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meer-katnip · 7 years

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tired, never gonna finish this, so have a fic thing. this is like 4k-ish words of infodumping about this au, i hate this. i hate that it’s a fucking Fairy Tail au wft this manga is really awful. i hate it. i hate it?? but i love it too because it’s my comfort thing and also mk is a lesbian with a sword and that’s wonderful

ignore me. i’m just really idealistic and i love the self-indulgent versions of everyone in pnws/pra that i’ve built in my head. also i hate myself.

i put so much thought into this slay me

"I'm Nic," says the man with the messy hair and bright green eyes, swivelling around to give Richard a genuine, beaming smile reminiscent of a golden retriever. "I, uh, sometimes partner up with Alex."

"But usually he teams up with us!" calls a man from across the room, who's cradling a beer in one hand and he claps the shoulder of a woman whose fingers are dancing across thin air- and blue light- in front of her. She pursues her lips, and shoves him away from her with a movement that's both playful and forceful at the same time.

"Move the hand if you don't want to lose it, Geoff," she says lightly, and quickly turns her attention back to whatever she's doing.

Richard nods at this, eyeing the two of them for a moment, and then looking back at Nic. "If you don't mind me asking… what sort of magic do you three have?"

Alex raises an eyebrow at this- and judging by her expression, asking about somebody's magic so suddenly is borderline taboo. It looks like he's made a mistake, and he doesn't feel much like apologizing.

Thankfully, Nic doesn't seem to mind. "I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage," he says, and reaches into a pouch at his belt, pulling out a ring of keys. "I'm- well, I'm pretty much useless in hand-to-hand combat, but-"

"Too damn right you are!" comes another yell from the man across the room.

Nic grimaces. "Okay, there's no need to rub it in."

"There's plenty of need to rub it in!" continues the man, who Richard has now surmised is 'Geoff'. He seems just on the sober side of drunk, but not in a disruptive sort of way. Just kind of. Loud. "Remember the cultists?"

Nic groans, drops his head to the table where it lands with a clunk. "Yes. Yes, Geoff, I remember the cultists."

"And the tea?" Geoff is now leaning accusingly across his table, folding his arms. "We can't forget about the tea."

"We don't talk about the tea incident," interjects the woman, who's doing a very good job of looking as if she's not paying any attention whilst simultaneously maintaining deep engagement in the conversation.

"If we don't talk about the tea incident, it's going to happen again!" argues Geoff loudly. "History repeats itself!"

Nic just groans and flaps a hand vaguely in their direction. "Oh my god, shut up, you guys." He turns back to Richard. "Celestial Spirits can be summoned to this dimension if I have a contract and the corresponding key." He flips up a key with an indent shaped a bit like a bird's foot on it. It's bright, shiny silver, like it's been polished many times. "This is Corvus!" He beams down at it for a second, and then frowns. "I can't summon them today- it's not on the contract. But when I do, they can come and help me with… things."

"Things," says Richard.

"Yeah, they're a flock of birds." Nic tilts his head slightly, and then shrugs. "Crows, or ravens, I guess. They can lift me up a fair way, scout out places from above. Sometimes they even fight, if they feel like it. It's hard to tell with birds, you know?"

Richard eyes the rest of the keys. There's five in total, with only one being a bright gold and the rest being silver, like the Corvus key. "And the rest?"

"Ah, well…" Nic reaches out a finger, and taps on each of them in turn. "Cetus, Pegasus, Ara, and this one," his smile turns fonder, "that's Pisces. They're my only Golden Gate key."

"A Zodiac constellation?" Richard asks, having noticed a pattern with the other keys. "Does that make it special?"

"I guess?" Nic shrugs again. "I mean, maybe it makes them a bit more powerful, but really- who knows?"

Richard nods, satisfied. "And I suppose you can gather more keys, through various means."

"I buy mine, mostly," Nic replies, "but Pisces was a gift. Um." He turns to Geoff, and flaps a hand vaguely in his direction. "Care to explain yours?"

"Sure," Geoff shrugs, and rises easily from his seat. He's a lot taller than he looks- easily tall enough to rival Richard himself in height. He blinks a couple times, and then inclines his head at Richard. "Okay, try to fight me."

Richard just blinks. "I'm sorry?"

Geoff's smile grows wider. "Fight me. Try to land a punch or something, I don't mind."

Alex's laughing softly in the background, not really making any sort of sound, but her body is shaking in mirth. "Go on, Dr Strand."

He glances between Alex and Geoff, who are both clearly finding something extremely funny, then over to Nic, who's folded his arms and laid his head on them with a smile that clearly says he knows something. His keys have been inexplicably packed away when Richard wasn't watching, but he dismisses that as unimportant for the moment. It's when he glances at the woman still working at her screen of magic on the table that's been abandoned by Geoff, and he notices that even she is smiling with barely-concealed mirth that he folds his arms across his chest and gives an answer.

"No," he says.

The side of Geoff's mouth twitches downwards. "Aw, really?"

"Evidently it's funny enough that you're challenging me to a fight." He gestures around himself. "There's got to be a reason why there's no way I can win. It's likely that the result, had I decided to fight you, would have been quite embarrassing or amusing."

"Spoilsport," Alex says teasingly. "Okay, Nic, show him."

Nic sighs, and gets up, facing Geoff. He sways back and forth for a second, before suddenly ploughing straight forwards and directly into Geoff, who stumbles back a step as the full weight of an awkwardly-proportioned Celestial Spirit Mage . Going off the look of surprise on both their faces as Nic sprawled to the ground in a tangle of legs and arms, Richard surmised, this was not the thing that was meant to happen.

"You gotta come at me with ill intent, dude," Geoff says with a frown as Nic gets up, brushing himself off.

Nic screws up his face. "Okay, okay, um… you're a jerk for calling me weak! Rrgh!" He makes feeble fists with his hands, and everyone in the vicinity promptly laughs at him. Even Richard cracks a smile.

"Pathetic," calls the woman across the room. "You need to do it like this." She snatches up an empty beer mug with one hand, weighing it, and turns around for the first time. She glances at Geoff over the top of her sunglasses, smiles sweetly, and pitches it, hard, in his direction.

About half a metre from Geoff's head, where it was aimed, the mug seems to bounce straight off an invisible forcefield. It changes directions rapidly, and collides with the ground at high velocity, shattering into millions of pieces.

There's scattered applause and a few groans, and somebody exclaims indignantly; "I've got to clean that up!" but Richard is impressed despite himself. "Some sort of shield?"

"Pretty much," agrees Geoff, sitting down again. "It's always active, even when I'm sleeping, and pretty much impenetrable if you're trying to hurt or kill me. I mean, there's some ways of getting around it, but-"

Nic slides up next to him easily, and grins evilly before going straight for his stomach with outstretched hands. Geoff's sentence is broken off as they both collapse into giggles.

"Not in front of the new guy!" Geoff protests, but Nic is relentless.

"Yeah," concludes Alex after it becomes apparent that they're not going to stop. "And then there's MK."

'MK' waves from her table. "Hello, yes. That's me. Who wants to know?"

"I've heard of Archive magic before," Richard says. "I don't need it explained to me."

MK presses her lips together again, like she's trying to stop herself from smirking widely. "Oh, is that so?"

Alex is grinning again, and she nudges Richard with the back of her wrist. "You might want to rethink that. MK is, not to put too fine a point on it, a genius."

"First off, I prefer the term 'Information Specialist. Second of all, well…" MK holds her hands up to the interface she's been working at, actually grasping it like it's a solid object, and flipping it around to face Richard and Alex. "Archive magic is all well and good, but I felt like it could be improved." She taps at the screen, and blue-green symbols go flying across it. "I've created my own O.S. to work from, and I've developed a couple of new apps that can improve its use."

"'Oh Es'?" Richard's brow furrows. "'Apps'?"

"Operating system, applications," MK explains. "General terms used by those in the Archive community. Don't worry about it too much, you'll probably never hear those abbreviations again. But hey, want a demonstration?"

Richard glances dubiously over at the participants in the last magic 'demonstration', who are still tickling the hell out of each other. MK quirks an eyebrow, and pushes her sunglasses up her nose. "I don't bite, Strand. Here, catch."

He only has time to give her a quick nod of assent before a blue disc comes sailing in his direction, and only barely manages to catch it. He holds it up, and examines it. "What is it?"

"Portable manifestation of my magic." MK's holding up an identical disc, and she taps at it for a second. "Okay, we got a connection. Say hello to the other side of the room, Strand!"

He frowns in confusion, but looks down at the disc. He's surprised to see an exact projection of MK's sardonic features, displayed in minute detail.

"I call it 'Skype'," she says.

When she talks, he can simultaneously hear her voice coming from across the room, where she's present physically, and from the disc. There's only a very slight delay between them. The effect, overall, is astounding.

"It tends to work especially well when some moron in our teams says something like, 'hey, we should split up!'," she continues. "Keeps us in touch, you know?"

"That was literally once!" Nic complains.

"You could have died, Nic," Geoff shoots back.

MK looks at Richard through the interface, and gives him an unreadable look. "After the incident that Nic here probably doesn't want to talk about, I developed this. So now if one of us is going to die, the rest of us can now see the gory details in real-time, and they don't have to die alone."

Richard isn't quite sure if this is a joke or not, so he just nods. MK's sense of humor- if you can even call it that- is a bit hard for him to get a hold of. "If you don't mind me asking," he starts, and then trails off.

"Go on," Alex prompts.

"Well, you stated before that the three of you," he indicates MK, Geoff and Nic with a hand, "work together frequently. And judging by the sorts of things that this guild has a reputation for, I assume that 'working together' often involves fighting people and things."

"That's right," Alex says with a nod.

Richard frowns. "It seems to me that the three of you aren't quite… shall we say, compatible?"

Geoff stiffens, and maybe Alex does too, but it's hard to tell. Nic, however, sits up, and places his hands, outstretched on the table. "Okay, I'm trying my best not to be offended here, but- um, maybe explain?"

Richard sighs. "I meant no insult, and I do apologize. I simply meant that your particular skillset is… well." He nods at Nic. "Although you do have some offensive capabilities, they seem to be constrained by your 'contracts', which limit you to certain days of the week, and in the short time I've known you, you and your friends have reiterated several times that you're not a fighter. Although, er, you," he nods at Geoff, "seem to have quite a powerful means of defence, you have no visible attack to speak of. And the interesting use of Archive magic is certainly useful, but I don't see how it would do much good in a combat situation."

The three of them exchange glances for a second.

"I mean, he does have a point," Geoff says after a moment. "He could have worded it better, but…"

"Oh good, the jerkass has a point," MK says, rolling her eyes. "Everything is all right now, obviously." She stands up, dispelling all of her screens with a casual flick of her wrists. "Listen up, Strand. Magic isn't the only way of winning a fight." She reaches underneath the table, and pulls out a thin leather sheath, throwing it roughly onto the table between her and Richard. It thumps as it hits "Know what this is?"

He eyes it. It looks like a sword. "It's a sword."

"Wrong," she snaps. "It's a modified Épée." She pulls it out of its sheath with a satisfying-sounding grind of metal, and holds it in one hand with the blade pointing to the ground. "Normal Épées bend easily, and mainly get used when rich fuckers want to show off. This," she holds it up, as if to prove a point, "has been strengthened, sharpened and could probably cut your head off in one slice. I carry this around because it's lighter than most other swords, and people tend to estimate a girl with a weapon that's usually used for mock duels."

"This is a backsword," Geoff adds, unsheathing his own from a large bag that must be bigger on the inside, if it's able to contain a sword that large. "I have no idea what people usually use it for, but it can do a lot of damage."

"And the entire guild has agreed that we shouldn't, under any circumstances trust Nic with any sort of short-range, non-magical weapon," MK concludes. "At least, not until he apologizes to Carly about nearly taking her head off."

"She's avoiding me," Nic complains.

"We can take care of ourselves," Geoff says, turning to Richard. "Other members of the guild sometimes join us if the job looks difficult, but that doesn't happen often."

"Usually the sight of MK is enough to scare any attacker away," Nic says with a sudden grin.

MK doesn't even glance over at him as she almost casually holds a middle finger up in Nic's direction. "Fuck you, Silver. You'd be dead a million times over if I wasn't around to save your sorry ass."

Nic laughs, crossing his legs as he turns again. Sometime during the last couple of minutes, they've all arranged themselves so they're congregated around one small table. "You wouldn't have to save my 'sorry rear end' as much if you'd actually teach me how to fight."

A slow, terrifying smile curves across MK's face. "Are you asking me to fight you, Nic? Because I can and will fight you, given half the chance."

Nic suddenly looks intensely worried. "...please don't hurt me."

"Geoff," says MK. "Go find a job for us while Nic and I discuss just how much he'd have to pay me to not kick his ass."

Geoff snaps off a quick salute in her direction and makes a hasty retreat towards the request board. "Gotcha!"

Richard watches them for a second- bickering, laughing, happy, then turns back to Alex, who's doing the same. "Miss Reagan-"

"Alex," she says, "please."

"Alex," he says cautiously. "I'd like to apologize. That was... rude of me."

"It was," she agrees with a small laugh, "and you should honestly be apologizing to them. But yeah. I get what you mean. They don't look like they could take on anybody more powerful and survive, do they?"

Richard frowns, tilts his head. "But can they?"

"Who knows?" Alex shrugs, as Geoff returns to the table, a scrap of paper torn off the board in hand. He begins to speak to MK and Nic in a low voice, and they both lean in, visibly interested. Alex scratches her arm absently for a second, looking thoughtful. "Hey- want to see how the request process works?"

"I-" Richard begins. "-yes. That would be… good."

"Come on, then." Alex stands up, and they join MK, Nic, and Geoff at their table. Alex takes a seat, looking comfortable in their presence, but Richard hovers awkwardly a few feet away.

"What's up?" Nic asks with a small smile.

"Dr Strand was wondering how the request process works, and we were hoping you guys could walk him through it," Alex explains, with a small flap of her hand in Richard's direction. "Hey- come on over. They don't bite."

"Speak for yourself," MK says with a small snort, but lays the paper scrap on the table in front of Richard as he cautiously approaches. "Okay, so this is basically how it works. Anybody with a certain amount of money can pay to have a request put in the guild of their choice. Sort of like Craigslist."

"'Craigslist'?" Nic asks, looking confused.

"Archive magician thing, don't worry about it," MK sighs. "Anyone who's in the guild can take a request, but they have to consult with either the guild master or somebody acting in place of them first. You can't just go running off on a job with no warning. For example," she taps the request in front of her, "this."

"'Seeking Tanis, runner available'," Richard reads, peering over his glasses. "Two million jewels." He frowns. "That's very vague."

"Yup." Geoff pops the 'p', and grins. "Which is kinda unusual, usually they're a lot more detailed than that. But hey- two million jewels! Money is money!"

"So how do you know where to go?" Richard asks, eyeing the sparse sheet of paper. It doesn't look like it contains any further information.

"Well, we talk to one of the guild masters," Nic says, and gestures towards the bar counter, where a girl with glasses and her hair pulled into a high ponytail is reading a book, frowning slightly. "Or Carly, who's in place of them at the moment. She'll probably say yes, if she's not annoyed at whoever asks, and then she'll give us more details."

"I'll do it," Geoff volunteers. "She's not annoyed at me."

Nic sighs. "Look-"

"Yeah, yeah, dude, we know, you didn't mean to swing that sword at her head." Geoff crosses his arms. "However, the fact still stands that she'll probably smite you if you try to file that request."

MK rolls her eyes. "Just get on with it. And maybe don't try to flirt with her this time, or you'll be the one on the receiving end of that smiting."

Geoff leaves with a huffy sort of flounce that's entirely unsuited to somebody that's as physically imposing as he is. It looks like it'd be more suited to a teenage girl.

"Carly's girlfriend is missing," Alex says to Richard. "Geoff didn't know when he first met her, and Carly forgave him, but nobody will let it drop."

Richard frowns again. "I see."

She grins, and he sees that she realizes that he really doesn't. He thinks it's nice of her to explain everything to him, even while he's being his normal self- distant and almost cold.

"Guild masters?" he says instead of voicing this thought, putting emphasis on the plural. Alex nods, crossing her arms.

"There's two of them- Terry and Paul," she explains. "They share the responsibility, I guess? Except Paul is pretty much invisible all the time." She frowns. "And I mean that literally. I don't think I've actually seen him for about a month. Oh, and Terry does Transformation Magic," she adds. "Specifically, Nic."

This is a complete non-sequitur, and Richard is completely baffled. "Nic?"

"He can transform into literally anything," Alex says with a frown, "and I mean literally anything. He's insanely powerful. He could probably rule the country if he wanted to." She pauses and sighs. "But guess what he does instead? He turns himself into a mirror image of Nic Silver, and walks around the guild, messing with us. It's completely impossible to tell them apart, they even sound alike. And what's worse, I'm pretty sure Nic's in on it as well."

"I see," says Richard again. He doesn't, and Alex recognizes this once more, smiling at him.

"Yeah, we're a pretty eclectic guild."

Geoff returns, looking triumphant. Richard risks a glance back at Carly, and, true to form, she doesn't look like she wants to smite anybody in particular at the moment. "We got the job!" Geoff announces, exchanging a slightly awkward fistbump with Nic, who looks like he's not quite sure what he's meant to be doing.

"And now," MK says to Richard, looking utterly deadpan. "We go off on yet another suicide mission, with absolutely no regard for our personal health and safety. Hooray."

Geoff grins and claps MK on the back, opening his mouth, but before he even begins to speak, she grabs his wrist, and twists him easily into a headlock. He blinks from the hold, looking slightly bemused. "I was going to say; how about we meet at the train station at noon today? But if you want to kill me first, I'm fine with that too."

"Any reason for your collective morbid sense of humour?" Richard asks, echoing Geoff's bemused expression. MK laughs sourly.

"We're all depressed pieces of shit, and this is our coping mechanism," she says flatly, letting Geoff of her grip, and nods in his direction. "Midday sounds good. I'll go get packed." She stands, gathering her blue magic in front of her. "See you around, Strand. Alex looks like she likes you- maybe she can keep you."

He blinks, and she's gone, the hem of her loose shirt whipping around the doorframe.

"I guess I'll go pack, too," Geoff says, stretching. "Nice to meet you, Dr Strand."

Richard inclines his head, not sure how to respond, and watches as he leaves too, leaving just him, Nic and Alex behind.

Alex pats Nic's arm across the table, and meets his gaze in a oddly serious manner. "Be careful."

"I will be," he laughs, and pats her hand in return, standing up. "Don't worry about me. MK'll beat the shit of anyone who looks threatening."

"Cultists," she calls after his retreating figure. "Don't forget the cultists, Nicodemus!"

"I wish everyone would!" comes his returning cry, and then he's gone, and it's like the world is just Richard and Alex once more. Alex smiles at the doorway briefly, and then returns her attention back to Richard.

"So," she says. "What do you think?"

Richard takes a moment to think about this, staring around at the guild, with all the people gathered into groups, and the bright atmosphere. He doesn't believe in auras, but if he did, he would think that the entire area glows with welcoming energy, and Alex Reagan most of all.

"I think," he says, "that this is the perfect guild to take a request from me."

"Oh?" She looks confused, but mildly pleased as well.

"Miss Reagan," he says, and allows a genuine smile to crack across his face. "I would very much like it if you would help me track down somebody very close to me."

(thats it)

#tanis #tbtp #rabbits podcast #pnws #kitty.doc #nic #alex #mk #geoff #strand #carly #the whole gang's here #ruby's the bartender probably #the rest of the guild is literally interns #also amalia is terrifying and amazing #god i wish i could get this done why #i want to sleep or maybe die #anyway #yes

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missameliep · 2 years

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🤰 Parenting

Damien x Olivia Park

Thanks for the ask, my dear! ❤️

I haven't realized how much I've missed writing for this pairing. I hope you enjoy it!

Leaning back on the armchair, Olivia’s eyes rest on Damien over the rim of the mug and she can’t help but smile at the sight of him holding their newborn baby. Never in her life she thought her heart could overflow with this much joy and love, yet her love seems to multiply daily, and her only desire is to drink in the perfection of this moment.

Amalia’s head, a mess of black hair, leaned up on his shoulder, he swayed gently from side to side in a little dance around the quiet living room. This time, there were no tears welling up in his eyes like the first dozens of times he held her in the hospital, which totally ruined his cool and mysterious vibe – not that Olivia still bought that act after all the years they’ve known each other, but she made sure to tell him that and for once there was no quick-witted comeback –, only that soft and affectionate smile, still a little dazzled by this tiny creature that somehow looks like neither of them but has so much of them both, Damien’s eyes and chin, her nose and hair, but the toothless smile is exclusively Amalia’s.

The years have made him soft, he said once. Olivia knows the truth: he’s always been soft in the inside.

Now this kindhearted man has become an amazing father, being present in every moment since those two blue lines appeared on that stick. While she was happy, but terrified, laughing and crying at the same time, everything suddenly becoming so real and overwhelming, his touch and words grounded her.

"You made me the happiest man alive," he said then and picked her up and swiveled with such giddiness that for a second she thought it was impossible for them to ever be any happier than in that moment, yet here they are: even happier. Despite the exhaustion and sleepless nights, they are fortunate and the happiest they have ever been. Any smile of her makes it all worth it, and the way she grabbed their fingers with her tiny hand just steals their breaths away.

Olivia is not an overthinker, on the contrary, but her mind works in mysterious ways these days and she can already envision him and Amalia bonding over the years, Damien recording her first steps, singing in her first birthday, crying on her first day of kindergarten if she doesn’t look back at him before going inside – though, no matter what she says, to be honest, they’ll both cry if she decides to be too independent too soon – and all those little moments that will follow, like teaching her to play soccer or braiding her hair or walking her to school. She can also envision Amalia with a sibling, Damien holding them both in his arms, maybe a little boy, maybe more girls… they always talked about having a big family and he is already used to being bossed around by a bunch of loud girls. He’d thrive being the father of two or three girls, maybe they will need a bigger apartment soon or perhaps a house of their own. The idea of a house has been worming its way into her mind lately. They could get a dog and have a spare room to have guests over. They could host barbecues in the yard, and Nadia would paint the kids’ faces and teach them to skate; Steve could prepare delicious sweets; Sloane could help braid Amalia’s hair and teach her about the constellations; and Hayden could bring Dipper and they could all play games.

Thinking about this, she’s so proud that they took that first step years ago, fighting fear and awkwardness to bring to light the love they tried to hide for too long.

From across the room, Damien meets her eyes. He tries to read her expression behind the steam raising from the mug and mouths a silent “What?” to not disturb the baby yawning against his shoulder.

“I love you,” she mouths back at him, and he beams. Despite the dark circle under his eyes, his whole face glows.

“I love you too,” he whispers, and kisses the top of Amalia’s head.

The future doesn’t scare her, because she knows Damien will always be by her side and they can accomplish anything together. Being a family is no longer a dream, and she will cherish like a treasure Amalia and all the babies they might still have.

.............…………………………………………….........

Send me an ask - Domestic headcanons

#ask box!#choices headcanons #playchoices #damien nazario x mc #damien nazario #perfect match fanfic #choices fanfic #parenting #parenting hc #otp: damien x olivia #damien x olivia hc

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luzeliza29 · 4 years

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Chapter 4 of Obsidian

The heavy afternoon sun was high in the sky as Amalia and the man stepped out of the forest. The sight of their horses was a welcome sight to Amalia. After escaping the Ilele, they both had walked tiredly out of the forest, the silence between them filled with the sound of crunching leaves underneath their feet and the sound of birds, yet no tinkling bells.

The man bowed deeply when they reached the forest’s edge. “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s anything I could possibly do to thank for saving my life. Hell, I think you saved not just my life but my soul as well.”

Amalia gave the man a weary smile. “You’re welcome. Honestly, though, I wasn’t even sure how to defeat it, it was mostly lucky intuition that we survived.”

She untied her horse and prepared for travel once again.

The man got down on one knee and took her hand in his. “If you will have me, I will be at your service until you feel that my life debt to you is repaid. It is my honor and duty to do so for such a brave woman such as yourself”

For a moment Amalia thought the man was joking until she saw the complete seriousness in his eyes and realized that this young man was absolutely serious about binding himself into her service.

She laughed a little. “You don’t have to do that. I admire your adherence to honor, but I’m not royalty. I’m just a woman and your thanks are enough for me.” She turned to get on her horse. “You and I can go our separate ways now.” With a joking smile, she told him, “just be careful next time. And if you see a woman dancing and singing in the middle of the forest, maybe you should assume that she probably just wants to eat you.”

“At least let me escort you to the next town over. That is, if you wouldn’t mind the company for such a short while” the man said.

With the reins in her hands, she looked at him with a slight half-smile. “I suppose not. I’ve been traveling alone for a while now. I wouldn’t mind a little company.” She extended her hand to him “My name is Amalia.”

He shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amalia. My name is Nathaniel Sewell. But you can call me Nate.”

They set out on their horses and onto the winding road before them. The rays of sunlight shining in between the trees have the woodlands around her a feeling of ethereal beauty.

Amalia thought back to the Trisgol she saw earlier. Was this what it was warning her about? The Ilele? No, that didn’t feel right. The impression she was left with was of something even more terrible, something that ran chills up her spine in uneasiness. She had hoped that everything was going to be okay now, but she still felt like something was…. off. She felt as if something else, something worse was waiting for her, and she had no other choice than to keep going and face it. She glanced at Nate. Was it him? She didn’t think so either. However, she felt curious to know more about Nate. He certainly wasn’t a normal man, she felt sure he had some magic inside of him also.

“So, Nate tell me where you’re heading. You seem like a seasoned traveler to me. Like someone who’s seen a thing or two” Amalia asked.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve spent quite a few years of my life traveling and exploring. Done some things. Met some interesting people I suppose. I’ve realized that the world I grew up in is so much more… interesting…. then I thought it was, but in the end, I suppose I’m just trying to find myself and maybe get some answers”

“Have you got any stories? Any tales of daring adventures” she asked.

He chuckled. “Maybe a few. Perhaps more than a few.”

“ I used to sail in my younger years. And it was really amazing. Amazing and terrifying. The ocean’s this endless expanse of unknown territory. One time, my crewmates and I were just doing some regulatory work patrolling the sea and we this shimmer in the water far off. It was coming towards us and we were all kind of hoped it’d be some sort of mermaid, the ones in the stories. ” The man’s face looked forward wistfully. “Alas, I couldn’t have been more wrong”

“Something worse, I’m guessing”

“Unfortunately, yes. While we were waiting the captain told us to ready the harpoon. Turns out it was this gigantic sea serpent. It rose up from the water like a shining metal tower. And when it opened its mouth you could see that it had row upon row of sharp teeth. I was scared shitless, but my captain, he was no stranger to this particular sea serpent.”

“We took a harpoon and we hurled it at the great beast. My captain was so crazily nonchalant about the whole thing though. He was smoking his cigar the entire time”

Amalia laughed. “He sounds like quite the man.”

“He was one of the best men I’ve ever met. Anyways we shot that massive serpent again and it crashed down back in the water again. I was amazed and we were all ready to break out the ale as a celebration, but my captain told us that we had haul our asses away from here because we had only just killed a baby serpent and the mom was going to come after us if we didn’t get away fast enough.”

“That’s insane”

“I couldn’t believe it either, but we got away as quickly as we could and back to land. My rookie self got used to all the craziness on the open sea. Eventually. And believe it or not, I’ve seen worse.”

“Do you miss it? It sounds like you enjoyed it.” Amalia asked.

“Sometimes, but I left it all behind.”

Amalia wondered why, but she didn’t want to press on what seemed like a sensitive subject.

“And what about you? You seem just as much of a traveler as me.”

“I suppose you could say I’m a researcher and I’m always looking for answers. The world is so much more than what we can see.” She rolled up her sleeves and showed him her tattoos. “These” She pointed to her tattoos. “they let me sense the world around me and channel some of that energy, some may even call it magic.”

“That’s amazing”

“Do you want me to show you? Give me your hand” They stopped their horse, and she took his hand in hers, their palms pressed together.

“Don’t be scared.” She looked up at him, her eyes glowing completely white. “I can sense magic inside of you too.” She could feel a swell of emotion inside of him too. She could feel his confusion, his hopelessness, and his anger. It felt at odds with his caring demeanor. She looked at his brown eyes and the smile lines on his face and saw a very caring man.

“Magic. Like black magic?” He said. She noted the sound of worry in his voice.

The light from her tattoos extended into Nate’s skin, tracing his skin in lines of light that ran along his body. “You’re quite a curious person, you know. But you’re not evil or bad.”

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“The type of magic I use allows me to connect to others. It’s not like what witches do, so please don’t burn me at the stake. It’s like an extra sense. Kind of akin to a metal conductor, but I conduct magical energy.”

“What you can do is amazing. Is that how you were able to revive me? By conducting the magic inside of me?”

“In a way, yes. I used my own magic and, in a way, flooded your system with my own energy because the Ilele fed off of the energy inside of you. Some, like you, possess more magic than others. Normal humans probably wouldn’t have survived as long as you. Their death would’ve been immediate. I bet that Ilele was going to feed off you for much longer than a normal human”

“You can tell? You know what I am?”

She could see his eyes twinged with fear. He was really quite a curious man, especially for a vampire. Most vampires weren’t as nice. What a curious man you are, she thought.

“That you’re a vampire? I’ve met others like you.”

“Some vampires are good, others bad. You’re quite a contradiction. I can sense you fighting within yourself.”

“I know what I am and I…..I…..I just want to be normal again,” he said.

“I don’t know of any cure to vampirism. I’m sorry.”

Nate looked crestfallen. That moment of hope was gone now.

He sighed. “I didn’t want to be this way. It was forced upon me. This insipid curse. That’s why I left. That’s why I’m here. I want answers. I need answers or at least something to let me know that there’s at least some good to being this way.”

“I have to admit, most of the vampires that I’ve met haven’t been as…..erm….nice as you. But there was one that my family and I had met. She was quite ancient, but she wasn’t evil. She decided for herself what type of person, what type of vampire she wanted to be.” She squeezed his hand. “You know, just because you have magic flowing through your blood now doesn’t mean you’re a monster. I’ve met monsters before, trust me. Both human and nonhuman. They’re monsters because they don’t have love or compassion, or they choose to reject their humanity. You can choose.”

“I try, but I’m afraid one day I’ll just give up and become the monster so many people like me have become. I just need to know if there’s an end to this curse. Anything.”

Amalia knew that there were some people in Budapest, people like her parents and her that could perhaps offer Nate some more information on vampirism. Perhaps even her parents might even be able to offer him some answers. She knew there were other Solomonari people in Budapest, one’s whose knowledge and experience of the world and magic far exceeded her own. She contemplated for a moment if whether she should help him on his quest for answers and let him accompany her, at least for a short while, on her journey. He seemed desperate for answers. She still sensed danger coming her way. But there was no harm in just letting him travel with her to Budapest, right?

“There are other people like me, who are far more knowledgeable and might be able to offer you the information you seek. I can take you to meet them and they can help you.”

He looked up at her hopefully. “Really? You would do that?”

She nodded hesitantly. “Yes. We’ll have to travel to Budapest though.”

“Anything’s fine with me. I’ll be the best traveling companion you’ll ever have. He smiled. “At your service, you’re majesty.”

Amalia rolled her eyes. “You’re quite a dramatic vampire, aren’t you? A little bit of a hopeless romantic? Or are you going for a chivalrous knight-in-shining-armor type?”

He grinned. “Both” His smile widened. “I can even sing. How ‘bout it? Are you up for a little song?”

“Not really”

“I’ve been told my voice can enchant even the most stubborn of maidens.”

“I thought you were supposed in my service as my humble traveling companion.”

“Just one song?” He looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

She looked at his brown eyes, full of amusement and teasing sadness.

“Fine”

With a dramatic breath, Nate broke out into a chorus of singing:

There once was an old man named Bill

And oh boy, was Bill feeling ill

People asks him “why so down?”

Ain’t got no topsy-turvy turn around?

He paused for a moment and grinning at her said, “Unfortunately………all the songs I know are old sea shanties. Don’t mind the lyrics though.”

To his reply, he says to them

Ain’t gonna get ‘em

Oh poor Bill

Feeling so ill,

Cause he got no chum

To give him some bum

Chum said not today

Cause’ other bums need some fun

But, oh boy that’s all he needs.

Poor Billy Bill Bum Chummy Chum Chum ain’t got no Bum.

Amalia rolled her eyes, but she felt a smile tugging at her lips. He did have a good voice, after all.

With that they set about the winding forest road and onto the next town, Nate’s bawdy voice ringing out into the forest.

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