#idia angst

[sinofthesloth]

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕞𝕠𝕜𝕖

“This is was just a game to me, and you were just the gasoline.” 

Cw: Angst. (I’m bad at gauging how heavy it is so just read with that in mind.) 

Synopsis: You thought they liked you back. How stupid can you truly be?

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ 𝙁𝙩. 𝘼𝙯𝙪𝙡, 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙠, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙙𝙞𝙖 ♥ 

.*•.¸♡ ä̤z̤̈ṳ̈l̤̈ ä̤s̤̈ḧ̤ë̤n̤̈g̤̈r̤̈ö̤ẗ̤ẗ̤ö̤ ♡¸.•*.

“Are you really that blind?”

Azul had a future plan and refused to let anything get in the way of that. You just weren’t something he saw himself needing

You had confessed to him in the privacy of the VIP room. Floyd and Jade were thankfully keeping their nose out of Azul’s business for once. The confession had you picking at your shirt as you stared into his grey eyes. 

The first hint that he didn’t share the feelings should have been the fact he wasn’t paying attention to what you were saying. He’d ask you to repeat yourself multiple times as he searched for something in his desk. 

The next should have been sighs he kept pushing out of his throat. You told yourself they were from his inability to find what he was looking for. 

The third and final nail in the coffin was when he finally looked into your eyes. They held boredom. He was bored while you were confessing your feelings.

Maybe he was just having a bad day?

“Are you really that blind? I am busy and you keep talking. And what makes you think I’d like someone like you? You bring nothing to the table. And you clearly can’t read a room. Why would I want anything to do with you?”

Maybe Ace and Deuce shouldn’t have been the two you asked for romantic advice.

.*•.¸♡ r̤̈ö̤ö̤k̤̈ ḧ̤ṳ̈n̤̈ẗ̤ ♡¸.•*.

“Mon ami means my friend, and you, mon démon bruyant are nothing more.”

Rook found beauty in everything, but that doesn’t mean he loved them.

He called you french names of endearment. You knew that. He called everyone a name of endearment. You just didn’t know what word meant.

French is called the language of love because how intricate and delicate it can sound. Every word sounds like a lullaby if spoken soft enough. 

He’d call you “démon bruyant”, a name you had no way of knowing the meaning of. Well, you do now. Loud fiend. Not friend. Fiend. 

He saw you as nothing more than a loud extra. Someone who didn’t fall into the background only because they were louder than everyone around them.

You had planned to ask Vil if he had any idea of a good way to confess, but Rook beat you to it. 

He stopped you before you made your way to the Pomefiore housewarden. His hand laid on your chest to physically stop you. The same hand traveled up to your chin before you locked eyes. He seemed to be glaring down at you as your face heated.  

“Mon ami means my friend, and you, mon démon bruyant are nothing more. So I suggest you remember your place fiend. Don’t think about wasting Roi de Poison time.” 

He pulled his hand away and fixed your hair before smiling and walking away. 

French is such a heart breaking language.

.*•.¸♡ ï̤d̤̈ï̤ä̤ s̤̈ḧ̤r̤̈ö̤ṳ̈d̤̈ ♡¸.•*.

“Dating them would be like grinding the first levels of a game when trying to get ready for its final boss. Pointless and a waste of time.”

Falling for the schools biggest gaming nerd wasn’t as hard, His brother talked none stop about him and how amazing he was once you looked past his anti-social behaviors. 

You learned about his favorite shows and games. Ortho even talked Idia into meeting you in person. You thought were must have been a connection.

He invited you to his dorm room and the two of you would watch shows and complain about their endings, or you’d watch him game. You once asked if you could try a level, and he helped make an entire account for you to use. 

Both you and Ortho explained that you don’t have any way of playing it outside of coming to his dorm to play and he bought you a complete computer set up as well as a laptop. Just so the two of you could enjoy a game that you just learned about. 

So yeah, you fell, and you fell far. Hitting the floor pretty hard.

You overheard Ortho talking to Idia about how you had asked him if Idia liked you, or if there was a good way of asking Idia out. He blew up due to the information. Ranting about how he would never fall in love with someone like you. How he was only your friend because Ortho was the one to invite you over. He refused to let his little brother lose a friend because of him.

“Ortho, you don’t understand. Dating them would be like grinding the first levels of a game when trying to get ready for its final boss. Pointless and a waste of time.”

You continued to visit to boys. Acting any different would make Ortho worry, and you don’t think you can handle anymore of Idia faux concern.

[spadecentral]

🌅 Sunset | Ortho Shroud

>> requested: absolutely not >> a/n: this was actually really fun to write but now im crying

>> masterlist: here!! >> summary: the following years after idia shrouds death >> reader prns: n/a [not reader-insert] >> warning(s): death

Ortho could not bear to look at his brother’s face. He was laying unnaturally on the floating table that Ortho had created, Idia’s hair pinned neatly behind his head. None of the wisps on top of his head were there, all slicked back into a braid underneath the wraps that held his skin in place. There were no women in the family to sing dirges or wail for him. Ortho is the only person left in the Shroud family line, and he still carried the same appearance of a young boy.

There was no one but Ortho at his brother’s Ekphora. He was never one to make many friends, and either way, Ortho didn’t feel like inviting anyone who might still be alive from his brother’s high school years. According to his calendar filled to the brim with their birthdays, all the students from the Shroud brother’s time at Night Raven College should be at least 75 years old now. Ortho followed behind the floating table, watching his brother’s body hover within the air.

He stopped floating next to his brother’s table when it stopped on top of a hill. The hill was tall and steep, and quite far away from the Island of Woe. So far in fact, that it wasn’t even under the Lake of Unknown Depths. This was probably the most amount of time Idia had spent outside, ever. Charging up the bottom of his boots again, Ortho picked up a shovel and started digging. He dug and dug until he had measured out exactly six feet. The deeper it was, the harder his grave would be to rob.

Seeming to know when Ortho was done, the table–along with Idia–floated down into the dirt hole. A reinforced plastic casing came up from the sides of the table, and enclosed Ortho’s brother within it.

He couldn’t help himself. Ortho peeked over the edge of his brother’s grave, and looked at his discolored face for the final time. The desperation in his eyes soon clouded over with grief. Picking the shovel up once again, Ortho slid the dirt on top of his brother’s casket. Ortho tuned out the plopping of the dirt easily, and instead turned his sound sensor’s focus to the whistling of the wind between the blades of grass. The perfect song for his brother’s last day above the ground. Maybe he’d be able to hear it all the time now, instead of the clashing of swords from his computer. The birds chirping was a welcomed sound, Ortho was eager to hear the songs of nature, and not the unnatural shing! of dirt against metal.

When he was finished, the dirt piled higher than it once was, and covered the view of the headstone. Brushing it out to be even with the rest of the hill, all Ortho could do was stare. As the sun came up in front of him, the pink and blue hues in the sky only reminded him further of his brother’s unruly hair.

“Good morning, brother,” his high-pitched voice didn’t sound right to him. 

Neither did the silence that followed.

Ortho worked on changes for himself. Physical ones. He wanted to keep the same internal frame his brother had made for him, with the connections to the internet and special destructive capabilities. But instead, he wanted things more like his hair to be changed, or his feet. He wanted feet. And also the ability to feel.

Ortho hid himself in that workspace for years. He barely had any time to run S.T.Y.X., after his brother told him to keep running it. Two years after his brother’s death, Ortho had figured out how to make his hair become longer, switching out his cropped, wisp-like hair for longer, flowy locks that draped just past his shoulder-blades. He was still bombarded with questions by the analysts at S.T.Y.X., who he had trouble with telling to leave him alone, and to do whatever they saw fit.

Six years after his brother’s death, Ortho had finally made his first technomantic foot. It still–surprisingly–allowed him the freedom of floating. But, it also gave him the freedom of shoes. Of feeling dirt between his toes, or listening to the squelch of wet shoes on a tile floor. And three years after that, he had successfully created the other. Two feet of his own.

Quickly dismantling his calves, Ortho attached his two new technomantic appendages. Standing up, Ortho wobbled. Before he could catch himself, Ortho toppled over.

“Brother!” he screamed in a panic, before falling onto his hands and knees. He waited for his brother’s worried rambling, and then his panicked, insecure thoughts about if he was good enough to help his younger brother.

But it never came. The silence did instead, and Ortho’s ears felt too full of it.

His leg wouldn’t move for the second time that day. Stuck within an eternal hell of rust, Ortho tried his best to use the droplets of oil that hadn’t made it out of the can yet to help him move.

One…

Two…

Three…

Not even four specks of oil could make it out of the can. In a moment of despair, Ortho ripped open the can to see if he could scoop any out. But when he brushed his finger along the inside of the metal container, his touch sensors told him it was bone dry. He couldn’t even sigh.

The room he was in was run down and threatening to cave in. S.T.Y.X. had been dismantled over seventy years ago, and everything within the building was outdated, Ortho being the oldest. His hair was tied back into a low ponytail with a rubber band he had happened to find in one of the drawers in the mechanical shop.

Ortho bent his leg manually, doing everything he could to get himself standing. His feet were bare and dirty, cuts running along the bottom of his plastic heel. Floating through the halls, the flying mechanics faltered every couple of minutes, threatening to have him crash to the floor. Ortho passed his brother’s room, the door cracked open slightly like the day Idia had last left it. The room no longer glowed a light blue color, the bulbs had stopped working long before the power died.

Continuing, Ortho found a broken teleporter sitting within the control room. He remembered how to fix it. He remembered everything, actually, but he chose to ignore it instead.

Opening a cupboard, Ortho pulled out the toolbox. The extra weight caused Ortho’s floating mechanisms to fail on him. He collapsed to the floor, but he didn’t call for his brother this time. Ortho’s speakers had failed him not long ago. Pulling himself upright, Ortho heaved the toolbox upward and toward the teleporter.

By the time he was done, the teleporter’s connection was spotty at best. It was running on an old generator that had been stored deep in a closet filled with cobwebs, dust, and holes in the walls. Standing on the teleporter, Ortho shut his eyes as the technology hastily moved him from his spot in the building. Ortho landed on grass. Grass he knew well.

Relying on his flying mechanics once again, Ortho moved himself upwards and to the top of a hill. The tallest hill on the island. All he did was stare down at the top of the hill as the pinks and oranges from the sunset covered his body. Finally, he moved towards the stone slab that vines encased in their own ugly beautifulness.

Ortho almost collapsed onto the dirt as he lowered himself downward, and for a moment, he wished he didn't correct the sensors. Slowly, he sat on the grass, against the rock. As he did so, his eyes flickered closed.

Goodnight, brother, he thought.

And the silence that followed was wonderful.

>> twst taglist: @tulipluvlettr | @strawberry-hyacinth | @oseathepebble | @ventisaircurrent | @epelys | @pastelmages | @xphantasmagoriax | @atlasnessie | @divinesapph | @ze-maki-nin | @silly-ez | @flqyd-is-lost | @savanaclaw1996 | @queerlordsimon | @kyraxiyn | @rayisalive

[twistedblunderhand]

this is purely just because i think its cute, but Idia has a really good singing voice. he just never shows anyone. but he sings little harmonies to games soundtracks and creates lyrics for them. The only person who ever heard him is Ortho, and they make up songs together they duet sometimes

((spoiler for ignihyde chapter below. also angst below the cut))

Some songs he made up with Ortho before he died, and when hes feeling especially sentimental he'll sing them to himself. out of respect ortho (current ortho) dosen't sing the parts the first ortho would have sung, so its only half of a duet

[twistedoverbloat]

Fuck me up with Shroud brothers angst of Idia doing the one audio of tiny Tina talking about Roland how everyone lived a happy ever after. And his parents the first time were trying to knock soem since into him but he yelled

"I KNOW HES GONE! BUT IT'S MY STORY!"

The parents too filled with guilt left him alone. And that's why they couldn't stop him from building Ortho again.

[quess-art]

Made before the hard parts of Book 7 comes out and Malleus kicks my f2p ass

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

I Need You

The TWST Cast's reaction, (under the preamble), when you tell them you're going home (assuming close platonic relationships, and reader having expressed uncertainty of wanting to return home at some point prior to this/has underlying doubts that they would be missed if they did leave) May be a little OOC sorry, and there are inconsistencies but it's not bad, still, sorry

Approx. 7.6k words, but separated by character so feel free to just read the character you want lmao (unless it's Malleus, sorry) ----------------------------------------------------- You had expected to happy. Overjoyed, excited, if and when the headmage finally told you he had found a way for you to return home, now that you had 'seen your use' here in Twisted Wonderland. Of course, he was no monster, and in his abundant generousity allowed you to have your time to say good byes and collect your things before he would send you on your way. He seemed to take your pure shock as a positive thing, ushering you out of his office in glee as he had finally fulfilled his promise he made to you when you first arrived.

There was so much you wanted to say, to protest, but the headmage was adamant and quick, and the words swirled in your head. Had you really just been a tool for him? Had he summoned you in the first place merely to take care of issues he had an inclination would arise? Your feet had never felt more leaded, your heart had never felt so heavy, and breathing had never required this much effort. Why did it hurt so bad? You were going home. But it wasn't the place you had come from that was associated with that word anymore, instead it was Ramshackle, complete with three ghosts and a grey, cat-like creature sitting in front of it, waiting for you to return. You couldn't just leave, could you? At least when you'd been brought here, you hadn't been given a choice, it just... happened. You may not have been happy at first, but it wasn't like there was much waiting for you at home either, nothing you really felt was worth giving up the experiences you had here; good and bad as the memories had come, you had friends and....family here that you wouldn't give up for the world. But the headmage seemed to have his mind set on sending you home.

You hugged yourself, doubt forming nasty storms of thoughts you'd rather not have, wondering whether anyone here would miss you if you left, especially now that everyone's problems were well on their way to being solved. You knew you had contributed, but was this a job or were you friends? It was getting hard to tell. You realized you would rather just tell them you were going home...and if they wanted you around, they'd tell you, right?

You sought out your closest...who you thought was your closest friend, looking for comfort and their opinion, unable to meet their eyes as you quietly told them, "I'm going home."

Heartslaybul

Riddle It seemed so out of the blue. You had come over for tea as per usual, though more pensive than normal, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. Your words hit Riddle like a truck, making him audibly gasp softly. He looked down into his tea, struggling to hold back tears as he ran his thumb over the small hump of the handle on his teacup, his reflection rippling from the tremble in his hands. After some silence and practiced, slow breathing, he spoke, though neither of you made eye contact. "If that is what you want....I support you wholeheartedly...though I must admit...you will be...dearly missed." He tried to hide the shakiness in his voice. You had always been so supportive of him, so eager to ensure he had a place and people to turn to when he needed them, if all you needed was support from him in this moment, he would provide it...even if it hurt him.

You looked up from your tea sadly, only to watch as fat tears rolled down Riddle's cheeks. You struggled to hold back your own tears as you reached across the table and offered your hand to him. He looked up at you at first in surprise, then took your hand and wiped the tears from his face with his other hand, rather hastily before laughing softly, though it sounded pained.

"My apologies...I do not wish to influence your decision in-"

You cut him off squeezing his hand gently as tears began streaming down your face, your voice quiet, but desperate.

"Please...just tell me to stay....or...or go."

You swallowed hard and looked away, unsure of what you would do if the redhead told you it was best if you left.

Teary, stormy grey eyes finally looked towards you, first in confusion, then in fondness and relief as he smiled a bit and tried to inject some authority into his voice.

"My word is law. As of this moment, rule 811 and is as follows." You looked up in confusion and anxiety - there were only 810 rules, and Riddle had made it clear that he never wished to amend them in anyway. His smile only grew softer as his thumb ran over your knuckles gently so as to try and comfort you, though a small laugh bubbled out of him.

"I was going to try and make it all official sounding...but the truth is I need you...so please...if it's my input that will make your decision, I implore you....stay with me."

You couldn't help the smile that bloomed, and the relieved laughter that left you as you wiped at your eyes a bit more as both you and Riddle stood up from the table, the boy opening his arms to you for a hug.

"You scared me there for a moment."

"I scared you? You practically informed me that this would be one of our last times together unless I convinced you to stay! I thought a rule may be more convincing than...just my begging but..." he trailed off, snuggling into you a bit more and holding you a little tighter. "It worked. That's all that matters to me."

Trey

You were sitting at the island in the Heartslaybul kitchen, just watching Trey bake. You told him you had something important to tell him, so he had tilted his head and told you he was listening. However, after telling him that you were headed home, he didn't so much as glance back at you; he had just continued measuring out cups of flour, leaving you feeling rather dejected and hurt.

"Did you hear me?"

Trey glanced over his shoulder a bit, continuing to work. "I did."

You were somewhat baffled that he didn't add anything, watching him in mildly offended disbelief.

"You have nothing to say on the matter?"

"I do. But I don't think you want to hear it." He moved to wash his hands in the sink, his side profile now visible to you, and disturbingly absent of any trace of sadness. If anything, he was wearing a small smirk. Did he really not care if you left? You were disgruntled, allowing a moment of silence between the two of you before you spoke up.

"Well I do want to hear it."

At that, Trey turned and looked at you, his smile only getting a little bigger.

"You're not going home. Your heart's not in it. You're just echoing what you've been told because you think you have to go but you don't. The headmage can't force you to go home, so just say no thank you to him and let it be done with."

You sat in baffled silence for a moment before somewhat timidly asking, "Was it that clear I didn't want to go?"

Trey chuckled softly, returning to his work. "It was clear from the moment you walked in here you weren't happy about whatever you were going to try and tell me. Once I get these baked off, I'll come with you to the headmage. You're not going anywhere unless you want to, I promise."

Cater

You had texted him that you had something you wanted to tell him, but never in a million years did he think you meant you were leaving him.

He thought he had been in this position a million times before - you make a friend, you get their contact information, you fool around and then it's time to leave.

Only you were an actual...friend not an acquaintance. Not to mention, you could have moved to Atlantica and he was sure he could have found a way to keep in touch with you at the very least.

But you were going to leave this world. This pocket of space and time.

Cater rapidly blinked back tears and forced a cheery smile and an uncomfortable sounding laugh as he took your hand in his.

"Ok, haha, funny prank, now where are the cameras? Like, this is a bit, right, something you're gonna post on Magicam to start a trend?...it's a prank, right? Do you need a bigger reaction? I can give you a bigger reaction, we can do this take again, just tell me it's a prank." He bit his lip, fighting back tears as he squeezed both of your hands in his, emerald eyes desperately searching your face for any hint that this was meant to be a joke and nothing more. You knew how much you meant to him, you knew about the pattern he'd been forced to fall into, even if this was a bad joke, it was better than it being the truth.

You had to blink back your own tears, turning your face away from him a bit as a small sob left you and you closed the gap between the two of you in a hug, burying your face into him as you started to cry. He held you close and tightly, afraid that letting you go would mean letting you go forever as he struggled to keep his own emotions in check, sniffling.

"Do you really have to g-go?" He choked up over the word, shallow, panicked breathing not helping his emotions.

You sniffled and looked up at him, tears streaming down both of your faces at this point.

"Please don't go...not if it's making you this upset to leave...and you have a choice...please don't leave me" He begged you softly, waiting with bated breath for your decision.

You looked up at him tearfully, trying to smile as you made up your mind.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Those words alone were enough to bring Cater to his knees, his body giving out on him from the sheer amount of relief he felt knowing...he wouldn't be alone again. As long as you were around, he had someone to keep living for. You sat down on his bed, gently patting the mattress beside you as a silent invitation for him to join, but the most he could manage was a mumbled apology for getting your pants wet as he cried into your lap, too exhausted to pick himself up off the floor.

Deuce

It took a moment for him to process what you were saying. He had barely walked through the doors of Ramshackle at your request for him to come over, and now you were telling him you were leaving??

You had been waiting anxiously for his arrival, so before you even got through the niceties of thanking him for coming, you had kind of just blurted it out to him.

The shock was still running through his veins, so he also blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"But I already told my mom that you're coming for Thanksgiving next year!"

You both stared at each other in silence for a moment, before reality sunk in. You started laughing a little bit, but not without tears starting to well up.

"Well then I guess I've got to stick around until Thanksgiving."

Deuce didn't get the joking tone, tearing up, his bottom lip quivering a bit.

"So you're gonna go home after Thanksgiving? Why are you laughing, this isn't funny." He couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit as well, confused and upset at your reaction.

You shook your head and wiped your eyes a bit, smiling a bit "Well I mean...if I'm invited over for every Thanksgiving, I can't exactly go anywhere because skipping out would just be rude, wouldn't it?" In truth...the fact that he had gone so far as to plan at least a year in advance was enough to confirm that at least one person here wanted you to stay.

Deuce picked up on it now, beaming and tackling you in a tight hug, crushing you more than he intended to. You could feel the tears on his cheek still though as he spoke.

"You're invited to every Thanksgiving at my house from now until the end of time, okay?! You have to be there!"

Ace

It felt like the world stopped moving. He was just planning a prank to pull off on one of his upperclassmen, and was about to share his masterplan with you until he'd seen your face and made the mistake of asking what was wrong.

He just sat himself down next to you on the old Ramshackle couch, arms on his knees, his head down and pensive.

"So that's it? You're just going to up and leave?" You could sense there was more he wanted to say, but was biting his tongue for once, for your sake. His eyes were fixed on the uneven flooring beneath his feet, expression stern and unmoving as he tried to rationalize why you would want to leave.

You took in a sharp breath, trying to respond, but nothing came out.

Ace's brow furrowed in frustration, but tried to hide it by turning his face away.

"I thought you said you were happy here. Sure, things haven't been great, but I thought you had made peace with the fact Crowley is a lazy piece of shit that wasn't going to do anything to get you back where you came from. I thought...." His voice caught for a moment, his breath shaky. "....I thought you'd already decided to stay...because this is home now...I thought the friendships you've made here would be enough to keep you here since you never talk about the friends or family you had back....wherever you came from." He had to stand up at this point, pacing in front of you.

"You have people who care about you here, okay?! You gotta give us more than a days notice or so, don't we deserve that in the very least? Like at least give us time to throw you a party or something but more importantly, give us time to adjust to the idea that our friend is going to be out of our lives forever!" He took a few shaky breaths, panting a bit as he pushed his hair out of his face, trying not to let tears form. Not now. Not in front of you.

His words made you recoil slightly as you felt the need to defend yourself.

"I don't want to adjust to a life without you guys either!"

He looked at you dumbfounded and unamused.

"Then why the fuck are you leaving?"

It took you a moment to process, looking down a bit before responding.

".....I didn't know what I wanted until I heard the opposite of what I wanted...and...well I guess it's kinda dumb, but I think I needed to know that I would actually be missed."

Though you didn't see it, Ace's expression softened immediately. He sighed and sat back down next to you, hugging you tightly to him. "Yeah idiot, I, for one, would miss you a ton...I mean who else is gonna talk Riddle outta givin' me the collar?"

You couldn't help but snort a bit at that, making Ace grin. Thank the Sevens, this wouldn't be the last time he'd try to make you laugh.

Savanaclaw

Leona

You barging into his room wasn't exactly unheard of, rather, your footsteps had become a very comforting sound as they approached his bedroom. He had pretended to be asleep as he heard you coming this time, but just wanted to silently enjoy your company for a bit before "waking up".

Your announcement had him upright in the blink of an eye though, tail flicking in discontent behind him. He studied you for a mere moment before yawning and laying back down.

"If that's so, you better get over here. I demand at least one more nap together."

You didn't really know what to make of his reaction, curiosity over whether that was really "it" or not getting to you as you ventured closer to his bed. As soon as you were close enough, he yanked you close to him, making you yelp. He immediately maneuvered the two of you so that he could lay his head on your shoulder, effectively hiding his face from you...and keeping you somewhat pinned.

"Good luck leaving now herbivore...you're gonna miss this too much if you leave...and you'll no longer have a prince taking care of your every need...and-" He sounded almost like a child, pleading in his own way to be good enough for you to want to stay. If he couldn't be good enough at home, he wanted to know he would still have you.

You ran your fingers gently through his hair.

"Yeah you're right...I think I've gotten too used to this lifestyle to ever go back."

You could feel the tension leave his body as he pressed his head against your hand a little harder.

"Good. You're stuck with me forever."

You couldn't help but smile, any doubts you had melting away with those words alone.

Ruggie

You caught him off guard while he was on laundry duty for Leona, his back to you as silence so thick you could cut it filled the space between you two. Ruggie's ears were pressed flat against his head, his tail had stopped wagging, and for a moment, he didn't move, his hand gripping onto the useless piece of cloth in front of him. You opened your mouth to say something, but he turned to face you, looking over you for a moment.

"Y'know, usually in moments like this I quote my grandma..." You looked a bit confused, thrown off by where he was going with this as his tail started to wag the slightest bit.

"But I don't think she's got anything better than the kids at home do for this situation." He grins and covers his ears with his hands, tail wagging faster. "I didn't hear you so it doesn't count!"

Despite his playful demeanor, you could see tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

"Ruggie-" he immediately closed his eyes so he couldn't see your lips moving either, shaking his head as he tried to deny the news you'd given him.

"I...I can't hear you....please...just...if...if I can't hear you....I can pretend you're at Ramshackle...or somewhere else on Sage Island....I can...it'll be...." his rambling tapered off into soft, gaspy sobs, his hands falling away from his head, moving to hug himself instead. "If you leave...I can just pretend l-like you know how to get back....even..even if your world has no magic."

As soon as your arms wrapped around him, he was hugging you instead, burying his face into your neck and sobbing, his voice cracking as he asked softly, "This...this isn't a g-goodbye hug yet, right?"

"It's not a goodbye hug at all." You nuzzled into his hair a bit, causing him to relax in your hold.

"....do I have to prepare for a goodbye hug in my future?" You didn't have to think about it, shaking your head immediately, and causing him to cling onto you as if to convince himself you weren't going anywhere.

Jack

At your request, Jack had made the trip out to Ramshackle, rather happy that you wanted to see him - though he didn't want to admit it. However, his demeanor shifted as he saw you sitting rather dejectedly on the stairs outside of your dorm. He quickened his pace, before rather awkwardly sitting in front of you on the ground instead of beside you.

Upon checking in on you and receiving the news that you were to go home, his tail curled up beside him and his ears flattened, though he looked more pensive than anything.

"....do you want to go home?"

You looked at him, rather exhausted and rubbed your eye a bit. "I don't know anymore Jack and that's half the issue...I mean at the beginning of the year, yeah, that was what I wanted more than anything but now..." He watched your expression sadden a bit. A comfortable silence fell between you two as you stewed in your conflict and he tried to brainstorm a way to get you to stay without coming off as desperate.

"....you know....they say home is where the heart is..." He looked away a little awkwardly, feeling you silently ask for an explanation with your expression. "....so...if you can figure out where your heart lies....maybe it'll make your decision easier...but for me it's always laid with my family and I uh...consider you family too." He couldn't help but blush a bit at the admission, but felt a little guilty saying it out loud. Though you'd never really talked about your family at home, it wasn't fair to assume they weren't important to you, or to make you feel like you had to choose between one family and the other- if you felt the same way about him, or other friends at least.

His guilt faded as soon as he felt your cool hand against his cheek, a smile on your face despite the tears in your eyes. His tail started wagging a mile a minute as your choice became clear, that you saw him the same way.

Octavinelle

Azul

He was grateful you had come to talk to him in his office. It was much easier to keep his composure between the two of you, though you didn't miss the way his expression darkened for a moment immediately after hearing the news.

You watched curiously as Azul fished a document out from his desk, raising it so as to hide his face as he began reading off of it.

"In the event that the Ramshackle prefect, (i.e Yuu), and any Ramshackle resident(s), excluding any ghosts, are to leave campus permanently before the year 20XX, this letter gives the recipient, (i.e Azul Ashengrotto, Owner of Mostro Lounge), permission to alter, upgrade, and otherwise renovate the Ramshackle dorm building in accordance with Sage Island's building and infrastructure laws and regulations in order to establish another restaurant on Night Raven College school grounds. Signed by Dire Crowley, Headmage of Night Raven College."

You stood there in silent disbelief at the sheer audacity he had, though in the silence that followed, you swore you heard a shaky sigh coming from behind the parchment.

"This would be so much easier if you had just decided I wasn't worth forgiving the first time I attempted to take over your dorm." He groaned softly, now hiding his face in folded arms against his desk as the letter from the headmage drifted to the floor.

"Oh so it's my fault for being nice that you can't take over what's been my home since I've gotten here?" Azul shook his head, sitting up, but rubbing his face with his hand, still adamant on not showing you his real emotions on the matter, before sighing and looking down, his voice wavering.

"....it's your fault that I need you as badly as I do....it's your fault that I've come to look forward to your daily visits...it's your fault that I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, and instead of thinking about how vile I am I remember the things you've said to me that make me smile...it's your fault that there's no way I could take over Ramshackle now that the place has sentimental value to me, as ridiculous as it seems to me, the memories we made far outweigh the economic benefits, and it's your fault I think of it that way."

He refused to look up, even as the soft tap of your shoes on the floor approached his desk, taking a seat across from him.

"I can take the blame for all that...but know that you're at fault too...because it's all your fault...that I'm staying here."

Jade

You had found him in the greenhouse, attending his beloved mushrooms when you dropped the boot on him. He debated for a moment, whether it would be worth it to make you eat one, or to put you to sleep, or otherwise incapacitate you for a short amount of time to give himself more time to process and enforce one of many long term plans he had to keep you here. He mulled over the possibilities rather numbly... in a world where had been taught ruthlessness and that only the fittest would survive, you had been that small sliver of mercy he'd come to love and appreciate. He thought he had done a fairly good job showing you what you meant to him as well, with a constant influx of shiny rocks he found on hikes, or petrified wood, or otherwise sharing his interests and listening to yours. He had shown you that he understood what you had taught him to be a little more comfortable with - vulnerability. So why were you trying to tear him apart now? Was this just another cruel lesson in fate?

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he failed to realize how long silence sat in the air after your announcement. He only snapped back to reality as your hands wrapped around him, your face against the back of his lab coat as you shuddered and sobbed.

"Please, Jade, if I go I'm gonna miss you, don't ignore me right now....please just...at least acknowledge I'll be gone."

He pulled your hands away from him gently, initially causing you more distress until he pulled you close to him again, your chest pressed against his chest so you could hear his heartbeat. His hug was gentle, yet felt all-encompassing as he kept his voice low, as if he was afraid anyone else would hear, despite the two of you being the only ones around.

"I would miss you too. So if you must go, promise you'll spend one more day with me before you leave."

A relieved sob left you as you clung to him weakly.

"I can do you one better."

He smiled, rocking you gently side to side, glad that he wouldn't have to risk betraying your trust to keep you there with him.

Floyd

You caught him right after basketball practice, high on life from the endorphin rush he was on. You hated to potentially put a damper on his mood, but you needed him to know. However, he had just laughed off your announcement, trying to walk away from you.

"Floyd please, I need you to listen, I'm being serious."

Floyd stopped in his tracks, just sighing tiredly and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't matter. You're not going anywhere."

"But the headmage finally-"

"NO!...Who gives a fuck what the headmage's done, he ain't done shit for you since you arrived, you worked your ass off, lived in a shitty little house, dealt with crazy magic users and barely got paid your worth! But through all that, y'stayed. Things are better now. Just...just stay 'nd enjoy it with the people who care 'bout'chya k? I ain't lettin' you go back until you've at least had a vacation, k? It's your turn to get a happy endin...and you can't lie to me and say that's back in whatever timeline you're from cuz....cuz you told me once that I make ya happy...." His expression had been manic and angry at first, but as his rant came to an end, he looked like he was close to tears.

You couldn't help and smile a tiny bit, moving to hug him, though he met you half way, and the two of you crumpled to the ground as he found ways to wrap around you that you didn't think were humanly possible...but it made you feel safe, secure as you nuzzled into him.

"Just stay ok...I'll talk to the headmage for ya...but don't leave me, ok?...I gotta see ya smile til your cheeks hurt one day."

Scarabia

Kalim

When you had let him know you were coming over, he had asked Jamil to set up a small platter for the two of you to share. At first, he had just whined a bit - why were you going back to Ramshackle so soon? You just got to his dorm, now you wanted to leave? You'd at least take some snacks with you, right?

You sighed a bit, before trying again.

"Kalim...the headmage...has found a way for me to go home home." There was a beat of silence between the two of you, before the boy became a sniveling mess across from you, quickly devolving into full blown bawling as he all but launched himself at you, hugging you around your waist as tears started to soak the fabric of your shirt. He was near incomprehensible, though the message was fairly clear in his sobbing that he wasn't ready to let you go, and he'd do anything to keep you with him.

Jamil

He was busy cooking in the kitchen, enjoying your company, though it was clear you had something on your mind. He didn't pry, but eventually it came out. He just kept working, glad that he had prepared for this day to come.

"Well if you want me to wish you well and see you off, then I suppose now's a good a time as any to say goodbye." He barely glanced over his shoulder, giving you a subtle nod. "Goodbye."

It stung more than you expected it to, but at least he had been decisive, and made it easier for you to walk away from everything. He watched as you got up from your seat and walked towards the door, looking rather sad. He sighed a bit, wiping his hands off on a cloth.

"Did you really think leaving was going to be that easy? You know too much about me. You're not going anywhere. Follow me."

The apparent switch up in attitude had you hopeful and curious as he led you to his room, unlocking the door, then unlocking a small drawer at his desk, pulling out papers, which at a glance, had your name on them.

"I figured since you've shut down any conversation of your personal life at home, the only reason you'd ever want to return would want to return there was because of the financial stability you may have had, and the idea of needing financial assistance was daunting or embarrassing, same with getting your citizenship and passport for Twisted Wonderland. But I've gone ahead and pulled a few strings and made deals with some of Kalim's aunties. Now....you've got a deed to a home once you graduate, you have health insurance, you have a citizenship from Scalding Sands, and a passport from Scalding Sands."

He stacked each wad of paper in your hands as he explained them, before looking rather smug and booping your nose.

"Of course, if you still plan to leave I could just hypnotize you."

Pomefiore

Vil

You had gone to him to his room, sat on his bed and just watched him paint his nails at his vanity. He could practically feel the anxiety radiating off of you, but he had the time, so he waited until you told him yourself rather than pressing you. He could hear the way your breath trembled, uneven gasps for air that you tried to keep under control as he just shook his head.

"Do I really need to tell you how all this is going to play out?" His icy violet eyes locked onto your startled ones in the mirror, as you tried to wipe any evidence of crying away from your face. You were confused, and conflicted, making Vil's face soften just the smallest bit as he redirected his gaze and attention to his nails.

"You tell me you want to go. As your friend, I'll support you in what would make you happiest, though I'm not going to tell you what would make you happiest, that's for you to decide. You'll go back to Ramshackle, start packing your things, still second guessing yourself. It won't be until you're in front of the mirror and the gravity of the situation hits you that there's no way for you to come back that you'll finally tell Crowley you'd like to stay..."

He finally turns around to look you face to face.

"So skip the song and dance, come to terms with the fact you'd like to stay, and I'll speak to the headmage on your behalf to inform him you'll be staying as long as you damn well please."

He had more conviction in both his expression and tone than you had heard before, and you certainly hadn't heard him cuss in any meaning of the word. It only took a moment longer of searching his expression to see the emotion behind the mask he was wearing was fear.

You couldn't help but sniffle and rub at your eyes a bit, nodding and laughing through your tears a bit.

"You're right. You always are. Thank you."

Visible relief, though subtle, was clear on Vil's face, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile.

"Really now, did you think I was just going to let you walk out of my life like that? Absolutely not."

Rook

Rook had seen you leave the headmage's office looking incredibly upset, so moments later he fell into step beside you in silence. Without saying a word, the two of you headed in the direction of the woods, cutting through paths Rook had taught you to see until you reached a small clearing, a place Rook had shown you as his safe haven. The two of you had been laying silently on the grass, only broken by the sound of you beginning to cry as you confessed the reason you were upset.

He moved to hold you close immediately, letting you turn towards him as he gently rubbed your back and let you cry.

"Why are you letting this rest on you so heavily, mon trickster, when it's clear the thought of leaving is causing you so much distress...why would you want to go to the one place where I could not hope to follow you?"

He took your hand gently, placing it on his chest over his heart. "If you left, my heart may explode. You can feel it racing now....the thought of being without you may be too much for even me to handle...and you know I can take much more than I show." He bumped his head against yours lightly, not unlike a cat as he closed his eyes.

"Please...I can only handle so much heartache...stay where I can reach you..."

Epel

He ran into you quite literally, trying to make it back to Pomefiore after spell drive practice in time to avoid Vil's rant on punctuality. However, when he registered you were crying rather than laughing the impact off, he was worried he had hurt you more than he had gotten hurt himself, checking in on you anxiously until you let it spill.

His immediate reaction was like that of a toddler, a very determined expression as he just went "Nuh-uh."

It was enough to shock you out of both the pain you were in and to make you laugh a little incredulously, causing your tears to stop flowing for a moment.

"W...what?"

Epel's expression only deepened, though it was a little difficult to take him seriously.

"I said, nu-uh. You ain't goin' nowhere, not if I got anythin' t'say on the matter, y'hear? Your family's here, your friends are here an' the headmage can't do shit if y'up 'n' tell'm off for tryna send ya home just cuz it makes him feel better he finally kept a goddamn promise, no way, nu-uh, that ain't flyin' with me!" He huffed and grabbed your wrist gently.

"Now come on, you get to to be the one to tell Vil why I'm late."

Ignihyde

Idia

Usually, you would just sit in Idia's room, enjoying each other's company in silence as you did your own things. You had a keycard to his room, and he would get a chime in his headphones that let him know it was you coming in. To him, nothing was amiss as silence hung between the two of you for nearly two hours, though his headphone was slightly offset his ear in case you needed anything.

So when you all but whimpered "I can't do this anymore" his headphones all but flew off his head as he whirled around his chair to face you, confused and off put by your tone until you told him what was wrong.

He just paused, before a wide grin spread across his face, slightly manic.

"What you think I'd just let you leave? Just 'oh Idia, I can go home now so goodbye forever', you seriously think I'm going to let you walk away? You're my closest IRL friend, and I've....I've lost enough already, I'm not letting you make me loose again." He laughed, but it was pained as he pushed back his hair, trying to calm down and failing as he stood up and started pacing.

"You're....you can't be serious, right? You're just gonna leave? Did I do finally do something wrong? Wrong enough that you want to be sent to another timeline where I don't exist, where our friendship doesn't exist, like this was all for nothing?!" He stopped and looked at you, hurt and distressed, his voice shaky and small.

"....was it all for nothing?"

His intensity wasn't anything new, but it had never been directed at you specifically. The ends of his hair were flared up and tinted orange, but his expression was nothing but pleading until you burst into tears again, apologizing and promising you'd stay.

Ortho

He knew exactly why you'd been called into the headmage's office, and was waiting for you as you stepped out of the room, only to take your hand and drag you right back in, first, angry whirring leaving him, before he settled enough to say anything that you and the headmage could understand.

"How dare you! You can't make them feel like they don't have a choice, just because it gives you a sense of doing something right doesn't mean it is! You're gonna let them stay or I'm leaking the security cam footage of what you do in your office all day- then it'll really be confirmed that you're nothing but a useless pile of-"

"Ortho-"

His head whipped around at your warning tone, eyes wide. "What?....I was gonna say crap, not the other word."

You couldn't help the small chuckle that left you before Crowley spoke up.

"Now there's no need for all those threats Ortho-"

Ortho's attention whipped back to the headmage, and in the blink of an eye his face was directly in front of Dire's, uncomfortably close as two sets of slightly glowing yellow eyes focused on each other.

"Don't you even think about trying to send my sibling away again...or the security cam footage is going to be the least of your worries."

Diasomnia (sorry, Malleus and Lilia lovers this is the best I got rn)

Malleus

Nope. You've either read chapter 7, you're reading through chapter 7, or you will read chapter 7. Sorry, he's just as you'd expect him to be. (read as: I think writing this out will feel tedious and boring and I'll loose motivation in these last few characters because bro is the most predictable dude ever)

Lilia

It hadn't been difficult to find him - in fact, when you got to Ramshackle, he had helped himself to some rather questionable looking hot chocolate and was sitting on your couch, patting the space beside him, smiling a bit.

"From what I understand, you've got plenty to think about. They say all good things must come to an end, but if you're writing the story, why not add a few more chapters where you're happiest?"

Silver

You had found him napping under one of the trees on campus, surrounded by furry little friends as per usual. You made yourself at him, laying next to him with your head on his shoulder, just watching the slow rise and fall of his chest as you snuggled your friend for what felt like could be the last time. You weren't sure how much time had passed until a sharp inhale signaled he was waking up, snapping you out of your own dissociation. The familiar weight of you on his arm just made him give you a gentle squeeze as he woke up, softly greeting you, taking a moment to listen to his animal friends, then asking you what was wrong as he pulled you a little closer, turning towards you and placed his hand behind your head protectively.

Upon hearing what was bothering you, he shook his head a bit, and many of the critters that were around the two of you found ways to cuddle the both of you. With how much you were crying, it was only fair that they were concerned.

"Don't go home...clearly you're not happy...if the headmage is trying to force you to return home, tell him that you consider this world your home. Or Ramshackle...or Briar Valley...if you just say the word, I can ask fa- Lilia to start getting you a citizenship...then you'll not only be registered in Briar Valley...but we both know that Malleus would never let any of his citizens suffer either...and disobeying a direct order from fae royalty would put Crowley in a bad position." He hummed and pulled you a little closer. "Besides...without you, I'll only ever wake up to Sebek for the rest of my life...I adore him like a brother, but I admit I prefer your method of rousing me from slumber." It was subtle, but you could tell he tried to inject humour into his tone as he sighed deeply, but stayed tense until you gently played with his hair, tears starting to roll down your cheeks as you nodded and agreed - both to finding your place in this world permanently in Briar Valley...and as Silver's designated waker-upper.

Sebek

He had seen you while he was on his horse, excitedly riding over when he saw you wave, though as he got closer, your expression seemed less and less happy to see him. You wished he had waited until he was in front of you to ask what was wrong, but as you expected, as soon as he noticed something was amiss, his voice boomed across the field between the two of you, his poor horse startling some. It took him a moment to get control of his horse once more, before he managed to make it to you, hopping down and holding onto the reins tightly as he looked at you expectantly for an answer.

"WHAT DID THE HEADMAGE SAY TO YOU?!"

Both you and his poor horse flinched and startled, but Sebek scooped you up, mounting his horse easily with you in front of him, boxed in and secure in his arms as he was set and determined, heading towards the main school building, though when you looked back at his face, the trails of a few tears were clear on his cheeks.

"If the headmage's mind will not be changed, then we must inform Malleus. He will ensure you stay here with m- us. With us."

Extra (pretend you didn't say anything to him yet lol)

Grim

You had been sitting in Ramshackle for a while, the headmage's words eating away at you like acid, leaving you in a dissociative state on the couch. You were so out of it, so caught up in your feelings, that when Grim finally came home after messing around with some of the first years, you immediately felt your heart drop as he very gently, very concerned looking, put his paw on your arm, checking in on his favourite hench human.

"Y'look like you're gonna c- MYAH!" You couldn't help but pull the cat into your arms, your whole body curling around him as you cried softly into the bow on his back. He squirmed around, fighting to face you as he gently held your face in his paws, looking kinda mad. "Who made ya cry, huh?! Tell me and I'll light'em up! Nobody messes with my hench human!"

You couldn't help the half laugh, half sob that left you as you just gently bumped your head against Grim's.

"Nothing you have to worry about Grim...I'm just...um...I'm really glad to have you in my life." You offered him a small smile as he tilted his head, bumping you back softly as his tail swished curiously.

"I..I mean I am too, but that doesn't tell me why you're cryin'!" He rubbed his face against yours again, trying to dry your tears,

"The headmage was gonna try and send me home...but I'm not...I'm not going to do it." Grim looked shocked for a moment, before more aggressively snuggling against you, purring.

"Good...cuz even if you did go home, ya couldn't get rid of me that easily!...I'd come with you!"

You laughed softly, mostly in shock and shook your head. "There's no magic back home...or talking animals...I'm not sure that would be the best idea."

He looked sad for a moment, curling up in your hold more so you wouldn't see his face. "Yeah but...you're all I got...so anywhere you go, I'll go...no matter what.

-------------------------------------------------------- I hated this the longer I wrote it but it wasn't until I was like at Vil that I started to get unhappy so I decided to say fuck it and just stick to it anyways. Yes I've been procrastinating hw shut up. Love you.

[mondeeznuts]

He's a genius, ladies and gentlemen.

[mellowwillowy]

Dear.

[jinxthejubilee]

It's really funny having a Yuu/MC that's so genuinely nice to everyone even after the overblots, yet has the most tragic, soul-crushing backstory known to man. And that's what confuses everybody around them the most. Like, one of them has got to ask at some point: How could you possibly be okay with any of this???!!!

The answer: Dude, I've been through way worse back home. These are basically seven mental breakdowns with magic. That's less than I've had in a month.

It's literally just-

Reference:

I don't know if this is an actual art meme, I just saw it on Pintrest and couldn't resist drawing it.

[lvely]

twst tumblr peeps I need good twst ao3 recs please please please I’m begging you I’m literally on my knees holding baby dragon malleus in my hands to appeal to you with my humble request-

[ryker-writes]

Your angst fic had made me go into angst creative mood. Twisted wonderland Character/s of your choosing of younger sibling that have chronic illness but hide it from their family. Often when to the toilet to cough out blood to avoid suspicious. Even went as far as asking the dr to keep it a secret because they don't want to burden their family and wanted them to enjoy their life because they already suffer so much and the distance actually help. Until sibling collapse and went into coma and the Dr had to break the news that they don't have much time left.

If it not to much- I'm feeling very angsty-

Oh my the heavy angst. This is so sad tho but I love it. These actually ended up longer than I thought they would be. I just had too many thoughts and it hurt my soul to write this because it's so sad but I enjoyed it

sorry not sorry if anyone cries <3

Characters: Leona, Idia, and Malleus

warnings: Mentions of blood, implied reader death, angst, no happy ending

Request rules and Masterlists

Leona:

you knew you should tell Leona about your condition

he was your older brother and he should know

but Leona was pretty protective and would drive himself mad demanding that somebody find something to help you

and he would spend all of his time worrying and fussing over you

so you didn't tell him

you wanted him to enjoy things and be happy

he's already struggled so much growing up and you don't want to burden him more

also you wanted to peacefully enjoy the time you had with everyone without a lingering sadness in the air

so you pleaded with the doctor to keep it a secret

and thankfully they did

all you had to do was hide the blood that you may cough out

so your bathroom trips became more frequent

Leona even joked that you should see the doctor about how much you have to go to the bathroom

but he didn't know the truth, and he was happy

that's all you wanted

until one day you woke up feeling weaker

you tried to fight it and carry on as you normally would

but for some reason you just couldn't

it was when you were walking in botanical garden towards Leona

black spots started to cloud your vision and you felt like you lost control of your body

the last thing you heard was Leona shouting

Leona was very worried when he saw you collapse

and you weren't responding to him either

he rushed you to the infirmary as quickly as he could and demanded that the doctor sees you immediately

when the doctor tells him that you're in a coma and don't have much time left, he's angry

how could you not tell him about your illness

he would've tried to help you if you just told him

Leona will spend most of his time by your side, waiting for you to wake up

he's not going to waste a moment somewhere else

he doesn't know what to do with himself

he's so angry with himself for not knowing sooner and not being able to do anything

you have to wake up, you just have to

Idia:

the Shroud family was a strange one

most of the family were shut-in's that were pretty isolated and lonely

your big brother Idia was a prime example of this

he spent most of his time behind the screens and barely interacted with other people

and he didn't really have friends either

both you and Ortho wanted him to be happy

and that's why you didn't tell him about your illness

if he knew he would isolate himself further and bury himself in trying to help

he would sacrifice his own health for the sake of you

and you couldn't let that happen

though you did hope that somehow he would be able to be happy and have a friend before your illness took over

it was difficult to keep it hidden

Ortho regularly does scans on you and Idia's health so he knows if something is wrong

so he knew, but you had to convince him not to tell Idia

it was a long process and filled with tears but he gave in eventually

and so when you would spend time with Idia, Ortho would be a little sad but hide it well

when you made and excuse of going to the bathroom Ortho knew what was happening and would make up some excuse to Idia about you drinking a lot of water or something

but then one day you were walking through the school halls with Ortho and Idia's tablet

it hit you so suddenly that you didn't even have time to react

as you coughed you could feel the blood sputter out and onto your chin

this coughing fit seemed worse than the rest and you couldn't stop

it hurt and even brought you down to the ground, and after a bit you passed out

Ortho was quick to help stabilize your condition and take you to the infirmary

all that came from the tablet was panicked noises and frantic questions

once the doctor checked up on your condition, he gave them the bad news

you had been sick for a long time and it's led you to a coma

with the way your condition was progressing, you didn't have much time left

Idia was so confused

how could both he and Ortho not notice especially when Ortho did health scans

but Ortho didn't answer and Idia could just tell that Ortho already knew

Night Raven College was buzzing with gossip that day

some were saying they saw Idia Shroud himself quickly walking through the halls and others denied that it couldn't be true

the notorious shut-in would never even leave his room or go outside Ignihyde

but the rumors were true

Idia Shroud had left his room and walked through the halls to the infirmary

and he stayed there all day constantly checking up on every little change in your condition

and when he wasn't checking on your condition he would sit there quietly and think

why did this have to happen?

why did it have to be you?

it wasn't fair

Idia was making the stressful trek through the halls every day so he could stay by your side in case you woke up

as he sat there he would play some of his video games and tell you all about it like he normally would, but this time you weren't able to respond

Malleus:

Malleus didn't have a lot of people he treasured in his life

those in Diasomnia were like his family, but you were actually his family so he treasured you dearly

he was always looking out for you and doing everything he could to make sure you were happy, and you wanted the same for him

so when the doctor had informed you of your illness and what would happen, you didn't want to tell him

Malleus would be crushed at the news

He had always been someone who was lonely

and you were like the one person he had that wasn't required to be around him

if he were to learn that you would soon be taken away from him, he wouldn't be able to cope

and you wanted to see him happy as long as you would be here

you couldn't tell him and instead kept it hidden from everyone

Malleus never questioned it much when you ran off to the bathroom

he would just ask if you were alright and once you said you were, he wouldn't ask past that

and so many days and even weeks past as you spent time with Malleus

he seemed happy and you were happy to see him like that

but it was when you were going on one of his gargoyle walks when the world started to spin

you wanted to ignore it and act natural before Malleus could notice, but it was all to much

your legs seemed more tired than usual and you fell to the ground

you could hear Malleus ask you repeatedly what was wrong but you couldn't answer

then the world faded to black

The great Malleus Draconia was terrified

you weren't responding to him and he didn't know what was wrong

his healing magic was amazing, but he couldn't heal injuries he didn't know about

so he picked you up and teleported the two of you to the infirmary

the doctor had to stop whatever they were already doing when the fae prince himself demanded his assistance

and the doctor checks up on you and tells Malleus everything

you were sick, now in a coma, and you were running out of time

the room was quiet for a minute as Malleus processed what the doctor said

and then, thunder

the worst thunderstorm Night Raven College has ever seen has been summoned

lightning was striking all around the campus and many students were taking shelter while terrified

but the infirmary was the safest place from the storm

Malleus sat by your side quietly pondering his thoughts

he was angry

not at you but at your illness for doing this to you, life for cursing you this way, and mostly at himself

he should've been able to see the signs before it got to this point

he should've been there for you

he should've helped you

how ironic it is that one of the most powerful mages was so helpless to save the one person they treasured most of all

Lilia, Silver, and Sebek came to find him after the storm started

and when they did, they didn't even say anything, but felt the heavy atmosphere

Lilia tried providing some comfort, but Malleus just stayed silent

for days after that, his three guards stood outside the infirmary and prevented anyone from disturbing the two of you

the storm persisted and Malleus never left your side

he would sit there for hours silently wishing for you to wake and be okay

even though he knew that was unlikely

but he wouldn't leave and possibly miss you waking up

that was simply one event he wouldn't miss

Malleus was never good at noticing how quickly time passed

but as he sat by your side, he was painfully aware of every passing second that you lie there

[rizelcchi]

Mirror of Goodbyes

How each character who loved you deal with your disappearance.

Part III. Ignihyde and Diasomnia

Ignihyde

Diasomnia

Mirror mirror on the wall, why did you let everyone mourn in sorrow?

- The end

Part I. Heartslabyul and Savanaclaw

Part II. Octavinelle, Scarabia, and Pomefiore

[cyath]

I don't like him but dam is he a fun character to draw

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

Ngl I've been thinking about tev Yuuniverse too but explicitly the part where they all eventually have to die.

Idk I may write this as a one-shot or something if requested yk?

🙋🏽‍♂️🙋‍♀️I volunteer to request

🐱

The Murder of Yuu 

I decided to cut out the opening ceremony and chandelier cause it was boring and not an interesting read, may do a part two with a good and bad ending. It's up to interpretation if Yuu dies or lives.

Tws: Gn! Yuu, Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Potential Gore Tw??, Overall angst and stuff. 9k Words

Ace’s Fireball

“Ahahaha!” The red-head’s grating laugh reverberated in your head. “Anyways, just thought I’d tease you for a bit and I’m glad I did, it’s been a blast! Unlike you two, I actually have classes to get to!” The bratty student sneered at you and your companion before walking off. You simply rolled your eyes and continued your job. You had better things to do than to fight with some snot-nosed brat.

Grim, however, had other plans. “No way you just insulted me like that, Explodey-Head!” “Hah?” The red head glared, amused. “Who’re you callin' names, kitty-cat?” “Why you—“ Grim suddenly spewed out a plume of fire right at Ace making him yelp.

“Oh you wanna play like that, huh?!” Ace yelled. He started to send a few spells Grims way, a few missing and hitting a little too close to you. Instinctively, you backed into the Queen of Hearts statue behind you. “Cut it out you guys!” “Oh shut it, janitor!” Ace snapped, Grim threw another fireball right at Ace, just for him to cast wind redirect it… directly to the statue where you were at. You stared at the ball of flames, knowing there was no way to avoid it as you covered your eyes to try and at least protect them.

“No! Wait!” The prefect yelled before letting out a deafening shriek as the flame made contact with their face, enveloping up their skin and hair within an instant. The redhead froze as a crowd gathered around the scene, horrified murmurs and gasps erupted from within the group.

The prefect crumpled, trying their best to put out the fire and suffocate it while crying out for help. Oh shit, oh shit what has he done?! No! It wasn't his fault that stupid janitor stood where they were! Ace’s mind was in a frenzy, complete panic enveloping him as all he could do was stand in watch, the thought of putting out the poor student not even occurring to him. Grim frantically jumped around them, swatting at the flames and crying out their name. Ace tried to cast a few water spells, but they were reduced to steam the second they made contact with your skin

The familiar tapping of a pair of heels approached him, quicking as they got closer. Oh fuck he was really in trouble now. None of his spells were helping. The headmage approached the scene. “Oh dear god, Yuu!” The crow said horrified, immediately running to their side and using the magic cloak he had to put out the flame. The Prefect stopped flailing and curled into a ball, covering their face as much as they could with the cloak around them. 

Most of their clothes were either burned or singed at this point. The fingers that peaked out, looked as if they were melting as they pulled the cloak even further onto them to hide their face. “Everyone dismissed!” The mage yells out with a newfound rage, scooping up the student and rushing to the nurses office. The crowd dispersed, all trying to get back to class except for two. “H…henchman… HENCHMAN!” Grim shrieked before running off after Crowley 

And Ace just stood there, the events of everything weighing in on him. He should consider himself lucky that the headmage was too busy with Yuu to even try and figure out what happened, but instead he felt sick. The students hands and legs shook as he tried to move.

He's so sorry…

Deuce’s Recklessness

“Get away from that thing!” Grim shrieks as he sprints on all fours, running out of the mine. “But the magestone!” Deuce cries out. “We need the magestone!” “We need to be alive to get it!” Ace huffs as he pulls on Deuce’s arm to drag him out of the mines.

“No, we can't give up like this!” Deuce yells out before pulling his arm away. “Deuce! What the hell are you doing?!” Yuu cried out as the card soldier ran back into the mines, directly to the strange monster within it. “Stoones! The stones are MINE!” It screeched as it sped up to meet with Deuce.

“I can't get kicked out! I need to risk it—“ Deuce desperately wheezed. He would slide between the monster's legs and back into the mines to grab that stone, even if it killed him! Deuce was so tunnel-visioned in his own plan, he didn't even see the pickaxe ready to swing down on him.

“Deuce!” Yuu cried out. It was the last thing he heard before he felt himself being pushed into the side of the cave wall. The runner’s back collided with the rocks behind him as he collapsed onto his knees. Where he sat gave him the perfect view of what was about to happen.

Yuu pushed their entire body into him to get him out of the way, making the prefect in turn take Deuce’s place in front of the blot. As they fell, Deuce realized there was no way for them to possibly avoid the attack coming down on them. He felt sick as he watched the concerned face in front of him contort into a cry, their eyes widening as the pick lodged itself into the spine of the magicless student, coming out through their stomach

The prefect wretched, gagging as they started to cough up blood. “YUU!” Deuce panicked, throwing himself over to where Yuu was in an attempt to try and save them, just for them to be dragged into the darkness of the cave. Yuu cried out in pain as the monster held them by the pick, crying out for it to stop.

“No… NO!” Deuce was frozen as he watched the silhouette of the creature take out the pickaxe, just to lodge it into the crumpled figure’s head. “Henchman!” Grim cried. “C’mon let's go!” Deuce felt Ace grab onto his arm to pull him back onto his feet and drag him out of the cave. He felt like he was going to throw up.

“Fuck…” Ace huffed, panting, staring in disbelief at the cave in front of him. Grim also stared, face completely blank as he sat where he stood, as if processing what just happened. Deuce wretched, covering his mouth. He was so stupid! He should have never been so… so… stupid! That student, who he barely learned the name of, died because of him. Died protecting him. Just because of his stupidity. 

It was all his fault.

Riddle Overblot

“Riddle…” Trey panted, brushing the hair out of Riddle’s sweat-slicken face. The clover's face paint was smeared and his hair disheveled, hat nowhere to be seen as the man adjusts his cracked glasses. This was the first time Riddle has ever seen his friend like this. He looked panicked, shaken up. 

Something was wrong. Why did his body hurt so much? Why was his head pounding?

“Trey…?” His voice was hoarse and dry. 

“What… what happened…” The last thing he remembers was being angry… “What… what did I do?'' The last line came out weak. 

Looking over, he saw a certain problem freshman approach him, shaking with rage and tears in his eyes. His mind kept telling him to stop, that he shouldn't look at what his dorm members were crowding around, but he pushed himself up on his arms.

He was immediately hit with the scent of iron hanging heavy in the air, smell making him nauseous as it assaulted his senses. As he sat up he noticed how Cater and Deuce seemed to tense up, fear in their eyes. They were completely on edge. Ace stopped in front of Riddle, opening his mouth in an attempt to yell at him before closing it as a sob came out instead.

In that moment he realized what happened. “Who did I… Who was it?” Riddle’s voice shook as Ace glared. “Who?” Trey looked away from him, Riddle pushed himself up to his feet as he saw who Deuce stood in front of protectively as the other students backed away in fear, even Cater hiding the crowd. The spade and heart didn’t budge. Even Grim stood strong.

It was Yuu. The student who has been nothing but kind and concerned over him. The one that he berated and criticized over and over. The one he was never nice to once throughout their time at NRC. Their body now impaled through a rose bush, some of the thorny branches weaving under their skin and poking out like it was growing into them. They were not dead yet though.

Their chest twitched in an attempt to breathe and Deuce held their head up for up so they wouldn't suffocate on their own spit. With his other hand he attempted a few healing spells, but each one fizzled out from inexperience. “Dammit! Will one of you just help me!” He cried out to the crowd, but no one came.

Yuu’s eyes were watery as let out a sob. “I dont…” they wheezed. “I don't want to die like this! I never…” “Shh shh, save your energy.” Ace commanded, helping Deuce with holding them up and using the tie around his neck as makeshift bandages. “I never got to see the world…” the prefect continued. “Don’t say that!” Grim yapped. 

“I don't want to die like this, surrounded by strangers! I don't want to die alone!” Tears started to fall from everyone as the student spoke manically, each word faster than the last. “I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to be with my family! My friends! Not here! Not like this!…” The prefect started hyperventilating, now in complete hysterics. “Yuu, please!” Deuce sobbed. “I don't….” Yuu’s eyes started to glaze over. “I don't…”

Riddle shook, tears streaming down his face as hesitantly reached out his hand just to receive glares from the trio in front of him. “I’m sorry…” He stuttered. “Im so sorry…” Ace suddenly seems to snap. “Sorry isn't going to do shit! It’s not gonna bring them back!” The heart shakes, hatred evident in his eyes.

He was right.

Ruggie’s Slip-up

“Get back here!” Grim yelled as Ruggie snickered, gripping onto all of the magical pens he snagged from the freshmen. Poor poor freshies, not knowing where to stick their nose. It’s their fault they got involved. 

“Dammit he's fast!” Ace wheezed. “Don't let him get away!” the spade next to him spoke, following right on his tail. Oh this was too easy! A simple turn and he's— As Ruggie turned the corner, the flash of a camera blinded him. He blinked to see no other than Yuu, ghost camera in hand. “Caught you.” 

Shit shit shit. Did they have enough evidence? Ruggie began to sweat before he lunged at the prefect, aiming for the camera in their hand. But the prefect was slick, easily dodging the attempt. Hmph, fine, what can a simple magicless human do against this!

“Laugh with me!” Ruggie smirked as he took control of the prefect's body, what he didn’t account for was Yuu’s position— and his magic was not immune to gravity. What he planned on doing was making Yuu hand the camera to them, what he didn't realize was just how close they were to the edge of the balcony and that they were still airborne from jumping away from him.  Yuu gasped as their arm stuck out behind them, making them no longer able to catch themselves as they hit the balustrade and fell off the edge down to the ground below. 

Ruggie froze. “Yuu!” A choir of voices exclaimed as they rushed to the railing where Yuu fell from looking over. He has to retreat, now, the prefect should be fine, it's not that high up! Panicking, Ruggie dropped the magical pens in an unspoken apology as he ran off. “Holy shit that's a lot of blood…” he heard one of the freshies say. Pfft how is that possible unless they broke a bone or hit their h…ead…

Ruggie peaked over the railing as he ran, though it was far away his hyena eyes locked on to the ground below. The ghost camera’s parts were scattered across the field, and blood was splattered everywhere, originating from their head now cracked open. 

Adrenaline kicked in, and Ruggie started running faster. It was an accident, he tells himself, they'll be fine, he's done some bad stuff before but he’d never kill someone! They couldn't pin it on him anymore anyways! It was just an accident. 

It was just an accident!

Leona Overblot

Leona felt his head pounding as he sat up. The lion let out a groan as he rubs his head and looks around. Piles of sand surrounded him, and he sees some of the freshmen shakily get up, heavily bruised. Those damned Diasomnia dogs also stood about on their guard as the smallest one, Lilia, seemed to sift for the sand as if looking for something. Riddle himself was on his knees as he dug, allowing himself to get filthy. 

Across from him Ruggie sits, holding his arm that was dry and cracked from his Unique Magic. An attempt on his own vice leader's life. The hyena warily glares at him, more fearful than angry as he stares at something behind Leona. “Ruggie… I…” “Do you remember what you did?” Another voice cuts in, Lilia’s.

The lion looked at the fae that stood beside him, noting at how frantic the freshmen were in the background, digging through sand piles, even Jack was in his wolf form as raced around them. “I overblotted… Didn’t I?” Lilia’s gaze was unreadable, he didn’t look angry, however the neutral expression he had was mixed with pity. Ruggie pushes himself further away from Leona. “You did more than that,” he wheezes out as he scoots back, staring at someone behind Lilia. Leona turns to look only to see the lizard bastard walking through the sand, his guards on either side of them.

What happened? Why is everyone so worried? Why are those stupid freshmen digging about? Actually wait, where's that ramshackle scavenger? “Kingscholar,” Malleus paused, voice filled with disbelief, “What have you done?” What did he do? He didn't do whatever he think he did… right…?

With a wave of Malleus' hand, he blows away the sand gently, leaving behind a large pile of what looked like ash. Was that…?

Deuce immediately ran over, allowing himself to skid on the ground kicking up dust as examined the pile. Ace, Grim, Riddle, Jack and even Lilia kneeled down at it. “I feel something!” Riddle gasps, pushing off blackened sand to reveal an arm sticking out. The others start to carefully dig out the figure from the sand as Leona could only watch, unable to stand up. Malleus along with his retainers joined.

Leona could see the body emerge from the sand, their head carefully cradled and laid onto Malleus’ lap as the fae examined their tear-stained face covered in a layer of dust. There wasn't an inch of skin on them that wasn't dried or cracked, some of it completely breaking off to sand, muscle was exposed and oozed blood. “Careful, try not to touch them, they're still alive.” Lilia's calm voice leaves no room for argument. 

Riddle carefully holds his hand over Yuu’s body, warm light emanating from it to soothe the prefect's pain. Yuu lets out a strangled wheeze, and suddenly turns their head to the side and hacks up a mix of sand, bile, and blood. “Fuck, I’m sorry!” They cry out, wheezing, trying to catch their breath. “Back away. I’ll take care of it.” Malleus demands as the sky turns dark and cloudy. Everyone obeys, and Malleus gestures with his fingers, making whatever remains of Yuu float upwards.

Their clothes were tattered and you couldn’t even see a patch of skin on them that wasn't drowned out by cracks or blood, even their eyelids were cracked, making tears leak out easier. “It hurts… it hurts so fucking much…” Leona swallowed, standing up as he saw double and reaching out to Yuu in front of him.

“Away from the young master!” Sebek said through gritted teeth, surprisingly quiet as to not disturb Yuu further. “You have done enough already! Now stay back!” The half-fae scowled, eyes watery. Leona retracts his hand and stares at it, ignoring all the murderous stares sent his way.

He really does destroy everything, doesn’t he?

Jade’s Mistake

Jade was a calculating eel. Everything he does is done with purpose, from what he cooks to what he says, to what emotions he shows. Jade is aware of his strength as well.

Like his brother, he knows when to reign it in and hold back, humans are so much more fragile than mers, after all. He doesn’t need to use a lot of force with how dense his bones were from living in the ocean, still he does test out various assortments of forces on others. Everyone around him was his personal lab rat really, he's quite fine with being alone.

If anyone expected one of the twins to take it too far, they would have never expected it to be Jade. Jade could hardly believe it himself either. He was just doing business as usual. Jade simply had to make sure the naive little freshmen got a reality check. There was no way they could ever win against the contract they made. Azul sent them out to make sure of that, yet this human, a magicless one, of all things, seeks to oppose them? How utterly interesting, and here he thought the prefect was boring.

The freshmen's spells were nothing noteworthy, his brother's magic made it so that he didn’t even need to attempt to dodge. And yet, that magicless little prefect charged onwards despite having no way of defending themselves, as if they actually expected to somehow slip past him. Jade chuckled, making a show of his eel form as raised his tail and then dipped down to the sand, not giving Yuu a chance to react as his tail snatched them up, coiling around their waist and arms, binding them.

Floyd squealed with laughter as he watched his brother come back up to him with Yuu in tow as they kicked and squirmed, struggling against the slippery eel. “Hey! Let my henchman go!” Grim snarled as Jade flaunted the prefect in front of him. “I do wonder, do you still plan on attacking us when there's a possibility you can hurt your darling prefect?” “Dammit!” Jack huffs, and all the freshmen look at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Yuu however has not given up, they have a fire of defiance in their eye that turns Jade intrigue to excitement. They were smart, he noted, the prefect kept their arms out to their side in order to give them the most space they could muster, though it didn't matter much with his grip. They used their bound arms and their hands to push against his tail, in an attempt to unravel it, even twisting their body to loosen Jade’s hold. In response, Jade squeezed ever so tighter, yet they still didn’t give up.

They thrashed again, making Floyd cackle and Jade chuckle. This time the prefect was using their own biology against him, using the mucus on his body as a form of lubrication in an attempt to slide out despite the tight hold. Jade decided to entertain them, slightly loosening his hold on them to see the flash of hope in their eyes, before squeezing even tighter.

The prefect wheezed, then snapped their head down in attempt to bite him, only to have their face held back by him by yanking back their hair. “Aw, you poor unfortunate soul~ In pain, in need.” Jade didn’t bother to hide his sadistic smirk. “Let go of them!” Deuce yelled, making Floyd shriek with laughter once again. Yet despite everything, Yuu still kicked, still squirmed. Just how much would it take for them to stop? It would be a great experiment~

Jade tightened his grip, not even allowing for the slight squirm, yet the prefect continued to kick their legs out, this time more panicked. Tighter, and tighter, and— Crack!

Floyd suddenly snapped his head over his brother, looking at his prey. “Yuu? YUU!” Ace was the first to try and swim up to the tweel, not caring if he was attacked. The prefect's eyes were glossy, their body stiff, but they were alive as they writhed in pain. Jade completely unraveled around Yuu, allowing them to slip out. He grabbed at them, trying to assess the injury done to them, just for them to pull away. He assumed they were going to swim off to Ace but they didn’t.

They cough out bloody air bubbles as they hold their throat as if they were suffocating, before using what was left of their strength to swim up towards the surface. The tweels understood immediately. Jade wrapped his tail around them gently, and Floyd gripped onto him to help propel them to the surface faster, the student shivering the whole time.

Once they breached, Yuu took a deep breath of air before throwing up seawater trapped in their lungs. Jade laid out on the surface to give Yuu more of an area to work with as he tried to see what was broken. Yuu was still shivering for some reason, was it just adrenaline? 

“Little shrimp, are you okay?” Floyd asked, voice laced with panic. In the distance the other freshmen breach the surface, looking around for the tweels that blended in with their environment seamlessly. Yuu seemed to gurgle. Despite the fact they had air, they were still suffocating. But from what?

Suddenly Yuu coughed more blood, trying to choke in air as they crumpled onto Jade, smearing his chest a deep red. They shivered more and more. The realization hit Jade. “Their ribs must punctured their lungs.” Jade notes, and he tries to sit Yuu's body up as it starts to go limp. 

“Yuu!” Grim huffs as he swims over to the tweels and reaches out to his leader. “Geez, you're freezing! Come on, come on! Let's get you back to some heat!” Jade's eyes widened further as another realization hit him. Grim and the other freshmen were completely dry still from the effects of their potion. Yuu on the other hand has goosebumps all over their body and trembled. The potion must have worn off when their lungs were punctured, and now it was a race between them choking on their blood and hypothermia.

“Yuu!” Deuce cried out, “Give them back, we need to take them to the nurse!” They were practically already dead. “Shrimpy? Shrimpy? Little shrimp! Hey!” Floyd lightly shook the human. “They won't make it to the nurse. Our best bet is a mer doctor.” Jade suddenly commanded, casting a warming spell on his body. “Floyd, using a water breathing spell, hurry!” 

The freshmen cursed at the eels as they swam off in a frenzy, Yuu cradled gently in Jade's arms as the two glid through the water with ease. “Hang in there prefect, help is almost here.” Jade spoke, though for once it was more to soothe himself as adrenaline and guilt coursed through him. 

Humans really were weak, huh?

Floyd’s Mistake

As you imagine, it was during the photo heist of book 3 as well. It just so happened that this time, Yuu ended up in Floyd’s grasp instead. His slip up could have been seen a mile away. Everyone expected it, they just never expected it to be so violent. 

Floyd liked the little shrimpy! They were fun and squishy and never boring! They always got into some sort of trouble, and here they were literally signing up for it as they signed the contract that started it all. Even when he confronted them in the cafeteria, they would shy away until he started to mess with their friends, then suddenly the little shrimp became a mantis shrimpy.

To say Floyd was excited to meet shrimpy in the water was an understatement, he was elated! He couldn't wait to see how his little shrimp would fight back against the big bad eels! Would they be boring and give up? Or will they fight to the very end?

Floyd relished the panicked expression on their face when they saw the shadow of his figure in the water before he came into the view. The shock became a fiery determination that Floyd was going to have fun toying with. The annoying freshies fired their annoying spells at him that he didn’t even entertain dodging, opting to just use his magic instead.

The little shrimp had no magic, so what were they gonna do in the water? Floyd looked at the group of freshies just to see that Yuu wasn't there. Did the shrimpy decide to go back? That doesn’t seem like shrimpy though. Floyd looked around, just for his eyes to catch onto a small figure hiding amongst the seaweed during all of the crossfire. Ah so that's what shrimpy’s trying to do! What a smart little shrimpy!

The eel cackles maniacally as he dives down and snaps his tail around Yuu in a violent motion, knocking the wind out of them in one move. Floyd then swims back to Jade, showing off his catch. “Jade, looky looky~ I caught myself a little shrimpy!~” Floyd teases as he gently shakes the prefect.

“Hold your spells, they got Yuu!” Jack warned the others as they held back a spell, cursing under their breaths.  “Ahahah! Whatcha small fry gonna do now?” Floyd teases. “Floyd, you should consider binding your preys arms, you know?” “Eh but it's boring if they can't do anything, huh shrimpy?” Floyd uses the remainder of his tail to make Yuu nod before laughing again.

Yuu swings as Floyd, just for the eel to lean back. “Nice try!~” The eel's voice suddenly drops lower into a more threatening and serious tone. “You don't seriously think you're winning, are you?” Yuu kicks and pushes at the tail wrapped around them. “Okay I get we're fighting but you're squeezing too tight Floyd! It hurts!” Yuu uses their fists to pound against Floyds tail.

“Oh yeah? Really? I say its not tight enough…” “Floyd.” His brother's warning falls on deaf fins as Floyd leans in face-to-face with Yuu before squeezing tighter, making Yuu cough and tear up. Just as Floyd was about to let go, satisfied with his warning, Yuu suddenly shoves their fingers into the gills on Floyd’s neck violently gripping the slits of flesh. “Let go of me, you fucking bastard! I can’t breathe!” The prefect screams.

Floyd lets out a strangled gasp as he coughs, the feeling of Yuus nails scratching the inside of his throat making him feel nauseous. Their other hand finds the gills on his sides and pinches them roughly. Floyd then violently digs his claws into Yuu’s arm, making them straighten out their fingers in pain, enough for him to yank them out with ease. Yuu let out a cry of pain, but he doesn't loosen his grip at all, rather driving his claws in deeper. His other hand grabs onto Yuu’s neck in effort to push them away further without compromising his hold.

“Bad shrimpy!” Floyd yells. “Floyd please, I'm sorry but I need to—“ Snap.

“Shrimpy?” Yuu was limp, Floyd shook them slightly. “Hey shrimpy! This isn't funny! Shrimpy! Come on, Shrimpy!” There was no response. “Yuu… I…” A blast of flora hits Floyd in the chest, making him drop Yuu, the prefect unable to hold up their own head. “Get them and get out!” Grim yelps as the trio of students go to grab their friend. Deuce holds onto Yuu, holding their head carefully and applying pressure to the puncture wounds on their neck.

Floyd freezes and looks at his grip on their arm. His claws threatened to go all the way through and the bones were both now broken. Yuu let out a painful shriek, but it was off, garbled. Floyd looks over to his grip on Yuu's neck, his claws digging deep into their throat.

“Guys, they aren't breathing!” Deuce’s voice is shrill with terror. “Get them back through the portal now!” Jack yells. The students all book it back to NRC. Floyd watches with Jade, before the two start to swoop in, hoping they can help the group get back faster just to have a fireball thrown at them.

“You! You've both done enough! Stay away from my human!” Grim growls. “I understand your reservations but we're trying to help.” Jade attempts to soothe. “Yeah right! Like I trust you! I don't care if I get beat up here, which I won't! I'm not letting you hurt them!” Grim stands strong, unleashing another fireball for them to dodge

"You twins wouldnt get it, you have each other! You've always had each other, a nice family, a home! I never had any of that! Then one day, BAM the nicest henchman ever appears and helps me get into my dream school!” Grim is sobbing at this point.

“And they supported me the whole way through! Even though I’m not even human! Even when I get in trouble, they still treat me like I'm the best thing that ever happened to them despite my race! And now they might..!” Grim shakes. 

“I'm not letting you near them! Not now! Not ever!”

Azul Overblot

Azuls eyes fluttered open, blurry vision clearing up to see Jade kneeling over him. “Are you up? Can you see me okay? Can you hear me?” “Yes… yes I can…” His throat hurt, his body was sore. “Follow my hand…” Jade waves his hand over Azul’s face to see if his eyes track it. Azul shuts his eyes for a moment before opening them again to look at Jade, his hair a disheveled mess. He could hear Floyd crying in the background.

“What… What happened? What’s going on??” Azul rubbed his forehead as he sat himself up. “It's Yuu! They’re dead!” “What?!” Azul snapped himself up just to hold his head in pain at the sudden movement. “Don’t say that!” Grim screeches at Floyd. “They can pull through!”

“Stop hovering!” Leona barks at Floyd as he props up the prefect on his lap. “We need to give them CPR now before anything else, they won't even be able to make it to the nurses otherwise.” Leona says as he ties back his hair. “You guys, their ribs are gonna have to break even more, prepare to heal them.” Leona presses his mouth to the prefects, blowing in air and giving rough chest but rhythmic chest compressions to them, the sound of cartilage crackling and snapping made Azul cringe inwardly as an invertebrate as he looked over at Yuu.

Their skin was paler than before from the lack of oxygen was the first thing he noticed, it was hard to really see what he had done with the amount of people crowding them. As he shakily stood up, he watched as other dorm members slowly back away from him in fear. This is what he always wanted, why does it feel wrong now?

Looking over Leona, he froze at the sight of Yuu’s body, they looked like they were stretched out, certain parts of them looked crushed or exploded. There was suction all over them, most of them taking off the skin underneath from how hard they gripped onto them. Azul trembled and he looked over at Jade, who’s expression was unreadable until he looked at him, a sad disappointment in his eyes, like he expected better.

Floyd on the other hand looked utterly distraught as he held onto Yuu’s hand, mumbling about the shrimpy staying strong under his breath. Ruggie was for once, concerned about someone else besides himself as he watches Yuu completely unsettled. 

Jack looks up at Azul before looking away as if offended to even keep eye contact with him. The others were too focused on Yuu to even notice except Ace, who had nothing but malice in his eyes. “Was anything ever enough for you?” He spat. “You had everything! But it was never enough, huh?!” “Ace not now,” Deuce nudged the red head. “Fine, but I will say that at least now people will never mess with you again! Just like you wanted, right?” Deuce nudges Ace again. As the CPR continues for an uncomfortable amount of time, Azul realizes the possibility that Yuu is probably gone for good. Azul teared up.

He always was that pathetic little crybaby.

Jamil Overblot

“Now GO!” Jamil screeched, throwing the group of mages that opposed onto the broken pillar of the dorm. He lifted the pillar up with a wave of his hand and set to aim it at the horizon, until he saw them. That damned prefect that started it all.

If it wasn't for them, he would have won, he would be free right now! His eyes darkened as he locked onto them, grinning wryly at the fearful expression on their face. He held out his hand to Yuu in a flicking motion, the floating pillar staying in place. “Yuu get out of the way!” Floyd rasped, voice on the verge of giving out from how much we was screeching.

Flick.

The pillar flew straight into Yuu’s abdomen, sending the entire squad flying way out in the distance. A sense of peace filled the young man's mind as he relaxed, allowing his brainwashed servants to care for him. The weight of what he just did not set in on him. In his mind he now won, and he remembers the weight of everything lifted off his shoulders as his reign continued.

The very next thing he remembered is his pounding head, and a muffled voice resonated in his head, his ears were ringing and everything around him was so bright. “…mil… Jamil…. Jamil!” The viper’s eyes shoot open and he takes a deep breath of air. “Jamil!” Kalim cries, crushing Jamil into a hug and sobbing.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry… I didn’t know how you’ve been feeling this whole time! If I knew, this would have never happened. We could have been best friends! You wouldn’t have blotted! And… Yuu…” The mere mention of their name, makes Jamil push himself up harshly, the blurry memory of what happened moments before weighing in. Fuck, fuck, fuck that pillar! That’s at least a broken rib, and at worst…

“Floyd, stop crowding them, they need space right now!” Azul scolds in the background, Jamil’s gaze follows the voice and he forgets to breathe. “Prop them on their side, both their back and ribs are too injured. Focus your magic on this point," "Yes, Jade!” A few of the students say. Jamil stares at the body in front of him, borderline unrecognizable. Their front looked as though it was caved in, and as they are turned to their side he saw that most of the muscle and skin looked as though it was shredded off of them, whatever skin they had left was covered in friction burns. Clothes they once wore, now scraps.

Jamil doesn’t feel relief in the slightest when he hears them let out a weak, strangled cry of pain. The fact they’re alive at all is a miracle, but death would have been a much better mercy. When they recover, would they even be able to be the same? The wary glances from the other dorm members in the room tell him they’re all thinking the same thing.

“Hey! Let us in, let us in!” A few voices ring out in the distance, and Grim perks up. “Deuce! Ace!” The cat cries out, refusing to move from Yuu’s side. The pair burst into the common room, out of breath. “Grim, we got your guy’s message! Are you okay where’s—“ Deuce freezes, trembling when he sees what the cat stood in front of. “N-no way… please don't tell me that's…” 

Ace turns his hands into fists. “Who did this?! Which one of you did this to them?! I fucking kill you!” Jamil spaces out, only able to stare at the back of his most unfortunate victim. The voices in the background of the trios arguing in the background faded as he allows Kalim to shake and hug him.

He was never going to get his freedom.

Vil Overblot

“..il…Vil!” Vil groggily opened his eyes to the sound of Rook's voice, sitting himself up as he looked around. “You’re alright…” Another voice said, but it was strained and weak. “We thought you were dead.” The leader tried to look at the source of the voice, just for his vision to blur. He blinked a few times and pinched the bridge of his nose before opening his eyes again tiredly, just for his tired expression to change to horror.

“Yuu?!” Vil boomed before letting out a cough. The magicless student in front of him looked horrible, acid burns across their arms and part of their face that burned off the first few layers of skin along with pitch black, discolored veins that surged with poison even after his blot. They had a pained expression as they panted, shaking as they stood and gripped one of their arms.

Some of their skin looked like it was already peeling. Epel had the student lean on him as Jamil casted some restoration magic on them, just for it to fizzle out or be ineffective. A frustrated and baffled expression grew on the scarabian's face. Ignoring his own dizziness, Vil stood up with the help of Rook. He approached Yuu who was on the verge of passing out.

Charging up his own curing magic in his hand forming a ball, he held it close to Yuu before unleashing it. Everyone around him looked relieved and Kalim was practically beaming. A bright flash of light blinded the group before fading and everyone looked at Yuu expectantly, waiting for their blackened veins to fade. A few seconds passed, then a minute. Nothing was happening.

“Are they okay now?” Kalim asked dumbly. “Do they look okay?” Ace rebuttals. No, something was wrong. It was his spell, his poison, why wasn’t it working? Searching through his mind through all of his knowledge of poisons, he casts another spell to try and counteract it instead. Nothing happens. Panic started setting in. His expression grew more and more concerned, making the students around him worry. 

“Good grief what happened here…” Another voice echos among the ruins of the stage. “M-Malle-“ Deuce stuttered out, unable to finish the name. “Oh, hey Tsunotaro! You… came at a bad time…” “Tsunotaro?!” Jamil, Rook, Vil, and the freshmen erupt. “Dude are you trying to get finished off?!” Ace whisper-yells.

At the sight of his injured friend, Malleus’ expression becomes shocked, then grows dark. “Child of Man, what happened?” The group all went silent, even Vil didn’t speak. He wanted to claim responsibility then and there, but he knew that right now, Malleus would only listen to Yuu. Yuu tries to speak, starting a sentence just to stop.

“I… I don't know… I don't know what I was thinking…” “Come with me, you require serious medical help.” Malleus offers his hand for Yuu to take and put their weight on. “But the stage…” “You’re concerned about the stage in your state?” “… Crowley is probably going to blame me for it…”

Malleus pauses, and raises his hand, the rubble of the stage lifting back up to reassemble itself. As the others stare in awe, Malleus leaves with Yuu in his arms.

***

Vil was about to open the door to the nurses office until he heard two voices talking. It was Malleus and some of the medical staff he assumed.

“Mr… sir… uhh. Prince Malleus, about your friend…”

“Yes? What about them?”

“Do you happen to know their blood type? We have tested their blood and it’s not like anything we have seen before, hell the dna samples we took they’re… otherworldly…”

“I see… If that's the case…” Malleus sighs. “I don’t know anything relating to their health.”

“We are trying every treatment we can for magic or poisons but none are effective, sir, they are completely… ineffective.”

“I see…”

“Um… Prince Malleus, I do not mean to be rude but um, could your magic be used to heal them..?”

Vil’s breath hitched.

“I cannot. I originally planned to use a curing spell and then take them into Diasomnia for recovery, but my magic didn't work either.”

“How…? Are they cursed or something?!

“Perhaps it is because of their origin—”

Vil felt sick. He was killing them slowly.

Grim’s Freakout

You hoped to examine that strange blot gem that Vil dropped, and made sure to take extra precautions hiding it from Grim. As dumb as it sounded, you felt as though these were important somehow, that maybe they can help you find your way home. You placed it down on the nightstand after examining before heading off to use the bathroom. In retrospect, you probably should have put it up or hid it, as when you came out of the bathroom you immediately heard the familiar sound of your companion crunching down on something. 

“Agh! Grim, no! Don’t!” Yuu rushed into the room but was too late, not even a shard of the gem was left. “Grim! I told you to stop eating those!” Grims mind was hazy as his body started processing the effects of the gem, Yuu's voice faded in and out. “I hid from you cause I KNEW… And now what?! That was my only lead… I’ve been here for a YEAR fixing everyone’s problems…. And I just want to— Grim? Grim, are you okay?”

Grim looked up at the human that was reprimanding them. For a moment, he recognizes them, their stressed and tear-stained face made him feel bad for a moment, until his vision blurred. He grabbed his head in pain and felt himself being worriedly picked up and examined. “Grim! Hey! Grim!”

When his vision returned, the world was darker, the face that was a friend now foe as it was blacked out and blurry. “Grim are you—AAGHHH! NO STOP PLEASE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS?! YOU’RE MY FRIEND!”

***

Deuce and Ace ran into the Ramshackle dorm at the emergency text they received.

> Theres aN emercy at ramshckle! SOmething happened to Grim please hirty

Yuu would never mess around like this for a prank. Something bad must have happened, they run through the halls and practically body slam into the mirror leading to Ramshackle. From there they run through into the dorm. “YUU! Hey Yuu! YuuuuUUUUU!”

Ace yelled out before panting. “I swear if its nothing…” “Come on let's go check their room.” Deuce offers, taking the lead up the stairs and wiping the sweat off his brow. “Yuu!” He calls, “We got your text…” Ace grumbled and followed Deuce, lagging slightly. Deuce reaches the top, freezing when he hears a soft sob. “Did you hear that?” “Hear what?”

Deuce sighs, a serious expression emerging as he quickens his pace to the door. “Yuu? Are you in there?” Deuce knocked on the door just for it to open as he did so. Ace looked at his friend as he made his way over. He watched as Deuce's expression become terrified before turning into utter devastation. His wide eyes glaze with tears and he covers his mouth with his hands, gagging slightly.

“Geez man what did you s—“ Ace stood next to Deuce and was immediately hit with the scent of blood and something burning, he glanced at the floor which had a blood trail coming out of the room. Following the trail slowly, he stared into the room and froze. He felt as though he was going to puke.

Blood and soot covered everything. The curtains and furniture along with the walls have scorch marks and dried blood on them. The sheets and mattress of the bed were torn up and soaked with blood, blankets still smoking from the recent flames that were put out. The mirror on the wall was pitch black. Worst of all was Yuu.

They were curled into a ball in the center of the bed, trying their best to cover their face, or what remained of it. There were claw marks exposing bones of the prefect's skull, which was completely drenched in their own blood. Some of the wounds cauterized from the flames that were blown on them. Fingers melted together. Patches of skin looked as though they were still burning, yet worst of all were their eyes.

The eyelids on one of their eyes were torn off, exposing their eyeball that stared off in the distance, and the other appeared to be soldered shut. Ace shook. “Holy shit… Holy shit!” Ace gags, and the sound elicits another sob from Yuu. “Holy shit! You're… You're alive!”

Deuce moves first, running over and cradling Yuu’s face looking for a pulse. Ace follows and reaches out before retracting a hand, not knowing what to do. “I’m… I… Cmon, let's take them to the nurse!” “On it.” Ace helps Deuce lift the prefect, pulling out his phone and messaging his Dormleader with the news, begging him to contact Crowley.

They couldn’t die like this.

Idia Overblot

Idia awoke to the sound of sirens blaring. In his tired state, he didn’t recognize what it was at first, the sirens screeching faint before getting louder. Idia jerked awake from where he was and was greeted by a sobbing Ortho who practically squeezed him. “Ortho? I… Eh… What’s going on?” The announcer on the speakers kept repeating the word “Overblot In Progress'' like a mantra, before Ortho gave the command to shut off the sound, red lights still flash and all screens on the walls keep the warning up. That was strange, he was no longer blotted, and any phantom that unfroze should have been frozen again.

Idia gets up from the bench he was laid on and looks around, recognizing that he’s in one of the many lab rooms of Styx. Many scientists hovering around the holograms projected on the table or at the computers mashing their keyboards. The previous blots, along with Rook and Epel were also hovering around the tables with wide-eyed expressions. “Ortho what's happening?”

“Shroud!” One of the scientists yells. “There is an emergency, we need your guidance!” “Wh…” Idia’s head felt like it was splitting in half. Looking around he cant help but feel someone is missing, but he didn’t have time to think about it. “Ortho, report!”

“There’s an abnormal Overblot occurring down in the phantom chambers! We have never seen anything like it before!” “Abnormal? What do you mean by that?” Epel interrupts, spitting words with a venom and letting his accent out. “It means ma best pardner who happens t' be magicless is currently filled with blot!” “That’s not possible! What do y…”

Idia pushed through the other members around the table seeing what was unfolding. A menacing figure stood in the middle of phantoms, all of which pushing and stampeding across each other to reach them. The figure looked like a huge humanoid made of ink, limbs abnormally long and outstretched reminding Idia of some beast from a soulsborne game. Its face was blank aside from two glowing eyes that keep getting brighter and brighter, within them, you can see a figure trapped within the beast.

Idia immediately started typing on one of the keyboards, attempting to input the freeze command just for it to fail over and over. He sweated as he tried to input a few others, just for the same error to pop up. “C’mon c’mon c’mon…” Idia opened the code to try and troubleshoot, if any of the phantoms reach where Yuu is—

“HENCHMAN!” Grim screamed, making Idia nearly crack his neck from how fast he looked up. The phantoms reached the blot creature, immediately being absorbed into the creature, getting bigger and bigger, inky geysers swirled around the figure, then it shook. “Readings say blot implosion is happening sir—-AUGH!”

The entire facility shook. Within an instant, the impossible amount of blot condensed and swirled into the student within the figure. A deep darkness flashed like a light, and suddenly, Yuu was suspended in the air, before they suddenly dropped. For a moment, all the alerts cleared, and zooming in on Yuu showed they were breathing. 

“Ortho can you get a scan?” “Scanning… All vitals are sta…ble…?” “That doesn't sound good…” Leona groaned. The alarms went off again, this time louder and more frequent. “Ortho, turn it down!” “On it!”  A new warning appeared everywhere. “God-Level Phantom detected.” "God level?" Jamil gawked.

“How could this happen?” A few scientists moan. 

“No person would ever do this!”

“Idia, sir! Their DNA! It matches nothing from this world!”

“sir, there has appeared to have been a significant amount of blot in them before!”

Idia paled and a realization hit him. They are not from this world, and so they would have a different reaction to being in contact with blot… They have also been the one common denominator in every blot at NRC, they were in contact with each one, no one has ever been around that many overblots in such a short period of time … That blot. It must have accumulated in them, and they never had enough time to fully heal before their contact with the next one. It must have been clawing its way into them since the very beginning.

Still, a god leveled phantom… Nothing like this has happened since the war of Gods millennia ago! There was no tech that could even handle that… Idia looked at the cameras again. Yuu trembled, before standing—no, floating— to their feet. They looked normal aside with their roughed up clothes, but something felt off. The way they stood, they way their head hung down. It wasn’t Yuu. Black smoke seemed to emanate off them, causing the NRC bunch to start yammering.

They suddenly lifted their head, making direct eye contact with the camera, eyes glowing. Ferrymen rushed into the chamber, all surrounding Yuu before firing their weapons, but nothing hit. The once magicless student just simply raised their hand, lifting everyone in a tidal wave of blot before washing them out. They then grabbed one of the men, tearing off their mic and speaking into it.

“Release us.” Idia paled. “What the hell…” Epel whispered. “Release us… Shroud…” Idia gestured for the intercom. “You know I can’t do that Yuu.” Yuu stayed eerily calm, but this time when they spoke, Idia felt sick. “Please brother… It's been years. I want to be free!” Idia and Ortho shared looks of horror as they went through the stages of grief all at once.

“It's dark down here. I’m scared.” Idia hands shivered. “I’m sorry Ortho, you know what has to happen. Please just… Don’t fight it…” Idia, this time, put in another command, finger hovering over the button. “Ortho, prepare for evacuation.” He pressed the button. The entire chamber started flooding with temperatures reaching lower than ever allowed in the facility, and in a larger amount than ever done before.

Ferrymen and scientists all started escaping and running out of the facilities, the NRC students chauffeured on the hovering vehicles Idia commanded as everyone made it for a safe point on the surface of the ocean. “I can't believe it…” Rook mumbles. “Just like that…” Riddle says in a daze.

The students were all quiet for the first time in the entire trip there. Idia could only stare at the ocean as he sobbed.

“I'm sorry Ortho… I'm sorry Yuu…”

Malleus Overblot

“Can I… Help you with something…?”

The storms over NRC have yet to fade, and each day the weather only seems to get worse. It has been two weeks since that fateful day. Two weeks when he was defeated and everyone was free for the price of them. Two weeks when one of the best humans he has ever known was taken from him.

“They aren’t dead yet, Malleus.” Lilia replied, standing in the doorframe of his room as Malleus continued to stare melancholically out the window. He closed his eyes. “I know.” “So why are you already mourning? There's still hope.” Malleus doesn't respond. “It is unfair to everyone to ruin the weather, you know?” Usually the fae wouldn’t try to push Malleus when he’s already upset, but many of the streets have started flooding on Sage Island.

Silence hung in the air until Malleus broke it. “It’s impossible. They will never wake up.” “They could. It will just take—" "True loves kiss.” Malleus finishes. “But that is impossible for them, and you know it too.” Malleus turned around to look at Lilia, it was one of the rare times you could see the ancient fae mourn as well. “But there is a chance.”

Malleus shook. “The only one that had a chance was Grim for a familial love… but the spell does not for allow monsters.” Silence hung in the air again and before Lilia could open his mouth to speak again, Malleus did. “Please Lilia, leave me be.” Lilia deflated and turned to leave. 

His fingers dig into the windowsill. “Enough!” He booms. “There is no way for them to ever get a true love's kiss in this world. Some stranger cannot develop true love for the idea of them. Every student here has not been true enough to their feelings for them in a proper way for any sort of love to develop, and there is no way it could ever be me, not after what I have done!” 

***

Malleus stood in your room, or rather, your room in Ramshackle. Around and on your bed were offerings of all sorts. Snacks, flora, cards, plushies along with an assortment of other items surrounded you from students across both NRC and RSA. It was probably the only time that foreign students were allowed on campus without issues. 

He stood over you. You are just as peaceful as ever, and the sight of your unconscious body only continues to remind him of what he did. How after you defeated him, and awoken everyone, you seemed tired. And during the brief period of celebration, the fanfare, as everyone woke up and started to appreciate you, you collapsed. 

He worried that it was from a more severe injury he couldn't see. You were a bit roughed up. Some minor burns on your arms and bruises painting your body. There were a few nasty cuts you bled from, but surely they weren't enough to cause blood loss? Students saved you from your fall, checking for injuries and using magic.

A tear fell onto you as he hovered over you, black hair forming a curtain, he didn't even realize he was crying. “Oh dear, I’m sorry about…” The fae couldn't get the words out. He gently wiped the tear off of your face as he admired it closer. You were beautiful. His breath hitched, as he adjusted your face to fit his, then pressed his lips to yours, hoping that by some miracle, it was true love. 

The fae finds it both amusing and frustrating that nearly everyone in this school seemed to have only noticed how much they appreciate and care for you, after you are no longer with them. It's not fair… It's not fair to you at all. You've done so much.

He already knew the answer though. He was one of the students that didn’t allow for his feelings to develop enough for true love. Your still-sleeping face proved that. If only we were more open, if he approached you first…

You’re gone.

[rggie]

“let’s break up” with the housewardens

characters: leona, malleus, idia, vil, azul. likes and rbs are appreciated!!

summary: a heated argument leads to the housewardens genuinely hurting you ￫ a break up : requested by @diavolosbaby

cw: gn!reader, angst, hurt no comfort, unedited

leona kingscholar ┊ won’t relinquish his pride

“let’s just break up,” you say, standing at the edge of his bed. “if you’re not going to even try and apologise, let’s just end this now.”

in times long gone by you’d be laughing together fervently, bodies tangled between those same sheets, faces so close that your noses would bump and your breaths were shared. now, his bed is neatly made. had ruggie been in this morning, or had he done it himself?

leona peeks a single eye open in a languid manner, staring you down as though he were sussing something out about you before closing them again, barely stirring, brooding. “fine.” he croaks, voice raspy from lack of use, forcing impassivity as his tail thrashes against his headboard displaying quite the opposite. “end whatever the hell we are, then.”

your eyes begin to pool as your hands ball into fists, clenching the hem of your sleeves. he couldn’t even say a simple ‘i’m sorry.’ “you’re pathetic, leona.” the ugly feelings are seeping out as tears and cutting words: “you’re a coward.”

leona is used to chagrin, he’s used to fear and he’s used to hatred from others—but when it’s you, when it’s your voice that speaks to him so cold and contemptuously—something shifts in his core. it’s when you’re already out of earshot he sits himself up with some sort of newfound epiphany, the words you had been waiting for all this time finally running off at the mouth.

“i’m sorry,” he calls after you, “i’m sorry—” but he knows he’s too late.

malleus draconia ┊ can’t forgive himself

there’s a point in every unsalvageable relationship where both know it’s over. you had been clinging to a semblance, an empty shell of a relationship for much too long; the absence of communication forcing your relationship into a strained stalemate.

he knows what you’re going to say before you open your mouth, eyes forlorn, cast downwards, devoid their usual shine. “you are breaking up with me, aren’t you.” (it’s less of a question and more of a determiner.) what once was a blue sky thunders with ferocity at your answer, or the lack thereof.

“i never intended to hurt you. i would move heaven and earth for you. i wouldn’t ever dare—” but he did. he was the architect of his own destruction. the argument had been stupid in the first place—he should’ve kept his childish emotions at bay but instead he raised his voice at you. “i love you.” he tells you not because he’s trying to make you stay, but simply because it’s true, meekly reaching for your hand, slender fingers intertwining with yours loosely before moving to his sides again. his yearning for you is timeless: absolute, unwavering and unconditional. even so, you won’t meet his gaze anymore, and he wracks with devastation.

“but i understand.” the horizon is suddenly overcast with a murky grey. you know that shade as regret. (malleus loves you, and he will continue to love you, that was beyond doubt—but he can no longer love himself.)

idia shroud ┊ refuses to face reality

“i think we should…” you falter, struggling to find the right words, letting them drown into the whirs of idia’s pc fan. “i don’t want to do this anymore. us.”

idia’s shoulders sag as he nibbles his bottom lip. “what?” he’s writhing in his seat, vision blurring as he grips onto his controller, pressing down the buttons till they’re jammed. he can’t focus on anything else but the fact that you don’t want to be with him anymore, that he’s crossed the line, that he’s hurt you beyond repair. this relationship isn’t something that can be replayed, it never was—so maybe he shouldn’t have treated it as such.

his voice becomes a few octaves higher, panicked. “b-but we were doing--… we were doing fine..! the arguments-- the things i said, i-i didn’t mean them, any of it, you know that!” his speed picks up as he continues, as though he’s trying to fit everything he can muster into a short time frame.

“idia, we have to stop pretending.” you hold him firmly in place, to stop him from hyperventilating on the spot, speaking over his hurried, ceaseless pleas for forgiveness. “you have to stop pretending. the things you said hurt me. you can’t just take them back.”

he falls silent until you’re at the doorway. when he speaks again his voice is merely a whisper, so small and unsteady you can barely comprehend it. when you do, you become choked.

idia clings on because he doesn’t know how to let go. “please, don’t leave me.”

vil schoenheit ┊ acts until the curtain falls

if vil notices the dried tear stains that left blotches on your cheeks, he doesn’t mention it. or maybe he didn’t care enough anymore. you pull him away from his peers in the film studies club and for the first time in what may have been weeks, vil’s attention is solely on you. he smiles at you and you know it’s not genuine; attempting to do the same, you feign the experience of the actor before you. “vil, we should stop seeing each other.”

“are you doing this right here? do i have a say in this matter at all?” he’s smiling with his teeth now, tight-lipped, though keeping it in place is so, so painful. “you’re just going to make this decision for both of us?” when you nod your head, vil no longer bothers to keep up appearances. his smile drops. he’s co-starred in enough coming-of-age romances to know where this leads. he knows what will become of your relationship. “whatever i said to you before-” he’s reaching out to caress you but you catch his hand, stony faced.

“save it vil. you went too far. we’re finished.” there’s no trace of warmth in your tone. he takes you in properly, noticing your red-rimmed eyes and disheveled state. he knows that that he’s the one to blame for it—the taste of guilt is sour on his tongue. you look defeated, and vil feels his own eyes sting as he takes a step back. he can’t make a rebuttal because he knows you’re right. all he can do is watch you leave. he can’t get a hold of himself, a little faint—he was a mockery of an actor, and made a mockery of a good boyfriend.

he shouts your name, a fruitless final attempt to make things right. you don’t turn once.

azul ashengrotto ┊ loses his voice

“it’s over.” you say, plain as it is, but to the point. you no longer have the energy to sugarcoat things. azul freezes at his desk, pen falling out of his hands and dropping to the floor with a small ‘thud.’ he had seen it coming, just not so soon. he needed more time to prepare, to try and stop the inevitable… but this had been premeditated. your relationship had overrun it’s due course.

he’s pushing away the negative, self-depreciative thoughts that flood his mind (he doesn’t have the time to think selfishly right now. not when he might lose you), immediately rising from his seat to stand in front of you. he hopes you can’t see the frantic shaking of his hands. “please don’t say that.” it takes everything in him to not let himself break, voice wobbling as he cups your face, looking directly at you. “we can talk, we can find a solution—”

“we’ve been talking. all we do is disagree. this isn’t a problem you can solve by using a contract or some crappy bargain. i’m not one of your customers.” taken aback by your sudden outburst, his eyes widen, brimming with tears abruptly. “i’m done with you, and this.” you gesture to his office, years worth of his hard work, peeling him off you. he’s scrambling his thoughts together to form a sentence, mouth hung open, but nothing comes. has he lost the ability to speak altogether? he wants to tell you to stay, but his jaw screws shut again. why can’t he speak? is this a curse? why won’t his voice come out when he so badly needs it to?

he feels himself shatter.

<-

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

the shroud family curse and its implications for intimacy

I was thinking about what the Shroud parents must look like under their helmets and then I started wondering how they met and fell in love 🤔 While wondering about that, I came to the realization that Mr. and Mrs. Shroud's romance must have been a complicated one.

***Spoilers for books 6 and 7 of the main story below the cut!!***

Idia’s grandmother, Aidne, was the previous director of STYX. She was succeeded by her son (Idia’s father), which implies that the Shroud blood and the curse that comes with it are from the paternal side of the family. Idia’s mom, then, is the one who married into the family. (It’s not clear at this point if those that marry into the Shroud family are also magically afflicted with the same condition, but for the purposes of this post whether it is or not isn’t relevant as my point will still stand either way.)

The Shroud curse quickly burns away any blot the individual has in their body without the typical means of recovery (ie rest and self-care). If there is no blot to incinerate then the curse will turn to consuming the magical energy of the individual themselves, which could pose a threat to their wellbeing and even their life. Because of this condition, ancestors to the Shroud family threw themselves into research on blot in STYX. This would ensure that Shroud members were always around blot that could be burned in the place of their own energy, and provided a sense of false hope for them. They believed that if they worked hard enough, they may be able to find a cure for their curse--but over time, that belief waned, and instead it seems they are all now resigned to their fate and don't try to defy it. We see this is true of the latest generation of Shrouds, as Idia was groomed to become the next director of STYX from a young age even when he disliked the idea and how his responsibilities restricted his freedom. In fact, the Shrouds in general are described as being gloomy people, and this is possibly the result of the hopeless feelings they have about their curse.

A secondary consequence of the curse is that it socially isolates members of the Shroud family from society. Idia is somewhat of a special case since we also have to consider the mental and emotional anguish he experienced following his involvement in Ortho's death. However, even disregarding this horrific tragedy, it can be inferred that the Shrouds are forced into positions which make them more alone than others. For one, their jobs seem to be very demanding and literally physically keeps them away from others (besides colleagues) since the headquarters are located in bottom of the sea. In Idia's post-OB flashback, we get dialogue which implies that he is not allowed outside very often--something which we can attribute to his being the heir to STYX. This may imply that previous Shrouds experienced similar childhoods, and this is just a continuation of the cycle. (I do want to point out here that Idia says his family used to go out to various places together when Ortho was still alive, so it's not a strict requirement that the Shrouds have zero outside interaction. They obviously do go outside the lab, but we cannot say for sure how frequently.)

More importantly, there is also an emotional and psychological component to isolation. You do not need to actually be alone in a room to be considered "isolated" from others. You could, in fact, be in a room full of people and still feel "isolated" because you haven't made any meaningful connection with them. This is what I think it must feel like to be a Shroud out in the world. You may technically be considered a part of the population, but you still don't quite fit in. For example, Idia has previously expressed worries that people will stare at his hair and recognize him as a Shroud, then ridicule his appearance and attitude. Indeed, the gloomy presence that the Shrouds give off seems to be a major deterrent for others to interact with THEM. All that time spent in physical isolation must have also had an impact on the Shrouds' ability to socialize. Idia is a strong example of this; he is an avid gamer and feels comfortable with taunting people via a screen. His face-to-face manner of speaking, meanwhile, can be incendiary and often rubs his classmates the wrong way. His father is not the exact same as him, but Mr. Shroud seems to have his own issues communicating affection and tends to describe things in a serious manner or in terms of work. Thinking about the way the curse is constructed too, there is a built-in fear that the Shrouds can never truly form long-lasting relationships with others, nor completely reveal their true selves to friends. Idia exposits as much in book 6. When Ortho tries to get his big brother to be friends with the OB boys, Idia dismisses the idea and says it won't matter in the end because they will be "sent down the river" and have their memories of those fun times completely purged. This illustrates a defeatist mindset which may be pervasive in all or most of the Shroud family: if this is going to be the fate of my loved ones, why bother getting close to anyone at all? It will just be more painful for us in the end.

SO LIKE. What was Mr. Shroud probably going through when he was seeing his then-girlfriend????? ??? ??? ??? ? ? ??? ? ?? He was probably so frustrated that he couldn't tell her anything about who he really was, and probably even more frightened that if he did ever tell the truth, he might lose her forever (via River Lethe memory wipe). And even if she still accepts him for it, then what??? Then she has to join the Shroud family, and that's basically damning her to the same mopey life he has, researching blot in the middle of nowhere until they're nothing but bones. Imagine how intense that guilt must be, knowing that you (yes, YOU) are responsible for "dragging down" your beloved into the same miserable circumstances that you're in. Not only that, but surely then you'd also have to tell your S/O that any children you conceive together will have the exact same destiny in STYX. It's not just Mr. Shroud either, it must be generations of Shrouds going through this same thing.

But, but, but!! In spite of his fear, Mrs. Shroud must have said yes because she truly loves him with all her heart… Their relationship must be built on such a strong foundation of trust and loyalty 😭 (From here, this is all speculation/headcanon/me rotting about the Hades-and-Persephone-esque romance I picture Idia's parents having. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.) I don't think that Mr. Shroud would be the one to initiate or to be affectionate. At most, maybe he had a shy sort of crush on her. More likely it was Mrs. Shroud that first expressed a romantic interest and passionately pursued him. And then maybe over time his feelings blossomed but he was still too afraid to put this massive burden on her shoulders, knowing the responsibility he bears as the future director of STYX... BUT HE HAS ALSO BECOME TOO ATTACHED TO HER TO CUT HER OUT OF HIS LIFE COMEPLETELY... Her very presence is screwing with his usual sense of cool, calculated logic 💀

AND WHAT ABOUT "THE TALK" THEY'D HAVE TO HAVE TO FULLY DISCLOSE EVERYTHING???? HOW MUCH MR. SHROUD MUST'VE BEEN SWEATING WAITING FOR HER ANSWER????? ?? ?? ? ? ? Oh, Sevens. Now I've done it. Here comes the moment where he gets dumped and his mom sends in a whole squadron of men to kidnap his girlfriend and clean her brain up. But NO 😭 Instead Mrs. Shroud just clasps his hands and insists that they should get married so he'll never have to wallow in those miserable thoughts all alone... He's confused and keeps begging her to reconsider, because this decision will inevitably throw her entire life off course.

"Are you sure about this? If you say yes to me, your fate will be sealed. You can never turn back. Your life will be sworn to the Isle of Woe." "Yup, I've never been more sure of anything in my whole life! Let's burn in the Underworld together, darling <3"

She provides a response that’s so easy and devil-may-care that he doesn’t know what to say back, so he just quietly laughs… and slowly those quiet laughs morph into quiet sobs… (like how flashback!Idia transitioned from laughing to crying when he was bragging about how indestructible the “new” Ortho is 😈 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON—)

Idia drops this line during his extended post-OB flashback: "So it's romantic when a hero rescues his ladylove from the Underworld, but when I do the same for my brother it's wrong?" WHAT IF THAT WAS TRUE, BUT WITH THE GENDER ROLES REVERSED, FOR HIS PARENTS???? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? Mrs. Shroud willing to literally throw herself into the Underworld to "save" Mr. Shroud... like how Persephone was willing to stay there with Hades... 🙃 I'LL EAT THAT SHIT UP, JUST DROP THE "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" UPDATE OF TWST, DEVS..... . . . .. ..... . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. .... . . .. . . .... . . .. . . . .

Okay, I'm done screaming and sobbing at the wall for now--.