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ryttu3k · 1 year

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A brief selection of Sascha-related AUs I have floating around in my head, posting to keep track of them all. Content warnings for... basically everything relating to Sascha's backstory, and the Dracon's.

Already posted: university AU, Youtuber AU (with some extra bits here and here), crossovers (Sascha features in the HDM and Pokemon ones, more on the HDM one here), and a nice silly non-Sascha one.

The Dracondoption AU: In 1002, the Keeper of the Faith writes to the Dracon after Myca's Embrace and is like, "So you know how Symeon is just like Antonius? He just Embraced his first childe and he's just like you." Dracon goes 'oh hell no' and returns to Constantinople, promptly adopting Myca as his own adoptive childe. Symeon is displeased, but what's he gonna do against his methuselah grandsire? A lot of ideas here were somewhat recycled into...

The Clanswap AU: Going in briefly here because I’m writing this one! tl;dr Etrius is better able to insulate Myca from Goratrix and Embraces them in 1022 as one of the first Tremere. Surprisingly, things go a lot better than expected. When Myca inevitably finds their way to Constantinople, they also find something unexpected for a Tremere scholar - a new, largely Tzimisce family. There's a bit on it here, although some details will be changing for the fic.

Beneath the cut: The AU Where Ilias Survives, The AU With More Carpathian Politics And Much Less Constantinople Bullshit, The Cyberpunk AU, The AU Where It Started Out As A Cute Tattoo Artist And Florist AU Then Cults Happened, The Knight And The Dragon AU (I wrote like 2k on that one I'm sorry), aaand now the Zelda AU.

The AU Where Ilias Survives

Based on this excerpt from Margaret Rogerson's Vespertine, and the idea of Dracon!Myca, good version.

Ilias survives his possession by the Eldest. He's traumatised, feels incredibly guilty over everything, and probably needs a long time to recover, but he does recover in time, and is able to help Myca - the new Myca-and-the-Dracon - in turn.

In canon, the Dracon had lost Antonius, and Gesu, and Michael, and Constantinople. The Dream was dead. He wanted to follow suit. Myca had just lost Ilias, and their entire household, and probably most significantly, their faith and trust in Symeon. They were both extraordinarily alone, so they just... built this defensive wall and did not let anyone else in. But what if Ilias survived? He'd probably throw himself into looking after Myca as a way to atone for what happened. And he's got this tremendous capacity for empathy. Myranda's explanation for how he survived points out that even after the Eldest burnt him to death, he was still able to gently heal and look after the one who killed him and who permanently traumatised his lover. They'd need time to heal together, but Ilias being there would change things enormously.

So Ilias lives, and is able to support Dracon!Myca, show them love and compassion and tenderness. Myca knows how to love someone (even if they hadn't yet been able to say it). The Dracon knows how to love, but his most recent relationships were, um, dysfunctional. But with Ilias there to show him what a loving relationship is actually like? They'd... admittedly probably be very dependent on Ilias, but still significantly more stable. And with his support, the Dracon and Myca are able to work out a way to live a balanced existence.

Also,

Ilias: "*kisses Myca on the cheek* For my flower ❤️ " Myca: 😊 Ilias: "*kisses Myca on the other cheek* For my dragon ❤️ " Dracon: ................🥺

The AU With More Carpathian Politics And Much Less Constantinople Bullshit

Goratrix manages to reach a Carpathian Tzimisce after all in his attempts to kill Myca. They still Embrace them rather than kill them. Lugoj already has a canon connection with Myca, so why not make him their sire? He still serves as a mentor and teacher, just more directly here; Velya, with no Dracon-related issues with Myca this time around, does as well.

Lugoj is from an absolute mess of a line, his sire Noriz is full-on Evil Tyrant, two of Noriz' childer, Rachlav and Lukasz, are basically at war, and Koban starts out in the Anarchs but ends up tyrannical himself. Koban was canonically Myca's mentor, so it'll be fun if they meet earlier, and maybe here Myca can learn Koldunic sorcery from him? I also want them to meet Ilias earlier, like just after Dorinta's death, because angry!Ilias is a fun concept.

Slightly messier setting with no Obertus State, meaning there's no buffer between Rustovich and Jurgen (Symeon probably dies in 1204 because one of the main reasons he survives in the first place is Myca ensuring they have somewhere in the Carpathians to flee to. Here, he probably dies trying to save Gesu good riddance, and the entire region is a mess of politics and intrigue.) The Dracon still carries out his revenge against Nikita, but doesn't end up in Myca's custody (I get the feeling Jurgen picked Myca specifically to send him to because of Myca's involvement in setting up the Obertus State and running interference between him and Rustovich, and that doesn't happen here). His story continues, but Myca is unlikely to be involved (unless they visit Ilias' great-grandsire Damek in Sarmizegetusa?).

Lugoj is... relatively undefined compared to Velya, if only by virtue of his possible much earlier death, so it's free real estate there. Noriz seems to have little to go on other than 'fucked-up tyrant', and his sire, the methuselah Djavakhi, has absolutely nothing and is only known for Embracing Noriz. Lugoj is unlikely to use and abuse blood bonds, however, since both Noriz is known for using them and he's also one of the founders of the Vaulderie, so Myca is still able to build a respectful relationship with their sire, untainted by forced bonds. Lugoj... probably still ends up going on his little power trip by diablerising Byelobog and then going "you know what, I can totally eat the Eldest" and gets killed for it, but, you know, shit happens. Either way, always-Carpathian Myca plus Koldunism and minus a lot of Draconian bullshit.

The Cyberpunk AU

The Eldest is the creator of the mind upload system, sought after by those wanting digital immortality but not recommended for risk of, well, losing your entire identity. When they near death, they begin the process of uploading themself, only for something to go wrong at the last moment, forcing their son, the Dracon, to link his own interface chips to the Eldest's system to save their life. Eventually, the Eldest reconstructs themself enough to sever that connection, 'birthing' themself onto the network and spreading throughout it, a digital ghost overlooking everything; the Dracon is left with their mind partially online.

It's not going great. His boyfriend Michael is controlling, and makes selective edits to ensure that the Dracon stays dependent, stays with him, is shaped by Michael into being ~everything he is~. When Michael dies in his own attempt to upload himself, the Dracon attempts suicide, including deleting his online components. The Eldest is not having this, and drags the Dracon online fully, although this system is fundamentally unstable.

The Eldest needs a solution. Able to jump into the brain of anyone with an interface chip (although, whoops, the process does tend to burn them out - and the brain they're attached to - in the process), they jump into the brain of Ilias cel Frumos, directing him to upload a stable version of the Dracon into the brain of his lover, Sascha.

It works. It's also traumatic. Ilias' brain burns out, and Sascha has been forcibly fused with another mind riding alongside their own. They... react pretty poorly, not realising that the Eldest has actually been able to upload Ilias' consciousness. Ilias' incredibly strong sense of self allows him to stay compartmentalised without diffusing throughout the network, able to help the Eldest, in turn, work out their own fractured sense of identity after so long as a digital ghost; in gratitude, the Eldest will eventually construct Ilias a new body of discarded flesh and cybernetic parts, and upload him into it.

Meanwhile, though, Sascha deals with the Dracon. They look normal enough, with a few cosmetic upgrades, like a glimmering Virgo constellation across their face, Spica replaced with one eye. When the Dracon is fused to them, more of these lights appear, more lights and shadows to change the whole look of their features. Who are they really seeing when they look in the mirror? Do they even remember what their own face looked like?

(Beckett, the nosy historian, meets Sascha of the glowing face. He meets Ilias, an AI/upload/download. He puts the connections together. He's able to facilitiate a reunion. Maybe together, they'll be able to work something out...)

The AU Where It Started Out As A Cute Tattoo Artist And Florist AU Then Cults Happened

"Also that time-honoured tradition of introverted tattoo artist Sascha who's fine with touching others but has trouble being touched in turn, and Ilias, the sunny florist who just took over the shop next door, and who's just asked Sascha for a huge botanical backpiece, something that will see him spending many hours with Sascha... (No plot there, just fluff XD)"

It starts off pretty fluffy! Tattoo artist and florist in adjoining stores. Beckett works in the bookstore across the road, and his rivalry with Sascha is largely down to competing to get the last double-chocolate muffin from the local bakery, and also because Sascha's cat, Hediye, strongly dislikes how Beckett smells of his dog (who is probably part wolf). Kept getting distracted and switching his major until he ended up buried in debt and needing to start working in retail. Over time he ended up really vibing with it and ended up owning the store. Alternatively, he did fine in academia then realised his teaching options with a PhD in history were pretty much just teaching and went, "...no." Lucita teaches martial arts. Anatole is, well, local priesthood drop-out and conspiracy theorist. (He doesn't have visions, he just enjoys hacking into people's email.) Ilias is involved in the local pagan scene and has an altar out in the woods (which, uh, Anatole definitely saw as Suspicious, they end up clearing it all up later).

Then we got into working out how the Dracon is involved and it all went downhill from there.

The Dracon arrives in town, seeking out Sascha and requesting they hide him from his ex, Michael. Michael is a charismatic high-level member of the Dream cult, complete with religious grandiosity, and believes that in order to be reborn as the Archangel Michael, he needs to die, and is perfectly happy for the rest of his cultists/followers to follow with him. The Dracon went along with it until he couldn't any more, and now he's doing his best to hide, and protect Sascha in the process. Anatole, the one who knows the most about cults and conspiracies, does actually know what Michael's is all about - and he's noticed that Sascha is weirdly familiar with it too.

Sascha grew up in another small town, in a group home run by a mysterious figure known as the Eldest. The three undisputed leaders of the home were the Dracon (the Eldest's adopted son), Michael, and Antonius; when they were teenagers, brothers Gesu and Symeon arrived, becoming heavily influenced by the Dracon and Antonius respectively. Symeon has more or less reached adulthood by the time Myca shows up, but the Trinity still remain, more or less running the home in the increasingly reclusive Eldest's stead, and Myca is taken under Symeon's wing. The Dracon, however, has realised that maybe Not All Is Well here with the Dream, and subtly encourages Symeon to maybe... take Myca away from it all.

Symeon does, legally adopting Myca when he turns eighteen, and moving away. He's still deeply loyal to Antonius, though, and to Michael, and his escape isn't quite as complete as the Dracon would have wanted. Myca still grows up in the confines of the Dream, and it's only when the Dracon contacts them directly as they reach adulthood that they're able to break ties, leave for university, realise that wait a tic was that a cult? Did they grow up in a cult?, change their name to Sascha, and try to start over.

Which they're able to do! Or, at least, until the Dracon and Michael show up again, dragging Sascha's past in with them...

It works out. The Scooby Gang are able to compile evidence of Michael's concerning actions and plans, and the Dracon takes the nuclear option... of contacting his Dad. Who promptly is able to swoop in and have Michael put away for a long time. And with Ilias' help, Sascha is able to Learn How To Love!

(In the mean time, Mithras is a former movie star best known for his military roles, turned small-town mayor. He initially comes under suspicion due to his fanbase/followers referring to themselves as the Cult of Mithras (his breakout role was a cult classic, natch), but it's fine, they're just very dedicated.) He gets re-elected pretty easily, mostly because everyone else dislikes his perpetual opponent, Valerius. His husband Roger is the local mortician, Mithras' secretary, and one of those Power Behind The Throne figures, with a strong dislike for the Giovanni family who came in and immediately monopolised the local funeral parlour that Roger used to run as well. Getting into town politics was his best chance of revenge, really!)

The Knight And The Dragon AU

Based on my tags in this post and joking around about an AU where Myca was born in 1976 and Embraced in 2002, and then it gained sentience or something.

They're still Romanian, now born in Ceausescu-era Romania which was a goddamn time. Their family is high up in the regime, and Myca grows up the eldest of several, studious, a bit spoiled, and always a bit inclined towards weirdness. When they start having 'fits and visions' at age thirteen, their family contact doctors instead of healers, and they're promptly diagnosed with epilepsy... but still end up being recognised as a young mage in the process of Awakening, because the timing had always been a coincidence.

House Tremere is definitely no longer a mage thing at this point. Instead, they're found by the Celestial Chorus, and invited to move to Rome to start studying properly. Their parents, who, at this point, are recognising that there's just a bit of instability in the Communist world in the late 80s, are honestly kind of relieved to send their eldest child abroad!

It's stable for... less than a decade. Myca thrives amongst the Choristers, becoming particularly adept at bibliomancy, and is safely insulated in Italy from the fall of the Ceaucescu regime back in Romania, although they're still able to financially support their family when they're left destitute after the fall (the Chorus looks after their own). They start poking curiously at the queer community, coming out first as gay and then as genderqueer, much more comfortable in their own skin now that they have words to describe themself rather than. Well. Tenth century concepts of gender. They reach adulthood and start getting more involved with Chorus politics, gravitating towards the Guardian Orders and ultimately joining the hunter Order of St George and the Dragon, being vaguely cognizant of stories of 'dragons' back in Romania, and recognising that that means vampires.

Chaos strikes from 1997 to the end of the century, with the Reckoning, the War in Heaven, the Week of Nightmares, and the Avatar Storm. With the Chorus in chaos, Myca opts to focus on what they can do, and returns to the near-unrecognisable Romania, seeking out Dragons to slay to try and at least alleviate some of the sheer disconcertion of being back in their homeland, which no longer at all resembles the country they grew up in. Best to ignore how completely alien they feel in their own homeland, and start looking for Dragons.

The first one they meet is Ilias cel Frumos.

Let's backtrack a little to the 13th century. In 1204, Constantinople is taken by the Fourth Crusade. In the chaos, the Dream that had held together for centuries collapse. Its Patriarch, Michael, allows himself to be killed. Gesu, Saint of the Divinity Within and childe of the long-missing Dracon, burns with his haven, and his brother-childe Symeon, who has no Carpathian childe of his own to pull him to safety, dies with him. The Dracon, long departed, learns of the loss of his city, his lover, and his childe and grandchilde, and is thrown into both further mourning and a burning desire for revenge. His one solace is that his childe, the Keeper of the Faith, has managed to escape, along with the bulk of his library.

His revenge takes decades. In 1232, he finally kills the Archbishop of Nod, Nikita of Sredetz, his grandchilde, and takes his form. In this guise, he comes under attack by the Ventrue Jurgen of Madgeburg, and staked. Jurgen, who has long been in conflict with the Carpathian Tzimisce and not having a convenient Obertus State to put the blame on, decides to sow a bit more discord and send the 'Archbishop' to one of the more influential Tzimisce - Damek Ruthven of Sarmizegetusa.

Damek has a few advantages here. He's old. He's powerful. He has a giant library. He has a tree hosting the soul of his clan founder in his backyard. He's able to work out who 'Nikita' is pretty damn quickly, and consults the God-Tree on what to do; the God-Tree requests that 'Nikita' be buried in the soft soil around its roots, and should a traveller come, to let them see the tree unhindered. The Eldest, still immensely powerful even in their more limited form, calls out, seeking one amongst their blood who will be... suiting.

Ilias, great-grandchilde of Damek, is one of the ones to heed the call. Ostensibly, it's a pleasant-enough familial visit, and Damek gives Ilias no restriction on where he can explore. Ilias, drawn to the God-Tree and the presence within, approaches it - and when he falls back this time, it's no red seed he's been given, but a whole-ass methuselah fused to his soul.

Still, Ilias is actually a pretty good candidate to host the Dracon's soul. He has an extremely strong sense of self, and is able to compartmentalise, to firm the divisions between him and the Dracon. He might be the Dracon's host, but they are not the same people, and the Dracon is permitted a bit of time and space to rest, even as Ilias struggles with everything else that having a methuselah soul merged to his own brings.

The Anarch Revolt takes place. Ilias, who adored his sire, doesn't take part, but does sympathise with those who do; officially considered Autarkis, he still associates with young Anarchs and later Sabbat members who seek freedom, unable to fully have his own but still holding on thanks to the teachings he had learned through the Path of Pleasure.

Several centuries pass.

By the 21st century, Ilias is well and truly an elder of some nine centuries, Autarkis, an immensely powerful koldun, possibly single-handedly responsible for keeping the Path of Pleasure alive, and a bit, uh, prone to decades-long naps, when even he feels the Dracon's ennui. The Dracon, for his part, mostly sleeps in the back of Ilias' mind; when awake, he can find it a little easier to cope with company, and spends his nights deepening his knowledge, reading, corresponding with the Keeper, the only one who knows he's still alive. To all others, he's a long-missing relic of Constantinople, who dropped off the radar some time in the early thirteenth century, and for the most part, that's exactly what he is with Ilias in the driver's seat. Ilias, for his part, carries out his yearly traditions as a Priest of Jarilo, even as followers become fewer and fewer; still, he has a methuselah's persuasion, and more than a few mortals in his domain have actually become followers of Jarilo long after the deity would have otherwise been forgotten. A pagan witch-priest known for decadence and both casual and ritualistic sex, and being ridiculously pretty to boot, he has a following that doesn't quite fall under the realm of breaking the Masquerade but certainly pushes the boundaries a bit.

So when Myca goes searching for Dragons, it's Ilias they find, the Dracon resting in the back of his mind. But while Ilias is certainly a Dragon, he's no Fiend, and Myca is more intrigued than anything else. As for Ilias, he's tired. They're both tired. The Dracon has been tired for over a millennium. Ilias is getting there. But now, here's this young mage and their spiritual quest to protect their land from those that would hurt it, and yeah, that... piques his interest a bit. The two spend time together, realise they don't actually mind each other's company. Myca begins to wonder if all vampires are like this, and if so, what does that mean for the Order? Recognising Myca's thirst for knowledge, and the Dracon recognising a kindred spirit, and Ilias realising that he's at dire risk of falling for a mortal, sends the young mage on to the Library of the Forgotten (now somewhere in Central Europe), to learn more about the Cainite world from the Keeper.

Myca arrives at the Library, and it's everything a library mouse would have ever dreamed of, and sure, they're spending time in the company of vampires they had been taught for over ten years were creatures of darkness that meant no good, but they quite like the Keeper and they goddamn love the Library. It has material from Alexandria! They're in love!

...And then word of a mortal mage spending time with the Tzimisce reaches the ears of the Tremere. And, well, the Tremere do like mortal mages and also stealing from the Tzimisce.

By the time the Keeper gets to the scene, Myca is near death. The seemingly-frail old librarian who is actually, you know, a fifth generation methuselah is able to deal with the Tremere interlopers pretty handily, but not even she can save someone who has been exsanguinated. To save Myca's life, or what's left of it, she's forced to Embrace them, as awful and as traumatic as the Embrace of a mage would be, reasoning that better her than the Tremere. She's more or less correct in that, at least, and Myca already likes and respects the Keeper, and yeah, it's as traumatic as expected, and they pull away from the Keeper a bit, who understands because there wasn't really choice involved. After a brief period of adjustment, they return to Romania, and then go to find Ilias again, missing him and feeling something new drawing them together. (It's not Ilias, in fact, that they're being drawn to - rather, it's their new grandsire's soul within Ilias.)

So, the newly-Embraced Myca returns to Ilias (and the Dracon), and they’re now not a mortal and also, to the Dracon, family, and that... changes the dynamic somewhat. Yes okay there's like a nine century age difference, it's fine. Ilias is Alert and Awake and Interested for the first time in what feels like much too long, and the Dracon is intrigued by his new kin, whom his favourite childe saw enough worth in to save, and maybe - maybe they can both be awake for a bit, both be present to help Myca through this. Myca is, well, a bit surprised to learn about a) their grandsire b) being fused to the vampire they've been crushing on staying with, but slowly, they get to know the Dracon as well.

Ilias gets: someone who intrigues him enough to shake off the ennui of centuries. Someone he's fascinated by - a little bit infatuated with. Someone who has this energy and dynamism of youth and very recent mortality that, in turn, revives him as well.

The Dracon gets: family. A new grandchilde. Someone who's so similar to him, and if he's growing fond of Myca, if he's finding positive values in someone he relates to so much, then maybe - maybe those positive values exist in him.

Myca gets: support to deal with their recent Embrace. An entire world of information and knowledge opened up to them with their sire and grandsire and the Library. A Dragon - two Dragons! - who aren't the monsters they've been taught, but who are people, people they can see a life - or an unlife, at least - with.

And it actually goes okay! Myca introduces them to film, and Ilias and the Dracon get The Louis Effect of seeing a sunrise for the first time in centuries - millennia, for the Dracon. They introduce them to the internet and social media. The Dracon joins Livejournal during his time with his and Ilias' body and is immediately assigned dragonkin and also he doesn't mind that much. Myca and Ilias... start growing closer, and Ilias starts finding joy in teaching someone the Path of Pleasure again, and seeing Myca emerge into Cainite unlife with something approaching a stable base of support and also modern knowledge of things like. Psychologists.

Eventually, they'll return to Sarmizegetusa and learn where the Eldest left for, track down Lambach Ruthven, and ask where to find the Eldest. Lambach, who's having the weirdest few centuries ever, points them to New York. Two vampires enter the meat crime ecosystem beneath the city; four leave, with the Dracon enjoying corporeality for the first time in about eight centuries and the Eldest's mood much improved by the Dracon's improving mental health, enough to perhaps leave their underground haven (there still might be biting orchids and lullaby-singing baby-head bushes, though). And a baby mage-turned-fledgling, an elder shaking off ennui like a puppy shaking off water, a methuselah beginning to find value in the world again, and the former-meat-crime-ecosystem-now-Just-A-Dude Tzimisce Antediluvian go about to live out their unlives. (The Eldest might go hang out with Arikel for a bit. See if they can do anything about Saulot's worm situation.)

They change! Isn't that a good thing, for the Clan of Shapers? The Dracon finds there are new books coming out every night. There's livestreams of the great outdoors and high-resolution photos of the surface of Mars and Ghibli anime. There are memes. Ilias gets into debates with mortal pagans over the disappointing lack of ritualistic moonlit orgies in honour of the advent of spring, discovers selfies, discovers selfies with cat-ear filters. Myca attempts to read their way through the entire Library of Alexandria, renews their connection to their homeland, learns fleshcrafting to give themself the body they've always wanted and that they finally feel at home in.

Change! Metamorphosis!

The Zelda AU

VtM: Zelda AU version. Some spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom, mostly setting-related, but also a lot of Zonai-related stuff, including Mineru's whole thing.

The Upheaval isn't quite as bad as the Calamity a hundred and five years earlier, in the end. Sure, there are rocks falling from the sky and Hyrule Castle is floating, but the new caves and sheer abundance of new Zonai ruins will have historians and researchers busy for years. One of the centres of research is the Sheikah village of Kakariko, once quiet, now home of the Ring Ruins and the Zonai Research Team, one of which is led by senior researcher Aristotle and his Squad, Beckett, Anatole, and Lucita.

Some of the Sheikah take it in their stride, others are... less thrilled. Others are extremely unthrilled but also trying not to show it because they're also trying to not let on that this is quite literally the central population of their people, and is just quietly trying to research away without a) having an existential crisis, b) reveal the spirit piggybacking onto them, or c) accidentally flirting with the frankly infuriating Beckett.

Backtrack to that tumultuous century between the Calamity and the reemergence of Princess Zelda. There had been quite a few attempts at taking the throne, mostly by people trying to claim to be long-lost members of the Royal Family, others with different angles. One with a different angle was Michael and his Dream, a charismatic Hylian who claimed to be the mortal aspect of the Goddess of Courage, Farore. Along with him were his lovers Antonius (supposedly an aspect of Goddess of Power, Din) and the Dracon, a Sheikah, an aspect of the Goddess of Wisdom, Nayru. As these Goddesses reborn, clearly they had the legitimacy to rule.

They managed for at least a little while, gathering a small but loud following. Alas, Antonius and the Dracon loathed each other and Michael had an ego that could be seen from space, with the entire Dream collapsing, Antonius and Michael now dead and the Dracon vanished. The surviving members of their followers, including the Dracon's son Symeon and Symeon's young son Myca, scattered, Symeon eventually using his status to become Chief of the small Sheikah village they inhabited. Myca grew up quiet and bookish, skilled with both magic and more intellectual pursuits, aspiring to become a researcher like their famous grandfather, the Dracon. They were fascinated by the Zonai, eventually specialising in their history, and as their knowledge of the world expanded, so too did their realisation that the legacy Symeon still clung to was, frankly, a cult.

So they ran away and joined the Yiga.

That was okay, until it wasn't, with a new hero demolishing the ranks and the esteemed Master Kohga revealed to be, frankly, a buffoon. Myca, now calling themself Sascha, retreated somewhat reluctantly into the Depths with them, then, less reluctantly, threw themself into exploring the Zonai ruins and technology there, too fascinated to walk away. There, they had strange encounters, and in a long-forgotten corner of the Depths, they encountered a familiar spirit - the lingering soul of their grandfather, not a disembodied Poe but a fully-cognizant spirit, who had willingly detached himself from his body when the Dream had turned into a nightmare, using long-forgotten techniques of unknown origin (neither the Dracon nor Sascha would ever learn it was their ancestor Mineru from whom the technique originated).

The Dracon had long been lingering in the company of the Bargainers, especially the one known only as the Eldest. But now he was tired. With Sascha there, he hoped he would be able to move on, perhaps, able to pass on his knowledge to a worthy successor. The Eldest, attached to the Dracon, saw otherwise, and decided to give their favourite disembodied spirit a new body.

Namely, Sascha's.

(The Eldest didn't actually give many considerations to what Sascha or the Dracon actually wanted.)

With no real connections to the Yiga any more anyway, the traumatised Sascha fled back to the surface, using Sheikah (and Yiga) illusion magic born from Shadow magic to disguise their face, taking whatever appearance they felt best fit them at the time. And they kept wandering over the next couple of years, until the Upheaval threw everything into chaos again, with an absolute plethora of Zonai technology falling from the sky, including in the Sheikah village of Kakariko.

It's a little too much to resist. Sascha ends up quietly stealing into Kakariko, passing themself off as just another Hylian researcher, not wanting to reveal either their past with the Yiga or their connection (more literal than most) to the famous Dracon. With the sky falling, will they be able to find the breakthroughs their intellectual side demands, will they be able to avoid the charms of the Frankly Infuriating Beckett, and will they ever be able to come to terms with their past?

#vampire the masquerade #sascha vykos #au all the things #ry writes stuff #this post is several thousand words long it counts as writing okay #mx meat crimes #tzinnamon roll #the dragon of constantinople #feral nerd #heartflowershipping #and more!#throws confetti

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