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hobbitsnapes · 3 years

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The heart of the Scout Regiment

A mini Levi Ackerman story

Summary: Since the beginning of the survey corps, not one member has changed the group like she did, if only they knew, what one persons heart, could change them all.

A/N:had this idea for a few days and went with it, I’m hoping to keep it pretty small but who knows with my imagination how long this’ll become.

In the over 70 years the scout regiment has been founded, there’s been countless brave soldiers who have joined the fight for mankind. Many brave men and women have laid down their lives, all with determined hearts to create a safe, wonderful world again. But not one, had the heart she held.

At only 28 years old, she joined the survey corps and within a year being on the team, she was ranked one of the best on the team in years.

A drive that many strived to come near, quick with her skills as she flew through the shy like a fierce angel of war, with the skills that nearly matched that of their captain.

But the one thing, the very thing that made all love be in complete awe of her, was how loyal she was to each and everyone on her team.

She was often called either the guardian angel of the group, or the heart of the survey corps. Or as some have overtime dubbed her, mum.

The sheer love she had for each member astonished them all, something that even a few took time to grow used to.

The scouts dubbed her initially as their guardian angel, for the amount of times she’s saved them all.

Majority of the time, she spent the missions keeping an eye on her team mates, especially the newer members. She was even given the position of watch over for them, with only a few killed under her belt, she was placed usually in behind them all. Eyes trained on everyone as she made sure they were safe. The amount of times she’s saved them from being eaten alive, they couldn’t count. Even at times risking her life for one of her friends, just to make sure they made it.

She was loved dearly by everyone, and loved each of them individually.

She ended up being dubbed mum by the younger cadets for the tender love she would give, always checking in on each of them in the beginning if she felt they needed it.

She always had words of Affirmation, love, and deep care to each of them. Always telling them how proud she was of them, how strong they all were. Even her criticism were of the same amount of love, never did they walk away from them feeling defeated, for her words were laced with love and care, only being spoken so they can be the best they can. A best they all in a way strive for just to see her smile and feel the love she willingly gave them, no matter what.

The mess hall was bustling with life, as everyone gathered to have dinner. With her hair tied back as she grabbed for an extra slice of bread, she walked over to her usual table.

Handing the extra slice to Sasha, the young girl looking up at her with wide eyes and large smile. “Here take it sweety, I grabbed it just for you.” She said, her signature warm smile painted on her lips. The girl pulled her into a tight embrace, one she gladly reciprocated.

One of the things she was Notorious for, was how much she loved hugging. At least everyone on the team has been wrapped in her arms, something that even their commander and captain secretly loved. But Levi loved her tight hugs for a reason that nobody knew of, not even his closest friends knew the love he Harberd for the woman.

At first, he was often annoyed at her affections, finding them irritating and pointless. The amount of times he would roll his tired eyes as he watched her launch herself into someone’s arms, he lost count.

But over the next few months, the annoyance he once had, disappeared and were instead filled with happiness, something he can’t remember feeling. His heart would flutter in his chest whenever she would beam up at him. And yes, up.

Having gotten used to looking up at his team members, it shocked him when he first met her. Standing at exactly 4 foot 9, she was the shortest member they had. Something that everyone adored, and added to her loving character.

She often would change what table she sat at, finding herself interchangeably taking a seat where she felt called to. Each person who she sat with, had smiles painted on their faces as she asked them how each of their days went, watching proudly as they often rambled to her and everyone about the most mundane thing they did. But not once, did she ever interrupt, or gave the impression she wasn’t interested. Eyes locked on their faces with a smile, she listened intently. She would look at them like they were telling a fantastic fairytale, when all they did was mop the floor.

Everyone would take their turns, never once interrupting what the other was saying unless asked a question.

Whenever someone had, she would break her eyes from the person to those who interrupted. She never gave a mean, or intimidating look. All she had to do, was look into their eyes and say “please wait your turn.” She wouldn’t even have an edge of anger in her tone, her tone matched her loving attitude she always had. But it instantly made them quiet down, unless it was a faint apology. One she always replied with “it’s alright dear.”

But, just because she always seemed full of love and joy, doesn’t mean she’s always kept up that attitude.

The few times anyone has truly seen her upset, it haunted all those who heard and especially directed to.

The first time, was the first time she lost one of her teammates. The heart shattering wale she let out as she held their lifeless body in her arms, haunted them all for weeks.

The second, was the time one of them nearly lost their lives, to protect her. Never had they seen her talk with such authority, such change to her usually calm tone. She reminded them of the position she was given, and that her job, was to protect them. But they reminded her that she was also important, that they couldn’t live with themselves, if she lost her life and they didn’t do anything about it. It was the first time she was called mum, a day that she will cherish forever.

The third and last time, was something they will never forget.

It was one and only times they truly saw her enraged.

It was bad, truly a nightmare as they all fought just to make it out alive.

She spotted one of the younger members trapped under a fallen tree, seeing they were still alive. Her heart rapidly beating out of her chest, as it nearly stopped when she spotted the 12 meter titan approaching them. She flew through the air as fast as she could, pure adrenaline coursing through each vein as was neck and neck with the beast.

Her arm stretched out as far as she could, nearly feeling the tips of her fingers hit their weak hand, feeling the beasts breath behind her. But all that was stopped, as she felt arms wrap her, flying her away from the young man. Her heart shattering in her chest as she felt Levi pulling her away.

Loud ear splitting screams of anger ripped from her throat as she spewed off every profanity she could at the captain. Her nails cutting deep scratches in his hands as she watched them be eaten, her heart breaking as tears streamed from her eyes.

Never, had anyone seen just truly how enraged she could get until they got back. Her voice booming through the large base as tears streamed from her eyes, her body shaking as words of pure heartbreak and anger shattered everyone’s hearts. Even the cold, emotionless caption had to hold in tears as he let her take out every bit of anger and heartbreak she felt. Only being stopped when she lunged at the man, being pulled away as she tackled him to the ground.

It broke their hearts watching her, her words nothing compared to the anguish and sadness in her voice. It was something that nobody wished another member to experience.

“Thank you so much mum.” She mumbled into her shoulder, making her smile as she pulled back, planting a small kiss to her forhead. “No problem sweety.” She said, a large smile on her face.

Erens eyes focused on his plate, mind swirling with anxiousness as he thinks of the next day.

He was informed of another mission the next day, something that both excited hun, but terrified the young boy.

Still having trouble controlling himself even today, he still had doubt in his mind. Fear of loosing control again, fear of hurting anyone on his team.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt arms wrapping around him from behind, feeling her head leaning on his shoulder.

“Everything alright bubs? You’ve hardly eaten?” She asks, making a smile grow on his face.

Never did anyone think or imagine just how close they became. Nobody ever thought, that they would have one of the tightest bonds on the team. The care she holds for him, it even made some jealous for how much she values the young boy, and vise versa. The usually angry, cold man, calmed almost instantly when she was with him. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was his mother.

“Just worried about tomorrow is all.” He mumbles, feeling her arms wrap ever so slightly tighter around him. “Everything’s gonna work out, I know it’s scary, everytime we go out there it is. But we know exactly what to do, where we’re going, and we’ve got you on our side. You’re gonna do amazing, I know it.” She says, ending it with a kiss to his temple, one that makes his shoulders drop, and a smile to grow on his face.

And as she Predicted, it went smoothly, for the most part.

Since having her join the team, the death tole has greatly diminished. While there were a few, they typically would walk away with only injuries rather than the high body count they once had.

This mission, there were no casualties amongst the group. But there were a few who came back with injuries, knew that as soon as they finished, she ran to each one of them.

Her hands slowly wrap bandage around jeans arm, neatly and gently trying to keep it close to his body.

Letting out a small hiss from the deep cut on his arm, she gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry dear.” She said, voice laced with care as she tried to tie it without hurting him further. “It’s alright mum, thank you for this though.” He said, voice sounding, defeated. She was always able to read them all, even their always emotionless captain.

“What’s on your mind bubs, you can tell me.” She says, eyes looking into his. He lets out a sigh as he averts his from her stare. He knew she’d be able to tell.

“I-I almost got myself and my team killed. Again. Everyone counts on me to be great, but I can’t help but think I’m letting everyone down, I feel more like a hazard to the group.” His eye wells up with an unshed tear. He feels her thumb wipe his eye, looking at her as she cups his cheek softly. “You’re anything but that Jean. I promise, you’re a true born leader. I’m so proud of the progress you’ve made since I met you, and I’m always so happy to see how much you care about all of us. You’re anything but what you think dear, I promise.” Tears well up again in his eyes at her words, feeling them wrap around him like a blanket.

He pulls her into a tight embrace, feeling her hands running up and down his back.

Bertolt let’s put a grunt as he feels his cheek, feeling the deep cut that covered the skin. He knew it would heal by morning, but that doesn’t make the pain any less.

He watched as she walks over to him, knowing exactly why she came over.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” He says. “I know you’ll be fine, but I still wanna at least disinfect it and patch it up.” She says, a smile on her face as she sits in front of him.

He knows he can’t fight her, and even then, he wouldn’t want her to.

If there’s one person besides his friends he truly cares about, it’s her. The amount of love she’s given him since he met her was something he detested at first, but slowly he grew to not only get used of it, but loving it. The care she has in her touch, her voice, and her eyes, is something that he’s never seen or felt at such a level.

They both sat silently as she cleans his wound, a small smile on his face as she applies the lightest touch. The amount of times he’s told her that she doesn’t have to be so soft, she’s always retort back with “i know it won’t hurt, but I’m still gonna be as gentle as I can just in case.”

As she finished up patching his cheek, she gives him a warm smile, one he matches. “Thanks mum, you really didn’t have to do that.” She smiles at the young mans words. “I know, but I still like to make sure you heal properly.” The young man chuckles at this, feeling her arms wrap around his lanky frame.

The room was almost completely silent as they walk in, her arms helping to bring him to his neatly made bed.

If there was one person who could read him like a book, it’d be her.

Levi tried to hide the long gash on his peck from her, trying to put a mask on as to not let her see the deep pain he felt as they rode home. The sharp winter air did nothing but made the cut sting worse, making his face even paler from the pain he felt.

He had done a pretty good job, that was until he had jumped off of his horse when they got back, nearly falling flat on his face of it wasn’t for her being right there to catch him.

Worry filled her as her heart nearly stopped, feeling the wet patch of his suit. A gasp leaving her lips when she saw the blood that stained her hand.

She instantly started bringing him inside, not once did she let him go, even when he told her he would be fine.

His heart fluttered rapidly as he watched her, eyes looking up at her concentrated face as she cleans his wound.

She had him lay on his bed, helping to take the top half of his gear off. Now only laying in his pants and socks, chest and torso completely bare as she washed the blood from his skin.

He hardly felt her feather light touch as she cleaned him, his mind solely focused on her. He could’ve easily done this himself, as he’s done countless times. But he couldn’t help but let her, when he saw the worry in her eyes.

“Alright, this might sting a bit so I’m sorry.” She says, dampening a fresh cloth with disinfectant.

A slight grunt leaves his lips as she places the cloth to his skin, the alcohol burning his skin slightly. “I’m sorry.” She says, voice sounding pained as she looks into his steel eyes. “It’s alright, I’ve felt way worse before.” He says, a smile painted on his face as he looks at her. “I know, but I still don’t like when anything harms you.” “Then you must be miserable because I’m always in harm's way.” He chuckles, making her let out a laugh, feeling his heart thump wildly in his chest. He loved seeing her smile, feeling his heart soar in his chest whenever it was because of him. “But thank you anyway, for this.” He says, making her cheeks flush as he looks into her eyes. “Anytime, you know I’ll always be here to fix you up no matter what.” She says, hands now resting on his bandaged chest. His eyes looking into hers, a smile on his face.

#AOT #attack on titan #Levi #levi ackerman #Levi x reader #Levi imagine #levi fanfiction #attack on titan x reader

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the-nsr-family · 2 years

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Who would b2j get along with pyschonauts wise?

And i wanna see more of the pyschonauts reacting to nsrs powers.

I mean, some of these people are literal forces of nature.

-quetzal

May and Zuke seem to be a magnet for the younger psychonauts, like I said before, it's the big sibling energy. Mayday and Gisu actually get along pretty well, Gisu thinks her guitar is really cool. May and Zuke both enjoy being around Morris, he kinda reminds them of their good friend Zam, in more ways than one.

With the older psychonauts, Zuke finds himself pretty at home hanging around Sasha. They actually get along surprisingly well. He likes Hollis too, she reminds him of Tatiana in a way, she's good to talk to. Truman is also nice to be around, though they've hardly interacted. Mayday's energy is a but much for some, but she doesn't mind it. Sasha enjoys her company, but she gets along far better with people like Milla or Helmut. Cassie too! The Aquatos weren't hard to befriend, they've got her energy and she's rather flexible, so she's pretty at home hanging out with the little family. Zuke likes to come around there too, mainly because Dion asked him for advice once and he wants to look out for the kid. Poor guy has had a lot on his shoulders. They both adore Raz! He's pretty starstruck by the entire group, but they're really friendly and easy to get along with, so he's drawn to them.

When the group first got there, they definitely caught some eyes. Of course, they weren't just barging in. Otto had sent a letter to his nephew, things were looking up, the 7 were back together, he'd like him to come visit. They're visitors, and one of these visitors is the nephew of one of their founders. But that doesn't make their powers any less...surprising.

Rosa found herself pretty at home in the forest around the Questionable Area, scared the living daylights out of Augustus when the tree his children were playing on suddenly started moving. She didn't mind the kids’ presence, in fact, she enjoyed having them around. Her daughter is having a lot of fun with them, and she hardly feels things up in her branches when she's in her giant form. She and Yinu would probably end up hanging out with the Zanottos an awful lot. People who can talk to plants, people who are essentially part plant, they’d be pals. Rosa may be able to control her abilities better, but Yinu is more likely to just use them. She’s got new friends who are almost her age, and she wants to show them all the cool stuff she can do.

Nova rather enjoys discussing his abilities with Sasha and Otto, and he had zero issues showing off what he could do. The psychics are interested in these powers that aren't mind based, and he's equally interested in theirs. He is a man of science, even if he's a DJ. However, he dodges any and all questions about his heritage or the helmet he wears. There are few people who he'll take his helmet off around, even fewer that know his ancestors aren't...from this planet. Even if it was a really long time ago, he's still kinda nervous to tell people because nobody actually knows. They've blended in for so long that he worries about ruining things. He trusts Otto enough to at least take his helmet off around him, so he does show off what his actual “face” looks like to at least one person.

Tatiana threw them for such a loop. She's a woman made of solid rock. Okay, not the craziest thing. But she can also set herself on fire and she practically has lava in her blood. That's pretty shocking but hey, Nova is a shape-shifting space man and Rosa is a shape-shifting tree woman, still not the strangest. Then she casually drops the fact that she can CONTROL TIME and now everyone is slightly afraid of her. She is however completely willing to give a demonstration, and those she shows it to are just bewildered. It just...happens, and it’s hardly noticeable unless you’re close enough to feel the same effects she does. The difference is, she’s used to this stuff by now, others? Not so much. She hardly uses her time powers though, so she’d probably only show it to the psychonauts once or maybe twice, but it’s not as much of a natural or less world-shaking power as her whole fire thing, so she hesitates using it constantly if it’s not a dire situation that requires it.

Eve seemed to fit in so well here, and she loved getting the chance to discuss her abilities to people who were more like her in the way they viewed things. Though she may have slightly spooked some of them when she demonstrated her ability to essentially warp reality at her will. She tries to explain it the best she can, but it’s one of those powers that just doesn’t translate to paper. Words can’t begin to explain the things Eve can do. Helmut thinks this young lady fucking rules and Eve instantly gains a grandpa. She and Milla also become close friends. They just remind me of each other.

aaand that’s all i’ve got atm lol

#nsr #no straight roads #psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #crossover #my au #Nsr x Psychonauts

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could-be-kira · 2 years

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assassin's bullet - sasha-centric angst

... BANG!

With the shot of one bullet, the girl known as the light of the survey corps was liable to be down for good.

A minute ago, she was full of energy, chatting with Jean and Connie, and asking whether or not it was time to eat soon just as her usual self. That quickly changed, however, when young children Gabi Braun and Falco Grice made their way onto the airship. It all seemed like a blur... Gabi aimed her gun, and soon, Sasha was fighting for her ability to hold on, trying not to collapse as her two best friends did their best to carry her into another room.

It only took a minute, and the girl was already naturally tuning out everything happening around her. She hardly knew what was going on anymore. It was only the impact that came from hitting the floor when she reached the other room, along with Connie's and Jean's frantic voices that reminded her: she had just been shot, and these next few minutes could very well be her last.

"Sasha! Sasha!! Please, stay with us!!" Connie shouted with immense desperation in his voice. With the very little energy that she could muster, Sasha very weakly nodded her head to the best of her ability.

"Yeah... yeah, 'm here..." she said quietly, trailing off in an attempt to save her strength, though, despite her typical optimistic nature, she doubted that it would really do much to keep her alive at this point.

This was nothing like what she thought that dying would be like. Granted, the entire time that she had spend in the scout regiment, she had always expected that if she were to die, it would likely be in a titan's mouth. It would have never occurred to her that her end would be met because she and her friends were now fighting other humans. It was a tough reality to face, especially the fact that this happened because she and the rest of her group did just go and destroy the town across the sea, as well as kill countless people who lived there. Four years ago, the girl could never imagine herself or her friends doing something like that... but none of them were the same people as they were four years ago.

"...gonna be okay, you got it, Sasha?" Jean's voice faded back into Sasha's half-conscious mind. "We're gonna try and get help."

"Yeah... yeah! We'll go get help, we can't have you dying here!" Connie added. It was clear that the boy was really trying to keep a strong and optimistic face. Anyone could see that he was seconds away from breaking, but he couldn't let his best friend see him cry during what was likely to be her final moments.

"I'll stay with her, can you go get the commander?" Connie asked, before Jean quickly nodded his head and dashed out of the room to go and find Hange as soon as possible. That was the last thing that Sasha saw before fading out again...

In a way, the girl was glad to be going out here. Well... she wouldn't exactly say that. It was more like she was happy to have been shot in place of any of her friends. Having to experience Jean, Connie, Armin, Mikasa... or even Eren, die right in front of her, was something that she didn't think she would have been able to bear. Of course, she felt awful about the fact that she was about to leave all of her friends behind and be part of a source of pain for the group, but she knew that that was not something that she had any control over. At least everyone would have a chance at living on, even if that chance was without her.

A minute later, Jean burst back through the door.

"Commander Hange's coming," he announced as he rushed into the room, quickly kneeling at Sasha's side just as Connie was. "Until then, just hold on, okay?" He said, his breathing becoming more frantic and heavy, though he tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down and try not to panic.

As much as she tried to hold on, Sasha could feel her body growing weaker by the second, as well as her ability to stay conscious through all of this. She faded out more quickly with every second, and it became almost impossible to stay with her friends. Finally, to the best of her ability, she held out her hands for Jean and Connie both to hold them.

"Hey..." she whispered, "I love you guys so much, y'know? And I really cherished the time we spent throughout all the time that we've known each other... I know I won't be there to see it, but if you guys manage to end this war, go back to the island and raise lots of livestock for me, okay? Then you can all share it with each other like we talked about years ago..."

"Don't talk like that," protested Jean, giving Sasha's hand a squeeze. "We're gonna make sure you get to come back with us alive and we'll have all the livestock we could ever need!" He exclaimed, still trying to hold back tears, though not doing a good job of it anymore.

"No... I'm not gonna make it," Sasha continued on with a sad smile. "But, before I go... can one of you guys go get me some meat–?"

Those were the final words that Sasha Braus said before she was officially gone. When Connie felt his best friend's grip on his hand loosen, he could tell that at that point, it was really too late.

"...Sasha?" He asked quietly before tears began to stream down his face. "Sasha, no!! Wake up... please, please wake up!! Don't leave us, we need you!!!" He shouted through sobs, trying to perform some sort of CPR on the girl on the off chance that she may possibly still be alive. It was only a few seconds before he turned around to see Jean beside him, unable to blink back tears while he knelt over Sasha's body.

"Connie... she's gone..." he said with a somber tone in his voice. Connie simply stared at the wall in silence, before rushing out of the room to break the news to the rest of the group. It was soon that he reached the door to the room where Hange, Eren, Levi, Mikasa and Armin were. As soon as he reached the room, Hange began to ask about how Sasha was doing, only to be met with the brutal truth.

"Sasha is dead..."

#attack on titan #aot #aot oneshot #assassin's bullet #aot season 4 #shingeki no kyojin #connie springer #sasha braus #sasha blouse #jean kirstein #♡ / ( writings . )

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eggumura · 2 years

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((have a drabble i made for sasharcy week day two: calamity))

((im drawing most days, but im doing these drabbles for the days that i didnt have any ideas for, so i've got one more planned!))

There’s no real way that he can put it into words.

His best attempt to explain it would be wrapped in juxtaposition and paradoxes; it was sudden, but it had been creeping up on him for hours prior; it held him in place, but it made him strong enough to finally move; he felt powerless against its force, but he knew that it was his greatest strength and ally.

When Anne had come clean about her own experience with her ‘calamity form’ (Marcy came up with the name, and neither of them were about to tell them no after everything), she had made it clear that she hated it. It felt awful, she said, like the eye of a storm. She never wanted to use it again, and she was mad enough at herself already just for using it as many times as she had. Of course, Sasha had done his best to support Anne, but he can’t stop wondering why she saw things so differently than her.

Maybe it’s a lingering part of his ‘past self’. Maybe it’s just the part of him that he wishes wasn’t still there, the part that still screams for control, the part that’s too eager to resort to violence. Maybe the simple fact of the matter is that Anne is a better person than he is.

But he’s grateful for his power.

When he was too stupidly weak, too tired and too in love to do the right thing, he had been pulled along by something he had given up on assuming he could do. It made sense that he wouldn’t be able to tap into his gem, after all, after it had been charged. But then Marcy- no, not Marcy, it wasn’t them- had done it. And their gem was also charged. And Anne wasn’t going to get them out of this mess, not while she was carefully herding the citizens of Wartwood out of danger and nursing a near-mangled arm. In that moment, Sasha knew that he was the last line of defence, that he had to stop the Night because nobody else could.

But he didn’t want to.

Because the only way to do anything, in that moment, would be to hurt Marcy. And he was- and still is- selfish enough to put the whole damn multiverse at risk just because he doesn’t want to hurt her.

That’s why his powers had been somewhat of a miracle when he snapped into action and did the right thing, for the first time in however long. Through the blur in his mind, he managed to hurt Marcy, and then he managed to save them.

And, when his mind came back to him, he was on the ground, and his arms were heavy and warm and itching with the limp weight held in them. There was no subtle glow from under Marcy’s eyelids. He hardly knew what had happened, but he breathed a heavy sigh of relief and pulled them in closer. All he could think with certainty was that he was never going to let them go again.

Now, he looks over at Marcy, in bed at eight pm, because they got so tired so easily these days, and he’s glad. Even if Anne denounces her old powers and insists that something bad would have happened if she used them any more than she had, even if Marcy quiets down and glazes over whenever the conversation turns to them, Sasha’s glad that he had that power.

He groans internally at his insufferable past self (you know, from the distant times of literally a few months ago), and thanks those weird cryptic gems.

Because without all of that, he wouldn’t have been able to be here, with Marcy, sitting up next to them in bed and checking their pulse too often for somebody who claims to be okay. He wouldn’t feel that unsettling and addicting warmth from where their head rests against his side, and he certainly wouldn’t be so embarrassingly and obviously in love.

With a barely-there smile, he shuts his phone off, leans down to press a kiss to Marcy’s forehead (smile only growing as they giggle and lean further into him), and decides that it wouldn’t kill him to sleep early, just this once.

((i am literally so unhappy with this but im forcing myself to post this because i want to do something for every day of sasharcy week OOPS))

#amphibia #amphibia sasha #amphibia marcy #sasharcy #sasharcy week #sasha waybright #marcy wu #amphibia fanfic #amphibia fanfiction

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otagamerkorin · 3 years

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Trial by Fire (including very little actual fire and honestly just a whole lot of snow)

Merry (very belated) Christmas @blasphemousfungus! I was your secret santa for @kibasniper‘s Psychonauts Secret Santa! Unfortunately, due to a lotta stuff going on in my life, your present isn’t completely done yet, but here’s the first (honestly kinda massive) chapter of it! I plan on putting it up on AO3 as well, so I’ll ping you then too! For reference, this was highly inspired by mystery_notebook (or I think they might be @tvguts on here?) fic Like It Used To Be, But Better, which is amazing and you should totally check it out. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy it!

Edit: Just realized I completely forgot to give it a title. Whoops.

When they had gone into the asylum, none of the members of Thorney Towers had expected to come back out not only dear friends with a 10 year old, but also under the close monitor of an organization of secret psychic agents. Initially is had only been to ensure that being around Loboto while in such delicate condition hadn’t left any lasting damage. Luckily from what they’d been able to work out from the fours scattered memories of the time, the dentist hadn’t involved them in any of his experiments, but better safe than sorry. The surveillance really hadn’t gotten in the way of their new lives much. A few calls a week, the occasional in-person check in to see how they were doing, not much to write home about in the grand scheme of things.

After a time though, things had begun to get...interesting.

It was actually Boyd who kicked the whole thing off, so to say. It had been a day like any other, possibly even more quiet and domestic than usual considering they’d just hit the weekend. According to the other three, he’d simply been drying dishes after dinner that night when a wayward mug has slipped off the counter behind him. The resulting crash has two effects. 1.) The former nightguard jumped about three feet off the ground with a startled shriek. And 2.) The dishtowel in his hands promptly burst into flames. Luckily he’d dropped the flaming cloth into surprise and a bit of group panic and rapid stomping has quickly put out the blaze, leaving the four gathered in the small kitchen, staring down at its burnt remains.

The lot of them, Boyd especially, were dumbfounded by the whole event and immediately phoned up their new psychic associates, if only to make sure they weren’t all going crazy again. There had to be some mundane explanation for this, right? But after a few quick tests from Sasha, it was official: Boyd was most definitely a psychic.

Signs from the others quickly followed. Fred would frequently find papers and pens floating in orbit around him whenever he got embroiled in his nursing reinstatement exams. Edgar would sometimes find those around him caught up in a sort of bewildering mental fog, leaving them staring around in confusion. And while Gloria had always had quite the green thumb, now the plants in her garden flourished with just the touch of her hand, the woman assaulted with a hundred whispered voices of delight whenever she appeared at the gate with her watering can. Lili was especially happy about the latter, having never met a fellow connoisseur of florakinesis until that point, let alone one who was so friendly.

To say everyone, both Psychonaut and otherwise, was baffled was an understatement. None of the four had shown an signs of psychic powers earlier in life. So why now?

It was Razputin of all people who offered a hypothesis. They were all aware that the large amount of Psitanium around the camp and asylum had been less that helpful for the fours delicate mental state, what with the whole “making the sane less sane” thing and all. Perhaps though, the other half of the phrase may also be in play. What if being around all that Psitanium has brought whatever deeply buried psychic powers the four shared to the surface?

Honestly, it was the best they had to go on. There were hardly any cases of spontaneous psychic manifestation in those beyond adolescence and the four weren’t showing any of the usual symptom relating to those sort of circumstances.

Regardless, it didn’t change the fact that the organization now had a whole mess of new psychics in the mix who needed training.

Which is what brought Milla to the front gates of the Von Gouten Arts Academy for Girls (formally Hagatha Home) bright and early one Wednesday morning. The former actress had bought the dilapidated old academy around a year ago using some of the wealth she’s amassed during her glory years. (It was amazing how much interest a saving account left to sit could accrue.) Since then she’d been fixing the place up, hiring teachers and generally getting the place running even better than before, eventually joined in her endeavors by the other three Thorney Towers residents when they moved onto the grounds with her.

Milla found herself smiling up at the stylized “VG” woven into the metal of the newly installed gate in the stone fence that surrounded the property. Gloria really was doing an excellent job with the place. Rolling her window down, the Mental Minx leaned out and pressed the button of the call box installed in the fence wall. For a moment there was silence and then a familiar voice crackled to life on the other end.

“Good morning! Do you have an appointment?”

“Well, I would certainly hope so Darling.” Milla teased and she could practically hear the smile in Boyd’s voice when he replied.

“Dang, is it really Wednesday already? Well, head right on up Mrs. Vodello! I’ll let the rest of the gang know you’re coming.”

There was a buzz and the whirring of mechanisms as the gate opened and allowed access to the road beyond. Continuing on down the path, she soon found herself pulling into the large round driveway in front of the building. A group of students tending to one of the flower beds out front waved as she parked and stepped out of the car, Boyd likewise stepping out of the guard shack nearby and making his way over.

“Good morning to you Ms. Vodello! You the only one here today?”

“Not quite.” She replied with a chuckle, just in time for the back door of the car to fly open and Raz to stick his grinning face out around it.

“Hi Boyd!”

“Hey, good to see you too Raz! Come on inside, the rest of the gang should be on their way.” He replied with a grin, reaching down to ruffle the boy’s hair as he led them inside.

For as horrid as the place had apparently originally been ran, the former owner had at least had good architectural sense, and the large oak front doors opened into a soaring foyer, complete with a grand spiral staircase. One that Gloria was already beginning to make her way down as the doors closed behind them.

“Well good morning Ms. Vodello! And to you too Raz dear!” The former actress beamed, taking Boyd’s offered arm as she stepped down the last few stairs.

“You came at just the right time. I just finished up with morning announcements. Please, feel free to head right over to the practice room, the rest of the boys should already be on their way. Oh, and I’ve also had some snacks from the dining hall sent on ahead. I hope you both like blueberry muffins!”

“That sounds just delightful darling!” Milla replied cheerfully, smiling wider when she saw the stars in Raz’s eyes at the mention of food. Milla sidled up beside the actress as they started down into one of the academy’s wings, one of Gloria’s arms still linked with Boyd’s.

“So how have the plants been treating you darling?”

“Oh, better everyday! My garden is thriving and I think I’m really starting to get a good hold of this whole telepathy thing! Getting it across to all my little lovelies that there’s really no need to shout every time I come in hasn’t been easy, but I think it’s finally starting to stick. The roses and lilies are still a horrible bunch of gossips, but I doubt there’s much I’ll ever be able to do about that.” She replied with a laugh.

“They do come in useful to make sure none of the students are pulling anything they shouldn’t though!”

“That’s wonderful to hear! How about you Boyd? Have you been making any process in your off-time?” Milla asked, the guard rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Yeah, a bit. It ain’t exactly been fast progress, but one step at a time you know? But hey! At least I haven’t accidentally lit up anything important again since you taught me those exercises. There’s only so many times I can almost burn down Edgar’s classroom before it starts to get ridiculous.”

Milla smiled softly, reaching over to pat the guard on the back.

“Well, learning to fully control one’s powers can be a long path. It took me years to master my own skillset. Like you said, it’s just one step at a time. I think you’ve made wonderful progress though, and I’m very proud of you darling.” She mused and the man flushed a bit at her praise and mumbled a word of thanks, tugging his hat low over his eyes bashfully as Gloria gave him a smile.

The group of four quickly found themselves at the extra dance studio in the buildings far west they’d assigned at their practice room, and upon stepping inside found Fred and Edgar already waiting for them.

“Oh, hey Ms. Milla. And you too Raz. Sorry, gimme just a sec to finish up some papers.” The tall school counselor called over distractedly, scribbling away on a clipboard from where he was sitting on a nearby bench.

“Apologies for my rather ruffled appearance as well, mi amigos.” Edgar chimed in, wiping his hands down with a long-since-stained painting cloth. Both his hands and the old shirt he wore were splattered with the stuff, having somehow even managed to get some on his face and hair.

“You caught me in the middle of a bit of early morning painting.”

“Just be sure to remember and get some rest dear. We can’t have our best art teacher burning the candle at both ends.” Gloria replied with a smile as she strode over, reaching up to stroke away a smudge of paint on his cheek. The artist gave a soft smile as he leaned into the touch.

“Oh course mi amour.”

“Good. And that goes for your too Fred. Don’t think I haven’t noticed a certain someone sneaking out of bed early the last few mornings.” She called over, and the counselor jumped a bit at being called out, flushing bashfully as he looked at her over the edge of the clipboard.

“Right, you’re right. So, what’s the plan for today Ms. Milla? Seeing as how Mr. Dark and Serious isn’t here, I assume we’re working on our levitation?” Fred asked, setting aside the clipboard as he pushed himself to his feet, the Brazilian woman giving a laugh at his joke.

“Oh come now, Sasha isn’t that bad. But you are correct! Today we’re going to be working more on your levitation!” She replied, settling back as though sitting upon an invisible chair and crossing her legs as she floated up a few feet above the ground.

“Now, last time you all managed to manifest a “Levitation Ball” as we like to call it. This time we’ll be taking the next step and practicing our ability to balance atop them. Razputin darling, if you would demonstrate?” The Mental Minx requested and the young psychic nodded, raising a hand above his head. A large ball of swirling orange energy formed in his palm and he tossed it down, easily jumping up and balancing atop it.

“Now then, we aren’t all trained acrobats like Razputin here, so it might take a while to find your balance and get the hang of it. Consider it like balancing on a medicine ball. Remember, thinking lighter, rounder, happier thoughts can help in manifesting the ball more easily. Go ahead and give it a try! And please let me know if you need any help at all.”

Early on in these lessons the group had felt a bit silly to be using psychic instruction methods typically meant for children, but they’d gotten over it quickly enough. After all, most psychics got their powers much younger than the lot of them were, so starting at a lower level of instruction was only appropriate. It helped that the simple exercises really worked wonders too.

Though that didn’t mean it was gonna be easy. Forming the ball was one thing. Staying on was another.

A fact the group quickly discovered.

Fred gave a squeak as his light blue orb suddenly slid forward, taking the foot he’d just managed to plant atop it along with it, threatening to pull the man into a split as he hopped forward to follow it. In his defense, Edgar and Boyd didn’t seem to be doing much better. The latter had managed to get atop his off-white bubble, but was now swaying about wildly as he tried to keep balanced, arms windmilling in an attempt to steady himself. The former was having much the same troubles, quickly getting dumped back onto the floor each time he attempted to clamber up.

Gloria was the only one of the bunch who seemed to be making much progress. The woman had moved over to one of the practice room’s ballet bars and was gripping it for stability as she gingerly set one foot on her own ball. With a small grunt she hefted herself up, the orb wiggling worryingly beneath her for a moment before stilling.

“There you go! You’re doing wonderful darling!” Milla cheered her on, clapping encouragingly as the other woman smiled.

“Why thank you Milla dear. After some of the ridiculous shoes I’ve had to wear in my years on the stage, this isn’t so bad.” Gloria replied, putting her arms out to balance as her stance wavered a bit.

“Oof! Well, I’m glad one of us seems to be getting it, mi amor. This is far less easy than Señorita Vodello makes it look.” Edgar replied with a grunt, the wind getting knocked out of him as he fell to the ground once more. Milla let out a thoughtful hum, tapping her lips as she watched the struggling group. Suddenly her eyes flashed with inspiration and she snapped her fingers with a grin.

“Well, I think I may know a way to help.”

The whole group, including Raz, whom had rolled over to try and help Boyd stay upright, turned to look at her in interest.

“I’d like you all to form two, smaller levitation balls instead of one.” She directed, miming the shape of two basketball sized orbs.

“Uh, ok. But how is that gonna help?” Fred asked, already focusing on trying to reform his ball into two even as he tiled his head in confusion.

“Well, as you know, those like me, who’ve had a lot of practice, don’t require a physical representation of their levitation in order to float. Most of those who do tend to only create a singular orb to assist them, so they can don’t have to split their focus. I’ve found that others though, who have a nice grip on the psychic side of things, but are having a harder time managing the physical part, tend to prefer use two. Think of them a bit like ice or roller skates.”

“Oh, I think I see what you mean amiga!” Edgar replied in excitement, focusing till his deep red ball split into two smaller ones. Carefully, he stepped atop on, managing to balance one-footed long enough to successfully stabilize himself using the other. Cautiously, he rolled forward a few feet, face splitting into a smile as he managed to keep his balance.

“Well, well, this actually is easier.”

The others quickly followed his example, and the slight adjustment seemed to do wonders. Soon Gloria was twirling lazy loops around the room like a proper skater, Edgar trailing a bit more slowly, but no less enthusiastically, after her. Fred seemed to be doing a tad bit better than before, but was still gripping tight to a much more steady Boyd’s shoulders as the two slowly drifted in circles, Fred’s long legs doing their damnedest to keep him upright.

“Never been great at skating either, but this is a bit better I guess.” The counselor murmured, glancing up to find his partner giving him an encouraging smile.

“Hey, it just takes a little practice! I’m sure you’ll levitating like a pro in no time!” Raz encouraged, giving a whoop of delight as Gloria grabbed him and twirled him around as he glided past.

“Impressive, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut the class short for today.”

The whole group gave a jump at the sudden voice, Fred giving a yelp as the levitation bubbles below him popped and dropped him on his ass, and they all turned to see Sasha standing in the now open doorway.

“Sasha, darling! What are you doing here? Didn’t you have other business today?” Milla asked in confusion, drifting over to help Fred up, and the German sighed seriously.

“Yes, but I just got a call from the headquarters. It seems...that Agent Pandor has disappeared.”

Milla gave a gasp, pressing both hands to her mouth, and Raz cocked his head in confusion.

“Uhhh, who’s Agent Pandor?”

“Ms. Tanya Pandor. One of the Psychonauts junior agents and a specialist in subterfuge and information gathering. I’m afraid you haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet.”

“But isn’t Tanya on vacation right now?” Milla asked and Sasha nodded.

“Yes, she had gone skiing at a lodge up in Colorado. The HQ asked her to check in regularly for security reasons. According to what I was briefed with, reports dropped off a few days ago. After a few failed attempts to get ahold of her, eventually the HQ resorted to calling the lodge itself to check in on her, thinking maybe she’d fallen sick. When they checked her room however, the whole thing was empty. It’s as though she just vanished.”

“Oh my! That sounds troubling indeed!” Gloria gasped, mirroring Milla as she held a hand to her mouth dramatically, and the German nodded.

“It certainly is. While Ms. Pandor wasn’t one of our top agents, her skills are none the less important to the Psychonauts and her disappearing is far from ideal. Finding out what happened to her has been assigned as our team’s top priority.”

“Well, is there anything we could do to help?” Fred piped up and the two senior agents looked over at him in confusion.

“What do you mean darling?” Milla asked and the counselor fidgeted nervously with the hem of his shirt as he replied.

“Well, I mean we’re technically part of the Psychonauts to now, even if we’re just in training, right? So that means this agent is one of our buddies too. And it’s only right to try and help out our friends whenever we can right?”

“I agree!” Edgar exclaimed, clapping a hand down on his companion’s shoulder as he turned to face the assembled agents.

“If there’s anything we can do to help and find this missing girl, we’re more than happy to do so!”

Boyd and Gloria nodded along in agreement as Sasha’s gaze scanned over them, the German man’s head tilting in thought.

“Well, I suppose more eyes on the ground would certainly help. And since Mrs. Pandor wasn’t on a mission or anything, this could be a fairly safe environment for you all to get some field experience...”

“Well, I think it sounds like a great idea!” Raz chipped in, folding his arms and nodding wisely, earning an eye roll and a sigh from the older agent.

“...Very well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“Excellent! Don’t you all worry, I’ll get all the arrangements handled! Just be ready to go in a few hours and remember to pack warmly!” Milla replied, clapping her hands together cheerfully, as Raz gave out a quiet cheer.

The three agents departed quickly after that, leaving the group to make arrangements. It took a bit of scrambling to get everything organized with the rest of the schools staff, but soon enough they found themselves packing.

“I sure hope that poor gal is ok. Hopefully we can find her quick.” Boyd mused, leaning hard onto his suitcase in order to try and get it to lock around the mound of sweaters and other winterwear inside.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s just fine Boyd dear. Those Psychonauts are a tough bunch after all. No doubt she’ll appreciate your concern when we do find her though.” Gloria reassured him, folding up a thick woolen dress to tuck into one of her own bags.

“I must admit, I’m a bit excited. I’ve never been to a ski lodge before.” Edgar pipped up, an excited smile on his face as Fred let out an amused laugh.

“Can’t say I have either. Well, cept for this one time back in college. And with all the drinks that weekend, I can barely remember it. I’m sure it’s not gotta be anything tooooo over the top. Those places always talk themselves up.”

“Holy hell, they were not talking this place up.” Fred muttered, his and the rest of the motley crews jaws dropping open in shock as they leaned out the windows of the truck to stare at the vista unfolding before them.

The place was really less of a lodge and more of a small village, what with the amount of connected buildings that made it up. The whole residence was constructed of pale wood, stone and brass, all woven together into a beautiful work of architectural engineering at the base of the snowy mountain. As they pulled into the parking lot at the place’s edge, they passed beneath a large ornate arch reading “Goldsmuth Lodge and Resort”.

“Yeah, Tanya does not mess around when it comes to her vacations. No really surprised, that girl barely gets any time off.” Oleander agreed, nodding in appreciating at the sight as the car slowed. When Milla and Sasha had announced their new plan to the other higher-up, the man had been assigned to the case as an additional supervisor, as well as another pair of eyes. Raz had tried to convince Lili to come along as well, but apparently there was few things the girl hated more than cold weather, not too much of a surprise coming from a florapath, so his requests had fallen on deaf ears.

Once their oversized vehicle had stopped, their collective group spilled out to stretch, several backs popping after the lengthy ride. They couldn’t very well retain their cover if they came flying in on a Psychonauts jet after all, so they’d been forced to stash it at one of the organizations safe houses and drive the rest of the way instead.

“Well then, let’s unpack and get checked in. The sooner we can find Ms. Pandor, the better.” Sasha announced, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the large plaza for the proper entrance.

There was suddenly a yelp and the sound of tumbling luggage from the rear of the vehicle. Glancing around the back of the truck, they found a mound of bags and suitcases that had no doubt tumbled free when the hatch had opened. A moment later a bag fell away as a familiar blue head popped up out of the pile and swiveled to look at them, the figure immediately giving them a sheepish smile, a hand also emerging from the pile to give them an awkward wave.

“I still can’t believe you convinced HQ to let us bring Loboto along.” Raz mused in amusement, Oleander shaking his head as he walked over to help extract the rehabilitated (in progress) criminal from his luggage prison.

“Well, Cagliosto is certainly in desperate need of some outside socialization. A relaxing place like this could be perfectly helpful with his recovery, darling!” Milla replied with a chuckle as she watched Morry lever the skinnier man up and almost fall over himself in the process. The former mad scientist quickly grabbed the agent by the front of his coat in a panic to keep him upright, the two flushing as the motion inadvertently tugged them chest to chest. Sasha gave as an amused eyeroll as the German could feasibly manage, while Milla and Raz gave a quiet giggle at his side. The two former villains had been dancing around each other for months now, much to the amusement, and occasionally frustration, of everyone watching.

“Well, like Sasha said, the sooner we get inside, the sooner we can really start enjoying ourselves. Here, let me help you there dear.” Gloria smiled, the rest of the group trailing after her as she stepped up to help retrieve the fallen luggage, Loboto giving her a thankful, if sheepish smile in return. While the four had long since forgiven Caligosto for all the asylum business (after all, he had been cursed at the time with, as he himself put it, the “insanity of a manatee”), things were still pretty awkward between them. Gloria though, every friendly, had doing her best to help bridge the gap in the meantime.

It took a bit to gather up all the luggage, and even longer to find the right entrance, but eventually they managed. The walk there had been interesting at least. Everywhere they looked, there was some new, interesting winter activity the place seemed to offer, from ice skating to toboggan rental. Their own rather modge-podge group was also getting a number of curious onlookers, which was far from ideal, but there wasn’t much they could do about it really.

The lodge’s lobby was wonderfully warm compared to the wintery chill outside, and they could already feel the scattered flakes of snow melting on their coats as they strode up to the main desk.

“Hello there! Can I help you ladies and gentlemen?” The brunette behind the desk asked with a smile, Sasha plucking his glasses off to wipe away the fog they’d accrued from the heat inside as he spoke.

“Reservations for Nein, Vodello and Gouten.”

“Alright then, just a moment!”

The young woman’s finger flew along the keyboard in a blur for several moment’s before she paused, biting her lip in concern.

“Oh, well there seems to be a small problem. You ladies and gentlemen called for a reservation rather last minute and it seems your rooms aren’t quite ready yet. My deepest apologies. You are all more than welcome to wait in the lodges lounge till they’re ready, free of charge.” She replied, giving an apologetic bow of her head as she gestured towards a pair of open doors nearby.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all darling!” Milla replied, waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Apologies for the rather sudden reservations. Our little trip was a bit of a recent development.”

“Thank you for your understanding Ms. I’ll come and inform you once your rooms are ready.”

The lounge was somehow even more impressive than the grand lobby they’d just stepped out of. He place was lit in a dim but cozy manner, a long bar stretching along one wall. The rest of the space was filled with a number of comfortable tables, armchairs and couches that encircled a handful of square open-sided pillar fireplaces that dotted the room here and there. With an excited “ooo!”, Raz rushed off to look around with Loboto trailing after him, the bunch chuckling at his antics as Sasha glanced around.

“How about you all stay here for a bit? We need to ask around the staff and see if we can find anything regarding Ms. Pandor’s disappearance.” He proposed after a moment.

“Are you sure? Is there any way we can help?” Boyd asked, fidgeting nervously.

“No, it would be best if you aren’t seen with us too much while we’re actively investigating. To help avoid casting suspicion on you lot as well and all.”

“Keep your eyes and ears open while we’re gone soldiers! Always vigilant!” Oleander commanded, giving them a little salute as the trio went off. Shaking her head in amusement at their antics, Gloria gestured toward the bar.

“Care for some drinks while we wait boys?”

Despite the lodge’s rather bustling crowd, there were only a few people at the bar and they were easily able to find seats.

“Hello there folks, what can I get you?” The bartender, a man looking somewhere in his 30’s, asked.

“Hot Chocolate!”

Gloria’s yelp of surprise at the sudden shout quickly devolved into giggles as Raz and the former villain popped up beside her, clambering up onto the next stools.

“And a cider for me sir.”

As the bartender went to work assembling the groups drink orders, he glanced over at them with a smile.

“Don’t think I’ve seen you folks around before. Welcome. What’s the occasion for the visit?”

The group glanced at each other, all trying their best to hide their slight panic. They hadn’t exactly been properly prepped for people asking them about their motives yet after all.

“Oh, uh, we, uh, came to visit with a friend we heard was staying here.” Boyd stuttered nervously. Picking up on what he was trying, Gloria slipped straight into her old actress skills and gave a sigh.

“Yes, a Ms. Tanya Pandor. She’s one of our old students. Unfortunately, it seems that we may have just missed her.”

The bartender paused, tapping his chin in thought.

“Ms. Pandor you say? Actually, I do remember her. Very exuberant. And you heard right, she seems to have left already. Was the talk of the staff rumor mill for a day or two actually. Some of her coworkers called asking to speak with her on some matter, but when the staff went up to let her know about the call, she was nowhere to bee seen. Must have left damn late at night for nobody to notice her. Which is odd really...”

“Odd, how?” Loboto asked, the group jumping a moment at his voice, seemingly having forgotten he was there, before leaning towards the bartender in interest, the man glancing around before lowering his voice.

“Well, we’re really not supposed to divulge things about the other guests, so you didn’t hear this from me, but I may have been one of the last people to see her. You see, I was assigned as a ski slope guard that day, you know, to watch and make sure nobody got injured and needed medical attention. I was stationed on one of our more challenging hills, the Black Diamond one, when I saw Ms. Pandor go whipping by. I know it has her because she had a very distinctive ski jacket she always seemed to be wearing. This whole black, purple and gold affair. Plus she has been very kind and gracious to the staff. We tend to remember those sorts of things. Anyways, she gave me a wave as she went past and seemed to be having the time of her life. It seems so strange that she would leave so abruptly without saying anything. I do hope something didn’t upset her.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about it, dear.” Gloria replied with a smile, waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Tanya has always been the spirited type, zipping from place to place. Just a little lightning bolt.”

“Yes, she certainly did seem like that type. I’m sure you’re right. Ah, that’s right, your drinks!”

The group was quickly presented with their fine beverages, including a healthy topping of whipped cream and sprinkles for Raz and Loboto’s chocolatey treats. Edgar and Gloria’s cider was just as delicious, rich and warm. (Fred and Boyd’s spiked eggnog was perhaps not the most professional thing to be drinking during a spy investigation, but nobody was about to call them out on it.) For a time they sat at the bar, chatting away to the bartender about the various activities around the lodge, before Raz suddenly caught the shape of their other companions watching them from a nearby doorway. Nudging Gloria, he nodded over towards them, and the woman took the hint, turning to the bartender with a smile.

“Well, I’m afraid we must be going now dear. We can’t spend all vacation here in the lounge after all. Thank you for the lovely time.”

“My pleasure Ms. I hope to see you all again soon.” He replied with a nod and smile as they stepped away from the bar, his eyes widening in surprise and delight when he noticed the generous tip the group had left tucked under one of the empty mugs.

Following their missing members lead, the group ducked over into a more private corner of the lounge to meet them.

“Did you guys find anything?” Raz asked quietly, Sasha giving a frustrated sigh in return.

“No, unfortunately not. None of the night staff noticed her leaving that day. Which leaves us back at square one.”

“Well, luckily for you, we just might have a clue.” Fred replied with a smile, the trio looking over at him in surprise.

“Wait, really?!” Oleander exclaimed and the counselor gave him an unamused look.

“Geez buddy, give us some credit. We’re not completely useless. But yeah, apparently somebody saw Tanya out on one of the ski slopes earlier that day. Whatcha wanna bet there might be some sort of clue somewhere out there?” He replied, Oleander reaching up to stroke his mustache in thought as he considered the other man’s words.

“I’d say you’d probably be right on the money. Maybe Pandor saw something out there that made her haul ass out of here, though I’ve never known her for the scaredy cat type. And that would still leave the question of where she went. But it’s a lead.”

“How’s about this?” Sasha pipped up, waving a hand to get all their attention.

“The three of us have worked out with the management to take a look in Ms. Pandor’s room, see if she maybe left some sort of clue behind. While we’re doing that, you six could head out onto the slopes and take a look around. A group of casual vacation goers, including a child, would likely draw a lot less attention than the three of us for the time being.”

“Well, I think it sounds like a marvelous plan!” Loboto replied exuberantly, pausing and rubbing his neck sheepishly when they all turned to look at him.

“If that’s alright with you all of course.”

He was met with a chorus of headshakes and “no, that’d be fine”s, so he grinned once more and nodded in satisfaction.

“Sounds like a plan then!”

“Just please all be careful.” Milla replied, eyes full of concern, and Raz gave her a comforting smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ok! Besides, whenever are we not careful?”

The 50-yard stare of no doubt Whispering Rock related war flashbacks that she gave him in return spoke volumes.

“Thank god for government provided tailoring. Trying to find snow wear for proportions like mine is hellish.” Fred sighed quietly in satisfaction, adjusting his perfectly fitting ski jacket to a chorus of chuckles. The 6 of them were currently waiting in line at the equipment rental shop. Once they’d gotten their luggage up to the rooms and finally unpacked, they’d found the new sets of winter gear amongst their belongings, perfectly tailored and clearly a gift from the Psychonauts organization. How said organization knew their measurements was a mystery they neither had, nor wanted, the answer to.

“I must admit, they are rather fetching, aren’t they?” Gloria replied with a smile, giving a little twirl to let the hem of her longer coat poof out for a moment like the skirt of a dress.

Eventually the line cleared out enough for them to enter the small store displaying the various types of equipment available for rental and purchase. Splitting up to look, they all quickly selected their preferred styles. It didn’t take long for most of them to reconvene near the counter, each carrying a fairly simple pair of skis. There was no need for the super high-grade stuff, none of them were professionals after all. When Raz came running back with a snowboard, none of them were really that surprised. Skis had seemed a bit boring for the boy’s exuberant personality to begin with. What did draw their shock however was when Fred came trotting up behind the young psychic, a long light blue board slung over his shoulder.

“Uh, mi amor, are you sure that’s what you meant to get?” Edgar asked, eyeing the board in equal parts confusion and concern, and Fred laughed in return.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about it. Never said I had been using skis when I went someplace like this back in college. Always been useless with them. Snowboards were a different story though. Used to skateboard a lot back in high school too. Now let’s go see if I’ve still got any of that old muscle memory still rattling around.”

As a group that was inexperienced, and in some of their cases completely unfamiliar, with the equipment, getting into their rented pieces ended up a tad more challenging than intended. Boyd nearly poked himself in the eye with one of his poles and Raz promptly fell backwards into a snowdrift after figuring out how hook his boots into the board, but eventually they managed to get their nonsense together enough to try and get in line for the ski-lift that would take them up to the Black Slope.

Try being the key word.

Just as they were in the process of settling themselves at the back of the line, a slightly nervous voice called out behind them.

“Hmm, now I don’t claim to be an expert on skiing, but something tells me this isn’t how it’s supposed to go.”

Turning to look back, they found Loboto had not only somehow managed to put both of his skis on backwards, but was now also slowly sliding away from them down the slight decline, ski poles digging into the snow in an attempt to stop himself. Boyd, being the closest to him, darted out to try and grab the man, but missed his hand by a hair, and he began to pick up speed.

“Whoa! Look out there!”

Someone suddenly darted behind the former mad scientist, catching him by the shoulders and stopping his uncontrolled journey. As the person carefully pushed the man back up towards the group, they got a better look at them. It was a young man in his early 20’s, with pale skin and messy sandy blonde hair.

“There ya go!” He announced, settling the dentist back in front of the rest of the group and crouching. down to look at his skis.

“Ah, here’s your problem! Here, this should help.”

With deft fingers, he unhooked Loboto from the skis, flipped them around and had him step back in, hooking him securely into place.

“Uh, thank you. I’m a bit of a beginner.” The blue skinned villain thanked him, cheeks flushing the tiniest bit of dark blue in embarrassment, the younger man glancing over at the sign announcing the coming hill at his words.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly recommend this hill to someone still getting their snow legs, but I can’t fault you for wanting to jump into the challenge head first!” He replied with a merry laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be very careful. Thank you for your help, Mr...?” Gloria replied, the young man jumping to attention when he realized her pause was requesting and answer and reaching out a hand to shake.

“Oh, just call me Josh! A pleasure to meet you folks!”

He quickly exchanged handshakes with them all, Raz included, as the line to the chair lift drew shorter.

“You certainly seem to know your stuff.” Edgar complemented him, glancing over as Loboto turned his ankle this way and that to look at the ski mechanism in fascination.

“I would certainly hope so, considering all the years I’ve worked here! I know all the ins and outs like the back of my hand!”

“Well isn’t that wonderful. This seems like a splendid place to work.” Gloria replied with a smile.

“Oh it is, I couldn’t be luckier. Oh, looks like it’s you guys turn!”

Turning to look, they found the couple behind them settling into their chair on the lift, the next one incoming. As they stepped up to wait on it, Josh stepped away, giving them a wave as he turned to leave.

“Hopefully I see you guys around! If you’ve got any questions, just let me know. If want to know anything about the lodge or hills, I’m your guy!”

“We definitely will!” Fred called after him, the group raising their arms to wave back, before prepping to climb aboard the lift.

The benches ended up only being able to fit 3 people, so they ended up separated into two groups, Fred, Boyd and Edgar in the first chair, with Raz, Gloria and Caligosto grabbing the second. For the former, the ride up was honestly pretty pleasant and peaceful, the view from up so high showing them a beautiful vista.

“Wow, we really are up high huh?” Boyd, wondered out loud, glancing down over the side of the chair at the forest spread out below them.

“Si, we certainly are. Hmm, I wonder, is this the sort of view you normally have mi amor?” Edgar asked, looking at the lanky man between them with a cheeky smirk. Fred gave the painter an unamused look as on his other side Boyd let out a snorted laugh, breaking into giggles.

“Seriously? Your pulling out the tall guy jokes?”

With a grin and chuckle, the Hispanic man leaned up to give the taller man a peck on the cheek as their other partner leaned against his shoulder in a giggling fit.

“Apologies mi amor, I couldn’t resist.”

In the other chair however, things were going...less pleasantly.

Raz gazed down at the trees below as they rode along, humming some song the piano player in the lobby had been playing. Feeling something bump his leg, he glanced over, seeing Loboto’s legs jittering back and forth enough to jostle against him. Now that he thought about it, the whole man was shaking. Glancing up at the dentist’s face, he found the older man’s gaze fixed straight down at the ground. His hands were fisted in and tugging nervously at the strings of his ski hat (they’d all agreed the shower cap might be a bit too conspicuous), causing the large pop pom on top to bounce rhythmically. And judging by his harsh breathing, the guy was probably about 2 steps away from hyperventilating.

“Um, Loboto?” The young boy asked, seeming to snap the dentist out of his daze, at least partially, both he and Gloria looking over at him.

“Are you ok?”

“Now that I notice, you do seem a bit...tense, dear. Are you feeling alright?” Gloria added gently

“Oh, just fine! Happy as a clam! No reason at all to feel nervous!” He replied exuberantly, the smile on his face horribly forced, eyes darting to the drop below them every few seconds.

Raz stared at him, mind puzzling over the info. The slightly loony man was usually fairly fearless, sometimes to the point of his own peril. So what could have gotten him so stirred up?

Glancing down at the ground far below them, something suddenly clicked in the boy’s head. A memory rose to the front of his mind, one of a night at an asylum what seemed so long ago, and a certain dentist’s supposed demise at the hands of a turtle powered tank. Raz felt the pit of his stomach drop, guilt sweeping over him at the realization.

“Uh, hey, is there any way this about the time you...you know?” Raz asked gently, hand gestures miming the image of a person falling off something, and flinched when the man’s head snapped around to look at him, smile wide.

“What?! No, no, of course not!...Maybe...probably...” He replied, his vibrato visibly deflating as he tried his best not to look down.

“Oh, Loboto dear, it’s alright. There’s nothing to worry about.” Gloria fretted, catching onto the issue and reaching out to pat the blue man’s back.

“Yeah, these ski lifts are like, totally safe!” Raz exclaimed, in an attempt to help.

As though mocking them, the lift jerked for a moment, sending them swinging a bit. Loboto sucked in a sharp breath at the motion, hand instinctively tightening where it had been wrapped lightly around Raz’s forearm in a grip that would definitely be leaving bruises the next day. Gloria grimaced when she saw Raz wince, raising a hand to tap her chin in thought.

“Oh dear, well this isn’t good.”

After a moment an idea hit her, and she leaned over to catch the mad dentist’s gaze smiling gently.

“Loboto dear, have I ever told you about the first time I ever took to the stage?”

The man paused in his panicking, seeming to calm slightly as he gave her a confused look, Raz looking at her in equal confusion but seeming to roll with it.

“Um, not that I’m aware of?”

“Well, let me tell you. I’ve preformed on hundreds of stages of the years, all over the world. The theater was my lifeblood. But the first time I performed in front of people, oh, I was terrified.”

“R-Really?” The man replied, eyes widening.

“Oh, absolutely. It was the worst case of stage fright I ever felt. I was absolutely petrified. My palms were sweaty, my head was spinning. I completely froze up on stage. And that wasn’t the only time. No no, I’ve had stage fright hundreds of times in my career. I almost refused to go on stage for my own awards ceremony, I was so nervous. But let me tell you something very important I’ve learned.”

She leaned in close, taking the man’s hands gently in her own, both he and Raz leaning in in fascination.

“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. Everyone fears something. I’m scared of messing up on stage, overwhelmingly so. Young Raz here has his own fears, as do you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Being brave doesn’t mean the absence of fear. Anyone who says so is an idiot. No, to be brave is to look fear in the face and still continue on in spite of it.”

Leaning back, she looked out at the forest surrounding them.

“This really is a lovely view, isn’t it?”

“Yes...Yes I suppose it is.” The dentist replied quietly, gazing out at the landscape around them seemingly with new eyes. He still seemed nervous certainly, gaze fixed firmly on the horizon in an attempt not to look down, but his shaking had stopped and his breathing had steadied. From behind his back, Raz gave the actress two big thumbs up and a grin.

As they neared the peak of the hill, they could the others laughing about something in the chair ahead of them, quickly hurrying off of it to make room as they reached the landing. As soon as it was their turn, Loboto practically threw himself off the ski lift, clearly trying to reach Terra Firma as quickly as possible. Gloria and Raz followed at a more normal rate behind him, pausing for a moment when the boy looked up at her.

“Not gonna lie, that was kinda awesome.”

“Why thank you my dear.” She replied sweetly, before giving him a little grin and leaning in closer as she lowered her voice.

“I’ve had a lot of practice at that speech. You’d be amazed how many new actors and actresses get opening night jitters. Still works like a charm.”

Leaving the boy to sputter in surprise for a moment, she skied on to where the others were waiting at the hills peak.

“So, what’s the plan?” Fred asked, adjusting his feet in the snowboard as Raz caught back up with them.

“Keep together and keep our eyes out for anything suspicious I guess?” The boy replied with a shrug, earning a nod from the rest of the group.

“Sounds like a plan bud.”

After some quick adjustment of clothing, equipment and whatever else, they set off.

It became quickly apparent that none of them were even close to professional skiers, though some were faring better than others. Fred’s muscle memory did seem to be kicking in, handling his snowboard with surprisingly few complications, while Gloria’s seemingly natural graceful-ness was doing her skis well. Raz took a spill every now and them, but likewise, his acrobat training seemed to be translating pretty well to snow-sports.

The others weren’t faring quite as well. Edgar seemed to be developing a habit of falling over onto his back pretty often, his large upper body pulling him over whenever he began to lose his balance, while Boyd seemed to be having the opposite problem, having taken more than a few headers face first into the snow already. Loboto was surprisingly staying up pretty well, perhaps his long legs were to blame for his better balance, but every few second he would begin to weave wildly back and forth on the slope before correcting himself, only for the cycle to repeat again shortly thereafter. The whole lot of them were certainly getting a lot of curious looks from the more advanced skiers that would occasionally pass them, the occasional trail guard they passed seeming even more concerned.

With all the chaos, it’s a wonder any of them ever saw anything.

“Whoa, wait everybody!” Raz suddenly cried about halfway down the trail, skidding to a sudden stop. He was nearly bowled over by the others in their attempts to stop, Edgar managing to fall onto his back once more and slid a few feet past him with an exasperated sigh.

“Dios mio, this is becoming tiring. What’s the matter mi amigo?”

“Look at those trees over there.” He replied, pointing to part of the forest that lined either side of the path. Glancing to where he pointed, they spotted what he seemed to be gesturing to. A swath of low branches in a certain area were snapped and bent, as though something had run into them or pulled them out of the way.

“Yeah, that definitely looks like it could be something.” Boyd replied with the critical eye of a security guard, the whole group moving off the path and towards the woodland to examine them. Upon closer inspection, there was most definitely something amiss. While the branches closer to the path broke inwards towards the forest, others further in seemed to break outwards.

“Hey, what’s that?” Raz asked, squinting further into the woodland. Unhooking himself from the snowboard, he darted further into the trees, moving to the edge of the breakage, and crouching down, seemingly digging around near one large trees roots. After a moment he seemed to free whatever he was holding and started back in the others direction.

“Look at this guys.”

He held it up for them to see, the group leaning in for a closer look. It seemed to be a long scrap of torn fabric, patterned in thick, alternating purple and black stripes, with a flash of gold along one edge.

“What do you guys think it is?” Boyd asked in bewilderment, squinting at the piece. Beside him, Edgar gave a sudden small gasp.

“Wait, didn’t that bartender say that Señorita Pandor wore a jacket in these colors?”

The group gapped at him for a moment before turning back to the scrap with renewed interest.

“Holy hell guys, I think we just found an actual clue.” Fred sputtered in amazement, Raz’s eyes lighting up.

“Hey maybe there’s more stuff to find back there! Come on, let’s go look!” the boy crowed, moving to run back into the trees.

He didn’t get very far though, as the wind suddenly kicked up, nearly knocking him over as it ripped through the trees with a swirl of snow.

“Geeze, I though trees were good for avoiding wind. Come on!”

He tried to take a few more steps forwards, only to get knocked back by another gust, being forced to take a few steps back to the group this time. Quickly the wind began to build, howling around the lot of them and kicking up the snow into near white out conditions.

“Damn, they’ve got some crazy weather in these parts!” Boyd called over the noise, Fred replying as he threw up his arms as much as he could to block his face.

“Not the sort I’ve ever seen before!”

“Wait.”

They all quieted, turning to look over Loboto, who was currently looking around in confusion.

“Now, I may have been called crazy one or twice in the past, but does anyone else hear something odd?”

The group stilled, listening hard over the wind. All at the same time, they seemed to catch it, Fred glancing around the group in sudden nervousness.

“Does that sound like growling to anyone else?”

Indeed, the sound mixed in amongst the howling of the wind was much deeper and guttural, rumbling through the air.

Crack

They all froze at the loud sound of splintering wood, all slowly turning in unison to look deeper into the woods. A shape appeared through the blur of snow, the growling growing louder and the shape becoming clearer as it drew towards them. Eventually it stopped at the edge of the broken branches and their hearts all collectively stopped as they made out what it was.

A massive beast, easily 8 or 9 feet tall, bipedal, and clothed in long white hair, only it’s slightly darker face and palms peeking out through the thick fur. For a long, drawn-out moment, there was nothing but the howling of the wind. The only thing to interrupt it was a tiny, likely instinctual whisper from Raz.

“Holy shit.”

The beast didn’t seem to like that very much and its growl deepened. With one massive hand, it reached up and tore a branch from the tree beside it with the sound of screeching wood, before reaching back and hurling it at the group. With a collective cry of surprise and panic they all managed to throw themselves out of the way of it, the large chunk of wood landing amongst the other broken branches nearby. Its failure seemed to enrage the beast even more and it reached down, clawing and tearing a truly gargantuan chunk of snow up out of the ground. It lifted it up and above its head, clearly reeling back to launch it at them, and Raz let out another, this time very foreign sounding, curse.

“Oh, that looks like a real bad time! Boyd! I’m gonna need some help!”

With that, the boy darted out in front of the rest of the group, the security guard seeming to pick up on his plan and following along behind him. Just as the beast hurled the massive snowball, Raz threw his hands up to conjure a psychic shield, Boyd’s own hands joining just beside his to release a spray of flame outside the barrier just as it contacted.

The snow clump exploded around them. Most of it dissolved into steam under the sudden onslaught of the fire, what remained splattering against the curved wall of psychic force in a spray of water and slush, flying off on either side of the group.

“Where is it?! Can anybody see what it’s doing?!” Raz called out, trying to squint through the cloud of steam now surrounding them.

“I don’t know, I can’t see!” Boyd replied, waving his hands to put out the small flames sparking on his gloves.

As the steam was cleared by the slowly calming wind, Raz blinked in surprise at the scene before him, shield disappearing as he lowered his hands.

The beast had vanished, seemingly into thin air.

For a moment they all simply sat there, most of the group having fallen to the ground in the scramble to get out of harm’s way, the air thick with unspoken disbelief. Till finally, Fred said what they’d all been thinking.

“Was that a goddamn yeti???”

“In my professional dentist opinion...yes.” Loboto replied, staring equally slack jawed at the spot.

“What?? Where did it go?? A beast that big does not simply disappear into thin air??” Edgar sputtered, clambering back to his feet as though a higher viewpoint would somehow reveal the 9 foot tall creatures hiding place.

“I...I don’t...-“

“Oi! What are you lot doing back there!?”

The whole group let out a collection of shrieks and yelps at the sudden shout, whipping around to look behind them.

An older man armed with a hefty walking stick stood at the edge of the ski trail, staring into the woods at them with a grumpy scowl on his face.

“Wha- who are you?!” Raz asked, at a loss for words, and the old man’s expression seemed to sour even further.

“Ambrose. I’m the grounds keeper here. And I should be asking you the same thing!”

“Did...Did you see...?” Boyd asked, dazed by his seeming unconcern for the fucking yeti that had been in front of them 20 seconds before. The old man leaned to glance at the place he was gesturing to, brow creasing.

“See? I don’t see anything. All I see is a bunch of troublemakers putzing about in the woods. Get out of there! You’re supposed to stay on the trail!”

Like a bunch of scolded children, they all quickly gathered themselves and scurried back out onto the path in front of the man, who pointed an angry finger at them.

“Now don’t let me go catchin you messing about in there again, understood?”

They all obediently nodded and, seemingly satisfied, he turned away with a nod, grumbling the likes of “people these days” as he slowly hiked further up the path.

“...Ok, so we’re all in agreement that we gotta tell the rest of the gang about that right?” Fred asked, seemingly still dumbfounded, and was answered by a chorus of nods.

The rest of the trip down the hill was largely uneventful. Somehow, an encounter with a mythical creature has seemingly improved their snow-sports skills, and they managed not to have any more major spills on the rest of the way down the mountain. The sun was setting by the time they reached the bottom and, after getting their equipment situated, the six ventured back through the main lodge in search of their three companions.

They did eventually find them back in the lounge, tucked away in a corner table with their drinks.

“Ah, hello everyone!” Milla greeted them with a smile and wave as they made their way over.

“Did you have a good day out on the slopes?”

“Uh, yeah, it was, uh, pretty, pretty good.” Fred replied, sharing a look with others.

“How’s about you guys?”

Sasha gestured for them to sit, voice lowered as he spoke.

“Well, we looked over Ms. Pandor’s room and it was just as empty as we’d been told. Not a trace of her. The only things we found was the Psychonauts bug she put in the rooms phone when she got here. Which means that she likely didn’t leave willingly, if she didn’t have the chance to remove it. That or she simply forgot it when she left.”

“Yeah, and that sort of absentminded-ness doesn’t sound like her. Girl might leave her workspace a mess, but I’ve been on missions with her before, and she’s a neat freak when it comes to hotels and stuff. All the tidying she does, she probably leaves them cleaner than it was when she got there. Gotta ask her if she’s got some sort of service industry trauma from college or something...” Oleander added, trailing off into rambling at the end.

“So did you six find anything out on the slopes?”

The group glanced at each other and eventually it was Gloria who haltingly began, realizing just how insane what she was about to say was going to sound.

“Well, there may have been a bit of an incident out on the trails...”

“We got attacked by a yeti!” Raz suddenly blurted, bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. Sasha turned to look at him with a truly flummoxed expression, seemingly completely thrown for a loop at the boys’ words.

“...R...Run that by me again??”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story.” Boyd replied with a sigh.

It took quite a while to explain the events that had befallen them all, added to by the fact that dinner arrived in the middle of it, but eventually they got the whole incident out in the open, the three senior agents staring at them in bewilderment by the end.

“Are you sure it wasn’t some sort of polar bear or something? Those things can get big as hell when they’re on their hind legs.” Oleander offered and Gloria shook her head.

“Now I know how this all sounds, Agent Oleander, but we know what we saw, and that was most definitely not a bear.”

“Plus, we found this!” Raz added, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the fabric scrap, handing it over to the trio.

“The bartender we talked to said he saw her wearing a coat like that!”

“Well, I’ll admit, this definitely looks like Tanny’s sorta style.” Oleander admitted with a shrug, handing it over to Sasha to look at.

“Regardless of what this beast you saw might be, there is most definitely more going on here than a simple wayward agent.” The german acquiesced.

“Well, how’s about we all get a good night sleep and continue the investigation tomorrow. You all must be exhausted.” Milla offered kindly and Edgar gave a groan as he stretched, back popping loudly.

“After the beating we took out there, you don’t know the half of it Ms. Milla.”

Luckily for them, their rooms at the lodge were, just like the rest of the property, amazing. They’d been separated across 4 adjacent, and connected, rooms, with the senior agents sharing one and the former asylum members another, leaving Loboto and Raz to bunk solitarily. Their mother organization had, knowing and being blessedly supportive all sorts of relationships, even been kind enough to book the four a California King, while Sasha, Milla and Oleander were more than happy to settle for a King.

“Ugh, we literally just started doing spy stuff and I already feel like an old man waiting for retirement.” Fred groaned, stretching and feeling some muscle in his back twinge.

“Hehe, implying you aren’t already an old man.” Edgar teased him with a chuckle from where he was kneeling in massage position over the lanky man’s hips, his own aching back already having been kindly tended to by Gloria before her bath.

“Hey, keep up that talk and I’ll have to revoke smooching privileges.” The counselor shot back, pointing a finger over his shoulder threateningly at the larger man, even as he melted blissfully beneath he ministrations of the artist’s talented hands. Edgar finally managed to work out the last knot at the base of the man’s spine and Fred gave a little groan of relief, going boneless on the mattress beneath him.

“You boys better not be having too much fun in there without me!” Gloria called from the bathroom and Edgar laughed, smoothing his hands lovingly up and down the thinner man’s back a few times before climbing off him.

“Alright, all done. Time to move mi amor.”

Fred gave a little grumble that sounded a lot like “Sleepy. Don’t wanna.” and the painter rolled his eyes fondly, grabbing him and, like an owner with a lazy puppy, simply dragged him out of the way, patting the spot that opened up.

“Your turn.” He called over to Boyd, who’d been looking out onto the rooms snow covered balcony that overlooked the lodge’s main square, and the guard abandoned his post with a grin.

“Oh thank goodness.” He replied, shucking his shirt off and flopping onto the bed with a sigh, sending the nearby Fred bouncing slightly. He gave another grateful sigh as he folded his arms beneath his head and Edgar set to work.

“Damn, today was a crazy day. The more I think about it the less it makes sense.” He mused, earning a snorted laugh from a slightly more awake Fred as the man reached out to run a sleepy hand through the guard’s hair.

“That’s an understatement.”

“Well, I must admit, I find it all a little bit exciting.”

The three men glanced back to find Gloria emerging from the large bathroom, dressed in a fluffy towel and currently braiding her long damp hair.

“Yes, there’s a been a bit of danger I suppose, but what adventure doesn’t have some danger?”

“Sure as hell beats grading papers at least.” Fred agreed, earning a collective laugh.

“Would you like one when I’m done, mi bella?” Edgar asked, gesturing to the massage in progress, and Gloria shook her head, stooping down to give him a kiss on the cheek regardless.

“No, but it’s sweet of you to ask.”

Soon enough they all found themselves properly prepared for bed, lights flipped off, and beneath the plush covers of the bed, tangling together in the warm heap they’d so quickly become accustomed to.

“Goodnight you guys. Love you.” Fred murmured sleepily, answered by a small chorus of similar sentiments.

Before long, the four found themselves drifting off, eager to see what new, and potentially yeti-related, adventures awaited them in the morning.

#psychonauts #psychonautssecretsanta2020 #you guys wanna split a cab #lobotoly #calimorry #sasha/milla/oleander #god knows what their actual ship name is #razputin aquato #sasha nein #milla vodello #morceau oleander #caligosto loboto #gloria von gouton #edgar teglee #boyd cooper #fred bonaparte #Plus a whole mess of OC's #secret santa #My writing

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mariapanpan1833 · 3 years

Text

How Cyro joined Talon pt. 2

Cyro, Sombra, and Widow walked around the city of Rome, of course, with Cyro and Reno leading the way to the pound, proudly whistling a tune with her arms slung over her shoulders holding her head with Sombra and Widow trailing along.

“Sombra...” Widow growled.

Sombra looked up from her computer, “Yeah?”

Widow sighed as if it wasn’t obvious what she was going to ask, “You haven’t clarified why we’ve been following a child through the city yet...” She grimaced, Widow was known to take little to no care for these things, but something irked a nerve when she was with Sombra.

“Look I get it, but Cyro is no child, she’s a genius! She’s got connections all over the city, and her bounty hunter job is actually pretty solid,” Sombra pulled up a screen, out of earshot of Cyro, and started showing some of the details she found.

“Kid's smart, she makes it look like a wild attack other than murder. She collects detail and items, all across town, she’s got too many people scared of her.”

Widow raised an eyebrow, clearly not amused by Sombra’s amusement about the news.

“Alright, alright, check this.” She swiped through a few screens, “She was hard to find, and coming from me that’s saying something. Doesn’t stay in the same place for too long, and doesn’t keep the same phone number, let alone have much of an internet presence.”

“So how’d you find her?”

“Pfft, Nobodies that good at hiding from me plus, she isn’t that hard to recognize.” Sombra pointed to Cyro about her small stature.

“Sombra, do you know what Akande would do if we-”

“We’re here,” Cyro called out, the three of them standing in front of the pound’s fence.

The pound was small but the fact it needed any form of protection scared away most people around, alongside the loud barking from the dogs inside.

“You two wait here, this will be quick” Cyro climbed the fence, followed by Reno as he sprinted up and over the fence.

“I’m coming with you.” Widow said.

“There’s not that much security, there’s no need.”

“I’m coming to keep an eye on you.” Widow clarified, clearing the fence after.

“The more hands to help I guess, Sombra, keep a lookout here.” Cyro nodded at Sombra who nodded back in response.

Cyro led the way, her and Widow crouching over onto cover for the nearest wall for cover, they were in the back entrance, guarded with a dog and officer.

Cyro’s eyes blinked grey, “I’ve got the dog, you handle the guard.”

Widow looked confused, “How do you-”

Cyro pointed to her eyes, “Animal tamer, remember?”

Widowmaker rolled her eyes and moved over to the next cover, once she was good, she inched closer to the guard, out of sight, and once she was close enough, she used her grabbling hook and tightened it around the guard's neck, knocking him out.

Widow signaled Cyro over who jogged forward. “Nice work.” She complimented as she took the guard's keys and worked on finding which one to opened the door.

“So ‘Widowmaker’ I thought you were blue?” Cyro asked, trying to make conversation.

Widow took a mirror out of her pocket and checked over her white skin, “Makeup.” She answered plainly.

“Oh... I-I mean, yeah, that makes sense.”

Cyro continued fiddling with the keys, "So you and Sombra-"

"No." Widow shut it down before she got to finish.

"Ah, so you're free then?" Cyro flirtatiously growled Widow scoffed, not paying mind to the teen's advances.

Cyro unlocked the door and stuffed the keys into her pocket.

They walked inside with Cyro now having the guard's dog with her, checking the cameras which Sombra had already taken care of.

“You check upfront for any more guards, I'll grab the rest of the dogs,” Cyro told Widow, who walked away without a word.

After dealing with the last guard, Widow turned her head, Cyro had the entire pound under her control, which is shown by her grey eyes, each dog standing freakishly still.

“How do you expect us to walk into town like that?” Widow asked.

Cyro split the dogs into groups of three, lining them up like a military. “There, got a guy who can hold them for a bit, I’ll control them over to him in groups. Strays here aren’t new.”

Widow sighed, “Fine.”

Cyro sent the dogs off, it was odd to Widow how Cyro had so much power doing so little, but Sombra did say she was good.

Cyro and Widow walked out meeting Sombra who was waiting outside.

“Where are the dogs?” Sombra asked, sitting up from the wall.

Cyro pointed at her glowing grey eyes, “Taking them to a guy right now in sets, he’ll hold them for me.” She answered.

“Wait, you’re controlling all of those dogs at once,” Sombra asked with complete interest.

“It’s a harder job, but yeah.” Cyro stop to scan the area and Widow turned to see Sombra nearly squealing.

“What?”

“She’s controlling a shit ton of animals at once!”

“That’s only impressive to you because you can’t multitask.” Widow explained.

“You try having every person on file 24/7. If that’s all we can head back to the apartment.”

Cyro snapped her fingers in realization, “Ah yes! We have one more place to stop if I’m training these dogs, I need my equipment!”

Widow sighed, “And where is that?”

“My truck, of course, the guy who drives me, Pako, is holding it for me, you all don’t mind do you?”

Sombra perked up, “No... but how many guys do have to do you favors?” She asked.

Cyro laughed, “Let’s just say nobody here is actually scary compared to me. Let's hurry while it’s still daylight outside.”

Cyro walked up to Pako, a big muscular guy almost ten times her size. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, “Kept up our end of the deal, I need you to take me somewhere.”

Pako sat up from the black van he was leaning on, “You know what kid, I’ll think I’d outta hold on to this money for now...” He towered over her, his large shadow covering her entire body.

She shrugged, “Fine.” She walked away towards the back of the alley, once she was near the end, she quickly drew her knife and threw it at him, fitting itself into his leg.

He quivered in pain, wincing over himself holding his leg, just stopping himself from screaming in pain. He leaned over the closest wall and almost back up from Cyro as she approached, “Kid! Argh.... don’t go doing anything rash now, I was just about to give you the car!”

Cyro opened the back of the van, waking up the sleeping tiger in the back, “Sasha, I got you some food.” She said it so quietly, the guy felt a shiver down his spine. Cyro walked over and took her knife back out from the guy’s legs

“We can talk this out, I-I got money, you like money don’t you?! I got a place you all can stay! Some food, I got food! Cyro!”

She took the van and drove a bit down the road, the guy's screams becoming nothing but soft sounds of music as she drove down a few blocks to where Widowmaker and Sombra were waiting.

“You weren’t kidding! You actually have a truck!” Sombra nearly bounced in excitement.

“My very own brand.” Cyro added, rubbing the red decal on the side of the truck, “Reminds me, I need to get out these rugs, give me a second.” Cyro climbed into the back of the truck and shut the doors.

Widow turned to Sombra with a skeptical look on her face, all Sombra could do was shrug.

Cyro came out of the truck, wearing a velvet leather suit, the end of it hanging lower behind her, sporting a commander hat with a gold heart emblem on it, the outfit wasn’t too fancy, but was rather flashy for combat wear. She pulled out her knife from earlier, the name “Cyro” lazily carved into the side of being shown, and glided her finger across it, cleaning it from the blood it gained earlier and sliding it into its respected place at her side.

“Where’d you get the blood?” Widow asks.

“Pako came up short, so I cut my loose ends.”

“And the truck?”

Cyro rolled her eyes, “Ay, bella, do you always ask so many questions?”

Widow crossed her arms, “Only to people I don’t trust.”

“Okay then, I’ll make it up to you, trust me to go get us some good food?”

Widowmaker shrugged while making her way to the car, “As long as we’re heading back to the apartment, I don’t care what you do.”

They entered the empty apartment, turning on the lights while heading inside.

“Told you guys, I’d get us something good!” Cyro chirped.

“You didn’t even pay.” Widow replied.

“I forgot my wallet, but our darling Sombra did for us, and I have to say you did a marvelous job with the apartment too, very well done.”

Widowmaker scoffed, “Forgot your- You tipped the waitress!”

“I had enough to thank her for her hard work... and giving me some eye candy to have during the stay.”

Widow rolled her eyes as Cyro winked back at her.

“If that’s all, then I’ll be heading off to bed, I’ll see you two in the morning.”

With that Cyro walked off into a random room she decided would be hers for their stay.

The two adults got settled for bed, setting up their stuff in separate rooms, just as Sombra got done with her equipment Widow walked in.

“Her file.” She stated plainly.

“Why won’t you just leave the kid alone?” Sombra asked.

“She’s hardly a kid, what’s she doing out in the streets anyway? I need her file, Sombra.”

Sombra opened up a computer and began typing, “I wish you were more fun...” She mumbled.

When Widow heard her phone ring, she began to walk out, “Amélie?”

Widowmaker’s attention fastened to the use of her name, “What?”

Sombra caught herself, looking down and thinking, “It’s nothing, sorry, goodnight.”

Widow eyed Sombra, eventually stop caring about what it was she was going to say, “Goodnight.”

#widowmaker #overwatch #sombra #spiderbyte #myoccyro #cyroseries

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finalvortex · 3 years

Text

True Colors, huh?

Now that things have settled a bit, I'd like to review my classpects for the Sharps, in light of all the new information we have.

((Future Maltor here. I started this post two weeks ago intending it to be a quick post where I said things like "I think Anne is a Breath player because she's friendly! :)". Instead I have written a 2000 word character analysis of Sasha alone (with some digressions into analysing and explaining Homestuck). So this is going to be... an endeavor. Enjoy?))

To give a brief recap of my classpect theory, just so everyone is on the same page: Your Aspect is, fundamentally, the way you see the world, the concept or idea that is most important to you, and is therefore usually a strength. Your Class reflects the way you then take that idea and use it to interact with the world - and it's often tied to your weaknesses. Now, it's important that when I say 'strengths and weaknesses', I don't necessarily mean your best qualities or your flaws. A weakness can be a kindness. A strength can be an obsession.

I want to start with Sasha. So, as we learnt in Battle of the Bands, everything Sasha does is driven by a desire for control. But while Sasha is a lot of things, I think that fundamentally, she's never selfish. Everything she does - including the things that make her kind of villainous - are done for the sake of other people. As we saw, she's driven by a desire to be the best and win at everything, and she wants the people she cares about to do the same, because she believes they're capable of it. She does this with Percy and Braddock in Barrel's Warhammer, too - she doesn't let them back down because she wants to succeed, but she also genuinely includes them in that success. She tries to take control because she thinks she knows best. In my previous post, I was tossing up between Thief and Prince, which are two very similar classes in terms of behavior - but here's the thing. A Thief, fundamentally, is someone who takes things for themself. A Prince, however, is a leader. Someone who pushes others to do things, often to the point of going against what that person actually wants. Compare the way that Sasha treats her friends to the relationship between Jake and Dirk, where Dirk keeps aggressively pushing Jake past his limits because he believes he can live up to this unrealistic standard. And maybe Dirk has a point in that Jake is capable of reaching those heights, but the way he goes about is by putting Jake in dangerous situations against his will. Yes, that does ultimately turn out to be Hal acting as Dirk in proxy, but by also looking at Eridan and Kurloz, it's clear that Princes have an association with abuse.

All of that said. I've been reading a lot of character analysis posts, and a lot of them point out that, on paper, Sasha is a thoroughly heroic character. She's literally a knight in armor fighting to take down a corrupt tyrant. I'm hardly the first person to say this, but given the information she has access to, Sasha never really does anything wrong beyond being a bad friend and lying about her true motivations. Sasha has a history of doing what's technically the right thing for the wrong reason, which makes her a very interesting character, but also makes it very hard to pin her motives down. I'm hoping her time in Wartwood in S3 gives us a new perspective on her. Anyway, I got distracted from my point, which is this: taking a traditionally heroic arc and corrupting or tainting it in some way is something that happens a lot in Homestuck. It's not something that's particularly strongly connected with a particular class - it's something that Dave, Rose, Dirk, Jake, Karkat, Vriska and Eridan all go through to varying degrees.

In Sasha's case, it seems as though she sees herself as the hero, and she'll force the narrative to bend around her to fit that. ...and now you're thinking about Vriska, aren't you? Well, you're wrong - Vriska is determined to make herself important to the narrative, but it doesn't matter to her how she does it - she's just as willing to play the role of a villain, so long as it puts her center stage. (I will also continue to argue that that's more of a Light player trait than a Thief trait - it's something she shares with Rose and Aranea, but not Meenah.)

Sasha, in contrast, isn't trying to make herself important - she's trying to make herself into a hero. She's trying to make herself the protagonist - not out of a desire to have other people recognize her, or even really for power - she wants her friends back, but she wants them back without having to compromise on her ideals, and without having to admit she's been in the wrong. Positioning herself as a heroic figure is the best way of doing that - it fits into her ideals of strength and perseverance, and it lets her take a perceived moral high ground - at least, it would if Anne wasn't able to see through that hollow shell. In terms of overall heroic actions, she's not even doing that bad a job!

I just used the phrase "hollow shell", so I think you know where I'm going with this. Let's talk about Knights. Knights are one of the classes that have the most complex relationship with the heroic arc - they are people who feel an obligation to be heroes, but they have personal hangups surrounding that. Dave and Karkat were raised in this way where they were taught to idealize a certain image of a warrior hero, and they feel like they should aspire to that image. but they have trauma associated with being forced into that role. Both of their arcs are about how they relate to the idea of the heroic narrative, redefining and reshaping it into their own narrative as a method of processing that trauma. Now, it's difficult to say how much that applies to Sasha, because we know so little about what her life was like pre-Amphibia. But it wouldn't surprise me if it does turn out Sasha has some kind of backstory that explains a lot of her issues (I saw someone suggest that it would explain a lot about her if one or both of her parents was a cop... or, say, a government agent). I'm expecting to learn a lot more about her in season 3 - but I definitely think that Knight is a strong contender for her. It's also worth nothing that, mechanically speaking, a Knight uses their aspect as a weapon.

So, the two classes I think are most likely are Knight or Prince. It's really impossible to say which one is a stronger contender until we learn more about Sasha's past, so I'm going to go forward by looking at how these interact with the Aspects.

To get this out of the way, I did suggest earlier that the desire to position yourself at the center of your own narrative is a Light trait - but that's really the only thing associated with Light that I can see in Sasha's character. She hasn't shown any strong association with knowledge or fortune - she's certainly not a particularly studious or scholarly person. Also, Sasha isn't literally thinking in terms of a narrative or story structure, the way Vriska or Rose did, she's just acting in a way that she sees as heroic. So I don't think Light is a real possibility here.

In my previous post I posited Sasha was a Rage player, but I did say I wasn't totally committed to that, and also suggested Time. This is because these two aspects are the ones that are the most focused on direct, meaningful action - Time literally being about constant forward movement and perseverance, Rage being defined by chaos and disruption to the status quo. While those are still candidates, I'm finding it kind of hard to settle on a specific Aspect for her. It's hard to say exactly what the most important thing to Sasha is, especially because in her own words, she herself doesn't know what she wants any more. I think up until True Colors, power and friendship were the same thing in Sasha's mind- reminder that her stated goal in taking over Newtopia was "to get this friendship back under control". Which, uh, I'm not sure how those things connect, girl.

So, maybe the thing that Sasha cares about most is genuinely her friends. She'll push them beyond their limits, sure, but that's because she wants them to be their best selves. The Blood/Breath pairing is the one that deals with close interpersonal relationships, of course - and they specifically frame the player as an inspirational figure, like the figurehead of a cause. Looking at the roles Sasha players in Prison Break and Barrel's Warhammer, that's all fine. Now, Breath is defined by a flexible, easygoing mindset and casual attitude, with others being naturally drawn to a Breath player due to charisma. Blood players, meanwhile are defined by strength and force of will, forging close bonds with others and forming a tight-knit community of followers. So... Blood, then.

And sure, Sasha did form a close group with Grime, Percy, and Braddock after the fall of Toad Tower. But her time in Amphibia has been entirely characterized by losing the people who are closest to her. First Anne, then Percy and Braddock, and now Marcy. If we take Sasha as a Prince of Blood, someone who destroys close personal relationships, that's... fitting. Note that this could also mean someone who uses close personal relationships to destroy, which may be appropriate if she's going to rally Wartwood against Andrias in S3, as the intro implies. However... I don't know if I like the idea of Sasha's definitive trait being 'destroying relationships'. It' just doesn't feel right to me. Also, Marcy wasn't her fault in any way. What about Knight of Blood? Well, then she uses her close personal relationships as a weapon, which... maybe? I guess? But if she does that, she tends to use them up in the process. The bonds Karkat formed, like with Spades Slick, seemed to be pretty stable and long lasting.

Well, what about the other thing Sasha values - power, control, victory? We've seen that Sasha has a drive where she wants - needs, even - to win, regardless of the circumstance. Whether that's in a battle of the bands or a literal fight. That's probably Time, which as an aspect is thematically tied to concepts of destruction and entropy, trimming down possibilities, opposing the limitless creative potential and freedom of Space. Time is this inexorable, unyielding force that marches eternally onward, and Time players reflect that. Relentless, driven, unstoppable. As we saw in The Third Temple, one of Sasha's strongest qualities is her perseverance - that she never, ever gives up. That seems like a pretty strong case for Time... but considering that in conjunction with the classes we have, I'm not sure I can say that Sasha destroys (with) Time, or attacks (with) it, even looking at more metaphorical interpretations of Time. She also doesn't have any real association with death, something shared among all Time players. Maybe you could say that by invading Newtopia she's ending the time of Andrias, but that seems like a stretch.

Rage is the aspect that focuses on negative emotions. It might seem strange that negative emotions can be a person's strong suit, but 'righteous anger' falls into that category. Or, you know the Discworld quote, from the Tiffany Aching books, about turning selfishness into a weapon? That's Rage at its finest. Rage players are agents of chaos, destruction and change, but all of their negative emotion - all that anger, hatred, jealousy - can be incredibly valuable when channeled towards the right targets. Sometimes you need to raze something to the ground in order to rebuild it. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I can definitely say that Sasha weaponizes her rage and envy (see Barrel's Warhammer especially, where they gain her a literal weapon). Destroying with them... again, maybe, but the fact that she managed to successfully avoid destroying North Tower makes me think probably not.

So I think the strongest combinations here are Prince of Blood or Knight of Rage, but I do have one other aspect I want to consider. A sort of wildcard option.

Heart is, thematically, all about identity and self. If you're a Heart player, the thing that's most important to you is going to be figuring out who you are and why, forging your own identity. Now, it may not seem like figuring herself out has been something Sasha has been particularly concerned with, but... quoth the extended zodiac test:

Forging an identity is extremely important to the Heart-bound, and every decision and action goes toward building a coherent narrative of their own story.

Hey, that sounds familiar. Remember when I talked about how Sasha was obsessed with positioning herself as the hero of her own narrative? That's an identity that she's forging for herself, in fact, to the point where she struggles to deal with anything that comes into conflict with it. And hey, remember how I also started this post by saying that I don't think Sasha is ever selfish? She allies with Grime in order to find Anne and Marcy. She plans out the attack on Wartwood as part of her role at Toad Tower. She agrees to help Grime raise an army and take over Newtopia to get him back on his feet. She tries to take over the concert because she wants to win for Anne and Marcy's sake. What I'm saying is, nothing Sasha ever does is motivated purely by self-interest. Now, these are all things that would be beneficial for herself as well, so I'm not saying that Sasha is placing (what she percieves as) the needs of others above her own. It's more like... Sasha is really good at presenting her actions as being beneficial to everyone. She's good at convincing you (and herself, I think) that she genuinely has your best interests at heart.

I think Knight of Heart is another really strong contender here. Someone who takes their own identity, their sense of self, and utilizes it as a weapon. Someone who makes themself into a weapon, you could say.

In summary, the classpects that I could see Sasha having are:

Knight of Rage - attacks (with) negative emotion

Prince of Blood - destroys (with) close relationships

Knight of Heart - attacks (with) self

But I don't think I can pin it down any more specifically until we learn more about her. Do you have any thoughts on any of this? Let me know!

#amphibia #sasha waybright #amphibia spoilers #this is maybe 70% sasha analysis 22% homestuck theory and 8% vriska digression #classpect

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orangegreet · 3 years

Text

No Minor Miracles | Chapter 7

A Week in Autumn | Part Two

In which we see the other half of a week of bliss and Aleksander embarks on a quest for answers, entering the Fold to journey to the other side.

Aleksander found himself once again at the threshold of The Fold. The black horse pawed the ground, waiting for his master to urge him forward.

Through the tether he felt Alina, her pulse was a beacon on the other side of the dark curtain.

Years he respected her request to stay on his side of the world. Years of restraint at her request. Her plans deserved respect.

And his own? Would she pretend this was not a severe slight to his dignity? Could she pretend not to have known he had plans of his own?

Alina left him no other choice.

He pulled from the center of his being and crossed into the Fold.

Three Weeks Earlier

The sun was slow to rise on their first morning. Or it was simply that his mind had dialed everything back to a crawl.

He relaxed naked with Alina pulled close to him to savor the softness of her skin and ran long strokes down her side.

Her eyes were closed and as he watched her slow breaths he thought about what he had seen, the power which surged between them.

Strong enough to break the world open. Strong enough to create a new one. It was present just under their skin. Even now, in the quiet hours of the morning.

His fingertips grazed the side of her breast and then down to caress the supple cheek of her bum. Gently, he lifted her leg and wrapped it over his hip.

She sighed a lazy smile and pressed her hips to his. His hardened cock nestled in the warm blanket of her folds and his own eyes closed on a lengthy inhale.

Alina’s breaths slowed again after a minute or two.

Aleksander let his long fingers thread into her black locks as he considered what he would do to keep her. They began the week knowing they would only have five days together.

Before these last few years, he contented himself that she could do as she pleased on her side of the world and he on his.

It was different now. Alina was growing in her power, collecting amplifiers and keeping secrets.

Inside himself was an undeniable call to conquer her. To press himself into her and over her and bring her to submission beneath his rule. No more of her secrets. They would not survive his efforts.

Alina was his equal, the only one who could truly match him. She strived against him as he strived against her and in their duel they both found some otherworldly satisfaction.

How could he go back after this?

His cock twitched, catching on the slick opening of her folds. A sweet whimper escaped her mouth and he watched her face as he sank into her.

“Sasha,” she said. Her eyes were still closed and her voice was tired.

He shushed her and used his free hand to clamp her thigh in place. The arm trapped under her bent to grab her hair and push her toward him in offering.

Rocking into her with long, deep strokes, he watched the movement play over her face. The serene look slowly scrunching into frustration. She moved closer but he held her in place.

“Aleksander.” She chastised.

“I already told you, Alina,” his hand drifted from her thigh and down to her soaking core. “I promised to drive you to insanity.”

Long fingers gathered up the drips escaping around his cock and he began to massage the inner lips around her opening, drawing his fingers up to her clitoris on every outward stroke and then back again as he rocked in deep.

On the third pass she began to instinctively squeeze him along with the press of his fingers.

“Good girl,” he breathed. “It brings me great pleasure to see how wet I can make you, solnyshka.”

The rhythm was maddeningly controlled and Alina reached for his shoulders. Aleksander tightened his hand in her hair and stopped moving altogether. She whined.

“I think not, little Sankta. I will decide where your hands go for now.”

When she did not respond, his hand twisted her hair a little more and she moaned.

“Decide then, Darkling.” He chuckled at the bite in her voice and pinched her clit to hear her small yelp.

“You can hold those gorgeous little breasts up for me. I want them presented.” She glared at him but the dark expanse of her pupils told him she was enjoying it.

Alina did as instructed and Aleksander resumed his rhythm, adding into his routine an alternating, suckling kiss to each nipple on every in stroke.

When she came, she disobeyed him, her hands leaving her breasts to grasp his pecks where she dug in with a clawing grip.

He growled and gave her a punishing kiss as he was spurred to a rut.

He relished the wetness of her cunt as it worked to crush his relentless cock. Her fingers sunk deeper into his pecks and his little saint growled at him, “Do not stop, Sasha.” Light surged from her skin and Aleksander refused to look away. She was a goddess in her pleasure.

The instinctive urge to smother it, to keep her locked away for no one but him came raging through his gut and he countered it only by focusing on his rhythm.

“Give me another, Alina.” He commanded. She screamed as she came and he had to clench his jaw to keep from moving, cock resting deep inside her while she rippled around him.

His lips found her ear and she trembled as he whispered, “Only I can give you this, it is mine.” He felt her nod and pressed deeper into her until she keened, “Say it. Tell me your pleasure is mine. Only for me.”

Her voice rasped between them in the wake of her scream, “Yours, Aleksander. It is yours alone.”

His eyes closed and he shuddered as he moved again. Her fingers clawed his pecks in reminder and she spoke, “Now give me what is mine.”

He would have grinned if he weren’t so close, instead a snarl was wrenched from his throat as he spent himself in her.

Her kiss softened under his mouth and he continued stroking into her until she gave him another shuddering whimper and came around him again. Her hands unfurled, rubbing over his reddened pecks to soothe the skin.

Between their two joined bodies, the tether was made manifest. The post coital haze settled over them as they watched the electricity crack and wane with the tendrils of shadow.

The tether stretched taut as a harp string and when it was plucked it vibrated and sang out an ancient note that carried them back into the beginning of time or perhaps the future or even somewhere else entirely.

It was hard to say for sure and the experience in the abyss was drugging and dreamlike. Aleksander, filled with Light and euphoria and in his arms Alina cooled with the blanket of Shadow and a blissful, angelic gaze on her face.

The tether did not always appear between them. After the first couple of days it hardly mattered because the euphoria settled over them far beyond the usual fog of pleasure either way.

They were Light and Shadow pressed against each other, dragging each other ever deeper toward the Making at the Heart of the World where their elements mingled and their lines of dominion were blurred.

When Alina squeezed herself around him, it was his Shadows she manipulated, licking up his spine. As he pulsed within her, it was her Light which poured from his palms where he held her, pressing sunshine back into her skin.

When the first two days had passed, the tinge of desperation thickened between them. Their time was already running out.

Aleksander was woken from sleep by the slick sensation of Alina’s tongue dragging over the head of his cock. It took less than a minute of comprehension before he began twisting a hand in her locks to take control.

She smiled around him and when he was deep enough that her nose brushed the black hair around his base, she gifted him a vibrating groan from her throat.

Aleksander hardly let her finish a solitary walk around the garden before he woke from his nap and called for her.

When she returned, it was to a maddened Darkling with sleep mussed hair and wild eyes who immediately pushed her over the chaise by the window and filled her without so much as a kiss to her mouth.

“Thought you…were gone,” he grunted, gripping her hips as he stroked into her with a building rhythm. Her arm curled behind her to pull at the nape of his neck and he bit her shoulder in rabid desolation.

She cried out and took it all for him, disjointed words falling from her lips. “Here, Aleksander. Here and yours. Only yours.”

The desperation ebbed and flowed and they enjoyed many rounds which were sweet and quiet followed by rounds of wild passion which stretched both of their limits for an urgent pleasure-pain and unending stamina.

The experience for them both to be allowed to exercise their powers during sex was new. Neither had let go in this way before; it was freeing and powerful. It fed them. It spurred them forward. It depleted them and they ate upwards of five times a day.

Alina dripped down his shaft with her core and lifted her hips again, bouncing on his lap once more. She took her pleasure with a vicious smile on her face and intensified her rays in the room. Her eyes locked on the beads of perspiration gathering at his neck.

“Determined to make me sweat, are you Sol Koroleva?”

He clasped her ass, savoring in the pert little globes with a hardy squeeze.

He changed the pace abruptly with a swift impaling.

Her yell was hoarse and he smirked at her before claiming her mouth again. Their tongues met in a duel producing twin groans.

She bit his lip and then sat back from him, letting cool air enter into the space between their chests. “Yes, actually. Maybe I want to see how wet I can make you for a change.” She winked at him.

His pace stammered for a moment and then Aleksander threw his head back in laughter. His eyes crinkled and his nose did too and she had never seen such happiness break over his face, completely unbridled. Alina reveled in it with wide eyes.

Her gaze found his exposed neck, dewy both from his efforts and her sunlight. She licked a line up from his collar to his jaw and his laughter choked in his throat.

The third evening they sprawled naked on the rug in front of the fire picking food from a tray and sipping kvas. Alina leaned against Aleksander’s chest and idly stroked his naked thighs while they talked, delicately, about their day-to-day lives.

“Visitors to Os Alta arrived the day before I left the city. It seems the esteemed West Ravkan General seeks to wed and pretends to ask permission of the King. Though what he is really doing here is sealing off supply lines to the east. Ensuring Fjerda has no one to rely on except West Ravka.”

Her eyes were half lidded as she trailed her fingers up around his throat, lingering in the hollow between his collarbones.

His palm rubbed over her wrist while he talked. She hummed to show she was listening.

Their week was more than half over now and the thought caused him to clutch at her wrist briefly.

The more time passed with her where he did not somehow push her away, the more anxious he became of pushing her away.

It was like him to ruin things.

So he continued speaking about menial things, the happenings in court, the arguments over trade and shipping. Each sentence invited her deeper into his confidence and he prayed to her that she would like it there.

It felt reminiscent of their first month together. Conversations over food and greedy touches.

“The Tsar and his son have been holding meetings with Shu Han.” Her hand stilled over his thigh and she clutched at the muscle there.

It was a risk to bring the conversation in this direction but he felt assured that Alina was on the other side of the Fold his plans were so immediate—the notion that she could disrupt them was laughable.

Aleksander desired her confidence and her partnership much more in this moment.

“I know,” he answered her unspoken panic and resumed his hold on her arm, stroking her with a soothing palm. “They plan to marry Vasily off to a princess.” He cleared his throat.

“Once they do that, they will have the might of the Shu Han army behind them. They plan to end the war with the Fjerdans for good. The Second Army—me included—will no longer be of use.”

Aleksander’s tone was light but his menace lurked beneath the words.

“Sasha…” Alina began with caution.

“Shh, I am not worried, solnyshka. I have endured the treachery of Tsars far worse than the one currently occupying the throne.” Alina turned to look at him but he continued speaking, moving on from the matter entirely.

She let him.

She settled against his chest and took a few gulps of her kvas as she watched the flames lick the logs in the hearth. Alina appeared lost in thought but he continued on, cherishing just these moments of normalcy between them.

He imagined the day when they would share this from the privacy of their chambers in the Grand Palace.

“Kerch leaders advise they are in Os Alta to fortify their university with endowments in exchange for intelligence on the military movements of Shu Han. Meanwhile they continue to turn a blind eye to the slave traders blatantly moving Grisha through their ports like cattle. So long as they can skim a bit off the top and funnel it right back to their noble studies and indentured servitude—“

Alina rolled onto him, straddling his hips and engaging his mouth with a fierceness he did not know could exist in someone so exquisite. His arms, long as they were closed around each half of her back and pressed her bare chest flush with his.

She clutched at his face and took control of his mouth with her tongue and for once he was the one who whimpered.

Despite the intensity of his arousal, he forced himself to open his eyes. He had to see her, study the look of her just for a moment to ensure this was real.

She looked wrecked. Eyes clasped shut and brow furrowed, breathing out of her nose so she could stay connected. To him.

The Darkling, of all people.

His insides pulsed and he moved his hands down her naked body. Enjoying the freedom and power she lorded over him.

This was something he could savor.

It was a struggle to remain pliable to her will. The animal inside them both was riled and her need to have to control was palpable through it.

He wanted to rile her. To take it from her. To fight with her for it.

Instead he channeled his energies into the points of connection between them. With his mouth he paid tribute to her voracity. To the words that carved him open and buried themselves into soul.

His tongue stroked against hers and he broke away only to say a prayer into the skin of her throat.

The words were too soft for her to hear and she was too lost to the moment to collect them. Her hands were buried in his hair and she held him, guiding his lips down her throat and to her chest.

His eyes rose to hers, watching her rocking above him, over him, in earnest. Her fingers tightened on his hair and he growled in pleasure, letting her guide him to her nipples, a dark blushing pink erect against her skin.

They came together in a flurry of movement after that, pausing only for Aleksander to take control back from her. He pushed her onto her back and locked his mouth to hers while he spilled onto her stomach and breasts, marking her for his own.

She cried out in response when his fingers filled her. Alina watched his half lidded eyes as she rubbed his cum into her skin and let him bring her over the edge again with his hands.

The rays of borrowed Light glowed, if dimly, from his palms and they both beheld the miracle without the need to exchange words.

Three Weeks Forward

Aleksander held these memories in the center of his body as he navigated the Shadow Fold on his wary horse.

Struggling against his growing hate of Alina, he pressed deeper into their connection knowing the closer he felt to her, the easier it would be to access her Light for his use.

He could not afford for it to abandon him in here.

Volcra were gathering around the perimeter of his sphere of borrowed Light and he focused on keeping the glow at the cost of moving more slowly than he liked.

Alina knew. She knew in front of the fire with him that she had plans in motion to take out the Tsar. The temptation to linger on that betrayal almost cost him as the Light flickered and he pushed his thoughts back toward a safer memory.

Her face as she conjured her Light. Her breath when she came. Her eyes when she looked at him before they parted.

Feasting and greedy and anguished—a reflection of his, no doubt.

With this memory arming him, he exited the Fold as the sun was coming up over a cloudy morning.

It was lucky the fog was obscuring his figure and he made it to the cover of trees to change clothes. Donning civilian attire would be far safer for him in this territory.

West Ravka did not know what he looked like but a jet black kefta would be a dead giveaway.

He climbed back onto his horse and let the tether guide him toward Alina. Now he did not need her Light, he could go back to feeling the fury of resentment pulsing in his veins.

The Tsar’s treachery he knew and expected. This act from Alina was an egregious insult to endure.

It was on the outskirts of Novokribirsk that he closed in on her. He had tied up his horse outside of town and barely spared a thought of worry of anyone stealing it.

The return journey home would figure itself out. He had much to work out before he would leave this time.

Aleksander could feel she was close by when he saw the large crowd gathered in the square. A makeshift stage at their center captured their attention and men in uniform stood before the crowd. They answered whatever was said with raucous cheers and finally Aleksander recognized the highly decorated man on the stage.

General Zlatan of West Ravka littered the propaganda posters the Darkling had collected in his War Room at the Little Palace. Smuggled by his army on their return missions from this side of the Fold and accompanied by intel of the movements of this other General.

“Dear people of West Ravka. I know I am not alone when I decry the injustice of the poverty of our people. The Tsar sits on the other side of our divided land, stealing our hard earned money to line the halls of his Palace in Os Alta even while our people starve. His attempts to send supplies to our people are mediocre and cruel—failing half of the time under the unyielding and merciless creatures of the Fold.”

The people shouted their anger and Aleksander felt the tether inside him pluck. He watched the General on the stage and suddenly he knew what would happen.

Alina had just had the Tsar assassinated but these people did not yet know. They did not know their tyrant was dead. He felt her close by now and her fury was palpable.

Alina was about to take out the West Ravkan General as well.

West Ravka would have a vacuum of leadership. All would descend into chaos and Aleksander still could not see her. His panic was rising.

He climbed onto the wooden crates in the entrance of an alley, determined to spot her before she could act.

“It is time to denounce the Tsar—to denounce the rule he has over this land and this people. He does not know us, he cannot lead a people whom he does not know and he does not fight for.”

The crowd cheered again and many raised their hands in the symbol of West Ravkan victory. Aleksander searched frantically but could not spot her.

Did she not understand she would create a martyr on this side of the Fold? She should have told him. He could have helped her.

“I know you. I fight for you, my people.” He smiled at them all and then gave them a grave look.

“The final straw for me came when just a few weeks ago, I braved the journey through the Fold—something our Tsar has never once attempted—to ask him permission to take a wife.”

The crowd whooped and whistled and Aleksander felt an unexpected surge of anxiety from within. He stopped looking for Alina in the crowd. His eyes rested on the General and his breathing faltered.

“The Tsar has refused my request.” The crowd booed mercilessly and Zlatan looked behind him, extending a hand.

Alina stepped forward, the picture of poise and grace. She did not smile but her head was held high and she looked on the people with a soft gaze.

“Many of you know Sankta Anya by name and by deed.” Reverent whispers rippled through the crowd and several people touched their hands to their heads, then hearts in reverence.

“She is a daughter of West Ravka. She is a living saint to thousands who have been fed by her. She has mothered and taught the orphaned youth of West Ravka. She has brought stability and prosperity back to crop lands through the power of her prayers alone. She is your saint and I am here to assure you all that she will, one day, be your Queen.”

“Anya will be my wife, whether the Tsar approves or not.” Zlatan smiled at her, “Together we will bring about a Golden age of prosperity and liberation for all of West Ravka.”

Aleksander did not hear the sound of the cheering crowd. His breathing halted altogether.

Over the heads of thousands of people, Alina’s eyes locked with his. Her fear swirled into the swell of his anguish.

His chest tore open and the alley around him filled with a tidal wave of darkness.

#darklina fic #darklina fanfic #darklina #alina x aleksander #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #smut #smut session #plot twist #power dynamics #politics #eventual hea #mutual pining #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy

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