#she can siphon off people's powers and store them in her wings

[theladysherlock]

My girl Jess can have a little villain arc. As a treat. 

(Honestly this was just an excuse to play with some new glass textures I got in Clip Studio, and I’m having a great time)

ID Below the Cut!

ID: Jess, a young blonde woman is hovering mid-air with the use of stained glass wings, both fists clenched. The wings are outstretched and made up of lime green, dark green, magenta, and purple feathers. The wings also have a soft glow around them matching the colors of the feathers nearest the outline. Jess has her hair pulled back in a high ponytail and is wearing a cropped white t-shirt underneath an unzipped dark gray biker jacket, as well as some gray pants and dark boots with buckles. She also has white bandages wrapped around her fists like a boxer. Her eyes glow the same lime green as her wings. The background is made of dark gray and black smudges, and there’s a hint of orange near the bottom of the piece to imply flames below her. 

[ofdragonsdeep]

15: Thunderous

The loudest sound to a mind used to song is silence.

(spoilers up to 5.4, and for coils raids)

The whirr of the airship’s fans powering down greeted Ar’telan’s return to Azys Lla. Beyond the dock, half-crazed robots running on broken programs tottered about the rock-and-metal structures of the Alpha Quadrant, heading to do the Twelve only knew what. Ardashir’s workstation was still set up near Helix, though Gerolt had long since departed the area, machines humming and shelves piled high with notes as he continued his research on the concept of anima. He waved at Ar’telan as he passed, Ar’telan nodding back a cheerful greeting as he carefully sidestepped a spinner-rook hurtling past at a dangerous angle.

He had been back to Azys Lla more times than he might have expected, the first time he had come here. The memories of the chase Thordan and his Knights had set them on were still fresh, despite the many moons that had passed since. The buildings and ships still hummed with empty purpose, the dock where the Gration had touched down was empty, but the spaces where the garleans had spilled out of it still bore their mark. So many had died here, and not only for the Allagan’s sake.

He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. The noise was a pathetic one, given his damaged throat and lack of voice, but it was enough to call his chocobo from the airship hangar and to his side. The aether currents were strong in Azys Lla, the artificial confluence at the Flagship forcing them to be so, and it was easy to navigate them between the floating islands, over the heads of the monstrosities and broken machines, sailing across the void to his destination.

The Delta Quadrant was an odd place. He had studied the maps of Azys Lla that G’raha had pulled from the terminals as part of his search of the archives, and the place seemed as though it was named in Dragonspeak, but something seemed off. In times past, he would have asked for Midgardsormr’s opinion, but the events with Omega left him able to do little more than pilot his tiny vessel on automatic, his great mind slumbering in the aether to recharge. Tiamat still waited in her self-imposed exile, her songless children - cloned, not born - wandering the isle in desperate sadness.

Ar’telan was here to pay a special visit.

When he and Alisaie had fought their way through the ruins of Dalamud, a mad dash to put a stop to Bahamut’s reconstitution, they had encountered any number of threats. More allagan robots, these ones still functional but with no order but ‘kill’. Biological monstrosities that were gibberingly insane. Tempered creatures - Nael’s face contorted into a wicked snarl, the hot flames of the phoenix. But more than anything, what had hurt were the dragons.

They had gone back for them, after Bahamut had been fully discorporated. One by one they had released the locks on the stasis chambers, and what had tumbled out was ooze and the stench of death. Most of the dragons were alive only by the strictest definition, and perished shortly after being freed. Some of them stabilised, then turned around in madness, Tempered and broken. Some of these they had subdued, horrified at what they had done, and returned them to the stasis chambers, disconnected now from Dalamud and its prayer-siphoning. All but one.

The wyvern that they had taken to calling Twintania was an unusual creature. Leashed by allagan technology, though it had been badly damaged in the fight, she was filled with a burning, single-minded hatred for those who had enslaved her - mortals which looked, to her, like the people who were trying to save her. Cid had jimmied together a repair mechanism after examining Tiamat’s chains, and they had made the heartbreaking decision to leash the wyvern in the Delta Quadrant, in one of the ruined buildings near the Pappus Tree.

Ar’telan walked, feet crunching through the overgrown grass, listening to the babble of water on its wending way through the quadrant. The roiling aether of the sky cast a sickly light over the area as he gave his chocobo strict instructions to wait outside, and ducked into their makeshift prison.

Twintania bellowed in anger as he approached where she was penned, though the bindings let her do little else. She watched him with the single-minded hatred of the Tempered in her eyes as he set down his supplies - a tiny magitek battery charged with aether, a key to unlock her chains - and summoned forth the anchor that Alisaie had conjured for him before he left.

He had never done this on his own before. He had watched it done more than once, by now, but he was still a little nervous. The dragons were different to the races native to Hydaelyn - who could say it would work? Would he do it right? Would it make any difference to Twintania, freed but knowing full well what he and his had done?

Still, he had come this far, so he was not going to turn back now. He channeled aether into the focus, a combination of his own and a little from Alisaie and Alphinaud, stored in the battery. G’raha had offered, but Ar’telan had been wary of taking the aether of someone connected to Allag, even by proxy, so this was all he had. The porxie snorted happily, flapping its ears to indicate that it was fully charged, and the two of them set to work.

The flash of aether was blinding to behold, the bright white of the life-energy he had poured into the casting meeting the angry blue-gold hiss of Bahamut’s Tempering. There was a crackle, a flash, and Ar’telan staggered with the wave of lethargy that washed over him as the spell finally hit home, draining him of his energy in one swift burst. He fell backwards to the floor, hands flying out to steady himself, and blinked back in the bright light show that played across his eyes, flickering afterimages of light.

There was a moment of silence.

“...The screaming doth stop, and I am alone in a Songless current. What brings thee to this place, child of man? What compels thee to save the lost?”

It had worked.

“Because you deserve the chance,” he replied, getting to his feet. He took the tomestone in his his hand and poked at it until it released the restraints - perhaps it was a feint, but he would weather the consequences of being too trusting if that were so. The wyvern watched as they fell to the floor at her feet, unholy amalgamation of magitek and allagan cruelty, and did not move to strike.

“My sire is dead, his Song forever silenced. My siblings lost in a quiet void. I am alone.” Her head swiveled to look at the sickened sky, filtering through the gaps in the ruined masonry. Beyond it, Tiamat sat in her silent vigil, and the wyvern would almost certainly know. “The world has turned as I stayed lost in my madness. Tell me why.” Ar’telan followed her gaze, wondering what he could even say, why he had thought this might even work - why she might have wanted it at all. Was it fair? Was it right?

The choice should have been hers, not one made through Tempered necessity.

“You are not alone,” he said. “Some of your brethren yet live, sealed within the stasis prisons the Allagans locked them in. We have the means to save them now, from the madness the Ascians gifted your brood with, if you wish it.” He shook his head slowly. “I know it is a cruel and empty world that your eyes are opened to, but if you would choose to look away from it, you can do so with eyes unclouded.”

The wyvern was quiet for a long time, settling down into the sitting position that Ar’telan had seen in Vedrfolnir a handful of times before. She was smaller than him, just, but still large enough that Ar’telan thought she had been close in clutch to her Brood’s sire. She was larger than any of the other dragons they had found within Dalamud’s core, for certain.

“Once before did we make a decision drowned in sadness and despair. We shall not do so a second time,” she decided. “Though it hurts, the discordant notes of our primal Sire were no true Song. This I see now. No magic shall ever return him to us, nor those lost to the madness that followed.” She stretched out wings that had gone long unused, muscles tensing and releasing as she tested their mettle. “No longer shall we blindly trust the children of man, but nor shall I turn away from thy kindness. If but a handful of our kin live, we shall persist. In honour of our Sire, we shall carry his Song through the ages. Can thee and thine do this for us, mortal child?” Ar’telan nodded.

“It will take us time - the energy needed to charge the magic that cleanses the effect comes from our own life’s aether, and we are few who can do it. But we shall, if that is what you wish of us.” He took a cautious step towards her, and was not immediately repelled. “Allag’s sins are not ours, but the Empire is broken and lost. If we can make amends for the sins of the dead, in whatever small way we can, then we shall.” Twintania rumbled in agreement, acquiescing to his request by stepping forwards and touching her chin to the top of his head.

“Take me to thy compatriots, and to my brood-mates. I shall see what is left in the silence.”

---

Returning to the airship with a wyvern in tow raised a not-inconsiderable alarm among the Ishgardians who piloted it, but a space on the deck was cleared for her after a small amount of hemming and hawing by the pilots. She flapped her wings irritably as they flew, clearly wishing that she could fly herself rather than rely upon the contraptions of man, but she raised no verbal complaint.

Ar’telan, for his part, activated his Linkpearl and communicated through series of half-formed noises to Alisaie that he needed her help. She was already in Ishgard, waiting in case things went badly, so it was simple enough to arrange to meet her at the airship landing.

---

“It worked!” Alisaie exclaimed as Ar’telan and Twintania dismounted from the airship. “Oh, I’m so glad. Not that I doubted you for a minute, of course.”

“I am told that my kin are under thy protection,” Twintania said, having no time for pleasantries. Alisaie grimaced, but nodded in agreement.

“I suppose you could call it that. It’s not pleasant, though,” she confirmed. “We can take you there, if you’d like, but it will be a long time before we manage to cure them all.” She paused then, sighing softly, and shook her head. “We stopped releasing the locks on the stasis chambers once it became clear we couldn’t do anything for those who were still… alive. I can’t guarantee that even half of them will be saveable.” Twintania inclined her head in acknowledgement.

“I understand. The extent of the corruption hath been revealed to me by thy companion,” she assured Alisaie. “I would stand guard over their resting place. I have lived many of thy lifetimes, and will live many more yet. When the last of my brood-mates is free, whatever form that doth take, then we shall decide what we must do as one.” Alisaie looked to Ar’telan, and he inclined his head in agreement.

“...Well, alright,” she said. “I’ll need to make sure everyone we need is there, and see if we can’t find someone to assign in a more permanent capacity to trying to cure the Tempering. It’s still an inexact science, even in mortals like us. Never mind dragons.” She turned away, one hand on her ear to active her Linkpearl, and began contacting people in earnest. Twintania looked at her surroundings properly, taking in the cold stone of Ishgard and the people walking nervously past the gathering at the airship landing.

“Ishgard has a troubled history with dragons,” Ar’telan said, regret colouring his every movement. Twintania simply inclined her head.

“Thy kind and mine are too different to avoid such troubles, it seems.”

---

Ar’telan went with Twintania on their trek across Eorzea. The majority of the stasis pods that they had found initially had been in the shard of Dalamud embedded in the Broken Wall, in Thanalan, and they had repurposed the area for their desperate attempts to sustain the dying. From Ishgard, the walk took them across the Black Shroud, a journey of several days on its own. Ar’telan deflected the more human of their problems - concerned Wood Wailers, poachers who were not aware of how much they had attempted to bite, and a few Ixal angry at the encroachment on ‘their’ territory. Twintania spent her time idly snapping at the forest creatures which tried to impede their crossing, the elementals thankfully allowing them passage. She had spent many moons in her bindings, and though her reflexes were dulled, she was more than capable of snapping up an errant squirrel or a diremite or two.

The Shroud broke on a part of Thanalan close to their destination, for a mercy. The few scattered Amalj’aa that still made a scouting camp in the area were easily chased off by the sight of a dragon in the flesh, and the phurbles and snurbles - Ar’telan still could not tell the difference - were easy prey for Twintania’s jaws. Ar’telan was glad that the allagan monstrosities that had once joined them on the path had died down to near-invisibility since the primal had been quelled, for the reminder would likely not be a pleasant one.

“These places are cold and cruel,” Twintania said as they approached the door, flapping her wings in disdain for it. Ar’telan nodded in agreement, breaking the seal on the the entryway.

“They are. It was the only place we could safely keep them where they would not be prey for bandits, but I wish there were other options,” he said.

---

They walked down the smooth walkways, allagan lights glowing at their passage. Deep within the engine of the Ragnarok, the engine that had borne Dalamud to space and then served to keep it there, the cluster of the remaining stasis pods sat. Alisaie was already there, assembled with her crew of ‘people who could teleport’, a space remaining for, presumably, Ironworks engineers who had been too busy to arrive immediately.

“Glad you’ve arrived in one piece,” she said by way of greeting. “We’re going over the diagnostics at the moment. The short version is that there’s thirty-some pods which are likely to hold dragons we can save, and too many others which likely… don’t. I’ve taught the cure for Tempering to these two here.” She gestured behind her to a hyur and an elezen that Ar’telan didn’t recognise, who waved sheepishly at the greeting. “We can get one or two out each moon, maybe. But you probably don’t want to push it.” Twintania rumbled in acknowledgement.

“Greetings, children of man,” she said, inclining her head. “Time is of no issue. My vigil shall last as long as it must, and I have much to learn of this world still as I wait.” Alisaie cleared her throat, clearly still a little nervous.

“Right. And we’ve got some people from the Ironworks coming in - they’re the people who can get your brood-mates out of the pods to begin with. They might change a little bit for the first few weeks, but eventually we’d like to have a small, permanent team here until everyone’s out. Is that alright?” Twintania nodded her head again.

“It shall serve. You have my thanks, child. It is good to see that menfolk of the sort that my Sire once aided still walk the earth, despite what the Allagans desired.”

“We will do everything in our power to ensure that none like them ever rise again,” Ar’telan said. “There is never any way to guarantee such things, but we will try.” Twintania made a noise that sounded almost like a laugh.

“Our memory is eternal, child of Light. We shall not forget the betrayal, nor the love. And we shall never let rest the memory of the Ascians and their lies. We shall not be fooled a second time.” Ar’telan smiled.

“I hope so,” he said. “I will come and make sure all is well whenever I can. Good luck.” The ancient wyvern inclined her head, respect in her calm eyes.

“To you as well, child of Light.”

[rayonfrozenwings]

WAITING IN THE FREEZING DARK: CHAPTER 15 - Bookshop

Spoiler Alert: Contains references to ACOFAS.

Authors Note: So it’s been a very long hiatus - again.... I tend to have a “writing season” it would seem.

A Nessian Fan Fiction: Characters all belong to Sarah J Maas and her book series A Court of Thorns and Roses. This Story takes place after ACOFAS. The story has Multiple POV’s, taking place in the Illyrian camp, Windhaven, Nesta and Cassian are living together at the behest of the high lord and lady of the night court.

Chapter 15 - Bookshop. Nesta works through her fear of the underground and tests out her gift.

Previous chapters are here: 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 , 6 7  8, 9, 10, 11 , 12 , 13 , 14  and Masterlist here.

I have also put this on AO3: Series Link  :)

WC 2584

Nesta

The Market was beautiful, she couldn't deny it, they had been wandering for over an hour through the carved rooms, the fae lights inside the cavern were emitting a soft glow even on the paths people weren't using. Heat and flickering light also escaped from the various metal lanterns shining on the stalls. The silver, gold, and copper shapes lined the way: crescent moons, stars and other symbols from the night court etched into the metal. Smoky fragrances seeped from the cut-outs enticing shoppers closer to look at the trinkets, jewels and other night-court goods.

Nesta wondered if the Fae around her had other ways of capturing the attention of their shoppers, spells or tricks, there was a large group clustered around one stall but Nesta couldn’t see what was pulling them towards it - other than nosey people trying to see why there was a crowd in the first place.

After passing through the many halls of unique clothes, and jewels they had eventually reached the booksellers section. Walking into one, they talked about the exits and Cassian had made sure that the proprietor of the store kept an eye out; handing it a small bag before leaving. She was grateful that he had taken her concerns seriously and it was partly why she was feeling so safe and in control.  Cassian had left her alone, reading through a few books while he rushed off to complete what he needed to.

Nesta browsed the bookshelves, her fingers gliding over the worn covers. Broken spines and folded corners proving these books had been well read, and much loved favourites. In languages she couldn't read as well as a few in the common tongue she was used to. Finding three promising reads she left them with the large eyed creature near the front. Its claws clicked together as they moved over the covers, appraising what was chosen and softly placing them on the counter. Nesta inclined her head in thanks and decided to let her gift lead her towards her next find.

She hadn’t felt the need to test her powers in Windhaven everything seemed exactly as it should be, no glamours or shimmering people or places.

Here, in these walls, she couldn’t help herself, there were too many old things.  Too many forgotten things. Lost things, sitting here in this magical warren just waiting to be uncovered.

She could feel them calling to her.

Wanting to be found.

Letting her mind find items wasn’t as easy as people thought - At least not for her.

Nesta cleared her thoughts as well as she could, the noise behind her fading out, becoming unfocused, letting her gift take over. It was not something she liked to do - losing control, but it seemed to be the only way.

She had to let the power direct her.

Nesta started by sending out small tendrils of her gift to see what they came back with. They called to her, pulling her further into the caves like small children at their mothers skirts.

She kept checking back to see where the shop owner and the Exit was and each time she did, her power came to a standstill. Frustration overwhelmed her, yet - wandering off too far alone would not be a good idea. Turning back towards the darkness, black shapes and mist moving out of the corners of her eyes. Refocusing she looked towards the cool glow of the fae lights deep inside the cave, the gap in bookshelves began to narrow as she continued to walk forward one small step at a time.

She could feel something old, something hidden but what - she couldn't tell. The Darkness in the corners of the room was encroaching on her with each step.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her fists and placed one hand on the bookshelf beside her, fingers extended, letting her power read the space. Again she lost awareness of her surroundings as the tendrils moved along the shelves until her power stopped. Halted like a dog on a leash looking back at their owner for permission to carry on. Except when it looked back it realised something was wrong.

Nesta felt her power looking to the distance behind her.

Fear.

A cool breeze on her neck.

Her power rushed back into her. Ready to do whatever needed to be done. Anger infused her body, carried back to her by her gift. It radiated down her limbs ready to fight.

“You knew, I would find you.” it whispered.

Nesta was still emerging from her trance, she shouldn’t have done it. She should have waited for Cassian. Should have used her common sense, never have explored with her magic. This place asked her to know its secrets and she gladly took the temptation offered. Now there would be consequences.

“I’m glad you waited for me though.” it said with warmth and a hint of sarcasm.

Nesta knew that voice.

“Nesta?”

Concern.

"Nes?"

“I’m fine!” she said, inhaling a deep breath as she came back in control of her body. Reigning in her power before it did something she would regret.

“I should hope so.” Cassian looked at her, his deep brown eyes inquiring for more information, trying to put together a puzzle with missing pieces. She could see him give up as he rubbed her shoulder, the pressure feeling amazing on her tired limbs.

“I just became light headed, tired, thinking about what to look for next. No problems then?” she asked changing the subject.

“Not this time.”

He walked along behind her as she continued to browse. The narrow path between the stacks forcing his wings in tight.

“Right now I would give anything for smaller wings.”

Nesta snorted, “be careful what you wish for, that might be reflected elsewhere” she said through laughter “Are you sure that's a risk your willing to take.”

“You tell me?” he asked, the laughter clear in his voice.

Then in a philosophical tone he asked “Does it matter? When I look like this?” she turned and saw him holding up one flexed arm, eyebrow raised in her direction, looking like some virility statue. He began to move his hips in a circular motion “and move like this?”  

Nesta laughed, “I guess I’d have to find out? Maybe I should be conducting my own tests, lots of illyrians in Windhaven at the moment.”

Cassian grunted.

"Fuck!" he swore as his wing caught on another bookshelf.

She laughed.

“I guess you do need to sample smaller wingspans - to understand how rare a wingspan of mine is. Or you could trust that I'm telling the truth.” he teased.

“Maybe I should borrow Mor’s Veritas.” Nesta suggested. "Anyway aren't Azriel's bigger?"

She stopped and tried to decide if she should keep moving.

He had gone quiet and Nesta wasn’t sure if it was because she mentioned Mor or the orb of truth or he didn't want to try and boast that his wingspan was bigger than Azriel's when the orb of truth was in play as a possible solution to the years of bickering.

“What’s down here?” he asked. "And - by the way- Azriel manages to sneak around an awful lot. He wouldn't be catching his wings in here, make of that what you will!" he tried to throw his arms wide for emphasis but the bookshelves got in the way.

She bit her lip and held her tongue in regards to Azriel.

“I’m not sure what's down here exactly, I’m following my instincts.” She threw the words over her shoulder at him and then continued walking.

The shadows seemed to stay back but Nesta had the distinct feeling that she was being watched.

Cassian followed along behind her, staying quiet and watching out for trouble, looking down each aisle they passed. Maybe he felt the presence watching as well. He would have a better idea of the sorts of creatures in these mountains than her.

“Maybe we should head back to the lake.” Cassian said

They had walked through book stack after book stack, the scrolls lining the shelves turning brown with age. Mostly paper but several were made of skin and bone - hopefully animal. One had a decidedly blue tone to it however, so it was not an animal Nesta knew of. She still hadn't found what was calling to her blood earlier, just using her eyes seemed to make the whole process feel futile - she would never find it.

“I just,” she sighed and turned to face him. “I want to try something - I’m going to use my powers, can you...” she took a breath again looking around, “Can you keep an eye out - I can sense something down here.”

She could feel his eyes move over her, assessing. Appraising her posture, from her legs to the set of her shoulders like the commander he was. Judging his soldier. Checking she was prepared. He never looked at her like this - maybe with mischief, pain, fear or love but not a frank assessment of her abilities.

He stood straighter before leaning to the side lifting his muscled leg to check a blade was still tightly strapped without looking down. Next he flexed his hands, red siphons glinting as they caught the light.

“Sure thing Nes.”

----

Cassian

Cassian twitched his wings as she turned around in front of him. His warrior, his love leading the way. He watched her carefully taking note as she used her magic, her slender arm moved out in front of her.

He wanted to go first - to jump in front of her and protect her but he knew she needed to be in charge - he was there for support. Backup.

This was not how he expected their date to go. Romantic book shopping - yes, exploring the cave system looking for danger - no. He was meant to be keeping Nesta safe - What would Rhys say? What would Feyre say? Feyre was most definitely scarier than Rhys in this situation. Rhys wouldn't' mind too much if Nesta wandered off never to be seen again, but Feyre would never forgive him.

A strange feeling came over him, a sense of being surrounded by mist, damp air filled his lungs and he struggled to look into the gloom ahead. His siphons flared slightly reacting to Cassian’s own unease. This feeling was familiar but he could not place it. The mist opened and he felt the pull of magic in a clear direction ahead of them. Nesta began walking again.

She moved silently, standing just as she had been when he had snuck up on her before - was this what she was doing?

The shelves stopped and there were a few seats arranged around a small table in the final room of the book merchant’s store, a place to read if anyone came this far back. Cassian looked around. Four doors were in the square room, one they had just entered through, and one door on each of the other three sides. All pathways seemed dark to him, this was not a part of the Market they should be exploring.

Nesta moved ahead of him, her hand moving like a divining rod - back and forth across the space until she felt something.

Walking over to the back of the room she peered into the doorway. Cassian followed and saw a dark corridor that turned away and down into the earth. No fae lights, bare walls, a tunnel that could lead straight into the heart of the mountain.

“Cassian,” she put her arm behind her and he took her hand “should I keep going? I think it wants me to go further inside, but I don't know if I can.”

Cassian enveloped her in a hug from behind and whispered, “Nes, if you don’t want to, we don’t have to, and if you do i’ll go with you. Always. We go together.”

The words caught in her throat and she whispered “We go together.”

The mist in the room seemed to fade and Cassian’s senses instantly improved.

“Well. No more magic?” he asked.

“Not for now - I don’t think I should let myself be pulled too far in, i’m unaware.” she whispered and looked around. They were alone but Nesta seemed on edge. Like someone else was listening.

“What do you mean? unaware?” he asked quietly.

“Sometimes, in order to access my magic I need to go into a trance and I take a while to react - I don’t like it. That’s all.” her chin tilted up, the silver in her eyes flashed. Ready to move on.

“How often do you use it? I’ve never really been around to see it.” he asked, hoping to understand - hoping she hadn't closed down. Hoping to ease some of her burden. No one except Amren had any idea what Nesta could do and neither of them were giving it away.

“It's an evolving process.” she said

Cassian rubbed his thumb over her fingers - he could not seem to get enough of her. Ever since flying with her here, her body curled in tight to his chest, the rhythm of her breathing against him. Spending so many peaceful moments together, he just wanted to hold her hand and hug her and talk to her and maybe later sleep in the same bed. It didn't seem too much to ask. They still had so many things to discuss but just living in this moment was all he wanted. No expectations.

“We’re staying the night - I found a room, so we can always come back and explore tomorrow.” he threw out the offer. They didn’t have to follow her magic, they didn’t have to learn anything - they could just ignore it and enjoy each other. Even if it was just one night of peace before returning home.  

Nesta looked away from him and at their hands, her teeth worrying at her lip, deep in thought.

Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned a room. Could he take it back? Perhaps taking it back and saying he got a suite would be better. Maybe he should offer to sleep on the floor. Cassian knew that wasn’t going to happen. His wings were already becoming heavy, the exhaustion from flying all day catching up to him. He had spent a lot of money on one of the nicest apartments near the top of the cave complex and he was going to sleep with his wings spread out as far as they could on that bed tonight. He just hoped that Nesta would be next to him.

“Okay, lets go get those books and head to our room.” Nesta said as she let go of his hand and led the way back out.

Cassian turned and looked toward the dark corridor one last time - a lot brighter than it had been only moments ago, and no mist to be seen. He shuddered involuntarily as a cold breeze swept up and out of it reminding him of another place he often felt like this. It was never wise to go searching in the dark places of the Night Court without a plan, but especially not at night. Tomorrow was a new day.

He followed Nesta out. Cassian felt the dread leave his body with each step and a grin grew as he watched her walk away.

“Stop it!” she chastised him without turning around.

Her pace increased, hips moving from side to side down the narrow tunnel of bookshelves.

“Stop what, I’m not doing anything?” he called back laughing.

---

[alternativewinxcontinuity]

First of all,love your alternative winx continuity (it's really good and I can't get enough of it !!!) My question is how are you planning on rewriting season 4 (with the whole earth fairies being trapped in tir nan og(and being subsequently re-released into the world )and the wizards of the black circle ?)

I've spoken a little bit about season 4 over on this post, but it didn't focus very much on the plot. I have also mentioned season 4 plans in bits and pieces, but they are pretty scattered so here is season 4 the TLDR/in a Nutshell edition:

(Spoilers for season 4, obviously (and also a little Season 5 if you missed the last time I 'spoilered' it.))

prelude:

Season 5 is getting smooshed in with season 3 and during that time Tritannus activates (or tries to) The Ocean Throne, which forces open ALL of the Ocean Gates throughout the Magical Dimension, including the one on Earth which has been under a Quarantine Lockdown.

Earth's Gate was closed and locked before Morgana and Co activated a Time Dilation Field which trapped all Fairy (and “Fairy Adjacent”) Magic outside of Normal Space/Time, it draws its power from Earth's normal Magical Energy Fields and any ambient Magic floating around, which includes untrained magical cores, so people who are born with magic unknowingly have that magic siphoned off all their live and only a few people experience things like psychic abilities which are just different enough to not count as magic.

With the Gate open, magic spills through it and back into Earth's oceans, upsetting the delicate intake of the Time Dilation spell and causing it to fail over the course of a few months as the spell structure overloads past safety measures.

At the end of the school year certain students (mostly graduates, but any fairy who achieved their Enchantix) is given the Three Wings of Clariel as part of an Alfea Tradition.The Three Wings of Clariel are special Wing Forms which were created by the school's founder Clariel, the wings are the Zoomix, Speedix and Tracix. (Within the Alt Con these three wings have nothing to do with the Believix form and are Exclusive to Alfea Graduates.)

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Season 4:

Bloom returns home to Earth for “summer” vacation and notices her parents are worried about something, but they won't tell her what. She notices something out of place but she can't quite put her finger on it at first.

Then she realises: there's way too much magic in the air. (at least more than there normally is for Earth.)

And that's about when she finds out what her parents are hiding from her when one of the girls from Mitzi's Halloween party approaches her to ask for advice “because you know all that magic stuff right?”

The girl reveals that her sister was the latest victim in a series of attacks against women in the area. Women of all ages have been found with strange occult symbols on their backs, inexplicably malnourished and in a coma.

The girl is hoping Bloom might be able to do literally anything because she is hella desperate. So Bloom goes with her to the hospital and checks out the little sister, using her magic to scan the sister's body and discovering a damaged magical core.

Bloom realises she is in way over her head on this one and calls help. (She calls Faragonda because she doesn't have a contact number for medical services in the Magical Dimension, and then she calls the Winx for emotional support because holy wow this is scary.)

Faragonda, Ofelia and Griselda arrive shortly before the Winx and confirm that holy crap, Fairy Hunters!!! And also Magic has Returned to Earth, but mostly: gasp! Fairy Hunters!!!

(Because the magical cores were being drained by a long term spell, none of the awakened fairies have the capacity to transform, therefore their cores can't be pulled out as efficiently as possible, which while sucky and painful, is actually better for the victim when it comes to surviving.)

The teachers plus the Winx decide to begin an investigation to find the Fairy Hunters, letting the relevant Magical Dimension Authorities know what's up.

To help ease the growing number of confused Magicals, the ladies set up a shop called [The Winx Club] where they sell basic magical textbooks on how to figure out your powers and keep them under control, as well as dozens of different charms and picture books of the Magical Dimension, some of which are art done by Bloom. (Eagle eyed readers may have noticed when referring to the group in the Alt Con I tend to refer to them as 'The Winx' and not 'The Winx Club', this was solely for this naming thing right here with the shop... also it means I have one less word to type every time I want to use their official address.)

The girls also sell books which detail their earlier exploits, since Bloom's been writing it all down to share with her parent, and they start a small YouTube channel to try and reach a wider audience.

In addition to helping new Magicals, it also acts as bait for the Hunters.

As things progress, the teachers + the Winx fight the Wizards of the Black circle a few times, save Roxy and receive the Believix, Diaspro comes back from exile to apologise and make things right (for that time she committed treason while possessed by evil), the group discovers that the various civilisations that where trapped are being released one by one.

The Winx take a brief field trip to deal with Diana and Aurora's temper tantrums and catch them up on what's what while the older fairies remain in Gardenia since the Black Circle has been sticking close to it. (Because that's where the highest concentration of magic is for the time being.)

When Morgana and crew are released the group discover exactly how Bloom and Roxy are connected (Bloom skimmed the spell on her way into Earth as an infant and dragged Roxy out by accident) and why the Earth Fairies went to such lengths with the Time Dilation Field.

It was the only spell big enough.

The Fairy Hunters, pre-TDF, had been about to release a Planet Killer spell that would have wiped out All Life on Earth. They couldn't risk the Earth Fairies spreading their Believix Abilities to other Fairies and negating the Black Circle's Fairy Magic “Immunity”.

The Time Dilation Field wasn't supposed to last so long, but the spell's physical ritual components were damaged, so it was “indefinite suspension” or “dead”.

Griffin and Saladin arrive with some back up and the Earth Fairies throw in with the Winx's team to finally put an end to the Black Circle.

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Afterwards

The Winx do a short video message for their followers to let them know the danger from Fairy Hunters is over (from the battlefield), and the Earth Fairies decide they like the idea of this (brand spanking new two month old) video platform, and realise they can use it to ease humans into the idea of magic being back, so they start setting up channels and quietly taking students into their magic schools.

Roxy decides to go to Alfea instead of an Earth school, and the fairies figure out what to do with The Winx Club store. (they have a small staff of Earth Fairy trainees who take over at the end of 'summer' when the Winx go back to Alfea.

Bloom's old friend Selena starts hearing a voice from a book in her godmother's house

*It should be noted that the use of the term 'summer' refers to summer on Magix, and not Earth as the events of season 4 take place in April 2005.

[twitchesandstitches]

Matriatrix - Great Hunger, Great Potential, and SUPER Weird

I don’t believe I’ve done a write up or explaination of Sierra’s vore/pregnancy themed magical artifact, the Matriatrix, so here’s a quick one to clarify some things:

It’s largely based on the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts, with a hint of a more benign form of All For One’s powers from BNHA (with some of the way that One For All works), but themed around vore and hyper pregnancy, with a thematic association with mutation, and evolution. This also sets up the MILF Fleet’s own theme of constantly changing and evolving, and having something of a Thing about body modification.

It’s not so much a device or relic Sierra uses; it is a part of her, a battery of divine energy that is part of her soul now. It’s not that it gives her powers, but those powers are a part of her now. She doesn’t summon it, she produces a projection of it from her body.

Generally it looks like a large surfboard-shaped chunk of black metal, streaked with whatever materials it has consumed lately (and magical streaks, in the case of eating magic or living beings), with most of it taken up by a helix design like DNA, and near the base is a crossguard-like Venus design; you know, a big circle with a small plus at the bottom? That one symbol that tends to mean ‘feminine’’.

That helix can split apart into a massive pair of jaws, complete with teeth and oozing drool, and swallow whole anything it can catch. This effectively deposits it into Sierra’s stomach, and digestion usually happens instantly unless they are strong enough to escape and pop back outside her. She can also manifest a large energy tongue from it, which often lolls and wraps around her body in some very lewd, suggestive ways.

But this isn’t a great form for combat, and its powers are very limited in this state; it can only do basic functions. So she can feed it new things to give it additional forms and powers to go with them! If she consumes a sword, it transforms into a gigantic sword form, and can now cut with magic. She eats a spear, the same principle applies. A gun? Now it’s a huge cannon that shoots magic and chunks of digested attacks! A shield? Now she has an powerful defense that absorbs attacks! Any thing can become a new form for it, from forks to snowboards to high heels. Generally these forms are super weird looking, really elaborate, and bigger than she is. Imagine a combination of the weapons from Bayonetta and Monster Hunter for inspiration.

THE POWERS

Firstly, it consumes!

Sierra can devour pretty much anything; gulping things down in a single move. Whether its her jaws stretching or things just fitting in her throat. Her plush lips can suction things right into her belly with a single kiss or slurp, and other abilities let her absorb targets directly. Her digestion is very powerful, almost instantly breaking down material objects and turning them into raw power and curves. If she does this without materializing the Matriatrix, this often involves minor mutations to her mouth; bigger plump lips, sharp teeth, a metal cast to her jaws, and so forth.

She can consume people too; even friends! However this is not at all fatal. Whenever she consumes people, it is painless, even deeply pleasurable. More so as their souls merge with hers, lovingly cradled and dominated by her mind, and give her more power and access to what they know. She can eject them in their original bodies, or if they have been permanently digested, she can make new ones later on. Foes, on the other hand, can have their souls digested, genuinely slaying them, but she prefers not to do this if she can avoid it. This gives her a HUGE power boost, though.

The Matriatrix can siphon off physical traits like wings and scales from the beings she meets, either willingly or by her consuming them. She can do something like this with superpowers, and whether its powers or traits, she permanently adds them to the Matriatrix’s library, to be used with other abilities.

Another thing Sierra can do is ‘consume’ abstract things and gain them for herself. This can be physical traits and powers, temporarily taking them from a foe, or it can be things like curve size, physical mass, and so on. In the case of physical size, she will grow larger and they will shrink. Note that since she can do this in a wide radious, she could possibly shrink a huge group of people and grow massive from it all, into a full fledged giantess.

The other side of it is pregnancy vibes; Sierra can have a limitless number of children, in the hundreds or more, while her belly only seems to expand beyond ‘bigger than a beach ball’. Her fertility is impossibly strong, to the point that she can have children with people who shouldn’t be able to get her pregnant at all, or with no possibility of biological compatability. As long as she has positive feelings for them, she gets pregnant with LOVE. (At least she puts it that way.) She can extend this pregnancy however long she wants.

Additionally, she can freely alter each individual child, to the point of creating an entire new species that way. The traits she has gained can be applied to them, modifying them however she wants, and she can also give them superpowers in the same way. Of note, she can become pregnant just by willing it, using her pregnancy powers as a medium for creating life; the resulting creations have no genetic relation to her or each other, allowing them to interbreed without problematic issues at work.

And, she grows stronger with each child she creates; her fertility gets even more powerful, her energy regenerating. She grows taller, more gigantic, and her curves get even more massive. Mass reproducing and churning out entire new species on her own amplifies her powers, and restores strength she might have lost through over-exertion.

She can also absorb other beings into herself, effectively unbirthing them! In this state she can alter their bodies and mutate them as she pleases - provided she has the traits in stock - give them superpowers, and heal them fairly quickly. Around the recently deceased, she can suck up their souls and save them, and in fact, if she has a consumed soul in her - such as by digesting those she gobbles up - she can gestate new bodies for them. Note that she has a huge influence over the minds of the people she has inside her; they are overwhelmed with rapturous pleasure at being so bonded to her, and she can thus rehabilitate them or even suggest things to their minds if she so chooses.

Note that she can absorb as many souls as she wants; she gets stronger with each one, but apart from giving her bigger curves, it doesn’t mean a direct effect to her.

Sierra’s pregnancy powers also lets her gestate genuine monsters, engineered to be fighty brutes and with all the powers she can manage. They can be mindless fighters loyal to anyone she likes, or more intelligent creatures that are effectively pets. It’s up to her, but it’s easiest to create less intelligent creatures.

Sierra can also gestate powers, creating functional abilities she can then grant to others or herself, giving them complexity as she carries them, and she may have to do this in order to make those powers useful.

The last set of her powers are mutation-based, letting her transform things. She can, for instance, transmute Fullmetal Alchemist-style, breaking down physical matter and reshaping it into a new form, or using it as raw materials. This requires that she knows what she’s working with, but she could also consume it, and then transmute it with her now intimate knowledge of its composition, perhaps ejecting it as projectiles in whatever form she likes. She can create basically anything, such as working weapons and giant cannons, as long as she has the right materials on hand.

She can transform things around her, such as mutating herself with the various traits she has absorbed or giving powers to others or herself. Of note, she has to actually have them on hand; Sierra always deposits the traits and powers she has gained into magical stockpiles for her fleet to work with. She can take completed mods, powers and similar things and infuse them into people to transform them, however. She can also transform others to have deleterious effects, such as being made of gelatin or frozen solid, if she has those powers on hand.

She’s quite good at gigantification, and likes to have a store of potential size, either to grow the Matriatrix to huge sizes for fun, to turn herself into a giantess without having to draw on her own power, and to empower her allies.

Sierra’s greatest use of this power is to create the Endowed; people with similar powers to her own. She infuses a great deal of her energy into them, permanently giving devouring and fertility powers like what she has. The consuming and pregnancy powers that she has, they will also permanently have, and grow stronger with mass pregnancies and consume, just as she can! All the strongest moms of the MILF Fleet are Endowed. However, this technique takes a lot out of her.

If she has a power loaded into the Matriatrix, she can use that power more or less freely, in conjunction with the abilities granted by its current form. This is the main way she uses its powers at all!

Finally, she can directly control magic and craft spells; in theory she could do anything with this ability, but in practice, she has a really hard time getting this to work, and has to be pushed to try mastering it at all.

DRAWBACKS

It’s sheer hunger is a major flaw; if Sierra cannot consume anything or absorb energy to fuel her abilities, she will quickly be unable to fight effectively; tank-type foes are some of her worst match ups.

Additionally, it does compell her to make babies whenever possible; if she’s not careful, she will start going heart-eyes yandere over anyone that impresses her or that she’s affectionate for. While this will build up her power, this, along with her urge to consume, can rapidly cause her to become a hedonist craving only more food and mates, rampaging about for snacks and cuties. As a result, she has to limit actively using the Matriatrix, or risk getting overwhelmed. The other MILFs can be subject to this problem as well, if they don’t reign in their hungers.

More practically, Sierra’s powers are limited to whatever form she’s given the Matriatrix, or her own boosted capabilities. This basically means brute force power blasting and crude transmutation, normally, and while she has work arounds for this (a store of weapons on-hand, for instance), it is still a major fault.

The Endowed are also subject to the compulsions and hungers their powers can induce in them, as well!