound: Which he, who comes thy Saviour, shall recure, Not by destroying Satan, but his works In thee, and in thy seed: Nor can this be, But by fulfilling that which thou didst want, Obedience to the law of God, imposed On penalty of death, and suffering death; The penalty to thy transgression due, And due to theirs which out of thine will grow: So only can high Justice rest appaid. The law of God exact he shall fulfil Both by obedience and by love, though love Alone fulfil the law; thy punishment He shall endure, by coming in the flesh To a reproachful life, and cursed death; Proclaiming life to all who shall believe In his redemption; and that his obedience, Imputed, becomes theirs by faith; his merits To save them, not their own, though legal, works. For this he shall live hated, be blasphemed, Seised on by force, judged, and to death condemned A shameful and accursed, nailed to the cross By his own nation; slain for bringing life: But to the cross he nails thy enemies, The law that is against thee, and the sins Of all mankind, with him there crucified, Never to hurt them more who rightly trust In this his satisfaction; so he dies, But soon revives; Death over him no power Shall long usurp; ere the third dawning light Return, the stars of morn shall see him rise Out of his grave, fresh as the dawning light, Thy ransom paid, which Man from death redeems, His death for Man, as many as offered life Neglect not, and the benefit embrace By faith not void of works: This God-like act Annuls thy doom, the death thou shouldest have died, In sin for ever lost from life; this act Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength, Defeating Sin and Death, his two main arms; And fix far deeper in his head their stings Than temporal death shall bruise the victor's heel, Or theirs whom he redeems; a death, like sleep, A gentle wafting to immortal life. Nor after resurrection shall he stay Longer on earth, than certain times to appear To his disciples, men who in his life Still followed him; to them shall leave in charge To teach all nations what of him they learned And his salvation; them who shall believe Baptizing in the profluent stream, the sign Of washing them from guilt of sin to life Pure, and in mind prepared, if so befall, For death, like that which the Redeemer died. All nations they shall teach; for, from that day, Not only to the sons of Abraham's loins Salvation shall be preached, but to the sons Of Abraham's faith wherever through the world; So in his seed all nations shall be blest. Then to the Heaven of Heavens he shall ascend With victory, triumphing through the air Over his foes and thine; there shall surprise The Serpent, prince of air, and drag in chains Through all his realm, and there confounded leave; Then enter into glory, and resume His seat at God's right hand, exalted high Above all names in Heaven; and thence shall come, When this world's dissolution shall be ripe, With glory and power to judge both quick and dead; To judge the unfaithful dead, but to reward His faithful, and receive them into bliss, Whether in Heaven or Earth; for then the Earth Shall all be Paradise, far happier place Than this of Eden, and far happier days. So spake the Arch-Angel Michael; then paused, As at the world's great period; and our sire, Replete with joy and wonder, thus replied. O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful Than that which by creation first brought forth Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand, Whether I should repent me now of sin By me done, and occasioned; or rejoice Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring; To God more glory, more good-will to Men From God, and over wrath grace shall abound. But say, if our Deliverer up to Heaven Must re-ascend, what will betide the few His faithful, left among the unfaithful herd, The enemies of truth? Who then shall guide His people, who defend? Will they not deal Worse with his followers than with him they dealt? Be sure they will, said the Angel; but from Heaven He to his own a Comforter will send, The promise of the Father, who shall dwell His Spirit within them; and the law of faith, Working through love, upon their hearts shall write, To guide them in all truth; and also arm With spiritual armour, able to resist Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts; What man can do against them, not afraid, Though to the death; against such cruelties With inward consolations recompensed, And oft supported so as shall amaze Their proudest persecutors: For the Spirit, Poured first on his Apostles, whom he sends To evangelize the nations, then on all Baptized, shall them with wonderous gifts endue To speak all tongues, and do all miracles, As did their Lord before them. Thus they win Great numbers of each nation to receive With joy the tidings brought from Heaven: At length Their ministry performed, and race well run, Their doctrine and their story written left, They die; but in their room, as they forewarn, Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves, Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven To their own vile advantages shall turn Of lucre and ambition; and the truth With superstitions and traditions taint, Left only in those written records pure, Though not but by the Spirit understood. Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names, Places, and titles, and with these to join Secular power; though feigning still to act By spiritual, to themselves appropriating The Spirit of God, promised alike and given To all believers; and, from that pretence, Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force On every conscience; laws which none shall find Left them inrolled, or what the Spirit within Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then But force the Spirit of Grace itself, and bind His consort Liberty? what, but unbuild His living temples, built by faith to stand, Their own faith, not another's? for, on earth, Who against faith and conscience can be heard Infallible? yet many will presume: Whence heavy persecution shall arise On all, who in the worship persevere Of spirit and truth; the rest, far greater part, Will deem in outward rites and specious forms Religion satisfied; Truth shall retire Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works of faith Rarely be found: So shall the world go on, To good malignant, to bad men benign; Under her own weight groaning; till the day Appear of respiration to the just, And vengeance to the wicked, at return Of him so lately promised to thy aid, The Woman's Seed; obscurely then foretold, Now ampler known thy Saviour and thy Lord; Last, in the clouds, from Heaven to be revealed In glory of the Father, to dissolve Satan with his perverted world; then raise From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined, New Heavens, new Earth, ages of endless date, Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love; To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss. He ended; and thus Adam last replied. How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blest, Measured this transient world, the race of time, Till time stand fixed! Beyond is all abyss, Eternity, whose end no eye can reach. Greatly-instructed I shall hence depart; Greatly in peace of thought; and have my fill Of knowledge, what this vessel can contain; Beyond which was my folly to aspire. Henceforth I learn, that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God; to walk As in his presence; ever to observe His providence; and on him sole depend, Merciful over all his works, with good Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things, by things deemed weak Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise By simply meek: that suffering for truth's sake Is fortitude to highest victory, And, to the faithful, death the gate of life; Taught this by his example, whom I now Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest. To whom thus also the Angel last replied. This having learned, thou hast attained the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars Thou knewest by name, and all the ethereal powers, All secrets of the deep, all Nature's works, Or works of God in Heaven, air, earth, or sea, And all the riches of this world enjoyedst, And all the rule, one empire; only add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith, Add virtue, patience, temperance; add love, By name to come called charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loth To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A Paradise within thee, happier far.-- Let us descend now therefore from this top Of speculation; for the hour precise Exacts our parting hence; and see!the guards, By me encamped on yonder hill, expect Their motion; at whose front a flaming sword, In signal of remove, waves fiercely round: We may no longer stay: go, waken Eve; Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed Portending good, and all her spirits composed To meek submission: thou, at season fit, Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard; Chiefly what may concern her faith to know, The great deliverance by her seed to come (For by the Woman's seed) on all mankind: That ye may live, which will be many days, Both in one faith unanimous, though sad, With cause, for evils past; yet much more cheered With meditation on the happy end. He ended, and they both descend the hill; Descended, Adam to the bower, where Eve Lay sleeping, ran before; but found her waked; And thus with words not sad she him received. Whence thou returnest, and whither wentest, I know; For God is also in sleep; and dreams advise, Which he hath sent propitious, some great good Presaging, since with sorrow and heart's distress Wearied I fell asleep: But now lead on; In me is no delay; with thee to go, Is to stay here; without thee here to stay, Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me Art all things under $Heaven, all places thou, Who for my wilful crime art banished hence. This further consolation yet secure I carry hence; though all by me is lost, Such favour I unworthy am vouchsafed, By me the Promised Seed shall all restore. So spake our mother Eve; and Adam heard Well pleased, but answered not: For now, too nigh The Arch-Angel stood; and, from the other hill To their fixed station, all in bright array The Cherubim descended; on the ground Gliding meteorous, as evening-mist Risen from a river o'er the marish glides, And gathers ground fast at the labourer's heel Homeward returning. High in front advanced, The brandished sword of God before them blazed, Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat, And vapour as the Libyan air adust, Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat In either hand the hastening Angel caught Our lingering parents, and to the eastern gate Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast To the subjected plain; then disappeared. They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate With dreadful faces thronged, and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.

#ParadiseLost

0 notes