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verefex · 1 year

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Caged Giant

AU story of Sky and Lark meeting (in a cell. Cause he's captured.)

Mild nudity and violence.

The first mistake the celestial giants made was allowing themselves to exist as a corporeal form of flesh.

The second mistake was to assume that humanity would not take advantage of this.

Though massive, colossal in size and power, the titans were still what they were; giant humans. Often taking the form of muscular, masculine humans, the titans were immediately perceived as threats to the much smaller humans of their new world as soon as they appeared.

It didn’t take long after the first titans appeared before the humans waged a war on them. Countless battles of humanity’s finest weapons versus the towering titanic beings, who retaliated with just as much force, shaped the world to how it is today; a kill or capture on-sight order on all titans.

That is not to say that titans themselves did not respond to such threats. While humans, singularly, are smaller than one of their digits, their strength came in numbers. The titans learned very quickly not to underestimate the humans, lest they found themselves being felled or captured by the human’s various contraptions.

The Black Boxes proved to be the most formidable tool against the titans. Forged from an alloy of tungsten and titan blood, these cube-like devices operated via remote control like a drone. Varying in size and sometimes shape, the Black Box was humanity’s greatest achievement, and the titan’s bane.

Though the Boxes may seem like a trivial thing in regards to beating back a towering giant, their unassuming appearance belied a horrifying ability.

The ability to move in any space without regards of obstructions.

Completely indestructible, even from a titan’s perspective, a Black Box could feasibly burrow itself into flesh, bone, rock and stone without any resistance. The Box itself can hover, translate, and rotate on any axis, through any material, in any space. A single Box, though only the size of a small refrigerator, could subdue a 200ft tall titan simply by hovering and pressuring their body, forcing them to the ground. Similarly, Black Chains, made of the same alloy, would be looped around limbs and secured, an inescapable bond.

A titan bound in these chains had no choice but to submit themselves to the will of the Box. And those who controlled the Black Box, controlled the war against titans, and titans themselves.

In a remote location in the northern mountains, a singular titan was being dragged relentlessly across the landscape. His feet, clothed in thick, winter boots, were restrained by loops of Black Chains. His arms flailed wildly as his colossal frame dug trenches in the half-frozen ground, gripping into trees, rocks, and hills with no avail. The Black Box operators drove in a convoy behind him, just out of reach, while the Box itself hovered along, pulling its chains taut around its colossal captive.

The titan was named Sky, and he was taken captive for one reason; to extract his precious and valuable blood. It didn’t matter if he was alive or dead, but keeping him alive was the human’s prerogative, in order to use him as a giant blood bag. The titan’s blood, inky blue in color, would be later refined and reduced into a usable form to be smelted into the indestructible tungsten alloy.

Sky’s clothing, an outfit equipped for the harsh cold, was ripping to shreds as he was dragged over rock and gravel. Soon there would be nothing left to shield his back and stomach from the relentless capture. He cursed himself for falling for the human’s trap; using Black Chains to trip and snare Sky as he walked, blissfully unaware of the danger.

Luckily for the titan, the convoy was approaching their destination. A remote facility in the mountains, where he would be sealed inside their enormous cell, never to see the light of day again. By this time, another loop of chains would appear, controlled with extreme precision to loop around Sky’s wrists. Though weighing easily more than 2 million pounds, the titan was effortlessly lifted by his arms and legs by two black cubes no bigger than his thumbnail.

It must have been quite a spectacle, a giant man lifted high into the air by nearly imperceptible forces, hoisted above the concrete facility and lowered into a cell through two hatch doors. Humanity’s greatest tool at work.

The cell where Sky was lowered into was not crafted for comfort. Three of the four walls were solid concrete, several dozen feet thick and reinforced with steel rebar. The fourth wall was mostly concrete, with a large observational window at the top, spanned by metal walkways. While the glass was certainly thick, it was still breakable by a giant’s fist; if not for the electrified force field surrounding the inside. Any attack against the force field while active would result in an explosive backwards force, propelling any incoming object in the opposite direction.

This huge window would allow the humans on the other side the ability to observe the captive in the cell. As Sky’s huge body lowered into the cell, the man thrashed and fought with all of his might, to no avail. His body thumped on the cell floor and the Black Boxes immediately got to work, deploying robotic limbs from a hatch on the underside of the cube. The limbs gripped the titan’s clothing and stripped him, pulling and lacerating his coat and shirt by the seams, carefully preserving the shape of the patterns while Sky resisted as much as he could with his wrists bound behind his back and his ankles wrapped up.

The humans wasted nothing from the titan. Not only would he be used to collect priceless blood, but quite literally would his clothes be taken from his back. The massive bolts of fabric had their uses, and before long the giant was left wearing nothing but his briefs. At least the humans maintained some level of decency towards their giant captive, or perhaps they simply did not wish to view his private parts from the safety of their glass windows just yet.

Finally, out of one of the trap doors in the concrete walls, a Black Box emerged, equipped with a very large syringe. The device wasted no time in injecting its tip into Sky’s exposed thigh, drawing the plunger back and extracting over a hundred gallons of blood in seconds.

This would be the extent of Sky’s captivity. Bound by wrist and ankle, almost entirely naked on the cold concrete floor of a giant cell, poked and prodded throughout the day by robotic arms. Every now and then the giant’s blue eyes would look up at the window, glaring at the tiny, unassuming humans that monitored his every move.

After one week, Sky’s strength was diminished. The humans offered him meager food and water, barely enough to sustain his massive form. The titan relished the moments at the end of the day when the humans would sleep and cease their sampling, and he’d rest his head back and listen to nothing but the sounds of his stomach groaning.

As the last of the machines hovered along the concrete wall, as if following an invisible circuit, a hatch opened just above the giant’s head. These hatches lined the walls of the cell, concealing tunnels and passageways for the Black Boxes to travel through. As the hatch door opened to receive a Box, something else came out; a human.

This human looked different from the ones who observed the titan from the cell windows. She dressed like a hiker, complete with a backpack to compliment her cargo pants and hiking boots. The human, named Lark, scurried to the entrance of the tunnel, looking down at none other than the giant’s head below her.

“Crap… this is too high…” Lark whispered under her breath, frantically looking around for a different route. Evidently she chose the wrong tunnel to exit out of, but she couldn’t go back… not when a Black Box was approaching the hatch.

As Lark debated her choices, Sky opened his eyes and glanced up at the open hatch above his head. He peered at it curiously, wondering if he was just imagining the small voice he heard from within.

Sure enough, as the Black Box approached the open hatch, Lark had no choice but to jump out of the way… plummeting towards the giant’s face.

Sky’s eyes widened at the approaching human. His mouth watered… and all he saw in this moment was the opportunity to have a snack. He arched his head back and gaped his mouth, its interior bright blue, awaiting the arrival of the unfortunate human.

Lark flailed, seeing the giant’s open mouth below her. It all happened so quickly; she landed on Sky’s soft tongue neatly instead of splatting on the concrete floor below. But the view did not last; the giant was eager to sustain himself.

As Sky began hungrily closing his mouth, aiming to seal Lark inside, she began shouting from the confines of his lips.

“Wait!! Don’t eat me, I-I can help you!” Lark shouted in terror as the giant’s mouth closed around her. Saliva flooded around her body, seeping into her clothing. Oh god, this was not the end she wanted to ever have.

Luckily, the titan heard her pleas. He halted, deliberating now on how beneficial it would be if he swallowed a potential lock pick. Lark bit her lip, refraining as best she could from panicking. This giant was hungry… starving, even. She had to be careful if she wanted to get out of this alive.

“Mhm?” Sky mumbled, his mouth still closed tight with Lark inside. He had little reason to trust her words, being a human and all. But maybe, just maybe, if he spared her… they could mutually benefit from it.

“Uhh… ah… okay. Yes, if you let me go, I can disable the Boxes!” Lark squeaked as her tiny, pitiful body began slowly slipping down towards the giant’s gullet. Things were looking bleak. She could hear the growling guts bubbling below, deep within the titan’s body.

Suddenly, the giant’s mouth opened. Lark gasped and fumbled along Sky’s enormous tongue until her head peeked out from his parted lips. At last, she was freed from the horrible belly of the beast. She looked out at the titan’s body, which was propped up against the wall. His arms were bound behind his back, and his ankles wrapped tightly together.

Sky tilted his head forwards, and Lark tumbled out of his mouth and onto his vast, bare chest. He looked at the human on his body forlornly, realizing she wasn’t all that much of a meal now that he saw how tiny she was compared to him. She looked quite disheveled, her blonde hair a tangled, slimy mess.

Lark gazed up at the giant, feeling even smaller under his icy gaze. The air was cold in his cell… but his body beneath her was warm. He spared her life… for a lie.

She didn’t know what to tell him now that she was face to face. Whatever she screamed from inside his mouth moments before was nothing but a bluff.

“Well?” Sky rumbled, staring down at the tiny woman on his chest. He gestured with his shoulders and head towards his enormous back, where his wrists were bound. “Can you start with freeing my hands?”

Lark shuddered. She started glancing around the cell, frantically searching for an escape.

“Uhh…” She muttered as she started to scoot herself backwards along the giant’s torso. Sky’s face grew more and more suspicious.

Suddenly, Lark stood up and leapt down the titan’s belly, sliding down his middle. She did not look back when the titan growled and twisted his colossal body towards her as she fled across the floor.

“Hey!” Sky bellowed, rattling his chains as he instinctively tried to reach for the fleeing woman. His hands remained bound as Lark darted away from him. With no hands to grab, the giant rolled onto his side and stretched his neck out, mouth open, and snapped his teeth just inches away from her backpack.

Lark’s heart beat rapidly as she narrowly avoided his teeth. She ran in the other direction, back towards his middle, where his mouth couldn’t reach.

Sky growled angrily, watching the human dart towards his body, hiding out of sight. With his hands bound, he could only lay uncomfortably on his side, his freedom of movement almost completely restricted. He seemed to have used up the last of his strength to snap at her, and he lay still now, breathing heavily.

“I spared you…” Sky groaned, closing his eyes. He could still taste the human in his mouth… if only he just went with his gut.

Lark huddled in the shadow of the giant’s body, facing the irony of sheltering herself with the body of the giant that sought to devour her. If he wasn’t bound, she’d already been snatched up. Seems that her luck had not run out just yet, even if her plan was ruined instantly by her poor choice of exit.

The room was silent, except for the sound of the giant’s labored breathing. Lark placed her hand on her chest to quiet her own breathing as she glanced around, surrounded on all sides by Sky’s towering frame. Straying from her current position would place her back in range of the titan’s teeth… what was she to do?

“I… I’m sorry.” Lark said in a hushed tone, nearly only audible to herself. “I don’t think I can free you, giant. I just… didn’t want to be eaten.”

Sky heard her words and sighed. “Yeah. I guess that’s fair. You’re just trying to survive too, I suppose.” He groaned as his stomach contracted and growled, sending hunger pangs through his middle. All he could think about now was filling his belly.

Lark shuddered at the sound of the titan’s guts. To think she almost ended up in there…

“Hey. I’m Sky. What’s your name, little one?” Sky said as he craned his head downwards, attempting to get Lark into view. He eyed her standing just beside his chest.

“Oh… um, I’m Lark.” Lark said in a bewildered tone as she stared up at the titan’s face. She instinctively backed up a few steps, not yet trusting the titan, even though he could easily roll over and crush her at this moment.

“Lark… so… what are you doing here?” Sky asked softly. His eyes glanced upwards at the trap door she fell out of. “I’ve never seen humans slide out of one of those before.”

Lark bit her lip and pulled apprehensively at her backpack straps. She found it quite awkward to speak so casually with this titan who was moments away from swallowing her whole.

“I, uh, well I was trying to gain access to this place. Not here, no… the laboratory.” Lark spoke warily, realizing that there were likely cameras monitoring everything in the cell. “Those hatches are everywhere in here. But I guess I went through the wrong one and…”

“Mmm. So you’re a burglar.” Sky chuckled.

“Hey, I wasn’t here to steal! It was to spy.” Lark retorted, which only made Sky laugh even more.

“Better keep your voice down. If the other humans find out you’re trespassing, who knows what will happen~” The titan rumbled as he grunted and rolled back, propping himself against the wall again. Lark suddenly felt very exposed as the titan’s body moved away from her, leaving her out in the open in the middle of the cell.

“H-hey, wait…” She called, and Sky merely smiled as he stared down at her. She looked so small, standing there where he was just laying.

“Y’know, I know a great place for you to hide.” The titan smirked as he ran his blue tongue across his lips.

Lark winced as she witnessed this. Grimacing, the human tore her backpack off and started rummaging through it. Sky watched her do so with interest.

“Okay. Listen, Sky… I have some tools here.” Lark said as she produced a few metal tools from her backpack, in various shapes and sizes. “I can try to hack into the boxes and release your chains… but you have to promise not to eat me.”

“Hmm.” Sky muttered as he narrowed his brows at her. “Can you really do it? This isn’t another bluff, is it?”

“I… will try.” Lark sighed. The odds were narrow, but what other choice did she have? “We’re trapped in here together, so we might as well try to work it out, right?”

“I suppose.” Sky rumbled as he glanced up at the ceiling. Once his chains were loose… the next plan was to get out of the cell. He guessed that the only way out was in the way he came, through those huge trap doors.

“You’re not going to try to eat me, right?” Lark asked as she rummaged through her bag once more.

“For now.” Sky retorted.

“That’s not reassuring.” Lark huffed.

“Fine. I won’t eat you.” The giant said lowly as he gazed down at the human. “Just don’t mess up…”

“I will do my best.” Lark nodded as she walked towards the giant’s back. His towering form was certainly imposing, even with his hands bound behind him. The chains that wrapped around his wrists were surprisingly thin compared to the titan’s hands, though their strength came from the alloy, not the thickness of the links. The chains were tight around each wrist, with a black control box holding each loop together.

Lark bit her lip. She was now behind the giant, who was leaning against the concrete wall with his hands resting on the floor. Just one of his fingers was bigger than she was.

Tentatively, she placed one foot on Sky’s upward palm, glancing up at his titanic body, which did not flinch. She steeled herself and climbed onto the giant’s hand, scooting herself along until she could reach the bonds.

Sky rested his head against the wall, lips twitching with curiosity as he felt the tiny creature scramble onto his hand. He craned his head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the action, but his shoulders were simply too broad to accommodate. He could only sit still as the human got to work in his hands.

As Lark fidgeted with the lock box, she realized this would be harder than she thought. The box itself was solidly constructed, with no screws, bolts, or rivets. Even the chains themselves seemed to attach themselves to the box with nothing aside from some invisible force. As her fingers trailed along the metal alloy, she took note of the blue sheen of the metal; the shimmering titan’s blood that gave the Black Boxes their devastating ability to bypass physics.

Hours passed, and Lark tinkered and toyed with every possible tool at her disposal. The chains did not loosen. She found herself slumping into Sky’s palm to rest, a small and unexpected comfort in that cold cell.

Sky himself had drifted to sleep, and took no notice of the human curled up in his bound hands. The morning had come, and as he stirred, the facility had once again come to life around him. The familiar sounds of the hatch doors opened, and out came Black Box devices, setting straight to work on the titan’s blood extraction.

“Lark.” Sky whispered, curling his fingers until they discovered the tiny woman’s form. Lark let out a surprised squeak as she was gently squeezed in Sky’s hand.

“Hey-” she exclaimed, but immediately was silenced as Sky squeezed her tighter, muffling her voice.

“Shh. Stay in my hand. They’ll see you.” He spoke in hushed tones as his blue eyes darted around. Judging from the pressure on his wrists, he realized that Lark did not succeed with the plan. He groaned.

Lark squirmed briefly in his hand, then relaxed when she realized he was merely concealing her. Luckily, she was already hidden behind the titan’s massive body, in his hand which was against the wall. It was very unlikely that she would be seen, and as the day went on, Lark quietly worked at the chains.

Sky felt his energy dwindling even lower. No food or water was offered to him today, and his body was beginning to develop bruises and sores from the concrete. Oddly enough, his only comfort was knowing and feeling Lark busy herself with the attempt to break his chains, working throughout the day in the comfort of his giant, warm hand.

Lark’s tools proved ineffective against the alloy. Her last ditch method involved a metal rasp, in which she used on one of the chain links until the surface was rubbed bare.

The night came yet again, and as the facility shut down for the evening, the pair was left where they started. Trapped.

“Nothing worked, huh.” Sky rumbled, his eyes shut as he slumped against the wall.

“I… I tried…” Lark uttered as her hands shook from the exertion. She herself was becoming fatigued, and still they were no closer to breaking through the chains.

“Well. You put forth a good effort.” The titan said quietly as he leaned back and gave Lark a gentle, reassuring squeeze. For all he knew, the human could have spent the entire time messing around and deceiving him. But in this moment, Sky had to admit, he enjoyed having her in his hand.

Lark wiped her brows and put all of her tools back in her bag. She slowly climbed out of Sky’s hand, which she had become almost accustomed to. The human walked along the giant’s body until she was in view of his gaze.

The two met eyes. Neither were filled with much hope.

Sky glanced down at the tiny human beside him and let out a chuckle. “Heh. Thanks for providing me some company, at least.” He rumbled as he leaned his head back and looked up at the hatch that Lark originally came out of. “I’ve been wondering if any more humans would come out of there.” He gazed forlornly at the hatch.

Lark followed his gaze upwards, staring at the black, metal access hatch.

“I have an idea.” She said suddenly, and Sky lowered his gaze to look at her.

“Oh?” He asked curiously.

“You have to trust me, though.” Lark added.

“Alright. What’s the plan?” Sky asked confidently.

Lark braced herself. She gazed up at the towering titan, his imposing frame filling her vision. Despite their initial meeting, she found herself trusting the giant in kind. Their predicament surely helped in forcing an alliance between the two.

“If you help me get into that hatch… I can make my way to the control room.” Lark said as she pointed at the hatch and trailed her finger around the cell. “From there, I can disable all the Black Boxes and open the main trapdoors.”

Sky stared down at the human, then gazed up at the metal, reinforced trapdoors above him. They were quite high… but perhaps if he was able to stand up and be free of his chains, he could reach.

“… you’d do that? Why?” The giant asked quietly as he stared back down at Lark. There was no reason for her to risk her neck and sneak into the control room after escaping the hatch.

“I… guess I owe you one. Y’know, for not eating me.” Lark admitted. She did not forget about her recent experience in Sky’s mouth.

Sky sighed and gave Lark a sly look. That option was still not off the table for him. But, he decided it was best to put his faith into Lark’s tiny self.

“Fair enough.” He nodded. “So… how do you plan to get up here?” The giant added with an amused smile.

Lark bit her lip as she looked up and down the bound titan’s body. With no way to use his hands to lift her, Sky was reduced to nothing more than a huge pillar of flesh.

Huffing to herself, Lark marched up to the giant’s waistband and grabbed hold, hoisting herself up along the edge of his briefs. Sky watched in utter amusement as the tiny woman climbed up his underwear as if scaling a rock face.

“Ooh. Better be real careful. There’s not much to grip on to up here.” Sky chuckled as Lark collected herself, standing on his groin. The woman huffed again and marched up along the giant’s soft tummy.

“Don’t distract me, please.” Lark retorted as she steadily moved up the sloping torso of the titan. His stomach was squishy, not at all toned and muscular like one would expect of a giant. Her feet sunk into his gut as she walked, which threw off her balance.

Sky squirmed under the tiny human’s touch. Her dainty movements across his stomach tickled him more than he expected.

“Mmm… heh.” The giant uttered as he stiffened his shoulders to brace himself for the inevitable ascent of the little human up his body. “If only I had my hands. Cripes.” Sky muttered in disdain as he had no choice but to sit still and allow himself to be climbed.

“I’m not trying to tickle you…” Lark huffed as she clambered up the middle of the titan’s pillowy pectorals. The access hatch was directly above Sky’s head… which meant she’d be within biting distance as she scaled his shoulders. Her gaze focused on the titan’s mouth as she climbed.

Sky followed her gaze, and chuckled. He couldn’t help but playfully bite his lower lip, which caused Lark to pause.

“… don’t.” Lark pointed up at Sky, as if scolding a rambunctious pet.

“I’m teasing.” The giant droned. “It wouldn’t be very productive if I ate you at this point.”

“Productive.” Lark repeated, mockingly, as she scaled his collarbone and reached his shoulder. The giant side-eyed her, then leaned closer as she stood on top of his broad shoulders.

“Almost there. You ready?” Sky asked softly, and Lark nodded visibly to him.

“I’m ready…” The woman said as she looked up at the top of Sky’s head. His short, black hair looked quite soft. She imagined she’d have to scale up the thick sideburns of the titan’s jaws to get to the top.

However, Sky merely angled his head down and presented the back of his neck. From her position on his shoulder, it was a steady climb up along his trapezoid and finally the back of his skull.

Lark was quite thankful that the titan was so thoughtful. He didn’t have to make this easier for her… but perhaps that was just his nature. As she climbed along the back of Sky’s neck, Lark started to wonder what made humans wage war on titans in the first place. There was nothing quite like the view from atop the giant’s head as he leveled it, with Lark nestled into his hair.

The two sat there quietly for a moment, waiting for the hatch to open and receive the last of the Boxes. Lark held on to Sky’s hair, looking around the cell from her mountainous perch. It was like she was a small bird, settling down to nest.

“Well… stay safe in there.” Sky said quietly as the hatch opened. He stretched his neck up so the top of his head was level with the entrance of the hatch.

Lark stared anxiously into the darkness of the tunnel. She took a deep breath and crawled forward, entering it.

“I’ll try.” She responded bravely as she disappeared into the hole. Shortly afterwards, a Box came along its invisible patrol route and entered the hatch, sealing the door behind.

And then, Sky was alone yet again. He sat there silently, listening intently for Lark’s journey. All was silent.

With no other choice but to wait, the giant closed his eyes and hoped, prayed, for release.

And after one hour later… the alarms blared.

Sky’s eyes shot open as the sirens and lights lit up the facility. A loud hissing noise came from his shackles, and the chains slid off.

The giant pulled his arms out from behind him for the first time. He examined his hands in front of his face, then looked past them, at the observation window of his cell.

From within, he could see the security force closing in on the trespasser. With one final motion, the quick figure typed in one last array of code, and a loud creak came from the ceiling. The top hatch slowly opened.

Lark gave the giant one last look through the glass as she was seized by guards. A smile ran across her lips. Her task was complete.

CRASH!

An enormous hand came towards her. With the force field dropped, Sky’s fist burst through the glass effortlessly.

His broad fingers enveloped Lark and three of the guards. The titan drew his fist back towards his face, where he opened his palm. In the midst of three other people, Lark stood out easily with her red jacket and small frame.

Sky plucked Lark out from the midst of the guards, clutching her tenderly in his other hand while the guards were quickly tipped into his open mouth, disappearing down his throat.

Lark was clutched firmly within the confines of Sky’s hand, but she managed to peek through Sky’s fingers and see him reaching through the window, relentlessly grabbing handfuls of people and devouring them. The sight was horrifying, but Lark tried to remind herself that this was inevitable… a starving titan seeking revenge for the atrocities committed on him. She was just happy that it wasn’t her getting eaten this time...

“Good work, little one.” Sky rumbled once the place had been emptied, turning his gaze towards the trembling woman in his palm. Though he had just devoured a dozen humans, his face was soft. Lark gazed up at him, nodding shyly back in approval.

“Let’s get out of here.” The titan uttered as he stood up to his full height and reached up to the open hatch doors above him. He placed one hand on the edge of the gateway, then looked down at Lark in his free hand. Without hesitation, the titan brought Lark up to his mouth and opened up, placing her on his tongue gently before closing.

Lark squeaked nervously from within the giant’s maw, expecting to be swallowed.

But Sky was careful with her, and merely held her safe in his jaws as he used both free hands to pull himself out of the cell. The giant emerged, illuminated by spot lights along his almost fully nude frame. Before backup could arrive, he moved swiftly, his enormous legs carrying him easily along the terrain.

“I won’t swallow you.” Sky mumbled as he ran, deep into the mountains, where he would lay low for a while.

“D-Do you have to keep me in your mouth though??” Lark retorted, wincing as her clothes were again soaked by titan saliva.

“No pockets.” Sky muttered, amused.

After running several miles into the hills, Sky hunkered himself down in the thick pine forest. He knelt down and brought his hands up to his face, gazing at the raw strips along his wrists and ankles before holding his hands out and plopping Lark onto them from his warm mouth.

Lark sprawled on his hand for a moment before laying on her back and staring up at Sky’s enormous face. She winced after a moment, then sat up and started wiping saliva off her face.

“I’m starting to notice a trend here…” she muttered, cleaning herself. With no response from Sky, she glanced back up at him, taken aback by his expression.

He looked as if he was about to cry.

“...Sky?” She said softly, staring up at his sparkling blue eyes.

The titan blinked, then smiled. He brought Lark even closer to his face as he breathed on her.

“You really did it. You came back and risked your life to save me.” He breathed, his throat starting to hitch.

Lark stared up at the enormous face before her, feeling his breath wash over her. She reached up tentatively and touched the tip of Sky’s nose.

“Ah… I couldn’t just leave you in there to die.” Lark said with a soft smile. She gazed into the titan’s beautiful, glistening eyes.

She touched his nose, and Sky brought her entire body against his face and snuggled into it. Lark became breathless as she was embraced wholly by Sky’s face, his nose, lips, and cheeks pressed her into the back of his hand.

“Sky…?” Lark squeaked, unable to move in his embrace.

Sky merely responded with a soft grunt as he nuzzled his face into his small companion. He had never been so intimate with a human before… her smallness tickled him in an unfamiliar, but welcome way.

He pulled away, glancing at her confused little face.

“Best hug I could manage.” He admitted sheepishly. “I’m really grateful to you. We make a great team, don’t you think?”

Lark lay sprawled in Sky’s hand as he gazed at her. His expression towards her was much softer than before.

“We do make a great team!” Lark replied with a couple firm pats against the titan’s palm. An unlikely friendship between a human and a titan in the midst of an ongoing war.

Now that he was freed, Sky suddenly felt his exhaustion come over him all at once. He heaved a sigh and curled up on the cold ground, clutching Lark in his hand as he fell asleep. Lark squeaked in surprise, then relaxed.

“Trapped again.” She laughed, and snuggled into the giant’s palm.

#story #sky #lark #vore mention #it's not very detailed though #I just thought it would be funny to make their first meeting in this way more rocky

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deathbyclown · 27 days

Text

Bump in the Night

Rating: T

Words: 11,000

Summary: Buggy is being haunted!!! Or at least that’s what he tries to explain to his business associates! Crocodile is not having it, but when it starts to become a distraction…well maybe he’ll humor the clown.

(Buggy is convinced there is a ghost in his room and he goes through several methods to be rid of it, with no luck. Crocodile is progressively losing his patience with Buggy until he decides to let Buggy stay over. Will Crocodile be able to help Buggy with his ghost problem?)

((The POV will switch between Buggy and Crocodile))

AO3 Link

THUMP

Buggy sat straight up from his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. There it was. That sound again! He glanced around in the dark room, his eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness. Only moonlight shone in through the gaps in his tent, making everything hard to see, stretched and shadowed with just the little bits of light. His looked all around and shrieked at the dark looming figure next to his vanity. His hand fumbled against his lamp, trying to find the stupid switch, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling, very aware of the thing in the room. He flicked on the light and grabbed the dagger he kept under his pillow, turning the blade to the figure, but it stood there, motionless, inanimate. He took a shaky breath, dropping the dagger to the bed, relieved to see it was just his coat rack.

He couldn’t keep doing this! He had woken up every night to the same sound, only to find nothing in the room, his heart pounding. He would be in deep asleep, and then the thumps would happen. Like clockwork, thumping somewhere in his room that stopped as soon as he sat up. And he’d feel a chill, a presence, and all the hair on his body would stand on end, a cold sweat overtaking him, making him clammy. He’d look around the room, dagger in hand, only to find.... nothing. He was sure that someone or something was in the room with him, he just couldn’t see it. He could feel it though, that same feeling when someone is staring at you, watching you, and he’d whip his head around, searching frantically for the source of his discomfort, but there was nothing he could see.

He tried to settle back into bed, keeping the lights on. He closed his eyes, but his whole body felt tense, his heart beating quickly, hard enough to feel it through his chest, to feel it in his throat, his mouth, to hear it pounding in his ears. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, easing into his nice soft plush pillows and blankets.

THUMP

Buggy shot up and out of bed, rushing out of his room and into the town. His heart beat wildly, the cool night air chilling his clammy skin, filling his lungs. He didn’t care that he was only in his underwear and bonnet, running on dirt roads in bare feet. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he couldn’t stay in his room for another minute. Every little sound, every small movement out of the corner of his eye made him jump, the dark quiet rows of tents and newly constructed buildings seemed much more eerie in the dead of night.

He saw a light on in one of the buildings and made a beeline for it, as if he were a moth to a flame. As soon as he reached the building he threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him. Whoever was inside was already awake anyway, so what did it matter if he was loud? He relaxed a little against the door, the warmth and light inside felt comforting, like whatever was in his room, whatever was out there in the darkness, wouldn’t hurt him in here.

He walked further into the building, which he realized was a home, and he felt uneasy once more, but for a very different reason. The only ones who had new homes on Karai Bari were the newest arrivals, who did not want to sleep in a circus tent under any circumstances. So he was in the home of either Mihawk or Crocodile... or one of their subordinates. Was it better to face the enemy you knew versus the one you didn’t?

Buggy took a deep breath and continued forward, peeking around corners and doorways until he came across a partially opened door, warm light streaming from the doorway, the smell of cigar smoke wafting into the partially darkened hallway.

Crocodile. He was awake. Of course he was, did he ever stop working? Buggy peeked around the doorway and saw Crocodile sitting at his desk, his shirt open at the collar, his hand holding up papers as he tiredly looked over them, his cigar hanging loosely between his teeth. He sighed slowly, smoke swirling from his lips.

“Why are you here, Buggy?” He asked, his voice just above a rumble, but clear in the quiet room.

Buggy jumped with a squeak, pulling his head from the doorway and pressed his back against the wall. He held his hand over his heart, nearly beating out of his chest; he wasn’t sure how many more scares he could take.

“H-how did you know I was here?” Buggy peeked back in, and then slowly entered, not coming in further than a few steps from the door.

Crocodile gave him a look, like he was stupid and then sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

“Haki.” he stated simply and then added, “You’re also very loud.”

“I’m not that loud!” Buggy argued, loudly.

So Crocodile could tell he was here by using...haki. He had forgotten about haki, locked it away with the rest of his memories about his time with the Roger Pirates. Almost everyone on that ship knew how to use it, but he was too young at the time to truly grasp it. And then after Roger’s execution, Buggy shed everything that reminded him of Roger, of Shanks, of his childhood adventures. All of those things, they hurt too much to think on, so he just didn’t. He had more important things to focus on, like his own flashy life!

“Did you fall asleep?” Crocodile seemed to be genuinely asking, looked him up and down, his papers set aside a while ago as he smoked down his cigar.

Buggy must’ve just been standing there quietly, nearly motionless for long enough to throw Crocodile off. Ha! It may not have been intentional, but he managed to trick him! He should do something to take advantage of this situation, to rub it in Crocodile’s face, but he yawned before he could help himself, revealing himself to be perfectly awake.

“DAMNIT” Buggy shouted, suddenly, smacking his hands into his forehead, making Crocodile's eye twitch.

“Buggy.” Crocodile stood from his desk, his voice dangerous. Buggy froze, watching as Crocodile circled his desk, standing to his full height, taking slow deliberate steps toward him.

“It’s almost three in the morning. You’ve shown up to my personal residence, uninvited. You’re nearly naked. You’re loud. You’re tracking in dirt .” Crocodile kept speaking, each step toward Buggy felt like a threat. “You’re standing there, interrupting my work and wasting my time. So you better have a damn good reason to explain your presence here.” Crocodile loomed over Buggy, whose fear easily returned as he stood in Crocodile’s shadow.

“C-Croccy! I. I didn’t realize it was your house! But! But you’re just the guy I wanted to talk to! Y’see there’s someone in my room... but I can’t find them! They keep making noises and-”

Crocodile put his hook under Buggy’s chin, the sharp point pressing into him, painful, but not yet breaking the skin.

“Let me give you an example of what you should do when there’s an unwanted guest in your room.” Crocodile grabbed Buggy by his throat with his hand, squeezing tightly, making him choke and gasp. His hands clawed at Crocodile’s arm, his body attempting to break away, but his throat was held firmly in his grasp. He walked Buggy’s throat to the front door, the rest of him following in a panic, his body swirling around him like a swarm of bees. Crocodile threw open the door and chucked Buggy’s neck as far as he could throw it, the other parts of him following like a group of ducklings after its mother.

That didn’t go well. Buggy managed to catch himself from falling onto the ground when he re-assembled but when he took his first step he tripped and stumbled, falling face first into the dirt. Now Buggy was cold, and dirty, and had to either find somewhere else to sleep or return to his haunted room. He groaned in frustration and dragged his feet back to his tent. Maybe whatever was there would be gone because he left and it lost interest!

...

Buggy nodded off at breakfast, face dropping right into his plate of eggs and sausage. He didn’t get a wink of sleep last night after he returned. Instead he showered, got dressed way too early, started his makeup, realized he hated his outfit and changed. And then proceeded to change five more times, leaving clothes everywhere in his room. And then he fell asleep while he was straightening his hair and burnt off a large chunk. It was a very messy morning.

He wiped egg off of his face for the second time that morning, stabbing a fork into a sausage link, bringing it to his mouth with his eyes closed and biting down around nothing, chewing on air as he drifted off again.

“Captain?” A voice cut though his snoozing and he sat up with a start, squinting and looking around. A few of his subordinates were sitting down around him, eating their own breakfast. They must’ve seen him struggling to stay awake (and eat his breakfast) because they were all looking at him with concern, murmuring amongst themselves. Buggy sat up a little straighter, remembering to plaster a confident smile on his face.

“Did you have a long night, sir?” One of them asked, a little timid.

Buggy smiled tightly at them, nodding his head slowly. “Oh nothing I can’t handle!” he tried to wave away their concern.

“Don’t worry Captain, you can confide in us!” One of them encouraged, the rest of them sounding their agreement.

Buggy hesitated, tightening his lips in a line as he thought it over. It was probably not a good look for him to be sharing something that could be seen as a weakness with his underlings, at least that’s what the voice that sounded like Crocodile in his head warned. But Buggy wanted to share what was going on with him, because he had never dealt with a ghost before and wanted advice. So against his better judgement he explained to the group of people sitting with him what he had been experiencing the past few nights.

A few of them nodded sagely, and the others just looked confused.

“I was on a ship where this very same thing happened to the captain! Y’see he had the same kind of problem, hearing sounds at night, strange noises. He swore someone was following him. He spent every night awake, barely sleeping during the day. Well he was so exhausted he finally fell asleep. He slept for near three days, so we went to check on him. And when we looked inside...he was dead. No one had been in the room, ‘cept him! The whole crew was in shock. We looked high and low for any clues, but there was no signs of foul play. The strangest thing about it was…he died lookin’ like he was screaming… but none of the crew had heard a thing.”

Everyone at the table was silent and Buggy was sweating right through his shirt. Is that what was going to happen to him?! Was he going to be murdered by a flashy ghost, unable evade whatever was chasing him???

“Oh that’s a load of bullshit! I’ve heard that same story a hundred time over from a hundred different crews. That’s just a ghost story they tell to rookies!”

The crew members started arguing amongst themselves, leaving Buggy to sneak away, trying to keep his cool so he could leave the tent unnoticed and then frantically run to Crocodile’s office. He needed someone strong and knowledgeable to help him! And since it was morning now, and neither of them were tired, maybe this conversation would go a little better than last night.

Buggy knocked on Crocodile’s door this time, trying to restrain himself from banging, but not really managing. The door opened and before him stood Daz, who looked down at him stone-faced.

“I-is Crocodile here? I gotta talk to him!” Buggy peeked past Daz, trying to see if Crocodile was behind him or something.

“He’s in a meeting.” Daz answered and Buggy whined in frustration.

“Well, when will he be done?!” He looked up at Daz’s face, pleadingly.

“He’s busy most of the day. I’ll let him know you stopped by.” Daz closed the door on Buggy and he stood there in shock for a moment and then screamed, kicked the door, and then hobbled away in pain.

He needed to talk to someone else about this, someone who felt obligated to help him!

...

He sat down with his lieutenants to devise a plan for his ghost. He explained everything to them, adding in what he was told this morning about the captain who mysteriously died. Cabaji and Mohji shared Buggy’s reaction, shocked and terrified, but Alvida just scoffed and rolled her eyes. Galdino just sat there with a serious look on his face, rubbing his chin in thought. Buggy turned to Alvida, offended by her dismissal.

“Hey! Why are you rolling your eyes?! This real and I'm going to die!! Do you think that's funny?!”

Alvida let out a tired sigh. “Ghosts aren’t real. You probably just have rats because your room is a pigsty.”

Buggy’s face flushed and he growled, “Are you calling me a pig?! Because I’ve seen your room! Its looks like a torture chamber!”

“This coming from the man who decorates his room like a 12 year-old girl.” Alvida shot back, looking relaxed, but mildly entertained.

Buggy shot from his seat, stretching his body to tower over Alvida. “ITS FLASHY! !”

“Buggy.” Galdino said suddenly, making Buggy twist his body toward him. “I may have a solution to your problem.”

Buggy snapped back to his normal size and leaned over the table eagerly towards Mr.3. “Really?! Well spit it out!”

Mr. 3 frowned a little deeper and adjusted his glasses. “If there is a being or entity in your room and it is able to make sound, then that means it must have a physical form. And if it has a physical form, then that means it has a weakness, which means we can take advantage of that weakness.” Galdino looked meaningfully at Buggy, who nodded along, thoughtfully, but he had no idea what Galdino was getting at, and this became obvious the longer it took Buggy to fill in the blank. Mr. 3 huffed in frustration and continued.

“And that weakness is being vulnerable to capture! So we would just have to set up a trap and then we would be in possession of a ghost! “ Mr.3’s eyes shined with excitement and determination. “Can you imagine how much of your debt would be erased if you could offer Sir Crocodile something that rare?”

Buggy gasped loudly, drawing everyone’s eye. He rushed forward and grabbed Galdino by his shoulders, shaking him. “That’s a brilliant idea! This is why you’re my buddy! I knew you were still on my side!” Buggy grinned from ear to ear, and Mr. 3 gave him a self-satisfied smile in return, a light blush on his cheeks.

“Well, then, lets go to my workshop! We can draw up some blueprints!” He grabbed Mr.3 under his arms, who made a noise of indignation, and flew them out of the room, Buggy’s feet pattering after him

Alvida gave a weary sigh. “They are so stupid.”

...

Daz let him know that Buggy stopped by, seeming frantic, but really, when wasn’t that clown in a panic? He waved it off and continued his work, easily losing track of time, once again. He didn’t give Buggy a second thought for the rest of the day. He sat in his comfortable armchair, having just finished his dinner, and listened to his favorite record while he read the newspaper. It was a wonderfully quiet and productive day today, and it was that thought that made him realize he hadn’t heard from Buggy since this morning. It was rather unusual given that, so far, Buggy had interrupted him at some point during the day, intentionally or unintentionally, every day since they formed Cross Guild. Usually, it was from causing a disturbance somewhere on the island, and every once in a while it was Buggy coming to him directly to bother him about some kind of grievance that Buggy could easily solve himself.

But there were no such disturbances today. And Crocodile was starting to find that more worrying than Buggy’s chaos and noise. If something happened to him, if he died or got hurt, then it wouldn’t be a problem. His followers would defer to Crocodile if he played his cards right. But what if Buggy was doing something to betray him? That would be a problem.

Begrudgingly he left his cozy armchair and subtly made his way to Buggy’s tent. It was late enough in the evening that he was probably doing his stupidly long nighttime routine. What a waste of time, washing his face with three different soaps, adding oils and lotions and patches. All of it was slick and gloopy and sticky and smelled sweet, like something he couldn’t recall, but was being replaced in his memories by Buggy.

As he approached he could hear Buggy being his usual loud self, and Crocodile silently breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least he knew where Buggy was, but now he needed to figure out what he’d been doing all day. Buggy was shouting, the words indecipherable through the hum of noise across the island, but he heard another person’s voice, a man and paused at the doorway to the tent. He listened intently, only catching bits and pieces;

“No! Not like that, you’re doing it wrong!”

“...”

“Can’t you make it harder?”

“...”

A yelp, definitely from Buggy. Crocodile bit into his cigar, not sure what to make of what he was hearing. He rang the annoying bell that Buggy had attached to his tent for visitors and waited. It became suddenly quiet and Crocodile almost went in when a very red-faced and sweaty Mr.3 poked his head out from the flaps. He looked around in annoyance and then up in fear as he saw who stood before him.

“M-Mr. 0!” Mr.3 stood suddenly and stepped forward, revealing more of his body to Crocodile. His clothes were disheveled, his one suspender slipped off of his shoulder, his shirt open at the neck, revealing more sweaty skin.

The irritation he felt at seeing Mr.3 was immediate and sudden. Why the hell was he in Buggy’s room looking like he’d just interrupted them in the middle of screwing? Is this what Buggy was busy doing all day?

Crocodile locked his jaw and looked down coldly at Mr.3 who trembled in place. Crocodile was about to chew him out when Buggy popped his head out, only his head, the rest of his body left behind somewhere and now Crocodile really couldn’t get a measure of what was going on in his tent.

“What the hell is taking you so long? I’m waiting-” Buggy did a double take at Crocodile who could feel the vein in his forehead pulsing. “Croccy, baby!” Buggy’s head floated before Crocodile who grimaced at Buggy getting so close to his face. “You’ve caught us at a bad time! We’re kinda in the middle of something, so do y’think I could do a raincheck on our meeting?” He pleaded, giving Crocodile his best pout. As if that would work on him.

He rolled his eyes and turned his face from Buggy as he felt his cheeks warming, pretending to look disinterested as he pulled his cigar from his lips. “We didn’t have a meeting, idiot. Daz said you were looking for me.”

“Oh, well, you’ll be proud of me, Croc! I fixed my own problem! Speaking of which, I gotta get back to it! see you later!” Buggy zoomed back into his tent and Mr.3 looked quickly between Crocodile and the tent flaps, made a sort of bow and apologized, then followed Buggy back into the tent.

Crocodile blew smoke from the side of his mouth sharply and tried not to let Buggy’s easygoing attitude get under his skin. Proud of him? Like hell he was. Whatever he was feeling toward Buggy in this moment wasn’t something he wanted to examine. He turned on his heel and went back to his comfortable home. If Buggy was solving his own problems now, all the better. Less worry for him. Let that rotten little clown do as he pleased, as long as he stayed the hell out of his way.

...

“He looked kinda mad, didn’t he? Good thing he didn’t come in here, I don’t think he’d be happy to see what I’ve done with the place.” Buggy floated above his floor which was entirely covered in wax. Mr. 3 huffed and continued his taxing wax work, trying to follow the haphazardly drawn blueprint that Buggy sketched out that afternoon.

“Are you sure you want this to be triggered by any touch? What if a rat runs across the floor?” Mr.3 panted, finishing the last series of cages hanging above Buggy’s floor. The only non-booby trapped spot in the tent was the bed and the edges of the circular tent. Mr. 3 sat down along the edge, wiping his brow, trying to catch his breath.

“I DON’T HAVE RATS!” Buggy screeched, scowling at Galdino.

Mr.3 huffed and rolled his eyes. “Well, whatever is taking form in your room may end up triggering multiple cages, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Of course!!” Buggy held out his arms wide, “if one cage doesn’t do the job, then we’ll have all these flashy back-ups!!”

Mr.3 sat up, and rested an arm on his knee, shaking his head. “I don’t think this is the best method, but we’ll try it.”

“Of course this is the best method, I’m the one who came up with it!!! Now get out of here!! I need to fall asleep so the ghost will come by!!” Buggy’s hands shot across the room and pushed at Galdino’s shoulders.

“Oh. I thought…well, right, of course…” Mr.3 stuttered, face bright red, tugging at his already open collar. He got to his feet and carefully made his way to the exit. He turned to face Buggy before he was fully out of the tent. “If you do catch something, let me know. It doesn’t matter if its late at night or early. I’ll be able to transport it.”

“Yeah, yeah! I’ll call you! Now buzz off!” Buggy shoo’d him away, pushing him the rest of the way out of the tent and flopped back into bed.

“Geez what a yapper.” Buggy muttered to himself, snuggling down into his fuzzy covers.

Buggy had a good feeling about his plan, not only that, he felt safer with all these traps around him. After tonight, his ghost problems would be over!!

…

Pu-dup, pu-dup, pu-dup, pu-dup, pu-dup.

Crocodile threw out his hand and snatched up the snail-phone.

Who the hell was calling him at three in the morning?

“What?” He gruffed into the receiver, his eyes still closed.

“Sorry to interrupt your rest, but I thought you should know there’s quite a commotion going on at the clown’s tent.” Mihawk’s smooth voice informed him.

Crocodile’s brows furrowed. Why would he care about what’s happening at Buggy’s tent? As long as it didn’t affect him, it wasn’t his responsibility.

Crocodile sat up anyway.

“What do you mean by commotion?”

“Apparently he’s stuck. Half the island is there, screaming about an assassination attempt. It’s quite loud. I’m surprised you can’t hear it.” Mihawk said, sounding bored.

“You think someone tried to kill him?” Crocodile asked, putting the snail on his shoulder, lighting a cigar.

“Hardly. If anything, he probably did it to himself. That being said, I don’t think it would hurt for us to make an appearance.”

Crocodile mulled over his words. It would certainly look good for the both of them, would earn more favor from Buggy’s supporters, who were already skittish around him and Mihawk.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Crocodile sighed, hanging up and dropping the snail back onto his nightstand. He rubbed at his eyes, a headache beginning to form. Cross Guild was starting to become a lot more work than he anticipated.

…

Buggy wailed, his head bouncing around the wax cage. He could feel his body parts so close but he couldn’t call them back and it terrified him, made his panic leap tenfold. He sobbed, crying out for help, and he could hear voices, people yelling and calling out to him. It offered him no comfort, they couldn’t do anything about these cages! He needed Galdino! He cried out for him, hoping someone would get him and free him.

Light began shining in, and Buggy flipped his head, watching as a hole began forming, the wax disintegrating before his eyes.

“G-galdino?” Buggy asked, squinting against the sudden harsh light. A hand reached in and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him out. He was face to face with Crocodile, who looked furious, but was attempting to keep his composure.

“CAPTAIN!!!!” His subordinates clamored for him, surging forward to try and see him, but Mihawk held them back.

“Give him some space.”

And the crowd of people pulled back, crying and hugging each other, thanking Mihawk and Crocodile.

“What the hell did you do?” Crocodile hissed, quiet enough for only Buggy to hear, using his hook to hold Buggy as he disintegrated another cage, releasing one of Buggy’s feet.

Buggy sniffed, wishing he had his hands to wipe his tears. “I-I was trying to catch the ghost!!” Buggy wailed, tears flowing.

Crocodile paused and fixed him with a stare. “You can’t be serious.”

Buggy’s bottom lip wobbled, answering Crocodile with a quiet “yeah…”

“The only thing you managed to catch was yourself.” Crocodile muttered under his breath, releasing a part of Buggy’s torso.

“Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen!! Galdino and me had a flashy plan!! I just forgot…” Buggy hesitated and looked off to the side, muttering the rest of his sentence out of the side of his mouth.

“What was that?” Crocodile lifted Buggy to eye level and Buggy avoided his gaze, sweat gathering at his hairline.

“I-I…well, I might have forgotten about the traps, and got scared when the first one fell…. and left the bed when I heard the ghost…” but then Buggy suddenly perked up.

“Wait!!! That means the ghost in one of these cages!!!! Stop opening them!!!”

Buggy wriggled away from Crocodile’s hook and zoomed around the room. He could feel his body parts, knew exactly which cages had him. And that meant he knew which cages were ‘empty.’

“Don’t open these cages!!” Buggy sat his head on one of the empty ones.

Crocodile grit his teeth, his patience running thin. He didn’t say a word though, very aware of his audience. Crocodile opened the rest of the cages, until Buggy was back together. He left the others untouched, as requested. Buggy sighed in relief at having himself in one piece, feeling truly grateful Crocodile and Mihawk showed up to save him.

“Thank you Croccy!!! My savior!!” Buggy wrapped his arms around Crocodile’s neck and hugged him tightly. Buggy could feel Crocodile tense underneath him but he didn’t throw him off like he normally would if they had been alone. His audience cheered and applauded, patting Crocodile, and Mihawk, on the back and offering handshakes as they left. Buggy was sure he’d hear an earful from them in the morning, but he’d worry about that later! For now, Buggy could call Galdino and get his ghost boxed up and out of his room!!

…

All of the cages were empty. Properly empty. Not even a rat, which would’ve been better than nothing. He and Mr.3 double checked every cage, triple checked!! But there was nothing inside, just air.

Buggy felt defeated, blaming himself for triggering the boxes, for missing his chance to catch whatever was haunting him. He sighed dejectedly, resting his head on Galdino’s shoulder.

Mr. 3 placed a hand on Buggy’s head, a mild attempt to comfort him.

“Perhaps this ghost can change its form, become solid and transparent at will.” He offered, slowly undoing all of the wax as they sat on Buggy’s bed.

Buggy looked up at him with large wet eyes, looking somewhat hopeful. “Yeah? You think so?”

Mr.3’s cheeks turned pink and he looked straight ahead, “of course. And if that’s the case, my wax won’t be able to hold something like that.” He brought a hand to his chin in thought.

“You may have to talk to an expert. Someone who has experience with ghosts.” Mr.3 nodded to himself, as if approving his own thoughts.

“An expert? In ghosts?” Buggy pouted, sinking further against Galdino.

“I-I’m sure there’s someone like that around here.”

Buggy huffed, wrapping his arms around Mr.3, holding onto him as he thought about his words. He did have all kinds of people here, ones with some really unique backgrounds. He just had to find them.

“I should get going.” Mr.3 whispered when he finished cleaning up all the wax, not moving.

Buggy groaned and let go, falling back onto his squishy bed.

“Fiiiiine!” He grumbled, wanting to stay here, but he had to meet with Crocodile and Mihawk soon. He was dreading it, this meeting, especially after last night…

As soon as Buggy arrived to the meeting he got cut into pieces and lectured for about an hour. Needless to say he was in tears by the end but surprisingly Crocodile and Mihawk let him explain himself once they were done yelling at him. He put himself back together and explained his ghost problem.

Crocodile scoffed. “You really thought setting up traps like that would help you capture a ghost? How stupid can you be?”

Buggy bristled, swelling in his red outfit “Well, what would you have done!?”

Crocodile got to his feet, matching Buggy’s height. “I would’ve laid my head back down and gone to sleep because ghosts. aren’t. real.”

“Perona can create ghosts.” Mihawk added suddenly, making Crocodile and Buggy turn their heads to look at him.

He just blinked slowly at them as they stared in silence. Crocodile rolled his eyes. “That’s a devil fruit ability, it doesn’t count.”

“It does too!!” Buggy countered. He turned his attention to Mihawk, who still sat there watching them. “So you have experience with ghosts, Mihawk? Do you think you could help me out?”

Mihawk leaned back in his seat, his fingers playing with the cross around his neck. “I have certainly experienced ghosts, but only from Perona’s ability.” Buggy’s face fell, but Mihawk continued. “But I have several books on the subject. Come by my home after dinner. I’ll have them ready for you.”

Buggy perked back up, zooming over to Mihawk, hovering over him. “R-really?! I can come over right now!”

Mihawk shook his head, pushing Buggy away with a single finger. “Tonight. I’ll need time to gather the materials.”

Crocodile tsk’d, drawing the attention of both of them. “You can’t be seriously entertaining this.” He drawled, knowing Mihawk was not a joking man, but hoping that just this once he was.

Mihawk stood from his seat and gave Crocodile a small smile. “We live in a strange world, Crocodile.” He tipped his hat and left, Buggy zooming around the room, leaving Crocodile irritated, chewing at his cigar.

…

Walking into Mihawk’s home felt chilling, like he was going through a haunted house, and Buggy was starting to second guess asking Mihawk for advice. The hallways were dark, narrow, and he trailed behind Mihawk as close as he dared, his hand clutching onto his coattail.

“My library.” Mihawk said suddenly, opening a door, making Buggy squeak in surprise, his hands grabbing onto Mihawk’s arm. With both of Buggy’s hands hanging off of him, he held out his arm for Buggy, bidding him to enter first.

“You’re quite jumpy. Perhaps a glass of wine to soothe your nerves?” Mihawk offered, picking off Buggy’s hands like they were a piece of lint. Buggy took a few steps into the space, relaxing only slightly at the sunset glowing through the large windows behind an ornate wooden desk.

“Y-yeah. I’ll take a glass.” Buggy sat down on one of the armchairs near the desk, glancing around the room, fear making way for curiosity. It was certainly a library; floor to ceiling bookshelves lined each wall, all organized in a system Buggy would mess up if he was in charge.

Mihawk handed him a glass of wine, the bottle seemingly appearing out from under the desk, along with two wineglasses. Buggy didn’t question it, just gulped down the drink like it was juice.

Mihawk gave him a look of distaste but didn’t say anything, sipping from his own glass and leaning back in his chair.

“Crocodile was sparing with the details, so I’d like to hear from the horse’s mouth, as it were, what exactly you’ve been experiencing.” His eyes were intense, practically glowing and it put Buggy ill at ease. He took another gulp of wine and clutched the glass in his hands. Mihawk was always scary looking, he tried to reason to himself, no need to be intimidated!

Buggy took a deep breath and gave Mihawk a detailed re-counting of his sleepless nights, of being haunted by a sound that wakes him, but has no source. Mihawk listened patiently, nodding along, his face thoughtful as Buggy described his reasoning behind the traps he set up with Mr.3.

“That logic was flawed from the get-go. One does not need physical form to create sound. Thunder claps and wind howls, but it cannot be captured.”

“Well! I know that now!!” Buggy grumbled, crossing his arms, his face warming from embarrassment.

“I think you’ll find the information in these books useful. I’ve marked a few pages specifically related to ghosts and their expulsion.” Mihawk pushed the pile of books across the desk. Buggy hopped up from his seat and snatched up the first book from the pile.

“Alas, I did not come across any information about capturing a ghost. I would’ve liked to see your little spectre.” Mihawk said wistfully, thumb and finger brushing over his goatee.

“Hah! Spend a night in my room and you just might!” Buggy commented off-handed, his attention absorbed by the drawings and words on the pages.

Buggy went right to the page that Mihawk marked in this book. It had some interesting information, stuff he never would’ve thought about. Using holy power to expel something demonic. Of course! He needed water and salt and some crosses and statues and maybe even one or two religious fellas, the kind that wore special outfits.

“I accept.” Mihawk answered and Buggy didn’t even register the words, still wrapped up in all the new information he was absorbing. But he realized Mihawk said something and he lifted his head, hoping he would repeat himself.

“Huh? Whadya say?” Buggy’s brow furrowed, his brain trying to put together the words he just heard.

“I accept your offer. I’ll stay in your room tonight. I’d like a chance to see this ghost.” Mihawk explained, leaning back in his chair, steepling his fingers.

Buggy felt like he missed something. When in the hell did he ask Mihawk to spend the night!? Just as he was about to tell him no, a little light went on in his brain. Mihawk is powerful enough to destroy just about anyone. Or anything! And he’s offering to basically be your bodyguard for the night!!! Take the offer, stupid!!

“When should I expect you?” Buggy asked, closing the book with a snap, knowing in the back of his mind he’d have to scramble to clean up his messy room. (Messy! Not filthy!! He didn’t have rats!!!)

…

Crocodile knew it was last minute, but he’d finished the last of the zucchini bread Mihawk made and he had gotten so used to having a slice after dinner with his coffee that he was feeling its absence. So, after nibbling on a few things to try and stave off the craving with no success, he, begrudgingly, made the easy walk to Mihawk’s house and knocked on the door. Hopefully he had an extra loaf or perhaps some other baked good he’d be willing to part with. Although, he knew Hawkeye’s zucchini crop has been doing well, so no doubt he has the materials to make it even if he didn’t have any bread on hand. How difficult is it to make zucchini bread anyway? … … …

Crocodile looked at his watch, and knocked again, lost in thought about bread… … …

What the hell is taking Mihawk so long???

Crocodile knocked again, louder, trying the handle. Locked. Mihawk was always home at this time of night. It was the time of day he took to unwind, part of his routine before going to bed. If he wasn’t here…then where else could he be?

Crocodile returned home and grabbed his snail-phone, calling up one of his most reliable sources of information: Daz, who gave him a surprisingly detailed account of what occurred between Buggy and Mihawk in his home. How in the world does he get this info? Crocodile shook his head, dismissing his thought. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.

Crocodile stormed out of his home, his long strides taking him quickly to Buggy’s tent. Of all places! Of all people! He can’t believe Mihawk got sucked into Buggy’s nonsense about ghosts! The whole island may be going along with Buggy’s insanity, but he would not!

He hesitated at the entrance to Buggy’s tent, annoyed that he didn’t have a door like a normal person. He really wanted to pound his fist against something right now. He stood there fuming for a few seconds, unsure how to approach the situation. When did he become so rash and careless? That stupid clown was rubbing off on him. He grabbed a cigar from his coat pocket and brought it to his mouth, looking for a lighter while he held it in his teeth.

“Here.” A hand appeared, a lighter with a green flame held out before him.

“Thanks.” Crocodile leaned toward the flame, puffing a few times to get the cigar started. And then he jolted, realizing Mihawk stood beside him.

“Where the hell did you come from?” He gruffed, irritated at being caught off guard.

“I was reclining in Buggy’s bed, reading, when I sensed you. You seemed agitated, so I came here to check on you.” Mihawk answered easily, tucking the lighter into a heavy looking robe, his chest exposed, as it often was. But Crocodile noted he wore soft looking lounge pants. He really was spending the night with Buggy, wasn’t he?

Crocodile wanted to snap at him, but he had to maintain his composure, to match Mihawk’s energy. But this whole thing was just absurd.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to help the clown catch his ghost?” Crocodile sneered.

“Oh no, nothing like that.” Mihawk waved his hand as if dismissing the idea.

That did not make Crocodile feel any better. Why didn’t he feel better? So was Mihawk just sleeping in Buggy’s bed…for what? He felt surge of…jealousy. And it made Crocodile sick to his stomach with the realization.

“No, I simply wish to see the ghost, if it is indeed real.” Mihawk added, looking up at Crocodile.

Oh. So he was here for the ghost. And not for… well it didn’t matter.

“Of course you are. What you’re doing is absurd, but I can’t stop you.” Crocodile puffed at his cigar, breathing out a long stream of smoke. Really, he was hoping to see Buggy and rough him up a bit for inconveniencing him. That always made him feel a little better, bullying the clown.

“I just came by to see if you had anymore zucchini bread.” Crocodile asked, pulling the cigar from his mouth and flicking off the ashes, trying to seem casual.

“Oh yes. I have quite a bit. It’s in my freezer.” Mihawk reached into the pocket of his robe but both of them whipped around to the entrance of Buggy’s tent as they heard him scream.

“Mihawk!!! Where are you?!?? Oh my GOD the ghost took him!!!! Crocodile’s going to kill meeee!!!!” They could hear Buggy sobbing and both of them rushed into the tent to see Buggy clutching the book Mihawk was reading to his chest, his head thrown back as he cried.

Crocodile crunched into his cigar at the sight, irritated on so many levels; His stupid dramatics, his obvious anguish at losing Mihawk, his rightful fear of Crocodile. All of it just pissed him off.

Mihawk walked around the room, as if looking for something.

“It would seem I was away when the ghost appeared.” He said, sounding mildly disappointed. Buggy turned to Mihawk and shrieked, throwing the book at Mihawk and scrambled backward.

“What the HELL is going on!?” Buggy had a dagger pointed toward Mihawk, a pillow held tightly to his bare chest.

“I stepped away for a moment to chat with Crocodile and apparently I missed the ghost.” He said with a sigh, sitting down on the bed. Buggy’s head swiveled around, eyes widening when he saw Crocodile, just now realizing he was in the room.

Crocodile continued to observe, smoke trailing from his lips. He felt a kind of satisfaction at Buggy being so wary of Mihawk.

“S-so you’re Mihawk and not the ghost?” Buggy asked, his hand trembling as he held out the dagger.

Mihawk raised an eyebrow but just nodded and said “Indeed. I am not the ghost.”

Buggy threw away the dagger and pillow and lunged at Mihawk, hugging him tightly. Mihawk seemed mildly confused, and had a light blush on his cheeks, but seemed otherwise unperturbed.

“I thought the ghost got you!! Why did you leave?? You scared me!!” Buggy wailed, rubbing his tears and snot into the arm of Mihawk’s robe.

Crocodile nearly snapped into his cigar, his teeth gritting so hard at Buggy’s pathetic and shameless display. That creeping feeling of jealousy roared to life at the sight of Buggy holding onto Mihawk. He swore he saw Mihawk’s golden eyes glimmer at him before he returned his attention to Buggy, petting his head in comfort.

“It was not my intention to frighten you. But do you think me so weak? I certainly hope I would put up more of a fight, in such a case.” He gave Buggy a small smile, and Buggy just held him tighter, babbling apologies. Pathetic.

“If there’s no danger, I’m leaving.” Crocodile grumbled, turning away from the disgusting obvious affection the two shared. He’d seen enough. Damn that Mihawk. He didn’t realize it until this moment, but he wished he hadn’t turned Buggy away that first night. He just caught him at a bad time, tired and frustrated with his mountain of paperwork. Maybe things would’ve gone differently if he had pretended to take Buggy seriously. Maybe Buggy would be clinging onto him, grateful for his presence, squeezing him tightly with his weak little arms. Stupid clown. He didn’t need Buggy.

…

The sleepover with Mihawk was a bust. In fact it left him even more stressed out because he kept waking up to double check that he was there. Mihawk decided to spend the rest of the night there, still hoping to catch sight of the ghost, but nothing happened. And Buggy was left exhausted and still being haunted!! Buggy definitely heard the ghost last night!! He needed to try the stuff from the books Mihawk gave him. He’d gather the materials today and create a super flashy anti-ghost sleeping space!!

By evening he managed to get most of what he was looking for, except the religious fellas with the special outfits. He did get a few offers from people who had said outfits, but they were just costumes. Which meant they didn’t have the power to expel demons or whatever so he didn’t take them up on it.

He put on an iron necklace, covered his bed in salt, put an iron dagger under his bed, burned sage, said some words in a language he didn’t understand and sprinkled holy water on his pillow and around his bed.

Sleeping in his salty bed and pressing his face into his damp pillow wasn’t exactly comfortable, and the smell of the sage just made him hungry. He had a pretty hard time falling asleep but eventually he managed, sinking into his grainy bed.

…

THUMP

Buggy twitched in his sleep. He turned over, his hand brushing over grainy sheets, his dreams turning to images of the beach.

THUMP

Buggy clutched the sheets, his eyes shooting open. He laid there, heart beating wildly in his chest, waiting.

THUMP

Buggy clutched the cross around his neck and scrambled for the iron dagger under his pillow, unable to feel it.

THUMP

It was right next to him and Buggy shrieked, rolling away from the sound, getting twisted up in his blankets, falling to the floor.

This anti-ghost shit wasn’t working!!! Buggy frantically clawed his way out of his blankets, stumbling onto his feet, trying to regain his balance. He could feel it, the presence in his room, looming behind him. He didn’t dare look back, running out of his tent as soon as he got his feet under him.

There was no way in hell he was sticking around!! He hurried to Mihawk’s house, bare feet slapping against dirt and grass before hitting flat stone. He was nearly there when a large figure approached from the corner of his eye. He stopped short, freezing in place, slowly turning his head to the huge shadow slowly slinking from the darkness.

“Ghost troubles again, clown?” A deep voice rumbled and Buggy caught a whiff of cigar smoke.

He sighed in relief, pressing a hand to his chest. Crocodile stepped into view under a street lamp, looking tired, his hook covered in blood.

“Wh-why is there blood? What were you doing!?” Buggy stuttered, pointing a trembling finger at him.

Crocodile smirked and blew out a long plume of smoke. “It’s late, let’s talk inside.” He ushered Buggy to his home, his large hand on his shoulder, comfortingly warm against his chilled bare skin. But Buggy was still on edge, jumping at every little sound and touch. What if Crocodile was going to use that hook on him next!? Maybe he should just politely slip away and knock on Mihawk’s door.

Before he knew it was was pushed onto Crocodile’s couch, a glass of whiskey pushed into his hand. Crocodile sat in his large armchair, taking a sip from his own glass. He used a handkerchief to wipe down his hook. He looked relaxed, bored, not paying much attention to Buggy as he rubbed away spots of dried blood.

Buggy just sat there, hunched over and shivering, his legs pressed together, his glass of whiskey cupped in both hands on his thighs. There was no way he could drink alcohol right now, his stomach clenched with nerves, too volatile to accept anything so hard and acidic. He glanced up at Crocodile.

“D-do you have any tea?” He asked quietly.

Crocodile paused his cleaning and he looked Buggy up and down.

“I don’t drink tea. Only coffee.” He answered, continuing to clean his hook.

“Oh. Ok.” Buggy traced the rim of the glass with his thumb. Maybe just a sip wouldn’t hurt.

Crocodile stood and took off his hook, something Buggy had never seen before. He tried not to stare but he couldn’t help himself. Crocodile had his sleeve folded over his arm, the extra fabric falling loose as it came free from the hook. He set down the hook on his desk and removed his coat, returning to Buggy. He stopped in front of him and Buggy stared up, shrinking slightly, unsure if he did something wrong. Crocodile placed the coat around his shoulders and took the glass of whiskey from him.

Buggy was in shock. Did he die? Why was Crocodile being so nice to him?! Whatever the reason, Buggy wasn’t going to complain right now. His coat was so thick and cozy, still warm from Crocodile’s body heat. Buggy pulled the heavy coat tighter around himself, the fluffy collar tickling his face. It smelled like Crocodile, like cigar smoke, spicy and strong, and his cologne, fresh and masculine, and his hair product, light and mildly floral. Buggy breathed in deeply, nuzzling his face in the soft fur.

“You’re not wearing your little sleeping hat.” Crocodile commented, removing his ascot and unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt, a thin gold chain gleaming against pale skin and sparse dark hair.

Buggy watched him with wide eyes, his mind bouncing around at all these new sights Crocodile was showing him. He wore a necklace!? Buggy never knew that! What did it mean? Wait, Crocodile said something to him.

Buggy’s hand went to his hair when he processed Crocodile’s comment. Just his messy hair, unbrushed and sticking out, loose over his shoulders and back. How had he not noticed.

“It must’ve fallen off when I rolled off the bed.” Buggy murmured, tucking his hair behind his ears.

“Your ghost made you roll off the bed?” Crocodile asked with a derisive smile.

“It didn’t make me! I had to! It was right next to me!! It would’ve killed me!!” Buggy insisted defensively.

Crocodile scoffed. “Your ghost hasn’t laid a finger on you this whole time, has it?”

Buggy flushed, his body breaking apart under Crocodile’s coat, filling the empty spaces and making himself big, hovering above his seat.

“That’s not the point! It’s still tormenting me!”

“Is that why you were wandering around outside, past midnight, half naked?” Crocodile asked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

“I! I wasn’t wandering! I was going to Mihawk’s house! Because unlike you, he believes me!” Buggy crossed his arms, turning his back to Crocodile. “Speaking of which! I should get going! Mihawk’ll be able to help me!” Buggy flipped his hair and started shrugging off Crocodile’s big warm coat.

Crocodile grabbed his arm, preventing him from taking off the coat and Buggy turned his head to look at him in question.

“Don’t bother Mihawk. You can spend the night here.” Crocodile said, his words so final, it felt less like an offer and more like a command.

“Really?” Buggy looked up at him in awe. “Does that mean you believe me?”

Crocodile frowned, sliding his coat back onto Buggy’s shoulders.

“No.” Crocodile answered so firmly it left no room for argument. Buggy frowned still wanting to respond but got distracted as Crocodile pushed his hand against Buggy’s back, walking him to the door. He turned out the lights to his office, dropping them into darkness. “Let’s get ready for bed.”

Buggy stumbled through the dark, Crocodile leading him through the hallway to a doorway that had French doors. Crocodile pushed them open and nudged Buggy forward, flicking on a lamp. Everything in the room was cool, sleek, dark furniture with leather and gold. The lighting was warm, but dimmed, making the space feel quiet, smaller. Buggy was too afraid to touch anything, everything seemed expensive and breakable. There was an armchair, a small table, an armoire, a dresser, and a bed large enough to comfortably fit two Crocodiles. The bed took up most of the space in the room and Buggy glanced back at Crocodile who put out his cigar in an ashtray on his beside table.

“If you need to use the bathroom it’s through that door. Otherwise you can lie down.” Crocodile said, sitting down in the armchair and sliding off his shoes. Buggy nodded and hesitantly climbed onto the bed, unsure if Crocodile meant he was supposed to lay down here or somewhere else. It’s not like there was really anywhere else anyway. But he moved slowly just in case Crocodile told him off.

But Crocodile said nothing, continuing to undress, unbuttoning his shirt, exposing the white tank top he wore underneath.

Buggy swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry, unable to take his eyes off of Crocodile’s chest. He was so large, thick, his pecs jiggling with the movements from his arms. Crocodile undid his cuffs and slid the shirt off, dropping it into a hamper. He undid the belt to his pants, curling it up like a snake and placed it in a box in his armoire. He took off his pants, exposing his dark soft looking briefs and pallid muscular legs covered in dark black hair. Buggy had to stifle a giggle at seeing the little sock garters that Crocodile had around his shins. He removed both of them, folding the straps and setting them in a box next to the belt. He removed his socks and put them in the hamper, along with his pants. He took off each ring and set them down on one of the bedside tables.

Buggy had never seen so much skin from Crocodile. He couldn’t help himself, his eyes eating up every little detail of his body. Crocodile removed his tank top and Buggy sucked in a breath, his thick muscled body had long scars across his chest that went over his side and to his back. Scars similar to the one across his face. Crocodile glanced at him at Buggy’s face heated, looking away as soon as their eyes met.

Crocodile huffed and went into the bathroom. Buggy slid off Crocodile’s coat and dropped it to the floor, flipping open the heavy quilted comforter. The sheets weren’t smooth or fluffy like Buggy’s, more starchy and cool like cotton or linen. How boring. And he didn’t have enough pillows! Crocodile had two pillows on each side of the bed. That was not enough for Buggy! He had to have at least five! Two for his head, one behind him, one in front of him, and one to hold in his arms while he slept on his side! How could Crocodile sleep like this? Buggy snuggled down into the bed, the feeling of the sheets scratchy against his bare skin. He huffed and tried to move around, feeling tiny in Crocodile’s oversized bed. Everything here was too big! The pillows were overly large and tall underneath his head he couldn’t lie down flat, he was practically sitting up. Buggy frowned, turning to the pillows to adjust them. He punched them a few times but nothing happened, their shape returning exactly to how they were. Buggy grumbled to himself and took the one pillow and put it behind him turning on his side but he didn’t have his hugging pillow so he laid on his back instead. Crocodile came out from the bathroom smelling like toothpaste and mouthwash, walking over to his dresser. He put on a pair of linen lounge pants and a matching long sleeved sleep shirt. Buggy watched, trying to be subtle about it, peeking over the covers.

Who the hell wore that many clothes to bed!? No wonder he didn’t have soft sheets!! He wouldn’t be able to feel them with an outfit like that!!

Crocodile turned to the bed and Buggy ducked down, his eyes looking over the covers. Crocodile flipped open his side of the blankets, slid in, then turned out the light.

It was pitch black in the room. No fairy lights, no lanterns, no moonlight or streetlights, just darkness. It made the air feel heavy, and Buggy squirmed in bed, his hands subtly searching to re-locate his pillows, despite him still touching them. Crocodile turned in bed, got comfortable and remained still, quiet.

But each minute in this darkness just put Buggy further and further on edge, until he was trembling and sweating, thinking he was seeing things move in the darkness.

“Why are you moving so much?” Crocodile grunted, turning in bed, maybe toward him?

“I can’t see anything and it’s freaking me out.” Buggy whispered, his hands gripping the blankets hard enough make his hands ache.

Crocodile sighed and Buggy yelped when he felt his hand on him, pulling him closer. Buggy’s heart beat quickly, but as soon as Crocodile held him against his chest, he started to calm down.

“Are you just now telling me you’re afraid of the dark?” Crocodile’s voice rumbled through his chest, loud in Buggy’s ear.

Buggy looked up at Crocodile, or at least tried to, but he couldn’t exactly see him.

“I-I’m not afraid of the dark!! Your room is just pitch black!! I can’t even see the fingers in front of my face!” Buggy said indignantly, pushing a finger into, what Buggy assumed, was Crocodile’s chest.

Crocodile sighed in a long suffering way and turned away from Buggy moving off the bed.

“W-wait! Where are you going!?” Buggy frantically pawed at the space Crocodile left, trying to see if he could pull him back somehow.

Suddenly moonlight flooded into the room, the glow of the streetlights casting shadows over everything.

“Better?” Crocodile asked, standing beside a window, the curtains pulled back.

Buggy sighed in relief, the outline of Crocodile now obvious to him, his body washed in moonlight.

“Yeah. Thanks, Croccy.” Buggy snuggled down into bed once more, the bed dipping as Crocodile rejoined him.

“You’re a lot of work, you know that?” Crocodile complained, turning onto his side, looking at Buggy.

Buggy could actually see him now, just an arms length away. Buggy gave him a bashful smile and crawled over, wrapping his arms around Crocodile the best he could and hugged him tightly.

“I’m sorry!! Thank you for being so nice to me.” Buggy pressed his face into Crocodile’s neck and he could feel his Adam’s apple bob. “Even though you don’t believe in my ghost.” Buggy mumbled into his skin.

Crocodile scoffed, his hand lightly tugged Buggy’s hair. “You owe me for entertaining you like this. I can add it to your debt if you’d like.” He teased.

“Crocodile!! Don’t be mean!! My ghost tried to kill me tonight and I can’t pay back a debt if I’m dead!!” Buggy whined, pushing against Crocodile’s chest.

Crocodile chuckled, his fingers still playing in Buggy’s hair. Buggy stilled, in shock once again from Crocodile. He’s never made Crocodile genuinely laugh before. The only time Crocodile laughed was at him, usually when he was getting bullied. Buggy smiled, warmth blooming in his chest. Crocodile had a nice laugh when it wasn’t being directed derisively at him.

“I think the only thing that could kill you in that room would be the rats.” Crocodile smirked.

“I DON’T HAVE RATS!!” Buggy cried, pushing Crocodile onto his back, pinning him down, straddling his waist. Crocodile laughed a little harder, his hand moving to hold Buggy’s hip. Buggy was jostled by Crocodile’s laughter and he couldn’t help but laugh lightly himself, holding onto Crocodile’s shoulders. Crocodile’s thumb stroked the top of his thigh, his touch warm, gentle.

Buggy stared down at him, a curtain of blue hair narrowing their vision to one another. Crocodile’s eyes glimmered in amusement, a soft smile on his handsome lips.

Wait. Handsome? Sure he looked big and tough and powerful, but…

Buggy sat back, his fingers tracing the lines and buttons of Crocodile’s sleep shirt. Maybe he was a little handsome. He does have a nice body…and he takes care of himself… he has a nice laugh, a pretty smile and soft looking lips. Buggy’s fingers mindlessly trailed the skin on Crocodile’s neck, up to his jaw, tracing his lips.

Crocodile’s lips parted slightly, his hot breath washing over Buggy’s fingers. He had to stop, because he was about to stick his fingers in his mouth and Crocodile would kick his ass if he did that! Buggy slid off of Crocodile, his heart fluttering, face warm and palms sweaty. What was going on!? Why did Crocodile even let him do all of that?!

“S-sorry. We should, um, go to sleep. G’night!” Buggy stuttered out, turning his back to Crocodile, and bringing the covers over his head. Gahhh!! Why was he feeling like this!? His mind couldn’t stop racing.

Crocodile sighed and shuffled in bed. “Good night, Buggy.”

Buggy laid there for what felt like hours, replaying his evening with Crocodile. The feeling of his coat, his smell, watching him undress, laughing with him, feeling his skin, his breath. All of this played in an endless loop, his stomach swooping when he thought about touching Crocodile’s lips, about Crocodile’s hand in his hair, on his thigh. His skin tingled from his head to his toes, and he felt a kind of giddiness, making him squirm in bed, unable to sleep.

Crocodile put a hand on his waist and he froze, heart jumping to his throat. He pulled him back, until he was flush with his chest, holding him tightly.

“Stop moving. Go to sleep.” Crocodile gruffed.

“S-sorry! Ok!” Buggy tensed, his back straight as a board. How was he supposed to sleep now!? But as he felt Crocodile’s even breathing, the weight of his hand on him, his strong heartbeat thumping through him, he was lulled to sleep.

…

There was something moving in the room. Crocodile could feel it even from his deep sleep, the movement tickling the back of his neck. He opened his eyes, looking around, not yet moving, loathe to do so now that Buggy was snuggled so comfortably into his chest. He would kill whoever was stupid enough to come into his room and interrupt his sleep, especially when he had a guest. His haki told him that whatever was in here was small, almost like a bird, but just floating around. Some kind of ability from a devil fruit user? Was someone trying to spy on him?

THUMP

It ran into the wall. So, it couldn’t see? What would be the point of that if it was a spy?

THUMP

Buggy jolted, gasping, his eyes flying open. Crocodile looked down at him in question.

THUMP

“It’s the ghost!! It’s here!!” Buggy whispered frantically, pressing himself into Crocodile. Crocodile shot out an arm using his sand to grab the object. He pulled it to himself, sitting up, holding it in his hand.

“Buggy, turn on the light.” He told him, his voice gravelly from sleep.

The light flicked on, both of them squinting from the sudden brightness. Crocodile blinked down at the object in his hand.

“Is it the ghost!? Did you catch it!?” Buggy asked anxiously, leaning over to get a peek.

Well it definitely wasn’t a ghost. Crocodile looked up at him, blank faced.

“Wh-what is it!?” Buggy sat back, leaning away from Crocodile’s open hand as if it would suddenly jump out and grab him.

He held it up between his thumb and pointer finger.

“Ewww!! Is that a spider!?” Buggy panicked, backing up even further.

Crocodile grit his teeth and tossed it at Buggy, who shrieked and squirmed away.

“You idiot! It’s your hand!” He snapped.

Buggy paused and held up his arms, noticing that he only had one hand attached to him. The other laid before him and he called it back, re-attaching it to his arm. He stretched his fingers and made a fist.

“Huh. It feels like it fell asleep.” Buggy commented, shaking his hand. His brow furrowed as he tried to wake up his hand and Crocodile felt like he was ready to strangle Buggy.

“Buggy.” He growled and Buggy’s head shot up to look at him, trepidation clear in his face at Crocodile’s tone.

“You’ve been crying about being haunted, causing trouble for everyone on the island, myself included, and the entire time, your fake ghost was your disembodied hand?” Crocodile bit out, the vein in his forehead pulsing.

Buggy shrank away from him, holding out his hands, looking terrified and sheepish. “N-now, wait! I didn’t know I was the cause! And it’s not like I was making up the ghost or anything! Something was bothering me!! A-and look at that, you helped me solve my ghost problem!!! Thank you, Croccy!” Buggy nervously babbled, forcing a cheerful tone.

This idiot clown was going to put him in an early grave. What kind of moron gets scared awake by his own hand and doesn’t even realize it? He should beat him for being so stupid. Was Buggy was cute enough to deal with his bullshit? He took a deep breath, rubbing his hand over his face. He peeked at Buggy through his fingers; Buggy looked up at him with shining eyes, near tears, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, his hands twisting in his lap. Crocodile grit his teeth and ran his fingers through his hair. Unfortunately, Buggy was cute enough. But he’d most certainly be punishing him later. Right now he was too tired to deal with Buggy’s nonsense.

“Just turn out the light. We can discuss this in the morning.” Crocodile sighed, climbing under the covers once more.

Buggy did as he was told, staying silent the whole time, moving slowly as if worried that any sudden movement or sound would change Crocodile’s mind. He laid still and flat on his back, the covers pulled up to his chin.

Oh no. That wouldn’t do. Buggy was in his bed and he would be enjoying every moment of it, especially if Buggy was going to cause him trouble. He pulled Buggy to his chest, holding him close. Every time he felt Buggy’s warm body against him, smelled his sweet fruity shampoo, put his bare hand on Buggy’s naked waist, his heart fluttered and his stomach swooped. He would never admit it out loud but there was no way he was going to let anyone else sleep with Buggy.

“Are you mad at me?” Buggy asked quietly into his chest, looking up at Crocodile. Stupid sweet pathetic clown. Every time Buggy looked up at him like that he just wanted to take a bite out of him, wanted to squeeze his cheeks until his pink lips pushed out.

“No.” He lied, his fingers playing with Buggy’s soft hair. Buggy turned toward him, his hands on his chest, looking up at him hopefully.

“Really?” He asked, eyes shining.

“Yes.” He lied again, his heart skipping a beat. “Now go to sleep. We have work to do in the morning.” He slid down and kissed the top of Buggy’s head, curling his arm around him to hold him close. Buggy sighed in relief and snuggled into his chest. There was no way he’d let Buggy go.

#crocbug #crocobug #buggy the clown #sir crocodile #buggy #crocodile x buggy #one piece #fanfiction #cross guild #buggy one piece #crocodile one piece #I hope you enjoy my silly little fic!#ummm feel free to let me know your thoughts! 👉👈#fanfic

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highfiveheroes · 2 months

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HI CAN I HEAR THE DEEP DIVE PLS I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON APPLESPRINGS

APPLESPRING DEEP DIVE HEY!!! HEY!!!!!!!

also sorry in advance i lost the plot halfway through and i fucking. i love them. anyway no read mores we die like dayne blade

oh god okay what is so important to me. is that first and foremost. kristen and gorgug have such a Relationship they have connections other people don’t and i just. fuck man. they died together on day one and i fucking. i love them man. anyway

it is vital to me that. kristen is still a Lesbian. she does not like men and this is important to me. but she cares So Deeply About Gorgug, like. fabian and riz and adaine and fig are her brothers and sisters. she doesn’t replace the applebees brothers, but she finds a new set of family, and they all mean something to her. but for some reason. gorgug to me has this intrinsic understanding of her that is so Different to how everyone else sees her, and. shameless plug i have a whole series of fics about them and how they interact and it’s love without being in love because i’m so scared to commit to writing it

because the big thing is that i project the hell onto gorgug when it comes to gender, and its. gorgug’s gender is mashed potatoes. i cannot explain better than that but i will try like. he’s not Not a guy. he is just a Guy. but a guy in the sense that people say “hey you’re a guy” and that’s not Right but it’s not Wrong. and if fig comes in and says they’re doing makeup and nail polish and wearing dresses onstage he will do that as well. he doesn’t have a problem. because how other people see him when it comes to gender specifically (and it ties into his upbringing, having people look at this gnome family with their half orc son and having Opinions) he doesn’t Care how other people see him. they can assign whatever they want to him. inside his brain, if prodded, is just a ball of mashed potatoes, because he doesn’t care. gendernonconforming/nonbinary gorgug is the love of my fucking life i have. so many thoughts. gorgug thistlespring i have so many thoughts.

but the other part of this is. hear me out. aromantic/demiromantic, bisexual. gorgug Likes Sex. he has been very clear about this to me from like. early on, he’s not ashamed of it (with himself, his parents are a whole other thing). but i don’t think he Likes being a boyfriend. he didn’t put That much effort into it with zelda unless encouraged, and he didn’t seem torn up about the break up, and i think he cared about zelda but it didn’t. mean the same to him, but he did like the crazy sex part of it that came with her family. and then i have Never understood gorgug and mary ann until i took this take on him because mary ann isn’t Trying to have sweet sappy romance. the extent of it is “hey. i wanted to be friends. i still do. i have a bench. let’s fuck.” and gorgug just. it hits Right for him, so that works out

but factoring kristen into gorgug’s whole mashed potatoes and gravy deal??? kristen, the person he shares an unbreakable and completely unique bond with? kristen, his best friend, who was ALSO hypersexual for most of her last relationship? kristen who went through a breakup at the same time as gorgug, who has the same uncertainty about how her family Wanted her to be versus who she became? (and gorgug, whose parents love him but told him to try to keep the rage under control for so long, who also put him into a box he was never meant for, who on day one died and came back wrong next to a girl who was chosen, died, and also came back wrong, endured relentlessly, walked into a forest even though he thought she was dead and told all of his friends it’s gorgug, keep going?)

what was the point of this. queer platonic but sexual but not platonic but still sexual relationship. gorgug and kristen love each other more than anything and they’ll do anything for each other and they’ll do anything to make the other person happy with no strings attached and they died together okay

applespring that was the point wasn’t it. anyway i love them i have Thoughts

#this might be a really unhinged take #or a cry for help #but i’m so fucking. i have so many thoughts about them Clearly #applespring #this is also probably a very unpopular take #all of it #and i’m very sorry in advance for that too

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leagueofdccm · 5 months

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❛ don’t shut me out like this. ❜ / jack

memes that gotta go || @w1dowed

" I'm not- " AS HE SPOKE, A DEEP FRUSTRATION was evident in his voice. He realized the anger in his tone and stopped abruptly, taking in a deep breath and shutting his eyes tightly for a moment. He counted to ten, trying to control his temper, as he had read in a book before. It may seem cliched, but this technique helped him to calm down, somewhat. Gradually, he felt his heart rate slow, and the ANGER THAT HAD BEEN SIMMERING INSIDE him began to subside. After a while, he opened his eyes and turned to face his mother, his features softening as he spoke again, this time without any hint of rage. He tried to explain himself to her, "I'm not shutting you out, Mom. It's just that I did something, and I don't know how to deal with it."

JACK WAS GROWING UP IN A WORLD that was much different from the one his parents had grown up in. He was still a teenager, but he knew that he couldn't just live a normal life anymore. He had heard stories from Tilly, and his parents, especially his dad, about how the world used to be before everything changed. Jack had even found some books that talked about the joy of the old world versus the harsh reality of the present day. Despite being bored at times, reading those books helped him to understand how different things were back then.

THE DEAD still wanders the earth, changes have yet to be made, no cure, no sign of walkers going extinct... just same ol same ol. Would life ever go back to the old ways.. and if it did, would any of them even know how to live in the old world ? Would his mom or dad ? Would Tilly ? As he sits up, he GLANCES DOWN at his open palms before clenching them tight. His nails dig harshly into his palms as his lips press together, his mind racing with thoughts and emotions. Suddenly, he feels a desperate need to FEEL SOMETHING GOOD, SOMETHING SWEET, something that will remind him that despite the horrors of this new world, there is still love and comfort to be found in the arms of his mother. He runs up to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly, FEELING SAFE AND AT HOME. Maybe this is why his dad always found comfort in holding his mom, because it made everything better.

" I-- killed someone. " Barley a whisper as he spoke against her, pulling back just enough to lock eyes with her. " -- I was out... practicing's my aim. I know I should have told you guys, but i didn't because I-- I don't know, I just wanted to see if can do it all by myself without you or dad.... without Tilly or Alden hovering over me. And also I know you guys are busy, and I didn't want to be a bother. So I went off on my own. I didn't think it would be a big deal--- until I heard someone coming up behind me and, " Taking him down without giving Jack a chance to turn and see the stranger. He doesn't have to mention how he got in a fight with this man, the two of them wrestling for the gun in Jack's hand. The bruise underneath his eye tells that part of the story well.

" --We fought, he was bigger than me... but.... the spare knife is was what helped me gain the upper hand... I stabbed him in the neck while he was busy... " Choking him, but he doesn't say, just touches his neck lightly, wincing at the pain. He must look fucking stupid and can't even look his mother in the eyes as he spoke of what had went down. " I'm sorry... I just... I was just protecting myself... I-- he didn't give me a choice he was trying to kill me ! So I.... killed him first. I- are you mad at me ? " He dosen't give the full story of it all, it's just a summary. Can't get the image of the guys life leaving his eyes when JACK THRUSTED THE KNIFE INTO THE MAN'S THROAT, BLOOD SPILLING OUT without anyway to stop it. He pulled it out, had kicked the stranger off of him, watching as the older mean reached a hand out, gasping for air, trying to speak but no words just gurgling. Jack eyes widen, and it hits him--- wonders if he had a family to go back home to ? Why couldn't he just ask for the gun instead of trying to kill Jack for the weapon ? He killed walkers before but not another living being. And it was just.... a lot to take in.

#w1dowed #🔥◂Jack┊dying to believe again┊Inbox IC #tw mention of blood #tw mention of death #tw mention of killing

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sorceress-coffee · 2 years

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RoA Chapter 37 KanjigAAARRRGGHH!!! & Homecoming

Chapter 37, Phase 3 of River of Arcadia

Ao3 Link

Disclaimer: The Trollhunter universe and characters don't belong to me. River, Eri, Eemeli, Ms. Kamaria/Sylvina, Garridan, Ganieda, and the Eclipse Guard are my own characters (List is subject to change as the story progresses). The lore is a mix of old Arthurian legends, ToA cannon lore, and my own that I've developed

for RoA.

Toby ended up spending the night with Draal, NotEnrique and I. We all spent the night down in the living room, watching action movies and eating take out. Currently we were trying to figure out how to get Vendel’s staff.

“Why can’t you just teleport in n’ take it?” NotEnrique asked, wondering why this was so difficult.

Toby shook his head, “Remember when she snapped at Angor Rot? The Heartstone responds to her magic. If she teleports inside, the Heartstone is a dead giveaway that she’s close and using magic.”

I groaned, teeth ripping through my slice of pizza. “We could ask Claire to portal us in again.”

NotEnrique snorted, having caught the last bit of conversation earlier in the night. “You and Pudgeface don’t seem to be seeing eye ta’ eye, moonlight.”

Shrugging, I was trying to keep it from irritating me too much, “I just want to get Jim out of the Darklands, if she wants to be mad at how I do that, oh well.” Huffing, I stretched my hand out, playing with the dark flames.

“That doesn’t hurt?” Draal asked, eyeing the flames closely, just as confused by my magic as the others.

“Nope, if it hadn’t melted the iron, I’d almost say it was cold.” I looked over the flames closing my hand to extinguish them again.

“How are you still doing that when you’re tired?” Toby asked, knowing I had been exhausted after barely being able to teleport us out of the orientation room.

“Different magic,” NotEnrique smirked, fascinated by the flames. “Spells don’t take the same amount of mana.”

“So, just to compare,” Toby began, looking unsure if he wanted to ask, a mischievous glint telling me he got over it. “Let’s say we compared their mana pools, whose is bigger?”

“Moonlight’s” NotEnrique laughed, jabbing his thumb at me, “Only Wizards with more mana MIGHT be Merlin and the Witch.”

Tilting my head, I wondered where that would put Claire then. She was a new wizard but seemed to have the shadow staff down well enough. “Alright, so how would you scale them?”

NotEnrique thought for a moment, humming to himself. “Lake Shasta versus the Pacific Ocean.”

My eyes widened in shock, that was definitely not the scale I thought he’d go with. “That doesn't seem off to you?”

Toby let out a low whistle, having to search up the sizes on google to get an idea of how far apart NotEnrique thought Claire and I were. “That’s terrifying.”

“She’s a baby witch with a fancy staff. The only reason she can use it like she does is because she feels strongly. You were an actual baby that learned how to teleport all around Camelot. Your uncle’s very fond of baby stories.” NotEnrique laughed, shaking his head.

“Hey!” Uncle James came out of the kitchen, watching over the house while we were supposed to be sleeping or planning. “You have a little wizard running around and she just goes ‘poof’ one day. See if you don’t panic.”

“Do I want to know?” I asked.

Uncle James shuddered, “I thought your mother was going to tear my spine out. The day you learned how to teleport, I was on baby watch.”

I shifted uncomfortably, holding the locket where I kept my memory of mom’s final fight.

Draal nudged my knee with his own, before turning to the others. “Shouldn’t we get back on track? We need to get Vendel’s staff.”

NotEnrique stuck his tongue out at Draal, but otherwise conceded to getting back on topic.

“It’s not like Vendel would just hand it over if we asked nicely,” Toby pouted, “Even if River asked for it.”

Draal hummed, tilting his head in thought. “No, but we don’t need the real Vendel to hand it over.”

I looked at my mate confused. Where exactly was he going with this?

“The Janus Mask, someone other than River could go in disguised as Vendel and take the staff. That way no one knows it’s us, and the Heartstone doesn’t give you away.” He smiled at me, proud of his idea.

Grinning, I kissed his cheek, “That’ll work! Who’s going as Vendel?”

NotEnrique gagged at the display of affection, throwing popcorn at Toby, “Pudgebucket has the most experience with the mask, why not him?”

“First the shattered king, now Vendel?” Toby groaned, not actually saying no. “I guess if I have to.”

Nodding to the boys. We finalized our plans.

“We should still let Blinky and Claire know.” I spoke up, knowing the boys were being overprotective since last night.

“Are you sure, love?” Draal asked, nuzzling my temple.

Smiling, I nodded, calling Claire myself.

“River?” Claire’s groggy voice cut through the line. “My alarm hasn’t even gone off. What’s going on?”

Crap, I forgot how early it was. “Uh, sorry. I forgot you sleep. We came up with a plan to get Vendel’s staff. Thought I’d let you and Blinky know.” I explained quickly.

“Already?!” That seemed to wake her up, already sounding more alert. “What are we doing?”

“Tobes’ is going in with the Janus Mask, as Vendel. Hopefully he’ll be able to get it without trouble. If anything does happen, I’ll need you on hand with the shadow staff to get him out.”

“Why can’t you teleport him?” Claire asked, voice sounding clipped again.

Seriously? Not even time for school and she’s back to being mad? “Really? The giant Heartstone connected to my magic alerting her highness-lady and the tribunal to me? That didn’t cross your mind as an issue?”

Claire seemed to be taking my words in, or ignoring me. It was a 50/50 chance at this point. “I’ll be there, it’s the only way we’ll get Jim back.” Before I could respond, she hung up.

Irritated, I glared at the phone before dialing Blinky’s number, having a phone installed in the library for better access when we couldn’t be in Trollmarket.

“Blinkous speaking,” Blinky picked up right away, the sound of pages turning alerting me to him reading.

“It’s River,” was all I could get out.

“Lady River!” Blink yelped, whatever book he had been holding crashed into something, hopefully it was just the floor. “I would like to formally apologize.” I definitely wasn’t expecting that.

“Uh,” I glanced at the others, this was definitely two very different conversations. “Okay?”

“I realized after you left that the words I used were taken as an insult, and I meant in no way to insult you.” Blinky sighed. “It seems I’ve been doing that more as of late. I do sincerely apologize, Lady River.”

“Blink, I’m fine. You can stop apologizing.” I shook my head, thankful that he realized what he’s been doing and is trying. “I accept your apology, but we need to talk.”

“Of course!” Blinky agreed, waiting for me to elaborate.

“We have a plan, Toby’s going in disguised as Vendel to get the staff. If anything goes wrong, that doesn’t require him being shadow portaled out, I need you to step in. If Claire has to get him out, I need you to cover up that shadow portals are being used. We can’t let anyone know it’s us.”

Blinky hummed, “Of course, I will await Lady Claire’s arrival for the plan.”

“One more thing,” I grinned, remembering how Draal reacted to the question I was about to ask Blinky. “Would you please just call me River?”

“Ah, the title is unnerving?” Blinky laughed, it seems he may have had a similar conversation with Jim. “I will try, L- River.”

“I can live with that.” I grinned. Letting Blinky go, the rest of us got what little sleep we could before school.

Draal had chosen to stay behind, going to Trollmarket to visit the Forge, knowing the time Garridan said his fleshiness would end was approaching, figuring it would be safe to stay out of the sun.

Toby and I rode our bikes to school today. Eemeli had switched out with Eri, letting her rest in Blinky’s library while he kept an eye on Usurna.

“So, any ideas why Claire is acting off?” Toby asked when we dropped Draal off in the canal, heading off to school.

“Not really, she’s been off since we got Killahead back. I thought it was just nerves.” I shrugged, not knowing why Claire’s had an issue with me since. We locked our bikes up, waving to Claire, Mary, and Darci as they walked in together.

Claire barely waved as the other two waved quickly, continuing whatever conversation they were having.

That’s not good. Sighing, I headed straight for art after waving Toby off. Maybe he’d have better luck with her in their first period.

I sat down, uncovering the painting I started working on the day before. Tilting my head as I examined the little green fae-like creature, I turned to the second figure. Something in my gut was telling me to use blues.

Carefully I outlined a creature shadowed by a dark hood, a skull with large horns protruding from the sides adorned the top of their head while I gave them a staff with a large blue crystal at the top that almost looked like a blade.

Before long, I ended up in Trig, sitting in my normal spot next to Claire. Whatever the hell was going on with her left the entire class tense. It felt like one wrong move and everyone’s backs would snap, good thing lunch was next.

As soon as the bell rang, Claire packed her bag and headed for the cafeteria. Before she could make it, I grabbed her arm and teleported us to the roof.

“Are you ready to talk or are you going to be acting like this until Jim’s back?” I asked, done with today, and we haven’t even tried to get Vendel’s staff yet.

“Like what?” She snapped, pausing at her own outburst. “Oh.” She seemed to deflate.

“So, you want to talk, or keep snapping?” I huffed, sitting towards the back of the roof, making sure we were out of sight. Claire seemed to be torn. Whatever was going on seemed to be really messing with her. “Or we can sit in silence, or you can head back down. Your choice.”

Coming to a decision, Claire sat next to me. “I don’t get it.” She huffed.

That couldn’t possibly be the end of that thought. I waited, watching as Claire tried to gather the words she needed.

“You’ve done nothing but blow yourself up, and with a few words from NotEnrique, your magic is on an entirely different level!” She burst out, glossing over a lot of other shit I had to go through, not just a pep talk. “I could feel it when you were helping me open shadow portals! How the hell do you learn like that? Next thing we know, you’re using sleeping spells and shadow fire? Something that, according to Blinky, is impossible.”

“That’s the issue?” I asked, confused on why our differences were what was upsetting her. “Claire, I’ve been using magic longer than you’ve been alive. So, yeah, there’s going to be a lot of differences. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do similar things later on.”

“I thought you just started using magic,” She huffed. Ah, time jumps really mess with your perception of age.

“Claire, I’m roughly in my late 30s, maybe early 40s. If I had to guess, I was maybe 6 or 7 years old when I actually started to use magic on purpose, maybe younger.” I explained, “I only look 19 because I began aging like a human when my magic was sealed.”

Claire seemed to ease with that, looking over to me. “You said you forgot I sleep?”

Groaning, I rubbed my temples, “Trust me, even I forget how far apart we are in age and magic.” I looked at her, crossing my legs. “I don’t need to sleep like Jim and Toby do. I’m more like a troll. With gaining magic from an outside source, I THINK,” I interrupted her before she could do the same to me, “you may or may not go through the same changes. I don’t even know if your aging will slow, or if you actually have magic in your blood and it took something to focus it on to awaken it.” I really wish we could speak freely with Vendel right now.

“What about the flames? How can you do something impossible?” She asked, having heard the rest of Blinky’s rant after I had run off last night. “Why don’t you do anything normal?”

I winced at the last question, “Normal for who? I had it pointedly drilled into my skull last night that I’m only half wizard. Whatever their formal teachings are, might not work for me. I started learning based solely on feelings, I still use spells but once I understand how they feel, I don’t have to use incantations.” I explained, trying my best to word it.

“What did you do while we were unconscious?” She finally asked. Well at least there was the root of last night's problem.

“I knew it was a trap the moment the female changeling looked over your shoulder at me. Strickler had the Janus Order hunt me down, did you honestly think they wouldn’t recognize me?” I asked, referring to her charade as Esmeralda. “I let them shackle me because we were surrounded. Once it was just her and Otto, and she threatened me, I knocked her out. Otto kept trying to gain the upper hand, but instead, he found out just how much Changelings supposedly loyal to Gunmar lied or withheld valuable information. He didn’t know why we needed the antidote.”

“And you just told him?” Her hands tightened, knuckles going white.

“I told him we need Arrrgh in order to open the bridge, and if he wanted any chance of getting Gunmar out, then he’d have to give us the antidote.” I shrugged, looking out over the mountains bordering the outskirts or Arcadia. “He couldn’t tell me what the Janus Order wanted, not until Morgana told him.”

“The creepy voice in the music,” She shuddered, not understanding the old tongue, but having caught the whispers.

I nodded, tensing at the memory myself. “The Janus Order sees Gunmar as a means to an end. They need him to free Morgana, why that is, I don’t know.”

“So you stalled him and got more information than we thought we needed?” Claire seemed to realize what I had been doing.

“Yes, and I hope so. I don’t understand it myself, but Morgana created Changelings,” I did not like having another part of my life tied to the malice filled version of the witch. “Which is why Otto now seems to think I’m betraying my people.”

Claire snorted at that, “Yeah, but you’re only half Changeling.” She teased, the tension that had been between us seeming to melt. “Do you think I’ll be able to do more than wave the shadow staff around?”

Nodding, I smiled. “Let’s put it this way, I thought the only thing I was good at was blowing up walls and myself. If you want my help, I’m here. We just have to figure out the best way for you to learn YOUR magic.”

Claire slumped slightly, “I’m sorry for being a butt.” Referring to her own fight with Toby before, “We’re a team, I should be acting like I’m part of it, not comparing abilities.”

Shrugging, I nudged her shoulder with mine. “It’s hard to do sometimes, we’re the only Wizards in Arcadia as far as I know, we just need to keep in mind that we learn from each other. I learned more about my teleporting from you than on my own, and it helped me connect to Jim in the Darklands.”

“Emotional anchors?” She asked, surprised she was the one who helped.

I nodded, clasping her shoulder. “I knew emotion powered magic, but using it to locate someone or something hadn’t crossed my mind. I viewed emotions similar to a battery.”

Claire nodded along with my explanation, seeing how my logic and her’s had differed. “We help each other grow.”

Flicking my hand out, I held the black flames. “Want to try?”

Claire’s eyes gleamed in wonder, reaching her hand over the flames carefully. “It’s cold?” Confusion etched over her face, fingers dancing through the flames.

“From what I can tell, it’s not shadow magic, not like the staff at least.” I turned our hands over, letting the flames rest in her palm. “Whatever upgrades the Triumbric stones gave Jim’s armor, it seems the magic tied itself to me. Think you can manipulate it?”

Eyes focused on the flames now held in her palm. Claire’s fingers began to twitch watching as the dark flames began to produce a purple glow instead of red. “Is that mine?” She asked excitedly.

“I think so,” I grinned, wincing as the warning bell rang. “Ready?” Offering her my hand to teleport us down.

Claire closed her fingers, extinguishing the flames in a similar manner I had the night before, resting her hand in mine. “Ready.”

I pulled us to a bathroom that was usually deserted, sighing in relief that the bell had seemed to have chased off any stragglers. “You going to be okay?”

Nodding, Claire sighed, “If you’re mad at me, I totally get why. I’ve been a real butt.”

I shrugged, ruffling her hair as we exited the bathroom, heading to our last few classes. “It’s a learning curve, we all have them.”

Grinning we parted ways, the day blurring by until we portaled into Blinky’s library after school.

Blinky jumped as we fell from the ceiling, holding his two right hands over his chest. “You’d think I’d get used to that.”

Chuckling, Draal came out of the back rooms, finally back in his troll form. “You three seem in high spirits.”

Grinning, I launched myself over Blinky, shifting into my troll form as I tackled Draal. “You’re not squishy!”

Toby pouted, seemingly disappointed that Draal was back to his normal self. “Does this mean we can’t scare Steve anymore?”

“We could always give him something to really be scared of,” Claire snickered, the idea of unleashing a Trollish Draal amusing to all of us.

“The whelp would crack,” Draal sneered, handing the Janus mask to Toby. “Ready for your next role?”

Toby groaned, putting the mask on and turning into a carbon copy of Vendel, “This sucks,” ‘Vendel’ groaned, waving his arms out, trying to get used to the new proportions.

Releasing my hold on Draal, I grinned turning to Toby, hands on my hips as I watched him adjust. “You remember the plan?”

‘Vendel’ huffed, dragging his hands down his face, “Yes! For the hundredth time. Go in, get the staff, walk out.”

“And?” I snickered, having added one rule after dealing with his slips as Jim.

“Talk the least amount possible.” Grumbling, ‘Vendel’ headed out of the library and directly towards the Heartstone.

Claire and I shadowed him using her portals, making sure the real Vendel couldn’t intercept him before grabbing the staff.

We watched as Toby-Vendel reached the center chamber of the Heartstone, two guards standing by, all he had to do was walk past them calmly, grab the staff, and walk back out.

“Ah, guard person,” Toby-Vendel stumbled slightly as he approached the guards. The trolls stationed there watched him in confusion. “Just returning to pick up a few things and such. Uh, carry on!” He waved them off, heading towards the staff leaning against a stone slab.

Claire sighed, shaking her head at Toby’s antics.

Whispering, I watched as the disaster unfolded, “This is why we have the no talking rule”

“Awesome sauce!” Toby-Vendel cheered, picking up the staff. “I mean, splendid and whatnot.”

The guards watched ‘Vendel’, confused by his behavior.

I pulled Claire back out of sight as the real Vendel came marching in, snarling that the guards had left their post. “What is the meaning of this? An imposter!”

Dumbfounded, the guards looked between both Vendels, utterly at a loss.

“Guards, seize him!” Vendel demanded.

I winced, getting ready to pull Toby out of there. If Vendel found out we were behind this, he might ban us from Trollmarket altogether.

“No, dudes, seize him!” Toby-Vendel argued, “If I’m not the real Vendel, how come I have the, uh, staff thingy?”

Did he honestly think that would work?

I watched in disbelief as the guards tackled the real Vendel, going so far as to pin him down. Toby quickly made his escape, running to where Claire and I were hiding. Before anyone could check, Claire opened a portal under us and we landed back in her bedroom.

Toby groaned, ripping the mask off. “I’m never doing that again!”

“What happened to not talking?” I asked, picking up the staff carefully.

“What? I panicked!” Toby pouted, kicking lightly at my foot closest to him. “When are we meeting Mr. Evil Man?”

“Tonight,” I huffed, sending Otto an email using the one Blinky had originally contacted him with, trying to pose as Strickler. “We’ll be meeting in the canal, south of Trollmarket.”

“I can’t believe those guards body-slammed Vendel,” Claire snickered, trying to lighten the mood. “How mad do you think he is?”

“Hopefully they still have a job, maybe not as guards though,” I sighed, magic thrumming between me and the staff. “That was a little too easy, but I’ll take it.”

We waited out the rest of the afternoon at Claire's place, Blinky calling only to let us know they’d meet us at the exchange spot and that Vendel appeared to be on a warpath.

As night fell, I teleported us to Draal, landing in the opened canal. I felt my skin crawl as we waited for the changelings.

“You alright?” Draal asked, nudging my shoulder as lights could be seen in the distance, slowly growing closer.

I nodded stiffly, eyes locked on the cars pulling up. “I’ll be better once we have the cure.”

“I dearly hope we are doing the right thing,” Blinky sighed, eyeing the Heartstone staff in my grip.

Toby’s face was set in firm determination, “Anything to get Arrrgh back.”

“Looks like the creep patrol is here.” Claire huffed as the cars came to a stop a mere twenty feet away.

“Ready to see how a hand off works?” Toby glared, stepping forward.

“Tobes, even with all your spy-flick knowledge, it might be safer if I handle this.” I spoke up, using the staff to keep him back as Otto got out of the middle car.

Otto walked to the midpoint between us and the cars, eyes never leaving the staff. “I have the antidote,” he pulled out an envelope.

I walked forward, all eyes on me. Reaching out at the same time, Otto’s right hand closed on the staff as mine clasped the envelope. Taking a deep breath, I let go of the staff, pulling the envelope back and reading through the paper.

“This is only the ingredients,” I snarled, my right eye glowing red as I glared at Otto.

“A little insurance, in case you tried your disappearing act again. Boil these in oil until it burns, and that will bring your friend back.” He groaned, fighting with the Goblins who kept locking the car door, finally getting the staff into his car. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“If this doesn't work, you won’t be able to hide,” I snarled, fangs shifting out in warning.

Otto waved my threat off, “I’m under direct order to keep you happy, Sunshine. I’ve given you the antidote and the instructions. The rest is up to you.” As soon as Otto was in his car, all three left.

Claire sighed, the exchange still unnerving all of us. “We did the right thing. Right, guys?”

“Desperate times,” Blinky huffed, glaring at the taillights of the changelings’ cars, “desperate measures. Now we must concern ourselves with some shopping.”

“Won’t find this in a grocery store,” I sighed, handing the list to Blinky. “Any ideas?”

Blinky hummed, fully reading through the list. “Where might we find the tears of one untouched by love’s first kiss?”

We all turned to face Toby. He glanced around at us in disbelief, “What? I’ve been kissed. Many times!”

“Your nana doesn’t count.” Claire argued, causing Toby to deflate on the spot.

We quickly headed back to the Forge. Most of the ingredients were easy enough to get at RotGuts, Blinky and Toby going to procure the items as Claire and I readied the appropriately gothic cauldron.

“Didn’t think I’d be making potions anytime soon,” Claire grinned, excited that she was getting to help more on the magical side of our group. It seemed with everything going on, all she had really been seeking was a mentor.

“They’ll be important to learn, maybe start a grimoire of your own,” I smiled, copying the full antidote, ingredients and instructions, into a blank page of my mother’s grimoire. “Want to try lighting the logs?”

Nodding quickly, Claire sat in front of the cauldron, concentrating. After a few minutes, her brow furrowed in frustration. “I don’t think I understand the 'feeling translating into being' part of how you do YOUR magic.”

I flipped to an early page of the grimoire, sitting the book next to Claire, “Why don’t we try a spell then?”

Looking over the words, Claire hovered her hands over the logs, slowly reciting the spell. After a couple tries, purple flames sparked to life, slowly spreading to warm the cauldron. “I DID IT!” Claire jumped up, bulldozing me over in her excitement.

Laughing, I sat up, careful not to get too close to the flames. “Alright, looks like we can start with written spells and go from there.”

Draal brought Arrrgh’s remains into the Forge, carefully placing him so his face was directly over the cauldron. “Well done, it seems you’ve found your spark youngling.” He smirked, nodding to the purple flames.

“Hurry!” Toby’s voice broke through the Forge, carrying something that looked wet in his hands. “They’re slimy!” He gagged, dropping his items on a little table near Claire and me.

“I believe L-,” Blinky coughed, setting his items near us, “I mean, River, and Claire will have the best chance at brewing the antidote.”

“Already have the enchanted fire going,” I grinned clasping Claire’s shoulder, “Thanks to our newest Wizard in training.”

“Impressive,” Uncle James chimed in, studying the fire, “I’ve never seen someone with purple magic before.” He grinned seeing mom’s grimoire, “Glad you’re getting some use out of that thing. If you stumble on any pictures of your dad, I have all the embarrassing stories to go with them.”

Smiling, I nodded to Uncle James, “Maybe once Jim is home. First things first, swamp maggots.” I picked up the slimy black creatures, carefully adding them to the oil first.

“I hope this works,” Blinky sighed, eyes locked on Arrrgh’s stone face.

Draal sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, “If not, River’s going on a hunting spree. We can sic Eemeli on them as well.” He turned, heading with Uncle James to the Forge entrance, keeping guard as we worked.

Claire opened a milk carton, sniffing to make sure it was sour, gagging as she added the entire thing into the cauldron. “This is disgusting.”

I winced, throwing a live mouse in next, “Don’t think I’ll get used to live ingredients.”

We added various oils, liquids, a dash of pepper, and a gnome skeleton (hat must be included).

Toby groaned and punched himself in the face as he was technically the second to last last ingredient. Seeing as that didn’t work, Blinky stomped as hard as he could on Toby’s foot causing him to cry out in pain. He wiped the resulting tear and added it to the mixture.

Once everything else was in, I added a small condensed stone of my hearthstone magic and slowly stirred the concoction until steam began to rise. All of our attention was on Arrrgh as we each held our breath.

Teal mist exploded from the cauldron, cutting off our sight of Arrrgh.

“It’s working!” Claire yelped as we stepped back from the mist quickly.

Just as fast as it had appeared, the mist receded into the cauldron, and Arrrgh was still a stone statue.

Toby scoffed, going to the cauldron, “I don’t get it. What happened?”

“Nothing,” Claire sighed as they approached Arrrgh, “It didn’t work. The list was bogus!”

“We did everything right!” Toby cried, hugging Arrrgh, “The Trollhunters said we could save him.”

As the other’s turned away, I could feel a pull on my magic. Arrrgh's body began to glow pale blue, as if he was encased in daylight. “Toby!” I yelped, watching as Arrrgh began to move.

As the light dimmed out Arrrgh began to shake himself awake, slowly adjusting to movement again.

“Deya’s grace be upon us,” Blinky gasped out, all of us rushing to Arrrgh.

As Arrrgh opened his eyes, they were glowing a dark purple and he looked angry. He let out a roar, slamming his arm into the cauldron.

I pulled Toby away before Arrrgh could hit him.

Snarling, Draal ran to us, trying to calm Arrrgh only to get hit in the face with a flying cauldron.

Taking off, Arrrgh began to bulldoze over us, slamming into the weapons stand.

“He’s disoriented!” Blinky called out, “Quiet him before he alerts all of Trollmarket.”

Toby tore from grip, running up to the exit as Arrrgh took off after him. Turning around he held his arms up as Arrrgh went to strike. “Whoa, Arrrgh! Easy, easy!” He was trying to get through to him. “It’s me, your wingman!”

A final roar ripped from Arrrgh as his fist slammed into the door above Toby, the purple glow fading as he seemed to shake off the disorientation. “Wingman.”

Toby grinned, cheering as he jumped into Arrrgh’s arms, “He’s back! Oh, I knew he'd be back!”

Helping Draal to his feet, we followed the others over to Arrrgh, relieved that he was no longer tearing through the Forge.

“My friend!” Draal cheered, sharing a side hug with Arrrgh, Toby refusing to let go of the large Troll.

“You’re okay,” I grinned, hand resting over the amulet glowing on Arrrgh’s chest.

Blinky slowly walked up to Arrrgh, on the verge of tears. “I had all but assumed I would never see you again, old friend.” Toby finally moved so Arrrgh could properly hug Blinky.

“How did I?” Arrrgh tried to ask, looking at each of us, “Where’s Jim?” He asked, looking over the Forge for him.

Claire came to Arrrgh’s side, “He, uh, went to the Darklands so that no one else would get hurt.”

Arrrgh let out a whimper, before a determined look settled over his face. “Must get Jim!”

“Oh, yes!” Blinky cheered, “So you do know how to save him. The amulet proclaimed that you are the key to the hunter. So tell us, what must we do?”

Arrrgh looked confused, trying to think. “Umm,” his ears twitched as the Soothscryer activated itself calling Arrrgh by his full name, pulling our collective attention to it.

“I think we have our answer.” I sighed, clasping Arrrgh’s shoulder. “The Trollhunters need your help to save Jim. If you go into the void to speak with them, I’ll be by your side.”

Arrrgh seemed to relax, knowing whatever was about to happen, he wouldn’t be alone this time. We both approached the Soothscryer and Arrrgh settled his right hand into the blinding light.

We entered the void, Arrrgh fully himself, and me in my spirit form, the forge mixing blue and orange as it fed off of my magic.

“Uh?” Arrrgh asked, staying as close to me as he could without going through me. “Hello?” He called out, unsure what to do.

Kanjigar took form in front of us, addressing Arrrgh. “You are the first outsider since time began to see our sacred realm. Welcome, Aarghaumont, to the void between worlds.”

Arrrgh inched behind me at first, slowly registering who the troll was. “Kanjigar, why?”

Kanjigar sighed, nodding to me in greeting. “I know you have many questions.” Placing his hand on Arrrgh's shoulder, Arrrgh’s mana lines began to glow with the magic of the Amulet. “There is a reason you were chosen.” He seeped into Arrrgh’s body, voice still projecting around us. “There is a reason we need you.”

Arrrgh’s eyes began to glow pale blue, the possession of the previous Trollhunter seemed to be a success.

The world tilted and I fell back into my body as the void disappeared.

“Did you meet the spooky troll ghosts?” Toby was asking as I came to, still standing next to Arrrgh.

Claire and Toby gasped, jumping away from Arrrgh as he opened his eyes, revealing the pale blue light.

“He did convene with us.” Kanjigar answered, causing Toby to tumble back further. He stood up straight, Arrrgh’s full height towering well over all of us. “But I am not Aarghaumont.”

Blinky gasped, bowing quickly, “Kanjigar the Courageous.”

“Whaaaa?” Was all Toby could get out, mouth hanging open in shock.

“At ease, Blinkous.” Kanjigar grasped his shoulder, taking the overly dramatic ghost entrance far too seriously. “Yes, it is I.”

Draal slowly approached us, shock etched over his face. “It is you, father.”

Kanjigar smiled, pulling Draal close. “Well met.”

Draal rushed him, hugging Kanjigar tight.

Chucking, Kanjigar happily returned the hug. “My son.”

Once they parted, Blinky seemed to shake his shock off enough to ask questions again. “But how? What has happened to Arrrgh?”

Kanjigar placed his hand over his chest, “Your friend is here with me,” He began to explain, making sure to placate the fears of Arrrgh’s family. “Arrrgh walked the line between life and death, so he alone could become a vessel for me to aid you.”

Toby didn’t seem to be okay with this. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey there, troll-tergeist! Give me my wingman back!”

“At ease, Tobias Domzalski.” Kanjigar approached the teens, “I will only stay until my work is done.”

“But excuse me,” Claire interrupted, raising her hand to speak, “Lord Sir Kanjig-Arrgh,” Wincing at her own fumbling, she glance at me before turning her focus back to Kanjigar, trying to get her question out, “What exactly are you here to do?”

“I thought you knew.” He looked back at me, “Only a Trollhunter can open the Killahead Bridge.”

“There they are!” Guards began to rush into the Forge, Vendel’s disgruntled voice giving them orders.

Draal and Kanjigar exchanged a glance before springing into action. Taking his boulder stance, Draal quickly took off after the farther trolls.

Kanjigar stood tall, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” The sword appeared, shocking the guards that had closed in on him as well as Vendel.

“Arrrgh? He asked, stern glare tearing towards me. “What dark powers have you meddled with?”

Draal easily took out the guards as the forge began to lift. Claire and Blinky made it off safely as Toby hung on for dear life, as the platforms began to shift, Kanjigar took off, grabbing Toby before he could fall into the gears. “We have little time.” He ordered, ushering us all to the back exit Draal cleared. “This will take us to Bone’s Alley.”

“But father,” Draal tried to question Kanjigar, only to be pulled along by the old troll.

“Come with me, son. We are together at last. River, think you can block them?” He asked quickly, gesturing to the guards slowly getting back on their feet.

Nodding I slammed my hands down onto the rocky ground of the forge, praying to Deya that this would work. Orange magic spread from my chest down my arms and into the earth, as I pulled my hands up harshly, the rock came with it, forming a barricade around the exit we took. “It worked!”

Draal grinned, grabbing me by the Heartstone belt of my armor and pulling me along with them. “Very effective!”

We snuck through the alleyway, watching as Kanjigar broke off to attack to guard trolls from above. Blinky fangirling over the move. “Kanjigar’s creeping spider! A signature move!”

Draal’s grin split his face as Toby and Claire were awed by his father. We rushed into Blinky’s library, Kanjigar grabbing seemingly random items as Chompsky chattered at him.

“Claire Nunez, I require a portal to Killahead Bridge. Quickly” Kanjigar grabbed a few more tomes, and Chompsky.

Claire quickly activated the shadow staff. Focusing on the bridge she opened a large portal.

Kanjigar threw the items he gathered into the portal. “Quick, everyone through!” A crossbow bolt hit the shadow staff sending it into the portal. “Fudge-knuckle!” Claire ground out, all of us turning to stare at the large orange troll holding a crossbow.

“Big mistake,” I snarled, shifting into my troll form, running straight for the troll, horns down, I pumped enough magic into my body in order to send the troll flying into a wall, knocking him out.

Kanjigar smirked, nodding at the quick dispatch of the troll. “We’ll take the gyre.”

Taking off at a full sprint, Draal grabbed Blinky as I picked up the teens, Uncle James shaking off his human form so he could run full speed.

Blinky yelped trying to get Kanjigar to pause. “Kanjigar, why don’t you simply talk with Vendel and the Tribunal?” He asked as Kanjigar got everyone else on the gyre. “Surely, one of Trollmarket’s greatest champions could persuade-”

“Talking requires time, Blinkous,” he cut Blinky off quickly, “something we do not have.” At that, Blinky rushed onto the gyre. “Things are dire.” He began adjusting the controls of the gyre. “If we do not act now, James Lake, Jr. will die.”

“What?!” I snarled, holding tight to the bench as the gyre shot off, faster than even Blinky took it.

“But Killahead’s in the woods. There’s no gyre station there!” Blinky tried to argue, unsure of how we were getting there.

“We don’t need one. River?” Kanjigar asked, looking back at me.

My eyes widened realizing what he was asking, choking at the thought of teleporting us and the gyre to Killahead at this speed.

Claire grabbed my hand, pulling my attention from Kanjigar to her. “It’s only impossible for those who don’t try!”

I nodded, pulling myself up to the front of the gyre. “HOLD ON!” Growling, I focused on encasing the gyre itself with my magic. An orange bubble of pure magic forming around us.

Uncle James grabbed onto Toby and Claire, trying to keep everyone in the gyre. “Keep your heads down!” He ordered the teens, feeling the magic shift around us.

I slammed my hands down on the gyre controls and in a flash of light we were falling out of the sky towards Killahead bridge. Slashing my hand to the left, I summoned a wind tunnel to push us away from the bridge enough that we didn’t crush it, using the same tunnel to slow our descent until we hit the ground with a thud, hardly doing any damage.

Groaning, we all carefully climbed out of the gyre, most of us falling to the ground in relief. “Eemeli better be glad he missed that,” I snarled, looking up as Chompsky was arguing with the bridge pieces.

Kanjigar quickly jumped out of the gyre, “Well done,” He grinned, helping me to my feet so we could focus on the bridge as the others’ grounded themselves.

Blinky freaking out about being fugitives, Draal shrugging it off as Uncle James checked on Toby and Claire, making sure they were still intact.

“Forget what they think. We must concentrate on what we do.” Kanjigar scolded, “We have all that we need.”

“How does this crazy crime spree help us save Jimbo?” Toby asked, trying to keep his stomach inside of his body.

“Friends, I have seen the impossible.” Kanjigar spoke, carefully gathering the items he brought. “A vision of you saving James Lake, Jr. but, to do so, you must follow the path I lay before you.”

Claire regained her shadow staff, grinning up at Kanjigar. “We’ve done the impossible before. We can handle it.”

“I have my war hammer!” Toby cheered, activating his weapon. “It’s hungry to smash.”

“No,” Kanjigar cut them off, shaking his head. “No weapons. In my plan, you will need nothing else but the knowledge and tools I will give you.” He held his hands out for the Shadow staff and war hammer.

“What possible chance do we stand if we are unarmed?” Blinky panicked, trying to reason that they needed weapons.

“Each of you will be charged with a task. You must follow them to the letter if there is any hope of survival. Claire Nunez, take this.” He held out a dark metal crank, “In the Darklands, it will aid you in a key moment.” Turning to Blinky he held out a dark rod with a purple crystal on top, “Blinkous, take this flare crystal. It’s blinding light will save your life.”

“My life?!” Blinky yelped, taking the item quickly. “Could I get some specificity on that statement?”

Kanjigar turned to Toby. “Tobias Domzalski. You must ensure that your team only brings back James Lake, Jr. No one else.”

I went stiff at that, Draal glancing at me quickly. We had promised to bring Nomura along as well. There was no way I was going to leave her trapped in the Darklands.

“James Lake Sr.,” Finally, Kanjigar turned to uncle James, “You will be in charge of protecting the younglings as they make their way through the Darklands.”

Uncle James kept close to Claire and Toby, adjusting the claymore on his back, and it seems Kanjigar wasn’t going to take his sword for this trip.

“Father,” Draal interrupted, seeing the gears in my mind going, “What is my task?”

Kanjigar sighed, grasping Draal’s shoulder, “I know you wish to go into battle, but I need you here. Of all of you, your responsibility is greatest. You keep watch so that Gunmar does not escape.” Kanjigar turned to look at me. “You must protect Merlin’s heir. If your friends do not come back, you must make a choice.”

Draal sighed, “I understand.”

Kanjigar pulled him forward slightly, pressing their brows together.

“Wait, we don’t even know our way around the Darklands!” Claire piped up, knowing this was happening now.

Kanjigar grinned, looking over to Chompsky. “But your gnome friend does. He will be your guide. Jim’s time is short. I sense Gunmar readying to destroy him.”

Toby began trying to convince Chompsky to help us, apparently upgrades for his doll girlfriend were the best bargaining chips.

“Merlin’s heir, River.” Kanjigar turned to me, pulling me away from the others. “I know of your oath to the Changeling, do you believe her worth saving?”

I nodded quickly, “I do.”

Kanjigar held his hand out to me, palm up, “Your weapon.”

Glaring, I rested my hand on Midnight, “Is this your way of trying to keep me here?”

Kanjigar shook his head, waiting. Slowly, I pulled Midnight from my belt, setting it in his hand. Carefully he pulled the amulet from his chest, the glow of Eclipse returning to it. Holding the amulet over Midnight, the red glow engulfed the blue veining of my lance, morphing the magic laced within. “If Gunmar should find you, it would do well to have a weapon that can injure him, should you tire from using magic.” He placed Midnight back in my hands, keeping his voice low while the others were dealing with Chompsky. “I cannot keep you from interfering, should you choose to enter in your spirit form, Gunmar’s blade will not harm you.”

My grip tightened on Midnight, looking up at Kanjigar confused, “You’re not going to stop me?”

Kanjigar shook his head, “Your word is the stone with which you etch honor, to keep it, you would tear the realm apart.” He held a hand up to stop me before I could interrupt him. “Draal must stay behind for you to enter the Darklands, if the threat of Gunmar is near, he will need to move your body.”

“You planned on me going in,” I realized, “but, you said we could only bring Jim back.”

Shaking his head, Kanjigar looked to the teens, “I said Tobias’ team could only bring Jim back, you won’t be with them, not initially. Your spirit will help those trapped to escape.”

Nodding, I walked with him to the middle of the bridge pieces. “Understood, ready?”

Kanjigar held the amulet out, summoning the pieces of the bridge to rebuild themselves. Once fully built, he climbed to the top of the bridge.

“What is the plan, Kanjigar?” Blinky asked, not liking that we were about to enter the Darklands with little to no instructions. “I have naught but a flare and more questions than answers.”

“I cannot reveal more,” Kanjigar sighed, trying to quell Blinky’s frustration, “for to know your future is to risk dooming it. Trust in yourselves and me, and all will be clear soon enough.”

“Don’t worry!” Toby grinned, “With super Trollhunter Kanjig-Arrrgh by our side, two for one, boom!” He punched the air, excited at the prospect of seeing Kanjigar in action. “We can’t lose!”

Kanjigar carefully held the rope meant for Arrrgh, getting ready to open the bridge. “I’m afraid I will not be joining you in the Darklands. After I open the bridge, I must use the last of my power here to keep it open.”

“Can’t River keep it open?” Claire asked, “She’s helped power the bridge before.”

“Merlin’s heir has a vital role to play, while her spirit is away, she will not be able to power the bridge.” Kanjigar nodded to me. “Besides, you will need Arrrgh, not I. He will make his own way.”

“Oh, dear,” Blinky sighed, “Is that another one of your riddles?” He asked, waving the crystal flare at Kanjigar.

Kanjigar held the amulet out, “One revolution of the amulet’s arm is all the time I can grant you before the bridge closes! Best of luck, Trollhunters!” He called out, acknowledging each of us as a Trollhunter. He slammed the amulet into its place on Killahead bridge, effectively opening the portal to the Darklands. Kanjigar’s spirit was pulled from Arrrgh’s body, allowing the large green Troll to join the others.

“Save Jim.” Arrrgh nodded, understanding what he must do.

“Remember what you must do, my son!” Kanjigar called to Draal, with a final nod from him, Kanjigar’s spirit smiled as he was absorbed into the amulet.

“This whole thing is nuts,” Claire gripped the crank she was given. “Are we really doing this?”

“If we don’t, Jim dies.” I huffed, sitting next to the gyre, keeping an activated Midnight on my lap. “I’m going straight for Jim, I’ll see you on the other side.”

“River,” Draal grabbed my shoulder quickly. “I will only move you if you are needed here.” There was a glint in his eye as he looked past me to the mechanical vehicle of doom behind me.

Grinning, I nodded, slowly closing my eyes, I let myself fall from my body, heading straight for Jim and Nomura.

As my spirit form floated above Jim I could see Chompsky handing him a rock.

“Oh, thank you.” Jim paused before tossing the rock our little gnome friend handed over. Glancing to his left, he let out a squawk falling back from the gnome. “Chompsky?!”

“He moves fast,” I grinned, floating down next to Jim.

Jim snapped his head to me, as Chompsky waved and took off to get the others. “River?! What’s going on?”

“We’re on the move, Chompsky’s getting the other’s,” Looking over to the second cell, I realized Nomura was missing. “Where is she?”

Jim shook his head, trying to reign in his shock, “They just took her to see Gunmar, won’t be long till-” Footsteps cut him off, then the sounds of Toby and Claire. “Up here!” Jim called out, excitement taking over.

“Jimbo?” Toby called out as Chompsky returned with our friends, Uncle James close behind in his troll form. “Oh, my gosh, Jimbo! You’re not dead!” Toby cheered, rushing to the orange crystal spikes keeping Jim locked up. Reaching through, Toby hugged Jim as best as he could.

“It’s you!” Jim cheered, hugging him tight, “It’s you, Tobes!”

After a moment, Toby pulled away so Claire could see Jim. I floated over to uncle James nudging him towards the cell. Cutting off Claire and Toby’s recount of how we got here. “Guys, we need to hurry, we can tell Jim everything once we’re topside.”

Jim nodded, “Right, Tobes, hurry up and use your war hammer to bust me out of here.”

I face palmed, “That’s gonna be an issue,” Jim looked at me and uncle James confused, not recognizing his father in troll form. “No war hammer, no shadow staff, will your claymore work?” I asked, turning to my uncle.

Nodding, he unsheathed his claymore from his back, once Jim took a few steps back, he slashed down against the crystal spikes with all his strength, only they stopped his sword dead in its tracks. “Son, it doesn't look like conventional weapons will work.”

Jim’s mouth dropped open, hearing his father’s voice coming from the troll, “Dad?! You’re here?”

“Like hell I was leaving you in Darklands, Garry sent word about you ‘jumping ship’ on your own.” He scolded lightly, sheathing his sword.

“Wait a minute!” Claire grinned, pulling the crank Kanjigar gave her from Toby’s backpack. “Kanjigar said I need this thing for a key moment. This is a key!” Rushing to a circle opening next to Jim's cell, she inserted the key, unfortunately it seems she didn’t have the strength to turn it as Chompsky came chattering back.

“Guards,” Uncle James snarled, turning to face the path they were coming from.

“Hide!” Jim instructed. “Now!”

I pushed Uncle James to follow Claire and Toby, we accidentally ended up in another cell as the guards came to get Jim. “Keep him quiet,” I instructed Claire and Uncle James, Toby’s nervous murmuring a dead give away to our presence.

“Your time has come at last, flesh bag.” A troll that looked oddly similar to Blinky spoke. He was leading a group of Gumm-Gumm guards to Jim’s cell. They quickly dragged Jim out, heading out of the cells.

Turning back to the trapped group, I looked over each of them as panic set in over their faces. “Chompsky, get the key, I don’t think it was for Jim’s cell. Uncle James,” The gnome saluted, heading out to the key once the guards cleared out. “Uncle James, I’ll follow Jim.” Grabbing his hand, I placed my left hand over his, concentrating on condensing my mana into a stone. “Use this to find us. Your priority is Jim.”

“What about you?” Claire asked, wondering what Kanjigar saw as my role.

“I’m here as a diversion, and for someone else.” I nodded, knowing it was better to be up front at this point.

Toby groaned, “You’re talking about the evil scary lady, aren’t you?” He asked, referring to Nomura.

“She’s been keeping Gunmar’s attention off of Jim while he’s been here, I promised her a way out,” Floating out of the cell as Chompsky returned with the key, I followed after the guards quickly, staying well above their heads and out of sight.

A soldier stopped the Blinky look alike, whispering to him.

“Take the hunter to the Crucible. I will be there shortly.” He ordered, heading off down another path.

The guards continued on their way. Once they reached a large opening, they threw Jim forward.

I flashed to the other side of the room, keeping as far above the trolls as possible, not wanting them to see me yet.

“If beasts won’t break you,” a menacing voice filled the room, “perhaps your friend will.”

Gunmar. I glanced around the pillar I had hid behind, only to see that it was actually a section of Gunmar’s throne.

“Know thyself, and know thy enemy.” Gunmar sneered as a large set of doors opened.

Nomura walked out, ears falling flat as she saw her next opponent was Jim.

“Not you,” Jim winced, “no.”

“A battle to the death!” Gunmar ordered the soldiers near cheering for what was to be a horrific fight.

Jim summoned the Eclipse blade, taking a defensive stance as he watched Nomura.

How the hell was I supposed to get them both out of here?

“A battle to break your will!” Gunmar sneered, glaring over the changeling and Trollhunter. “If the impure cannot break your armor, her death surely will. You shall be mine.”

I watched from behind as Nomura pulled her twin blades from her back, snarling at Jim.

He glanced up to where I was floating, trading his blade in for the shield, whispering to Nomura.

“You don’t,” Nomura snarled, readying her blades, “I do. Sorry, I really was getting to like you.” She charged forward blades ready to slice through Jim.

He quickly brought up his shield, trying to hold off her attacks. Trying to reason with her.

She planted a kick directly into his shield, knocking him further from Gunmar’s throne.

“Home is gone!” Nomura screeched, whatever Jim had said was getting under her skin. She doubled her efforts, putting all her strength in each slash, forcing Jim to switch from the shield to his sword.

She tossed Jim across the arena, the glow where his amulet should reside slowly began fluctuating.

“His will, it’s weakening!” Gunmar's voice broke through my thoughts. “You’re holding back.” He jeered, trying to get a rise out of Jim. “Kill the changeling! This will not end until you take her life.”

Jim used his sword to pull Nomura’s blades from her grip, throwing them out of reach. Once she was unarmed he took off running, trying to prolong their lives. Giving chase, Nomura easily caught up to Jim, throwing him into the face of a giant statue.

Once the rubble cleared, I could see him using the shield as a board, sliding down the arena walls as Nomura retrieved her blades. Sliding under her before she could react, Jim used her hair to pull her back, the Eclipse blade resting against her neck.

“Will you listen to me? There’s a way out.” He tried to explain as she struggled against the blade. “Claire and Toby, the others, they’re here to save us.”

“You cry for your friends, but there is no rescue.” She sneered.

This wasn’t looking good, if the others didn’t make it soon, we’d be down a changeling and a Trollhunter. Looks like it was time for that diversion.

I flashed down onto the arena floor, the presence of my magic strengthening Jim’s armor as I turned my back to them, choosing to face Gunmar.

“Little Isolde?” Nomura was the first to recover from my entrance.

Extending my hand, a rush of Eclipse flames burst to life around us, keeping a division between us and the Gumm-Gumms for now. “I told you I was getting you out. I meant it.” I snarled, eye focused on Gunmar.

“What is this?!” Gunmar roared, standing from his throne. “Who are you, witch?”

“No one dies today.” Jim whispered to Nomura, “We’re all going home.”

I grinned viciously, as Gunmar watched my magic breathe power into Jim’s armor. “I’m River, daughter of General Garridan and Lady Ganieda.” Gunmar’s eye widened, realizing exactly who broke into their fight. “I am Merlin’s heir!” A pale blue glow overtook my injured left eye as I poured daylight into my fist. Pulling it back, I slammed it directly into the ground, forcing the magic out through fissures and cracks, burning the soldiers trying to close in on us.

Toby and Claire’s screams came from behind as they tumbled out of a chute, landing in the arena with us. Uncle James was able to slide out onto his feet, pulling his claymore from his back as he spied Gunmar.

“You’re not crazy,” Nomura scoffed, seeing the humans and changeling.

Claire recovered first, “Jim!”

“Not just Jim!” Toby yelped, scrambling to his feet.

“Humans? Here? An Eclipse guard?” Gunmar snarled, “The bridge is open! Catch them!” He ordered.

More mindless guards began to walk directly into the Eclipse flames, more from behind using the dead to climb over them.

“This way,” Nomura hissed, pulling Jim back and leading the others. “Keep them back!”

Nodding, I rested my hands on the dark stone, using the same method I had in the Forge, I pulled the stone up to create another barrier, hoping to give them a little more time.

I quickly followed after them, feeling Jim’s armor pull me along. Seeing that they were stopped at a gate.

“And lead him to the bridge?” Toby asked, “We’re not that crazy!”

Spotting me, Nomura grinned, nodding towards the ceiling and throwing one of her blades. I caught it quickly, having to concentrate on holding something solid in this form. Her second blade flew by and hit the locking mechanism for a Stalkling cage, turning to the other side of the arena, I spotted a second cage.

I threw the blade as hard as I could and hit the mechanism, both Stalklings flew down into the crowd of soldiers, and began to tear their forces apart.

“There’s a keyhole!” Toby cried out, pulling Claire to the lock.

“It’s a crank!” Claire grinned, pulling out the item Kanjigar gave her.

As she tried to open the gate, Gunmar stepped into the fight, easily dealing with the Stalklings.

Uncle James rushed over, helping her use the key. “Time to go!”

The others ran out as I floated along with them, holding onto Jim’s shoulder.

“Kanjigar said you were supposed to be alone,” Toby yelped as we ran, trying to put distance between us and the Gumm-Gumm king.

“I’m here for Nomura, you’re here for Jim,” I snarled, letting go of Jim’s shoulder and channeling magic into the path behind us. “Keep going!” I pulled as hard as I could, the rocky path closing in on itself, sealing off the way we came. “That won’t hold them forever.”

We slid down into another tunnel, clearing through chains hanging from the ceiling. Nomura stopped abruptly, the chasm from here to the next path too wide for anyone to jump.

“We can look for another way around,” Jim tried to turn back.

Nomura grabbed his shoulder, “No time.” Jumping up onto one of the spikes, she used her blade to hold her as she reached for one of the chains, slicing through it, she brought it back for the others. “Youth before beauty.” She grinned, handing the chain to Jim.

Jim pulled it back to Claire, helping her hold on. “You ready?”

As she gave her nod, they took off running. They were able to touch down on the other side, stumbling back as they hit the ground. Once secured, Jim passed the chain back over.

Nomura secured the chain around Toby. “Thank you, Ms. Nomura,” Toby yelped, terrified that she was helping him.

“I never liked you.” She spoke bluntly and pushed him over the chasm.

Toby screamed, until Jim and Claire caught him. Once they let him down, they sent the chain back, Uncle James easily grabbed it, swinging across and landing with a heavy thud. “Everyone in one piece still?”

“Barely,” Toby whined, inching further from the ledge.

“Little one,” Nomura turned to me, holding the chain. “You kept your word.”

Smiling, I nodded, “Kanjigar gave them orders to get Jim. I’m here to make sure you make it out alive.”

Nodding, she glanced past me to the horde of soldiers heading for us. “Time to go!” Swinging across, she sliced through the chain so that the soldier couldn’t use it, roughly landing by the teens.

“Thanks, Ms. Nomura,” Toby yelped, glad she was on our side as the soldiers piled up on the path behind us.

Nomura shoved his head down, “I still don’t like you.”

I floated over snickering as Toby righted himself. “Come on, we don’t have much time left!”

The teens continued to run as I felt myself shift. “Time to go,” I grunted, nodding to Jim. “I’ll see you soon!” My eyes snapped open to Draal shaking my shoulder. “What’s the plan?”

Grinning Draal helped me to my feet. “They’re almost out of time, we need a fast way to get everyone out.” He looked pointedly over my head. “Think you can start it up?”

“Are you sure about this?” I asked, alluding to the instructions Kanjigar left him.

His grin turned to a soft smile, resting his brow against mine. “This is my choice.”

Turning to face the gyre, a grin split my face. “Then let’s find out.”

Draal pulled the gyre upright so we could access the console. I hopped up onto the platform, looking over the machine controls. Placing my hands on the console, I began to pour magic directly into the gyre.

Orange sparks of electricity started to run from the console over the rings. The inner rings slowly began to rotate. At the sight, I channeled more mana into the machine, the rings quickly speeding up and the outer rings slowly joining them until we were moving towards the bridge.

Draal clipped Midnight to my belt, holding his axe tight as we entered into the Darklands. “Let’s find our friends!”

Nodding, I focused on Jim and our bond. I felt a ripple in my magic, “There!” I grinned, starting to understand why Blinky drove the way he did as I forced my magic into the gyre, trying to get it to run as fast as possible.

We found them, blocked by a horde of Gumm-Gumm soldiers, “INCOMING!” Draal howled, laughing as we flattened them. Coming to a quick stop in front of our friends.

“What are you doing here?” Blinky barked, shocked to see Draal and I.

“My father said I had a choice, but I had to protect Merlin’s heir.” Draal grinned. “This is my choice. Get in!”

“River!” Jim yelled, “Nomura needs help!”

My eyes widened as I realized she wasn’t with the group. “Draal, get going, we’ll catch up!”

Nodding to me, he took over the controls. “You heard the lady! Gyre, now!”

I ran past the group and jumped off the ledge seeing Nomura was injured and fighting on her own. “My turn!” Snarling, I pulled Midnight from my belt, activating it and my armor, I sliced through a soldier about to cleave Nomura.

“What are you doing here?!” She hissed, shocked at seeing me in the flesh this time.

Grinning, I slashed out with Midnight, sending a wave of Eclipse flames towards the soldiers. “I told you, you’re coming home, even if I have to pull you out myself!” Turning quickly, I grabbed her and teleported to Draal, barely landing on the gyre as we shot out of the bridge and back into the forest of Arcadia Oaks.

The gyre came to a rough stop as it lodged into the boulders near the bridge. Jim crawled out of the vehicle, flopping onto the grass, taking in the forest.

Uncle James joined him, returning to his human form. “You can kill me later, for now,” held Jim’s hand tight, relieved that he was safe again. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” Oddly enough, Jim allowed it, taking his father’s return in stride after everything we faced today.

Nomura looked up from where we crashed into the gyre, taking in the forest around us. Draal helped her and I out of the gyre, getting Nomura to a smaller boulder so she could rest while I tended to her injured leg.

Wrapping the ankle carefully, I nodded up to her. “Good news is, you should be okay to walk on it. Bad news, you’ll have to take it easy, I couldn’t fully heal it.”

Letting out a tired laugh, Nomura shook her head, “You’ve grown little Isolde.”

Blinky and Toby were the last in the gyre, holding each other tight, shaking like leaves. “I know one thing for certain.” Blinky's voice called out, shaking as much as he was. “I hope to never see the likes of that Bridge ever again.”

Arrrgh slowly walked to the Bridge, punching through what remained of it.

“Awesome sauce!” Toby cheered, Arrrgh pulling him out of his shock, running to the large green troll.

Jim got up and followed after Toby, running directly into Arrrgh’s chest, hugging him tight.

Claire and Blinky joined them, celebrating that Jim was home and Arrrgh was alive.

“It’s so, so good to see you guys!” Jim turned to Nomura, grinning. “You want in?”

Smiling, she shook her head, “That’s not my thing. Thank you, little Gynt.” She patted a clawed hand over my head. “I have to hand it to you, you were right.”

“About what?” Jim asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Hope,” She smiled, “Friends.”

Blinky retrieved the amulet from the remains of Killahead Bridge, presenting it to Jim. “I believe this belongs to you, Master Jim.”

Once returned, the amulet began to glow, attaching itself to the armor. Once reunited, the eclipse armor morphed back into daylight. “Feels good to have this back.” Carefully, Jim climbed up the nearby boulder and took in the forest around us, eyes having to adjust to the light of the sunset again.

Claire met him, hugging him tight. “I missed you.”

After everything Jim went through in the Darklands, it seems girls were no longer as terrifying as they seemed, and he finally had the courage to kiss her.

Arrrgh chuckled, covering Toby’s and his own eyes, peeking through his fingers.

Uncle James sighed, shaking his head with a smile. “About time from what I've heard.”

Nomura gagged, nose wrinkling at the sight, “Disgusting custom.”

I burst out laughing as Draal decided to smoosh his face against my cheek.

“Let’s get rid of this Bridge once and for all.” Blinky cut through.

“Ha!” Toby laughed, “Just wait until Trollmarket gets a load of Jim and Arrrgh!” He let out a gasp, face falling immediately. “Oh, no! The Tribunal! They’re gonna go crazy town banana pants when they find out what we’ve been up to!”

I groaned, realizing I now had to be a part of that, “I swear, I’m going to bash her highness-lady’s face in.”

Blinky chuckled, throwing a piece of the bridge, “Frankly, who cares? We have our Trollhunter back.”

“For now, I say we stick to our houses,” I rubbed my temples, getting us back on track. “First order of business is a shower.” I snickered at Jim.

“Nope,” He grinned, jumping down from the boulder. “This is first,” he hugged me tight, arms shaking from how exhausted he was. “Thank you.”

Smiling softly, I hugged him close, my hand holding the back of his head. “You ever pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll tear you to pieces myself, got it?” I asked, trying to hide the tears, relieved that I was able to do more than speak with him in my spirit form.

“Noted,” He chuckled, slowly releasing me from the hug, tears sliding down his face as well.

“Come on Jimbo, you can get cleaned up at my house, don’t want Dr. L smelling you," Toby snickered.”

Jim laughed, nodding to Tobes before turning to his dad. “Are you staying?”

Uncle James smiled, “For now, I’ll have to return to the Eclipse Guard, but we will have time to talk. You need to see your mother.”

We all made our way back to Toby’s house, sticking to the shadows so we could stay together.

I helped Nomura walk, keeping her steady as we snuck in through the back door. “After Jim gets to see mom, you can rest in my room.”

“Thank you,” She acknowledged as I helped her sit on the sofa. All of us were glad Nana was out for Bingo night and we didn’t have to hide.

Jim ran upstairs to shower, Blinky deciding to stay with Arrrgh and Toby for the night.

Claire sat next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. “He’s home.”

Nodding, I held my hand out to her. “He is.”

She placed her hand in mine and we all fell into a comfortable silence, exhausted and happy that we were able to save Arrrgh, and bring Jim home.

We let Jim head over on his own once he was cleaned up. He needed this time with mom, and we were happy to watch from Nana’s blinds as he finally stepped into his home for the first time in weeks.

“Do you think he will be alright?” Draal asked, watching as Jim fell into aunt Barbara’s hug.

Uncle James nodded, “He’ll need some time to recover. During that time, we should prepare for the Tribunal.”

#draal x oc #trollhunters fanfiction #river of arcadia #roa #Chapter 37 #kanjigaaarrrgghh!!!#homecoming #phase 3 #draal x river #River Marie Wyllt

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miinteaa · 2 years

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Quick sketch redraw of this drawing from last year

Wow my style became like 10x more anime…

Also I’m kinda starting to miss my kotlc phase……book 9 please come soon

#my art #Kotlc #yeah anime hit me like a truck #I will never be the same #keeper of the lost cities #tam song #biana vacker #also in the original tam looks so done #versus in the new one he just seems dead inside

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genkigratification · 2 years

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homesickness

It's hard, adjusting.

Photography becomes a hobby shared among the five of them, physical memories no one can mess with or take away, and though Hunter's a little more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it... Luz thinks he'll probably be okay. Gus's flawed knowledge of the human world makes things fun anyway, and the first time the four of them see an opossum she's glad her phone still worked after all it'd gone through.

If only Eda could see it too.

But like most regrets that haunt her mind in the dead of night when no one else is awake and Luz finds herself looking at the moon, it comes and goes as there's so much to teach her friends. The differences in cuisine, human customs and mannerisms (which admittedly she isn't like, super good at herself, she's at least better than a bunch of witches from another world?), and more than anything: technology.

Which is why photography was so nice, a little slice of analog normalcy in an otherwise totally digital and fast-paced world.

"I still don't get it," Amity says as she flips the polaroid camera in her hands. "How does it develop the memories-- the photographs inside it?"

Gus lets out a groan and rolls back on the bench, Willow catching his hood before it falls. "Like! I! Said! There's gotta be a miniature red room with tubs of memory juice inside, how else would they get done so fast?"

"Yeaaah, that definitely isn't it," Luz replies, and when demanded for an answer of how then she just shrugs. Never thought of it before, wasn't gonna start.

"The human world has its own kind of magic, I guess." Willow replies, and Hunter flips through one of the comic books Luz had bought for them to better explain the level of technology that had soon become their norm. "Maybe that's why Luz could adapt to ours so naturally."

"In that case," the blond boy pipes up beside her, "we shouldn't have a problem either. Human magic'll be a walk in the park."

Which seems to be a common thought with all of them, though Luz'd beg to differ after seeing them deal with basic traffic laws. Witch versus car, witch wins. At the cost of a car. And running from a new set of laws. And getting in trouble with Mami.

The last point was the worst, after everything Luz had put her through.

"You'll get used to it," Vee had told the new kids. "This world's way better than the Boiling Isles, but I'm kind of biased since I don't wanna go back at all."

Of all of them, Hunter understands this best (what else does he have there? nothing, not even a real identity) but... he keeps it to himself, ashamed of being part of the people who'd hurt Vee in the first place. Luz knows more than anyone else what they share, even if it's unknown to the group at large and even Vee herself, and decides that Hunter deserves to get hooked on something healthier than wallowing in guilt over something he never did. Like making daisy chains or knowing niche, nigh-unintelligible trivia about various comic books and anime.

The group always gets their revenge on her too though, headed by her awesome beautiful totally cool and endearingly dork girlfriend with Willow and Gus at her side, because--

Well, in their words, Luz has a bad habit of putting other people over herself. Which she totally doesn't agree with buuuut will never say no to them trying their best to adapt to the human world in their own ways, even if their ice cream flavor combinations could use some serious work and less experimentation.

If only Eda could see this, too.

#toh #the owl house #luz noceda #mainly her but it has mentions of the rest of the #hexsquad #i just don't want to tag them since they're so minor

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captainelliecomb · 2 years

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AGOT Prologue

Late to the Party: ASOIAF

I write summaries for the book club, and in revisiting them, I realised how much longer they get as I continue reading. Even knowing some of what happens from the show, and knowing how frustrated people are with the long delay in the next book, I am wrapped up in this story from the beginning.

Summary: Will and Ser Waymar Royce of the Night Watch’s, how little we knew you. Horror story opening that presents two big threats of Westeros: the cold itself (Winter is Coming) and the Others, who seem, in some ways, to be cold made flesh. Ser Waymar’s youth and arrogance and lordling nature brings about his death, and Will’s. Gared survives, but not for long. We see early on that the night is dark and full of terrors.

Far closer to a horror story than anything else, in a wonderful way.

Ser Waymar Royce is a fashion plate, and I am again saddened that the show didn’t give us fancier, more fun fashion.

“It was the cold,” Gared said with iron certainty. “I saw men freeze last winter, and the one before, when I was half a boy. Everyone talks about snows forty foot deep, and how the ice wind comes howling out of the north, but the real enemy is the cold. It steals up on you quieter than Will, and at first you shiver and your teeth chatter and you stamp your feet and dream of mulled wine and nice hot fires. It burns, it does. Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after awhile you don’t have the strength to fight it. It’s easier to just sit down or go to sleep. They say you don’t feel any pain toward the end. First you go weak and drowsy, and everything starts to fade, and then it’s like sinking into a sea of warm milk. Peaceful, like.

Gared’s description of the threat of cold is glorious.

Just like ice versus fire is set up this early, so too is the question of honour and being honour-bound to follow orders even when they’re afraid, even when it’s dangerous, even when it will lead to your death. As is the idea that fear will unman you and, of course, being a man is the most important thing to strive for (if you are a man, not for, say, Brienne), which I think will set against Sam and his fear and his bravery.

Swords!

Royce: Longsword, jewels glitter in its hilt, shining steel, castle-forged, new, and likely never swung in anger.

Gared: Short, ugly thing, grip discoloured by sweat, edge nicked from hard use. If Gared draws it, Royce is likely to die, Will thinks.

The juxtaposition of the swords is great! Ineffectual beauty versus competent ugliness.

And the incomparable sword of the Other: Longsword, like nothing Will had ever seen, no human metal used in the forging of the blade, alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on, faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, (shades of Jaime’s weirwood dream and Oathkeeper?) sharper than any razor.

A shadow emerged from the dark of the wood. [...] Tall, it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk [the warm milk the cold will make you drown in, metaphorically?]. Its armour seemed to change colour as it moved; here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep grey-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took.

The Others are far more frightening than the mindless dead. Danger in cold things, danger in beautiful things.

Ser Waymar faces off with the Other, brings it in to dance, and in that, facing danger, facing fear, he is no longer a boy, he is a man, and not just a man, but a man of the Night’s Watch, which makes me think at least to some of them, being a man of the Night’s Watch is something to be proud of, no matter what we see of the makeup of Brothers later from Jon’s POV.

Blue the colour of death, of ice, of Others: its eyes were “blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice.” (Brienne has astonishing blue eyes, are they also tending toward inhuman? Will Brienne with her fiery blue sword and her astonishing blue eyes be set against the Others in important ways? Gods forbid, will she become an Other somehow? GRRM, this will be my villain origin story and you my nemesis.)

The sound of the battle not the ring of steel on steel but an animal scream. And eventually, the steel shatters, shards “scattering like a rain of needles.” And later, “the end splintered and twisted like a tree struck by lightning.”

Love this description of the swords.

The Other speaks in a language Will doesn’t know, mocks Ser Waymar, speaks in a voice “like the cracking of ice on a winter lake.”

Ser Waymar rising from the dead, eyes that same inhuman blue, his face ruined. A shard of sword in his left eye. Isn’t there folklore of shards in eyes needing to be removed to see the truth or return to self or similar?

#late to the party asoiaf #a game of thrones #ellie reads #to the north beyond the wall

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dialovers-translations · 4 years

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DIABOLIK LOVERS Do-S Kyuuketsu VERSUS II Vol.1 Ayato VS Laito [Track 1+2]

Original title: 月蝕のよる～total Eclipse～ & 蝕を背負って

Source: Diabolik Lovers VERSUS II Vol. 1 Ayato VS Laito [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here & here

Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru & Hirakawa Daisuke

Translator’s note: I’m only two tracks into this CD but I’m already loving the tension between Ayato and Laito. I like how this CD seems to touch upon their personal childhood traumas with Cordelia and how they harbor a completely different feeling towards her. This played somewhat of a part in their respective More, Blood routes as well, so I’m really glad to find out more about it! That being said, they do use a lot of vague expressions when roasing each other, so I hope I got all of the hidden implications right.

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5 ll Track 6

→ LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 1: ~Total Eclipse~ of the Moon

Ayato: ...The moon is chipped. Tsk...!! No wonder I feel this restless inside...

You approach him.

Ayato: The lunar eclipse, huh...?

*Rustle*

Ayato: ...Ah? Chichinashi. Now this is new.

He turns around.

Ayato: What brings you here at this hour? Were you lured in by that moon as well? Hahaha...

You explain.

Ayato: Well yeah, makes sense. By this point, you’re basically one of us.

Ayato offers you a hand.

Ayato: Come here...I’m sure you know by now that resistin’ is absolutely futile?

*Rustle*

Ayato: Besides, I’m not in the mood for that right now...Come here!

You continue to protest, afraid he’ll suck your blood.

Ayato: Geez...Fuck...You really are a pain in the ass.

*Rustle*

Ayato: I’m not horny 24/7, you know? And here I thought I’d actually show you somethin’ nice.

You frown.

Ayato: What’s with that expression? Are you disappointed or somethin’? Haha...!

Ayato suddenly lifts you into his arms.

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: Heavy-hoh...! You don’t see this kind of nice view every day, so let’s take the opportunity to watch it from up close.

He launches himself into the air, eventually landing on the roof.

*WOOSH*

*Thud*

Ayato: ...There we go. We’ve reached our destination.

*Rustle*

Ayato: Chichinashi, follow me. Let’s go that way.

You seem scared.

Ayato: ...Ah? Are you shakin’ on your legs? What? You’re scared of bein’ up on the roof? Geez, what a drag...Come on, hold onto me.

You seem hesitant.

Ayato: What? I won’t try and pull anythin’ funny, promised. ...Honestly, I’m out here showin’ my good heart and that’s the reaction I get in return?

*Rustle*

Ayato: More importantly, look up at the moon! It’s chipped! Hahaha! Surprised?

You mention the lunar eclipse.

Ayato: I figured I’d show you since it’s a rare occurrence, but you know about it? Che...! Yeah, it’s a lunar eclipse. I don’t know ‘bout the details, but you barely get to witness one, right?

You thank him for trying to please you.

Ayato: Aah!? I wasn’t tryin’ to make you happy or anythin’! Don’t be so full of yourself! ...It’s just that the lunar eclipse makes us Vampires go crazy. How do I put it - it makes our feelings and actions unstable - to the point of madness. I guess you could say it shakes us up? I don’t quite know how to describe this feeling...

You seem somewhat worried.

Ayato: Well, that might be why I’m a lil’ kind to you, or why I brought you up here to the roof.

You ask if he needs to rest for a bit.

Ayato: Ah? I don’t feel sick or anything. I just feel oddly restless inside...It’s a weird kind of feeling.

*Rustle*

Ayato: So, how do you feel? Well, you’re not a Vampire...But, is that truly the case? Don’t you ask yourself that question at times as well? That perhaps, you’ve longーー

He leans in close.

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: ーー Become a Vampire.

Your eyes widen in horror.

Ayato: ...Hahaha! Nice reaction! I mean, it makes sense when you think about it. You’ve been teased by these fangs countless of times, being toyed around with, becoming mine...It wouldn’t be strange if you had awakened by this point.

You tell him to stop messing with you.

Ayato: I’m not tryin’ to scare you. It’s the truth, isn’t it?

Ayato pins you down.

*Rustle*

*Thud*

Ayato: Honestly, even if you were to be a Vampire by this point, there’s nothin’ to be scared of, right?

You shake your head.

Ayato: Vampire or human, it’s pretty much the same thing. As you can tell, our appearance is barely any different.

*Rustle*

Ayato: The difference is that we suck blood. Also...Well, we just have a few powers here and there, you see?

You insist you’re not a Vampire either way.

Ayato: Yet it still scares you?

He moves closer to your face.

*Rustle*

Ayato: Say, Chichinashi...? ...Even if you were to become a Vampire, I’d still...

Track 2: Bearing the Burden of the Eclipse

Laito: Nfufufu~ Fufufufu...~!

Ayato: ...!!

Laito: Oh geez~ A love scene up on the rooftop? You’re more of a romantic than I thought, Ayato-kun~

Ayato: Laito...!!

Laito: Exactly, the one and only~ ...My bad for interrupting?

Ayato: Che...Why the fuck are you here!?

Laito: There’s no deep reasoning behind it. Well, like you mentioned earlier, the lunar eclipse might have lured me out here. Fufu~ It messes with our heads a little, you see? So it wouldn’t be that strange for me to be lost in my own thoughts up here on the roof, no? Nfu~ I’m glad it gave me a chance at seeing that romantic side of yours which you usually keep hidden. Fufu...Look, it’s even making the moon flush a bright red. Fufufufu~

Ayato: You bastard...Are you makin’ fun of me!?

Laito: Hmー Not quite...If I had to put it into words, I guess you could say...I’m jealous?

Ayato: Haah...!?

Laito: Because Bitch-chan’s cheeks have become this flushed as she watches you with eyes full of passion...I guess~

You become even more flustered.

Laito: ...Say, Bitch-chan? I’m pretty sure this uncertain feeling inside of me is what you’d call jealousy. What do you think?

You tell him to stop teasing.

Laito: Fufu~ ...I’m not teasing you or anything? You are such a cruel girl. I wonder why you’re doubting my feelings? ...Being honest would make you much cuter, you know? Or at least pretend to be fooled by me. ...Oh, whoopsie~ I blew my own cover. Nfu~ ...However, I really do feel restless inside. I wasn’t lying when I said this might be jealousy either.

Laito leans in, whispering in your ear.

Laito: ...The thought of Ayato-kun stealing you away from me pisses me off. Furthermore, I’d love to just turn you into a mess right here, right now.

Ayato: Oi! You’re fuckin’ annoyin’! Showin’ up out of nowhere...

*Rustle*

Ayato: Just scram already!

Laito: Eeeh~? What if I say ‘no’?

Ayato: Then I’ll push you off this roof!

Laito: Big talk for someone who can’t even do that. ...That technique has already been claimed by me after all.

Ayato: Che...You’re talkin’ ‘bout that shitty Old Hag? Honestly...Will you ever be able to forget her?

Laito: Ugh...!

Ayato: Hahaha! What? Did I hit bull’s eye?

Laito: You decide to bring that back up at this exact timing, huh? Ayato-kun.

Ayato: Haah? You’re the one who staーー

Laito suddenly attacks Ayato.

*Rustle*

Laito: ...Fuck off!

Ayato: ...! ...Kuh...

Laito: Do you think you’re in any position...To mock me like that?

Ayato: ...Aah!?

Ayato fights back.

*Rustle rustle*

*Thud*

Ayato: Whatcha mean...!?

You try to get in between them.

Laito: Oh...

Ayato: You’re in the way, Chichinashi! Stay out of this!

Laito: Fufufu~ You’re such a gentleman, Ayato-kun~ You’re scared she’ll get hurt from getting involved in our brotherly quarrel, aren’t you?

Ayato: Kuh...That’s not it! I just simply thought she was in the way, that’s all!

Laito: Hm...In that caseーー

*THUD*

Ayato: ...!!

Laito creeps up on you.

Laito: ...You wouldn’t mind if I were to hurt her, do you? Like this...

He bites you.

Laito: Mmh...

*Gulp gulp gulp*

Ayato: ...Ugh. You bastard...!!

Ayato grabs him by the collar.

*Rustle*

Ayato: Cut the crap!!

*THUD*

Laito: ...Ah!

Ayato: Keep your dirty hands off what belongs to me.

Laito: Look at you go...However, my blood is boiling right now as well...Ugh!

*THUD*

Laito: ...Owow. Geez, it’s been a while since I went all out like that. My hat’s crooked. Better fix it~ ...There we go.

*Rustle*

Ayato: ...That hurt. Whatcha gettin’ all worked up by yourself, huh?

Laito: Hmm~? I guess we can blame the lunar eclipse for that? Seems like I just couldn’t let your words from earlier slide. It’s rather upsetting how you keep on insisting that I still haven’t parted with that dead woman.

You grab hold of Laito’s arm.

Ayato: ...Ah!

Laito: Hm? What’s wrong, Bitch-chan? Are you telling us to stop fighting? ...But you know, I believe there’s times where you have to keep on going until the score is settled.

Ayato: Hehe...I agree with that.

Laito: Nfu...~ What a coincidence.

Ayato: We can just decide who is the strongest by pure force and whoever wins get to keep that woman for themselves!

Laito: Makes you wonder which one of us is unable to move on...Fufu~

Ayato: ...Haah? What did you say just now?

Laito: Nfu~ I was just talking to myself. ...Well then, the moon has been chipped nicely. Shall we get started?

Ayato: Yeah! Bring it on!

You stand in between them, begging the two to stop.

Laito: Oh dear, oh dear~ How heroic of you, Bitch-chan! However, only fools get in the way of a fight between two men, you know?

Ayato: Exactly. Step back, Chichinashi.

Laito: Who knows what we’ll do because of this moon after all.

You shake your head.

Ayato: Aahn? What was that, Chichinashi? We’re not fightin’ ‘cause the moon is messin’ with our heads.

Laito: Exactly, Bitch-chan. The lunar eclipse simply provides a perfect opportunity. We’ve been unable to bridge the gap between us since forever. Up till now, we’ve simply chosen to constantly turn a blind eye to it, running away. Right, Ayato-kun?

Ayato: Kuh...!

Laito: I just figured it might be time for us brothers to stop running and face each other head on. Nfu~

Ayato: Che...You’re too damn persistent. Go stand over there!

*Rustle*

You lose your balance and slide down the roof.

Laito: ...Woah!

Ayato: ...Chichinashi!? What are you doin’...!?

Laito: What do you mean? You’re the one who pushed her away too harshy, so she slipped and nearly tumbled down the roof!

Ayato: Che...Fuck off!

*Rustle*

Ayato: Oi, Chichinashi! Don’t you dare let go! I’ll save you!

Ayato reaches out for you.

*Rustle*

Ayato: Come on, grab my hand!

Laito: Now who is the one responsible for this in the first place, huh? ...Are you okay, Bitch-chan? Instead of going for that brute over here...

Laito holds out his hand as well.

*Rustle*

Laito: You should take my hand instead.

Ayato: Shut up! Come on, Chichinashi! This way!

Laito: I’m stronger than you’d expect, so you can rest assured and entrust your body to me, Bitch-chan~

Ayato: Hurry up...!!

The wind picks up.

Ayato: ...This is bad!

You lose your grip and nearly fall to your death.

Ayato: Che...It’s ‘cause you kept on takin’ yer damn sweet time!

*Rustle rustle*

*Thud*

Ayato jumps down, catching you just in time.

Ayato: ...That was close. Don’t scare me like that!

Laito: Ayato-kuuun~ Is Bitch-chan alright~?

He puts you down.

*Rustle*

Ayato: Che...Oi, Chichinashi. Come with me.

Ayato grabs hold of your hand.

Ayato: I’m sick and tired of havin’ to deal with that guy.

He runs away with you.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #ayato sakamaki #laito sakamaki #diabolik lovers VERSUS II #diabolik lovers translation #diabolik lovers drama cd #drama cd

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jamiemackenziefraser · 3 years

Text

All That Was Fair

Chapter 31: Counsel of a Witch

Summary: Jamie turns to the bookstore owner in search of help

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Read chapter 31 on tumblr below the cut

Previous, master list, next

Chapter 31

***

Jamie was at the end of his rope. With every passing hour, he watched Claire get worse and worse. She was pale, drawn, with dark circles stark under her eyes. Her ashen skin, so different from the soft gleam of its usual pearl, made him want to break down sobbing. She was so different from the vivacious faerie he’d come to know. It broke his heart to see her despondence, and he loved her far too much to endure her suffering in silence for even a moment more.

So he decided to turn to the one place he might find help.

The bookstore owner.

It seemed foolish— bordering on mad— to go to a complete stranger for help on the love of his life. Only this Geillis seemed to be the only one besides Claire herself that knew anything about the Fair Folk. Jamie couldn’t simply take her to a hospital. Going to Geillis was the only thing he could think to do. He was out of options.

He sat then on the couch, with Claire draped over his lap like a flesh and blood blanket, having just arrived at a decision.

“Mo ghraidh?” he said quietly.

He reached out a hand to tangle gently in her curls, his fingers delighting in the softness of it.

“What is it, Jamie?” she asked.

Even her voice came off weak, hard as she was trying to sound unaffected. There was a breathy tonality, as if she couldn’t quite draw in enough air. A chilling reflection of her exhaustion.

“I’m goin’ tae go back to the bookstore,” he said simply.

At that, Claire sat up, pushing her hands against his thighs to brace herself enough to get upright. Big whisky eyes regarded him with a bewildered expression.

“To see the witch? Why?”

It took Jamie a second to realize what she had just said. He was opening his mouth to answer the “why” when the first part of her question finally sunk into his brain. His heart stopped beating for a solid second at the same time as his brain ground to a halt.

“Did ye say ‘witch’?” he asked hollowly.

Claire furrowed her brows and stated simply, “of course. The one who gave you her notes on traveling through the stones? That witch?”

“I—” Jamie’s tongue was tied in knots as he struggled to get on board with this new reality-shattering revelation, “I didna ken witches were real,” he finished lamely.

“Oh,” Claire said, with the same patience Jamie had when explaining something like toothbrushing to her, “she is. That just means she is a human who understands about our realm.”

Blinking, Jamie gave her a look. He was struck dumb for the moment, but as soon as he regained the ability to speak, he demanded, “ye kent she was a witch all this time and didna tell me?”

Claire blinked her weary eyes and gave a nonchalant shrug, looking a bit more like herself as she answered with a straightforward, “It didn’t seem all that important.”

“Ehmm... so… how did ye know?” he asked, trying to keep up.

“Sensed it. I just sort of… knew. Like how you know when someone is from a different place that you haven’t been. We both saw each other for who we are. Plus it makes sense, since she obviously knew I’m of the fair folk, that’s why she gave you the book.”

Jamie gave a hesitant nod. He was about to ask more questions about witches when he noticed Claire was raising a hand to her head and rubbing it wearily. His stomach turned over in sympathy.

Overcome by the bittersweet tenderness, he reached out a hand to replace hers, cupping her face gently.

“I’m goin’ tae ask her if she kens anythin’ that can help ye, lass,” he said gently, “Just because ye dinna ken what’s goin’ on doesna mean we canna find answers.”

She leaned her face into his touch until his hand was the only thing keeping her head raised.

“That’s not a bad idea, Jamie,” she said quietly, “let’s go.”

“‘Let’s’?” Jamie echoed, “nae, a nighean. Ye can barely stand on yer own two feet. I wouldna have ye do anything other than rest.”

“And I would not have you go to a witch alone,” she countered.

Jamie’s eyes widened and he felt his brain kick into overdrive. “Do you mean she might be dangerous?”

“No,” Claire said with a shake of her head, still leaving her face pressed into his hand, “I know she’s not. But I’m coming.”

His stubborn lass.

Jamie brought his other hand up to frame her face, fixing her with his best admonishing stare.

“I said no, mo Sorcha. Ye’re stayin’ here.”

He saw the spark of resistance flare in her eyes before she made the move. Pulling away from him, Claire stood abruptly to her feet. Weak as she was, she swayed for a second, thrusting out a hand to grab hold of the top of the couch and steady herself. Jamie popped up beside her, getting ready to reach out to grab hold of her waist, but she took a hasty step back.

“I’m going,” she insisted.

Jamie was left trailing after her as she began to walk stubbornly toward the door (her weakness only betrayed by the way her body shook with tiny tremors). She grabbed the bolt and slid it free with a clang before throwing open the door and walking outside.

“Claire!” Jamie called, running out after her, barely snagging the car keys and his wallet from the table before he did, “wait!”

She whirled around— the most energetic thing she’d done in a long while, it hurt him to recognize— and placed her hands on her hips. As she did though, her eyes grew wide as if she was suddenly feeling dizzy, and her hand shot out instead to brace against her knee.

Getting hold of herself, she straightened once again. “Like I said, I’m coming with you. Now, should I do it myself or are you going to help me?”

Knowing he’d lost the battle and terrified that he’d be forced to watch her collapse as she stubbornly walked to the car if he refused, Jamie caught up to her.

Gently taking her by the arm, he said quietly, “alright, a leannan, my stubborn lass, you win.”

***

Claire had laid her head down on his lap the moment they were both seated in the car. She spent the majority of the ride to Inverness slipping in and out of consciousness while Jamie worried over her. He prayed under his breath that God would send them answers in the form of this witch. She’d provided him with revelations once before, so Jamie could only dare to hope she’d have a solution just waiting for them.

As he pulled into the public lot nearest the bookstore, he found himself daunted by the distance Claire would be forced to walk. She hadn’t seemed to have noticed that they weren’t moving anymore, and her breathing was shallow as she drifted in that odd state of half-consciousness.

“Claire,” he said gently, his voice catching in his throat, “we’re here, a nighean.”

She raised her head, curls falling back behind her, and then dragged her body upright. She rubbed again at glassy eyes, trying to find the necessary strength.

“Take yer time,” he said softly.

When her hand fell away and her eyes connected with his, the desperate look inside of them sent him crumbling to pieces.

“Do you really think she’ll know what’s happening?” she asked in a tiny voice.

The air in his lungs was expelled with a whoosh. She wasn’t asking him that, not really. She knew he would have no idea— he’d only just learned about the existence of witches mere minutes ago. No, she was asking him to tell her everything would be okay. And that much he could do.

“Aye, a nighean. I pray that she can gi’ us somethin’. It’ll be alright.”

She gave a shaky nod, and Jamie took that as her being ready. He went around to her side to take her hand and pull her out of the car. She got out easily enough, but once she was standing outside, she fell against Jamie’s chest. He quickly encircled her in his arms, holding on tight to keep her upright.

“Woah,” he murmured, “take a second. Ye’re okay.”

The words felt weak even in his own mouth.

She took his advice, leaning against him for a drawn out moment before she raised her head just enough to say. “Okay, let’s go.”

Of all the tortures Jamie’s brain had conjured in his life— speculations about how it might be to die by fire versus drowning or other such morbid games— the torture of the next few minutes of watching his very ill faerie struggle to walk down the street topped any agony he’d considered before (save maybe the time when he’d left her at the stones and thought he’d be facing a life without her).

He kept one arm wrapped tightly around her waist the whole time. The weight of her leaning against him was obvious, and he worked to support her as much as possible. As she struggled to put one foot in front of the other, drained as she was, Jamie cursed himself for giving in so easily and allowing her to come along.

But she pushed on, his stubborn lass. After a couple slow and shaky blocks, they arrived at the bookstore. There was only time for a single exchange of hopeful looks before Claire stepped away and took his hand instead.

He pushed open the door with a jingle.

Just like the last time, they were greeted by the air of other-worldliness. Knowing as he now did that Geillis was, in fact, partial to things not of this world, the odd atmosphere made more sense. It took a moment for Jamie’s eyes to adjust to the dim lighting and an even longer while for the goosebumps on his arms to ease.

Claire must have sensed Geillis’ presence before Jamie did because there was a squeeze to his hand the second before a red head popped out from between two shelves in the back.

“Ooh, the lovers, back again. Did ye read my wee notes, fox cub?” Geillis cooed.

She emerged from between the shelves holding two old books to her chest, looking quite excited.

“Yes, they were verra… informative. I thank ye for it. That’s actually why we’re here…”

Jamie was about to launch into his plea for help when Geillis suddenly stopped dead in her tracks a few feet before reaching them. Her eyes went wide as she looked at Claire, a frown slowly forming between her brows and on those cherry colored lips.

“I see…” she said softly, “something is wrong wi’ yer fair one, aye?”

Sensing something— maybe it was a laxness in her fingers or maybe it was just his intuition— Jamie glanced down at Claire just in time to see her face freeze and eyes go distant. He let go of her hand and whirled around to catch her just before she collapsed. Both of his arms went around her tightly and pulled her to him as her knees buckled.

Looking down at her pale, scrunched features, Jamie was relieved to see that she wasn’t unconscious, but she certainly wasn’t doing well. Her eyes were glassy as she blinked hard, trying to keep herself aware.

He looked up from his suffering love to give Geillis a pleading look.

“We need yer help,” his voice broke on the word help.

Geillis looked somber, studying him and the faerie in his arms. Then, she gave a nod.

“Bring her back, and then tell me everything.”

“Back” apparently was referring to a back room. Geillis had led them to the back of the bookstore as Jamie all but carried Claire, and then she pulled back a curtain to gesture them into another room.

With Claire tucked tightly into his side, Jamie ducked through the doorway.

On the other side was a whole second bookstore with the same crowded shelves and haphazard organization. Only this side also had shelves of all kinds of paraphernalia— vials of colorful liquids, bowls containing small animal bones, and all types of odd trinkets. Jamie tried to take everything in, but his mind was so fixated on Claire that he had trouble taking stock of all the things Geillis had in her secret stock.

His survey was interrupted as Geillis gestured them toward a window on the far right. There was a bench seat built into the window, and Jamie brought Claire over to it and sat her down before joining her on the smooth, wooden surface. Geillis appeared a second later with a chair, setting it up in front of them before settling in and regarding him with raised brows.

Claire was leaning against his side, quiet as a mouse and their fingers entangled where they rested together on Jamie’s thigh. Her head tilted down slowly to rest on his shoulder— too tired even to feign strength.

Geillis looked at them for a long moment before saying, “tell me everything.”

So Jamie explained. How he found her on the hill. Her story of wandering on the moors when she fell through the stones. How he’d taken her into his home before reading the book and trying to take her back. Her choice to stay. And finally, her deteriorating condition— the exhaustion that rendered her drained and lifeless.

In the middle of his explanation, Claire had drifted down to lay her head in Jamie’s lap and curl her feet on the bench. It had made the lump in his throat grow, nearly choking off his words, but he’d pressed on to finish his story, knowing how important it was to get answers.

Once he’d finally closed his mouth, Geillis gave a thoughtful hum, looking down at the faerie in his lap with a worried expression that was almost pitying.

“I could tell the moment she walked in that somethin’ was wrong,” she said softly.

“Anyone wi’ two eyes could see that, she can barely stand on her own two feet!” Jamie snapped. He regretted it instantly. Geillis was their greatest hope and her comment didn’t warrant that response, he was just so worried that he was strung nearly to breaking.

He started to apologize when she cut him off. “Nae, I meant her aura is wrong. Worse than wrong it’s… barely there.”

Jamie couldn’t help but ask, “that’s how ye kent she was a faerie the first time, aye?”

Geillis nodded. She was quiet for another gut-wrenching moment, looking down at Claire. The lass in his lap was unconscious, and Geillis seemed to be longing to talk to her instead of him. Or maybe she was just studying her.

“Do ye ken what’s wrong then?” Jamie couldn’t help but ask, “please? Any ideas at all. I—” he started to try to express how terrified he was, how he couldn’t bear for anything to happen to her, but the words clogged in his throat. He looked down at her as hot tears pricked in his eyes and brushed those beautiful curls back in a way that was probably more soothing for him than it even was for her— out of it as she was.

When he looked back to meet the startling green eyes, there was sympathy there.

“I have a theory…” she said, but trailed off.

Jamie felt his entire body lift. His back straightened as he eagerly asked, “tell me?”

Her eyes flicked down again to his hands stroking Claire. “Ye willna like it.”

The hope that had begun forming in his chest popped with suddenly ferocity. He felt sick to his stomach, worse than he ever had on a boat or plane in the worst of his motion sickness bouts. He wished he could just refuse to hear the bad news that was about to come, but he had to face it, for Claire’s sake. No matter what, he would keep fighting.

“Tell me,” he said. This time it wasn’t a question.

Geillis settled back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap.

“Ye said she came through the stones by accident, aye? I think…” for the first time ever, Geillis looked hesitant, “I dinna ken how else to say it…. I think she’s becomin’ human.”

“What?!” Jamie burst out, loud enough to make Claire jerk in his lap. He quickly looked down, placing his hands on her again to settle her. She hadn’t fully woken, so his touch on her side and face was enough to soothe her back into tenuous sleep. He looked back up to Geillis and repeated, more quietly this time, “what?”

She looked uncomfortable as she looked at Claire like the theory was forming in her head. “Well, not exactly becomin’ human. Not really. She’s still fae. It’s jes— ye ken she’s from another plane, aye? Well now she’s separated from her realm, and things are different here. She canna draw energy in the same way. Going through the stones— being here in this realm— she’s cut off, and she canna eat and drink like the rest of us to sustain herself, her body isna capable. She’s likely been drawing on what energy she can, but it isna the same as in her realm.”

Jamie came back to himself to find he was clutching the end of Claire’s hair in a balled-up fist. He felt like Geillis’ explanation had torn him open and ripped him inside-out.

“So...” he spoke through the bile rising in his throat, “she’s essentially starvin’ to death? From lack of energy?”

She nodded solemnly. Her fixed gaze on him was so intense that he had to look away. He tried to look down, but the sight of Claire’s pale face as she slept in his lap made his eyes burn with tears.

“Do ye—” Jamie tried to ask, choking back tears, “what can I do?”

Geillis looked sympathetic but made no move.

“Take her back to the stones,” she said simply.

Jamie shook his head violently, his very body tense, as if it could expel the idea. “No, no, she doesna want that. There has to be another way. She could eat— or—”

“That won’t help her, that’s not what she needs. I’m sorry, fox, I… I don’t know of anything else,” her voice was so low and excruciatingly sympathetic that Jamie wanted to scream.

He found himself still shaking his head in denial. There was a sharp ache in his stomach, as if his heart had shoved its way down there.

“I dinna think I can—” he choked as the first tears began to fall. Trying to find the barest hint of comfort, he stroked Claire’s hair again, his fingers brushing her face.

“There’s no choice,” Geillis said finally, “she’ll die.”

Jamie wanted to leave the bookstore. He almost wished that he had never come— only he could never wish to be ignorant about such a thing, even if it was tempting. He glanced down at Claire in his lap.

She was unconscious, her face nearly ashen in the light from the window. There was no hint of her usual golden warmth— only pallid skin and dark circles under her eyes. He could feel her shallow breathing,

He wanted to break down completely. The allure of giving into his grief was so strong, but she didn't deserve to languish in this place any longer. He would see her home.

The polite thing would have been to thank Geillis for her help. Only his throat was so clogged that the words never would have come out. He couldn’t even spare a glance up at her.

A silent tear dripped down his cheek as he reached a hand down to gently shake Claire’s cheek.

“Mo ghraidh?” he choked.

He was suddenly overcome by the acute desire— no need— for her to wake up. He had to see those golden eyes or he’d die. He couldn’t draw breath, he couldn’t—

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking dazedly up at him from where her head rested in his lap between his hands. He expected her to murmur out “what’s wrong?’ as she usually would have upon finding him in such a state of extreme distress. But she didn’t say a word. She was likely too tired to sense his emotions, too tired to even bring herself to confront the reality that was showing on his face. She just breathed in shakily.

Jamie somehow found a strength inside himself that he didn’t know he possessed. He gathered his composure— for her sake.

“Let’s go home,” he said softly, his voice astoundingly even.

He gathered Claire up in his arms with the utmost care, lifting her under back and knees until he was standing face to face with Geillis.

“Take care of her, fox cub,” the witch said solemnly.

Jamie swallowed hard. Unable to verbalize it out loud, he gave her a nod.

A promise.

He would send her back. He would do what needed to be done to save her.

At that moment, Claire stirred in his arms.

“We’re leaving?’ came her breathy question.

“Yes, a leannan. We’re going home.”

To his surprise, her hand pushed against his chest— her touch weak and lacking any real force, but still insistent.

“I don’t— they’ll—” she sounded distressed, which broke Jamie’s heart. But she was so incoherent he didn’t have any idea how to assuage her.

“What is it, a nighean?” he asked, on the verge of tears.

“Don’t want them to see,” she finally managed.

That did him in. More tears leaked from his eyes to pour down his cheeks. He swallowed the sob in his throat.

She had always hated other people seeing her— accustomed as she was to being invisible to humans— and now she was embarrassed by the thought of Jamie carrying her through Inverness.

“Dinna think about them,” Jamie answered, barely able to contain the heartache in his voice, “no one matters except you, mo ghraidh.”

She still looked distressed. Her eyes were squeezed closed again, her brows furrowed, and she shook her head.

“Jamie, I…”

Her voice trailed off. Her head lolled on his shoulder, and he nearly broke down all over again.

He turned his teary gaze to Geillis, giving her his best look of pleading.

“Is there nothin’ ye can do tae ease her?” he asked brokenly.

Geillis looked wrecked too, staring at Claire as if the sight of his wee faerie suffering was too terrible to look away from. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sad shake of her head, “there’s nothin’ I can do.”

Jamie bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, and then refocused on his love.

“Damn the world,” he told her firmly, “we’re goin’ home.”

***

IMPORTANT:

Hi, friends! I mentioned a few chapters ago that I will be going on hiatus for a short time. I've finished writing arc II now, and in the interest of leaving you all at a decent stopping point before I go on hiatus, I will be dropping a chapter a day. There are 3 more chapters after this one until arc II wraps up. BUT the story will be far from over, so I truly hope you stick around until I get back in a number of weeks. I love this story and these characters so much and I'm really excited for arc III.

With that being said... I will now be running off to hide in fear of my life. IknowIknowIknowI'msorry! SORRY!

#next day update!!#all that was fair #claire x jamie #outlander fanfiction #fae claire

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