#because if he had /been there/ then Sylva might not have died

[sylleblosscm]

@novuscaelum:

👩 = What’s your muse’s relationship with their mother, what made it that way? 👨 = What’s your muse’s relationship with their father, what made it that way?

---

Family Headcanons [accepting]

👩 = What’s your muse’s relationship with their mother, what made it that way?

Ooh, these are good ones. Luna really thinks the whole world of her mother. She was very young when Sylva died, so she only has a child's perception of her. And in her eyes, she was the perfect woman and human being, effortlessly balancing motherhood and monarchy and Oracle duties, all while being an active and beloved member of her community. She can't really see the things about her that might not have been perfect, or the places where she didn't manage as well as she might've - because, despite what Luna thinks, Sylva wasn't perfect. Nobody is. The downside is that, as Luna always wanted to be like her and has since taken up her mantle, she's consistently striving for an image of perfection that doesn't exist. There is already so much pressure on her shoulders, bearing that added weight is sometimes insurmountable in itself.

Of course, losing any member of her family is crushing to Luna, but her mother was a special case. Luna began her Oracle training officially at 16, but she was already preparing for the role before that. The minute the last Oracle died, the whole world was looking to her - it's hard to properly grieve under those circumstances, so truth be told, I don't think she ever truly did. Knowing Luna, she likely repressed all that grief and anger to focus on her duty. Even now, when it comes to her mother, she really is just a scared 12-year-old, and this comes back to bite her later in life - but not how you'd expect.

Luna is pretty graceful when it comes to fulfilling her duties without complaint, despite that extra burden I mentioned earlier. It is in the more personal aspects of her life where she really feels her mother's absence. Especially in matters around romance and having children of her own, Luna really struggles with not having Sylva to turn to for advice and support. I think her mother's life and death plays a bigger role in shaping who Luna is more than even she realises; and if Sylva had survived a little longer, Luna might have learned to be a little kinder toward herself. As it stands, even if their relationship was short-lived, it is deeply treasured.

👨 = What’s your muse’s relationship with their father, what made it that way?

We never really hear about the siblings' father, and I can only think he is dead or absent. Luna takes an apathetic approach toward the man as a general rule; she doesn't remember him well, if at all, and she has other things to think about. Likely, her sympathies are more for whatever loss Ravus and Sylva suffered as a result of his departure, than for herself.

Of course, this may not be the case if she didn't have Ravus (as well as Regis and Clarus, verse dependent). Luna never lacked for a protective male figure in her life, and since Tenebrae is a largely matriarchal society, she never had any external pressure telling her that her life is incomplete without a father.

That said, this apathy may turn to anger if it ever happens that her father is alive, but simply absent. Whether she knows it or not - if he ever came back into her life, he would be met with hostility. Partly for his absence in Ravus' life, forcing him to grow up without a father; partly for his absence in her mother's life, leaving her to endure all her duties alone; and partly for his absence in her own life. For someone who takes family as seriously as Luna does, the idea that her own parent would simply choose not to be with her, whatever the reason, is deeply hurtful and not something she's liable to forgive any time soon. Especially as that absence presumably continued after the attack that killed their mother, leaving the siblings without a parent.

[charlottedabookworm]

Digging through my fic doc while writing responses and found this snippet of that OracleBlood!Nyx thing that I am hopefully not writing (but my impulse control is shit so, you know) 

There’s silence after Regis’ words, the lift smoothly descending downwards, and Nyx sighs.

 “Your Majesty, let me...” He’s reaching for the man’s roughly bandaged hand before the King can say anything, letting the gifts inherent in his father’s line – gifts that he rarely used – come forth.

 It’s the work of moments to stem the bleeding and cleanse the poison, well-practised with these sorts of injuries during his childhood, for all that he doesn’t use his gifts unless necessary these days, though he can’t do anything for the blood loss.

 “What?” He turns his head slightly to see Princess Lunafreya staring at him in shock, even as he works to ease the burden of the Wall on Regis’ magic. The King is also slightly wide-eyed, the two royals with him knowing where healing magic came from.

Nyx smirks at the Princess – at the grown woman who had once been the baby that his aunt had placed in his arms, who had once been the little girl who had been his shadow whenever he’d visited, who he had last seen trying not cry when she was four years old. “Hey, little cousin. Long time no see.” 

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: The Princess in the Tower (Arianne II) [Chapter 40]

Hers was a gentle prison.

Arianne took solace from that. Why would her father go to such great pains to provide for her comfort in captivity if he had marked her for a traitor's death? He cannot mean to kill me, she told herself a hundred times. He does not have it in him to be so cruel. I am his blood and seed, his heir, his only daughter.

You know things are broken when you believe your father is capable of killing you.

+.+.+

If need be, she would throw herself beneath the wheels of his chair, admit her fault, and beg him for his pardon. And she would weep. When he saw tears rolling down her face, he would forgive her.

Snort.

"Tears," she said scornfully to Sansa as the woman was led from the hall. "The woman's weapon, my lady mother used to call them. - Sansa VI, ACOK

+.+.+

Ser Manfrey took her arm and marched her up the steps, up and up until her breath grew short. The Spear Tower stood a hundred and a half feet high, and her cell was nearly at the top. Arianne eyed every door they passed, wondering if one of the Sand Snakes might be locked within.

A princess in a tower!

+.+.+

There were Myrish carpets on the floor, red wine to drink, books to read. In one corner stood an ornate cyvasse table with pieces carved of ivory and onyx, though she had no one to play with even if she had been so inclined. She had a featherbed to sleep in, and a privy with a marble seat, sweetened by a basketful of herbs.

Arianne, I believe Doran Martell wants his heir to study the game.

+.+.+

"Someone told," Hotah had said. The memory still made her angry. Arianne clung to that, feeding the flame within her heart. Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt. Someone told, someone she had trusted. Arys Oakheart had died because of that, slain by the traitor's whisper as much as by the captain's axe. The blood that had streamed down Myrcella's face, that was the betrayer's work as well. Someone told, someone she had loved. That was the cruelest cut of all.

But who would want to hurt Myrcella?

He said we had the Imp to thank, for sending us Princess Myrcella. She is so pretty, don't you think? I wish that I had curls like hers. She was made to be a queen, just like her mother." Dimples bloomed in Tyene's cheeks. - The Captain of the Guards, AFFC

Could it be the creepy girl?

+.+.+

She paced around her tower, twice and thrice and three times thrice. She sat beside the cyvasse table and idly moved an elephant. 

Moving the Golden Company's elephants, are you?

All eyes on the game pieces in this chapter.

+.+.+

Someone told, she thought. Someone told. Garin, Drey, and Spotted Sylva were friends of her girlhood, as dear to her as her cousin Tyene.

Sure, awkwardly throw Tyene's name in there.

+.+.+

She could not believe they would inform on her . . . but that left only Darkstar, and if he was the betrayer, why had he turned his sword on poor Myrcella? He wanted to kill her instead of crowning her, he said as much at Shandystone. He said that was how I'd get the war I wanted. But it made no sense for Dayne to be the traitor. If Ser Gerold had been the worm in the apple, why would he have turned his sword upon Myrcella?

Good point, we need the (wo)man behind the curtain.

+.+.+

Someone told. Could it have been Ser Arys? Had the white knight's guilt won out over his lust? Had he loved Myrcella more than her and betrayed his new princess to atone for his betrayal of the old? Was he so ashamed of what he'd done that he threw his life away at the Greenblood rather than live to face dishonor?

That's a bingo!

+.+.+

During the daylight hours she would try to read, but the books that they had given her were deadly dull: ponderous old histories and geographies, annotated maps, a dry-as-dust study of the laws of Dorne, The Seven-Pointed Star and Lives of the High Septons, a huge tome about dragons that somehow made them about as interesting as newts. Arianne would have given much and more for a copy of Ten Thousand Ships or The Loves of Queen Nymeria, anything to occupy her thoughts and let her escape her tower for an hour or two, but such amusements were denied her.

Arianne, I believe Doran Martell wants his heir to read the books.

Blah, I'm always troubled when a character I like is choosing not to read history. That's never good.

To be fair, I'd prefer original ship girl over the boring newts as well.

+.+.+

No visitors were permitted her beyond the servants; Bors with his stubbly jaw, tall Timoth dripping dignity, the sisters Morra and Mellei, pretty little Cedra, old Belandra who had been her mother's bedmaid. They brought her meals, changed her bed, and emptied the chamber pot beneath her privy, but none would speak with her. 

[...]

Yet none of them had a word for her, nor would they deign to tell her what was happening in the world outside her sandstone cage. "Has Darkstar been captured?" she asked Bors one day. "Are they still hunting for him?" The man only turned his back on her and walked away. "Have you gone deaf?" Arianne snapped at him. "Come back here and answer me. I command it." Her only reply was the sound of a door closing.

So she wept, pleading through her door for them to tell her what was happening, calling for her father, for Septa Mordane, for the king, for her gallant prince. If the men guarding her heard her pleas, they gave no answer. 

[...]

They were fed—hard cheese and fresh-baked bread and milk to break their fast, roast chicken and greens at midday, and a late supper of beef and barley stew—but the servants who brought the meals would not answer Sansa's questions. - Sansa IV, AGOT

+.+.+

Is this my father's notion of torment? Not hot irons or the rack, but simple silence? That was so very like Doran Martell that Arianne had to laugh. He thinks he is being subtle when he is only being feeble. She resolved to enjoy the quiet, to use the time to heal and fortify herself for what must come.

Let's see how you're doing in a few weeks.

+.+.+

Instead, she made herself think about the Sand Snakes, Tyene especially. Arianne loved all her bastard cousins, from prickly, hot-tempered Obara to little Loreza, the youngest, only six years old. Tyene had always been the one she loved the most, though; the sweet sister that she never had. The princess had never been close to her brothers; Quentyn was off at Yronwood, and Trystane was too young. No, it had always been her and Tyene, with Garin and Drey and Spotted Sylva.

+.+.+

Nym would sometimes join them in their sport, and Sarella was forever pushing in where she didn't belong, but for the most part they had been a company of five.

Like the Citadel?

+.+.+

They splashed in the pools and fountains of the Water Gardens, and rode into battle perched on one another's naked backs. She and Tyene had learned to read together, learned to ride together, learned to dance together. When they were ten Arianne had stolen a flagon of wine, and the two of them had gotten drunk together. They shared meals and beds and jewelry. They would have shared their first man as well, but Drey got too excited and spurted all over Tyene's fingers the moment she drew him from his breeches. Her hands are dangerous. The memory made her smile.

They sure are.

Can you imagine losing your virginity in a three-way? That's confidence.

+.+.+

Prince Oberyn had armed each of his daughters so they need never be defenseless, but Arianne Martell had no weapon but her guile. And so she smiled and charmed, and asked nothing in return of Cedra, neither word nor nod.

Guile! Arianne's got more than two weapons.

+.+.+

"Please," Cedra finally whispered, after Arianne had painted a vivid picture of Garin throwing himself from the window of his cell, to taste freedom one last time before he died. "You have to help him. Please don't let him die."

"I can do little and less so long as I am locked up here," she whispered back. "My father will not see me. You are the only one who can save Garin. Do you love him?"

"Yes," Cedra whispered, blushing. "But how can I help?"

"You can smuggle out a letter for me," said the princess. "Will do you that? Will you take the risk . . . for Garin?"

Cedra's eyes got big. She nodded.

I have a raven, Arianne thought, triumphantly, but who to send her to? 

You precious, I love how much you underestimate your own father.

+.+.+

Half of the Ullers are half-mad, the saying went, and the other half are worse. Ellaria Sand was Lord Harmen's natural daughter. She and her little ones had been locked away with the rest of the Sand Snakes. That would have made Lord Harmen wroth, and the Ullers were dangerous when wroth. Too dangerous, perhaps. The princess did not want to put any more lives in danger.

Laying some foundation on House Uller.

"Lords and ladies, let us all now drink to Tommen, the First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms."

[...]

The white knight did drink, as was only courteous. His companions likewise. So did the Princess Arianne, Lady Jordayne, the Lord of Godsgrace, the Knight of Lemonwood, the Lady of Ghost Hill … even Ellaria Sand, Prince Oberyn's beloved paramour, who had been with him in King's Landing when he died. Hotah paid more note to those who did not drink: Ser Daemon Sand, Lord Tremond Gargalen, the Fowler twins, Dagos Manwoody, the Ullers of the Hellholt, the Wyls of the Boneway. If there is trouble, it could start with one of them. - The Watcher, ADWD

+.+.+

Lord Fowler might be a safer choice. The Old Hawk, he was called. He had never gotten on with Anders Yronwood; there was bad blood between their Houses going back a thousand years, from when the Fowlers had chosen Martell over Yronwood during Nymeria's War. The Fowler twins were famous friends of Lady Nym as well, but how much weight would that carry with the Old Hawk?

More non-drinkers.

+.+.+

"Give the man who brings this to you a hundred silver stags," she began. That should ensure that the message was delivered. She wrote where she was, and pleaded for rescue. "Whoever shall deliver me from this cell, he shall not be forgotten when I wed." That should bring the heroes running.

Look at all these weapons you have.

+.+.+

Cedra hid the message in her bodice. "I'll find someone before the sun goes down, princess."

"Good," she said. "Tell me how it went on the morrow."

The girl did not return upon the morrow, however. Nor on the day that followed. 

Lol, Arianne's got to work on not getting other people in trouble.

+.+.+

The freedom that Prince Oberyn allowed his bastard daughters had never been shared by Prince Doran's lawful heir. Arianne must wed; she had accepted that. Drey had wanted her, she knew; so had his brother Deziel, the Knight of Lemonwood. Daemon Sand had gone so far as to ask for her hand. Daemon was bastard-born, however, and Prince Doran did not mean for her to wed a Dornishman.

You never know, he might be a Targaryen.

Her father did not mean for her to wed a Dornishman. We'll see what happens when Doran and Aegon have left the story.

+.+.+

Arianne had accepted that as well. One year King Robert's brother came to visit and she did her best to seduce him, but she was half a girl and Lord Renly seemed more bemused than inflamed by her overtures. Later, when Hoster Tully asked her to come to Riverrun and meet his heir, she lit candles to the Maid in thanks, but Prince Doran had declined the invitation. The princess might even have considered Willas Tyrell, crippled leg and all, but her father refused to send her to Highgarden to meet him. She tried to go despite him, with Tyene's help . . . but Prince Oberyn caught them at Vaith and brought them back. 

One of them is still available?

+.+.+

Grandison had seemed a pleasant fellow, less querulous than Estermont and more robust than Rosby. She would never marry him, however. Not even if Hotah stands behind me with his axe.

Vows made at axe point are not valid.

+.+.+

Days came and went, one after the other, so many that Arianne lost count of how long she had been imprisoned. She found herself spending more and more time abed, until she reached the point where she did not rise at all except to use her privy. The meals the servants brought grew cold, untouched. Arianne slept and woke and slept again, and still felt too weary to rise. 

Remove all the context and this is a retelling of Sansa's time in Maegor's Holdfast.

The only thing that's missing is Arianne opening the window and thinking about it.

+.+.+

I am frightened, she realized, for the first time in my life, I am frightened of my father. That made her laugh until the wine came out her nose. When it was time to dress, she chose a simple gown of ivory linen, with vines and purple grapes embroidered around the sleeves and bodice. She wore no jewels. I must be chaste and humble and contrite. I must throw myself at his feet and beg forgiveness, or I may never hear another human voice again.

Snort.

She found a cedar chest full of her clothes at the foot of her bed, so she stripped out of the travel-stained garb she had slept in and donned the most revealing garments she could find, wisps of silk that covered everything and hid nothing. Prince Doran might treat her like a child, but she refused to dress like one. She knew such garb would discomfit her father when he came to chastise her for making off with Myrcella. She counted on it. If I must crawl and weep, let him be uncomfortable as well.

+.+.+

Instead he delivered her to the prince's solar, where they found Doran Martell seated behind a cyvasse table, his gouty legs supported by a cushioned footstool. He was toying with an onyx elephant, turning it in his reddened, swollen hands. 

More elephant contemplation.

+.+.+

"A strange and subtle folk, the Volantenes," he muttered, as he put the elephant aside. 

The elephants are on the move!

They claim the Golden Company is making for Volantis. - Cersei IV, AFFC

+.+.+

"I told them to place a cyvasse table in your chambers," her father said when the two of them were alone.

"Who was I supposed to play with?" Why is he talking about a game? Has the gout robbed him of his wits?

"Yourself. Sometimes it is best to study a game before you attempt to play it. How well do you know the game, Arianne?"

"Well enough to play."

"But not to win. My brother loved the fight for its own sake, but I only play such games as I can win. Cyvasse is not for me." 

I love Doran, but if my father constantly spoke to me in code, I'd do drugs and have unprotected sex.

+.+.+

She seated herself across the cyvasse table from her father.

Guys, you're on the same team.

+.+.+

She touched one of the cyvasse pieces, the heavy horse. "Have you caught Ser Gerold?"

He's on a horse in the mountains.

+.+.+

Hotah made no reply, except to grunt. Arianne could feel his anger. Darkstar had escaped him, the most dangerous of all her little group of plotters. He had outraced all his pursuers and vanished into the deep desert, with blood upon his blade.

x

He shook his head. "Would that we had. You were a fool to make him part of this. Darkstar is the most dangerous man in Dorne. You and he have done us all great harm.

Not that I want to see something bad happen to the characters I like, but George better deliver with this Darkstar character. Too much talk. So far the guy couldn't even manage to kill a little girl.

+.+.+

Arianne was almost afraid to ask. "Myrcella. Is she . . . ?"

". . . dead? No, though Darkstar did his best. All eyes were on your white knight so no one seems quite certain just what happened, but it would appear that her horse shied away from his at the last instant, else he would have taken off the top of the girl's skull. As it is, the slash opened her cheek down to the bone and sliced off her right ear. Maester Caleotte was able to save her life, but no poultice nor potion will ever restore her face. She was my ward, Arianne. Betrothed to your own brother and under my protection. You have dishonored all of us."

+.+.+

"I never meant her harm," Arianne insisted. "If Hotah had not interfered . . ."

". . . you would have crowned Myrcella queen, to raise a rebellion against her brother. Instead of an ear, she would have lost her life."

I mean, yeah.

+.+.+

"If? The word is when. Dorne is the least populous of the Seven Kingdoms. It pleased the Young Dragon to make all our armies larger when he wrote that book of his, so as to make his conquest that much more glorious, and it has pleased us to water the seed he planted and let our foes think us more powerful than we are, but a princess ought to know the truth. Valor is a poor substitute for numbers. Dorne cannot hope to win a war against the Iron Throne, not alone. And yet that may well be what you have given us. Are you proud?" The prince did not allow her time to answer. "What am I to do with you, Arianne?"

Honest assessment, but the author will punish him for wanting those dragons.

+.+.+

"Now you have. I want to know who informed on me."

"I would as well, in your place."

"Will you tell me?"

"I can think of no reason why I should."

"You think I cannot discover the truth on my own?"

"You are welcome to try. Until such time you must mistrust them all . . . and a little mistrust is a good thing in a princess." 

Trust no one, I once told Eddard Stark, but he would not listen. - Sansa I, AFFC

+.+.+

"As it happens, I agree. Aside from Darkstar, your fellow plotters were no more than foolish children. Still, this was no harmless game of cyvasse. You and your friends were playing at treason. I might have had their heads off."

"You might have, but you didn't. Dayne, Dalt, Santagar . . . no, you would never dare make enemies of such Houses."

"I dare more than you dream . . . but leave that for the nonce. Ser Andrey has been sent to Norvos to serve your lady mother for three years. Garin will spend his next two years in Tyrosh. From his kin amongst the orphans, I took coin and hostages. Lady Sylva received no punishment from me, but she was of an age to marry. Her father has shipped her to Greenstone to wed Lord Estermont.

Many have theorized that because Sylva Santagar received no punishment, and married above her station, she was the one who told Doran. He's a corpse, how is that a reward?

I'm more inclined to believe Doran is putting his pieces where he wants them. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you what the plan is.

+.+.+

As for Arys Oakheart, he chose his own fate and met it bravely. A knight of the Kingsguard . . . what did you do to him?"

"I fucked him, Father. You did command me to entertain our noble visitors, as I recall."

+.+.+

It was her turn to flush. Her seduction of Ser Arys had required half a year. Though he claimed to have known other women before taking the white, she would never have known that from the way he acted. His caresses had been clumsy, his kisses nervous, and the first time they were abed together he spent his seed on her thigh as she was guiding him inside her with her hand. 

Arys had known other women before taking the white. She would never have known by how nervous he was.

I try not to make everything about jonsa, but taking the white is rarely used in these books. You tell me what that reminds you of.

+.+.+

"No," Arianne said. "Say that he died defending his little princess. Tell Ser Balon that Darkstar tried to kill her and Ser Arys stepped between them and saved her life." That was how the white knights of the Kingsguard were supposed to die, giving up their own lives for those that they had sworn to protect. "Ser Balon may be suspicious, as you were when the Lannisters killed your sister and her children, but he will have no proof . . ."

". . . until he speaks with Myrcella. Or must that brave child suffer a tragic accident as well? If so, it will mean war. No lie will save Dorne from the queen's wroth if her daughter should perish whilst in my care."

He needs me, Arianne realized. That's why he sent for me.

One lie leads to another and so on. They don't have a choice, but you can see this is not going to end well.

+.+.+

She gave him no chance to reply. "I know it is my duty to provide an heir for Dorne, I have never been forgetful of that. I would have wed, and gladly, but the matches that you brought to me were insults. With every one you spit on me. If you ever felt any love for me at all, why offer me to Walder Frey?"

That's so regressive. Don't marry, and have no children instead.

+.+.+

"The pact was sealed in secret. I meant to tell you when you were old enough . . . when you came of age, I thought, but . . ."

"I am three-and-twenty, for seven years a woman grown."

"I know. If I kept you ignorant too long, it was only to protect you. Arianne, your nature . . . to you, a secret was only a choice tale to whisper to Garin and Tyene in your bed of a night. Garin gossips as only the orphans can, and Tyene keeps nothing from Obara and the Lady Nym. And if they knew . . . Obara is too fond of wine, and Nym is too close to the Fowler twins. And who might the Fowler twins confide in? I could not take the risk."

Me thinks Doran Martell just told us how he found out.

Garin -> Tyene -> you decide.

It's possible Tyene told him directly, but I can't deny . . . Obara caught my attention. I kind of love the idea of crafty Doran harnessing the power of wine.

+.+.+

"It makes no matter. He is dead."

That left her more baffled than ever. "The old ones are so frail. Was it a broken hip, a chill, the gout?"

"It was a pot of molten gold. We princes make our careful plans and the gods smash them all awry." 

You should be thanking the gods for that one.

+.+.+

Her father plucked up a cyvasse piece. "I must know how you learned that Quentyn was abroad. Your brother went with Cletus Yronwood, Maester Kedry, and three of Lord Yronwood's best young knights on a long and perilous voyage, with an uncertain welcome at its end. He has gone to bring us back our heart's desire."

She narrowed her eyes. "What is our heart's desire?"

"Vengeance." His voice was soft, as if he were afraid that someone might be listening. "Justice." Prince Doran pressed the onyx dragon into her palm with his swollen, gouty fingers, and whispered, "Fire and blood."

Can you use another word? You have to use another word, or it will go to shit. I don't make the rules.

Doran giving her a black dragon is used to support fAegon theories by the way. I don't mean to irritate people, I'm only sharing.

Final thoughts:

Sometimes Arianne is written like she's 18 years old.

Another princess in a tower has the next POV (who would have guessed?), and it's the largest chapter in the entire series. I require more than a day.

-> return to menu <-

[queenaryastark]

So, about the person who betrayed Arianne’s Queenmaker plan to Doran... I don’t think anyone did. Just going over the Dorne chapters a few times, it seems likely that he simply knew about the queenmaker plot from Oberyn (who suggested that Doran was in on it) and Tyene (who tells him about it on the page). When Arianne disappeared with her friends, it would have taken a few minutes of investigation to see that Myrcella’s stand in was fake ("Rosamund doesn't truly favor me, but when she dresses up in my clothes people who don't know us think she's me."), as is Arys’ more obviously fake stand in. Then, suspecting what she’s up to, Doran could have just sent Hotah and some guards in a boat down the Greenblood to head them off, since the river is the fastest and least taxing way of traveling in Dorne. While Myrcella being maimed wasn't part of anyone but Dark Star's plans, sowing distrust in Arianne with the claim that one of her friends betrayed her was. When everything played out, Doran (through Hotah) just claimed he knew about it ahead of time as part of his psychological torture of Arianne.

And yes, Doran absolutely tortured Arianne in The Princess in the Tower. She isn't just imprisoned, she's denied any communication with those who come in and out of her chambers. Studies have shown that solitary confinment and isolation can be as psychologically impactful as physical torture. GRRM clearly intends this since he has Arianne wish for physical torture in preference to what she endures in isolation. She also sinks into depression where she stops eating and sleeps all day, presumably no longer bathing either. When her father finally sends Hotah to release her, she's temporarily developed a fear of Doran.

While that fear disappears when she sees him, the paranoia in her (which seems to have been his goal) remains. Paranoia or mistrust is something he's been trying to teach her for years, even while he refused to raise her as his heir:

Drey had wanted a larger party, but that might have attracted unwelcome attention, and every additional man doubled the risk of betrayal. That much my father taught me, at the least. Even when he was younger and stronger, Doran Martell had been a cautious man much given to silences and secrets. 

----

Arianne raised a tear-streaked face. "How could he know?" she asked the captain. "I was so careful. How could he know?"

"Someone told." Hotah shrugged. "Someone always tells." -- The Queenmaker, AFFC

By refusing to provide her with actual information, Doran has her mind spiraling around these words throughout The Princess in the Tower.

"Someone told," Hotah had said. The memory still made her angry. Arianne clung to that, feeding the flame within her heart. Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt. Someone told, someone she had trusted. Arys Oakheart had died because of that, slain by the traitor's whisper as much as by the captain's axe. The blood that had streamed down Myrcella's face, that was the betrayer's work as well. Someone told, someone she had loved. That was the cruelest cut of all.

----

Finally, she crawled back onto the featherbed. The world had grown dark, and there was little she could do but sleep. Someone told, she thought. Someone told. Garin, Drey, and Spotted Sylva were friends of her girlhood, as dear to her as her cousin Tyene. She could not believe they would inform on her . . . but that left only Darkstar, and if he was the betrayer, why had he turned his sword on poor Myrcella? He wanted to kill her instead of crowning her, he said as much at Shandystone. He said that was how I'd get the war I wanted. But it made no sense for Dayne to be the traitor. If Ser Gerold had been the worm in the apple, why would he have turned his sword upon Myrcella?

Someone told. Could it have been Ser Arys? Had the white knight's guilt won out over his lust? Had he loved Myrcella more than her and betrayed his new princess to atone for his betrayal of the old? Was he so ashamed of what he'd done that he threw his life away at the Greenblood rather than live to face dishonor?

Someone told. When her father came to see her, she would learn which one. Prince Doran did not come the next day, though. Nor the day after. The princess was left alone to pace, and weep, and nurse her wounds. 

----

"Tell me how you knew my plans."

"I am the Prince of Dorne. Men seek my favor."

Someone told. "You knew, and yet you still allowed us to make off with Myrcella. Why?"

"That was my mistake, and it has proved a grievous one. You are my daughter, Arianne. The little girl who used to run to me when she skinned her knee. I found it hard to believe that you would conspire against me. I had to learn the truth."

“Now you have. I want to know who informed on me."

"I would as well, in your place."

"Will you tell me?"

“I can think of no reason why I should."

"You think I cannot discover the truth on my own?"

"You are welcome to try. Until such time you must mistrust them all . . . and a little mistrust is a good thing in a princess." - The Princess in the Tower, AFFC

What's interesting about this last quote is that while he claims that mistrust is a good thing, in this same chapter he gets angry at Arianne's mistrust of him. Doran wants Arianne to be paranoid about everyone but him. That somewhat works as they're both much closer by the time we pick up with them in The Watcher where they're acting as a team and Arianne is defending him to her cousins. We also see that Doran still hasn't told her who betrayed her by the time Arianne gets more chapters in TWOW because she's still wondering. If Doran wasn't still trying to manipulate her, he would have shared that with her by then since they're working as a team now. But he's still either withholding the information or never intends to let her know that her friends were loyal to her.

I'm not writing all this to say that Doran is the ultimate evil. I'm just unpacking how his treatment of Arianne is influencing her development. She went into her isolation angry and defiant, making demands and remaining rebellious and came out cautious/paranoid and willing to work with her father. She also showed how subtle and cunning she can be. Whether there was an informant or not, Doran was successful in his manipulating Arianne and molding her closer to what he wanted her to be.

[whostarlockeda03]

3 or 12 for end-of-year asks?

3. What is your favourite line/scene you wrote this year?

Ooh gosh, I don't know! Uhm, probably the scene between Sospes and Sylva in If I Could Turn Back Time?

Or, well, I certainly have a soft spot for that one. But I've written so much this year, I have been pleasantly surprised reading back over everything to try and pick one scene! I'll pop the scene under a cut for you to read if you want :)

12. Who was your favourite character to write about this year?

Nyx Ulric, my bestest boy! No contest. But Cor has also had a fair amount of attention, and these two will probably continue to get the lion's share in 2022, alongside Prompto!

“They get us both?” Sylva queries, turning to him with a knowing smile and an eyebrow raised. “What have you been up to now?”

Sospes grins ruefully. “I wanted to check out that base, since I thought the Lucians weren’t doing anything about it.”

Sylva frowns. “Dear, I told you, I handed that information to Regis’ shield directly. He wouldn’t have ignored it.”

“No, they did not. I only thought they had. I found the soldier they sent in the base when I went last week. He’s in the medical wing, though his recovery, I’m told, is still touch and go.” Sospes explains quietly.

“I see.” Sylva replies, frowning. “So you left our children to infiltrate an enemy base alone , and dragged back a wounded soldier.”

“I couldn’t leave him, Sylvie love, they were going to execute him.”

Sylva sighs explosively, but she shoots him an exasperated grin and pulls him into a hug. He wraps his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.

It’s good to have her home.

After they’ve exhausted their children, leaving them in the capable hands of their nanny, he takes Sylva to see the soldier, at her insistence. She’s a healer, after all, and she’s always eager to help anyone in need. Gods know the soldier qualifies.

He leads her to his room and heads in without knocking - he’s been unconscious since the drive back here, and currently the doctors have decided to simply put him in an induced coma if he does wake up.

“Here we are,” Sospes says, allowing his wife to enter the room before him. “And believe it or not, he already looks a thousand times better than when I found him.”

Sylva’s eyes widen and her hands fly to her mouth as she takes in the man before them.

“Sospes!” She exclaims, turning to him.

“I know, it’s pretty bad, isn’t it?” He says, because pretty much everyone who’s seen him had had that same reaction.

“No, Sospes, you idiot!” She hisses, hitting his arm lightly with one hand.

He gets to look affronted for all of a second before she carries on.

“Don’t you know who that is?!”

“No…” Sospes answers, uncertain and drawn out. “Should I?”

Sylva facepalms, sighing heavily. Then, much to his confusion, she starts digging around through her handbag. It takes her a couple of minutes to come up with her mobile, and once she has it, she immediately begins typing something.

“That’s the Marshal of the crownsguard, Sos!” She tells him, still frantically typing.

“The Marshal who died three weeks ago? Somehow, my love, I doubt that.”

“No, you-” Sylva reins in her retort and sighs, eyes shut. “The empire said they killed him. It was never confirmed. They had no way of verifying it!”

Oh.

“His majesty believes he is dead, so he won’t have changed any intelligence, will he? So there’s no sense in-”

The words of the chastised commander come back to him, and suddenly that small snippet of conversation makes a lot more sense.

Oh.

“Oh,” He says weakly, glancing back at the comatose man. He looks so vulnerable, surrounded by a myriad of machines and monitors. His leg is up in traction, precariously pinned in place, and casted where possible. He knows the doctors are concerned about the effect that might be having on his recently relocated hip, but at the moment they’re in agreement that his leg takes precedence. It’s a miracle they saved it at all, really.

“I didn’t realise he was so young.” Sospes murmurs, not tearing his eyes off the Marshal’s pallid face.

“Honestly, Sos, he’s about the one Lucian I’d have expected you to know on sight, since you usually have so much admiration for his leading style.” Sylva says, phone pressed to her ear, the ringing just audible.

“I’ve never met him though!” Sospes retorts, huffing. He folds his arms across his chest, but it’s hard to keep up his minor annoyance when his wife starts to grin at him.

“So Cor the Immortal doesn’t ring any bells at all?”

“I know his name.” He says, sighing. She’s only teasing, but he knows she’s going to hold on to this forever, because he does have a great deal of respect for Cor Leonis, and the fact that he didn’t recognise him is by far the most humiliating mistake of his life.

[joeyisaprincess]

Hello legend can I get hhhh headcanons for what Luna and Ravus were like when they were younger before their mother died and how Queen Sylva acted with her children? Thank you keep doing you xoxo

Sylva tried to give the kids a good upbringing. They were both spoiled because they were royalty, but Sylva tried not to overdo it (she failed). She spent as much time with them as she could, but it was obviously difficult. One thing she was strict about was making sure each child was treated equally well; if castle staff played favorites, she would be livid.

Luna was a pretty normal kid, for the most part. She liked to throw shit together to make “potions.” She liked to read outside, so she always had sunburn. She got lost in the woods more than what might be considered normal, but she always found her way home. She did have a strange aversion to shoes and a habit of tracking mud everywhere, but she could have been worse.

Ravus was a pretty miserable kid, no matter what Sylva did. He always pointed out that people only wanted to be his friend because he was a prince. As soon as he was old enough, he buried himself in his studies. Unlike Luna, who didn’t mind being alone, Ravus was angry about it. He preferred to be inside most of the time.

[secret-engima]

Ravus is the one who urged the Nif’s to invade Lucis?! What the PYRE?! 🤬 He and Luna are half siblings, yes?

Ravus and Luna are, as far as I know, full siblings. And as for the invasion thing... *sighs*

Look. LOOK. Ravus was a kid when Niflheim came. He was SIXTEEN (16) years old when Niflheim killed his mother in front of his eyes and took over his country. That- that messes a kid up. That messes a kid up and makes them ANGRY. Luna- Luna got a bit of a pass in a twisted sense because she was the Oracle. The Nifs had to let her out sometimes to keep the people calm, but in turn they had the perfect ammo to keep her in line: those very same people Luna had sworn to protect as the newest Oracle. Ravus on the other hand- Ravus was angry, Ravus’s only emotional tie was to his sister, and his clearest memory is Regis RUNNING AWAY from the war zone while Ravus held his dead mom in his arms.

Maybe at first he knew Regis was making the right choice.

Maybe at first he could tell himself that there was nothing Regis could do, because it was all Niflheim’s fault. They had an ARMY and Regis was one man with a son to protect.

But Niflheim wouldn’t want that narrative, because it’s narratives like that that create rebels, revolutionaries, rebellions. A rebellion led by the son of the last Oracle and elder brother of the current one? That would GO PLACES, have FAVOR where others wouldn’t and they couldn’t take that chance. So what does Niflheim do?

They lie. Over and over and over in a hundred different ways at a hundred different times a day.

Regis could have saved her.

Regis abandoned you because he’s a coward.

Lucis betrayed you.

Regis is responsible for your mother’s death.

Sure you hate Niflheim, but REGIS is the king of Lucis, blessed by the Draconian. He could have stopped us, he just was too SCARED to. He chose the prophecy over his promises.

The same prophecy that is going to kill your sister.

Such a pity.

That your sister will someday die for Lucis just like your mother did.

No way to stop it of course. You’re helpless and Regis is WEAK. Weak enough that Niflheim rolled right over him.

Niflheim.

Niflheim is strong. We aren’t afraid of defying prophecies. We aren’t afraid to do what needs to be done. We’re evil, yes, and you hate us but...

Don’t you hate the king that let your mother die more?

Don’t you hate the prince that your sister is destined to die horribly for more?

You hate us. But we can give you power. Power to fight. Power to hurt them for their cowardice.

Power to even ... defy fate.

Save your sister.

Your last emotional anchor. Your little sibling, your last family.

You hate us.

But you could USE us.

I think you see where I’m going with this now. Ravus might have suggested the invasion, he might not, I’m pretty sure in later lore they say it was Ardyn’s idea, but even if it came out of Ravus’s mouth, after TWELVE. YEARS, of hearing nothing but Niflheim’s lies-lies-lies-lies all the time, with no dissenting voice but his own sister (sister fated to die, sister loyal despite everything, sister who loves the family that left them to DIE-) ... Is it really Ravus’s idea?

Or is it what Ravus has been taught to think is his idea?

That’s how conditioning works after all. It’s not electric chairs and magic drugs. It’s just- lies. Lies all the time, reworded a thousand different ways, fed to the victim a hundred times a day and more. In what is read, in what is heard, in what is told. Little lies that lead to the bigger lies, big lies that rest on a bedrock of lies mixed with just the littlest, littlest bits of truth to make them SOUND sincere even when they aren’t. Common sense and logic could pick apart a TOTAL lie, but when there are tiny bits of truth mixed in (Regis escaped with his son while Sylva died, Luna is part of the Prophecy) and the victim only hears those truths when they’re thoroughly and constantly stirred in with what the conditioner WANTS you to believe and all other narratives are smothered or punished...

At some point the victim stops being able to tell where the truth ends and the lie begins.

At some point the victim stops thinking that it’s a lie at all. And maybe the lies don’t make sense, maybe it’s double-standard thinking (like turning to the same military that killed the mother in order to save the sister) but when that is the victim’s WORLD, when those nonsense lies are all he’s heard for TWELVE. YEARS. The fact that it’s a double-standard is lost. This is the world. This is how the world works. It’s a rat pushing a lever over and over and over even after the food stops coming when the lever is pushed, it’s the dog that drools when a bell is heard even if there is no food to smell.

It’s a man who started out as a vulnerable, grieving, angry boy who needed someone that was safe to lash out at and openly hate when the people at fault where the ones holding his and his sister’s leashes in one hand and knives in the other.

So yes, Ravus urged the Empire to do it, and that was wrong of him. I’m not saying it isn’t. But one thing to remember is that the Empire has had twelve whole years to teach Ravus to want that in the first place.

I hope all of that makes sense.

[tenebraetrash17]

Hey, hey, hey, hey...so with the Dawn Of The Future novel announced, it means that those NoctLuna babies from the picture? Probably cannon. And Noctis and Luna’s wedding? Hella cannon.

But was the discussion on what Luna’s last name going to be ever solved?? Because I remember it being a thing awhile back so yee, here I am, bringing up old things.

I can actually safely say that Luna’s name probably wouldn’t have changed at all, and in fact, her daughter’s name would have been the only one that’s different! 

Reasons why??

Well, after learning of Sylva’s name actually being Via Fleuret and with Aera as Mils, it’s safe to say that Fleuret is the name that gets passed down, and I have reasons to think that the middle factor of the name, such as Nox, is actually the last name of the father!

So since Sylva apparently didn’t change her name while Ravus and Luna both share the same “Middle Name”, it probably points to it being the Fleuret way of taking on the father’s name, But since the Oracles are all females, they had to retain a set name for their house, 

So comes the solution of giving the child the father’s last name to come in front of the Fleuret, so not only can the father’s legacy somewhat carry on, the Fleuret name continues!

But what does this have to do with Luna and the Lunoct babies???? 

So, unless Ravus fathered a baby girl who happens to have Oracle powers, I believe that the unnamed daughter will eventually become the Oracle in her mom’s place! So it’s likely her name will go as _____ Caelum Fleuret? But as for the son?? I believe he’ll have the full name of Lucis Caelum since the crown will most likely be passed onto him since his sister is already designated a task. In this sense, both lines will be able to continue.

Luna is most likely to keep the Nox Fleuret as her mother kept her name as well, just given how Sylva has a different name than her children!

And since y’know, I love Ravyoli and felt the need to put a thing in here on him, I’m actually pretty curious if he would continue that tradition with his kids? Or would they take on his full ‘Nox Fleuret’? It’s something to think about!

Also, with the Fleuret name being passed down and how the Queens don’t alter their name when it comes to marriage, it pretty much solidifies that Tenebrae has been run by the Queen Fleurets for as long as Aera at least! 

It also somewhat makes me believe that after Ardyn and Aera, the Oracle and King lines were no longer allowed to mix, not only is there now only one person to carry on the bloodline, there’s also a name and title to be passed on as well, and with the marriage of a Lucis Caelum and a Fleuret, if that couple happened to only have one child, or all sons and no daughters, one of the names would have died out and the bloodline might have become less pure as a son would not be able to pass on anything truly ocular. As Ravus shows that, while he is gifted with powers unexplained, he lacks the needed abilities to become the Oracle.

Sooooo, this feels really messy and all that, so sorry, it’s not one of my more sounder theories, although I do believe I'm at least somewhat correct with the names !!!

Another thing I mentioned in the past is that the Fleuret’s could have only had girls up until Sylva when the world was basically unraveling around them and the God’s were “Nah fam”-ing away, given how they address Ravus in some standpoints. Gladio, who the heck refers to someone as a Son Of Tenebrae? I don’t see you being referred to as a son of Lucis. Perhaps through the blessing of the Astrals? The only reason why I think this theory would hold any weight is because of the chance of the Oracle line fading away, since only girls could be the Oracle. After all, not everyone can have more than one kid, and unless a girl is born, the Oracle’s are through. So perhaps by some miracle of the Gods, they made it so that the deciding factor for having a girl was strongest and would be the most common occurrence, if not the only one. Given that both Luna and Ravus are the last of the Fleurets Thanks Ardyn , a birth of a boy, especially as a first born, in that time might have meant a bad omen, and worried the people of Tenebrae until Luna was born. Not only would that lend to Ravus’ ‘OH LOOK AT HOW POWERFUL I AM, I COULD BE CHOSEN’ complex, but it would also show the signs of the end of the era for the Fleurets.

But idk, maybe that’s just me grasping at straws. Weirdly enough, I remember in game that a random passerby mentioned Ravus as the first son of Tenebrae, but I can never find it anywhere- was it patched out because it didn’t coincide with other lore? Or was I just hallucinating? I honestly don’t know why I remember this so vividly.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Happy Travels - A Noctella and Noctluna Story

Summary: AU. A story that's a mix of Final Fantasy XV and some Versus elements, that tries to make fans of both happy. For instance, this story will be half Noctella and half Noctluna. Half Noctella until Stella eventually dies (and yes, I'm warning you now that that will eventually happen), and then it's half Noctis and Luna after that (and Stella, in the grave, would be happy for them). And there's no love triangle. While Luna does have a crush on Noctis when he's with Stella, Noctis and Stella don't know it's more than that and Luna doesn't press the issue because she wants them both to be happy. And it's in mourning Stella so much--a pain that really only the other understands--that sort of brings Noctis and Luna together.

As ridiculous as it was to be focusing on such trivial things right now, Stella stared down at the brown dress she was wearing and wondered if it was the best idea to be presenting herself to Prince Noctis in it... As a summer, she wasn’t exactly sure that chocolate was her color at all. But what could she say? She was tired of wearing white around him—and didn't want him to think she was still so naive and innocent... but black was too much for her, because she wasn't a dark-spirited person at all… She also very much didn’t want to be accused of being a harlot by wearing pure red, so perhaps she'd found a happy medium between ebony and crimson. But Stella could only hope that that was the case. Stella was welcomed into King Regis’ throne room by Ignis (though they were here for Noct and not Regis)—who bowed and was polite as always, if not a little flustered given the enormous situation. "It's good to see you, Lady Stella," Ignis whispered, as he took the blonde's arm in his own and led her to a secret passage behind the throne, which was where Noctis was now hiding. "And I trust that Prince Ravus and Princess Lunafreya are doing well?" "Luna," Stella urgently but kindly corrected Ignis, as she patted his hand. "My little sister goes by 'Luna'. I have no idea why our mother, Sylva, gifted her with such a mouthful of a name, when Ravus and I were both coined something simple. But all of us hate Luna being the outlier there—so ‘'Luna', it is. “But I, of course, didn’t expect you to know any of this, Sir Ignis! You'd no way of doing so, since you've never met my little sister personally and since the media refers to her as ‘Lunafreya’." Ignis slightly giggled and smiled at Stella after her tirade, and she could only guess that it was done so in approval—since Noct himself didn't speak so normally, even though Stella had heard that Ignis wanted him to. "And how I very much wish to meet Lunaf—Luna—in person one day, my lady. The world only has great things to say about the Oracle—as does Noct, from the little bit he seems to know of her. And your sister seems very... sweet, if you don't mind my saying, with how she apparently loves stickers so much, that all of Eos knows it. No doubt she bonds strongly with the children she heals that way." This was all very true, and Luna to a T. It was why Stella and their family loved the youngest Nox Fleuret so much, since she had a child’s soul and it was clear for the public to see, too. And Stella would have told Ignis all of this, if they hadn’t finally made it to wear Noctis was in the passage. And Ignis must have noticed the looks that Stella was giving Noctis and him her, because he very quietly and gracefully departed. And the moment he did, Stella was in his arms. The pair did not kiss. Rather, Noctis ran a soothing hand through Stella’s hair as she cried into his chest. "Noctis," the rapier-wielder sobbed, "I'm so sorry. I had no idea that the prophecy had that in store for you. We must fight it!" Which was what they were doing now, somewhat, with Noctis hiding away in his own home until he could eventually escape his father. But Stella feared that it wasn't enough. "Shh," Noctis replied, almost seeming to be somewhat chuckling while he did it—something that made Stella so mad, she could've punched him and nearly did. "It's fine, Stell. Look: I'm not going to lie and say this all isn’t a nightmare, but I'm pretty strong… I should be fine." And there was that arrogance he'd displayed right after he'd thought King Regis had been murdered and wanted to avenge him--before they'd all learned what a slithering snake the man was—and Stella might have been impressed by it, if she wasn't also so scared for it. "So, what's your plan to get out of here, then?" Stella asked incredulously, with an eyebrow raised. "Your father has the whole city looking for you. And while he hasn't found this secret passage yet, when Insomnia shows no sign of you… he might come back here and see you escaping. I'm also genuinely baffled that he hasn’t found out that Ignis is on your side." Thankfully, Regis still thought Stella was against Noctis—because of the time that she had been—since most of the countries hated Lucis for having the only crystal left… Not understanding that that meant Noctis had to die in using his crystal to end the Starscourge: something Stella would stop him from doing, if it killed her. Noctis winked at Stella, as he leaned his face so close to hers that she thought he might kiss her. "Fortunately, there's a pretty girl here who I kind of look like. And if I dress like her when I leave, the media may just think I'm Stella Nox Fleuret, doing my sworn duty to end the prince." Stella sighed. And not for the first time, she regretted that Noctis had recently dyed his hair to be like hers. But as she really had no other plan to get her love out of Insomnia and to Galdin Quay, like they needed to go, Stella summoned her rapier to hand—still wondering how she was even able to do that, when she wasn’t of the line of Lucis—and gave it to Noct… And she selfishly prayed that as he did this, he didn’t make “her” look fat on camera. … A few days later, Stella, Noctis, and Ignis made it to Galdin Quay without too much preamble. Annoyingly, Noctis' plan had gone off without a hitch, and now all Stella had to do was convince this dodgy Dino character to help them and not alert to the world that he'd just seen the crown prince of Lucis. But Stella had this. She, after all, was the Nox Fleuret that no one had known what to do with, and thus had been sent to journalism school and she prepared to make full use of that fact now. "You won't say anything, Dino," Stella said, as she leaned towards where Dino was sitting on his bench and looked at him threateningly… something that Noctis seemed to approve of, as he wolf-whistled. "If you do, it'll cause a war and you know it. And you wouldn't want that. If a war starts, no one will be able to buy your newspapers." "And if you let me rot in jail, Miss Fleuret—because I don't think you're going to let me walk away like you say you are—you won't be able to get all of the pretty jewels that you love so much. And I’m responsible for their existence in these parts, don't you know?" The three friends collectively sighed, but Stella could tell it was Ignis who was the most perturbed. This had all started when Dino had recently tried blackmailed them into finding gems for them, and now they were just going around in circles. And ugh! The nerve of this jerk, in insinuating that she was materialistic just because she was a princess and loved fashion!- Stella was so angry, that she was about to pick Dino up by his collar and slam him into something—already forgetting that it was partly because he thought they'd be violent towards him that he was now acting the way he was—but thankfully, Noctis seemed to guess what she was about to do and put a reassuring hand on Stella's shoulder to halt her. "Bribery isn't a thing we've tried here? Right, Stell? Right, Iggy? Anyway, I see you eyeing the Ring of the Lucii here, Dino... What do you think about me letting you borrow it?” Stella and Ignis blanched at Noctis’ words. And while Stella had thought that Noctis had had some street smarts to him in the past, now she reallyhad to wonder. "Noct!" Ignis protested, seeming like he was about to steal said Ring from his prince's careless hands if he wasn’t careful. "Having the Ring may be the only way to undo your hideous fate. Why would you ever give it up?” But apparently Noctis had sized the situation up better than the other two had. Sighing, as he ran a hand over his face, Noct answered: "Because I saw the glint in Dino's eyes here when he first noted the Ring. My guess is that he at least wants to try and copy it right now. So if I go so far as to lend it to him, he won't stab me in the back or not give it back. Will you, Dino? Not when I’m letting you make a copy of the Ring, to do with what you will. Right?" "No, boss," said Dino, as he gleefully scratched his nose now—something that Stella rolled her eyes at, as he seemed to be trying to be a cool anime character—"I have no reason to betray you at all, do I ?" And before neither Stella or Ignis could say anything to still try and cautious Noctis, he was giving away his precious cargo and securing them passage for the next day... Though even if there being two Rings of the Lucii would mean that Noctis could fight back against his eventual fate, she still thought he too easily gave away a possible bargaining chip for other parts of his journey. ... There was electricity in the air, as Noctis and Stella stood in a room in Galdin Quay’s leville together. And while there was a large part of Stella that wanted to jump Noctis’ bones—she wouldn’t deny it—she didn’t, for right now they needed to talk about things like responsible adults. "Noct… I do get what you did with the Ring, but what are we going to do when we get back to Tenebrae now? As Oracle, Luna could’ve looked at the Ring and found a way to free you of its curse, but now-“ "…It was our only chance, Stella, and you know it. You too heard the footsteps of Niflheim soldiers coming up behind us, didn’t you? Soldiers and MTs that would have been too happy to deposit me back on my father’s doorstep. Only my putting the Ring in Dino’s hands that exact moment, allowed him to put us in his ship that circled us around Galdin Quay until they disappeared." Noctis had a hand on Stella’s cheek now, and it made her feel so loved. She got the sense that he was saying that—even though he didn’t want it—he’d made peace with the idea of his death… and it was mostly her that he didn’t want to see die, which was why he’d acted as he had. "Also, Stella… not that I doubt Luna. You know I don’t,” Noctis said with his lips so close to Stella’s now, that it was positively sinful that he didn’t just give in and stop torturing her. “But isn’t her duty as Oracle to fight against the Plague of the Stars no matter what? So why would she help me if I’m doubting my own role in that all now?” Despite the electrical current that had been passing between Stella and Noctis so readily here, she felt it give away some—and the old “enemies walls come back up—when Noct began doubting her little sister’s heart some. "…Because you know what a humanitarian Luna is, Noctis... And even of her crush on you, don’t you? So of course, she wouldn't want you to die to save the world and would rather look to find another way." Outside, it began snowing of all things—something that never happened in Galdin Quay, or so Stella was told—and it fit perfectly what Noctis said much, that restored the mood. “I guess… I guess I shouldn’t doubt her, huh? When I was trying to convince your family that you weren’t crazy for coming over to my side again, I bought Luna a white puppy to go along with her black one. And I know how much she loves Pryna…” But it wasn’t only Luna who loved Pryna. Pryna had been a blessing in Stella’s life, too, and she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss the man who had brought so much good to her life, honestly, and that who hopefully the gods would not take away from her. “Thank you for that, Noctis,” Stella whispered as she leaned in and kissed the back of Noctis’ neck now, with tears in her eyes. ... The next day—as the trio prepared to go to Altissia and then Tenebrae—Stella expected a bomb to go off… or something worse, since she couldn’t help feeling that they were getting off too easily lately. But no such thing happened. Instead, she found herself enjoying the breeze as she stood on Dino’s ship, but wishing she had a hat to wear to keep her hair from flying all over the place. And eventually—surely after he’d woken up more—Noctis stood behind Stella with his arms wrapped around her waist and his head buried in her hair, as they both stood there solemnly. It was clear to Stella that Noctis had feared last night that he’d also somehow lose her—as Stella had worried for him—and that feeling hadn’t disappeared yet. But halting the young adults’ depressing thoughts, was Ignis. He stepped towards where they were at in the center of the boat and cleared his throat. "Not to intrude on your moment, Highnesses, but we need to talk about who we can trust." This made Stella grimace: She knew well how Gladio’s recent betrayal had cut Noctis to the quick… and now everyone was unsure of Prompto since he was from Niflheim (that was why he wasn’t here now). And while Stella of course understood why Ignis was bringing this all up now—because they needed a game plan—there was a part of her unfairly mad at him for bringing about all this pain for Noctis again, when he was already feeling down. "…We can trust Vyv… Well as much as we can trust Dino, anyway. He’ll help us if we promise him good pictures of us to put in his articles" Stella muttered, surprising even herself that she was saying this and not mentioning her own siblings first. But that was obvious, so Stella had then chosen the only other person she could think of. “And wouldn’t you know that he’s also going to Altissia for some photography?” Ignis seemed like he had a lot to question about this, if Stella was reading his face right, but he didn't press the issue right away. Instead, he went over to the captain and told him to head back to Galdin Quay?! Stella couldn’t make sense of this, even though she didn’t doubt Ignis at all, when this was perhaps saying she should. What had he thought that she was wrong, and that Vyv was still in Lestallum? Right away, the captain seemed to try and follow Ignis’ request. But since he’d already been pulling the ship away from the port, he had to force it into a rough halt to try and getting going back the way they’d come. And this sent saltwater upon saltwater spraying into the ship, that poured into the captain’s bloodied hands and had him hissing in pain. And seeing this as the bad omen it surely was, Stella rushed over to the man’s side and ripped part of her shirt off so she could bandage his hands and apologized profusely. “I’m so sorry about what just happened here, Sir. I think- I think my friend was confused. We’re going to Altissia. And I’ll help you spin the wheel to get us there, if you’d like. I’ll also compensate you for your injuries.” And Stella made sure to show him her royal seal, just so he knew who he was dealing with and could believe her words. “I- I’m so sorry,” Ignis spoke brokenly, as he came to the captain himself now and rubbed the man’s back to try and make him feel better thatway. “I have no idea what came over me to tell you to go back to Galdin Quay. I’ve heard of daemons being able to confuse their targets before, but I-“ “It’s alright, Ignis. Don’t worry about it. The way you’ve taken care of me my entire life—and had to remember so much—… well, anyone would be tired from that.” This was Noctis, of course, saying what Stella felt… but she wasn’t entirely sure she believed it, either. Could it have been that Ignis was secretly keeping up correspondence with King Regis to throw him off, and was now getting confused? Or worse… could he have been on Regis’ side himself? Summoning her rapier to hand again, but trying to be discreet about it, Stella promised herself that she was going to work to strengthen whatever magic it was that allowed her to do this. … Stella saw the ocean city of Altissia beginning to show up before her very eyes seven hours later, and it was a sight to behold. It only came second to Tenebrae in her opinion, since she preferred floating plants to water in the sky, but it was still gorgeous. Once they were getting out of the ship, and showing their passes to some Altissian figureheads—Stella found herself asking Noctis something she really should have from the get-go: "I assume you set up a secret P.O. Box here, and that's where Dino's sending the Ring to when he’s eventually done with it?" "...Y-yeah. That was the plan," Noctis said in an almost embarrassed manner, with his hands in his pockets and a blush staining his cheeks as the three friends walked on the dock into the city. "Then I suggest we find it now, and whisper even quieter about it," Ignis quipped, with a hand on both Stella and Noctis’ shoulders both as he looked at them as though he was scolding children. So they took off to do exactly that.: after a near hour of trying to figure out the map and the streams, the trio found themselves in a gondola—ending up at the basement of a restaurant with a pinball machine in it, that Stella knew both Noct and Ignis were itching to get to. But in the back of the basement was a secret passage that led to the storage locker, rather than a P.O. box, where the Ring was. Noctis twisted the tumbler to the storage locker in an agitated manner, but it opened with a loud CREAK and there the Ring was: proven by the fact that Stella thought she could already see Noctis aging the moment he put it on. "Noctis," Stella said, kissing his cheek as she spoke, so he would know the love she felt for him when she said these next words. "Now that you know it's truly the Ring of the Lucii, and that Dino didn't pull a fast one on you... take it off. None of us want you to start dying." Noctis didn't have to be told twice. He had a faraway look on his face, as though he was remembering the Ring stealing his father's life force away, back when he cared, and then he ripped it off--putting it into the pocket of his jeans. "”Good, then,” Ignis smiled now: clearly as eager for Noctis to be rid of wearing the Ring as she is. “Things are actually going swimmingly right now, I think. Now all we need is to meet Vyv, like Lady Stella suggested, and head fo-“ But Ignis didn't get to finish that sentence, for at that exact moment a sentinel stabbed him through the shoulder with a flag. As brothers who had fought together so long, Noct was by Ignis’ side at once—stuffing a potion down his throat, that brought some color to his cheeks again—before using his arminger attack to send numerous of his weapons at the MTs. And while Stella wasn’t quite as skilled as Noctis, she tried to be fast and fluent—so that her blade was leaving sparks in many enemies’, too, and causing them to fall—but what actually did make them fall in the end, was the leader of Accordo, Camelia, coming their way with her lover Weskham hot on her heels. And she looked at Noctis as though she wanted him to prove to her that he wasn’t like his father… and yet the MTs obeyed her every command, because she was clearly in bed with Niflheim the way that even King Regis was now. “Camelia, speaking as someone who was once hoodwinked from Niflheim… how could you eve-“ But she wasn’t listening to Stella at all, and instead telling Noctis, “As petty as it is, my dear Weskham wants revenge on King Regis for being a terrible friend. So tell me your plight, oh prince of Lucis, and I may be willing to help in your cause.”

[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND Chapter 5

Ahh, finally a good and proper chapter, by my standards anyway. Ok. so the middle picture on the left side is a picture of the interior of the ‘girl’s bus’ and the picture above Greg Blackford aka Luche Lazarus, is the bed’s for the girls bus where as the two pictures to the left of Miracle Laurie, aka Hazel Stevens are pictures of the boy’s bus because the Caelums have a thing for black edgelord while Sylva and the girls prefer white and lighter colors so day and night. ok and then then the necklace on the right of Luche is the necklace Sylva is letting Ada, the gorgeous red head in the middle wear and above that is Luche’s gun, note, neither of them know that they match but Sylva does because Sylva is the best game of life/chess player with people’s lives ever and she’s a BAMF and I love and adore her and want to be just like her when I grow up and again in my head she’s played by the gorgeous and charming Heather Grahm. Also Hazel is AMAZING and a BAMF too. I love and adore her as well. She has a gray morality to her character that I admire because her and Titus both have a ‘family comes first’ mentality. (*cough cough* HEARTH AND HOME *cough cough*) So now we start to see a divide based on loyalties. So seeing how that’s gonna play out and who picks which side is gonna be interesting to say the least. I’ve laid SOME GIANT ASS puzzle peices on the board this chapter, so hopefully everyone can put it together before it’s be a race to see who burns the puzzle table first, Cor or Gilgamesh. And if you look closely you’ll see references to Kingsglaive and FFXV all over the place. (Cor the Immortal Marshal, Luche the traitor) And getting Luche and Ada back together will bring back A LOT of early RaeLena vibes and paralells. SO MUCH PINING. SO CLOSE AND YET SO FFFAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR. (My Eyes Adored You by Frankie Valli reference)

@the-immortal-marshal enjoy, read carefully, I added a bunch of stuff. 

You can go here to AO3 or read below. 

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND

Chapter 5

The next day, Titus had the start of football tryouts and so Hazel went to the hospital, hoping Luche was in town again, since he didn’t seem like he was really with either Luna and her group or Noctis and his in the pictures both groups posted on Instagram or Facebook and knew that he seemed to be blooming into his role of Sylva’s right hand man and she knew Sylva was still in town for the moment so there was a good chance he was with her now.

“Hi, is Mr. Lazarus or Sylva in today?” Hazel asked Kathryn.

“Yes, both are in but Sylva is about to leave for vacation any minute.” Kathryn answered.

“I need to see Sylva then before she leaves.” Hazel insisted just as Sylva left her office.

“Hey!” Sylva greeted Hazel happily.

“Hey, I know you’re about to leave but could I walk you out?” Hazel asked.

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?” Sylva asked as Hazel left and walked with her to the elevator.

“Um, where are you going on vacation?” Hazel asked.

“Oh, Regis and I are going to tour wine country by train in California for a week then we’re going on a couple of cruises with the kids to Hawaii and then to Alaska why?” Sylva asked.

“Is there any possible way you can take Ada with you?” Hazel asked.

“I can offer but there’s no way Cor will agree to it.” Sylva answered as they stepped into the elevator.

“That’s just it, he needs to because he’s going to get her killed.” Hazel blurted before Sylva stopped the elevator.

“This is a secure elevator and you have my confidence, what’s going on?” Sylva asked as she put her bag down and turned her phone off to make sure this conversation stayed confidential as she turned to face Hazel completely and gave Hazel her undivided attention.  

“Ok, I’m breaking a cardinal rule by telling you this but you’re the only one who can help. So Cor got close, too close to Gilgamesh, Cor was talking about it over dinner last night in front of God and everyone like a god damn hot headed idiot and Gilgamesh has since taken notice of him and sent a warning, in the form of my sister Charlotte showing up at my door to give the message to Cor myself which I was able to pass off on someone else to try to stay clear of it from Cor’s perspective but Charlotte came to me while Titus was with me and even though I locked him in my bathroom with my 9/11, she referred to him by name which means that now Gilgamesh knows of Titus and he’s my new soft spot and he’s going to be held above my head to keep me in line and he’s in danger and I’m doing everything I can to protect him but Cor and his ego and his god damn mouth and his obsession with Gilgamesh are going to get us all killed. I’m safe because I’m Charlotte’s sister and I’ve been respectful in the past and I know the rules and usually never break them and I’m lawyer-ed up so I’m covered legally. Ada is young and innocent, she has no business in this and if she dies because she’s close to Cor, that’s on him. I can’t say anything to her directly because if I do, that’ll get her killed quicker because I’ve had a tail since college and I’ve just gotten used to the constant surveillance. But if push comes to shove, they will not hesitate to kill her just to send a message to him to back off and I know Gil and Charlie will make me choose between Titus or Ada and them and I can’t do that, I love Titus, I can’t loose him. I can’t go to the authorities because Gilgamesh has moles in everything and I’ll be dead before I can make a statement and it’s because of those moles that I’ve never had any charges and my legal cases have gotten dismissed and never put on my record and it’s why my record is as squeaky clean as it is. Is there any way we can get Luche and Ada back together any quicker? Because if she was back with Luche, she’d be ok because Luche would keep her away from this shit storm.” Hazel explained as Sylva just listened while her eyes got wide as her stomach dropped and knotted.

“If I have to take her kicking and screaming, I will.” Sylva swore.

“Thank God.” Hazel breathed in relief as she leaned on the railing.

“Is there anything that I can do to help you and Titus though?” Sylva asked.

“If push comes to shove, I’ll have to go WitchHazel to get Charlotte out of whatever bind she finds herself in. And I could use access to a helicopter.” Hazel answered.

“Witch hazel?” Sylva repeated.

“I’ve had a few former boyfriends who were Marines, Special Forces and Black Ops, they all died trying to free me of this before and I got to keep all their gear when they died and know how to use it because all of them trained me very well. WitchHazel is what Charlie likes to refer me turning into her one woman army when her regular army fails her. I hate doing it and it’s almost landed me jail time but the moles and my lawyer, who also works for Gil, have been very good at keeping me out of it...so far.” Hazel answered.  

“Absolutely. Whatever you need. You’re family and Titus is family too and a family takes care of itself and each other. I will have the best lawyers lined up- who aren’t entangled in this- if need be and I will make myself and all that I have available for your disposal if, like you said, push comes to shove, however that comes to transpire, I can fly a chopper too if you need me to. Charlotte saved Lunafreya’s life, I owe her myself.” Sylva offered and Hazel broke down crying again as the two women hugged each other tightly. Hazel feeling so much lighter now that she wasn’t carrying that burden alone.

“Thank you so much, please don’t say anything about this to anyone. Not even to Regis, please.” Hazel pleaded.

“Of course, every woman is entitled to their secrets and this will be ours and ours alone.” Sylva reassured her. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I will never betray this confidence, I swear on all my kids’ lives.” Sylva swore.

“I trust you.” Hazel laughed as she pulled herself back together. “I was about to go tell Luche to try to steal Ada back if you hadn’t been here.” Hazel admitted.

“Oh don’t bother, I’ll handle everything.” Sylva assured her as Hazel nodded in understanding. “Is there anything else or is that it?” Sylva asked.

“No that’s it.” Hazel shook her head no and quickly wiped her face as Sylva nodded and resumed the elevator and turned her phone back on and once back on, she found she had a missed call from Kathryn.

“Yes?” Sylva asked.

“Hey, if you’re still in the building, Cor Leonis is here.” Kathryn informed her.

“Great, what bay is he in?” Sylva sighed.

“He’s standing right in front of me at your office, he says it’s really urgent.” Kathryn answered.

“I’ll be right there.” Sylva said as she pressed the top floor again.

“I should get off here, I can’t chance being seen with him while he’s under the microscope like this.” Hazel insisted as she got off the elevator on a different floor to make a clean get away.

“Understood, if you ever need anything, text me or call me or do whatever you gotta do.” Sylva encouraged.

“Will do. Hey would you mind some company on that wine tour?” Hazel asked as she realized her opportunity to make sure Titus was clear of this too.

“Like you and Titus? Doesn’t he have football?” Sylva asked.

“He has an assistant coach.” Hazel shrugged nonchalantly.

“I will text you the particulars.” Sylva grinned mischievously. “And if you’re going to ask him sooner than later, like I suggest ASAP, might I suggest putting on nothing but a sports bra and booty shorts and do one lap around the track, making sure he watches you then go ask him.” Sylva advised before Hazel nodded solemnly to that before the elevator doors closed and Hazel quickly went to the shops down the street to quickly buy just that.

“Hey, funny seeing you up here, without being banged up first.” Sylva teased Cor when she got out of the elevator.

“Haha, very funny.” Cor groused. “Could we talk please? Privately?” Cor asked.

“Sure,” Sylva nodded as she went back into her office.

“Uh, you’re about to meet up with all your kids right?” Cor asked once the door was shut.

“Yeah. We’re supposed to be touring wine country in California by railroad and then meet up with the kids for the cruises to Hawaii then Alaska.” Sylva nodded.

“Could you please take Ada with you and make sure she meets up with Crowe and Libertus?” Cor asked and Sylva blinked in surprise, having thought she would have had to literally bend his arm for him to accept such an idea.

“Yeah, why?” Sylva felt compelled to ask as she eyed him wearily.

“Well I’m getting close to catching Gilgamesh and it’s going to get hot and I don’t want Ada around just in case it gets messy.” Cor explained.

“Uh, ok, yeah sure, how soon until she can get packed? Regis and I are leaving tomorrow morning.” Sylva said as she texted Hazel those particulars.

“When and where will you need her?” Cor asked.

“At my house, we should be leaving the house around 9, after breakfast.” Sylva answered.

“She’ll be there.” Cor promised.

“Does Ada even want to go? I feel I should be asking her that.” Sylva furthered.

“Yeah, she’ll love it.” Cor insisted.

“Alright.” Sylva nodded.

“Just um, could you try to keep Luche away from her?” Cor asked.

“I’ll do my best.” Sylva offered.

“Thanks, I owe you big.” Cor breathed in relief.

“You’re welcome, just don’t go getting yourself killed while we’re gone.” Sylva urged him.

“I’ll do my best. Thank you so much Sylva, I really appreciate it.” Cor nodded before he left, Luche jumping back into his office to avoid Cor seeing him before he poked his head out and narrowed his eyes at Cor’s retreating form.

Soon after Cor got on the elevator Luche felt safe to leave his office and walked down the hall to Sylva’s office to see her walking out of it with a determined look on her face.

“Everything ok Sly?” Luche asked.

“Yes, pack, up, we’re leaving, as soon as you can get ready to go, we need to do some last minute shopping.” Sylva insisted as Luche nodded in understanding as Sylva followed him into his office as he shut his computer down and started packing up for the night as she shut the door for privacy.    

“OK, so change of plans, Cor is up to his neck in something he has no business being in and we’re taking Ada with us tomorrow to get all of us out of the shit show that will most likely go down while we’re away. Hopefully Hazel and Titus will be joining us, you and Ada are going to join the band team, hopefully Titus and Hazel can join Regis and I for the wine tour, then all of us are going to go on the cruises, keep Ada safe. Make sure she stays with the group at all times. Whatever she wants or needs, buy it for her. Use my card, you can even buy her and Crowe things together so it’s not weird. Be friendly, be charming, be gentle and crazy super respectful and not intrusive and try not to actively win her over. Be subtle and she will be magnetically drawn to you. Take this journey over the next three weeks as her friend and confidant. That’s all she’ll want and all she’ll need from you. You have to reestablish the base, the foundation of your relationship and build up from there. But it has to be laid well first. Got it?” Sylva ordered.

“Got it.” Luche nodded.

“Now, you and me are going to do a little shopping, if she’s going to be touring with a rock band she should look the part. You know her sizes still right?” Sylva asked as Luche ducked his head as his cheeks chained cherry.

“Yes.” Luche admitted.

“Good, we’re going to use that. Come on.” Sylva ordered as she nodded towards the door as he finished up and grabbed all the files and put them on Kathryn’s desk.

“We’re both leaving now, see you again in a few weeks ladies.” Sylva bid Abby and Kathryn.

“Bye.” They waived off as Sylva and Luche immediately started shopping.

Meanwhile Hazel was in the backseat of her SUV the school parking lot getting dressed in Sylva’s prescribed outfit before she gave herself a pep talk and strut out towards the field. The other boys noticed her first before Titus followed their line of sight and his jaw dropped, his whistle dropping from his mouth as it hung open as he watched Hazel come closer before she did a little waive and started jogging around the field, causing a distraction for everyone, especially Titus as he watched her breasts bounce and her ass and thighs jiggle as she jogged and barely could handle both the teams exercises and watching her and doing his best not to get a hard on in his shorts and he had never had to think of his grandma in a nighty so much in life to achieve that. He couldn’t even bring himself get mad or irritated as his possessiveness surged so strongly, it nearly undid him.  

“Hi,” Hazel nearly giggled as she caught her breath as she finished her lap around the field, Titus literally turning in his spot so that she was still front and center in his field of vision.

“Hi.” Titus returned as she noticed the sweat bead all over her skin, especially on her heaving chest since the sportsbra was giving her magnificent cleavage.

“So I have a question for you.” Hazel began as she swayed a little in place. “Sylva invited us to tour wine country with her and Regis and I’d love to go, could maybe your assistant coach take over next week?” Hazel asked sweetly.

“Uh,” Titus stammered as his brain was short circuiting having her damn near naked next to him was sending every other thought but her and what he’d like to be doing with her right about now- out of his head.  

“Or if you don’t want to go, I could always come to work with you and keep jogging around the field since I don’t have classes for a while.” Hazel prompted and did her best not to grin too evilly when Titus’ eyes narrowed at the notion as she took his hand and wrapped it around her waist, even though she was sure she was dripping with sweat at the moment but she nearly had him. “Please Baby?” Hazel cooed and Titus was putty in her hands.

“When?” Titus asked as his mouth both watered yet felt incredibly dry at the same time, no other woman ever had this effect on him and he was still getting used to her taking his breath away on a regular basis.

“Tomorrow morning at 9.” Hazel beamed.

“Seems...kind of last minute...” Titus noted.

“I’m being encouraged to go.” Hazel whispered as she stood toe to toe with him and placed her hands on his chest as his arm tightened around her waist as she gave him a meaningful look.

“Oh, you could have just said...never-mind, yeah, we’ll go.” Titus immediately agreed.

“Great, I’ll see you at your place after tryouts.” Hazel winked before she kissed him with promise and pulled herself away and sauntered away, sashaying her hips entirely for Titus’ benefit, making Titus pull every anti-boner image into his brain to keep from reacting to her.

“John?” Titus began before John, the assistant coach came over to him as Titus pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought of how on earth he was going to pay for it all as well as try to pull reason back into his head instead of the onslaught of lust that currently filled it.

“Yeah?” John answered.

“You’re gonna, you’re gonna have to take over, for the next week or so. I gotta...I gotta take care of...something personal, for at least a week.” Titus told him as Titus fought to gather himself together and not run after Hazel to fuck her right then and there as John snorted a laugh.

“Yeah, you have fun with that, I gotcha covered.” John reassured him as he gave Titus a congratulatory pat on the back.

“Thanks.” Titus nodded before he refocused himself back to the training.

The moment Titus came home though, he knew she was already there because her SUV was in her spot in his driveway and came running into the house because he was going to fuck Hazel so hard she wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards, because the moment he dismissed his players and got back into his truck, his cock got so hard he could drill through concrete with it and it would not go down. He noticed her bags by the door, already to go before she came down the steps, his luggage in her hand as she had already been packing for him.

“Hi,” Hazel greeted happily before he grabbed his bag out of her hands, let it drop to the floor as he walked her over to the closest wall and immediately started stripping all her clothes off roughly while kissing her fiercely.

“Oh wow,” Hazel gasped as she responded in kind and started stripping him out of his clothes too before he picked her up and pinned her to the wall and impaled himself quickly and roughly into her, her own wetness and the river of precum dripping from his head making that feat easy and making her moan and cry out in ecstasy as he growled, moaned and hissed in pleasure before he started up an enthusiastic and vigorous pace, slamming into her so hard, her whole body was shaking and they were threatening to put a hole in the wall in the shape of Hazel’s upper body as her legs tried to wrap around his waist since she was already clinging to him with her arms around his neck and shoulders. “Oh my God.” Hazel whimpered as Titus bit and sucked on all of her hot spots as his hands dug into her luscious curves, his fingertips especially digging into her ass as he used his hold on her that way to keep her up while the rest of him pinned her to the wall. Her breasts smooshed up against his pecks and her amazing soft belly rubbing up against his as her whole body began to writhe from the pleasure he was giving her as her keens and whimpers grew more loud and desperate and her face flashed pain as he hurtled them both closer to release and once attained, they both simply clung to one another, their heads resting on the shoulders of the other as they caught their breath.

“The next time you pull a stunt like that again, I’m fucking you like this at the god damn school, I don’t even care who’s around.” Titus warned her as she giggled gleefully.

“Promise? Because you could of, I waited a whole five minutes in the car just in case.” Hazel wagged her eyebrows suggestively with a scheming grin and Titus was ready to fuck her through the God damn wall but right at that moment his body was screaming for a break.

“Come on Baby, go easy on me, the next time you want to do something spontaneous or whatever, all you have to do is ask, you don’t have to go through so much trouble.” Titus reminded her as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“Ok,” Hazel agreed before she kissed him meaningfully as he regripped her and went ahead and carried her upstairs for round 2.

Meanwhile, immediately after Cor had left Sylva’s office, he went to Theo and Stacy’s to tell Ada the news.

“Hey Love,” Ada greeted Cor when she saw him stride into the restaurant.

“Hey, you need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Cor insisted.

“What? Why? I have like three tables, and one of them just got sat, I can’t walk out.” Ada argued.

“Yes you can, you need to, you need to go home and pack.” Cor returned.

“Wait, what? Where are we going?” Ada asked, thinking Cor was perhaps about to tell her he was taking them on a surprise vacation or something romantic like that.

“You’re going to go spend the next three weeks with Crowe and all them.” Cor answered.

“Why? Weeks ago you said I couldn’t do that, that we couldn’t afford...” Ada started to argue.

“Sylva will be taking care of you.” Cor interrupted as Ada blinked in surprise.

“Again, weeks ago, you didn’t want her taking care of me at all, you insisted you needed to, what the fuck changed? Does this have something to do with what happened at the restaurant because you haven’t been yourself since then.” Ada demanded as Cor looked around to see if anyone was listening to them before he pulled them to a lonelier place in the restaurant.

“Ada, I’m this close to catching Gilgamesh but if the past is any indication it’s going to get ugly and I can’t have you around just in case it does, you’ll be better off being with your friends, you’ll be safer with them.” Cor revealed, his eyes and his facial expression pleading with her to take him seriously and to understand.

“Well then learn from the past! And keep it from getting ugly then! You said you were always going to keep me safe remember? I always thought and felt that the safest place will be right here with you.” Ada countered as her eyes began to water as her hand spread over his heart. “You said that before I came into your life how you were reckless and how do I know you won’t be reckless again without me here?” Ada asked as her tears started falling from her eyes.

“I swear on my life I will not be reckless but I have to do my job Love. If they try to make this personal, I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you. I can’t risk you Love, I just can’t. Thankfully we have friends who can help ok? You just need to trust me and do this. When it’s all over and Gilgamesh is behind bars and can’t hurt anyone ever again, it’ll be ok and I’ll never ask you to leave me ever again, I swear. Please Love, I know Sylva will take good care of you, she’s doing this as a favor to me, just until things get better.” Cor pleaded as he held her hands in his before Ada just crumbled and rested her head onto his chest before he pulled her into a hug.

“Fine,” Ada consented as she wiped her streaking eyeliner and mascara and left him to go hand her tables over to other waitresses as Cor told Theo and Stacy himself that Ada needed to go away for a while, which they understood as they quickly cashed her out and Ada left with Cor to go home and pack what she could before making love with Cor as much as she could before she left.

Meanwhile Sylva and Luche were still elbow deep in clothes from not just hot topic but every other store in the mall and beyond. Sylva using visual dimensions rather than actual clothing sizes to make sure she got everything she could for Ada, trying to anticipate Ada’s every need and want, from new clothes, to bras and underwear and makeup and toiletries and things, but Luche could tell she wasn’t buying things with joy because she wanted to, she was doing this because she needed to. She was on a mission and Luche really started to worry since Sylva was so intensely focused and her face was a scowl of determination and they had been shopping non stop since the moment they left the office in mid morning to now, which was now the late afternoon.

“Sly, you should get something to eat.” Luche worried as he felt himself grow famished and his arms grow heavy from carrying almost everything, thinking Sylva wasn’t going to stop until she bought Ada’s literal weight in stuff as he pinned the pile of clothes in his arms to the wall and had buried his face into them trying to catch a few moments of rest.

“Uh huh,” Sylva hummed as she tested the jean’s size in her hands, trying to make sure they would fit. A little big would be ok but she didn’t want to get anything too small.

“Mom! Food.” Luche said a little louder with a little more bite and that seemed to snap her out of her haze.

“Huh? Oh food, sorry Lu, you’re probably starving, yeah, let’s just get this and um, hopefully the food court will have something decent.” Sylva shook her head and blinked as she quickly grabbed all the things she wanted to buy and continued to grab things as she walked to the cash register before they gathered the rest of their bags and quickly walked to the food court in the mall and got something to eat.

“So I take it you can’t really tell me the specifics of why Ada is coming with us tomorrow.” Luche ventured.

“Nope,” Sylva shook her head no as she focused on her food.

“Her life is really in danger then.” Luche concluded as Sylva hesitated for the smallest moment.

“And that’s a fucking yes. Fuck.” Luche growled angrily, having grown quite adept at reading Sylva unusually well.

“Luche, listen to me very, very carefully.” Sylva began as she stopped eating and reached out to put her hand over his to prompt him to look up at her.

“Ada is old enough to know there’s risk. Right now she thinks that the reward of being with Cor is worth the risk of staying with him. Your job, if you really love her, is to show her that there is a life outside of him that she could be living and a life she would be enjoying to the full and better off choosing by leaving him and coming back to you but no one can force her or push her to make that decision, she has to choose that on her own without any prodding from anyone. Hopefully over the next three weeks, she’ll be distracted by Crowe and the baby and all her friends and having fun and you need to remind her to live in the moment because the present is all we have. No one’s future is certain. I know you will make sure she is always out of harm’s way and that she’s safe. Even if you have to come off as a little overprotective to everyone else. In a year or so, you’re both hopefully going to look back on the next three weeks fondly. Make sure you make only good, positive memories for you both. That’s all I can tell you right now.” Sylva urged.

“Should I be bringing a gun?” Luche asked pointedly.

“Just in case, yes, because I know Gladio, Iris and Craig already packed theirs and one more couldn’t hurt.” Sylva nodded.

“Ok, after we’re done eating, lets go get one.” Luche proposed and Sylva nodded yes before she quickly finished her plate.

The next morning, Titus, Hazel, Cor, Ada and Luche as well as Rose and Clarus met up at Sylva’s house as Cor talked with Clarus, Regis and Titus while Luche chatted with Hazel about his new gun as she gave him tips on how to use it best as she revealed her own that she always carried in her purse as Rose did the same with her own gun since Sylva had told both Rose and Hazel that she encouraged Luche to get a gun to protect Ada and they were both relieved to hear it and were impressed with his choice.

“Good morning sweetie, I’m so happy you could come with us.” Sylva greeted Ada sweetly as she hugged Ada tightly as Ada had come into the house, knowing Ada probably needed a mother figure right about now as smiled sadly when Ada hugged her back just as tightly.

“Thanks for having me Mrs...” Ada began to thank her as she fought not to cry again.

“Sylva or Mom sweetie, it’s ok. Now I hope you don’t mind, but I got you a few things to help you enjoy your vacation with all the girls ok?” Sylva informed her as she reached up and wiped a stray tear away from Ada’s eye and gave her an understanding look and encouraging smile.

“Oh you didn’t have to,” Ada shook her head as she sniffled and tried to pull herself back together.

“But I wanted to so I did. So I wanted to run something by you first. Now Luche will also be joining the band group as well and he has a joint credit card with me and I instructed him to buy you whatever you want or need since I won’t personally be with you the whole time whereas he will be and I told him to look after you and take care of you and protect you and I trust him to do that while still maintaining a respectful distance, so think of him like your body guard ok? Is that ok with you or would you prefer me to ask one of the other boys? I know Gladio will be abreast of what’s going on soon and I know he’ll gladly be your shadow too, all the boys should be looking out for you and the other girls.” Sylva put to Ada thoughtfully.

“No, that’s, that’s fine.” Ada nodded in agreement.

“OK, so just in case you’re not completely comfortable with Luche paying for every little thing, here’s a thousand dollars to start off with. Use it for whatever you want or need ok? Don’t worry about a thing and if you try to hand in change and receipts to me or Luche or anyone else I’ll be disappointed.” Sylva gently teased as Ada smiled bashfully as she took the envelope full of money from Sylva.

“I know this is going to be really hard on you, just try to enjoy yourself and have fun and stay in the moment. You are and will be surrounded by surrounded by friends who love you like family and a family takes care of each other. Cor is a big boy, he can handle himself and handle himself well, he’s practically immortal at this point, it’ll be ok, he’s just being protective and so am I ok? Also you have my number, use it if you need or want anything ok? Sky’s the limit. Also I’m sending you with plenty of birth control, not that you’ll need to use it, but it’s important to your health that you stay regular ok?” Sylva urged.

“Thank you, so much.” Ada breathed in relief as Sylva gestured to the luggage Sylva had already packed for Ada.

“Also, we’ll be going on two cruises and they’ll be formal nights and I didn’t know your exact dress size so again, let Luche buy you some formal dresses ok? Also, I packed a few jewelry items to wear for the formal nights on the cruises ok? So when we get back, just make sure to get them back to me ok? Otherwise everything else is all yours, including the luggage. Do you like them?” Sylva asked as she unzipped one of the small carry on size suitcases to reveal a few jewelry cases and showed them to Ada as Ada gasped in astonishment, it was by far the most beautiful jewelry she had ever seen in her life as Sylva smiled brightly, knowing Ada would fall head over heels with some of the last of her mother’s favorite jewelry. Also knowing that if Ada would choose to stay with Luche permanently and faithfully, she would have no trouble gifting these pieces to her as another ‘daughter’ to her.  

“Oh my God! Wow! I love them, thank you so much for letting me borrow them!” Ada thanked her as she carefully touched the pieces reverently and fell head over heels in love with them.

“You’re welcome, I just want you to have fun and look fabulous while doing it, that’s all.” Sylva insisted with a shrug but Ada both could feel and see that Sylva was being completely genuine and that meant the world to her too.

“I’ll do my best.” Ada promised.

“And that’s all anyone can ask of you or anyone else. Also I got you some jewelry for you to keep and it’s in this jewelry case here, so when you get on the bus and get a chance to look it over, let me know what you think. I hope you don’t mind but I had to have Luche help me with this because he knows you and your tastes and sizes better than I do and I apologize if that makes you uncomfortable.” Sylva informed her.

“No, that doesn’t make me uncomfortable, that’s fine, that works actually, I haven’t changed much taste wise or size wise since we’ve been together. I’m sure it will all be great.” Ada nodded.

“Well I didn’t let him pick out your more personal and private items so don’t worry about that ok? All he told me was a bra size and a panty size and I sent him packing to pick out shoes and a good pair of rocker combat boots and he never saw any of those items and I packed all these bags myself.” Sylva explained.

“Whew, ok, yeah, that’s perfect.” Ada smiled in relief.

“Good, come on, we should get some breakfast in us before we go.” Sylva insisted as everyone got breakfast then afterwards got going. Luche went ahead and put Ada’s new luggage in the van since they needed two vehicles to cart everyone and all their stuff while Ada and Cor were saying goodbye as Luche kept his back to them, not wanting to see Cor’s tongue down Ada’s throat as he got used to the weight of the gun on his hip before Rose and Clarus promised Ada that they would look after Cor while she was gone which was really reassuring to her too.

“You’re gonna be ok kid.” Titus offered as he sat between Ada and Hazel in the limo before Ada just hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder and practically curled up next to him, the way any little girl would to her father and Titus couldn’t help but be reminded of how young she still was and pet her head affectionately, feeling his fatherly instincts kick in as Hazel continued to talk with Luche.

Once on board Sylva gave Ada a mimosa since that’s what she and Hazel were drinking on the plane but Ada only sipped at it as she was still pretty down before Luche just huffed and went behind the bar and got Ada some of Regis’ favorite whiskey, which was the best whiskey on board the plane and put it into a coffee cup as her tea steeped in another before he simply handed both over to her and walked away again, not knowing if he should talk to her right now or not and wanted to be supportive yet not intrusive and he could see she was already feeling down and he found himself feeling powerless to help before Titus saw Luche’s gesture and could only shake his head as he smiled sadly, knowing full well that Luche still loved her and he felt himself become torn because while he was happy for Cor for having Ada, he wasn’t so sure Ada being with Cor was the best thing for her though so he and Regis went over to where Ada was and sat down on either side of her and told Ada about some of the hi-jinks Cor got into not so long ago which did brighten her up and got her to laugh and smile as Luche stayed with Hazel and Sylva to give Ada some space for the flight as Hazel and Sylva both continued to give him subtle yet very vital advise as he listened to their council attentively.  

When they landed, Noctis and his gang as well as Lunafreya and hers were already there, waiting on them, Crowe being the first to run and practically tackle Ada with a hug as the two started crying as they were cackling with laughter as Regis and Sylva pulled their kids aside and told them what was up and how important it was that they all look out for each other and to take care of each other while Luche loaded up Ada’s things onto the girl’s bus which he was not surprised in the least was the nicer bus, with actual potted plants, like aloe and herbs in the windows and loads of fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh flowers in vases and perfectly clean and tidy and had actual air fresheners, making it smell like a flower shop inside a spa, it even had a little mini lawn in the corner for the puppies to do their business while on the road which even that was immaculately clean and didn’t smell of dog mess at all before he went and put his stuff on the guys’ bus and wasn’t surprised to see the carpet stained and covered with dirt and crumbs, junk food and trash and beer cans, both empty and half full everywhere and the fridge crammed full of left overs while the air literally smelled like stale farts and he wanted to hurl and immediately jump ship and get on the girl’s bus. He wanted to take pictures and send them to Sylva, knowing she would bark at her kids to clean the fuck up.

‘Please spend two seconds checking out this stye of a bus that the boys have.’ Luche texted Sylva real quick.

“So let me see how you guys are doing on the bus!” Sylva insisted with forced happiness as she pushed past Noctis and Ignis and the rest of the guys who suddenly looked like deer caught in the headlights.

“Oh my God. Boys!” Sylva snapped angrily as they all hung their heads in shame as she looked it over before noticing at least in the back of the bus where Noctis’ and Ignis room was- was actually really clean and well taken care of, most likely Ignis’ doing.

“All the boys on the boys’ bus now!” Sylva yelled angrily as they all obeyed and got on, none of them looking her in the eye as they all blushed shamefully as Regis came on board and gasped in horror too before looking at his son and his friends harshly as they ducked their heads even lower.

“Really?” Sylva demanded as she didn’t even want to touch the filth as she put her shirt, that she had thankfully sprayed with perfume over her nose for a moment to get a break from the smell as Luche, Ravus and Nyx just shook their heads in the back of the group. Nyx and Ravus at least grateful they were in a group all their own and had kept the Escalade clean at least.

“Who has severe intestinal distress? Because this stench is not normal, did you boys actually drag your asses on the carpet like a cat instead of wiping?!” Sylva demanded as all the guys snickered a laugh before Regis cleared his throat which got all of them to stop immediately as all the girls had gathered at the entrance of the bus and started cackling at that analogy.

“Yes!” Crowe called out before giggling as Libertus glared at her through the window.

“Also, I realize that for most of you, this is your first time away from home and you want to enjoy the rock star life style but I am not hiring a maid for you guys and the girls will not be cleaning this either, you all will. I will be in constant contact with the girls to make sure they don’t have to pick up after you, you are adults, not toddlers and are perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves and each other. Every five minutes on the five minute mark I want to see progress in cleaning this bus and I will be texting all of you for pictures and all of you will be doing your part. I will work out a rotating cleaning schedule if I have to, or better yet, Ignis, since I’m sure you’re the reason yours and Noctis’ space at least is clean, you are in charge of assigning everyone rotating tasks so that everyone does a little bit of everything. Seriously, this is disgusting. And when was the last time all of you showered? Because I smell B.O. too, put on some God damn deodorant- I packed a literal case of it, where is it? Has anyone used any? You better start because all those girls deserve better than this.” Sylva growled before Regis stepped in.

“And how could they ever expect you to take care of them if you can’t take care of yourselves? You’re lucky I’m not taking pictures of all of this and sending them to your parents.” Regis threatened, shifting back into Principal mode.

“You know what?! Maybe we should.” Sylva said as she got her phone out to take pictures as Regis did the same before they all rushed to stop them.

“No, no, we’re sorry, we’ll clean up, we’ll clean up right now. We’re so sorry.” They all swore as they quickly got to work.

“Thank you. When I see you in a week I want to see this bus just as clean as the girl’s bus is. Because I know Yasmine refuses to put up with filth of any kind and they’ve already been sending me pictures of everything. Now, I’ll see you boys later, I love you all, be good.” Sylva insisted as she hugged them all before she left and took refuge on the girl’s bus as Regis stayed behind to supervise the boys.

“And who has been buying beer?” Regis demanded as he picked up an empty beer can as all the boys looked at each other but refused to look at Regis or answer his question as he narrowed his eyes as he noticed half the boys were now sporting quite a bit of facial hair and were groomed to look quite a bit older than they were. Tredd especially.

Meanwhile back on the girl’s bus. “Oh this is so nice! I love it.” Sylva praised as she looked everything over and noticed the fresh flowers and how there wasn’t a spec of dirt or dust in sight and their cleaning supply pantry was stuffed with cleaning supplies the same way the boy’s fridge was stuffed with leftovers while their own fridge had some leftovers too but mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and some really healthy food choices which she was really proud to see, including several bottles of wine which she didn’t mind one bit, knowing that Luna and Selena would have most likely shared the wine and bar supplies from her parent’s estate which she didn’t have an issue with.

“Actually a lot of the boys like to spend time on our bus because our bus is so nice.” Yasmine admitted.

“Figured they would.” Sylva nodded as she held Otis and Diana, each dog on each arm as the girls showed off their bus and how they had put their own personal touches to all their personal spaces as Sylva praised their decorating choices as Yasmine gave Ada the last slot in the safe for her jewelry and passport. “Goodness, you babies are so precious, makes me want to get a puppy.” Sylva cooed as Otis and Diana tried licking at her face.

“Ok, well you girls take care of each other ok? I have a train to catch. Love you, bye.” Sylva cooed to all the girls as she handed the dogs back and hugged them all before she turned to leave.    

“Oh, and as a reward for being good and responsible and making me so, so proud, here you go.” Sylva winked as she handed them a stack of hundreds. “Divide it evenly girls.” Sylva cooed before all the girls giggled and squealed in delight.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a train to catch.” Sylva grinned as she walked off the bus and walked right back onto the boys bus.

“How are we doing in here?” Sylva asked as she poked her head into the bus to see all the boys with garbage bags and Clorox wipes while Regis took the cue as they both bid everyone goodbye and got off the bus as Luche was vacuuming and subtly mouthed ‘thank you’ to Sylva as Ignis did the same as she winked at them before Ignis and Luche looked at each other questioningly before Ignis pointed subtly to Luche who nodded.

‘Thank you.’ Ignis mouthed to Luche who nodded sagely at that and went back to vacuuming.

When Sylva got back on her plane and took off, Ada decided to pull all her bags out and actually go through them, curious and excited to see what was in them and noticed a lot of the clothes smelled like Luche and his cologne because he was the one to carry most of it and she may or may not have inhaled that scent deep into her lungs and welcomed the comfort that brought her. Happy and pleased that he chose so well for her.

Meanwhile back in the boy’s bus.

“Since when do you carry a gun?” Tredd asked Luche as he noticed it.

“Can’t be too careful.” Luche replied before Tredd frowned and looked at the other guys while Gladio had quickly finished his part and was on the phone with Cor, getting the real story over in a corner.

“Oh shit.” Gladio breathed before he went and got his own gun out of his bag and put it on.

“What the hell is going on?” Tredd demanded as he watched Gladio put only not only his own guns on but handed Iris hers as she came on board to get armored up too since she had just gotten off the phone with her mom as Gladio and Iris gave each other meaningful looks before Iris told Craig what was happening in Spanish before he went and got his too.

“Seriously! What the fuck is going on? Are we about to knock over Fort Knox?” Tredd asked.

“We can’t tell you cause you’ll run your mouth and ruin it,” Iris growled threateningly.

“Oh shit!” Tredd realized. “Ada’s in danger because Cor got close to someone he shouldn’t of didn’t he and she’s here with us to get away from the shit hitting the fan!” Tredd realized as he put all of that together before Luche pinned Tredd to the wall by the throat.

“If you run your mouth, you will get her and the rest of us killed do you understand?!” Luche roared.

“The guys we’re protecting ourselves and everyone else from have already killed thousands and thousands of people. We are easy targets. Just a bunch of kids against an army of very highly trained killers. How easy would it be to kill all of us? While we’re up on stage or at a gas station in the middle of nowhere? While the girls are selling merch or out shopping? How easy would it be for them to get snatched up? Or kidnapped? A million things can go wrong. So congratulations for figuring it out, now shut your mouth and don’t breathe a word of this to anyone or if we get caught I’m telling them to shoot you first.” Gladio snarled as he had Tredd pinned up against the wall too while Craig was holding Iris back from kicking the shit out of Tredd too.

“Ok, I got it, I got it, don’t choke me you bastard.” Tredd tapped on Luche’s hold on his throat before Luche let go as he and Gladio slowly backed away but stared daggers at him as did everyone else.

“Jesus,” Tredd coughed and just shrugged it off before Gladio held a meeting with all the guys on the bus.  

“Alright, in case you haven’t figured this out, Cor Leonis is about to nail one of the most notorious mobster boss and gangster that’s currently in the US right now. His name is Gilgamesh and no one knows what he looks like because he wears a freaky mask and this fucker has laid waste to entire police forces and swat teams before because they wear super advanced armor and only carry armor piercing rounds so they can kill everyone else while no one can touch them. He has an army of dozens of generals with thousands of foot soldiers under them. His right hand man is a woman, she’s simply known as the Empress and she’s just as lethal as he is and she has an ace up her own sleeve, someone known as WitchHazel, all one word, capital W, capital H or in Chinese it’s Jin Lu Mei, because she is either Chinese herself or knows Chinese as her mother tongue because the one account Cor has of her is the two of them talking to each other in perfectly fluent Chinese. When either another rival mob, or another rival gang or even another law enforcement force has cornered the Empress before, she makes one call or one text and within minutes WitchHazel comes and breaks her out of anything and everything and they slip away again and disappear, no one knows who she is, all we do know is that it is a she, but she’s clearly trained as special forces because she’s a sniper and takes out a building full of people with surgical precision, like she’s the Punisher and she is a one woman army. She’s trained with CDC and the best idea they have is that she’s a mercenary and she’s just as dangerous as Gilgamesh and the Empress. Now chances are, we’ll be cool because we personally don’t pose a threat to Gilgamesh and hopefully nothing will happen but we will be careful, the girls are counting on us and so is Cor. Everyone needs to look out for each other, no one goes off alone, especially the girls and especially Ada. Luche, Iris and myself will be on Ada duty but Luche is tasked with taking care of her for the most part because Cor asked Sylva to take care of Ada and when Sylva’s not around, Luche will be doing that for her. Iris, you’ll keep eyes on her while she’s on the girl’s bus. Guys, keep your girls close. We’ll just have to be the overprotective, possessive boyfriends until further notice.” Gladio ordered as all the guys nodded in agreement.

Once on the train, Hazel and Titus unpacked and relaxed and opened one of the bottles of wine already in their luxurious cabin.

“Where did all of this come from?” Titus asked as he grabbed her toiletry bag to put her toiletries away and saw fifty thousand dollars in it.

“The same people who encouraged me to get out of town.” Hazel answered as she took it and put the money in the little safe. “So I’m using it and splurging it on you and this trip and keeping you safe.” Hazel added.

“Those people wouldn’t be lead by a guy named Gilgamesh would they?” Titus asked as Hazel froze in fear so he put the bag down and gathered her in his arms. “Hey, no one is listening to us right now, no one is watching us, the curtains are closed, there’s no bugs in this room and I swear on my life whatever you tell me I will never repeat to another living soul, just...tell me, let me know what I’m up against. Please.” Titus pleaded with her as her eyes watered.

“It’s not Gilgamesh, or Gil as I know him, it’s Charlie.” Hazel finally admitted.

“Who’s Charlie?” Titus frowned.

“Charlie, short for Charlotte, Gilgamesh’s Empress, his right hand man that’s a woman, that’s my sister.” Hazel revealed as Titus’ eyes got wide as he looked at her in surprise, not having thought in a million years that Hazel was so close to the most dangerous criminal he had ever heard of. And knowing she wouldn’t be apart of this if she had a choice. She was trapped.

“...How? She’s not...” Titus tried to argue.

“White? No she isn’t. Her birth mother, is my adopted step mother who raised us side by side by twins because we were born on the same day, you know my mother is Chinese. She had an affair with an older black guy as a teenager and when her parents found out, they tried to force an abortion on her but she was too far along by the time they found out and had to drop out of school and brought shame on the family and they then tried to force her to give Charlotte up for adoption and she refused and my father, who was in the next room over and holding me while he grieved my mother because my birth mother died giving birth to me, he heard the commotion and came to my mother’s rescue and practically married her on the spot to save her from her own parents. When Charlotte was a little girl, we went to a family reunion and my uncle, my father’s brother, raped Charlotte, my dad killed him on the spot and it fucked Charlie up. Fucked all of us up. As a teenager she got in trouble and never, ever got out of it, just got into deeper and deeper trouble with increasingly more dangerous people. When Gilgamesh got a hold of her, he claimed he found his ‘Empress’ because he’s Chinese and obsessed with Imperial China and finding a beautiful blasian girl who was just as jaded and just as ruthless and cut throat as he is, but more importantly, was just as brilliant as he is, was all he wanted. Now that Gil and Charlie are together, they’re an unstoppable powerhouse. I’m safe from them and protected by them because I’m Charlie’s sister but you and everyone else is not. You can not tell Cor or anyone else any of this. No one can know any of this. If Cor were to find out and try to bring me in for questioning or use this against me, or them, it will cost him his life before he can enter the interrogation room. They’re not above mass murder, either civilians or an entire district of law enforcement, in fact I know they already have done both and they have moles in everything. I can’t go to the police, or sheriff’s office, I can’t go to the U.S. Marshals, I can’t go to the CIA or the FBI, definitely not congress because I’m pretty sure Gilgamesh has people in all of it, I don’t know who they are and thankfully I’ve never met them so even I couldn’t expose them even if I wanted to. I just know they’re there.” Hazel revealed as she expected Titus to withdraw from her but he stayed steady as ever as he listened with rapt attention.

“Ok. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I love you.” Titus nodded in understanding before he just tightened his hold on her and hugged her as she hugged him tightly, feeling even better now that she told him and he didn’t run or withdraw or anything. She took a leap of faith telling him and he caught her and was keeping her and that’s all she wanted and all she could ever ask for.

“I love you too.” Hazel murmured as she clung to him.

“We’ll get through this, together. I promise.” Titus whispered and Hazel for the first time, allowed herself to really believe that and put real faith in that because he really meant it.

“Just don’t try to free me from all this ok? Everyone who has ever tried has died. I can’t loose you.” Hazel pleaded.

“Ok,” Titus agreed but he was already mentally trying to figure out exactly how he was going to be the first to succeed. Having the odds stacked against him wasn’t new. These were just different odds is all. Instead of a football game or his career, it was his life and the love of his life. He couldn’t screw this up. He waited his whole life for Hazel to come along and now that he had her, he was not going to let her go, ever. And he’ll be damned if she ever felt powerless or helpless or she was like a prisoner or slave to anyone’s will but her own ever again. He just had to bide his time and be smart about this. Maybe he needed to play some chess with Regis while they were on the train to really improve his tactical thinking skills.

Meanwhile back on the girl’s bus, Ada was still going through all of the things Sylva had bought for her and was putting on a fashion show for the rest of the girls which boosted her confidence and made her feel better too especially once she got into her makeup and all the girls helped her put it on and got her looking like a model. Helping take picture after picture of her to send to Cor and Sylva.

While back on the boy’s bus Luche had just settled into his bunk, being ever so grateful Sylva invested in some outrageously comfortable mattresses for both buses and he had already packed a sheet set for himself and his bunk, not knowing who had slept on his bunk before him and not wanting to know who or what had happened, he just Lysol-ed the bunk then Febreeze-ed it then put on his own sheet set and bedding before putting on his own pillows too. He still had a lot of think over and mentally figure out. He couldn’t be rash, he had to be smart. That one rile from Tredd had him ready to take his friend’s head off. He had to remember that Tredd wasn’t the enemy. Gilgamesh was, although Gilgamesh wouldn’t even be an issue if Cor wasn’t a factor in everyone’s lives. Maybe if Gilgamesh could just take Cor out before he got taken down so the rest of them would be ok and unharmed, that would be ok. Honestly that would be, in his mind, the most ideal situation. Because he could more easily catch Ada from such an emotional devastation. But then again if that happened Cor would die a golden boy hero and she’d be liable to go find another just like Cor. Ok, maybe that wasn’t the greatest idea. Maybe Sylva’s idea was the best after all, Ada just needed time and space away from Cor to gain some perspective of her life and to enjoy this time with her friends and away from him and then when she got back she’d see how much he was really lacking compared to himself. He just had to prove himself better and more superior to Cor. But he still needed to be true to himself, but also he needed to do right by her too. He needed to do her justice and he needed to win her over without- as Sylva put it- ‘actively’ win her over. She said to be subtle, he needed to do subtle but meaningful gestures.

“Fuck, give those mice in your head a break, I can hear their wheels turning a million miles an hour from here.” Tredd teased from the bunk across the aisle.  

“Fuck off dude.” Luche bit out.

“Seriously, I can hear you huffin and puffin from here like a little bitch.” Tredd snickered.

“How many times have you gotten punched so far on this trip?” Luche asked to which Tredd just laughed harder. “And how many times would you like to get shot?” Luche snapped.

“Ooh, so now you got a gun, you’re gonna shoot your bro just for ruffling your feathers a little?” Tredd taunted as he reached out and poked into the curtain.

“What part of fuck off do you not understand?” Luche swiped at the intruding finger before Tredd pulled Luche’s curtain back a little.

“Look, I got ideas to help bruh, do you want to hear them or not?” Tredd insisted.

“If I do, will you leave me the fuck alone?” Luche droned.

“No promises.” Tredd grinned.

“Fine,” Luche huffed as he rolled over to face Tredd and ripped his curtain back. “What?” Luche demanded.

“Bruh, you were ready to kill me the moment you thought Ada would get hurt, no guy gets that fired up and ready to go on the rampage unless he really loves the girl.” Tredd grinned victoriously as Luche narrowed his eyes and looked out to see if anyone was listening or paying attention to their conversation.

“Oh relax, no one gives a shit. Look, the way I see it, Sylva hired you to be Ada’s bodyguard right? To protect her from everything and take care of her right?” Tredd reasoned.

“She didn’t hire me to do it but yeah.” Luche bit out.

“Damn, I was hoping you had some extra cash on you then.” Tredd teased before Luche grabbed his curtain to pull it back closed.

“Wait, wait, wait, that wasn’t my point, don’t be so hasty.” Tredd stopped him.

“My point is, you get to be her bodyguard and caretaker right?” Tredd furthered.

“Yeah,” Luche confirmed.

“On Sylva’s dime.” Tredd furthered.

“It doesn’t matter who’s dime it is.” Luche shook his head no, not wanting Tredd to get any ideas.

“Well my point is, still, pull out all the stops, go whole hog on her, now’s your chance to really take her back man, take advantage of it and just lavish all the stupid shit on her you can. Spoil her rotten whether it’s your money or not. Prove that you can take better care of her than Cor ever could. We both know you win out financially at least. You two are still friends, it’ll grow into something more before you know it. Now all you gotta do is be the perfect prince charming you usually are minus the uptight traitorous prick for snitching on us about the bus and you’ll be good to go.” Tredd grinned victoriously.

“I’m not a traitorous prick.” Luche argued.

“Yeah but you are hella uptight and you need to loosen up and have fun too, none of us can cut loose if you’re still uptight and we all think that everything we do is going to be repeated and reported to the biggest mom of all. Even if she’s the hottest MILF ever.” Tredd pointed out.

“Fine,” Luche groaned.

“That’s my bruh, happy to have you with us.” Tredd held out his fist for Luche to fist bump it which Luche returned their own bro handshake that was still unique to the two of them.

[charlottedabookworm]

In a Nox Fleuret bastard au - something to keep in mind is that said NF would have to be /Sylva's/ bastard offspring, if you want said OC to inherit the Oracle's power. And - it's harder to hide the bastard of a /female/ noble then a male one. Sylva always seemed to love her children, I don't see her loving her bastard any less, but - it might have been more politically convenient for said bastard to have been away from Fenestrela manor on occasion. Sent to foster, at boarding school - (cont)

(cont) Sylva - might have seen this as a /chance/ to let even *one* of her children be /free/ of a life dictated by Destiny and the Gods and Politics. She might have choose to get the only one of her children that the Empire might conceivably overlook/dismiss as a bastard /out of there/. But of course - when she’s killed, and the Not Fleurets captured? There might very well be a manhunt from /both/ Niflheim and Lucis to hunt down the ‘unaffiliated’ NF. The only one /not/ under Imperial control. 

Of course, all bastard!NF knows is that they *are* a bastard and their momma sent them away. Their Momma - who they remember as a pretty lady in white with long blonde hair - said she loved them, and sent them away. They don’t know if she didn’t /want/ them, or if she was forced to - they just. Don’t know. Bastard!NF hopes that she loved them, but - they just don’t know. 

Oh fuck, why would you do this to me?

I was trying to avoid worldbuilding so that I wouldn’t write it because I have enough fics on the go already!

And now that I’ve gotten the obligatory fake-whining out of the way, time to prove once again that I have no impulse control anymore:

Amatus Fitz Fleuret is born nearly two years before his sister is, perfectly between his legitimate siblings in age. For two years, Sylva can hold her son in her arms and love him. He’s hidden from the world at large as a bastard, kept out of the limelight for political reasons, but he’s loved by his mother and his older brother and they’re happy

And then Sylva falls pregnant and Amatus and Ravus are so enthusiastic about having another sibling and everything is good even with the Empire knocking at their doors

But Luna is born and a time of joy turns sour. Because Gentiana appears and there’s the Prophecy and Luna is the Chosen Oracle who dies so young so that the Chosen King can save the world and Sylva doesn’t want that for her daughter, she wants all of her children to be able to decide their own fates but for two of them that has already been taken from them

Sylva looks at Amatus, at the smiling two year old who followed Ravus like a lost puppy and begged her for stories of times long past and was so joyful at having a sister and not being the youngest anymore, at the only of her children not bound by politics or gods or prophecy, and she knows that only he has a chance at his own life

And only if she sends him away

She has always known that eventually Amatus would be fostered out, that her position would demand it of a bastard child - and a second son at that - but she had expected longer. Years longer. She’d expected to be able to raise him herself, even if she would eventually have to send him away

But this is the only chance he has to be safe and free

So, Sylva breaks her own heart and she sends Amatus away with two of her most trusted staff, who would raise him inside Tenebrae’s borders but far away from the manor

(The night before he must leave, she sits in her son’s room and holds him tight, whispering her love for him over and over and over as she cries)

(Amatus sobbed as they carried him away, reaching out for his mother desperately, a necklace bouncing against his chest as he struggled.

Ravus screamed, trying to go to his little brother only to be held back. Even little Luna cried, if only in reaction to the tears of her older siblings. Ravus, only 4, wouldn’t remember his brother as he grew, but he would always hate Gentiana, would always associate her with the loss of a sibling. It isn’t until years later that he will realise that it isn’t only Luna’s fate that he blames her for

Luna wouldn’t even know of her second brother, not until after their mother’s death. Not until the world learnt of his existence)

Sylva sends her son away so that he will be safe. And she visits when she can, which is less so as he ages, as the war picks up and Niflheim becomes more stringant and Gentiana more present. By the time her youngest son is 7, the visits stop. 

Amatus will only ever have the vaguest memories of his mother, less memories than he has of Tenebrae itself, and he remembers her telling him that she loved him. But he knows nothing of her, not even her name, and the memories are so faded and he loves her but he isn’t sure if she did him. All he has of her is a simple necklace that he never takes off and he so hopes that the memories were real and not imagined and she did love him. 

But he was a bastard and she had sent him away and he never quite knows why and there is always this nagging thought in the back of his mind that she did it to be rid of him

He wants to believe that she had no choice and that she did love him but he doesn’t know and it hurts

It hurts

[cha0ticmimzy]

Chapter IX: A Car, a Torch, a Death

Author’s Notes: It’s spicy. It’s sad. It’s painful. It’s soft. This chapter is a mixture of a lot of things and I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it. Word Count: 5933 Warnings: It’s spicy from the get go. NSFW content (nudity, mentions of sex).  Rating: Mature

“I began to understand why God died.”-Twenty One Pilots

           “Don’t stop,” the blond gasped out, hands entangled within midnight locks. Teeth grazed along a freckled neck, threatening to pierce skin. The headboard of the bed thumped against the wall, echoing through the room, mingling with the sound of skin hitting against damp skin, of soft gasps and long moans.

           “I don’t plan on it.” The vampire responded, bloody hues clouded with lust as his thrusts gained speed, pulling free a high moan from the human beneath him. He could smell him, could smell the blood pumping through his veins. Could feel how warm and soft he was, pliant. It would be so easy to feed from him right now. Just one little bite, that’s all.

           “I’m gonna-” the blond choked out, gasping as he reached his peak, body tensing, shaking. The vampire stilled within him, reveling in the way he clenched and spasmed around his length. So warm, so soft. Rouge gaze met with not cornflower blue, but lilac rimmed with amethyst; such a riveting combination, such an inhuman color.

           Inhuman.

“We’ll have extra security from Tenebrae coming in within the next few days, so we can go over the protocols then. Until then, however, we need to go over a few rules,” Drautos spoke, voice loud and clear through the training hall. They had all paused in the middle of weight training when he’d come in with not one, not two, but three large bags filled with the dreaded uniforms that they would be forced to wear. “Yes, we have different uniforms. Yes, you have to wear them. No, you cannot customize them, Furia.”

           A round of soft laughter filled the room as the man called out slumped down upon the bench with a pout.

           “Now, moving on: the King has announced that the Gallery will be open to the public during the day of the event. This is a rarity, and the public will jump at the chance to get inside the Citadel. This cannot happen.” There had been an incident once, years ago, when a human managed to get past security and wandered the halls of the Citadel.

           He never saw the light of day again.

           “Due to this, we will be spread thin. I won’t force you to work both the day and the night, however, should you choose to do so, you will receive compensation for your time.” A ripple moved through the group. Compensation could mean anything from a day off to extra pay. It was definitely worth the risk. “HOWEVER,” Titus’ voice boomed, silence the murmurs, “the king has asked for a select few to be assigned to the Gala to keep an eye on things. Ulric, Altius, Lazarus- you three will work the Gala, and you will keep an eye upon the crown prince and Lady Lunafreya. Lady Sylva has her own personal guard already, as does the Lord Ravus and his fiancé.”

           “Sir,” Nyx spoke up, brow furrowing, “what is it that his majesty wants us to do, exactly?”

           “Keep an eye on the prince and Lady Lunafreya; there’s tension between the two and given the disaster that happened nearly a decade ago at the Gala, we’d prefer to keep things as calm and non-dramatical as possible.” And to make sure that the prince didn’t have another slip up; that didn’t need to be said aloud, however. “You’re dismissed for the day to make arrangements with the Citadel tailor if your uniform does not fit.” With that, Drautos left the room, and barely a minute passed before the Glaive all but launched themselves at the garment bags.

           Crowe got to it first, ripping them open and reading the labels out loud. “Wow, these are fancy,” she mumbled, holding her own up. It was similar in make to their normal uniforms; black and silver, jacket and pants. However, she realized that her own was lacking… Pants. “A dress. I have to wear a- Nyx, I swear to the Six, if you don’t STOP laughing I can and will punch you through that wall!”

           “Wow, a dress? Regis really is going all out.”

           “I’m not wearing a dress.”

           “Yes, you are,” Nyx replied, holding his own uniform up. A deep violet band had been sewn into the left sleeve, showing that he wasn’t a shifter like the rest of the Kingsglaive. “If I have to wear a monkey suit, you get to wear a dress.”

           “But-”

           “And just think,” Pelna chimed in, coming up behind his mate, his arms wrapping around her waist, “I get to see you in a dress. And we get to dance. And you get to drink. And we get to dance.”

           “Get a ROOM.” Tredd booed, grabbing his uniform and slinging it over his shoulder.

           “We say that to you all the time and yet you’re still here.”

           “Fuck off, Ulric.”

           “You offering?”

           “CHILDREN.” Libertus broke the pair up, keeping a steady hand upon Nyx’s forearm, keeping him from stepping closer to the redhead. “Calm yourselves. You’re both pretty.”

           Nyx sighed, shaking Libertus’ hand off so he could grab hold of his uniform and hold it up. It was similar to their normal work uniform, only more… Dressy? He couldn’t decide what made it different. Perhaps it was the fact that the make was more delicate, the fabric being more akin to velvet rather than the rough leather. Silver threading took place of the metal normally in place, and delicate buttons lined the left side, each one with Insomnia’s symbol engraved into the metal. “Wonder how much this cost?”

           “Don’t wanna know,” Libertus replied, pulling on the suit jacket. He made a face as he moved, feeling the strain in the shoulders. “Nope, nope, nope. We gotta fix this. A trip to Mister Scientia is in need if I’m gonna wear this monkey jacket.” He attempted to pull it off, only to pause, eyes widening as he realized his arms were stuck. “Nyx- Nyx, babe, help. I can’t- stop laughing you dick help me out of this before it rips!”

           “Calm down, you oaf,” Nyx teased between laughs as he pulled the jacket the rest of the way off before holding it out, only to have it snatched away by Libertus. “C’mon, let’s go. I need to drop off some documents with Clarus, anyways.”

           “Finally finish your report?” Luche asked, a brow raising as he folded his uniform over his shoulder. “I finished mine yesterday- didn’t really want to revisit that hell, but…”

           “Yeah,” Nyx sighed, shaking his head. “The footage that my body cam caught… I still can’t figure out what that thing was.” A grave silence fell across the room as memories of their mission a week and a half ago. Even after watching and re-watching the footage, he couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever that creature had been, it was old and dangerous. “Either way, it was terrifying.”

           “It looked like-” Axis began, only to be cut off by Luche.

           “Don’t.” Luche interrupted, shaking his head at Axis. “That’s impossible, you and I both know that. We all know that. That isn’t possible because they don’t exist any longer. That was hundreds of years ago, before the last war, even.”

           “Right…” Nyx frowned, brow quirking as he glanced between the two. Hooking an arm through Libertus’ own, he pulled his lover closer. “We’re gonna… Head up to see Scientia. Don’t burn down the rec room.”

           “Damn!” Pelna cursed jokingly. “There goes my plans for the evening.”

           “I always knew you were a hidden arsonist!” Nyx shot back with a wink before leading Libertus out of the room, their uniforms in hand. Once outside, the door firmly shut behind him, he paused. “That was weird, right?”

           “Yup. But maybe Luche’s spooked, still. I mean, I know you couldn’t pick up the scent we could, but that thing was more of an Alpha than Drautos was. I wanted to roll over and bare my neck…” Shaking his head, Libertus let a shudder dance through him. “Whatever the Nifs are working on, it’s dangerous.”

           “Right. Listen-… I need to talk to Clarus. About what we saw. Because we saw what that thing was, and I know it’s impossible-”

           Libertus interrupted him with a swift kiss and a reassuring smile. “Go do what you gotta do. I’m gonna got get poked accidentally with some needles and complain about wearing a uniform.”

           “I’ll walk you up?”

           “Whatta charmer!”

           Sunlight peeked through the curtains, dancing across his face. Noctis was already awake, sitting beside the blond. His freckles weren’t just on his face- they were all over. He’d tried to kiss them all last night, but… That would have been impossible. Hell, last night seemed impossible, but Prompto was still sound asleep in his bed. His hair was a mess of a blond spikes, and his neck was covered in bruises left from Noctis’ lips.

           It brought a smile to the prince’s lips.

           Yawning, he fell back against the pillows, listening the steady breaths Prompto released beside him. He didn’t wanna wake him, not yet. He needed rest- humans needed sleep, right? Or was it dangerous if they got too much? He remembered watching a news story about how too much sleep was dangerous- was Prompto getting too much sleep now?

           … Where was Ignis when he needed him?

           “If y’stare any harder I might turn t’stone…” Came the sleepy voice of Prompto, startling Noctis so bad he nearly leaped off the bed.

           “Sorry,” Noctis apologized, cheeks flushing. “How do you… Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

           “Mm,” Prompto hummed, rolling over onto his back and stretching. “My back sorta does, but my back always hurts so that’s nothing new- is that breakfast? It smells wonderful!” Prompto rapidly changed the subject, sitting up and all but crawling over Noctis to get at the tray beside the bed.

           A laugh bubbled free from Noctis as he held still, watching the blond in amusement. “They brought it in about an hour ago. It should still be warm…. I dunno what they made.” He got his answer right after as Prompto raised the lid to reveal a plate of French toast and berries. A moan slipped free from Prompto as he pulled the plate off the cart and onto the bed, settling it down between them. Silence fell as Prompto began to stuff his face, eyes closed as if he were basking in the taste.

           “That’s it. I’m stealing your chef. I need this in my life every day all day.” Prompto moaned around a mouth full of food. Noctis hummed, stealing a strawberry. Sure, they couldn’t eat a lot of human food, but a few little bites here and there didn’t cause that much damage.

           Prompto fell silent again, focused on eating. Noctis found himself thinking on the events that transpired; the kiss- which evolved into more kissing. The touches, the way Prompto looked beneath him, how he felt, how he sounded. It made his skin tingle, just thinking about it. But that tingle dissipated when the thought of Prompto’s eyes came to the forefront of his mind. Right now, they were their normal sky blue; gorgeous and light. But last night, they were lilac and rimmed with amethyst. They weren’t blue, they weren’t normal.

           Did Prompto know?

           Mouth opening, he was about to ask when a swift knock sounded upon his door. Groaning inwardly, Noctis sat up. “Enter.”

           “Good afternoon, Noct, Prompto,” Ignis called as he made his way into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “Noctis, you’re needed in the council. There’s been…” He faltered, something that was rare to see from the normally put-together man. “There’s been an altercation.”

           A chill danced down Noctis’ spine. “What happened?”

           “It’s better if-”

           “No. Tell me before I get down there.” He all but demanded, already climbing out of bed. He silently thanked the Six he managed to put on underwear before falling asleep last night. “I want to be prepared, and since you’re so shaken up, it must be bad.”

           Prompto shifted on the bed, pulling the sheets closer, sinking in on himself. The tension in the room had rose, putting him on edge.

           “There was an attack in Tenerbae. The remaining members of the royal family were not in any danger, but…” Ignis sighed, running a hand through his hair, ruffling the carefully groomed brunet locks. “Lady Aurora’s parents were murdered.”

           Noctis dropped the brush he’d been holding, his eyes wide as he stared at the mahogany top of his desk. Prompto wanted to reach out, to say something, anything, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it- not with everything in him screaming for him to run. Noctis’ back was tensed, anger flowing off him.

“Get a maid to bring Prompto some clothes.” He finally spoke as he pulled on a simple black hoodie and yanked on a pair of jeans. Turning to the blond, he gave a small smile. “I’m sorry- I… This- I gotta go. I’ll try to catch you before dinner, but…” Shoulders rising in a small shrug, he suddenly looked unsure.

“Noctis, we need to go.”

“Right-” clearing his throat, the prince straightened himself. He went to walk forward before suddenly changing his mind and walked to the edge of the bed. Soft, cool hands reached out, cupping Prompto’s cheeks, holding him in place as he placed one, two, three soft kisses against his lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Alright…” Prompto sighed, smiling, as Noctis withdrew. The prince left quickly after pulling on a pair of shoes, the door closing behind him. And then he was alone.

Again.

He fell back into the multitude of pillows, sinking into the soft mattress. The bed was easily three times the size of his back at his apartment, and far softer. And, he noted as he rolled over, it smelled of Noctis. Soap, of woodsmoke, of a sharp tang of ozone and something sugary sweet. A smile curled his lips as he buried himself beneath the sheets. Maybe a nap wouldn’t hurt…

“Don’t touch me.” Aurora hissed as soon as Noctis opened the door. Ravus took a quick step back, hands up. She was seething with rage; her normally sapphire eyes had deepened in color, resembling an angry ocean more than a gem. The anger was palpable in the room; even Sylva seemed to be put on edge. “They are dead and you refuse to do a damned thing. Sylva, I will not beg. I will not ask again. I am demanding that you retaliate against them!”

“Against who?” Noctis finally spoke up, flinching as Aurora spun around to face him. She still had tears falling, and her hair that was normally curled elegantly fell around her face and shoulders in dramatic waves. “Who did this?”

“Niflheim,” she growled out, hands- no, entire body shaking with the anger she felt. “Those damned bastards did this. They attacked Galahd, and now they strike at the holiest country? How can you sit on your-”

“Aurora!” Ravus interjected finally, and it was as if all her control finally slipped. She crumbled to the floor, falling upon her knees and leaning over, her hands curled into fists upon the floor. Ravus knelt beside her, his arm wrapping around her, pulling her to him. It hurt to see such a strong, happy woman completely wrecked. Her sobs made her entire body shake, and as Noctis watched, he could see tears trailing down Ravus’ face.

Attention turned towards the two coven leaders, he took notice in the way Sylva seemed to be made of stone- not reacting to what was happening at all. His father, on the other hand, looked ready to commit murder. “Within this room are the only ones who know of this tragedy.” Looking around, Noctis took in the faces: Cor and Clarus behind his father, Nyx beside the door, Ignis and Gladio behind him, Lunafreya and Drautos behind Sylva. Twelve people, total. The rest of the Glaive, the remainder of the council, Lady Sylva’s security- none of them knew.

Aside from Prompto.

“Tomorrow, we will make an announcement of this attack. During this, we will address the attack on Galahd as well. Niflheim will be brought forth for trial.” Regis paused, giving Sylva a pointed look. Noctis couldn’t help but wonder what that was about… “For genocide and for murder of a royal clan. We will seek justice. We will not stoop to their levels; war is not what we are searching for. We are looking for an answer.”

“I want blood.” Aurora muttered into Ravus’ chest, though it was loud enough for everyone in the council room to hear. “I want the one who executed my mother and father. I want to show them how it feels.”

“That’s the anger talking, love,” Ravus murmured, brushing his fingers through her hair. “… Though I agree. I’d like to see the one who gave the final killing blow brought to trial and persecuted-”

“Executed.”

“Executed.” Ravus finished, leveling his mother with a hard stare. Noctis watched as Sylva simply raised her wine glass to her lips and took a long sip.

“We can talk of that after tomorrow. You’re all dismissed. Noctis, come with me; we need to speak.” With that, the room cleared out relatively quickly, Clarus, Cor, Nyx, and Drautos being the only ones left behind to act as guards for them. “We cannot enter into another war, you understand this. You know how crippling the last war had been. Insomnia nearly fell had it not been for the surprise attack Tenebrae launched against Niflheim. I fear this is their retaliation for that attack.”

“But that was… What, over a hundred years ago? Before I was even born, so almost two hundred? And they’re still angry?” Noctis asked, confusion evident in his voice. “Why attack now?”

“They’re working on some sort of secret weapon. During our reconnaissance to Galahd, we were attacked by Niflheim airships. There was…” Nyx faltered, brows furrowing. “Something in the forest. It’s impossible, I know, but there was a shifter in the forest. One that wasn’t like us- now, that is. It resembled the original shifters. Like the werewolves of old.”

“How is that possible?” Alarm caused his voice to pitch upwards, much to Noctis’ annoyance.

“We don’t know,” Cor spoke up. “We’ve sent agents to Niflheim over the years, but none of them have ever returned. I assume they were taken hostage, defected, or took their own lives before Niflheim had the chance.” A grim silence spread through the room.

“I’ve reached out to Iedolas Aldercapt; he’s the president of Niflheim.” Regis broke the silence, voice soft. “He has agreed to meet during the upcoming Gala. It’s a risk, but that was the only way he would agree- if we did this during the Gala.”

“He’s planning something.” Clarus stated harshly.

“I know. Which is why I’m going to make sure we have our best on guard during the Gala. Drautos, I want you to remove your Glaives from patrolling the morning. The Insomnian police force can handle the public,” Regis ordered, magenta hues focused on the marble floor beneath their feet.

“Of course, your majesty.”

“I want Lazarus and Altius to be on the Gala floor at all times. Khara will be on the upper floor with Arra, Ostium and Furia in the gardens. Nyx will remain near Noctis or Lunafreya at all times- when Noctis is not with Gladiolus or Ignis, Nyx will be with him. Any other time, he will be with Lunafreya. We cannot have her injured.”

“Sir?” Nyx interrupted, brows raised.

“I fear they will attempt to strike at Lady Lunafreya. Lady Sylva is too much an obvious target, and Lord Ravus is an accomplished warrior that would be too difficult to fight.” Noctis shifted nervously. His father really had thought everything through already, hadn’t he? “We must be prepared for the worst. If an attempt is pulled, we will default to Alpha Phase One.”

“Which is?” Noctis asked, leaning against the edge of the oak table. “If I’m here, it involves me. What’s this… Alpha-whatever?”

“Alpha Phase One,” Regis began, shooting his son an amused glance, “is a plan of escape that only a few know. And I will keep it that way.” His tone was final.

“So I don’t get to know it?”

“No.”

“… Ouch.”

“You have your own escape route that Gladiolus and Ignis know and will take should something happen.”

“They know it?” Noctis asked in surprise. “And I don’t?”

“Exactly.” Regis replied smugly.

“Rude.”

“I think you’ll survive.”

“You shouldn’t be here!” Titus hissed as he closed his apartment door, quickly locking it. Ater shrugged, perfectly comfortable with sitting atop the counter. “Do you realize how much trouble I could get in? You aren’t supposed to be seen here.”

“And no one saw me.” She replied simply, sliding off the counter. “You stress too much, babe. No one saw me. I even went as far as using prosthetics.” She waved a hand to the mess on the kitchen table. “It was a pain in the ass to get on and off. Oh, and disposable contacts. And a wig. I made sure I wasn’t recognized.”

Groaning softly, the general ran a hand over his face. “You’re going to be the death of me, you realize this?” He muttered as he walked closer, hands coming to rest upon the vampire’s hips, pulling her close. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“They sent me out before they dispatched the Gloriam clan.” Her voice was soft as she reached up to cup his cheek, his scruff scratching at her palm. Icy hues took in the dark shadows beneath his eyes. “I didn’t know what they had planned. I don’t even know what- or who- they sent out. It wasn’t me, or Highwind. I would know- I was out drinking with her when we got the news.”

“Well, shit.” Sighing, Drautos released her and began to work on removing his coat. “Regis is pissed. They do realize that they didn’t get the entire clan, right?”

“… They didn’t?”

His blood froze in his veins as he turned slowly, taking in the genuine surprise that splayed across Ater’s face. “… They didn’t realize Aurora was still here.” He whispered, panic settling in. His heart began a tap dance within his chest. “Who authorized the attack?”

“Aldercapt.”

“That idiot!” Hand banged against the counter, the wood releasing a groan in protest. “He moves without thinking and creates a mess that I have to clean up.” Drawing in a slow, deep breath, he forced himself to relax. It wouldn’t be good to shift in his apartment. “Regis is going to address the public in the morning about the attack on Galahd and the murder of the Gloriam clan.”

“Shit.” Ater mumbled, biting on her thumb. This managed to mess everything up. “What of the girl?”

“Aurora?”

“Yes.”

“She’s untouchable, especially now. She’s engaged to Ravus, and we all know what the Lord is capable of. He saw battle when he was a barely an adult. He killed. He’s ruthless and dangerous.” Drautos shook his head, jaw working. “Iedolas is coming to Insomnia in a week… Why are you here? Had he planned on coming here?”

“He wanted me to come and check in on you. Watch- since you haven’t been sending in your reports…” Ater trailed off, shrugging. “And to get familiar with the city.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s planning something. I don’t know what it is- I can’t ever get him alone to talk to him, that scoundrel of a man is always there, whispering in his ear. I don’t trust him, Titus. I don’t like him. He’s… Wrong.” Shuddering, she moved closer, her arms coming to wrap around his middle. Cold fingertips slipped beneath his shirt, nails just barely dragging across the skin of his back.

“Ardyn is dangerous,” Drautos agreed, fingers trailing down her spine, hooking in the waistband of her pants. “But now that you’re here, I don’t have to rely on phone calls or texts.” He murmured, leaning down to steal a fierce kiss. A surprised noise escaped Ater before she reached up, holding onto his shirt, pulling him closer. His teeth grazed her lip, and her fangs pierced his own. Blood welled up between them, the kiss growing far more messy, animalistic. His hands wandered lower, grasping her rear, squeezing, pulling her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he held her up with one arm. His free hand slipped beneath her shirt, preparing to unclip her bra, only to be met with bare skin. A laugh melted into the kiss from Ater.

“I didn’t bother with one.” She whispered, pulling back to lick at her lips. Blood smeared down her chin, across her lips. He could feel blood across his own chin, in his mouth. But a growl of approval slipped free as she pulled her shirt off, over her head. “I’m not wearing any underwear, either.” She added, watching as his pupils dilated. He leaned down, pressing a kiss within the valley of her breasts. A soft breath left her, her head tilting back as he pressed more kisses against the soft skin before pulling a nipple into his mouth. His tongue laved against it before he bit down gently.

“Good.”

“It’s late, my lord.” Cor murmured in lieu of announcing himself as he entered the study. Regis sat in a plush armchair before the wall of floor to ceiling windows, gazing out across Insomnia. “You need to rest. It’s been a long day…” The room was softly lit due to the fire burning within the large fireplace. It smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg; warmth.

Regis hummed in response, slowly swirling the remnants of his glass of bloodwine. “Sylva is planning a coup d'é-tat.” He spoke simply, listening to way Cor’s footsteps paused. Even from here, across the large room, he could hear the way his friend- no, lover’s- heart skipped a beat.

“Sir?” He asked, as if he hadn’t heard him correctly. “How do you…?”

“She isn’t the only one with spies within the ranks.” Came the soft answer as Regis rose from his seat. Standing there, back illuminated by the fire slowly dying in the fireplace- it brought Cor back to their first time together. So many years ago, he’d been so young, and Regis had been so very gentle and kind. Strong. Smart. Heartbroken.

“You have Aurora working for you, then.”

“Yes,” Regis replied, turning to face the human. Cor had changed out of his uniform and into a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Ready to sleep, and yet he came to check on him. It warmed his heart. “I had made an agreement with her shortly before her engagement to Ravus. He knows, as well.”

“And Lady Lunafreya…?”

“Is a pawn in Sylva’s game.”

“That poor, poor girl.”

“A shame. She was once so gentle.”

“And now she’s the perfect blade for her mother to weild.”

Silence fell as Cor moved closer, stepping around the desk to stand beside his king. Glacier hues stared out upon the city below; it never stopped moving, never stopped advancing. Never slept. The feeling of Regis moving closer, stepping in behind him, made a shudder dance through his skin. He leaned back against the vampire, head resting upon his shoulder. Regis, I turn, wrapped his arms around his middle, leaned his head against Cor’s. Together they stood, watching the city, as the last embers died out.

“Take me to bed, Cor.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

Prompto had been playing a game on his phone when Noctis came back to his room. Dinner had been delivered three hours earlier, along with an apology from Noctis. Some sort of meeting happened, and he couldn’t leave until it was over. Which was fine! Prompto had plenty to do! Update his Instagram, play games on his phone, snoop through Noctis’ drawers (he was a boxer brief guy, apparently), and look through the books that lined the wall. Prompto knew that the Citadel had its own library, but Noctis had his own personal one within his bedroom.

He may have spent too long looking through the comic books.

“Is Aurora alright?” He meant to say hello, how are you, but he needed to know. She was such a kind, sweet girl. For her to be hit with this…

Noctis sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he toed off his shoes. “No. She’s… Angry. Sad. Grieving. I spent the last two hours with her and Ravus. She tore up their bedroom- literally.” Prompto’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. She’s mostly mad at Sylva for not doing anything. Or suggesting any action. Dad took it upon himself to decide to make a public statement…”

“Why isn’t Lady Sylva doing anything?” That was confusing. Prompto scooted to the edge of the bed, feet barely grazing the floor as he watched Noctis move about, pulling the hoodie off. “Isn’t Aurora Tenebraen?”

“She is. I don’t know why Sylva isn’t doing anything- she barely spoke during the council meeting. I dunno. The entire situation is just… Weird and bad.” Shrugging, Noctis slipped into the en suite. “I had them bring you dinner- did you eat? Did you like it?”

“I did!” Prompto called back, grinning. “I had to have that girl- Crowe? She was the one who came with the maid. I had to have her help me figure out how to eat lobster tail… I’d never had it before.”

“Really?” Noctis poked his head out, brows raised, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

A snort spilled free from Prompto as he nodded. “Yeah. But it was good! And that linguine was so good. I swear I’m going to steal your cook.”

“Nah, you can’t have Iggy.”

“IGNIS COOKED THAT?!” He hadn’t meant to be so loud, but he couldn’t help it. Finding out that Ignis cooked that entire meal was surprising.

“Yeah, he’s been trained to be my personal chef. Lowers the risk of being poisoned.” Noctis answered, coming back into the room with an amused smile. “Since that’s a thing that happens to royals.”

“Oh…” Right. That was a thing that Noctis had to worry about. “… You have a lot of books.” He changed the subject easily as Noctis pulled open a drawer, rummaging around before pulling a pair of sleeping pants out.

Tugging his jeans off (and nearly falling in the process), he glanced over to the book shelves that took up an entire wall. “Yeah- dad used to read to me as a kid, and it just… Stuck. I only like fiction. Like… Magic. That kind of thing.”

A sudden question popped into Prompto’s mind. “Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked, watching as Noctis paused, pants pulled back up.

“… No.”

“You’d love it! It’s sort of like… If the characters from Lord of the Rings clashed with Dragon Age.” Prompto attempted to explain, and received a laugh in response as Noctis settled down onto the bed before collapsing backwards. “I’m serious! It’s really fun, too. You can make your own character and there’s always detailed stories…”

“Prom?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“… Stay the night with me.”

Prompto froze, cheeks flushing at the request. “I… You sure?” He asked, fidgeting with the hem of the pajama top that had been brought for him. It was too big, but that was perfect. “I mean, I can go back to my room-”

“I’m sure.” Noctis replied, reaching out to tug on the edge of Prompto’s shirt. “Not to… Not to have sex. But just- I don’t wanna be alone. And I sleep better with someone beside me.” He explained almost shyly, not meeting Prompto’s questioning gaze. “If you don’t want to, I won’t force you, but-”

“I do!” Prompto exclaimed, before quickly backpedaling. “I mean, I’d love to. I’m good. I like it here. I like… I like being with you. Near you.” He wiggled in place for a moment before falling back on the bed beside the vampire.

“Good.” Noctis nodded, pulling Prompto closer. “I just wanna lay here. Today was… Rough.”

“Alright,” Prompto hummed, lacing their fingers together. “Then we can just lay here- as long as you want to, Noct.”

Noctis nodded, eyes closing. Prompto shifted, tucking his head into the crook of the other’s neck. It was nice, to just lay with one another. Prompto hadn’t realized how much he wanted, no, craved this. This softness, this warmth. Slowly, he tangled his legs with Noctis’, who hummed and cracked open an eye. He pulled his hand free to clap twice, and the lights dimmed by themselves.

“… That is so cool.”

“I know, right?” Noctis grinned as he took Prompto’s hand into his own once more, giving it a gentle squeeze. He felt the blond yawn against his shoulder and answered it with one of his own. “I’m glad you’re here, Prom.”

“Me, too.” Prompto murmured, pressing a tiny kiss just below his ear. Within minutes, the pair had fallen asleep.

Neither one noticed the way the bedroom door opened slowly, letting in the shadows of the hallway.

Her breaths came fast, panicked. Running, running; why did the family have to put in a maze in their garden? She could hear the water lapping against the shore; she was so close to finding the exit! The sound of growls behind her made her run faster, ignoring the way her feet bled, the way her dress was torn to shreds. She’d been there when they arrived. She’d hidden, contorting herself to fit into the hiding hole in the Lady of the house’s closet.

They thought they got everyone.

The little Lady was not here. She was gone, in Insomnia. They didn’t know that. They couldn’t know that. They wouldn’t know that. She wouldn’t tell them.

She thought they were all gone. She came out, and it was quiet. She went into the sitting room and found their bodies there. She didn’t scream; she couldn’t scream. Her vocal chords had been damaged when she was little. She couldn’t make a sound, even if she tried.

Then she saw it. It was big, and scary. Its fur was dark brown, and it smelled bad. Like rotting bodies. It had seen her, and it stared at her, golden eyes seeming far too human like. It was big, too; easily reaching her shoulders. And then she ran, and it followed, crashing through the house.

It hunted her through the maze, and it was still hunting her. Right, left, right, and she should be out!

No. No, no, no. No, this couldn’t be. There was supposed to be the exit here, not a dead end! Turning, she looked about frantically. She couldn’t climb through the bushes; the thorns would tear her to pieces before she even made it to the top. The sound of a growl made her freeze, her entire body shaking.

It was here.

She turned, slowly, coming face to face with the beast. It was… Smiling. Smiling in a far too human way. No shifter should look that human, like it was a human sewn into bear skin. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she backed up against the hedge, feeling thorns press into her back. It advanced. For the first time since she was three years old, she managed to make a noise.

She screamed as its teeth closed around her throat.

[blenderbender1811]

A Song of Ice and Fire - Weddings Primer

Just a bunch of stuff put together about weddings in the ASOIAF universe for those looking to write them. Specifically, how weddings run in Westeros. This goes under a read more, for the post is long.

1) Nobody can be COMPELLED to marry. They need to say the words and if it’s done under sword point, it might be dissolved later. That said, it’s expected you’ll marry who your lord or his liege commands and if you don’t, you might be estranged from your family, and the ironborn can marry someone by proxy (with a seal in the place of a person, the iron born are weird.)

2) The Targaryens occasionally took more than one woman as a wife. The Ironborn also sometimes have more than one wife - an ironborn ‘rock wife’ and ‘salt wives’ taken on raids (because that’s not coercion at all). The children of salt wives are not considered bastards, but they come AFTER the children of rock wives status wise. 

3) Marriage contracts take forever to negotiate and they address all sorts of possibilities - land, inheritance, dowries, etc. Once a betrothal is made, you better have a GOOD reason to break it (infidelity, inability to fulfill property or income agreements in the contract, somebody died and you must fulfill their betrothal, you found out they have another contract, an inability to seal the alliance with children (infertility), etc.). Breaking a betrothal is a BIG deal and you might cause a lot more than hurt feelings. You might cause very real political damage with the people you were trying to ally with. 

4) So, how do you choose a partner? There’s several factors, some more important than others.

- Rank: This is one of, if not the most important thing to consider. If the parties are not of similar rank, this is going to get tricky. Marrying one rank up or down doesn’t seem to be scoffed at (for instance, nobody thinks, for example, that Mace Tyrell is weak because he married down to Alerie Hightower). More than one rank though and you’re going to need a very good reason for the marriage to happen. And marriages to lowborn people are vanishingly rare. That’s why Asha couldn’t marry Qarl even though she’d love to.

- Position in Family: Another super important factor. Is the person being married a ruling Lord or Lady? What about an heir? Are they the eldest daughter (who traditionally has choicest pick of gentlemen callers)? Are they true born or bastards? If they’re dynastically important, the family will be much pickier. Younger sons or daughters are much more likely to marry a household knight (or their daughter) or a minor bannerman than an older child, who is likelier to marry a major bannerman, if not marry up. 

- Political Context: This just always needs to be in mind. Does the husband have another wife? Is their land in a dangerous or contested spot? What’s their influence in the capitol like, if any? If your marriage making plans don’t make sense, the marriage is going to look shabbier or hastier to everyone else in Westeros.

- Age: In Westeros, we all know their treatment of age with regards to marriage is absolutely gross. We don’t need to be told that. Age isn’t treated as a major factor and indeed, young women have been married off to gross old men as a punishment (see poor Sylva Santigar for details). That said, even in Westeros, it’s generally considered more comfortable if they’re close in age, like with Joffrey and Sansa being considered perfect because they were the same age. This also makes sense dynastically speaking because they wouldn’t have to wait long for children. Or, alternatively, if you’re an elderly person looking for companionship before you die, you’ll probably pick someone closer to your own age and experiences. 

- Religion:  Again, not the biggest deal for most of Westeros, but I can easily imagine someone super pious wanting a spouse of the same religion.

- Personal Well Being: Since we’re playing a feudal dynastic game, this is barely a concern. That said, a decently loving family will probably want to look out for their family’s well being. They’re probably not eager to give their child in marriage to someone actively dangerous for them after all. Plus, dynastically speaking, it would render any alliance gained moot. Also, an older person looking for a second or third marriage, or again, an elderly person looking for companionship, would likely consider how well they got along. 

- Health: Somewhat important. If the point is to seal an alliance via babies, you want someone who can survive consummation, pregnancy, birth, and raising those children. One of the most important things Catelyn considered when looking for a bride for Robb was how good their hips were. IIRC, she didn’t want Robb to marry a Whent because their health tended to be delicate. Again, if you make an alliance only to immediately lose it when the person dies, what was the point of it in the first place? A good example of this is how nobody wanted to marry Shireen because she had greyscale.

- Wealth: Fairly important. You want an alliance partner to bring something to the table. It’s less about coinage and more about resources. Do they  have lots of land, minerals, livestock, industry, etc.?

- Appearance: Not exactly a first concern, but it’s somewhat a factor, simply because a good looking person is more likely to get lots of offers.  

- Region: Most marriages take place between houses of the same region. This isn’t a hard and fast law, but your alliances are more likely to be useful when they live next door and not five days away in a region you’ve never seen.

- Former marriages or children: This is important because if they already have children, YOUR children won’t get any inheritance from your spouse. If you’re going to marry, you have to be okay with that. Tends to work for marrying off younger children or when you look for step parents, but it might also be a deal breaker for someone looking for a first marriage. Never even mind in the Iron Islands, where wives might have to compete.

- Reputation: Important. You don’t want to marry your kid off to someone with a poor reputation. Knightly orders, people closely connected to important people, well reputed for honesty or honour are good things. An oathbreaker or drunkard will have a harder go than normal.

- Prestige: A more prestigous house will have more suitors. A house being of high rank doesn’t necessarily mean prestige. “New money” houses or houses in trade my have the wealth and militaryy might to be a major house, but still not be considered pretigious enough for many large houses. A house that were once kings will have more prestige than those who weren’t. A house who’s been around for thousands of years is likely lmore prestigious than a new one (hence why the Lannisters are more prestigious than Baratheons of Storm’s End before a Baratheon becomes king).

5) According to the Wedding Knight PDF from the Game of Thrones edition of the Green ronin RP game, weddings are traditionally hosted by the bride’s family. 

6) Likewise, according to the same, wedding dresses are traditionally white. This gels with the books, where the wedding dresses I recall being described (Jeyne’s, Sansa’s, and Margaery’s are all white). Now, to be fair, Sansa is a Stark and Jeyne was disguised as Arya, so they would both be using Stark colours. It also fits with the Seven, where white is seen as a colour of innocence and thus might be more appropriate to a maiden. It’s also a colour Septons and Septas wear most of the time (along with rainbows) and on Maiden’s Day girls light white candles. While none of that would apply to the Old Gods (or offshoots of the Old Gods like the Drowned God), I can see white catching on as a wedding colour regardless. If nothing else, it shows wealth if you can keep white clean. 

This isn’t like the real middle ages, btw. Blue was the traditional innocence and purity colour then. Women basically wore whatever colour they wanted, albeit with different cultural traditions surrounding omens and such.

Notes: For five and six, ‘traditional’ in this sense most likely does not mean ‘binding’. We see numerous examples of weddings that are not at the bride’s home and I’m sure plenty of Westerosi ladies wore other colours to their weddings. I wouldn’t be surprised if house colours were involved. Not that it matters overmuch - they change for the feast, and those colours can be whatever they want (though likely house colours).

7) Weddings in Westeros (or, at least highborn ones) involve a dowry, a dower (as per Tywin and Hoster discussing one for Lysa and Jaime) and a bride price (as per Barristan’s comments). These are three different things.

- A dowry: A dowry is property or income a woman is bringing into the marriage, a payment from her family to her husband’s. It’s meant to help build the new family and also for income security. In the rare (nearly non-existent in Westeros) circumstance of divorce, I believe she gets the dowry back, but if she dies, the money either goes to her children or returns to her family.

- A dower: A dower is a sum of property or income designed to protect a wife if she becomes widowed. Since men are the primary breadwinners in Westeros, this is done so as not to leave a widow destitute. This income or property comes from the groom’s family. If the couple divorces, she does not get the dower (although some societies allow her to keep it if she has just cause, I doubt Westeros works like that). This money is traditionally given to the bride by the groom on the morning of the wedding. This money is HER’S. Unlike the dowry, which is often used by both spouses, her husband cannot touch her dower. Usually this means her representative (usually a male relative) is in charge of executing it, but she can be bequeath it to whoever she wants.

- A bride price: A bride price is money paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s. This is meant as a sort of ‘thank you’ for raising her and also to compensate them for the loss of their daughter - physically, emotionally, and financially. Calculating these can be complex and depend on numerous factors. Appearance, skills, how smart she is, how healthy she is, etc. I’m fairly sure this is what Cersei refers to as ‘selling women off like livestock’. In the case of divorce, you can get the bride price back in many societies, and some also allow you to get it back if she dies (particularly if she’s childless). I imagine that’s much the same in Westeros.

8) There are at least two feasts traditionally thrown for the wedding - a welcoming one to welcome all the guests, and the actual wedding feast.

9) It’s traditional to throw a hunt just before the wedding. All the men in the wedding party and any ladies who wish to accompany them are allowed to go. This is done as a show of magnanimity by the lord who is supposed to open his land to his guests, and also to provide sport for the restless party. In return, anything caught on the hunt is supposed to go on the lord’s table for the wedding feast.

10)  Different regions have different local traditions for a wedding day. Case in point, the Reach has a wedding breakfast where the bride and groom SEPARATELY receive their gifts. 

11) Ceremonies vary by religion

- The Faith of the Seven: This one is LONG. It begins with the septon in a sept reciting several prayers and readings. The groom is between the alter of the Mother and Father but the bride is outside the room. Next, the bride is presented, being walked down the Isle by her father or a close male relative (or, sometimes, a liege lord if a close male relative isn’t there). The bride is on the left and the groom to the right. The father presents the bride to the groom, and the groom lifts her veil (if she’s wearing one). The groom removes his bride’s maiden’s cloak (or bride’s cloak if she’s a widow) and gives her one of his own house. The septon says they’re there to join them in a union, and ties their hands together in a ritual knot. They make their final vows, kiss, and the guests applaud. Guests stand in two columns in front of the couple to watch the wedding. 

- The Old Gods of the Forest: The ceremony is performed by the head of the groom’s family. It’s at night, in the godswood, in front of a weirwood preferably. The guests carry torches to watch. The bride is led by her father (or again, a close relative). The person performing the ceremony asks who comes before the old gods and a few ritual lines are exchanged where the man gives the bride. The officiator asks the bride if she will take the groom, and when she says yes, the couple hold hands and kneel before the heart tree for a moment of silent prayer and then they’re done. The groom removes the maiden’s (or bride’s) cloak, give them a cloak of their husband’s house, and carries her to the feast in his arms.

- The Drowned God: They’re officiated by a priest of the Drowned God and tend to be very solemn. Salt wife weddings tend to be more fun, and that is all we know. Since Drowned God priests seem to do their ritual work on the shore, it seems probably iron born weddings are at the beach. I wonder if they have to drown for them? Maybe they wade into the water or get water dunked all over them. We’re not sure. We’ve never seen an iron born wedding. Since the Drowned God is an offshoot of the Old Gods, they likely also have some sort of bridal cloak custom, probably after whatever blessings and ritual immersion in water is done.

- R’hllor: The ceremony is conducted by a member of the clergy. The bride is escorted to the clergy person who asks the bride to identify herself and who comes to claim her. They ask the bride and groom if they will share their fire with their spouse to be to warm them when the night is dark and full of terrors. The bride and groom jump over a bonfire built in a ditch and by doing so, their souls become one to the Lord of Light. Then the groom removes the maiden’s (or bride’s) cloak and gives her the cloak representing his house.

12) After the wedding, there’s the reception. This has dancing, music, poems, basically whatever kind of entertainment you want (which is likely regional). This is all done along with the wedding feast. There might be tourney to celebrate, but melee’s aren’t traditional (I’m sure they occur but it’s not a custom). ALSO. IMPORTANT - It is considered bad luck to deny a knight your hospitality on your wedding day. 

13) At the end of the feast, the highest ranking person in attendance calls for the bedding. Men carry the bride off, stripping her clothes and telling dirty jokes, women do the same with the groom, and sometimes they might be yelling encouragement or advice outside the door (or, god forbid, witnesses). This is done to ensure consummation. Not all weddings require a bedding ceremony, but Westeros does require consummation. This seems to be a custom for the Faith, the Old Gods, and the Drowned God, so it’s a universal across Westeros. After this the wedding is over. From this point on, they are married and if you don’t like it, well it just sucks to suck. And even if the wedding isn’t consummated for whatever reason, it’s bad luck for spouses to sleep apart on their wedding night. Brides are expected to be maidens (i.e. virgins), but if the couple gets married later, it’s not considered dishonouring (sex without a later betrothal was likely the dishonour Ashara experienced at Harrenhal, as it would have impacted her marriageability - not ruined it completely, you can marry somewhat decently even if you’re not a virgin, but definitely having an impact).

14) Women may or may NOT take their husband’s name. If they’re of the same rank, it’s pretty much up to her. If she outranks him, she very well might continue using her higher status maiden name. Plenty of women use their husband’s name and in fact most likely do, but it’s not a requirement in Westeros (at least, not among the same ranked or when the woman is higher).

15)  Annulment is incredibly hard to get in the Faith of the Seven - you better hope the High Septon or the Council of Faith is inclined to give you one (this is easier if its not consummated, the marriage is bigamous, there was an unbroken prior betrothal, or if the vows were made under false pretences, but it’s possible even if you’ve consummated or had children - Renly didn’t think it was impossible for Cersei to be set aside in favour of Margaery, Tysha and Tyrion’s marriage was annulled, etc) and while you don’t need to be there for it, you need to make the request yourself. It’s easier to just move apart. Or, if you’re THAT committed to getting away, you could join the Faith or Night’s Watch. 

Note: It’s much much easier to annul a marriage in the Old Gods religion (and, likely, the Drowned God as well) - all you need to do is tell your spouse that they’re no longer your spouse in front of public witnesses, at least according to Elio and Linda’s correspondence when discussing The World of Ice and Fire. R’hllor might require permission from the clergy in addition, but I find that unlikely for the Ironborn, since they seem fairly independent and in many ways closer to the Old Gods simplicity. I’m not sure if there are any special conditions to make this announcement but if they exist, they would likely be similar to grounds for annulment in the Faith of the Seven (with the exception of bigamy for the ironborn - they really really don’t care about that). Honestly, even if they don’t have conditions that doesn’t necessarily mean an unhappy marriage will be annulled since that requires spitting in the eye of the family you’re trying to make an alliance with. Breaking a betrothal is messy enough, breaking a marriage is just BEGGING for trouble. 

[liesandarbor]

No one told: the knowledge was already there.

As the tale goes, in AFFC, Arianne and a small group travel through Dorne to crown Myrcella as the QOT7K.

The group is ambushed, led by Areo Hotah, casualties are had, and when Arianne asks Areo how this happened, he responds with a simple:

Someone told. Someone always tells.

But who? The age old question. Was it Arys? Was it Andrey Dalt? Was it Darkstar? Sylva?

While the mystery of who told is pretty captivating, I feel the better question is who planted the idea to Queen Myrcella in Arianne's head? We are given 2 Arianne chapters in AFFC: one showing her plotting out the Queensmaker, and one showing the actual event and the aftermath.

Let’s revisit the idea that Arianne was not the first to have the idea of crowning Myrcella.

Back in ASOS, Oberyn has a chat with Tyrion upon visiting King's Landing, while discussing Tyrion visiting Dorne:

"Plan on a lengthy visit." Prince Oberyn sipped his wine. "You and Doran have many matters of mutual interest to discuss. Music, trade, history, wine, the dwarf's penny . . . the laws of inheritance and succession. No doubt an uncle's counsel would be of benefit to Queen Myrcella in the trying times ahead." If Varys had his little birds listening, Oberyn was giving them a ripe earful. "I believe I will have that cup of wine," said Tyrion. Queen Myrcella? It would have been more tempting if only he did have Sansa tucked beneath his cloak. If she declared for Myrcella over Tommen, would the north follow? What the Red Viper was hinting at was treason. Could Tyrion truly take up arms against Tommen, against his own father? Cersei would spit blood. It might be worth it for that alone.

We see the first person with the idea of crowning Myrcella on page. Oberyn. But that's not the last time we hear of it. In AFFC Captain of the Guards, we see Tyene speaking to Doran:

“Oh, but they must, or see the realm riven once more, as it was before we wed the dragons. Father told me so. He said we had the Imp to thank, for sending us Princess Myrcella. She is so pretty, don’t you think? I wish that I had curls like hers. She was made to be a queen, just like her mother.” Dimples bloomed in Tyene’s cheeks. “I would be honored to arrange the wedding, and to see to the making of the crowns as well. Trystane and Myrcella are so innocent, I thought perhaps white gold … with emeralds, to match Myrcella’s eyes. Oh, diamonds and pearls would serve as well, so long as the children are wed and crowned. Then we need only hail Myrcella as the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, and lawful heir to the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and wait for the lions to come.” “The lawful heir?” The prince snorted. “She is older than her brother,” explained Tyene, as if he were some fool. “By law the Iron Throne should pass to her.” “By Dornish law.”

Oberyn's daughter Tyene, plants the idea yet again into our story, but this time to Doran, the Snake lying in the Grass.

(Now, pull out a tiny sprig of tinfoil, because this one gets a TINY bit unbased, but it's a piece of info I've been dying to use somewhere and it may as well be used in this:)

Myrcella didn't attend her brother's royal wedding. Prince Doran was invited, and Oberyn came instead. But no Myrcella. Why? Why would the Princess of house "Baratheon" not attend her brother, the royal King's Wedding?

Because the Queensmaking plot is not a new plot. The Queensmaking plot we see in AFFC is QM2.0.

If Doran and Oberyn allowed Myrcella to return to King's Landing, they may not get her back to Dorne after (knowing Cersei). Oberyn cornered the one Lannister he knew had a soft spot for hating his family, played on his insecurities, pitched him an idea, and was waiting to try to exact the plan.

Oberyn had to let slip his plans to someone else of queening Myrcella and bleed the 7 Kingdoms. We had no insight to Dorne during ASOS, but if Oberyn told his daughters - or at least Tyene - of his eventual plan to Queen Myrcella (and was waiting for additional support from Tyrion Lannister).

But the first Queensmaking plot also goes awry: Oberyn dies unexpectedly in Part 1 of Martell Vengeance, and his Daughters plant the plan into Arianne's ear... but Tyene threw a wrench in the plan. By mentioning it to Doran, it put them on the radar.

So who told? No one really had to tell. Doran had more than a hunch.  Oberyn would’ve let slip to Doran several times, if his daughters are any example hell, each sand snake corners and hounds Doran in their first chapter to go to war. Tyene mentions it in conversation, Areo overhears, and off-'camera' we can assume Doran and Areo discuss and Doran wants extra supervision. After the Queensmaker scene goes haywire, Doran locks the Snakes and Arianne up. 

And if we fast forward to TWOW, it appears that Arianne is already in the Stormlands, and not surrounded by any of the possible people who could’ve told.  Who Told doesn’t matter to the narrative so much as WHY they told, and WHO planted the idea.

While I love the popular idea that Spotted Sylva may have told to save her own skin, it really isn’t necessary for it to be a huge mystery - hell, I don’t think we’ll ever find out who told if someone did.  We’re introduced to the Queensmaker plot in ASOS, the penny drops as Arianne’s version goes to pieces. Furthermore: Doran may have been keeping the Queensmaker plot in his swordbelt, himself, waiting for fire and blood to pay off, before charging ahead to start a bloody and long war between the Lannisters and Martells.

No one told.  Doran is, as we have had revealed to us, just a lot damn smarter than we give him credit for.

[secret-engima]

(Whispers) FFXV ten years younger AU; Noctis is like, 10yrs younger than C!Noct. How do you think that would work out???

HGFDSDHGFDS WAIT WAIT WAIT.

I’M CONFUSED.

Do you mean that Noctis is BORN ten years later and the plot still kicks off? Or that Noctis time-travels and ends up ten years younger. I’m gonna assume you mean the former so here we go. I’m sticking this under read more because I am going to RAMBLE LIKE CRAZY.

-The wedding is not a thing. Because Noctis is TEN.

-It is quite possible that he never got attacked by the Marilith, because by the time he was eight, Tenenbrae might have already been invaded.

-That or the invasion was delayed until Noctis got there, which means Luna would be 22 when she meets Noctis and Ravus is 26 so both are WAY more mature and comfortable in their own skin/morals by the time the invasion happens. Ravus does not beg Regis for help but instead helps with the evacuation, Luna is not dumb enough to stop and let the MTs take her, Sylva may or may not still die, but at least she doesn’t take a flame-thrower to the face (might still get stabbed by Glauca).

-Also Gladio is there because he’s like- 21 at this section of timeline and has taken his Crownsguard oaths. Ignis is there too.

-Imma go with my petty side and say that with two adult oracles, an adult Ravus (who was no doubt trained to be a deadly guardian of his sister), a Very Angry Gladio, and a semi-homicidal and reckless Ignis, Glauca has a Bad Day. Maybe dies, maybe not.

-Luna and Ravus escape with teeny Noct and Regis and take sanctuary in Lucis and denounce the Nifs for what they’ve done (Sylva too if she isn’t dead? Which she might be) and the world goes on something of a mass riot because the reason they didn’t attack the Oracles before was for fear of what the public would do if they found out.

-They’re called consequences you morons. You poisoned your cake now eat it.

-Luna and Nyx are a thing. Because Noctis is way too young to even consider it and Nyx finds this feisty Oracle woman who demands to be trained in the glaive with her brother to be Really Hot.

-Luna becomes the Glaive healer, using the Kingsglaive’s movements to disguise her own from the empire so she can still help people.

-If Glauca is still alive, he Glauca tries something as Titus and is murdered by one very angry Luna and one Super Angry Ravus who now has LC magic on top of whatever brand of magic male Nox Fleuret can use (yes I know oracle magic is a girl only thing but MAGIC, the boy has to get something even if its not healing based) because he joined the Kingsglaive.

-Ravus maybe becomes the new Captain of the Glaive? Either him, Nyx, Libertus, or Luche, who is not a traitor because I’ve grown to like him.

-Noctis loves his Shield and his Oracle Sister and Big Brother Ravus, Luna can feel destiny bearing down on them and often cries in private because Noctis is TEN.

-With the world rioting in fury over the truth of what happened in Tenebrae (which I HC in canon was never leaked because the two royals were being held hostage and the Tenebraen people either didn’t know or where being blackmailed into silence with the lives of their beloved royal children), the Nifs take some serious damage to their power base.

-Nifs offer a ceasefire with Lucis to begin “making reparations” with the Tenebrae line and Lucis two years after the invasion.

-Regis smells a rat.

-The rat looks like Ardyn.

-Still, he DOES have little choice but to accept, BUT with the Oracle’s healing and the world public on his side, Regis has way more leverage in this treaty, demands territories be returned and stuff (Galahd included).

-Nifs agree to the terms and come for the signing, Regis doesn’t send Noctis out of the city because as bad as his feelings are, Noctis is TEN and Ignis and Gladio are just young adults.

-The Nifs still pull their invasion nonsense because- well- NIFLHEIM. The Emperor is pretty power mad at this point and is like “if we crush Lucis the dissenters will shut up out of fear”.

-It’s pretty intense. Fire everywhere, traitors making trouble (NOT in the glaive, the Glaive were lured out of the city with leaked reports of a fleet to get them out of the way, it’s corrupt Nobles and disgruntled citizens that do this).

-Without Glauca there, Regis doesn’t die, but he DOES probably get injured and separated from his son, whom Ignis and Gladio take and flee the Citadel, trying to escape the chaos.

-In the chaos of trying to flee the city, they bump into a rookie Crownsguard who just took his oath like- a WEEK ago and he helps them evacuate the prince with his crack shot aiming skills and his knowledge of the city’s back streets (”I like to take photos of the alley cats okay????”)

-The four end up outside the city, separated from all backup, in a hotwired car that Ignis took (”Since when do YOU know how to hotwire a car?” “Since I thought the skill might come in handy now shut up and watch the road”).

-Insomnia doesn’t fall, but the Empire is freaking stubborn and starts a siege or something, so the bros can’t get back in, and since they encountered some Crownsguard traitors in the chaos so they don’t trust anyone outside their foursome and they’re being actively hunted by the Empire ... 

-Who’s up for a road trip?

-Also Regis probably thinks Noctis is dead because Angst and is furious beyond words and Luna smuggles herself out of the city to go wake up the Astrals and ask what to do now only to find out from a really vague Gentiana that the Chosen Lives so she’s off doing that solo adventure playing Hot-Cold with the bros as they run around trying not to get spotted by Nifs and figuring out WHAT TO DO. HELP.

(and this is the point where I could either make this a horrible tragedy about child kings and sacrificial lambs but I hate sad endings so I won’t so have some crack-flavored Fluff instead)

-Cor smuggles himself out to join the search but Ignis is doing his job a little Too Well so nobody can find these bros as they run around and Noctis ends up befriending Titan through the sheer power of his Cute and then Ramuh comes down to see because the Chosen isn’t old enough to take on his destiny except oh look. BBY. and his Granddadly instincts are roused for the first time in Millenia and so now the group has a doting Grandpa showing up at random to give advice and Smite People.

-Noctis continues to befriend just about Anything That Breathes as Big Bro Gladio, Brother Ignis, and his new Brother Prompto cart him around the wilderness of Lucis trying to figure out how to get safely back in Insomnia when there is a siege happening (the Siege is keeping the Glaives busy btw, which is why they aren’t out in force looking for Noctis).

-At one point Noctis gets separated from his bros in like- Lestallum or something and is wandering around freaking out when he bumps into someone. “Sorry,” he sniffles, trying hard to be dignified but also is so close to crying. The figure turns and ... looks at him. He doesn’t like that look.

-Noctis, who has been repeatedly told that he is in danger and needs to keep a low profile, starts to duck away from the man, afraid of being spotted, but then the man is in front of him, blocking his way and there are no other people around and Noctis is shaking and terrified, magic sparking under his skin as the man REACHES for him with a leer- and Noctis sobs and his magic reaches out instinctively in search of help-someone-please-PLEASE-

-A sword goes through the man’s chest, pinning him to the wall and suddenly there is a stranger there. A stranger with crackling, snapping magic that coils around Noctis, old and deadly and wounded but not- not evil. The new stranger turns and looks at Noctis, something cold and confused in his gaze, and maybe Noctis should be terrified of this man with red hair and tacky clothes and what looks like black makeup that’s all runny like he’s gotten it wet or been crying, but all Noctis can think is that someone rescued him, someone is HERE and that man has magic just like Noctis so he must be safe and-

-Ardyn feels like the wind has been knocked out of him less because of a scrawny ten year old cannoning into his waist in a desperate sobbing hug and more because- because-

-He hadn’t expected the Chosen to be a child.

-He had known, conceptually, that Regis’s son was very young but that- that was different from seeing it. From feeling young, immature magic latch onto his in desperation and needy trust and looking down at this tiny child who was already sobbing his heart out into the waistcoat of a MONSTER.

-The Chosen King is a child.

-And Ardyn can already feel two Covenants burning under the boy’s skin.

-The Astrals mean to make a CHILD their sacrifice? They will not even wait until he is grown?

-And Ardyn is not ... sane really, but no matter what he tells himself he still has standards and underneath the screaming of the scourge the old Healer King, the older brother who did more to raise his sibling than their father ever did, rears its head and snarls NO.

-Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto, who are all losing their minds over getting separated from Noctis, find him sniffling but content on the hip of a strange hobo-like man who smiles false smiles and says nothing with a great deal of words and somehow inserts himself into their group and never leaves. Noctis doesn’t WANT him to leave and the three are terribly astonished when Noctis blurts out that this poor man is sick and has magic like Noctis, but his sickness makes him tired and cranky.

-Ardyn is trying not to laugh to the point of tears over such a SIMPLE explanation of the Starscourge.

-Anyway to make an already stupid long ramble shorter, Noctis cutes his way to victory by melting the heart of the Accursed into going “Mine. My Nephew Now.” The Empire overreaches and gets it’s back broken by mass riots and Lucis’s defense and Altissia and Tenebrae both rising up in a bid for freedom, Ardyn gets medical help from a Very Confused Luna and they end up curing the Starscourge through the Power of Cute and the Power of Spite (aka Noctis and Ardyn) and then come back to Insomnia with a defected chancellor in tow who is now fully cured and mostly sane again and utterly devoted to his cute nephew.

-Regis is too grateful at finding his son alive and well despite prophecy to really care about the ex-Chancellor happily passing Noctis candy under Ignis’s exasperated eye every time Noctis looks the slightest bit Cuter than Normal.

[tenebraetrash17]

Episode Ravus could have been the perfect tribute to Versus, and here's why:

Admittedly, I am rather perturbed about the fact that there is an Episode Noctis when the game itself is supposed to be that. If they did want to make something where Noctis defies fate, it could have been handled in a chapter 13.v2 fashion. 

But Square made it's choice, and I am happy with any new content they put out, soooo....not really a big complaint here.

Although I do feel as if an Episode Noctis is pandering to the Versus fans, especially with the theme. I honestly think that if they wanted a DLC to be about defying fate, and a nod to the beginning, they could have used a character who had been there since day one.

Ravus Nox Fleuret.

The beginning itself could have been a nod to the trailers even!

Ravus on the steps of Tenebrae, watching the Empire advance, getting ready to burn his beloved home to the ground. Instead of the armiger, purple lightning could swirl about him, lashing out and killing the soldiers before he builds up power and launches into the fray, taking down hundreds of soldiers with a single swipe. The movements are clean and elegant, things appear to be looking up, until Tenebrae is engulfed in flames, leaving Ravus standing there in horror. 

Desire for revenge now burning hotter than ever, Ravus heads to Zegnatus, where he finds the empire in shambles, daemons running amok. Why were the halls littered with a lot of uniforms but hardly daemons when Noctis came through? Because Ravus was there, raining death upon them all as he makes his way to the throne room. This is a tale of an antihero, a tale of revenge. You might come across someone in the stages of turning, begging you for help...they're killed in cold blood, not mercy. You learn about the Empire's plight, more of it anyways, since we're getting episode Aranea.

At rest sites, it could be where you are plunged into the realm of dreams, experiencing the past through Ravus' eyes, communicating with Luna or even Queen Sylva, seeing what will come to pass.

There may come a part where Ravus passes by the room of the crystal, which will be the place where you make a choice to head on, to Ravus' death, or approach it. (Which would probably have to be unlocked)

We all know how Ravus dies, so I won't bother you with details. But what if in the Alternate route, Ravus gets a chance to finally accomplish his goal and be a hero, by sacrificing his place in their world to get everything back. The crystal or an entity would take him back in time to fight Leviathan, summoning her in Luna's stead and forcing the goddess to give Noctis the power. We could even have Luna and Noctis in the same scene, running up at the beginning with each other, watching in horror as Ravus brings up the goddess of the sea, and again when he defeats it. Luna could cry out her brother's name as he dissolves into crystal shards, giving her and Noctis one last genuine smile before he bows and vanishes.

With Luna still alive, the light fading barely quickens, and in doing such, it weakens Ardyn. Both Noctis and Luna go into the crystal, the Oracle's power fueling the ring even more, to the point where the holiness washes out the corruption. Ardyn is finally allowed to know peace, due to the maximized power of the ring, imbued with Oracle magic, cleansing him of the scourge.

All this could be playing in the credits, and the last scene could be Noctis and Luna with children, smiling and looking happy before a blue light waves over it, going back into full screen to display it all being watched through a portal of things...or something. 

Want to know how to make it an even bigger tribute to Nomura's versus? Have it end with a plain clothes Ravus stepping off a train, glancing back once more to look at the fading portal, showing his sister's happiness. He could turn and look up with a content, almost sad, smile on his face before he utters his famous saying:

"The World We Know Is Changing...Ending As We Speak. So It Is And Must Be For All Existence."

Now, since Versus XIII was supposed to take place in the XIII universe, want to know how to utilize that? Have Ravus on the same platform as the one in Lightning Returns, with the same shots to make it the perfect way to harken back to the days. This is a little more out there, but it really is something that would be great for the fans. If you hear a voice, and possibly even see as well, from one of the original cast, (probably Lightning or Serah, although Yeul would make a lot of sense too!) asking Ravus in a peaceful tone. "Are you ready?" To which he would nod and walk off the platform, leaving his old world and everything he loved behind, so his sister could have her happily ever after.

Would that not be an excellent way to pay homage to what had started it all?

I realize that this is more of the fanfictiony type, and I apologize, however I do think that it would be an interesting concept for a character DLC and not just a main game extension, which I will admit, is basically Episode Noctis.

This video also helped influence this little idea, it's about some Versus leaks if you want to check it out! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tl1pHfJXLDo

HOW MANY TIMES DID I USE THE WORD "NOD" IN THIS POST?!