#though it could be explained with them latching onto someone they could see as family through elisabet | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yesimwriting · 4 months

Note

yes i want more felix and oliver !!

a/n i love when people enable me :)

this could be read as taking place at some point after match burns (though this isn't part 2!) but can also easily be read on its own

---

The world has been dulled by a drowsiness so thick and full it's disorientating. You're so tired, so trapped in the state between falling and asleep that it's hard to think. Despite this, he somehow manages to be a bright spot, so warm and safe any and all thoughts of dangers lurking in the shadows are slowly vanishing.

You don't remember Felix getting here. You're not sure when he entered your room through your shared bathroom or when he laid down next to you or when he started tracing soothing patterns against your shoulder. All you know is that there was a nightmare that latched onto the ghosts estates this grandiose and ancient seem to attract and then there was Felix.

By morning, when you'll no longer need Felix to serve the purpose of daylight, you'll be embarrassed. Even now, you're still half-aware of the fact that there's a lot about this that you should find mortifying. Felix knowing to come in and wake you means you must have been showing signs of distress while asleep. Having a nightmare during your first night at Saltburn is a little pathetic, but it's something you can live with. However, needing Felix to stay with you until you fall asleep is a juvenile kind of pathetic that you don't think you could get through.

"Thanks for..." Your voice feels small and far away, but you don't think you can manage anything more concrete. "Waking me up."

Felix's fingertips continue the pattern they've been outlining against your skin without hesitation. "It's nothing," he whispers, "You were tossing and turning so much." Yeah, you'll definitely be embarrassed tomorrow. "Feel better now?"

You manage a nod. "Yeah..." Your eyes fall shut, you have to force yourself to open them again. "Better." Maybe if you sat up or--or moved away, you'd be able to focus. You shift, but you're too tired and, honestly, comfortable for it to be productive. "So, if you...if you want to go back...that'd be okay."

The lack of desire to get the words out paired with the need to remain polite, to make sure that he doesn't think you don't appreciate the gesture makes the words feel awkward. Felix's hand moves down to your arm. He angles his head forward, so close you can feel his breaths against your cheek. "Do you want me to?"

His words are soft, voice low and slightly gravelly. You're reminded of Felix in a world that feels so far from the one you're currently in, seeing him at parties, around the girls he'd pick from time to time.

There would always be a flurry of them around him, but you could always tell which one he was actually entertaining because of the way he'd become attentive. His ability to make someone seem like the only person in the world has always been fascinating. It's a talent that's more than romantic, too. It's part of the reason everyone always wants to be around him.

"No." The confession is faint as it accidentally tumbles past your lips.

The honesty of it knots something in your stomach. It's more than fear or the inability to fall asleep. You want Felix to stay. That's it. There's no reason or justification for it, you just...you want Felix.

But there are social boundaries, and things that you can't do with friends. Intentionally sleeping in the same bed, especially as close together and touchy as the two of you are being, is definitely one of those things.

There has to be a way to explain it without tiptoeing into territory that you're incapable of handling. Especially when it comes to Felix, who you spent an entire semester trying not to fall in love with. You survived by the skin of your teeth just to be invited to spend the summer with his family. You feel like an idiot for thinking you'd be able to get through this.

"Okay." He says it like it's that easy, like that's the only thing worth considering. "Then I'll stay." You're not sure if he can sense your uncertainty, but he's quick to tack on a justification, "Need you well rested." The vague feel of embarrassment attempts to nip at you again. "I know it can be hard to get used to it here."

It's a phrase that would seem like a blanket statement of instinctual politeness from anyone else, but from Felix it feels real, his understanding almost tangible. It's enough to make you fully ease.

"It's still nice, though." An understatement you would've never let slip past you if your eyelids weren't growing heavier by the second. Nice is such a bland term, it almost feels like an insult, especially when considering the fact that you're not just talking about his home. "I'm glad you invited me."

His touch has now moved to concentrate on your forearm. "I'm glad you came." A beat of silence stretches between you, your eyes finally falling shut. Felix's fingertips brush against the inside of your wrist. If you were any more awake, the carefulness of the touch would have gotten to you. "It is still nice."

----

The lack of light bleeding into the hall from beneath the door that leads to Felix's room makes the air entering Oliver's lungs feel stale.

It's late enough that the darkness could mean nothing. Felix's extra curriculars of choice have him in the habit of keeping strange hours. It's more common than not for him to up until the wee hours of the nights, even if there's nothing for him to do. However, from time to time the long nights will catch up to him and he'll fall asleep early.

Oliver can almost convince himself that that's all this is, can practically picture Felix fast asleep above the covers and only half undressed. He would be able to believe it if it wasn't for the soft glow illuminating the space beneath the door that leads to your room.

A familiar tightness forces his ribs to contract. Oliver swallows, stepping towards the door to Felix's room. He knows you to be a late night reader from time to time...

His hand is now grasping the door handle. There's nothing inherently strange about what Oliver's doing. Felix did say to come find him if Oliver had trouble sleeping. He pulls the door open slowly, taking his time to make sure that the creek of the old hinge's stays as quiet as possible.

Oliver peers into the room. The darkness isn't easy to see in, but eventually he makes out slightly tousled sheets on an empty bed and the door to the bathroom cracked open.

Of course it'd take so little time for you to completely pull Felix into your orbit. An entire semester of Felix doting on you and you managed to commit to keeping him at arm's length. One night in his family's home and you're suddenly no longer cautious. Maybe you're not as noble as you try to seem.

He's approaching the door to the bathroom, unsure if seeing it would be as unbearable as imagining it. Felix's hands on you, your body pressed against his.

"Hello?" Felix's voice carries over from the other side of the bathroom, slightly confused but casual. "Oliver?"

Oliver swallows, blood running cold despite the fact that all that he's been caught doing is justifiable. He forces himself to walk forward, to open the door to the bathroom fully. "Yeah."

Oliver crosses over, opening the door to your bedroom with an uncomfortable lump in his throat.

What he sees isn't--Felix is sitting up, the bedside lamp closest to him turned on, an open book held in one hand and your sleeping form holding onto the other. It's not the coming together, the snapping of tension and desire he had been imaging. In many ways, its something worse.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Swallowing down the influx of emotion that Oliver isn't capable of dealing with, he nods blankly. "Yeah. Still adjusting."

"It's normal," Felix replies easily, "She couldn't sleep either."

Felix's solution for you not being able to sleep was to crawl into bed with you. It shouldn't matter, he's seen the two of you get away with displays of affection more nauseating than this on campus. Lingering kisses against each other's cheeks and foreheads and jaws during a night out, holding onto each other at the few parties you agree to attend, Felix tucking you into bed after you drink. But this is--this is a touchiness not hidden under the guise of alcohol.

Oliver nods again. "Oh."

"Fell asleep quickly, though." Felix's thumb brushes up your arm. "Jet lag paired with Farleigh sneaking her one too many glasses of wine." Another empty tilt of Oliver's chin. "Y'can come here, if you want."

The offer comes out so casually, Oliver starts to wonder if he missed something. "What?"

Felix sighs, a hint of some lighthearted humor in the sound. "It doesn't need to be a thing, it's just sleep."

It can't possibly be that casual to him, can it? Especially with the level of care in the way Felix is touching you. And even if it is just a matter of sleep, this is still your room. "What about--"

"She won't mind," Felix dismisses easily. "She likes you." It's one thing to be friendly with someone, another for them to crawl into your bed after you've fallen asleep. "She'll get it."

Oliver's still not sure, his confusion affecting his ability to figure out which reaction will be what Felix wants most. He deliberates for a moment before stepping forward, approaching the other side of the bed.

Now that the overwhelmingness of the domesticity is starting to wear off, you do seem different in your sleep. More vulnerable. It isn't an unappealing way to see you.

He pulls the sheets back carefully, you stir regardless. You shift away from Felix's touch, moving onto your side. Of course you'd wake up just in time to take this from him, too.

You wipe at your eyes tiredly before squinting them open. It takes a moment for you to place yourself, but once you do, the slight confusion behind your eyes is nearly drowned out by an oddly warm confusion. "Oliver."

You bend an arm in an attempt to prop your head up. It takes you a second, but you eventually manage. Farleigh must have encouraged to have a little more than just a few extra glasses of wine at dinner.

"Y'okay?" Your tone is more kind than confused as you stare up at him with sleep still in your eyes.

The answer should be easy. Oliver should be working at accepting Felix's suggestion. The words are there, balancing on the tip of his tongue, but instead of getting them out, he's too focused on you.

It's a curious attention. Half asleep, hair tousled, makeup washed off, and the oversized shirt you're sleeping in sliding down your shoulder. All of these things should make you seem smaller, less eye drawing. Instead, being dressed down just adds a softness to your aesthetic appeal.

Maybe what makes you so appealing to Felix isn't as hard to grasp as Oliver originally thought. The thought twists in him strangely, jabbing at a part of him and encouraging another.

"Ollie couldn't sleep either." Felix gently squeezes your forearm. "I was asking him if he wanted to stay in here tonight, but he didn't want to overstep."

You blink, stiffening slightly for the first time since you woke up. The implications of Felix's statement take a second to fully sink in, but once it does, Oliver can see the hesitation coloring your features. "Oh."

Felix traces a pattern up your arm. You turn your head to look at Oliver again. "You've seen me before a 9:00 AM lecture after a night out and at every stage of finals week grief, I'm not sure there are any boundaries left."

You sit up, pushing yourself close to the center of the bed in a wordless invitation. Oliver swallows before letting himself sit down at the edge of the bed. He takes his time moving beneath the sheets. Your scent clings to the fabric.

The bed's not small, but with the three of you, it is a bit of a squeeze. It's reminiscent of being a little kid crawling into bed with a parent after a bad dream.

"You are pretty harsh during exams." Felix's voice is light, bordering on teasing.

Your mouth falls open in a mock gasp. You twist your arm, trying to push Felix off. He grins, easily resisting your halfhearted attempts to get him off of you. "I am not that bad." You're still pretending to want Felix to let go when you look back at Oliver. "Am I?"

To be honest, during finals you're constantly preoccupied. Even when you're meant to be spending time with friends, it's clear that your mind's stuck on assignments and exams. You're also prone to irritability. The only actual argument Oliver's ever had with you was mainly caused by the stress of an essay you were trying to finish. You apologized almost immediately after, but it's still the most angry he's ever seen you be.

The truth doesn't feel relevant. "You're perfectly lovely all times a'year."

You grin, Felix lets out a sound that's equal parts laugh as it is groan. "Don't tell her that. It'll go to her head."

You gently push at his shoulder, Felix exaggerates a pout.

Like all the praise you receive on a daily basis hasn't already gotten to you. You may not have a family name that carries weight, but you do have the way that people see you, a regular dorm hall darling with the grades and social circle to match.

You don't bask in the praise or let it change your outward appearance, but it has to inflate your ego. You've never implied that you come from a family that struggles financially, but you're not like Felix either. Holding your own with his kind must give you an inflated sense of self.

But this is another truth that serves no purpose. Not with Felix's teasing yet content smile and the attentive way you're watching him.

Oliver extends an arm, placing a hand on your knee. You sit up a little more, uncertainty briefly making it easier for you to be awake. It's not that you're never touchy with Oliver, it's that he's rarely the one to start it. "Oh, she's too much of a sweetheart."

It's honest enough. You are too nice to let anything openly go to your head. The words get you to finally relax at the contact. You must have decided that Oliver's just in a friendly mood. "Thank you." You then turn your head to look at Oliver, "See? Some people think I'm nice."

Felix rolls his eyes, letting his hand fall off your arm for the first time since Oliver's arrival. It's a small shift, but some subconscious part of you seems to notice, eyes instinctually searching for his hand.

"Since when are you on her side?" The comment, delivered with a tone that isn't quite teasing enough to cover the tinge of annoyance that still manages to bleed into the words, only confirms Oliver's theory.

Felix is used to being at the center. Everyone's eyes are always on him, everyone's affections are constantly available. He isn't one to be jealous in a committed way, Oliver's heard about enough of Felix's open flings to know he isn't like that. But he's territorial about those he feels attached to. If Felix Catton deems you worthy of his care, you make sure to make it clear to anyone else that that's all that matters.

The brief flash of defensiveness makes Oliver feel like he's standing a little straighter, a little stronger. "There are no sides."

"Yeah." You shift, leg moving off of Felix's as you try to sit up a little more. Felix's brow furrows.

It hits Oliver, then, that even though you want Felix's approval, you might not need it the way everyone else does. That must be part of the reason Felix is so drawn to you. Or maybe you're just that sure in yourself, in your place in his life that you're willing to push from time to time if the setting feels light enough.

But you're not happy with tension between the two of you, not even the kind that's barely implied. Oliver doesn't think he's ever seen the two of you argue, or look anything outside of completely content in each other's presence.

"We're just joking," you mumble, angling your neck awkwardly to look at Felix.

"Yeah, so am I."

Your gaze shifts over to Oliver, something knowing behind your eyes that he can't quite return. "Mhm."

Felix lets out an exaggerated breath before relaxing his spine and laying down. "Fuck off," he mumbles, the passive aggressiveness forced into the syllables not enough to hide his genuine fondness.

You look over at Oliver, "Can you believe him?"

A combination of being emboldened by the safety of your approval and the urge to feel as indispensable as you are makes Oliver want to joke back. "He seems moody, must be tired."

You laugh again, this time your body leaning towards Oliver until your head lands on his shoulder.

"Fuck off," Felix says again, "Both of you." His annoyance is still undercut by something warm.

Your head is still on Oliver's shoulder, the weight of it impossible to ignore but not exactly uncomfortable. You've stilled significantly, a fact that makes Oliver wonder if you've fallen asleep like that.

Then, you break the silence, "We're kidding."

"I've heard that before," Felix counters flatly. He stretches an arm, reaching for your fingers. "Liked you better asleep."

Felix squeezes your hand, keeping you awake enough to respond. "I'm sure the quiet was nice."

He sits up slightly, "You snore a little."

You're so offended, you lift your head off of Oliver's shoulder. "I. Do. Not."

Oliver waits a beat before adding, "Well."

You turn to look at Oliver, your offense clear. "How would you know?"

"Remember after that one party? You were so out of it, you needed help getting into your room and passed out before I could go." The memory is relatively recent, an end of semester party that you used to celebrate the end of your finals induced hibernation.

You pout. "You two are mean."

Felix runs his thumb across your knuckles. "Extremely." You part your lips like you have something else to say, but you're cut off by a yawn. "We should go to bed."

You tilt your chin up slightly, a potential protest that fizzles out almost immediately. "Yeah." You're tired, there's not even the good humored kind of fight left. "It's late."

You sink into the mattress, eyes shutting immediately. Oliver watches for a second, still unsure in a way he isn't used to. There's something about this kind of softness that isn't easy to place himself in.

Felix leans over, setting his book down on the nightstand. "Are you both settled?"

You nod, eyes still closed. Oliver's a little slower to react, "Yeah."

Felix switches off the bedside lamp. Darkness enshrouds the room. The bed groans slightly as Felix adjusts himself. Oliver follows, moving so that he can lay down fully.

He's closer to you than he's ever been. Your warmth radiates beneath the sheets in a way that's strangely soothing. Oliver isn't sure how he felt so awake just minutes ago. His eyelids are growing heavy. The last thing Oliver registers before falling asleep is Felix's hand on his shoulder, a too brief yet somehow still lingering squeeze that serves as a silent good night.

#saltburn imagine #saltburn x reader #oliver quick x reader #felix catton x reader #felix catton x reader x oliver quick

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staytinyville · 4 months

Text

Stay Alive (41)

BTS poly!ot7 x Reader

Magical Creatures AU

Series Masterlist

Warnings: none

A/N NOT BETA. No notes this time. However I will say, Thank you to everyone who has liked and reblog. I love the comments so much! They make my day to see them all!

You didn’t know how far Jungkook’s abilities stretched, but you figured that with the way he was rushing forward, leaving you behind just a bit, you could tell he was excited like any other wolf would be. It was cute to see him act the way he does. He was protective of you, something you enjoyed. But he was also someone who knew how to have fun, he reminded you of Taehyung. Which was why they got along so well.

“Jungkook! I'm going!” You called behind him, rushing up the hill he had already climbed. “I'm trying to keep up.”

You gasped quietly when the boy was in front of you, blocking your path. “I told you I could've carried you!” He told you, grabbing your hand and pulling you along. “We're here anyways.”

You both had finally reached the top of the hill, taking in a deep breath as you took in the soft grass and wildflowers that were growing. You could see the small park over the trees and bushes, but the hill was far enough away to be secluded from everyone.

“How was your family?” You asked, turning to find Jungkook with a calming look on his face–eyes closed.

“Lots of crying—hugs.” He smiled. “I'm so excited about this. I haven't been able to shift in years.” He told you. “My parents told me to do it quickly now that I have time. This is where packs come to have more room to do that.” He explained, looking around the small meadow.

You hummed in understandment, giving him a smile. “Well? What are you waiting for?” You threw yourself into him, giggling as you thought about what kind of shift Jungkook would do.

“Thank you, Tokki.” He whispered into your neck.

He took a step back from you, giving himself space. Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment before things quickly changed. You yelped, falling backwards as Jungkook turned into a wolf the size of a horse with one single motion. Looking at him, you were in fact right in saying he looked like the wolves from Twilight.

He was black all over, matching the color of his hair. He looked like his fur was warm, thick with how it seemed to blow in the wind. He easily towered over you, as any horse size animal would. You crossed your legs on the floor, sitting up as you beamed at him.

“Oh my god.” You gushed. “You're huge!” You laughed, quickly coming to a stand when he started walking in your direction.

He grew closer to you, nuzzling his head into your forehead causing you to grab onto him to fear of falling over.

“Look at you! You're so beautiful!” You placed both hands on either side of his neck, petting him as though he was your own dog. “Ah!” You gasped, quickly latching onto his neck as he tried to push you over.

Howling was heard in the distance, causing the both of you to turn in its direction. Jungkook had placed his large leg in front of you, shielding you from whoever was coming. However when you saw another giant wolf barrling your way, you clenched tightly onto Jungkook not wanting to be trampled.

But the other wolf had stopped just before, sniffing at one another like any normal animal. Jungkook stepped away from you, happily trotting and nipping at the two dogs. You smiled, understanding that they must have been family or a friend who had come to play with him.

“Go.” You told him when he turned to look at you. “I'll still be waiting here.” You explained to him.

You watched him nod, bouncing up and down as the three wolves ran off to play together. You watched from the hill, not noticing people coming up behind you.

“Hello, dear.” You turned when they spoke to you, giving them a smile.

The woman looked like she was human, but then again a lot of creatures must have in their world. The man however had a fox tail and ears, much like how Soobin did. Looking closer at them though, you were able to spot the similarities between them and Jungkook. You knew immediately who they were.

“Hi.” You bowed to the two older people. “You must be Jungkook's parents.” You said, giving them a smile.

“How could you tell?” The man smiled, his fox ears flickering.

“You look just like him.” You laughed.

“Yes, we get that a lot.” His father laughed.

You watched as they gave you soft smiles, bowing their heads in respect to you. You looked at them wide eyed, about to rush forward to make them stand until they rose themselves.

“He told us what you did.” He spoke up, giving you a soft smile.

You sighed through your nose understanding what it was they were talking about. “I'm sure anyone with a heart would have done the same.” You told them.

“Yes, but none of them would've caught Kookie's attention.” Jungkook’s mother spoke up. “Thank you for bringing my son back. For bringing all of them back.” She told you.

It was the same with all of them. Their parents would thank you for doing something so great. You could only imagine what would have happened if any of the other nurses had managed to take the boys out. Would they have made it as far as you? What made you different from the rest?

You were more than happy to say that you wouldn’t change anything. But now it was stuck in your head if they had thought about any of the nurses the way they had you. Maybe it was insecurity. Or maybe it was that had you gotten caught, you had no idea what would have happened.

But you were finally at this point in the story, meeting all the boy’s families and having them ask you if you wanted to stay with them forever. You didn’t want to think about the what if’s–especially not if they were in the past.

“Of course.” You smiled at Jungkook’s parents.

“Ah!” You suddenly gasped, falling forward as something crashed into you.

“Jungkook, be careful with the poor girl.” His mother scolded him, swatting at his large head.

She turned to give you a smile. “We'll leave you.”

You gave them another bow, laughing as Jungkook continued to poke at your back for your attention. “Hey, what's gotten into you?” You giggled, turning to look at Jungkook.

You looked around for a moment, trying to find the other wolf that had come to play with Jungkook. In your distraction you hadn’t noticed that the man himself had turned back into a human, wrapping his arms around you from behind.

Your eyes suddenly went wide as you felt all of his skin on you. Turning around to make sure you weren’t making it up, your eyes went wide and you quickly turned back around to avoid looking at him.

“Oh!” You gasped.

“What's wrong?” Jungkook asked.

“You're naked.” You said.

“That happens!” He smiled enthusiastically, leaning over you to come face to face with you. “Tokki, I'm happy you’re here.” Jungkook spoke softly, dropping his forehead to touch yours. “And so is my wolf.” He added with a grin.

“I'm glad that you are.” You whispered, moving to place a hand on his cheek. “It's all I wanted for all of you.”

“I love you.” He whispered against your lips.

No more what ifs would pass through your head. You knew where it was you wanted to be and it had to do with the boys. Whether they wanted to be here or in your world, you were going to follow them. You didn’t know about their past with other people who might have wanted to help them, but you were here in their present. That was all that mattered to you.

You leaned in to give him a kiss, feeling his lips against yours. “I love you too.” You softly spoke. “Both of you.” You laughed, watching as his eyes beamed.

Series Masterlist

@h3arteyes4mingi , @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh , @rinkud, @rln-byg , @singukieee , @hoshi-is-ult-bbg , @ldysmfrst , @juju-227592 , @alienchickenpoop , @dreamerwasfound , @afangirl91 , @psiphidragon , @puppyminnnie , @shyloh-the-cornsnake , @ollyoxenfrees , @whynotlarene , @beeltsumu , @cryingpages , @milopenne , @belikejk , @thatonedemigodfromseoul , @woozixo,

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sergeantsporks · 25 days

Text

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 39/39: Closure

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36, Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 38.5

An alternate universe in which Evelyn managed to save Caleb after his confrontation with Phillip. The two of them escaped to present day through time pools, and have been using time pools to secretly rescue grimwalkers just after Belos attempts to kill them. The story follows Darius' mentor as he adjusts to his new life, as well as changes to the course of canon.

Ao3

Xxx

“I don’t know about this.”

Cyrus tried to turn around, but A.T. caught his shoulders, turning him around, and Phoenix gave him a push towards the townspeople cleaning up wreckage and graffiti. Most importantly, towards the blue demon boy stabilizing a broken wall.

“Do you like him, or no?”

“I mean, yes,” Cyrus replied, “But we went on one sort-of date ages ago, before everything went screwy! What if he doesn’t like me anymore? What if he doesn’t even remember it?”

“You were halfway through a date before you were suddenly interrupted and dragged off by your family, and then a wild witch showed up and was chased through the streets,” A.T. reminded him, “How could he forget that date?”

“Yes, but what if the whole concealment stone thing drives him away? What if—if—”

“What if he’s got terrible amnesia?” A.T. suggested, “What if he’s got a new boyfriend? What if I unhinge my jaw and swallow him whole before you have the chance to speak to him?”

“What?” Phoenix and Cyrus asked in unison.

“Exactly, it’s all impossible. Go talk to him.”

Cyrus didn’t look too convinced, but he also seemed too startled by A.T.’s statement to protest, and made his way towards his one-time date. He waved awkwardly, saying something Phoenix couldn’t hear. The demon left his work, dusting his hands off, and tilting his head in a question. Cyrus pulled out his concealment stone, put it on, transformed, then took it off when his partner’s eyes lit up with recognition. He put the stone back in his pocket, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I’m actually super terrible for lying and you should never even look at me again,” A.T. mimed in a terrible imitation of Cyrus—a truly impressive feat, given how much his natural voice already sounded like their sibling. “I don’t think I’m worth it, even though I totally deserve a spectacular boyfriend!” He switched his voice to a lower pitch when the demon spoke up. A.T. even imitated his tentative hand one Cyrus’ arm.

“Wow, you look so much better without the concealment stone! Let’s get married forever!”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s saying.”

“Could be. You don’t know.”

Cyrus said something else, glancing back at A.T. and Phoenix. A.T. waved when the demon looked over, but the demon barely seemed to see him, his eyes latching onto Phoenix and sparking with something that was almost recognition, but fogged over by confusion.

Right. I ran into him when he was a puppet.

Phoenix wondered how many other former puppets would look at him with that unease, that sense of not quite remembering why he made them uncomfortable, but knowing somewhere in their unconscious mind that he’d played with the Collector, stood by while they were paraded around helplessly.

But Cyrus’ date shook himself, waved back at A.T., and turned back to Cyrus, enthusiastically explaining the work he was doing with a lot of arm waving. Cyrus went along with him, a small, happy smile blooming on his face.

“Aw, well, that’s sweet.” A.T. tugged his hair. “Boy, this place looks different. I hope they don’t rebuild it the exact same. I’d like to see something new.”

“Well, for one thing, there won’t be specialized cells for wild witches,” someone said behind them, “Thank the titan for that.”

A short witch grinned at them. She looked familiar, but Phoenix couldn’t quite place why until she nodded at an alleyway. “Seems like just yesterday you lot helped me out of here, and now, well, I’m back! This time without the chasing, hopefully. Where’s your little friend, the one with the jokes? And the older one?”

“Oh!” Phoenix blurted out. “The witch at the coven day—hey! You made it past the day of unity?”

“Mhm. One of the Collector’s little spies picked me up later, but I’m back now. You would not believe all the apologies I’ve been getting. It’s going to go to my head if I’m not careful. Maybe I should set some scaffolding on fire and give them a new reason to chase me out of town, for old times’ sake. Or at the least to test how far their ‘we’re so sorry, wild witches were right’ sentiments go.”

A.T. reached into his pocket and wordlessly held out a box of matches.

“Did you just have those on you?” Phoenix asked.

“You never know when you’ll have to light a fire,” A.T. remarked serenely, “Just ask Frank.”

The wild witch barked a laugh. “I like you. I’m Annette Thompson; what do they put on your wanted posters?”

A.T.’s face burst into a wide grin. “Matching initials!”

“What’s yours stand for, then?”

“I’ve been told not to ask,” Phoenix told her.

“Oh, a mystery?”

A.T. wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “One that is unlocked after we light enough fires together.”

Annette laughed again. “I suppose we better start, then.”

“Please don’t light anything too important on fire,” Phoenix called desperately after them, “Or better yet—no fires!”

Cyrus jogged over just as A.T. and Annette disappeared into the construction. “I think I need to quit distracting Raphael right now, but he told me when he gets off of construction work, and… where’s A.T. gone off to?”

“To light a fire? I think? He’s made a friend. Or… partner in crime? Possibly both.”

Alarm flashed across Cyrus’ face. “We should be worried, right? We should stop them? They’re just rebuilding.”

Phoenix waved a hand. “I’m sure it’s… fine. Ish.”

“Mm.” Cyrus squinted at the bustling streets. “I guess as long as he doesn’t light anything huge on fire in the middle of my second date.”

“On second thought, I think I’ll go find them.”

Xxx

“I’m leaving.”

Caleb glanced up at Joseph’s declaration, still mostly-engrossed in kneading bread dough for dinner. “Thanks for letting me know. What time do you think you’ll be back?”

“No, I mean, I’m leaving. To go do something else. I won’t be around for… I don’t know how long.”

Phoenix and Frank glanced at each other, but quietly kept chopping up vegetables, pretending they weren’t listening to every word.

“Oh.” Caleb struggled for words, finally managing a simple “I see.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong!” Joseph said quickly. Despite the confidence he’d originally announced himself with, he brimmed with nervous energy, turning a loose griffin feather over and over in his hands, “I love you, and I love the family, and I’ll definitely come back to visit, I just think…” He took a deep breath. “I want to go somewhere else. I’ve been in the same place for so long—and before that, I was with Belos. Now that our home is gone, and we’re rebuilding, and everything is changing anyway… I want to go up to the hand.”

He waved his hands, his nervous energy transforming into excitement. “I mean—the arm is sticking straight up! It’s taller than the Knee now—there’s no telling how the ecosystem up there is going to shift. Plants are going to change to fit the new shape, and the animals are going to have to adapt—and I want to see it. I want to see all the new creatures this brings, I want to see how the old creatures adapt or move somewhere new, or just fail… and I just want to get out and see everything the Isles has. I want to study beasts where they are, out in their natural environments, and I can’t do that if I stay here. I need to go. Please.”

“Okay,” Caleb said slowly. He wiped flour off his hands. “You don’t need my permission, you know that, right?” A wobbly smile appeared on his face. “I gave all of you the choice to leave or stay, remember? I never said that choice had to be permanent.”

Joseph’s shoulders visibly sank in relief. “Thank you.”

“What about the griffins?” Frank asked, finally breaking the unspoken treaty of silence between he and Phoenix.

“I thought—” Joseph rubbed the back of his neck. “—that is—if it’s alright—I thought I’d take Lucy. That’ll make the space restraints with moving closer to town less of an issue. The other griffins I think will be alright as long as they’re fed and exercised, but Lucy… anyway, this—it means the world to me.”

Caleb gave him a small, sad smile. “Permission to…?”

Joseph grabbed Caleb in a bear hug, squeezing so tightly that Phoenix thought he heard Caleb’s back pop. “Thank you, Dad,” he mumbled, his voice thick, “Thank you for everything.”

Caleb hugged back just as tightly. “I’m going to miss you. But I hope wherever you go—I hope you’re happy. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope… I hope…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, instead giving Joseph one last squeeze and letting go.

“Say goodbye to your mom, too, okay?”

“Of course. And everyone—I wouldn’t just disappear. Of course not.”

Joseph wandered out of the kitchen, searching for Evelyn, and Caleb sat down with a whump.

“Are you okay?” Phoenix asked quietly.

He managed a tired smile. “Of course, of course. I always knew that someday… I mean, I hoped that one day the world would be safe enough for you. I think I always sort of knew that the house was too small, and that one day some of you might want to leave.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t believe any amount of time would have actually prepared me for it.”

Phoenix thought of the first time he’d seen Darius after Belos’ attack—how he’d suddenly looked so grown up, how the realization that he didn’t need a mentor anymore had punched him in the gut. “No,” he agreed, “I don’t think it would.”

Caleb took a deep breath. “Things are changing right now,” he admitted, “We’ve been… living in a bubble. The only surprises were when one of you would join the house. But now… now the world’s opened up to us, and nothing will be the same.” He gave Phoenix and Frank a tired smile. “At risk of sounding like my brother, I’m not quite sure I’m ready for the change.”

Frank chuckled. “Now you know how we felt when we woke up in a different century.” He shrugged and chopped furiously at the vegetables on the board. “Things are going to be different. But some things are going to be the same, like—” he yanked back from the cutting board with a short scream.

Phoenix dropped his knife, and Caleb jumped up immediately. “Are you okay?! Did you cut yourself?!”

“My arm!” Frank yelped, “I’ve chopped it in with the vegetables! I didn’t even notice! The whole thing’s gone!”

“Terrible,” Phoenix told him, picking his knife back up, “You are just awful.”

Frank grinned, cheerfully resuming his chopping. “And that is something you can count on never changing.

Xxx

The front of Darius’ house buzzed with activity. Lake and Locke even managed to drag Sam out, although he still fidgeted with that strange box Ghost had found. Joseph paced nervously back and forth, and Lucy eyed him like she might be on the verge of sitting on him. But despite the nervousness, the saddlebags on Lucy and the backpack on Joseph looked natural. Right, even. Even his clothes—he’d bundled up for the likely lower temperatures—seemed to fit him better. His eyes shone with a healthy, excited glow.

“I’ll miss you.”

Joseph tousled Jason’s hair, grinning when Jason pushed his hand away. “Don’t get too mopey over me, or Lucy might turn around midair just to squash you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come back soon, okay? I want to read about all the new things you find up there.”

“You’ll be the first to see the notes,” Joseph promised. He glanced over Jason’s head at Cherry. “Take care of them, yeah? Especially keep your eye on this one. He’s trouble. He’ll get another concussion if he can manage it.”

Jason stuck his tongue out.

“Always.” Cherry’s one eye flicked back and forth nervously, glancing up at the sky like he was hoping for some sudden terrible weather to appear and delay Joseph just a little longer. “Stay safe.

“Always,” Joseph echoed, “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.” He turned to Evelyn and Caleb. “Thank you.”

“You’ll always have a room with us,” Caleb told him, “You know that?”

“I know.”

Evelyn straightened his scarf. “Go find some new wild things. I just know you’ll figure out some way to befriend them.”

“Will do, ma’am.”

Joseph hugged Evelyn and Caleb, climbed on Lucy’s back, and clicked his tongue. The griffin sprang up into the air, her huge wings beating massive gusts of wind onto their heads. Soon, the two of them were just a speck in the sky, sailing towards the raised arm of the titan.

Xxx

“I can’t do it.”

Evelyn gave Auric a gentle shove towards Hexside’s doors. “Yes, you can.”

Auric scratched at the scars on his neck, balking. “I’m too old. Hexside stops at eighteen, and I’m twenty. They won’t let me.”

“I talked to Bump,” Phoenix reassured him, “He and I go back—and Darius talked to him about it, too. You’re not going to be a regular student, no, but the healing teacher agreed to take you on after school, and help you transition into healing-specific schools for graduates. Like an apprenticeship.”

“I don’t have magic,” Auric replied, changing tack, “I can’t do the kinds of… I can’t do it. I’m never going to be as good as them, so—”

“Hey,” Evelyn said sharply, “Who kept Caleb and I from bleeding out?”

“You would have died without the pain sharing spell, I—”

“Who patched up all the refugees when I couldn’t heal anyone?” Evelyn demanded.

“Those weren’t life-threatening injuries, it wasn’t even—”

“You splinted and casted Clara’s broken bone and kept her cheerful,” Phoenix offered, “You were the first one to realize something was wrong with my arms.”

“You stitched Matt up when he came home injured,” Evelyn added, “Face it, Auric—you’re as good a healer as anyone. Magic or no. Magic healers have it easy—we draw a circle, and the wound disappears. But you? You have to put so much thought into what you’re doing, and you have to do it quick. You are incredible, Auric.”

Auric scratched at his neck again. “I’m just not sure.”

“If you really don’t want to do this, then we can go back home,” Evelyn said softly, “But I want you to look me in the eye and tell me with absolute certainty, that going to healing school is something you don’t want.”

Auric took a step back, then a step forward, hovering between Evelyn and the door. “You think I’ll really be able to do it?”

“Would I have put my life in your hands if I wasn’t absolutely certain?”

Auric took a deep breath, taking a decisive step towards Hexside’s doors. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Xxx

“Hey! Over here!”

A hand closed around Phoenix’s arm, pulling him into the empty kitchen. “Phoenix.” Matt laced his fingers together. “You were part of the emperor’s coven when it was actually, you know, a coven.”

Phoenix winced at the reminder. What was this about? “Yes?”

“So you were around a lot of people.”

Where was he going with this? “Yeeessss?”

“Do you know how to plan a party.”

Phoenix stared at him. “What.”

“A party. Do you know how to plan one? Cyrus and I were in town, and his boyfriend invited him to a housewarming party for one of the newly rebuilt houses—well, he invited me, too, but that was just to be polite, I’m not going. Anyway, the point is, I think a housewarming party sounds nice. We could have one for our house, once we’ve actually built it. It would be…” Matt waved a hand. “You know. A normal thing.”

“A normal thing,” Phoenix echoed.

“Something other people do. I think it might help us settle into the town better, you know? Break some of the tension.”

“Have you run this by Caleb and Evelyn yet?”

“I sort of wanted to surprise them. I’ll warn everyone else, of course, but if we’re going to get anywhere with this, first I need someone who can actually plan a party.”

“A party?” Like the word had summoned him, Darius seemed to materialize behind Phoenix. He arched one eyebrow at Matt. “And you asked Phoenix to help plan it?”

“Hey, I planned social functions.”

“The very fact that you just called a party a social function is proof that you aren’t up to the task. What party?”

Matt explained his plan, and Darius nodded slowly. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Who would you invite?”

“You, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Um… Cyrus’ boyfriend Raphael? Maybe that woman A.T. started hanging out with… I bet Jason will want to invite the kids. I guess we could invite the refugees who stayed with us, if anyone knows where they went.” Matt scratched the back of his head. “Do we know anyone else??

“Oh, titan,” Darius murmured under his breath.

“Eda and Lilith,” Phoenix volunteered, “Eber. I think that’s everyone.”

“Small party,” Darius commented.

“There’s over twenty of us, any party we host is already huge.”

“Fair enough.” Darius twirled a finger in the air. “If you’re after goodwill from the townsfolk, shouldn’t you invite some of them? Other than Cyrus’ boyfriend, that is.”

Matt winced. “Inviting strangers isn’t the best plan. I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but most of us aren’t exactly the trusting, openly friendly type.”

“I had noticed something of the sort, believe it or not,” Darius said dryly, “Why don’t you go people watch? Pick guests you don’t find threatening. People who aren’t likely to cause friction, accidentally or on purpose.”

“Reconnaissance. We can do that.”

Darius squeezed his eyes shut. “Reconnaissance. Oh, heavens. Please take Jason with you.”

Xxx

“Not that one. Not that one. Ooo, that one gave me an apology basket, let’s invite him.”

Phoenix glanced over at Annette. “You don’t have to help us.”

“Hey, if they’re not friendly towards a wild witch, they won’t be friendly towards your lively bunch either. My insight is incredibly valuable.”

“Hm.”

“Now might be a good time to test that elixir,” Jason commented mildly.

Phoenix glanced down at his arms. Matt had chosen the top a construction crane, of all places, to people-watch from. It had been a miracle—and Annette’s magic—that he’d gotten up here in the first place. And being out in the town without a concealment stone… it made his skin itch. The curse shifted uneasily, reacting to the stress. It was so ridiculous it almost made him laugh; he’d gotten through the Collector’s “games, the apocalypse, and attempted possession, but being up a little too high and getting a little stressed was making the curse react?

“Here goes nothing.” Phoenix tilted the golden bottle back. Eda had warned him not to let it sit in his mouth, but she hadn’t prepared him for the explosion of terrible flavors that washed over his tongue. He swallowed with a gag. “Tastes like burned animal hair,” he said with a grimace.

“But look.” Jason pointed at his arms. The curse settled back into his normal flesh. He could still feel it curled up inside of him, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, but it seemed… passive. Dormant. Almost like it was taking a nap. Some of the bone-weary exhaustion that seemed to stay no matter how long he slept faded into a background numbness.

“Huh. I guess… I’ll be asking Lilith for her recipe.”

“You think it’ll help long-term?”

Phoenix shrugged. “I know the curse has been useful sometimes, but… it’s a little hard on my arms.” He flexed his fingers, wondering at the difference that slight lift from exhaustion had made. “And I’m starting to think it might have been taking up a little more of my energy than I realized.”

Jason nudged his shoulder. “Sam could have told you that.”

“Yeah, yeah. He’d probably love to run a thousand tests on my day-to-day fatigue levels with and without elixirs.”

“Nah, he’s too busy with that box. Potion-brewing lessons for Phoenix, then. Mom will be ecstatic.” Jason kicked his legs aimlessly, watching the people down below. “You guys ever think about what you want to do now that we’re not on the run?”

“Mix as many kinds of magic together as I can,” Annette answered immediately, “Let’s test the ‘wild magic is dangerous’ theory. I bet some of it could be.”

“Oh, wow, you and A.T. really are perfect for each other. Matt?”

“Something normal.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know. I just want to live a normal life. Make some friends. Get a job. Maybe fall in love, start a family. Do something stupid and young.” Matt shrugged. “I lost my childhood and my teen years to Belos. Everything was one nonstop, horrifying adventure. Everything was some grand purpose. I kind of want to just have a boring life now.”

He heaved a sigh. “I had a choice, you know? Belos just sort of ditched me in the middle of the boiling sea, so when Caleb found me, I was dehydrated and exhausted, but not… dying. I chose to go with Caleb forward in time. I thought if Belos was already destined to be alive for centuries, there wouldn’t be any escaping him in my time. Now that we’ve actually finally gotten away from him… I just want to leave all that behind.”

Matt gave them all a quick smile. “Not that I’d leave the family behind, of course! I still want to be with you guys, I just…” He fell into a pensive silence, staring out at the people below. “I don’t know. I guess Joseph wasn’t the only one with an itch to get out there. This party, getting our foot in the door and helping Mom and Dad get back in the social life of the Isles… it just feels like the right thing to do before going. Not that I’d leave right after. I still don’t have any solid plans. But someday.”

Phoenix didn’t respond. He didn’t know how. It had been enough of a shock when Joseph had left. He’d known, of course, that things would change. Phoenix himself wouldn’t even be at the house on weekends anymore. But between Joseph leaving, Matt’s plan, Auric’s apprenticeship, and the appearance of new people in Cyrus and A.T.’s lives… everything was moving so fast. Maybe they’d stopped running for their lives, but their lives still kept running. He’d barely had the time to get used to the quiet life in the woods before it was completely overturned.

“Wow,” Jason said finally, “Have you told Mom or Dad yet? What about Ash?”

“I don’t want to spring this on them right now. I mean, with the house building, and everyone still healing, and Joseph just leaving… it’s not right. I don’t have a solid plan, and even if I left right after the party, that’s still months of house-building away.” Matt brushed his hair out of his face. “So… don’t tell anyone just yet, yeah?

“My lips are sealed,” Jason promised. He pointed down at the street. “That one, Annette, they stopped to feed a stray, put them on the list.” He sighed. “Wish I had a plan.”

Phoenix ruffled his hair. “You’re eighteen. Give yourself a minute.”

Jason pushed at his hand. “Hunter has it all figured out, and he’s only sixteen! He already knows he’s going to be a palisman carver!”

“You’re not Hunter. Most of us don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t. Eda offered the idea of mentoring, but I don’t know if I’ll take it.”

Jason looked up at him with big, sparkling eyes. “Awwwwwwwww, but you’d be so good at it!”

“We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. Nice try.”

“Hey, I meant it. I wasn’t just trying to distract you.”

“Sure. Anyway, take it slow. Joseph knew what he wanted. Matt kind of knows what he wants. But you don’t have to have your whole life figured out just yet. I mean, everyone on the Isles is a bit displaced right now. There are tons of scouts who have no idea what they’re going to do with their lives now. Everyone’s shaken by what happened and wondering what we’ll do without the covens. So just… take it easy. Forget your entire future, let’s plan small. What do you want to do in the next few weeks?”

“Hm. I sort of want to go back to the human realm. Visit Camila. Maybe go back to the library there. Oh—and I want to take Novus. Phoenix, they have so much mechanical stuff there. I think he’ll explode. And I want to help look for where we’ll build the new house. Of course I’m going to help Matt with his guest list and party planning. And… why are you grinning like that?”

“No reason,” Phoenix said lightly, “It just sounds to me like you’ve got plenty of plans for the future.”

Jason wrinkled his nose at Phoenix. “Alright, point taken. But hey, there goes my point. You’re a great mentor.”

“Thanks.” Phoenix tousled Jason’s hair again. This time, he let him.

Xxx

Caleb eyed Phoenix critically. “You’re supposed to be resting your leg.”

He was, in fact, supposed to be sitting back at Darius’ house doing nothing, but Darius had left to deal with some Terra sighting, and almost everyone else was out close to their old home scouting for a new place to build. The whole place had been quiet, except for occasional mutterings from Sam while he fruitlessly searched for a way to open that stone box.

Phoenix sighed. “If I’m stuck sitting around resting my leg for five more minutes, the curse is going to take over from boredom and I’m going to run back into the woods.”

Caleb blinked twice. “Could that actually happen? Your curse activating from boredom, I mean?”

“I doubt it. Besides, I took an elixir today, it should be fine. I won’t move too much, I promise. I’ll find a spot to sit around out here. I just needed to get out.”

“Did you tell Sam you were leaving?”

“He’s not going to look up from that box for at least another twelve hours. He won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“He should just pour some explosive potion on that box and be done with it,” Novus suggested as he walked by, arms full of levels and angle-measurers, “Or cut into it. That’s the pragmatic thing to do.”

Caleb laughed. “It’s not about getting what’s inside for him, it’s about solving the puzzle. If he gives up, then I’ll let you at it with your tools.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“Anyway—you’re probably right, Phoenix, but still.”

“If Sam figures out I’m gone, he’ll probably just shrug and go back to the box. I don’t think he’s desperate to always have someone around. Unless he solves the box, in which case, he’ll tear over here immediately and demand to know why I wasn’t there to witness his moment of triumph.” Phoenix sat down on a log with a sigh. “I messaged Darius to tell him where I was going. Hopefully that’s enough.”

“Hopefully.”

Caleb wandered off, apparently satisfied that Phoenix wouldn’t rebreak his ankle. Phoenix sat on the stump watching his family. Novus kept laying out string where the house would be, testing different spots with his tools, while Lake casually picked the rope up and moved it just a couple inches to the left whenever he wasn’t looking. Matt wrote furiously in a small notebook—party plans, if Phoenix had to guess. Evelyn drew small circles, testing out her construction magic. Everywhere bustled with movement. If someone wasn’t actively making house plans, they were transporting construction materials, or overseeing everyone else.

“They don’t know how to sit still, do they?” Alex plopped down next to Phoenix. “Neither do you.” They shrugged. “I guess it’s good when we’re trying to build a house. What do you think they’ll find to do afterwards?”

“What do you mean?”

Alex gestured at the busy family. “When the house is finished, what do you think they’ll do? What will you do? None of us are good at stopping and staying still for a moment. We just keep going and going and going. So what are we supposed to do once we finish building the new house?”

“We just… live in it, I guess,” Phoenix answered slowly.

“Hm.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Alex shrugged. “Keep my feet on the ground, that’s the only thing I know for sure. Stay away from heights.”

“Seconded. How are the falling dreams? Have they gotten any better?”

“Careful, you sound like Dad.”

“Sorry, I just… you know, I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

“When you told me where you died—that’s how we found Ghost. So… thank you.”

“Oh. You’re welcome.” Alex went very still, staring pointedly at anything but Phoenix. “Hey, can I ask you something? And… do you promise not to tell anyone what I said?”

“Sure. But, uh… why me?” Surely there were other grimwalkers Alex was closer to. Phoenix had only ever spoken to them the once.

Alex eyed him critically. “Because you’re the only one who backed off, no questions asked, when I told you I just wanted space to process. I don’t know, I feel like I can trust you to understand. Um. Do you think it would be weird if I moved out of the house really soon?”

The question shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Joseph had already left, and Matt was planning on it—the moving fever was contagious. But still, Phoenix flinched at the idea of one more grimwalker leaving. “Well,” he said carefully, “I don’t think it would be… I mean, Joseph already broke the ice on that one.”

“I know.” Alex combed their fingers through their hair. “But Joseph was… Joseph. He was big. He was determined. He was capable of wrestling beasts and winning. He… well, he didn’t have a panic attack every time he tripped. What if Mom and Dad don’t think I’m ready?”

“They’ll let you anyway.”

“Right. But would it be weird? I mean, we’re building this house together, and then I… I wouldn’t be in it. They’d build a room for me, for what? For me to leave right after? I don’t want them to think I’ve wanted to leave this whole time and was just waiting for the all-clear.”

“Well, why do you want to leave?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you want to leave? Because you want space?”

“Oh. Yes. Something like that.” Alex twisted their hair and let it go. “Time. And space. And I love Mom and Dad and everyone, don’t get me wrong, they’re just… sometimes a little much. So. Um.” Alex gestured towards the town. “You know. Maybe I’ll leave. But I don’t want it to be…”

“Awkward?”

“Yes.”

“You should talk to them about it. I know that’s not your strong suit, but… give it a shot?”

“They’re busy right now.”

Phoenix watched as Novus gestured to Evelyn. She drew one glowing finger in a wide circle, and huge stone walls rose out of the ground where he’d laid out string, her eyes on his blueprints. Her free hand directed another circle, and abominations sludged their way towards the neat piles of tiles, shingles, glass panes, scooping them up and using the stone walls as a base to build windows and roofs.

“Not for long.”

Xxx

“Wow.” Phoenix’s voice echoed in the empty space. He hadn’t realized how everything in the old house had muffled sound until he stood in the empty rooms Evelyn had built. “This took two days?”

“And Evelyn will be passed out for about five,” Caleb said disapprovingly, “I wish she’d taken it slower.”

Lake bounced down a set of stairs, each footstep echoing off the walls and turning into a marching army. “Is Sam getting two rooms again? Because he’s already claimed one of the empty ones up there for his lab.”

“Oh, no,” Novus said casually, “I gave the house a couple of extra rooms for Ghost and Hunter, but I’m taking over the lab space for my work. Machinery will be far more useful than the glyphs now.” He laughed at Caleb’s stricken face. “I’m joking. There’s enough rooms for both. He can have a lab.”

Lake tilted their head. “Seems kinda… bare.”

“We’ll paint the walls,” Caleb promised. He moved through the space with a twinkle in his eye. “The kitchen will be here. Dining room right next to it, of course. What do you guys think of getting a family picture? I’ve always wanted one.”

“What about Achsah’s room?”

Caleb froze.

Lake scratched the back of their neck. “I mean… we saved some of her stuff. Some of the photographs were okay. We could try to set it all up again. But it won’t really be her room anymore. We’ll just be recreating it. Is that something you and Mom want?”

It was like in the absence of Locke, or Sam to bother, Lake had lost their usual goofy demeanor. Phoenix had never seen them be serious for more than two seconds—to drop this reminder on Caleb shocked Phoenix almost as much as it did their ortet.

“Um,” Caleb said in a strangled whisper, “I don’t know. I don’t…”

The kitchen and dining room area held a startling similarity to the old house—Novus had probably designed it that way on purpose. Caleb turned and wandered, half dazed, into the room that would have been Achsah’s back at home.

Lake watched him go passively. “That went well. Do you want to check out the rest of the house? Novus put a state of the art hidden room behind the dining room. The wall slides out and everything.”

“You’re not going to go check on him?”

“Nah, he needs a second by himself.”

Lake wandered through the empty halls, and Phoenix followed. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?”

Phoenix struggled for a moment to find the right words. “Why you?” he said finally.

“Because Cherry already took one for the team and yelled at Dad for sacrificing himself.”

“Really? That’s it?”

Lake shrugged. “Locke and I overheard Cherry and Novus talk about it when they first showed us the plans—you know how we like to lurk. Lurking is our favorite. Anyway, Cherry told Novus to just leave it in the plans, and we’d get there later, but, well, like I said, Cherry already did the lecture. Someone else’s turn to be the bearer of unwanted news.” Lake blew a strand of hair out of their face. “Would have loved for it to be Sam, Mr. Logic of Logics, but, well.”

They opened a door. Sure enough, Sam had claimed a space for a lab. Right now, he sat on the floor, twisting pieces of the box. He looked up.

“The box is a gridded cube!” he called excitedly, “Jason has compared it to something in the human realm called a ‘rubik’s cube’ and promised to find me one whenever he next visits. I just have to find the right combination…”

Lake closed the door. “You see the problem. Anyway, Locke and I rock-paper-scissors over it, which he ALWAYS wins, you would not BELIEVE how effective it is when he yells out his choice after I’ve already put my hand out. So I was Mr. Logic of Logics today.” They scratched the back of their head. “Not my favorite of jobs. I tried to channel Sam energy, how’d I do?”

Phoenix shook his head. “How do you do that?”

“What, channel Sam energy? It’s very easy, I just think ‘books, books, books’ in my head over and over again until I’m sufficiently stuffy and sneezing out big words.”

“No, I mean you and Locke—how do you stay so…”

“Charming?”

“…upbeat,” Phoenix finished.

Lake shook their head sadly. “It’s all a coping mechanism, we’re so sad and we cover it up with jokes so that no one will see the empty pit of despair welling up inside.” They grinned, immediately dispelling any thought Phoenix might have had that they were being serious. “Look, Phoenix. You just have to stop taking everything so seriously. We beat Belos! We survived! You’re on track for managing your curse! We’re building a great big house! We fought hard. Now enjoy the spoils.”

Loud banging echoed through the house, metal on wood. Lake glanced at an imaginary watch. “It appears to be checking on Dad o’clock.”

Caleb had left “Achsah’s” room. Instead, he sat in the empty place where the kitchen would be, building a table. He gave Phoenix a cheerful grin. “Been a while since I’ve done any woodworking.”

“You seem… chipper,” Phoenix said cautiously.

“Oh, for Titan’s sake, I can’t do this,” Lake whispered under their breath. They disappeared, and came back with Sam. “Go,” they ordered, pointing him towards Caleb.

Sam blinked, as if disoriented by how fast Lake had separated him from the cube and dragged him here. “Nice table. Avoiding our problems again?”

“I’m not avoiding anything. We need furniture if we’re going to live in this house. I’m solving problems.”

“Very reasonable,” Sam agreed, “How about that problem of Achsah’s room?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Phoenix sighed. This was going nowhere. “Are you okay?” he asked Caleb, “I know this can’t be easy. I know how much keeping her room meant to you.”

Caleb’s hand shook on his hammer. “I knew she wasn’t coming back. I mean, Eda and Lilith existing made that painfully clear. I guess I just hoped… But Lake’s right, aren’t they? It’s not her room anymore. The room’s gone, she’s gone…”

“It’s not wrong to want a reminder,” Phoenix said quietly, “You don’t have to forget her.”

“I don’t think I ever could.”

“You don’t have to decide now,” Sam chimed in, “You can leave the room empty for now. Leave it for last. Besides, you should probably talk to Mom before making a decision.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Caleb gave the three of them a wan smile. “Thank you.”

“Except Lake for bringing it up,” Sam added.

“No. Lake, too.” Caleb took a deep breath. “I’ll think about it.”

He turned back to the table, but the hammering seemed less desperate now. Phoenix swung out at the obvious dismissal, followed closely by Lake.

“Nice handling,” Lake told him, “Next time, I’m leaving the hard discussions to you.”

“No, thanks. I’ve had enough difficult discussions recently, and I don’t need one more.”

Lake gave him a lopsided grin. “Loosen up, remember? Makes the hard stuff easier.”

They disappeared back up the stairs, leaving nothing behind but the echo of their footsteps.

Enjoy the spoils.

Phoenix took a deep breath, looking around the new house with a small smile. They still had plenty to worry about—making this place home, what to do about Achsah’s room, Matt’s upcoming plans—but for now… maybe Lake was right. Maybe it was time to let go.

Days blurred into weeks of painting and building, moving one room at a time. Kitchen and dining room first, so that they’d have somewhere to cook and eat. Caleb set chairs and tables he’d built in the dining room, beaming with pride. Then came the bathrooms, and the common rooms, and finally, Evelyn declared that they’d picked over the ruins enough, and they wouldn’t find anything else, so they might as well start on their rooms. Phoenix still made the commute back to Bonesborough every weekend to see Darius and catch up on the Isles-wide reconstruction efforts.

Phoenix stared at the blank canvas of his wall. While Jason lined his room with books, and Mole lovingly set potted plants, Phoenix sat on his bed, wishing he could do something besides paint. Even before the house had been destroyed, he hadn’t been there long enough to make the room his own—and the time he did get was so hectic, he wasn’t even sure he’d had anything in the house to salvage.

“Going for the minimalistic approach, are we?” Darius asked from the door.

“Darius!” Phoenix jumped up from the bed. The cast had been cut off yesterday, but his ankle was so weak it almost folded underneath him immediately. “Hey—what are you doing here?”

“Getting all the stuff out of my living room. And having a top secret meeting with Matt about his party. You know, I’m not entirely certain he’s separated the idea of a party from coven work.”

“That sounds right.” Phoenix waved a hand at the walls. “What do you think? Bright purple for the walls?”

“Don’t you dare.” Darius looked around the room. “I know just about everything of yours was confiscated when you… disappeared… so I thought… ah, just take it.”

He handed Phoenix a photograph in a simple wooden frame, a photo of he and Darius during the mentorship. Phoenix gently brushed one hand over his photographed face. He’d gotten so used to the scars from Belos’ attack that seeing this photograph without them now felt strange and foreign. His face looked so… young. But even with the great grin plastered across his face in the photo while he headlocked Darius, a tired sadness seemed etched in his face.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, “I don’t remember this being taken—where did you find it?”

“My memories,” Darius replied casually, “I had a copy made.” He sighed. “I know things weren’t rosy perfect back then. I know so much happened to you that I never saw. And I know—or at least I hope—we’re headed towards a better chapter of our life now. But don’t forget the last chapter, eh?”

Phoenix set the photograph up on the dresser, sweeping elixir bottles to the side. “Never. And—Darius? Thank you. For the photo. For letting us stay with you. For… everything.”

“Anytime. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a top secret party meeting I must attend. I believe we are discussing snacks.”

Xxx

“I see someone—wait, no, that’s just someone’s abomination that’s gotten loose.” Jason all-but had his face pressed against the glass of the front window, watching out for incoming guests. “They’ll come, right? I mean, of course our friends will show, but given that half the point is to get the townspeople used to the look-alike family that wandered out of the woods, we really need some people we don’t know.”

“I’m sure they will,” Phoenix assured him, but he watched equally carefully.

“Oh!” Jason yanked back from the window, opening the door and sprinting down the careful garden path, currently devoid of an actual garden. “Willow! Gus! Amity! Luz!” He bowed to Willow with a flourish. “Lord of Bats.”

She returned his over-the-top bow with one of her own. “House of Crows. How lovely to see you again.”

“It’s been three days,” Amity reminded them.

They both laughed, and Jason led the kids towards the door.

“Eda and Lilith are on their way with King,” Luz told Phoenix, “They’ll be here soon. I might take King home at some point, though. Don’t want him up too late and all.”

A loud gasp sounded from the path, and a witch from town clutched her chest. “I—I just thought I was meeting the new neighbors,” she stammered, “I didn’t know that Luz the human would be here—and did you say the owl lady was coming?”

“Yesssss?” Luz said uncertainly, as if unsure whether this information would scare the witch off or not.

“Oh. Oh, my. Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

She dashed off back towards town, and Luz winced. “I think your guest list might have just gotten a bit bigger.”

That didn’t bode well. They’d kept the invitations small on purpose—not that anyone but Matt and Darius really knew who was coming, but still, Phoenix thought some of the others might notice if too many people showed up.

Eda, Lilith, and King arrived in a rush of feathers and a bag of elixirs pushed into Phoenix’s arms. He answered Lilith’s seemingly endless questions on their effects, wondering vaguely if anyone had warned Caleb and Evelyn they were coming, but mostly focused on the steady trickle of strangers now coming towards the house.

Caleb and Evelyn wandered into the living room, stopping dead when they spotted Lilith and Eda. Phoenix winced. Caleb didn’t look much like his descendants, but their resemblance to Evelyn was impossible to deny. He could practically see the wheels ticking in Eda’s head. But before she could say anything, the other guests reached the house and she was swept away in a tide of questions and admirations. Luz looked similarly swamped.

“Well, this wasn’t in the plans.” Matt stood on the stairs, chewing thoughtfully on a pen. “I should have guessed something would go wrong. I need to warn Silver.”

The mobs around Eda and Luz split into a third group, buzzing around Darius the moment he walked through the door. He arched one eyebrow at Matt, who winced and shrugged.

“Well, we’re getting a reputation for being well-connected,” Locke said at Phoenix’s elbow, “Fantastic, I’m sure this will hold no negative consequences.” He grinned. “We should invite celebrities over more often.”

Babble surrounded Phoenix as people slowly got over their star-struck awe and spread out. They stuck in small packs, townsfolk interacting with their neighbors, and grimwalkers talking to other grimwalkers. Both groups eyed each other uneasily, skirting around each other and only occasionally exchanging brief hellos and ‘excuse me’s.

“Ah, yes,” Locke deadpanned, “I can feel the house warming up already.” He stuck his nose into the air, shaking his head back and forth. “Can you feel that, Lake?”

As if summoned, Lake seemed to materialize at Phoenix’s other side. “No, Locke, what is it?”

“The tension! It’s so thick it’s starting to physically manife—”

Thump.

Muffled murmurs. Evelyn’s immediate sprint, pushing through guests and grimwalkers alike. “Give him space,” she ordered.

“Steven,” Jason breathed, “He’s having a seizure—we need to move everyone away, there’s not enough space.”

More murmurs and exclamations. Across the room, Silver’s face was as white as a sheet, and they beelined for the nearest window, opening it and oh-so-casually leaning against the sill, prepared to leap out, if Phoenix had to guess.

This is bad.

It didn’t take Darius, party expert extraordinaire, to know that. People flocked naturally to a disaster—they’d crowd Steven, stress Silver, and probably panic themselves, which would only—

“Well, I think it’s time to move this party outside!” Locke hopped up on the stairs, raising their voice, “Do we have any plant witches in attendance tonight?”

Willow raised her hand, and a few others tentatively joined her.

“Who feels like a seed race?”

“What’s that?” someone called.

“Only the best way for a plant witch to show off their magical prowess! Winner gets to take home a rare human realm plant known as ‘mint,’ proven to thrive even in the Isles!”

A few ‘ooo’s rose up, and witches started to wander outdoors. Cherry had quickly assembled a circle of grimwalkers around Steven and Evelyn, blocking them from view while guests went outside.

Willow hung back, raising one eyebrow at Locke. “A seed race, huh? How come I’ve never heard of that before?”

“Because I made it up just now. Mole, you’ve got some seeds, right? Where did you want some of the plants in the garden to go? I’ll make it look natural.”

Caleb slumped against the banister. “Thank you, Locke.” Behind him, Steven slowly sat up, watched by Evelyn like a hawk.

“Hey, it’s what I do. Be a loud and annoying distraction. Just ask Sam!” Locke grinned, bouncing out the door. “Alright, three categories: speed, size, and healthiness! Line up!”

Caleb sighed, joining Evelyn and Steven.

Eda nudged Phoenix. “Hey, introduce me to your planner. We’ve been scheming up a quinceañera party for Luz, and so far, this party’s been a riot.”

“Wish it was less of one.”

She grinned and held out an elixir. “Bottoms up, kid.”

Phoenix glanced down. He hadn’t even noticed his arms had started to drip. Great. Another thing for the townsfolk to take home as a story. He gulped the elixir with a grimace. “Does the taste ever get better?”

“If anything, it gets worse. Ah, well, necessary evils and all that. Not to suddenly change the subject or anything, but do you mind explaining her?” Eda waved an accusing hand towards Evelyn.

“I think you’d better ask her. And Caleb.”

“Yeah, I kind of thought that would be your answer. Well, can’t blame me for trying the easy route.” Eda grabbed Lilith’s arm. “C’mon.”

“What? Where are we going?”

“Answer-hunting.”

Before they could approach Evelyn, Sam thumped down the stairs, puzzle box tucked under his arm. “Oh, is the party over already? Excellent, I didn’t actually want to go.”

Lilith gasped. “Ooo!” She pulled herself from Eda’s grip, reaching for the box. “May I? I love a good puzzle.”

“Be my guest.”

“Aaaaand I’ve lost her,” Eda muttered under her breath, “Right, just me then.” She squared her shoulders, and marched towards Caleb and Evelyn. Steven waved the two of them off with a tired smile, and the two nervously gestured towards Achsah’s room, still untouched.

“They are definitely going to botch the explanation,” Sam said cheerfully, “They always do.”

“Yeah…” Phoenix looked back at Steven to check if he was still upright. He was with Darius now, and the two of them spoke in low voices, occasionally glancing down at Steven’s burned-off sigil. Cherry stood only a few feet away, looking like he was desperately trying not to listen in and at the same time, straining to hear what was being said.

“You’re my WHAT?!” Eda’s voice squawked from Achsah’s room.

“Got it!” Lilith said triumphantly at the same time, “You were so close. I barely had to do anything.” She looked up. “What happened to Eda?”

Phoenix hurried to Achsah’s room, Darius and Steven forgotten. Eda jabbed a finger at him the moment he entered.

“You are not allowed to be my great uncle,” she told him, “Not allowed, do you hear me?”

“Sorry. I’ll try not to be.”

Lilith came in on Phoenix’s heels. “What’s going on?”

“They’re our ancestors, Lili. Our ancestors.”

“Oh,” Lilith said thoughtfully, “That makes sense. Fascinating.” She held out the box. “This is for you two, by the way. Someone called Achsah went great lengths to make sure it reached you through time.”

Caleb all-but snatched the opened box from her, his face pale. “Achsah?!”

Evelyn delicately lifted out a letter. Phoenix caught sight of a bracelet inside, hand-woven leather and beads. Evelyn scanned the letter, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Get Mole, please,” she whispered, and Sam was off. Mole arrived moments later, and Evelyn held up the letter. “Caleb, would you…?”

Caleb took the paper from her, his eyes devouring it like a starving man. “Dear Mom and Dad,” he read out loud, “I’ve buried this letter in a puzzle box under where the kitchen will be someday. I hope you finally get to work on that root cellar you always wanted, or else you won’t find it. Dad—” he choked up, and Evelyn took the letter.

“Dad, I know exactly what you’ve probably been doing since the moment the time pool washed away, and I want you to stop it. What happened wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s. For a while, I was sad, and lost, and wanted nothing more than for you to pop out of another pool and bring me back home.” Evelyn took a deep breath. “But since then, I’ve met some beautiful people, including my partner.”

Caleb took the letter back. “You two would love them, just as much as I love them. I wish the three of you could meet. While I write this, your grandkid is tearing through the house like a tiny terror. He’s got your nose, Dad, and Mom’s eyes. And the healer tells me I’ve got twins coming—isn’t that crazy? I’d do anything to protect them, and I know if you could have come back for me, you would have. But I want you to know that I’m happy here and now. I miss you every day, but I don’t regret the people I’ve met since. Please don’t be sad I’m gone.”

Caleb smiled at Mole. “This next part is for you. Say hi to your lookalike for me, Dad. If he’s anything like you, the ‘don’t blame yourself’ bit goes for him, too. I don’t regret rescuing him. I only wish I’d gotten to know him. Bet he’s awesome. I made a bracelet for him. I know he was passed out, so he probably didn’t see me at all, but it’s just something to remember me by. His younger/older sister.”

Mole sniffed, delicately lifting the bracelet out of the box and slipping it onto his wrist.

“I know we were hiding. I didn’t realize it first, but now that I’ve spent my life here trying to pretend I’ve always lived in this time, I can see it’s the same. Mom. Dad. I don’t want you to keep hiding. Whatever happens, get out there. Show the world who you are. All the love in both dimensions, Achsah.”

Caleb folded up the letter, and they all stood there for a long moment, no one saying anything. Finally, Evelyn took Caleb’s hand. “No more hiding,” she said softly.

“No more hiding,” Caleb echoed, “No more grieving.”

“Are you ready to show the world who we are?”

“If you are.”

Evelyn smiled, and together, she and Caleb walked out to meet the Isles.

Xxx

“Latissa.” Evelyn said the word carefully, like it might shatter in her mouth. “That’s an interesting choice. Any reason?”

Steven rubbed his arm where his sigil used to be. “Darius mentioned something—I know it’s gone, but…”

“The sigil experiments,” Phoenix breathed. That had to be what Darius and Steven had been talking about at the housewarming party. He touched his own mark. The Day of Unity was over, and with it, the danger of the draining spell. The sigils didn’t affect him, but countless witches couldn’t access all their magic—Alador led the way in sigil removal research, and Darius was right there with him.

Steven nodded. “The sigil experiments. I don’t think mine is the same as the modern sigils, since it almost killed me instantly, but Darius said getting a look at the earlier attempts might help them understand the ones we have now.”

“But you said it: you don’t have yours anymore,” Evelyn replied, “How are they going to study it?”

“Questions. Anecdotes. And… the seizures. Darius thinks they’re related.”

“We knew that.”

“Well, yes, but this might be—I mean, if what I know can help them, and if their research can stop the seizures entirely… even if they can’t, I want to help.” Steven shook his head. “I used that glove on other people, even knowing what it would do to them. I can’t change that, but… maybe I can make up for it by helping witches suffering from those sigils now.”

Evelyn chewed on her lip. “Latissa is a bit of a commute without a palisman,” she said finally, “What’s your plan?”

“I’d be staying there.” Steven shrugged, as if trying to make it seem like nothing. “There’s space—they converted the old police station into their center. I’m sure we can fit a bed.”

“I see. Do you—do you know how long you’d be there?” Evelyn’s voice held a sort of desperate casualness to it, like she was trying not to scare Steven off, but also didn’t quite want to let him go.

“Not forever.” Steven’s voice matched Evelyn’s, somehow both intensely normal and strained at the same time. “I’ll be back. Um. I mean, how long could it take, really?”

“How much is Alador like Sam?” Evelyn joked. She rubbed her arm. “Will you be okay? I should go with you.”

“What? Mom, they need you here.”

“But the seizures—if one happens—will Alador know what to do?”

“I’ll tell him,” Steven promised, “And I’m almost certain healers will be involved—I’ll be in the best possible place if something does go wrong. Besides home.”

“Hm.”

Steven took her hands. “Mom, I’ll be safe. I promise. This could be… it could be huge for me.”

“It could be.” Evelyn sighed, wrapping him in a hug. “Oh, I knew you all would grow up. I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Phoenix thought uneasily of Matt and Alex. Neither of them had announced their plans to leave yet, but maybe Evelyn suspected. Or maybe with Jason always off with the kids, and Auric always off at his new apprenticeship, and Phoenix gone every weekend, she just felt… lonely.

“I won’t be gone for long. Promise.”

Xxx

“Where was that you said? The wreckage of the keep? Again?” Darius pinched his nose, nodding along to the conversation on the other end of the raven phone. “I know—yes. No, we’ll look into it. I said we’ll look into it! Yes, lovely day to you too, goodbye.”

Phoenix winced, setting his weekend bag on the floor with a thump. “Bad time?”

Darius tossed the phone to the side, letting it fly to its perch. “It’s fine. Just Terra rearing her head again. Most of the scouts and coven heads settled in peacefully enough, but every couple of months…”

Phoenix shuddered. He doubted she’d come after him specifically, but part of him was tempted to start checking his drinks for poison. “Is it safe to leave her on the loose?”

“Unlikely. If anyone’s going to cause havoc, it’s going to be her. But the…” Darius heaved a sigh. “…CATs… are spread too thin. Between guarding the new palistrom tree, rebuilding what Belos and the Collector destroyed, and keeping the peace between disoriented and disillusioned citizens, we haven’t had a lot of time or manpower to spare towards tracking her down. And I don’t want to assign someone inexperienced to the job—we need someone who’s used to handling threats. Big ones. People who can corner her, and…” he tilted his head. “You have a thinking face on. You know someone, don’t you? One of your siblings?”

“Yes,” Phoenix said slowly, “Or—at least, I think so. Let me see that phone again?”

One short phone call and a griffin-flight later, Meleager, Horus, Hamlet, and Venari sat in Darius’ living room, studying pictures of Terra with matching frowns.

“Plant magic…” Meleager mused, “Fire and ice, then. I think I still have some leftover frost potions.”

“We need to get her off the ground,” Venari added, “The further she is from seeds and dirt, the harder it’ll be for her to get away.”

Hamlet scratched his head. “Coven head, though, so it’ll be tricky to separate her entirely—any capture method like nets or rope can’t be made of plant fibers, because she might be able to manipulate those.”

“Once we get her hands and feet immobilized, that won’t be as big of an issue,” Horus declared, “Focus on the capture—containment after should be comparatively easy.”

“Sounds like they’ve got this under control,” Darius murmured to Phoenix.

“They’ve been bored,” Phoenix replied equally quietly, “Oh, just—make sure you prioritize capturing Terra alive.”

Darius chuckled, then glanced at Phoenix and stopped abruptly. “Oh, you’re not kidding. They’ll—”

“Without hesitation.”

“Huh. Well, would it really be that much of a loss? Kidding,” he added quickly, “I’ll be sure to tell them.”

Phoenix shrugged. “I’ve got no love lost for Terra. But I don’t want them killing anyone, for sure. I don’t think that’s a path anyone wants them taking.”

“Hey.” Darius gave Phoenix a small smile. “Give them a little trust. They met Petro—I don’t think they’re in any hurry to go down the killing spree path.”

“Hm. I hope you’re right. They still might engage in some light torture, though.”

Darius squeezed his eyes shut. “Why do I feel like you handed me a bigger problem than the one you’ve solved?”

“They’ll be fine. Just…”

“Reiterate the capturing her alive part, yes, understood.”

“We’re going,” Venari declared, “We’ll see you in… what, 3 days at the worst?”

“We’re staking out the keep. We might come back to steal Dagger,” Meleager explained, “We got this, Phoenix, she’ll never poison anyone again.”

“Alive,” Darius warned, “Capture her alive!”

Horus gave him a thumbs-up, and the four of them disappeared out the door. Darius watched them go, the worry on his face shifting to a pensive, planning expression. “You know, if this goes well, I might have a few other hunts for them. Terra’s not the only one who’s clinging to her old power.”

Phoenix grinned. “I’m sure they’d like that very much.”

Xxx

“Oop—watch the root—”

Phoenix caught Mole’s arm at Jason’s warning, keeping him upright when he stumbled. “Maybe we should take off the blindfold?” he suggested, “The footing’s getting a little treacherous.”

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise!” Jason protested, “Maybe you could carry him?”

Mole’s nose scrunched up at the suggestion, and Phoenix shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think he wants that.”

“Well, we’re almost there anyway. Come on.”

Phoenix didn’t pick Mole up, but he held his arm out for Mole to cling to and guided him slowly over the forest floor. Mole gave him a brief grateful smile, jabbing one finger at the blindfold and heaving a fond sigh.

“He’s a bit excited,” Phoenix agreed, “He’s been taking trips out here with Hunter and Willow an awful lot, but they’ve been tight-lipped about it to me, too.”

“Okay, Phoenix, now you have to close your eyes, too!”

“I thought this was a surprise for Mole?” Phoenix protested.

“It is,” Hunter agreed, appearing at Phoenix’s elbow with Flapjack in his staff form, “But it’s a surprise for everyone. Don’t worry, I’ve got you two.”

Phoenix closed his eyes. Hunter’s hand closed over his arm, and he heard the tell-tale sound of a flash-step, his balance just ever-so-slightly thrown off at the sudden change in placement.

“Okay, open them,” Jason ordered.

Phoenix opened his eyes, and beside him, Mole took off the blindfold.

A massive blue tree towered over them, blooming with blue leaves and flowers. Phoenix had never seen a tree like this, but something about it seemed… familiar. His skin crawled with that feeling of just knowing something, deep inside, like how his curse recognized Belos, but more positive.

“Is that… palistrom?” he asked.

Mole stepped forward as if in a trance, putting one hand on the massive blue trunk. He nodded in answer to Phoenix’s question, pressing his forehead to the bark like it was an old friend. Silent tears streamed down his face, and Phoenix remembered just how long ago Mole had technically been born. He must have been used to seeing palistrom forests peppering the Isles, and had woken up suddenly in a world without them.

“The palisman this tree could make,” Phoenix murmured, “It grew so big so fast!”

“Willow had a lot to do with that part,” Hunter explained, “But, well, there’s a reason there was a shortage for so long.”

“Palistrom were kept strictly monitored by Belos,” Phoenix remembered, “You think he kept them small on purpose? Of course he did,” he answered his own question, “Why wouldn’t he? The more magic stifled, the better.”

Hunter fidgeted, twisting his hands around each other. Jason nudged him. “Go on,” he whispered, “Tell them.”

“Tell us what?”

“I’m going to be a palisman carver,” Hunter burst out, “Caleb’s taught me some, and I’ve been talking to Eda’s dad, Dell—he was a professional carver, you know—and he’s going to take me on as an apprentice.” He looked up at the tree, eyes shining. “With the way this tree’s been growing and flowering, we should be able to repopulate the Isles with palistrom in no time. Luckily, the palistrom is a self-pollinating plant. And even just a solid branch from this tree—anyone can have a palisman. Everyone can.” He scratched the back of his neck shyly. “I was thinking… I was thinking I could carve one for Caleb first. Since… you know. He carved my palisman.”

Phoenix smiled warmly. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“And… I could carve one for everyone in the family. Or you could adopt!” he added quickly, “The Bat Queen has dozens of palisman looking for a home. But yes. I could carve one. Hypothetically. No promises yet, I’m still learning, but—oh, okay, you hate the idea.”

“What?” Phoenix reached up to find tears running from his eyes. “No—no, Hunter, I don’t hate the idea, I…” he searched for the right words to describe how he felt. A palisman? For him? He’d never even considered it, not with the life he’d lived. The curse curled up inside him rumbled at the idea, but he couldn’t tell if it was the remnants of Belos protesting, the palisman eager for a palisman of their own outside of him, or something hungrier. “Is that a good idea?” he said finally, “I mean, with…” he gestured to his arms.

“Do you want one?” Jason asked.

“Yes.” The word slipped out of Phoenix’s mouth almost without a thought. He hadn’t realized he wanted one until now, but he knew it deep inside, watching Flapjack and Hunter. “I do.”

“Then we’ll find a way to make it work,” Jason said firmly, “Whatever that means.”

Mole nodded joining them. He pointed to himself, tilting his head in a question.

“Yeah, of course I can make one for you,” Hunter interpreted, “Any idea what you’d want? We can always go the egg route if not. Sounds pretty easy to carve, too.”

A mischievous grin crept over Mole’s face, and he pointed to himself again. Hunter frowned.

“I don’t know what you’re asking—sorry, we’ll figure it ou—”

Jason groaned. “Oh, no. You want a mole for a palisman, don’t you?”

Mole nodded vigorously, breaking off into peals of laughter. Phoenix groaned with Jason, but Mole’s laughter was infectious, and a smile took over his face despite himself.

Palisman for us. It didn’t seem right—not after all the palisman he’d handed over to Belos. Maybe Mole or Jason deserved one—after all, Belos had tried to kill Jason for protecting the little creatures. Phoenix? He’d never even considered another option besides giving them to their doom.

But Flapjack sat scarred and proud on Hunter’s shoulder despite everything, like a beacon saying it’s possible; you just have to want it enough, and the tree loomed over them, big, and beautiful, and strong despite what Belos had tried to do to its species, and right here, in this forest, Phoenix did want it.

We’ll find a way to make it work.

Xxx

Phoenix climbed out an attic hatch onto the roof—another holdover from the old house’s design. He didn’t quite join Cherry where he sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over, but he sat down close.

“I thought this was Jason’s brooding spot. Enjoying the view?”

Cherry glanced back at him. “It’s quieter than I thought it would be.”

“Hm?”

Cherry waved a hand at the town sprawling in the near distance. “I thought it would be noisy, living so much closer to other people. But in the evening, if I close my eyes, it’s almost like nothing’s changed. It’s like we’re still back in the forest, and we’re all together. No one’s left and gone where I can’t protect them. And then I open my eyes, and… it’s all so different now.”

“It’s not a bad thing. They’ll be okay.”

“Mm.” Cherry stared out over the town again, his hair almost red in the light of the setting sun. “You ever think it was strange, how close to Belos we were hiding? I mean, the third rib? We might as well have been on his doorstep. But we weren’t discovered. Somehow, we were never discovered. Somehow, Mom and Dad managed to save every one of us, no matter how badly we were injured. Isn’t that odd? We didn’t lose a single person.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Belos always said loss was so necessary, and I believed him. I saw it firsthand, how sometimes people had to be sacrificed. We were some of those people. But somehow, no one died. None of us—despite how many people we killed, not one of us went down. Why did we get to survive when so many people didn’t?” He chuckled, a low, humorless sound. “Doesn’t that seem so improbable, when you think about it? Belos might have been lying about the titan having plans for us, but sometimes it almost does feel like there’s some higher power out there who’s decided to keep us alive.”

“Or one determined human and witch.” Phoenix scooted closer to Cherry, eying the edge of the roof. “It does seem improbable,” he admitted, “People died—and we were responsible some of the time. But we all made it. Against the odds. I think this family is good at that.”

Cherry heaved a sigh. “But what’s the point, if we’re not going to stick together? What’s the point, if after everything, everyone goes their separate ways? We got so far, only to fall apart at the end.”

“We’re not falling apart.” Phoenix looked up at the moon and stars slowly replacing the sun as the brightest things in the sky. “You know… I used to see Darius every day. I’d take him with me on missions. I’d test his skills, but I was always there to protect him if something happened. But when I first woke up with Caleb and Evelyn… he’d grown. He was a capable adult who could handle himself. And that was a hard thing to accept. If he didn’t need me to protect him, if he didn’t need a mentor, then what use was I to him?”

Phoenix smiled. “But we haven’t fallen apart yet. Maybe he doesn’t need a mentor anymore. Maybe he doesn’t need my protection. But I think he still needs me. Just me, because I’m me and that’s enough of a reason.” Phoenix nudged Cherry’s shoulder. “It’s not going to be the same. They’re not going to be as close. They won’t always need your protection anymore. And that’s going to be difficult to get used to. But I don’t think they’ll ever stop needing you.”

Cherry watched the sun finally disappear completely over the horizon, silent until it was gone. “I don’t want our lives to change,” he said finally, “I think I’m glad for the others finding what they want, but I’m not sure who I am without them. I’ve been looking after them for so long, trying to forget the past for so long… I don’t want to be left alone with myself.”

“Hm.” Phoenix leaned back, finally kicking his legs over the edge of the roof and sitting fully next to Cherry. “Well. I can tell you some good news about that.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. Even if they all leave, even if we all go our separate ways, you aren’t going to be alone, Cherry. We will always have your back. We’ll only be one raven call away.”

A smile flashed across Cherry’s face. “You’re going to have to teach me how to use one.”

“Oh. Right.”

“But… thanks, Phoenix. For having my back.”

Xxx

Despite Phoenix’s late start, his room filled up over months of living. Mole commandeered his window space with new plants, human realm varieties that Camila shared. Light blue walls were quickly covered over with scribbles that Ghost had presented him, and photos Willow shared. She always seemed to be dropping by, picking up Hunter or Jason or both of them. Sometimes, even Mole went along to visit the palistrom tree. Little practice wood carvings that Hunter made with Caleb and Dell surrounded the photograph Darius had given to him. Hunter hadn’t carved any palisman for the family besides Mole’s mole, but one day, Jason came back from the human realm library with a massive book full of animal pictures that he and Phoenix pored over for hours, looking for a creature that felt right.

Jason tapped one foot. “We’re going to be late. Hunter and Willow are outside waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah, give me a second. We’ll have at least half an hour while Caleb and Flapjack catch up.” Phoenix drank an elixir. Today had been a good day for the curse, but he didn’t want to push it staying up late.

Jason wandered over to the window, peering into the garden. “He’s gotten taller than me,” he grumbled, “Traitor. I’ll be inconsolable if Ghost gets big like that. I cannot be the shortest in the family.”

Phoenix ruffled his hair, his arm braces clicking gently at the movement. “Aw, don’t you want to stay the baby forever? You don’t want to be Evelyn’s little snuggle buddy?”

“I will always be Mom’s little snuggle buddy, thank you very much, but that doesn’t mean I have to be the shortest. Ghost has to be shorter. They have to.”

“Do not.” Ghost wrinkled their nose at Jason from the doorway. “I’m gonna be so big. Gonna eat griffins. In one bite.”

“Don’t let Joseph hear you say that,” Phoenix joked, “He’ll disown you.”

Ghost squeaked, tugging on Phoenix’s arm. “Nee-Nee, it’s time to go,” they said impatiently, “I wanna see King.”

“Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Phoenix followed Ghost downstairs. Hunter chattered excitedly to Caleb about the palisman he was working on, and Willow gave Jason their customary bow and exchange of royal titles.

“I can just walk, right?” Phoenix asked Hunter.

“Low and slow,” Hunter promised.

“You never actually mean that,” Phoenix grumbled, but he sat behind Hunter anyway, picking Ghost up and holding them tightly in his lap.

Hunter did fly too fast and too high for Phoenix’s taste, but Willow and Jason still beat them by a mile, so he supposed Hunter had been taking it easy on him.

Ghost squirmed out of Phoenix’s lap almost before they’d completely landed, bolting to tackle King in a hug. The titan fell in mock defeat.

“Curses! You’ve defeated the king of the demons this time, little Ghost!”

“She’s coming!” Eda called, “Everyone ready?”

Luz walked through the door, and the quinceañera passed by in a blur of well-wishes and laughter. Phoenix exchanged smiles and hellos with what seemed like everyone on the Isles.

“You thought any more about the mentoring offer? The university’s really taking off.”

Phoenix smiled tiredly in response to Eda. “I’d need a way to get there. Getting Ghost to Hexside is going to be tricky enough.”

“Man. Get a palisman already, would ya?”

Eda’s grin dispelled any bite to the words, but Phoenix’s attention hung fully on the portal door hanging wide open behind her. He glanced around to make sure Ghost was safe—they chased happily after Flapjack, who Phoenix was relatively certain was one of the more responsible people here—and quickly pushed through into the human realm before he could convince himself not to.

Creak.

Phoenix’s eyes darted over furniture that formed monsters and familiar specters in the dark. Wait a minute…

“Petro?” he called, just in case.

“No,” Jason’s voice called from the basement, “Just me.”

Phoenix creaked his way down the stairs to the basement, wincing at every sound. He sat on the bottom of the stairs next to Jason. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jason gestured out towards the mound where Phoenix knew Belos’ remains lay. “Do you ever wake up and just… forget for a minute that he’s gone?”

Phoenix rubbed his arms. A part of Belos would always live in him, in the curse—for him the problem was more remembering that he was gone at all. “Sometimes,” he admitted, “I’m guessing you do.”

Jason sighed. “I know it’s been years, but… sometimes it just doesn’t feel real. Sometimes I feel like he’s still coming for me. I mean, after all he’s survived, how can I even truly be sure he’s gone?” He rested his chin on his knees. “I don’t know if I’ll ever really believe it.”

Phoenix chuckled dryly. “Can you imagine how furious he’d be if he was still alive?”

Jason cracked a smile at that. “A university of wild magic?” he joked, “He’s probably spinning in his grave fast enough to generate the electricity needed to power this whole neighborhood. Not to mention us.”

“Not to mention us,” Phoenix echoed, “He’d be devastated if he knew we were happy.”

“Guess we better keep being happy, then. Just to spite him.” Jason’s smile faded, and he went back to looking over Belos’ grave.

Phoenix nudged his shoulder. “Hey,” he said quietly, “He’s dead. For real this time. He’s not coming back. But when it feels like he might, when it feels like he’s going to jump out of nowhere and sink his claws into you… you know where to find me. Or Cherry. Or Caleb, or Evelyn, or Mole, or anyone else. You’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah. I think I am.”

Jason got up, stretching and offering his hand to Phoenix. “Let’s get out of here.”

Phoenix happily obeyed, following Jason back into light and laughter. Ghost wandered over, their eyelids drooping. Flapjack chirped an admonishment, tugging affectionately on their hair.

“Hey, Ghost,” Phoenix said quietly, crouching down next to them, “You all tired out?”

They rubbed their eyes. “I’m not sleepy,” they said stubbornly, in spite of their giant yawn, “I just… want to go to bed and rest my eyes.”

“Fair enough.” Phoenix scooped Ghost up, holding them as easily as if they were still a toddler. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

#YAY WE FINISHED IT IN TIME FOR GILDED'S BIRTHDAY!!!! BARELY BUT WE DID IT!!!#toh #the owl house #gilded family au #toh fanfiction #my writing #caleb wittebane #golden guard oc #evelyn clawthorne #willow park #hunter wittebane

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aihoshiino · 6 months

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what did serina think of goro can you explain their relationship

Gorou and Sarina's relationship is interesting because it's kind of deceptively simple while being unintentionally complicated by the mountains of baggage they were both unintentionally bringing to things. Sarina -> Gorou is pretty straightforward though; as the one person who was by her side when she had nobody else in the world, he was her light and she obviously adored him. DeviousChair on the OnK subreddit also made a really good point a while back that we know that Sarina had issues with memory loss as her tumor progressed and so past a certain point, her strongest and most immediate memories would have been of Gorou caring for her. This does a lot to inform why she latched onto him and Ai with the intensity that she did, imo; past a certain point they were basically the only consistent comforting presences in her life.

The Ichibanboshi no Spica novel was a bit of a miss for me for various reasons but something it did (however accidentally) that I really liked was emphasizing the way that Gorou was basically everything and everyone to her from her POV, just out of emotional necessity: at various points across the story she compares him to a friend, an older brother, her parents (by contrasting him against them) and, of course, as her crush. I think this confused muddying of feelings and not knowing exactly what to make of their relationship rings really true and makes a lot of sense because like... how do you define a relationship like that? Especially since he wasn't her actual doctor, he was just the emotional support middle aged guy who would hang out with her and have nerdy chats LOL. Sarina had nobody so Gorou had to be her everybody.

That said, while this connection is sweet there's also an unfortunate but tbh inevitable angle of codependency as well. Since Gorou is her everything, if he's gone then she has nothing. Spica touches on this briefly but we see it most clearly in Ruby at the end of the Private arc and going into Mainstay. Even in a life where all of her dreams have come true, where she has a caring and present family and a robust support system of people who love her, she has so many hopes and so much of her emotional well-being riding on the *idea* of Gorou that being faced with a permanent separation from him contributes to a mental health spiral so catastrophic that only Gorou himself seemingly returning to her can hit pause on it.

It probably goes without saying, but this is an insanely unhealthy level of attachment to have to someone! Obviously, everything to do with Aqua and Ruby's mental health is complicated by their unique circumstances and their losing Ai at such a young age but again: this is Ruby 16+ years out from last seeing him, who has grown up surrounded by people who love and support her and her mental wellbeing is still this dependent on the idea of Gorou and she's still convincing herself that she can have her end goal of being in a relationship with him.

@aquahater made a really excellent post touching on this angle of Ruby's clinging onto the idea of Gorou, characterizing it (imo, correctly) as Ruby basically just wanting to live her life as 'Sarina 2.0' and rejecting any changes or emotionally inconvenient truths that could prevent that from happening. It's totally understandable why she would want this and I can't even say I blame her for it... but she does need to accept that it isn't going to work out the way she so obviously hopes it is.

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #ruby hoshino

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veintrry · 1 year

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linked regrets.

diluc & kaeya, ragbros, familial, non-ship. I wrote this ages ago and it is not proof read.

note! please, if you ship kaeluc do NOT interact with this. this is not a page for that.

an: i wrote this back in june and i'm pretty sure (like 99.9%) this was inspired by fains artwork because I absolutely adore them and the emotion they display with their art (its literally my wallpaper TT.)

@/f_ai_n on twt & ig

It's hard to explain what it is like to have a sibling. Someone you grow up with, you see them change and learn new things as they do the same with you. You watch yourselves find who you are as people and no matter what happens there's a fact of 'we are siblings'. It's different from friends and definitely not like other families. This is someone who knows me, and has watched me for ages. You learn to adapt to having someone else with you.

...Say, how would you feel if you saw your brother lying above you, his arms shaking, trying to use whatever strength he had left to keep himself up?

Kaeya's face isn't meeting Diluc's, he refuses to make eye contact, to have his brother have to see how much this pain aches. But, even when he had a sword stabbed into his back, having to witness what his brother's face looked like was worse than this. It's ironic, is it not? To be wounded in your back? Back stabber. That's what he felt he was. He felt he was a traitor, not only to Diluc and their father but to his nation.

No matter what side Kaeya was on, he lost. And now Diluc was losing, again. Diluc wasn't just losing his brother, he was losing everything. He was losing his family, and so was Kaeya. The Captain had long lost himself, but in this moment, even though he felt his mind getting hotter, the heat slowly spreading down his body, he found his eyes swelling with tears. There were so many regrets he held, and one of them was right here.

When Diluc was first brought down to the ground he had attempted to latch onto the body that came onto him, but, at the sight of that long recognizable blue hair, his grip weakened, letting the surprise overtake what his emotions. Why had Kaeya clung onto him so tightly, why were his fingers digging into the fabric of his clothes and into his skin. When would he ever need to use enough strength to tackle him down? There was no argument between them, not currently. They didn't like each other but they never got physical, not after that.

Kaeya was processing this quicker than Diluc was. None of this made sense, not until he saw him.

Do you know what it's like to see your brother impaled? To see the blood redder than the hair of the fellow with his back on the wet grass begin to stain his clothing? Kaeya wasn't clumsy, he wasn't one to make a mistake, especially not when it came to swordplay. He had led the Knights to fight, to fight against the Fatui that had taken advantage of how much smaller Mondstadt was compared to the Fatui after distateful negotiations. It was no smart idea, no, but, had they put up with them any longer the streets would've been filled by fatui agents, masks covering their faces and protecting their crimes.

Dilucs hands immediately found their way on the others shoulders. His eyes wide open and his lips sealed, he could feel his throat growing dry. A hand moved to Kaeya's jaw, urging him to look up at him, to see him. He allowed him that privilege, but can he really call it that when he was dying right before him? It was the same thing over again, but now it was Kaeya.

Kaeya, all he had. They still called each other brothers, well, at least Kaeya did. The hand on his shoulder travelling to his back, pulling him closer as he says his name so quietly it sounds like a whisper. What had they come to be?

They had collected seashells together, they'd compete to see who could catch the most anemoflies and bottle them up, lighting up their world. He was still a little boy to him but he had grown so much without him. He left him for a reason, because he didn't want that, he didn't want to handle this, he didn't want this. He wanted to not feel this damn depriving pain ever again, so why are you so cold? Why are you colder than you usually are, Kaeya? Tell me, Kaeya, why is it that I can't give you my warmth, why won't you take it?

His mouth opens, but he's cut off when the Captain talks. "Don't give me that look, 'Luc. You're making me miss that annoyed glare you'd give me." An airy laugh came out with a sharp pain following after. Every second felt like a minute, no, a century long to him, and he had been feeling every nerve in his body struggle. It was like his body had gone numb but yet he could feel all his senses well, all too well. "Why…" Diluc started, his voice hoarse and confused, as though it was waiting for an explanation, an answer.

Gazing up at Kaeya made him want to… hug him. How he seemed to not understand what was happening, as though he was denying it. And it somewhat really dawned on Kaeya that at the end of the day, Diluc did care. Diluc was himself because Kaeya was there, and the same was for him. If he lost him, who would he have? "Diluc… I don't think I could live with myself if I let you die." He hated seeing the injured man before him laugh and smile. Even now, he was continuing this charade of his, even in front of him. "Shut up. Don't stare at me with a face like that." Kaeya shot back instantly, ignoring what had been said but only seconds ago. "I should be saying that to you." His lips pressed into a line as he thought out his following words. "Tell me, Brother, how am I meant to be okay with leaving you when you look at me like that?" The man who would shut the Tavern down just to get rid of Kaeya was here, practically begging him to stay with just the eye contact they shared.

AN: HIII SO FUNNY THING- yeah, turns out I never finished writing this, but as an apology here is a fun fact! there is a line that says, "And it somewhat really dawned on Kaeya that at the end of the day, Diluc did care." the reason why it is in the past is because Kaeya had already somewhat come to terms with his death since he always knew it would happen! It's likely if Diluc were to know this he'd correct him, "I do care."

#ragbros #kaeya genshin impact #kaeya headcanons #diluc headcanons #diluc genshin impact #diluc angst #kaeya angst #kaeya and diluc #ragbros angst

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retourne-toi-eurydice · 1 year

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Ghost Death Theory Time!

I have basically no proof for any of this, it’s just for fun and I’m sure there’s going to be a line or detail I’ve missed as most of my Ghosts knowledge comes from Tumblr because I’m English and episodes are hard to find here.

Note: Trying to work out the cause of death for any of the ghosts (in either series) is difficult because by nature of being family-friendly(ish) shows they can’t go overboard on the body horror and also whatever makeup they do has to be cheap and efficient enough to do every day exactly the same, particularly for our main cast. So it’s not surprising that most of these theories centre on the idea of internal injuries. All that being said, I believe Hetty and Sass are the only true mysteries left so let’s get into it!

~Hetty~

Pushed: Much like her BBC counterpart I think it’s possible Hetty was murdered by someone she knew. However, if she were pushed out of a window like Lady Button I don’t see why they wouldn’t also carry over the joke about noisily reenacting her death every day. For some reason, my brain latched onto the idea that she was pushed out of a moving carriage. There was just something about everyone’s reactions when she got exorcised out of the car, I don’t know. For many reasons (clothes and hair in perfect order, no broken bones, it wouldn’t really make sense) I don’t think this is it. But I like it so it’s on the list.

Hoity toitied to death: Maybe something stressed her out so much, something was so contemptuous, someone so impertinent, that she had an aneurysm. Obviously, if she had had a stroke or something they couldn’t keep giving half her face muscle relaxant for shooting (yeah I don’t like that image either), so it would make sense if they were choosing to exercise creative license and have all the damage be out of sight. All that cocaine she took in life probably wouldn’t have helped, either. Speaking of…

Drug overdose: I think this is a popular theory but not one I particularly like because that would bring our count of drug-induced deaths up to three, and given that a house full of dead people is the perfect opportunity to get creative why wouldn’t the writers take it? However, I do think that their mutual love of drugs has probably been the topic of a pillow talk or two between her and Trevor- and who knows, maybe dying from the same thing is one of the reasons they bonded in the first place?

There isn’t really any one cause of death I’d bet on with Hetty, although the fact that we got the beheading, lightning strike, and mass disease deaths carried over from the original show makes me think a Grey Lady-style end is a very real possibility.

~Sass~

It is possible that Sass has a fatal injury somewhere under all his layers, though I’m not sure what the most prominent offensive weapons were in his lifetime so I can’t say how likely that is. I’m not sure whether that would be something he’d have disclosed by now either, albeit everyone else who died by another’s hand doesn’t half go on about it. Two things we do know about him are that he is very defensive and hates being embarrassed, so this leads me to think that perhaps his life was cut short by something comparatively pedestrian (and dare I say Isaac-like?). How about these:

Foodie misadventure: This tracks, right? He saw an unfamiliar berry or type of plant during his travels, it looked/smelt good, he ate it without due diligence and died either immediately or a short while after. Explains no physical indications for his death, his love of food, and why he might not want to advertise that he got taken out by a berry he should have known better not to eat. My money’s on this one.

Illness: Boring, but effective. He got sick with something only antibiotics could cure and he died young and unfulfilled *sad face*.

The elements: To be honest if one of the ghosts had frozen to death I like to think they'd be our Mary equivalent but with icicles clinging to them instead of smoke. That would be cool. I don’t have a lot to say about this one but it’s a possibility so it’s on the list.

I think that’s pretty much it for Sass theories- unless he’s got a stab wound hidden somewhere I do think that given his lifestyle and times he died of literal natural causes.

So what do you think, anything you agree with/disagree with? I honestly loved considering all these theories and I’m dying to hear everyone else’s ideas!

#cbs ghosts #hetty woodstone #sasappis #ghosts cbs

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i-heart-slashers · 2 years

Text

"It's not my fault! They wanted to take you away from me, so I had to do something!" + "I'm doing this for us."

Pairing: Eddie Munson x GN!Reader (I imgained it as Fem but you read it as GN)

Warning(s): Yandere, violence, death, abuse, mentions of kidnapping.

There was no way to escape the terrifying screams of pain and thudding from the living room. You had taken up Steve's offer of coming to stay with him and using his house as a safe haven.

Though now you wished you hadn't.

From your current spot inside one of the kitchen cupboards, all you could do was shut your eyes and hope it all went away. You wish you could have the courage to do something- anything, but that had been stripped away months ago.

This was all your fault.

Eddie seemed like the perfect guy when you first started dating him. Sure he had his eccentric hobbies, and everyone deemed him as some satanic demon, but he was actually sweet and kind.

Or so you had thought.

It hadn't taken long for Eddie to latch onto the feeling you began to reciprocate for him, stating his overprotectiveness was just because he wasn't used to having someone love him.

You had taken all of his bad traits and defended them fiercely to your friends, who had begun to worry.

Eddie took pretty much everything away. Your independence, freedom, friends, and you didn't even realize it until Nancy talked some sense into you.

That was the day you broke it off with Eddie at the picnic table in the woods behind the school. You told him you needed a break and that your friends were right.

That was a month ago, and since then, Eddie broke into your house multiple times, terrorized your family, and burned your house down with them inside it.

Luckily Hopper had seen the fire on the way home from work and called it in. They were alive but all in terrible condition. No one really knew who did it, but your friends were convinced it had been Eddie.

That's when Steve took you in; his parents were on a business trip. He promised to keep you safe and that none of the group would let the crazy metalhead know where you were.

That's why you were surprised when Robin answered the door to a menacing and desperate-looking Eddie Munson, he had pleaded with her at first to let him see you, but when she denied his request, his sad puppy eyes changed.

You don't know how Eddie found you, but you didn't want to think of the why or the how not when you were sure the thudding sound was him beating up your friends to an inch of their lives.

Low talking sounded from the living room; it sounded as if Eddie was asking questions. You could hear the annoyance and hostility in his voice. It had been there since Steve had called out for you to run earlier.

You were sure you could hear the painful moans of Steve attempting to threaten Eddie from his home. More worryingly, there was an unusual void where Robin would throw in sarcastic quips.

Taking a deep breath, you knew it was time to either go for help or try to save Steve and Robin yourself. Uncurling your arm from around your knees, you slowly moved from under the table and silently tiptoed out of the kitchen.

Your heart pounded as you crept through the now hauntingly silent house until the sounds of shoes padding against the floor made your heart clench. "Sweetheart!" Eddie's relieved voice called as you broke out into a run.

Sprinting towards where Steve's low sobbing could be heard, rounding the doorway, you stopped suddenly as your eyes took in the heartbreaking image of a battered Steve holding Robin in his arms.

"Gotcha!" You're manic ex-boyfriend cheerfully exclaimed, catching you by the waist, but you couldn't tear your gaze from Robin, whose glassy blank eyes stared above her.

"What did you do?" You whispered as Eddie placed his chin on top of your head, swaying the both of you softly. You couldn't even find it in you to raise your voice.

"It's not my fault! They wanted to take you away from me, so I had to do something!" The curly-haired metalhead explained, turning you around by your shoulders and shaking you in his arms as if trying to make you see sense.

"You killed Robin, Freak!" Steve shouted from his spot on the floor where he still held the still body of his best friend.

Eddie's eyes darkened at the nickname everyone at school had bestowed upon him. It was worse whenever Steve used it since Eddie was convinced that the popular boy had a crush on you.

Tears rolled down your cheeks. Robin didn't deserve to die for the mistake you had made by letting Eddie into your life. "So what's the big plan now, huh. You've caught me and killed our friend. How do you see any future from this?"

Surely he realized that he wasn't going to get away with this. Steve and you would go to the police. Robin's body would be found, and he would undoubtedly be caught.

"I'm doing this for us." His voice was soft as he lay his forehead on yours, but his eyes were crazy when he glanced towards the only person left in the room that he had no worries about harming.

Following his gaze, you saw Steve trying to quietly pull himself out the door, his body looking a mess from the beating Eddie had given him.

"Eddie, no!" you shouted, throwing yourself upon his back when he grabbed your friend's ankle dragging him back next to Robin's body as he cried out in distress.

Punching anywhere your fists could reach, you sobbed, trying to help Steve in any way you could. "Please stop," you begged, but it seemed to do nothing to Eddie, who only threw you off his back like you weighed nothing.

Crashing against the corner of Mrs. Harrington's fancy coffee table, you could do nothing but lay in shock as blood trickled from the new wound in your head as Eddie took a fist full of Steve's hair and spit in his face.

Crazed words were whispered at Steve about how Eddie would take you away from everyone forever, that you didn't need friends, you only needed Eddie.

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sunniebabe99 · 2 years

Text

Reincarnation - 2

I saw someone asked for a part two so here you go!

Warnings- none

Summary- Y/n explores her new cell. Vader discusses Y/n's fate with his master Emperor Sidious.

Y/n had cried in the cold bedroom for what felt like hours to her instead of twenty minutes. She then got her bearings when she felt a dull headache consume her from dehydration. She sighed and wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. She looked around and stood up.

“Might as well take a look” She mumbled softly as she walked around the chair to the other half of the bedroom. It was simple and did not have any personal items at all. What drew Y/n’s curiosity was the large closed chamber in the corner of the room. Wondered what it could possibly be for as she touched a cold metal button. There was a hiss and the chamber started opening, it revealed a chair in the center and the walls on the inside were stark white compared to the dark room she stood in. she looked around curiously for a moment and noticed a claw at the top of the chamber. This must be a medical chamber for Vader then.

Y/n wondered what he looked like underneath that helmet. She reached over and pressed the same button and the Chamber latch lowered down as she backed away. It sealed closed and she then looked away from anything else that could be explored. There wasn't much but a simple bathroom. So she moved to the bed and sat down on it. It looked hardly used and neatly folded. She carefully laid down but not before taking her shoes off. She let out a soft sigh at the feeling of her body sinking into the mattress comfortably. She was thankful for the bed but hated how she ended up here. Her mind wondered as she lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling.

Her heart told her softly it was going to be ok, that there is hope, but then her mind screamed that they were either never leaving this room or going to die sooner or later. It confused her as to why Lord Vader even did this. She was technically a prisoner…a ‘rebel sympathizer'.

All her life she had blindly followed the Empire, not really questioning it much when she would hear rumors of Lord Vader and the inquisitors or watching as Storm troopers drag away men and women on the streets.

Her father told her it was just the Empire keeping the galaxy in order and in peace. Oh how wrong he was. Y/n hasn't even seen all the hurt and death the Empire has caused. She knew of the hunt for force-sensitive people, one had been taken before her very eyes when she was only four years old. It was strange but at the time she felt their fear. It shook her to her core as the twelve-year-old kid was stripped away from his family. All Y/n could remember was the screaming, begging, and crying.

Y/n sighed and buried her head into the dark pillow, trying to clear her mind of those horrible memories. She got comfortable and tried to at least get some rest before Darth Vader came back for her.

Vader walked down the endless halls of the imperial ship. His head clouded with dark memories, all painful even though most of them were sweet moments. How could she be here? He had tried years ago to resurrect her but that did not work at all. So how was he looking at an exact reflection of Padme Amidala? He resisted the urge to smash the nearest man into the wall near him as he moved to another room. It was quiet in there and had a small Comm link set up. He stepped onto the platform and it lit up. A hologram of his master appeared in front of him. Looking down on him with his dark hood up and obscuring his face.

“I was told you had abandoned your post on the Executor….my apprentice. Do tell me what was the urgent reason that stopped you from attending to your duties…” He said in his gravelly voice that set Vader’s teeth on edge.

“I had heard a signature calling out to me my master…I could not help myself. I was weak and followed it here” He explained as he remained kneeling.

“I see…and who’s signature was it that could have possibly distracted the great Darth Vader?” Darth Sidious asked the masked man.

Vader was hesitant to say, but regardless he did, “Padme Amidala’s Master…” He said to him.

The mand was quiet as the name flooded his mind.

“Impossible, she is dead…you killed her all those years ago on Mustafar, your oxygen intake must be low. I will notify the medical-” He said to his apprentice. Vader tightened one of his fists at the mention of him killing the one woman he swore to protect.

“I felt it..and I was not mistaken, she is here, in my quarters. She is her but, then again she is not…she goes by the name Y/n L/n…and she has no memory of me or her life,” Darth Vader interrupted him. He looked up to his master and he could feel his annoyance.

“This girl…If what you say is true, might cloud your vision of the objective at hand…I fear she will be your undoing if not handled” He said to him. Vader did not want to kill this girl. For once he wanted to not listen to his master. He wanted to protect this woman, it felt like a second chance for him. Sidious looked over Vader’s form, it was tense as he kneeled there.

“Alas…you do not wish to do it…” The Emperor concluded.

“I would like to learn how her appearance is possible, with your permission my Master…Let her live for a while longer” Darth Vader asked. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the room until Sidious replied.

“Very well…I will give you time with her…until then, you will take her with you back to the Executor and continue your duties” Palpatine said to him.

“Yes my Master” Vader bowed his head in respect and heard the comm link click, and the hologram of the dark sith lord vanished. Vader got up slowly and felt his muscles ache from his prosthetic legs. Even though he felt his muscles ache he stood there in thought.

This could be a sign from the Force…it couldn't be a coincidence.

He then turned with a swish from his cape and exited the room, he was on his way back to his quarters to retrieve the woman.

Part 3

#darth vader x reader #star wars #fandom writing #fanfiction #padme amidala #padme and anakin

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jeweled-blue-eyes · 2 years

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hello! what do you think about cha siyeon's real family back in korea?

do you think they basically mirror the eckhart family? like how siyeon compares both reynold and derrick to her real brothers, or do you think otherwise? they aren’t brought up that often, and we dont know much about the actual feelings they have toward siyeon. so id like to know what you think.

hi, I have two thoughts about them:

One. The Eckarts ARE Cha Siyeon's real family just as Cha Siyeon is the reincarnation of Penelope. If Penelope was the result of an affair it would explain why her looks resemble Ivonne and why the duke even visited the slums and found her/was drawn to her. I don't believe this but it makes the most sense if you want me to accept that Penelope and Cha Siyeon are one and the same person.

Two. The similarity is surface level at most and Cha Siyeon is doing lots of projecting. The duke and the ceo are busy emotionally unavailible fathers. Derrick and first brother are stoic and serious. Reynold and second brother are short-tempered and resort quickly to violence. That's it. Those are the only similarities. But when you examine them closer their relationships aren't that much alike especially when it comes to the motivations guiding their actions.

Allegiently first and second brother actually liked Cha Siyeon as opposed to Derrick and Reynold who hated her. The Eckart brothers wanted their sister gone, meanwhile the second brother literally spiked his sister's food so that she would eat dinner with her family because he wanted to be closer to her. Reynold aknowledges that her adopted father liked her even asking her what did she do to wrap him around her finger, meanwhile second brother told Cha Siyeon "Father doesn't even care about you. He doesn't care even if you are starving or getting bullied in school." Cha Siyeon's peers though her brother's hated her and this is why she had gotten beaten up but Penelope's peers must think the duke doted on her seeing that he even gave up an emerald mine to free her from charges. The ceo dad didn't know what to do with Siyeon because she was so smart and grown-up, the Eckart duke?? Idk Penelope wasn't smart. No idea what his problem was.

And lastly first and second brother's feelings were purely brotherly (as far as we know) but Derrick's were "romantic" and considering Reynold is a love interest as well ehh you could theoretically make the case that there might have been some pre-"romantic" feelings. Anyways there was never familial love between them.

Also the hatred that was there probably originated from a different reason. Cha Siyeon was the product of an affair. They shared the same blood, so she kind of still had a "right" to be there. Even if she had a lesser right cause she was an illegitimate child, she still would have inherited something. But seeing her might have felt like an insult to the dead mother of the Cha brothers. However Penelope was not blood related to the Eckarts and was bought in specifically as a replacement for someone who went missing. The Cha's never intended for Siyeon to be hurt and only caused her death because they were shortsighted while the Eckarts aimed for her suffering, confined her to her room, tortured her and killed Penelope directly and intentionally. The Cha brothers are puppies in comparision to the Eckarts.

In short: Although it might be a matter of perspective, I find I could bring up more differences than similarities. Either they are mirrors to each other but we don’t really know since many things are left unsaid (just like og Penelope never knew about Derrick’s feelings Cha Siyeon wouldn’t have known about first brother’s) or Cha Siyeon just saw a minimal likeness to her real brothers and latched onto the game characters cause she didn't have the option to seek out a therapist. I'd say her obsession with the game could have been some sort of coping mechanism. Like she couldn’t have related to the happy childhood of her classmates and instead felt kinship towards a fictional character and self inserted herself into the story. tbh I don’t think she would have liked Penelope seeing how badly she talks about her sometimes.

#anon #answered asks #death is the only ending for a villainess #vadd

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whoiwanttoday · 2 years

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Well guys, this is a post that has been brewing since I was 13 it turns out. Squeeze has announced some tour and for some reason Google and YouTube both really thought I needed to know about this. I mean, I say some reason, it's not entirely unheard of, I remember once responding over the loudspeaker at tower records to someone with, "I said please, my favorite band is Squeeze, I have all of their CDs except for Babylon and On". Not that they were actually my favorite band but you never want to pass up a decent rhyme scheme and a good obscure reference. But the tour is in the UK and while I do quite like Squeeze I can't imagine flying to England just to see them. Not now. Maybe in 1984. Hate to be too judgy but I do think nostalgia is the enemy of all art and as anti Rock n Roll as things get. So allow me to wax nostalgic here. I discovered Squeeze (not like discovered discovered but you know what Europe, turn about is fair play. I discovered your fucking band, deal with it) when I was 13 because the song Pulling Muscles (from the Shell) was a mainstay on radio and no one knew who they were. So I decided to figure it out and I bought Squeezes greatest hits. Greatest Hits are also anti Rock n Roll, it's why the Eagles greatest hits is like the 4th best selling album of all time. This was a good entry point though for an amazing bit of pop song craft that was almost unknown in the US, again on the account that no one had discovered them until I did. It did lead to me owning all of their records to this day (except for Babylon and On). Anyway, this is a long way of getting to the fact that Up the Junction was my favorite Squeeze song because it's absolutely heartbreaking. It's the story of a poor guy trying to rise above his station with a higher class woman and it all falls apart eventually. He stays poor, she moves on with his kid, he is drunk and alone and miserable. I was a depressed child and always gravitated to this kind of thing, especially for real adult problems with the thought of, "That's the life I want one day". Romantic misery. It is fucking stupid beyond belief but when you are depressed and your life sucks sometimes you just crave the visual signifiers that other people can see so they get it. No one has sympathy for, "I am sad because my brain doesn't work". Suck it up Buttercup, there are real problems out there. But man, if you can get one of those real problems? Like an actual cinematic one with what you assume to be some cool British slang about Junctions? Oh, that's the stuff, everyone will get it then. I mean, they don't, they won't, but it's part of the fantasy of misery porn. Anyway, the song describes a world that might as well have been the fucking moon to an American Teenager 20 years after the song was written but I latched onto it and it starts by saying, "I never thought it would happen/With me and a girl from Clapham". I didn't know what Clapham is and to my knowledge I have never met a girl from Clapham (I can't be sure, I have met many a woman from England but I always forget to ask) so I am way behind on my plan to meet, impregnate, fall apart, lose my job, lose my family, turn into a drunk and disappoint her. Look, it maybe was never my best thought out plan as a kid but I was always confident I could grow up to disappoint a woman, so I knew I could stick the landing. Anyway, that's a long way of saying I went to see what the fuck Up the Junction meant and that lead me to the wikipedia article about Clapham Junction and notable people from Clapham and guys, Holly Willoughby is from Clapham. Does this explain why I have always been attracted to her? Maybe. I mean, I haven't always been attracted to her. I didn't even discover her until like 2012 or something. Weird pictures of her exist from before then given she was undiscovered. Anyway, my point is this is the sort of convoluted experience that deamnds two things. One, a long post that exactly two people will read, the rest of you stopped after the first line. And two, that I post Holly Willoughby specifically. Today I want to fuck Holly Willoughby.

#Holly Willoughby #blonde #Actress #whoiwanttofucktoday

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lulu-nightbon · 1 year

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i have made SEVERAL angsty ideas for mariana tonight because im on a fucking warpath but! this one may just take the cake @radiance1

so, context: this takes place after ambesh has become her apprentice. while they aren't frequent, they've had visits (because mariana can't bear to watch this family stay torn apart) so that the brothers can catch up, ambesh can tell them about his training, and mariana's kinda just there because... she's his mentor and heaven still doesn't trust him she kinda has to be. but she doesn't mind, she's happy to just sit back and sip tea while ambesh chats it up with his brothers. maybe they've had cute interactions like one of them asking if he has a crush on mariana or if they're dating (which flusters mariana greatly) and the two have to explain she gave up that desire a long time ago to achieve enlightenment. maybe ambesh has ranted and raved about how nice mariana is and how peaceful it is at her place and how they might like to visit for meditation or something. who knows, mariana's just there cuz she has to be, though she enjoys seeing her protege happy. and then, one day, they come fucking crashing down in the palace grounds, yeeted all the way there by apostasia, who gives not a single fuck about the wanton destruction he causes. mariana came crashing down back first to shield ambesh from the impact, and she screams for him to run. regardless of his choice, mariana will get her shit kicked in. if he runs, then apostasia will target the king, to which an injured mariana will interrupt him, making sure the king stays free and doesn't have his power (and ability to regenerate magic) stolen from him. apostasia severely injures mariana and leaves her to die, letting the zombies he raised take care of buisness for him. if ambesh didn't run, he latches onto him, taking control- he'll have to puppet him around a bit, as the draining process takes quite a while- in xianzhi, it took him weeks, even months to try to complete. regardless of the choice ambesh makes, as apostasia leaves, mariana will reach towards him trying to stand, crying ambesh's name before being pulled down by one of the corpses. of course, they're just zombies- the kitsunes can take care of them before it can deal the finishing blow to her, though she's still unconscious. she had her abdomen pierced all the way through on her right side. if ambesh ran, she didn't see it. she tried her best to protect him, and the kitsunes could see that, in the way she did fight- with basic fire magic, but that's still far more than expected from someone of her nature and mannerisms. would they take pity on her?

#my leg is bouncing so fucking hard bro #you dont even know

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myroleplayacademia · 2 years

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Accepted! Rody Soul

Character name: Rody Soul

Why do you want to play them?: I latched onto this boy as soon as I saw the movie. He’s such a fun and comfortable character to play, and I can relate to some aspects of his character. There’s a lot left open to explore with him. He’s always busy between working, taking care of his siblings, and trying to achieve his dream now that Deku has opened his eyes and inspired him. He’s a hard worker without a doubt, and if he attends UA here in something like the support course, I think it’s nice that he’ll finally be able to experience things that normal kids his age do. He can take it a bit easier for once. I have so many feelings on Rody and his family, I can’t even explain. They just deserve the best.

What is their quirk?: Soul- Pino, a small pink bird, is the manifestation of Soul. Pino is connected to the user's soul and her actions articulate their true thoughts and feelings This quirk is always active.

What powers and limitations do they have:

Parkour- Very skilled in parkour techniques and resourceful with his surroundings. In addition, a very fast runner.

Pino- She is more than just his feelings. She can help her out in a pinch. Be used as a distraction, to grab something, to be on look-out, etc. Downside is when she acts on his feelings at an unfavorable time.

Fibbing- Uses his charm to lie his way through situations fairly easily. Takes one to know one. Since he’s grown up lying on the job so often, he can usually tell when someone else is lying.

Aviation skills- Knows the basics on how to fly a plane and is still learning. Alsoknowshowtodriveacar.

His siblings- Loves them with all his heart and soul. He always puts them first; would do anything for them. They’re his weakness, not that it’s a bad thing. They just hold him back from opportunities sometimes, even though he never sees it like that.

Describe the character’s personality: Teasing and charismatic. Carefree but responsible. Rody is very playful and optimistic with his siblings. He’s very observative of others, always some sort of caution there because of how he grew up. Trusting others is still new to him, but he’s slowly but surely opening up more as time goes on.

Preferred relationships (friendships, rivalries, ships, etc):

Izuku Midoriya- This is the big one for obvious reasons. quite literally his partner in crime and the first real friend he’s had in a long while. Managed to change his outlook on heroes and how he should move forward with his life. Owes a lot to him, very grateful even if he’ll rarely express it himself.

Shoto Todoroki- they sure did meet- had more of an interaction with the guy during the mission and is intrigued by how seemingly calm he is most of the time. Wouldn’t mind getting to know more.

Katsuki Bakugou- they sure did meet part 2 let’s just say, Rody wouldn’t be afraid to poke fun and tease the blonde, I imagine. His reactions are entertaining but Rody knows when he’s actually in danger and will run if he has to. Not really a rivalry but, it’s a fun kind of relationship. For Rody at least.

Ochako Uraraka- broke brunette buddies broke brunette buddies- I also find it extremely interesting that Uraraka’s original goal for being a hero was to make money. For her parents. Rody talked spitefully about heroes who only cared about money, but he could also relate with wanting to take care of family.

Hawks- Birds. That is all. And flying.

These are the main characters that come to mind, but I feel there are plenty others that Rody would get along with. Like Tokoyami if the server acquires one. More bird bonding there; two entities separate from the user that could interact with each other, even if Pino can’t speak like Dark Shadow.

As far as shipping goes, there’s the obvious one to state, but I’m honestly down for whoever has chemistry together.

Please list your goal(s) for the character (This can be a long term plan for the character’s progression, or an aspect of the character you’d like to explore!):

-Acquire Pilot’s license

-Gosh he needs friends

-Become a pilot

-Saving up for Roro and Lala’s futures (college funds, etc.)

-Gosh he also needs a parental figure

-Figuring out more about Pino and the ins and outs of how she works

That’s all I got right now.

For your character:

What do you think about UA University’s Villain Rehabilitation Program:

“I mean, good for them?” He personally didn’t know too much about the program, but could put in his two cents. “I guess if I ever got caught for doing some shady job, I’d want a second chance, too. Even if that sort of thing doesn’t compare to some of the stuff actual villains do. I say if they’re willing to put the effort in and actually want to do and be better, might as well let them prove themselves. I think they would be a lot happier with themselves in the end.”

Pick two of the following prompts and write out how you would behave in that scenario. Minimum 100 words each:

“You overhear someone talking bad about you from across the room, how do you react?”

“Humarise.”

The word continued to hold its dreadful taste even after all these years. Every time Rody heard the name his senses would kick up a notch, feeling suddenly on edge.

“Is that the kid whose father works for Humarise?”

Worked. Rody corrected in his head. Well, forced, Rody has come to learn. Still, the past tense mattered.

He was currently clearing up a table on the other side of the bar, hearing two of the, definitely tipsy at the least, customers on the other end. Looked like Rody was their topic of interest. Which was nothing new. Rody was used to all the judgment his family got. It was just how his life went. But now that he knew the truth, that his dad was never really a bad guy and actually created the very key to save the world, hearing the judgment hurt. It was hard to ignore. It was hard not to defend his dad.

“Of course he works in a place like this. Lots of shady situations for him to get himself into.”

His ponytail rustled with agitation. I’m trying to make money, assholes.

But he had to ignore it. Especially at his job. How was he supposed to defend himself? Getting into an argument with a customer was not the greatest idea. He needed this job. Rody couldn’t risk being fired.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed in the guy’s footsteps.”

It was fine.

“Yeah, the whole family is probably all the same. Bunch of whackjobs.”

A blur of pink came rushing out of his hair, the little bird prepared to give these two a piece of her mind. But Rody had known what he was feeling, and was ready to grab a hold of her as soon as she flew out. “No, Pino.” He carefully stuffed her into his apron pocket. His siblings were completely innocent. He was innocent. He was just a kid. The brunette grabbed his bus tub with frustration, glasses clinking within it. He passed by the customers on the way back to the kitchen, keeping his gaze forward.

He couldn’t wait for his shift to be over and go home.

“You have a moments peace outside of class and hero work, what are you doing in your free time?”

“When in the vicinity of a VOR which is being used for navigation on VFR flights, it is important to…” Rody read his personal textbook out loud while laying on the roof of the dorms, Pino flying around the building in wide circles. It was okay for him to be on the roof of this place, right? They had student heroes running all over the place, why couldn’t a wannabe pilot relax out in the open?

It was a much better atmosphere to study in compared to slouching over a desk. In his opinion, there was no better place to study aviation than outside where the very thing he was studying to fly would pass by in the bright blue sky. Well, a better place would be at an airport, but that’s beside the point.

Not like UA had their own runway and aircrafts.

#submission #application #rody soul #accepted #mha rp #mha roleplay #mha rp group

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the-letter-horror-lover · 2 years

Text

Brief History As Hokage by Nate Grey

Anime » Naruto Rated: T, English, Tragedy & Family, Boruto U., Words: 65k+, Favs: 117, Follows: 102, Published: Nov 5, 2017 Updated: Jan 14, 2018

27Chapter 4: Deliverer

A Brief History as Hokage

A Naruto Fanfic by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 4: Deliverer

In the end, Boruto could not be sure if it was because he was the Hokage's son, or if Karin had been so determined to kill him that she'd charged into the village in broad daylight, not caring who saw her. All he knew was that within seconds of Karin subduing him, the training field was filled with Leaf-nin, all eager to save him.

More importantly, standing among them was the one person he was sure could get him out of this mess... if only because she could put him back together, if Karin ripped him to pieces.

"Tsu-baa!" Boruto bawled, the combined abruptness and volume of his cry distracting Karin enough where he was able to substitute himself with a clipboard that Tsunade was carrying. He immediately latched onto the older woman's waist for safety, and was greeted by her scowl and the all too familiar sensation of a sharp, bony knuckle driven into the top of his skull. But he'd take that over being strangled any day.

And it wasn't just that he was safe. He was genuinely glad to see Tsunade. Alive, and acting exactly like she was supposed to. True, he usually wasn't glad to see her, since he associated her with boring hospital stays or embarrassing physical examinations. But if there was one thing he could count on, it was that Tsunade needed him alive in order to continue tormenting him, which surely brought her great pleasure, and that she would flatten anyone who got in the way of her fun.

Which was an admittedly odd way to think of his godmother, but despite all of her faults, Tsunade had never failed protect Boruto if someone meant to cause him serious harm within her sight.

Though, she certainly seemed to be taking her time with it today. In fact, she hadn't moved from her original spot, nor had she given any sort of order to the other ninja, so most of them were staring at her expectantly. Kind of the same way Tsunade was staring at Karin.

It took Boruto a moment to remember that Tsunade and Karin might not be total strangers. If the genjutsu world could be depended on, Tsunade had at least seen Karin once. He wasn't sure if that would explain the hesitation that he was seeing now, though.

Karin still looked furious, and was still glaring at Boruto, but she hadn't attacked again, perhaps recognizing that she was outnumbered, or simply not wanting to have to go through Tsunade. But she also hadn't put her chains away.

Finally, one of the ninja standing closest to Tsunade spoke. "Godaime-sama, isn't this woman with that group?"

"It must be her! She went missing during the war," another added. "We never found a body!"

"There's no doubt! She's Karin!"

Tsunade finally turned away from Karin and rapped Boruto on the head with her knuckle again. "Well, brat? Are they right?"

Rubbing his aching head, Boruto stared up at Tsunade curiously. He didn't know why she was asking him that, he'd never met Karin before. How could he possibly be expected to identify her now?

Unless... he wasn't supposed to. Because if he did, chances were Karin would go directly to prison, and she would never answer any of his questions then. And he didn't even want to think of how upset Sarada would be, when she learned of his role in that matter.

"She's Rinka," Boruto stated plainly. "My sparring partner for today."

Even Karin looked stunned by the rather obvious lie.

"Godaime-sama, surely you don't think-" one of the ninja began.

"Are you calling my godson a liar?" Tsunade demanded, her eyes flashing with barely concealed outrage.

"No, of course not!" the ninja protested. "Just, he might be mistaken-!"

Boruto jabbed a finger at the developing bruise around his neck. "If we weren't sparring, then how did I get this, huh?"

"She was trying to assassinate you?" the ninja suggested weakly.

"Do you think we'd all be standing here staring at her if that was true? All bragging aside, I am the Hokage's son! I think I know the difference between someone appointed to spar with me, and someone trying to kill me! Rinka was just doing her job! And doing it well, if you mistook her for an assassin!"

"But she does resemble Karin," the ninja pointed out.

"Well, she should resemble her twin sister, shouldn't she?"

At this point, the ninja promptly gave up.

"And even if she were Karin," Tsunade added, "I would immediately offer her a full pardon. She saved my life during the war, and in fact had to escape our custody in order to do that. Which more than outweighs any crimes she may or may not have committed, or any information she may or may not have withheld under our questioning. All of which I'm sure my fellow Hokage will back me up on, so go ahead and notify them, because I can tell that you're dying to."

"But remember: she's Rinka, not Karin," Boruto was quick to add. "Hair's different. On the side."

He wasn't sure if they ignored him, or if they heard him and were just refusing to admit it.

Karin had the decency to wait until the three of them were safely in Tsunade's home before she tried to murder Boruto again. She didn't use chains this time, but she was deceptively fast. And while she didn't hit as hard as Tsunade, she was still able to pack a great deal of force into her blows, to the point where Boruto couldn't really tell the difference after the first few. Although her aiming for his head may have had something to do with it, as well.

Tsunade finally stopped them after about ten minutes. "Now, is someone going to tell me what this is all about, considering you two have never met before today?"

Boruto opened his mouth to say that he had no idea what Karin's problem was, but before he could...

"He's trying to take advantage of my precious Sarada-chan!" Karin shouted.

"I did what now?" Boruto asked in shock.

"You mean Uchiha Sarada?" Tsunade asked, in just as much disbelief.

Karin glared at her. "Yes!"

"The one that lives in this village?" Boruto added, because he was sure there was some mistake. "Why would I...? No, wait, before that, how could I even take advantage of her? She's the one always telling me how much smarter than me she is!"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Karin shrieked. "Or her! I know you're trying to trick her!"

"Into WHAT?!" Boruto cried. He had no idea what Karin was thinking.

"Into being your girlfriend!"

Boruto stared at her. "Why would I need to trick her? Either she wants to be my girlfriend, or she doesn't. And by the way? SHE DOESN'T! And even if she did, I don't even want a girlfriend right now! The only one who got tricked around here is clearly you!"

"You liar!" Karin yelled. "I know what you're up to! You just want to use her and then toss her away like trash!"

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to do that?! I have to see her every day!"

"Okay, stop," Tsunade cut in. "Karin, where is all of this coming from? I've known Boruto all of his life. None of this sounds like anything he'd do, and certainly not to someone he cared for and respected. Which is exactly how he feels about Sarada, I've seen it."

"What about the message he sent me?!" Karin whipped out Boruto's note and threw it at him.

"What, this?!" Boruto cried. "All I said was that I was Sarada's teammate! How the hell do you get 'I'm going to use her and throw her away' from that?!"

"It's not about what's in the message, it's the message itself! You signed up with Akane for Sarada-chan so she'd owe you!"

"No, I didn't! I did it because she's my friend, and she needed my help!"

"That's crap! No boy would ever do something like that without demanding something in return!"

Boruto glared at Karin. "Are you so stupidly paranoid that you think Sarada is dumb enough to get taken in by someone who would treat her so badly? Don't you dare insult my teammate like that! There's no way that could ever happen to someone as smart as her!"

Karin fell silent, her face going red as she struggled to come up with a response.

"Are you going to answer him?" Tsunade asked mildly. "Because I'm curious myself."

"I don't trust you," Karin said at last, sticking her finger in Boruto's face. "I won't trust anyone with Sarada-chan's heart. Least of all some lippy brat who hides behind a Hokage! I won't let you or anyone else hurt her! I promise you, if you ever give me any reason to think you have, she'll be crying tears of blood for you out of her new Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"What the hell does that even mean?!" Boruto shouted, throwing up his hands in frustration, but Karin refused to say another word in his presence.

Tsunade took Boruto aside. "I think we've hit a dead end here. Go get Sarada."

"Why?" Boruto asked at once. "I'm not so sure we should trust her around Sarada."

"You're only saying that because you're pissed. Now imagine how Sarada would feel if she found out that Karin was here, and that you kept that information from her."

Boruto scowled at her. "Fine. But I'm doing this under protest!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You do everything an adult asks under protest. Just go, brat."

Though Boruto was somewhat expecting it, he was still surprised when Sakura answered the door at the Uchiha home instead of Sarada.

"Oh, Boruto," Sakura said, sounding a little surprised herself. "You're just in time, we're finishing up breakfast. Have you eaten yet? There's plenty left."

Before Boruto could respond, he heard a voice from within the house. It was Sarada's, she was talking to someone, she called that someone "Papa", and Boruto was instantly furious.

"That sounds lovely, thanks," Boruto said, pouring as much insincerity into the words as he could. And then he walked past her, into the house.

Sakura blinked, shook her head, then shut the door and followed him to the kitchen.

Sarada was putting the leftovers into containers. Sasuke was apparently supervising, if it were possible to do that by not helping at all. Sakura returned to the sink, where she'd been washing the breakfast dishes.

Boruto stood there, pointedly ignoring Sasuke, because it was now clear that Sasuke must have set him up to be strangled by Karin, and then gone home to have a nice family breakfast. Boruto still hadn't decided how best to bring up the topic of Karin with Sarada. Or maybe he was still annoyed enough at Karin that he wanted to stall the eventual meeting as long as possible.

So, talking to Sasuke or Sarada wasn't really an option. Which may have been why Boruto interrupted Sakura before she could get started on the dishes again.

"Could I speak to you in private?" he asked.

Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. Considering Boruto's reaction to her invitation, she'd been sure that she was the last person that he wanted to visit with. "Um... sure."

Sasuke had no reaction as Sakura and Boruto went into the next room, though Sarada gave Boruto a curious glance. He caught her eye and merely shook his head. He didn't want her involved, yet.

Boruto surprised himself by immediately asking Sakura, "Do you know puppetry?"

Sakura gave him a blank look which quickly turned into a smirk. "No, but I've got a standing offer if I ever want to learn it. And if you want to learn it, you should just accept the offer in my place, since I'm not going to. I get the feeling that Kankuro doesn't like owing people favors."

Boruto was relieved: finally, something that made sense. "How come you don't want to learn?"

"It's complicated. But the biggest reason is sentimental. I worked with another Suna puppet master on a mission. She's the only one I'd ever want to learn from. But she died on that mission, and I wouldn't feel right, learning from anyone else. That, and I don't particularly want to learn. Puppetry is more about working with non-living things. That's a complete departure from my area of specialization."

That, Boruto could definitely respect now. He'd seen more than enough of people working with non-living things lately.

"You didn't actually stop by just to ask me that, right?" Sakura guessed.

"No," Boruto answered. "I need to get back to my training with Sasuke. And I need to tell Sarada something, but I really don't want to."

"You mean about the aggressive visitor you ran into this morning?"

Boruto gaped at her. "How did you know?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. "Slug summoner."

"What does that have to do with-?"

"Who do you think taught me how to summon them, and let me sign the contract?"

Boruto groaned. "Tsu-baa?"

"Sent me a slug the second you left her place. You want me to heal some of those scratches? If that's all you got from you-know-who, you're one lucky kid."

"Do you know why she's so insane?" Boruto demanded.

Sakura sighed. "Well, I can tell you from experience that she's only insane when it comes to people she's extremely passionate about."

"Would you trust her around Sarada?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "I would and I have. I'm guessing she didn't get around to explaining the first time she and Sarada met?"

"No." Boruto wasn't aware they'd met at all, since Sarada had said they hadn't. But he decided to leave out that Karin had been too busy trying to kill him, and then unjustly accusing him, to explain anything about her past. Though he suspected Sakura already knew that.

"She was the first person who ever held Sarada," Sakura stated.

Boruto blinked. "Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Karin delivered Sarada. That's why she's so attached... and over-protective. Well, part of why, anyway."

"So she's not crazy? She just really loves Sarada?"

Sakura made a noncommittal noise that in no way assured Boruto of Karin's sanity. "It's more accurate to say she's crazy about Sarada. But yes, there is a deep love there. I wish I could have encouraged it more, but life got in the way. So as much trouble as Karin's being here might cause, I'm glad she is here. And as much trouble as Karin will no doubt cause you, I'll warn you now: don't make Sarada choose between you two."

Though he accepted the warning for what it was, Boruto just had to ask. "You think Sarada wouldn't pick me?"

Sakura shook her head. "I know that no matter who she picked, if she did at all, nobody would be happy with the result. Least of all Sarada herself."

Boruto didn't like it, but he knew now what he had to do. No, he'd known from the moment he saw Karin. He just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. But there truly was no avoiding it.

He went back into the kitchen, where Sarada was putting away the last of the food. "Hey, Sarada? I need to tell you something. I don't know how you'll feel-"

"Before that," Sasuke interrupted, drawing a glare from Boruto. "You have one last session."

"This is more important," Boruto insisted.

"Even so," Sasuke replied. "You'll do this first."

"Why?" Boruto demanded.

"We had an agreement. You won't stop until we're done."

"I'm not stopping, I'm just taking a short break because this is more important! You know, to your daughter?"

"Unacceptable."

"What the hell is your problem?!"

"Students who don't keep their word. Even your father always managed to do that."

Boruto exploded at that point. "YOU DON'T GET TO TALK ABOUT MY-!"

"Boruto!" Sarada cried.

Boruto stopped and stared at her. She wasn't angry at him, like he'd expected. Rather, she looked worried about him. "Sarada, I..." He trailed off, unable to finish.

"What sort of training have you two been doing?" Sarada asked softly.

"It would be easier to show you," Sasuke said after a pause.

"NO!" Boruto shouted at once. The last thing he ever wanted was for Sarada to know what sort of monster her father could have been. And he wasn't even sure if Sarada knowing what sort of mother Karin could have been would be more damaging than that.

Sasuke stared at him. "Relax. The last session deals primarily with your family."

Boruto scowled at him. "What family, you already-" he started to say, then caught Sarada looking at him and fell silent. "Why would you even want Sarada to see this?" he asked instead.

"It's less about what I want, and more about what she needs," Sasuke said. When Boruto appeared unimpressed, he added, "My daughter isn't so weak that something like this would break her. You greatly underestimate her."

"It's got nothing to do with that! Anyone who wouldn't try to protect a friend is trash!" Boruto snapped.

Sasuke's eyes widened, just for an instant. "You might just pass this test after all."

The first thing Boruto became aware of was the two red lights floating in the darkness. After a moment, he realized it was the glow of Sarada's eyes: she had activated her Sharingan.

"Boruto?" she asked, shaking him a bit.

With a start, he realized that he was lying on a cold floor, and immediately sat up. It was, thankfully, his own body. So at least he didn't have to worry about explaining being in his father's corpse.

"Where are we?" Sarada asked, glancing around. "I don't know this place."

Boruto soon saw that he didn't, either. It was a dark, circular chamber. There was only one thing of interest in the room: a staircase leading down.

"He's never brought me here before," Boruto muttered.

Sarada looked at him, frowned, but said nothing.

"Why the eyes?" Boruto asked.

She blinked and blushed slightly. "Oh. I thought maybe there was something hidden in here. There wasn't." The Sharingan quickly faded from her eyes.

"It was a good idea," Boruto said. "We should keep it in mind."

Sarada stared at him, clearly confused. "Okay?"

"What?"

"You're not usually this... supportive? Agreeable?"

He frowned. "Wow. Thanks a lot."

"No, I mean... forget it." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. "We should check downstairs."

Boruto pouted. "Don't wanna. I don't wanna be too agreeable."

Sarada shook her head. "Idiot," she muttered, fondly. She reached the stairs first, paused to activate her Sharingan, and stared intently at the stairs for a long moment. Finally, she nodded and started to head down, with Boruto following her closely.

The stairs ended in another chamber, but this one proved far more interesting. The walls were lined, from floor to ceiling, with rows and rows of shelves. Each shelf was filled with green, softly glowing glass orbs.

Boruto immediately got a bad feeling about the orbs. He was almost positive that they had the same glow his mother had, when she'd mysteriously appeared in the Hyuga compound to challenge Sasuke. He wasn't sure he liked the possible connection.

Sarada had already begun to inspect one of the orbs. After a few seconds, she poked it with a finger. The orb turned yellow, and at once, a circular panel in the floor lit up, displaying a hologram of the orb's contents.

"Kaa-chan," Boruto breathed softly.

It was her, but as a young girl. She was seated between an Inuzuka and an Aburame, and was nervously twiddling her thumbs as she glanced around expectantly. A small, white puppy dozed in her lap, his tail twitching occasionally as he dreamed.

"These are memories," Sarada said slowly as the hologram faded. She looked at another orb. "Look, this one is-"

The floor lit up again, and Boruto gasped sharply at the sight: his young mother, unconscious and barely breathing, blood staining the front of clothing as she was loaded onto a stretcher. And his young father, dipping his knuckles in the spilled bood, and vowing on it to win.

"All of these are her memories," Sarada said. "Or about her, at least. But why are they here?"

"Why are we here?" Boruto countered.

"Maybe there's a particular memory you need to find?"

Boruto frowned. "Why me?"

Sarada blinked. "She's your mother. And it's your training session. I assume it would be about you reaching a goal, not me doing it for you. I don't even know what happened in the other sessions." She paused. "And I can see that you don't want to tell me, so start looking."

Boruto was impressed. Sarada did not sound annoyed that he was keeping things from her, just annoyed that he wasn't doing his share of the work. But then, she'd always been that way. He was allowed to have his secrets, but not to slack off when there was work to do.

They soon found that the memories were somewhat in order. Boruto immediately moved to the more recent ones, and suggested that Sarada look through the earlier ones. His attempt to shield her from the truth was pointless, however. There was no way to tell what orb held what memory without touching them, and they would both stop to watch whenever a memory was displayed.

All too soon, Sarada was watching Sasuke order the reanimated Team 7 to execute Lee and assault their friends. Oddly, she made no comment about it, but merely turned stiffly back to the orbs and poked one that showed Hinata throwing a stick to the white puppy, who she called Akamaru.

"That's why you were so mad at Papa earlier," Sarada murmured. "Because he's been showing you things like that?"

Boruto nodded.

"I'm sorry, Boruto."

"Not your fault."

Sarada sighed. "Has he at least said why he's doing this?"

"I'm supposed to figure it out, but I still have no clue," Boruto admitted.

"But you've been at this for days. You must have learned something by now."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

Sarada gave him a look. "I have faith in you," she said simply.

Boruto frowned. "I guess there's one thing I didn't know before this. But I don't think it's what I'm supposed to learn."

"Well, what is it?" Sarada asked.

"Kaa-chan... she's really strong here," Boruto murmured. "I don't know if she was always that way and just doesn't show it much, or if she only got this strong because tou-chan died and she felt like she had to be stronger to beat Sasuke."

"So did she? Beat him?"

Boruto shrugged. "I know that's why she was training, but he never showed me that part."

"Maybe it's here," Sarada suggested. "It should be somewhere on your side."

With both of them searching the more recent shelves, it wasn't long before they found a memory that looked promising.

"You said I could trust you."

The pale man smiled and turned to face Hinata. "You can."

"What you asked me for... it didn't give me much reason to trust you."

"I can appreciate that, Hinata. But you are here, and you do have what I asked for. Surely you didn't come prepared, just to taunt me? It's a little far to go for a prank."

Hinata shook her head. "Can you at least give me any reason-?"

"I gave you my word, Hinata. So long as you keep yours, there is nothing to fear. And forgive me for saying so, but I cannot imagine there is much I can do to worsen your situation."

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Hinata held out the small jar.

He waited, giving her a chance to change her mind, and then slowly reached out and took it. "Thank you, Hinata. I will not betray your trust."

"See that you don't, Toneri."

The next time they saw each other, days later, Toneri was still adjusting to his new eyes, and the body of a young Hyuga boy found in an alley was attributed to another senseless attack by the Uchiha clones. They did not deny the claim, and in any case, they did take the body.

"I can't believe she did that," Sarada whispered.

"Don't judge her," Boruto said at once.

"I'm not," Sarada assured him. "I understand she was desperate. I'm not blaming her for that. Just... I can't imagine her killing a child from her clan. For that to be an option... it must be horrible, living this way."

Boruto was debating whether to tell Sarada that this wasn't the first time he'd seen Toneri. He wasn't sure it was a good idea. She would probably demand to know why he hadn't said anything. Because while she would never judge him for keeping secrets, she would be mad if he failed to share relevant information that could make the difference between a successful mission and a failed one.

But then he noticed something odd that stopped him.

The orb they had just viewed had turned white. None of the others had done that. And even as he looked, various orbs now had a large, white spot floating to the top of them. These were memories of Toneri, Boruto knew at once. These were the memories they needed to see.

There were an awful lot of them, and Boruto knew, suddenly and with disturbing clarity, what he would see, even before he touched the next orbs. There was no denying it then.

His mother was learning from Toneri, training her body and mind for the final battle against Sasuke. He was the one teaching her puppetry, and as she'd said, she had no talent for the fine control aspects, she could only channel her explosive fury at Sasuke into it. Toneri taught her sealing methods, so old and powerful that they predated Uzumaki techniques, put them completely to shame. He taught her graceful movements that even the oldest Hyuga could never have seen. He showed her ways to use chakra that no one currently living on the planet had ever imagined. He told her the true versions of stories that were only the stuff of legends and myths where she had come from.

And as she learned, Toneri would watch her with certain looks: of pride, amusement, desire, and longing so deep and dark and cold and lonely that it made Boruto certain that the only place Toneri could have developed such a need was growing up on the moon.

But always, Hinata rejected his advances. Her heart, she said, belonged to only one man, and now that he was gone, she would never give it to anyone else. And in the end, when the solitude grew to be too much, and Toneri was the only person in any world who understood how much she had lost, how hard she had worked to grow stronger still, and how even if she managed to defeat Sasuke that she would still never truly be happy again, it made a certain kind of awful sense.

The first time that Hinata woke up in Toneri's bed, with his arms curled protectively around her, she understood. He loved her. He loved her more than she had ever loved Naruto, because with Naruto, she'd had other options. If nothing had ever happened there, she was certain Kiba or Shino would have made the sacrifice for her. And really, for people like them, a Hyuga maiden was no sacrifice, but a hard-earned prize. But for Toneri, there had only ever been Hinata. Without her, he would die, alone and never having known warmth.

She did not love him. If not for Naruto, perhaps she might have loved Toneri, eventually. But the day that Naruto had died, her heart had broken beyond repair. Now she was nothing more than one of Toneri's puppets: slammed and shattered and slowly but surely breaking into pieces, totally hollow on the inside.

And the next thought brought an eerie smile to Hinata's lips, because it would haunt her for the rest of her days.

hollow on the inside, nothing but an empty shell, a vessel waiting to be filled, not with a demon but with a moon monster, who would only know coldness and blindness and power, and if she died he would crush the world for her, because she had left him nothing but a legacy of eternal hatred, so much like Sas-

When the painful pulses in her eyes began, Toneri knew at once what the cause was, but remained silent. Hinata knew that asking him was pointless.

She also remembered that he had similar pains, before he awakened the Tenseigan.

But it made no sense. The Tenseigan required chakra from both the Otsutsuki and Hyuga clans. Beyond that, she had given Toneri the Byakugan, and his body had done the rest. But she had gone through no such process.

Unless.

She already was a Hyuga with the Byakugan, so theoretically, the only thing she would need is Otsutsuki chakra. And she would remember if Toneri had grafted a body part onto her. Just as she remembered the cautious, adoring way he always touched her skin. Just as she remembered that she had never bothered to do anything that would prevent pregnancy with him, figuring that she would die long before it became an issue.

There was no denying it when Hinata finally did awaken the Tenseigan: her Otsutsuki chakra had come, not directly from Toneri, but from the baby growing inside of her. She had to believe that Toneri had not meant for this to happen. Because it was, after some thought, the best weapon she had against Sasuke. Rather, it could lead her to one.

"I knew it."

Kurama slowly opened his eyes and trained his gaze on the human standing before him. He knew her, of course, or at least she was not entirely unfamiliar to him. That she now possessed a single Truth-Seeking Ball was news to him, however.

"How did you find me?" he asked, his voice rumbling through the underground cavern.

"The Tenseigan's Chakra Mode, combined with this," she said, gesturing to the ball. "There are only so many non-human chakra sources that contain traces of Otsutsuki chakra. I only had to look until I found the largest. That, and I knew you couldn't be gone like Sasuke claimed. I remember how your chakra felt. Naruto's corpse is still capable of things that should only be possible if some of your chakra is still sealed in it."

"And while you were playing detective, did you ever stop to think that I might kill you just for disturbing me?"

"Why would you do that, when I'm about to set you free? Or do you like being locked away in this prison Sasuke made for you?" She examined the seals affixed to the walls, and began dismantling them. No matter how good she thought she was, Kurama knew she'd be working for at least an hour before he was free.

Kurama snorted. "And you think you can stop the Uchiha?"

"Not without you."

"Why would I help you?"

"Because I'm the only one that's gotten this far. Because I want to avenge Naruto. Because I'm not looking to make another jinchuriki. And because even if you don't help me, you'll never get a better chance to destroy him."

Although Boruto and Sarada never found it, there was indeed an orb that contained a memory of Hinata's battle against Sasuke. They would never see how she turned her Truth-Seeking Ball into a skin-tight barrier. They would never see that barrier used as ninjutsu-resistant armor for Kurama. They would never see Toneri's failsafe weapon: a cannon on the moon that could vaporize any target on Earth, and had enough power to fire a constant stream that would outlast any defense that any Sharingan could provide. And they would never know that Hinata had told him to fire that weapon, whether she won or lost, just to be sure that no trace of Sasuke's evil remained.

They never saw any of this because Sarada began to scream, loudly and shrilly, and when Boruto saw what she saw, he almost screamed, too.

There was a boy in the chamber with him. They had not heard him enter, either because they had been too focused on the memories, or because he simply had no presence. He was standing close enough to Sarada to touch her, and was in fact lightly gripping her arm when Boruto finally noticed him.

The boy was, simultaneously, both of their worst nightmares.

He was blind. His empty eye sockets proved that much. He was also pale, thin, and wearing a shapeless robe that was faded, ancient, and yet still somehow in better condition than its owner.

But the most disturbing thing, and Sarada must have felt it, too, was the very existence of the boy himself. Even though they had almost nothing in common, and almost no one would ever think to connect them in such a way, it was immediately obvious to Boruto.

This boy was Hinata's son by Toneri. This tragic, ghostly thing was this world's attempt to replace Boruto himself.

Boruto acted on pure instinct. He grabbed Sarada's arm, ripped it out of the boy's grasp, and shoved her behind him. But even as he did it, he understood that the boy was viewing them in much the same way that they were viewing him: disbelief, shock, and yes, even a bit of terror.

He hadn't touched Sarada to harm her. He'd only wanted to see if she was real. Because he couldn't believe what every sense other than sight must have been screaming at him.

Boruto saw the boy lick his dry lips. He was going to speak. And Boruto, for one, had no desire to hear it. He didn't want to hear his voice coming out of that mouth. And so even though he had no idea how he did it, he gave a mighty shove, not with his hands but with his mind, and the world shattered around them.

But even as Boruto and Sarada began to fall, and the shards of reality rained down around them, he could still feel the weight of the boy's gaze.

"I told you, I'm fine!"

Boruto grunted and slowly opened his eyes. He was in Sarada's room... on her bed. He immediately sat up, and found Sarada trying to convince her mother that she was okay. Given his current position, and what they'd last been doing, Boruto made an educated guess.

"Did we pass out?"

"Yes," Sakura sighed, firmly ignoring Sarada's glare.

"But we're fine!" Sarada insisted.

Sakura continued to ignore her. "Sasuke says you broke the genjutsu. Which couldn't have been easy."

Boruto shrugged. "I know I didn't want to be in it anymore, but-"

"He says you both broke it, at the same time."

Boruto traded a stunned look with Sarada. "How did you-?" they both started to ask.

"I know how I got out, I've got the Sharingan," Sarada replied. "What do you have?"

"Way too much time spent in those things?" Boruto answered. "You saw maybe half of what I did. I wanted to get out twice as much as you did."

Sakura stared at him. "That's it?"

"That's not enough?" he countered.

Sakura looked suspicious. "I guess it could be, but still..."

"Mama, please!" Sarada cried. "We're both fine! You checked us and didn't find anything wrong, right?"

Boruto frowned. He didn't like what Sarada was doing, because he'd done it himself: saying she was fine just because she really didn't want to talk about what had just happened. Which was bad enough in itself, but brushing off a concerned mother? Boruto decided that maybe he'd done too much of that, too.

"Actually, could you check me again?" Boruto asked. "I don't feel... right."

Sarada shot him an annoyed look, but he ignored her. This would get Sakura off of her back, and Boruto actually did want to be sure there was nothing wrong with him. Given what he'd just seen, he wanted to be sure that he was very, very healthy, and stayed that way.

After a few minutes, Sakura reluctantly announced that she could find nothing wrong with him. This only annoyed Sarada more, and Boruto bowing to Sakura and thanking her did nothing to improve Sarada's mood. It also earned him a funny look from Sakura, because a polite Boruto was clearly not to be trusted, so Boruto and Sarada quickly left the room before she decided to check him again.

"Do you think we should-?" Boruto started to ask.

"I'm not talking about it," Sarada said firmly.

"Uh, okay." Boruto paused, then sighed. "Well, there is something else you should know. Completely unrelated, and very important."

Sarada stared at him warily. "What?"

Boruto tried to think of a way to say "your crazy aunt tried to kill me" nicely, couldn't manage it, and simply shook his head. "It's easier to show you. I need you to come to Tsu-baa's with me."

Tsunade's house was still standing and showed no obvious signs of chain damage from the outside, so Boruto assumed that either Karin had no problems with Tsunade, or Tsunade when angry was much scarier than even he had known. There were, however, a few visible ninja watching the house, and Boruto knew they were separate from Tsunade's usual security team, because those ones didn't let themselves be seen unless they were needed. In any case, no one tried to prevent Boruto and Sarada from approaching the front door, so the ninja must have already heard back from Naruto and Kakashi.

Tsunade yelled for them to come in before Boruto could knock. While he felt she was entitled to be lazy due to her age, he did think that was extremely irresponsible, they could have been anyone barging in. Not that many were insane enough to barge in on Tsunade, but still. And not that Boruto realized at the time that Tsunade was hosting a houseguest that had been able to sense their approach long before they even saw the house.

They found Tsunade drinking tea in her kitchen. At least, Boruto hoped it was tea. She was supposed to be drinking less sake these days, or really none at all. But considering she had saved his life earlier that day, he wasn't about to bug her over it.

There was no sign of Karin, which was going to make this awkward.

"Hello, Tsunade-sama," Sarada greeted, offering a polite bow.

Tsunade nodded. "Good to see you, Sarada-chan. Did Boruto explain why you're here?"

Sarada glanced at him. "No."

Boruto scowled. "Well, since the reason doesn't seem to be in sight, maybe it's a good thing I didn't!"

Tsunade sighed. "Tell her, brat. The reason won't come out until you do. And this has been dragged out long enough."

Boruto turned to face Sarada. "I sent Karin a message last night."

Sarada blinked. "Okay?"

"She responded this morning."

"Okay...?"

"In person."

"She... WHAT?!" Sarada cried.

"That was pretty much my reaction." Actually, his reaction had been closer to gagging and gasping for air, since he was being strangled at the time, but-

"Sarada-chan," said a soft voice from the doorway behind Tsunade.

Sarada spun around and gaped at the sight of Karin, standing there nervously. Boruto was relieved to see that Karin appeared to have showered, changed her clothes, and brushed her hair since he'd last seen her. She was also holding a small box with Sarada's name printed on it.

Sarada didn't move.

"I-I wasn't sure if..." Karin said, then stopped, blushing. "I mean, I wanted to see you, but it wasn't..." She shook her head. "This isn't exactly how I meant to..." Karin shut her eyes and shook her head harder, blinking away tears. "I really just needed to tell-" She stopped again, and said, softly but firmly enough where everyone in the room heard it, despite Karin's intent being the opposite, "Dammit."

Sarada finally moved. She walked over to Karin, stared up at her, slowly reached out and squeezed her hand once, then let go. She immediately activated her Sharingan, circled Karin several times, and squeezed Karin's hand again.

"You're really real," Sarada said at last.

"Yes?" Karin whispered.

Sarada narrowed her eyes. "Are you asking or telling?"

"Telling," Karin said at once, more firmly.

Sarada's face went blank. "You're really real."

"Yes."

Sarada burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.

"Wha... no!" Karin gasped. She began hopping nervously around Sarada, obviously wanting to comfort her, but apparently afraid to touch her without permission. "Sarada-chan, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please please please don't cry! I'll leave, if you don't want me-"

"NO!" Sarada immediately launched herself at Karin, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck and locking her legs around Karin's waist, forcing her to drop the box and hold onto Sarada. "You're not going ANYWHERE!"

"S-Sarada-chan?" Karin whispered uncertainly as Sarada glared at her up close.

"W-We're going to talk," Sarada murmured. "Y-You're going to tell me things. A-And no more stupid letters, because you're here now, and there's no reason to go back to that, and YOU ARE NOT LEAVING, EVER!"

Karin gaped at her. "I... but-"

"EVER!" Sarada repeated, giving her a little shake. "Say it!"

"Sarada-chan, I-"

"NO! YOU SAY IT RIGHT NOW!"

In response to the obvious need and desperation in Sarada's voice, Karin's stunned expression crumbled, and she began crying freely. "I-I love you, too, Sarada-chan."

"Shut up!" Sarada sobbed, grabbing Karin's face. "You shut up until you say it!"

Karin laughed softly and gently kissed Sarada's forehead.

"Say it," Sarada whimpered, burying her face in Karin's neck. "Please?"

"Ever," Karin agreed at last, closing her eyes and holding Sarada tightly, gently stroking her hair. "I won't leave you, Sarada-chan. I promise."

Boruto didn't know if it was a lie. But despite how much he didn't like Karin, for Sarada's sake, he really hoped it wasn't a lie. It wasn't right, to need someone that much. And Karin needed to fix whatever her appearance had broken in Sarada.

Concluded in Chapter 5: Inheritors

Karin isn't trying to teach Boruto, but he learns something from her, anyway.

Endnotes:

I've decided Tsunade would be Boruto's godmother. Mostly for the simple reason that it would require her to be around him at some point, which so far has not been the case at all. Jiraiya wasn't much of a godfather until later on, but assuming that Tsunade is still in the village somewhere (though she could easily be traveling the world and enjoying her retirement), that shouldn't be the case with her. I assume that Shizune's newfound Tsunade-free life means that Tsunade either has another attendant, or is looking after herself. What I will not assume is that Tsunade is dead. But alive or dead, for Boruto to have gone on for this long without a significant mention for her is almost appalling. I know Boruto doesn't care much about Hokages, but that shouldn't apply to everyone else.

I don't actually believe Hinata could get the Tenseigan this way, but... well, I didn't really want her to have a face sticking out of a random part of her body, either. So this way seemed less... freaky?

Oddly enough, Sarada does not appear to have developed any longlasting issues from Sasuke being absent from her life, since his return. But assuming she had? I think she would harbor a fear of important people vanishing on her, or at least not being around when she wanted them. And she wouldn't show it all of the time. But if she had a big fight with someone and they stormed off, her mind might immediately jump to the possibility of them walking out of her life for good, even if they just went somewhere to cool off for a few hours.

Boruto's fandom has stumped me. Instead of people asking questions like "Where is Tsunade?", all anyone seems to be talking about lately is how Moegi has Wood Style. Which is amazing only in the sense that she really only has it in the sense that it's stated in her profile. I don't want you to think that I hate Moegi. She was a cute girl with a weird hairstyle that grew into a cute woman with a weird hairstyle. But you know what's not required to be a cute woman with a weird hairstyle that's appeared in roughly one panel in Boruto? Wood Style. And you know what pretty much is required of anyone who has Wood Style? Appearing in more than one panel. So I don't see this working out too well. At least, not for anyone who thinks they're actually going to see Moegi using a whole lot of Wood Style. Or even for anyone who thinks they're actually going to see Moegi a whole lot, period. That's kinda her thing: not appearing a whole lot. She'd tell you that herself, except I'm sure she's busy polishing her first place trophy for Ninja Vanish Mastery that she inherited from Tenten. Except replace Ninja with Character.

And to the person who keeps telling me to commit suicide any time I have Karin and Sarada in the same story? Uh, no. I wouldn't be writing if it were that easy to get rid of me. And if I did, you'd have to find someone else to stalk. So I'm really doing you a favor. You're welcome. And I don't even support SasuKarin. Which you might realize if you actually bothered to read. I can see how you might be fooled, but anyone who thinks that isn't paying close enough attention. And also probably isn't reading endnotes, so I'm surely wasting my time mentioning any of this.

5: Solutions

Notes: I never know when inspiration will hit. Well, it just did. Which means two things: this is no longer the final chapter, and the chapter title I thought I would use for this chapter now belongs to the next chapter. But I am almost positive that the 7th chapter will be the last one. Or at least that's the plan now.

A Brief History As Hokage

A Naruto Fanfic by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 5: Solutions

A whole week passed before Boruto saw Sasuke again.

In that time, Karin certainly gave the appearance of going nowhere anytime soon. It was never stated out loud by anyone Boruto asked, but Karin had apparently become Tsunade's next attendant. If nothing else, Karin was living with Tsunade and shadowed her as she moved through the village each day.

Boruto had thought Karin would live with the Uchiha, but Sarada claimed that would be too complicated, even for them. Still, Tsunade and Karin were regular dinner guests, and if Sasuke had any objections, he was wisely keeping them to himself.

There was something of an awkward debate over Akane. If Karin was truly going to stay in the village, there was really no reason she couldn't be Akane's summoner instead, unless she flat out didn't want to. Akane had helped Karin and Sarada stay in touch, so Boruto felt it was only right that she be with them. The only issue was that Karin didn't want to accept anything from Boruto, who finally got so annoyed that he started a rumor that Karin couldn't summon at all because her chakra coils were too small. Which was an insult to any seasoned ninja, but practically fighting words for an Uzumaki. And it wasn't like Karin could get any more murderous around him than she already was. In the end, she did take Akane, if only out of spite. And Sarada did thank him for it, with a quick hug, although she immediately threatened to stab him in the arm if he ever told anyone she had. Boruto had already reluctantly accepted that Karin was rapidly rubbing off on Sarada, particularly the threats to Boruto's person, and there was really no stopping it.

Boruto had given a great deal of thought to Sasuke's test. But he could not single out a concrete lesson anywhere in it. The overwhelming impression, if he were being completely honest? Was that Sasuke used to be a major dick. Which, now that he truly thought about it, surely could have been learned without the test. There had to be several people that had been Sasuke's former classmates who could have said as much. Though, Boruto didn't know who most of them were, beyond his parents, Sakura, and Inojin's mother. And he only knew that much because the latter still managed to work Sasuke into conversations frequently.

So the lesson could not be how bad Sasuke used to be, or could be. Or could it? Boruto hadn't had any idea of how bad Sasuke could be, and now he did. There was no denying that had been a major lesson. In fact, if Sasuke's goal had been to tarnish his reputation in Boruto's eyes, mission accomplished. But what was the purpose of that? It would only strain their relationship, and already had.

There was also Sarada to consider. Sasuke must have included her in the final session for a reason. Boruto had to admit that he never would have known about Karin at all without this test. And it was his letter that triggered her return to the village. It was possible that Sasuke had known about Akane and her tenuous situation, but surely he could not have predicted how Boruto would respond to each session so accurately.

Surely Boruto's own mother had to be connected to the lesson. Her role had been too large for her not to be. But again, realizing how strong she was, was something he shouldn't have needed the test for. Except that he had needed it, because despite living with her all of his life, Boruto had never known the type of strength she was truly capable of.

And that was it, wasn't it? It had to be! Everything Boruto had learned as a result of the test, could also have been found out without the test. It only would have required some real effort on his part. Hell, Sasuke could have just told him everything without the genjutsu, if he'd felt like it. But it wasn't like the people who had informed Boruto were hard to find, they had always been around. He had just never thought to ask them these things. Or, if he had thought to, he'd decided instead to figure things out on his own. But there were some things that he couldn't know, because he had only been alive for so long, and seen so little by comparison.

He wasn't old, but they were, and they were still around, and he needed to take advantage of the fact that they were. Old and still around, that is. Though he knew better than to actually phrase it that way aloud.

Instead of the training field, Sasuke and Boruto met at Tsunade's house. Boruto was glad for the change of scenery, but less glad that Sarada tagged along to visit Karin. Sasuke and Boruto went up to the roof, after firm promises that the lesson would only consist of a lecture. Boruto was still wary, since Karin had made no such promise, and he was constantly on the the lookout for glowing chains.

Sasuke offered no explanation for the delay, and Boruto hadn't really expected one.

"So. The test. You were supposed to figure out why I gave you this test, what you were supposed to learn, and what you should do with that knowledge." Sasuke paused and stared at Boruto. "What is your response?"

Boruto made a show of creating two Shadow Clones, and then got in a huddle with them for several moments, whispering loudly and occasionally shooting glances at Sasuke.

Sasuke's hand twitched toward his sword.

"HA! Your test was so easy!" Boruto bragged while his clones nodded their agreement.

"That might be more believable if you had actually bothered to answer-"

"I got your answers right here!" Boruto stuck a finger in Sasuke's face. "The answer to all three is the same! You wanted me to rely on adults more!"

Sasuke stared at him. "And how did you arrive at that answer?"

"I told you, it was easy!"

"This would be one of those times where you're required to show your work."

Boruto frowned. "I went to kaa-chan for help, but it wasn't enough. Then I tried Kakashi, but he would only tell me so much." He hesitated, not wanting to involve Sarada, but seeing no way around it. "Then Sarada-"

"You consider Sarada to be an adult?" Sasuke interrupted, in a tone that suggested, quite strongly, that he knew that 'adult' meant 'old person' in Boruto's view.

"Uh, not really. Despite what she might say."

"Your answer needs some revision, then." Seeing Boruto's frustration, Sasuke added, "But that wasn't a bad place to start. You do need to rely on adults more. Particularly those who are available and offering to help you. I notice you didn't mention asking your father for help."

"I guess he sorta helped," Boruto admitted, recalling their conversation about Akane.

"Did you ask him for help?" Sasuke pressed. "Or did he come to you?"

"You obviously already know the answer, so why are you asking?"

"Because you have a tendency to avoid the obvious when it involves him. There is no question that your father is a busy man. But there is also no question that no one in this village knows me better than he does. If there is only one person who is able to offer the most valuable insight about this test, it is him. Yet you never even attempted to ask him."

"Well, it's not like anyone else suggested it, either!"

Sasuke sighed. "Either because it was an obvious solution, or because they knew exactly how you would react, no doubt." He shook his head. "You saw him die in front of you. You saw what that loss did to your mother. Are you saying that you still can't bring yourself to value his existence?"

"I do value him!" Boruto snapped. "But I refuse to be some spoiled brat that always depends on his daddy!"

"So you want to be a spoiled brat who never does?" Sasuke countered. "There's one problem with that, Boruto. A great deal of this test was about evaluating your ability to gather information from available sources. Regardless of how you feel about him, asking your father for help was the best option. At the very least, he either would have sent you to someone willing to provide you with relevant information, or told you precisely why he didn't want you to have that information."

Boruto snorted loudly. "Because it would change the way I look at you? Well, too late for that."

"Perception is everything, Boruto. A few days ago, you saw me as your father's rival, someone to look up to. Yet you knew nothing substantial about my past. You didn't even know that I nearly killed your father multiple times. You weren't supposed to know. But ignorance cannot remain an excuse, if you would call yourself a shinobi. And especially not if you're going to remain my student."

"So you did this to open my eyes, is that it?"

"For much of my life, I believed that my beloved older brother had massacred my clan, and left me alive solely so that he could extend my suffering. But the truth was that he was acting on orders, and that he spared me because he could not bring himself to kill me. Which either makes him one of the worst traitors in the village's history, or one of its greatest martyrs. I made many mistakes in my life, but most of them were a result of the truth being hidden from me for far too long. I won't allow that to be the case with you. Having too much information can be a bad thing. But for someone in your position, who information is actively kept from, you should be learning how to gather as much as you possibly can. Because if you simply sit back and trust that you can handle life, without making any effort to investigate it? How is that any different from trusting that things will go right, in a village run by your father? How is that any different from relying on his power to protect you?"

"So you made a genjutsu where tou-chan was dead, just to force me to think on my own?" Boruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "You only think that because you failed to ask the right person the right questions. If you had gone to your father, you would know that the genjutsu is not simply a scenario I made up."

"I get that it's based on real events, but-"

"It's based on the events that immediately followed the Fourth Great Ninja War. Your father and I ended that war, together with Sakura and Kakashi. Immediately after we did, I declared my intention to erase the old shinobi system. Your father tried to stop me, of course, and it became my goal to kill him. What I showed you that first day was how the confrontation between us would have ended, if I had won. It's an alternate, false ending to a very real fight." Sasuke gestured to his empty sleeve. "It's the fight that cost us both an arm, and nearly our lives. Almost the only way you would ever be told that is if you asked someone who was there. And it was clear, from day one, that your father was. I didn't give you any help, because I'd already given you the only hint you should have needed."

Boruto grimaced and looked away. "So I failed the test?"

"Not if you still found another way to learn what I'm trying to teach you. And I think there's a chance that you did." Sasuke paused, and then smirked. "You don't like Karin much, do you?"

"I don't like her at all," Boruto stated plainly.

"Do you know why she doesn't trust you?"

"She thinks I'm going to hurt Sarada."

"Why does she think that?"

"Because she's nuts!"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm serious, Boruto. She had never met you. She should have had no reason to doubt your character to that degree. So why did she?"

Boruto glared at him. "I don't know! Did tou-chan hurt her or something?"

"They barely even know each other. And if he did hurt her at all, then she's been hurt far, far worse by others who were closer to her."

Something in Sasuke's tone made Boruto pause. "It was you, wasn't it? You hurt her. But what does that have to do with me?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I am not what most people would consider... good with emotions. Students often unintentionally pick up habits from their teachers. Karin knew you were my student and Sarada's teammate. But she had no idea how close you two were, until she found out that you became Akane's summoner. Based on her personal experience with me, she thought it likely that you would break Sarada's heart. It's not necessarily a reasonable fear, but it also isn't an unreasonable one."

"But that's stupid! Sarada is your daughter! Why would she think that you would let me hurt Sarada that way?"

Sasuke frowned. "I admit that my parenting could use some work. If you had hurt Sarada before you became my student, I wouldn't have known about it until it was far too late to do anything about it. So Karin has reason to doubt me in that area. She has been in contact with Sarada more than I have until recently."

"And you're okay with Karin misjudging you that way?" Boruto demanded.

"I don't consider it misjudging when her concerns are valid. Sarada forgave me, but she still harbors an intense fear of being abandoned because of my extended absence early on in her life. If Karin can help minimize or eliminate that fear, I don't mind Sarada having another parental figure. I assumed that was why you did your part in helping them meet in person. Or did I give you too much credit?"

Boruto shook his head. "That wasn't really why. I just knew Karin was really important to Sarada. And I knew Sarada would never forgive me if I got Karin arrested, or if Karin left because of me."

Sasuke sighed. "You're halfway to the lesson I want you to learn, even if you can't see that yet. That's better than where you were when we started. And it is my duty to teach you. You were right, by the way. The answer to all three questions is the same. You just didn't quite have the right answer. Think it over some more on your own."

Boruto was slumped over Tsunade's kitchen table when Karin walked in, scowled, and started to turn back.

"Sarada's my friend, you know," Boruto pointed out. "I'm not going to hurt her. And the way I see it, she's better off trusting the son of a Hokage than she is someone who works for Orochimaru. So how about you try judging me after you actually have some moral high ground to stand on?"

"Wow, you're stupid," Karin murmured.

"HEY!" Boruto shouted angrily as he sat up.

"Fine, you're not stupid," Karin sighed. "But you have the wrong idea about a lot of things. First off, the list of people who learned from Orochimaru starts behind your sensei Sasuke, who was his favorite student. Try to remember that when he starts teaching you cool moves that nobody else here knows. And working for Orochimaru isn't all bad. The medical knowledge and equipment that I used to make sure Sarada was born safely? Guess who supplied that, smart guy? You don't have to like Orochimaru, most people don't. But he's been more useful to Sarada without even meeting her than you ever were while standing right beside her. And I don't need moral high ground to judge you. I love Sarada more than you ever could, and that means I'll protect her, and if you don't get that, then I don't really care. I also don't care who your father is, or where you come from, or who you think you are. You aren't worthy of Sarada, and even if you were, I'd be just as much in your face because that's my right."

Boruto was about to remind her, again, that he had no interest in Sarada that way, but decided to try something else instead. "Isn't it up to Sarada to decide if I'm worthy of her?"

Karin snorted. "Come back and try to tell me that after the first time you see a boy holding Himawari's hand."

His eyes narrowed. "So you're planning to stick around that long?"

"Yeah, I am. So if you were hoping I wouldn't, that's just too damn bad for you."

"What did I ever do to make you think that Sarada couldn't trust me? I don't see you giving Mitsuki a hard time."

Karin laughed. "Are you kidding? I used to babysit Mitsuki. Him, I trust."

Boruto was shocked. "What?! He never said-!"

"And you never asked, since you just found out about me, right?"

"But... yeah, okay," Boruto muttered. "But I stand by what I said before. Sarada isn't stupid. You acting like she isn't smart enough to pick her friends well is insulting, to her and to me. I'll never forgive you if you don't apologize to her for that. I don't care if you don't like me. But you've got no right to say you love Sarada if you can't believe in her. For every time that she's had no reason to believe in me, but she still chose to trust me... I'll repay that now! I won't let anyone doubt her judgment!"

Karin stared at him for a long moment. "You know... maybe I was wrong about you," she said reluctantly. "You'll still never be Sarada's boyfriend, but... you might be acceptable as her friend. Just for now. But I'll still be watching you."

Boruto barely heard her. Something about the entire conversation had shifted an idea in his head, and now it... no, everything he'd been puzzling over... it all made sense.

"Everything isn't what it seems!" Boruto blurted out the next time he saw Sasuke.

This was somewhat awkward, as Sasuke had just gotten out of the shower, was half-dressed, and Boruto had just burst into his bedroom.

But even so, Sasuke nodded calmly. "Not the phrasing I would have used, but... yes. You finally see."

Boruto laughed. "Wow, but what a roundabout way to teach that! Orochimaru must be some kind of sensei!"

Sasuke's face went blank.

"Or not?" Boruto murmured, sensing he had read the mood wrong.

"You learned the lesson," Sasuke said, firmly. "Let's leave it there for now."

"But why? He taught Karin, and she's the one who helped me figure it out, believe it or not. She wasn't trying to, really, but-"

"That's... interesting," Sasuke said. "She still hates you, then?"

"I think so. But I don't think it has anything to do with me being your student. I'm starting to think that part of it is that she's just jealous that I got to hang out with Sarada all this time, and she didn't."

"What makes you think that?"

Boruto grinned. "Because she didn't say it. And she never would."

There had been some awkwardness, but it was still rather amazing how easily Karin had managed to insert herself physically into Sarada's life. Sarada had never really felt neglected by her mother, since Sakura went out of her way to make sure that wasn't the case. But Sarada now recognized that her parents were busy people, and that there was plenty of space for someone to help out.

Karin was busy, too, as Tsunade's attendant. But she still made plenty of time for Sarada. She would show up randomly to accompany Sarada wherever she was going, or watch her train and offer advice. And Karin either had a key or was a master lockpick, for how often she simply appeared in Sarada's home, most typically when neither of her parents was around.

There was no denying it: Karin had the time and desire to devote to Sarada. And Sarada, much as she didn't like to be reminded of it? She easily had space in her life for another parental figure. Karin sometimes tried to pass herself off as a big sister, but Sarada just couldn't see her that way. Or rather, Karin didn't feel that way to Sarada. Whenever Karin held her hand, or hugged her, or kissed her, there was only one thought in Sarada's head. "This is what it's like to have two mothers. And it's not bad."

Sarada's parents were in no way threatened by Karin's presence. Sakura especially seemed to welcome the help. It was rapidly becoming clear that part of the reason Karin was able to predict Sarada's schedule so precisely was because Sakura had shared it with her. For his part, Sasuke... tolerated Karin. He said very little to her, and tended to only speak up if he felt she was coddling Sarada too much, or being too loud, or being annoying in some other way. But he was not cruel to her, and Karin did not take his criticisms to heart. Rather, she blushed slightly each time he even looked at her. Sasuke could say a great deal with a stare, so this was not too surprising.

Karin had long since confessed the complicated nature of her relationship with Sasuke in her letters to Sarada. Only some of it made sense to Sarada. But in the end, only one thing mattered: Sakura had trusted Karin to deliver Sarada, so whatever else was between them was unimportant. And they were friendly with each other, in a similar yet entirely different way than Sakura was with Ino.

And if that meant that Sakura was fine with Karin saying goodnight to Sarada, like she was now, then that was okay with Sarada.

"You know, you don't have to tuck me in all the time," Sarada murmured, her face red.

"I don't have to do a lot of things," Karin noted as she continued to brush Sarada's hair.

Sarada gently squeezed Karin's hand. "Karin? I'm not a baby anymore."

Karin paused. "I can see that, with my eyes. But when I look at you, I still remember that beautiful baby girl that will always be in my heart. And it's... hard for me to accept that you aren't her anymore."

"Can you try? For me? Please?"

"Sarada-chan... it's just-"

"I don't want to resent you. I don't want any reason to feel that way. Please try."

"But-"

"I'll make a deal with you," Sarada interrupted, clearly not about to give up. "You can treat me like your daughter, if you want. Just not like your baby. Okay?"

Karin gaped at her, unable to find any words for several seconds. Finally, she swallowed hard and nodded.

"And it would be nice if you could at least try not to look like you want to spit every time Boruto shows up."

Karin's face hardened. "He-"

"I know I complained about him in my letters. But I know I said good things, too. So why?"

Karin's face fell. "Because he reminded me. That you were growing up without me. That he was right beside you, where I should have been. And he's a dumb blond, so there was no way he was treating you the way you deserve to be treated."

"So... he didn't really do anything wrong? You're just jealous?" Sarada's lips twitched, and she did her best not to smile.

"I-I'm not jealous of him!" Karin said stubbornly.

"Okay," Sarada agreed, wrapping her arms around Karin. "You're not jealous. And you shouldn't be. Boruto is no threat to your place in my life. And you're no threat to his."

"I can be a threat to him," Karin muttered viciously.

"No, Karin," Sarada said firmly, poking her in the stomach. "Don't make me resent you."

"Okay, okay! I'll... try. For you."

"Thank you."

"But if I have to be nice to him, you have to do something for me."

"What?" Sarada asked warily.

"Nothing hard," Karin promised. "I just need you to talk to Sasuke about this idea I had..."

"Naruto, they said you wanted-" Kakashi began as he walked into the Hokage's office, only to pause as he saw Sakura and Sasuke already seated in front of Naruto's desk. "Oh ho," he said, allowing amusement to fill his tone. "So it's a team reunion, is it? If you had told me that-"

"You would have been three hours late instead of just the twenty minutes you were?" Sakura said mildly. "And even that's only because we lied about the actual meeting time."

Kakashi just beamed at her, which only annoyed Sakura further.

"Come on in and have a seat, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, producing a new bottle of sake from his desk drawer. "I've been saving this-"

"You swiped it from Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said accusingly. "I know for a fact that there was nothing left of her stash when she left office, she made me help her carry it."

Naruto pretended to look insulted. "I'll have you know I didn't swipe it." After a pause, he added, "I delegated that task to Shizune nee-chan, and she was happy to do it. I even gave her an empty sake bottle filled with tea to replace it with, so provided baa-chan only drinks the tea she's supposed to, and never tries to sneak any sake, she'll never find out."

"Really, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "You have nothing better to do than prank an old woman? Like run a village?"

"We're getting off-topic, we're supposed to be celebrating," Naruto insisted, producing a tray with four cups on it.

"Celebrating what, exactly?" Kakashi asked.

"We've all finally graduated!" Naruto boasted.

"We... what?" Sakura asked blankly.

"Oh, I don't mean in the way you're thinking, Sakura-chan. We've all finally surpassed our sensei and elevated ourselves to legendary status!"

"We did that years ago," Sakura insisted.

"Nope! Sasuke only did it just now."

Sasuke was weary enough already of Naruto's logic, if it could even be called that, that he didn't even bother to protest.

"So to honor that feat, I've prepared new nicknames for us all!" Naruto continued happily.

"You... what?" Sakura asked again.

"Kakashi-sensei, in honor of his longstanding loyalty to a certain ideal, will now be known as Ero Kage," Naruto announced.

"Oi," Kakashi protested, somewhat, until Naruto poured him some sake.

"Serves you right for always reading those books in publ-" Sakura began to say.

"Sakura-chan, for her tireless devotion to the betterment of medical treatment for kids, will now affectionately be called Sakura baa-chan."

"You are so dead, Naruto," Sakura whispered as Naruto filled her cup.

"And Sasuke, because he just now actually incorporated 'Look underneath the underneath' into a lesson, will be known as Sasu-sensei."

This earned some looks at Sasuke, which he tried to ignore. It didn't work. Naruto beamed as he filled Sasuke's cup.

"Did you really?" Sakura asked, unable to stop smiling.

Sasuke looked away. "Hn."

"And what's your new nickname, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. The sake was good, but not to the point where he would overlook something like that.

Naruto grinned and filled his own cup. "Awesome Kage, of course."

"I think Ramen Kage suits you better," Sakura argued.

"No, that suits Hinata better than him," Sasuke said.

Kakashi patted Naruto's shoulder sympathetically. "Would you like a water jutsu for that burn?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke while Sakura laughed.

"Hey, guys!" Boruto shouted as he landed in the training field. "I'm back!"

Mitsuki looked pleased, but Sarada rolled her eyes. "You're two minutes late," she pointed out.

Boruto was not sure what to make of Sarada's reaction to the genjutsu. She still refused to talk about it, at least with him. And it wasn't so much that Boruto felt the need to discuss it. He just wasn't used to Sarada clamming up about shared experiences. Despite Sasuke's assurance that Sarada was tough, Boruto wondered if Kakashi had been more right about needing to be sensitive to her. Though if she didn't want to talk, Boruto had no idea what to do, other than be there, not talking, until or unless she changed her mind. But that was going to involve taking some snide comments without complaint.

It would have been nice if she could always be in a good mood, like Mitsuki seemed to be, but it would probably be creepy to have two such people on the same team.

"So what are we doing today? Either of you know?" Boruto asked.

"Sensei said it would be new and exciting," Mitsuki offered.

"He probably only said that so we'd look forward to it, Mitsuki," Sarada responded. "If he said it was the same old thing we always did, would you be excited?"

Mitsuki gave her a curious glance. "Yes, I would. I am always excited to spend time with my precious friends."

Boruto was not surprised to see Sarada blush slightly. Typically, the only people who referred to Sarada as "precious" were her mother and Karin. And Naruto, but he said that about all of the kids, so he was weird that way. In a Hokage sort of way. But the point was, Sarada was only used to certain people talking about her that way, to her face. And while Mitsuki was never shy about his feelings, and they should have been used to that by now, somehow this time was different.

"Oh," Sarada said softly, sounding awkward and apologetic. "Sorry, Mitsuki."

He shook his head. "I did not require an apology for that, Sarada. No offense was taken, so I assume none was meant."

"Anyway, even if it's not exciting, it probably is something new," Boruto reasoned. "I think we can depend on Sensei at least that much."

Boruto yelped as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. "I'm choosing to take that as a compliment," Konohamaru said from behind him, but through a smile that said the exact opposite.

Karin could not help the blush in her cheeks or the bounce in her step as she landed lightly on the tree branch and beamed up at Sasuke. He was on a slightly higher branch, and had purposely stretched out so that he didn't have to share it. The old Karin would have said he was playing hard to get. The current Karin accepted that he was a one-woman man, and that woman was Sakura.

And yet, if the sappy smile on Karin's face might have hinted at the possibility of an overly aggressive, passionate inner voice in her head, shouting that Sasuke was so cute when he was shy? Well, it was just a possibility, and had no basis in fact.

What was a fact was that Karin was so distracted by staring at Sasuke, that she didn't notice the presence of a third person, until they landed right behind her.

"Hi, Karin."

Karin blinked and barely suppressed the urge to recoil in shock. "Huh?! Oh, hi, Sakura!" she blurted out a bit too loudly to be natural.

Sakura blinked. "Yeah... um, are you okay? You're sweating a lot."

"N-No, I'm not!" Karin shouted, despite the numerous sweatdrops decorating her face.

Sakura was not sure what to say to that obvious lie, so she moved on. "I'm glad you're here. I want-"

"I'm supposed to be here! It's not suspicious at all!" Karin insisted.

Sakura stared at her. "Karin, I know that. Konohamaru mentioned that he was involving all three of us in this."

"Y-Yeah, so it's not suspicious that I'm here with Sasuke!" Karin murmured weakly.

"You aren't 'with' me, we came separately," Sasuke said, then looked upset with himself for even entering the conversation at all.

Karin still looked to be close to having a panic attack, however, so Sakura stepped forward and carefully embraced her, which caused Karin to freeze, her oncoming panic giving way to shock and confusion.

"Are you calmer now?" Sakura asked softly, gently rubbing Karin's back.

"I... yeah," Karin whispered uncertainly, making no move to return the hug.

"Then maybe I should say this, in case it wasn't clear already." Sakura drew back slowly and looked into Karin's eyes. "I trust you, Karin. And not just with Sarada."

"Why?" Karin asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Because you've proven yourself to me. And despite all the reasons I have to doubt you, that proof is stronger. And even if I couldn't trust you to behave around my husband, I know I can trust that you would never do anything to hurt my daughter. That's why I'm glad that you're here. You make Sarada happy. I never thanked you for that, and I want to. So: thank you, Karin. You're a true friend."

"E-Even if you say that, it won't make me happy!" Karin grumbled, the renewed blush in her cheeks saying different.

Smiling, Sakura patted Karin's shoulder. "Okay. Whatever you say."

"Today, I'm going to take you all out of your comfort zones," Konohamaru announced, glancing at each of his three genin. "This training will target areas where you all need considerable improvement."

Alarm bells went off in Boruto's head, but he did his best not to show it.

"So I've invited some people you're all familiar with to help out," Konohamaru continued. "We will guide you through individual training sessions customized especially for you. Mitsuki, you'll be with me. You seem to have taken to your role as a supporting player with ease, but I think it's time you learned how to operate when you are the one filling the leadership role. Being a team player is fine, but being a team leader is much more difficult, and you may be called upon to be just that, once you're a chunin."

"I am eager to begin, Sensei," Mitsuki said with his usual smile.

"Sarada, I can't really help you much where your Sharingan is concerned. So I'll leave that up to an expert."

Sarada's face lit up as Sasuke appeared next to Konohamaru. "Papa!" she cried excitedly, running up to him. "You're really going to train me now?"

Sasuke nodded. "You have potential, I've seen that much already. But I'm sure you know already, there's more to it than just copying jutsu."

Konohamaru looked at Boruto. "You're a bit of different case, Boruto. You like to fight using your clones, and I would be the absolute last person to say that you shouldn't. But there will be opponents who clones just aren't as effective against. For example, someone who can eliminate several targets all at once, or someone who can mask their presence well enough that your clones don't know where to look."

"Or both," Karin giggled in Boruto's ear as her chains wrapped tightly around him, binding everything except his head.

"Wah! What are you doing here?!" Boruto shouted, struggling uselessly.

"I just said, she's going to be training you," Konohamaru sighed, shaking his head. "If you're that bad at paying attention, it's no wonder she was able to catch you so easily."

"I didn't know I was supposed to be running!" Boruto snapped.

"And in case anyone gets hurt, a volunteer from the hospital has graciously taken time out of her busy schedule to be our healer for the day," Konohamaru added, gesturing to Sakura as she walked up.

"M-Mama?" Sarada asked in surprise. "You're here, too?"

"Don't sound too disappointed," Sakura said, pouting.

#boruto fanfiction

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