#the ostium one might say

[incarnateirony]

Trying to sit here thinking of how my antis are negotiating events in their head to run from the truth right now. Spiral narrative. Tarot. Alchemy. The One. The Path of One. 13 tracks put together in a surprise order. Radio interference. Ticks and leeches. Queen bee. Art of Dying. Reflections. Rocky. The ego. Context. Traxxverse. Find the Queen. Magic Sex Chicken. All of it.

Like. OK. let's say they disbelieve origin stories. ok but what does that leave them as an option. am I just. So closely resonant to their brainwaves and thoughtforms and so good at this show that I knew all this shit in advance by a year or in some cases years?

Because like. even if I was lying about origins, I still have.... [points at all of the above]. So that still means I'm "speculating" correctly long before anything was ever released. Meaning my brain would be sharing the same story braincells as these authors.

So where, oh where, do they see an escape hatch where if they scream at me they can scream it away? Worst case in their own minds I've vibrated into the supernatural dimension to become a psychic attached to Robbie's mental basket. Or, realistically, I've been telling the truth the whole time.

Guys. The end is coming whether you like it or not. I told you LONG BEFORE my fellow worker bee did: Nothing can stop what's coming. Stand down, go home, and enjoy whatever life you have left. That's only a threat if you fear what's coming. And if you fear it, it's over, you lost, go home.

genuinely funny that for all of 2po's itk posing he's about to get blindsided. SPN ripping off the bandaid needed to flush the fandom liars, projection machines, conmen and more out. The authors are over your bullshit, guys. 100%. Direct. Like that context shit? 2po and those like him better take that as @ them personally, because this is in fact personal. They can't tell you that, but I can. You've attacked and fought them for years, and now, this is revenge. And some of us were more than happy to help.

Goodbye, you lying sons of bitches, you extortionists, doxxers, career liars and grifters. Goodbye, you agenda'ed bastards that think you can warp the truth however you want. Goodbye. It's time for a new empire. Long Live The GenderBending Queen.

(update he tweeted shortly after the post)

A terminal fandom disease, a plague, the lot of you. We're ripping out the rot at the root. We're opening that gay door. And you're going to cope. imagine if the fandom was as selfish seasons 10-13 for the Wayward fan pitch. Which antis like 2po also hide that Berens picked up AS a fan pitch, and nobody wailed about credits.

I don't find it a coincidence that the people that grift thousands out of fandom are obsessed with credits as proof. Well, yeah. People who believe in nothing but themselves and their material gain can't comprehend doing what's right for free simply because it is right.

Some of us actually stand for something. Believe in something. And fight for what we want instead of complaining all day. Even if it takes years. Even if it takes falling down again and again. There's a reason it's a representation battle, not a representation parkwalk, and that doesn't work if every man tries to be an island for himself. Sometimes, life is complicated, and sometimes, you Just Help whether you get benefit for it. Because it was what was the right thing to do. Because you knew the Truth. Because you listened.

You guys may understand the concept some day.

The real truth you missed is that for the last several years 2po was trying to argue with me and deny real things that came true, he was basically arguing with those same authors, because some of us don't just suddenly care when convenient. Some of us fight for years without looking for attention like the scripthunt members do.

And 2po is so set on his bad biases he convinced himself he got access, rather than for example wigglebox bitching and moaning her entire time in POLOL about never getting access, and his weird spies that fled when I nailed down 2po's doxxing attack all only having base permissions like lmfao bro. Perspective. You are years behind and clueless. The sooner you accept that the sooner you're going to understand what's happening. You didn't HAVE the context to understand the double-S tweet of Berens intentional mispellings being a silly slapfight with Meg Fitz over her giant bees and the fact that she spells Cas with two S'es, that even if they aren't credited they're all idea sharing still. And you'd know it's meg if you knew meg's interests.

Deep down even wigglebox knows that I used to prioritize speaking with the authors. She did not have access to the results, and I think she only possibly saw the one voice message from Bobo if she saw any at all, but she has to be aware that I chose a different path than they did and the potential that pass opened. She just does not want to look into that opening. Because she chose the wrong path. And it's everybody in script hunt

Amazing the things that can be done if you spend your time and years treating creatives like human beings rather than robots to abuse for demands, project intention at, or try to treat like a direct info spout. You want to know the reason you guys can't get info for crap? Every single one of you sounds like a desperate fan when you try to talk to them instead of appreciating their own work or interests. That's why you guys lost. You never wanted to listen. And that's the plot.

I do not envy the trap he's made for himself and his followers. It quite literally makes them the villains of the fandom story. And he's successfully manipulated people against the truth and the creatives for years, and now they have no choice but to deny deny deny deny until the bitter end or accept the truth I've told them for years. And it's that you guys are the problem. And you need to either grow up and accept the truth or go away and find a show you actually not just enjoy, but understand.

Wouldn't it be funny if this Cult Spiral Narrative and my Cult Mythos Alchemy Bible and Cult Cas As The Goddess shit were actually already circulating the author room by the end of season 14? Like right before Bobo wrote the confession I knew about. The year he asked for me at SDCC. Yeah. That'd be really funny. You know, the things 2po harassed us underground for while we. like. talked to writers about it.

Because he doesn't want the truth. And he's always been a leader of a cult of lies projecting his sins, ideas and fears at everyone else, telling people not to look at the truth and to only listen to his perspective and telling, and boy oh boy does this plot have surprises for him.

You'd think by now he'd give up denying the obvious of what's happening both in the plot in the metanarrative, but no. He's pinned his entire fandom conman career on his current angle and if he concedes then everyone he's been exploiting thousands out of instantly drops his ass. Congratulations dude, you played yourself. Good luck hope nobody sues you off the planet.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Hi :) I just wanted to ask you a silly questions ... Do galakhari have like a courtship when they are interested in their potentional partner? If so how would they do it? And if they do have a courtship would they proceed with it if they have a non-galakhar partner?

I am sorry if Its too silly, please feel free to ignore this ask 😅

Hi there!

This is not a silly ask at all!

Galahkari do indeed have courting practices. I have already written a bit about it on here, but it's been years, so the posts are buried deep, I suppose.

(Found them! Here and here)

If a Galahkar is interested in another one, they serve the other party their limeschti. The traditional welcoming tea. Each Clan has a different recipe.

It's to say "You are welcome in my life, will you consider staying?"

To accept, the tea is drunk. To decline, you push the tea cup away from you towards the other party. There are no traditional words needed, but it's considered polite form to also verbally decline (maybe with a reason for it).

If the invitation is accepted, the two parties go on public outings together. Festivals, holidays, storytellings, dances. The whole nine yards.

During that time (time span varies from couple to couple) they can start to give each other small gifts. Those gifts come in different stages.

The first gifts are to introduce yourself. Mostly these gifts are things that have to do with the gift giver's occupation. An Ostium might gift self made alcohol or other drinks. Arras tend to write poems. Ulrics gift things made from leather.

After that come gifts that are supposed to show how much you appreciate your partner. Things they might like. Basically, the longer this stage of courting lasts, the more personal the gifts get.

The next stage is going on trips together/going hunting. The intend is to spend a prolonged time alone together without (too many) distractions, to see if this relationship can last.

Afterwards you officially introduce yourself to your partner's Clan Head. Their blessing isn't needed for the courting to proceed, but proceeding without it is like eloping in the eyes of the Galahkari.

Lastly there is the Hunting Trophy. Presenting it to your partner is the official proposal to marry. If the other party agrees, they take the trophy and craft an answering gift. (In Heart of Thunder the coeurl pelt Cor gave Nyx was the Hunting Trophy and the necklace was Nyx's answering gift of acceptance.)

Couples made up of one Galahkar and one non-Galahkar are very rare, since the Galahkari are a very insular people. Cor/Nyx are one of those few. Something like this is rare enough to turn heads. So there aren't any courting proceedings tailored to this situation. Non-Galahkari however can participate in Galahkari courting.

[minalblood]

Ep 7, finally! Sorry fellas took a while.

I will try to skip past the Despair destiel parallels since they've been mentioned often enough and focus on other stuff i find interesting.

Ok 1stly Carlos jokingly saying they should try jumper cables for the Ostium only to then look back at Lata judgingly was A++ friendship moments.

Love the Tony mention from Ada so much!

I will say all the shell company and warehouse talk reminds me of spn season 7 and the Leviathan plans which to be fair, the Akrida's plans are basically the same. Both hungry, some type of shapshifting beings. Kinda wanna know which came first for Chuck, cuz we know the Leviathan are meant to have been genuine creature vs the Akrida who were deliberately made as fail safe plague.

Mary big mad this ep beginning and it's all because of her worry.

God I still love the Akrida design and I also adore their growls!!! Tho I add that the fact that they can feel pain but cannot be killed save for something out of this world is hella intriguing, feels like something a, to quote Chuck, "cruel, capricious God" would do.

I adore Carlos brain! They're soooo smart and it's constantly shown in all the subtle ways but it's so consistent throughout that I love it. And not just generally, but also emotionally speaking, especially highlighted in the scene with Mary. Putting the right blame on the shifters, being honest about dealing or not with their parents death and still succeeding in bringing Mary's spirit up.

Why would John be so shocked that Henry would've written something for the MoL? Henry was a MoL so it really shouldn't be that surprising that he wrote stuff down. I personally think it's because he chose not to ask more questions because it would've fucked with him too much and he couldn't handle it.

Millie in the Clubhouse! Finally! She's still too harsh, but this time I tend to give her tiny bit more benefit of the doubt since it's obvious being in the Clubhouse is bringing up all the very complicated feelings she has deliberately not dealt with about Henry. It's why she can go from mentioning love letters with a soft gentle loving tone one moment and then insulting Henry's chicken scratch and its supposed use in saving the world. She has dealt a lot more with her feelings about Henry these past... weeks months? since all the stuff began, especially having received a clear answer about where Henry disappear to (he died), but that in many ways likely made it so much more complicated because the anger hasnt gone away but now it feels almost unfair to aim it so much at someone that seems to have not had a choice in abandoning them as she initially thought. She's still mad tho, not just because of that but also because she was never allowing in by Henry, not really, and we learn later that he deliberately distanced himself from her as well so being invited to the Clubhouse is a huge step in slotting into place what she feels. It's also why I think she demands so staunchly to know exactly what's happening because last time she didn't, Henry died.

The implication that Samuel Campbell is messy from Mary gave me such a John's room in Pilot vibes. Love that parallel (read: hate)

The mention from the Akrida possessing Roxy bout Roxy's beauty is made sooo much worse by the later episode about her possession, but with it in my mind, it give such icky vibes now. Besides the sheer disregard about Roxy's life. It makes it even more clear how much humans are just things for the Akrida to use and discard whenever. And that will only be made more apparent in later episodes.

Carlos' miiind!! The hex bag!! God I love them.

Interesting just for me I guess, but the fact that u just need to know the ingredients of a hex bag to find it, is sooo fun. I have so many questions.

I also love seeing Millie adjusting to the whole supernatural thing, her mind just going and her saying shit only to find out she might actually be onto something to them using her plan. Love that, especially love that it happens in connection to Ada. Millie and Ada have been pretty linked throughout the show so far, and I love that it's while Millie is talking to Ada, one of the few people who actually knew Henry and Henry allowed in, that she gets the idea she does. I also think it's very important that Ada does tell her the stuff Millie didnt know.

Ok, maybe controversial opinion here but I actually agree with Ada here, John is not closed off like Henry. He just isnt here. He is extremly reactive which means you will know what you get with him cuz he will make it clear, in a very bone headed way, sure , but it will be clear what he feels. There are of course things he doesn't disclose, but it aint about him being open, its just that he isnt closed off like Henry. Henry who his wife thought didnt even think of her or if he did it wasn't good terms at least toward the end, Henry who planted a protective plant for his family but never said anything about it. John, in spn, certainly does become closed off like that, id say he gets even more closed off but not this John, not yet and hopefully never. This john is just angry. Really angry, but it's still not the same insurmountable situation.

I adore Lata's excitement about all things monster.

Ahhhhhh I miss you all too Carlos 😭😭😭 #SavetheWinchesters

Nixon being Akrida is a nod to Lucifer possessing the president vibes to me.

I kinda love that Millie sold her wedding ring, it makes sense on so many levels. 1. Shes a single mom with a business to run. 2. She s trying to distance herself from the pain Hwnry left her with. 3. She is very much a dont think about it and it'll not affect you denial stage of grief person.

The music box!

It says shit about Millie that she didnt know john still had the music box all these years. It makes it clear which parts of John's life she paid attention to (or could allow herself to pay attention to) and which not.

I hate that they cant actually deal with any of the stuff because of the short window they have, but that's how things are right? both generally and def in the spn verse, you never have the space or time to actually confront the person thats traumatised you, not really, you just have small pockets of chances to process what happened in the middle of world ending events.

Fun fact, I rewatched Inside Man recently and the spell they use here to summon Henry is the exact same one Sam and Cas use to talk to Bobby in Heaven. And the fucking meaning always hurts me, cuz it calls onto dead loved ones to answers their calls/questions abd it feels like a prayer to me tbh. I also headcannon that the reason the spell works differently here is because Henry was still in the veil rather than in heaven, but ive nothing to substantiate that.

Once more Mary and John have such a genuine relationship tho, they really are honest with each other as often as they can because of the connection and similarities they felt when they first met and everything experienced since. Unlike their spn counterparts who were very much not honest about themselves.

I really love that John gets to hear Henry unequivocally say "it was my fault, not yours". It's so so important, both that Henry immediately owned up to it, and that he made sure to let John know first that it wasnt anything he did and that he wanted to explain everything.

I also wanna point out the immediate dif in Henry's demeanor once John mentions the Akrida aka work. Henry instantly compartmentalizes alll the feels he had about seeing John and getting to see Millie because he very much knows the importance. Better to have ur family alive even though you can't get closure than risk their lives just to explain yourself.

The paaaiiinnn, the emotionssss ahhhhh!! They can't get through everything they want to say but they make sure to say the things they need and my heart hurts now thx! Im very glad Millie got to see him though. It helped close another leaking wound in her. Damn this whole ep is Millie being put through the emotional wringer as much as John and Mary are. It prolly felt really good to hit the cop in the face with a bat after all that.

Love Mary's fighting advice. It shows she gets the urgency and the need to not linger on too long since the end goal isnt to kick ass, but to actually defeat the Akrida. Her hubting experience shows and her reason for doing this shows too.

I just know Lara wouldve had a field day if she couldve gotten that monster essence. So sad for her actually.

Also you know if Ada had been left to her own devices she wouldve followed Tragic Haircut and found the Akrida queens location. We've seen she can be very cutthroat when needed and her input wasn't really needed in the van, but it was needed to follow the Akrida. Thats what i think anyways. Millie for all her harshness, would never leave the kids behind. Shes suprising soft underneath it all, Ada is surpsingly cutthroat. Yay more parallel and contrasts between them.

Oh Mary, you were wrong there and it almost cost you dearly (just like how Dean going after Billie assuming shes thanosing people went wrong). Love the call back to their first meeting. Hate the despair vibes cuz ouch. Samuel to the rescue, congrats, you did the bare minimum. ( i am not a fan of Samuel and all the call backs to Spn!john only make it worse everytime, especially the heroic last second save when he's been mia and shitty throughout otherwise).

God can't wait talking about the queen when she finally appears properly.

See y'all later for a double special of Dean alive (ish) and Trickster/Loki discussion.

[foughtforthefuture]

"Hey check this out Ulric!" The older glaive smirked as he made his way over to the table and held out a blade, striking it so that the large knife stuck in the wooden grain. "Some imperial soldier out by Taelpar had it, looks like the blades you Galahdans use, huh?" It did; it was a large kukri with the telltale style and engravings of Galahd, and down close to where the tang met the hilt, there was a brand that resembled a K. "Figured you or Ostium might want it."

another day done, another fight fought. not won, not lost - just fought. nyx couldn't remember the last time they had come away from a skirmish with a clear win, the empire seemed to have inexhaustible pool of troops to pull from and they never seemed short of an airship or dreadnought.

but fighting was still better than laying down and letting the empire march one without hindrance.

twisting in his seat, nyx pulled his stool further in, making enough room for luche and crowe to pass behind him with plates of skewers and a tray of drinks - a shit day meant a good night in yama's at least. and the unofficial watering hold of the glaives was full of battered and bruised glaives tonight, the mood jovial and the drinks flowing in spite of the few close calls that were had earlier on in the day.

knocking back a drink, nyx nearly spluttered through it when mattias buried a blade in the edge of the table - that wasn't the issue though. it was the utter resignation on yama's face as he watched yet another table get defaced. grimacing through a grin, nyx quickly yanked the blade free and offered the bar owner his best silent apology before his eyes wandered back to the blade the older glaive had so unceremoniously left in front of him.

it was a nice blade - kukri style. the forward slant and the belly of the blade were telltale. it wasn't a style that was all to popular on the mainland, especially not one like this - it had traditional engravings on it; twisting swirls and loops that were inset with nickel that carried down onto the handles.

turning it over in his hand, nyx made a mental note of its balance too. whoever had made this, had put time and effort into it. but what the hell was some imperial trooper doing with it? not exactly their weapon of choice, but maybe they were changing tactics and using local available weaponry?

the same downward swoop and swell at the base of the handles that his blades had - made it easier to retain grip. and a hell of a lot easier to keep hold of when landing a warp. nyx turned the blade over again, leaning forward to offer it to libertus for a look but stopped short, his eyes noticing a smaller mark on the blade- not an engraving or a hamon line. not an acid etch or metal inset ... it was a letter.

canting his head to the side, nyx balanced the blade upright, its tip probably burrowing a little hole into yama's table as he turned it slowly, blood running cold when he realised what he was looking at.

it was a letter.

the letter k.

the same letter his mother had used as her smith mark when she made blades. the same letter her father had used, his surname had been knight ... but his mother had stopped forging when he was a little kid, even before selena had been born. for as long as nyx could remember, his mama had been working in that diner, and his grandpa was long dead. sure, he had a grand-uncle working as a kooky blade-smith in lestallum, but randolph was notoriously proud of his own work and had his own unique mark for anything he made.

' where did you say you found this? ' nyx finally managed to ask, his throat suddenly too dry as he set the blade down, turning it around and sliding it across the table, his finger tapping the blade to answer the silent question on libertus' face.

' and when? how long ago? '

[niaswish]

Day 5: Friendship and spies

Libertus rushed Nyx as soon as he laid eyes on him. “Nyx! Thank Ramuh you’re okay!”

Nyx frowned, grabbing Libs shoulders as he tried to calm his brother down. “Wow, calm down Libs. I got called to the Citadel. What’s going on?” He tried to guide Libs into his apartment only for his brother to shake his head.

“We need to go to the Meeting Hall.” Was the only explanation his brother offered.

It was strange enough, even considering how his night had gone so far, that Nyx didn’t ask anything more as he followed Libertus straight to it. He tried to guess what might be the cause for a Meeting this late at night. Had his not-future self done something more than steal the Ring of Lucii?

Nyx was still trying to figure things out when they arrived at their destination, already filled with people. Nyx and Libertus pushed through the throng until they reached the front of the Hall where the Elders were. “Okay, what’s going on?” Nyx asked as he saw a group of glaives standing beside a furious Crowe and muttering Pelna.

Luche power hungry traitor seemed relieved to see Nyx arrive, stepping aside so Nyx could be seen by the Elders. The movement also revealed who else stood with Luche, people that Nyx recognized not only as brothers-in-arms but as the traitors from his not-future; Tredd, Sonitus, Axis were among them. Nyx’s breath stuck in his chest as anger flared in his gut at their presence but he couldn’t condemn them for something they hadn’t yet done. Something they would never do if Nyx had any say in it.

His attention returned to the Elders when Elder Fide spoke, “Grave news was brought to us this night. News that carries grave consequences if not handled properly.” A heavy gaze fell on Nyx as Elder Fide asked, “Have you had any premonitions lately?”

Nyx’s mouth twisted as he nodded. Elder Fide nodded then motioned for Luche to speak once more. With a bitter expression, he did and the words were the last thing Nyx expected to hear. “Captain Titus Drautos is a traitor to Galahd. He summoned us, “ He motioned to the others with him. “and invited us to join his treasonous plans against those who have given us shelter in our time of need.”

“Ifrit’s balls!” Nyx swore before he ducked his head in embarrasment at his outburst. He could feel his face heating up as chuckles and rebuking murmurs filled the Hall. Elder Ostium struck the floor with a staff, bringing back silence before motioning for Luche to continue. “Drautos has been colluding with Niflheim, and is likely responsible for much of the bad intel and on-field incidents that the Kingsglaive have been suffering since its inception. We came here as soon as we could to warn and ask the Elders how to proceed.”

Nyx found himself nodding at Luche’s words, even as his anger turned to relief at this turn of events from his not-future. Elder Fide turned to Nyx with a raised brow, wordlessly asking for Nyx’s opinion. Since there was no easy way to say this, and with the opening Luche’s declaration had given him, Nyx jumped right in it. “Drautos is Glauca.”

Crowe’s swearing was drowned in the outraged shouting of the people who were in attendance though it was quelled rapidly once more by Elder Ostium. Nyx waited until he was given the go ahead before continuing. “I don’t know when he became Glauca but I know that he is now.” He knew it would be accepted as truth. “He is too careful for proof to be easily found but I know how to make him reveal himself.”

“What do you need?” Elder Khara asked. 

Nyx grinned and replied, “Only those in the Kingsglaive who want to help me.” The bloodthirsty gazes from every one of said glaives was answer enough.

[secret-engima]

1/? You know what would be hilarious. Lil Nox AU where Ardyn and Nox arrives separately. Instead of Hammerhead or whatever, though, Nox ends up in the middle of the wilds, where AXIS is. So here's Axis. He's a good man. He hasn't done anything too bad in his life. ASTRALS WHY IS THERE A CHILD HERE. WHO LEFT A CHILD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WILDS. THE CHILD IS SURROUNDED BY ANIMALS WHO COULD EAT HIM. Axis chases away the beasts, then turns around to look at the child. He gets closer, and Nox is

Anonymous said:

2/? clutching the ULRIC CLAN KUKRIS in his hands, because this is a Stranger and Nox may be 3 but he's not Stupid. And Axis wants to tear his hair out because WHAT IS THIS. IS THIS AN ULRIC. He calls Luche or Tredd or someone like. “How do you identify Ulrics.” As an opener. No explanation. No “Hello”. Just. Give Ulric Categorization Details. Now. And his friends are like ummmm, dark hair? Axis is like “THAT’S IT?! ALL OF US HAVE DARK HAIR.” “I wouldn’t say /all/,” Luche says -

Anonymous said:

3/? while Tredd yells back defensively, “WHAT DO WE LOOK LIKE, /OSTIUMS/?” And it’s that moment Libertus comes into the room, and he does an about-face because NOPE, HE’S NOT THE DESIGNATED BRAINCELL OF THIS GROUP, LIBERTIUS HAS ENOUGH PROBLEMS. HE DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW. Anyways, it ends up with Axis snapping a picture of Nox, and Libertus takes a look at this child with dark hair and Coeurl blue eyes and FITE ME glint, and FUCK THIS. Crowe breaks the news to Nyx with “CONGRATS, IT’S A BOY.”

Anonymous said:

4/? Titus is minding his own business in his office, when Nyx slams open the door, a wild look in his eyes. “GONE FOR A WEEK, FAMILY EMERGENCY, BYE.” And before Titus can do anything, Crowe pops in with a “Bye!” as well as Libertus, Luche, and WHY THE HELL IS HALF HIS KINGSGLAIVE LEAVING FOR A ‘FAMILY EMERGENCY’ WHAT HAPPENED. WHY DID THEY LEAVE HIM TO EXPLAIN TO THE KING WHY THE PLANS HAD TO BE POSTPONED BECAUSE HALF THEIR FIGHTING FORCE WAS GONE. And okok, but like, Nyx isn’t about to -

Anonymous said:

LAST BIT - leave Nox, and Ulrics should grow up with their clan so Nox is absconded to Insomnia. On the way there, they stop by Hammerhead, and Cid takes one look and “What are you doing with the King’s child.” “What?” Crowe says. “HE’S MINE, HE’S AN ULRIC,” Nyx snarls. Cid takes out his phone, scrolls through to the picture of Noctis as a child, like, “HE’S A LUCIS CAELUM.” “WHO THE FUCK GAVE AN ULRIC LUCIS CAELUM MAGIC,” Libertus wants to scream to the gods.

Me: *Wheezes softly* Okay but this all is in fact hilarious, but you forgot about Ardyn. Ardyn who is absolutely TEARING through Lucis looking for his wayward nephew, going utterly Feral™ on anything that might possibly be keeping him from his missing nephew. And then he hears of the hoopla in the Galahdian district, something about an Ulric LC that no one has told the king about yet and Ardyn absolutely breaks into Nyx’s apartment at 3AM in the morning to snatch up teeny Nox child. Nyx, who is hyper protective of this tiny Ulric child that he’s gonna have to tell the king about someday, wakes up as Ardyn is leaving and tries to throw hands.

He gets pinned down by about a dozen red swords in his pajamas.

Oh hello feral LC you are a thing that exists apparently.

So after much snarling on both sides and some mournful sniffles on Nox’s side as he clings to his Uncle and baby-eyes at his new “big brother”, Libertus comes over to Nyx’s apartment the next morning to find one (1) vaguely insane Niflheim Chancellor playing with bby Nox and *wearing an Ulric braid*.

Libertus: Nyx what the f-

Nyx: Chancellor has magic.

Libertus: ... wat.

Nyx gesturing at Ardyn who obligingly summons a new hat out of armiger to plop on Nox’s head: Chancellor has magic.

[darkpuck]

Rating: Teen/PG-13 Characters: Luche Lazarus, Tredd Furia, Nyx Ulric, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Libertus Ostium, Axis Arra, Sonitus Bellum Summary: The Kingsglaive have been betrayed at every turn. First, by the city that took them in and immediately spurned them. Second, by a king who broke faith with them. Third, by the Empire they allied with in desperation. Fourth, by their own captain. Now Luche Lazarus is on a mission to deliver the Ring of the Lucii to Noctis, but there's one small problem: he no longer has it. His search takes him all over Lucis, in the wake of Nyx Ulric, Libertus Ostium, and the Oracle herself, and nets him the curious sympathy of the Imperial Chancellor....

behind it all (there's a price to be paid)

.i libertus ostium

It takes three hours to get from the new checkpoint to the Hammerhead garage in Leide. The Oracle— Lady Lunafreya— sleeps curled in Libertus’ lap, her head on his shoulder.

He’s surprisingly comfortable with royalty cradled against his chest. Maybe their desperate battle against the cap— Glauca, Glauca, General fucking Glauca— eroded whatever barrier might exist between two Galahdan refugees and the light of hope for the world, as the radio broadcasts call her.

Radio broadcasts.

He reaches over and flicks the radio on.

"...terms have been suspended in light of recent developments," the announcer says. "Moreover, in the wake of the news of King Regis' death, we've now received word that Crown Prince Noctis and the Oracle Lunafreya have also been pronounced dead."

Libertus exchanges a look with Nyx, then looks down at the Oracle asleep in his lap. "Guess the Niffs don't know his Highness left the City," he says.

"They know," Nyx says darkly. "Don't forget who's been feeding them info all this time."

Read more on AO3!

(Chapter One)

[a-world-in-grey]

Sola/Blood of My Blood snippet

@secret-engima I will never get over this au, it’s too awesome.

.

“I thought you didn’t want a Shield.”

The question comes, hesitant and quiet enough that Sola could pretend not to hear it at all. Noctis’ gaze remains on his phone, on one of the games he used to play but hadn’t touched again until Prompto stumbled into his life.

Into Noctis’ Heart, but that’s Noctis’ detail to share in his own time.

Anyone else, Sola would tell them exactly where to shove that question. She’s heard it far too often from too many nobles, all with the same sneer in their voice and the disgusted affront radiating off them so strongly they didn’t need magic for Sola to know exactly what they were feeling.

Filthy-refugees-how-dare-

But this is Noctis, magic curling in curiosity and worry. Worry for Sola, worry that the choice wasn’t hers, worry for a bond that might have been forced and the damage that would do to both her and her Shield.

Sola lets the bobbin drop against the tapestry and joins Noctis on the couch. They’re in her suite, in the sitting room she turned into a workroom back when she’d been on extended medical leave and needed something to do with her hands. The couch hadn’t come until after Noctis returned, so her brother could have a place to hang out while she worked on her current tapestry.

Sola only asked once if Noctis was truly okay watching Sola work - weaving a tapestry isn’t the quickest process - instead of doing something else with Sola, but her brother had nodded and Sola had let it be. Noctis always brought something to do, a book or a game, or simply napped, and it didn’t take Sola long to realize Noctis just wanted some quiet time while in her presence.

It made her smile fondly when she figured it out. It was startlingly similar behavior to Abyssus.

“I didn’t at first,” Sola says once she’s made herself comfortable. This... is not going to be an easy conversation. Noctis lowers his phone, darkening the screen. “You’d just disappeared. Taking a Shield felt like giving up on you.” And there’s the familiar guilt welling up in Noctis’ magic. Nope, not right now. “There’s a reason the Council chambers needed a renovation, and it isn’t because Papa decided he disliked the decor. On an unrelated note, Lord Egestas hasn’t spoken to me since.”

She grins at Noctis’ hastily smothered snort. There’s a sharp swell of anger on her behalf, but it’s under the reluctant amusement so Sola will take it as a win. Distraction a success.

Sola isn’t a nice person and her humor reflects that; it’s vicious, vindictive, and at times crude. There are few things Noctis shares her amusement on, but Sola doesn’t mind. Her brother is so much kinder than Sola. Noctis truly sharing her sense of humor would mean he’d lost most of the kindness that makes him who he is. And that would break Sola’s heart.

Neither of them like Lord Egestas though. Which means Sola gets away with a lot more than Noctis would normally tolerate.

Now for the hard part. “‘A King needs his brothers.’”

“‘A Lucis Caelum needs their Retinue.’” Noctis finishes, amusement fading. Blue eyes turn distant, turn towards memory and Sola squeezes Noctis’ hand to keep him in the present.

Three years without his Retinue. Three years in the kind of hell that would shatter most people, without any anchors to ground himself.

Six, no wonder her brother had issues.

“Galahd calls it The Draconian’s Rage.” Sola says, closing her eyes against the ache in her chest as she recalls those days. This time, it’s Noctis who squeezes her hand, wrapping her in love-comfort-safety, I’m-here-I’m-here. “Without anyone to ground me... I lost it.”

Noctis closes his arms around her, tucking her against his side, and she still hasn’t wrapped her head around the fact that he’s taller than her now. But the comfort is more than the hurt of lost years. “How bad?”

“Aracheole isn’t there anymore.” Sola says dryly. She’s not going into the details. The details would only hurt.

Just as the details of Noctis’ horrors would only hurt her. Sola knows what she’s been told by Cor and Papa, and she’s inferred a few things from the changes in Noctis’ magic and behavior.

She doesn’t need to know more. She doesn’t want to know more. Not when there’s nothing she can do.

That Sola destroyed an entire stronghold to its foundations is enough for Noctis to get the picture. His arms tighten around her, magic shuddering in horror and dawning realization.

Sola shouldn’t have been able to blow a hole in Aracheole’s wall. For all her unique magical abilities, Sola has never had power.

Noctis isn’t the only one with more magic than he had before. Even if the sheer depth to his magic, that she can only ever glimpse when they’re alone and tangling their magic together in reassurance that they’re both there, makes Sola want to weep. Because Noctis’ magic is so much deeper than her new reserves and the thought of her little brother suffering through even more of that agony...

He never should have had to endure that.

“How far?” Noctis’s grip is bordering uncomfortable, clinging desperately to Sola and the warmth-reassurance Sola wraps around him like a blanket.

“The Wanderer.” Hundreds of years. It’s why she weaves so often. None of the kings and queens before her wove tapestries, never wove at all. It lets Sola distinguish her present from past memories, lets her box it away in the back of her mind.

Lets the flashbacks and nightmares be hers.

Noctis manages to suppress his flinch, but not the sharp sorrow and guilt that spikes through his magic. Sola pushes silent acceptance and reassurance at him. It was her choice to reach so far. And perhaps if Noctis hadn’t been missing, perhaps if he’d been safe back in Insomnia, perhaps then Sola would’ve stopped at the Oracle.

But Noctis wasn’t safe. And there’s very little Sola won’t do for her brother.

She doesn’t regret it in the slightest.

“When I woke, everyone let me know what they thought of that stunt.” Even Hestia Ostium, Libertus’ Chieftess, gave her a tongue-lashing over the grief Sola’s actions had inflicted on her then-boyfriend.

From the huff behind her, Noctis fully agrees with everyone’s actions.

Brat.

“I knew Axis was an Amicitia shortly after I met him.” Sola confesses. “But I didn’t want a Shield. He didn’t want to be a Shield. So we ignored it.”

“Until Aracheole.”

Sola hums in agreement. “Axis introduced me to his kids as Aunt Sola, and told me I wasn’t allowed to die on my new nieces and nephews. And that I was terrible at watching my own back so he was going to watch it for me. Then we bonded.”

Noctis blinks, skeptical. “Just like that?”

Sola huffs. “No. I had to be convinced taking a Shield did not mean I was giving up on you or resigning as your Sword. But the trust had been there for years. Nyx and Tredd and Luche too. Took all of three days to bond with everyone. Quickest Retinue ever assembled.”

Not counting the seven years before she bonded with her Retinue, but the history books don’t count that. Morons.

“And they’re all fine being bonded to a Lucian princess?” Noctis asks, bemused.

Sola smirks up at him. “Not Lucian, little brother.” She taps the four beads at the front of her Ostium Chief braids. The shifting green and purple Galahdite, the purple-black charoite, the blue pearl, and the golden yellow citrine. “As far as Galahd is concerned, I’m their Chief. Simple as that.”

Well, not quite that simple. But she doesn’t feel like rehashing the complicated mess of being Chief to another Chief, on top of sorting out how to allow her Retinue to remain in their own Clans instead of dragging them into the Ostium.

Ladon had suggested creating a new Clan, but Sola shot it down immediately. She likes being an Ostium. Sola proposed to her husband, and she’s not giving up his last name. And she didn’t want to force her Retinue to leave their Clans either.

They’d figured it out eventually. After a lot of yelling. And a fistfight. Or two. Sola refuses to count Hestia breaking Ladon’s nose. Even Tredd admitted Ladon deserved it.

Noctis considers this for a moment. “So long as you’re happy.” He decides.

“I am.”

[ffxvficrec]

FFXV Aro Ace Week Round Up 1

A couple of call outs -

- We have listed relationships [platonic and romantic], ratings, and Archive Warnings

- With that in mind, please tread mindfully! Remember to look at the tags before reading.

You can also check out the AO3 collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FFXVAroAceWeek

Day 1: Love | Marriage/Arranged Marriage | I’d rather cuddle | Trashy romance

Three Friends Walk Into A Marriage by seaofolives

No Archive Warnings Apply

Prompto Argentum & Lunafreya Nox Fleuret & Noctis Lucis Caelum

General Rating

“But did you enjoy kissing me otherwise?”

Noctis let out a long hum before he tossed his shoulders. “Dunno. It’s okay, I guess.” He thought the comics they liked to read seemed to make it more than it really was. Tossing a hand to Luna, he asked her, “You?”

Luna nodded, canting her head first one way and then the other. “I would say the same,” she answered. “Certainly not something that will keep me up at night…well.” She flung her hands to Prompto who straightened up. “Your turn!”

Zeal by GingerEl

No Archive Warnings Apply

Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum

Teen Rating

Noctis and Luna are to be wed - but he's not sure he's a suitable husband for her.

Those Nonexistent Romances by PaperPuffin

No Archive Warnings Apply

Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric

Teen Rating

Talk of trashy romance books leads to talk of bad exes- or lack thereof.

Mariage Blanc by Gizzwhizz

No Archive Warnings Apply

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret & Noctis Lucis Caelum

Teen Rating

"I don't even know if I like that kind of stuff. You know, like...kissing and junk." His cheeks were burning even though he was only talking to a dog! He was the Crown Prince, the only child of King Regis. His father had explained to him the political reasons behind tying Lucis to Tenebrae, but there was more than that to a marriage, especially a Royal one.

Wait for You by AerisLei

No Archive Warnings Apply

Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum

Teen Rating

Prompts used were ‘Love’ and an implied “I’d rather cuddle” but I didn’t quite work the actual dialog in there. Whoops. Basically, a cute Promptis snapshot with no real plot.

Day 2: Relaxation | Oh gods, they were roommates | Who says friendships can’t be just as fulfilling | Squishing hard on someone 

Press Coffee and Close Quarters by PaperPuffin

No Archive Warnings Apply

Aranea Highwind & Ignis Scientia

Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Teen Rating

Aranea had lived on military rations, camp food, and- when she'd been lucky- hastily grabbed street food for pretty much all of her life. And then suddenly there's Ignis cooking in the galley of her airship. If she believed in it, Aranea might have been in love.

The Secret Society of Plants by seaofolives

No Archive Warnings Apply

Clarus Amicitia & Cor Leonis

Iris Amicitia & Cor Leonis

Monica Elshett & Cor Leonis

Cor Leonis & Original Female Character(s)

General Rating

“You mean to tell me you’ve been homeless for a week?” Clarus asked him.

Cor would have preferred not to dignify that with a response, but he was his commanding officer, and he was also sitting at the back of his SUV, surrounded by garbage bags that were full of his clothes. Small consolation that this time, he was wearing a pair of pants and shoes. “Yes, milord,” was his curt response.

Clarus whistled, his head shaking slightly at the empty road in front of him. “Everyone calls you the Immortal, and yet here I am wondering how you ever manage.”

Cohabit by GingerEl

No Archive Warnings Apply

Crowe Altius & Libertus Ostium

Libertus Ostium & Nyx Ulric

Crowe Altius & Nyx Ulric

Teen Rating

Libertus and Crowe are roommates, they don't understand why that's so confusing.

Radiant by thetealord

No Archive Warnings Apply

Referenced Cor/Ardyn

General Rating

In which Cor ruminates with his friends over a crush.

Just Between Us by AerisLei

No Archive Warnings Apply

Gladiolus Amicitia & Noctis Lucis Caelum

Gladiolus Amicitia & Ignis Scientia

General Rating

Platonic Gladnis following the prompt of “Oh gods, they were roommates” ft Questioning!Noctis and Ace!Gladio.

[followthestars]

Thinking on the AU where everyone slowly finds out that LCs are descended from Ulrics and just.

When Clarus goes to harrass Libertus on how he got Regis to not do the thing, he just tells him to go talk to the elders.

Clarus gets stories about what crazy things Ulrics have done in the past and they notice Clarus just... getting paler and paler.

“Regis does all of that.”

The Ostium clan is in chaos in minutes because LCs might be Ulrics! They need to find an Ostium to braincell the Prince before he gets bad!

And for more Ulric craziness... what if Aulea was an Ulric that got separated from her Ostium. And said poor Ostium finds her after she’s already married Regis.

So Noctis is even more Ulric than Regis is.

I... might just fuse the Fae Prince AU with this one. Because Fae behaviors on top of Ulric behaviors is a great mix of chaos.

Just Fae-Like Noctis also being Ulric crazy on top of normal LC crazy. It just takes one hour in Little Galahad for someone from a random clan to approach the Ostiums to control the Ulric causing chaos in the markets.

They think it’s Nyx and contact Libertus, until they learn Nyx is with him. Then panic.

Nyx just rushes in to find... the Prince being very much an Ulric with several Ostiums trying to braincell him.

Ignis is the one that comes to the rescue and gets Noctis to behave.

But the damage is done, everyone is 100% convinced that LCs are indeed related to the Ulric clan. And then they find out about Noctis’ mother... who I am gonna say was Nyx’s cousin he hadn’t seen in years.

Just, all the chaos of an Ulric that’s also Fae-like.

[incarnateirony]

I’m glad you posted about someone saying that your posts feeling like A Lot because I agree (and I mean that both as a compliment and as someone with learning disabilities haha) and I appreciate you saying that it’s okay if we don’t understand immediately. But also, I was reading about what you said about handwriting in your post from yesterday and thought “CAS THOUGHT JOHN’S HANDWRITING WAS BEAUTIFUL” and just sort of sat there like one of those old TVs while someone is frantically twisting the antennas to try and get a picture. I think you’re the one messing with my antennas? So… thank you? This might not make sense.

yeah the other day I blew up on someone and they were like "I'M JUST ASKING QUESTIONS DONT GET MAD AT ME FOR ASKING QUESTIONS" no. it's about the angle of questions. I answer questions all day. But there's a certain point where I'm trying to force a square peg into someone's round brainhole because if they don't want to figure it out I'm explain-kicking water uphill.

The only time you'll see me say "no, shut up, you're stupid, stop making assumptions" is when, well. You're being stupid. and making base assumptions. or blind faith reading the first perspective as truth. Or your own first thoughts as truth. Just like the transformation of knowledge of the Akrida, the Ostium, and Roxxy.

people keep saying "I'm just asking questions!!!" [innocent face] you really think you are just asking questions but nobody is fixing their broken ass processes underlying assumptions are coloring the questions everyone wants the easy answers but nobody wants to do the hard work to reach them and that includes figuring out where yall got it fucked up and backwards personally, first "I can't see/figure it out" no, you can. But you don't want to. You think you want to. You believe you want to, because part of your personal interests are contingent on the result. But figuring out first where you're an idiot is something the average person doesn't like to look at If you wanna figure it out we gotta deconstruct the thought process that's leading you to whackadooville if you're going to read the directions to albequerque right I don't want to hear shit like "I don't play persona so I don't have that context." I don't. Persona is a philosophy of mind to learn and one venue I've given plenty of links about it TO explain it. Persona is a proxy to explain it just like Matrix is a proxy to explain it you either learn to think like a functional adult that takes what they want or you don't. People who don't play persona figure it out all the time.

This is less at you and more at the general "can't vs won't" mentality driving people who DO ask questions and the questions I get.

When I get questions that are addled with misfit suppositions that have taken you off the yellow brick road, that are stated as if Truth as the base of their question that guides their angles, then yeah, someone's gonna get spanked. But otherwise yeah, keep asking questions, and if I blow up and say HEY STUPID YOU MISSED THE OFFRAMP, don't start arguing, turn the fuck around.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Not Everyone Knows How To Draw A Salt Line - Snippet

Don't follow the Flickering. Ignore it. Turn away and don't look.

That was the first thing Broek had been taught by his parents, grandparents and the Elders. He still remembered sitting at Elder Panna's feet by the great bonfire along with the other children, and listen to her warnings.

Elder Panna's voice had creaked like the gnarly branches of an ancient tree in a storm, her whole face littered with deep wrinkles. She had been blind by then, but that had only made her more intimidating. In that first memory Broek had been scared. Because of the deep shadows dancing in the Elder's face and how they got caught by the wrinkles. Because of her sightless eyes and her long white hair that rattled with the amount of bones and beads in it, each time she moved.

“Listen well children, for this tale might safe your lives one day,” she had said and Broek had huddled deeper into his moss cloak, but had still leaned forward, eager to hear more.

“Do not go out into the swamps after dark, for it is dangerous business to walk its paths without the sun as your protector. There are fihrie in the swamps, flickering like stars in the night. Will-o'-the-whisps the other Clans call them, the Flickering is the name our Clan gave them. They wink at you, try to lure you from the safety of your path. They may promise you a faster way – less travelled and only known by them – a place to rest your weary feet, food and drink. Do not listen and don not follow. Never follow. Decline their invitation and leave behind a lantern made of brushwood. They will think the flickering fire to be one of them. Remember this well children, for if you get lost, there is no saying where or when you will be found again. If ever.”

For years and years Broek had taken Elder Panna's words to heart. Had only gone out into the swamps after dark during the most dire of circumstances, and had left little lanterns made of brushwoods at the crossroads to confound the Flickering.

It had worked well for him.

Until it hadn't.

Now Broek sat a metal made table within a stone building opposite of Lima of Clan Aliquantus. He still couldn't quite believe he wasn't dead. Her assurances didn't make it better, neither did the steaming cup of limeschti in front of him or the hushed conversations in Hadnissa around him.

It was cold here. He huddled deeper into his sky fisher cloak and with a sudden ferocity that didn't really surprise him, missed the heavy earthen scent of the swamps, the sound of the insects buzzing around him and the low murmur of the water beneath him. He wanted his home. Spirits, what would his husband think? He had lost his stilts and his fisher basket somewhere along the way, if they should be found abandoned, people would assume the worst.

“I need to go home,” he muttered.

Lima gave him a pitying smile. Broek hated it.

“May we have a name to call you by?” she asked again.

“... Broek.”

“Fahlana, Broek. It's good to meet you despite the circumstances.”

He just took a sip of his limeschti to distract himself from another vicious stab of homesickness and looked around. There were so many Galahkari here. Members of Clans thought lost to them in the Devastation. Furia, Lazarus, Arra, Bellum, Altius, Sarcina, Najad, Khara, Ostium.

Some looked more obvious Galahkar than others and they all wore some kind of uniform. Broek was about to ask about that when a man stepped forward. He was so obviously Ulric, Broek nearly flung himself out of his chair to get away from him. He'd had enough of fihrie mischief to last him a lifetime. From the set of the Ulric's mouth, the other man could tell.

[saxhamsurvivor]

@ofsylleblossomsandsteel:

It’s not really a chair anymore, Nyx has to admit, staring through one swollen-mostly-shut eye from where he’s landed cheek-first against the concrete, trying to figure out if he’s broken anything else in his attempt to get out of here. 

 And if it still counts as a chair after breaking apart into several pieces, it’s a shitty fucking chair. 

 He should get up. 

 He should get up.

Nyx moves slightly, and groans. 

 Get up.

He doesn’t know how much time he’s got to try to escape, but he’s got a bent piece of rusted steel chair about two inches away from his hands, still cuffed behind his back-- Nyx lets his hands scrape back, back, got it.

He should get up.

But his legs aren’t responding to him like the rest of his body is, screaming-numb from being sat up in one spot for days.

Get up.

He should get up.

It’s a great deal of effort that gets him to roll over onto his other side, and Nyx stares up at the door instead of the broken chair, trying to decipher how many locks might be on the other side of it. Steel, yeah, but there’s a very small window that he might be able to break through, if he could only get up.

But then it’s too late, and all he’s got is the pipe in his hands and a scream of rage on his lips as the knob turns, the door opens.

“I’ll kill you-- I’ll kill you--”

Get up, you bastard, get up.

They’re all getting court-martialed for this, Axis knows -- but fuck, Tredd’s already proven he doesn’t need magic to murder MTs, and Axis was a terrified untrained kid the first time he killed a daemon.

It’s fine.

They’ll all be fine.

Crowe and Tredd are somewhere else, making a big fiery distraction, and Khara’s running comms while Ostium and Soni try to grab intel as their excuse for this forbidden mission to rescue Nyx.

It’s Axis who weaves through the base; Niff prefab bases all have the exact same layout, and he spent a childhood exploring Perpetuouss with Chital, Rosemary, Rye, and the rest of Rye’s gang. He knows where everything is — including the interrogation rooms.

There’s guards on the door, the cyborgs derisively referred to as battery soldiers by the Kingsglaive. There’s some question as to just how human these troops are, but right now they’re between him and Nyx, so they have to die.

He doesn’t warp so much as he phases through a corner, coming out just behind the guards and slamming his blades into the backs of their necks. They die in silence, sparks emerging from beneath their helmets, and Axis grabs a lead of one of them and opens the door.

Nyx is on the floor, in the remains of a chair, armed with a pipe and the sheer force of his rage. His scream is nearly incoherent, and Axis pulls his mask down. “Shh, it’s me,” he says, using the stern dad voice that cuts through panic attacks.

[hovercraft79]

Lovesong

Chapters: 3

Word Count: 5,496

Fandom: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)

Rating: M

Warnings: general family discord, adult situations, violence, child in danger

Summary: A dangerous malady befalls one of the students and Ada doesn’t know what to do. Tensions are running high and Hecate and Ada feel the stress. Will they be able to count on each other to make it through or will the stresses tear them apart?  

Notes: This is part 2 of the fic that covers the Week 8 prompt ‘magical battle couple.’

Welp, as it happens, the workshop and going back to school took quite the toll on my writing time. That and the fact that these two witches had so much going on they needed a whole extra chapter. So now this is chapter 2 of a three-chapter fic.

The title of this week’s fic is still Lovesong, by The Cure.

As ever, I’m thankful Sparky is still hanging in there and editing for me. She was so thrilled to learn this was part one of two  two of three.

“I found them, I found them!” Mavis raced down the corridor, dodging the handful of girls gathered outside Penny’s room. Pushing girls out of the way, Mavis cleared a path for Hecate and Ada all the way into the bedroom. “They’re here, Miss Bat!” Mavis practically shouted. “I went to Miss Hardbroom’s room and Miss Cackle was there, too!”

Waving them in, Gwen cast a quick glance over their nightclothes but otherwise said nothing. The fact that Hecate Hardbroom was blushing from broomstick to bristle told her everything she needed to know. “The girl’s losing magic – quickly.” She lowered her voice so only Hecate and Ada could hear. “She’s pale, her breathing is shallow, and there’s a faint shimmer on her skin that’s dripping down the mattress and onto the floor. I fear it could be the Wasting.”

Ada’s eyes flew open wide. “Are you sure? How?” She took an unconscious step back. Ada had heard of the Wasting – everyone had – but she’d never seen a case herself. Few had. Officially, Cachexia magicae, but most simply called it the Wasting, if they spoke of it at all. If they did, it was always in the same hushed tone that Gwen used now.

Before Gwen could answer, Hecate swept back into the hallway. “Girls! Back to your rooms!” No one moved. “NOW!” After a stunned moment of stillness, girls scattered in all directions. Hecate slammed the door with more force than she intended. “We need to get her into the infirmary, under an isolation spell.”

“Now we can’t be certain,” Ada began, wringing her hands together. “Let’s not panic just yet. I’ll transfer her to the infirmary. Hecate, if you’ll fetch Miss Spellbody and meet us there, we’ll see if we can’t get to the bottom of this.” She turned to Gwen. “I fear someone should probably find my sister.” Ada closed her eyes and transferred herself and Penny to the infirmary.

Once they’d gone, Gwen and Hecate stared at one another. At last, Gwen spoke. “Took you two long enough. Well done.”

The blush that had finally started to recede blazed back with a vengeance. “I’m sure I don’t know what you could be talking about.”

“I’m sure you don’t, but…” Gwen reached out and tapped the top button of Hecate’s pyjamas. “You might want to try again with your top, maybe line the buttons up this time.” She grinned as Hecate’s hands flew to her collar, confirming that she had, indeed, misbuttoned her pyjamas. “And when you see Ada, tell her to turn her gown right-side out.” Gwen lifted a hand to cup Hecate’s cheek. “Love suits you both, dear. Don’t be embarrassed by it.” She transferred out, leaving Hecate standing there, dumbly touching her cheek where Gwen’s hand had been.

Hecate allowed herself a moment to feel the warmth spreading through her before she hurried to find Mavis Spellbody.

 “Am I going to get it, too?” Mavis’ voice sounded very small in the corner of the infirmary. Four girls had been in Penny’s room since she fell ill. Only Mavis had actually touched her, and now she too sat inside an isolation spell in the infirmary.

Ada muttered a quiet spell and stepped through the wall of magic separating Mavis from the rest of the room. “No, dear. This is all just a precaution.” She took a seat next to Mavis and wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?” Ada felt Mavis nod against her shoulder. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Miss Bismuth is taking good care of Penny; she’ll be right as rain before you know it.”

Hecate materialized outside the isolation spell holding a small bag of Mavis’ things. Her face twisted into a worried scowl. She transferred the bag to Ada. “I thought you might also wish to have your… creature.” She waggled a finger, and a fluffy yellow and pink striped toy cat appeared at the top of the bag.

Mavis snatched it out at once, hugging it to her chest. “Is Penny going to die?”

“No,” Ada insisted. “We’ll get her sorted. Why don’t you tell me who your friend is?”

“Kitty-Kit.”

“Kitty-Kit… that’s a fine name. Why don’t you and Kitty-Kit try to get some rest? I’m going to go talk to Miss Hardbroom.” She hugged Mavis tighter before leaving the confines of the isolation spell.

As soon as Ada stepped out of the spell, Hecate cast a shower spell over her. And then another. She was about to cast a third when Ada raised her hands in surrender. “Let’s let Miss Bismuth cast a disinfecting spell, shall we?”

Hecate nodded. Once that was done, Hecate filled Ada in on Penny’s prognosis. “The magical drain has slowed down, but… Miss Bismuth isn’t even certain it is the Wasting. It could be something else, perhaps a potion or spell.”

“Who would cast such a thing? On a student, no less?” Ada crossed her arms over her chest. “If Mother were here, she’d say Agatha must be involved somehow.”

Hecate didn’t respond.

“She’s not. Tell me everything the girls said they did between potions practice and Penny falling ill.” Hecate told her what the girls had said.  

“And there was nothing out of the ordinary during the potions practice? All the ingredients were properly marked?”

“You know they were. You helped with the last stock-taking.”

“None of the girls went into the supply cupboard? Not even for a moment?”

“No. It was a practice like any other, save for the pizza afterwards. We weren’t even working on that difficult a spell. Do you think that I somehow caused this to happen?”

“No… of course not. I…” Ada cast about, trying to find the right words.

Hecate huffed a great gust of air. “You just think I was negligent and now one of our students may lose her magic!”

Ada pinched the bridge of her nose. “How can you say it’s not even possible? Things happen, Hecate. No one is perfect – not even you.”

“My imperfections are well established. Nevertheless, I know what went on at practice. This was not caused by me nor one of my girls.”

“It could have been!”

“It wasn’t!” Hecate could feel her temper wriggling free from her control. “I have to prepare for class.” She stalked out of the infirmary, too emotional to try and transfer straight away. Besides, she wanted to research any sort of spell that might present similarly to Cachexia magicae and she needed a clearer head.

Distracted, Hecate rounded a corner in the corridor and ran headlong into Dierdre Swoop, who was leading a train of floating boxes along behind her. “Dierdre! Forgive me… I wasn’t paying attention.” She looked down the line of boxes. “What are you doing?”

Miss Swoop’s face wrinkled in confusion. “We’re meant to be switching rooms. Did Miss Cackle not tell you?” The boxes dropped to the floor with a thunk. “She said that you were in the wrong rooms. That I had more seniority and so I should be in the larger quarters. Then she went on about you not getting any special privileges just because, well… you know.” She waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the Headmistress’s office. “You know I don’t care about that – I’m happy for you and for Miss Cackle. And I like my little set of rooms!” She clutched Hecate’s hand. “I swear I didn’t complain! I don’t even want those rooms. If I did, I would have moved into them when Mrs. Drill left. They were left empty until you came along. Where I am now has a view of the sports field, but Miss Hackle insisted. I can’t believe she didn’t tell you.”

“Which Miss Cackle?” Hecate watched as the color drained from Dierdre’s face. “Ada is in her office right now; go talk to her – make sure it’s actually Ada.”

“Busted broomsticks!” Dierdre spat as she realized she’d been played. “I’ll go right now. I’m glad I ran into you, Hecate.”

Hecate transferred Dierdre’s boxes back to her rooms once the sports witch had gone. She felt the stirrings of a headache beginning. What mischief was Agatha up to now?

  Ada sat on her sofa with her head buried in her hands, sniffling. She’d made a right mess of things – with the school and with Hecate. And what was that business with Miss Swoop and Hecate switching rooms? At least that was easily sorted. Unlike Penny Pestle. What made her think she was capable of running a school? Ada felt a familiar tingle of magic. Feeling a mixture of relief and annoyance, she looked up to find her mother standing in the middle of the office.

“I’d say ‘well met,’ but the fact that you’re here tells me you know that would be a lie.” Ada dropped her head back into her hands. “It could hardly be worse.”

Alma eyed her daughter with fond amusement. “I see we’re at the ‘I’m a miserable failure’ stage of the crisis. She took a seat next to her daughter on the sofa. “Any more news on the girl?”

“Not yet. They aren’t even sure she has the Wasting.”

“The Ostium Alternis? Do you know how it came to be here yet?”

“No – and that’s a cold cauldron at this point.” Ada knew her mother suspected her sister was involved. She didn’t want to argue about it again.

“Where’s your sister?” Alma frowned when Ada didn’t answer. “Where is your Deputy Head?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since this whole bloody business began.” Ada finally lifted her head, her misery-filled eyes wet with unshed tears. “And before you ask, I don’t know where Hecate is either. I’m afraid I’ve buggered that as well.”

Alma wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “You and Hecate will sort things out. Gwen didn’t mirror me about that, though. Right now, there’s a girl in the infirmary that needs all of our attention. Have you contacted the Pestles yet?”

Ada nodded glumly. It had been a miserable experience. “They should be there before dinner. I’ve called Mona Spellbody as well. Mavis doesn’t have any symptoms yet, but…”

“Och, best to do it sooner rather than later.” Alma rubbed her chin as she thought for a moment. “Shouldn’t she be showing the first signs by now? It’s been more than twenty-four hours since exposure.”

“That’s why Miss Bismuth isn’t sure that Penny has the Wasting. It could be a spell or… she’s on the potions team for the Witchtathlon meet. She could have been exposed to something there.”

“Not bloody likely,” Alma snorted. “Hecate Hardbroom? Be careless about potions? With a student’s health and safety at stake? Only a fool—” Alma groaned as a fat tear rolled down Ada’s cheek. “You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Ada…” Alma shook her head. “Never mind. You’ll work it out. What’s important is that little girl. What are you doing for her? You need to talk to Agatha.”

Ada moved from the sofa to her desk. She didn’t want to talk about Agatha. “Why? What would she know about it?” She opened the folder containing the monthly invoices, hoping that would signal to her mother that the conversation was over. It didn’t.

Alma followed Ada to her desk, looking down at her with a mix of sympathy and pity. “You won’t know that until you ask her. If it is a spell or a potion… well, that sort of thing wouldn’t exactly be out of character.”

Clenching her jaw, Ada kept her eyes glued to the invoice in her hand. She had no idea what it said. She flipped it to the next one.

“Burying your head in the sand does nothing to help that girl. Agatha—”

Ada slapped the folder against the desk. “It always comes back to this, doesn’t it, Mother? All our lives you’ve blamed Agatha. Every time something went wrong, your first thought was always ‘it must be Agatha.’”

“It’s not without reason.” Alma crossed to the window and stared out across the courtyard. “Time and again – chaos. Everywhere she went, chaos – and you – trailed along behind.”

“Childhood scrapes, Mother, overblown childhood scrapes.” Ada stared at the monthly invoices, seeing nothing but blurry entries.

“Breaking Grandmother’s vase is a childhood scrape, Ada. Permanently vanishing your familiar? Total obedience spells on any boy she fancied? The extraction spell? Those are not ‘scrapes.’ They are serious violations of the Code!”

“Violations she committed as a child! That extraction spell was over thirty years ago – and I was hardly dragged along unwilling. Or have you forgotten?”

Alma left the window and dropped heavily into one of the wingbacks near the fireplace. “How could I forget? I spent your entire childhood dreading whatever calamity Agatha may have tricked or manipulated you into – or Mona Spellbody.”

Ada flipped the page in her hand over with such force she nearly ripped it in half. “I don’t think I care for your assumption that I just blindly followed Agatha with no mind of my own.”

“Really? How many of those ‘scrapes’ did you get up to once Agatha was at Wormwood’s? Or since you’ve been teaching away from your sister? I’ll tell you how many. None. But here we are, Agatha not yet here a full term and already you’ve nearly lost Hecate to an Ostium Alternis Vitae cast on a mirror that no one ever saw before.” Ada opened her mouth to respond, but Alma held up a hand. “You wound up married thanks to a scroll that should never have been where you found it. And now, as we speak, you have a student whose magic is leaching out of her for no apparent reason.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love your sister, always have done, but I’m not blind to her faults. I didn’t have that luxury when you were children.” Alma tapped her fingertips against the arm of the chair, not looking at Ada – not looking anywhere. “I don’t want your sister to be involved with this. I can’t tell you how much I hope she’s nothing to do with it, but this sort of thing is right in her wheelhouse, isn’t it? Just because you throw a wobbler when I say so, doesn’t change that. I’m sorry, Ada, I can’t discount the possibility that Agatha is responsible. I hope you won’t either.” Alma pushed herself out of the chair with a groan. “I’m knackered. I’ll see you and Hecate tomorrow, and we’ll get this whole marriage scroll business sorted. That’ll be one worry vanished, at least.”

“Goodnight, Mother.” Ada watched as her mother shuffled into the corridor, carrying more years than when she’d arrived less than an hour ago. She’d never noticed it before, but somehow her mother had gotten old. She glanced at the newly hung portrait of her and Agatha. She wasn’t exactly a fresh cup of tea herself.

Even though her mother had gone, Ada still struggled to concentrate. She flipped another paper in the stack, frowning as she read the name of an unfamiliar vendor: Gloom’s Emporium of Esoterica.  It wasn’t a large order, only a few things that looked like potions ingredients. One ingredient stood out from the rest – Arum maculatum. Adder’s tongue. She didn’t even think you could order it without dispensation from the Magic Council. Ada pulled the form, shutting the folder. It seemed as good an excuse as any to pay a visit to Hecate. She cast out with her magic, finally locating Hecate in the reserved section of the library.

When she materialized in the library, Ada found Hecate smiling warily up at her from the middle of a mountain of books. “Miss Hardbroom.”

“Miss Cackle.” Hecate arched a brow. “I thought I felt the brush of your magic.” She cleared a short stack of books from the chair next to her. “Join me?”

Relieved, Ada smiled despite herself. Perhaps things between them weren’t as bad as she feared. Ada sat down and let herself relax in Hecate’s company. For all her prickliness, Hecate always managed to soothe Ada’s own anxieties. Resisting the urge to touch Hecate, Ada studied the titles of the books in front of her. “Magical Maladies, Webspinner’s Herbology…” Ada squinted to read the faded title of an ancient tome. “The Grimoire of Hester Mosstone? Hecate… that’s…dark magic.” She collapsed in on herself. “You think Agatha’s responsible as well.”

“I don’t know.” Hecate reached under the table and clasped Ada’s hand. “I do know that Penny doesn’t have the Wasting. It’s too virulent. All the girls on the team would be showing the first symptoms by now – I would be showing symptoms. It must be a spell.”

“I owe you an apology,” Ada started. She hoped Hecate would let it go at that, but instead she simply arched an eyebrow and waited for Ada to continue. Sighing, she did. “I guess I would rather this was all because you made a mistake than because my sister intentionally tried to harm a child. I know that’s terribly unfair to you, but…”

“But Agatha is your sister,” Hecate finished softly. Ada shrugged. “That’s as may be, but isn’t finding the truth the most important thing? Even if it was my mistake?”

Ada brushed fingers across Hecate’s cheek. “You’re a remarkable woman, Hecate Hardbroom. And I’m a lucky one.” Hecate leaned into her touch. Ada let herself enjoy the contact for a moment before she placed the invoice on the table in front of her. “I found this today. Did you order it?”

Hecate studied the page, eyebrows disappearing into her hairline as she read the list. “Adder’s tongue? That’s… Ada, there’s no legitimate use for adder’s tongue outside of hospital and even then… there are safer alternatives. Why did you order this?”

“I’ve never seen this before. I’ve never even heard of the vendor; that’s why I noticed it. Mother was – Mother’s here, by the way. Gwen mirrored her. She thinks Agatha could be involved as well. Anyway, I was trying to avoid Mother’s rant about Agatha—”

“I fear your mother may be right,” Hecate said, her voice quiet with dread. “Adder’s tongue is a restricted ingredient. Only a Headmistress would be able to order it.” She left the implication of that hanging in the air.

Leaving Ada to work that out for herself, Hecate summoned an ancient-looking text from the other end of the table. She opened it to the back and ran her finger down the index, looking for potions that contained adder’s tongue. Her teeth worried at her lower lip as she scanned the entries. “There!” Hecate flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. “Ada, read this.” Hecate studied Ada’s face as she read through the potion, not once but three times. “It fits. And…” she tapped the page with a long nail, “there’s an antidote.”

“You’re bloody brilliant!” Ada leaned in and kissed Hecate on the cheek, library full of students be damned. “Get on that. I have to phone Gloom’s and see who placed that order.”

-----

 Hecate stuck her head in the office. The rest of her stumbled in afterwards when Ada glanced up from her phone call and waved her inside. Ada’s hair… she’d… it… Her long auburn locks were gone. Now her hair swung in an even bob, just above her shoulders.

“I see,” Ada said, speaking into the receiver. “Yes, I would expect that to be the case… And you’re quite certain?” Ada’s face darkened, and from across the room Hecate could see how tightly she was gripping the phone. “Yes, please. Two-signature order authentication? Yes, let’s set that up… myself, of course… and Hecate Hardbroom.” Ada flicked her eyes to Hecate and gave her a quick wink. “H-E-C-A-T-E… yes… Thank you, Mr. Gloom. You have a fine day as well.” Ada hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair. “I assume you got the gist of that?”

“Let me guess, you ordered the adder’s tongue?”

“So it seems. And I’ve recently had a very interesting conversation with Miss Swoop. Apparently, I’ve been busier than I thought.” She made room as Pendle jumped into her lap.

“Does this have something to do with your new hairstyle?”

Ada ran her fingers through her hair as though she’d just realized it was shorter. “A bit of an overreaction? I suppose I should have asked your thoughts on the matter.” She focused on scratching an especially pleasurable spot behind Pendle’s ear. “I just thought I’d make it harder for Agatha to…” She couldn’t get the rest of the words out past the lump in her throat.

Hecate hurried to Ada’s side, pulling her close and cradling Ada’s head against her chest. She carded her fingers through Ada’s hair, savoring the way the strands glided through her fingers. “It’s your hair, Ada. You’re free to wear it however you like.” Hecate leaned down and kissed the aforementioned hair. “I quite like it this way, though – it’s most fetching.” She could feel Ada relaxing under her touch, and she hated to take that away, but she couldn’t ignore the reason Ada had cut her hair in the first place. “Your sister definitely can’t rely on people simply assuming she’s you anymore. I know she’s your sister, and I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s any way around it. Agatha is up to something nefarious.”

Snaking an arm around Hecate’s hips, Ada nodded. “Tell me something good, dear. Were you able to make the antidote?”

“Handily. The cure isn’t nearly as difficult to make as the original potion. Penny responded almost at once to the antidote. Thankfully, her magic is no longer draining. I fear her recovery will be arduous, but I believe she will recover.”

“Finally, a bit of good news,” Alma said, before she’d even fully materialized.

“Mother!” Ada clutched her chest, trying to force her racing heart back into its place.

Hecate stumbled backward, nearly losing her footing. “Mrs. Cackle! For the love of…” She placed a steadying hand on Ada’s shoulder. “Well met.”

“A bit of warning would be in order, Mother.” Ada climbed to her feet. “I suppose you’re here to say ‘I told you so’ or some such?” She told her mother the rest of what they’d learned.

“It gives me no pleasure being right.” Alma fell quiet.

They each sat, alone with their thoughts, until Alma finally roused herself. “Now that you have things in hand, I thought I’d take my leave. I’ve come to undo the marriage scroll before I go. That is, if you still wish me to do so.” She looked hopefully between the two of them. “There’s no hurry if you aren’t sure.”

“We’re sure,” Ada said, quickly. Too quickly, she realized. “Aren’t we?”

Hecate didn’t know what to say. She desperately wanted to protect her connection to Ada. “Is that what you want?”

Suddenly, Ada’s certainty wavered. What if Hecate changed her mind? That’s the point, she reminded herself. She wouldn’t force Hecate into anything. But what if you’re forcing her out of something she wants?

“Ada?” Hecate knelt beside her chair. “Let me in. Whatever this conversation is that you’re having in your head… have it with me.”

Ada took Hecate’s hands in her own, admiring the way they fit together as she organized her thoughts. “I don’t want to lose you. I’ve no desire to sever my connection to you… ever.”

The relief on Hecate’s face was palpable, but so was the anxiety. “But?”

“I want you to be mine – freely given. When we marry, I don’t want it to be an accident.”

When, she thought, Ada said when. She felt something loosen in her chest. “I want the same,” Hecate whispered, squeezing Ada’s hands. “Freely given. You need this. I need you. If undoing the scroll is the key to being together, then let’s undo it.” She turned to Alma. “Yes, we’re sure.”

Nodding, Alma summoned the scroll and motioned them to come and sit on the sofa. “First things first, then. Hecate, you must give Ada her watch back.”

Hecate reluctantly lifted the chain over her head and placed the pocket watch in Ada’s hand, feeling the loss more keenly than she’d imagined. “I return this gift to thee.”

Ada passed it quickly to her mother, refusing to hold it a second longer than necessary. Alma slipped it into a pocket in her cardigan. “Make sure you aren’t touching one another.” She waited while they scooted fractionally farther apart. “Here we go.” Standing over them, Alma read the spell clearly, her voice strong despite her misgivings.

 For binding broken, return the token

Make us two instead of one,

And let this marriage be undone.

 Red light filled the room, riding a crack of magic. It disappeared as quickly as it came.

A chasm of emptiness opened up inside Hecate’s chest, and she reached for Ada’s hand and laced their fingers together. “Is that it? It’s done then?” Hecate looked back and forth between Ada and Alma. Dazed, Ada could barely nod.

“Aye, it’s done.” Alma turned the scroll over in her hands, disappointment etched clearly in her features. “It wouldn’t have worked in the first place if the love wasn’t there, you know.”

Ada roused herself enough to speak. “I know, but… Hecate needed the choice. We needed the choice.”

Hecate shifted closer to Ada. “And now I’m free to choose, correct?” Ada’s eyes flickered up to meet hers. She nodded once before dropping them back down, staring at her hands as she twisted her fingers together in her lap. Screwing up her courage, Hecate tucked each side of Ada’s new pageboy behind her ears before gently cradling her face in her hands and lifting her head. “I choose you, Ada Cackle. I always have done, since that first time we met.” Leaning in, she claimed Ada’s lips with her own, filling the kiss with all the love and commitment she could, determinedly ignoring the fact that Alma was sitting right there.

She kissed Ada until she felt her rise in response, until her lungs burned with the need for air. Then she kissed her some more. Finally, gasping, they had to part. Hecate held her hand out, summoning the scroll. She handed the scroll to Ada, capturing both her hands in hers. “When you’re ready, I want you to read this scroll to me again. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now… I will be here, choosing you.” As Ada stared wordlessly at their joined hands, a tear tracked down her cheek. Hecate’s bravado faltered under the weight of the silence. “Unless… you don’t…”

Ada’s head snapped up. “I do. Of course, I do. I can’t imagine anything else…” Ada pulled her hands free and turned to her mother. “May I?”

With a start, Alma realized Ada wanted the pocket watch back. She fumbled in her cardigan pocket before pulling it out and handing it over.

Ada closed her eyes and clutched it between her hands, whispering a nearly silent spell. When she finished, she opened it and presented it to Hecate.

Reverently, Hecate took the watch in shaking fingers. Inside the cover Ada had magicked an inscription.

 You are the one my heart chooses, time after time.

-All my love, Ada

 Hecate pressed a fist to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.

“I hope that’s a yes,” Ada said, gently pulling the watch from Hecate’s grip. She looped the chain around Hecate’s neck, carefully working it past Hecate’s fist. “I was thinking this summer, after term. With our friends and family there, this time. If you’d like that… If you’d rather it just be us—”

She couldn’t finish because Hecate launched herself at Ada, wrapping her arms around her neck and kissing her ferociously. Ada grabbed Hecate’s hips, pulling her closer until she was in Ada’s lap.

Alma cleared her throat, but neither of them paid her any mind. “I’ll leave you two to it then,” she said as she crept out of her chair. She magicked the scroll to a safe place on the coffee table, set the strongest wards she could and just managed to transfer away as the first moan filled the room.

 -----

 “Drink this, it will help settle your stomach.” Hecate produced a small bottle of pale green liquid. “It’s a bit of ginger, some extract from the leaves of an artichoke,” she smiled fondly at Ada, “and far too much honey to make it sweet enough so you’ll drink it.”

Ada smiled back gratefully. She’d already been sick twice from thinking about the conversation she was about to have with her sister. Warm flannel in hand, Hecate had patiently cleaned her up each time, brushing away her apologies. “Cheers,” Ada said, grimacing before she tossed the contents of the bottle back like a shot of tequila. “You’ll stay?”

“If that’s what you want.” She leaned in, brushing her lips against Ada’s. She could taste the faint flavor of honey. “It will be all right… my love. I’ll be here if you need me.” They stepped apart as Agatha transferred into the office.

“You wished to see me, Sister?”

Lips pressed in a tight line, Ada nodded. She offered Agatha a seat on the sofa, but she declined. “We need to talk.”

Hecate moved as far out of the way as she could, hoping to fade into the background, but still be where Ada could see her.

Ada clasped her hands in front of her. She couldn’t bring herself to look her sister in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Aggie. This isn’t working out.”

“I’m quite sure I don’t know what you mean.” Agatha glanced at Hecate, then promptly dismissed her.

“Thankfully, young Miss Pestle doesn’t have the Wasting. She’s under a spell – one not so different from an extraction spell.  A very old spell that calls for adder’s tongue.”

“I wonder how she managed to get her hands on that.” Agatha gave Hecate a side-long look. “I would think that dangerous potions would be stored well out of students’ reach.” She sighed. “Pity that didn’t happen. Such an unfortunate accident.”

“We don’t keep that potion here,” Ada said. “We don’t even keep the ingredients.”

Agatha tutted. “You know how a potions cupboard is, stacked to the gills with old jars and bottles of who knows what? We’re a school full of young witches eager to test their magic. Accidents are bound to happen.”

“And I suppose it was just an accident that Gloom’s Emporium of Esoterica thinks I placed an order for adder’s tongue? Or that Miss Swoop is beside herself because she thinks I’ve suddenly decided to shift her quarters about? It’s all just an accident that all these people think I’m doing something when, in reality, it’s you?”

“I’m hardly responsible for the assumptions others make, Ada. If you’ve not made enough of an impression on your staff for them to know it’s you…” Agatha’s eyes traveled over her sister’s shorter haircut. “Though emulating Uncle Alfred’s hairstyle seems a bit extreme.”

“Is everything a joke to you?” Hecate stalked to Ada’s side. “You broke the Witches Code! Rule 2, Paragraph 1 states that a witch may not take any action that causes physical or magical harm to any other witch outside the confines of a magical duel. Furthermore, Section 2, Subsection C states that senior witches have a duty of care for junior witches. Poisoning them hardly fulfills the duty of care.”

“I don’t know what business any of this is of yours. Really, Ada,” Agatha crossed her arms petulantly over her chest. “Must your latest floozy be constantly present?”

Ada bristled, calming only when Hecate’s hand came to rest on her forearm. “It’s Hecate’s student that’s lying in the infirmary, fighting for her magic. She has every right to be here. Furthermore, I want her here.”

“Again, that’s nothing to do with me!”

“No? Then you won’t mind finishing this, will you?” Hecate summoned the tray of sweets she’d confiscated from her team. “I believe you gave Penny the purple fairy cake.”

Agatha took an involuntary step backwards.

“What’s the matter, Miss Cackle? Are you afraid to sample the same sweets you provided one of our students?” Hecate took a step closer, brandishing the tray like a weapon.

“I told you, I don’t want you here!” Agatha blasted Hecate out of the office, somewhere into the woods surrounding the castle. She didn’t bother with where.

“What have you done?” Ada raced to the window, as if Hecate might be down in the courtyard.

“What I should have done months ago: keep you from running this school into the ground.” She threw a hot blast of magic at Ada, hitting her sister square in the chest before she could even get her hands up. Ada toppled to the floor sending figurines and papers flying.

 To be continued…

[sparklecryptid]

Officially, Atlas has never been a King.

Officially, the history books will write about Regis, about Noctis, about the last two Kings of Lucis. They will write about a father who sacrificed a city so that his son may live and they will write about the son who gave himself over to death so that the dawn might come.

Officially, Atlas has never been a King. To those that had known him, to those that had found safety and solace within the Wall that he raised, within the light that he gave himself to he is one. He is the King they remember best, the King that snarled at daemons when on the field and lead people to safety when he could, the King that gave his life and body up so that his people might survive the Long Night.

Officially, Atlas has never been a King. He hides in the pages of the history books, his existence debated over after everyone who had known him passed on. There was no body to bury after all, just a mangled machine that attached to the wrist. There is no tomb for him. No grand casket or death mask made. There are just rumours and a tired voice on an old recording telling people that Lestallum was safe.

That’s not enough, people say, they cannot prove that a Lucis Caelum made Lestallum a sancutary. The people in Lestallum beg to differ of course, and in the city there is a statue of a man that no one recognizes but who the people call The Knight.

If you stand in front of him and ask for safety, they say, he will grant it. There are flowers spread over the feet of the statue, paints and paint brushes, sketch books and pencils lay in front of him as offerings. The Ostium family seems to bring flowers the most, to sit down and speak with the statue as though it’s an old friend.

He’s one of ours, they say to any who ask, It’s rude not to keep family informed.

Officially Atlas has never been a king, but if you stand in front of of the statue of The Knight and ask for solace, for protection, he might listen.

[secret-engima]

spideypoolalways

Does Regis ever ask how Titus has papers for the boys? Whats Cor or Clarus' PoV of this? What are some things (fluff or humor) that the boys get up to? Because I can see them getting adopted into the Ulric Clan because of shenanigans and Nyx going 'Yes, these are my people' since LCs just remind me of Ulrics with magic. And how do the Galatians take to the nephew of the Nif Chancellor and clone of the Crown Prince? Since I'm imagining that Titus told some of them and the

spideypoolalways

rest are guessing anyway. And does everyone assume that Noctis and Nox's magics resonated since they're kinda sorta close to each other/are the same person? How does Regis take the news that the only reason that Noctis got healed is because Nox pretty much felt everything Noctis did? /Both/ of his sons were basically attacked by a daemon and he only knew about one of them at the time and didn't do anything to calm or reassure Nox? (Clarus: Only because you didn't know

spideypoolalways

About him, Regis. Regis: Thats no excuse, Clarus.) Does Iris get to be a Shield or did Nox latch onto Axis or one of his kids? Does Acastus find Prompting and drop him off with Noct/Cor? Does Nox hang out with Noct, Ignis, Gladiolus and Prom all the time or does the memories act up enough to make him feel weird about it? How does Regis take his brother and son's Sick Days? What about Dissidia? The 3 youngest Royals getting snatched and the group watching on Crystal

spideypoolalways

Vision? Dad Titus/Regis freaking out over their kids having been summoned to a death match? And how exactly does Titus see the boys? Sons, brothers, cousins? Oooh, more Trauma. Noct, Nox and Acastus w/others playing and end up in the Crystal room. Cue the boys lighting up, maybe passing out because the magic hits their young system really hard (its why Royals aren't supposed to be Presented until 18) and everyone freaks out, and news makes it to Regis and Titus that they

spideypoolalways

Are in the infirmary and the gist of what happened via panicked guards and rush there immediately and are jumped by panicked kids talking and crying about what happened. I didn't realize I had so many questions. But now I need to know. 👀👀 Please!🙏

spideypoolalways

Oh! Just remembered a little more! Does anyone pick up on the people/places that he shouldn't know? Do they assume that Nox got some of it from Noct, like with the Marelith? Or are they assuming LC/ Oracle DNA mix?

Me: Yes, Regis asks about the papers and Titus doesn’t OUTRIGHT admit he did an illegal but he does grudgingly explain that he needed papers in case the NIfs came looking and he ... knows ... a few people who can help ... “recreate” papers for refugees who lost theirs in whatever fire or tragedy drove them from their homes.

Regis mulls over that for ten long seconds then blatantly pretends he never heard it in the first place. Those “people” likely saved the life of his son and half-brother, he can let it slide this once.

I need Nyx Ulric to adopt these two now JUST so Nyx can tease that he’s related to Captain (then later when he learns that they’re Lucis Caelums he can quietly die in a corner because OH NO HE’S RELATED TO THE KING). Not sure how or when Nyx adopts them, but he absolutely does.

It probably happens when he's just a wee bit sloshed. Not enough to be incoherent or insincere, but enough that he doesn’t feel any fear offering to adopt the pair while babysitting them because Captain had to work late and Nyx is off the combat roster until his ankle heals. Once he’s sober he is a Panic™, but Captain takes it surprisingly well and Nox loves his new braid. Acastus just looks Amused™.

Lib slaps Nyx over the head because IDIOT THINK THIS STUFF THROUGH then gives him another drink because TWO MORE ULRICS. It’s a good thing Nyx is an Ulric Keeper in this AU, because he can teach them most of the Ulric Clan stories and dances and make them proper Ulrics.

Acastus loves introducing himself as Acastus Ulric Drautos, both because it’s fancy like “Lucis Caelum” is and also because it made both Titus and Nyx spit their coffee the first time they hear it.

The Galahdians ... have mixed feelings at first. But the predominant one is that it doesn’t matter that this kid is clearly related to the Chancellor (at first they all think the Chancellor bedded Captain’s Aunt, since they don’t know about the LC blood, and that’s why he looks like Ardyn) because Captain has clearly staked a claim on him. Galahd (in my HCs) is a Very Adoption Heavy culture and big on judging people by their current family rather than any previous blood ties, so ... mostly the Chancellor thing gets intensely ignored. Acastus isn’t an Izunia, he’s a Drautos (and then later an Ulric). So they will treat him as such.

But in private there is some debate on exactly what happened, for the Chancellor to vanish around the time his ... relation (son? They mostly assume son), shows up in Drautos’s care.

No few number of them think Titus stumbled on Ardyn with the two kids and killed the Chancellor to save them.

For Nox ... the Lucis Caelum blood is basically impossible to hide. This boy LOOKS like a literal carbon copy of the Prince but younger and he’s young so his control over his magic is ... not. Not that good. Especially not when there’s so mUCH of it.

All of Galahd listened to the Glaive who was on babysitting duty when Nox had a rare tantrum and skewered the wall with ghostly blades and all privately, immediately agree to Never Tell Anyone. Ever.

Well. To be fair, they do debate whether they have a duty to tell Regis, but again the Adoption Culture comes into play and they decide it’s up to Titus to spill that secret. A few Glaives do ask Titus about it (Titus nearly has a heart attack because SINCE WHEN DID THEY KNOW) and when they ask if they know who the mother was, Titus looks very grim and very, very quiet for a long time, then admits:

There is no mother. There never was.

They stare at him in confusion until Acastus, lurking nearby with too-sharp eyes, gives a smile that could cut and says brittlely that “amazing things that can be done with science these days you know. Truly amazing. Why, get a blood sample and a tank of the right solutions and you could probably grow anything you wanted”.

The Glaives are Horrified™. So is the rest of Little Galahd when it gets around and then is made a Clan Secret by all the Clans unanimously. The secret never leaves the borders of their little slum.

Also yes, people assume that Noctis’s and Nox’s magic resonated because Nox is a clone and it freaks them out.

Regis is Such A Guilt when he finds out how Acastus knew about Noctis’s injury. No it doesn’t matter that he DIDN’T KNOW NOX EXISTED. One of his son’s (his FIVE YEAR OLD son) was suffering. Was screaming in agony and terror and Regis didn’t do a THING about it and no amount of logic can make that better.

Nox latches onto Axis’s triplets in this AU so while Iris will be best friends with him, his Shield, Hand, and Sword are actually all made up of Axis’s three kids. Axis is a BIT of an internal Scream when Nox is at the age people start making noises about him building a Retinue and taking Iris as his Shield and Nox goes, “NO. I have a Shield already! A Hand and Sword too!” And stuff spirals out to reveal Axis as Clarus’s kid (Clarus takes it much better than Axis thought he would, tho Axis didn’t expect to see Lord Amicitia go deathly pale and sit down hard in the nearest chair).

Honestly Iris might be the future love interest in this AU you never know. It would be hilarious if nothing else.

Bold of you to assume Acastus didn’t find Prompto early and bring him home to NOX because “Look Beloved Nibling I Found You A Friend!”. Prompto is a confusion because Nox is like- 4 at the time. But Prompto likes babysitting and playing with Nox and hearing Acastus’s stories and Titus just kinda- sighs his way through the playdates until he realizes that Prompto has been staying in his house for about two weeks with no sign of the parents.

Titus, after much snooping later, sitting at the kitchen table of Grandma Ostium quietly pulling his hair out: HOW DO YOU ADOPT A THIRD CHILD. DOES IT COUNT AS KIDNAPPING IF THEY COME OVER AND STAY WITH YOU FOREVER AND THE LEGAL PARENTS NEVER NOTICE. ACASTUS WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME.

Acastus: I regret nothing. Do you want me to fake Prompto’s death? I’m sure there’s enough Prompto’s out there that nobody will notice if you gain a nephew called Prompto Drautos.

Titus, holding his face in his hands while Grandma Ostium laughs at him in the corner: NO, ACASTUS. DO NOT FAKE THE DEATH OF THE CHILD. How do you even know how to do that? Nevermind I don’t want to know.

Roughly a year later when Everything Gets Revealed, Titus and Cor: *intense staring contest over Smol Blond Child*

Cor: You don’t know where he-

Titus, growling like a cranky Behemoth that might very well bite off someone’s head: He’s a Niflheim created clone. I know.

Cor: ....

Titus: He's been living in my house for a year. I’ve seen the barcode. It’s not like I wasn’t raising one already.

Cor: His legal parents-

Titus: Is me. The Argentums were emotionally neglectful and didn’t even notice when he hadn’t come home for a week and a half.

Cor: *guilty angry silence*

Titus: ...Kid could use an uncle. If you want to man up and be part of his life.

(hgfhg this is post is getting long Imma try to speed through the last questions a bit)

Yes, Nox hangs out with the Chocobros when he can because he adores them (especially Brother Prompto and Team Mom Iggy) but he also has his own friend group in the Little Galahd community so it doesn’t strike anyone as odd really. Nox is a naturally loving child for all he’s shy and Iggy and Gladio are Noctis’s friends and Prompto is his adopted brother (and later Noctis’s best friend).

Regis does Not take the Sick Days well. It makes him alarmed and angry because Lucis Caelums aren’t supposed to get sick days from their own magic and it speaks of BAD THINGS that both of the presumably experimented on and tortured LCs have them.

I’m going to have to come back to Dissidia another time (someone remind me) because this post is too long to ramble here but it would be- it would be Great. Honestly. It would either be the 3 littlest, just Acastus, or just Acastus and REGIS for some brotherly bonding and any of them would be Great and Chaotic. Crystal-o-vision absolutely happens.

The Crystal Room is under 24 hour guard so I don’t think the kids could wander in by accident, plus Acastus would actively avoid the area because of his Trauma.

Now Acastus being presented when he turns 18 on the other hand... >:))))))

Short Version: Much shouting, much alarm, much angst from Regis and Titus and everyone and also the first Sick Day Acastus has had since he turned 17 and by far one of the worst he’s ever had in his (second) life.

I might to a longer version later but not right now.

For Nox’s oddities and odd knowledge they kind of assume both? At first they think it’s just him resonating with Noctis so deeply that there’s a transfer (cue angst from Regis because what is going to happen to Nox when Noctis fulfills his destiny as Chosen King???) but then when Nox starts knowing stuff Noctis doesn’t/can’t know, they start to wonder if the scientists ... Tampered with his DNA. If they got their hands on Noctis’s, which should have been impossible, then it’s not all that out there they got their hands on Oracle DNA.

Sylva is ... very alarmed and very confused when Regis secretly contacts her on a secure encrypted line to ask if there were any ... symptoms to look for in an Oracle child. Because- yes there were but WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Regis: they wouldn’t happen to be *lists very specific things*

Sylva: ....Have you seen any Messengers nearby lately.

Regis: Carbuncle, a black puppy that disappears into thin air, and a bird woman who can summon wind storms. She calls herself Garuda.

Sylva, having a minor crisis behind her Queenly Facade: I am Very Sure I only have two children so please explain this. Right Now.

Regis: Well............. NiflheimclonedmysonandIthinkmixeditwiththednaofyouoryourdaughterandhehasseerpowersandImayormaynotbepanickingrightnowpleasehelpme.

Sylva, slowly running that over in her mind and figuring out what Regis just said:...

W H A T.

XD Honestly Niflheim might invade Tenebrae only to find the royal family gone because Sylva coincidentally packed her backs and took her and her children on a secret trip to Lucis to have a look at Nox, then since they’re there when Niflheim invades and a spy gets word on what just happened Sylva and Co just- stay there. Oracle Mom Death averted.

Also they absolutely think that it’s Luna’s DNA they used to make Nox because of how instantly Nox gloms onto Luna like a limpet- JUST like he did with Noctis and Regis, and how Luna gets this dazed look in her eyes as their magic tangles and she whispers, “I ... I know you. I know you, don’t I Little Prince? I met you in a dream.” Luna starts crying softly as she pets Nox’s hair and when Sylva asks in alarm why she’s crying, Luna blinks and whispers, “Because he was crying in the dream, and I couldn’t comfort him.”

Acastus lurks in the shadows, watching it all with ... very mixed feelings.

Oracles. He could have gone his entire second life without meeting anymore Oracles. Aera she looks so much like you is that what our daughter would have looked like and oh astrals I KILLED her. I killed the girl with your eyes and your smile and laughed about it later.