#man he is like at least 2 Young Wizards tall.... maybe even 3....

[melveres]

MET THE BAT!! mister babygirl you are TALL

[elliemarchetti]

The Queen of the Quills - Jily Edition (part 3)

Posting on Tumblr too because this fic's sister is already there.

Reading The Queen of the Quills - Blackinnon Edition will not be mandatory to understand the developments of James and Lily's story, but some details could be shared, therefore, for anyone wishing to fully enjoy the experience, I will leave a small index.

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 1

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 2

Jily Edition - Chapter 1

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 3

Jily Edition - Chapter 2

This was @athenasparrow's gift for @jilymicrofics ' Exchange 2024, but if you like it and are willingly to reblog, it would be super appreciated since stories like this require quite some time and effort🥰

Plot: James Potter, London's most evasive bachelor, an impertinent libertine, has decided to get married. He has also already chosen his wife, the debutante Lily Evans, a self-confident young woman who has not the slightest intention of being seduced by such a man.A Bridgerton inspired Regency AU.

Words: 5316

At Tuesday night's ball, Mr. Potter was seen dancing with more than one marriageable young lady. Such behaviour can only be described as disconcerting, as Potter typically avoids witches on the marriage mart with impressive perseverance, frustrating all mothers with marital aspirations for their daughters.

The Queen of the Quills, May 5, 1813

By eleven o’clock, all of Lily’s fears became true. James Potter had asked her to dance, and worse, her mother had practically forced her to accept by digging her nails into the strip of skin that the short sleeve of the dress and her right glove left exposed.

“Can you stop, please?” she hissed.

“To do what?” her chaperone asked, feigning innocence.

“To look at me as if you were planning the wedding breakfast!” Lily blurted out, trying to keep the panic in her voice at bay.

The older woman blushed faintly, guilt colouring her cheeks.

“It would be a superb match, and maybe he could even help Petunia.”

Lily had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming that nothing would manage to get her Muggle sister a wizard husband. Nobody, or almost nobody, in the Wizarding World was willing to abandon the comforts that always carrying a wand entailed only for a woman they barely knew. Exceptions existed, of course, but Petunia wasn’t interested in a specific suitor beside Mr. Potter himself, and only because he was unattainable, rather in the aura of mystery revolving around what nature had forbidden her but granted to her sister.

“Did you listen to me yesterday morning, in the living room?” she asked, even though the answer was obviously a no, as she wasn’t doing it now, her eyes glued to the man she wanted as a son-in-law. Lily had to admit that Mr Potter was irritatingly handsome in black rather than the bright colours that were in fashion. He seemed, at least on the surface, to be everything one could want in a husband, with burnished velvet eyes that matches his hair perfectly and classically magnificent lips, but he gave the impression of being incapable of smiling, and if Lily had been shorter, like the girl he was swaying with on the dancefloor, she would’ve considered him too tall.

“His mother is absolutely lovely,” Elizabeth mused, but Lily, who struggled to understand where this was going, didn’t dignify her with an answer.

“I can hardly believe such a gracious and intelligent lady could have raised a son that turned out to be less than the best of gentleman, regardless of his reputation,” she explained, as if it was obvious and not twisted at all. “Now, why don’t you come with me to say hello to Mr. Black? His cousin introduced us over tea and I’m sure you’ll find him absolutely charming.”

Before Lily could protest, her mother was dragging her towards a young man with long black hair, angular features, and hazy grey eyes. When he took her hand, he brushed his lips on her knuckles so lightly that Lily suspected he hadn’t kissed them at all, but that unpleasantness aside, she found his sarcasm rather refreshing.

They went to the lemonade stand, obviously with her mother’s approval, and talked mostly about their respective families, namely what it was like to have a sister who hadn’t attended Hogwarts and couldn’t know most of the things that filled her adolescence, and how he had to endure the endless stories of his cousin’s wedding, which he was unable to be present at because he was in Africa.

“Did you return because you had other ceremonies to turn up to?” Lily asked, immediately hiding behind her glass. Her conversational skills were getting worse every day, but Londoners didn’t seem to notice, or at least had the decency to not treat her like a simpleton.

“I didn’t, although I fear it will soon become part of my duties,” he replied vaguely, but before Lily could investigate further, the previous song ended abruptly and out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Mr. Potter as he handed his partner over to what must’ve been her mother. He approached them at a brisk pace, as if he couldn’t wait to reach her, and even if she already suspected it, Lily realized with dismay that she couldn’t escape her promise. After all, Mr. Potter was the only heir to an ancient family, while she was a nobody from Somerset, and they were in the middle of a crowded ballroom, hardly the place where she wanted to be caught making a scene. It didn’t matter that she thought he was hateful, or that his manners were too direct, cold, and contemptuous, she had to dance with him and refrain from stepping on his feet on purpose, though just the sound of his voice annoyed her.

“We don’t have to converse,” she replied, to whatever question she’d just been asked, but instead of the grudge she hoped to elicit, she got a completely unexpected reaction. Without missing a step, James Potter leaned his head back and laughed loudly, attracting the attention of the nearest couples.

“You hurt me, Miss Evans,” he murmured finally, but his intense gaze still remained delighted.

“I made you thicker skinned,” Lily commented, before she could connect her brain to her tongue. Her sentence implied that she had thought about him before, but above all that she thought of him as tough, which wasn’t true.

“I'm more sensitive than you think,” he replied, and despite her efforts, Lily felt the corners of her mouth rise in a shy smile that froze in place when he insisted on an answer to his question. He wanted to know why she hated him, and Lily choose her words with great care.

“I don’t,” she retorted. “I don’t even know you.”

“Knowledge is rarely a requirement for hatred,” he told her softly, his eyes trained on her steadily. “Come on, you don’t seem like a coward. Humour me.”

“I don’t hate you,” she finally admitted. “I just don’t like you.”

Something in his gaze told her he appreciated the sincerity, but he still wanted a reason.

“If you want me to be frank, then I’ll be, but don’t be offended afterwards, and don’t try to undermine my chances to have decent suitors only because you can’t take a no for an answer,” was her terse premise, and she didn't even wait for him to nod or tell her that in that case he'd rather not hear her thoughts before continuing. “I don’t think you’re the kind of man who would seriously commit to marriage, and I don’t have time to waste, so I’m not interested.”

“Are you calling yourself an expert on men, and on husbands in particular?” Mr. Potter asked, and if Lily wasn’t already mortified enough by his words, and didn’t care about ruining any chance Petunia had of making her selfish dream come true, she would’ve slapped him.

“You know well that I’m not,” she croaked, but immediately regretted it, because her manner seemed to amuse her interlocutor exceedingly.

“I think,” he went on, “that you found it easy to keep most of the men who came to your door at bay, but I fear you made a grave mistake in thinking you could do the same with me.”

Lily’s lips were set in a grim, straight line, but she succeeded in saying she didn’t seek to manage him, only to keep him at a safe distance. She knew of women with uptight morals who hadn’t been able to resist to seduction, and she certainly didn’t intend to ruin herself for a bespectacled rake.

“Which just goes to show, Miss Evans, how very little you know of men. At least of the rakish, roguish variety,” he whispered, leaning in so close she could feel his hot breath against her cheek.

The sensation made her shiver, and he smiled wickedly.

“There is little we relish more than a challenge, and you, Miss Evans, issued me the sweetest one I’ve ever encountered,” he murmured in her ear when the music drew to a close.

It was too much, standing in the middle of a ballroom, being insulted and belittled… Even if she promised herself she wouldn’t do it, she stepped on his foot, hard enough to make him let out a small, decidedly unrakish, unroguish squeak.

When he glared at her, she shrugged: “I’m afraid, Mr Potter, that you need thicker boots.”

His grasp tightened on her arm, and Lily held her breath.

“Before I return you to the sanctuary of the chaperones and spinsters, there is one thing we need to make clear: I’m going to court you, and should I decide that you will make a suitable Mrs. Potter, I will make you my wife.”

Lily whipped her head up to face him, fire flashing in her eyes: “Is it a threat?”

He looked down at her with the confidence of a male who is never crossed.

“A promise, Miss Evans, just a promise.”

-----------------------------------------------

The next afternoon was like any following a major ball. The Evans’ drawing room was filled to bursting with bouquets, each one accompanied by a crisp white card bearing the name Lily Evans. A simple Miss Evans would’ve sufficed, but James supposed one couldn’t really fault a wizard for wanting to make certain the flowers went to the correct sister. Not that anyone was likely to make a mistake on that measure. Floral arrangements from members of the Wizarding society generally went to Lily. In fact, there was nothing general about it; every bouquet that had arrived at the Evans residence in the last month had gone to her, according to the insight their butler gave to James when he asked. One thing that many of his peers underestimated was the amount of information that can be gained in the Muggle world through money. Changing a couple of sikles for a few shillings was the first step to reaching secrets the households in which Muggleborns lived hid behind a veil of stubborn ignorance from the outsiders.

It didn’t take James long to understand why Lily hadn’t attended all the social events of the season: they conflicted with the schedule of Muggle parties her sister deemed of interest, usually held on Mondays or Wednesdays. Petunia had little suitors even in that marriage mart, but the eldest Evans certainly had a better chance of marrying a Muggle than a wizard, hence the Muggle maids and butler. To those accustomed to the sight of them, house elves were beings like any other, but to those who didn’t even know the existence of magic, they would’ve appeared like freak shows covered in rags, certainly not what a gentleman visiting a possible wife would expect from her respectable family.

It must’ve been complex for Mrs. Evans, who was a widower, to lead that double life. With Lily out of the game, she could’ve left all the weirdness of the Wizarding World behind, but for now, she had to adapt, behave around witches as if she understood all their references and show pride in her daughter’s powers. Maybe she actually was happy about her peculiarity he was used to see as the norm, and the strained expression he had caught the previous night was just the manifestation of a certain tiredness. If her daughter behaved as the Incomparable of the season should, James could’ve relieved everyone of that burden, and Mrs. Evans would’ve finally been able to focus more on the daughter who most required her attention and needed her help.

Why Lily didn’t see how pragmatically convenient their union would be for her too left him astonished. James was good-looking, intelligent, had a large house in a safe neighbourhood, perfect for raising a family, and would’ve never stopped his wife from working if she had wanted to. From what Remus had told him, Miss Evans had all the potential to become the next Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, once Mrs. McGonagall retired, or she could take Slughorn’s place, even if the rumours cited Severus Snape as his possible successor. James barely remembered the guy, only how he saved his life from a bad decision Sirius made when he was at his lowest. He should have let him die, since he had turned out to be a first-class racist, and was now associating with people like Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy, people who called Muggleborn scum, Mudblood, and every other insult they heard in their childhood from their hateful parents.

“I like to think I have the last laugh,” said a female voice, starling him. “Most of the flowers make Lily sneeze, so they tend to end up in my chamber anyway.”

Petunia Evans wasn’t a bad girl. Unremarkable, sure, but not ugly. Her bearing was excellent, and both her body and her face were well proportioned. She moved gracefully, and from what James knew she was well-versed in topics and pastimes of Muggle interest, but something about her expression, the way she approached the flowers intended for her sister, made him uneasy. She exuded envy, and seemed capable of unspeakable malice.

“Don’t worry,” she added, when it became clear that James had no intention of answering her. “Roses don’t bother her, although I’m sure she’ll consider the choice trivial. Nice colour, though, a symbol of admiration.”

“I don’t think your presence here without a chaperone is wise,” James commented, studying how the grimace she made as she read one of the notes intended for Lily crumpled her features.

“No one would bat an eye if something happened with one of you,” she replied, nonchalantly tossing the white card to the ground. “You could make me forget, and who knows, maybe you could do something to make it appear like it never happened.”

James shuddered at the idea. She wasn’t wrong, he knew of witches who had pretended to be chaste in order to get a worthy match despite indulging in carnal pleasures over and over again, but they were a minority, and it wasn’t difficult to discern who was capable of doing so with a quick judgment of character. Of course, if Petunia hadn’t been Muggle, she would’ve been part of the lot, and maybe dealt with love potions and similar concoctions as well. James made a mental note never to accept anything to drink or eat offered by the eldest Miss Evans, as a precaution.

“What are you doing here?” asked another female voice, younger and way angrier. In his entire life, James had never been so grateful for an abrupt interruption, or to know that the woman he wanted to take as his wife didn’t consider him a suitable suitor. Obviously, after the ball, he had contemplated the possibility of turning his attentions elsewhere, towards the second, or the third, since Marlene was undoubtedly the second and he had no intention of marrying his dearest friend and depriving her of the love she inexplicably wanted to find, most beautiful lady of the season, but the poor girl lacked brains, and the further he got from the imaginary podium, the worse the situation got. If James Potter intended to marry within the year, and that was exactly his aim, it could only be with the Miss Evans who was currently glaring at him.

“I believe it’s customary for suitors to call upon young women, or did I misplaced my etiquette book?” he asked, a brow raised above the frame of his glasses and the bouquet still safely tucked under his arm.

“I meant,” Lily growled, “how did you get in?”

“The usual manner,” he answered, cocking his head toward the hall. “I knocked on your front door and, amazingly enough, the same butler who alerted you of my presence, opened. Then I gave him my card, he took a look at it, and showed me to the drawing room. Much as I’d like to claim some sort of devious, underhanded subterfuge, it was actually quite aboveboard and straight forward.”

“Infernal butler,” she muttered, and James had to stifle a laugh with a cough. “He’s supposed to see if we’re at home before showing you in.”

“Maybe he had previous instructions that you would be for me,” he suggested.

“I gave him no such instructions,” she bristled.

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” James said with a chuckle.

“I did,” Petunia admitted, but before Lily could lunge at her, probably to pelt her with one of the lovely flower arrangements awaiting her attention on the table, the eldest darted away like lightning, leaving them alone, except for the valet waiting in the antechamber. For James it was like seeing an excerpt of his childhood again, of those stolen moments with the younger members of other families that made him ardently desire to have a brother of his own.

“I'm sorry,” Lily sighed in the end, surrendering to the inevitable obviousness that she should converse with him, if only to keep up appearances and not offend an important member of the Wizarding ton. “We usually act like civilized people, but the mere mention of your name goes to her head.”

“Do you mention me often?” James asked, amazed.

Lily simply rolled her eyes and indicated with a wave of her gloveless hand one of the two sofas furthest from the flowers. As soon as they were out of sight of their chaperone, the stout figure of the footman peered out of the open door, maintaining a polite distance, which would give them the opportunity to speak more freely than they would have done in the presence of Mrs. Evans.

“Is that a musical instrument?” he queried, picking up a long black case off the sofa.

“A flute,” Lily confirmed. “Petunia is taking lessons and why shouldn’t I join in?”

Something told James that she wasn't too happy about having to waste time blowing into something she could make sound perfect with a simple spell, but he didn't want to push it, so he decided to change topic, asking her if she had a chance to befriend the other debutantes.

“I've known some of them since Hogwarts, but even there Londoners tended to keep to their own business, and the few country witches I was close to have already found suitors at home,” she replied, with that honesty that distinguished her and James appreciated immensely.

“One of my dearest friends should be your age,” he added, when silence fell. “I think you could get along.”

“And why do you think so, Mr. Potter?” she asked inquisitively, leading James to wonder if whatever he said would inevitably lead to an argument.

“Because she’s clever, and funny, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind seeing a friendly face that doesn’t have sideburns,” he replied, finally making his interlocutor smile. “Besides, I’m afraid you have a common enemy.”

“You, Mr. Potter?” she inquired.

“Mr. Pettigrew,” he corrected, glancing sideways at the table with the flowers. He had recognized his schoolmate’s bad taste as soon as he walked through the door, his suspicions reconfirmed by the unmistakable childish handwriting on the decidedly exaggerated note. The fact he even got the recipient wrong, Miss Lily Evan instead of Evans, annoyed him beyond comprehension.

“The man has more hair than wit, a great lot more,” she hissed between her teeth, making James choke on his own saliva. The lad was going bald, but he supposed it was Miss Evans’ way to prove her point.

“Isn’t it considered bad form to insult a suitor?” he questioned. “Not that I blame you, Marlene discouraged him in every way and he keeps trying to call on her. He’s a nice enough fellow, I’ll grant you that, but not someone you’d want to build a boat were you stranded on a desert island.”

Something in James’ words seemed to prompt a strange reaction in Lily, who leaned towards one of the tables to grab a fan she began to wave insistently in front of her face.

“Are you feeling alright? Should I open a window?” he demanded, but she barked she was fine and tried to resume their conversation when a small commotion broke out in the garden – a few decidedly canine woofs followed by a high-pitched shriek. Lily rested her forehead against her fan, as if she was about to have a terrible headache, while James rushed over to see what was happening, only to catch Mrs. Evans trying to ward off a dog that looked too familiar to be confused with a common animal.

“Padfoot?” he yelled from the window, halting the butler who was rushing forward, ready to hit his best friend with a parasol, and attracting the black deerhound’s attention.

“Mr Potter!” Lily’s mother exclaimed, a hint of relief in her voice tense with fear. “Is this your dog?”

It took James less than a second to decide that this would be the perfect opportunity to embarrass, in a totally innocent but undoubtedly funny way, Sirius, so he confirmed, stating he must’ve followed him from home.

“If I’m not overstepping your kindness, could you lend me a leash?” he asked, flashing one of his dazzling smiles. “He’s very fond of me, and he’s a really good boy, but as you may have noticed, not too obedient, and I’m afraid his size might upset passers-by if we go back to my residence with him free to roam wherever he wants.”

“That’s not a dog,” Lily commented, her voice so unexpectedly close she startled him. She must’ve been used to be sneaky to eavesdrop on other people’s conversation, for he hadn’t even noticed she had gotten up from the sofa, much less that their faces were little more than a foot apart.

“And what would that be, then?” he asked, feigning an offense he didn’t really feel. It would’ve been suspicious if he hadn’t been hurt by her words, if that had really been his beloved dog, but in reality he knew well that Sirius’ animal form was quite disturbing for anyone who hadn’t grown up with him.

“It looks like the representation of the Grim in the Divination book,” she replied, her expression innocent and alit with a twinkle James had never seen in her.

“Would you like to meet him, Miss Evans?” James asked, but without offering his arm, as they were in her residence and she wasn’t even wearing gloves. He would’ve liked to rest his hands on hers though, feel if they were as soft as they seemed. They had to be, without a doubt.

“If it’s not too much trouble…” she began, but James didn’t give her too much time to reign her curiosity and led the way outside, where Padfoot was seated happily in the middle of the garden, shedding on the blue-and-white flowers as he grinned up at Lily.

“I think he likes you,” James said, trying to hide the accusation in his tone. Whatever Sirius was doing, it pointed straight to a disaster.

“And he likes you too, Mrs. Evans,” he added, always the gentleman, but Lily’s mother didn’t seem happy at the thought.

“I’m afraid my mother is too polite to say she’s scared of dogs,” Lily intervened, removing the older lady from an embarrassing predicament and at the same time earning herself a dirty look that smacked of a lecture.

“I understand… But I have a little secret to share with you, Mrs. Evans, to keep them out of your way: animals sense fear, and if they’re as affable as this good boy here,” he explained, patting Padfoot between his pointed ears, “they regard your diffidence as something of a challenge. So, when they see you, they simply want to prove they’re friendly and maybe snatch a snack.”

“You are very wise, Mr. Potter. Unfortunately, my daughter Petunia shares this foolish fear with me, but Lily loves animals!” she exclaimed, approaching her youngest and being careful not to attract too much attention from what she couldn’t have known was an Animagus.

“Quite a coincidence, then, that Padfoot followed me here. If it pleases you, Miss Evans, we could continue out conversation while we walk through the park, if your mother agrees,” he proposed, making Mrs. Evans eyes light up with joy. Fortunately, she had the good sense to refrain from showing it too much, although she agreed and ordered her daughter to put on her gloves before she could utter a word.

“Wear proper walking shoes too!” she shouted after her, and James saw the thin shoulders of the retreating figure stiffen, as if her intent had been precisely to quickly end their promenade with the excuse of sore feet.

In the meantime, a well-made leash arrived, and Jamed had to invent a poignant story to justify to Mrs. Evans why his dog had followed him there, so far from home.

“We found him when he was just a puppy. I was still in school, so I was away for considerable periods of time, but he bonded with me, and for a while, I insisted in bringing him wherever I went,” he explained, while trying to enjoy the displeased expression on his friend’s canine muzzle.

“You must’ve had a wonderful time at Hogwarts,” the woman commented, but there was a hint of something that James couldn’t recognize in her voice, as if she feared that just mentioning the wizarding school might elicit some adverse reaction. It had to do with her Muggle daughter, he was nearly sure, but maybe she felt like she lacked with the other one; after all, from what he had heard, it wasn’t customary among the Muggles to let young girls travel so far from home, and although the dormitories were divided, everyone took the same courses at Hogwarts, and there was an equal number of male and female teachers too.

“Unforgettable,” he agreed. “The friendships established at such a young age by staying together for so long are almost indestructible, and growing up so close with one’s peers makes even the less fortunate feel not so much alone.”

“If only there had been a similar place for my Petunia…” the woman began, but the conversation never came to an end, as Lily had returned, a sun hat firmly anchored in her hairstyle and short, day gloves to cover her delicate hands.

“Well!” exclaimed Mrs. Evans, changing her tone so suddenly James wondered how often she hid from one or the other of her daughters the burden that dividing between them brought upon her.

“I guess you want one of your footmen to chaperone us,” James said, as if it were a matter of fact, but the woman waved a hand the same way he’d seen Lily do, and the topic was closed. In fact, although the most bigoted among the wizards still disliked to see young men waking without a chaperone in the company of unmarried women, society was making a rapid progress in eliminating those obsolete preconceptions, and as long as they didn’t enter any infamous lane, there shouldn’t have been any problem.

However, James was keen to point out, as they turned down Milner Street, how much Mrs Evans seemed to value his honour and gentlemanly ways.

“Because she doesn’t know you,” her daughter, who for a few minutes now seemed to have bitterly regretted her choice of wanting to see the dog who had followed him to her front door, quickly replied. On his part, the Animagus in question was strangely well behaved and walked in front of them in a perfect straight line, the leather of the leash tight enough to prevent them from lingering too long, as if it had a goal, or was afraid that if James had too much air in his lungs he might say something he might regret.

“Should we cross over to Rotten Row?” he asked to his companion, but she was rather distracted, her face tipped up to the sun, basking in its warmth, and for one extremely disconcerting moment, James felt a sharp stab of something, a feeling rather different from the lust he was used to.

“Did you say something?” she murmured afterwards, and he cleared his throat soundly, taking sharp breaths in hope they would dispel the sentimental fog from his mind. A big error, he would soon discover, since the only thing he got was an intoxicating whiff of her scent, an odd combination of exotic lilies and sensible soap.

“You seem to be enjoying the sun,” he said, making her smile and turn to him with a clear-eyed gaze.

“I know that’s not what you said in the first place, but yes, I am. It’s been so dreadfully rainy of late.”

“I though young ladies weren’t supposed to let sun on their faces, especially those as fair skinned as you,” he teased, but she shrugged, looking only the slightest bit sheepish as she replied he was right, but it still felt heavenly.

“I do wish I could remove my bonnet,” she added, wistfully.

James nodded his agreement, feeling much the same way about his hat.

“You could probably push it back just a bit without anyone noticing,” he suggested.

“Do you think?” she queried, her entire face lit up at the prospect, and that strange stab pierced his gut again.

“Of course,” he murmured, reaching up to adjust the rim of the bizarre confection, all ribbons and lace, tied in such a way no reasonable man could ever make sense of, least of all fix it without brushing the temple of the lady who was wearing it. Lily held still, but when they accidentally touched, the breath got caught in her throat and she leaned slightly closer, making him feel the heat of her body. He probably was about to do something very stupid when Padfoot let out a loud stream of barks and yanked hard on the lead, jerking James away.

Lily watched with amusement as the dog barrelled forward, moving with even more speed than she probably would’ve ever guessed his long legs could manage. James made a valiant attempt to keep his grip on the leash, but his friend was now barking like mad and running with equal vigour, making it fly out of his grasp and prompting a shriek from Lily, who dashed forward to follow him, despite he clearly wasn’t intent on being caught.

With a weary sigh, and cursing Sirius under his breath, he began to run after her trying to keep a shred of decorum, which she wasn’t interested in, since she kept the hem of her dress way above her ankles, her socks – and calves – in full display.

“Where did he go?” he asked, once he reached her at a crossroad, hands on her hips as she scanned her surroundings.

“I don’t know, it’s your dog!” she exclaimed. “Though he’s maybe after a rabbit, which will make everything easier, since it’s known they always stick to well-trod paths.”

James scowled at her sarcasm, but before he could reproach her, or say they should stop their chasing since Padfoot knew the way home rather well, a shriek very similar to the one he elicited in Mrs. Evans came from their right, and Lily resumed her run, cutting right across the grass toward Rotten Row, the ton’s favourite spot for a stroll. Everyone was going to see them act rather undignified, and he told himself he must really want to marry this girl is he was up to be seen dashing through the park after a hoydenish Miss racing as if someone had set fire to her shoes.

When he reached the grass again, he stumbled for a second, and had to pause to take a few deep breaths before horror dawned on him. They were near the Serpentine, and there was little this specific dog liked better than to jump in a lake, taking as many people with him as he could.

[bibislut]

Like-Minded People (Part 1)

Hermione doesn't quite know what she's getting herself into when Pansy invites her round for drinks.

Adult themes, nothing sexually explicit.

Words: 1502

Read on Ao3 - Part 2 & 3

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Pansy worried at her lip, watching the movement in the bathroom mirror before licking the lipstick off of her teeth. She took a deep breath, and another, and another. She plucked the lipstick from the counter with a slight tremor and tutted at herself before reapplying. What’s the worst that could happen? Granger wasn’t known to be cruel or callous, so surely she wouldn’t lose her job, right? The bathroom clock read just before eight, so the darker woman was due any minute.

The Slytherin had always had a talent for reading people, and though she suspected Granger would be new to all of this, Pansy had her suspicions that she’d like it nonetheless.

Hermione was soon making her way up to Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and was probably no more than a year or two away from the position; a speedy ascent to be sure. The witch worked hard though, and Pansy often saw her in heated discussions with her peers or marching determinedly this way or that. Pansy was merely the front of the department, a glorified receptionist. This meant that she had her fingers in almost everyone’s pies, and her nose in everyone’s business. Miss Granger was no exception. Pansy made it her job to know her schedules, her favourite drinks and snacks, who she was butting heads with each week. After all, not everyone could admire Granger for the headstrong woman she was like Pansy did. And maybe the dark haired witch didn’t need to know all she did about the other, but she supposed that was her tell in the game of seduction, that was her love language - knowing all she could.

Was it love? Merlin, no. But Pansy knew her heart, and her loins, and she had it bad for the Gryffindor.

Every week Pansy held a get together of like-minded witches and wizards, where they would drink, eat, flirt the night away and end up in bed with whomever they pleased. It was a luxuriously free arrangement.

Unlocking the bathroom door and throwing on an air of nonchalance, the raven-haired witch made her way down the hallway, just as a knock came at the front door.

“Always so punctual, Miss Granger.” Pansy greeted as she opened the door. She looked Hermione up and down slowly, taking in her navy dress and tights, heeled boots and nervous smile. “And as gorgeous as ever,” She smiled. Hermione’s gaze dropped to Pansy’s lips as she licked her own.

She cleared her throat. “You look lovely, Pansy.”

The Slytherin knew it too. “Thank you, darling. Come in, come in.” She stood aside to let Hermione pass, taking her coat from where it had been thrown over her arm. She shut the door, using the brief moment to look over the other witch’s curves. Gorgeous, indeed. “What will you be drinking tonight? Wine? Something stronger?”

“Do you have any red?” Granger rubbed at her arms, a nervous habit of hers. Pansy caught her hand, tugging it away and leading her into the kitchen.

“Of course.”

Hermione looked down at their joined hands in shock. They weren’t a particularly close pair, though they had the occasional catch up in the staff room. She gently pulled her hand away and Pansy frowned. “You can’t be acting like that now, Granger, or you’ll be in for one hell of an evening.” As she spoke, a loud, booming laugh echoed from the other room; one of Pansy’s other guests.

Hermione watched as she poured her a glass of merlot. “What do you mean?” She lowered her voice. “Who else is here?”

Pansy passed her the glass and beckoned her with a singular finger. “Come and see.” She pushed open the door, stepping inside.

Pansy’s living room was spacious and chic, with two grey velvet sofas and a matching pair of armchairs. A glass coffee table sat in the centre of the circle, now filled with drinks, and the fireplace crackled in the background, adding to the coziness of the dimly lit room. A few people stood around, chatting and drinking. All seats were filled, except for one of the sofas, and two familiar bodies half-lay on the opposite one, completely absorbed in each other.

Hermione gasped. “Ginny?” The two pulled apart. “Luna?” She looked between the two. “What are you doing here?”

Weasley’s flushed skin reddened further, and Luna slid her hand down her leg to a more respectable place. “Hermione! It’s so nice to see you!” The blonde smiled.

Pansy had already taken her seat, leaving Granger standing in the doorway. “Come, sit.” The Slytherin motioned to the space beside her. Hermione sat down stiffly.

“We didn’t expect to see you here, ‘Mione.” Ginny reached towards a bottle of beer on the coffee table, not meeting her friend’s eyes.

“Nor I, you.” Hermione’s eyebrows drew together. “I feel as though I’m intruding on something,” she turned to Pansy, “When you said drinks..?”

“I meant drinks.” Pansy offered a sultry smile. “With some lovely like-minded people.”

“Merlin, Pansy! You didn’t tell her?” Ginny almost slammed her bottle down.

“Tell me what?” Hermione looked between them as Luna stared dreamily into her wine glass.

“Who’s this charming young thing?” A voice chimed in, sitting on the arm of the sofa beside Pansy. The man, maybe in his late thirties, was tall, dark and handsome. He offered Hermione a cheeky smile. “I’m Patrick.” He offered his hand.

“Hermione.” The witch leant closer, reaching her hand over. She was surprised when he took it and kissed the back.

“A pleasure.” He leant in too, ignoring Pansy’s look of annoyance. “Don’t worry Miss Granger, we all know how to keep our mouths shut.” He offered a wink.

“Do piss off out of my personal space, Patrick.” Pansy smacked his shoulder and the man chuckled.

“Alright, alright.” He took one last long look at Hermione. “Feel free to come and chat anytime.” He added lowly before standing up and walking away to talk to another guest.

Hermione flicked her gaze around the room, watching the seductive smiles, small touches. One couple were pressed into the back corner, mouths wandering, and even Luna and Ginny were talking quietly, their faces close together, lost in each other. “Pansy…” She said slowly, turning to the other woman to find her already looking at her. “This isn’t what I think it is… is it?”

“That depends on what you think it is.” The raven-haired witch sipped her wine, watching Hermione over the rim of the glass.

“Is this one of those orgy things? A swingers club?” Hermione whispered, eyes wide.

“We prefer not to give it a label.” Pansy raised a singular brow.

Hermione seemed to mentally stutter for a moment, before rushing to her feet. “Oh my god!” She hissed under her breath. She rushed back through to the kitchen before Pansy could stop her.

The Slytherin followed her through, shutting the door. “Granger?”

“What are you thinking?!” Hermione swiveled round wildly. “I could lose my job! If word of this got out, Peterson would have me out of the department like that!” She snapped her fingers. “Not to mention the new additions to the House Elf Act, you know full well that she doesn’t agree with me on the second amendment and-”

Pansy strode forwards, placing her hands on the other witch’s arms. “Hermione! Stop!” The Gryffindor swallowed hard. “No one is going to say a word. Half of the people in that room work at The Ministry.” She dropped her hands. “We have all agreed to keep our lips sealed so that we can all let our hair down once in a while. It’s not even a swingers club. If you just want to sit and talk to people you can. Merlin, you don’t even have to drink if you don’t want to.” Pansy rubbed at her head, a slip in her usual bravado. “If you want to leave you can.” She swallowed thickly. “But I’d like it if you stayed.”

The two women were quiet for a moment. Finally, Hermione spoke up. “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why do you want me to stay?”

Pansy snorted. “If only that had an easy answer.” She muttered. If she’d had anymore to drink, maybe she’d consider admitting her feelings. Unfortunately, she hadn’t. “At the very least because we don’t get to spend time outside of work together.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to.” Hermione laughed dryly.

“Nor I, you.” Pansy joined in before falling silent again. She took a step closer, summoning some non-existent bravery and taking Hermione’s hand. “You can go home if you want.” She looked into her eyes. “Or we can sit in here or…?”

“Sitting in here would be nice.” The darker witch said quietly.

Pansy nodded. “I’ll go and grab your wine.”

“Wait.” Hermione held onto her hand. “Thank you, Pansy, for um..thinking of me.”

I always think of you, Pansy thought. The words stayed unspoken. “Of course, Hermione.”

-------

I might well make this a multi-chaptered fic so please do let me know what you think and make sure to check Ao3 (tagged above) for updates!

[blackcloverdatabase]

English Translation of Novel 1: Chapter 3 – Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1 of 2)

With novels 2 and 3 finished, I can finally move on to translating the two chapters from novel 1 that were never animated. This one features Yami and Magna teaching at a magic academy at the border of the Common Realm. Fuegoleon also makes an appearance in this chapter (finally!).

Also, I’m saying this in advance so that you all aren’t as confused as I was when I was reading this, but, in this chapter, Magna is purposefully talking differently than how he usually talks. In the Japanese version, he’s slurring virtually every syllable, like a parody of antiquated delinquent speak. I wasn’t really sure how to convey that in English since there’s only so much slurring you can do, so please make do with the occasional slurred words and tepidly gangsta phrases I had him say in an attempt to mimic that.

--- Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1) ---

The Noble and Common Realms are dotted with educational institutions known as magic academies. They are primarily targeted toward young boys and girls who haven’t yet received their grimoires, offering a variety of information related to magic and the chance to hone one’s skills.

However, not all schools are created equal. Schools situated in the Noble Realm have all the equipment and staff they could want, but the further a school is from the Noble Realm, the more likely that it does not have the resources it needs. This may sound ruthless, but in this world where magic rules all, this was simply a fact of life. Schools near the Noble Realm got what they needed, and schools that were not had to improvise. That was the rationale used to maintain this nation’s schools.  

“Uhh, b-before class starts today, there is something I must tell you all.”

This particular school was situated in the town of Ryakke, a town at the northernmost tip of the Common Realm. If one moved just one more degree north, they would find themselves in the Forsaken Realm. The town could almost be considered the boundary between the Common and Forbidden Realms, but, even so, it had a magic academy. Based on the rationale described earlier, this school would be the last to get what it needs, however……

“…….That is, a Magic Knight will be coming today as a guest lecturer.”

“!!”

Currently, the students were in homeroom for the morning. Their homeroom teacher was a young man named Harris. Hearing such great news so suddenly, the classroom erupted with chatter. It was quite rare that anyone would bother to come lecture at a magic academy as far away as this. The fact that this guest lecturer was a Magic Knight, a member of such a heroic troop, was icing on the cake.

The Magic Knights are an army of mages under the direct control of the Wizard King. They are an autonomous organization within Clover Kingdom, the kingdom’s cornerstone of defense, and the heroes whom the nation’s citizens both honor and envy. They were an elevated existence that the students could never hope to reach.

“Wow! Do you think it’s the leader of the Golden Dawn, Captain William Vangeance!?”

“No way! There’s no way somebody as awesome as him would come to a place like this!”

“But if Elude says it, then maybe it’s true!”

One child who could be considered the leader of the class, Elude, and two of his followers spoke up. This caused the others in the classroom to follow suit.

“What’ll I do if it’s the Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel-sama!”

“I know, right!? I’ve heard that he’s super hot!”

“If we’re gonna have a captain come teach us, then I want it to be the Captain of the Blue Roses - Captain Charlotte!”

“No way! Captain Fuegoleon of the Crimson Lions would be the best!”

Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. Students at the tender ages of twelve and thirteen shared the names of the knights they admired, making the classroom quite boisterous.

“……Now then, please come in.”

In all that commotion, Harris slightly raised his voice and called out to someone outside the classroom. Why was he avoiding their questions? For the moment, the students ignored such doubts and focused their eyes and hopes towards the classroom entrance.

BAM!!

The wooden door to the classroom was kicked open as a young man with slicked back silver and black hair waltzed in.

“Yo!”

The man walked with an exaggerated swagger as he headed toward the front of the blackboard. His fierce-looking sunglasses glinted with a spark before,

SLAM!!

he slammed his hand against the podium.

“I’m your guest lecturer, Magna Swing! I’ll be working ya punks to the bone today, so pleased to meet ya!!”

“………..”

‘…….This dude’s crazy!’ The whole class was petrified by him for a few moments, but once they came to, this is what they all thought. Harris told them that a Magic Knight would be coming, but the person before them was…….

“Hey!! Ya punks have some nerve ignoring me!!”

…….A delinquent. Moreover, he was a delinquent of the antiquated variety.

‘What the heck is going on here…….?’

“Magna. Don’t go yellin’ at them so suddenly. You’re always overdoin’ everything.”

As the class became more and more confused, they heard another voice come from the entrance to the classroom.

“Plus, when you act like that, that makes me look nuts, too.”

“Yessir! Gotchu, boss!!”

A man steeped down to enter through the classroom door as Magna greeted him with a deep bow. The expressions of every student in the classroom froze once more when they saw him. This man looked dangerous in all sorts of ways. He was at least 180 cm tall, his body was overflowing with muscles, and his neck was impossibly thick. Right above all that was the face of a killer. If the young man who walked in earlier was a delinquent, then this man was one of the dons of the underworld who leads young thugs like that. That was the kind of atmosphere this giant of a man had. Faced with such a man, all the students could only stare at their knees silently as a cold sweat dripped down their faces.

“Sheesh. Think about how you’re goin’ to trouble others before you act. I’m a Virgo*, you know?”

Without a care for how this will trouble the others in the room, Yami lit a cigarette and stood at the podium with such an intimidating air that it would make any young girl runaway in tears. Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. They mostly heard about Magic Knights with a brilliant track record, such as the ones they mentioned earlier. However, naturally, they heard negative rumors, too. The majority of those negative rumors centered around one squad. The name of that squad was……

“Hey. I’m the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.”

Yes, that very squad. The image the students had of the Magic Knights was about to change completely.

Yami Sukehiro and Magna Swing. Amongst all the Magic Knights – no, even amongst the Black Bulls – those two were famous for having murderous-looking faces, so why were they here as guest lecturers? The reason can be gleaned by going back to a conversation that occurred just a few hours ago.

 “……You want us to teach at some magic academy in the Common Realm for a day?”

After Yami gave Asta, Noelle, and Luck their dungeon capturing mission, a certain visitor suddenly dropped by the hideout. Yami sat on a couch in the base’s common area as he dealt with that visitor.

“Yes. The Wizard King ordered Leo and I directly.”

That visitor was the Captain of the Crimson Lions, Fuegoleon Vermillion. Fuegoleon brought liquor and confectionaries as souvenirs and sat on a sofa across from Yami as they talked.

“Woah. That’s great. So you’re switchin’ jobs, huh? Switchin’ from bein’ a super zealous king of seriousness to a super zealous teacher of seriousness? Sounds good. Suits your character, too. It’s actually scary how well that suits you. You should get one of those jerseys P.E. teachers wear.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say about me, but……. Anyway, it’s a great chance to interact with the innocent children of this country. I was looking forward to it, but……”

In contrast to Yami, who was in a great mood thanks to the liquor Fuegoleon brought, Fuegoleon himself looked sullen.

“Today, I was given a different, more urgent mission. Both Leo and I must go.”

Then, he began smiling triumphantly as he continued,

“So rejoice, Yami! The Wizard King has decided that you and one of your squad members will go in my and Leo’s place! Please go right now!”

In a move rather uncharacteristic of him, Yami spat out his drink.

“What are you sayin’!? That doesn’t make me happy at all!”

“Why not!? This is a valuable opportunity to set an example for the young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country! I would love to postpone today’s mission to go, but since I cannot, I decided to tearfully pass on that duty to you!”

“Thanks, but no thanks! I can’t believe you’d grant me such an unwelcome favor all smiley like that! That pisses me off!”  

The fact this super zealous king of seriousness can drop such a task on him in pure, heartfelt sincerity and not out of spite was one of the things Yami dreaded most about him.

“Actually, aren’t you pickin’ the wrong guy for this? These kids are gonna be taught by the worst squad in the Magic Knights, you know?”

“There are no other Captains who are free at the moment.”

“But this mission’s just to serve as a guest lecturer, so is it really necessary to send a Captain-class knight?”

“The higher one stands, the further one is separated from the point of view of the masses. I believe that it is our duty as Captains to throw ourselves into their daily lives and hear their voices.”

Yami thought that, if a guy like this was at the top of the Magic Knights, it would surely be really easy for him to motivate the other knights. However, he would rather be spared of this guy’s fiery spark spreading to other squads.

“……Truthfully, there is another reason why a Captain-class must do this.”

“…………?”

The details that followed certainly made it difficult for Yami to refuse.

“……Well, if that’s how it is, then I guess you would need a Captain-class to do this.”

“That’s right. So, are you interested in taking on this mission?”

“……Well, this was ordered by the Wizard King, so I can’t exactly refuse.”

‘Since it’s him we’re talking about, he probably ordered this while imagining how this conversation between me and Fuegoleon was gonna go with a huge grin on his face. That pisses me off.’

“Don’t look so malcontent! After all, even if all the other captains were available, I still would have recommended you for the job!”

“Hearing that just makes me even more unhappy.”

He snidely replied, but Fuegoleon was undaunted.

“I’ve always felt that you had a knack for teaching! Although you’re complaining right now, I sincerely believe that you will succeed!”

 And so, our story returns to the classroom.

“……U-um, Yami…….. sensei?”

In this classroom dominated by silence, Harris-sensei spoke up with fear in his voice.

“Hm?”

He spoke up because, after Yami introduced himself, he wrote “Study Hall” on the blackboard and then flumped onto the teacher’s chair. Magna stood beside him resting a bat of flames he pulled out of nowhere, his Grand Slam, against his shoulder. It was as if he was trying to assert his dominance over the rest of the class. They truly did look like a gangster boss and his young subordinate.

“Um…… will you be starting class soon?”

With that, Yami turned his head toward the blackboard before giving Harris a frightening look.

“…….Study hall is a valid class, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but……. Since we have a Magic Knight Captain here, that’s such a special occasion, so we were hoping to hear all sorts of interesting things from you……”

“Huuh!? You bastard! You sayin’ you have a problem with how Yami-san’s runnin’ this class!?”

“EEEK!?”

Magna struck the floor with his bat, causing Harris to reflexively raise his hands to protect his face.

“Listen up, punk! If Yami says it’s white, then it’s white, even if it’s black! If Yami tells ya to eat somethin’, ya eat it like it’s the best damn thing you’ve ever tasted, even if it’s an Amazonian Dung Beetle! Startin’ today, these are the rules of this classroom, capisce!?”

“Like I said, its because you yell so stupidly loud that you make me look scary, too. How do you plan on payin’ up for this, huh? And wait, you’ve eaten a dung beetle? Seriously?”

Yami grabbed Magna’s head and easily lifted him off the ground with one hand. There were many things that the students, particularly Elude, wanted to say, but, at the very least, they knew that normal people don’t threaten to extort money from others like that.  

“Your name was Harris-sensei, right?”

Yami threw Magna into a corner of the classroom and gave Harris a piercing, murderous glare.

“Huh!? Um, yes! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything, so please spare me……!”

‘Oh no, he’s going to break Harris-sensei’s head next!’ the students thought. Internally, they all prayed for his soul.

“I guess you’re right. My bad. This is the first time I’ve ever taught a classroom, so I don’t really get what I’m supposed to be doin’. I see. Let’s try this, then.”

Shockingly, Yami listened to Harris’s request without objection and made Magna erase the words “Study Hall” from the blackboard.

“So, anyone got any questions for me?”

He reclined against his chair once more, but, this time, he looked as if he was actually interested in teaching them, making the other students exchange glances with each other.

‘Well, just because he has a rough looking face, that doesn’t make him a bad person. He hasn’t threatened any of us. He has only been strict toward Magna, but maybe that was just to protect Harris-sensei. He’s definitely dangerous, but maybe he’s nice on the inside,’ Elude thought.

Everyone else thought so, too. As the leader of the class, Elude quietly raised his hand and asked,

“……U-umm, what do Magic Knights usually do?”

In response, Yami smiled gently and said,

“…….Hm. Good question. Well, we beat up bad guys, beat up more bad guys, then beat up more bad guys………. Yeah. That’s pretty much what we do.”

……Even though he was motivated enough to start class, he wasn’t motivated enough to do much more than that.  

“Excuse me! What was the most difficult mission you’ve ever been on!?”

“…….Could you teach us magic?”

“You’ve met the Wizard King, right!? What kind of person is he!?”

He may not have been very motivated, but the fact he was willing to answer their questions was more than enough for them to all raise their hands and start asking. After all, it was rare for a Magic Knight to come all the way here. Even if it’s the Captain of the infamous Black Bulls and some young upstart, that wasn’t enough to damper the students’ curiosity.

Yami watched the whole spectacle with a smile. It wasn’t obvious when he was disciplining Magna earlier, but maybe he actually really likes kids…….

“Ha ha! This is more of a pain in the ass than I thought! Magna, switch places with me.”

……Or maybe he doesn’t.

“Yessir! I gotchu!”

‘I can hardly understand what this guy’s saying!?’ the students thought. For the second time that day, the atmosphere in the classroom froze over. Yami was dangerous, but he at least listened to them. Magna was a dangerous person who didn’t make a lick of sense when he talked. All the excitement the students felt just moments ago evaporated in an instant.

“……Also, you can talk normally now. I’ve more or less figured it out.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah, pretty sure, anyway.”

“…….Got it.”

After talking with Yami, Magna’s face relaxed, looking much less dangerous than before.

“Sorry about that everyone! The truth is that I just came back from a mission that made enemies and allies alike a bloody mess, so I was a bit on edge there!”

‘Hearing that doesn’t make us any less scared of you!’ Elude thought to himself. That said, Magna had an unexpectedly charming smile on his face as he stood at the podium.

“So, what was it that you wanted to know? Our most dangerous mission so far? Let me think. I don’t know if it was the most dangerous, but for that bloody mission I mentioned earlier, I brought two newbies with me to the village of Saussy!”

‘…….Huh?’

From that point onward, Magna forthrightly answered each and every question the students asked. Faced with such a sudden change, though the students were frightened of him at first, they slowly but surely began to smile. There were a few students who were creeped out by the sudden change, but….

“Wait, Magna. Your personality right now compared to how you were when you came here is way too different. It’s creepy. Talk about scary. Are you mentally unstable?”

“How mean! You’re the one who told me to do that!”

“Hm? Do you have a problem with me?”

“No, we cool! It was my bad! I goofed!”

“….Magna-sensei, what are you saying?”

“Isn’t that obvious!? ‘No problem at all! Thank you for the feedback’ – of course! ”

“A ha ha, he’s a stereotypical delinquent, alright!”

As he interacted with the kids, the tension that once filled the classroom gradually eased. The dangerous atmosphere that surrounded Yami and Magna also disappeared. The students couldn’t help but wonder why the two were giving off such “We’re gonna sell you on the black market” vibes earlier. Such questions were buried under the fun conversations they were having right now, and first period ended before anyone realized it.

……Well, except for one.

It was now time for second period.

“Huff……. Hah…… haah…… huff……”

After establishing a bond with the rest of the classroom, the class went out to the school grounds behind the school at Yami’s suggestion.  

“……Wait…… are you kidding me? ……..This is impossible!”

The students were all dressed in sportswear……

“Hey, kid who just said this was impossible. Five more laps for you.”

…..And they were all being forced to run.

“What’s with this? What are you trying to do with us!?”

“I’ve never heard of having to run a marathon for class at a magic academy!”

Once Elude and his entourage spoke up, complaints started flying from the rest of the class. However, it was too scary to stand before Yami and voice their complaints to his face, so they opted to complain as they ran. In response, Yami looked at the students with dead looking eyes, and said,

“Didn’t one of you ask me to teach you some magic?  If you do this long enough, you’ll sort of feel like you learned somethin’. Like you were training or somethin’.”

“No! Magic! We were talking about magic! We never said a word about physical training!”

“Shut up. Don’t you know that a healthy spirit resides in…… yeah….. it resides in a healthy body.”

“All this is doing is making me dizzy!”

“Yami-sensei, please stop this! At this rate, the students are going to collapse!”

Reaching the end of his patience, Harris clung to Yami with tears in his eyes.

“You were running such a fun class just moments ago, so why are you doing this all of a sudden!?”

“I had to get them all to trust me first before getting them to do what I wanted. You should take notes.”

“That’s not how you run a classroom! That’s how you convince somebody to commit a crime! Please don’t abuse my students like that!”

“But look, there are some kids who are totally into this. Take that blonde girl with the glasses, for example.”

With cigarette in hand, he pointed to a young girl who was running at a steady pace. If he remembered correctly, she was the one who asked him to teach them magic. He couldn’t really remember, but it was probably her.

“Ah, that’s Allison. She’s the top student in this class…… no, in this school.”

Harris also watched Allison, sounding a little proud as he spoke,

“She only just recently entered this academy, but she always earns the highest grades in the class, and she’s also very skilled at handling her magic. She’s a little uncooperative, which is a shame, but she’s an excellent student.”

“……Is that so?”

‘……If she’s such a great student, why did she enroll in a Magic Academy all the way out here in the sticks?’

“Anyway, please stop this! The students really will collapse if this goes on!”

“Huh!? Ya bastard! You really like questioning the way the boss does things, don’t ya!?”

“Eeek!!”

‘Harris-sensei is such a wimp,’ the students thought at they watched Harris squat down, shielding his head with his face between his knees in response to Magna’s threats. In the meantime, Yami looked like he was deep in thought.

“Well, you have a point. It would be troublesome if they collapsed……. After all, the fun part starts now.”

Yami said ominously before signaling the students to stop.

“Understood. Then, let’s start a little game. All of you go and form pairs with somebody you get along with.”

He said as he pointed at them. They all did as they were told and formed pairs while they caught their breaths. After confirming that they all formed pairs, Yami breathed a puff of smoke before telling them,

“Alright. Now, fight each other to the death.”

“HUUUH!?”

Elude and the other students exclaimed. They all knew something bad was coming, but they weren’t expecting a death game.

“……Don’t “Huh!?” me…….. What, you don’t want to have a death match?”  

“Of course we don’t! Why would you ever think we wanted to!?”

“Well, you were all saying you didn’t want to run anymore, so……”

“So you thought we’d rather kill each other!? How emotionally unstable are you!?”

“Huh!? Yami-san goes out of his way to heed your concerns and this is how you repay him, ya ungrateful brats!?”

‘That delinquent is so annoying!!’

The students were starting to get angry, but Yami said as if to calm them down,

“I mean, I said death match, but obviously I didn’t actually mean that you should kill each other. That would be bad.”

The students wanted to scream “Well obviously!”

“However, you should go at it seriously, as if it were a death match. It would be beneficial for everyone to have some serious, harder combat training.”

‘……..Well, he has a point there.’

These students were all aiming for jobs far away from the battlefield, but the school curriculum still included combat training. If enriching that aspect of their education is what he was aiming for, then they had no complaints……

Elude was just about to accept this lesson, but at that moment,

“Moreover, this combat training is going to be special.”

Once Yami exchanged looks with Magna, he created a large number of fireballs and did a few practice swings with the bat he was carrying on his shoulder.

“If anybody tries to skimp out on training, Magna here will enter the battle and educate you personally, so be grateful.”

“………”

As the students stood watching Magna with eyes full of terror, Magna grabbed one of his fireballs,

“C’mon and start already, brats!”

“U-uwaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

With that, their second period class began with the most rigid training session they ever had as fireballs flew through the sky. It was a training session where they absolutely were not allowed to cut corners.

 “So, with this, now you know that human beings are surprisingly tough. None of you will die that easily.”

The schoolgrounds was littered with burnt patches here and there. Some of them were still smoldering.

After being forced to do all-out combat training until the end of the class period, the students were all collapsed upon the smoldering ground, where they laid as they listened to Yami talk. Of course, even if they could hear him speak, their minds weren’t in a state where they could process what he was saying.

“And so, from now on, I guess…… you should try pursuing anything in life with the same kind of seriousness. I think. Let’s end the lesson on that kind of message.”

“That was perfect! I’d expect no less from ya, boss!”

As Yami and Magna talked, a single girl approached them – Allison. She had handled the combat training with ease, a calm expression on her face through the entire ordeal. However, right now, she was glaring at Yami.

“For days, I was looking forward to being visited by a Magic Knight, but I’m disappointed in you. Please give us a proper lesson that only a Magic Knight could offer us.”

“HEY! What are you so pissed about, little girl!?”

‘…….She’s gonna die…….’

‘……Allison’s totally gonna die……’

‘…….. I was such a big fan of her, too……’

The other students muttered. Just as they expected, Magna swung his bat against the ground.

“HUH!? Are you tryna say that we aren’t proper Magic Knights!!?”

But then Yami iron clawed Magna’s head and lifted him from the ground before turning toward Allison once more.

“Your name was Allison, right? Then, can you give me an example of what kind of lesson you’d want?”

“What you were doing before would be sufficient. There are all sorts of questions I would love to ask you, such as the internal affairs of the Magic Knights and the kinds of characteristics different knights have.”

“Hmm, your questions sound oddly specific. Why?”

“Well…… no particular reason. At the very least, I think that would benefit all of us more than these random activities you’re having us do.”

She averted her eyes from Yami for a bit before meeting his eyes once more.

“I see. Well, you have a point. The next lesson can be like that, but before that……”

He looked around at all the other students, who were all worn out from training.

“All of you, go wash your faces or somethin’. You’re all filthy. Ha ha, wonder why?”

‘I’m gonna kill him!’ Elude thought, though he was sure that he wasn’t the only one thinking about this. There was no mistake that everyone was starting to feel an emotion other than fear toward this tyrannical Magic Knight Captain.

“Take a short break. After that, gather around here and we’ll resume class.”

After receiving their instructions, they dragged themselves to the drinking fountain. As much as they wanted to kill him, their fear of him hasn’t diminished in the slightest, so no student dared to oppose him.

“……By the way, Allison.”

Yami called out to Allison to stop her.

“The fact that a Magic Knight was visiting this school was supposed to be kept secret until earlier today.”

“……!”

Her short figure froze at his words.

“How come you knew we were coming?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”

As if to escape from Yami, she joined the rest of the students.  

 A few hours ago, at the Black Bulls’ base.

“There’s a spy from the Diamond Kingdom!?”

Hearing such a thing so suddenly from Yami, Magna nearly dropped the high-grade pudding Yami had given him earlier, which Yami had received as a gift from Fuegoleon. Incidentally, Magna had agreed to go with Yami as thanks for the pudding.

“And this Diamond Kingdom spy is……. hiding in Ryakke village’s magic academy?”

“Yeah, that’s the tip-off we received. That super zealous king of seriousness was supposed to go investigate that while teaching there for the day, but, in the end, it was decided that we would go instead.”

He said as he flumped against the sofa.

“Well, the truth is that there’s a number of their spies scattered around in various towns in various regions of the kingdom.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah. After all, Clover Kingdom’s doin’ it, too. We and any country we’re on unfriendly terms with mutually monitor each other from both inside and outside the country. We talk about how much we hate each other, but we can’t help but keep our eyes on each other…… like a bunch of teenagers or somethin’.”

“My apologies, Yami-san! I don’t understand half of what you just said! Graaaah, this is all because I’m stupid!”

“Uh, sorry, don’t take everything I say so seriously. You’re makin’ me feel embarrassed.”

Leaving that conversation aside, information gathering through spies, or even the intentional dissemination of information to another country was tantamount to an act of war.  

“However, if we tried to go after each and every one of those spies, we wouldn’t have enough people protectin’ the Royal Capital. That’s why Captain-class Magic Knights aren’t usually deployed to missions like this.”

“So, why do you have to go this time?”

“Because of the place they’re hidin’ at. It would be a pain if they end up bein’ a bad influence on the kids. Y’know, those “ young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country.””

“Oh! I get it! Can I use that phrase, too!?”

“No. I came up with it, so it’s mine.”

Yami imagined Fuegoleon making a face of disappointment for stealing his words, but he didn’t mind that and continued his explanation.

“Moreover, the educational institutions established in the remote areas of this country are more useful than you’d expect to this country. If that school had to close down because of some nasty rumors, the kids who went there would have to go to some far away school instead.”

Of course, the people who live in the outskirts of the Common Realm wouldn’t have the mana nor the money to attend a school in the more urban areas. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bother attending the school in Ryakke. If that school wasn’t there, an entire region’s kids would fall into a situation where they wouldn’t be able to get an education, no matter how much they wanted one.

“Also…… we’re still shaky on the details, but the truth is that, lately, people from the Diamond Kingdom have been inciting violence in various parts of the kingdom.”  

“Those guys again…… they really like invading our turf!”

“No, well….. it seems that their motive this time isn’t to invade us.”

They haven’t been attacking the villages or towns, and they haven’t been damaging the farm fields, either. They’ve merely been popping up in various places, leaving traces of battle behind. It was truly ominous.

“Well, the point is that we don’t know why they’ve been moving the way they have, so just to be safe, we’re gonna go check it out.”

“…….So, what do you think we should do?”

Magna asked. He didn’t care about the details of the mission, just what he should do. Rather than try to get a firm grasp on the events leading up to this situation, he just needed the gist of the story, one that would make the problem he needs to solve simple.

“Let’s see…… Thanks to Fuegoleon investigating for us, we have some idea on how to find the spy, but there’s still about one more thing we need to do.”

“I see! Then, let’s find them and beat the crap outta them!”

“You’re simplifying things a little too much there.  Fuegoleon’s plan was to probe for the spy while going through with the lesson.”

“Understood! Then, we’ll beat up anybody who looks suspicious while we’re teaching!”

“You don’t understand shit……. Well, still, it would be good if you go to class with that attitude. If the spy reads too much into what you’re doing, they might panic and slip up.”

“Got’chu! Like this!?”

“Perfect. I can hardly understand what you’re sayin’, though.”

Yami left Magna as he practiced speaking gangsta, thinking to himself,

‘The spy will probably feel shaken up when they see two Magic Knights suddenly appear. If we spook them enough, then they should slip up. It’s possible that they may already know that we’re coming, but that in itself would help us narrow down who the culprit is. If somebody knows of our visit when it was supposed to be kept secret, then that would be very suspect.’

However,

‘……This doesn’t seem like enough.’

Even if they do shake the spy up, would that be enough to reach them? There was no guarantee that they would slip up. To begin with, he wasn’t a big fan of strategies that involve standing by and watching.

Even if they can’t do something as extreme as what Magna was suggesting earlier, there must be something they can do to make this mission more fun……. Er, rather, a solution that will make everyone happy with the outcome.

‘……Well, I’ll come up with something as we go.’

As he weighed his thoughts, he pulled out the investigative report that Fuegoleon gave him earlier from his book pouch and flipped through it. The report contained information on several people who were suspected to be Diamond Kingdom spies, but……

‘……Is one of these cute little fellas really a spy?’

 --- Returning to the Magic Academy drinking fountain, after Yami’s second period lesson from hell ---

“You’re amazing, Allison-chan! I can’t believe you talked back at Yami-sensei like that!”

A young girl who Allison has almost never spoken to struck her shoulder as she said this, surprising her. If she remembered correctly, the young girl’s name was Sheila.

“W-what’s with you? Don’t just slap my shoulder like that. Don’t you have any common sense…..?”

“I-I’ve never been told that after slapping a classmate’s shoulder, but……”

She was a little put off by Allison’s odd retort, but Sheila continued to smile.

“Thanks to you, I’m sure even Yami-sensei will start teaching a proper lesson!”

“……I wonder about that.”

Two boys interceded into the conversation. Allison hadn’t talked to either of them much, either, but she was pretty sure that one of them was named Elude.

“That dude is an old geezer who’s okay with making fellow classmates fight to the death. Since you talked back to him, he might make us do something even weirder.”

“Right? We’re all exhausted already, so please don’t rile him up, okay?”

“I mean, trying so hard at some magic academy right on the border of the Forsaken Realm…… you must really be full of yourself, huh?”

Following Elude’s lead, the other boys who follow him put the blame on Allison. Sheila retaliated angrily,

“You’re wrong! Allison said all that for our sakes! Besides, all of you were complaining at Yami-sensei just a little while ago from the beginning!”

“We didn’t complain to his face. We’re telling her not to talk to him like she’s trying to start a fight. Unless, you plan on taking responsibility if something happens?”

Elude smiled maliciously as he said this, but she simply looked back at him with mild confusion.

“…….Huh? Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else, so I didn’t hear you.”

“In a situation like this!?”

She was thinking about how this would-be bully and his stooges were just way too typical. Straight out of a textbook.

“More importantly, we’ll be scolded if we don’t return soon.”

“H-hey!”

Despite Elude’s pleas, she didn’t stop, boldly cutting her way through them.

“Don’t ignore us! What do you want, anyway!?”

One of Elude’s followers got angry with her attitude and tried to grab her thin arm, but……

“…….H-huh?”

He thought he grabbed her, but she moved out of his reach as smoothly as running water, causing him to stumble forward. Allison continued toward where Yami was, not stopping for even a moment.

“I’m different from all of you.”

 “Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two…… Okay, looks like everyone’s here. Seriously? None of you ran away? But I thought of such an interesting punishment…...”

‘He’s not even trying to hide his true intentions!’ Elude thought angrily. Yami sat on the floor and put his hands on his knees as he looked around at everyone.

“Alright, for third period, I think I’ll hold a Q&A session as Allison suggested.”

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Much like Sheila did earlier, a number of students looked at Allison thinking things like “Good job!” and “You’re a God!”. However…….

“And so….”

Yami took off his Magic Knight robe, and Magna struck his fist against his palm with a vicious expression on his face.

“Those of you with both questions and courage, come at me and Magna with all you got. If you can land a finishing blow on us, we’ll answer any questions you’ve got.”

“HUUH!?”

— To be continued in Part 2 —

*Note: The reason Yami mentions that he’s a Virgo is that “Virgo” is spelled with the kanji characters for “young lady” in Japanese. In other words, he’s of the “young lady” constellation, but he would probably scare away most young ladies.  I couldn’t think of a good way to localize the joke, so you’ll have to make do with an explanation.

I think Yami might have been hanging around Luck a bit too much if he’s coming up with ideas like having the class do a death match. His comment about countries spying on each other even though they insist that they hate each other like they’re a bunch of teenagers was great, though.  

The kids calling Yami an old geezer had me like “??” at first, but I guess he is twice their age.

This chapter compliments the Magna and Luck one quite well in the sense that it explores yet another aspect of Clover Kingdom’s rampant inequality.  It feels like chapters with Magna in it consistently emphasize Clover Kingdom’s social divides, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with him directly.

Anyway, Yami and Magna get more serious in the next half of the chapter.

[blahblahblippyblah]

The Magic of Dust

Also follow on Ao3

The story of the Marauders as they go through all 7 years at Hogwarts. However this take place in a universe where your soul manifests as a daemon. Which is a magical animal that is apart of you and cannot be separated from you.

For those who did not read His Dark Materials, daemons can transform between different animal representations when you are young, but will eventually find a final form when you grow up.

Daemons usually express what you are feeling deep down and are extensions of the people they are tied to.

******************

Sirius

“MOOOOOTHEEERRRRRR SIRIUS IS DOING IT AGAIN!”

Sirius heard his brother Regulus yell as he ran down the stairs towards the day room to fetch mother. Tattle tale he thought to himself.

“Hurry up before she comes, at least if you’re at the bottom you can deny it” Puddles his daemon said slithering from his arm to the banister. Puddles was currently a King Snake and his red band stood out in great contrast to the dusty green and dark black wood that made up the dingy dark stairwell of the Nobel and Most Ancient house of Black.

“Ok” Sirius said and he swung his leg up over the handrail and took a deep breath. He looked down the 5 stories of twisting staircases, It looked higher when he was perched on the edge. He steadied himself and then pushed off sliding down in circles as the staircase twisted magically to keep him from turning too sharp and flying off at one of the landings. Puddles slithered down the banister after him laughing as he went. He managed to pick up more sped then he anticipated and by the time he got to the last floor he couldn’t stop himself.

“SLOW DOWN!” Puddles yelled turning into a small fish crow to fly down after him faster.

Too late Sirius thought before he flew of the end and rolled into the hallway scraping his back across the carpet. Sirius then collapsed sprawled out on the floor. Man, that was a rush, totally worth the bruise. Puddles landed ontop of his chest and instantly turned into a fluffy back dog tail wagging furiously.

“That was awesome. Why don’t we do that to come downstairs everyday?” Puddles said.

Sirius was about to reply exactly why they didn’t when he heard the unmistakable sound of clacking heels heading towards them. The person who was the exact reason he didn’t do it every morning. Sirius jumped up quickly trying to look nonchalant and bent down to pick up Puddles who on que turned back into a King Snake and slithered up his sleeve just in time for Regulus and his mother to turn the corner.

“Hello Mother. I was… ummm… Just headed upstairs to change for supper” Sirius said trying to control his breathing so it wouldn’t sound like he was panting.

“Where is Pudicitiam?” His mother demanded. Pudicitiam was the name his parents had given his daemon when he first appeared when Sirius was 4 and a half. Pudicitiam meant ‘Pure’, something his parents had chosen because of a the Black family motto ‘Toujours Pur’. Sirius hated the name and the motto. He didn’t fall for the nonsense that pureblood were superior like he was constantly told. He also didn’t appreciate the Black family tradition of parents naming both their children and their daemons. As far as he knew that tradition was pure Black.

Walburga regarded him up and down. She was a tall thin women with a thick dark dress that stretched to the floor with long sleeves and a turtleneck that went all the way up to her chin. Her dark hair was pulled back tight into a high bun. Her presence was haunting and intimidating. It was also exasperated by the King Cobra daemon that slithered up beside her and hissed at him in displeasure. Sirius held out his arm and Puddles slithered out slowly keeping cautious eyes on Insignus, his mother’s Cobra. Having not caught him in the act she didn’t seem to have much to yell at him about.

Snakes were commonly the daemons of pure blood families. That tradition was common across Europe. Sirius was told ever since his daemon appeared that snake daemons signified superiority, intelligence and power. The greatest wizards of all time, Salazar Slytherin, Merlin, Grindelwald, The Minister for Magic, and anyone who was of any importance all had snake daemons. Stories even said Salazar Slytherins’ daemon was a Basilisk the most powerful snake of all. So from a very young age his parents made sure his daemon stayed as a snake, because a Black heir with anything but a snake for a daemon would be disgraceful.

Unfortunately Puddles hated staying as a snake, and whenever he was alone Puddle would usually transform into a small shaggy black dog. A few times when he got upset or angry Puddles would change without notice and his mother would get angry and usually punish him, especially is company was around.

“Very well, go wash up and put on some nicer clothes. Uncle Cygnus and the girls are coming for dinner to celebrate you going off to school tomorrow.”

And with that dismissal Sirius quickly as he could without running scurried up the stairs.

He didn’t notice until he got to the second landing that Regulus was following him into his room.

Sirius let him in, closed the door then turned on him.

“Why do you always have to run to mother?”

“You could have hurt yourself” Regulus said crossing his arms in anger. Sirius saw Nobella Regulus’ Smooth greens snake daemon poke his head out of Regulus’ collar tongue out sensing the air. She then whispered something in his ear and Regulus made a scrunched face.

“I’m sorry, I’m just upset you are leaving tomorrow, and I’m going to be all alone” Regulus said with a bit of a whine.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

“You won’t be alone. I’ll write to you everyday. And then next year you’ll be coming with me.”

Regulus looked at his feet but stayed quiet as if he had no retort.

“Come on, you can wear my favorite velvet robes to dinner. I’ll ever tie your tie” Sirius said reaching out to pull Regulus to his closet to try and cheer him up. As much as Regulus annoyed him he couldn’t stand to see his baby brother upset.

He would miss Regulus but he was too excited to go to Hogwarts to saying much else. He instead spent the rest of the night playing pranks on Bella and Cissy to keep Regulus smiling. Hopefully that would make up for it.

James

“James stop bouncing like that”

James’ mother scolded him as he stared up in awe at the glistening maroon train in front of him spilling steam onto the platform. Students and parents were running around greeting one another, pulling trunks onto the train and hugging their parent’s goodbye. Beside him Bahaadur was impatiently stepping in spot like he couldn’t wait to get on the train. James reached down and patted his back to calm him. His golden fur was soft to the touch. Today Bahaadur was a lion, and although he didn’t have a mane James thought he looked impressive non the less. He was proud of his daemon, when he was close and excited it made him feel 10 times more confident.

His mom knelt down in front of him. “Did you pack your extra jumper?”

“Yes”

“Your extra trainers?”

“Yes”

“Your extra set of quills and ink?”

“ummmmm… maybe” James said with an innocent smile.

His mom tutted at him.

“Don’t worry we’ll send them along in the mail” She said pulling him into a hug.

James blushed feeling embarrassed but hugged her back. She smelled of spices and freshly made bread. Beside him Sahaanubhooti (or Hooti for short) his moms swan daemon place her head on Bahaadur’s back in a farewell. When they finally broke apart his father came up and clapped him on the shoulder.

“You make us proud son.” Then he bent down and hugged him too. Raksha his tiger daemon then took his turn nuzzling into Bahaadur in his own farewell. When he stood up he said “The house is going to be so quiet with you gone.”

His mother laughed at that. “The elves will be bored with all the idle time.”

The train whistle blew, and the crowd stated forward.

“Oh you better hurry or you’ll miss the train” His father said guiding him forward.

James got onto the train and his father levitated his trunk in after him.

“Make sure to write at least once a week” His mother called waving.

“And stay out of trouble.” His father called.

And with that the train pulled out of the station. And the last view James had of his parents was them waving to him on the steamy platform.

Now by himself in the busy train hallway James was feeling a little worried. He had never been apart from his parents for more than 24 hours and now he was on his own. Bahaadur was now in his young stag form and his legs wobbled a little, which to James showed he too was worried. Bahaadur leaned against his leg either to comfort him or to comfort himself. Either way James appreciated the gesture.

James looked down at Bahaadur and Bahaadur looked up at him and together they said “ Maybe we should find some first years to share a trolley with?”

Sirius

After Creature the Black family house elf came back from bringing his trunk on board Sirius ran onto the train as fast as he could. He heard his mom calling after him but Sirius was so close to freedom that he couldn’t hold himself back. The only thing he heard was his mother shouting that he should write home before the end of the week and to remember not to consort with halfbloods. He also heard his father say something along the lines of coming home for Christmas, but both things he promptly ignored. He took off down the train corridor away from the carriage he knew Creature left his stuff, the same carriage his cousins would soon be coming to sit in. Sirius didn’t want to be around when they got on or he might get stuck with them the whole train ride. He made it through 2 carriages before the train started moving, by the third it was full steam ahead and the crowd who were waving out the windows started to disperse. When he got to the 3 carriage he was full running through the halls dodging people. Puddles was running beside him now in his black dog form which he changed into once they were out of sight of any Black family members, jumping over trunks and weaving between legs to keep up with Sirius.

He was almost to the door to the last train car when he accidently lost his footing a bit and slammed into someone, sending them both tumbling.

“BLOODY HELL!” The person shouted as he collided with him.

“Shit, Sorry mate” Sirius said quickly getting back up and offering the stranger his hand to help him up.

The guy looked his age. He had dark brown skin and spiky messy black hair and round glasses on. The guy looked both confused and irritated but took his hand none the less and Sirius helped him up.

“Sorry” He said again. “I was just trying to get away from my cousins.”

“No problem” The boy said. “You a first year?”

“Ya, you?”

“Ya. I’m James, James Potter, and this is Bahaadur” He said gesturing to the young stag standing beside him.

Puddles walked up to Bahaadur and sniffed at him, apparently, he liked what he smelled because he lowered his front and began wagging his tail like he wanted to play. Puddle never took to anyone’s daemon so quick before, so Sirius took that as a good sign. Plus, he knew the name Potter. His mother said the Potters were blood traitors, but Sirius knew enough about the intensive pureblood family tree he was forced to memorize to know the Potters were still pure blooded. So technically he was still obeying his mother’s orders.

“I’m Sirius, Sirius Black.” Sirius said offering his hand out for a shake. “And this is ummm….”

Sirius was about to say Puddles, but knew that would sound stupid and thus make him look stupid. But he wasn’t about to call Puddles Pudicitiam either, since then he would look super stupid as well as a prat. Quickly he tried to think of a name.

“Uhh. This is Fidèlami”

“Cool. Umm if you’re a Black why is your daemon a dog?”

“Oh ummmmm” Sirius rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not really fond of snakes. Mother hates when ummm Fidèlami looks like this, but she isn’t here so…” Sirius trailed off unsure what to say.

“No problem. I hate snaked too” James said scrunching his nose. “Anyway let’s find a car no point hanging around in the hallway”

Sirius followed James back into the very last cart and they searched for an empty car. They were all full except the very last one which had 4 people inside with two spare seats left. The four people inside looked about their age so James and him decided to go in.

Remus

Remus was so nervous he could barely hear to train whistle blow from the platform. He only got on just in time when his mom let him go from a big long hug and his father quickly ran him to the train to get one just in time. Once alone Remus went straight to the very back compartment. He was hoping he could stay solitary so as to not run into anyone. He had never been around any wizards, or muggle, let alone anyone his age. His parents kept him at home not only to keep him safe and secret, but also for the safety of others.

Remus understood why they did it. He was dangerous. Remus was a werewolf, and if anyone found out he would be in big trouble. Not only could he hurt someone if he got loose on a full moon, but the ministry would also take him away from his family to love under more ‘secure’ conditions. Remus didn’t know what these conditions were, but he really didn’t want to find out. The only thing worse than being taken away to a more ‘secure’ place would be if he accidentally hurt someone during the full moon. Then he would be ‘put down’, at least that’s what the ministry called it. So, Remus made the decision to take his father’s advice and stay away from others, and not get too close to anyone. If someone figured out what he was they would tell someone, then he would be in a lot of trouble, and Professor Dumbledore would get into trouble as well.

Remus never thought he would be able to attend Hogwarts. And if it wasn’t for Dumbledore he wouldn’t. He remembered when Dumbledore came to his house to give him his letter. His parents were so scared, they were especially scared when they found out Dumbledore knew what he was. But it turned out Dumbledore didn’t care. He offered Remus a place in his school for magic and reassure both him and his parents Remus would be safe. He would have a safe place to transform, a hospital to spend his days in after transforming and a matron to help heal him. It seemed too good to be true, yet here he was on his way to school. Remus really didn’t want to mess this up.

He sat by himself with Ileuad with daemon in his lap, gently petting her as he read his copy of Hogwarts: A History. She was currently in her Cotton Tail Rabbit form, which she stayed in most of the time. Having her close and warm against him helped calm his nerves. Ileuad was usually a quiet daemon, but today she was eerily quiet. Remus though this probably had to do with the fact they were both very scared for what lied ahead. So to calm his nerves he pulled out a book and began to read occasionally reading out cool facts to her. She simply nodded and nuzzled in closer to his chest.

Unfortunately shortly after he settled in 3 people had joined the compartment. A small Red head with bright green eyes and a mourning dove daemon on her shoulder. A think long nosed kid with dark greasy hair and tattered robes just like Remus’ with a small brown bat daemon clinging to his collar, and a bring blonde chubby boy with pink cheeks and blue eyes with a. chubby racoon daemon. They quickly introduced themselves as Lily, Severus, and Peter, and their daemons, Curant, Potio, and Aspecta, before Remus smiled and went back to his reading. However, he noticed Ileuad secretly listening to their conversation seemingly curious as Remus continued reading.

'This is fine. They mind their business ill mind mine and it’ll be perfectly ok.' Remus thought.

He just got to a chapter on the founders when the compartment door slammed open. The boy named Peter jumped at the loud crash, but Severus and Lily continued on with their heated conversation. Remus glanced over his book and the two boys took their seats and introduced themselves to Peter. The boy beside him was named James and his deer daemon was named Bahaadur. James had Messy black hair, that he kept making more messy by running his hand through it, and a mischievous smile that looked like he was ready to set something to explode. The by who sat down beside Peter also had Black hair, but his was longer and well groomed, pulled back with a black silk ribbon. His eyes were also grey not brown like James’. His name was Sirius Black, and his furry black dog daemon was named Fidèlami or Fid for short apparently They both wore expensive looking robes that weren’t Hogwarts issued meaning they were both probably from rich wizarding families. Peter eagerly started talking with them. Remus went back to his book.

He finished the chapter on the brief history of the founders and started a chapter on the magical architecture of Hogwarts.

'The grand staircase of Hogwarts contains 52 sets of moving staircases which provide access to the 13 floors of the castle. 54 sets on Wednesdays, and 50 during lunar eclipses. It is unknown who initially charmed the staircases to move of their own free will, however many historical documents rumoured is was the founder Rowena Ravenclaw who initially magicked them to life. There is currently no way to determine the pattern in which the staircases may move'. Remus read.

He was however distracted when the boy beside him suddenly seemed to shout at the greasy big nosed boy .

“Why would you want to be in Slytherin. Who wants to be a dirty great snake”

The greasy hair boy turned slowly to face James, his face was blank but his eyes seemed to fill with hate.

Ileuda discreetly nudged him to look at James who’s daemon was now the form of a lion who was posed aggressively on the set next to him staring at Severus and his daemon who’s daemon had changed into a snake now slowly circling his upper arm hissing as Snape replied back in a cold tone.

“Let me guess. You think you’ll be a Gryfindor.”

“I don’t think I know. Only brave and daring people get into Gryfindor”

“Not to mention stupid and foolhardy” Severus said with a sneer.

James stood up so quickly Remus almost dropped his book to wrap his arms around Ileuda. But Sirius stood up too and put his hand on James’s chest.

“He’s not worth it. Plus if yu hit him your fist would just get covered in grease” Sirius said pushing James back a little. But Remus noticed that although Sirius’ voice was talking James down his Daemon’s hair was standing on end and he was growling and baring his teeth at Severus.

“Leave Severus alone you prats” The girl named Lily said standing up.

“Oooooh getting your girlfriend to defend you Snivellous” Sirius taunted.

Lilt ignored this and grabbed Severus’ hand. “Come on, let’s find another compartment. Maybe one with better smelling people in it” And she pulled Severus out of the compartment after her.

Once gone both James and Sirius sat back down. James huffed out seemingly irritated and Sirius laughed a bit like a mad man. Soon the car fell silent again.

After a few second Peter broke the silence.

“So we know what house James want to get into. What about you Sirius?”

[vore-scientist]

The Machine of Dreams

[G/t M/m platonic safe soft vore]

A Tale of the Mystic Woods

Yonah (the “evil” giant wizard) deals with thieves on a regular basis. They are rather a nuisance but they do taste good!

Almost every encounter with a thief follows a pattern: 1) Thief breaks in to the tower. 2) Yonah catches and eats the thief. 3) Yonah releases the thief and if they accept it, gives them some money for their trouble. but what happens when a thief figures out his bluff?

Warnings: fearplay until it’s not scary anymore... Very vague mention of fa/tal vore (none occurs). Minor skin irritation due to stomach acids occurs but no permanent harm is done.

-----

It was late afternoon in the Tower in the Woods. A lazy late afternoon. The tower’s resident evil giant wizard and his captive princess were playing cards in the living room. Both sitting on the coffee table in human sized chairs with a human sized table between them. Cards was one of those things where it was hard to play with players at different scales.

The stakes were high in this game! If Sophia lost she would get eaten! So she was determined to win. Not because she wanted to avoid getting eaten, but to deprive Yonah of his prize. Even knowing he could eat her regardless, she knew he liked to feel as if he earned a treat.

“HA! A king! I go again!” Sophia drew a second card which she did not have to announce in order to progress with her turn. It was a Jack of Stars! Hell yeah! She discarded a 4 of Reeds into pile 3 and a 9 of Stars into pile 1. Still in her hand was the King of Spirals, the Jack of Stars, a Two of Diamonds, and a 4 of Diamonds. She sent a quick prayer to the gods of fortune as Yonah drew a card.

He examined it, he had an excellent FizzFace.

“I play this Jester,” he declared. This could change the entire game!

It was an Apprentice Jester, so not as chaotic a move as it could have been but still! Fuck! She held out her cards face down and he took one. Then he did the same. They both placed their cards facedown in front of them, they were not able to see what card was taken.

Then yonah chose two of the four piles, added the two cards and shuffled the piles together. He took his sweet time, doing a bunch of card tricks, no magic needed. Show-off. Sophia was never good at card tricks, and with Yonah’s oversized deck she could never, the cards didn’t fit her hands that way. She couldn’t even shuffle them!

Finally he dealt them each a new card and Sophia was able to look at her hand. Now she was the one who had to put on a FizzFace.

Playing a Jester didn’t count as a turn, Yonah still had to draw and discard.

“FIZZBIN!” Sophia yelled and flipped her cards:

King, Two, and a pair of Jacks.

A ROYAL FIZZBIN, an automatic win!

“Thanks for playing that Jester!” Sophia got up and hugged Yonah, who sighed and smiled. Aw well, he’d win next time for sure.

“Another round?” he gathered the cards and started shuffling, “Maybe best two out of three?”

The more they played the more likely he was to win at some point. But Sophia liked the idea of winning too. Even if there was no reward for her other than victory. If they were going to make this a game night, then it should be a game night!

“Yes but not Fizzbin, maybe Dragon’s Hoard?” if Yonah was so set on winning for winning sake, there was no better choice.

“That one is all luck of the deal! There’s no skill involved,” Yonah complained. Though as he did he thought that a 50% chance of random victory was appealing, but was a reward truly earned if he did nothing but get dealt the winning hand at the start?

“Elf’s Gambit then!”

“You’re too good at that one,” Yonah had no idea why but he’d never beaten her at Elf’s Gambit.

“Fine not a card game then-” Sophia stopped as Yonah sat up straight, and saw his big ears twitch every so slightly.

“A thief?” she didn’t hear anything but his hearing was astonishingly good. Even if he was currently physically reduced in stature, his senses were just as keen.

Yonah smiled, “just heard them hit the floor upstairs. I’ll be right back” he jumped off the table, returning to normal size, and went to the stairwell. Then turned back.

“Did you want to come with?”

Hmmmm. She kinda did. It would be a continuation of game night.

“No thanks, I’m good. Have fun!”

He disappeared upstairs and Sophia heard him say his classic line. Blah blah blah.

Damn, now that she came down from the minor high of winning Fizzbin she did kinda want to see what was going on. She climbed down to the floor. maybe she would get up stairs in time. Maybe.

She arrived at the workshop in time to see Yonah, sitting at his desk, smiling as he swallowed and the bulge in his throat fell away. A Few more swallows later his midsection filled out, and the wizard took a long couple of sighs.

It was… way too quiet. She got closer.

No screaming, no visible struggling. Had this been a slayer?! She approached and Yonah smiled down at her. No. His mood was too pleasant. Killing slayers always made him irritable for at least one night.

/Something funny was going on/ Sophia thought as Yonah lifted her onto the desk and poked at his stomach.

Now there was movement and Sophia’s heart rate returned to normal.

“I’m letting you out,” he informed whoever was in there.

“Wait already? Is everything- YIPE!”

Yonah didn’t let them finish their sentence as he hacked and heaved until he was red in the face and his throat swelled.

A pair of hands appeared at the front of his mouth and Yonah provided a finger for them to grasp. A well dressed young man with bright red hair and a smiling face full of freckles slid out of the giant’s mouth. Yonah set him down gently in between himself and Sophia. He stood up with Yonah’s hand for assistance.

While not freakishly tall he had a good foot over Sophia. He wiped his face, looked at the gobsmacked princess and then back to Yonah with a sparkly-eyed smile.

“Is that her?”

Yonah nodded and the man approached the princess.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness,” his voice was low, lower than Yonah’s, but infinitely softer. He spoke slowly, putting consideration into and savoring each choice of words.

Still processing, Sophia did not take his hand. His smile faltered a bit but looking at his hand; strings of drying mucus webbed between a few fingers. He laughed lightly, “Of course. Ah- I would not want to shake my hand either-”

“Oh! No,” she took his sticky hand. There was only one reason someone would be so happy after being eaten. “Yes, I am Sophia of Orr. And you’ve been here before haven’t you?” She glared at Yonah.

His smile fell, but not much, “Surely he’s mentioned me?”

“Must have slipped his mind,” Sophia smiled fakely at both men. Yonah rolled his eyes, though his cheeks had flushed a bit.

“But,” she said, “I think introductions can wait until you’ve washed up.” she almost wiped her hand on her tunic. Instead she cleaned it on Yonah’s sleeve. Yonah glowered And touched the man, casting prestidigitation. The smell still lingered but he was dry!

Sophia climbed onto Yonah’s shoulder to look down at the man who’s innocent face followed her. Crossing her arms she directed a very proper Royal Order at this mystery human.

“So, who the fuck are you?”

---

Dang. It had been a while since he took a proper breath! That was a sign he needed a break. That And his eyes stung from looking down at diagrams through a magnifying glass for so long.

Yonah marked the place in the book and went downstairs to make some tea. Maybe he would have a small mug of soup too. Something light but rejuvenating.

He had only just taken a sip of the tea and poured cold soup into a metal mup, preparing to heat it up in his hands, when he heard it.

CRASH! Clanky-clank-tink tink

That came from his Workshop. Abandoning his tea and soup he silently made his way upstairs. What he found nearly sent him into an explosive rage.

About a month ago King Ben's Arcane Archeologists had unearthed some sort of device. About the size of a carriage, and made of precious alloys And spelled jewels. It was like a big puzzle box. The pieces slid and twisted. Not that anyone was stupid enough to try and solve it.

From the half-decipherable warnings, it was some sort of weapon, and it brought ruin to an ancient kingdom. While not functional it was full of magic. One of the rookie Archeologists had looked into one of the embedded jewels and had nightmares for 2 weeks. Someone else touched it with their bare hands and believed their hands to be made of butterflies until given a drought of 5 times distilled passion fruit gin with wing dust of fire cave moths.

Neither Ben nor his Archeologists wanted to deal with it after that. So it got sent to him.

This wasn’t because of his skill and knowledge as a wizard, it was because he was sturdy. he was resistant to whatever dream magic was leaking out of it. He could safely hold and examine it. And if he felt confident, attempt to solve it.

And he was… disposable. If went off and he died… well. That would be a small annoyance to the kingdom but ultimately not detrimental.  It’s not like he was important to the prosperity of the kingdom in any way. He was just a quest point and guardian of magical items too dangerous for other mages to handle.

All this to say, it was that very device which had been pushed off its stand and lay in pieces.

It had not, thankfully, sent out a pulse across the forest, putting all the residents to sleep and condemning them to a shared nightmare curse that needed to be broken in a hundred years by some hero kissing awake a long lost heir who had been hidden away in The Woods since birth.

Nope. It had simply broke into a danger-zone of sharp metal and crystal across the floor.

The most intact section was by the table, and so was the human. They were wrenching off pieces of gold and prying out gems, for some reason ignoring the easily picked up debris behind them.

Weeks of work GONE! The shove of one human and it was all for NOTHING! And he would have to report this to the king! UGH! He had more than half a mind to kill this Jack.

As his stomach, already wanting from the still cold soup downstairs, rumbled in agreement the idea soured in his mind. No. He didn’t want or need a human as a meal. But the thought of eating this human, enjoying the flavor and getting to fill his belly with the wriggling panicking bastard, even temporarily, was keeping him from blowing up in anger. Smoke would be a dead giveaway, and this fucker, so focused on their task, deserved a good scare.

——

The shadow fell across him and his heart nearly stopped. This could only mean one thing.

“Hello little one,” a low rumble fell upon him like an avalanche.

“Oh don’t be so surprised. With that crash I would have heard you from 3km away.”

Not even bothering to turn around he bolted towards the window.

And immediately fell over in agony as his pants snagged on a sharp bit of metal which sliced into his left calf. A second later giant fingers wrapped around his waist and lifted him up.

“I supposed I should get the formalities over with” said the giant.

If he was screaming before he forgot as the Giant’s voice blasted him like a blank canon shot.

“FEE FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF THE HUMAN KIND, IT MATTERS NOT THE THINGS YOU STOLE, I’VE CAPTURED YOU AND WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!”

When he opened his eyes he looked into glowing orange ones! The giants hair also glowed And smoked from the roots. The Giant was indeed dressed as the wizard who must surely live in this tower. But all of these things were trivial.

No no no no no!!! Eaten!!! He couldn’t get eaten!!!

The giant walked over to his desk and sat down.

“I’ll make this quick ok? Though you deserve a slow and agonizing death for this.”

Now he was shoved, face first, into the drooling maw. The tongue drew across his chest and face, forcing him to bump into the teeth as the giant gleefully tasted him.

He tried to fight it, but space was almost nil! He could elbow the cheeks but that achieved nothing and placed his arms between the teeth! So he tried to wrestle the tongue. Scratching, punching, wrapping his arms around and squeezing when it lifted up one time. Oof the bottom front teeth pressed into his chest before the tongue broke free of his flimsy hold and slipped between them.

Then it pulled him back! And gravity shifted as he slid to the throat. The rough surface of the tongue gave way to the slick walls of the esophagus as he was engulfed.

The crushing was nearly unbearable! He couldn’t BREATHE! The worst part was when there was a terrific pounding from in front of him as he passed by the heart. And it was slow going. The Giant was making sure he got to savor every moment of flavor, and Jake wished he could cry out as the tongue brushed over his wound. His legs were fully in the giant’s mouth now, about to be sucked into the throat with the rest of him.

As that happened, his arms and face breached into the stomach. The first breath of “air” was filled with despair and death. Before his knees were free from the esophagus he had completely filled the space, but it stretched to easily fit the rest of him.

Not that the air was pushed out, thank fuck, so there was some space to move around.

“Let! me! go!!”

—

A bit of the human’s blood mixed with spit dribbled down his chin. While Yonah preferred smallfolk to be uninjured, the human wasn’t bleeding out, so it didn’t bother him. It was a minor laceration and blood didn’t taste bad at all.  

And even with such a wound this human fought so wonderfully! Quite a performance against his tongue, letting him really experience Jack’s flavor.

Now the Jack was sitting comfortably in his stomach. Well, Jack was probably uncomfortable. Yonah was the one with a smile on his face. This human wasn’t exactly big but he was tall, a nice size to struggle and stretch.

When he was done giving his full attention to savoring the struggles and had licked away the remnants of flavor, he let a piece of his mind tune into the human’s pleas.

Jack was attempting to bargain for his life.

“I don’t know if you realized this; but destroying a magical relic under study by a royal wizard with a taste for smallfolk was very very stupid.” Yonah informed his guest, “I guess I got a treat out of it. Though one little snack, no matter how delicious, cannot equal the loss of knowledge and history”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!!” Jack insisted.

“Gods your pathetic! And you’re wasting your precious air,” Yonah rubbed at his stomach and sighed with delight as Jack protested.

He ignored all subsequent remarks, responding only with pats to his belly or pressing in his fingers.

Until Jack’s voice cracked. “PLEAAESE!!! IT’S STARTING TO HURT! MISTER WIZARD I BEG OF YOU! DON’T DO THIS!”

Yonah gave Jack a very forceful shove, “I really should though. Besides ruining priceless research, you tasted so good, and fill my belly so perfectly.”

Jack cried. It was about time. thieves normally broke down long before now. And Yonah knew it was time to get him out.

“But I’m not.”

Jack stopped crying.

—-

Before he could fully register the statement the angry walls convulsed around him, his leg burned and stabbed his brain with white hot pain as the rest of his skin stung and itches horribly. The air which was soon to be depleted for oxygen was now forced out, followed by him!

The retching sounds of the giant were muffled but carried so much hope and relief. Even as he fell onto the rough wooden desk, the fresh air and lack of impending death was as sweet as fresh honey.

He didn’t care that he was picked up again for he was carried to the window.

“Thank you!” he was still crying. “Thank you - for sparing me!”

That made the giant angry again

“I almost didn’t!” spat the Giant, “All that work WORTHLESS! THANKS TO YOU! And now I get to tell King Ben that his relic got broken, and I let the one who did it get away! Do not forget my kindness today for you do not deserve it!”

The Giant leaned in close and growled hot air over me.

“Now, Get out of my sight before I change my mind, Little tasty one.”

Aching, burning, still bleeding, He descended the vines and without a look back, gave himself to the mercy of the Woods.

Which was considerable mercy today! It was only about 20 minutes of limp-running before he knew he was no longer in the magical, dangerous, Mystic Woods. It was safe now to find a stream and clean himself and most importantly his wound.

Once that was done it was time to get home. Sure he had no treasure but he was lucky enough to get away with his life!

It was nightfall when he got to the cottage at the edge of town, and his mother burst through the door followed by his little sister.

“JAKE! Where have you been!!! Gods around what happened to you!”

Jake’s skin was almost as red as his hair.

“Sunburn” he said, voice hoarse.

—-

This was possibly the stupidest thing he had EVER done.

The guilt over the last week had gotten so bad it was making Jake sick.

He had not only failed to steal from a giant to feed his family, he had broken something important! Something valuable! He had really made that giant mad. And if the Giant was to be believed, he, Jake, got off easy. It was the giant who would feel the wrath of the Mystic King.

He had to do something. It was a long shot, but maybe he could fix the device!

All he had to do was sneak back into the tower to examine it, somehow make money for parts, learn how to make the parts, and get tools to make and implement them… and learn magic to Enchant the gems and metal. Oh and money for the gems too…

This would involve many more trips to that tower. Eventually he should be able to avoid the giant. And hopefully he wouldn’t be eaten if caught.

Stupid. Immesurably stupid.

He was caught.

Not before finding the device. Downstairs in a storage room in a crate. Not before making a few notes. He had come prepared with pen and parchment. Not before finding some loose gems and coins. Exactly what he needed to buy parts! He had everything he needed, and he could leave!

That was when he was found and once again swallowed whole.

“Please!!! Don’t kill me!!!” He begged, even though knew that this was a possible outcome he was not ok with dying! Being trapped in the giant’s gut was just as bad as the first time!! Just as slimy, just as confining, just as…

Huh!?

For some reason the giant spat him back out again!

Jake was so stunned It wasn’t until he was back in the forest that he realized the Giant hadn’t recognized him.

Then he realized he was clutching something in his hands. Something he had not brought with him. The giant had taken the treasure Jake found, but had given him a purse of gold coins!

WHAT THE FUCK? Jake couldn’t begin to imagine why.

Fortunately, the giant had not taken his notes!

Unfortunately the notes were ruined by stomach fluids. Shit. Well. He would wait at least a week or two before going back.

That depended on if-when he could get a waterproof folder. If by two weeks he could he would simply hide the notes in the tower and get them later. Somehow.

It only took him a week, but he wanted to plan this out, so it was a week and 4 days before he returned to the tower.

Thankfully the money the giant had given him meant he didn’t need to do odd jobs to help put food on the table! And there was a reasonable amount left so even if he failed… well. He wouldn’t fail!

—

This was the third thief in a MONTH!

Though Yonah wasn’t really ready to complain or get suspicious just yet. If life wanted to send him treats who was he to question it?

A half-giant who loved the taste of smallfolk, thats who. Not one to question it at all. And this human was delicious! He spent a while licking the human before even putting him in his mouth, where he continued to run his tongue over Jack’s body.

This one had given him a good chase! He was impressed. That And for tasting so good and the fantastic internal massage, he decided to give this Jack a nicer reward.

He liked that this one hadn’t screamed the entire time. That hurt his sensitive giant ears. Instead he swore and demanded to be let go. Such gumption! Ahhhh whatever this Jack was doing, he was stretching out his stomach to the max and it felt so good!

He told Jack this and Jack snarled back at him.

—-

Well, Jake guessed that third time wasn’t the charm! He was caught AGAIN! No way he was going to be lucky a third time and- holy shit!

For the third time the giant hacked him out, sparing his life.

He rolled over to look up at the happy to be angry giant wiping the spittle from his goatee. He was on the desk in the Workshop, the giant had eaten him downstairs in the kitchen, which connected to the storage room.

“Thank you- mister- I don’t think I-

“The name’s Yonah, and you better be welcome. Do you know how awful it is to spit up a human! Fucking sucks! Anyways, thanks for the little diversion from my work, I would appreciate it if you kindly fucked off.”

Once again the giant tossed him a coin purse! This one heavier than the last! Also did the giant. Yonah,  still not recognize him?! The attitude of the giant was not the same as either other times.

The first time he had been furious. Understandable. But the second time it felt like something practiced.

And this time he seemed a bit more playful. Like a cat with a mouse, but had gotten bored and dropped the act once he was done playing. Maybe because Jake was getting better at prolonging capture.

Oh well. It had worked out in the end. He had notes and more importantly he had MONEY! Money to buy tools and parts and training!

He ran home and bought an apprenticeship with a local metallurgist. Soon to be 19 was a bit old to start, but the Master in town quickly changed his tune when presented with Jake’s diagrams of the device. And the gold coins.

It was time to get learning.

—-

Gods there was no avoiding this damn wizard!

This was what? The sixth time he’d visited Yonah? Jake kept returning every two weeks or so, and while he kind of enjoyed the little game (which the giant didn’t know he was a player in), getting eaten was never fun.

Jake had decided after the fourth time he would see how long it would take for the giant to remember him. Part of him hoped it would never happen and he would get to waltz into the tower one day, finish his work, and announce his presence and what he had done.

Also after the fourth time swallowed and spat up, Jake didn’t think this giant was actually as man-eating as he claimed in all the villainous declarations. For whatever reason, Yonah never followed through on his threat.

The track record was now 6 for 6. If Yonah was a killer it was either so infrequent or Jake was a statistical anomaly.

Still, Jake tried a new plan to get away without being found, or at least a way to win the chase game. None of his strategies had been successful.

Just to play along Jake made sure to scream and struggled as if he still believed he was going to die.

At least he was never found until he was trying to sneak out. It would ruin the game if he was caught with all of his notes and supplies! Or if the parts he brought were ruined by stomach fluids.

However, Jake nearly fucked it all up on the sixth visit. He just didn’t have the energy to continue fighting the giant from the inside so after a minute he relaxed. He’d be let out soon and he wanted to catch his breath.

That was a mistake.

“HEY!” The voice of the wizard shook him, physically prodding at him. “You better not be dead! I aint done with you!”

Ok. Now this was different. Normally Yonah taunted him with his “inevitable” demise. He never checked in on him. And that was what Yonah was doing. The phrasing was an attempt at malice but to the not-scared-out-of-his-mind-Jake, Yonah failed to hide the genuine concern. He wondered what could have brought this mood. Maybe he should ask!

Then he remembered he was pretending to never have been through this.

—-

The abrupt change from pleasant thrashing to no movement at all brought Yonah out of his light torpor. He hoped Jack hadn’t fainted, he had not yet recovered enough to spit the human back out. An unconscious human could easily drown… Yonah was reasonably aware of how much fluid accumulated while his victims sat waiting to be released.

Yonah relaxed when Jack moved again, retaliating against his fingers which pressed into his gut.

“NOT YET. I was simply er planning my next move. I will get out of here.”

Where had all this spunk come from? The kicks and punches were much stronger than before. The Jack’s confidence was a bit worrying, Yonah was sure he had disarmed Jack properly.

“Oh, I don’t think you will, Not much you can do against my stomach.”

It gurgled a bit and Yonah smiled, “I think it likes you.”

“Well... I hate it.”

“Awwww come on now. You fit so perfectly in it, like you were made for each other.”

There was no response so Yonah figured it was time to wrap it up. “Such a shame to break up the happy couple.”

——

If Jake had to he honest, even if the stomach would eventually kill him, getting spit back up was the worst part. Fluids came with him and the pressure was (for some gods awful reason) much greater than when being swallowed.

Once he was spat out Jake took stock of his surroundings. Still in the kitchen, on the table. His things were scattered about. He gathered his things, mocking panic. Then he turned to see the giant studying him. Had he done something to give away his rouse?

“Why… why did you let me go?” Jake asked in his best ‘oh fuck please don’t kill me for asking’ voice.

Yonah licked his lips and Jake didn’t have to fake a cringing response.

“Dunno. Maybe I’m not feeling it today. Maybe you just seemed so sad I would feel bad if you met your end in me.” The giant sighed and the hot breath dried the sticky fluids. Yech! “I don’t much like killing the poor ones who are obviously being forced by their shitty parents to risk becoming my meal trying to earn one for themselves. Unless, that’s not your situation. I can just finish the job, little one. ”

Wow. Did he really exude that much patheticness? But Jake didn’t let Yonah see his drop in self esteem. Instead he brightened.

“No no. I’m grateful.  Uh- I’ll get out of your hair now,”

“Please do.” Yonah sat there as Jack climbed down the table and made his way to the stairs.

A grumble came from behind him. Then footsteps. A moment later Yonah had scooped him up, carrying him to the window in record time. “I wasn’t gonna watch you climb stairs for 15 minutes.”

Then the Giant’s eyes flashed, very briefly.

“Wait here, I forgot something.”

He ran back downstairs.

Jake sat down, looking out the window. He had never lingered in the garden, and it was a stunning sight from above. Organized in patterns and colors, the meticulously kept plants flourished under the Giant’s care.

“Still here?”

Jake spun around as Yonah returned.

“Why… wouldn’t I?”

“Most flee at the first chance they get.”

“But you told me- I didn’t think it smart to disobey you,” Which for anyone else would have been the truth. Jake on the other hand hadn’t even considered running.

Yonah accepted this reasoning, “well, be glad you stayed. here, for your trouble.”

Ah! Right, the gold. Jake caught the purse that Yonah tossed towards him. He bowed before climbing down.

—-

It just wasn’t fucking worth it was it.

If he managed to avoid capture he would have to get out of the tower himself! And he would have to find another source of funds for the project. Yes, he knew where Yonah kept some coin and unEnchanted jewels, of course he had tried that a few times. Each time it was during that attempt when he was discovered.

It wasn’t worth genuinely trying to escape.

It was just so much easier to get caught, get eaten, get spit up, and be given money. And Yonah would carry him back upstairs! Either while still in his stomach or afterwards. Regardless, it was considerably less work for Jake.

So by the seventh visit, He let Yonah catch him.

But there was another reason.

He finally had the know-how to start repairing the device. Up until now he was only examining it.

In addition to having to make fresh pieces on site, which was difficult and took forever, The magic of this thing was gods fucking bananas!  Connecting certain pieces would induce visions, which he had to resist and ride out. Some were more convincing than others, that he forgot where he was and nearly got lost in the fiction.

This had occurred while picking it apart, but unless he touched the gems the side effects were much less intense. It had made taking a gem back for study impossible. He wasn’t very magical, no one in his village was. That was a bridge he would eventually cross. Shaping the metal pieces didn’t take magic. Not much at least. Nothing too difficult to learn, and Jake had applied himself rigorously.

To maximize his time he snuck into to tower in the morning and planned to “sneak” out at night. Rather than just a few hours later. With all of the components and materials he carried with him, he couldn't bring much food, and stealing any risked early discovery!

All of this left him exhausted.

He should really plan better.

This is what he realized the ninth visit, when he passed out in the crate.

And woke up to The now familiar but no less alarming:

FEE FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF THE HUMAN KIND, IT MATTERS NOT THE THINGS YOU STOLE, I’LL CAPTURE YOU AND WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE

SHIT! Time to go! And no time to gather his notes. He had enough familiarity to know what to bring next time. He would definitely bring supplies and just leave it here, that would make things much easier!

But that was next time, he was dealing with the big bad giant now.

Fuck. he was so tired. Even the adrenaline from Yonah’s shout he was barely keeping his eyes open. His brain felt so sour and heavy with sleep And lists And diagrams and figures and plans.

Better to get it over with.

His sleepy brain ran him right into Yonah’s hands. Sturdy, rough yet plush, warm hands. No wait he’s supposed to be scared! The terror he managed to muster was very half-hearted. He just flopped over the fingers.

“Ah- no- dont eat me-”

—-

That sounded sarcastic. Why had this Jack given up so easily. Did he have a deathwish? He hated those types. Admittedly, none of them really wanted to die once they spent a few minutes in his stomach. However it was not a constructive way to dissuade suicidal aspiration, and he wasn’t in a position to get them help afterwards.

This Jack didn’t seem suicidal. He seemed, unphased. Yonah brought him to his face. Jack just closed his eyes and breathed softly. Or maybe he was just sleepy.

Yonah flicked him gently in the face “Hey! Don’t fall asleep, Im eating you!”

“Wha-?” Jack sputtered awake.

That was enough for Yonah, he just wanted to make sure Jack hadn’t fainted. With great enthusiasm he proceeded to eat the human. A bit disappointed by Jack’s performance; no struggle at all! Yonah decided that the proper punishment was to take his time tasting Jack.  

And this one tasted pretty damn good. Though something nagged at him. It was impossible to give that any attention as he swallowed the thief, concentrating on the suffocating pain. Once the thief was out of his throat and in his stomach it hit him.

It took a few seconds for him to process it and his mind reeled, his heart pounded.

“You!! You rotten- you little shit, I recognize your taste!”

The thief was still not struggling. As far as Yonah could tell, he moved around until he was comfortable. THE NERVE!

“Should I be concerned you didn’t recognize my face?”

Yonah ignored the question. He was so furious!

“I thought I made it clear that my generosity and mercy is a one time thing!” He poked Jack so hard that Jack yelped.

“Are you going to digest me! Please, I-”

“No! No…” Yonah rubbed at panicking human in his stomach, “I’m not going to kill you.”

Blinking away the rage-distortion he made his way to the living room. He did his best to stomp down the stairs, and flopped down forcefully into his armchair. If only he wasn’t so upset, he couldn’t fully appreciate Jack’s terror at being tossed about .

“How many times?” He looked down as his stomach as if to see Jack speaking. There was some movement as Jack thought about the answer.

“Um, including this time, 9.”

“NINE TIMES!” Yonah bellowed. His hair started to smoke and his glasses fogged up.

There had been 11 thieves in the last 3 months when it’s usually once or twice a month. Thrice if the gods found him lucky and deserving. He had been worried that a rumor had been spread of a giant who gave thieves money after eating them. But no, it was really three thieves. At least that was a relief. Not that it was good that one HAD figured out he was merciful more often than not.

“This scam stops now! I’m not giving you anymore money!” He poked at his stomach and Jack kicked back at him. “And I’d better not see your face around here again!”

-[I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT AT THIS PART I STOPPED LIMITING/SWITCHING THE POV! It’s just both now!!!] -

“I- I wasn’t scamming you,” Jake insisted. He was starting to get concerned about how long he had been in the wizard’s stomach. Was it normally so hot? He should be sweating but it was so wet and slimy he couldn’t be sure.

“Really?” Yonah didn’t believe him, and had no reason to, “Because it seems like you figured to use me like some weird benefactor who gives out money to people I eat!”

Oh, so he does this for everyone. Where did he get the money? Jake thought. Surely this wasn’t a sustainable system, just handing bags of gold to thieves!

“I’m not as clever as you think. I’m not even here for money. ”

“Then why the fuck did you keep breaking into my tower!?”

He really wanted to get out soon. It was sweltering and his skin was itching something fierce. At least he wasn’t wanting for air. Usually by this time he had worked himself up pretending to be scared, using up precious oxygen. Still, best not to waste breath.

“The device, I don’t know what it is. But I broke it my first time here. YAH.”

Yonah stood up and stormed to the storage closet. At least that was on the same floor.

“If you’ve been messing with my shit-!” he growled as he pulled out the crate, knelt beside it, and, using his eyes, illuminated the contents.

The device was still there, not surprising, it was large. But it was all there. As far as he could tell, Jack had not been slowly taking pieces of it. And he would have noticed if that was the case. He would have found scrap metal and magic crystals on Jack, right? He couldn’t recall any thieves with more than a pouch of random coins and a few normal gems.

What halted his tirade was everything else.

Strewn around the crate were pieces of the device, what could only be a bunch of odd looking tools, and a small platform that one could use as a workbench. Pieces of parchment were everywhere, on the bench, the bottom of the crate, and tacked on the sides! He couldn’t see the details of the scribbles, his vision was too distorted by his now dwindling rage. However, it was obvious what Jake had been up to.

“You… You’ve been sneaking in to fix it?” He let out a heavy painful breath.

Jake scrambled to his knees, pounding at the front of the stomach.

“Yeah... I felt kinda bad so- YIPE.”

Careful to not spit Jack up and into the device he caught the human in his hands. Jack recovered quickly and looked Yonah in the eyes. Blinking in the light, Jack smiled nervously at him.  

“You must be the dumbest thief i’ve ever eaten.”

Jake didn’t know how to take that. And didn’t have much chance to respond as the Giant stood up and took him back to the kitchen. Jake practically jumped out of Yonah’s hands once Yonah had filled the sink with warm water.

He’d never gotten a chance to clean off before leaving! It felt so good to be rid of the stinking And previously stinging fluids. He could have done without the giant watching him like one would watch a pet mouse groom.

“So,” Jake said, once he was clean and being dried off in a rough towel, “Why am I so dumb?”

It was hard for Jake to register Yonah’s answer as the Giant was very handsy with the towel. It wasn’t necessary for the giant to do this.. jake could try himself off… but he wasn’t about to protest. As nice as the Giant was...

“I’ve caught you each time…” he said, gently rubbing The Jack’s hair with a section of cloth,  “ATE you each time!” He pressed the towel into Jack’s back, patting him dry, “and you weren’t even stealing anything! I’m just... Why did you put up with it?”  He put his arms on the counter and head in his arms, face to face with Jack.

Before Jake could answer Yonah blew a stream of foul smelling hot air to finish the job. He waited for Jake to check himself over and calm his hair.

“I kinda liked the idea of it being a surprise,” Jake shrugged, “And you seemed to like chasing me around, and I know you like eating me.”

It was Yonah’s turn to chuckle uncomfortably, he couldn’t deny he definitely liked both of those things. “But… weren’t you scared that I might not let you go? Or that I might just mess up and hurt you?”

“Sure I was, but after the third time you… spit me up… I figured that was just par for the course and you seemed to know what you were doing; it wasn’t worth the effort to avoid it.”

“So you were letting me catch you! I knew it!”

“Yeah but just because I didn’t… didnt want tooooooahhhhh…. climb up the stairs,” said Jake before yawning so wide his jaw popped.

“Tired?”

“Been here all…. *yawn* all day, I snuck in at dawn.”

That… that was a long time. No wonder the kid was tired! Not just tired, if he’d been here since morning…

“You must be starving!”

Jake blinked, “I… brought some food.”

Yonah picked up the human, placed him on his shoulder, and wheeled around to gesture at the kitchen, and then opened the door to the pantry. It had a decent stock of food,“one of the perks of being a giant is I always have plenty to share with visiting smallfolk!”

He walked to the back of the pantry and pressed his hand on the wall.

Then there wasn’t a wall. Or there was but it was made of silver mist.

“Oh” Jack gasped, and Yonah quickly snatched him into his hands.

His warm hands. Held against the wizard’s warm chest. Oh. It was… soft, in the embrace. Kinda like the wizard’s insides but way less deadly. Or rather, more controlled. The wizard’s massive hands could snap him in half, but that was up to the wizard. His stomach would punish you for staying there too long unless he intervened, the hands… Jake could stay forever in these hands.

And good thing too! The room they were in was COLD. And dark. Yonah’s eyes produced a warm glow that failed to pierce the darkness.

Until he purposefully set them ablaze making them into two beams of bright orange torchlight. Projecting through the wizard’s glasses.

The room was full of jars! Just jars upon jars, and in one corner a small arrangement of meats.

Yonah picked out one of the jars. A rather small one, but still bigger than Jake.

“I made this lamb stew last week, gotta eat it soon or it will go bad, do you like lamb stew?” He turned his eyes on the human who shielded his eyes from the light.

“Uh, Yes.”

He still clung to Yonah’s hands as they left the cold storage, the mist turning back to stone. And then left the pantry.

Even out of the cold, Jake was perfectly content to remain held by the giant. He curled up into the elbow, leaning into the pillow-like chest. And fell asleep immediately.

Yonah looked down in surprise as the human snuggled up to him. Just like… just like his friends did. Jack was that comfortable with him? He supposed after being eaten 9 times, this Jack felt pretty safe around him. Good. He liked that.

Since he was just reheating stew he didn’t need two hands. He could get out a pot, light the stove, he had to use magic to open the jar but that was the only instance. Ok he lit the fire with a snap of his fingers, but he always did that! Oh, and a simple charm on a Spoon to stir the pot.

With one free hand he was able to set the table. Both his set and the human sized set, which included a second table (and chair) placed upon his.

“Hey, little one,” Yonah cooed, jostling his arm slightly. The human gasped from his snooze. For a moment Jack looked fearful, as if he forgot what had happened, until he looked into the bark brown eyes of the handsome half-giant, and the scent of stewed meat met his nostrils.

“You can continue to sleep after dinner,” Yonah said, setting the human on the table, indicating the smaller place setting.

The stew was more vegetables and grain than lamb, but he supposed getting enough meat to feed a Giant wasn’t easy. It was very spicy but Jake liked it a lot! He still had to take a drink of  The incredibly sweet wine Yonah had served after nearly every bite.

By the time he had finished he wasn’t sure he was still awake. Yonah, who drank most of the wine, looked tired too.

Wordlessly Yonah picked him up, and Jake fell into his hands. Asleep before they even reached the bedroom.

If Yonah hadn’t had the alcohol he might have prepared a bed for Jack. However he did have alcohol so Yonah quickly changed into a nightgown and got into bed. He placed the human by his face, on his pillow, and wrapped an arm protectively around the small form. Jack’s scent permeated his senses but he resisted licking the human by falling asleep a few seconds later.

—

Jake awoke in an unfamiliar place. He awoke next to a giant’s face! He awoke inside a giant’s embrace!

The giant! He. He had slept… in his arms!? Like some kind of doll. Jake wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But he knew he felt rejuvenated. That had been the best night’s sleep he’d had in quite a while. The Giant was certainly much less scary when he wasn’t pretending to kill him, even if his face was pressed into Jake’s side. The facial hair was kinda itchy, but Jake didn’t dare move. He didn’t want to move!

Even though he wasn’t tired he was so comfortable, that and he definitely didn’t want to wake the giant up. He was kinda trapped under the giant’s rather prodigious nose. He couldn’t hope to get out of this hold without waking Yonah up.

That would certainly earn him another trip down into Yonah’s stomach. Jake was certain Yonah would spit him up, but getting eaten twice in less than 25 hours did not appeal to him.

So he lay there.

Thankfully it wasn’t long before the giant started to wake. Jake scrambled out of his arms and stood wobbling on the uneven bedspread.

He watched the giant stretch and yawn, mouth stretching even wider than when he’d eaten Jake.

“Oh fuck,” the Giant said as he put on his glasses, “I meant to make you a bed.”

“It’s alright” Jake assured him, “I slept great.”

Now it was Jakes to turn observe as Yonah magically swapped his nightgown for fresh set of robes. Just as brightly colored and garishly patterned as the other 9 outfits Jake had seen.

Yonah noticed Jake watching. “I’m not going to just change in front of you!” He half squat by his bed, hands on his knees.

“I don’t know if you had plans today, I was going to make breakfast.”

Jake had to be at the metallurgist’s an hour past sunrise.

“I just gotta be home by sundown. If I’m missing for two nights my mom will start to worry.”

He stepped onto Yonah’s outstretched palm.

After breakfast Yonah took Jake and the crate with the device to the Workshop. He cleared off his spare bench and carefully laid out the device and the broken pieces. Jake took out all of notes which Yonah wanted to take a look at under his magnifying glass.

“For 3 months work starting from absolutely nothing, this is impressive!”

“What do you mean?”

Yonah looked down at Jake.

“I mean, Jack, that for someone who had never worked with mechanical contraptions let alone magical ones until a few months ago, you actually started to make little progress on this in an incredibly short amount of time!”

“I used the money you’ve been giving me to train with a metallurgist…” Jake was a bit annoyed that he made so little progress but he was distracted by something else the giant had said.

“Did you just call me ‘Jack?’”

“That’s your name isn’t it?”

“I never told you my name,”

“Thieves are always named Jack.” Yonah said as if it were some universal truth.

“Well my name is Jake, uh, Silverman” He held out his hand.

“Silverman, and you have a talent for metal work?” The wizard laughed.

“Yonah, HaEsh,” Yonah took the hand in a finger and thumb.

“I know, you told me,”

“Did I?”

“Not your last name.” Jake held onto Yonah’s finger, “You’re laughing at mine but yours is The Fire. A bit on the nose for someone with fire powers.”

“Touché.” Yonah freed his finger by poking Jake’s middle.

“Now that I am aware of your little project it’s sure to go much quicker, much smoother, and actually get finished” he said looking at the notes again.

It took Jake nearly a minute to process.

“Finish? You… want to work with me?”

Yonah nodded but didn’t look at him. “I’m not so good with detailed tinkering. If you don’t continue, it’s likely The Machine would just end up sitting here long after I, and whoever takes over after me, and whoever comes after them, are long dead.”

Now he looked at Jake again, his eyes flashed for a second, “And you do want to fix your mistake, right?”

“Y-yes... I do!”

Yonah nodded, “Without my help you never would have, and with it you won't die in the process.”

“Die?” Jake’s heart skipped a beat, “would you have-“

Yonah gave him a strange look as Jake finished “killed me…”

The giant smiled, showing off his rather large canine teeth. For all Yonah looked human, there were a few easily missed giantfolk-ish traits.

“Probably not,” he started examining the device itself, “but your metallurgist master is not  a magician are they?”

Jake looked at his feet, “No.”

“Would have been a fun mystery for me when I found your body, though not so difficult as long as your notes were intact…”

Yonah turned to Jake with a stern teacher stare.

“This thing is dangerous and powerful, you’re lucky you’re still in one piece as it is. Or you’re a natural artificer,” Yonah said, giving all of his attention to Jake.

“An artificer?” Jake had never heard of such a thing.

“A specialist who works with magical items,” Yonah explained.

Jake quite liked that. Silverman the Artificer! Had a nice ring to it.

“So,” Yonah said, “Can I expect to see you again soon?”

———

“And that’s how we became friends!”

Yonah concluded.

“You forgot to add that I am an artificer now.” Jake added, “I travel around the world in search of artifacts to study, and I make my own. I’m Yonah’s supplier of precious metals and gems.”

Sophia had listened with rapt attention as Yonah and Jake told the story. She and Jake were now sitting on Yonah’s chest as he lay on his couch in the living room. She had resisted asking asking questions until the end. Now she leaned back against Yonah’s left hand and tried to look as philosophical as she could.

“Did you finish fixing the device?”

Jake’s pale face turned an amusing shade of red.

“I’m actually still searching for parts, it’s why I’m an explorer now.”

“Probably for the best,” Yonah said, using his right hand to stroke’s Jake back, “We need to know more about it first.”

“You mean it’s HERE IN THE TOWER STILL!”

“Of course it is,” Yonah poked her shoulder, “this is still the most secure place. I just moved it to.”

“No, don’t tell me,” She knew exactly how much self control she had and it wasn’t enough to stop her from doing something stupid. “I don’t want to know,” she lied.

“How often do you make it out here?” Sophia asked, “I’ve been here for nearly a year!”

Not that Yonah didn’t have a tendency to not tell her shit about his life. He seemed to like having her discover pieces of his social network one at a time.

“I used to aim for once a month, but with all my traveling it’s been whenever I can for a few years now. Also I called on the mirror many times! He mentioned you, I’m really surprised he didn’t tell you about me.”

“I’m not, Yonah likes to keep me out of the loop,” Sophia huffed, “regardless, on these, visits, he… he eats you… every time?” time to get to the important stuff, like how Yonah has a secret friend snack that he neglected to mention!

“Pretty much. Back when working on the machine I was here a few days a week and sometimes we would play games of chase. If he caught me he would eat me, and he always wins. But as my visits became less frequent I started sneaking back in and letting him find me. It’s just our thing now.” he winked at Yonah who’s face had slowly been turning crimson. Sophia giggled.

Jake sighed, recalling the last five years.

“I know it’s stupid, but I kinda like it. I kinda missed it,” Jake mused, “Sure it’s stupidly dangerous, it’s a giant’s stomach after all. But for the few minutes im there it’s nice. Very warm, soft padding…”

“If you’re trying to suggest I let him eat me,” Sophia glowered with a smile up at Yonah, “he does, all the time.”

Jake’s eyes didn’t widen but his they did spark as his brows raised with interest, “Does he now? He risks the life of the princess he is sworn to protect?”

“No, he risks your life,” she said with pride, and climbed up to Yonah’s shoulder. He turned his face to peck her side and give her a little lick, “This bastard cursed me so I can’t die when he eats me.”

“It’s much more generally beneficial than that!” Yonah protested. “I engineered a partial curse that allows her transform into indestructible glass for four hours. There’s plenty of situations where that can save your Royal Behind. Like the attack on Ilana’s wedding, or when you wandered off into the forest and attacked by those suspiciously normal wolves!”

“Sure, sure” she waved away his words, “but you still did it so you could eat me,” Sophia sat down and let him kiss her face but put her arm out as he went for a second taste. She didn’t want to wash her hair a second time today.

“Wow, can he do that to me?”

He could, but after he explained the process Jake decided he didn’t want to waste all that money. And Yonah agreed, so far there had been no problems with getting Jake spat out safely for years. There was no reason to add extra protection, it would only be if Jake wanted his stays in Yonah’s stomach to last longer than five minutes.

While Jake had planned to show Yonah his latest finds, after telling the story and making a new friend, he could wait. He and Sophia spent the next hour chatting as Yonah prepared dinner. Yonah always prepared something fresh and at least slightly new when Jake popped in.

Sophia found that Jake wasn’t just Yonah’s supplier. Because of his connection to Yonah, Jake dealt with many of her father’s mages and Yonah’s friends. He quickly became in-demand. But he always saved the best stuff for Yonah to look at before any other buyers.

Most of the time Yonah didn’t even pay Jake.Jake may be good at working with magical items and not exploding, and had learned a decent amount of magic, but he couldn’t hope to achieve Yonah’s level of skill or power. So Yonah paid in enchantments and spelled gems which Jake incorporated into his crafts.

Sometimes Jake would stay for a week or more depending on the spells he needed. And after being away for a year they had a lot of work to do.

“This sounds like the perfect time to teach me about magic gems!”

Sophia told Yonah over dinner.

“I don’t know if you’re ready for that. You’ve only just gotten a handle on basic enchantments,” Yonah said.

Sophia pouted.

“It can’t hurt, I have some simple spells I need put into some crystals,” Jake suggested and Yonah shot him a fiery glare. Jake was unphased, “what else is she to do? This will be several hours a day.”

“Maybe she can just sit in my stomach?” Yonah chose that moment to take a large bite of bread and swallow very loudly.

“Oh, Yonah, you wouldn’t,” Jake looked from Yonah to Sophia, but there was no actually animosity between the two. Sophia just rolled her eyes.

“He’d like to, I’m sure. You’ve known him for years, you know he’s a dumbass glutton. But he also knows I won’t stand for it.”

Yonah grinned, then to Jake, “Instructing her while we work will take time. How long can you stay?”

“I am able to stay as long as necessary.” Jake smiled warmly, “I’ve been gone for so long on work, this will be like a vacation.

“A vacation where you do more work?” Sophia asked, but Jake and Yonah laughed.

—-

After dinner, Jake took a bath while Yonah and Sophia cleaned up. She was practicing cleaning spells on dirty dishes. Or rather, spells that could be used for cleaning. Like create and manipulate water, leveraging large objects. Etc. She was… pretty terrible at it. She always broke a few things. No big deal with repair spells on hand.

Yonah was very patient with her. He knew that it was relatively easy for the mind to use magic to pick things up that hey body could normally. Because one knew how it should feel to pick such things up. Anything larger was extremely difficult. It took a lot of practice.

It made doing the dishes take forever. And Sophia got nervous when Jake got back. Not so used to having someone else watch her fuck up.

“So what will we be looking at tomorrow?” Sophia asked Jake as they all settled into bed.

For the first night at least, they were all sleeping in the same bed, tucked under Yonah’s arms against his chest. Though Jake had marveled at Sophia’s grand bird cage bedroom with its padded hammock bed.

“Oh. Something very special. I found it buried in the infinity dunes of the wondrous desert, a snake charm.”

“Infinity dunes! No wonder you were gone for a year!”

“Yeah, see, only a few weeks had passed for me, but months had gone by outside. Anyways. Snake. Pendant. It has impressively large emerald eyes. I wish I had found more treasures.”

“All those weeks/months and all you found was one charm?”

“Yeah, though I acquired many unique items in the various cities through trade...”

They continued back and forth for a few minutes before Yonah grumbled at them.

“I thought we were going to sleep” he didn’t open his eyes, but a very dim orange light escaped between his eyelids.

“Oh but Jake is telling me all about his travels! I’m guessing he told you all of this over your secret mirror chats. But I wasn’t privy to those!”

Yonah hugged them both tighter to him.

“But I am privy to your conversations whether I want to be or not.” Sometimes sensitive ears were a curse.

“But-“ Sophia wanted to stay up!

“Do I have to eat you to separate you two? Because I will.” He ran his fingers down Sophia’s back. Perfectly positioned to snatch her up no problem.

“I can still talk to him if you do!” Sophia countered. and Jake could sense her wicked smile. “You aren’t that fat!”

Yonah’s chest rose and fell with great vibrations as he groaned at the prospect. To the two humans it was 30 second massage. Intensely soothing.

“We’ll continue this tomorrow,” Jake yawned, getting comfortable against the wizard’s chest. Sophia did the same but punched Yonah a few times for good luck.

And they slept.

[FIN]

[Thanks for reading! please reblog! for more mystic woods go to vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/+mystic+woods+story or search ‘mystic woods story’ on my blog! For thief stories only search “MW Thieves”]

[polite-quail]

Untitled vore story

vore story I was working on for a while, around 1.4k words

multiple preys, safe vore, soft vore, mentions of digestion and death (none happens)

It was around 3 am on a Tuesday night Mia was walking home from work. she heard a branch snap which at first made her jump. She turned around and expected to see someone but saw nothing just darkness and trees. She just thought it was her mind playing tricks on her but couldn't stop worrying. While she was distracted thinking about the branch she forgot to look where she was going and bumped into someone. Mia got all flustered and felt bad for not paying attention 

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and i-i'm so sorry I bumped into you and, and... ” she said but he just chuckled lightly. 

“it's ok, don't worry about it. I wasn't really paying attention either” Mia looked up to see someone a few heads taller than her smiling down and holding her arms reassuringly. 

“You look tired,” the man said observantly, “actually I have a question if you don't mind me asking… Why are you out in the woods so late at night? It's not safe out here” 

“I was just coming home from a late night at work and took the shortcut through the woods.” she said slightly hesitant “Why are you out in the woods so late? ‘It's not safe out here’” 

He didn't really feel the need to answer Mia's question fully. “Ha. Funny” Lincon said as he leaned in closer as if to intimidate her. it worked. After all, he did have at least 5 inches of height on her.

Mia had many red flags about him from his response. Questions running through her mind ‘who is this guy? Why is he out in the dark?’ 

The man then spoke up once more breaking her train of thought. “What's your name? I'm Lincon”

Mia began to feel a bit uncomfortable standing in front of him. She almost wanted to scream and yell for help but she knew that would be overreacting at this point so she just began to quickly walk away. Lincon noticed and wanted to clear things up.

“No wait I'm sorry I just want to talk with you. I didn't mean to freak you out.” Lincon said walking back towards her, at this point mia was even more nervous. As Mia was walking away Lincon reached out forgetting about his magic problem that's been going on for a little over a month. Lincon tried to stop Mia from running but when he caught up to her and gently grabbed her wrist. She spun around fear and worry in her eyes. 

“Please don't run. I promise I won't hurt you,” Lincon said. trying his best to keep her calm. mia had even more red flags because she now had a strange thing touching her. She was visibly afraid and uncomfortable. 

Lincon wasn't paying attention and didn't realize he was using his magic until he saw that mia was shrinking. After a few seconds, Mia began to feel dizzy and light-headed.

soon she was about 2 and a half inches tall and trying to hide behind a rock. that was a little bit taller than she was. unfortunately for her Lincon could quite easily spot her. as soon as he picked her up she started to shake as she now realized how vulnerable she was. 

“hey hey please don't be scared I'm not trying to hurt you, I just want to get to know you” 

“please l-let me g-go”

“I would but you'd probably get eaten by a bird by morning” Lincon was trying his best to sound soothing but with a deep voice like his it was hard to sound gentle. it also didn't help that he was probably getting sick. 

mia started to whimper as she was lifted higher towards his face. He was so much bigger than her even if she was at her full height. 

“oh gosh please don't start crying, I swear I didn-” Lincon stopped, looked up and head movements coming from a little to his left. most animals were sleeping by now so it was most likely not an animal the same with humans, that worried him.  

Lincon began eyeing her, almost… measuring her small frame. She felt a bit self-conscious as she now had a man holding her and eyeing at her like she was a piece of candy. 

there was another snap before Lincon pulled mia up closer towards his face and opened his mouth. he stopped for a second and whispered

“don't be scared” 

Mia was roughly tossed into Lincoln's mouth. As soon as he threw Mia inside his mouth his eyes widened at her delectable sweet taste. He couldn't help but silently sigh in pleasure at her taste. He didn't want to have to swallow her but he had to. her squirms and protests didn't make it any better. it just put even more of her taste onto his tongue. but he had to keep it moving along. As he heard another step he quickly tilted his head back and swallowed. Being half shapeshifter half wizard had its perks. 

“Lincon? Someone told me you might be lurking around the forest. You here dude?”

‘Oh it was just Brendon. Wait, shit the girl. Play it cool. Nothing happened. Or should I tell him? No that's crazy, he’ll think you're insane. But, he knows I'm a wizard so he knows it's possible, maybe. We’ll see.’  

“Yeah i'm here. What's up Brendon” 

“Oh there you are. Were you just talking to someone? I thought I heard you say something.” Brendon asked

“No.” Lincon said bluntly eyes wide with slight worry visible in his eyes. This made Brendon a little worried. What was Lincon not telling him?

“You sure. Cause that look in your eyes says otherwise.”

“Yep. I'm sur-oof-” it was pretty obvious that Lincon was lying. Not just from the look in his eyes but the fact that he just doubled over in pain or discomfort

“Lincon come on, you know you can trust me.”

This made Lincon crack under pressure. “Mmmm, fine. I may or may not have accidentally shrunkayounggirlthenateher.”

Brendon stood silent for a moment. “I-I'm sorry, could you run that by me one more time.”

“You heard me.” at this point Lincon was embarrassed and afraid that Brendon would just walk away and never speak with him again. 

“Right. Ummm, first question, is she ok.”

“what, oh yeah I would never hurt-oof- AGAIN? REALLY.”

“Ok… not gonna lie, I'm not sure what to do in this situation.” 

Lincon seemed to be in a lot of pain, well he did eat a young girl who probably doesn't realize that she's not going to die. 

“Hnnggg. I mean you're probably not gonna like my idea. But I do-”

“Go for it.” Brendon interrupted, trying to sound brave but failing. Brendon just wanted to help his friend even though he had no idea what he was signing up for. 

“Alright, if you could calm her down that’d be great. It'd keep me out of a lot of pain right now.”

“Huh. not exactly what I was expecting but uh…” Brendon paused for a bit to think about his options. “You know what, fuck it lets go. So uhhhh, how am I doing this”

“Ok, just uh, I don't know man just when you get in, calm her, maybe befriend her. I don't know just do what eve-ahhh- she's pretty strong not gonna lie.”

“Just stop talking. How do we do this. H-how are you gonna… eat... me.” Lincon did give a full answer to Brendon's question all he did was hold out one of his hands. Brendon assumed lincon was holding it out for Brendon for comfort or something. What he didn't expect was to go through what Mia experienced, the dizziness was the worst part, then there was the realization that he’d been shrunken. The only difference was that Brendon agreed to do this. 

“Huh, well this is, cool, yet terrifying.” 

“Let's just get this over with Brendon” Lincon was on the ground holding his stomach probably to try and restrict the poor girl's movements. Not that it was working too well at all, she was still able to throw a good punch or two.

“Oh right. So how-” Brendon wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was roughly grabbed by Lincon who quickly but carefully shoved Brendon into his mouth. Oh gosh, why did he have to taste so good too? First, the girl had to taste like buttercream frosting now his best friend tasted like strawberries.

‘I can see why she would be terrified if this is how it went down.’ Brendon thought, he loved his friend a lot but if this is how things happened to go down, it would be pretty terrifying if Brendon thought he was gonna die. It wasn't long before Lincon swallowed Brendon. He was squirming the whole way down, gosh that felt good. Lincon didn't want to think about the fact that he was swallowing his friend. He tried to make it as quick as possible. The trip down for Brendon was pretty quick, even though it felt a lot longer. When Brendon came to the entry of Lincoln's stomach he ended up landing on mia. 

“Shit, sorry.” mia didn't say anything. She just continued to move around and kick. “Uhm, let me introduce myself, hey, i'm Brendon. If you wouldn't mind just, stop kicking my friend. please.” Brendon tried to get comfortable and move around to get off of mia, but it seemed like Lincon was still trying to keep mia from kicking and freaking out. 

“First, Why does it matter that I know your name, we’re gonna die soon anyway. And second I'm not gonna stop kicking this bitch, he fuckin ate us. He's obviously not your friend if he ate you.”

“Right you still think you’re going to die. we-I-should probably fix that” Brendon said thinking out loud. 

“What are you talking about?

“Stop kicking and I'll tell you” 

“Fine, now please explain what you meant about you should fix the fact that I think I'm gonna die” 

Once Mia had stopped kicking there was a bit of extra room in Lincoln's gut. Brendon assumed it was because he removed his arm, or at least loosened his grip. 

“Ok, well basically, you're not going to die. You are perfectly safe”

Mia gave him a weird look. Not that he could see since it was pitch black. She stayed silent for a minute trying to understand what she had just been told. “Ok, so what you're telling me is that, we are in a stomach, you know the organ that digests things. And you say we are not going to be digested.” she paused, “what part of that makes sense to you” 

“He’s part wizard. Not quite sure how he does it but I mean it's safe according to him. And I trust him, I mean I have known him since I was like 3, so that helps I guess” 

“I kinda assumed he was magical in some way,” Mia said quite sarcastically 

After some chatting, Mia calmed down and Brendon was wanting to get out. But he promised Lincon he would try and keep the girl calm. So he decided to stay for a little while. Their conversation was interrupted by an abrupt motion. It was only for a second but they weren't expecting it. The movement turned into a gentle swaying they assumed Lincon started to walk. They didn't know where but it didn't matter to them. They were once again interrupted but this time by Lincon's voice.

“Now that you've calmed down. Let me know when you guys want out.” Lincon said, he sounded exhausted, it was a fair reaction to being pummelled from the inside. 

Brendon looked at Mia forgetting it was dark. Then he had an idea, he had forgotten that he had his phone on him. He decided to use that as a flashlight so they would be able to see each other. It takes a moment for them both to adjust to the light. Once they both could see without squinting they began to chat again. This time about when they wanted to get out. They both agreed they wanted to get out as soon as possible, though they also didn't care as they both wanted to hang out with each other for a little while longer. 

After a little more walking Lincon found a clearing and decided that this was a good spot to let his occupants out.

“Can you two stay still for a bit? I'm gonna let you out now”

Lincon had to focus his mind from whatever was outside to what was inside. He mumbled a few words then as if out of thin air mia appeared in his outstretched hand. He gave her an apologetic look as if that would make up for the fact that she was eaten without permission. Her response was to just roll her eyes at him. Lincon did feel guilty for scaring her so badly, he wanted to make it up to her but he didn't know how. How were you supposed to apologize for that? Buy a cake that says ‘sorry for eating you’? That seemed stupid. Lincon didn't really know where to put her so he decided to not put her anywhere. He had two hands, and had two residents, he closed his eyes figuring out where Brendon was. He felt him move for a second then he stilled again. Perfect. Lincon mumbled the same words a second time and had his other hand out, in a split second there was a faint glowy light and Brendon appeared on Lincon's hand. He figured he should probably bring them back to normal size now. He put them down on the ground being mindful that he should have some space between them and himself. After they were on the ground he sat down in front of them and started to speak what they thought was gibberish. Then they started to feel tingly and dizzy again but this time instead of getting smaller they got bigger and eventually grew back to normal size. 

Eventually they were all sitting in a triangle shape with no one saying a word. Brendon was the first to speak up, 

“Well, that was certainly an experience” in all honesty he just wanted to break the silence. 

“I didn't hate it..” it was true, she didn't hate it. She actually kind of enjoyed it once she understood that she would be fine. And once she got to know Brendon a bit. 

“Really?” Lincon was very shocked to hear that. Even Brendon looked slightly shocked. 

“I mean, yeah, I guess it wasn't the worst thing I've ever experienced” she said “well, after I knew that I wouldn't die.” she gave a slight glare to Lincon There was silence, but the silence was broken by Brendon cursing. Mia looked over confused and concerned. Lincon checked his watch and realized it was already 5 am. Which meant it was time for the sun to come out of hiding. Brendon stood up and apologized and said that he had to go. 

“Sorry about him, I can walk you home if you want, the sun is rising so you should probably get home” Lincon said as he made eye contact with Mia.  

“Yes please. I don't really know where I am right now” 

Lincon got up and held out his hand for Mia to grab onto. He pointed in the direction of where he found her and they started walking side by side. By the time they got to their destination Lincon realized he’d never gotten her name, 

“Hey, I don't think I ever caught your name?”

“Mia. My name’s Mia.”

“It was nice to meet you, Mia I hope we can meet again soon”

“How about tomorrow.”

“Let’s do it”

[shy-magpie]

RQG 146

[Author’s note: Sorry about the long break! I caught a bug and haven’t been able to edit for love or money. I have been writing the live blogs as the episodes come out but I suspect I will have to edit the stuffing out of them to get something that is both coherent and not twice as long as the show. Also I’m going to try to remember to toss a cut at the top of these things so it doesn’t take up so much of the dash etc.]

I love when they go auctioneer because they want to get to the content faster. Ooh reminder that the party have slightly conflicting goals. I almost spaced that Zolf's priority is the info to save the world while Cel is more narrowly focused on taking out the threat to their village. 

Final bets on whether: 1) the timelines are simultaneous 2) its the same room 3) who(or what) is in the chair ~Hamid time~ Another stealth check and I think Alex rolled something secret. I love these nerds, I don't think they even noticed they slipped into the more precise language of math to describe the place, always makes me feel trusted when people don't hide that kind of thing. Bulk head doors are a good sign. Alex might be trying to build up to it but Bryn wants to get a description of the figure in the chair as badly as we do if not more. Full blank-masked male, cables from the chair to the organ. Ben, sweetie, we aren't going to shoot-first-ask-questions-later, or even take that as your serious suggestion moments after you reminded us Zolf is aiming for capture. "Could be another one of the dead bodies" Pardon me while I glitch on the idea that it being another member of the doomed party is the only thing that I can't recall being proposed over the last week. Am I forgetting or did Figgis actually come up as a suggestion but not that? Alex adds a ladder, to save Hamid one of his last spells "Tension, tension, tension" I can't parse how many of them are chanting but who ever that is, know I adore you. I should be vibrating from stress and instead I'm grinning like a fool. Thats my boy! Hamid's spell slots might be running scary low but his mind is sharp as ever, he remembers his potions! Oh dangerous game, but the extra time invisible as he gets closer sounds worth it. Picked up a few things from Sasha. "Think" Alex is actively trolling. The lights are bad? You choose to do that, Alex, put away the "victim of circumstances" tone. Oh the organ! I needed a better description of that. Lydia might be the only one who loves this description more than me. A pipe organ that makes potions instead of music? Bryn has heard of one where each key is an alchemical symbol. I might need to hunt down art for that if its a known pathfinder thing. Hamid recognizes it but is the wrong school to understand this, both by training as a wizard and as sorcerer. The pipes are actually full of various fluids and powders. Yes Cel needs to see this. Thank you Helen! How much money has he spent on this? Where is he getting the money? I need that clipped! (tension chant evolved) Oh hell of a bet Hamid Sasha would be proud. The table is so proud of him. FTR I think that was Ben not Bryn saying "I stroke his cheek", because Bryn wouldn't risk Alex making that joke canon and using it to hurt Hamid. (naturally there was such no risk if Ben made that joke) Cable to the back of the neck, in clerical robes (crap I remember a “Shoin the healer painting”(?) but I thought he was an alchemist? Is this an assistant? Mini boss? Or is he multi classing), a party mask? Back to that theme. Its a prop corpse and its not the same room, I'm going to scream. Hamid don't you dare! Dollars to donuts its going to stand up and be some kind of creepy corpse robot Hamid waves Skraak in Speaker time, Shoin sounds worse maybe off script. ~~party time~~ Oh Cel has to lose most of the beast voice. Never mind! Smaller pencils acquired! I love this description even better the second time around. Oh bless Lydia for giving the fuller description. 55 HP! 14 Con! Comfort beard. Ooh Azu has a potion to make her even further stronger than Zolf. (iirc she had 1 point over him already) Yes he is in fact lawful evil and no he doesn't ever let them rest. Wise Cel/Lydia! I love Azu's auras! Aura of courage sounds especially useful. Yes yes Azu is good, brave, and resolute. Oh poor Zolf can't prep without either sleep or knowing for sure the fight is coming. Cel actually has 59 HP thank goodness! Another hall? Its circling the dome Hamid is in. It better be the same dome! I feel a bit like I'm betraying the party to enjoy the set design when the set is designed to kill them. They go as fast as they can while checking for traps. I refuse to parse that any other way. Oh poor Alex, we appreciate the set design even if the characters don't. Next door has a porthole to look through. Bless Helen/Azu for reminding them to check for traps. Cel can still disable it! It was a hand buzzer? Oh, to waste spells. Missed an in laid wood image of Shoin as a saint. This guy has too much ego and money. Anyone else thinking of that old joke where a guy has to become a monk to be allowed to find out what is behind a ridiculous number of doors and the punchline is you have to become a monk to find out what he saw? Ok it is a good thing its not the right door ~Hamid time~

Alex you troll! I refuse to concede we needed something to bleed to the stress levels. Shoin’s voice officially probably not a pre recording. I love Hamid! Hangs a handkerchief over the corpse's eyes. Poseidon? Couldn't be any god other than Zolf's ex? Ok doesn't seem in good enough shape to be a necrobot, but the organ might change that. Metal chairs sized for the party bolted to floor. I think Hamid is officially having fun not following Shoin's suggestion to sit at the table. Look at the leader in him collecting the paperwork Official connection between blue veins and the simulacrum! Also a spot for the power source Liliana was working on? Red string joke! ~break~ He Acid Blasts a speaker and it pisses Shoin off. Yeah "young man" was exact wrong thing to try. Were you trying to hit his daddy issues? I love one troll and 1 Kobold! Minion this! If Hamid speaks up? Shoin’s sense are fallible, might come up later Hamid is the best! Might die of being the best, but if he has to go its fingers up. Halfling, Dragon and troll, not a damn inch of leverage except what he gets Shoin to give him by refusing to follow orders. Pretending to attempt to comply is so much more frustrating (and better listening) than if he simply went "shan't". The party comes in! A swear! Not really another way to put it. The corpse explodes! Is Shoin the organ itself? A hug! A Cel & Hamid hug! Zolf backs Hamid's play, and  joins in Shoin baiting. Hamid hugs Azu and Zolf! Finally a proper Zolf hug! Cel finally gets to check out the organ. It prioritizes looks over efficiency and isn't just a potion maker. Some of it goes over Cel's head. Cel blocks the outlet. Lydia still thinks slightly sideways like me, and I love it. The cylinders are near boiling. Hamid orders Skraak to safety! Cel tries to hug Skraak, but Skraak doesn't recognize them. Poor brave little guy tried to attack before they can explain. Cel takes chatty!Skraak well and they have another little bonding growl exchange. They get ready to skip Shoin's game and go to the next room. Bad sounds. Fist sized drops of luminous green liquid from the top of the room that don't act right. Zolf attempts open the door to the next room, Hamid sprints towards it. Thank goodness someone wants to live. Natural 1? But its initiative, so that shouldn't hurt too badly right? Right? No effect thank goodness Homing blobs? I am torn exactly between that being cool and not something I want the party to deal with. How many fire balls does Hamid have left? I think Cel is out of bombs, and if we remember nothing else from Kew its that swarms require explosions. Zolf! Its the big brother of the buzzer door and is locked to boot. Azu attacks the goo nearest Zolf. Helen is too wound up to remember how to roll. Bryn and Ben couch her through it in that RQ way. Cleave! More blobs and the existing ones move towards people. Magic missile! 4 pews! 2 at the nearest to him, 2 at the one nearest Cel. I'd say squishy solidarity but Cel is pretty tough for once. Cel shoots the nearest 3? Then flies up 10 feet up and towards Skraak. Zolf blesses the party! Fair Alex! Not everything has to have a mechanical effect. Azu attacks again. It explodes, if Azu hits it it will die.  At least one person should be safe. Skraak! He froze! Worth a shot Ben You'll see? It tries to blob Skraak and isn't big enough to hurt them. Is Skraak safe from collateral damage? Hamid and Cel both protect Skraak. Hamid tells Skraak to use his spear, Skraak runs instead. Thank god he might not die trying to be a hero. Something drains into the pipe organ and the pipe organ attacks! OMG it is a 50ft tall brain soup drinking electric monster! Yes Ben! Perfect! Shoin Mr Ceiling-ed himself theory has player buy in! Bye! Also I will eat my hat if the drop blobs aren't able to merge into something more dangerous.

[yv-sketches]

Hello! I was wondering if you could describe 'The Wizards of Once' characters physical appearances with details.

Eyyyy another question! 😱 These make me so happy 

This question is kind of hard though. Cressida is sparse with physical descriptions, most of them say something about the nature of the character. Her illustrations do most of the work. The httyd books often had half accurate colours, (Shadow is nor red!) so I’ll believe the text and illustrations over the cover art.

I reread both books and collected the following mentions:

Sit down, because this will be a LOOOONG answer.

~

Unironically, most comments about Xar’s physical appearance are about his hair. When Xar is sad or in distress, his hair droops.

“He was a cheerful scruff of a boy, with a tremendous quiff of hair shooting upward from his forehead as if it had accidentally come into contact with some invisible vertical hurricane.” (Once, Ch. 1)

Xar is five foot tall, or 152,4 cm.

“Xar had been caught because there was no such thing as a five-foot-tall Bigfoot with a bright blue beard.” (Twice, Ch. 1)

A green X shaped witchstain on his right palm.

“There, right in the middle of the palm, was the bright green stain. He tried to wipe it off on his cloak, but it did not move.” (Once, Ch. 11)

In book 2, it becomes worse, and Xar wears a black glove to conceal it.

“The green of the Witch-stain had moved beyond Xar’s hand and up his wrist, and looked as if it was spreading farther, like a creeping bruise, or ivy slowly growing around and strangling a tender young tree.” (Twice, Ch. 1)

Xar also wears a cloak. Most illustrations show him with his long fur coat only, but Cressida doesn’t draw EVERY detail in EVERY illustration. (Unless it’s an important detail.)

Xar is heavier than Wish. (Once, Ch. 8)

Xar wears a waistcoat with pockets and he has at least one breast pocket. (Once, Ch. 13)

Bodkin is described as skinny, but Xar is small too.

“But you’re just one small boy!” (Twice, Ch. 7)

~

Wish’s descriptions are mostly about how she is not a great warrior. She wears an eyepatch, a red cloak and armour. Her hair, like Xar’s, is a mess.

“A skinny little Warrior princess and her Assistant Bodyguard, Bodkin. They were wearing red cloaks over their armor, which made them shine out like stars in the dark green forest.” (Once, Ch. 2)

“Warrior princesses, of course, ought to be impressively tall and absolutely terrifying, like Wish’s mother, Queen Sychorax. Wish was neither scary nor large. She had a curious little face that was rather too interested in the world around her and hair that stuck out too wispily, as if she’d accidentally hit some unnoticed bit of static electricity. A black patch covered her left eye.” (Once, Ch. 2)

“Wish was small and sweet-natured and determined, with an eyepatch over one eye, and hair so disobediently flyaway that it looked as if it were being blown about by some personal independent wind.” (Twice, Ch. 3)

“She didn’t look remotely special, a small, skinny little child with an eyepatch and hair sticking out in all directions.” (Twice, Ch. 14)

She also has a limp.

“The queen had hoped to have a daughter who was tall and golden like herself, not someone small and scruffy and weird with hair that wouldn’t lie flat and an eyepatch and a limp.” (Once, Ch. 14)

Xar wonders:

“How could this tiny matchstick of a girl be scary Queen Sychorax’s daughter?” (Once, Ch. 5)

~

There are very little descriptions of Bodkin, but he wears a helmet on every single illustration. At the beginning if book 2, Bodkin wears a lot of armour.

“Bodkin was the taller one, and Wish was the little one with the sword.” (Once, Ch. 4)

“Bodkin was an anxious, skinny boy about the same age as Wish.” (Twice, Ch. 3)

“CLANG! That was the sound of Bodkin’s helmeted head hitting the floor.” (Twice, Ch. 6)

Bodkin is taller than Wish, and he’s described as skinny multiple times. (Maybe because he is a servant. In book 1 he mentioned that royalty ate fancy food.)

“Two Warriors, one tall, skinny one and one little, limpy one.” (Once, Ch. 15)

~

Queen Sychorax might be the character with the most physical descriptions available. A lot of times, she is described as beautiful, but in a scary, chilling way.

“Queen Sychorax was a legend in the forest, known for her cruelty and height and her pitiless Warrior strength. (Once, Ch. 5)

She is six feet tall, or 189 cm, slim and muscular and has long golden hair.

“Sychorax was scary. She was lovely, all right—if by “lovely” you mean pretty. Hair like a golden waterfall, slim as a candle, six feet tall and most of it muscle. She was dressed in white, with a single black pearl hanging from one ear.” (Once, Ch. 13)

She wears a long white dress, one black and one white earring and a belt to keep keys. She also has a sword with a rather grumpy face on it.

“And just as Queen Sychorax was sailing off, in a rustle of long, gracious white skirts, a certain knot that attached a little iron key to the belt she wore around her waist undid itself.” (Once, Ch. 14)

As queen, Sychorax has very fancy armour. She is described as ‘golden’ a few times. Her shoes are gold too.

“She was dressed in elaborately regal armor, with one black earring and one white.” (Twice, Ch. 3)

“The queen had hoped to have a daughter who was tall and golden like herself.” (Once, Ch. 14)

“She glided out of her throne in a graceful golden flash,” (Twice, Ch. 5)

“Queen Sychorax was not in a good mood as she stepped disdainfully across the broken rubble in her golden slippers.” (Twice, Ch.13)

She wears a royal ermine cloak.

“Queen Sychorax handed him her keys to all the cells and her very distinctive bright red cloak, lined snugly with royal black-and-white fur.” (Once, Ch. 16)

She has a large nose. Both Encanzo and Xar comment on it. There were even more nose comments in book 1, but they did not make it to the final version.

“Queen Sychorax did have, as it happened, a rather large nose. It was a splendidly, royally, beautifully large nose, but a trifle on the enormous side of medium nonetheless.” (Twice, Ch. 13.)

As a great warrior, Sychorax probably has a neat haircut, manicure and very pointy weapons.

“And a Warrior should always be well put together,” said Queen Sychorax. “Every hair in place. Every weapon sharpened. Every fingernail shining.” (Once, Ch. 25)

This one is a bit less obvious:

“Inconceivable,” echoed Encanzo bitterly, in a voice hard as a diamond. “A queen like Sychorax was always going to marry some idiot Warrior with a thick neck and a big sword, so she could enjoy all these knickknacks, these golden plates, this Warrior jewelry trash around her neck…” (Twice, Ch. 18)

Encanzo is mad at her, but it says a lot about what warriors look like. They wear neck rings on most illustrations, and apparently they use gold for their jewelry and maybe even for their plate armour.

It also shows that wizards are not very fond of jewelry.

~

Encanzo is a bit difficult, because his shape changes due to his magic. He has one black fingernail, and since it’s visible on all his illustrations, it must be important.

“The King Enchanter was a tall man, and Magic had made him taller still. It was curiously difficult to look at him, for he always seemed to be very slightly changing shape, blurring in and out at the edges. He had one black fingernail on his right hand, and there was a story of how the fingernail had turned that color, but no one dared ask the Enchanter what the story was.” (Once, Ch. 9)

He is described as tall, but we do not know his exact height. People in the iron age were shorter than they are now, so he is probably not httyd-viking-tall.

“Encanzo, was a tall, immensely powerful Wizard, of such Magic strength that it was curiously difficult to look at him. His outline was blurred by Magic, shifting, moving, and great steaming clouds of enchantment drifted off his head as he spoke.” (Twice, Ch. 1)

Magic clouds drift from his head, depending on his mood.

“And Encanzo was prowling in the shadows, his face bleak as a midwinter cliff, great storm clouds billowing from his head” (Twice, Ch.17)

Encanzo can shapeshift. Both times he turns into a bird.

“Encanzo had been up all night, in the form of a peregrine falcon.” (Once, Ch. 26)

“Xar’s father was looking for him, searching the countryside in the form of a great golden eagle.” (Twice, Ch. 8)

He wears a cloak as well.

“And off the Enchanter swept, with a rather unnerving thunderclap sweep of his cloak, to join in the merrymaking.” (Once, Ch. 26)

Encanzo has a bronze sword. Droods use bronze swords as well as wizard staffs, so it’s likely that Encanzo owns Bronze weapons. Sychorax comments:

“Your bronze sword is no match for my iron.” (Twice, Ch. 14)

When he was a young man, he was kind if handsome.

“The Wizard, now that she could see his face up close in the moonlight, was a very silly, tricky young man, but undeniably a little bit handsome…” (Twice, Ch. 10)

~

Encanzo’s eyes are grey, Sychorax’s are blue. Both parents are aging, and their skin starts to wrinkle.

“Fine lines had traced their way across their faces. But their eyes were the same eyes that had gazed out on the world a couple of decades before. One pair a fierce blue. The other a wild gray.” (Twice, Ch. 19)

~

Now for the less-certain parts.

Cressida does not draw pupils, so Wish, Xar and Bodkin’s eye colours are a mystery.

Xar’s hair is very dark. When I compare him to Caliburn the raven, it is black or near black.

Encanzo is bald so we can skip him. (Looter has the same hair colour as Xar, so if he ever had hair, it was probably dark too.)

We can also skip Bodkin, because we have never seen him without helmet.

Sychorax is blonde and pale and ripped (look at that biceps)

(Cressida’s illustrations vary A LOT, so this is just speculation, but Encanzo’s skin is often shaded while everyone else’s is not. Either he has a bit if a tan, it’s the magic coming out of his head, or everyone else is pale. Not unlikely, considering it’s Britain.)

The most difficult case is definitely Wish.

In most of her illustrations, her hair is obviously darker than her mother’s, but not as dark as Xar’s. On every coloured cover art, she is blonde. She might be blonde, and the dark lines are meant to show the dirt and mess? Her hair might be dark blonde? Or blonde-brown-ish?

We’ll have to wait for further books to tell us the details. ♥️

[generallynerdy]

Companion Part 3/Finale (Legolas X Dragon-Rider!Reader)

Part 1, Part 2

Summary: During a journey that blissfully feels like it could last forever, Legolas is approached by a messenger from home. It seems that he’s being called to the Council of Elrond and drawn away from (Y/N). However, he wants the dragon-rider to come with him, where they might start a longer journey together or separate from each other’s company permanently.

Original request by @postpunkcommunist: Hello!!! I am the anon who requested the Aragorn fic and I totally loved 'Beautiful sight'!!! Your writing is so good!!! I'm still kinda shy of coming off anon but your sweet words encouraged me 💞 can I ask over a Legolas x reader where the reader is an inmortal dragon rider... I know is kinda complicated but I thought it was an interesting prompt

Part 3 requested by: @runs-with-sciss0rs

Words: 2,007 (holy cats!)

Key: (Y/N) – your name

Warnings: slight angst, major fluff

Note: And it finally comes to an end. I had so much fun writing this! Maybe a little too much fun, lol. It’s way longer than the other parts, cuz I had to cram all my plot points that I came up with last minute. Enjoy the final part of Companion!

           The days slip by faster than (Y/N) or Legolas think they do, as they speak of home and of their dreams. It isn’t common for Legolas to speak so closely to someone he’s just met and (Y/N) has never met someone outside of home in the first place, so both are in odd situations. However, it feels right, in a way. Even Nyerche has gotten comfortable with the elven prince, though it took some time.

           It’s been ages since they’ve encountered anything other than forest creatures, so when they hear thundering hooves, the trio immediately go to defend themselves. Nyerche rears up and (Y/N) draws their blade, while Legolas draws back his bow. Much to their surprise, an elf of Legolas’s kind rides in on a pure white horse.

           Legolas relaxes as the elf calls him, “Your Highness!” The elf looks put off by the dragon standing behind Legolas, as he should be, but he gathers his wits and dismounts.

           (Y/N) takes to calming Nyerche while Legolas approaches the messenger. “What is it?”

           “A message,” The elf says, drawing a letter from his bag, “From Lord Thranduil.”

           Legolas takes the letter and opens it, (Y/N) listening from afar. They know Legolas doesn’t mind them hearing what the messenger says. He doesn’t mind much what they learn from here on out, as they already know so much.

           Skimming the letter, Legolas looks up at the messenger with wide eyes. “Is this true?”

           The messenger nods slowly, “I fear it is, sir. He wants you at the Council to represent Mirkwood.”

           “I see,” Legolas mutters, glancing back at (Y/N) briefly. The dragon-rider tilts their head in curiosity, but the elf will explain in a moment. He turns back to the messenger, “Let him know I’ll do as he says.”

           The messenger nods in confirmation and mounts his horse once more. He speaks reassuringly to his steed before clicking his tongue and, with a nod to Legolas, galloping away. As he rides off, Legolas then turns to Nyerche and (Y/N), the letter still in his hands almost hauntingly.

           “What is it?” His friend asks, eyebrows furrowed concernedly.

           He sighs, shaking his head, “The One Ring has been found.”

           “The One Ring? You can’t mean-” They’re cut off when Legolas nods again, shocking them into silence. “I’ve heard stories of it. It’s supposed to be a ring beyond any other. Where is it?”

           “Rivendell,” Legolas answers quickly, his eyes skimming the letter once more to be sure he has all the details right. “Elrond is summoning a Council to decide its fate.”

           (Y/N) blinks a few times before they finish the thought Legolas has failed to. “And your father wants you to represent him.”

           He nods almost mournfully, his jaw clenched in bitter consideration. It almost hurts (Y/N) to hear this news that their journey has to end. They’re at a crossroads, completely unsure of which path to take. They could go with him, though they might have to leave his side anyway, or they could take Nyerche and leave now. (Y/N) has a feeling that both roads could lead to heartbreak.

           “Come with me,” Legolas suddenly says, looking up at (Y/N) with bright cerulean eyes.

           (Y/N) freezes for a second, “What?”

           “Come with me,” He repeats himself, stepping closer to them. “Rivendell is a beautiful place; you should see it with your own eyes. You can represent yourself in the Council, maybe find that experience you want.”

           (Y/N)’s heart lifts at the idea of him wanting them there, but falls again. This adventure was what they wanted, wasn’t it? To be honest, though, they had hoped it would be with the prince himself, not simply found by him. (Y/N) loves the time they’ve spent with him and if this is the end…

           “Alright,” (Y/N) puts on a fake smile and raises their hand to scratch Nyerche lovingly, “Let’s go to Rivendell.”

           The road to the city is long, but relatively painless for the trio. Making their way through the main gates of Rivendell, (Y/N) can tell that Legolas was right. It’s a beautiful place. Furthermore, Legolas lights up the city around him with his grin. He’s told (Y/N) of Aragorn, who he hopes to see here. He even wants to introduce them to him, which makes them nervous, to be frank.

           When they enter the city, they’re greeted by two men; one an old wizard with a tall, grey hat and the other an elven lord with long robes. Nyerche falls behind (Y/N) and Legolas while they approach the pair, (Y/N) nervous as they’ve ever been.

           “Lord Elrond,” Legolas greets first, nodding respectfully before he turns to the wizard. “Gandalf.”

           “Legolas, always a pleasure,” Elrond replies in a smooth voice, smiling welcomingly in (Y/N)’s direction as well. “Who is this?”

           “This is (Y/N),” Legolas introduces them with a small smirk, sharing a knowing gaze with the dragon-rider. “They come from far off.”

           “And this is your dragon?” Gandalf asks (Y/N), gesturing to Nyerche.

           They nod, glancing back at the mud-coloured beast, “That’s Nyerche. He’s been my steed since I was young.” They move onto more important topics. “I had hoped to experience Middle Earth’s wonders when I met Legolas. Then, he heard of the Council gathering and thought it might be in my best interests to accompany him here.”

           “We are always welcome to others, especially from other lands,” Elrond nods before he cocks an eyebrow, “And your home? Where are you from?”

           “Ah,” (Y/N) pauses, “A land far off. It isn’t known to you on this continent, nor is it written about in any of your books.”

           “I should hope to hear more about it,” The elven lord nods along to (Y/N)’s commentary, greatly intrigued. However, he glances between Legolas and the dragon-rider, noticing the way the young prince looks at them. He grins ever so slightly, “But you likely want to stay with your companion, I assume.”

           “I…” (Y/N) flushes and glances at Legolas, who seems to be in a similar position, “I was informed there was someone Legolas wanted me to meet, my lord, but perhaps I could tell you more about my home after the council.”

           “Of course,” He waves them off on their way, “Enjoy yourselves in your time here.”

           The pair thank him and gather their wits before Legolas drags (Y/N) off to another corner of Imladris. Excitedly, Legolas tells them that Aragorn is most definitely here and that he can’t wait for them to meet his best friend. Though flustered, (Y/N) agrees with his sentiments and chuckles at Nyerche, who struggles to keep up with them without knocking over any innocent bystanders.

           Soon enough, Legolas screeches to a halt in front of a scruffy man, who looks to be human, but (Y/N) believes is more than meets the eye.

Legolas grins and greets his friend, who smiles, “Legolas, my friend.”

“Aragorn,” The prince replies, “It’s been too long.”

           “Definitely. Who’s this?” Aragorn asks, looking toward (Y/N).

           (Y/N) steps forward, shaking his hand respectfully. “(Y/N). This is Nyerche.”

           Aragorn’s eyes are wide as he looks at Nyerche, who stretches his wings in an attempt to be intimidating. “He’s yours?”

           They laugh slightly, “Some days I like to think he listens to me. He’s more of a friend than a steed.” They turn to Nyerche with a frown and speaks in Dragon Tongue, “What did I tell you about intimidating new people? It’s rude.”

           While they’re distracted, Aragorn approaches Legolas with a knowing smirk. “You’ve outdone yourself, mellon. The first time I see you in months and you bring a dragon-rider with you.”

           “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you,” Legolas watches (Y/N) in pure awe as they banter with Nyerche, his eyes bright with hope. Bringing them both here was a great idea and he knows this will work in his favour. At least, he hopes it will…

           The Council itself is certainly interesting. (Y/N) has no idea who half the people involved are, but Legolas whispers helpful tips to her during the debates. Personally, (Y/N) agrees wholeheartedly with Gandalf, Legolas, and Aragorn, not to mention Lord Elrond. The Ring needs to be destroyed and, if that requires a journey, then so be it.

           When Legolas volunteers to be part of the Fellowship, (Y/N)’s heart breaks. They should have known this would be where the journey would end, but it still hurts. They can’t join the Fellowship, not when they know nothing of this world. What help would they be? They’re a keeper of knowledge, not a user of any of it. Sure, they want to experience the world, but they’re still learning how and a doomed adventure is not the ideal way to do that.

           With the Council ended, (Y/N) escapes to have a long discussion with Elrond about their home. It lasts for hours on end and involves many leaders of the different groups that arrived for the Council. After all, not only Elrond is curious about the race of dragon-riders they’ve never heard of.

           Finally, they’re free from the gathering and able to explore what’s left of Imladris that they haven’t seen. (Y/N) wanders the gardens for some time, reminded of home in their tranquil beauty. It’s there that they find Nyerche, who’s been on edge since they left him for the gathering. They comfort him by brushing his scales and speaking reassuringly to him.

           After a time, they sigh, “He’ll be gone tomorrow, Nyerche. After all this time and he’ll be gone.”

           Nyerche nuzzles them lovingly, his massive eyes looking just as sorrowful as (Y/N)’s. He wants to communicate with them something to make them feel better, but he can’t find much that will do the trick. Silence surrounds them, only the sounds of the night breaking it.

           “(Y/N)?” A familiar voice calls, entering the clearing.

           (Y/N) turns to see Legolas, still awake and walking toward them. “Legolas?” They question, stepping away from Nyerche to greet him. “What are you doing here?”

           “I’ve been looking for you,” He says, making their heart skip a beat, though they quickly shove it away.

           “Shouldn’t you be resting?” (Y/N) asks, eyes a little sad. “You have a long journey starting tomorrow.”

           “I need to talk to you,” Legolas replies quietly, frightening (Y/N) ever so slightly. He approaches them and takes their hand in his absentmindedly. They feel their hand go cold and their breath hitch as he continues to speak. “I told you about my mother, didn’t I?”

           “Yes,” (Y/N) answers hesitantly, “You told me that she died a long time ago.”

           Legolas frowns, “When she died, it was just me and my father. He grew distant and cold. I didn’t recognise him anymore. It felt like it was just me left in the world. I missed both of them more than anything. Did I tell you that?”

           (Y/N) nods again, tilting their head, “Why do you mention it now?”

           “All my life, I have been searching for something to fill the void she burned into my heart and now,” Legolas swallows, looking at (Y/N) directly, “Traveling with you, I feel as though I’ve found it. I’ve found you.”

           His words take their breath away and his hold on their hand tightens. “I,” They start, “I don’t know what to say.”

           “Come with me,” Legolas holds their hand up to his lips and kisses it gently, “You and me and Nyerche and the Fellowship. We can find that adventure you want and…we can fill the void. Come with me.”

           Heart in their chest, (Y/N) can’t help but feel this is everything they could ever want. A companion, a friend, a lover. Someone new in a new world they have yet to experience, but know all about. A brand new adventure lies ahead and it will be everything they could ever imagine, the two of them. And Nyerche, of course.

           Leaning forward, (Y/N) presses their lips against Legolas’s, taking him slightly by surprise before he adapts and sinks into it. When (Y/N) pulls away again, they press their forehead against their companion’s.

           “Always.”

Masterlist

[mariposalass]

To Rise Again

Summary: This wasn’t what Mari and her crazy bunch were expecting when they came to visit the Hamilton exhibit with a goal to temporarily bring life to the wax statues to have a talk with them; instead however, they just brought back one guy back from the dead. Let the madness begin.

Setting: The local Alexander Hamilton (more of the musical than the real life stuff) exhibit in a museum at Daly City, California, January 3, 2019

Notes: This is the story of how Mari and Philip met: permanently bringing him back from the dead thanks to Ahkmenrah’s magic tablet. Inspired by the Don’t Be Shocked When Your Hist’ry Book Mentions Me series in Archive of Our Own. It’s ‘future is shocking’ with a heavy dose of curiosity intrigues the cat. The cast used for this story and Mari’s world are the OG Broadway cast. I was listening to Evanescence’s Bring Me to Life (Synthesis version) while thinking of this story.

Tags: Mild language, future shock, fighting and arguments, the dead being revived to life again, life-bringing magic, mild revival angst, the future is shocking but interesting

“Is there any good reason why you had to smuggle in that tablet of yours for just an exhibit on one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, huh, Ahk?” Mari questioned the forever youthful pharaoh’s sanity as he pulled out his magic tablet from his messenger bag in their group (which composed of them, Harry, Issa, Kirby, Kairi, and Karina)’s presence during a visit at the Alexander Hamilton exhibit featuring the wax statues of the people around the First Secretary of Treasury based on the original Hamilton Broadway cast on display in a local Daly City museum.

“Mari, I understand that you’re quite peeved on the fact I had to lunge this thing around to the exhibit for seemingly no good reason, but I thought it would be interesting to talk with the figures for just one day,” Ahk tried to explain his reasoning behind the tablet tagging along.

“Errr… Would that be considered necromancy?” Karina asked him out of concern with fear in the tone of her voice.

“Maybe Ahk is up to something: crazy but still a genius idea,” Issa tried her best to sound hopeful that Ahk knew what he’s doing, “After all, Harry accidentally returned him back to life with that tablet of his when we visited the other local museum years back.”

Ahkmenrah, the former Fourth King of the Fourth King, didn’t pay too much attention to the bickering the girls were having, just making sure that his tablet, the only thing he has left in his connection to his previous life in Egypt’s past, wouldn’t go missing from his sight. Harry should’ve kept his mouth shut about this portion when he nonchalantly mentioned the tablet incident of Ahk’s revival during the exhibit visit planning and he (Ahk) was like ‘Well, why not try it on the wax figures for one day there, Harry?’. Holy shit, the Boy Who Lived was in trouble for sure.

The wax figures in front of them were rendered so life-like as if the artist behind them was able to capture the old Broadway cast frozen at one moment in time. Even the costumes they wear for the exhibit could easily be mistaken for the ones used in the original production in New York City and straight from the 18th Century to the 19th Century; it was quite surreal for Mari, Harry, Kairi, Issa, and Kirby to see them face to face as they have seen the play before in their most recent trip to the Big Apple for the New Year celebrations. Mari though was more morbidly curious than she wanted to admit as she spotted one figure looking like they’ve seen something bad in their line of sight.

That one wax figure in particular catching Mari’s eyes was a young slender man, handsome and quite tall for his age: a head of untamed manly brown black curls, soulful hazel eyes, light brown skin (? Wasn’t the real life man he was based supposed to be white? Oh never mind!), and freckles on the face. Mari felt as if she was drawn to the figure, like a curious moth drawn to the flame and like fate, only weirder that she has fallen hard for a wax statue.

“Hello, Earth to Mari!” Kairi was calling out to her adopted older sister, waving her arms frantically, to snap her out of her trance.

“Huh, what, what?” she shook her head after realizing her sister was right beside her, taking part of looking at the wax man with her.

“It seems that this guy has caught your attention, huh?”she giggled.

“Geez, Kairi,” Mari shrugged, “I mean, this fellow looks freaking cute. Too bad he’s… dead!”

“Gushing over a dead man like him, aren’t you, Mari?” Issa asked her.

Mari blushed in embarrassment, not knowing what to do with her strange feelings and her attraction to the stranger while Kairi and Issa were left dumb-folded on the matter without a single response.

“Poyo, poyo!” Kirby chatted with the wax man, tugging onto the left leg of his white stockings to try to get his attention.

“Kirby, that guy’s already dead for more than 2 centuries already,” Mari told him, which made the poor puffball sad to hear the news as she continued on, “Death by gun shot wound at only 19 years old.”

“Ouch! RIP Wax Guy in period clothing Mari just had a crush on,” Kairi prayed in concern.

Kirby understandably wept for the poor young man’s soul, salted tears running down on his spherical body. Issa went up to pick Kirby up in her arms, consoling him as she said to him it wasn’t the man’s fault that his life ended that way. On the other side of the story, Harry and Ahkmenrah were talking about the problems and concerns arising if they try to bring life to the wax figures for one day which went downhill from there.

“I can’t believe that I dragged everyone into this mess today,” Harry grumbled in his breath, “Seriously: What kind of a stupid plan did I just randomly blurted out loud? This is bloody stupid: bringing dead people to life for just one day!”

“Calm down, Harry,” Ahk tried to console his friend’s dilemma for suggesting a silly plan, “It is just temporary. Once we leave the exhibit, they’ll resume back to their original positions and return back to their still wax state. It’s not like we’re performing a necromancer’s ritual.”

“Ahk, you got to be kidding, mate!” the British wizard sternly yelled at him, “How are we going to explain to the exhibit staff & organizers and the people running the place if at least one of them goes missing? You said if a museum exhibit was left outside when the sun rises up, they’ll be reduced to dust!”

“True, but I did made sure that this one attempt was just a one-off, I swear to the Gods, Harry,” the ex pharaoh countered the argument, “Who knows: maybe the Doctor could get the chance to hear them speak if he’s here with us now.”

“Oh, you idiot!!!” “Harry, please! Just trust me on this...” “Shut up, okay!” “But it won’t hurt anyone in the end...”

Everyone in the group soon turned their eyes at Ahk and Harry playing a rough tug-of-war with the former’s tablet, fearing that it could break at any given moment. Mari was scared to see one of her great friends and her older brother arguing over something petty like temporarily giving life to a group of life-like wax figures. It was so bad she couldn’t hold her tears in great distress.

Unbeknownst to everyone involved, things would get weirder from there: while arguing inaudibly over the whole plan, Harry and Ahk unwittingly messed with the symbols on the tablet and aimed at the young wax man Mari took a great interest in. The girls and Kirby were horrified that the poor young wax figure was in the line of the tablet’s aim and, in a bold noble effort, tried to stop the two men from creating further fuel to the figurative fire: yelling “Guys, stop it! Don’t break that tablet beyond its limits AND kill each other at the same time!”, “Kuya Harry, don’t punch Ahk for this!”, “Harry, Ahk, no!!!”, “Can you guys just stop fighting and get a grip on yourselves before some serious shit happens?!?”, and “Poyo, poyo! Popoyo, poyo, yop, yoyopo, POYO!!!”

Sadly, it was all for nothing: the wizard and the pharaoh unwittingly sent a blast of golden light, hitting the wax man on the chest and knocking him back onto the floor with a great big THUD! It was that very moment that Harry and Ahk realized their grave mistake: the wax man was now lying down on the platform on his back with an extremely blank look in his face, as he was a wax statue after all. Everyone who didn’t took a part of the mess were now staring at the two of them being mad at them for being a bunch of idiots fighting over one tablet of all things.

There was deafening silence among the group and wax figures in that one room: not a single word or sound was made, everything in awkward silence. But the silence would not last for long…

While the group were staring at each other out of confusion and anger, the next thing they heard is a groaning voice as roars of life were emanating from the golden glow from Ahk’s tablet that hit one of the wax statutes earlier during Harry and Ahk’s arguing. They froze for a moment, blank stares everywhere, and turned around to see a sight they never expected to see. The wax young man, or rather the previously wax young man, was now struggling to get up on his own two feet, still lying on his back similar to that of a turtle upside down on its shell, and his limbs wailing around faster than a speeding Japanese bullet train.

“Umm… Hello, if you don’t mind, I could use some assistance over here,” the man cried out, “Where in the world I am in?”

“Mother of God...” Issa gasped in horror, “That man needs some help here! We better help him out.”

“But wasn’t that supposed to be the wax-” Kairi was about to counter the situation but it was vain when Harry regained some senses.

“There is no time to explain it to him right now, Kai!” he lectured her immediately, “We should help this guy out first, then we can break the… unpleasant news to him later.”

“Poyo...” Kirby nervously squeaked, shaking in fear of the man’s bizarre awakening.

“Then we should start helping him in getting up from the platform, shall we?” Ahk nodded back.

It took a while for the humans to get the newly revived man up with around 2 boys and 4 girls involved, but they were able to get him up at last. They were tired but relieved that the man was able to stand up again, though questions were being to stir in their minds and worries were forming that they may have done something really terrible that very day.

“Alright, sir. Are you okay now?” Mari was at a loss of breath, sitting down on the stage platform, as she asked him how he was feeling after finally regaining his grip.

“A damned sight better, Madam,” he remarked as a response while brushing off dust from his outfit before continuing on with what else he was going to say, “Now how I can repay you lot back… Wait a minute, this isn’t the dueling grounds or Aunt Angelica and Uncle John’s house...”

“Oh God, if it ain’t Philip Hamilton himself!” Karina’s eyes widened in shock as memories of reading about the life of his famous father with everyone else flashed back in her mind.

“We knew it!” Issa shouted.

“By Merlin’s beard!” Harry freaked out with his jaws dropping to the ground.

Ahkmenrah, having been through the same thing as this Philip Hamilton (as the man is called), couldn’t help but to feel bad for him with being sent back to life and reality once again but in a more modern era, decided to approach him with caution and spoke on behalf of the bewildered group, “Well, pardon me, sir. What was the last thing you saw before… you just came back?”

Philip, whose facial expression now went from bewilderment to mourning, meekly replied back to the pharaoh’s question, “I… I was at Uncle John and Aunt Angelica’s house across the (Hudson) river… The doctor was there checking on my dire situation then...” He then pointed to the group at the direction of his right hip, “Good Lord, I’ve been shot! That Eacker fellow is going to be in trouble once I can find him again-”

“Whoa, whoa, back up a minute!” Karina busted his moment of rage, “What did that guy did to you that has made you wanting to gang up on him?”

That was when the younger Hamilton came to realize to see the group’s more contemporary appearance, quite unusual for his time in their clothing; never mind the fact that Ahk was holding onto the same golden tablet that brought both of them back from the dead. Was he in some sort of a time displacement?

Mari sighed, knowing that they can’t keep away the fact that he’s in the wrong century now, and came “Mr. Hamilton, I know we just met within a few minutes of your reawakening, but I feel we need to properly introduce ourselves. I’m Mari Tan, assistant librarian at the Daly City Public Library. The people and puffball with me are my friends and adopted siblings: Karina Lyle, Ahkmenrah, Harry Potter, Isabelle Miravelez, Kairi, and Kirby. I hate to break this to you, but you’ve been asleep for far too long until now.”

Philip was left even more confused than when he got revived, asking her again, “For how long?”

“It’s January 2019, in Daly City, California. I don’t think we’re even in New York anymore,” Harry stepped in, adding more surprise to the 19 year old man, greeting the British wizard with a dropped jaw of shock, to which he replied, “I could tell that even California as a state is foreign to you: back when you’re still alive in your original timeline, it was under Spanish rule before the Mexicans took over, followed by a brief moment of independence when the Americans came into town.”

“Welcome to the Golden State, you’re going to be in a really rough pickle now that everyone you know then is, well…, dead,” Kairi dropped another major info bombshell with equal parts of concern and uncertainty.

“Uh… Kairi, I don’t think you should drop that information…,” Issa tried to reprimand her in a stern manner.

“Do we need to also tell him that he’s the only wax statue revived to life with the others being-” Karina bombarded her with another question of concern, only to be cut off when they turned to see Philip noticing that the wax replicas of the many people he knew in his old life, such as his parents, weren’t moving or even revived like him.

Mari, her siblings and friends watched in sadness and pity as the poor man was trying to get the still statues’ attention and failing miserably, eventually sulking as he sat down on the podium stage where they were standing and shedding bitter salt-laced tears. Many versions of ‘Poor guy’ were murmured among the group.

This was not his day, and yet, Mari couldn’t help to feel bad that she then sat down beside him and began to carefully explained of what happened after his first death, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but shortly after you died the first time, your entire family wasn’t the same: your sister became mentally wrecked, your mom gave birth to a little brother and named him after you, your dad died on the same grounds you died on 3 years later, and your mom would outlive nearly everyone else upon dying at age 97. Please don’t get mad at me and my friends and siblings for just bringing you back life and not everyone else, we didn’t mean to cause you any grief because of it.”

Tears began to slowly gave up when he heard her speak and, while the words did made him feeling guilty for causing so much grief onto his family, she delivered them in a gentle tone with no ill will to ruin his mood or even his sanity. Harry then quietly approached Philip and continued what Mari said, “Yeah, it’s actually nearly 218 years since your ‘passing’, and everything did changed a lot. Trust me, if we get out of here sooner or later, you’re going to be in a big shock for your life, mate.”

“We better be going then,” Ahk informed everyone in the area, “We all don’t want to be locked in for the night nor do we want to get into trouble with people in this museum over with what happened today.”

“Ahk has a point,” Karina couldn’t agree more, “It’s getting late right now as well.”

“Well, if you say so, then we can all go out now,” he remarked, “Besides, it is true that I haven’t seen the outside world for that long. Although if I was presumed dead for the last 2 centuries, I highly doubt that I have any monetary funds or a place to stay in.”

“We have a house at the Westlake neighborhood,” Mari suggested to Philip with a beaming smile in her face, “The place is more known for its Mid-Century houses, though plenty of the other houses do range in style lately, including ours. You can stay with us, even Ahk lives with us since he didn’t have anyone else to run to when he got revived back to life. Then we try to get you a job some time after that can fit with your education credentials.”

“Mari has a point, Philip, son of Alexander,” the pharaoh pointed it out to him in a wise manner, “Perhaps, I could be of some assistance as well. I have went through nearly similar situations like you do now a few years ago, so I’m more than happy to give you some advice and help along the journey.”

“Also, we’ll introduce you to everyone else. Just imagine the response they’ll get from knowing that you’ve just been awaken again and they can also help you out,” Karina continued what her two friends left off.

“The Doctor is going to be so happy to hear about this,” Harry sarcastically whispered to Issa on the side.

“Definitely,” she agreed.

“Poyo,” Kirby sighed.

“I would be in your debt, everyone,” Philip replied back, “And should be so for a long while, I’m afraid. Though I have another question: would I get some unwanted attention in these clothes?”

“Nah, nobody wouldn’t care too much right now, but we should need to get out of here just to be safe,” Kairi reminded him as they began to leave the exhibit.

Once they managed to get out of the museum, Philip’s eyes widened up: not merely out of shock (although Mari admits that could be the case), but mostly in awe and curiosity with cars and buses running along the asphalt roads, people going about their normal days in modern clothing, and an assortment of buildings in various styles scattered across the city. If someone smart enough would have taken a note,  they would’ve been shocked by one man’s old-fashioned outfit, but since it’s nearing time for the rush hour leaving for home, nobody paid them and Philip any unwanted attention.

“Those unusual conveniences...” Philip gasped upon seeing the changed landscape, a far cry from what he was used to seeing in early 19th Century New York, while pointing at the moving vehicles in front of them.

“Horseless carriages if you could call them that,” Ahkmenrah informed him, “A majority of them are actually called cars. Quite convenient and swift, though they can cause more problems in plenty of places. But they’re easier to use than with chariots on the sands of Egypt though.”

“I must say, at least the streets here are cleaner,” he mused on and Ahk honestly knew that it was true.

“Well, Philip, you might need to get used to the pros and cons of living in the modern day city: city living can be stressful if you’re not ready to brace for the madness around it,” Issa reminded him gently ahead of time.

Just then, Mari’s smartphone began to buzz, startling the revived man a bit from the noise it was emitting as she pulled out her phone to check on her message inbox. However, he was also at the same time morbidly curious at the strange device she and, he assumed, nearly everyone but Kirby has in their possession.

“A message from Belle,” she reported to the bunch and their new friend, “She is coming over to our house with food delivery and Adam is coming along with her as well.”

“So… How does this thing work?” Philip inquisitively questioned her about the smartphone.

“Well, it’s quite complicated to describe how a smartphone works without sounding like a tech nerd,” Mari shrugged a bit before she continued on her lesson, “But it’s quite a marvel in communications, if you ask plenty of people that. Anyone can pick it up, send a call or text to anybody, surf the internet, or even do things like playing app games or reading e-books… It’s like an encyclopedia, a very small encyclopedia that is a jack of all trades.”

“An encyclopedia, isn’t it?” he couldn’t help but to smile a bit, before he thought about the reading part, “Did you mentioned about these e-books, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I sure did. That’s the wonders of modern technology these days,” she replied back, “Maybe I can recommend you something from this period or something? We can do that once we get back to the house tonight.”

“Why, yes. I don’t mind at all,” his grin grew wider as she responded, “I happen to work as an assistant librarian in the city, I can show you the city’s public library someday.”

“I would happily take that offer, madam,” Philip noted the last sentence, “When we can arrange that day out trip?”

“Oh God, he’s speaking her language of books already,” Karina gasped in shock upon hearing those words.

“Wait till Hermione hears about Philip and his bizarre day today: she’ll be so happy to hear about another person to geek out about books with 24/7,” Harry shrugged back.

“Brace for it, world, because Philip Hamilton has finally returned from the grave,” Issa muttered to herself, wondering how the world and the US will react about one of the children of the one of the American Founding Fathers has come back home after nearly 218 years of being dead.

The End

[junker-town]

What if NBA teams got to add one Disney character to their roster?

We drafted a Disney character for each NBA team in the bubble.

The NBA is officially in the bubble on Disney World propery, getting ready for the return of the league on July 30th. In honor of this rare situation and the option of teams adding replacement players, we decided to take time to have some fun and see what it would be like if NBA teams could draft a Disney character for their team to use on the court. This is serious stuff!

The draft order was randomly selected and the only rule was that teams must choose an original Disney character, not franchise characters from Star Wars or Marvel. So we gathered our NBA writers that have respective teams in the bubble together and held a Disney character draft.

Here are the very important results:

1. Milwaukee Bucks - Robin Hood

Not only can he serve as a primary floor general, controlling his on-court compatriots with leadership skills sharpened on commanding a forest of misfits to upend the ruling class. He’ll run point, and there won’t be any questions about his ability to nail shots from deep, whether he’s slinking around picks like he’s climbing trees in a forest or just pulling up from the halfcourt logo before defenses know what hit him. Should Eric Bledsoe falter at all in the postseason, Bud has a tried and true replacement for him. I’d even venture to guess Hood may get the call sooner rather than later in the starting lineup.

- Adam Paris, BrewHoop (Read the full breakdown here)

2. Houston Rockets - Jiminy Cricket

If you thought the Rockets were small before, wait till you get a look at their newest addition. Doubling down on #PocketRockets, Houston not only added the smallest player in the draft but also one of the most dynamic. Crickets can jump over 50 times their body length, making them one of the animals kingdom’s most prolific leapers. The lob game that left James Harden when Clint Capela was traded just might return with this draft pick.

In addition, Jiminy has one of the highest basketball IQs in this draft class. Being that he’s actually just the embodiment of a conscience, he always knows the right decision to make on the court.

- Darren Yuvan, The Dream Shake (Read the full breakdown here)

3. New Orleans Pelicans - Simba

While Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors and JJ Redick are a nice collection of veterans, none have an NBA championship ring sitting at home. In addition, the upcoming slate of contests will present an unprecedented challenge. There will be no crowds to create much needed momentum for players. The basketball courts at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex will be unfamiliar terrain. And as we’ve learned in recent days, the Pelicans will be without at least two key figures (Jeff Bzdelik and Jamelle McMillan) on Alvin Gentry’s coaching staff.

- Oleh Kosel, The Bird Writes (Read the full breakdown here)

4. Utah Jazz - Maui

Maui? Are you kidding me? A shapeshifter fell this far? The Utah Jazz select Maui, Demi-God of the Wind and Sea, Hero of Men, and stretch four of Quin Snyder’s dreams.

Need someone to guard the perimeter? Boom. Shapeshift. Need switch onto a wing? Boom. Shapeshift. Need someone to take over in the paint? Boom. Shapeshift. AGAIN. This guy is the total package and sure to be a hit knowing Utah’s connection with the Polynesian islands.

- Mychal Lowman, SLC Dunk (Read the full breakdown here)

5. Miami Heat - The Beast

His enormous ultra-athletic frame alone would be an intimidating presence in the paint, freeing up the Heat’s shooters on one end of the floor while also racking up blocks and rebounds on the other side. Whether he’s paired alongside Bam Adebayo to form a truly fearsome duo or in relief off the bench to boost the second unit, it’s a good problem to have for Erik Spoelstra and his coaching staff to see where he best fits before the games start up.

- Surya Fernandez, Hot Hot Hoops (Read the full breakdown here)

6. Washington Wizards - Mickey Mouse

This team is in desperate need of a sorcerer heading into Florida as the “cupcake” team of the field — Who else can be better than the OG of OG’s? Mickey by himself is a jack of all trades, like Bradley Beal is as a guard for Washington. Mickey can do everything on the court pretty well against smaller players. But I get it. He’s a mouse. That’s when his sorcerer hat (from Fantasia) comes in. Here, he can magically help his teammates in the post in the form of giving them a skill boost, or maybe he can magically grow himself!

- Albert Lee, Bullets Forever (Read the full breakdown here)

7. Los Angeles Lakers - The Genie

Genie is the perfect pick for the Lakers at No. 4, because he is one of the most versatile players in this draft. With the ability to change size at will and stretch and teleport himself all over the court, Genie is exactly the type of versatile contributor that will allow the Lakers to make up for any loss with his ability to play any position. Honestly, given the scope of his powers and abilities, the Lakers may have just created an unstoppable big three.

- Harrison Faigen, Silver Screen & Roll (Read the full breakdown here)

8. Sacramento Kings - Hercules

Upon arrival, Hercules is expected to start alongside De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes. Standing at 6’5”, Hercules, or “Herc,” is probably better suited to play the 1 or 2, but he has the strength to play the 3, 4 or 5, similar to Zion Williamson.

In addition to Hercules, the Kings are working to bring Hercules’ personal trainer Philocetes, or “Phil,” onto their training staff, according to a league source. Hercules credits Phil for all of his success to date, and the Kings could always use a player development coach.

- Christian Rivas, Sactown Royalty (Read the full breakdown here)

9. Phoenix Suns - Tarzan

The strategy was simple: we needed to replace the services of Kelly Oubre, Jr.

He’s quick. He’s agile. He has a killer wingspan. He adds toughness and a mean streak to the Suns roster. He’s high-flying and strong as hell. He hangs out with apes, so you know he and the Suns Gorilla would get along splendidly. Tarzan is made for the NBA. He is a steal at #9.

- John Voita, Bright Side of the Sun (Read the full breakdown here)

10. Brooklyn Nets - Moana

Yeah, the Nets need help. Lots of help. Especially when it comes to bigs. Soooo, I went and drafted the Nets the biggest Disney character I could: Moana. The biggest, you say? Yeah, the biggest. According to Google, Moana measures at 7-feet, 6-inches tall. Say it again. 7-feet, 6-inches tall. And, with speed.

- Tom Lorezno, Nets Daily (Read the full breakdown here)

11. OKC Thunder - James P. Sullivan (Sully)

James P. Sullivan would be the perfect addition to an already-stacked Oklahoma City Thunder team because the man is scary with a sweet soul that could light up any defense. Also, watching him throw alley-oops would be fun to watch.

Sullivan is also 7’6, which in NBA terms is huge to have on a team. He could block a lot of baskets and throw the basketball down the court with ease and could easily score on everyone without much effort.

Sullivan would fit perfectly in with the Thunder because he has a laid-back attitude and I could definitely see Steven Adams and him being best of friends and scaring other teammates with each other.

- Sarah Dewberry, Welcome To Loud City (Read the full breakdown here)

12. Orlando Magic - Peter Pan

As the proven leader of the Lost Boys, Peter Pan also gives the Magic’s young core some valuable leadership they’ll need while transforming into a contending team. And just think of what some of Peter’s Pixie Dust could do for the Magic’s crucial but plodding players like Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier.

- Mike Cali, Orlando Pinstriped Post (Read the full breakdown here)

13. San Antonio Spurs - EVE (a.k.a. Eva)

What Disney character better to represent Pop’s crew than EVE, the Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator that wins the heart of the titular WAL-E?

EVE goes about her business with a calm, seemingly detached efficiency that belied the passion inside, but when the moment was big enough, was able to cut loose. EVE wreaked havoc on an abandoned shipyard in her frustration. EVE rebuilt WAL-E and sparked him back to life.

- Pounding The Rock

14. Toronto Raptors - Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

The on court stuff is obvious. Girl has magic mushrooms, given to her by her chain smoking caterpillar bud, that help her grow quite tall, which seems useful for basketball to me. With Marc Gasol deep in the throws of his mid-thirties and Chris Boucher being more of an erratic four than a steady back-up five, post-shrooms Alice fits as a rim protecting reserve who can give you 10 minutes, even while rocking dress flats. A 2019 Sixers team with such a reliable back-up may have beaten the Raptors in round two.

- Sean Woodley, Raptors HQ (Read the full breakdown here)

15. Los Angeles Clippers - Elastigirl

Elastigirl truly has no ego and is exactly the kind of hero who can easily slot in with an established team. She comes from a family of superheroes, so she is used to working together instead of going rogue. Elastigirl is willing to let others shine, which she does with Mr. Incredible, but she also has the capacity to take a leading role, like when she battles the Screenslaver. She has an acute understanding of how best to optimize the talents of others and bring our their peak performances, which Violet would surely attest to. A player who is comfortable sitting on the bench but always stays ready — after literally years of inaction, in one instance — is a crucial piece of a championship team.

- Sabreena Merchant, Clips Nation (Read the full breakdown here)

16. Denver Nuggets- Mr. Incredible

Mr. Incredible may have some selfish tendencies at times, but he’s at his best when he’s working within a team concept. Nikola Jokic is the brains behind the operation while Jamal Murray is often the tip of the spear. Sometimes you need a hammer though, and that’s what Mr. Incredible provides the rotation: brute force power and athleticism.

- Ryan Blackburn, Denver Stiffs (Read the full breakdown here)

17. Portland Trailblazers - Mufasa

Mufasa is clearly the most NBA-ready character in this draft class. We anticipate he’ll be able to lift teammates to new heights with his fantastic physique and off-the-charts leadership skills. Once he gets his footing, he’ll be a fantastic voice in the locker room. We suspect he dropped so low because he’s a bit shaky running the break and makes questionable decisions in traffic, but with help from the coaching staff, he should develop those skills as his career progresses. At the end of the day, we feel quite confident that we got the steal of the draft.

- Dave Deckard, Blazer’s Edge (Read the full breakdown here)

18. Memphis Grizzlies - Elsa

On the floor, Elsa ices out everything around her. She can be a lockdown defender, freezing ball handlers (literally) while creating opportunities in transition for a Grizzlies team that wants to run. As a help defender, she can assist players like Jonas Valanciunas who may struggle with stretch fives by not allowing those bigs to get to their spots on the pick and pop. She has ice in her veins and will not allow for any proverbial storm raging around the Grizzlies to impact them.

- Joe Mullinax, Grizzly Bear Blues (Read the full breakdown here)

19. Philadelphia 76ers - Air Bud

he Philadelphia 76ers go a bit unconventional here selecting a dog who can not talk, does not have superpowers, and is not an animation, like the other players selected in this draft. However, Air Bud has one thing that I’ve yet to see from any other prospect: game film.

A golden retriever with two-way ability, Air Bud gives Philly a wing who can hound opposing ball-handlers on defense and provide some much needed energy on the offensive end. He also figures to serve as quite a fine complement to Ben Simmons in the transition game.

- Kevin F. Love, Liberty Ballers (Read the full breakdown here)

20. Boston Celtics - Yen Sid

Remember in the movie Fantasia? Mickey is a sorcerer’s apprentice and gets into all kinds of hijinks when he borrows the wizard’s magic hat? Yen Sid is the wizard. So why him and not some more popular figure? Well, like any good drafter I did my research.

There are few Disney characters out there with the magical powers of this wizard. In fact, based on a thorough internet search of about 5 minutes, I concluded that Yen Sid is right up there with the Genie and Maleficent as the most powerful characters in the Disney cannon.

- Jeff Clark, Celtics Blog (Read the full breakdown here)

21. Dallas Mavericks - Kronk

That’s right, Kronk, from the criminally underrated film, the Emperor’s New Groove.

Why Kronk you ask? Well, for one, the Mavericks could use some size. With Willie Cauley-Stein opting out of Orlando for personal reasons, Dallas has a thin front court. Though he should be considered an emergency option in Orlando, Dallas needs a banger, a guy who will play hard and do the dirty work and not need recognition and the spotlight.

- Kirk Henderson, Mavs Moneyball (Read the full breakdown here)

22. Indiana Pacers - Trusty (Lady and the Tramp)

Though he may be getting up there in years and doesn’t boast superhuman strength like Hercules, the dead-eye shooting of Robin Hood, or Maui’s thicc frame, Trusty arguably best reflects the three —admittedly, somewhat corny — tenets of Indiana’s culture: toughness, togetherness, and...wait for it..trust. I mean, c’mon, it’s right there in his name.

- Cailtin Cooper, Indy Cornrows (Read the full breakdown here)

[billnoncipher]

Bound . . . and Determined

Written for Wendip Week 2017. Prompt: “Handcuffed together.” Lightly crosses with the Harry Potter universe.

By William Easley

1

"Allow me to be quite clear," the Minister for Magical Law Enforcement told Dr. Mason Pines and his wife Dr. Wendy Pines. "If it were solely up to me, I wouldn't have called you in at all. However, the homeowner in question is an American—as well as a highly-qualified witch—and has requested your aid specifically."

"We understand that, Mrs.—uh, I'm sorry, how should we address you?" Dipper asked.

"Minister is the preferred term. However, as we are in the same line of work, 'HG' will do.""

"Thanks, HG," Wendy said. "I'm Wendy, and you can call my husband Dipper."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's a code name," Dipper said smoothly. "Now—this client—"

"Mrs. Abigail Merriwether," the Minister said, picking up her glasses to read from a memo. "Formerly of Salem, Massachusetts, has lived in the UK for, let's see, ten years, suspects there is an unfriendly ghost in her home." She put the memo down. "Please understand, Mrs. Merriwether's husband Hugh is a mu—a non-magical person. For reasons of her own, she prefers that he not know of her special talents."

"If she's a witch," Wendy said, "couldn't she handle a ghost?"

"Ah, but this is not an ordinary ghost," the Minister said with a smile. "Here is a card with the address for you. However, I shall have a car take you there. Exorcize the phantom, and the Ministry will pay your expenses. Now, as to fee—"

"No fee," Dipper said. "Consider it a case of international cooperation."

"Well," the Minister said. "Isn't that nice." Before they left her office, she seemed to thaw a bit. "Do you know," she said, glancing at Wendy, "I just realized you remind me a bit of my sister-in-law. She's a ginger, too."

"Really."

"Yes, and quite a nice woman. Well, is there anything else you require."

"If it's not too much trouble," Wendy said, "since we had to fly on a commercial airline, I would like to request something that I wasn't allowed to carry aboard."

"And that would be?"

"An axe," Wendy said. "I've looked at British axes, and I would prefer an Eversteel 3000 felling axe, 85 centimeter handle, 1.75 kilogram head."

The Minister frowned a little as she wrote that down. "Why do you need this to take care of a ghost?"

"I believe," Wendy explained, "that every woman should carry an axe. Oh, and I'll need a Handleman leather scabbard, too, with bandolier harness. I won't be taking them back to America, so I'll return them to you when this job is over."

"I'm sure we'll find some use for them," the Minister said. "The Armory will send out for your, ah, implement. They're quite efficient. Be ready to leave in an hour."

2

"How is it?" Dipper asked as the self-driving car let them out at the curb—kerb, whatever—in a reasonably suburban stretch outside of Metropolitan London. The houses here were miniature estates, most of them brick, standing in spacious grounds—say half an acre or more each.

Wendy moved her shoulders. "It's OK. It'll do. But it's like British food. Not quite the same."

He told the car, "We'll call when we've finished." The car did not respond verbally, but purred away.

"Quite a house," Wendy said.

"More like quite a tower with a little house built onto it," Dipper replied. The brick cottage looked cozy, but adjoining it on the right was a massive three-storied tower with a round observatory-like dome, looking completely out of place, as if it had wandered there from one of the castles dotting the English landscape and had settled down for a snooze. Surrounding the spacious yard was an eight-foot-tall fence of black wrought-iron.

"Let's see if our client is in," Dipper said. He pressed the call button on the left pillar of the wrought-iron gate.

A moment later, a hologram of a thin, gray-haired man in a pale blue blazer and a dark bow tie appeared. "Yes?" He had a British accent, even with just that one word.

Dipper smiled. "Hello, sir. Are you Mr. Merriwether?"

"I am."

"I'm Mason Pines, and this is my wife Wendy, sir. We're former students of Dr. Merriwether's, and when we let her know we'd be vacationing in London, she asked us to visit. May we speak to her?"

"Ah—sorry, she's not home yet. But yes, I recall her saying something about visitors. Just a moment, I'll buzz you in."

The gate clacked, they went inside and up to the door, where the man stood, having just opened it. "Please come in, young people. Would you care for tea?"

Dipper glanced at Wendy. "No, thank you, sir. When will your wife be home?"

"Oh, any time, any time. Would you care to wait for her in her little workshop? She most often takes her guests there."

"That will be fine," Dipper said.

"This way, then." He pottered around, opened a door, said, "No, pantry, lose my own head next," and then found the right one, a stairway leading down. "She says it's cool in the cellar," he said. Go along, go along, I'll follow. Not so spry on the steps as I used to be, you know."

They descended and the first thing Dipper thought was It's like the Shack—more cellar than house!

The second was It's a trap! Against the wall near the stair was a workbench with carpentry tools on a pegboard—but the rest of the cellar was a cellar, stacked with tidy piles of odds and ends, with wiring and pipes hanging from the overhead joists. No workshop.

He spun, Wendy caught his flash of thought, and she reached for her axe.

"Ah-ah!" The man stood on the stairway, holding a wand. "Now, I cannot kill you—yet. But I can't have you inconveniencing me as I question Mrs. Merriwether, so pleasant dreams!" He waved the wand and things turned black.

3

Well, when you think it's a ghost, you don't go into the fight prepared to battle an evil wizard. "We should've brought Mabel, dude," Wendy said, rattling the chain that held them together.

"Even if she weren't pregnant, I'm not sure that would have helped," Dipper told her.

Here they were, in the basement, stripped to their underwear and handcuffed together.

With magical handcuffs, the chain behind a floor-to-ceiling pipe. The space between the pipe and the wall was maybe eight inches—too narrow to squeeze through.

"What did he do with our clothes?" Dipper asked. "Did you see?"

"Nope," Wendy said. "Last thing I remember, he flicked that stick at us, and boosh! Here we were, stripped down and chained up. Any ideas?"

Dipper looked up. "Well, these may be magical handcuffs, but the pipe's an ordinary three-inch water pipe. Think we can climb it?"

"Dude, this is Lumberjack Girl you're talkin' to. I can climb it. What about you?"

"I'll do my best."

They were not ordinary handcuffs—the chain was about a foot long. On one hand, that gave them a little freedom of movement. On the other, it didn't give them all that much. They had to climb practically wrapped around each other, facing each other, with the pipe between them. "Yes!" Dipper said after they had nearly reached the top, eight feet from the floor. "Look! The pipe makes an L-bend! If we can loop the chain over the horizontal run—"

"We can get to the wall over there—"

"And maybe you can reach down to the tool bench with your toes—"

"And snag the hacksaw hanging there! And then we can saw through the chain!"

"Maybe!"

A few things stood in their way, though. Or, more accurately, hung in their way: three equally-spaced hanger straps, about four feet apart, that supported the horizontal run of the old pipe, perforated metal bands that hammocked the pipe and then were screwed to the joists overhead.

The pipe sagged with their weight, though, and because the house was an old house and the plumbing was aged and the straps had been manufactured in Birmingham, UK, in 1919, when there was a steel shortage, the first one snapped.

And that rendered the question of the hacksaw moot, because without its support the pipe gave way, too, and broke free from the upright. And water gushed from the upright in a soaking shower.

"Dude, it's cold!" Wendy complained as they staggered through falling water.

"At least it wasn't a sewage drain," Dipper yelled. They sloshed over to the tool bench, where Wendy grabbed the hacksaw and, after a moment's hesitation, Dipper picked up a hand sledge, a five-pound hammer. They hurried to the stairs, where Wendy sawed at the chain.

"Any progress?" Dipper yelled. "The basement's flooding pretty fast!"

"Yeah!" Wendy said. "I've worn all the teeth off the saw! What's wrong with you?"

"Your bra's so wet," Dipper said, "that's it's pretty, uh, translucent."

"Right now, we got other worries. Let's see if he locked the door."

The evil magician had not. "Come on, dude," Wendy said. "We have to find him."

"I know where he'll be," Dipper told her. "The tower room. Under the dome. Way up at the top. He locked us up as low as he could because he was going high."

"Figures," Wendy said. "Wish I knew what the son of a witch did with my axe!"

"I got it figured out," Dipper said. "The lady who thought it was a ghost was really being harassed by this guy—bet you he's not Mr. Merriwether at all. Somehow, he got past her defenses and got in, and now he may be torturing her."

"Let's go, dude!"

They found the tower and the spiral staircase leading up. They crept up on still-damp bare feet. They heard angry voices from the top. They paused outside the door. Dipper held up the hand sledge and whispered his intent.

"Could work," Wendy whispered. "But we gotta get all the way inside!"

"See if the door's locked."

It wasn't. From the room, they heard a woman's angry voice: "You can kill me, but you'll still never learn where it is!"

"There are worse things than killing!"

"Now," Dipper said, and they stepped through the door.

The wizard jerked around. He had tied a woman to a chair and had been menacing her with his wand. Now, his face furious, he raised the wand and began to yell, "Avada—"

"Go!" Wendy yelled. She stepped away from Dipper. They jerked their arms forward. They had hooked the sledge hammer over the chain by the head. They hurled it forward, as if they were a human slingshot.

The wizard was unable to finish whatever spell he'd started because a heavy hand sledge-hammer hurtling at the speed of 75 miles per hour tends to make enunciation difficult the moment it knocks out all your front teeth and renders you unconscious.

"The wand!" the woman shouted. "Get the wand!"

Dipper and Wendy ran forward, she scooped it up, and she asked, "Now what?"

"Give it to me and I'll unbind these ropes," she said. It was difficult, because her hands were behind her, but she twitched the wand and said, "Solvite!" The ropes dropped away.

Then she tied up the still-unconscious man. "Thank you," she said. "You are the young Americans my friend Dr. Pines recommended?"

"Wendy and Mason Pines," Dipper said.

"Why are you naked? That's a nice little navel ring you're wearing, Mrs. Pines."

"Thanks," Wendy said. "It was sort of my first wedding ring!"

"He stripped our clothes off," Dipper said. "Hit us with a spell that left us in our underwear and put these cuffs on us. Down in the basement."

"This is Makoto," Mrs. Merriwether said. "British, of course. Good thing, I suppose. If he were American, like us, he probably would have vanished your underclothing, too. He is seeking—well, never mind, a magical object, and if he found it, he could kill anyone, anywhere, without fear of retribution. Now the wizard court will deal with him."

"Um—your basement is filling up with water," Wendy said. "We had to break a pipe to get free."

"Hm." The woman went to a table and picked up a slimmer wand. "This is my own," she said. "It obeys me much better than Makoto's does. Speaking of which—" she snapped his wand in half. "That will take care of him!"

She waved the wand and spoke a rapid-fire series of spells: Restituo! Harefacio! Operiemur! Nothing visible happened, but she smiled and said, "There, all repaired, all dried, and we should find your clothes downstairs. Just a second now." Then she materialized a phone, made a quick call, and asked, "What's the time, Mr. Pines?"

"I suppose it's about noon," he said. "My watch is gone, too."

"Oh, of course. Well, we have to wait just a few moments—ah, no we don't, they are here."

With little flashes of air, three men in robes appeared. "Hello, Abbie!" one of them said. "What's the row—bloody hell! Hello, Miss!"

"Ronald," Mrs. Merriwether said firmly, "I told the Ministry Makoto would try! Here he is. Take him away and remember—you are married!"

"She's beautiful, though," the man said with a grin. "All right boys, let's take this scrote in custody!" The other two grabbed the still-unconscious Makoto and they all four vanished.

"Come," Mrs. Merriwether said, tucking her wand away somewhere in her dress. "My husband will be home in a matter of minutes, and he doesn't know about any of this. And he mustn't."

Their clothing lay in a heap in front of the cellar door. "But we can't get dressed until you take off these handcuffs," Wendy said.

"There is a problem," she confessed. "This is a dark spell, and only the man who cast it can take it off. However, I've broken his wand, and he will not be permitted to use magic again anytime soon."

"Then we're stuck like this?" Dipper asked. "Me in shorts, and my wife in—what she has on?"

"No, no," Mrs. Merriwether sighed. "There are ways, but they take time. The fastest—well, no, it costs too much."

"What?" Wendy asked.

"Well—there is a payment. You see, each person has a defined lifespan, and except for magic, it cannot be extended. We can't predict what our time is or foresee the future, but let's say one of you will live for another, oh, fifty years, and the other for sixty. A demonstration of commitment will vanish the handcuffs. If you agreed to blend your lifespans—then one of you will gain five years of life, but the other will lose the same amount of time, and you would both pass on in fifty-five years, at the same moment. But as I say, we never know. Suppose one of you has only two years, the other eighty! That's a terrible price."

Dipper took Wendy's hand and looked her in the eyes. Their chain jangled. They both smiled.

"Do it," they said together.

4

Later that week, Dipper said, "Well, it's five years late, but we finally got our honeymoon!" They were standing in front of Hexcombe Priory, a ruin that once had been the most haunted spot in England. It had a lot more history than the Mystery Shack, and the tour had been interesting, but Grunkle Stan could have made it more fun.

"And I got my axe back," Wendy said. "Shame I couldn't keep it. It had a really nice balance!"

"Well, now I know what to get you for our next anniversary," Dipper said. They kissed. He stroked her lovely, long red hair. "Do you regret what we did?"

She grinned, wrinkling her nose. "Nope. You?"

"Actually," he said, "I'd never thought about it before—but to live our lives together and leave them together—that might have been something I would have wished for."

"So love still binds us together," Wendy said, squeezing his hand. "For life and afterward."

They kissed, and Dipper whispered, "Always and forever."

The End

[murdered-with-daisies]

An Iron Grip- Chapter 1

I posted about having this Gajevy fic that’s been sitting in my computer for a few years and thanks to all the encouragement I’ve decided to finally start posting it- all in all its about 40 chapters long give or take a bit; I’m going to update about 3 times a week with a new chapter so you guys dont have to wait too long :) This is my first fic so i’d appreciate some constructive criticism <3

Pairing: Gajevy

Words: 3,045

Will update every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday :)

Summary: There is no magic. There is no wizards or dragons, that was all just make believe- or so Levy had been told. Her world is turned upside down when a dark guild comes after her, searching for a rare book, and everything she thinks she knows turns out to be wrong. Unwillingly thrust into a dark hidden underbelly of Magnolia city she must trust an unlikely band of misfits, a magic guild called Fairy Tail. Will Levy cave under the pressure or will she grow to be more than she every thought she would be and make some new friends along the way?

Chapter 2. Chapter 3. 

_______________________________________________________________________

         The world swirled around Levy, black and white flashing ever faster. She was falling and falling fast. There wasn’t even enough time for her to scream; the air was sucked out of her lungs as the air cut past her. The fall seemed like forever even though she was sure realistically it was only a few seconds. But everything slowed. She’d hit the ground soon, she was sure of that too. The ground was hard concrete, unforgiving and cold. And she was just so so small. She wouldn’t stand a chance in hell against it. Levy squeezed her eyes shut and let herself fall. There was nothing she could do but wait for the floor to meet her. This was it. This was how she was going to go- alone and weak. This was it.

   'I’m so sorry Gajeel, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you’ she thought to herself.

   And then everything stopped.

   The sun was shining as Levy woke up. 9:03 her alarm clock that failed to ring read. She had slept in and the light yellow glow that filtered through her windows and curtains welcomed her to the day. Birds were passing by, hopping and foraging in the window box on the outside of her home, and soaring through the sky, not a care in the world.

    Levy stretched, her hands in fists that stretched to the ceiling. She rolled out of her bed, rubbing her eyes and yawning. The girl swung her legs off the bed, her light blanket wrapped around her ankles as it fell with them, a book tumbling down to her wood floors. She picked it up and smiled- Fair Tail. 

    A classic in every sense of the word at least in her eyes. It was a childish story really, about dragons and princesses and love, but god if it wasn’t her favorite. There was a whole other world in those pages, where magic was real and friendships were made of family instead of strangers. It was a landscape she had always dreamed of as a child. A story about a warrior guild called Fairy Tail. It was everything she had ever wanted. Gingerly she touched the cover, it was rough and peeling. Years of love and reading had done its toll, she knew she should get a new copy but she couldn’t bring herself to retire it and besides, she’d never seen another one on any shelf . Levy placed the book on her nightstand gingerly and threw on a clean dress. The orange fabric was light and airy, perfect for the hot summer weather they were having in Magnolia right now.

      She let her feet take her out of her bedroom, past the small living room of her apartment and into the white kitchen that she loved. It was rustic and small, the cream tile accented the worn white cabinets. There wasn’t much in them though, since it was just her. A few dishes, bowls, and mugs for her tea was all she really needed. She didn’t even have a dishwasher. Less plates and silverware means less mess right? she tried to reason when anyone told her to get one. She put her kettle on the stove and padded to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

She let the cold water run through her fingers for a moment and looked in the mirror. Her grey eyes were large and wide, and her blue hair was wild, as it usually was. There was just no taming it- no matter what she did it was wild and had a mind of its own. She pulled an orange headband on, at least trying to keep the most rebellious strands out of her face. She smiled at herself, happy with what she saw. She wasn’t tall like her best friend Lucy was, she wasn’t busty like her either, but she didn’t mind. Her short stature was fine with her most days and she had curves of her own, though not as pronounced as most of her friend group. Lucy would tease her saying she should have drank her milk when she was young, Levy in turn would tell Lucy she must have drank too much. It was fine though, it kept her out of the spotlight, she wasn’t beautiful like Lucy or Juvia or Mira, but she was cute and that was alright too. Less attention meant more time for reading she supposed.

     A loud whistle sounded from across the house signaling that her tea water was ready. She ran to it and poured it into a thermos, and grabbed her purse from next to the door. She slipped her blue sneakers on, locked her door and headed to town.

     The walk through Magnolia city was peaceful. The city was a merchant town. She had read once that it was dead set in the middle between two harbor towns hundreds of years ago and was the go between for the two town’s residences. The towns didn’t much like each other but each had something the other needed so they made it work. It was like Magnolia was their DMZ; no fighting allowed in the city limits, though that didn’t stop many people. The folks in town were a breed of their own having come from all across the world to the trading hub. There were people selling their furs from up north, though this time of year they mainly sold leather goods since there was no need for such heavy furs in the middle of June. There were fishermen from the west selling their fresh morning catches, calling out prices to those walking past and there were crafters from the east, all brash and odd in their own way. And then there were the tourists from the South, they came to Magnolia from the lowest points of Fiore to catch glimpses of the scenery and tour the city. The city had its own flavor to it and of all the places that Levy had been it had always been her favorite, no other place could compare.

    She walked with a pep in her step, waving to the merchants as they called to her from their booths and shops. Everyone knew the bookworm and in turn she knew everyone. Though the city was large and vast she was sure she’d visited every shop to find rare books. She had leather-bound ones from a kind fisherman, she had seal-bound ones from a one eye’d trapper in the north, and she had a great collection of fairy tails from a sweet old grandmother who she was sure thought she was a child instead of a young woman.

    Levy stopped before a green shop, its old carved sign read “McGarden Books”, and unlocked the door. It had been her father’s shop before he had passed away. It was her pride and joy and though it didn’t make much money it made her happy to have a purpose- regulars to the shop kept it going and well stocked. She put her stuff down and pulled the curtains to the large front bay windows open, letting the light come through the shop, illuminating the ever present book dust. No matter how much time she spent cleaning, there was just some things that you couldn’t get rid of all the way. She had a beautiful view of the canal from her shop and often she didn’t mind spending hours sitting at her front desk, a book in her hand, a mug of tea on the dark maple desk, and watching as the small boats went past.

     As the day rolled on and the morning grew to afternoon people filtered in and out of the shop, books leaving with them, others being put on the shelf to take their new home. Levy looked up as the bell above the door dinged, a man in a tailored suit wandered in, his hands in his pockets. He was tall and lanky a mop of brown hair on his head. His eyes were sharp and met hers for a moment before moving away as he took in the shop. Something about him put Levy on edge- maybe it was the way he was slouching, like he was better than everything, or maybe it was the was picking things up and flinging them down without so much as a care. Levy put the pile of books she was categorizing down and went to the new comer, she had never seen him around before.

     “Can I help you find anything sir?” she called to him as she made her way behind her desk, putting it between them.

     His eyes took her in, roaming down his body, his gaze leering, and then back to her face. “Actually, Sweetheart, I’m in the rare book business, maybe you have what I’m looking for- I’ve heard you had quite the collection here. I’m looking for Fairy Tail, rumor has it you know where to find it.” He leaned his arm on the counter. Levy knew it was supposed to come off as relaxed but she also saw it as the calculated move it was. Something wasn’t right about him. And she sure wasn’t going to part with her favorite book.

    “I’m sorry sir, none of the older copies are for sale. We categorize them for preservation, they’re not for sale” she told him matter of factly. Truth is, all the books in the store were for sale, she just didn’t like him.

     He made a tsk noise and stood from his relaxed pose, hands making their way back to his pant pockets and then back to the counter. A wad of money was curled in one of them, a rubber band keeping it tight. “Oh come on, for the right price everything is for sale. I’ve got the cash for it I assure you.”

     Levy rolled her eyes. “Incase you missed what I said, they’re not for sale. I can’t help you. Have a good day, sir.” She took a book from her pile and started sticking it again, hoping he would take the hint. He stood there watching her for a moment before putting the money back into his pocket.

The man hummed a response and turned towards the exit. He opened the door and paused, looking back at the blue haired girl. “Nice talking to you Levy, I’ll be seeing you.” And with that he left, the door shutting with a clatter behind him.

    Levy looked up from her books, her eyebrows scrunched. She looked down at her shirt. ‘I’m not wearing my name tag, how did he know my name? Gosh I sure hope he doesn’t come back. No means no, jeez. she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, she wouldn’t let it bother her too much. Magnolia was filled with oddities and even odder people, one more was just another piece of the collection.

    Night fell slowly, so slow that Levy barely noticed it was dark until the dim streetlights outside hummed on. She was so engrossed in her book that she hadn’t even registered the sky was now a dark shade of blue. Her last customer had left hours ago, leaving her alone in the old shop. Her clock’s minute hand clicked closer to the 10pm mark. She stretched and put her book back on its shelf, saving her place with a folded corner. Levy grabbed her bag and keys and locked the store

    The trek back home wasn’t long, maybe a 15 minute walk, but the dark made it seem longer. There were very few people on the streets this time of night, and the water of the canal lapped at the stone edges. Levy scuffed her foot against the cobblestone street. She moved to the side as a man tall man trudged past her, their gazes met as they passed. His eyes were red, he had metal piercings above them. A gasp escaped her as their eyes met and it took all her being not to shrink back away from the man. She heard him chuckle but he didn’t stop. Levy glanced back after him, she watched his long black hair swayed in the night wind, the light of the streetlights bounced off his tanned muscles. A black tattoo on his shoulder ate the light as it went over him- there was something familiar about it, but she didn’t get a great look as he had passed. She shook her head and kept walking. Looks like Magnolia has gained two weirdos.

    Her feet carried her around the corner, her usual way home. A man was lounging against the brick wall, light from his cigarette illuminating in the night. The red embers fell from it as he huffed at the end. Levy crossed the street from the man, Magnolia was a kind town but she knew not to be naive enough to trust a lone man at night. She sped up her walk as she passed him, keeping a tab on him as she went. When she got a feet from him she could have sworn she heard footsteps follow, she turned to find the man gone, she was alone in the sidewalk, it was like the cigarette smoking man had disappeared into thin air.

       Levy turned back towards home, a gust of wind blowing past her and suddenly she was on the ground. Pain laced her head as she fell, she opened her eyes, not even realizing she had shut them and suddenly the man was back. He was standing a few feet from her, his burning embers falling to the cobblestone. They died as they hit the ground. Levy’s mind was spinning. She hadn’t even seen where he had come from, hadn’t even seen where he had gone. He stalked forward, she tried to get up but her head throbbed and her knee hurt, she was no longer in the middle of the sidewalk but now was laying toward the mouth of the street.

    The man walked into the light, she could see his face, her eyes widening. “I did say I’d come by again, didn’t I, Levy? It’s so lovely to see you.” It was the same man from earlier in the shop. The one who had tried to buy her favorite book. But he looked different now, his before narrow eyes were now wide and bloodshot and his stance was no longer a facade of relaxness, it was rigid and taut.

    Levy again tried to get up, she managed to get to her feet, shakily. The man was watching her, a ghastly smile on his face, it revealed spiked teeth that she was sure weren’t there when he was in the shop. She huffed, holding her side, it hurt from her landing. Levy blinked and suddenly he was there, right in front of her, he struck her with the back of her hand, sending her flying again with a force that she could barely process. She tasted blood. She tried to look for her bag. My mace, i have to get my mace! Lucy had jokingly given her a spray can of the potent stuff for her birthday saying she’d have to beat those boys off with how pretty she was turning out to be. Levy doubted she’d ever have to use it but put it in her bag anyway. That had been three years ago. Her bag laid a few feet from her, the contents falling across the street, she could spot the little red can closer than the rest of the items, the silver of the cap shining, but if only she could reach it.

    Everything hurt, and the man was in front of her again, pushing her to the ground, he grabbed the front of her shirt as she scrambled away, scraping her arms and hands on the stone. “Now, where’s the book, little girl? I won’t hurt you if you just hand the fucking thing over” he snarled, his teeth really were pointed. He was a terrifying monster, totally inhuman, Levy barely had time to process what was happening. He held her there, his eyes boring into hers, her hands still scrambling as his fingers laced into the front of her dress, it was starting to tear, his fingers were turning to claws right before her eyes. She screamed at the sight. What were once normal human hands were now slowly covering in hunter green scales, flickering in the light.

   Suddenly her hand grabbed something cylindrical and cold. The mace! she wound her fingers around it and quick as she could sprayed the man, he fell back coughing and holding his face. He screamed, and so did she, as she ran away, tears streaming down her face

   She scrambled, running for the mouth of the street, back the way she had come. Her legs pumped but she faltered, her foot catching an uneven stone. she fell, sliding and scraping to the ground, there was blood on the side of her face, blood on her arms, blood on her knees. Levy huffed but the world was going fuzzy, everything was turning black around the edges of her vision.

   The man was up again, claws sticking out of his once normal hands and ripping through his black leather shoes “YOU BITCH!!” he seethed as he came closer to her, as he neared he shouted something that Levy couldn’t make out. Her senses were lapsing, failing her right when she needed them the most. She watched in horror as he charged at her, his bulging eyes rilled with rage. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact but it never came. Instead she heard a loud crack like metal buckling.

   She cracked her eyes open, her eyes going wide. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was the man she had passed on the street. He was standing in front of her, protecting her. He had the man- thing, levy corrected herself, in a headlock. His arms were no longer tanned muscle but a dark grey color, they shone like metal.

   He glanced back at her, their eyes met. His red to her grey. And then the world closed in around her and she fell into the void.

________________________

Hope you guys liked the first chapter, I know its probably rough and a little disjointed but i’d love to hear some feedback :) 

[chibinekochan]

Cinderella on the Moon Mystic Messenger fairytale  part 14

cover art   part 1   part 2   part 3   part 4   part 5   part 6  part 7  part 8  part 9  part 10  part 11   part 12  part 13

rating : teen

Genre: fairytale fluff , fantasy and drama

Synopsis : A version with the RFA as characters from a fairy tale world. She goes threw some hard times and adventures. She sets out for a adventure that turns into something she never Imaged Eventually she will fall in love with someone but will that love last ?

Cinderella worked hard the next days she barely had time to talk to Saeyoung or to listen to Zen playing the piano. It was both quite sad for her. She knew that Saeyoung was sneaking around the castle at night he was searching for something. Cinderella had a hard time sleeping she felt like she had less and less energy. Strange dreams of shadows creeping up around the castle hunted her dreams. She blamed Saeyoung for those.

The evening before the ball came it was strange how this ball was going to last a whole week. Cinderella had no time to rest at all she grew more tired and weak everyday. She was hoping that as soon as this ball was over she could get sleep. The prince had asked her to stay for the whole time the ball was lasting she could not deny his request.

Cinderella noticed a commotion outside. She was looking for the source and she saw the wizard had arrived. He was suppose to come tomorrow but their he was. Dressed in all black a scary look on his face. The people whispered in fear but he was ignoring everyone. He was going strait to Jaehee who looked even more annoyed then uselessly. Cinderella was feeling bad for her.

Even Zen had noticed the commotion. “That wizard has a bad aura around him I not like him at all...” Zen sounded really angry at the man. “He seems a bit scary but he is not that bad I think..” Cinderella remembered how the Wizard was to her and even when he seems a bit cold but still he was offering her a place to stay and he was actual quite nice to her.  “You not really know what he is capable off thanks to that jerk Jaehee has a lot of issues.” Zen narrowed his eyes and kept them on Jumin. “You mean because she is working for him ?” Cinderella only knew him from that one time they met she saw Jaehees reactions. Jaehee was uselessly quite calm but she saw how annoyed Jaehee was with the Wizard around.  “Yeah that too...” Zen was really mad at him Cinderella was wondering about that story. Before Cinderella could ask Zen about it the Wizard Jumin spotted her.

He came right over to her Cinderella was a bit confused to why he approached her. “Miss Cinderella it has been a while how are the preparations going ?” He sounded polite but also intimidating.

“Are you not a bit too rude to her Warlock ?” Zen sounded really angry more angry then ever before. “I can´t remember that we been introduced  but I prefer it when People call me Wizard or Jumin. Other then that I don´t think this young miss needs someone as rude as you to speak for her.” Jumin barely looked at Zen. “I call you what ever I please you done more then enough to earn the title Warlock. Also you are clearly scaring Cinderella.” Zen only tried to help but his anger got the better of him. “It´s okay Zen I am sure he only wants to know about the Party...” Cinderella tried to calm him down the wizard was a bit scary but he not sounded like he had ill motives.

 “Yes I am only here to see that everything is right for the ball.” Jumin did not cared at all what Zen said to him what clearly made Zen even more angry. Jaehee saw that and came right over to him. “Oh here you are Zen we need you for something really important.” Jaehee bowed slightly to Jumin and Zen still was really angry. Still this was really effective on getting Zen to calm down a bit at least. “Well if my help is needed then I have no choice. If this Warlock tries to do anything strange to you just yell ill be their and save you.” Zen was glancing over to Jumin who looked far from impressed. “I am sure I will be fine but thank you Zen...” Cinderella smiled slightly she had no reason to think that Jumin would to anything strange. Still it felt really nice to her that Zen worried so much about her.

Zen walked away with Jaehee but Cinderella still felt like he kept a close eye on Jumin.

“Now where that nuisance is gone could you answer my Question ?” Jumin looked like this was nothing but a waste of his time. “Of course but I think he was just worried...” Cinderella feels a bit bad that Jumin called Zen a nuisance. “Maybe but its none of my business what he thinks.” Jumin had no interest in changing his opinion. Cinderella decided that it was best to just not talk more about this either.

“Everything goes well Sir I am sure Jaehee can give you a much better overview then I can.” Cinderella felt insecure around the tall man. His gray eyes seemed to pierce right threw her.

“Yes of course she said that too. I am mainly interested in the well being of the magical ingredients that I gave you.” Jumin liked to double confirm this but he was concerned about these items. “They are safe in my room.” Cinderella really wondered why everyone kept asking her about these. “They are still with you. Does the Prince know about this ?” Jumin looked a bit surprised by this information. “Yeah he told me to hold on to them.” Cinderella was not sure what Jumin was implying with his question but it was surely nothing nice. “That is quite interesting. I think its best to hand those Items over to me these could be dangerous after all.” Jumin sounded like he is seriously worried. “The prince told me to hold on to them though and V had told me to give them to the prince.” Cinderella not wanted to do anything against V wishes. “So that what happened I see in that case you should leave them where there are for now don´t touch them.” Jumin sounded stern. “I wont touch them but if there are that dangerous why did they tell me to keep them ?” Cinderella was more then confused. “That is a good question indeed but they are only dangerous if someone handles them without care.” Jumin thought about the items that Rika had requested from him.

They alone where not the issue but they combined with the other items that the castle had requested it could lead to a really bad outcome. “I will be careful then.” Cinderella had no plans to even move the bag. “Would you mind if I check them ? I just want to make sure they are stored safely.” Jumin would not accept a no that was for sure. “I don´t mind but they are in my room...” Cinderella already had that experience with Saeyoung. “Yes I understand how that is an issue. I will go and find Jaehee with both of us with you it should avoid issues for you.” Jumin knew how these rumors worked and Cinderella was glad that the wizard understood the situation. “Yes that would be best.” Cinderella nodded. “I will meet you by your room then Jaehee knows where it is I assume ?” Jumin looked to Cinderella who nodded and then he left her to go and find Jaehee.

[real-life-pine-tree]

Rapunzel: a FallenAngelShipping Fairytale

Based on the Fairytale AU by @justanotherotakuandartist.

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Heartland, there were seven rogue wizards called the Phantom Knights. These wizards worked in secret, dressed in black cloaks and wearing goggles and masks that hid their faces. Their job was to protect the people in the kingdom from the wicked people who threatened to disrupt the peace. They also had a code of honor.

1) Treat the good-hearted people with kindness. 2) Bring all wicked people to justice and punish them fairly. 3) Respect all fair maidens and treat them as if they were of royal blood.

It was the Phantom Knights who saved Heartland from a powerful invasion that threatened to destroy the whole kingdom. But due to them constantly working in secret, no one knew about the invasion. Overall, all was well in the kingdom.

One day, the Phantom Knights were resting in their hideout in the forest when they heard a faint singing voice. One of the Phantom Knights, who wore the hood of his cloak up, looked around. “What is that lovely voice?” he asked aloud.

“Don’t worry about it,” another Phantom Knight said. “It sounds like a couple of birds.”

The hooded Phantom Knight shook his head. “No,” he disagreed. “It can’t be birds.” He stood up.

“Where are you going?” a third Phantom Knight asked.

“I must find the source of the voice,” the hooded Phantom Knight said. “I promise to return.”

And so, the Phantom Knight proceeded to search through the forest. Ultimately he came across a hidden clearing, where a tall tower stood. He approached the tower, noticing there appeared to be no way into it, yet he heard the same voice in there.

The Phantom Knight opened his hands. “I call upon the Spears of Ghostly Echoes,” he said, causing two black spears to materialize in his hands. He used those spears to climb the tower.

Upon reaching the top of the tower, the Phantom Knight entered the lone window. As he let the spears vanish, he looked around the room, which was decorated in various paintings. There was a young maiden in the room, facing a floor-length mirror as she brushed her incredibly long, dark purple hair as she sang.

The Phantom Knight approached the maiden, amazed with how beautiful she was. She wore a pale yellow dress and she did not wear any shoes. Her eyes were currently closed as she brushed her hair, so she wasn’t aware of his intrusion.

The Phantom Knight’s eyes widened from behind his googles and he felt a faint blush appear on his cheeks. He dared not to interrupt her, not wanting to break his code of honor. But just as he was about to leave, the maiden opened her eyes, which were a beautiful shade of pink. She suddenly stopped singing and brushing her hair, noticing the Phantom Knight through the reflection of her mirror. “You’re not Professor Akaba,” she said, turning around to face the intruder.

Realizing that his cover was blown, the Phantom Knight approached the maiden. “Forgive my intrusion,” he said. “I heard your lovely voice from the forest and I was enamored by your song.”

“Who are you?!” the maiden asked in alarm.

“Fear not, young maiden,” the Phantom Knight said, bowing slightly. “I am a Phantom Knight, and I will not harm you.”

“Phantom Knight?” the maiden asked. “I have never heard of you before.”

“We Phantom Knights stay in the shadows and take part in secret battles to protect the kingdom of Heartland,” the Phantom Knight explained. “It was us that prevented a wicked invasion from destroying the kingdom.”

However, it seemed that the maiden still wasn’t convinced. Letting out a sigh, the Phantom Duelist lowered his hood and removed his mask and goggles, revealing his dark grey eyes and spiky black hair with lilac bangs. He then proceeded to open up his cloak, revealing his dark green shirt, black vest, dark blue pants, and black boots. All in all, he was quite a handsome young man.

“My actual name is Yuto,” the Phantom Knight said. “I didn’t introduce myself properly at first because our real identities are meant to remain a mystery to the outside world. But I can assure you that we mean no harm and we only wish to help.” He gently held the maiden’s hand and kissed the back of it.

Blushing slightly, the maiden smiled a bit. “I see,” she said, giving Yuto’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“So who are you, fair maiden?” Yuto asked, still gently holding her hand.

“I’m not sure,” the maiden answered. “I have been living in this tower ever since I was an infant. A professor named Leo Akaba has been watching over me. He keeps me in here to protect me. He doesn’t really call me anything, so even if I do have a name, I don’t know what it is.”

“What unfortunate circumstances,” Yuto said. “Do you not wish to see the outside world?”

“But of course,” the maiden answered. “Once a year, dancing lights appear in the sky. And if my timing is correct, they will appear again tomorrow night. I wish to see those same lights.”

“Dancing lights…?” Yuto thought for a moment. “You mean the lantern celebration for the Songbird Princess?”

“Songbird princess?” the maiden asked. “Who’s that?”

“It’s only a legend,” Yuto explained. “The story goes is that years ago, Queen Obsidian felt deadly ill when she was pregnant with her second child. Distressed, King Obsidian ordered his men to find a cure. They ultimately found one in the form of a single feather, claimed to have fallen from a pure white dove. This white feather was used to create an antidote, curing the queen of her illness.

“It wasn’t long before the child was born, and she was a young princess of great beauty. But this wasn’t an ordinary princess, for her voice could summon songbirds from across the land. King and Queen Obsidian were blessed to have such a special child, and even the young prince Shay loved his new sister. She had such a calm and peaceful presence that she was given the name ‘Lulu’.

"But this happiness did not last. A few days after Princess Lulu was born, she had mysteriously vanished. Ever since that night, King and Queen Obsidian began a tradition: every night on her birthday, a great lantern show would light up the night sky, hoping that the lights could guide the young princess back home. And even though the king and queen had passed away a few years ago, Shay, who had become the new king, has continued the tradition in their place.”

“Oh dear,” the maiden said. “I hope this songbird princess returns home.”

“So you wish to see those lanterns?” Yuto asked.

“Yes!” the maiden happily exclaimed. “But Professor Akaba doesn’t want me to leave this tower. And-”

Yuto shushed the maiden as he placed the fingertips of his free hand on her lips. “Ask me this,” he said, slowly moving his hand away from her lips. “Does this professor love you?”

“Of course,” the maiden answered. “He’s my father.”

“Then why don’t you call him ‘dad’?” Yuto asked. “Because from what I have witnessed, you only call him 'Professor Akaba’.”

The maiden did not respond to this right away. Yuto could see the sorrow in her eyes, that maybe the man who had raised her might not really love her at all. “So what do you say?” the Phantom Knight asked. “Shall I take you to see the lanterns?”

“Alright,” the maiden answered. “But afterwards, I must come back here.” She proceeded to gather up her incredibly long hair.

“Why is your hair that long?” Yuto asked. He quickly noted that aside from her bangs and two locks of hair that framed her face, the maiden’s dark purple locks were so long that they were at least twenty yards long. “Does the professor use it to climb the tower?”

“No, he uses unknown magic to teleport into the tower,” the maiden answered, still gathering up her hair. “I simply like having long hair.”

“Then how about I lighten the load?” Yuto asked. He held out his hand. “I call upon the Sword of Lavender Shadows.” A purple sword materialized in his hand.

The maiden’s eyes widened. “Please don’t chop off my hair!” she panicked.

“Calm down,” Yuto said. “I will let you keep your long hair, but I must make things easy for you for when we leave the tower. Now I need you to stay completely still.”

With a bit of hesitation, the maiden stayed still, letting go of her hair. Yuto proceeded to gather the dark purple locks and placed them behind the maiden’s back, using his free hand to straighten the hair. Upon reaching the ground, he used his sword to slice off her hair, leaving it floor-length. He let go of the chopped-off hair as the sword vanished.

The maiden looked at her reflection, delighted that her hair was still long. She then proceeded to tie it up in a bow-shaped style using a silver barrette that resembled a bird’s wing. When she was done, she looked back at Yuto. “Thank you,” she said, smiling wide.

“You are quite welcome,” Yuto replied, putting on his goggles and mask and raising the hood of his cloak. “Now we must go. Perhaps my friends can assist us.”

After Yuto climbed down the tower using his spears with the maiden holding onto his back, he brought her back to the Phantom Knights’ hideout, where he was greeted by his fellow rogue wizards. To the maiden’s surprise, the other Phantom Knights bowed before Yuto.

“My goodness!” the maiden said. “Are these the other Phantom Knights?”

“They are,” Yuto answered. “It seems I forgot to mention that I am their leader.”

“You are?” the maiden asked.

“But of course!” a Phantom Knight replied. “Yuto is such a noble leader. Only he is worthy to lead us into battle.”

“So how did you meet this fair maiden?” another Phantom Knight asked.

“She was imprisoned in a tower by a man who is known as Professor Akaba,” Yuto answered. “I am giving her this freedom so she can see the lantern celebration for the Songbird Princess.”

“What a noble thing to do,” a Phantom Knight remarked. “Surely the maiden is very grateful.”

“Indeed I am,” the maiden replied. “Although I must ask… Why must this leader of the rogue wizards wear his cloak in a different manner?”

The maiden was not wrong. Yuto was the only Phantom Knight who wore the hood of his cloak up. However, the Phantom Knights responded with polite chuckles.

“Have you not seen our leader’s hair?” a Phantom Knight asked. “We fight in the shadows, and those eggplant locks would surely attract attention.”

“It is true,” Yuto said. “As you can see, the other Phantom Knights have more normal-looking hair. We agreed that concealing mine would work best for our group.”

“Fair enough,” the maiden noted, blushing slightly. “But who are all of you?”

The remaining six Phantom Knights introduced themselves as Alistair, Matthew, Daniel, Nicolas, Marcus, and Ryan. They each explained why they joined the Phantom Knights, each wanting to protect their family and/or friends. However, Yuto remained quiet during that time.

“What about you, o great Phantom Knight leader?” the maiden asked Yuto. “Why did you join the Phantom Knights?”

“I have my reasons,” Yuto answered.

“Oh, come on, Yoot!” Nicolas exclaimed. “Tell her!”

The maiden let out a small laugh. “'Yoot’?” she asked.

“It’s a nickname,” Yuto explained. “But if you really want to know, it’s because these guys were the only ones who accepted me as an equal.”

“An equal?” the maiden asked, somewhat baffled.

“Yuto has this great power inside him,” Alistair explained. “The same power that helped us win when an invasion threatened to destroy the whole kingdom.”

“Yes, but it’s far too dangerous,” Yuto said, looking at his clenched hand. “This power is triggered by my intense rage, resulting in mass, unpredictable damage. After the invasion, I have learned to keep my power in check.”

“Well you seem to be doing a good job,” the maiden pointed out.

“That’s because you haven’t seen me angry,” Yuto said.

Marcus cleared his throat. “So…about the lantern celebration…”

“Right,” Yuto said, glad his mask concealed the blush on his face. “Men, we shall travel to the kingdom of Heartland by tomorrow morning.”

“But sir, we have spent a lot time hiding in the shadows,” Daniel pointed out. “Why must we go into the light?”

“Is it because of this lovely maiden?” Alistair asked.

The maiden blushed slightly, but Yuto stammered a bit, relieved that the maiden couldn’t see his nervous expression. “Never mind that,” he said after regaining his composure. “After we escort the maiden to the kingdom, we will go back to hiding in the shadows as we did before.”

And so, the Phantom Knights escorted the maiden through the forest. Along the way, they came across unusual wizards dressed in blue and wearing silver masks, which the Phantom Knights easily defeated using their own magic. The maiden dared not question these wizards, but she suspected that they were from this apparent invasion.

Ultimately the skies got dark, so the group rested for the night. And as the Phantom Knights slept, the maiden, who was not yet tired, was laying next to Yuto, noting that he still hid his identity, even when sleeping.

The maiden longed to see Yuto’s handsome face once more, but she had become aware that he wanted his identity to remain a secret to all outsiders. And yet she did not want to admit it aloud, but she was starting to fall for him. She caressed the side of his mask and sighed lovingly, proceeding to cuddle up next to him as she closed her eyes.

The next day, the Phantom Knights and the maiden had successfully arrived in the kingdom of Heartland. And needless to say, the maiden was in awe. The kingdom was beautiful, all bright and colorful. “What a glorious kingdom!” she exclaimed.

“This kingdom was founded by King Heartland the Entertaining,” Yuto explained. “But he soon fell to darkness and lost his soul to a demon. With his departure, the Obsidians rose to power and became the royal family of Heartland.”

“How fascinating!” the maiden remarked. But then she quickly noticed that everyone in the kingdom was looking at her strangely. “Why is everyone looking at me?” she asked.

“Hey look!” Ryan said, pointing at a mosaic picture of a family. “I never thought about it before, but the Songbird Princess looks exactly like the maiden we have met!”

The maiden looked at the mosaic picture. It depicted King and Queen Obsidian, two regal people with dark hair and black clothing, and the young prince Shay, who had dark blue hair and wore grey clothing. But what really caught the maiden’s attention was the Songbird Princess, a beautiful baby girl with dark purple hair. Somehow, the princess looked just like her!

Curious, the maiden raised an arm to the side and began singing. Sure enough, a single nightingale flew over to her and landed on her finger. She gasped slightly, suddenly recalling long-forgotten memories from long ago.

“Are you okay?” Yuto asked.

The maiden looked at Yuto. “I’m the Songbird Princess,” she realized. She smiled wide. “I’m Lulu Obsidian, and you rescued me!”

Yuto’s eyes widened in surprised behind his goggles. But it all made sense. This professor has kept a beautiful maiden imprisoned in a tower, and the Obsidians were trying to find the missing princess for years. And now here she was, her mere presence alerting the whole kingdom that their beloved princess has returned.

It wasn’t long before the princess had begun a dance celebration in the town square. Yuto was so happy with what was going on that he was soon embracing the happiness, gently grabbing Lulu’s hand and pulling her in for a dance. To the surprise of his comrades, he was light on his feet, twirling her around as she laughed. No one could tell because of his goggles and mask, but Yuto was overjoyed. This girl had brightened his life, and he couldn’t be any happier.

That night, with the six other Phantom Knights on guard, Yuto brought Lulu out to a lake. “Why have you taken me here?” she asked.

“So you can have a better view of the lanterns,” Yuto answered.

And so, Yuto and Lulu were out on a boat, awaiting the lighting of the lanterns. Ultimately the first lantern, which was presumably lit by King Shay Obsidian, had took to the night sky with the other townspeople following suit. Lulu was completely in awe, amazed by the beautiful night lights.

At one point, Yuto noted that Lulu was smiling, but she was also crying. He assumed that she was so happy to see how much the people of Heartland care about her. In fact, seeing her this happy caused him to smile as well, letting out a slight sigh.

Lulu must have overheard the slight sigh, for her gaze had transferred to the Phantom Knight. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Of course I’m okay,” Yuto confessed. “I’ve never felt this happy before.” He placed his hand on the princess’ cheek. “I thank you for giving me such joy and delight.”

Lulu smiled wide. Feeling bold, she leaned forward and planted a small kiss on Yuto’s mask, respecting his wish to stay hidden. But he chuckled in response. “It’s okay,” the Phantom Knight said. “No one can see us.”

With slight hesitation, Lulu proceeded to raise Yuto’s goggles, then she took off his mask and lowered his hood. The princess’ heart skipped a beat, noting that the light of the countless lanterns was shining in his duo-colored hair and making his soft smile even brighter. She leaned forward, moving a lock of his lilac bangs away from his beautiful dark grey eyes.

Yuto felt as if his heart exploded into fireworks when Lulu pressed her lips against his own. He enjoyed the feeling of their lips beautifully melding together with her fingers intertwining in his hair. He positioned his hands on her waist, pulling her close as her other hand touched his cheek. This interaction made him blush heavily.

A few seconds later, the two parted for air. Overcome with intense happiness, Lulu leaned down and rested her head on Yuto’s chest, positioning her hands to his shoulders. Yuto was initially surprised, his eyes widening and his face turning crimson. But ultimately he soon relaxed, letting the princess snuggle up in his arms. He held her close, his desire to protect her growing even stronger.

However, the moment was interrupted when Yuto overheard one of his comrades crying out. “Did you hear that?” he asked.

“Only the sweet sounds of your gentle heart,” Lulu replied, her voice in a slight lovestruck daze.

Yuto was briefly taken back by the compliment, but he quickly snapped out of it. “No, that sounded like Alistair,” he said.

That made Lulu snap out of her trance. “Oh dear,” she said, sitting up properly. “We must see what is wrong with him.”

“I agree,” Yuto replied, concealing his identity once more.

Once Yuto and Lulu arrived back at shore, they were alarmed to see the other six Phantom Knights in conflict with a foreign man who wore strange clothing. “Sir, you must assist us!” Daniel exclaimed. “Not even our magic is strong enough to defeat his ghostly spirits!”

Yuto extended his hand. “I call upon the Blade of Eerie Fogs,” he said, causing a sword with fog for a single blade to materialize in his hand. He used his free arm to shield Lulu. “Stay behind me,” he ordered.

But Lulu stepped forward. “Professor Akaba?” she asked.

Yuto lowered his sword. “This is the man who imprisoned you?” he asked, sounding a bit angry.

“What are you doing out here?” Leo asked Lulu. “I thought I told you to stay in the tower! It was for your own safety!”

Lulu calmly walked over to Leo. “From what?!” she angrily asked. “You took me from my family! My own brother has been searching for me! Let me return to my true home in peace!”

“No,” Leo responded. “You are coming back to the tower with me.” He stepped forward and gently grabbed her hand.

But Yuto suddenly felt a sharp jab in his heart. He felt it before, when he first witnessed the invading wizards. But it felt stronger. He tried to hold back this feeling, but he couldn’t control it anymore. He could somehow see this professor torturing the young princess. He had to stop him from hurting Lulu!

Suddenly, a dark aura appeared around Yuto.

“Cloaked in shadows…”

The other Phantom Knights quickly stepped back.

“…and relentless in its objective…”

“What is this…?” Leo muttered.

“I call upon the most dangerous of dragons!”

“Yuto?” Lulu asked, confused and scared at the same time.

“COME TO ME, DRAGON OF DARK REBELLION!”

A strong flash of dark purple light appeared from Yuto, causing his cloak to blow off. When the light died down, a dark purple dragon with fangs and claws had appeared. Yuto himself looked different. His mask had broke off his face and the lenses of his goggles had shattered, revealing that his eyes were glowing in a periwinkle light. He was angrily heaving, his fists and teeth clenched tightly.

Leo glared at the Phantom Knight leader. “You…” he said, a dark purple aura materializing from his hands as he shielded Lulu. “I should have known a monster like you was responsible for this!”

Lulu was in shock, realizing that this dragon must have been the great power Yuto had. She was amazed that a boy his age could control such a creature.

“I have studied your kind of magic,” Leo said, summoning two spirit creatures. “And I know how to counter it.” He merged his spirit creatures into a single, more powerful being. “By combining the energies of Spirit Force Multi Governor and Spirit Reactor, I create the creature known as the Master Spirit Force Ruler! This creature can easily wipe out your dragon.”

Yuto crossed his arms in front of his face. “But I have learned far more powerful magic,” he said, snarling at the professor as he raised his clenched fists to either side of his body. “I cast the spell Rank-Up-Magic Launch to strengthen my dragon!” In a flash of dark grey light, the dragon had become stronger. “Now the Dragon of Dark Rebellion has become the Dragon of Dark Requiem!”

“You foolish boy,” Leo said. “My Force Ruler is still stronger.”

“Not anymore,” Yuto said. His dragon started glowing dark purple. “Since your pathetic creature is of a high level, the Dragon of Dark Requiem shall drain it of its energy!” The dragon proceeded to do just that. “Go, Dragon of Dark Requiem! Take out his pathetic creature and rip him to shreds!”

The dragon charged towards the spirit creature and the two collided, creating a cloud of dust. But when the dust cleared, not only was the creature destroyed, but Leo was nowhere in slight. However, it appeared that the attack hit someone else.

For Princess Lulu Obsidian was laying on the ground, completely unconscious.

Alarmed, Yuto rushed over to Lulu, the glow in his eyes vanishing as his dragon disappeared into the night. He kneeled next to the princess. “No…” he quietly said, his hand caressing her cheek. “Please speak to me.”

But the princess did not respond.

The silence hit Yuto so hard that he closed his eyes and touched his forehead to Lulu’s, sobbing heavily as tears poured from his closed eyes. He realized it was wrong to let his rage take control, but it seemed he couldn’t control it. It was as if a dark force had overpowered him. Normally he was able to control his power, but envisioning the princess in possible pain caused him to lose control. Could he have fallen for this beauty?

Yuto was so overcome by grief that he was initially unaware of a hand brushing a tear away. He opened his eyes, seeing that Lulu had survived after all, her bright pink eyes shining brightly. “So that’s your great power,” she said, smiling softly.

The Phantom Knight leader was so delighted to see the princess alive that he hugged her. “I am relived that you are well,” he said.

When the sun was high in the sky, the seven Phantom Knights had brought Lulu to the Heartland castle, where they were greeted by King Shay Obsidian, a young man with dark blue hair and wore blue and black clothing with a silver crowd. Upon seeing the princess, he was greatly overjoyed.

“Dearest sister!” Shay happily cried out, embracing Lulu in a hug. “I thought I would have never see you again!”

“You have the Phantom Knights to thank,” Lulu said. “They rescued me from a madman and brought me over here."

Still hugging Lulu, Shay looked over at the Phantom Knights. "I thank you for rescuing my sister,” he said. “I do believe that you are the rumored Phantom Knights who once saved Heartland from being destroyed by invading wizards.”

“We are,” Yuto said, no longer wearing his goggles and mask, nor needing to wear the hood of his cloak up. “We defend the good from the wicked, and treat all maidens with great care.”

“I see,” Shay said. “How would you like to be my secret guards?”

“We will be honored,” Yuto answered, bowing slightly.

From then on, all was well in the kingdom of Heartland. The Phantom Knights now lived in the castle, secretly stopping any evil force that threatened the peace. As the new official princess of Heartland, Lulu helped Shay rule the kingdom with a kind heart. If that wasn’t enough, she learned to strengthen her magic with Yuto as her mentor/boyfriend. Overall, everyone lived happily ever after.