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whatswrongwithblue · 15 days

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The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 24 - Just Pretend

Word count: 5,932. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter.

Summary: Old tensions come to the surface.

Series Summary

In the 1950's, Alastor met the woman he would eventually marry but unfortunately his Radio Demon persona went for her soul rather than her hand. He has to learn what it means to love, and cherish, without possessing and he does. Their relationship is beautiful, strong, unbreakable . . . but he carries a dark secret through their marriage for decades until eventually he has to face the consequences of that secret and leave her, without warning, for seven years. He returns, finding her at the Hazbin Hotel, and has to convince her to forgive him, while being literally bound to secrecy, unable to tell her any of things he now is desperate to explain to her.

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 24 - Just Pretend

Present Day

It was the silence that pulled her from her sleep more than anything.

Over the last few months, Mina had grown accustomed to the white noise of the bayou in her room; the sound of crickets and frogs singing and the whisper of a light breeze through the willow tree leaves. Even in her sleep she heard those sounds; the soothing melody of the swamp lulling her into sweet dreams.

There was also the background hum of the hotel. The barely audible sound of electricity running through the walls, the occasional footsteps from down the hall, a cough or a sneeze or a laugh from another resident. A hotel full of other people, even in the dead of night, was a chorus of sounds that one usually tuned out.

But once those sounds were missing, the silence was deafening.

Mina sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes, still half asleep and confused by how eerily quiet everything was. And dark. There was supposed to be the soft green blue glow of the bayou in her room but she kept blinking and it was still blindingly dark.

Her feline eyes eventually adjusted and she saw the bayou was gone. Her room was just the same as it had been before Alastor had returned.

Mina threw the covers off, suddenly alert and panicked, and jumped out of bed as if to run somewhere. But then she just stood in the middle of her bedroom, dazed and puzzled, unsure of what to do next.

No, the room wasn’t exactly as it had been before Alastor returned.

The bayou was gone, but all of his stuff was still there. A half finished whiskey glass left on his nightstand, the book he had been slowly making his way through next to it with the bookmark still in place, a few pages of doodles scattered across his work desk.

She walked over to the fireplace, which usually burned all night with the magical, cooling fire Alastor had used as their air conditioning. It was completely out, the ashes at the bottom room temperature, as if it hadn’t just been a roaring fire when she fell asleep.

The room was the same, only all of the magic had been pulled from it.

Mina’s heart stuck in her throat as she realized she had lived this moment before.

She pulled on her robe, tying it loosely over her nightgown, and ran out of the room.

“Alastor!” she screamed as she fled in the direction of his radio tower but her voice echoed back at her.

She raced up the several flight of stairs, her panic and the sudden exertion making her gasp for air, but she didn’t slow down and when she finally reached the end of the last hallway and flung open the doorway that led up to his radio tower, she nearly fell right over the edge.

It was gone. The entire structure that stuck out from the side of the very top of the hotel was completely gone, and she was nearly dangling over several stories of empty air.

Mina just barely managed to pull herself and the door back and she stumbled several steps away from the gaping wound of the hotel where her husband’s tower once stood.

“No,” she whimpered, choking on the sob that boiled up with the singular word.

This couldn’t be happening again. She wouldn’t survive this again.

She made her way through the rest of the hotel, unsure if she was running, or walking, or floating. It felt like an out of body experience and it was so dark.

The lights of the hallways wouldn’t flip on but it wasn’t the darkness itself that scared her. Mina would rejoice if she saw shadows deepening, moving towards her to wrap her in a cool embrace. But this darkness didn’t move; it was stagnant, empty, dead.

With nerves turning numb, her legs feeling like ice, she made her way down the final set of stairs and into the lobby.

Charlie was there, sitting in the middle of the floor, with her back turned to her. She was crying softly, her quiet sniffles the first sounds Mina had heard other than ones she had made herself.

Mina ran to her, her barefeet slapping against the hard polished floor of the lobby, and the sound felt hollow.

“Charlie!” she said as she fell to her knees in front of the other woman, grabbing her by her shoulders. “What happened?!”

There was blood on Charlie, which confused Mina because she didn't seem physically hurt.

“How could you let him do it?” she asked. Charlie’s eyes burned red with hate as she looked up at Mina finally. “Why didn’t you warn us?”

Mina pulled away from her and looked down at her hands. That was why she had seen blood on Charlie when she touched her.

Mina’s hands and arms were covered in red.

She looked back up at Charlie, an apology on her lips. She still didn’t know what had happened but she felt the burning blade of guilt lodged deep in her gut.

Charlie was standing over her now, a look of disgust and contempt on her face, one that matched Mina’s sister’s expression the last time she had seen her.

“We trusted him. We trusted you.”

____

It was the morning before the Extermination and Alastor was expecting it to be a busy one. There was still so much prepping to do in order to fortify the hotel; make sure everyone was armed and capable of wielding their weapon of choice, going over battle strategies one last time, etc etc. Plus, all of the ordinary tasks of running a hotel full of people. Making sure the bar and kitchens were stocked and meals were prepped on time. The laundry room was barely functioning as it was and now the two small machines were having to service dozens of people. It was disturbing how much toilet paper they were all going through in one day. Not a single cannibal had thought to bring shampoo or body wash with them. Charlie only had half the rooms stalked with towels and linens at first. Somebody had broken the ice machine on the second floor. There were constant complaints about water pressure in the showers and the damn toilets kept clogging. It was a mess.

Rather than get any work done on his station, Alastor sat alone in his radio tower, savoring his morning coffee and the peace and quiet before the storm. He had his feet up on his workstation, completely relaxed and content, thoroughly enjoying this little slice of alone time he was indulging in.

His shadow interrupted him, spreading itself out across the window in front of him, impossible to ignore.

Alastor sighed. “What is it now, old friend?”

It darted from wall to wall, visibly anxious. Alastor rolled his eyes and sighed again.

“Use your words,” he chided.

Its glowing eyes narrowed at him, insulted and annoyed, and then Alastor was flooded with a sickening feeling of pity and worry that twisted his insides enough to make him sit up. Then Mina’s face flashed before him, her large eyes brimming with tears.

“Well, you could have led with that,” he huffed and stood, joining with his shadow and slipping through the floorboards.

He found her still in bed, the large comforter pulled tight around her, with only the tips of her black and gold ears peaking out over the top, but he could hear her crying even from across the room.

Alastor materialized on the bed, seated on the edge and rubbed her shoulder through the thick comforter.

“Now, now, ma cher,” he whispered to her, and began to pull the blankets slowly away from her face. “Who do I have to kill this time?”

“Alastor?” She sounded confused and hopeful when she said his name and blinked up at him in a daze.

“Were you expecting someone else in our bed?” he teased and brushed a strand of her black hair away from her tear-soaked face.

She sat up and pulled him into her arms, hugging him in a vice-like grip.

And suddenly, he understood the source of her affliction.

“Bad dream?” he asked, rubbing her back as she cried into his shoulder.

“You left,” she croaked out, her ears pulling flat out to the sides.

“In the dream or are you talking about before?”

“Yes.”

“Which?”

“What?” she asked, pulling away to look up at him, her eyebrows pinched in confusion and hurt.

He summoned a tissue for her and she took it silently, wiping her nose and then her eyes.

“Did you have a nightmare that I left again or were you dreaming about before?” he clarified.

Her scowl deepened.

“Does it matter?” she said, her voice less shaky with crying now but a single tear still fell down her cheek. “It could happen again, either way.”

“Not possible,” he said with a shake of his head. “I told you before, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

She pulled the covers off and stood. He reached for her hand, trying to keep her next to him, but she yanked it away.

“Mina- “

“I just want to be alone right now.”

He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at her, feeling his irritation rise at her dismissal of him.

“You’re afraid I’m going to leave you so you want me to leave?”

“Don’t be a spanner,” she said as she turned her back on him and headed for the bathroom.

He materialized in front of her, blocking her way, and holding her by her biceps. She startled at first but then glared up at him.

“Darling, I am really tired of you punishing me for things out of my control.”

“I’m not punishing you, Al’. I know this is out of your control and that’s what scares me the most. For the longest time, I thought you were unbreakable. And then you’re ripped out of my life and now I have to try and live with the fact that you’re in chains. That you belong to someone else and they could take you again if they wanted to. And I’ll fight for you, love, I really will. But it’s fucking exhausting.”

He let go of her and crossed his arms.

“You think you’re tired of all this? You don’t know the half of it.”

“I know I don’t, no thanks to your deal. I didn’t ask for any of this to happen, you did. If I had known . . .”

She trailed off, looking away from him, and he swore his undead heart skipped a beat. He dropped his arms to the side, afraid of what she had left unsaid, but that fear quickly turned into indignation.

“Care to finish that sentence, my dear?”

He watched her swallow back more tears before she looked back up at him.

“It was just a dream. Let me just . . . take a shower and forget it, alright?”

She walked away, made it all the way to the bathroom door and flipped on the lights.

He shouldn’t say it, shouldn’t ask a question if he was afraid to hear the answer to, but as she went to shut the door, he heard the words leave his lips despite himself.

“Do you wish you’d never met me?”

He watched her pause in the doorway and turn to him, her eyes full of fresh tears.

“Loving you used to be so easy,” she said.

Alastor wanted to fade away then, disappear before she could say the rest. He knew what she would say next, knew it was his worst fear about to be realized. That she regretted being with him, that she was scared of him now, and that if one more thing went wrong she would run out of his life forever.

But then she went to him, crossing the room in a few short steps, and was holding him. Mina stood on tiptoe and he melted into her embrace, suddenly needing the comfort of her arms around him as his anger gave way in the face of all his insecurities. He pressed his face into the side of her head, kissing her on the jaw and neck, fighting the ache in his throat that threatened to tear out of him in the form of a sob.

“It’s hard now,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, but it is. It hurts so much some days, but I could never stop loving you. I would do it all over again with no regrets.”

Every promise he wanted to make stuck in his throat. All the explanation he was desperate to give to her, to help her see and understand the reality of their situation, could not form into words. It was as frustrating and tiring as ever, seeing her so afraid, knowing how traumatized she was, and being able to give so little comfort to her.

All he could do to soothe both their frayed nerves was hold her tight and repeat the same promise he had made to her the day he had returned.

“I’m never letting you go again. Never,” he said darkly. He looked down at her, the reflection of his red furious eyes shining back at him in hers. “Haven’t I always made sure you get your revenge? I promise you, I will break my chains. And these beautiful hands,” he kissed her fingertips, letting her claws brush against his lips, “will be bloody with justice.”

She smiled weakly at him and pulled away. It baffled him, he had expected more of thrill in her expression, but instead she kept the same tired and sad look about her.

Mina leaned back up and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

“I’m going to take that shower now. I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.”

Alastor frowned, feeling his smile twitch with uncertainty as she shut the door behind her.

___

He did his best to keep one eye on her the rest of the day; a distraction he wasn’t sure he could afford but he felt a growing unease at the idea of her having her mind on other matters with the battle so close. His own safety was of no concern, he was plenty confident in his role in things and Adam would be easy enough to handle. But Mina, despite her return to power, had little idea of what she was getting herself into. The angels were one thing but the consequences of Charlie winning the fight, which she was sure to do, was another.

The decision to keep her there with him rather than pushing her away still tore at him. He knew, from the very beginning, that his reluctance to keep her at bay any longer was caused by a combination of his pride and his spite. It was insulting enough to have been forced to do what he had done; his ego simply wouldn’t let him lose anything else. And it was a rather large fuck you to the forces that had made him leave her behind in the first place that she was back in his life when they hadn’t expected her to be. But the hungry guilt still gnawed on him day and night, more ravenous with each passing day, that his selfishness was putting her in danger.

Alastor just had to make sure that the risk was worth the reward. Make certain Mina was levelheaded come the morning.

He stepped out into the courtyard in front of the hotel and came to stand next to Charlie, who like him, seemed to be observing the preparations of the rest of the staff.

Vaggie was taking turns sparring with cannibals, teaching them proper defensive stances and attack maneuvers, while Mina and her friends were sorting through weapons and helping others choose which ones would be best for them.

He watched as she picked up an axe and eyed it approvingly before setting it aside for herself. Mina always had a bit of a thing for axes, ever since she had hacked her first husband to bits with one and his smile grew wider at the thought of getting to watch her use one on the angels tomorrow.

“A bit exciting, isn’t it?” he said to Charlie as they watched over those they each cared about the most. “Knowing that victory is right around the corner. It almost makes one feel young again, or at least, alive.”

“I guess,” Charlie said. She looked unsure of herself, anxious and almost miserable with worry. That wouldn’t do. He needed Charlie’s head in the game even more than he needed Mina’s.

“My dear girl,” he said sweetly, putting an arm around her shoulders. “There’s no need to worry! They all know what they signed up for and they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t confident in your ability to lead them into success. And you,” he tapped her nose with a finger, “are much more powerful than you give yourself credit for.”

“I don’t know about that. My parents are . . . maybe. But they won’t be here. And even if they were, it’s not like they haven’t lost against Heaven before.”

“Tomorrow will be different, trust me.” He tried to say even a little more but with Charlie, just as it was with Mina, the truth stuck in his throat. Annoyed, he felt his power slip out a little but decided to lean into it, towering over Charlie as his voice warped and his antlers spread out wide. “Tomorrow you will wipe the floor with their golden blood.”

“Okaaaaay, Al’,” Charlie said and pulled herself out from under his arm as he returned back to his normal height.

“If you don’t believe me, you should at least believe your own eyes,” he said, brushing off his jacket sleeves and then giving her a side eye. “You saw how much power was released when we made our deal. That was all you, darling. So have a little faith in yourself, hmm? I know I do.”

The air was knocked out of him when she crashed herself into his side, wrapping her arms tightly around his ribs. At first the intrusive contact irritated him but then his eyes softened as he looked down at her.

“There, there,” he said, patting her head and rolling his eyes. “No need to get emotional on me.”

“Sorry . . . sorry,” she mumbled and pulled away from him, looking abashed and blushing. “Just . . . thank you. For believing in me. Even though you’re . . . you, it means a lot that you think I can really do this. And I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think I would have made it even this far without you.”

“Yes, well,” he said, clearing his throat and straightening his bow tie. “I’ll remember you said that the next time you call me an asshole and tell me to go away.”

She laughed and was about to say something in response when something across the courtyard caught her eye and her smile fell.

“Oh shit.”

Alastor followed her line of sight and saw Mina and Vaggie, clearly getting into a heated argument.

“Don’t lecture me about weapons when you only know how to use one.” Mina’s voice carried across the courtyard, his ears picking up the bite in her voice now that he was paying attention.

“This one is all the exterminators are going to be wielding, so you should be choosing weapons best at defending against them.”

“I am,” Mina hissed. “I know what I’m doing child, so go back to playing and let the professionals handle the rest.”

Vaggie raised up her spear and let its base hit the cobblestones beneath her feet with a metallic clank that echoed through the courtyard.

“Alright, perra, you think you know so much about Exterminators? Show me what you got. But you might want to put on some padding.”

Mina laughed in her face. “I’m not going to need protection to fight you.”

Charlie started to walk towards them but Alastor grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Best to let them work this out themselves. I believe this has been building for quite some time.”

“You’re really okay with them beating each other to a pulp?”

Alastor waved his hand dismissively at her and leaned against the pillar behind him. “Just shut up and enjoy the show,” he replied with a cackle.

Mina shocked him by unbuttoning her sweater, exposing her spots along her shoulders and back for the first time, and sitting it on top of the wagon full of weapons before grabbing a spear for herself. She really was a sight to behold when she was pissed off.

Vaggie raised an eyebrow at her.

“Want to change out of your sundress?”

“I’m gonna beat your ass bloody with my skirt on and my hair down, thank you very much.”

Vaggie charged at her, aggressively and directly, and Mina blocked it easily, lifting the other woman’s spear up before slamming the tip of it into the ground with her own.

“Not used to people fighting back, are you?” she challenged.

Vaggie yanked her spear out from under Mina’s and came at her again, faster and more agile, and Mina stepped back several paces as she had to focus on her blocks.

“You’re good at defense,” Vaggie said, stepping back and twirling her spear. “But I’ve yet to see you make a move that impresses me.”

Mina snarled and jumped into the air, spinning and bringing her spear down hard, making Vaggie block her attack with both hands braced on her spear, and Charlie gasped at how close Mina’s spear still managed to get to Vaggie’s shoulder before the shorter woman shoved back, using Mina’s own weight against her.

It was like a dance after that, both women spinning and flourishing their weapons with expert grace and precision, the sharp whack of their weapons ringing through the air over and over again, and Alastor was certain Charlie flinched with every hit.

After several minutes went by, both women were visibly panting, sweating, and red in the face with the exertion from their fight but at the same time, they both looked like they were beginning to thoroughly enjoy the challenge.

With a roar, Vaggie swung her spear, forcing Mina to duck, but the taller woman quickly recovered, standing back up before Vaggie could bring her weapon back around, and Mina spun the end of her spear up and the blunt end hit Vaggie in side of her face.

Charlie gasped and Vaggie stumbled to the side from the force of it, before she looked back up at Mina with a look mixed with respect, shock, and fury.

It was the only hesitation the warrior gave before she went back on the offensive, coming at Mina in a way that forced her to brace her own spear with both hands. Vaggie swiftly brought her spear up and back down, threading it in between Mina and her own weapon, locked her arm down and spun, flipping Mina onto the ground and on her back and Vaggie towered over her with both spears now in her grasp.

Vaggie raised her spear up and Mina’s rolled backward over her shoulder and came up in a crouch, her fist engulfed in angelic fire with her teeth bared and her ears pinned back.

“Been a while since someone actually managed to land a hit on me,” Vaggie said.

“I don’t think anyone’s been able to take my own weapon from me before,” Mina admitted, slowing standing up from her crouched position.

“Truce?” Vaggie said, holding out her hand.

Mina smiled, flashing all her sharp teeth at Vaggie as she took her hand. “Truce. Lunch?”

Vaggie sighed. “Oh fuck yeah, I’m starving after that work out.”

Mina went over to the weapon’s wagon and grabbed her sweater.

Vaggie walked away, heading for the hotel but she looked over her shoulder at Mina as she was buttoning up. “Those spots are kinda hot, by the way.”

Alastor laughed inwardly as he watched the blush creep up his wife’s neck and cheeks.

When Mina headed for the doors herself a moment later, Alastor joined her.

“My, you have learned a thing or two in the last few years,” he said flirtatiously.

“Enjoy the show?” she asked, still sounding a bit winded but her mood was clearly lifted.

“Ooooh, yes, quite a bit,” he laughed and playfully slapped her ass, uncaring for a rare moment who was watching.

____

Mina was feeling a lot more like herself after her sparing match with Vaggie. It had given her the much needed opportunity to blow off some steam and get her head out the funk her nightmare had put her in.

She had already been awake when Alastor had found her that morning but still lost in the emotions it had left in her. Though the light of the bayou had instantly soothed her when she opened her eyes, telling her logically it had all just been a dream, the feelings of abandonment and shame had stayed with her. And when Alastor had made his comment about getting her hands bloody, it had unnerved her. The way that dream had ended, with her covered in blood and feeling betrayed and guilty over . . . something she still didn’t understand, but it had been haunting her all morning.

Now there was a full blown party happening at the hotel and Mina had a pleasant buzz going as she sipped her cocktail and lounged with her friends.

Alastor had been down there earlier, socializing with everyone, playing the gracious host, and had shared a couple dances with her but then he had wandered off, a full glass of whiskey in his hand.

“So you guys torture people like Mina used to,” Angel said, pointing at the hyena twins, Kaden and Silva. “And you, too huh?” he asked, looking over at Alina.

The vampiric silver haired beauty smiled widely at Angel and laughed.

“Not for centuries. No, I’ve been hunting for Abaddon for most of my existence. I’m very good at it,” her black eyes flashed luminously with pride before she took a sip of her drink.

Mina was pressed between her friends on the couch, the twins on her right and Alina on her left, with Angel laying across a lounge chair in front of them, his long limbs hanging off either side.

“Bounty hunting. What a gig that would be,” Angel said, mostly to himself.

“I’d rather stick to torture,” Silva said with a giggle. “More control over the situation. And tastier.”

“You two are cannibals, too?” Angel asked.

“Sure, most carnivorous demons are. You’ve never tried it?” Kaden asked.

“Not my thing,” Angel replied, barely hiding his disgust.

“Well, since Mina left, we’ve gotten to take over most couple sessions and less of the cannibalizing ones. That was always her thing, and since we were her apprentices, we got to step up to the plate,” Silva said.

“Couple’s sessions?” Angel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mina opened her mouth to explain but Silva beat her to it.

“Yeah, Mina fucking invented them. If a couple gets sent to The Pit, she came up with the idea of offering them a deal. Their own torture gets to stop, but only if they can handle torturing the significant other they got sent in with.”

Angel looked at Mina warily and she smiled shyly back at him.

“But there’s a catch,” Kaden interrupted. “Whoever breaks first, Mina only lets them up for a fraction of the time they were meant to be serving. Then she lets the other one get their revenge and torture them back. That way, the demon that betrayed the person they supposedly loved, has to live with that fact and still get tortured. It’s fucking beautiful man. The woman is always so much more vicious than the guy.”

“What, like it’s always the guy that gives in first with straight couples?” Angel asked.

“Usually,” Mina and the twins answered together.

“You guys are fucked up,” Angel said and got up, stumbling his way back over to the bar and to Husk.

“He’s a sensitive one, isn’t he?” Alina asked.

The hyenas cackled and Mina felt the need to defend her new friend to her old ones, but bit her tongue. They all had a way of hardening their hearts against their jobs and Angel didn’t quite understand that the souls they dealt with in The Pit were the worst of the worst that Hell had to offer. It was two worlds collide with the two found families Mina had built around herself but she knew that given time, they would all warm up to each other.

Astra and Lilah came over with a fresh tray of drinks and Lilah took over Angel’s discarded seat with Astra lounged comfortably across the floor, her blue skin shimmering before it settled into a darker indigo color.

“Where did Al’ run off to, I got a rye just for him,” Lilah said.

Silva scoffed. “Still taking off without a word, huh?”

Astra sat up and smacked her on the shin. “He’s right up on the balcony, talking with Niffty, you twit.”

Mina glanced up and sure enough, he was there, leaning over the railing and even from the distance, she could see his fond smile as he watched the animated Niffty telling him about something she was clearly excited about.

“Whatever,” Silva said, crossing her arms after taking a peek for herself. “I still don’t buy his story. He left Mina totally broken hearted. A pathetic shell of herself-”

“Thank you,” Mina interjected sarcastically.

“It’s true! And you just take him back the moment he gets back-”

“Shut up, Silva,” Lilah said. Like Astra, she had been there for the very start of Mina and Alastor’s relationship. Had seen their rise and fall, and everything in between, so they both understood Mina’s decision to stay, but others were more skeptical.

Mina gave her an appreciative smile and downed the rest of her drink, then stood up before the group could get into a proper argument over her marriage.

“Well, this has been wonderful, but before we all die tomorrow, I think I’m going to go get laid,” Mina said and walked away.

___

She found Alastor right where she had last seen him, leaning against the rail of the balcony that looked over the lobby, but now he was alone. He looked up and smiled a wide and bright smile as he saw her approaching and the closer she got, the stronger the smell of whiskey became. Mina may have been tipsy but Alastor was properly drunk.

That boded well for her. He was usually a happy drunk, jovial and lively when in the company of others but when she was alone with him, he was very handsy and that was exactly what she was looking for tonight.

“What are you doing up here, all alone?” she asked and he stood up straighter, holding his microphone and both hands behind his back.

“Looking down on my royal subjects.”

She smiled and raised an eyebrow, glancing up at the ring of dead roaches he was wearing in his hair like a crown.

“Alastor, what in the world-”

“Ah ah,” he corrected, and cleared his throat before puffing out his chest and putting his hand over his heart. “It is King Roach to you, my lady.”

He broke into a fit of laughter, once again leaning over the railing, giggling until there were tears in his eyes.

His mood was infectious and Mina felt herself start to laugh as well. It had been too long since she’d seen this side of him; this goofy, childish, strange, and a little insane but happy version of him. Her worries about the battle and the lingering unease that her dream had left her with were dispelled in that moment.

She stepped closer until they were toe to toe and wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling up at him. The crown of bugs was crooked, pushing down a lock of hair awkwardly over his forehead, and his red eyelids were heavy, making every blink slow and adorably mesmerizing.

“You have very pretty eyes, my King.”

Alastor’s smile went wide with surprise, the sleepiness left his expression for a moment, before he relaxed again and tilted his head at her, his long ears flopping a bit to the side.

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Hmmm,” she said, feeling the effects of that last drink she had downed hitting her, making her head a little warmer and fuzzier than just a moment before. She pressed her face into his chest, purring and nuzzling her cheek into his jacket. “You’re beautiful.”

“That’s an odd compliment for a King,” he mused. “One would think I should be called regal, or handsome, perhaps aristocratic or even dapper. The very image of omnipotence, a terrifying sight to behold, the horrors of which haven’t been seen since the Eldritch Terrors roamed the Earth.”

“Hmmm mmm,” she nodded, still pressed against his chest with her eyes closed. “You are all those things and more, my love, but you’re also my pretty man. My fruitcake.”

“You’re . . . what?”

He pulled away from her a bit and she looked up to meet his expression, her arms still wrapped around him, but when they made eye contact, they both broke into another fit of laughter.

After a moment, Alastor caught his breath again and brought a hand up to cup her cheek.

“So what are our opinions on sex tonight?” he asked, his strange wording making another giggle break out of her. “Would you be willing to bed this fruity King of yours?”

She reached up and straightened his crown and brushed the stray lock of hair away from his forehead.

“There’s no one else I’d rather spend tonight with,” she said quietly, and his smile softened before, to her utter astonishment, he pressed his lips to hers.

They were alone on the balcony but still in full view of the packed lobby and sure enough, with Alastor’s mouth still firmly on her own, she heard the distinctive sound of Angel’s voice from down below.

“OW OOWWWW!” he shouted and then someone else followed his cheering with a wolf whistle.

Alastor didn’t break the kiss but she felt his weight shift a little and his hand left her cheek. She turned her face to the side and opened her eyes, and saw Alastor’s arm pulled straight over the railing, his middle finger lifted on proud display for the crowd below, even as he peppered her jawline with more kisses.

He was never this brazen with her in front of others and she felt wetness begin to gather between her legs at the unusual thrill of it.

Alastor pulled his face away from hers and let his hand fall back to her hips, but the smirk on his face told her he had no regrets.

“That’s enough of a show for them, wouldn’t you say? Shall we find a place more private?”

She could only nod, at a loss for words, as she looked up at him over her lashes.

He leaned forward and kissed her once more and she felt her body melting with his shadow as he whisked them away into the darkness of the hallway.

Next Chapter ->

@inuhalfdemon @saccharine-nectarine @whoknowswhoiamtoday @redvexillum @visara-valentina @reath-solia

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor fanfiction #alastor the radio demon #alastor #alastor x oc #the radio demon #alastor radio demon #the fire in the sin

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contentloadingandstuff · 11 months

Text

Fluff Headcanons - Spooky gaming with the genshin characters!

A/N: The fluff version of the Halloween special, and a bit of a new format. I hope you enjoy!

C/W: Modern AU, swearing, game-typical violence.

Alhaitham

This year, Alhaitham wanted something less conventional. Something that would really engage his mind with interesting commentary about society and the world at large, but still retain some of that spooky vibe.

Cruelty Squad easily caught his attention with its assaulting graphics and interesting premise. It clearly begged for attention, and he was willing to humor it.

It was precisely what he was looking for, and what an answer it was. Alhaitham had no trouble adjusting to a more corporate mindset.

Alhaitham: The super AI emerges from an extremely pornographic ultra hyper suck and fuck…

Kaveh: Um… What? What are you talking about?

Alhaitham: You don't understand, Kaveh. Everything that surrounds us? It's Gorbino's Quest. The Gorbino's Quest... of life.

Ganyu

The poor little cinnamon roll isn't that much of a horror fan. Violence and death generally unsettles her, but Ganyu still wants to feel some of that holiday spirit.

After a lengthy deliberation, Ganyu chose Little Nightmares. The graphics are quite pleasing to the eye, it is horror, but not so horrible and violent. At least that's what she heard.

Ganyu: Oh, look! It's a Nome, right? And it's offering me food… How nice of it! Um… Oh n-no! Why would you d-do that?!

Amber

The great outdoors with a horror theme? Count her in!

Amber made sure to avoid spoilers to have the full, unprecedented The Forest experience. The landscape is so serene and peaceful… The freedom of movement, the sounds of nature and the survival elements are so fun and relaxing!

True, there are some hostile people on the island, but they seem harmless enough.

Until the night falls…

Amber: Wait… What's that? That doesn't look human… Did it just birth out… Ew… Yikes! It's coming at me!

Suffice to say, Amber stuck around until more or less the moment when you have to chop up bodies and make effigies out of the parts.

Beidou

Alcohol, hard rock and murdering demons with big guns is how Beidou plays on Halloween, so she'll gladly hop on Doom Eternal.

There's nothing better than impaling a snake demon's head with its own broken arm, right as the beat drops.

Beidou: Life has enough undefeatable horrors. Let's just have some fun tonight!

Ningguang

The old ones are the good ones! Ningguang doesn't play a lot of video games, but she did like a few titles back in her younger days.

On this special occasion, Ningguang got a box of her old possessions to dig through, and found the original Dungeon Keeper on CD.

Everything is just as she remembered it was.

Ningguang: Oh, these imps… They are the perfect workers, aren't they? They don't eat, sleep, need vacation, have a social life, and they work harder when you slap them. Ah, if only I had them as my subordinates…

Keqing: *narrows eyes*

Kokomi

Another fan of the retro side of games, Kokomi enjoys a good tactical challenge - developing the ability to conjure small scale plans is as important as improving the grand ones.

Her pick is Myth II: Soulblighter. It’s a brutal, unforgiving RTS with a distinctively dark atmosphere - just perfect for the season at hand.

Even when Halloween comes to a close, Kokomi will find it hard to drop the game. The insanity that is Legendary is quite addictive indeed…

Kokomi: You here… You here… And now the crescendo!

Game: “Move here move there…”

Game: “Catch!”

Game: *explosion*

Game: “Casualty.”

Kokomi: Oh. Change of plans, I guess…

Yae Miko

Upon hearing of the wonderful possibilities for tormenting the other party, Miko didn't hesitate to bring out the Mora for Dead By Daylight and all of its DLC.

Though it was quite fun at first, the ugly nature of the game soon surfaced. As none of her friends were brave enough to delve into this swamp, she was forced to join up with random people, who frequently threw the games.

Such a combination was enough to make even such an ancient and wise kitsune lose her absolute cool.

Ei: Why are you crouching behind that tree, Miko?

Miko: The killer has caught one of my teammates, and I will release them by ambushing them with a flashlight!

Miko: Come on… Now! You didn't expect that, did y- What?? Lightborn?! Again?! Who even plays it nowadays?! Oh, you daft, blind motherf-

Ei: Miko!

Miko: Oh… Hm. Sorry. I got a little carried away. But that's sooo unfair, isn't it? Why would they add a perk that cancels a whole mechanic? I can't believeitthegameissokillersided…

Xiangling

Xiangling absolutely didn't look forward to Halloween, especially with Hu Tao around. She just can't take horror, at all, of any kind, ever. Especially jumpscares.

She still couldn't believe that she agreed to play a horror game, let alone one suggested by the director. The one and only Five Nights At Freddy's at that.

Much to Hu Tao's amusement, she didn't even make it past Night 1. Xiangling was thoroughly spooked, and after being jumpscared once she completely refused to keep playing.

Seeing Xiangling so terrified made Guoba very upset, and Hu Tao quickly apologized to avoid being roasted by the angry god.

Hu Tao: So he killed the kids, but then! Their souls escaped their robot prisons and made an old spring lock suit crush him to death! WoOoo~

Xiangling: Ah! Hu Tao! No more!

Guoba: Nane na! Grr…

Hu Tao: Oh, don't fret little Guoba! I'm just joking!

Zhongli

Morax always had trouble catching up with the latest cultural and technological trends of the humans. Sure, he can use a computer more than well enough, but he finds third and first person video games confusing. The gameplay is most often too fast and rapidly changing for him to be up to speed with it, let alone enjoy it.

Throughout all of his exponentially long life, nobody was as persistent in including him in the festivities as Hu Tao. She tried to convince Zhongli to play something horror-related, but he was assertive. So, the director decided to find a game that would suit his liking - an indie title.

Her pick fell on Water Womb World - it's simple mechanically, is quite disturbing and has an interesting concept.

Much to her surprise, Zhongli thoroughly enjoyed his fifteen minutes with the game, even if he didn't find it very scary.

Zhongli: Ah, I agree with the message of this title. The blind belief in deities can lead to fanaticism, which breeds regress rather than progress. I do think that a more healthy and critical approach to Rex Lapis' rule would be beneficial to our current day society. Especially that the age of gods draws to an end…

Hu Tao: Aiya! Do you have to turn everything into a lecture, Zhongli? You're not my grandpa, are you?

Hu Tao

An avid enjoyer of the spookfest, Hu Tao decided to pick something hitting closer to home this year - Mortuary Assistant.

The gameplay loop feels great! Just like in her line of work, just without the smell. She's having the time of her life preparing the corpse for burial. And hunting the demon. That's also quite cool!

Hu Tao: *hums while wheeling the corpse into the crematory*

Game: "Are you sure?"

Hu Tao: Yup! I know your tricks more than well. Aiyaya, you could try something more interesting next round! Furnace time~

Game: *sounds of fire and demonic screaming*

Hu Tao: Toodle-oo~

Bennet, Noelle, Fischl, Razor

A few weeks before Halloween, Bennett mentioned a game night, since he couldn't be there in person. Noelle, diligent as ever, picked this up as a cue to start looking for something.

Luckily for her, Phasmophobia was on a large and affordable discount, so after proposing the idea and organizing a money pool, they all got to proving the existence of ghosts.

Lisa lent Razor her personal computer for the night, on condition that she could take a little peek every now and then at their session without interrupting - and what an amusement it was, as none of them are especially acquainted with horror.

Noelle: "The ghost responds only to people who are alone." Somebody has to go in to talk to it…

Razor: Razor won't go! Ghost scary!

Bennett: I would go, but with my luck, the ghost will eat me right away…

Fischl: Hmph! Although yes, I, Fischl, The Prinzessin Der Verurteilung and the founder of The Immernatchreich possess the courage to face demons and spawns of darkness alike, I…

Everyone: So you'll go then?

Amy: Um… N-no! You m-misunderstood!

Furina

The Great-And-Grand Archon of Fontaine played and saw every horror game and movie, and never once got scared. Or that's what she claims, at least.

That's why Focalors decided to prove her excellence with a true, dark challenge she could easily overcome, thus proving her gaming capabilities for all to see!

In hindsight, Darkest Dungeon wasn't the best of choices she could have made… It did amuse Monsieur Neuvilette, however.

Neuvillette: I think you should retreat. Your heroes are close to dying.

Furina: I appreciate your advice, my dear Iudex, but your worries are misplaced! My Crusader will deal a critical hit, thus ending the pig-man's miserable opposition, and granting us treasure galore! Watch and marvel at my skill!

Game: "A singular strike!"

Furina: Ahaha, see? I told you it would be fine~ Wait… It's not dead yet…?

Game: "Mortality - clarified in a single strike!"

Furina: Um…

Game: "There can be no hope in this hell, no hope at all…"

Game: "And now the true test - hold fast, or expire."

Game: "Those who cover injury find it in no short supply."

Game: "As life ebbs, terrible vistas of emptiness reveal themselves."

Furina: Ret- T-tactical withdrawal!

Game: "Cornered, trapped, forced to fight on!"

Game: "This is no place for the weak, or the foolhardy."

Game: "More blood soaks the soil, feeding the evil therein."

Game: "Perched at the very precipice of oblivion."

Game: "More dust, more ashes, more disappointment."

Game: "Another life wasted in the pursuit of glory and gold."

Game: "Wounds to be tended. Lessons to be learned."

Neuvillette: Lady Furina, if only you had-

Furina: Silence.

Shenhe

Shenhe never gets scared. The most terrible of monsters or existential terrors are no match for her training and resolve, no matter how unexpected they might be. She might not get scared, but she can get startled, right?

Who else would pose that question but Hu Tao, the mistress of horrors herself? It was always her objective to get some sort of reaction out of the adepti disciple, no matter how insignificant and small it might be. Many things were attempted - scary movies, troubling situations, body horror, cosmic horror, existential horror… But none of them ever worked. Shenhe remained stalwart.

Out of desperation, Hu Tao was forced to reach for the ultimate weapon. The bane of those unprepared. The myth. The legend. The game.

The Scary Maze Game.

After plugging in an old spare monitor, she invited Shenhe to “test her precision”, and stepped a few safe meters back.

The monitor ended up skewered with her polearm, but Shenhe did yelp - much to her delight.

Not all was fun and games though, as Hu Tao got the mother of all lectures from Cloud Retainer. Something about Shenhe’s red ropes breaking, but the director didn’t pay much attention, and just nodded along.

Hu Tao: Heya, Shenhe… You don’t mind the little scare I gave you back on Halloween night, do you…?

Shenhe: Oh? Well, as much as I was upset during the moment, I must admit it was quite… cathartic. I never experienced anything like that. I do not hold any grudge towards you. Actually… Thank you for that, director Hu Tao.

Hu Tao: Phew! And I was here thinking I’ll share the fate of that display!

🎃Happy Halloween!🎃

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hanayori89 · 4 months

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Full Circle

*Ordon Village*

Link continued to fiddle with his green hat. He admired the way it was coming apart at the seams, much like himself. He should have left it in Kakariko with Y/N's dress.

Link sat on his bed. At an absolute loss, he recognized he could only stall for so long. With or without Zelda urging him to do so, he knew he must listen to the shadow.

Zelda. That was the other problem. How would he break free and meet her at the Temple of Time?

Hylia, please help me. Link bowed his head in prayer. The back of his hand began to sear with a familiar prickling sensation. He looked at his Triforce, hoping to see its scintillating golden glow of guidance, yet it remained dull. Once again, Hylia had ignored his prayers.

"Link." Ilia's voice drifted from his doorframe. He knew, from the alluring way in which she spoke, what it was she desired. She stood before him in nothing but her undergarments.

Link automatically seized his face in between his hands.

"I-Ilia- " he floundered as he thought of another way to stall.

"Shh. Talking time is over. Why are you still dressed?" A devious grin that could eat him whole possessed her. "No matter. I'll undress you."

Before Link was aware of anything more, he felt the crushing weight of her straddling him. He scrunched his eyes closed. For the first time, he was a helpless civilian being overpowered by an assailant.

She's so fast. And heavy. This shadow is completely overtaking her. I wonder if there is any Ilia left in there.

"Ilia!" Link shouted. Her face floated above his as her hands roamed every inch of his body in search of his belt. A satisfying growl escaped her lips as she viciously pulled it off. The only thing Link could think of during this assault was Y/N. Again, the smell of her hair resided on his pillow. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be transported to Renado's home, where the soft glow of the moon hugged her frame as she lay beside him.

He thought of her softened e/c eyes studying his lacerations as she cleaned them.

"Yes. Because it was my first kiss, it was special. Even more so because it came from you."

He thought of the majesty of Y/N's lips.

Only now it was Ilia's lips swamping his own. He tried to fight against her, restraining her wrists and momentarily overpowering her. It proved to be futile, however. The more he resisted, the more forceful the shadow became.

He had to know if Ilia was still in there somewhere. Was there still a chance she could be saved? Or was he about to be violated by a demon wearing Ilia's flesh as a costume?

He managed to restrain her once more. "Ilia! Please! This isn't you! What if I was Epona? Would you ever treat Epona this way?"

"Epona?" A spark of life returned to the dead, pale blue of her eyes. She paused atop Link, Epona's name loading on her blank face. Link had hit a nerve. She was still in there.

"Yes, Epona. The ride home was the most interaction she's had with you, Ilia. She misses you. I miss you." Link's sincerity radiated nothing but the raw truth. He did miss Ilia. She was family to him. All this ugliness was not the Ilia he knew. This wickedness belonged to the decrepit shadow who was extinguishing the light in Ilia's soul.

Piece by piece.

Bit by bit.

"Link, I..." Her voice was a feeble plea.

"Fight it, Ilia. You must fight it." Link begged. He could feel his Triforce react to the energy of evil in between them. Link casually tossed a glance at the back of his hand. What was going on? He could feel it burning his flesh; nevertheless, it remained lackluster.

"Looking for something?" A course, gravelly voice rolled out of Ilia's mouth without the movement of her lips. Her blue irises became subservient to the jaundice overtaking her eyes. She began to weep streams of foul-smelling puss. As if by electrocution, she jolted upright, rolling her eyes in the back of her head.

"Ilia!" Link roared with anguish at the sight of his friend physically being dismantled before him. With all the strength he could muster, he managed to push Ilia and tackle her onto the floor. He pinned her down, but his strength was no match for the demonic entity breaking loose.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Link kept screaming hopelessly. The more hysterical he became, the more delight the shadow took. Its deranged laugh scraped against his eardrum like nails ripping into flesh.

"AHAHAHA! What are you carrying on about, boy? Like you care. You're too busy fawning over that pathetic half-breed, Twili. Do you think what I'm doing to your little friend hurts her now? Imagine the hurt she'll feel when she learns you're in love with someone else. One of me, for that matter. Her suffering makes no difference to me. Just some food for thought."

Half-breed?

Swiftly, the shadow returned to its role of dominance. It took one of its fingers, brashly shoving Link off. He went flying into the wall of his room. His back slammed against it with such force that, for a moment, he thought he heard the shattering of one of his vertebrae. He slid down the wall; the shock of the impact rendered him silent.

And ashamed.

He couldn't win.

Link didn't bother looking up. He could feel the shadow standing over him. The repugnant fluid pouring from its eyes was now at a heavier flow. It spilled over his head like a bucket of ice water, christening him in its evil. The stench of decay was like sulfur in his lungs. He covered his nose as he sat submissively before the shadow.

"Look at you. Pitiful. Where is your goddess now? Where is she in your time of need? That pathetic scribble on your hand won't save you. Nor will your goddess."

It lifted its leg, which was still Ilia's, or human, rather, and stepped on Link's stomach. It pressed down slightly, causing him to lurch forward, clamoring for air. "Agh!" Link gasped. It continued to step down further. It grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to stare into its vacant eyes.

"And you're the one who saved Hyrule. What trash. Are you going to listen to me now, or must I go through this again?"

The air around Link became scarce. He decided that passing out would be the humane path for himself. He would not give this shadow the gratification it wanted. He'd let it squash his ribcage if it must. The shadow grew visibly more impatient, stepping down with more force on his stomach.

He didn't even want it to have the satisfaction of his pain. He let out a small whimper. "Nrgh..."

"Rude boy. I said..."

"Hello, Link? Anyone home?"

Renado's voice poured throughout his home, providing Link with a break from the abuse. The shadow scoffed, "You have a guest! Get rid of him!"

Link let out a gentle wheeze. Why was Renado here? He couldn't bear for another friend of his to be destroyed by this entity. Hylia forbid, was Luda with him?

"Link? Are you alright? I must excuse myself; I am coming up." He could hear Renado's purposeful footsteps approach. The shadow hissed. "Pests! This isn't over, Link!" It ran towards Link's window, unlatching it and perching on the windowsill. Its head rotated around, so it could stare at him.

"Remember my warning. Don't go near Y/N. Unless you want to hang her head as a decoration." Ilia's blue irises dropped back into her eyes. The weeping retracted, flowing back into the passage of her eye sockets. It snapped its head forward and leapt into the night.

Renado appeared in Link's doorway. "Link!" He quickly trotted towards him, kneeling down at his side. "That smell. The darkness I sensed. It's here, isn't it?"

Link couldn't find his voice. Renado helped Link to his feet, assisting him onto his bed. Once Link sat, he cradled his sore stomach. He managed to mutter, "Luda?" He didn't see the little girl anywhere in sight.

"She's at Beth's. She wanted to stay there for tonight. I came here to deliver Y/N's dress."

Y/N's name was like another blow to his stomach, causing him to suck his breath in and double over in pain.

"Rest. Let me see, do you have ice? Bandages? You look like you're in bad shape, my friend." Renado got up, making his way into Link's bathroom in search of anything he could use to help quell his pain.

"Paper and pen."

"Forgive me, Link; I don't quite understand. Do you need to write to communicate with me?"

"Yes." Link was afraid to say Y/N's name. He wasn't sure where the shadow was. He needed to pull himself together to get to Zelda.

It was one thing to let himself down, but he would not let anymore of his friends down. He refused. He stared again at the stillness of his Triforce. Why wasn't it responding to him? It appeared to Link that beyond the Sacred Grove, he would also be making another pilgrimage through the Temple of Time.

The time for the Master Sword was at hand once again. But would the Master Sword respond to him? Even if the Triforce seemed to ignore his every cry for help?

There was another troubling thought. What did the shadow mean when it called Y/N half-breed?

Link felt the air slightly return to his lungs. He rocked back and forth like he had the day he held Y/N at Lake Hylia. Everything was so convoluted.

All Link knew was at his core; he missed Y/N. So much so, he wasn't sure if it was the pain from the stomping of the shadow or the pain from her absence that stole his breath away.

What must she think in this silence? I will continue to fight for us. Even if Hylia has abandoned me.

Even if the Triforce has abandoned me.

Even if... the Master Sword abandons me.

Renado returned with a pen and paper, setting it next to Link.

"Renado, I will tell you all I know. But you must swear to keep everything to yourself. I must ask another favor of you. Can you deliver the dress to Telma along with this letter I'm writing?" Renado's eyes flickered at the mention of Telma. Link caught onto his silent apprehension.

"I will give you anything, Renado. Please. I will repay you tenfold. I'm begging you. Give this to her." Link choked out "her" in resentment. He couldn't even say Y/N's name out of fear that it would provoke the shadow to go after her.

Renado didn't understand what was going on, but the awry environment was enough to make him compliant with Link's request. "Do you wish to see the dress before I go?"

Link felt a sob get caught in the weak cavity of his chest. "I wish to see her in the dress." He whispered morosely. Link handed Renado the letter he wrote for Y/N.

Renado gave Link a pained expression as he accepted the letter. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

I need to get rid of that damned shadow. Link shook his head. "Thank you, Renado."

Renado made his way out of Link's room. Before departing, he left Link with one message.

"Well, we have come full circle, friend. Only your letter won't be received with rejection."

Link wasn't so sure.

Edited: 6/2/24

Things have indeed come full circle. Has everything up until this point even been Ilia's fault? Or was it the dark entity that has found residence in the home of her body?

With Link in a weaker state than his hero days, can he defeat the evil within Ilia and protect his best friend, princess, and true love?

Or has Hylia decided his days as designated hero are over?

Check out my other completed OOT Zelda work- No Woman Beyond

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justakidicarus · 4 months

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Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom is a soft reboot of the Zelda franchise

TL;DR: The title says it all. I feel like anyone trying to figure out where Breath of the Wild + Tears of the Kingdom fit into the greater Zelda Timeline has felt the pain of trying to reconcile the strange lore of Tears and Breath with what the previous game already established. Nintendo themselves haven't given much information regarding its placement besides a general "Reunited Timeline" placement which really opens a whole other can of worms. From Timeline enthusiasts to fanfiction writers, the giant grey area surrounding the recent Zelda games has no doubt irritated many. This is where my thesis statement comes in.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom is a soft reboot of the Zelda franchise. Or a normal reboot, I'm not actually too certain about the terms.

Nevertheless, I feel like the recent Zelda trilogy deliberately ignores previous Zelda lore to deliver new premises without worrying about staying canon-compliant with the previous games.

I initially came up with my hypothesis while playing Breath of the Wild, long before Tears of the Kingdom was even announced. Let's start with what weirded me out from that game alone, things that can't be simply explained by the "reunited timeline".

Breath of the Wild Part 1 - The Triforce

This is probably the most obvious thing and also what grabbed my attention from my very first playthrough. What's going on with the Triforce?

Throughout the game, the symbol of the triforce is used quite a bit across Hylian architecture as a symbol of the royal family, and the pedestal The Master Sword is found in is triangular in shape, but the actual Triforce is strangely missing throughout the game. The only time it is seen as if in use is on Zelda's hand, whenever she uses her divine power, in the Zelda's Awakening memory, the sealing Calamity Ganon sequence, and the destroying Dark Beast Ganon sequence. In Zelda's Awakening and when sealing Calamity Ganon, the Triforce appears in full on her right hand. When destroying Dark Beast Ganon, the triforce appears in front of her.

This would imply that Zelda possesses the full Triforce, if not for the fact that within the timespan of presumably a few days, Zelda uses the power of the entire Triforce twice in a row. With how the Triforce is treated in the game, it is safe to say it appears more as a symbol of Zelda's divine power rather than the powerful artefact it had been in the previous games.

Breath of the Wild Part 2 - Radio Silence

This next section isn't about a specific detail, but more so the lack of mention of previous Zelda lore. No mention of the Golden Goddesses, no mention of the history of the Master Sword. No mention of any previous Zelda games besides the easter egg names of various places (Mido Swamp for example). I do not count these as acknowledgements of previous games besides nostalgia and easter eggs. I feel the same way about the various Misko's Treasures, from the Ravio hood to the Fierce Deity's set, these are obviously in the game as nostalgia bait and to encourage people to buy the amiibo's, especially Wolf Link (I mean, it worked on me but still, it needs to be said).

(also side note, if I had a nickel for every time the Hero woke up after an extended sleep and in that time Ganon had already laid waste to Hyrule and now they have to venture to the four corners of the world to awaken sages and then fight the demon king in Hyrule Castle, I would have two nickles, which isn't much but isn't it weird it's happened twice?)

I'm not accusing Nintendo of reusing the same story twice, because obviously they aren't and Breath of the Wild is extremely different to Ocarina of Time. I would know, I've played both. Still, very similar.

(Come to think of it, If I had a nickel for every time the Hero had to complete three trials to strengthen their blade to defeat the demon king, I would have at least two nickles- OK I won't finish that again but still, Skyward Sword this time. (I'm not sure if that's happened in other Zelda games I haven't played through the entire series)

Also, speaking of Skyward Sword, why bring back the sword 'speaking' to the hero when A: Fi never speaks to Link in either game, only Zelda, and B: In Skyward Sword it is explicitly stated that Fi has entered a slumber alongside Ghirahim and Demise within the blade to purge the evil. This implies that after so long, the Demon King and his Blade have finally been fully purged (whether or not that would end the curse is up for debate). Would this allow Fi to manifest again? I'm not sure, but why bring back her chimes the way that they did? It's like they wanted to bring back the concept of the sword speaking without actually committing to giving Fi a voice (which is a bit fair but they could have done it the same way in Skyward Sword anyway, with the unintelligible words and left the interpretation up to the characters).

Ok, I think I should stop before I keep drawing more parallels between Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, it's not even the game in the trilogy that has the most parallels. The Triforce was the main part of Breath of the Wild that made me confused, the rest was just a series of minor details that seemed out of place.

Tears of the Kingdom Part 1 - WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIRST KING OF HYRULE?!?

Dumbledore said calmly.

No but for real what is going on with the Zonai? Ignoring the fact that somehow, the last two Zonai alive are brother and sister and Ignoring everything regarding the secret stones, Tears of the Kingdom takes Zelda far back into the past, to the time of the founding of Hyrule.

Considering we have played through the founding of Hyrule in two previous Zelda games, this matters quite a bit.

By placing the Reunited Timeline at the end of the greater Zelda timeline, it makes the trilogy beholden to the previous Lore. Wind Waker got away with it, having explained its relationship to Ocarina of Time and so when Hyrule was re-founded, it made sense.

Rauru and Sonia are out here claiming to be founding this kingdom from scratch. This does not make any sense.

In Skyward Sword we see how the Skyloftians descend from Skyloft to the Forbidden Grounds, presumably then establishing the Kingdom of Hyrule, named after the goddess Hylia, whose mortal incarnation started the Royal Bloodline (Hence the Blood of the Goddess part of the curse). The initial Zonai Lore presented in the game could have just been a heavily distorted version of these events from the first game (descended from the heavens and all).

Yeah, the time travel sort of changed that entirely.

I genuinely cannot think of a logical explanation to place the events of Tears' past anytime before Skyward Sword. The existence of the Rito alone implies that the past can only go as far back as after the current games in the Adult Timeline. The events of all games in the Reunited Timeline exist purely within their own continuity and do not at all care for the history of the previous games.

That last sentence came out a bit harsh, what I mean is that any history the games abide by is not the same history as the previous Zelda games. It's an isolated thing.

Tears of the Kingdom Part 2 - Sonia

This isn't going to be a long section, more like why does Sonia look so extremely different from the standard Hylian? She looks almost nothing like previous Queens of Hyrule except maybe Tetra. Even then, her ears are so long the only Hylian's I know to ever have ears like that are previous Links. Her morphology is extremely unusual in regards to the Hyrulian Royal family of previous games, which have had largely consistent appearances and this trend is even back to normal in Breath of the Wild with Zelda. What?

Tears of the Kingdom Part 3 - The Kingdom in the Skies

Mostly wanted to say that once again, there are islands in the sky. The colours are very different but presumably, there was yet another cloud barrier that kept the two worlds separate. Why was this here? Why again? How did the upheaval dissipate the cloud barrier? These are questions of mine that will likely never be answered.

Conclusion before this gets too long

There are details among the games that remain the same-ish. The Gerudo has one male born every 100 years, and the Royal Bloodline bears the blood of the goddess Hylia. These details though feel shallow with none of the usual history to support them. Ganondorf doesn't even have the same history he usually has, by remembering the previous cycles. There are probably hundreds of other details I could talk about, but I'd be writing for hours in that case. Nevertheless, I feel like this supports my point.

The Reunited Timeline is a soft reboot of the Zelda franchise.

The base concepts are there, but the previous history of the world is gone. It's Zelda but without the history that could have seemed daunting to newcomers to the franchise. Zelda but made simpler, and more easily accessible to people who haven't touched the games before. That's probably why they did the reboot in the first place. I would just prefer they admit it rather than try and place it in the existing timeline weirdly and confusingly which gives experienced fans and writers a headache.

This is Kid and thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

#legend of zelda #zelda timeline #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #zelda theory #skyward sword #ocarina of time

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liviavanrouge · 5 months

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sooo do you mind fleshing out more info about Jaguar Faes?

Well let's start it off by saying the population if currently split. There are fae jaguars living in the Treetop Hidden Village and some who served under Ambert during his possession and returned to the Valley of Thorns after he was freed.

The time of day of how Fae Jaguars get their abilities:

Fae Jaguars born at night have more telepathic powers, example being Duke who is a mind reader and a prophet and Cobra who has weak prophet abilities. Fae Jaguars born during the day(Livia, Thea, etc), get more destructive powers like venom shooting, camouflage, emotion/aura sensing(If they have light fae blood), Super sonic etc.

Most are also born with wings while some are not, it's rare to see a fae jaguar with wings which is why both Livia and Duke are called defective by some.

Fae jaguar also fight/hunt like animals, they'll fight on all fours and hunt that way too since it's instinct for them.

Back to the day and night thing. Night fae jaguar tend to have darkened hair color, Duke has dark gold, Cobra has swamp green hair. Fae jaguars born during the day have lighter hair colors(Livia being an exception), like Thea who has pink hair and Honey who's hair is blond. And day fae jaguars enjoy lounging in the sun as it keeps their hair bright and gives them the energy they need to do daily tasks assigned to them.

They're group species, who enjoy having a community around them to interact with and help. Some fae jaguars are solitary but they don't mind asking for help every once in a while.

They're also smart with nature and building, as they're aple to make tranquilizers with Sleeping Thorns, and were the ones who created the Draconia Castles even though they had no idea what they should build.

The community also helps raise orphans or kids with disabilities, working together when teaching them an example being Handy who had a small case of autism but Lenia and the others helped him learn to live with it.

Some notable powers that fae jaguars have are: Venom shooting, Mind reading, Prophetic powers, Camouflage, Flight, Super hearing and smell, emotion sensing, venom claws, stingers hidden in the fur of their tails, Shadow control, talking to plants and fire breathing

When It comes to mating fae jaguar prefer other cat species as its easier to bring new life into the world. Some partner with canines and other species but it's slightly harder for them to have offspring and some come out slightly defective(Marrone, Duke's son). Though others are able to have offspring with ease due to stronger bodies and fertility(Future Livia and Jack, alongside Future Meena and her partner).

Fae Demon Jaguars are a whole species of their own, they're related to fae jaguars but not exactly the same species. Some notable powers from them is fireproof wings, hypnotic voices, fire bending, and venom teeth(None of these Livia has, only Virda and Theema, they're lost abilities to the current fae demon jaguars)

~~~~

Known abilities for each fae jaguar

Thea: Emotion/aura sensing, venom claws, camouflage, several unknown abilities

Livia: Emotion/Aura sensing, nature speaking, venom firing teeth, super sonic, fire breathing, flight, camouflage, super smell, several unknown abilities

Virda: Fireproof wings, hypnotic voice, venom teeth, fire bending, camouflage, flight

Theema: Fireproof wings, hypnotic voice, venom teeth, fire bending

Handy: Camouflage, flight, poison stinger, fire breathing, two unknown abilities

Lenia: Flight and camouflage

Duke: Mind reader, prophet, shadow control, flight

Cobra: Weak prophet powers

Honey: Flight, venom firing teeth, camouflage, nature speaking, super hearing

~~~~

All add more to them but for now this is everything about them.

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst disney #twisted wonderland disney #disney twst #twst wonderland #twst #twistedwonderland #twst asks

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wendigonamecaller · 6 months

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Deadly Kiss.

Desc: Asher wasn't a bad person. She was quiet, well behaved, and had a gentle beauty about her that naturally made people flock to her. Asher was a good person, until she was given a reason not to be. 2002, she's only 22, never willingly been intimate with anyone, when police stumble upon her body in the Tennessee senator's home, a single gunshot wound to her head and a gun in her corpses grasp. She wakes up in hell, with a new appearance and powers, which present her with new opportunities, until she meets Angel Dust and becomes mixed up in Charlie Morningstar's hotel, unevitably becoming mixed up with Alastor.

Taglist: @sparrowrye

TW: Sexual themes, Alastor is hitting his rutt. Mentions of masterbation. A horny Al is an irritated Al.

Pt. 19: Tension.

Alastor was baffled.

In all his time in Hell, he'd not once struggled when his rutt had hit. Ever.

Though, now he just simply couldn't help himself. The rutt hadn't even kicked in fully, and yet that simple touch to Asher's thigh had sent him into overdrive the moment he could escape to his room, rutting into his hand with abandon he didn't even know he possessed. Not only that, but his antlers were extremely itchy, it was almost unbearable and whenever he wasn't composing himself to save face in front of everyone or rutting into his hand or a pillow like a wild hound, he was in the swamp of his room attempting to relieve the itch that bothered his antlers so horribly.

Finally, he'd had enough and steeled his resolve so that he could visit Rosie and see if his best friend had any advice. Granted, it'd be easier if he could just call her. But, with Vox owning almost every piece of technology in Hell now that wasn't an option.

-♡

"Alastor! Back so soon?" Rosie chirped, grin bright as always as she greeted him, pulling him into a hug.

He hugged her stiffly, though relaxed when her touch didn't seem to irk his lower levels. "I apologize for turning up unexpected, my dear!" He said, placing a brief kiss to her knuckles.

"Nonsense! It must be important." Rosie brushed off his apology, guiding him to her private table.

The same table Asher had been sitting at days prior, when he'd torn apart that reptilian demon. The mere thought of the Doe made his cock twitch in his rough dress pants, but he made sure not to show his discomfort as Rosie poured tea for the both of them. Alastor hated tea, but he'd indulge his friend out of respect and a platonic adoration.

"Now, tell me what's wrong." She said, becoming suddenly very serious.

Suddenly Alastor felt hot beneath his collar, his mind racing through many different thoughts and words as he figured out how he wanted to phrase this discussion, though he made no notion of being uncomfortable on the outside. He leaned closer to her, nearly grimacing when the head of his cock pinched painfully against the material of his pants and underwear. "It's.. rather personal, dear." He muttered, knowing only she could hear.

"Oh? Does it have something to do with Ash?" Rosie asked, smiling fondly at the mention of the Doe.

Once again, Alastor felt himself twitch in his pants, the hand that rested on his knee gripping the limb until the black flesh of his knuckles turned a light grey from the strain of the skin. "You could say that." He slowly confirmed, red eyes darting around the room nervously.

"Alastor, you're fine, no one can hear what we're saying." Rosie soothed, taking a sip of her tea.

"I'm starting a rutt." Alastor grumbled, gripping his knee tighter.

Rosie's face flushed momentarily before she regained her composure and took another sip of tea. "What does that have to do with Ash?" She asked, laying her hands in her lap.

"Everything about it has to do with her. I can't think straight." He growls.

"Elaborate." Rosie asks, but her voice was more demanding than questioning.

"I've never struggled with a rutt until now." Alastor began, becoming increasingly impatient as his groin felt like it was on fire, and the itch in his antlers was returning.

"Every waking moment I spend thinking about her, fantasizing about her, Hell I barely touched her on accident the other day and I nearly went feral and claimed her right then and there." He finishes, his grin extremely strained.

"Is this all you feel?" Rosie asked, her smile stretched with concern.

"No, my chest often feels tight and sometimes when she smiles or clings to me I feel.. sick. But not in the 'don't touch me.' kind of way." Alastor tells her, resting his chin in his other palm.

Rosie chuckles.

"Al, my dear friend, you're crushing on Asher." Rosie says, trying not to actually laugh at her friend's cluelessness.

"What now?" He asked, tilting his head.

"You're falling in love, Alastor." Rosie reiterates.

"That can't be, I've never felt an attraction towards anyone unless I was killing them, and it was a momentary feeling due to the adrenaline." Alastor scoffs.

Rosie rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "You're insufferable. You've never liked anyone before, so this is new. Explore the feelings in a healthy way, don't bombard her. She's a good girl, with her own issues. Start out small, gift her things you know she likes, Hell cook for her." Rosie suggests.

Alastor hums.

"That doesn't explain why my body is suddenly being like this." Alastor grumbled.

"You're body is only acting on the emotions you're going through, be patient." She said before shooing him out with a hug.

-♡

When Alastor stepped back into the hotel, he wasn't expecting to be greeted by music flowing softly from the parlor. He poked his head into the parlor from the entrance hall, being met by a mostly empty parlor aside from Charlie, and the very person that'd plagued his mind and body for the past couple of days.

Asher sat on the floor on her knees in front of Charlie's chair, her hands folded into her lap. Charlie was weaving strands of Asher's hair back into a beautiful French braid that wrapped around the base of her temple and under her ears like a crown before coming together at the back of her head and then cascading into one thick braid that danced down her back the more Charlie worked her fingers.

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes as Charlie worked until the Princess eventually spoke up.

"Y'know," She began, and Asher's head raised slightly.

"You're really sweet, and kind." Charlie said.

Alastor didn't miss the way Asher's lips curled into a pretty smile at the compliment.

"You think so, Char?" Asher asked, her ears twitching.

"Yeah! And, I was thinking.." Charlie said, suddenly becoming shy.

"Thinking?" Asher asked, tilting her head back against the blonde's lap as Charlie stopped braiding for a couple moments.

"I.. I saw you painting, the other night." She said, and briefly Asher's cheeks were coated in a delicate pinkish-red.

Asher hummed, giving Charlie the signal to keep going.

"What if we tried art therapy? To see how everyone's mindsets change. Asher think for a few moments, and the delicate way her fingertips drum against the base of her skirt covered thigh had Alastor throbbing once more, along with how her tongue just barely poked out of her mouth to wet her black lips.

"I don't see the harm in it." Asher beamed, before preening as Charlie scratched the base of her black ear as a reward, and then went back to braiding her hair.

Alastor calmed himself before emerging from the entrance hall, choosing to greet the two women.

"Good afternoon my dears!" He chirped, voice slightly strained.

Charlie smiled and greeted him back, asking him how he was, whereas Asher's greeting was allot quieter.

She simply smiled and waved, though her tail began to wag almost like a dogs and her ears stood perky on the top of her head.

"I'm quite fine, just had tea with Rosie and now I'm off to enjoy a snack before I begin thinking about dinner!" Alastor said, but before he could turn away his eyes became locked on Asher as she adjusted herself.

But it was the way she did so, that told Alastor the sneaky little Doe knew.

She lifted her hips subtly in a very sneaky thrusting motion whilst Charlie spewed some nonsense at Alastor, and then slyly smirked at him as she settled back against Charlie's legs.

She knew about his predicament.

The sly little minx.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel oc #hazbin alastor #alastor x oc

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caseeliz · 9 months

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Eda nothlit!Luz: Part One

She was a sweet, poetic kind of girl. The kind bullies love to pick on. She used to have brown, out-of-control hair and dreamy eyes that always seemed to be looking at something no one else could see.

Used to...

Now she has striking, fierce eyes that look through you like laser beams. Now she has long gray hair, and ghostly white skin, and an angular face, and clawed hands, and an imposingly tall stature.

A piece of Belos landed on Luz instead of Hunter when he was splattered to the wall by the Collector. In the Human Realm, the unhealed scar he gave her gives Belos an opening into her body, and he slips into her system unnoticed. During Halloween, he takes control of her when she and Hunter come across a vial of Titan’s Blood. While confessing to her loved ones that she helped Belos find the Collector and showed him the Light Glyph, Luz attempts a murder-suicide on the emperor by trying to drown herself in the graveyard swamp’s waters with him in her body after she wrestles back control. They both survive, but the possession severely prostrates Luz and covers her in scars by the time Belos leaves her body to return to the Demon Realm using the Titan’s Blood. Luz chases him to the other side of the portal with what little strength she has, her mother and friends following her.

Back in the Boiling Isles, nobody knows how to save Luz when she starts to waste away after collapsing a few feet from the portal. When she reaches the point between life and death, her spirit meets King’s father in the In Between Realm. He gives her the power to morph and tells her that she already has Eda’s DNA in her from the “body swap” spell, which was actually a morphing spell. She is able to transform into a genetic copy of Eda with the location of an Escafil Device in the Demon Realm and the knowledge of where on planet Earth another morphing cube is imparted to her by the Titan before returning to the mortal plane, but discovers that her newfound morphing powers can’t heal her unmorphed form since there is still some of Belos’s unremovable essence within her human body which - instead of being purged - is sent into Z-space along with her original form by morphing and takes effect again if she demorphs. She becomes a nothlit - a person who lost their morphing powers because they got trapped for the rest of their life in a morph by staying morphed for more than two hours at a time - to safely shunt away the leftover part of Belos that had been slowly killing her forever, though her palisman egg that she brought to the Demon Realm does not hatch despite her finally achieving her dream of becoming a witch.

Realizing that the Titan screwed her over as much as he saved her life, Luz becomes even more despondent and begins to doubt her relationship with Amity could still work now that everyone will think she is too old to be having even a crush on a 14-year-old witch. Camila can’t look at her without getting uncomfortable or sad (which is initially assumed to be because the body Luz trapped herself in is to her mom the copied body of a complete stranger, but is later revealed to be that Luz’s acquisition of morphing powers signified to her mother that the vision shown by the Ellimist is all but guaranteed to happen), which leads her to think that her mother is acting as though she really did die; this gets Luz wondering if she is even still Luz or if her late father Manny would still be Manny if he gained morphing powers and used them to nothlit into another body to cure the terminal disease he had, which in my story was genetic and thus could not have been removed through any other means. Amity assures her that a way for Luz to regain her morphing powers which comes with the restoration of her human body will be found when they get their hands on an Escafil Device, and the team tries to cheer her up by saying they do not blame her for the Day of Unity as Belos manipulated her; Hunter even states that Belos most likely would've used somebody else instead if he hadn’t used Luz, while Camila asserts that she does not think she lost Luz when her child’s only two options were to get stuck in a morph or die. Her resolve back, Luz declares it is time to fight back against the emperor.

Have fun making fanfics and fan art out of that, everyone!

My name is Luz. A freak of nature. One of a kind. I won't tell you my last name. I can't tell you my last name. Or the name of the city where I live. I want to tell you everything, but I can't give any clues to my true identity. Or the identity of the others. Everything I will tell you is true. I know it's going to seem unbelievable, but believe it anyway. I am Luz. I'm a normal kid, I guess. Or used to be. I used to do okay in school. Not great, but not bad either. Just okay. I guess I was a dweeb, kind of. Big, but not big enough to keep from getting picked on. I had brown hair, kind of wild because I could never get it to look right. My eyes were . . . what color were my eyes? It's only been a few weeks, and already I'm forgetting things about my human self.

#animorphs #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #alternate universe #crossover #canon divergence #toh #the owl house #au #nothlit

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copyspaghetti · 1 year

Text

This was supposed to be a joke doodle because @cpn86457 said "adventure time vibes" when I said the song Apple Pie by The Scary Jokes was an age swap mobrei song

Now it is a whole AU with plot and I'm making a playlist

[ID: Age swap Mob, Reigen and Dimple drawn in the style of Adventure Time. They're in a swamp, Mob is floating in the air, Arataka is gesturing wildly towards Dimple floating above him. The swamp is filled with lily pads in ponds, and there is a frog on one of them. An orange snail is in the background. The swamp is shadowed by trees and there are patches of sunlight. /End ID.]

Details about the AU under the cut

Mob used to be a human but the mushroom war mutated him into a magical psychic immortal creature that can exist outside his body. He still claims to be human.

Arataka swears up and down he isn't a human (he is) because the rainicorn culture of eating humans is very popular and everyone wants to take a bite..

Dimple is a self proclaimed ghost King (he isn't) and he's bugging them for help to take back his kingdom but people latch onto Mob as their leader instead because his spirit is so strong and the ghost kingdom thinks he's just possessing that body for convenience.

Ritsu is in the same boat as Mob humanity-wise but instead of floating through the lands in pursue of something new he just. Works as the butler/head of security in the candy kingdom. (Peppermint butler style but he is very obviously not made of peppermint). Boring normal every day life for him!

Tsubomi runs the candy Kingdom, and she doesn't want any suitors but people keep bugging her so it's Ritsu’s job to get rid of them.

Tome is the Paratechnical Princess, a kingdom that approaches the paranormal world through technological means but really their society has devolved into a gamer safe haven. She keeps allocating funds into space research and rocket building and telepathic alien communication but the people keep turning it into games and entertainment.

Teruki is dead, when they were just kids being mutated by the radiation they clashed and he wouldn't give up until Mob killed him on accident. Mob still isn't really over it.

Toichirou the Lich King is trying to use the shut in demon lord of the nightospehere Serizawa to conquer the world.

One day Mob finds a tiny human baby all alone babbling about "nee-san" and he picks it up to go looking for his family but can't find them and now he's stuck with a hungry baby. He turns to Dimple and the candy kingdom for help.

Arataka grows older so Mob puts him in school but he keeps skipping class to adventure, he wants to become the best most famous hero ever and Mob can't just let him get killed in a dumgeon so he comes with.

#mobrei #mobreimob #reimobrei #age swap mobrei #mobventure time #mobventure time au #copyspaghetti art #mobu saiko 100

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felixcloud6288 · 9 months

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Higurashi: Abducted by Demons Recap

I don't feel like I got all my thoughts out on this arc so I'm going to make a general post. I'll probably do this for every arc.

This is the first arc of the series. So it has to make sure a new reader understands the premise and what to expect through the series. The first half of this arc is very exposition heavy as a result. Once the audience knows what is going on, the story focuses on the mood.

Throughout the first half, we get glimpses of how something is not right about the village but the second half goes completely off the deep end. There will be moments that are more graphic and unnerving than what happens in this arc, but the first arc needed to be extreme so anyone curious will understand whether or not they're interested or can handle this series.

And as for the art style, I absolutely loved how Karin Suzuragi drew eyes throughout the arc. In particular, I loved the moments where a single uncanny panel would be included in an otherwise normal scene.

My absolute favorite panel in the arc is when Rena asks Keiichi if he ate the ohagi. Nothing before or after that panel is unusual. Then that one panel pops in and you can feel a shiver go down your spine only for everything to continue as if nothing happened.

And all it would take is a little bit of detail in her eyes to remove the uncanniness and unease this panel causes.

Since this is the first arc, the story also had to blitz through the process of establishing everyone's closeness. The arc is entirely focused of Keiichi and Rena's relation and how it completely collapses when Keiichi finds out about the series of murders in Hinamizawa. On a reread, Keiichi and Rena's friendship felt like it was focused on to the point the other characters are essentially background characters. Later arcs will flesh them out more, but we don't know much abut Mion, Satoko, or Rika outside their connections to the murder victims.

Similarly, Tomitake interacts with the main cast far more in this arc than he does in later ones. It makes his death hit harder.

Some notes about major characters from this arc:

Keiichi Maebara: He moved to Hinamizawa three weeks ago.

Rena Ryugu: Birth name "Reina".She had moved out of Hinamizawa when she was younger. At some point she assaulted three boys with a bat and smashed every window in her school. In her psych evaluations, she frequently talked about Oyashiro-sama as if she is possessed by it. She moved back to Hinamizawa a year ago.

Mion Sonozaki: Leader of the group's after-school club. She has several misdemeanors due to her actions during the village's protest against the dam project.

Satoko Hojo: Related to the second and fourth set of victims

Rika Furude: Related to the third set of victims

Curaudo Ooishi: A detective with the local prefecture who wants to figure out the cause of all the deaths. He suspects a group within the village is behind the deaths.

Jirou Tomitake: A photographer who visits Hinamizawa several times through the year. He died by scratching out his throat.

Miyo Takano: A nurse at the local clinic. She went missing after the Cotton Drifting Festival.

Satoshi Hojo: Satoko's older brother. He used to be part of the after-school club. He disappeared a year ago. Prior to his disappearance, he started carrying a bat and practiced his swinging. He also became distant from the club.

Now let's go over what we know or suspect about the murder mysteries:

Since 1979, someone has died each year during the Cotton Drifting Festival.

The first death was the director of the Dam Project. He was murdered and dismembered by several people. The person who took the right arm is still at large. However, the Director might still be alive.

The second death was Satoko's parents. They fell off a cliff. The wife's body was never found.

The third death was Rika's parents. Her father died of an illness and her mother drowned herself in the swamp. Her body was never found.

The fourth death was Satoko's aunt. She was beaten to death. Satoko's brother Satoshi also went missing around that time.

The fifth death was Jirou Tomitake. He clawed out his throat after apparently being attacked by several people. Miyo Takano has also gone missing. Tomitake's death is suspected of being drug induced.

Every death has a pattern of one discovered death and one missing person. People in the village refer to the disappearances as the person being "demoned away"

The villagers refer to the series of deaths as Oyashiro-sama's curse due to the connections to the dam project. However, each new victim is less and less connected to the project. Tomitake had no connection at all, and Ooishi suspects the murderers are just targeting outsiders at this point.

back

#higurashi when they cry #higurashi no naku koro ni #higurashi no naku koro ni reread

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thedo0zyslider · 1 year

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Explosions Across Lifetimes - Chapter Eleven: See You Feels Scary (And Losing You Is Worse) - 7k words

(There was so much i wanted to put in this chapter, but some of t had to be moved to twelve bc it was so long lol)

Jimmy acts on his gut feeling, and finds exactly what he's looking for

A03 Link

Playlist

The feeling Jimmy had about his friends' disappearances never went away. In fact, it had increased with every passing second since Fwhip had notified them.

It had been a day of tireless searching, and they’d found absolutely nothing so far. They’d started looking at Rivendell and the Crystal Cliffs, then when nothing was there as they expected, they moved onto the surrounding kingdoms. Now Jimmy was searching the wilderness around his own empire, because even after searching ten whole empires they hadn't found anything.

It felt pointless to Jimmy, searching the swamp, when his head was still screaming at him to go to Mythland, or the Lost Empire instead. He was fairly sure their friends were in one of those two empires, because who else would've kidnapped them really? Who else could've kidnapped two people so seamlessly, without any clues, other than two possessed friends? Who else gained anything from kidnapping Scott other than Xornorth itself?

But the group had agreed to search those two empires tomorrow. The excuses were that it was getting late, or that they didn't have an idea of where Sausage or Joey were at any given moment. Which shouldn't be hard information to get really, in the cod's opinion. That mission was obviously going to be some sort of group effort, and Jimmy still being injured was somehow used as an excuse as well. He wasn’t even that hurt anymore! The Codfather had a slight limp in his injured leg at worst , maybe he was a little clumsy with a sword because Sausage just had to stab his dominant hand. But he could fight just fine, especially if he was with a group.

He’d found that suggestion a little insulting actually, because they'd all seem him fight with worse injuries than a hurting leg before. Jimmy could understand why they would want to be wary though, in case Sausage did try to finish what he stated.

The blonde sighed, calling to his people. He was stopping the search earlier than he was supposed to. It was clear that nothing was in the swamp, and the biome could get quite dangerous at night. Honestly the Codfather didn’t want to go to Mythland and get hurt again, and he also didn't want to risk finding Scott and Gem dead. But that last possibility was growing by the minute, which was a thought Jimmy didn’t like one bit.

Now it was really too late to do anything, and he had to reluctantly call it a night. He did want to just keep going, but he had a strong feeling that Gem would whack him over the head, if he made his sleep schedule even worse for her sake.

Another day passed with nothing, and Jimmy became more sure of his hunch. You couldn't even call it a hunch anymore, because he was dead set on that idea. Gem and Scott had been missing for three days at this point, which was making him even more sure.

By this point every empire had been searched. All of them had been scoured top to bottom, all but Mythland and the Lost Empire of course. Jimmy knew why, they were scared. All eight of them were scared to go and enter the danger zone.

Realistically, they needed to go in there. Because where else would Scott and Gem be? Well, they could be in the nether, but that was supposed to be searched today. They were even going to the End. They were so scared of what might be in front of them they were going the the bloody fucking End , a dimension no one had been in since the demon released, when two whole empires had yet to be searched.

Under normal circumstances, Jimmy supposed the End and Nether were reasonable places to look for two missing rulers. But this wasn't normal circumstances. There was a demon, with two people under their possession. Two people who've shown they're prepared to hurt people.

He'd suggested going to visit Joey first, just so Pearl and Fwhip could put off seeing Sausage for a little longer. He knew Shrub had been dying to try and talk sense into her neighbor as well, and the little gnome had jumped to agree with his idea. But no, the majority vote had said otherwise. They’d risk going there after, because Scott and Gem not being there was a real possibility as well, and they'd be putting themselves in danger for nothing.

Jimmy could tell a few others wanted to agree with him, but they were holding themselves back. Pix and Katherine especially. But those two only excelled at leading when it came to boring stuff, like meetings and diplomacy. They weren’t good at convincing Pearl and Fwhip, too very stubborn people, that maybe Sausage kidnapped his sister and maybe he'd done something worse than that. Jimmy didn’t want to believe it either, but he also had a new scar, hidden right under his Codfather’s head, that proved that option was a very real and likely possibility.

They were stalling, that's what they were doing. They were waiting again, and Jimmy was getting bloody sick of waiting. Because they always waited, all twelve emperors did. That was their whole thing, waiting too long to do anything. That was gonna be the thing that ruined them all one day, that one little flaw, he was sure of it.

They'd hesitated to do much about the demon, because most of them had never seen anything like it before; it was unknown and scary and none of them knew how to tackle it. They'd waited and let Xornorth grow in power until he could free himself. Scott had waited too long to be truthful, which had just dug their collective grave deeper. They hadn’t done anything when Sausage and Joey vanished, hadn’t tried to help them, just waited for them to come back demon possessed. Jimmy’s earliest memory was waiting, waiting for Lizzie to return to the sea. He and Fwhip had waited, waited for the worst possible time ever to try and be something more; to get over that stupid rivalry and admit it was getting harder and harder to hate each other. There were probably a handful of other examples he couldn’t remember at the moment or was even aware of. So yeah , Jimmy was more than a little tired of waiting.

By the time he thought this it was already past midday, and sadly the world didn't stop turning when bad things happened. He was busy, he had things to do. So he'd wait until tomorrow morning, when he knew he was free, and then he'd do something. He'd do what no one else was doing and run into the danger zone.

He could handle waiting just a few more hours. Probably.

After the past two days of nothing, Gem and Scott had been kidnapped for four whole days so far. Any longer and it would be a week before they knew it. Jimmy didn’t know what the hell his two friends were going through right now, but any guesses he had weren't good ones. Those guesses made him more anxious, more antsy, more convinced he should do something sooner rather than later; by himself if he had to.

Day two of nothing was also the day after he'd said he'd do something the next morning. And well, it was morning now. He wasn’t busy today. Jimmy suddenly had a decent guess of how his day would go, and it was probably going to be horrible .

The Codfather would tell only one person where exactly he was going, just in case he didn't come back. It took a few minutes of searching, minutes he shouldn't have time to waste, before he found his favorite member of the Cod Council.

He waved Caleb down quickly, and the other was soon walking alongside him. The two men walked towards the more swampy, uninhabited parts of the empire with less buildings, looking as if they were going to try one more fruitless search. Hopefully looking entirely unsuspicious, mainly because Jimmy wasn’t trusting his body language not to betray him. He wasn’t sneaky, or a liar, or very good at hiding his true intentions ever, so he was expecting someone to figure out just what he was planning on doing sooner or later.

They chatted as they walked, engaging in normal, friendly conversation. Though Jimmy did let himself fall more silent the further they got anyway from the main part of the empire. If his friend noticed, or that anything was up, he didn't comment on it. Knowing Caleb, he probably was just giving Jimmy space and letting him set the pace of their conversation, clearly aware of how hard the past few weeks had been on him.

"I'm going to Mythland." Jimmy announced it after a particularly long stretch of comfortable silence. Caleb stopped in his tracks, and openly gaped at the blonde once the words processed in his head.

"Codfa-- Jimmy ," He stated, dropping all the formalities for the first time since he'd been made a Council Member; even despite Jimmy’s insistence that they weren't needed. "That is a horrible idea! What the bloody hell are you thinking?" Caleb hissed, irritated clicks escaping him. The younger cod even grabbed his shoulders, nails digging in slightly and shaking him a little. That made Jimmy blink in momentary surprise. The two were genuine friends, but Caleb was a man of duty and had never quite got over the formal origins of their relationship.

"I know what I'm doing, okay?" Jimmy reassured him, resting a gentle hand on Caleb's arm letting the smaller hold him as much as he needed. "If Sausage finds me, he won't kill me."

"How do you know that?" Caleb's voice became gradually smaller, eyes glazed with poorly disguised worry.

Jimmy just gave a grim smile in return. "Because I'm more useful alive than dead." He said it so casually, and that was a sentence no one should ever have to say ever, let alone like it was normal .

The younger cod was silent for a few painstaking moments, eyes searching Jimmy’s face. He seemed to figure out that no one was talking the Codfather out of this, and would have to suggest some other options instead. “At least let me come with you!” He hissed, gaze hardening as he let go of the blonde’s shoulder. “I know you can still fight, but Sausage will take advantage of your wounds!” Ah, there was that fearless side of him coming out. Caleb’s hands fell to his side, fists tightening as Jimmy firmly shook his head no .

“If I’m being this stupid, I’m not putting anyone else in danger!” He said firmly, trying to keep his face as steady as possible. One part of him, the scared part of him, the one that knew this was stupid and could get him killed , desperately wanted to have some sort of backup. But the rest of him knew he would never stop blaming himself if someone got hurt because of him. Caleb had a good point, a possessed Sausage would absolutely take advantage of those old wounds he’d caused, but this was assuming Sausage was even home . No one could really confirm that, and that man never stayed in one place for long anyways. Jimmy had like, a fifty-fifty chance of running into the guy, which wasn’t good ; but he could work with it.

“If anyone asks, just tell them I’m at Fwhip’s, or looking in the swamps or something.” Jimmy said, giving the younger a pat on his shoulder. Before any more protests could be made he was taking off with his elytra, and flying off towards the dark forest on his border. Despite being several feet up in the air, he could practically hear Caleb’s exasperated sigh from all the way there.

Jimmy had decided to go check Mythland first, mainly because he doubted Joey was a spooky dungeon type of guy. And because trips to Mythland didn’t take long in general, so it wasn’t long before he saw his destination below him. Honestly he was surprised this was going so smoothly thus far, and that he hadn’t been spotted while literally flying . You’d think it would be harder to break into an enemy kingdom. Jimmy landed near the wall Sausage had made, a physical result of all those older feuds of theirs, and hid against it. Quietly as possible, he pulled out his communicator and started to type. He was about to tip off to all his friends that he was being an idiot, but what could they really do? Stop him?

SolidarityGaming: Anyone have a hunch on where Sausage and Joey are right now?

Pixlriffs: Jimmy, why are you asking?

Oh-ho-ho capitalization , Pix was being serious. The Pixandrian was trying to tell him not to do whatever he was going to do, in his own way, and he should know by now that Jimmy was stubborn as hell and that wasn't going to work.

SmallishBeans: jim don't be stupid

SolidarityGaming: that is so rich coming from you mate

SolidarityGaming: im gonna be careful i swear!!! just need to to know

Shubble: no idea about joey but you could probably take him in a fight

Pearlescentmoon: sausage messages me and comes over sometimes still, which are normal other than the evil demon thing

Pearlescentmoon: he said he needed to go get materials for something, so he'll be away for a while.

SolidarityGaming: thanks!

fWhip: if you get hurt again i think im actually going to strangle you

He read the last message a few times, being able to feel Fwhip’s worry through the screen. The blonde typed a few words, hoping to be reassuring. Something stupid like that he'd be fine, he could handle himself. Jimmy just deletes it after a minute, deciding it wouldn't do anything to stop his partner's worrying. He shoved his communicator back into his pocket and managed his way over the wall.

He kept to the outskirts of Mythland, not wanting to risk being caught. But he did beeline for one building in particular, one that had an ominous air surrounding it. The people, from what he could observe from the side, also generally seemed to be avoiding the building, and it gave Jimmy a sinking feeling in his gut. The thing was also built to kinda look like a dungeon, which seemed like a Sausage thing to do. If he was gonna have a cell of some kind he'd make it as, like…dungeony as possible.

He slowly made his way to the large wooden door, finding that his hands shook a little when he reached out to clasp the door knob. Jimmy took a deep breath, hand lingering on the doorknob still. He mentally prepared himself a little, then quietly turned the knob and opened the door.

The Codfather walked in slightly, and found himself in a dungeon just as he'd expected. It felt damp, there was a light scent of blood in the air, and it was extremely clear the room had been used fairly recently. Jimmy was pretty sure by now that he'd just hit the jackpot, and that his strange intuition had been right all along. Though that thought just made him more mad they’d held off for two days, but he could focus on that later. For now he took a few more into the room, shutting the door softly behind him. From here he could see metal bears, and what looked like a figure in it.

“ Gem? Scott? ” Jimmy hissed as quietly as he could, while still ensuring the two could hear him. The cod was also assuming those were the only people the demon had kidnapped, which he was sure of, and didn;t want to think of random citizens being in these horrible ol’ cells. He moved further into the room after a hesitant second as he did, hearing shuffling noises as he did, and the blonde found basically what he was expecting. It was still disturbing though, like really disturbing.

“Jimmy!” Gem exclaimed as loud as she dared, and Scott startled in the cell next to her. It hurt, seeing them like this, and seeing the sense of pure relief in Gem’s eyes when her gaze landed on him; probably the first friendly face she’d seen during these four long days.

“How hurt are you two?” He asked, having rushed forward to grip one of the cold metal bars. The two looked, ….relatively okay, but also not at the same time. He could tell they were injured a little, yes, and they were probably dehydrated and starving, but other than some basic and obvious observations, he wasn’t very good at telling anything else.

"He's hurt worse than me." Gem said, casting a glance over her shoulder at Scott. The elf stayed in his little cell, sat on the floor giving Jimmy a weak smile. The cod just nodded in response, forcing his mind to not think of that and focus on doing something productive.

“Is there a key anywhere?” He asked, taking a quick survey of the room. There were a few barrels and chests, and knowing their owner, they were probably filled with random junk.

“In the barrel over there,” Gem pointed to said barrel, and of course Gem knew where things were in Sausage’s empire. Of course he’d told her at one point, before the demon before everything, and now she’d been forced to live within inches of freedom for four fucking days .

The Codfather nodded again, quickly moving away and starting to rummage through the barrel that had been pointed out. It took a few seconds to find it, and Jimmy’s shaking hands certainly weren't helping, but he did eventually get a grip on the key. He thought his brain was trying to detach itself from the situation a little, because just how fucked up this all was wasn’t really sinking in yet. This also wasn't a good situation to detach from, he kinda needed to be present to keep all three of them safe.

He unlocked the cells, hands still trembling, and Gem was suddenly shoving past him to get to Scott. The elf had to lean on the wall to stand, with Gem having to half carry him out into the rest of the room.

Scott muttered something about a leg injury when the two reached Jimmy, the blonde now carrying him instead. He didn’t want an already injured Gem having to support basically all of Scott’s weight, even if Jimmy himself was still a little hurt.

Well this is just dandy. He thought a little sarcastically, watching as Gem, who seemed to be on autopilot really, ran off to another barrel and began to look through it. Three injured people against a demon possessed one.

That barrel seemed to be where the two prisoners' stuff had been stored, the wizard now taking various tools and weapons out. Scott tried to stagger forward, but Jimmy kept a tight hold on him, fairly sure he would faceplant if the elf tried to walk on his own. He also noticed how Scott flinched when anything touched his left side, and the cod kept his arm well away from there. His eyes searched over the elf again, and this time he could make out a handful of bruises of the elf; a few healing cuts as well. The injuries littered every exposed inch of skin the other had, including his face. If Jimmy looked over to Gem he could see similar wounds, just in lesser amounts.

So from what he’d gathered, both of them were just generally beat up, and probably needed a hot meal, a bath and some water as soon as possible. Scott also seemed to have something in his leg broken, as well as either very bruised sides of broken ribs; maybe even some internal bleeding. Gem probably also had some bad injuries, but knowing her she was most likely pushing through the pain for their sakes. Her left arm seemed a little stiff, and she appeared to wince when it bent a certain way.

Speaking of Gem, she’d turned back to them, magic staff in hand and wizard’s hat now atop her head once more. The Codfather hadn’t even noticed she was missing her hat before now, which he felt like he should’ve, because Gem never went anywhere without it. As he was pondering that the wizard silently handed Scott any weapons and tools he’d had when they’d been taken, and the elf looked very relieved to have the familiar weight of his bow in his hands again. His other items were shuffled away, but he kept a firm hand on said bow.

“He got the worst of it,” The wizard muttered, noticing the concerned looks Jimmy threw at Scott every few seconds. It was a little off putting, to see the other man so…so fragile. Scott had always appeared strong for as long as the cod knew him, even during the lowest points, so seeing him broken like this was upsetting to say the least. At best it made him incredibly worried, and made the blonde wonder what the hell these two had been put through, and how bad it must’ve been, to break Scott so terribly. Gem’s voice trembled as she continued, distracting Jimmy from his worries. “He started, t-to take some of it for me-”

“I’m fine Gem, really.” Scott said, wincing in pain as he did so. Jimmy didn’t know if the wince was from speaking, since that was the first time he’d talked since he’d been found, or if it was from another injury. They’d very obviously been tortured to some degree, so Jimmy’s brain naturally wondered if he’d hurt his throat from screaming; which wasn’t a fun thing to wonder about, by the way.

"It's not fine, Scott!" Gem almost snapped at him, and her eyes started to prick with the beginnings of tears. She tightened her grip on her staff, gaze shining with pain.

"She's right, it's not fine!" Jimmy hissed, wanting to break up the small squabble. Scott just glared at him, and the Codfather glared back. Normally, they would’ve had some sort of silent argument, would’ve stared each other down until one of them looked away. But Scott didn’t have the mental energy for that it seemed, and just tried to rest his head against Jimmy’s chest. The cod pursed his lips, and held Scott tighter.

“We should go!” Gem said after a second, and led them towards the door, shakily holding it open for her companions.

"We can't fly, can we?" Jimmy asked, frowning deeply. The three had managed to limp a few feet away from the dungeon now, doing so almost painfully slowly. Knowing Sausage was gone was a good thing, but he was material gathering. And that either took five minutes or five hours. Getting out quickly was Jimmy’s top priority at the moment, mainly because Sausage could be home any minute. They could get out easily without flying, his empire was just around the corner, it would just be nerve wracking is all.

“Nope. Not flying, sorry.” Scott spoke up, and Gem nodded in agreement. It was then Jimmy took a glance at Scott’s wings, and found that they no longer shone brightly as they used to. The once silky soft, white and gold feathers were now messy, muddled, and covered in drying, flaking blood. There were even a few patches where no feathers remained at all, and he held off a shudder at the thought of how painful it must’ve been. The cod looked at the elves’ antlers as well, and saw that the left had been broken in a few places, and the right one wasn’t in much better shape. The blonde’s heart ached at the sight, knowing how personal both of those things were to the elf.

“I would usually try some sort of cloaking spell, maybe teleportation, but I don't know if I have the energy for it.” She said it dejectedly, and Jimmy felt a wave of sympathy for the wizard. He knew Gme relied on her powers a lot, so presumably not being able to use them must’ve been hard on her.

“Alright,” He said, trying desperately to keep a sigh out of his tone. “Walking it is then.”

Walking, as the blonde had predicted, took longer than any of them were comfortable with. Scott was on edge the entire time, flinching at any random rustle or noise in the distance. Gem had her staff pointed out in front of her, and Jimmy was sure she would shoot anything that dared to get too close; no matter who or what it was. It only took thirty minutes, maybe forty with a slower pace, to walk from the Codlands to Mythland, (which was mainly because Sausage built so many damn things,) and a walk that length had never felt so agonizingly long before.

When they did get into safer territory Gem reluctantly put her staff down, her gaze no longer darting around like she was being hunted. Caleb, the absolute madman , the MVP, found them quickly; and it looked like he’d been patrolling every border of the empire since Jimmy had set off about two hours earlier. Every day Jimmy was more convinced the young cod was just the best person to ever exist ever .

The next thirty minutes or so was a blur, of Caleb running into the main village area to get help, of the three of them moving faster; Jimmy and Gem determined as hell to get Scott to a healer. The elf really looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion at any minute. The wizard didn’t look any better herself, but the Codfather got the sense he couldn;t convince her to do anything but fuss over Scott at the moment. At some point a light drizzle had also begun, which reflected the mood surprisingly well.

Two healers, Hemlock and Cove, rushed over once they saw the three. Jimmy, who’s still injured arm was starting to ache by now, gave the pair a grateful glance when they took Scott from him. The elf let himself be carried off without protest, blinking as rain started to fall a bit harder.

Jimmy hummed worriedly, clicking words of codlish to the two healers. Codfolk didn’t mind the rain, they enjoyed it even, but he had a feeling rain wasn’t gonna be good for Gem and Scott. He was pretty sure one of them was almost feverish, and Scott was like, permanently cold instead of warm. The blonde wasn’t entirely sure how that affected his body temperature, but he wasn’t taking any risks! He didn’t want the elf out in the weather for too long, and had told his two citizens to adjust the pace.

Cove clicked back to him, and her and Hemlock adjusted the pace best they could. Before he knew it they were in the healers shack, and the building suddenly felt far too small. Jimmy watched Scott be whisked off, and made a mental note to expand this.

A third healer ran over to help, and Jimmy could not remember their name for the life of him right now. It started with an A , or maybe a B . Something like that. All he could remember about the person was that they were in his and Caleb’s age group, and were the youngest healer the empire had.

They nodded at Jimmy, before taking Gem’s hand and starting to drag her off to another part of the building.

She seemed to have forgotten that Scott already had two experienced people tending to him, and shook her head in protest. "Heal him instead!" The wizard insisted, motioning towards where Scott had been taken too, and Jimmy quickly shut her down.

“Heal her, Cove and Hemlock have everything else covered.” He ordered the healer, before turning to Gem. “If they didn’t do it I’d heal you myself.” He hissed non-threateningly, glaring lightly at her.

The wizard just glared back, but she did begrudgingly let the young cod drag her off to another room on the small building. Jimmy had to wonder yet again exactly what they’d been subjected to, for Gem to be so focused on keeping Scott alive and nothing else. How much he’d taken for her.

After that he knew his Council had found him, and the Codfather was swarmed as soon as he’d left the shack. He didn’t know exactly why he’d left, other than wanting to give his trusted healers space and that the rain felt nice against his scales. He happily let the group of cod descend on him, and for once didn’t really care that they were chewing him out, because he so deserved it. Their worried and angry words fell on deaf ears, as his brain started to fully process just what he’d seen over the past few hours of his life. Eventually though the group had left, probably sensing this was a conversion for later, and Jimmy ended up sticking his head back into the door.

“I’m calling Fwhip,” He called into the building. The cod only turned away to do so when he heard Gem’s yell of “Okay, cool!” from the other room.

Jimmy pulled out his communicator, quickly typing a message to Fwhip. The Count was the first person that came to mind, even though Katherine would've been a better pick for healing reasons. His sister was also here as well, so maybe that was why. He should probably call more people than Fwhip, but he also doesn't need six people crowding around two injured ones and interrupting his healer's work. So immediate family only would have to do it for now.

SolidarityGaming: Found Gem and Scott in Mythland’s dungeon. They were tortured

SolidarityGaming: We’re at the Cod Empire, healers shack.

SolidarityGaming: Hurry please? Scott's injured bad and im freaking out a little.

He got his answer within seconds.

fWhip: holy shit i’ll be there in five minutes tops

True to his word, Fwhip was landing nearby in five minutes, goggles over his eyes to keep the rain out. He probably shouldn’t have flown in the middle of a storm, but neither of them were in the right mindset to really care. He just took the Count’s hand as soon as he was in reach, squeezing tight as he silently led the half dragon inside and to his sister.

The third healer had already left, presumably going to help their co workers. Gem stood, fiddling with her staff absent mindedly. She looked better than she had just a few minutes before, and had been given a fresh set of clothes. He assumed that it would take a few rounds of healing potions to get both of them back to full health. There was also a plate of untouched food on the table, and he presumed Scott had been given the same treatment in the next room over.

Fwhip let go of Jimmy’s hand quickly, and practically ran over to his sister. Gem blinked in surprise, but it quickly turned into a joyful kind of relief. Fwhip held Gem’s face in his hands as tightly as he dared, moving her hair away as he checked for injuries. “Are you okay?”

"Yeah, I'll be fine.." Gem muttered. Fwhip, who looked to be on the verge of tears, drew his sister in for a hug. She hugged him back tightly, and Jimmy slipped out of the room, sensing this moment wasn't for him to witness.

He walked over and into the other room, seeing Scott now sitting up in the bed. He’d been changed into some basic Cod empire clothes at some point, ones that were far too big for him. He was being absolutely swallowed by the shirt, sleeves hanging off his arms. It was clear holes had needed to be cut for his wings, and the collar was a little stretched; probably having been caught on the elves' antlers. Scott wasn’t one for baggy clothes normally, but seemed to be tolerating it while his normal outfit was cleaned and sewed up. Cod empire clothes could also be quite cozy, in Jimmy’s humble opinion, so he hoped that was a nice bonus for the other man.

"Hey." The elf muttered after the door was shut, looking just as tired as he had when Jimmy had found him. He sat on the bed, his lower half buried in a mess of covers and blankets. The healers had clearly tried to make the ruler as comfortable as possible, and it looked like their efforts hadn’t gone to waste. Scott seemed to be melting into the fabric a bit.

"Hi." The cod smiled back softly, hesitantly sitting down next to Scott on the bed. The other said nothing, just gave his own shaky smile in return.

Jimmy didn’t really know what to say, so he just asked the most obvious question he could think of. "You okay?" The blonde muttered, idly swinging his legs from where they hung off the edge of the bed.

Scott made a sort of amused huff. "As okay as I can be after…..after that ." He responded, fiddling with one of his rings. Jimmy blinked a bit, having forgotten that Scott often wore jewelry, and a lot of it. He didn’t know how that fact had slipped his mind, he'd never seen the elf without at least one pair of earrings on before.

"What was….. that anyways? If you wanna talk about it, that is." The Codfather asked the question hesitantly. Scott could say no if he wanted, Jimmy was pretty sure he was the last person the elf wanted to talk about his trauma with, especially because of…recent events.

Scott stayed silent for a few minutes, long enough that Jimmy figured he wouldn't say anything at all. But that man was always full of surprises, good or bad, and did eventually speak. “It was like…kinda mix of more traditional torture methods and magic.” Scott’s voice shook each more with each word, and Jimmy instinctively reached for his hand. The elf held onto it tightly as he continued speaking, like it was a lifeline.

“It was mostly magic though, which is better than being like, whipped or something.” Scott shuffled closer to him unconsciously. “I don’t think Sausage has had many… opportunities to try out his powers yet.”

“Did Xornorth not give Joey any magic?” Jimmy asked, a little curious.

Scott let out a hum in response, a noise that seemed to be comforting to himself. “He did, but I don’t think it was very much. Joey has like, this weird ugly crown thing and whatever power he did have seemed a little weak. Sausage is the one with an actual staff.” He explained.

“Was wondering why he wasn’t going around attacking people, if I’m being honest.” Jimmy responded, feeling how Scott gently thumbed his palm. He didn’t think the elf was doing it consciously, and figured it was probably done in an attempt to stay put together. As if anyone would blame him for having a breakdown after the past few days.

“I think he’s just a pawn.” Scott continued, his gaze a little far off. “He seemed a little out of the loop if I’m being honest, and never showed up without Sausage there.”

“He’s clearly smitten for my bro-- Xornorth .” Scott’s face scrunched up at the thought, and Jimmy gave a smile at that. The way the elf referred to his sibling, like he was hesitant to acknowledge that they were related, didn’t escape the cod, but he elected not to say anything about it. “I think Joey’s just being used because of that, and that Sausage is more of a protege.”

“Makes me feel bad for the guy, even if he is a massive pain in the arse all the time.” Jimmy mumbled, and Scott let out an amused snort at the last part. “He’s gonna be so heartbroken if we manage to fix all this…” The elf ran a hand through his hair, seemingly dreading that little possibility.

“Not ‘if’,” The Codfather said, giving the other a light tap on his shoulder. “ ‘When’ ” He just got a quiet, unintelligible murmur in response. It sounded skeptically, maybe even a little sarcastic, and Jimmy had half the mind to scold Scott for being so hopeless. They kinda had to have hope that they’d beat the demon, because if they didn’t what else would they have?

“Was Fwhip right? Was that actually Sausage?” He ventured, remembering that one message his partner had sent after his own encounter with the man. He didn’t think that had been Sausage personally, but Fwhip knew him better, so what could Jimmy tell. He’d only seen the man for like, five minutes anyways, and had just ended up doubting his own view on the matter as time passed.

“He acted the same, spoke the same, but it wasn’t him.” Scott said it with certainty. “I think Fwhip’s in denial, or something, because that’s clearly not him.” The elf gaze stopped being distant, and moved to Jimmy for the first time since he entered the room. “I know you two don’t get along, but he wouldn’t try to kill you, even if you really pissed him off.”

Jimmy made a click of agreement in his throat. “If he wanted to hit me over the head with an axe, I figured he woulda done it years ago.” The statement was meant to be a little humorous, the cod having forgotten that only Fwhip really knew how bad his injuries had been.

“ That’s what he did!?” Scott exclaimed, voice finally rising above something more than a soft, shaken up tone. “Jesus, no wonder Fwhip was worried about you dying ! He gave you head trauma!”

“Got a scar from it too,” Jimmy huffed, tapping a certain part of the Codfather’s head. “Right under there.” Scott made another unintelligible mutter, and they fell in a short yet comfortable, maybe even slightly settled, bout of silence.

“How often was Joey there?” He asked, remembering how earlier Scott had said that he hadn’t shown up much.

“Like once a day, maybe two maximum.” The other responded. “I think a part of Sausage couldn’t hurt Gem, so Joey did most of that. Until-” “Until you started taking most of it for her?” Jimmy butted in, allowing his voice to be a little sharp. Scott simply nodded in response.

“Why’d you do that anyways?” The Codfather asked, making his tone soften. He had a few guesses as to why, and he didn’t like any of them. Said guesses basically all involved Scott thinking he deserved it more than Gem, or some stupid train of thought like that. It was probably true to some degree, even if Jimmy was desperately hoping it wasn’t. He was fully prepared to beat those thoughts out of Scott’s head with a metaphorical broom if he had to.

“….Cause everything’s my fault.” Scott whispered. “If I had said something about the demon none of this would’ve happened-”

“It’s not your fault Sausage is stupid and power hungry.” Jimmy cut him off a little too fiercely. Scott just huffed indignantly, shuffling further away from the cod. It was clear this was a conversion the elf did not want to have right now, and Jimmy just shut his mouth. That man always had to be stubborn when it came to things like this, didn’t he? Another silence lapsed between them, this time more stiff and unfriendly. Their fingers were still laced together, so he could tell Scott wasn’t too peeved at him.

“I preferred Joey though, just a little bit.” Scott slowly went back to their earlier topic, his grip on the blonde’s hand tightened. “Sausage like to be… affectionate? I don’t know how to describe it. He just did things like hold my face, coo at me, generally act really gentle before hitting me with a spell.” At hearing that, Jimmy finally reached over and pulled the elf into a hug. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done so sooner, really, after being so scared of losing him. Of losing both of them.

He felt Scott tense a little, Jimmy taking care to avoid the now bandaged wings. Eventually, Scott’s arms wrapped around him in return, and he let the other melt into him; head carefully buried against the cod’s chest. Jimmy didn’t even bat an eye when his shirt began to grow damp, perfectly content to sit like that for however long Scott needed.

“He didn’t do anything else , if you’re worried.” Scott muttered into his chest. “Just….was really physically affectionate.”

“Still wasn’t okay.” Jimmy muttered, clutching the other a little tighter than he had before.

“I know…” Scott responded, and began to slowly pull back a bit. He was awkward about it, like he wasn’t sure if it was okay for him to hug the Codfather. Even though he clearly needed a hug, or something like that.

There was a soft, distinctive knock on the door when Scott had first started to move away. Jimmy wasn’t very surprised when Fwhip was opening the door a moment later, his gaze almost immediately zeroing in on the tears still lining Scott’s face.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” The Count said lightly, closing the door gently behind him.

“Nah, your good man.” Jimmy responded. Scott just offered a small wave of greeting, the other hand going to wipe his eyes. Fwhip’s tail just flicked in response, before he walked over to stand in front of Jimmy.

He grabbed the cod’s face, probably a little rough than intended, and held his partners cheeks in clawed hands. “Don’t you ever do something that stupid again !” He growled, though the noise came from a place of concern rather than irritation.

“Sorry…” Jimmy muttered, leaning into the touch a little. He felt Scott’s gaze move away from them a little awkwardly, probably going to stare at the wall again or something. Fwhip closed his eyes, lightly resting their foreheads together and his tail winding around the Codfather’s legs. “Seriously…stop making me think I’m gonna lose you buddy” The Count muttered quietly.

In response Jimmy frowned, and maneuvered to press a small kiss to Fwhip’s gloved hand. The half dragon said nothing, clearly thinking it would be better to continue that discussion later. Instead he let go of the cod’s face, and fixed his gaze on the blue haired elf sitting mere inches away.

“And you,” Fwhip’s words startled Scott out of his own head, the elf jumping in surprise. “C’mere!” Fwhip moved away from Jimmy until he could give Scott a hug of his own, leaning uncomfortably over the side of the bed. The elf seemed a little puzzled, but hugged the Count back as well when it became clear he wasn’t letting go anytime soon,

“Didn’t think you still cared that much.’ Scott murmured, punctuating it with a dry and humorless laugh. Fwhip pulled away at that, gripping the elf’s shoulder. His gaze switched back to serious in an instant, and Scott seemed to shrink under the look he was given.

“I wanted to punch you , I didn’t want you dead, Scott!” He hissed, and the elf just moved his gaze to the bedsheets. They were gonna have to do a lot of work with Scott’s self worth issues, weren’t they?

“Where’s Gem?” The blonde asked after a moment, having thought Fwhip would stay close to her.

“Said she was gonna help fix up her and Scott’s clothes. Probably with magic or something.” Fwhip grunted. He was clearly still annoyed at the elf in front of him, indicating by how his tail moved against the floor, but both he and Jimmy had decided to leave it be for now. Now wasn’t the best time to try and convince Scott he wasn’t the worst person ever, when his brain had just been given plenty of fresh experiences to back it up.

As if one cue Gem walked into the room, forgetting to knock and just throwing open the door. She was in her regular outfit again, somewhat used codlands clothing draped over her arm. The wizard had Scott’s normal attire as well, and even from here Jimmy could tell the fabric had been fixed magically. It was a distinct lack of stitches, the cloth looking as if it had just mended itself back together, like bones did.

Gem threw the items in her hand down on the bed, before basically throwing herself at Scott. The elf blinked in surprise again, clearly not expecting to be getting so much love today. “I’m just getting all the hugs, huh?” He muttered, smiling as he returned the wizard's embrace.

“Because you're stupid !” Gem half laughed, half choked out. She went to grip the elf’s shoulder, mirroring her twin, and gently throttled him about for a minute. “You are the stupidest person in the room right now! And Jimmy is literally right there!”

“Hey!” The cod giggled, giving her a lighthearted glare. Gem just smiled cheekily at him. Fwhip just huffed and patted his partner's arm in playful sympathy.

Scott laughed at that, it was a good laugh too. It was the most joyful sound he’d made all day, and Jimmy was glad he could still be so happy after everything he’d just endured over the past four days.

A few hours after that they left Scott to sleep and hopefully eat a little, because he was clearly still exhausted. He’d offered a room for Gem and Fwhip to stay in, not feeling comfortable with the former being discharged so quickly. Usually Gem would be antsy to return home, but the cod was pretty sure her concern for Scott was overriding that. Fwhip didn’t even have to force her to accept the offer, and the two disappeared into their own room soon after.

Jimmy didn’t want to call it a night, he really didn’t. But he was tired, and the sun was starting to set. He had more things he wanted to talk about with the elf, some personal, some the whole group of them needed to hear, but he supposed that he could wait to do that.

For the second day in a row, Jimmy promised to do something in the morning.

#i shat out most of this today dfgh #ron.fic #explosions acorss lifetimes #jimmy solidarity #empiresblr #fwhimmy #fwhip #empiresshipping #count fwhip #the codfather #empires jimmy #empires fwhip #i think its funny that no one ever talked abt the kidnappings in canon after they happened. like excuse me lmao #literally speed posted this dfgh

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whatswrongwithblue · 1 month

Text

The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 21 - Hello Abaddon

Word count: 5,350. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter.

Summary: While Charlie and Alastor go to Cannibal Town and Vaggie goes to Carmilla, Mina has her own recruiting to do.

Series summary

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 21 - Hello Abaddon

Present Day

Alastor stood alone in his bayou, looking up at the soft green evening sky above.

His stance was casual, with his jacket undone and pulled behind him, and his hands resting in his pockets. His bowtie and monocle had been discarded; his cane placed against a dresser in the other half of the room. The tall ears that adorned his head tilted to the side, soft and relaxed, as he watched the fireflies dance through the tree leaves above.

This pocket dimension was decent. Wider at the entrance but shallower in depth than the one he had made for Mina in their old home. Still, the allusion was there, making it appear as if it was a deep, never-ending landscape of swamp and forest.

His heart clenched a little at the memory of the world he had created for Mina on their honeymoon. They had kept it there in their room for decades afterwards, their own little private oasis that could be altered on a whim, though it was always the ocean.

It must have been lost when he left. Alastor hadn’t had the guts to ask Mina about it directly, still uncomfortable with facing the pain and anguish he had caused her head on. But he imagined that without him there, the magic that held everything together in their old home would have slowly disappeared. Mina must have been forced to watch their old life rot away, helpless and alone, even as she was stuck processing the loss of him.

Alastor closed his eyes, inhaling deeply the scent of Cypress trees and Spanish moss, letting it overpower his senses and calm the dreadful thoughts that were fighting to surface.

Things were coming together quite nicely these days, he had to focus on that. He was back home; he had his status, his wife, his power, and now . . . he had a plan.

His shadow stretched out behind him and then pulled away, leaving the swamp and crossing the bedroom of its own accord. It slid up the wall by the door, hands raised with anticipation as it froze, waiting.

Voices came down the hallway. Alastor’s ears twitched and rotated, trying to pick out words, but could only make out identities.

Mina, Angel Dust, and Niffty. Laughing; drunken giggles and half-whispered words that resulted in more laughter.

Alastor’s smile turned up at one corner, enjoying the sound of it. These people, this place, it wasn’t half bad. It was nice, being around such genuine happiness for a change. There was a part of him that really hoped that when all was said and done, the lives of these people here would remain intact. If it could be helped.

The laughter died down and he made out the words of ‘good night’ and ‘see you in the morning.’ Bedroom doors opened and shut and a few moments later, his own opened.

He looked over his shoulder as Mina entered their room, appreciating the surprised smile on her face when she caught sight of him.

Her face was flushed from giddiness and probably a fair bit of alcohol but it lit up even further as she hurried across the room, practically throwing herself in his arms.

Mina kissed him, a hard but sweet press of her lips to his, and then pulled away, purring and nuzzling his neck with her face as he removed his hands from his pockets in order to return her embrace, holding her body close to his.

This reunion after being apart less than 24 hours was full of more kindness and open relief and love than the one they had shared months ago when he had first returned. It spoke of the healing power of time and how much being able to communicate with Mina, even a tiny bit, had made all the difference.

“We missed you tonight,” she said, her words muffled as she spoke them into the collar of his shirt. “What are you doing in here, all alone?”

“Thinking,” he replied with a lighthearted tone, covering up the severity of the subjects his mind had been focused on. “Charlie and Vaggie are back from their Heavenly trip.”

Mina’s eyebrows shot up, suddenly seeming a bit more sober.

“That soon? That can’t be good.”

“No, not good at all, at least not for Charlie. But we may find ourselves at a bit of an advantage now.”

There was so much trust in her eyes when she looked at him now. A stark contrast to before, when all he saw there was hurt and betrayal, and he had nearly let it drive them apart for good. She set his body on fire when she looked at him that way; the only person he had ever known who could set those chemicals alight in his mind and make him want, desire, need, the way he needed her. This love he felt for her had been nothing but a source of regret and shame for him the last seven years, something he had forced to the back of his thoughts, desperate to be away from the pain of it all. And it was time for that all to end. Now it was time for him to really show her, to prove to her, that he wanted her to be included in this and he was holding nothing back, except that which he was forced to.

“Tell me everything,” she said, repeating the phrase she had spoken to him the day he had arrived back in Hell.

He hadn’t been able to tell her a damn thing that day. But that night, he could not only inform her of his next step, he got to ask her to be a part of it.

___

Everyone, save Alastor, Charlie, and Vaggie, had a hangover the next morning. Mina was the only sufferer of the affliction lucky enough to have someone to look after her and she greatly appreciated the coffee, water, and aspirin Alastor brought her first thing after she woke.

She could feel the first hints of a fresh heat cycle beginning to burn her from inside out; the last one of the spring and late this year. It was coming on slowly though and the lovely, steamy shower she and Alastor took together improved the state of her body. There was too much to do that day to keep indulging herself, so she did her best to delay the rising tide within her and kept her problem to herself.

It wasn’t until mid-morning that the others finally began to stir and make their way down to the hotel lobby to learn about the events, and the consequences, of the meeting in Heaven. The delay gave Mina and Alastor more time to discuss their strategy . . . and enjoy some quality alone time.

Once down in the lobby and surrounded by others, Mina couldn’t help eyeing Vaggie. She knew that girl had been hiding something. Vaggie had been so closed off and secretive about her past and was just so set on being decent and good, far more offended by things that were just plain common in Hell than anyone else. Even Charlie, for all her peppiness and positivity, didn’t hardly blink an eye at some of the things Vaggie would get worked up about.

A fallen angel. It was just so obvious now that Mina was looking for it and she was disappointed in herself for not figuring it out on her own. Vaggie was a different breed of angel than the other fallen ones Mina knew, but still, if anyone could have seen it, it should have been her.

“It’s curious, Vaggie. You worked for Adam for how long? What did you do that got you kicked out?” she asked, genuinely interested.

Vaggie looked away and down, openly ashamed.

“I wouldn’t kill a child,” she said, crossing her arms.

It wasn’t shame for what she had done that was showing in her eyes. It was shame for having worked for the exterminators to begin with. Mina recognized self-disgust and hatred when she saw it, had known Vaggie struggled with those emotions, but now she knew the direct cause of it. It wasn’t being in Hell, it wasn’t even being an angel, it was what she had done to Sinners that hurt her the most.

That was good. Mina could work with that.

“Ah, yeah, those exterminators really don’t show prejudice when it comes to Sinners. The easier the target, the better.”

Vaggie shot her a look, defensiveness and indignation written across her features.

“I didn’t even know children got sent to Hell! My lieutenant wanted me to kill that kid and I couldn’t even process that Heaven would let him be in Hell in the first place. He was . . . so young.”

“Fucked up, isn’t it?” Mina said softly, meeting her gaze. “How blurry the lines for good and evil can get when you really try to separate the two.”

“Yeah,” Vaggie said, visibly relaxing a little as the two women shared a look.

“Tell me about it,” Angel said, slumping deeper into his spot on the sofa. “Like I did fucked up stuff while I was alive, sure. But it was either just to survive or protect my family. And then I get sent here for all that?! And here,” he said with a bitter laugh, “I just have to do even worse things. What’s the fucking point of it all?”

Mina glanced over at Alastor and their eyes met. She could see in that quick second that she was on the right track. He needed the people here riled up and feeling the unfairness of their situation more than ever. And they trusted her a fair amount more than they trusted him, so it was easier for her to fuel the flames of their tumultuous emotions.

“So, like, where are your wings?” Niffty asked, using the back of the couch as leverage to physically accost Vaggie.

Angel and Niffty teased her about both her lack of wings and tits until Husk chimed in, bringing the conversation back around to something more serious.

“How come every time Charlie talks to Heaven, we get in deeper and deeper shit?” he asked, leaning forward and raising a skeptical brow at her.

“It’s not her fault,” Vaggie defended, “Angel’s are just-“

“Liars?” Angel offered.

“Hypocrites?” Mina added, and the two continued.

“Phonies?”

“Deceptive?”

“Cheats?”

“Genocidal?”

“-with a fucking depressing fashion sense?”

“Difficult,” Vaggie deadpanned, cutting off their running joke. “But Charlie’s trying her best.”

Husk stood up, grumpy and still hung over.

“Yeah, well, her best is turning out real well so far,” he said sarcastically before he left for his bar across the room.

“And where is miss fearless leader anyway?” Angel asked. “Isn’t it about time for another ‘doomed-to-fail’ plan?”

“She’s upstairs,” Vaggie answered, “coming up with something, I’m sure . . . in our room . . . alone.”

Alastor glanced up at the ceiling and turned his mischievous smile on Mina, who nodded in understanding, before he evaporated into shadow.

Taking that as her signal, Mina waited until Vaggie looked over at her again, before she shook her head, putting on the most disappointed look she could muster, and walked away, acting like she was headed for the kitchen.

Vaggie bit her hook like the bait it was and followed her along like a fish on a line.

“Wait,” she said, putting a hand on Mina’s arm, “can I talk to you?”

Mina sighed and turned around, looking down at the shorter woman.

“Sure, I suppose.”

“It’s just that . . . I’ve fucked up. Big time. I hurt Charlie and I never meant to.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with me,” Mina answered, folding her arms.

Vaggie cast her eyes down, looking at her own feet, rather than up at Mina.

“How did you forgive Alastor? I mean, he’s kept this huge secret from you, all this time, and you still don’t seem to know why he left. What did he do to get you to forgive him? Because I’d do anything to get Charlie to talk to me right now.”

Mina softened her stance, uncrossing her arms and letting her shoulders sag.

“I came to realize that sometimes people don’t have a choice in the secrets they keep,” she answered honestly and the other woman looked up at her hopefully. “She’ll get that, too. Eventually. But it’ll take time.”

“I should have told her sooner,” Vaggie admitted.

“Well, yeah, I won’t defend your actions there. Charlie gets to be angry at you for that.”

Vaggie put her arms around herself as if to shield herself from the guilt.

“Are you still angry at Alastor?”

Mina frowned, considering her question.

“Sometimes,” she answered after a moment. “It still hurts. I don’t think it ever wont. He could have handled things differently, tried harder to talk to me or give me some kind of warning. But he’s done nothing but try and improve and make up for it since his return. Forgiveness doesn’t mean not being hurt anymore, but it does mean we still love each other.”

This was supposed to be a moment of manipulation on Mina’s part. Gain Vaggie’s trust and keep her preoccupied while Alastor was upstairs making his deal with Charlie. But, while that was still very much her intention, Mina found herself being uncharacteristically open and honest with Vaggie.

Mina actually cared about Charlie. She still found her annoying at times but more often than not, she found herself feeling a strange short of pride in the woman who was technically older than her but seemed much younger most of the time. And she could tell that in his own way, Alastor was starting to feel the same way. Redemption was a pipe dream. Heaven would never allow it. But they both were beginning to see Charlie’s potential for real leadership. He clearly had ulterior motives, even ones Mina still wasn’t sure about, but she could see it in him often these days . . . he liked Charlie and for honest reasons or not, wanted her to do well for herself.

Mina was finding it harder and harder to not feel for Charlie every time one of the girl’s plans blew up in her face. At times, Mina saw so much of her younger sister in Charlie; in her broken dreams, in her kindness, and determination to do the right thing. The biggest difference being Charlie knew a lot of the awful things Mina had done and didn’t push her away because of it.

If the princess was a key to helping Alastor find loopholes in his deal, that was all the more reason for the two of them to support Charlie as much as they could. And knowing she was upstairs, feeling defeated and broken hearted, made Mina genuinely ache for the girl. She knew those feelings all too well. But she also knew that what Charlie and Vaggie had was damn near unbreakable and that this little fissure between them would be mended soon.

“Just give her time,” Mina said, putting her hands on Vaggie’s shoulders. It wasn’t quite a hug, she didn’t think Vaggie would accept one from her yet, but the half embrace was still encouraging. “She loves you. And if anyone can forgive, it’s Charlie.”

Vaggie had begun to smile then, looking at Mina with a warmness that was almost akin to friendship, when the ceiling above them began to crackle with green and voodoo symbols lit up the entire building.

Alastor’s plan had worked and Charlie had accepted his deal. Now it was time for Mina to lie, right through her teeth, as she followed Vaggie up the stairs, having to run to keep up with her.

Vaggie opened the double doors and they flew open against the wind, nearly knocking into Mina as she pulled up to a stop behind her.

The force of the power being emitted from the room was shocking. She had seen Alastor make deals in the past but never seen this much magic released as a result. And this was just a simple deal; a favor for a favor, rather than for a soul. Charlie must truly be an impressive reservoir of strength; it was almost a shame for even a little bit of it to be bound up in a deal.

“Right on cue,” Alastor said, still holding onto Charlie’s hand, as he looked at the two women who had just barged in.

“What did you do?! Let her go!” Vaggie yelled, wielding her spear.

Mina didn’t have to get between them because Charlie beat her to it.

“Vaggie stop!” Charlie yelled and Vaggie dropped her spear in shock.

“No, Charlie, please tell me you didn’t-“

“I made a deal with Alastor,” Charlie admitted, as Alastor walked around her.

“No shit,” Mina said, forcing her face into a scowl and crossing her arms. “Why?” she pointed her question at Alastor, doing her best to look disapproving and skeptical.

“Oh, calm down, she still owns her soul,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand and made a show of directing Mina out of the room, giving Charlie and Vaggie a moment between the two of them.

They left the door open, so that they could overhear the heated debate happening inside, while also pretending to orchestrate one of their own.

“I can’t believe you!” Mina said angrily as they walked down the hallway, loud enough for the two women to be able to hear her. “Actually, you know what, I can. This is just like you. Are you going to tell me what this is all about or are you going to leave me in the dark again?!”

Alastor stopped them several feet down the hallway and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Quite the performance,” he said in a low tone, quiet enough that his words wouldn’t be overheard, except for possibly the irritated tone in his voice. “Very believable.”

“What? Was it too much?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“No, no, not at all,” he replied, “just hit a bit close to home, I suppose.”

“This was your idea,” she huffed, still whispering. “If you gave me inspiration to work with beforehand, that’s your own fault.”

“So, it’s fortuitous that I’ve been a secretive bastard to you lately?” he teased.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she replied.

“Now why would I do that?” he asked with an impish grin and leaned over her to press a kiss between her ears.

The voices from the bedroom were less raised now, though they still sounded tense.

Alastor sighed against her before standing up straighter and looking towards the open doorway.

“The show must go on,” he said and whisked them via shadow back into the room.

Mina did her best to look subdued but still irritated as the conversation between the four of them continued.

“Are you with us?” Charlie asked Vaggie, who slumped her shoulders, defeated, and reluctantly followed them out of the room.

Mina made a point of hanging back and walking with Vaggie as they followed Charlie and Alastor’s lead.

The shorter woman looked at her skeptically, almost angry, as if she blamed Mina as much as she blamed Alastor.

“You know, I used to wonder how you had been married to him for so long, but now I get it. He’s a master manipulator and I feel like I’m the only one who sees it.”

Mina folded her arms, not having to pretend to be defensive.

“Well I never accepted a deal from him. It’s not like he forced Charlie, you know.”

“So you’re not mad at him?” Vaggie retorted, “because you seemed pretty pissed at him just now.”

Mina threw up her hands in exasperation.

“He told me everything, he just did it after the fact. That’s what I’m angry about. The deal with Charlie though, it’s not a bad thing.”

“Wait, hold on,” Vaggie said, stopping her and letting Charlie and Alastor head even further down the hallway and leave them behind. “You’re the one who told me to be careful making another deal with him. You’re the one who said there’s always more to them than he lets on. And you just said you had never made a deal with him yourself and you’re his wife. If you don’t trust him enough to make a deal with him then why should Charlie have?”

“You know what, I take it back,” Mina said. “I did make a deal with him once.” She raised up her ring finger in a similar display as one did when flipping someone off, showing off her wedding band. “I married him. You think that wasn’t a binding deal? I may not like the way he operates sometimes, I’m not going to pretend otherwise just for the sake of this argument, but I still trust him to have my best interest at heart. And yes, he might use Charlie to gain some advantage for himself later on, but he won’t hurt her. He’s not a monster, Vaggie.”

“He’s a demon!”

“Well so am I!” she spat and Vaggie stepped back as if slapped. Mina took a breath and lowered her voice, but she was still upset when she continued. “And so is everyone else here besides you. Even Charlie. Who is an adult and can make her own decisions. If you want her forgiveness, why don’t you try supporting those decisions instead of judging her for them?”

Mina marched away from her then, satisfied the conversation had its intended effect, before she left the hotel.

Alastor was taking Charlie to Cannibal Town and the plan was for Vaggie to go find Carmilla.

But Mina had her own destination in mind, a place where she was certain she could find her own recruits for the battle ahead.

____

Mina stepped out of the cab, looking down at her old home.

She had lived in The Pit for so long before she had moved in with Alastor and had continued to work there well into the 21st Century. It had been less than 20 years since she had quit her job as a Torturer, so when she had moved back in 7 years ago, it had almost been like coming back to a childhood home.

When she had returned to being under Abaddon’s wings, she had been grateful for the comfort of the place. After what had happened to the radio tower after Alastor left, she couldn’t bear to be there anymore. Feeling discarded, lost, forgotten . . . angry; she had needed this place to help her bring back some semblance of sanity to her life.

As she walked down the steps that were carved into the outer walls, Mina heard the familiar sounds of distant screams. Some from the Torture wracks and some from the lake of fire. The wailing was a constant here, there was always someone being made to pay their debt. It was part of the ambience of the place; there was a sense of power to those who could be there to witness the torment and yet be untouched by it.

Mina thought about going straight to Abaddon’s house, a large black mansion that sat near the opposite end of the lake from her apartment, with its own private dock that led right into the eternal flames of the black water.

Instead, she found herself on the sandy beach. Abaddon likely wouldn’t be home yet and she had the rest of the day to kill.

She missed this place; not having returned since her dismal a few months back. Kicking off her shoes, she sat down, getting comfortable as she stretched her legs out and dug her bare feet into the warm black sand. She put her arms out behind her, supporting her weight on her palms, as she let her head lull back and closed her eyes. Thousands of evenings had been spent right where she sat, drinking and laughing with this strange found family of hers, but on that day, she was alone.

It took over an hour for Abaddon to appear and when they did, their shadow fell over Mina and she knew it was them without having to look up.

“If you’ve come to ask me for my help during the battle, my answer is unfortunately no.”

Their voice was soft and quiet but firm as they stood over her.

“Why did you send me to the hotel?” she asked, ignoring their statement.

Abaddon took their seat in the sand next to her, mirroring her body language, with their legs stretched out and crossed in front of them.

“For Charlie,” they said, still looking out at the lake rather than at her.

“Charlie?” Mina said, surprised.

“I knew you wouldn’t agree to go just to help her out, so I put the thought in your head of somehow getting closer to Alastor. But Charlie needed someone to look after her, protect her, someone I could trust to at the very least not hurt her. She won’t listen to her family when it comes to her plans. But I knew she’d grow on you and hoped you would eventually be able to talk some sense into her.”

“There was never any hope of me finding Alastor, then, was there?” she prodded further.

“No, I don’t think there was,” Abaddon admitted. “At least not until he was able to return . . . or allowed to return.”

Mina turned to them, folding her legs under her so she could better face them.

“What do you know about his deal?”

Abaddon sighed and ran a hand down their face, looking sad. Tired.

“Probably less than you do at this point. Enough to know it’s no good.”

“Lucifer knows about it; it even sounds like he’s a part of it. So how come you don’t know more?” she challenged.

“I am not involved because I choose not to be and I wish you would do the same.”

“Not a chance. Not when there’s still so much I don’t know and so much worth fighting for.”

“Alastor is not worth fighting for.”

“Yes, he is,” she shot back, “and so is Charlie.”

She surprised even herself when she said that last bit. Abaddon looked at her for a moment, clearly as shocked at her statement as she was, but then their expression settled on something almost akin to pride.

“Those two are very different people,” they said with a small smile.

“Yeah, well,” Mina said, struggling to find the words. “I don’t care about a lot of people and most people don’t care for me in return. They do.”

“You have all that and more here. And you would be safe.”

“And what about Charlie?”

“She will learn the hard way what I sent you there to teach her the easy way. You can’t win a fight against Heaven. They won't touch her, but she’ll have to watch everyone around her be killed. That’s what awaits you if you stay there. Is this fight, and Alastor, and your new friends there really worth losing everything else over?”

“I won’t die if you fight alongside us.”

Abaddon stood up, dusting the sand off their trousers as they did so, and sighed loudly.

“I know you love Alastor, and I do see that he cares for you in return, in his own limited way. I also love my brother and his family. I really do, and frankly it’s a far greater and deeper love than you have ever experienced. That is why I fought by his side and that is why I fell with him. But I can tell you, it wasn’t worth it. And I’m tired of watching my family die around me, unable to learn from my mistakes. So don’t ask that of me again. I won’t join a losing battle and I won’t participate in something that is just going to get more people I love killed.”

Mina stood as well, coming as face to face with Abaddon as their height difference would allow. They had a slighter frame than their brother, but they were much taller than Lucifer.

“I want my job back.”

“Kind of an odd time to be asking for that, don’t you think?”

“If I can wield angelic fire, I’ll stand a chance. I don’t know if we can really win the fight, and I know that even if we do, it won’t be the last stand against Heaven and the exterminations, but I know I can at least survive and protect the people I care about better if I have that power. And . . .” she sighed, feeling like she was admitting some kind of defeat, and then pushed herself forward to finish her plea. “I just want my job back. I was good at it. I liked it. And if I don’t have to hide it from the hotel then I won’t be as distracted this time around.”

“I think Charlie will understand your job more than you initially thought. She is my niece after all, she knows what I do here. But Alastor? Will he approve?”

“I already talked to him about it last night,” she said, and Abaddon rose their eyebrows in surprise. “He doesn’t approve but he’s not going to stand in my way, either.”

“If you say so,” Abaddon said with a shrug and a huff, then crossed their arms. “Fine. I guess I did miss you.”

They gave her a lopsided smile and when she returned it with her own, their smile grew into a full blown toothy grin and they pulled her in for a hug.

Mina melted into the embrace, having missed the comforting safety and familial adoration from her guardian all these months. She’d had Alastor, but she needed this as well; this parental/daughter bond they’d formed over the last century.

“Would it be pushing it if I asked you to give Alastor a break?” she said, still held tightly in the angel’s arms. “He’s hurting too, you know.”

“And it’s a pain of his own creation,” Abaddon replied, and gently pulled away from the hug but didn’t take their hands from her arms, keeping her just at elbows’ length. “I know you think I hate him. I know he thinks I hate him. But I really don’t. I just do not think he’s good for you. He loves you, sure, but he’s a walking parade of red flags.”

Mina rolled her eyes, having heard all this before.

“You’re wrong about him. He’s had a lot of his choices made for him lately but one thing he did choose was me.”

Abaddon looked at her sadly. “I hope for your sake that you’re right but you know I’ll be here either way.”

They leaned over her and pressed their lips to her forehead, letting it linger there as a tingly warmth filled her body. She felt the pulsing glow come alive beneath her skin, beating within her veins in time with her heart, and recognized the feeling of power returning to her cells.

Fire.

Forget steel weapons, she could burn any exterminators alive now. Though she looked forward to wielding both.

“Thank you,” she whispered as Abaddon pulled away.

“Just . . . don’t get killed, okay?” they said.

Mina nodded. Behind Abaddon, a portal opened and they turned and started walking towards it.

“Oh, one more thing,” they paused, their index finger pressed thoughtfully to their lips. “Do me a favor and just ask Alastor . . . if he regrets his deal.”

“He can’t even tell me what it is or when he made it. For all I know, he could have made it while he was still alive,” Mina defended but Abaddon shook their head.

“Yeah, but I bet he can tell you how he feels about it. Ask him, I dare you.”

They winked at her and then stepped through the portal, ending their conversation.

Next Chapter ->

@inuhalfdemon @saccharine-nectarine @whoknowswhoiamtoday @redvexillum

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor fanfiction #alastor the radio demon #alastor x oc #alastor #the radio demon #radio demon #alastor x reader #the fire in the sin

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queen-of-deans-booty · 1 year

Text

Devil May Care: Final Part

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.6k

Warnings: canon angst and violence

Summary: Castiel is missing after you told him to go to the Bunker after the angels fell. However, that is put on hold when Abaddon calls with two hostages that you now need to save.

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated.

You're about to do some serious damage when the diner in front of you lights up in white light. The angel inside Sam must have come out to play. Abaddon looks over at the diner in shock, loosening her grip on you.

"An angel?!"

"What, did you really think we'd come here without some backup?"

You look behind her and see a store window with some old mannequins. There are some clothes on metal hangers, and your hands light up blue just as your magic circles around the hanger. It wiggles itself free from the clothes before smashing through the glass window. The pointy side flies through the air at a great speed, and it impales Abaddon in the back.

You move your head back when the hanger comes out the other side, just inches from your neck. She gasps and staggers, and you take this opportunity to escape. You blast her back into the same store where the hanger came from. She lands in the store in a cloud of dust, and you rotate your shoulders to get the blood flowing again.

You get up and run over to the store only to see Abaddon gone and a bloody hanger in her place. Forgetting about her, you rush into the diner to see Dean and Sam standing around the demons' dead bodies along with Irv's. Sam has blue eyes, so you know it's the angel possessing him that's out right now.

"What the hell happened here?" you ask as Ezekiel pulls out the demon knife from one of the demons' chests.

"They were going to kill him, Y/N. I was protecting his brother. I thought that was what you two wanted."

"Yeah," you sigh. This is getting too heavy for you. Sam should know who is inside his body, but Dean has different views. "Is Sam okay?"

"He was knocked unconscious. In a way he still is. Sam will not remember any of this."

"So, what the hell are we supposed to tell him when he comes to?" Dean asks.

"That's why I used the knife," Ezekiel says, handing the demon knife over to Dean. "You might come up with a better excuse."

"Smart."

"You are troubled, still."

"Yeah, it's just that this is on me. I was the one who talked Sam out of boarding up Hell. Okay? So, every demon deal and every kill that they make, you're looking at the person who let it happen."

You roll your eyes and turn your back to Dean so he doesn't see how sick and tired you are of him using that excuse.

"You were protecting your brother. I am in Sam's head. Everything he knows, I know. I know that what you did, you did out of love."

"Look, Zeke--I'm gonna call you Zeke--if any of this goes sideways, that's on me too."

"Shut up with the 'it's my fault' shit. It's not your fault. Stop fucking acting like it. God damn," you snap. "Sam is his own person. He chose to listen to you. He could have gone through with it, but he didn't, so it's on all of us, not just you."

Dean is stunned into silence as your words weigh heavily on his shoulders.

"This is nuts," he finally says. "You're Sam but you're not Sam. If I can't talk to Y/N about it, then I'm usually talking to him. I'm trusting you, Zeke. I just gotta hope that you're one of the good guys."

"I am, but I suppose that is what a bad guy would say." He pauses before speaking again. "Dean Winchester, you are doing the right thing."

Ezekiel falls back into Sam's mind, and when your brother-in-law comes out, he falls on the ground since he is knocked out. Now that the dust has settled, you turn to Dean hoping he has moved on from what you said.

"Where is Tracy? I sent her your way."

"After I heard you were with Abaddon, I sent her to get the car. I would have gone with her, but we were swamped in here."

"Right, we should get our things. We're not needed here anymore. Abaddon says she wants Crowley, by the way. If we don't give him to her, she could pull another stunt like this."

"Yeah," Dean whispers.

Sam is out for another three minutes before he wakes up on his own. He freaks out from the loss of time, but when he sees you and Dean just fine, he calms down.

"What the hell happened?" Sam groans in pain.

"You took a shot to the head, and I came in and saved your ass, like usual," Dean lies smoothly. "Y/N was with Abaddon."

You look away in sadness because you hate lying to Sam like this. There has to be a better way for Sam to heal AND have him know what's going on.

"You killed three demons? Alone?"

"I took them by surprise. It got a little messy, and I got a little lucky." Dean helps Sam to his feet. "Oh, and I'm awesome, so there's that."

"Jeez. You are pretty damn awesome," Sam chuckles.

The sound of the Impala pulls outside the diner, and you're glad to get the hell out of this place. Dean finishes zipping his bag up, and the three of you walk outside to see Tracy leave the front seat.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Sam asks when he sees her.

"Yeah, you?"

"More or less."

"I got everything you asked for, but I guess I'm late for the party," she tosses the keys to Dean and gets into the backseat.

"Lucky you. Let's blow this toxic waste dump. Burgers and Silkwood showers on me," Dean declares before shoving his bags into the trunk.

All you need is to see your kids, and everything will be right in the world. Much like you anticipated, they were waiting for you as soon as you walked into the door.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Joanna says and runs over to you.

"My princess!" Dean grins and scoops Mary into his arms.

"I'm your princess," Joanna pouts when you pick her up.

"You're both my princesses," Dean kisses Mary's head. Kevin is nowhere to be found, and you grow a little worried for him. "Kevin?"

With no answer, Dean sets Mary down and both he and Sam rush downstairs to the dungeon where Crowley is. Everyone knows how Kevin feels about the demon, so it wouldn't surprise you if he killed him. Sam and Dean are relieved to see Crowley still locked up, but he is covered in bruises and cuts, no doubt from Kevin.

"Who worked you over?" Dean asks and leans against the doorframe.

"Martin Hayward and Brandon Favors," Crowley sighs.

"They did this to you?"

"No. They're demons. You asked for names, I'm giving you names. They're underperformers. You'll do me a favor by killing them."

"Wow, you break easily," Dean scoffs.

"Please. Your little plan to have me stew in my own delicious juices is pathetic. You want intel. I want things, too. Maybe we can come to some kind of arrangement. Quid pro quo, gentlemen."

"So, these are freebies?" Sam asks.

"Not at all. You can consider them fair trade for the enjoyment that Kevin gave me. He's my new favorite toy," Crowley smirks.

"You check the names, I'll go find the kid," Dean says to his brother.

Both he and Sam lock Crowley back up in the dark, and they go their separate ways. Dean makes it to the war room where he finds you and Kevin. Kevin has a backpack on like he's leaving, and you're without the kids, trying to convince him to stay.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"You can't keep me locked in here. I'm leaving."

"Kevin, please don't leave," you beg.

"Like hell you are! Man, we told you not to talk to Crowley, okay? He messes with your head."

"He said my mom's alive. Crowley said if I let him go, he'd give her back to me."

"He's lying, and if he somehow isn't, then she's dead. In every way that matters, she is dead. I know you're dying to bolt, man. I get it but out that door are demons and angels who would all love to get their hands on a prophet. So, even with Crowley here, this is still the safest place for you."

"We need you, Kevin," you say.

"Because I'm useful, right?"

"Because you're family," you say without hesitation. "After everything we've been through, and everything you've done for us... you're our family."

"She's right," Dean backs you up. "If you don't think that we would die for you... I don't know what to tell you." Kevin starts crying, but you know it's because he's overwhelmed by the love you're giving him. "You, me, Y/N, Sam, and Cas are all we've got. Hey, if none of that matters to you, then I won't stop you."

Kevin decides to stay, but he's so exhausted that he goes straight to bed. Your kids are sleeping, so all that there is left to do is find out who those demons are. Sam is in the library by the time you're done with Kevin, so you two head over to him. He doesn't look too good, and you take a seat next to him and place your hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"I don't know. It's just what Tracy said about me. She wasn't wrong."

"Sam, listen to me," Dean sighs and sits across from him. "You have helped a hell of a lot more people than you have hurt. So, all of that was then. Okay?"

"Okay. So, are you two ready for this?"

"Ready for what?"

"The fallen angels? Abaddon? Cas losing his halo? Crowley in our basement?"

"As ready as we can be. What about you? How are you doing?"

"Honestly, I feel better than I have in a long time. I mean, I realize it's crazy out there and we have trouble coming for us, but I look around and I see friends and family. I am happy with my life for the first time in forever." You smile at his words, and he continues. "I am, I really am. Things are finally good."

Your smile fades when you remember you're lying to Sam about who is really inside his body. If he knew, he would hate you and Dean forever. Sam turns back to his research, and you and Dean lock eyes.

You're both thinking the same thing: you're fucked.

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