#IX didn't even have to be great

[frumfrumfroo]

Can't believe I never noticed before that most of the dialogue in TFA is... kinda bad? As bad as anything in TROS. The prequels dialogue is bad, but you can tell it's *attempting* poetry. A lot of the dialogue in TFA and TROS is just stating the obvious or trite quips.

It's not a great movie.

[cherryheairt]

Dragon Dreamer pt. IX

tags- @beebeechaos @r-3dlips @emery-aka-emmy @watermel0nsugarhigh @delaynew @purple-1995 @pedro-pascal-love @fall-winter-heart97 @thelastemzy @reyndaisy @littleblackcatinwonderland @hueanhdang

cw- mention of death

finally a longer one!

Eight full days passed without trouble. Daenys and Cregan slept close together each night, pointedly avoiding talking about it each morning. Though, it was clear to be a great comfort for both of them. Daenys found herself having seven more dreamless nights, grateful for each one, though slightly wishing she could be blessed with the type of dreams that others had every night. Even Cregan, who smiled sometimes in his sleep, seemed to have pleasant dreams.

They were only one more night away from The Wall. Then, they would reach it by the morrow's noon.

Daenys had taken well to hunting, setting near-expert traps and even making it something of a competition. Without needing words, they would both hold up their catches of the day, either laughing gleefully or scowling when they won or lost. All in good fun, they agreed.

Dusk had even taken to sleeping with Morningstar each night, instead of at the human's feet. The dragon had not made her displeasure known, so her tolerance said everything for her. The wolf was comically tiny against the massive wing, quite like a mother and her pup. Though, perhaps Dusk didn't get that idea. His infatuation with the dragon appeared to be some sort of puppy love.

Cregan had pointed that out days prior, snorting at his companion's simpering behavior. "He follows that dragon like a green boy follows a pretty whor-" He paused, stopping himself. "follows a courtesan." He coughed into his hand, cheeks pink at his own borish vocabulary.

Daenys rolled her eyes, snickering at his expression. "I am not so green myself, my Lord. I can handle a few less-than-kind words."

His eyes widened, turning to her on Red. "Do you mean...?"

She understood immediately, flushing pink herself now. "Heavens, no! I only mean I grew up with my vulgar uncles. They have never bothered to filter their words or bring their 'lady-friends' into the Red Keep. I can not do such things until I am wed, I understand by duties." Daenys informed him, slightly embarrassed that she called herself experienced when she was not.

"I would not fault you if you did. After all, a lord could sire a thousand bastard babes, before or after marriage, and not be reprimanded." He said.

That was true. Rhaenyra was forced into marriage immediately after her 'nightly activities' with Daemon were discovered. Aegon was actively still participating in such activities after his marriage but received turned heads and blind eyes.

"That is a truth I have come to resent." She huffed. "There are many of us—silver-haired—out on the streets of King's Landing. It is a great shame that mine own kin is suffering on the streets instead of in the Keep where they belong."

Many times, she thought of how unfair their circumstances were compared to hers. They shared their bastard blood, but only she and her brothers got the privilege of being legitimized and defended whilst the others starved and suffered.

He smiled sweetly at her, perhaps in understanding of her underlying words. "I can sympathize with that sentiment. My father was an honorable man until his death. His one sin was fathering my half-sister, though I do not resent Sara for it. It is a shame how only the children suffer for the parents' actions. I watched how she was treated her whole life compared to me, simply for having a different mother."

She hummed her agreement. For a moment, she slightly wished that her mother shared his opinion.

"I loved my father dearly. But, I would never repeat his actions. My wife's honor is as sacred as mine, to father a child that was not hers would be unforgivable."

"Your wife will be a lucky woman."

He eyed her, amused. "If you call that lucky, then I suppose so. I would call it being a husband."

"Most men do not take that so seriously. A wife is seen as the one who simply provides heirs and a dowry, and whores and paramours are the true lovers." She shrugged.

"Is that how Prince Daemon sees Queen Rhaenyra?" He asked, catching her off guard.

"No...he is perhaps the only one of her husbands to have no lover after they married. Their marriage is a special case, I believe. He has only wanted her for many years, even through his previous two marriages. Loyal, yes, but no less a greedy man."

Daenys didn't care for her mother's and Daemon's strange history. She would not personally wish to marry a man twice her age, but her mother loved him, so she tolerated it. She did grow to like Daemon, too, after a few years of living with him.

Cregan nodded beside her, taking in her words. "Ser Laenor was different?"

"I'm sure you've heard of my father's preferences from the gossip surrounding the court."

"I've told you before, my Lady, that those in the North do not care for menial gossip." He reminded her.

Daenys nodded, exhaling deeply. "He loved my mother, though not as Daemon does." Or Harwin did, she left out. "But he could not change his affinity for his...squire." She finished, glancing at his facial expression only to see it unchanged.

"What of Ser Harwin?" The question made her nervous, though she refused to show it. His question was merely curious, not accusing or backhanded. "Your mother's sworn protector must have been around quite a lot, in your young years. What was he like?"

"Ser Harwin was a kind man. Kinder than any other knights at the Keep. He was Lord Commander of the kingsguard, though he never acted untoward or mean, not even once. He watched over me, in a time when many of the young kids in the keep had started to act as my scourages." She smiled in reminisce. "You remind me of him, slightly."

"How so?"

"A protector. A pillar of strength against harsh winds."

Cregan chuckled, though not unkindly. "I am glad you are able to see me that way, Princess. Perhaps you are a poet, not a sailor."

She laughed, loud and clearly. "If only you could see me at my septa's lessons, you would change your mind in a heartbeat. I jumbled the words so badly that two—two!—septas gave up trying to teach me to sing and recite poetry and music."

Cregan grinned at the sound, pleased to hear her laugh. "That can't be so, I've heard you humming little songs in High Valyrion when you are with Morningstar."

Bashful, she asked. "You heard that?"

"Most times, yes." He said. "Though I enjoyed it. I can't understand the words, but I can piece together that no words were stumbled over."

"Mm. Perhaps it is my audience, then. In front of my septas, their stares were so intense that I nearly cried when practicing in front of them. My dragon does not judge as they do, she sings along."

"I hope to be a well-mannered audience for you." He said, tone raillery and light.

Daenys didn't mind if he heard.

Night came fast, as it seemed to for the past days. Their routine came automatically: setting the tent, cooking kills over the fire, eating, conversing, and then finally heading to bed. They found their routine with changing into night shifts, as well. Simply turning as they changed at the same time instead of waiting their turns outside of the tent. Cregan and Daenys settled closely, breaths steady and visible in the night air.

It had grown jarringly cold. Daenys believed it was cold in Winterfell, but near The Wall was another story. She pitied those who lived at The Wall and the wildlings who were trapped beyond it.

Her streak of dreamless sleep was broken that night. She could barely see, but she could hear. She wished desperately that she couldn't, that she could forget the sounds that tormented her.

Sawing.

Slow, squelching, sawing.

She was in the Red Keep. The torches in the nursery were dim. So dim, that faces were impossible to clearly make out. But she could recognize Helena anywhere. Her sweet, sisterly Aunt Helena, who had never hurt a soul in her life, was pleading for two men to take her jewlery, take her, instead of her babe.

Jaehaera and Jaehaerys, if she remembered correctly. She had met them once, at the family dinner the night before Viserys died. Helena showed them proudly to her niece, though her youthful face reminded Daenys of just how young she was when she was forced to have the twins. The thought made her feel ill, but she smiled and greeted the shy children anyway.

The men refused to take Helena, insisted they needed a boy to die. They forced the sweet mother to point out her son, to which she did with a pained and stunned look on her face. Daenys wanted to reach out, comfort her aunt, and protect her babes with her. But her feet remained glued to the floor, unable to be seen or heard by anyone in the room. It was not happening at that moment. Would it truly happen soon? It was war. Dirty tactics were used all the time without remourse. Surely they were not sent by Rhaenyra...right? She would never seek babes to be harmed, especially after Visenya was lost days ago. This must be a false dream. Daenys only needed to wait it out.

Sawing.

Sawing, squelching, thrashing. It felt like it went on forever.

Until it stopped. Daenys blinked her eyes open, glancing at the bed. Jaehaerys' head was gone from his body. Jaehaera was missing from her bed. Helena was gone. Daenys found herself running, finally able to move now from her planted spot. She ran out of the nursery as if the two men would chase her, too. She followed after Helena, who abruptly stopped at the bottom of the steps. She turned around, revealing her purple tear-filled eyes and Jaehaera clutched protectively in her arms. Helena looked Daenys right in her eyes.

"Stop him." She whispered as if she could see Daenys standing in the middle of the steps plain as day. She continued running, perhaps to guards, leaving Daenys stunned at her spot.

Daenys was awoken after that. No one had ever seen her during her dreams. Not Laena, not Luke, nor Harwin or Laenor. Helena had similar dreams, she knew. Waking dreams, mumbling to herself while she was wide awake. Helena and her always shared that, though never spoke on it. Daenys was torn. Would that become true? Would Helena's son truly be murdered in his bed?

She could not think on it alone anymore. She needed a distraction. Her first thought was to seek out Morningstar, to curl up under her warmth, and stay there until the visions stopped plaguing her mind ruthlessly. She didn't have her books to draw in or her journals to write in. She couldn't let out her thoughts any way but speaking.

"Cregan..." She whispered, leaning up on her elbow and facing the man. He looked to be having a happy dream, smiling slightly in his sleep.

"Cregan, please. I need you." She whimpered, cold tears falling onto his face as she leaned over him. She could feel guilty later, but for now, she needed him desperately.

He flinched unconsciously at the wetness falling onto his face, wiping it and blinking himself awake. His eyes finally met her tear-filled lilac ones, sitting up instantly. He held her shoulders gingerly, "what's the matter, sweet girl? Are you hurt?" He scanned her, wide awake now at the chance of a threat around. He found no blood, only her own crescented nail prints in her palms from them behind clenched so harshly in her sleep. He took her hands in his own, soothing over them while he waited for her response.

Daenys' chest heaved raggedly, trying to catch her own breath from her panic. He reached out, pulling her by her head to his chest, allowing her to clutch his shirt instead of her own palms and hair to ground herself.

He calmed slightly, figuring the distress was caused by her dreams instead of a physical threat. Recalling her Valyrion lullabies that she hummed to her dragon, Cregan mindlessly hummed into her ear, chest vibrating with the use of his vocals. He never hummed or sang, didn't care for it, and was never taught it. But, he would try anything to pacify Daenys' storming mind.

Eventually, after many sobs and mumbles that Cregan couldn't make out, Daenys stilled in his arms.

"He will die. I don't know who I have to stop, Cregan."

He looked down at her head, face still buried and half-mumbled by his neck. "Who will die?"

"My cousin. Helena's babe, Jaehaerys." She whispered, mind reeling still.

Cregan bit his cheek harshly. It would happen, at an unknown time to the both of them. Sometime in the future, or perhaps as they spoke now. He didn't doubt her vision for a moment.

"What do you mean by stop him, sweeting? He asked, rubbing small shapes onto her back.

"Helena told me so. She saw me. Actually saw me. No one ever has before. She held Jaehaera as she told me to 'stop him'." Daenys insisted almost hysterically.

He nodded, allowing her to mumble some more incoherently into his skin.

Stop who? How could she prevent a murder in King's Landing all the way in the North? Even on Dragonstone, she was too far away to help Helena. She could not fly her dragon to Helena to warn her, lest she be shot down by a scorpion's lance. She could not send a raven, either, knowing it would be intercepted, and Daenys would be accused of plotting to murder the heir.

Who was it? Who could she access? Helena knew, she would not ask it of her if she knew Daenys couldn't do it. Luke and Jace would be back at Dragonstone by now, and had no ill intent towards anyone. Rhaenyra and Daemon would be too focused on their council meetings. What grievance did any of them have to go after Jaehaerys? She could not think of any.

"Who is it?" She asked Cregan, then. "Who could order a babe to die in his bed?"

"I do not know, Princess. I'm sorry." He said painfully, wishing to help her more than anything at that moment.

They stayed like that until sunrise. Cregan and Daenys held each other. The only sound in the air was her mumblings and his comforting shushing and hums. He knew they could not waste time, The Lord Commander at Castle Black had long been expecting them.

He guided an exhausted Daenys to his own horse, not trusting her to be able to stay on Mylo. She sat behind him, head slumped to his shoulders as they rode on for the final few hours towards the castle. Mylo loyally walked behind, knowing his faithful food source could only come from the Lord in front of him.

As they reached the gates of Castle Black, Daenys found herself waking up in awe. The Wall, rumored to reach the skies, truly was taller than anything she had ever seen before. Seven hundred feet of pure ice lay in front of her, an impenetrable fortress that protected all that lie South of it.

Cregan chuckled at her gaping reaction. "I felt the same way when I saw The Wall for the first time, too. It is an even better view on top, my Lady." He assured her, glad to see her distracted from her perturbed mood.

She nodded, shifting in the saddle impaitiently. She hands were wrapped around his waist, though didn't quite meet in the middle. He patted her hand as they waited for the gate to open, reminding her to be patient.

As Cregan hopped off, he helped Daenys from Red, staying close to her as a stable boy led both horses to be fed and watered. "My Lord Stark." Bowed a young man, who seemed familiar with Cregan. "We are glad to see you here. Would you like for yourself and the Princess to be shown to the dining hall for a hot meal?" He nodded politely towards Daenys, bowing swiftly once more at her.

Cregan took her hand in his arm, eyeing the men who had gathered around, leaning to each other and grinning wolfishly at the sight of a pretty young woman at Castle Black. The only women they ever saw were the ones in the small town near The Wall, which only had a few women who sold their services to the many men of the Night's Watch, and none were as pretty as noblewomen were bred to be. Cregan knew this all too well, hungry eyes watching the Princess like she were prey. Daenys shifted uncomfortably, aware of the intense gazes, though in a different way than Cregan.

"Is Lord Commander Trant not here?" Cregan asked.

The young man shook his head. "He's been conducting business at Queen's Gate for the past few days. He'll be back shortly, he promised to return before the afternoon."

Cregan nodded, a tick in his jaw. "The Princess and I will be on top of The Wall, while we wait. Do not disturb us." He commanded, striding towards the crickity little iron cage that was embedding into the ice. Daenys paused, reluctant to step into the death trap.

"This will take us all the way up to the top?"

He smiled, guiding her gently by the small of her back to step inside. "Don't worry, it is used every day and hasn't failed the Watch yet." Daenys flinched as it whirred to life, bringing them up foot by foot. She watched the ground grow distance below her, usually an exciting sight on her dragon, but now a terrifying one. She held tight to his arm as if he could save them both if the contraption failed.

It took a few minutes to reach the top. Cregan stepped out first, allowing her to jump out swiftly. She sighed, glad to be on solid ground. If it could be counted as such. Though The Wall was pure ice, Daenys was pleasantly surprised at it not being slippery. Perhaps due to the soft layer of snoe on top of it for her boots to grip.

Cregan brought her to the edge of The Wall, many in the Watch bowing and gawking at the sight of the pair. All knew of the Princess' expected visit, but had not prepared for the sight of a Targaryen in their lifetime.

The sight on the edge was truly otherworldly. Miles of expansive snowy forests and deserts, all unclaimed by man or beast.

"It is more beautiful than you said, Cregan." She said, eyes glued to the view.

"It is." He smiled, though seemed to tense slightly when she turned to him. "Daenys. I promised you that we would speak of the number of bannermen I would send for the Queen. I have had plenty time to think it through on our journey over here. As of now, I have 2,000 greybeards ready to die for their Queen's war."

Daenys nodded, listening to him intently. "Greybeards, like old men?" She asked half-humorously.

He nodded. "Winter is coming, and I can not freely give a large portion of my young men without something in return."

"Return?" She asked, growing nervous. He had not mentioned such a thing in their entire time together.

"Do you like Winterfell, your highness?" Cregan asked, brows furrowed as he looked down at her.

"Of course–I have grown to love the North."

"Would you..." he trailed off, hesitating slightly. "Would you be willing to live in the North?"

"As in...a marriage offer?" Daenys asked.

"Indeed. If I could have your hand, Daenys, in marriage, the North would have a dragon and a Princess. They would be more willing to fight in a Southern war if their own Wardeness was who they fought for."

Daenys stood there, stunned. Had he brought her all the way to The Wall just to ask for her? Is that why he had been so warm to her, so friendly? Her face hardened, though that did not go unnoticed by Cregan.

"Daenys, please hear me out." The man pleaded, clutching both of her hands in his own and bringing them up to her chest.

"I would not ask something of you that would displease you. I wish to keep you safe. And if, after the war, you wish to never see me again, I will allow you to live at Dragonstone or the Red Keep with your family. I will never force anything on you, never ask for sons. All I want is you. I have wanted for you for a while now. Please do not mistake my genuine feelings for using you. Know that the last thing in this world that I want to see is your unhappiness." He spoke breathlessly.

"I love you, my sweet dreamer. It would truly kill me to see you at the mercy of some old and cruel Lord, who would keep you from happiness. If that makes me a selfish man, then so be it. But at least I am an honest one."

Daenys felt her chest swell with an unknown emotion, throat tight, and eyes glossing with tears. "Love me? How could you love me after all that you have seen from me, Cregan?" She whispered, voice taut with emotion.

He took her face into his hands, wiping away at her eyeline to ensure no tears fell from them. He kissed the spot between her brows with the utmost reverence, pulling away but not moving his hands. "How could I not? All I have seen, I adore. Do not simplify your entire being to your dreams–that is merely one part of you." He interrupted her, knowing exactly what she could argue against.

"Cregan..." she felt the warmth in his mismatching eyes fill her body with a soft heat, though they were surrounded by the winds so high up she barely even felt it.

Before she could finish, an older man came marching towards them.

"Lord Commander," the Stark greeted, though his irritation wasn't hidden. "I asked to be left alone until we returned."

"Forgive me, Lord Stark, Princess." The man bowed his head twice in turn. "There has been a letter awaiting the Princess since you left Winterfell. It is dire."

Daenys' eyes widened, it must be from Rhaenyra. Was there an update on the war? Cregan took the scroll in his hands, unrolling it slowly. She watched as his face dropped before looking to Daenys with a sympathetic gleam in his eyes.

"What?" Her voice wavered. "What has happened?" She didn't want to know. She wanted to stay oblivious in the North forever, keeping time paused back at home.

The Lord Commander shifted his gaze down sadly, respectfully taking his leave to the rickity lift so the two could talk.

Cregan placed a hand on her bicep in a comforting way, but she shook her head, urging him on. "Tell me."

"Its about your brother, Lucerys." He said softly.

"Luke? What of him?" She already had her suspicion. She saw him that night, the night she stayed at Winterfell. Daenys was forced to watch the boy and his young dragon being chased through stormy skies by a much bigger, looming beast.

She saw him, and continued treating with Lord Stark. Daenys left her brother to the wolves—or more accurately the dragon. All for a few thousand men to fight in a useless, stupid war. For what? What is the use of sitting atop of the Iron Throne if all of your children will be dead. Is that mot Rhaenyra's legacy? Is Jacaerys next? Little, sweet Joff and the babes Viserys and Aegon? Is she next?

"He is dead. Aemond Targaryen killed him with Vhagar."

No.

He was not dead. Lucerys was playing a prank on her. This time, he just took it too far. He loved his pranks, especially on his eldest sister, who was so easy to fool.

Lucerys was alive and waiting for her shocked face to burst through Dragonstone's doors.

"He's not dead." She shook her head, stepping back from Cregan. "Luke is fine. That letter must be his idea of a jest, 'tis all." She nodded to herself, solidifying her own words.

"Daenys—"

"I will marry you upon my return to Winterfell, whenever the Queen allows me time. You can send a raven to Dragonstone with how many extra men my hand will bring her. Farewell, Lord Stark." She bid him, focusing on making her way to the lift. She entered it, being sent up just in time for her to be allowed down.

"Daenys!" He yelled, tugging her arm roughly to his chest. Cregan loosened his grip apologetically, but did not allow her out of his reach.

She faced him, face scrunched up in a furious glare. "Let go of me. It is treasonous to lay a hand on your Princess." She bit harshly.

Cregan pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms firmly around her back and head, resting her head on his shoulder gently. "Don't go like this, Princess. It is dangerous to fly in such a state." He murmured into her hair, feeling her tense form shiver.

"What do you know of flying? Morningstar will get me to Dragonstone swiftly, she is the fastest of our dragons—" Daenys was cut off by her own sobs wracking her body violently.

If it were Morningstar sent to Storm's End, she could've outflown Vhagar. Little Arrax, with all his youthful pride, was the smallest yet of the three eldest children's dragons. He just barely started to be able to fly with Luke on his back. It had barely been a year since he'd grown big enough. They were both but mere babes in comparison to Vhagar and Aemond.

"It's not fair!" She yelled into his pelts. She could barely breathe, knees weak and unable to hold herself up. Cregan lowered them both to the floor, keeping her securely in his lap. "My boy, he's only a child. He should've stayed home, I should've kept him safe." She nearly screamed at herself. Her stupidity and foolishness.

How dare the Gods show her Luke's death but not Laenor's. How could they hate her so much? Hate her family? Did the gods hate bastards as much as their creations?

"It's not fair, I know. But you couldn't have done anything, my Lady." He cooed softly in her ear.

"I could, I have known for weeks and done nothing! Lived in obliviousness while my brother has been lost to the sea."

Living like a common whore, allowing herself to sleep next to a man that she was not married to. Allowing him to see her bare, and not being nearly as modest as a Lady should be. Alicent was right, she was always right. She was just like her mother. If she had stayed with Cregan in the wilderness for any longer, would she have allowed him to bed her, too? Would she father his bastard and be forced to cover it with a false marriage?

Daenys needed to leave.

But her legs did not obey her still.

Cregan gave her a pitying glance, one that she could not see in her own wallowing. Nothing he could say could truly get through to her. No one could comfort him for weeks after his own little brother passed. The guilt never leaves.

"Come, Princess. I will not send you off without first making sure you have food in your belly and warmer pelts around you." Cregan told her, but did not make her walk. Instead, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the dining hall, which he demanded be cleared for her privacy. She was despondent the whole time, silent and unmoving. It was only the Lord and Lady in the room, besides a young serving boy.

Daenys glanced up at him, finding kind brown eyes staring at her as the boy dropped stew in front of her. "M'sorry for your loss, M'Lady." He bowed his head low, brown curls shifting at the movement. Why was a boy jis age serving The Wall? Orphaned, most likely, or sold by his parents. She didn't know which fate was worse.

What she did know was that the boy was nearly a spitting image of Lucerys. She hung her head again, unable to look at the young boy. Cregan thanked him quietly, sending him on his way. Their stews began to grow cold in the silence, the both of them still as statues.

"You must eat, Daenys." Cregan urged.

"I will only throw it back up, I cannot stomach anything right now."

"Try, my Lady. Just a few bites. Half."

Sluggishly, she picked up the spoon and took slow bites. Chewing felt like it took ages, and swallowing was nearly painful. Her head spun, feelng nausea rising in her. Once she got through half, Cregan looked satisfied. Daenys stood, and he mirrored her action.

She led him to the iron gate, waiting for it to open. Outside of it, Morningstar was already crouched to allow her to leave. Cregan took off his brown pelts that she had been using as blankets for the past nights, pulling them snug over her shoulders.

"I already have a cloak on." She said tiredly, though did not fight his action.

"For my assurance, 'tis all." He said, fastening the direwolf clip around it. "Your flight home will be much colder than the one you took to Winterfell."

He paused a moment, clutching her hand in his. He placed a gentle kiss on her cold knuckles, lingering a moment longer. "I will send four thousand of my young soldiers to your mother's cause. That will be six thousand Northerners to fight for the Blacks. Return to me safely, Princess. That's all I ask of you."

They were officially bethrothed. Daenys wished it was under better circumstances, but this is the card she was dealt. Daenys nodded, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. Then she left.

Daenys stopped after a few minutes of flying, throwing up what little she ate into a thorned bush. One snagged on her cheek as she stood up straight, coughing slightly. How very like her to enjoy a meal while her family was waiting anxiously for her return. Daenys mounted Morningstar again, not looking back at The Wall before taking flight again. This time, she would not stop until she was home.

🗡

She could see King's Landing in the distance and had half a mind to burn it all down. Morningstar could easily do so. Even the small folk, along with all the peasant bastards that shared blood with her, would burn. She wouldn't care. As long as Aemond Targaryen would be dead at her feet, she would do it. Perhaps they all deserved it. Sin was the only thing able to survive and breed in King's Landing.

Morningstar was exhausted by the time they landed on the dragonpit's perch. Meleys and Caraxes were already in the pit, roaring to greet their kin excitedly. They, too, were being fed after clearly long flights. Patrols, she guessed. "Feed her." She demanded the Dragonkeepers as she passed them, who were too stunned at her sudden appearance to even bow or greet their Princess.

Daenys charged into the Painted Table room, seeing it lit with a bright orange glow as multiple men surrounded it. Rhaenyra wasn't there. Why where they holding a Queen's council without the Queen? Daemon was at the head, just as he had been when Rhaenyra was screaming in her chambers whilst giving birth to his daughter.

There was no one to announce Daenys. No one had expected her that evening, especially with no warning. There was no time for it, either, as Rhaenyra was announced by a guard. Daenys quickly moved aside when he spoke, shifting next to Jace, who squeezed her hand at the sight of her puffy face. She could not look him in the eye, nor Daemon, who kept his keen eye on her until Rhaenyra entered.

The Queen strided in, meeting Daemon in the middle. He whispered something to her, earning a solemn nod. Rhaenyra continued past him to the head of her table.

"Your council stands at the ready, Your Grace." Daemon bellowed for all to hear him clearly. Daenys only paid mind to her mother's dreadful state. Unkempt hair, ash covered face, hands sandy and clutching at some piece of cloth that Daenys could not figure out. "I will fly to Harrenhall at your command. Set our toehold in the Riverlands."

"Your Grace, my Lord husband's blockade of the Gullet moves into place. All seaborne travel and trade to King's landing will soon be cut off."

The Queen did not respond to her aunt or husband. A great silence held the room until, "I want Aemond Targaryen." Was her command. She waited a mere moment, glancing at Daenys before leaving to her chambers to fix her state.

Daenys was led to her room by Jacerys, who insisted she get out of her heavy Northern attire now that she was in better temperatures. She cared little for the heat that the clothes engulfed her with now that they were quite useless on Dragonstone, but allowed her maids to change her anyway. She bathed, too, and had her hair done up more traditionally. She kept Cregan's personal furs on the wooden edge of her bed, carefully ensuring they were untouched.

Jacaerys waited outside the whole time, escorting her with an outstretched arm to their mother's chambers. "Are you okay, Dae?" He asked gently, as if she might crumble if he spoke in a normal tone.

She sniffed slightly, nodding. "I am fine. I will be well when Aemond is dead and burned."

The tone of her voice and her violent words shocked him, pausing his steps abruptly.

"Was...did something happen in the North? Besides the news?" He asked, dark brows knitting together.

"Nothing happened. Why do you ask?" She turned to him suspiciously, not wishing to share every detail of what happened. She did not wish to enlighten her family of her brutal killing. That would be between Daenys and Cregan until the day she died. And perhaps Rhaenyra, who might have the answers to her burning questions.

"I am merely concerned. Was he a borish man? I wish I could've gone to the North in your stead, sister. Lady Jeyne was kind enough, she would've liked you." Jace said, slowly meeting her steps once again.

"Lord Stark is not like the typical depiction of a northman. I handled him just fine." Was her vague answer. Truly, Daenys was happy to see her brother again. To be with her family again. But her joy was dulled by the missing presence in the halls. The one who was meant to greet her in the dragonpit. Jacaerys gave her a pitying look, opening Rhaenyra's chambers.

Their mother sat on a couch, meeting her children's eyes as they walked in and bowed. She looked more put together now that she received the same treatment as Daenys.

Rhaenyra stood, awaiting Daenys and Jacaerys to give their messages. Her chest heaved slightly, something that would have gone unnoticed by anyone but her children, who knew her too well. Jace started. "Lady Jeyne Arryn has pledged her support. In exchange for a dragon to guard the Vale." His voice shook. He had been home for two weeks, yet in Daemon's firm presence, he forced himself to be strong and hard. He had not seen his mother except for her quick visits to eat and feed Syrax.

Rhaenyra nodded encouragingly, eyes brimming red.

"Lord Cregan stark has pledged 2,000 greybeards to you. In exchange for my hand, he promises another 4,000 young men." Daenys stated firmly. She refused to waver even slightly. Even when she wished to be held in her mother's arms. She couldn't let herself be comforted by the woman who had lost her own child. Daenys was the one who must comfort her when her own husband was so useless at it. His biggest flaw.

Rhaenyra and Jace looked shocked at the news. "You gave him your hand?" Jacaerys asked, a worried look on his face. "But–"

"I gave Cregan Stark my hand in exchange for 4,000 men. It is a fair trade, Jacaerys." She told him, holding no grudge or sorrow for it. She didn't wish for her family to, either. "He is an honest man. He will send every last one to fight for you, my Queen."

"That is not his concern. The Starks keep their oaths, yes. But are you happy with the arrangement, my sweet girl?" Rhaenyra asked, cupping Daenys' cheeks in the way that always made Daenys melt. She didn't trust her voice, so she simply nodded. Rhaenyra took Jace and Daenys into her arms. She could feel the quiet sobs deep in their chest, both seeking comfort in the reunion. Daenys held them tightly, afraid to let go. She had her time to cry, in Cregan's arms, now it was her time to finally make herself useful.

The Targaryens and Velayrons stood outside on a tall hill of Dragonstone's rocky beaches. Rhaenyra placed Lucerys' red tunic, the one she had found with Arrax's wing, onto the pyre's stand, reluctantly stepping back once she did. Jacaerys, holding little Joff, placed one of Luke's blankets onto the pyre. Joffrey, who didn't quite understand the funeral and its meaning, tossed a wooden horse that Luke handed down to him into the pyre.

Daenys stepped up, glancing at Rhaena across the fire's glow, seeing her struggle to keep her composure. She mourned for their broken betrothal along with her cousin, knowing they would have made a very happy couple. She clutched onto Luke's favorite tunic. The one she gave him for his three and tenth name day. Even when it grew tighter on him each month during his growthspurt, he still insisted he wore it. It had an embroidered three-headed dragon on it, in the colors of House Velayron. A testament to his future station as Lord of the Tides and a Targaryen. She stitched it for days, ensuring it was perfect for him. Daenys tossed it into the pyre, stepping beside Jace and watching the fire burn out. Most left after a respectable amount of time. Rhaenyra and Daenys stayed until the fire stopped entirely.

Her mother rubbed her back soothingly, allowing Daenys to rest her head on her shoulder. "Mother, I have so many things to ask you. A lot has happened in the North..." She muttered.

"Let us go inside. After you rest, I will dedicate my morning only to you." Rhaenyra promised, kissing the crown of Daenys' head affectionately. Daenys nodded, watching her mother walk back inside to retire for the evening.

A boat's movement caught her eye. Her squinted, lifting her skirts to walk slightly further down the hill. An intruder? No, they were leaving the beach. Daenys thought for a moment, there were very few on the island, and even less who had a reason to leave in secret. Unless...was it true? Were Daemon and Rhaenyra plotting to take Aemond's life in the dead of night?

No. Daenys gasped, sprinting towards the entrance doors of the castle. She needed her own way of transportation to King's Landing.

She was able to find a man who reluctantly took her on his small fishingboat. She doned a dark cloak that she was able to scrounge up in her hurry. Daenys tossed a bag of coins into his awaiting palm, not caring to count what was in it. The boat ride felt excruciatingly long, anticipation rising in her every minute. The thought of being caught made her scared, but the thought of Daemon getting to Jaehaerys before she did scared her worse.

Finally, the man stopped at a discreet sandy part of King's Landings' side wall. There was an extrance nearby, as well as another anchored fishing boat. Daenys scowled. How long had Daemon been there ahead of her? "Stay here." She called behind her, sprinting towards the open entrance in the wall while holding her hood over her silver hair.

There were no guards at it, unsurprisingly. They had all grown lazy under Aegon's leniency. She wandered the dark and damp streets unti she found an iron gate with a hooded figure waiting at it. A guard was walking away from the gate, small purse of coins clutched in his meaty fist.

"Daemon!" Daenys whisper-yelled, grabbing her step-father by his cloak and yanking him back. He barely stumbled but still had the audacity to look shocked and angry at her.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"You fool! You didn't kill Aemond. Do you think that lazy, drunken, craven could kill him?"

"I ordered him to kill Aemond, of course he will. If not, I'll find a way in myself." Daemon scoffed. Daenys grabbed his arms tightly, shaking her head. "You killed Jaehaerys. You killed a babe!" She yelled, uncaring of who would hear now. Perhaps it was both of their karma to die in King's Landing for attempting to kill Helena's son. Maybe if they were caught, they would catch the two men before they cold. Rhaenyra could find two more riders for their dragons, somewhere.

Daemon covered her mouth, pulling her to a less lit corner of the street before anyone could recognize them. "Are you mad, girl? You will get us both killed—" She punched him in the face, not staying to watch him clutch his nose before running back to her boat in a flurry of black and silver.

Daenys rode back to Dragonstone in a silent mourning. Jaehaerys would die. She knew it this time. She followed her dreams, finally. But still lost to fate. Or lost to Daemon. That coward, sending a guard to kill the kinslayer. He should be challenging Vhagar and the One-eyed Prince himself.

They could take him together. If only he trusted her to fight. Morningstar was large and battle-ready. Her and Caraxes would surely dominate the fight, a son for a son.

Not a child for a child.

Daenys slipped into her chambers, waiting for the news to wake the castle up. It wouldn't be long.

🗡

dont mind me using morningstar and dusk as parallels for cregan and daenys 😋

changing the times between Jace and Rhaenyra arriving. Let's say Rhaenyra was coming and going for two weeks, only coming back when she had to eat and let syrax eat. Jace came back the day the raven came to bring the news, and has been ruling with Daemon in her place. Just to say Rhaenyra and Daenys came back officially at the same time to continue the plot forward with no gaps.

[worldofkuro]

Painted Smile

Painted Smile IX

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Pairing: Alastor x Female! Reader

Summary: You couldn't wait to meet new friends. What you didn't expect was this smiling little boy, only one year older than you, that would take such a big place in your life.

Notes: You know what? I liked this chapter, I wasn't very sure about it at first but in the end, I enjoyed writting it. I hope you'll enjoy as well ! We are approaching the end of their teenage years~ How sad... but how exciting !

“ Do you think this is a good idea Alice?”

“ An incredible one !”

You were in your bedroom, having a girls night together. You were talking about the Chrismast’Eve’s soirée you had, gossiping together. Of course, you told her about what happened with Alastor when you had your first kiss and she couldn’t help but hug you while screaming delightedly with a lot of : I told you so ! 

But now, you wanted to prepare a surprise party for Alastor's birthday, you wanted to go somewhere else but you knew that Alastor would be reluctant about leaving his mother again. But once more, Alice came with an amazing idea. She had a little cottage an hour from here, she thought that you could all prepare a party for him a day before his birthday, and once midnight past you would give him his present ! Then in the morning, you would get back home and Alastor could celebrate his birthday with his mother.

You sighed as you looked at your ceiling. It would be a great idea. But there were many problems, first of all, you didn’t know any of Alastor’s friends, so it would be complicated to invite them. Second of all, you needed someone with a car so you could go to the cottage to prepare everything without Alastor noticing. And that would be impossible ! Alastor could read you like an opened book ! He would know you were hiding something…

“ But I can’t lie to him, even if I tried..” you sighed once again. Why was Alastor so observant ! While you needed to be focused on him to be able to see one single twitch from his expression, he could know what you were feeling with his eyes closed! How unfair that was… You would have to need help. “ Maybe I could ask Marie for help…?”

“ I know ! We’ll tell him you are sick because you stayed outside for too long! You have a very bad cold so he mustn't come to see you !”

You scoffed at her idea. When you were younger you got a really bad cold, which made you incapable of even standing up. Your parents were so worried that they asked for a doctor to come check on you. The man said that you needed some drugs and not to go outside until the fever settled down. Your parents mustn't stay too close to you in case you contaminate them. So guess how surprised you were when one night, you had opened your eyes and saw Alastor, wiping the sweat from your forehead. His hands were shaking but he was smiling down on you saying that everything would be okay, it was just a little cold. You needed to recover so you could play together once more. You really didn’t know if it was a hallucination or not but the next day, you woke up better and with Eamon in your arms.

“ He would try anything to come to see me. No matter the state I’m in.”

“ Even if you told him you don’t want him to come?”

“ He would know I’m lying…” you smiled as Alice was getting more and more frustrated. You both thought for hours. How could you fool Alastor? You knew he respected your privacy if you asked him… Oh wait! “ I could say I’m on my period ! And it hurts a lot so I want to be left alone!” You clapped your hands together with a big smile. The first time you had your period you were so afraid that your mother had to calm you down. When she explained to you what was happening and that you were now a woman and no longer a girl you couldn’t help but be proud.. for ten minutes, because after that you were hurting badly, you couldn’t stand up from your bed. It was a nightmare. And of course, when Alastor tried to come to see you you shouted at him that you wanted to be left alone. He was so confused but when his mother explained to him what menstruation was, he would sometimes just pass by and drop some sweets for you, never going inside your bedroom. Sometimes he would stay against your door if you were in the mood and talk about his day. 

“ Really, do you think it would work?” Alice asked, seeming relieved that you finally have an idea for this surprise party to work. You nodded excitedly. Now it was show time ! You needed your mother to be part of the plan of course, but it should go smoothly ! “ Then, tomorrow we’ll need to make a team ! One who needs to find anything about Alastor’s friends, and the other needs to prepare the cottage with decoration !”

You were curious about Alastor’s friend, you wanted to know the person he hung out with. You bit your lips and asked Alice to let you stalk Alastor. If you were lucky, you would go unnoticed.

Let the plan begin !

~~~

“ Dear? Your mother told me you were in pain. Do you need anything ?” you heard Alastor’s voice through the door. You began to dress up in disguise, waiting for him to leave so you could follow him.

“ No, I’m just tired and sweaty.. I think I’ll just rest for today!” you waited for him to answer but there was a blank. Why wasn’t he responding ?

“ Is that so… Well, I’ll come back later tonight to see if you are feeling any better, take care.” you heard him slide something under your door and you couldn’t help but awned as you saw a chocolate bar. He knew you too well! You took it quietly as you heard his footsteps near the stairs. Perfect ! You put on your father’s clothes and his hat and you went toward your windows. You could do it. You just needed to jump off to the tree, grab the branches and climb it down. Easy…  Your window wasn't on the road’s side but at the neighbor's house so Alastor shouldn’t be able to see you.

One…

Two…

You jumped and grabbed the branches between your hands. What were you doing, damn it! You climbed down the tree and hurried up to the street. Where was he? You looked on your right and saw Alastor walking down the street. You couldn't help but be excited! Today you were hunting for information about Alastor ! You walked at a reasonable distance from him, watching him rearranging his tie with the shop’s vitrines reflect.  You tilted your head as you saw him being greeted by a lot of ladies who would giggled after Alastor flashed them his charming smile. 

You had tailed him for hours, he would go into a library, read some books, then go to a coffee shop and get a black coffee. Nothing worthwhile. You sighed behind your journal. You were sitting on a table not too far from him, watching him but he was just enjoying himself, alone. You should just ask Marie for information, maybe it would be more useful. As you thought about leaving you saw a bunch of boys going toward Alastor, greeting him with laughter and smiles. You smiled, were they Alastor’s friends? You tried to listen to the conversation, which was surprisingly easy, they were very loud.

“ So Alastor, what’s good for you?” said a green eyed boy “ We haven’t seen you for a while, why don’t you come hunting with us? We hear there were great beasts in the bayou.” you could see Alastor's smile widened darkly. He took a sip of his coffee as he listened to the group of boys talking about hunting. Maybe Alastor was hunting with them instead of his father, it was a sweet thought. Now you just needed their names so you could bring them to the party ! 

Alastor talked with them, mostly laughing at them. But the group of boys did not seem to feel hurt by Alastor's comment, they were listening to him like he was the Messiah. Was that because they thought he was joking? Did people really not understand Alastor that much? You sighed, they couldn’t be Alastor’s friend, from what you knew, he could be using them for a greater purpose. 

After a while, Alastor excused himself before leaving the coffee shop as his… guests, friends ? tried to coat him to stay with them. Alastor accepted a hunting session with them before leaving. Mhn.. You stood up and went toward the bunch of boys.

“ Excuse me, are you Alastor’s friends?” you waited for them to nod before continuing “ Would you like to be present for his birthday?”

“ Are you planning a birthday party? Of course we will come! You know what, we will share the news to his other friends, don’t worry, where will it happen ?” asked the blue eyed man. You gave them all the information before running off. Now, you need to go back home. You took a shortcut, going into a dark alley. If you memory was great, you’ll have to–

“ May I know why you are following me, my goodfella?”

You freeze. It was Alastor’s voice. Your back was facing him, you didn't know what distance he was standing on but you couldn’t turn around, he would recognize you. You heard his footsteps coming closer.

“ Did your Mother not teach you any manners? It's rather rude to not answer a question my good friend.”

You ran.

You ran and you could hear him behind you. Damn it Alastor ! Don’t run after someone who stalked you all afternoon! 

You avoided any trash that was standing in your way. You saw a fence in front of you. It wasn’t very high, you could jump over it, then you would be into your neighbor's garden, you’ll just need to climb the tree and jump into your bedroom. You couldn’t help but smirked as you jumped over the fence, you always were faster than Alastor ! You fell graciously on the tree and began to climb the tree, you looked behind you but couldn’t see Alastor, did he give up? You entered your bedroom through your windows still wide open. 

You stood there as you heard the front door opened violently downstairs and then your mother’s voice.

“ Alastor? Why are you runni- Alastor!”

You panicked as you heard Alastor footsteps running faster in the stairs. You took your clothes off quickly and hid them in your closet but as you ran toward your bed while putting on your nightgown you stud your foot against the furniture making you yell painfully. You fell on the bed, groaning, fuck that hurted !

“ What is going on?” you heard Alastor shouted as he slammed the door open. You curled on yourself, sweating and breathing hard from all that running. You felt his cold hand on your forehead. “ You are sweating although your window is wide open.” he shut the window and stared at you, caressing your back.  At least you could pass your foot pain for menstruation’s pain. 

“It’s because of the smell that I’ve left the window open but Alastor… What are you doing here ? You said you’ll come later…”

“ Well my dear, I was chasing what I think could be your stalker.” you stared at him with wide eyes. Did he mistaked you for a stalker? Well, you did follow him all afternoon but…” But what was worrisome was that when I chased them, they ran into your house’s direction. You haven’t seen anything suspicious my friend ?” he stared at you with his usual smile. You shook your head trying to be as innocent looking as possible. He kept his gaze on you for more than a minute before kissing your forehead. “ Well, I’m sorry to have disturbed your rest my dear.”

You kissed both of his cheeks before laying back down on the bed. You waved at him goodbye before sighing in relief. You could still feel adrenaline inside your body and you couldn’t be prouder than yourself than right now.

Alastor did not catch you.

~~~

You were with Alice, finishing decorating the cottage. It was a cozy place, far away from the city, there was even a lake just behind the house. It was frozen, of course, but when summer came, you could all come here to have some fun!  You were the 30st of December, the surprise would be tomorrow, everything needed to be perfect.

“ I think we did everything we needed to, we brang drinks, food, blankets, what more do you need, woman!” said an exasperated Alice. You knew you were being annoying right now but you really wanted everything to go smoothly. “ I’m done, we are going home, come, my cab is waiting for us.”

“ No, I think I’ll stay here tonight.”

“ I beg your pardon?”

“ I know, just… I… Please.. As you said, I’m perfectly safe here right? So what bad could it do to stay a night here, also, I know that if I see Alastor one more time, I would slip and spoil the surprise ! So please, Alice… Go back home, and manage the guests. I’ll wait for all of you here, with the drinks and food ready, even with the fire in the chimney.”

“... I really don’t want to but… Fine, there is a telephone here, in the entrance. If you need anything, you can dial my house’s number, okay? I’ll tell your mother you’re staying here. And if you need to run away because.. I don’t know what, there is a backdoor that’s always unlocked, I’ll enter from there if you call me okay? Keep the front door locked.” you nodded before hugging her. You knew she didn’t like your idea at all, but you were happy she trusted you enough to let you go.

You waved at her as she took her cab and left. Well, now you just need to light up a fire and find a room where to sleep. You were excited, it felt like it was your own house ! You smiled as you imagined your life like the owner of this house. You took Marie’s book recipes, now what should you cook?

~~~

A snowstorm.

A fucking snowstorm.

It’s been going on for three hours now, thank God you have enough woods so you didn’t have to go outside to find some. You were sitting in a cozy chair with your hot chocolate, a romance book on your laps and with a bright fire in the chimney. You really hoped it would stop before tomorrow, you didn’t want to cancel the surprise. 

You closed your eyes. Well, you just had to wait…

Thud

You woke up, sweating. You sat up, making your book fall on the floor. What was that? You looked around you, the fire was almost completely extinguished, only a few flames remained on the wood. You stood up streching yourself and yawned. You fell asleep like that? You took the blanket with you, ready to go to bed when you heard it again.

Thud

You felt your body shivering, your heart beating stronger and faster. Okay, it was a real noise, it wasn’t a trick from your mind. You went quietly into the kitchen, and took a knife. You weren’t even sure of what you were going to do with it but safer than sorry, right? You stared at the front door, where you heard the noises. You couldn’t see anything from the windows, it was dark outside and with the storm going on… It was too dangerous.

You watched as the door handle moved.

Someone was trying to enter.

Someone was trying to enter.

Someone was trying to enter.

You didn’t realize you were shaking. It couldn’t be Alice, she told you she would enter by the back door. She wouldn’t try to open the front door. What should you do? Run by the backdoor and getting lost in the snowstorm or staying here, waiting for this person to enter and do… You didn't want to think about it.

The noises coming from the door stopped. You held your breath, counting in your mind the seconds. You’ll count to one thousand and then you’ll go back to the living room to see if you could notice something.  You were around 665 when you heard a window breaking upstairs.

You screamed.

The footsteps ran toward you.

You ran.

You slammed opened the backdoor and ran into the snowstorm. Where were you going ? You didn't know, you wanted to lose the intruder in the snow and then come back safely into the house. You held the knife in your hands, if needed would you be able to kill to protect yourself? You heard a shout behind you, he seemed closer than you thought. You needed to do something, anything ! You could already imagine your mother’s face if she happened to know you had gotten killed ! Alice would die from guilt. And Alastor…

You slid on ice, hitting the back of your head against the floor. You frowned, what was..? You touched the ice and realized you were on the frozen lake. You felt your eyes getting teary. Why was that happening, why? You tried to stand up without falling and then you saw the shadows of the man following you. 

“ Stay away !” you shouted, the wind carrying your voice to you don’t know where, holding on to your knife. “ I’m not afraid of killing you !” 

Your legs were shaking but if you were to die, you would die fighting ! The shadows came closer and closer, his hand stretching toward you. You raised your arms, ready to sink it into his chest. You warned him !

“ Look at me !”

You opened your eyes, you didn’t even notice when you closed them, and saw Alastor, standing near the edge of the frozen lake. He was only centimeters away from you. Have you gone mad? Why was Alastor here? Why was he looking at you without smiling, his eyes begging you to listen to him. 

“ Alastor..?”

You tried to walk toward him, trying to catch his hand but the only thing you heard before blacking out was the ice cracking underneath your feet and Alastor calling out your name.

~~~

You were burning from the inside, were you in Hell? 

“ Open your eyes, don’t you dare fucking die ! Anyone but you! ” 

You felt someone’s lips against yours. You didn’t want any other lips on yours but Alastor’s. You pushed the stranger away as you began to cough violently. It hurts. Death wasn’t supposed to be a peaceful journey?

You opened your eyes weakly and there he was. Alastor who was drenched above you. You were so cold.. it was burning you. As soon as Alastor saw your eyes he fell to his knees, his head tilted back, his hand covering his face, whispering something you couldn’t hear.

“ Alastor..?” You looked around and realized you were back in the cottage, the fire has been lit on. You sat up slowly and looked at the blanket around you. You were freezing but tucked into a lot of blankets. “ What are you doing here..?”

“ Is that the first question you want to ask me ?” His voice was cold, his face was stoic, his usual smile non-existent. He was shaking. “ What were you thinking going out in a bloody snowstorm? Have you lost your mind ?” he stood up, raising his voice at you. As your memories came back you understood what happened. The man you thought was an intruder was Alastor. 

You looked down, ashamed but then anger replaced that feeling. Everything would have turned out great if he didn’t come!

“ I was doing great before you came along! Why are you here?”

“ There is a bloody stalker after you and you decide to stay alone in a deserted area ? Tell me dear, are you trying to impress me with your stupidity because you succeeded. Congratulations.” he said mockingly as he sat on the sofa, trying to dry his hair with a towel.

“ I was preparing your birthday, it was supposed to be a surprise !”

“ My birthday’s not worthwhile if you are not by my side!” he shouted, throwing the towel on the floor, his eyes shining with fury. He came to you and tugged you closer by grabbing the necklace he had given you on Christmas. “ What a charming surprise it would have been, finding your dead body in the snow ! Celebrating my birthday would mean celebrating your death? Oh, you really are spoiling me, my friend. You really are taking the cake!” he spat as he stared at you. 

“ Don’t shout at me !”

“ Don’t play with your life then!” He took a knife from his wet pants.” What did you think you could have done with that? Would you stab a man my dear, tell me, would you do it?” he taunted you, mocked you, moving the knife in front of your eyes. “ Do you know how to kill, my dearest?” his voice was low, menacing but you weren’t afraid.

“ I would have.” you stated. Even if you had closed your eyes, in your mind, you were ready to stab the intruder.  “ I was ready to stab to live…” you felt your eyes beginning to tear up.” I was so afraid that I was going to die without seeing you again.. That I was ready to kill someone…” you sobbed as you realized that you almost killed today. You fell to your knees, sobbing. Alastor was angry with you, you almost died, his birthday was a disaster… You wanted to disappear.

You felt his arms around you and you couldn’t help but sob harder. You grabbed his shoulder, pressing yourself against his wet cold clothes. You wanted to feel him more than ever.

“ What.. What happened ?” you hiccuped as he stroked your hair.

“ The ice from the lake broke. I jumped in to save you and take you back here so you wouldn’t die of hypothermia.” he whispered, his body still tense.

“ We shouldn’t stay in wet clothes then..” you took a step back and then you realized, you were in your underwear under the blanket. Did Alastor strip you? You blushed as you looked up to him, he was looking at his own clothes with disgust. 

“ There are no other clothes for me, I’ve looked around.” he sighed before looking away. You shyly touched his shirt and tugged it gently, mutely asking him to undress. He looked at you for a long minute before taking his shirt off and then when you saw them.

Scars.

So many scars were on his upper body. You approached your hand while looking at Alastor who wasn’t smiling. It was so intimidating. His eyes weren't as warm as usual when he was looking at you, there was something completely different. He softly took your hand in his and with a soft sigh, kissed the back of it. He kissed the back of your hand, once, twice.. before tugging you against him and kissing your lips avidly.

You brought your hand into his hair as you kissed him back with so many emotions, fear, worry, desire, fondness… You didn’t know what words to put on your other feelings but what was important right now was Alastor.

You both were panting, you didn’t want to stop kissing him but you needed to breathe. He laid you on the floor, kissing your cheeks, your forehead, your nose, your jaw. You were breathing hard, holding onto him, tilting your head back so he could kiss your neck. He was kissing, biting as if making sure you were still here with him.

After a few minutes, he stopped, panting against your chest. You were gripping his hair. You didn’t really know what was happening but you felt great… 

“ Don’t ever… Don’t ever do that again my dear…Don’t ever go somewhere I can’t find you...”

You hugged him, pressing his head against your warm chest. 

“ I promise.”

He sighed once last time before standing up and walked toward the telephone, calling your Mother’s house. You stood up and tried to find clothes for Alastor but there weren’t any that would fit him. You sighed and decided to just take all the blankets from all the room. You went back to the living room just when Alastor ended the call.

“ I just said you were okay, I didn’t talk about our little trip outside.” you nodded and put the blanket on the sofa. You didn’t know how to feel, here you were in your underwear and Alastor shirtless. It happened in the past… But why right now.. It seemed different? You shook your head, it wasn’t important. You held your hand toward Alastor who raised an eyebrows.

“ Let’s sleep.” you said softly. He sighed but walked toward you. You pushed him on the sofa and then laid on him before pulling the cover over you. You caressed the scars you could see, you could feel his body tensed when you touched one who seemed deeper than the others. As you began to fall asleep you felt him nudged you.

“ Stay awake a little longer.. I don’t think I’m capable of seeing you with your eyes closed right now…”

You nodded but you were so tired… You fought against sleepiness until Alastor said it was okay to rest.

Tag List :@lukneetoonz @martinys-world @littlepoetnova @sirens-and-moonflowers @eris-norwega @tiredflame132 @mo-0-o @vvollerie @sodavizz @boogiemansbitch @tessemerick @slytherin4ever @kammsinn @alastorssimp @t0xic1vi @diamond-almond @fangirlbitch02 @saccharine-nectarine

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

Word count: 1800+

Warnings: mentions of blood, broken bone and dislocated joints, swearing

I hoped it would be a surprise, but you mostly likely already know who the reader is.

Anyway things are finally moving and reader's life is going to get complicated

Enjoy and let me know what do you think

Part VII | Part IX

You had never cried so hard or at least you didn't remember anything like that. Tamlin let you weep as much as you needed. Humming he held you firmly and gently rocked you. Lullaby-like melody made his board chest vibrate, the sound so deep and soothing. His humming and hand stroking down your spine, combing through your hair, soon calmed you down. You inhaled deeply, your lungs filling with the smell of rain.

"I didn't know one could cry so hard because of a necklace," Tamlin murmured. You felt him smirk. "You don't like it so much?"

"I'm sorry. It's all because of the lights and decorations and delicious food," you stumbled over the words, trying to find some explanation, understand why it happened on the first place. "But I do like the necklace. Very much. I've never received anything so beautiful. Thank you."

He held you tighter for a moment and then straightening up, he released you. "Ready for the next part of the evening?" he handed you a tissue.

"Isn't it over yet?" you wondered.

He shook head. "Personally, I think that this is the best part of celebration," Tamlin smiled widely.

As if waiting for a signal, a soft melody echoed around the forest coming in through still opened windows. It sounded like millions of bells and jingle bells mixed with rustling of leaves and sounds of forest creating a joyful song. You'd never heard anything so beautiful.

"I'm sorry that it isn't a real music. I had to improvise and work with what I have at hand. Shall we?" he extended hand towards you.

You gave him a questioning look.

"Dance, Y/N," he raised a brow.

"I.. I can't dance," you admitted as blood rushed into your cheeks.

"It's okay. No big deal. I can't, too," Tamlin winked still smiling. You were sure that it was a lie and grimaced at him nervously.

Hesitantly you accepted his hand. Tamlin's long fingers closed around your small hand, pulling you to your feet. His other hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you so close that with every breath your chest brushed against his. Inhaling deeply you looked up. In the moment your eyes met, losing yourself in those emeralds you forgot about everything else.

There wasn't enough space in your cottage for a big dancing figures, but for the two of you it was enough. Testing the waters, Tamlin took a small step to the side and you followed. Then another back and you again followed him. For a while you were just swaying like this around, until you got used to the rhythm.

"That's it," he praised you. "You're doing great."

By adding a few new steps you started to move all around the small space and soon enough you were really dancing. It was easier than you thought. Your body moved on its own as if it already knew this dance. Even Tamlin seemed to be pleasantly surprised. Both of you were laughing as you swirled around each other until you ran out of breath and needed a break.

Still laughing you sat down to your armchair. Mirroring you Tamlin sat down on the armrest and taking out a fiddle he joined the forest orchestra. Their combination was perfect.

"Amazing," you breathed out. He was so skilled that you couldn't take your eyes off of him. But as soon as you caught your breath, he put the fiddle down and pulled you up to another dance. You gladly complied.

In the moment your bodies met, the whole room went dark, fire in the fireplace was the only source of light. The darkest night cold like north wind filled the room. Even the music stopped playing. Tamlin instinctively pulled you to his side, his arms wrapped around you protectively.

In the middle of the darkness a male figure appeared, his violet-blue eyes blazing with rage. A pair of monstrous membranous wings stretched behind him. You winced. You saw this too many times in your nightmares, similar monster making you wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweat for years.

"Hands off of her," he hissed, his voice deep and cold.

Tamlin's muscles turned into a stone under your hands, his arms held you so firmly it almost hurt. Your own fingers clenched his clothes in your fists, you clung impossibly close to him.

"What are you doing here, Rhysand?" Tamlin growled. His green gaze hardened, gleaming with raw power.

Rhysand. So this was the High Lord of Night Court you saw at Tamlin's manor. Back then he didn't have wings, so you didn't recognize him at first. His enormous powers rumbled around, making you feel sick. Your heart pounded against your ribs. You knew you should be scared, but strangely you weren't.

You pushed the nausea back and took a proper look at him. Even angry he was still very handsome. Raven's feathers like dark short hair combed back, tanned skin, muscular body that could compete with Tamlin's. Even though he was an epitome of the worst nightmares, there was something familiar about him. You were sure you'd never met him before, but you couldn't place the feeling. You tried to search your memories further, but it only caused you a headache.

"I said hands. Off. Of. Her," Rhysand growled, putting emphasis of every word.

"This is my court and she is subject of this court. You have no power here," Tamlin snapped back. "Only Y/N decides who can touch her."

Rhysand roared with rage, tendrils of his powers shooting out to you. You closed your eyes shielding your face in Tamlin's chest. His muscles tensed, smell of two powers mixed together. You were about to faint.

There was a cracking sound and a cry of pain, and you were ripped out of his protective arms. Something jerked you back violently and arm once again wrapped around you as the sound of cracking wood sounded. Your lungs filled with a unknown and yet so familiar citrus scent.

Daring to crack your eyes open you looked up. But instead of emerald ones, the violet-blue eyes with flecks of silver were gazing down at you. You gasped in shock and tried to push him away, but Rhysand was as unmovable as a mountain.

"It's okay, Aury. You are safe with me," he whispered so only you could hear him. There was no trace of rage in his voice when he spoke to you.

Another pained moan came from behind you, smell of blood filled the air. In horror you turned around as much as possible. There in the middle of debris that used to be a table, sat Tamlin, teeth bared. Panting in pain, he held his left arm. Even from a far you could see it's broken on several places, piece of bone piercing the skin, his shoulder dislocated.

Instinctively you moved forward, but Rhysand held you firmly. Tamlin's eyes glowed in the dark and his broken bones and dislocated shoulder returned to its place with loud crack, wounds healed as well. He stood up, ready to fight for you.

"How could you do that? How could you hide her here for so long?" Rhysand snarled. "We were friends. Why didn't you tell me she is alive?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tamlin fired back angrily. "If you don't let Y/N go, I swear I'll kill you." He took a step forward, his claws ready to shred this intruder into pieces.

"Who's Y/N? Are you trying to lie to my face? This is Auriela."

"Are you crazy? Y/N isn't your sister. She can't be. Your sister is dead. I saw her wings! I burned them that night after I became High Lord," Tamlin howled in frustration.

"Don't you dare lie to me," Rhysand turned you to his chest. You were fighting him as much as you could, but in your current state you weren't able to do much. He yanked the back of your dress open.

Cool night air kissed your exposed back. Tamlin gasped and stumbled back, smell of his magic disappeared. You knew what he saw. Two long scars along the shoulder blades were on your back your entire life, but you didn't remember what caused them. At some point you resolved that they were the reason of the lost of your memory and that was enough for you to stop worrying about it.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie," Rhysand whispered to you. Magic filled air once again as your dress was repaired. You felt so sick, so nauseous, so confused. If Rhysand wouldn't hold you upright, you would fall down like a puppet with cut wires.

"Do you still want to claim that this isn't my sister?" he said aloud to Tamlin. His other hand came up, too, caressing you and holding you so lovingly against his too strong body. You couldn't fight anymore, all strength left you. Your heart was painfully beating in your chest, skipping a beat at times. Your breathing became laboured, world was spinning too fast.

"I saw it.. How could she survive it.." Tamlin's voice was so small.

"You tell me," Rhysand snapped. "Do you want to say you had no idea?"

"I mean.. there was something familiar about her all this time, but.." Tamlin sat down into the debris, broken and confused.

"How could you not recognize her?! It took just one look and I knew her immediately."

Your body was failing you. You felt so small and weak, their voices becoming so muffled at times, you couldn't hear a thing. You wanted to stop this nonsense, tell this Rhysand you weren't his sister and run back to Tamlin, but all you could do was focus on breathing.

"She was just a little girl back then.. I saw her once maybe twice.."

"You and your family ripped her wings off, kidnapped her and then hid her in this poor excuse of a shelter. I could kill you right here and now, but you saved my life. I hereby repay you my debt."

"I didn't know they left her alive.. I swear.."

"It doesn't matter. Now I'm going to take her where she belongs. Back to her home, to her family," Rhysand declared.

No. Nononono. This was bad. So wrong. It couldn't be true. None of the shit this male told. No matter what, you had to stay in your cottage. You forced yourself to move, managing to half turn back to Tamlin. "Tamlin.. no," your voice was too small and shaky. But he heard you. His eyes full of pain found yours for a brief moment and then his gaze slid to the side.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled as his shoulders slumped. "I really didn't know.. He is right.. You should be with your family.." And there it was. He gave up without putting a fight. He simply gave up. Tamlin wouldn't stop him, he decided to let you go.

The tears of betrayal filled your eyes. It hurt like dagger stuck straight into a heart, but you still wanted to give him a chance to right this. Beg him to save you.

"No, Tamlin, plea-" Darkness swallowed you before you could finish.

It was too late. Ignoring your pleads Rhysand winnowed you away.

Taglist:

@impossibelle @sevikas-whore @b0xerdancer

[aphroditelovesu]

The Lost Queen - IX

— summary: You woke up near a military camp without remembering how and why you got there, you didn’t understand why they were dressed like ancient Greeks, all you knew was that you weren’t safe and you needed to get out of that place as soon as possible. Too bad for you that you found yourself attracting unwanted attention from the Macedonian King and he won’t let you go so easily.

— genre: yandere, dark!au.

— warnings: time travel, obsessive and possessive behavior, murder, mention of torture, kidnapping, angst, fluffy (very rarely), dub-con, possibly smut.

— pairing: yandere!alexander the great x female!reader, yandere!generals x female!reader.

— word count: 1,600.

— tag list: @devils-blackrose, @faerykingdom, @hadesnewpersephone, @mariaelizabeth21-blog1 , @kadu-5607, @zoleea-exultant, @borntoexplore11-blog, @silmawensgarden

— the lost queen series masterlist.

Chapter 9

A few days passed and everything remained the same except for a few changes. The atmosphere in the camp was slowly improving and Alexander seemed to have recovered after your decision.

You still regretted your choice, but you knew it was the right thing to do.

Cleitus finally woke up, to everyone's surprise, and he was recovering slowly, but that was to be expected. It was almost a miracle that he had woken up and that was both a good and a bad thing.

You had prevented his death and changed history.

You sighed and looked around you. There was a lot to be done for the imminent wedding. Alexander wanted to get married fast because they would soon go to Sogdiana Rock and everything had to be done as quickly as possible. Knowing that he would soon meet Roxanna filled you with hope and fear. You hoped he would still marry her, as he was supposed to, but you were worried.

You knew Roxanna's story and you knew what she had done to Alexander's other wives. Honestly, you were more nervous about meeting her than marrying Alexander. And if there were children...

You shook your head, it was better not to think about it for now. There was no guarantee that you would get pregnant with him so quickly and you didn't even want to think about it, the idea of getting pregnant filled you with dread, not because having children was a bad thing, but rather the circumstances and who you would be getting pregnant by. It was all very stressful and you felt like you were going to throw up if you kept thinking about it, so it was better not to think about it, no matter how hard it was.

Nor was there a guarantee that he would marry her because history has already been changed and could change again.

Your head throbbed as you thought of the countless possibilities and chaos that your presence here could have caused in the future. But there was no point in thinking about it now, you would leave soon, you were sure, and you would find out for yourself. You just hoped it wasn't too serious.

''Ugh...'' You grumbled and massaged your temples, trying to ease your headache.

There was still a lot of work to be done. Alexander left you in charge of organizing the wedding, along with some servants and slaves, because according to him, it was something women would do better at. You were tempted to throw your shoe at his head, but you didn't.

Too bad.

Honestly, you never thought your marriage would be like this, that is, if you ever got married. You definitely never thought you would marry Alexander the Great.

And you always imagined that you would have your family and friends present at the occasion, that your mother and friends would help you organize everything, it would be with someone you really loved and it would be a happy occasion.

Instead, you were being forced to marry a man who was supposed to be dead a long time ago, in a place in the middle of nowhere? You weren't sure and it was a very sad atmosphere.

The reality was harsh and painful.

You looked at some colorful fabrics left on your cot and regarded them with apprehension and perhaps disgust. Your wedding dress wasn't what you wanted either, it wasn't white lace or those beautiful dresses you only saw in movies or magazines.

You should get married in black at once, to symbolize your mourning.

You took one that was deep red in your hand and stared at it, taking in its details. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't what you had in mind. It had some gold features, which you knew was real gold, and a very discreet neckline. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sighing, you prepared to try it out.

Two days passed and everything was ready. It would be a simple but beautiful ceremony, everyone was eager and excited. The atmosphere in the camp changed radically and it was as if everyone had forgotten what had happened to Cleitus and were focused on the wedding and the fact that they would have a Queen and, if the gods permitted, an heir soon.

Alexander was being prepared for the wedding. He had already showered and was putting on the final adjustments, the red tunic he would wear and some jewelry that would complete his appearance. His hair was drying naturally, he wore some kohl on his eye, highlighting his beautiful eyes of different colors, and perfumed. A sweet, soft scent radiated from his clothing.

In general, he was attractive and well dressed. There were no longer any traces of the defeated and drunken man he had been a few days ago, but of a King and a conqueror. And his men were grateful for that.

Hephaestion entered Alexander's tent and smiled to see his friend looking happier and healthier. The image he had of Alexander would still haunt him for the rest of his days.

''You look good, Alexander.'' Hephaestion commented and sat down on a chair and took a jug of water and poured it into a cup, sipping it.

Alexander looked at Hephaestion and his gaze softened and he smiled, ''You look good as well.''

And indeed, Hephaestion was well groomed, as were all the guests. He was dressed in a dark blue tunic with a few ornaments, but enough to make him look more handsome than he already was. His long hair was braided and he also wore kohl, highlighting his blue eyes.

Hephaestion smiled but there was a sadness lurking in his eyes. Alexander noticed and went to his closest friend and placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He knew that today was a painful day for him.

Hephaestion touched Alexander's hand with his own and shook his head, ''I'm fine. I just... I still don't know how to deal with this properly, but I'm fine, I promise.''

''I know it can't be easy, but it's something I have to do. As a King and as a man.'' Alexander whispered the last parts, feeling sorry for his friend. It wasn't easy, neither for him nor for Hephaestion.

''You are the King. You must marry and have an heir, I know that.'' Hephaestion smiled and faced Alexander, ''I always knew that. From our days in Mieza to when you became King of Macedonia. I always knew that.''

''Hephaestion...'' Alexander sighed, suddenly feeling melancholy.

''Do not worry about me. I am fine. The wedding will start soon, don't be late for your own wedding.'' Hephaestion stood up and placed the cup on the table and walked towards the exit, ''I'll be fine.''

Alexander smiled sadly, ''I know you will, after all, you are also Alexander.''

Hephaestion's face lit up and his face looked a little red, but he smiled and waved at his friend and turned away. Alexander watched him with regret, feeling guilty for causing his friend pain, but he couldn't shirk his duties.

And his desires. He wanted to marry you, it was a necessity and he couldn't ignore it.

The sun was setting over the war camp, painting the sky with shades of orange and pink, while the gentle breeze blew through the olive trees and poplars that surrounded the camp.

There was music and dancing involved. Some musicians played instruments, such as the harp and lyre, and dancers danced and enchanted the audience who watched them.

The bride, (Y/N), looked beautiful. Her clothes highlighted her beauty even more, a heavy red and gold tunic draped over her body, with jewelry adorning her and a red veil hid her hair, her face was clean and her natural beauty was highlighted. Her soft, wistful eye was alluring, with the kohl highlighting her color.

The ceremony began with a colorful procession, led by flutists and dancers. (Y/N), draped in a magnificent red robe, gracefully paraded through the camp, crowned with jewels. Her radiant face and eyes sparkled with joy or sadness. Alexander, dressed in a deep red robe, waited anxiously on the table, surrounded by his generals and soldiers watching from a distance.

The priest, a man of great wisdom and a white beard, led the ceremony. With the blessing of the gods, they exchanged vows of eternal fidelity and deep love. As the flame of the eternal candle burned before them, symbolizing the eternity of their commitment, the couple exchanged gold rings, a promise of love that would never lose its luster.

The wedding celebration took place under a starry sky, with long tables filled with Greek delicacies - olives, feta cheese, bread and red wine. Everyone danced to traditional music, celebrating the union of (Y/N) and Alexander. It was a night of joy and communion, where generals, friends and soldiers shared stories, laughter and wishes for eternal happiness.

This was a time of great joy and promise. The promise of an heir and the joy of a marriage that would be talked about for centuries to come.

As the night came to an end, the most awaited hour would arrive. Finally, the consummation would be made and if the gods bless the newlyweds, a child would come from their union.

Only the gods, the children born and the bride would know how cursed this union would be.

— lady l: and that was it! The wedding night is coming and I promise drama in the next chapter, this one was calmer and based on the wedding. I'm not good at describing weddings, but I did my best! I hope you enjoyed it and wait for the next chapter because it, my readers, promises to be CHAOTIC!! 😈 Hope you have liked and feedbacks are always welcome! ❤️

[moeblob]

Alright I told someone I would give propaganda for these two so here we go. As a warning, I didn't play mobile or Re-Mind soooooooo. Yeah there's that. I know they're apparently involved in past stuff but shhh.

So first off, everyone's weapon is super useful! Except theirs. Which I always thought was really funny? Even in Re:CoM Zexion's book was more direct than these two. I really enjoyed them just as the most indirect fighters? And figured they'd be pretty chill and after playing KH2 as a kid I'm like. I think Luxord would be most tolerable to music while vibing. He could play Solitaire or something while Demyx played music and possibly chatted. Therefore, my younger self was like "it's perfect".

ALSO CONSIDERING THEIR NUMBERS! And the line in KH3 during the scene where Demyx is like "yup I got benched", they've probably got a history. However, the number they get originally is supposed to be the order they joined. So with Marluxia and Larxene obviously tied together in the past, all I can think of is these two just being absolute bums wandering around pre-Organization and just hitch hiking their way into a cult. Which is also REALLY funny to me because what if they joined at the same time but Demyx got to be IX and Luxord is X.

Demyx would hold his rank over his head for the dumbest stuff (in my head canons of the past).

Like there's so many things we specifically do not know about these two so basically, until I'm proven absolutely incorrect in game (which might have happened and I just don't know) ! I think they'd be a good match.

And I mean, it's also just (gestures) LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ARE. Great designs and I think that's good enough for me!

[jhkfan123]

enchanted- tom blyth | ch. 9

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✦ix.

A/N: this chapter is so me when-

2nd A/N: guys i KNOW the oscars aren't directly after the golden globes but pls ignore its for the plot. 😁

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you felt like throwing stuff. just throwing everything in sight. the two of them cannot tell you everything is fine, and then pull a stunt like that. not only did it confuse you, it only fueled the fire of the relationship rumors even more. at this point, you were considering deleting social media altogether. you did not want to deal with it. at this point it made every day worse. it sucked you in like a vacuum, and you couldn't escape what you didn't want to see. no matter how many times you clicked "not interested" on a post, it would not help the amount of rachel and tom content you saw. it wasn't healthy. 

you had the impulse to archive all of your social media posts and just take a break. maybe it would help. help you get away from all the things you didn't want to see. you reminisced on your actors on actors with jenna ortega. everything the two of you had said. maybe it was a good idea. you were feeling impulsive anyways. 

just to be petty, the only posts you archived were the ones that were hunger games related. at least, for now.  why not be petty? they seemed to have lied to you, anyways. 

you felt they were treating you like a child. like you couldn't handle the truth. yes, it would be hard to hear, but it's not like you wouldn't understand. you weren't a little kid. you were an adult. a petty adult? yes. but an adult nonetheless. you wouldn't have been so angry if they hadn't lied. if they had said it to your face, you wouldn't be reacting like this. but you just felt anger. 

you felt like you wanted to break something. break something like he broke your heart. you weren't going to slash his tires or anything, nothing to him. just something to destress. but there was nothing in your house that you could. so you just decided to scream into your pillow. easy solution. then, you continued to archive your posts. every single one that included tom. it was fun. so much fun. you felt a little immature, but it was definitely making you feel better. then you went through you instagram highlights. took them all down. you changed your profile picture, which was originally a picture of you, rachel, josh, tom and hunter, to a solitary picture of you. it felt so good. you knew your social media team would be mad, but who cared. 

then you cried. the situation was giving you major mood swings. angry, sad, angry, sad, really angry, sad. this went on for hours. you rotted in bed. you called your best friend and cried to her for about an hour. you just listened to olivia rodrigo. she seemed to have songs that fit every situation. you listened to get him back! and lacy on repeat. 

then making the bed came on. and then you realized. in 2024, you should not be rotting over a possible dating situation. you should not be crying for hours over a situation that you can easily question. you are the only one who is making you feel like this. you were doing this to yourself. this could easily be solved by talking to them, and even better, you had your final red carpet event of the season, where both of them would be in attendance. this event just so happened to be the oscars. it was very exciting, and even though none of you had been nominated, just going would be an amazing experience.  you had to deal with the truth, and that was, if they are together, there was absolutely nothing you could do about it. you could not go back in time and do something differently. and if they weren't together, great. 

you had to stop being immature, and start being rational. you had to prepare yourself. you glanced up at your door. your stylist had picked out a white dress. there was no way. you scavenged in your dress closet for anything better. 

...

after a lot of slow skincare, a shower, and digging through your closet, you eventually picked out a black, elegant, silky dress with a very high slit. you paired it with a layered pearl choker, and a black garter. the garter was visible, but not totally out there. you put on the highest black heels you owned, did you hair nicely, created your daily bracelet stack, and prepared to leave. you paired your outfit with a black clutch, and made your way out the door. you knew people would be dressed in gowns, and other elegant things, and your dress might now be as big and showy, but you had a point to make. again, it was based on princess diana's revenge dress. you really admired her, and this look made you feel empowered.

when you arrived on the red carpet, you walked with confidence. you had been on a lot of red carpets these past few weeks, so you had developed a strategy. get on, say hi to a few fans, strike a few poses, more fans, and then walk in. so that's what you did. stepping out of the car, there was an immediate reaction to your outfit. it was a mix of shock and surprised gasps, along with cheering. you went over to the crowd and began to say hi to a few people. you took a photo with one young fan who was so adorable. then, you did two short interviews. next it was time to pose. you were going to make sure there were lots of photos. on your way to the carpet, you caught sight of tom. he was maybe 25 feet away from you, posing on a different background. 

However, you accidently made eye contact with him. he looked at you, glanced down at your outfit, then up to your face once more, then down to your outfit, then up to your face. he couldn't seem to get enough of you. he seemed to be shocked at your outfit, which is what you were going for. you didn't know wether to smile at him, or to look away. 

you ended up doing a combination of both, which looked very odd. you had hoped no one caught that on camera. you saw him smile slightly, but then he turned away and posed again. you took the hint and went back to posing again. you had not found rachel yet, or any of your other castmates. still on the red carpet, a security guard gave you a fifteen minute warning to the top of the show. you decided maybe you should go find your seat. at the oscar's there was not as much of a guarantee you would be seated with the members of your movie as other events. the only guarantee was if you were nominated. 

you walked past the coat check, and over to the seating chart. the theater was huge, so finding your seat took a while. you sighed when you found that your seat was next to tom. and tom was next to rachel. on your other side, hunter schafer, and josh. you were glad to know you weren't seated in the middle of them again. you had hunter to talk to if things got weird. 

shuffling through people, you finally approached your seat. you gave hunter a tight hug, she was being so unproblematic in this whole situation, and you were here for it. you sat down in-between hunter and tom, and the second you sat down, your mind blank. you had no idea what to say to the boy next to you. do you ask him now? wait till the party? go outside? don't ask at all? that one was definitely out. you probably wouldn't be able to sleep until you asked. rachel was next to him, and while you smiled at her, you didn't say much. hunter complimented your outfit, and you returned the compliment. you noticed tom listening to the conversation between the two of you. you had a feeling he was going to butt in anytime now, but nothing yet. 

finally, you heard him take a breath, coincidentally at the same time the show started. you heard him say something, but loud music came on, and you couldn't make it out. 

"what?" you asked him to clarify, but he shook his head. well that was going to bug you. you focused on the show, still dying to know what he said. it stuck in your head the entire duration of the ceremony. 

...

the final award was given, and the lights came back on. it was a great show. you knew that you needed to talk to tom. you had to make sure you didn't lose him in the crowd. when everyone was making their way out, you made sure to not lose sight of him. he was walking in front of you, and also much faster. figured, he was much taller than you. 

when you finally caught sight of the exit of the building, you started calling his name. he heard you the second time. he stopped walking, and waited for you to catch up to him. you began walking again, this time with him. you made your way outside, finally, where there was fresh air. you took a deep breath, and pulled him off the driven path. 

"what, y/n?" he asked, seemingly ok with everything.

"tom, i need to talk to you. right now." 

[hoppityhopster23]

Facts about Frederick VI that live rent free in my head (that I simply must share) ft. a super sleepy Hopster

One of my current interests is a Danish King by the name of Frederick VI. I'm currently really tired, but really wanting to post about him. so this wont be as organized as i normally do. i'll try to avoid making it a wall of words, but this is probably going to be a word vomit.

Family/Romantic Life

this guy was a pretty caring dad, and I love that for him. This man fathered. generally a great dad. dare I say the epitome of a good dad from the time. especially given his less-than-good start in life.

his romantic life was one hell of a ride. like- he had a long-time mistress (of like- 30 years) with whom he would have an affair. but, during the Congress of Vienna, he cheated on both his wife and his long-time mistress with another woman. his mistress, Rikke, then cheated on him. That led to ever more soap opera-like stuff happening.

Man not only had legitimate (2) and illegitimate (5?) kids but took on another nine kids. Well, some of them were adults at the time, but still. basically, when his brother-in-law (a duke) died, he and a friend of said duke became the legal guardians of said kiddos. and from the sounds of it, it wasn't just throwing money at them. he actually interacted with them to a certain extent.

to piggyback on no. 3, he had agreed with his sister-in-law that one of the boys, Christian, would go to Copenhagen and attend the land cadet academy. Christian would go to Copenhagen one year after the decision. he didn't live with the monarch but did spend a fair amount of time with them. it is said the king was fond of him. unbeknownst to all of them, Christian would turn out to be Christian IX, the father-in-law of Europe.

he was a parsimonious guy, at least when it came to himself. he would wear his clothing until they were worn out. only then did he get a new one? two of his desks, both his personal one and the one for his aide are simplistic, and so are his things in general. even his rolling chair- which is in Fredericksborg castle, is worn out looking. hell- what I'm pretty sure was his own bed was nothing but an Iron camp bed! granted, he only spent a few days a week in it, as he was staying with his mistress. or his wife.

regarding his mistresses, he took really good care of them. I'm only uncertain about one- which is the French one he had at some point, which did produce a daughter. For the other two, however, it's pretty clear. the one woman he met in Vienna, Caroline Seufert, was granted a large pension from him. his long-time mistress, Rikke Dannemand, was given an apartment near him, and enough money to live a bourgeoise life. That was a far cry from Rikke's former life in Nyboder. My only problem with this was the sheer age gap between them. with Rikke, there was a 22-year age gap. with Seufert, it was 29 years. both women were under twenty when all of this started.

Political

he tended to not threaten people's lives. there was a case where one of the members of the chancellery, Anders Sandø Ørsted, who was a prominent critic of Frederick, and would often write about such criticisms. instead of exiling, punishing, or hell- even executing the guy, he just gave him the choice of his job or his pen. Ørsted chose his job.

was a gruff man (likely due to his upbringing) but quite generous with his people. notably, some of the most realistic small gifts I've seen in assorted Danish museums were given by him. For example, there is a little golden snuff box sitting in the National Museum of Denmark that he had given to somebody as a reward. It is small, intricate, and made of gold. but most of all, it was usable.

His reaction to the July Revolution was good. the November after it, constitutions were made for Schleswig and the Kingdom of Denmark- but the absolute monarchy was still in place. on top of that, 4 Advisory assemblies were created. One for each major region of Denmark. this was a very primitive version of what was desired (and what would come not long after) as the king still appointed a number of the members, and only 3% of the population got the right to vote.

He tended to overwork himself. sometimes until he got sick (like during the Vienna congress). he died still working. he also had the belief that no matter was too small for the king. this meant that he stuck his nose into a lot of paperwork he didn't necessarily need to worry about. this tended to elongate the completion of paperwork, but it did make him more aware of what was going on in the country, so there was some benefit.

Other

he built one of the finest gardens I have ever strolled in in Copenhagen. If you are on any servers with me, there's a 99% chance you've seen the pictures.

It's obvious that his strongest gene was his hair. In every portrait I've seen of his children, they're blonde. like- super blonde.

The man was stubborn as hell, not wanting to change too much. this tended to rear its ugly head from time to time, but he wasn't too stubborn to not kind of acknowledge his mistakes.

that was a word vomit... I do apologize. but thats all my sleepy brain can think of. I'll likely have more when i wake up tomorrow. and if i actually find the time, I can go into more detail. I just need to check the copyrights on a few of the books i have.

[louellaby]

FORGET-ME-NOT

REPLACED!MC AU

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

W A R N I N G

May contain bad grammar, limited vocabulary, and OOC characters. Please mind that English is not my first language, and it takes a lot of courage for me to post due to my anxiety and paranoia.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER I | CHAPTER II | CHAPTER III | LOUE'S LETTER | CHAPTER IV | CHAPTER V | LOUE'S LETTER | CHAPTER VI | CHAPTER VII | CHAPTER VIII | CHAPTER IX | CHAPTER X | LOUE'S LETTER | EPILOGUE

P R O L O G U E

「 The Mysterious Acceptance Letter 」

U N K N O W N

Greetings, Lady Soley.

Y O U

Uhm... hello?

Who is this?

U N K N O W N

That is not important at the moment. We have other matters to discuss, you see.

Y O U

Uh, no, we don't!

I don't know who you are, nor how you got my number, so I'm not saying anything to you.

U N K N O W N

Well, it can't be helped then.

Am I right to assume you've received a letter this afternoon?

Your maids must have delivered it to you the moment you stepped in the property.

Y O U

Are you saying that it was you who sent it?

U N K N O W N

That is somewhat correct, yes, but it wasn't mine to write.

You see, my master has decided you would be a great candidate for the exchange program at our academy. The letter would send you here within a week, so please be prepared by then.

Please bring whatever you may need for the entire year. In fact, it's recommended.

Y O U

Wait, wait, wait!

What are you talking about?

You're not making sense here, you know!

How was I selected for a school when I hadn't even registered for anything?

And just who do you think you are telling me what to do?

I am not going anywhere a stranger tells me to.

Goodbye now, and you're blocked.

————————————————————————

Loud stomping of a young lady could be heard through the halls of their mansion despite the carpeted flooring. Everyone knew what she was feeling and decided to keep their distance from her until she reached her destination: the office.

"My Lady, I believe it is past your bedtime," the butler who only arrived at the doors himself called out to the girl who huffed upon seeing him. "Do you have business with the Lord?"

"He's my father, Heath. I don't need any reason, nor permission to see him whenever I want to." She replied, placing her hands on both handles of the doors. "I certainly need no scolding from you. Remind yourself of your position in this household."

Without another word, the lady opened the doors herself and entered without waiting for the butler's response. He quietly sighed when he was sure no one was around and whispered, "Yes, of course."

————————————————————————

"Father!" The girl pushed open another set of doors that blocked her way, entering the room within the office that was filled with books and papers. "I knew you'd be up this late again!"

"Soley?" An exhausted groan came from behind a stack of books resting on top of a wide desk. The man who sat there had dark circles under his eyes, and the wrinkles on his worn-out face were visible. Even then, he smiled like nothing was wrong when he saw his only daughter marching her way towards him. "How can I help my sweet little buttercup?"

Soley slammed the letter she received onto the desk and pouted. "I want to know where this letter came from. Find the sender and threaten them to not bother me anymore!"

The man looked at his daughter with a puzzled expression. His mind was working a little slower than normal due to fatigue, but he did his best to keep up with his daughter's nonsense. "I'm sorry, what? I didn't know you received a letter. From whom is it?"

"That's what I want to know, Father! I also got a message from an unknown number! You didn't apply me into any academies without my knowledge, now did you?" Soley placed her phone on the desk with the chat from the unknown number open and clear for her father to see.

As the man read through the messages and the contents of the letter, someone else entered the room with a tray of tea and desserts in hand. "My apologies if I disturbed you, my lord, but I have your snacks ready. I also have your favourites, my lady, if you're staying a while."

The girl huffed as she crossed her arms. She only came there for information, but she knew she wouldn't get it in such a short time considering the state of her father.

Not that she cared about that.

"Fine, serve me the tea and sweets, Heath," she sighed and plopped herself onto the soft couch that rested on the side of the room. "I'm not leaving until I get the information I need."

Her father looked up from the letter and eyed his daughter with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, darling, but this could take a few days— maybe even longer."

"I don't have that much time, Father! I can't keep myself occupied with this nonsense, I have a party I need to prepare for! The stranger said that I only have a week left before I get whisked away!"

"And how would that actually go, my lady?"

All eyes darted towards the butler, who poured tea into the girl's cup. Soley narrowed her eyes at him, but he just looked at her with a slight smile, clearly hiding a laugh. "What do you mean, Heath...?"

"It is exactly as I asked," he answered, "How would they go taking you away without our knowledge? You are heavily protected by your talented guards the whole day through, and your room is kept guarded from the outside. No one would be able to take you away with ease."

"Well, there's telepor.... ta... tion...."

The silence after her argument increased the heat on the girl's face. She realised what she said and felt absolutely embarrassed. Teleportation? How absurd!There's no such thing as that, and the butler was right! No one could successfully take her by force. Not with her being fully guarded 24/7.

With a red face and gritted teeth, Soley got up from the couch, took both her phone and the letter with her and stomped her way out of the office, leaving the two men watch her back as she disappeared from their sight.

She didn't know she'd be reassured just like that when she only wanted information about the sender.

"Good evening, lady Soley," The night guards in front of her room greeted her as she approached the doors that they opened for her. "We wish you sweet dreams."

Heath is right. I'm protected.

No one can get me, and magic doesn't exist.

The girl threw herself on her bed and looked at the open letter she hovered above her face.

————————————————————————

Greetings to Lady Soley Day,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend the Royal Academy of Diavolo, or RAD, as we call it, as an exchange student for our current programme amongst all three worlds.

You are expected to stay for an entire year, fully protected by the Seven Rulers of the Devildom, along with the ambassador from the Human Realm. Safety would never be a concern, we assure you.

Attached to this letter is a summoning circle that will be activated in a week's time. Please prepare everything you would need for your stay.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Sincerely,

RAD Student Council

————————————————————————

Now that she actually read it herself, the letter sounded stupid and unrealistic. She embarrassed herself in front of her father for this reason?

Little did she know, a group of demons, angels and humans down, down under, was already preparing for her arrival.

Just seven days left.

CHAPTER I 」

Hello, everyone! Loue here.

Thank you so much for reading and getting this far! I really hope you enjoyed it...! This is my very first post, and very first fanfic, so I'm here just sweating profusely because of how nervous I am.

Also, this is my first time posting on Tumblr, and I'm doing everything on my phone, so I'm still not familiar with stuff around here. Please bear with me.

Until next time! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

[the-one-who-lambs]

ok here's the essay

So. How much evidence is there that the Fanatic was the god of knowledge before Shamura? Not much. The game is deliberately vague on what exactly the Fanatic was the god of, but there's just enough crumbs to point in that direction. They tell the Lamb they are waiting for "one who values truth over all else" and in tablet II they pray to the Great Ones for understanding. They also give the Lamb the snake follower form; the serpent tempts Eve to eat from the tree of *knowledge* of good and evil, so the symbolism is there.

The smoking gun for me, though, is the early unused version of tablet X.

"I am shamed, shamed. I deserve no forgiveness. I deserve to die here, shrouded in sin. I renounced the First Gods. How easily pain made a defector of me. I will take whatever punishment is due, but I beg you, reader of these chronicles, remember: they call their faith old, but they are nothing more than heretics. He of havoc, he of blight; she of hunger, they of might. He that lays a soul to rest; five remain of hundreds blessed."

From there we can infer a few things:

The bishops obviously did Something to the Fanatic.

The Fanatic had to be tortured into going along with whatever that Something was. It wasn't just inflicted on them, their cooperation was needed somehow, possibly as part of a ritual or spell.

It didn't kill them. They even managed to get out one last tablet afterward.

We never find out what exactly it was; the Fanatic only describes it as having "renounced the First Gods".

By the time the story starts, the Fanatic isn't around anymore. We hear their voice but that's it.

We know that gods in the COTL universe canonically leave behind a "lingering presence". That lingering presence can persist even if the god loses the Crown and becomes a mortal, or even dies as a mortal; this is what happens with the bishops.

Tablet IX and the Offering to the Owl also heavily imply Haro was once a god of hunting, who willingly relinquished the title for unknown reasons. Maybe this is what the Fanatic meant by "the Owl has chosen a different tact"; giving up their proper godhood, leaving them with their weaker current form (notably, Haro's crown has a crossed-out eye, like it's "dead").

From Ancient Tablet IX: "[…] for regardless of what they threaten, I shall never relinquish my beliefs."

In tablet VIII, the Fanatic refers to their crown as "the blessing of the First at my brow". HMM.

In tablet VII we learn Shamura approached the Fanatic seeking their allegiance, but was turned away. HMMMMMMMMM.

IF, indeed, Shamura found a way to take domain over knowledge from its rightful owner, in addition to already having domain over war, that would add a whole new layer of thematic resonance to their story. The creators have said a big theme in COTL is that those who try to deviate from their nature are usually punished by the universe. Shamura getting greedy, claiming another god's domain in addition to their own, their newfound domain over knowledge leading them to encourage Narinder's experiments, and it all blowing up in their face catastrophically… their descent into madness makes a nice parallel with Chemach also

tl;dr: ITS REAL. I FIGURED IT OUT, ITS REAL, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE M

This is SO interesting and I'm frying my brain trying to comprehend this in all its glory while I watch @linkerbell draw one of the most cursed images i've ever seen

OKAY BUT HARO GOD OF THE HUNT YEAH SHAKES HAND SHAKES HAND

[songmingisthighs]

Genesis

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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ch. ix - chilly

fashion mogul!mingi × reader

buy me coffee ?

things aren't always what it seems but when even the truth is left unheard, what can people do? one musn't lie but what if the lie is more accepted than the truth? the scariest thing in this world isn't monsters or demons. it's people with no agenda and time to waste.

You had always felt somewhat calm in hospitals. You don't know if it was the smell, the minimalistic design or the fact that the drugs are just RIGHT THERE. It wasn't really disneyland for you, but it wasn't anxiety inducing.

"(y/n), do you need to pee?"

That does though.

"No, Yunho, I'm fine," you sighed but offered a small smile at your friend. Usually, he'd make sure whatever you need is met but this time he simply nodded and looked back to his phone. This made you huff and close your eyes in annoyance, "Yunho, you can't be mad at me for doing what I think is right," you finally said. Yunho didn't bother to look at you when he shrugged, "I'm not mad at you for doing what you think is right for you, I'm mad at your ex who fucked with your mind so bad that he managed to change who you are as a person," he muttered loud enough for you and your other two friends to hear.

Thankfully, before you and Yunho got into a bitching match, Jongho swooped in and tugged your arm, "Hey! I think it's your turn now!" He stood up, taking you with him, leaving Yeosang to scold Yunho to not provoke you in such a sensitive day.

To say that the doctor was surprised when you came in with three men was an understatement. "I... See you and the father has brought some friends," the doctor said, smiling unsurely as she looked between you and the boys. "None of them is the father, they're just moral support. The father is not in the picture," you stated, shifting your eyes away from her. Sensing that you weren't really feeling great, the doctor thankfully nodded in understanding, "I see. Well, no matter the availability of the dad, South Korea has a great program to aid expecting mothers as they are improving the birth rate. We can help you register for the maternity aid right after this and you can just focus on yourself as expectant mothers should." Hearing her use the word "mother" multiple times made your heart clench. You wanted to correct her, you wanted to tell her how you're NOT going to be a mother. You don't even know what you want. Heck, you don't even know why you're there in the first place. It was such a shocking news that you haven't really processed what was going on. You didn't know what to do whatsoever. You couldn't even come up with the idea to check up on the baby that was growing inside you to confirm the pregnancy. Truth to be told, Yunho had to basically force you to do an ultrasound because last time you got yourself checked, you found out you were pregnant and you just bolted.

Despite his disagreement with you, Yunho stepped up to talk to the doctor in consideration of your reluctance all the while Yeosang sidle up next to you with your hand in his as an attempt to calm you down. Jongho too made himself useful by giving your information to the doctor. You were the one being completely useless by just sitting there, accepting whatever it was the doctor recommended for you. You couldn't even get yourself to focus enough to even listen to the conversation. Your head was too riddled with the conflicting thoughts of what you want and what you think you want. Since Yunho mentioned it, you couldn't shake off the very based fact that you really do want to be a mom and what has been hindering you is the fact that there is no man who's romantically involved in your life like how you planned. Should such an important decision be made when you're in such a negative state that you can't even decide between wearing skirt or pants?

For days, you have been trying to find other rational reasons to not keep the baby. Financially you were stable and you even have savings for the future, your company provides you with great benefits, your living situation is above average, and technically speaking you have all the mental and physical support you will ever need. There were absolutely no reason for you to not keep the baby. Even mentally you were ready. -ish. As best you could considering no one is ever mentally ready to welcome another human being they created who made their entrance by screaming. All reasoning, all doubts you ever had only pointed to the absence of a man, THE man, who you wanted to share the experience of being parents with. It was starting to become ridiculous for you to be so hung up on a broken plan.

Somehow you managed to move yourself to the the chair with your shirt hiked up to just above your stomach. Your three friends huddled up to your side in curiosity and desire to show support. "Now, I'm going to put some gel on you and it might feel cold at first but once I move the wand around, it's not going to be as cold, okay?" The doctor said. Even with the warning, you couldn't help but tense up once the liquid hit your skin, the sensation made you clutch onto the fabric of your pants. But sure as she said, once she moved the wand around, the coldness dissipates and all you could feel was the slight pressure of the wand.

The doctor narrated what she was doing but you couldn't seem to concentrate on her words. While your friends had their eyes glued to the monitor, your were trained on the ceiling above. Noticing this, the doctor paused her movements and pulled the wand away from you, "Is something wrong, miss?" She asked. Though you wanted to tell her something, anything, you couldn't find your voice. It was stuck on your throat like a piece of gum to the sole of someone's shoes. You knew then and there that you were panicking because the reality was dawning on you and you had no way of getting out of realizing it.

All of a sudden, a hand grabbed yours and like an anchor, it pulled you back to your senses. Your eyes met with Yunho's stern ones and in the steadiest voice you had ever heard from him, he said something that managed to calm the storm in your mind.

"It's going to be okay."

You knew he wasn't just talking about that moment, he was talking about your pregnancy in general. It was such a simple sentence but it the surety in his voice immediately reminded you of how much the four of you have been taking care of each other. As much as they joked about you being the only one keeping them alive, the only one who had the good sense when it comes to taking care of other human beings, you had to admit that they themselves have been taking care of you since day one. They offered their shoulder to cry on when you got your first scolding on the job, they shared your happiness when you told them you finally found the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, and they helped pick up your broken pieces when you left. You had been so caught up with one man that you selfishly forgot you had three. Sure, they were not the person you had hoped for, but they were your constant in a series of uncertainty and disappointments.

"I'm scared," you choked out, tears brimming in your eyes. "Of course you are," Yunho nodded, finally cracking a smile at you, "You're gonna be the biggest pain in the ass for the next nine months, I'm gonna have to fugure out how to bulk order aspirin," he joked which made you whine and slap his hand. "But," he continued, "At the end of that nine months, we're going to welcome the newest addition to our little group and it will be a good thing, you hear me? Sure, it's gonna be spittle and tear-filled, and that's only from Yeosang's side," Yeosang scoffed and punched his friend on the side of his arm which made you chuckle a bit, "But it's gonna be so worth it and we're gonna be there with you for every step of the way, okay? You're going to look back at this day and regret not worrying more about your baby taking after us too damn much." It amazed you how easy Yunho made the situation seem in the best way. While it didn't immediately made you feel 100% better, you realized that it pushed the negativity away and replaced it with something you can't quite describe.

The doctor took the reduced tension as a cue to continue ger exploration. It didn't take long for her to halt her movements and announced to the whole room, "And look, someone here wants to say hello." All three of your friends tore their eyes off of you first and you had the pleasure of seeing the bewonderment in their eyes; their pupils dilated and their jaws slacked, it was as if they were seeing something so magnificent and you had to admit you had never seen them with that look. Curious, you too looked at the screen, slowly tearing your gaze away from your friends to where each of them were looking at.

From the moment you laid eyes on it, you could immediately tell what you were looking at. There, in the vast nothingness, a tiny blob appeared as a proof of life. You couldn't help but look between the screen and where the wand reside on your stomach, not being able to hold yourself back from reaching to the spot with your vacant hand and pressing on the spot gently. Noticing this, the doctor smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's where your baby is, miss."

Ever since he left you, ever since he told you what he thought of you, you gave up on the notion of a family. You were so in love with him, it was him or no one and you had intended to keep your promise because you know he'd at least respect that. But that little bean-shaped dweller, a creation that has yet to have its own sentience and had to depend on you to live, that little bean caught your heart the moment you laid eyes on it. With shaky hand and trembling breath, you touched the screen and for the first time in three days, you smiled at your baby as you let your tear drop. "Hi baby, it's mama. I'm gonna take such good care of you and even though it's gonna be just the two of us, you're gonna have the best life I could ever give you, okay?" "This is uncle Yeosang, and your mom's lying because me and uncle Yunho and uncle Jongho are gonna be here too for whatever your mom refuse to let you do. Fair warning, I will not have the power to say no to you so please don't abuse my weakness." While his words were sweet, Yunho and Jongho couldn't help but shove him down to a chair and scold him for ruining your moment. Though it made you laugh so they couldn't really get mad at him. But he was right, neither you nor the baby will be alone and that's what matters. You've made up your mind and just like you at your job, you're going to give it your all into being a mom with the help of the little family you created.

network :

@cultofdionysusnet @kflixnet

taglist :

@ateezourstars @phenomenalgirl9 @90s-belladonna @yunhorights @cqndiedcherries @stopeatread @aestheticsluut @spooo00oky @kodzukein @galaxypox @mayonnaisehoeshit @maddiebabyxoxo @dreamlesswonder86 @charreddonuts @jwnghyuns @angelicyeo @axo-l0tl @gxlden-bxbyy @bbymatz @blaaiissee @kyume02 @aurora-tiny @senpai-of-doom @meowmeowminnie @thesolarplanetarysystem @seonghwaddict @camillelafaye

@randomness7198

[askinkiskarma]

Illicit Affairs | Oneshot: The Moment I Knew

Pairing: Neteyam x Human!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: It's your 17th birthday, and the gift you get from Neteyam is not one you would have ever thought of - or wanted.

Warnings: angst

Word Count: 2k words

A/N: I have been writing a lot of memories for the next few chapters of The Archer, and I found myself writing about the fated 17th birthday, which makes an appearance in Chapter VII of Illicit Affairs. I'm doing a lot of writing atm, I am trying to get the fifth chapter done ASAP, but enjoy this tiny story and insight into the day Neteyam left 🥰.

What do you say when tears are streaming down your face in front of everyone you know?

And what do you do when the one who means the most to you is the one who didn't show…?

And they're all standing around me, singing Happy Birthday to you

But there was one thing missing and that was the moment I knew

You woke up with a big yawn and an hopeful disposition today, your 17th birthday. You wanted to say it was because another year had passed, or because you knew people would be giving you gifts and attention and all sorts of good food today, but if you were being honest with yourself, you knew it was because you got to see Neteyam again.

Neteyam was a great gift giver. He paid attention, and he listened and he cared, so every year, his present was always your favourite. Ever since around your tenth birthday, when he first gifted you an identical bracelet to his, he always managed to surprise you with a perfect gift that made your heart skip a beat - or several. You haven’t seen him since that day, in the clearing, when you sang him that song, and hoped he knew what it meant. You didn’t get to confess the way you wanted to, you cowered at the last minute, but you hoped your birthday courage would allow you to finally tell him the feelings that have plagued you for probably years now. 

You were scared. You knew deep down you probably shouldn’t even do it - I mean what was the point? It’s not like you could ever be together anyway, not like he would sacrifice his title and his future mate, the future Tsahik of the Omatikaya for you, a human girl. He couldn’t, you wouldn’t allow him to, so why were you even confessing? At the least it would make everything awkward and at the most it would ruin the best thing that has ever existed in your life. You couldn’t even decide what would be worst - him not reciprocating or him reciprocating? Cause either way it’s hell inbound, and you had enough of that in your life. 

Despite everything, though, every nagging thought telling you not to, you wanted to, needed to finally tell him. You would deal with the consequences as they come, but you couldn’t be a coward any longer. If you had to act like you didn’t have a heart attack every time he got close to you, every time he touched you, every time he looked at you in that way, the way that was reserved only for you, you would go crazy forever. 

You were happy to see Kiri and Lo’ak, coming by, as they always did, with a big basket of fresh fruit and food, your birthday feast, and staying with you for the day, as they always did. When you were younger, much younger, you used to celebrate in the village, with Jake and Neytiri, but those days are long gone. Later in life, you celebrated in the forest, climbing and hiking, wild and free, but those days were long gone too. Nevertheless, no matter how much you have changed, the care they had for you never diminished, and neither did their desire to celebrate you in whatever form you felt you were able to withstand. 

The oldest Sully’s presence did not go remiss in your mind, every moment without him accelerating your worries that something was wrong. 

“Hey… where’s Neteyam?” 

You saw the siblings exchange a quiet, strange look. Neither of them looked at you as Kiri talked.

“He’s with the hunting party today, he couldn’t get out of it.” 

“Today?”

“Yes…”

“But he never has anything going on on my birthday, Jake always makes sure of it.” 

“I don’t think it was fully up to dad, Angel… I’m sure he’ll be back later.” 

You saw Kiri flash a look of anger towards her brother, and your heart sank a little at the interaction. This was weird, but you thought maybe he was preparing a present for you that would take extra time. It has happened before, but it was always worth it in the end. 

The hours passed, and you mostly finished the basket full of food between the three of you, splayed careless on some blankets you brought in the hub as a big projector was playing some of your favourite films. Your mood soured a little throughout the day, regardless how many sweet fruits you have injested, regardless of the calmness of your surroundings and the friendly faces who were attentively watching the latest picture playing on the screen. 

As it finished, the two siblings got up, and Lo’ak awkwardly scratched the hair on the side of his head. 

“Angel, we have to go, it’s past curfew and we’re -“

“-going to get in trouble with Jake, I know.” You sighed deeply, walking with them to the entrance.

“Thank you for hanging out with me, guys. I had a good time. Thank Neytiri, Jake and Mo’at for the food, and thank you for the gifts, I already love my new bracelet!” You said, twisting your wrist so the beads on the beautiful thread sang when pushed together. 

“You’re very welcome. Happy birthday, again, and we’ll see you in a couple of days.”

You didn’t know if you should push it, and, as they were almost out the door, you found your voice again.

“Hey… if you see Neteyam, tell him I’m still waiting. I’ll probably run some experiments, so I’ll be up for a while… in case he still wants to come.” 

You didn’t want to see their expressions, too scared to read something that will hurt you on their faces, so you just shut the door and left. 

You paced around the labs and hallways and your room for the rest of the night, terrified as you were that you were going to miss Neteyam’s soft knock. He always thought of everything, was always too scared to wake anyone up, or to let anyone know he was sneaking way past curfew to stay with you for the night, before he always had to sneak off again prior to his family getting up and figuring out he was gone. You didn’t want him to be outside, in the cold and dark, with apex predators lurking at every corner, waiting for an opportunity to feast on a particularly good-looking blue boy. 

It was dawn when you made it back to your room, feeling emptiness envelop your being, like your soul had been washed out and taken to the cleaners. You sat in your bed, back against the headboard, and thought about the last month. You haven’t seen Neteyam in all that time, ever since that day in the clearing. He had a weird look about him after you sang him the song, but you thought that was just him processing what you were trying to say to him, you thought it was him scared, as you were, about the prospect of more, about the possibility of everything changing between you. You thought he felt the same way, you felt like you were both on the same page - it felt to you that you had both fallen for each other in time, your love blossoming from the friendship that you have always shared into more, much more. Now you realised it wasn’t that which gave him that look. It was most likely the opposite. He knew what you were saying, and didn’t feel the same way. 

You haven’t seen Neteyam in all this time. You thought he was training, but he wasn’t. He just didn’t want to see you. He didn’t want to see you anymore. 

The way your heart shattered at the thought took your breath out of you, like you got punched in the gut. You didn’t know what to do with this pain, that was so feral and so severe, you genuinely felt like you were going to die. You lay in your bed, gasping for air, grasping at your chest, trying to will your heart to slow down, to piece itself back together, but to no avail. Neteyam was gone. Neteyam left you, without even saying goodbye. Neteyam watched you confess, and decided he wanted nothing else to do with you anymore. You lost him, like you lost your mum and your dad, lost him after 17 years, and you were alone again. 

You were alone again. 

Neteyam felt throbbing in his head as he woke up that morning, that continued the whole entire day. He took the day off today, knowing he would be unable to focus on anything, knowing that today, you would definitely realise what he has done. It was your birthday, one of his favourite days in the world. It was a day to celebrate you, the light in his life, his Atan, of course he loved it. And now he had to live with knowing his present would be his absence, and that he would have to live with the consequences of ruining this day for you, and the consequences of breaking your heart. His has been long broken, since the second he walked out of that clearing knowing he would never return. After eclipse, he saw his siblings returning with an empty basket, and his heart hurt at the still open and unhealed wounds. 

“Brother, are you sure about this?” 

He sighed, not being able to look at his baby sister. 

“Yes, sister, I am sure.”

“She asked for you.” Lo’ak said. “Multiple times.” 

“She said she’ll still be waiting, in case you decide to drop by later.” 

“For what is worth, I think this whole thing is stupid. We’re her only family, and now you’re gonna take another person away from her, bro?” 

Neteyam winced at his brother’s words, that cut him like a dull knife, painful and rusted, that will never heal, but fester and linger, forever. 

“I’m going for a walk.”

“Brother, it’s past curfew.”

“I don’t care, tell mother and father I’m taking Seze out.” 

He left in a hurry, unable and unwilling to register the muffled words spoken to him in a blur. He found his ikran immediately and took flight, knowing exactly where he had to go. He made it to the lab in no time, knowing the ride like the back of his hand by now. 

He quickly hurried towards the door, thinking he will abandon this whole endeavour and beg for your forgiveness. It would take a while, but you always forgave him. And he could finally tell you that he loved you, that he has been in love with you for so long he’s lost track, and he could kiss you, the way he’s wanted to for so long, and everything else you can just figure out as you go along. 

But then, every step he took was a memory he would never be able to ever erase from his mind, every step a recollection of times he’s been here because you were hurt or pained or near death, all because of him. He swore he could still see your dried blood on the stairs leading up to your door from where you were 13 and you fell down his ikran. He could see your limp form in his arms when you collapsed after you found your dad. His hand reached as far as a couple inches from the door before he stopped, and with shard of glass protruding in his already broken heart and tear drops staining his cheeks, he dropped his hand and left. He didn’t go far, though, circling around the big enclosure until he found the window he knew was looking into your room and just sat there, collapsing on the floor with his back against the cold metal, listening to the sound of music coming out of your recorder.

And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again

That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again

He stayed there, on the cold hard ground, listening to the music playing until dawn, until his heart was empty, until his soul was spent. Until he knew he lost you - forever.

[talaok]

I've dreamed of this | Pt. IX

Summary: You are a part of the BAU, and for the longest time you and Dr. Spencer Reid had been best of friends, even when it was clear to everyone else, and at times to you, that you should be more than that, and when something almost happens on a night out with the team, everything is destined to change.

This is a double pov story (each chapter will be alternated between y/n's and spencer's pov)

Chapter summary: Penelope calls you, and causes a chain reaction

warnings: angst (please don’t be mad at me)

<if you want to be added to the tag-list comment or write to me>

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*I'm really sorry for the long wait*

y/n

even his couch felt more comfortable than your own.

It was like you were meant to be here, it felt, like you were meant to be here.

The moment you woke up this morning, your head against his chest, and his sweet amber eyes looking down at you, the only question scratching your mind was why? Why have I waited this long for something I now see, was everything I've always wanted, if not needed?

It didn't make sense,

but then again, it did.

He had told you not to move, begged you even, to promise you wouldn't leave, and you didn't know how to tell him that that wasn't even a possibility you had weighed.

He had, unwillingly, left for work, and left you in his sunny apartment, feeling at home in one that was not your own.

You had been here before, dinners with the team, crashing at his place, movie nights where he either spent the whole time translating the film, or complaining about the improbability portrayed in the ones you chose.

You had been here, sure, but never like this,

now, it was as if you were looking at a whole new flat, a whole new world, one where things did, work out, and where his dark green walls maybe weren't so bad after all.

You had this feeling in your chest you couldn't describe as you smiled brainlessly at the off tv, relieving every second of the past 12 hours.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this- a lot, for a very long time"

"I don't think I've ever meant anything more"

"would you just please let me kiss you?"

" I could too"

"I like you y/n, I've liked you for a very long time, In a way, I had never had before, and I know this isn't ideal, that there are a lot of things we should consider and talk about, and I'm willing to do that, but I just thought you should know"

"I like you, and I'm serious about this"

All of it in your brain, a constant background above the silence around you.

it felt like a dream,

this couldn't be real,

right?

You had spent so much time fighting it, rationalizing all of it, your feelings for him, the way your heart would melt every time he blushed or smiled, and now there you were.

It all felt surreal.

This wasn't supposed to happen,

This was the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden,

and still,

you had taken a bite of the apple,

and nothing had happened,

not yet anyway.

Ring Ring

Your phone was ringing.

"Hello?" you hadn't even looked at the caller ID

"hi gorgeous, how's it going?" You recognized Penelope's voice.

You smiled at that "great" you said "it's going great"

"Really? Emily said she talked to you yesterday and you seemed down"

"Oh yes" you recalled "well, everything is better now"

"Really?"

"yes, really Pen" you smiled at her thoughtfulness,

"So did you find some things to do?"

You had to hide a laugh "Yes-yes I definitely did"

"Cool like what?"

fuck

it wasn't like you could tell her the truth.

oh yeah, so I basically got into a relationship that I'd been avoiding for years with Spencer, our coworker.

That didn't seem like it would work out

"I- I started watching- " you looked around frantically, and your eyes spotted a book "I started watching the lord of the rings"

"the whole saga?" she asked, shocked

"yes, it's been keeping me occupied"

"Spencer's gonna be happy about that" she scoffed amusedly.

Your cheeks flushed just at the mention of his name "Speaking of which" she said, and you could hear the smirk on her lips "Wonderboy arrived late today" she snickered "word on the street is he's got a girlfriend"

"What?" the words fled your mouth before you could stop them

How was it possible they already knew?

Yes, they were profilers, but no profiler was that good.

"Yes, let's just say he must have forgotten about some marks the lucky lady left on his neck"

Shit

Shit shit shit

"oh" you could only breathe

"not to mention how distracted he is " she chuckled softly "he hasn't even done his crossword this morning" she whispered as if it was some sort of profanity,

which, of course, it kind of was,

Spencer never missed a day, the whole team knew it.

You didn't know what to say, and so you stayed silent.

You could feel Penelope's attitude shift "Shoot- listen I know you two were kind of... I don't know- something-" she trailed off "but maybe this is better you know, with the whole Hotch thing and you being friends"

"I mean it's not like a woman like you doesn't have a line of men waiting for her"

"We weren't- anything" you clarified

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have told you" you could hear the sadness creeping up her voice.

"It's fine, Pen, I'm-I'm happy for him"

"alright," she said, even though both of you knew she was still mortified "well anyway I and the gals thought we could come by this afternoon to keep you company"

Oh fuck

they couldn't come by, you weren't even there.

"oh no don't do that"

really y/n? that's the best you could come up with?

"why?" Penelope asked

C'mon think of something

"I just- I'm feeling a bit sick"

"oh" she hummed "I'm sorry," she said, " why didn't you say anything before?"

"I just didn't want you to worry"

"I'm- I'm not " she lied plainly "I could make you some soup you know? I could bring it to you. Yes, you know what, I'm gonna get off work earlier and get started on it-"

"Wait Pen"

"yes?" she stopped her rambling, and it surprised you she still had air left in her lungs.

"I think it's best if I just rest a bit y'know?"

"Sure" she smiled, but you could tell she was disappointed and worried altogether "I understand"

"thank Pen, say hi to the team for me"

"of course" she nodded "take care of yourself"

"will do" you joked "bye now"

"bye"

You stared at the colorless reflection looking back at you from the black screen,

Your smile had faded,

The feeling in your belly had mutated,

more bitter now, the warmth slowly dissipating against the cold breeze.

You should have been happy right?

You had gotten away with it,

both of you had,

Yes, the team thought Spencer had a girlfriend, but they had no idea it was you.

And you were able to convince Penelope not to come by your house.

Everything went perfectly,

so why did you feel like this?

like a puff had just caused the unsteady house of cards to fall to the ground.

You had everything you wanted,

you had him,

you had you, together.

this wasn't how it was supposed to be,

you should be feeling ecstatic,

happy,

on fucking cloud nine,

but it was as if you had to woken up from the dream, from the fable, and reality was starting to hit.

You had lied to her,

to Penelope,

one of your best friends, a person who knew everything about you, a person who'd seen you cry and laugh and puke more times than you'd like to admit.

You had to lie

Make up a bunch of things and lie to her face like it was normal, like nothing was wrong with that.

But so much was wrong with it,

And not only because it made you feel dirty, and shitty, no, but because she didn't deserve it.

She would never do it to you, you knew.

And still, you hadn't even hesitated before doing it to her.

And as much as you liked to think that it was necessary, and that it wasn't gonna be forever, you had no real guarantee that that was the truth

You had never really thought about it,

and apparently, all it took was a phone call for the pandora's box lid to fly off, and your mind was now flooding with doubts and fear, and second thoughts.

When were you gonna be able to tell people?

never, was the only answer you could think of,

You weren't allowed to date,

because of Hotch's rule,

And it's not like you could have told everyone but him, that seemed practically impossible.

So that was it, either one of you left the BAU or you would have to keep it a secret forever, continuing to lie every single day.

The thought of it terrified you,

And with it, millions more started clouding your mind.

__ __ __

"hello"

you had been crying

"hi" you smiled weakly from the couch

He threw his sachel on a chair and walked up to you immediately, bending to meet his lips with yours.

It felt good, too good.

"I've missed you" he sat next to you, a big smile on his face "I couldn't wait to get home" he confessed shily "I don't think anybody suspects anything though, so we're in the clear" he moved a lock of hair behind your ear, and his brows furrowed "what's wrong?"

You didn't know where to begin,

a tsunami of emotions was going off inside of you, and you had no idea how to get them out.

"Penelope called" you finally said

"ok" you could tell he was confused "that's good right?"

yes, Spencer, that's supposed to be good.

God, you felt like you were going crazy.

"I lied to her"

"what do you mean?"

"she said she wanted to come to my house, and I said I was sick"

"Oh" he breathed "that's-that's ok, I mean that's like a - white lie"

You could only look at him, tears threatening to spill out of your eyes.

"And you know, you could have gone back home, that would have b-"

"that's not the point Spencer" your voice broke " I lied to her, and- and I'm gonna have to keep doing it"

"what? no that's not true" he placed a hand on your thigh, trying to reassure you.

"We can't tell anyone Spence you know it"

"Well I mean we could tell her, just not Hotch"

"and how that gonna work?" you asked way too harshly.

"I'm sorry I just- there's a lot of things we haven't thought of"

"I know y/n I know" he stoaked your cheek "but we can work it out"

Oh, you so wanted to give in, to tell him that yes, maybe you could and that he was right, but you knew that wasn't the truth, as much as it pained you to say it, he was wrong.

"How?" you said "We're gonna get fired if Hotch finds out, and unless one of us wants to leave the team we're gonna have to keep it a secret," you explained with a weak voice "and I don't know-" you couldn't believe you were about to say it "I don't know if I can do it, Spencer"

It was like you had just punched him in the face,

his eyes went blank, as his smile disappeared.

"I'm sorry" you cried "I'm so sorry Spence this is all my fault I should have never come here, please- i'm so sorry" you reached for his hand.

"y/n-" he tried to talk but you interrupted him

"no, please don't try to change my mind" you begged "It's- It's not only Hotch, Spence" you confessed

"You're my friend," you said "before this, before everything you're my friend Spence, and- and you mean everything to me, y'know" you sighed "and if- if this doesn't work out I don't wanna lose you, I can't, I can't lose you, I don't think I could do it without you"

"And I know this is gonna mess things up for a bit but I hope we could still be friends because I need that Spence, I need you as I friend, and I'm scared that if we do this, like really do this, and learn we've made a mistake, then I'm gonna lose you forever, and I can't let that happen"

You hadn't noticed the tears fleeing your eyes, because your sight was fixated on him, his mouth slightly parted, his eyes still in shock.

"I-" he swallowed thickly, his eyes scanning your face "You're never gonna lose me y/n" he said "we can work this out"

"This can't be how this ends"

"I'm sorry" was all you could say

"Y/n the moment I met you, the moment you smiled and introduced yourself, I knew I wanted this, the first time I saw you laugh I thought I was gonna have a heart attack y/n, I-I- I spent the last four years of my life stealing glances at you, and planning things to do or say to make you happy." he breathed "you can't do this y/n, not now"

"I'm sorry" your lip was trembling

"please forgive me Spence but I think it's best if I go" you got up and quickly grabbed your purse just to dash to the door,

but he followed

"y/n" you turned, and he was just there, inches from you, just like that night at the bar "y/n, I lov-"

"no, don't" you covered his mouth, a sob creeping up your throat "please don't"

You let your hand fall, taking a step to be flush against him, your mouth ghosting his "this is for the best" you breathed, hopeless "I can't lose you Spence" you kissed him, fully, desperately, like it was the last time you were ever gonna do it, because, of course, it was "please understand"

you whispered,

and without looking back,

you were out of his apartment.

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[nightmareworks]

hihi its time for even more lancer fic

this one is about a girl who died in a bomb, and got stitched back together by a forbidden superweapon, victim of the cruelest of fates. now she's bound both psychically and physically to a weapon, made in the image of one of the Five Fiendish Weapons of Old Mankind.

please enjoy!

Arablissa Sopora ix-Nerva died once already. She was on her Grand Tour, leaving the holdings of the House of Smoke for the first time, with her household guard and ladies-in-waiting all in tow with her, as befit her status. It's just how she died was kind of a conflux of bad luck. Maybe its payback for the blessed life she had already lived. The seventh daughter of an Underbaron of the House of Smoke- a man who adored and spoiled her as the only child he did not have to apprentice to his various patrons. She went to a little shop down a back alley, directed by the scent of Eyaleti spices, finding a sweets shop, and ordering a flan. It was a little treat to share with her accompanying maids. The Old Man had said it was his specialty, a spiced flan one could only taste thanks to his friendship with a Karrakin spice-merchant. A little taste of home, this far in the bordermarches.

That's when the bomb the Grammaton had set went off, just like that, a prophecy was supposed to be severed. A great karmic whorl stopped. The Old Man was the target, but he always had a way out- but not Arablissa and her maids. The ones that died looked a bit like hamburger. But the Barons of the House of Smoke, they tend to breed… redundancies, into their children. Takes them a while to die properly, they spend a long time in a limbo-state of shock. A wonderful failsafe when you expect to be pulling your heir out of a wrecked cavalry frame or claiming his body after a duel. So it ended up that Arablissa could survive for a little bit while missing most of her torso.

And the Old Man saw a chance for a little impromptu experiment, like in the old days. He had an idea that involved this half-dead scion. He had something in the basement, an old toy he recovered from his last laboratory. It was no Conqueror of Mars, but… it had its uses.

And so he interred the now mostly-dead Arablissa inside the maw of a Forget-Me-Not; a banned biomachina, a thing crafted in the image of one of the Five Fiendish Weapons of Old Mankind. He linked the dying Arablissa's brain with the neural matrix of the mech, and he abandoned them.

And a few hours later, Arablissa was alive again. Stitched back together with the flesh provided by her maids and the Berserker Cells provided by Dinner For Two.

=======

The young lady is sitting in a bare concrete room, on a shitty plastic folding chair, in front of a shitty little plastic table. Next to the table is the last of her luggage, slightly burned, filled with what few outfits and necessities she had with her. All she had with her. For example, the fine ceramic plate and sterling spoon that sat upon the shitty little table. Atop the fine china for the evening was a small slice of cake. Her clothes are rumpled, gone off, unwashed as the rest of her seems to be. Her head tilts wearily at you, lank hair hanging in strands around her eyes. "Oh. Uh. I didn't expect a guest. I don't. Have any extra to share. And… I don't have the kettle on, or unpacked…" She rights her head and looks behind her, eyes following the umbilical linking her to the mech. "I think… there might be one in there?" She gestures sort of vaguely at the mouth-like cockpit opening in the mech's chest, from which the umbilical spills.

"I… wouldn't go in there if I was you though. You know. Mech security. Genetic template reads. That… kind of thing." She gives a weak smile. Her words are at once very truthful, and a complete lie. Her face really says it all. 'Please don't go inside the mech I think it will eat you and I don't want to think about what that means while I'm cycling fluids with it.' She picks up the sterling spoon and slices the cake with it, parting cream and icing and syruped fruit with a smooth motion. "If you um… don't mind waiting for me to finish eating, I can put on some tea and we can talk… Cause… are you here to give me a job? I could… really use one."

You cannot properly see her skin, under the sleeves of her once-fine jacket, cut in Karrakin military style, the slate gray of House of Smoke stained in a few places with what… seems like blood, on second inspection. But you can see her right hand, which… doesn't look like proper flesh. If the rest of her looks clammy, it simply looks fake. You can see, in the veins on the back of her right, pulses of gray. Little nodules pushing their way slowly through the veins, up and back towards the sleeve. Her other hand looks like it had been split in half and roughly glued back together. Between her middle and ring fingers, running down to her wrist, is a fresh and red scar. You think you see it begin to weep a thin gray liquid. She eats another spoonful of cake, and the mech behind her stirs.

Its taloned hands rest upon its thighs, it kneels in the concrete room, back scraping the ceiling. Its blunt, lizardlike face twitches to alertness, swinging a blind skull towards you before settling back to rest. Its body is all smooth black musculature, covered in long woven layers of flesh- all bound together. It almost looks like the thing is wearing a long duster. You feel like the mouth-cockpit closes a few feet, and the umbilical is definitely slithering back inside. Its certainly getting more taught against the woman's back. "My name is… Arablissa. Arablissa Sopora ix-Nerva. You… probably knew that, right?" You shake your head. She looks kind of like she wants to cry, but manages to just eat another spoonful of cake. "Um. If you can transport us-" She jerks her head backwards, towards the mech. "-we'll fight. We really will. Just. If you're getting offworld, that's… that's what I want."

She pauses a moment, splitting the heel of the cake in two, eating her second-to-last slice. "I… you're here about the Old Man, right." You nod your head. "I. I don't know where he is. He did this to me. So. I'm not hiding him. I want to know what this is… that he did to me…" She picks up her last slice withe the spoon with a gentle scoop, and finally meets your eyes. Hers are yellowed, and you would say bloodshot- but they aren't red. There is gray, in her eyes. You see something black swim through the scalera of her left eye. "You can hire me… to hunt him. If you want to. I'd take… that job." She eats her last slice of cake.

"Do… do you want me to put the kettle on for you? I… I used to have like… servants for this. I'm… really sorry about being inhospitable."

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

As a youth, Ned Stark never thought that he would become Lord of Winterfell. He always believed that this was Brandon's duty and privilege as he was the eldest Stark brother. He was the one who was groomed for that position of power:

"Brandon. Yes. Brandon would know what to do. He always did. It was all meant for Brandon. You, Winterfell, everything. He was born to be a King's hand and a father to queens. I never asked for this cup to pass to me"

AGOT - Catelyn II

Ned might was reluctant to become the Warden of the North, however he proved to be a very good one. This is evident by the loyalty people still have towards him even after his death. Yoren helped his daughter escape King's Landing out of respect to him. Similarly, some Northerners could raise arms in order to rescue a daughter of "Valiant Ned" as they call him.

Even people who are no fond of him acknowledge the good traits of his. Stannis trusted Ned's son because the man was known for his honor and honesty. Ser Jorah Mormont who despises Ned because the latter ( rightfully!) exiled him, would still vouch for Ned Stark's honor.

Finally, Alys Karstark whose father died by the hand of Robb Stark ( Ned's son) still turns to Jon Snow ( another son of Ned) asking for his help. As she tells him herself:

" I didn't know where else to turn but to the last son of Eddard Stark"

ADWD - JON IX

Speaking of Jon Snow, he also never thought that he would lead one day. Like Ned once did with his brother, Jon thought that Robb would inherit everything ( and he did for a short period of time). Jon also acknowledges that Robb was the one groomed by their father to lead:

Jon was taken aback. It was true, Lord Eddard had often made Robb part of his councils back at Winterfell. Could Sam be right? Even a bastard could rise high in the Night's Watch, they said.

AGOT - JON VI

Robb Stark unfortunately died very young leaving vacant his position of power. He has named his brother, Jon Snow, as his heir. Jon not only is the only Stark sibling with ruling experience (as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch) but also the one who knows about wars and their strategies - something crucial for the state the North particular and Westeros in general are right now.

Perhaps, Jon will follow his father's footsteps and become a great leader of the North despite being a "second son" - or in Jon's case more importantly "the bastard son".

[misguidedasgardian]

The Lifeaters (II.9)

IX. Basili(s)k

MASTERLIST

Chapter Summary: All eyes turn to you

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Cursing, magical objects, Mugglephobia, classism, charms and curses, people getting petrified, might miss some warnings 

Wordcount: 1,8 k

Notes: In this chapter there is some sort of breaking point for reader, you will know, let’s discuss it by the end…

“Students are getting petrified and almost killed and I can’t believe we still have to study for these stupid exams”. grumbled Matthew 

“Quiet Gaunt”, groaned Snape from the corner

The entirety house of Slytherin got study time at the library at this hour

Potions, Defense against the dark arts, and charms you could do, now… Herbology? was proving to be a… spine… in your butt, alongside Transfiguration

As you finished a parchment on taking care of a plant you couldn’t even pronounce the name of, you sighed loudly

You never thought you were wishing the school year to end, you were barely days before your first exam, you just wanted it to start over, no chamber, no slytherin heir, no fear, no nothing

You hoped that whomever did this was caught, because you didn't believe it was Hagrid 

Something didn’t add up

You were feeling inclined to believe that they had the wrong person, and taking out the headmaster at the time seemed to you like not the best of ideas, Dumbledore was powerful, everybody knew that, so taking him out now seemed like the wanted to make the situation worse

But uncle Lucius wouldn’t…

Oh he would, he wanted to get rid of all muggleborns

But you were also scared of finding out who it was behind this, what if it was someone you knew? That you cared about?

But what could you do to help? The only thing you had was a theory of what that thing in the chamber would be, nothing else.

No suspects, no strange behavior, nothing, maybe prove that Draco and a few others weren’t the one, and that’s it. 

You just hoped this could be turned around before someone gets really hurt, or worse, killed.

“How were you doing in turning a rat into a clock?”, asked Draco

“Bad”, you whispered, “McGonaggal told me she didn’t know if this hurt the mice, and I have been feeling guilty”, you muttered, “but I managed to turn a little rock into a pocket watch”

“That’ll do”, he said with a soft smile

“I’m gonna fail… last year I couldn’t manage to turned that into the box without the whiskers”

“Me neither”, whispered Blaise

“Shhhhttt!”, this time it was Mrs Pince, the Librarian

“I having trouble with potions”, said Blaise, looking at you decisively

“How do you do in Herbology?”, you asked back

“Fairly well”, he said back

“Nice, then, I’ll help you, you’ll help me”, you said with a soft smile, Blaise smiled at you too and nodded his head

“I need help too”, said Theo, leaning into you. And you only looked back at him frowning, thinking if you should forgive and forget

“You can come along”, you said finally 

“Great, mee too”, muttered Matthew. Everyone did poorly in potions

“Alright, Draco and I have potions, I’ll prepare notes, Blaise has Herbology, Matt how do you defend yourself in Astronomy?”

“I don’t”

“Great, I’ll tell Daph”

“She thinks its Astrology, she can’t stop talking about the greek horoscope”, he responded

“Ah sh-...”

“Ssshhtt!”, shushed Mrs Pince, Snape slapped the back of Matthew’s head, who was closest to him. 

“Let’s talk about this later”, you suggested, and everybody agreed

“Did you hear? tonight the people in the infirmary will get unpetrified!”, said Blaise

“Good, maybe some of them saw who did this and they can end this!”

You felt relieved, even though the mood on the table sour over this, still, you only wanted things to be the same as last year! like they used to, where nobody cared about your blood statues, and there was no monster wanting to kill people

That very afternoon, around six, you were getting ready to go back to your common room, when you decided to ask Snape for a special plant you were going to need to teach the others how to make the potion for the exam.

So you were preparing what you were going to say, in your mind, not to bother him, or upset him, but to prove that you only wanted to improve yourself….

You knew you shouldn’t be walking out there alone, but if you already encountered the monster a few feet away once, the chances of that happening again were terribly low, right?

But as you turned a corner, something invisible grabbed you from both arms, you screeched bloody murder, but Potter and Weasley uncovered themselves. 

“What are you doing?”, you asked, alarmed, they check everyone but the hallway was deserted

“It’s you!”, Harry said

“Excuse me?”, you asked back, who do they think they were to grab you like that?

“You are the heir, you are the one who has been petrifying people”, said Weasley

“I am not the heir of Slytherin”, you said slowly, as the two knuckleheads “confronted” you, releasing yourself from their greasy hands, they tried to grab you again, but you took out your wand, raising it to them, making them retreat

“You are going to petrify us too?”, demanded Potter

“Do you really think I would be capable of something like this?”, you asked, lowering your wand but still keeping it tight in hand, you couldn’t believe what you were hearing, after how concerned you had been for everything that was going on. 

“You are a pure-blooded Slytherin, Draco is your best friend”, said Potter with a tone you didn’t enjoy, accusatory, with an air of self-righteousness and entitlement 

“And your last name means…”, started Weasley 

“I know what it means”, you said bitterly, your eyes not leaving Potter’s, “it means Basilisk, a magical creature that is a huge snake, but do you also know that it means a sweet little herb that I love to put in my pasta…”, then you quiet yourself

You were right!

Your suspicions were correct! there was a Basilisk in the chamber!

“Of course you are, you are the one that 

“The chambers of secrets hides a basilisk”, said Harry, and you looked at him wide-eyed, “and you are the one controlling it”

“I’m not!”, you defended yourself, angrily

You were angry

You couldn’t even turn animals into things and these ding dongs thought you could actually try to kill students? or even petrifying them? Why? because of what your last name sounded like? because of what your house and friends were? your pure-blood status?

“You will blame this on me?”, you asked them angrily, “I’m not the heir of Slytherin”, you said firmly, then you looked at Potter, “I’m not the one who can talk to snakes Potter, that’s you!”, you said back, “and you have the pure-blood status!”, you said pointing at Weasley

“Prove it”, demanded Weasley, and you looked at him

“Excuse you?”, you asked back, he pointed his broken wand at you, and you pointed your wand at Harry, Weasley has been throwing back to himself spells all year, anything he was going to throw at you he was going to receive tenfold

Potter pointed his wand at you

“For all we know, you could be lying, and you can talk to snakes”, he said back

“I cannot…”, you let out an exasperated sigh, “how I’m gonna find a snake to prove to you that I can’t talk to snakes?”, you asked back, “Not even my grandfather can talk to snakes”, you said like that would prove anything, but they didn’t know the man, “I don’t know of anyone that can”, you continued, “except for you”, you threw back on his face.

Oh how you wanted to blast their faces off

You were so angry

So angry you could cry

You wanted to give them the benefit of a doubt, you even felt bad for Potter, but he was an entitled idiot, who thought he could just point his finger and for what? for having a scar on his forehead?

“I don’t have to prove anything to you!”, you said

“Draco told us, he even thinks it's you!”, said Ron

“Excuse me?”, you asked back, “he would never tell you that”, and then you remembered, “it was you both! that night! you did sneak into the common room!”, they exchanged looks

“He said he thought it was you!”, responded Potter

“You left me on that bathroom floor!”, you snapped back, “what? Did Granger make herself look like me? you charm me into falling asleep?”

They did know what to say, but you were furious

You had never done anything to them, not personally, you had barely spoken to them, and they treated you like this? they cursed you and made you sleep, they sneaked into your common room! your sacred place! 

No

“I saw that thing in the bathroom that night! it almost caught me!”, you screamed, angry, sad and scared, “piss off! both of you!”, you tried to walk past them, and they left you, “if I ever see you near our common room ever again I will disappear all the bones in the four of your legs!”, you threatened, and they looked really scared, “I’m done with the both of you!”

“STUDENTS MUST RETURN TO THEIR COMMON ROOM IMMEDIATELY! TEACHERS COME TO THE SECOND FLOOR”, The voice of McGonagall resounded on the hallway

They saw your desperation, or that is what you thought, because they took a step back from you. You paid no mind to those clowns, you went back to the common room, with no ingredients for your potion

You looked back over your shoulder, but they weren’t there, you whispered the password hoping it would work and it did, the serpent coiled and showed you the door to the common room.

You went down the stairs rapidly, so angry you were fuming through your ears

But it all disappeared when you saw your friends on the sofas, talking, chatting, laughing

“There you are!”, said Draco, who saw you immediately, “we were getting worried!”

“Did you get the ingredients?”, asked Blaise, you shook your head, “it doesn’t matter! we can try tomorrow!”

Draco signaled you with his hand, and you sat by his side, he surrounded your shoulders with his arms and draw you against him

“You don’t think I’m evil, don’t you?”, you asked him, and he looked back at you wide-eyed

“You? evil?”, he asked, “Oh Salazar, you are annoyingly good!”, he groaned, making you feel good for the first time in the day, you cuddled into him, hugging him tightly 

After chapter notes: I read somewhere that because Slytherins were treated like criminals, they became one jeje, so this was a breaking point for reading, being so afraid and almost being attacked, have “good intentions” and then getting blamed for something she out of all Slytherins found awful… so… this is it jeje, she will be more mean from now on, its all part of the character development I hope I can accomplish