#alyssa mianite

[chiangyorange]

hey why s2 got the messiest worstest terrible awful fucked up compelling tangled dirty filthy complex nasty ass family drama ever. mianite was killed by his father using his mother's sword. how fucked up is that. hey do you know how fucked up that is. hey. hey wake up h

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Thirteen - Something There

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

As winter’s first snow began to fall, there was a very different atmosphere in the castle than there had been since the curse had begun. Though the days were growing shorter and colder, there was a certain brightness to the building that it had completely lacked in the years since they have all been transformed – and arguably that it had for years before that. Now though, something none of them had thought possible had happened. An uncursed person had come to the castle, and after seemingly all hope had been lost, she’d returned of her own free will. It seemed impossible, no one in their right mind should’ve returned to this place when they had the opportunity to return to their regular life.

She was the very hope that they needed to break the curse. They had known that since her initial arrival, but now it truly seemed that despite all the odds, there was truly a possibility of her doing so. That wasn’t to say that any actual courtship was taking place, much to the chagrin of Tom who still found the idea of this being a time-consuming affair beyond frustrating. However, what it was clear and simply to say was that Capsize had had a positive impact on the Beast. Or rather she’d had a positive effect on Sonja – as the cursed woman had finally allowed herself to be called by her name again.

It had been years since she had used her true name. It was only a few weeks after the curse began that she had started to lash out at anyone using it. It would be an understatement to say it was surprising to hear the name being spoken by Capsize. It still felt ever so slightly wrong to hear it being used after so long of it being forbidden, but everyone supposed that it took longer than a few days to get used to such changes. Honestly, everyone was quite lost as to what had happened that night when Capsize had fled then returned with an injured Beast in tow. What they did know, however, was that whatever had taken place between the two, it had brought a lightness to the whole building.

There was still a certain awkwardness in the interactions between the two. Though the fact that the two were interacting civically – not yelling through a locked door or avoiding each other entirely – seemed to be a miracle itself. Still, neither seemed quite sure of how to interact with the other. Capsize was, for her part, glad to no longer feel like she had to sneak around the place to avoid her… host? Calling her a capturer or anything of the like felt wrong now she had willingly returned to this place, but that left her unsure precisely how to describe her. Regardless, it was nice that she finally felt free to truly explore, even if she’d had to take that endeavour quite slowly.

As it turned out, the fall she had taken during her encounter with the wolves had been as bad for her leg as she had feared. The walk back certainly hadn’t helped either. Thankfully, it stopped being actively painful that same night, and the pain as she walked was steadily reducing. That meant, at least from her own experience, that she likely hadn’t done any further permanent damage. However, she was also more than aware that she did need to rest. So, she had been doing just that, while doing her best to hide that she had injured herself in the first place. She couldn’t help but wonder if hiding such a thing was illogical, but there was a pact of her – as there had been since she had been injured in the first place – embarrassed that she had to rest at all.

Sonja, meanwhile, was rather nervous about interacting with her. It was an odd emotion to see on the Beast. She had not been particularly delicate since the curse, mostly due to how she never quite got used to her own strength in this form. Yet, here she was, not sneaking around per say, but certainly being far more careful with her own movement than she ever had before. All in the effort to not run into Capsize. Not that she was hiding from her. Truth be told, Sonja just had no idea how she was meant to interact with the woman.

It had been so long since she had interacted with anyone without a base of anger. And she didn’t want to interact with anyone, particularly not Capsize, in anger anymore. Yet, lashing out had been her primary way of interacting with everyone for years now. She worried that she had completely forgotten how to interact otherwise. So, despite how she did truly want to get to know her, she found herself avoiding Capsize for quite a few days after their return. That was until today.

She hadn’t started the day intending to spend any time with Capsize. It was just, well, Tom had mentioned that she had been less active since her return and – after getting confirmation that this was true from some of the others – she just wanted to make sure she was okay. She wouldn’t call it worry, even if in reality that’s exactly what the emotion she felt was. Sonja would rather have called the emotion guilt, because if she had been injured, it would be entirely her fault. She had scared her enough to cause her to flee out into the woods, any injuries she had because of that were therefore her fault. And since Capsize had tended to her injury, it was only right that she made sure she hadn’t been injured in the encounter.

It took far more time to build up the courage than she cared to admit to knock on her door. However, regardless of how long it took, she still wound up standing in the woman’s room feeling extremely self-aware of herself. Said feeling, however, was forgotten, though only as it was instead covered with guilt as she realised that Capsize had indeed been injured that night.

“If you got injured so badly it still hurts now, you should’ve said something. I—”

“There was nothing to say. My leg being injured isn’t exactly news. Besides, it doesn’t ache anymore. No more than it normally does, anyway,” Capsize spoke almost flippantly, just baring looking up from her book. Her leg aching was, for better or worse, just a fact she was used to now. However, her words caused a soft frown graced Sonja’s features, and she remembered how short a time she had actually been here for. A few days ago, she would’ve reminded herself that she didn’t owe her any grace, but now? Her own features soften at the expression.

She seemed genuinely considered. That wasn’t something Capsize was particularly used to. It wasn’t as if her life had been completely devoid of those feeling concern for her. Redbeard obviously did. So did Jeriah, though he hid it better. And before Ianite had gone completely silent she too had shared such feelings. However, it felt different from Sonja, though the reason why was intangible to her. Being unable to explain such a thing felt strange in itself. Still, she swallowed down her defensiveness, closing her book and placing it on her knee. “I… Look – I promise you – I know my own limits. My leg wasn’t a pressing concern, and your arm was. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Obviously I’m—” Sonja stopped herself from speaking as she could hear her own tone turning argumentative. She didn’t even want to argue with Capsize, but it couldn’t define what the emotion she was feeling actually was. She trusted her judgement on her own injuries – obviously she did – but that didn’t stop her from disliking how dismissive she seemed about herself being injured in the first place. She was acting as if someone being worried was a problem.

It left Sonja more worried, now frustratingly about things that she could never know as she couldn’t help but wonder. Had the people in the town truly been so disinterested in her? Capsize had admitted herself that she had little love for the place, but Sonja had no idea if they had been the cause of her self-dismissive attitude. It was too large an assumption for her to make but also the sort of thing she knew she shouldn’t question, as much as her thoughts were desperately unhappy with the idea that Capsize seemed almost dismissive of herself being important. Even if it was appropriate to question, she certainly didn’t have the words to express any of the thoughts she wanted to. So instead, she responded as she assumed Capsize wanted her to. “You’re definitely fine?”

“As fine as I’m ever going to be,” Capsize said with a smile, attempting to sound reassuring. However, though unintentionally, her words felt uncomfortable in her own head. She hadn’t meant that, had she? She still had recovery to do. After all, that’s why herself and Redbeard had been staying in the town, because she could still recover more. These thoughts quickly became overwhelming, almost feeling painful as they scratched her mind. No, she couldn’t sit around doing this. She needed a real distraction.

She fumbled a little while standing up as she tried to move her book off her legs at the same time as she grabbed her cane. What was normally second nature to her became tangled and messy as she felt so overwhelmed and flustered by her own thoughts. She almost fell. She certainly stumbled, but before she could do anything more, a paw caught her.

It was the first time Sonja had really touched her since the first night. When she had grabbed her from behind and been promptly met with an elbow to the face. She fully expected Capsize to flinch away from her, but the opposite happened. The grip on her arm tightened and she was, at least for a few moments, fully supporting her. In these moments, they stood closer than they ever had before. A fact that Sonja was all too aware of as Capsize steadied herself with her support. And it made her all the more nervous as she worried that she could hear her heart beating wildly.

When Capsize finally stepped away, the woman looking down with pinked tinged cheeks, Sonja stood unsure of precisely what she was meant to do. Should she leave? It seemed that Capsize was preparing herself to, and she couldn’t imagine that she would want her to stay as company. However, despite that thought attempting to stick itself fast in her head, it wavered as she was looked up at with a smile. A small, somewhat embarrassed smile, but certainly a smile, nonetheless.

“Would you like to come with me on a walk?” She asked, trying to be as polite as she could. She had absolutely no idea if she expected Sonja to agree, after all she still felt more than a little unsure on where the two stood. She hoped that she would, though.

In some ways, learning her name had felt like a new start for the two. Capsize’s reason for being at the castle in the first place certainly wasn’t ready to leave her mind, but there was a difference in how she currently felt about Sonja versus how she had felt about the Beast. They were one in the same. She knew that. Yet, before she had been cruel, seemingly deliberately so. And now, well, she wasn’t sure of the word she’d now use to describe Sonja, but cruel certainly wasn’t it. She felt safe in her presence now, that itself was enough to mark the change in how she felt.

“I--! Do I--?” Sonja stumbled over her answer as she found herself dumbfounded by the invitation. Capsize actually wanted to spend time with her? It felt beyond unbelievable, though she certainly couldn’t refuse. Not only would Tom end up talking her ear off for hours if she even thought about avoiding an opportunity to move the curse breaking along, but she wanted to spend time with her.

She knew the pressing need to court her so the curse could be broken, she could never forget that, but that was not where her thoughts were ever focused when it came to Capsize. Yes, she wouldn’t have allowed her to stay in the first place if she couldn’t see the possibility, but putting in such a way felt reductive. If she had to put her thoughts into any sort of simple answer, it would be that she was fascinated by her. That was the sort of statement that she was certain would get her told off by someone – likely Martha – for not being an appropriate way to talk about a person, though she meant no offence by it. It was just, she had never met someone who interacted with her like she did.

It was like they were truly equals. Obviously, she’d meant people who were her equals and spoke to her as such. However – and again she could almost hear Martha and Mot chiding her about appropriate ways to talk about people – Capsize wasn’t her equal. Not in terms of class anyway. However, that had never affected how Capsize had spoken to her. And that felt so refreshing to Sonja. She wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. “Yes, I’d love to. Where did you want to go?”

“Just around the gardens. I haven’t really looked around any of the grounds yet,” Capsize said. She hadn’t explored most of the castle. The place was so large that she was sure that would be true for the foreseeable future. The beginning of the year’s snowfall, however, had gotten her curious about the grounds as the plant life hadn’t dulled in the slightest.

She’d been interested since her first night about investigating the magic in this place as she hoped that learning more about it would help her understand some of her recurring questions. The problem with this was that while magic was so clearly soaked into the very foundations of the castle, the obvious sights of enchantments she was used to were hidden. The only obvious signs of magic she had seen were when she was exploring the West Wing. The scrawlings, the trinkets, and that odd glowing rose, but she definitely wasn’t planning to re-enter that place anytime soon.

So, exploring the gardens with the unnaturally hardy plant life it was.

“Yes, that sounds…” Sonja trailed off as she watched her begin to grab and put on some outerwear. The cloak, the same one that she had worn the night she arrived, still looked far too much like the one that the disguised goddess had worn for her taste. Even so, that was not the reason that she had lost her train of thought. The reason for that was the red scarf she was tying around her neck. She had been wearing clothes that had belonged to the others prior to the curse. That was likely unavoidable as Capsize needed to wear clothes and these were the only ones available. It wasn’t as if Capsize was doing anything wrong, but that didn’t stop the melancholy that came from seeing her wearing Mot’s scarf. If she hadn’t been so terrible, he would still be able to wear it himself. Just another reason, however tiny, that she needed to fix things. She realised that she was staring, and that she actually needed to finish her sentence. “That sounds great. After you.”

They walked side by side through the halls, a comfortable quiet between them. Capsize found herself unable to ignore the differences she had been noticing in the Beast beside her since she had become Sonja. Obviously, she hadn’t physically changed, that wasn’t something that generally happened at least as far as she was aware, but she just had a different air about her. She seemed happier.

That was the way that Capsize saw it anyway. While this was the first time they had properly interacted since her return, Sonja hadn’t been completely hidden away in the West Wing as she had been for nearly the whole time before. She had been wearing clothes that weren’t in complete tatters and Capsize couldn’t help but wonder why she had been avoiding wearing the clothes she currently had on. She didn’t have an eye for fashion, but she could tell that the clothes were tailored for her, and she looked nice in them. That thought flitted around her head for a little while, as she tried to excuse that she had thought it. She was simply thinking about the design and craftsmanship of the clothes, she decided. In turn, she tried to ignore the fact that thinking about Sonja looking nice brought a certain warmth to her cheeks. She was just observing, that was a normal enough thing to do. And she didn’t have much time to linger on said thoughts as they arrived outside.

Capsize looked around, just trying to take it all in. The gardens, though undeniably overgrown, looked more welcoming in the daylight than they did at night. The snow was still falling, though only gently now. Enough had fallen in the night to leave everything with a thin coating. The roses were still in full bloom, their deep red petals still clear under the white. Undeniably it was beautiful, almost something like a scene that would be described in a book.

Yet, despite the beauty, Capsize’s steps outside were hesitant and careful. She knew how easily she could slip and fall. Snow looked nice, she couldn’t deny that, but it hid ice and frankly she hadn’t ever had the best opinion about the stuff. Back on the ship it had been a nuisance, something that made them have to be more careful with every action as the elements were always dangerous out on the waters if unprepared for them. In the town it certainly hadn’t posed the same danger, but when any fall could mean a setback in an already agonisingly slow recovery, ice went from a mere annoyance to something she’d call a nemesis if it wasn’t so embarrassing.

Sonja, now a few steps ahead of her, turned back to see Capsize’s hesitation. She was at first confused, before remembering that of course she was hesitant. It had been so long since there had been someone that didn’t know all the enchantments of the castle, it was almost strange to have it click in her head that she needed to explain any of them. She’d been stuck in this castle for so long, consumed by the very concept of magic for even longer, that she’d honestly forgotten that the magic she had done all those years ago was not commonplace in the wider world. She had been stuck in her own world for far longer than the curse had forced it, hadn’t she? Trying to ignore that slightly harrowing thought, she smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“You don’t need to worry about slipping. Not because of ice anyway,” She started, taking a step back towards Capsize in case she wanted physical support. She still didn’t move with any confidence, though the fact Sonja would be there to catch her was a little comforting, she supposed. She did want to trust her, obviously she did, but… her own thoughts felt stuck. Seeing her hesitance still present, she continued. “The path is enchanted – ice can’t form on it. All the beauty of winter without any of the inconvenience.”

“That’s…” Capsize hesitated to describe it as she didn’t feel like she actually had the words too. Sure, it technically wasn’t any different from the rest of the magic she had been experiencing in the castle. Much like all the enchantments, it was frankly basic compared to living furniture with full personalities, but the idea of it was just so curious to her.

She took a few steps forward, still testing the ground. It took a good number more before she actually allowed herself to fully trust what she had been told and walk as she normally would. Doing so when she could feel snow crunching under her boots felt odd, but she saw no reason for Sonja to have lied. Her confidence only grew the more steps she took without finding ice under foot or cane. Finally, her thoughts settled enough that she was no longer worrying about slipping and could focus on other things. “It’s great! This whole place, it’s…”

She paused briefly as a new question began prickling.

“Did you used to host guests?”

“Huh? Why do you ask?” Sonja had no idea where the question had come from, which left her with little idea of how to answer it. She could, of course, lie. It would almost certainly be better to lie. If Capsize learnt of the curse, everything would be over before it ever began. The best way to avoid such a fate was to lie and pretend she had always been a beast and everyone else in the castle had always been furniture. It was, without a doubt, for the best. However, she didn’t want to lie. It just felt so unbelievably wrong. So, she had to instead ask the question of what parts of the truth she could tell. And in order to do that, she needed to know why the question had been asked in the first place. Capsize looked up at her with a small but sure smile.

“I can’t see another reason for such an enchantment. You certainly don’t have anything to worry about with ice, and everyone else here who could come outside is small enough that snow would bother them just as much as ice. So, there must have been other people here at some point,” She spoke with a small amount of confidence that she had worked something out. Even if she found it odd.

In her first few days here, though she’d found more friendship than she had in the past few years, it was impossible to ignore the profound loneliness that permeated the whole building. It felt lost to time, as if frozen in one terrible moment. Though maybe that was just her brain being lost in the stories she had clung to for the past couple of years. What really confused her about that feeling though, about her sureness that human life had not touched the building in years, was that so much of the magic of this place was clearly designed for people. Not to say that those living in the castle weren’t people, she’d never say that, but they certainly wouldn’t benefit from things like a lack of ice and enchanted keys they had no way of turning in the first place. So, logically, there had to have been a time that the castle took guests. As much as that idea seemed so against her original impression of the building and its mistress.

“Yes, I hosted guests once… When I was younger, there were always so many people here. The whole place was always alive,” Sonja said, unable to stop the smile beginning to form on her face despite how bittersweet the memories felt. She had spent so long feeling spiteful about her previous life as she hated what she had become, but as she remembered the happy times, they were all so long before the curse had even begun. Memories from back when she was young enough to be a kid having fun rather than a teen filled with the need to feel superior by just learning more than anyone else possibly could. And it was a thought that she couldn’t really tell Capsize, not all that she wanted to anyway, but she could tell her some of it. “But I got older. Became withdrawn and angry and… people just forgot about this place.”

“That’s a terrible shame. This place is so magical, I wouldn’t think anyone could forget about it…” She trailed off as she realised that despite her words there was a tingling feeling in her head about the idea of forgetting this place, or maybe just forgetting in general. She still didn’t understand she hadn’t heard of this place when it was so close to the town. Why it wasn’t on any maps despite there being a road leading here. As with so many of her questions about memories these days, thinking about it made her head feel wrong.

Capsize’s words caused a cold pang in Sonja’s chest. Them being left forgotten was a part of the curse, that much was beyond clear, though she had absolutely no idea why. Frankly, it felt unfair. How was she meant to have someone fall in love with her if no one remembered where this place was? It seemed a miracle that anyone had shown up at all – let alone someone who she felt she could fall in love with. So, what had the goddess intended? Kidnapping someone from the town? She hoped not, though she was not exactly in the business of giving Lady Ianite the benefit of the doubt. The question wouldn’t stop pestering her, but as she watched Capsize, it at least quieted.

Capsize began to examine the overgrown gardens, a clear level of delight in her eyes. Sonja just couldn't help but smile as she watched her. She had walked up to one of the rose bushes and was examining one of the flowers. Her fingers carefully pushed apart the petals, so curious to see if she would see Ianite’s symbol on them as it had been on the glowing rose. She didn’t. For all appearances, it was a completely normal rose. Though a completely normal rose wouldn’t be in full bloom in winter. She couldn’t understand what magic the cause of it could be.

“You like roses, don’t you?” Sonja asked as she saw the way that Capsize was looking at the flower, though she phrased her words far more like a question than she intended. Her brother had taken a rose for her, that only really made sense if she liked them. Yet Capsize laughed. A laugh that was so filled with relief as she finally felt free from the moment that had left her so entangled with roses in the first place.

“No! Oh gods, no, I hate them!” She turned to face Sonja with an uncontrollable smile on her face as she just felt so relieved to finally be able to say those words. It was odd. It wasn’t as if she would have ever been in trouble for a preference, but she’d never really felt like she could admit such a thing before. It would’ve just been misconstrued, would’ve been made about him. To be fair, it was about him, but she’d never have to deal with him again. Realising that she now had nothing to worry about on that front felt like an impossible weight had been lifted from her. She felt almost childish just how free, how giddy, she felt from this revelation.

Sonja’s eyebrows bunched together, her ears pressing down against her head as she tried to make sense of her reaction. And Capsize noticed this, her own emotions tempering slightly as realised some kind of explanation was probably in order. “I mean they’re pretty, I can’t deny that, but… I was stupid. There was a man in town, he would never leave me alone. And he was well-liked and respected so I couldn’t tell him to leave me alone either. So, I gave him a rose with his name spelt wrong on the gift card thinking, mostly just hoping, that he’d realise I wasn’t interested. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t get him to go away.”

“Well, he sounds awful,” Sonja muttered, glad she’d never have to meet the man she was talking about. There was disdain in Capsize’s voice, definitely suppressed but not quite hidden. How could Sonja not dislike him? Though she was glad that Capsize smiled at least a little as she spoke. If her words could provide any comfort at all, she was doing something right. Seeing her smile, thinking of her words, Sonja thought to add. “I don’t like roses either.”

“You don’t like them? Then why are the grounds overrun with them?” Capsize asked, laughing slightly, almost unable to believe the words. She was stood surrounded by rose bushes, it seemed unbelievable that the mistress of the castle could dislike them. However, nothing about the castle was particularly usual. So perhaps it was just another oddity of this place. She couldn’t read the expression on Sonja’s face at her reaction, couldn’t tell if she had accidentally offended her, though she truly hoped that she hadn’t.

This was intentional by Sonja, as she knew she had to hide the actual reason for the roses being present. Capsize couldn’t learn that it was a part of a mocking curse from the very goddess she followed, but she still needed and wanted to tell her something. She didn’t want to keep her own life hidden from her. And, for a more current concern, she didn’t want a silence to fall and Capsize to believe she had done something wrong.

“I refused a rose once from an old woman. The next day the bushes had invaded the garden,” She said, speaking no lies, but hiding far more of the truth than she would like. “I can’t get rid of them. I’ve tried.”

“You must have rejected some vengeful witch,” Capsize said, and Sonja laughed. If only she knew who she was actually talking about. She couldn’t tell her, and even if she could she’d hesitate to. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder: if she knew the truth, how would she react? Not wanting to dwell on such a question, she decided to get their attention away from the roses.

“There should still be other flowers here that aren’t roses if you’d like to see them,” She invited. Capsize perked up.

“If there are any, I’d like that,” She said with a gentle smile that spread across to Sonja’s features.

Sonja began to lead her through the gardens, trying her best to take them down the least overgrown path that she could. She knew the way through her gardens well enough, even in its overgrown and unkept state. It didn’t take her long to lead Capsize to the greenhouse.

The building, like most of the estate, was in disrepair. Ivy had grown over most of the structure, but Sonja found herself impressed that most of the windows were still intact. The building had enchantments of course, but she hadn’t come to visit it in so long that she hadn’t been sure that they were still active. Seeing that they were though, she found herself more optimistic about the survival of the plants inside.

Capsize found herself staring at the building. She’d seen one once before, when she was young. Her aunt had taken her to an estate… a memory that felt important but incredibly fuzzy as she attempted to recall it. That bothered her, as she distinctly felt like she should remember, that if she focused on it, she would remember. But the more she stared at the building in front of her, trying to see inside through the ivy, the more the memory faded away. There was the present to focus on, and that was following Sonja inside the glass building.

She couldn’t claim that she had ever been particularly interested in flowers, but still she couldn’t help but be filled with wonder at the sight as she entered. There were so many flowers, all in full bloom and in more colours than she had seen in one place before. She immediately moved further inside, eyes scanning over the countless plants and her mind thinking over the enchantments that must be placed on the building. Sonja found herself watching, unable to stop herself from smiling.

“Did you grow all of these?” Capsize asked as she began to gently run her fingers across leaves and petals, not yet having found any one flower to focus on.

Sonja shook her head, before quickly realising that she wasn’t being looked at so such an action communicated nothing. Despite how quickly she had done her unseen answer, she hesitated before giving an answer again. It was another situation where everything would be simpler if she lied. There would be far less questions from doing so. However, the young flowerpot already had enough complaints about her. She would not give her another one by taking claims for her work.

“No. This whole place is Alyssa’s work. She planted all of them. There used to not be a day where she couldn’t be found in here,” She said, hoping beyond hope that there wouldn’t be too many difficult follow up questions. She could still picture it, the young girl tending to the flowers with the same level of care she put into enchantments and research. Something she could no longer do in her current form, a state that Sonja knew she was solely her fault. “But it’s been pretty much abandoned for years now.”

“This is abandoned?” Capsize found herself shocked. Someone with an expertise in gardening, or really someone with any experience in it at all, would be able to see that the plants were overgrown and unruly. However, Capsize had no such experience. She’d spent the majority of her life on ships now having to worry about anything of the sort. Without thorns and brambles getting under her feet, she just saw beauty rather than overgrowth. And what a beautiful sight it was.

There were obviously questions. Namely, how a flowerpot with no arms could’ve possibly planted and tended to all these plants. It was the same sort of question she kept finding herself having. It kept happening, the questions about the living furniture. They didn’t make sense, not one bit. The questions danced around in her head. The ones that if she thought too much about, left a sickly feeling in her throat. There was a conclusion floating around, but it was one that she wasn’t ready to confront. So, instead, she focused on the flowers. “They’re all so beautiful.”

“You can take one, if you’d like. Alyssa always liked sharing them,” Sonja said. They were mostly planted for her magical experiments, but she did not use nearly as many as were planted. Seeing that Alyssa looked after the flowers, she had control over what happened to the rest of them. And that had resulted in flower crowns. Mot had barely ever been without one. Tom had been gifted a good number. Frankly, everyone had received one at some point even herself, though she had never worn it. She couldn’t imagine the flowerpot being annoyed at Capsize taking a flower.

“No, I couldn’t…” She said quietly. She struggled with the idea of just taking something without giving something back. It was silly at this moment, what could she possibly give given her now permanent residence here? However, it was difficult to shift her thoughts. Trading felt safe in a way that gifts didn’t. Still, despite her hesitation, she found herself transfixed by a small patch of orange lilies. She brushed a finger against a petal. It looked so beautiful.

Sonja walked to be next to her, so utterly aware of her size and strength as she reached towards the flower. Just be gentle. She kept repeating those words over and over as she needed to make sure not to destroy the extremely fragile flower. She was so sure if she didn’t keep concentrating it would end up ruined. But thankfully, she didn’t break the flower. She plucked one of the lilies and it remained as beautiful as it had been on the plant.

She offered it to Capsize, who hesitated to actually take it from her, but Sonja smiled.

“If it’ll make you happy, you should take it. It’s a gift and you deserve things that make you smile,” She said, avoiding actually meeting Capsize’s eyes as she didn’t quite feel brave enough to watch her expression. However, if she had been watching, she would’ve seen the blush-tinged smile that Capsize wore as she took the lily. She also missed the way that she was looked at with curiosity.

Capsize couldn’t help it. Sonja seemed so gentle when she certainly hadn’t before. She had been aggressive and frankly cruel, but now? Well, she was sweet. That thought was the main cause of her blushing, and she felt beyond glad that she was avoiding looking at her. Beyond everything though, she found herself looking at the flower with a small smile on her face.

“Thank you.”

The two spent the next few hours in the greenhouse, Sonja beginning to explain the various magical reasons that certain flowers were grown. Most of the explanations were baffling to Capsize, but she found herself intently listening to the passion that burned bright like a fire. By the time they returned to the castle proper, they were lost in conversation that would’ve – if a stranger had somehow been listening in – given the impression that the two were old friends.

The other residents of the castle spent the night in excitement, discussing in whispered tones how the two were actually getting along. Everyone, that was, except for Alyssa. She had been at first, though she had mostly been excited to learn that her greenhouse hadn’t been completely overrun by roses. However, when she had actually briefly seen the flower that Sonja had given Capsize, she’d ended up excusing herself. Andor had gone after her, worried that they’d picked a flower important to her. He actually found her laughing to herself.

“What’s funny?”

“Do you know flower meanings?”

“I can’t say I do.”

“Well, clearly neither do those two because orange lilies represent hatred.”

Needless to say, both decided to stay quiet about this fact and keep it to themselves. After all, the two were getting along. Even if the gift was particularly entertaining to Alyssa, she wasn’t about to ruin the moment for the two of them when the Beast seemed to finally be making some progress.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Sonja had been growing used to there once again being the sound of life in the castle. Though the curse had not removed those living here, everyone had become understandably more subdued as the years passed. However, since Capsize’s arrival, everyone seemed to be regaining the energy they once had. Sonja had found the same effect on herself, as she no longer felt like hiding herself away – not from those in the castle at least. So, it wasn’t surprising for her to be walking through the corridors of the castle in the daylight hours. Nor was it surprising to her to hear loud conversation flowing down the hall. She followed the conversation, and the increasing sound of laughter, until she reached the drawing room.

The scene she found was one she had grown quite used to seeing. Capsize was sat in an animated conversation with Tom. The two had very quickly become friends and it wasn’t uncommon for the two to be found laughing and discussing seemingly any topic under the sun. It was always nice to see. Even if some of Tom’s words she overheard always came a little too close to revealing the curse for her comfort. And, of course, she couldn’t say anything about it. Saying something there and then with Capsize listening would negate the very point she’d be trying to make, and if she tried to talk to him privately, he’d almost certainly just get more brazen with his words.

She didn’t know if he did it out of spite or just for entertainment, but it made her find herself on edge whenever she first entered a room where the two were having a conversation. Today was no different, though she relaxed a little when she saw the two weren’t alone. On a desk on the far side of the room was Mot. She had the brief hope that him being present would mean that Tom was being a little more careful with his words. Said hope was quickly dashed when she heard the next words that left Capsize’s mouth.

“I just don’t see why you’re so interested in the people in the town. You don’t know any of them,” Her tone was prodding, and she wore a smile that almost gave the impression that she knew the truth. Of course, she didn’t. Though she knew more than most in the castle would like her to. Capsize was quite sure, as she had been for quite some time, that there was something more to the enchanted furniture than they were attempting to let on. However, her current guesses as to their nature – as vague as they were as she didn’t know the magical theory that would be required to form any fully fledged theories with them – were distant from the truth. It wasn’t as if the hints of the actual truth weren’t there, but rather that the actual solution was one that her mind was actively avoiding.

Sonja did not know this, that Capsize was not about to figure out the truth in the next few moments. So, the cocky smile she saw worn by the candelabra was enough to make her nervous.

“I’m just always curious about people. You keep mentioning that you had a friend, so maybe I just want to learn about how someone in that place managed to actually have good taste,” He said, just about managing to keep his tone joking. It was more challenging than he’d expected. He was quite annoyed that his friends had quite so heavily bothered her, but he had to keep that hidden. Not only from Capsize, who couldn’t learn that he’d ever had a life outside of the castle, but from Mot and Sonja, as he wasn’t ready to have a conversation about the fact that Lady Ianite seemed to have let her champion turn into a horrible piece of work without any repercussions.

Obviously, he knew that it had been years, people were subject to change after so long, but he just struggled with the fact that they sounded so alien to him. It didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for breaking the curse, nothing could do that, but there was a certain badgering question in his mind that he hadn’t had before meeting Capsize. What were things going to be like once the curse was broken and they remembered him again?

However, that frustrating question actually had very little to do with what he was asking Capsize. Rather, he had a far, far stupider plan he was currently putting into motion. He’d started to have his suspicions as to who Capsize’s friend was, and he’d been biding his time for the reveal. This was entirely because he wanted Mot in the room when she said it. If he was right about this – and gods, he hoped he was right – his reaction was going to be golden.

“Plus, if he’s friends with you and I’m friends with you, then he’s pretty much also my friend too.”

“He’d want you out of his house the moment you started talking,” Capsize said, unable to hold back a snort of laughter just thinking of the two trying to interact. While she certainly got along with both, she just couldn't picture either being able to stand the other. Tom wasn’t offended by her reaction. In fact, he was quite pleased by it as it was exactly the reaction he expected to get. He was right! He was completely sure he was right. “You’d annoy each other to no end.”

“Right. You said he was the town misanthrope or something like that,” Tom said as if he hadn’t been intently listening to every detail Capsize told him about the town. His loud, slightly flippant words were more than enough to properly catch Mot’s attention. He recognised that description. They caught Sonja’s attention too, though for a different reason to Mot as she had never actually been to the town and certainly didn’t know anyone of the description. She just liked hearing about Capsize’s life.

For her part, Capsize rolled her eyes. She could tell that Tom was trying to make some kind of point – though she had absolutely no idea what said point was. So, she just continued her conversation as if she didn’t have such a feeling.

“No, I said everyone acts like he’s the town misanthrope. I think Jeriah’s social enough, he just needs to be interacting with the right person which unfortunately would not be you,” She said with sureness and a slight joking tone to her last few words. While he could occasionally be gruff, she found that he was far more pleasant than anyone else in town. Frankly given how the townsfolk treated people who were different, she couldn’t blame the man for being so standoffish to them all. She didn’t really expect any reactions to her words other than perhaps Tom pouting. She certainly didn’t expect the reaction that did come.

Mot could not stop the half-strangled choke from escaping him. He wanted to assume he was hearing things, even though he knew that had heard her perfectly well. How on earth were they friends? Why was she friends with the world’s most boring man? Actually, why was Jeriah even still in town? As far as Mot was aware, the grumpy sod was only around in the first place as a favour to Conway, keeping an eye on Andor and Martha. With the curse having, for all intents and purposes, erased the two, why on earth would he have stuck around?

“Are you alright?” Capsize asked, not quite sure if her words were actually connected to his reaction. Though there was a curiosity that she could not hide as another layer was added to the ever-growing mystery in her head. It was a somewhat ridiculous notion that Mot knew Jeriah, but it was also the only idea that her brain could come to. Even so, she couldn’t exactly reason her way into Jeriah knowing enchanted furniture. More likely, she was just a little too lost in worlds of fantasy.

“I’m fine,” Mot said in an attempt to reassure and stop any possible question, but he sounded distinctly otherwise. It wasn’t as if he had caused himself any trouble with breathing. However, he was stuck without any real explanation for his reaction. He was a damn box. He couldn’t exactly say something was just stuck in his throat. He absolutely needed to explain it in a way that stopped her thinking he knew who Jeriah was. But how exactly he was meant to do that was beyond him. He desperately racked his brain for any words.

Surely there must be something he could say that could make his reaction seem normal. His mind was completely blank. He was going to kill Tom for this.

“So, how did you meet him?” Sonja spoke before Mot could come up with anything, drawing Capsize’s attention over to her. She questioned so softly, almost scared that her words would otherwise come off offensive. She was curious about Capsize’s friend as she was curious about every aspect of her life. She didn’t particularly understand Mot’s reaction. She supposed he must have met the man at some point prior to the curse. If she thought hard enough, she could vaguely remember him complaining about the man. Though she wasn’t wholly sure it was the same person and that she wasn’t just filling in the blanks. Regardless, she could question Mot any time and would have to do it when Capsize wasn’t present. Right now, she just wanted to hear about her life.

Capsize considered the possibility that Sonja’s words were just an attempt to get her to stop her from questioning Mot before she asked something she wasn’t meant to. It had been impossible to avoid noticing that every so often she’d bring up a topic and it would hastily be replaced with a new one, that there were certain truths that they wanted to keep hidden from her. However, with how Sonja had asked the question, she couldn’t attribute any ill will or hidden meanings behind it. She just seemed curious.

“It was just a chance encounter,” She began with a small smile. She was sure that had she not met him that day, she would’ve met Jeriah eventually. The town was small enough that she’d meet everyone at least once, but she was glad that met Jeriah so early on. She doubted she would’ve coped nearly as well – which to be clear was not all that well at all – had she not had him to talk to. And her appreciation for him had started there in that first meeting. “I was at the market with a man who made a hobby of… annoying me. I ran into Jeriah just going about his own business. Turns out he’s the only person in that town who’ll actually chase the prick off. I thanked him, then we started talking and frankly, he was the nicest person I met in that place. He comes across gruff sometimes, but he's led an interesting life. And he lent me books, which frankly stopped me from going insane.”

Her smile grew as she spoke. She had begun by picking her words carefully, not wanting to focus at all on Jordan as typically the less she thought about him the better her day was. However, even at the beginning, she had still worn a small smile, as she had truly appreciated Jeriah in that first meeting. She had been so glad that there had been someone else that didn’t have the fanaticism that the whole town seemed to hold for Jordan and Tucker. If she had to guess, she’d say the man just had little respect for the gods in general. Though he never had any problem with her and her own connection with Ianite, so she wasn’t about to judge him whether his opinions may be. He was her friend, and she had been glad for his company.

Mot couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was able to keep his reaction on the inside now that the initial shock wasn’t there, but the idea that anyone found Jeriah interesting was frankly unbelievable. He doubted that his shock at the two being friends was going to fade anytime soon, but there was something that cut through that shock. Namely, the man she mentioned annoying her. It wasn’t normally a detail that would catch his attention. He already knew that her experience in the town had been incredibly negative, as sad as it made him, but her tone had been particularly strained when she said it. Again, maybe not something out of character for her, but what did catch his attention and give the moment importance was Tom flinching. He very clearly knew exactly who she was talking about, and Mot made a note in his head to question him the moment they were alone.

Sonja, meanwhile, looked at Capsize with fascination. The story was entirely ordinary, but it was so unlike anything she had ever experienced. She couldn’t help but hang onto every word. She wished so much that she could reveal similar details about her own life without revealing the curse. Maybe, if she carefully thought through the phrasing beforehand, she’d be able to tell a story of her own. She hoped that in the meantime Capsize would not mind the questions about her life without getting much in return.

“He lent you books?” She asked, curious about the detail. She knew that Capsize enjoyed reading. She would’ve had to have been truly oblivious to miss such a thing. She seemed to cherish the book she had brought with her. The smile on her face that she had when reading it reminded Sonja of her own feelings towards her magical experiments. So, that posed a question in Sonja’s head. “I thought you’d be one to own books.”

“Oh, I do. Just not stories, except for the one I brought here and that itself was originally Jeriah’s. I own a couple of natural guides as well as technical manuals that I use for work,” She said, her tone neutral enough that Sonja realised this was likely quite normal. She felt it a shame but decided that was something to think about later.

Capsize’s thoughts meanwhile flickered, her brain working on an admittedly wholly unrelated idea that had popped into it when she mentioned her work. She looked at Sonja and realised that she may hold the answers to something that had annoyed her for far too long.

“Speaking of my work, there’s actually a question you might be able to answer for me. You understand magical enchantments, don’t you?” She asked, sure enough that the answer was yes, but she had never actually had confirmation that Sonja was the one responsible for all the enchantments in the castle. However, the moment she asked the question an unmistakable glimmer of passion entered her eyes, and an uncontrollable smile took over her features.

“Yes! Why? What do you want to know?” Sonja had precisely no idea where this was going, but she still found it impossible to hold back her excitement at the idea of being able to properly discuss or focus on magic. However, she did find herself embarrassed, shrinking back at her own volume. She expected Capsize to do so as well. However, she did not meet her expectations. Rather than shrinking back or looking at all scared, Capsize’s eyes sparkled as she stood up and took a step towards Sonja.

“You’ll be able to explain it!” She said, unintentionally ignoring the questions posed to her, so excited to finally have a chance to get some actual answers.

Sonja found herself confused. There wasn’t exactly context for her to latch onto as to why Capsize was so excited. What was clear though was that she seemed excited to spend time with her, which left Sonja with a strange feeling. Not bad, just one she didn’t recognise. That feeling only grew stronger as Capsize offered her free hand. “There’s something I need to show you.”

Sonja hesitated for a brief moment. She obviously was not going to turn down this opportunity, but her chest felt tingly, and there were so many feelings that she couldn’t shift or even fully understand. She was always scared of embarrassing herself in front of Capsize, and it seemed to be a fear that she just couldn’t shift past. However, she wanted even less to disappoint her. The smile on her face was so beautiful, she didn’t want to have it fade for such a silly reason.

So, though it left her heart feeling like it was going to burst out of her chest, she gingerly took Capsize’s hand. And, with so much excitement, Capsize began to lead her outside.

As soon as the two were far enough away to be out of earshot, Tom burst out laughing. He knew that Mot’s reaction would be good given how much he used to complain about Jeriah, but the reaction was still far more entertaining to him than it really should be. As he laughed, Mot gave what was either a sigh or a groan. He couldn’t say that truly angry at Tom. Though he was certainly, and he definitely didn’t want to encourage him getting entertainment out of almost revealing the curse.

“Keep laughing, kid. We’ll see how funny this is when I tell Martha that you intentionally set up a situation where the curse could’ve been revealed,” He said, quite bluntly. Tom stopped laughing. He looked at the snuff box as if the man had threatened to ground him.

“Oh, come off it. You know she’ll take it way too seriously,” He complained. If she got even the slightest hint of what he had just done, she’d act like he had personally told Capsize every single detail of the curse. It wasn’t as if he’d actually done anything wrong. Mot was going to find out that Capsize was friends with Jeriah eventually, he just wanted to make sure he saw his reaction. Was it a crime to have a little fun? Mot rolled his eyes at his pouting.

“Obviously, I’m not going to actually tell her,” He said, wondering if Tom thought anyone in the castle wanted to hear the lecture that would come from him doing that. Even if he was absolutely sure that Tom needed to be more careful, he wasn’t going to make everyone suffer through that. He wasn’t telling Martha unless they got a soundproof room set up first.

Satisfied enough that he wasn’t going to receive yet another day long lecture from Martha, Tom perked back up. His typical smile reappeared as he almost immediately stopped sulking and he seemed almost giddy.

“Isn’t it hilarious, though? I mean she’s friends with Jeriah,” He laughed, trying to picture the man having a pleasant conversation with anyone. He mostly remembered him as a grouch who never seemed to have any patience for him, Tucker, or Jordan. He had always assumed that the man had a grudge against the gods that he’d extended to them as champions. However, now knowing that he was friends with Capsize, someone Tom was sure had a stronger connection to Lady Ianite than just being a follower of the goddess, meant that idea likely didn’t hold water. Not that it ever had, given that the man had always had a fondness for the Conway family with their connections to the goddess. So, did he and his friends all just do something to annoy Jeriah?

No, that was ridiculous. Tom decided to discount that idea the very instant it came into his head.

“Hilarious isn’t exactly the word that I’d use,” Mot muttered. He probably would pick ‘unbelievable’.

Now, he certainly wouldn’t admit it out loud – especially not when Tom was within earshot – but Mot didn’t dislike Jeriah nearly as much as his outward attitude would suggest. Yes, he found the man a bore and they’d had their arguments, but he’d looked out for Alyssa, had given her a place to sleep whenever she’d snuck off to the town for a few days. However, the idea that he was friends with Capsize still felt odd.

There was still the sticking point that he couldn’t fathom the idea that Jeriah had remained in the town. There was no way that he could remember Andor and Martha, no one outside of the castle could, so for what reason did he even think he had come to the town in the first place? Attempting to think about that hurt Mot’s non-existent head as the idea of being magically erased was not really something he’d really thought about the implications of. He was never going to figure out how any of it worked and it was frankly depressing, so he’d always prefer not to think about it.

Besides, the fact that Jeriah shouldn’t be around in the first place wasn’t the only reason that the two’s friendship felt weird. There was also the fact that Capsize had somehow been convinced that Jeriah was an interesting person rather than a wet blanket.

However, he didn’t want to get lost in that discussion yet. At least not before he asked the question that he knew if he didn’t ask now, Tom would worm his way out of ever answering. “But before you keep laughing for the rest of the day about this, who exactly was the man Capsize was talking about making a hobby of annoying her?”

“Oh, him? I…” Tom stopped himself from lying that he didn’t know as Mot’s crystal eyes bored into him. It was clear that the snuff box knew that he knew. And maybe, Tom considered, maybe he should just lie anyway. It wasn’t exactly any of Mot’s business, and it didn’t really matter now that Capsize was at the castle and never going to go back to the town. Yet, somehow, Tom realised that answer wasn’t going to impress the older man. So, attempting to make his words as inaudible as possible, Tom sped through his sentence as he continued. “She was talking about Jordan.”

“What?!”

🌹 🌹 🌹

Sonja was led outside by Capsize, unsure exactly what she wanted to show her. She looked so excited and that was enough for the Beast to continue following her without question, though her confusion was growing as she was led ever closer to the gate of the estate. For a moment she worried that they were about to leave, however it was not something off the estate that Capsize wanted to show her. Rather she pulled her over to a cart parked close to the gate. A cart that Sonja did not recognize. A cart that she embarrassedly and guilty realised that it must’ve been brought here by Capsize’s brother, full of the goods he was meant to be selling. And now it sat abandoned due to her actions.

Capsize wasn’t thinking of such things, her mind instead focused on where Red had put the damn thing. She pulled the tarp away, pausing for a second as she realised not a single thing looked any worse for wear despite having now been outside for a number of weeks. However, she already had questions in mind that she wanted answering, best not get caught up on any new ones. She didn’t want to get distracted.

She scanned the contents of the cart, knowing that what she was looking for had to be near the top. However, everything had clearly been shaken about in travel, leaving her searching through a mess. Surely it had to be there somewhere. The only time she wanted to find the thing it was— There it was!

Capsize made a quiet, affirmative hum as she reached through the contents of the cart. Sonja had no idea quite what she expected. She had learnt that Capsize and her brother made their business in restoring trinkets and furniture. She’d learnt as much when she’d walked into a conversation where Tom was demanding that Capsize tell him how much he was worth. And it had become clear when she joined that conversation that Capsize was remarkably talented, not that Sonja ever doubted that fact. However, it was also just as clear that she didn’t have any real magical knowledge. So, she had to wonder what precisely she was going to show her that involved enchantments. She had no idea how she was meant to react to the box wrapped in a sheer material that Capsize pulled out the cart.

“This thing has been a thorn in my side for months, I could never figure it out, but I think you might be able to explain what’s wrong with it,” Capsize began to explain. She leant against the cart as she had to use her hand holding her cane to unwrap enough of the material to show the bottom of the lockbox. She made sure to keep enough wrapped around so that none of her skin risked actually touching the wood. She still didn’t know for sure what had been causing the runes to reactive, but seeing that none were currently glowing physical touch was still certainly her best guess. “This lockbox, it… well, it has magical glyphs on it, so I assume it’s been enchanted. And the enchantment seems to be that it explodes.”

“It explodes?”

“Yes. Loud explosion, knocks whoever touched it flat, but doesn’t damage itself or its surroundings.”

“Oh, that’s…” Sonja was already trying to examine the thing at a distance. She obviously knew about such enchantments. They were honestly particularly easy as if any enchantment went wrong, it was likely to be unstable and explode. So, even if the enchanter did mess up somewhere along the way when creating an explosive rune, there was a good chance they’d get the result they wanted anyway. Of course, with the fact that Capsize at least seemed able to hold the thing, she assumed it wasn’t something so dangerous as a failed enchantment. Well, she wasn’t going to learn anything from this distance. “Can I hold it?”

“Be my guest,” Capsize laughed, happy that she might finally be getting a real explanation on the thing. However, as Sonja reached out, she quickly realised that there was a warning she’d failed to give. “Wait! You should touch the actual box. I think the enchantment is resetting when it's touched, and I’d prefer if you didn’t have to experience the thing exploding.”

Before Sonja could question precisely how Capsize had acquired the sureness that her tone held, the woman had stepped forward and was carefully placing the box in her paws to make sure the cloth stayed in place. Her hands touched her paws, and Sonja expected her to flinch, but she did no such thing. She just carried on as if she saw nothing wrong with touching a Beast like her. Sonja almost couldn’t process that fact. She couldn’t believe it. She certainly didn’t want to think any further into the action. So, she elected to ignore it.

Instead, she looked down at the lockbox that had been placed in her paws. It was not the sort of thing she would expect to be dangerous. It was utterly normal. The sort of thing that could just sit on a shelf ignored for years. However, the base which had been handed to her facing up, hosted a number of runes. Sonja recognised them, of course. Even if it had been years since she had been actively practising and researching magic, such knowledge was intertwined with her very soul, and there was one thing she was absolutely sure of as she stared at the object in her hands.

“This was done by an absolute amateur!” She found herself annoyed just looking at them. The runes all technically worked together. They did their intended function to create an explosion when touched by someone other than the owner of the box, but they had been chosen so poorly that the ‘owner’ of the box was simply whoever touched it first without a way for that person to ever be changed. That fact was annoying enough by itself, but she could also tell that the explosions were completely intentional rather than an accident when attempting an alarm or a sealing enchantment. It was so infuriatingly stupid. “It’s giving me a headache.”

“So, it’s frustrating even if you understand magic?”

“It’s horrible!” Sonja said, her exasperated tone contrasting with Capsize’s laughter. Frankly, it was the sort of thing that she would expect Tom to make. If she wasn’t absolutely positive that she’d never seen the box before she’d be heading back instead to confront him and make certain that he wasn’t responsible. As it stood, she instead just found herself staring at the mess the enchanter, whoever they were, had made. She had to fight the overwhelming urge to start scratching into the wood to fix it herself. “It clearly functions as intended, but whoever the enchanter was had barely even a basic idea of how enchanting works. They’ve chosen literally the worst kind of defensive method for an item that would sit within their own home. Not the mention, there isn’t a way to—”

Sonja cut herself off as she realised something about her own observations. This box didn’t have a way to reset the owner. The runes were designed to simply remain on and cause an explosion whenever anyone other than the original owner touched it. Yet, somehow, the runes were off.

Now, she knew that just because the glyphs that made up an enchantment weren’t glowing or obviously active, didn’t mean that they weren’t. She had used such methods throughout enchanting the castle and knew of a great number of them. However, given the mess of an enchantment she was looking at, she sincerely doubted that the box’s enchanter knew of any such methods. Even if, by some miracle, they did, she was familiar and attuned enough to mafic could feel it in objects. And, while the box certainly wasn’t devoid of magic, the enchantment certainly wasn’t currently active.

But, if it was inactive – and Sonja was quite certain that it was – and the enchantment didn’t have a reset function of any sort, then there was really only one thing that could’ve happened. She looked up at Capsize, who still looked beyond entertained that someone else was just as frustrated by the lockbox as she had been. She realised that Sonja’s gaze was on her and tilted her head ever so slightly.

“Did you turn the enchantment off?” Sonja asked. She couldn’t think of another explanation but Capsize herself had said that she didn’t know anything about magic. So, Sonja really had no idea if her assumption was correct or not. Capsize smiled.

“Yes, couldn't get it to stay off though. It kept turning back on. Honestly, I’m surprised those runes aren’t glowing right now,” She said. Sonja couldn’t help but notice how nonchalant her tone was. Well, of course she was, Sonja reasoned. She had no reason to know that she had done something that, to Sonja’s knowledge, shouldn’t have been possible without further enchanting. She should have been able to do something like this without magical knowledge? So, how had she done it?

“Do you remember the method? The only way I’d even think was possible with an enchantment like this would be adding more glyphs, which you obviously haven’t done. I doubt you’d have made this kind of mess even with no knowledge. So…”

Sonja started to ramble, losing herself in her own passion for the first time in years. Her eyes sparkled as she kept talking. Capsize found herself staring. She could so easily lose herself in the passion of those eyes. In those green, oddly human eyes. How could she not watch and just smile? She found herself hanging onto every word.

However, when Sonja herself realised what she was doing, she slowed down somewhat skittishly. She fell silent. She felt Capsize’s eyes on her, a terrible dryness developing in her throat as she was so sure that she had embarrassed herself.

As her mind flooded with the worst-case scenarios, Capsize stepped forward. Sonja hesitated to actually look at her, not wanting to see how she was being looked at. However, when she did finally look due to a hand gently touching her arm, she found Capsize smiling. Smiling so widely.

“I could definitely tell you what I did to turn the runes off. Depending what tools you have in this place, I might be able to show you what I did,” She said, excitement clear in her tone. She wanted an explanation. She wanted to keep hearing Sonja talk with the expression she just had been speaking with. And she had given Sonja an offer she absolutely couldn’t refuse.

The two ended up in Sonja’s old study, experimenting with the lockbox. Capsize showed her methods, ones far different than any that Sonja would’ve thought of as they were based on woodwork and lockpicking. She found herself so intrigued that she’d never come across such methods before.

And again, Sonja found herself rambling as Capsize asked what each of the runes actually did, as well as beginning to theorise why Capsize’s methods might have rendered them inactive. Capsize asked questions, curiosity burning as she got to learn about something new and mysterious. The discussion burned into the night as their passions fuelled each other, and both found themselves growing all the more comfortable and happy in the presence of the other.

🌹 🌹 🌹

“I want to do something for her,” Sonja said seemingly out of the blue one morning, interrupting the discussion that Martha and Waglington were having about the wizard’s latest attempt to break the curse via typical magical methods.

She knew that she was meant to be listening. While his powers had been significantly dampened by the curse, if anyone had the power to break the curse by simply overcoming the power of a goddess rather than the intended method, it would be Waglington. But Sonja had long since given up on finding any way to cheat the curse. She hadn’t admitted such a thing out loud, preferring to let those she had gotten cursed have whatever hope they could have. However, it did leave her rather unable to actually pay attention these days when such things were being discussed.

More and more, she found herself just losing focus on the world as she thought about Capsize. She couldn’t help it. She had brought with her energy and life to the castle that had been missing for so long. Whether Sonja was with her, she found herself so happy. She was able to be lost in her passions like she hadn’t in so long. It was like Capsize was a warm welcoming flame, one that spread to her and allowed her passions to burn bright. She hadn’t found herself as happy in years as she had been talking with Capsize about that lockbox.

She wanted to give such a feeling back to Capsize. It was the least that she deserved, but she felt so nervous about actually attempting to do so. She had never met someone who made her feel this way. She wasn’t even sure exactly what the feeling was. She was almost nervous to be around her, but at the same time absolutely did not want to avoid her. In fact, she wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. But what she did know was that she wanted her to know one thing for certain.

“I think I want to give her a gift. I just… I want her to know how much I appreciate her.”

Martha and Wag looked at each other. Or rather, Martha looked at Wag. For his part, his form lacked any facial features so looking wasn’t precisely something he could do anymore. His hood turned towards Martha, flopping slightly and making it clear that it was actually empty. Despite how actually looking at him had given her no insight into his thoughts, given the lack of ability to see an expression, Martha still looked as it allowed herself time to process her own thoughts.

While she had obviously been glad that Capsize had returned safe and unharmed, she had still been rather nervous about where she and Sonja had been left in terms of what little relationship they had had and the possibility that she would be the one to break the curse. It was a status she had been a little nervous about the whole time. She obviously knew they had little choice in hoping that she could, though she certainly didn’t hold Tom’s optimism that any random person who came through the door could break the curse.

Though, of course, she knew that Capsize was not just a random person. She was the messenger of Lady Ianite. Now, the idea that she had appeared by coincidence seemed farfetched. The messenger of the goddess that had cursed them just happened to show up, how could she believe that? Which is precisely why she had not told the Mistress – or anyone else for that matter. Because, despite her own logical thoughts on the matter, she could not believe that Capsize knew anything about this place or had any inkling about the true reality of it all. There was no part of her that thought Capsize knew what had been done to them by her goddess. Yet, that didn’t exactly quell her mind.

However, she supposed she should not dwell on any of those thoughts. The Mistress was making an effort in curse breaking, that was something she should encourage.

“She seemed to like the flower that you gave her. You could always give her a bouquet, that would be traditional,” Martha suggested, not quite wanting to suggest anything too large. She was glad that the two were getting along, but she wasn’t Tom. Grand romantic gestures weren’t exactly her thing, and she wasn’t going to suggest one while they still had time to play things slow. It was surely better than risking ruining what was already developing.

“No, that’s not…” Sonja wasn’t particularly being argumentative. It was rather that she just knew that something so small just couldn’t cause the feelings that she felt when she interacted with Capsize. A bouquet was something that you could give to a stranger. She couldn’t do that. “It needs to be something just for her. Something so she knows that she’s special. I just don’t want to mess up.”

She didn’t know the particular feeling that she was looking for as she had no idea what it was that she’d been feeling around her. She knew at least part of it was excitement, but it was also so much more than that, which meant she had no idea how to inspire it in Capsize. She switched her gaze to Wag, hoping he’d have some advice.

“Don’t look at me. My main strategy for dating was swooping in when a couple was arguing.”

“That’s absolutely terrible!” Martha said, her attention thoroughly dragged onto the wizard. With him having no facial features, it was impossible to tell if he was being serious. Somehow, despite sincerely hoping that he was, she had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t joking. That thought was so utterly distracting that she completely forgot where she was and that she should probably be aiding the Mistress in this. She turned her attention back to her, finding her looking beyond confused. Martha just sighed. “Well, typically these kinds of gestures are meant to come from the heart. You’ve been spending more time with her. You surely must know enough about her interests to know something she’d like. Though, if you do want suggestions, she mentioned to Steve that she was from Ianerea, so culturally there’s…”

Martha continued talked, giving some suggestions based on the knowledge she had of the island. Her knowledge was admittedly tenuous. She had only visited once decades ago, but the traders from there did quite often visit Dagrun and she’d met a good number of the higher ups of the island when they came to visit her father. She reasoned that some things were intertwined enough that they likely hadn’t changed in the years it had been since she’d learnt them.

However, Martha needn’t have worried about the truth of her words, as Sonja wasn’t actually listening. She was aware that the clock was still talking, and wasn’t ignoring her to be rude, but rather her first statement about Capsize’s interests had been latched onto and Sonja’s thoughts were working overtime as an idea formed in her head. It seemed so obvious now, as her brain was unable to stop thinking about the thing that she had scarcely seen the woman without.

And in that moment, she knew exactly what she could do for Capsize. A gesture she was so sure that she would appreciate. It was, ever so possibly, too large a gesture, but she was so sure that this was something that would bring Capsize joy. Beyond anything, that was her aim. So, she was decided.

🌹 🌹 🌹

It took a couple of days for Sonja to actually feel ready.

The first day was physical preparations as she feverously worked to make sure the room was up to a standard that she felt was actually deserving of Capsize. Perhaps she was overly stressed about it, but she needed to make sure the place was presentable. The room hadn’t exactly fallen to ruin. It, like every room in the castle, was enchanted to be self-cleaning so dust and the like had been kept away. However, that wasn’t good enough. It needed to be beautiful. That was the least that Capsize deserved.

The second day was just her working up the courage to actually approach Capsize. She knew such nervousness was silly. The old version of herself, the princess consumed by research and magical pursuits, never would have had such nerves. However, she was also acutely aware that said version of herself never would’ve spoken to someone like Capsize. A commoner with no real knowledge of magic never would have caught her interest, not with the dismissiveness she had had by the time of the cures. That thought, that terrible thought, felt like a sharp stab through her chest.

That unnerving stabbing feeling had taken a good few hours to work through. As it turned out, it was rather difficult to tell herself that her past didn’t define her when it had literally changed everything about her life and quite literally defined her current form. She was so utterly ashamed that there was any version of herself that would’ve ignored Capsize. By the time she had broken free of her own self-loathing, she had realised it was far too late an hour to present the surprise as Capsize had almost certainly already retired for the night.

So here she was the following morning, still a couple of hours before noon, lingering outside Capsize’s room. She still could not bring herself to knock. She was as presentable as she could be in this form, something she had been trying to take more awareness of these past few weeks. She still didn’t like looking at herself, at this beastly form that wasn’t her, but she was trying now. Her clothes felt grounding in a way she hadn’t expected them too. She had thought that she’d feel like a pantomime of her previous self, but that wasn’t true at all.

Interacting with Capsize had truly changed everything. That was why she needed to do this. Whether it had been her goal or not, she had without a doubt made her a better person. She needed to thank her for that. So, attempting to quell her own nerves as best as she could, she finally approached her door and knocked.

In reality, it was only a few moments before Capsize opened the door. However, to Sonja, it stretched on for far, far longer. The negative, illogical thoughts began to overwhelm her again as she waited. Despite what progress she had been making, they were still remarkably hard to shift. It was not as if she genuinely believed that Capsize may hate her, but that did not make her fear the possibility any less as it flitted through her head. Yet, despite how loud and inescapable the thoughts seemed, when Capsize opened the door, a warm smile on her face, they all quieted.

“Sonja!” She greeted. For a moment, Sonja worried that she’d disturbed her, before she quickly looked over her and realised that was clearly not the case. She was just relaxed, wearing a soft, powder blue shirt decorated with embroidery – clearly Martha's – and a pair of work trousers that were either Mot’s or Steve’s. It was an odd combination, and Sonja’s mind always lingered on who the clothes were meant to belong to, but none of her thoughts about the clothes were louder than the one of how Capsize looked pretty in them. Said thought left her unbelievably flustered as she tried to fight her mind away from it.

“Capsize. I… Can I show you something,” Despite all her preparations, all her nerves had returned at full force. She was truly considering running away, pretending that she had never made this plan at all. However, she knew that she couldn’t give in to such thoughts.

Capsize noticed the way she was acting, and was curious about it, but elected not to point it out. It would be rude, after all. Instead, she just smiled. She couldn’t believe how quickly her life had changed, as she found herself beyond excited at the prospect of Sonja wanting to show her something, the exact opposite of her first night here.

“Of course! What is it?” She asked, already taking steps outside of her room.

“It’s a surprise!” Sonja’s smile was wide as she suddenly felt all the surer of herself. This was for Capsize, if she was excited, then clearly she was doing something right. Then she thought of when she and Tom were kids, when he had set up a surprise for her. She couldn’t remember what it was, though she was sure it was something silly, but she remembered being so incredibly excited. However, the reason the memory had come into her head was what Tom had said when he had first talked to her that day. “Aren’t you meant to close your eyes?”

Capsize laughed, not mocking but a little confused. Still, she supposed if she was trusting Sonja, she should fully trust her. She stepped up so she was next to Sonja and offered her left arm.

“If you insist, but I think I’ll need some guidance towards the surprise in that case,” She said, though only offering her arm rather than taking Sonja’s as she didn’t want to force her to do anything that may make her uncomfortable.

Sonja hesitated. Maybe it was silly of herself to do so. It wasn’t as if Capsize was something fragile that she could easily break, even if her own strength made her fear that she could, but they hadn’t touched for such a prolonged period of time before. She worried about Capsize regretting her decision, even if she knew if that happened, she’d say so. However, she still couldn’t get over that thought, that Capsize would hate the idea of touching her.

Capsize, worried by her silence, frowned slightly. Was her tone wrong? “You don’t have to if you aren’t comfortable, but I trust you to lead me.”

With that reassurance, Sonja allowed herself to take Capsize’s arm. She still didn’t feel entirely confident, still had so much of her mind focused on being gentle. She wanted to make sure that she could pull away if she so desired, though there was no reaction of discomfort from the woman. Rather, Capsize found herself entirely comfortable closing her eyes and allowing herself to be guided.

They walked slowly. While Capsize was confident enough that Sonja was not going to lead her astray, walking with her eyes closed was an incredibly odd experience. For her part, Sonja found herself vigilant for anything that might trip her up or cause her to stumble. She had, as far as Sonja was aware, been recovering from her fall in the encounter with the wolves. She wanted to avoid causing her another injury. Yet, despite the slow progress or perhaps because of it, Capsize found herself getting more and more excited.

“Can I have a clue?” She asked, unable to stop her mind from trying to figure out precisely what the surprise was. Obviously, she was sure it would be nice. She trusted Sonja more than enough to know she would not lead her to something unpleasant, but that was nowhere near enough to satiate her curiosity. She heard Sonja laugh quietly.

“We’ll be in there in a minute.”

“So, it’s a place rather than a thing,” Capsize questioned, hearing another quiet laugh. Sonja was glad that she sounded so excited. Just hearing the tone made her chest flutter. She hoped that her rapid heartbeat couldn’t be heard by the woman, though they were so close together that she was almost sure that it could be. She wasn’t even sure if she should be embarrassed by such a thing, as her mind seemed to be overthinking everything.

In a way, the nerves felt good as it was another emotion she hadn’t truly felt in years that she had been regaining thanks for Capsize. She first felt it the first night that she had been here, though it had been mixed with guilt, self-loathing, and anger. She hadn’t felt the same then as she had as she had been interacting with Capsize since her return, since she had once again allowed herself to be Sonja. Now, despite how she didn’t particularly like feeling it, now she couldn’t deny that it did somewhat feel positive.

The nerves now were because they had something, something she couldn’t let be snuffed out due to some mistake. So that surely meant that they were a good thing. She shouldn’t worry herself about them. She shouldn’t worry about her rapidly racing thoughts. She didn’t need to worry about what Capsize’s reaction was going to be as the doors came into view.

“Can I open my eyes?” Capsize asked as she sensed they were slowing down. She was nervous and excited, and generally overwhelmed by the uncontrollable giddy feeling of wonder she had always experienced when she had been exploring some new place. She had no idea how long she could keep her eyes closed for as so much energy was welling up inside her.

“Just a few more moments…” Sonja said as she guided her inside. She knew there was little she could do if she did spot anything wrong, but she still couldn’t stop herself from running her eyes over everything for anything she might have missed. She couldn’t see anything. Of course, that didn’t mean that she’d done a perfect job as her thoughts wouldn’t stop reminding her, but it did mean there was no point in stalling any longer. She took a breath, trying to push excitement to the forefront of her mind. Even if this went terribly wrong, at the very least she had tried. “Okay! You can open them!”

Capsize opened her eyes. She felt her breath taken away. She had all but forgotten about the library that Tom had mentioned. Her exploration of the west wing had ended so terribly that the place Tom had attempted to distract her with had completely slipped out of her mind. Now she was actually here, she couldn’t believe that she had waited so long to visit the room. She walked further in, eyes lighting up as she took it all in.

“This is more books than I’ve seen in my whole life,” She said, knowing it was an understatement. It was more books than she’d even imagined. The room itself was bigger than any she had been in outside of the castle, with shelves built into the walls that were all filled, stuffed, with books. It was overwhelming, but in a way that felt thoroughly brilliant.

Sonja watched her smile with a growing elation in her heart. Her nerves had washed away as Capsize turned on the spot in the centre of the room, her eyes sparkling as they scanned over everything. The wonder was so obvious and clear on her features, and Sonja felt herself lost in it. She’d done it.

“This library, it’s yours now,” Sonja said. Capsize turned to her, heart leaping into a suddenly dry throat. She must’ve misheard, she must have done. However, Sonja was smiling, and she knew she had actually heard perfectly well. Her mind was split in two, conflicting thoughts clawing at it. Because, oh she wanted to say yes. How could she want to say anything else? However, it was not the positive acceptance that she desperately wanted to be able to say that came out of her mouth when she finally fought through her shock and hesitance to manage to speak at all.

“No… No, I can’t. I don’t deserve—” Were the words that spilled out. She didn’t want to refuse. More than anything, she wanted to say yes, to accept the library was her. Of course she did, it looked like something from out of a dream. However, every instinct she had was screaming that she’d never be able to live up to such a gift. Her sense of balance felt so thrown off.

“You deserve more than I could ever give you,” Sonja breathed, not intended to be heard. Despite her intentions, however, she was. Her quiet words echoed through Capsize’s thoughts. Even if so many of them were screaming that, regardless of if there was any actual cost, she’d never be able to repay something such as this.

Seeing her face, the indecision laced on her features, Sonja tried to think into words why she had done this. How was she meant to phrase the feelings that Capsize had ignited inside her when she didn’t even know what they were? The words she ended up deciding on were ones she had said before, now even more sure of them as she had been then. ““If it’ll make you happy, you should take it. It’s a gift and you deserve things that make you smile.”

Capsize had no idea how to define her current feelings. She wouldn’t say they were unpleasant, rather an unfamiliar form of nice, but she felt so reluctant to allow herself this. She had always felt so secure in the balance, a careful equilibrium she maintained and that kept her steady. Could it really be okay to let it tip? She thought of Ianite, her Lady, her friend! Even when she’d been silent for so long now, Capsize couldn’t imagine breaching her faith in such a way.

Because she felt like this would be betraying her, even if she couldn’t put her finger on precisely why. She had kept the balance because it was important… because it made her feel safe. Then she looked at Sonja, at the soft smile on the Fox’s features and all her thoughts quieted.

Here she was standing in a room that could have literally been pulled from one of her dreams and she was trying to justify a reason to be unhappy. For what? Because it was new and strange to allow herself to be happy? And looking at Sonja, she realised how foolish she was being as she allowed herself to feel her heart flutter.

“Oh Sonja. Thank you so much, it’s wonderful!” Her anxieties, the tangled mess of duty and self-control, didn’t disappear, but she pushed down the thought of the scales and the balance and instead looked at Sonja with a barely controlled smile. She allowed herself to feel every positive emotion, almost wanting to cry as she felt a freedom she hadn’t in oh so long.

A warm feeling spread through Sonja’s chest as she watched the sheer joy Capsize experienced. She would be lying if she said that said feeling didn’t grow stronger as Capsize ended up hugging her, her overwhelming excitement and thankfulness resulting in the act. However, she didn’t need that, or any thanks really. It was rewarding enough just to see her happy.

[conwayfamilytree]

[syndianites]

I really like the way you write Alyssa! I’m curious on your interpretation on her as a whole?

So I've always been annoyed that she was a child compared to the rest of the alts, but I did like the fact that they gave Mot and Alyssa a relationship because in the og TR Tom and Sonja are the farthest apart, especially irl.

When it comes to Alyssa, I tend to give her a more independent, free-spirited vibe. Sure, she's a child (I normally put her around -14-16) but she also had to witness her home burn down and survive alone. I think in canon Mot picked her up almost right away, but I like to headcanon that she had to survive alone for a while and became hyper-independent because she was one of the few survivors and was already from a low-income family (the family part we don't get much information about, but I always wanted her to have come from a loving family).

For how old she was when the fire happened I'm kinda wishy-washy on because S2 canon tends to trip over itself when attempting to establish a timeline, but I generally put her around 6-8, so that she had enough time to remember her family but also be able to survive alone.

In terms of personality, she is very resourceful and self-taught in most things. Contrary to canon, I actually have Alyssa be more wary of the gods- Dianite included- because I imagine her town being less god-aligned than the others and also, being a child, Alyssa would have blamed the gods for not saving her town and family. She warms up to Dianite, of course, because through Mot she learns that the gods aren't as all-powerful as they are made out to be, but she's not the biggest fan of Ianite and definitely not a fan of Mianite after meeting Andor and Anya (who I personally love to have her be besties with).

I also imagine that she gets VERY clingly once she's warmed up to you. She lost basically everything in the fire, with only a few of her townmates surviving (I think in canon she is the only survivor, but I want her to have a heritage she can come back to and keep alive). So once she gets over the "Who the fuck is this Mot guy and where is he taking me" and the "This guy thinks I'll trust him just because he feeds me?" she ends up getting very attached to the point where people assume Mot adopted her (before he actually does).

Mot helps he re-learn to let others help her, and she helps him learn that others aren't always going to take from him without giving back.

From surviving on her own for so long, she has a great fondness for the wilderness, the woods especially, and is very outdoorsy as a result. She also tends to be adventurous and reckless, except when it comes to fire. For a long time she had a deep-seated fear of fire and even though she's gotten a better grip on it now that fear was one reason she had a hard time connecting with Dianite.

She portays herself as bold and brave, but she is always wary and nervous around new people, partly afraid to get attached and partly afraid they'll take her loved ones from her. I imagine that if she met TR she'd be very untrusting of them, Tom especially, and take a long, long time to open up to them. Ironically, I think she would take to Tom first, because Tom is a very open book and predictable, but also because he can relate, as a zombie, to losing all his loved ones and his home (which ties back into my personal backstory for Tom). Sonja would be the next she gets close to, because Sonja is gentle but also fun and silly and doesn't treat Alyssa like a child. Tucker she'd warm up to over time through Tom and Sonja and his general goofiness, but she'd take the longest with Jordan, because she initially sees him as having ulterior motives in everything he does and just wanting powerful gear and good gadgets (which is ironic since Tom acts the same, but she sees that Tom has a line when it comes to friends that she doesn't think Jordan does).

I think in canon she was taught how to use a bow by Ianite? But I generally imagine her being more of a cross bow/lance user, crossbow because when you're flying trying to keep the bow drawn can be difficult while also trying to keep your wings in check whereas a cross bow you just have to load and aim, and lance because its good for dive-bombing attacks and what she would have crudely made after the fire for hunting. The reach also helped keep the more dangerous creatures farther from her and give her a better chance to escape.

I feel like this mostly turned into a headcanon ramble, but in brief, I generally have Alyssa as outwardly bold and reckless and adventurous, while internally being very paranoid about the intentions of those around her and having a deep seated fear of fire and losing the few people she allows herself to care about. This all creates a genera show of Alyssa acting outgoing while also being very careful and feeling like she needs to be able to do everything and anything alone, even when help is available. She also generally doesn't trust the gods as /gods/ but she does end up trusting Dianite as family and Ianite to a degree.

Thanks for the ask! I have so many thoughts about all the characters

[mukuharakazui]

i know only the players are known to have alternates, and i know this was not the writing team’s intent at all, but i just might be willing to die on the obscure nerd hill that martha the mystic is captain capsize’s ruxomar alternate in spirit.

[licantropa]

Sonja now understands how Ruxmor’s Ianite had been able to easily confuse Jordan with the man sitting in front of her. Spark Conway.

It’s eerie watching him talk, his mouth moves but the voice is distinctly not her friends’, the words never fully register in her head. It was weird with Mot, but the physical differences made it easier to immediately differentiate him from Tom.

Sonja’s sat up with a heavy blanket around her, and Tucker’s in a similar position in a bed adjacent to hers.

There’s a knock. Spark stands to answer, and it is in his demeanor that she’s able to make the distinction. He has to take into account the brown and white feathered wings in every step he takes in the room, lest he bump into something and it breaks or hits one of them. He’s graceful in a way Jordan isn’t. It’s strange, to say the least.

“Conway, we caught a bit of a surprise.” Sonja’s ears turn towards the door, there’s something about that accent that’s recognizable, it’s on the tip of her tongue, but the fall has made her exhausted. Her mind’s everywhere, except where it’s supposed to be. Looking over to Tucker, she sees him trying to peek at the visitor. The door being in front of his bed makes his attempt more doable than her own.

“Couldn’t have grabbed a towel first? You’re getting salt water all over the place.”

It’s comical how quickly he rips the blanket off of himself to get out of bed.

“No. It be urgent.”

Sonja’s going to ask who has him in such a rush, but Tucker beats her to it, answering her unasked question with shock and awe.

“Capsize?”

That gets her up. Her vision blackens immediately, and she has to take a second to recover. Damned vertigo. Damned flux flu.

She suffers through it and walks up to the door, only to be bombarded by an array of sights, sounds, and scents. Most notably is Tucker hugging Capsize, an action that Sonja mimics, coming up behind the pirate and joining in on the hug. She’s dripping wet and now subsequently, so are they, but Capsize laughs in between them and she chooses to focus on that. The hearty laughter of a woman twice dead.

Tucker has let go, but feeling another dizzy spell rising she shifted most of her weight onto Capsize. Hearing no complaints, Sonja moves her head to the side to take in the view. Fruit bearing trees surround them with a distinct now familiar scent of apples filling the air. There are flowering bushes, although some of them seem more like something she’d find in Ruxmor rather than here. Spark is no where to be seen.

“This is beautiful, holy shit. Where are we?” Tucker sounding just as amazed as she feels.

“What you don’t recognize your own house?”

[voidandradiance]

* these two are so deep in the fridge that their names get switched around regularly

** counted as 1/7 overall, but split for this poll

[apollos-boyfriend]

i talk about how mianite’s themes center around the inherent moral grayness of humanity and deconstruction of the good vs evil dichotomy but there’s also something to be said about grief. jordan and skipper with capsize. tom with dianite. andor and helgrind with freya and alva. alyssa with her family. mot with dianite. everyone with ianite. there’s such a constant theme of loss and grief and how different people cope and heal and move on, or how some people fail to and forever cling to a past they can never get back and only harm themselves and others in the process. mianite was such a good fucking series y’all

[kiwibirdlafayette]

I think Tom (and all his alts) strive for freedom…

OH ABSOLUTELY

I totally agree!! I think just like- the nature of Tom and his alts (who ofc meta wise were all written after him) is that they’re all dependent people of some kind, usually as the result of their circumstance of existence

Whether that be like in Tom's case because Dianite (or Mianite in Godswap, albiet different dynamic) is the one to grant him reanimated life, making him sort of indebted to him- or Cassell who isn't necessarily bound to his god moreso that he's bound to his creators (Flash and Ianite). Mot also sort of has that tether element to him because Dianite technically also saved his life from the creeper spore infection iirc but I think it makes the principle of freedom a little different to him esp. because it turned into like a business partners to unrequited crush to sorta lovers kinda thing depending on your post canon

All of this translates to me into their kind of devotion as champions, and again how that's like different from Ianitee flavored devotion (based on the guidance of Ianite and trusting in her judgement to lead them the right way so she can keep them safe), or Mianitee flavored devotion (Like knights to a king, similar to Ianitees follow orders for order, kind of follow his principles rather than specific instructions from him). Dianite being Dianite and the elements of chaos being how it is, Dianitee devotion is like being an extension of him, not via principles or guidance but by intent like being mercenaries in service of him while still being tethered in fear of punishment if its not done right. And maybe yknow they don't mind the implications that come with that title (Mot's case, for example) I think that's where that desire for freedom comes for- a want to have an existence that isn't tethered to their god

side note this could not apply as much to Dianite and Cass in Aitheaca because Dianite takes the Ianite role in terms of swapped god positions (and Cass runs off Dianite's guidance in the same way as Jordan would to Ianite) as Flash and Ianite are more similar to Tom and S1 Dia but bear with me xD

So kind of like extrapolating from that- their more specific desires for freedom are all sort of tied to Tom's need for spiritual freedom- I want to like refer to the whole thing of the Thauminomicon-y traits Marsh had mentioned before, and how Tom has 'fabrico', which stands for craft/repair. It connects in the sense of yeah he's a zombie he's stiched back together but. ok hear me out. Who would have stitched him back together? It was implied in an episode of Isles that c!Tom doesn't remember the Minecraft Project- (because they're memories he can't return to, just big empty void in his head), or when he was alive/ill from zombification, but he hadn't died yet. The person that arrives on Mianite with Tucker is that Tom, he is all that chaotic goofy Tom is, but at the same time he's partially someone else's creation, sewn together in intricate ways to be the bringer of chaos for the god he serves- but beyond that? His humanity. At his core, he's human, not someone who'll just take orders blindly and him striving for his freedom from that tether is refusing to deny the things that makes him alive. And I think the other alts like ya said follow suit, in Mot maintaining his humanity regardless of his ailment through choosing to care for Alyssa rather than being just a ruthless chaotic killing machine when Rux!Dia dies or in Aitheaca the way I want to write Cassell as someone who was born as a weapon for Ianite but loves collecting vintage human things and views his innermost self through music. The visual I kind of go to is the idea of Tom literally crafting and repairing the parts of himself that make him feel trapped by breaking them apart, burning it, adding new things when he takes the hands of friends and yeah!! And I think this sort of aspect could also tie into him becoming Mecha Dianite as well in finding freedom by choosing the person he is, and owning it

[motherianite]

So in the ten years that the ruxomar heroes were gone, did anyone give a fuck that Dianite was dead? I know Martha spent that time looking for Ianite and Mianite was stealing inertia. What about Steve? Like was anyone concerned until Spirit Dianite came back and told them to get his body back? Or did they just assume that Spark, Jeriah, Mot, & Alyssa we’re going to get him back?

[transandor]

Lt. Al, Jeriah, and Alyssa for the superhero au

lt. al was an almost-hero, trained by mianite, and, for a time, mianite's mother. he didn't pass the psychological evaluation, and ended up a high ranking security officer at the archives instead. he's not happy about it.

jeriah is one of the founders of the archives, and spark's close friend. he no longer speaks to the current head of the archives and he spends none of his time there. his powers are unknown- some people believe him to be related to jericho.

alyssa is mot's daughter. she's currently in her first year of college, and has a semi-aspiration to be a hero, but is also considering becoming a medic, due to her father's request. works a part time job at the library.

[chiangyorange]

if Alyssa was six when the alts left wouldn’t that make Martha and Helgrind adults when Spark left? You’re so right on your Ianite and Spark takes, but for better and for worse I do think he raised his kids

time dialation fuckery is my excuse bc i realized a plot inconsistency literally 5 mins after i published that ask (inconsistency regarding the fic i published but it can also apply to mianite as a whole idk im not rewatching that, personally.)

in any case-- i choose to believe that mot brought alyssa with him when shes 16 because him bringing a 6 year old to ANOTHER WORLD????? WILDLY IRRESPONSIBLE. NO THANK YOU. anyway to the point abt helgrind and martha yea. they would be 20 when spark left huh.

i wont bring my """""canon""""" into this bc im still actively working on my fic but i have my reasons to treat martha and helgrind (his first name is glede apparently??? based off the wiki.) as 10 and alyssa as 16. this is for my Spark And Ianite Should Not Be Parents, Actually agenda

[coolcattime]

Mot Screziato, Alyssa Screziato, Spark Conway all have last names. Screziato connects Mot and Alyssa to one another, Conway which not only connects Spark to his family now (Martha, Andor, Alva, Helgrind) but to wherever he had been from before. But Jeriah is just Jeriah. No connection other than his title.

Oh this is such an interesting thing to think about because not only do Mot, Alyssa, and Spark had last names - I think there's an argument to be made that family is the most important thing to Spark and Mot.

With Mot I think it's clear that Alyssa is the most important person in his life, even beyond Dianite. Like I don't even think there's a question about that. His family is as small as it could possibly be but Mot would be dead before anything bad happened to Alyssa. He brought her to the new world with him, because there was no way he was losing anyone else.

Spark's connection to his family is different, though I still think they're incredibly important to him. Leaving them weighed heavily on him, learning that most of them died hurt more than anything. The Conway name is a heavy one from his descendants, something almost as impossible to live upto as being descended from Ianite, but they still carry it and Spark's legacy carries on until the end of Ruxomar.

So why doesn't Jeriah have a last name? Thematically Jeriah doesn't have any family, which itself is an odd trait for a Season Two character (I think Gaines is the only other real character to have no family at all, though correct me if I'm wrong), though technically a general would go by their last name. Given that he doesn't, maybe his blood knights were a family of sorts to him, but they aren't around anymore so who would actually know. I think, personally, Jeriah goes only by his first name as a tiny bit of a fuck you to his time in Mianite's army, because he's a person, he's not a thing to be controlled or owned or ordered. Heck, maybe he had a last name that he completely dropped as part of his loophole out of Mianite's contract or just to cut off that part of his life.

But I also think I lied a bit because Jeriah does have a family, he just doesn't keep their last name. Mot might fain annoyance and namecall, but he trusts the man to help raise Alyssa which is certainly not something the man would trust most people to do. And perhaps there was something missed decades ago with Spark, back when their life's split across different paths that neither would erase even given the chance, but you don't spend a decade with a man that you don't have a bond with - who knows what that bond is, but it might as well be family. And I think as the group grows, Jeriah's family does. Though if he actually notices? Probably not until something threatens them, but that doesn't mean that they don't notice.

[wildcardjoey]

also for shelter au, what are the characters different opinions on their deities( is that the right word) and each other? Does it differ a lot now that they’re in a new world or are they the same.

Since, while they are in a different world, the Mianite and Ianite focused on in this au are the same two from the world Mianite, Tucker has the same opinion of Mianite as he did s1, Sanja's has slightly shifted, she no longer actively follows a god, but she sees him the same as a person as she always has. In a similar vein, Sparklez remains as devoted to Ianite as he has always had. Tom still hates Mianite but, as he now serves Ruxomar's Dianite, he no longer hates Ianite. Devisor Gains follows Mianite but works for Dianite. The two fill the role of a better god and employer than Ruxomar's Mianite ever was. Waglington is in a loving relationship with Martha and Andor doesn't have any followers yet, but as a god of journeys in all it's meanings and forms, he's sure to get people who start taking him as a patron soon.

As for 'of each other,' the group hasn't ever been closer. They shared being hunted by World Historian across the void for so long, the feelings of loss and betrayal when their screen selves cut their connections and never returned, having to work as a single unit with their limited resources to keep everyone alive in the most hostile environment imaginable. Tucker alone has about a million different complexes developed from having to manage the groups' effectively single witchcraft-connected health bar. having let it drop to half a heart once, nearly getting them all killed. The group has become a series of pillars structured so that nothing could possibly hope to knock the whole structure down, but if one were to instead focus on a single pillar, the entire thing would collapse.

Back on Tom, he does hate S1 Dianite. He hates him more than Mianite. He will not disobey his orders because it will bring about the chaos that he follows. However, if any of those orders put his freinds, his family in danger, he will not hesitate to take that power back.

That’s something he really doesn’t want to do. He’s not fit to lead a place as large as a dimension. Ruling goes against everything he stands for. Taking Dianite’s power back sets him down that road and eternity is a long ass time. No matter how much he’d try to avoid it, a war declared on him here, a failed inquisition there, being forced to step in against a tyrant violating human rights over there, if he came into power there, he’d end up ruling it all eventually. 

He knows he’ll want to settle eventually. Maybe a lead designer or building prototypes for Ruxomar Dianite. Maybe a retirement living off the same treasure hoard he’ll be buried with, a blessing to any treasure hunters that come after him. Maybe a quiet smithy where he’ll forge weapons for future heroes. But immortality, ruling a dimension, he can’t see that. He refuses to out live his the others, to risk forgetting them in some unforeseen age to come.

As for the alternates, they all have favorable opinions of Spark and Spark of them, although Mot and Jeriah despise each other and Alyssa didn’t really have the best opinion of Jeriah either, although having spent a few years adventuring with him has eased that quite a bit. Their relations with their counterparts are mostly that of mentors although that’s begrudging for Jericho and Jeriah. The situation is flipped for Sanja and Alyssa.

[syndianites]

For a prompt: "If you're gonna kill him I can't stop you, but he's really not worth the effort."

❤️ ❤️

"If you're gonna kill I can't stop you, but he's really not worth the effort."

Alyssa didn't jump, but it was a near thing. Her ears swivled, trying to catch the sound of breathing, footsteps, something that would give her a clue as to where the newest arrival was. All she heard was her own breathing and the ragged pants of Nadeshot below her, who struggled to catch his breath from where his windpipe was being crushed beneath her arm.

Catiously, she chanced a look around her surroundings. She almost missed them in the early sunlight of the morning. But no, there, hovering at her side was a- pirate?

She was a ghost, clearly. Between the transparent visage and the way her feet were just barely above the ground.

No matter.

"You're right, you can't stop me." Alyssa punctuated this statement by pressing down on Nadeshot's throat harder, taking sick satisfaction in the way he wheezed. "He certainly has it coming."

She got a snort from the ghost. "You're not wrong there, mate. But I'd be remised to let him die if that meant he would be haunting the land with me. I ain't looking forward to only having him as company if you decide you don't fancy talking to ghosts."

Alyssa huffed a laugh despite herself. Nadeshot had pissed her off for the last time, not only stealing from her, again, but taking something of Mot's- who had been MIA for weeks now. Sure, killing Nadeshot was a bit drastic, but it'd stop him from stealing from her and she doubted anyone else stuck in this place would miss him.

Still, she supposed the ghost was right. If she killed him she'd be subject to whatever law and court system that exists, and stand on trail, and hope that 'he stole my shit and is fucking annoying' held as a reasonable defense for killing a man.

With a great sigh she released him, taking a step back and kicking him in the side. "Run before I change my mind."

There was confusion in his eyes- clearly he couldn't see ghosts- but he griped his throat and stumbled to his feet. With one last wary glance he ran off.

Capsize stifled a laugh as Nadeshot ran. "He wont be forgetting the feeling of your arm at his throat, at least." She turned to Alyssa. "Name's Capsize, pleasure ta meet ya."

Rather than extend a hand, Capsize brought it to her chest and did a mock bow. She had no visible mark of death, no blood splatter or caved in head, or what have you. Either Capsize was a particularly powerful ghost or she'd been dead a while. Maybe both.

"Alyssa." She inclined her head. "Been dead long?"

Rude as it sounded, most ghosts that were as pristine as Capsize had long since at peace with their death. Hell, most would ignore any faux pas just to have someone to talk to.

True to form, Capsize snorted. "You could say that. I've seen you around, didn't realize you could see me, otherwise I'd have introduced myself sooner. Pardon my bluntness, but why are y'all here? If anyone was gonna fall out of the sky, I was expecting my mates."

Alyssa frowned, brushing the dirt off her knees. "Magic bullshit. Hoped into a portal and suddenly we were here instead of anywhere in our world. I imagine your friends got the same treatment- jumped into a portal and got spat back out at our place."

"Well then, guess we got a lot to talk about, huh?" Capsize smiled at her like they were already friends. It urked Alyssa, but as much as she'd want to complain she was tired of talking to Spark and Jeriah, and this world's gods were odd to talk to, considering her experiences with her worlds versions.

"I suppose we do."

----

Cue ghost shenanigans as Alyssa and Capsize try to figure out why the alts got sent here and the others got sent to Ruxomar, featuring: A return of the Shadows, talking shit about the gods, talking about feeling like they aren't enough for the gods they follow, bitching about their family, and more!

Thanks for the prompt!

[mukuharakazui]

there's absolutely no way that the mianite writers realize how many characters they accidentally made asian in s2. it's so funny